Archive of Our Own

Notes:

I found myself growing an interest for Deltarune, despite never playing the game and the closest I ever got to playing anything similar was the first Shin Megami Tensei for the Super Famicom. You know, the game in which Stephen Hawking gives you a demon computer and Thor blows up Japan with nukes, but that's a story for another day.

This is part one of the Cathartic AU, a real world AU of sorts. Emphasis on sorts. I'm just warming up for what's to come, you'll see.

With this being an AU, there'll be a few changes from the source material. This is a vent fic of sorts, with 60% of it written by my own experience, while the other 40% was made up. Or so I read something similar about David Cronenberg and Norman Snider's screenplay for Dead Ringers. I wonder if I'll be mentioning that movie subtly in this work...

But anyway, Dess and Noelle are two sisters on the road to recovery. Each chapter is named after a color that reflects a state of mind. The writing style is a stream of consciousness I've been developing for a while, you'll feel like you're in the character's mind as you read it.

If you're not fond of it, then it's okay, this fic was written as a very self-indulgent and quite personal work that I wrote with myself as the only audience, while also sharing it with others. I know very well that it is not possible to please everyone, but there is always someone who might enjoy this type of writing that I do, who knows.

This works features references to abuse, depression, mental instability, self-deprecation, so it may not be suitable for everyone. I wouldn't often write what I did, but... I had to. Given what I've been through last year. Oh yeah, in this fic, Noelle is nine years old, while Dess is sixteen. The age difference is an essential part of the catharsis, as are many other details that are distinct from canon.

Take care of yourself. Do not use medications without prescription. Treat people well. And have a nice day.

Reccomended soundtrack listening for this fic (it's optional, but these OSTs get me in the mood to write sad but happy things): Xenogears and Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh.

(See the end of the work for other works inspired by this one.)