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Well, shit. Dreams again. I'm on the floor below Eph, Setrakian, and the others and I'm supposed to turn on my device so the Master will be stunned and they can just knock him into the lead box. My device isn't working. I fiddle with it, do some rewiring, and all the while my guys have to fight an extremely strong Strigoi. Finally I get it to work and Quinlan puts his daddy away, hopefully for good, but when I get up there I see Eph is hurt. Bleeding. I volunteer to stay with him while the others dump the box into the ocean, but Eph tells me they might need someone who can operate the device. I go with the others to drop the box in the ocean. That's where my Dream ends. Somehow I don't think the plan will go very smoothly.

Strigoi never die out quietly and they certainly won't let their Master be imprisoned for all of eternity.

You know, up until this point I'd thought that people stealing food in workplace fridges was just a joke or a myth. Whatever you want to call it. Friday, though, somebody honestly stole my soba noodles. Who steals an honest to god prepared meal?? I mean, maybe a yogurt or something, but really?? Talk about nerve!

Anyway, Monday I'm just going to order in food from that halal place. I suppose that's giving up awful easily, but I was in the mood for falafel, anyway.

With this current administration, I often wonder if I would be better off moving back to London. I've got a lot here, but these assholes that somehow got elected into positions of power worry me a great deal. Ugh. Time to binge on chocolate and hard liquor.

My dreams know how to hit me where it hurts. Last night me and the others were preparing to box up the Master and Vasiliy said something about me sleeping with every other person I met. I called him a sanctimonious, hypocritical prick and sort of... Walked away. Apparently things aren't good between us. I hope this doesn't fuck things up with the Master.

I need to get out to the beach. The weather's getting nicer and it's calling to me. I've spent far too much time indoors and behind a desk. Catch some rays, up my vitamin D level, all that. It's got to be good for your health, right?

How many of you are getting out there?

I dreamt again. It works! My device works! Eph and I took it out into the field. We turned it on in the middle of a crowd of Strigoi and they just stood there, stunned. Eph held his silver blade up to one's cheek and it just stood there while the silver burned its skin. We disposed of them quickly and easily and headed to Setrakian's to tell him about it. The rest of the gang was a little skeptical, wondering if it'd work on the Master, but I don't doubt it will. We're going to stun him and put his sadistic, world-crushing ass in a box where he can't hurt anyone. Taking care of the rest will be child's play.

I love Funkos. They're so cute. I want to take a customizable Funko Pop doll, get some polymer clay and paint, and just totally make it look exactly like me. I want a little me sitting on my desk with those big black eyes staring straight ahead.

I sound like an egotist, but honestly I just think it'd look so cute. Little blonde hacker Funko.

New Dream. Eph and I hunted down a special type of Strigoi called a Feeler. Feelers were once humans who were born blind, so as Strigoi their other senses are extremely heightened. We dissected its brain as part of our research and I decided that I could use it for my weapon. We'll see how it works. It's supposed to stun Strigoi, send them into a stupor. That could work to our advantage.

In real life, I may or may not have made a mistake. I bought a 48 pack of chicken ramen for about seven dollars. Am I going to get tired of this stuff? Will my apartment start to smell like chicken ramen? These are questions that will be answered soon enough.

Ugh. I'm ashamed of my restraint or lack thereof. Last night in my Dreams I threw myself at Eph. Yes, he's been good to me and things have been building, but I get the sense that this is a rebound and I just don't do rebounds. Not in this world, at least. The next morning I took the opportunity to scare him while he was taking a shower and we wound up taking a shower together. Things move fast, I guess.

Afterwards, who should show up at our door but Vasiliy? He pleaded with me to leave the city with him, said it was falling and that we were better off just leaving. I told him that I really believed I was close to developing a weapon that would stop the Strigoi. All he had to say was "At least I tried." He sounded heartbroken. I think he thinks I'm going to die. I wonder if I am.

The powers that be saw fit to make me snooze right through Valentine's Day. I'm told the hospital is keeping me tonight for observation and then I'll probably be discharged in the morning if nothing funny happens. Too bad. I was looking forward to some quality jello salad.

Not. Dead. Yet.

I had another Dream. Eph managed to wake me from my slumber, but I'm still feeling the Master's voice. I was dead set on translating the recording, but wound up puking in a bucket. Eph suggested I lay down. I said that was probably a good idea.

He made me soup.

He told me he was worried about me and would never be able to find his son without me.

His hand was on my knee.

Suddenly it got awkward and he left.

I don't know, Asami. I don't think it's Quinlan that Dream Me has a thing for.

Shit.

Quinlan, Eph, and I found the black box. Eph and I brought it back to the apartment to listen to and analyze and to see if we could isolate the Master's voice. After listening to the pilot and co-pilot talk about their sex lives for a while, there it was, clear as day - the Master's voice. For some reason it affected me. It started out strange, like a buzzing in my ears. Then I got dizzy. My head started to hurt. Then the pain got really fucking bad. I was screaming. I fell to the floor. Eph bent over me and I blacked out. That's all I remember.

I sincerely hope the Master's voice didn't kill me. That would be a shitty way to go out.

I woke up in real time and now I'm nursing one bloody awful headache. Residual from the Dreams, I would bet.

In spite of half-Strigoi pricks telling me it's unimportant, I've been furthering my research on Strigoi communication in my Dreams. Eph and I both decided that we needed a sample of the Master's 'voice', but where to get it? Well, where else but the flight he flew in on? The bloody black box aboard that plane that flew into JFK airport and doomed New York City to be ground zero of the vampire apocalypse. Unfortunately, to get to JFK you have to go through a heavily infected part of the city. Everything has fallen apart. People killing other people for food and supplies. It's horrible. Luckily, Eph has a taxi cab with plenty of gas and he was driving me and Quinlan through the zone to JFK.

And then I saw a family with small children having guns pointed at them and I wasn't having any of that bullshit. They told me to stay in the car. I didn't. I tried to get the assholes holding the family up to drop their guns, but wound up in a stand-off with guns pointed at me. I must have blinked or something, but it only took an instant. Suddenly Quinlan was out of the car, killing those assholes with surprising efficiency with his sword and stopping to lick the blood off of the blade. The family we saved ran off in terror and Quinlan scolded me before we got back in the cab.

Very surreal. I think a vampire, a half-vampire, just saved my life.

Something happened that I never thought would happen in my Dreams. I met a Strigoi who isn't entirely unpleasant. Well, he's half-Strigoi. His story is rather interesting. His mother was pregnant with him when the Master himself fed from her. She was turned, but before she could transform fully he was born. Now there's some sort of prophecy that he's supposed to be the one to bring down the Master and once the Master dies he'll die, too. His name in ancient Rome was Quintus Sertorius, but now everyone calls him Quinlan. He's rather tall and terrifying and even better with a sword than I am. He seemed awful interested in me. I don't think he sees many women.

I've finally overcome my New Year's Eve hangover. Hallelujah. I don't usually party myself into a stupor, but 2016 was brutal and 2017's birth needed celebrating. I don't think anyone on here will argue against that. There were some bright spots, of course. Beautiful bright spots. I suppose that's the key to surviving any year, though, isn't it? Finding the silver lining. What good things happened to all of you last year? Alternatively, what are you looking forward to this year?

I just had the most amazing Saturday of my life. It was almost supernaturally good. I didn't hit a single red light. My coffee was amazing. People were so friendly to me. I decided to test my luck on a scratch off lotto ticket and won ten dollars! It just left me feeling good. Days like this just don't happen a lot, you know? Especially in the dead of winter when everybody's at each other's throats trying to get the perfect present.

I had a Serendipity moment that ended horribly different from the movie. A woman and I both grabbed for the same pair of leather gloves at the same time. We smiled awkwardly, each of us thinking that the other would let go, but both held onto our respective gloves. I finally said "I think I grabbed this one first." and she scoffed and said "I don't think so."

Then I said "Oh, damn, there's a scratch in the leather on this one." leaning in to take a closer look. She let go of hers to take a look at mine. I grabbed them both and triumphantly headed to check-out. I think I made an enemy, but someone is getting a nice pair of gloves from me for Christmas!

I took a quiz online regarding my knowledge of the lyrics to the songs in the movie White Christmas. Thanks to my parents forcing me to watch that movie every Christmas from my birth onward I can happily report that I scored a 100%. Because chicks who did kicks aren't kicking anymore. They're doing choreography! Pow!

I'm ridiculously proud of this.

Interesting thing about Dreaming you're in the Star Wars universe - other than discovering that it actually exists...somewhere - is that every where you look you can find something with Star Wars slapped on it: Books, movies, toys, you name it.

So in my Dreams the Big Bad is this guy who is only known - to us anyway - as The Inquisitor. He's a pretty fucking intimidating dude, tall, with a long gaunt face, sharp teeth, red streaks coming down from his eyes. He's currently employed by the Empire to hunt down and kill Jedi during the purge. This guy has taken a particular interest in me and my crew, even somehow projecting an image of Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, whom he killed by the way, to lure other Jedi into a trap. And, yeah, I fell for the trap, very much like an idiot. In my defense, though, they used her bones to lure me and my padawan to her cell where we were ambushed. We managed to get away, because we're pretty fucking awesome like that, but Jesus Christ, this guy has issues. Like...creepy stalker issues. I've been looking over my shoulder since he first made his debut in the Dreams just in case he shows up here.

So what does this have to do with all the Star Wars merch that's out there? Well, as I was looking through Amazon trying to get ideas for gifts for the holidays, I found this little Lego representation.

Pffffhauahahahahaha! Look at him! Just look at him! I can't stop laughing!

This truly is the month of Dreams. Last night the leader of the resistance against the Strigoi Councilwoman Feraldo came to visit Eph and myself to talk about Eph's failing biological weapon. We both told her we were onto something more, something better. I told her about the microwaves. She was less than pleased with our progress and ripped us a new one for not being quick enough. I thought she was fabulous.

Meanwhile, I invented a device that projects microwaves. We tested it on a Strigoi in an experiment Eph devised. We were on one side of a chain link fence with a bowl of blood, the Strigoi on the other. The idea was to try and get it to attempt to get through the fence and stop it with the device. It worked for a while. The device made its IQ plummet, dazing it and leaving it stunned for a while, but then it seemed to recover and actually opened the fucking locked gate of the fence. It almost came at us, but Eph killed it. My conclusion? The Strigoi somehow found a way around the interference. Back to square one.

Seems like I'm doing more science than hunting as of late.

Eph and I are a team in my Dreams, now. We're doing some seriously mad science. We sat in Central Park playing chess until the sun set, waiting for Strigoi to attack us. I was winning the game, by the way. We killed a few of them. One was sure to sting Eph, but I saved his life, then we nabbed one of them so we could study its brain back at the apartment.

Once back at the apartment, I discovered a link. The Strigoi are affected by microwaves. This could be something big.

Eichhorst never stops being a thorn in our side. He planned a bombing at police headquarters. Sent some of the non-sentient Strigoi with bombs sewn into their stomachs and they exploded, infecting a large number of the people there. Vasiliy was there. He didn't get infected. Eph was called in to look at the leader of the movement against the Strigoi, Councilwoman Feraldo. I tagged along. Got to catch up with Vasiliy. I told him that Nikki left New York without me. He said he wasn't coming back to his apartment where Eph and I were living, that he was living at the Mayfield Hotel. He liked it better there. Fewer chances for disappointment, he said.

I know I broke his heart. I know he wants nothing to do with me. I know these are just Dreams. It shouldn't hurt so much when a Dream rejects you.

More Dreams. I made my way back to Vasiliy's apartment but he wasn't there, only Ephraim, the doctor. He and I have both been on a liquid diet, if you know what I mean. Grumbly drunks. He was kind enough to listen to me talk about my night terrors. He's been having them as well. His ex-wife is a Strigoi, too. A sentient one like Eichhorst. She killed our friend Nora and stole his son away. Apparently mine trump his, though, because he was willing to give me his stash of pills. One bottle for when I want to sleep and one bottle for when I want to stay awake. He also showed me a taser he found, explaining it would incapacitate a Strigoi for about ten seconds. That would be all I'd need...

My assumption that my Dreams were over was a little...well it was wrong. Very wrong. And actually, I'm kind of happy about that. Has any one else had a time skip in their dreams in which things have obviously happened and changed, but you haven't had the chance to actually see them?

I heard some hipsters talking about a program they found that guides them through writing their own 8 bit video games. It's the first time I've been jealous of a hipster. I wonder what kinds of video games people are out there writing. Honestly, I bet there are some really creative ones out there.

Nothing like dreaming about faking your own death to get you ready for Friday. At this point, I really hope dream-me has a solid plan because this shit is getting out of hand.

I've had the same song stuck in my head for two days and I don't even know when the last time was that I heard Tubthumping.

Also, Dreams have ended. Saved a planet from being blown up...or pulled out of orbit...or whatever physics happens when you blow up a planet's moon. Killed a count of the Empire, tricked a captain of a Star Destroyer into doing it, revealed that I'm a Jedi to a girl and got to go with said girl. All in all, not a bad way to end, all things considered.

Still though...Tubthumping?

Take an unintentionally long nap after work, Dream of lopping off the head of a former friend and associate. Goodbye, Braden. You were a dick to me, but I still felt horrible about ending your life. He was infected. Pretty far into turning, too. The others weren't going to do it and when they saw me do it they were horrified with me. They're not going to survive in that world and it pains me knowing that.

I left them. I wasn't going to stick around with people who were so quick to abandon me. I assume I'm heading back to find Vasiliy and the others if they're still around.

I've been such a mess in the Dreams. Sleep deprived. Every time I try to sleep in my Dreams I dream of Eichorst and wake up choking, remembering the collar. I think I might be going bonkers. I'm considerably better off in this world, though that asshole does haunt my thoughts from time to time.

Well, I killed the Strigoi in the apartment in my Dreams singlehandedly. I don't mean to brag, but Dream-me is a bit of a badass and quite the survivor. I found my way back to my asshole friends, too. Their reason for leaving me in the apartment? "Well, we weren't going to die with you!" Yeah, great, thanks, assholes. Do I look dead to you?

Braden doesn't look too good. I think he might have gotten stung. Time will tell. I don't actually think I'd get any pleasure from beheading him. We did have some history before he started behaving like a prick.

Just as I expected, there were Strigoi in the apartment Braden wanted to loot. Two of my friends are dead and the rest fled the scene. I'm cornered and out of bullets, but I have my sword. I've gotten out of worse situations before.

Well, I'm dreaming again. The last time I dreamed I parted ways with Vasiliy who saved my life numerous times and Setrakian who gave me my silver sword. I did that to dedicate myself to my girlfriend only to find out that she intended to leave the quarantined zone without me. I was alone for some time, then I found some of my hacker friends who had survived. Well, I have no idea how they survived. I've had to teach them a few things and I think they're bitter towards me or think I'm uppity or something because I know more about the Strigoi than they do. Even though I know more about the vampires and survival than all of them put together, my friend Braden has made himself sort of the leader of our group and he's decided that we should sweep an upscale apartment building to gather supplies. I think it's foolish. The building is outside the 'safe zone', the area that's been swept by the police and government, but Braden insists that the reward is worth the risk. The others are buying into his bullshit and I refuse to let them die. I'm going in there with them strictly to protect them.

Well, it's official! My mum and dad will be in Orange County from the 23rd to the 28th of October and they'll fly home on the 29th. They told me they made their flight plans today. They'll be staying in my guest bedroom. They'll get to experience our country's obsession with pumpkin spice and maybe get to see one of the haunted houses in town. There's a Disney excursion planned. Anything else is up in the air.

I never want to be sick like that again.

I hope everyone else is recovering.

Is it so much to ask that everyone I care about be healthy and in one piece?

In other news, my mother is recovering nicely. A visit is being planned for October, so all of you will be meeting the cutest British married couple on the face of this Earth in a month. They're curious about how I'm living my life over here so shhh, don't tell them anything scandalous.

Thought I dreamt enough about Wilson Fisk my last round of dreams dreams, now the bastard shows up again. I guess it's sorta funny, though. This whole thing is different than that set, but there's a lot of shit that feels real damn similar.

Wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for the Devil.

Packed and ready for another international trip, but this will be my first time leaving my dog behind. I'm a little sad about it. Am I a sap? I'm going to bring her back a British chew toy, not that she'll be able to differentiate British chew toys from American chew toys.

Well, my parents' visit will be delayed. That's alright. It's just a delay. You'll still all get your chance to show a lovely British couple a good time on American soil. Promise.

The real world is utterly depressing sometimes. Sometimes I think I'd take fighting vampires over this shit. It seems a lot simpler. Dangerous, but simpler.

Well, my parents will be paying their very first visit stateside in September, it seems. Since my place is a one bedroom they intend to stay in a hotel. They're still ironing out the details. I can't wait to show them around. Unfortunately, their dog Boss is too big to tag along or he would love to meet Olivia, I'm sure. I'd like for my parents to meet some of you, if that's alright. I know some people get itchy around their friends' parents.

So of course after I bought Olivia the nicest, comfiest dog bed I could find she decides that she much prefers my bed. She burrows beneath the sheets and curls up behind my knees. Sometimes during the night she runs off and hops onto the couch in my living room. I think it's because she gets too warm.

I don't know what I'm going to do when I have people over.

Remember that woman who was giving me shit about the way I dress? She has a lackey, now, who she talks to at the water cooler. Said lackey makes a point to give me dirty looks every time I pass her desk for no reason.

All right, there might be a reason. The woman asked me if perhaps my shirt was a little low cut so I said I didn't think so, but told her that I liked hers and loudly asked if she made it herself. Her lackey was right there to witness the event. I feel like this is some kind of weird war going on between Ruth and myself. I wouldn't be so snippy if she would just let up on the comments about my wardrobe. Honestly, it's not like I dress like a slut. I'm perfectly decent.

Ugh.

Just can't catch a break in these dreams. Just minding my own business, quietly trying to knock off one more scumbag, when some asshole in a mask and horns kicks you in the face. Thanks, New York City.

Well, it happened. I'm a dog owner. Her name is Olivia. It's the name her previous owners gave her and I kind of like it. She's six years old and she has a low grade luxating patella that the people at the shelter showed me how to fix.
( Picture time! )

If you're out there fighting all the shit that's running around and you see those nasty bald things that shoot their... Tongues... Proboscis... Whatever it is at you? Those are the Strigoi from my Dreams and the only sure way to kill them is by beheading them or burning them to a crisp. Artificial UV light works as well as sunlight, but I don't know how many of you are willing to tote around portable UV lamps. Silver really hurts them, burns through their flesh.

Just stay away from those things they shoot out. Their fangs are at the end and if you get stung you're done.

So thanks to a new dog owner that I know, not naming names, I paid a visit to a shelter today fully expecting to walk out with a dog without a fuss. How little I know about the adoption process. Did you know there's paperwork involved? It's all quite intimidating. There were a lot of questions. I took the forms home with me. Do I own or rent my home? Do I have a yard? Have I owned dogs in the past? Am I able to provide daily exercise for a new dog? I'm feeling quite insecure at the moment. I think I'd be able to provide for a dog in all of the vital ways, but I don't have a yard and I've never owned a dog before. Are those deal breakers?

Brexit has my parents arguing. My mum is firmly on the stay side and my dad wants Britain to leave. I've claimed to have no opinion whatsoever so neither of them think I'm taking sides. It's amazing watching the tallies, though. I never thought so many people would vote to leave.

My welding skills have carried over from the Dreams and I've taken them to an artistic place. Behold my first sculpture. I found everything I used in a scrap yard including the wrench. Who tosses a perfectly good wrench? Next I'm going to work on customizing the bread truck. It'll look a little less messy than my metal fish, there.

I sucked it up and visited my dad in jail today. It.. was...better than expected.

Got another gift courtesy of my Dreams - my welding outfit! Everything from the gloves to the mask. No torch, though. Luckily, I recently invested in a torch on a trip to Home Depot. I'm going to customize the hell out of that bread truck and it will be the most badass bread truck in the entire county!

I'm apparently now the antagonist in my own Dreams. Nice.