bakerstreet | nightmare meme

the nightmare meme

"So on his Nightmare through the evening fog
Flits the squab Fiend o'er fen, and lake, and bog;
Seeks some love-wilder'd maid with sleep oppress'd,
Alights, and grinning sits upon her breast."
- Erasmus Darwin, "Night-Mare"

Everyone has nightmares right? The dark thoughts lurking in the depths of our minds. Our fears out of our control. At least they only occur in our sleeping hours... right?

This meme is designed to wretch that comfort right out from under you.

Your character is stuck in their worst nightmare and worse yet, someone is stuck in there with them. Whether it's a familiar face, a stranger, intentional or accidental, you have to dig your way out. Good luck lost souls. And remember. The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.

Feel free to use the prompts below as a jumping point, or make up whatever you want. As a warning this meme will possibly contain TRIGGERS and MATURE CONTENT. Read ahead with caution.

Prompts:

i. the WEAVER (the nightmare)

001 - waking nightmare - wake up. Wake up. Wake. UP. The only sure guarantee out of a dream. And yet when your eyes open, the fear still surrounds you. The nightmare has its hold. You've woken up to your own nightmare. Why hasn't it gone away?

002 - stuck - Slowly, you begin to realize this is all just a dream. But you can't get out. You're stuck to the whims of your subconscious, unable to escape. Completely aware that this is just a nightmare, but unable to escape.

003 - pursuit - You're being chased, endlessly, by something, someone. Maybe it's a boogey monster, maybe it's only a metaphor. But you're out of breath and places to run.

004 - the end of your world - The apocalypse. Brought about around you. Maybe it came slowly, like a slow burning fire-- or perhaps it was a conflagration. Your entire world is falling apart around you and you can do nothing to stop it. Or perhaps even worse, you're the cause.

005 - your greatest fear - Maybe your greatest fear is something common, like spiders, or something which seems completely mundane, such as the color yellow. Whatever it is, it's surrounding you. Keeping you in it's embrace.

006 - ground hog day - It starts out harmless. One day, not unlike any other. Except, it's repeated over. And over. And over. And over. Until slowly your mind just.... slips away.

007 - i have no mouth and I must scream - slowly, against your will, you're transforming. Turning into a creature unlike yourself. Perhaps a monster, maybe a pile of goo. Whatever it is, you're helpless to stop it.

008 - free style - take these prompts and throw em' out the window. Do it however you want.

ii. the THREAD (why the other character is there)

001 - the devil on their chest - Maybe the dreamer was someone in your way, someone who had done harm to you or someone you care about, maybe it’s just for shits and giggles. But you are the one who has stuck them in this nightmare, and you want to watch them fall victim to their own mind.

002 - mind link - for some reason you share a connection with this person. Perhaps it's just the passing of the stars, a jolt of electricity, or their mind reaching for yours. But now you’re stuck here, trying to get them out.

003 - experiment - Just a quick injection, maybe a little sting, it won't hurt. That's what the men in coats said. But look where that got you.

004 - save them - you've been tasked to save this person, no matter the cost. Maybe they're a stranger, maybe they're your closest friend, even your greatest enemy, but you have to save them.

005 - just following orders - It's a job, and you've been tasked to it. They may have some info you need. Or maybe you have to keep them in for the benefit of someone else. It doesn't matter. It's only a job. Right?

006 - we have ways of making you talk - They have something you need. And it's time you squeeze it out of them.

007 - free style - take these prompts and throw em' out the window. Do it however you want.

In order to make this meme a bit easier when it comes to tagging out we have written up a short little form. If you could fill it out and stick it in your characters opening comment, along with the usual character name and series header, it would be helpful to everyone in order to find someone appropriate to tag! Plotting is more than encouraged!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's dark, darker than it had been in the pictures, darker than it had been when Doyle had been there. The fluorescent bulbs flickered weakly, casting stark shadows across the brick walls of the warehouse. This wasn't where she was supposed to be. This was what Derek did... or Hotch or Rossi. Her place was guiding them not stumbling into the darkness with nothing but the little flashlight she kept in her purse. She was scared, terrified. But that didn't matter. What mattered was that Emily was in trouble.

It was a strange thought to have, maybe. Emily was dead it didn't get any more "in trouble" than that. They'd buried her weeks ago but this place, the pictures of that little boy, all the memories of her dear friend... it haunted her dreams, woke her in the middle of the night crying and too scared to even reach out for Kevin. People got close... and then they left. That was how things worked. Somehow, here in dreams, her mind insisted differently though. If only she were a little braver, a little faster, a little bit more surely she could find Emily, save her, rescue her friend from this.

The beam of her flashlight trembled though and she didn't know what she was more afraid of... Doyle, that hideous man out there in the dark, or not finding Emily in time, losing her all over again. She didn't know where she was going though, didn't know where she was. Her heels clicked ominously on the concrete floor, giving her away even with the small, almost shuffling steps she took. It didn't matter how scared she was though, she'd told Emily they were coming for her and she'd meant it. "E-Emily?"

They wouldn't fail her again.

"EMILY!"

Alone in Paris, and then in Marseilles, and now in a small town whose name Emily didn't fully parse because it didn't matter right now, she didn't expect to sleep well. Every night was filled with pain in her still healing body and in her even more slowly healing mind. Being chased in the dark, alone as she moved from stolen car to public transport to safe house, was just part of the fabric of her life right now.

Hearing her friends calling her, looking for her when she couldn't come out of the dark was the worst part of that dream. If she came out of the dark, they could save her, but if she came out of the dark, she would get them killed. It was the darkness for her, then. That's all there could be.

She wasn't surprised to hear Penelope's voice in the darkness. Garcia was usually the strongest. Over and over she heard those words, the promise on her phone message, until the words became part of her heartbeat. Now, though, unlike that, she heard her name and it cut through her. There was an immediacy to it, a shrill urgency that drove her to answer. "Garcia?"

nightmare meme

oh my god hi... she's a bit dusty but I had to. I hope this works? sharing a nightmare or something?

clings to Pen And a shared nightmare works! They're all in each other's heads anyway!

nightmare meme

oh my god hi... she's a bit dusty but I had to. I hope this works? sharing a nightmare or something?

*clings to Pen* And a shared nightmare works! They're all in each other's heads anyway!

clings to Pen And a shared nightmare works! They're all in each other's heads anyway!