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There is another world beyond our own that is shaped by peoples' nightmares. Their fears and the dark thoughts of their subconscious give it form and allow it to thrive. For the most part, it exists completely separate from our reality and nobody ever realizes it exists.

There are people, however, who are able to consciously affect the world. Most never find out, as entering it is up to chance-- but those who do wind up there will quickly be taken in by a nameless being who enlightens them to their ability and guides them around the world, all the while protecting them from the myriad of unsavoury beasts populating it. Of course, this power is near useless in the waking world, and once one leaves, it might as well have been a dream-- but, through an incredibly painful process that involves having one's head stuffed with an excess of the world's energy, one can use the nightmares within the world in one's everyday life. The process has a high fail rate, however, and those who fail have the tie between their mind and body cut, and they become nightmarish slugbeasts who remain trapped in the world, completely unaware of anything, until their real-world body dies off... but those who manage to succeed have a channel opened in their mind that connects them to the world, and allows them to draw on its energy.

The person gains an ability that they can invoke by 'opening' the channel in their heads and drawing energy from the world out of themselves. What they use it for, if they even do at all, is up to them.

Of course, the power doesn't come without risks. Using the power alters, or even flatout erases, things at random within the world. Its inhabitants don't take too kindly to this. Concentration and control are key to making sure only what the person wants comes out of the channel-- without them, that myriad of unsavoury beasts could make its way through, which is almost never pleasant. Depending on the person, there could be other side-effects or consequences to using, abusing, or losing control of their power as well.

But this is all mostly just background information for the retarded hijinks of a horror-obsessed barista whose paintings make people want to puke (literally), an insomniac nerd whose life was near ruined by a haunted video game, a cynical technophile who can distort reality as she pleases, and a bubbly, strangely persuasive florist who has a creepy obsession with eyeballs.

YEP.