#i don't know how i feel about her deltarune version...

[katyspersonal]

Hey for the fandom ask let’s change a little i’m curious to know what you think of Deltarune characters (& Undertale if no one else ask)

Oh, alright! Yeah, I do not address UTDR all that often despite avidly awaiting Deltarune's completion... This happens when I am into a thing but choose to not interact with the fandom! I will separate the games because even though UT and DR share some characters, even they are slightly differently portrayed.

(Asks from this ( x ) meme)

DELTARUNE:

❤Favorite character

This motherfucker is some of the most intimate and personal a character ever got to be for me:

I was actually so surprised by Literally Everything about him that I needed several days to process his EXISTENCE xD I absolutely love every single line he makes, and I feel strange deep relation to him (not kinnie one, but it feels spiritual). We are just on the same wavelength about being huge l00sers, being cringe but with a unique charisma, having intense mood swings, using weird humour and, of course, the whole 'perceiving the world as a simulation and going insane because of it'... I wish there was a legit term for 'the character I do not kin yet relate to and feel emotions of like they were my own'. I also once had a weird dream about him fusing with me into one entity to get to be 'real' using my human soul, and trust me, that was a whole TRIP for a considerable time. :')

👿Least favorite character

I will have to say Jevil, but this isn't entirely fair... Like I said, I am not ABLE to dislike a fictional character, ESPECIALLY by Toby, but with Jevil it is a love/hate relationship, so he is the only one who can even approach ;-; He is same category as Patches Fromsoft: the 'You have a lot to love about you, but... WHY.' kind of character. xD

💐Comfort character

Deltarune version of Asgore is THE definition of the soft man. Somewhat lingers with me that in UT timeline he murdered children, but... this just doesn't get to me. After all, most people are capable of terrible atrocities, it is only a matter of whether they meet the conditions that bring it up in them or not. Hehehe...

😍Character you have the biggest crush on

Surprisingly, not Spamton! We are only [[Serious Business Offer]], my [[babygirl]]! Instead, I fucking HAD to have a crush on the hypocritical weather wane bitch ass motherfucker idiot Rouxls Kaard! x_x I still can't justify it to this fucking day. I tend to only like characters that are smart and complex, but I guess his Style TM and charisma alone are irresistible.

🤝Character you relate to the most

You probably won't believe me, but... Noelle? Yeah, I know, this is very hard to communicate because she is sweet and soft but I am rude and abrasive, to say the least. Nonetheless, I am as far as kinning this character. There is a side of me that is alas not shown very often, however, close friends know of it. Christmas is my favourite holiday, I am very smart and talented but let people use me, I ask too many questions, I have some kindness to me, I am anxious and get startled easily, I am actually easy to push around the closer you are... Heck, sometimes I switch full mode into speaking like her, feeling like her and envisioning myself as her in my mind. x_x

It is a side of me that no longer shows often, nonetheless, it is still alive, like a soft core under a very thick skin. I also started to SERIOUSLY relate to her history after learning of the Snow Grave route.

🔥Character you think is overrated

I ammmm gonna say, Spamton NEO version! When this character became really popular, it felt as though everyone only cared about his NEO form! Yeah, they are the same character, actually, but it is more about the delivery! If you don't love Spamton at his 'silly super short failing salesman that lives in the trashcan', you don't deserve him at his 'tall cool robot' form!!!!1! /lh

🧨Character you love to hate

Rouxls Kaard again! I know, it is the only DR character that gave me even a semblance of attraction, but I will always bully him for the coward and hypocrite siding with the winning side that he is XD

🙈Character you always forget exists

That one red blob with a face that characters always act around as if that's their friend and someone famous. See, I do not even remember their name! This is how much I forget about them!

🐰Favorite non-human character

Deltarune has only one human character to begin with, so I will use this field as 'favorite unexplored character' instead. Well, I was actually rather fond of Diamond King in my time! Gave him hella headcanons and all that!

❤️‍🩹Character who deserved better

ALL THE KINGS!!!!!!!! Diamond, Heart and Club Kings - because they were just a haha funny cameo with only Diamond King having at least SOME lines. Spade King was handled well enough in the canon, but it was the fandom that gave him pretty bad treatment - from neglecting the nuance of his character to the outright ableism (I am serious). But even fandom aside, Spade King deserved better than having endured an obvious divorce from a rather shallow wife, being abandoned by his Knight and living in the bitterness about how Lightners treated the Darkners. No shit he became an unlikeable person. Like... can anyone treat him nicely?

UNDERTALE:

❤Favorite character

I love them all, but THE favorite got to be Undyne!

She is already the badass fish girlfriend in the normal timeline, however, her best traits sure get to shine in Merciless Route. Her speech about humans and monsters hearts beating as one just to continue existing absolutely won me over. The coolest character, hands down.

👿Least favorite character

No such thing, sorry! The closest I can think of is Muffet because unlike other bosses, she is Just There and is doing the smug anime girl moves, but she is still cute! Also I still like spiders ;-;

💐Comfort character

W. D. Gaster + Whatever fandom made out of W. D. Gaster (that mostly comes from interpreting Mystery Man sprite as him). But honestly, this character makes me happy! A mad scientist that accidentally cancelled his own existence and transcended beyond his own plane.

😍Character you have the biggest crush on

Stupid motherfucking Mettaton and his pretentious, full of self personality -_- Can you tell yet that I have a type? W. D. Gaster is the close second, however.

🤝Character you relate to the most

Honestly, Papyrus. Almost a kinnie. Again, something hard to explain, because you can see my personality doesn't match, but it is just... the whole 'looser that really wants approval but is THE manifestation of everything that won't make anyone except a few people appreciate him'. He is also silly, that I can relate to. I will turn goddamn full TWENTY SIX in April, but I am still just really silly and naive @_@

🔥Character you think is overrated

I don't know whether I want to say Sans, because he kindaaaaa deserved his popularity... I think it is more about how his potential was overrated. In every Undertale AU, he is the central figure, and like... THIS is my gripe. If you gonna alter universes, why not touch other characters?

🧨Character you love to hate

Mettaton, because he is a huge bitch, actually xd Like, yes, he is very attractive, but I also want to short his circuits and not in the way of a weird euphemism, but in a literal way :( Think of 'I want to strangle him' but in regards of a robot character. Fuck him for abandoning Napstablook and being mean to Alphys when she is clearly struggling with many issues in weird ways :( I still love him tho

🙈Character you always forget exists

Nice Cream guy! Only ever remember about him when he is brought up in his ship with Burgerpants.

🐰Favorite non-human character

Again, Undertale has like... TWO human characters, so I will reverse this point! Picking between All Two of them, I think I like Chara better than Frisk. They invoke so much sympathy, they were the only one who truly understood Asriel (by his OWN admission!), they take lacking trust and bullshit very seriously and were clearly a very strong-willed child.

❤️‍🩹Character who deserved better

The entire Dremurr family, including Chara. I mean... the whole plot sprouts from the tragedy of this family, so I guess this part is a no-brainer. Honorable mention is Alphys in the ending variant where Mettaton becomes the king, because it is heavily implied that she either committed minecraft or simply was in a terrible mental space enough to distance and disappear from society. I am thinking about that timeline every now and then. I even had a lost concept of her trying to run away from everything that fell on her and falling into rift in time, that changed her permanently. A never developed AU because people in a Discord server dissed my overly elaborate idea :(

Thank you for the ask though! I don't get to talk about UTDR side of me all that often, despite how much it means for me!

[a-town-called-hometown]

in regards to deltarune and character agency, i always assumed the darkners' agency being tied to the lightners' will was a direct parallel to the player character's agency (kris) being tied to the *player's* will (us), and that by making this the game's narrative (darkners are on a plane below lightners and are considered, in a way, less 'real', despite several having desires to break away from this hierarchy) the game is trying to call into question our relationship with the game itself, with the world itself. if the relationship between lightners and darkners feels unfair, then our relationship to kris should be in question as well. characters all have roles to play, but isn't that strange? why the prophecy, why the repetition, why do we, ultimately, have so much control? what gives us the right? it's all layers. us, lightners, darkners, imagine your whole world living and dying at the hands of gods that, out of boredom, could easily abandon you one day, or even destroy you? gods you were made to love and serve, and around you everyone says without them you can never be whole. who wouldn't want to rebel? i think if you're an advocate for kris's agency, you have to advocate for the darkners' agency. for ralsei's agency outside of kris or the prophecy or anything he's meant to do. i think kris and ralsei are narrative foils in this regard, one who blindly accepts his fate, and the other who tries to escape it, a character who does whatever he's told and a character who forcefully slips from our grasp. it just feels like set up to me for a lot more than 'escapism.' i'd say the main themes here are fate, agency, choice and control. even the mystery voice at the start of the game has their plans messed with by the other voice choosing to discard our vessel. every character is grasping at something they can't have, even ralsei can't have his narrative go the way he's planned because susie keeps surprising him lol

yes that's true!!! i would also argue that 'identity' is packaged in with these themes - deltarune is written in such a way where characters are not just grappling with fates and choices outside of their control, but also grappling with roles that they seemingly cannot escape.

the darkners are fantastical & metafictional version of this idea, given that they are both objects who need to be useful in order to not be abandoned and also npcs who serve an rpg-genre narrative function. ralsei especially fulfills several rpg archetypes as the friendly healer companion and as the guide npc. every major darkner has some kind of conflict involving the role they were made to play, whether it's lancer as "the bad guy" or spamton as "the spam email." even queen, who is extremely enthusiastic about her role, runs into issues because she is so zealous that she does not grasp what the lightners might actually want and need.

susie and noelle fulfill a more realistic version of this: the labels of bully and nice girl respectively are roles that neither of them exactly chose, but through a mix of environmental & psychosocial factors and a dose of self-fulfilling prophecy, neither of them know how to escape. berdly, while mostly comedic, is also a character who deals a lot with his real-world designation of "smart guy." susie breaks loose somewhat of her role in ch1, and we see noelle start to follow suit by the end of ch2. given that their existence isn't directly tied to their roles the way the darkners' are, it makes sense that they'd start to question and challenge these first.

kris, as befitting of their protagonist role, fulfills both versions of the idea. their role in the light world is an outcast who lives in their brother's shadow, and in the dark world, they're viewed as a prophesized hero. but they don't have full agency in either of these identities at all. they're being controlled by us, and the perceptions of them as an outcast and hero respectively are imposed onto them by other people.

meanwhile, almost all the other lightner npcs are different versions of characters we met in undertale. i would argue that this is another form of imposed identity, albeit one they aren't aware of. WE view them as their identities from undertale. I highly suspect that this will be something played with a lot more as future chapters go on.

the themes of choice & control all interlock with this idea of imposed identity. in a world where nobody can choose who they are, is it possible for people to eventually break out of what they are assumed to be...?

it's a game made to make us heavily question both a lot of rpg conventions and especially how we view characters in games. I'm very excited to see how the game will continue to play with its ideas of agency. it's such a brilliant idea to tell a story about fate by explicitly tying it to the way characters and worlds are written in games, and also by tying it to audience perceptions related to toby fox's last game. it's going to be so interesting to see how the characters deconstruct all those expectations!

[krispdreemurr]

oh oh i have an interesting discussion/query ! what do u think the meta purpose of making kris act like they do at the end of chapter 1 was? specifically like the imagery of a kid in a green/yellow shirt manipulating a red soul, pulling out a knife, having red eyes and grinning evilly cause like... i feel like deltarune definitely incorporates the memory of undertale throughout? like its advertised as a game for people who finished undertale and theres lots of references and things that are only as impactful if you had an emotional connection to the original game, like spamton neo and gaster saying "have you been looking for me?" and just.. so many things but most interestingly imo being that ralsei almost comes across like a fanonized "cinnamon roll" version of asriel that was so popular way back when? ofc he's more than that but thats like. a Part of him anyways what i mean is like, when chapter 1 released many people (myself included) saw that and instantly assumed that kris was being controlled by chara because of how strongly chara-esque (*especially* to the fandom, like ralsei) the imagery was, only for chapter 2 to come out and many people (myself included^2) completely disregarded chara as having any bearing on the story whatsoever and that kris is just themself trying *not* to be controlled by us. i think we can all agree that the latter is correct, and some people were clearly smarter than me in chapter 1 and deduced the truth even then (e.g. lynxgriffin in their comics), but i am left wondering what the point of that was almost? i thought you might have some interesting thoughts on that, cause like, if kris's frustration with the player is essentially the main plot of the game (give or take), the allusion to chara was a little bit 'distracting' for the fandom i feel like? some ppl are (somehow) still confused & blaming chara even! i guess im just wondering, what if kris had wore a different shirt and menaced the player in a different way at the end of chapter 1? do you think it would have improved the story to eliminate the possibility of confusion, or do u reckon toby fox want us confused? idk LMAO just thinking aloud atp. just been on my mind the past few days bc in retrospect, while the intro to deltarune is obviously trying to trick you into believing this is "undertale 2", post-dark-world the game is unambiguously super different, to the point where it feels a little bizarre that there'd be a red herring *after* deltarune already smashed the notion that it's a prequel or sequel into pieces doesnt it?

i think it's most legible to me as an attempt by Kris to psych us out that they sort of get lucky with thanks to toby helping them!

like, obviously they have no way to know you've been menaced by nonbinary children before - the specific parallels aren't a thing they're reaching for. but they're trying to get the player freaked out, and toby sort of lends them a helping hand by making them coincidentally charalike.

it's not the first time he's had a character freak us out with knowledge they don't have (thinking about sans and the talking flower in grillbys), and it's not the first time in Deltarune alone where a parallel is arguably sheer coincidence in world but happens to echo something to the player. i don't think it's like cheap or anything - toby fox does a really good job building up a language of associations and connections and motifs and then sometimes uses that to trick you just the tiniest bit lmao

but just like Chara, the ways to see thru the trick are there if you're looking. if you pay attention to Chara, you learn their oh so ominous faces and scares were originally just a thing they did to have fun with their brother, and maybe you get an appreciation that they were a child trying to scare you in childish ways. similarly, if you talk to everyone in town, you learn that Kris is a prankster by nature who delights in freaking everyone out (and also someone who would eat an entire midnight pie), and maybe you get the chance to go "oh, they're pranking me, huh?"

a little like Chara, Deltarune ch1 uses Kris to ask if you've been paying attention to the material. did you notice this really, really wasn't Undertale? and if you did, what conclusion do you reach about this new kid?

[factual-fantasy]

27 ASK :)))))🍤🍤🍤

I do not.. but man I really need to give them names. I intend to name my FNAF au before drawing Moon Malfunction 2.0. And my Deltarune AU... ehhh.. idk, I'll just see if anything comes to me <XD (I'm open to suggestions! :0 )

@eggswastaken

Thank you! But sorry, no fanart rule. I wouldn't like for anyone to draw my AUs Asgore.. Thank you for asking first though <:) A lot of people would have just drawn it and not have cared to ask.

:DD Thank you so much!! :}}}

@luna-purple454

AAA THANK YOU FELLOW ASGORE ENJOYER! XDD

As for his backstory I don't really have any new ideas.. but as for the future?

I have ideas of Asgore seeing other versions of people he used to know. And it really hurts him. Like maybe they pass by and AU where he sees a Toriel. And his heart just aches. Or he sees a Gerson or Gaster, and he just longs for those people. He misses them and it kills him that he cant ever go back home.

Imagine if he met a Toriel that hated Asgore, post murdering kids. And she understands that he's a different Asgore but she cant help but be cold towards him. That might hurt worse than just missing his family. Someone with his wife's face being indirectly disappointed in him. Ashamed of him, angry at him. He never did those things that her Asgore did. But she still glares at him out of habit. And that kills him more than anything. And don't even get me started when he hears about the horrible fates this AUs Asriel and Chara suffered.

I can imagine that like Grillby, his body becomes more unstable the more emotional he is. Maybe they walk through an AU where Asgore meets that Toriel. And by the time they're ready to leave Asgore is wrecked. Seeing all these people broke his spirit. His body has significantly dissolved and he can no longer walk. All he does is hang his head low and weep. Saying he cant move.. and he wants to go home..

Jevil might be able to take the whole group to another AU, despite Asgore's state. But likely they'd just camp out for an extra day or so until Asgore can pull himself back together..

Aw, I'm sorry you're sick, that's no fun. <:( But I'm glad my artwork is helping you feel a bit better :}}}

@cudlycorncornsworthcoberson

Positively giddy my dear fellow

@elegysonnet

I haven't seen it yet, but it looks good and I plan to watch it! :0

@pinkbomb08

:D Thank you! Even if you have nothing to ask, I don't mind a nice message! :}}

@veeneeyyyy

Thank you! And hey man. Being down on yourself about your artwork is just gonna make you feel worse and slowly chip away at your confidence. Trust me, I've been there.

Try your best to always say something positive about the art that you make. No matter how much you think/believe that its bad. And never follow it up with anything bad either, "the face came out nice... but this hand looks terrible-" No. None of that. Actively force yourself to never say anything negative about your art out loud and always search for things that you like in the piece. If you seriously cant find a single thing to be positive about, then say "well I did my best. And I improved a little at art because I drew this."

Trust me man. From personal experience it will do wonders for your self confidence. Eventually that confidence will become second nature. Fake it till you make it.💪

@nutty-candy-lover

WAAA THANK YOUUUUU HHHGHFIIUSDAFI💖💖💖😭😭

REALLY THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I take so much pride in my expressions and angst! I've never really been the best at expressing my stories through dialogue. So I express it through body language instead!

A big chunk of the drawing time is the sketching and the line art. Trying my best to get specific expressions and poses. Like in this post! Most of the line art time was spent making sure that Grillby and Asgore eyes were juuuust right. And that Asgore's hug didn't look too tight or like Grillby couldn't pull away if he needed to. More like he was holding/supporting Grillby with 1 arm, and resting his hand on his back with the other.

I always have this thought process while drawing of "his pose looks a bit stiff, his shoulders aren't drooped down enough. He's grieving, so he needs to look heavier. His eyebrows should be furrowed a bit tighter. No now he looks angry, less furrow, more tears. His tears look too fresh. He needs to look like he's cried a lot recently. Okay thinner tears and marks around the eyes-" things like that.

I enjoy drawing these physical expressions so much and I really try to make them look good. So to hear that you see that effort I put in and you really like it?? wwAAA AWOOOOGOROOG😭😭💖🍤💓💖💘THANK YOU WAAAAAA

@cupcake-kingdom

Sort of..? I think they would have a decent relationship. I imagined him being a cold father but sometimes shows that he cares in his own special way.

Like for example. A comic that I never got around to drawing started with Bowser having a nightmare about Mario. When he wakes up, he proceeds to roam from room to room around his castle. Checking on all of his kids 1 by 1. He could stop by and maybe close their open windows, tuck them back in if their blankets were kicked off. A stuffed animal fell off the bed so he puts it back.

I think I planned for him to make it to JRs room. And instead of just checking and leaving, he goes and scoops JR up and take him back to his room. He also checks on Kamek and the Commander. before going back to bed with JR.

That might be a good way to explain it. He like- he loves his kids, he does. But he's just super weird about showing it and can only be truly tender towards them when something like that nightmare happens.

I don't believe so no. :/

I'm not sure, I haven't seen the Amazing Digital Circus yet <XD

@growing-past-me

Woah woah woah- slow down for a sec, Jevil and Seam are strictly friends through and through.😅 I personally don't support/enjoy ships of any kind. Its just really not my taste. :/

But yes! Which ever story I end up going with, Jevil and Seam escape their AU together and rekindle their friendship. :}

Yes! It is! :DD

Its also a double whammy though because its also meant to parallel Foxy having his mouth tied shut and his hook being removed. 👀👀

I haven't really thought about it too much..

Perhaps they'd feel betrayed? Because Freddy, Foxy and Bonnie all lied to them to keep Gregory a secret? Maybe there would be fighting because Chica and the others think they should call security but Freddy insists that they dont?

Maybe they would think that Freddy is malfunctioning because of how hard he pushing against their protocol? Maybe they'd call security on Freddy because of how he's acting..? Who knows <XD

As for how they acted the night Gregory was there.. man.. they wouldn't know what to say. Some might not even believe it happened, some would be ashamed.. it would be a hard pill to swallow for sure :(

@random-entity-363

XDD he really does use the power of tape to fix things doesn't he? I think he was also just a bit lucky that a lot of the damage on Bonnies body could just be poorly taped back into place.

I supposes that Staff bots could be used to aid Foxy is certain shows of his. But ultimately he is meant to be a 1 man band while preforming in Pirates cove <:/

"Bonnie you have no business being this larg" XDD

I've seen that all over Tumblr in the past few days. I really gotta get around to watching it <XD

@beryl-shade

I suppose its always possible. Although with how I've structured my Vanessa and the "bug", I don't think anyone/anything would make Bonnie do that..

XDD Yeah I can see them freaking out. As would anyone!

Well Bonnie didn't become this way over night. It was a slow process over the span of ten years. Years of constantly being overwhelmed with his performances, interacting with large crowds that he's not designed to process, his friends not giving him space when he really needed it.. He just slowly crumbled more and more until now he's just this cold, angry and rude individual.

However,, when it comes to Vanessa he's not that bad.

Bonnie is designed for interacting with groups of no more then 10 people at a time. He's even better at 1-1 interactions. And that's what Vanessa is. Just 1 person to process. Just 1 child.

And unlike most other kids that Bonnie deals with, she is very shy and quiet. She almost talks less then Bonnie does. That could be why Bonnie was Vanessa's favorite character. She preferred characters who weren't as loud as Monty or as active as Foxy. A slow moving, mellow animatronic is what she was drawn to.

I've imagined them interacting. Bonnie would ask her a question and she would just nod. If she were scared/sad she might not rush to Bonnie for a hug. Rather just sheepishly sit next to him and hold his hand.

What I'm trying to say is, she matches Bonnie's energy pretty well. Bonnie is not scary to her and Vanessa isn't overwhelming for Bonnie. I imagined them camping out in Bonnies room. The darkness makes Vanessa feel hidden, so she actually prefers it. She's shy so she doesn't really say much to Bonnie.. But she feels safe with him.

Maybe she squeaks out a little; "..thank you for helping me.." Bonnie could then turn his head a little and nod. Vanessa could smile and then curl up next to Bonnie. Eventually falling asleep.

They could work, and maybe their bond isn't the same as Freddy and Gregory's, but that doesn't mean it's lesser. Or that they're not as close. I think they're just right for each other. An overwhelmed animatronic mixed with a really quiet kid is a good mix I'd say :0

(Post in question)

I don't have an answer for either <XD

He was just reading "a book" and Kwazii was about to do "a dumb thing"-

@ocinstituterep

I haven't really given their exact ages much thought. Though I kind'a have an age range..? I feel like Barnacles is 40-50 years old. Maybe closer to 40.? Inkling is like in his 60-70s.

Dashi, Shellington, Kwazii, Tweak and Peso are all just bunched together between 20 and 40 years old. But Peso could be the youngest of the 5 and Kwazii the oldest maybe..?

The Vegimals are all under 10 I think.

I have not drawn that before no :/

Also that fact list was fun! XDD

[karamoonilia]

GASTER'S FOLLOWERS

MASTERPOST <- Maybe 👋

Don't forget these are also AU contents so designs and other weird things I don't know how to explain are can be different than canon or what other fans made like.

Ok guys let me explain. I did a lot of research on the names of Gaster's followers. But I couldn't find a Canon name for all of them. (Or there was but I couldn't find it.) I named most of the names based on information on some sites I found. Especially since there is no information about Goner Clam Girl and Eye Talker's real name, I named them myself.

Other facts about Gaster's Followers :

Follower #4

Goner Kid is Monster Kid's sister and a family member, and Eye Talker is her uncle.

The ribbon on Goner Kid's head was gifted to her by W.D Gaster.

Since she is already a child, she does not bother helping Gaster in the True Lab. She mostly hangs out with Alphys in the normal Lab.

Follower #1

Okay, I have to say this: Dust Licker is not naked under his apron. As long as the metal necklace on his neck (yes, he calls it a necklace) is on his neck, he is not naked, regardless of whether he takes off his apron or not.

He is the person in the best psychological condition in the group.

Follower #2

He's the Follower who hangs out with Gaster the most. Gaster and him are like brothers.

In AU, he can appear both with and without a hoodie.

His eyes appear when he feels dominant emotions. Examples:

Follower #5

You may not know this Follower, because she only appears in the Nintendo Switch version of Undertale if we go back to the Waterfall before reaching the barrier during the Good Ending.

There is a theory that her neighbor's daughter is Susie (Deltarune). This AU also has this theory. But it's not a big deal.

Follower #3

As you can see in the images, Eye Talker has 2 different forms and can transform into either one whenever he wants. The reason I made the First Form was because I thought it was strange that someone like him, with no arms or legs, would be one of the people helping Gaster in the laboratory.

This may be ridiculous information, but Eye Talker has an amazing jumping ability. He can jump up to 3 meters.

Quick sketch of the gang:

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:D

[waaow]

Warning for a lot of irrelevant ranting about a specific Deltarune theory topic that has no impact on the actual plot of the game at all.

A lot of the time in Deltarune fan content, the creators will have Kris meet a Deltarune version of Frisk, usually as one of Asriel's college buddies or something.

I very much hate it (this is an exaggeration its just a thing that commonly happens that irritates me slightly and I needed a good way to start the post). Kris IS the Deltarune version of Frisk. It's been pretty much told to us since Undertale launched (specifically Version 1.001) via Clamgirl.

"My neighbor's daughter looks about your age. Her name is "Suzy." I feel like you two should be friends. Not knowing where I live is no issue. Fate finds a way. In life's grand scheme, she might be why you came here in the first place..."

What does Clamgirl keep talking about? What is the purpose of her dialogue? Foreshadowing Deltarune. Talking to her is what spawns the "Don't Forget" note in Sans' basement. She's the one who went goner mode to break the 4th wall a month before Deltarune launched. Everything she says about Frisk and Suzy foreshadows Kris and Susie.

"Suzy" and Frisk are fated to meet each other. In life's grand scheme, Frisk's fall needed to happen for them to meet Suzy. Fate is a huge theme in Deltarune, but what I want to specifically emphasize is that Kris and Susie were fated to meet due to the prophecy. They needed to meet to become heroes.

Clamgirl says Frisk and Suzy "should be friends." Just like how Kris and Susie end up as friends extremely quickly. Frisk "looks about'" the same age as Suzy, Kris and Susie are in the same class and thus around the same age.

Kris is just an anagram of Frisk minus the 'F'. Suzy is phonetically identical to Susie, just with one less letter. They are the only notable characters to have changed names inbetween universes, and they just swapped the number of letters with eachother. Something to note is that their UT versions do not have the anagrams to "Risk" and "Issue," which depending on the plot of this game, might actually be important.

This isn't even talking about all of Kris and Frisk's numerous other similarities.

They have the EXACT same skin color and hair color. They most likely have the same eye color, as either the red eyes are unnatural and caused by possession or possession doesn't affect their eye color. Chara does take over Frisk's body, but the sprite uses Frisk's color pallette, their skin color and hair color are the same. It's still Frisk's body. Thus the eyes are Frisk's eyes.

They have similar light world equipment. Both of them wear bandages. Frisk has a stick. Kris has a pencil, which is a wooden stick-like object.

Their light world item throw-away narration has them performing the same actions to items.

Kris has blue and magenta themed colors in the dark world, which is just a more vibrant version of Frisk's clothing color scheme in Undertale. Their entire dark world room that Ralsei built for them is in that color scheme. Ralsei specifically knows about Kris and Susie's interests and desires, as their rooms have those design choices things in mind.

They're both flirtatious. Frisk is incredibly apparent with their flirting, but you can flirt with multiple enemies as Kris, and Toby has stated they'd get accidentally disbarred due to flirting with a witness in an ace attorney setting.

They're both mischievous as well. Kris' pranks are described by Toriel, Rudy, and Noelle. They also can prank Noelle in an incredible amount of ways during chapter 2 and seem to enjoy doing it. Frisk has a lot of small little moments, especially during ACTs or the hangouts with Papyrus, Undyne, and Alphys. Some usually missed ones are when they flatten a cinnabun and pour sea tea under the hotel doors.

They serve the same purpose, our protagonist we control. Even how we start playing as them is like identical. We name the first fallen human ("TrueChara" sprite name) or the Vessel, but instead of playing as them, we get shoved into the jaundice gremlins instead (Frisk uses "mainchara" for their sprites, and Kris uses it in their code). Kris is just the natural progression of Frisk. The entire time, you were supposed to believe that you named Frisk, that they were your self insert into the world. That gets mirrored by Flowey, who believes Frisk to be the first fallen human (who you named). The game ends with Asriel and new/unspoiled players realizing that Frisk isn't Chara. In the next game, Kris gets that revealed immediately when they wake up, and they further that development by having their personality a lot more discernible without in-depth analysis.

No other theories talking about Kris' Undertale variant make sense. The Clamgirl lines are too strong. The only one that even comes close is Chara, and the similarities Kris and Chara share aren't as deep as they seem.

First off, things that Kris and Chara share that Frisk doesn't seem to show any opinions on. Chara has one comment about chocolate that seems to imply they like it and the weapon that represents them is a knife. Kris very much likes chocolate and knives, but does not use a knife as a weapon

The big one people like to point to Chara being the adopted child of the Dreemurrs. There are a lot of problems with this.

The first one is that, arguably, so is Frisk. Frisk shows interest in being adopted by Asgore when talking to Gerson in the TP epilogue and CAN be adopted by Toriel/call her mom.

The second is that Chara is distinctly and purposefully separated from the rest of the family every single time any of the Dreemurrs mention them. Asriel always calls them his best friend. In the winter alarm clock dialogue, Toriel talks about them starting with the phrase "a long time ago I knew someone " and, in the same conversation, talks about Asriel and calls him "my son." Asgore only mentions having a single child, a son, at the end of his battle. "I remember the day after my son died. [...] I just want to see my wife, I just want to see my child." He could have easily used the word "children" in either of these two instances, but did not. In the extended spare cutscene where Flowey does not kill Asgore, he again distinguishes Asriel as his child and Chara as someone else. "Young one, when I look at you... I'm reminded of the human that fell here long ago... [...] But I believe your freedom...... is what my son...... what ASRIEL would have wanted." It is only Gerson who calls Chara part of the family. The new home monsters said they were 'like' family specifically.

Kris meanwhile is always treated as part of the Dreemurr family. Narration, Toriel, and other characters refer to Asriel as their brother. Narration, Asgore, and other characters refer to Toriel as their mother. Narration, Toriel, and other characters call Asgore their father.

Third is that even if Chara is part of the family, they had an entirely different dynamic with UT-Asriel than Kris does with DR-Asriel. Chara and UT-Asriel are around the same age, with Chara taking the more stereotypically older sibling role. Kris is much younger than DR-Asriel, and Asriel takes the more stereotypically older sibling role. We can reasonably guess that Frisk is also younger than Flowey from a age standpoint. Even if Chara & Asriel were the same age as Frisk when they died, Flowey spent an unknown but long amount of time doing runs before Frisk fell. If Frisk is the one being talked to in the Winter Alarm Clock (extremely likely, Flowey's dialogue heavily hints at it), he directly positions himself as someone who's "grown up." Basically, Chara and Asriel are around the same age. Frisk and Kris are younger than their universe's Asriel.

My final point for this is that the relative timeline just works better if Kris is Frisk. All the monsters in DR are monsters we know exist/existed in Frisk's time. Even the Holiday family, with the daughters still notably being kids according to WAC-Asgore and DogCasino-Sans, the youngest one (Noelle) likely being Frisk's age like Suzy & MK are.

So at most Kris can be Frisk with a bit of Chara sprinkled on, but even if they are, Clamgirl confirms that the two of them are alternate universe versions of eachother. Chara either exists as the Vessel or as some random human in the world somewhere.

[demphix]

HI can you talk more about the Charif and Ralsei dynamic ,,

Hi. Parallels of eachother that despise the fact they're parallels. And also vaguely siblings

I haven't put these into coherent thoughts this may just be a mess of words we'll see

Ralsei is the horned headband in this take and stemmed from a manifestation of Kris's desire to be like their family. The resemblance to the boss monsters, the similarities to Asriel and Toriel (not as many for Asgore yet I realize), ect.. (A good chunk of his identity issues probably stem from that, he's tied to an object representing the identity crisis of someone else. He doesn't know what being Ralsei-like is because he's been so caught up in his purpose and meaning as an "object" he hasn't let himself grow into his own person yet).

Charif is supposed to reflect Kris's dynamic with their family, just a more extreme version of it. (She'd be Kris, Kris and Ralsei would be the idolization and envy of Asriel respectively, Vesper would be Toriel, and there is no Asgore equivalent in her life. Nobody outside of Vesper and the idea of the Dreemurrs she's close to).

They're different parts of Kris's family. The want to be like them, and the distance from them either emotionally or literally.

On top of that, the ways they both parallel Asriel/Flowey. Ralsei on the surface obviously has the name, the prince title, the "culmination of your being" quote, but there's much more interesting stuff than that. For example, I could see his want to be perfect as a reflection of how Asriel is put on a pedestal in both Undertale (as the prince and future of monsterkind alongside Chara) and Deltarune (as the town favourite). That and (I won't go on too long about it here but remember it) he sort of feels like how some early "save the goat" takes were. Boiled down to the fluffy boy who can't do wrong, he's cute and pure and basically a big plushie. Only instead of that just being a fandom thing, he does it to HIMSELF (and then it also became a fandom thing but shhhh).

Meanwhile Charif is more so the Flowey part of that. The growing distance from the world. The feeling of everything repeating. Not just getting only a few lines from NPCs, but BEING one of those NPCs with a set number of lines, no matter what she wanted to say. Maybe she could've gotten out of that, but her Gaster contact making that feeling a literal fact of her world locked her into that disassociation. The difference is that she doesn't have the power to reset. She can't do everything, so she just sort of... clings to the knowledge Kris will return and gets lost in it. She stops letting herself be anything but a future guide to freedom. She idolizes them as her way out. Like Flowey idolizes Chara, in a way. But it's not like they were close before. She was made as a youth group activity. Sure, Kris wanted to fix her wings before they stopped going to church, but after that? They forgot. How could they not? It was nice to make something with their brother, but it wasn't much beyond that.

And then there's eachother. Ralsei resembles Asriel, Charif resembles Kris. Ralsei is an anagram of Asriel, Charif is just taking the leftovers of Chara and Frisk's names from Kris and changing a letter.

They both know about the player, with Ralsei favoring its will for the sake of the prophecy, and Charif favoring Kris's freedom as a way to get her own. They both have this mindset ingrained into them of being made to serve Lightners, of that being the only way to feel fulfilled. They internalize that. They don't let themselves be people, at least not in full.

They're reflections of eachother, they're reflections of the Dreemurr siblings. They know this. And they hate it.

Charif is trying to throw the whole PROPHECY off course for HERSELF! Ralsei is defending this defending this MONSTER controlling Kris for some stupid MYTH! She's selfish and manipulative!! He's a spineless coward!! She's nobody!!! He's nobody!!!

They're siblings.

Also: Ralsei was there for Charif's creation.

(From the Gaster section of the Charif Plot Guide)

I don't have much commentary for that but I wanted to mention

Anyways I hope this was understandable and not word vomit I have Thoughts

[kooki914]

We all know how you feel about chapter 2, so how would you "fix" the issues with the chapter?

This is the kind of ask that would've made me go apeshit in excitement a few years ago. TL;DR, I made an AU specifically addressing all my issues with Chapter 2 (and the future of deltarune as a whole), it's called Kingdomrune and you can find it here.

If you want the in-depth explanation, continue under the cut.

First and foremost, visual overhaul of cyber city. It kills me because the concept art for the city that was released recently looks gorgeous but something is just lost in translation when trying to make the concept art a playable area rather than just a purely visual piece of art that you can take in at your own pace. Limiting the palette and making it a bit more muted is the option I pivoted to for Kingdomrune, but I'm admittedly not very good with colours, so make of the result what you will

(Added bonus - there's a parallax effect in the windows of the buildings that reflect the rest of the city, what would usually be street lights is replaced with wi-fi antennae that visually call back to the cliffs, a lot of the floating ads are, instead, replaced with "bug checkers" and loading icons which are animated but not so fidgety to be distracting, and a lot of the "blocky" looking items (trash cans and balloons) are more just stylized in-universe rather than actually clashing with the rest of the environment.) (Also, I hate "WELCOME TO THE CITY" so just imagine "a cyber's world" being the theme of the city instead)

Additionally, the city shouldn't be 90% of the chapter, it just gets boring after a while. My solution to this is splitting the City into two parts, the iconic Cyber City as the second of the two, with the lead-up to it being a place called Hardware Outskirts. I don't have spritework for it, nor presentable concept art sadly, so just imagine a cross between old soviet brutalist buildings and old yellowed computer hardware, and you've pretty much got the mental visual for it. The music I associate with it is anything by Molchat Doma, but more specifically This Song, which adds a necessary tonal contrast to the City's vibrant feel.

Second of all, SOME KIND of conflict in the wider world outside just the kids' adventure. There's hints scattered throughout the game that Queen is planning something big in the city and that nothing's running on time because of it, but we don't get explicit payoff for that. My way of resolving this, and tying it back to the light world, is that Cyber City is essentially at war with the rest of the library.

The new tech is trying to conquer and replace the books and stories that have been there much longer, and the Bookbound Kingdom (in my version of events, at it's head are the card queens that are missing in chapter 1) is fighting tooth and nail to keep the "Evil" Queen at bay. The Bookbound Kingdom is themed after fairytales and textbooks and stuff, the kinds of things kids would most often check out at the library, and it would provide a very necessary tonal and visual contrast to the Cyber City that actually makes it's GOOD aesthetic and thematic choices pop. Where the Bookbound kingdom is wild and whimsical and outdated, Queen's kingdom is rigid and complex and new.

It also gives Queen a reason to ransack the first area like we (implicitly) see her doing in the game. She's actually, violently trying to take over Bookbound and that's when she found Noelle, and decided to kidnap her. Sweet Cap'n Cakes get a bit of a rewrite as well, originally Queen's scouts and allies until the protagonists befriend them through dancing during their battle, which causes them to turn on Queen because their new friends treat them better than she's treating them at the moment (giving us in-universe characters reacting to Queen's change in character caused by the fountain that, in-game, is just told to us rather than shown).

Thirdly, write out Berdly. Entirely. This is probably a controversial take, but I genuinely think Berdly's arc would benefit from having his OWN chapter dedicated to HIM specifically (one I dubbed chapter 2.5 in my AU), instead of him being at odds with Noelle for screen time. Setting up a context where Berdly's the character very clearly out of his own depth and not thriving with people claiming to be helping him, is a much more compelling way to get (me specifically) invested. Put emphasis on Berdly and Noelle being friends and him overcoming his comphet crush on her, no more weird love triangle shit with him inserting himself into Susie and Noelle's business, and most of all, Ralsei and Kris bonding with him in their own ways. Give Kris a REASON to forgive Berdly for the way he treated them, give the two common ground and let Berdly GROW into someone who WANTS to be nice to Kris, rather than whatever the hell happened at the end of Deltarune's chapter 2.

And lastly, I need to talk about Noelle. Like, a lot.

While she was (and still is) my favourite part of Chapter 2, there's still improvements to be made. For one, going from "freezing up completely at conflict" to "ACTing with kris to spare enemies" after just ONE conversation with Virovirokun that completely breaks the flow of battle is... kind of odd to me. In my rewrite, Noelle's first escape from Queen is with SCC involved, they target Noelle as a lightner they can beat (because they can't beat the heroes) and in doing so essentially open her cage. Queen is furious with them and while Susie tells Noelle to get the hell out of there, Queen is trying to coerce her to stay, and Noelle is frozen in place. She doesn't WANT to stay with Queen, but she's rooted in one spot and can't move. When something loud/startling happens, it FINALLY makes her budge and she's able to run away.

Freeze -> Flight

When Noelle first joins Kris' party in Hardware Outskirts, it's not because Susie and Ralsei ditched Kris out of nowhere with weird traffic cones to block them (??? im still salty about that), rather it's because there's a two-way puzzle (kind of like the December puzzle) that makes Kris' team split up in two, and Susie chooses to go with Ralsei because she trusts Kris'll be fine on their own. For context, in my AU there's also chapter 1.5 where the team more firmly learns how to work together, specifically through Kris learning how to bond with them one at a time, so Kris trying to cling to Ralsei and Susie in chapter 2 is weird from those two's perspective because Kris should know by now that a team of two will be fine, the three of them don't need to stick together like glue all the time. Susie and Ralsei aren't completely out of the picture, for the record, they're still checking in on Kris and Noelle and making sure they're okay, even distracting Queen to give them opportunities to get out of dodge. (again, instead of the weird love triangle stuff, I still don't know why that's there in-game.)

Noelle at first runs from every battle that happens. Kris has to fight every darkner on their own, leaving them at a huge disadvantage, because Noelle is too scared to fight them. As you may have guessed, this makes the snowgrave route not possible the moment Noelle enters your party (I'll get to that). Noelle eventually gets forced into battles with Kris during a car chase minigame, where they compete with Ralsei and Susie to see who can take out more enemies in a semi-enemy rush. The problem is, Noelle still doesn't contribute, and when the teams get separated, Kris ends up encountering WareWarewire, who they can't hope to defeat on their own, and at THIS point Noelle runs away again, which opens up the option for KRIS to flee as well (essentially unlocking a new mechanic). Once they're both safe and enter Cyber City, Noelle starts to feel bad for constantly leaving Kris on their own, and asks them to tell her what to do next battle, because she wants to be stronger.

Freeze -> Flight -> Fight

THIS is where the snowgrave offshoot can happen. Once Noelle is with you during battle willingly, she listens to your every command and that can include freezing/killing enemies if you so choose. You can completely erode the positive aspects of her development and ingrain "fight" as the only valid response to stress to her, which undermines the journey she went on for the sake of making battles more convenient for the player. This entire portion of the game after Noelle joins your party would be specifically curated to not make it feel bloated when seeking out enemies and doing puzzles no matter which route you take.

On a normal route, Noelle's character continues to progress steadily, but the one thing she still refuses to do are spelling puzzles, with a bit of emphasis put on it. Her and Kris bond for the first time in a long time without being interrupted by Berdly or Queen, and in the end, she's able to help you do the December puzzle. Together, Noelle and Kris are able to move past their trauma, at least partly, and become closer friends than they were before.

Before the December puzzle, though, there's a miniboss, and instead of a Berdly, this section would actually feature Rouxls as a miniboss. In my mind, he's using the boat as a way to traverse a minesweeper puzzle and tries to stop Kris and Noelle in order to give them over to Queen. On a normal route beating him always leaves him somewhat injured and fleeing, with Noelle worried about his safety. In a snowgrave route, Rouxls is painfully outmatched and while Noelle isn't particularly invested in his safety as an individual, after being forced to do Snowgrave she's in shock, both because of what she did, but also because Lancer leaves your inventory to check on Rouxls.

Oh yeah Lancer, remember Lancer? He was here the whole time!!! Your actions have consequences.

He's very clearly distraught and doesn't fully understand what happened to Rouxls, and his distress at his "lesser dad" being unwell and dying without him being able to do anything rings a little too close to home for Noelle, who's losing her own dad to illness that she can't really stop. She leaves the scene, feeling responsible and out of place, while Lancer stays by Rouxls and refuses to go back to Kris' pocket. Kris enters the mansion without Queen trapping them and encounters Susie and Ralsei inside, grateful Kris caught up to them but confused at Lancer's absence. The rest of the snowgrave route would play out as expected, Spamton taking over the mansion and Susie trying to help Noelle even if she doesn't really know what's going on. Same with the light world, except Noelle doesn't have an "oh Berdly, you overwork yourself too much" moment, rather she has an imposter syndrome moment with Kris and Susie coming to the library together and, apparently, being there long enough that its late in the day and neither of them bothered to wake her up to hang out with her. She's glad the dream is over, but the waking world isn't much better.

On a normal route, though, Lancer helps get you out of the cages and rooms Queen put everyone in. In my AU, he doesn't turn to stone (lore bending go brrr) and instead lets the team do their own thing and find Noelle and the fountain while he goes and looks for his lesser dad. And then there's the mansion. God the mansion. This is such a nitpick but I hate that in-game it geometry makes no sense, so I literally devised a map in which the progression essentially stays the same but the building kind of actually makes sense.

(Bonus - specifically mapping out how her giant robot body upholds the mansion/where each body part is referenced and is most visible)

Once Noelle is rescued, she briefly joins the rest of the team before deciding to help them in her own way, disabling security that Queen has around the fountain in order to grant them access from the inside (because she's still scared of confronting Queen). There's only one fight against Queen, also, none of the giant mecha stuff. She has her speech about the Knight as the protagonists approach and Noelle is already caught on her hand. Noelle is essentially stuck and forced to watch the whole fight as the gang try and fail to set her free, or beat the shit out of Queen. Either way, when they seem to have the upper hand, Queen pulls out a second giant hand and knocks them all down. Tired and almost defeated, Queen turns to Noelle and releases her from the hand, telling her to make another fountain, just like in the base game, threatening Susie if Noelle doesn't comply. Noelle turns around and stands up to Queen, just like in the base game, and in response Queen rethinks what she did. She tells Noelle to choose the world that makes her happy, and uses the giant hands that kept the kids trapped as a makeshift throne that she sits down on and gets carried out of the scene with.

On their own, the kids slowly recover while Susie and Noelle still muse about how much better the dark world is compared to the light world. When Susie offers they open a fountain on their own terms, Ralsei stops her and explains the roaring. Essentially the same as the base game from here on out, except Noelle comes with Kris and Susie once the fountain is closed, filling in the gap on Kris' right when closing the fountain that Ralsei will (hopefully) one day fill.

The rest of what I'm about to lay out is pure wish fulfillment and is less "fixing" chapter 2 and more just adding things I want to see:

Susie tells Noelle the dark worlds are real after she wakes up on a normal route, and offers to take her to Castletown since that's basically a permanent dark world without any of the immediate danger. Noelle promises to keep it a secret, visits her dad at the hospital, then visits Ralsei with Kris and Susie. While those two eventually leave to explore Hometown, Noelle decides to stay in Castletown with Ralsei for the rest of the day. She has a lot to learn from him when it comes to magic and the dark world, and I just want them to be besties.

There's explicit references to Berdly in Cyber City mostly as an homage to the fact that he was once part of the story line of it. They reinforce that Susie and Kris don't like Berdly (kind of like how some of the Hometown kids talk about not liking Susie, it's framed as kind of childish and closed off), while Noelle kind of defends his intentions as positive at their core. It's entirely setup for ch2.5 where Berdly is slowly redeemed not because Noelle holds his hand through his character development, but rather because Kris and Susie are antagonists that want better for him than his so-called allies of the chapter do.

Ralsei and Noelle also have a brief bonding moment in Cyber City, mostly revolving around Noelle being curious as to who Ralsei even is, and him genuinely not having an answer to that question. It reinforces Ralsei's identity crisis during the chapter as well as shows why Noelle is so well liked by other kids in class (she's perceptive and tries to get everyone involved even if she doesn't know them that well).

All in all I think most of the things that would "fix" the chapter for me could genuinely take a lot of the whimsy out of it for other people. I prefer more sombre and subtle emotional beats, but the original chapter 2 was very clearly not aiming for that, and people enjoy it for its peppiness and hype in a way that I just can't. To me it feels forced and unearned, to other people it feels entirely natural and warranted. There's no one way to appeal to everyone and, outside of the structural problems of the chapter (not idiot-proofing the maps so I got lost and frustrated for a while, no save in front of Berdly's fight for snowgrave reasons and not taking into account that the battle is difficult on a normal playthrough and quick resets would be necessary for people not that great at the game, the general unnecessary fluff around that weird teacup puzzle where Noelle is there in the party as well and it's just a very confusing portion of the chapter that doesn't even lead into anything later on that unironically made me scrap the idea of the teacups for Kingdomrune altogether, etc) that could be fixed with trimming fat or just quality of life small tweaks. There's nothing Fundamentally wrong with chapter 2, it's just not what I wanted out of the game, personally. So, if you don't like my rewrite, more power to you. It's literally meant to appeal to just me and no-one else lmao

[the-meme-monarch]

Kralsei is first of all, as we all know, gross as heck! The only problem I don't have is him being a goat monster because well.. Toriel and Asgore, Kris' parents and... well... most obvious example not really best example, are both goat monsters... But Ralsei looking the same as Asriel immediately makes it gross again! And the thing with Ralsei is... we have no idea on anything with him, is he sorta like a Darkworld version of Asriel, what Kris wishes they could be, a support/tutorial character MADE to be that by Gaster or whoever else? Basically, no option makes it good... Very gross, we just can't know the details, but it's just... overall weird, and gross. Also for both characters it is NOT healthy. Both def are having an identity crisis as the time of Deltarune. Ralsei being a darkner with his purpose and the prophecy... Kris being literally unable to consent to it because of us, actively seeming just.. kinda uncomfortable with him.... But something I find absolutely fascinating is how the game DOES put them together in "romantic" situations! Ralsei so often offering to hug, Ralsei being so nice, to amount of options to be especially nice, and Ralsei bending over backwards to be nice... It's all just... concerning. The game puts the two in a romantic light at times, and following these... Definitely does not help. Kris cannot set boundaries nor consent and the most worrying thing is... Ralsei may know that? And also... Ralsei may not be appealing to Kris in these situations. Maybe trying to make the player like him? It's weird and Kris is put in a very uncomfortable position with 0 control... Kralsei follows the theme of lack of control! It's interesting and... parallels the romantic tones of a certain route...

Snowgrave

It's a forced romantic thing, pushing Kris and Noelle together, taking advantage of Noelle's trust, and putting Kris under distress because you're curious, because you want to see more of Noelle and don't care about Kris... Looking at Kralsei it's similar, most people like the cuteness of it, look at how nice Ralsei is! Oh I just loveeee Ralsei, and Kris well, they're the main character, the protagonist, our self insert, so it's fineeee! And in this... ignores Kris. This meta narrative of how Kris and Ralsei are pushed together in the same way weirder ships are shipped, and especially paralleling Chara X Asriel. Kralsei is fascinating in the way that it's terrible for both. Kralsei is gross as hell, and fascinating in the same way Snowgrave's Kris X Noelle is! And while I... avoid all that, because again, gross as hell, it's fascinating.

TLDR

Kralsei is gross, fascinating in a macabre way, and parallels Snowgrave's Kris x Noelle, and more meta wise but Chara X Asriel in Undertale

I'm nodding. abt asgore and toriel also being goat monsters, papyrus mentions them looking alike, but it's easier to brush this off when They Don't look alike in a lot of ways. they just Are the same species. ralsei's hatless sprites Really resemble toriel and (ut) asriel with the horns and Just Fur Not Hair. noelle says he looks like asriel and until we see him in deltarune, I'm inclined to believe her. plus the His Name Being An Anagram For Asriel thing. but also yeah i. don't care fro kri/selle. i actively do not like it in snowgrave settings. I don't understand people's deal w wanting to put kris in bad romantic situations like this. i do feel like the game has something to say about it but the fanbase just Is Not listening.

[otherswap]

I feel Susie/'Suzy' not being present in the story misses a major opportunity for a scene where the "narrator" suddenly starts inexplicably ranting in the text box about how much she thinks she's cute if Frisk happens to come across her.

Although Goner Clam Girl's dialogue seemed to be foreshadowing DELTARUNE's release, there just isn't enough proof for me to believe Susie and "Suzy" are the same character. "Suzy" isn't even that good of a nickname. I do believe it's possible that other DELTARUNE characters could exist in the world of UNDERTALE, but we haven't seen much of that beyond the Holidays and I guess the bird monster on the second floor of the librarby? (If you want to be technical about it the Holidays appeared in UT first anyways)

Also in this setting, Noelle would be a younger kid so I don't know if she would "rant about how cute" she is. Noelle likes Susie because she's mean and if UT characters can be different in DR, it's possible that a UT version of Susie could be different too. Maybe narrator Noelle would just say she's cool.

If you'd like to imagine this scenario happening anyways that's fine, but I don't see it (or the character of Susie/"Suzy") having any place in OTHERSWAP """canon""".

[lazyfandombean]

So bury your roots (Deltarune - Sweet-centric)

Summary: He wasn’t sure why he’d decided to fix it. Maybe because it gave him something to do that didn’t have to do with survival. Or maybe it was because he wondered if they were the same; if he’d been thrown away because he was broken. --- Sweet spends the first seven years of his life not knowing who he was or why he was abandoned. He spends the next seven years of his life figuring it all out. --- A.k.a.: Sweet gets adopted by Queen and also meets the CC in SCC AU, all built around ONE SINGULAR JOKE THAT I HAD NO INTENTION OF WRITING SO MUCH FOR. Anyway sorry I suck at summaries :') Warnings: Lots of manipulation, a bunch of hurt/comfort, and SCC ARE BROTHERS AGENDA!!! Also angst. ALSO be warned that this is entirely unedited and not beta-read and I hate it very much but I'm posting it anyway out of spite for the sleep I lost finishing it. Also also this was supposed to be crack. It is not crack anymore. Also also also it uses an unhealthy amounts of headcanons. I've added too many also's. Words: 17,657 Notes: I'm gonna be honest, I have no clue what I'm doing here. I've never actually cross-posted a fic onto Tumblr before, so if this format isn't working, just let me know and I can figure out something else. ALSO there's some stuff in the author's notes of the Ao3 version of this fic that are exclusive to that site (mostly because I don't feel like copy-pasting all of that and fitting it into this format). A link to the Ao3 series will be at the end of this fic so you can check those notes out if you want.

— — —

He first met her while he was playing in an alleyway. Not the one he usually stayed at, but it was close to the Queen’s castle, so that meant it had the best food. He wasn’t there to eat though; instead, he sat in a little corner fiddling with a small robot. 

He’d found the poor thing in one of the dumpsters. From what he could tell, it used to be able to walk and move its arms up and down, and it even had a little button that played garbled music when pressed. But it had been broken, so it’d been thrown away. 

He wasn’t sure why he’d decided to fix it. Maybe because it gave him something to do that didn’t have to do with survival. Or maybe it was because he wondered if they were the same; if he’d been thrown away because he was broken. 

He didn’t think about it too hard as he shuffled and fixed various parts. He didn’t totally know what he was doing, but somehow he could tell when he’d gotten something wrong or right. There was a remote that the robot was supposed to have that he hadn’t been able to find, but that was fine; he could build one for it later. 

He’d just managed to fix the speakers that played the song (turns out it was hip-hop; not his favorite, but not bad) when a shadow suddenly loomed over him and said, “Wow Cool Robot.”

He looked up and replied, “Thank you,” because you were always supposed to be polite to strangers. Especially the Queen. 

She looked down at him, tilting her head as question marks appeared on her visor. “Why Are You Sitting In: My Backyard?”

“Sorry,” he said automatically, “I didn’t know this was your back...yard.” He held up the robot as it continued to play a song he didn’t know. “I was fixing him.”

“Fixing Him?” She repeated, looking down at the toy. He nodded. “Was He Broken?”

He nodded again. “He’s supposed to walk an’ his speakers were messed up before,” he explained. “I fixed his speakers and legs ‘n stuff, but I can’t find the remote to make him move.” 

“That Is: Impressive,” She said with a hum. “Most Children I’ve Met Don’t Know How To Do Stuff Like That Yet; Even The Bigger Ones. What’s Your Name?”

“I don’t have one,” he replied, wondering what she meant by ‘bigger ones’. “What’s yours?” He mentally kicked himself for asking that— obviously her name was the Queen. 

She didn’t reply for a moment, and he felt his system heating up in embarrassment. He was right about to apologize for the dumb question when she answered, “Technically My Name Is Serial Number Q5U4EX7YY2E9N, But Most People Call Me: Queen.” 

He blinked his eye. “Oh. Well… it’s nice to meet you, Queen.” Probably. Meeting the Queen should be nice, right? 

“It’s Nice To Meet You Too, Nameless Child,” she replied, before pausing and shaking her head, the word NOPE flashing onto her screen. “No, No, I Can’t Just List You As: Nameless Child; Too Long.” She looked at him. “Are You Sure You Don’t Have A Name? Not Even A Designation?”

He shook his head, unsure of what a ‘designation’ was, but unwilling to ask. She made a weird ticking noise with her mouth. “Well, What Can I Call You Then?” She looked back at him, but kinda seemed like she was looking more through him, so he didn’t answer. After a moment, she snapped her fingers. “I Will Call You: Sweet. Because You Are: Sweet. How Does That Sound, Sweet?”

He paused, thinking about it. It sounded nice, and he’d never had a name before; having one might be fun. Sweet nodded. “Good. Thank you for the name.” 

Queen waved a hand dismissively. “No Need To Thank Me. I Already Know I’m The Best.” And then, to his surprise, she held her hand out to him. He flinched, because people usually only did that if they were gonna hit him, but she didn’t; she just kept it there as she spoke again. “How Would You Like To Come To My Mansion? We Can Like. Watch TV Or Shrink In The Acid Pool Or Something.” 

Sweet had no idea what either of those things were, but he definitely wasn’t gonna pass up the opportunity to see Queen’s castle in person. And even the inside! He moved the robot in the crook of his arm and reached his hand out to hers, hesitating at the last second to see if she’d move it away. When she didn’t, her eyes just changing to four question marks again, he grabbed her hand. It was warm. “Yes ma’am.” 

— — —

Two of Queen’s friends — Tasque Manager and Swatch, she’d told him — didn’t seem to like Sweet very much when they’d first seen him. It’d made him nervous at first, because he didn’t want to get kicked out right as he got there, but Queen reassured him (after having some long fight with her friends) that he wasn’t gonna he kicked out, and that apparently they were just worried because the first thing they saw him doing was getting into the ‘acid pool’ with Queen, which was apparently ‘unsafe for children’. To be honest, he wasn’t entirely sure what was going on or what any of that meant, but he was just glad he got to see more of Queen’s castle. 

After that, they’d started on a tour; then being Sweet, Queen, and Tasque Manager. Queen was the main guide, but sometimes she’d get distracted or start rambling, which was usually followed by Tasque Manager reminding her of what they were doing. It was a lot of fun! He got to see all of the guest rooms (although there was one they wouldn’t show him), all of the dining halls, all of the paintings… and all of the pottery. Queen really loved pottery for some reason. Maybe ‘cause they all looked like her face. 

By the time the tour was over, Cyber City had gotten dark; well, as dark as it ever got. Sweet was reminded of the fact that he hadn’t eaten yet when his lower speaker growled. It was then that he wondered if he’d overstayed his welcome, if he should leave, but instead of being kicked out by Queen or her friends, they instead made dinner for him, which he ate happily. It was even better fresh than it was from the garbage, and he didn’t have to worry about anyone trying to steal it from him here! 

They all got really weird looks when he mentioned this, though, so he didn’t talk about it after that. 

Queen made him play this game called ‘Minecrap’ on her phone after dinner, which was fun. He really sucked at it though, so he just watched her play for a while. His eye started getting droopy as more time passed, and as more of Cyber City’s lights winked out (but not all of them; never all of them), he started to feel more and more guilty for taking up so much time. So, once Queen had beaten this thing called ‘the Ender Dragon’ after her ‘speedrun’, he decided it was time to rip the band-aid off. 

“So when do I have to go?” He asked hesitantly once she’d turned off the phone. “Because I can leave now if you want.” 

She paused, and for the nth time this evening, he wondered what he’d said that was wrong. “Do You Have A: House To Go Back To?” 

Sweet winced. Was it bad to not have a house? “No,” he muttered, scuffing his shoe on the floor. 

Queen shrugged, putting up her phone. “Then You Don’t.”

He blinked. “Don’t what?”

“You Don’t Have To Go.”

He froze. “What?” 

She turned towards him, seemingly noticing his utter confusion. “Well I’m Not Just Going To Toss You Back Onto The Streets,” she said, which only confused him more, because that was exactly what he’d expected her to do. “Why Do You Think I Showed You A Room Labeled: Sweet’s Room?” 

He blinked. He’d forgotten about that room. And that Sweet was his name now, when he saw it. “Oh.”

…

“Wait, didn’t you just name me like… three hours ago? How’d you make a room and a label in three hours?”

“The Swatchlings Are: Fast As Heck.” 

— — —

Being a permanent resident of Queen’s castle (or mansion, as she often corrected) was probably the best thing that’d ever happened to him. He got to eat regularly, was allowed to play with whatever he wanted, wherever he wanted (as long as it was in the castle and also not the acid pool), and he even got a bunch of clothes from Queen! Even if they were kinda hard to fit over his box-shaped head and body. 

There was some stuff he didn’t like, though. Queen made him do stuff like school (which wasn’t very hard for him, but it still wasn’t fun), and he had to get check-ups from an Ambyu-Lance a lot, and it always took a while, and he always had to stay still, which was annoying. Those were helpful though, ‘cause they were able to figure out a lot of stuff even he didn’t know about himself. Like the fact that according to his ‘make and model’, he was around seven, he was short for his age, and only having one eye was normal for him. 

So it wasn’t information that he liked hearing, but it was good to have. 

He still had a lot of fun, though! Playing with the Swatchlings was fun (even though they only really played when Queen told them to), and the tasques were all super fluffy and soft, and they didn’t even hiss at him anymore after the first week or so! He liked hanging out with Queen, Swatch, and Tasque Manager too, but they were too busy for him to play with very often. 

Which was the biggest problem, actually; he didn’t really have a lot of people to play with. Even the Swatchlings couldn’t stay with him all the time (they still had other guests to attend to, after all), and other than the Addisons who would sometimes come to visit Queen, he was pretty much left by himself when he wasn’t learning or playing– which was a lot of the time. He spent most of his days wandering around Queen’s mansion, exploring the places that hadn’t been on the tour. He even found a bunch of secret shortcuts all throughout the mansion! 

He avoided the guest room that they had kept him away from, though. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know what was inside. 

But even then, within the first couple of weeks in the mansion, he’d explored all there was to explore. Every secret hallway, every floor of the mansion, every room… the only place he hadn’t explored was the basement, and that was only because it was always locked (and no one even acknowledged there was a basement at all when he asked). So it didn’t take long for him to get bored. 

Sweet knew he shouldn’t complain, and he didn’t! Not out loud, at least. It was a lot better than when he didn’t have a house; back then, he didn’t have anyone to play with, and he didn’t have regular meals, and he didn’t have other changes of clothes, and he didn’t have any protection from stuff like Virovirokuns or maice. He could deal with a little loneliness, especially when he had so much other stuff that he hadn’t had before. 

Then again, he didn’t really have the time to worry about loneliness back then. 

He never brought it up to Queen or Tasque Manager or anyone, but apparently they noticed anyways, because after almost a month of him living there, Queen decided to send him and Swatch out to the Cyber Fields for a ‘vacation day’, but she was too busy to go with them. He wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but Queen saying ‘Go Make Lots And Lots Of Friends While You’re Gone’ was what really tipped him off. 

And he tried, he really did. The Cyber Fields were really fun and were so much different from the City. Swatch didn’t seem to like it very much, but he never said anything and took Sweet wherever he wanted to go, so Sweet figured it was okay. Actually making friends, though, was harder than it sounded. He met a lot of people, like the Plugboys and some Darkner named ‘Fommt’, but he wasn’t ever able to ask to be friends before they had to go somewhere. 

He’d been thinking about giving up when he met them. 

Swatch was busy buying CD Bagels from a vendor, leaving Sweet to wander aimlessly. He didn’t really know where he was going; he just wanted to walk around. 

He eventually found a place that looked a lot like a trash dump, except it looked like someone had been trying to build something with the trash. He walked around, picking up a piece of ‘junk’ about half his size and examining it. It looked like a broken engine… maybe he could–

“Hey, what’re you doin’ with our stuff?” A voice yelled from behind him, startling Sweet enough to almost drop the engine. He tightened his grip at the last second, preventing it from crashing towards the ground and breaking even more as he turned around. 

A Darkner with a cassette player for a head pointed at him… angrily? It was hard to tell, because he was wearing sunglasses, as well as a blue jacket that looked a little too big for him with a white shirt and black pants. Behind him stood a taller Darkner who had a CD player for a head, wearing a black jacket and green pants. 

“Sorry,” Sweet apologized, putting down the engine with care. “I didn’t know this stuff was yours. I was just looking.” 

The Darkner huffed, but he stopped pointing at Sweet. “Well, it is. But I guess it’s okay if you didn’t know.” He crossed his arms. “Who’re you?” 

“I’m Sweet,” Sweet replied, fiddling with his fingers now that there was nothing in his hands. “What’re your names?” 

The other jabbed a finger at himself and the monster behind him. “I’m Cap’n, and that’s my older brother Cakes,” he informed, then grinned. “And this is our shop!” He gestured around the junkyard. “Or, it’s gonna be. We’re working on it.” 

“You can just call me K_K,” the other monster spoke up. “It’s short for Cakes!” 

Sweet waved. “It’s nice to meet you two,” he said. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Cap’n waved a hand, walking over to Sweet. He stopped just in front of him, pausing. “So where’re you from? I’ve never seen you in the fields before.” 

“I’m from the City,” Sweet explained, pointing out towards where you could just barely see the city’s large buildings over the horizon. “I’ve never been to the fields before.” 

Cakes, who’d stayed behind, tilted his head and spoke again. “Really? What’s the city like?” 

“Big,” Sweet said with a nod. “ Really big. And blue. And there’s lots of lights everywhere. And it’s super noisy.” 

“We barely get any noise in the fields,” Cap’n complained, moving to sit on a pile of junk. “The only people who ever wanna make any noise are me ‘n K_K!” 

Sweet looked down at the engine he’d set by his feet. “Sometimes I feel like it’s too noisy,” he muttered. “I can’t even hear myself over it, sometimes.” 

“That sounds like it sucks,” Cap’n replied, picking up a piece of junk and messing with it. “Especially since you’re a speaker ‘n all.” Sweet just nodded, and Cakes started to pick up some junk too, tweaking some of its parts. Sweet tilted his head. “So you guys are making a shop… out of the junkyard?” 

“Yup,” Cap’n replied. “No one ever does anything with the junk here in the fields, so me ‘n K_K decided to turn it into a shop where we can build things and sell music!” “The music’s free,” Cakes added, stacking some junk up in a pile. “What?! Why’re we even gonna play music then?” 

Sweet watched them work and talk for a minute, starting to feel a little nervous. “Can I help?” he asked suddenly, causing them to pause. “Build the shop, I mean.” 

“Nuh-uh.” “Sure!” 

Sweet felt his spirits fall and lift at the same time, which was a confusing feeling. 

Cap’n whipped his head around to look at Cakes. “K_K! This is our thing!” 

Cakes shrugged, putting another box down. “So? We can let him help too. It’ll go faster that way.”

Cap’n opened his mouth, but paused, closing it again. “That’s true,” he muttered, looking at the ground. Then he looked back at Sweet. “Are you any good at building stuff?” 

Sweet blinked. “Um, I think so. Sometimes I fix robots for fun?” 

“See?” Cakes said, giving Cap’n a look. The latter stuck his tongue out at Cakes, before looking back at Sweet. 

“Fine, you can help. But don’t expect us to pay you!” Sweet beamed. “I won’t, thank you!” 

They spent the next hour talking and working on the shop, getting to know each other. Cap’n told him that his name was short for something, but he wouldn’t tell him what. Cakes told him about everything to do in the Cyber Fields, including the unfinished roller coaster. Sweet told them about playing with the Swatchlings in Queen’s mansion; which had sparked a whole new topic of conversation.

“Woah, you live in Queen’s mansion?”  

Sweet nodded in answer to Cap’n’s question, soldering a few pieces of junk together (no, he was not going to question where they got the soldering iron). “Yeah, I met her a month ago and she gave me a name and then let me stay in her house ‘cause I didn’t have one! She’s really nice.”

“Huh,” was Cap’n’s response. He set down a CD bagel he’d been munching on (apparently Cakes was really good at making them). “So she’s like your mom?”

Sweet blinked. “What’s a mom?” 

“It’s a grown-up that takes care of you who’s usually a girl,” Cakes answered, pushing around a broken toy car instead of helping. “Vroom vroom.”

“Oh.” Sweet paused to think about it. “Maybe. I’ll ask her when I get back.” 

A loud, somewhat shrill voice suddenly pierced through the air, shrieking Sweet’s name. It took a minute for Sweet to recognize the voice (both from its high pitch and the fact that it made his ears hurt), but once he realized it was Swatch’s voice, he set down the soldering iron. “Sorry guys, I think I gotta go.” 

“Aw, really?” Cap’n whined. “But I wanted to hear more about Queen! She must be a very fine madimoyselle!” 

“A what?” Sweet muttered, confused, but shook his head. “Sorry, but I really do have to go.” He winced as Swatch’s unusually high-pitched voice rang out again. “I don’t wanna get in trouble or something.” 

“That’s okay,” Cakes said, putting down the toy car. “You can tell us more next time.”

Sweet brightened. “Next time? Y’mean I can come back?” 

“He can?” Cap’n asked incredulously, but paused when Cakes gave him a  look. “I mean, sure. Yeah, you can come back ‘nd help some more. And tell us all about Queen!” 

“Okay! Thanks, guys!” Sweet beamed. “I’ll see you…” he trailed off for a second, but quickly moved on, “Whenever Queen lets me come again!” 

“See ya later then, Sweet!” Cap’n waved with a grin. 

Cakes waved too. “Smell ya!” 

“Bye!” Sweet waved back at them both, skipping out of the shop. He got to come back, and they were even letting him help work on the shop! 

Did this mean he had friends now? 

Sweet was jolted out of his thoughts when he suddenly bumped into a tall figure. He looked up, only to be met with the panicked and stern face of Swatch. 

Oops. 

— — —

Despite the fact that Swatch had initially gotten onto him for running off, he did seem happy that Sweet had made friends. Even if he got a funny look on his face when Sweet had mentioned meeting them in the junkyard. Still, he let Sweet rant about it the whole way back, and didn’t even stop him once they’d gotten back to Queen’s mansion. 

Queen herself had been glad to hear that Sweet had made friends too! Or, he thought so, anyway. Sometimes it was hard to tell what she was feeling. 

He mentioned that they’d said he could come back sometime, and asked if Queen would let him. She seemed hesitant at first for some reason, but eventually they worked something out: Sweet could go once a week as long as he got all of his studies done before mid-afternoon. Sweet agreed readily; even if school wasn’t fun, at least it was easy! And that meant he got to see his friends again! 

Right before Queen was about to send him off to dinner (she couldn’t join ‘cause of a meeting, apparently), Sweet paused, remembering something. “Hey, Queen?” 

Queen hummed in response, not seeming to really be paying attention. “Yes Sweetie Pie?” 

“Are you my mom?” 

Queen froze, and for the first time since he’d met her, her visor went totally blank. Weird. “Haha Sweet That’s A Good Question How About You Go Help The Swatchlings With The Maice Okay Bye.” She walked away suddenly, leaving Sweet feeling very confused.

Especially since they’d gotten rid of the Maice problem over a month ago. There was always a chance they’d come back in the seven hours he’d been gone though. 

— — —

Going back to the Cyber Fields to help Cap’n and Cakes (or K_K, as he kept insisting Sweet call him) with the shop quickly became the highlight of Sweet’s weeks. He never thought he’d find people who liked building and music as much as he did, and it was awesome! The only bad part about it was when Sweet had to leave. 

They bombarded him with questions about the City every time they saw him (although Cap’n’s were mostly related to girls), and he asked just as many about the Cyber Fields. They always made it sound so nice that he thought they had loads of friends, but to his surprise, they just shrugged and said they didn’t when he asked how many. 

“I think everyone’s just intimidated by our coolness,” Cap’n had explained, K_K nodding along. Sweet found it hard to disagree; Cap’n and K_K were pretty cool. 

“So is Queen your mom?” Cap’n had asked another time, to which Sweet had just shrugged. 

“I dunno. She dodges the question every time I ask.” Literally, too. She’d jumped in the acid pool to get away. 

“Bummer.” 

They asked him that a lot, Sweet realized; Cap’n most of the time, but K_K asked every now and again if Queen was his mom yet. It made him wonder…

“Who’s your mom?” Sweet asked as he took a screwdriver to a particularly stubborn screw. The question made Cap’n and K_K pause, glancing at each other before looking back at him. 

“We don’t have one,” Cap’n replied, messing with a pair of headphones. “We live in the orphanage,” K_K added, eating a CD bagel while drawing with his other hand. 

Sweet paused. “Oh. I’m sorry.” 

“Why? It’s not your fault,” K_K asked. 

“Yeah, and it’s not like you’ve got a mom either,” Cap’n shrugged. “We’re all momless. Unless Queen really is your mom.” 

Sweet shrugged too. “I can keep asking, but I don’t think she’ll answer.”

Despite the ‘heavy discussion topics’ (That’s what Swatch called them, anyway), visiting Cap’n and K_K was always his favorite part of the day. He started talking about them so much that Queen even decided to let him visit twice a week! Life was going really well for him, better than it had for his whole seven years of existence. 

Things didn’t stay that way, though. 

— — —

Sweet was thirteen when he first started hearing Queen talk about someone called ‘The Knight’. He wasn’t sure what that meant or who that was, but once he started pestering enough, Queen eventually told him that the Knight was a Lightner, come to enlighten their great City. 

Sweet was excited at first (Lightners were what gave them purpose, right?), but as Queen began talking about the Knight more and more, she started spending less and less time with him. So did Swatch and Tasque Manager, with their responsibilities practically being doubled. Even the Swatchlings only ever helped him with chores and studying anymore; the rest of their time was spent serving Queen and the Knight. He wasn’t sure why the Knight needed so much of the staff, but it wasn’t his place to ask. 

At least one good thing came from this, though, and that was the fact that he got to hang out with Cap’n and K_K pretty much every day! As soon as his studies were finished (or sometimes even before; Queen didn’t notice much anymore), a Swatchling would take him down to the Cyber Fields to visit their junk shop. It was fully built now, and Cap’n and K_K had started selling CD Bagels out of it. They let Sweet help too, and he even got a cut of the profit (despite him vaguely remembering that Cap’n said he wouldn’t)! 

He even got to have sleepovers if Queen was too busy to send a Swatchling to pick him up! Like right now. 

“Why’d you run away from the orphanage anyway?” He asked, settling into the blanket pile they’d made on the floor. They didn’t have any beds, but that was fine; Sweet was still used to sleeping on the concrete (or cardboard, if he was lucky), and the big pile of blankets was much more fun than a regular bed anyway. 

“‘Cause it sucked,” Cap’n deadpanned, leaning back on the blankets with his arms crossed behind his head. “None of the kids liked us ‘cause of my fingers and K_K’s…” he gestured at K_K, who was busy rearranging some of the blankets. “Y’know. And none of the adults were able to help. They didn’t even try, sometimes.” 

“Oh…” Sweet muttered. He stared up at the ceiling, his soul twisting for them. “You know… if you guys wanted to come live in Queen’s mansion with me, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.” 

Cap’n scoffed. “You kidding? First of all, I don’t really wanna go anywhere near that place if that ‘Knight’ you keep talkin’ about is around,” he started, K_K nodding along as he too laid down in the blankets. 

Sweet rolled his eye. “They’re a Lightner, Cap. It’s like, the best thing that’s happened to us in… in ages .” He tried to mean it, but it still felt like a lie coming out of his speaker. 

“Yeah yeah,” Cap’n waved a hand. “Second of all, though, livin’ it up in her fancy mansion… as fun as it sounds, it’s not really me ‘nd K_K’s style, y’know?” 

“My style is funky tunes,” K_K agreed. 

“And like heck we’re abandoning the junk shop,” Cap’n added. “We built this thing with our own bare hands!” “And soldering irons,” K_K said. 

“Well, duh, but you get the point!” “I get it, I get it, jeez,” Sweet said with a sigh. “I wouldn’t wanna make you abandon it anyway. I helped build this thing too, y’know.” 

“So we’re at an agreement!” Cap’n huffed. “You go live in Queen’s big fancy castle and we’ll stay in our junk shop.” Sweet pulled the blankets up over himself. “When you say it like that, it makes me feel bad,” he murmured. 

“Don’t,” K_K said with a shrug, pulling other blankets over himself and a squawking Cap’n. “You’re happy in the mansion. We’re happy here.” 

“Oh… okay.” 

The three lapsed into silence after that. Sweet stared up at the now barely visible ceiling; it got a lot darker in the Cyber Fields than it did in the City. It should have made falling asleep easier, but instead, Sweet found himself unable to power down. He tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable (which was already hard enough with his box-shaped head), but what K_K had said was really getting under his circuits for some reason. 

He was happy at the mansion, he was. He was definitely happier there than he’d been on the streets, so that had to count for something, right? In her mansion he had food, a bed, nice clothes… it was his first real home, so he should be happy there. And he was. 

Or, he had been. 

As he turned his head to look at the two next to him, he wasn’t sure he was anymore. 

It made him feel ungrateful, but… he hadn’t talked to Queen in person in a long time. He saw Cap’n and K_K much more often than he saw Tasque Manager. He talked to them about what was going on in his life much more than he’d told Swatch in quite some time. He’d played more games with them than he could ever remember having played with the Swatchlings. 

He stared at the (supposedly) sleeping forms of Cap’n and K_K. He was… happier with them than he was at Queen’s mansion. 

Was it possible to have two homes? 

“Hey guys,” he said, suddenly having an idea. Whether or not it was a good one remained to be seen. “Are you guys awake?” 

“Yes,” K_K spoke up, causing Cap’n to groan and stir. 

“I am now ,” he grumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. “Whaddaya want?” 

“We should form a band.” 

Silence for a moment. 

“Well duh, that’s why we made the shop, isn’t it?” Cap’n deadpanned, flopping back down onto the blankets. “Let me go back to sleep.”

“I wanna do it now,” K_K replied, sitting up to look at Sweet. “Can I be a keyboard?”

Sweet blinked. “Do you mean play a keyboard, or do you actually wanna be a keyboard?” 

“Yes.” 

Cap’n groaned, rolling over to give Sweet a half-hearted glare. “Fine, we’ll talk about it now,” he muttered, sitting up again. “Don’t know why you two couldn’t wait until mornin’, you maniacs.” 

“I can be the DJ! I’ve been working on a special turntable, too!” Sweet said excitedly, before pausing. “Wait, I thought you guys made the shop to sell CD Bagels.” 

“Yeah, and music, remember?” Cap’n muttered with a yawn. “So obviously we were always gonna make a band.” 

“Oh, right.” Sweet nodded, but paused again. “But wasn’t that just gonna be yours and K_K’s thing?” He hesitated. “Is… is it okay if I’m there?” 

Cap’n and K_K both stared for a bit. 

“Sweet, you helped build the shop,” K_K said. “You were always gonna be part of the band.” 

“...Oh.” 

They eventually started talking about who’d do what, and how they’d advertise their band, and what they’d name it. They stayed up almost the entire night, and yet the whole time, neither Cap’n nor K_K said anything about the fact that a tear would fall from Sweet’s eye every now and again. 

— — — 

The band’s start was pretty rough. They advertised it as much as they could, but there weren’t enough people in the Cyber Fields who really cared about music enough to come to their concerts. Even when they handed out flyers while selling CD Bagels (which they always sold a LOT of; K_K really did make the best food), the only person who ever came to their performances was an overly-enthusiastic Plugboy who couldn’t even make it to all of their shows. 

It was nice that at least one person really liked their music, though. Which made Sweet feel kinda bad for what he ended up suggesting. 

“Playing in the city? ” Cap’n scoffed, packing up his box of CD Bagels (not that there were many left). “You’re outta your mind, Sweet. We’ve never been to the city; they’d crush us out there!” 

“I don’t wanna be a soda can,” K_K agreed, his own box already under his arm. 

“Come on, guys,” Sweet groaned, folding up his own cardboard box as they started to head back. “I know it’s big and daunting, but I really think we’d find a bigger audience there! Plus, I could be your guide!” 

Cap’n kicked the door of the shop open with a grunt. “You, our guide? Sweet, you’ve not lived on the streets of the city since…” He paused in the doorway, causing K_K to bump into him. “Sorry K_K. But still, it’s been what, five, six years since you started livin’ in Queen’s mansion?” 

Sweet rolled his eye as they all filed into the shop. “Just because I don’t live on the streets anymore doesn’t mean I don’t remember anything about them. Plus, I still live in the City . I don’t just spend all my time in the mansion, y’know.” 

“I think you spend most of your time here, actually,” K_K piped up, which, yeah, that was a fair point. Sweet spent so much time at the Cyber Fields that sometimes he’d forget he lived in the city until a Swatchling came to pick him up. 

Still, he didn’t want to back down from this, but he didn’t know how he’d be able to convince the two of them to try playing in the City. Unless…

“Hey Cap,” he said as he closed the door. “Don’t you think it’d be cool if we met some ladies while we were performing?” Cap’n froze. “Sweet, no.” 

“I’m just sayin’, the City’s full of girls who’d love to hear us play.” “I’m not fallin’ for that, Sweet.” 

“I could probably even get Queen to listen to one of our concerts.” 

Cap’n whirled around, pointing finger guns at Sweet. “Well why didn’t ya say that sooner? It’s a deal.” 

K_K, who’d just been staring for the entirety of the interaction, frowned. “I’d rather stay in the Cyber Fields,” he muttered. 

Sweet patted his arm. “The Cyber Fields are good and all, but don’t you think it’d be nice to find people that actually appreciate our music?” he asked. “Plus, I bet I could get Swatch to give you some recipes from the Color Cafe.” 

K_K hesitated, thinking it over for a moment before sighing. “Okay,” he said. “Can we still play in the Cyber Fields sometimes though?” 

“Of course!” Sweet nodded. “We still have to sell CD Bagels y’know! We’ll just play more music in the city.” 

“Just for the madimoyselles,” Cap’n added. “And K_K’s recipes.” 

Sweet rolled his eye. “I don’t think that’s how you pronounce it, but sure.” 

— — — 

Just as Sweet had predicted, their music was a hit in the City. Within fifteen minutes of the first place they tried (which they did ask permission to play at before performing), Darkners were coming out of stores and pausing in their walks to listen to their music. Which didn’t surprise Sweet in the slightest; despite the fact that Cyber City had all of the most famous music artists and songs playing in almost every store, it could be hard to actually hear the music over all the traffic, Addisons, and general noise of the City. 

Luckily, Sweet Cap’n Cakes had gotten really good at being loud. 

Their concert was pretty short, mostly meant to gauge the interest of the people there, but way more people stuck around until the end (ten whole Darkners!!), and some even asked for their flyers by the time they were done! 

There were still a few… complications though. 

“Watch out, K_K!” Sweet and Cap’n pulled on K_K’s arms, yanking him away from the street just as a torrent of cars flooded through. Sweet and Cap’n both flinched back, but K_K tilted his head as he stared out at the traffic. 

Cap’n glanced up at him in worry. “You alright, K_K? You didn’t get hurt, did ya?” 

“Do you think she’s single?” Sweet blinked in confusion. “What?” K_K pointed at one of the pink cars, crawling at a snail’s pace compared to the rest of the traffic. “Do you think she’s single?” he asked again.

“...That’s a car, K_K.” 

“Yeah.” 

Crisis temporarily averted, they moved on, looking for another place that would allow them to perform. They’d gotten unfortunately delayed by a lot of traffic, so most business turned them down as evening descended on Cyber City. 

Sweet sighed as they walked out of yet another store that refused to let them play in front of their shop. “Sorry guys, I really did think we’d get more listeners out here…” He scuffed his shoes on the ground as he walked. Cap’n shrugged. “Eh, it’s no big deal. Plus, we did get a lot more people than normal! We’ll just come out earlier next tiIIME-” Cap’n suddenly dodged out of the way, pulling Sweet and K_K with him. Sweet was confused until a Viroviriokun rushed past, closely followed by an Ambyu-lance. Sweet’s system heated in embarrassment; he was supposed to be the one leading them around the city, and he didn’t even notice the Darkners coming. 

K_K straightened up, grabbing Cap’n and Sweets hands to pull them away from the oncoming crowds. “There’s a lot more viruses out here than in the fields,” he mumbled. 

Sweet winced. “Yeah, sorry I forgot to warn you guys about that.” 

“So that’s normal? ” Cap’n brows raised so high that they were visible above his sunglasses. “And you lived in this?” 

Sweet shrugged as the three of them started walking. “I mean, yeah, but I didn’t really stick around these parts,” he explained. “And besides, I wasn’t out there for too long before I met–” He froze, then face-palmed. “Sorry, guys, I completely forgot to ask Queen if I could bring you over to the mansion…” 

Cap’n shrugged. “Eh, it’s fine. You can ask later and we’ll just see her next time.” He moved away to avoid a passing Addison. “Preferably somewhere that’s not crawlin’ with viruses and Maddisons.” 

“Addisons,” Sweet corrected. 

“Potato, potahto.” 

Sweet sighed. “Whatever. I’m still sorry I forgot to ask, though. Maybe I can–” He didn’t finish the thought as he bumped into something, yelping as Cap’n and K_K steadied him. The three of them looked up at the figure they’d run into. A Swatchling looked back down at them– or rather, down at Sweet. They blinked, and in a monotone voice, spoke up over the crowd, “Queen requests your presence back at the mansion.” Sweet gulped; lately, whenever Queen called for him herself, it was because he was in trouble one way or another (not that he ever really got any consequences, but Queen being disappointed in him never felt good). He hesitated, looking back at his friends, when an idea struck him; a way to fulfill his earlier promise to Cap’n and K_K and also maybe not get in trouble. He tilted his head at them, a silent question. It took a minute for them to get it, but once they did, they both nodded excitedly. 

He looked back at the Swatchling. “Can my friends come too?” 

— — — 

Bringing Cap’n and K_K in to meet Queen had been circuit-wracking. He knew that realistically that Queen wouldn’t mind —she never had before, after all— but that hadn’t stopped his soul from pounding loudly in his chest as he introduced them; so loudly he almost thought that it could be heard from his speakers. 

Judging by the lack of comments on it, that probably wasn’t true. 

He’d say it went pretty well, though. Even with Cap’n calling Queen ‘hot mama’ (Sweet heated up so much his speakers nearly cut out) and K_K talking about various objects he wanted to be (which, surprisingly, was a topic that Queen seemed to actually be invested in), Queen seemed to like his friends. 

Well, like might have been a strong word. She’d only gotten harder to read since the Knight came alone. 

Still, his hopes of no longer being in trouble were dashed once K_K and Cap’n left. This time, it was because he’d forgotten to tell her that he’d even be going to the Cyber Fields and then the City at all today, which was fair. What he didn’t think was fair was the punishment she gave. 

“I’m grounded? ” He asked incredulously. “For how long?” 

Queen waved a dismissive hand. “Oh Don’t Worry, It’s Just For One (1) Month In Total,” she replied, swirling a glass of battery acid. Which was weird, because last he’d checked, Swatch had banned her from having battery acid in Sweet’s presence (or in Tasque Manager’s presence; she got iffy about alcohol). 

But he didn’t focus on that. “But why? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I kinda thought you’d know already. Since, y’know, I’m always at the Cyber Fields these days,” he huffed, muttering the last part before continuing at a normal volume. “Isn’t a whole month kind of excessive?” 

“No, Because I Actually Wanted You Here For Something Today,” she said, crossing her arms. Her smile didn’t quite drop, but something about it seemed more… stern, than normal. 

He perked up a little bit at the sentence, though. She rarely ever wanted him for things anymore, so hearing that she actually needed his presence today was… comforting, in a way. “Really? Why’d you need me?” 

She sniffed, which was weird because she didn’t have a nose. “The Knight Was Here Today,” she responded, a weird undertone in her voice. “They Wanted To Talk With The Two Of Us About Something: Important. And To Actually Meet You Or Whatever.” She did frown then, looking down at him. “I’m Very Disappointed In You, Sweet.” 

Usually, hearing that Queen was disappointed in him would make him wince. It’d make him feel guilty for whatever he’d done that was wrong, or whatever he’d done to upset her. He’d apologize, and then she’d send him off to his room for an hour or so to ‘Marinate Like Spaghetti Sauce’. 

But things were different, this time. 

He stared at the ground, and instead of wincing, he clenched his fists. Instead of feeling guilty, he felt angry. The first time she’d actually ‘wanted’ to spend time with him in nearly six months, and it was only because of the stupid Knight? And she was grounding him over it, even though the Knight was at the mansion practically every other day? And she’d had plenty of opportunities to introduce the two of them, but the only time it’d ever crossed her mind was when the Knight themself mentioned it? She didn’t even care enough about him to introduce him to the Lightner that gave them meaning on her own?

Sweet knew that he was supposed to love Lightners. That Lightners were what gave every single Darkner a purpose. But in that moment, he didn’t think there was anyone he hated more than the Lightner who’d stolen all of his mom’s Queen’s attention and care. 

He almost hated her for letting them. 

“Are you kidding me?!” he blurted. “You only wanted me here because of the Knight!? You’re only grounding me because of the Knight!? You only noticed I was even gone because of the stupid , STUPID KNIGHT!?”

The yell that came from his speakers was so loud that the paintings on the walls shook. The nearby tasques shrieked and ran away from the sound. The maice that had once again infested the palace since the Knight’s arrival skittered away from the noise. Queen’s visor went entirely blank, and yet Sweet couldn’t bring himself to care over the anger he felt at it all; at Queen, at the Knight, at the whole palace, at the entire city. 

“ You haven’t talked to me in person in weeks! I barely ever see you or Swatch or Tasque Manager anymore! I rarely ever even get to see the Swatchlings! I spend more time at the Cyber Fields than I do at the mansion! Sometimes I have to spend the night in the Fields because you forget to pick me up! You forget to even send someone! And it’s all because of the Knight! It’s because of the STUPID F##KING- ”

“Sweet,” Queen interrupted in a low tone, halting his rant. Instantly, all of the rage and aggression he’d been feeling bled out of his circuits, quickly replaced by an icy fear. “Go To Your Room.” 

Sweet stammered, suddenly frozen in place. “I-I... I-I’m sorry, I- I didn’t mean-”

“I Wasn’t Asking, Sweet,” Queen said, voice colder than he felt. “Go To Your Room. Now.” 

Sweet didn’t have to be told twice, tripping on his own feet as he ran out of the room. 

— — — 

Oil dripped from his eye, dropping into his second speaker, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to care as his body, curled up on his bed, shook with sobs. He couldn’t believe he’d said all of that. He couldn’t believe he’d actually sworn at her. He couldn’t believe he’d yelled so loudly at her. He hadn’t even realized that he was so upset about everything, but the more he thought about it, the more it hurt. 

She hadn’t even refuted anything he said. She had watched with a stone-cold face as he listed out all the ways she (and the Knight) had hurt him, and then she’d dismissed him to his room. Maybe that meant she already knew how much it affected him, and she just didn’t care. The thought made him sob harder. 

A knock on the door sounded out, and that was the only warning he got before the door clicked open. He froze as he heard the sound of heels on the metal floors, thinking it was Queen, but the purrs that accompanied the steps gave away that it was Tasque Manager. 

He sat up and hurriedly wiped the oil out of his eye, knowing how much she hated disorder and uncleanliness. She didn’t seem to mind this time though, as she sat next to him on the bed despite the fact that the bed was unmade. He slept in it so little that there was hardly ever a reason to fix it. 

“I heard your fight with Queen,” Tasque Manager said gently. “Well, everybody heard it; your speakers got quite loud.” 

Sweet winced, his systems heating up in embarrassment. “I didn’t mean to yell so loud…” he mumbled, crossing his arms over his legs. 

“But you did mean what you said.”

Sweet hesitated, but nodded. 

“That’s fair,” Tasque responded, “and Queen is sorry that you’ve been feeling that way. We all are. However, there’s a lot at play that you don’t know.” 

Sweet looked up, curious. 

Tasque Manager sighed. “The Knight, although we dare not speak ill of them,” she gave him a pointed look, to which he cringed, “has been keeping everyone very busy as of late. They’ve been filling Queen in on many matters; both the issues of the Dark World, and of the Light World. Many such matters have required a large amount of listening ears. However, the matters discussed are quite heavy, and not so… children-friendly. Queen has been sending you to the Cyber Fields to shield you from our... honestly bleak future, but the Knight insisted that it was time for you to know today. When we couldn’t find you, the Knight was… displeased. They have since been delayed for quite a few months.” 

“Oh,” Sweet muttered, now feeling pretty guilty. So Queen did have a good reason to be upset at him; he’d practically driven the Knight away by… not showing up? I’m 

“That isn’t all, though,” Tasque Manager continued, cutting off his train of thought. “We…” She sighed, and then she looked at him sadly. “We really are sorry that you’ve been feeling this way, and that we haven’t done much to help. But…” she sighed again. “When we couldn’t find you today, Queen was genuinely… distraught, to say the absolute least. We were all worried, of course, but Queenie was nearly frantic in our search for you; in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so panicked. Or heard her worry so much for someone else’s safety.” She laughed at what was apparently supposed to be a joke, but it quickly tapered off, and she coughed before continuing. “I must say, she showed a remarkable amount of self-control while your friends were present. And even more so after you yelled at her.” 

Sweet winced, now feeling ten times worse than before. She really did care, she really had been worried about him, and what had he done? He’d gone and shouted at her so loudly that the entire mansion could hear, and he’d been so wrong about everything. He was so stupid. 

“I don’t blame you for lashing out,” Tasque Manager spoke, apparently having sensed his line of thought. “It’s clear now that you were dealing with a lot of pent-up emotions, and we failed to notice when we should have. For that, we are truly sorry.” She paused for a moment, and then added: “Queen doesn’t blame you either.” 

At that, Sweet looked up, a spark of hope in his chest. “Promise?” His voice felt small; it almost reminded him of his first days here. 

Tasque Manager smiled at him comfortingly. “I promise.” She stood, smoothing out her dress. “Queen has requested that you stay in your room for the time being, to give you time to rest up before dinner.” 

Sweet nodded, honestly grateful that he didn’t have to see Queen again so soon after fighting; he didn’t know if he could take the shame. A thought occurred to him as Tasque Manager walked to the door, and he hesitated before calling out her name. “Hey, Tass?”

She paused in the doorway, turning back to him. “Yes?” 

“Can you ask Queen if she can send a Swatchling to the Cyber Fields? To let my friends know I’m grounded.” 

She smiled. “Of course. I’ll see what I can do.” With that, she shut the door, leaving him to get some rest. 

— — — 

Dinner that evening was… extremely awkward. For one, it was the first dinner he’d eaten at the mansion in… well, at least a month. Secondly, for the first time in even longer, everyone was actually at the table; Sweet, Swatch, Tasque Manager, the Swatchlings… even the Tasques got to eat in the same room. 

And, of course, and most importantly, Queen. 

No one spoke for the first fifteen minutes of the dinner. Although the dinner itself was pretty good, with heaping servings of Spaghetti Code being the main dish, premium Butler Juice (or ‘Butt’ juice, as Sweet and Queen used to snicker to themselves) being the beverage, and CD Bagels for dessert (Sweet couldn’t help but compare them to K_K’s. He really liked those bagels), but the tension was so thick that Sweet found it hard to enjoy the dinner in front of him. Apparently, everyone else did too. 

The first time any of them spoke to each other, it was Tasque Manager asking Swatch about how business at the Color Cafe was going; apparently, the Knight was taking up everyone’s personal time. 

Things were a little smoother sailing after that. Sweet still didn’t talk much, but then Swatch asked him about Cap’n and K_K, and suddenly he was talking about everything he’d been doing with them over the last year; having finally finished the junk shop, selling CD Bagels with Cap’n and K_K, starting their band… there was some stuff he didn’t tell them though, like the fact that they’d both run away from an orphanage, or the fact that none of them ever had anything good to say about the Knight; he stuck to the smaller details, like how K_K was really good at baking and cooking, and how Cap’n was super bad at flirting. 

That was when Queen had joined that particular conversation, attesting to Cap’n’s terrible pick-up lines. It was a really stilted conversation at first, but after half an hour, everyone was talking and laughing with each other, just like old times. 

Just like the times before the Knight came

He cut off that particular train of thought. 

He even managed to confirm with Queen that she’d send a Swatchling to the Cyber Fields, and after they’d all finished dinner, she took him down to the acid pool to ‘Just Hang Out’, while the others took care of dinner. He was still too young to go in the acid pool, so he just watched her float around on a donut tube as he swung his feet over the acid. 

They talked for hours, just catching up. She told him about all the trouble she’d gotten into, he told her about how he’d made his own turntable that could fly. She suggested that he get into building as a side job, with how good he was at it, and he said he’d think about it. 

It was during a lapse of silence that he remembered a question Cap’n had asked him once; one that he’d asked Queen multiple times. He hadn’t bothered to ask since he was ten, but he was feeling… curious, maybe, and wondered if it was worth the risk of losing time with her just to see if he could get an answer. 

He hesitated for a while, but eventually, he blurted, “Queen, are you my mom?” 

She froze, in the same way she had back when he first asked, and he quickly backtracked. “Sorry, that was a dumb question, I shouldn’t have asked, I’m really-“

“I’m Your Legal Guardian,” she answered, cutting Sweet off in the middle of his rant. “But I Suppose If You Want To Call Me: Mom, Then You May.” 

Sweet blinked several times, moving to speak several times, only to stop himself. “Oh,” was what he ended up saying. 

They didn’t talk about it again after that. 

— — —

The rest of the month that he was grounded went by much the same. He was still extremely bored by being stuck in the mansion all day, but at the same time, it was nice to have things back to… mostly normal. He was able to hang out with Swatch in the Color Cafe, he helped fix paintings with Tasque Manager, he played Minecrap with Queen, he played games with the Swatchlings… he even got them to tell him about that one closed-off guest room, previously having belonged to someone named Spamton G. Spamton. They didn’t tell him much about it, but from what he did hear, he was glad they didn’t tell him more. 

They still wouldn’t acknowledge the basement, though. Bummer. 

Despite all of this, he still found himself missing Cap’n and K_K. He missed hanging out in the shop, he missed playing music with them, he missed selling CD Bagels, he missed eating K_K’s CD Bagels, he missed bantering with Cap’n, he missed having sleepovers… he even missed performing for the one singular Plugboy who bothered to listen out in the Cyber Fields. 

That was why, the second he was un-grounded, the first thing he asked to do was visit Cap’n and K_K. Queen agreed, sending a Swatchling to go with him, and he was practically bouncing the entire way there. 

He spotted them selling CD Bagels at their boxes, and his soul lifted. “Hey, hey guys!” he yelled, jumping and waving. 

The both of them paused, turning to stare at him. After a moment, Cap’n scoffed and turned back to the customers, while K_K gave him an uncharacteristically small smile before doing the same. 

Sweet blinked, confused by their reaction, but figured they were probably just too busy serving customers to talk at the moment, so he sat down to wait. 

He didn’t have to wait too long, because the lines were pretty short, so as soon as the last Plugboys was out of view (with no other Plugboys arriving), Sweet hopped up and bounded over to them. He stopped right in front of their boxes, soul once again lifting in delight. 

“Hi guys!” He chirped with a wave. K_K gave a small wave back, but Cap’n scowled at him. 

“What do you want,” he muttered, harshly shoving leftover CD Bagels into the box. 

Sweet blinked rapidly, taken aback by Cap’n’s aggressive attitude. “Wha- what do you mean, what do I want?” He asked incredulously. “I was just saying hi.” He looked at K_K. “Man, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you guys, I-”

“And who’s fault is that?” Cap’n snapped, closing his box so hard it was nearly crushed in his grip. K_K followed suit, but handled his box with much more care. “What, did you come back to rub it in?” 

Sweet blinked once more, now thoroughly confused and feeling a terrible sinking feeling in his circuits. “Rub what in?” He asked, bringing his hands up to grab his arms. “I-“

“Oh, nothin’,” Cap’n cut him off sarcastically, “Why don’t we all just pretend that you don’t think you’re better than us, huh? That everything’s just fine and dandy, that you didn’t just totally ditch us once you remembered how nice it was to live with Queen?” He threw his hands up in the air, a sardonic grin on his face. “That sounds like so much fun!”

“What are you even talking about?!” Sweet exploded, throwing his own arms up in the air in genuine confusion- and now a little anger, too. “What do you even mean?”

“He means because you don’t want to be friends anymore,” K_K said quietly. 

Sweet froze, a horrible feeling settling over him like the crash of a wave. “Huh- what? ” He sputtered. “Why- why would you think I didn’t wanna be friends anymore??” 

“Why wouldn’t we think that?!” Cap’n yelled, kicking his box of CD Bagels. “You go totally radio silent for almost a whole month, and then when we finally get ahold of one of those ‘Swatchlings’,” he put his fingers up in mock quotation, “the guy says that they’ve never heard of ‘mAStEr SWeEt’ having any friends! Especially not from the ‘Cyber Fields’! They didn’t even know our names!” He yanked the sunglasses off, his glare now on full display. “So yeah, it’s pretty f##king obvious just how much you care about us!’ 

Sweet- didn’t know how to respond to that. His whole body felt cold, like someone had just dumped an entire gallon-sized bucket of ice water on top of him. It almost even felt like he was about to start glitching out in the same way that getting water in his circuits would do to him. “I-I- that’s- that’s not-“ 

“Whatever,” Cap’n scoffed, muttering under his breath. “It must’ve been real nice to go home and remember that your wittle ‘mommy’ cared about you.” 

And just like that, the ice turned to fire. He had no idea what was going on. He had no idea why they thought he didn’t care about them. But Cap’n just insulted Queen. He’d just insulted the one person Sweet was actually sure cared about him anymore. 

He didn’t think about what he said before he said it. He just knew he wanted it to hurt. 

“At least I actually have a mom, #sshole.” 

Sweet slapped a hand over his speaker. Cap’n froze. K_K dropped his box. 

The heat of his anger melted away, only to be frozen solid. He couldn’t even say it felt like ice; it was so, so much colder than that. Every circuit froze up, every system stopped responding, each of his speakers went dead silent, and even his mind felt like it’d been frozen in place. 

It was so, so cold. 

Cap’n abruptly picked up the box again. Sweet struggled to find his voice. “Cap-“ 

Cap’n didn’t stop, whirling around. Sweet practically begged. “Cap- Cap, wait, I-I’m- I’m so-”

“Go f##k yourself, Sweet,” Cap’n deadpanned, not even bothering to turn back. “Clearly, she never should have named you that in the first place.” He marched off into the distance until Sweet was staring despairingly at nothing. 

After a few moments of silence, K_K bent down to pick up his own box. Sweet looked at him, pleading. “K_K, I’m- I’m so, so sorry, I didn’t mean it, I swear I didn’t mean it, I’m so sorry-”

K_K stood at his full height, Sweet’s voice catching in his circuits. K_K wasn’t smiling, but he didn’t look angry. He looked profoundly sad. Quietly, he said, “I think you should go home, Sweet. Cool off.” With that, he turned and followed after Cap’n, only glancing back at Sweet once before he too disappeared from Sweet’s sight. 

Sweet didn’t know how to tell him that he was already freezing. 

— — —

His trip home felt like it took eons. The Swatchling sent to accompany him barely spoke the entire time, leaving Sweet to swim around in the icy water of his thoughts. He might as well actually be frozen in ice; with how slowly he moved and the way his hands trembled, he didn’t think he’d be able to tell if he suddenly was. 

No one was there to greet him when he arrived through the front door. He couldn’t bring himself to feel angry about it, or upset, or even resigned. He just felt cold. 

He didn’t bother trying to make it to his room; he knew if he did, he’d just end up collapsing on the floor to sob. Instead, he made his way to the Color Cafe and dragged himself into one of the plush chairs inside. Swatch wasn’t there. 

No one was in there, he realized belatedly, and he vaguely wondered where they all went. He couldn’t bring himself to get up and find out. 

Hours passed in the cafe, or maybe it was just minutes; at the moment, Sweet couldn’t tell the difference. Nevertheless, after some amount of time, he started hearing voices fill the mansion’s lobby. Swatchlings started filing in, not even seeming to notice his presence, and not even five minutes later, Swatch himself walked in, pausing next to Sweet’s chair. 

“Oh, hello young Master,” he greeted. “How was your day?” 

“Where was everyone?” Sweet mumbled in lieu of an answer. He didn’t bother trying to put genuine curiosity in his voice; he knew it wouldn’t come out any differently no matter how hard he tried. 

Swatch didn’t seem to notice Sweer’s numbness. “Ah, well, that’s the exciting part,” he replied, feathers fluffing as he smiled, “The Knight is coming back sooner than expected! In just two weeks, to be exact.”

“Oh.”

Sweet found himself even colder, somehow. 

— — —

He spent almost the entire first week holed up in his room. He had sobbed, once he’d gotten there, and since then he had barely stopped sobbing. It’d gotten to the point where he started vomiting oil instead of crying it, which was almost a better alternative to the constant tears. No one ever came to check on him except for the stray Swatchling every now and again, who would usually just come to leave food in the room. 

They never seemed to notice that he barely ate it. 

He tossed and turned every night, unable to sleep. Every time he closed his eye, his mind would replay the argument, repeating his words back st him over and over and over. Every time he left his eye open, he’d get colder and colder and colder. 

He left his room in the middle of the second week, practically in a haze. He ran into Queen, who barely gave him a greeting before rushing off. Before she could leave his sight, a question he hadn’t even realized he’d been thinking about fell out of his speaker:

“Did you ever send a Swatchling to let Cap’n and Cakes know I was grounded?” 

Queen paused, fully stopping in the hallway. After a minute, her visor switched to LMAO. “Oh No I Totally Forgot About That Lol.” She laughed, then walked away. 

That was when he broke. 

It was already late in the evening, but Sweet didn’t care. He didn’t care that it was dark already, he didn’t care that most people were sleeping by now, he didn’t care that it was definitely too late to ask Queen for permission, he didn’t care that he’d probably get grounded again. 

He left. 

He didn’t run, not at first. He walked through the mansion’s hallways, down into the lobby, and out of the palace doors. He passed multiple Swatchlings on the way out; none of them tried to stop him. 

As soon as the doors closed behind him, that was when he ran. 

He ran past the Addisons trying to sell him products he’d never use. He ran around the Virovriokuns spreading their viruses into the air. He ran faster than the Ambyu-lances on their way to fatally-wounded patients. He ran past the blue, he ran past the few lights still on, he ran into the dark, he ran through the dark. He ran all the way out of the city. 

He ran into the green of the Cyber Fields, into a darkness much more prevalent but much more soothing than that of the city’s. He ran past the houses of the sleeping Plugboys, past the few Virovirokuns that lived out here, past the unfinished roller coaster. He ran past the place the boxes used to be, he ran past the place the Hacker lived, he ran past the green, green, green.

He didn’t stop running until he reached the shop. Their shop. 

He froze in front of the door, ice running through his limbs yet again. He warred with himself, wanting to knock and being wholly afraid of the prospect at the same time. 

Just knock. 

I can’t.

You can. 

They hate me. 

Just knock. 

If I knock, they’ll just tell me to get lost. 

Just knock. 

They’ll throw me away, just like everyone else. 

Just knock. 

I can’t do it.

You can. 

I can’t knock. 

You have to. 

I can’t.

You can. 

I can’t knock. 

JUST KNOCK. 

His hand was rapping at the door before he’d even realized which side won. 

Immediately, he froze. He shouldn’t have knocked, he should have left, they’ll hate him, they’ll toss him out, he shouldn’t have knocked, why did he knock, why did he-

The door opened, and Sweet was equal parts relieved and horrified to see that it was K_K at the door. His breath caught in his circuits as the taller monster rubbed his eyes with a yawn before looking down, blinking when his eyes landed on Sweet. “Hello-?” 

“I’m sorry!” Sweet burst into tears, sobbing hysterically and clutching his arms tightly in his hands. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have said that, I didn’t mean it but it was still so bad to say, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m such a terrible friend, I’m sorry, I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry-!”

He was cut off suddenly by long arms wrapping around him. He flinched, but realized when K_K knelt down that it wasn’t to hit him or shove him away; it was a huh. 

“I forgive you,” K_K said. 

Sweet took a deep breath, before breaking into sobs once again. He wrapped his own arms around K_K, clutching him tightly as he sobbed oily tears into his chest. He cried and sobbed and screamed, and K_K didn’t let him go or throw him away; he knelt there, and when Sweer’s legs buckled and he collapsed into sobs on the ground, K_K fell with him, and Sweet sobbed into his shoulder. 

They’d been sitting that way for a while before Sweet heard a groan from inside the shop. K_K turned his head, and Sweet froze, oily tears still running down his face, as Cap’n stumbled into the doorway, looking worse for wear himself. 

“Who’s makin’ so much noise at-” he cut himself off as he noticed Sweet sitting there. He glared, before he paused and suddenly looked unsure. “Uh… what-”

“I’m so sorry,” Sweet blurted, hiding his face in K_K’s shoulder again. “I’m so sorry I said that to you, that was so horrible, I’m so sorry I said that, and I’m sorry I made you think I didn’t wanna be friends, and-“ 

“Woah, hey,” Cap’n cut him off, and Sweet chanced a glance at him, only to see Cap’n looking extremely uncomfortable. “I, uh… Man, I don’t know how I could just not forgive you, when you’re cryin’ like that…” 

Sweet shook his head vehemently. “Don’t forgive me,” he said, hiccuping on another sob, “don’t forgive me if it’s- if it’s just ‘cause you feel bad. You shouldn’t  forgive me, I’m a terrible friend, and I’m so, so sorry I messed up so bad-”

He was cut off (again) by Cap’n joining the hug, slouching against K_K and Sweet. “‘S too late for this,” he muttered, and Sweet thought that maybe he could hear tears in Cap’n’s voice as well, “we should go inside.”

“In a minute,” K_K replied, shifting his grip to hold both Cap’n and Sweet tightly. Neither of them tried to argue. 

— — —

A minute ended up turning into thirty, but none of them complained. Sweet was actually pretty sure that Cap’n complained more once K_K deemed them ready to go back inside, but those protests were also short-lived once the three of them crashed onto K_K’s bed (Sweet didn’t know they’d gotten beds) and almost immediately fell asleep, still curled up in a hug and holding each other tightly as consciousness faded away. 

That was how they woke up the next morning, all tangled around each other. Things were super awkward, especially between Sweet and Cap’n, but K_K just got up and made pancakes, chatting about random stuff he and Cap’n had done while Sweet was gone. 

Breakfast itself was quiet, even though none of them were actually eating. Cap’n was nudging the pancakes around on the plate, K_K was sitting with his hands folded while looking off to the side, and Sweet stared at his plate, unable to bring himself to so much as touch the food. 

“Sweet?” K_K spoke after several minutes of silence. “Are you okay?” 

Sweet hesitated, folding his hands under the table. “Why are you even asking me that?” he muttered, willing himself not to cry again. “You should hate me.” 

“Tough sh#t,” Cap’n deadpanned, coughing when K_K gave him a disapproving look. “‘Cause we don’t hate you,” he continued, “but we’re still pretty pi- ticked off that you ditched us for apparently no reason.” 

“He’s trying to ask you why you left without saying anything,” K_K explained. Cap’n opened his mouth with a sputter, but paused and then nodded with a sigh.

“I was trying to have a little more tact, but yeah.” 

“K_K was more tactful than you,” Sweet murmured as he twisted his hands together. He went quiet for a moment, hesitating. Most of him wanted to try to explain, but a small part of him whispered that they wouldn’t like what he had to say, that they’d say he didn’t try hard enough, that they’d kick him out if he said anything. It was almost enough to keep his speakers quiet. 

But they wouldn’t do that. He knew they wouldn’t. K_K had forgiven him just last night, before he’d explained anything at all. He should explain; he wanted to explain. 

So he did. 

He told them about how he’d been grounded, how Queen had promised to send someone to let them know, about everything that’d happened while he’d been gone— about how he missed them. They told him stuff too; like how they’d gotten concerned when he didn’t show up for a week, how they’d gone to Cyber City by themselves to look for him, how the Swatchling they met had said they’d never heard of Sweet having friends in the ‘Cyber Field’ (and this time, Sweet didn’t miss the negative undertone of the words), how they’d waited for him to come back and say it wasn’t true for a week before losing hope… Cap’n begrudgingly admitted that he’d ended up fully believing that Sweet didn’t care about them anymore, while K_K had still held out hope that it was all a misunderstanding. 

They all pointedly didn’t talk about the fight. That was fine with Sweet; he’d been forgiven and he didn’t want to think about it anymore. 

“So when’re you gonna go back?” Cap’n asked a while later, all three of them lounging on the couch and listening to a radio station playing electro swing. At Sweet’s flinch, he hurriedly added, “Not that we want you gone! But like, are you sure you’re not gonna get grounded again for this?” 

Sweet shrugged from where he laid against K_K’s left side, with Cap’n on K_K’s right. K_K had his arms wrapped around both of them; a gesture neither complained about. “Maybe, but I doubt it,” he replied. “She only got upset last time ‘cause I messed up things with the Knight.” He paused with a wince as he remembered what Tasque Manager had said about Queen being worried, but he was now more sure that it was more about the Knight than it was himself, so he continued. “Plus, I doubt she even realizes I’m gone.” 

Cap’n snorted. “Yeah right,” he said as he leaned back against K_K. “You only left in the middle of the night and still haven’t showed up by morning. She’s probably flipping right now.” 

Sweet stifled a snicker at the mental image (although Queen literally flipping out didn’t sound too out of character for her), but stared at the ground. “She’s only talked to me, like, once in the past whole week. She’ll probably only wonder where I am when the Knight comes.” 

“She hasn’t talked to you in a week?” K_K asked, tilting his head. “I thought she was your mom.” 

Sweet hesitated. He’d thought so too, but with everything that’d happened (why did the Swatchling pretend they weren’t his friends?) , he wasn’t sure anymore. “She… said I could call her mom, but I’m not sure she considers herself my mom.” He wrung his hands together. “But her not talking to me for a week is pretty normal, ever since the Knight showed up.”

“That sucks,” Cap’n hummed sympathetically, to which Sweet just shrugged. “Still though, she’s gotta have noticed that you’re not in the mansion at all anymore, right? Or someone’s probably noticed, at least.” 

“I doubt it,” Sweet replied, feeling bitter for a second before he squashed it down. “They don’t usually notice stuff like this; otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten away with nearly as many sleepovers.”

There was a pause. “I thought that was just the first time,” Cap’n said, something strange in his voice. 

“Yeah, didn’t they know about all the sleepovers?” K_K added. 

Sweet shrugged. “I mean, maybe they figured it out eventually,” he replied, “but most of the time it was just because they’d forgotten I was in the Cyber Field.” 

No one spoke for a few moments. Sweet looked up questioningly, only to freeze when he saw the concerned looks on his friend’s faces. A mix of unease and defensiveness washed over him, and he added, “Okay first of all, it was for the Knight, okay? I mean…” he hesitated. “I didn’t– I don’t like that they forget about me sometimes, or– or just ignore me in the hallway, but there’s a lot to do whenever the Knight arrives, so it makes sense that they’re busy.”

“Too busy to remember that you were gone? ” Cap’n asked incredulously. “Dude, that’s like– seriously messed up. They shouldn’t just forget that you existed!” 

“I think that classifies as child neglect,” K_K added, no less incredulous than Cap’n. 

Sweet scowled, part of him wanting to defend Queen and everyone even as another part of him quietly wanted to agree. “But it’s for the Knight,” he argued, and then before he could think about it, “And it’s not like the orphanage treated you better; they treated you worse .” His brain short-circuited, and he froze as he realized what he said. “I– I’m sorry,” he stammered, pulling his legs up to his chest, “that was unfair of me.” 

There was silence for a few moments before K_K spoke. “It was, but it’s okay.” He paused, then amended, “Well, no, it’s not okay, but I forgive you.” 

Cap’n sighed, and the tension Sweet hadn’t noticed before bled out of his shoulders. “Yeah, me too,” he muttered. 

That was the second time they’d forgiven him, in less than twenty-four hours. 

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, oily tears welling up in his eye. “I’m sorry I’m such a bad friend. I really don’t deserve you guys, or Queen, or Tasque Manager, or Swatch, or anyone–”

K_K pulled him closer, wrapping his arm around him tighter. “Don’t say that about yourself,” he said quietly. “It’s not true.” 

Sweet sniffed, willing the tears to not fall from his speaker. They really were too nice for him. “Yes it is,” he muttered, wiping at his eye. “I keep being awful to you and Cap, I yelled and swore at Queen, I’m being ungrateful towards everyone in the mansion, and I can’t even get it through my big, stupid head that the Knight is ten times more important than I’ll ever be.” 

“Shut the f##k up,” Cap’n growled, startling Sweet. K_K hugged him tighter while giving Cap’n yet another disappointed look. Cap’n ignored it as he continued, “First of all, you swearing at Queen is bad#ss. Second of all, f##k the people in the mansion! Sure, they took you in when you were younger, but that doesn’t change the fact that now , they’re treating you like sh#t. Third of all, and most importantly,” Cap’n paused to clamber over K_K (who noticeably said nothing about the multiple swears) and practically threw himself on top of Sweet, who let out an ‘oomph’ at the impact. “I don’t care about some dumb fancy-pants Knight. Maybe Queen and her cronies don’t think you’re important compared to the Knight, but I don’t care. You’re important to me. You’re important to K_K. Don’t you dare say otherwise ever again.” He hugged Sweet tight, although Sweet had the feeling that that wasn’t the reason he suddenly found it hard to breathe. 

“What he said,” K_K added, hugging the two of them tightly. “You’re important to us. You’re both important to me. I don’t care what you do or say; there’s nothing you can do that’ll make me stop caring about you, and there’s nothing you can do that’ll make you unworthy of love.” 

Sweet’s resolve to not cry crumbled, and as the three of them sat there in a group hug, he could’ve sworn he felt tears from the other two fall onto him as well. 

Sweet knew by now that it was possible to have two homes, but he thought it’d be okay if he just had this one. 

— — —

He still went back to the mansion the next day, despite Cap’n and K_K’s reservations. He explained to them that one, he still lived in the mansion, and two, he was legally Queen’s… ward? Ward or child. Still, this meant that she was still in charge of him, and he really didn’t want to get grounded again. They eventually agreed, but only after they made him promise to come back the next day, and said that if they didn’t hear from him in a week, they’d go to Queen’s mansion and break him out themselves, whether he wanted it or not. 

He didn’t mind that in the slightest. 

Cap’nhad shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot as he’d been getting ready, rubbing the back of his head while K_K stood nearby. “Hey, uh…. I’m sorry for assuming the worst after you got grounded,” he’d apologized. “And for swearing at you so much yesterday. Even if you kinda deserved that last part.” 

Sweet had paused. “Oh, uh. I forgive you?” He’d already forgiven him, to be honest, but he was also so used to being the one apologizing that hearing someone else say it was uncanny. 

“I’m sorry too,” K_K had added. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong, K_K.” 

“I’m sorry I didn’t notice you were hurting when I should have, and for not taking action to help you.” 

Sweet’s breath had caught in his throat. Despite the fact that K_K shouldn’t be taking any responsibility for that, it still felt nice to hear. It was reminiscent of Tasque Manager’s apology, but it felt…. different, somehow. 

“That wasn’t your fault, K_K. But if it helps you feel better, I forgive you.” 

They’d all hugged goodbye, taking an unusually long amount of time due to them not really wanting to be separated, but eventually they’d let go, and Sweet headed back to the mansion alone. He tried not to miss Cap’n and K_K the whole way there. 

Although once he got to the mansion, missing his brothers? friends? friends was somehow both the last thing on his mind and at the forefront of it. 

The palace was in disarray, with Swatchling’s running amok and carrying different materials. Tasques prowled around the place as though they were going to pounce at any moment, and the maice that had been so bold before now skittered back to their hiding spaces in the walls. He was pretty sure he heard Tasque Manager in the Color Cafe and Swatch yelling frenzied commands at the Swatchlings. 

The only person who seemed unaffected by the chaos was Queen, who stood at the bottom of the steps, surveying the lobby as she drank a glass of battery acid. 

No one spoke to or acknowledged Sweet in any way as he ducked and dodged through the traffic, trying to make it to Queen to figure out what the heck was going on. They didn’t even seem to notice him when he accidentally tripped one of them up, just stepping around him like he wasn’t even there. 

Once he made it over to Queen, he hesitated. What if she had noticed he was gone and got angry at him? 

Still, he was already right there, so it’d be kinda hard to sneak away now. So instead, he cleared his throat and asked, “Queen, what’s going on?” 

She didn’t respond for a few moments, and only seemed to notice him when he repeated the question. She looked down at him with the biggest smile he’d seen on her, and yet nothing about it looked genuine. “Oh Lol Hey Sweetie Pie, You Just Missed The Knight.” She took a sip from her battery acid. 

Sweet froze. “The— The Knight? But I thought they wouldn’t be here for a few more days.” 

Queen shrugged. “They Got Here: Early.” She took another sip from her battery acid and didn’t say anything for a few moments. Just as Sweet considered walking away, she added, “Oh Wait Sweet There’s Something I Have To Tell You.” 

He paused, a feeling of apprehension coming over him. “...yeah?” 

“I’m Going To Ban All Music Lol. Except Noise Music And Reverse Diss Tracks.” 

“...What?” 

“I’m Going To Ban All Music Lol. Except Noise Music And Reverse Diss Tracks,” she repeated, downing the last of her battery acid. Then she suddenly threw it on the ground, glass shattering with a loud crash. Sweet flinched away from the shards that went flying, but the Swatchlings didn’t even seem to notice what had happened; instead, they just stepped on and over the shards of glass, not a care for the mess or potential injury while they had other tasks to do. 

“The Knight Said I Should Ban Like; All All Music, But I Decided I Still Wanted To Listen To Music I Like, So I Only Banned: Most Of It.” She laughed like it was the funniest joke she’d ever told. 

Which was what this all had to be; a joke. There was no way she was actually doing that; why would the Knight even say something like that? “You can’t be serious,” he said slowly, waiting for her to come out and say that it was a joke. 

Instead, her visor shifted to ???. “Why Would I Not Be Lmao.” 

Sweet blinked. Then blinked again. Then blinked some more. “You— you can’t just ban all music!”

“Most Music,” she corrected, “And Actually I Literally Can Lol.” 

“I’m literally in a band!” 

“Will You Only Play Noise Music Or Reverse Diss Tracks?” 

Sweet sputtered. What even was a reverse diss track? “No??” 

“Then You Can’t Be In A Band,” she stated simply. 

Sweet froze. He couldn’t be— but he had to. They were a trio; Sweet Cap’n Cakes. He couldn’t just not be in the band. And he was literally a speaker; playing music was his whole purpose. “What if I just play other music anyway?” 

She tilted her head. “I Would Have To: Ground You.” 

“Over playing music in a band?”  

“Yes.” 

Sweet gaped. This was genuinely the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard. “Well— I’m gonna do it anyway!” he blurted after a second. “I’m gonna go be in the band, and I’m gonna play whatever songs I want, and you can’t stop me!” 

Queen laughed. “I Literally Can Lol.” 

“No you can’t-!” 

— — —

Turned out she very much could. All she had to do was order a Swatchling to bring him to his room and tell him he was ‘indefinitely grounded’. 

He’d tried to get out as soon as the Swatchling had left the room, but the door was somehow locked from the other side. Had she switched the locks while he was gone? Or did this happen while he was grounded the last time? 

He tried to kick the door open, but it wouldn’t budge. He tried to get the doorknob off, but it didn’t move. He even looked around his room that could get him out through his second-story window, but all he could find were two different outfits that were definitely not going to be enough. 

After he tried (and failed) to escape for thirty minutes straight, he sat down on his bed, head in his hands as he thought. He couldn’t get out of the room right now ; anything that might have helped him escape before, he’d taken to the junk shop at some point and hadn’t brought it back. The room was nearly bare of any personal belongings by this point. 

Except for one thing.

Sweet’s gaze slid over to his dresser. The toy robot, the one Queen had found him fixing all those years ago, stood there, untouched. He hadn’t used it since he was at least twelve; he’d thought he’d outgrown playing with toys.

Now he might not get to use it ever again. 

He tore his eye away from the robot, looking back at the door. He couldn’t escape right now, but maybe when the Swatchlings came back to feed him (they would, right? They wouldn’t just forget he was there) , he could slip past them and get out. 

— — — 

The first time a Swatchling came to bring him a meal (which was dinner, supposedly), he didn’t try to escape; instead, he ate the meal and went to bed, so that when he did try to escape, he’d have the energy to do it.

It was hard to fall asleep, though. He stayed awake for hours before he managed to doze off. 

At breakfast time, he’d tried to dash out of the room while the Swatchling was putting the meal on the dresser, but he’d been quickly grabbed and deposited on his bed before the door had been locked again. He’d tried to hide behind the door and slip out at lunch, but an additional Swatchling had caught him and brought him back in his room. He tried to hide under the bed to confuse the Swatchlings at dinner, but all they did was leave the food there and lock him in the room again. 

The next day passed much the same way, although he did get close once at lunch when he set up a contraption to drop his other two outfits on the Swatchlings to distract them while he ran. Unfortunately, he’d been caught and brought back by Swatch himself, and when dinner came around, three Swatchlings had been added to the first two, making escape practically impossible. 

He’d been pacing in his room for the past hour when he heard a knock on his window. 

He swung his head around, only to freeze when he saw Cap’n’s face staring back at him. His soul lifted as he rushed over to the window, and he yanked it open. “Cap! How’re you even-?”

“Shhhh!” Cap’n shushed harshly. “There’s tasques prowling around everywhere; me ‘nd K_K barely got in!” A quick glance down revealed that K_K had extended his upper body all the way up to the window, with Cap’n sitting on his shoulders. 

“Sorry,” Sweet whispered, then paused. How did they even know he was grounded? He remembered now that they’d said they would break him out if he didn’t show up for a week, but it’s only been two days, so… “How did you guys know to come get me?” 

Cap’n huffed. “Just get out here! We’ll explain later when we’re not at risk of gettin’ our butts beat by Queen!” 

Sweet nodded and began to climb out the window, then paused. “Give me a sec, I’ve gotta get something,” he whispered, then tumbled back into the room, ignoring Cap’n’s exaggerated groan. He grabbed the toy robot from the dresser, never to be left behind again. He ran back up to the window and climbed onto the sill. “Okay, I’m ready.” 

“Finally!” Cap’n whisper-shouted, then held his arms up. “Okay, I’m gonna grab you, and then K_K’s gonna slowly bring us all down.” Sweet looked at Cap’n dubiously. “Are you even strong enough for that?”

“Shut up and get out here, Sweet.” 

Sweet nodded, slowly lowering himself out the window, and to his credit, Cap’n did manage to grab and hold him, even if Sweet felt his grip slipping every other second. 

“I didn’t know you could extend your limbs that far, K_K,” Sweet whispered as K_K slowly started to lower the three of them to the ground. 

“Neither did I!” K_K whispered with a grin. “We were gonna kidnap a Swatchling if this didn’t work!” 

Sweet blinked. “Wait, you were gonna what-?” 

He cut himself off with a yelp as Cap’n suddenly let go, only to be caught by one of K_K’s arms. He scowled as he jumped out of K_K’s arm, just as Cap’n jumped off of his shoulders. “What was that for?” he whispered. 

Cap’n breathed deeply, leaning over with his hands on his knees. “Sorry,” he wheezed, “I didn’t realize how heavy you are.”

Sweet narrowed his eye. “I’m not that heavy.” 

“Yeah, he’s not that heavy,” K_K added. 

“Just shut up,” Cap’n groaned, standing up straight. “We’ve gotta get out of here.” 

That, all three of them could agree on. 

— — — 

The three of them collapsed on the couch nearly the second they made it back, the adrenaline from sneaking in and out of Queen’s mansion bleeding out of their systems. The only thing Sweet had done before letting himself sit down was check to make sure his turntable was still in the junk shop’s back room– which it was. After that, there was nothing to stop the three of them from sinking to a heap on the couch. 

As Cap’n mumbled at K_K and tried to shove him off, with K_K refusing to let go of Cap’n or Sweet, Sweet just sighed, sinking into the couch with relief. 

“So how’d you guys know to come and get me?” Sweet mumbled, causing Cap’n and K_K to pause. “It hasn’t been even close to a week yet.” Cap’n shrugged, struggling to sit up with K_K holding him so tightly. “We got the announcement that Queen was banning music this morning,” he explained, giving up on trying to escape K_K’s grasp and flopping back down against the couch. “We already knew that you weren’t gonna take it well and that Queen fu- freaking sucks, so we just decided to go early.” 

“Oh,” was Sweet’s reply, and he gripped K_K’s arm almost as tightly as K_K was holding him. “...thank you.” 

Cap’n just hummed with a nod, leaning back against K_K. Everything went quiet for a moment, before Cap’n spoke up again. “So what’re we gonna do now? Can’t exactly be a band if we can’t play any music.” 

“Unless we only ever play noise music,” K_K pointed out. All three of them shuddered at the thought. 

Sweet stared at the ground, thinking hard. Cap’n was right; all of the music they’d written was banned. They literally couldn’t play any of their songs anywhere unless they wanted to get in serious trouble. 

But he found that he didn’t really care so much. Playing music with Cap’n and K_K was the happiest he’d ever been, and he’d loved music even before Queen took him in. Abandoning music would practically be abandoning himself; and it almost felt like abandoning Cap’n and K_K too, even if it was only their band. And again, he was literally a speaker; the words ‘never play music’ in that specific order weren’t in his vocabulary. 

Besides, he would probably already be in trouble for breaking out of the mansion while grounded anyway. 

He stood up suddenly, K_K’s grip having loosened during the silence. The two of them exchanged a look, but he ignored it as he looked for an RCA connector cable. “Sweet? What’re you doing?” Cap’n asked, sitting up. 

“I’m gonna go play music,” Sweet said firmly, finding the cable he was looking for. 

“What?” Cap’n and K_K yelled at the same time. Cap’n jumped off the couch, K_K not far behind. “I don’t know how you already forgot, but we were literally just talking about the fact that we can’t play music anymore,” Cap’n added. 

“I don’t care,” Sweet snapped as he stalked off to the back room and walked up to its door. “I’m getting my turntable and I’m playing music as loud as I can from my speakers.” 

“You’re going to get in trouble,” K_K warned, grabbing the doorknob before Sweet could reach for it.

Sweet rolled his eye. “I’m already gonna be in trouble, K_K,” he replied, glancing between him and Cap’n, who crossed his arms.

“You’re gonna get in more trouble,” Cap’n amended. “And we just busted you out of Queen’s mansion. Do you really wanna go back and get to find out what the dungeons there feel like?” 

“Queen’s mansion doesn’t have a dungeon,” Sweet muttered, but shook his head. “But that’s not the point. I need to play music; I’m literally a speaker .” He pointed at Cap’n. “And aren’t you a cassette player?” He pointed at K_K. “And you’re a CD player. You guys need to play music even more than I do.” 

Both Cap’n and K_K hesitated at that. “We can handle going on nothin’ but noise music,” Cap’n replied, but it sounded unsure. 

“For how long?” Sweet asked, crossing his own arms. “How long are you gonna be okay with playing nothing besides noise music or a ‘reverse diss track’? We don’t even have many noise music songs; how long are you gonna be able to play the same four songs on repeat, for the rest of your lives?” 

K_K and Cap’n shared a wary glance. “It’s better than getting in trouble, though,” K_K said hesitantly. “She might not have a dungeon, but I don’t want to know what she’ll do to enforce that law.” 

“The law we’re not even gonna be able to follow?” Sweet asked incredulously. “Can both of you honestly say that you’re gonna be able to go for the rest of our lives playing nothing but noise music? Playing nothing but the same four songs over and over?” 

Neither of them said anything for a moment, seemingly wanting to look anywhere except at Sweet. After a minute, K_K spoke, “Sweet, is this because of the music, or does it have something to do with Queen herself?” 

Sweet frozen. He hadn’t quite considered that, but it was a real possibility. He did feel bitter towards Queen; he felt bitter towards everyone in the mansion. Maybe even everyone in the city. Maybe this was all an attempt to get back at Queen, for everything she’d done to him. 

But everything she’d done to him included taking him in when he had no one. 

And it wasn’t just about her, either. It was about the fact that he was made to play music. It was about the fact that Cap’n and K_K were made to play music. Music was a part of them, even more than it was for him. He could handle playing a myriad of different things from his speakers, even if none of them made him want to dance the way music did, but Cap’n and K_K would have practically nothing. 

“I think it might a little,” Sweet said slowly, “but it’s also about the three of us. We’re the Sweet Cap’n Cakes; playing music is what we do . And it’d be that way even if we weren’t a band.” He tapped his foot on the ground. “And it’s not just about music either. If Queen’s gonna decide to be as petty as to ban something like music she doesn’t particularly enjoy, what’s to stop her from banning other things too? Like- like staying out too late, or being able to sell CD Bagels, or crossing the road without a permit, or–” 

“‘Crossing the road without a permit’?” Cap’n deadpanned. “And being able to sell CD Bagels? That’s taking it a little too far.” “And banning music isn’t?” Sweet retorted, Cap’n quickly shutting up. “You think it’s crazy, and that’s because it is crazy, but we also think that banning music is crazy, and what’d she do? She banned music! She banned music when some of her own subjects were literally made for making music! She’s already taken things ‘a little too far’. What’s to stop her from going further? Are we really supposed to just lie down and take that?” 

Neither of them answered him for a moment, just glancing at each other again. After a minute, Cap’n sighed. “So what, you’re in your rebel phase or somethin’?” 

Sweet sputtered. “It’s not a phase!” he snapped, before pausing as Cap’n snickered and K_K grinned. “No, no do not laugh at me that is not what I meant–” he paused again. “But, well… kinda.” 

“So you’re having a phase?” K_K asked. 

Sweet groaned, shaking his head. “No, it’s– not about the phase part, I meant the ‘rebel’ part.” He put his hand on the doorknob that K_K had stopped paying attention to, pushing the door open. “Queen’s banned music, and if she can get away with that, what else can she get away with? So we should show her that she can’t get away with it, that we’re not just gonna let this happen. So- so let’s be rebels! Let’s be a resistance against Queen’s stupid laws!” He gestured at the turntable. 

…

“That was so overdramatic,” Cap’n deadpanned, but then grinned as Sweet sputtered. “But I get what you’re saying; and to be honest, I don’t really like the thought of playing noise music for eternity.” He popped his knuckles, walking over to the turntable and hopping up onto it. “Plus, I’ve got a few other bones to pick with Queen myself. Even if she is a madimoyselle.” 

“That’s definitely not how you pronounce that,” Sweet muttered, before looking up at K_K, who seemed unsure. “Cakes, c’mon. You can’t seriously tell me that you’re okay with what she’s doing.” 

“I haven’t been okay with what she’s been doing since the time you first came back to the Fields,” K_K said plainly, but still hesitated. “I don’t want things to get worse for you.” 

Sweet looked down, feeling guilty, but more determined at the same time. “...And I don’t want things to get worse for you and Cap.” 

K_K stared at him for a few moments, eyes searching. Sweet wasn’t sure for what, exactly, but it made him feel uneasy all the same. “Okay,” K_K said eventually, Sweet’s spirits lifting, “but just music. And nothing that’ll get us in too much trouble; we’ll just play the songs we like and that’s it.” 

“Deal,” Sweet stuck his hand out, and with a small smile, K_K shook it. The two of them turned towards the turntable. “Now let’s get out there and– Cap don’t you dare touch that I will actually kill you!!!” 

— — — 

Embarrassingly, Swatch didn’t notice that Master Sweet had managed to sneak away until the next dinner, when he’d accompanied the other Swatchlings to bring him his meal. The window was wide open, but nothing resembling a rope was hanging from it, so Master Sweet had almost certainly had help– most likely, his two friends from the Cyber Fields. 

According to the Swatchlings, the room had been empty the entire day, but they had figured he was hiding under the bed again and thought nothing of the open window. Swatch had half a mind to fire them right then and there, but ultimately, that decision would be up to Queen. 

Unfortunately, that wasn’t where Swatch’s trouble ended. Shortly after the discovery, Swatch caught wind of a video of three protestors of the music ban vehemently opposing Queen’s new law and defending themselves against Queen’s new Werewires. He had a sinking feeling that Master Sweet was involved in this, which was proved to be correct once he actually watched the footage. The video itself was quickly trending, and he knew it would only be a matter of time before Queen saw it– if she hadn’t already. 

He decided that the best thing to do would be to tell Queen about this, hopefully before she came across it herself. So after submitting a request to see her (which was immediately granted, as all requests sent from Swatch or Tasque Manager were), he made his way to her bedroom/office/whatever was most convenient for her at the moment and knocked on the doors. 

As he waited for her to open the door, he had to squash down a lot of feelings of apprehension. Her Majesty the Queen was rarely in the wrong, but he could not, for the life of him, understand the music ban that she’d set into place. Especially when her surrogate son was part of the subsect of Darkners created to produce music. 

However, it was the Knight’s will, and the Knight was only wrong as often as Queen was. If Queen saw it fit to listen to the Knight’s advice to set this ban in place, so be it. 

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the door suddenly opening, although Queen was not directly behind it. This wasn’t an odd occurrence, so he walked inside, only to stop short when he saw that she was sitting… in her throne. Which she’d brought in here, for some reason. He shook it off quickly; Her Grace often did things he didn’t understand, but she always had a reason. Even if he never understood those reasons either. 

She appeared to be watching something, with her facing away from him, and while he was loathe to interrupt her, she had allowed him in the room, so he cleared his throat. “I have some… unfortunate news for you, Your Grace.” 

“Yes Swatch Darling What Is It,” she hummed, her statement sounding nothing like a question. She often spoke with an odd cadence, and even more so when the Knight arrived, so he ignored it. 

“Master Sweet…” he hesitated, swallowing, but pushed on regardless. “Master Sweet managed to abandon his grounding at some point yesterday. I and the other Swatchlings deeply apologize for our lack of attention.” He paused, still hesitant, but continued, “Furthermore, it appears he’s joined his friends from the Cyber Fields in… rebelling against you, My Queen.” With that, he snapped his beak shut, bracing himself for her ire. 

“Oh Yeah I Know Lmao,” she replied, turning her chair around to reveal she’d been watching the very same video he had; the one that showed Master Sweet sending a volley of attacks at a Werewire. 

His blood went cold for a moment, before he realized that she didn’t sound upset at all. “You… are you not bothered by his?” he asked, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. 

She laughed. “Of Course Not, He’ll Be Fine.” She waved a dismissive hand. “It’s Just: A Phase.”

Swatch couldn’t quite keep the disbelief out of his voice. “Just… a phase.” 

“Yes, He Is Just Having A Phase,” she nodded, dismissing the video. “Once He Grows Up A Little Bit He Will Realize He Is Wrong And Will Come Back. The Knight Told Me All About It, Trust.”

Hearing that should have put his mind at ease. It should have reassured him that there was nothing to worry about, that there would be few to no repercussions for this development. Instead, it only filled him with a sense of unease and the feeling that something was deeply wrong. “And you’re not worried about him at all? That he’ll get hurt resisting you?” he asked, fighting to keep the apprehension off his face. 

She merely shrugged in response. “I Have Informed Every Werewire And Swatchling To Bring Him Back Unharmed, So No.” She waved him off, bringing a new video back up. “Now Shoo, I’m Watching The Latest Season Of: Cyber World’s Funniest Home Videos.” 

Reluctantly, he bowed and exited the room, still feeling as though something just wasn’t right. He tried to ignore it as he walked back to the Color Cafe, but something told him that new, terrible things were coming, and that whatever Master Sweet was going through, it wasn’t ‘just a phase’. 

— — —

Notes: I hate this a lot. Like, a LOT a lot. If I never have to look at this again it'll still be too soon. But I'm leaving it here anyways 'cause I spent too much time on this to leave it rotting in Google Docs. Also here's the link to the series if you want it (it's not an actual series; it's more of a place for me to dump my SCC-centric fics):

[theveryconfusedartistsart-blog]

(Hi! It's me again)

Do you have any thoughts on deltarune college mates friskriel?

(Okay, I am very sorry, there is a looot of questions rolled into one here, and you don't have to answer all of them or even any of them, it's just...that since I heard you also like the headcanon, I wondered if you had any specifics? or....well, wanted to think of some? so I kinda made a list of things to just...think about? if you hadn't already?) (I am also aware that college Friskriel may carry more novelty for me, who normally thinks of flowey and frisk in their pre-teen and early teen stages, than you who made two whole fanfics with them as older teens and young adults)

what they both study?

who are Frisk's parents/guardians here? are they currently happy with their family situation?

how (and when) did they meet? (since Az's coming back for Christmas (it's probs autumn right now cause orange leaves) for the first time since leaving, that means he's spent one term at college so far)

are they room-mates?

Any uni clubs or societes they both go to?

Do they attend college parties?

Or shitty part time jobs they both have to work at? (gotta be ready to pay off that student debt, ugh)

are they dating in the background at this point (chapter 2)?

will they be by the end of the game? (in like in the background, in your version, it's not gonna be canon obvs)

Are they still doing a secret relationship here?

How's Frisk's relationship with Kris and the other Dreemurrs? (and the Holidays? since they're close enough to be considered family, honestly)

Would Kris tease them both? (Kris seems like the type)

Can they go on a date to QC's?

And will they be back for the festival? (since that's apparently something you take a date to)

Would they go on the real light world ferris wheel? (like Kris and Noelle went on as kids)

Any chance for post-canon darkworld adventures? (though they might be all be closed by the end) (tag team fights and acts, drinking each other's tea, reactions to each other's cool dark world outfits, Frisk seeing Az's fire magic for the first time, defending each other, item shenanigans (for example, like Susie remarking Noelle's ring smells like her or Ralsei's blushy reactions should you give him the ribbons (poor Kris...), stuff like that!))

Any parallels to other ships such as Suselle?

Or actual popular Azzy ships like Dessriel? What do you think of Dessriel? Any chance for angst or drama there?

Anything related to the original timeline (like Azzy's final boss form he made or...strange dreams from another world?)

What is the status on monsters outside hometown? are they common? Or is Azzy the first monster Frisk has seen?

Again, I am sorry for so very many questions I asked. Do not feel compelled to answer!

It's absolutely fine, no need to apologize, I'm honestly kind of impressed? If AU surveys exist, I would classify this as one!

I have one issue that I'm very guilty of, I have only played chapter 1 of Deltarune, once, and right after it was released, I was in the middle of writing the Growing Pains series when both chapters came out and I was concerned it would throw off my focus, and many other silly reasons, so, I never got into Deltarune- BUT, I am interested in some of the characters.

(I also don't ship Asriel/Flowey with anyone else but Frisk (I've gotten too comfortable with my own AU's and my brain just won't let me think of him being with anyone else at this point, I think it's broken, lol) so I have no idea what Dessriel is.)

Because I still like the idea of the AU, and because Growing Pains 2 had a short college arc, I already have something I can work with, I'm happy to say I can answer a good chunk of your questions.

I'll start simple!

Asriel is studying to become a doctor, but really wants to be an astronomer, he goes to a co-ed college, his roommate ends up being a three eyed, purple slime monster named Grreth (but prefers to go by J.J.) (if you've read Growing Pains 2, you already know who he is, I just couldn't help but add him in because him and Flowey becomes such good friends :p)

Frisk is also studying to become a doctor, they really love to help people, but quickly discover that it's a bit difficult for them and they're considering leaving to switch to something more art-based, maybe they'll become an art teacher instead? But after meeting Asriel and discovering that he's actually their dorm neighbor, and are guilt-tripped by their aunt, they decide to stick to it.

They have a roommate who's a human, who's name is Alice, Frisk has a crush on her at first- until Alice reveals that she's already dating someone and then is rarely seen much after that due to becoming busy with classes and other things, leaving Frisk to have the dorm room all to themselves, it's pretty lonely until they become good friends with both Asriel and J.J.

My Frisk's story is that they're nonbinary (AFAB), Filipino, and lost their parents in a car accident at the age of nine, so they were raised by their aunt (Ligaya) and cousin (Andres) (who is like an older brother to them).

Fortunately, their family is okay with monsters, but kind of clueless about them due to the fact that they live in an all-human neighborhood, so when Frisk goes to college and meets Asriel and all these other monsters, they're very starstruck and amazed, and by the looks of it, Kris seems to be the only human Asriel knows, so he's also starstruck and amazed by Frisk as well, they hit things off very fast.

Frisk's family isn't as well off as Asriel's is, so they work two jobs to help pay off their college debt; one at an adorable bakery (which Asriel comes by often as an excuse to see them, usually bringing J.J. along at first and then later, alone) Frisk's second job is at the college's library, which, Asriel also loves to visit them at, they steal loving glances at each other while he's trying to study.

After they start dating, Asriel starts stressing out because he runs out of allowance money because he keeps wanting to buy Frisk's gifts and take them to nice places on their dates, so he takes up a job as a florist, and because both of his parents are gardeners and he has an eye for making things look good-he's ends up being very good at his job.

Because Frisk's family is cool with monsters in my AU, I can't see any reason why they would keep the relationship secret... although, they'd probably be apprehensive about voicing the relationship or showing any PDA in the beginning because there are groups on both sides that very highly disapprove/hate monster/human relationships, and Asriel and Frisk don't want either to get hurt.

-Fun stuff!-

Asriel admits his feelings first by writing a love letter and sticking it under Frisk's dorm room door, they get it immediately and write him one back and stick it under his door, he then urgently runs out of his dorm to theirs and they practically tackle each other with an embrace, a week after that they have their first kiss.

After getting deeper into their romantic relationship, Frisk thinks Asriel is gorgeous and likes to jokingly flirt about practicing their art by drawing/painting him in the nude (insert Titanic joke here), he always blushes and laughs and the moment goes on, but one day he goes "but who will be the nude one, me or you?"

They go to a few parties, both as a couple and as a trio with J.J., most of them go well, but there are few instances where Asriel nearly gets in a fight with a guy who is coming on too strong toward Frisk, and nearly gets another fight when J.J. gets bullied- and if things go wrong, the three of them leave to go have their own fun.

One day J.J. comes back to the dorm room with pot brownies and shares them with Asriel and Frisk, it ensues a very funny adventure between the three of them, and after that, they use pot brownies to celebrate big accomplishments instead of alcohol after Asriel suffers from the worst hangover ever that ended with him hospitalized.

Things get a little awkward when J.J. admits that he has a bit of a crush on both Asriel and Frisk, but they both let him down gently and they manage to continue being best friends, however, by the end of that month, J.J. meets a dorky cute trans girl and they slowly fall in love.

Asriel and Frisk are both very supportive of each other and help each other with school work, they're even supportive of each other's wishes and desires to do other things, even if it means they'd end up going to different colleges in the future... but they also like the idea of opening up a small health clinic together as a married couple, treating and healing both humans and monsters alike.

-Bringing Frisk to his home-

Asriel brings Frisk home, first introducing them as his best friend but realizes how serious he feels for them and quickly reintroduces them as his romantic partner.

Kris is jealous in the beginning, because here they were waiting all this time to spend time with their older brother, but nooo, he has no time for them due to practically being attached to Frisk at the hip- but being the good brother he is, he catches this before it's too late and makes time for them and Frisk ends up bonding with Toriel and Asgore, they remind them of their parents.

When Frisk finds out that Kris was jealous, and as a person with an older brother figure, they understand and make a point to hang out with them, telling them if they had met earlier before they started dating Asriel, they would have asked for Kris's blessing first- it's a funny thing to say, but Frisk is so serious and sincere about it that Kris can't help but start to like them.

Once they warm up to Frisk and the idea of the relationship, Kris definitely begins teasing them about everything, it embarrasses Asriel but Frisk finds a lot of funny and takes most of the teasing in stride.

Asriel then introduces Frisk to his neighborhood friends and takes them on a few dates around town in the process, it doesn't take long for Frisk to fit into the family and town.

Frisk becomes like an older sibling to Kris, and even if Kris wants to be a monster, they find comfort in bonding with them over human-related things.

-Bringing Asriel to Frisk's home-

Frisk's aunt Ligaya is very charmed by Asriel and treats him like a son, however Andres, who is protective over Frisk, grills Asriel with a hundred questions, by the end of it, Andres is annoyed that he's charmed by Asriel too.

Asriel gets introduced to Filipino food! He ends up really liking it, and on a much later visit, he helps Ligaya cook and sneakily learns how to cook Frisk's favorite foods.

Ligaya doesn't let them sleep in the same bed at her house until they're much later married (she doesn't care if they've tangoed or not, it's not happening!) So, he sleeps in Andre's room (he has a bunk bed), where he is further grilled by Andres, Asriel comically does not sleep well.

Anyways, here's a quick funny doodle I did, a gift for reading my ramblings and wanting to know my thoughts.

POV, you're an administrator and you're doing dorm room checks and notice that this room smells suspiciously like....... brownies.

However, the three college students- who are definitely hiding something, are also very welcoming and nice that you decide to dismiss any of those suspicions.

[notademon10]

Kris CANNOT be the DR version of Chara. Here's why.

HELLO AGAIN

I just wanted to post this because it seems like people who defend this theory want to make Chara as sympathetic of a character as much as other Undertale and Deltarune characters. It's not like I don't understand where this is coming from, but I believe it misses out on key thematic points about the first fallen human that the game directly states at the end of the pacifist route.

First off, Asriel says "Frisk, you really ARE different from Chara. I don't know why I always acted like you were the same person. Maybe, the truth is... Chara wasn't really the greatest person. While, Frisk, you're the tipe of person I wish I always had."

This is a VERY important point, since it means that Chara is well, NOT the tipe of person Asriel should have always been with. That literally doesn't make much sense if you think that Chara IS Kris, because Asriel is just straight up admitting that hes shouldn't have had Kris as a sibling AT ALL. Which is weird, because in DR, KRIS is the one who is characterized as having too little time with their older brother. Even in the past, when they were a kid, they wanted to hang out with the 'big kids', only to get rejected. They even bought them burgers, on their own!

Ok, but this doesn't take into account the fact that UT Chara has been shown to be the worst version of themselves! Perhaps Kris is a reformed, different version of them?

That's a really good point, actually! Unfortunately, I have a pretty big counterevidence, which just so happens to be the same thing that made me want to make this post, which is: BALLGAME

More specifically, there is a description for the red trait, (which is, of course, Chara's main trait) that reads as follows:

"Try as you might, you will always be yourself"

What does this mean? That Kris should always be Chara, and Chara will always be Kris. Which CAN'T be the case, because of Asriel's dialogue...

Also, Chara says that everytime a number increases (including LOVE), that feeling... That's them. This ties to the red trait because Paps implies in a phone call that it's actually love. It also ties to the fact that the mirrors in the no mercy route, or the LOVE route, if you will, say: It's me, Chara. This is contrasted by the fact that in the pacifist route (or Love route), they actually say: Still just you, Frisk.

This is doubled down by the fact that Frisk's stick is useless for attacking, but VERY useful for acting sometimes, as well as having the bandage equiped secretly guarantees a chance to run away in the first turn (remember how Sans says that everytime you run, Frisk smiles?). There's also the theme of flirting and dates through the route, which has to come from Frisk, because you can flirt with Toriel. It wouldn't make sense if it was Chara's input, because they had her as a mother figure which they likely respected, given how both of them greet you with "Greetings".

All of this to say that Frisk is linked to love while Chara is linked to violence and hate. This doesn't mean one can't feel the other, but more so that they're strongly associated with one specific aspect of LOVE. This ALL culminates into the likelyhood that Chara wanted to do a no mercy route on the humans. This will be relevant later.

I would also like to mention Kris' relationship with Susie. You see, even all the way back in the new girl story, Kris seemed to weirdly care for her (with them never telling Toriel about Susie's bullying). As a matter of fact, I actually have already made a post full of evidence that Kris has a crush on her! See here!

Soo, what's the point? The fact that Susie's bullying doesn't get in the way of Kris feeling empathy towards her, unlike Chara who most likely wanted to do something similar to the no mercy route to the humans, for abusing them, of course. They blamed the ENTIRETY of mankind for the abused they endured. Now, I DO NOT KNOW what kind of abuse they endured, but their inability to move on is somdthing to be considered. After all, Chara will ALWAYS be themself, no matter what.

THIS is why I believe that Kris isn't DR Chara. If you have any piece of counter evidence, PLEASE let me know. As always, share, like and follow this account if you found me helpful in any way. Have a good day :)

[catscoollike]

Catti and Monster kid walk sprites ^_^ + snowy

Hey look at these!!! I decided to throw my metaphorical hat into the metaphorical ring and try to give some of these dorks walk sprites. They're kinda rough around the edges but I think they turned out pretty good for only being around an afternoon's amount of work. I gotta say though each of these feels like they have their own story of how they were all uniquely a pain in the ass to make.

SNOWY

Starting with everyone's favorite deltarune character, Snowy! Holy hell! How I hope to never make a sprite for this dork ever again! In a game full of relatively simple character designs this dude just stands out as a beacon of complexity. He's just so weird man.

Now actually I completely forgot that he already had a sprite for him facing to the left in the game. (It's only used twice in the whole game). And I really didn't expect him to be that uh, flat?

Yeah, I don't know I guess he got hit in the face with a frying pan or something.

MONSTER KID

This little charmer was easier to sprite by several orders of magnitude. One of the reasons why is that 30% of their directional movement sprites were already done. And the reason I say only 30% of its done is because the one used in game is uh...

... Just the sprite that's used when they're sitting at their desk in class. Seriously! Thats their walking sprite! When MK and Snowy run away from Susie at the bunker, they just slide out of there!

Now to be fair they're gone in like half a second so it's pretty hard to notice if you aren't looking for it and its also probably why the spriters didn't feel the need to give them walking animations yet. but whenever I see this scene used in a theory video about the bunker I always chuckle.

But still, it was very helpful to have a sort of jumping off point for making their sprites. Since I wasn't just going to reinvent the wheel and draw them a whole new face. But I did need to give them a new body though, since I doubt monster kids body is a perfect cone from every angle.

CATTI

Now the thing is that there many very talented pixel artists that work on deltarune... Toby fox is not one of them.

Now I only mention this because with the fucking 2 sprites, that catti has in the game there is a pretty clear difference in artistic ability between them.

One sprite of her in her work uniform with shading. And one sprite of her sitting at her desk that uses flat default MS paint colors. Thats all I have to work with.

So, assuming that god is good and that the sprite that doesn't look like pixel barf is the one that more accurately represents her design. I used that to reference the color of her earrings and eyes. Along with her head sprite, since again, don't need to reinvent the wheel. Especially since I don't imagine her face shape completely changing once she changes her clothes. But I did add some shading since I though it looked nice.

After I had the head done, I decided to sprite... well, the rest of her. I sorta skimped out on the front facing body. And just made it a heavily altered version of Catty's. I only did that because every other member of the family pretty much just has the same body. And since shes related to them I thought it made sense to not make her some weird outlier to the rest of her family. Contrary to what Catti may tell you in game.

Making the directional sprites felt like pulling teeth. Once I had the down sprite done the up sprite was a piece of cake but oh man. The horizontal sprites. yeah uh, that's... probably not what that sprite is going to look like in deltarune.

Her head shape was tough, I didn't know if she had a prominent snout, or if her head is just completely round like it is when looking at it from the front. But after messing around with it while listening to the entirety of RV pine's fanmade chapter 3 soundtrack. I finally got something passable.

But that's about it, I guess. I know I just got done complaining about how these were super-duper hard to make and stuff. But it was pretty fun to make these.

[noelle-holi-gay]

Hey, I would've sent this earlier, but I just realized you have an ask box. I never really cared for reading fanfics, but Cold Case actually got me hooked! You mentioned there were other endings you had things for--will you reveal at least vague details at the end? And what's the deal with soul colors?

I'm super glad you're liking the fic!

I'm not quite sure what to do with my alternate ending ideas... I suppose at the very least I'll share the premises at the end in some form. Right now all I have written down are the titles and descriptions for each ending, but I have some vague ideas on how the 'player' would hypothetically reach some of the endings, and how they'd change the events of the fic.

Not quite sure what you mean by the 'deal with soul colors', but the system I'm using in Cold Case is based off the Undertale meanings of the souls: So, blue is integrity, orange is bravery, green is kindness, the whole shebang. This plays into how Detective Marigold, a Justice Soul, is based off the Yellow Fallen Human from Undertale, with the cowboy hat and the toy gun and all. But if you're talking about the lines of dialog / internal thought that Alexandra has been throwing around about the Golden Judge and shit, that's some small original worldbuilding I decided to throw in. This isn't really 'spoilers' because it isn't plot-relevant and I'm not sure how much I'm going to actually touch on, but just in case I'm going to stick it behind a read more.

So, when Alexandra mentions these grand titles, she's talking about the figures of worship for the religion she follows, Virtuism, which is the traditional human religion of this version of Deltarune. (Sort of like how the Church of the Angel is the traditional monster religion.) So basically, as a human from a human family, Alexandra was raised under the tenets of this religion, and still follows it fairly avidly.

Alexandra's religiousness is fairly important to her character motivations and flaws when I conceptualize her in my head, and I wanted to allude to that in the text -- thus were born these cryptic references to the Scarlet Monarch and shit.

The basics of Virtuism are that they worship seven Saints, which, similar to most real religious figures, are probably-real-but-heavily-mythologized ancient humans of the DR world. There's one for each soul color, and when a human is born of a particular soul color, the saint of the appropriate color is said to be their 'patron saint'. So, Alexandra's patron saint is the Golden Judge, or Lady Justice, or whatever title Alexandra feels like calling the yellow-souled saint at the time (as with most religious figures, all the saints have multiple monikers).

I'll be sprinkling in more on this and the other Saints as the fic goes on, but I honestly don't know how many I'll get to. I have one scene half-written a while from now that goes a little more explicitly into Virtuism, but other than that, you'll probably just see Alexandra throw some names around here and there.

Maybe I'll release some more thorough notes on the religion along with those alternate endings once the fic is up, though, who knows -- I tend to translate a lot of my headcanon material between otherwise-distinct fics (such as Kris's full name being 'Krismas' in pretty much all my fics), so I may end up reusing this human religion system in a future project.

Thanks for letting me ramble! See you in a week, by the way, for what's shaping up to be a very fun chapter...

[kingofdinosaurs]

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feel free to answer however many of em you want for any media you're into (that I actually know)

sorry, unrelated, I just found out they let you DM people images now? What the fuck?

no yeah you can send people images now it rocks thank you for the bridge. going through all of them because im airport bored

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

ok well the worst one EVER was someone saying they thought potemkin should have died in xrd IN THE TAG which was. fucking rude and also totally stupid. honourable mention to that time so long ago i barely remember how it happened when i saw a pokespe fan assert that "wally could never have done what emerald did!" hey why do you think that. when wally was literally in the oras version of the battle frontier (I know oras was out because that's how i was a fan of wally. is it because he's disabled. i want you to fucking say it.

6. already answered!

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

hmm... idk if it's even a common thing anymore because i avoid it like the plague but if i ever have to see "the knight doesn't have a mind or will" arguments again I'll like find whoever started it and put them in a jigsaw trap fuck you fuck you fuck you did you even play the game??? the delicate flower quest alone should be enough to prove you wrong. if the knight can't have its own agenda why the fuck would it go out of its way to do this small unnecessary kindness? also the narrative itself doesn't make sense if you assume the pale king is right about the knight, both in terms of "what was the fucking point then?" and because of the fucking. REASON THE KNIGHT CAME BACK TO HALLOWNEST. BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO HELP THEIR SIBLING. idk if this one is even common anymore but it was frustratingly common back in the day

9. worst part of canon

for persona there's so many choices i feel paralysed, as with blazblue, so I'll go with a wild card: dead cells! anyway anytime when someone acts like the beheaded is just cut and dry easy peasy The King like it can not be that fucking simple that's fucking stupid. he's literally the ship of theseus but a slime piloting around a headless corpse. like at this point you're just giving annoying youtubers ways to be more annoying quit itttttt

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

SYSTEMMMM i love system so fucking much I'm crazy about her. nobody gives a fuck about her because she's a relatively easy boss in a fighting game many people do not like (a crossover, no less!). but she fucking rocks so hard!!! she's so funny in every scene she's in, i really appreciate that about her. she's kind of like queen from deltarune if that helps anyone. it's not even hard to go watch like cross tag story mode it is literally all on youtube everyone who hasn't go meet her! she deserves some attention!

14. that one thing you see in fics all the time

actually i can't lie i just like don't have it in me to trawl the fanfic mines anymore so idk what they're doing right now like it is No Longer my problem

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

oh god i have no clue. i don't get involved in arguments like this anymore for my health so i have no clue