Leaderboard

Okay, final post before I give you a specific date, but just wanted to let everyone know Chapter 20 will be done this week. That's a promise. Saturday at the ABSOLUTE latest. It's closing in on the end (it's a rather long one) but it's needed. As for it ending in a cliffhanger...let's just say that, if it does, it will be nowhere near as big as Chapter 19

Apparently skinning popular characters alive is cause for anger in some fandoms. What's the world coming too?

not so much a full merger, more of a little dabble into where Rick might have met up with Nick, and helped out a bit, then went their separate ways again. I get confused enough with all of them separate, i could only imagine how crazy it'd be if they became one huge group.

mr. white is just a code name, a little homage to reservoir dogs (was watching that while I wrote that part, who says real life doesn't leak into our writing) so let me get this straight: you want me to combine all three of my novels into some great all inclusive cross over, I'm game!

If your gonna us it in another book, don't explain it at all, other than he knows her somehow, let people wonder why she crumbled so easily until your ready to tell them - it'll drive people nuts hehehe

Not only is your idea possible, but highly likely if the woman has not learned how to desensitize herself to overcome the trauma of her past. The escaped woman would be paralyzed by her past when facing her previous master without warning, especially if she hears trigger words or phrases, or sees items that she could not defend against during captivity. Post Traumatic Stress tends to blind a person to the now they are standing within, and their brain misfires so they believe they are in a much different place and time where they cannot fight back in many cases. The sight of a specific item can also cause the same extreme reaction that throws the person mentally into another time mentally when they were completely unable to protect their lives and bodies. Smells can also cause the same thing to happen. I've heard of combat vets returning from war who flip out over smelling burned gun powder used in fireworks. They think they are back in a full blown war zone without any way to escape mentally so long as the smell of gunpowder is present. If you learn about PTSD, you'll find many different triggers to choose between and utilize unfortunately. Hearing repeated phrases from a period of extreme vulnerability/defenselessness before learning how to defend herself would throw her mentally back into that period before she learned to be strong and to defend herself. I survived abuse in my marriage when I was younger. My family rescued me and my infant son. they had to make sure that as the divorce proceeded, the beast could not see me without their presence. His words and smell caused flashbacks to happen to me with my ex until I found a way to break my responses to said triggers, and heal from the past so I did not have hard flashbacks that blinded me completely any longer. Abusers love to repeat certain types of phrases as a rule, so I could totally see the scenario playing out that you suggest. The hardest part of any healing is simply learning what the trigger phrases and words were so the victim can fight the habit of losing consciousness of where they actually are at that point. Desensitizing is difficult, but it can be done. Hope that helps you out somewhat.

From what I've read of the psychology behind your hypothetical, I'd have to say that yes, it is likely.

I'm not sure when that will be rolled out. Once we have a better idea of timing, we'll be sure to let everyone know.