From the mind of Zim'sMostLoyalServant…
[Jade's Nightmares (title subject to change)
Not a summary, just a basic idea:
Okay, so Jade's a tough girl, I'll give her that. But she's also an 11-year-old (according to Wikipedia) girl who, over the course of the series, has been forcibly transformed into multiple creatures, possessed, trapped outside her body, trapped in someone else's body, and nearly killed on a regular basis (at least once an episode, for anyone not keeping count). All that happening to a kid, and we're supposed to believe there isn't any sort of psychological damage?
So, here's the idea - night terrors. At some point, she starts having terrible nightmares, based on or simply exaggerated versions of her worse experiences. This in turn leads to her becoming irritable, withdrawn, and temperamental. Okay, so it doesn't really fit the pattern of the rest of these stories, but I think it could be a well written take on the psychological damage resulting from traumatic experiences (albeit of the fantasy kind), and how it can make a person darker.]
Let's see what I can do with this, eh?
…some time later…
Alright, I have researched Night Terrors (read the entire Wikipedia page, spent over an hour reading through 5 paragraphs b/c of all the embedded links :\), so now I probably know more than you about it (shrinks excepted). The good thing is that there are many unknown aspects that will make writing about it easier (pretty much most people say: "it should happen/do this, and 90+% of the time it will, but there are always exceptions). I also read a certain "Description of a Night Terror", so I got some inspiration from that.
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Just for reference (not that technical, but interesting):
Lucid Dreaming: where one can actively move in and control/affect their dream environment.
REM: Your mind stops your muscles from moving and consolidates different types of memory (sorting files and etc.). It also throws out the trash (should Brain™ remember "How to best kill a duck with a piece of cheese whilst parleying with undead forces aboard a TARDIS."? …Deleted.), or "unlearns" unwanted information. May be inversely related to imagination (apparently the more you have, the more uncreative you are...less info=less connections).
NREM: Non-REM sleep. Basically, it's a phase of sleep where your muscles are not paralyzed and there is little chance of dreaming. The mind is also more organized than in REM sleep, and it is in this state where sleep walking and night terrors can occur.
Autonomic: Functions of the nervous system not under voluntary control (e.g. heartbeat). An action/response that occurs w/out conscious control.
Chapter 1
Pavor Nocturnus
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
― Frank Herbert, Dune
The girl looked around the blank emptiness, confused for a moment. Where was she? Shadows condensed and writhed around her, blacker than black apparitions that she could hardly make out. Suddenly, it hit her; she was dreaming again. A whimper escaped her lips, followed by low murmuring.
"No…no no no…not again, please…not again…"
For these were not the imaginings of a healthy mind, they were the deranged madness you could expect to find wandering around Arkham asylum's most notorious detainees. She was fully aware and could move around, but was powerless to stop the raging bombardment of sounds and images thrown at her by her own damaged psyche. In this world, the word "dread" had a whole new meaning. This was Pavor Nocturnus, or Night Terror, but even that foreboding term cannot truly explain how terrifying it is, your worst nightmares combinine with your darkest thoughts and most fearsome visions to bring you an amalgam of inescapable fear that closes in around you like a fist. Your heart beats twice as fast as your fight or flight instinct autonomically kicks in, your breathing rate increases, your eyes dilate excessively, your body breaks out in a cold sweat, all signs of extreme distress. Of course, that is only visible to the outside observer-on the inside, you will see the most mild and uninteresting things as the harbingers of your inevitable doom, so even having an uneventful life does not prevent visions of such alarming quality.
That said, the life of this particular child is far from dull. From magical talismans to demon sorcerers to evil chi wizards, a criminal organization run by a conniving Englishman, malevolent mystical ninjas interspersed with an unhealthy dose of possession by destructive forces, and quite a few near-death experiences, one might be surprised that she had coped so well for so long. Just one of these incidents would be enough for recommended therapy; combined they made a deadly cocktail that would threaten to crush even the sturdiest of minds. As it was, the girl could suppress the fear consciously, but in the core of her being something had been…damaged. This led to dread thoughts that would explode inside her head, holding indisputable dominion while simultaneously consisting of a chaotic maelstrom of memories and events, each striving to cause the greatest amount of fear and anguish possible.
Out of her murky surroundings, a scene emerged: encircling the stage she suddenly found herself standing on was a vast army of shadowkhan and draconic-minions, and in the distance she could see the faint glow from fires that were consuming the populous city of Hong Kong, but the most imposing figure was the large bi-pedal lizard-dragon that was in front of her.
"Sh…Shendu? But you were sent to the netherworld!"
"That's right, but now I'm back, and I am just about to finalize my revenge on this traitorous country…even now it burns to the ground, with everyone in it." The chuckling hiss that followed made her blood run cold.
"You can't win Shendu! Jackie will stop you!"
"Oh, but I already have." With a wave of his arm, he indicated a row of poles that bordered the platform. Looking closer, she almost puked when she realized what they were. As it was, tear came unbidden to her eyes, and she collapsed to her knees in shock. They were stakes, and on the tops were the heads of Jackie, Uncle, Tohru, her parents…she let out a wailing shriek of pain and broke down into uncontrollable sobbing, but her ordeal was far from over.
"Don't worry, girl, you're next." She turned to see his malicious sneer inches from her face as he pinned her to the ground and placed his claws on her abdomen. "I remember when you plunged your hand into me in order to destroy me. Allow me to return the favor." She didn't even have time to truly grasp the demon's intentions before he slowly plunged his talons into her. Her screams this time held no grief; they were the pure manifestation of physical torment. She writhed in agony under the relentless eviscerating appendage, blackness creeping in on her vision as the monstrous immortal creature laughed and laughed…
Jade woke up with a yell of panic; she was being killed! She had to run, had to get out of…taking a deep breath, she gradually calmed down, but couldn't help feeling uneasy.
They were getting worse.
[End Chapter 1]
Whoops. I accidentally published the one w/ typos. I think I fixed it.