#anyway weird and disturbing scary dreams

[audiovisualrecall]

Hm keep having the same...Dream? Nightmare? Anyway maybe I should take it as a warning...

[vitamin-zeeth]

Currently watching Hey Melissa from the nerdy Prudes must Livestream and I'm ngl. What the fuck. Like I tend to come away from darker media wishing they'd made it just a little more fucked up cause I really enjoy super weird out there horror stuff and yeah fucking hell this goes there. I love it don't get me wrong but holy fucking shit its so fucked who came up with this. Anyway haha they made jon meow

[leffee]

so 👏 how about them dealing with like... nightmares? Nightmares is my favorite angst trope and I want to hear your two cents. Like what would the nightmare be about? would they want someone to comfort them? Would they end up crying? How would they comfort someone who had a nightmare? Y'know, stuff like that :)

Alrighty then, let's talk about nightmares, I will try to answer each of those questions :)

Vinnie - so he doesn't really get nightmares all that often, if he has "bad dreams" then they are just really weird dream, sometimes disturbing, sometimes not. Anyway, if he does have nightmares they're often about hurting himself, as in really hurting himself, something especially with him dancing especially in front of an audience. It can be something like the stage suddenly collapsing under him and him falling to the ground under him that and doing so just unfortunately enough that his leg gets impaled on a piece of wood or something, and he can only feel the pain and himself bleeding out, teetering between consciousness and unconsciousness. Other times his nightmares are about everyone leaving him/being left alone which is something he hates. Yeah, he would love to be comforted but at the same time he doesn't want anyone to see him like that, so he won't say anything and even if someone witnesses it because they happen to be close he will just pretend to be fine. Same with crying, even if he felt like crying he would stop himself from doing so because he doesn't allow himself to cry. And if someone else had a nightmare and he were to comfort them? He would just stay close and ask what's wrong, or alternatively if they wouldn't want to talk about it he would look for distractions, if all else fails he will just ramble about anything. He's also happy to provide touch, that is if that other person asks for it cause he himself is shy about it as much as he craves it.

Oh, he also had nightmares about losing his hair/waking up bald. He's genuinely disturbed by those.

Sunil - now he gets nightmares quite often, certainly more often than he would like. His nightmares can be about anything really, but usually those are supernatural stuff, situations that are impossible to happen in real life. In conclusion: he probably shouldn't watch as many horrors as he does. Yes, he does indeed want comfort and he does often cry and is just in general disturbed. The way he would comfort someone else is by first of all switching on the light because darkness especially after having a nightmare can be scary, he knows it very well. Aside from that, he would just do his best to be calm so he can show that whatever had happened in that dream was just that - a dream, and it'd not going to happen here, in the real life.

Russell - if he has nightmares then they're often about just failure in any and all forms, including dissapointing others. He doesn't really want anyone to comfort him because he tries to rationalize that this was just a dream so it shouldn't actually affect him and if someone comforted him it would make this whole situation feel more real which is not something he wants. That's also why he would try not to cry even if he felt like it. That's also how he would comfort someone else, assurig them that this nightmare was just this - a nightmare, it's not real, it's not going to happen, it means nothing. He will listen to you if you want to talk about it but otherwise he thinks it's best to just not think about it.

Zoe - her nightmares are more realistic like Russell's - they're mostly about her losing all she has and worked for (or not lol) and body stuff - losing her teeth or hair like Vinnie, or waking up with burn marks etc etc. Does she want comfort? Yeah, actually, sometimes that is. She needs reassurances that she is still beautiful and has it all, that nothing has changed. Other times she'd rather keep up her perfect image and pretend that whatever happened she will always come out okay anyway. Same with crying, sometimes she will, sometimes she won't, depends how disturbing the nightmare was that specific night. When it comes to comforting someone else she'd distract them by talking calmly and holding their hand if they want to. If she's feeling especially affectionate she will give you just that - kisses, hugs, or just will hold them close.

Minka - her nightmares are... weird, definitely more on the surreal side cause they consist of just like weird splashes and patterns kinda taking over scenery and everything. So they're very colorful but in a bad way, it's not happy colorful, it's disturbing, it's colorful to distract from something scary (kinda like mascot horror style). Anyway, like Vinnie she would like for someone to comfort her but would rather just pretend that she's alright, so no crying here either plus she's not a crier. While similar she's more likely to show she feels bad than Vinnie, but not by all that much. And when it comes to comforting someone else she would go fully into distractions which can be anything: her talking, music, dancing, just moving, whatever works for that person.

Penny - ok, ok, so I actually have canon reason for that but not to spoiler you I won't mention what that is. So anyway, her nightmares are kinda "all eyes on her" type in the worst way possible, it's not good attention, just kinda "it's all your fault" or observing her failures things. Yeah, they do disturb her and she wants comfort, sometimes they do make her cry. As for comforting someone else, absolutely, of course her first move is to hug them, hold them, all that fluff. It's a good step usually, but she's so quick to do it that sometimes it can disturb the person even more if they're jumpy. Still, she's really comforting and overall a great person to help you after a nightmare. Or well, a great panda if we go with that.

Pepper - me thinks her nightmares are mainly focused around stage fright. As in she is on the stage and something bad is happening to her like being boo'ed or laughed at, not her jokes, her, often by the people she knows. Just like few others, comfort would be nice and all, but she doesn't want to show that she feels bad at all, so once again no crying. Now, if she were the one to comfort someone else after a nightmare she would of course try to use her comedy, I mean what's better to get you out of a bad mood than jokes? If she gets to know what happened in that nightmare she would try to find bits of it she could show in a comedic light so hopefully you think of it in a different light.

Mannnnn, Vinnie's section is again two times the size of everyone else's :/. I just can't stop talking about him.

[i-cant-sing]

Ya know those dreams where there is so much plot happening and you can barely keep up and when you wake up you can only remember like 1 thing?

Last night I dreamt that I was in an arranged marriage (idk who arranged it cause I'm an adult and don't speak to my parents) but I get married and like a month into the marriage, we're climbing something and he gets knocked out and like his gamer stats appeared above him and I found out he was 3'3, which is weird cause he was taller than me (he was like 5'8, I'm 5'2) and he was really mad about the fact that I knew for the rest of the dream. he was really nice tho and wasn't mad at me, he was just mad that I knew

BRO I LOVE SLEEPING SM BECAUSE THE WAY MY MIND MAKES DREAMS SPONTANEOUSLY- I COULD NEVER😭😭😭

I remember having this vivid, jarring dream where I was home alone, and some dude came up to my door and was like "I like you and I wanna get married to u. Let's go out?" And he takes me on a car ride and throughout the ride I roasted tf outta this guy cause he was OLD (I'm talking 60s) and he had white hair and a white beard but he was like handsome and fit and athletic build and tall, etc. And even though I kept insulting him and telling him all the reasons why we're incompatible, this dude just smiled softly and had goo goo eyes for me and then we returned to my home and as I got in, he said he was now even more sure that he wants to marry me, and I was like "even if I agreed, which I don't, my parents would never-" and then my uncles and parents come home and they're like yelling at this guy to fuck off and they're like pushing him out of the house but then this old dude gets REALLY MAD and starts fucking screaming and his eyes turn completely black and he's yelling "SHE'S MINE! SHES MINE! ILL MARRY HER ALONE! MINE!" and then idk why, but he suddenly sent a cannonball of fire inside the house and my mom's losing her marbles because wtf is this otherworldly creature????? Meanwhile, this old dudes family pulls up outside our house (and it's people of all ages, from babies, children to adults) and are trying to sweet talk to my family into giving my hand in marriage to this man, but obv my family is like no, and pushes the old dude out of the house. Meanwhile, my mom is crying in the corner and I'm just whining about there being so much noise that it's disturbing my studies.

Anyways, for some reason, I poke my head outside the door to see if these people are gone, but just then someone- a teen girl (maybe 17?) From his family was leaving when she looked back at me and looked me up and down and then had this smile on her face (it wasn't necessarily creepy, but it was... it just told me she wasn't human either) and she said "oh, you're nice. I can see why he likes you." And nodded her head in approval.

And then I wake up and obviously, every bizarre thing- I gotta tell my mom about it. And poor woman, omg she is HORRIFIED as I tell this dream with glee and she's like "I'd never let you marry someone so old and creepy and scary!😭😭😭" and I'm like okay. And then she's like "who do u think the old guy was? Do u know him?" And I'm like I've never seen him before, but he didn't feel like he was human. At first, I thought he was the devil/Shaytaan. But then I saw his family, and it clicked to me that these might be a clan of jinns/djinn (it's an Islamic thing okay? Just look it up yourself) and basically I've heard stories that these supernatural creatures often fall in love with humans and then are dead set upon marrying them and even isolate them/possess them so that they can't marry anyone else and make them so crazy and unhinged that their own family doesn't wanna be near them and now the human's only source of comfort is with the jinn.

So like.... yeah🥰

And my mom was like "SNOW WHY WOULD U THINK THAT! NEVER EVER TELL ME YOUR DREAMS AGAIN!" and I think it's cause a part of her thinks that dreams have subliminal messages/ability that these might come true (cause again, we've all heard of stories that jinns can actually come in your dreams to give you some messages or what not) and I'm just giggling away while she's freaked out.

I think the only other dream of mine that freaked her out like this bad was the one where I explained in gruesome details on how I was buried alive. Like I told her that when they laid me in the grave, I could feel the wet muddy ground against my back💀💀 and she told me to stop before I could say more.

[donnerpartyofone]

I'm in some kind of abusive cycle with the blog where people submit their dreams. I love hearing people's dreams, so I follow it thinking it's going to be interesting, and then I have to unfollow because it feels like 90% of the posts are about celebrities and fandom shit, then I forget about it for a while until a really cool/funny/scary/weird dream gets reblogged onto my dash, then I follow it again out of some kind of moronic optimism, and pretty soon I remember why I unfollowed it the last time. I'm not sure which possibility is the worst,

a) that for the most part people only submit dreams involving celebrities or fandoms because they assume no one cares about anything else,

b) most of the submissions are made up but nobody has the brain power to invent anything that doesn't involve celebrities or fandoms,

c) actually a large volume of young people's dreams really are about celebrities and fandoms, like a lot of tumblr users just don't even dream about anything else.

Now that I've typed it all out I'm pretty sure (c) is the worst of all possible worlds, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were really true for a lot of people just based on the sort of online behavior I see. There's a reason the "blorbo from my stories" post blew up (and I often wonder if that person regrets it), about how you can post the most random non-human image possible and you'll still have people in your notifications explaining how it somehow represents whatever their main fandom thing is; "fandom" doesn't describe an interest or even a community anymore, its more like this condition of extreme narrowing of perception and cognition down to like one subject, and somehow this is something you're proud of. Seeing people reblog the blorbo post not to co-sign what OP was saying, but to say "Yay this is totally me!!!" with no sense that they're being criticized was really disturbing. There's actually an even worse version of this where somebody broke down the most common (generally sexual) characterizations and scenarios in fan fiction specifically to show how much of this content just perpetuates really ugly stereotypes and bigoted attitudes, but the fandom people got it and reblogged it like "Yay this is totally me!!!" while OP was going...oh my god doesn't anyone understand what I said? There's this kind of scary, culty "FANDOM GOOD" thing that's like so pathological that it actually affects people's reading comprehension and makes them unable to even perceive criticism unless you push things to the extreme and bring nazis or pedophiles or something into it, you have to go so far as to tell someone they're a bad person to break through with them.

Anyway I know this isn't a scientific fact but I agree with the popular notion that dreams are a way of processing experiences and feelings that you're not done chewing on yet. For the most part your dreams should be made up of things, however filtered they are through symbolic language, that are somehow unresolved for you. You shouldn't be closing your eyes at night and just seeing a stream of the exact same pacifying stuff you choose to watch on TV. If that's happening more than once in a great while, you might have given yourself some form of brain damage, and I'm only being slightly sarcastic about that.

(Actually I think it's probably abnormal if you have a lot of wish fulfillment dreams in general; I used to have this friend who turned out to be completely toxic and nuts, and he was always happy to tell me these dreams he had where like he's a cross between Batman and Superman and he punishes everyone who was ever mean to him and then everyone worships him and he becomes the king of the universe or whatever. And I always thought oh my god, why isn't he embarrassed by this, if I had dreams like that about myself where I'm the best person ever and everyone else is either my victim or my slave, I don't think I would repeat it to anyone! But ANYWAY)

I've probably written this post before without even realizing it, which means I have my own problem where I need to disconnect from this thought process. Tumblr used to be a place where you could see weird, cool, interesting stuff that didn't really exist elsewhere, and it was reasonably easy to curate your experience; now the fandom thing is just at such a critical mass that it feels like you're always about one degree of separation from it no matter what you do. When capacity made that post the other day about how you can't even search for any media you're interested in on tumblr because all you get is the fan activity around the thing and not the thing itself (or god forbid your search involves a normal English word that happens to relate to a fandom, then you're really fucked)--when I first saw that post it had almost 8,000 notes and it was only 7 hours old. Whether you're someone who likes it or not, everyone knew what that was about, we are all experiencing it.

I would probably be slightly less bothered if I just let myself think that all the celebrity and fandom posts clogging up that dream blog are mainly just made up, due to whatever compulsion makes people make up inconsequential bullshit on the internet. I remember when FML was a thing, and at first it was kind of fun and kind of like this shared catharsis thing, but pretty quickly it became full of obviously fake stories that were so extreme they weren't even funny, like if someone said those things out loud in your presence you'd just feel sorry for them, that they want attention so bad they'll tell degrading lies about themselves to get it. Actually though the site started to degenerate into basically two kinds of content, which were not necessarily mutually exclusive, but it was always either people telling degrading lies about themselves for attention, or people telling elaborate stories about how they ate all kinds of poisonous garbage and then they shat themselves in public. And for one thing, I don't think it counts as a proper FML if you deliberately did something that was not a good idea and then immediately suffered the most predictable consequences, you know like eating hot cheetoes in gravy and washing it down with a liter of grape soda and then shitting your pants is kinda the same as "I knowingly stepped in front of a speeding car and it hit me and I was badly injured and now I'm in the hospital, fuck my life!", it's not really a surprising misfortune or irony, it's just something you did on purpose because you have no self-control even though only one outcome was possible. But I always had the feeling that the pants-shitters were American, and like obviously America has a problem with junk food, so I started to wonder if everywhere you go here you're just always near at least one person who is one more bad decision away from shitting their pants. Maybe it's true, I dunno, it's starting to seem likely. Maybe we should just change the name of the country to Pantshitsylvania and get it over with, it's probably what we deserve.

[novafire-is-thinking]

Thanks for the tag, @figgiforever!

1. Are you named after someone?

Nope.

2. When was the last time you cried?

…I don’t remember.

3. Do you have kids?

^ I don’t plan on ever having kids, so this is my favorite gif to use when I’m asked questions like this. xD

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Not really. Not out loud, anyway. >:) I do have a dry sense of humor (think Cyclonus), but it’s not always sarcastic.

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Physical: I’m not 100% sure what I notice first. Maybe hair? Ah, but I do know that high-contrast features and angular facial structure catch my attention right away. (My blorbo of blorbos is literally made of sharp angles, what else could one expect? lol)

Non-physical: Vibes. Depth. Intrigue. If they seem too easy for me to read, I tend to dismiss them internally unless they pique my interest later.

6. What's your eye colour?

Dark brown/black.

I like to think that Cybertronians would find this mildly disturbing at first. :P

7. Scary movies or good endings?

Depends on how scary. Pure horror is a no.

I like to have a balance. Scare me half to death during the story, but let the ending mean something.

8. Any special talents?

Does exceptional self-awareness count? xD

I have very few practical, concrete skills, but I like to think I have other things I bring to the table of life that make me stand out a bit.

9. Where were you born?

One of the southern provinces of China

10. What are your hobbies?

Studying people, creative problem-solving, introspecting (I do it enough that it counts 😂), contemplating life and all it’s mysteries and weirdness.

(Yes, this is really the sort of stuff I love doing all day, every day—to the exclusion of actually living life. 🫠)

11. Do you have any pets?

No. I’m just not a huge pet person. Most are too demanding for my liking, and the ones that are low-maintenance are…boring. An exotic pet might be worth the effort though. 🤔

12. What sports do you play/have you played?

How fast can I get in and out of this store without ramming anyone with my cart. 😆

Besides that, I used to ride horses, but I haven’t been able to since I moved a couple of years ago.

13. How tall are you?

5 ft. 3 in. (1,60m)

14. Favourite subject in school?

Anything not required. /hj

(Psych, Sociology, and Astronomy were my favorites. And they’re all electives. lol)

15. Dream job?

I wouldn’t say I have a dream job. It’s more like a “dream state of career existence.”

It involves acquiring a PhD, a medical degree, and a bunch of other degrees with the ultimate goal of bringing my interests together. (Psychology, neuroscience, acoustics, etc.)

I would happily spend the rest of my life learning and doing research, and it would be great to be able to offer something unique to both the scientific world and the medical community. (If I don’t get shunned for coming up with too many far-fetched theories, that is. 🫠)

Tagging: @onewingedsparrow @aecholapis @decepticon-nerd @starscreamboyfriend @benadrylcandlewhack and anyone else who wants to answer!

(Correctly-formatted question form is in the replies to make your lives easier)

[chordsykat]

I've been thinking about this for a minute on how to develop Nathan's character more and thought about how his prophetic dreams could've been building up, correctly predicting, and becoming more disturbing since season three.

The climax happens in Prankklok (I changed it around again) where the band aside from Pickles and Nathan, are beefing with each other and they're planning they're friender-bender to get away from it all.

Nathan hasn't opened up about his prophetic dreams to Pickles due to fears it won't make sense and you know...Gay.

It bites him in the ass hard and now not only is everybody mad at each other, but they're also pissed at Nathan for destroying the album and now they're forced to work together again.

UHHHh OHHHHH Claudia's awoken the lore-dragon that loves to hoard this kind of stuff in my brain -- let's do this :D

I think the prophecy/world ending/the Doomstar/Falconback/Salacia has all been in the works since the beginning, but yeah -- it really picks up steam at the end of Season 2 and beginning of Season 3. Similarly, Nathan's always been one for having weird dreams and visions, but that too, becomes aggressively prophetic as the series goes on. I think your vision for how this all goes down fits well into the canon, and I have a strong feeling that the end will pay-off, similarly.

Popular fan-theory would have you believe, when "Some Days Are For Dying" picks up with that 'second voice' on the first verse, it's Nathan talking:

Feels like it’s Deconstructing The powers of my words They mean fucking nothing

He's clearly frustrated about the state of things. The world's ending and he's hitting writer's block -- which seems to also happen more frequently as the series goes on. Starting Tuesday, you'll see that I even have it as a central dilemma for him in Dethkomic.

And why is Nathan having writer's block such a problem? Well, as you said and as the clues in canon seem to be pointing to -- Nathan's at the heart of the writing process for the band, and without him, the "right message" won't arrive in time to stop whatever it is that's going to tear the world apart. Ishnifus pointed out Nathan destroyed the record because "it was the wrong message", and though the show is great at throwing red herrings our way, most of us don't believe that was one of them.

Anyway. Poor guy's not gonna tell his bandmates about this (because yeah, gaaaaay... but... they're really scary and what if they come true?) so he's going to look like the bad guy in that sense, or at least a wishy-washy artist. "The Ocean Galaktik" and its themes of visions, being in the water, etc. is relevant to this entire topic, and a lot of us think these words, specifically, are about Nathan needing to find those lyrics:

See the world below reform Speak the words and call the storm

I think most of all, the Galaktikon II album has a lot of central themes pointing to the band needing to unify in their final stand aganst the forces of evil. A lot of this has to do with Salacia's power taking hold of Murderface, I'm sure, but more to the point -- I don't think these powers the boys are saddled with will work if they're separated. So your ideas for pushing them back together again too, should see good returns when the story wraps. :)

Always fun to discuss this stuff. But woo. Sorry for the length in that response. :D

[crackship-connoisseur]

fairy cuddles

Summary: Jim wakes up from a prophetic nightmare, and in failing to calm himself down, Hunter offers his own comfort.

Word Count: 802

Characters: Jim Lake Jr (Trollhunters), Hunter (The Owl House), Steven Universe (Steven Universe Future)

CWs: n/a

~~~~

Jim shot up in bed. The terror of his nightmare now ebbing as he came into reality. But he was still quite shaken. It didn't happen very often, but having a prophecy dream was always scary. He held his face in his hand for a moment and took a deep breath before looking over to where Steven usually slept next to him.

Oh.

That's right. He forgot about Hunter. He forgot that they forced Hunter to sleep in between them, just to tease him, but he ended up liking it so much that it became a habit.

This normally wouldn't be a problem for Jim, but he usually went to Steven for support after a nightmare. And he felt too weird about waking Hunter up to get to him. And there certainly wasn't enough room on the other side of Steven for Jim to just crawl into bed over there, despite how big of a bed it was. 

Feeling helpless, he sat there with his head on his knees and arms wrapped around it. He didn't feel secure enough to calm himself down, but he tried anyway. Sitting there didn't usually work, but he was too stunned to use any of his other coping mechanisms. 

"Are you ok?" The groggy voice of Hunter startled him. 

He peered down at his squinting tired face looking at him, trying to adjust to the moonlight seeping into the room. Jim hated pure darkness. 

"Oh, I'm fine I just… had a nightmare." Jim replied quietly, looking away in embarrassment.

"You're shaking really bad and your wings are flexing," Hunter retorted, sitting up in bed to be more level with Jim.

"I don't really think that means you're fine."

Jim stopped flexing his wings. He forgot that was an anxiety habit of his. He couldn't really stop the shaking though. Oh how he wished his body wouldn't give away his feelings so easily. 

"Sorry. I didn't mean to call you out like that." Hunter apologized, noticing Jim's reaction.

"It's ok, I just… have a hard time dealing with nightmares." Jim responded. 

"Is there anything that would help?" Hunter asked. 

"Well usually I…" Jim trailed off as he vaguely gestured toward a sleeping Steven. 

He didn't know why he suddenly felt so embarrassed saying it. It was just cuddles. Maybe because he knew the alternative. 

"Usually I just cuddle Steven to feel better but…" His voice wavered nervously.  

"Oh." Responded Hunter. "Do you want me to move?" 

"I.. don't want to disturb you if you're comfortable." Jim tried to rationalize.

"It's really not that big of a deal, Jim." Hunter sounded more worried. 

Jim sort of flinched at his tone. He didn't want to make Hunter worry about him. 

"Well.. it's not just that. It's just.. Steven has been having… really long days, and he deserves his rest." Jim continued to try and rationalize with himself.

"I'm sure he really doesn't mind taking care of you, Jim." Hunter retorted gently.

Jim ran out of responses. He just made a soft noise of defeat before his head plopped back onto his knees. He was really good at keeping his eyes off of Hunter. 

There was a pause. 

"What if I cuddled you instead?" Hunter offered. 

Jim looked surprised, and certainly just as flustered at the idea. He didn't think they were that far into their relationship for Hunter to be comfortable with that. Then again, he was sleeping in between him and Steven. Maybe he was just too far into his own head. 

"I mean… we could…" Jim sounded more unsure than he wanted to. 

"It's just that…" Hunter didn't know for certain if he should continue, but he did. "I can kinda tell you're not really in a good headspace to make decisions for yourself right now, so… I figured I'd take initiative." 

He hoped that statement wasn't too inflammatory for Jim. Luckily, he seemed to breathe a small sigh of relief, and his muscles relaxed. Hunter smiled at this. 

"It's ok, I get the same way sometimes." Hunter reassured, as he followed Jim down to a laying position again. 

He stretched out his arm and Jim scooted cautiously into his embrace. Once Hunter closed his arms around Jim it was like heaven. Yes, Jim was indeed excited and flustered from the affection, but after a moment, he felt so calm and at peace being in Hunter's arms. He felt exactly like this with Steven. It was so nice. 

Jim scooted himself just a smidge closer and shifted to get perfectly comfortable, his face pressed softly into Hunter's chest. He hummed with content, and he could practically feel Hunter beaming with pure joy. Mostly through his rapid heartbeat. 

But it was a comforting sound, and he fell into a deep peaceful sleep, without any more nightmares at all. 

[fallingstarnovel]

Chapter Nine

"Uh, hi," Evan said.

Ashlin didn't say anything in return, so Evan barrelled on nervously.

"I'm Evan. I should have introduced myself, haha... um. Did you... overhear...?"

Ashlin slowly nodded. Her pale eyes were bloodshot and bleary, which gave them a filmy, glossed over kind of look. Maybe Evan could convince her she was having auditory hallucinations due to lack of sleep?

"It's nice to meet you," he added, because awkward silences made him compulsively want to fill them.

"I recognise you," Ashlin said, eyebrows drawing together.

Evan nodded eagerly. "We're in the same class as Aliya. I've seen you there too."

"No. I've seen you in my dreams."

...

Evan deflated in his chair. Why couldn't he make friends with normal people? "Oh. That's... nice."

"I saw you making a cup of coffee."

Time came to a standstill, digging its feet into the ground and refusing to go no further. Evan went perfectly still. When he next spoke, it was casual, obviously so. "What do you mean?"

Instead of answering him, Ashlin picked up a pen and started drawing on the paper beneath her, tracing circles around circles in long black loops. "I don't think it means anything. It's just a dream I had. There's nothing special about making a cup of coffee."

"Oh," Evan said, like his hands weren't gripping onto the chair beneath him, white knuckled. He forced them to relax. "That's a boring dream to have about someone."

"Isn't it interesting?" she continued. "You looked so unhappy. Stirring and stirring and stirring..."

Evan felt his breath catching sharp in his chest. "Have we met before?"

Ashlin considered this, giving him another filmy look. "No. No, we've never met. Oh, you look unhappy again. I have a nicer dream if you want it."

Warily, Evan nodded. Ashlin began drawing more intensely, hand swirling around and around on the paper, though she wasn't even looking at it.

"I saw night walking through a meadow wearing her cloak of stars. You were following behind her, your eyes glass, on three legs, too afraid to touch. I saw you gather the courage and pluck a star right off her cloak." She yawned, her head drooping. "And then I saw you put it to your mouth. Did you eat it or did you kiss it? It was so interesting... I just wanted to keep watching..."

With that, her head fell on the desk again. Evan jumped in surprise.

Did she just fall asleep again? Just like that? And did that even count as a nicer dream?

He poked her, but she just murmured and let out a long breath from her nose. It was then Evan realised his hands were shaking.

It was fine. It was just a weird dream this girl had! Obviously she ate too much cheese before bed time. Or she was on shrooms.

It felt rude to leave her there alone, especially when Aliya had booked out the study room, and it wasn't like she was disturbing him, so Evan ended up staying there and getting some work done after all. It was better to focus on his studies than to think about... literally anything else.

Evan could not stop thinking about it.

He did literally the bare minimum of work, before bailing and heading to the nearest café for something sugary.

Ashlin's words kept knocking around his head and catching him off guard. Not just her weird dreams – though they were scary enough – but everything else too. Like the fact that there was a simple solution all along.

While he waited in line for a pastry and some hot chocolate, he sent off a text to Ruth.

> hey ruth sorry to bother you! i just had a quick question

The response took a little while this time. Evan was already sitting at a table with his order when Ruth finally replied.

You're not bothering me. <

> heh sorry

> but um anyway, question!

> today i heard that curse marks can get removed through being blessed, is that true?

Another long gap. Evan drank his cocoa and ate his pastry and didn't feel any better for it when Ruth next replied.

Sometimes. Where did you hear this? <

> well this is actually a very funny story!

> you're going to laugh

> i accidentally ended up studying with the demon from yesterday

These responses were very quick.

Did she hurt you. <

I am not laughing. <

Did she hurt you in any way. <

> no it was fine!! don't freak out, sorry, i probably should have opened with the fact nothing bad happened...

> but anyway yeah, blessing! why didn't we try that out last night?

> we should give it a go, right?

It might not work. <

> let's try anyway. i mean, i thought being blessed was a good thing! so even if it doesn't work at least i'll be full of good vibes and stuff!

> maybe we can try it out tonight?

There was a long delay, so long that Evan had finished his drink and left the café by the time he got the response.

Something came up. I can't come over tonight. <

Oh. Oh.

Well, that was fine. Evan blinked down at his phone, firmly ignoring his first reaction – which was childish and stupid, and tasted a little like betrayal.

> haha that's fine! maybe another night then :)

I'm sorry. <

> why are you apologising haha? these things happen, don't feel guilty!!!

I said I would be there for you. <

He did say that, didn’t he? But even Evan didn’t take it that seriously. He knew better than to expect someone to actually be there as much as they said they would be. Life was too complicated - something more important always came up. Always.

Anyway.

Since Ruth was busy, Evan could entertain himself. And he didn’t need an angel to bless him! There were churches full of people who could give blessings, right?

His mind made up, Evan pulled out his phone and started looking up nearby churches to visit.

Evan hovered in front of the church doors, too hesitant to actually cross the boundary and enter past the threshold. The doors were huge, made of old black wood, and were studded with iron nails - they looked like they were designed to withstand a siege.

There was a smaller door cut into the wood that visitors could enter through. Inside was too dark to see. Evan listened, but he couldn’t hear a sermon or a service or whatever.

He just had to go in, find a priest, and ask for a blessing.

…

He couldn’t do it.

It was too embarrassing, and there was a huge chance that whoever he tried to tell about his curse mark would think he was insane. Curse marks? Angels? Demons studying in the library?

His own memories of going to church were vague and unhelpful. Hard wooden pews, his feet dangling in the air, and an unbelievably tall vicar droning in the pulpit about… something to do with a ribbon wrapped around an orange. He wanted to eat the communion wafers because they looked like biscuits, but he was never allowed.

Not helpful at all. He should have paid more attention back then. Now he had an actual, practical reason to listen!

But Evan had never been back to church, not for a long time.

He took a deep breath and edged through the door, entering into the cool, dark interior. The inside was… surprisingly modern. Light wooden floors and caramel wood pews with pleasant cushions. Spotlighting on the dais and the pulpit.

A horrible electric thrill ran down his back, congealing over where he knew the mark was. It tingled and sparked, like it knew it was in dangerous territory.

Evan swallowed, and crept forward a step. There were one or two people sitting in pews, heads bowed in silent prayer. Before he met Ruth, Evan would have felt terrible coming into somewhere like this, where people were actively worshipping, while being somewhat indifferent to the concept of God. Like he was a sinister interloper hiding in a flock of sheep.

Now, though, he had rather pressing and deeply personal reasons to be here.

Evan started sweating as he tried to figure out his next move. He really didn’t feel like he was supposed to go deeper into the church, as if the closer he got to the pulpit, the stronger the feeling of imposter syndrome would be.

When an older woman in a dark shirt with a customary white dog collar appeared out of a nearby door, Evan made accidental eye contact with her and immediately regretted it. She smiled at him and made her way over - but Evan took a few steps back. Old, uncomfortable feelings were pressing down on him again, things he felt long long before he came to university.

“You look a little lost,” she said kindly.

Evan tried to make his mouth work. “No, I’m… I need… Can you…?”

As her smile turned into a confused frown, Evan flinched, before hurriedly tripping over his own feet in his haste to get away. He spilled out of the church and onto the pavement, strangely out of breath and flushed red with mortification.

The sun seemed very bright out here compared to inside. He was so distracted that he didn’t notice that he was about to bump into someone until it was too late: he and the stranger went sprawling.

“I’m so sorry,” he blurted out on autopilot. “Shit, are you okay - wait, you!”

The stranger he had knocked over was no one other than… hm. Evan had forgotten their name. Tree? Rock? Branch? No, it was probably Rock, right?

Rock was lying on the ground. When they saw Evan, they scrambled to their feet, eyes darting around nervously. “Hey,” they said, laughing awkwardly. “Evan. Didn’t see you coming out of… church.”

Their voice lilted curiously as they saw the doorway Evan just rocketed out of. Feeling very self conscious about the woman inside, Evan darted back onto his feet and held out a hand to steady Rock. “Yeah, I was trying to get blessed.”

Rock blinked. “… what? Why?”

“Because of this stupid tattoo,” he blurted out, and then sighed. “Someone told me to try blessing it, and now that I say it out loud, it sounds weird as hell.”

Rock slowly shook their head. “No, it doesn’t sound stupid at all. The tattoo you were asking me about, right?”

“Right.” Evan tried not to crumble with embarrassment. He probably sounded half crazy. “I thought about asking the vicar here, but I got a little nervous. They’d probably just tell me to stop pulling a weird prank on them if I asked.”

Rock was looking at Evan with a searching gaze, their eyes roaming over his face. They frowned for a second, before seeming to realise something.

“I know a priest,” they said hesitantly. “Someone who has experience with… well, it’s a curse mark, isn’t it?”

“Apparently,” Evan said helplessly. “I still don’t think it’s real, but I trust the person who told me. Wait, you know about curse marks?!”

Rock nodded. “You’re right to be cautious. It may be an ordinary tattoo. But let’s just say I’ve witnessed a curse before. I know they’re real. And this priest can tell us if it’s something you need to worry about or not.”

Taken aback, Evan looked at Rock with new eyes. He thought he was the only person who had experienced the supernatural, and yet Rock was apparently totally up to speed with the concept of curses. What the fuck? Was everyone around him getting cursed or blessed or followed by devils all the time, and he was just too oblivious to notice?

It was possible. After all, he point blank tried to tell Aliya that her study buddy was a demon, and she still didn’t get it. Was he just like that before an angel came along and opened his eyes to the truly abnormal things happening all around him?

“Okay,” he said hesitantly. “If you could, I would really appreciate seeing a priest. Does he. Does he have experience with. Um. Demons and stuff.”

Rock nodded. “Yes. Lots of experience. He travels around doing exorcisms and sermons, all hush because Big Church hates him. You know how it is.”

Evan, who did absolutely not know how it was, nodded and pretended he understood. “Well, lead the way.”

Rock guided them both through the city, down the sloping roads to what Evan recognised as one of the night club quarters. Now in day time, it was quiet and seedy, hemmed in by tall buildings with oppressively uninteresting entrances.

At night, this place was wall to wall with drunk students and youthful locals who wanted to find cheap booze and loud music. Or so Evan had heard.

Rock stopped outside of what might have been a shop front a long time ago. Evan looked up and examined the peeling name painted above the dusty windows.

“… the Blue Angel?” he said quizzically.

Rock shrugged. “Gotta let your clientele know where you are somehow, right?”

They knocked on the door. After a long minute, there was a rattle, and then the door creaked open. An older woman peered at them, her wrinkled mouth pursing in disapproval, but then she stepped aside.

She gave a particularly dirty look to Evan, letting out a judgemental sniff when he walked past. She disappeared into the gloom, leaving them alone in an empty bar that smelled of stale beer and alcopops. The floors were horribly sticky. It felt like they were loathe to let shoes leave their surface, clinging on with disgusting tenacity.

Bemused, Evan swapped a look with Rock, who just chuckled. “You should see this place on a Monday night. Pandaemonium. Alright, follow me.”

Crossing the room, they went down a very steep set of stairs into a basement with a low ceiling. Evidently this place, as damp as it was, was also busy on Monday nights, because there was another bar and a DJ booth crammed into the gloom. The smell was even worse down here, like old hops and vinegar and eggy vomit. The substance that made the floor so sticky also appeared to be on the walls and ceilings, making them shine like a watery cave. Evan swore he spotted stalactites forming in corners of the room.

It was dark, but Rock didn’t seem unnerved. They confidently opened another door, with another set of stairs behind it. There were several signs saying “keep out” and “staff only”, which they ignored.

Jogging down the stairs, the eggy smell got worse, like stagnant water. Evan surreptitiously held his nose. “Are you sure he’s down here?”

“He’s always down here,” Rock replied confidently. “When you need him, he’s always down here. He just kind of knows.”

Perhaps it was a mistake following this person he barely met at a party he didn’t remember to a nightclub he had never visited to see a priest who was definitely banned from every church in the country. Evan was starting to get second thoughts, and he was considering politely excusing himself, when the stairs finally ended. There was another door. Rock rapped on it, and someone inside coughed and yelled, “come in lad”.

Feeling socially obliged to enter, Evan stepped through the door and into a small, dark room. A fluorescent office light flickered above, casting a harsh greenish glow on the only inhabitant of the room. It was a man, maybe in his sixties, with a patchy yellowing beard poking out from his strange cowl. He looked like he might have fallen out of a sixteenth century plague pit, if only he weren’t wearing a grubby pair of white trainers and sweatpants that had seen better days.

Notably, he wasn’t wearing a cross or a dog collar. Evan wondered if this was what priests looked like on their days off.

Rock peered from behind Evan, patting him on the shoulder before scurrying into the room.

“Listen, we’ve got a poor guy here with a big fuck off curse on his bum.”

Evan turned red. “It’s not on my-!”

The old man raised his eyebrows. “Does he now. And why hasn’t he been dealt with yet?”

“Because it’s…” Rock said, before coming to a nervous halt. “Evan, do you mind showing him?”

Maybe it wasn’t too late to go home. But fine. He needed this fixed, and he’d done worse for the doctor, so Evan undid his belt and lowered his jeans just enough to show off the tattoo on his lower back.

The old man whistled. “Bit extreme. Someone really wanted this particular little shit.”

“Hey!” Evan said, but they ignored him. Tree said, urgently, “yeah. Someone did. Someone we both know did.”

Since he was facing away from them, Evan thought they had both gone silent, but when he turned back around, they were staring at each other with the telltale wide eyed look of a pair that had been in the middle of an intense whispered conversation.

“Bugger,” said the old man, and then, “shit me. You’re not really doing it, are you?”

“You fucking kidding? He’d kill me,” Rock said, looking both excited and terrified. “No way I’m claiming that, either way. But a mark like that. What do you reckon he’d pay for its safe return?”

The old man huffed, and spat, and then grinned. “Fine. But you didn’t talk to me. And I want tax. I’m investing.”

“Fine. Deal. So you’ll do it?”

“Yeah yeah, keep your hair on.”

Evan had very much lost the plot. “You know what? This has been lovely, but I think I’m going to head out.”

Rock and the old man stared at him. The only door into the room slammed shut, and the light flickered overhead. Evan suddenly felt like something had stuck the soles of his shoes to the floor.

Oh no. He really should have just gone to that nice, normal church. Even if they laughed at him, he had a feeling he’d be in a better position than he was right now.

“Don’t worry lad,” said the old man, leering with a dreadful tombstone tooth smile, “there’ll be someone to catch you at the bottom. So don’t bite through your tongue. They always bites through their tongue.”

Evan stared at him in bewilderment, and then at Rock. “What’s going on? What are you…”

Rock’s eyes were gleaming. There was a low susurration, the light flickered again, and then a trap door opened up underneath Evan’s feet.

Rock and the old man vanished from sight as Evan dropped like a stone into the void below the floor.

He fell for a very long time.

author’s note: this really happened to me actually

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[linagram]

@waiting-on-a-dream THANKS FOR TELLING ME THAT MY ASKBOX DOESN'T WORK DJFDJKDKD i kinda made this blog in a rush and forgot about it 😭😭

anyway, here's what my guard ocs would think of your prisoners!

i should explain how they would make their decision: because eiji would still want to vote everyone guilty and miki would still want to vote everyone innocent, i will explain why they think these prisoners are guilty/innocent and how they would try to convince each other to change their mind. and then i will reveal their final decision!

also, both of them try to judge prisoners only based on their crime and "ideas" at first, but.. tbh you can call both of them metavoters in some way hjdjdksks. they try to imagine what would happen after they vote and how the prisoners would react, so they often end up making their decision based on that.

Prisoner 001: Kanai Ichiro

Eiji: Everything about this guy is disturbing to him. Just why does he act like this? Well, it's not like Eiji cares, actually. Oh, is it because of lack of attention? Is it because mommy didn't love him? Then he should just suck it up and move on. You shouldn't kill people just because your parents never hugged you when you were a child. After watching his MV, Eiji would actually laugh in his face and say that Ichiro is pathetic. Also, he's so annoying.. Oh, it's okay though! Eiji will give him as much attention as he wants.. Ah, he doesn't mean hugs and headpats and all that stuff. He will make sure to think long and hard about his punishment though <3

Miki: She is terrified of him, but she feels sorry for him at the same time. He's so creepy, but she also thinks he's cute in a very weird way. During the interrogation, she would be very polite and she would make sure he's comfortable, so that she doesn't have to be afraid of his tantrums. She's sure he had to go through a lot, so.. yes, she can understand why he would do something so scary. She really wants to protect him for some reason totally not because he reminds her of someone, so.. yes, she thinks he's innocent.

How they would make their decision: Sure, maybe Miki agrees with some things Eiji says, but.. still, she thinks Ichiro had a reason for his murder and that reason is a very understandable one. Also, what's the point of voting him guilty? She's sure that this guy will snap if they do that to him and they don't want him to act even worse than he currently does. Eiji tries to assure her that he won't hurt Ichiro personally, he will just get rid of Keiko and that's all- Fine, fine, dealing with Guilty!Ichiro sounds like a pain. But hey, is Miki okay with taking responsibility for whatever happens to Innocent!Ichiro? Does she really think that affirming his thoughts is the right choice?.. Well, Miki just knows that she doesn't want to see him suffer. So for now, they have to make him trust them.

Final verdict: Innocent

Prisoner 002: Kobayashi Akane.

Eiji: Oh no. Oh no, watching her MV is very, very painful for him. When he first met her, he already had a bad feeling, but after her MV Eiji would be extremely close to having a breakdown. It just feels so familiar.. But no, he has to remember that no matter what, she's still a murderer. And that means he still has to vote her guilty. What's with these prisoners who are still in high school having problems with their parents and classmates.. Oh, he has to think about her punishment too. For some reason, he really doesn't want to do that.

Miki: She would feel so sorry for her, she would actually cry after watching her MV and she would run to give her a hug. The poor girl probably had no one who could support her when she needed help.. Um, if Akane is okay with it, Miki can be her friend! Yes, Miki is a guard and Akane is a prisoner, but.. Miki believes that everyone in this prison deserves a second chance!

How they would make their decision: Miki would try to calm Eiji down after he watches Akane's MV, but also.. yeah, she would use that to make him vote her innocent. I'm not kidding, this girl is okay with doing anything to save these prisoners. Eiji is still shaking.. Is it because he feels bad for her? Is it because he knows how Akane feels? Then he should vote her innocent. And why should they even vote her guilty? Doing that will only provoke her and she will become even more violent. That's what Miki thinks, at least. And again, they should make her trust them. Maybe they will learn more about her crime if they affirm her thoughts. So yes, let's vote her innocent, okay, Eiji-san?.. She doesn't deserve to get hurt even more.

Final verdict: Innocent.

Prisoner 003: Iwamoto Daisuke.

Eiji: Ugh. Can't he just.. vote this guy guilty already and call it a day? There's no need for interrogation, he hates this guy and he will make sure Daisuke knows it. After watching his MV, he would find him even more suspicious. Yeah, his brother's job is even worse (I never said what kind of photographer he was, did I?), but still, something about Daisuke just.. disgusts him. He's not surprised that a man like him would eventually end up killing someone. Haha, he's already getting excited just from imagining his punishment..

Miki: .. She's scared of him. Every time she sees Daisuke, she screams and tries to hide from him. He's definitely better than Kei, but.. she still doesn't want to talk to him. She thinks he's innocent though and she will still try to protect him from Eiji. She doesn't judge him for his job and she thinks that Daisuke would never kill someone if he didn't have a reason for it. Maybe he just had no other choice or he was forced to do it.

How they would make their decision: "Eiji-san, you just don't like him because he reminds you of your brother, right?" MIKI STOP EIJI IS ALREADY DEAD. Fine, fine, maybe she's right. But yes, he really is better than Kei.. though anyone could be better than him, honestly. But why do they have to forgive someone like him? He's way too relaxed for a prisoner and Eiji doubts that he really feels sorry for what he's done. Also, forgiving him means affirming his thoughts. And Eiji doesn't want Daisuke to think that it was okay to kill someone even if it was a part of his job. Also, he just really wants Daisuke to understand how serious this situation actually is. If they forgive him, who knows, maybe he will do the same thing again.

Final verdict: Guilty.

Prisoner 004: Toma Suzume.

Eiji: Something about her annoys him a lot. Also, her saying that she's uncomfortable with something only makes him hurt her even more. So.. yeah, sorry, Suzume, your interrogation won't go that well (for you). After watching her MV, he starts to understand why she's like this, but so what? It's not like her video will make him vote her innocent. He doesn't care about her relationship with that guy, she's still a murderer and she's still guilty. He doesn't think she feels sorry for what she's done, so he will make sure she begs for forgiveness. And if it turns out that she killed someone just for that guy's sake.. He will laugh a lot at first before saying that she's one of the worst prisoners here. Really, just how obsessed do you have to be to do something so horrible for your boyfriend?

Miki: She would like her a lot! If Suzume is anxious about something, Miki is always here to calm her down and make her feel safe. She really likes her outfit too! Honestly, Suzume is so pretty, haha.. Um, if she doesn't like something, she can always tell Miki about it and she will try to help her! After she watches her MV, she feels even more sorry for her. She was probably manipulated by that guy or something like that, but their relationship obviously wasn't healthy.

How they would make their decision: No, Miki, we're not voting her innocent. If we do, it means we will affirm her ideas and we don't want her to think it's okay to kill someone just because you love someone a bit too much, right? Or maybe she killed that guy. Whatever, it's still not okay to do that. And again, it doesn't look like she's sorry for her actions and Eiji will make her regret committing her crime. If they vote her innocent, she will most likely think it's okay to do things like that as long as you do it for someone you love. Miki eventually ends up agreeing with Eiji because she doesn't want Innocent!Suzume to think that her relationship with that guy was something "normal". She wants her to understand that she deserves better and also, if you have to kill someone to prove your love.. yeah, that person most likely doesn't even deserve your love.

Final verdict: Guilty.

Prisoner 005: Endo Haku.

Eiji: Don't try to fool him, Haku. He knows that the sane-looking people are actually the most dangerous ones. And Eiji will remind Haku that he hates him every single day. Haha, he wonders just what kind of reaction Haku will show him if he punishes him.. Watching his MV would break Eiji though. Yes, first it was Akane's MV and now it's Haku's.. Eiji really is softer than he looks. It takes him a while, but after he realizes what kind of relationship Haku and the boy from the video had, he actually almost ends up crying. Oh, it's not because he feels bad for him or anything. He wants to vote him guilty even more now.

Miki: She's so happy to meet someone normal in this place.. Well, at least this guy looks like a normal person. She likes him a lot and she often comes to visit him when she feels like she needs a break from other prisoners and.. uh, her partner. He's one of the prisoners she would try to protect the most. He committed his crime for someone he loved, right? And it seems like a healthy relationship unlike what she saw in Suzume's MV.. well, at least that's what she thinks.

How they would make their decision: Oh, this would be a tough one. Eiji would actually end up completely losing it and Miki would call him out for wanting to vote Haku guilty simply because Eiji's own brother would never do anything to protect him. Isn't that a bit hypocritical of him? Didn't he say that Ichiro should be voted guilty even though he didn't get much attention? How the tables have turned.. Eiji simply says that even if Kei was the best older brother ever, he would still vote him guilty because of his murder(s). Eventually he gives up and just tells Miki to do what she wants. Miki would be so worried about him that she would vote Haku guilty at the very last moment only because of Eiji. Fine, she will trust him this time.

Final verdict: Guilty.

Prisoner 006: Sasaki Yui.

Eiji: Wow! She annoys him so much! Oh, but it's like, she annoys him in a good way. He wants to vote her guilty so bad, hehe <3 He hates her sickeningly cutesy personality too. And no, he doesn't care about her requests and he will stop Miki from doing anything for her. She has to accept that she doesn't have any fans here and her popularity will not help her. That last moment from her MV though.. Huh, maybe she actually does feel sorry for committing her crime. Well, Eiji doesn't really care. She still murdered someone, her saying she's sorry won't change anything.

Miki: I can imagine Miki being her fan before meeting her in person, haha. She would lose her mind once she meets her, like WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS IDOL MURDERED SOMEONE. Yui really could go "But Warden-san, I didn't kill anyone :(" and Miki would be like "You're so right, you would never do that". And even if she did, surely it was an accident, right?.. Right? She most likely just doesn't want to accept it and she still can't believe that it happened, that's why she denies it so much.

How they would make their decision: .. Something about voting her innocent just doesn't feel right. To be honest, even Miki starts to think so. Yui denies murdering someone and if they affirm her thoughts, she will most likely think that what she did was okay, even if it was an accident. Miki doesn't think she deserves to be punished or anything like that, but.. She doesn't want Yui to act too proud. Again, this is Milgram. Her being a famous idol doesn't matter here, she's a murderer, just like everybody else here.

Final verdict: Guilty.

Prisoner 007: Shigeru Rin.

Eiji: .. I hope Rin is ready for getting slapped by Eiji every time he opens his mouth. Ugh, he hates this child so much.. What, he wants Eiji to forgive him, otherwise he won't stop crying? Good, cry more then. He won't change his mind, he's used to dealing with prisoners like him. He wouldn't understand what happens in his MV at all, but again, it's not like Eiji cares. He's still a murderer, he doesn't even have to watch his video. Also, he won't even think of voting him innocent until he hears Rin saying he's sorry.

Miki: She would literally beg Rin to stop crying and she would do anything to earn his trust. He's just a child, what is he doing here? Yes, he's older than Asahi, but still.. someone like him shouldn't be here. His MV doesn't look that bad either. Maybe his crime wasn't as scary as Eiji thinks? Sure, it's still murder, but.. m-maybe they can forgive him?

How they would make their decision: Another tough one. It's hard to make a decision only based on his crime because they have no idea what he even did. Maybe they should just judge him based on his personality?.. Though both of them don't really like the idea of voting him guilty only because he's annoying (yes, even Eiji). Um, maybe if they vote him innocent, he will agree to talk more about his crime? Eiji really doesn't want to do it, but fine, he needs more information about him to understand him better.

Final verdict: Innocent.

Prisoner 008: Watanabe Noa.

Eiji: Even if you're shy and quiet, you're still a murderer to him. It just means you won't cause as much trouble as other prisoners. Also, her personality and her MV just make him suspect her even more. Like, what is she hiding? Her video reminds him of Suzume too, so yeah, he doesn't care about what kind of relationship she had with her husband, she's guilty. Even if it was painful, even if she had to suffer a lot, he still refuses to forgive her until he hears that she's sorry. Maybe he will think about voting her innocent after that. Also her drinking habit makes him hate her even more.

Miki: She would like her so much! She's such a nice woman, Miki just knows that she can trust her! She understands her so well, this place is so scary, it's no wonder she acts like that.. S-she's not sure she's okay with bringing her alcohol every night though. She doesn't know much about her past, but.. she thinks Noa should find a better and more healthy coping mechanism. Oh, maybe Miki can make some tea for her instead? Her MV would make her cry and feel sorry for her too.

How they would make their decision: They would do almost the same thing they did with Suzume. They don't know what exactly she did, but she's still a murderer, and if she killed her husband.. well, that only makes everything worse for her. Eiji doesn't care about her motive and Miki finds her doing something like that a bit scary and she wants to trust Noa, but.. until they learn what happened, they're not sure they can forgive her.

Final verdict: Guilty.

Prisoner 009: Miyahara Kiyoshi.

Eiji: He would literally laugh for like 10 minutes after he finds out he's a cop while pointing his finger at him. After he's done, he would simply go "Sorry, you're still guilty~". He doesn't care if it was self-defense and he doesn't care just how kind Kiyoshi is. He already knows a Prisoner 009 who's sweet on the outside, but is actually just as bad as Kei, so he can't trust him. Also, something about his ideals scares him a bit. Huh? What do you mean, Eiji is just as passionate about his own ideals as him? Whatever, he's still better than that old man. At least he didn't actually kill anyone.

Miki: Finally, someone who actually seems reliable! She's so glad to have someone like him in Milgram, being a prison guard and solving prisoners' crimes is so hard for her.. Also, she doesn't think his crime was that bad? She fully trust him and believes that it really was self-defense. It doesn't look like he had any other choice and that prisoner started it first. So.. maybe they should forgive him? Something about Innocent!Kiyoshi makes her nervous though..

How they would make their decision: Eiji really doesn't want to say it, but he can't prove just how bad of a person Kiyoshi really is right now. He just thinks that he's way too perfect, like he can't trust a man like him. Miki kinda agrees with him, but also she doesn't think that voting him guilty is a good idea. When Eiji asks why, Miki simply says: "He's useful". He finds it shocking that Miki didn't just say "Well, he's nice :)" or "I don't want anything bad to happen to him :(", but then he laughs. Wow, his partner truly is something. Fine, let's make this old man believe he's safe for now.

Final verdict: Innocent.

Prisoner 010: Okura Mayumi.

Eiji: Another prisoner with their own ideals and rules? God, these guys are so annoying.. It doesn't help that Mayumi is so nice, it actually makes Eiji feel sick haha get it because she's a nurse. Her MV only makes him feel even more anxious. Actually, everything about her being a nurse and a prisoner makes him feel anxious. Every time he sees her, he has to pretend like he's not in extreme pain 24/7. Her personality actually terrifies him, he has a very bad feeling about her crime. If she tries to be nice to him, he will panic even more and try to hide it with another punishment for her.

Miki: Why would Eiji be so scared of her? Mayumi is so sweet, she's so glad to have an older sister figure like her, hehe.. Miki is so grateful to her for everything she does, she really can't thank her enough. Oh, maybe she can help Eiji with his injuries? He actually has to hold back his tears every time he has to walk somewhere, so.. Oh, it looks like Eiji doesn't want Mayumi's help. Oh well, it's not like Miki can force him to accept it.. Wait, her MV is terrifying-

How they would make their decision: She's nice. She's reliable. She's useful. But still, something about voting her innocent just.. Do they really want a nurse to believe that killing a person who was most likely her patient is a good thing? Again, they really need a person like her here, but also.. they are guards. They have to do their job. They have to make a decision, and both of them know what they want to do.

Final verdict: Guilty.

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

what's your favorite scary movie? Do you like them for the special effects or do you prefer a more cerebral thriller-type movie?

Oh, "classic" scary movies. I don't remember off the top of my head, but I think my favorites are: The Haunting (1963), Hush (1965), Harrow the Ninth (2010)

I haven't seen many "genre" horror movies, because I find them a bit too often to enjoy them. The Babadook was really good (I haven't seen it a second time so I can't say whether it changed this), and I remember enjoying Evil Things, but that was the only one of those I've seen (and I saw it in an extremely "gorey" way, with plenty of blood, so it isn't a "genre" movie). (I did see Evil Things the other day, and I liked it very much, though I didn't cry a lot). I just really, really do not enjoy the kind of blood-and-guts horror with lots of bodies in it and gore everywhere. It's too gross for me. The whole "mummy movies" thing seems like an evolution in this direction. I've found the Evil Dead remake, which I watched with my friend, really disturbing. Not as disturbing as actual gore, but disturbing in the same way I find "porn is art" (as a way of saying this doesn't really bother me, I really don't have a problem with porn, I guess, in the "I don't think it has any effect on my view of people's actions" way) or similar things disturbing.

The Babadook and Evil Dead also seem more likely to be "in-your-face" horror, so I think that's why it works for me. I know this isn't necessarily a universal feeling, I know people like a sort of weird dreamy, atmospheric horror that I can't do much with. There are certain "good" scenes in "classical" horror I like, but usually not whole movies. For me, there's something to the fact that horror movies are very much about the soundtrack, whereas I can really enjoy "ambient" music (I listened to a lot of Radiohead's Kid A in high school, because I had a Radiohead phase). I feel like the "ambience" stuff has more of a plot and less of an atmosphere, which is the opposite of what horror is for most people.

The Babadook doesn't seem to have any sort of plot (I watched it in a dream), but it does seem to have a theme – a vague sort of feeling of helplessness. The Babadook seems like the kind of movie that's designed to be a really creepy experience. If the movie didn't have that aspect of the scary thing, it would kind of be boring to me. If it had the same sort of plot and atmosphere but nothing scary, it would not be a good movie for me.

Anyway, my favorite classic movies are scary in a different, subtle way from that, not a "horrific" way at all.

Thanks for asking! (If you ever watch one of these movies, tell me if I'm getting them right – I haven't seen them a lot!)

[riotinapublicstation]

The Scariest Songs I've Ever Listened To!

Since it's Halloween tonight, I wanted to share with you some of the most eeriest, uncanny and creepiest songs I've heard. This list won't be in any particular order, just random scary songs for you to enjoy for the spooky time of year...

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds ft. Kylie Minogue - Where The Wild Roses Grow (1996)

I could have put any of Mr Cave's 'Murder Ballads' on the list, but for me, 'Where The Wild Roses Grow' takes the grisly cake for being intriguing yet ultimately unnerving. The story of a young woman's murder is told through both the male and female perspective, creating this conjoined view of a passionate love affair that quickly takes a dark Volta. There is a sense of naivety that lurks throughout the song, making it all the more horrifying when the murder itself is revealed, and of course, Nick Cave's deep, rich vocal delivery combines very well with Kylie Minogue's innocent, light voice to portray this. I'm very fond of the Southern Gothic genre and how Nick Cave's work with the Bad Seeds and the Birthday Party builds and explores on the most obscure and macabre elements of the genre, and it is very clear in this song; in the official video, the body of the young girl is seen laying lifeless, a rose between her teeth, in a serene river within a forest, as we are dragged through this disturbing love story with the most unsettling of twists and turns.

Nine Inch Nails - Closer (1994)

If I had money for every time someone called this song attractive or sexy, I wouldn't be sitting here writing this. I'd probably be one of those billionaires in hiding at the moment because I think there is more nihilism in this track than what some people assume it to be. The industrial, driving force of making this song scary is the juggernaut of an instrumental. The lyrics on their own are consistently provocative but listening to the instrumental alone is a whole different experience; the thing is like a contained piece of machinery, a caged tiger, a maniacal chainsaw of a song that evolves into chaos and madness. It is a tale of existentialism, of darkness, decay, obsession and pure insanity that does not hold back. The final seconds complete the bad dream, Trent Reznor whispers almost inaudibly while the song wearily brings itself to a close, ending abruptly with the single notes of a piano.

Marilyn Manson - Prelude (The Family Trip) (1994)

I've always found the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to be a disturbing one. Chances are you've heard the story as a child; maybe you were forced to read the book at school or watched the films at a family get together. Hey Mum, let's watch the film about a weird old man who lets kids come in his bizarre chocolate factory with a 4 in 5 chance of ever coming out again! Strange man, Roald Dahl was. Anyway, wherever you've heard it, I bet you don't immediately associate it with Marilyn Manson. Well, now you can, with the first track of 'Portrait of an American Family'. Complete with an album cover of four voodoo-like dolls with bulging white eyes sitting vacantly in a plastic living room, it's the ideal opener to an album of carnage. The song is, by all means, probably not a coherent song - a lack of musical flow, of pristine vocals, and of any rhythm, just an unwilling journey into the obscure; the uncanny, gremlin-like voices heard in the backdrop accompany the disorder conveyed while the song plays. It's the barrier you dread going across when you first play the album, and it's only when reaching the end of the song, you feel like it's okay to breathe. 'The Family Trip' grabs you by the throat, drags you down to its murky depths for merely a minute and twenty seconds, but Manson makes it feel like twenty minutes. This song preys on the primal fear of the unknown, the feeling of impending doom and the idea of truly not knowing which earthly way you're going.

The Beatles - Revolution 9 (1968)

Ah yes, the Beatles. The Fab Four. John, Paul, George, Ringo. Your grandmother's favourite band. They are possibly the most endearing and successful British group on the planet, responsible for some of the most happiest songs ever performed. 'Strawberry Fields Forever', 'Here Comes The Sun', 'Revolution 9'. Ok, maybe you don't want 'Revolution 9' being played at your family-friendly summer barbecue or your wedding party. Your guests would probably leave out of pure fear and confusion. The story goes that John and Paul got very stoned one night and decided to create a song using sound and voice recorders, resulting in this monstrosity. This song is by all accounts a never-ending nightmare. Spinning in a room of voices, instruments, radios, orchestras, laughing women, John Lennon making weird noises, a baby softly crying, a reversed opera, crashing cymbals, a fire burning, laser guns, shouting men and all for eight, long minutes. I'm certain that listening to this in a dark room by your lonesome would more or less give you some sort of sleep deprivation problem. Thanks, the Beatles, for one of the worst musical headaches I've ever had to listen to. Don't do drugs, kids?

Radiohead - Fitter Happier (1997)

Every Radiohead album has that one song that you scramble to skip because it's very, very creepy to listen to. For me, it's 'Fitter Happier'. The seventh track of 'Ok Computer', considered widely to be one of the best albums of all time, is not even music at this point. I have no idea what you'd categorise this as. A prophecy? A revelation? Or just a drawn out two minutes of a monotone void? I'd say all three. It plays just after 'Karma Police', one of the band's most well-known songs, so your expectations are gone at that rate. 'Fitter Happier' seems to morph itself nicely with the legendary album's themes of dystopia and alienation. Them Yorke's lyrics depicting a narrative of the future eerily correlate with the attributes of our modern world, and that's what makes the song even scarier. A quiet piano resides amongst the autogenerated, robotic voice of the sci-fi horror; it reaches for the fear at the back of your mind and refuses to let go from beginning to finish. Put simply, a horrific car crash that you want to look away from but really can't. We are given scenes of a perfect life, but something feels very, very off. The instrumental environment is imperfect, and so we fall into the terrifying, repetitive cycle that the song portrays, until finally, we become "a pig, in a cage, on antibiotics." Utterly harrowing.

So, that's five of my personal scariest songs! I only had the time to talk in depth about five, but here are the honourable mentions/outtakes: Bike by Pink Floyd, One by Metallica, Burn the Witch by Radiohead, Polly by Nirvana, Several Species of Furry Animals... by Pink Floyd, Come To Daddy by Aphex Twin, Fire On High by Electric Light Orchestra (try listening backwards!)

What are some terrifying songs that you've listened to and dread going back to? Anything that really scared you when you first listened to it? Let me know! :)

[leffee]

More head cannons about your son?

I love my son. If someone saw this out of context that would be quite worrying. For real though, imagine actually having headcanons about you real, biological son. Goodness. But no, it's just funny gecko that I think of as a human or human with tail and ears and scales that I have projected everything on and more. The best thing is that those headcanons will probably never end bc I think about him constantly. So let's deliver hmhmh 10 more:

so this one is kinda complex, and not among my main ones, but it sure exists. If he were super in love with someone (as often, we'll go with Sunil, but it can be anyone) but for whatever reason didn't tell him about it, to relieve the tension and need to be with him, he would write some short (or longer, if he's in the mood) stories about himself and Sunil being a couple in love. So he's essentialy kinda writing fanfictions. Those aren't super good or anything, as I said, he writes them only to satisfy his own need to be with Sunil romantically, A bonus thingy dingy scenario: somehow Minka found out about that, read one of those stories and thought that it was actually pretty good. And in this scenario she's in love with Russell, didn't tell him either. And so Vinnie and Minka strike a deal, to satisfy each other's romantic cravings, they trade sometimes. So basically it looks like that: Minka paints some Vinnil stuff for Vinnie and he in turn writes her a short Russinka story. It actually works really well for them and they pretty much eat that up totally not feeding each other's obsessions. Even better if Sunil and Russell are already in relationships with others, then they can feed each other's delusions

he's just as much of eating lover as Penny Ling is. He can devour so much in one sitting. They have a traditon that once the school or now academic year ends they go to this one specific fast food place that they have been going to since forever, order a shit ton of food and eat all that. He also stress-eats sometimes

coffee doesn't work on him, or at least not in the way it was intended. It makes him sleepy instead. He still drinks it anyway sometimes, though tries not drinking too much or at all when he knows he'll need to be on any amount of alert soon

when he has dreams they are mostly fucked up dreams. Not necessarily scary, though those are possible too. Most of them aren't exactly nightmare material that you would wake up from covered in sweat and having trouble breathing, just disturbing and/or weird in nature. One reoccuring dream he has goes something like that: he's laying on the grass, as far as he can look there's just that, mid-height grass and night sky above. He can't move at all, no standing up, no turning his head, nothing. And then this pretty big shadow shows up, gradually covering him like something or someone is coming up to him from behind. He tries to see what that is, looking as far back as he can. He never saw what or who it is, but it always feel like it's just out of his field of view, like one more inch and he could see it. But alas he can't. And that shadow looms over him for the entirety of that dream. It used to be quite scary at the beginning but after experiencing this dream every now and then for years he's just kinda bored of it now

sometimes, when Russell and his dad go to the graveyard to visit Russell's mom's grave he goes with them. He's honestly not quite sure why, neither of his parents are dead, but it gives him some sort of weird catharsis. The only idea he has is that since they are visiting his friend's mom's grave then maybe he subconciously treats it as if he was coming to his dad's grave as well. Again, his dad's not dead, but Vinnie never sees him, he barely, very barely remembers him, so in a way he might as well be... Or maybe he just likes spending time with Russell and his dad that much. Even if it's in such way

him and Zoe like listening to music together. Like in a situation when all seven of them are driving somewhere whether in a car or on a train or something and it's been many hours so they are all just kinda tired at this point Zoe gets her headphones out, gives one of them to Vinnie, puts the other one in her ear of course and puts on some music. Vinnie doesn't have a specific music taste, he like what he likes and he found out that somehow every song Zoe has on her phone just hits the spot so damn well

I like to think he has picked up quite a few habits from Sunil over time. You know, the thing when people who spend a lot of time together pick up each other habits and that makes them get more similar to each other. Yeah, that's a real thing. Anyway, so he did end up with the habit of: saying "my friend" when adressing others, interwining his fingers when concerned as well as holding and playing with his tail (in a world where they have tails) when nervous or stressed. He doesn't do any of that as often as Sunil does, but admittedly, it appeared in his behavior, while it simply wasn't there before

his favourite kind of alcohol is liqueur but he's not picky, he will drink pretty much anything. There are very few things he will out-right refuse to drink under any circumstances

people who only knowing him from seeing or hearing either think he is super duper nice and a complete softie who couldn't protect himself and would never stand up for himself or that he's some sort of indestructible force that can and will destroy everything and everyone, always pissed and angry. Basically, the second kind folks saw him angry once and since he's super uncontrolable, very vocal about that, and seething with need to destroy something when feeling that way they just thought he's this way always. Halo effect, am I right?

You know the cocktail party effect? When you react to hearing your name even if you know it's not adressed at you? He doesn't have that, or rather he doesn't have that with Vincent. If he heard "Vinnie" yeah, he would react, but if he heard "Vincent" 99% of time his brain just doesn't react to that name. Even if you were looking straight into his eyes and called him that, he would be like "???" and look behind himself to see if you're maybe talking to someone behind him, because you're clearly not talking to him, right? He's Vinnie. He doesn't do it out of any ill intent or anything, he just genuinely most of the time doesn't think about the fact that Vinnie is not his actual name. Ah the beautiful duality of Vinnie and Vincent. I could give him an identity crisis or sth, but that's a long one, maybe another time

He's way better at theory than practise when it comes to dancing, he just doesn't want to admit it, especially to himself. Look, he's just not good at dancing, he'll never be, he's clumsy, this is just not working for him, he's just in heavy denial about it and thinks he can pursue it. One day he'll realize he can't. But anyway, I'm not taking everything away from him, he can be good at theory. Because he genuinely loves dancing, he even likes reading about it, learning the history, different kinds, all kinds in fact, when and what and who. That doesn't only include the real dances, for example he's very knowledgable about danse macabre, you know, the theme in art where all people are lead by Death in death dance representing how everybody no matter the differences will die one day? Yeah, he knows about stuff like that and can talk about it for hours actually

Ok, that's actually 11 headcanons but I couldn't stop myself :} hope you liked them.

[jodilin65]

Even more exhausted today as the sleep debt mounts, and the storms keep waking me up. Oh, to be able to sleep at night when the storms and motorcycles are much less likely to disturb me.

I crashed around 3:00, but just two hours later, we had a power failure for the second day in a row. After waking up from a dream where the good Kim was telling me she was worried about getting fired from her job—maybe she was some kind of whistleblower—I managed to fall back asleep.

Then the thunder began, and I was up for hours before finally dozing off again. By that time, my lungs were tight, and my back hurt like hell. When my lungs get really tight, I sometimes feel pain between my shoulder blades, as if I were karate chopped there. Good thing I just got a new inhaler because I needed it. I took half a melatonin and a couple of ibuprofen for the pain.

As is usually the case when my sleep gets interrupted, I finally dragged myself out of bed shortly before 2:00 a.m., utterly exhausted. I tried to nap a few times but couldn’t, despite being so tired.

The last time I got up, it was after dreaming that it was 2029. In 2026, I had a scary medical event, and I was thinking about how it had already been three years and how time was flying. I don’t think anything could scare me as much as what happened in 2014.

When the thunder wakes me up again tonight, I’m sure I’ll be even more exhausted. I swear, every time I seem to get on a roll with energy, storms or nightmares knock me off track. I’m so sick of this and not being able to take up any other form of exercise consistently, knowing I wouldn’t be able to stick to it often enough to really benefit. I can’t go into strength training like this, I can’t get back on the vibration platform, and I can’t walk or jog consistently. The glider is better than nothing, but I don’t think I’ll have the energy for that today. I only got a few miles in yesterday too. Finished the New York and UK rides and just started Australia.

I was thinking back to the times in my 20s and 30s when my sleep would be broken up by asthma attacks before I quit smoking. For the most part, once I settled the attack, I was able to go back to sleep and usually felt okay once I got up. Why has it gotten so hard for me to handle broken sleep? I swear the NHA or jail would literally kill me these days. Literally. I just don’t get why it’s gotten so hard for me to handle sleep disturbances and sleeping in chunks. I know I’m older, but still. Perhaps sleep apnea and my thyroid really do affect me more than I gave them credit for, and they’re just throwing fuel on the fire. I wish I could know if the Inspire would help.

I still wonder about the possibility of something cursing my sleep. If that’s the case, it’s going to bypass anything I do to try to help myself.

I’m even more convinced there’s no God. With each passing year, I’m more and more convinced of this, and I figure I’ll eventually become 100% convinced. I’m at about 90% now. That’s because I prayed to whatever may be out there to please not let my sleep be disrupted since I was so tired and needed to catch up.

Okay, help me out here. If there really were a God, why would He say no to that? Why would He be like, “Nah, fuck your sleep. I don’t care if you get woken up; I’m going to let it happen.”

So yeah, I’m a little more convinced nothing’s up there and that the stories I’ve heard about people who claim to have been in the afterlife while they were temporarily clinically dead are just hallucinations that seemed so real they believed what they saw was real. The brain is a very weird and complex thing that we don’t fully understand.

Anyway, Tom is slowly fixing the wall tiles I messed up and is doing a much better job of it than I ever could. I’m great at home decorating, but not at home improvements.

We took out the center leaf of the table, and it really opens up the kitchen. It’s so nice to be able to walk around the table to get to the cabinets and shelves.

[protokirby]

Had some kind of weird string of almost-nightmares when I kept waking up and going back to sleep.

This is kind of funny but I'm putting a keep reading there anyway

Things they had in common: They were oddly humorous in some places and They all felt like they were real life and that I was awake.

There's something so funny about hearing the roar of a chainsaw come on and off and just think "Why is mom playing with the power tools at 1 in the morning?" with like- fake waking up. In the dream I was asleep and in the dream I woke up to the chainsaw noises. It was only funny with the hindsight that it was just a dream.

In another one of the almost-nightmares I was scrolling through facebook for some reason. I have an actual facebook account I use exclusively for uploading things from my switch but I don't use it for facebook things. So this was pretty unrealistic for an otherwise realistic dream. What was the nightmare part of the dream was unclear. It just had the signature feel of a nightmare (that being an atmosphere that feels a way I can only describe as the sound of thousands of mosquitos coming together in harmony but eerie silence at the same time idk). It was otherwise fine. In the dream while scrolling facebook I saw an image with a bunch of characters from different things were in one image to make some kind of comic(?) with speech bubbles just slapped over the same character images over and over. This exact image of Iris was used

and that grabbed the attention of my broken humor for reasons unknown to me. The most disturbing thing in the dream is that I sent a dm to the facebook person who made the comic in question and their reply was unsettling. I don't remember anything about what it was or what I said to the person.

In another one of the almost-nightmares, I wanted to draw in one of my sketchbooks. But this was some dystopian mess where by some ignorance of the laws of physics, pop-up ads could come play in physical paper sketchbooks. They would take up several whole randomly selected pages at a time and not leave until the ad was over. I think this would be horrifying if it began happening in real life. Some hacker would probably get control of whatever does it and put naughty stuff on every page and refuse to take it down. Most likely as an attempt to express to the people who run it to stop running ads in notebooks. Which. I suppose would definitely be justified. But. I'd be scarred and I also think it wouldn't work. Anyhoo the funny thing in that almost nightmare is that one of the pop-up ads was for some isekai anime with those comically long names they tend to have but the main character looked suspiciously like Carmine pokemon even having an outfit that looked like a magical girl version of the blueberry academy uniform. The pop-up ads in notebooks is certainly a thing that would be scary irl but the most nightmare-like part of the dream that gave me the most bad emotion was that I was taking care of two baby chickens and I needed to feed them and couldn't find anything they would eat and both of them disappeared when I wasn't looking.

Last one I remember. The same facebook person appeared in the dream. Still don't remember anything about them. But mom called me in the dream to say something like "you had an awake fever scream" and I said "Yeah. I think I had something like that". I don't know what that means but I think "awake fever scream" is a good way to describe the awake-feeling almost-nightmares. I mean- I did feel sick before taking a nap and all that so they could be fever dreams or somethin. But something about the wording of "awake fever scream" feels more accurate to these

[solidwater05]

I dreamed that I was drawing on my phone on the street while walking with my mom. I don't remember where we had to go

At some point a big helium balloon was attached to my feet. I thought something about the helium crisis. Anyways, the balloon made my feet float up. Luckily the rest of my body didn't hit the floor and I just levitated in a weird position. I crawled for a bit and got tired so I tried to stand up and failed miserably. I tried again and the balloon became some sort of rocket boots and I just used them to float like 20 cm above the ground

Once I got to wherever I was going, my mom started talking with someone about revival rituals? They were talking about a specific technique, I was just looking around, and when they mentioned a less popular technique I happened to catch a glimpse of a closed room that disturbed me quite a bit even if there wasn't anything scary. The room was in cold sepia tones and a few colorful plates were highlighted.

I kept looking around. I saw a bush trimmed in the shape of Saint Rain World. I thought it was very cute

Suddenly I was at my aunt's house. My youngest cousin saw my art and roasted me, but I can't remember what he said. Probably for the best.

Then someone said that either the best paid football player in the world, or a specific person in the government, could legally fight with swords. This person had a specific title. I asked if 'their whores' can swordfight too, and everyone laughed at the question. Then they said that legally no, they can't, but if they're the whore of someone with so much money then they can just bribe the judge. I have no idea why I called them whores.