#anyway toriel. their relationship would be funny

[n4rval]

ough. toriel my beloved

[gabriel-xander]

Don't Forget

[Sans x Female!Reader]

30: Do It be Squirting? Of Course It Does, I'm a Water Sign

♪────✿⁠(⁠✧◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕✧⁠)✿⁠────♪

It doesn’t take long to get used to Sans’ new look, though you think it was uncomfortable for him at first from all the call-outs he’s been getting from the past 2 weeks. It hasn’t been negative comments by any means (that you know of, Sans has been the one telling you about this experience of his), but that kind of attention isn’t something he’s used to.

You had jokingly asked him if he wanted you to act like an overly possessive girlfriend so people would leave him alone. He only blushed and said: “well, i’m not gonna discourage you if you think it’s best.”

…BUT HE DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT YOU CALLING YOURSELF HIS GIRLFRIEND–Chat, what could this mean!?!? Maybe you’re a little obsessed about this subject, but you can’t be blamed when your last relationship wasn’t this complicated.

Papyrus’s comment about it was pretty funny to you the day he came back, too.

“OH, YOU FINALLY GOT OUT OF THAT EMO PHASE. WELL DONE, BROTHER.”

Poor Sans.

All in all, it’s been a pretty chill past few weeks. Staying in Sans’ room is so much better than that couch. You didn’t realize how much you missed having privacy until you moved into Sans’ room. Though… Would you be too straightforward if you told the shorter skeleton that you wouldn’t mind sharing? He already went out of his way to move his stuff out, but maybe it’s too soon.

And today you find yourself with your head upside down from the side of the bed, raising your legs up in the air because you find comfort in the strangest positions.

“You get what I mean though, right? Marcine totally wants me.”

“…My child, I do not think that’s what it means. Could it not just be that this Marcine girl does not like you?” Toriel asks.

“It makes sense!” You gasp suddenly, sitting up with wide eyes, “She wants me sooo bad, that she’s trying to deny it by being mean! You know what that’s called? A tsundere!”

You hear your goat mom sigh heavily in disappointment.

You still call Toriel pretty regularly, once a week every Wednesday when it’s your day off. You keep her updated on your lore in Snowdin, gossiping about the people when something minor happens. You already made plans to visit her in 2 weeks (given enough time after your adventure to the AU) and you’re excited to see her!

The only thing you’ve omitted is Sans.

You have no idea where Toriel stands with him, but if your memory serves you right, then she is interested in him, right? If she likes him, then you can’t bring yourself to tell her how your relationship has developed with him. You make sure to say he’s been good to you, but you don’t say anything more than that.

You hope to keep it this way.

“By the way, my child, there is something I have been wondering. Is that friend of ours–Sans, yes? Is he alright?” Toriel asks, “I haven’t heard from him in quite a while, he stopped visiting almost a month ago. I know he’s okay because you’ve mentioned him once or twice, but… I can’t help but worry.”

Okay, dude.

What.

The flip.

You’ve been in Snowdin for about… Wow, it’s been over 2 months now. Including the time you spent with Toriel too, you’ve been in the Underground for almost 3 months?

Dang.

Does your family miss you? You want to think they do since sometimes your mind tells you that nobody gives a shit about you. You hope they miss you, but at the same time, you would feel less guilty for being gone if they didn’t care. Hurt? Yes, you would be so hurt if they didn’t actually care. But you’re not ready to accept the guilt and reality that they miss you when you are living your best life.

You know for damn sure that Elliot has definitely been looking for you. Elliot is too righteous and has the perseverance to do things like that. The selfish part of you wants him to find you down here and you two can be gay and happy. But the other part wants him to stay safe and not get caught up in this mess.

ANYWAY-

“Sans stopped visiting you a month ago? Really?” You squint your eyes at the weird stain on the wall, “Uhh… Let me think what happened a month ago…”

A month ago, a month ago… What happened a month ago? Isn’t that when you and the monster started getting closer and friendlier? Wait, yeah. That’s around the time he took you to that thrift store and you two started getting cheesy as fuck with each other.

Oh.

Oh no.

‘Sans, you beta bitch,’ You think miserably. ‘Don’t tell me you forgot to see Toriel because you were busy lollygagging with ME?! Noooo!’

“Uh… No, I-I can’t think of… why he would do that. All the-All the sudden,” You clear your throat, cringing at your words, “Uh, I can, you know, I can talk to him. Later. When I see him. Later.”

God, why are you so shit at lying or avoiding the truth? Why can’t you be normal?

“Thank you, my child. You know, when you first moved in with him, he spoke of you so much,” Toriel says with a teasing tone, “He seemed to have taken a liking to your company. Well, aside from your sick week when you arrived there.”

You scrunch your nose up, “Oh, he told you about that?”

“I DID make him promise to watch over you. And speaking of which, you did not have another run-in with that flower, have you?”

“Now that you mention it, no I haven’t…” That should be good news, but all it does is make you nervous. “How about you? He didn’t try showing himself to you, right?”

“No, I have not seen him at all,” Toriel tells you, “Oh! That reminds me, I need to tell you about that little monster, Migosp. You remember him, yes? He was your little dance buddy for a while, and told me to tell you he said hello.”

“Oh yeahh! I remember him!”

“He finally finished his higher education, and wants to start professional ballet!”

──

You go to Grillby’s after your call with Toriel, lucky that he wasn’t so busy that he couldn’t take a couple of minutes to talk. You apologized profusely that you didn’t ask for time off sooner, but that it was a little sudden on Sans’ part. When Grillby asked why and where you were going, you told him what Sans told you to tell Grillby, and it was the same story you told Pollux yesterday before your shift ended.

The story is that Sans, apparently, wants to take you out for a vacation in the Capital. Hopefully, you guys don’t lose track of time, but the plan will be that you’ll be back in 10 days.

Grillby, somehow, gives you a knowing look. “I’m glad you two finally worked things out and got together. Hearing Sans pine after you was starting to get exhausting.”

…UM? HELLO? WHAT?

You raise your eyebrows and put your hands on your hips, “What? And how long was this happening for?”

“Hm… A short while after you started working for me.”

Jesus. So it really was the night he took you thrift shopping that things started to change for him?

You make a thinking pose because you are The Thinker™: “That’s… I didn’t think Sans would be the type to be interested in someone that fast.”

You know damn well you were still serious about wanting to bend Grillby over the counter during that time. But now that you think about it, you stopped thinking that way around the same time, too.

Sigh. Those were the days for sure.

Dang, love really changes a bitch. No, you’re not in love with Sans, but it sounded better than the other L word.

Yes, that’s right.

Lice-

No. The other L word: Lesbian–

NO–It’s “like.”

“I’m surprised too, but,” Grillby mimics your pose, “I feel it’s because you guys are pretty similar. But you’re not so similar that you’re his carbon copy, but rather that–you’re like his other half.”

Oh, Grillby. He has such a way with words with his soothing voice that makes his words sound like law.

You nervously laugh at the implications, “Oh, come on, dude. You make it sound like it was meant to be or something.”

“Perhaps it was. I’ve known Sans for a long time, I think of him as one of my best friends. And one thing I’ve learned about him is that he doesn’t believe in coincidences. To him, things happen for a reason, because they’re meant to happen and need to happen.”

…Maybe that’s all you need to know for now.

────

You’ve packed and got your shit ready after talking with Grillby. Today has been going pretty fast, with one thing after another being done like a checklist of tasks you need to complete.

Let’s see, you got your vacation weeks with Pollux and Grillby. You texted Napstablook that you’ll be MIA for two weeks, called Toriel for the same reason. And you packed some clothes while Sans took your stuff into that void he has because he’s a magic man. Uhh… Oh, right. You just finished talking to Papyrus about your trip as well.

Sans had already talked to him about what you two will be doing. To your surprise, Papyrus really didn’t seem interested in “DJ-ing” across space and time. Still, he said he’ll watch the house and wish you both luck on your journey.

How sweet.

Now you are waiting in the workshop on the blue beanbag, waiting for Sans to finish some last-minute packing. You tried sitting in the pink beanbag but it felt wrong since you internally dubbed it as Sans’ spot.

You wonder how this adventure is going to turn out. You still have no idea what the hell you guys are supposed to do once you get there. Why does Sans need you to pack for a 2-week trip, does he think that’s how long it’ll take you? You’re lucky you got paid in advance, if necessary then you two can stay at the inn at Snowdin.

You wonder how Pollux would be swapped in UnderSwap. You can already guess that Callimare and Snowmill would swap with each other, that would be interesting to see. Oh, and Grillby!!

You can’t remember everything about UnderSwap, but you know the basic main characters and how they swapped with each other. Man, you wish you were still in your hardcore AU fan phase, you feel like a fake fan now.

The door of the workshop opens up, coming in Sans who locks the door behind himself.

You stand up with some struggle. You could be the most fit and athletic person on the planet, but getting up from a limp beanbag will always keep you humble.

The skeleton’s smile widens when he turns to you, reaching into his pocket for something.

“hey, got you something real quick.” Sans pulls out a small white gift bag that still has the tag attached to it.

You snort while taking it from him, “You got me something?”

“yeah, it’s just a little… anyway, hope you like it.”

You reach into the little bag to pull out a light blue lanyard key-chain, decorated with little white bones. There was another clip on the other side of it that you could hook to your pants belt loops. There was already a red key attached to the big silver ring, though you have no idea where it could possibly go. Sans had the decency to remove the tag from the lanyard at the very least.

“i noticed you have our house key and the workshop key on that little string, so i thought you could use one,” He explains, “it’ll make me less nervous about you losing it by accident, too.”

You smile warmly as he takes the bag from you, making it disappear into whatever ether or void he puts his things in. You cup the red key, noticing the top part is vaguely shaped into a heart.

You lift it to him, “And where does this go?”

The skeleton’s cheeks flare up red; he looks away from you and rubs the side of his face. “it’s the key to my heart.”

…

…

…

THIS CORNY MOTHER FUCKER HE DID NOT-

“Did you really get a fake key for that pun?”

“yeah, did you like it?”

“Dude, I love it,” You say honestly with a grin, “It’s taking everything in me not to cheese so hard right now.”

Sans sighs heavy in relief, “good, ‘cause you really had me nervous there.”

“Oh, sorry!” You laugh, reaching into your pants pockets for your other keys, “Sans, this is so sweet, thank you. Aw, I feel kind of bad that I don’t have anything to give you.”

He waves his hand dismissively, going around you towards the machine, “nah, don’t worry. i bought it spontaneously since i saw it was the only one at the shop.”

“Still, thank you!”

You’re busy trying to get the keys through the metal loop while Sans prepares the machine. Even in the Underground, these stupid ass metal loops are the bane of your existence.

You didn’t want to be dramatic with your reaction, but you actually really love this gift. You like receiving gifts a LOT and you think you mentioned it before. But you’d be surprised if Sans remembered that and got you the lanyard for that reason. Finally getting your two other keys attached, you clip the lanyard to your belt loop on your dominant-hand side. You tuck the keys in your pocket so the strap part can still be visible.

Ah, you feel so fancy now. It’s a no-brainer why Sans got you this one. You have a strong feeling it wasn’t the only one at the shop.

“Oh, by the way…” You might as well bring it up now, “I got an interesting call from Toriel today.”

He tenses up, “oh, yeah? what about?”

“She said you haven’t visited her in a month. But why? Did you guys have a fight or something?”

“if i tell you, you can’t be mad at me, okay?”

You give him the side eye, “Okay…?”

“…i forgot-”

“-WHAT!?”

“i forgot,” He turns back to you with an apologetic smile, “if i’m not continuing my hotdog business, then i’m hanging out with you. and if i’m not hanging out with you, then i’m working on the dj–but that’s only been a recent thing.”

“So before the DJ machine, what were you doing if you weren’t hanging out with me?”

“can you remember a time when we weren’t together?”

…Okay, fair. You two hang out together a lot even if it’s to do nothing at all. Sometimes you will have an adventure with Papyrus and Sans, but if you weren’t working, you were with the skeletons.

You feel so sad for Toriel. You bet she looks forward to talking to Sans with how lonely she is at the Ruins. You don’t want to be the person who ruins that for her just because you and Sans are in a honeymoon phase.

“When we get back, you should visit her again, and more regularly, too. Other than me, you’re the only person who talks to her, man,” You cross your arms, “I’m actually visiting her for a week after we get back. Maybe you should come with me, or at the very least “drop me off” there so you can see her.”

Sans looks away for a moment before meeting your eyes, “yeah, that should be fine. probably won’t stay, but i’ll be your chaperone.”

“Cool beans. Now!” You clap your hands together, “Are we ready to roll?”

“first things first.”

Sans makes a shooing motion so you can back up, giving more space in front of the machine. There’s a back flicker in your vision, and next thing you know there’s a metal, circular platform on the ground. In the small cracks between the metal plates, you can see a faint glow of teal color.

“Woah, did you make this?” You ask with an impressed smile.

Your skeleton boy only shrugs, “eh, it helps a lot that gaster did most of it when he was still around. all i did was fix it up and put it back together.”

“Come on, don’t downplay yourself like that. It’s still really impressive that your knowledge and expertise can extend to engineering and building it.”

Being cursed with an embarrassed blush, he says nothing but extends out his hand. You take it and let him lead you to get up on the platform. It looks big enough that Sans could fit on it with you. Was that intentional, or did Sans have to modify it for that?

“okay,” Sans starts with a sigh, standing in front of the machine to make some last-minute checks on it, “do you have your stuff ready and packed?”

“Yes, sir. All packed and it should be in your cool void shortcut thingy, remember?”

“that’s right, but you gotta be the one to remember that. i use it so much that i forget it most times. now, are you ready?

The machine pops open a panel on the terminal, producing something that looks like a modern phone but more chunky. It matches the look of the DJ, but you don’t get a closer look at it since he pockets it immediately.

“If I’m honest, I’m a little nervous,” You chuckle weakly, “but I’m ready as I’ll ever be.”

The Comic steps onto the circular platform and holds his hand out again. You gladly take it and give it a small squeeze. He’s wearing his pink gloves today, you like his pink gloves.

“i got you, okay?” Sans brings back your attention to him, “you don’t gotta worry ‘bout a thing.”

You don’t feel as though you need to say anything in turn, so you just nod at his words earnestly. With a nod in return, he takes the device out of his pocket and presses a few things on its screen.

────

You don’t realize you have blacked out until you’re slowly opening your eyes again.

Woah, it felt like you just took a long blink, but your body is telling you that you blacked the fuck out.

You feel the snow under your body, vaguely aware of the snow-covered trees of Snowdin forest. Right above in your vision was Sans; your head was lying on his (somehow, magically) firm lap. One of his hands was brushing your hair back from your face, the other placed on your shoulder near your neck.

If you didn’t know any better, you’d say he was checking for your pulse (which is steady, by the way). His eyes are trained right ahead of himself, almost like he was keeping watch.

You put your hands by your side to get up, but his hands press down on you forcing you to stay down.

Sans looks down with relief, all tension leaving his shoulders. “hey, how’re you feeling?”

“Uhh… I feel fine, actually. But why did I pass out in the first place?” You ask.

“the short of it is that you’re not used to shortcuts like i am. when i do it and take you with me, it was only those few times, but that’s with a small amount of magic. the dj is like a huge shortcut with a larger amount of magic being used. the amount of it put a strain on your body so you passed out,” Sans pats your shoulder and head lightly and out of rhythm, “but other than that, you’re completely fine. i was just waiting for you to wake up.”

You furrow your eyebrows together, “Are you okay? That must’ve freaked you out. I know I would’ve been scared.”

He grimaces, “i… i knew it would happen, so i was prepared for it.”

“You knew??”

“i’m sorry, really. but you said you were nervous and i didn’t want to scare you even more. you were always going to be completely okay.”

“Aye, Sans…” You groan, bringing your cold hands to rub your face, “I… Ugh. I understand where you’re coming from, but next time something like this happens, I want you to tell me. Especially when it involves me, you know, passing out.”

“yeah, of course. i will now, okay? i swear.”

“Good, good.”

Finally, he helps you sit up, making sure you really are okay. He stands up first and helps you up after. You dust the snow off yourself while Sans does the same. Your hands are freezing since your dumb-ass forgot your gloves. You don’t know why you didn’t think to wear them.

…Could you get away with asking Sans for his? Would they even fit you?

You look around the area, not noticing a difference between this Snowdin versus yours.

“Is this it?”

“yeah, seems like it.”

You shuffle closer to him when he pulls out the strange phone from his shorts pocket. The screen is showing off the same shit that was on the DJ, so you can probably call this thing a mini DJ.

“this is what’s gonna help us go back to our au when it’s time. and…” Sans furrows his brows, “it’s supposed to help us look for whatever it is we need to look for.”

“Oh, shit. So this can track it for us?”

“well, it should, but it’s not showing me anything for some reason.”

“Is it broken?”

“it shouldn’t be. hm… maybe we’re missing something…”

You snort, “What, like how I had to tell you about Gaster before the DJ could start working?”

You can see the displeasure on his wavering smile, “yeah, something like that.”

Oh, no. You’re worried that it WILL be something like that. You know, the big rule Sans said to you about NOT interacting with anyone here! What if you have to tell the UnderSwap versions about your journey if that’s actually the case?

Since Sans is more familiar with Snowdin, and so far nothing looks too different, he takes the lead with taking you guys out of the forest. While the mini DJ is kind of useless right now, Sans opted for it to be put away in his void just in case. You walk close to him while rubbing your hands together, wishing you thought ahead of time.

You’re just about to finally bite the bullet and ask Sans, but he laughs while he removes his gloves. He hands them over to you with a grin, mumbling a little “here ya go.”

[Your hands are rather small, so they engulf your hands. / You think your hands are average-sized, but they’re still big on you surprisingly. / You have pretty big hands, so they fit very snuggly and comfortingly.]

“We should get a matching pair,” You beam with a smile, “Wouldn’t that be cute?”

“ah-ha ha, uh, yeah. the cutest.”

You pout, “You don’t sound excited.”

“no, no. i just… man, i really did luck out with you.”

You look at him only to find he’s already looking at you with that wholesome, derpy smile of his. Like he really is looking at something that has been the greatest introduction to his life. You don’t know how to handle that, how can you handle that amount of pressure?

It’s your turn to look away this time, flustered and your face is warming up to boot. “You keep saying that…”

“hm? because it’s true.”

“OKAY, BUCKO!!” You cross your arms over your chest, “If you’re gonna keep saying cute shit like that, then I’m gonna have you smooch you in the middle of this fucking forest!!”

“but–i won’t say no to that, but do you have to sound so aggressive about it??”

“YES, BRUH! ‘CAUSE YOU’RE BEING SO WHOLESOME AND SHIT!!”

“‘…bruh?’” Sans’ grin widens in amusement, “i thought you said you liked the romantic fairy-tale stuff.”

Yeah, but you didn’t expect Sans to be so… wholesome and sweet. You think you expected him to be more closed off and pulled away from you. Maybe he’d have more trust issues with you or probably be a little more insecure? But if you thought that way then perhaps you’re projecting because (so far at least) he’s been nothing but kind to you and open. He doesn’t shy away from affection and while PDA isn’t his favorite, he’s not scared to be open about his attraction towards you.

Damn.

You’re not ready to say it just yet in return, but you really lucked out with Sans, too.

You dramatically roll your eyes at his earlier remark: “Oh, so you remember that but not the bagel from-”

“-enough with the bagel. i got you that bagel eventually, didn’t i?!”

“Maybe.”

“what do you mean ‘maybe’–i did get you that bagel!”

“I know, but you’re fun to tease,” You bump into his side, smirking at his eye-roll, “Awe, look at you trying not to get mad at me. Want me to kiss it better?”

“are you gonna keep teasing me with that or are you actually gonna ki-woah!”

“WAHH!!”

You don’t know who triggered it (Sans would never admit it, but he definitely felt something under his foot), but a trap was set off suddenly as you were walking. A large net was hidden beneath the snow, capturing both you and Sans with finesse. The net suspends in the air and the inertia makes you both jump and get tangled with each other, limps caught in the ropes.

Sans was nearly fully on top of you, but you’d rather that than accidentally hurt him by crushing him, no matter how light or heavy you think you are. His low defense and HP are a constant reminder in your mind in moments that require any labor from him. Even if his bony body is digging in you uncomfortably at the moment, this is a much-preferred outcome for you.

“ugh… [y/n], are you okay…?” He asks.

“Are you? I didn’t hurt you, did I?” You counter.

“hey, i asked you first.”

“I’m fine, just–I think my foot is caught in the damn net.”

Your bone boy sighs in relief, “good. uh, i think i’m fine, but my arm is-”

Shutting the fuck up fast, you two become still to listen to the sudden crunch of snow, footsteps getting closer and closer. You and Sans look at each other, silently asking each other who the fuck that could even be. Who would be unhinged enough to set a fucking net in the middle of this fucking forest?!

“OH-HO-HO! WHAT’S THIS?! A HUMAN AND AN EVIL DOPPELGANGER ALL IN ONE CATCH! MWEH-HEH HEH!”

Oh, God.

────────

A/N: REEHEEHEEEE! Just a little reminder that UnderSwap Sans speaks in Comic Sans all caps, and UnderSwap Papyrus speaks in Papyrus all lowercase! I hope this won’t be too much of an issue or too confusing. For some reason, all lowercase just FEELS more Comic Sans to me, but oh well. It is what it is. Another thing, I always do the best of my ability to research CANON information about the AU’s, but a lot of time there isn’t much because either: the Original Creator abandoned it so the majority of the content is fanon, OR because the fanon version becomes much more popular than canon. That being said, for now and future content relating to any AUs, please forgive me in advance if I get any canon information wrong, or if the characters are out of character. Unless the canon information is actually shit itself (side eye to Nightmare Sans), do not bitch to me because your head-canon of this character or that character doesn’t meet your needs. You’re free to drop this story if any of that upsets you or if it’s not what you’re looking for! Heart emoji

Taglist:

@lemonboy011

@adriixboo

@fluffyart5000

@fetusbaconegg

[mpsansy]

Newfound Family Talk

I don’t regularly talk much about Newfound Family cause it’s been rather slow to come to mind, but I happen to be itching to share my thoughts now as they’re starting to pick up. Some of these will be small, but it’s the little things that count, right?

———

-Perhaps this may come as a surprise to you, but I’m happy to note that Frisk is especially happy that, for the longest time, they didn’t have to be stressed out about taking some important position like being an ambassador. No, the role they played in was to simply be free and find themselves. Basically, Frisk was able to be a kid all due to Sans and Papyrus being there to shield them from the whole responsibility bit. For now, anyway.

-Something about Frisk’s personality has changed. Cause very gradually after the story of Undertale ended, they began to be more vocal and expressive. For the most part, they would mimic Sans, Papyrus, and a few others. But then it kind of transformed into something entirely different. They really did become their own person, and it was so beautiful to witness. Least that’s what people like Papyrus and Toriel would say.

-Don’t know if you know this, but Frisk is PAINFULLY average in terms of their education and school life. I mean, they don’t really care about popularity or anything of the sort. They just want to get stuff done and doodle on papers cause it’s soothing for them. Best thing to say for Frisk is that in school, they are the type of teen you’d like to hang around with cause they’re so mellow and would make you feel like you’re in good company.

-Frisk loves to sing. Mostly slow melodies as they don’t hurt their vocal cords. Though if you were to hear them, you’d probably come to realize that they have range. It’s a talent very few have the delight to hear.

-Admittedly, if Frisk is hurting. Like REALLY hurting on any level? They will cry out for their brothers and father. Cause the three are really the main ones who have more of a connection with Frisk and how humans behave and feel. Inside and out. Almost instinctively do they call out to them as opposed to anyone else they have.

-Frisk doesn’t like their old pajamas they wore in the underground for many reasons. The colors are even on thin ice just cause they like to wear dimmer clothes as opposed to bright ones. If you were to show them their old clothes, they’d probably grab them and slam them on the ground and run away. Proclaiming them to be “icky and stupid.” What a strange, strange teenager they’ve become.

-Frisk has a reputation for getting scars. Most of which are covered up with their long sleeves and pants, but one scar they try to cover is the one on their right cheek that was from Asriel a long time ago in the underground. It used to be a lot bigger but was healed by Toriel. Most of it anyway. To this day, it still burns and aches. Though Frisk has gotten used to the sensation over time. They just have to change their band-aid from time to time. Just so they don’t scratch it.

-Saying Frisk knows how to fight is an understatement. They were taught by the best, after all. And the best just happens to be Papyrus and Undyne. They particularly don’t like the idea of fighting, but Papyrus had put Frisk at ease and said it would be beneficial for emergencies. And it’s a great way to exercise.

-To compare how tall Frisk is to Chara now? Well, Frisk is short by two inches. Although none are as tall as Asriel. Holy moly, is he eating something to make him as big as his dad. My goodness!!

-Frisk does have a little love life of their own. They have an ongoing relationship with a boy named Oliver who makes Frisk feel right at home with who they are. And have been together since they were kids. Sincerely this is the most happiest they have ever been with another person. In a romantic setting anyway.

-Speaking of love, MK has realized that they have feelings for both Frisk and Oliver. And it’s so funny to see them try to pull themselves together cause like? C’mon, they’re already good friends. It’s too silly to think they could all be together. (It’s in fact, not silly and possible cause they all would get along as partners if MK just talked to Frisk and Oliver about it. But they just barely discovered the fact. The monster needs time!)

-When it comes to Chara and Frisk about blood, it doesn’t seem to phase them. Especially if it’s theirs that’s coming from out their mouth or nose.

-Asriel, on the other hand, hates it. And now that he can bleed the stuff, it’s even worse. He has to bathe himself just so he doesn’t have to smell it. Poor dear gets uncomfortable with it.

-On a different note, the three LOVE the fall season. So mellow and refreshing to be outside and enjoy the rain and cool air. Literally, you will always find them outside when it’s that weather. Often times drinking and eating together as they talk about their lives and junk.

———

Anddddddd….. That’s all have at the moment :(

[frisiunia]

Valentine's Special

So, as the title says it's special on St. Valentine's day. I'll just tell ya about my top 3 favorite ships in Undertale, judge them and tell something about this ship but in Undermourning. I already made post about relationships but it's something different.

Anyway, I had this post prepared on the former year but I didn't wrote it in time so... here you have it now.

Undyne x Alphys

So this ship at start has two things that make me like this. First, It's ship with my favorite character from Undertale, Undyne. Second, it's ship of two girls. Honestly, lesbian ships are my favorite. Gender is not everything in ship, but it gives some extra points at start. I just dunno, I enjoy seeing to girls in love with each other.

I like this ship dynamic. Undyne is daring and lively while Alphys is shy liar with lack of self-confident. Both has strong feelings for each other. Alphys was lying to Undyne because she wanted to impress her, while what Undyne really like about Alphys is her passion (that's exactly what she said). + I love this scene when we're rolepaying with Alphys and Undyne just come in the best moment XD

I really like this ship. It was my most favorite ship from Undertale. I still love it! Maybe not that much but still. The fact that Alphys was lying to Undyne to impress her and couldn't get closer to her in result was adding my favourite thing - drama.

About Undermourning... Before Alphys' accident, Alphys and Undyne were a couple. They became lovers when Alphys became more self-confident. They spent a lot of time and probably that is why Undyne feels lack of something. Of course, she can't remember Alphys but Undyne can tell she misses something. It's frustrating for her. When she does something connected to Alphys she feels like she was near, but when she finishes doing that, she feels the lack of something even worse. And Undyne can't even date with anyone. If she would, she would feel like she betrays someone.

Sans x Toriel

So, their relationship in Undertale, it's friendship. But it's kinda funny that before meeting at True Pacifist Route they didn't even know each other name. They were just telling bad puns. That's all. But I like vision of Sans and Toriel as laid-back couple. I mean, they are going on dates and act romantic but there always are jokes and making fun, looking more like a couple of friends than lovers. It's not canon so we can't know how would it look like but I really believe it would look like what I've said. I love this vision :) + Toriel is my second favorite character

About Undermourning... "door-friends". That's all. If ya don't understand... here.

Chara x Asriel

I say that I see Chara and Asriel relationship in many ways. Sometimes as sibling, friendship, couple. I like every of them but as a romantic ship I can call it my favorite ship from Undertale. I want to tell I usually see Chara as a girl (a little outdated info now). Though I like to show Chara in a lot of ways because it's very universal character.

And well... incest. It may be quite controversial opinion but hey! It is not incest! Asriel never calls Chara sibling, only best friend. Asgore doesn't even call Chara their child! The fact that Chara was treated like their child/sibling was just observation of other monsters.

I see them as sibling sometime, sometime I see them as best friend and sometimes as couple. Just depends on what I want currently. But in canon they aren't confirmed to be sibling to each other.

And about Undermourning, this ship is impossible. :') But okay, if they would survive maybe they would develop some feelings but in my AU they actually see each other as sibblings. + Their sexual orientation is unkown for them and for me aswell :'> Too little time to uncover it.

[spectascopes]

Without a Second Thought- Chapter 1

Undertale Fanfiction (Gen, SFW) No relationships or pairings Tags (from AO3): Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Childhood Trauma, Mental Health Issues, Gender-Neutral Frisk, Trust Issues, Sans is a Mess, Good Parent Toriel, Toriel is Frisk's Mom, Manipulation, Flowey isn't a great friend, but nobody is surprised, Soriel Lightly Implied, Past Child Abuse, Narrator Chara, Major Character Injury, Injury Recovery, Crying, lots and lots of crying, Reader is Frisk Link to AO3 version

"You got through the Underground with the help of a ghostly companion nobody else could see, and you made a lot of friends along the way, but Chara didn't come with you into the sunlight. Now you have a new mom, and a new family, but no extra brain to help you make the right choices. It might have lasted, too, if you hadn't messed it up."

this is called frangst (Frisk Angst) and it's mostly about Sans and Frisk and a really bad situation

anyways I've been kinda on/off working on this for months, so most of it is already written! BIG HUGE SHOUT OUT to @kaliawai512-v2 for reading this and giving me some insightful and super helpful feedback, go read their stories if you haven't already!

TW for some intense emotions and results of emotional and verbal abuse in later chapters, I'm a bit of a wimp myself but I kinda maybe definitely cried maybe more than once writing this- allegedly

You sighed, laying in the backyard under the shade of the big oak tree mom tended to so well. She was inside making dinner- you could hear her humming to herself through the open window. She insisted it remained open, because-

"Ugh, is this really all you do? Just sit around? You've been spending too much time with Trashbag."

You sighed again, this time in exasperation. You opened your eyes and turned to see the plant in question giving you a dirty look. It was no wonder mom didn’t exactly trust him.

"It's a little mean to still call him that," you said. "He gave you a sandwich at that party one time, remember? That was really nice of him."

"Uh, yeah, you asked him to do that and Papyrus said if he didn't he’d be disowned. I bet he tried to poison me with it."

You rolled your eyes, but it was with a smile. "How much?"

Flowey groaned, blew a raspberry, then hit you in the face with a floppy leaf. "Fine, you called my bluff. He's not really the type to do things, I guess."

You sat up, pulling your legs in to sit criss-cross. Flowey's pouty, ever-cranky face had a bit of happiness in it. He poked a bruise on your leg.

“What’s this from? That’s probably a more interesting story than anything to do with Sans.”

You swept his vines away. “I ran into the coffee table. Papyrus was chasing me.”

“Stupid. You two are like dogs- like little baby dogs, you know that? Chasing each other around the house, you’re-”

“We’re dogs,” you finished, smiling. “I get it. We both like to run and play- is that a crime?”

“It should be,” Flowey said. “If I had my way, it would be. And no more of the idiotic play-fights you have with Smiley, those are just horrible to watch. You don’t even hit each other enough to do damage! Weirdos!.”

“C’mon, you should come with us and get suplexed by Undyne sometime. It’s her favorite activity.”

Flowey shuddered, and it was funny to watch it run up his stem and shake out into his petals. “Eugh. I don’t understand how you shrug off getting bruised and bloody ‘playing’ with these losers while also being the biggest wimp I’ve ever met.”

You smiled, idly touching the small mark. Mom had scolded you (and Papyrus) thoroughly and made it quite clear that any chases had to happen outside from then on. It was funny watching a grown skeleton sheepishly twiddle his thumbs in shame.

"Where have you been, by the way?" you asked Flowey, reaching over and brushing some dirt off of his petals. You pretended not to notice him flush and straighten his stem, but it was funny regardless. Maybe if he came around more he'd get used to casual, platonic dirt-wiping.

"Oh, you know. Here and there. Doing some research, sight-seeing, that sorta thing," he said, flipping a leaf nonchalantly. "You wouldn't get it since you're stuck here all the time with Miss Fussy Paws."

"You mean your mom?" 

Flowey gave you a real dirty look this time, and you shrank away, a quick 'sorry' coming out.

"She's your mom, idiot. She's... not mine right now."

"Right now?" you pressed, feeling at-ease enough to risk angering this one friend. Actually, he was probably your only friend you felt this comfortable with. It wasn’t like you could really hurt his feelings- he didn’t have any.

"Yeah- well- maybe not forever I dunno GOSH let's stop talking about this!" Flowey complained, dramatically flopping his head on the ground. "I didn't come to talk about that!"

You nodded. "Well, what did you come to talk about? I haven't seen you in months." Flowey had first popped up half a year after they'd all made it to the surface, going back on his self-promise to stay underground and out of their hair. That had been almost two years ago, and he'd come around only a handful of times since. They were always welcome visits despite his propensity towards being a pot-stirrer.

"You, silly goose!" he said, popping below the ground for a quick second and then back up on your other side, even closer. He slapped away another attempt at keeping him dirt-free. "I was thinking about your SAVE!"

You raised a brow at him. "Uh... okay?"

"You can still do that, right? You didn't turn into a spineless wimp?"

"Yeah, I think so, but it's been a long time since I have. If I'm never going to reset or reload or whatever again, what's the point in bringing up a SAVE?" You’d reset only a handful of times, always because you died and lost your nerve- deciding it was easier to go back to the beginning than to press forward and keep dying. You shivered at the thought.

Flowey grinned. "What if you could do something cool without resetting?"

You went quiet. You looked up at the window, heard mom still humming away, and then back to the flower.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, listen- you know that one part in that one god-awful movie where that wizard finds a wardrobe that rewinds time kinda but ONLY on the one object? I think he does an apple but I honestly don’t remember, it was boring. Do you know it?"

"Ew, you watched that? The author is a mega-bigot."

"Okay, I don't care! Shush!" Flowey said. "Humans are WEIRD and I'm not learning about all the ways you hate each other- my point is that it made me think about you and your resets!"

You rubbed your face. You needed a haircut, you noticed as you pushed the longer-than-normal bangs aside. You'd have to talk to Mew Mew soon, she’d been getting into that sort of thing.

"Flowey, I don't think that's a good idea. I don't want to mess with stuff like that anymore, I promised myself and everybody here that I'd never do it again."

"And you won't!" he said with a wink. You opened your mouth to protest the wink and whatever implication he was making with it, but Flowey was quick to stretch his stem way up and put a leaf to your lips. "But that and some other stuff got me thinking about the possibilities of all that determination in you. Do you see where I’m going yet?"

"No, not really," you said, arms crossed. "You had practically eternity to mess with all that before I came along, if it could be done you would have figured it out."

"Not true! I might be clever but I never had the full picture."

"Inspiration from Transphobe Supreme?"

Flowey stared at you for a second. You groaned, knowing full-well that most monsters didn't know what that meant, and moved on.

"Look, I just... I just don't want to mess with it," you said, rubbing an arm. "I might not have cared so much before, since I didn't know anybody that well and things felt too good to be true, but... but now I know they are true and I'm not going to risk any of them getting mad at me."

Flowey rolled his eyes. "Really? You're not going to try and figure out if you have super powers cause you're scared mommy will get mad?"

You looked away. Yeah, that was exactly what you were saying. Mom, Undyne, Alphys, Papyrus, Sans, Asgore- all of them knew about the resets and if they found out you were messing with determination and SAVES, they'd be mad. Well, one person in particular would be way more mad and it was because he knew way more than the others. You weren't going to put family grocery excursions with the skeleton brothers at risk.

"Friiiisk," Flowey whined, laying his head on your thigh and warping his face into a big-eyed, pleading expression. "C'mon, I've done a lot of poking around the SAVE-data and all that reality-fabric stuff, I know what I'm doing! We just have to alter some of it, not all! Imagine how cool it would be to reset just a little bit! Sans and Papyrus have some irregularities in their data and it lets them do that cool stuff they do!"

"Nope," you said, turning away from him. "I won't imagine it because it's pointless."

"It's not pointless, you just haven't thought about it!" Flowey exclaimed, annoyingly popping up right in front of you again. "What if you could reset the brown bananas on the counter to be yellow again? Or- or reset a plant all the way back to a seed?"

You tried to pivot away from him, but he popped right back up. You opted to close your eyes instead, arms crossed tightly. 

"... dust back to a monster?"

You looked down at the flower, staring up at you with a smile.

"I know you care about all these losers, but what if something bad happens to them ? If Alphys keeled over tomorrow, are you telling me you wouldn't be tempted to reset to last week?"

"Well... well, maybe I’d think about it, but-"

"What if Undyne begs you to, and you do, but then Sans never forgives you?" Flowey asked. You bit your lip- you knew he was just trying to get what he wanted, but he was way too good at it to ignore. Especially when it hit so close to home and what kept you up at night.

"You can't say it wouldn't be nice to just bring her back."

"Of course I can't, but... but that's not how life is. Nobody else gets resets and it- it isn't fair to them." You stared at the dirt between your legs. "...I heard mom and Sans talking one night, and he said that he knew about me a long time ago. He said I was an 'anomaly' and that he'd spent years trying to figure out how to..." You swallowed. "... to stop me."

"Stop you?!" Flowey balked. "Stop you from what, existing? That guy is a trashbag if he-"

"He didn't know," you said softly. "Him and mom had drank a little bit and they thought Papyrus had taken me outside to catch lightning bugs, but he'd actually just fallen asleep on the porch cause he drank a little bit, too-"

"Love the details but I'm dying to know the point," Flowey pressed.

"The point is he didn't know I was there and he said he still doesn't really believe I won't reset again, all the way back to the beginning. Mom said she knew me and she knew that I wouldn't, but that she understood. I didn't hear the first half of the conversation, but Sans sounded kinda sad." You sniffled, not quite crying but almost there. "I think he blames me for something, and I don't want to make him mad."

Flowey stared at your shirt for a few moments as he processed what you'd said. Toriel's humming could be heard in that time, occasionally turning into singing and then back again. The sun was going down in earnest.

"Well, for one," Flowey began as he crossed his own leaves, "we aren't going to reset on accident, but also- if Sans ends up not trusting you, would that really be the end of the world?"

"Yes," you said with a waver in your voice, and the tears won out. Flowey seemed surprised, leaning his stem away from you, and it gave you a chance to rub at your eyes with the sleeve of your shirt. You grit your teeth, eyes closed, before taking a few deep breaths like Alphys had taught you to, letting the anxiety ease. She knew about your anxiety, and that was all she’d know.

When you opened your eyes, Flowey was looking up at you in... worry? It was something close to it, at least. Mixed with disgust, as usual.

"You, uh... you good?" he asked.

You wiped your nose as you pulled your knees to your chest. "I know you think you know everything, but you don’t ." You felt a little bad being so blunt with him, but you didn't know how else to communicate with the soulless plant. "They're my family, Flowey. My only family."

Flowey's brows knit in confusion before his expression evened out again. After another moment, he frowned.

"I don't want to lose them," You mumbled into your knees.

For once, Flowey didn't  have something smart or rude to say. He wilted a little bit, looking off at nothing. You did your best to hide your face, embarrassed to have cried so easily. Flowey- Asriel- had been through so much, but he had grown up with a family who loved him. A mom and dad- a sibling- people who would still love him if he let them back in. It had taken you ten years to find a semblance of that in a bunch of monsters you hardly knew, and you’d do anything for it. 

You didn't talk about how things had been before you wound up Underground. You didn't want to just be the scared kid from a bad home who cried too much, and you'd been doing such a good job. When the fear rose up- when you felt even the slightest bit rejected or annoying- you had kept it in. You only cried when nobody was around. You didn’t have Chara to help you make the right decisions anymore- it was on you to do that from here on out. And that pressure was suffocating after a brief time of having a second, smarter opinion in your brain. One that everybody liked more than the real you, probably.

So, yes, if even one of them suddenly decided you were not worth it to keep around, it felt like your world would end. 

"I try to forget a lot of the stuff that I learned when I was still a monster, but I don't think family is supposed to be conditional," Flowey finally said in an uncharacteristically soft voice. He looked up at you, face as normal as it could be in his state. "Sure, they might be losers, but I'm pretty sure none of them would show you the door over one little mess-up."

"But you don't know that," you whispered, looking over at the kitchen window where mom was busy baking. Your mom, in your house, where you felt safe. 

What if something happened to her? What if she got really sick and then you were left with nothing again? 

You wouldn't reset- you would never reset or reload, even if thinking about anything bad happening to Toriel made your stomach twist up in knots. But what if Flowey was actually right... what if there was a way to use your power for something else?

"I know them, though,” Flowey continued,  “and I know Toriel would never just boot you out. Papyrus would overlook literal murder."

You wrinkled your nose at that, and Flowey was quick to shrug and say:

"Don't ask. But, pal, even if they do get mad at you, isn't it worth it to find a way to protect them? Some might not understand, but if we can mess with your SAVE without resetting- which we can- isn't being able to bring them back from the dead worth a little bit of emotional turmoil? We might even find some crazy, less reality-bending thing you can do! You’re a human with determination, after all- I’m just a houseplant."

Flowey had a point and you hated it. You looked at him, tears tucked safely away again, before you reached down and patted the top of his petal-y head with your hand. He groaned in not-quite protest.

"Yeah. I'd do anything for you guys."

Flowey's blush at the sentiment quickly faded as he flapped his leaves together in excitement. "Really? You'll do it?"

"I'll help you look into it. But I'm not promising anything- if it looks even a little bit dangerous-"

"Then we stop!" Flowey chirped, moving forward and hugging your wrist. "Oh, wow, I'm so glad I got through to you! I'll be back tomorrow evening, friend! I have to get a couple things ready!"

You smiled. Even if you were uneasy about this, seeing Flowey so happy made it feel far more bearable. 

"Okay. Do you want to stay for dinner?"

"Nope! See ya tomorrow!" he said, and just like that he was gone. 

You let out another big, deep sigh. You looked up at the leaves, swaying gently in the breeze, dappling the ground below with soft patches of light.

Toriel came out ten minutes later to get you for dinner. She still wore her flour-covered apron and a loving smile, though the latter of the two was hardly ever absent.

“Dinner is ready, my child.” Toriel called. She looked around the yard. “Where is Flowey? Is he not joining us tonight?”

You got to your feet and went to your mom, giving her a big hug. You laid your face on her torso regardless of the powder on it. She smelled like the kitchen and cinnamon. She smelled like home.

Toriel hugged you back, getting down on one knee to be easier to reach. She nuzzled her soft cheeks into your hair, something so sweet and affectionate that you weren’t sure you’d ever get used to it. 

“He had to go. I tried to get him to stay but I think he’s still a little nervous.” You didn’t mention that it was because Toriel was his mother, because Flowey had not told her that in this timeline and it wasn’t your place to do so.

Toriel laughed. “He does not strike me as the nervous type, but we all have our fronts, do we not?” she said, standing and swooping you up into her strong, furry arms. 

You squeaked, then giggled. “You don’t have to carry me to the table, I can walk,” you said as you snuggled close to her. Even without your second opinion brainworm/safety net combo, you felt safe with Toriel. She was the only one that you trusted to be there no matter what, even if you said the wrong thing. Even if she maybe didn’t like you as much as she’d liked you with your plus one.

“Of course I do not have to, but I want to, and so I shall,” she said, kissing the top of your head. She hummed as she began the walk back to the table, a hand shifting to run across your forehead and move your bangs. She was always so mindful of her claws. “Do you want me to contact a hairdresser soon, dear child? Your hair is getting longer than you usually wear it.”

“Yeah,” you said simply. Toriel noticed the hair, too- it really should have felt normal by now, but having someone care so deeply still felt alien. You closed your eyes and let yourself be carried back indoors. Tomorrow you’d see what Flowey had planned, but tonight you wanted to help Toriel clean the kitchen and watch a silly movie with your newly-acquired mother.

[vsa-pieldepapel]

(Chara&frisk anon) my personal favorite is both the narrator!chara theory and the theory that they share a body, largely because Shenanigans.

But anyways just…the idea of, here we are in your body. I’m wiggling my fingers. Your fingers. But they’re ours now, huh? This isn’t my body and when I look in the mirror, it’s you! But I’m here. It’s not me, but it’s us.

And the idea of two lonely kids never having to be lonely again, frisk in charge of dodging and Chara in charge of striking, sometimes reaching a point that they are One, but often being very solidly two.

Maybe Steven universe and fusion fucked me up lol

There’s also the angst potential of Chara being there but nobody actually knows it! They reach the surface with all their friends and here is Frisk calling Toriel “Mom”. Meanwhile Asgore and Toriel are constantly reminded of Chara in Frisk’s mannerisms, and feel guilty for it. Sans knowing something is weird but not quite understanding how. God, so much potential.

Took forever to get to this one but bluh blah im here now

I also think they share a body. It’s what makes it all so complicated and any potential actual relationship impossible. Frisk feels chara as a ghost of sorts and can see them floating around and making funny comments but if they’re objective about it, chara is inside/in the soul, and they’re in the same body, even though frisk can perceive chara separately. Kinda like an imaginary friend but well, frisk didn’t make chara up

Kek I was a Steven universe fan too and the fusion parallel is actually a decent analogy. Interesting you see them as eventually “merging” time to time because their thoughts are so in line with each other since I imagine they can read each other perfectly, as one’s thoughts resounds in the other. I can see them having mental conversations all the time, as an inner monologue of sorts. Frisk learns to disguise their reactions to it pretty well with time— and I do think they settle on frisk not outing chara’s presence because it would give toriel so much distress for example, and so it remains a little unspoken secret that frisk feels very clever for keeping

Once, eons ago I had this idea of an older frisk making arrangements for alphys to somehow separate the chara aspect of the soul and place it in an artificial SOUL put into a container robot body, a la Mettaton. So basically charabot. It was nothing serious and actually rather fun

[thechekhov]

So glad you decided to play Undertale! I think it would really suit you so I’m so happy you got into it! Could I have your thoughts about the game? I would LOVE to hear them. I’m ALL for long essays and rants, that’s my jam, but even just a small review from you would make me ecstatic!

Alright alright alright alright. 

I am ecstatic that someone asked because I have a lot to say AS ALWAYS. 

I’m gonna try to keep this readable, I swear. Will add pictures in between to keep things interesting. 

However, due to the length this will SURELY achieve, AND due to spoilers (and yes, laugh at me all you want, the game has been out for 5 years) I’ll put this under a cut. Read at your own (f)risk.

Metagaming - the game plays YOU

When I first started Undertale, I ‘knew’ these things:

there’s a stabby one with a knife, their name is chara

there’s a flower everyone hates

something something sans something something

and the last, and perhaps most important thing

you can spare your enemies to avoid killing them

The thing is. The THING IS. 

I did not realize how pervasive this strategy was. My thought at first was ‘okay, so I don’t have to kill EVERYONE.’

I had no idea that the reality was that I didn’t have to kill anyone.

I’m sure many others have already said this, but Undertale kind of changes the way you think about other games. It forces to you examine simply fighting your way through the RPG by introducing completely non-murder-y ways to resolve issues. This conversation-based combat style is not the first of its kind, I’m sure, but it’s also incredibly well done. It ties into the story, it ties into your decisions.

It ties into your decisions SO MUCH that it changes everything else in the outcome.

Undertale is a game well known for breaking the 4th wall. However, it does so in a strangely eerie, heart-wrenchingly real way. It teaches us that there are other solutions to conflicts - and it really... it really TEACHES us, you know?

Which is funny because to be honest, it took me a while to get the lesson.

(You may already be fully aware of this but yes, my first True Neutral Route was extremely organic. I legitimately had no idea that there was even more than one ending. I was just stumbling about er... killing. Out of habit.)

The beauty of this is that the game drives home that point even more effectively because I was fully unaware of my own bias. I had assumed that some enemies would require killing - DESPITE TORIEL SPECIFICALLY TELLING ME TO TALK TO THEM, and the entire Ruins tutorial being about Mercy. I killed the Dummy on accident (granted, it was due to me pressing the key too fast a few times) and didn’t think much of Toriel’s disapproval. I killed a few monsters because I saw my level was low and decided to automatically grind a little bit. 

By the time I got to Toriel, I was still not comfortable with the mechanic. I knew I could Spare her somehow - after all, she was a kind monster, and clearly an important character - but the Spare option didn’t yield promising results the first few times I chose it. I ran out of patience and decided that maybe... maybe it was like pokemon! 

Maybe I had to get her health down to a certain level before she would allow me to pass through.

Funny thing though.... you know what happens if you attack Toriel one too many times? Even if she has most of her health left? 

Yeah uh... it activates that one-hit-KO thing from No Mercy Route.

So of course, what happened? I hit her one too many times... and killed her! And of course, immediately panicked and reset. 

I got back to my previous save, Spared Toriel PROPERLY this time, and walked out of the ruins only to be confronted with my own reliance on the magical ‘redo’ button which was... apparently... not that magical.

Because it WASN’T a clean redo. Flowey apparently remembered. 

The idea that the game would KNOW about my previous attempts beyond the save file snapped me out of my casual Undertale playthrough. I realized that something was up - this game was not going to be like the others.

I think it was from this point on that I tried to be more careful, but again - I still hadn’t quite gotten the memo about not killing. I took down a few monsters around Snowdin. And when I got to Papyrus, I grew frustrated about not being able to beat him (I ended up losing several times and coming back to try again) and went off to grind SOME MORE because I figured that could raise my HP and increase my chances of holding off long enough to Spare him. 

(The incredible thing about this game is that actually, raising your level gives you only a slight advantage. You can be level 1 and carrying no items, and as long as you’re relatively proficient at dodging the bullet hell style projectiles you will have no issues.) 

Anyway, the point is that I realized I could spare the big monsters and did so readily - but I didn’t bother to spare many of the smaller ones. 

I figured it didn’t matter. 

And then I successfully evaded Undyne, gave her a cup of water, etc... and then went to her house to meet Papyrus, fully expecting her to befriend me anyway. 

And you know what happened?

“She said she won’t hang out with a murderer.“

I think that probably hit me the hardest at that point in the game. 

I had a bit ‘....oh’ moment at that point because I realized that the game would punish me for killing even the ‘not-important’ civilians of the Underground. It wasn’t about just sparing the ‘boss monsters’. My actions had consequences beyond just the ‘elite’ characters that we all tend to focus on.

Because yes, it made sense. It wasn’t about just Undyne - why WOULD she randomly be my friend after I killed tons of living beings?

From there on, I spared everyone, but didn’t reset. I decided to see how it would unravel.

The thing I want to talk about, which is a little difficult, is that...

It took me that long to learn that kindness was the answer. And that, in itself, ends up being a metaphor. 

It’s difficult to be kind if you have not been show how to be.

It’s difficult to change the way you behave (in a game or out of it) if all you know is using other methods.

It was hard enough to spare Toriel before I realized I had to just be very patient and trust that her attacks wouldn’t hit - though at first I thought she would just kill me! 

It was hard to avoid Papyrus’ attacks and I had to die several times before I successfully got through it. 

It was near impossible to fight Undyne because I legitimately had no idea Fleeing was an option. I struggled for ages at her stage, and I had to ask for help to understand what I could do.

And that’s actually honestly very true to life as well.

Being kind takes risk. Being kind takes effort. And sometimes, being kind means asking others HOW to be kind. 

When you choose to be kind, you risk being hurt, and you risk being trapped (Toriel). When you choose to be kind, you need to expand a lot more energy to succeed (Papyrus). When you choose to be kind, you need to sometimes reach out to others to show you how to properly do it (Undyne).

The rest of the playthrough probably went about as you expect. I completed the game, didn’t kill any Boss Monsters, fought to the end and... got that really unsatisfying Neutral Ending which felt strangely bittersweet. 

And of course, after I was done, I was prompted to go back and do a proper Pacifist Run. Which I did. I learned about the background of Determination, about Chara and Asriel... and about how everything came to be the way it was.

The thing that gets me the most about this game is how it serves as a direct parallel to how we use videogames. In fact, Undertale is a videogame... about videogames. 

Chara appears to be a direct metaphor for the people that use videogames to escape - to cope with whatever happened to them in The Overworld. Bad family life, or bad relationships or whatever we suffer - escapism through games is not, in itself, a new theme. 

Chara arrived in Undertale by dropping themself down a hole in the mountain, perhaps even seeking to end their life. They dropped into a world which offered them comfort and companionship, a new family and a new life - but in the end, their nature was destructive because their means to finding a solution inadvertently used other people as fodder. Asgore, Asriel - they used everyone else to complete their plans. It wasn’t about forming connections - it was about Completing the Quest. 

I wonder - did Chara even HAVE access to a MERCY option? 

Was their world one without the option of sparing someone? Did they only have the choice of acting - and was Mercy in the hands of whoever attacked them? I wonder how difficult it might have been for them. I wonder how that, in itself, shaped their perception of the world. 

I wonder if that’s why, during the No Mercy run, people recognize you as Chara? If they come back and attach themselves to your resonating DETERMINATION?

If this is true, was MERCY perhaps created later, brought into existence once Asriel himself made the choice to NOT fight, to turn back and flee, even after being attacked by humans in the Overworld? 

(It would be a nice parallel to Asgore DESTROYING the Mercy option when you enter the fight with him...)

...

In the end, I think Undertale is about many things, including video games. 

But it’s also hurting - and being hurt. 

It’s about how trauma can shape us, how we deal with feeling grief, and loss, and depression - and not being able to feel anything.

It’s about how we focus on goals and use DETERMINATION to keep going - even when whatever it is that’s driving us no longer has any SOUL. 

It’s about how our action have consequences, but they also carry the weight of a choice, and how powerful those choices are, and how powerless we feel when we aren’t given a choice - not to fight back, nor show mercy. 

I think that’s probably the reason this game resonated with so many people. It really brings something we love about videogames to the forefront - that ability to fight back, to have full and total control of our own lives...

And it also shows us how having that endless loop of repetitive grinding and fighting with zero consequences can lead to an incredible hollowness and make us numb to how we interact with real-life people. 

Anyway. 

Good game. 

[evenmywordsare]

well now that it’s been 24 hours, here are my personal thoughts on chapter two. spoilers obviously!

so susie might be one of my favourite characters in all media now? i don’t even have the words. i would kill for her. i love her and her faces and her enthusiasm and her awkwardness and. how she took an interest in healing magic but still fires it off in a badass way. i just love her SO much

everything about noelle. what a sweetpea i LOVE her i can’t even put it into words either. she is so brave. also when she strangled berdly

SUSIE AND RALSEI BROTP RISE UP. they are the cutest friends omfg. i’m obsessed

also susie and kris brotp continues to be top tier

ralsei is super weird though. he is a sweetheart but he is 100% hiding something. HOW DOES HE KNOW ABOUT THE SUPPLY CLOSET. WHY DIDN’T HE TURN TO STONE LIKE ROUXLS AND LANCER. WHY DID NOELLE AND BERDLY AND QUEEN SEEM TO BARELY PERCEIVE HIM. WHAT WAS WITH THAT WIERD CONVERSATION AFTER THE SPAMTON FIGHT. IS HE EVEN A DARKNER. WHO IS HE

loved his suit with the lil bowtie though that was so cute

im not sure if ralsei has a uh. crush on kris. or if he’s just so completely unused to affection of any kind. i’d lean toward the latter which makes me so sad. who hurt him

SUSIE AND NOELLE SUSIE AND NOELLE!! oh they were so cute help me

they should have told noelle the truth though :/ it’s too bad susie panicked

QUEEN was delightful and super funny and so fun and i’m sincerely glad she stuck around. absolutely love her

i can’t perceive her as lancer’s actual mother. like i saw it coming within the first minute of meeting her with the colour scheme and the name but it doesn’t fit for me, nor do i want to for a single second think about her being in a relationship with the sp*de k*ng

i don’t care for any sp*de k*ng woobifying btw. fuck that guy

i was not expecting antagonist berdly but ngl i kinda loved it. i love how the dark world immediately went to his head it was perfect. he’s AWFUL but in a hysterical and entertaining way. he’s a great parody of a character and i genuinely enjoyed his presence and role in the game

i just love that trope where the protagonist’s bully or rival gets powers equivalent to theirs and then lets the power go to their head and goes way too far with it and i could see some of that with berdly. i almost wish toby had pushed it a bit further with that

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH SPAMTON. what was with the obvious mettaton in the basement and spamton’s boss music having the mad dummy and power of neo and mettaton and jevil motifs. and the yellow soul mode. WHAT WAS WITH SEAM’S COMMENTARY ABOUT HIM. IMPORTANT TO A CERTAIN LIGHTNER ONCE? METTATON? HELLO? what is the timeline here. i am going insane

asriel’s computer shows game development with a final boss that has rainbow wings. the dark world in this chapter was in a computer, meaning that mettaton body must have come from the internet. is it possible that asriel is making undertale…? i have no clue what’s happening ignore me

not knowing the exact connection between undertale and deltarune is going to kill me

anyway i got lucky and somehow survived spamton on the first try but what an insane battle

toriel and sans besties content :) they are besties in any universe!

what were snowy and monster kid talking about by the weird door……… the way they directly mentioned kris too…. did kris come from there?

more confirmation that other humans exist in this world, just not in hometown, is interesting.

so what i’m understanding is that dess died (hence noelle freezing up at the word “december” during the spelling bee) and that potentially cop asg*re killed her (hence the rift between the two families, asg*re not seeing rudy in person, the divorce, asg*re getting kicked off the force) anyway acab

i continue to h*te delatrune undyne. toby how could you do my all time favourite ut character like this. disgusting

TORIEL AND SUSIE 😭 oh my god. their interactions were super important to me. they made a pie and it nearly brought me to tears

susie’s expression and walk animation in kris’ house is 🥺

based on her reactions to the room ralsei made for her and kris’ house and the way toriel treated her, susie definitely does not have a room or a house or (nice) parents. maybe toriel could adopt her

toriel’s pyjamas

has kris been the knight this whole time? i’m still a kris defender and i will never call them evil but i am just wondering

also we all agree they were the one to slash toriel’s tires right? obviously they don’t want toriel to leave… but they also opened the door. to let the darkness out? will the whole town be covered in darkness? dark world toriel, undyne???

with the utmost love and respect i did not vibe with the cyber setting as much as the original dark world setting. still lots of fun of course though and loved the amount of care and detail that went into it but i won’t miss it. it didn’t feel very “deltarune” to me especially in the beginning with those objecthead robots, or at the end with the punch out boss fight. but that’s just down to my personal preference

i LOVED the enemies- tasques, werewires, poppups, maice etc. so creative and interesting!

the recruitment mechanic is great and gives so much more purpose to the enemy encounters

the new music is soooo good. slaps as always mr fox

i haven’t done the no mercy route yet.. i don’t think anything is worth doing horrible things to noelle so i’ll have to see if people say it’s worth it (i’m someone who really enjoys the ut no mercy route for the boss fights so i AM interested but. noelle. yikes lol)

overall i really enjoyed it for the music and characters!

[mymarifae]

GOD. i had this thought this morning but then i Forgot bc 💛idk💛 but ANYWAYS i was thinking abt what u said in the tags of ur one post that giselle in the darkworld would be kris and susies first time meeting her and it got me Thinking like. okay berdkris hat on, can you Imagine the awkwardness of meeting ur sons crush. BUT LIKE berdly never tells her he has a crush on kris but she overhears it one night when she’s going to bed (berdly lamenting on facetime to noelle, classic besties mome) and she’s like “huh. kris.” and obvs she doesn’t actually Know who kris is bc she’s not rlly Around but she just like. stores the thought back there. and she doesn’t ever say anything abt it bc Oh My God can you imagine how weird THAT conversation would be. these two cannot even get through simple pleasantries can you imagine the Relationship Advice Convo???? hell on earth.

but she stills Knows This and so in the darkworld she’s like hm. kris. they seem self-sufficient. good at pointing. i like this kid. and she maybe sorta kinda tries nudging the two together but mostly she just asks kris oddly personal questions. like okay imagine a situation like when the gang splits up in chap 2 except it’s kris and giselle. OR BERDLY AND GISELLE OOOOO that’s a different good idea. anyways. imagine her asking kris what things berdly likes bc she doesn’t kno HGNBDJCNFD OKAY IM DONE IM DONE RANT OVER. just some things to consider :-)

NDBFJSNFSKFKZBF adopting the idea of her learning berdly's crush by overhearing him talking to noelle into this disaster family's canon immediately❤ that's probably the only way she learns anything about him these days because he's sure as hell not going to tell her. (ofc she respects his privacy, even as worried as she's starting to get. any overhearing that happens on her part is Never purposeful)

she does know who kris is! but only by virtue of "oh that's Toriel's kid" they've never actually met each other. giselle and toriel are tensely acquainted. so when she hears this little tidbit it's like oh god 💔 what if they start dating. does that mean i'll have to talk to toriel. i dont want to do that. etc

so she's kinda. like. well on one hand she wants berdly to be happy but on the other hand she really doesn't want to talk to toriel. so she's like. half hoping nothing will come of this little crush. and then dark world shenanigans 🤨 idk any details but like you said, she meets kris there and she's like oh this is a good kid... maybe i should be rethinking my stance on my son's crush. maybe i can cope with a little bit of toriel in my life if it means he'll be happy

i really like the concept of berdly and giselle getting stuck traversing a dark world together because i think that'd be good for their relationship. much like being in cyber world was good for berdly because he was able to loosen up and let his guard down and let himself just be for a while, instead of juggling expectations and pressure and general real life stress. there's so much else going on and none of it is their light world baggage so i think they'd be able to connect more freely y'know... and giselle wouldn't be walking away thinking of it as a weird dream because either

A. by this point berdly wants to be more honest with her and it starts right here, right now.

B. he and the rest of the fun gang DO convince her it was a dream, but berdly wouldn't be able to go back to the cold silences and constantly avoiding her and with the pretty drastic change in his behavior matching her "dream", giselle would quickly realize that it was all real

if she got teamed up with kris though thatd be fucking funny. you see how awkward she is with her own kid? it's worse with other people's kids. but she does pull them aside at some point like

giselle: hey. youuuuu... know what things berdly likes, right? ^^''

kris: .

giselle: could you tell me what they are?

kris: Um

kris (in their head): is. is she quizzing me...??

giselle: because tbh i don't have the slightest clue he doesn't tell me anything. but his birthday's coming up and i can never tell if he likes the presents i get him and i want to be sure this year and i know he likes you so i figured i'd ask you-

kris (still in their head): wait what

(much like berdly, giselle lacks a filter. so she just. yeah. good job giselle. most mediocre mom of the year award)

[a-snow-decahedron]

hi dude!! what about kris?

Kris Cross Appelsauce!

First impression

"Frisk but older." (me being an absolute dumbass before even playing the game) "Odd, fictional characters always put stuff on their room, not Kris, how strange." And seeing the birdcage in the morning I went "I bet they'd like playing in the mud, idk why but they like the dirt."

Impression now

I feel like I know a lot about them and not at the same time. They're going through a lot of stuff and seem pretty lonely. It's not something they particularly mind but it still makes them stand out. I don't know.

And yet it's still clear they care so much about people, the friend's they've made... God I love them.

Favorite moment

Oh man, it's hard to tell since so much of it is Our Choice instead of theirs. However, I love the trash orb interactions inmensely. They put the contents of a room on top of their head, balance it like a pro, and you know what? If you call Toriel before walking on her and Alphys talking, they straight up tell her they made a trash orb akjdhakjdsak it's only after Alphys says they're "normal" that Kris chooses to say that instead.

Idea for a story

Kris and the red soul attempting to commmunicate in odd ways, Kris reopening closed fountains to see what's up with those places, and maybe see the consequences of closing fountains and taking the Darkners that reside in there.

Unpopular opinion

Kris has good social skills but they just like to annoy people on purpose. They know damn well how to ACT when facing any enemy, and they are good with coming up with excuses or communicating interest or disinterest with their tone, they just choose to act a little creepy because it's funny.

Favorite relationship

Their friendhsip with Susie!!!!!!! I personally took some time to like Susie, because of her actions before entering the dark world. However that's changed, especially since we've seen more of the story, and I just LOVE the way Kris and Susie seem to vibe together so well. Besides, I trully believe she's the hero of Deltarune, and I think if anyone would notice something's up with Kris and find a way to help them, it's her.

Favorite headcanon

This was really difficult to choose, but I think they're the type of child that learned to walk on their hands, standing upside down and then did it everywhere. If they could climb walls they would. Anyways, that's why they have such good balance. They'd make a decent gymnast, but they don't have that same energy or time anymore.

[babubabibambam]

Omg imagine dazai or any other agency member playing undertale (I bet yosano would go for genocide run first for fun) Could you write some hcs for that? I really like ur writing btw!

ahhh ty for liking my writing^^ it's been so long since i've played undertale, i literally had to search up the routes:,)) anyways, hope you enjoy this and have a nice day!!^^

DAZAI:

This man will either play the game once in the genocide route, and if he ever gets bored or somehow managed to get himself interested in the other routes of the game, he'd definitely play the game again but in different routes. For some reason I think that he's generally invested in the character designs and how they interact, not really interested in the plot. Thus he's come to like the characters and their theme songs. I think the current Dazai would like how funky and funny Papyrus is... would definitely bop to "Bonetrousle" or "Spiderdance". He probably would like Flowey the most though, since Flowey somewhat breaks the 4th wall and knows about how he can save and load and can somewhat influence the game.

KUNIKIDA:

This man either went for the pacifist or the neutral route, though I'm leaning more on him playing the neutral route. Kunikida IS a man of principles, but he's also one to be focused on efficiency, thus the neutral route. I feel like Kunikida only played the game once and decided he was neutral with it, was it good? Yes. Will he replay and try other routes? No. Why? He's got too much work to do, and as much as he would hate to admit it, he was pretty much invested in the game and had trouble moving away from it. He probably like Undyne and her theme song "Spear of Justice" or "Battle Against a True Hero

RANPO:

Ranpo was most likely the one who introduced the game to everyone at the agency. Definitely had tried all routes of the game, although he finds that the contents and plots are too easy to predict, he still enjoys it nevertheless. Since he can't really enjoy the plot due to his intelligence, he turns to the world building and character designs like Dazai. He probably like the bone brothers(Papyrus and Sans) and finds it funny how their dialogues are written in the fonts that are from their names. He really likes all the extra details in the game and how the music is composed to fit the situation and the characters and how the music is able to communicate each character's personality. This smol bean likes every song, and can never choose which one is his favorite.

YOSANO:

This crazy and hot lady went for the genocide route for sure, though she may try the other routes since she felt guilty for the things she did in the genocide route. Afterall she was much more of a healer rather than a killer and compared to Dazai, this lady has more of a conscious than him. She's prolly some what empathetic, thus she probably cried at one point in the game, but she'll never admit it. Is head over heels about the plot and characters, her favorite characters are most likely the spider and flowey, LOVES "spiderdance"

ATSUSHI:

Baby played the game as a pacifist at first for sure, then later on he reads and watches people play the genocide routes and then cries at the plot. He's a sweet boy so he easily gets attached to the characters. He swears he cried his eyes out when he was watching someone play the genocide route on youtube and it was Toriel's boss-fight. We know the boy would love Toriel with all his hearts for her nurturing nature. Has a love hate relationship with the song "Heartache".

[madamecricket]

Fourth (and Final) Impressions of Deltarune Chapter 2

Edit: forgot to put a readmore. Forgive me! Spoilers under the cut!

- So I wasn’t even in the palace very long before we got to a series of puzzles that Berdly couldn’t solve, much to his frustration. I figured Berdly was building up to something, either a boss fight or a growth moment, and it was the second one. Turns out when you thrive off of praise, you develop a bit of a dependency... good on him to be self-aware.

- In the flashback sequence with the spelling bee, I noticed the word Noelle got nervous and stuck on - “December”. See, I remember another sequence in the city where we had a character moment with Noelle while pressing a series of switches that spelled out “December.” Clearly the word is significant to her in some way, and probably a negative way considering how it made her freeze up. Either something big happened in December, or something big happened involving a person close to her named December, since I remember her mentioning a “Dess”. I’m looking forward to where this goes.

- The theme in the Queen’s palace slaps, just gotta say that before we go further.

- So backtracking a bit, Lancer has been stone-ified, and Ralsei knows exactly what’s up: the dark fountains create worlds, the dark fountains that was sustaining Lancer’s world is gone, and that’s why Lancer is stone now. He’ll be fine, though, if we can get him back to Ralsei’s castle town and the fountain there. Good of him to offer a solution, except...

- ... hold the fuck up, Ralsei. So you’re telling me that this happened to Lancer because of the loss of his dark fountain - which Ralsei encouraged us to go through - and because of that, the Dark World that Lancer comes from is no more? And what’s more, Lancer now depends on the Castle Town fountain - that is, Ralsei’s fountain - to live. He is now life-bound to your town, Ralsei. He literally cannot leave you and still live, and even if he could, the world he knew is gone. Oh, but it’s ok, because you conveniently have a place for him to live under your roof now. 

- And, hold on, who was it who told us we had to go through the Dark Fountain to get home?? I played through the first chapter just recently, that was you, Ralsei. I definitely remember Ralsei saying we had to do that, he gave us that quest in the first place, and I definitely do not remember him mentioning at any point that this would end with Lancer’s world being destroyed. This is absolutely not fine, Ralsei. Oh, and considering how conveniently us getting isekai’d in the library lines up with Ralsei suddenly insisting we had to go and do homework... Ralsei, are you the one isekai-ing us???

- *deep breath* Okay. I’m calling it now. There’s something Ralsei isn’t telling us. I joked earlier about how he wants to bake us into cakes and eat us, but to be clear, I think whatever’s going on here is more complicated than “Ralsei was the bad guy all along”. I get the feeling that Ralsei’s desire for friendship, especially towards Kris, is very genuine. It’s just... this whole situation is reminding me of Asriel’s deal in Undertale. Fitting considering the whole anagram situation... I wonder how Deltarune!Asriel is going to play into this.

- Okay, back to more current stuff in the game. I met up with Roulsx Kaard (idc how to spell it) again and he’s facing me in... the thrashing machine I made in the first chapter. I’m serious. Same color and everything, holy shit.

- behold the majesty

- COMETH FORTH, MY SQUEAKY DUCKY!!!

- ...whut?

- this is excellent. I’m going to die of excellent.

- ohh, now he’s gonna transform... aaaaand...

- oh. ... you know, I wondered when it was gonna catch up to him?

- ice cold, Ralsei. Ice cold.

- “Why don’t we close our eyes and imagine how she’s doing now” Just like last game... is Ralsei actually activating some kind of power when this happens?

- “I wish Dess could see this”? I knew it! I’m on to something!

- taking a moment to acknowledge the shipping energy in the air

- Noelle (paraphrased): “Where are we, anyway?” Me: say “Dark World” Susie: “You’re just having a dream” Again with Susie thwarting player intentions...

- .. a heart-covered Ferris Wheel. Okay, Toby Fox, we’re doing this now!

- Susie has a tail???

- BERDLY WHAT

- And again, we return from a Susie Sequence to Ralsei apparently explaining something to Kris and finishing with a variation of “so that’s why-” before getting cut off by Susie. What are you explaining, Ralsei.

- Checked a calendar in Noelle’s palace room. “Every page is the last month, every day is the 25th”... what??

- another banger of a final battle!! let’s do this!!!

- See, I had a feeling that the Queen didn’t actually want to hurt anybody, but she has a... funny... idea of what constitutes helping. It clicks with her being basically a personified search engine - she literally wants nothing more than to give people what they want and make them happy, but she’s not always great at figuring that out based on what they search. She mentions Noelle’s “sad and lonely searches”... Noelle, honey, are you ok?

- Excuse me, Queen, this Dark World was created *today*? ... And it was created by the Knight... and I already suspect that Ralsei is “isekai-ing” us... Ralsei, are you the knight?

- New important info: “Lightners” are apparently necessary to create Dark Fountains due to their determination, and unlike Undertale, determination isn’t exclusive to humans

- BERDLY!!! BERDLY IS PUTTING THAT REDEMPTION ARC TO GOOD USE!!!

- ...

... this game just became perfect

- Oh hey, White Diamond, what’s up?

- “Oh Damn I Did Not Know That” WELL NOW YOU TELL US, RALSEI!

- Susie doesn’t have a tail? Make up your mind, game!!!

- Phew. Okay. Okay. The actual game part is over. Time to process some thoughts...

- So we’ve seen two Dark Worlds so far, Lancer’s world based on games (cards, checkers, etc) and the Queen’s world based on computers and the internet. The running theme I notice so far is escapism. During her fight, the Queen monologued about a desire to fulfill the desires of people who turn to the internet to dull their pain or look for new distractions. And as for Lancer’s world... well, it’s implied to literally be made of abandoned toys. Both of them things people turn to when they need a little entertainment or escapism to avoid their real-life problems for a bit. And I think it’s been mentioned that Darkners are essentially made to serve Lightners; perhaps helping them cope with the difficulties of life? 

Even putting aside the symbolism here, Susie and Kris literally escaped to this world to blow off their classwork, and Susie in particular seems to think the Dark World is better than anything in the Light World. In the final battle, Susie, Noelle, AND Berdly were all just about to open up a Dark Fountain themselves and make themselves better lives in the Dark World and only stopped when Ralsei very firmly informed them about the Roaring. Is this going to come up again? Are these kids going to struggle with the temptation to abandon their real lives to go play eternally in the Dark World?

And isn’t that just a perfect microcosm of the relationship that people have with video games in general - including this one? The perfect opportunity to just forget about your own life for a bit and temporarily live in a different world altogether, one with battles and magic and adventure?

Just what the fuck is going on here, Ralsei? Was I too quick to accuse him of being a secret villain earlier? Is Ralsei just trying to get us to process our shit in the Dark World, and then destroy it so we move on to the Light World with renewed hope in life? .. or is he just trying to make himself the center of our fantasies?

- HOLY SHIT THE QUEEN IS HERE! THE QUEEN IS HERE AND SHE’S GONNA BE A MOM FOR LANCER!!! (or “girldad” as Lancer puts it)

- ...have the Queen and King met? I mean, it would make sense, but they haven’t been mentioned as having a relationship of any kind or even knowing each other. Is this another Toriel/Asgore kind of situation?

- HOLY SHIT I KNEW IT SHE IS HIS MOM

- So I’m just talking to NPCs around Castle Town, right, and I meet up with Seam again. He just told me to be careful not to stay in there too late and that I don’t want to get caught when the sun goes down... DAFUQ YOU MEAN, WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN???

- This is wonderful, I’m now witnessing Toriel and Sans having a joke-off in person.

- (Sees Kris going in to wash their hands) (Hears Toriel say “they do that sometimes”) ...so Kris has like... a condition? The heart-ripping thing has happened before?

- (Sees last thing before credits) ...okay then!!! I think that’s all the things I can get into one post, haha! Forgot to mention some things, but I can only type so much!!! Can’t wait to talk about this later, haha!!! (holy shit)

[creaturefreature]

so I finished playing chapter 2 of deltarune the other day, but i wanted to wait a couple days to post my thoughts so i’d have a little more time to think about it. so here they are, spoilers below the cut

-aight first of all is it just me or was ralsei acting incredibly suspicious throughout the whole chapter? i don’t know he just seemed wayyy more calm about everything. i hope i’m just reading to much into things because i am not ready to be betrayed by the fluffy boy

-the mechanic of ‘recruiting’ darkners to the town was such a cool idea. i’m looking forward to seeing more characters joining and just chilling there in future chapters

-it’s nice that we got confirmation that the king does care about lancer to a certain extent even though he’s still a horrible guy

-i’m so glad seam returned in this chapter to stay in the castle town even if they only got a small role. that said i’m a little disappointed we didn’t get to see Jevil again but I was kind of expecting that would be the case anyway

-the cyber aesthetic is cool and all but i definitely prefer the chess/playing cards feel the first chapter had going for it instead. i’ll miss the alice in wonderland-esque vibes it had

-i absolutely love the queen and think she’s a really entertaining antagonist. she had so much funny dialogue and an awesome battle theme to boot. her design kinda reminds me of a mix between spade king and a xenomorph

-i found the puzzles to be a little more difficult than the last chapter especially the traffic jam puzzles cause it was hard to get the timing right (especially because i’m not used to using the keyboard controls)

-the music!!! absolutely!!! slaps!!! i’d even go as far as to say it was better than chapter 1’s soundtrack. if i had to choose a favourite it would probably be either ‘attack of the killer queen’ or ‘big shot’

-berdly was cool and i ended up liking him a lot more than i probably should have. he had a surprisingly sympathetic backstory and i found it funny how he’s just basically an incel gamer version of falco. i wonder if more of kris’s classmates with join us in the dark world in future chapters

-speaking of which did anyone else notice how the doors in the queen’s mansion had the names of kris’s classmates and asriel on them? how the heck does she know about them?

-rouxls finally got his own battle! nice to see lesser dad get more screentime in this chapter and nice to see the thrash machine return also. i find it neat how the game remembers your choices from chapter 1 and makes them relevant in chap 2

-i love how when the queen gets recruited to castle town the first thing she does is immediately adopt lancer. looks like he’s got 3 parental figures now

-the ending scene where susie meets toriel and they bake a pie and she invites her to stay the night is so wholesome. an interesting note is how susie seems reluctant to call her parents. maybe she doesn’t have a great relationship with them? it would explain a lot

-the cliffhanger at the end was insane, arguably even crazier than chapter one’s cliffhanger. i doubt kris is the Knight, but the fact that they’re able to create dark fountains means they definitely have some sort of connection to them

-overall i really really enjoyed it! i can’t tell if i preferred it over chapter one but either way i’m looking forward to what the future chapters hold. i just hope Toby Fox doesn’t rush himself and takes all the time he needs - he’s given us so much and the guy deserves a break

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Safety In Numbers (SpicyHoneyMustard, lemon)

Summary:  Red knows how to play the game. The only problem is, not everyone gets out unscathed.

Tags: SpicyHoneyMustard, Fontcest, Fellcest, Sibling Incest, Threesome, Background Kustard, Established Relationship, Possessive Behavior, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, LEMONY GOODNESS!!, Unhealthy Relationship, Unnamed Ship

Sequel to:

Showtime

Secret Garden

A Judicious Amount of Effort

Musically Inclined

Lest You Be Judged

Solo Act 

Appealing To Better Judgment

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Read it here!

~~*~~

Refuge.

That was what Toriel named the protected Monster settlement that rose up at the base of the mountain, for all the Monsters who either couldn’t or wouldn’t live in Ebott.

Red supposed if there was nothing else, they could all thank her for sparing them from whatever dumb shit Ass-gore would’ve called it, like New New Home.

Despite all the treaties and negotiations, there were plenty of Monsters still living there. Some found that once they set their feet on the grass, they were about as far away from the mountain as they cared to get. Some were plain afraid to live out amongst the Humans. And a fair few simply weren’t allowed to leave, their little laminated ID cards didn’t grant them clearance through the front gate. Monsters with LV, Monsters with an appearance that might be considered disturbing. Any Monster likely to hit a ten on the Human freak-o-meter wasn’t allowed out not yet, anyway. Made sense, really. If they scared the shit out of the Humies by going too fast, they’d be lucky if they only ended up chased back beneath the mountain and not used as potting soil.

Try telling that to the dumbfucks, though. Red kept an ear hole close to the ground for any incoming gossip and from what was coming down the line it looked like the Assholes of Asgore were using it as a recruiting point. Red suspected that they didn’t have only have the interest of one or two disgruntled folks.

Anyone with half a lick of sense should see through their bullshit, but if Red was supposed to count on any of the dipshits he knew underground having common sense, he might as well shove a bone through his own soul now and spare anyone else the trouble of dusting him.

Their real goal was to start the bloody war Asgore promised them all and if they managed it, well, it was gonna be a pretty damn short one. Magic was handy dandy, all right, but the Humans kinda outnumbered them a million to one. Hell, while they’d been down below twiddling their thumbs, the Humans figured out their own version of magic, one that was a fuckton more explosive than anything Monsters had on tap. If Red was a betting man, and he was, thanks, he knew which odds he was putting down on.

Red looked out the tinted window of the car driving him through the newly paved streets of Refuge, watching the scenery pass by. Much as he hated being chauffeured around, these days he didn’t have a whole lot of choice. Back when he was training in the guard, there was still some opportunity to skulk around. Strip away his uniform and its delta rune crest, and he was only another Monster with a shitty attitude wandering into Grillby’s for a drink.

Being Chosen took away any chance he had of wandering around unnoticed. Even if Red slipped away from Rus, his face was too well-known now and probably rated a solid six on the Humies freak-o-meter.

If he thought the chucklefucks throwing themselves at Rus’s feet begging for blessings were annoying, it was a damn sight worse when they tried that shit on him. As if he had any say in the way the Universe trundled on down the road. He wasn’t the one second in the queue to chat with the Angel, thanks, and none of the Divine had seen fit to give him their direct line.

Shame Edge didn’t let him fuck with them; a few broken fingers and a bruise or two might give them all a little peace, but eh, his bro was a spoilsport that way. His own fault for leaving the kid on his own years ago while he skulked off to join the guard, instead of sticking around to teach him what’s what. Edge’s code of morals didn’t line up so much with Red’s anymore and wasn’t that a bitch.

He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and shook one out, ignoring the sour look the driver gave him in the rearview mirror. They didn’t say a peep, though, kept whatever words they wanted to say locked up tight behind their tusks. Being Chosen did have a few perks other than risking his life and getting to spend plenty of quality time communing with Rus’s pussy.

Red lit the cigarette with a harsh rasp of his lighter, took a long drag of smoke and breathed it out as he leaned his skull against the cool window glass, watching the blurred landscape. The streets were lined with cheaply made carbon-copy houses, but there wasn’t a whole lotta room to complain about that. The first few months most of ‘em spent huddled in patched-up tents given to them by the reluctant Human government, miserable in the spring rain and mud that tried to suck off your shoes with every step. Far as Red was concerned, all Monsters should be damned grateful for a house to call their own and if someone wanted their place shaped like a fucking fish, they were gonna have to wait their turn.

Yeah, lots of Monsters struggled when they hit sunshine, trying to wrap their minds around everything that happened. Red wasn’t one of them. He’d been Chosen only days after his boots hit the ground, but he’d spent some time out in the mudholes, searching out threats against his freshly appointed Judge. He’d learned a few useful tricks before putting on a uniform and they sure did come in handy from time to time.

These days, Red didn’t get out as much anymore. Maybe if Rus had more Chosen than only him and Edge, he could’ve kept up with it, but it hadn’t worked out that way. The kid needed him, all of him, and that was that.

Inconvenient, yeah, but probably just as well. Kept him from having to hold the lid down on his boiling need to shiv anyone who fucking dared touch what was his. He played nice enough when it came to all the unity mumbo jumbo bullshit, the Judge was an avatar of the Angel, the Judge belonged to the people, yeah, sure, he’d toe the party line.

But when it came to laying hands on his boy there was only one other Monster with the right. He was as much Red’s as Rus was and that’d be true until the day Red shivered to dust.

So, yeah, he couldn’t do the footwork himself anymore, eh, sucks to suck. Instead, he was forced to rely on other Monsters to keep him rolling in that sweet, sweet info. He’d vetted all of them himself, checked into every detail of their lives all the way back to the day they dropped from their mama’s cooch. Every single one of them was loyal as fuck to the Angel and as willing to spy on each other as they were anyone else, and that right there helped weed out most of the trouble. Wasn’t a perfect method, but it usually worked pretty well and let Red keep his fingers hooked into a few pies. That was, whenever he could pull 'em out of Rus's desserts.

Right now, all his people were working overtime, trying to dig up some dirt on how those fuckers managed to get into the cafeteria to take a pot shot at Rus. When they finally got something concrete, Red planned to deal with it personally, and if Rus ended up giving him a Judging look over it, he didn’t much give a shit. He was Chosen for the Judge, to protect them in every way possible and if the Angel was having second thoughts about it, She could stop by and deal with it herself.

None of that had shit to do with what he was up to today.

The house his car pulled up in front of was as unremarkable as the rest, a cookie-cutter copy with different curtains and a doormat. The driveway was empty but that didn’t mean shit. He already knew they were home, had to be, because they never damn well left.

“stay here,” Red ordered the driver. He nodded silently, sodium-yellow eyes meeting Red’s in the rear-view mirror. Red got out, hopping down to the ground from the high seat with a silent grumble. He took a last drag of his cigarette and flicked the butt into the gutter. Straightening his uniform shirt was an automatic to him these days as taking his next breath. Didn’t make Red hate the fucking thing any less and he forced his hands back down as he trudged up the walkway.

He didn’t knock on the front door. Instead, he went around to the back of the house where he already knew what he would find. A turn of the corner an expansive garden was spread out before him, filled with neat rows of greenery already creeping their way out of the rich dirt.

There was a garden in every backyard in Refuge, every one of ‘em planted at the Queen’s command. Part of her plan was making sure that eventually Monsters would be as self-sufficient as possible. Couldn’t depend on the Humies to keep them in clover forever and sure they had some tech deals getting hammered out, but if there was one truth all Monsters knew, it was that G wasn’t food.

True, it wasn’t a perfect plan; some of those mandatory gardens were pretty fucking sad, brown straggly plants that might cough up a tomato or two before they kacked it. This one, though, was pristine. Red didn’t care about growing shit that couldn’t be rolled up into a blunt and knew even less about it, but even he could see the way all the plants were evenly spaced and that there wasn’t a single weed growing anywhere. Not a stray piece of grass or a single thistle dared peek out of the soil in this garden.

A Monster was kneeling in one of the plots, dressed in overalls and a funny little straw hat, a wagon next to him heaped with tools and paper bags, a small pile weeds who ignored the warning signs.

Red didn’t actually know Blue real well. When Rus talked about Blue, it was always with a wealth of fondness in his soft voice, often whispering his memories in the darkness of their bedroom whenever insomnia haunted him.

Whatever sweetness Rus remember in Blue, it was long since eroded away, torn out of him, and whether it was being Chosen, his past Judgement, or Asgore who did it didn’t much matter to the outcome.

He was one of Sans’s early Chosen, back before Red even joined the guard and the few times he’d seen Blue were when he came to assemblies to watch the trainees before they were instated as full guards. Red remembered seeing him those days; dressed to the nines in his uniform, boots polished until a person could see their reflection in them from ten steps away, every crease straight, every button fastened. Seen him a few times from a distance, too, with Sans, always a nice, respectful two steps behind him and looking as if butter wouldn’t melt between his knees. Couldn’t even picture the bastard ever getting bent over a sofa getting fucked by a desperate Judge.

(Sans was more likely to flop back and take a fucking, way back when, all sly smiles and slick pussy, knees spread wide in invitation. Whatever becoming the Judge did to him must’ve given his preferences a good topsy-turvy, ‘cause gossip in the barracks warned all the guards to be prepared for spending plenty of time on their knees)

They’d talked a few more times since then and not a single one of those chats endeared Blue to Red any more than the first.

These days Blue was pretty fucking hard to look at. His skull looked like it’d been busted apart and put back together by hands that didn’t care if the puzzle pieces didn’t fit right, parts of the bone still discolored with char. The empty left sleeve of his shirt was pinned up neatly to his shoulder and the cane leaning against his little wagon wasn’t for show. He’d survived the coup, but not by much, the only one of Sans’s chosen who didn’t die along with him, and there was a memory that Red didn’t like to take out and play with too often.

His team came in far too late, after it was all over but the vacuuming. Breaking through the barred door and walking into the leftovers of a massacre, a mass Judging, no one who’d been in the throne room came out unscathed. Blue the only one still breathing right and Sans…yeah.

Probably a wonder Blue hadn’t offed himself yet.

All that aside, it was a shame that the stick in his pelvis didn’t get yanked out along with his arm. The eye light that lit his less damaged socket was blazing sharp, and he was struggling to his feet the second Red started walking across the yard, snatching up his cane and brandishing it like a sword.

“What are you doing out here?” Blue demanded loudly. He stormed out of his garden, tracking mud across the carefully shorn grass. “You should be with Rus, he needs to be protected!”

“well, hello to you, too,” Red drawled. He stuck his hands in his pockets carelessly, rocking on his heels. “kid is fine, edge is with him.”

Blue’s dismissive scoff raked across Red’s nerves like the tines of a fork on a cheese grater. “Oh, certainly, with Edge, that’s surely impenetrable protection! Edge wasn’t even a full guard when he was Chosen!”

"might be so, but edge is the one in charge these days. you think i want out there handling that shit?" Either Blue wasn’t keeping up with the times or he was just being a prick. Either was possible, but the fact of the matter was that in public, Edge was the boss. His word was law when it came to Rus and it had a lotta spillover onto Toriel. To insinuate that he wasn’t capable of protecting the Judge was an insult about the level of hocking a juicy loogie into Red’s face and if it was anyone else, Red wouldn’t be fussed about getting the dust out of his shoelaces before he headed home. Blue caught the barest hint of a break, for Rus, but he was already fucking pushing it. Still, Red kept his voice carelessly easy, “you sound kinda worried about your bro.”

Blue shed the glove on his remaining hand and pulled a tidy bandanna out of his back pocket, mopping at the sheen of sweat on his shattered skull. “I heard about the attack, of course. Everyone has.”

“yeah?” Red raised a brow bone, reluctantly interested. “hear any useful gossip about it?”

“If I had, you would already know about it,” Blue retorted. He sighed and gestured for Red to follow him, making his staggering way up to the back porch. It was surrounded by flowering bushes, heady perfume overwhelmingly filling the air while bees flee drunkenly from blossom to blossom. Sitting on a little patio table was a carafe of lemonade, lemon slices floating amongst the ice.

Blue poured two large glasses, pushing one over to Red. He took a long drink, the tartness blotting out the nauseatingly thick reek of the flowers.

Blue took a sip from his glass, ice cubes rattling, and he dabbed away the thin stream that ran out of his cracked jaw with the bandanna. “I don’t hear most of the gossip, I’m afraid, not anymore. I’m a failed guard, the neighbors don’t exactly stop by for visits and chats.”

“You didn’t fail at shit,” Red retorted sharply. Bullshit was all that was, all because Blue managed to not die.

Red wasn’t fond of Blue, but fuck, he’d had nine toes in the dustpan when they managed to tow him back into the land of the living. He’d fucking well tried and if anyone wanted to toss in their opinion on whether they thought Blue didn’t try hard enough, they were welcome to give Red’s fat one a good ol’ suck.

Blue only let out a humorless laugh. Once, his eye lights had been a starry yellow-blue, showcasing his traits. Patience and justice, pretty good draw for a Chosen companion to the Judge. The one eye light he still had was pale and colorless now, reminiscent of Rus’s, only Blue’s was dull, doughy-blank, showing none of Rus’s vibrancy. Hard to believe anymore that these two were even brothers.

Curious that Rus’s Choosing gave him a pair of brothers with a matching trait of Determination. Made a person wonder exactly why, but neither the Angel nor the Judge were telling.

The glass in Blue’s hand rattled against his trembling fingers, the bones still yellowed and scorched. “Tell that to Sans.”

“tell him yourself,” Red lowered his voice to a harsh whisper. The cunning little device in his pocket would’ve warned Red if there was any active listening devices around, but Red hadn’t survived as long as he had without harsh lessons in watching his mouth, “i told you before, i can get you up to our rooms, no one’d ever know.”

Blue’s mouth twisted disgustedly. The movement from his jaw pulled the gaping crack over his dead socket grotesquely wider as the first real emotion winking in and out of his eye light in a flash. "And I told you, there is a reason that former Chosen aren’t allowed near the new Judge,” Blue slammed down his glass, a wave of lemonade slopping over his damaged fingers. “There's no telling how he'd react if he saw me! If he recalled I was once Chosen, he might--ugh!” Blue hunched over with a shudder of revulsion, “It's bad enough that you and your brother are servicing him."

“you questioning the judge’s choice?” Red said coolly, just this side of waspish. He didn't really give a good shit what Blue thought of it, especially considering Red’s reasons for being here to begin with, but he did wonder what Blue would think if he knew Sans popped out for a recent visit. Whispered a coupla sweet nothings while he jammed Rus’s prick East bejesus up Red’s cunt. The memory made a slick of wetness form at Red’s crotch and he shoved the memory back. Not the time and he stuffed that little reminiscence back where the one of his brother’s cock in his mouth lived, the knowledge of how it felt, soft and slick with his own come and Rus’s, carefully tucked into the furthest corner of his mind.

That tart question struck the dartboard in a bullseye. Blue faltered like he’d been jabbed right in the tailbone, sputtering out, “No, of course not, but—" He recovered, straightening his spine and that cool soldier’s expression dropped over his face, the stick in his ass jammed straight. “That doesn’t matter. What matters is the damage it could cause my brother to see me, so you can stop asking, the answer is no, it’ll always be no.”

“whatever you say,” Red shrugged, ‘cause he didn’t care, not really. Except for how desperately Rus wanted to see his fucking brother, just once, one last time. The brother he’d missed out saying goodbye to between Blue’s unconsciousness and him being Chosen. Any other Judge at least got a chance to say fare thee well and the fact that Rus lost the opportunity was just one more bar in Rus’s prison, caged in, body and soul.

Blue’s answer was about what he’d expected though, and that was fine. Another useless attempt to get him to the Embassy wasn’t Red’s real reason for coming.

“not really here about you anyway, pipsqueak,” Red said, letting the words fall lightly. “i heard papyrus is staying here with you these days.”

That little tidbit of gossip came through the vine in the wee hours last night, Red checking his phone with Rus sleeping peacefully beside him, Edge on the far side. He’d spent the rest of the night lying awake, cold fury thrumming in his soul and that was the real reason Red came all the fucking way out here for a little face to face chat. “shacking up with sans’s little brother, huh, that sure must be something.”

Papyrus was only a kid when Sans was chosen as Judge, still in striped shirts and missing his two front teeth. Biggest difference between him and Edge was the Crown gave a stipend to the families of Chosen to make up for the loss of income. Papyrus probably never had a hungry day in his life and certainly not after Sans put on the robes. His bro never had to worry if the shit wage he was earning in the guard was gonna be enough to keep a roof over his kid brother’s head or keep him in clothes when he started growing like a weed. Sans didn’t have to set aside enough for a bribe to make sure that whatever G he made actually found its way to his brother and didn’t end up lining the pocket of some greedy deliveryman.

None of that was Papyrus’s fault and sucking on a silver teat didn’t make him miss his brother any less. Kid tried the join the guard a few times and always washed out, only got to try more than once because of who his brother was. Red wondered morbidly what Blue’s stuck up, sanctimonious ass would’ve thought if Papyrus had gotten into the guard and Sans Chose him.

Now it was looking like that stick in Blue’s ass didn’t keep him from inviting Papyrus between the sheets.

Whatever color was in Blue’s skull leached away, the bone dulling to chalky white, and taking with it any hope that Blue wasn’t using that kid as a dim replacement. His gaze skittered away, hunted, skipping around the yard, looking for fuck knew what. For Sans to step out of the void with shrieking admonishments, for a stray bolt of lightning to finally strike him down and send Blue after those who went before him. There was nothing, only Red standing here holding half a glass of decent lemonade in the sunshine so many died to get.

There was nowhere else for that look to go, no escape, and finally Blue reluctantly looked at Red again. He said, raw and stiffly, “There’s nothing against the code about that.”

“no, there ain’t,” Red agreed, softly. He only met Blue’s solitary eye light evenly. Red couldn’t see into Blue’s soul but he fucking well hoped Blue felt his sins crawling their leisurely way up his spine.

Red set his lemonade down carefully before he gave into the urge to toss it glass and all right into Blue’s broken face. He turned away and started back around the house, barely off the patio when Blue called his name.

“Red?” Blue struggled for words finally asked, plaintively. “Is he happy?”

Almost Red wanted to tell Blue that they kept Rus well fucked. That his little bro looked good stuffed with cock on both ends, that he sucked dick with the expertise of a thousand G whore.

But he wasn’t about to talk about Rus like that, not even to get one up on his shitheel brother. “i like to think so. he’s a real sweetheart.”

Red made no mention of the almost desperate adoration that rose up in his soul that came from only thinking about Rus. That wasn’t for sharing time.

“Yes,” Blue said. His hoarse voice was low, subdued, “he always was. take good care of him?”

Better than you could, Red did not say. “want me to give him a message or anything?”

Blue’s melancholy faded and he shook his head immediately, "Judges are forbidden from any contact by a former Chosen or family, and I’m both. You know this.” He sounded like he was reading straight from the guard manual.

If Rus hadn’t been Chosen, he’d be here right now taking care of his piece of shit brother. Standing back helplessly while Blue fucked the old Judge’s kid brother and pretended he was someone else, and Red was a selfish enough bastard to be glad he wasn’t. “you’re right, i do. so is there?”

Blue only lifted his chin and it was a damn good thing he wasn’t a Judge, because his single eye light was loaded with resentful judgement. “No. There’s nothing I could tell him that he wouldn’t already know.”

Yeah, just as well Rus was Chosen. Blue didn’t fucking deserve to have his brother here with him.

Wasn’t a fucking thing Red could do about Papyrus; he was out of stripes and kid was gonna have to make his own bad decisions and what was Red gonna do about it anyway? Take him back home like a stray puppy he found on the streets? Tell him that he didn’t have to settle for Sans’s leftovers, remind him that it wasn’t Sans’s idea to leave any of them? That he didn’t need to live here, the two of them burying themselves into a dusty tomb that Sans wasn’t even in.

He wondered what Papyrus was getting out of it. If he was closing his sockets and played his own version of pretend.

He wondered why he even cared. Why had he come out here to Refuge, really?

“tell paps i said hi,” Red said finally, “ain’t nothing against that in the code, either.”

“I will.”

Red turned on his heel and headed back to the car before he said something he wouldn’t regret, but would hurt Rus if he ever heard about it. He lit a cigarette before they’d even pulled away from the curb and by the time they got back to the Embassy, he’d smoked his way through the entire pack.

~~*~~

When Red got back to their quarters, he was too fucking tired for the early hour of the day and faintly nauseous from too much nicotine. He closed the door carefully behind him, resetting all the alarms. His joints ached like all his frustrations seeped out of his soul and settled into them.

In their living area, Rus and Edge were sitting on opposite sofas, playing some kind of stupid card game. Rus was choosing to stay home for a few days, barring a Judgement, and that was the only reason Red felt comfortable enough to leave the two of them alone, anyway.

Kid didn’t want to endanger anyone else, perfectly reasonable response to what happened, but they couldn’t hide away in here forever. Rus needed fresh air and sunshine. He needed his meditation gardens, not the weedy looking herbs Edge grew on the narrow windowsill for his cooking.

That meant Red needed to go over the intel his contacts were sending along. Search for reoccurring names, patterns, anything that’d lead him to the end of this snake so he could chop off the head.

Needed to, yeah, but it’d have to wait. Right now, his head wasn’t exactly in the game. He’d left too much of his mind behind in Refuge, turning that chat over and over, trying to find a chink, a solution that didn’t exist.

Probably better to get settled so he didn’t miss a trick, yeah, that was the ticket. All Red wanted right now was some manufactured forgetfulness and he wanted to get started making it right now.

“welcome back,” Rus called cheerily. He only glanced at Red, pale eye lights filled with warm greeting, before turning back to the cards in his hand with a little frown.

That gave Red a chance to discreetly run a mental inventory of his honey. Rus was looking good today. There was some color back into his bones, his pristine skull glossy with health. His magic was leveling out to its normal slower upward trickle. Hell, at a glance he was damn right perky, and that made it hard not to appreciate how fucking pretty he was. His long robes were discarded in favor of a pair of soft, loose pants and a t-shirt to match, bare feet tucked under his knees and a hint of his clavicles peeking tantalizingly over the neckline, begging for a mouth to give ‘em a taste.

Just seeing Rus like that leached some of the aching tension out of Red’s soul, trading it out for relief.

It was tempting to step up right then, but Red hung back, waiting for them to finish their game. When Rus wasn't giving Judgments, what he was mostly was bored. There was only so much meditating and bonding with the spirits or whatever the shit that anyone could do. Protecting the Judge was the focus of their job, the most important thing, but it wasn’t the only one. The other part of their bit was plain taking care of Rus and that included entertainment.

Sex might be an easy way to knock out two birds with one dick, but it couldn’t be the only thing.

Their living room was lined with shelves filled to the brim with books and blu-rays, video game consoles and board games, anything to help Rus pass the day and hopefully forget that the sunshine his brother nearly died to get for their people couldn’t really be his.

“What were you off doing anyway?” Rus asked absently. His attention was mostly on the game, sockets narrowed, and across from him, Edge only waited patiently, the slightest hint of a smirk curving his mouth. Rus didn’t seem too worried about Red taking a field trip, it did happen from time to time.

His brother was probably less than pleased that Red took off without a word as to where he was going other than a hastily scrawled note of ‘back soon’, but eh, Red could take that medicine when he had to.

There was a split-second choice to be made here, whether to tell Rus the truth of where he’d gone or not. With only a couple words, Red could make sure Rus never wanted to see his brother again…and taint every past memory he clung to in the process. Almost did it anyway; Red was an old hand at cleaning up all kinds of messes, he could handle one more. The only thing that held his tongue was thinking of Rus’s grief, the choking tears streaming down his pretty face, and his memory of his brother would end up just one more thing he’d lost.

Only this time it would be Red doing the taking.

Fuck it, if the Angel wanted Rus to know about it, She could do the dirty work.

“nothing important, darlin’,” Red said smoothly, and that was true enough.

Rus didn’t notice anything amiss, but Edge gave him a narrow, suspicious look. Eh, he’d catch his bro up on things soon enough. Now wasn’t the time. For once, Edge wasn’t buttoned from his clavicles to his toes in his uniform, instead dressed in soft pants and a sweatshirt that was a hair too tight, probably from Rus’s side of the closet. Probably meant they’d spent some cuddle time on the sofa before starting up on the game or at least Red hoped so. He might watch the cameras later. Just to make sure.

His wandering thoughts were coagulating, coming back together in his skull and Red was already wondering what kind of distraction he could come up with to tug their attention from the cards when he heard it. Faintly, the familiar, hollow sound of a constant buzzing against bone.

Well, now, this was getting interesting, now wasn’t it.

“care to fill me in on the rules to this game?” Red drawled. He leaned against the sofa arm and treated himself to a more in-depth perusal of them both. Nothing unusual leapt out at him, not yet.

“it’s pretty simple,” Rus said. His cards were fanned out messily in his slim hands, a disorderly array of suits. “whoever loses a round has to wear a vibrator in the next round. winner gets to put the vibrator wherever they want.”

Huh. Rus sounded a little more disgruntled than that called for. Kid was an ace at counting cards, it was a little surprising he’d even persuaded Edge to play. “sounds fun.”

“i thought so too,” Rus said, shooting Edge a sulky look. “only edge doesn’t even work up a sweat, no matter where i put it. i’ve tried it behind his sternum, his sacrum, pubic arch. i'm about ready to toss it into his eye socket and let it rattle around in his skull for a while, see if that shakes him up.”

Edge laid the queen of spades on top of the card pile and said placidly, “My apologies for my self-control being so boring.”

Boring, huh. Red looked his brother up and down calculatingly. The little details were there if a person knew how to look. Eye lights barely hazed, the slightest hitch to his too-even breathing. He was a little worked up, but Rus wasn't lying, he still looked like an ice cube wouldn't melt in his shorts.

Meanwhile, Rus was pouting unhappily, his pretty smile turned upside down, and that just couldn’t be allowed, now could it. An idea perked up in the back of Red’s mind, ripe with possibilities, and Rus would go for it no question. Whether Edge would was dependent on how happy he wanted to make Rus, which usually fell under ‘a lot’. The odds were good, and Red never shied from a good bet.

Red leaned in and settled a wandering hand on Rus’s knee, sliding lightly up his inner thigh and snagging his attention. "how about we play another kind of game, honey."

Rus immediately looked wary, but Red wasn't offended. Couldn't blame him; Rus'd played Red’s games before, good on him for taking the lesson to heart.

"what game?" Rus asked suspiciously.

"Doesn’t anyone want to know if I want to play a new game?" Edge asked no one in particular. They ignored him.

Red rose up on his toes and laid a soft kiss on Rus’s mouth, lingering a little too long over that sweetness before he reluctantly drew back. “lemme get changed first then we'll talk. you go on ahead and finish that round.”

He strolled off, whistling cheerfully. The day was already looking up.

In their shared bedroom Red stripped out of his uniform, carelessly dropping it to the floor for Edge to bitch over later. A pair of well-worn shorts and a t-shirt was a decent match to the wardrobe choices of two brats out there, and made for easier access and cleanup. Ready Freddy, except for one thing.

Red knelt down and dug out a small box hidden underneath their bed, grabbed a little something that might come in handy right soon. He tucked it into his pocket, shoving it deep enough not to arouse (heh) suspicions.

Edge was picking up the cards when Red came back out, tucking them back into the box. The previously unseen vibrator was sitting innocently on the coffee table as if Red couldn’t see the faint traces of crimson that’d been hastily wiped away.

Red crawled up on the sofa next to Rus and held out an arm, pretended that his soul didn’t give a solid throb as Rus immediately snuggled in against him happily. The kid rolled over on his back, his skull in Red’s lap, looking up at him with bright curiosity in those pale eye lights as he said, “c’mon, red, tell me!”

That pout was back and Red took a moment to lean down and quickly kiss it away, allowing only a brief flicker of their tongues together before he pulled back. He stroked the smooth bone of Rus’s forehead lightly, soothingly, “all right, honey love, here’s the game. you got five minutes to get edge to come, however you can. if you don’t get it done in the allotted time, i get five minutes to make him come. winner gets the prize.”

As he’d guessed, Rus’s eye lights immediately blew wide, briefly tinging golden in an abrupt surge of desire. It faded quick enough, Rus struggling to hold it back, but the cat was out of the bag now, wasn’t it.

Across the way, Edge barely stifled a sharp, startled sound, but if he had an opinion about Red’s little suggestion, he kept it to himself.

The rest of Red’s words seemed to have wormed their way past that first thoughtless rush and Rus was frowning again, “that's not fair. if i lose, he'll already be all worked up for you.”

Red leaned down and gave him a light kiss in reward for figuring that out. “ah, but see, difference is, i don't get to touch him. no bone on bone for me, sweetheart, i promise.”

Mollified, Rus settled back. “what do i get if i win?”

“you get to ask a favor of me, anything at all.”

Poor kid was gonna get whiplash the way he kept flipflopping from interest to disappointment. “i can already do that.”

“yeah, but you don’t.” Red pointed out, “you never do. this one you’d earn fair and square, might make it easier if you’re spending your own dime rather than the inheritance.”

Rus nodded slowly, understanding coupled with intrigue lighting his face, “and if you win?”

“same deal, i get to ask one thing from you. anything i want.” That win or lose Rus was gonna enjoy himself thoroughly was heavily implied.

“anything,” Rus murmured, rolling the word around in his mouth, giving it a good taste, but before he could decide if he liked the flavor, another bargainer stepped up to the table.

“I have a question,” Edge said, coolly. Red glanced at his brother meaningfully, met crimson eye lights that were a match his own. Edge was sitting on the opposite sofa, his arms crossed over his chest. The line of his jaw was tense, teeth gritted together, but that wasn’t distaste or reluctance on his face, not one fucking bit. He waited to see if his bro would beg off or outright refuse. They’d teeter-tottered around into a little touchy feely a long time ago, didn’t matter so long as it helped get Rus off. They'd been ramping it up lately, but this was a horse of a different color, deliberate red on red without a buffer of honeyed gold between them.

He was counting on his brother not to disappoint.

“what’s that, bro?” Red asked.

Edge’s crimson tongue flicked out over his teeth, an almost imperceptible hint at nervousness. "What do I get if neither of you get me to come?"

Oh yeah, that was his bro.

"ah, that’s easy,” Red said lightly, “favor is all yours, little brother. from both of us."

Red looked back down at Rus and he could about see the gears turning in his mind. He was a smart kid, even smarter when you took into account all the Judges in creation playing house in the back of his mind. He was trying to work out what kind of monkey's paw bullshit Red wove into the bargain, but looked like he wasn't finding anything cause all he said was, decisively, "deal.”

“Deal,” Edge agreed softly. He stood and turned on his heel, walking out. Came back only a minute later with a couple towels over one arm, fucking neat freak. He spread them out on the sofa then shed his clothes, folding each piece neatly as he stripped it off. Edge wasn’t anywhere near as pretty as Rus, his bones were thicker with none of the delicacy that was laced into their lover’s, pocked with scars from the years before he was in the guard and the training alike. Strong bone that could take a beating and had, bearing the marks of a survivor and warm pride flowed over Red like syrup, like the honey he so often named Rus.

Edge’s joints were already lit with mana, either from the earlier vibrator or the recent chat, and a cloud of it filled his pelvic cradle, a thunderstorm of brimming desire. He settled back on the sofa, long legs stretched out, and said, mockingly sweet, “Ready when you are.”

A hasty search found lube where it was thoughtful stowed under one of the cushions and Rus drizzled it over his slim hands, rubbing them together until the slender bones were glossy and slick. “summon your cock first, give me something to work with.”

Edge tutted in disappointment, shaking his head, “Asking for a concession already?”

“everyone knows you don’t start a game without setting up the pieces first,” Rus countered, waggling his slippery fingers teasingly.

“he’s got you there, bro,” Red chuckled, amusement mingled with a peculiar sort of relief. All the nastiness of the day was flowing away, dirty water down the drain, simply by being around these two sassy shits. “don’t you think he deserves a little head start?”

Nice to see that Red wasn’t the only one who weakened under a pair of wide, pleading eye lights. Edge softened like sweet butter left on the stovetop. The swirl of his magic solidified, his cock formed between his femurs, already heavy and hard, a formidable piece of equipment that Edge usually put to good use. Rus reached out with dripping hands, only waiting when Red called out.

“hold up.” Red pulled out his phone, setting the timer, “okay, rus…go!”

Red settled back into the throw pillows to watch the show, one hand slithering down the front of his shorts, hard phalanges idle against his pubic crest where his magic was settling humidly. Wasn’t any part of the bet against him coming and Red was all ready to hit the concession stand.

Rus didn’t waste any time, both hands already curled around Edge’s shaft, spreading the slippery lube until the scarlet ectoflesh was glistening wetly. The rhythmic sound was wickedly obscene, startlingly loud over Rus’s satisfied hum.

There was no reaction at all from Edge, his eye lights barely flickered as Rus stroked him. Even when Rus frowned determinedly, kneeling between Edge’s spread legs, tongue already eagerly extended. He lapped softly at the little jewel of scarlet fluid beading at the head of Edge’s cock before sucking the length of it down with a messy slurp.

“that’s it. little brother,” Red called, smirking as Edge only hissed out a breath, keeping stubbornly still, “don’t make it too easy for him.”

It was a helluva show, to put it mildly, worth it even if by some random chance Red lost the game. Rus was pulling out all the stops, using every dirty, wicked trick he’d been taught between them about giving head and a couple made up on the spot. The long, flexible length of his tongue wrapped around the shaft, a thumb and forefinger surrounding the base, following the tight rhythm of Rus’s head. Mouth sloppy wet, golden spit sliding down his chin and wetting his hand as Rus sucked Edge in deep, his formed throat bobbing as he swallowed, formed muscles massaging the hard length. His free hand wandered wherever it could reach, seeking out places he knew were sensitive. Rus had mapped out their bodies with those shy, nimble fingers of his too many times to count, committing their every twitch to memory, and now he was tweaking cartilage, fondling up the length of Edge’s spine, teasing at his floating ribs.

All the little details put together a fine picture; Rus’s ass in the air, his clothed pelvis wriggling enticingly as he worked. Muffled whimpers were spilling into the air from him around the cock filling his mouth, garbled pleading, and Edge sure as fuck wasn’t unaffected now.

Sweat decorated his skull like glittery sequins as Edge breathed hard through his nasal cavity, his tongue caught between his jagged teeth hard enough that a thin rill of crimson was spilling down his chin. His knees jerked slightly with each bob of Rus’s head, bones clattering softly. A raw groan escaped Edge, hinting at desperation at the exact moment the timer buzzed, shifting to a pained gasp as Rus pulled off with slow deliberation, giving the head a last teasing suck.

Rus sighed in mock disappointment, wiping at his mouth fruitlessly with the back of his hand and only succeeding in smearing the mingled gold and crimson fluids. “damn it, guess i lost.”

“guess you did,” Red slid down to the floor with less grace than he would’ve liked, knees wobbly and his own arousal settled heavily into his pelvis. “have a seat, honey, watch the master at work.”

Mischief flittered over Rus’s face, far too quick for anything but a warning. He caught hold of the front of Red’s shirt and yanked him in, forcing his sex-tainted tongue down Red’s throat. The taste was one he knew all too well, honey sweetness mellowed with spice, rich and addictive.

A last delicate swipe of his tongue and Rus sashayed away, snagging one of the pillows to curl around while he settled in for his turn to watch.

Red licked the back of his teeth, catching the last of that tang before it faded completely. Yeah, Rus was gonna pay for that.

Or maybe Red needed to thank him, because Edge was watching them hotly with a riveted gaze, a thread of crimson fluid leaking from the tip of his cock to stain the towel.

He didn’t quite flinch as Red crawled up on the cushions, keeping a careful distance from his brother’s bare bones. There was a certain fraught quality to Edge’s expression, a feral wildness like he might bolt away.

“close your sockets, bro,” Red told him, gently. Which mean of course that Edge did no such thing, contrary bastard.

“Why?” Edge said suspiciously. His gaze flicked down Red’s body helplessly to where his dick was pushing out the front of his shorts, then away, then back to Red’s face, the color blooming his cheekbones lovelier than any flower in Refuge.

Thoughts like that weren’t gonna help Red win the game and he shoved it aside, adding it to his growing collection of ‘ain’t thinking about it’.

“because i fucking told you to,” Red retorted, “that’s why. now play the game right.”

“I don’t recall following orders being in the rules,” Edge grumbled, but this time he did as he was told.

Red waited until he was sure those sockets were closed tight, not the faintest hint of crimson showing. Then he reached into his pocket for his special toy surprise.

This particular prize wasn't from their normal toybox since Rus didn't have a lot of interest in his cock. That might be changing, he'd give it a thought some other time. The toy was made of a gelatinous material was only slightly softer than ectoflesh, formed into a hollow sheath that was lined with small bumps and curving grooves designed stimulate, drag out every drop of pleasure possible, willingly or otherwise.

The expected cries of cheating didn’t come and Red flicked a glance at Rus to find him watching with wide, rapturous sockets, face flushed golden bright. One arm was wrapped so tightly around the pillow the fabric threatened to burst and his other hand pressed between his legs overtop his pants, fingers digging in helplessly as if he could stop his cunt from forming by sheer, physical will.

The audience was waiting, the timer was set. Time to get this game started. Red scooped up the depleted bottle of lube and squirted a dollop into the sheath and with one motion, deftly slid it down on his brother’s dick.

The reaction was gratifying. Edge’s hips lurched up wildly, his sockets flying open, hands curled into claws that very nearly latched onto Red’s skull before they abruptly diverted and clenched into the sofa cushions.

"You said no touching!" Edge hissed, crimson eye lights flashing as he trembled with outrage. His sharpened fingertips dug into the cushions, tearing through the fabric down to the memory foam.

“i ain't touching you a bit, baby brother,” Red crooned, and tightened his fist around the sheath, giving it a quick, vigorous stroke. Those bumps had to be digging in, massaging their way up and down with each rub.

Edge gasped wetly, squeezing his sockets shut, "Don't call me that!"

The other sofa creaked and Red slanted a glance at Rus who was halfway to his feet, reaching out weakly and conflicting emotions tangled across his face. “red, stop," Rus said, trembling but firm. "not if he doesn't want it."

Red only chuckled darkly, dragging his clenched fist down achingly slow, then up abruptly again, "oh, don’t you worry, honey, he wants it. don't you?"

Edge said nothing, his breath coming in harsh gasps as he struggled to keep his pelvis still while Red jerked him off through the thin barrier of the sheath. Looked like the trap might need a little more bait.

Red leaned in closer, careful not to so much as graze his brother’s strong, scarred bones, and whispered, low and harsh, "you remember the first time you fucked him? the way he was spread out under you, begging you to take him?”

This time his brother’s breath creaked out like the hinge of an old door as Red kept it up, murmuring breathily close to his auditory canal, “remember pushing your cock into that pretty virgin pussy? how it was already dripping with my come, how tight he was around your cock? kinda like this, yeah, remember him cryin' cause he needed it so much? how scared he was, showing us his soul? sweet thing all dripping wet, he needed it so bad, the mess he made, oh, that honey magic and silver, practically squirting over himself the second you touched his clit, remember that? you remember how he looked when he came?"

He kept up the relentless pace with every low word, letting the memory warm him. There was a certain charm to clumsy eagerness, inexperienced hands searching unknowingly for all the places that felt best. Not that Red missed it exactly, but he sure didn’t mind bringing that memory out to play with from time to time.

Edge was struggling, heaving, his eye lights narrowed to pinpricks as he stared blindly up at the ceiling.

Almost there, almost, and Red leaned in close enough for Edge to feel the heat of his breath, a bare whisper too low for Rus to possibly hear him, "member the first time he said he loved us?"

That did the trick. Edge let out a wretched sound like a sob, bones rattling as he came, filling the sheath to overflowing with his seed. Red could feel the surging heat of it through the thin plastic, smelled the rich spice even as the blare of the alarm came from his phone.

Game, set, match.

Red pulled off, tossing the dripping sheath to the coffee table to join the vibrator already there. Edge only lay weakly in his defeat, pelvis smeared with come, the rest of his bones dabbled with sweat. Red left him there to wallow in his filth, prowling over to Rus.

Who scrabbled back into the corner of the sofa, his sockets so wide it looked like his eye lights were gonna pop loose and fizzle out on the carpet. He fumbled for the phone gracelessly, somehow managing to turn off the warbling timer without dropping it on the floor even as Red raked a look over him. Taking in the heated glow of his joints, the honey-tint to his eye lights, the wet patch seeping through his pants, leaving a darkened stain that clung visibly to his pussy lips.

Yeah, Red had his number now. Looked like their honey had a lil' voyeurism kink going on. That was a new toy Red was looking forward to playing with, fuck yes. But for now, he had a problem of his own going on in his pants and Rus’s magic was crackling hotly in the air, searing lightning searching for the ground

"lay back, sugar," Red slipped off his shorts, briefly fisting his own cock, groaning at the feel of his own hard fingers.

Rus did it instantly, squirming as he worked his pants down his legs and kicked them off even as he asked doubtfully, "this is what you want as a favor?"

"nope, this is mine by right.” Red jerked Rus down until his pelvis was at the edge of the sofa, long legs dangling to the floor. He shuffled forward, lining his cock up with Rus’s eagerly clenching entrance, smearing his cock with golden wetness. “i'll let you know about the favor."

Then he shoved into that wet pussy, groaning at the soaking, tight heat around him as Rus’s wail filled the room.

So fucking gorgeous, watching Rus whimper and flail as Red fucked him. Pretty as Rus was on his knees, Red liked him better on his back. Liked watching that lovely face scrunch up every time Red fucked into him, honeyed tears welling up, streaming down the rounded curves of his cheekbones as that sassy mouth dropped open and his tongue curled behind his teeth.

In the down under, he got to watch his dick moving in the soft, golden magic that filled Rus's pelvis. His cunt was a slippery, plush delight, that first thrust inside always bordered on too tight until his walls loosened up a little, Rus whimpering out little cries as Red forced his cock in, past the rippling clench to fill him up.

And fuck him for how hot that was. Red knew Rus could take a fist all the way up to the elbow into his pussy, a cock wasn't no big thing, (heh), but the feel of it, fuck, like taking his virginity all over again. Red braced his heels against the coffee table and pumped harder, watched the length of his shaft slide in, pussy lips spreading wide around it, parting to give him a nice look at Rus's swollen clit. Red reached down to trace around it teasingly with a careful, sharp-tipped finger and Rus let out a frantic whine.

"you want somethin’, sweetheart?" Red panted out.

"i want to come!" Sweet desperation poured from him, fuck, talk about no stamina. Then again, Rus was like a little energizer bunny of orgasms, he could keep going and going, popping off one after another. Wasn’t no reason to hold him back now.

One hard drag of Red’s thumb over his clit and Rus was arching, his legs going tight around Red’s hips, holding him in deep as he convulsed. A fresh rush of wetness flooding his pussy, smoothing out the ride.

Rus sagged back against the cushions, hiccoughing soft little cries as Red kept it up. His own orgasm was swelling in him, tantalizingly close. Next to him, the sofa suddenly dipped with added weight and maybe Red couldn’t lean up high enough to give Rus’s pleading mouth a kiss, but that was fine, cause Edge was there to do it for him, his brother’s crimson tongue moving sinuously against Rus's golden one, fuck, yeah.

"come on down here, bro,” Red growled, flicking his thumb over Rus’s swollen clit again, “got something better for you to work with."

His brother shifted downward instantly, tilting his head in to lick at that sensitive nub. His crimson tongue was long, prehensile, dipping in between Rus’s femurs. Not his normal one, either, this one forked at the tip, all the better to work against Rus's clit, circling it from both sides, yeah, his fucking clever brother. Sometimes it wandered too low, one of the tips occasionally grazed against Red's cock, slyly pushing into Rus’s cunt and catching Red off-guard with a brief firework of sensation.

Red could taste his own sweat, sharp and faintly bitter, tried not to jerk as that tongue lashed against him again. He didn’t want Edge the same way he did Rus, he didn’t, but oh, you kid—

Fuck it, he couldn’t hold out anymore.

Red let go with a groan, pulling out to come in hot streaks over Rus's pelvis, and, oh, yeah, his bro's face. Edge flinched, closing his sockets and didn't stop, licking Rus through another orgasm even as a glossy spurt of come striped across his tongue, the fluid a shade of crimson darker than the ectoflesh.

With a deeply satisfied sigh, Red shuffled over enough to flop on the sofa even as Rus trembled and writhed through his shuddering ecstasy. He watched through narrowed sockets as Edge sat up, blinking too fast and his tremulous expression was loaded with conflicting signals. Almost, Red reached out, his sense still blurrily pleased, struck with the idea of rubbing his come in, smearing it across his brother’s scarred bones, marking him—

He reeled back, snorting aloud at his own stupidity. Yeah, yeah, his brother and no one else’s. He’d lived that schtick his whole life, no reason to complicate it now.

Looking at it sideways, the mess of his come was dripping down Edge’s skull in a way that made Red think hilariously of strawberry syrup on cheesecake.

Well, it could be a sweet treat for someone to eat, now couldn’t it.

"whoopsie, looks like i messed him up," Red drawled, elbowing Rus lightly. "you gonna clean him up, sugar skull?"

Rus stirred at the pet name, sockets fluttering open, then going wide as he took in the sights. He swallowed audibly, husking out, "yeah i can…i can do that if…if you want?"

Like Edge was even capable of turning that down. A short, sharp nod and Edge sat obediently still, let Rus lave at his face, greedily licking up the spatters while Red watched the crimson smearing the deeper gold of his tongue avidly. The sudden flood of fresh arousal was startling, almost unwelcome.

Almost.

The way he figured it, Edge would only stand that for so long before he hauled them all off to their massive shower. The three of them standing together beneath the generous spray, the water pouring down on them about two degrees lower than the temperature of lava, exactly how Rus liked it. The probability of blowjobs or fucking was high and so was the chance of a nap afterword, Rus snuggled up against him blissfully well-fucked, his brother on the other side. A preciously rare gift from the Angel to make up for the slagging shithole of Red’s life before.

He'd guarantee that Rus would mumble out a sleepy ‘I love you’ for them both before drifting off and right about then, Red wanted that more than anything in the fucking world. Those three words, Rus, and Edge.

His, all his in a way no one’d ever been his entire life. Not even Sans.

Red didn’t have a fucking clue what game they were playing anymore. Didn’t matter, either. All he knew was that the fates were sore losers and that he didn’t give a shit.

He was playing to win.

-fin

Next Chapter

[chemicalcindercat]

Frisk freed the monsters from the underground, completing a true-pacifist run. She was living happily on the surface with her monster family. Everything was perfect. Until it wasn't. When Frisk gets hit by a car on her way over to Sans house, everything changes. Not only does Frisk forget herself, her friends, and all of her adventures in the Underground, but something else has changed. Frisk glitches the Multiverse.

Chapter Summary: Frisk did not expect to have this many “best friends”.

Chapters (8/?): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

Fandom: Undertale

Rating: T (For violence and hints of adult themes)

Relationships: Sans x Frisk, Underfell Sans x Frisk, Underswap Papyrus x Chara, Slight Underswap Sans x Frisk

Additional Tags: Amnesia, Lost memories, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, ...Have I mentioned there is Hurt/Comfort?, Hurt, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Goat Mom is best mom (Undertale), King Fluffy-Buns - Freeform, Sad Asgore (Undertale), Female Frisk (Undertale), Aged up Frisk (Undertale), Like duh she’s an adult i’m not a pedo, gross, Verbal Frisk, Frisk has a voice in her head, Sans is a depressed bean, Papyrus is so innocent, Frisk glitched the multiverse, oh whoops, spoiler alert, more tags will be added as we progress

"Well, Ms. Dreemurr, it would appear you have a mild case of Amnesia." The doctor said, flipping the pages on his clipboard. "You hit your head pretty hard when that car slammed into you. You're lucky it isn't worse." He looked at the worried couple standing in the corner of the room. "Her memories should be back by the end of the week. We'll keep her here for tonight, but tomorrow she can go home. She doesn't have any broken ribs, or really anything wrong except for the memory loss, which is practically unheard of for an incident like this. But anyways," The doctor turned back to the confused girl laying in the hospital bed. "If you need anything, just hit the buzzer on the bed next to you." And with that he left the room.

As soon as the doctor was gone, the couple turned to look at the girl. They were strange, the girl could tell. She couldn't remember anything past 10 minutes ago, when she woke up, but something told her that goats weren't usually able to walk, talk, and be, well, normal people.

"Um...Frisk, are you feeling well?" The woman asked, worried. The girl thought for a moment. Was she feeling fine? She honestly didn't know. How could you know if you were feeling fine, when you didn't know what fine was? She didn't know if fine for her was everything being perfect, or terrible. So instead of answering the question, she answered with a question of her own.

"'Frisk'? Is...Is that my name?"

The woman looked like she was about to break down in tears, so the man took over. "Yes, dear, that's your name. Frisk. Do you really not remember anything?" Frisk shook her head. "Well, uh...I-"

"She's your 'mom', Toriel, who you live with; He's your 'dad', Asgore, who you don't. They're divorced, you're adopted, and I'm Flowey, your 'best friend'." Frisk jumped. She had forgotten about the flower on the desk next to her that could talk.

"N-now, Asriel, that's no way to-"

"My name is Flowey." The flower corrected. Okay, Frisk was confused, to say the least. What in Asgore's name were they talking about? Before she could ask, the door slammed open, a blue fish-woman entering, with a yellow lizard-woman following behind nervously.

"Frisk!" Yelled the fish-girl, running over to the hospital bed. "We heard what happened! Are you okay? How are you feeling? Did you break anything? Because that would be cool and yet suck all at the same time. Did you finish Mew Mew: Kissy Cutie? Are you-"

"U-undyne, M-maybe we shouldn't b-bombard her with s-so many questions at o-once? Her head p-probably hurts." The lizard girl interrupted. Undyne looked at her, before looking back at Frisk.

"Oh my Asgore, I'm sorry! Are you okay? Does your head hurt? Are you-"

"Undyne, Frisk has amnesia." Toriel announced. Both Undyne and Alphys turned to look at her.

"What??" They said in unison.

"Y-you mean… Y-you don't remember us? You d-don't know who we a-are?" Alphys asked, walking over to Frisk. The human girl simply shook her head.

"I...I don't remember anything. And no, I don't know who you are. Who are you?" She asked.

"We're your anime pals!" Undyne said, putting her arm around Alphys' shoulder and grinning. Alphys blushed.

"E-every T-Tuesday you come over t-to our house and w-watch anime with us." Alphys explained. "T-this week, the newest season of M-Mew Mew: Kissy C-Cutie is airing, a-and we were going t-to watch it together. You r-really don't remember?"

Frisk looked down at her hands sadly. "No...I don't...I'm sorry."

Toriel came over and hugged Frisk. "It's okay, my child. There is no need to apologize. Do not blame yourself, child; There is nothing you can do. The doctor said by the end of the week, you'll remember, and I'm sure he is right. All we have to do is wait."

Frisk wasn't sure how she felt about this woman she couldn't remember hugging her, but she decided she kind of liked it. Besides, the lady seemed to need it more than Frisk did. Before Frisk could say anything, the lady stepped back, and the door slammed open again. At this point, Frisk was surprised it hadn't fallen off it's hinges. This time, there were two skeletons who entered the room. One was really tall, as tall as Undyne and Asgore, with a red scarf. He was also carrying what appeared to be a plate of home cooked spaghetti. The other one had a blue hoodie, and was shorter, maybe even shorter than Frisk. Once she thought about it, Frisk realized she didn't know how tall she was; She hadn't stood up yet. Would she even remember how to walk? She started panicking, wondering how she would remember to do normal, everyday stuff.

Calm down, Said a voice in her head. Quit panicking about everything.

Before Frisk could respond, the tall skeleton came over and set the plate down on the desk beside her.

"HERE YOU GO, HUMAN! THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS MADE YOU SOME YUMMY SPAGHETTI!! FEEL FREE TO EAT IT WHENEVER YOU FEEL LIKE IT, FOR IT WILL SURELY BE THE BEST! NYEH HEH HEH!" He yelled, and Frisk winced a little, not expecting it. She smiled softly at him, not knowing who he was.

I sure did have a lot of friends. She thought.

Yeah, no kidding. Said the voice in her head.

...I just wish I could remember them…

The smaller skeleton pushed past the bigger one, with a nervous grin on his face. "how ya feelin', kiddo?" He asked, his voice surprisingly deep compared to the other skeleton.

"Um...well...I-"

"NONSENSE, BROTHER. WHY ASK HOW SHE IS FEELING WHEN SHE'S IN THE HOSPITAL?" The tall skeleton interrupted. Frisk couldn't believe it. Were they really brothers? They were so different! The skeleton turned towards her. "BUT DON'T WORRY, HUMAN. I'M SURE MY SPAGHETTI WILL MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER IN NO TIME!"

"yeah, kid, eat up. boneappetite." The shorter one said. The bigger one groaned.

"UGH, SANS, DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE PUNS RIGHT NOW? YOU MIGHT GIVE THE HUMAN A HEADACHE!"

"nah, look at her, paps. she likes it, you should know that by now, ya numbskull." Oh, so I like puns? That's good to know. Even as Frisk thought this, she could immediately tell it was true. When Sans (was that his name?) made a pun, she had struggled not to laugh.

"BROTHER!!" The taller skeleton protested. "WHETHER SHE LIKES IT OR NOT, A HOSPITAL IS HARDLY THE PLACE TO MAKE PUNS!" He yelled.

"geez, paps, who broke your funny bone?" The shorter one asked, winking at Frisk and stepping closer to her. Something inside of her pulled, and she could tell that he was really close to her. "so anyways, bucko, how're you feeling?" He asked softer, so that only she would hear.

"Well, I just-"

"Heya Papyrus, how're you doing?" Asked Undyne, throwing her arm around the taller skeleton's shoulder. "I know the situation isn't the best, with Frisk and all, but are you still up for some training today?"

"YOU BET, UNDYNE!" Papyrus said loudly. "AS LONG AS THE HUMAN IS ALRIGHT, THAT IS! THE GREAT PAPYRUS MUST BE THE BEST FRIEND EVER, AND A GOOD FRIEND WOULD TAKE CARE OF HER!"

"You're right, Papyrus, but I'm her best friend! Remember?" Undyne argued.

"SUUUUUURE, YOU CAN BELIEVE THAT IF YOU WANT, BUT IT'S WRONG!"

"Guys, I-" Frisk was interrupted by Flowey, suddenly defensive.

"Whatever, you idiots can pretend that she likes you better, but I'm obviously her BeSt FrIeNd!" Flowey claimed, in a demonic voice that sent a shiver down Frisk's spine. Suddenly everyone started talking all at once, Undyne and Papyrus still arguing over Frisk, Flowey hissing at everyone, Alphys nervously asking Asgore how he's been, Toriel joining in the conversation. All of the noise, and all of the new information was really giving Frisk a migraine. She sank deeper under her blanket, trying to block everything out.

Someone grabbed Frisk's hand, and she immediately jumped and yanked her hand back, to see Sans with a look of confusion and hurt. It quickly faded back into his normal smile.

"so, kid, what is it you've been trying to say this whole time?" He asked. Frisk gulped nervously as he leaned closer to her, and she leaned away from him a bit. Doesn't this guy know anything about personal space??

"I...Well, uh...Who are you, exactly?" Frisk asked.

Everyone immediately stopped talking and turned to Frisk.

The pupils in Sans' eyes disappeared, leaving two empty eye sockets, a look of pure shock. For a couple of moments, nobody dared to say anything.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HUMAN?" Papyrus asked, being the first to break the silence. "'WHO ARE WE?' IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND MY BROTHER SANS, YOUR-"

"frisk, what did the doctor say? what…wh...you...you really don't remember me? remember us? anything?" Sans asked, his pupils returning and studying Frisk closely.

All Frisk could do was shake her head.

"I… I have amnesia."

Before anyone could say anything, Sans was gone.

[synthient]

The Key to Understanding Deltarune: The Halloween Hack

So we’re currently in the middle of a 4000 year content hiatus

Which is unfortunate, because ever since the big iconic Halloween-day surprise demo drop, my brain has been rattling a baseball bat against the inside of my skull and chanting “CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT”

Undertale was like candy for the thematic analysis side of my brain. I still wake up in a cold sweat some nights going “fun value......he put a quantitative value on fun.....numbers going up.....”

I am desperate to know what kind of themes Deltarune is going to tackle. Can you effectively predict that from one (1) 3 hour demo? No. Does my brain care? No.

Which is what lead me to the wonderful world of intertextuality, or examining how a media text is shaped by other media texts

It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this with me doing a playthrough of EarthBound, the video game that Toby has cited as his biggest inspiration for Undertale

That was fun & interesting (the “throwing away an emotionally engaging experience to grimly make Numbers Go Up” thing feels a lot closer to home after trying and failing to get the sword of kings), but it didn’t provide much insight into Deltarune, specifically. It wasn’t enough. I needed more. I was willing to dig into literally any intertext (except Homestuck, which no force on this earth can compel me to read :) )

anyway thats how I ended up playing Toby Fox’s high school fangame

And somehow (sorry Toby) I walked out of there with an unironic theory (a game theory....if you will....): Deltarune is Toby’s adult reexamination of the Halloween Hack.

What is the Halloween Hack?

You know that thing where, like, people take the engine of a Pokemon game and edit it so there’s a new region and a bunch of new fakemon, and also There’s Swears Now

In 2008, Toby Fox entered a contest on an EarthBound fansite for the best Halloween-themed EarthBound hack

In one sense, reducing the Halloween Hack to a “bad romhack with swears” is a little bit of a disservice. There are some glimmers in there of a really affecting, thought-provoking game, and you can see some of the early blueprints of what would later become Undertale (“do video game ‘monsters’ really deserve to die” is a major theme, and the character of Dr. Andonuts was effectively split up into Alpyhs, Asgore, and Sans)

But it’s also. very much a fangame made by a 16-year-old.

You can read a basic summary of the Hack here. High school-age Toby wrote two pretty extensive analyses of his thought process behind the game. I’ll be referring back to them a lot, and I’d highly suggest giving them a read--Toby’s been so famously resistant to making any Word of God statements about Undertale that it’s kind of fascinating to see him being so candid

an extremely long and rambling examination of How This All Relates To Deltarune

The Halloween Hack opens in the town of Halloween Twoson. Twoson is one of the cites in EarthBound, and here it’s been painted orange. and there’s pumpkins now

See, high school Toby had...a bit of a chip on his shoulder. In the Making Of notes, he explains that he was frustrated that “most people generally thought I was just ‘another funny guy’”. So he designed the opening of the game to seem unoriginally close to the original EarthBound--like “a regular, funny, lazy hack”--to lull players into a false sense of security before the horror elements set in.

Two interesting things there:

“Lazily, unoriginally close to the source game” sounds an awful lot like the Dark World segment of Deltarune

Halloween Twoson looks very visually similar to Hometown

Toby’s description of Twoson also sounds pretty Hometown-esque:

The main impressions of Twoson that I wanted to give the player were: It's funny. It's a nice fall day outside. The person hacking this game is ridiculously lazy. It's a nice place to live. If you look at it a little closely, it's kind of claustrophobic.  

And when does the horror kick in? When the player descends into the underground tunnels beneath the city.

The “horror” in the Halloween Hack is, however, Pretty Not Good.

There’s a whole lot of the flavor text narrator (put a pin in that one) insisting “this is so scary. you’re so scared. your hands shake and your head throbs because you’re so scared.” There’s also a thing where the battle text keeps going “the shambling zombie BITES your HEAD OFF!!! (you lose 15 hp).”

I think the True Lab sequence in Undertale is a decent demonstration that Toby’s come a long way since then (and that Honey We’ve Got A Storm Coming :’) ). But you know what the Hack’s style of horror reminds me of?

My first thought when I beat the demo and saw this stinger was “this looks like an intentionally shitty creepypasta.” Now I wonder if it’s lowkey adult Toby poking a little fun at teenage Toby

The Halloween Hack is a game about railroading. It’s Spec Ops The Line before there was Spec Ops The Line.

According to Toby:

The main theme of this game is the lack of choice. There is really no choice in this game. From the moment you start to the moment you finish, you're destined to kill Dr. Andonuts. There are two endings, but they both eventually end up the same way. It's all a big joke on the player.

You know why there isn't a choice there? Because you already chose to make Varik go into the door. You already chose to go forward. The only real choice, as Varik realizes at the end of the game, is to stop or keep going. By "stop" he means "turn off the game," and that's all you can do. Anything you play is your own fault for playing, and that's the only real choice you can make.

Interesting? Yeah. A little obnoxious? Also yeah.

That’s one of the criticisms people had of Spec Ops. "The atrocities we commit when we feel like we don’t have a choice” is an intriguing theme, but “~the only way to win is not to play~ [the game I worked hard on for the express purpose of people playing it]” isn’t a very satisfying conclusion.

Undertale, in direct contrast to the Hack, is all about choice. It earns the right to guilt you for the No Mercy Run by giving you every opportunity not to go through with it.

But even Undertale plays a little with the concept of railroading--you can’t stay with Toriel; you can’t spare Asgore in any of the neutral runs; you can’t save Asriel.

Now Deltarune seems to be returning full-on to the Hack’s “your choices don’t matter” premise. But it’s going to need to find something more insightful and satisfying to say about it.

Which makes me really curious about this:

If the Hack has a secondary theme besides railroading/lack of choice, it’s The Soul-Crushing Impact Of Internalized Homophobia.

The tragic antagonist, Dr. Andonuts, destroys his own life trying to repress his gay desire. He retreats into a dream world made of his neuroses and trauma, and he’s inevitably Otherized and murdered by the player. He’s something of a dark version of Alphys, who “disappears” into her lab without ever meeting and getting support from Frisk, Papyrus, and Undyne.

Undertale takes an opposite approach to its lgbt themes--the Underground is a utopia where homophobia and transphobia don’t exist. Everyone respects Frisk’s and Chara’s pronouns. Alphys finds solace and healing in her relationship with Undyne.

It’s a heartwarming growth from the despair in the Halloween Hack. And it’s a vision that’s been deeply meaningful to a lot of people. But that doesn’t mean that there’s no value in exploring issues of homophobia. 16-year-old Toby tried to do that, but...wasn’t exactly at a point where he was equipped to handle it with a ton of sensitivity and nuance.

(There’s. There’s a boss battle where you fight the physical manifestation of Andonuts’ gay repression. It’s a crotch. You fight a crotch.)

Some of the hints in the Deltarune demo, however--the Toriel Has Become Catholic thing; the fact that Alphys and Undyne haven’t met and Mettaton hasn’t been able to transition; the potential trans implications of choosing a name only to have it discarded for an assigned one (“you can’t choose who you are in this world”)--make me suspect that’s one of the themes that Toby will try to revisit from an adult perspective.

The Hack is interested in the idea of the flavor text narrator as a distinct, intelligent entity, whose thoughts and goals don’t always align with those of the player character or the player. 

The Hack’s narrator makes a habit of dictating “your” emotions to you (you’re scared; you can sense ‘the monster’ and you want to kill it; etc). The narration starts to seem more and more unreliable, until, as Toby put it, “The narrator starts talking to you personally...rambling about incoherent things.”

At the game’s turning point, you’re given a yes/no choice to kill Dr. Andonuts. Choose yes, and the narrator (mockingly?) calls you a good person, describes the murder you commit, and then narrates what appears to be your (or their? or Varik’s?) psychological breakdown. Choose no, and the narrator tells you that’s not a real choice and redirects you back to the yes/no box. If you press the b-button to try and opt out of the choice (the game’s unofficial subtitle is “Press the B-Button Stupid,” and doing so allows you to follow Andonuts into his dream world), the narrator starts to panic, although the game ultimately ends the same way.

Not to NarraChara Real, but NarraChara Real 

The Hack is also interested in the idea of the player character as a possibly-unwilling puppet controlled by the player (who in turn is controlled by the railroading/their need to beat the game).

According to Toby:  

 As you approach someone you've never met that you're labeling as a monster, your body pushes you forward to kill him. What's funny is that it's not even uncontrolled, it's really just the force of the player's controller pushing that little bounty hunter into murdering Andonuts. You might not realize it, but Varik is almost dead, and yet he can't stop moving because you keep pushing those buttons. 

The Halloween Hack is, fundamentally, a nostalgic meditation on an existing game.

It’s a little obvious to say, but the Hack isn’t a standalone game. It’s a hack of EarthBound.

Toby writes:

EarthBound dominated my childhood, shaped my preteen years, and played a large role in molding me into the offbeat pseudohippie I am today. It gave me a sense of humor. It helped me learn how to read. Its lessons served as a basis for my sense of justice and courage.

But at age 16, Toby’s feeling about the game that had shaped him were a little mixed. He describes “the staleness of a fifteen-year-old video game” as one of his motivations for making the Hack.

In Deltarune, he (kind of hilariously) has Alphys parrot his teen-self’s “staleness” line:

(I could write a whole meta just on the Mew Mew Kissy Cutie vs Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2 thing)

Still, Toby’s nostalgia for EarthBound is essential to how the Hack operates. Earlier, I said there were glimmers of an thoughtful, affecting game buried in the “bad romhack with swears.” The most genuinely moving moment in the Hack, in my opinion, is the Onett sequence. 

You wander though a faded, dream world version of Onett--the hometown from EarthBound--while a slowed down arrangement of the Onett music plays. Snatches of forgotten conversations appear on road signs. Various monsters from EarthBound follow slowly behind you, but don’t attack. The only battles are against creatures called “Remember Me?”

The EarthBound characters appear to recognize “Varik” as Ness, EarthBound’s protagonist--or are they recognizing you, the player, as the same person who played EarthBound once upon a time?

The one problem, of course, is that not everyone has played EarthBound. It’s a relatively niche game. The sense of remembrance and regret and loss in the Onett sequence is universal, but being shaped as a person by the specific video game EarthBound isn’t a universal experience.

But in the years since the Hack, Toby has created something with a wider reach than EarthBound. Something that can evoke that sense of memory and nostalgia in players. A familiar game that he can take apart, rearrange, and examine in an entirely different light.

He made Undertale.

And now he’s rearranging the pieces into Deltarune.