#then again. some of papyrus's puzzles are questionable

[tdlosk-confessions]

Kokomi. Here

I love KusuSans/sansSuke yk? I want those two making out.. anyways!!!! Kusuo and papyrus would be a goofy loving ship papyrus loves puzzles and kusuo usually probably help Papyrus to make new ones everytime papyrus doesn't have an idea!!!!

[Confession 386]

[ticklishshenanigansau]

LaughterLand - Chapter 2: Poking

(story by Mod Secret, art by Mod Secret)

Sans felt his body jolt at the question the invisible voice just presented. His cheeks began to flush a bright blue.

"Sans…." Papyrus tensed up and moved closer to his brother, obviously feeling just as anxious.

"Alright, that's it."

Sans's eye flared to life, glowing brightly within his socket. He wasn't sure just who they were dealing with, but he was ready to fend them off to protect Papyrus.

"Come out of hiding and show yourselves!" he growled.

There was a sudden gust of air. The brothers could feel the presence of two figures, as if they had flown in from the sky and landed right in front of them. But there was nobody there, still nothing but white.

"Hiding?" giggled the girl's voice.

"We're not hiding!" the boy replied. "We're right here in front of you!"

Both brothers stared out in confusion. The voices indeed sounded like they were standing a mere few feet away. It wasn't until they heard the sound of lightly skipping footsteps and ghostly giggling did the sound travel just to the left of them.

"Or maybe I'm over here!" The girl laughed some more.

"Okay...?" Sans continued to blink in confusion. Was he going crazy, or was this just more of Gaster's tricks? "This is getting really weird," he whispered to Papyrus.

"We still cannot see you … whoever you are," Papyrus finally addressed the voices. "Perhaps you are … just really, really small?"

The boy and the girl let out more amused laughter, Sans honestly couldn't tell if it came from a genuine place of fun, or if they were just mocking them.

"Sorry!" the boy replied after a breath. "Sometimes we just forget that people can't see us."

"We're both still here," the girl added. Sans and Papyrus momentarily had forgotten that she moved to the other side, so the sound of her voice made them both jump.

"We're just … invisible," the two of them said in unison.

"Invisible children?" Papyrus questioned. "Well … I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting that."

"What exactly are you?" Sans's eye had ceased to glow, but he was still on his guard.

"We're Ghost Kids!" the Ghost Girl's voice came from overhead this time. She levitated herself into the air to demonstrate their power of flight.

"We come from a not-so-far-away land." The Ghost Boy walked himself towards the right side of them. "From just over there, in fact." He was pointing, but Sans and Papyrus obviously could not see in which direction.  

"I … see … I think?" Papyrus answered in a perplexed tone. "But why venture all the way out here?"

"We're on a quest!"

The Ghost Girl's voice still came from the air and seemed to be traveling towards the front of the brothers to face them again.

"On a quest to find some brand new and very special playmates!" There was a smile in her voice, it was so infectious that Papyrus smiled back.

"Special playmates?" Sans echoed suspiciously. "What kind of playmates?"

"Sans, don't be rude." Papyrus jabbed at Sans's shoulder with his elbow.

"We've been looking for a really, really long time," responded the Ghost Boy. The brothers could hear his footsteps starting to circle around them, his voice following. "For two very special people to play with."

"Aww!" Papyrus's eyes glistened with cuteness as he grabbed both of his cheekbones. "Sans, perhaps we could be the ones to play games with these two little ones." He suddenly gasped.

"I WONDER IF THEY LIKE PUZZLES!"

"Pap!" Sans swiftly grabbed Papyrus's arm to give him a serious look. "I don't know if this is such a good idea," he harshly whispered to his brother. "We don't know them, we can't see them. How do we know they're even kids?"

Papyrus couldn't help but half-smile. He knew that Sans had a tendency to be overprotective, but being overly-suspicious about a couple of kids just seemed silly to him.

"Oh come on, Sans," Papyrus urged. "They're just too little lonely kids who need a friend."

"I don't like this," Sans continued to whisper. "Something about this feels off, I mean where the hell even are we?"

"I'm sure we can figure it out," Papyrus replied confidently. "Perhaps these kids could provide us with some assistance … if we help them that is?"

Sans let out a deep sigh. Clearly he wasn't about to win this argument with his brother, no matter how much reason he provided.

"I mean … it's not like you and I haven't dealt with ghosts before," Papyrus added with a shrug.

"Alright, alright," Sans gave in. "One game, then we gotta try and get out of here."

Papyrus grinned happily, practically bouncing in front of his brother towards where he assumed the Ghost Children were.

"My brother and I would be more than happy to be your playmates, new friends!"

After a moment, Sans and Papyrus heard the Ghost Children start to snicker, and after a moment more they both started to laugh. Sans gulped. He tried to lower his guard to follow Papyrus's lead. But the uncertainty of this place, mixed with the Ghost Children's unusual reactions still left him on edge.

"Silly skellies!" laughed the Ghost Girl. "We would LOVE to play with you!"

"But first…," interjected the Ghost Boy. "You need to prove to us that you really are the playmates we're looking for."

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Sans muttered under his breath. This whole thing was becoming ridiculous.

"Well … how exactly do we prove it?" Papyrus asked eagerly. "The Great Papyrus is always up for a challenge!"

"Should we give them the test?" the Ghost Boy asked his still-giggling partner.

"I think we shoooould!" the Ghost Girl's voice came in a sing-song manner.

The sound of a light 'whoosh!' zoomed past Sans and Papyrus followed by a gust of wind. The Ghost Girl had clearly flown straight past them, but the brothers still could not tell where she was.

Poke!

Sans's whole body jolted in surprise as he felt two little fingers jabbing into his side.

"Aagh!"

Sans practically leapt away from the unseen attacker, clutching his left side with his right hand.

"What was...?" he trailed off when he heard the Ghost Girl's giggling again, this time coming from right in front of him.

"Sans?" Papyrus turned to face his brother having heard his exclamation. "What's going on—NYAH-HA!"

Papyrus nearly leapt into the air, feeling two little hands start poking into his ribs from behind.

"H-Hey!" Papyrus laughed as the hands pulled away. "Don't do that!" Even though the assault had ceased, Papyrus breathed out more laughter from the remaining tingles.

"Aah! I knew it!" the Ghost Girl replied, sounding giddy. "I knew they were the ones!"

"Say … what now?" Sans finally shook off the tingles from the jab in his side, but was more confused than ever.

"Welp, that's settled then," the Ghost Boy stated, sounding adamant. "Guess you two really are our new playmates."

"Oh, wonderful!" Papyrus clapped his hands together. "What shall we play first? Puzzles? Capture the flag? Hide-and-go—"

"That means that you get to stay here…." The Ghost Girl cut Papyrus off, seeming to have not heard him.

"And we get to play with you…," added the Ghost Boy.

Both of their tones lowered as they spoke in unison.

"Forever … and ever … and ever … and ever … and ever … and ever...."

As they continued on, Sans had finally heard enough. He put his hands up to quiet them, but they continued with their monotone rant.

"Okay, hold on a minute, what do you mean—"

"AND EVER!!" the Ghost Children screeched suddenly, cutting Sans off completely. In a loud burst of air, they both dive-bombed at the skeletons, poking and tickling them in every direction.

"Hey! What the—HNNK!" Sans was immediately poked along his ribs.

Cheeks growing warm with embarrassment, he tried to block the invisible fingers with his hands. But the second that both of his hands were occupied, the ghostly fingers started poking along the back of his legs towards his knees.

"AAH! W-Wait just a sehehecond!"

Sans practically leapt into the air trying to jump away from his unseen attacker. But the moment he jumped away and started backing up to steady himself, he felt two more soft little fingers suddenly trail up his spine.

"YEEK!"

Sans suddenly squealed. His reaction was met with high-pitched, and thoroughly entertained giggling. He could tell it was coming from the Ghost Girl.

"NYAH! Ahahahaha!! That tickles! Stahahap!!" Papyrus nearly collapsed in on himself as he felt the fingers of the Ghost Boy start poking along and in between his ribs.

But even as he gripped onto his ribcage and bent forward to protect himself, he still felt the little fingers dancing and jabbing along his spine and sides.

"Nyahahahaha!! Ahahaha!! O-Okahahay! Okay! You got uhuhuhus!!" Papyrus giggled frantically.

"Oh boy, we sure do!" The Ghost Boy laughed as he started poking his way down towards Papyrus's hips.

"NOHOHO! NO!" Papyrus screeched, suddenly moving his hands downwards to protect his sensitive hip bones.

But in doing so, he left his ribcage wide open, and the Ghost Boy dove in to start playing with it again. Papyrus giggled and squealed, stamping both of his feet down looking like he was about to throw a temper tantrum. But still he didn't let go of his hips, and just continued stomping and bending forward as best he could to try and block the teasing fingers.

"Nyahahaha!! AAGH! Ahahahaha!!! Al-Alrihihihight!! Alright! Okahahahay!!" Papyrus got out through sharp inhales. "You-You gohohot us!! You got us! Quihihihit tickling! Nyahahaha!!"

"But why would we do that?" teased the Ghost Boy. "You're our playmates aren't you?"

"W-Whahaha-WHAT?!" Papyrus stammered, unsure if he understood through his mild hysteria.

"You belong to us!" squealed the Ghost Girl as she brushed her fingers against Sans's neck, making him jump.

"What?! We do no—HAHAHAT!!" Sans squirmed trying to protect himself.

"Remember?" mused the Ghost Boy. "You're ours to play with forever and ever!"

Papyrus lunged to one side trying to move out of the way of the Ghost Boy's fingers. But he was almost immediately overwhelmed with frantic giggling as he suddenly felt scritches along the front of his spine.

"NYAAGH! Ahahahahaaa!!" Papyrus screeched. He tried using one hand to swat at the fingers attacking his spine, only to be met by more poking along the back of his legs.

"Nohoho!!" Papyrus shrieked. "Nonononoho! Wahahait!! Nyahahaha!!"

"Ahahahaha!! Grrrnnkk!! S-Stahahap!!" Sans wasn't faring much better.

He gritted his teeth together, trying to suppress the forced giggling that was threatening to burst out of him at any moment.

"St-Stahahap! Hrnk! I-I mehehean it!" he growled through his overbearing grin.

The Ghost Girl decided to play a little game with Sans. She teased her fingers into one side of his neck, forcing Sans to scrunch up leaving his other side vulnerable. She repeated this over and over again, laughing at Sans's futile attempts to protect himself. Sans had tried to scrunch his entire neck up, but she just ended up tickling the back of his skull in response causing him to squirm.

"You—AAH! Hahaha!! Y-You can't keheeheeheeheep tickling us forevheheher!!"

Sans finally threw his hands back in frustration, covering the entirety of his neck with his hands. But immediately started shrieking with laughter once he felt the Ghost Girl's fingers start digging into his underarms.

"EEEEHEEHEEHEEHAHAHA!! NO! NOHOHOHAHAHA!!"

Sans quickly clamped his arms back down in an attempt to protect himself. But he could feel the Ghost Girl's fingers continue to jab and poke into his underarms as they were trapped. There was no way he was going to be able to hold back his laughter as long as she was going after him there.

"Well of COURSE we can keep tickling you forever!" the Ghost Girl cooed in his ear teasingly.

"And ever!" added the Ghost Boy as he dug two fingers under Papyrus's arms making him squeal. "We're ghosts so … we don't actually need to sleep!"

"NOHOHO!!" Papyrus began to cackle as he collapsed onto his knees hugging himself tightly. "NO! NO! STAHAHAHAHAAAAP!! NYEHEEHEEHEEHEE!! Y-YOU CAHAHAN'T!!"

"Aww! Sure we can!" cheered the Ghost Girl.

She managed to pull her hands out from Sans's underarms and gleefully started jabbing him into every random tickle spot she could get her fingers on.

Poor Sans was flailing about in every direction. One hand protected where his ribs had just been brushed while the other hand defended his spine, but she would surprise him by going after his neck or his back or anywhere that was left out in the open.

The fact that the skeletons couldn't at all see where their ticklers were targeting next seemed to make the experience even more ticklish. Every new spot that was teased and poked at was left unprepared for an attack, making it feel a hundred times more sensitive.

"P-PLEHEHEEHEEASE!!" Papyrus crumbled onto the ground in a ball but still couldn't protect his ribs or his spine. "I-I—AHAHAHA!! I CAHAHAN'T TAHAHAHAKE IT!!"

"Oh what was that? You can't take it?" teased the Ghost Boy. "But it hasn't even been five minutes yet! We're just getting started!"

"H-HEY!!!" Sans called out through laughter. Upon hearing Papyrus's pleas followed by that playful threat, he quickly became angered in wanting to protect his brother.

"L-Leheheheave him alohohohone!! AHAHAHAHA!!" Sans demanded. "St—AAGH! Ahahahaha! Stahahahap already! Heeheeheehee!!"

"PLEASE!" Papyrus gasped desperately. "PLEHEHEHEASE!! PLEASE!! THIHIHIS ISN'T FAHAHAIR!!"

"Oh you think that's not fair?" There was a slight scoff in the Ghost Girl's tone. "Well what do you think of thiiiis?"

Sans suddenly felt very claustrophobic. Like something was deeply invading his personal space. It wasn't until he felt the light airy breathing of the Ghost Girl did he realize that her face was right next to his ear.

"Tickle tickle tickle…," she sang softly.

"GAAH! Ahahahaha!! N-Nohoho! No!"

Maybe it was the utter surprise of having her suddenly be so close to him, or maybe it was the words she spoke. Either way Sans let out a loud burst of laughter.

"Oooh! Good idea!" responded the Ghost Boy excitedly. Following suit he began to whisper teasing words into Papyrus's ears.

"Tickle tiiiiickle!" he sang.

"EEEEHEEEHEEHEEK!!" Papyrus squealed. If there was one thing he was entirely susceptible to, it was verbal ticklish teasing. Something about even the suggestion of the word made everything about him more sensitive.

"NYAHAHAHAHA!! N-NOHOHO! NOT THAHAHAT!!"

Papyrus slipped into silent squeaky laughter as he felt the Ghost Boy's fingers start wiggling into his neck.

"Aww! What's the matter?" the Ghost Boy cooed. "Does this tiiickle?"

"They are just so sweet and so ticklish!" teased the Ghost Girl squeezing Sans's knees.

Sans dropped to the ground just a few feet away from Papyrus. Though he didn’t want to admit it, verbal teasing affected him just as badly as it affected Papyrus.

"I just wanna keep tickling you and tickling you forever and ever!" she giggled right into Sans's ear.

Both skeletons lay sprawled on the ground helplessly flailing and laughing as they were mercilessly teased and tickled. No spot was safe, and the Ghost Children were not letting up on their verbal attacks.

"Tickle tickle the cute lil skellies!"

"Does this tickle? Well what about here? Yeah? And here?"

"We're gonna get'chu! We're neeeever gonna stop tickling you!"

"You're just too much fun to tickle!"

"You're gonna be our tickle toys forever!"

"And ever!"

"And ever!"

"SAAAAHAHAHANS!!" Papyrus finally screamed, verging on the edge of tears. "SAHAHANS!! PLEHEHEASE MAKE IT STAHAHAHAAAAAP!!"

Sans managed to spare Papyrus a glance through his own struggling. His poor brother looked so desperate, face bright orange and practically wheezing through gasps of air. Sans knew they just had to get away before they dusted from laughter.

Despite his rapidly fading strength, Sans frantically flailed and swiped at where he thought the Ghost Girl might be. Each time missing and exposing a different tickle spot, which the girl wasted no time exploiting. She somehow seemed to be getting faster and faster the more spots Sans left unguarded.

"AAH! Ah-HAHA!! C-C-Come ohohohon!!" He sputtered frantically. "Where—AHAHA!! Wh-Whehehere the hell are yohohohohou?!"

Sans began to notice that the Girl kept on returning to his underarms the moment she saw an opening. As much as Sans despised having that particular spot touched, he knew that it was the only way he could possibly hope to predict her next move.

Steeling himself, he shot up his right arm to helplessly flail about. Sure enough he felt the Ghost Girl's fingers starting to swoop in for the attack. Sans quickly reached his left hand up and before he even realized what had happened, he had gripped onto her wrist.

The tickling for Sans stopped almost instantly as he heard the Ghost Girl let out a small gasp.

"Hey!" she screamed, yanking hard against Sans's grip. "Let go of me!" Her other hand reached up to pull and smack at Sans's fist.

"Let me go! I'm not done playing yet!"

"Oh … yes … you … are!" Sans breathed out heavily.

Using the last of his strength, Sans managed to grip onto her arm with both of his hands. Grunting and groaning from the exhaustion, he forced himself onto his knees and finally up to his feet still gripping onto her tightly.

"No! No! No! No! No!" shouted the Ghost Girl as she tugged on her arm while slapping at Sans with her free hand. "Let go of me, you Meanie!"

"You … want me to … let you go?" Sans still had trouble getting his words out through his ragged breathing. "Fine! I'll let you go!"

It all happened in a blur, Sans gripped the Girl's arm as tight as he could and within a second threw her towards Papyrus. She was so light that she practically flew from his hands.

Nobody could completely tell what had happened, but one thing was certain. Sans had thrown her straight into the Ghost Boy, sending them both tumbling through the air on top of each other. Papyrus flopped onto the ground practically choking from how rapidly he was inhaling. Confused as to what just happened, but grateful nonetheless that the torment had finally stopped.

As groggy as Sans's mind was from exhaustion, he knew well enough that neither of them were safe just yet. Gathering enough strength in his still wobbling knees, Sans ran for Papyrus.

"Pap! Come on!"

Papyrus didn't have time to react as Sans grabbed for his hand, abruptly pulling him up to his feet and making a run for it.

"S-SANS?!" Papyrus yelled out in surprise. "What are you—?!"

"Papyrus run!" Sans impatiently cut him off. "We have to get out of here, now!"

Papyrus didn't argue any further. His thoughts finally clearing in his mind, he broke free from Sans's grasp and started running alongside him. Both tried to ignore the lingering exhaustion in their bodies in an effort to escape the Ghost Children.

"Oh! They wanna play huh?" The brothers could hear the voice of the Ghost Girl behind them.

"Well, we can play!" the Ghost Boy followed.

"Let's play TAG!" they said together.

Sans and Papyrus didn't look back, for they could hear the ghostly giggling coming up fast right behind them.

***

"Oh, well that's troubling."

Gaster pondered over a stethoscope. After listening to Sans and Papyrus's souls, he could pick up the sounds of accelerated rhythm. And after much nerve and reflex testing, he determined that his test subjects — while still trapped in their trance-like sleep — were still experiencing the hyper-sensitivity that he had imposed on them during the experiment.

"Okay…," he mumbled while going over a check-list. "Tested the reflexes on the knees and hips … checked the nerve reflex on the ribs and necks … okay."

Gaster put away the check-list and unlocked the brakes for the wheels on the metal tables, preparing to take the brothers into a different part of the lab for further testing.

"Well … hopefully all that poking around hasn't done anything psychologically.”

[punsmaster69]

1/APR/20XX

[After checking the page again, the words have ACTUALLY been written properly this time - with a working pen.]

[A small attached sticky note reads, "heheh. couldn't not, sorry."]

i'm carried out of bed and immediately served chocolate pancakes as papyrus briefs me on the day's plan - all before i even finish waking up fully.

"YOU WANTED TO GO TO AN ARCADE, SO THAT'S WHAT WE'LL DO FIRST - EVERYONE ELSE IS GOING TO MEET US THERE, SO DON'T SAVOUR MY COOKING 𝘛𝘖𝘖 LONG."

" 'k."

"AROUND LUNCHTIME, WE'RE GOING TO STOP BY GRILLBY'S... UNFORTUNATELY."

"AFTER... WE'LL JUST HANG OUT AT MS. TORIEL'S HOUSE FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT; CONSIDERING IT WOULD BE THE CLOSEST."

"ok."

"sounds good."

"...."

he looks over his shoulder to see me still yawning, giving an eyeroll gesture and placing a cup of hot coffee in front of me.

"CAN'T HAVE YOU FALLING BACK ASLEEP IMMEDIATELY, SO DRINK UP!"

"...doesn't work, remember?"

"..RIGHT."

beside it, he places a cup of ice water.

"THAT SHOULD, RIGHT?"

i mumble an affirmative response. papyrus takes this as good enough.

——

"Yo!"

undyne high-fives papyrus, then grabs me for an aggressive noogie.

"Excited for today, you decrepit bag of bones?!"

"PLEASE BE CAREFUL WITH HIM, UNDYNE."

this diverts her wrath onto papyrus instead.

"PLEASE BE CAREFUL WITH 𝘔𝘌, UNDYNE!!!"

me and alphys fistbump.

"Good choice."

"figured you'd approve."

"S-Still wish they hadn't plastered that creepy ice cube's face EVERYWHERE in this place. Can't even have one bare wall."

"whaaat? ice-e's an icon."

"Of weird c-corporate marketing."

"and unsolvable puzzles."

"They were always that way, then?"

toriel and frisk - flowey wrapped around the kid's arm - wave as they approach.

frisk nods.

"Even the first one Sans and Papyrus set out for me back in Snowdin was unsolvable."

"IT WAS?!"

"Weird letter inconsistency."

"SANS!! YOU NOT ONLY PUT OUT A 𝗖���𝗢𝗦𝗦𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗 OF ALL THINGS, BUT AN 𝘐𝘔𝘗𝘖𝘚𝘚𝘐𝘉𝘓𝘌 ONE?!?"

"whoops."

"SIGH."

"REALLY, I DON'T KNOW WHY I SIMPLY DIDN'T DO IT ALL MYSELF!!"

"I CERTAINLY WOULD HAVE CAPTURED THE HUMAN WITH EASE."

"ER-"

"I'M!! GLAD I DIDN'T THOUGH, NOW!!!"

we chat for a while more before actually going inside -

"I MISS THE SUN ALREADY."

- and splitting off towards the games each of us preferred. toriel simply stuck by me to observe whatever i decided on.

somehow, at some point, we ended up just playing air hockey really badly.

𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬.

"Is this how you play??"

"is this how you play???"

repeatedly smacking the pushers together, the puck was ignored.

——

papyrus won a scary amount of tickets and used them to redeem two dart guns. one was instantly hijacked by undyne, who cackled after ricocheting a dart off papyrus' skull. she was going to fire at me, but

"You're spared for today. Don't think I won't get you another time, though!!!"

"..cool."

grillby's wasn't far, and the weather was pleasant, so walking was actually pretty alright.

the bar erupts into noise as we show up. there was a barrage of questions and comments about everyone and everything, but the chaos made any recollections of it blurry. (fun chaos, don't get me wrong.)

i waited for the right moment - somehow, i knew it would happen.

my brother raises his glass of milk.

"WILL EVERYONE PLEASE RISE AND GIVE A TOAST TO MY BROTHER, SANS, WHOSE BIRTHDAY IT IS TODAY?!"

a roaring sound that resembles a "YEAH!!" as everyone in the restaurant rises to their feet.

i move quickly, placing one on each seat - unnoticed amidst the commotion.

"THREE..."

"TWO..."

"ONE!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SANS!!!"

appearing beside my brother as if i'd not moved at all, i clink a bottle of ketchup with the various other beverages being lifted.

and then a loud,

deafening,

𝙋𝙋𝘽𝘽𝘽𝘽𝘽𝙁𝙁𝙁𝙏𝙏𝙏𝙏

as everyone sits back down.

it was beautiful. enough to make a grown man cry.

tears of laughter, that is.

a magician clown never reveals his secrets, but i sure was asked "HOW?!" a lot.

——

the sun has just finished setting. for the first time today, it's quiet. a gentle breeze cools the day down. toriel and i hang around on the porch to take it in - myself sat upon the rail.

"Are you truly alright with not getting much...?"

"yeah."

"spendin' time with you folks is all i wanted."

"and i got it, so."

"seems like a pretty good birthday to me."

"Still, it feels lackluster to have shown up empty-handed."

"i mean. you brought cake."

"That is a given."

"here."

"if you're really concerned about me not getting any gifts..."

"..."

i gave her a goofy grin.

"gonna be corny for a sec, hope you don't mind."

"I do not have a 𝘤𝘰𝘣-lem with it."

"In fact, I am all 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴."

in that moment, i couldn't have been more certain.

i push myself up into my knees to deposit a quick kiss on her cheek.

"...that can be my gift."

dropping myself back down to sit on the porch rail.

". . ."

"sorry for suddenly 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 that onto you. wanted to 𝘦𝘢𝘳nestly-"

puns were halted as my mouth became suddenly occupied with something else.

when she eventually let go, i found myself sputtering momentarily trying to find my words.

"There. You being on the receiving end makes it much more of a gift, does it not?"

"i-"

"i, uh."

"thought i was supposed to initiate it??"

"The cheek is close enough. And that one, you did."

"I will count it."

"....."

"there's another thing i'm s'posed to do."

"a ques-"

toriel puts her hand over my mouth.

"Do not ask it today."

"We would have to celebrate our anniversaries on your birthday."

"what? you don't want a double-event?"

"There is a multitude of reasons."

"shoot."

"...?"

"gimme 'em. gimme the reasons."

"Firstly, birthdays are to be spent with a multitude of friends and loved ones. Anniversaries are for spending with the romantic interest. To do both of those at once would be impossible."

"Secondly, it would subtract from the specialness of each as well."

"Thirdly-"

"it'd be easier to remember."

she hadn't noticed me slowly inching my face closer and closer to her own until i spoke.

"Th-"

"birthversary rolls right off the tongue, too."

"..."

"I'll show YOU a tongue."

she suddenly sticks out her tongue. my proximity causes me to have to back away quickly.

too quickly.

toriel leaps forward and wraps an arm around me to stop me from going completely backwards off the rail.

"I did not mean for that to happen."

"good catch."

"Oddly, not the first time you have fallen from my railing."

"yeah, i'm gettin' 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭 good at doing that accidentally."

"Hehehe."

"Do I need to install rails for my rails?"

"gonna box me in, huh?"

"If it will stop you from falling, then maybe I will."

𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬, 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬.

"WE'VE DECIDED ON A SLEEPOVER-"

we both looked to the back door.

with a blanket draped over his right arm, papyrus stopped speaking to stare at us blankly for a moment.

arms wrapped around each other, being bent over the rail, her hips between my legs...

"..I ASSUME YOU ARE BUSY."

"....."

"might be a minute."

promptly spinning 180 on his heels, papyrus went back inside; carrying the same expression the whole time.

immediately bursting into laughter, tori lifts me up the rest of the way and places me on the porch.

"Awkward-looking situations seem to be your forte, my dear."

"no kidding."

"At least it was Papyrus."

"yeah."

"..."

"so, can i ask you the-"

"Another time."

"ok."

[velvetwyrme]

So I saw the instrument ask and I hope this is cool to drop this question I’ve been puzzling over. If not just ignore this. I don’t have anyone else to theorize with.

I read a fic where all the au! Skeletons end up in the og world on the surface (classic scenario.) They use nicknames for each other but they have to register “legal” names with the government (for jobs and licenses etc.) Sans and Papyrus are already taken so they use other font names as for it. Ever since I’ve read it I can’t decide what names each would go by and I want your opinion.

There are only two I’ve decided on:

Swapfell Sans - Garamond

Underfell Papyrus - Roman (from times new Roman obvs)

But I’m going crazy trying to decide on any others and I seek your counsel.

I have a list of possible fonts but I don’t want to drop it on you because this ask is already kinda long but if you do want it I’ll send it. Sorry again for the text dump.

IT'S ABSOLUTELY ALRIGHT <333 I'd love to see if I can help out any :o!! (*grabby hands* GIMME LIST. I LOVE LISTS.)

What are your criteria and thoughts for picking fonts👀? Is it just Vibes or are there any specific reasons for the ones you've chosen so far :?

I really like Roman for UF!Papyrus... sharp, tight and snappy- full of straight lines and points... free of frills and loops but still stylish in it's own right! Also somewhat disliked in certain spaces PLUS it has the inherent correlation between the Romans [empire] and UF!Papyrus' role in the royal guard !

Tangentially related, I found an article by the NY Times (coincidence? I think not!! /lh /j) that's just all about Garamond (the font), and it's especially fun to read with the context of Swapfell!Sans

"And where some see elegance, others perceive fussiness. There’s a stereotype associated with the sort of person who loves Garamond: The Garamond Guy, if you will, is irritatingly uptight, so certain of his own profundity that his words must be conveyed with the weight of a 500-year-old French typeface."

Source

[undertale-fic-librarby]

Angst the most painful heart wrenching gut churning angst you have any character.No hurt/comfort.Just hurt.

pls

Howdy, thanks for asking! Here are some fics that might fit what you're looking for!

Casting Rain by Silverskye13 (Teen And Up, Complete)

The war between humans and monsters has been raging for as long as Grillby can remember - which isn't saying much. He was summoned to fight in it after all. As crazy as war is however, it gets a little bit crazier when he meets a certain prodgious skeleton by the name of Gaster. The friendship is rocky, their surroundings even rockier. And a whole knew wrench is thrown in the works when a human emerges with enough control of their Determination to meddle with time. (This fic expands on my Wartime headcanon for Grillby in a previous fic I've written called "Phantom Pains". You definitely don't need to read that one first to understand this one. They are companions, and can function as individual pieces. But if you wanted to know more of my thoughts on the wartime Grillby stuff I touched on there, this is where you'll find it!)

Point of no Return by Mad_Zazzy (Teen And Up, Complete)

After many Resets, the human leaves the Underground with a rather uneventful Neutral Run. Sans believes they aren't coming back but is left unsure as time continues to progress. The calm of Snowdin Town is interrupted one night by a violent murder, which falls on Papyrus and his Sentries to solve. As the situation escalates and gets stranger, they realise their own lives may be on the line. Is the threat of another anomaly really gone? Will Papyrus be able to solve this deadly puzzle before time runs out, and can Sans be bothered to help? A high stakes adventure; angst, comedy and mystery! Chapter 1 has been rewritten and updated. Grammar improves as you go through. lmao

The Fallen by SylviaDragon (Mature, Complete)

Wishing to back out of her suicide attempt only after she hit the ground, the fallen human finds that she is unable to move. When a voice offers to save her for a price, she is too terrified of the darkness to do anything but accept. At first the voice seems helpful, promising to guide her out of the Underground so that she can see the sun again. But as time goes on and her control over her own body begins to slip away, she is forced to face the horrible truth of what she has allowed herself to become. Now she seeks the answer to but one question: can a soulless person save the timeline from shattering?

Negativity's Grasp by Equinox (Mature, Complete)

From being trapped within a dead world with no more resets to used as an unwilling pawn to spread negativity, there’s only so much someone can take before they break a second time.

We’re All Mad Down Here by Waterhydra (Mature, Complete)

That night was the start of the end.. It was the birth of a new place that became worse than purgatory, and it was called the Underground. What once was a prison to monster kind, became a descent of torturous madness that would only lead to death if one didn’t leave their sanity behind.

[luna-is-lost]

UnderWelcomed

PART SEVEN

3rd Person POV:

“alphys, any luck?“ Sans says as he lays on the concrete floor. “N-Not y-yet, but m-maybe if l-look for c-clues at t-the sight...“ Alphys has been working nonstop in hopes of finding Papyrus. She never found any proof that Papyrus wasn’t dusted, but she’d never tell that to Sans. His mental health is fragile enough without thinking his brother died. With a deep breath she turns back to her computer. Suddenly, an idea hits her. “S-Sans!“ “yeah, al?“ Sans can’t help but sound hopeful. “W-What if P-Papyrus and t-the others a-are in a m-military base.“ “that's what i’ve been sayin’.“ Sans was obviously upset, but Alphys hadn’t finished speaking. “N-No, I t-think there's a b-base near t-the w-water. I-It was c-carved into M-Mt. E-Ebbot in 1773!” She rushes out to find the supply’s they would need for they journey. Undyne walks in coughing out the water she was drinking a few minutes later after hearing the news. “I’m leaving to find it now!” She says with new found hope. “Sans get our ‘army’ together! We leave tomorrow morning!” Sans’ eye sockets expand almost comically, tears of joy prick at them. “paps…”, sans whispers breathlessly, “we’re coming, bro.”

Papyrus POV:

…I don’t talk anymore… not after the incident. It’s fine though, they don’t ask questions either. I feel like I’m forgetting something, or someone important… Who? It’s not like anyone is coming for me anyway, heh… they never were.

They started to do some research on me. My soul… bone… magic… If I do well they’re not as cruel. So I do well. I think… Most of the time they have me do mental tests. I’ve always enjoyed puzzles, though these are more intense. Various times I thought I may lose my mind. They won’t let me though… I’m their’s now. I control of the human canine unit. I’m part of their army. A lieutenant... I guess I achieved my goal. Wait, what was my goal again?... Nyeh-heh I think something's wrong. They’re doing something to me. Or maybe it's that I haven’t seen anyone for the past three days... or more. Time has escaped my grasp in this place. I really wish that person I can’t quite remember was here...

“Papyrus!“ I look up and see the familiar face of Sir... I shutter, but nod as to acknowledge him. I don’t show emotions in front of anyone anymore. They got mad last time... “The army needs you to lead the canines. A group of monsters is getting close to the base. You need to stop them.“ I only nod. Monsters, just like humans left me locked up. Who would’ve thought I’d be stuck in captivity twice by humans. It doesn’t matter, I'm on the human’s side now. Not that I have a choice, I can't remember any monsters anyway. Or at least anyone specifically. Whatever they put in my food makes my mind all blurry and disheveled. “Let’s go.“ Sir says sharply. I stand up, uncertain, and follow him out of solitary confinement... As I always do when needed, which isn’t often. They say I'm not important anyway. He leads me to a room of dogs. Each ferocious animal quakes in fear as soon as he enters. “You leave in thirty, get yourself, the dogs, and your men ready.“ I nod once again... The dogs relax as soon as sir leaves. I conjure a few bones for them and untie the army units of fluff. A few of them come running to me and smother me. I only laugh. Though, almost silently. After the lovable canine unit is prepared I run to my fellow guards. I only order twenty men, but still, counting the dogs we make up one of the most powerful monster including armies. The moment I show up in the room they stand at attention, I motion for them to follow. Straight faced and tall, I direct them to a map I’ve set up for us. After a bit of written explanation, they all understand and agree. Then we head to battle...

Part 8 tomorrow...

[tooti-fruiti]

GLITZ AND GLAMOR [CHAPTER 4]

Sans and Papyrus

You held your arms together because you walked into a forest covered in snow somehow.

At this point you knew better than to question it.

You walked forward in the show, shivering.

You stepped over a giant stick and walking a few feet ahead of it.

You heard a loud boom and turned around.

The stick was smashed.

Something was here with you, and it knew you were here.

You carried on forward, trying to make as little noise as you possible could.

When you were about to step over a gate, you stopped.

You heard snow crunching footsteps behind you.

You were frozen in fear, you couldn't move.

" h u m a n . "

" d o n ' t

y o u

k n o w

h o w

t o

g r e e t

a

n e w

p a l ? "

" t u r n

a r o u n d

a n d

s h a k e

m y

h a n d . "

You slowly turned around, not wanting to upset the person behind you.

You closed your eyes out of fear and held out your hand.

You felt a cold boney hand touch your fingers.

And when it grabbed your hand, you felt something squishy and heard a loud fart noise.

You opened your eyes and jumped back in surprise.

In front of you was a skeleton about your height laughing at the prank it just pulled, wearing a blue hoodie, black basketball shorts, and pink slippers.

"ah the ol' whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it's always funny." He said.

He smiled and put his hands in his pockets.

"anyways, i'm sans. sans the skeleton. i'm actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now."

You grew worried.

"but uh y'know. i don't really care about capturing anybody."

You sighed a breath of relief.

Sans laughed. "sorry kid, didn't mean to spook you."

"however, my brother papyrus, he's a human hunting fanatic. hey, let's go across this bridge thingy my bro's right over there."

"Wait! I don't want to go over there if he's over there!" You said.

"eh, don't worry. i'll hide ya. go behind that conveniently shaped lamp."

Sans pointed at a lamp and it was shaped exactly like you.

How convenient.

"SANS!" You heard a high pitched voice yell as you hid behind the lamp.

You stayed still.

"sup bro?"

"YOU KNOW WHAT'S "SUP" BROTHER! IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T RECALIBRATED YOUR PUZZLES!"

As the voice carried on talking, you began to assume that this voice was Papyrus, sans's brother.

"NO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS! I HAVE TO CAPTURE A HUMAN! I WILL BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE!"

"THEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE! RESPECT! RECOGNITION!"

"hmm. maybe this lamp will help." Sans said.

Papyrus groaned. "SANS HOW COULD A LAMP HELP MY HUMAN PROBLEM, IT'S NOT LIKE THERE'S A HUMAN BEHIND IT!"

You froze.

"totally not."

"EXACTLY! THAT WOULD BE RIDICULOUS!"

You never felt so relieved before.

"AND YOU'RE NOT MUCH HELP EITHER. ALL YOU DO IS SIT AND BOONDOGGLE!"

What's a boondoggle?

"YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERYDAY!"

"hey, take it easy bro. i've gotten a ton of work done today. a skele-ton."

"SANS!"

Ugh. Not dad jokes.

"what? that one was funny!"

"IT WAS AND I HATE IT!"

Papyrus groaned again.

"WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME HAVE TO DO SO MUCH JUST TI GET SOME RECOGNITION?!"

"damn bro. sounds like you're working yourself...to the bone."

"UGH! I'M LEAVING!"

"OH! AND ONE MORE THING, PUT A LITTLE MORE...BACKBONE IN YOUR WORK!"

Papyrus laughed a weird "nyeh heh heh" laugh and ran away.

"nice one bro!" Sans called out.

Sans chuckled. "okay you can come out now, kid."

You slowly reappeared from the lamp.

"Is he gone?" You asked.

Sans nodded. "He's gone."

You sighed and sat down on a rock.

"Thanks, Sans."

"eh it's not trouble. say, could you do me a favor?"

"Sure." You said.

"my brother has never seen a human before and seeing you might just make his day."

"What if he like...I don't know...managed to capture me or something?" You said.

"don't worry. he's not dangerous. even if he tries to be."

"Sure, I can do it then."

"thanks a million." Sans said. "i'll be up ahead."

Sans then jumped up, and a bright light flashed and suddenly sans was gone.

You stared at where he was, confused.

Where did he go?

(Hope you enjoyed. Stay tuned for more and have a good day)

<- Chapter three

Chapter five->

[kaliawai512-v2]

Butterscotch Pie - Chapter 26

You know what, to heck with it - I'm about to start work for the day, might as well get this chapter out in case anyone wants to go ahead and read XD I'll post again on AO3 when it's back up!

If by some awful chance AO3 is still down in a few days, I'll plan to continue posting Butterscotch Pie chapters on the usual Tuesday/Saturday posting schedule.

Hope everyone enjoys!

Chapter 26

Papyrus wishes things could be the same as before, but he knows, deep down, that they never will be.

But … maybe that’s not completely a bad thing.

He wishes that Toriel wasn’t mad at Dad, but he knows that’s a lot like asking Sans not to be mad at Dad. Which he isn’t going to do. Because Sans is mad, and Papyrus knows why, even if he doesn’t really understand it. And Toriel is a lot like Sans.

And Papyrus loves them both very much.

He loves his whole family. Sans and Toriel and Asgore and Dad. He wants them all to be happy, but maybe they don’t have to get along all the way to be happy. Maybe he can be okay with that.

And they can still have good days, all of them together, even if it isn’t perfect.

Like tonight, when Papyrus asked Asgore to stay for dinner, and now there’s five of them in the kitchen, cooking together.

The kitchen definitely wasn’t made to hold five people—especially when two of them are really big—but Papyrus likes it. There’s a lot of talking and movement and energy, and he can’t forget where and when he is even for a second. And Toriel lets Papyrus help a lot with the cooking. He spills the food sometimes because he stirs really hard, and sometimes he puts in the wrong amount of something, but she never gets mad. She just smiles and laughs and helps him fix it.

Asgore helps in small, quiet ways, and Dad … Dad doesn’t seem to know what to do with himself, and just stands off to the side looking awkward. But Papyrus does his best to invite him to help with measuring or stirring, and Dad goes along with it without saying a word.

Even Sans is helping—in the laziest way possible, sitting on the counter and mixing things when Toriel passes them to him. Still, he let Toriel lift him up and put him in that spot, so Papyrus will count that as a success, too.

It all feels a little like the time in the lab, when He took them to the new room—that would have been the kitchen, right?—and showed them how to make noodles. And they ate together and the food was good and everything was quiet and nice and so close to happy.

It feels like that, but so much better.

Because this is … their life. 

Today is special because they’re all cooking together, but it’s not a one-time event. They won’t go back to a cell after this. They’re not going to be tortured tomorrow. They’ll eat the food together and play games and do puzzles and read books until it’s time for bed, then Toriel will read them a story and he and Sans will sleep curled up in a warm, comfortable bed.

They’ll keep doing that, every day. Maybe for the rest of their lives. Or maybe not. But even if it changes … Papyrus knows that whatever it changes into will be something good.

“Papyrus, dear, could you check on the sauce, please?” Toriel asks, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Papyrus turns to her and smiles.

“OF COURSE!” He runs over to the stove, grabs the wooden spoon, and stirs it a few times. He nods to himself. “IT’S THICKENING!”

“Oh, lovely. It’s almost done, then. Help me get a bowl for it, would you?”

Papyrus nods again and heads off to the cabinet where Toriel keeps the larger serving dishes.

He’s seen her get them a few times before, so he knows where he learned it. But he doesn’t remember her showing him how to check sauces or chop vegetables or … a lot of the things he does in the kitchen. He just sort of knows how to do them. He’s never questioned it much before now, and he’s not sure he wants to start. 

She’s mentioned him doing those things before, though. In the life he doesn’t really remember. In the life he must kind of remember, because he knows how to do those things. Sometimes he looks around and swears he can see himself doing those things, but he doesn’t know if it’s because he did them in exactly that way or just because he knows he must have done them. Because all of this feels so familiar, even though it’s new.

Looking around now … it’s easy to forget that he hasn’t always lived here.

He doesn’t really know if the almost-memories he has actually happened. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever have more than he has now. That still makes him a little sad. He has the videos and the pictures, but there are a lot of things that aren’t in those. Things that Asgore and Toriel talk about, and probably things they don’t remember well enough to tell him. Good moments with Dad that he’ll never get to experience.

He’ll probably always be sad about that.

But he’s here now. They’re here now. They’re living this life, and they get to keep living it. They get to keep getting better. They get to keep being happy—even if they’re not happy all the time.

Papyrus is happy.

And Sans ��� Sans is happy sometimes. A lot more than he was before. He’s peaceful now, not just sleepy or lazy. He’s looking around the kitchen from his spot on the counter, with the face he wears when he’s lost in his thoughts. But there’s no tension. No worry. No pain.

That’s good enough for now.

“Sans?” Toriel calls over.

Sans turns to face her. “yeah?”

Toriel smiles. A smile Papyrus knows just a little too well. 

“What kind of beans do you find in a measuring cup?”

Sans’s own smile shifts into something that almost matches hers. “what kind?”

Papyrus tenses, but he doesn’t have time to open his mouth to protest before Toriel holds up the half-filled measuring cup in her hand.

“Pint-o beans!”

Both of them burst out into uncontrolled laughter. Asgore covers his mouth to hold back his snickers, and Dad turns his head to hide his own smirk. Papyrus makes a noise through his teeth, fists clenched as he shakes them up and down. 

“WE’RE NOT EVEN EATING PINTO BEANS! THAT’S WASTEFUL!”

But Toriel and Sans just keep on laughing, and even as Papyrus huffs, he can’t bring himself to actually be upset. Because Sans’s smile is real, and Papyrus doesn’t think he’ll ever stop appreciating it.

Still, it’s nice when Toriel moves over to Papyrus and gives him a quick but warm hug. His irritated frown fades, just a bit, and when she smiles down at him, he can’t help but smile back.

Dinner is done a few minutes later, and they all start bringing the serving dishes over to the table. Papyrus smiles at the sight of his golden flower, sitting right in the center. It’s grown big now. Just as big and yellow and bright as the flowers in Asgore’s castle. It’s been the centerpiece for the last few days. Asgore has told him twice how well it’s turned out—and how he must have taken very good care of it—and Papyrus still feels warm from the compliments.

It feels nice to look at it while he eats, because flowers take time to grow, and the fact that this flower is full-grown means that Papyrus and his brother have been here for a while. 

There’s a little decoration next to it, too, that Sans finished a couple of days ago when Alphys came over. She’s been showing him how to use the chemistry set she bought him for their birthday. Papyrus isn’t really sure what they made, except that it’s pretty and a lot of different colors and inside one of Toriel’s little glass jars. 

They’re still using it to make other things, and every time, Sans looks a little more comfortable. A little less like he’s doing the kind of thing Dad would do.

Papyrus hopes that one day, maybe … it won’t matter if it’s the kind of thing Dad would do. As long as it makes Sans happy.

But for now, this is good.

Papyrus brings the last plate of food to the table, and five of them sit down to eat. It’s a little weird to see all the chairs filled, but good-weird. Maybe something that they’ll do more often in the future. Sans starts eating first, like he always does, with Papyrus and Toriel next, and Asgore and Dad last. 

For a minute, they just eat. Enjoying the food. Toriel always makes good food, and Papyrus is extra proud because he helped this time. Then Asgore hums, thoughtful, as he finishes his current bite.

“You know, I think I remember eating this together before.”

Toriel gives him a strange look. “Yes, it’s one of my regular recipes.”

Asgore shakes his head.

“Oh, no, I mean … the three of us. You, me and Gaster.” 

Sans looks up from his food. His brow bone scrunches, but he doesn’t say anything. He looks at Asgore, then at Toriel, then at Dad, like he just found a missing piece to a puzzle and is trying to figure out where it fits.

“I think you made this one day after the war, after we’d settled into our first home,” Asgore goes on. “You made it for Gaster’s birthday, if I remember correctly.”

Papyrus perks up. “OH! DID YOU ALWAYS LIVE TOGETHER?”

Asgore blinks and looks to him, then smiles. It’s a little sad.

“No, we … actually didn’t for quite some time. Toriel moved back here after the two of you were born. But yes, when your father was young, we all lived together in a house in the Ruins.” His smile widens. “Your father wasn’t too much older than the both of you, actually.”

“I was a teenager,” Dad mutters. He’s staring at his plate more intently than Papyrus thinks the food deserves, even though it’s very good.

Asgore chuckles. 

“Well, a few years difference, certainly,” he says. “And you were already so tall! But still so young, comparatively.”

Dad ducks his head lower. His cheekbones look pink. “Compared to centuries old, I suppose.”

Asgore laughs. Toriel smiles, just a little, just for a few seconds. She looks like she doesn’t want to smile, but there’s a fondness to it, and it makes a weight in Papyrus’s chest lift. 

Things are going to be different now. They’re going to be different for a long time, and maybe forever. Maybe Toriel will never look at Dad the same again.

But the warmth on her face isn’t gone.

So Papyrus isn’t going to give up.

Asgore hasn’t said anything about what Dad … did to them, and he hasn’t acted any differently to Dad, so Papyrus doesn’t think he knows yet. Part of him hopes that he never finds out, but he also knows it’s going to happen. Toriel will probably say something, because apparently this is something very important, and even if she doesn’t … well. Papyrus knows he’s not very good at lying, and Sans doesn’t have any reason to keep this a secret anymore.

Papyrus hopes that it won’t be too bad, when he finds out.

But he thinks it’ll be okay. 

The rest of dinner is … comfortable. Not perfect, but good, Papyrus thinks. Sans and Toriel make more of their irritating puns. Asgore tells more stories about their childhood—and about Dad’s. Papyrus tells everyone what he’s been doing at school, and everyone listens—even Dad.

“Sans, Papyrus, are you both ready for dessert?” Toriel asks, when their plates are almost empty.

Papyrus smiles and nods, and even Sans’s eyelights brighten a little. He loves Toriel’s pie.

Toriel gives them both a smile in return, then heads back into the kitchen. She comes back with five plates and the pie tin—apple cinnamon today—cutting a big slice for each of them. She gives Dad his slice second to last, then Asgore. Papyrus decides not to think too hard about whether that means anything.

Besides, the pie is really good! Toriel’s pies always are. Not too sweet and always fresh. 

Papyrus watches Dad while they eat, and his face softens with each bite. He wonders how many times Dad has eaten this kind of pie before. He wonders if he ate it when he was younger. Smaller. Maybe not as small as them, but … still small. It’s strange to think that Dad used to be as small as them, too.

Maybe he had never even thought of hurting anyone, that far back.

It takes a minute for Dad to notice him looking at him—or maybe it just takes a minute for him to let himself look over. He meets Papyrus’s eyes with his one good one, and Papyrus gives him a soft but warm smile.

Dad blinks. Papyrus has smiled at him plenty before, but maybe … maybe Dad can tell this is different. Maybe Dad can tell all that he’s trying to say with that one smile.

Papyrus thinks he does, because after a long few seconds, Dad gives him a very small smile in return.

It doesn’t last long, but to Papyrus, it feels like how he imagines the sun. 

Then they go back to dinner. Papyrus goes back to talking to Toriel and Asgore and Sans, and Dad goes back to looking at his pie, taking bites here and there.

He doesn’t look happy, exactly. Papyrus isn’t sure he knows how to be happy, and he has a lot to be sad about.

But he looks … content?

Papyrus thinks that’s the right word.

Dad made a choice. 

He made a good choice.

It’s a choice that hurts him, and will probably always hurt him, at least a little. But it was a good choice. It was a choice for them.

And Papyrus thinks … Dad’s still happy he made it.

[computercreature]

ehmmmmm. papyrus undertale for character ask game?

you didn’t specify a question. so i’m answering all 30 of them >:D nyeheheheh!!

first impression: super silly skeleton! love him!

when i started to like him: it’s hard to remember but probably from the very beginning. specifically? umm probably the lamp scene haha he’s so <3

song that reminds me of him: this is such a copout answer i know but i always think of papyrus makes a mixtape. such a formative song to my childhood

how many people i ship him with: 0! i hc him as aro!

my fav ship: again probably none… i’m not a huge fan but i feel like the most ok in my book is papyton

least fav ship: literally anything else all of his friends are either children or his brother or a lesbian

a quote i remember: if you see a shop, you should stop… drop, and roll… into some great deals!! because we’re having a fire sale!! at my imaginary store, which sells flames.

fav outfit: AHHH i love the battle body for the comfort fit swag but. my heart belongs to the cool dude fit <3

least fav outfit: NEITHER they both fit him so well!!!

describe him in one sentence: he’s funny and silly BUT i swear he’s so much more mysterious than people realize!

first thing i think of when i think of him: the papyrus knight theory, and how excited i am for him to be in deltarune >:3

sexuality hc: mm i think gay aro

fav friendship: FLOWEY!!!!! they are besties ok i’m so glad more people are realizing this

best storyline: ahhh hmm. again i think his friendship with flowey! they’re characters that are perfect for each other and their dynamic has a lot of crazy implications. without the post-canon content and some of the harder to find dialog it’s easy to assume flowey’s messing with him but they really are friends!

worst storyline: i’ll be honest the date 💔 i do like it from the perspective of an aro guy forcing attraction but i still prefer the hangout way more for. obvious reasons

childhood hc: i think he’ll be a child/teen deltarune! and i think he was a lonely (bonely) kid, which is why he wants to be popular so much

what i think his first word was: sans :]

what i think he was like as a child: i already kinda answered this but also. i’m an otherworld sans truther and i really have no idea what ut papyrus’s deal is. if the skeletons just showed up one day i really don’t know what that means for papyrus

most random ship i’ve seen: well other than the obvious. i would say papyton is pretty random since they’ve never met? but he does canonically have a celebrity crush on mettaton so i guess i get it haha

weird hc: cat person (or at least says he is) because of the annoying dog lol

when he was at his happiest: obviously post pacifist when he can feel the sun on his skin and wind in his hair 🩵

when he was at his lowest: tbh before meeting frisk he was really lonely. in deltarune it’s probably worse since he doesn’t have undyne or. any other friends

future hc: i love the hc that he designs escape rooms on the surface!!!!! i think he (and a lot of other monsters) start taking anthropology classes

a secret he’s never told anyone: he actually loves the annoying dog 🩵

when he acted most ooc: ohh i don’t know. hrm. i don’t think there is one off the top of my head!

when he was himself the most: before and after saving him in the asriel fight! copout answer for all the characters but i stand by it!

most fun character for him to meet: ohhh i have to think about this. maybe tome of mob psycho fame. monster obsessed with humans + human obsessed with the occult would be the perfect autism duo

most unnecessary thing he did: when he turned the puzzle into his face and couldn’t figure out the solution. when he summoned a billion bones for his attack and let you fly right over them. when he kept asking about your outfit and kept giving the wrong answers to undyne. when he jumped out undyne’s window. he’s so <3

how would he be as a parent: carlyraejepsans has a great post about this but i think he’d be the fun uncle who loves kids!! also all the monsters are communally raising frisk anyway <3

funniest scene: OH THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE TO CHOOSE. umm i love the lamp scene, when he first sees frisk, the mettaton tile maze, umm a lot of his phonecalls especially the fire one, and the winter newsletter. he’s just so!

[fireheartedpup]

for the ask game (i like asking questions :3) - papyrus (first song from your most played playlist + what memories does it hold) - aloe vera (something mundane you want to experience) - jasmine (media you love but won't revisit)

I love questions! Thank you!

Papyrus- Six Shooter by Coyote Kisses. I haven't known about it long enough to make a lot of memories, but I kind of think of Karlach when I hear it. I, uh, put it on my doo wop bop bop it's time to get objectified playlist.

You know, for songs like Brick House and Are You Gonna Be My Girl and that Daisy Dukes song. The sort of songs that are popular because they have a nice sound and beat, but are objectively kind of terrible.

This one is actually a lot better than the rest, it's just "She knows how to get past my defenses and oh my god she's hot."

I just decided to let go of whether or not I approve of songs and lean into enjoying the beat, because I would lose like half of my enjoyment in life if I tried to avoid every song that makes me a little uncomfortable. I'm waffling on whether I want to keep My Sharona on the list though, the pedophilia is a bit much for me.

...this is the kind of take that could get me canceled, isn't it.

Aloe vera- I want to be able to afford to go try the restaurants in my area again. We have so much here that I don't get to experience. I want to go for more walks and check out the hiking trails. I want to be able to travel. I want to look outside and see life instead of walls.

Jasmine- I might need to think on this one, I feel like there's an obvious answer that's eluding me right now?

I'm not sure I would say I wouldn't revisit Bastard! or Sweet Home, but they're horror and they had me jumping at shadows. It's like... hope punk, almost? Hope in spite of the horror? This is more, this is an excellent piece of media that should be regarded as a standout in its genre. I am afraid to recommend it.

I PLAN on revisiting Fullmetal Alchemist. I never got through the entire series. It's just that... some of the subject matter is so heavy, I don't really want to watch it.

Ironic, given my first paragraph. I think it's one of the best anime/manga series of all time. There's basically no comparing it to anything else.

Also, Where the Redfern Grows is my favorite book. I usually HATE books with animal death, but it gave me a sense of closure that I haven't really seen before or since. I don't know if I ever want to revisit it. It's been years, I'm thinking about it.

Also sometimes I have to do this with mobile games when I start obsessing. Goodbye, tetris/puzzle knockoff. I would love to keep playing you, but you make me cerifiably insane.

[rhyssands]

oct 1 - ruffles

prompt: ruffled hair rating: general audiences wordcount: 489 characters: classic sans, frisk warnings: none prompt from this post, read it on ao3 here

——

The kid isn't very good at math.

That's not exactly unusual, Sans isn't really surprised to find out they aren't the best with it, but there's something almost novel about the whole ordeal. After everything they went through in the Underground, and the relative ease with which they'd navigated Papyrus' traps, finding out they don't fully grasp the concept of, say, improper fractions is kind of funny.

He's not going to laugh, of course. He's got standards, and it's been long enough since he had to help somebody with math homework that he's more concerned over making sure he knows how to explain it in a way they'll understand. Still, it is funny. All the in-depth, complex thoughts he knows it took for an 11 year old kid to get through Papyrus' puzzles (which were, by and large, designed to stop full grown adults and often did), but give them a paper with some numbers in bunkbeds and they're stumped.

"Okay," He says, keeping his voice low because he knows they startle when he raises his voice at all, and he knows enough to understand why that is, "So with improper fractions, the whole deal is that there're too many numbers up top. See? You can't have four-thirds of anything. You'd have one whole thing, and then a third of another one. Make sense?"

They blink, and he wonders how the teachers at their school are explaining it that it took that to make it click for them.

'OH.' Frisk signs, 'SO JUST MAKE AS MANY WHOLE NUMBERS AS I CAN, THEN THE LEFTOVERS ARE FRACTIONS STILL.'

"Yeah, that's the long and short of it, kiddo." He says, grinning and reaching out to ruffle their hair. They lean into his hand with a grin of their own. "And the number you make is a compound fraction. That's where you have a whole number and a fraction together."

They seem to get it. He keeps his hand on their head while they frown down at the next question in their book. Then, slowly, they nod, and scribble down 1 2/8 on their notebook paper. Before he can remind them to simplify their fraction, they add an equal sign and 1 1/4.

"Nice." He says, ruffling their hair again and listening with both pride and satisfaction as they giggle. They swat at his hand, but it's gentle, playful. They aren't telling him to stop, so he doesn't. "You think you got it now? I'm right here if ya need help."

They pat the seat behind them on the couch in a clear request for him to park it and stick around in case they do need help. It's just as clearly a request for him to let them try to do the rest on their own. He's got no issues with that, so he parks it on the couch and sticks around until they're done with their math homework.

[au-ndertale]

i think papyrus should have control over the timeline. as a treat :)

After the monsters were sent to Alphys’s lab for her determination experiments, only Papyrus returned.

He went back to life as usual. Sans wasn’t going to say anything; he was just glad to have his brother back and completely back to normal. Don’t get him wrong, he’d’ve been fully willing to act as Papyrus’s carer in whatever capacity he needed to after everything, but...

That would’ve been work. Papyrus was completely fine. Better than fine, even. All the health issues the two of them shared; the low stats? Well, whatever Alphys did to him in that lab, it fixed everything.

The other Snowdin residents ask Papyrus about what the lab was like; how the other monsters that had fallen down are doing; if they’ll ever see thair familes again.

“I'M SORRY. I DON’T REALLY REMEMBER ANYTHING,” Papyrus lies.

Alphys is doing her best! And she helped him, after all. He won’t betray her secrets!

He might, however, make regular visits to the lab. Secretly! He wouldn’t want anyone to ask him more questions! But he brings stuff for the amalgamates; stuff that Alphys, as overwhelmed and guilt-ridden as she is, might neglect. Like food that isn’t dog kibble, and books that aren’t children’s comics, and puzzles!

Otherwise, life is normal. He asks that Undyne spar with him, seeing as he’s no longer as fragile as he used to be, so she won’t have to be so careful as to not dust him, now!

Undyne isn’t entirely certain as to whether it’s a good idea or not, but, well, Papyrus is very good at getting what he wants. He just talks a little bit about how cool Dr. Alphys is, and how she tested his increased capabilities herself, and Undyne’s raring to go.

The thing is.

The thing is, Papyrus is a pretty brutal guy. He was the weird kid, so he got picked on a lot, and ended up fighting back. To make up for how weak and sick he was, Papyrus hit hard, a lot, and often.

Basically, he was a tiny little bony beserker.

So, with Undyne, the spar starts fine. She takes a turn, he takes a turn. She turns him green, he turns her blue. He makes a boast, and she suplexes a rock.

He’s not sure how it happens. Maybe one of Undyne’s cool anime fighting lines crossed a line she didn’t know was there. Maybe Papyrus wasn’t as over it; wasn’t as in control as he thought. Maybe it was just the result of the two of them getting carried away, just like their cooking lessons. Two people who don’t have the good sense to know when to quit.

But a bone attack hits its target, and Undyne dissolves into dust.

It

It’s just...

Some of it is goopy and sticks together like wet flour. Papyrus doesn’t dare to touch it.

What’s he supposed to do?

What the hell is he supposed to do? He’s just killed the Captain of the Royal Guard. Not only is that murder, which is bad and wrong and awful and illegal, but it’s also probably some sort of treason! And how’s he supposed to become a guardsman now? He was only just beginning to wear Undyne down, and now-

Undyne’s dead.

And maybe she wasn’t his friend, but she put up with him. She smiled when she saw him in the street. She never got mad at him for being loud and rambunctious. Actually, she’d challenge him to become even louder and rambunctious-er! And that was enough for Papyrus to at least pretend.

He doesn’t want to move on from this moment. He doesn’t want to go on without Undyne being happy and safe and alive. He knows, without a shadow of a doubt, that he doesn’t want to live in this world.

The thought of killing himself crosses his mind. Of course it does. He’s thinking things like that. He’s thinking things that, in any other person, might equate to suicidal thoughts.

The thing is, the idea of death - of himself, dying or dead... It’s absolutely repulsive to Papyrus. It can’t fit into his mind. It’s the thought equivalent of putting two of the same ends of a magnet together. They just refuse.

So that���s what Papyrus does.

He refuses.

This world; this timeline, where Undyne is dead by his hand? It is wrong. It should not exist. And so, by Papyrus’s stubborn demand, it unravels around to him, back to before.

He stands opposite Undyne. The air smells of damp and moss. There is no dust in the air.

“Are you READY?” she shouts, summoning a spear to hoist above her head.

For a moment, Papyrus considers... Not doing that. Just leaving and getting on with his day. Maybe process the whole thing that just happened. Sit on the couch and get Sans to read to him until he falls asleep, even if he does read that stupid joke book. Come back to this tomorrow.

That’s stupid, though! He’s the Great Papyrus! He knows what he did wrong, and that means he can do better, this time. And then Undyne will be safe, and happy, and... Really impressed with how strong he can be!

He summons a wave of bones and matches Undyne’s battle cry.

And if anything goes wrong, well...

He can just try again, can’t he?

[magic-hcs]

Can you give us some HCs of Papyrus, Razzle, Red and Charon with a crush please? 🥰

-owl anon

Welcome owl anon, glad to have you here!

But of course you can have some crush hcs!

Warnings: insecurities

Razzle: SF Sans

Red: UF Sans

Charon: UF Papyrus

If you like what you read, please consider dropping a comment.

Time to cast some magic and see what we’ll get! ✨✨

✨✨

Razzle: He’s his dick/teasing self but with underlying sweetness. Let me sketch you an image for a sec:

It’s raining bad and you forgot an umbrella. But he didn’t, he walks past you into the rain, stilling as he notices you standing still under the roof. He’d turn towards you with a confused expression before it dawns on him. (Brain going mile a second planning his next course of action to flirt)

He smirks.

“HAS THE HUMAN NOT TAKEN THE TIME TO WATCH THE WEATHER FORCAST BECAUSE YOU WERE IN SUCH A RUSH.” it’s not a question. He shakes his head. “TSK, TSK, TSK, SUCH A PITY…” he taps his chin, smirking even more. “AH, BUT I COULD BE MERCIFUL AND END YOUR MISERY RIGHT NOW HUMAN, BY HANDING YOU THIS.” He says as he moves to hold the umbrella above your head. Your still standing safe and dry under the roof, but Razzle’s not.

He snatches it away before you could take it, hovering it above his own head again. He didn’t seem bothered by the rain having slightly ruined his clean and orderly clothes. His focus is on you solely.

“BUT HOW COULD I LET YOU WALK AWAY LIKE THAT, THAT WOULD NOT BE VERY GENTLEMAN OF ME.”

Razzle’s gaze has turned soft. He moves to hold your hand, asking a “MAY I?” Before taking it in his. Tugging you underneath the umbrella.

He’s not letting go of your hand, holding it so gently in his.

“I WILL HUMBLY GUIDE YOU THROUGH THIS WEATHER TO YOUR HOME, MY DEAR.” Razzle barely notices the slip up, glancing towards you. The smirk has dropped into an adoring smile.

He’s tugging at your hand, making way towards your home. Walking closely next to you. You think it’s because he wants to keep both of you under the umbrella. But there’s another motivation underneath the surface…

“COME ON, BEFORE YOU GET A COLD.” Worry was evident in his voice, you were sure. But it could’ve been your imagination for he’s back to being snarky (trying to recover from the slip up) “YOU HUMANS ARE SO FEEBLE AND GET SO EASILY ILL.”

Razzle’s worries concern with with worry of looking too much into it, the possibility of wanting something he doesn’t have or get any right to. So he’s in a constant struggle of trying to woo you and being in denial. He’s insecure! He knows he’s a dick, he knows he can be overbearing, he knows he has pitch not everyone can tolerate…he just hopes you don’t mind.

Once he actually gets the courage and resilience, he’ll become more straightforward and starts planning on confessing as soon as possible. Rather get it over with if you reject him. Or treasure the time with you he would’ve otherwise wasted on pinning! His mind goes like this:

‘I have to figure out what flowers they enjoy, if they enjoy them, otherwise I will have to find something delicious. What are the nearest bouquet shops or candy stores? Oh I cannot forget to pin a place to actually confess, I will not do it infront of others. I do not want the humiliation or embarrassment I will be facing with either possibilities. The place got to be nice and soothing. Can not forget to check the weather. Oh and to confess too, would be the worst if after all the preparations I forgot to prepare that.’

Coal is his hypeman, giving him a thumbs up “go get em, bro.”

While Mastiff is sitting off at the side, enjoying the show while eating popcorn.

✨✨

Papyrus: He would be confused with himself for a second, like he’s lost, he thinks he is sick or something. Because his soul is thumping against his chest in rapid speeds and it concerns him.

But then the two of you were making a puzzle and you proudly shown him yours and suddenly he feels the urge to keep you, so intimately, he wants to hold your hands in his, and lay skelekisses on the back of it, trailing up to your arm. He wants to cook delicious food for you, and see you enjoy it. But what really gets him to realize what he’s feeling is the urge to want you to himself only, he wants you to be his, and he to be yours.

His mind goes like this:

‘OH…Oh….Oh…’

This boy is somehow very smooth, flirting in such a way your reeling thinking like “was-was…that was just as friends right?? That was to tease right? Or-or did Papyrus just flirt with me real smooth like???”

He can do it on accident but also on purpose you never know which it is.

Papyrus wants to constantly do everything with you, he wants to hang out or at least call you three times a week. Definitely screws up his strict sleeping schedule because he’s calling with you late in the night.

He plans to confess but he gets anxious and overthinks quite a lot. Many what if’s running through his head ‘what if you just wanted to stay friends and him asking for more could scare you off. Or what if he ruins the confession and he’ll humiliate himself?’

Papyrus needs a lot of pep talk from his brother before he tries to confess. It’s very romantic and cute and sweet how he confesses. He’s very fidgety as he awaits your answer.

✨✨

Red: Is panicking internally, he’s scared of these feelings. It makes him feel vulnerable and weak. He believes he doesn’t deserve this, he’ll try to distance himself from you but he’s unable to cuz you keep popping inside his mind whenever he manages to direct his attention elsewhere. Others can’t satisfy him anymore and he longs the touch of your skin.

His soul demands him to give himself to you but he tries to deny himself.

A being so perfect as you, how could he ever to stand next to you in such a light? He’s a man made solely out of imperfections and hurt, how could someone like you ever see something in him?

No, it would be best if there were no such longing feelings roaring inside of him like a pyre.

Red is denial. But who is he kidding, he won’t last long. Not with the smiles you give him, not with the trust and faith you put in him. The fleeting touches you give him.

His soul starts to whisper to him:

what if…he did deserve this?

He starts to close the distance slowly.

You haven’t run for the hills yet

He’s coming over way more often, hanging out on your couch enjoying movies with you.

you’ve accepted him until now.

He’s flirting in a teasing manner, the grin just a tad too genuine to make you completely believe it’s just a joke.

…maybe…just maybe…he did have a chance…

His touches are lasting just a tad longer, and becoming a fraction more intimate.

It is ultimately you who needs to initiate something, for the boy doesn’t dare try for the fear of having thought wrong.

✨✨

Charon: He is in this internal struggle of wanting to show off/woo you and his mind trying to guard himself. The surface may have no kill or be killed rule, but his mindset has a hard time unlearning all the behavioral patterns the cruel environment has forced him to adopt.

So he’s trying to show he got interest yet at the same time look like he’s unbothered (love of any kind is - was a luxury only the strongest could sparingly afford, he was lucky enough to have such a caring brother, there were monsters who needed to look over their shoulder constantly, even around family)

It’s a rough process of actually meaning well but coming off rather crude.

Please bear with him. He’s trying so hard.

Sometimes though, especially when in private, he has such endearing moments that show you he cares in his own little ways.

For example he demands you to practice self defense with him, he’s quite strict and he doesn’t hold back much. But you can tell he it’s his way to look out for you.

It will take a while before he gets the courage to confess. But when he does it’s very cute and sweet.

✨✨

✨✨

Thank you for participating in this spell, I hope I was to your satisfaction!

[punsmaster69]

25/FEB/20XX

light shot into my sockets from the right side. a pillow had been removed from my enclosure. i squint through the light to see frisk.

raising an eyebrow, they gestured to the pile around me on the couch.

"(migraine.)"

they slowly point to the light switch.

"(nope.)"

i point to papyrus, who's focused on a puzzle that came with the newspaper.

"(staying on.)"

"(.....I'm sure he'll understand??)"

"(he would more than understand. he'd probably make a point of assuring i was comfortable.)"

"(..And that's supposed to be a bad thing?)"

"(he's having fun with what he's doing. don't want to suddenly switch him to worry mode.)"

"(I doubt-)"

"(besides. this works fine.)"

"(well, it did before you opened a window in it.)"

shoving my face into the cushion of the couch to continue blocking out the light, i felt the pillow replaced to where it was.

a weight settled on the other end of the couch, then against the pillow and blanket cocoon of mine.

"(So, he hasn't questioned why you're doing this at all?)"

"(told him i was cold.)"

"(It's.. not cold out today.)"

"(believed it anyway.)"

"(Isn't it the opposite under there?)"

"(yeah. kinda burning up, but it's a small price to pay for darkness.)"

"(Why aren't you in your room or something??)"

"(he'd definitely know something was up.)"

"(Dude...)"

"(he would know.)"

"(I don't doubt that, but the lengths you go to just to... NOT worry him.)"

"(i wouldn't say lengths.)"

"(Heights?)"

"(c'mon-)"

"(Widths?)"

"(this is nothin'.)"

"(Well it's not less than something.)"

"(eh.)"

"(what're you up to out there?)"

"(I'm not done talking about you.)"

"(.......k.)"

"(You take something already?)"

"(the less strong kind, but it doesn't interact with my prescription ones.)"

"(Right.)"

"(Just a normal migraine, you think?)"

"(it's kinda centralized around my right eye, which...)"

i was about to sigh, then realized that would probably grab papyrus' attention.

"(i don't love, but it feels mostly normal.)"

"(What's the meter say?)"

trying to not knock over my whole pile to check, i tap the screen to see a red light.

no idea how long it's been like that for.

"(...i'm good.)"

"(let me ask again what you're up to?)"

they were silent for a moment as if wondering something else, but answered anyway.

"(Got bored, and Flowey was being annoying. So I came here.)"

"(you were so nice to him at first.)"

"(I was worried he'd leave or go on a murderous rampage again or something.)"

"(or try and take everyone's souls?)"

"(....I don't think he'll do that one again.)"

"(me either, mostly.)"

"(I'd kick his petals in again for sure.)"

"(Emotionally.)"

"(....Though, I...)"

"(..Would probably have to use SAVEs again to do that.)"

"(listen, if that petalhead went and took everyone's souls?)"

"(i give you full permission to god-mode the timeline or whatever else you need to 'emotionally kick his petals in'.)"

"(I haven't... done that in a while, actually.)"

"(loading?)"

"(Obviously not.)"

"(That would be going back on our promise.)"

"(I meant SAVING.)"

"(...hm.)"

"(Should I?)"

"(In case one of us gets in some tragic accident.)"

"(your call, kiddo.)"

"(if you meet him, tell the next sans i said that.)"

"(Let's hope I don't have to.)"

"(can i ask what's made you so sure flowey won't leave anymore?)"

"(If he wanted to, he totally could have multiple times.)"

memory of an orange sky and empty field come to mind.

"(yeah. true.)"

"(He's stormed off a couple times, but he always returns.)"

"(kid's gotten attached to you.)"

"(Not just me.)"

"(definitely to my bro, too. and tori.)"

"(In a weird way, I think he likes you too.)"

"(tolerates me for paps' sake.)"

"(Definitely part of it, but I don't know. He doesn't utterly recoil whenever you're mentioned like he used to.)"

"(heheh. getting that kind of reaction just by entering the room was pretty funny.)"

"(I'm glad he's warmed up to everyone though.)"

"('cept undyne. he's got beef with her still.)"

"(The thing with Undyne is more like rivalry.)"

"(They have more fun going at each other's throats than they admit to.)"

"(you think it'd turn into all-out war if my bro wasn't the middleman?)"

"(Papyrus is like the glue between most of this friend group.)"

they must have said his name slightly too loud.

"HM?"

"Oh-"

"Just talking about Flowey's friendships."

"FLOWERY HAS BEEN GETTING ALONG WITH EVERYONE A LITTLE MORE AS OF LATE! I'M QUITE PROUD OF HIM."

"MY KINDNESS LESSONS TO HIM HAVE BEEN CONTRIBUTING, NO DOUBT."

"For sure!"

"(undyne and flowey stop fighting when papyrus enters the room, so he must be doing something right.)"

"WAIT, IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT FLOWERY AND THE PAYOFF OF MY EXCELLENT KINDNESS TEACHINGS, THAT MEANS..."

"SANS IS ACTUALLY AWAKE UNDER THERE STILL??"

"He is indeed."

i shove my hand through some pillows in a thumbs-up, then quickly pull it back slightly to hide the monitor on my arm.

"HI SANS."

"STILL FREEZING?"

"yep."

"JEEZ."

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING SICK, ARE YOU?"

"nah. just a bit extra chilly."

"left my window open all night, woke up as an ice cube."

"THIS IS WHY I TELL YOU TO CLOSE IT BY AT TEN AT THE LATEST!!"

"YOU'LL DEFINITELY GET SICK IF YOU DON'T."

"not everything's gonna make me sick."

"THE POTENTIAL FOR IT TO IS THERE."

"𝘪𝘭𝘭 be alright. 'specially for one night."

"IS IT AT LEAST CLOSED NOW?"

"uhh..."

suddenly unable to remember whether it actually 𝘄𝗮𝘀 closed.

"yyyeah..?"

"...THAT SOUNDS VERY NON-CONFIDENT."

"I'll check."

frisk's weight disappeared from the opposite end of the couch.

"I'LL ACCOMPANY YOU. WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO GET LOST IN THE PIGSTY THAT IS SANS' ROOM."

"it's not as bad as it was. promise."

his voice was more distant this time.

"RIGHT. AND THE CLOTHES ON THE FLOOR HERE AREN'T BAD AT ALL."

"it's basically clean."

"IT IS NOT."

"definitely is."

"SAY THAT AGAIN WHEN YOU CAN UN-PILLOW CASKET YOURSELF, ICE CUBE SKELETON."

taking the opportunity where neither of them were in sight, i removed the monitor and stuffed it in my pocket.

i opened a gap in the pillow enclosure to let some fresh air in.

the thud of my window shutting could be heard. footsteps stomp down the stairs.

"whoops."

"NEED I START CLOSING IT MANUALLY AT TEN ON MY OWN?"

"i'll remember eventually after freezing myself enough."

"...AS ALWAYS, THE GREAT PAPYRUS MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY..."

"Sans, you should set an alarm so that you actually remember."

"GOOD IDEA, FRISK!"

"SANS, GIVE ME YOUR PHONE. I'M SETTING AN ALARM FOR YOU."

"ok."

"can you also set a timer while you're at it?"

"WHAT FOR?"

"so i don't sleep the rest of the day."

"Guess it was only a matter of time before he took a nap there."

"can't resist the allure of a good nap buried in cushions."

can't overheat or suffer migraines or have to deal with magic issues if i'm asleep.

"HUMAN, DO YOU WANT TO COOK SOMETHING WITH ME?"

"Yeah!!"

"WE'LL WAKE SANS UP AFTERWARDS, THEN."

——

i was woken up to macaroni with what might be considered "definitely too much cheese" in it. not like i mind, though - and after my migraine cleared up, i was far too hungry to care.

p.s.

took care of the red monitor thing by taking shortcuts around town for a while after papyrus thought i went to bed.

is it the greatest solution?

no idea. too exhausted after that to worry about.

[battlemaiden13]

Another ask that no one asked for but is happening to me right now and I have time.

How the boys would react if you got a flat tire! So far I’ve been waiting three and a half hours. I’d change it myself but first I was on a hill so I got towed and the driver of the tow truck was nice enough to call the roadside assist again for me and I’m not entirely sure I know where the Jack goes plus I already called into work saying I won’t make it so no I get to wait. Anyway enjoy.

Sans

- he probably could change it himself but isn’t in a rush so will let you call road side assistance. The next few hours are filled with tire puns as you wait for the guy to show up. He does duck off to get you food and drink and although it does take a while to get the tire changed it’s enjoyable and a really fun time

Papyrus

- knows how to change a tire and happily does it for you. It might be due to his love of sports cars but he can easily change it and provided lots of fun facts as he does. He can even tell you what caused the flat. Papyrus doesn’t know everything about cars but he knows the basics and changing a tire is absolutely apart of that.

Red

- he’s got this and is surprisingly excited about it. Technically his PHD is in engineering and mechanics and he loves fixing cars. 5 minutes and your ready to go again. It’s actually impressive at how good he is when it comes to fixing things. Of course there’s a few tire puns but he is more excited then trying to think of these.

Edge

- has no idea how to change a tire but knows his brother does so will insist on calling him above roadside assist. You might think him not knowing how to do this would hurt his pride but he respects his brother for knowing this stuff. He knows he doesn’t have a knack for fixing things so he’ll leave it to those who do and he really doesn’t mind.

Blue

- yeah he knows how to change a tire but he’s never actually had to do it before. He’s a bit clumsy about it but eventually the two of you manage to get your spare on. Even if it does take a while Blue enjoys it and feels as though it’s like a puzzle. Alternatively he’s really good company while you wait for the roadside assist making the hours seem like mere minutes.

Orange

- He probably should know how to change a tire and if he really thought about it he probably could but for all intents and purposes he doesn’t know how to change one. You ring roadside assist and it takes ages. Orange makes a bunch of puns and will go get food and drinks while you wait but really it’s just nice to have time to talk. Orange does end up asking the mechanic a bunch of questions but he’s pretty confident he could change a tire if it happened again.

Berry

- the stubborn little skeleton insists he can change it and refuses to let you call anyone. He has no idea and screws around for ages but continues to insist he can do it. You catch him watching a YouTube video on how to do the task and he does eventually get it down. Proud and very smug of himself even if it did take him an hour or two.

Syrup

- he will happily change it for you. What a perfect opportunity to be a knight in shinning armor. Of course if your not into that he’s also more than happy to just be your assistant in this matter. Either way it gets changed and Syrup gets some brownie points from you.

[my-name-is-dre]

[OLD THEORY] Papyrus is a psychopomp, or at least, a metaphor for it.

For context, I posted this almost 4 years ago back on the Undertale subreddit to which it received very minimum attention and almost no reception. I'm reposting it here with possible new evidence largely because my interest in this game is kicking back up again in anticipation for the second chapter of Deltarune.

[Original Post]

So this little theory of mine was something I've kept bouncing around in my thoughts for a while. I was inspired to conjure it after watching Gaijin Goomba's excellent video about how Sans might be a revenant, which you can watch here. Since he never did a followup video theorizing what mythical creature Papyrus might be based on, I decided to do my own digging and I think you'll be intrigued by my findings.

First things first, what is a psychopomp exactly? Well, according to the wikipedia article on them, they're described as creatures, spirits, angels, or deities in many religions whose responsibility is to escort newly-deceased souls from Earth into the afterlife. Now how is this applied concept of a grim reaper applicable to the gullible stooge of a character that is Papyrus? That connection can be made through analyzing one small component of the game in Snowdin Forest.

Known as just ball game, this somewhat forgettable moment in your puzzle Q&A testing with Papyrus actually raises a lot of deeper correlations about the knowledge Papyrus holds.

If we go by what Papyrus says, that he's the designer of all the puzzles you solve in Snowdin Forest, then Ball Game wouldn't be excluded from that portfolio; meaning Papyrus would've had to design the Ball Game puzzle and all of the elements in it. And those elements also include the descriptions given for each colored flag that you can achieve depending on how you get the snowball into the hole. And each of those flags and their descriptions correspond to the traits of each human soul that fell into the underground.

So here's the part where this gets interesting, in order for Papyrus to write down these descriptions of the human souls, he would've had to have some contact with them before in order to know their traits. That brings into the question the possibility that Papyrus could've interacted with other humans besides Frisk, or at least, have some knowledge of their abilities. This possibility, however, somewhat contradicts what is said by the bunny shopkeeper: that both the skeleton brothers recently showed up one day and just asserted themselves without anyone knowing where they came from. Unless the human souls came into the underground in a route that avoided going through Snowdin Town...

This possibility, that Papyrus interacted with the other fallen humans enough to learn about their soul traits, provides evidence that Papyrus practices a duty very similar to that of a psychopomp: to guide recently-deceased souls into afterlife, or in this context, the Underground. It's a metaphor that works really well in the plot of the game, a human falls into an underground world of monsters, relating to an underworld, and is guided by a caretaker to make sure their stay in the afterlife is safe and pleasant. And Papyrus shows this in how he ignores his responsibility to capture you and instead provides a sense of comfort in Snowdin by cooking you spaghetti and showing appreciation towards your company.

But doesn't Toriel also do this similar job to an extent? That's definitely true, but I have a hunch that this similarity in guiding lost souls into the underworld was acknowledged by Toby Fox himself in the Greenlight trailer for Undertale. In which (starting at 1:05) Papyrus asks the narrating text whether or not he's the mom for comedic effect.

But it the connections don't end at the ball game. As we theorized before, Papyrus must've interacted with the other human souls before if he knows their traits to write descriptions of them. But what this entails is a further explanation as to why Flowey seems to have a niche appreciation for Papyrus over the other monsters. Remember, what did Flowey want throughout the entire game? A soul, for he lacks one. And why is he still so interested in Papyrus if not for his nature to always be humorous and intriguing? He must know that Papyrus has knowledge of the human souls. That's why he privately talks to him, he must be pushing him to tell how to get access to the human souls so that Flowey can "become god" as he stated when he absorbed the six human souls in the neutral run.

The psychopomp connections don't just end there, you can even dig up references to historical psychopomps of ancient religions just by analyzing his very name. The name Papyrus obviously refers to the tacky typeface he speaks in, but it can also refer to the paper material papyrus. And the paper substitute was commonly used by two ancient empires: the Greek empire, and the Egyptian empire. And those two empires both had established religions in which there was also the concept of psychopomps.

There's two main religious deities I want to declare have had inspiration on Papyrus' character in Undertale. These two deities are the Greek god Hermes, and the Egyptian god Anubis

Let's start with Hermes, who is declared the messenger of the gods, the god of trade, thieves, travelers, oratory, wit, trickery, sports, athletes, border crossings, and the guide to the Underworld.

Papyrus acts as a messenger in the Underground either when it comes to telling you about how much Undyne currently wants to stab you, or delivering the news to Undyne that he just couldn't the human. He's also the most talkative when it comes to the amount of dialogue he has for his phone calls. This is also correlating to the gag of Papyrus' mailbox being empty while sans' is stuffed with unread letters.

As for thieves, travelers, and border crossings, Papyrus is stationed as a royal guard sworn to prevent any human, friend or foe, from freely coming into Snowdin without being captured, he even builds a rubbish gate that doesn't prevent you and Sans from walking through it. However, he manages to sympathize with the assailant and makes you his friend.

For oratory and wit, Papyrus is actually accounted for deceiving you with wordplay, even using reverse psychology to trick Undyne into being friends with you; doesn't hurt the connection that he's also a pretty prominent and rather loud speaker.

For trickery, that's just obvious. Papyrus is known to brag about how he has a devoted passion for puzzles and japes. Hermes was also known to outwit the gods, and Papyrus is not one shy to make fools of the Royal Guard.

Athletes? This may seem like a stretch, but Papyrus is a pretty athletic person; being able to jump really high over your head after you spare him, leaping face-first through a window unscathed, and being the proclaimed "jog boy" who turns trash-cants into trash-cans.

Hermes was also the phallic god of boundaries, and this is actually applicable with Papyrus, as in when you confess your love for him on your date, he politely refuses and says that you're already great as a friend, for he states that he cannot love you back as much as you love him.

Now for the correlations with Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god associated with mummification. the afterlife, protection of the tomb, and the appearance of having the head of a jackal. Anubis assumed many different roles in various contexts, with one of his prominent roles being a psychopomp who ushered souls into the afterlife, from which point forward their character is judged through a process called "weighing of the heart." Anubis is also associated with the Wepwawet, another Egyptian god also portrayed with a dog's head, but with gray/white fur. Anubis also had a cult dedicated to worshiping him that was located in Cynopolis. There was also a religious figure that fused both Hermes and Anubis into one being called Hermanubis.

Have you ever noticed how the design of Gaster Blasters are specifically based off of dog skulls? Well, the appearance of Anubis could've possibly been an inspiration for this design, what with the connotations of gods and mummification of the dead.

Like Anubis, Papyrus has had his job changed many times. Depending on which ending you get, he can either become a florist, a mascot, or an ambassador to monsters. But he still maintains his primary job of being a "royal guardsman."

Weighing of the heart? That's obviously a connection to Papyrus' ability to turn your heart-shaped soul blue, thus giving it the properties of gravity and weight. This could also be a reference to how Sans judges you after Papyrus guides you through the Underground, as Anubis was accompanied by Ammit, a griffon-like creature who would devour souls that failed the weighing of the heart test.

Anubis was accompanied by a dog with white fur named Wepwawet, and Papyrus is an attractor of the Annoying Dog, who always likes to annoy Papyrus by stealing his special attack, and who also conveniently has white fur.

Cynopolis, referred to as the "city of dogs" is also a likely influence on Snowdin Town, and how it has the largest population of canines monsters out of any location in the game. Although Sans is usually the one to be known in the city of gods and not Papyrus.

Hermanubis is just mentioned to tie all of these correlations together, as he's basically one big psychopomp that combines the two religious figures I think inspired Papyrus' character in Undertale.

[Updated Info]

About a year or two after this post is made, the trailer for the game's port to PS4 and Pisa Vita was released, and it was the standard fare for the most part aside from this interesting detail. At the end of the narrated introduction, we see a black monster truck called the 'Bone Cruncher' appear as its riding up a mountain of bones. The window slides down to reveal that it's the Annoying Dog driving this truck. What's fascinating about this otherwise innocuous bit is what's in the truck bed. We can identify five objects: Two statues of Anubis made to look as if they were kissing, a statue of an adorned cat whose head is made to resemble Catty, a red orb atop a pedestal, and a sarcophagus. All items are encased in gold and are meant to resemble artifacts of ancient Egypt. We can further speculate that the red orb is likely a reference to the Artifact Room, which contains a similar-looking red orb called a 'legendary artifact', which the Annoying Dog absorbs if you attempt to pick it up. Papyrus also commentates on this room by saying that "there's something about this room, but I can't quite place my finger on it", referencing what happens. The two Anubis statues could possibly be a reference to Dogamy and Dogaressa, two canine monsters depicted as lovers smooching each other in their fight. I have no possible clue what the sarcophagus could reference.

While these references are cool, what begs the question is why they're depicted as ancient Egyptian artifacts? It seems very odd and almost out of place since the connection between ancient Egypt and bones doesn't seem immediately obvious. It seems very out-of-place until you take into account everything I've stated prior. This is just another piece of plausible evidence for the idea that Papyrus's relationship with Snowdin and the Annoying Dog may specifically be an allegory to Egyptian mythology, being made all the more clever by his namesake.

The thought to conclude on this appeared to me rather violently, and I just had to get the word about this out here despite how ridiculously late it is to the party.