#writer as omnipotent

[illegiblehandwriting1]

put simply,

We are the ghosts under the floorboards We are the voices in his head We are the whistles of the treetops And the creaks around his bed

We are the shadows in the closet And the eyes along the hall We are the broken friends and family who all scream and shout and call

We are the memories of long ago the terrors of the night We are the footsteps no one left at all We are the reason that he fights

We can measure hugs and words of care We line up shining lives We haunt our blorbo evermore We choose if he survives

[r0semultiverse]

Kawaki Homophobia Moments

[crystal-va]

[VOID]!ALPHATALE ALPHATALE: REIMAGINED

Original Work by @vibeless15

Reimagined by CrystalVA

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Chapter 7: Try Something New

William woke up in his bed, it's his birthday again. "Adam's asleep... Guess I'm up early..." William rubbed his eyes and stretched, "Did you sleep well, blue prince?" William looked down to see the ghost flower on his bed, "Hey there, you scared me for a second..." William stood up and quietly put his jacket on, making sure not to wake Adam, "Well, how much do you remember?' the flower asked curiously, "I remember everything a lot clearer this time... Normally, I only remember it like a dream, but now everything is so clear. It's weird..." William sighed, hoping the conversation was done so he could move on and just live out his birthday normally. "You are aware that many more [RESETS]s have happened than just what you remember, correct?" The flower looked on curiously, "Astral Mother made sure I knew... One of her little experiments was testing and training [RESET] awareness... I'm pretty sure I'm the only one between me and my brothers who even somewhat remembered anything..." William looked down, sadness filling his expression, "hm... Well, I do hope you don't think everything will be fine after this. Your mother is very upset about her Genocide run." The flower said as it began disappearing, "Don't call her my mother. She lost that title long ago." William said sternly. "Of course, my apologies. I'll see you around, blue prince." The flower fully vanished.

Adam woke up a few moments later, "Oh shit- you're up early!?" Adam got up, excited he didn't have to wait to dig into the cake Quenya had prepared overnight. The morning went mostly as it did before, only noticeable difference being William's tiredness and the lack of a need to wake him up. "Hey, Will! You good? Ya look dead." Adam said as he stuffed his face with the last bit of cake on his plate, "W-what? Oh! Yeah... I'm just really tired, I'm fine." William shot up from his slouching position, "Anyway... We got any plans for the day?" William turned to Quenya, who had finished washing the dishes and rounding up the Temmies, "Hm? Well... Yes actually!" Quenya excitedly stepped towards the table where Adam and William were sitting.

Quenya revealed the tickets for the ARA Resort, which William tried to act surprised about. Everyone got ready as they did the first time around, and left for their day out. This time around, the three got to enjoy a wonderful show from Aurora without so much as seeing Astral Mother or Frisk. The next day started similarly, with William surprising Adam by being awake before him and the two going downstairs for a meal, normal breakfast instead of cake this time, much to Adams disappointment.

"Now that you're stuck here eating... I've heard you two are failing gym. Somehow I don't think it's because you're not 'fit' enough for it. What's going on?" Quenya leaned forward, starring William and Adam directly in the eyes, "Hey! It's not our fault they don't like us just because we're 'royalty'!" Adam was clearly upset, and William was trying to pretend he wasn't skipping classes. "That's why you impress them so much they can't fail you!" Quenya dramatically flexed as she shouted, "Mom... You bent your fork..." William pointed at the fork in Quenya's hand, "Ah! Shit! Whoops..." Quenya tossed the fork in the trashcan and grabbed a new one to finish her breakfast. Once the three finished breakfast, Quenya hurried William and Adam out of the house to be on their way to school.

The two walked towards the school, with Adam far in the lead. Adam reached a turn, where they saw Ares, Jacob, Chara, Delios, and Frisk all standing together, "Oh? HEY GUYS!" Adam shouted as he sped up even farther ahead of William, who started slightly speeding up. Adam ran up and aggressively hugged Ares, "Hey, watch out for the book!" Ares shouted, causing Adam to shift to a side hug, "Thank you." Ares said as he returned the hug. Adam looked up at Jacob, who had bandages on his head and arms "You look great today..." Adam said, patting Jacob on the back, "T-thank you..." Jacob said before looking towards Delios, who shot him a nasty look. "Sooo... What're you guys doing here?" Adam asked, "Chara said he had some news to tell everyone." Delios answered. Frisk ignored everything while leaning on a brick fence.

Finally, William rounded the corner and saw everyone. Chara noticed William and quickly ran and hugged him tightly, "...You did it..." Chara whispered, "Heh... I sure did..." William softly chuckled. "Now... What I wanted to tell everyone is... Me and Will are dating!" Chara excitedly announced, to which Delios and Frisk just walked away, "Sorry, but that's not all too surprising." Delios said before he disappeared behind a corner. Adam lightly smiled, "Can't disagree with Del on that... But I'm happy for ya anyway!" Adam said before giving Jacob a soft hug and continuing on his way to school with Ares while Jacob walked back to the castle. "W-what just happened?" William asked, stunned by the situation, "An announcement no one cared about, that's what." Chara answered, unaffected by the situation. "Huh... I guess that's that? It's 'official' now?" William asked as he started back on his way to school, "Yep! Sure is. You earned it after the last timeline." The two embraced each other for a moment before going their separate ways for the day.

A Few Hours Later...

William took a detour to the garbage dump near Waterfall City, where he let himself drift down stream on top of a pile of garbage and think. Now that him a Chara were actually a couple, he felt like he needed to think about a lot of things in involving being in a relationship, like his schedule and places to bring Chara. Like a waterfall. "A waterfall would be nice... Wait... OH FUCK!" William shouted as he fell down a pit deeper into the underground, "Ow... I definitely sprained something...." William said as he rubbed his right shoulder, "Ugh... Where the fuck am I?" William looked around, seeing nothing of interest other than a lone training dummy placed on top of a small pile of trash, "hm? That's... Odd..." William thought as he grabbed a metal rod and poked the dummy. "HEY! Do you just poke random people trying to sleep!?" The dummy erupted in anger, "Uh... Sorry, I didn't realize you were... y'know... alive. My bad." William apologized as he tossed the metal rod to the side, "Damn right it is! Now you're gonna sit here and listen to me complain about life as punishment!" The dummy shouted, with complete seriousness. "Do you... need someone to talk to? If you're lonely just say so, I'll listen for a bit." William said as he sat on an old crate that was barely held together. "W-what...? Really?" The dummy instantly softened, "I-I... Ok..." The dummy tried to put its aggressive mask back on, but realized it would be useless.

The dummy shared a lot, but Astral Mother was the primary reason for the dummies anger, and why it was stuck down there. "THAT BITCH TRICKED ME! She said I'd get a new body for my ghostly form, but failed to mention it was just to be a more realistic training dummy! The audacity! The audacity! Obviously, I wasn't gonna LET myself be cut and beat! So she threw me down here! THE AUDACITY!" The dummy continued shouting about the audacity of the situation as William silently looked at his muddy reflection on the dirty water. "RAH! SHE DESERVES DEATH! Wouldn't you agree!?" William stood up and smiled at the dummy, "She really does... Sad she's nigh untouchable..." William whispered as he teleported just outside of Snowdin and walked home. "She really does..." William reflected on his time with the dummy all evening.

During all of this, Frisk, Delios, and Ares were forced to listen to Jacob's screams as he was experimented on by Astral Mother. "So annoying..." Frisk groaned as he sat on a chair near the corner of the main room in the castle. "Shut up." Delios stood in front of Frisk, anger filling his eyes. "Since when did you care about any of these rats? I thought you couldn't care less, as long as they were useful." Frisk thought back to the previous timeline where Delios had been more affectionate. "Honestly... I couldn't tell you, but I don't care. Shut up." Delios said, stemming like he's mixing his "normal" personality with the more kind personality he experienced in the previous timeline. "... How strange, I don't seem to give a shit." Frisk said before shutting his eyes to take a nap, "You brat!" Delios shouted as he summoned his massive hammer and prepared to crush Frisk, but was stopped as Ares jumped in front of him, "Stop! If you're gonna fight someone, fight the actual problem!" Ares shouted as he looked towards the entrance to the secret lab. "She's why any of this is going on at all..." Ares sighed as he picked up his book he left on the ground, away from Delios's hammer.

2 Years Later...

William fell asleep on the couch the night before. He woke up to the pleasant sound of embers hopping around the fireplace. "Things are so... peaceful. I really thought everything was just gonna go to shit again... but... I can't feel safe with her in charge... No one can. She's up to something... I know it." William thought to himself as he slowly got up and made his way to the back of the house. Quenya was training in the backyard, striking the dummy with massive amounts of anger in every strike. "Hey, mom! I have a question!" William shouted, causing Quenya to stop, "*huff* *huff* Yeah? *huff* What is it Will?" Quenya grabbed a towel on the backyard fence and wiped some sweat from her forehead, "If I were to plan to kill the Astral Mother... Would you help me?" William asked, bluntly and with complete sincerity.

"WHAT!? ARE YOU INSANE!? HOW CAN YOU SUGGEST THAT!?" Quenya grabbed William by his shoulders and yelled. "Well- If we just make a plan, I really think we can do it!" William released himself from Quenya's grasp, "WILL! She has a leash on EVERYONE! She has greater power than I could even imagine! And... She has an even stronger leash on me... and I'd rather die than risk hurting any of you... Please, we can survive like this..." Quenya's voice became softer and quieter. "Mom... What'd you mean? What did she do to you!?" William realized just how little he knew about his moms life before him and Adam showed up. "William... let's go inside... Adam deserves to know what I'm about to tell you..." Quenya relaxed her body, walked inside with William, and told him to take a seat on the couch before going to grab Adam.

Quenya returned a minute or so later with Adam shortly behind. Quenya began explaining what prompted the sudden family meeting, William's question. "Will!? You wanna go that far!?" Adam agrees with the sentiment, but wouldn't go as far to suggest assassination. "As if she doesn't deserve it..." William mumbled. "Now... Onto why we're actually here. I need to tell you two something..." Quenya started explaining how Astral Mother created her all those years ago in the Great War of Human and Monsters. "Why does that mean anything!? Are you sentimental towards her just because she made you!? Is that why!?" William was more confused than anything. Was it really just because of sappy sentimental reasons that Quenya couldn't even consider this? "No! If you let me finish, you'll understand!" Quenya raised her voice and quieted William. "I... have a chip, of sorts... it gives her complete control over me anytime she pleases... It would... explode if we tried to take it out. I want nothing to do with you two dying... Especially if it's by my hands..." Quenya slowly explained as tears formed in her eyes, "Just let us live quietly... Everything has been so peaceful recently..." The tears in Quenya's eyes began falling, "Mom... We all know it won't last... Plus... I know something you don't..." William got up and hugged Quenya with Adam joining the hug, "W-what? What do you know?" Quenya stared curiously at William, "A lot..." William sat down and began attempting to explain everything about [RESET]s and everything they've forgotten.

"Wh-what? None of that makes sense... But, those stories... They feel... so familiar..." Quenya started shaking with fear. "That... That... THAT HEARTLESS BITCH!" Or... maybe rage. Adam shot up from the couch, "William... How can I help?" Adam still felt hesitant about killing, but he knew if anyone deserved it, it was Astral Mother. "Before anything, I have to figure out how to deactivate the bomb in Mom's neck..." William walked over to Quenya, "Where's the chip?" William asked, "it's in the nape of my neck, do what you need to get it out so I can kill that bitch!" Quenya was fired up. William began feeling around the back of Quenya's neck, seeing if the chip was deep or surface level. "Of course... It's too deep to feel... I assume I won't be able to expose the chip without it exploding... I gotta think about this..." William sat down and closed his eyes for a moment to think. "Mind if we help?" Said a voice from near the front door. "Who- Ares!? Delios!? What're you-" Adam reacted to them first, "Calm down... I came by to visit, and brought Dell with me. We heard what you were talking about... We wanna help." Ares approached William. "I can help disarm the chip. Grab my hand Will." Ares reached his hand out, which glowed a purple color.

William grabbed Ares's hand. He almost instantly felt different. He could see through things! He could see Quenya's skeleton, and the chip. "X-Ray vision!? How the hell did you figure that out!?" William was shocked. He had no idea purple magic could do something like this. Normally purple magic was virtually only used for defensive purposes. Ares didn't respond, he looked at William's chest with a look of worry before quickly letting go of William's hand. "W-What was that? What'd ya see?" William didn't get a chance to look down and know. "It's nothing to worry about... I think the magic was just messing with my head..." Ares was terrible at lying. "Ugh... I'm not gonna stop thinking about that... Whatever! I think I can deal with the chip..." William ran to the kitchen and grabbed an apple to show what he was planning. "Ares, can you make it so I can see the seeds of the apple?" William reached his hand out, "uh... Yeah, sure." Ares grabbed William's hand again. This time, the vision wasn't quite as strong, but enough to see the seeds. "Ok.. if I just..." William got close to the apple and hovered his hand over it, glowing with his blue magic, slowly moving his fingers. Within a few seconds, William phased all the seeds out of the apple, separated into their basic pieces. "Amazing..." Everyone said out loud, "I am so glad that worked... Ok mom, lean your head down." William said as he finished repeating the process to all the seeds is the apple. "Alright... Let's get this over with..." William said as he held Ares's hand and hovered his free hand over Quenya's neck. "Ok... Disable the explosive and bring the pieces out... easy..." William thought to himself as beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

After a few minutes of very careful handling, the chip was slowly phased through Quenya's neck in hundreds of its separate pieces. "Hooooo... Thank everything..." William said before he collapsed onto the floor, exhausted because of such precise use of his magic.

An hour or so later, William woke up on the couch surrounded by Quenya, Adam, Ares, and Delios. "Jeez..." William slowly got up, "Finally, now we can move on to the next step, getting enough people on board..." Ares said, instantly getting to thinking, "Actually... About that. How'd you get... him... to help?" William asked, pointing to Delios, "Ah, of course. I made him aware of Astral Mother's brainwashing. That wasn't too hard once I found out what method she was using." Ares said casually, "Wh-what? How the hell- nope. Just gonna stop here and accept it. You'll turn this into a college lecture on brainwashing if I ask." William said as he relaxed into the couch, "...Fair enough. Now, onto recruitment. We have, Me, William, Adam, Quenya, and Delios. Jacob and Chara shouldn't be difficult to get on board. Frisk could be an issue... He's far deeper under Astral Mother's influence than Delios was. Muffet could be good to get on board, she already leads riots against Astral Mother, so that's a pretty clear ally."

"OK! You're starting to ramble. Let me handle our assistance." William interrupted confidently, "...I suppose you are a better person to talk to people than me." Ares settled his thoughts. "Although, I will need your help with Frisk!" William requested as Ares and Delios left back to the castle for the night. "Leave it to me!" Ares shouted before fading out of view.

END OF CHAPTER 7

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[helpmeimblorboing]

My main villain’s transformation over the years is so fucking funny, cause like he was born a fully-formed adult man out of a pool of liquid magma that spontaneously manifested inside his mother’s womb; had a depressive run-in with a human who tried to kill him after learning of his true nature, which taught him - this fledgling chick -about betrayal, and another with a small kid who died of sickness, teaching him about death.

And you know what he does after that ?

He takes an office job !! He just decides to integrate into human society. Sure, he incinerates any bosses who are overly rude to him and is an extreme taskmaster, but for all intents and purposes, he’s a loyal slave to capitalism

And then Damian shows up and ropes him into the Carneficina - this actual, literal terror cult composed of killers that is, in effect, actually a rather sweet family unit

So he becomes a greaser. Flaming motorbike and all, dragon tattoo running up his side, black hair slicked back with what looks like gel but is actually him purposefully making his hair shine to make it look like he puts gel in there. Carries around a gun that he effectively never uses, except for once when he enchanted its bullets to blow up inside his enemies’ flesh, solely for the sake of Rule Of Cool

And then the Red Massacre happened, and Serenity left the Carneficina. Damian became depressed, and all terror-y, murder shit grinds to a halt

So what does our intrepid antagonist do ? Go back to his old life ? Nah man !! He starts another cult named the Fireborn, positions himself as both its religious leader and god, and starts what is effectively a branching organisation, looping most cults of Dysphoria under the Fireborn’s sway. Like, this man has gone into full-on Satanic priest mode, goat-skull, red robes and all

And then one of his followers, the Pack Leader, betrays him and flees with a precious Artifact, and he chooses to give chase, ending up in London

And you know what this mad lad does next ? He grows himself a house (literally, out of the dirt like a tree) and settles in for the long haul, taking a job as a janitor and befriending the Pack Leader’s son as a fuck you to his former employee

Afarit, the man you are

[mydarlingdearestdead]

Somewhere, hidden by Aroura's glow, there is a beautiful, bubbling brook hidden amongst the crests of lush green hills and foliage of every colour known to man. In this brook, fairies are said to draw their drinking water, as well as occasionally bathe. That second duty, however, is left to the more rebellious of the youth, or so I have heard.

It has been suggested, in years past, that those who drink from this brook shall be healed of the pain and suffering of their years and born anew once more into the bodies of the truest self. Although others have claimed it to heal physical wounds. More still believe in its power to raise one from Hades' domain. In fact, one very persistent man in the market town of Zaldan believes that drinking the water absolves one of all body odour. Truly, a wonderful and ridiculous notion, do you not agree?

As for myself... I was among the youths who fell victim to its majesty, clambering among boughs and bushes in search of eternal youth or love or an end to the searing headaches inherited from my grandmother. Alas, as all those who had come before me, I was unable to discover the brook, nor could I reveal its secrets as had been my plan.

In years since, I have often wondered if the way would have revealed itself to me if that had not been my intent. After all, fairy stories speak so often of ones truest desire and heart's intention. Perhaps, as mine was utterly impure, I was deemed unworthy and spun in a meaningless trek for the entertainment of bluebirds and corvids.

I'm afraid, however, that now that I have confided in you such a secret, the way may never open before your heart either. For that, I feel as if I must apologise.

[fionatheicicle]

If you are writing a book and you are describing something that is all knowing, the word you need to use is omniscient, not omnipotent.

Omnipotent is all powerful

Omniscient is all knowing.

[notsocheezy]

Brain Curd #285

Brain Curds are lightly edited daily writing - usually flash fiction and sometimes terrible on purpose.

The following is an epilogue. Read the story first.

It is my throne now, the throne of creation. I have killed God. Love live Lillian, the one true Lord.

I sit upon my perch. This is my punishment, to be this thing - not quite human, not quite more, an ant forced to pilot an airplane. The sins I witness at every waking moment - and every moment is indeed waking - would have brought tears to my eyes mere months ago. No more. My humanity is dead, totally and wholly. At first I watched out of obligation. Now I watch for amusement.

A small town in Ohio, a little boy holds lit matches to a restrained mouse’s whiskers. A woman in Moscow is defiled by three men and left to die. Poachers hunt elephants to near extinction, undeterred by human law meant to preserve biodiversity. It’s nothing but selfishness and cruelty, that’s what humanity is. Made in His image and repainted in mine. This is my will. God does not make mistakes.

Still, I find myself bored. I’ll send a bolt of lightning to kill a random pedestrian in New Jersey. I’ll place sick thoughts into the mind of a high school Spanish teacher. I’ll chase a pet dog out in front of a garbage truck. Their tears are my idea of an interesting time, for a good time is not to be had. There is no good beyond what humans define, and I am not human - nor do humans deserve the mercy of my once friendly nature. Every one of them is the same, capable of atrocity beyond your comprehension. For every Adolf Hitler there are one billion jealous of his ego.

I chuckle as I rust away the ladder of a pool with a child swimming in it. Some things never change, do they? Burn, Earth, burn, burn and drown. It is my only salvation that you may all be ash, so let it be that you find yourselves cremated by your own hubris. And I may someday taste my own sweet darkness.

Please comment, reblog, like, and follow if you enjoyed - I'd love to know what you think! See you again tomorrow.

[swiftpooldoesstuff]

Can we get a lore rant about the space mans

*deep inhale*

Space Keeper is one of the founding keepers. Keepers are basically my OC world’s equivalent of the Greek gods.

The way the keepers work is each of them have control over one specific thing. In the beginning when there wasn’t really anything, there were the founding keepers that started to create stuff. As time went on, more things were being created that the keepers couldn’t keep track of, so they created (not like that-) more keepers to help them. These are the minor keepers.

Minor keepers are slightly less powerful keepers that serve mainly to adjust the work load and stabilize creation. Only founding keepers can make other keepers.

Anyway so back to Space.

Space, while having a broad range of stuff to keep in check, only has two minor keepers to assist them, those being Keeper of the Stars and Keeper of Moons. Space, like the other keepers, has their own personal realm, which is basically a really small galaxy (small as in the size of New York City).

Now to address Space’s wings.

So on Space’s ref sheet, they aren’t shown to have wings. That’s because they no longer do. Okay, we’ll technically they do but they don’t show them because they’re charred. Basically, they had these large, elegant white wings that were burned and destroyed in a fight among the founding keepers. What had happened was a disagreement between the founding keepers over how to go about with creating a universe, which spiraled into a fight, which created War.

War is not necessarily a keeper. They’re considered one by the majority of the keepers, but the founders don’t necessarily consider them one. War was not created intentionally nor by a specific keeper, and they don’t oversee a certain area of creation. Instead, they stir up trouble among the keepers and the creatures along the Timeline.

Space, while mainly uninvolved in drama unless it specifically involves them (this being one of the few times it did), was caught in the crossfire between conflicting sides, and when War made their dramatic appearance by literally blowing up the meeting hall, Space had attempted to shield Time and Energy (two other founding keepers) and ended up having their wings catch fire. When the hall collapsed, Space fell with it, all the way down to one of the planets. To the eyes of creatures in the universe, they saw a wonderful meteor shower. To the eyes of the keepers, they had just lost one of the most important keepers.

Space didn’t end up dying, but they did hide out on this planet for quite a while until Star and Moon found them and convinced them to return.

Since then, Space had been very quiet and oftentimes is found in the outer reaches of the universe or in their realm.

Anyway, feel free to check out their TH

[once-more-with-anxiety]

i think I should be allowed to murder someone. for the plot

[crystal-va]

[VOID]!ALPHATALE ALPHATALE: REIMAGINED

Original work by @vibeless15

Reimagined by CrystalVA

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Chapter 5: Vision

William is laying in a... white void?

"William..." A distant voice echoed, but William didn't budge. The voice got louder, "WILLIAM!" Finally, William opened his eyes. "W-who? Where the hell am I?" William stood up and looked around, confused, "William!" The voice continued, "A-Adam... Adam! Where are you!?" William began panicking, "William!" Adam's voice kept yelling. William followed the voice until he found a tall skeleton with a crack on the left side of his skull, a bandage on the right, and a fur hooded coat. The skeleton turned around, it looked like... Jacob? He was holding the decapitated head of a skeleton, Adam. "H-huh...? What...? ADAM!? No, no, no, no, no..." William collapsed to his knees. "Why did you make me follow Will, why?" Adam spoke, "W-what...? ADAM!!!!!!!" William began breaking down in tears as the world around him began to melt while Jacob laughed hysterically. Then... He woke up.

William was on Quenya's couch, with tears lingering on his cheeks, "Hey Will! You're up just in time for breakfast." Quenya said with a smile while she finished up cooking. William looked over to Adam, who was sitting at a small table next to Quenya's piano, "Morning bro." Adam said sleepily while looking at William. "M-morning bro." William was still quite shaken from the dream he just experienced, "That felt... uncomfortably real..." William thought as he tried to move on from it and go enjoy breakfast.

William and Adam finished some wonderful pancakes and went on their way to visit the castle. On the way, Adam had a question, "Hey, Will..." Adam paused for a moment and William looked over to Adam, concerned, "Yeah?" William was slightly concerned, "Do you think... Muffet has a boyfriend?" Adam said hiding his face behind his fur hood. William was slightly stunned. "Uh... I think she... Oh? Nevermind, you could just go ask her." William said as he pointed to a massive mob out the front of the castle, with Muffet at the head. "Wh- What's going on!?" Adam grabbed William by the arm and used the teleport ability he learned while training with Quenya, William also learned it, but wasn't as effective as Adam.

Once in the castle, the two saw Astral Mother, Delios, Ares, and Jacob standing together talking, "oh~ how nice of you two to make it, now we can dispose of this trash as a family~" Astral Mother said jokingly. William looked around at the group, catching Jacobs gaze for a moment. "With all due respect... I think I should do it, alone. The others hardly know how to fight and we don't need you in unnecessary danger." Delios said, much to everyone's annoyance, "Delios, if I wanted your input, I would have asked for it. Since I didn't, you should shut up." Astral Mother said sternly.

Soon, the group heard quite awful sounds. The sounds of flesh cutting, blood dripping, and screams of the soon to be dead. After it quieted down, Frisk entered the castle with Chara shortly behind. William immediately zoned out of the conversation when he saw Chara. "Disturbance cleared." Frisk announced, "Hoho! Always coming in at the perfect time! Hello Frisk, did you catch the spider?" Astral Mother asked, to which Frisk shook his head in denial. Astral Mother was annoyed, but Adam sighed in relief.

"Ugh... That spider gives me quite a headache..." Astral Mother said as she sat down the velvet chair sitting in the main room, "hohoho~ you're all probably wondering what I have planned today, but it seems I don't have anything! So how about you go have fun with yourselves till you're needed." Almost every one went their separate ways, except for Jacob who was stopped by Astral Mother, "Oh, not you, I said everyone, but that doesn't include rats, I still need some things from you." Astral Mother said as she walked behind Jacob and sharpened her gassy fingers into claws, "Let's continue from yesterday..."

William and Adam looked behind themselves to see the scene. William just started walking away faster, but Adam stopped and turned around, "Wait!" Adam yelled as he ran over and grabbed Jacob, "Jacob said he was gonna hang out with me, Will, and Ares today. Would that be f-fine?" Astral Mother looked down at Adam with a confused and surprised expression, "...Y-yeah, go ahead." Astral Mother said in an odd moment of care as she returned her fingers to normal and sat back down. Adam and Jacob ran to William who was waiting with Ares who had recently made his way beside him. As the boys left, Astral Mother was sitting in the chair with her head in her hands, "What the hell am I doing..." She said softly.

Adam and Jacob caught up to William and Ares, "I got her to let go of Jacob! So uh... You don't mind him and Ares tagging along, right?" Adam asked, not actually caring what William answered. William looked at Jacobs disheveled face and demeanor, he felt sad for a moment, but as he remembered his dream, the felling washed away and was replaced with confused anger, "s-sure, I don't care." William said as he started walking to Waterfall City with his brothers.

They made it to Waterfall City plaza, where merchants packed the area and attempted to get people to buy their stuff. William didn't care for all the garbage that was being sold, he was caught up in his head about why everyone was squeezed down in the Underground instead of being on the surface when they won the war so many years ago.

As William was lost in thought, he remembered the dream he had. He quickly snapped back to earth and turned around to look at Adam and Jacob, who were simply enjoying a good time while eating some strawberry ice cream. "I'm just overreacting..." William thought before he was sidetracked by Chara seemingly heading to the Temmie Village just past Waterfall. William decided to follow, Ares noticed but chose not to say anything, and Adam and Jacob were too distracted to notice.

William followed Chara to see what he was doing, while making sure to look out for Frisk. After about 20 minutes of following, William lost Chara, but luckily didn't see Frisk anywhere. He got tired of searching for Chara after a few minutes and was getting ready to go back to his brothers, but stopped when he heard crying coming from around a corner. Around the corner was a small, poorly maintained garden with Chara on his knees crying while holding a dead Temmie, "W-wait! It's not what it looks like! I didn't do this!" Chara said in a panic, "Don't worry! I believe you. What happened?" William knelt down in front of Chara and the dead Temmie, "Well, I've been visiting this Temmie and trying to help it maintain this garden, but this time... I found them here, dead... Poor thing..." Chara said as he laid the Temmie down and watched it turn to dust. William tried to focus, but his mind was all over the place, until Chara grabbed his hand

"Life is always so unfair to the weak... They never really get a break... Always forced into the tedious manual labor or tedious duties that no one wants to do, while the rich and powerful laze around and profit." Chara leaned into William's shoulder, which is surprisingly soft felling for a skeletal body. William was flustered, but remained calm as Chara looked towards the dust somberly, "this is kinda nice... Just relaxing here with you... The only one who seems to really know me." Chara looked up at William, "I try..." William said as pulled Chara closer and hugged him for a moment.

Sadly, this moment had to be cut short by the spotting of Frisk behind a corner, enraged, 'Uh... Hey, Chara... Where was Frisk?" William said, trying to not sound panicked, "He was using the... bathroom... Shit." Chara quickly stood up, "Frisk. DON'T." Chara said sternly, slightly scared. Frisk dashed forward at William with his blade drawn, William quickly blocked Frisk's attack with a bone and fell back as the blade almost stabbed completely through the bone, "FRISK! DAMNIT, STOP!" Chara said as he tried to drag Frisk back away from William. "Stop being an idiot!" Was heard an awful lot as Chara was slowly getting Frisk to leave. A few moments after Chara and Frisk left, Adam, Jacob, and Ares all showed up behind the same corner, "So~ how'd it go~" Adam said in a teasing way, "Perfectly fine until the over protective dog showed up..." William responded while getting up, his pants covered in dust...

"Kinda insulted you didn't say anything, or even apologize when you saw us... Considering you did, y'know, sneak away from our brothers day out." Adam said, only slightly joking, "Yeah... Sorry about that..." William sighed and walked with his brothers to drop Jacob and Ares off at the Castle. "So... you ran off to have a moment with Chara, instead of hanging out with your suicidal brother who needs all the kindness and support he can get?" Adam said with anger in his voice. William covered where his ears would be in shame, "Bet you wish that worked huh? Why do you always do this? You constantly ignore me or try blocking me out, why!?" William just kept his head down and this hood up, trying to avoid a lecture from Adam. Frisk watched from a distance, staring coldly.

Big Day

William was just sleeping in his room before he was awoken by loud steps charging towards his room. William shot up, expecting something bad. When the door swung open, it revealed Quenya, Adam, and some Temmies holding a massive birthday cake with candles shaped as a 1 and an 8, it was his eighteenth birthday, and he forgot!?

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The group shouted excitedly as the Temmies dragged William out of his bed and towards the living room. William sat at the couch and was served a slice of cake covered in blue and cyan frosting. The group enjoyed a wonderful time eating cake and laughing.

"Alright! That was wonderful, now... What do ya wanna do today, birthday boy?" Quenya watched William finish his slice and caused Adam to choke on his for a moment. The Temmies jumped up before William could respond, "Oh! Tems know! You should come to village and bask in tem flakes to learn secrets of universe!" William leaned back, "I think I'd rather just sleep..." William yawned, "No you don't! You're doing something fun today! If you can't think of anything, that's fine, I already have an idea." Quenya pulled out three tickets. "We're going to the movies?" William questioned, "Oh! Or fishing!?" Adam butted it, but started blushing when he realized the awkwardness of the statement, "uh... No and no. We're going to... THE ARA RESORT!!" Quenya yelled excitedly, "I got these months ago! It's the best seats you could ask for!" Quenya started waving the tickets happily.

The three said goodbye and thanked the Temmies before getting ready. William wore a striking navy blue suit, Adam just put on a jacket that looked like a suit, and Quenya wore what looked like fairly nice biker gear, "Really you two...?" William questioned as the three left.

The three had to weave around many activists and protestors to make it to the Ara Resort, which was completely packed. The three had to wait for hours playing random games to pass the time. Rock, paper, scissors was the most played that night, with Adam losing over and over again to Quenya, who only ever chose scissors. Eventually they were called to the booth to hand it their tickets, a tall cat monster named Ivan ended up dropping the tickets when he was startled by a voice that was far too familiar to Quenya and the boys, "WELL! If it isn't the two rats and their bitch of a fish 'mother'!" Astral Mother said loudly as the three turned around to see her, Delios, Chara, and Frisk all together.

Delios has a wonderful black suit with an orange tie, Frisk had a slightly messy reddish suit, Chara was wearing an absolutely stunning purple dress, and Astral Mother was wearing a far too revealing white dress that gave very little to the imagination.

"...Today? Really? Fucking today!? This is William's birthday, don't you dare ruin it by getting near him." Quenya pushed Adam and William behind her, "Oh, shut up bitch, I'm allowed near my own damn brats." Astral Mother flipped off Quenya and walked off into the Ara Resort, saying "Happy birthday." In a cold tone. "Shut up, slut." William responded sternly, "insult me as much as you want, you can't get rid of me, I own you."

As Frisk walked passed, he stared daggers into William, and William returned the stare. William instantly calmed down when Chara came forward and gave him a hug, "You look amazing today, skelly." Chara said as he rubbed Williams cheek with his right hand. "And you look absolutely gorgeous as always..." The two stared into each other's eyes before Chara hurried to catch up with the others. "Hurry up you two! We're gonna miss the show!" Quenya grabbed William and Adam and ran in, quickly grabbing the tickets out of Ivan's hand with her mouth.

Once the group got seated, Quenya got up to go get some food before the show. "I hope this show's at least better than getting here," Adam softly giggled before noticing William looking down at his hands in a depressed way, "W-Will? Are you alright? I'm right here if you need to talk..." Adam said in a reassuring way, "Thanks... I really appreciate it, but it's really nothing important..." William smiled at Adam, "If you say so..." Adam softly smiled at William.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! WELCOME ARA'S TOP STAR... AURORA!" an announcer suddenly shouted from the stage as smoke filled the area while the curtain lifted to reveal Aurora, a woman who was the textbook definition of gorgeous, despite also technically being a robot with a ghost in it. Hardly anyone could resist Aurora's hypnotic hip movements and absolutely beautiful singing voice, except for people like William, who were confident in their feelings towards another.

Astral Mother and her group were in a museum-esque area that housed the belongings of the old king and queen. Astral Mother decided to help herself to a seat in the kings throne, finding mild satisfaction from it. "So... Why are we here?" Chara asked, "Because, we're making sure no one's using this area as a place to spread propaganda." Delios answered calmly, "Well, this place looks pretty clean, can we go?" Chara seemed impatient, "Why? So you can keep trying to fuck my son?" Astral Mother said coldly, "W-what? That's not what's going on at all!" Chara was instantly confused and embarrassed, "Oh~ so you're not trying to seduce him in hopes it would put you in a better situation?" Astral Mother said, not even believing her own words, "What!? Why would that be it!? It seems like being with him would put me in a worse place!" Chara went from confused to enraged, "You've been with that damn skeleton more often than me! I'm your brother! You're supposed to rely on me! Not a pervert like that RAT!" Frisk chimed in "perfect!", Astral Mother hoped he would respond like that, "Frisk...? What are you talking about!? I'm almost 19! I don't need you to protect me!" Chara couldn't understand Frisk's overprotective nature. Astral Mother chuckled and Delios watched with mild interest.

"Hoho~ Frisk... I know a perfect way to correct this... Just take William out of the picture, simple!" Astral Mother suggested as her face was overtaken with a wicked grin. "WHAT!? HE'S YOUR SON! How could you suggest something like that!?" Chara knew Astral Mother didn't care for her children, but he underestimated just how heartless she was. "Delios." Astral Mother looked over to Delios, who nodded in understanding before he dashed behind Chara and pinned him to the ground, cracking the concrete underneath. "Now, Frisk... we've gone through so many possibilities... almost all of them result in William corrupting Chara against you and me... You know what we haven't tried? G E N O S I D E." Astral Mother said as her grin became even more wicked and manic. "WHAT!? Don't listen to her Frisk! This crazy bitch clearly doesn't care! All her psychotic ass wants is to explore what happen when everyone dies! She's just too pussy to do it herself!" Chara shouted as he tried to get out of Delios's hold, but he was just slammed into the ground harder.

"No. She's right... I have to correct these wrongs!" Frisk shouted as he revealed the [RESET] button, and quickly slamming his fist into it as Chara begged him to stop.

[RESET] . . . END OF CHAPTER 5

< Previous Next >

[quinn-fucks-shit-up]

I love retconning things, is it my Favourite Activity

[abiital]

I knew I was in deep shit, but man, the Devil herself coming to make me an offer? I was bound to give my own life if she asked for it. Of course, no good story comes without a little backstory -- even if it is half baked -- so let's get into that. I was in a rough time. Lost my house, got fired from my job, and was considering turning to robbing shit just to get by. That's when a portal to the infernal realm appeared directly in front of me while I was in an alley. She -- yes, she -- walked out from the portal, and honestly? She's less intimidating than I thought she would be. For context, I'm about 5'11. She was maybe 4'9, probably closer to 4'8, had a few horns -- though very small -- and infernal red skin, as per usual for depictions. Anyways, back to the deal. I couldn't even process what had just happened before she spoke to me. I thought I had too much whiskey when I heard her say "$5, and I'll give you anything you need," but no, after I repeated the sentence, she confirmed. "Just.. just $5?" "Yeah." "I was expecting you to, like.. ask for my soul or something." "Oh, nonono- That's a very harmful depiction of me and Hell's denizens. What you humans have made is already hell enough, so I made 'Hell' the equivalent of a more fire-y version." I couldn't argue with that, considering I'd just lost about everything I had overnight. Like any sane person would do in this situation, I asked if there were any rules to the deal. "So, like.. will I go to hell if I take this deal? Are there any rules to it?" To my surprise, there was no restrictions and no punishments. I could get anything I wanted for just $5. I could've increased gravity by a multiple of 9, just to see what happened. That'd've been pretty funny. After thinking for a minute, I handed her $5 -- still can't believe it was just $5 -- and requested my end of the deal. "Make me omnipotent. On this planet, at least. I already know if I ask for flat out omnipotence that you would deny --" She cut me off before I could finish my sentence. "I could make you fully omnipotent, but then you'd be subject to the laws and traditions of deities -- and since I would be the one that turned you omnipotent, you'd effectively become a noble to me." Fuck it, good enough for me. I took the deal, and now that it's been a few years, everything's great. The laws and traditions are a little weird -- we have parties in Hell every halloween, and man, the people in Hell know how to party, -- but regardless, I've adjusted. I usually just spend my time playing competitive games and slapping people through their computer screens when they talk shit.

In your hour of need, the Devil comes to you to make an offer, and he doesn’t request your soul in exchange. In fact, the price is suspiciously small…

[notsocheezy]

Brain Curd #214

Brain Curds are lightly edited daily writing - usually flash fiction and sometimes terrible on purpose.

Read God for a Day Act One and God for a Day Act Two first.

I found my body strolling along the boardwalk, smiling with a sickening ignorance of tragedy. Dietz was dead, and this monster in my skin was using my life as a vacation.

“Hey!” I yelled. He didn’t turn around. “I’m talking to you!”

“I am aware, Lillian. It would be best for your public reputation if you allowed me to lead us to a private space before we speak. Understood?”

So nonchalant. So disgusting. A universe of death and entropy, disguised as a prize, foisted upon me as He relished the quiet of being a single human. The horrors were unforgettable, unforgivable, and yet He walked as though He’d never seen them.

We entered a single-stall unisex restroom and He locked the door behind Him.

“Am I to take it, Lillian, that you are dissatisfied with this arrangement?”

“You are. My friend is dead.”

“And you killed him?”

“Not on purpose.”

“God does not make mistakes.”

“Well I fucking do!”

The room shook and He fell to the floor and started chuckling as blood flowed from His bitten lip. “Given every atom of power and knowledge I was afforded, freed from the confines of your human brain, given reign over all of existence, you still are incapable of recognizing the Truth. My only failure was my attempt to make your kind in my image.” He smirked. “Tell me, Lillian, how many sins have you witnessed as of yet? Uncountable, yes? This is but a taste of the Hell I have built for myself, and you sick people covet it. You simulate it in your computer games. You lust for power by any means and at any cost, and you dare blame me when things go wrong?”

“Shut the fuck up!”

“Is that what you truly want? You need not give commands as a God, you may perform any action without my consent. Ask yourself, what do you want? Your life back? I can’t send you back in time. I can’t take away from you what you have seen. Forever and always you will be cursed with this shame and guilt that you wanted so badly.”

“I never wanted this!”

“Didn’t you? Didn’t you when you relentlessly drowned and burned virtual people, laughed at their screams for help? The Truth is there for the knowing, and it is plain to see: their lives meant just as much as yours do. And you easily could have saved Dietz.”

The noise of the universe grew and grew, louder, louder, clawing at every aspect of my ethereal being like a rabid dog broken off a leash.

“God does not make mistakes - not because He is perfect, but because by definition what He does is done with precision, with purpose. With intent. Benevolence was always a ruse, Lillian! And you fools bought it! I shed no tears for what I’ve done for all of you! A God has no place for emotion and you have failed your test!”

He was overwhelming my senses. There was no doubt in my mind, he was doing this to me because he wanted me to fold. He wanted me to admit defeat and give him back his place on the throne of creation. I’d go back into my body, left to grapple with my actions and inactions alike, certain that life was meaningless and empty.

No.

I reached inside His chest and ripped out my heart. He looked at it and laughed, tears running down His cheeks. He said only four more words before collapsing to the dirty floor.

“Sweet darkness… take me.”

I killed God.

Please comment, reblog, like, and follow if you enjoyed - I'd love to know what you think! See you again tomorrow.

[psychronia]

Surely this applies to everything about the story in general?

"No, my setting doesn't have this."

"These characters wouldn't do that."

"The order of events here don't work."

My buddy, my pal. You are the writer. Your thoughts shape this reality like an eldritch dreamer. Don't tell me what you can't do.

If you can't "yes, and" yourself way to your objective, you either put too much detail in front or aren't yesing or anding enough.

the question, you see, is not ‘is it too ooc for this character to cry’ but rather ‘what circumstances would push this character to cry’

this is the whump wisdom, go forth and make that character cry

[meisaboo]

I want to quickly talk about Sky and Viktor's final words to each other, as it gives us some insight into Viktor's motivations in Act 3, as well as implications of his feelings for Jayce:

Christian Linke (Co-writer) confirmed Sky isn't alive; she's a manifestation of Viktor's guilt, created by the Hexcore to manipulate him.

Here's the audio excerpt if you're curious:

https://x.com/Spideraxe30/status/1861424676578435381?t=p5X3TbHjC-LTd4rTUGdRIw&s=19

It's also confirmed Amanda Overton (Writer) that Viktor was hopelessly projecting his relationship with Jayce onto Sky/the Hexcore as a way to cope with his loneliness.

Viktor's defeat and Jayce's rejection is what ultimately pushes him to give himself over to the Hexcore, shedding his humanity. This was the Hexcore's plan all along (CL's words). Once it had what it needed, Sky was no longer required to push Viktor toward the Glorious Evolution.

Before learning Sky wasn't real, I interpreted "No, you won't" as her knowing Viktor would lose his humanity, forget her, and lose himself after ascending. But now knowing she's a projection of his guilt, that interpretation doesn’t hold up.

"You won't," coming from an omnipotent being focused on evolution and higher understanding, should probably be taken at face value. It's a matter-of-fact retort, like it sees right through him.

It doesn’t make much sense as a premonition. The Hexcore, while powerful, doesn’t seem capable of seeing the future. You could argue, "You won't," translates to, "I’ll take over your mind and body, and you won’t really be you anymore." But this doesn’t fully align, as even after Viktor’s transformation, he is still present. The Hexcore uses him as a vessel, steering him with guilt, not erasing his identity. This interpretation feels unnecessarily cruel for something above human emotion.

The line is nothing more than an observation, stated plainly after the ruse was up. It acknowledges that there was never truly any of Sky to miss—Viktor barely knew her before her death, and that is one of his biggest regrets contributing to his guilt. 

Here’s what I think:

The Hexcore conjures Sky to ease Viktor into his villain arc. As a manifestation of his guilt, she subtly manipulates him into pursuing the Glorious Evolution by giving him a false sense of righting his wrongs. But Viktor’s connection to her is a facade, and the Hexcore knows it. Viktor is hopelessly seeking in Sky what he desperately missed with Jayce—and the Hexcore knows this too. Remember when Viktor talks to Singed about Vander/Warwick? Viktor intuits Singed’s true motivation—saving his daughter.

This means the Hexcore is undoubtedly aware of Viktor's pain.

“I will miss our talks," Viktor says, speaking to someone he’s using as a stand-in for Jayce.

It's easy for Viktor to say he will miss their talks. Sky was filling a hole for him. That's all this version of herself existed to do. Talking with her was the closest approximation he had to what he really wanted. 

The tragedy of this line doesn’t solely come from him mourning a relationship that was never real. Remember viktor made the decision to transform immediately following jayces rejection of him. He's not mourning Sky- he's mourning the loss of what he had with Jayce.

"No, you won't," simply meant, "I'm not the one you will be missing.”

As the kids say, food for thought.🍞

[evergone]

Lonely

Theodore Nott x Legilimens! reader

Warnings: Swearing.

Description: The reader has no friends until destiny (in the form of a boy named Theodore Nott) does everything to make her feel like she belongs.

In your first year, you were put in a dorm by yourself. You heard so many times that this was a gift — a sign of your good fortune, Professor Trelawney said — as everyone else in your year group had to share with someone else, but you, the introvert you were, were left to your own devices. Despite these assumptions, you quickly discovered that sharing a dorm was central to establishing friendships, and you spent the vast majority of your high school life friendless and alone.

At times, your boredom and your loneliness were so all-encompassing that you would read the minds of the first years who you knew wouldn’t be capable of sensing the imposition upon their thoughts. None of them thought of much. The boys were preoccupied with daydreams of girls and music (most of them were very into hip-hop as was the popular culture of the nineties), and the girls were nearly all stressing about parties and school work.

You were as much at ease with your situation as one could possibly be. You were of the mindset that if there was nothing you could do about it, why bother? Everyone had their cliques, their friends, and you were just the one to be left out. Your only goal was to get through the remaining year, then you would leave school, rent a house somewhere obscure, become a writer or an archaeologist or something else fun, and start your life over again. But it appeared that destiny had other plans.

Destiny, that supreme, omniscient, omnipotent concept that dwindled above and twisted within the interactions of all peoples, came to you in a free period you were spending in the library. The period before had been Charms, but that was of no consequence, neither was the fact that you had no more classes until later that night when you would make the journey to the Astronomy tower. You were sitting at a desk in the far left corner of the library, tucked between the pages of a number of books written by Z-named authors of some incredibly niche portion of history when Madam Pince’s high-pitched and troubled voice disturbed your rather unproductive attempts to finish your homework.

Ever bored, and hardly ever entertained, you leant to the side to see around the long bookcase. To your surprise, your eyes immediately met with a pair of blue ones. The irises were mere spots lost in the oceans of colour and they darted between you and Madam Pince, desperate for assistance. Behind those eyes, you could hear his mind asking for your help. If you was slightly smarter, you would’ve avoided this person’s gaze altogether and returned to your work.

“Madam Pince,” you said before allowing yourself a moment to think, and the frustrated librarian’s head turned to you in owl-like frustration, “Is everything okay?”

“Not at all,” she said, her voice an angry whisper, “Mr Nott should be in class, instead, he’s here violating my books!”

You glanced at the owner of the eyes. The green lining of his robe told you he was from your house, so you knew him even if only from afar. He hung out with the big group of your housemates most of the time, but you’d observed that he often sat by himself in the common room and the others intruded on his personal time. He was tall — probably six feet or so — and thin, with hair that was darker than blond, but most definitely not as dark as some of his friends’ hair. In the traditional sense, he was handsome, but you’d heard him speak in class before, and his voice bore an awkward intonation as if to speak was to curse which made him seem almost as nerdy as yourself. Despite this, every movement he made seemed elegant no matter his emotion, this was so inherent of a feature that even in that moment — when he was so clearly itching to turn and run — he was like a swan. His name was Theodore Nott, and you’d never spoken to him before.

“He’s supposed to be helping me with my homework,” you blurted out and Madam Pince quirked a pencilled-on eyebrow, “You know I’m terrible with, uh, Ancient Runes.” You both had that class together.

“Yeah,” nodded Theo as he stepped around her and stood by your side, “The professor said it was okay, I’m surprised she didn’t tell you.”

“As am I,” she frowned, “Tell her not to let this happen again.”

“Yes, Madam.”

With an irritated hum, she left the two of you alone. Theo turned to face you once she was out of earshot, and let out a sigh of relief before sitting down on the edge of the desk you were at.

“You’re in Slytherin,” he said obviously, “What year?”

You sucked in a breath of air, “Sixth. Yours.”

“Oh.”

His brain exploded with a million thoughts at once, his conscious and subconscious fighting for dominance. You could hear the embarrassment as he reprimanded himself for not knowing, and the confusion as he searched his memories for some sign that he had, in fact, seen you before.

“We have Potions together, and Astronomy, and Divination, and Ancient Runes, and… most of our classes, actually.” You shrugged without a care.

Theo cringed, “Sorry. I don’t think I’ve ever noticed you before.”

“I don’t really make my presence known,” you said, “So don’t worry about it.”

“I’m Theodore Nott,” he introduced himself, hand outstretched towards you, “What’s your name? I don’t want to make the same mistake next time.”

“Y/n L/n,” you said and shook his hand. It was soft and had no callouses at all.

“I best be off, I’m missing Arithmancy.”

“Boring.”

“You’re telling me,” he chuckled and left the library.

Over the course of that afternoon, you were unable to tear your mind away from Theo, and none of your homework was completed as a result. You didn’t go to dinner in the Great Hall. Your mind was much too preoccupied to eat.

At eleven-thirty, your alarm sounded, and you washed your face in preparation for Astronomy. Professor Sinistra demanded that all her students wore their uniforms for her classes, even if said classes were at midnight, but there wasn’t a single person who ever did that other than Hermione Granger. Everyone else tended to pull their robes overtop their pyjamas and call it a day, yourself included.

The lesson wasn’t all that interesting as Sinistra had the class chart some stars for the whole hour. However, you barely managed to get anything done because you were so distracted by Theo who was sitting peacefully at the opposite side of the tower amongst his friends. Including Theo, there were five of them (you didn’t include Crabbe and Goyle, who you always thought were less friends than goons, or Millicent Bulstrode or Tracey Davis, both of whom you knew were periodically hated by the others). Two girls, three boys.

Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass, Blaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy, and finally, Theo. At seventeen, his hair was a mostly consistent length of woody brown curls that sat fluffily on his head — if anything it was maybe a bit shorter on the sides. His eyebrows were thick as they always were, and in that particular Astronomy lesson, they were hard pressed against the tips of his long eyelashes that seemed almost too feminine to belong to him. By far the most intriguing and attractive aspect of Theo was, of course, the prominent mole on his left cheek that stole your attention away from a tight-lipped smile he had thrown your way.

Your immediate reaction was to blush and avert your eyes, but upon glancing back and noticing he was still staring, you offered him a short wave. He nodded in response before turning to Draco and saying something too far away for you to hear.

The next morning, or, perhaps, later that morning is the right expression, you went to breakfast in the Great Hall. Not having eaten dinner the night prior had left you so completely starving. You could’ve eaten a pegasus. You sat down on the edge of the Slytherin table by yourself, and loaded a plate with two eggs, about five slices of bacon (it very well could have been more, your memory isn’t perfect), a piece of toast, and a spoonful of baked beans.

“Where are all your friends?”

You looked up to see Theo standing over you chewing on the end of a breadstick.

“Why do you ask?” you questioned.

“Because you’re sitting here by yourself and it looks a bit pathetic, L/n,” laughed Theo teasingly.

“I don’t really have any friends.”

“Oh,” said Theo, “Sorry I asked.”

You shrugged, and as he glanced to the middle of the table you shoved as much of the baked beans into your mouth as possible, and quickly swallowed them. Merlin’s beard, you were so embarrassed.

“Give me a sec,” he said absentmindedly and you almost thought to use your Legilimency on him, “I’ll be right back.”

He placed his breadstick in front of you as if it were a deposit meant to reassure you that he’d be back, but you weren’t fazed either way. You watched as he jogged over to his group of friends and started chatting with them, but never sat down. With his right hand, he motioned back at you, and you glanced away as the rest of them turned to get a good look at you. Suddenly, you were concerned about how well your makeup was applied, and if your uniform looked good, and if there was still too much food on your plate. And then, all of them stood up with their plates, and followed Theo over to sit around you.

Most of them sat on the other side of the table, but Theo sat next to you, and Blaise by his other side. He introduced you to everyone: Goyle, Crabbe, Draco, Pansy, Daphne, Blaise, himself (“but you know me already,” he’d joked).

“It’s crazy to think we don’t know you despite being in the same house as you for the past six years,” said Daphne and Pansy elbowed her in the waist, sending her a death glare.

“Excuse her,” Pansy smiled awkwardly, “She’s a bitch.”

Your ears tickled at the word. You weren’t used to people calling those they were friends with such vulgar names… You weren’t used to the idea of friends at all.

Draco started rattling off about half-bloods and “that darn Potter,” spurring his friends into a rather heated conversation. They laughed and cackled loudly at each other, entirely easy around you as if it didn’t matter at all that they didn’t know you.

“Is this okay?” Theo asked you in a whisper once the group had moved on to another topic of conversation.

“Yes, this is nice,” you responded with a blush over your cheeks as you tried not to smile, “I don’t remember the last time I spoke to so many people.”

Theo’s eyes softened, glazed with a thin layer of water that informed you of his empathy. He felt your loneliness as if it was his own. The image of a young version of himself locked in his bedroom, wailing for his long deceased mother, flashed in his memories and seeped into your brain. An involuntary consequence of your extraordinary Legilimency talent.

When Saturday finally arrived, you slept in the whole morning. You only awoke at the sound of a knock on your door followed by a series of laughter at ten o’clock. You rolled out of bed, and for a moment stopped in horror of your hair in front of the mirror to quickly tie it up, and then opened the door.

You were surprised to see Pansy and Daphne there, but even more so when Daphne asked, “It’s Hogsmeade day, why aren’t you ready?”

“Huh?” You said, squinting at the light of the hallway.

“Theo sent us up to grab you, get some clothes on and let’s go,” said Pansy as she pushed past you and slipped into your room, Daphne hot on her heel, “Merlin’s beard, there’s absolutely nothing in here.”

“Yeah, uh, I’ve got it all to myself,” you muttered.

“Oh, that’s got to be terribly boring,” said Pansy.

Both of the girls made themselves at home as they rummaged through your drawers looking for something nice to wear. They were both dressed very well themselves, and it made you a little self-conscious to think they were going to see all your cheap clothes.

Pansy threw a sheer white shirt you didn’t know you had and a pair of bootleg jeans onto your bed while Daphne kicked over some matching joggers and a big white handbag you’d stolen from your mother.

“It is terribly boring,” you said.

As the three of you descended the stairs (after you got dressed, of course), you could already hear the sounds of masculine voices teetering on yelling at one another. One of them you knew to be Theo’s, and while you weren’t particularly familiar with them, you were inclined to assume the other two voices were Draco and Blaise. At the bottom step out of the girls’ dormitory hallway, you were proven correct when you saw them bickering like old men at a weekend golf tournament.

Draco was the first to notice the three of you, and his grey eyes lit up at the sight, “L/n, come settle an argument for us.”

You walked to join the small group and stood beside Theo, your handbag held meekly between your fingers, the nails of which had magenta paint flaking off them.

“Your mate Theo here—” Draco gestured to him with an uninterested hand, and you nearly laughed at the idea that Theo was your mate more than he was any of the others’— “Thinks that we ought to have a Legilimens registry like we have for Animagi. Frankly, I think it’s absolutely blasphemous that we even have one for Animagi; let them run wild, I say! What are your thoughts? Don’t mind the coincidental pun.”

“I’m afraid I’m a bit biased in this conversation,” you spoke quietly.

“How do you mean?”

The faces of the group stared at you with raised brows, and eyes that glistened with interest, and you were red from the attention.

“Well, I’m a Legilimens,” you admitted, “So, I’d have to disagree with you, Theo, for my own sake.”

“Are you really?” Theo asked to break the silence, and you nodded shyly.

“That’s so cool!” Daphne all but squealed, “What number am I thinking of?”

“Seven.”

She brightened with delight, and slapped Pansy’s arm, encouraging her to try your magic out like a little game. Pansy did just that, and you ended up going around the whole group, describing what they were thinking of. Eight. Twelve. Bakery. Seven. And Theo was questioning why you weren’t already on the way to Hogsmeade.

With that final thought, they grew disillusioned by the game, and you began the walk to Hogsmeade.

You’d never been into town with other people before, not that you went much at all. You usually stayed in your room, or wandered the halls, towering over the first and second years who weren’t allowed to go on weekend Hogsmeade trips yet. But there you were, forming one kink in a string of knots engaging in stimulating conversation about the current condition of the world, and even boring conversation about the homework for Defense Against the Dark Arts which, to you, seemed so thrilling even if only for the fact that it was verbal discourse in some form. You’d forgotten what it was to converse with others.

“Is there anywhere you need to go once we get there?” said Theo once you were nearing the end of the path and closing in on the town.

“I would have been awake before Daphne and Pansy got to my room if I planned to go anywhere today,” you joked and he smiled, “If you don’t mind, I might just go wherever you go.”

All he offered in response was a hum, and it left you thinking that you’d somehow made the air around you awkward. You’d later come to learn that he was just like that, never much of a talker if he thought the situation didn’t call for it.

Almost instantly after you passed sign that read ‘Welcome to Hogsmeade,’ the group dispersed, and Theo and yourself were left to do as you pleased.

Your companion, it seemed, didn’t have much he wanted to do either, so he led you to the Three Broomsticks. Kindly, he offered to pay for a butterbeer or two, but you didn’t think you were close enough for that, so you humbly told him it was alright. You sat in relative silence until our drinks arrived when Theo struck up some conversation.

“What have you been doing all these years by yourself, L/n?” He asked.

“I don’t know… Stuff…”

Theo laughed, and you laughed along with him. Your mind was frazzled by the alcohol, which kept refilling itself as you chatted on, and every so often you found thoughts that didn’t belong to you creeping into your mind, but you couldn’t place who they belonged to. It was just the odd word — sad, or pretty, or damned, or Y/n.

“Nott, are you and Malfoy good friends?” You asked.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t we be?”

“You seem to argue quite a bit.”

“He’s just like that,” said Theo, “Likes to start shit for no reason, that one.”

You giggled, and he grinned happily. Another person’s thoughts seeped into yours once again, that time a full sentence: ‘I love her laugh.’

The bell that hung over the entrance to the Three Broomsticks jingled, and though you couldn’t see it behind you, you watched as Theo’s expression morphed into one of guilt. You turned over your shoulder, and made out the figures of the four people who had come with you. Each of them were wearing a disappointed look on their faces.

“What in the name of Merlin are you two doing?” asked Pansy, her tone equal parts concerned and amused.

“Nothing,” said Theo.

“Yeah, if ‘nothing’ is code for drinking all day,” said Blaise, “Snape’s gonna have your asses for this.”

The others guided yourself and Theo back to the castle. Your hand was attached to Pansy’s forearm, Theo’s arm was slung over Draco’s shoulder. By the time you reached the Slytherin common room, You were sober enough to move on your own, and thus, started your way up to your dorm.

“Where are you going?” Theo asked curiously. He was far away enough that you couldn’t smell his breath which stunk like the vomit he’d expelled from his body halfway through the walk back.

“My room,” you said.

“No, no, no.” He shook his head and then closed his eyes from the dizziness. “It’s sleepover night. You have to come to our dorm, I made room for you on my bed.”

“I used to sleep there because he’s got the best mattress out of the three of them, but we figured you might prefer to sleep beside him than Blaise,” Daphne explained.

“Oh,” you breathed, “Do I need to contribute anything?”

You hadn’t had a sleepover before. You didn’t know the proper protocol. You assumed one would need to bring at least their pyjamas and a pillow, maybe some sweets of some kind to share. But Theo shook his head, and you were in the boys’ room before you knew what was happening.

The boys’ dorm room was the opposite of yours. So exquisitely full, and intricately messy. The three beds were all the same size as yours with dark green bed hangings, and each about a metre apart.

Closest to the door and to their small shared bathroom was Theo’s bed. On the right, beside the door to the bathroom, he had a tower of books that acted as a wall. His sheets were black, but his pillows and blanket cover were a dark oceanic blue-green. There wasn’t much room, but you spied a large mess under his bed which you assumed was what he’d removed from the bed to make space. On his bedside table sat a small lamp that provided the only light in the room before Daphne declared it was far too ‘dark and gloomy’ and turned on the central light.

On the floor, directly under the light, there was a large medieval-style rug that bore our house crest, and the others sat on it lazily, ushering you over.

“I need a smoke,” said Draco, and he walked over to the window where the ashtray was.

“Me too,” said Theo as he also moved to the window, “You want one, L/n?”

“I’ve never smoked before.”

“Then I shouldn’t get you in the habit,” he smiled, “It is such a terrible habit to have. Costs more than it’s worth.”

He pulled a box of cigarettes from his pocket and offered one to Draco, and they both lit them with their wands.

“Does it taste nice?” You asked.

“Not particularly,” said Theo.

“Why do you do it then?”

“You’re so curious, L/n,” Draco teased.

Theo playfully slapped him on the chest, “Leave her alone,” he said, and then turned to you, “I’m an addict.”

“That’s got to be bad for your lungs, Nott,” you frowned, suddenly concerned.

“Don’t you worry about him,” said Pansy, a knowing smirk on her lips that told you she was well aware you’d continue worrying.

The night went on much shorter than you wished for it to. You’d hoped, perhaps too eagerly, that none of you would ever sleep. Far too much did you enjoy being awake with those people who you’d met too late in yout life. You were truly happy to have met them because for all the simple joys you’d managed to discover in your time alone, none were half as happy as those grand joys you found with them

You all took turns getting changed in the small bathroom (Theo lent you a shirt to wear), then you all slid into our respective beds. You were nervous about sleeping beside Theo because, in truth, you didn’t really know him. But he placed a pillow between you, and only faced you for a moment — a moment in which there was a look in his eyes that you couldn’t decipher, a moment in which you attempted to read his mind all too late — and then he kissed his fingers, and he touched them to your head, and he turned the other way.

“Did you sleep well?” Theo said once he noticed you were awake the next morning.

“I’ve never slept beside someone before,” you explained nervously, “I think it was a decent experience. I hope I didn’t move around too much.”

“Not at all, L/n,” he said.

A hum escaped your mouth, and you were acutely aware that Theo was watching you as you stared up at the roof of his room. Painted on it, Sistine Chapel-style, was a beautiful lush green forest.

“L/n. It’s so formal to call you by your surname.” Theo let out a disapproving tut.

“I call you by yours?” You said as you looked at him from the corner of your eye.

“You’re the only one who does.”

“It’s your name!” You raised your voice slightly before lowering it again so as to not wake any of the others up. “What else am I supposed to call you?”

“Theo,” he said, “That’s what everyone calls me.”

“And what false-name shall I bear, then?”

He chuckled quietly as he finally sat up. He raised his long arms in a stretch that exposed the bottom of his stomach and his V-line, and you glanced away until he returned his arms down to a cross in front of his chest. You took notice of his hair, which was awfully messy in the morning, and you thought he should get his hands on a bonnet to take care of it, but then you thought he probably shouldn’t. A silk pillow would’ve done him wonders, though.

“A nickname for Y/n,” said Theo, “How about Y/n/n?”

“I suppose that will do,” you said as nonchalantly as possible, but inside you were screaming with excitement. A nickname! You’d never had a nickname before.

“Oh, you suppose, do you?” he teased.

Your amused smile betrayed your insincere attempt at a pout, “Don’t make fun of me.”

“Don’t let anyone else call you Y/n/n, alright?” said Theo, and you crossed your brows in question, “I want it to be just an us-thing. They can call you your full name at most.”

He was extraordinarily bossy. But it was sweet. Heartwarming, even.

“Wait, but if everyone calls you Theo, I want something just for us, too!” You blushed at how overly familiar that sounded, but Theo’s rosy cheeks filled you with conviction. “How about Teddy?”

Giddily, he smiled at you, “Say it to me in a sentence.”

You frowned, but obeyed, “I like being your friend, Teddy. — How was that?” He nodded happily, “You say one for mine, now.”

He thought for a moment, trying to decide on a sentence to say.

“Read my mind, Y/n/n.”

Always, he had to boss you around. But, again, you really didn’t care. It was just nice to have someone to boss you around. To think that only at the beginning of that week, you had no friends at all… Now you had so many, and all thanks to destiny. All thanks to your Teddy.

A breath, and then you forced your way into his mind. There was a picture there waiting for you, a memory from Monday. A memory of you, except, you seemed to glow. You’d seen yourself in a million mirrors and memories over the course of your life, but never had you looked so beautiful. And then, there were words.

“I’d like to go on a date with you, Y/n/n.”

Your eyes snapped open as you left his thoughts to belong to him alone.

“What?” You asked, your ears red.

“I think you’re absolutely brilliant, Y/n/n. Please, go on a date with me?” Theo smiled.

He inched closer until your noses touched and you could barely tell each others’ features apart. Each of you were just blurs of colour.

“I’d love to go on a date with you, Teddy.”