The Woman was too present. She was too much herself, too human, too embodied within her vessel as it spiraled out of control, too stuck in her mind as it twisted in on itself.
Readers, you must understand that she was in so many ways whole still!
I think that The Woman would say, however, that she was too whole. I think she would say that she was too full, too much, too alive. I think she would say that almost three hundred years of a life that was lived as hers was too much life. I think she would laugh that hoarse, dry laugh that always sounded like tears were on the way and say that thirty years was probably too much for her.
But me, friends? What will become of me?
A tale of the escape from suffering in a digital world — and the effects of trauma on the functionally immortal.
Content notes
This book touches on the plots of The Post-Self Cycle, as well as that of Marsh. It is still a standalone novel, but might benefit from having read those works first. These works and more may all be found post-self.ink as paperbacks, ebooks, and free to read in the browser.
This story contains themes of self-harm, suicide, and poor mental health.
About the author
Madison Rye Progress, like your humble narrator, is also struck by graphomania. She is one to wake at all hours and sneak off to her computer or take notes on her phone or simply pace the quiet rooms of her house, lonely, building worlds in her head. She sought relief from the Furry Writers’ Guild, from the Regional Anthropomorphic Writers’ Retreat with Kyell Gold and Dayna Smith, but they only encouraged her. She sought relief from Cornell college, but they only gave her an MFA in creative writing and pedagogy. She sought relief in her love, Samantha Yule Fireheart, who lives with her in the Pacific Northwest, but they instead spend their days writing with each other, as does she with the Post-Self community, where she meet Krzysztof “Tomash” Drewniak and where she curates the canon.
She, too, wonders if she is born to die. What, dear readers, will become of her? What will become of her? What will become of her? What will become of her? What will become of her? What will become of her? What will become of her? What will become of her? And is she born to die? What will become of her? What will become of her? What will become of her? What will become of her? What will become of her? What will become of her? What will become of her? What will become of her? What will become of her? And is she born to die? What will become of her? What will become of her? What will become of her? What will become of her? What will become of her? What will become of her?
Acknowledgments
Thanks is due first of all to Jacob Geller, who knows me not, for he created a video on the story of Pinocchio that touched me so deeply that I began this project in the first place. Thanks also to Tomash and Yule, who contributed so much to this story; it would not be what it is without them. To Isiat, adoration for his boundless support. To barnaby on the Apocrypals Discord for help with Sacred Harp hymns. To Mae and Taija and Andréa C. Mason for reminding me that my work is indeed read. Finally, I will forever sing the praises of my polycule and those within for their support and love, and for the privilege of loving them in turn.
Idumea was funded by a Kickstarter campaign. These are those who brought it to fruition:
Krzysztof “Tomash” Drewniak, Andréa CERES Mason, Alexandria Christina Leal, Nathan Merrifield, Taija, Fiona Adams, Stephen Moore, Xideron, Ashley Hale, Amdusias, Fén Cupit, ramshackle heather, doctorlit, nova, Ash Holland, Michael Miele, Webster Leone, Clover Arizona, Aulden Stargazer, raine, Astra Jones, David Scoggins, Rachel Dillon. Charles S. Petrov Neutrino, Chandler Hines, Royce Day, Isiat, Craig, ubuntor, Joel Kreissman, Sethvir, Barac Baker Wiley.