#ANYWAY i'm having fun with this AU

[sezja]

A Lakeside Chat (First AU)

Set in @theferalscion's fantastic First AU, with permission, because it lives rent-free in my head these days

They leave at dawn.

It's still a novel concept, dawn; Guyson recalls hearing tales from long before the Flood - descriptions of the sun rising over an inky black horizon, drawing the darkness away with its approach. He's seen his share of sunrises now, in all parts of what remains of the world, but it never fails to steal his breath away… in equal parts awe and quiet fear. The fear is dispelled, always, when the darkness of night gives way not to blinding light, but to vivid blue. Or to clouds.

Today it gives way to fog.

A thick, soupy haze envelops them as they walk through the Crystarium's gates, leaving assured safety behind.

"You first," he says, jerking his head to indicate Sammet should take the lead - no games this time, no risking the viis slipping off into the trees behind his back again. He's in no bloody mood. All through the past two nights, he'd woken up every few bells, checking to make sure the bastard hadn't snuck out again - each time finding Sam snugly asleep, harmlessly murmuring to himself, evidently content to stay where he was. Guy's no fool, though; he knows better. It's only a matter of time and letting his guard down.

The viis frowns. "I do not know the way."

"Then you probably shouldn't be such an ass to your guide, eh?" He points. "Walk."

They're taking the long way 'round to Amh Araeng, true, when they could just as soon head due south, but Guy'd agreed to make a quick delivery in Sullen in exchange for their supper last night… and anyhow, there's fewer trees along the road this way. Fewer places for Sammet to try sneaking away. He likes to think he’s growing wise to the little sneak’s tricks… but like as not, he’s just made Sam wary enough to learn new tricks. Lucky him.

He follows a few short paces behind his uneager charge - close enough not to lose the man in the fog - indicating which path to follow when the road forks. There's no conversation. Guy's temper is short this morning, sleepless as he's been, and any little thing might just set him off; the very last thing he needs is to get himself into a brawl with the man he's meant to be shepherding. So he occupies his attention, instead, on watching Sam walk: the uneasy grace of a man better-accustomed to walking along the heavy boughs of the Greatwood's trees than solid ground. His steps are still so careful, so deliberate, testing for weak branches that aren't there; he walks with such poise, such balance, testing instinctively for a shift that isn't there…

Guyson briefly entertains the idea of shoving him over. Charitably chokes the urge down, reminding himself he doesn't want to start a fight today.

Sam's quiet too, but that's normal, Guy's coming to realize - well, why not? It's not as though it was safe to chat in the forest. He's likely lost the habit of friendly conversation. Besides, what would they even talk about? Nothing in common. Guyson doesn’t know the first thing about bards, if such a thing ever really existed. Sounds like a myth - stories concocted before the Flood, when things like the power of song sounded like it might just be true. When people could afford to believe in flights of fancy. 

But that’s not for him to decide or determine, is it?

The fog’s finally burning away in the morning’s golden sunshine, and Guy allows himself his familiar sigh of relief: the sky emerges overhead, overcast and pleasantly silvered by clouds, shy glimpses of blue peering through here and there. Not a hint of the Light to be found.

One of Sammet’s ears flick in his direction. The man peers curiously over his shoulder. 

Guyson waves him off. “Keep walking. We’re nearly there.” He nods up ahead, where the squat little islands hunker at the edge of the lake, still clinging to the last of the fog rolling off the water’s surface. “Just that first island there.”

“The woman who entrusted you with this task,” Sam says, pausing a moment to allow Guy to fall into step with him, whether he likes it or not. “Does she not believe you might simply take her parcel and fail to deliver it as agreed? She recompensed you without waiting to see your task fulfilled-”

“It’s the Crystarium.” Guyson shrugs. “I’ll be finding myself there again sooner rather than later, and Taeshi-Luq will remember if her friend says they never got her delivery - and she’ll remember I’m the rat bastard who ate her food and didn’t make good on our agreement.” To say nothing of how cheating one merchant in the Crystarium meant they would all turn him away on sight. Short on coin as he is - with only the advance on Sammy’s bloody quest between him and destitution! - he can’t afford not to keep his reputation spotless. Hells, it’s that very reputation that landed him this job, eh? A lesser man would’ve slit the wide-eyed idiot’s throat the moment the Greatwood was behind them, taking the advance and considering it a good day’s work.

Sam’s quiet, frowning inwardly as he mulls over this answer. What he makes of it, Guy can’t begin to guess - as always, the viis keeps his thoughts to himself. Unless they’re insulting, of course.

So maybe it’s for the best that he’s quiet.

“Here we are.” Sullen, the little fishing… collective, he supposes; too small to call it a village. He beckons Sam over to a spot beside the door to this island’s cabin. He points to the ground. “Stay. I’ll be half a minute.” He glances at a nearby fisherman, fiddling with the knots in his much-weathered net. “Keep a eye on my friend here, will you?” 

“He likely to do anything worth watching?”

“Not if he’s smart.”

This earns him a glower from Sam, but the viis huffs and stands where he was told - and isn’t that a miracle in itself? Guy eyes him a moment longer, suspicious… but hells, there are enough fishermen around that even if Sammet takes off running the minute his back’s turned, someone’s like to see which way he went. “I won’t be long,” he repeats - low, a warning - and heads into the little cabin, seeking the person he’s meant to be delivering this parcel to.

His ‘client,’ such as she is, is an attractive young elven woman, coy and winking. She wastes no time telling him how lonely it is out here in Sullen, with her husband all the way back at the Crystarium… 

And if he didn’t have a thrice-damned menace of a viis waiting outside the cabin door, or perhaps halfway to Amh Araeng or Il Mheg or the Empty for all he knows, Guyson would’ve gladly indulged her. One more reason to be in a foul mood. As it is, he truthfully confesses he has another errand to attend to - a pressing errand - but that perhaps he might pass this way again on his return… if she should happen to have a parcel or two in need of a trip to the Crystarium.

He steps back outside…

…and finds Sammet missing.

Wicked white, of course he is. He’s going to get this man a leash. He takes a deep breath, peering down at the fisherman still wrestling with his nets. “I don’t suppose you kept an eye on that friend I told you about.”

“Oh, aye.” The man picks at a particularly stubborn knot. “Said he wanted a look at the water.”

“The water.” His head is pounding. He should’ve tumbled that girl, Sam be damned. “And you just-”

“Stop interrogating that man.” Sure enough, there’s the bane of Guyson’s existence himself, in the flesh, at the water’s edge. “I’m right here. Quite within eyesight, did you care to look.”

Guy takes his time walking over, willing his temper to cool. “I looked where I asked you to stay.”

“I heard your conversation through the door,” Sam replies, turning once more to face the lake. “It was of a personal nature. I thought it prudent to grant you privacy, and believed your errand may take longer than expected.”

You heard-? Briefly flummoxed, Guy wrestles for a response. “I-” He really should have tumbled the girl. “What, and leave you out here unsupervised? You must think I’m stupid.”

To that, Sam wisely makes no answer, instead nodding toward the lake. “Is this… the ocean?”

Caught off-guard by the sudden shift in topic, Guy pauses a moment, trying to catch up. “What, this?” The Source is vast, as lakes go, but Guyson’s been to storm-lashed Kholusia; this may as well be a puddle. “No. This here’s just a lake, a freshwater lake.” Though there’s something… disarmingly sweet, he realizes, in the man mistaking the lake for aught but what it is.

Does he imagine it, or do Sam’s ears droop ever-so-slightly? “Ah.”

“You… were hoping to see the ocean, I take it?”

The look Sammet gives him is almost shy - sidelong and brief, as though he’s embarrassed by his own mistake. “The rivers of Rak’tika make their way to the sea,” he begins, slowly, as though choosing his words as carefully as his steps. “But my duty has never permitted me to venture far enough to see where the river died and the sea was born. Though it would not be the same sea-” The oceans of the world, connected a century ago, have long since been divided by the Flood. “-I thought it might be worthwhile to behold the ocean with my own eyes.”

Guy can’t recall Sam ever saying so much at once, not since leaving Rak’tika. “Aye, well. You’d have to go to Kholusia - Eulmore - to see a proper ocean, and you couldn’t pay me enough to see that place again.” If there’s anything like the knowledge Sam seeks in that place, Guy’ll eat his boots. 

“Ah.” 

“Well,” Guy says, stretching. “Best we be on our way, then. Amh Araeng gets hotter as the day wears on-”

“What is it like?”

“What, Amh Araeng? Big. Dusty. Hot.”

“No.” Sam frowns. “Tell me of the ocean.” 

“There a ‘please’ on the end of that?”

Sam huffs again, not answering. He turns on his heel instead, marching - inasmuch as he can be said to march - in the direction of the mainland, and Amh Araeng. Guy can’t help chuckling to himself as he hurries after; the bastard would rather storm off like a petulant child than say please!

Still, it’s striking to remember, all at once, how little experience of the world Sammet has - after all, regardless of how small Norvrandt might be, Sam’s life has been smaller, forever contained within the confines of the Greatwood. The awe he’d shown, wholly unguarded, when they’d first emerged from Rak’tika into the lilac hues of Lakeland proper… the quiet fear of the open sky stretching overhead, daunting and impossible after a life spent beneath dense boughs. Strangely innocent. The kind of innocence that’d mistake a lake for an ocean.

Guy takes a deep breath. “It’s vast,” he says, walking a few paces behind Sam. “Bigger than anything you’re imagining, and then some. And it used to be bigger still - they say you could sail out so far you’d lose sight of land entirely, though these days you’re always in sight of shore… or of the wave of Light, where the Oracle of Light stopped it in its tracks.” 

Sam has paused now, listening. His blue eyes are sharp, focused.

Guyson presses on: “And deep. You’d never see the bottom. And it tastes like salt, pure salt, bitter and cold - you can’t drink it, no matter how thirsty you might get. It’s poison. More so with the Light leeching out into it, I’d reckon. They say the Flood messed up the currents - there are always waves now, taller than a house, and they’ll smash a ship to pieces. That’s why only amaro fly to Kholusia these days, and all the old ports closed a century ago.” He clears his throat. “And that’s the ocean.”

“Thank you,” Sam says, quiet.

“Aye, well, keep the thought of oceans in your head while we’re trudging through the desert.” He points ahead. “Walk.”

Sammet studies him a moment longer in silence, then nods and does as ordered, leading the way toward Amh Araeng. They walk for a time, once more without conversation, but as the gate draws within view, Sam speaks up once more: “I should still like to see it for myself someday.”

“Aye, well-” It’s on the tip of his tongue to say, I’ll take you there someday, which startles him; hadn’t he just said he never wished to see Eulmore again? Changes of heart or no, he doesn’t trust the snakes of Eulmore to change their ways overnight. And what else is in Kholusia? Broken-down shacks and dead fields of barley, rocky shorelines and broken lives. If he ever passes through Gatetown again, he’ll scream himself hoarse. And why should that change? Just to show an entitled little viis vagrant the ocean? It’s not worth it. It’ll never be worth it. “...You’ll need to find a different guide for that one.”

Sammet shakes his head. “My mission will not permit lengthy detours. I will go to Kholusia only if what I seek may be found there, and I will go alone if you will not brave the journey.”

There’s that haughty streak. 

“Well, I wish you the bloody joy of it.” Sammet in Eulmore, he thinks, queerly sickened. It’ll be like beasts scenting blood. Well, after all, it’s not as though anything’s likely to send them - him - to Kholusia, after all. There’s nothing to be found there about bards or their abilities, and so long as Sammet stays on this side of the ocean…

…I can keep his ass safe, Guy thinks, rolling his eyes. Whether he likes it or not.

[buggachat]

Part 183 of my bakery “enemies” au!

I'M BACK AND READY FOR DAILY UPLOADS!!!

First / Prev / Next / All

Kofi

[notherpuppet]

Someone asked if I was adding more to "Buckshot"

...and then I accidentally posted it before I was done answering LOL. Anyway, here was the answer:

I have some ideas that I just haven't fleshed out yet. But I really like that AU and I want to return to it.

As for the Buckshot specific "chapter"...I do have some 'deleted scenes' that I just didn't feel like drawing (laziness) but hmm maybe i'll get the motivation to sketch them out eventually.

Some deleted scenes:

Scene 1.5 [Lucifer looks at Alastor's wounds as he's changing his bandages and clothes. Alastor's covered in severe scars exhibiting many different kinds of injuries.] Lucifer: "So many scars...I wonder what he's been through..." [Lucifer glances at Alastor's face, which somehow still has a faint, but visible smile.] Lucifer (incredulous and annoyed): "Yet he always keeps that smile on his face..." CUT TO FLASHBACK MONTAGE: Lucifer, Alastor, and Charlie playing in the park, eating dinner altogether, and singing backup for Charlie while Alastor plays the piano. [Lucifer smiles softly and turns up the corners of Alastor's sleeping smile.] Charlie: "I thought Al needed to sleep!" >:-0 [Lucifer draws his hands back suddenly, embarrassed.] Lucifer: "Where did you--" [Charlie climbs onto Alastor's rest bed. She haphazardly reaches for Alastor's face.] Charlie: "My turn or it's not fair!" >:-D Lucifer: "Charlie, no!" --- Scene 4.5 (happens at the dinner party, in Lucifer's room, after Alastor bleeds through his shirt) [Lucifer quickly changed into a red tuxedo. Alastor is lagging, due to his pain and need to clean his wound with a soft cloth.] Lucifer: "Let me help you--" Alastor: "I can handle this." Lucifer: "Would you stop being so stubborn? You're drugged up, drunk, and moving slow as hell. You want to arouse more suspicion or do you wanna get this over with?" [Alastor rolls his eyes and rudely tosses the cloth at Lucifer's face. Lucifer's quick reflexes catch the cloth effortlessly.] Lucifer: "That's what I thought." [Lucifer begins to clean Al's wound. Alastor has a pained expression. He winces and grabs Lucifer's wrist forcefully.] Alastor: "You're being a brute." [Alastor guides Lucifer's hand gently and drops his hand once Lucifer adapts. Lucifer helps bandage Alastor back up and get dressed. They're now both in new tuxedos, sans bow ties. Before Lucifer can grab his bowtie, Alastor snatches it.] Alastor: "Allow me." Lucifer: "I can tie my own bow tie." Alastor: "Did you not say we were in a hurry? I think we both know it will go faster if I just tie it." [Lucifer rolls his eyes but resigns. Alastor ties the bowtie swiftly and perfectly.] Lucifer: "Ugh, how do you do this so easily? Aren't you high?" Alastor: "As a kite." [There is a beat and they both share a laugh. Suddenly they hear a distant voice yelling:] Adam (distant): "So much for a quickie!" Alastor: "We should go."

[zosanbrainrot]

I'm not just cooking, i'm baking a whole ass CAKE

not 100% happy with the design but I wanted to get it out of my system, I went for darker and more muted colors for Zoro while still utilizing the usual elemnts of his outfit like the sash and the haramaki. also the color palette for the full outfit turned out very tasty, like it makes me think of chocolate and sweets. not sure about the use of haramaki though, I feel like it makes the proportions a bit awkward when everything else is dark, but it does make the shirt fold nicely so I may keep it in the end

now that I'm further into WCI I think I should add a suit version as well for the wedding bit hmmm

My idea for this is after coming to Big Mom's territory and fighting her commanders they get to the Germa carriage just like in canon. Zoro watches Sanji fight Luffy, restraining himself from interfering. He respects Luffy's decision to not fight Sanji back, but the moment Luffy gets knocked down it's Zoro's turn to try and bring the cook around and he's not gonna hold back

a very tense fight ensues

[hey-hey-j]

Branch will have you know that he rightfully earned that employee of the month slot thank you very much

(★ my Kofi) | (★ commission info)

[forgettable-au]

What do we think? I think he's like the coolest scientist to ever science

HEY HAPPY 2000 FOLLOWERS‼️HOW DID THAT HAPPEN SO QUICK?????

I'm genuinely so shocked about that I'm so so glad you're all enjoying this AU so far hehehe:D

Also I just made the 1000 followers celebration post like a month ago or something??wow

Here's the guy ‼️‼️ I wanted to practice drawing him quickly and in different poses. I think I achieved that, all this was made with just the lasso fill tool it was soooo fun and I loved not being worried about details just SHAPE

ALL SHAPE (and colors)

[reineydraws]

i have this fic series i'm still working on where mihawk sort of becomes rayleigh's kid and spends ages 11-17ish on the oro jackson.

shanks and buggy imprint on him (bugs considers him a sort of older brother figure/sparring inspiration and shanks has a crush that eventually turns into full-blown love) and this is how i imagine they're like on the day mihawk sets off on his own haha.

[glassedplanets]

a few months ago giffy was like "haha hear me out, what if tattoo au" and then we blacked out and talked about nothing else for like three weeks

[phoenixyfriend]

something something one of those those "Jango falls for Courtesan/Stripper/NightclubSinger/TrophyWife!Obi-Wan" AUs...

But instead Obi-Wan actually being a sex worker, he's undercover and still a Jedi, and either:

They split ways and run into each other a few months later with Obi-Wan in full Prude Beige Knight mode OR

The situation goes pear-shaped while they're still flirting and Obi-Wan has to break cover to grab a senator and jump out a window and suddenly this half-dressed glittery Person is batting away shots with a lightsaber and there's a bratty twelve-year-old who ALSO has a lightsaber threatening people with I Will Eat Your Liver if they keep staring at his dad's ass just because the sequined sheathe dress tore in a sexy place

[akiraal]

it's time to klance-fy bro movies

[yesokayiknow]

human au. some of these guys spend too much time on here and it shows

[saturnaous]

Accidently cooked up a silly little au the other day that I am very much enjoying gonna. talk about it under the cut because4 the FUCKING WORMS

OKAY so basically. literally everythign is the same except for the fact that. Ed got entirely yoinked instead of Alphonse. I dunno why that happens but. It does because I say so. Anyways. So this basically mean that Ed gets bonded to an armor instead of Al, and because I desperately wanted the secondary set of Armor to see some light I thought it would be funny to bond Ed to that instead. I haven't fleshed everything out, but as I'm working on that I wanna add a few of the different things in here just because. And I still might tweak things if I think it doesn't make sense. - Al lost his arm first, then traded his tongue and his eye to bond Ed to the armor, making him effectively mute. He's learned ASL and Ed has to translate for him a lot. Although in my hcs Al is a foodie so like. major bummer for taste buds. He likes fun textures and stuff though. I gotta figure out what problems this poses though so we'll figure that out. - Al most likely is going to go into being a state alchemist just for the fact of staying somewhat close to the storyline and stuff. and I don't know, insert random reasoning in here. Yeah - just a little design note. uhmmmmm I thought the cross thing on Ed's head/helm was cool and I had the bright idea of like "hey what if I put the emblem like. through the cross yk" and I might not do that. But at the moment it looks cool to me. so yeah. I'M STILL TOYING WITH THINGS. . . I have to figure out what happens and designs and stuff. but yeah. I think that covers. what I have for now. p sick. scuttles away

[amanitacurses]

[silvers-starrway]

~ Respite ~

[didderd]

I present to you a dirty stinky man faeu Beetlejuice!

His wings/wing caps are based off a potato beetle, and his antenna are based off Rosalia funebris.

faeu belongs to @/antlered-prince and @/owl-bones.

[somegrumpynerd]

HEY. POINTS FINGER… any thoughts on how everyone reacted when the other joined the team? as in how did killer react when dust came, how did he and dust react when horror came, how did they all react when cross came, etc. i love love LOVE your bad sanses thoughts way too much they make me so happy. if i write hurt you write comfort and it’s awesome. also how do you think they slowly started to get closer? just.. bah give me your thoughts on them!!!! any thoughts!!!!!!!!!

You fool!! You’ve given me a chance to ramble about my special little guys and now this post will stretch on forever!! Mwahahahahah >:3c

No but seriously this is probably gonna be wicked long cause I have 1 million thoughts about these guys joining and meeting each other so uh, readmore for everybody’s safety and sanity

(^ I wrote that in the document before I started typing out my actual thoughts and uh

yeah no kidding, this is like a fucking essay so proceed with caution)

OKAY SO

I’ve said before that Nightmare got Dust for two reasons; one being that Dream had just recently started working with Ink (and soon Blue) so he and Killer were no longer able to gang up on Dream. He wanted somebody else to bulk up their numbers and give Killer a little back up. He also was starting to realise that Killer didn’t handle being alone very well, since this was when he most often got worked up and broke things around the castle (and sometimes tipped over into stage 3). Dust would be a perfect fit since he had the same amount of lvl and fighting experience as Killer, and since they were so close in circumstance they would be practically like brothers right?

The irony that he thought this about a guy he was recruiting to help kill his brother was apparently lost on him.

They absolutely hated each other. Like, it was instant. Killer saw him as a replacement, why would boss go out and get another sans - one with almost the same backstory as me - when I’m right here? Does he think I’m not good enough? Am I disposable and this is the backup for when I die in combat? He didn’t take it well. He took it all out on Dust too, not cooperating in battle, trying to start fights in the castle, etc. He couldn’t outright kill him because Nightmare had given him strict orders not to, but Killer loves a loophole. If he roughed Dust up down to 1hp and something else happened to finish him off, technically he’d followed orders.

Dust just straight up didn’t want to be there. Nightmare just showing up and yoinking him had worked fine with Killer, but Dust had wanted to sit in his empty au and die, he had no intention of joining a team or doing work of any kind - good or bad. The only reason he didn’t just lie down and refuse the entire time was that he had to fight back against Killer, as much as he wanted to die he refused to give this ass the satisfaction or lvl. He didn’t intend to be any help out in the field either, but again, Killer was making sure he got fired at so he had to retaliate to stay alive.

Eventually it got bad enough that Nightmare had to pull Killer aside and demand answers. In the year or so of knowing him Killer had never willfully disobeyed orders before, so Nightmare needed to know what had gotten into him. He dispelled the replacement rumour right away, he still wasn’t quite softened up enough to be sappy about it but he made sure Killer understood what a good worker he was and that Nightmare had no intention of losing him. It didn’t help a lot, they still hated each other for other reasons, but it eased a little.

Killer still had pretty frequent dips into stage 3, except now he would go straight for Dust usually. Nightmare had tried to explain what he’d learned about it to Dust, but he didn’t really believe that it wasn’t just Killer deciding to try and kill him for funsies. He only accepted it after a particular episode where he attacked Nightmare instead, which Dust knew Killer wouldn’t try in his right mind.

After he came back to his senses he sought Dust out. The air around Killer was very different after a stage 3, sort of sombre and almost calm, so Dust let them sit together and Killer apologised for giving him such a hard time. They actually talked for the first time in months while Killer was still calm (or tolerable, as Dust describes it), and it didn’t magically fix everything but, things were a little better. They still fought and argued and bothered each other but it wasn’t as sharp, there was a lack of real murderous intent in it all, and sometimes after an episode they would talk a little bit. It was the best Nightmare was going to get for now, so he took it.

They were still completely incompetent about taking care of themselves though. Neither of them would eat unless prompted and Nightmare didn’t have good enough knowledge of mortals to know when that should be to stop them passing out from hunger on the job. Not to mention the stars were now a full team, and with the way Killer and Dust would sometimes rather target each other on the field he could do with more backup.

Horror was the first of the group to get a choice in joining. Nightmare had taken note of how much Dust didn’t want to be part of things, and while it was in his best interests in the long run given his situation, Horror’s au was still mostly intact - though a little in disrepair. Horror was also the first in the group to have a good (and ongoing) relationship with his brother, so Nightmare knew he couldn’t just pop in and steal him, he had to be a bit more diplomatic with this one and offer a deal.

He gave Horror some time to think on his proposal - he would set up regular deliveries of food to Horror’s au in exchange for him joining their team - and was quite surprised when Horror agreed, with some stipulations. Horror was equally surprised when Nightmare agreed so easily to his terms (that he didn’t want his brother to know what he’d be doing, and that he wouldn’t kill). A little down the line the terms were altered to add that he would also be left to visit his au every week or so.

Horror was not impressed meeting the other two. He didn’t need his power as judge anymore to sense the lvl coming off them both, and given who they were working for he was instantly distrustful of them both (the uh, brother situation did not help). He was also in a place that had an abundance of food for the first time in probably years, so he was doing a lot of going hog wild in the kitchen and then getting very sick as a result.

Dust didn’t particularly feel anything for him. This guy hated him, sure, but it wasn’t forward and slashy like with Killer, it was just quiet loathing which was fine. That’s how Dust felt about himself so, y’know, mood. He did kind of feel sorry for him though, not just because of the whole famine and everything, but also because he was watching this guy eat like his life depended on it and then get sick and undo it day after day. He was the one who suggested Horror getting his food in moderation to Nightmare, which did help but was an absolute ordeal to enforce. Y’know how some people get hangry? Imagine that but you haven’t had a proper meal in years and now these people give you tiny amounts of food and don’t let you eat more for hours. The hunger mood swings were a sight to behold, you would never have guessed in those days that Horror specified not wanting to kill.

When his ability to eat had evened out and he was in better shape, Horror made a point of apologising to Dust for being aggressive with him. Over time he’d kind of softened up on him from his initial impression, since he could see plainly how wracked with guilt Dust was over his situation. It was a little easier to imagine that whatever he’d done was truly out of desperation and not just for fun, as Horror had assumed at first sight. 

They also both retained that classic sans laziness, so it was easy for them to share a space while saying and doing nothing. It made Horror the first person that Dust willingly spent time around in the castle (and vice versa since Horror was still largely suspicious of Nightmare and Killer - the deal seemed too good to be true and the stage 3 episodes didn’t help). As time went on, Horror kind of became Dust’s emotional support skeleton in a way. Dust had become quite averse to touch in his solitude and Horror very slowly brought him back out with casual gentle touches, until not only did he no longer freeze or stiffen at being grabbed but Dust would seek him out to flop next to on the couch. Horror claimed it was just returning the favour for helping with his eating situation, but really it was nice to have something resembling a friend here.

Killer, for his part, was going through This is My Replacement 2: Electric Boogaloo. Not to the same degree as with Dust, since Horror was quite a bit different, but Killer was still wary of this new addition. He didn’t really instigate anything though since, to be honest, Horror had the intimidation factor. He was like a foot taller than both of them, he had a cracked skull and completely different magic and it seemed like every time Killer saw him he was eating bread like a wolf eats a deer. So while he was going through his food moderating, Killer mostly just stayed quiet and kept his distance.

Horror had not softened on him like he had with Dust, since Killer didn’t openly show remorse. He still watched him with distrust, especially after seeing the way he scrapped with Dust for seemingly no reason other than for violence’s sake. Killer was still mostly targeting Dust in his stage 3s, but Horror had to be careful to stay out of his way since he was still working with much lower hp than the other two. What did start to convince him was seeing how similar Killer and Dust were after a stage 3 episode. Once Killer was slightly more composed (ie stopped crying), he became so tired and quiet and blunt about things he normally joked his way around. It was a little startling, but also started to bring Horror around to the idea that Killer might regret his actions too, just buried under several layers of whatever the hell is also wrong with him at any given time.

Killer and Horror only really started interacting after talking about Dust. Killer was asking how he got Dust to like him since he seems to hate everyone and everything else, Horror told him very pointedly it was because he wasn’t trying to kill Dust. Killer admitted he wasn’t trying to kill Dust, at least not anymore, he just wanted to fight for fun. It opened up a better channel of understanding, knowing that Killer did not actually have murderous intent behind his swings (stage 3 notwithstanding). It made it easier for Horror to occasionally get involved in the roughhousing which Killer delighted in, knowing that the other two knew how to hold back enough to keep him from dusting.

Speaking of stage 3, it was around this time that Killer and Dust made a very important deal. After a particularly rough episode with a little too close of a call, Killer showed up in Dust’s room and begged him shakily to make a promise - that if he ever got too out of control during one of his stages, Dust would kill him. He’d been told over and over by Nightmare that it was impossible for Killer to hurt him since he was immortal, but now there were more people around him where that wasn’t the case, and he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he came out of a stage and found himself alone. Dust promised.

It’s also worth mentioning that, once they were all close enough to be on speaking terms, Horror started bullying the shit out of these two about eating. Now that Horror knew neither of them were going to kill him, he felt safe enough to pick them up by the scruff and set them at the table to say they weren’t leaving until they had at least a snack. He let them pick what they would eat - he wasn’t that cruel about it - but he had to see them eat at least 3 times a day or they would hear about it.

It was by no means perfect or regular, but after about half a year Nightmare finally had henchmen who ate food and worked together (mostly).

Now here’s the problem… I still haven’t really figured out how or why Cross joined the team. Like, obviously there’s some kind of point in the events of underverse where it splits off into an alternate timeline, but I haven’t really figured out where yet so. Leave that one with me just a little longer. Cross joins.

Nightmare really truly didn’t intend to take anyone else in. They were (mostly) getting along, they were pretty well matched to fight the stars, he had no need of more mortals.

…but he was also pretty soft at this point. Every one of them had taken a blow to his I’m immortal I’m an island I don’t get attached to others persona and he’d gotten pretty damn fond of them all. This was why when he felt the sheer weight of loneliness radiating off of Cross, he just couldn’t bring himself to leave him.

So Cross entered the castle. 

He did not particularly intend to stay or make friends, he was trying to get his world back and nothing more. He even revealed a little down the line that he outright refused to kill, and was quite surprised to find that Nightmare was fine with that. At the start he was polite but not friendly with the others and mostly kept to himself.

Dust, as is often the case, did not really have an opinion. Another new guy, this one was self sufficient and didn’t bother him so he had no reason to get involved. He was content to be in the same room as Cross but didn’t start up any conversations.

Horror felt the need to speak to Cross, since Dust would happily stay silent for years and Killer was, well, Killer. Horror was somehow the closest thing to normal they had, so he was the one that made small talk. Mostly asking what Cross would like for meals and encouraging him to pick something he liked when he got the answer of “anything is fine”. As Cross settled in a bit more and actually opened up, they bonded over being the only two to enjoy food. Horror made a point of adding chocolate to the stock they kept in the kitchen and making tacos here and there for Cross.

Horror was also the first Cross kind of warmed to, mostly because he was the one devoid of lvl and Nightmare had mentioned he’d also said he wouldn’t kill. Learning a little about his au’s situation only softened Cross to him more, especially seeing that he still cared a lot for his brother and was trying to protect his home (even if Cross found it unthinkable that he lived away from it). It was through Horror that he also got accustomed to Dust, how being quiet and distant was kind of his default and that he also felt deeply haunted by the loss of his world. They weren’t exactly friends, but it was comfortable enough.

So now boss had taken in another new person, someone who takes orders like a soldier and fights with knives and ruthless precision and aims to be his righthand man, and Killer was ecstatic. By now he’d mostly put his fears of being disposable behind him, Nightmare had gotten a bit less subtle in showing how important they all were to him and Killer felt confident he wouldn’t be replaced. Which was a little bit funny, because the only guy he didn’t feel threatened by was the one who absolutely competed for his spot.

Cross needed to prove he was useful, he had to feel like he earned his keep and that all the training and suffering he’d done was for a reason. When Nightmare sent them on missions, Cross aimed to be the fastest and the most efficient and to report to Nightmare without question. Horror and Dust looking on would have expected Killer to see this 100% as a threat to his position as (self proclaimed) Nightmare’s second in command, and to go for this guy’s throat when nobody else was around.

But Killer was fascinated. Cross was completely different from any of them, bar Nightmare whose au is a whole different kettle of fish, so he had a certain element of unpredictability to him. Horror and Dust were both based on classic sans just like him, so to a certain degree he knew how they would feel about most things and what they might say, the only differences being in what they had experienced through their own timelines. Cross was based on a swap sans and his au had taken wild twists and turns away from usual events, so Killer had to learn everything about him by poking and prodding for answers or observing from a distance, much like back when it was just him and Nightmare. Cross was something new to be studied and Killer loved taking notes.

Cross did not see this as friendly. He was competing with Killer for approval, not realising Killer was playing their contest like a game. When he saw Cross training he would jump in to spar for fun, but Cross saw his rival trying to get a jump on him and take him out of the running. When Killer would hang around and pester Cross in their off time with questions, it didn’t seem like someone taking interest, it seemed like someone being nosy and looking for weaknesses to exploit. When Horror mentioned that Killer was being surprisingly contained and friendly, Cross really thought he was fucking with him.

The first time Cross was willing to even consider this was the case was when his locket came loose on the field and Killer ran back to find it, since one of the notes he’d taken was how the locket wasn’t something Cross would play about (the same as Horror with food). It didn’t make sense for someone who was seriously competing to have him kicked out to just hand his necklace back, no ransoms or attempts to crush it to upset him, just some vague remark about “owing him one” and then right back to Nightmare for orders.

Cross had to give him something of a chance after that, Horror helped a lot by telling him “he doesn’t want to hurt you, he just doesn’t know how to be normal”. It was mostly a playful jab at Killer, but reframing their interactions changed it significantly for Cross. Now they were sparring playfully and having friendly competition on jobs. He wasn’t as put off when Killer went into stage 3 because he knew he could match him in combat and the others were always on hand to help restrain or distract him. Cross also took note of how Killer calmed down a lot for physical touch, not unlike how Dust had warmed up to Horror. It went a long way into not only making him a little less combative for attention every day, but it seemed to put longer stretches between his episodes (which Cross had also started tracking so they wouldn’t be caught out by them as much).

For his part, Killer has disobeyed instructions in the past to benefit Cross, usually ignoring the task to help him if he’s hurt. He’s also given Nightmare nudges towards praising him because he’s noted that that’s what Cross needs in the same way he needs touch (not that Nightmare doesn’t praise them normally, but when Cross is going through it and needs something). He also doesn’t particularly like chocolate but has made a point of not admitting this to Horror so he can give his chocolate to Cross.

(It’s also worth noting that Cross is the only one, besides Nightmare, that has been to Horror’s au. He offered to help out during the food delivery and got to meet Horror’s Papyrus (who he is a little intimidated by but ultimately friendly with, even though it’s a little weird since he’s a good bit different from his own Papyrus). Dust and Killer can’t really visit for a few reasons, mostly because everyone will notice their lvl immediately and know what they’ve done. Dust especially doesn’t know how he would react to having a Papyrus in front of him again and doesn’t want to put Horror's family at risk to find out. Whenever he visits, his Papyrus asks about Cross now and sometimes tries to make tacos for him (key word tries, he’s still a Papyrus after all). He may have joked that seeing Cross sometimes is “like having another brother but younger and less lazy” and when Horror told him this Cross may or may not have cried.)

And that’s where we are now!

They’re a very strange group who’ve been through some inexplicable events and have all changed each other in one way or another. And whether or not it can be admitted, they are a family c:

Now onto how Nightmare was made emotionally open by each of them!! In this essay I will no just kidding could you imagine this is already like 7 pages long

If you got to the end of this post please drink some water and get yourself a snack