#and toriel is dead too

[angstyboi-hmph]

I have 0 idea what I'm doing with my life BUT I know I can NOT WRITE the story I wanna tell so instead I'll DRAW IT

[sysig]

“It could be that the loss of her children drove the Queen deeper into her darker desires...but, I don’t believe she was fighting against them that hard before that particular tragedy. No monster does.” (Patreon)

Bonus:

Hmm, wonder what he could cover those holes with :3c

[lynxgriffin]

Eldritchrune - Story Setup and Character Info

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Full text transcriptions under the read more:

Hometown was once a quiet, largely rural community…until, as often happens, much larger powers decided to move in. An expanding empire takes over the land around the small community, and the old town is now surrounded by a rapidly growing fortress and city. A more threatening military presence is felt, and poverty quickly creeps in as the expanding empire takes advantage of the residents still in Hometown. 

[Image of a smaller, more rural Hometown with a much larger city and fortress walls behind it]

While the younger generation at least attempts to adapt to all the changes, the older generation deeply resents this intrusion into their old home. Many of the elders, including Asgore and Toriel Dreemurr, Father Alvin, Mayor Holiday and her husband Rudolph, form their own tight-knit group that soon spirals into a cult.They’re a small community with no means of standing up to an empire’s armies. But, there’s always been old whispers of things far more powerful and terrible…old gods and strange horrors that hail from a Dark World parallel to their own. The cult focuses their attention specifically on tales of a Dark Prince, a goatlike entity made of fire and shadow that can pacify any enemy. Surely, if they can gain the favor of something so dark and powerful, they’ll have a means of driving away all of these intruders and restoring Hometown to the way it used to be.

However, as everyone knows, trying to call up old gods demands sacrifices. Mayor Holiday, having gotten the group together, tries to take the brunt of this duty and first sacrifices her daughter, December. However, it seems to be a botched ritual, and nothing useful results from it, leaving the Mayor extremely bitter. The other elders are tasked with picking up vagrants or other troublemakers to try and successfully complete this ritual, but none seem to work. 

Unwilling to offer up their own dutiful son, Asriel, the Dreemurrs instead adopt an orphan from the poverty-stricken streets of the encroaching city: Kris. However, they find that upon adopting them, Asriel quickly forms a close bond with Kris. Asriel, like most of the younger generation, is unaware of his parents and grandparents’ intentions. Kris is not easy to take care of sometimes…they have weird interests, aren’t very clean, and are often disobedient. Despite this, Toriel and Asgore find Kris growing on them, too. The thought of sacrificing them gets harder and harder to swallow. [Image of Kris and a human Asriel hanging out together and talking while Asriel sits at a writing desk. Toriel and Asgore look on the both of them from a nearby doorway.] However, the other elders start to pressure them, questioning why they’re so intent on keeping this weird orphan around. Aren’t they a symbol of everything going wrong with their little community, and with this invading modern future? Toriel continues to put it off, using the excuse that she is doing extensive research to make sure that they finally do this ritual correctly. While she is indeed conducting research, she also knows that they can’t do anything with Kris as long as Asriel is around with them. 

However, when Asriel is offered an extended stay at the city’s new university to get advanced training as a scholar, the Dreemurrs don’t have an excuse anymore. At the other elders’ behest to do what’s necessary for the good of the town, they decide to conduct the ritual with Kris. The cult brings Kris to an underground shelter in the woods outside town, with Kris none the wiser about their intentions until they are incapacitated and unable to escape.  Toriel’s extensive research pays off, and Kris is appropriately sacrificed to the Dark Prince. The ritual causes them to vanish from this plane, seemingly dead…but there’s still no sign of the old god they were trying to summon. 

[Image of Asgore, Toriel and other older townsfolk, dressed in various goat or deer masks and robes, with Asgore carrying Kris towards an altar.]

The Dreemurrs are distraught at this seeming failure, after they worked so hard to ensure that they did this right. The remaining elders double down, though, insisting that they have to keep trying. Asriel returns from his training, and is devastated to find his sibling missing. Toriel and Asgore, unable to admit what they did, lie to Asriel and say that Kris had a huge argument and left home on their own. Asriel vows to search for them and bring them back home, and while his parents try to dissuade him from this, they’re unsuccessful. 

[Image of Asriel stepping out the door of his home, a large backpack slung over his shoulder, and waving off Toriel and Asgore in the foreground. They stay indoors while he heads out into the world.]

Meanwhile, unknown to anyone in the Light World, the ritual was actually successful, and transported Kris to the Dark World…right into the home of Ralsei, the very Dark Prince they were trying to reach! Ralsei is delighted to finally have an actual human from the Light World visit him! Sure, he’s heard about all those previous sacrifices, but they never actually got to him. The Dark World and the afterlife aren’t really the same place, after all. [Image of Kris floating down into a new Dark World, where Dark Prince Ralsei stands next to a large cauldron and welcomes them.]

Kris, however, is infuriated and despondent…they’ve already had a very hard life as an orphan, and now just when it seemed like they had a new family they could trust, that trust was broken by adults who once again threw them away for their own purposes. Ralsei, ever cheerful, assures them that they must be here for a reason…and that he has a means for them to not only return to the Light World, but get retribution for what’s happened to them and their Hometown. 

[Image of the silhouettes of many large eldritch beasts: Susie, Noelle, Berdly and Catti.]

The Dark World is full of eldritch beasts, strange demons and old gods, after all. He can grant them the forbidden knowledge and ability to speak to and even command these eldritch beasts. Once they form a strong enough bond with the beasts, and make it through the bound gods that may bar the way, they can bring them back to the world of light…and command them to do whatever Kris would like to the people living there. However, such power and ability comes at a high cost…Kris’s human soul. 

[Image of Kris giving their soul to Ralsei; the soul emanates a red glow between them.]

Kris, seeing little other option and not feeling much attachment to their humanity anyway, agrees and sells their soul to the Dark Prince Ralsei. Ralsei excitedly promises that he’ll take extra good care of their soul, and that he’ll accompany them as they befriend the eldritch beasts lurking in the Dark World. This arrangement certainly has some other benefits for Kris, too…in addition to this forbidden knowledge, Ralsei’s control over their soul grants them a degree of invulnerability. If Kris dies or is somehow psychologically destroyed, Ralsei can use it to revive them completely. 

[Image of Kris, now decked out with armor and a sword, standing on a cliffside looking out over the Dark World. Ralsei stands nearby.]

Ralsei gives Kris suitable armor and weaponry for this venture, and the two set out into a vast Dark Realm of strange horrors, lost cities and twisting paths in search of new friends and a means back to the Light World. While Kris is unsure about this journey at first, Ralsei is all smiles, excited for them to gain some friendships that they clearly desperately need! Of course, he’s excited for other reasons, too…those cultists have been calling out to him for such a long time, and now with Kris’s human soul, he can finally enter the Light World. Kris can forge the bonds they’ve been lacking, Ralsei and the eldritch beasts they find will finally have access to the human world, and the people clamoring for terrible things to happen will get exactly what they asked for. How could that not be a happy ending?

[carlyraejepsans]

Technically speaking, he was a light sleeper.

Which was just hilarious for two different reasons. One, he topped at twenty pounds soaking wet—and that was after he'd reached for the towel. The joke basically wrote itself. The other reason was, of course, that nobody believed him. Honestly, he could kinda get it. It's pretty hard for irony to escape him, even on a bad day. The way he saw it, though, maybe he wouldn't take as many naps as he did, if he just managed to get one to stick.

...heh, nah. Probably not. Late to rise, early to bed, makes a man lazy or clinically dead, or however the saying went. Still.

The kid stiffened against his ribcage and that was all it took for his eyes to fly open.

The popcorn ceiling of the living room stared back at him through the darkness in all its tacky glory. Now that's another joke that writes itself. It wasn't a movie night at Tori's without some comment about her taste in decor. That always earned him a round of groans. Or a halfhearted pillow to the head. It was one of his favorite moodsetters.

His hand dangled in the air at his side. Not on the floor. Just a few months earlier, that alone would've told him he wasn't in his room, but oh boy, had things changed. He had a bedframe now, not to mention enough self respect for one. AND fitted sheets—that was a lifetime first. You had to be careful not to fall off, but all things considered, it was the fanciest bed he'd slept on since he'd tried using his worker bonus at MTT's. If he risked falling off the bed now, he'd risked never finding his way out then. Not to mention the guy in the other room calling for room service the entire night. He almost retired the midnight snacks bit on Undyne out of sympathy the next time she came over.

Almost.

The kid's head twitched.

Right. Popcorn. Living room. Springy mattress. He didn't need to smoke a pipe to realize he'd fallen asleep on the sofa. Didn't need a goofy hat either to see that someone must've thought he'd make a good pillow. Go figure. He'd gotten real good at making himself look softer under his clothes, but still, it wasn't exactly the kind of magic a guy could keep up with his eyes closed and a pillow behind his head. He just hoped they weren't too uncomfortable.

He must've dozed off sometime after Papyrus left the house and Toriel turned in for the night, 'cause nobody had stopped by to throw a blanket over him. Most nights that would've been fine. Nice thought aside, skeletons didn't really feel cold "to their bones", on account of lacking all the soft and fleshy stuff on top of 'em.

Yeah, well. Most nights. Most nights he didn't have a human kid sleeping on top of him, either.

Sans looked down. He resisted the urge to blow a strand of hair out of their face.

Most nights, skeletons didn't have hearts beating against their ribs.

Ba-dum—ba-dum—ba-dum.

He would've asked them if it felt any different, having it beat on the other side of their ribcage, if they hadn't already crawled their way inside his months before.

Heh. Not like they hadn't done the same with everyone else. Or ever asked for permission, the little freeloader. But he supposed that part came free with being monsters. The whole HOPE and compassion and everything nice kinda shtick. As a rule, they were, uh, very prone to attachment. It was hardwired into their SOULs or something. Of course, he knew better than anyone that compassion had its cost, and he'd ran low on HOPE for a long, long while, but...

There was a ray of light coming through the kitchen at night like he hadn't seen in an even longer time. The kind with a moon and stars hung at the other end of it.

Yeah. Maybe he could afford something nice for once.

Frisk stirred again. He kept as still as possible as they wriggled around, pushing themself off of him—trying, he assumed, not to shove their boney little knees somewhere unpleasant.

Then they flopped to their side and fell to the floor with a thud.

See, THAT'S the kinda issue you don't have when you have no self respect.

Slowly, the kid got to their feet again. They stood perfectly straight for a moment, then took an unsteady step forward. Then another.

To call it "walking" would've been an act of mercy. It was more of an ambling. Maybe a shambling. Sans watched their journey towards the kitchen mentally listing of adverbs. Stumbling. Fumbling. Trailing. That one didn't have a mbl in it, points for originality.

Mostly, he was ecstatic. Nothing made for fun breakfast stories quite like sleepwalking. And well, he hadn't had one of those since Papyrus turned fifteen and stopped sleeping entirely.

When the kid finally reached the fridge, they all but shoved their head inside it. He heard them do... something in there. There were definitely teeth involved. He was about to ask them to bring some goods back to homebase.

The door of the fridge clicked closed.

He didn't.

Then, he almost made a joke about forgetting their headlights on, but thought otherwise. He was glad he'd left his own off.

Besides, it was the taillights that were supposed to glow red.

Eyesockets dark and still pretending to sleep, he kept watch as the kid turned around and retraced their shambling steps to the living room like a miniature zombie.

Halfway to the sofa, they stopped, making a small sound like a grumbling of annoyance. For a second their eyes grew even more unfocused.

"Sleep," they rasped out in a low, halting whisper, "I saved you a crick in the neck."

It took him a second to register that the kid wasn't talking to him. Mostly 'cause Frisk didn't speak. To him. Or ever.

By the time they reached their starting point again, his excitement had died off into quiet confusion and quickly curdled into caution. They stopped at the edge of the sofa and fixed him with a stare, looking at where they'd been sleeping before. Sans waited.

"I am not doing that," they rasped to themself again.

Then they climbed onto the other end of the sofa and curled around themself as small as possible. So tightly it looked like they wanted to tuck their tiny body into a ball.

When they stopped moving, they didn't move again.

Sans didn't lift a finger. His brain whirred in his skull, ready to chalk up the past few minutes to the sleepwalking and forget they ever happened. Staring up at the popcorn ceiling again, though, he couldn't shake off a wave of uneasiness; like he'd seen something he wasn't quite supposed to put together.

Any man would've spent the night awake.

He cast a glance at the kid, huddled in their corner. There was no heartbeat against his ribs now: something about the silence felt foreboding.

Sans closed his eyes.

Ten minutes later, of course, he was out like a light.

[haveyouseenthisskeleton]

Because Edge has such a great personality, I would love to know his opinion on the other skeletons. Are they worthy of his attention or not?

Let's have a tour of what Edge thinks of all his fellow skeletons.

Undertale Sans - Clearly a pale copy of his brother, but without anything to look scary. What is even the point of his existence? He would be long dead in his world. He swears the guy is hiding something though. He always feels uncomfortable when he's staring at him for too long.

Undertale Papyrus - He thought he was a pale copy of himself until his Undyne challenged him to fight with Lesser Papyrus and Edge got his butt kicked so hard he ended in shock. WTF. He has no LV and he swears he was still holding back to not hurt him. How strong is that guy??? Edge doesn't like him.

Underswap Sans - Unsufferable little shit that thinks is more clever than everyone because he's super fast. How the hell is he a royal guard? One of these days, he will show him he's not that clever when fighting a real royal guard. And he's not saying that because that little shit arrested him one day for driving too fast without a license. Not at all.

Underswap Papyrus - A decent one. Edge loves to hang out with him, especially in front of Blue to make him mad. Honey is a good cook, and he's not impressed by his edgy face. He doesn't consider him a friend; he has no friends. But if he had friends, they would be Honey-shaped.

Underfell Sans - What? You expect him to say he loves his brother or something? Get out of here, that's none of your business!

Horrortale Sans - He can respect that guy. When Edge bullied him, he for sure never expected to almost be beheaded by the largest axe he had ever seen. He stays out of his path now. That guy knows how to fight, even though he's not showing it.

Horrortale Papyrus - Fuck that guy. He came to find him after he bullied his brother and lectured him for two hours like a child. Does he look like a child? Anyway, when Edge tried to escape, he grabbed him by the arm with his gigantic hand and Edge realized that maybe it would be best to listen to him after all.

Horrorswap Sans - Looks too similar to his younger version but gets really mad when accidentally called Blue. Edge did the mistake once and got surprise by how fast that guy is despite having only one leg. That's a horror movie cryptid.

Horrorswap Papyrus - He doesn't like him or anything, but can't help but feel protective around him. I mean, look at him. He's like a lost puppy or something. The big bad world is going to eat him alive one of these days.

Horrorfell Sans - He's glad he could take his brother out of hell before this. Edge actually respects Copper a lot for surviving through the famine despite being as weak as Red. Edge tries to help him and his brother when he can.

Horrorfell Papyrus - He has a hard time thinking he could have been in that situation, but he admires Chief for not giving up. He's not sure he would have been strong enough to stay as optimistic despite the pain. Chief is a little bit like his model, and Edge likes to hang out with him when he has some time.

Swapfell Sans - Finally a good training partner that is both challenging and competitive. Edge has a lot of fun training with Nox (who is definitely not his best friend at all). However, he can see Nox is very haunted by his role in the Royal Guard. Edge saw that look in old soldiers he trained, who are here only because it's paying well. Except Nox is not old at all. He's worried he might make a big mistake one of these days and is in negotiation with his Asgore to sort of hire him in his guard, so he can take his distances with his Toriel. He can tell his Toriel is not a good person.

Swapfell Papyrus - He's so similar to his brother that it hurts. Lazy, loud, pranking people all day. It's not even a surprise Red spends all his days with him. Ok, maybe one or two of his pranks amused him at some point, and maybe that guy is somehow charming enough for everyone to eat in his hands, but that's definitely not Edge's case (yes. yes it is).

Fellswap Gold Sans - He sees himself a lot in Wine, maybe with a little (LOT, A LOT) of manipulation. He's not sure Wine sees him as a friend, but Edge is definitely going to him when he needs advice. He's a bit the father figure he never had even though he looks like his brother and it's really weird. But at least he is always (brutally) honest with him and Edge needs that sometimes.

Fellswap Gold Papyrus - He can tell Coffee is following him everywhere like he's some sort of role model. That made Edge uncomfortable at first, but now he's worried when Coffee is not there to follow him around, asking a hundred questions. He is used to that.

Outertale Sans & Papyrus - He doesn't know them. But they look like pale copies of his brother and him. Except these ones fly for some reason. How though? Skeletons don't have wings???

Dancetale Sans & Papyrus - How many of these pacifist guys are there out there? Why the hell these ones are dancing???

Dancefell Sans - Uh... He didn't think there could be a weaker version of his brother honestly but here is Rumba he guesses. He got confused that one time he asked him to show his fight move and the guy started dancing??? How the hell did he survive so long???

Dancefell Papyrus - What the hell is that. That guy looks like him but he acts like Mettaton somehow. Edge is very disturbed and doesn't like him.

Farmtale Sans & Papyrus - They are decent. He expected yet another version of those pacifist weaklings, but somehow Sam is a lot more interesting than the others, not scared to talk back to him or fight him when he gets too insulting. Edge can respect that. Ben reminds him of himself when he was younger, full of hope and very shy. He's worried he might get crushed by the world at some point.

Mafiatale Sans - Annoying as hell. Literally exploded his wall once because he insulted his brother. Edge is holding back everytime he sees his stupid face, he wants to fight that guy so bad.

Mafiatale Papyrus - Creeper is scary. He only feared Asgore before, but that guy is even scarier. He doesn't say anything. He keeps staring at him. Menacingly. Edge doesn't like him.

Mafiafell Sans - He wishes his brother was similar to him, a little more active. Too bad Fang hates him because of what happened with Torpedo. Edge wanted to know him more before it happened.

Mafiafell Papyrus - Torpedo is the version of him he for sure doesn't want to become. Insulting, condescending, thinking he knows everything and clearly has too much power. The first thing Torpedo did was to laugh at him, saying he looks like a clown in his royal guard armor, in front of all his friends. So yeah, Edge got mad and attacked him. Maybe he underestimated the crazy amount of LV this guy has. You can only reach that by killing for fun, Edge saw that LV in the monsters he executed for Asgore. He doesn't like him, he knows Torpedo is a ticking bomb that will cause at some point a lot of damage because, with so much LV, it's impossible to stay in control for long. Edge hates him and hopes he will never turn like that.

Ink - ???????? His brain can't understand what that Ink guy is. He prefers to say out of his way.

Error - He can tell he's dangerous, but he's not sure why. He's uncomfortable around him and doesn't want to know more about him.

Disbelief Papyrus - Despite clearly being a clone of the pacifist guy, he can tell this one went through a lot and is a lot more similar to him than he would like. That Papyrus lost a lot of things and sacrificed his life so his universe could survive. Edge respects him a lot and tries to show him he's there if he wants to talk, even though he's not the best at that.

Killer Sans - Even though his brother likes him a lot, Edge prefers to keep a safe distant. He saw that guy LV, it's way too high for someone who pretends so well to be a jokester. Edge is not fooled by his little game. That Sans is dangerous.

Dustale Sans - He acts like Doomfanger??? He fights with Doomfanger??? Is that skeleton a skeleton or a mutant cat? He's not sure.

[zuzuelectricbugaloo]

Color Spectrum Duo Origins Part 1: The Cannibal Hymn

Word count: 1,121

Rating: Teen

Romantic relationships: None

Cw: Cannibalism of deceased monster remains, death, murder, allusions to programming and coding abuse for Killer, emotional detachment and numbness per Stage 2 and Stage 3, minor species dysphoria

Synopsis: A meat (not) cute between Killer and Color

There’s a visceral crunch, flesh and oozing blood squelching around the knife violently stabbing into his victim until the dusting monster is an unidentifiable mess of broken, bloody bones and shredded limbs in the snow.

His chest elevates and compresses, pants visible in the cold air with every expeditious inhale for breath he doesn’t need. His mana thrums in his body, joints sparking with agitated magic, the powder blue color a sharp juxtaposition of the sanguine staining the snow, his clothes, and the mutilated corpse by his unlaced shoes stained cherry red.

Corroded determination oozes out his sockets to the pulse of freshly acquired LV burning through his leylines, liquid heat scorching his marrow. The heavy stench of iron and copper burn through his nasal aperture and flood his mouth with the forbidden taste.

“Wow, you really let Toriel have it.”

Chara floated in his periphery, revering the gore and remains of what was once a lovely, pristine white coat shaping a warm, friendly monster.

Now there’s nothing but a mutilated corpse slowly dusting away, abandoned and alone in the middle of Snowdin forest, in a bloodbath of his own design.

“We better head back before the “Boss” calls, huh?” Chara hummed. They spun in the air, idly kicking their legs as they aerially circumvented his skull. “Think he’ll let you eat this time?”

Killer wipes his blade on the component of his shorts not stained red. He shrugged.

Chara frowned from his nonverbal replication. “Seriously? I’m pretty sure you haven’t eaten since the massacre in one of Starboy’s AUs and all you do is shrug?”

Despite the hollowness in his chest, a grin tugs at the corner of his mouth when he shrugs again. He hoists his blade up to his sockets and flips it over. Noting with dissatisfaction that it’s still stained.

Killer brings the knife up to his mouth. His oral orifice tingles and sparks into a construct, his now evoked tongue sliding passed his parted jaw to lick his sullied blade clean, the taste of copper flooding his senses.

Chara’s face scrunches up like they’d swallowed something sour.

“Okay, ew.”

He thought it was impressive how a dead human could be so full of shit. “Don’t really have any wipes in my inventory,” Killer reminded them, “And licking blood ain’t the worst thing I’ve done.”

“No, but it’s the grossest. And why resort to cannibalism now?”

“Not cannibalism.” Killer pointed to their target-shaped Soul. “We’re not human or monster anymore, right? So, technically, not cannibalism.”

Despite their ostensibly permanent smile, Chara’s hooded eyes and pursed brows were decidedly unimpressed.

A sense of foreboding trickled down his spine when their lifeless, red-slitted eyes brightened.

“Hey, if you’re so hungry,” the smile on that cherubic face convulsed into a dark, convoluted sneer. “Why don’t you eat? I mean, who knows when you’ll get the chance again, right?”

He knew to Obey a Command when he heard one. Thinly veiled threats masked by saccharine inquiries. It was par the course from his owners.

”Oh yeah,” he muttered, hollow. When was the last time he ate? His body ached and his bones rattled with exhaustion.

Nightmare feasted on emotions. He didn’t need tangible sustenance like Killer.

The crimson mass of flesh in the snow melted slowly, unable to dust completely with his magic preventing it from doing so just yet.

Killer eyed an indiscernible piece next to his sneaker.

He knew it was wrong. That this was stooping too low even for him.

And yet he feels nothing when he crouches down. He feels nothing when he scoops a piece of torn flesh from the bloodied snow and hoists the verboten meat to his maw.

He feels nothing when the stench of decay floods his nasal aperture, tastes the chewy bitterness of forbidden Red flooding his mouth with the taste of copper and his sharpened cuspids tear apart the tough sinew of muscles until they shred like easily feasted ribbons that melt on his tongue, magic into magic.

Maybe he should feel something, violating the corpse of the former Queen of Monsters who embodied the very Trait of Kindness. He smashes apart bones and marrow alike, feasts on her heart, the tiny, inverted heart he’d prevented from discombobulating completely with his Determination, and swallows it, swallows her, and swallows her magic to aliment his own. He’d taken a life and dishonored it in the worst way imaginable, and he feels nothing.

Stealing from the dead to live on their hearts and magic for his own damned Soul.

And yet, he is devoid of life.

It tasted awful, it brought him no joy, the taste filled his mouth with acid.

Yet he feels nothing. Food is food. He will die without it.

He will die if he disobeys a Command.

“Damn Sansy,” Chara whistled, high and impressed. “You’re a freak, but I never thought you were a freak!”

No, Sans would never do this.

His claws tore apart an arm, ripping the muscles and sinews and steadfastly ignoring the fresh splash of blood that splattered his skull.

But he was not Sans.

Killer grinned, teeth sharp and wide and stained crimson when his stare leveled onto Chara. “Sans is dead, and I’m his tomb.” He titled his skull back and tossed another piece into his mouth. “I’m the Killer.”

Sans lived lifetimes ago. Now, there is only Killer in this purgatory. Like the ancient King Unas, a blood-thirsty devourer.

Snap!

The sound of a camera shutter going off has Killer’s body tensing and whipping his skull around to the source of the noise.

There in the distance, a skeleton with polychromatic fire pouring out the cracks in their skull gapes at Killer with their singular eyelight. Their camera nearly falls to the snow in their shock if it weren’t for the strap around their neck keeping it in place.

Killer can smell the shock, the sweet tangy scent of fear pouring off of them the longer they hold their gaze.

“Uhhhhhh…” The skeleton froze. They both stared at each other. The silence is a heavy, tangible thing, nothing but the dead and wind to fill the void. “…Hi?”

Killer’s neck cracks from the sharp, abrupt tilt he does to fling his skull to the side. His grin widens when the uncomfortable sound provokes a grimace from the monster.

“Hello.” His Soul spins, swarming and buzzing and shifting and unable to determine the proper threat level before him.

Determination surges. It sparks in his claws and surges out like minuscule bolts of lighting into a sanguine blade in his palm. It burns him from the inside out, onyx rivers of tinged sanguine oozing out his grinning mouth and voided sockets.

“Goodbye.”

Killer lunged.

[the-afterparty-au]

[✨*ABOUT✨]

The Afterparty AU is briefly summarized as taking place in a party within the void, lasting forever after a genocide route that was never undone. After many months of nothing but wind, our first fallen human realized the world was not going to be reverted by the player, and they stayed true to their word of Erasure. Chara however, simply getting bored decides to play a game framed as a experiment & brings back all the monsters you failed to befriend in a Genocide route back for a encore. Allowing everyone to reside in the void, a space between files & between deltarune and UNDERTALE. The amount of monsters that are happy about this is uncertain, but all of them are certainly questioning literally everything that brought them here.  (Lightly Inspired by these fanworks so, Thanks to @garbagechocolate, @djsmell & @jazze-bee for accidentally inspiring me to make a whole AU)

By; Modphys (They/them) (Main Blog & Art Blog: @kates-cave & @ryzies-ralley)  Modtaton (He/they) (Main Blog + Art Blog: @spiltmilk34 & @spoiledcheese34 | Instagram ) Papymod (She/they/he) (Main Blog + Art Blog: @theartistthatcantraw & @fail3dexp3rim3nt) Also thanking this for the text boxes haha

[*TAGS]

#ModAlphys🍍 #ModMTT🦝 #ModPapy💀 - Content from specific Mods

#OutOfVoid - General out of character posts/Asks/Announcements Etc.

#PostsFortheVoid Reblogs of any Fanart or random posts I/we might reblog

#PostsOfTheVoid Extra Content asks lore etc. not relevant to the actual plot Or announcements

#TheAfterPartyAU In universe & Main Story posts

#AskAfterparty is any asks in character

#ModsQ&A, Any Asks directly for the mods + #ModsArt is any Art Directly from the mods (not counting story)

[📋*RULES 📋]

[*Current AU Status: Active]

- No SERIOUS NSFW media. Swearing and certain (Chara Frisk & Flowey are all children) jokes are allowed but actual sexually explicit content & HARD GORE is prohibited. Plus the mods are minors 

- Harassment towards me, Or anyone of Any group, will not be tolerated

- Repeat asks will probably be ignored, sorry.

- Please Be patient, This blog does not have a schedule & updates come out when they’re ready (aim for at least 2 weeks) 

- No Magic!Anon please, While this story is a bit aimless it’s still there, plus Keep Roleplaying limited maybe. Makes my life easier.

- Technically not a hard rule but If you’re asking & have an ask blog I recommend you add your @, Love seeing other AU/Blog’s Out there in the wild!! Doesn't matter the fandom either :D 

- Probably will close the ask box if it gets too full, might cap it at 20 0r 25.

* Have funnnnn. =)

[*⚠️ *WARNINGS ⚠️]

This AU is estimated to be 15+  

While I don't plan to include shipping, it might sneak its way in here, who knows.

Swearing in Asks Is allowed plus the mod swears. (Steer clear of slurs, even if you can reclaim them.)

Scarring, Blood, Death, themes of unreality trauma & gore is around, Everyone was brought back from the dead. Additional CW for mentions Genocide considering this au is after one. 

potential mentions (& possible depictions) of suicide & Self harm, Fratricide, Mind Control (Possible Manipulation), & Divorce.

While this aims to be (kind of) joke au, General CW for potential disturbing content is out there. 

Feel Free the DM With any warnings I missed & should include

[*ACT - ASK] - ASK BOX STATUS [OPEN]

*Chara - 💔 *Frisk - ♥️ *Toriel - 🔥 *Papyrus - 💀 *Mad Mewsy - 💢 *The Undying - 🦈 *Muffet - 🕷️ *Mettaton NEO -  👾 *Sans - 🦴 *Asgore - 🔱 *Flowey 🌻

 DNI LIST

Homophobes, Terfs, LGBTQIA+Phobic, Racists, Xenophobes, Pro shippers, Anti-Anti's, Misogynists', Cancel Culture & Cringe Culture, NSFW/18+Blogs, Abelists, Zoophiles, Anti Semitism, Hate speech, MAPS/Pedos, Discourse Blogs, AI supprters, Y’know the basic DNI criteria stuff  (Just don't be a dick man this feels dumb to make.)

[*LINKS – 📎]

Beginning - N/A

Arcs  - N/A

Character Sheets - N/A

Most Recent - N/A 

[howlsofbloodhounds]

Thinking about the fact that Delta!Sans canonically is a plural character cuz he absorbed the Bravery soul and now they share a body and can canonically have soul-to-soul conversations and time kinda freezes for them when they do.

Thinking about how Ultratale!Chara is referred to as Omega and Delta is Delta and thinking about the kiddo tryna call themself Alpha cuz they’re “cool and manly and tough.” But somehow Delta manages to convince the kid to settle on being nicknamed Beta instead, symbolism of being a second-in-command and all that.

Thinking about Delta wandering by stores and getting distracted because the kid spotted some cool boxing gloves or action figures in the glass windows and then Delta shows up late to his meetings with Epic and Color, carrying bags of toys, because the kid started crying when Delta tried to leave without buying them anything.

Or whenever the Epic Sanses hang out, Delta always makes sure to order something sweet for the kid to enjoy because listening to “grown up talk” is boring and not fun and if he doesn’t Delta will be dealing with a headache all evening.

Thinking about Delta trying to keep the kid away from the worse of the fighting and all the worse things that the Multiverse has to offer, because the kid dreams about their death at Asgore’s hands and what it felt like being held in a container for centuries almost every night. But the kid always insists that they’re brave and tough and strong and they can handle everything.

Delta taking every opportunity he safely can to allow the kiddo to be a kid again. Decorating their shared room in their apartment in the Omega Timeline, making a spot in the corner designated for Beta. He sets time aside to allow them to partake in activities of their choosing, such as puzzles, strategy games, and competitive games.

Thinking about Color and Delta hanging up all of Beta’s drawings on their fridge like proud parents, and Color sometimes just sitting and listening to Beta yap to all the other six souls absorbed inside Color because, unlike Beta, they aren’t exactly their own full people anymore but it makes the kid feel less alone.

Letting the kid explore the surface and play in the sun whenever possible, as they spent who knows how many years trapped Underground in a jar. Maybe Delta even gets glimpses of Beta’s memories whenever they dream, the loneliness and claustrophobia of being trapped in a jar. The fear of being hunted down by monsters throughout the Underground and having to face down someone as intimidating as Asgore, the pain and fear of death, experienced through the eyes of a child. A very brave and strong child, but a child nonetheless.

Maybe Beta clung to the few embers of warmth they had when they were living under Toriel’s care, and Delta/Sans gets to see his friend in a new light, but also he gets to make true on his promise by at least keeping an eye on and taking care of Beta when he couldn’t for Frisk.

I think Delta possibly considers what happened to his Frisk a very deep and personal failure, made worse by the Toriel that Beta remembers—because Delta gets to see how much Toriel loved each and every fallen child and he can imagine the grief she felt when they all left and died. I’d like to think that AUs of Asgore, heights, spears, being alone, and enclosed spaces are all fears for Beta, so Delta always tries to reassure them even though they attempt to be brave every time.

So basically both of them are struggling with PTSD, and also Beta with the fact that they’re now in a body that isn’t their own after however many years of not having a body. And also the fact that any friends or family they might’ve had when they were alive are likely dead now, so I’d imagine that Delta would try to search down and visit any graves of Beta’s family whenever visiting Ultratale or any of its variants.

Beta proposes making graves for the residents of the Underground too, probably in the Omega Timeline. And given that Delta is friends with Epic who is friends with Cross who shares a soul with XChara, I can already imagine the trouble that XChara and Beta would get into.

[me-paina]

AO3 Recommendations Part 2

Previous recommendations - Part 1

Next - Part 3

Hey so, I haven't done this in a long while but I wanna recommend some AO3 fics that I have read and loved these past few years. I'll put a limit because I can go on and on, so 12 fics per fandom. (multifandom person >:))

(Oldest to newest bookmarks of mine)

UNDERTALE -

1. Because I Trust You by WrittenKinzy18 (Complete)

(I love all of their fics! you should read the Winged Multiverse series)

2. Soulless by ItzZaira (Complete)

(ItzZaira fics are always amazing no matter what fandom!)

3. Silent Stars by fifi11 (Hasn't updated - 2022) :((

(This is a sad one guys, so, buckle up.)

4. My Fault by Keelynoelle (Complete)

(I read this a long time ago but I know there was some good brother bonding moments and Grillby being amazing (made me emotional))

5. From Murder to Dust by Clichely (Complete)

(Really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really dark. Good one though)

6. Steel and Stripes by Lady Quo  (Hasn't updated - 2021) :(((

(This is just adorable. ¡Tiny sans alert! Older papyrus!)

7. Fatigue by duckydotducky (Hasn't updated - 2021) :(((

(Monsters are really untreated fairly, at least one human is nice. )

8. An Err in Communication by TheVoidIsMyHome (Complete)

(Mute Error. Literally love this concept.)

9. Inquisitive by Another_thing (Hasn't updated - 2020) :((((

(You don't know how much I love FGOD Error, I go crazy for it. Why is Nightmare's gang so wholesome, I swear, I love them so much)

10. ZombieTale by Kamisori (On going)

(I literally can't describe how amazing this fic is. This has helped me get through so much over the years. Thank you for making this amazing fic!)

11. Serif One by samlysam (Complete)

(Sans, and Papyrus, are going through so much There are a lot of fics where Gaster is bad but it still hurts. I'm glad Red, Alphys, Undyne, Edge and Miss Toriel were there for them.)

12. Scenic Our House by grubbin (On going)

(If you don't say Snowy is the best character ever, then I'm not being your friend. I love this rendition of the machine bringing skeletons here.)

ROTTMNT -

(ROTTMNT/12 TMNT)

1. The wrong side of the portal by ItzZaira (On going)

(See I told you they are good at writing. This is just so heartbreaking for Leo (2018) but don't worry I swear it gets better.)

(ROTTMNT/12 TMNT)

2. Stranger Danger by Balkanbitch (On going)

(The Mikey's switched places. I think it's good for Mikey (2012) to have a break and be in the ROTTMNT universe. Not so sure about Mikey (2018) though, I mean he could help the others and make them act to be better family, but on the other hand, the krang is still here, and as we have seen, it can cause a lot of PTSD and other issues.)

(ROTTMNT/12 TMNT)

3. Dagger From the Mirror by TotallyNotASecretAO3Account (Complete)

(Dagger from the Mirror is dark, hahaha, but Stranger in the Mirror the sequel of it (you should read it too) is a lot darker and also gets better (eventually))

(ROTTMNT/12 TMNT)

4. Presumed Dead by Minor_Inconvenience23 (Hasn't updated - 2023) :(

(The 2012 gang is so caring! I love Leo angst if you couldn't tell.)

(ROTTMNT/12 TMNT)

5. Displaced by spiromachia (Hasn't updated - 2023) :(

(PB & J duo is amazing. I love this so much.)

(ROTTMNT)

6. Power Up by pickledcarrotsandradish (On going)

(Leo angst again. This is just sad. new power up and it's to heal or rather take the pain away and give it do himself. :( he is just so sacrificial.)

(ROTTMNT)

7. Fading Memories by HellsTrojanHorse (Complete)

( This reminds me too much of when my grandpa passed. it's been 2 years. This fic made me cry. Their writing style is so beautiful. The way they write, and show their emotions in the words are just perfect. This fan-fic just reminded me that I'm not alone in feeling this grief. )

(ROTTMNT/12TMNT/03TMNT/87TMNT)

8. A Mixed Bag by GreatlyBlessed (Hasn't updated - 2023) :(

(All of the turtle's mixed together to find away out and find each other :3)

(ROTTMNT)

9. This Was(n't) About You by uncouth_peasant (Complete)

(When Leo decided to tell no one of these self-sacrificial ways… Well this is the result.)

(ROTTMNT/12TMNT/03TMNT/87TMNT)

10. B.E.A.S.T by SkylerSkyhigh (Complete)

(The Rise boys aren't violent, they're just traumatic)

(ROTTMNT/12 TMNT)

11. The Purple Conundrum by Donnies_Lady_87 (On going)

(The Purple Turtles swapped, but instead of teenagers, they swapped when they were tots, and now everything is going to be different when they grow up.)

(ROTTMNT/12 TMNT/03 TMNT/87 TMNT/Bay TMNT/IDW TMNT/07 TMNT/Last Ronin/19 TMNT/16 game TMNT/19 Power Rangers TMNT)

12. Multiverse of Michelangelo by Srae13 (Complete)

(Mikey, why are you stealing your counterparts?)

MARVEL -

1. Take These Broken Shards (I’m bleeding out) by DaniWib (Complete)

(This is so scary, heartbreaking and terrifying yet Peter Parker & The Avengers bonding is so adorable at the same time. I am so glad that the Avengers are here to help. That shit-bastard, Skip Westcott can go and dig his own grave.)

2. Reintroducing Hope by Fernandidilly_yo (Complete)

(I am actually so shocked... I can't believe how amazing this Fic is. Peter is so precious, and the adventures are such an amazing family.)

3. Child's Play by theoneandonlyfishboy (Complete)

(Why is Marvel fics so emotional.)

4. Somewhere You Can Be Safe by sarcasmismyweapon (Complete)

(Switched, well transported to another timeline... Wow, and these Avengers are much more Domestic.)

5. The Avengers vs The Peter Factor bymidnightwolf2192

(Hasn't updated - 2023) :(

(The Peter factor is working really well!)

6. You Screamed For So Long We Forgot To Care Anymore by GalaxyThreads (Complete)

(I love Loki so much, and seeing him like this breaks my heart! Poor Loki.)

7. Dysfunctional by InkpotGod97 (Complete)

(This is a dysfunctional family.)

8. Not Everyone Deserves a Second Chance byJustRandomStories

(Complete)

(This is so insane, I love this so much, the new avengers are so amazing, and the rogues are honestly dickheads. I love the red three, they are the best.)

9. from your perspective, the world is flat by blueh (Complete)

(Identity reveal for Peter, and to his Academic Decathlon Team. I mean he took it better than I'd expected. the Avengers are so nice! Read the second part as well peter parker's guide on secret identity fails :D)

10. Formalities by Terranpheum (Complete)

(This is an amazing fanfic, oh my gosh! The way everyone just enters Peter's apartment and hangs out with him is amazing. I love the bond everyone has with Peter, it's precious and it's like everyone just adopted him (I mean that's kinda what happened). Towards the end, it got really sad but I'm glad Peter knows he has support now.)

11. The Other Stark by Angst_gremlin (On going)

(Oh... Holy... I have no words. Honestly, This is one of the most heartbreaking stories I have ever read on Ao3. My heart aches for Peter, the sheer neglect he faces daily from everyone is just making me so angry, like WTF do any of you guys have common sense? Do you know what this can do to someone's mindset, A CHILD no less? He doesn't deserve that treatment, hell no one does.)

12. Neon Liar (Hiding in Plain Sight) by isaDanCurtisproduction (Complete)

(This is one of the Best Field Trips to SI fics. There is so much Fluff and a good amount of Angst. Oh, and you can't forget the embarrassment Peter gets. I love this so much, the way the Avengers interact with Peter. My favourite part is when everyone thought he was skipping school. The text messages were priceless!)

Am I crazy... Yes

[utdrmv-confession-box]

Transcript: my hc to fix underfell's chara being poisoned by asgore has always been that they knew he was going to poison them and accepted it to make it more in line with how they poisoned themselves in canon ut. they knew he wanted them dead and partly agreed with him too so they might have reassured both toriel & asriel to leave like they did knowing as soon as the two of them were alone asgore was going to try and kill them. i also generally prefer if fell!asgore is more sympathetic and less outwardly hateful, seeing killing chara as a sacrifice for the greater good ala 'a man makes painful choices' from princess Anastasia. ++ even better if during their time of living with the dreemurrs asgore did start to come to like chara, but hes convinced himself he must get rid of them and he hates how he can see himself & the poncho human in their interactions with asriel.

I feel like asgore & chara being similar to each other is something fandom overlooks when it makes both characters so much more understandable if you compare them to each other as i think at their chore chara & asgore are very similarly characterized both on a meta level and as parallels to each other.

Fell asgore is easily the most ooc character in underfell and while i know its by design i think making him more tortured by his decisions and making him nicer than he is in canon would really help tie up some of the loose ends in underfell. i like chara being more sympathetic in underfell but i feel like they do need more agency than just being another victim to evil king asgore and i feel like them agreeing with him and willingly being posioned by him would do it, + him being nicer than he is in canon underfell would explain better why he even lets chara stay rather than toriel & asriel hiding them the entire time only for them to die the second asgore finds them. chara living with the dreemurrs for a few weeks and everyone walking on eggshells is so much more narrativly interesting to me than whats offered in canon.

sorry for the long post mod i have alot of thoughts about the underfell dreemurrs

[promise-keeper-papyrus]

UT AU, where Asgore succeeded in getting all 7 human souls, broke the barrier and declared war on humanity...

However, a few moments after the soul-powered king began his rampage on the nearest human city, the souls escaped his body and attacked him until he was on the brink of death...

The souls leave and the city humans finish him off, then the humans begin to destroy or capture the rest of Asgore's kingdom in revenge...

The surviving monsters either fled to the forest to hide or stayed in the Ruins with a depressed Toriel...

Asgore is dead and Toriel stays in the Ruins comsumed by depression over his death and the destruction of their kingdom.

Most of the Ruins Monsters have no idea what's going on.

Undyne is the new leader of what's left of the kingdom... She hates humans more than ever, wishing to make them go extinct... She became a colder, more serious person (like how she is when she's wearing her helmet, only it's all the time now).

Alphys was overwhelmed with the grief and guilt of losing so many people as well as being hurt by the hatred the family members of the amalgamates are giving her... You see, Alphys left the amalgamates in the lab when the war began and the amalgamates got captured by humans, so the family members are less forgiving of Alphys when she tells the truth... In her pain, Alphys creates a special potion that takes her ability to feel emotions away so Alphys can focus on helping Undyne, making her even colder than Undyne.

Mettaton is a shell of his former self... He's constantly nervous and he's horrified by all the messed-up things that are happening, but he's too scared to actually do anything about it... After Napstablook got captured and he lost his TV Show Fame, Mettaton basically became the new Alphys and he isn't as vengeful against the humans as most monsters are.

Papyrus tries his best to stay hopeful, but he became kinda depressed after Sans' death by human hands... He wants to prove to Undyne that he can kill a human like her... But instead he befriends one named Frisk.

Monster Kid is staying hopeful like Papyrus, but he's not as depressed, since his whole family is still alive and also not captured.

Napstablook and Mad Dummy were both captured by humans.

Muffet and most of the spiders were captured by humans, but a only a few small ones managed to escape.

Grillby is one of the guardians of the Monsters' Hiding Place in the forest.

Jerry was captured by the humans and he's ironically the only monster that managed to escape on his own, much to everyone's disbelief.

Sans was killed shortly after Asgore's death.

Flowey is ironically probably having the least terrible time right now... After the barrier broke, he traveled across the surface, both the forest and the city (while pretending to be a normal flower when the humans are watching)... The barrier breaking somehow made him lose his ability to reset... After Papyrus and Frisk befriend each other, Flowey befriends Frisk, because the child reminds him of Chara... Flowey is less evil and less mean then in canon, but still calls other people idiots sometimes.

Papyrus traps Frisk in the forest and tries to kill Frisk, but he couldn't do it and lets Frisk go instead... Immediately Frisk knocks Papyrus to the ground and is about to stab him in the skull with a knife... But Frisk decides against and calmly tells Papyrus to leave the child alone, then Frisk quietly walks away... And that's how their beautiful friendship starts!

The 7th soul that Asgore used was Frisk's older sibling and Frisk vowed to destroy what's left of the monsters in revenge... But Frisk couldn't destroy a monster that spared the child's life... Eventually, both Frisk and Papyrus realize that they were both wrong about each other's species and that revenge/war is stupid.

Neither Frisk nor Papyrus killed anyone before and they form a forbidden friendship.

(This is AU is based on the fact that Flowey eventually lost control over the human souls... and on the fact that Asriel had trouble controlling Chara's soul... What if the same happened to Asgore if he gets all the souls?)

[akemiiya]

you ever think about what might have happened if flowey never discovered saving and resetting when he did. you ever think about how he just disappeared on asgore one day for seemingly no reason. and then he found toriel and he disappeared on her too. what would they think when their dead son comes back only to disappear again without a trace, not even leaving any dust behind

[utalteration]

Alteration: Diverging Paths

created by: @the-fabled-void

My first attempt at a fully fleshed out Undertale AU! This is loosely based on Altertale, but has since grown its own legs and ran away. Basically, my thoughts were "what if Altertale had lore? What if the original roles were as they are in UT, but they ended up changing to being the way they are in Altertale (sorta)?

-

As soon as monsters settled underground, Gaster started building THE CORE, both for energy and as an attempt to break the barrier.

During its development, Chara fell into the underground. They and Asriel vanished in the CORE, never to be seen again. When they were declared dead, Toriel and Asgore devastated. Asgore then decided something would change the underground forever.

He and Queen Toriel needed a temporary break. Maybe some time away in Snowdin would do them so good, after fighting in a war and then having to manage what had been left over from monsters after the war.

They chose Gaster to temporarily lead with Gerson advising him.

As time passed, Gaster realized Asgore and Toriel’s break had become permanent. He also realized there were odd things going on in THE CORE. But whatever happened when he and Her son went to check on it scarred him enough to step down from the throne, too.

So he looked to his oldest, Sans, as his successor.

Sans, who had been inspired to study science just like him, and who saw just how little time Gaster could devote to science as a king.

He refused, but Papyrus eagerly accepted the role. He can finally prove he was great, important, and worth looking at!

[lynxgriffin]

Theories on Kris’s soul and Ralsei’s identity

Hey everyone! This is not my usual thing, but after thinking on it a whole bunch, I decided I wanted to fully write out my theory/backstory explanations based on the last two short Deltarune comics. I usually express theorizing through fanworks rather than just talking through it, but since it's still stuck in my brain even now I figured it'd be fun to also just describe it all. I hope you all find it interesting! Who knows what future chapters will bring us, and anything can (and likely will!) happen, but as of right now I'm pretty convinced this is how things are with Kris and Ralsei. It's long and there's lots of screenshots included, so check below the read more for everything. And huge thanks to DemoPhone for getting all these screenshots for me!

So, Kris is adopted by the Dreemurrs at a young age. As the only human in a town populated by monsters, they already stick out significantly. Considering Toriel checked out a book from the library on how to care for humans multiple times, the Dreemurrs were likely going through a big learning curve with Kris, too. 

Kris is not just different physiologically from everyone, but they’re quiet and weird, often mischievous, and just don’t fit in. As a kid, they wear a headband with red devil horns to try and fit in with their adoptive family, and especially to emulate their older brother Asriel, who seems to be everything that Kris isn’t.

He’s popular, kind, well-loved by the town, and is always willing to make friends and do the right thing. Despite how different they are, the two kids clearly care for each other, and Asriel in many ways is Kris’s anchor to this town and this life.

Growing up, the Dreemurrs are friends with the Holidays, and the four kids spend lots of time together. Dess appears to be the more bold and outgoing of the two Holiday girls, but is tempered by Asriel’s responsible nature. Everything between them is going well until one day, when out exploring in the woods south of town, they come across the hidden bunker, and something goes wrong. It’s not clear yet exactly what it is…but it resulted in Dess going missing. Of the four kids, Dess seems to be bold, Asriel responsible, Kris mischievous, and Noelle fearful…so it seems likely that Dess and Kris investigated something in the bunker that the other two stayed away from. Kris witnessed or may have even been involved in what happened to Dess. Dess currently appears to be lost in a dark place, perhaps a place between Dark Worlds, perhaps “stuck in the code” of the game itself. Whatever it is, Dess has gone missing and may even be presumed dead by her family, and Kris witnessed it and may feel directly responsible. This is why they’re still nervous around the bunker, and perhaps even why they’re apprehensive about the appearance of the dark world in the school supply closet.

Dess’s mother, the Mayor, is not going to blame the little kids for what happened…however, she IS going to place responsibility on Asgore, who was chief of police at the time and clearly should have been watching the kids more carefully. Asgore loses his job, and as things slowly deteriorate between the Holiday and Dreemurr families, he also loses his marriage.

The kids stop hanging out together so often, and when they do, it’s more strained. Kris will be playing with Noelle when they stop, getting hit with the memory of what happened, and wander off to the piano to try and play out their feelings.

Kris builds up years of these feelings…underlying guilt for messing up the friendships and even marriages of the monsters that adopted them. Their interests are weird, their habits are offputting, and they can often only express a desire for attention through pranks.

Despite the fact that the monsters in the town act friendly towards them, they still feel outcast and misunderstood. Their popular and beloved brother Asriel is their one solid anchor to everything, and Kris often wonders “wouldn’t things be easier and better if I was just like him?”

But eventually, Asriel gets old enough and leaves for college. Kris is left alone in the town with all their feelings, but no anchor. In some ways, it gets worse, as the other townsfolk continue to talk about how great Asriel is with him absent. And Kris agrees with them…but that doesn’t help at all how they feel.

To top it off, a new girl arrives in the town, who immediately presents herself as a troublemaker. She seems to have some deep problems of her own, perhaps stemming from her own rough upbringing, and takes out her aggression on Kris, the only human in the town. Despite the bullying, Kris takes it all in stride, even amusement. Susie isn’t saying anything about them that Kris doesn’t already believe about themself. If anything, Kris admires how unapologetic Susie is about her behavior, and sees a kindred spirit in her. They’re both outcasts, after all, with gross and offputting interests. And it is pretty funny how clearly Noelle is infatuated with Susie, too. 

And yet, Susie doesn’t seem interested in actually being friends now, and while Susie is admirable, she’s not helping Kris’s long-standing guilt, loneliness and depression. They start resenting how things have gone. They start looking for unconventional solutions. Perhaps they try the church, but the church doesn’t seem to have answers, so they look elsewhere. Maybe things would just be better if someone else was running their life. Maybe someone bigger than them can fix these seemingly insurmountable problems. They start looking up how to do magic online. How to summon demons, stuff like that. 

When that doesn’t work out, they turn to the local goth girl for help. After all, they’ve done occult spells with Catti before…protection spells for Noelle; something to ease Kris’s worries so that Noelle doesn’t suffer from the same misfortune Dess did.

One night, Kris asks Catti to perform a spell to summon a spirit. And surprisingly…something seems to happen. Kris is suddenly confronted with a strange figure who seems to be the devil. The figure says that it can bring Kris what they want: a spirit that can possess them and potentially even solve all their problems. But the figure requires something in exchange: their soul. Kris is at first reluctant, but the devil figure promises that the arrangement is only temporary: they’ll get their soul back when the spirit is no longer possessing them. So Kris agrees, and gives up their soul in exchange for another one. 

The deal supposedly goes over, but Kris finds that it doesn’t seem like anything has changed once the spell ends. They’ve gotten a new soul, but it doesn’t seem to do anything. If anything, everything becomes harder. They start operating on autopilot…saying very little, only doing what’s required of them, and sleeping for huge amounts of time. 

The joke around town now is that they seem like a walking corpse. Sure, they’re not dead, but it often kind of looks like it.

Maybe this spirit was just a total dud? Maybe that devil cheated them out of their own soul after all and they didn’t get anything in return. They try more than a few times to remove the new soul on their own, in the hopes that maybe taking it out by force will get them their own soul back. They find that they can remove the red soul with great effort! However, without it, they’re even slower and it’s even more difficult to move or act in any way. Removing it at least grants them a small degree of agency, and it seems to prove that their own soul is definitely around somewhere, because they’re still alive. But they can’t go for too long without putting the new red soul back in, because moving without it is such a strain.

Meanwhile, Kris’s request for something to possess them has worked, just not in an obvious way. The player experiences the passage of time very differently than the game characters they’re playing as, after all. To the player, they’ve suddenly gotten an invitation from an unknown character that they suspect they recognize from another game they’ve played. They don’t know what the invitation is for, but they’re more than ready to find out, even if it means downloading an unknown and potentially shady “survey program.”

Conveniently enough, this invitation and download become available on Halloween. A bit of an odd day to choose if you want a lot of people to download and play your game right away, since it’s a major holiday and most people already have plans. However…Halloween is a great time to summon a demon.

And to Kris, they wake up one morning exactly a week before their brother is scheduled to return home for a visit, and suddenly find that something else is moving their body for them. That new soul wasn’t a dud after all.

No time to even get really used to suddenly being physically possessed, as Kris and that school bully they admire just go to pick up some missing school supplies and get swept up into a strange place that Kris feels might be distinctly familiar. Once there, they meet someone else who, strangely, already knows who they are: Ralsei.

While Kris has been shambling around town with their player soul not in use, their own soul still needs to be kept in good condition. You can’t just leave a human soul out on its own for a long period of time. It at least needs some kind of container…a vessel. And the devil figure works out a perfect vessel for it…an object close to Kris, that they have a lot of sentimental value around. Something that symbolizes their desire to fit in with their family, and be just like their brother. Kris might have given it to the figure willingly, or it might have been taken without their knowledge, but the result is the same. 

But hey…why not make things even more interesting? A dark fountain can bring objects to life in their own dark world. What happens if you were to take an object currently carrying a human soul, and bring it to life with a dark fountain? What would it look like if Kris’s soul, filtered through an object that symbolizes their desire to be just like their beloved brother, was given its own form and identity?

You get Ralsei. A “lonely prince” who looks an awful lot like Asriel, but seems to more closely match Kris’s age and stature. He seems to be more like a remixed version of Asriel than identical to him. He already knows who Kris and Susie are, and he knows where things are located in the light world…because Kris knows all that. 

He’s able to travel between different dark worlds without being affected by them the way other Darkners are, because he carries a Lightner’s soul. 

While it’s unclear if he is talking directly to the player, just to Kris, or to both, he is at least aware of an entity distinct from Kris, since he names the castle town after the player. It would certainly make sense for him to be aware of the player’s presence and influence because he was a part of that whole exchange between souls in the first place. There’s even implications that Ralsei is, perhaps, communicating with Kris in ways that don’t involve speaking aloud to them. When asking Kris to pick up the items from the classroom, he uses parentheses, which typically seem to indicate a character’s thoughts rather than dialogue.

Since the player is able to read other characters’ thoughts, Kris can even respond to them if no one is speaking.

If parentheses for Ralsei indicate thinking rather than speaking, he is perhaps aware of how to communicate with Kris and/or the player in ways that other characters won’t hear…or perhaps is only even capable of it at all because he has Kris’s soul.

He is always deferring to Kris, even when Kris makes questionable choices. While he’s eager for friends, he seems desperate for Kris’s approval in particular, and takes great pains to not upset them…or allow other things to upset them. He seems to be confident in who Kris is, but struggles more with his own identity.

For Kris, seeing their own wish to be like their brother come to life, and then to have the spirit possessing them keep directing them to hug him…well, it’s kind of awkward. 

Just to speculate on the future, if it is true that Ralsei has Kris’s soul, this has the potential for some serious drama, and even setting Ralsei up as an antagonist without him being generically “evil.” Ralsei hasn���t had contact with anyone before meeting Susie and Kris. However, as they go on adventures together, he’s meeting lots of new people and gaining new perspectives. He’s steadily growing more independent from Kris, and establishing his own identity apart from them. What happens if Ralsei comes to the conclusion that Kris was right to trade him away all along…that not only does Kris not need him, but that he’s just fine without Kris? That he, perhaps, prefers being Ralsei to being Kris’s discarded soul?

Considering the player can’t keep playing the game forever, and Kris really can’t be left the rest of their life with a nonfunctional soul that leaves them on eternal autopilot, they’ll have to get their own soul back eventually. And after several chapters of the player themselves getting really attached to sweet and friendly Ralsei, that opens up the potential for some truly heartwrenching conflict. 

[carlyraejepsans]

5 from pre-relationship for that ask game :3

What would their lives be like if they had never met?

sans? well he'd be even more resigned to his fate, but all things considered i don't think he'd be in too bad a shape. as ultimately defeated as he may have been, he seemed to have made peace with his condition in snowdin. bought a house, found a job, has a brother stomping around, has some pals to talk to at the bar. he'd definitely be more closed off, keeping people more at arm's length, but he wouldn't be at like. alphys levels of depression. but he wouldn't really have much else to life "for" either. besides papyrus that is.

I'm gonna be real with you chief i think toriel would be dead LMAO. I don't think she would've let another human out of the RUINs if she didn't have that spark of hope of someone else having her back out there. whether he technically ""kept it"" or not, i think sans making that promise to her was a literal lifeline for toriel. i have a headcanon that the day they met at the door, toriel was about to preventively destroy it for whenever the next human came around, and it was his knocking that stopped her, thus giving us a chance to progress deeper into the underground. but yeah, even outside of that hc, toriel without sans/their promise, to me, is toriel from toby's original plan for her. she stops you, fights you, refuses to give in, and you're forced to kill her if you want to proceed.

........BOY aren't i glad these two found each other. phew!

[haveyouseenthisskeleton]

For the Sanses, the skeleton's niece/nephew gives them a drawing of their family. Everyone is very detailed and recognizable. ... Except them. They're like a potato with two eyes. Reaction?

Undertale Sans - He can't stop laughing. He expected something like that, but that's even funnier now that he's holding it in his hands. The kid is confused and a bit offended their uncle finds their drawing so amusing, but that just sends Sans off his chair because their face is hilarious. He guesses he deserves that though. He's a couch potato. He's far from offended and he's even framing it in his living room like it's the most expensive painting ever.

Underswap Sans - He GASPS. He was excited to receive a gift from his niece/nephew but now he is just so offended. You didn't even draw some blue on him. Make an effort? How did you manage to draw Asgore with his beard and everything, and not him? And why is he a potato and not Alphys?! That's not fair! Alphys deserves to be a potato too! She's the same height he is! Honey can't stop screaming in laughter as Blue argues with the confused 3-years old who doesn't understand what's wrong???

Underfell Sans - He forces a smile as Edge is giving him a death stare behind the kid. Ah... Yes... Very good drawing... Very... Artsy and stuff. Very colorful. That's totally him and not an ugly potato with two eyes. How did you picture him so well? He's exaggerating all of his praises, eyes in eyes with Edge. He's so going to keep the drawing... Except he has too. As the kid leaves, all happy, Edge tells him that if he finds the drawing in the trash when they leave, he's dead. Great.

Horrortale Sans - He's not sure what he's looking at honestly, but his niece/nephew seems very happy about this so he plays along. He's certainly not going to hurt their feeling and he's just happy they draw something for him. Actually, he's even a little emotional about that. That's like their first drawing and it makes him both happy and sad for some reason.

Swapfell Sans - ... What's that? You call that a drawing? Nox takes a deep breath. Rus begs him not to, but that's too late. Nox starts to criticize the drawing, and everything in the drawing, and shows the kid ways to improve their work by drawing over their drawing. The kid bursts into tears after two minutes and runs into Rus' arms, heartbroken. Then the brothers start arguing again. What? Do you want that kid to live in a world of lies? Thank Toriel there's at least someone to show them the truth in this family!

Fellswap Gold Sans - "COFFEE, WITH ALL RESPECTS, IS THIS REALLY YOUR CHILD? YOU'RE AN ARTIST, RIGHT? YOU SHOULD HAVE A DNA TEST. I THINK YOUR GENE BROKE IN THE PROCESS OR SOMETHING. MAYBE YOUR S/O FOUND THEM IN THE DUMP AND DIDN'T TELL YOU." S/O growls angrily, then lunges at him to strangle him. Wine is offended. He's just telling the truth though! That drawing is bad!