#posting to prove myself this was real and not a sleep deprived hallucination

[keistance]

im CRYING

[silverskye13]

You know, I think some of the most fun with Mumbo/Grian moon cult vs Ren/Doc moon cult is just how much of it intersects as far as like, psychological horror/comedy goes. Mostly to do with the idea of sleep deprivation and hallucinations.

Like, the human body does a lot of wacky stuff if you stop sleeping. Obviously Mumbo and Grian are playing up this angle [the phantoms are laughing, they keep hallucinating different skins on each other, there's a joke about how even Mumbo's redstone is tired since it's broken].

But Ren and Doc are also leaning into sleep deprivation psychosis a bit [Ren has trouble sleeping, is dealing with intrusive thoughts and urges he can't control, he keeps slipping into trance/fugue states where he doesnt feel in control anymore and finds himself staring at random things like the moon, Doc's observations about floating blocks are dismissed until he has a witness because even he himself thinks he's hallucinating via sleep deprivation for a while there].

Like, it's the same concept but played for a different flavor, and both are equally believable -- mostly because that's just sleep deprivation baby. Everyone can relate to your body being off when you're tired. Bad night's sleep? You tend to be emotional for uncontrollable reasons, your thoughts drift in odd places you can't really control, you might blank out or dissociate, or catch yourself in the middle of repeated actions because your brain shut down because it was sleepy. But alongside that, severe sleep deprivation can give some crazy psychosis. Things I've personally experienced are:

Hallucinations of a wave of spiders running in front of my car [it was actually a pile of leaves blowing in the wind, but boi howdy I swerved into the other lane regardless].

Someone walking down a hall and passing me, making unsettling eye contact - I was glancing them from the corner of my eye, but I could see them tracking me as they walked behind me [I only realized I was hallucinating when they vanished behind my back, and the door they were walking towards didn't open].

Hundreds of arms grabbing me when I stepped out of my car and pulling me onto the ground [it was our peony bush, and I tripped over it, but goddamn the neighbors heard me screaming at 3am over that one lol]

A tall figure standing in my open doorway watching me. I convinced myself it was a hallucination, only for me to then hallucinate it slamming the door shut to prove me wrong. The door was open but I heard and saw the door slam, and it was only after I jumped that the room righted itself.

Not, turning on the vent system. Like I saw myself turn it on -- but it was off when I looked at it again. And then I turned it on again. Except it was still off. Rinse and repeat until I realized I hadn't slept in a long time and decided to maybe cut my losses and leave.

Like, the human brain is fucking nuts man, and I think it's really fun how they're both playing into that. Doc and Ren going down a feeding spiral where sleep deprivation turns into a deity that's very real to them? Mumbo and Grian complaining about how they desperately need sleep while phantoms laugh, and they keep shapeshifting in each others' vision? Totally believable man. And one set is using it for borderline cosmic horror and the other set is using it for haha look at how absurd this is! And both are equally believable and equally feel like the slantwise reality which is severe sleep deprivation.

I dunno, I just think it's kinda fun. I'm rambling and I forgot the point of this post. I'm also going to bed now. If it's bed time where you're at you should too.