Topic: Wade Explains It All (Responses to Cory and Tom! And general chat.)
So I've been doing a bit of RPing as Wade lately (post-S4, rescued from the Kromaggs shortly before she would've got turned into a Cyberiad), and at the same time listening to Cory and Tom's (awesome!) Rewatch Podcast. (Well. Not at exactly the same time, but you get the idea. And yes, it's pronounced "intangible", more or less. The reference is to this guy.)
Anyway. So I came across a few questions the guys were asking about each episode. Why this? Why that? Did they really X? Why doesn't this part quite make sense? And I thought it would be cool, and a test of my writing chops, to answer them as Wade. I mean, she did serialise her diaries and all - let's say she's taking interviews.
I'm gonna go ahead and answer a few things here that Cory and Tom brought up, but if you'd like to ask Wade a question, go ahead! I'll answer as best I can, at least in terms of my opinion on how things went.
Oh, and apologies ahead of time if she gets a little grumpy. She doesn't actually take too well to having her reality questioned. Kromaggs, and all...
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Re: The Dream Masters
Why would the police let a bunch of college dropouts go around terrorizing people like that? They have to touch you to hurt you, after all. They could just send in a SWAT team or the FBI and gun them all down.
Okay, but imagine that you're in this world. You don't know how many of these guys there are, how spread out they are or how many cells there might be, but they've vowed to avenge any slight against them. You know they can kill with a touch. And you know there are people - maybe even people close to you, your sister or friend, your colleague - who've gotten on the wrong side of them and now spend the rest of their lives being emotionally, mentally, and to some degree even physically violated every time they fall asleep. Images of rape, or even the act itself. Being violently murdered along with your loved ones, over and over again, each time believing it's for real. Jolting awake with your body convulsing, coughing blood, because your brain can't tell the difference. Having to be hauled over to a respirator and have the blood sucked out of your lungs every time they go too far.
And not just the acts, but the hypnotic suggestions they implant along with them: You'll never escape this. You're helpless. You're worthless. You're just our puppet now, to be used and controlled. If that's too simple, if your mind's too strong, they go for the next level. This is the real world. Your friends have abandoned you. Everyone you love has abandoned you. This is reality, and you created it; your own personal Hell. You even like what we do.
It doesn't have to be true. They just have to make you believe. This, forever, until you die; maybe even beyond. We can see into all time and space. No part of you escapes us, even in death. Unless you cooperate. Then we might spare you.
Need a stronger incentive? You're free. This was just a dream. It's all in your mind; you can walk out that door... Ha! Just kidding. You're back where you started. But maybe they'll come someday, your friends... oh look, here they are now... Whoops! Just another illusion.
Sorry... that might have gotten a little extreme. I don't mean to be overwhelming. But it's still fresh in my mind.
My memories of that time, that supposed third year sliding, are all blurry and mixed up. I don't know if the Dream Masters ever really existed. But I know there are people who can do all the things I've said above and more, because they're the reason I don't remember that whole third year very well.
So yeah. Actually, people who could do that would be a hell of a big deal. I wouldn't blame a local PD for being terrified of them, and not knowing what to do.
Re: Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome
Why wouldn't you go home to your parents as soon as you (thought you) were home, instead of just calling them on the phone?
The whole thing just seemed so... suddenly overwhelming. How they'd react, seeing their faces, seeing them cry... trying to explain it all while we all broke down. It's selfish and cowardly, I know, but I just didn't think I could take it. Especially since I left without telling them, and that's always weighed heavy on me.
I know they must've felt much worse. But I thought if I could break it to them on the phone at least, it'd give me time to face them.
There was another thing. Being with the same people for all that time, only having them, relying on them... they really do come to feel like your world. Even if I was home, I didn't want separating from them to be the first thing I did. They'd become like an extension of me. It seems irrational, because I could've just called Quinn on the phone any time, but sliding makes you forget those things. It made me feel like if I let them out of my sight, I might never see them again.
And besides, in a way, they were my family, and I was celebrating with them. Of course I let my family at home know as soon as I could. But sharing this moment with these three people I loved was important to me, too.
Re: Obsession
Did you really have a past life with Derek, or did he just send you that vision in order to manipulate you?
...That's a good question. I used to assume it was all true, of course. Now, I don't really know. The more I think about it, it really doesn't ring true as a past life for me. I feel connected to all my other selves, past and present, but that life... really doesn't feel like mine. It feels like a convenient story.
If that's the case, I wonder just how far the manipulation went. I was reading "Romeo and Juliet" at the time, right? The plot of that dream had a lot of echoes of Shakespeare's story in it. Did he influence me so far as to make sure I'd pick up the book at that time, to help my mind latch more easily onto the dream that he'd send? That's... really creepy.