#i rlly like this idea ig i know what im gonna daydream ab tonight

[cepheusgalaxy]

I was thinking about the "people go mad if they go without light for too long" because somebody bought it up and I kind of dig it? As a concept?

Like what if whumpee is one of those "girl in a lab" characters that were sealed away somewhere because they were a threat

And then they've been locked away in this dark room for years

If they are immortal? For decades.

Maybe even for a few months, if they weren't even "sealed" but just locked away because they made whumper especially mad?

I'm thinking specifically about the rescue. If we go Sealed Away route maybe the rescuers are a team of young heroes in an adventure

Maybe they just were onto whumper and invaded their place, finding whumpee in there

When they are free, the first thing they see is that it's so light. Too light. Too bright. Too loud and too much.

They can't stand being touched and they can't make up what everybody's saying to them, because for the first time in ages there is so much input on their senses!

Maybe they have to adapt to understanding language again. It's been too long since they've spoken to someone

Speaking of it I bet they can't speak either.

After so long alone they are also probably weak and frail (unless that due to some magic they are kind of well—physically, at least)

And imagine the terrors! After a while of adapting, Whumpee doesn't like being left alone or in the dark. Otherwise they start having flashbacks.

Also. Unresponsive. Consider.

Once I read a manga (Akatsuki no Yona) where an immortal character had been living alone for so long that he started referring to himself in third person, so he wouldn't forget his own name. Consider that too

I also don't know much about this so let's also google somethings up!

Apparently it takes a while for your vision to come back if you've spent too long in the dark. Interesting.

Hmm. Staying too long in the dark can also increase your body's melatonin production (the hormone that makes you sleepy) and decrease your serotonin (happiness hormone) so you'd be sleepy and depressed.

Your circadian cycle (internal clock that controls your sleep among other things) would be completely fucked up. (Previous source) Apparently the effect is similar to Jet Lag. And can also lead to sleep deprivation.

Aside from depressed, it would also leave whumpee stressed out apparently

Moving on to sensory deprivation in general, it can also give Whumpee memory and attention issues :D

Also causes hallucinations

OH and apparently it can also cause trouble with balance AND increase suggestability (aka makes you more influenceable to take on different opinions)

Also according to most of those sources panick attacks also occur in these cases

Isolation, specifically, can also cause hallucinations, logical reasoning impairments and high blood pressure. Oh and it also fucks up your sense of time and makes you think it passes more slowly. Your circadian rhythm apparently starts taking 48 hours instead of 24 for some reason?

Curiously, symptoms of light deprivation are apparently light on the first week(s?) (first source) and in isolation/further sensory deprivation situations it takes less that two days (last source). Light deprivation doesn't seem to be much severe in shorter timespans since it's also used as a form of therapy sometimes!

Truly a fine trope! Absolutely horrifying! So inhumane and cruel! We should use it more.