jmah—what’s Dream do to entertain himself? I feel like he’d end up hurting himself just to be less bored :(
/dsmp /rp
Unfortunately, Sam craves total control. This means that self-harm is strictly and viciously forbidden. It’s one of many things Sam is fixing about the prison this time around: he hated it when Dream touched the lava or threw himself in. Dream won’t be allowed to seek pity or attention or be dramatic: if Sam decides he’s not going to be hurt, then by god he’s not going to be hurt.
Even yanking too hard against his cuffs or messing with his clothing, if done in a fashion that’s too systemic when Sam is in the wrong mood, can be a punishable offense.
Unlike in canon, where it’s a slow escalation and a gradual realization of how badly he’s been betrayed, Dream knows basically from the start of his imprisonment that things have gone terribly wrong. This means that in the beginning, he’s not in “stay entertained” mode at all—he’s in survival mode. He obsesses over the impossible puzzle of figuring Sam out. He frantically tries every appeasement method he can think of to get Sam to stop hurting him so badly.
Once Sam has backed off a bit, the deadly boredom sets in in earnest. Dream’s options for entertainment are extremely limited. He’s not even allowed books, he’s barely allowed to move around. He has to find ways of keeping himself sane that are secret and quiet and non-threatening.
Daydreaming, of course. Playing idle games with strings he’s carefully picked from his uniform. Messing with his hair is usually okay—he can comb it with his fingers, braid and unbraid it, pull at it as long as it’s not too noticeable. He tries to exercise when he has the freedom and strength to. He draws patterns on the glass with his breath and fingertips—easy enough to rub away when the redstone clicks. (It pleases him to scrawl insults to Sam, small and invisible until the glass fogs up.)
