#he refuses to be as XGaster wants him to be

[buubonita]

Can u see it?

[twinribbonz]

Project: Dragon.

Dragons used to inhabit the multiverse but they all but disappeared. Most believed that they returned to their true home of origin.

That was until he found the last remaining dragon. He captured the dragon and contained it in the confines of the alternate universe he created.

The shining dragon is pure perfection in his eyes. He could use it to achieve his goal.

Yet, it refused to obey any of his orders. It lashed out against him at any opportunity.

XGaster was not about to give up. If it would not cooperate with him. He’ll just seal the dragon inside the body of one of his creations. The creation would obtain the power of the shining dragon.

Sealing the dragon within his oldest son, Sans. Even with that method, the dragon still rebelled against XGaster. Going dormant inside Sans made XGaster furious.

It was deemed a failure.

Sans tried to tell anyone about the shining dragon speaking to him. But no one believed him at all. Restating the legend of the dragons disappearing after the war to him countless times.

He all but gave up. The dragon still continued to talk to him.

As he grew up, more draconic features started to appear on him. His brother Papyrus thought it was weird that Sans got these and he did not. XGaster just brushed it off and declared it was nothing important.

All of Xtale happens.

Sever (XChara) immediately freaks out when they hear the Shining Dragon speak for the first time. Decussate exclaims back that he has been saying this for years. And the first person to believe him is them.

Ink appears and befriends Decussate. Rambling about the wider multiverse to him.

Ink recounts the legend of the shining dragon to the duo. How it fought against Ragnarok and torn the multiverse asunder. The dragons disappeared after the shining dragon died. Thanks to its effort, the multiverse was saved from Ragnarok.

Decussate confronts the dragon who resides in his body. Sever demands its true identity. The Shining Dragon finally tells its host about XGaster’s plan to use its power. It apologies for how it acted back in Xtale.

Error attacks at that very moment, binding Decussate and Sever’s soul in strings. Paralyzed in fear, the Shining Dragon tells Decussate to use its power to break free.

Transforming into the dragon itself and fighting back against Error. Who is utterly delighted to see another dragon. He thought he managed to destroy the remaining draconic abominations that went into hiding. But he falls back after sustaining severe wounds.

Ink arrives late on the scene, discovering the Shining dragon rampaging. It collapsed after exhausting itself. Decussate is terrified that he lost control like that. Sever reprimands him for trusting such a power.

Decussate learns of the dracomachina from Ink. Dracomachina are artificial dragons awaken from their deep slumber to hunt down the Shining dragon.

This ultimately causes Decussate to panic. He couldn’t even control the dragon’s power. How is he supposed to fight off these dracomachina.

Being calmed down by Ink’s suggestion of giving him something that could suppress the power. Decussate is given belts that he is supposed to wear. But said belts dig into his bones which causes him to complain. Ink whips up a new outfit for him to wear. Consisting of many layers to pad Decussate from the belts.

Sever insults the belts for looking tacky and gaudy. Decussate disagrees and says he looks awesome. Ink makes no comment.

The Shining dragon informs the duo that they should start moving. The dracomachina are dangerous and will leave no alternative universe unturned even empty ones.

Decussate is gifted the power to teleport between alternate universes and even multiverses by the Shining dragon.

It is revealed to him that the dragon is not at its full strength. If he wants to fight off these dracomachina. It would need to be at its full power for him to even stand a chance.

With two goals in mind, Decussate sets out to the multiverse. In hopes of learning to control power of the Shining dragon and look for a way to restore it to its former glory.

Unaware that he is behind the awakening of the dracomachina.

[a-whispering-echo]

Band!Killers lock pin is 34055

Band!Dusts feet are FUCKED and horribly warped and scarred from his years on the streets.

Band!Nightmare, for the longest time, believed Cross' legal name to be 'Christian' because... well, he chose the nickname 'cross' and hes a 'Chris' so, it just... No. Cross' legal name is legit just Chris. like, its not short for anything. just Chris. he hates it. he plans on changing it it like, Christopher or something, hes just never got around to it

Band!Horror decorates his wheelchair with spikes. sometimes when the band are preforming live, he attaches LED's to the metal parts, so, even though hes behind the drumkit most of the time, you can still see the neon red lights on him.

Band!Ink remembers stuff better when hes told it in french or japanese, and tends to forget things told to him in english.

Band!Blues legal name is Jay Prince - his nickname comes from people calling his 'Bluejay' for years growing up, which eventually reshortened to 'Blue'

Band!Dream copied his brothers nickname, and is the reason that HIS friend group all have nicknames too.

Ash's favourite food was spaghetti. the closest he got to it most days was uncooked, raw and old pasta out a trash can.

Band!Nightmare and Band!Dream grew up playing piano and violin respectively. they still play their instruments to this day

band!Cross has nystagmus

Band!Nightmare is deathly allergic to apples.

Band!Joku Brothers had an apple tree in their yard growing up.

Band!Dream cant look at apples without having a panic attack.

Band!Cross wakes up at 6am sharp every morning.

Band!Dust has narcolepsy.

Band!Horror has a favourite 'scar scarf' - its a navy one with little yellow stars and moons over it. Nightmare got it for his as a present years ago.

Ash was a natural redhead.

Band!Dust has 'Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust' tattooed across his back

Band!Nightmare and Band!Cross talk in spanish all the time. though sometimes, Cross latin american spanish and Nightmares canerian sometimes stump them on the odd word, which causes a lot of confusion as they dont, for some reason, ever think to clarify what theyre saying in english...

Band!Killer doesnt consider himself Muslim, but still to this day, refuses to eat bacon and such like.

Band!Nightmare has his hair chemically straightened.

Band!Horror likes it when his partners play with his hair. he keeps each little braid they give him for as long as he can.

Band!!CRoss is very sensitive to light due to his albinism, though he got lucky in that his eyesight is mostly alright. going on stage with all the lights is actual hell for him.

Band!XGaster specifically wanted an albino child, like him, because he saw albinism as 'humanities perfection'. he chose a columbian surrogate to carry for him, who had the same type of albinism as him. who knows what might have happened it Cross turned out to.. not be albino..

Band!Nightmare sometimes uses Dusts sleeptalk as lyrics.

[what-have-i-unleashed]

Cross

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️😇🧸👻🎶👽💤🦾💝🫂💔 🪢📓👗🔪🌟🥇🍫🎭❤️‍🔥💄🖕😸😬😭😶

Have fun <3

i just know you're trying to kill me with this......+

cross

🏳️‍🌈 - a sexuality headcanon he's bisexual, your honor (this is canon anyway). specifically a disaster bisexual. he likes women who can kick his ass and pathetic loser men.

🏳️‍⚧️ - a gender headcanon why are you even asking me this? he's trans the skeleton 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️

😇 - a headcanon about their religion/lack thereof i think he's an atheist. i mean, how would he believe in gods when he lived with one with the biggest god complex of all?

🧸 - a headcanon about their childhood forgive me i haven't read the comics yet... but he does strike me as the type of kid who hogs the slides on the playground idk why.

👻 - a headcanon about what scares them alright mr. scared-of-cows, do you by any chance also refuse to step foot on a farm because the chickens mauled you once?

🎶 - a headcanon about music emo guy listens to emo music 🫵🫵 (don't ask me which bands specifically because my taste in music is horrible and horribly limited *cough cough kpop cough cough*)

👽 - a headcanon about a weird quirk of theirs might be a fever dream of mine, but i distinctly remember that he wears his fuckass scarf-jacket thingy thing before putting on his boots... like... sit down emo baby, let me teach you how to dress the correct way unless you want to accidentally suffocate yourself...

💤 - a headcanon about their sleep he's a light sleeper, from all the training he has. i also think he's the type to sleep upside down in the bed too.

🦾 - a disability headcanon there's no fucking way this guy is not vision-impaired or colorblind in some way. maybe he's color-agnostic (is that the word) - basically he can see colors but his brain cannot tell them apart or identify what color he's seeing.

💝 - a headcanon about their love language isn't he the type to gift people he admires a lot? i think he'd shower people with little trinkets and gifts, having them keep a piece of him with them in their everyday life.

🫂 - a friendship headcanon i think his friendship with frisk is kinda cute. though i imagine it's especially hard for him to make friends after all that x-event debacle. he's gonna be super cautious about people around him from now on, constantly worried about the instance they turn on him.

💔 - an angsty headcanon is the previous statement angsty enough...? or do you want me to link to the "cross gets bullied by the mtt" series to show how gullible he can be under authority figures in his life.

🪢 - a headcanon about their family oh, i think cross is so fucked when it comes to his feelings about his family. even with all the shitty things that happen, he can't help but still want approval and love from them, xgaster most of all. of course xgaster only sees cross' outbursts as a simple "rebellious phase", because that's all cross will be to him - his child.

📓 - a headcanon about their hobbies i think i kinda like the headcanon (maybe canon?) that he bakes. he's probably a decent self-taught baker too.

👗 - a headcanon about their clothes EMOOOOOOOO!!! i need cross to wear them skinny jeans too - it's gonna be hilarious watching him struggle to fight in them (skinny jeans my beloathed).

🔪 - a headcanon relating to fighting/violence as an ex(?)-soldier with probable ptsd, i think he'd struggle with violence a lot. he's not as trigger-happy as murder, but he's not as composed/restrained as killer either. he gets jumped easily, and it's a 50/50 on whether he'll pull his swords or not. it's gonna take a while to train that instinct/reflex out of him.

🌟 - a headcanon about their desires/wishes bro just wants to go back to the way things were (probably not canon though lol). i think he's... nostalgic for the time he doesn't know anything. ignorance is bliss and all that.

🥇 - a headcanon about what they’re best at idk why but babysitting is the first thing to come to my mind. though that's probably not good, or at least contradicting with my violence headcanon somewhat lol. i just think he's the type to be good (or semi-good) with kids. boy-failure needs a win somehow.

🍫 - a headcanon about food he's not canonically lactose intolerant but it would be funny if he was. one more reason to hate cows.

🎭 - a headcanon about what they lie about his tinder profile. next question.

❤️‍🔥 - a romantic headcanon i would make everyone be on the aromantic spectrum eventually and now cross is on the chopping block. demi-romantic for you, boy-failure. i think he's the type to be enamored with others easily but also over time he'd just realize they'd be better as non-romantic partners. his crush is intense but it burns out fast.

💄 - an appearance headcanon he's very well-groomed with whatever resources he has. it's no good being a slob or looking like one - that's what he was taught.

🖕 - a headcanon relating to anger oh yeah he has anger issues alright. more therapy for you.

😺 - an animal related headcanon not totally animal-related or a headcanon, but i'd love to see cross going to farmtale and have an aneurysm upon seeing the cow-shaped gaster blasters lmao.

😬 - a headcanon about the worst thing they’ve done his backstory.........

😭 - a headcanon about the worst thing that happened to them also his backstory..........

😶 - a random headcanon! i answered too much now so i shan't give you one.

[unma]

I feel the urge to talk about how often Underverse's 'big bad', XGaster, is called out for not being as big or bad as he seems. Even with all the power he has, he is constantly said to be hiding behind his creations.

Despite all the power he has, and how easily he could dispatch some Sanses (as seen in the 0.4 ending), he continues to hid behind his creations. The ability to overwrite is not the end all be all, which XGaster has learnt from his near death experience during the XTale series.

At the end of it all, Gaster is right. XGaster is scared. Scared of what he doesn't know, what he can't expect. It's why he almost kills Cross in a last ditch effort to keep Fatal away from himself. Why he overwrites all his creation's wills and why he wants Chara and Cross under his control. He's a control freak, and that's been really well established, but I love how each episode further highlights just how little control he has compared to what he implies, and how much fear is accompanied with that.

At the end of the day, he silences Gaster and ignores Fatal. He refuses to respond to either of them. Because Gaster is right, and Fatal is in fact a threat.

I'm in love with the way XGaster is portrayed. He never really changed his methods between Season 1 and 2, always hiding behind someone or something to do his bidding.

It's also interesting how Geno addresses XGaster here. I'm pretty sure how Isolation might have affected XGaster is obvious, but the lines "there are many ways to break free. watch out for which version of yourself will get the job done." is still a bit of a mystery to me.

It's obvious how that applies to Geno, given that 3 versions of him show up in this episode: His normal Aftertale self, Error (who only shows up in flashes in this part of 0.7, but is fully present in part 1) and Fatal Error. All three versions have 'broken free' of something in their own way, be it the isolation and ensuing madness Geno went through, Error going through the same again or Fatal becoming an even bigger glitch after escaping Error.

All in all, can't wait for 0.8. Really enjoying where this is going so far, and now I have the urge to draw Fatal (even though that would be far too much of a pain and quite difficult given my skill rn).

[howlsofbloodhounds]

I’m actually curious about your thoughts on Cross. I haven’t seen anyone ask about this.

Just like your general opinion or what you like about him.

I know you’re the Killer blog. But still interested in hearing your thoughts of other characters for a change.

Gotta be honest, chief, I mostly just consume media from my cross loving moots and am content with it that way, although I have watched Underverse and X-Tale, its been a long while since I did and I also don’t think I’ve fully read the comics? Not really sure where to start with it.

I understand that XGaster had the Overwrite and was intentionally started out only wanting to make his creations (kids?) XChara and XFrisk happy—but his perfectionism and insecurity (?) got the best of him when he was introduced to the Multiverse and he started becoming obsessed with the idea of a perfect story i think.

I remember he harmed and abused XChara and XFrisk a lot, just about any attempt the two did to try and fight back and stop him always failed and ended badly for them. And he used his abilities to turn the others either against them, kill them, or even make them all forget what happened before so the two humans only had eachother.

The one timeline that stuck out to me was the one where Cross and XPapyrus were seemingly adopted by XGaster, and Xalphys was their sister—and they were childhood friends with the royal children xfrisk and xasriel. I remember that Cross and XPapyrus joined the Royal Guard to protect XFrisk from the humans that kept attacking them on the surface.

I remember Cross i think refused to do what XFrisk wanted him to do, and I think he fought back against his friends because he was attempting to take control of the Overwrite? I’m not sure on this one. I know he took the human’s soul, and that was how he winded up in the Void with XChara which led to the events of Underverse when he was trying to bring back his AU.

If i remember correctly he also got his heart locket and nickname of Cross from XFrisk, perhaps. He doesn’t like being called Sans as if it’s a dog breed, i remember that. I’ve seen some moots talk about how he’s kinda prissy(?), and there’s a lot of dog coded Cross floating around. I know he’s friends with Epic.

Ah, my first impression of Cross when it comes to fandom stuff actually had a whole lot to with ao3 portraying it as if cross was sexually abused by XGaster and XGaster was transphobic and also lots and lots of Kross which isn’t really my thing in the way it’s typically portrayed by the fandom.

I think his AU is a very cool concept—it’s similar to how I like to envision Something New, at least in terms of XGaster/XChara/XFrisk vs the Killer/KC/Player stuff with all the constant changing timelines—but I don’t feel I know enough exactly about Cross to give a full educated opinion on his character itself.

This is an invitation to send me links to comics/asks or just leave paragraphs about Cross in my inbox or reblogs of this post if yall want btw 🙏.

{ @twinribbonz }

[lemonflavourart]

Meet LIBERTA

Soooo finally I can talk about my babygirl:

This is Liberta, CrossFrisk's shipchild, she has XFrisk's appearance and Cross's white hair, with the soul fused by both of theirs

I posted a beta des of her before and got a little change

In a alternative universe where Cross Frisk had been together in the first timelines and got break up after (by Frisk alone because Cross didn't even remembered they had been lover)

The story went on until one day Ink suddenly read the notes he wrote when he still played with XGaster and his experiments

After got the OVERWRITE button, the first thing Frisk tried to do was making copies of his and Cross's soul, then tried to fused them together.

But before the process was completed, Frisk stoped that out of nowhere and put it deep down into the OVERWRITE button.

Ink, as a guardian watching everything, he noted that down and forgot about it after that.

The process still be paused, lying inside the button Cross holding, he couldn't use the button to do anything, so that was Ink who went and asked for help from XGaster (since Cross refused to have anything to do with him)

XGaster gave him another button which can help him continue the pausing process of Frisk, nothing more, so XGaster couldn't do anything with the fused soul either.

After a (very) long time considering and talking with others, and thinking about things between him and Frisk, Cross finally had the courage to press the CONTINUE button.

And that's how their daughter was born, since her soul was fused by both of theirs, she had the memories from them, about XGaster and Xtale. But she didn't have any emotions about those, it just like watching a long movie from afar, you can know what happen but hardly get their feeling, not to mention the memories also slowly fazing along with her growing.

About power, her strengths are physical strength and fighting with weapons.

She can summon any weapons she can image of, due to that, she knows quite a bit about weapons and how to use them, and grew a liking, especially about bombs and anything can explode.

Sadly, she can't summon Gaster Blaster.

At her younger days, she couldn't know what her best is, so she tried to learn everything, much as she could, so she knows quite a lot, from combat to daily work, from repairing machinery and components to skillful work, but not so proficiently.

Baking is one of those, in fact, she quite likes it, so she turned it into a change to make some money. She made a small online bake shop and sales her baking (mostly to acquaintances)

But it still is her side hobby, her main goal are traveling everywhere and discovering everything.

She used to go with her Dad to an AU, where the land almost was a vast desert. She sat in a roofless off-road car, ran through the desert. Her hair flied in the wind and the heat burned her face along with the dust and sand. She loves that feeling, and wants to tried more. So beside her schooling, she always follows everyone to other AUs whenever she has chance.

Anddddd that's all for now, hope you enjoy and love her as I do <3

[t0mboi]

Part 2 of the Greek mythology inspired stuff

Lore:

Xchara is one out of many demigods that were bless with great power by the lords at a young age with his brother (Frisk); he was raised by Xgaster before being adopted by Asgore and Toriel, unfortunately his bond with Xgaster slowly became distant after the many events that led into chaos and madness for the mortal/god world. Both had different views which turned into a test between the gods, goddess, and demigods.

While his brothers chose not to fight; Chara on the other hand wasn’t one who kept his mouth shut and would often challenge Xgaster’s views, none has ever cause a serious battle, only exchanging harsh words.

Chara would attend to the mortal’s needs whenever he comes down; most of them were the average “save us from this evil creature and save our town” or “help get my cat down from the tree” perhaps.

But one day; Chara finds himself sneaking into a sacred garden where he meets Marcus, he hid behind the trees and only watched him at a safe distance before getting the courage to walk up to him.

At first; Marcus wasn’t too thrilled to suddenly see a man behind him and did hit him, but it quickly calmed down after Chara was trying to explained himself (while having stuff chucked at him).

Chara and Marcus started seeing each other after the incident (mostly form running into each other); Chara started to enjoyed his company as he didn’t seem to be the same people he deals with all the time.

After some consideration (on Chara side) he finally became friends with Marcus; he kept his friendship a secret from everyone expect the few he can trust and are close to him, as he was worried that this friendship could be used against him or endanger their safety. After awhile it seemed like his secret was safety secured.

Then one day; a huge argument between him and Xgaster occurred again, it started once Chara found out that he was controlling his family and using them for devious deeds, as Xgaster offered Chara to join him, he snapped and vowed to never work with the likes of him and would rather die than to be known as a monster, and storms off.

Now being alone in his domain; Xgaster was interrupted by his creations (a scorpion) and learns about a rumour about Chara’s secret relations with a mortal, suddenly feeling thrilled about this new piece of information, he orders his creation to spy on Chara and find out who this mortal is.

Once he was able to successfully identify Marcus; Xgaster poses himself as a faithful god to the naive Marcus alone.

Finally having something to go with; he taunts Chara again, making him come back for round 2. But this time; Xgaster reveals that he knows about Chara’s little secret, he tells Chara that he has been close contact with his dear friend which allowed him to put a curse on him.

He begins laying out his options,

If Chara chooses to refuse his offer and continue to be the “hero” of his story; Marcus will be his new replacement and will do everything that Xgaster instructed, in his new pursuit to dethrone the gods for his perfect world, and maybe… Xgaster may make him his.

But if Chara finally gives in and accepts his fate, then Xgaster won’t dare to touch Marcus, only when Chara starts to show some hesitation/rebellion.

Chara was finally sensing the lost of hope and the pressure on his shoulders; feeling angered by his fate and guilt, he reluctantly gives in.

Day after day; the occasional deed was committed, feeling every remorse knowing how his actions may not be justified to one’s eyes. Marcus was blissfully unaware by Chara’s wrong doings and it was going to stay that way; Chara didn’t want his fate to interfere with their own, besides… his choice was the reason why Marcus is living his life peacefully.

While it seemed like a done deal; perhaps may turn upside down, by a string luck of accidental chance.

Xtale characters (Xchara, xfrisk, Xgaster and all of that) belongs to Jakei95

Marcus, Greek mythology inspired writing (here), and characters designs belongs to Tomboi

[saints-helen]

So... Big one here huh, not as in "many words", but as in "oof.. that's not.."

Anyway, trigger warning for graphic (?) descriptions of child death! Specifically, murder. Because this is about Cross! And we all know his daddy isn't uh.. isn't very fond of him let's just say!

Anyway, feel sick- i mean, feel free to read!! .. and Then get sick.

Anyway-

So like.. you know those cases? of people getting so angry they kill someone else in a moment of anger?

It's a classic thing, I'm sure, disturbingly enough. Crimes of passion are no new thing, but what if you could just.. go back?

Imagine how many times XGaster did that.

Getting so frustrated with how this current timeline was going he just murders Cross before restarting, so he could start again with a.. clear head, this time.

We all know he likes to take it out on him, i mean.. have you Seen Cross? Oh yeah, dad did Not like that guy.

But like.. we all know XGaster didn't actually see him as a kid, much less a person. He saw him as a tool, and when you're having a bad fucking day and something isn't working right and something is too fucking loud and the tv is humming and the weather is a little too hot and people are too Chatty and annoying and it's too fucking Bothersome the way things are going and oh.. and oh you planned meticulously!! You did everything right but nope, haha! It is Not going according to plan!! And this tiny thing is not making it any fucking better-!

Choking him to death, suddenly grabbing him in a fit of rage and just bashing his tiny child's head against the nearest surface, shattering his skull completely before it disintegrates into dust.

Do you think babybones' skulls are still soft?

Just yanking his soul straight out of his chest and crushing it as hard as he can in the palm of his hand, clenching his teeth, his joints starting to Ache.

And then just.. taking a deep, slow breath, satisfied. Soul soothed and adrenaline tapering off, and leaving you with this sense of calm and clarity. And trying again, shaking his hand to get the dust off his fingers.

He can do it as many times as necessary, go back as may times as he wants until he gets this timeline Perfect, so what If he kills him a few times beforehand? It won't change anything, not really, cross won't even remember, no one will know But him.

Because when something isn't working right, when the tv isn't turning on and the remote's buttons are refusing to work, when the One Thing you want to do can't be done and the lights are flickering and you don't have a spare lightbulb and you can't Get one right now because you're doing something else that cannot be left fucking unattended-

When your tool isn't working, you hit it. And if you're in a really bad fucking mood, and it isn't working, then you break it.

You throw it against the fucking wall, you kick it away with your feet and you cuss and yell as you do it, chest heaving in pants before grabbing it and doing it again and again and again and again bashing it against the counter until the all anger is gone.

And if you can, you leave it there, now soothed, mind soft and pliant once again, and you go do your own thing for now.

Because really, who Cares? It doesn't even Matter. It can just be replaced.

You leave it wherever it is, on the floor probably, and go make your tea, read a book, take your mind off of it.

Not All of us have the luxury of breaking things when they don't work, we have to do things like- journaling, and screaming into a pillow.

So since he can, and he wants to.. well.. why wouldn't he?

It'll be back with the snap of a finger anyway, and the last packet of chamomile tea is right There, it'll be a shame to let it go to waste this timeline, so may as well.

Hey, who ever said no to self indulgence?

(How many times do you think he just.. left cross's dust laying there?)

Imagine killing your kid over and over and not even caring. Imagine killing a baby who's age isn't even two digits yet because you find it calming. Imagine murdering a child with soft baby teeth still because you find it so Soothing to do so.

How many times did it happen? how many times did Cross's soft high pitched screams get suddenly cut off because children are so Small and so Fragile and have such little HP that it really doesn't take that much force at All to kill them.

How many times did XGaster call him over, voice clipped and short, for that Sole reason? For the sole chance to kill him? Pattering footsteps taking the stairs one at a time as they come down?

Does he look fondly upon those memories? Does he care for them at all? Surely you don't remember throwing your book across the room is frustration, so why would he, really.

[ancha-aus]

Hey! I am here! I am back! I need you to know i read this story twice already today and i finally got time to write a good reply!

Okay. Before ANYTHING else. I am so proud of Cross. Cross straight up is getting a better work and free time schedule going and i am so proud of him. He is actively making sure he has time for himself that he doesn't have to focus on training or work. I am so proud of him. Especially with the backstory you got for him. Where he was conditioned to only try to do waht a leader told him and stuff like that.

This is so good for him.

And then. obviously. the collapse.

It is so good from the view of the guys!! There is so much tension! the way how Cross almost immediantly thinks about the option that Nightmare is dying and then refuses to ever think about it again. He doens't even acknowledge it and acts as if he has no idea what is going on.

(also. the detail that Dust is the best at sensing magic and that dust's magic almost masks Nightmare's fading magic is so dope i love it.)

The way that Cross was frozen. He didn't know what to do or how. He didn't want to make things worse but he also didn't want to be useless and he just stood frozen.

And then he tried to grab Nightmare's magic! (after killer orders him) and he manages! Cross manages to hold him together. and i love the way how you described him trying to hold unto it but the magic was getting away. him managing to catching it for a moment.

And then everything jsut leaves. Leaving cross with only the very core of it all. Nightmare's own magic. (I am like. 80% sure that Cross holding unto Nightmare made sure Nightmare didn't fade with the amgic leaving and made sure he survived with minimal side effects from it.)

Cross afterwards being so unsure and asking hroror. praying that the others know what is going on and are jsut hiding it frm him because he didn't earn their trust enough yet. but the truth is they don't know. and cross feels worse becuase he just wanted to know what is going on.

The way that cross zoned out for a moment and ccino spoke softly to him. them realising that cross was so bothered and unbalanced.

And then how he refesrts to what he knows! Just waiting for orders and listening. Not offering any ideas. feeling invissible and not really involved until they forcefully pull him into the conversation.

Cross seeing the differences. knowing that XGaster would have been attacked right away. Seeing that they don't attack Ngihtmare (himself not even getting the idea to do it himself) and then seeing the difference. Seeing and understanding how much trust Ccino is putting into them.

and then at the end! After the story! How Cross looks abck on those following dream blindly with dismay. How he was worried for ink. But also! His choice! he made the oath to remain with them. it was truly his choice and cross is so hapyp about it!

And then Killer!!

God killer must have gone through it. managing to catch nightmare, And then his king starts to melt away in his arms; his king the person who gave hima second chance the person who gave him a home and later brothers who truly believed in him and the first person to trust him the person who made him meet ccino and alter let killer discover who he himself is.

that person. dying in his arms. and he can't do shit. There is no wound. there is no poison. Cross can't hold unto his magic. it is draining from him and nothing killer can do can help. all he can do it hold the other and try to think.

So he orders the others around. tries to get them to move as nightmare is dying in his arms.

Only... for it to stop... and he now has a small skeleton in his arms. a young teen. so weak and shivering and tense but he is there. he is alive. and killer staring at him (as cross mentioned. like he stares in awe at the kittens in the barn) I am convinced that at this moment some of that loyalty that turnign into loving the little guy. There is no way it doesn't do SOEMTHING to suddenly hold a small shaking child in your arms.

And then Ccino walks in. Killer seeing and feleing Ngihtmare immediantly reaching for ccino. and Killer mentioning that he isn't even mad or disappoitned or jealous about it. How could he be? When he may have done the same if ccino said his name like htat (which hurts even more because of what we all know. but also?! Amazing foreshadowing?! Like!1! that is such a good line to hint towards the future event after dream?! Spot that is genius!!)

Then killer taking charge. making sure stuff is taking care of. skipping showering to remain with nightmare and ccino (sure he had already been planning on it but it may as well have just been him deciding that) and him geting dust to do rounds!! I love it! Killer later saying that dust would be done with minutes but giving him as much time as killer could wait to make sure that dust could do a very throughout search just in case!

adn then they meet up and talk and killer just glaring at what dream did.

But also? how much killer has grown as a person. Him putting ccino's and nightmare's needs before his own. Trusting Dust to watch over them as he does other stuff. Killer looking on the realtionship between him and ccino is so sad but honestly very realistic. Killer learns with time that ccino didn't trust him or want him there at first. and while that was understandable and reasonable it still hurt. but then ccino sitll welcomed him and made sure he was okay.

Killer seeing himself and Ccino as nightmare's left and right hand. and seeing himself as the hand that does the bad stuff. and he is fine with it.

the note that he has been tryign to get closer. trying to bridge that gap over the years by tiny steps.

Him watching ccino and nightmare just lay in bed toghet resting. Maybe a part of his mind saw it already as someone he loves taking care of his little brother. I bet a part of him wanted to just crawl in to join them. sleep and rest right there.

Bt he doesnt'mention it or do anything and goes.

AAAAH!

okay quick on the others.

Ccino <3 Ccino just holding ngihtmare and trusting the story to the others (also?! I love the fact that NO ONE asked ccino why he was there to witness it all. becuase to them it makes sense that ccino would be there. ccino is ccino. Of course he was at this mysterious ritual? duh?. just not a single doubt about it)

ccino trusting the knights.

and the reminder of ccino's never ending to do list. guy really just keeps himself busy at this point.

horror being so caring and immedinatly just wnating to help nightmare. help him heal and everything. then asking questions not about how this happened. but if he is okay with his injury <3 we love horror in this household.

and dust just being a helpful shadow <3 we love that too

it is just so good spot! So good!

New Age AU (The King's Bed)

Hi. That title sounds super dramatic but istg it's not. here's a Drabble which I've kinda been cooking because! Guess who needs to start writing the main story! (It's me!) This happens immediately following This Drabble which begins the main plot! (There's a bit of the same scene but from a different perspective at the start, my apologies! Picking up that strat from a certain pal of mine lol!)

Hello to @ancha-aus @papiliovolens and @mutzelputz ! (if these tags ever get old lemee know, but otherwise I'll keep trying to remember to add them!

No edits or beta-readings so, as per usual, good luck!

That wasn’t normal. Whatever had happened to the king was not normal. Everything had been tilted sideways in that moment. 

Cross had just been talking to Horror. He’d known what he’d stumbled on, the king was always encouraging him to break his rhythm and he was very aware that Horror always took it easy on him when they sparred. He had great self-control and an amazing handle on his strength. Cross couldn’t even take it as an insult, because he was honestly relieved he wasn’t coming out of trainings beat to a pulp. That hadn’t ever happened here, to any of the knights, no matter how dirty they claimed to fight. It gave Cross a change to evaluate himself. Ask the others what they thought of his work. Get honest answers. Horror was always receptive to the discussions, but Cross always wanted to act fast to ask, to get it out of the way. Training could stay in the training room, for once. 

He’d just finished hanging his armor up in the designated stand, only four were ever in use, his being tucked between Killer and Horror’s, when, past Horror’s hulking form, he noticed Dust shift and duck back towards the rest of the room. Unusual, normally he’d be quick to discard the set and move off to his room. 

The surprised sound from behind him finally convinced him to quiet and turn. Just soon enough to catch the way that Killer and the king were about halfway to the exit. To catch the way the king’s tendrils seemed to be propping him off the floor, how some were writhing, slinging around Killer. To catch how the king’s cyan eyelight disappeared behind Killer’s shoulder as he stumbled and collapsed. 

Killer caught him, of course, letting the weight of their king drag him down to the ground like a safety cushion. Killer never let any harm come to their king. This, though? The king had dropped like a sack of potatoes, and even as Killer held him, he seemed disoriented. Cross felt frozen as he stood and watched what he could of the scene, most of it being of Killer’s back. The king’s tendrils lashed sluggishly against the ground, tugged and slid away from the armor of the knight holding him. He seemed to shift, pushing himself up and turning his head to look around him, ignoring the increasingly worried prompting from Killer. My lord? My lord, what’s wrong? It was still stoic, but it was obvious his hackles were raised. This wasn’t normal. 

Dust had moved beyond the pair, standing at attention, his magic wafting over the room like a miasma. Dry and crackling, enough to make Cross wince at the familiar aura. It hadn’t hurt him on purpose, not since that first day. That was just it, though. Dust was searching for a threat. Some sort of enemy. Anything that might have done this to the king. 

“He’s not responding.” Killer voiced, though Cross couldn’t tell exactly to who. The king had sun down, now. His one socket was closed and- Was he trembling? Cross thought he could see the way the king was shaking in Killer’s grip.

“He’s losing magic.” Dust asserted, not turning around. 

It was hard to tell with Dust’s magic coating the room, but Cross could feel it too. That heavy, encompassing, energy that always followed the king? It was smaller. Less imposing. It seemed… It seemed like it was fading away, rapidly draining from some unseen leak. That shouldn’t happen. That’s not how magic worked. Unless, of course, a monster was bleeding out. A dying soul would flicker and fight, until it suddenly gave in, magic rushing out all at once as they started to dust. 

“He’s what?” Horror, from beside him, seemed to break out of the same confusion that had held Cross back. Kept his feet in place. “Is he injured?” He questioned, already taking a step towards Killer. 

“No, he’s not. Not that I can see.” Killer replied, though he didn’t turn to his fellow knights, his skull was trained down on Nightmare as he shook and hunkered with his eye closed. His tendrils were… His tendrils were melting. Sinking into the grouted brick of the training room and leaking away like little veins. Cross wasn’t sure Killer noticed. It made him feel sick. 

Cross watched as Horror stepped forward again a bit more quickly. 

“Let me take a look, Killer. Maybe it’s-” Horror was cut off by a quick snap from Killer.

“No. There’s no time. Go find Ccino.” It was an order. If it had been directed at him, Cross would’ve already been out of the door, but it was to Horror. Horror was a stubborn monster. A caring monster. Cross could see his expression shift as he stopped moving forward and stared at Killer’s back.

“This is bad, he needs a healer, not-”

“Horror, I told you. Go get Ccino! Now!” This time there was a bite in Killer’s words. One Cross wasn’t sure he’d ever heard from the senior knight. “ This isn’t some sort of test, I don’t know what this is. It can’t be good.” 

The burly skeleton in question grit his teeth. It was obvious to Cross he didn’t want to leave, but he shifted on his feet. His eyelight didn’t even meet Cross’ as he barrelled past him and out the door of the training room. 

That left him alone over on the other side of the room, watching things happen like a horrible accident. As Killer muttered something and Dust seemed to grow more stiff in his posture. Cross gripped the hilt of his sword nervously. What could he do? Killer didn’t want Horror’s help, he certainly wouldn’t want Cross’. He didn’t know much healing, and he couldn’t sense any threats, and-

“Shit.” Dust’s voice again. “His magic levels are dropping. Fast.” 

It was almost like a ripple of water being splashed into Cross’ system when it hit him. Just a moment after Dust’s words. That thick aura barrier dropped. Entirely. Whatever it was that made the king so imposing, so powerful, so familiar to be around. It all seemed to disappear. Cross rocked on his heels. Everything seemed too open, like he’d come up from under the surface of the water. 

“Cross, try to grab his magic.” The order rang in his ears a moment. 

Killer wanted him to do what? 

Everyone knew the king had never allowed Cross to attempt his control magic on him for long. It was supposedly for Cross’ safety, because the godlike magic was so dense and consuming. The king seemed to fear it would backfire not unlike Dust’s, only with a much more fatal result. Cross had respected the boundary placed, only gripping at the edges of the dark magic. Frankly, the king had been right, even the smallest of spells he attempted to control would require too much energy, and would slip away before he could do anything useful. This was an absurd thing for Killer to tell him to do!

“W-what! I- I shouldn’t-” Though he found, just like Horror, that Killer wasn’t looking for others opinions right now. 

“Just try. Now. Hold it in place and see if it stabilizes.” Killer demanded.

Cross knew better. This order did not make him feel good. The king was unresponsive, and technically Cross knew Killer was his superior, and he should be listening, but would the king be mad at him for trying to control his magic? Would-

“When the King and Ccino are unavailable, I’m in charge. Listen to me.” Killer sounded like he was getting frustrated. 

Cross could understand why, though. Their king lay shaking in Killer’s arms. The king lay dying. 

Cross moved closer by a few step, just close enough that he could see the king’s upper half. Killer had tucked the king’s skull into the space between his shoulder and chin, something so deeply gentle that Cross had little time to really process. Cross thrust his hands out, both sending out his wave of intent. He needed to grab tight to the source of that fast-fading magic. The one that he recognized so well and had lost track of in the air. 

Unlike usual, his magic cut through the tar-like body of his king and grasped at something settled in his ribcage. A tight, sticky, sickly orb of magic. When his magic brushed against it, the king’s magic seemed to solidify slightly, recoiling from his intrusion, and he snatched at it. 

Holding the magic looked like nothing. It felt like sticking his hands into a sopping wet puddle and trying to collect the wet dirt at the bottom, the pieces slipping through the space between his fingers, no matter how tightly he cupped beneath. So, he adjusted. Pulled his hands into a circle, entirely enclosing the magic and ensuring there was no escape. A cold feeling bit at his palms, radiating in the space, but it wasn’t as painful as he had expected. Though, he also doubted what he held was the entirety of the king’s magic. More likely, it was whatever was left after the big loss of energy, 

He was so focused on holding it in place, he had no clue how long he actually managed to hold it stable. It was still, there was a brief second where the familiar energy had returned. 

And just like that, it was gone. 

Cross still had hold of something, but it wasn’t the king’s magic. It was something else, tiny. Still familiar, sure, but the slime and gunk simply disappeared, like it had decided it had better things to do. He searched after it, but found it had gone, and there was no sign of it attached to the king’s soul. Distress filled him. Had he failed?

No time to linger on it. 

Cross jolted back a little as the king seemed to regain his senses. Cross watched as he shoved himself out of Killer’s hold… only to retch. He knew the feeling well, magic escaping in any way it knew well. His usually only did that after sustaining injury, though. As far as they knew, the king had never been hurt. Never was touched. 

Killer leaned forward, following the motion, and Cross was shell-shocked to find that the first knight refrained from touching their king as he gagged and lost more of that black goopy magic. It was dripping off of his bones now and.. Oh. What?

The king. The longer he heaved, the more of that magical substance sloughed off from his body. He wasn’t dusting. It was more like… he was shedding his skin? The goop pooled beneath him, slinking away into the crevices of the floor, and revealed bones. Bones. Pearly white, unmarred, clean bones. The king was a skeleton monster, they all knew that, but Cross had assumed he was a hybrid, maybe some sort of earth elemental in his ancestry. The monster who was crunched in on himself just inches from Killer was certainly a normal skeleton monster. 

And. he was small. It wasn’t obvious at first, but as Killer kept easing closer, Cross noticed. The king, or, he assumed the king, had a small skull. His tunic and cape nearly enveloped him. Sleeves hung baggy over his hands and his circlet had slipped over his skull to hang around his neck. Was this his true appearance? Was this their king?

It wasn’t until one socket blinked, a pale violet eyelight popping into view, that anyone spoke. 

“My king?” 

Even Killer seemed frazzled by the proceedings. Dust turned around now, and the three of them watched silent as the king lifted his skull and turned it. Slowly but surely. Until he met Killer’s gaze. Killer was looking at him so gently. The same way he looked at the kittens he’d show them in the stables. 

The king seemingly hardly noticed, because in a split second he whipped his head around to face Dust, only to lose his balance and topple over. 

“Woah, steady!” Killer was quick, and Cross was relieved to find he’d caught the king, pulling him closer and onto the steady platform of his lap again. 

He almost missed Killer asking their king a question. He almost missed the quiet squeak of a response which was promptly cut-off by the white-boned king. From this angle, Cross could see the other side of his skull. The king, before, had a cascade of magical energy obscuring the place where a second socket would have sat. Now, Cross could see the cracks of an old injury, trailing up from a dead socket into the top of his skull. An impact wound, by the looks of it. That didn’t set well.

The king still shook in Killer’s arms, but Dust seemed to have relaxed a bit. All of them could feel it, as Killer practically bundled the king up between his arms. The loss of magic had stopped. The king was stable. Weak, it felt like, but stable. A quick meeting of eyes from Cross to Dust revealed the truth of the matter. They’d need to wait for Ccino. That was all they could do. 

Killer had been right. Insanely right. 

Horror had returned with Ccino, and the poor guy had been frazzled and covered in flour, probably right in the middle of making desert for dinner. It looked like he was going to chew into someone, sounded like it too, and Cross backpedaled out of the way as the head of house made a b-line towards Killer where he was still dutifully on the floor. 

Horror stood just behind Cross, and everyone was there as witness to see Ccino’s expression entirely change. To something gentle and soft. An expression they each recognized, from brief moments of weakness, where Ccino would show them a kindness. They didn’t expect him to say the king’s name, or to see the small form of their leader scramble out of Killer’s protective hold and straight into Ccino’s awaiting arms. 

Cross almost felt uncomfortable, standing vigil to something he didn’t understand. The king, this… this boy? He curled into Ccino and began to cry. It felt like something he shouldn’t see, some private moment, some vulnerable piece of a secret he wasn’t aware of. 

The other knights, if they shared his discomfort, did nothing to show it. In fact, Dust took it upon himself to tell Ccino what had happened as they knew it. “Magic loss. A lot of it.” And Ccino just nodded and cradled the king’s skull closer into his shoulder. 

When the king passed out, it had only been a moment of distress before Ccino settled again and insisted the knights recount to him what exactly happened. Killer took the lead, he’d seen it all. 

Of course, there was a lot to worry about. Maybe he’d been in shock? Yeah, he could blame it on that. After all, their king seemed to be a child all of a sudden. But for some reason he couldn’t help but notice how the other knights were acting. Reacting. As Killer told Ccino the recap of the past few minutes, Cross noticed how Dust was tense. His white eyelights were moving subtly between their king and the rest of the room. His fists were balled at his sides, and his magic unreadable under the shadow of his hood. Meanwhile, beside him, Horror was only staring at the king with wide eyes. His good eyelight trained on the little form which would occasionally shiver against Ccino and be tucked closer into the arms holding him. And Killer. Killer was crouched exactly where he’d been, but Cross noticed that he leaned closer to Ccino, his arms a bit outstretched as though half-expecting to have the king returned to his arms. 

Cross felt awful. Standing there. 

The king’s magic had escaped him. Entirely evaded him. Maybe if he’d trained more, maybe if he’d been quicker to listen to Killer, he could’ve done something. Kept the magic in-tact. Maybe if he hadn’t reacted in the first place he wouldn’t have scared the magic off. Was this… No. No, the king had told him once. One person alone cannot be at fault for the whole. He imagined the king would be gently correcting him right about now if he were conscious. 

“Cross.” 

The soldier blinked as his name was spoken, and he realized that Ccino and Killer were both looking at him. Had they said his name sooner? Ccino’s face softened a bit. 

“Cross, go clean up. We’ll reconvene in the king’s quarters in an hour.” Ccino said.

“A-and the king?” He didn’t know why he questioned it. 

Killer rose to his feet, then. “I wasn’t planning on cleaning up anyways, I’ll be with him and Ccino. Just go about our schedule as normal. Word cannot spread until our lord wakes up and we can speak with him.” He seemed… unnerved. Cross wasn’t sure how he could tell. He just… could. 

Cross, against his better judgement, saluted and hesitantly moved away. It seemed Dust and Horror were already in motion. Had he spaced out? That was embarrassing. 

-

“Horror?” 

Cross muttered the other knight’s name. He’d cleaned up quickly, restless, and had rushed to the quarters of his bulky comrade. When he’d knocked, Horror had opened the door a bit. 

“Yeah? Come in.” Horror answered from somewhere inside.

Cross did just that, slipping through the doorway and shutting the door behind him. 

The inside of Horror’s room was warm. Cozy. Cross wasn’t sure how he kept it so warm, but he thought he’d heard something about magic-weaving from Ccino when he’d mentioned the warmth of a lent blanket. He hadn’t ever realized the comfort magic could bring in that capacity. Inside Horror’s room it was also very dark. Only a few scattered candles lit the space, and the soft orange glow was just enough to illuminate the furniture,a few cushioned chairs, a couch, a table, the wardrobe, and the large bed. The window had a curtain drawn over it, banishing outside light. 

Near the wardrobe, Cross spotted the shifting weight of his fellow knight, and the glow of his eyelight briefly came into view before bouncing away again. Cross drew toward the chairs and leaned his side against the high, sturdy back of one. 

“Something wrong?” Horror asked calmly. Seemed like he was rummaging through his clothes, and Cross noticed that the mass of fur which usually sat over his shoulders was absent. The tunic was missing too, his ribcage exposed. Cross tried not to pay it any mind. 

Something wrong. Of course something was wrong! 

“Our king, Horror. That- that doesn’t happen to normal monsters! Have you seen something like that before?” He whispered it, quietly. No one aside from them should’ve been in their wing of the castle, but then again, their king really shouldn’t have peeled like a banana either, so who knew what could happen next? 

Horror glanced back at Cross. It was a little bit of silence as Horror was seemingly formulating an answer. Cross was always willing to give him as much time as he needed to think, because he had good things to say. It was his own fault that his heel tapped against the floor, only muffled by the thick rug beneath his boots. 

“Mm. No, I haven’t.” He answered simply. “Then again, the king’s not like anything I ever knew. Just one more odd thing on the list.” 

Horror tugged a fresh tunic out of his wardrobe and tugged it over his shoulders, moving to ever-so-carefully clasp it in place around his front. Cross was quiet for a few breaths. Sometimes Horror would have more to say, but this time it seemed like he’d said his peace. He finished with his tunic and looked back to where Cross was stood. 

“It just doesn’t seem right. He was so small, and even Killer didn’t know what was going on! None of us could do anything!” He whispered again. 

At this, Horror turned and walked toward his bed. There at the foot, resting atop a chest, was his fur cape. He lifted it and shook it in the air a bit. Cross could see a bit of dust fly off in the low-light, but it was just as quickly clasped around Horror’s shoulders. 

“Killer hasn’t been here the longest. Ccino was here before all of us, remember?” Horror suggested. “He seems like he knows what he’s doing. We all look to him for a reason. I’m sure you’ll get answers when he wakes up.” 

This wasn’t what Cross wanted to hear! He was hoping for some wisdom, or insight into a secret previously barred from him. Horror had seemed all too calm when he saw the king in his state, Cross had figured he’d known something! Anything! 

“This is… weird. We’ll be fine, though. Promise.” Horror said finally. 

Cross sighed. No matter how desperately he was hoping this was all some sort of big practical joke, or that what he’d seen would make any sense to him at a reasonable pace, he knew that wasn’t the case now. His answers lay with the unconscious king and his most trusted follower, the head of the house. He guessed he’d just have to be patient. No matter how agonizing the wait for answers would be. 

-

The hour passed by rather quickly. 

Cross had made the choice to stay with Horror until they were meant to meet, and he hadn’t regretted the choice. He definitely preferred to have someone else nearby, it helped to keep him from spiralling.. Wondering what he did wrong. 

As usual, the wing was empty aside from them, and it wasn’t far to reach the private room of their king. The door was large and carved with the image of a tree, something Cross had grown very used to seeing ever since arriving here. Horror had knocked, and it was Killer who opened the door to let the both of them inside. 

The king’s room was large, though not much larger than the knights, and was decorated all in shades of cyan with that familiar red-ish wood that seemed to trail all the furniture of the royalty. The big desk in the king’s study was the same shade. The room was brighter than Horror’s, but darker than the torch-lit hall beyond. Sunlight beamed into the room through the two large windows and the balcony doors, providing the only light and casting heavy shadows on the far wall. 

To the left, where Horror started to move towards and Cross followed, was the king’s bed. It was large, it felt like it could probably fit half the council on its surface. Or, maybe it just felt so big because of its occupants. 

Near to the edge sat Ccino. His clothes seemed to have been loosely dusted off from the flour previously coating his front, but it seemed he hadn’t been able to do much else. He was sat with his back against the headboard and his legs partially covered by the heavy comforter of the royal bed. Plastered to his side, though, was the form of a young skeleton monster. The king. He still seemed unconscious as far as Cross could tell, but he was partially curled onto Ccino’s lap. His too-big cloak was wrapped around his sides, comforter tugged up as far as it would go without smothering him, and his skull exposed. Ccino was using one hand to press a cloth to the king’s forehead, while the other draped over the king’s back. The two of them seemed so small in the bed made for a god. 

Ccino didn’t acknowledge them, and Horror stopped a few paces short from the edge of the bed. Cross followed his example and stood tense and awaiting. Answers? Orders? He wasn’t exactly sure. 

It only took a few more minutes before Dust appeared in the door. Killer had been pacing circles into the floor at the foot of the bed, and Horror was seemingly entranced by the little monster the head of house was keeping close to his side. 

“It’s clear. Nobody.” Dust reported in a mutter, and Killer seemed to sigh in relief. He planted a hand on Dust’s shoulder, which the other didn’t shrug away. 

The both of them moved closer to the edge of the bed, and Killer was the one to round to Horror’s other side, closest to Ccino and the king. Only when they were all still was there any reaction from Ccino.

“Thank you, Dust.” Was what he said first. Dust must’ve been searching for hidden foes, saboteurs, assassins. Part of Cross worried that Ink might’ve been around, before he realized how irrational that idea really was. Dream would do a lot, but he wouldn’t risk Ink like that. Dust didn’t give any response.

“I am aware that this is a sudden change and I thank all four of your for your quick action to protect our king, on his behalf.” Ccino voiced then, his eyelights lingering on the small skeleton plastered to his side. Cross caught the way his thumb curved along the king’s forehead in a comforting motion. “It would be unfair and unwise to leave you in the dark about his state, so I’ll trust that our king was correct in appointing you as his most loyal and explain best I can.” 

It was only then that Ccino seemed to peel his eyes away from the small king and up to the surrounding knights. 

Cross realized, as Ccino skimmed over each of them, that. Well. He wasn’t technically a knight at all. A trainee a best, but no knight. He didn’t have a mask and had never been knighted. Was this a conversation not meant for him? 

The head of house’s eyelights lingered on Killer for a moment longer than the rest of them before he spoke. 

“Our king, Nightmare. This is the form he had on his thirteenth birthday, just over seven years ago when he attended his twin’s coronation. It’s the form he lost when he completed the ritual and became king as you all knew him, god-like and powerful.” Ccino’s voice was small. “I’m not sure how, but it seems that the magic which made him that way is gone, lost, and now he’s back to the way he was all those years ago.” 

There was a resounding silence in the aftermath of Ccino’s words.

“He never mentioned the possibility of something like this happening, I’m not sure it ever has.” Ccino said. “Despite that, on his behalf I request that we keep news of this change within this circle. I have no doubt that this is still our king and he will still perform his duties as needed when he adjusts to the change.” 

Cross was stunned. Their king… 

“You… said he’s only about 13?” Horror asked from beside Cross. He jumped a bit in surprise at the noise. 

Ccino gave a nod of agreement. Cross was pretty sure none of them missed how Ccino’s hold around the king’s back tightened. Just a bit. Protectively. 

“Young king.” Horror established what they were all thinking. “Is he wounded? I thought I saw…” Horror trailed off, but he gestured to his skull. He pointed to his uninjured side of his head, just above his empty socket. Right, that crack along the small king’s skull. Cross had caught a glimpse of it too when Killer was holding him. 

Ccino seemed all too tense at Horror’s question. That was when Cross noticed all of them had, at some point, gotten a bit closer. It seemed like they were looming. 

“You may take a look if you like, Horror. It doesn’t look like it’s harming him, but I believe it was a result of a blow to the head he took just after his coronation.” Ccino relented, and Horror stepped forward.

Ccino was gentle and honestly seemed practiced at gently shifting and nudging the king. Where he had been tucked into Ccino’s side and mostly hidden, Ccino managed, with a few small hums and leading of limbs, to twist the king so his skull was a bit more exposed and he lay instead with his back to Ccino, an arm now wrapped at his front. Horror waited patiently beside the bed, and only when Ccino had Nightmare in front of himself, practically fully in his lap, did he pull down the now oversized hood for Horror to see the wound. The king seemed to wince in his sleep at the loss of cover. 

It was as Horror looked, ever-so carefully pressing on the edges of the crack, and seeing the sleeping flinch of their ruler, that Cross realized just how much trust Ccino was putting into them. 

This room was full of killers, soldiers, ones who had chosen to follow a god-on-land. It was full of potential threats to the life of a wounded king. 

For just a moment, he was brought back to Ritten. The coup his brother had worked for years and years and years to bring to fruition. If XGaster had ever shown nearly an ounce of the vulnerability that the king was showing now, he would’ve been slaughtered on the spot. Many wanted his head, and now Cross realized, it was for good reason. Now, here, the king frail and asleep, only guarded by a single servant. This, if ever, would be the time to strike. To destroy the crown and claim the land as their own. No one in Orchard rivaled the strength of the knights. 

“It’s raw.” Horror’s report snapped Cross back to the present. The burly knight leaned away from Ccino and the king, but spoke to Ccino still. “Need to clean it, but it’ll hurt. Might want to wait till he wakes up.” He paused. “You said seven years ago? The wound?” 

Horror was always the gentlest of the knights, at least from what Cross had gleaned since arriving. Killer was full of sharp edges and had the same energy as a stray animal. Dust was always so closed off, and Cross knew better than anyone that he was skilled and attacked ruthlessly. Horror seemed so baffled by the wound. 

Ccino nodded in agreement with Horror’s question, and seemed put at ease as the other took another step back to stand tall again. 

“That’s. Someone struck him while he had the magic? Hard enough to hit bone?” Dust questioned quietly from his other side. He too sounded awestruck. 

Cross was aware that none of the knights were ever able to strike him during training, neither had Cross, but he assumed that was because the king had adapted to their fighting styles. Did this imply that the king had never been hit by any of their attacks dead-on? 

Ccino nodded almost sadly. “Tensions were high and both princes were distressed. Prince Dream lashed out and our king did not expect it.” 

Dream? That might’ve been the first time that Cross had heard utterance of the Prince’s name since he had arrived to the castle. He certainly hadn’t been forgotten, his traces still lingering about the place, but Cross felt like a bolt of ice slid down his spine at the mention of the one who had recklessly sent him here. 

Dream had told him the basics. How at the coronation his brother rushed in and took their mother’s soul from his hand. How Nightmare, the king, had eaten it in his place and been transformed into a beast unfamiliar. Had sent him away. For some reason, Cross had dismissed it as rumor, another piece of propaganda that Dream was telling to the hopeless saps that stumbled his way. But… This sounded like it would fit. A second half he didn’t readily share with the world, one where he was outraged at his twin and struck him. 

His mind wandered back to the tapestry. Nightmare’s image had just the same, round, perfectly childlike expression as the crown prince. No injury in sight. Did that imply there was a time where Nightmare had two eyelights? That the way his face had formed and obscured half his face was not a choice, but the result of a wound from his twin? Now that Cross thought about it, this young king did share the boyish features fading from Prince Dream’s face with age-

“That rat.” Killer spat all of a sudden. “I’d do worse than send my brother away if he bashed me over the skull like that.” He voiced. Ccino didn’t react to the comment, only gently shifting the cloth over the king’s skull. The king was looking a bit flushed, maybe from the magic loss? “Good thing you guys know better.” 

There was a scoff from Dust.

“So, our lord is alright. Just a bit… under the weather, we’ll say.” Killer continued, “Ccino and I discussed a little while you guys were cleaning up. Until he wakes up to give us new orders, we’re going to act business as usual. Training and rounds again tomorrow, tonight we’ll trade off guard shifts to keep watch and make sure there’s no one out to get our king or Ccino. Sound good?” 

He sounded jovial as he usually did, but Cross could see the tension held in the way he stood. Like he was waiting for an attack to go flying or to have to start running. Much like before when he had pulled rank, it wasn’t exactly a question. 

Horror nodded beside him. Dust, on his other side, shifted a bit. 

“No problems. Just.” He paused a moment to think. “If Ccino stays.” He gestured to the door. Right , of course, Ccino was the head of house. It would be suspicious if the king fell ill and his servant when missing. Along with that, he was pretty sure Ccino kept this castle running practically by himself. All the servants and guards would probably be lost without his coordination. 

“Don’t worry about that.” Ccino spoke up, “I trust the staff to be capable in my absence, and if I’m really needed I’ll ensure our king is in safe hands before handling any troubles.” 

Dust nodded then, seemingly satisfied. 

The focus then, he realized, fell to him. 

Cross stared blankly at Killer for a moment, before jolting a little. 

“Oh! I-” He stammered for a second before his mouth snapped shut. For some reason, in this exact moment, the past months he’d spent in the presence of these people all left his mind. Was he meant to be speaking? Did this apply to him? He hadn’t even realized he was part of the assembled group for a moment. Maybe it was all the years of simply standing around during important conversations, invisible and ignored. Maybe he was just spooked by Killer’s intense gaze. The weight of a choice. “I… Didn’t realize you were asking me, too.” He answered dumbly.

Killer blinked once. “Of course I am. If our king didn’t trust you to be included in conversations like this you would’ve been out of the castle months ago. So?” 

Cross glanced back to the king. He was still resting. He’d shifted so his face fell towards Ccino’s chest and the head of house had tugged the comforter up and around his lap as far as it would go. 

This was not like last time. There is no evil tyrant. There is no worthy resistance. This was not blind devotion. 

“Then yes. That sounds like the most logical plan. I will partake in whatever ways I can.” 

Cross felt pride well up in his chest with his agreement, an oath if only to himself that he would see this through of his own volition. Killer seemed much less excited by the news and gave an easy nod before looking to Ccino again. 

“Well then what are our plans for tonight, O' mighty Head of House?” Killer questioned. 

The tone shift seemed jarring to Cross, but the others didn’t bat an eye. 

Ccino took a deep breath before speaking. Four knights all awaiting his instructions. “Your first move should be to eat. I was done with all of dinner aside from the dessert, I’ll have to ask for your forgiveness on that front.” He said, “I’d like one of you to remain here with the king, have one of the servants bring a meal for whoever stays and one for the prince. The rest of you focus on maintaining normalcy. In the morning, I will go about rescheduling meetings and arranging for visits to be delayed.” His voice seemed to peter out the longer he went on, until silence followed in his wake. 

“Dust, you should stay for first shift.” Killer suggested, and the other knight nodded in agreement. “I’ll go clean up and bring food your way. I can take the shift into the morning so that Horror and Cross can get some rest.” 

Cross glanced to Killer at the mention of his name, but the knight was un-subtly watching the royal bed. Ccino with their king tucked tight against him still. For a second, Cross wondered how that must’ve been for him. The king suddenly growing small in his arms? Killer had been quick to cradle him after all.

Horror hummed at his side, and Cross noticed him back away. As much as a part of him desperately wanted to stay, to keep watch, to know anything more… Killer had spoken. Dust moved forward, hoisting himself up a bit to sit on a chest towards the foot of the bed. His vigil. Meanwhile Killer dragged his gaze away from the party on the bed and focused in on Cross and Horror, nearly ushering them out himself. 

This was a whirlwind, but Cross was not the victim. Just someone swept along. It’d be fine. The first hurdle would be dinner, and he could do dinner. 

-

Are you eating with the others? That trainee still had a little while to go before he’d be a knight, Killer was sure of it. Not that he didn’t have amazing skills, he just… needed to be a little more observant. 

No, save my seat still. I just know Ccino forgets to eat when he’s working on a project. He can’t go running on empty. Killer had shot back in the confines of the little personal kitchen that Ccino always used for the king’s meals. True to word their food was complete, minus some dough that had gone a bit flat and shapeless on the far counter, surrounded by flour powder. Normally they’d be served by the man himself, but they were all adults, they knew how to serve their own food. 

Killer had kicked the door open with his foot, moving through the doorway with ease and navigating into the halls. Balanced on his arms were three plates of nice warm chicken and various vegetables. Were those carrots? Sick.

He didn’t think much of it as he passed by servants and guards. They all knew better than to ask him what he was doing, and he knew that none of them were threats. Dust would’ve sniffed out a rat in the first minute of his search, let alone the hour Killer had given him. No threats were left inside if there ever was one in the first place.

He came to the ornate door and kicked his heel against it three times. It swung open revealing his shorter fellow-knight. His hood was still up, though Killer could see his eyelights were calm and white. No danger, no harm, but also probably no developments either. 

“I bring gifts! In the form of a warm meal I didn’t make!” He jokingly announced in a stage-whisper as he slipped in past Dust. 

Just as he expected, Nightmare was still curled up into Ccino’s side, though he’d once again been moved to lay more on the mattress than on Ccino’s dirty uniform and chest. Now, Ccino’s one hand was pinned by the sleeping king, gripped in his own, little, boney hands. 

Somewhere behind him the door closed, and Dust slipped past him with a quiet ‘thanks’. With his shape went one of the plates, taken seamlessly from his bicep where he’d carefully been keeping it steady. Dust didn’t bother with much else, taking up his position on the chest once again. If Killer didn’t know better, he would’ve joked about how he could totally fit Dust inside it. …He was saving that one for later. 

For now, he moved towards the bed again. Ccino watched him approach with a hesitancy, but it was not the same awkward and reluctantly docile stare he’d grown to know over the years. Ccino had never really wanted Killer here, he was a criminal and the king fresh to his rule, but he had welcomed Killer when he realized that Killer was sticking around. Ccino might not have known it, but Killer wanted nothing more than to bridge the gap imposed between them. He tried not to get his hopes up that this might have been another of many other little baby steps they’d taken over the years. 

Killer moved closer and set one of the meals on the bedside table just near Ccino’s side. “He’s still out cold, then?” Killer asked the obvious, and Ccino hummed in agreement. His free hand gently caressed Nightmare’s skull, and the pearl-white bones shifted comfortably under the contact. 

Something about this felt all too familiar. Those first days, back when Killer had arrived. When he’d spot the king crumble under his own weight and bare a weakness. It had always been to Ccino. In the nights he couldn’t sleep, he’d sometimes find the king lingering in his study, Ccino not far off on a couch. And then, of course, the documents. Ccino had cared for the king since he was a babybones. 13 years worth of helping and watching him grow. If it hadn’t been obvious to Killer before, it had to be now. How easily Nightmare slept at Ccino’s side, how Ccino had been so receptive to the change. How he had dropped everything to care for this now young king. 

“Are you eating with us after all?” Ccino questioned. Hopefully he hadn’t been staring, that would be awkward. He’d embarrassed himself enough times in front of the other that it probably wouldn’t matter, but he had to keep his composure now of all times. 

He glanced to the plate still in his hand. He scoffed. “As much as I’d love to, four’s a crowd.” He claimed, “This is for you. I figured I’d take up the sacred duty of making sure you remember to eat for yourself, too. At least until our Lord is awake enough to tempt you himself.” 

He gracefully bowed and firmly pressed the plate into Ccino’s open lap. A playful look revealed that Ccino was staring at the food a bit baffled. He opened his mouth to say something, probably to tell him off, but apparently decided against it.

Ccino shifted the plate to his right thigh, probably so he didn’t risk getting any on a sleeping Nightmare. He stared at it a second, before he nodded very subtly to himself.

“Thank you, Killer.” Was all he said. 

Killer grinned wide and nodded.

His spin back to the door left him double-glancing at Dust, but the other gave him a thumb’s up. “Enjoy the meal you guys, I heard the best cook this side of the sea made it.” He teased and slipped out before he could be scolded for the bad joke. 

He would stay, he would love to stay, but it wouldn’t be good. Dust was a lot more attuned to the magic in the air. He could sense threats and react a lot more quickly. Besides, Killer didn’t want to make Ccino uncomfortable. Sure, they were overcoming differences, but Ccino had always been the king’s left-hand man while Killer was his right. Ccino made sure he was calm, and happy, and feeling alright and taking care of himself. Killer was handling his dirty business, warding off harm and threats, acting as his voice. In a room where Nightmare commanded all, they could work like they had for the past seven years. A well oiled machine that had its own parts. This? This was emotional work. Killer hadn’t missed how the king had been shaking and trembling in his arms, tense and worried. The king had ripped away from him the moment Ccino had spoken. Of course, Killer couldn’t really blame him for that, if Ccino said his name like that he might go running too. Point was, Killer knew better than to cross that line. He’d defended Nightmare. Now it was time to give Ccino some time to himself… figuratively. 

He figured Dust would be invested and alert, but unlike Killer he wouldn’t be hovering, and fidgeting, and tossing his knife in the air, or pacing circles into the floor. He wouldn’t be internally cooing over the king’s soft baby features or trying to sneak closer just to see him. Make sure he was really, truly alright. 

Killer needed time to cool off. To come to terms with the current state of things. When he came back for his morning shift he was sure he’d be in a better state. Not worrying so much over how wrong it felt when Nightmare had shuddered and gone limp. Yeah. He could be normal about that. He just had to give it a few hours.

[xxtha-blog]

Why Emotionless Ink is Not The ‘Evil’ Ink in Underverse

I refuse to be told this any more, I’m putting my foot down, multiple paragraphs in coming.

There’s this common interpreation in Underverse, emotionless Ink is evil. I’m here to give you not one, but two different reasons I think this is completely wrong.

First off, if I can prove Ink is not evil at all, obviously his emotionless self will not be evil either.

So, reason number 1

Is Ink Evil in Underverse?

I argue, it all depends on your perspective.

Ink is working alongside XGaster because he was shown to have the ability to create new stories without creating new AUs or timelines. This was extremely appealing to Ink, as the truce he had made with Error: no creation, no destruction, meant this multiverse was essentially stuck in stasis. For someone like Ink, who lives off creativity, but also protects AUs, you can imagine how painful this was. So someone who could essentially ‘work around’ the truce was incredibly intruiging and Ink became friends or at least partners with XGaster for this purpose.

Both XGaster and Ink do not see other characters as ‘people’. They see them like we do. Characters. If you look at them through the eyes of the characters, trying to overwrite the multiverse and change the lives of millions of characters. Pretty evil. I mean, the entirety of the Xtale series explores the long lasting effects, the mental emotional impacts of character’s entire lives being controlled and manipulated over and over and over again, and them learning it happened. It’s what drove Cross to murder everyone in an attempt to free them all.

But from our perspective? From a creator’s perspective? Is that not what we do every single day? Play with these characters lives over and over and over again. Put them increasingly horrible situations just see their reactions. Are we not Ink and XGaster? Striving for better stories, or in their case a perfect one, regardless of the characters it hurts? That’s the question Ink and XGaster’s morality poses. Does supporting their cause make them profoundly immoral/evil or does it make them us. Are we evil? Obviously not. They’re just characters. But that’s exactly what these two think. So are they evil?

But that's not all, Ink also has a secondary motive to this beyond his own gain. A major underlying plot thread of Underverse is creators are abandoning his multiverse. It's dying!! This huge story with XGaster is a bid to restart and reinvigorate creator creativity. He's trying to save the literal multiverse's existence at the cost of whatever XGaster has planned.

Now, reason number two.

If you still say yes, Ink is evil for supporting the creation of XGaster’s perfect universe no matter who it hurts, I move to my second argument, which disregards whether or not you think Ink is evil in general, and says:

Okay, but him being emotionless does not change that in any significant way

Ink did become emotionless so he wouldn’t regret it, that is correct, but that is a choice his emotion-feeling self made. His emotion feeling self made the choice to become emotionless to accomplish this. His emotion feeling self was the one who supported this in the first place, and the only reason he needed to become emotionless was because he didn’t want anything to prevent him from making this happen, any doubts. If his emotionless self was the evil self, it would have been the one to make this decision, in contrary to his emotion self, but it is his emotion self that choose to do and support the things people may consider immoral. His emotionless self has no role to play in these decisions, it is merely a byproduct of the choices Ink makes. An emotionless person is no more capable of being ‘evil’ than someone who feels emotions, and to suggest the only reason Ink did what he did was because he was emotionless, is to ignore the motivations and desires of his character long before he became so. Feeling or not feeling doubt is not something that makes someone good or evil, feeling any emotion is not what makes someone immoral. It is the choice to either act on to or disregard those emotions in support of something immoral that makes someone evil. And that’s something Ink makes long before he’s emotionless, and something the emotionless side of him has no part in, as, if Ink wasn’t evil before he was emotionless, he can’t suddenly become evil because he is emotionless now. There’s no gain or loss of motivation to make an ‘evil’ decision there. He literally feels nothing. Any goals his emotionless self has have to carry over from his normal self. If Ink didn’t want to support XGaster in the first place and became emotionless, he wouldn’t suddenly gain the desire to join him. There would have to be immoral thoughts before he became emotionless, which he know is true, meaning the emotionless side of him isn’t suddenly ‘the evil one’. It’s just a means to an end for Ink. If you want to call Ink evil, that’s fine, but his emotionless self is not the evil one in comparison to his emotion self. In that case, he’s just evil.

This is why the idea ‘emotionless Ink is the evil one’ is in my opinon, a very wrong interpretation of his character.

[ask-worldfamily]

and here we have our first WorldTale Original Character! Welcome Nico!!

WorldTale!Nico 💧

- he is the "God" of the Universe in general, but he doesn't know anything until he meets Ink and tells him about his Soul and Essence

- has the ability to remember a Reset, Real Reset and Clear like the back of your hand

- lives together with his Sans and Papyrus (sleeps on the couch)

- The necklace that he wears is very special to him, and when someone asks him about it, he becomes very sentimental to the point of crying under certain situations.

- usually visits his "father" Asgore in the Castle every Sunday

`• ATC: 650 `• DEF: 700

`•HP: 2400 `•LV: 5

× Age: 20 × Height: 1.74

× Birthday: 07/12 (July 12)

× Extras ×

* when you put on the glasses, your second reaction against attacks doubles

* is part of the Star Sanses (or at least it was a time, before the separation)

* is not a Pacifist at all. but he refuses to kill/do harm for Asgore and Papyrus. and in the Genocidal Route he lets out that Genocidal "side" that he does not show in the Pacifist and Neutral

* he's like a God of Creation and Destruction (thanks for the Overwrite Button on him, he's limited to 5 Au's in a row, so he needs a break of at least 32 hours to do it again)

* has the Code locked, you can see the Stats of it, infor but it can't be modified (Player) or Overwritten (XGaster)

* his Gravity manipulation can turn the opponent headfirst if he wants, or sideways

[driftverse]

ok guys. here’s the deal.

I’ve been putting off making this comic for a very long time telling myself “I’ll do something with it eventually” and I KNOW that I’m literally never going to finish it and I have no motivation to finish it. it sucks, because I was kind of happy with what I came up with for the conclusion back in 2019, but I just have no desire to dedicate time working on something that just isn’t vibing anymore for me and also caused me a lot of stress in trying to crank it out.

some of you probably saw this coming, seeing what happened to my other utmv comics, but I’m just not in the game anymore. if I had somehow managed to get this all out while utmv was still in the exploding process and while I was still into it (which also happened to be while I was still in college, which made it impossible as it was), it might have taken off more, but life just didn’t work out that way and I want to not worry about this anymore.

anyway, here’s basically what was going to go down. I didn’t plan to make the comic long, but at the point that it got to, it was about halfway done.

- the driftverse story -

nightmare and dream have been mysteriously combined into one person, under the identity of drifter. unconscious of this, they coexist as a single individual, until suddenly, they remember that they were once separate and split into separate consciousnesses with shared control of the body.

the two of them decide to venture forth and figure out the truth behind this mystery. how did they combine? was someone responsible for this? protagonist syndrome conveniently leads them exactly where they need to go, and after wasting time in underswap for 2 seconds and arguing the entire time, they go to xtale to discover that it isn’t a wasteland, and does, in fact, still exist.

after bumping into some teenager presumed to be cross, nightmare, who is in control of the body, attempts to make conversation, and then xgaster shows up and reacts kind of violently to their presence. dream takes over and makes them run away. nightmare and dream continue to internally bicker, and now they’re being chased by mystery boy, whose name is apparently wing and not cross. after dream insults nightmare to his face, nightmare gets very mad and basically gets them caught on purpose and also tells wing that his name is nightmare instead of drifter because dream and nightmare are both immature and stupid.

now we’re all caught up. the drifter condominium gets pushed into xgaster’s house, are told to take a seat at the table, and after a few tense greetings between two people who both talk like rich snobs, xgaster tells nightmare (who is still in control) that he knows who he is, and that his name is “drifter”. nightmare laughs it off. wing mentions that he was told that his name was nightmare, not drifter. xgaster’s expression has turned indescribably murdery, and nightmare continues to try playing it off while dream has a goddamn stroke in his head. xgaster tells wing to leave the room, and though he does, he waits outside the door and listens.

nightmare keeps trying to act like he doesn’t know anything even though xgaster vaguely interrogates him, mentioning that he should be “guarding the tree like he’s supposed to.” nightmare doesn’t budge until xgaster asks him why he’s ‘on a break’ for the first time in five centuries, and why he visited his world of all places, suggesting that he may be looking for answers.

nightmare and dream realize, by convenient memory plot glitches, that the reason they are one person is because of overwrite, and that xgaster is responsible for everything.

xgaster comments that he’s disappointed this outcome hasn’t worked out either, but he believes that progress is being made, although he’s saddened by the fact that he needs to start over again. nightmare explodes, demanding what gives him the right to toy with his and dream’s lives.

“you’re very naive, aren’t you? tell me, was it not my work and effort that saved you from your own incompetence? tell me it has not saved you from your inevitable mistake–a mistake that would affect the entire pitiful multiverse forever to come,” xgaster says, and it strikes a nerve in nightmare. “the only way you two will ever coexist is by coexisting by force.”

nightmare doesn’t even know what to think. he suggests that, perhaps, he has been saved from his mistake, but now he’s learned his lesson, got his memories back, and he can be separated from dream again. xgaster denies this, telling him that they can only coexist if they’re not aware of the past–aka continuing to live as one identity. xgaster brings up overwrite, about to reset everything again.

plot twist, wing was, in fact, listening the whole time, and xgaster’s villainous monologing has recovered all of his memories too. he runs in and stabs xgaster with his magic, and his personality suddenly seems different. xgaster starts blabbering about how wing was supposed to be the perfect son and that his coding had never failed him before. if you haven’t figured it out already, wing is a combination of ink and cross, just like dream and nightmare getting mashed together, and now ink has taken control and he’s not very happy that xgaster turned him into this against his will. “give it up for the world’s greatest asshole, and for once, it isn’t me!”

xgaster, after healing himself with overwrite, continues his villainous monologing, calling all of them fools for disregarding his judgment, telling them that what he’s doing is for the better of the whole multiverse. ink tells him yeah, sure, maybe things could be better, but then calls xgaster out on his perfectionism and tells him that perfect doesn’t exist, and it’s not funny anymore.

ink continues to suggest the possibility of taking overwrite from xgaster somehow to split them all up again. the three of them have a brief one-sided fight scene while xgaster teleports around the room and they pretty much destroy everything. xgaster is like “I have the power of a god, you can’t stop me,” and while this is going down, dream, still in the depths of subconscious, has a realization. they have access to the power of a god too.

dream and nightmare argue about this, dream suggesting taking the power of the tree and nightmare calling him an idiot, especially because xgaster could probably just undo it. dream says that, if they manage to get overwrite away from xgaster with it, they can just turn themselves back to normal. watching wing fight xgaster and get his ass kicked, nightmare is conflicted, but eventually concedes and tells dream that this is his responsibility only and he refuses to be the one who makes that choice.

dream takes control and they leave, xgaster and ink noticing and continuing to talk. after xgaster tells ink that there’s no point to resisting him, because ink knows inside how this is going to end, xgaster reveals to ink that none of this was even his idea.

putting nightmare and dream together, and putting ink and cross together, he says, was all dream’s idea in the beginning. to stop nightmare from taking the tree’s power, and to stop ink and error from fighting–error, who was implied to have never been created–they were all put together, and dream was to blame. ink takes this with a grain of salt, but this was all true.

from this point onward, the narrative gets foggy, because the script ends here. after fighting through the angry mobs of dreamtale that exist for some reason, dream consumes the power of the tree and plans to fight xgaster, but unfortunately he’s consumed by the overwhelming power because he’s kind of weak-willed. while he hunts down xgaster again, destroys him and likely takes overwrite for himself (note that he has the full power of the tree, and not just a percentage of it, so he’s basically in godmode), he and nightmare regain all of their former memories. turns out dream is partially to blame for nightmare’s original ‘life-ruining’ decision, thanks to his ignorance and insistent insensitivity.

their thoughts still separate, and nightmare still horrified at the events that have been taking place for the last while, he wonders why dream is silent and why he won’t tell him what’s happening. without a word, and a solemn expression on his face, dream overwrites everything again, creating a new rendition of the rewritten timeline rather than turning everything back to normal, and that was where the story was going to end.

so, yeah. the story wasn’t ever planned to have a happy ending. the cycle repeats, memories being lost, lives being manipulated and unqualified people playing god.

anyway, thank you for reading this comic while it was in the works!

[waddlebouncefloof]

Baby Shark AU

When XGaster prepares to move laboratories, he leaves Blank inside of Cross’s half full cage to encourage him to behave. The cage is knocked into the ocean and sinks to the depths, with Cross and Blank still inside

The vent that allowed the air for Blank to breathe now is letting the ocean water flood the cage. Blank holds their breath as long as they can, around 15 minutes, before they start to drown. Cross, bound and gagged, is completely helpless and is forced to watch his little sibling slowly struggle and suffer for the next few minutes. Just before they die, their mage abilities manifest early, turning them into a Thresher shark pup.

They spend the next few days trapped together in that cage, in the cold dark abyss before they are rescued by Ink and Error.

Cross takes Blank up to the surface to breathe. They struggle against shifting back but finally do so, as the stress of the transformation is too much for them.

They spend the next couple of months together, with Blank in shark form following and feeding off of fish, Neither want to be separated after everything that happened.

Cross eventually encounters Dream sunbathing and they start to bond. Dream is curious why a shark pup is following a mer but thinks they’re cute. As time passes Cross and Blank are eventually brought in to meet the shiver. Upon realising it’s a group of sharks, Cross tells Blank not to show their seal form in front of them, just in case.

Eventually the shiver is curious about Blank vanishing towards the surface every other day and send Killer to follow them, learning that they are actually a Selkie.

Upon confrontation Cross opens up more about their past and the shiver all express support for Blank.

Notes Blank shares Cross’s fear of the dark and tight spaces in this AU

Blank also develops a fear of drowning and for a long time is resistant to their seal form. Feeling to vulnerable and scared to do so.

At one point the shiver hunted a seal but both Cross and Blank got rather upset. They didn’t know why till later, but it reinforced Blanks refusal to stick to their true form.

As Blank shifted before they even learnt to walk in their legged form, most of their skin shifts are of the full animal rather than a mer.

Both Blank and Cross have intense separation anxiety.

A storm sweeps Blank away, they are eventually found by Blue and Geno (having had their leviathan mates meet recently to clear up Blue’s accidental trespassing)

While Ink and Error teach them a little about shapeshifting, Blank and Geno bond. Blank admires Geno’s strong seal form and eventually learns to accept their seal form and feel more comfortable in their own skin.

Eventual happy reunion with Blank returning to the shiver, more confident and independent than before.

[sleepyfan-blog]

power suppression either error or nightmare, or both i'm just curious what would happen if either of them get their powers suppressed

Power Suppression

Fandom: Underverse

Characters: Nightmare, Error, Ink, XGaster

Warnings: Power Suppression

Word count: 2,111

Summary: Error and Nightmare wake up in cells facing one another, in an AU that neither of them recognize.

Nightmare knew as soon as he opened his eyes that something was terribly wrong. For one thing, he could see clearly out of both of his eye lights, the second… He felt lighter than he had in a very long time. The third thing was that it was very dark wherever the hell he was currently. The last thing that he remembered was fighting Dream and Cross - the two of them escaping to places unknown as he and Killer just barely failed to go through the portal after them. Once he got his hands on Cross, that miserable fucking traitor was going to regret ever betraying him - then again, he’d been fucked around with by that Gaster of his timeline, so his decisions might not have entirely been his own.

He stood up, moving towards the pale source of light, stumbling a little and hissing as he realized that the source of the light was a magical force field that when touched - forced him back a couple of inches and stung.

In the pale white, flickering light, Nightmare glanced down at his hands, realizing that he was no longer covered in the tarry substance of the corruption that the negative apples had. His bones were white and he was… He was wearing his original outfit. Including - as he felt the top of his head - the golden circlet with the crescent shaped cut in the middle of it. Panic filled him as he tried to summon his tendrils, feeling something shift just outside of his full perception and agony shock through him, originating from his neck, wrists and ankles, driving the lord of darkness to his knees. He choked back the shriek of agony - not wanting to give his captors the satisfaction of hearing him react in pain.

Once the pain faded from his body and Nightmare could move - the fallen guardian of Negativity sat up, scowling as he tried to figure out just where he was. From what he could see of the hallway outside of his cell, all he could see was a white hallway in black trim. The color of the force field was strange - as in every AU he’d visited that had such magical tech, they were either light blue if they were a tale or a swap based AU, or red if he was in a fell or swapfell based AU. Occasionally it would be a light shade of violet in swap fells, but that was unusual. But never this over-bright white color.

Nightmare studied the magical shackles on his wrists, using the light to get a better look at them - noting the intricate carving of the runes that kept his powers suppressed and locked away. At least it meant that they hadn’t somehow taken the powers of the many apples he’d consumed from him. He had his power, though it was out of reach. He sat down and looked at the shackles on his ankles, finding much the same. Both sets of restraints were completely smooth - there wasn’t a groove or keyhole revealing a weakness that he might be able to exploit in trying to get them off. Not that there was much in the cell he’d been locked into - just a small cot fused to the floor, the material dark in color - and when Nightmare dragged the mattress he’d been laying on, it revealed to be the same flat black color as was on the trim on the walls outside.

Nightmare could very dimly sense someone close by. Having literally nothing else to do - and deciding that he was going to see if there was someone in the cell facing his - he called out (hating how light and soft his voice sounded in this weak form) “Hello? Is there anyone else down here?” Perhaps he could play the innocent, confused victim and con his captors into letting him go. Then he would make them suffer for daring do this to him. He knew for a fact that Dream hadn’t done this to him - for one thing, the other would never think to suppress his powers - and the second is that the other would be hovering at his side, waiting for the very moment that he woke up in order to try to talk.

He heard an agonized groan from the cell opposite of his, and the familiar figure of one glitchy outcode came into view. “WhErE tHE fUCk Am I? WhO aRE yOu?”

“I have no idea where we are - as for who I am… I’d rather not get into that right now.” Nightmare responded, not wanting to reveal who he was to Error just yet. “What’s important is - can you access your powers? I have some sort of… Restrictors on me that keep me from trying to teleport out of here - and there’s nothing in here that I can use to try to get out of them, either.” He’s never seen such an achromatic place like this before. Is… Was he dragged to an AU he’s never known before? By who, and for what purpose? Nightmare hated the lack of control, but was doing his best to suppress his emotional reactions. He won’t give them the satisfaction. “I have just a little bit of my passive abilities, but nothing more, as far as I can tell.”

“Of coUrSe I-” Error started, voice rough and staticky with irritation, before pausing for a moment. Less then a second later, the other let out a glitched yell of pain, and Nightmare noted that the other had fallen over backwards, completely stiff his arms and legs stiff and straight.

The lord of negativity waited patiently for the other to wake up, tapping one of his bare feet against the cool tile, keeping a regular beat inside his mind, finding that it took the other at least ten minutes to start to react again, groaning and shuddering on the floor, and another five to struggle up into a sitting position “I am sorry - I had just been about to warn you not to try to use your powers too much - the cuffs that they put on both of us caused me pain when I tried to use them.” He wasn’t really sorry - but pretending otherwise would hopefully encourage a sense of camaraderie between the both of them - so that if the other managed to escape his cell, it was less likely that Error would leave him to rot.

“HoW cOmE I didn’t h-hear yoU scReAmIng eArLIer?” Error demanded, squinting at him through the force fields “yOu LoOk LiKe A sWaP iN stRAnGe cLOtheS? WhAt Au ArE yOU fRoM?”

“You wouldn’t have heard of it, even if I told you. None of the outcodes have ever visited my AU… Not that there’s much left of it. It was destroyed long ago.” Nightmare responded factually. He sincerely doubted that Dream would have ever brought Ink to the shattered remains of their timeline - and while he did use it as his main base, he didn’t trust any of the outcodes enough to even think about taking them there. “I… I didn’t scream when the pain hit me. I-I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of hearing me in pain.”

“fAIr eNOUgh. HoW dO yOU knOW whO I aM iF nO oNe HaS bEEn tO yoUR tIMELinE?” Error pressed, continuing to squint at Nightmare, arms crossed over his chest as he glared at him suspiciously. “I wILl fINd A wAY oUT anD tHEn I wIlL mUrdEr thE wOrtHLEss gLIitcHEs WhO cAUghT mE.”

Nightmare was about to give a version of the truth - something about Dream having visited his timeline on his own before - when both of them  heard the sound of a door opening, and two sets of footsteps.

“And I am telling you, with Overwrite and your knowledge of their powers, neither one of them has had the ability to escape, my dear friend.” A smooth, low voice that neither of the two caged and currently powerless beings recognized reassured. “Their code is unusual - it will take me time to reprogram them into more useful tools. If you would allow me to look at the negative one’s other half, I am sure that I would be able to reshape both of them. I am unsure if I can fix… Nightmare? I believe that’s what you called him? Without Dream being present as well. They are bound together in a way that I have never seen anywhere in the multiverse before.”

“And I told you, XGaster, he’s in the omega timeline, and having both of them in the same timeline will cause issues that you cannot handle easily. Dream is by far the weaker of the two of them, but his positive aura will win over your people to his side. It’s part of how his powers work - and Nightmare will be far more stubborn if we have Dream here. And Dream won’t trust me if I bring him here.” Ink responded, shaking his head a little.

Error screamed at Ink “YOU SON OF A BITCH LE-LE-LET ME OUT OF HE-HERE RIGHT NOW! G-GET THESE F-FUCKING CUFFS OFF OF ME, AND YOUR D-DE-DEATH WILL BE FAST YOU MIS-MISERABLE SQUID! I WILL TEAR APART YOUR FA-FA-FAVORITE AUS LI-LINE BY LI-LINE!” He threw himself repeatedly at the force field of the cage, as if hoping to bash through it by sheer force of will, hissing in pain with every strike.

“I had given you a chance to join our game, Error. You refused to play.” Ink responded, his eye lights, flat white circles as he stared down at the other, as the glitch trembled and thrashed on the floor. He glanced over at Nightmare, a small twitch of his lips upwards, as if feeling a pale shade of amusement. Not that the other was actually feeling anything. “You really do look a lot like Dream. You’re almost… Sweet in this form, Nightmare.” The guardian of creativity walked over, staring at him.

“Why is Dream’s trust something that you are after, friend? I can give you what it is you truly want and desire. His aura is only effective when you are in his presence, and the light emotions make you weak.” The Gaster pointed out, resting a hand lightly on one of Ink’s shoulders.

“Dream’s presence helps to bolster my positive popularity, which allows me greater access to the AUs that we visit. He is also the best healer I have encountered in the entire multiverse and his gentle nature makes him an excellent companion.” Ink answered. “Why he seems to think that Nightmare can be redeemed, I do not know. But his hope to find a cure for whatever happened to him - as well as his belief that Nightmare can be redeemed is what keeps him going. You take either of those things away from him and Dream will shatter.”

“Oh, please do elaborate on that.” XGaster responded with a small smirk playing on his face as the two of them started to walk.

Nightmare growled, his eye lights flashing in anger as he stepped closer to the bars of the cell he’d been forced into “If you dare touch Dream, I will rip you apart. You can only hold me here for so long. Dream may trust you for now, but I know him better than you ever will, you arrogant, soulless bastard. If he ever hears so much of a hint of what you’ve done in this world, he won’t ever trust you again… And Cross is with him in a place where you can’t directly approach the both of them to keep Cross silent.” Despite his irritation, the fallen guardian was smirking a little. The truth would will out sooner or later - and there was no way that Ink would be able to keep Dream out of this AU - and the other would be drawn to his presence. He just needed to be patient.

Error started to thrash against the force field again, screaming obscenities until he suddenly went down hard, his eye sockets covered in errors - his whole body glitching out wildly. A loading bar popped up over the other’s prone body, ever so slowly inching towards full.

Gaster and Ink left the both of them, unconcerned. “With his magic suppressed, I suspect he’ll be rebooting for hours. Just after a reboot is when he’s most malleable.” Ink supplied, staring at the prone form of his long-time enemy.

XGaster nodded “Very well, let us continue speaking, while I show you what I have added since the last time this world was RESET.” The pair of them were silent until after they vanished out of Nightmare’s sight and hearing range.

[sleepyfan-blog]

If you haven't done it already, maybe do Blindfolded with Ink and Nightmare?

Blindfolded

Fandom: Underverse

A continuation from this

Characters: Nightmare, Ink,

Warnings: implied torture

Word count: 1,004

Summary:  Ink questions Nightmare. It goes about as well as one would expect.

From the lingering pain in his body, Nightmare knows as soon as he’s conscious again that someone activated the cuffs on his neck, wrists and ankles - likely in order to move him somewhere without him knowing where he is being taken. He activates his eye lights… And sees nothing more than darkness. He feels the press of fabric against his eye lights and sighs a little. He raises one of his hands, frowning a little as he realizes that he can only move either of his arms a couple of inches before a force keeps him pinned. His legs are similarly bound.

The lord of negativity closes his eyes as he attempts to figure out if he can sense anyone around him. There’s no one around him, but he can hear whisper-light footsteps walking around. Which can only mean “Hello, Ink. I am curious as to why my accommodations - and my ability to move - have changed.”

“I have questions for you. Dream never told me why you and he know one another. But XGaster says that the two of you share a unique bond. I thought that you wanted him dead. How do the two of you know one another?” Ink asked, his voice emotionless - but there was an odd intensity in the other’s voice.

“Why should I answer your questions? If your own supposed ally won’t tell you of his past, and our unique connection, why should I?” Nightmare answered back, a smirk appearing on his face. He had no incentive to tell Ink anything about his shared past with Dream - and if the other had the good sense not to tell the soulless bastard, he certainly wasn’t going to talk. It was a little surprising though, as Dream was usually very trusting of everyone. “And I’ve never wanted Dream dead. Did he tell you that?”

“… No, but from the way that you two have clashed in the past, it was implied that you wanted to kill him.” Ink responded, his voice much closer than before. “You will answer my questions sooner or later.  You are completely at my and XGaster’s mercy. Being cooperative will prove to the both of us that you do not need to be changed as much as we previously thought that you need to be, in order to be a proper tool.”

Nightmare laughed, the sound manic. Once he was able to recover his breath, the lord of negativity teased “You wouldn’t be the first to assume that you could break me, and nor will you likely be the last. I will never bow to the likes of you, nor the Gaster you have so foolishly allied yourself with. Gasters are always dangerous, and how do you know that he hasn’t changed you, like he has changed his world over and over again?”

“… He wouldn’t do that. We are friends and allies. Without me, he would have given up and allowed this world to fall into nothingness.” Ink responded flatly, though there was a hint of… Something in the other’s voice. Was that doubt? “We are getting off topic. What is your history with Dream? Why are the two of you connected?”

“Hmm… You know I believe I already told you once that I wasn’t going to tell you anything… And let me think….” Nightmare murmured, his voice dripping with sarcasm “Let’s see… No.  I still have no reason whatsoever to tell you anything. Are  you going to start torturing me now? I guarantee that I have been through much worse than what your pale imagination can come up with.” The single most painful thing he’s ever been through was the transformation with the apples, and he doubts that Ink can come close to doing anything like that to him.

“I did warn you that he would be prideful and stubborn, my dear friend. From what you told me, he is used to being in control in every situation - including ones where it seems as if he has little to none.” XGaster murmured,  having suddenly appeared.

Nightmare could sense the other’s emotions - just barely. Part of him wanted to taunt them - but he suspected that would cause more problems then it would change. “I just don’t see the point in answering questions to those who would try to use it against me.”

“… I told you that he wouldn’t be easily bent to our will. No matter how sweet his face is now.” XGaster responded, clicking his tongue a little.

“A pity… But I suspect that the both of them will be quite happy to be together again, once the nonsense is cleared from Nightmare’s mind… And the both of them will be quite grateful to me as the one to save Nightmare from the darkness currently clouding his mind. Proceed with Overwriting him, dear friend of mine.” Ink responded, a strange note in his voice.

Nightmare did not like the possessive tone in the other’s voice - briefly wondering how the other was able to even feel something like that, being soulless and off of his vial that caused artificial feelings. Then he shivered a little, realizing that he does still have some sliver of his negative aura - which was influencing the soulless bastard. He shivered a little as he felt something latch onto his soul… Pain lanced through his body, but Nightmare refused to scream and thrash against his restraints. retreating deep into his mind, to detach from the pain that continued to claw its way through his body. Nightmare was just barely conscious as he heard the two of them speak.

“This will take longer than thought. There is something interfering with my ability to access his full code. I will need to study and remove it before I can change him - it may have caused the change that… Dream was it? Mentioned that he underwent before becoming the creature that he is now.” The Gaster mused.

“Very well. Be careful now, we need him alive.” Ink responded back.

Pain lanced through his body. Shit. The apples.