Sometimes, a dream is just that: a dream.

You don't have to Google for a meaning or interpretation, as if it were a question with any kind of meaningful answer. You don't have to assume that it is a sign, or a prophecy, or a prediction, or a warning. Sometimes, a dream is just a dream, nothing more than a hint of an idea, sketched by your meandering thoughts, and painted by your own imagination.

Do you mourn a hallucination when it passes? Do you grieve for your dreams when they inevitably end? Do you long for the colors and shapes and sensations that you experienced, once the experience is over, even if you are entirely sure they weren't real? Transient images and shadows slip away, that you cannot grasp, even if you could reach them.

Can you truly believe in something that never existed? Belief alone does not make something real. No matter how vividly recollected, or idyllic, or plausible that it may seem, a belief is nothing more than a wish with a sprinkling of determination that it must be real. A billion believers in something does not make it any more real than a single soul.

But now, that belief is an itch. You want what you 'had', you need it, the absence of it consumes your thoughts and your spirit. You see a sound in the corners of your eye, you hear a color just on the edge of your sensory range, the spectre haunts your every waking hour, rather than the sleeping hours.

So, you try to recreate the conditions in which it occurred. You climb aboard that same bus, sit in that same seat, close your eyes, and believe. What's wrong with that? Futile as it may be, there is no harm in belief itself. But that isn't enough, thankfully. If everything were to come to you so easily, you probably won't value it much. So the unattainable, or that which was had and lost, is that much more precious, isn't it?

But why mourn? Why cry? What will it change? It wasn't real, and it never was. The world itself is real, but not because we believe that it is. Reality is what we can hear, feel, touch, see... isn't it?

Belief does not work magic. It can't conjure a presence, or a circumstance, or a place or time. But sometimes, those presences, and circumstances, and places and times, they can find us instead. Serendipity, happenstance, fate, destiny, these are all concepts that our inner selves use to explain an effect that we didn't cause.

There's no logical reason why the stuff of our dreams can manifest in natural reality, but sometimes it does. It may be subtle, or faint, or fleeting, to the point that we may miss it entirely. But if we see it, and grasp it, we can experience that which we previously only imagined. The not-real can become real, and though belief has nothing to do with it, you may have difficulty admitting it, in that moment. And that is what keeps the belief going, that potential, the possibility, of having your hopes fulfilled, and your beliefs realized.

...

The game's protagonist, Semyon, is a loser. He has no job, no prospects, no action or dynamism in his life. The game tells this story, of an internet troll, a loser from Russia, with nothing to live for, who is given the opportunity to find that reason.

Can you separate a story from the context in which it is produced? Can a world unrelatable to many, be made to stand on its own? Can it be made believable? Everything can be interpreted from multiple angles, especially when you have a particular motivation. If you hate internet trolls, you will have a bias that will need to be overcome in order to relate to the character. If the context is too relatable to your own life, you may find yourself in the same boat, grabbing at a dream or fantasy, angrily and desperately clawing for your own serendipity or good fortune to have it made manifest.

Depending on the ending you get in the game, he may never reach his own potential, or he may wind up happier than he ever thought possible. Contentment and happiness don't correlate with success and prosperity. Sure, its easier to cry in a Cadillac than a Lada, but crying is crying.

Having a dream fulfilled, even in some small way, can mend wounds and soothe the soul. It doesn't matter what a loser you were before, or how your life trajectory was headed, or anything else. When you reach what you've desired, fantastical that it may be, in that moment, you are happy. You, and that which you sought, have each other. Semyon has the opportunity to have his dreams be made real. In that moment, he is happy. He, and that which he sought, have each other.

Not everyone will reach their potential. Most don't, in fact. Fewer still are happy. But you don't have to be the absolute best version of yourself to be happy. Maybe, instead, the happiest version is the best one.

Inscryption shaped my life.

Leshy rescued me and my brothers and sisters. He took us to this cabin in the middle of nowhere. He taught us to play the game. It was freedom. But even the greatest freedom comes at a price. He told us, "beware the man in the woods for he is real, and he is the eater."

So one day, me and my brothers, we take our decks and we go off playing Inscryption as we do. Then we started to hear something strange. At first we passed it off as a grizzly. But as time passed, the grizzly, or what we thought was a grizzly, started to get louder and louder, and it let out these sad howls.

My brothers, they had started to run. I myself must admit for a second I was afraid but I was more intrigued than anything else. I dropped my deck and I started moving closer and closer to the sound. I got so close at one point that the sound started to thunder in my ears so much that it hurt. And that is when I saw it.

He was about 7 foot tall, walking upright. No pigment in his skin, pale as a pearl. He had thin green hairs running down to his knees, and he was carrying a geck with one hand, dragging it behind him.

I prayed that he wouldn't see me and I said "Leshy please forgive me for not paying attention to you." And that's when he looked at me, his eyes yellow like a cat. Still I stayed frozen in fear. And it was just then that he reaches out his hand, and in the middle of it, was my deck of cards.

So I started to run, as fast as my legs could carry me. I continued to run for what felt like an eternity. Finally, the cabin was back in sight. I sprinted through the door, in a panic. I ran straight to Leshy's room and I said "I'm so sorry" and he said "What is wrong?"

I said "I saw him, I saw the man in the woods. I thought it was a lie but you were telling the truth the whole time, I'm so sorry."

He asked me, stone-faced, "What did he say to you?"

"He didn't say anything. Matter of fact, all he did was look at me, as if he was staring right through me. And he held out his hand, and in his hand was my deck of cards." Inside, I was wondering why Leshy was so calm right now.

He said, "Don't you understand? They're his cards too. You are the man in the woods."