Get that thing off your chest... Now...

[twilightworks]

Over the last few weeks, I've been hearing strange noises and whispers around my house. I've also been seeing things (very difficult to explain). I'm torn between thinking that I'm going mad or I really am hearing and seeing something! Which is the lesser of two evils?

Hmm. That's a little strange! Do you live alone? The human psyche can pull a lot of weird things on you when you're alone, and naturally the phenomena of seeing things in shadows has been around for a long time.

Look after yourself friend!

[twilightworks]

As for myself, not much to get off my chest at the moment. I'm looking at buying my first house, and imagining all the awesome things I could do with the extra rooms. I really want my own space--somewhere to close out the rest of the world and retreat to, if you know what I mean.

[Sapphi]

Over the last few weeks, I've been hearing strange noises and whispers around my house. I've also been seeing things (very difficult to explain). I'm torn between thinking that I'm going mad or I really am hearing and seeing something! Which is the lesser of two evils?

Okay, first question - can you think of anything that might have triggered them?

Second question - does this happen at any particular time of day? Because... recently, some nights while I'm trying to go to sleep, I've been hearing angry/stern voices in my head saying random things to me. Sometimes it's my mother's voice yelling at me. I'm hoping this is normal, and I think it is, because it only happens when I am trying to sleep, but it still freaks me out...

[JumpJump]

Hmm. That's a little strange! Do you live alone? The human psyche can pull a lot of weird things on you when you're alone, and naturally the phenomena of seeing things in shadows has been around for a long time.

Look after yourself friend!

I live with my wife and child. I do know that the human psyche is sadly not the most reliable thing sometimes.

Okay, first question - can you think of anything that might have triggered them?

Nope.

Second question - does this happen at any particular time of day? Because... recently, some nights while I'm trying to go to sleep, I've been hearing angry/stern voices in my head saying random things to me. Sometimes it's my mother's voice yelling at me. I'm hoping this is normal, and I think it is, because it only happens when I am trying to sleep, but it still freaks me out...

No real pattern. I've been really good lately when it comes to sounds. I've never been tricked by them in the past (well, there have been times, but I'll save those story's for Halloween!) and I've been able to find a source for them. The other night I was hearing a baby cry! I knew that is wasn't from the neighbours, this was IN MY HOUSE, but, my baby was asleep all night with her mom.

[Caveat Lector]

And just when I finally have a huge block of time to do BG's... I got a nasty flu...

I'm now so close to thinking about chugging that bottle of cough syrup (all I need is to suppress something) to fast track my recovery...

Edit:
Let's take it as manly as possible and boil a cube of Knorr Chicken Cube in one Liter or Water and see if this helps...

"POOF" (Drops dead)

I feel your pain, Mugen. I'm just getting over bronchitis, the first time I've had it since boot camp a decade ago. I just draw until I feel a coughing spell coming on, lift the stylus, cough myself half to death, then resume drawing. I'd use cough drops, but I'm afraid I'd choke to death during a cough, or spit it through my monitor. And I already HAVE drained by bottle of cough syrup! ... Though not all in one go.

Ugh, that sucks. Get well soon, both of you!

[Tempus]

Because... recently, some nights while I'm trying to go to sleep, I've been hearing angry/stern voices in my head saying random things to me. Sometimes it's my mother's voice yelling at me. I'm hoping this is normal, and I think it is, because it only happens when I am trying to sleep, but it still freaks me out...

That's happened to me before, back in college. Though for me there was a lot of different voices, varying in age and gender... Like with you, it'd only happen when I was just about to fall asleep. They sounded really real too :-\ But it only happened for a while and went away. I think it was due to prolonged sleep deprivation + stress. That, or the "real" world I'm experiencing now is a delusion and I'm still in college flaked out on my bed. But that's too disturbing to contemplate.

[Sapphi]

Because... recently, some nights while I'm trying to go to sleep, I've been hearing angry/stern voices in my head saying random things to me. Sometimes it's my mother's voice yelling at me. I'm hoping this is normal, and I think it is, because it only happens when I am trying to sleep, but it still freaks me out...

That's happened to me before, back in college. Though for me there was a lot of different voices, varying in age and gender... Like with you, it'd only happen when I was just about to fall asleep. They sounded really real too :-\ But it only happened for a while and went away. I think it was due to prolonged sleep deprivation + stress. That, or the "real" world I'm experiencing now is a delusion and I'm still in college flaked out on my bed. But that's too disturbing to contemplate.

I do notice that it mostly happens when I'm under some amount of stress. It feels kind of like my thoughts want to keep racing (which in turn causes my blood to feel more pressure-y) and it's at those times, that I'm trying to calm myself down, that I "hear" the voices. When first started happening, it was just different voices (again, sometimes recognizably my mom's) yelling or saying my name. And it was like, they would come out of the blue - sometimes I was so startled by them that I would sit up in bed, even though I could tell that they were in my head and not coming from inside the room.

More recently, when it happens, it's not my name anymore but an entire, coherent sentence. I can't actually remember the specific messages I've "heard" (since they are disturbing while I'm trying to sleep and I just want to forget that it happened) but I think they are usually something accusatory. (Why can't they say comforting things to me instead... or at least tell me to do something cool like, "Cut your hair, dress up like a man, and go liberate France from the English!"?)

Anyway, as long as it only happens during the times I am trying to go to sleep, I hope I still qualify as sane.

[silverpikachu99]

Apparently my best friend is in love with me... and I don't know what to do...

[JumpJump]

Because... recently, some nights while I'm trying to go to sleep, I've been hearing angry/stern voices in my head saying random things to me. Sometimes it's my mother's voice yelling at me. I'm hoping this is normal, and I think it is, because it only happens when I am trying to sleep, but it still freaks me out...

That's happened to me before, back in college. Though for me there was a lot of different voices, varying in age and gender... Like with you, it'd only happen when I was just about to fall asleep. They sounded really real too :-\ But it only happened for a while and went away. I think it was due to prolonged sleep deprivation + stress. That, or the "real" world I'm experiencing now is a delusion and I'm still in college flaked out on my bed. But that's too disturbing to contemplate.

I do notice that it mostly happens when I'm under some amount of stress. It feels kind of like my thoughts want to keep racing (which in turn causes my blood to feel more pressure-y) and it's at those times, that I'm trying to calm myself down, that I "hear" the voices. When first started happening, it was just different voices (again, sometimes recognizably my mom's) yelling or saying my name. And it was like, they would come out of the blue - sometimes I was so startled by them that I would sit up in bed, even though I could tell that they were in my head and not coming from inside the room.

More recently, when it happens, it's not my name anymore but an entire, coherent sentence. I can't actually remember the specific messages I've "heard" (since they are disturbing while I'm trying to sleep and I just want to forget that it happened) but I think they are usually something accusatory. (Why can't they say comforting things to me instead... or at least tell me to do something cool like, "Cut your hair, dress up like a man, and go liberate France from the English!"?)

Anyway, as long as it only happens during the times I am trying to go to sleep, I hope I still qualify as sane.

All this talk of stress made me realise that I need to cut myself some slack. Things are making a bit more sense now. I'm going to dedicate myself to drawing for the next few days and relax.

Apparently my best friend is in love with me... and I don't know what to do...

For the love of everything small and fluffy, don't rush anything.

[Caveat Lector]

I "love" it when (Western) otaku use the "But Japan's okay with it!" card against literally ANY form of criticism against a particular anime or manga despite having never a) been to Japan, b) taken a cultural studies course, or c) read a book about Japanese culture. Apparently, their philosophy is "if something happens in an anime or manga, that means it's a normal part of Japanese culture and we should just accept it without actually doing any research on the fanbase's reaction OR modern-day Japan". The one example of this off the top of my head is the ending to the Bunny Drop manga. Apparently, if you didn't like it, you're a bigot who just doesn't understand Japanese culture. (FYI, from what I understand, the Japanese fanbase hated the manga's ending, too, or at the very least was divisive over it)

[MaiMai]

I "love" it when (Western) otaku use the "But Japan's okay with it!" card against literally ANY form of criticism against a particular anime or manga despite having never a) been to Japan, b) taken a cultural studies course, or c) read a book about Japanese culture. Apparently, their philosophy is "if something happens in an anime or manga, that means it's a normal part of Japanese culture and we should just accept it without actually doing any research on the fanbase's reaction OR modern-day Japan". The one example of this off the top of my head is the ending to the Bunny Drop manga. Apparently, if you didn't like it, you're a bigot who just doesn't understand Japanese culture. (FYI, from what I understand, the Japanese fanbase hated the manga's ending, too, or at the very least was divisive over it)

Oh my god, I want to end anyone who thought anything about Usagi Drops ending in the manga was acceptable.

[LVUER]

Oh my god, I want to end anyone who thought anything about Usagi Drops ending in the manga was acceptable.

Errr... actually I love the Usagi Drops ending... please don't kill me.

I "love" it when (Western) otaku use the "But Japan's okay with it!" card against literally ANY form of criticism against a particular anime or manga despite having never a) been to Japan, b) taken a cultural studies course, or c) read a book about Japanese culture. Apparently, their philosophy is "if something happens in an anime or manga, that means it's a normal part of Japanese culture and we should just accept it without actually doing any research on the fanbase's reaction OR modern-day Japan". The one example of this off the top of my head is the ending to the Bunny Drop manga. Apparently, if you didn't like it, you're a bigot who just doesn't understand Japanese culture. (FYI, from what I understand, the Japanese fanbase hated the manga's ending, too, or at the very least was divisive over it)

I don't think like that, btw.

[ShippoK]

Errr... actually I love the Usagi Drops ending... please don't kill me. Ummm, we're talking about the manga version, right?

LVUER, do you need to tell us something?

@CaveatLector
The ending did really ruin the whole point of the series.
But I am more interested to where you started hearing this Caveat Lector. I never heard of people saying such things before.

[MaiMai]

Oh my god, I want to end anyone who thought anything about Usagi Drops ending in the manga was acceptable.

Errr... actually I love the Usagi Drops ending... please don't kill me.

Eh, okay you're fine LVUER. It's like what ShippoK though, the ending ruined the point of the whole series. It wasn't even a 180, it was a 360 turn for me personally even though I will admit it was at least handled maturely.

[Caveat Lector]

The ending did really ruin the whole point of the series.
But I am more interested to where you started hearing this Caveat Lector. I never heard of people saying such things before.

The ANN forums. I remember it was one of the Talkback forums for a review of one of the manga volumes. Interestingly, it was NOT for the volume where everything goes to hell, but for the earlier volumes. And, well, you know how internet comments are in general--almost 90% of the time the comments either fixate on one particular comment the author made and act as though it was the sole discussion point, or get into an argument that has nothing to do with the article. There should be a name for that.

But anyway, yeah, I've heard that argument raised on that forum, and yes, some people did call it out on the BS that it was. There were other arguments in favour of the ending, the most predominant one being (spoiler for the last volume coming up):

"They weren't blood-related so it's totally okay and not incest at all!"

However, the "some people are just bigots and/or prudes who don't understand Japanese culture" made me facepalm.

Yeah, a lot of the Talkback threads, especially in response to a review for a controversial anime or manga, or a fanservice show, tend to attract some of the most WTF responses ever. They're not actually defending a culture so much as they are using someone else's culture to justify liking something other people find creepy. I'm certain there's a term for that but it slips my mind.