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Start with the free First Arc or choose the edition that fits.
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About and FAQ
Meet the book, understand the website, and find a direct answer before you enter the archive.
First published Farbound Union story
About the book
DISSONANCE: A Neo New Orleans Case File is an adult Afrofuturist speculative-noir novel set in flooded Neo New Orleans, Year 19.
The Anvil household keeps food, water, medicine, repair, sacred practice, and public accounting at one table. A changed civic hum exposes the labor hidden inside the city’s promise of calm.
A book site with a working archive
About the website
MudNewsPackage.com supports the novel without rewriting it. You can read the sample, compare the city’s witness and official publications, play The Second Line, save progress in My Profile, and publish reader work outside canon.
Explore
Enter the spoiler-safe Neo New Orleans archive and compare public records.
Open the archivePlay
Work five movements through visible stakes, typed acquisitions, consequence receipts, and private saves.
Open The Second Line guideRespond
Publish a review, theory, field note, or letter on the non-canon reader shelf.
Visit Reader Press
Manuel A. Dominguez · M.A.D. Author!
About the author
Manuel A. Dominguez writes Afrofuturist fiction about infrastructure, migration, care, labor, and the records people keep when official systems refuse to count them.
The A stands for Angel. Manuel works from Compton, California. Mud News Package serves as his independent publishing imprint and the in-world witness publication attached to Neo New Orleans.
Press and Reviewer KitWhy the interface teaches
Every surface practices one civic task.
The website and The Second Line use the same sequence: observe, locate authority, identify who bears the cost, choose a service action, read the receipt, and return. Color and type show the kind of record before the prose asks for judgment.
Witnessed facts, counts, locations, sounds, and carried evidence.
Offices, rules, permissions, credentials, and institutional claims.
Harm, missing service, cost, correction, and work still owed.
Actions, routes, confirmations, recovery, and the next responsible owner.
Claims that need another source, comparison, or delayed return.
Reader help
Frequently asked questions
Each answer points to the next useful page. The game remains optional, progress stays private, and spoiler controls stay in place.
01Where should I start?
Read the free 21-page First Arc. You can continue into the Neo New Orleans archive or choose an edition after that.
02Do I need to play the game to understand the book?
DISSONANCE stands on its own. The Second Line is an optional text role-playing campaign. Each action states its gain, risk, odds, cost, and persistence. Your Record Keeper learns methods for comparing records, but those methods do not alter story canon. See the campaign guide.
03What is the difference between Mud News Package and The Canopy Standard?
Mud News Package keeps witness accounts, household limits, corrections, and uncertain evidence. The Canopy Standard prints the Board’s official account of levels, permits, supply, maintenance, and public order.
04Will the website spoil the book?
Public pages stay within the visible record. Routes with manuscript spoilers use a warning and require your consent before they open.
05Are Reader Press posts part of story canon?
No. Reviews, theories, field notes, and letters remain on a labeled reader shelf outside the author’s record.
06How does My Profile work?
The game always keeps an offline save in this browser. If you open a private Field Ledger by email, an authenticated save also keeps your call sign, standing, locations, held records, conditions, consequence receipts, custody route, and return hearing so another session can resume safely. Public analytics count only aggregate starts and completions, not choices, dice history, inventory, or identity.
07Can the game receive expansions?
Yes. The engine accepts versioned campaign packs with separate saves, spoiler rules, migrations, and access records. The Second Line guide lists the released campaign. No expansion or paid DLC is available until its content and fulfillment pass release checks.
08How do reward badges work?
You earn Care, Exposure, or Repair by completing that route in The Second Line. You may carry two route badges. A third reward requires you to relinquish one of the two you already carry.
09Is the First Arc free?
Yes. The Prologue and Chapter 1 are available in the browser and as PDF, EPUB, DOCX, and plain text files. No email or account is required.
10What reader data does the site keep?
The browser stores your progress, display choices, spoiler acknowledgments, and unsent Reader Press draft. The Privacy and Email Notice lists every stored item and each optional connected feature.
11Where can press and reviewers find approved materials?
Use the Press and Reviewer Kit for the cover, author image, verified publication facts, approved descriptions, and contact details.