Saturday, April 28, 2012

F is for Fear Landscapes

With only FOUR days left until the release of Insurgent, we wanted to celebrate some of our favorite things about this series and  INSURGENT specifically.

First up in our FOUR day celebration is the FEAR LANDSCAPES!

We thought it might be fun to take your into what our own fear landscapes might be like.

Baby Sister Brittany
(I used to have recurring nightmares about this fear. Seriously.)

It's storming outside. And I don't mean storming, as in a little bit of rain. I mean apocalyptic disaster , semi-trucks flying through the air, the whole world is flooded, and we're all gonna die-- kind of storming. I'm alone with my niece Emily, sheltering her from the wind and the rain trying to make it to shelter, when I notice a hand sticking up out of the flood waters. My Gryffindor side flips on, and I know I have to help the person. I put down my niece, and tell her to stay put.  I battle against the wind, until I'm  on a stairwell that leads down toward the flooded Earth. I reach a hand out, trying to grab the hand, but it's wet and slippery, and I can't get a grip. Then suddenly, the hand comes to life and latches onto my wrist. The storm disappears like it was some virtual reality, and I look up to see the person that goes with the hand.

It's a hobo.

A hobo with ninja skills apparently because he flies into the air and perches on my back.

(Now, normally, in my dream this is the place where I run around screaming, and my niece and I manage to lose the Hobo and hide in my car, but for my landscape, I must embrace the fear).

I flail and scream, haunted by my fear of Hobos (Hobophobia, if you will) brought to life. I try to shake the Hobo off, but he has a solid grip on my back. But then, I realize that this can't be real.

1. No one can perch that well on someone's shoulder.
2. The whole it's storming/then it's not fiasco.
3. Clearly, I'm Divergent, and am aware when in simulations (:D).

So, then, because I know I have to. I embrace my fear... by embracing the Hobo.

I reach my arms up, and wrap them around the scruffy, unwashed neck of Hobo-Perching-Ninja-Man. And then miraculously, the simulation ends.

(And then I die of a heart attack, because seriously guys... Hobos terrify me).

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Middle Sis Jenn
(You might think I'm joking, but ask my sisters....I've been terrified since before I can remember!)

I open my eyes and I'm in a dark room.  The silence is deafening and a chill runs down my back (ok, seriously, just got the chills).  Sitting down, I fold into myself trying not to let my paranoid side kick in, but, like anyone who finds themself in a dark room, the terror slowly starts.

First, it hits my toes.  Fuzziness.  I shudder and then its gone--whisked away by a brush of wind.  But how can there be wind in dark, windowless room?  Then I hear it, the low buzz of a vent.  Then, it hits my calves.  Again...the briefest feel of fuzziness and then it's gone again.  I can feel the bile rise in my throat and I start chanting to myself, "You're okay.  You're okay.  You're okay." 

Only, I'm not.

In rapid succession, I start feeling the fuzzies everywhere--on my toes, legs, arms....it's like a million hairy spider legs crawling over my body at once.  But that can't be it.  Because in that fear simulation, I can see the spiders.  No, this must be worse.

Before I know it, the room is full up to my knees with the fuzzies.  "Please no, Please no, Please no," become my mantra, but I already know what it is that is slowly devouring me.  And then the lights start to flicker...dim at first. A brief glimpse of white.  Another chill runs down my spine.  And then they're up to my waist.  At this point, I seriously start to panic.  I push my way through the river of cotton balls (yes, cotton balls) and start banging my hands agains the wall. 

This isn't happening.  I am not going to drown in a river of cotton balls!  The room continues to fill--higher, higher, higher until they are on my neck....up, up, up.

"Breathe, Jennifer....control it.  It's just a simulation.  Breathe.  Cotton balls don't just appear out of thin air--unless you're Hermione, and that's a fantasy--not a fear landscape.  Embrace the fear."

So....I close my ears--mind over matter.  I grab one of the cotton balls and will it to be gobstopper.  With one last deep breath, I pop it into my mouth--yum!  Strawberry!

And...the simulation ends.  (with Four standing beside me....I wish)

(Okay...now don't make fun.  The feel of cotton balls totally creeps me out!  To this day I have never been able to touch one....what do I use to remove nail polish you ask?  Toilet paper.  That's right.  Good old TP!)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*



Hi, it's Big Sis Amy here.  Since I have 3 kids most of my fears are way to serious and disturbing to write up on our blog.  So, here goes with one of my not so serious fearscapes.

It's been a long year.  Between homeschooling, kids sports, other activities and a toddler in the midst of the terrible two's. I am in great need of a vacation.  My wonderful husband, to thank me for all my hard work, has graciously bought me a ticket to ALA in Anaheim this summer.  Baby Sister Britt and Middle Sis Jenn are both joining me on the trip.

We arrive at the airport on a steamy Texas afternoon.  It's so hot outside you can see the rays radiating off the asphalt.  As I walk into the airport, I feel myself slowly start to relax.  Five days kids free, with no responsibilities, and I can barely contain myself.  I can go to the bathroom without someone sitting there staring at me the whole time.  I will be able to eat my food before it gets cold and read a book with no interruptions except maybe Baby Sis's extraordinarily loud laugh. 

We hop a plane, land safely in Anaheim, and head for our hotel.  We're all exhausted after a long day of traveling.  We quickly get ready for bed, and the only teeth I have to brush tonight are mine!  I lay down and think about the coming days, meeting authors, publishers, and of course the ARCS!  

All of the sudden I feel something crawling on my leg, I throw the covers back, but there's nothing.  Hmm, I think, must be sleeping in a new place.  So, I lay back down and feel the crawling sensation again.  I am starting to get freaked out.  Having 3 kids, I have acquired a germaphobia of a sort, so anything foreign completely freaks me out.  I rip the sheets completely from the bed, and that's when I see them.  They are everywhere!  Crawling on top of each other to try to get closer to me.  There's so many that it looks like they are reproducing as I stand there watching.  I hear the sink and shower knobs turn in the bathroom completely on their own.  I run in to see what is happening and more are flowing from the sink and falling from the shower.  I hear a loud crash and the light fixture has crashed to floor.  More start to rush out of the fixture.  My skin is itching all over.  I look down, and they covering my legs up to my knees.  I feel the fear rising up in my throat.  I'm not going to make it.  I'm going to pass out or throw up.  There's nowhere to escape.  There are bed bugs everywhere.  They are after me.  I start to panic, but deep down I know that if I don't do something, I am going to become their lunch.  I remember seeing a fire extinguisher in the hall.  I rush out to grab it.  I come back in with the gun of the extinguisher cocked and loaded.  I pull the trigger and freeze all the bed bugs in a single flash.  (and the simulation ends)  

**Now I must go take a shower to wash away the willies I just gave myself!**

Now, please support Team Erudite, creating Fear Landscapes for everyone since 2011!