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Chapter 1, Part 1: Brand New Bag
A prologue of sorts
The Universe came first; Time came second, though that is still a matter of some debate between them.
It’s not clear where exactly they came from. The field of cosmology has some thoughts, physicists occasionally make some noise, even religion has weighed in. But no one with the limited capacity of a mortal mind really knows. Hell, a supernatural mind would be hard-pressed to explain it.
What is known is that the siblings (who aren’t really siblings) were not vibing with the vast empty stretch of nothingness in front of them. Thus, they started a massive construction project— shaping the planets and doing some very bendy things with realms and reality.
The gods were created to help with this work. The Universe wrangled magic into nine schools and gifted it as tools to aid in their efforts. Gods took to these schools in varying degrees. The most powerful could call magic into physical form, but even the weakest could wield enough to add to the landscape. And really, that was the whole point.
Some gods developed the outer planets while others focused on sections of the temporal world. The more they built, the more they bickered until Time and the Universe insisted that they take up residence in their own realms. The logic being that you wouldn’t be so obsessed with your neighbor’s business if you had your own plot to tend to.
It didn’t exactly help, which is why now might be a good time to loop back and include an important detail about how the worlds came to be:
In the beginning, before gods and creatures and all those other bits, Time and the Universe began building the vast expanse. This sounds complicated, but in practice, it was really quite simple: Time jumped forward to a moment when they had already created everything and then came back to tell the Universe what to fill in.
At first, the Universe couldn’t create anything no matter how much inspiration Time returned with.
Then, one afternoon, Time decided that this whole thing would be much easier if they had a cute little cottage with plenty of comforts, and voila! It appeared.
And that was how they learned that the Universe could not create for herself, only for others, the burden of which was not immediately apparent.
That would come later.
…Much later.
Alice Martin God of Death Realms are houses The Fates obfuscate The Underworld is a fixer-upper Vladislaus Straud
Comments
10 responses to “Chapter 1, Part 1: Brand New Bag”
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Sorry, my brain has been a bit hazy so I apologise if I’ve remembered anything from previous chapters wrongly!
I love the portraits of the siblings and the Henford house! I’m not sure if out in the country is the first or last place I’d expect the Underworld to be linked to : P I guess it’s out of the way and not as people-y so probably the former. Somehow I feel like Morgyn will hate the state of the house the most. I laughed when Alice’s sister jumped up on her back, and when Ben had to back up his ‘just a skeleton’ statement XDAs for the Owl and Ben wanting to call something into being rather than make an object- that’s something I thought about in one of the earlier chapters where we still weren’t sure what (or who!) the Owl was. Imagine you being that someone and then finding out you have this kind of immense magic power. How that could go down really depends on the person, and if the Owl has its own mind then it has the ability to use that power for whatever if it finds out it has it, and that could go disastrously wrong- as Universe says, “You will call into being a thing you hardly understand. And woe be unto the worlds if he cannot tame his hunger.” Damn those blurred screenshots that emphasise Vlad’s face are terrifying X_X Personification of fear indeed. Love how this one ended!
I’m glad this story is back up and look forward to more! Also thank you for the shoutout on ‘Lits I love’, it made my evening! Thank you ^u^
(I can just imagine one of those home renovating shows trying to sort out that house, especially considering it’s part of the Underworld XD) -
I have no idea why Sulis is so utterly fascinating to me but she is. I hope we’ll see more of her this… book? Arc? Sequel?
The logic being that you wouldn’t be so obsessed with your neighbor’s business if you had your own plot to tend to.
About a dozen neighbour feud television shows and about half of all civil court trials would like to differ. 😂 Time and the Universe seem a little… flawed in their logic there, lol. I love that they’re just looking at a mood board and trying to figure things out 🤣 Hm. Being told what to make because you’ve already made it in the future… ooof. I’d hate to have to work like that. There’s no creativity there at all. Which is ironic on so many levels. The Universe not being able to create for herself and only for others… oh, man. That is going to be/is/has been/will be a massive, massive pain.
HAHAHAHA HOB IS THE UNDERWORLD AAHAHAHAHAHA
*wheeze *
Sorry. Am composed. Seriously though, a lush and wonderful Autumn countryside filled with plants and trees and grass and pretty pebbles? Sign me up. I’ll go in a heartbeat. Oh you and your wonderfully weird story ideas. I am loving this already.
Don Lothario as the Grim Reaper still cracks me up no matter how many times I see him. 😂Oof, looks like Alice inherited a real fixer-upper. It’s fine, Alice. You’re a god and you have a legion of creatures and people and basically whatever you wish to serve you. I bet they can change this place into anything. Aw, well done Vlad. He still has her back as always. Though “ooh”ing and “aah”ing over that place might be a bit of a tall order. 😅
Oh, man. So whatever someone decides while in the presence of The Universe is made? Even if they don’t explicitly ask for it? Holy cow, that’s not just inconvenient, but dangerous. No wonder they don’t let everyone see her whenever they want.
Did Ben just throw a party for her while not waiting for the person he threw the party for to actually show up? 🤣 And there he is in the past trying to make the heap of creatures that he in the present just fell asleep on the couch with. Something is telling me that this is a horrible idea. Then again, this did give us Phobos/Vlad…
Whoa whoa whoa, who is hatter in the background? We didn’t get an introduction for him =O And why is he behind them no wait what’s he doing what is happening 😱
The list that Ben is making in the past doesn’t match up with the people we were just introduced to o.o Sleep and Hunger are there, but not in the present, and Anxiety and Agony are in the present, but not the past list… and which one of them is that guy in the hat? 😮
Whoa, this turned into a novel. Thank you so much for the shout-out on the simlits page. I can’t wait for the next chapter! 😁
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I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s Hunger. We know what happened to Sleep, so it has to be him. Especially with the ominous message from The Universe there 😨
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IF YOU GUESSED HUNGER YOU’D BE RIGHT. DING DING DING DING!!!
Again, absolutely nothing to worry about here, I’m *sure*
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Psch, right 🤣 This sequel is going to be all underground sunshine and rainbows and Alice&Phobos playing happy family in their new fixer-upper & spider playroom. Everything will be fine. Yup. Definitely.
I can’t wait. 🤭
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Always! I’ve gone down a Tales of Camelot rabbit hole and I don’t want to come out!!
Oh my gosh, I know I keep saying this but damn Sulis is one of my favorite characters to write. We get her perspective for the first time in Chapter 3 and…whew…that’s all I can say. She figures heavily into this book (sequel?) and I’m so excited to bring the chaos!
Yeah, I’d say that for all their power and vision—the Universe and Time may have…er…underestimated the beings they created. LOL “That is going to be/is/has been/will be a massive, massive pain”: a truer statement has never been spoken. The Universe’s power is definitely dangerous and a huge liability.
Haha, Ben definitely threw Alice a party, got trashed, and then passed out before she got there. I mean, to be fair, the old Alice would have totally been right there with him. It will be interesting to see how that dynamic plays out…
Oh…so you’ve met the mysterious dude in the background? Oh…you noticed he doesn’t have a name and that the list B’Ollithiranon made doesn’t quite match up with the beings standing before us. Hmm…yeah…I’m sure it’s all gonna be just fine and there is nothing to worry about at all (cue maniacal laughter).
Physicists: are you ready to MAKE some NOOOIIII-OOOISE
Of course this is the underworld. Of course. Are there some pomegranate groves coming up or something?
What caught my eye here, theme-wise, were B’Owlcutcarrion’s interactions with the universe. He complains about their neutrality in oppressive situations and their rule to keep an open mind in all interactions, and I can’t help but think these things are related. Oh, hello there, post-postmodernism! Also I’m obsessed with B’allofpokemon’s cuddle-puddle naps.
Goodness, Summer. If a man tells you he is not a fool and has an open mind, you have to listen to him! Those are the rules! Because that is what non-fools with open minds do, go around telling people they are non-fools with open minds. And you have to believe them because they are not fools and have open minds. Do NOT trust your own judgement. Gosh.
I was going to say something about the unnamed… entity? spirit?… in the background, but I’m intimidated by the cool takes everyone else has because all I wrote down is “why is Vlad being stalked by a Kpop star?”
So, instead, the Entities. There go my theories. Poof! Out the window. I didn’t expect all of them to be new characters. But this works, too; we’ll probably have to wait and see how they’ve developed on their core concepts. There is one Entity whose character design I like the most and she is Discord.
Lastly.
At first, the Universe couldn’t create anything no matter how much inspiration Time returned with.
WHOLE-ASS MOOD.
(a shout-out! woo!!! thank you!! thank you immensely! unfortunately, now my buffer is in danger with all these new things on my reading list!)
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Yeah Summer, why didn’t you just listen to him and take what he said at face value? So weird.
Pomegranate groves lol. Listen if you think I’m above an extended Hades/Persephone joke then you don’t know me 😂😂😂 Henford on Bagley is about to the murder cottage town of my dreams and no one can stop me!
Your multiple spellings of B’Ollithiranon fill my heart with joy and god I wish I had called him B’Owlcutcarrion now. I love that “pile o naps” pose, it lets you know Ben’s exact vibe. Once upon a time Alice was part of that cuddle of puddles. Now she is annoyed by it.
“Why is Vlad being stalked by a kpop star” lololololol that is for sure the cc style choice I made and i don’t regret it. I know you’ll develop new theories about the entities and of course Discord is your favorite because she is the goddamned best (I’m biased).
“The universe couldn’t create anything…” Whew, yeah, what is it they say about art imitating life?
Speaking of which, if you can’t use your video game fan fiction characters to debate the merits of postmodernism, who can you use?
You’re welcome! I seen this on another SimLit and thought it was such a good idea! I mean, first of all, everyone should read CT because it’s fantastic, but second of all, I need others to join me and lose their buffers because they get distracted 🙂
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Wait, what do you mean by different spellings of B’Achelormarathon? I’ve been copying B’Antideuteron perfectly this whole time. Did I mess up a letter or something?
Oh man, I’m ready for that pomegranate joke. And just like, wreck me with critiques of postmodernism.
(It is a good idea! I need to expand my reading list and make one of those…)
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OMG THE FIRST 3 PHOTOS ARE STUNNING.
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