Soooooo, basically just going to be annoying and talk about a dream I had because it was literally like a weird 2 hour long movie that I think could be turned into something. Sorry for the mess of words I'm about to throw at you, I wrote this right after I woke up so I'd remember most of it. "I had a very weird dream. It took place in a future in which world government had mostly collapsed and only a few small city-states remained world wide, as most of the human population had died off as more and more of the Earth became unlivable. One of the city-states was definitely set where Chicago used to be. It was governed by a wealthy family who essentially funded the protection of anyone who abided by their cult-like life style, which was reminiscent of 17th century puritanism, though it would appear the family lavishly indulged in materialistic pleasure. The first character I 'met' was there: a young police soldier who grew up in this bizarre, restrictive, but sheltered world which quite literally resembles a huge southern plantation mixed w/ kind of a more royal aesthetic. (Also the only green spot for miles) Young police soldier is taken outside of the estate for the first time via a train system that more closely resembled a Japanese bullet train than anything currently present in Chicago. There, he was briefed on The Lords--basically, a gang that controlled an area of the slums but also stole from the estate to redistribute food and all that, viewed as Saints by the people who reside in their territory, though the police soldier is told they're actually violent hoarding criminals. The young police soldier (i keep calling him that b/c he was called a police officer in the dream but looked very militaristic w/ heavy weaponry) learns they're trying to get rid of a drug The Lords sell, which is basically a hallucinogenic narcotic which induces a euphoric (or sometimes nightmarish) coma and can easily cause death/insanity if overused. According to The Estate, it's recently started slipping onto their property, which foot soldier knows b/c a few people living on the outskirts of the estate have overdosed. Long story short, while investigating, the police soldier runs into his childhood friend whose family defected from the estate-- now a foot soldier for the lords after his family passed of addiction. They rekindle a secret romance nearly immediately, but it's short-lived as police soldier thinks homosexuality is wrong and foot soldier thinks police soldier is a brainwashed drone after they argue about where the drugs are coming from (cuz police soldier initially half-lies and says he's there to help the community gain resources and later admits he's there to stop the drug trade) Even longer story short, after foot soldier says the drugs are actually coming from the estate, police soldier is bothered and after months of not finding any suspicious activity from the lords, decides to go back to foot soldier, demanding proof he's been brainwashed. Foot soldier proves the drugs came from the estate and the lords have actually been sending them back to the estate as a message for the estate to stop manufacturing them by taking him to the facility where the drugs are made and showing him it's being run and guarded by other, more senior police soldiers. Police soldier returns to the estate, shocked and disillusioned, and then there's this bizarre scene where he's going through the estate of the estate--a huge mansion that's bizarrely pristine in comparison to everything around it. A few details --the estate owners were the only visibly white people in the dream but they seemed very inbred. Children especially were deformed when he goes through the nursery. Very veiny, red eyes, missing limbs, facial deformities, etc -a few people had lighter eyes/features, especially near the estate, but overall everyone looked mixed and most people were dark-skinned with dark eyes and hair. -the estate of the estate was like, pre-french revolution royalty lavish with a southern twist. Lots of eugenics stuff (skulls, articles, preserved bodies of infants, measurements, etc) in various rooms, as well as taxidermed extinct animals and many foods that are believed to be extinct (such as grapes), and finally, the estate of the estate office. Here, police soldier basically confirms what foot soldier said is true and that the reason the estate owners are doing it was to test the drug's effectiveness as a mind control/conversion tool, because they want to take over the whole city eventually. After the drug ended up having unintended effects (strengthening the rebellion, creating more defectors, tho they dont really care about the addicts or deaths) they wanted it all back so they could test a new drug without the unintended side effects and invented the story about the lords to shift the blame. Police soldier goes back to foot soldier, who's with a group of foot soldiers who all aim at him, and dream ends as police soldier started taking off his weapons and raising his hands, several of the men seen lowering their guns in the background. Some more details -had a very if mad max was an anime vibe -people in the estate dressed like the amish; people outside the estate wore what kiiiiinda resembled a mixture of old western and futuristic ala Tom Baker era Dr. Who -there were some recognizable chicago landmarks--most notably, the almost totally crumbled lake street, extremely receded, even more sludgy lake michigan (thick, gloppy looking water, like mucus), and the estate of the estate was made from museum of science and industry, but partially redone outside to more resemble a plantation mansion/the area around it was unrecognizable -the culture of the estate was very obviously evil and cult like the whole time but i was also not a participant of the dream, just an observer. -the culture outside of the estate was very violent outside of the lords territory, which is run like a small social democracy while the surrounding areas were very impoverished. Foot soldier mentions how they want to expand their peace but that was never brought into detail or even mentioned more than once. -the lords had two laws: no intoxicants, no murder -very strictly enforced. Also a bit cult like but in a much less surreal, creepy, malignant way than the estate. Also seemed self-aware of their flaws and blamed it on lack of resources. -most of the length of the dream occurred after the romance between the foot soldier and the police soldier ended, the longest scene being that nauseating walk through the estate of the estate.' So yep. Wanna help me start to hash something out of this?
Thinking it might be a good graphic novel or screenplay as opposed to a written story, just because I have very specific and vivid ideas about the imagery.
Damn I wish I could dream like that. Do you often write down your dreams? Because I hear that it helps to make them more vivid. I think it's a cool idea to expand upon, and you can't say you stole it from anywhere. You could adapt it into a novel, but I think a movie or tv miniseries ala Wayward Pines (which turned out to not be a miniseries) would be a great idea. Even an anime would be great, I don't know how hard it is for a non Japanese to get his story sold as an anime is, though.
Write a novel, the positive feedback here is because it allows people to imagine. If it becomes an anime etc, you take away something from it.
