The Backbone

Readers’ guide

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)

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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

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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)

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Path: Snake People

1. Snake People

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Path: Terra Cimmeria (Mars the planet)

1. A Haze

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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