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[watchmaker]

[sylar has a lot of experience in treating the world as his diary. he's like a teenager with a xanga in 2005. i mean, instead of xanga, he had claire bennet, but now he has this whole other captive audience of people. to shitpost to. how nice. it really is the little things, huh.]

I'm still not entirely convinced this whole thing isn't a dream. I've had a lot of experience with bad dreams. Getting trapped in dreams. Have you ever been trapped in a dream where you can't wake up? It's literal hell. And I'm an expert. But since I've gleaned that we're all trapped here together, I guess I'll just have to learn to live with it. Something I'm also an expert in.

Do you ever think you can overcome your true nature? Or is "true nature" even real?

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[morethan084]

Well I'm glad at least one other person is freaked out about this place besides me.

[watchmaker]

Yeahhhh, I'm not exactly the type to be perfectly complacent with major shifts in the world as I know it. Maybe it's just bad experiences talking.

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[jivitadana]

I think some people would want to find out what their "true nature" is first.

[Before determining if it was real or not? Complicated.]

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[watchmaker]

You don't know who you really are? Sounds like a personal problem.

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[divaricate]

Wait. Are you in expert in hell, getting trapped in dreams, or living with things?

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[watchmaker]

... All of the above?

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[endingpoint]

[ Shit. Jane is never going to be able to ignore things like this because wow, she was possibly evil before her entire existence was wiped out and she's still trying to figure out how to deal with this. ]

I want to believe people can change. That you can choose to be good.

Also, welcome to Wonderland.

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[watchmaker]

Thanks.

I want to believe it, too. But sometimes I'm not so sure. I have doubts, like anyone else.

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[sorryitasedyou]

If this a dream, it's been one doozy of a snooze for me. Like 2 1/2 years worth of weird and sometimes terrifying crap. I personally don't think we all drank the Kool-Aid and are now sharing a collective fever dream.

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[watchmaker]

You say that, but that's literally exactly what happened to me not too long ago. I spent a few years in a dreamscape with one other person. When we woke up, it'd only been half a day in reality or something like that. But that didn't make it any less real.

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[walkingheroin]

I'm afraid the only expert on Hell, as you put it, around here is moi.

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[watchmaker]

Oh yeah, what makes you so qualified?

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[morethanasidekick]

This is less of a dream and more of a bad acid trip. Complete with a White Rabbit.

That's way too heavy to think about before whiskey.

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[watchmaker]

I can't get drunk, or I suppose I'd agree. As it is, it's just me and my thoughts. Total nightmare.

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[postictal]

we're all experts in hell it turns out

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[watchmaker]

How's that?

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[backpacking]

[ squint ]

anything you're not an "expert" at?

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[watchmaker]

You know, now that you mention it ... no. Maybe humility.

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[chocolatepudding]

We were all in hell like two days ago, we could have really used your expertise then.

[ The actual question the guy has is just a little too weird and existential for him, so he skips it. ]

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[watchmaker]

[he squints at the screen like oh wow a youth. who let youths on the internet???]

I'm sorry I missed it. [/obviously sarcastic.]

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[krmvgivv]

I don't think true nature is a real thing. I think you can make choices just like everyone else and writing something off as a true nature thing is kind of a copout.

I also know a lot about being trapped in bad dreams and this isn't one. Believe me.

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[watchmaker]

Interesting. There is no true nature, all we amount to is the choices we make. I kind of like it.

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[bravejemma]

I was on an alien desert planet. I wish that had been a bad dream.

This isn't a dream. It's a pocket universe, which is almost worse in some ways because it is a waking reality that doesn't exist outside itself.

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[watchmaker]

How was that?

When you put it like that ... I want to be here even less.

[lightgunhustler]

An expert, huh. Think we've got a few of those around here. You'll be in good company.

True nature is kind of oversimplifying things, isn't it? People are a lot more complicated than that.

[watchmaker]

I look forward to meeting the rest of the panel. [/sarcasm]

How? What makes it so complicated?

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[deathlessness]

I think our true nature is a product of our choices. If certain reactions become habit, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

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[watchmaker]

So do you think that people can change, then?

[eyething]

[damon likes to troll the network for fun, gathering a handful of popcorn to drop into his mouth.] This is a whole lot of personal information to share with the whole crowd.

As for trapped in literal hell dreams. Been there, done that. There were no t-shirts.

The question is do you want to overcome your 'true nature'?

[watchmaker]

I'm a sharing guy. I like to share.

And yeah, I do. It's kind of been an ongoing project.

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[therapize]

Considering how everything here works, the "logic" would match up a bit more to a dream than to reality. Either way, however, it's too real to simply be written off as a temporary and meaningless experience.

[So says the therapist--which is why she's pretty significantly pinged by the second part.]

I think people who use the phrase "true nature" like that are in danger of giving up on themselves. It's a lot easier to surrender to a supposed "true nature" than face the guilt and consequences of certain actions, and to take responsibility for them. We're all people capable of chosing how we act for ourselves. It isn't always easy--sometimes it feels impossible. But we still can.

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[watchmaker]

I've given up before. I've tried and given up before because I thought it was in my true nature to be a monster. That was all I could ever be. I'm trying again, but I want to feel like it's worth it, you know? What's the point of continuing to try when you're destined to fail?

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[mimic]

I know exactly what you mean about being trapped in a dream. The repetition drives you crazy. This? Not so much. [ For one thing, he's glad he's managed to control his abilities somewhat, but he's not so sure he'd be able to do the same back home considering he'd lose all memory of his time here.

And hey! Guess who has no idea who he's texting? ]

I think that no matter the circumstances, no matter what we're dealt with, no matter who we are or what we are, we all have a choice and ultimately the decisions we make are what defines us. But more importantly, I believe we're all capable of change.

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[watchmaker]

So it's not repetitive? That's something, I suppose.

I want to believe that we're all capable of change, for my own sake if nothing else. But I've had some ... false starts with changing before. Starts to make you wonder if it's worth it or not.