Book 2: Future | Dog Man Dead Petey AU

Notes & Fun Facts

Hey, another book finished! Wow, so cool. I spent all my time writing this for you guys instead of doing my online school work

-     Unlike the last book, not many of the titles are based off of song lyrics (since I hadn't been that creative in coming up with titles myself).
      But ones that do are Chapter 2 (Your Imaginary Friend by Lemon Demon), Chapters 8 + 9 (The Only House Thats Not On Fire (Yet) by Lemon Demon), and Chapters ten + eleven (The Leading Cause of Death by Nuclear Bubble Wrap).

-    This book was supposed to be much shorter than the first book. Obviously, that is not the case

-     There were supposed to be combined Chapters, such as 8 + 9 and ten + eleven. I split them up so the book could have the same amount of chapters as the last one- seventeen

-      Relating to the previous note- the number 17 is surprisingly a big number in the universe. Sydney was 17 when she ran away, Book One takes place on Petey's 17th birthday, Petey has been dead for 17 years in book 2, I started writing the first book on May 17th in 2023, both books have 17 chapters- genuinely none of this was intentional (except for book 2 having the same amount of chapters, of course)

-      Everything that Petey says about the DP AU in Chapter 8 is true. I first thought of it in May 2022, and throughout the summer, I had written very small things about it. I then soon completely forgot about the universe altogether. But in February of 2023, I started getting into Dog Man again and soon rediscovered it. And here we are

-    Back in January of 2024, I didn't have an ending for the story. I had unfortunately felt so devastated that I put the story on hiatus, but only a few days later, I had a dream about the characters. I woke up and immediately went to my notes app to write it down lmao. Which is how chapter 7+ came together!

-    Petey never lies- at least, to his standard. He may leave some information out, but he will never lie. Just thought this was something interesting to add.

Whoever's reading this, I just want to say thank you. I mean this genuinely and from the bottom of my heart: Without you, I wouldn't have written these two books.

The first book isn't the best, of course- but everything isn't perfect in the beginning. For a teenager who hadn't had any real writing experience beforehand, I'm genuinely impressed and proud of myself. (But, again, that doesn't help that I feel incredibly embarrassed about Book One and a few earlier chapters of Book 2, unfortunately)

I started out writing Dog Man ask or dares and not-so-good Pinky and The Brain + Lego Movie fanfiction. And now this? I just want to say thank you to everyone who was able to push me forward with your comments and encouragement. You have no idea what that means to me.

Everything starts out as an idea- and the fact some people can actually make those ideas real? The fact that creativity can come from anywhere? That's genuinely incredible. No matter how you show your idea- art, pottery, crafting, writing, music, lyrics, poetry, blue prints, a speech, a film, an animation, anything- you made something. You made something.

Please, never give up on yourself. I know that saying is everywhere, and it's pretty annoying, but I'm realizing more and more how true it is. Maybe you relate to what these characters are going through- maybe you can find yourself in how they deal with their emotions and how they're trying to get better. Or whatever it may be- don't throw it all away.

The future is uncertain. It's scary- oh god, is it scary. I don't know what I'm going to do now- for future writing or for high school, I'm terrified. But it's okay.

I shouldn't be here- I was going through a terrible time when I was 12, and when I was first writing about the DP AU. But I soon figured out that writing helped me with all of this- it helped me to share everything that's happened to me in a way that a fictional story could form. If I had lost then, I wouldn't be who I am now. Maybe this is too much for the ending chapter of a Dog Man AU. But who cares? Who cares if I added myself into the story multiple times, who cares if I make terrible jokes about the fourth wall?

Because when you do it, you're happy. It's fun, it's fun to be weird. I know this is strange coming from someone who is literally named "Spencer Normal Guy," but never be normal. You might get negative looks and feel so, so embarrassed- but never be normal. As long as you're not hurting anybody or doing anything legally/morally wrong, please never, ever be normal. It's okay to be upset about that small thing that happened. It's okay to still feel embarrassed about what you did when you were 12. It's okay yo never finish a project you wanted to do- because you still made part of it, and that's beautiful all on its own.

It's okay.

I love all of you. Even if only one person is reading this- I'm so, so proud of you. You're here! You're alive! You're breathing and thinking and alive! After everything that's happened and everything that is still happening- you're still choosing to read my story.

Thank you.

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