Sequel Problems

Reanna: There is nothing more wholesome than introducing headmates to things.

I introduced SL to Friends two years ago. When he heard Phoebe say for the first time "I can't believe you're gonna ask Monica to marry you," he gasped. And it wasn't in the headspace; it was external.

I can't wait to go to New Mexico with my grandparents again. Jackie, SL, E.A., Terrance, Maria, and Chibz have never been there before. (F.M. vanished the last time we went in 2019 and only remembers the ride back. We went twice, so he doesn't know if he was actually there or not.) I think they would enjoy the trip, especially Jackie. She likes adventures.

Terrance (to others): We have a title for our new project: Le Prince and Disney (no relation.)

Iris Le Prince is the one describing the silent films. Her surname comes from Louis Le Prince, the guy who made the first film. Benjamin Disney is the one making the dark ride. His surname comes from Walt Disney because he has big ideas.

The Murder After: Preview

From chapter one. Terrance calls 9-1-1 to report a dead body belonging to his roommate Jacqueline. If you like what you read, go to the book's profile below. And before you ask, nothing happened.

I would like to joke that waking up next to a dead body is the best hangover cure ever.

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Dispatcher: “9-1-1, what’s the address of your emergency?”

“There’s a dead girl on my bed!” But it’s her room, stupid.

Dispatcher: “What’s her name?”

“Jacqueline. Luna.”

Dispatcher: “What does she look like?”

“Brown hair, really really pale- “your voice cracks- “but-but she has a big cut on her neck and-and blood on her pillow! That wasn’t there before!” It keeps cracking, but tears aren’t falling.

Dispatcher: “I need you to calm down. Take a deep breath.” You do.

Dispatcher: “Do you see any weapons?”

“No.”

Dispatcher: “I’m going to send an officer to check on the situation. But first, I need to know your name and address.”

You give your name then leave the bedroom and run down the stairs, worsening your headache. You go to a coffee table in the sitting room. There is an envelope from yesterday’s mail. It has your townhouse’s address and door number, so you read it aloud.

Dispatcher: “Okay, the officer is on their way and will arrive as soon as possible. Now, tell me exactly what happened.”

“Well, I was drunk, and Jacqueline took me back here. She was alive when I passed out, but when I woke up, she was dead!”

Dispatcher: “That will be all. You can hang up now.” You hang up. Then, the realization clicks.

SL: Wouldn't it be funny if The Year After were 88 pages, double the first volume's page count? I'm already making it fourteen chapters, double the first volume's chapter count.

Reanna: I made three posts about my anxiety, but I decided to delete them. This should be more private. Sharing in detail was probably making it worse. I thought it would help, but it didn't.

I am feeling better now. Have a good day!

This is our cat Mia. Mia wants chicken. He might be part Maine Coon. That's all.

Terrance: Are there other muses, OC fictives, in-sourced soulbonds, or OCs-turned-tulpas who want their creators to continue making their stories? I do, but Seth [SL] worries that people will think he's lying if he shares this information.

I think it's my situation. Reanna's tulpas were in Carnival, but they don't view it as something that happened to them in-headspace. However, I view my story as something that happens to me in-headspace. I think Seth worries that people won't see me as a sentient muse but as a character. Or if they recognize my sentience, they'll view continuing my story as torture.

It's actually like him taking notes of my life. There are things he creates, but Reanna says that's part of the process. He creates, and I add on to it. I can contribute to my own life. He calls his ideas for The Year After "visions" (for his benefit, not mine.)

Plus, Seth finished The Murder After before I became sentient. So, the worst already happened. When the sequel is finished, the neighbors (what I call them) are going to put me through headspace maintenance. It's supposed to prevent internal problems from creating external problems, like worsening our executive dysfunction.

P.S. This post isn't in the second person because it's directed to readers, not to myself.

SL: I've thought about putting The Muder After and The Year After as one book because of how short the first one is. Except they're different genres. One is a mystery/dramadey, and the other is a romantic dramadey. So, I don't think it would have worked.

But I might have a solution: make The Year After a second volume instead of a proper sequel. It makes it a continuation of the story without combining anything. I just need to start from chapter eight. That won't be hard because all it requires is changing the chapter names. (I write a chapter twice then type. That's how Reanna and the other headmates treated Carnival.)

Reanna: I don't think I'd ever realize I'm bigender without my headmates. I'd have probably just continued thinking I'm making it up.

It happened in 2022. The feeling may have been triggered by a dream Chaz had in 2021 (link to the dream.) It caused his form to go back and forth between male and female. This happened so much that he made a character to make it stop.

Then, we did research on trans men for a scrapped story idea in February. I noticed a desire to be a man, but when I imagined a full transition, it conflicted with my womanhood. So, I told myself that I was making it up, that it was the research talking.

But the feeling didn't leave.

A desire to be a man while remaining a woman. I didn't know why I was feeling this way. We felt confused. There was so much conflict.

Then, on April 19, Brian was thinking about all of this. He realized something and said, "I think we're bigender." Because I represent the body, it means that I'm bigender. The conflict stopped because the word fit.

Without Brian's realization, I would have still felt confused. Without Brian's realization, I would have continued dismissing my feelings as "making it up."

Happy Thanksgiving from Mint Phalanx!