#but they needed something to cope; and Undertale was that for them until they were able to get professional help and relied on the game less

[dreamerchildunofficial]

Frisk, opinions on us. The players.

* ...

* I... um...

* ...

* I really like you, Razoolio. You've always been kind and have helped to change the way I think about the Players and everything a lot.

* And I guess I like interacting with all of you who stay on anon too most of the time. Besides that one... incident, you have all been really helpful even if I can't tell if you're being that way because you're interested in "my story" more than you care about me as a person. I've always figured the former, but... it's an improvement than what I thought I was dealing with before.

* ...

* I still really hate the Player who played me. I don't know if I'll ever know who they are or get to meet them, but I simultaneously have daydreamed about yelling at them and telling them off and am too terrified of the prospect of coming face to face with them.

* And as for the concept of Players in general...

* I... am more comfortable I think with the idea that you are all people too like me, and some of you aren't so bad. I am still very deeply afraid of the kind of power you all can hold over me though.

[pyrefell]

Helllo!!! I’m loving your headcanons so far!!!

Do you have any general personalities descriptions for your boys yet?

a of all, bsdaifjkbfjkowp thank you!!! b of all, im sorry this took so long?? i rewrote it like 3 times & it still might change bc im indecisive. also it turned into a lil bit of a headcanon post. i hope its understandable?

once again i am struck with the fact that the boys need nicknames. hmm.

UNDERTALE:

Sans: Guy who is deliberately and unabashedly Cringe. Overall, fairly laid back. However, he still prefers to maintain distance between himself and most people. It was already a natural facet of his personality but it was exacerbated by the Timeline Jank. People tend to forget he’s as smart as he is, they don’t think he’s stupid, they just mostly know that funnyman side of him. If you're a dick to Papyrus, he's gonna be a dick to you.  

Papyrus: Things are so exciting and fascinating to him, even the most mundane things. Despite seeming completely oblivious to things that seem completely obvious, he's very smart and deceptively cunning. Even though he knows how people see him (a big loud child) and he doesn't get quite the reception his brother does, he knows he'll win them over one day! He tries to avoid thinking about how lonely he actually is. It’s fine. He knows Sans is dealing with something (he won’t tell him what) but he figures he doesn’t need much else on his plate.

UNDERSWAP:

Sans: In this post, I mentioned that he's kind of always naturally been the more outgoing brother and that he's taken on this much more outgoing and bubbly persona as a result of the impact the timelines have had on him. He's competitive in a more aggressive way (maybe not quite the right word to use but), by which I mean he's kind of a sore loser sometimes. Also? He's a huge flirt, he's pretty skilled in the art of flustering.

Papyrus: Also in this post, I said that he's pretty chill until the conversation turns to something he's passionate about, then he reaches True Papyrus Volume Levels (and Chaos Levels). He is fairly relaxed, yes, but part of it is compensating for how awkward he can be. He gets embarrassed really easy, even something as small as misunderstanding something that was said. However! He’s a pretty popular artist online! Though he uses a pseudonym, being recognized and talked to by a stranger in public is not something he would look forward to.

UNDERFELL:

Sans: He’s cruel and crude, that’s kind of his whole thing. He’s not really the best at keeping a hold on his temper (though there’s a few other factors at play there). Keeping up the whole tough guy persona is the number one priority thus he doesn’t deal much with his emotions or inner turmoil or any of that other crap. Like US!Sans, he’s a flirt, except his flirting is mostly crude comments and jokes. And yet, somehow it works? Guy who is a disaster. He’s oddly nostalgic, mostly about his relationship with Papyrus. He wishes he could have been a better brother, but it seems like their relationship is too far gone.

Papyrus: He also doesn’t have the best control of his temper but he has an image to keep, one of a cruel and cold Royal Guard Captain. He didn’t used to be like this, but it’s necessary for his survival. He’s still surprisingly empathetic, something that could never really be beat out of him. HUGE perfectionist nearly to the point of it being debilitating. He oscillates between hating how weak he is and desperately wanting to be able to be weak. While he acts prideful about his ‘work’ int the Royal Guard, he is genuinely prideful about things like his cooking. Often to the point of arrogance.

SWAPFELL:

Sans: He’s seen as very cold and calculating, well-spoken. But he also knows when and how to turn on the charm. That’s how he’s even made it this far in life, it’s vital to his survival. He can also be very prideful, particularly in his position as Queen Toriel’s right hand and in his ability to remain cool in high stress situations. He’s well aware of how overprotective he is with Papyrus, he’s terrified of how cruel the world is and terrified that he’s stunted him to the point of not being able to cope with it.

Papyrus: He’s deathly shy. If it were safe/a good idea to use his own brand of shortcuts to get out of situations, by god would he. He, like his non-Fell counterpart, thrives in the relative anonymity of being online. Past that barrier of shyness, he’s excitable and surprisingly jovial. He tries to find some reason to be at least content, he thinks it helps Sans worry less (even if it doesn’t really). He’s actually pretty mischievous, though only dares to pull pranks on his brother.

HORRORTALE:

Sans: Horribly cynical and jaded. He’s working on it, even if he doesn’t particularly want to sometimes. He’s not home, so to speak, most of the time. He’s easily frustrated by the gaps in his memory, then he forgets why he’s frustrated and gets even more upset. He’s naturally very wary of everyone else and again, very much prefers to keep distance between himself and most everyone he comes into contact with.

Papyrus: He definitely tries to hide everything behind a happy demeanor, he tries to fix everything for just about anyone (especially his brother) without any fuss and tries to make it seem like he’s totally fine. There’s also this sense of jadedness, he tries to curb it but sometimes it still slips out. He still tries to act like himself, like he’d been before the Famine, but it’s exhausting and he’ll eventually come to terms with the fact that he’s no longer the same.

HORRORSWAP:

Sans: His competitive nature has morphed more into him being more of an aggressive hothead (though not quite to the level of UF!Sans). He’s really self-conscious about his new stutter and bringing it up frustrates him the same way treating him like a child had before. He has terrible mood swings, he can ruin his own day over nothing and it kills him. He’s really trying to get better, but he still has a hard time being honest with people.

Papyrus: He’s gotten pretty cynical since the Famine, he puts part of the blame on himself (if only he'd just been brave for once), even though he knows there's not really a whole lot he could have done. He’s even quieter than he used to be, he’d prefer if he could just fade into the background. He hates how much he stands out in any crowd and tries to avoid going out at all costs. The only one who can get him out is Sans because at least they can ignore everyone else and concern themselves with each other.

HORRORFELL:

Sans: He’s...mean. Like. He tends to be a major jackass. He can’t help but think well, humans aren’t exactly gonna wanna know a monster, much less him. And hey! Might just help keep his newly expanded family safe! He ain’t complainin’! He’s really just bitter about how things have gone for him and his brother (and about how things will likely go in the future). For as many dark jokes he makes to Frisk and Aliza, he’d be the first one to come to their rescue, he’s just that kind of friend.

Papyrus: He’s fairly quiet these days, but don’t think he’s not going to find some way to give you some kind of attitude. He’s been putting a lot of work into taming his anger, which is no small task considering everything. He still has his moments, but he prides himself in being able to cool off and keep himself somewhat calm. He still hasn’t been able to do much about his perfectionism, in fact it’s gotten worse, but he’s trying. And he, like his brother, is extremely protective of his little family, and god help anyone who dares try anything.

A B-Bonus????

UF!Comic Papyrus: (he’s the only one with a nickname...lol) Reggie here struggles a lot with who he is as a person, is he more Sans? More Papyrus? An even 50/50? Or is he someone else entirely? He’s introspective and hyper aware of his mannerisms, particularity in the ones he deems too Sans-like or too Papyrus-like. He’s not exactly the nicest, partially as a mechanism to keep people away (it’s just...easier that way). Reggie keeps to himself most of the time. He’s not shy though, he’s more than willing to speak his mind, even if it comes out more crass than it was intended.

[quackthulu]

Ramblings on Tubbo’s lore stream because AAAAAAAA

Black starting soon screen and animatic song means it’s about to go down

Tubbo’s game crashes which is not the last instance of god trying to stop Tubbo from doing lore

You can tell Ranboo helped because Tubbo plays undertale music throughout the stream

One of the few qualms I had about the lore stream Tubbo did at the beginning of march was that the music didn’t fit the mood a lot of the time so this is already a sign of Tubbo improving his (already great) lore

“It is no longer safe on the smp” we are going in swinging apparently and now c!Tubbo no longer feels safe even in Snowchester a place he created after doomsday for a sense of security

“You might think it’s pretty safe” for as long as I have been watching there has not been a single time were I had the thought ‘this server seems safe’ 

He thinks that it isn’t safe because people can come back from the dead which is interesting because you would think that makes things safer, if something terrible happens it can be undone, this is a very interesting insight into c!Tubbo

He’s worried that Dream will come for him because of the armour which is fair but also the whole trying to murdder him during the disc war finale is probably a sign too

He believes Tommy that Dream is going to escape prison

THE NUKES MAKE THEIR LONG AWAITED RETURN

God I love the nukes just because of how ridiculous it is if you step back and think about it

“But now, times are changing” roll credits boys

Tubbo plays the Ranboo Angst Song™

I don’t think it was mentioned the keycards were biometric until now which means Tubbo cannonicly invented biometrics and this is why I love the nukes

c!Tubbo says Jack hasn’t left his house in months which establishes a timeline which means I am deaf now because FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE DO NOT MENTION TIMEFRAMES IT MAKES EVERYTHING SO MUCH MORE GOD DAMN CONFUSING

Chat spamming CUMMER during this serious lore stream is so funny to me for some reason

Jack’s mic is scuffed which is instance number 2 of God trying to stop Tubbo lore

“It makes no sense if there is a warning to ignore the warning”

c!Tubbo is worried about Technobade attacking Snowchester 

He thinks Dream has a man on the outside and I don’t want to make any assumptions but *coughs* It’s probably his husband *coughs* 

To be fair that could just be a red herring but also there is so much evidence that points towards him

“I have a son now” “oh yeah that little pig thing, Richard”

“My eyes play tricks on me constantly” hey remember when Tommy came back and c!Tubbo asked him to pinch him because he couldn’t believe he was real yeah…

Now Tubbo’s mic is scuffed but not even god can stop the power of Tubbo lore no matter how hard he tries

‘Is it morally ok to have the power of nuclear weapons?’ is not a question I expected to be brought up by this minecraft roleplay but honestly I should have

“He’s in prison but he still holds all the power”

c!Tubbo doesn’t want to have nuclear weapons close to his home because he has a child but he was ok with it before and can someone please get this kid some therapy my god that is concerning

The power goes out in Tubbo’s house because the nukes are just that powerful

c!Tubbo says Technoblade ransacked the place which isn’t necessarily true because, and everyone say it with me everyone is an unreliable narrator

The timing of the song stops as Tubbo says “we have nukes” and then ‘sans.’ playing is impeccable

“Dreamcatchers rely on the fact that the dreams don’t know they’re there is a banger line

Tubbo’s power keeps interrupting lore 

The Snowdin music is absolutely perfect for Snowchester 

“There’s a big cobblestone pillar here I’d rather not-” OUCH december 16th anyone

Dogsong during serious lore is very funny

c!Tubbo is willing to get in trouble for nuking the prison and I am once again asking for c!Tubbo to value his life more

Nuking L’manburg to add to the aesthetic 

They better not accidentally pull a chernobyl

c!Tubbo trusts Ranboo so much and I know it will backfire eventually but please

Soon™ 

The Cummer is cannon in the Dream smp

A nuke is gone so that’s fun

c!Tubbo put a manual detonation switch on each of the bombs making them suicide bombs but he was the only one who knew about them and i need you guys to think about the implications

How have 2 separate people who live in Snowchester become detectives in relation to Tommy’s death like why is that the popular coping mechanism

c!Tubbo sounds like he is on the verge of a breakdown because oh god someone has a bomb which is valid

The acting is top notch

Not c!Tubbo asking if he’s allowed to feel paranoid 

If I had to describe c!Tubbo in one word it would be denial

WE GOT BLACK SCREENED

‘NGAHHH!!’ is a very good song choice

God this was a good lore stream i’m so excited that Tubbo is doing more lore because his character is just so interesting 

Please send me asks about this I have so many feelings which is evident because this is over 900 words long

[yougainedlove]

Hey, good to see you're still going mun! Uh-- I've been having a rough year last year, what with losing my great-grandmother close to Thanksgiving, not to mention being homesick due to having to come up to a different state to live with my mom. So.. do you think I could get some angst comfort blips involving ADT Asriel and any of the 3 humans of your choosing being a source of reassurance?

aaaaa honey, I’m so sorry you’re dealing with all this stuff. it’s been a rough year for everyone in different ways and you have my sympathies for everything you’re going through!

unless I’m mistaken there aren’t many humans we see in either Undertale OR Deltarune, soooo I just went with the KFC gang because they don’t get enough love anyway~

I hope this is able to bring you a little bit of comfort, button! always feel free to request more comfort stuff if you’d like, I’m happy to write things like this for you guys <3

ASRIEL

“It’s… been one rough thing after another… huh? Golly…” he murmurs as he holds you close. It’s hard… it’s still hard to be close to people like this. To know what to do and say. He still feels like he lost a lot of time.

But he knows what he’d want after life keeps dealing blows that would try to knock him down. Will that work ― to treat you how he might like to be treated if your positions were reversed? He hopes…

… So he strokes your hair. Nuzzles his nose against yours. And he gives you an encouraging smile.

“I know it’s a lot to take. You’re doing a great job, and you’re so strong, and… and if you feel like… you don’t want to be strong for a minute… like ― like you want to cry and scream and break down for a minute…”

He holds you as tight as he dares, guiding your face right to his shoulder. It’s symbolic, maybe a little on the nose; he’s kind of a master of saying something without saying it. “That’s what I’m here for, you know? So it’s okay if you want to… let it all out. I’m here. You’re never going to be dealing with all of this alone.”

God, he just loves you with all of his heart and it’s overwhelming. As much as he doesn’t like seeing you in pain, it’s unfortunately a part of life. However, just like every other part of life, he’s going to be right by your side through it.

CHARA

They hesitate whenever they know you’re upset. They look at you and seem to be holding themselves back, preventing themselves from taking another step toward you even though they desperately want to help.

It hurts them to see you hurting. They already spend their days angry about the rest of mankind, and now more anger is added to that… they’re just pissed that things lined up in a way that allowed so much to happen to you at once. It’s like life decided to start use you as a punching bag and they hate it.

Their hands are shaking when they finally pull you into a hug. It’s so out of character, so unlike them to suddenly make a big move like this. They hold you entirely too tightly, violently hoping that it makes you feel secure.

“Life is shitty,” they huff, interspersed with a giggle. No matter how much they try not to laugh when you’re hurting… coping mechanisms are hard to shake. “It… hahaha… it sucks that it shit so much on you. This is…”

God. They care about you so much, and it feels like they’re making things worse. They’re good at being blunt, though. “It isn’t okay. What’s happening. You should be sad and angry.”

When they kiss your temple and smile, it’s a genuine act of love. “It… is not okay. But it will be. Eventually. And until it is… you have me.”

They think they’re not good at this. You beg to differ.

FRISK

“I’m… I’m sorry. You’re really hurting… aren’t you?” The sorrow seems to just fill them up ― like your pain is theirs. Just thinking about everything you’ve been through recently has tears forming at the edges of their eyes.

They’re much too empathetic for their own good, but that doesn’t matter right now. They’ll be okay, and they’d rather focus on you because they know you need them. More importantly, they’re happy to provide whatever comfort they can.

Practically in an instant you’re engulfed in a gentle, loving hug. They wrap themselves around you as much as they’re able to with their small, delicate stature.

The gesture is, predictably, accompanied by a veritable swarm of kisses. They start at the top of your head, working their way down your cheeks, getting your lips along the way. “I’m here, I’m here,” they repeat. As if they’re afraid they haven’t shown you enough that you’re not alone.

Their petite hand makes a loose fist against your leg, then their fingers fan out over your thigh in a soft show of affection.

“I love you… and you’re not going to be alone… alright? Everything hurts a lot… and… and that’s okay. Hurting is okay.” They kiss you again, and slowly pull you down to lie with them. It’s the easiest way to cuddle without them needing to sit on your lap.

They silently encourage you to position yourself however you like, and to cry if you want. You’ve been so strong for a long time, they know, that you deserve to put all this heavy stuff down and not have to be strong anymore. It’s okay. They’ll be strong for you.

“It’s okay,” they hum against your lips after another kiss. “Just let me take care of you.”

KRIS

So much has happened in such a short time… they know how it feels. Yet, the thought of trying to comfort you makes them anxious. They’re… not… good at that. The words never come to them, and their gestures are ― clumsy, is the right word?

But dammit, they love you. And you look like you’re drowning and if nobody else is going to pull you out of the water, then they have to. They want to. They just… hope they don’t screw things up even more.

“… Sorry… been so hard lately. I…” Their throat tightens when they look at your face. Even if you’re not crying, they can see the cracks in your strength threatening to break you apart. “… I hope you know… I’m here. Y… you know?”

Was this always so hard? They don’t remember it being this hard when they were comforting Asriel during childhood. Then again, things are different now. The things you’re dealing with are… grown-up things. Heavier than a missing toy or being denied dessert as punishment.

They take your hand. This is one of the few ways they know to help that doesn’t require any words. Because they seem to always trip over words.

And they do that thing… the thumb rubbing thing. Where they stroke their thumb over your hand to silently remind you that they’re here if you need them. They want to be here for you, to take care of you, even if things are hard right now.

Gradually, they add things. They scoot a little closer. They guide you into a hug, or maybe you’re guiding them, but you end up in each other’s arms. They kiss your head and just hold you. They might not be able to always get the words right; they can do this much, though.

“You’ve got me,” they say, when they don’t know what else to say. “Whatever you need… just… just tell me.” And when you nestle into them, they offer a low, soothing chuckle. “… There we go.”

[jamestrmtx]

Fairytale Complex - [Undertale | Sans x Reader]

[Gender Neutral, Frisk's Parent Reader | Slow Burn]

Chapter Nine | Dating Tense! (Part 1 of 3)

[First] | [Previous] | [Next]

Alternate Title: 'Hey, (mami/papi)' or 'Sans acts like a Latin American f*ckboy'.

• • •

Week two into clearing out the air between you and Frisk's monster friends arrives much faster than you would like.

With all the pent-up frustration you'd let out during the first half of your tour and how you ended up postponing the other half prematurely precisely due to that, you don't really want to visit Toriel's home anymore. Even if she did invite you over for a chat at her place back when you were still at the hospital, and even if you did tell her you would set up a date with her soon, you assume she's already long forgotten about that promise, and the mere thought of asking her where she lives now that she's moved on from an apartment to a house is far too much for you.

Are you available today?

I would like to fulfill what I promised you at the hospital, if so.

If not, do let me know when you are free.

Here is the new address.

>> Attachment - 1 image

If you are not certain over how to make it here, I can gladly pick you up during your lunch break, or after you have clocked out of work.

Or I can ask another person to help you get there.

Just make sure you do not eat anything before visiting, so I can prepare either lunch or dinner for you and everyone else here, depending on when you arrive.

Take care. ]:)

But, of course -- and as fate would have it -- she'd sent you a string of messages first thing in the morning today.

She'd even sent you a picture with her new address, detailed to such a point where you really wish -- now that you see who the person is -- you hadn't agreed with her on having someone help you find her new home.

"Jump in," Sans says, opening the front passenger door of what you can only assume is Papyrus's car based on the stories Frisk told you about him. "We'll make it there in less than an hour -- just in time for you to make it back to work later."

Between Toriel's sudden message, what happened back at Waterfall, the cloudy weather rushing you to make a decision, and just who's the person the goat lady's entrusted to help you out, it's almost impossible for you not to stress any more than you have already.

You're still too worked up over what was revealed to you at Waterfall, and you still can't shake off the extreme caution you've now built around the same person meant to keep you safe in the first place, as far as having to remind yourself not to be as on-edge as you'd been the time he tried to console you when you started tearing up back at the Ruins.

That reminder makes you look at the monster again, though without a friendly tone or look present, mind once again fueled by your urgent need to put up a front around him.

"What makes you think I'll hitch a ride from you now of all times?" you ask, remaining in place. "And with questionable music, to top it all off."

While you're usually not one to make shallow judgements based on personal taste, you can't ignore how obvious he's being with you right now. There's a bell of warning ringing at the back of your head with the low rumble and suggestive beat of the song playing on the radio, and his beyond relaxed driving pose. Only one hand's on the wheel, and the other's hung over the open window. He's either pretending, or he's for real about his attitude, something hard to tell after ending your tour with him at the Underground.

"C'mon, pal. We know our names, met a whole month ago, and you know some of my past to more detail now, don't ya? I'd say we're still acquaintances, at the very least."

"I'm afraid I'll still have to refuse." You cross your arms and point with your gaze at the minivan parked not far behind him. "I've got my own car to drive in. I can follow behind you."

The skeleton's gaze follows yours, and his grin almost stretches when he gets a good look at where you're pointing at. "A minivan?" His irises light up and he snickers, a rumble similar to the song's leaving him. "You really are a parent at heart, huh?" His irises move on back to you, and you further shield yourself with the cross of your arms when you see he's now eyeing you up and down, a different light flaring in his gaze. "Don't think I've said this before, but you've got the looks of one, too." He winks. "And this's probably a bit off-topic and a whole lot personal, but... Has Frisk told you why they ran away yet, or are they still keepin' quiet about it? Jerry aside, you sound n' act like a good parent, as far as I've gotten to know you."

Sans hits another weak spot, one you try to mask by showing anger on your face, using the excuse of him having checked you out. "I doubt I should answer that to a guy who's just looked me up and down." You form a scowl, persisting. "You really have no shame left in you anymore, do you? If you hadn't been so honest with me at the hospital, I would've assumed you've got experience trying to woo people over -- even if you're not that good at it, in reality."

He grins and later shrugs; the arm hung over the window slips back inside the car and lowers the volume some. "Well, what can I say, pal? Ya don't wanna be acquaintances, ya don't wanna be friends, and you're set on me being your enemy ever since the tour. The only thing I've got left's to try flirtin' with you."

"You really don't." You huff and let your arms fall back to their rightful place, self-consciousness showing when you see his irises follow your movements. "Are you that intent on pissing me off from now on? Stop staring at me like that."

"If I stop, will ya try to listen? I just wanna help you and your kid out."

Humour vanishes from his skull; the serious note to his words is then augmented when he makes eye contact with you, music now low enough not to distract you anymore. "Fine." You look back to your car. "But I won't ride with you. I... I don't trust you enough to be all alone with you anymore." You pause and avoid any further eye contact, crossing your arms again when you feel too exposed from his earlier staring.

Being a full-time office worker and single parent, topped off with having to do almost all the chores around the house, meant little to no time for yourself, which in turn meant self-care was scarce -- a factor that tripled when Frisk ran away, made worse with how you coped with their absence. Barely eating anything throughout the day to later drown out your sorrows with the least healthy food there was late in the night -- mostly microwavable to avoid having to cook only for yourself -- had left an imprint on your body and health alike, and it shows to this day. Even if you were starting to get your social life back together and even if you were little-by-little going back to a better and healthier lifestyle, you were still far from being as active as you once were before Frisk went missing. The once natural huskiness and pudginess of your physique was something, but ignoring how that amount doubled over the past few months, how you lost what once used to be good stamina, and how you have stress acne all over your face is a whole different thing in its entirety.

This man was seeing the downright worse self you could possibly show to the world right now, both in terms of emotional and physical health. How he apparently gained a crush on you over the past month is an anomaly you rather wouldn't want to find an answer for currently.

"(Y/N)?"

You look towards the skeleton when he calls out for you, a bit off-put by him using your name. Truth be told, you'd already grown used to him calling you 'pal' or (L/N). Any other name besides those main two felt strange coming from his teeth. "You good?" he asks, a subtle furrow present on his skull. "You've been spacin' off for a while now."

"I'm good," you reply, careful not to let your voice break. It's not until you see him wipe the car door with his jacket's sleeve that you notice rain's began to fall, tainting the inside -- a cause of him having left the window open. "...You should close the window, Serif. I'll follow behind in my car."

"Ride with me." There's not a trace of humour left in him, though you still find it hard getting to take him seriously. "I promise I won't bother you 'til we get to Tori's."

"I still can't." You step back, eyes looking off towards the passenger door to see it left ajar, kept somewhat protected by the rain, yet still in wait for you. "Sorry, but I.... I really can't." Already feeling your work uniform starting to stick, you reach out for your bag and take a mini-umbrella out, shielding yourself from the rain with it. "Thanks for the offer, and for the tour last weekend, but I simply can't ignore how you looked at me just a second ago, and how you've been acting with me recently."

• • •

With how heavy the rain gets, you can barely see when the monster takes a turn to the left, forcing you to take a detour to the emergency lane and suck up a cry of frustration.

Of course, accepting a ride in his car would've been much easier than all this, but then what about your integrity as a person?

Some monsters were reported to have caused Frisk harm, one of them in particular said to have been a literal, killer robot, programmed by none other than Alphys, the same monster responsible for hurting her own kind through means of inhumane experiments.

So if that was the case, who knew what that skeleton could be up to?

Whether jokingly or not, you were far from trusting over his demeanor and were in no means wanting to leave Frisk under the care of him, Papyrus, Toriel, or anyone else anymore. After all, your ex-husband left the second he deemed himself too irresponsible to look after a child. So who's to say an utter stranger belonging to another species wouldn't do the same, or worse?

"I'm sorry to say this, but we're gonna have to stop here."

Once again caught daydreaming, you look to your left, the monster's muffled voice made more audible when you lower the window only slightly, keeping the rain outside. "It'll be hard gettin' anywhere with how strong it's pourin'."

Sans is pretty much drenching himself, though your urge to let him in your car is held back when you question yourself over it. You chew on your lip as you think it through, clicking the switch the second after you scold yourself over your straight-up awful manners recently. "Get inside," you exclaim, huffing. "Don't just soak yourself for me!"

Without waiting, you turn your back to him and reach out for the seat next to yours, opening up the front passenger door for him to pass by and closing it the second he's in.

"Wouldn't've happened if you'd just hitched a ride off of me. Or unblocked my number, at least."

"As if."

His breathing's scarce, and your questions over why he hadn't chosen to use magic similar to last time are answered to you when you remember what he said about Karma.

"Use this." You offer out a towel to him, one you retrieve from within Frisk's leftover school supplies at the back of the car. "Why would you drive all the way back, park your car behind mine, and then get down from it even though it's pouring, all just to talk to me? Haven't I given off enough signs about us? Don't do this for me, Serif. I... I appreciate all your help, but I can handle this from here on out."

You find it hard not to stare when he slips off his jacket and throws it on his lap, revealing a bulky build despite him being a skeleton. He's soaked from head to toe, yet he pays little to no mind to it and takes the towel from your hands, patting it over himself a few times. "You done starin', pal?"

"How are you so... big-boned? I thought that was just your jacket adding extra bulkiness to you!" You look away when you realize just how plain and awfully rude you've been. It doesn't help when you remind yourself he's drenched because of you. "That was rude of me," you say, sighing. "I'm sorry." A strain takes over your chest and a frown accompanies it. "What I meant to say is, well..." You breathe out a sigh. "Why are you so... husky? Is that normal for skeleton monsters?"

"Just as normal as it is for you to have love handles. Didn't really notice the first few times we met, but you've gotta real (mom/dad) bod, if I do say so myself. Your work uniform kinda brings that out more."

You face him with wide eyes and keep your distance from him by scooting away, once more stricken by how much he's changed in so short of a time. What was once a level-headed and decent guy was turning out to be a much more brazen one -- a jerk, not so much yet, but boy, was he starting to cross a few boundaries every now and then. "So it's... not?"

"It's normal." He chuckles, honesty present in the subtle, hearty rumble of his laughter. "...You sayin' it ain't normal for you to have those? 'Cause Human Anatomy's taught me it is. Even more so if you're a single parent, since time's scarce and stress's more than bountiful. Don't really expect you to have your ex's six-pack abs if you're takin' up pretty much all the responsibilities of raising a family by yourself."

"Wh-" You ignore everything he's said and instead reply with, "...Why do you call them that, anyway? You know the scientific term for them if that's the case, don't you?"

"I do, but I kinda like calling 'em that more," he says. "It's a cute name for 'em."

If this was another way of him getting to try to flirt with you more, it was the weakest and most awful attempt yet. Whether he was joking or not didn't matter anymore, your desire to have him out of your life increasing with each second he spends inside your car. "You sure have plenty of guts for a skeleton, you know that? Never in my life would've I imagined someone would bring that up in a conversation." You sigh, breathe back in, and turn the air conditioner down a notch, annoyance helping further contrast the cold of the rain. "Are you alright with the cold, Serif? I know you lived at Snowdin, so I'm not sure if you're uncomfortable or not, but... I lowered it since you got rained on."

"Warmin' up to me already, pal?"

You throw another towel at the skeleton, and a scowl returns to your face. "Ask that again, and I'll kick you out for sure this time."

He laughs, taking the towel and draping it over his shoulders. "Duly noted."

• • •

With the rain forcing you to start up any means of conversation with the monster, you suck up your pride and unblock his number half an hour into your wait for the sky to calm down.

"I might have just enough energy to drive us there without havin' to wait so much for it to clear up," he comments, breaking the ice when you let him know he can call and text you again. "But I'm gonna have to take the wheel from here on."

Letting him drive is by far crossing the thick and neon line you've drawn between him and yourself, yet you can't exactly rule out his reasoning behind it. Before you can spell a 'why' in protest, he continues, preventing you from interrogating him again, "My normal magic's strong enough for small tasks, so I can try casting a veil over the windshield, kinda like how I did the last time you almost fell into the river."

It makes sense, though you hesitate, pride further shrunken when you realize you didn't exactly thank Sans for last time. "Won't it tire you out?"

"A lil', yeah. But it's better than waitin' some more, and I can just sleep that off as soon as we get to Tori's."

You face the wheel, reluctant to let go. "...Are you sure? But then what about your car?"

He nods. "It's already parked n' locked. We can think about that later."

Facing the rain, you bite on your lip and consider the options: either stay here for what you assume will be another hour alone with the skeleton, or agree with him and get to Toriel's on time. The meeting you have at work returns to your mental to-do list, influencing your thoughts on what decisions to make.

Sans was offering to help you out, but at what cost?

Would he bring it all up later and make mention of how much you owed him?

And then again, hadn't he been obnoxious enough with his flirting for you to have a counter-argument about it?

Whatever his reasons were for having offered to show you around the Underground with as much patience as he displayed and help you meet with Frisk's monster friends -- going as far as to drive you to Toriel's new place by himself -- you truly don't have time to delay anymore; the pending meeting is sufficient to remind you of that. As a result, you backtrack on your stubbornness, sighing out your frustration and letting go of the wheel after. "Thank you." Glancing at the back of the car and later back at him, you give him another look of warning before speaking up again, "Back away first," you say, lips a firm line. "If you're gonna move over to the wheel, you're way too close for what I'm about to do."

"Sure." He grins, scooting away. "Whatever ya want, pal."

You eye him over again, making sure he's distant enough for you to move to the back; no way you were getting an inch closer to him physically. The proximity from his seat to your own is more than abundant already.

When you're certain he's not looking at -- or anywhere near -- you, you slip one careful step after the other into the backseat as best as you can. Caution over not letting him take a look at your derrière or anywhere else deems your movements clumsy. Your foot almost slips, though you catch yourself, resulting in a not-so graceful land, face hitting the seats.

"You can move over now," you say once sitting up straight. You fix your clothing and look back to the front of the car when you're done. "I'm not doing that again with you around, so I'll just stay here for the rest of the ride." While you notice his irises have been gazing out at the rain thus far, you don't exactly rule out the possibility of him having slipped in a look on you while you were moving to the back. Simply confiding the monster with your car was ample trust for one single day. Having given your back to him in the most literal sense possible was exceeding it.

"Noted," he replies, laughing. "But don't sweat it. If you're worried about me ogling you, I only saw you climb over to the backseat, and nothin' else. I don't like lookin' at people that way."

"Didn't you do that barely a few hours ago, though?"

"I was mostly just distracted by how... different you look in your work uniform. Real different from your casual self, I'd say."

You face him with stern eyes, unamused. "Oh, that's all, I'm sure." You scoff. "Dunno what's your type, but I've got to be the only human you've talked with so far if you've seriously got a crush on me."

"Why's that?"

"Haven't you seen me at my ugliest? I doubt I looked anywhere near attractive the day after I fainted."

"Last time I checked, a hospital's not a catwalk, ain't it?" He grins. "And who says I'm not into you? You're still a PILF, as far as my tastes go."

"What's that mean?" you ask, quirking a brow.

"An abbreviation for 'Person/Parent I'd Like to be Friends with'."

You're sitting straight on the backseat now, hands folded over your lap as you look to the windshield, distracting yourself away from his gaze. Worry over the rain not picking up makes you wonder if Frisk's doing okay in Toriel's new home, and just what they could be up to with her and the rest of their monster friends. "Were you always this shameless and keeping that hidden? Or am I a special case for you?"

He winks and grabs the wheel without breaking his irises away from you, now staring at you from the rearview mirror. "Whatever you think it to be." It doesn't take more than another hostile look from your part for his smile to tense up again, irises almost appearing to do the same. "Damn." He whistles, looking away and grabbing the wheel tighter. "You're a tough cookie, pal."

"Yes, and I have my reasons for it."

[First] | [Previous] | [Next]

• • •

Notice

To older readers or those curious about the old version of this fanfic:

As you may have noticed, we're beginning to fall into the chapters of the old version, meaning that -- for those who're waiting for the continuation of the old plot (but improved upon in terms of writing style, flow, and depth, among other things) -- it will appear around the 3rd Arc/Chapter Twenty-Six of this new version.

With that being said, any suggestions to improve are welcomed (as that's what made me write up a new version and improve upon the old one), whether old reader or not!

• • •

Tag List (Comment or message me if you want to be added to [or removed from] it!)

@the-simp-express

@nektotersh

@disastrous-l0vebug

@therealchickenjoe

@mintyflakes025

@pandaquick

[dana-chan-the-control-brain]

Happy new year everyone 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

I know 2020 has been hard for everyone.

And I want everyone to know, suffering isn't a contest and we all suffer in different ways. But I feel I should give my year in Review. Just some things that happened to me personally.

This was an intense, and long and spiritual and emotional journey for me...

I really discovered what it meant to have community, family and what my life means to me.

But I feel I need to get this in writing cause I can remember the year with vivid detail and I will probably forget if I don't get it down.

Do I have to share this publically online to my tumblr account for a bunch of strangers to see? not really.

Do I want to?

Yes. I think so. Just from how so many people on tumblr and real life have touched me.

This is kinda long and no one needs to read this.

(idk how to do a readmore on mobile. But this is where I would add it later. No one needs to read if they don't want to.)

January/February: (and some background on the last five years of my life cause.....well. it's important.)

As people knew, I got way into Invader Zim last summer. I spent most of my waking life working a dead end job at a grocery store. I lived a sad lonely life, going straight home to a single dark studio apartment. With not many material possessions outside of games, my laptop and my tablet to my name. Half of my material loves, such as home furnishings and books were still in boxes from when I moved in. In case I ever had to move again, or get some "big screenshot or copywriter" job in the city.

....

I lived in that city in the same dead end job and apartment for five years.

No friends. No social life. I often refused to make doctor appointments or attempt to establish myself in that city. I didn't even talk to anyone in my workplace.

Work. Go online. Go to sleep.

I lived like that for five years.

I thought it was good.

Even my therapist thought I was doing well.

When I really wasn't. My main character flaw I struggle with is motivation.

I can talk to someone about very detailed plans I have to fix a problem... But I tend to never follow through.

Just because I can describe in detail how to fix my personal problems, it doesn't mean I will do it.

(I have gotten better at this but it's a major struggle)

I might have been a Zombie during the day...

But by night I was pouring my soul into my AU and my analysis.

After being so thoughly ignored or overlooked by the Naruto fandom and the Undertale fandom, I felt like I had finally found my home and was settling into a community there.

I just loved that people loved what I had to say.

Especially my AU.

It's no secret that a lot of themes in my au revolve around found family, grief, and loss.......

Fatherhood, in particular.

What it means to be a father, how much do you need to try when you mess up, how willing should a child forgive their parent, especially those that have wronged you and how much of it is factually accurate and simply a self projection of what children want their parents to be and visa versa... What amount of forgiveness and change is nessasary...is it needed?

....

It's no secret that a lot of my AU is a giant coping mechanism for my Dad's death. Espessially the falling out and growing closer with a lot of my family members throughout the years following his death. (Most of the time I keep it ambiguous to how it relates to my personal life unless I include a readmore that states so outright. I feel my au can be enjoyed by a variety of people in the fandom who don't need to know me as a person or my life story.)

My Dad passed away in 2016 in February and my family still feels the aftershocks to this day.

It's part of the reason I moved to the city, alienated myself from my family and people that loved me and refused to experience life for five years.

My entire world was Zim, and I was okay.

March: When America finally realized and started to feel the effects of the pandemic....

A lot of people got scared.

Me included.

I didn't have any streaming services or access to the news. So I only heard accounts from my mom.

I didn't understand why the store was so dead quiet and empty for a few days, then it went into mass chaos and panic in the span of two days.

It felt like Retail black friday in the worst way. Everyone was packed like sardines. Everyone was yelling. The lines at the registers bled into the clothing department.

I was witness to customers shoving others for toilet paper, being rude to cashier's and just overall unpleasantness.

At the time, I didn't even fully grasp what the pandemic was, and I feel a lot of people at the time didn't either.

I ended up absentmindedly scratching my eyebrow in front of a customer and she screamed and villanised me for it. That they didn't want groceries touched by my "unclean hands"

I ended up breaking down into tears.

The customer behind me gave me a hug and told me I was doing a great job.

But the damage was done. It was the final straw, I couldn't stop crying and I was breaking apart.

Thankfully my Boss (the one who likes me) pulled me aside and asked what's wrong.

It was then that I quit. No notice. Same day. I had to get out of there.

I was planning to move to an apartment with my sister in the summer, but my Mom offered for me to move back in with her temperarily just so I can get out of the city and away from the pandemic.

So I did.

I got scared, broke my lease a month early and quit my job of five years that gave me nothing back.

He told me, "take care of yourself and your family, I won't keep you here, do what you need to do."

So I did.

April-June:

A very eventful few months.

My mom offered for me to live at her place, but for some reason she was acting like I would live there forever. That this wasn't a temporary arrangement, and that I didn't have an apartment set up already.

This was in large part to my sister, who had lived with my mom taking advantage of her for years.

Even though my sister and I were going to move in together, I was just never sure about it cause of how she never packed her stuff or made any effort to find a job.

My mom often acted like I was lazy and not searching and was treating me like... Well, an unruly teenager instead of a woman of 29 years. She acted like I was a failure for returning home when it was her idea in the first place.

I would have just been petrified in the city.

Like usual, I retreated to my au again.... And in the spring, something eventful happened.

In may, 8th 2020:

I was invited by @rissynicole to join an invader zim discord.

Now, I've never really used discord before. I always thought it's interface is too confusing.. and I'm a member of a few other iz discords and I usually don't follow them that closely.

Rissy assured me it was different cause some friends of thiers made it and it was smaller.

Before I knew it, I was sharing memes and getting to know everyone there.

It wasn't long after I invited my partner in IZ crimes, @paketdimensioncomic who was genuinely wary of iz servers due to a bad experience with the last one they were a part of.

But soon they were sharing memes and laughing with everyone else.

My eyes were starting to open and I was able to connect to fans of my work in an interpersonal way. And I was able to discover new artists and aus I never knew about.

I was also able to meet so many others of the community and invite them to the server myself.

The moo-ping 10 server kept me sane while I was living with my judgmental mother.

Not only that, the summer was very productive for my au.

Drawing was all I did, and it was a huge break from the job as a cashier I had.

Not only that, June came, and with it, me and Ceph's first collab fic:

A result of us just going back and forth in our DMs constantly about Professor Membrane and how he changed in ETF for the better and how much we adamantly stan "trying-to-be-a-good-dad-brane" and how much of his ETF development has to be implied off screen in order for the emotional resolution in the movie to matter.

The only reason I never professed my love for Membrane as a character in the fandom before the fic dropped was.... Well....

Membrane can be a decisive character in the fandom and I was so worried people would hate me if I did an analysis on him, simply because he's not the best parent in the world. (As an understatement)

Ceph and I really encouraged each other to scream our love for the science himbo loud and proud more frequently and so often.... I actually start to see less Membrane hate posts and breakdowns then their used to be.... I like to think it's a combination of Me and Ceph's influence, along with ETF and the Quarterly's painting Membrane in a slightly more nuanced light then he was previously.

I never wrote a collab fic before and it's such a rewarding and fun and unique experience that I don't think I'll ever have again. And I love working with Ceph on our fics so much.

So much so we did it again...

July-August:

I never thought I would be one of those people who writes NSFW IZ fic... But here I am.

The Brainbrane au started.... An au of my au where Membrane and the Computer fall in love and Membrane makes him a body.

This ship was based around the idea where we joked that Membrane and Zim's Computer would have funny interactions if they ever met, under the pretense Membrane thinks Computer is Zim's parent.

Our headcanons morphed and shifted until we just full blown started shipping them.

Just because Membrane and Zim's Computer have overall REALLY entertaining chemistry.

It's a character dynamic never seen in the show or comics (yet) and I imagine thier interactions to be nothing but entertaining banter.

The fic was also born from spite... Making fun of the troupes and cliches that we found personally destestible in some questionable zadr fics.

So an angry ace and a demi-bisexual collab on a porn and end up blessing the fandom with

Compapa headcanons,

Computer being recognized as a more common used fanon character,

The ship of Brainbrane.

The fandom having a crisis of "oh God, not only are we xenophiles we're technophiles too!!!" Or "why you gotta give Zim's Computer an ass"

More android Computer designs

It was an eventful summer.

In the midst of all this, I moved into my new place, got a new job, and I was able to see my friend (who is def my platonic straight soul mate) who lives in Indiana.

She came to visit, showed me how to decorate and how to take care of my body better! Things were looking up! It was great.

September-November:

My job was at a boat store. If was approaching the fall and my hours were being severely cut.

I was getting into a rut of depression again.

I thought things were changing but the same routine I was trying to escape from was the same thing coming back.

But instead of letting it take hold, I decided I was going to do something about it... I was gonna visit a museum and go with my sister. Just... variety stimulation.

Well that didn't happen.

I talked about this shortly in my au itself...but..

My sister had a complete mental breakdown.

She stopped taking her meds, went off the deep end and was in the hospital a total of five times throughout November.

A lot of it was acting out and the perfect storm of environmental factors that made her scream and act out so she would keep going back to the hospital.

It was traumatizing for me.

I just can't explain what it's like. For her and for me to be in that position.

I'm not telling the full story and a lot of bullshit things happened I won't share here.

She got diagnosed with bipolar one and my mom expected me to be a caretaker for her.

I threatened to disown my family and move away out of state.

It was just too much for me to handle.

So much I was a nervous wreck.

I tried to pick up a second job... Cause my sister was in the mental ward so frequently and couldn't pay the bills.

But I was fired within a week cause I was so stressed I couldn't retain the basic information they were training me for.

It was an office job.

My dream.

It could have been.

I was fired from something I really wanted.

I was only there for three days.

I could not retain any information.

I was a mess.

My sister was a trigger, my mom wanted me to live with her. I couldn't live like this.... I had to get out.

I had to get out.

December:

Remember my Indiana friend?

Well the first week of December is my birthday.

My 30th to be exact.

While I did pick up a seasonal position at Target (not my first pick)

I took the first week of December off so I could spend time with her. Cause she agreed, I needed a break from this crap.

Surviving 30 years is cause to celebrate and if I had to celebrate with my sister I would have cried.

I know there was a risk traveling out of state during a pandemic...

But I needed out, I needed a friend..

And I kinda wanted to look at the place since I was considering moving there.

My friend's mom was sick so she avoided me and her daughter and got us a hotel room.

It was fun! I got to swim in a salt water pool, we talked about Naruto, I showed her the iz and su art books I brought, also Computer and Membrane tea.

I also got to meet her other friends and get crunk. And her bf who is super nice and funny!

I had a super fun birthday....

Until her mom told my friend that her grandparents had covid and that was what she had. And my friend got sick within that same day.... As did I.

I owe so much to her family.

I was an entire state away...about a ten hour drive from home.... She let me stay at her house. "The covid house" we called it.

Cause everyone (except the father. He avoided everyone and booked a hotel immediately cus he was an ER doctor) had covid within a day.

I called in, the test results were positive and I had to stay with her family for ten days quarantine before I could work again.

Which would have been fine....

If my tumblr didn't log me out perminately of my old account. @dana-chan325 .... Which really sucked cause I had a constant headache and was too sick to engage with tumblr or much of the fandom. I didn't want to make a new account when my head was in a bad fog and I could barely breathe or smell.

It's not like I saw much of my friend either.... We all slept at different hours and she had more symptoms then I did.

It was just netflix, danganronpa v3 and cry.

I was miserable, but at the same time.... Not?

I really feel like God himself was the one who pulled me off from tumblr, and my living situation.

Maybe a whole extra week feeling like a bobblehead was what I needed.

It gave me some much needed clarity on my relationships with my mom and sis and friend.

Running away to Indiana was not the solution here.

Once I was better within ten days and no longer had a leave of absence, I drove home.

I am glad I fully recovered (but from how I understand it, my dear friend is still ill. I'm praying for her)

I might have gone to work a bit too soon, cause I had an asthma attack after trying to unload a single cart in the span of six hours.

My boss lectured that my speed was unacceptable, and even though I explained the covid situation and breathing problems many times, she threatened that I'd be fired if I'm that slow again.

Que the next few days of work where they put me on register.

Instantly I was sent into a panic remembering the last time I was on the register and how that panic attack caused me to quit.

I even asked if I could go back to stocking, since my breathing had improved. My boss assured me that I was put on the register cause they needed help and nothing to do with my covid thing.

Then as December concluded and the new year began, my boss said that this was the last shift for me cause my position was seasonal and they were letting a lot of people go.

I then asked why I was on the schedule for Sunday, and he told me to ignore it and I'm free to reapply for full-time.

I mean.... They can act smart about it...

But putting your general merchandise stocker onto register after she had an asthma attack and missed working the first two weeks of December due to covid.....

Not a good look.

So once again, I'm jobless once more.

Will probably continue to live with my sister for awhile.

But I do not feel as if it's a bad thing....

I met so many good people this year....

My friend's family even gave me 500 usd to cover my rent since I couldn't work for a majority of December.

I've seen evil and good from humanity this year. I've seen acts of god, good friends and what my real family means to me as well as friends I consider family.

This year really made me look back at the person in the mirror and say,

"I deserve better."

And actually worked for it this time.

Oh and after Christmas I got a horrible yeast infection that burns over most of my body currently.

Very accurate doodle to the pain I'm in right now.

(seriously my body is a fungus.)

But hey, good news, I respected myself enough to go to the doctor about it!!

So that's progress.

I really hope 2021 holds good things for me.

Thank you to the mooping 10 server for always being there and keeping me sane,

Thank you tumblr for liking my au and everything.

AND A SUPER SPECIAL THANK YOU TO @evartandadam and her family for housing me and my dumb diseased ass. Everyone, she is an angel and I can't express how much she means to me. Please check out her art and buy her stuff on redbubble.

Anyways... Byebye 2020.

I look forward to what I can accomplish for myself this year.

[theropoda]

3, 4, 6-8, 11, 13-17, 19-22, 26-30 uwu

WOO LAD THAT’S A LOT THANK U!!! this got long and i wrote an essay or two LOL so im putting it under a readmore!

3: Best game you’ve ever played? WEEEELLLL.......let me preface this with two things: one, i am a FAKE GAMER as in my laptop is not at all made for gaming, it’s piss poor, so a big chunk of games i’m interested in is because i watched a playthrough of them lol. i have a 3ds but only 3 games on it (animal crossing new leaf, tomodachi life, nintedogs & cats). second, i’m very bad at choosing favorites of things.....BUUUUT .....i choooooose, in no particular order, OFF, pigeonetics, elder scrolls oblivion, pathologic classic HD!! i’m more than likely forgetting a few though, so sorry about that

4: Worst game you’ve ever played? as i said above, cannot choose favorites, neither can i choose whatever the opposite of favorites is but...uhh, does lif even count as a game? like lif, the stupid little furry flash game i remember playing on some shady website. it was surprisingly very active with a BUNCH of people there but i kept dying like every 5 seconds....AWFUL

6: A game that’s changed you the most? WELL define Changed.....ummm aha first thing that comes to mind is OFF. it’s one of those things where you never knew you wanted something so fucking bad until you saw it--and it’s like that for me. i NEVER knew i loved that odd, surreal, colorful, “looks playful and simple in some parts but incredibly violent and unnerving in other parts” aesthetic til i played it. like aesthetically i love that game to BITS and something about it just stuck with me til the end of time.

later in life (meaning, past year or so) it changed me because it taught me a lesson about storytelling and creative endeavors. a very useful lesson. which is: things don’t really need to have a meaning. stories, art, music, writing, whatnot, while it CAN be deep and meaningful, while you CAN use it as a way to communicate with the world about all kinds of heartfelt things, it can also be...nothing, really.

once i, as usual, got ridiculously overwhelmingly sad about small things. specifically seeing other people around me come up with all kinds of deep and meaningful characters and stories, sometimes putting them into webcomics or writings of theirs, and they were all so well-thought out and detailed and what i envied most was people put a lot of themselves and their experiences into them, venting and coping through them, whilst also making these larger-than-life grandiose complex stories and worlds and so on and so forth.

it made me look at my own ideas and get mad/frustrated at how shallow they were. but then i remembered OFF and i felt better because Fun Fact, mortis ghost has a now-abandoned dA account and if you go through the comment section on his profile, he answers a lot of fan questions and he mentions several times that the game didn’t really have a “meaning”, it didn’t really have a “deeper story” or moral or anything, really. i’m paraphrasing this but i vividly remember him saying “i wanted to make a game, so i did”.

that made me feel a lot better because it made me realise that sometimes art--especially stories, in my case-- doesn’t NEED to be DEEP or have MEANING...sometimes it can just BE!!!! sometimes it really can just be all about AESTHETICS like who GIVES a shit if there’s a hidden meaning if you take the first letter of all of your characters’ names and put them backwards, sometimes all that matters is if they just VIBE with you y’know....

yume nikki is similar in this regard bc that game doesn’t have any story other than “collect egg” and yet it’s so impactful. that game doesn’t have a story or meaning it just IS........ :) GOD THATS SO LONG IM SORRY ABOUT THAT but yeah. funny violent ghostbusting baseball man is a game that changed me :)

7: A game you’ll never forget? OFF AGAIN LOL,,, it’s just so memorable because of how unique it is. visuals, soundtrack, story, everything is so memorable. unforgettable. oh god you can tell how much i love this damn game can’t you

8: Best soundtrack? yakuza 0, OFF, there is a picture (another game by mortis ghost, again composed by alias conrad coldwood who also composed OFF), pigeonetics (the entire soundtrack of which is here), jojo’s bizarre adventure all star battle and eyes of heaven, silent hill 2 & 3, undertale....probably forgetting more but all of these...earcandy

11: Hardest game you’ve played? i am a shitty gamer so this is Most games i’ve played lol!! but uhh..well you see. hardest game i remember playing as of recent is pathologic classic hd in which it’s...not only hard to understand what any character is saying at any given time lol but also, i don’t think it’s HARD it’s just...you need to focus. you REALLY need to fucking focus and pay attention in this game. so i wouldn’t say its HARD, but i’m only putting this here bc it’s in recent memory.

i say recent memory because the true answer is susceptible to “yeah, but now you’re older, it must not be so hard.” as in if i played it now i think i’d have a way easier time. but when i was around....10-12 years old i had several ps3 video game adaptations of animated movies and i had SUCH a fucking hard time with them. g-force, bolt and up in particular were fucking HARD. like genuinely, the hardest time i had EVER had in my live playing video games is tied to these three fucking games. g-force and bolt ESPECIALLY. one particular level in bolt took both me AND my sister around a year to fucking finish.

again, i was baby, so i bet i’d have a much easier time with them now that i’m 17. but for now, in my experience, bolt and g-force for the ps3 were harder than pathologic classic. i think icepick lodge should take a few notes for them for pathologic 2.

13: A game you were the most excited for when it wasn’t released yet? STREETS OF KAMUROCHO...i spent the entire day of its release anticipating its launch lol

14: A game you think would be cool if it had voice acting? hmm..most games i like and know about do have voice acting so i dunno....i guess it would’ve been kind of cool if morrowind had like, full proper voice acting. but i can understand why it only voice acted things like greetings and battle insults because GOD that game is SO...complicated...and as a result, the conversations are so lengthy and text-full. playing morrowind is really like a goddamn book! if it was voice acted i’m sure all that information would have to be shortened bc i know no one is going to fucking voice act two whole paragraphs

15: Which two games do you think would make an awesome crossover? pigeonetics and yakuza in which instead of being about the criminal underworld it’s about shady and unethical pigeon clubs, breeding, racing, etc etc...a lot of illegal shit does happen in the world of pigeons especially when it comes to racing; prized racers have been kidnapped and held for ransom before. and then there’s Avian Cucking: The Sport, where people breed the sexiest pigeons (horseman thief pouters), release them outside to seduce other people’s sexy pigeons, and bring them back and keep ‘em, drama ensues. will kiryu ever escape his past as a professional pigeon-napper, and find solace in his new life as a pigeon hobbyist? find out now by playing YACOOZA......

JOKES ASIDES i don’t know i really don’t....umm, pigeonetics and animal crossing somehow?? :O... like, instead of managing your own town it’s managing your own loft!...orrrr, the jojo games (all star battle & eyes of heaven) with yakuza, because i think they’re somewhat similar because they’re both haha Wacky Silly AND serious over the top fighty-fighting.....or maybe a crossover with OFF and discover my body, which, despite being an incredibly short and obscure indie game i still love to bits for what it’s worth. WAIT ANIMAL CROSSING AND MINECRAFT THAT WOULD FUCK SO HARD OH MY GOD

16: Character you’ve hated most? From what game? i can’t think of any character i like, HATE...with a burning passion.. there are a few i dislike or have a complicated relationship with though.. i’m not interested in the series anymore but ouma from drv3...i’ll admit that he is a bit fun sometimes, especially in the very early beginning he’s a likeable brat but as the game progresses he becomes more irritating than anything and i have an issue with him in regards to writing, despite the fact that i have never been awake in any english class ever lol. it’s too long to put in this already long post but i’ll keep it at that. if you like him, well, good for you for finding joy in something i couldn’t! but he just doesn’t do it for me.

AH I JUST REMEMBERED....MINE......FROM YAKUZA 3....maybe i’d change my mind if i watched a playthrough of y3 again, because i think you always absorb something better on your second watch (tho i honestly Dont have the energy to do that all over again, the yakuza games are too fucking long), but i really hate his writing. spoilers for y3 but, i think mine’s writing, alongside other things in the game, were super messy...and a big part of why i hate him is that not only is he one of those “could’ve had great potential but fell flat” sorta guys but also his love for daigo is seen as some fans as good gay rep and i?????/.............um....WELL let’s just say that, i think people nowadays will see any gay character ever in any circumstance and say it’s good gay rep just based off the fact that A Gay Character exists....he was Not, good gay rep imo....he was not, let alone, Good. .........

17: What game do you never tell people you play? can’t think of any games i wouldn’t tell people i play.. idk exactly what this question’s asking. does it mean what game you don’t tell ppl you play bc you’re embarrassed about it...? i’m not very embarrassed by any of them. the only thing that comes close, i guess, is uhh lioden and wolvden. i’ve only interacted with those communities a LITTLE TINY WEE BIT, yet of what i’ve seen it’s a goddamn dumpster fire and i’d never want to be associated with them lol

19: Which game do you think deserves a revival? i’m well aware it’ll never happen and that it’s more a wet dream than anything but...PT/silent hills..... on a more realistic/”could happen” note, PIGEONETICS!!!! SERIOUSLY, it’s an amazing game about amazing animals and it teaches genetics in a very simplified and efficient way!! genetics is SO hard for me to understand, i fucking hated studying it but this game really helped me understand how it works AND its super engaging and interesting!! HOWEVER, of all the pigeon genes we know of, only a handful were seen in pigeonetics and i’d LOVE a sequel that employs new game mechanics AND new genes!! i wanna learn about bronze and stencil genes! i wanna learn about phenotypes like grizzled and pied!!! genes like sooty and dirty!!! @ UNIVERSITY OF UTAH GENETICS DEPARTMENT PLEASE IM BEGIGNG YOU

20: What was the first video game you ever played? earliest memories of Gaming involves me at my aunt’s house playing two games: super mario brothers and some kind of trapeze game. i don’t remember anything else though

21: How old were you when you first played a video game? i can’t remember but i must’ve been REAL tiny.... 6-9 years, maybe??

22: If you could immerse yourself in any game for one day, which game would it be? What would you do? immerse myself meaning go into their world...? huh....on one hand i’d like to go in the world of yakuza 0 to play in the arcades and do whore related activities but i’d also love to go into the world of animal crossing (and i’m pretty sure i’d be some sort of generic dromaeosaurid in that game!!) and shop, chat with villagers, do chores for them, go fishing, bug hunting, eat delicious fucking food like the apples mangos peaches cherries etc etc.....OH AND FOSSIL HUNTING THAT’S THE BEST PART!! though it would definetly be a little weird, to be a little dinosaur and finding a fossil of a...little dinosaur....i guess the non-sentient species went extinct and the dinosaur i am is some kind of, descendant of a sapient non-avian dinosaur that survived the k-pg extinction event...oh but who cares all i want is a cool little ambulocetus fossil or something. and some cherry pie :)

26: Handheld or console? my old ps3 just went kaput one day years ago so i haven’t used it in years so i can’t compare well... but i’d say handheld, because it lets me like DO stuff more...would love to get a console one day, a ps4 maybe but i’m kinda worried it’ll make me stay in one room all day wasting away my time when there’s other stuff i can do, y’know? but something handheld like my 3ds, on the other hand...i can do stuff with it. i can take it to my room and play it between breaks i take as i clean the room and fold my clothes, i can watch something on the tv and play the game during ad breaks, i can take it outside too if it has charge to last me a while! so....handheld i guess

27: Has there ever been a moment that has made you cry? yakuza 0 and undertale in particular have ALMOST made me fucking bawl with many of its moments....yakuza 0 especially, after that Fucking Ending i had trouble sleeping because oh my fucking god. video game people SAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

28: Which character’s clothes do you wish you owned the most?

29:  Which is more important, gameplay or story? HMMM....well, if i were to play a game with a shitty story but really good and fun gameplay i’d probably continue playing it for the gameplay. but if i played a game with shitty gameplay but an interesting story, there is a chance i’d play it more for the sake of the story but also i might just quite and see the rest of the story on youtube or something. i’m more likely to go through a boring story for fun gameplay than go through boring gameplay for an interesting story, so i guess gameplay is more important to me....that is, WHEN i actually own and play a game as opposed to when i just watch someone play a game because i don’t own the game but wanna know abt the story lol

30: A game that hasn’t been localized in your country that you think should be localized? i have no idea how video game localization really works....but i assume localizing a game in india would mean something like, removing content according to cultural norm and also somehow translating it into the 22 official languages..? or just two or three language if it’s tied to a particular state, which seems way more doable. i honestly have no idea? i’ve never interacted w the indian gaming community that much to be honest, all i know of it is of the video games i’ve seen sold in some game stores and a few whispers about like solid snake or whoever from my school’s cafeteria....the most popular games here, to my knowledge, are those very streamable games like fortnite and PUBG and your call of duties and whatnot. those generic shooters. and even then, that honestly isn’t the “indian” gaming community bc this country is so FUCKHUGE, it’s just tamil nadu. one state.

soooo, according to what little i know of gaming interests in where i live, i don’t think any of the games i like should be localized here bc i don’t really think there’s an audience for it as far as i can tell :( maybe animal crossing? it’s a fun little games for all ages and i think it has a chance of becoming popular here, so maybe that is worth a shot! but i can’t think of any other game that i like that really has an audience here (other than Me lol)

[emptyxhere]

Stats (mobile edition)

[bio updated: 08/01/2019]

Name: Frisk “Mal” Mallory

Age: 11

Gender: Nonbinary (they/them)

Species: Human

Height: 4'2’’

Birthday: March 15

Zodiac: Pisces

Alignment: True Neutral

Likes: Candy, stuff that makes them happy, music, flirting, friends

Dislikes: Players, annoying people, things that try their patience, Temmies, being trapped, resetting/reloading, dying

Abilities: Can use save files, is very determined, can use knives, is left handed, adaptive, innovative, agile

Soul phenotype: Red (determination)

—

Stats:

HP - 92/92

AT - 36 (99)

DF - 4 (99)

LV - 19

—

Frisk is the main protagonist of Undertale. They are a human character who falls into the Underground, controlled by the player for the duration of the game, save for some scripted actions that they perform on their own. The game centres around them and their adventure through the Underground, as well as their interactions with various monsters.

They were once a happy, outgoing child. Frisk had a loving family and a whole life ahead of them on the Surface. They were kind and considerate, and eager to become friends with just about anyone. They initially couldn’t stand the thought of anyone acting cruelly to another person, human or not, and even light violence made them sick to their stomach to watch or think about.

One day, they fell into the Underground. For a reason only they themselves knew, they had climbed Mt. Ebott and fell in, landing on a bed of yellow flowers. But something strange happened when they woke up. They couldn’t move their body. At least, not on their own. It felt as if some outside force had taken over, and moved Frisk around for them. It was the strangest feeling, not being able to control themselves. At times, they could break free from the control throughout their adventure, or more as if they were allowed to act on their own. But for the most part, they couldn’t do anything at all.

However, it seemed that whatever was controlling them, had their decisions influenced by Frisk themselves. They could speak or do what they wished, whenever they were given the chance to. Telling a Froggit it had beautiful eyes when they were only told “compliment it”, for example, or petting a tomato gently when they were told to hit it in a wimpy way. It was for those reasons that they didn’t mind the strange force at first. They felt as if whatever was controlling them was simply guiding them towards a path to meet so many new friends!

They spent time with Toriel, spared their way through Snowdin, went on a date with Papyrus, found Temmie Village, went to Undyne's house, battled Mettaton on live television, then fought Asgore, and then Omega Flowey. Their world reloaded yet again, to the moment before Asgore, and there they went on a date with Alphys, discovered the True Lab, and finished their final battle with Asriel. The Barrier broke. Monsters were freed, and Frisk went up to the Surface with all their cherished friends. But then something happened.

A reset. All at once, their progress had gone back to the very beginning. Frisk was confused at first, but assumed maybe they were just going to have to experience all those happy moments again. And they were fine with that.

But then they approached the dummy in the Ruins, and fought it. The next thing they knew, they were killing all the wonderful monsters they had spared before, until no one was left. They didn't know how to deal with it. Their body was moving on its own, forcing them to kill again and again, as their EXP and LV skyrocketed.

Soon enough, they realized Sans was right. The more they killed, the easier it was to distance themselves. And of course, they had no choice but to kill and kill as they entered each new area, but they quickly began to stop being bothered at all by their horrifying actions. It was by the time they had first murdered Toriel, when they looked at the dust littering their clothes. The toy knife in their hand, and the spot where her soul used to be.

And something inside them broke.

They wanted to scream, cry, reload their file, tell her they were sorry, do anything, other than keep moving forward with their weapon. But the person controlling them had other plans. They soon realized that trying to stop was pointless. They were going to have to kill their friends, and there was nothing they could do about it.

It got to the point where they just wanted to get it all over with, walking through any puzzles, tuning out dialogue, trying not to get attached to anything this time around. Of course, it was only after a few more times of this violent path that they had completely stopped caring.

By then, it was something they knew they had to do. Something they knew they were going to do. Almost like a chore. A routine. Even if they didn't want to, they couldn't stop. And the world would be reset again. They rationalized to help them cope: Everyone would be alive again after just one click, so what did it matter to see them all die over and over? There was a time when their terror stricken faces tore Frisk up inside, but they had seen those same faces too many times to count now. They weren't fazed anymore.

The only time they were the most surprised since then, was when their file loaded to suddenly force Frisk into a pacifist route early on in the everlasting nightmare, when it still bothered them to kill monsters. The same path they had taken the first time around. They cried all that much harder during that load, and hugged their friends tighter than they had before. They wanted it to stay this way. They wanted to believe the hell they'd been put through was over, and that they and their monster friends could just be happy. But that was wishful thinking on their part.

Real Knife in hand, and The Locket around their neck like a gentle chokehold of a reminder of their sins, Frisk entered the Judgement Hall for who knows how many times by then. They could only feel numb about seeing Sans.

The first time they went into a battle with him, they had been completely caught off guard. But the person controlling them clearly wasn't, as they got through his first move without taking any damage. It wasn't long until Frisk got to the end of the fight, only dying a few times; a lot less than with Undyne. And then they killed him. Then suddenly, they had been reset to the point just before they fought him. And battled him again. And again. And again.

Sometimes their world would go dark, but then they'd find themselves fighting Sans all over again. They had only seen what was beyond the fight with Sans once. Up until they saw Flowey pleading for his life. Then the world went dark and they were back in the Last Corridor, their file reloaded. Frisk had a feeling that wasn't the end of the game, but they didn't know why the player never ventured past that point.

One day, they beat Sans in cold blood and braced themselves for yet another reload. Only, it never came. They figured this sort of thing happened occasionally, where whoever was controlling them took a break before going at it yet again. But this was a much longer break than any they'd experienced. Time passed. It was only after a long, long while until they realized they were truly alone. Not even the player was with them anymore, which was a first for their entire journey through the Underground thus far. It took them a while until they realized they probably weren't coming back.

On one hand, Frisk felt as if they should be happy for this. No more pesky higher entity forcing them to kill their friends over and over again. ...Were they even Frisk's friends anymore? Honestly, they weren't sure. They were so detached at this point. It was hard to remember a time when they hadn't viewed a monster as just another person to fight. Not to mention, some sick part of them wanted that horrible person back with them. Just to have someone around.

They wanted to reset and start over, going back to the happy ending they once had. Or twice, actually. But they realized it would be pointless. With the slight chance of that person coming back, Frisk's file would just be loaded back to the Judgement Hall to fight Sans all over again, with the player none the wiser that Frisk had almost gotten the ending they deserved.

No. They didn't deserve that anymore. And the memory of what happened the last time that ending had been taken away from them, to go back to watching everyone die by their hands still hurt as much as it did when it only recently happened. They didn't want to subject the monsters through that again either, even if they weren't aware it happened at all. Or rather, Frisk just couldn't deal with the hurt it would bring them. As much as they tried to convince themselves they weren't bothered by the gravity of all of this, they knew it was actually just a bittersweet lie. Sure, they could kill if they needed to now, but to know that none of this had to happen, that there was a happier path within their grasp if only the cruel being hadn't decided to ruin their first adventure? It hurt.

This was their reality now. And it was the reality they deserved.

[olivenight17]

Deltarune Theory

Welcome one and welcome all to this post! Now, unlike the last first post I ever made, this one is for Deltarune (god I still hope there are active fans for it still, it’s been a while since the game was released so I am a teensy bit worried that I came too late to the party.) Also, this is more than just an observation, as the title states, this one is a full blown theory. So, without further ado, here goes nothing!

So, remember when everyone was scrambling to see if Deltarune would be some sort of AU to Undertale/it’s connection to Undertale in general? Well, what if Undertale isn't another parallel universe, it's just another one of Kris' games? One that they used to play with Asriel growing up. That would explain why characters of Undertale exist in Deltarune but with different details (i.e since Undyne is a cop, wouldn't it make sense for a kid to see her as a fierce warrior? Or for a kid to see a nerdy teacher as this great scientist since they seem so smart?) 

 The beginning story, the one where Asriel and Chara are growing up together, that's the original game Kris and Asriel played, when they were happy and their parents were married. But then, tensions get high in the household with Toriel and Asgore not getting along and as a way to cope they put it in the story. Then, we get to Chara getting sick, with Chara's sickness representing the negative headspace Kris would be left in after all these fights between their parents are happening, and ending with Asriel and Chara’s death when in reality, he's simply left for college and Kris being so hurt that they feel dead looking at their game. They leave it alone for a while, before scrapping the storyline they had for it and starting anew.

 This is when the actual game of Undertale begins. And what Undertale is, is Kris trying to get themselves together and cope with Asriel's absence. Obviously, they were hurt by his leaving, since he was their only stability once Toriel and Asgore actually split up, and this is why Flowey/Asriel in the game is the bad guy. This is Kris' imagination and for them, Asriel is the bad guy for leaving them alone to try and get by without him. 

 If you go down the pacifist route it's Kris coming to terms with Asriel's departure and accepting it, while the genocide route is deciding to stay angry at not only Asriel, but the entire town in Kris' heartbreak. Or if you’re neutral and only kill some, it could be Kris placing the blame on some or one of the other characters/townspeople for driving Asriel away. I mean it makes sense, because even so no matter what path you take, Asriel can't come with you. Whether it's because you killed him or he simply said he couldn't come, you leave him behind, because Kris knows either way that he is gone. There feels like there is no bringing him back, and thus Kris decides to leave him be in the game and go up to the surface where the real world is. 

Especially in the genocide route, since once you've killed everyone you can't exactly come back, it's Kris being so angry, they can't even bring themselves to indulge in something that's even related to their "traitorous brother." But, that's just what I think. Welp, until the next time I need to say things so they don’t get stuck in my head!

[bonepranks-a]

* verses

aight so since i put most interactions into their own verses, i have like a million, and oftentimes certain interactions will sorta create new ones. so i’m going to attempt to list all the verses i have. i will specify if they’re with specific people. (i may use the word timeline instead, they are generally the same thing, but sans will always refer to it as a timeline whereas i will usually call it a verse.) also, as you know, i don’t tag my verses -- but it’s helpful to know.

this is well over 1500 words so i’m gonna just stick it under a cut. i listed the people who have specific verses in the tags so u can read it if you want??? i mean everyone is encouraged to read it but yKNOW. up to you guys <3

GENERIC VERSES

pre-undertale sans and papyrus grow up in hotland with gaster. sans works as his lab assistant/apprentice. gaster falls into the core, “dies”, the boys leave hotland and move to snowdin.

neutral/post-neutral in the flawed pacifist ending (aka the one that allows you to load from your last save and do the pacifist stuff), sans continues living in snowdin, life continues as normal until a reset happens. for all other neutral variants, see this post.

genocide for obvious reasons, stuff in this verse will only take place during the events of a genocide run, as sans dies. however, in a verse where this is not the first genocide run, certain events may change, including but not limited to an aborted genocide where frisk doesn’t come back after sans kills them, and life continues. this will look a lot like any other neutral run where papyrus is dead, but he’s more fucked up probably.

pacifist/post-pacifist the pacifist route goes as it does in canon. afterward, sans goes to the surface with everyone else. however, he makes frequent trips back underground, both to help other people move, and to visit those who decided to stay behind. 

abandoned pacifist/deltarune in a pacifist ending that occurs after many different routes and countless resets (many of which sans remembers), sans accepts the futility of seeking a real ending of any sort of happiness. he manages to find a way to leave his timeline. he does not believe that this is the end, and is afraid of what will happen if frisk resets again. he has never tried it before, and his method is purely theoretical, but he manages to take papyrus and escape the timeline before anything bad can happen. he leaves a seemingly peaceful and happy life on the surface, and ends up in the deltarune world. papyrus’ memories of their past life have somehow been erased (perhaps for the best), and sans is torn between relief that they seem to be safe now, and guilt for leaving everyone else behind without a word. he actually fakes his and papyrus’ deaths simply so that no one worries about them or tries to come looking. he’s not particularly happy, but he can’t find a way to go back either. he buys the grocery store and tries to find answers about why he ended up in this specific world that is so unlike the one he knows, and yet eerily familiar at the same time.

CHARACTER-SPECIFIC VERSES

vertebralheights 001 bo and sans meet as children when her father and gaster worked together. they hit it off, but after all the other skeletons leave hotland, she and sans lose contact. it’s only many years later that they reconnect quite by accident, and they don’t even recognize/remember each other until they find old notes and photos that jog their memories. they meet pre-undertale, and their relationship continues long into a positive neutral ending. as sans learns more about resets and their circumstances, he begins to do research, and bo helps him out. if this is a situation where alphys has disappeared, they move back to hotland and continue work there. eventually, pacifist happens or whatever, maybe they go to the surface, we haven’t really gotten that far.

vertebralheights 002 the origin is the same as in 001. however, it diverges into any ending where papyrus is dead. sans runs away to vertebral heights and stays with bo -- they come to the same conclusions about how they used to know each other. sans is determined to find a way to stop the resets - but only once papyrus is back alive. if this is also an ending where alphys is gone, they eventually go to the lab in this verse too.

vertebralheights 003 after bo’s parents die, she contacts sans and comes back to hotland. she stays with the bros and gaster up until gaster’s “death”, and when they do eventually part ways, they slowly lose touch but don’t forget about each other. they probably reconnect again post-pacifist when sans stumbles across VH.

cynicalborne 001 ( paired with mercy-heart 001 ) post-pacifist, sans and papyrus choose not to stay in the town the monsters have set up (though he and papyrus pay frequent visits), and move to nyc. sans buys a closed down bodega and runs it, living in the apartment above. sans also somewhat accidentally befriends a human named os. they somehow hit it off, and when he loses his job and apartment, papyrus invites him to stay with him and sans. as time goes on, sans and os completely fall in love. other than cryptic warnings from gaster that they should not be together and that sans needs to focus on finding a way to prevent further fresets, life is pretty good.

cynicalborne 002 sans and os still know each other - they’re even friends, but their lives are very separate. os is still working more or less as an arson for hire, and he attacks the monster town that’s popped up. sans finds out, and shit goes down. 

mercy-heart 001 post-pacifist, sans visits frisk frequently, though he does not live in the monster town on the surface. one day, chara manages to take control of frisk’s body and gives sans a cryptic warning about how this happiness won’t last. he laters finds out through them and through dream messages from gaster that the only way to prevent further resets is to take away the vessel the player is using -- aka destroy frisk beyond saving. make it so that they cannot reset or reload at all, by literally erasing them from existence. sans refuses to do this however, and tries to find a way to simply disconnect the player from frisk’s soul, or removing only the ability to save and reset.

mercy-heart 002 more or less the same, it’s post-pacifist, except sans does stay in the monster town and probably ends up getting together with toriel because his love for her knows no bounds. life is good, there’s no players interfering, they can just be a happy family, and sans can just help frisk cope with their own depression without worrying about everything else.

we-believe-in-you-crew 001 sans meets bonny when she arrives in snowdin -- due to his promise to toriel he decides not to hurt her. instead, he helps her as best he can, encouraging her to stay in snowdin with him and papyrus and not to venture too far away for fear she might be killed. they eventually catch feelings for each other, and while they both know it, they never do much about it. everything is very subtle with them - mainly because sans knows they’re living on borrowed time. when she eventually makes it to new home, sans mercy kills her in the judgement hall because he can’t stand the thought of her being killed by asgore. 

primaautomaworld / qvietstcrm 001 (these are just getting lumped together because they happen in the same verse.) sans and mettaton used to be childhood friends, back when alphys worked under gaster and mettaton visited frequently as a lil ghostie. he would often play with sans and papyrus, and he and sans even had lil crushes on each other, not that anything ever came of it. however, once mettaton became corporeal and moved on to becoming a star (and after gaster’s disappearance as well), they completely lost touch. it’s only much later that sans calls up mettaton and invites him to stop by snowdin. the reunion between all three of them is really really good, and mtt and sans start up the flirting hardcore until they finally do just get together. MEANWHILE IN PAPYRUS LAND, he starts going out with a siren from waterfall named storm. sans meets them one day during work, invites them back for dinner, storm and papyrus hit it off really well, and the rest is history. it’s really cute uwu  

fluersamour 001 sans and chara.... knew each other before she died. they would play together along with papyrus and asriel when gaster had meetings with asgore and brought the kiddos. they weren’t necessarily close friends, but they were pleasant. good companions. over the course of genocide routes, they’re constantly fighting and she’s killed sans multiple times. it’s a thing. but eventually, it stops. they reach a stalemate. they don’t want to kill each other anymore. and eventually, they start talking again. about the past. about her time in the void, and meeting gaster. it’s not exactly normal friendship but it’s.... something.

[canadian-buckbeaver]

A Touching Fear - Kustard

For the first time, Undertale and Underfell monsters came to the Surface together, somehow breaking the constant cycle of Resets that they had been forced to undergo at the hands of the seventh soul.  Now monsters and people are slowly learning to cope with one another, and their other versions of themselves. Comic and Red find each other drawn to each other through their love of puns and greasy food, but there is a rather large barrier in their way... Red suffers from haphephobia.  The fear of touch.

@silverryu25 - their prize for the follower draw!

UnderTale and UnderFell.  Two universes, both exactly the same, but so very different.  Two sides of the same coin. One was one of brightness and hope, of peace and love. The other of war and blood, EXP and hate. Like looking through a mirror and seeing an opposite reflection, of seeing how things could have been for the other.

The monster skeletons that inhibited these worlds only added further evidence to this claim. Both universes had two skeleton brothers – one tall, lanky and energetic, the other short and stout, and incredibly lazy.  They even had the same names as the other, and yet there were many unique differences that separated the two.  Tale Papyrus (Rus) was a sweet skeleton, one that had hoped and had dreams of joining the Royal Guard to help everyone, one who loved cooking and his brother. Upon first glance he seemed young and innocent, childish even, despite his twenty years. UnderFell Papyrus (or Edge) was completely dissimilar to him. Sharp mouthed, in every meaning of the word, he was a foul mouthed solider, one well-trained in magic and weaponry, the one who lead the Royal Guards. He lacked the brightness and hope that Rus had, he was one who had seen dust and had dusted. He was the one who had been forced to kill in order to survive.

The Sanses were the same way, but more similar. Red of Fell was angry and foul mouthed, Comic often describing him as a snappy Chihuahua, but at least he had the LV to back up his bark. Comic was more laid-back, but perhaps that was because his universe allowed him to slack off.  One who didn’t need to be constantly on alert.

Fell and Tale. Two completely different universes, but both bound by the same fate. Monster races who were sealed beneath the Surface after the Monster-Human war, they had both awaited the falling of the seventh human, the seventh child. The child who would clear the Underground...

The Determined soul with the power to Reset.

They remained stuck in this constant cycle for countless resets, both blissfully unaware of the other's existence until the fated soul finally brought them to the Surface... for the last time. During this journey both peaceful Frisks, as if by fate, released the monsters at the same time. The portals aligned and Tale and Fell met for the first time upon the Surface, meeting each other under the setting sun.

It was not love at first sight. Humans, after centuries of ignorance, were not as accepting to the monsters as the ambassadors had hoped. They had worried over magical abilities, racial profiling, and, particularly from the Fell monsters, revenge for being locked up for so long. As the humans debated to what to do with them, Tale and Fell monsters were housed together, and even worked similar jobs.  They had no break from the other.  Every time they turned a corner, went shopping or sneezed, there was a double.  Arguments and fights were common, often the Fells trying to see what they could get away with and the Tales standing up for their beliefs.  Just as it seemed like they were on the cusp of a gang war, something clicked with the monsters and things returned to peace...

Well.... as peaceful as life on the Surface is.  We truly know how un-peaceful these days and nights are.

But, let us return to our favourite skeletons....

Surprisingly, it was the skeletons that were the first to develop any sort of friendship with one another. Rus had found a Papyrus that was amazingly cool and confident, one who he could look up to, was already in the Royal Guard, could cook and knew more than just one special attack. He idolized Edge, and Edge, one who thrived off all the attention, allowed him to worship the ground he walked on.  It was common to see Rus following Edge like a lost puppy, as Edge let him quietly adore him.  The Sanses enjoyed greasy food and those terrible and degrading puns, the more terrible, the better.  They would laze around, a bag of Grillby’s best food nestled between them, and would pun or nap the day away.

Eventually these lazy days turned to lazy nights, puns turned to serious talks of stars and resets, and the days at home changed turned to dates in coffee shops, on the hill overlooking the town, or even walks through the planetarium.  To no one’s surprise but their own, they were soon dating.  No dating manual required, the sparks and conversation flowed better than their respective condiments.

There was just one problem though.

The world of UnderFell, as previously explained, was a rough world.  One that had no mercy to its subjects.  Monsters would turn each other in a blink of an eye, drunk to the effects of LV and EXP, drunk to what power brought to them.  Status, gold, mates, resources… the list went on.  The weak, sick, vulnerable or trusting made easy targets for the others looking to climb to status quo.  “Kill or be killed” was its motto.  You couldn’t trust anyone, not even family, out of fear that you would die by their hands, your dust accelerating their own agenda.  Red, as a result, was untrusting of others the best of times.  As a mere 1 HP monster, he had been considered an easy target by many rogue monsters.  Something that could be used to indirectly attack his brother, thus wounding the Royal Guards.  Thus, growing up in UnderFell and in the multiple resets, he had learned to be weary, check every corner, to thoroughly search the darkness for enemies.  He had learned to be “the bad guy”.  Take no prisoners, dust everyone that he crossed in case they attempted their form of revenge.  Any food could be potentially poisoned so nothing was eaten until everything had been checked over carefully.  Any friendly hello could be the beginning of a surprise attack or a diversion.  Any second glance that was given to them could be someone sizing them up, preparing for battle.  Frisk use of the Resets hadn’t helped Red’s fragile trust either.  Some runs she would bring them to the Surface, others Red would see her slaughter everyone, even his brother.  He had stood in the Judgement Hall more times than Comic had, had painted the hall red with her blood until the smell of meat and rust was permanently written into its code.

Red’s greatest downfall his greatest weakness, was that he suffered from haphephobia – the fear of being touched.

* * * * *

Comic could still remember the first time that he discovered this condition.  It was still in their early days, back when they weren’t quite friends but more than acquaintances, Red and him sitting on the couch, watching his Mettaton being interviewed by one of the many talk show hosts on the Surface.  As he was finally beginning to perform one of his more well-known songs, Red had sighed and turned to Comic.  “man.  i would have expected him to play some heavy metal, not this fucking hip hop/pop shit.”

It took Comic a moment to recognize the pun but soon he was snorting like an idiot.  “nice one.” he said, gently clapping Red on his back, congratulating him.

Red had frozen, seemingly blue screening in front of Comic’s eyes.  The eye lights in his sockets shrank to the size of needles, but somehow the magic was burning even brighter, tears forming in his sockets.  Pale red sweat began to bead off of his skull, all the bones in his body beginning to shudder and twitch.  Hyperventilating, his ribs shuddering, he curled in on himself, covering his skull and making himself as small as possible.  In front of Comic’s eyes, he seemed to become half his size.  “burns…” he had whispered to himself, “it burns…”  Comic couldn’t believe it.  With such a small, innocent touch he had reduced the strong, kick ass monster to tears, quivering like a baby bones.

It had taken what felt like forever to completely calm Red down, Comic wasn’t sure how he managed to, and even longer to convince him to explain the problem from him.  “why didn’t you just tell me?” Comic asked gently, gripping his shorts to avoid trying to comfort him as he would Rus.  “i would have never touched you and this would have never happened.”

“listen, this fucking problem is a weakness.  my weakness.  i can’t let everyone know about it otherwise everyone would take fucking advantage of it.” Red told him as he looked away.  “you’ll be just like Boss.  his soul is in the right place, but he keeps trying to toughen me up.  get me past my issues.  randomly touching me, trying to help me wash the crack in my skull, and the like.  i don’t need more of that ‘help’.  this is something that i need to work on in my own time.  all you would want to do is help, it is in your Tale code after all.” he snapped.  He knew it was unfair that he was treating Comic as such, but he had just reveled a huge weakness, one that could result in his destruction.

Comic swallowed hard.  “no.” he firmly said, causing Red to look at him, giving him an annoyed look.  “well, you’re about half right.  this is your anxiety, you know what makes it better, how you want it to be treated.  and yes, i would like to help you.  i’ll be here for you, for whatever you need.  but i won’t touch you until you are ready, or until you tell me to be touched.” Comic said, stuffing his hands in his own pockets and looking Red over in a new light.  It suddenly made sense for him.  The entire skeleton dressed, acted and stood in a way that screamed ‘stay back and don’t fucking touch me!’.  What better way than to camouflage his own weakness?  The golden fang, once labeled as edgy, Comic realized was slightly too long for Red.  It stuck out of his jaw at an odd angle, protruding past the bottom jaw, like someone couldn’t measure the length or angle properly before positioning it in place.  His jacket was too big, like someone couldn’t measure him properly before making him clothing to wear.  And the crack in his skull had never healed, perhaps no one was allowed near it?  

Red was staring at Comic with a slightly stupefied expression.  His eyes were large and sparkling, his damaged skull once again white.  Comic began to feel slightly uncomfortable with the scrutiny.  “… do i have something on my face?” he asked.

The Fell monster shook himself before glaring back at Comic.  “i’m perfectly fine working it out on my own.  i don’t need to be babysat.” He spat again, clutching at his knees.

Comic shrugged his shoulders at him, as if trying to shrug off the accusation.  “who said that i was babysitting?  after all, we both know that i am far too lazy for that.” Comic told him.  “all i am saying is that, as your friend and ally, i am here to support you.  i won’t force touch you or spew facts or figures or treatments.  all i am saying is that you know where i’m at if you do need help.”

He returned his attention back to the TV, now painfully aware of where his body was in comparison to Red’s.  After a while, Red too had returned half of his attention between the TV and Comic, watching him out of the corner of his socket.  His extended life in Fellverse told him to be careful, weary.  That Comic would do what he thought was best to help Red, no matter the cost

Yet Comic did nothing.  He continued on like nothing had happened, like Red hadn’t had an outburst.  Like Red hadn’t shown him a major weakness.  Nor did he do anything the next day.  Or the next.  Red could only notice one, single change.  Comic seemed to be more cautious and aware of where he was in comparison to Red.  He still sat next to Red at the table or on the couch, but he made sure that there was a respectful distance between them.  Nothing that would crowd Red, causing him to suffocate, nor anything that was too far away to be overly cautious.

That was the first time that Red had ever felt intrigued by the other version of him.

* * * * *

As they figuratively danced together, Comic never treated him like a lesser being, or like he was special.  He didn’t force any touches, instead allowing Red to decide when he wanted to be touched.  He also made sure that he didn’t sit too far away from Red, not giving him an unnecessarily wide berth like he was contagious.  Nor did he demand any exchanges in return for “complying” with his wishes.  That alone was unheard of.

No… if Red had to guess, it was almost like Comic had dealt with something similar in the past.  If he had, he didn’t tell Red about it.  And Red knew better than to press.  Slowly Red found himself becoming more comfortable with Comic.  His guard slowly lowered, and he found himself enjoying spending time with Comic, even going out of his way to hang out with Comic.  Skipping naps, skipping Grillby’s for food, or spending their breaks together.  Slowly and surely a bond developed between the two of them.  Perhaps it was the natural curiosity of how their universes changed them, but perhaps it was something more?

On one hand Red was almost thankful for that little outburst.  It had allowed Comic and him to grow together, even allowing Red to drop some of his natural guard.  He began to realize that Comic was a true ally, not someone who was slowly infiltrating him and his brother.  He was, dare he say, a real friend?  It was almost odd for Red to have someone like that in his life.

Red found himself drawn to Comic.  Perhaps in the way that his brother would say “romantically”?  But that should have been impossible.  He was a Fell through and through.  He shouldn’t be trusting anyone this much.  And who would ever like him with this condition?  This paralyzing fear of the slightest touch?

Yet, around Comic, he almost found that he didn’t feel his fear as before.  The thought of being touched, especially around Comic, did not cause him to feel hot or pain.  He was safe here, safe with him.  Comic wouldn’t betray him…

Comic cared about him.

Months slowly passed, and the monsters slowly adjusted to their new daily lives on the Surface.  Fewer fights, fewer interactions with humans.  It seemed like the monsters were truly adapting to their new home, their new situation, their new jobs and neighbours.  They began to feel and act more like a real community, especially with their two, TWO, incredible ambassadors on their side, fighting for their rights.  Edge of all monsters was no different.  He behaved more calmly, less stressed and less likely to jump down your throat if you looked at him the wrong way.  His sockets had softened and he had even taken to laughing occasionally.  Though that could be attributed to the little blue skeleton that was named Berry.  Yes, while they were on the Surface, another underworld was freed.  UnderSwap.  If the Fells were confused by the Tale monsters, they were baffled by Swap.  How could such creatures survive, creatures that were so sickeningly sweet and innocent?  The Papyrus of this universe drank honey for Asgore’s sake!

Yet, it was nothing to what Edge had seen change in Red.  Red… he was like a totally different monster.  He was more open and relaxed around humans and other monsters, not quite as uptight and prickly.  He still didn’t like to be touched or if someone invaded his personal space, but he was slightly better.  Especially around Comic.  Around Comic, Red could almost be mistaken for a normal monster.  Like the horrors of UnderFell had never occurred, the constant cycle of Resets never took place – yes, Edge knew about those now (and as a result he was keeping a fair distance from their Frisk for the next millennia), like their Gaster had never existed.  

Red still had his panic attacks, but they were slowly becoming less severe and less in frequency. Comic had truly been a huge help.  As much as Red had tried to reject Comic’s help, he had somehow snuck in there.

His heart had started to open to him.  Although he still hated and feared touches, he found that occasionally, very occasionally, he could handle some light touches.  Red would reach out to Comic and gently take his hand, nudging him closer to him.  He could slap his back in jest, cackling at a new pun.  Or, and these were most magical of all, he would wake up from a nap on the couch, finding himself slumped against Comic’s shoulder.

This particular day was turning out like no other.  Not that Red had a problem with that.  Comic had come over after work and they had spent the evening together.  They had ordered pizza and drank their favourite condiments they talked and punned and laughed the night away.  Red could feel himself relaxing, allowing himself to come closer to Comic, slowly opening up to him.  This was the part of the day that he had truly become to look forward to.  After supper they climbed up on the couch and turned on the TV.   There was a special, the MTTs of all three worlds were coming together for an hour special, showing the world what talents that they could offer.

Halfway through the program Comic had nodded off, his sockets slowly lidding shut and his breathing deepening.  Red watched as he fell against the back of the couch, resting.  Red chuckled, gently tossing the blanket over him and turning back to the TV.  This special was definitely more on the boring end.  Perhaps there was too much demanding robot ass in it.

* * * * *

Comic couldn’t move.  He was transfixed at the sight in front of him.  Papyrus seemingly standing alone in a snowy fields, arms outstretched.  The snow was heavy, the wind whipping it up to a frenzy.  Sans could hardly see who was standing across from his brother.

A small child, with glowing red eyes, covered in grey dust and a broken knife in their hand.  They stared at Papyrus with empty, unfeeling eyes.  Not saying a word, just staring…

But Sans knew that stare.  It was the face of a killer.

“… YOUR LIFE IS GOING DOWN A DANGEROUS PATH!” Comic happened to overhear him say to the child.

Oh no… oh no no no no no no no…!

Comic began to run to Papyrus.  He could save him yet!  He had seen this before, he knew what was coming.  He could save him, he could save him…

The child took a step towards him.

WHY WEREN’T HIS FEET MOVING FASTER?

As he watched, Paps’ face changed to Red.  The edgy skeleton with the glinting gold tooth, cowering before the child.  “don’t touch me, don’t touch me…” he pleaded, his red eye lights growing large and shiny.

The child took another step.

Comic began to breathe heavily, pleading with whatever god or star was out there that he could reach them in time, that he could help Red.  For star’s sake, Red was his friend!  He needed to do something!

The child took another step.

He needed to-

* * * * *

“COMIC!  WAKE UP!” a voice shattered the dreamscape into tiny silvers of colour, destroying the image in front of him.  No more child, no more cowering Red or forgiving Papyrus.  There was a whirlwind of sight and sound and colour and…

Red was shaking him.  “WAKE UP!  IT’S JUST A FUCKING NIGHTMARE!”

Comic took a shuddering breath in, his pupils widening and desperately glancing around.  This wasn’t the house in Snowdin.  The house he and his brother had shared was smaller, more cramped.  This was larger, more open, and they had never had a suit of armour in the front doorway…

The red skeleton stopped shaking him.  “thank Asgore that you woke up…” he said, his hands slowly trailing down Comic’s sides.  “i now know what my brother goes through when i have them… stars that was terrifying…”

Red continued to talk and babble, his voice calm and deep, slowly bringing Comic back into the present world.  Red seemed to know exactly what Comic needed after his nightmare.  Reassurance and calming, slowly pulling him out of the drudges of the dream.  His soul began to slow, his sweat and tears stopped, and he began to focus again.

There was one thing that he couldn’t get past though.

“Red… you’re… you’re touching me…” Comic told him, speaking softly, trying not to break his spell.

“yeah… yeah i suppose i am.” Red said, smiling slightly.  “but don’t you get fucking used to it!” he said in his signature roughness.

Comic couldn’t help it.  He chuckled softly, wiping the remains of tears from his eyes.  “course not Red.  but this is a touching moment after all.”

Red groaned.

[fitofpaige17]

I burned the last few things I had received from you today. Gifts that I held onto because I hoped I still meant something to you. I've finally come to the realization that I don't, and it's beginning to feel less like pain, and more like comfort. I could've just tossed them like I did with the last few things I had gotten from you. The scarf you made went to goodwill, and I hope someone is happy with it. The letters and pins were recycled, but there were still a few things I kept, including my most treasured possession from you, a friendship bracelet you had made for each of us. The colors represented the souls from Undertale, which was what had brought us all together. I couldn't vring myself to wear it, but I couldn't get rid of it... until today. Today I realized that I haven't cried over you, or our other 'friends', in over a month now. Idk if I'll ever be over it, but I'm sure as hell getting better. I don't need to keep anything from you any more, and once I finish THIAS, I feel like I'll have let go completely. This probably seems childish, but it is a coping mechanism for ME. You'll probably never see this, and if you do, you'll probably think "man, I dodged a bullet there. This bitch is crazy."... and I might be a little crazy, but I know my worth now. I deserve friends who will actually talk things out with me instead of deserting me. I deserve friends who WANT to be my friend, despite my flaws. I know I can ve overbearing, but I deserve someone who will calmly let me know when they've reached their limits instead of bottling it up until they feel the need to push me away. I deserve people who say they love me and absolutely mean it. I'll slowly push away the memories, good and bad, until you're eventually an afterthought of one really fun summer. But you'll stay an afterthought, and I'm excited for that day. Because I deserve to be happy.

[nighttimepixels]

hello mun, you're a girl right? do you have a boyfriend or so or anything? how do you balance being so into undertale/the skeletons with having that..? are there ever any weird questions or feelings...??

yeah, i’m definitively of the lady persuasion, ahaha.

in any case, currently, there’s no stress of ‘balancing’ or ‘addressing’ anything of that variety. truth be told, i’m of the mindset that being ‘into’ the skelebros (or any other characters) is quite like having any other fantasy, really - ideally, your s/o should understand that it is a fantasy situation, that (as much as we joke about ‘sins crawling on our backs) it’s not actually a terrible thing to feel so connected and drawn to these (or other) characters. whether for coping reasons or for general ‘i love these characters so incredibly much oh gods’, it’s not something that’s wrong. if you have an s/o that’s giving you a lot of crap for loving these characters, that’s something that i’d recommend trying to talk to them about. life and relationships are complicated as hell, but anything healthy involves lots of communication. if your s/o is still uncomfortable (or outright rude), then it may be a good opportunity to talk together about what’s important to you both, what your lines are, and how that may affect your relationship and whether you both are a good match as you are now. it’s hard to address, but really important in the long run.

honestly, when i first got into undertale, i was in a relationship. a decently long one at that point, too. he never… connected to it, or to games really across the board for the most part. that’s no deal breaker, of course. the problem came about… half a year later, about 4 and a half years into our relationship. after years of deteriorating self-worth, worsening depression, increasing (unrelated) physical health issues, loss of friends and clear support systems, and the wakeup call that was working a certain job that he had no access to, i finally realized that he had been… emotionally abusive. for nearly the entire relationship.

… despite what dramatic tv shows may portray, realizing you’re in that sort of relationship isn’t necessarily a ‘snap’ moment. if the relationship is purely emotionally abusive, even your friends may not recognize it, because there’s little chance of ‘physical’ harm coming from it, at least from an outside source. for me it was… it was like a dam finally breaking. it started with cracks, with finally recognizing how off some things he’d do and say felt. they slowly spread even as the result of the relationship had me trying to rationalize it and blame myself instead… over the following few months, i realized that he had effectively cut me off from almost every friendship i had that was purely my own (ie, wasn’t ‘his’ first and foremost), he had shamed me into feeling guilty about needing time and space of my own on occasion (we had been living together for a couple years by then), made me feel guilty for not liking the shows/etc he liked, made me feel like any and all work i did never measured up to his own, made it to where only his depression was ‘true’ depression, to where any few expressed negative feelings of mine were shallow and exhausting, and… well, i’ll leave it at that i still have memory problems and a strong uneasiness over my own recollection of things because he had been gaslighting me for years. in just under 2 weeks now it will be a full year from when i ended things with him, but… it’s never easy, and it just takes time to deal with it all. i’m taking steps of my own, and have been working hard to get to a better place and trust myself, but know that if you are in a tough situation, you’re not alone - you’re never alone.

ah, i don’t mean to digress… my point is, if you have an s/o that’s making you feel… uncomfortable, or ashamed of something that you like, it’s so important to talk to them about it. since i don’t know your situation (if you do have one), i cannot say for sure on either side - if your gut is telling you something is wrong with the situation, please trust it, at least enough to try to talk about it and to trust that your feelings are valid. they may be coming from a different experience, and their feelings can be completely valid too! that’s why it’s so, so important to talk about anything that’s making either of you uncomfortable. you’ll never know until you try and work through it together - and it may take a few tries and ongoing effort on this topic specifically, depending on the situation. there’s a lot of great resources online for facilitating those conversations too, if you’re uncomfortable or unsure of how to do it (trust me, i know how scary they can be). it’s always okay to seek help, whether professional or just turning to a friend you can trust. i know i wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for the one friend he hadn’t been able to estrange me from, and for my sister. 

i’ll say it one more time - sweetheart, your feelings are valid. whether it ends up being a misunderstanding or just a good conversation you need to have, or whether it ends up being something that helps you determine that your relationship may not be good for the long term as hard as it may be, 

[alpha-centari27]

Fanfic: “Stuck”

:wave: I occasionally write fanfiction and sometimes I even finish my project and release it for people to read.

Fandom: Undertale

Title: “Stuck“

Characters: “Hope“ / “Hopeless“ and “Wings“ mostly.

Content / Trigger Warnings: Some swearing and mention of self harm.

Summary: This is inspired by the metal pipe discourse on hopxlcss’s blog a few months back.

Pipe discourse can be found: here, here, here, here, here and here.

Obligatory Disclaimer: Undertale is the property of Toby Fox. 

“Hope” / “Hopeless” belongs to @hopxlcss and Wings belongs to Ziz @unseenbutnotgone and @synensis  .

Notes:  Thoughts are in bold to distinguish them from dialogue and description.

Wings = Wings and because Hope does not like his fragment name I refer to him as Gaster mostly.  I think Wings calls him by his fragment name once.

If you don’t have anything nice to say or at least anything constructive don’t say anything at all.

Fanfic is hidden behind cut.

Reading Start!

How did he let this happen?  Of all the compromising and undignified predicaments to be caught up in, having one's tongue stuck to a frozen metal pipe in a place where such a thing should not exist had to be the most embarrassing experience of his entire existence--dead or alive.   "HEH..."  He breathes.  The ordeal is not over.  He is not free of his imprisonment, yet.  He chides himself on letting his thoughts turn to self pity. IT DOES NOT MATTER.  WHAT MATTERS IS GETTING UNSTUCK.  But what more is there to try?  Teleportation: failure.  De-materializing his tongue: failure.  Breaking the pole just above and below the points where his tongue is stuck would allow him to move freely, but create a new problem of having an unsupported chunk of metal stuck to his tongue.

Using his magical attacks poses the same problem with some additional risks.  His blasters were not exactly surgical instruments designed for precision cutting.   And despite his formidable size and strength, physical momentum alone does not seem to be enough to peel his tongue from the pipe.  From what his lone eye allows him to see the point at which his tongue first makes contact with the pipe is very close to his jaw.  If he had more length to work with he could generate more force.   Then a thought occurred to him.  If by some means he could warm his tongue or the surface of the metal, surely he could be freed--but how!? 

HMMM...  THERE MUST BE A SOLUTION.  WHAT HAVE I NOT THOUGHT OF?  THERE HAS TO BE A WAY.  I HAVE MY MAGIC AND MY BODY TO WORK WITH--   His thought processes came to a screeching halt.  He could feel it.  He was no longer alone and there was more than one. "Oh my god!" "Is that him?" "Yeah, it's him alright.  Big.  Bad.  And ugly." "He's stuck to a metal pipe!"  Someone chuckled.  It sounded like the voices were to his right, his blind side.  Gaster muttered a curse.  Just what he needed spectators to his humiliation. 

HOW DID THEY FIND ME?  NEVER MIND.  Their presence was an unneeded distraction, drowning out his ability to think clearly. "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!?"  More than anything he wanted to turn his head to properly threaten them, but he could only rotate his head a few degrees before reaching a dead stop. "We're looking at you of course." "Is this a trick?  Is he really stuck?" "Do you really want to find out?  Even now he kinda scares me." "Yeah, I think so." "We could poke him with a bone from a safe distance." "Serves him right, the bastard." "ALL OF YOU CAN GO FUCK OFF!"  He roared.   "No need to be rude." "Maybe you should being nicer to us seeing as you're stuck.  We could help you, ya know.  Not that you deserve it."

"BY THE NON-EXISTENT GODS..."  Their senseless chatter and laughter was beginning to give him a headache.   "Guys maybe we should stop." "Do what you want.  I got an idea."  A flash of light.  First one, then three, then five in quick succession and they kept on coming.   "ARE YOU TAKING MY PICTURE!?"  He asked in disbelief.  Although he could not directly see the flashing what he saw out of the corner of his eye and reflecting off the metal pipe was more than enough.  A perfectly angled flash met his gaze dead on, blinding him.  "STOP!"  He closed his eye and yet he could see spots and he could still see the flashing though it was now dimmed.  He covered his eye with the crook of his elbow which dimmed the flashing more.  "HOW MANY DAMN PICTURES DO YOU NEED!?  IS THIS NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU!?  YOU SADISTIC FUCKS!  LEAVE!   LEAVE ME BE!"  The brightness of the flashing was started to increase again.  Were they moving closer?  THAT DOES IT.  He turns to face his tormentors, or at least as much as his situation allows him to.  His eye twitches from the flashing, but he does not turn away.  "I WILL KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!"  He bellowed.  In an instant he materialized four Gaster Blasters and laid waste to the area.  A barrage of consecutive blasts shook the level plain.  He heard a collective gasp and then everything went silent.  The blasters continued to fire until he was satisfied and willed them away.  

It had been a while since circumstances transpired to make him this angry.  He needed to rest and catch his breathe.  He learned his weight against the pole, it was better than nothing. Sufficiently recovered and alone at last with his thoughts he could think uninterrupted and undisturbed. "FUCK." His teeth painfully pinched his tongue.  Now that he thought of it, it was amazing that his tongue did not profusely bleed every time he summoned it.  Maybe it did happen, but he rarely noticed it because the cuts were always clean because of the sharpness of his triangular teeth.   PINCH?  CUT?  THAT'S IT...  AS UNPLEASANT AS IT SOUNDS I COULD BITE MY TONGUE OFF.  IF I DO THIS RIGHT IT SHOULD BE QUICK.   PAINLESS?  AT FIRST THE PAIN WILL NOT BE IMMEDIATE.  IN THE SECONDS AND MINUTES FOLLOWING IT WILL PROBABLY BE EXCRUCIATINGLY PAINFUL.  HEH...   NOTHING THAT SOME ALCOHOL CANNOT FIX.  IT'S WORTH A SHOT.  I DO NOT HAVE ANY OTHER OPTIONS TO WORK WITH CURRENTLY.  ON THE COUNT OF THREE...   ONE...  TWO... "OH DEAR."  A voice called.

I THOUGHT I TOLD THEM TO GO FUCK OFF.  "WHO'S THERE?"   "OH, IT'S ONLY ME."  It was not a Sans or Papyrus who stepped into his line of sight, but another Gaster who went by the fragment name: "Wings."   "YOU LOOK A LITTLE STUCK MY FRIEND."  He said, pleasantly.   "OBVIOUSLY.  AND I AM NO--"  He stopped.  Wings was holding something most peculiar and out of place.  "WHAT IS THAT?"  He motioned with his hand pointing at the ceramic cup.  The shorter skeleton shrugged, a small smile tugging at the edges of his face.       "I THINK A WARM CUP OF TEA CAN REMEDY THE SITUATION." "TEA?" "I DO NOT MEAN FOR YOU TO DRINK THIS, BUT TO APPLY IT TO YOUR TONGUE.  I THINK THIS SHOULD DO THE TRICK, UNLESS YOU ARE STUCK HERE BY MEANS OF A CHEMICAL ADHESIVE, OR SOME OTHER METHOD--" "BY ALL MY OBSERVATIONS THE PIPE IS INDEED FROZEN." "HEHE...IT'S FUNNY I JUST HAPPENED TO BE MAKING SOME TEA WHEN--" "I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR EXPLANATION.  IF YOUR INTENT IS TO FREE ME THEN DO IT."   "I AM GOING TO STEP CLOSER NOW, IF THAT IS OK WITH YOU."   "AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT TOUCH ME."  Wings gave a curt nod and slowly advanced.  True to his word he did not lay a hand on him.  He merely let his fingers trail over the surface of the pipe. "THE PIPE IS DEFINITELY FROZEN.  THIS SHOULD WORK."

"ABSOLUTELY ASTOUNDING.  FROZEN PIPE IS VERIFIED TO BE FROZEN.  GIVE ME THAT!"  Gaster reached for the ceramic cup with the intent of ripping it away from Wings.  His hand missed the mark and the cup fell, spilling it's contents.  Wings carefully bent down to pick up the still intact cup. "HUH...  YOU STARTLED ME.  I-I AM A-AFRAID A PUDDLE OF TEA ON THE GROUND IS OF NO USE TO EITHER OF U-US."   "NO SHIT.  MY HEAD...FEELS LIKE IT IS GOING TO SPLIT OPEN."  Gaster expected Wings to say something, but when he looked around he was no where in sight.  "HE'S GONE."  He heavily sighed.  As much as he wanted to enjoy the freedom of movement again having two sources of pain to cope with was more than he felt capable of handling at the moment.  The headache that had blossomed into a migraine was making him feel light headed and like he would pass out.  He just had to grit his teeth and bare it.  It would pass sooner or later.  It may take be a while, but his pain would end and he could move forward with what needed to be done.   "HOPE?  ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"  The voice startled him, prompting Gaster to stand up straighter and glance around.  It was Wings, he had returned. "THAT IS NOT MY--WHATEVER."  He huffed.  "I'M FINE."  HE CAME BACK?  WHY?  "ANOTHER CUP OF TEA?"  Wings meekly smiled. "I AM AFRAID I LET THE WATER GET TOO HOT.  WE WILL NEED TO WAIT AND LET IT COOL.  I DO NOT EXPECT YOU WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF I BURNED YOUR TONGUE.  IF I MAY ASK HOW DID YOU--" "NO, YOU MAY NOT." "OK.  HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?" "MY HEAD IS KILLING ME.  STOP TALKING, OR I WILL GO BACK TO MY OTHER PLAN AND BITE MY TONGUE OFF." "DON'T DO THAT, PLEASE.  I WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO HURT YOURSELF."

"WHY THE FUCK DO YOU CARE?  AND IT'S NOT LIKE I HAVE A LOT OF OTHER CHOICES TO CHOOSE FROM." "HMMM...  YOUR HANDS ARE FREE.  AND IF YOU HAVE YOUR PHONE ON YOU, YOU COULD HAVE MADE A POST ON UNDERNET ASKING FOR HELP." "HEH... I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THEY FOUND ME, BUT A GROUP OF MISCREANTS CAME BY TO LAUGH AT AND TAKE PICTURES OF MY HUMILIATION.  WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING SOMEHOW I AM FOUND AND SUBJECTED TO IDIOT'S STUPIDITY AND JUDGEMENT.  YOU HONESTLY THINK IF I ASKED THAT SOMEONE WOULD COME TO MY AID?" "YES. I KNOW I WOULD.  I AM HERE.  THE ONLY REASON I LEFT WAS TO GET MORE WARM WATER.  I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING THAN JUST LEAVING LIKE I DID." "IT DOESN'T MATTER."  Wings chuckled.

"YOU'RE RIGHT.  BECAUSE WHAT MATTERS IS THAT I AM HERE NOW."  Wings dipped a finger into the ceramic cup.  "AH, I THINK THE WATER HAS COOLED ENOUGH.  NOT TOO HOT AND NOT TOO COLD."  Taking carefully measured steps Wings moved closer to his position.  "THIS WILL ALL BE OVER IN A SECOND."  Wings lifted and tilted the cup pouring a small amount of water onto the top of Gaster's tongue.  He repeated the process two more times until the cup was emptied.  Effortlessly Gaster was able to gradually pull his tongue away from the pipe.  Having his tongue back in his mouth felt, odd, but not unexpected.  The sensation would pass and be forgotten about in time.   "ARE YOU EXPECTING ME TO SAY SOMETHING?" "WELL, A THANK YOU, WOULD BE THE POLITE THING TO SAY, BUT I AM NOT EXPECTING YOU TO SAY IT.  WE SHOULD HELP EACH OTHER BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO, NOT BECAUSE WE ARE GETTING SOMETHING IN RETURN." "HEH..." It was more than tempting to reply with a 'FUCK YOU' yet he chose not to.  Without saying a word he walked away and when he felt ready teleported to his part of the void--where he belonged.

888888888888888888888888 When Hope teleported, Wings examined the pipe more closely.  "HMMM...  WHO PUT THIS HERE?"  He muttered to himself, once again running a hand along the length of the pipe. "AND WHY DID YOU GET STUCK?  SOME SORT OF PRANK PERHAPS? MAYBE ONE OF THESE DAYS WE CAN SIT DOWN AND TALK OPENLY WITHOUT THE DEFENSIVE POSTURING.  I WONDER WHAT NESS MUST THINK OF ALL THIS?"  With that final thought Wings teleported back to his home in the void. 888888888888888888888888 The metal pipe in the void remained standing.  A curious oddity in a strange landscape. 

A long figure emerged out of the perpetual darkness.   He could not stop himself from laughing when staring at the metal pipe.  It was a clever plan and it worked.  He is kind, but he will fight back to defend himself.  "I CAN FIGHT YOU--WITHOUT ACTUALLY FIGHTING YOU.  LET THAT BE A LESSON TO YOU."  Through the use of his magic Kindness made the pipe disappear. 88888888888888888888888

Writer Notes:

1) Not being familiar with all version of Sans, Papyrus and Gaster I decided it would be a lot less hassle to leave the identities of Hope’s tormentors ambiguous.

2) If people don’t get the ending.  I like to think that Hope and Kindness got into some sort of argument that escalated into a physical fight and binding Hope to the pipe was Ness’s idea of a non-violent solution.  I also like to think that Ness may have been the one to anonymously tip of Wings about Hope’s plight.  But it’s also possible a guilt ridden Sans, Papyrus or Gaster told Wings about what they saw.  As to how the “miscreants“ found Hope in the first place?  Maybe that was also Kindness’s doing?

3) I probably could have put in some more descriptive details in places, but I wanted to try to keep things simple.  And unless the details are pivotal to the plot, character interaction, etc why put them in?  I think the dialogue back and forth between Wings and Hope speaks for itself.

4) I don’t really know what the rules are concerning void physics and magic.  You could argue that Hope ought to be able to unsummon his tongue--problem solved, but the fact that it is in contact with something else complicates this, or at least in my opinion.  And if Hope did bite off his tongue...  I am unsure if the damage done would be permanent, if his tongue could be healed and regenerate on it’s own or if he could outright generate a new, undamaged one.

Hope you enjoyed this for what it was!  I have a fuck ass long Wings x Void fanfic that has been sitting in my gmail account as a draft for almost a year that I would eventually like to finish.  And I have a few other shorter pieces, around the length of this one that I have started, but am having a hard time finishing.