IRRATIONAL FEARS ALL UP IN THIS THREAD [Archive]

Lumenskir

06-13-2010, 11:16 PM

So hey, I just discovered the worst sound in the world: A cockroach's skitter as it crawls underneath my bathroom cabinet, pauses, and then disappears from sight.

Now, I wouldn't say I suffer from a crippling fear of bugs in general. I can look at pictures of them all day and only suffer from mild boredom, safe in my knowledge that they are trapped behind a screen (whether it be TV, movie, Phantom Zone, computer, or zoo glass) and can't do anything to me. But in real life (say, in my bathroom when it thinks I've gone asleep already), seeing a bug means it can approach you, and if it can approach you it can get onto you, and if it can get onto you IT'S ON YOU AND IT'S SCURRYING ON YOUR BODY AND OMYGOD THOSE ANTENNA THINGS ARE MOVING INDEPENDENT OF EACH OTHER and then I start flailing about and trying to get to where I store my hyperventilation bag.

So yes, I will admit that whenever a bug touches me is a little much. Hands down, the worst feeling in the world is a bug crawling on you, none of its apparently thousands plus and multiplying legs ever moving in something approaching a calm fashion as it traverses your flesh. And yes, I've read everything in the world about how most bugs I'll ever come in contact with pose no harm to me, but that's why it's my irrational fear, ok.

BitVyper

06-13-2010, 11:18 PM

Watch Joe's Apartment.

Azisien

06-13-2010, 11:24 PM

I suppose I have a slightly irrational fear of the dark or unknown, but its never been a real obstacle and I can just will or talk myself through something dark or unknown.

Daimo Mac, The Blue Light of Hope

06-13-2010, 11:46 PM

I have a deep deep fear of Snakes and Clowns.

I can't even watch Snakes on a Plane I am that scared of them.

MuMu

06-13-2010, 11:46 PM

I'm terrified of being alone. I remember when I was a kid I'd have this recurring nightmare where I would be in a busy place, a party, a carnival, something like that. Then I tripped, turned away or simply blinked and everyone was gone.

I don't like having small creatures along me in closed spaces, no matter how harmless they are. The thought that could be anywhere is enough to take a look around myself every 30 seconds or so when I'm in my room.

I don't close my eyes when I take a shower.

Token

06-13-2010, 11:53 PM

Bugs. I freak out when they crawl on me because I always think they'll crawl inside of me and somehow survive and multiply and jesus fuck ant colony in my organs and then they'll burst out of my veins and it will be hundreds of thousands of bugs covered in my blood and i'll bleed to death and...

No. I have no fears.

Actually, wait. Lately I've been worried that my friends don't actually like me, and actually put up with me out of obligation and pity. It's been getting harder and harder to ignore recently. I'm pretty sure it's not true, but still...

Overcast

06-14-2010, 12:34 AM

Death.

At the age of four I was vaguely aware of death, but like most kids was unaware that it might affect me. At five I was, for any odd reason or another, able to reason out that in fact it did. For the next five years I couldn't get a proper night of sleep without quietly sobbing myself insane about the possibility of death grabbing me in the night. The terrible cold of nothingness and unknown after death regarding me fondly and keeping me sick with paranoia.

At age ten I began desperate binges of imagination to distract myself from it, keeping my brain as busy as I could in order to escape the troubles. From time to time that failed and I would be crying myself insane once again.

At age thirteen I began self-actualizing a personal dream that some day science was going to save me from this terrifying experience and aid me in becoming immortal, and all I had to do was live long enough. The fear of death wasn't gone, just redirected to an obsession with immortality.

I began to get reasonable sleep.

I still have a personal desire for immortality to this day. I won't stop hoping until I hit the century mark, and then the world might well start being afraid because I'm unsure what my mind will do to help me get over the fear.

Amake

06-14-2010, 12:39 AM

Fear itself.

Okay, I really have a phobia of hurting people with my beast-like strength. I guess you could call me overly careful and disciplined. Like, there are certain points during sex when I try to be as still as possible.

Bard The 5th LW

06-14-2010, 12:40 AM

Large groups.

If I see a large number of people together, especially ones whom I dislike or am not friendly with, I try my best to move the hell away. Even large groups of friends can be overwhelming, because I know that my chums are liable to do something dumb when in a pack. Its a habit of theirs.

Being Lost.

I must know the exact route to get back home or tow a checkpoint I can find home from at all times. I hate not having a route. I also have a piss-poor sense of direction. The further away I go, the more paranoid about being lost I am. I always have some friend with me to point out the way back.

Osterbaum

06-14-2010, 12:58 AM

I find it uncomfortable to be swimming in water so deep you can't touch the bottom, and at the same time you can't see the bottom either. Pitch black or dark water in other words.

mauve

06-14-2010, 01:09 AM

Needles. They freak me out. I'm fine with getting my vaccinations, I'm decently okay at having blood drawn (meaning I worry about it and get nightmares a few nights before I have to have the blood drawn, but it's not too bad) because I can look away and it doesn't hurt, but getting an IV can potentially put me to the point of seeing spots and needing to lie down, and don't even get me started on those little blood glucose meter things. I had to check my blood sugar for two months this one time... I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was physically unable to do it. I'd sit there for like half an hour physically unable to push the little button that activates the spring-loaded needle thingie (*shudder*).

I even have trouble using Adrenaline Shots in Left 4 Dead 2 because the character stabs himself in the thigh with a needle the size of your hand in order to do so, in first-person. If you ever play L4D with me you'll notice I don't even bother to pick them up.

Spiders. I'm not really scared of them as much as I am disturbed by their creepiness. Oh jeez the way they sit perfectly still and then dart off in one direction and have constantly-moving mouth parts and eeeeeeuuuugggh.

Yellow Jackets and Wasps YELLOW JACKETS SERVE NO PURPOSE IN LIFE. THEY ARE NOT HONEYBEES. THEY ARE NOT CUTE LIKE BUMBLEBEES. THEY BITE, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. And wasps are just creepy with their long legs and evil tendencies to build nests in places I need to be, like the garage and the garden shed AND THE DOOR OF MY CAR.

Kyanbu The Legend

06-14-2010, 01:20 AM

Large bodies of water: I really freeze up when going over bridges. Mostly because I can't swim.

Heights: As soon as I'm 15 feet above ground or more I start to get dizzy and freeze up completely. Though I can sometimes handle it depending on what I'm in or on.

mauve

06-14-2010, 01:25 AM

Well, lookie what GoogleAds put in this thread. We brought this upon ourselves, I suppose.
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/2843/fitting.png

Flarecobra

06-14-2010, 01:30 AM

Betrayal. Probably why I have some trust issues with people.

Needles. So long as I don't look at it, I'm fine, but if I do....*shudder*

It once took 3 orderlies to hold me down to give me a shot because I saw it before they injected me. I freaked out that bad.

Amake

06-14-2010, 01:30 AM

That ad so sounds like a front for a hitman business.

Anyone read this short story We Can Get Them For You Wholesale by Neil Gaiman about a guy who finds a hitman with bulk discounts? Spoiler: Their ultimate deal is completely free. Anyway since then I'm convinced a lot of professional killers advertise openly.

phil_

06-14-2010, 01:32 AM

The fear of heights is not irrational!

Also, just to annoy people in this thread, I'll point out that I try my best to capture spiders and other "scary" bugs alive and release them outside, to the point that I'll let them crawl onto my hand to save them from the crushing death they'd face from others. This extends to stinging insects like wasps. I don't like killing things I can instead remove; I feel guilty.

Also, until I see another needle, I'll say I have a handle on that fear. Used to burst into tears at the thought, I did. I think I can handle it now, though. I managed the last few by looking away.

Kyanbu The Legend

06-14-2010, 01:41 AM

A fear of heights above 15 ft is rational?

Doc ock rokc

06-14-2010, 01:41 AM

Zombies
I can't really describe why. I find vampires to be stupid and easy to beat. Mummies only show up in egypt. they both have set rules You can prevent both with preparation or with general knowlidge of them like vampires can't cross moving water no matter how small. they can't leave their coffin if you leave a bag of sand in it. You burn the coffin they burn to death. they can't enter a area with out permission (unless previously invited). Mummies think cats are guardians of the underworld and will shy away from anyone with a cat nearby.
but Zombies Don't have rules. and worse They can make your loved ones zombies.
Oh and It's ill advised to play a zombie trick on me. Last person who did that was Punched in the nuts so hard that he literally couldn't stand or speak for the rest of the day.

Needles.
To a Much higher degree then Mauve. Any needle can freak me out and make me a Gibbering mess. I blame my first remembered encounter with them. In which i Got the Blind nurse that Kept missing the vain and had to stab me and inject me Over and over and over. to the point that she actually hit a nerve and Paralyzed my arm for a short period of time.

bluestarultor

06-14-2010, 01:48 AM

I don't mind bugs, really. I used to be really afraid of spiders, but I've been working on it and don't have a real problem with the small ones right now. Not unless there's a chance I might touch one. Looking it fine, touching, I still freak, but I'm not so paralyzed that I can't get a sheet of paper or something and release it outside.

Oddly, though, while I never used to be at all afraid of any bug but spiders, I'm finding now that I've become uncomfortable with certain bugs shown magnified. A big spider will pretty much give me a heart attack, and a close-up of certain other non-spider bugs sends me trying to get it off my screen or turning the page. In some cases, this is despite the fact that I actually LIKE that kind of bug and have always known it was harmless.

So I guess it's good I'm addressing my phobia, because it's started generalizing.

Overcast

06-14-2010, 01:54 AM

The thing about my fear of heights that makes it irrational is it is more a fear in anticipation of heights. When I look up at something high up and possibly dangerous I am quite averse to actually doing it.

But more often than not when forced I am far more at ease being at the precarious position.

Yrcrazypa

06-14-2010, 01:57 AM

Bugs and ladders. It's not heights in general, I'm fine on top of stable platforms really high up, but ladders do not seem stable to me. Bugs are an obvious one, and I don't need to explain that.

Corel

06-14-2010, 02:06 AM

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

~Bene Gesserit

I always remember this if I'm ever put into a scary situation, seems to work for me.

The fear of heights is not irrational!
Also, just to annoy people in this thread, I'll point out that I try my best to capture spiders and other "scary" bugs alive and release them outside, to the point that I'll let them crawl onto my hand to save them from the crushing death they'd face from others. This extends to stinging insects like wasps. I don't like killing things I can instead remove; I feel guilty.

I'm kinda the same, if I accidently step on an insect I feel pretty guilty for the next 5-10 minutes or so. Which is more than most people!

Saying that there might be extreme phobias I have not yet discovered; maybe Necropapaphobia - Fear of the undead Pope.

Here's a list of phobias for your viewing pleasure. (http://phobialist.com/)

rpgdemon

06-14-2010, 02:09 AM

I suppose I have a slightly irrational fear of the dark or unknown, but its never been a real obstacle and I can just will or talk myself through something dark or unknown.

I personally can't stand pitch darkness. I need at least a TINY light, or else I will freak out. Even if it's just a clock, I need to have SOMETHING that I can see, so that I know that I'm not blind or lost in the dark forever, as stupid as that sounds.

Yrcrazypa

06-14-2010, 02:12 AM

I love absolute darkness. Am I weird for that?

Corel

06-14-2010, 02:16 AM

I love absolute darkness. Am I weird for that?

I don't think so! Been hiking since I was a child and being inside a Wood in absolute silence and darkness so thick you can feel it has been something I've always found relaxing.

rpgdemon

06-14-2010, 02:17 AM

Nah. I just remember one time, waking up in the middle of the night when I was younger, and not being able to see ANYTHING, and I was terrified that I wouldn't ever be able to see anything again, somehow.

I don't mind the NORMAL dark all too much, but since that point in time, I've never been in a pitch black area again. I always make sure there's SOMETHING I can see, even if it's just the glowing hands on my watch.

Edit:

I don't think so! Been hiking since I was a child and being inside a Wood in absolute silence and darkness so thick you can feel it has been something I've always found relaxing.

It's funny, the time I was terrified of the pitch black was when I was out camping, which is funny because I really love being outside/sleeping outside. I actually think that I get a BETTER night's rest whenever I'm camping, than sleeping in my bed.

Menarker

06-14-2010, 02:33 AM

Weed-whackers

Had a tiny piece of glass shot against the back of my neck by someone who was mishandling it and cause it to richochet when I was like 7 years old. Thankfully it wasn't pointed and mostly bounced off.

But I'll always flinch and cross the street to avoid anyone using one if I'm not wearing long pants. (Being 5'11, I'm comfortable with the fact that it'll probably never hit my neck again... maybe)

Amake

06-14-2010, 03:00 AM

I too love to sleep outdoors. You just have to tell yourself you're the worst of all the dangers lurking in the dark. :3

katiuska

06-14-2010, 03:22 AM

See, I distinguish between fear of bodily harm from disgust/anxiety at the thought of touching something disgusting. Roaches are disgusting, and I don't want to see one, but they won't hurt me. I guess this is why that's an irrational fear, but I'm always vaguely aware of this knowledge, so I spend more time fearing things that could pose a threat, even if they never will (dark/remote places, heights, other people).

Death.

At the age of four I was vaguely aware of death, but like most kids was unaware that it might affect me. At five I was, for any odd reason or another, able to reason out that in fact it did. For the next five years I couldn't get a proper night of sleep without quietly sobbing myself insane about the possibility of death grabbing me in the night. The terrible cold of nothingness and unknown after death regarding me fondly and keeping me sick with paranoia.

At age ten I began desperate binges of imagination to distract myself from it, keeping my brain as busy as I could in order to escape the troubles. From time to time that failed and I would be crying myself insane once again.

At age thirteen I began self-actualizing a personal dream that some day science was going to save me from this terrifying experience and aid me in becoming immortal, and all I had to do was live long enough. The fear of death wasn't gone, just redirected to an obsession with immortality.

I began to get reasonable sleep.

I still have a personal desire for immortality to this day. I won't stop hoping until I hit the century mark, and then the world might well start being afraid because I'm unsure what my mind will do to help me get over the fear.

I fail to see how this is irrational. As Lore puts it (http://bookofratings.com/phobias.html), "When you're dealing with something that's both undesirable and inevitable, you kind of have to wonder who's the unbalanced one, the person who treats impending mortality with the paralyzing fear it deserves, or the rest of us who manage to avoid thinking about it in favor of, say, whether our Liquid Paper has the viscosity we deserve."

EVILNess

06-14-2010, 03:41 AM

I'm afraid of not being liked, being alone, etc. I have mildly uncomfortable dreams about it all the time.

Also, I am constantly afraid of forgetting something. Like I have had terrifying dreams where I somehow forgot to go to class all semester and now I am screwed and my life is ruined and I'll never be happy ever again. Yeah.

I'm also afraid of being an adult, cause I'm 24 and still don't know what the fuck I am doing. Seriously, the only adult epiphany I have ever had was that, hey I'm grown I can eat chocolate cake anytime I want.

Roland

06-14-2010, 04:06 AM

Entomophobia and Arachnaphobia, for starters. To the point where I'll scream if I discover that a bug or spider was crawling on me or one flies directly into my face. I need somebody else to deal with the bigger ones when they get into my room.

I don't have that problem with caterpillar-esque bugs or worms, strangely enough. Especially not with worms. Back when I used to go fishing with my dad I would refuse to use worms at all, but only because I didn't want to hurt the worm by jamming a hook through it. Even though that's what we bought them for. I stopped going fishing because I eventually decided that this was a double standard as far as the sport is concerned.: Not wanting to hurt the worm but having no problem with hurting a fish.

Also have a fear of heights, but it's not too bad because I rarely spend any time in a building with more than 2-3 floors. Above that, though, I get dizzy when looking out of a window and feel like I'm going to fall out at any second.

... so yeah, nothing all that uncommon.

Osterbaum

06-14-2010, 05:32 AM

[...]Arachnaphobia[...]
But spiders are super cool!

Thadius

06-14-2010, 06:37 AM

Amake

06-14-2010, 06:41 AM

Now I'm curious. Think you can get me gibbering with some well-chosen words? I always want to test my 100% ontological shock resistance.

The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk

06-14-2010, 06:48 AM

There are really only two things that scares me anymore. The Multiverse in all its glory, and the inevitable future of all that is. I saw both once in my mind's eye. The scary part is I can lead others down the same path I took and turn them into the same gibbering broken wreck I was for a day.

Pussy! I see the Infinite Omniverse constantly, it's not scary at all. Spiders on the other hand, are. I hate them so much, those disgusting hairy bastards. They make me paralysed with fear, so much so that I can't even move away or move closer to hit them and kill them because they might move and run towards me and then they'd be touching me and GAHHHH!!!

Other bugs mostly just disgust me so I keep my distance, but don't paralyse me.

Also, dunno if it counts as a fear per se, but I really hate being cold. As soon as the temperature drops slightly I get massive uncontrollable shivers, wheras other people will be completely unnafected. It is actually like my Kryptonite, in that I cannot move and genuinely think I might die from being so cold.

Magic_Marker

06-14-2010, 07:17 AM

Not a fear, but I irrationally hate certain sounds and can be utterly paralyzed by them. High pitched sounds mostly. The sound of a windbreaker's fabic rubbing against itself makes me almost ball up, while abuse of a full baloon has a similar effect. It's not the about to pop fear.

It's just that damn noise.

Nikose Tyris

06-14-2010, 07:29 AM

If I'm with friends? most small animals (lizards, bugs, fish, turtles) I get shivers and can't approach. Snakes are definitely on that list, of all sizes.

I've gotten over my needle fear recently when I realized if I don't get them I will die.

If I'm alone?
FUCKING EVERYTHING. Being alone in the dark, I'm afraid of monsters, of the quiet being -too- quiet, that there's someone else in the house with me, secretly, waiting to kill me/harm me, fear of being eaten, fear of being lost alone forever and nobody contacts me again. Fear of suddenly feeling my throat close up and not being able to breathe. Fear of my body failing me in general while I'm alone. Fear of zombie invasion.

The Zombie Invasion fear is so bad that my friends and I had to construct a total zombie survival plan as a precautionary measure. We have a huge, detailed plan, as well as supplies already purchased as a 'just in case'.

This is my most irrational fear and my friends bought supplies so we'd be prepared for something that will never happen.

Either my friends are stupid or they're awesome.

7days

06-14-2010, 09:44 AM

Bard The 5th LW

06-14-2010, 10:14 AM

Two words: Bot Flies.
Any other bug I can handle. Hell, I used to have a pet tarantula and I loved that furry little bastard. But the idea of a critter that's babies live inside human flesh feeding upon it, sometimes burrowing deeper, feasting upon your brain scare the living bejeebus outta me. I'm constantly checking myself for the little bastards, as any bump on my skin could be the hidey-hole of one of these hell-spawn. What makes the fear irrational is that I live well out of the creatures livable habitat, hundreds of miles from the area they can inhabit.

GOD WHY DID YOU HAVE TO REMIND ME OF THOSE BLUH!

Another irrational fear: Having my blood drained.

No this does not extend to Vampires. This is literally having a needle stuck in you and having blood taken out. I find it unnerving and it makes me feel light-headed. I absolutely refuse to give blood because of this. Its a pretty selfish fear. I also find myself being uncomfortable when I'm watching a video of say, a spider, draining the fluid out of something because of this. And I typically love spiders.

Krylo

06-14-2010, 11:50 AM

I only have one real fear, and that's heights. It's kind of funny though, because I don't generally get scared. Nervous, maybe, but actual terror is such a rare thing for me that, when I am put in a situation wherein I can experience it, I usually seek it out. It's a novelty.

Like when I go to the fair, due to my ridiculous fear of heights (and the feeling of weightlessness that comes with falling) I will always have to start on that stupid rocking boat thing. I usually go on it twice. To get myself a good feel for the fear.

I then spend the rest of the fair trip terrorizing whomever I'm with by attempting (and occasionally succeeding) in getting them to go with me on the more ridiculous rides. Like the wheel of fire (giant wheel with roller coaster cars on the inside that stops upside down), or this giant thing that was many volumes larger than the ferris wheel that spins you around forward on the end of a pole, then stops you at the highest point, and then spins you backward.

You know, the things they make you sign a waiver for possible heart conditions before getting on.

I am... repulsed, however, by bugs. Of all kinds. It's not so much a fear. I don't mind if they are NEAR me, but I refuse to let them touch me. I absolutely loath killing them too. The subtle cracking of their exoskeleton, and the feeling of initial pressure and then it giving away to their soft gooey innards. Ugh. Just... ugh.

I pretty much always try to just find a shoe or something to swat them with. I absolutely refuse to kill any bugs over a certain size, though, 'cause of the grossness.

Overcast

06-14-2010, 11:50 AM

Knowing the infinity of time is a boring thing, my wish for immortality only extends to my physical form. I love the simplicity of humanity and knowing all choices and pathways and the ultimate fate of everything would make the endless timespan absolutely worthless.

In other words I'd rather be loved by time than know it.

Pitch black only affects me if it is cold and dry or warm and damp. It is just an environmental kind of thing, in the pitch dark I am comfortable in warm and dry or cold and damp situations. When you hit the opposites though it picks at my nerves in a big way.

I guess my fear of death isn't irrational, but I can't come into a talk on fears without taking care of the big one first. It has affected my persona more than most things I can think of.

BitVyper

06-14-2010, 12:06 PM

I've had some very disturbing nightmares that still freak me out a bit. Beyond that, anything I'm afraid of is more the kind of stuff that you forget about until the one time you're confronted with that situation, so I can't really competently say about some stuff, but I'm pretty confident at this point that I can overcome any fear.

Edit: Actually, I am a bit afraid of mental illness. The idea of losing myself is freaky.

Edit: Not really afraid of bugs, but like many, I don't like touching them very much. I'm making an effort to improve in that area, and I find that examining them helps. Watching flies go about their business is really cool. They're all like *rub rub rub rub rub*. They always look like they're up to something.

bluestarultor

06-14-2010, 12:34 PM

Thadius

06-14-2010, 01:03 PM

That... explains a lot. :sweatdrop

There is a reason my 'location' tag is 'beyond the edge of reason.' I could bring other people into a similar state, but what little remains of my morals and sanity urges me constantly to NOT do that.

But hey. At least I recognize I'm not entirely sane. That's better than 99% of the other nutjobs!

phil_

06-14-2010, 02:37 PM

The fear of heights is not irrational!It seems there was some demand that it be clarified what I meant by this statement. As such, I offer this re-wording: Man was not meant to go higher than he can jump, except in such cases where man can jump very high. In those cases, man was not meant to go as high as he can jump, either. We left the trees for a reason. Vertigo is not weakness. It is a warning of the very real threat that gravity holds over our heads at every moment. Stay safe; stay on the ground.

akaSM

06-14-2010, 04:07 PM

Needles, I don' like them AT ALL, just the sight of them induces fear on me, however I don't get paralized or anything, maybe I'll get a bit pale but that's it, and I'm not easily scared by anything, bugs, death or whatever, however, my fear of needles is nothing compared to my curiosity, I like to see the needle getting into my arm, hand, wherever. And watching the blood going into that bag thing they use for donations was interesting :3. Also, the sound of the drill dentists use...THAT THING'S SOUND IS IN YOUR HEAD GOING THROUGH YOUR JAWBONE, that, is something I'd rather not see ever again :ohdear:. I'm really interested in that multiversr thing Thadius, do you think you could share your madness inducing info with me? I don' think I could get any worse :3:

Aldurin

06-14-2010, 04:51 PM

Other people, oh wait that's rational.

From my experiences, nothing has freaked me out more than the Grim (Resistance 2 zombie-like enemies). These are not like other zombies, they do not make a shitload of sound, they do not come from hiding spots beyond doors and windows and hallways.

These Grim hatch in cocoons, and there's a shitload of them in the solo campaign. And they don't all hatch, and there's no indication which do until it's too late. You literally walk around in a dark cave (first person, so you can't be aware of rear attacks) and walk by these cocoons, since even though you can shoot them to kill them immediately, you aren't given the necessary ammo or grenades to break them all. You literally walk through the cave until BAM!! a grim hatches 5 feet away from you. Then BAM!! several grim within the "too close" range hatch and charge at you.

Then the combat is scary shit. These things will always run once they get within several yards of you. They do not flinch. Do you hear me, they do not flinch. Cut their arm off with a splicer, and they'll kill you with the other arm (splicer is actually the best defense against Grim as they can slice through multiple targets with one shot, just cut them in half to be sure). And they take like 10 shots from your carbine or bullseye before they die, so in one of the many huge assaults from these, you may run out of ammo and have to hit them with your shitty melee attacks. Half the time you get a shotgun to fight them off but there's problems with that. The range sucks, the reload delay sucks (you have to restart your reload if you melee during it), the secondary fire sucks (two consecutive shots with a longer refire delay does not help).

And the final kicker is, if you try to dash your way past a nest, you'll hit all of the event triggers that hatch almost all of them and then they kill you in seconds. Your only way through is to slowly move towards certain spots or follow your AI buddy (if available) to minimize hatchings.

Zombies don't scare me, especially since they're clumsy, weak (one bullet can tear them apart) and they have no skill, no claws, no sharp teeth on the majority and you'll always be able to tell when they're coming because they'll be making a shitload of noise and won't hatch. My zombie plan is a katana. In case we get something the equivalent of special infected then I'll have to dual wield two katanas instead.

My Grim plan is to go to a desolate island where there will be no one else to get caught by the spinners and turn into inconsistently voilatile death-bombs that might kill me at any moment. Or if the military forces me to fight the Chimera (what the Grims mature into) then I'll take all the missions involving infiltrating enemy battleships as there are no Grim in those.

Other than that, I'm psychologically normal.

DarkDrgon

06-14-2010, 07:11 PM

Bears. They are not cute, they are not cuddley, they are not your friend. They are evil, vicious animals that will eat your face off, then consume the rest of you alive.

Tempest

06-14-2010, 07:34 PM

I don't like wild mice and rats. If I ever see them I scream and run the other way! But I really love pet rodents, my friend used to have a rat that I'd have sitting on my lap or shoulder when I went round there. I thought she was a great little animal, erm -the rat, not my friend ;)

I also scream and run away from frogs, snakes, lizards and newts - regardless if they are someones pet or not :ohdear:

Loyal

06-14-2010, 09:28 PM

Unsecured heights. Like, I live on the 10th floor of an apartment building, so altitude isn't a problem for me. But if I'm not absolutely secure in what I'm standing on and what's keeping me at that altitude I can freak out a little. We have this balcony, and whenever I look over it I lean at an awkward angle such that my torso is always at least at arms length from the safety railing (which itself is chest high, so there's no way I could accidentally stumble over it), and I kinda look stupid. But I don't care I don't want to fall over and end up a dull red paste in the rose garden.

I'm also rather afraid of losing those close to me, such that I have a hard time getting close at all.

bluestarultor

06-14-2010, 09:30 PM

There is a reason my 'location' tag is 'beyond the edge of reason.' I could bring other people into a similar state, but what little remains of my morals and sanity urges me constantly to NOT do that.

But hey. At least I recognize I'm not entirely sane. That's better than 99% of the other nutjobs!

Like I said, it explains a lot. ;)

No worries. Some people take it better than others. Once you're over it, though, your weirdness tolerance goes up. If I got shifted into an alternate universe with magic instead of technology, my reaction would probably be, "SHIT! I can't get Internet here!"

Plus, I don't think I'd trust a person who was entirely sane. They scare me.

synkr0nized

06-14-2010, 11:00 PM

zombies

Alma Wade and Samara/Sadako, but it's paired with a complete fascination and perverse thrill from the scare

I'd say the depression I slump into when I try to imagine death, the cessation of all activity and thought in a nothingness of non-existence, isn't irrational, but *shrug*.

RickZarber

06-15-2010, 04:12 AM

Haven't seen it mentioned yet (or I skipped it) but: claustrophobia.

One time in high school they made the whole class sit on the floor all squeezed in together to simulate what slave ship conditions were like, and I nearly flipped out (luckily only my friend noticed). That was probably my first indication of how bad it could be sometimes.

I have since learned:
I can't deal with stadium-sized crowds pressing 'round, no matter how big an area we're in. I can deal with rock concert crowds as long as the roof is high enough. I do okay in tunnels, but not if the car has to stop--tunnels under water are worse somehow. I'm not a fan of metro trains at all, but I still have to use them from time to time. One time in Atlanta the crowd was so big, we were pressed into the train car like sardines. Then someone outside got their sleeve caught in the door, so the train couldn't move. But the door wouldn't open because someone was leaning on it. But he couldn't stop leaning on it because we were packed in so tight. It took a good twenty minutes to fix, and meanwhile I pretty much had a breakdown. (Hyperventilating, shaking, cold sweats, etc.)

Interestingly enough, I find the "fear" involved with that kind of phobia feels very distinct from, say, the fear of death.

Kim

06-15-2010, 06:36 AM

I fear that if I take my eyes off a soda I'm drinking, it will be ruined while I'm not looking. This started when I was living in a spider infested basement and grew paranoid that spiders might have crawled into my soda, and it's only gotten worse since then.

Thadius

06-15-2010, 07:17 AM

People expecting me to drag them kicking and screaming into the world of madness need to get their heads screwed back on! It is not something I can just say a magic word about and have you end up outside sanity in a second! I only managed to do it after 22 freakin' years of life. I might be able to make a cliff-notes version, but there's no guarantee that it would be particularly effective!

It's not like saying the word Snozzberry will suddenly cause a massive sanity failure among all the humans of the earth. If it did, I could hold the world to ransom, and you don't see me doing that, do you?

And yet the knowledge that if I stray too far in my thoughts and think too long on all that is and all that will be and-

IA IA C'THULU F'THAGAN!

Amake

06-15-2010, 10:48 AM

Well you said you could lead others on the same path. How does that work exactly?

Aldurin

06-15-2010, 03:02 PM

I'd say sign me up for the process, but I don't know if I'm already there, or suffering of a different insanity (although suffer would be the wrong way to describe how I handle it).

Oh, other irrational fear that almost never comes up for me. Becoming normal. Fortunately it almost never comes up, as I usually play hopscotch on the boundary between eccentric and psychotic.

Loyal

06-15-2010, 04:49 PM

I suspect he's already succeeded, seeing as you lot have begun babbling as incoherently as he.

Lumenskir

06-15-2010, 04:59 PM

New irrational fear: Ending up anywhere near the Hot Topic where you guys are hanging out.

krogothwolf

06-15-2010, 05:07 PM

I fear the terror that flaps in the night.

Overcast

06-15-2010, 05:14 PM

Elderly nudists?

krogothwolf

06-15-2010, 05:26 PM

And Goomba's, those things creep me out.

Nique

06-15-2010, 06:02 PM

Spiders and eh, maybe most bugs too. Snakes and to a lesser degree lizards in general. My number one irrational fear is fish. be it touching, looking at, swimming around, etc. I can't stand them.

Hanuman

06-15-2010, 07:53 PM

Any fear I have I walk with it, I don't get over it but I don't ignore it.

Seil

06-15-2010, 10:45 PM

And Goomba's, those things creep me out.

? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVDOj109F5E)

CelesJessa

06-15-2010, 11:06 PM

I guess my irrational fear is pretty standard issue. I hate heights sooo much. I've never flown in an airplane before (I have ridden in a helicopter before).

I blame my horrible depth perception, because I hate really lame heights too, like being on top of play equipment.

I'm pretty afraid of losing the ones I love to but that's less irrational, I guess. I remember my very first and only panic attack was when I missed a call from my dad during the school day and I thought it was going to be about my cousin's lab test coming back (which I had a gut feeling wouldn't turn out well)

And going blind! Already being blind in one eye terrifies me that someday I'll lose sight in my other eye, and then I won't be able to do art anymore.

And spiders are pretty gross too.

krogothwolf

06-15-2010, 11:20 PM

? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVDOj109F5E)

Those aren't Goomba's

http://dsmedia.ign.com/ds/image/article/695/695473/new-super-mario-bros-20060313032403435_640w.jpg

Look at the pure evil in the things eyes, and those big sharp pointy teeth!

phil_

06-16-2010, 12:51 AM

And going blind! Already being blind in one eye terrifies me that someday I'll lose sight in my other eye, and then I won't be able to do art anymore.Become like Shu and see through the eyes of your soul. Then, not only can you still art, but maybe you'll be able to ice cream scoop people with your kicks, too.

Hanuman

06-16-2010, 03:17 AM

Become like Shu and see through the eyes of your soul. Then, not only can you still art, but maybe you'll be able to ice cream scoop people with your kicks, too.

Or, yaknow, just find a medium that doesn't require sight. Like, fire art =]

Fenris

06-16-2010, 03:37 AM

Or, yaknow, just find a medium that doesn't require sight. Like, fire art =]

Yes because playing with fire you cannot see is a fantastic idea.

But seriously, I'm afraid of losing my senses and being alone. Even if I'm talking to somebody through IM or the phone or whatever I don't feel scared but if I'm just isolated from everybody for a while I start panicking a bit.

bluestarultor

06-16-2010, 03:44 AM

Or, yaknow, just find a medium that doesn't require sight. Like, fire art =]

I'm sorry, but swinging fire around blind doesn't seem very safe.

Obviously, she'd need to go into abstract art. You just throw paint around, say it's because of the pain of blindness, and you're set.

Of course, going blind is a terrible thing. I have a friend who's slowly going blind due to macular degeneration, and has incredibly poor vision to start with due to a botched surgery. He's already lost all vision in one eye and the other one keeps going in little, tiny bits. It's incredibly painful for him, but there's nothing anyone can do. He already walks with a white cane and he knows that he doesn't have much time left before he can't see at all. Whenever I see him, I always make sure to wear a specific incredibly loud purple shirt so he can identify me.

Amake

06-16-2010, 04:52 AM

Random poll: Would you rather be blind or deaf?

I'd go with blind. All the arts and comics and movies in the world mean less to me than communicating effectively with people. Well, relatively effectively.

You just throw paint around, say it's because of the pain of blindness, and you're set. Fixed that for ya. :3

Lumenskir

06-16-2010, 08:14 AM

All the arts and comics and movies in the world mean less to me than communicating effectively with people.
I don't know if it's migrated over to where you are, but Sign Language is actually pretty great, all things considered.

Amake

06-16-2010, 09:20 AM

It's pretty exclusive to deaf people. Your friends might, but most people won't bother to learn a new language just for you.

krogothwolf

06-16-2010, 09:35 AM

And going blind! Already being blind in one eye terrifies me that someday I'll lose sight in my other eye, and then I won't be able to do art anymore.

Hey! I'm Blind in one eye too! Mines the left eye it bites. It actually screwed up a lot of things for me already so now I'm not to worried about going blind completely. Then I can get Laser eyes!

CelesJessa

06-16-2010, 09:56 AM

Random poll: Would you rather be blind or deaf?
All the arts and comics and movies in the world

It's not just art and movies(not even movies, my blind nephew loves movies). It's EVERYTHING. (I like books that don't cost $90 when they are normally $10 too)

Hey! I'm Blind in one eye too! Mines the left eye it bites. It actually screwed up a lot of things for me already so now I'm not to worried about going blind completely. Then I can get Laser eyes!

Hah mine's on the left too. I was born like this though so I don't have any awesome war stories for it. It hasn't really screwed anything up, since I can drive and all of that stuff. I just get annoyed at all of this 3D stuff coming out.

BitVyper

06-16-2010, 09:57 AM

It's pretty exclusive to deaf people. Your friends might, but most people won't bother to learn a new language just for you.

You could always carry around a bunch of comically oversized signs and a sharpie and develop a supernatural writing speed. Being a giant panda wouldn't hurt either.

krogothwolf

06-16-2010, 10:10 AM

Hah mine's on the left too. I was born like this though so I don't have any awesome war stories for it. It hasn't really screwed anything up, since I can drive and all of that stuff. I just get annoyed at all of this 3D stuff coming out.

me too, FUCK 3D eh! Mine's not a war story, just a puck in the eyes have caused damage is all. Huzzah for Hockey!

Preturbed

06-16-2010, 11:26 AM

I fear that I'm secretly retarded and nobody is telling me.

krogothwolf

06-16-2010, 11:55 AM

I fear that I'm secretly retarded and nobody is telling me.

Don't worry, Preturbed, if you were retarded we'd tell you.

bluestarultor

06-16-2010, 01:53 PM

Don't worry, Preturbed, if you were retarded we'd tell you.

Oh, would we ever! :P

CJ, I keep mistaking your for Hatake Kakashi (the forumite) with your Raiden avatar. Probably because the headband is similar to Hatake Kakahi's (the character's). It took me a minute to realize we didn't have an absurd collection of one-eyed people. :sweatdrop

Unfortunately for me, I might end up deaf AND blind. Hearing loss runs strong on my mom's side and my dad's dad was deaf as a post. I also have cataracts and glaucoma to worry about. I'd hate to lose either one, because my hearing is literally superhuman (I can hear WAY above dog whistle) and I'm a very visual person. Given a choice, I'd rather go deaf, but if I do, it's going to drive me crazy. I go nuts just getting an ear infection.