the insomnia meme

[sockerballs]

the i n s o m n i a meme

It happens to everyone - sometimes, you have nights where you just can't fall asleep, no matter what you do. It could be for a number of reasons, or no reason at all. And this is what's happened now: you've been laying in bed for what feels like hours, just tossing and turning, and nothing seems to help. So what's left to do? Get out of bed and go wake someone else up, of course. If you're not getting any sleep, then why should they? i n s t r u c t i o n s • Post with your character (note the name and fandom in the subject). • Other people reply to you by generating a number from 1 to 10. • Have fun! o p t i o n s 01 • FEAR. Maybe you're hearing strange, indeterminable noises; maybe there's a severe storm happening outside; maybe you watched a scary movie before bed? Whatever the reason, you're terrified and it's keeping you awake. You just want to wake someone else up so they can protect you from the monster in your closet. 02 • HUNGER. Your stomach is growling and it just won't stop. Or perhaps your throat is so dry you could cough up a tumbleweed? Well, you've gone to the kitchen to remedy this and hey, that was a pan that just dropped on the floor. It was loud enough to wake the dead! Oops. 03 • PAIN. Your body is completely worn out, be it from exercise, battle, sickness, or what have you. Either way you're in enough pain to keep you from sleeping, so maybe someone else has a home remedy or something, or can at least help you take your mind off of it. 04 • SOLITUDE. For some reason, your bed just feels so empty at the moment. You're feeling terribly lonely and really just want someone to keep you company for a while. Maybe it'd be easier to fall asleep if you're with them... 05 • DISCOMFORT. Your room is an oven. Either that or a freezer. Or maybe this bed is just really uncomfortable? Who knows why you can't get to sleep, it feels like it could be anything. Why even bother trying? Maybe someone else can preoccupy you until you feel tired enough to ignore your discomfort. 06 • PENSIVE. Something's on your mind, and no matter how hard you try to focus elsewhere, it's just not going to work. Your body may be tired, but your mind is incredibly busy and it's virtually impossible to get to sleep. Surely, talking it out with someone else will help? 07 • SADNESS. Something terrible has happened that day, perhaps; or you could just be severely depressed. Either way you're trying your hardest not to cry yourself to sleep, and it's not working at all. Better find a way to get it out of your system somehow; you need a shoulder to cry on. 08 • ANGER. You are just... fuming. Who knows why - that annoying dog is barking again, or maybe the people next door are getting busy and keeping you awake. Whatever the reason for your ire is, you'd better put an end to it so you can get some damn rest already! Go wake up a friend so you can complain to them. 09 • RESTLESS. You're far too energetic to sleep right now. Maybe you're just trying to do so out of necessity - you have to be up early tomorrow! But you just don't think you'll be able to fall asleep for a while now, so why waste the time trying to sleep when you could be doing something else? Namely bothering someone else - you're totally jealous because they're getting more sleep than you. 10 • WILDCARD. Choose one of the options above, or make up your own scenario.

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EMERGES FROM THE VOID

[mylawn]

[76 is pretty sure he hasn’t had a good night’s sleep since they started pumping him full of shady government chemicals—and from there, it’s only gotten worse. When he’s feeling particularly philosophical, he takes a moment to think about how all he’s ever known is war and fighting in all its various forms. Even in the cushier years of Overwatch, there was no shaking the looming shadow of the Omnic crisis, sneaking up on him at night and making sure that he doesn't forget what they all went through, even decades later.

Suffice to say he doesn’t exactly have good sleeping habits.

Ana's taken this watch, but he's up anyway, knowing it's useless to even try. She might prefer to focus on the task at hand and not want his company, but he's naturally restless, of the mind that if he can't get to sleep, he might as well do something productive. Still, he approaches with the knowledge that this is her specialty, not his.

He makes a little noise to let her know that he's coming, before sitting down wordlessly beside her, letting their shoulders brush.]

Anything good?

[hunter_of_gunmen]

[She'd known Jack too long to think he'd use the time to get in any actual rest, and so his intrusion rates only the barest look from her before she returns her attention to the spotting scope. It's fixed on another Talon facility, a warehouse of sorts where they gather supplies for distribution to the other cells.]

A truck came in a half-hour ago. One driver, one passenger, nothing in the cargo bay. [She adjusts the focus on the scope.] I wrote its registration down.

[It's not necessarily the goods that interest her so much as where they are going and where they're getting them from - to find that out, they'll need to peek inside, but before they can do that, they need a basic idea of how this location operates. What the guard shifts are like, where their security systems are, et cetera. You can't do that in a single night. You can't even do it in two, not if you want it done right.]

You really should get some sleep, Jack. You won't be able to think straight, otherwise.

[mylawn]

[There's no hiding from Ana, of course. She knows him far too well, and the intricacies of his insomnia aren't lost on her. That's what happens when you spend the better part of thirty years around someone, small chunk of missing time or not.

But he plays it off anyway, because that's what he always does.]

Can't sleep. It's fine.

[He's nothing if not confident in himself, and very obviously shrugs it off, a gesture she can likely feel, given their proximity.]

Thought I'd check in.

[hunter_of_gunmen]

[She rolls her eyes and pats the tranquilizer pistol at her side.

(What? He's too old for lullabies.)]

It's just as well. This may very well bore you to sleep.

[On the roof of the warehouse, a guard stands watch, gazing out into the darkness with just a rifle and a radio to keep him company. Crickets chirp. In the distance, an owl hoots. In the distance, cat-eye headlights cut through the darkness as another cargo truck rolls up to the checkpoint. Ana zeroes in on it through the spotting scope, flipping open the notepad to write down its registration and notes on the occupants inside.]

It's been like this since sundown. You're not missing much.

[mylawn]

[He doesn't miss the way she draws attention to the tranquilizers, and he's quick to shake his head, as if telling her not to even think about it. The last thing he wants is to get put out artificially--it's not exactly his favorite thing.]

Don't.

[But he hopes she wouldn't actually do it, unless he asked her. Jack focuses his attentions on the compound to find that it is, in fact, as boring as she says.]

You don't think it's weird that things are this quiet?

[Maybe he's just overtired and paranoid.]

[hunter_of_gunmen]

[Never fear, Jack - it was only a jest.]

The patterns of traffic are consistent with what we've seen on the satellite imagery and on past reports. Besides, this location is quite remote. I'd think it strange if things weren't this quiet.

[And now she looks at him, really looks at him - eye following the weathered creases on his face up to his eyes, trying to discern just what he is thinking. Instinctively, she defaults back to the role of second in command:]

What would you like to do?