Adventures in Secrecy with T Van Santana

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The Backbone

tvansantana.substack.com
Teresa's Backbone

The Backbone

Readers’ guide

T Van Santana
Nov 8, 2022
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Reading style guidance:

Here is a list of all the published chapters. This page is a useful navigation tool, so I recommend bookmarking it and returning here whenever you feel lost or like you aren’t sure what to read next.

You can read the chapters in chronological order of publication, which is how they are first listed below.

If you want to read it in reverse chronological order (which is Substack’s default, for whatever reason), click here.

If you want the more choice-driven experience, look at the map below and then select the related story path. (This is a work in progress and is literally being written at the time you are reading, so this way is going to be buggy for a bit.) The individual paths broken out by main topic or character are given after the chronological list. Likewise, I am doing my best to provide links within the individual chapters prompting you to follow them to stay on that story path.

A friend pointed out that it might be useful to only read one or two of these a day, rather than trying to take out a whole bunch at once in a block. I think that’s good advice, but don’t let me stop you from doing what works best for you.

Thanks for your understanding in advance, and I hope you enjoy the ride!

Entries in order of publication:

  1. Hey bae (all paths)

  2. The Front Matter (all paths)

  3. Nine Years Gone (me & you, Karin, the park, Cade, photos, three ways)

  4. Going to the Chapel (Karin; First Cut)

  5. After Dinner, Upstairs … (me & you—partially locked for free subscribers)

  6. Would You Spot Me? (me & you, SOMA, Zadok)

  7. A Pool Scene (me & you, Everything Fails, Grand Story of Not; other paths)

  8. Lava! (me & you)

  9. My Private Collection (me & you, TVS & The Black Book of Fear)

  10. Git! (me & you)

  11. The Backbone (literally this document you a reading now)

  12. The Path You’re Traveling

  13. Wendy (Wendy, obvs)

  14. Word About Geography

  15. Come Close or Feel Far (me & you)

  16. Estienne (Wendy)

  17. Walk Down Main Street (me & you)

  18. The Dream I Had Last Night (me & you; Dream #1)

  19. Please Tell Me You Didn’t (me & you)

  20. Another Dream (Dream #2)

  21. Morning After (me & you; Dream #3)

  22. Reskinned

  23. Soma Keeps the Score

  24. Nikki Comes to Visit (me & you; Nikki)

  25. A Litany of Crows (me & you)

  26. You Can Reveal Everything and No One Will See (me & you)

  27. Comic Sans (me & you)

  28. The Long-Awaited by Few—Probably Brand New to You—Revelation of the Complex, Bizarre yet Astonishingly True Nature of the Semimalevolent Entity Known as Dwizaal: a pseduodemonic paranoid fiction in rather disastrous array (D, Scenes from the Tank)

  29. Openings (me & you)

  30. Inhibition (Dream #4; me & you, Zuy)

  31. The Jupiter Room (me & you, Loona, Pem, Ecks; later on, Zuy)

  32. Thanksgiving, In the Library

  33. Seth (Wendy)

  34. Gay’s Hypothesis (Horace, Seth, Wendy)

  35. Rockin’ Offa da Toppa Dis Apocalypse (me, Klava, Roxy)

  36. A Microfiction Universe within the Secret of Secrets (Dream #5)

  37. Secret Garden (me & you)

  38. Alithea Arrives in Soma (Alithea)

  39. Slaggin’ at da Violet (me, Riley)

  40. Subterranean (Dream #7)

  41. Occupied (Dream #8)

  42. Nice Folks (me, Dad, Mason)

  43. The Ones We Keep (me, Dad, Mason)

  44. Intersection of Tradewinds & Povich (me & you)

  45. Dream #9

  46. Planes of Existence (me & you, Nikki)

  47. The Sweet Sweat Ponged Party (me & you, Dag; Dream #10)

  48. Checking the Tapes (Seth, Wendy)

  49. A Peach In the Cage (Seth, Wendy)

  50. Eager (Dream #11)

  51. Vestigial Vestments (me & you)

  52. I Wouldn’t Expect You to Understand (Dream #14)

  53. Fused (Dad)

  54. Impacted (Dad, Dream #15, Made to Remember)

  55. New Neighbor (Desi)

  56. Pass Without Notice (Terry)

  57. Soaked Through (Dad)

  58. A Haze (Mom, Mitz, Mars the planet)

  59. He Doesn’t Get to Have a Chapter Named After Him (secrets school; Mickie kind of)

  60. The Hidden Shrine (Camp O-Bag, Mars the deity, Lilamara)

  61. Vampires Come at Night (Dad, Dream #16, Dream #17)

  62. Garbled (me & you, Garance)

  63. Christmastime In the Library [Ed. Near the end of Part I in the linear verszh.]

  64. The Problem of Plot

  65. Backbone Gaming Guide and Manifest

  66. Cinda Ashe (Wendy)

  67. It’s a New Dawn, It’s a New Day, It’s a New Life For Me

  68. Rust & Dust (Dream #12)

  69. Packed In Salt (Alithea)

  70. Back Cement (Dad)

  71. A Locked Door to the Shadow Plane of Existence (Klava kind of)

  72. Three Scenes In a Game I Do Not Understand (Dream #22)

  73. Wrecking Ball (Dad)

  74. By Hand, On the Floor (Thieves; me & you; Dream #23)

  75. Flower Arrangement (me & you)

  76. Each Day Has a Code

  77. Possible, But Unlikely (Wendy; Mickie)

  78. If These Warlocks and Devils Have Their Way (Dad; Klava [in absentia]; Bill; Scenes from the Tank)

  79. Looked Over (Bit; Avan)

  80. On a Precipice of Dream’s Edge (me & you)

  81. No One Ever Does (me & you)

  82. Death Shroud (Nikki; Bruno)

  83. Reading the Backbone: A New Introduction by the Author for the 2023 Crowd (new readers’ guide)

  84. Resolutions (me & you; ablated chapters)

  85. Places of Residence (me & you; Dream #19)

  86. When the Village Seer Is Wrong

  87. A Lampshade (me & you)

  88. Snake People (new path: Snake People; smut at the end)

  89. Let Me Steal This Moment From You Now (Wendy; Mickie)

  90. Wasteland Redux (me & you; Horace)

  91. Up Through the Cracks, Like Grass Under Concrete (new path: First Cut)

  92. In My Solitude (First Cut)

  93. The Old Crane, on Page Road (First Cut)

  94. Malefic Tastemaking In Metafictional Markets (Mall)

The Map:

Path: Alithea

  1. Alithea Arrives in Soma

  2. Packed In Salt

  3. Lie Down

  4. Spread (smut)


Path: Dad

  1. Nice Folks

  2. The Ones We Keep

  3. Fused

  4. Impacted

  5. Soaked Through

  6. Vampires Come at Night

  7. Back Cement

  8. Wrecking Ball

  9. If These Warlocks and Devils Have Their Way

  10. Discharged

  11. Man With the Beard

  12. Back In Again

  13. Shave and a Haircut (Two Bits)

  14. I’m Just Going to Sit Here a Minute

  15. Death Shroud

  16. Ossuaries

  17. The Funeral

  18. Short Walk

  19. Dad’s Truck

  20. Yard Waste

  21. Dad’s Ring

  22. Thank Yous

  23. I Wish I’d Done a Better Job


Path: Dreams

  1. The Dream I Had Last Night (Dream #1)

  2. Another Dream (Dream #2)

  3. Morning After (Dream #3)

  4. Inhibition (Dream #4)

  5. A Microfiction Universe within the Secret of Secrets (Dream #5)

  6. Subterranean (Dream #7)

  7. Occupied (Dream #8)

  8. Dream #9

  9. The Sweet Sweat Ponged Party (Dream #10)

  10. Eager (Dream #11)

  11. I Wouldn’t Expect You to Understand (Dream #14)

  12. Impacted (Dream #15)

  13. Vampires Come at Night (Dream #16, Dream #17)

  14. Rust & Dust (Dream #12)

  15. Three Scenes In a Game I Do Not Understand (Dream #22)

  16. By Hand, On the Floor (Dream #23)

  17. Places of Residence (Dream #19)

  18. Dreamdash (Dream #28)


Path: Eight Gates

  1. Lie Down

  2. Eight Gated Agate Stage

  3. Gate 1—North

  4. Gate 2—Northeast

  5. Das erste Geheimtor

  6. Gate 3—East

  7. Gate 4—Southeast

  8. La Segunda Puerta Secreta

  9. Gate 5—South

  10. Gate 6—Southwest

  11. Winčhékpa Kin Kektúwa

  12. Gate 7—West

  13. Gate 8—Northwest


Path: The First Cut

  1. Up Through the Cracks, Like Grass Under Concrete

  2. Throat-clearing, an Introduction, and All That Jam (up through the line: “I dunno what else to tell you. That’s me.”) will replace with The First Thing to Fail

  3. Going to the Chapel, which is linked from …

  4. In My Solitude

  5. The Old Crane, on Page Road

  6. Wendy Was Her Name-O

  7. The Liberation


Path: Me & You

  1. Hey bae

  2. The Front Matter

  3. Nine Years Gone

  4. After Dinner, Upstairs …

  5. Would You Spot Me?

  6. A Pool Scene

  7. Lava!

  8. My Private Collection

  9. Git!

  10. Come Close or Feel Far

  11. Walk Down Main Street

  12. The Dream I Had Last Night

  13. Please Tell Me You Didn’t

  14. Morning After

  15. Nikki Comes to Visit

  16. A Litany of Crows

  17. You Can Reveal Everything and No One Will See

  18. Comic Sans

  19. Openings

  20. Inhibition

  21. The Jupiter Room

  22. Rockin’ Offa da Toppa Dis Apocalypse

  23. Secret Garden

  24. Intersection of Tradewinds & Povich

  25. Planes of Existence

  26. The Sweet Sweat Ponged Party

  27. Vestigial Vestments

  28. Garbled

  29. A Locked Door to the Shadow Plane of Existence

  30. By Hand, On the Floor

  31. Flower Arrangement

  32. On a Precipice of Dream’s Edge

  33. No One Ever Does

  34. Resolutions

  35. Places of Residence

  36. A Lampshade

  37. Wasteland Redux

  38. Prospero’s Books


Path: Scenes From the Tank or …

  1. The Long-Awaited by Few—Probably Brand New to You—Revelation of the Complex, Bizarre yet Astonishingly True Nature of the Semimalevolent Entity Known as Dwizaal: a pseduodemonic paranoid fiction in rather disastrous array

  2. Vampires Come at Night

  3. If These Warlocks and Devils Have Their Way


Path: Snake People

  1. Snake People


Path: Terra Cimmeria (Mars the planet)

  1. A Haze


Path: Wendy

  1. Wendy

  2. Estienne

  3. Seth

  4. Gay’s Hypothesis

  5. Checking the Tapes

  6. A Peach In the Cage

  7. Cinda Ashe

  8. Possible, But Unlikely

  9. Let Me Steal This Moment From You Now

  10. Mickie

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2 Comments
Nathan Slake
Writes SLAKE
Apr 23Liked by T Van Santana

Well this looks super interesting. The wonder of Notes doing wonders here (thanks @Claudia Befu for posting).

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