And no, not the massage parlor type of "happy ending" where some 19-year old, Asian sex-slave beats you off for an extra $30. God, you're such a freaking pervert sometimes, you know that?

No, this is another standard, AKOD happy ending. Where at the chapter's conclusion, things are looking just a little more up for all the main characters. It's when, after all the crap that happens to them throughout the chapter, there's just a glimmer of hope that they might get exactly what they want.

BWAHAHAHA!! God, I'm hilarious.

Though, in the grand scheme of all AKOD chapter endings, it probably is one of the happier ones. Simply because no one gets raped, sent to prison, or murdered. For this book, that's like a goddamn Easter parade or something.

Next week starts starts off a new chapter. And yes, Wrath will be just as cheery as you all are imagining. Cheers for now.

If you've been reading AKOD since the beginning, this isn't the first time you've seen one of these parts. It happened in Sloth. It happened in Delirium. And I'm sure it'll happen again. It's the "single conversation that spans 15 fucking pages" part. Which means that you're getting half of it now and getting half of it next time. It sort of just up and ends in the middle of everything, with absolutely nothing tied up at all. 

Caaauuuuuse......I'm a dick.

There's also bunnies in this section. And Beatrice.

And lies.

So, Heartlessness III is up and, yes, is a little on the short side. But most of the time when I write these chapters, I'm not thinking of definitive places to start and end each part. Sometimes it happens naturally and sometimes, it does not. In the case of Heartlessness, I think the entire last 2/3 of the chapter flow pretty seamlessly and so I had to pick and choose where to start and end each part almost just by page length. So some parts are a little longer and some a little shorter. Part III is just one of those parts that got the axe a little closer to the tail. Which means stuff ALMOST starts to happen.....but not quite. So, sorry for the dick-tease.

Aside from that? Well, I sort of have to poop. So I'm gonna go now. Later.

So, Heartlessness II is up and all that jazz. Though this post is about 12 hours late. This is what happens when all the pre-work you do on your website the night before doesn't save (for whatever fucking reason) and then you wake up in the morning to find you have to do it all over again. This can be a problem when you have things like, oh, a job. So, needless to say, things did not go according to plan with the update this morning. These errors have now all been corrected.

Anywho, today's update is my way of trying to speed things along a little. Personally, I didn't want to write a book like Cormack McCarthy's The Road. Mostly because it's already been written. So, while I did play with the idea of really getting into the gritty, every day emotional battle that was this new world, I opted not to. I felt there was enough going on with the story that it was unnecessary. Also, I decided that it wouldn't really make a whole lot of freaking sense for the narrator to pore over page after page of serious emotional detail after some of the most trying experiences of his life.

So, as I'm sure you've all noticed, Sloth ended on a super emotional note. Which is fine and all. But reality continues to persist. 

Now comes the real aftermath of all that's happened. In sort of the same way that "What happens after 'ever after'?" addresses the idea of what happens after a happy ending, Chapter 8 (Heartlessness) addresses what happens after a sad ending.

Mostly because I'm an asshole and I like to see how things can get even worse.

Seriously, if you all don't kill yourselves by the time Chapter 10 rolls around, it'll be a borderline miracle.

Crap, I'm going to jail, aren't I?

Shit.

If anyone remembers, the last paragraph of Chapter 6 refered to all the events the led up to the end of the world as "the good ol' days". Even with billions of people dying and modern society coming to an end, that was still all better than what happened next.

I think you're beginning to see why. And today's update really drives that message hope. Sloth VII is, arguably, one of the most emotionally violent bunch of pages I've ever written in my life. Hopefully, you'll all be pleased with them.

Unfortunately, Chapter 8 will not start next week, as I had hoped. I had a real hard time pulling that story out of my head and what should've taken 3 weeks to write down took 7. Not something I'm thrilled about, but it's the case, nonetheless. So, Part I will not be debuting on 2/24, instead it will spring to life next month on 3/2.

LASTLY, I had previously mentioned that Chapter 8 would be called Sobriety. This has changed. Every chapter in AKOD is obviously named after a new Word that is introduced and that the chapter revolves around. Why I decided to do something different for this chapter is beyond me. So, now, Chapter 8 will be called Heartlessness. Hopefully that fills you all with bizarre joy.

Ta ta for now, kids. See you in two weeks.