[audio] @HK; set during the middle of the event! [open]

[catholicisms]

( Matt isn't big on the devices, for a multitude of reasons. he'll answer on occasion but most of the time he observes and doesn't participate. his username might not be familiar, even to the people who have met him. maybe his voice will be; that's the medium he chooses, it just makes delivery easier. )

I am sure we've all heard what is going around, that plenty of us are suffering from hallucinations. I know how real they must look, or hear, or sound.

( he's had at least a little of his own issues, mostly voices in his head. touches he can't explain. Matt thinks he might be getting off a little easier on this round of misery because he's blind. that's a first, but it also means he has a different perspective on the situation.

and while he's generally not big about talking about how he uses his other senses, in this instance? he feels like he should. )

If you don't recognize my voice, my name is Matt. If you don't know me yet, I'm the one with sunglasses and a walking cane. ( hopefully this is obvious enough a cue to imply he's the blind guy wandering around. ) I can't see what you are seeing, any more than anyone else can. But I can tell you that your other senses could help you decipher if what you are experiencing is real.

If you see blood, something dead, rotten, you'd smell it as much as you'd see it. If you can feel things on you, they can't just come out of nowhere. When things come towards you, they leave an audible clue, and it means something if you can't hear it.

The things you are seeing, hearing, feeling — they're terrible, and horrifying, but they also aren't real. Try muffling the sense that is troubling you most. It's already dark here, but a blindfold could help you ignore what isn't there.

( and because he realizes it isn't easy to rely on senses without practice, ) And if it seems real and you need help figuring out what you can trust, maybe I can help.

Comments

@freddie1967

[sauntered_downward]

Is this literally a case of the blind leading the...?

[catholicisms]

( patiently, and yet, somehow entirely lacking in any chill at all: )

Yes, I'm blind. Thanks for the reminder, I nearly forgot.

[sauntered_downward]

[A++ on lacking any chill, Matt. Crowley will not be switching to audio.]

You know there's a lot of people looking for superpowers. Maybe yours is that you get to miss out on all the horrific hallucinations everyone else gets to see during this punishment.

@subzero; voice

[saibot]

The hallucinations are more distracting than anything else.

[catholicisms]

Depends on who you ask. I've run into plenty of people terrified for their lives of things that aren't actually there. We all seem to be reacting differently.

[saibot]

Such things are common in the Netherrealm -- screams of lost souls and demons. But I will admit what is happening is different. I am curious to what is causing them and if it can be stopped.

Audio @Stone

[scarsolderthanyou]

[Have a grumpy old man, Matt. Didn't know we had one of those in Beacon, didja?]

I can't do much about the sense bothering me the most, unless I want to stop breathing.

It's hard to tell my head that I'm not really smelling a predator when my tongue is telling me I'm smelling a damn predator. But I'm trying.

[He huffs.]

[catholicisms]

( older and grumpier than him??? WHO KNEW IT WAS POSSIBLE )

That's my point, though. You can use your other senses to invalidate the pervasive one. It's not easy, I know, but it can at least help.

( that said, ) You smell through taste? That's rather unusual.

[scarsolderthanyou]

[Not that unusual. He's like a lizard, Matt.]

And I find it unusual that you humans can barely smell at all. Doesn't mean I go around commenting about it.

[At least he doesn't actually sound offended. Just kind of exasperated. It also comes with something of an explanation:]

I'm a Raksura. Smell comes through tasting the air.

@eleven | audio

[savingthrows]

[ Her voice sounds a bit more hesitant than he heard her on the beach. The words sit more heavily in her mouth, as if it's a bigger effort to put them on her tongue. ]

I see... bad things with my eyes closed, too.

[catholicisms]

( Matt thought he was prepared for any response he could get. he was not prepared for this one.... his poor old man heart!!! )

That makes it tricky, doesn't it? ( he sighs. ) A blindfold won't help you, but your other senses could. What are you seeing? I might be able to help you find sound cues to listen for.

[savingthrows]

I see the Upside Down. Nancy's head opens... like the Demogorgon. Steve... looks Flayed.

[ She swallows, breath stuttering. ]

I smell like the lab. I hear the Mind Flayer.

[ The last part, a whisper, as if she's afraid saying it might make it true. ]

text; un: snow

[song_of_ice]

Any theories at what's causing this exactly?

[catholicisms]

( he keeps to voice; when he's talking to multiple people, it's too much to juggle trying to use the voice-to-text feature. )

I couldn't tell you. If I had to make an educated guess? A spirit of some sort. They usually seem to be involved when things go awry like this.

[song_of_ice]

[He's handled this device long enough to know how to switch from text to voice. So apparently some progress was made for him.]

Any word from our friends? Maybe they have seen something like this before that reset happened?

— audio / @parker.

[webshoots]

Thanks for this. [ beat. ] But you've gotta admit, it's kind of thematically on point, right? And I know I've been waiting for my very own chance to re-enact the Blair Witch Project, because this place wasn't creepy enough as it is. Was?

—Although speaking of, I have been wondering if the spirits have been affected as well.

[catholicisms]

I'm afraid I haven't seen that ( blind jokes are apparently only ok when he makes them!! ) but from what I've heard, that's an apt comparison.

Not that I've noticed, though granted I haven't been going out of my way to check. The spirit that lives with me seems fine, though that doesn't mean anything, since I'm not sure all of us are affected, either.

audio | @kol

[unpredict]

[ this dude is evidently onto something. either matt's overcome each and every horrifying thing that's been bestowed upon him... or he's immune.

kol doesn't sound angry or ready for a fight. he sounds uncharacteristically resigned. ] Are you experiencing them, too?

[catholicisms]

I am. Mostly auditory.

( voices that shouldn't be there, all happy to drag up the darkest parts of his subconscious wearing the guise of people he knows. some that he miss, but mostly someone he distinctly doesn't. )

audio | @elizabeth

[isochrone]

[ Elizabeth sounds positively miserable. ]

It's certainly with a shot. Thank you, Mr Matt, for suggesting it.

[catholicisms]

( she sounds young... god why do the babies suffer the worst??? this is his nightmare!!! )

You're welcome. I really, really hope it helps. If you're not sure you trust yourself without your eyes, I'm more than happy to help you out.

audio | @wayne

[pearlstrings]

The seasons started changing.

I suppose that makes this festive, all things considered.

[catholicisms]

( he honestly really hadn't thought about it. it is October, isn't it? )

Sort of like an inescapable haunted house, when you look at it that way.

@cuttingedge; audio

[knifecollecting]

Wait.

[It's a moment before she speaks again. She might not have noticed the cane, but...

Crowley wears sunglasses here too. She's pretty sure he isn't blind. Oh no.]

You're blind?

[catholicisms]

( a slight pause, because that's not a question he's expecting. Matt just assumes everyone knows, he does make an effort to present as blind as possible. )

Yes. I'd say the sunglasses are a huge tell, but apparently not anymore. ( THANKS CROWLEY!!! )