can you do a director's cut for the hallucination part of WTAW? I reread that every once in a while and it's so GOOD 🌼
AHHHH OH MY GOD JO I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!
the hallucination sequences are some of my favorite bits of writing; I put a lot of thought and effort into them. I really wanted them to feel like a continuation of the hallucinations in Revelations, just more out-of-control since his withdrawal fever is so high.
The first sequence really hinged on what book Diana was reading to him. Originally I poked around in a couple different Shakespeare plays, but nothing really jumped out at me. I turned to the Faerie Queen since it’s my headcanon that Diana named Spencer after Edmund Spenser. I read through a summary looking for a thematic passage that would work, and then picked the most poignant lines from the canto that could apply to the scene.
Honestly, it’s always stuck out to me SO much about how Tobias Hankel and Spencer are so incredibly similar, and yet it’s never addressed directly. And the fact that his last words are “do you think I’ll see my mom again?” It’s heartbreaking, and I think it really sticks with Spencer, so I wanted to juxtapose this idyllic memory with his mother with Tobias taunting him, and interspersed with the harsh words of the quotes.
The second sequence is another juxtaposition, with his memories getting completely mixed up. He’s so sick, and he can’t keep anything straight, and that’s really what I wanted to highlight.
And then the last section is really the culmination of Spencer’s guilt and terror and pain, along with the sense of Tobias allowing him to go free. I used a lot of Bible verses in that section, a lot of them from memory. But I really wanted to convey the sense of Spencer being released from everything, so when he woke up it felt like he was ready to start over.
This was...very long. But this really is one of my favorite pieces I’ve ever written!!
