Well, hello there, reader!
How was your journey through this book? Was it what you expected it to be? Did anything surprise you? Perhaps we've already met before, in another time, in another book. Or maybe we've already met before, in this exact situation, in this exact chapter. Or maybe, it's your first time here.
Either way, welcome to the after party!
I hoped you enjoyed the book. It was an absolute blast to write, and I hope it was also just as fun to read, with just enough twists and turned to keep you guessing, and just enough tragedies to shake up your feels, ha-ha!
So, let's answer a few questions which you may or may not have:
Q: How long did this take to write?
A: I started writing a little bit before the end of 2020 (cursed number right there), and continued to write through of the next two months, up until the 20th of February when I finally completed the book. However, I had spent some time beforehand coming up with the plot line of this story, so that I wasn't fluking it as I went. But as you'll find out shortly, I didn't exactly stick to my plan... either way, if you've read this whole story, then you have read over 170,000 words. That length is on par with some Harry Potter books, and if you've ever seen those, you know that they are chunky. Thiccc with a triple C in some cases.
So, well done for getting this far! I'm glad you thought this book was worth your time, as it obviously takes quite a bit of time and effort to read something of this length. I wrote this book and posted chapters as soon as they were ready, which I don't think I'm going to do again. The first book which I wrote (which was called "A Message to Scott Cawthon: Reimagined", or just AMTSC:R for short) was written in one month and had around 65,000 words, but I only released chapters when the whole story had been written. I think I prefer that way of doing it, because it gives a more regular upload schedule.
Q: What were your main sources of inspiration?
A: Videos. Videos about alter egos are some of my favourites, and I definitely took a lot of inspiration from them. You would have seen a lot of references to various videos scattered throughout this book. How many did you find? I lost count. Also, at the time of writing this, a game by the name of "Little Nightmares II" was coming out, which contained some (don't worry, there aren't spoilers here) interesting scenes showing the ability to brainwash people with static filled TV screens... does that sound familiar at all?
Q: Is this how you planned the story to go, or were there changes along the way?
A: Yep, there were a lot of changes. Quite major ones, to be honest. A lot of characters who survived were not going to originally. Ethan was going to die back in the NEC. I changed my mind, and said that he was going to go deaf instead. I changed my mind again, and he went blind. He was then going to get separated from the group after Anti manipulated TVs and radios to lead Ethan away, making him think that he was following his friends, when he was really been led to his death. Then, after changing my mind again, in the final battle, he was going to get killed by Anti as he tried to administer the anti-toxin.
Tyler, on the other hand, was never originally going to even go the simulation after leaving the gaming convention. He was going to end up fighting (as in physically fighting) Dark at one point, after I changed my mind. He was then at one point going to die after being kicked down the stairs, and he was then going to die because no one was going to save him from the freezer box.
Mark himself was going to die after trying to stop Dark from hurting Seán/Anti, because he would get too distracted and then receive a fatal injury that Dark couldn't save him from.
At one point, the anti-toxin didn't even exist, but the group would have worked out that the toxin was very acidic so it could have been neutralised with something that is the opposite of acidic (alkaline), which can be found in cleaning chemicals. This then meant that in one of the drafts, Seán was going to die from chemical poisoning.
Anti was originally going to be able to use static in the same way which he did with Seán on everyone, while Dark was going to be able to control thoughts and not emotions. There was a version of the story where Dark forced Tyler to kill Ethan with his powers, because Ethan was going to be the first person to work out that Dark existed.
And then, just to put the cherry on top of all of this, Blank (BlankGameplays, Ethan's dark alter ego) was going to be a bigger part of this (he did play a small role, just very small), and at the last minute would kill Seán after he was saved from Anti. If you're wondering, if Ethan had an alter ego and he needed a trigger, his one would have been anxiety/sadness. I never decided, because he got written so that he never made an appearance.
A lot of things could have been different... the death count could have been much higher. The story could have been much darker.
Q: What was your favourite part to write and who was your favourite character?
A: My favourite character was Anti, although Dark was also very fun to write. I like writing the bad guys, especially when they are just fricking insane like Anti was in this book. It was a bit weird writing about a caricature of one of my favourite YouTubers get tortured, though. But then again, the real YouTuber in real life actively tortures one of his own alter egos, and himself, in his own alter ego story line, so I guess that makes both of us bad people (that's sarcasm).
As for my favourite part to write? The entirety of the bonus chapter "The Decent" was also really fun to write. I think the length of that chapter shows you that I got a bit too into that one when writing it, ha-ha. But my favourite was probably Chapter Seventeen, the one where Seán wakes up to see that Mark has passed out and Anti tricks him into thinking that he has killed the American man, causing Seán to become extremely desperate and scared and get tricked into trusting his demon when he says that looking into the static on the TV will help him this time. After all... it looks so beautiful, doesn't it?
Ḏ͙̪̹̹̖ͧͩ̽ŏ̪͙ͣ́͜n̶͚̤ͤ̂̿'̱̀t̰̳̍͆̌̚ ̹̪̠̐ͧͤ͑͛̑̓ŷ̤͖̳̫̼̗̫o̪̝͝ụ̻̝̼̲̒͋ͦ̄͢ ͎̱͍̟͑͠w̫̮͉ã̜̗̈́͛̉̋͗̕n̳͗̾͗ͫ̅̐̾t̠͍̮̼͓̙̔͂ ̰̫͈̬̻̻̃̏͌ͯͅt̸̖̖͎͒̌̍͂͋o̢̤̫̮͙͖̿ͦ̍̊ͣ ̺͔̞̩̤̱̣̀ͭ̒̾̚l̯̝͖̑̅̉ͦͥo̷̹ọ̧̮̥̹̠̣̊́ͥk̦͎̣̽ ͈̘̜͔ͧ͛̑ͧ̏̒͘c͈͚͚̱̻̗̎̄͑̎̆͂l̛̰̱̠̄̏͋͐͐͆̍ỏ͘ș̱̤͑ͧ͗̑͟e͚̼̠r̢͇̦ͦ́ͦ̇̚?̣ͭͧͣ
I actually used very little of that Zalgo text in the story, even though Anti is pretty well known for it. I don't often read stories myself, but the ones I have read where Anti has been in them, I always found the Zalgo text a nice touch at first, but then it quickly got a little difficult to cope with, so I only used it on the chapter names and a few specific words.
Anyway, back the question. The other part which I really, really enjoy writing was whenever Dark was using manipulation tactics. From being very persuasive, to being downright insulting, he knew how to get under people's skin...
Q: Are you making another book?
A: Yes! It is the Ego Sickness Trilogy after all, and I've only written two so far. However, if this is the first book in the series which you have read, you may be disappointed with what comes next. The first book contained a different set of characters who had their story end off on a cliff hanger. This book works as a standalone book, so that you would not have had to have read the first book to know what was happening here, as there were new characters with a new story line. However, their story has come to a close. It reached its end, whether that was an ending they did or didn't want. The third book will pick up where the first book left off, meaning that you probably won't get to see Seán, Mark, Tyler, Ethan, Anti or Dark again. I did warn you that this was a standalone book, so I'm sorry if that disappoints you. There is more information about the whole trilogy in the part after this one.
Q: Which book did you prefer writing?
A: Afraid of the Dark (or just AOTD for short) was my favourite to write, even though I still really liked AMTSC:R. I think my writing has improved since creating AMTSC:R, so this book turned out in slightly better quality than the last. Although I prefer the main characters in AMTSC:R, the main antagonist of that one (Darko, who is an evil alter ego of a British YouTuber called Dawko) has very little appearances in real life (as in the real videos on Dawko's YouTube channel) so I didn't have much to go off of, so his character seemed a bit random at times - not exactly an issue, because he is insane, after all. However, Anti and Dark have a lot of videos about them, meaning that I had a better idea of how to write them. Both of them are a lot more manipulative, and also have their own key personality points which were fun to mess around with, with Anti pretty much having no limits to how bad his methods could become, while Dark was an extremely good tactician. That's why I prefer this book.
If you have any other questions, whether that be about how I wrote this book, questions about the story line/plot, questions about my ideas on specific characters, or literally anything else such as this, please feel free to ask them! It's always a pleasure to answer your questions and interact with you all in the comments.
But, I have some questions for you too... anyone feel like answering?
When was the first time you realised that Mark was infected himself? There were certainly some hints very early on, but how quickly did you realise?
Who do you think had the worst fate in this book? Was it someone who died? Or someone who lived?
Who is worse, Dark or Anti? Which one do you prefer?
Who was the most heroic?
If Blank was in the book, what powers would he have had? How would he behave?
If you could have changed the outcome of this book with any of the different routes which it could have taken that I specified in one of the previous questions, which one would you have wanted to see happen? Or was this ending good enough for you?
Which part did you find the saddest/most difficult to read?
What was your favourite and least favourite part?
Anyway, that's it for the questions. I've got a few thank you messages to say to people.
To Master Spade, also known as Levis, I want to say thank you for letting me freak out about my story at completely random times during the day, and for all of the comments you leave throughout all of the chapters. I sometimes don't think you realise how much you have the ability to make me, and many other people, smile with only a few words, and that's not just about the story comments; that's in general.
To MRFoffical, I want to say thank you for making my face hurt from grinning so much as I read your theories and predictions through some of the previous chapters. Seeing someone who's not just reading, but also actively interacting with your creation, is one hell of an amazing feeling. You seemed to always be able to pick up some minor details that I had tried to hide, so well done! I apologise for violating the Eef Protection Squad throughout this book, ha-ha.
_Dan_Th3_Man_, thank you for shouting out my book, even though I completely freaked out when you did because you pinged 20+ people all at once and I didn't know how to react, ha-ha. And of course, thank you for all of the comments which you have left throughout this book too!
user492261179 (that's a lot of numbers my guy), thank you for being there from the beginning of this book. Even though you only said something a few days ago, I did see that you were always there and voted on every chapter, and for that, I thank you! Curse you WattPad for deleting comments XD
just-a-lonley-reader (Memento Mori, fellow Unus (I'm hoping I've got the correct spiral here!)), Taffnuss (you can't hide, I see you voting through the whole story!), Kachow2004 (love the name), kirbonna3029, z1junn, SalmaEsam4, DarkiplierFan890 (the BATIM references are strong with this one), wontonBro, puppygamerlangfitt, -DIRTYCRIM3KEI, OriChanChanChaaaan, superdogmadness, YodaSabre21, Deluxe555, NateBehindTheCouch (how's "Third Time's the Charm" going, Chloe?), jeebushatesallofu42, RealToyaTodoroki (I thought you were the real Shoto Todoroki!?), user37558867, unikittygamer55, EinWritesBad (hello by the way, it's been a while since we spoke!), thepixelkitti, and of course Hooodie78 (the definition of speed when it comes to reading), thank you to all of you for being here.
I can't write out an individual message for each one of you, or the word count of this book is going to double, but I still want to let you know that I appreciate the fact you were here. Whether you finished the book or not, even just one read, one comment, or one vote is just as amazing as the others. And for those of you who followed me because of this book, thank you too! I'm sure there are more people but I've missed them or they are just hiding from me through the wondrous world of "Anonymous Accounts", so don't think you guys aren't appreciated too!
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hoped that you had fun, and I hope that I didn't leave you with mental scarring! If you feel like answering any of those questions or asking some of your own, then go ahead! I'm all ears.
And I hope that whenever you hear that soft sound of crackling static from a white-washed screen, or you look into your reflection that seems to have reacted a tad too slow to your movements, you remember one thing... don't make eye contact.
Now, have a good morning/afternoon/evening/day/night/whatever time it is over there!
- Red