the i n s o m n i a meme

[bababooey]

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.

Comments

[eversleep]

[ there are loud evenings here in the manor, like bloodletting parties with gobs of laughter and shouts and merriment. it is a colorful cast of characters that she sits to the dining table with these evenings now, trading her husband's company for that of people who dine on blood and wine and fear. she doesn't dislike it, michiko realized, early on in her tenure. it has been many moons since that moment, leaving her feeling like even more of a ghost than before.

ghosts love their peace and quiet and their own space, their own time; the atrium is large. it should join the survivor's wing with the hunter's wing, a sprawling place with weeds and bugs and flowers and greenery and all manner of flora. it'd be a forest all it's own were it not for the glass ceiling. it spills bright moonlight on the stone tiles, leaking white like red blood. the geisha takes to the dead silent manor garden, a world not unlike a graveyard. she thinks of death and remembers it is her own that had delivered her unto this place, and she wonders if it'll be miles' that might allow her to see him again. she seeks ghosts as much as she is one, perhaps.

she shouldn't be surprised when another joins her, for the reason. ghosts always seem to converge in lonely places, abandoned places. ] Who goes there? [ her voice is tight with curiosity. there is nary a bone in her body that feels uneasy in this moment. she is, after all, the predator in this manor. ] ...Hunter Mary.

[ she inclines her head, keeping to her seat in the iron garden chair. it is, despite the fact it's quite old, not at all rusty. ] How did your match go?

[ michiko did not play hostess to such games this evening, her time spent waiting and waiting to be chosen for naught. ]

[predation]

[instead of shouting, she had simply walked closer, hands folded in front of her and steps light, so Michiko could see her.

some nights, she revels and gambles with others and loses herself in frivolity. never after a match, when she is somber and thoughtful, and the company she might accept would be that of someone who can understand. her mirror rests in her room, the blood and dirt wiped from her skin, but it does not change what happens. the cycle of the whims of their elusive host, ghosts that toy with each other and watch human folly repeat itself.

the gardens give her peace, a sense of calm - certain blossoms carry scents that recall life, and for a moment she has no cares and remembers the warmth of the sun. then she is Mary again, and the moon is its own comfort. for the moment, she has a few of those precious blooms in her hands.]

Michiko. [she nods her head back for courtesy.] You are kind to inquire. Fortune did not entirely hold me in favor this night, but it cannot always smile upon us.

May I join you?

[never would she presume, even though they share the same house.]

[eversleep]

[ that courtesy mary gives her is returned with a bow, long dark hair spilling like india ink over her shoulder. mary gives the impression of refined elegance, like a decorated pocket knife. something dangerous and beautiful, the sort of poison that promises sweet dreams as you drink it down. michiko gives her a pleasant smile, all soft warmth and practiced kindness. ]

I see little reason why not. [ which does imply she seems reasons not to; like the dirt on her gloves or the threading of her dress' hem. filth marring the echo of timeless beauty that the other woman is, blonde hair like the sun and eyes like lost, dank wells. ]

The full moon brings us surprises of all kinds, I've found... Secrets and surprises. [ michiko hums, lacing her fingers together. her pale skinned wrists peek out from beneath the sleeves of her kimono, and as she cants her head in a playful and inviting curiosity, as if to encourage conversation, the edges of her eyes wrinkle, revealing the red shadow forever etched into her porcelain face. ] Perhaps it is not fortune's favor that must tilt in our favor, but her light. [ she raises a hand, index finger pointed to the sky. ] Only then we might see our dear little mice.

[predation]

[when she sits, the garden chair offers no groan of protest as it might from someone carelessly flinging themselves down. as much as she knows that Michiko is like her - someone who knows how to give the impression of grace, of politeness that invites an ease - it still has the wished for effect. it is easier to be herself around the other woman, instead of the unrelenting menace that the survivors no doubt see her as, or the stately queen she sees herself as being of this manor. she is more Mary, and all that might mean.

it is enough to have her smiling, at the least.]

That would say enough. Our game was under the clouds, and so they knew what shadows to cling to.

[but here, the moon shines bright, as if to discourage too much hiding.]

I am not upset, however. To always win would grow dull, and break their spirits. And they need to remember the thrill of the hunt lies in the uncertainty of it.