*Great Decisions PSA* (Spoilers for Chapter 154)
Ok, so, Chapter 154: The Things That Linger just came out, so if you haven't read it yet, GO GO GO READ FIRST THEN COME BACK-
...Good? Ok.
So, I wanted to pop on here and talk briefly about WHY I chose to have Branch know about the hallucinations. I feel like throughout this entire story, I've gotten TONS of comments excited for the big reveal that John Dory A. Sees/hears/talks to things that aren't there, and B. That what he talks to appears as his brothers. And I have been so incredibly worried that by doing this the way I did, I was letting people down by it not being discovered in this huge, dramatic argument or breakdown.
But the thing is, I never wanted JD's schizophrenia to be this like, overly dramatic thing. It's a very real disorder that I feel like gets overly dramatized in media, and I just really didn't want to do that here. Like, it's a big part of him, and a lot of his problems stem from it, but it isn't ALL he is. A huge thing for me was making this feel REAL (even if it's a trolls fanfic, I know ok, I have problems).
I didn't want the big dramatic moment of this story to be his brothers finding out he sees/hears things, I wanted it to be more like them realizing there's more to him than this, and realizing he needs them just as much as they needed him. That he NEEDS help. And helping him realize that himself. Him realizing that they KNOW… And love him anyways.
And Branch is a smart cookie; there's simply no way he didn't pick up on his brother's strange behavior, they know each other better than anyone. And I wanted to highlight his struggles trying to understand something that is really hard to understand/cope with, especially when it's happening to someone you love and look up to. There's subtle hints this entire story that he knows more than he lets on, that JD isn't as good at hiding things as he says he is, and Branch was able to put together parts of the puzzle... But he still doesn't really get it. He knows his brother sees/hears things, talks to things that aren't there, calls those things by his brothers' names... But he doesn't really understand what it is, or what that means. And I wanted to really SHOW that helplessness, watching someone you care about struggling to deal with something you can't even see. Hopefully I did it justice.
Anyways, yeah, I just wanted to put this out here as an explanation, because I've been so anxious about it for weeks. I hope this clears a few things up, and makes sense! Or maybe it's just me rambling, who knows XD. Anyways, I hope you guys liked this chapter, and I can't wait to get into the next few!