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Dream Realized

Title

Arachne

Date of Dream

Nov. 7, 2019

I've been keeping a dream journal. As dreams are easily forgotten, I found it thrilling to go back and read my own dreams while feeling like they were written by other people.

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I've dreamed of the most stunning sights, fantastic beasts and eccentric stories, but if only I could realize them in some way that can be shared with others beyond the format of plain text.

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And here it is, a dream realized in audio storytelling! 

*I've included two track versions, one with narration and the other one without.

*I've also attached the script of the dream below if one prefers to read along.

*Best experience with headphones and a quiet environment.

Arachne Audio
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Script:

 

Our campus has a dark underground tunnel. At the end of the tunnel is a stretch of underwater passageway which then leads to a very raw but open and hollow area with lots of stalactites. This secret area can be reached by car, but the faculties and some daring students prefer to take the  2-3-minute-shortcut and swim there with one breath.

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But there’s a school tradition for every graduating student to take the school bus to that secret place, spend a night, explore the area and then pick a gift. As time goes on, it is my turn to go. The gifts this year are baby dolls that came in a variety of skin tones. Dolls make me uncomfortable, so I covertly don't claim my gift. The students all gather together, talking, laughing and eating snacks.

 

During this time, several men in white lab coats who look like doctors frequently walk by, going in and out. And they exchange confidential whispers about what’s going on. There is also a well-informed student who whispers to these doctors every time they appear, seemingly asking after whether a certain potion is ready. This place does not put me at ease, and this unease heightens my acuity, so I keep watching people around me and am able to hear what people are talking about even at a distance.

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A few daring students just came back, they have swum through that water to go back to the campus and grab things. "How come their clothes aren't wet?" I wonder. I knew there’s something magical about that short waterway, such as some uncanny creatures inhabiting it, or clothes that didn't seem to get wet. I’m intrigued, just as one of the teachers is going back to her office on campus to grab some stuff. She invites me to come with her. I walk towards the waterside and from a distance, I see three little demons seducing me with cheeky grins. "Why not seduce the teacher? Might it be that they sensed my fear?" One of the demons has white bandages wrapped around its head. It has one eye gouged out, leaving a black hole and the black blood that bubbled out of it had dried out. The teacher says she is all used to those demons and we don’t have to care about them, so she goes straight into the water and away, and those demons literally just stood there, watching her, while making some whining and chittering noises.

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Well, I…I can't. I go back to the students and ask them if those demons would  come close and touch me. They say if that bandaged one were to touch me, it would keep rubbing my forehead with its index and middle fingers for an hour as a way to mourn for its lost eyeball. I break into a cold sweat and think it would be better to just stay put.

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After a while, three more doctors hurry toward a hidden door on the other side, and that same student pursues the potion as before. Suddenly, two doctors inject the third doctor with some kind of reagent. He crouches down, howls and then gets back up with startling blue kinky hair (but it was all actually performative, like a quick-change act), and then he is carried by arms and legs into that hidden door.

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The crowd is a bit agitated, but before we know it, the door banged open. A humanoid creature with her body folded backward in half is slowly unfolding. She is giant, taking up the height from floor to ceiling. Once taken a better look, I found she is  a bald Arachne, unclothed, with pale complexion. Her limbs transition into spider legs and she moves swiftly with an extremely unpleasant rustling sound. She cuts across the ceiling, then extends one arm, or rather a limb with those long spider legs downward and skims over a bunch of students’ heads, including mine. It was that spine-chilling shudder of long nail tips scraping across your skull. I try to cover my head and change to another spot while thinking desperately, "It's no use, she's too fast!” In a hot minute, she does move to the  area above my head and begins to torment me. I’m now at my wits' end, forcing myself to adapt to this situation. Then, she drops lightly onto the ground and stands there, lost in thought like a human. It is at this moment, I see her overly pear-shaped figure with a lower extremity just like a spider's abdomen! She gently caresses her abdomen, which makes me realize that she is very pregnant. All of a sudden, I want to protect her, but can’t help thinking: would she lay eggs like a spider or give live birth like a mammal? This is disturbing to think about.

Arachne Script

Work Process

Arachne Gantt Chart-Xi Lin.png

I started with a Gantt chart to plan out each sound cue, but then found it easier to directly build everything in Logic Pro X.

The first picture only shows the initial sketch for Arachne.

The second screenshot shows all the sounds and music created for Arachne. The design elements range from voice narration, original synth sounds, sound effects from the internet and sounds from the Logic Pro X library.

Archne Logic Project-Xi Lin.png
Work Process
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