#asgore and toriel are here too

[jmbringitonworld]

How I Married Your Father

AO3 link for those who prefer to read fics there

This silly idea came to my friend and I, and we imagined some scenes for it. And when it comes to silly ideas, well... I just can't seem to resist writing them out. I also can't seem to resist injecting fluff into everything I write. How did this get so long?? @a-snowpoff this is all your fault.

Is any of this funny? You tell me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

______________________________

It all started with a ring.

Well, technically it all started when I met Papyrus, but the trouble really began with the ring.

See, Papyrus and I had been good friends for a while - to the point I was comfortable with letting him stay in the spare room at my place, when he moved out to give his brother and sister-in-law some space and privacy. We’d hung out together a few times, and had even gotten to know each other’s friends.

We’d also occasionally gift each other things we’d seen and thought the other would like. Just little things, like oven mitts, a new apron, plates with interesting flame patterns, cool action figures, bones of varying sizes… you know, just knick-knacks and such. Nothing too fancy.

And then one day Papyrus gave me a ring.

It was a sparkly piece of jewellery, very well-made and clearly quite pricey, and I was very reluctant to accept it. But Papyrus looked so excited, so hopeful, and even a little nervous (as he did with anything he gifted me to be honest)… I just didn’t have the heart to refuse. No one with a heart would’ve been able to deny him.

“DO YOU LIKE MY PRESENT??” he asked me, bones vibrating ever so slightly as he looked to be on the verge of bouncing on his feet.

I didn’t need to force the smile that spread so wide across my face that my cheeks started hurting.

“Yes.” I tried the ring on each of my fingers. It fit my ring finger perfectly. “I love it! Thank you Paps.”

The smile he gave me in return was more brilliant than any precious gem.

I had no idea what that ring would come to mean.

And neither did Papyrus, as it turned out.

—

“WHAT???”

Papyrus’s eye sockets widened in shock as he stared at Alphys, his friend, gifted scientist, and expert on humans (probably).

The shorter monster shuffled her feet nervously under his incredulous gaze, and reflexively scooted a little closer to her wife.

“O-oh, you d-didn’t know that humans give their partner a ring to p-propose? Uh, propose marriage that is.”

Papyrus shook his head.

“NO!! I HAD NO IDEA!! MY DATING GUIDEBOOK DIDN’T MENTION ANYTHING ABOUT MARRIAGE!!! IT ONLY SAID THAT GIVING YOUR PARTNER A RING WAS THE NEXT IMPORTANT STEP TO ADVANCE YOUR ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP!!”

He took out a badly chewed up book from… somewhere… and proceeded to riffle through what remained of its pages.

Sans eyed the book with a raised browbone. “uh, paps? it looks like something took a bite or ten outta your book.”

The younger skeleton monster glared at the book in remembered offence.

“IT’S THAT MISCREANT MUTT!!” He stomped his foot, scarf flailing through the air from the force of his agitation. “IT KEEPS CHEWING THROUGH MY THINGS!! NOT CONTENT TO STEAL MY SPECIAL ATTACKS, IT TRIED TO EAT MY DATING GUIDEBOOK!! AND MY HANGOUT GUIDEBOOK!! AND EVEN MY COOKBOOKS!! ALL FIFTY SEVEN OF THEM!!!”

Asgore frowned in concern. “Do you think it has a toothache from eating so many bones?”

Papyrus stomped his foot harder. “WELL I HAVE A SKULLACHE FROM IT VANDALISING MY BELONGINGS!!”

Toriel gave him a pacifying smile. “There, there. Books can be replaced; your health cannot. Do not lose your skull over this!”

The former queen giggled at her own joke and Sans’s grin widened. Papyrus looked to be on the verge of exploding, both figuratively and literally, with the way his bones rattled. Luckily, Undyne interjected before the situation could devolve further.

“Ngahhh!! Forget about nerd books and hungry dogs! What about the proposal?! Did your human say yes?!”

Papyrus paused and considered his friend’s question for a moment.

“HMMM…” He gasped. “SHE DID! SHE DEFINITELY SAID YES!”

Undyne leaned forward eagerly, eyes flitting between Papyrus and Alphys.

“So! Does that mean Papyrus and his human are married?!”

Everyone’s gaze focused on Alphys, awaiting her deduction. The current Royal Scientist shrunk under the weight of their expectation. She looked a little panicked, but with one glance at her wife’s toothy grin and shining eyes, she bolstered her courage and blurted out, “I-I guess so”.

Cheers and whoops rang out, as everyone congratulated Papyrus on his marriage. Only Sans looked hesitant. His murmured “maybe we should ask frisk about this” was lost amongst the jubilation.

—

From then on, Papyrus became even more… affectionate? Attentive? Dare I say, almost doting towards me. Not that he was cold before, quite the opposite. He was always a kind and caring friend; thoughtful, warm-hearted, enthusiastic and ever-supportive, truly the best pal a girl could ask for honestly.

But he was noticeably more intense in his efforts to be the best friend to me he could be.

And, in all honesty, it was getting me increasingly flustered.

Every day, Papyrus would wake me up in the morning with breakfast in bed, and we’d chat about our respective plans for the day as we ate. Afterwards, as I would get ready, Papyrus would pack the elaborate lunch he’d somehow found the time to prepare for me, and then send me off with a hug as big and warm as his heart (his metaphorical heart; I still had no idea whether or not skeleton monsters had literal hearts).

The way he’d rub his nasal bone against my nose as he held me close sent all sorts of butterflies fluttering around inside me. But I’d guessed it was simply a sign of affection between monsters. Papyrus was always very demonstrative with his feelings after all. He never left me in any doubt that I was important to him.

It was one of the many things I loved about him.

And there sure was a lot to love.

It was no surprise that my feelings for Papyrus had turned romantic fairly early on in our relationship.

He was so honest and upfront about himself, so earnest in his efforts and steadfast in his ambitions, and always wearing his heart on his sleeve (so to speak), that you knew very quickly what kind of man- er, monster he was. There was never any hint of artifice with him and he didn’t have a single malicious bone in his skeletal body.

I knew that I could trust him, completely, that I could always rely on him and that he would never let me down.

And he never did. He was my anchor in every storm that came my way.

More than that, he always strived to be his best self in a way that I couldn’t help but admire. He even encouraged me, time and again, to be my best self.

He made me want to do better, want to be better.

He made me believe I could.

“Which is exactly why you should be honest with him about how you feel about him!” Frisk argued, over tea and cakes one afternoon.

I bit my lip and looked away from her determined gaze. “But what if he doesn’t feel the same way about me?”

“But what if he does?” Frisk shot back.

I stared into my cup as if it held the answers I sought. Frisk sighed and reached over to place her hand atop mine, arresting my gaze when I looked up.

“Look, even if Papy doesn’t like you like that - which I doubt, I’m sure that guy is just as crazy about you as you are about him,” she insisted, voice full of conviction.

I blinked, wondering how she could be so confident, as if there wasn’t a doubt in her mind as to the truth of her words. It must’ve been because she was Papyrus’s second ever friend and his sister-in-law.

Frisk continued on, with the kind of determination that could move mountains, or break barriers. “But even if he isn’t, doesn’t he deserve your honesty?”

I wilted, forced to acknowledge her point. “You’re right. Paps is always honest with me, and I owe it to him to be honest with him in return.”

Frisk gave me a pleased smile. She turned the hand she was holding in hers and gave it an encouraging squeeze. I squeezed back, trying not to let my doubts overtake me, even as the fear of possible rejection was making my heart pound in my ears.

“I just-… Everything’s been going so well between us and I’m afraid of messing it all up! What if I ruin our friendship?!”

—

“I LOVE MY WONDERFUL WIFE! WE ARE SO HAPPY TOGETHER! NYEH HEH HEH!!” Papyrus’s cheerful voice boomed throughout the room.

Undyne guffawed and thumped him on the back with enough force to almost send him to his knees. “That’s great, Papyrus! I’m so happy to hear you’ve found your special someone, too! Now everyone’s happy! Man, we oughta celebrate or something.”

Alphys perked up and clapped her hands in delight. “Ooh! That’s a great idea! M-Maybe we can all go on a group holiday together? Like a c-couples’ retreat? It’s n-not like I had one in mind already or anything, eheheh…”

Papyrus’s face lit up, his eye sockets sparkling. “THAT SOUNDS SPECTACULAR!! AND FUN!” He pumped a fist into the air. “I CAN’T WAIT TO SHOW EVERYONE WHAT A GREAT COUPLE THE GREAT PAPYRUS AND HIS GREAT WIFE MAKE!! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!”

Sans took one look at his brother’s ecstatic grin and his friends’ equally excited faces, and gulped down the rest of his ketchup.

“oh boy, this’ll be… interestin’.”

—

One of the first things I’d learned about Papyrus was that he loved to cook. He hadn’t always been very good at it according to his friends and family, but since coming to the surface, he’d made every effort to improve his skills. And his efforts had eventually paid off, as I could whole-heartedly attest to.

I’m not sure exactly when or how it started - it felt like a lifetime ago - but at some point I’d offered to cook dinner with him and it quickly became a daily routine for us.

It was as I was stirring the tomatoes into the sauce, that I finally mustered up enough courage to broach the topic of my less-than-platonic feelings for him.

I cleared my throat nervously. “Um, Papyrus? There’s, uh, something I wanted to… share with you. Or let you know. Or, ugh.” I rubbed my temple, annoyed at myself and my poor attempts to get the right words out. “I just wanted to tell you something.”

He looked up from the gently simmering pot of spaghetti and tilted his skull my way. His smile was bright and encouraging, and he seemed completely unphased by my fumbled words. “I’M ALL EARS.”

I glanced at the sides of his skull and the complete lack of any ears, and tried to bite back a grin. It was as successful as my attempt at a confession. However, it managed to lift my spirits and calm my nerves enough for my next words to come out more easily.

“Papyrus, I…” I took a deep breath, cleared all thoughts from my head and ploughed on. “I like you!”

Papyrus didn’t even hesitate as he gave me a beaming smile and told me, “I LIKE YOU TOO!”

I couldn’t help but return his smile, as I tried to clarify what I’d meant. “No, I mean romantically. I-, I’m in love with you Papyrus.”

Papyrus’s smile didn’t budge an inch, though his chest did puff out a bit. “WELL I WOULD SURE HOPE MY WIFE WOULD FEEL THAT WAY! ALSO! I AM GLAD TO HEAR THAT YOU DO! ALSO ALSO!! I AM IN LOVE WITH YOU TOO!! NYEH HEH!”

I stared at him. “...What?”

He stared back. “WHAT?”

—

Finding out that Papyrus not only loved me back but was, in fact, fully convinced that he and I were married (which, how? How did he get such an idea?) was not the only shocking news I found out that evening.

I also learned that all of his friends also believed that the two of us were married (how? How??).

And then Papyrus cheerfully informed me that his friends had planned a group holiday for all of us to go on. As couples. Married couples (how did it come to this!? What deity did I accidentally insult to curse me like this??).

The rest of the night passed by in a blur, as my mind reeled from the barrage of bombshells Papyrus had so enthusiastically dropped on me.

The only thought which managed to stick out amongst the jumbled mess of my mind, was that I needed to correct Papyrus. And his friends. Somehow.

—

My first chance came when Alphys caught me as I was heading out the next day.

After her usual polite, if stuttering greeting, she handed me an envelope.

“Here are yours and Papyrus’s tickets for the hotel we’ll be staying in. Don’t worry, I booked a nice room for you two to sh-share.”

I opened my mouth, not sure of what, exactly, I was going to say, but knowing that I needed to say something.

However Alphys kept talking, excitement hurrying her speech. “I’m really looking forward to getting to know you even better on the trip! I-I hope we can all be really good friends. A-Anyway, I need to go and hand out the rest of the tickets. See you on the day we head out!” She then turned around and proceeded to power walk away, waving to me over her shoulder, as her final words rushed out, “Please don’t be late because this place has a no refunds policy okay bye!”

As I remained rooted to the spot, staring dumbly after her rapidly retreating figure, I realised that my mouth was still open. I closed it with a resounding *clack*.

Well that could’ve gone better.

—

Things continued along the same vein, going decidedly not better.

All Papyrus could talk about was the upcoming group holiday and how excited he was for it.

All I could think about was how in the hell I was supposed to break it to him and everyone else that he and I were not actually married.

“What do I do?!” I’m not ashamed to admit that I was practically whining to Frisk at this point, but who could blame me?

Frisk just shrugged at me. “Dunno,” she mumbled around the straw in her mouth, and took another slurp of her milkshake.

I buried my head in my hands.

Frisk seemed to take pity on me and threw her free arm around my shoulders.

“Hey, c’mon, it’s not that bad.”

I looked up from my hands to shoot her an incredulous look. She winked at me, lips turning up suggestively as she leaned in closer to me.

“You get to share a bed with Papyrus,” she purred, as if the thought hadn’t been stuck in my head since Alphys’s visit. I could feel my cheeks burn at the insinuation in her words and tone. “You love him. And you know that he loves you too. Enough to be happy at the belief that you’re married.” My face felt like it was on fire. “So what’s the problem? Isn’t this something you were hoping for?”

She wiggled her eyebrows at me, ever the flirt-master. I shoved my hand in her face and pushed her away, unable to look her in the eye. Frisk went along with the motion, laughing airily at me.

I didn’t need to say anything. My expression spoke loud and clear to her. She’d clearly picked up her husband’s ability to read people - it was one of the things that made her such an effective ambassador for monsters. That and her unwavering determination (also perhaps her terrifying talent at flirting everyone into submission).

I grumbled, wishing my blush would die down. “M-Maybe... But not now! I’m still getting used to the idea that Paps likes me back!”

“He loves you back, you mean,” Frisk interjected. My blush returned with a vengeance.

“Y-yeah, that.” I exhaled in frustrated embarrassment. “I just don’t know if I’m ready to-... to share a b-bed with him yet.”

Frisk raised an eyebrow at me, crossing her arms.

“This is Papyrus we’re talking about. Has he ever given you any reason to believe he wouldn’t respect your wishes? That he wouldn’t do everything in his power to make sure you’re comfortable?” She didn’t give me any time to reply, but she didn’t need to. The answer was obvious. “You’re the one who told me about how you trust him completely, and that he’d never once let you down. So stop worrying about this. Just have fun on this trip and enjoy yourself. You can think about how to clear up this marriage misunderstanding later.”

Her words made sense. I would be fine. Papyrus would make sure of it, as he always did. I might be a little flustered - or a lot flustered - but we would be together, and in love, and that would be enough. It would be more than enough.

I slowly started to relax, beginning to get excited about the prospect of a holiday with the one I loved and our group of friends.

And then Frisk leaned in close again to whisper into my ear, “Don’t forget to pack some sexy lingerie. You have a ‘husband’ to sweep off his feet now.”

There was no way I would be fine.

—

When the time finally came to leave for the trip our friends had planned, Papyrus was a ball of excitement, practically bouncing off the walls, whereas I was a ball of nerves, bouncing off the walls for very different reasons.

“CAREFUL BELOVED!” Papyrus reached out towards me just in time to stop me from crashing into the doorframe.

I looked up at him, trying to shake away the turbulent thoughts infesting my head.

“Sorry Paps. And thanks. I’m just a little, uh, distracted. Excited for the trip and all, haha…!”

I gave him my best attempt at a reassuring smile.

Papyrus looked unconvinced.

He frowned down at me, concern etched into his features. He gently grasped my hands in his own gloved ones, and gazed deeply into my eyes.

“MY LOVE, I KNOW THAT I HAVE NOT ALWAYS BEEN THE MOST… PERCEPTIVE MONSTER.” He frowned, some distant memory playing in his mind’s eye, before he refocused his gaze on me. “HOWEVER! I COULD NEVER FAIL TO NOTICE THAT YOU - MY ONE AND ONLY LOVE, THE GREATEST JOY IN MY LIFE, MY DEAREST WIFE - ARE NOT AS EXCITED ABOUT THIS SUPER FUN LOVEY-DOVEY COUPLES’ VACATION AS I’D HOPED YOU WOULD BE.”

Guilt started to bubble in the pit of my stomach at the way his expression fell at that.

But before I could try to reassure him, or offer him what would ultimately be empty words of assurance, he cut me off.

“IF SOMETHING IS BOTHERING YOU, THEN PLEASE TELL ME.” He gave my hands a squeeze. The gesture shot straight to my heart like Cupid’s arrow. “I PROMISE THAT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM A GREAT LISTENER!! I AM ALSO VERY PATIENT! AND VERY WISE! AND VERY UNDERSTANDING! AS WELL AS VERY COOL!”

A fierce affection for this amazing monster filled me to my core. I wanted to kiss him at this moment.

“I know, Paps. You are all that and more. So much more.”

Papyrus’s proud expression was so familiar and so dear to me. I really wanted to kiss him.

“NYEH HEH HEH! THANK YOU BELOVED! I AM HAPPY YOU RECOGNISE THAT!” Then his face softened a little, a gentleness entering his voice. “AND I HOPE YOU ALSO RECOGNISE HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU. AND HOW MUCH I WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY, EVEN IF IT MEANS WE DON’T GO ON SUPER FUN LOVEY-DOVEY COUPLES’ VACATIONS WITH OUR FRIENDS.”

He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to mine. I could see tiny glimmers of light deep within his dark eye sockets.

“BEING WITH YOU IS MORE FUN THAN ANYTHING. EVEN MORE THAN COOKING! EVEN MORE THAN CREATING TRAPS AND PUZZLES! BUT IT IS ONLY FUN IF YOU ARE ALSO HAVING FUN.”

That was it. I couldn’t take it anymore.

Before Papyrus could say another word, I tilted my head to finally give him the kiss I’d been longing for.

Papyrus made a small sound of surprise, before leaning into the kiss, reciprocating my affection with all the passion and zeal I’d come to expect from him, and then some. It took my breath away.

As the both of us lost ourselves in our first (but definitely not last!) kiss, I resolved myself to push away all of my concerns. They were pointless and would only get in the way of an enjoyable holiday with the monster I loved and the friends we both cherished.

I just needed to keep up a positive mental attitude, just like Papyrus always maintained.

—

That positive mental attitude managed to see me through the whole of the first day, which, just as Papyrus had promised, was full of fun. I had such a great time that I forgot all of my previous worries.

Which then promptly came crashing back down on me when Papyrus and I entered our shared bedroom that night, and I beheld our one bed.

Papyrus, ever the gentleman (gentlemonster?), offered to let me use the adjoining bathroom first to get ready, which I gladly accepted.

Afterwards, as I sunk into the large and luxuriously comfy sheets of the king-sized bed, I could feel my pulse speed up.

When I heard the bathroom door open, I glanced over to see Papyrus step out, dressed in simple pyjamas with little pasta patterns.

I could feel my face heat up and my ears start to ring as the tall skeleton monster made his way towards the bed I was lying in.

He came to a stop right in front of me.

I held my breath, a mixture of anticipation and nerves flooding my system.

This was it.

Anything could happen.

—

“So? What happened?” Frisk leaned forward, eager and impatient for me to spill the beans on my first night with Papyrus.

“He tucked me into bed and read me a bedtime story.”

“Wait what?”

“You heard me.” I slumped in my seat and fought back a yawn. “He then spent the rest of the night doing prep work for his cooking. I don’t know if he slept at all, ‘cause when I woke up the next morning, he’d moved on to making models of me out of papier mâché. Incredibly detailed and life-like models. He said he wanted to ‘capture his wonderful wife’s incredible cuteness’. If it were anyone else I’d be creeped out, but with Paps I think it’s kinda sweet.”

Frisk visibly deflated. She sat back and crossed her arms, head tilting in consideration.

“That does sound like him. Very… Papyrus. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” She heaved a big sigh. “Looks like Sansy and I need to tell Papy to up his game.”

That sure woke me up.

“No thank you! I think Papyrus has plenty of game as is!”

“Well then it’s up to you to make the first move,” she said as she poked me on the forehead. “After all, Papy is the one who proposed. Even though it was Alphys who said that it meant you two were married.”

I shot up in my seat, eyes wide. “Wait you knew all about this!?”

Frisk gave a casual nod of her head. “Sans told me.” I threw my hands in the air in frustration. “Why didn’t you say anything?! Tell them the truth?!”

Frisk merely shrugged her shoulders, uncaring in the face of my annoyance. “Not my place to interfere. They didn’t ask me, so I didn’t say anything.”

Which… fair, I guessed. It was technically my problem to fix. Besides, Frisk had always been very hands-off when it came to others’ affairs, only intervening before things got really serious.

I deflated, my brief ire draining out of me.

Frisk patted my head in what would’ve been sympathy, if not for the amused smirk making its way across her face.

“And besides,” her smirk widened, showing her teeth, “it was so funny seeing you all blushy and flustered!”

“Now I see why Sans married you! You’re both trolls!”

Frisk just laughed in my face.

—

Later that day, in an attempt to make it up to me, Frisk gathered the whole group together, so that I could make an announcement and finally clear up the misunderstanding. She’d even whispered to me that Sans had told Papyrus that humans weren’t legally married until they’d had a wedding, to ease that particular burden from my shoulders. And because Sans wanted to let his younger brother down gently. The rest, though, was up to me.

It was a daunting task, but I couldn’t let this situation go on any longer.

I nervously cleared my throat, trying desperately to steel my nerves in the face of so many expectant eyes. Frisk and Sans gave me thumbs up and smiled at me in encouragement. Papyrus stood by my side, and I took comfort from his steady presence.

“So uhhh… I’d like to clear up a little… misunderstanding.” I paused to take a fortifying breath. “See, Papyrus and I… we’re not… married.”

Silence.

Until-

“Wait what?!” Undyne slammed her hands down onto the table. “Don’t tell me you two got a divorce!”

What.

I could feel my jaw drop.

Alphys looked to be on the verge of tears as she wrung her hands. “B-But you two seemed so happy together!”

Papyrus stepped closer to me and threw an arm around my shoulders. “WE ARE HAPPY TOGETHER!!” He drew me close to his side and thumped a fist against his chest. “AND I PROMISE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WILL ALWAYS BE HAPPY TOGETHER!! NYEH!!”

Toriel clapped a hand to her chest and heaved a huge sigh. “Oh that’s such a relief! I’m so glad that you two are happily married.”

Asgore beamed at us. “Yes! And may your marriage be long and full of joy!”

I could only stare dumbfounded at everyone. How did things like this keep happening to me?

I looked towards Frisk and Sans. The couple exchanged glances, before shrugging and giving me thumbs up.

I turned to Papyrus, who seemed almost as confused as I was by this unexpected turn of events. But as always, he had clearly taken it in his stride and was now puffing up under everyone’s unanimous support and offering everyone his thanks.

I looked down at my feet for a moment, before sighing in defeat.

If you can’t beat them, join them.

“...Thanks guys.”

I guess I just had to accept the fact that I was married now.

I glanced towards Papyrus’s big, bright smile, happiness shining in his face. He noticed my gaze and turned his skull towards me, his smile getting impossibly bigger and brighter. I couldn’t help my own smile forming in response.

Maybe this wasn’t such a bad thing after all. At least I was married to someone I truly loved and who loved me in return. And honestly, who could ask for more?

As I leaned into my “husband”’s side, I felt my worries fade away.

Yeah, being married to Papyrus was definitely my happy ending.

—

“And that, kids, is how I married your father,” I ended my story and smiled at my children’s cheers. Even Papyrus cheered along with them.

My eldest then looked at me, head tilted in curiosity. “So… did you and Dad ever get married for real?”

I chuckled. “Yep. Eventually.” I shared a fond look with Papyrus at the memory of our wedding.

My youngest frowned, brows furrowed cutely in thought. I wanted to reach over and smooth away the adorable crease. “But did Dad ever actually propose to you?”

I paused. Now that I thought about it… He never did. I blinked in surprise.

Papyrus seemed to have come to the same realisation.

He leapt to his feat, before dramatically kneeling in front of me. He clasped my hands in both of his and gazed into my eyes with the most serious look I’d ever seen on his face.

“DARLING WIFE! LOVE OF MY LIFE! YOU ARE MORE PRECIOUS TO ME THAN ALL THE STARS IN THE SKY. MY SOUL SHINES ONLY FOR YOU. WILL YOU MARRY ME?”

I could feel warmth spread across my cheeks and blossom in my chest.

“Papyrus, we’re already married,” I reminded him, not bothering to fight back my smile at his loving words.

My husband just grinned at me.

“IS THAT A YES?”

I giggled.

“Yes. Always yes.”

[juniemunie]

Broskis ts!underswap is so fun. every single part of it is *chefs kiss*

I went in completely blind and honestly i think it was the best move i could have made

i love how its just swapped roles but not personalities so it leads to stuff like this its so creative

Anyways have some more self insert sansnomaly (and chara)

[justali-anne]

Undertale special interest kicking in... I swear I'm never getting tired of these guys...

I can imagine them sometimes meeting up Post-Pacifist for game nights. Like... board games, card games, video games... I have a few headcanons about it.

Card/Board games:

Let's address the elephant in the room: Monopoly is banned. Just straight up banned. They played once... Never again. Let's just say by the end of the night there were magic spears wedged deeply into Toriel's new wallpaper... and the wall... and the brick of the house... And the window was shattered. Yeah, Monopoly, it's banned, it's banned.

Papyrus has no poker face whatsoever. Meanwhile, Sans and Frisk have VERY impressive poker faces, and they're both aware of it. Once, they formed some sort of secret alliance and they dominated poker night. It was Frisk's first time playing, too!

I imagine Frisk would just be a natural at all games, hands down. Well, kind of. They don't always win, but they learn very quickly. Jack of all trades, I suppose.

Undyne has this habit of flipping boards (a classic) and shooting magic spears whenever she loses at a game or just gets EXTREMELY passionate about it. Although, if Alphys or Papyrus are the ones that beat her, she'll grit her teeth and act happy for them, just to make them happy.

Unfortunately, Papyrus picked up on Undyne's bad habit and bones started scattering the walls. Toriel had to ban magic bullets in the house after one of them almost gave Frisk a concussion.

Asgore is pretty good at card games, actually! I like to imagine he sometimes spends time with old friends of his, like Gerson and stuff, and they would have tea and play games while they chat, so he's had a lot of practice.

Toriel, on the other hand, hasn't played any board games or cards in AGES thanks to her isolation in the Ruins. She's not terrible, but she's not particularly GOOD at them either.

Sometimes, certain members of the group would try to break Sans' calmness, because while everyone had gotten annoyed at one point or another during game nights, Sans never did. Long story short, nope, he's just too chill. He's just happy to be here.

Once, Alphys bought a Mew Mew Kissy Cutie board game for game night, and she was so excited to show everyone the ropes (and dominate the night for once). She only won one game. And then she had an identity crisis afterwards!

Snacks! They do a rotation on who gets to be in charge of the food! Undyne and Papyrus are NO LONGER in this rotation after they brought in flaming spaghetti and almost set the couch on fire. Even then, you could only really trust Frisk, Toriel and Asgore with the snacks, since Alphys doesn't cook (she brings in store-bought cupcakes, it's the thought that counts), and Sans always forgets or is just too lazy to get snacks, so he orders pizza.

Video games:

They meet up to play stuff like Smash Bros, Mario Kart and Mario Party, but when they play online multiplayer games, like Minecraft, Terraria etc. they just stay home and go on a Zoom call or something. It's a lot less stressful for the introverts of the group (mainly Alphys, but I suppose Toriel could qualify [Undyne and Papyrus are absolutely extroverts; Sans and Frisk are moreso ambiverts, I think]) because they don't have to go out to do it! Yay!

They do all the things typical friends do when they're playing online games! They troll, they tease, they laugh, they help each other out, they TRY to work as a team (emphasis on TRY)...

One of the games I'd like to see them play is Human Fall Flat (I have that game and I play it with my sister :]). I want to see some RAGE. I'm sure Papyrus would love doing the puzzles, but at the same time, I'm sure the others not cooperating or knowing what's going on would tick him off. Yessss... Let Papyrus rage.

Sometimes Alphys and/or Sans would trail off into some scientific conversation or tangent, and after a minute or so, the others would start yelling over them, "NERD!!! NERDS! NERRDDD!!!" Alphys would get flustered, and Sans would desperately try to keep his composure and try not to burst out laughing.

Undyne and Papyrus have the extraordinary ability to make even the calmest, simplest games intense. ESPECIALLY Undyne, oh my goooood. Though I guess she could use the extra stimulation, she will NOT settle for a game with a slow pace. So much for Animal Crossing.

In addition, the gang can get VERY competitive at Mario Kart and stuff. Undyne is obviously the most competitive, but I think Papyrus and Alphys would want to try and impress her. Frisk and Sans? Nah, they're chilling. They don't care, they're just here to watch the chaos. Yeah... There's a reason why Asgore and Toriel don't often play games with these guys. Though they would watch and look upon them fondly. I dunno, it just seems cute.

[martlet-my-beloved]

If martlet was in the ruins....

Couldnt she just fly through the hole in the ceiling(?) and go fetch 7 human souls or something?

Maybe rob a graveyard i dunno

I always imagined that the barrier looks less like, well, a barrier and more like a giant piss-off force field around the area

So even though monsters lived in the ruins for so long, no one bothered to climb/dig their way out the other end. Or if they did, they found out the barrier was still there the hard way

So yeah, martlet never bothered to try flying out from that way. You'd need a monster and human soul to get out after all.

After frisk fell though....

Barrier's made of anti-monster magic. Y'know, to stop monsters from like trying to bash their way out through brute force I guess. Most monsters begin to feel physically weak as they near the barrier, which makes flying out with a human child on your back just that much harder

First - Previous - Next - Masterpost

[charafansmile]

It annoys me when I see someone comment on a post that they "only ship canon ships" and bring up alphyne and asgoriel.. I have to stop myself from getting in pointless arguments about how asgoriel is not canon. Not in the current timeline of undertale and certainly not in deltarune. DOA ass ship. You don't even learn they were together until it's obvious toriel divorced him!!!! Nobody has played a version of the game where they are currently married!!!! You would think with the way people talk about asgoriel that she forgave him and they got back together!! But! no!! Their ship sailed and sunk before the title even appears!!!! and unlike alphyne their isint any ending where they do!!!! Asgoriel is about as canon as soriel and papyton are!!!!! You are longing for a past you never experienced!!!!! Stop it!!!!!

[lynxgriffin]

Mightier Than The Sword

Gerson had one regret, but now Alvin has many. A fancomic about my thoughts and theories and who -and what- the Knight is!

While not directly connected, I'd say this one is in the same vein as the Deal With The Devil series! Hope you enjoy!

Alt text for this comic under the read more:

Page 1

Panel 1 - Wide shot of the interior of the Boom household. Several monsters are gathered in a clean-looking hall, dressed in somber clothing and talking quietly in small groups. The monsters include QC, Cat Mom, Toriel, Asgore and Mayor Holiday. Father Alvin stands waiting at a door in the hall as his sister, a red-headed turtle monster in a pink dress, exits through the door and speaks to him. “Alvin…he’s ready for you.”

Panel 2 - Mid shot as Alvin prepares to enter the room. Ms. Boom steps out of the way, and puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Both of them look somber. 

Panel 3 - Alvin enters the room, mostly dark and lit by a few candles on a nearby desk. Gerson Boom is lying on a bed ahead of him, watching him enter. Alvin closes the door behind him and says, “Father, I’m here.”

Panel 4 - Alvin approaches his father, lying in bed. The bedroom has a few amenities, including a footstool set off to the side, a large rug bearing the delta rune, and a massive bookcase filling the entire back wall. A few books and papers litter the ground. Alvin bows his head, and says, “The hammer is ready for…for afterwards.”

Gerson just smiles, and responds, “Wa ha, is it? Well, it’ll do fine, I suppose.”

Panel 5 - Closer shot of Gerson extending his right hand towards Alvin. He’s smiling still, content with where he is. “Come here, son.”

Page 2

Panel 1 - Closeup as Alvin takes his father’s hand in his own, and clasps it tight. “Whatever you need…I’m here,” he says from offscreen.

Panel 2 - Alvin kneels by his father’s bedside, still clasping his hands. Gerson says, “Of course you are. Wa ha…you’re such a good and kind man, Alvin.”

Panel 3 - Closeup on Alvin as he just holds on to his father’s hand. Tears prick at the corners of his eyes. 

Panel 4 - Focus on Gerson as he holds up a hand to conspiratorially whisper to Alvin. “And I know I can trust you with a secret, right?”

Panel 5 - Closeup on Alvin as he looks back up, face earnest. “...Of course.”

Panel 6 - Gerson holds up one finger as he speaks to Alvin. “I told your sister I had no regrets, but that was a BIT of a fib! I’m afraid I have one regret…”

Panel 7 - Side view of Alvin as he learns closer, his face now worried. “Father?...”

Page 3

Panel 1 - Focus on Gerson as he leans back on his pillow, looking up at the ceiling. “I wish I had started earlier. Writing stories, I mean. Seein’ you an’ your sister’s eyes light up whenever I read you a new chapter…and then seeing all that joy from so many young folks after those stories were published!” he says, looking wistful.

Panel 2 - Alvin watches on sadly as Gerson continues, “It was the greatest feeling in the world, Alvin. It’s what life’s all about, y’know. Helping the young folks grow.”

Panel 3 - Gerson closes his eyes and looks back towards the ceiling again, still wistful. “So, I wish I’d started writing stories sooner.”

Panel 4 - Closeup on Alvin as he bows his head, still holding Gerson’s hand. “I truly do cherish those times you read to us, father…” he says.

Panel 5 - Closeup on Gerson as he closes his mind with happy memories. “Me too, Alvin. It’s a shame…I’ve still got so many tales to tell! But–”

Panel 6 - Gerson is interrupted by a round of hacking coughs. His time is fast approaching.

Panel 7 - Gerson settles back in to his bed and says, “The Angel’s given me SO many good, happy years. Doesn’t seem fair to ask for more.”

Panel 8 - Closeup on Alvin as he continues to hold his father’s hand tight. “This doesn’t seem fair, either…” he says, tears still pricking at his eyes.

Page 4

Panel 1 -  Insert closeup of Gerson as he smiles at his son. “That’s life, Alvin!” He doesn’t seem bothered by his imminent passing.

Panel 2 - Side view as Gerson leans in closer to Alvin again, hand raised, back to sharing his secrets. “But, knowin’ my secret…there’s something I’d like to ask of you.”

Alvin faces his father with seriousness. “Anything,” he replies.

Panel 3 - Closeup on Gerson, as he looks hopefully at Alvin. “You have a good heart, Alvin. I want you to know this joy, too.”

Panel 4 - Gerson continues in the next panel: “Please try writin’ stories of your own, alright?” Closeup on Alvin as he looks shocked and a bit worried by the request.

Panel 5 - Mid shot as Alvin holds up a hand to Gerson in protest. He says, “Father, I…I have no talent for writing fiction. Not like YOU.”

Panel 6 - Closeup on Gerson as he refutes his son: “Hogwash! I know you can.”

Panel 7 - Wide shot as Alvin stands up, and looks around the room. “No, I…”

In the foreground, there’s Gerson’s desk, currently showing some lit candles, some paper, an inkwell, a notebook, and his favorite fountain pen.

Page 5

Panel 1 - Closeup as Alvin grabs two objects off of the desk: the small notebook and the fountain pen. Offscreen, he says, “If you just…”

Panel 2 - Back at Gerson’s bedside, Alvin pulls up the footstool and puts the pen and notebook in front of him, intending to use it. He faces his father, and says, “Tell me your ideas, I could write them down, and–”

Gerson interrupts him: “‘Fraid it doesn’t work that way, Alvin!”

Panel 3 - Gerson holds up both of his hands and smiles as he explains: “My tales are between my soul and the pen. You’ll need to make your own.”

Panel 4 - Gerson watches as Alvin, tears in his eyes, looks down at the notebook and pen in hand. “I–I cannot…” Alvin starts, looking despondent.

Panel 5 - Side view of Alvin as tears continue to stream from his eyes. He says, “Not without you!” In the background, in grayscale, there is a scene from Alvin’s memory: Gerson reading a book to his two children by the fire. Gerson looks happy, and both kids are enraptured, with Alvin clinging to a cat doll that looks like Seam.

Panel 6 - Closeup on Gerson, his face now more worried and pleading towards Alvin. Gerson says, “Y-you can… It’s all I ask…”

Panel 7 - Gerson turns away as he’s again interrupted by a round of terrible sounding coughs. Alvin stands holding the notebook and pen in the foreground.

Page 6

Panel 1 - Horror comes over Alvin’s face as his father continues to cough loudly, clutching his chest. He realizes that his father might be close to death now.

Panel 2 - Wider overhead shot as Alvin turns away from Gerson, looking frantically around the room. “No! Not yet!--” he says desperately. Gerson is still racked with coughs.

Panel 3 - Closeup as Alvin grabs the candles from the desk–

Panel 4 - And then pulls a book from the bookshelf, with the delta rune on the front –

Panel 5 - And then finally pulls out what appears to be a beaded rosary, with the delta rune made of beads at the end of it.

Panel 6 - Wider shot as Alvin places the objects in front of him, candles to the side, holy book in front of him. Gerson can only lay there as he does so, trying to catch his breath.

Panel 7 - Front view of Alvin as he clasps his hands together in front of his face, the rosary threaded between his fingers. He closes his eyes and bows his head in prayer. “Angel…Angel above! Please, heed your servant’s prayer!”

Page 7

Panel 1 - Closeup on Alvin as he continues to pray, the candles glowing around him. He keeps his eyes shut even as tears well in them. “I know you call back my father’s soul, but please! Please refrain!”

Panel 2 - Gerson desperately reaches a hand out towards his son, shaking, but unable to reach him. In the foreground, the fountain pen sits on the footstool between them. “A-Alvin…” Gerson’s voice is shaky now.

Panel 3 - Aerial shot as Alvin prays over the book, and Gerson is still confined to the bed, only able to watch. “This world still NEEDS his gifts!” Alvin says. “I pray to you, don’t take them from us now!” The shadows around Alvin start to grow strange, not matching the candlelight.

Panel 4 - Gerson continues to hold out a hand, now not looking well. “No…”

Panel 5 - Closeup on the candles as they spark to life, now glowing stronger.

Panel 6 - A strange bright glow begins to emanate from Gerson. Behind him, the books in the bookcase all rattle and shift as if in a localized earthquake. The colors of the room grow brighter and stranger.

Panel 7 - Still reaching out a desperate hand, Gerson lets out a soft breath. His soul, an upside-down white heart, comes up from his body. On the footstool in the foreground, the fountain pen also begins to levitate, as if by magic.

Page 8

Panel 1 - Front shot of Alvin as he continues to pray desperately, his head bowed and hands together. “Grant us the love shown between his soul and the pen!” Behind him, the colors have grown stark and bright, and a shadow resembling the angel looms behind Alvin.

Panel 2 - Alvin looks up to discover something amazing and terrible: Gerson’s soul has been drawn to the fountain pen, and begins to flow down into it.

Panel 3 - Closeup as Gerson’s soul is completely absorbed into the pen, hovering high over the bed.

Panel 4 - The candles turn strange blue and pink colors, and the books in the bookcase shake and rattle relentlessly.

Panel 5 - Extreme closeup on Alvin’s eyes as he sees this miracle; the light of his father’s soul reflected in his eyes.

Panel 6 - Closeup as the pen suddenly drops, and clatters back on to the footstool.

Panel 7 - Wide aerial shot as the room very suddenly goes completely dark and silent, the bright colors and lights now gone. Alvin stands up and backs away from the bed, still clutching the rosary, his face filled with horror. Gerson now lies unmoving in his bed, having passed away.

Page 9

Panel 1 - The same shot as the first panel of the first page, with the other monsters waiting in the hallway. No one says anything as Alvin emerges from the bedroom, leaning on the door for support, his head bowed. Everyone in the room knows that Gerson has just passed, although they don’t know the rest.

Panel 2 - An establishing shot of the forest and mountains surrounding Hometown…the skies are a dark, gloomy gray.

Panel 3 - Above shot of Gerson’s newly dug grave. At the bottom of a small pit lies Gerson’s hammer, covered in his dust. Politics Bear stands over the grave, holding a shovel. 

Panel 4 - Closeup as the shovel begins to dump dirt over the fresh grave.

Panel 5 - Another closeup of Gerson’s headstone, with bundles of fresh funerary flowers laid in front of it.

Panel 6 - Wide shot of Gerson’s funeral. Alvin stands over his father’s grave, reading last rites from one of his books. Lots of monsters are in attendance, including Alphys and Undyne, Napstablook, the Holiday and Dreemurr families, and more. A very young Kris, Noelle and Asriel are present, but Dess is not. Everyone is dressed in dark mourning attire.

Panel 7 - After the funeral, Toriel approaches Alvin and puts a hand on his shoulder. She says, “Beautifully said, Alvin. I know your father is watching proudly by the side of the Angel.” Alvin looks distant and mournful.

Panel 8 - A closeup of the fountain pen laying forgotten on the desk in Gerson’s room. Gerson is, perhaps, not actually with the Angel right now.

Panel 9 - Back at the funeral, Alvin bows his head, eyes closed. “You are too kind, Toriel,” he says.

Page 10

Panels 1-3 - We see the seasons pass through the changing of the trees…from the barren white trees of winter, to colorful pink blooms for spring, to the bright oranges and reds of fall.

Panel 4 - Sometime much later, Alvin again enters his father’s old room, alone.

Panel 5 - Much of Gerson’s room has remained untouched. The fountain pen still sits on his old writing desk in the foreground. Alvin steps inside, and carefully turns on the overhead light. “It’s been years,” he says.

Panel 6 - Alvin cautiously approaches the pen, which seems to loom large ahead of him. He hesitantly picks it up.

Panel 7 - Alvin places some blank pages on the writing desk. “Surely…”

Panel 8 - Alvin sits in front of the blank pages, still holding the pen cautiously. “Surely by now, I can do it.” He’s going to try writing.

Panel 9 - Closeup as Alvin dips the pen in the inkwell, and it comes away full of ink.

Panel 10 - Closeup as Alvin holds the pen over the blank page. The pen trembles slightly in his grip.

Panel 11 - Alvin tries to put pen to paper, but he’s still trembling. He looks down with great anxiety. “I…I…”

Panel 12 - Closeup on Alvin’s face as he looks more panicked, shaking and sweating. In the background, his memory of his father’s soul being absorbed into the pen plays back at him. This is still his fault.

Panel 13 - Closeup again as Alvin’s hand shakes uncontrollably, and the pen with it. Ink spots begin to dapple the blank page–

Page 11

Panel 1 - Alvin’s shaking hand accidentally knocks over the inkwell, and it spills black ink all over the blank page.

Panel 2 - Alvin picks up the ruined paper and folds it in half to try and stem the ink spillage. He quietly curses to himself. 

Panel 3 - Closeup as Alvin holds his head in his hand. It’s clear that this isn’t going to work. “I can’t…” 

Panel 4 - Closeup as Alvin puts the ink-stained paper back on the desk, and quickly grabs up the pen and inkwell.

Panel 5 - Taking the pen and inkwell, Alvin exits his father’s room again, head bowed and expression sad.

Panel 6 - Left behind, the folded paper slowly peels apart and unfolds…

Panel 7 - To reveal that the spilled ink has created a rorschach ink blot image of a titan. 

Page 12

Panel 1 - Wide shot as Alvin trudges down the streets of Hometown, alone. His head his bowed, and he’s still clutching the articles he took with him. It’s almost nighttime, and the sky is dark. “I cannot bear this kind of burden,” he says to himself.

Panel 2 - Shot from behind Alvin as he approaches the school building. It’s dark, and no students or teachers should be there. “Maybe you belong where you always have…”

Panel 3 - Now indoors, Alvin continues down the empty hallway towards a particular destination. “With the youth.”

Panel 4 - Alvin opens the door to the storage closet at the end of the hall. It opens with a soft creak. “Teaching. Telling stories,” Alvin continues to say to himself.

Panel 5 - Alvin places the fountain pen and inkwell on a small shelf in the storage closet. The closet is almost completely black. 

Panel 6 - The inkwell and pen are left on the shelf as Alvin closes the door behind him. His expression is mournful as he locks these reminders of his father away. “Inspiring someone better suited,” he says, hoping this is a suitable escape of his responsibility.

Page 13

Panel 1 - But in the storage closet, the objects are subject to something else already there: the grand Dark Fountain. The pen, ink and papers all fall into the darkness of the fountain–

Panel 2 - And start to change, the pen seemingly turning into liquid itself–

Panel 3 - As the pen falls deeper and deeper into the dark, the liquid begins to reshape into something new, something resembling a person–

Panel 4 - Until it lands on empty ground, now a person in knight’s armor, knelt over and holding his head in his hands.

Panel 5 - The Knight comes to, and starts to become more aware. He’s dressed in armor resembling the dark metallic sheen of the fountain pen, his mask resembling the pen tip. A bright deep red cape flows from his shoulders, and a single red-orange feather tops the helmet. “Where…am I?”

Panel 6 - The Knight again touches his helmet with both hands, as if not sure exactly what he is.

Panel 7 - Interior shot of the helmet, which reveals a figure much like Gerson…but much younger, more idealized-looking, with colors not matching his actual self. A Dark World interpretation. “WHY am I…?”

Panel 8 - A closeup of the Knight’s hand, slightly trembling.

Panel 9 - The Knight stares down at his own hands as realization begins to flood him, or at least something that looks like realization. “Wait. I see why. I KNOW.” he says.

 Page 14

Panel 1 - The Knight holds up his hand, and a sword appears in it in a flash of lights. The sword resembles the tip of a fountain pen, almost split neatly in two. “I serve the Lightners! That is my purpose!” Says the Knight. 

Panel 2 - The Knight draws the sword back with great fervor and determination. His thoughts echo around him in strong letters: “A purpose so bright, so clear…”

Panel 3 - In the final panel, the Knight drives the sword into the ground, causing an eruption of black ink-like material to spew from the ground…the creation of a new Dark Fountain. In the fountain itself, words reflect his purpose: “I EXIST TO GIVE THEM STORIES FOREVER.”

[akanemnon]

Not sure if Leslo being the Ex-Ruler is also slightly meant to parallel UT Asgore (& formerly Toriel) ruling the underground, but I do like the detail here of;

• Leslo is the wedding ring and used to be the ruler. -- Asgore used to be in control of his own life when he used to be married to Toriel.

• The Priestess being the eviction letter & taking over. -- someone else (Mayor Holiday) taking away that control of Asgores own life.

Asgore has someone else telling him to get out, which is massively out of his control. Leslo was dethroned and sent (+ locked) away, likely out of his own control too.

Leslo calling Toriel "Love", just like how Asgore is very much still in love with her and will slip into old habits and nicknames. It just feels as if Leslo does it much more purposely and with more confidence.

You are right on track with a lot of these points here, anon! But a few of them need a little tweaking...

- Lesslo is Asgore's wedding ring. He was the previous ruler of the Evergreen Empire when Asgore was still married to Toriel. His life was filled with love and control.

- Asgore and Toriel get divorced. Asgore loses control of his life and clings to what he lost. Lesslo goes crazy as he loses all meaning of his self. The kingdom falls into ruin under this rule / Asgore's store falls onto hard times because he's losing sight of what's important.

- Mayor Holiday sends the warning letter about Asgore's foreclosure. Tells him to get his shit together. The Priestress takes over and banishes Lesslo to get some semblance of order in this Dark World and fix it.

[haveyouseenthisskeleton]

Exhausted, Papyrus fell on his knees in the dust. It was covering everything in the room, from the floor to the ceiling. The main door was gone, like most of the windows. Thankfully, no monster tried to enter the balcony, too high. Papyrus crawled to pick up the door, still in one piece by some miracle, and put it in its place. The hinges were gone with a part of the wall, but he forced it to hold by nailing it with some planks that held the windows closed and was now on the floor.

He picked up his phone, hidden deep in his armor. His hands were still shaking with the adrenaline. Sans left about twenty messages, asking if he was fine, then warning him Frisk was gone, then asking him again if he was alright, more and more distressed as the hours went by.

Papyrus simply sent: "Alive. Frisk here." before walking to the kitchen to make sure the child was fine. Several bullets ricocheted against the closet door, but it faced the brunt efficiently. He cleared the chairs out of the way and opened the door, maybe too brutally.

Frisk screamed out of terror and threw themselves in the back of the cabinet. They curled up on themselves, hands on the head, sobbing uncontrollably. They were shaking as well.

Papyrus flinched. He saw himself at five years old, in the same position, as Sans was screaming and fighting for their lives in the living room. This was not a world to grow up. No child should ever be born in this hellish place. Bitter, he felt his soul squeezed painfully. It was his fault. He should have brought the child back to the Ruins. Frisk shouldn't have assisted to any of this.

The skeleton kneeled at their level. He never had been really talented to comfort people.

"Frisk? It's over, they're gone. You can come out."

He leaned a hand towards the human. Frisk kicked it away and tried to get as far as they could from him in the closet. Papyrus tried to stay neutral, but his face betrayed for a few seconds how much it hurt him. He didn't want Frisk to be scared of him. Not after everything they went through to protect them.

The skeleton looked around for a second and noticed a hole in the closet door. Small, but enough for a child to witness everything that happened outside. Frisk saw him slaughter attackers and end monsters on the floor without mercy. Papyrus felt guilty. He gave the child some space and sat in front of the closet, unsure what to do.

No Weakness, Chapter 3.

_______________________________________

Hello, hello!

I commissioned this masterpiece to @seirindono, a French (yeah, team French!) illustrator who works on a multi AU universe called The Missing Scarf, which is a banger. Really cool comic with lots of great characters that you really want to read. Go read it!

I wasn't sure on which fic I wanted a drawing at first, but since we already got one for Horrortale: Rotten Apple (thanks again Zeragii, love you), why not No Weakness?

It's a post-pacific Underfell fic where instead of breaking the Barrier, Sans refused Frisk to fight Asgore and brought them back in safety to Toriel. Now Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Mettaton, Toriel and Sans are hiding the child away, trying not to get killed.

The story however is about Undyne and Papyrus' friendship. After Papyrus surprises Undyne kissing Asgore, he is promoted to general of the Royal Guard. Except Papyrus knows something is really wrong here, since that role was obviously supposed to Undyne's. But the more he tries to understand, the more people try to dissuade him from learning more. All the hints lead to Asgore, but how to reach the monarch without getting himself killed, and by extension, those he cares the most about? Between his duty and his friendship, Papyrus will have to make a choice.

I asked for one of my favorite parts ever, which is the moment Frisk realizes how things really work in Underfell, after witnessing Papyrus committing carnage right after he got promoted to General. It's tradition :D

Anyway, if you want to read the story, it's right here. I'm on summer break right now, but new chapters are coming soon!

Thanks again to Seirindono for their amazing work, I love it so much <3 Really great artist, don't hesitate to commission them! They're really nice and pays great attention to details. It was really cool collaborating with you <3

Go send them some love!

[insanelyadd]

Super glad the UT and DR wikis moved off of fandom, that place sucks. Now if only I could edit Papyrus' page. Then it would be perfect (or at least much better). But no, they want people who want to edit the pages to join a discord. Why can't I just email someone with my List of Grievances.

Which include but are not limited to:

HE IS NOT OBLIVIOUS IN THE NO MERCY ROUTE! HE IS *pulls out megaphone*

THE ONLY CHARACTER WHO POINTS OUT THAT THE HUMAN IS COVERED IN DUST!!!!!

The wiki page also calls him oblivious an additional two times. What if I bit people. What then. Who could truly stop me.

Aren't Wikis supposed to like. ATTEMPT. Writing about the subject with a neutral tone? What's this horseshit where the author is OBVIOUSLY implying "You might think he's smart but he likes KID STUFF! THAT MEANS HE'S A FUCKING IDIOT!!!" How about I hunt you for sport. How do you think every adult with toys from their childhood/toys they bought because they WANTED THEM feels reading this sentence that makes an unfounded assertion about this fictional character's intelligence based on something TOTALLY NORMAL.

*Wikipedia editor voice* [citation needed]

Okay so this is something that actually makes me SUPER angry. IT IS NOT STATED BY ANYONE, ANYWHERE, THAT PAPYRUS IS NOT PAID FOR HIS DUTIES AS A SENTRY. It is only stated that Sans pays all the rent. But what about electricity. Water. Cable. Internet. Food. Puzzle maintenance supplies. PAPYRUS STRAIGHT UP SAYS HE PAYS TAXES (the Snowdin Snowball Tax). As someone who is an Expert at being unemployed (I am disabled) YOU DO NOT PAY TAXES UNLESS YOU HAVE A JOB THAT PAYS YOU.

THIS MEANS HE HAS AN INCOME TAX. WHICH MEANS HE HAS INCOME.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Papyrus is BASICALLY the MAYOR OF SNOWDIN. UNDYNE IS HIS FRIEND!!! She's his boss too, so don't you think she would feel LIKE SHIT IF SHE DIDN'T PAY HIM TO MAINTAIN AND BUILD ALL THOSE PUZZLES? FOR HIS DAILY PATROLS? HIS REPORTS? Politics bear refers to Papyrus talking to Undyne as "politics".

And it all comes back to this ridiculous double standard people have for Sans and Papyrus where they assert Sans' Sentry work is paid (even though Undyne admits he does only just enough to not be fired), but Papyrus' isn't. Sans is a Darkner but Papyrus Isn't. Sans is secretly a Human but Papyrus Isn't. Sans is a Boss Monster (like Asgore and Toriel) but Papyrus Isn't. HELL SOME PEOPLE BELIEVE SANS IS IN THE ROYAL GUARD AND PAPYRUS ISN'T AND THAT'S HOW THEY JUSTIFY THINKING SANS IS PAID AND PAPYRUS IS NOT.

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT.

Anyways this post was incited by me checking the new wiki and seeing that not a single thing that bothered me about Papyrus' page from the old one has been edited. And the last time I checked it was August 30th 2021. Here's the post I made then, with screenshots I took on March 29th 2020. Yeah. The exact same biased writing for over 5 years. Maybe longer. I don't know when they were originally written.

[zarla-s]

Something I've been wondering - if I recall correctly, the brothers were aging Gaster before his fall, since a boss monster having children mean they give up their immortality.

In any of the Mercyplates, how'd he react to noticing he's aging? How'd he deal with it, no longer being immortal? How would the brothers deal with it? (And potentially even Asgore & Toriel if you're up for answering that too)

I've had this little exchange in my scripts file for ages and I never found a place to put it and also the more I thought about it the less sense it made BUT HERE IT IS ANYWAY (Gaster isn't signing on purpose)

Anyway, after he accepted that the things he'd made were actually monsters, he pretty quickly realized that he'd age as they grew, but considering he'd given up on everything except breaking the barrier at that point, he didn't really care. After getting to the surface, he still thinks about it without much emotion. On some level he'll always feel like being free isn't real and he'll wake up underground again at any moment. Dying of old age is just sort of an aspect of that.

Realizing he'll die before the goatparents is upsetting, but knowing that they're happy on the surface helps with that. He'd rather die before them than outlive them. On the whole he's very "guess i'll die ¯\_(ツ)_/¯" about it all. Dying before the brothers also doesn't bother him too much since he's sure they'll be better off without him anyway. All the signs of aging like sore joints and slowness and tremors and bad memory etc are very annoying to him though lol.

Papyrus handles it VERY badly and freaks out at any hints of him aging, and man when Gaster dies, hoo boy. Sans is pretty conflicted about it. Alphys is devastated. Asgore and Toriel are sad, but they don't really know him like they did before, so it's not as intense as it would be otherwise. They're used to outliving people. They're much more upset in Mercyplates scenarios though. :< They're familiar with the prospect of death when having children, even though they don't know WHY Gaster chose this since they don't know what he was actually trying to do. They try to empathize with him about how hard it is to face death after immortality while he just doesn't really care which confuses them, haha. Also worries them a little...

Even with both of them drawing on his SOUL's magic, I imagine that Gaster will live long enough to be around for a while even in Mercyplates scenarios. Long enough for the human to show up and do their thing at least, and for a while on the surface as well. He's got some life in him still. And who knows, maybe being reconstituted from the void did something to him that froze his aging again! Have to ask yourself which scenario appeals most to you, hehe.

[index] [patreon]

[missholoska]

it's that time again ✨ from today until march 18th, you can send asks to the following characters: Chara, Frisk, Temmie, Asriel, Asgore, Toriel, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Happstablook and Napstabot!

IMPORTANT INFO:

asks for characters are accepted for as long as the title of my ask page reads "[ASK BLOG OPEN]" - if you see this in the future and it no longer says that, please don't send characters asks at that point!

I'm not expecting everyone to have read every single ask from the previous event, so don't feel like you have to look through them all first to see if a question was already asked 2 years ago. if I get any duplicates I can't give a new response to, I'll let you know :]

like last time, in-universe this'll be at least a year post-pacifist with the cast all on the surface.

shipping questions are allowed as long as they're sfw, and keep in mind the only canon ships here are Alphyne, Soriel and Asgorudy. for consistency I'll say the latter two still aren't official yet.

I won't answer any asks that misgender any characters - Chara, Frisk and Napstabot use they/them, Temmie uses they/them (and she/her as a false identity), and Happstablook uses he/him.

I will do my best to answer as many asks as possible, but if I can't answer something for any reason please don't take it personally! I'll add that I'm significantly busier irl than I was during the first event, so expect this to be a smaller scale event either way.

finally, if you're not interested in this feel free to mute the tag #8th anniversary ask blog event!

with all that said, I'll do my best to make this time fun too 💜

[mattdrawsalottathings]

Cleaned a drawer in my room and found more 2019 art lmao

Honestly, generic ahh undyne design lmao

Idk why i drew paps neck so weird there ngl

Frisk design too is kinda meh, and making a kid on drugs is insane. Wtf was 14 year old me doing ToT

Chara looks like a girl here, same with frisk. I'm glad I changed it to make them abit more androgynous

SANSBYS LMAOOO

Predicted my sansby animation 6 years in advance

Smh, doki doki ahh

Context: grillby confessed to him lmao

This sans design wouldve done numbers back in 2019 real

Also super edgy cause he gots all the souls with him and they speak to him

I forgot I made asriel king ngl, but it makes sense. If asgore and toriel dies, throne goes to him

Muffett :D

Still kinda super generic. I legit just gave them sloppy outfits and swirly eyes smh. I'm glad i changed the au from just drug addictions to overall addictions(which does include overworking, online addiction and anything ok the kind)

[arcsparkasriel]

Introducing Lofitale (part 1)

LOFITALE ASRIEL DREEMURR

My AU Lofitale is an idealistic Post Pacifist AU that adds in the Deltarune characters as little kids. How they actually were in Undertale! Susie and Noelle, according to the unreleased Alarm Clock app, were called Suzy and Noel. It also serves as a medium to advertise my streaming persona of Lofitale Asriel Dreemurr, who I Vtube as! It takes place on the Surface in the city you see at the end of the game, which I aptly named New Ebott City! Here, monsters and humans are learning to co-exist in harmony.

The main character of this story and who I play as on Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, and Tumblr. Prince Asriel Dreemurr! During the final confrontation, Frisk and Ralsei constructed a new soul for Asriel from small pieces of all seven human souls, including Frisk's own, to fill in what was left of his own fragmented soul. What resulted was retaining the adolescent form he attained in his Angel of Hyperdeath form. The resulting reunion with his family was long awaited and bittersweet. It took a long time and help from his extended family to get him through the darkness of his memories. Asriel developed something of a guilt complex and a short temper, but he's still the same golden child of goodness that he once was. Henow works three jobs to support his family in their lavish apartment in New Ebott City. One of them is a professional streamer from the comfort of his own room. Oftentimes, with his little brother Ralsei.

LOFITALE RALSEI DREEMURR

Ralsei, in Lofitale, is Asriel's first blood brother. Born in the Ruins eight months after Toriel first leaves Asgore. So he is also a prince in this world too. He's born with albinism which would explain his poor eyesight, pink eyes, pink horns, and pink claws. Ralsei was more reserved and shy than his brother before him. He would come to know each and every one of the six fallen humans who would ultimately be harvested and break his heart even further. Unbeknownst to him, his big brother was still alive, watching over him from the shadows as the soulless Flowey. When Frisk arrived, Ralsei developed a strong bond with him and stuck close throughout the whole journey through the Underground. He would come to finally meet his big brother Asriel, and to this day, they are inseparable. Ralsei is with Asriel every time he streams on Twitch.

LOFITALE SUZY DREEMURR

Suzy in Lofitale is an orphaned little girl who lost her parents to Alphys' original determination experiments. Unlike the later trst subjects who became amalgamates, her parents fell down on the spot. Forcing her to live alone for some time. Surviving off of whatever scraps she could find. Sometimes, resorting to stealing or eating inedible objects. Susie was malnourished and sickly when Frisk first met her in the passageways of Waterfall. Being the gutter rat she was, Suzy developed her own survival at any costs mindset. She was suspicious and hostile at first, but she quickly warmed up to Frisk and Ralsei. All three of them would form a bond stronger than they realized. Toriel would adopt her alongside Frisk when they all return to the surface. She currently goes to Seaside Elementary with her new brothers, Frisk and Ralsei.

LOFITALE FRISK DREEMURR

The Hero of the Underground. The Seventh Fallen Human. The Most Determined. You all know Frisk. You all know the story of the Undertale and Frisk's journey through the Underground. Frisk would be introduced to Ralsei when he first arrived in the Underground. Much like Asriel and Chara before them, Ralsei would bring Frisk to his mother. Unlike the other six fallen humans, something special about Frisk stood out to Ralsei. Ralsei would follow Frisk through the whole journey and learn about everything. In Waterfall, Frisk would meet the street urchin Suzy and develop a kinship with her. On the surface, after helping Asriel free monsterkind, Frisk is living his best life with his new family.

[tinybrainboy]

Hey there! First of all I love your drawings a lot! They're wonderful and cozy and very very cute! Second of all, don't care if you're french!! You seem like a Cool Dude!! (I love croissants!!) Ok, and now a little drawing ask thingy majigy... Would you perhaps draw Gaster interacting with Chara and Asriel? Before... The Bad Stuff happened. He could be explaining something sciencey to them, or the kids could be showing him some drawings/toys? Up to you!! Thank you for doing it if you do, love your comic, I'm a big fan and you're really cool!! Last thing I'm gonna say!!

First of all, thank you so much !! Your ask made me smile a lot when I read it the first time ! I'm so glad you're liking my drawings and my comic so much !

I really love your stopmotion animations as well and your really adorable puppets ! Really well made and super cute, please keep going ✨✨✨

_______________ Second of all, thank you for accepting my french nature, croissants are the best thing that came out of my country I agree xD

_______________ And for the request ! I wasn't sure if you wanted me to draw Aster from my comic Gaster's Return, or Gaster in general, but after a bit of reflexion I decided to draw Aster x) I can't tell too much about them, since Aster and those two are a big deal in his backstory, but I'll tell you as much as I can He was pretty close to Asriel, just as much that he was close to Asgore and Toriel. He would accept to take care of him when Asgore and Toriel are busy, and Asriel treated him as his weird adult friend (Little guy was lonely 💀)

Now for Chara, it's a bit more difficult... At the moment when the human fell in the Underground, Aster became more distant with the royal family in general, due to some disagreements. So they didn't interacted a lot, Aster took some BIG distances with them But, since you asked, here's some interactions between them

I hope you like those, thank you again for your kind ask ❤️

[patchwork-crow-writes]

No, actually, you get the Kralsei "incest" rant now, I've decided.

The ship being considered incest or incest-adjacent is largely a result of several assumptions that are being made about Ralsei, and to a lesser extent about Kris as well. For this to work, you have to assume the following:

Ralsei is modeled primarily on Asriel

All Boss Monsters of a certain age look identical to one another and are related to one another

Kris had absolutely no hand in Ralsei's creation

Kris is heavily uncomfortable with Ralsei's existence

The entire implied romantic undertones of Ralsei's feelings towards Kris were designed to be incestuous from the start

In order, I shall deconstruct and debunk these. Very long post below the read more, you have been warned.

While it is true that Ralsei does share some superficial similarities with Asriel, he's actually much, MUCH more similar to Kris in many ways. All he shares with Asriel is an anagrammed name and a passing likeness. They're not similar in terms of personality, and that goes regardless of which Asriel we're even talking about. Many people associate Ralsei with Undertale's incarnation of Asriel, who doesn't even exist in the same universe. Any similarities between the two are inferred entirely by the player, aided and abetted by the game making these subtle hints that they're "connected" in some way. Yeah, about as connected as Undertale is to Deltarune. To take this a step further, consider Kris and Frisk. No-one is conflating these two, not in a million years. And yet look, they share an anagrammed name and a passing likeness, so they're basically the same person, aren't they? I mean, we both control them through the SOUL, and they're both protagonists of games made by Toby Fox, so if anything they're more similar to each other than Ralsei is to Asriel. But of course, that's utterly absurd, and we all know it. *

I refer you once again to the humans. And before you tell me "they all obviously look different to each other" - and of course I'm not saying they're not different when they obviously are - consider how a monster might look at these humans if you placed them side-by-side. Pale-ish skin, brown hair, no obvious gender markers, similar height profiles. Any monster who's not intimately familiar with any of the humans in question might perhaps confuse them. And so it is with us and Boss Monsters. Just because Ralsei and Asriel share certain characteristics common to ALL boss monsters does not make them the same, or even similar, to each other. You only have to look at the sprites for the two side-by-side to see that there are plenty of differences between them. And as for Deltarune's Asriel? We haven't even seen this guy, we have NO idea what he looks like. We're just making assumptions again based on incomplete information. And if we assume that all boss monsters are related in some way due to how similar they might appear, then what does that make Toriel and Asgore, two boss monsters who have canonically produced offspring in both continuities? I don't need to say it, do I? *

It should be clarified here that I don't just mean Kris consciously made Ralsei at any point, either as an imaginary friend or monster-sona or what-have-you, but that Ralsei's creation as a darkner is somehow linked to how Kris saw themself/wished to be seen in their childhood. The most obvious piece of evidence supporting this is the horned headband that Toriel mentions at the end of Chapter 1. It's heavily implied that Kris would wear it so that they could be the same as their adoptive family, before they supposedly lost it somewhere down the line. It's not too much of a leap in logic to infer from this that Ralsei was created from that headband, at least in part. That said, there are certain aspects of Ralsei that don't exactly fit this neat mold, and I am willing to concede this point if it turns out that the headband thing is a massive misdirect. Nonetheless, I would say that the evidence we currently have to hand points more resolutely towards Ralsei being an aspect of Kris than of him being an aspect of Asriel. *

So I'm just going to say it: WE DON'T KNOW. Because Kris is our protagonist and POV character, it's incredibly easy to forget that we know next-to-nothing about the inner workings of their mind. They have no dialogue except what we tell them to say, and anything we CAN say about them is inferred from how other characters respond to their tone of voice. Of course, we can infer that Kris doesn't fully consider Ralsei a good friend based on his tea healing 60HP, but that on its own doesn't really tell us anything of much substance because you can't exactly cross-reference those numbers against a handy chart or anything - it's all context-dependent. We do at least know that they are comfortable enough around Ralsei to play the odd prank on him, which we know is something they used to do a lot of with Noelle and Asriel, two people they were close to growing up. They will, of their own volition, interpret our instruction to "take a bite" of Ralsei's dummy's clothes to make it look like they're kissing it on the cheek. I don't think that's something you would do with somebody who freaked you out on an existential level, or somebody who reminded you of your brother. Again, I am willing to concede this point should it turn out my interpretation of these clues is incorrect. *

Ask yourself this: What would Kralsei being incest - or incest-adjacent, or pseudo-incest, or whatever - contribute to the characters of Kris and Ralsei, to our relationship to them as players, or to the narrative or wider themes of Deltarune as a whole? I'll tell you - nothing whatsoever. The most such an interpretation can EVER say is that we as players are so easily manipulated by window-dressing and flattery that we will, knowingly or otherwise, romantically pair two characters together who are related in some way, shape or form. And let's say that this IS the intent behind their dynamic - all it amounts to, all it can ever amount to, is a great bit gotcha from Toby Fox himself. Haha, I tricked you into shipping two characters who are secretly related, isn't that fucked up of you? Somehow, I don't think that was his intention with this, it seems such a petty and small-minded thing for somebody who we know is capable of creating moving, thought-provoking, horrifying and beautiful stories. He's better than that. It turns the entire thing into a glorified skill-check: are YOU smart enough to identify that you're being encouraged to engage in incest-shipping, or are you a dumbass who only sees what's presented to you and doesn't ask questions about it? Contrary to popular belief, we're not all 5-D chess grandmasters, and shockingly not everybody is going to interpret the clues in this way. All it does is make people who DO earnestly ship Kralsei feel bad for something the game WAS ENCOURAGING THEM TO DO. Which would be fine if we were playing, say, Spec Ops: The Line, which is very much built around that conceit. And hey, if you wanna feel shitty about shipping two characters together in an extremely unhealthy and harmful manner, Snowgrave is right there. The difference here is that the weird route is A) completely optional, B) difficult if not impossible to accidentally trigger, C) completely derails the game's story and emotional beats, and D) doesn't rely on the shock value of surprise incest to carry it. Snowgrave actually has something INTERESTING to say about the nature of former friends, forced romance, a player's control over a protagonist and how people can be manipulated to do horrendous things by proxy. All the incest interpretation of Kralsei has to offer is that... it's incest, and you're a bit yucky for partaking in it. I'll wrap up this point by saying: incest is a very emotive topic and produces visceral emotional reactions in a lot of people. It's very clever that people have looked critically at Kralsei and observed the possibility, the interpretation, that this could be what's happening, but if the aim in doing so was to promote debate and analysis on the topic, I'm afraid it's only succeeded in doing the exact opposite, causing people to disengage from it entirely. And I strongly believe that's going to severely harm the state of discourse going into Deltarune's future chapters, because how are you going to talk about the game and what it's trying to say if you keep dodging a major part of it for fear of being thought of as pro-incest? It sucks if you're invested in the ship because no-one wants to discuss it, it sucks if you're NOT invested in the ship because it's not likely going to just evaporate come chapter 3, it sucks for everybody.

Now, having said all of that, I am not here to convince you that Kralsei is the truth and the life and what-have-you - you can read any of my other essays on the topic if you want to be preached to in that manner. You're valid and based for not liking Kralsei for any reason, and I wholeheartedly respect your opinion. All I'm trying to say here is that, calling it incest because "Ralsei is/looks like Asriel" or "Kris hates Ralsei" or whatever doesn't do anything for anyone. There are plenty of valid reasons not to like the ship, I just don't think that this is one of them.

Rant over, have a lovely day :D

[lynxgriffin]

Eldritchrune - Dreemurr of Jokes

1 | 2 | 3

Story Setup Eldritchrune Masterpost

Toriel stops by Sans' shop for some goods, and for some more cheery distractions! Unfortunately, all this time later, it's still too difficult to escape reminders of what's been done.

It was fun finally getting to do some stuff with Sans in this universe! The last part for this trio of scenes will be up sometime next week!

Alt text for these pages is under the read more:

Page 1 Panel 1: Interior shot of a small store, with displays of goods, loose plywood, sacks of things. Two circular woven hangings bracket the door through which Toriel enters, a heavyset woman in a polka-dotted dress with a basket over her arm. Sans watches her enter, though we see only the back of his head. 

Panel 2: Toriel enters the shop and we see more displays, mostly food. There are large potted trees as well, and the shop’s counter, draped in patterned cloth and decorated with candles. Toriel: “Well, hello again. I was wondering if you had-” Sans, a jovial, bearded man dressed in loose robes and always smiling, waves a hand and cuts her off. “Hold on, you hear that?”

Panel 3: “...Hear what?” Toriel asks, nonplussed. Up close, her face is soft but distressed.

Panel 4: Sans leans over his slightly messy counter, still grinning. “I HERB that you needed some more cinnamon cloves, and look what I have here!” He offers a handful of herbs. Up close, the cuffs on his robe sleeves are patterned with little bones.  

Panel 5: “Just what I needed! How did you guess?” Toriel exclaims, reaching out with a real smile to accept the herbs. She and Sans are framed by other mysterious shop wares- jars of things, open sacks, rolled-up mats. Things you might find in an open-air desert market. 

Page 2 Panel 1: Sans: “Was just thinking it’d been awhile since I saw you making the neighborhood rounds with some of those pies of yours… Figured you were planning to start this month’s soon!” Sans gestures up at Toriel in explanation. 

Panel 2: Toriel smirks, setting down a handful of coins.  “And perhaps hoping that I would stop by your place first with them?” Sans: “I pride myself on my forward thinking, y’know.” His grin is conspiratorial as he leans towards her and he taps his temple with one finger. 

Panel 3: Toriel, eyes sad despite her smile: “All right. How about this: Tell me a good joke, and you have my word you will have the first and freshest one.”

Panel 4: Sans: “Just a good joke?” He raises an eyebrow. 

Panel 5: Toriel clutches her chest- we don’t see her eyes. “I find myself in desperate need of levity these days.” 

Panel 6: Sans waves his hand as if to keep her from feeling like she need say more, scratching his chin in thought with the other.  “Sure, I got one…” 

Page 3 Panel 1: Sans, with the smug grin of someone about to tell a terrible pun: “Why was the empire soldier happy to get demoted to horse groomer?” Toriel, with her hand on her chin in thought: “I do not know, why?” 

Panel 2: Sans shrugs widely like the answer is obvious. “Because he finally had STABLE employment!” 

Panel 3: Toriel laughs in genuine delight, although maybe a little harder than expected. 

Panel 4: Toriel: “Thank you, I needed that.” She smiles a relieved little smile. Sans: “No problem. So hey, aside from the pie… Can I maybe get an invite to those little get-togethers I see some folks around here doing once a month?” He steeples his fingertips together. 

Panel 5: San’s dialogue continues: “I’m so curious as to what goes on then!” We only see Toriel, though, shocked and dismayed. She’s thinking of the Ritual gatherings- townspeople gathered in their robes and animal masks- reindeer, fish, but most centrally, the goat masks she and Asgore wear. 

Panel 6: Toriel: “Unless you are completely enraptured by tedious talk of planting schedules and building repairs, I believe I can sate your curiosity by saying you would find them quite boring.” She waves a hand in front of her, dismissing the thought- her expression is once again drawn and weary. 

Page 4 Panel 1: Toriel turns to leave, waving goodbye. “You should look forward to your well-earned pie more!” 

Panel 2: Sans gives her a slightly skeptical look. “Alright.” is all he says. 

Panel 3: As she leaves, Toriel looks down and sees for the first time a small statue set by the door, surrounded by candles- it’s not a merchandise display, more like an altar. The statue is a horned figure holding a bowl filled with greenery- an offering of some type. The figure is rounded like a sitting child, and simple, with closed eyes and little other detail. 

Panel 4: Toriel’s dialogue over a close up shot of the figure: “What an interesting little figure you have. It does not look like it is for sale, is it?” The little horned one has three toes and four fingers on its stubby little arms and legs, and a detail on its forehead that could be a suggestion of hair, or it could be a symbol. The pillar candles surrounding it have been burned enough to have long wax drips pooled around them. 

Panel 5: Sans: “Nah, that’s just a holdover from my home country. Supposed to help keep demons out of your space.” He seems uninterested in this bit of lore, but Toriel, still facing away, is wide-eyed and shaken.

Panel 6: Toriel whirls back to him, sweating. “I-Is that so?” 

Panel 7: Sans’s expression intensifies, eyebrows dropping dramatically. “Sure thing. You know what happens when demons get in your grain stores?” 

Page 5 Panel 1: “They’re OATsolutely RYE-ined!” Sans holds his hands wide, like he’s waiting for the rimshot effect. It’s almost like his shop counter and back wall are suddenly a stage. 

Panel 2: Toriel hides a giggle behind her hand, relieved. 

Panel 3: “Is that something you have had to deal with previously?” she asks, stepping a little closer in her interest. Sans makes a slight gesture of dismissal. “Nah, I don’t really go in for that sort of stuff, honestly.”

Panel 4: Sans: “My brother, though… He’s all in on charms and wards and that sort of thing.” He gestures up, as if to point to wherever it is in the town that his brother might be now. 

Panel 5: “Keeping customs from your home country, I suppose?” Toriel asks, drawn again into the shop and closer to Sans. “Something like that,” he responds, leaning forward on his counter. On the wall next to him, there’s another woven wall hanging like the ones over the door.  Toriel: “Do you have any customs that have a reverse effect?” 

Panel 6: Sans looks as skeptical as one can while constantly grinning. “You mean like, if you want demons in your house?” 

Page 6 Panel 1: Toriel puts a hand up in denial. “N-No, that would obviously be undesirable! I meant more… just out of curiosity about your home.” 

Panel 2: Sans stares up at her, for a beat of silence. 

Panel 3: “Maybe? Again, this stuff isn’t my thing.” He leans back in his chair with his hands behind his head, nonchalant as can be. “And anyways, we left our country for a reason. Old customs aren’t relevant in this town, y’know?” 

Panel 4: Toriel once again turns to go, with a rueful smile. “Maybe not… but I cannot imagine letting go of your entire history.”

Panel 5: Sans shrugs and looks away. “There’s worse things to let go of, honestly.” 

Panel 6: Toriel, gritting her teeth, thinks of a happier time tucking Kris into bed. 

Panel 7: Close on Toriel’s expression, now more haggard and pained than it was when she came in. She clutches her chest tight.