Bill "Ink" Roberts theory (not what you think)

While re-listening to the entire show for the past week and a half, I realized something. Back in season one, Bill Roberts was sent to the hospital, the MENTAL hospital. He was diagnosed with severe schizophrenia. Here's where my theory kicks in.

What if none of this is real? The riot started right after "Ink" was sent to the mental hospital. We know that he's relevant to the story somehow, otherwise, he wouldn't have been mentioned in the news report. What if when "Ink" was sent to the mental hospital, he couldn't handle the event, and so his schizophrenia took over and allowed him to cope. What if the first biter, all the zombies, the big ones, TOWM, pinstripes, the numbered ones...What if they are just figures of his hallucinations? Actually, it makes even more sense. Pinstripes, TOWM, and Skittle's Coloured one all act like the main leader of the creatures. If it is Bill, he would be the one to take those roles as the fantasy revolves around him. It's his world.

Take it even further, Everyone from the Tower, the other Tower, the mallers, the Colonists, Irwin, Boulder, all the human characters have one thing in common. They all talk.

Schizophrenia causes both visual and auditory hallucinations. When we put our earphones in, we listen to the voices. If you had schizophrenia, you would hear voices in your head. We're Alive is a radio show, a very well done radio show. It easily disguises the second meaning of the story.

To sum it up, the We're Alive universe was created by Bill Roberts in a schizophrenic fit. It's in the form of a radio show so that it is as if we're "Ink" listening to the voices in his head.

Thoughts?

Ok, since this is your first post, and you just apparently joined this month and year, I have to know before I post any potential spoilers for you: How caught up are you?

I like where you're going, but I won't post more 'til I know hoe caught up or how comfortable you are with spoilers.

"re-listening to the entire show"

This would be my third time around that I'm listening to it. I've been listening since season one ended. I'm completely caught up. so yeah.

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Originally Posted by thisonegirl

Ok, since this is your first post, and you just apparently joined this month and year, I have to know before I post any potential spoilers for you: How caught up are you?

I like where you're going, but I won't post more 'til I know hoe caught up or how comfortable you are with spoilers.

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THIS is why I love this forum SOOO much!

Ok, first, normally I'm disappointed by stories that end with "it was all a dream". It tells me that you don't think your alternate universe is quite good, and it almost feels like a disclaimer at the end of a now-cheapened story. If it's "all a dream" since the beginning then it's different. Take Sucker Punch, for instance.

Anyway, with that said, I'm not sure I'd be disappointed if WA ended up being Bill Robert's hallucination. If this was all Ink's hallucination, I might be okay with that. I like the theory, but I have a few questions, mainly how do you explain the "talking" zombie that Victor and Michael encounter?
I'll be willing to accept it might be a doctor or nurse, but I'm not entirely content with that answer.

Although schizophrenia also causes bizarre or unexplained delusions/hallucinations, and that would fit in nicely with your theory, it is also culpable for disorganized thinking and as the story progresses the story seems to be tidying up and cutting it's loose ends, so how does that fit in to the theory?

I've always loved stories that make you ask the question, " Is this real?" Movies like Identity, Momento, Inception, Dream House..and on and on and on..Awwwyeah!

again, I'm showing my age on this> the only "it really wasn't real" storyline I hated, and to this day the thought of it makes me Hulk out, is the resolution to the original Dallas tv series, " Who Shot Bobby" season. grrrrrrrr.

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Originally Posted by thisonegirl

Ok, since this is your first post, and you just apparently joined this month and year, I have to know before I post any potential spoilers for you: How caught up are you?

I like where you're going, but I won't post more 'til I know hoe caught up or how comfortable you are with spoilers.

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Originally Posted by Hanniekuma

THIS is why I love this forum SOOO much!

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It's also a slight warning to them newbies who really need that second chance to go, "Ok, yeah, I don't wanna know, yet."

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Originally Posted by thisonegirl

Ok, first, normally I'm disappointed by stories that end with "it was all a dream". It tells me that you don't think your alternate universe is quite good, and it almost feels like a disclaimer at the end of a now-cheapened story. If it's "all a dream" since the beginning then it's different. Take Sucker Punch, for instance.

Anyway, with that said, I'm not sure I'd be disappointed if WA ended up being Bill Robert's hallucination. If this was all Ink's hallucination, I might be okay with that. I like the theory, but I have a few questions, mainly how do you explain the "talking" zombie that Victor and Michael encounter?
I'll be willing to accept it might be a doctor or nurse, but I'm not entirely content with that answer.

Although schizophrenia also causes bizarre or unexplained delusions/hallucinations, and that would fit in nicely with your theory, it is also culpable for disorganized thinking and as the story progresses the story seems to be tidying up and cutting it's loose ends, so how does that fit in to the theory?

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Well, with schizophrenia, you can have voices of different personalities, just like someone with multiple personality disorder. So while you can have "good" voices, you can also have "bad" voices. These are the ones that usually make people act erratically and violently. Talking creatures could be Robert's bad voices.

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Originally Posted by Hanniekuma

I've always loved stories that make you ask the question, " Is this real?" Movies like Identity, Momento, Inception, Dream House..and on and on and on..Awwwyeah!

again, I'm showing my age on this> the only "it really wasn't real" storyline I hated, and to this day the thought of it makes me Hulk out, is the resolution to the original Dallas tv series, " Who Shot Bobby" season. grrrrrrrr.

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Yeah, but look at the movies you put up, Memento and Inception you know from the beginning something's not entirely right. Shutter Island is a fine movie that I have to admit I love and it's because of that last scene.

Like I said I won't be totally disappointed if WA does this, because it's a very interesting twist in not just in the story itself, but in how they're telling the story or as Jay013 put it:

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Originally Posted by Jay013

When we put our earphones in, we listen to the voices.

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Originally Posted by thisonegirl

It's also a slight warning to them newbies who really need that second chance to go, "Ok, yeah, I don't wanna know, yet."

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Another thing I love is that no one ever made me feel like a newbie. Everyone is considerate and understanding and wait for you to catch up!

I do recall hearing Datu saying something like " Maybe THEY think WE'RE the zombies!" My first listen, I didn't catch this, but my second time around, this made me think that maybe this could be an alternate reality sort of thing or everything is someone's delusion.

Whatever it is, I hope whoever's head we're in , that they DO NOT wake up so we get to experience more, real or unreal! :)

Hi there,

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Originally Posted by Jay013

While re-listening to the entire show for the past week and a half, I realized something. Back in season one, Bill Roberts was sent to the hospital, the MENTAL hospital. He was diagnosed with severe schizophrenia. Here's where my theory kicks in.

What if none of this is real? The riot started right after "Ink" was sent to the mental hospital. We know that he's relevant to the story somehow, otherwise, he wouldn't have been mentioned in the news report. What if when "Ink" was sent to the mental hospital, he couldn't handle the event, and so his schizophrenia took over and allowed him to cope. What if the first biter, all the zombies, the big ones, TOWM, pinstripes, the numbered ones...What if they are just figures of his hallucinations? Actually, it makes even more sense. Pinstripes, TOWM, and Skittle's Coloured one all act like the main leader of the creatures. If it is Bill, he would be the one to take those roles as the fantasy revolves around him. It's his world.

Take it even further, Everyone from the Tower, the other Tower, the mallers, the Colonists, Irwin, Boulder, all the human characters have one thing in common. They all talk.

Schizophrenia causes both visual and auditory hallucinations. When we put our earphones in, we listen to the voices. If you had schizophrenia, you would hear voices in your head. We're Alive is a radio show, a very well done radio show. It easily disguises the second meaning of the story.

To sum it up, the We're Alive universe was created by Bill Roberts in a schizophrenic fit. It's in the form of a radio show so that it is as if we're "Ink" listening to the voices in his head.

Thoughts?

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very interesting thought. Somehow it follows this scheme:
- the consumer-idiots are zombies just "eating" shit (junkfood, media-junk, ...);
- Ink would be the only one to "understand" the world properly;
- Ink delves in night- and day-dreams in which he looks forward to the distruction of the consumer-idiot-society, while he certainly is on the lookout for the individuals fighting for "survival";
- he has created a couple of fictious women he fell in love with - like the incredible rage-lady Scratch, or the indestructible warrior-heroine CJ with the Wolverine-Gene;
- Ink himself rarely gets involved with the story itself; he just tests certain facilities and tries to open doors (the Tower, Dunbar, the gate in the Colony) and many times just observes the events. And when he comes in touch with the Tower people for the first time he (only) kills Paul (for whatever reason; we don't know actually), he asks for help. When he had the chance to take out Riley and Kalani, he did not do it, although he was capable of doing; and the WA audience is pretty certain that it was Ink who told his zombs to stop to attack CJ ...
So - after all - is he the storyteller?

Yeah, interesting picture - and maybe not as far off as one might believe.

Best wishes!
Liam

Another theory that might support it is the job titles of all the cast before Z-Day. Some of them are relevant to Bill's life.

Michael, Saul etc - Army (Authority figures)
The Mallers - Prisoners (Similar to the people he has been spending time with while locked up.)
Kelly - Lawyer (Figure from his court case)
Lizzy - Therapist (I'm sure he's come across a few of those)

I'm not sure if there are any other links that might be in there.

I like the theory.

PS: Has anyone ever asked KC if there is enough info in the story so far to work out who INK is or how this all happened or are we all wondering in the dark? Maybe there just isn't enough info to get answers yet?

Interesting Theory. But I am not sure if I think there is enough support in the story line.. Now I think Him being Psycho. Since Burt said some are smarter. It depends on what you were when it all happened. Maybe Ink being in the state he is in was turned differently then others.. Didn't he per the news cast do experiments on people.

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Originally Posted by Merlin1274

Interesting Theory. But I am not sure if I think there is enough support in the story line.. Now I think Him being Psycho. Since Burt said some are smarter. It depends on what you were when it all happened. Maybe Ink being in the state he is in was turned differently then others.. Didn't he per the news cast do experiments on people.

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I don't think there was any mention of him doing experiments on people. Unless I missed something.

The only thing I found funny about the news report was the mention of "The family itself", is this the same family as Scratch and Angel or is it just talking about the families of his victims? and on that note, is there any relation between INK and the characters families? Were any of their family / parents etc his victims?

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Originally Posted by whenallisdark

I don't think there was any mention of him doing experiments on people. Unless I missed something.

The only thing I found funny about the news report was the mention of "The family itself", is this the same family as Scratch and Angel or is it just talking about the families of his victims? and on that note, is there any relation between INK and the characters families? Were any of their family / parents etc his victims?

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Kc has come on the forum and categorically denied any link between "the families" in the news cast and The Family of Scratch, Durai, and Angel. Can't recall exactly which thread it's in at the moment. I'll edit to add it if I can dig it up.

As for a connection between Bill Robert's victims and any of the show's main cast... Not sure. Your post did spark the thought in my mind that Michael has been very secretive and misleading about his family. Maybe...... :tinfoil:

I was thinking about this on the way home. By any chance was bill Roberts a film buff lol.

A lot of the scenarios are similar to a lot of popular films with Burt's quotes, the zombies tracking them through the cornfields (Jurassic Park) and the battle at the colony with the zombies all standing outside the walls just waiting for something to spark it all off is very similar to the lord of the rings battle. At least that's how I saw it in my head.

Might be another little part to add to this original theory? He could be creating these familiar scenarios with the characters he has made up in his own head.

I dunno, just throwing it out there. Might be BS!

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Originally Posted by scbubba

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Originally Posted by whenallisdark View Post
I don't think there was any mention of him doing experiments on people. Unless I missed something.

The only thing I found funny about the news report was the mention of "The family itself", is this the same family as Scratch and Angel or is it just talking about the families of his victims? and on that note, is there any relation between INK and the characters families? Were any of their family / parents etc his victims?

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Kc has come on the forum and categorically denied any link between "the families" in the news cast and The Family of Scratch, Durai, and Angel. Can't recall exactly which thread it's in at the moment. I'll edit to add it if I can dig it up.

As for a connection between Bill Robert's victims and any of the show's main cast... Not sure. Your post did spark the thought in my mind that Michael has been very secretive and misleading about his family. Maybe...... :tinfoil:

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Here is the link to KC denying the connection between the Tivo report & the Family

It really is a nice theory, and many people who make these kinds of things er... stories usually do it horribly. If this was one of those types of stories I actually wouldn't be disappointed. It would be a fabulous twist in the "We're Alive" Universe. Of it was it would be on par with Shutter Island which was a very good disillusioned story where things went down.