#shore dies in grillby's arms

[theninjamouse]

On the outside I'm focused on taking pictures

On the inside I'm thinking about an upcoming OoF scene where things go pretty freaking bad and considering the outcomes if things went the WORST they could go, which would be a non canon alternative situation but it is very full of pain and I made myself sad.

[cjoatprehn]

BaxTale: Chapter 2-Part 2

Bax sihs as she walked through the void. Where would she go now? Underswap was very...nerve wracking. Then again she hasn’t come across the original Undertale yet. She has been to surprisingly the more known worlds like Horrortale. She’d like to have fun for a chance and not be running for her life or being sick after witness something grotesque. To just because she was exposed in one world, other worlds miiight not know about her yet. She then got to thinking to herself. What would be the most...safest yet fun route to go through?

She cast a sonar throughout the void. Scanning the terrain for any signs of enemies, lost souls, or even any worlds nearby if she was lucky. But of course she was greeted with Error’s signal, an alternative route already calculated, and a Lost Soul nearby that was snuffed out by Error. She winced. “I guess I was too late to save that one...why is it everytime I enter a world, a Lost Soul dies...just after I leave!” She kicks the ground out of frustration. She follows the route calculated by the sonar. Opposite of Error’s antivoid. She hummed a particular tune to herself as she walked through the white for a couple of hours. Could have been more but she did not care at that point.

Her stomach had started to growl, she stopped for a moment to rest and eat one of the many lunches that Blueberry had made her for her travels. One bite of the supposedly badly made lunch, she immediately savors the meal. “I honestly don’t understand why everyone says that the cooking is terrible. This is the best thing that I have eaten in awhile.” She smiles soon finishing the meal, and resting for awhile. Hearing a distant melody faintly from the west.

She didn’t pay much attention to it before, however, she would later wish she did. She packed up her resting camp and kept moving, hopefully reaching another world before she fell asleep. She continues to walk before the void then splits itself into 3 different portals. She looked at each of them and hen thought for a moment. She smelled something sweet from one, dancing music from another, and smelled the scent of dust from the third. She immediately made her choice.

Of course she ran through the center portal headfirst, already feeling her theme song change within her. Feeling the strong need to make a bold statement. To change their way of thinking. To dance like no one was watching.

UnderSwap —> DanceTale

She makes it into a world called Dancetale. She falls flat on her face in the middle of an alleyway. She felt the intense heat surrounding her. She groaned and got up, rubbing her poor tusks, that saved the rest of her face from hitting the ground. She sighs and peeks out of the alleyway, and immediately noticing dancers, varying styles, dancing in the town square. 2 squaring off against each other, with a crowd cheering for them.

She goes back into the alley. She immediately starts to sweat, not from the heat either. She was shy, nervous, and fearful. She didn’t know which dance style to start with. She couldn’t just...do anything. Something random...This was the land of heat and passion. What the heck was she going to do for her first dance. She couldn’t do something extravagant like Mettaton...nor something as daring as Grillby’s fire-dance...No. If she was going to go out there to make a statement...she was gong to have to do something simple. Contemporary? What’s the craziest matchup she could do...Something with grace....yet...she snapped her fingers. Perfect. If she was going to do this...she needed a theme song.

She then ran out into the public, wearing a strange outfit. It was graceful, simple, yet made for breaking. Everyone saw her run through the dance circle to the stage. Mettaton’s stage. She went to the band on the stage and whispered something in the singers’ ear. They seemed to like the idea. The crowd was shouting in outrage at their dance circle being disturbed.

“Eh, what’s the big idea?!” A monster shouted in the crowd, along with many other insults. A hush ran over the crowd as with a flourish of her hand, rose colored sparkles fell over her and the crowd, creating a sort of veil. Appearing in the center of the crowd, them backing up to make room, The drummer counted up to three. Before the music began, as Bax started in first position.

She moved her hands in a graceful position ready to break into fast paced dancing. She impressed the crowd with maturity, breaking boundaries that shouldn’t be broken, while maintaining grace. She then does a flip as she then makes it sort of tribal, the crowd becoming in beat with the song, soon a few monsters joined in, as the slower part of the song entered, back to contemporary. They enacted a part of war and symbolism as she ready to break the sound barriers again, she never stop maintaining her steps, sweat beaded off her brow, she then stopped with an ending pose. Roses fell from the sky. She panted as the backup monsters went back into the crowd. She was showered with gold and soon became showered in presents as the veil soon disappeared, her along with it. When Mettaton went out into the crowd, demanding answers and the dancer who had stolen the spotlight, no monster had seen where they had gone. Of course, Mettaton promptly pulled Burgerpants with him back to Mettaton HQ, saying, “we have work to do.”

Of course, Bax was trying to stifle her laughter in the alleyway where she had started from. She was blushing as well, thinks “That statement was a little bigger than I thought...” She felt hot, and her scales were sweating out of their minds. She panted, she needed to get out of there. Hotland is a dangerous place for her, due to the nature and rarity of her scales. There was no water anywhere and knowing Hotland, it was probably overpriced.

Bax chuckled to herself, seeing a steamed Mettaton pass by with BurgerPants. She made a fluid motion with her rose colored magic, making another veil before the veil disappeared from Hotland, and her ending up in Waterfall. The rain on her scales made steaming noises as they touched her hot skin and scales. She honestly needed a bath...to get cleaned up before her next dance. She went to a nearby river, and she took off the sweaty outfit she had on, and dove into the water, a cloud of steam filling the air as her hot body contacts the water. She surfaced and sighed with absolute relief, her scales cooled by the colder temperature of the water. Not too cold, not too hot. She scrubbed herself clean, grooming her scales with her claws, getting the grime from underneath them. Cleaning the gunk from her tusks from Hotland. She heard a strange laughter from the shore, before she dove under again.

Swimming around, she noticed the glowing stones at the river bed. She smiles, picking them up, Knowing that she could craft them into something, after an afterthought. THough Rose colored magic is she hoped magic for the emotions and due to her monster nature, it tends to flare when passionate or strong emotions are felt. To learn to use them in the form of normal attacking, it would drain her substantially, if used too much, could put her in a sick state, in rare cases, death.

She swam back and forth from the shore, placing the rocks at the shore. After doing so, she stood completely out of the water, surrounded in a veil of rose magic. When she had come out of the magic, she had been transformed into a red outfit with a black layerable skirt and heels. The outfit was thin and allowed her to freely move. It also exposed her purple scales and some of her fins.

“Well! What do we have here?” Bax whipped around and she saw a golden flower staring at her.

Her expression darkened as growled and bared her tusks, “Don’t you know it’s rude to stare at someone bathing?” Bax chastised him for his perverted means of trying to interacting with her. Flower or not, it’s no excuse.

The flower grinned, “Guess what, I do not care,” earning himself a scoffin growl from Bax. “You’re new here, right?”

Bax refused to let her body stiffen at that question. “What’s it to you?”

“Just checking out who was in Mettaton’s current news broadcast about a strange ‘Show-stopping dance performance’ before Mettaton’s Headquarters.” The flower seemed tos shrug and then creepily smile. “Seems like things are going to get interesting.” The flower laughed until he heard someone heading their way.

“Oops, Got to go! Wouldn’t want to disturb your next moves.” He grinned before entering the ground once more.

She heard two pairs of footsteps. She stood just out of the path’s sight, and questioned the footsteps she heard, trying to determine who was coming, a skill she learned in Dust!tale. Know your enemy. Know who’s coming. Be repaired for the knife aiming for your back.

Undyne and Alphys came to the path, walking together, giggling and talking happily. Bax smiled happily. She always liked the two of them together. They balanced each other out. POlar oppposites, but they get along so well.

In and out a breath of air came, as Bax took a step into the Echo Flowers. Her gaze down, standing in the way of two of them. Undyne placed a hand in front of a Alphys, detecting her presence. It was a presence that didn’t seem from here, she had every reason to be on guard. She seemed to scan Bax up and down, trying to check for any stats.

When barely any answers came, Undyne scowled and aimed a spear at Bax, much to the protest of the lizard standing beside her. “Who are you? Don’t look like anyone I have seen before.” She aimed the spear directly where she thought Bax’s soul would be.

Bax lifted her gaze, revealing her face. Her pure white eye, a cloth covering her tusk. She inhaled and said, “Who am I? I am a shadow that observes and listens.” Knowing and learning. However...today is a different task.” Bax started to challenge them in a dance pose that Alphys seemed to recognized. Bax’s arms flowed into position, her fins now flaring and apparent. “My task today, is t make a statement.”

She danced in a animated hip-hop style, seemingly to the appeal of Alphys, as a challenge. Her hands glowed as a field appeared below them. Undyne started to growl before Alphys placed a hand on Undyne’s spear arm, lowering it. “Let me challenge you.” Her axe not leaving Bax’s. K-Pop/Hip Hop was her dance style, she wasn’t going to allow some wannabe anime fan try to show off.

Undyne started to protest, but a look from Alphys shut Undyne up in shock. Undyne stood to the side, and Alphys stepped onto the dance floor. Alphys stepped into her starting position.

A counter appeared above the two of them, showing their stats, energy and stamina levels, and their souls.

“Dancers ready!!” A few monsters came to watch the dance off, but Bax and Alphys focused their gaze on each other. A fiery passion behind their eyes. The fire of competition. “I won’t lose.” Alphys says, shocking Undyne into a grin. “Kick their ass, Alphys!”

The echo flowers turned to face the two dancers, almost by nature. The ground beneath both of their feet began to glow.

“3!

2!

1!

DANCE!”

THe echo flowers boomed their song choices. Alphys made her first move, shaky at first, but then become more smooth as she goes on. Each step she made the ground filled with light and glowed. Alphys grinned, Ashe had only practiced with no one else except Undyne. And her favorite anime. This will be nothing to her. Alphy posed and her turn ended, her stats responding to the effort of her first turn. Her soul started to glow and beat with anticipation.

Bax waited for her cue and she grinned as she started her upbeat dance, with a somewhat dark side, starting simple before becoming passionate, the ground glowing with each step, she grinned as she increased her speed. She laughed before spinning and taunting a little. End pose.

Alphys growled, “Okay they’re good. Let me step up my game.”

“DANCE SKILL INITIATED! ALPHYS.” Undyne joined the dance floor looking at Alphys, “Just like she practiced.” Undyne grinned before they posed they same.

Their style changed, darker and intense, while still remaining upbeat. They did stunts as Undyne backed up Alphys, adding to their resonating souls. They grinned.

Bax spun and taunted again, Alphys and Undyne retaliating with a strong stomp, generating a magical beam of light to glow to the sky. Undyne growls as they competitively took the dance floor.

Bax’s soul resonated strongly with the couple. Acknowledging their strength. Lost vs Found, who would win? Alphys’s timer soon ran out for her skill, and Undyne flipped off the floor.

Alphys danced like no one was watchhhing as Bax sassily fought back, before both sides, ran out of energy and stamina, before making their ending pose. Both of them panting hard and their souls beating in their ears.

“Dance End!”

“Winner is Alphys!”

Undyne and Alphys squeal as Undyne runs and picks up the stout lizard with joy, both of them laughing. “I told you you could do it! YA CREAMED THEM, BABE!” Undyne yells as they both laugh, Alphys still in disbelief. “Did I?” Alphys wondered.

Bax laughed and clapped her hands, the floor disappearing and the echo flowers returning to normal. The small crowd cheered before heading back off to do their business,

“Here’s your reward, Alphys.” Bax tossed Alphys the latest copy of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie. Alphys barely caught it as her eyes went big behind her glasses.

“h-How did you...?”

“Like I said. Observation.” Bax waved a farewell before jumping into the trees and escaping before they looked up again.

https://bax-the-hooman.tumblr.com/post/186987353650/baxtale-chapter-3-part-1

[theninjamouse]

Sick Day

You're not sure if it's a monster thing or a Grillby thing, but you've always thought that Grillby just doesn't get sick. The closest he even gets is headaches, which you may or may not have caused on a few occasions of reckless activities that landed you at the hospital.

Turns out you were wrong.

Waking up in a sweat is a common occurrence given Grillby's tendency to lock you in a teddy bear hold during the night, but on this particular morning you wake feeling more liquid than person. Gah, gross.

Kicking your feet free from the thin sheet, you swipe at your face, blinking blearily. The light coming in from the window is the dull blue from a sun not yet risen. The room, always warm, is unbearably hot.

The debate of whether to poke Grillby awake or just camp on the couch for a few more hours dies as your eyes fall on your still slumbering partner. It's normal for the edges of his face to get soft and fuzzy when he's sleeping but nearly all definition of his head is gone. The color is weird too; waves of uneasy green and deep red sweep over his face and bits of flame hiss and spit erratically.

"Holy sh- hey, Grillby." Reaching out, you gingerly touch his shoulder, wary of waking him into a panic if he's having a nightmare. "Grillby?"

A deep throated groan rumbles from his chest. He shifts and you think his head turns towards you. He makes a questioning noise and you just barely catch that his eyes have opened to thin slivers.

"Hey," you say gently as you sit up. "Are you okay? You look more like...a regular campfire than usual."

He doesn't answer for a moment, blinking owlishly. Then he lifts a hand, looking down at the fingers that have molded into stubby digits. "Ah," he rasps before a terrible crackling cough shakes his shoulders.

Alarmed, you move to help him sit up, patting his back. The fabric of his shirt is scorching hot. "Holy crap, are you sick?"

Wheezing, he tries to speak, fails and then just nods miserably.

Your mouth drops. He’d been quiet and subdued last night sure, but you thought that he was just tired from a crazy work week. "I thought you didn't get sick!"

It takes him a moment to get the breath to mutter, ".....very...rarely."

"Geez, okay, um. Here." You take your pillow and add it to his, fluffing them up against the headboard. "Lean back here."

He follows your guiding hand with meek compliance, which more than anything tells you he's out of it. What the heck do you do now? None of the human cures for colds or fevers will work here. No point in a glass of water or medicine made for human bodies. Maybe there's monster medicine? Would a monster candy work?

Leaning over, you grab your phone off the nightstand. It's a little after six. Hopefully Toriel is already up and moving since it's a school day.

"Good morning Shore," she greets after just a few rings and you breathe a little sigh of relief. "Is something wrong? You're rarely up this early."

"Yeah, um, Grillby's sick." You look over at him to see he's closed his eyes, head slumped against the wall.

"Oh dear! Is he alright?"

"I don't know, I think so?" You try not to let your voice hitch. "He's burning really hot and his colors are weird and he's got a cough. Do you...have you ever dealt with monster sickness?"

"More than my fair share," she says sympathetically. "Though it has been a very, very long time since the last fire based illness I cared for."

"But you have cared for one? What do I do?"

"He needs to stay fed; the excess heat is his core attempting to burn out the illness."

"Like a human fever."

"Exactly." There's a noise in the background and you hear Toriel respond as if she's placed her fuzzy paw over the phone. "My dear, I'm terribly sorry, there's a bit of a crisis happening this morning, I need to take care of this but I will call you back. For now, keep him comfortable and keep him fed. Oil heavy foods, perhaps sprinkle on some butane-”

Bu-what now.

“Oh dear, there goes Frisk. Call me if you have any other questions, I’ll be by with a pie later!” Click. 

Ah. Great. You sigh and set the phone down. At the slightest shifting of the mattress, you say, “Dear, where do you think you’re going?” 

Grillby freezes, one loosely formed hand gripping the edge of the blanket. “Kitchen,” he rasps. “...I need...”

“To eat, yeah, Toriel told me. I’ll get it so you stay put.” Scooting over, you push him back against the headrest. It’s a fight to quell the urge to put your hand up on his forehead. It’s obvious enough without feeling that he’s literally burning up. 

“Normally this would be the point I’d go get a wet rag or something,” you joke weakly. “But I don’t think that’d be helpful to you.” 

Grillby mumbles something that might be a sassy remark or just another groan. 

“Got any butane?” 

The noise this time is definitely a groan. 

You pat his thigh. “Sorry, queen’s orders.” 

He gestures towards the kitchen and you slip off the bed. Grillby’s kitchen is always stocked so it’s easy to gather together ingredients for a stew. It’s no chicken noodle soup but at least it’s soup like. You do indeed find a canister of butane in one of the cabinets. The large ‘Highly Flammable’ warning on the side has you pausing. How exactly do you add butane to a stew? How much? Eh, probably best to just bring the whole thing and ask Grillby. 

It’s not long before the stew is bubbling and a rather lovely smell fills the kitchen. You’re no Grillby, but you can make a very solid stew. You grab a bowlful, the butane, turn and yelp, nearly dropping them both. 

Grillby has either ignored your orders to stay put or just forgot because there he stands. But the effort of moving seems to have stolen away what energy he had left because now he looks more like a matchstick than a monster. His head is just a simple flame flickering with the same harsh colors and his shirt hangs loosely on his thinned frame. 

“Oh geezum, you scared me,” you wheeze, wincing at the hot stew that splashed on your hand. “Are you okay?” 

He...maybe shrugs? It’s hard to tell with how little mass he has right now. You set the butane down and guide him to sit on the couch. When you offer the bowl and spoon, he forgoes the spoon altogether and cups the bowl in his now fingerless hands and chugs the entire thing down in a matter of seconds. 

You blink. “Oh. More?” 

“...Please.” 

More you get, bowl after bowl until the pot is empty and then you remember the can of butane still sitting on the counter. When you bring it over, Grillby sparks with a low disgust but takes the can. With a low cough, he gestures for you to back up before taking a deep swig. 

The burst of heat and flame has you wincing, even at a fair distance. Your jaw drops a little at the sight of him chugging down the liquefied gas like it’s an ice cold glass of water on a summer day. By the time the bottle is empty, some of the shape has returned to his head, though the edges of his face remain fuzzy with dark green flames.

You cautiously approach as he sighs heavily and sets the bottle on the floor. “Better?” 

“Hmm.” He certainly looks a bit better, at least a little. He blinks sleepily at you. “Hi.” 

“Hi matchstick.” 

The whine he makes at that is so utterly adorable you can’t help but take his little matchstick flame head in your hands and plant a kiss where you best guess his forehead is. Totally worth the slight singeing of your lips. 

“Do you wanna go back to bed?” you ask as you card your fingers through his headflames. Ow, hot. 

He grunts and shakes his head. “Stay....here,” he mumbles, tugging on your shirt. 

A grin pulls at your mouth. “Fine, but you should get some more sleep. Even an elemental needs rest when sick.” 

You sit and Grillby immediately slumps over so his head rests on your lap. He snuggles his face into your stomach and tucks his arms in close. Oh heavens above, you’re not happy he’s sick but he is unfairly cute like this. 

“Comfy?” you ask gently, rubbing his head again. 

He hums quietly. “Sorry,” he tacks on as a mumble. “It...will pass...quickly.” 

“It’s okay to be sick, it happens to everyone.” 

He mutters something else, but sleep is already claiming him. You stroke your thumb over his cheek. “Just rest,” you whisper, though you’re fairly certain he’s already slipped into slumber. “I’ll take care of you.” 

[theninjamouse]

Ocean on Fire Phantom of the Opera AU Master List (To be added to as I see fit)

Strap in, this is gonna get long. Big thanks to @thaylepo for indulging me and sending many brilliant ideas. 

This is a basic rundown and ideas that would happen at some point in the story. Obviously some things could change or be added but I’ve just got to get this down before I go nuts

Shore and Grillby were childhood friends.

Shore is the child of a wealthy business man, taught from childhood that the arts are to be treasured and appreciated

However, while she may learn instruments and dance and music, she is to take over the family business, not run away to star in the opera like she wants

Grillby's father (he has parents in this au) was a famous violinist who often was called by Shore's father to perform for parties. He wound up teaching Shore fundamentals of music

Little Grillby was a shy flame. Always trailed along behind his father, clutching his tailcoats

Shore saw the tiny elemental and decided instantly: I'm going to be his BEST FRIEND

Queue stuttering, hesitant Grillby being dragged around the manor, getting into all sorts of trouble and adventures. He's a lot more hardy than Shore is, so he rather often found himself acting as a sort of guard dog. He was utterly distraught when Shore fell and broke her arm. Shore teased him about crying because she couldn’t stand to see him so upset

They also learn music together from Grillby's father. First time Shore hears Grillby sing, she grabs his face and screams with delight until the poor little guy is fully bright blue with blushing

Then Grillby's father dies. A family friend takes Grillby away to one of the opera houses to work. Grillby and Shore are 13 and 10 at this point and have spent the last 6 years together. Shore makes Grillby promise to keep singing, to keep the spark of his father alive through music. He promises

They both wait until they are out of sight of the other to cry

Grillby cries every night for the first 3 months in the opera house. As a monster, he is bullied by many of the other students. He mourns his father's passing and he misses Shore to a near unbearable level. The only comfort he has is when he sings quietly to himself in those few moments when he is alone doing his chores

Then he hears a voice, a soft and gentle voice that asks him why such a bright flame weeps. He runs away in fear and hides in his bed

But the voice asks him again and again. 'Why does such a bright flame weep?' Slowly, over the course of a year, Grillby tells the voice his story

The voice says he is the Phantom of the opera house. Grillby thinks he sounds rather young to be a Phantom

The Phantom replies that Grillby is rather young to have such a lovely voice. He offers to teach Grillby. The fire monster agrees upon hearing the Phantom's beautiful and haunting voice

After all, he did promise

15 years pass. Shore has taken over her family business and is finally able to offer herself as a patron to an opera house that has shown remarkable growth over the years, becoming well known in the arts circles

Partially thanks to the star of the show, a humanoid robot named Mettaton. Most of the monsters we know work the show behind the scenes, so having a monster in the lead is a new leap in gaining treatment that is more fair for monster kind as performers

But Mettaton is also a diva. The day Shore arrives with new managers, he throws his tantrum and quits after a rather suspicious accident.

Shore only has eyes for the fire elemental standing frozen with the rest of the crew. She suggests letting him take the lead role. Promising that she knows he can sing.

Grillby is so quiet most assumed he couldn't even talk so naturally protests break out and Shore maybe uses her power as a patron to insist. 'He promised me,' is all she says, looking right at him

So he sings and everyone is stunned at the strength and grace of his voice. The managers instantly whisk him away to prepare for the show

After the show, Shore goes to his new dressing room and they fall into each other's arms. They speak of times past, of the loneliness of being apart. But when Shore says that she wants to take him out to celebrate, he hesitates. The Phantom will not be happy if he leaves, he knows this

But he agrees and she leaves to let him change

Enter in The Phantom. Showing himself for the first time, a figure in black wearing a simple white mask over his face. White hands punched through the palms. Grillby is enchanted, dazed and follows The Phantom into the tunnels under the opera house

*Music of the Night noises*

Grillby has a bit of a Crisis because he genuinely cares about Phantom and they became very close friends as much as teacher and student but this is kind of odd?? A little frightening?

Phantom sees this, backpedals real hard but hides it and sends Grillby back upstairs before falling into bed and screaming into his pillow

When Shore finds Grillby vaguely wandering back into the theater, she goes, uh??? What happened?? Were you kidnapped? I kind of stayed up all night looking for you??

Grillby, still a little in shock because what the heck just happened "Kind of?"

Now that won't STAND

Shore starts digging to find out everything she can about this opera ghost, keeping a close eye on Grillby. There is no gaslighting here folks like in versions of the story that to this day drive me crazy

As Shore digs, accidents start happening. Loose floorboards, unlatched equipment, a falling sandbag or two. Shore catches on pretty quickly what’s happening when she catches just a flash of shadow more than once right before or after these little ‘incidents’ 

Finally plants herself down in the middle of the stage and calls for the Phantom to show his face. It takes a while then she sees a shadow just barely move. He’s up in the rafters, crouched like some kind of bat

“What is your freaking deal?” 

“Why are you trying to take what’s mine?” 

“Yours? He belongs to himself you dingbat”

That makes him laugh for reasons Shore doesn’t get

Conversation happens, a lot of dodging questions, shifting blame. Phantom is oddly charming. For being an attempted murdering/kidnapping jerk

“Are you the one who keeps trying to kill me? The sandbag dropped on my head, the broken trapdoor, the spiders in my hat??”

“Oh my God, I’m not responsible for every little thing that goes wrong in this place. It’s an old building, accidents do happen. 

“The sandbag was me though.”

Grillby materializes just to smack him in the head for that

And so it goes, Grillby and Shore trying to reconnect, Grillby trying to maintain a level of friendship (and maybe more?) with Phantom and Phantom attempting various levels of accidents to get Shore to leave the theater

Until one day he finds Shore on the stage. She’s singing to an empty theater. She’s not...good exactly but...rather unpracticed. He’s startled enough that he stops his evil giggling and untwisting of the hidden trapdoor in the stage to listen. 

He comes up silently, creeping on the edges just out of sight. When he speaks, Shore shrieks and nearly falls off the stage anyway. Her blushing does a weird thing to his Soul. Like a sort of flip flopping squeeze. 

“Well, if you’re going to think yourself worthy of my Flame, you’d better have a voice to match. Let me hear you sing again.”  

Many ‘threat’ filled lessons later-

“Hmm. Maybe there’s hope for you after all” 

“Maybe there’s more to you than a creepy stalker personality.” 

Past the Point of No Return scene happens at some point. I don’t make the rules

Also Phantom and Shore have a sword fight that maybe starts out as anger fueled but rather quickly changes to a pent up Feelings kind of deal

Grillby’s concern is quick to fade and he watches the two idiots dance around each other, wondering why exactly they don’t see how much they actually do like each other. 

It’s also at this moment he realizes fully that he loves them both

“Well shoot, I love these two morons and they love each other but won’t admit it. This is going to be very ‘fun’ to sort out”

Eventually, Shore asks for Phantom’s name. 

“My name...died with the person I was long ago.” 

“Maybe it’s time you reclaim it.” 

His name is Wing Dings Gaster and for countless years he was held by the Void. He doesn’t fully remember how he escaped, nor what he looked like before. All he knows is that his face is broken with terrible cracks and skeletal in only the vaguest sense with a body that ebbs and flows with darkness. When he first stumbled back into the light after the darkness of the Void, people screamed and ran from him. Or worse, they chased him, calling him an omen of death. So he retreated down below the theater and resigned himself to always be a watcher and made a mask to cover his face. 

He was alone for years until he heard young Grillby crying in a corner and sat as close as he dared. It took a while for him to gain the courage to speak to the elemental

Given the fluid nature of his body, it’s easy for him to change his voice to sing. It’s the only part of himself that he can see as holding any worth. 

Grillby was his only source of socialization and he’s terrified of losing him, which makes Phantom a tad bit clingy with some pretty severe separation anxiety 

Phantom is a sad, sad boy who needs a lot of hugs and therapy

Shore is kind to him despite it all (and despite the irritation at the ‘death threats’) 

Phantom finally admits that she was never in any actual danger because he might be a messed up guy but he’s not a murderer. He might have even nudged her out of the way with blue magic a few times to make sure she wasn’t hurt.

Eventually Phantom realizes he no longer wants her to leave. He wants to stand with her and Grillby. He wants to be a better monster but he doesn’t know how to do that so kind of retreats into his lair 

Grillby and Shore have to track him down. And queue the heart to heart, the great Crying Session, the Unmasking or whatever you wanna call it

And they all live an OT3 happy ending, the end