#the insomnia tag

[bixels]

Learning that fans hated Applejack and called her "boring" is crazyyy to me because I genuinely, unironically believe AJ's the most complex character in the main six.

Backstory-wise, she was born into a family of famers/blue collar workers who helped found the town she lives in. She grew up a habitual liar until she had the bad habit traumatized outta her. She lost both her parents and was orphaned at a young age, having to step up as her baby sister's mother figure. She's the only person in the main gang who's experienced this level of loss and grief (A Royal Problem reveals that AJ dreams about memories of being held by her parents as a baby). She moved to Manhattan to live with her wealthy family members, only to realize she'll never fit in or be accepted, even amongst her own family. The earlier seasons imply she and her family had money problems too (In The Ticket Master, AJ wants to go to the gala to earn money to buy new farm equipment and afford hip surgery for her grandma).

Personality-wise, she's a total people-pleaser/steamroller (with an occasional savior complex) who places her self worth on her independence and usefulness for other people, causing her to become a complete workaholic. In Applebuck Season, AJ stops taking care of herself because of her obsessive responsibilities for others and becomes completely dysfunctional. In Apple Family Reunion, AJ has a tearful breakdown because in she thinks she dishonored her family and tarnished her reputation as a potential leader –– an expectation and anxiety that's directly tied to her deceased parents, as shown in the episode's ending scene. In The Last Roundup, AJ abandons her family and friends out of shame because believes she failed them by not earning 1st place in a rodeo competition. She completely spirals emotionally when she isn't able to fulfill her duties toward others. Her need to be the best manifests in intense pride and competitiveness when others challenge her. And when her pride's broken, she cowers and physically hides herself.

Moreover, it's strongly implied that AJ has a deep-seated anger. The comics explore her ranting outbursts more. EQG also obviously has AJ yelling at and insulting Rarity in a jealous fit just to hurt her feelings (with a line that I could write a whole dissection on). And I'm certain I read in a post somewhere that in a Gameloft event, AJ's negative traits are listed as anger.

Subtextually, a lot of these flaws and anxieties can be (retroactively) linked to her parents' death, forcing her to grow up too quickly to become the adult/caregiver of the family (especially after her big brother becomes semiverbal). Notice how throughout the series, she's constantly acting as the "mom friend" of the group (despite everything, she manages to be the most emotionally mature of the bunch). Notice how AJ'll switch to a quieter, calmer tone when her friends are panicking and use soothing prompts and questions to talk them through their emotions/problems; something she'd definitely pick up while raising a child. Same with her stoicism and reluctance at crying or releasing emotions (something Pinkie explicitly points out). She also had a childhood relationship with Rara (which, if you were to give a queer reading, could easy be interpreted as her first 'aha' crush), who eventually left her life. (Interestingly enough, AJ also has an angry outburst with Rara for the same exact reasons as with EQG Rarity; jealous, upset that someone else is using and changing her). It's not hard to imagine an AJ with separation anxiety stemming from her mother and childhood friend/crush leaving. I'm also not above reading into AJ's relationship with her little sister (Y'all ever think about how AB never got to know her parents, even though she shares her father's colors and her mother's curly hair?).

AJ's stubbornness is a symptom of growing up too quickly as well. Who else to play with your baby sister when your brother goes nonverbal (not to discount Big Mac's role in raising AB)? Who else to wake up in the middle of the night to care for your crying baby sister when your grandma needs her rest? When you need to be 100% all the time for your family, you tend to become hard-stuck with a sense of moral superiority. You know what's best because you have to be your best because if you're aren't your best, then everything'll inevitably fall apart and it'll be your fault. And if you don't know what's best –– if you've been wrong the whole time –– that means you haven't been your best, which means you've failed the people who rely on you, which means you can't fulfill your role in the family/society, which makes you worthless . We've seen time and time again how this compulsive need to be right for the sake of others becomes self-destructive (Apple Family Reunion, Sound of Silence, all competitions against RD). We've seen in The Last Roundup how, when no longer at her best, AJ would rather remove herself from her community than confront them because she no longer feels of use to them.

But I guess it is kinda weird that AJ has "masculine" traits and isn't interested in men at all. It's totally justified that an aggressively straight, misogynistic male fandom would characterize her as a "boring background character." /s

At the time of writing this, it's 4:46AM.

[egophiliac]

ENG PLAYERS I BESEECH YOU

I have been informed that you guys are getting part 4 of episode 7 tomorrow, which means we are FINALLY going to get the official romanization of Revaan's name, somebody please tell me because I need to know what it is.

like, yes, it's probably just Revan/Levan, but look, I'm sitting here with my finger over the button of all these Laverne and Shirley jokes and just waiting for the opportunity to deploy them --

[oingomyboingos]

shoutout to the nightbloggers all my homies love nightbloggers

[fiyrball6063]

Manufactured

[nihilico]

Delusional

[senoleaf]

here's some Hypno's Lullaby / Pokepasta characters in my style

some of my headcanons below!

Steven: 24 years old; 190 cm / 6'3''

- Haunted by a hallucination of his dead brother that constantly reminds him of his misdeeds

- Fluctuates between a completely corrupted state (shadowed skin + red eyes) due to MissingNo.'s influence and a semi-conscious state (shadowed eyes) in which he sometimes gets lucid enough to question what happened that day

Glitchy RED: 26 years old; 182 cm / 6'0''

- Face always half hidden by shadows

- Despises people abusing glitches or bugs and thus despises Steven

- Always looks serious

Grey: 16 years old; 167 cm / 5'6''

- Constantly nervous

- Somewhat scared of (Glitchy) Red but also looks up to him since he's from "the original game"

Shinto:

- Mischievous

- Despises people cheating through any means, including glitches and bugs

- She found out that Grey is actually a real human's soul forced to possess the player character of their game and thus believes his "cheating" to be his human soul simply not adhering to game rules, allowing him to catch her by accident

- Has taken a liking to Grey and will (unbeknownst to him) protect him from people intending to cause harm

- Still scares him sometimes for fun

(Monochrome) Gold: 19 years old; 170 cm / 5'7'' (when alive)

- Is incapable of actually dying, constantly stuck in a state of pain

- Sometimes the Unown within him will take over his body for whatever reason, otherwise they will function like a hive mind allowing him to see through their eyes and float with their help

(- This was caused by Steven, corrupted by the glitch MissingNo. after Gold had found him in the Bellsprout Tower)

(Insomnia) Silver: 20 years old; 175 cm / 5'9''

- Skin covers his mouth keeping him from speaking

- He can cut/rip it open, but it will grow back in around a minute

(- This was caused by Steven, corrupted by the glitch MissingNo. after Silver confronted him seeing what he had done to Gold)

Mike: 4 years older than Steven, (28 years old); 180 cm / 5'11''

- A remorseful spirit incapable of moving on, bound to Steven after his death

- Contrary to the hallucination Steven is seeing, Mike can only be perceived by Gold

- Furthermore he is convinced that the person who killed him wasn't his brother / that something had forced him to do it

[affectionatecorpse]

Okay so I see some people are debating what the monster from Still Wakes the Deep is. I'm inspired by the support from my Death Angel post, so I'm gonna try giving an analysis. Now science is not my strong suit, I'm much better at zoology, but here we go.

Of course, spoilers ahead!

So, the entity comes to light in act one. While Caz is being yelled at by his power drunk boss, Rennick, a worker going by the name Gibbo calls up to say there's an issue with the drill, something highlighted earlier by another worker. Rennick orders the drilling anyway, and thus begins the nightmare, as the drill seems to unearth and awaken a destructive parasite out for revenge. But I don't think that's as deep as it goes, pun intended.

Let's say, the creature is a parasite. A form of near sentient bacteria, though take that description with a grain of salt, I'm no scientist. Parasites simply cannot live on their own. That's an objective fact. They need a host. They exist within another for survival and breeding purposes, and multiply and spread through the body of another.

Parasites, bacteria and even fungi can live underground for years, and have been discovered to do so. Ancient lifeforms have been discovered just under the surface of earth, let alone deep underneath the ground and in the bottom of our oceans, one of the most complex and diverse biomes that our current science has barely scratched the surface of. It's highly likely this creature is a self replicating bacteria or parasite that was unearthed by the drill, and took up new hosts to survive in this change of environment.

But not every host worked. You can see half transformed, mutilated bodies everywhere, and some that haven't even changed at all. These bodies could not support the parasite and shortly died.

However, a few select hosts DID end up surviving; Gibbo, Muir, Rennick, Addair and Trots. It's unclear what sets these people apart from the others, and I don't know enough about this topic to claim an answer. But I certainly do think these folks died soon into the transformation, and are not fully conscious in the body. They frequently repeat terms and phrases, and never say anything you might expect from an entity possessing them, implying it's borrowing words and sentences that have been said by the host before, in other circumstances.

The entity plays with Caz's memories and definitely the others' too, though not all of them good. It wouldn't be a surprise to realise that's where it's getting information about it's host, as it reads the memories inside the brain to learn faces, names, and even the host's personality. Which makes me wonder, does it even realise what it looks like? Does the creature itself actually realise it's a parasite? Or does it completely and fully believe it is the person it's connected itself to? It almost downloads their personality and tries to pretend like everything is completely normal.

Let's talk about arguably the best monster (in my opinion), Muir. Muir moves about the area he frequently worked as what I assume was an engineer. He roams the familiar ground, almost unsure of why he's by himself. He often calls out to his coworkers, wondering out loud why they're treating him like he's different. Sure, this could be the real Muir's consciousness slipping in and out of the seams, but it's highly unlikely he would still be alive. Much like the zombie fungus, as it's often called, the host is not alive when the fungus is controlling it, and is merely a puppet. If the spiders it was corrupting could talk, I daresay, they'd be acting like them. Taking their place in the world, even if they don't realise it.

But every animal needs to eat. And eventually, that body is going to run out of tasty, tasty neurons. Like I said earlier, a parasite needs to spread. It'll breed, then spread to another to keep it's species alive. By infiltrating a 'pack' of animals, it will take anything to spread to the others. Which is exactly what the parasite does whenever it sees another human. Either that, or it will consume them, theoretically to feed the host so it stays alive, while keeping those tasty, tasty neurons for itself. You can almost see this process with Innes, as the elevator ascends without him, and you just faintly see Muir doing something in the distance. Likely consuming him for nutrients, as he was not connected to the parasite yet.

Next, there's Addair.

Addair, much like Muir, patrols familiar ground. Even though Addair himself wasn't even in that area when the drill struck. Now Muir was actively in that familiar space in the beginning, and it's safe to assume that's his place of transformation. But Addair was eating in the cafeteria when the incident happened, not deep down in the engine. Did he go down when the impact happened, while Caz was unconscious? Maybe. But the lights were fine then, and the engine wasn't the problem, so he didn't need a reason to. Plus, he doesn't seem like the type to be work dedicated, more inconvenience dedicated. Considering what I said about the parasite (badly) taking their place in society, did it go to his place of work after detecting that as his 'natural environment', per se?

Plus, unlike Muir, who greets the situation with quotes of confusion, fear and anxiety, Addair is instantly aggressive. Even an asshole like Addair is likely to panic if conscious in this situation, so the nervousness was Gibbo and Muir exclusive. But Addair and Rennick become immediately angry upon seeing Caz, as they actively disliked him in life, and so the parasite processes him as a foe to it's host. I thought that was neat.

Now another take I have admittedly heard from several other people, but I thought was worth mentioning. The monsters are incredibly similar to sea creatures. Which means this underwater bacteria was possibly leaking out already, and transforming our animals, not enough to completely corrupt them, but enough to twist their bodies. Think of the appearances of deep, deep sea creatures, such as the anglerfish. Isn't it possible this parasite was responsible for their uncanny appearance, in this universe? Muir especially looks like a spider crab, or perhaps even a bigfin squid.

Which again, is a deep sea creature. Rennick also reminds me of a blobfish once removed from the pressure of the deep sea. Addair seems very jellyfish-like, but may be something else very... tick-like. And even Trots gives me major merfolk vibes, with how untouched his torso is in comparison to his lower half.

This parasite could have been feeding off the neurons and breeding through our very ecosystem as the ground slowly gave away above it. The drill unearthing the source likely gave it a burst of control as so much energy was released at once, hence why it was so fast to literally spiral out of control.

But Scotland, by all means, is not the only place in the world connected to the ocean. Sure, they destroyed this batch, but other forms of this parasite live on elsewhere on earth. And the explosion may not have even destroyed it. It definitely would've destroyed the host bodies, yes, but certain bacterias can survive impressive damage, even heat hot enough to burn off human flesh. We'd best hope this is not one of those bacterias.

I didn't really get as far with this observation as I did with other horror studies, but I had fun nonetheless! Like I said, I'm really better with zoology (hence the sudden enthusiasm when I started on sea creatures), but I loved Still Wakes the Deep SO much that I just wanted to write down my thoughts. If you have any other theories, feel free to add them!

Also if I used your pictures/gifs and you would like me to add credit, I am so so sorry, I will absolutely add that as soon as you say so, I just got most of these off Google and couldn't find most the original sources. So yeah if you'd like me to add your name and mention, or you want me to remove it in general, feel free to just say and I'll add it, I don't bite I promise. Well... I won't bite YOU.

Sorry sorry, had to make a zombie reference--

[yikes-ajax]

I dont have a clever and witty sarcastic comment tonight, I just think she's cute

[mmmairon]

Hi mairon! I love the self insert comfort you did it was so cute! Would you be able to make some more? Possibly diluc taking care of someone like the girl you did in the last one — maybe putting them to bed because I’m suffering w my insomnia right now 😅 if you can’t dw!

oh, to be tucked snugly into bed by Diluc Ragnvindr

[awerzo]

quiet moments

[whattheheckisatazelwurm]

Little edit of Orange Noodles sleeping (Anxiety is fine, she just still can't sleep)

[cheerywanderer]

"f data loss occurs, a successful recovery must ensure that the deleted data is not over-written. For this reason write operations to the affected storage device should be avoided. This includes not starting the system to which the affected device is connected. This is because many operating systems create temporary files in order to boot, and these may overwrite areas of lost data — rendering it unrecoverable...File operations such as copying, editing, or deleting should also be avoided." - Wikipedia article on data loss.

[starsinmylatte]

A lil sum about Nanami and an insomniac wife with PTSD-flavored nightmares because I do be struggling atm

Warnings: Hurt/comfort, general graphic content of JJK, depictions of mental illness, etc.

You tossed and turned restlessly between the cool sheets, trying desperately not to wake Kento as he snoozed away beside you. Your husband looked like a perfect snapshot of peace, with his adorable blonde bedhead smushed into the pillow and his lips slightly parted as he snored. He breathed deeply, sleeping away as if no care in the world touched his mind.

Meanwhile, you lay in the dark, completely unable to sleep as your mind churned and roiled like the ocean.

“Stupid. Useless. Lazy.” Your thoughts chanted over and over again. “Going to sleep should be the easiest thing, but you can’t even do that right.”

You rubbed your eyes and groaned silently into your hands. Almost every day was like this, with your overactive mind granting you no peace. Every night, you felt exhausted when you tried to go to bed, but you were rarely able to fall asleep. The conditions could be absolutely perfect, and you’d either stare at the blank ceiling until morning, or you’d get an hour of fitful sleep before a nightmare shook you to your core.

It was unspoken knowledge that every single day, jujutsu sorcerers dealt with things that broke people. They saw pain, sadness, death, and suffering on almost untold levels, but virtually no one in the community spoke out about it. Sorcerers were supposed to be tough, unflappable under pressure, and dependable. Struggling didn’t fit the image required, even if it was behind closed doors, so people bottled it up and shoved it away deep inside themselves. Little things like nightmares weren’t supposed to affect you, even if those nightmares meant constantly reliving the worst moments of your life in graphic detail every time you closed your eyes. Apparently, being a good sorcerer meant suffering and sacrificing yourself in silence.

Suddenly, you felt something warm and wet on your face- a tear. You don’t even remember starting to cry, but there was no stopping it now. You hadn’t cried in months; grief and pain were funny like that. As a matter of fact, you probably hadn’t really cried in over a year, but now tears fell faster than you could mop them up with your sleeves. Your emotions had become dulled by the pain, but they had just shattered, stabbing deep into your soul.

You curled up into yourself, body wracked and twitching with sobs, but it only took a moment for a strong, warm arm to wrap around your waist.

Nanami pulled you against his firm chest, and you instantly felt safe. You could feel the rise and fall of his breathing, the steady rhythm of his heart, his unspoken worry for you palpable as he smoothed your hair.

“‘M sorry, Ken,” you sobbed, “I don’t know why- I didn’t want to wake-“

He shushed you with a low noise and a gentle brush of his hand against your cheek. Nanami rubbed his hands over the skin of your back and shoulders, kneading the tense muscles below as you melted against him, sobbing.

“It’s ok. I’ve got you.” His voice was deep and rough with sleep but full of love as he cared for you. “I've got you, and everything is going to be ok.”

[enananhearts]

INSOMNIA

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Me: Man, I feel like listening to an audiobook tonight!

…falls asleep 15 minutes later…

[minteacutiewrites]

A thought that won’t leave my brain so here: A has got nasty bouts of insomnia and B one night wakes up to their lover who is struggling. They’d finally managed to sleep earlier, but it’s obvious, something has woken A up. It doesn’t take B long to figure out as A smothers another sneeze into submission, shaking the bed with it. I can see B in my brain just making a little sympathetic noise, as they stretch their arm out to the nightstand on the side of their bed snagging the box of tissues there, before rolling over to A. Sitting up and carefully swinging their leg over so they can sit on A’s stomach. A weakly tries to apologize for waking them, as B cuts them off pressing the back of their hand to their forehead, humming a little at the feverish warmth they feel before taking the tissues and gently tending to their nose. Maybe collecting a bottle of Vic’s and gently sliding their shirt over their head, before gently rubbing the menthol gel on their chest. Dutifully catching the sneezes the heavy scent draws out in a tissue-clad palm. B then settles with their lover’s head resting on their chest combing their fingers through their hair, or just rub their back, drawing soft shapes on their skin with their fingertips. Ignoring the draw of sleep in favor of taking care of poor A who already has such a hard time sleeping without being sick.  B is only able to finally relax when they feel A’s breath start to even out as they start to snore softly. Just a soft intimate moment between two people that doesn't require a lot of words.