#which was…… pretty good! actually. (badum tss) I really liked the characters and even though it was a little too cutesy at times I did | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

taeshabibi · 7 years ago

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28 Days - Part 9

Genre: Angst/Fluff/Romance

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Warnings: Major Character Death, Mentions of Depression and Suicide.

Summary: You and Jeon Jungkook despise each other and were sworn enemies. But what if Jungkook took his own life? Would you be willing to make a deal with the Devil to relive the past 28 days and prevent Jungkook’s early end?

Read: Part 1 : Part 2 : Part 3: Part 4: Part 5 : Part 6 : Part 7 : Part 8 : Part 9

Jungkook sits down on his bed and motions his hand for me to sit beside him. I stay frozen in my stance.

"Try again Playboy, I ain't never gon be on your bed," I snap. Jungkook looks at me strangely and bursts out laughing.

"You have got to relax. I hope you realize you aren't my type at all. And why would I try anything, when you have a boyfriend?” Oh yeah, I forgot Taehyung and I were fake dating.

"Bro Code are the rules. I'm just here to help. Am I not allowed to be a decent human being?"

"C'mon Jungkook, when have we been decent human beings to each other?"

"You make a fairly good point. I just feel so guilty about what happened today. I can't believe Ji Hee could be cruel to you..." he looks down in shame. “And I feel like it's all my fault. God I just want to die." He exhales a deep breath. Instinctively, I Dashi Run Run Run and sit beside him on the bed.

"No no no! Don't say that. It wasn't in your intentions for Ji Hee to hurt me!" I patted his shoulder to assure him.

"Yeah, but I'm a bystander sometimes, and it screws all the people around me over..." He then unexpectedly smiles.

"I thought you said you'd never ever sit down on the bed, next to me, a Playboy?"

I get up and tried to make up an excuse. "Uh, uh well you said you wanted to die..." I smack my head with my hand. "OH wait that's more of your dark humor?"

"Duh." He clicks his tongue and says "badum tss". "I still don't get it." I shrug my shoulders.

"You don't get a lot of things, y/n. So how about we get started on fixing your face so it doesn't get worse?"

"True..but first..." I get a chair from his desk and place it near the table of supplies which was next to his bed. "I'm using this seat, I'm not sitting on your bed."

"That's pretty pointless, considering you already sat on my bed and the chair you placed is right beside the bed.. but Do You.” He picks up the antibacterial ointment and twists the top off. He motions for me to get closer so he could put it on. Pulling back from him, I say, "I can do it myself, Jungkook, I'm not a baby."

"Are you sure you can? This ointment is fast healing, but it hurts like hell when you put it on."

Snorting, I grab the medicine from his hand. "It can't be that bad." Using my phone's camera as a mirror so I can see my face, I put a blob of ointment on my finger and place it on a cut above my upper lip. "HOLY SHITAKI MUSHROOMS! WHY IS MY FACE BURNING LIKE IT GOT STUNG BY A RADIOACTIVE WASP?" I scream and drop the antibiotic. I pull Jungkook by the collar of his shirt and our faces were so close that our noses were touching. "WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN ME?" I whined.

"Yes, this is clearly my fault. I apologize. Wish I gave you a heads up beforehand," he rolled his eyes. "Yes it is your fault. How the heck am I supposed to put this on?" I pondered.

"I could put it on you, and you could endure the pain-"

"That's an INGENIOUS IDEA! Why didn't you suggest something like that before?" I yelped.

Jungkook tousles his hand through his locks and chuckles. "I guess I finally met someone who's even more crazier than me.” I sit down on the chair so we're across from each other. He squeezes the ointment out of the container and hovers his hand above my upper lip.

"Are you ready?”

"Hell no, but let's just get this over with." He gently spreads the medicine on my upper lip. I wince, but the whole time, he's looking right into my eyes. Even though it's painful, it isn't as bad as before. His golden brown eyes gazing into my own distracts me from the pain. It's like he's my own personal adrenaline.

"Not that bad right?" he softly murmurs as he places more ointment on my cheek. His fingers are so gentle. He lingers his hand there for a few seconds after spreading the ointment. I felt that he was doing that on purpose but I don't say so.

Jungkook does the same to my other cheek and chin. Our faces were inches apart and we continuously look into each other's eyes. This wasn't my first time that someone else put cream on my face. My parents and school nurse have done the same. But it felt so intimate when Jungkook does it. Why was my heart beating so fast?

"Your hair is in front of your forehead, where you have a wound. Is it okay if I move it?" Jungkook asks for permission. I nod and he slowly pushes my hair from my forehead. But the weird part he doesn't stop. He ruffles my hair, with his fingers repetively. It felt oddly calming. He suddenly discontinues and I'm lowkey disappointed.

"Oh sorry. It's just... your hair is so soft," he apologizes and pulls his hand away. His face turns red like a tomato.

"Really? Thanks! I use a special shampoo and conditioner that my mom's hair stylist recommended to me. I can tell you the name of it if you want-"

Jungkook shakes his head. "Nah I'm good." He finally places the last of the ointment on my forehead and neck.

"Well thanks so much. I guess I'll get going now." I tried to get up but my stomach was hurting so much. But I couldn't fully stand up. Sitting back down, I grunted.

"Y/n are you okay?"

"I'm gonna be honest...no. My stomach is in ridiculous pain. It's getting worse with each second," I look down in embarrassment.

"You don't have to be so ashamed of yourself. Honestly, the fact that you're not even crying or fainted..I'm impressed," he says as he props his chin in his hand.

I perk my head up. "Really?"

"Yeah. You have a lot of pain tolerance in comparison to most guys I know. You're really strong," Jungkook admits.

I grin. "Thanks so much! So what are we gonna do about my stomach pain?"

"I guess we're gonna have to put some rubbing alcohol on it...which means you're gonna have to take your shirt off."

I back away from him. "Oh hell nah."

"Y/n it's really not that big of a deal..."

"It is a big deal to me," I cross my arms. I've never taken my shirt off in front of a guy before. Never even had my first kiss. Yeah, that may be pathetic to most people, but I only want to be intimate with a guy I cared for. And it's not like I didn't have the opportunity to get a boyfriend. Even though I'm not the most attractive person, a few boys have flirted with me before. I didn't have feelings for them so I refused their advances. And now I have to take off my shirt in front of a boy I despised a few days ago?

"Y/n I won't do anything to you..Oh, I know why you don't want to!" Jungkook chuckles and smiles to himself, knowingly. Oh dear Lord, he knows I'm a virgin.

"You'd feel like you're cheating on Taehyung."

"Hahaha yeah. I care for my boyfriend a lot, you know." I tried my best to sound like I was telling the truth.

"I get it, but you can't put the rubbing alcohol on yourself. And if we don't treat those wounds properly, you can get blood poisoning." He shrugs his shoulders like he tells this to people everyday.

"Blood poisoning?" I screech, with my eyes widening.

"Yeah. Look, you taking your top off won't have any effect on me. If it makes you feel any better, I've seen tons of girls shirtless before, so I'm immune." He covers his mouth and realizes what he just said.

"Damn, Jungkook. Really didn't need that extra not ordinary information," I scrunch my face and look away, disgusted.

Jungkook begins panicking. "That's not what I meant! The circumstances required it. You see-" I️ put my hand up in front of his face.

"I'd rather not hear about the situations that led you with being with shirtless girls."

"I'm sorry y/n for making you uncomfortable.."

"It's okay, you're human. You shouldn't be ashamed of yourself, Jungkook."

"I know I sound like a major player. I don't want you to think of any lower of me than you already do-"

"I don't think of you any lower," I say with complete honesty. His sex life is his own business.

He sighed in relief. "If it makes you feel any better, I can take my shirt off too. So you're not alone.” He raises the edge of the bottom of his shirt and I immediately shut my eyes.

"I'd rather you not, you Playboy!" I yell.

Jungkook giggles at my gullibility. "Okay, how about you lift your shirt halfway up? So it's still below your chest and we can take care of the wounds on your stomach. Sounds good?" Hmm, that actually was a decent plan. I wouldn't have to take off my entire shirt and he can take care of the main gashes. The cuts on my chest seemed minor anyways.

"Okay." I️ stand in front of him and slowly lift up my shirt above my abdomen. It was a bit difficult to, because my sweaty sweater stuck to the wounds. He looks down at my body and grimaces.

"It's not that bad right?" I ask hopefully.

"No y/n it's really bad. Your entire stomach is black, blue and red. What did they do to you?!"

"They kicked me with their high stilettos. Oh yeah, one of those annoying jocks also hit me. It was only for about fifteen minutes." I shrugged.

Jungkook looks like he's about to pass out. "You haven't had any breathing problems or lost of consciousness since then, have you?"

"Nope just exterior pain," I say, trying to not make it sound like a big deal. He calls someone on his phone and they discuss my physical state. The conversation ends and he puts it back in his pocket.

"I just talked to Jin Hyung. You know he's studying to become a doctor right?" I nod. Everyone in our school knew he's a medical prodigee. He would have skipped grades and graduated college by now, but he stayed in high school to get the normal teenage experience. Apparently, he volunteers at clinics and has saved numerous lives in the emergency room.

"Anyways, I told him your symptoms and he says you don't display signs of internal bleeding. But if you don't improve in a few days and you feel your health deteriorating, you have to let me or Jin know. Okay?" I nod again. I mean what else can I do? Go to the hospital and get my butt whooped by my mom? She'll make me move to a different school if she sees my condition. I wouldn't be able to continue on with my mission. I had to trust Jungkook whether I liked it or not. Later, I'll check google when I get home to see if I'm dying or not.

"Alright let's clean your tummy now." He obtains a few cotton pads and puts rubbing alcohol on it. This is gonna be just fun. He tenderly presses the cotton pad on my abdomen and I squirm.

"Y/n you gotta be still, or I can't help you." He places his hand on my bare back to hold me still. I was about to sass him, but he just smirks at me.

"Just go with it." I gulped nervously and he cleans my entire stomach, while his hand held onto my back. It felt strange, but oddly assuring at the same time. This was just like when we were having direct eye contact when he was cleaning my face. He distracted me from my pain. He moves his hand away and pulls down my shirt. "You're done."

"Uhh thanks," I stretch my arms. Is there anything I can say now?

"By the way, our absence in is covered in class. I got the attendance teacher to cover for us."

My eyes widen in shock. "You were able to convince Mr. Stein?" Mr. Stein was one of the scariest attendance teachers to ever exist. If a kid skips class, he haunts them by calling his parents immediately and standing outside of their classes waiting for an explanation. If the student doesn't have a believable excuse, he yells at them and sends them into detention for a week. Our school was very strict and barely anyone could get away with unexcused absences.

"Yeah, lets just say I can be very persuasive." He winks at me.

"Huh? Honestly I don't even want to know." I'm assuming it has to do with the money his family has. But how can he manipulate the system and not feel guilty?

"I try to attend all my classes in school, but sometimes I gotta help with my dad's job, so I skip. Stein covers for me always, which is nice," he says casually.

"What's your dad's occupation?"

His cheery smile becomes a cold stare. "You'd be better off not knowing." Jungkook was scaring me again.

I sigh. "It's alright, I'll just leave then. But officer I got one question for you... WHAT ARE THOSE?" I point to his Iron Man socks he was wearing indoors.

Jungkook glares at me, completely unamused. I️ cough awkwardly. "Okay I have a second question then." Jungkook raises his eyebrow. "Depending on what it is, I'll answer it."

"Why did you save me today? You were teasing me all week knowing that I wrote the lie on the board. We've pranked each other since we were kids. What was different about today that made you my savior instead of a villain?"

Jungkook pursed his lips together before finally answering. "I just dislike it when people abuse their power and harm others. It's different when I do it to you."

"Different how?" I scoffed.

"First thing, I don't ever have my friends involved in my mischief. It's all from my own resources.” I open my mouth to argue, but he's right. His shenanigans just involved him. “Second, I don't think I've ever physically hurt you. Have I?"

I have war flashbacks. No he really hasn't. Emotionally traumatized me? He hasn't done that either. He pissed me off a lot, but he's never crossed the line so far. And I've been equally terrible to him too. "I guess not."

"But what Ji Hee did...it's unacceptable. Having a bunch of minions gang up on a single girl because of an ingenious prank?" Jungkook frowned.

"Wait you thought my prank was ingenious? You liked it?"

"Hell yeah! I wouldn't say it's one of your best, but not gonna lie, I was impressed. Also, Ji Hee's face after realizing the prize wasn't real was so funny. Ahh I haven't been that entertained like that for awhile," he reminisces and then smiles. "But wait how did you know it was me?"

"I immediately recognized your bubbly handwriting. Surprised no one else did. See, you gotta be able to change up your writing. Major flaw in your pranking technique." I nod, soaking up his advice.

"I just hate people like Ji Hee who attack defenseless people. I mean if she wanted to hit you, she should have at least done a One VS One to be fair. But to be honest, she wouldn't win."

"C'mon Jungkook you know I wouldn't be able to stand a chance. She's on the school's dance team for Pete's sake." I roll my eyes.

"Yeah your body ain't got that muscle, but you have a fighter's spirit. If you actually tried, you could beat anyone," he says with sincerity.I shake my head. "Well I wouldn't be able to beat you. I mean you're a walking brick of muscle," I look down and gesture to his athletic physique.

"Excuse me, y/n did you just check me out?" Jungkook steps closer to me and cocks his eyebrow. "Uh, no, I was looking at your outfit. I love plain black shirts!"

"Sure. Anyways, back to Ji Hee. Yeah you lied. She could cry a river about it. But the fact that she had all these people holding your body, torturing you and you could do nothing to defend yourself. That's not cool." I nod. Someone who gets me.

"And the bruises and cuts...if I didn't come sooner, some parts of your body could have been permanently damaged. She probably knew. But didn't care because she was blinded by her hatred." I nod again. I didn't have anything to say. I didn't know that Jungkook had such a wise, old soul.

"I'm gonna let you on a little secret," Jungkook whispers. He looks around the room as if there were security cameras watching us. I️ inch towards him, eager to know what he was hiding. He gestures over to me, like no one else in the universe could ever know.

"I️ may enjoy destroying your life, but when anyone else attempts to, it hurts me."

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eroshiyda · 7 years ago

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Wild Theory

Today is Undertale's second anniversary. I love Undertale so much that it has been my hyperfixation ever since I played it at the beginning of 2016. I joined tumblr in May of 2016 because I saw that a lot of people were talking about Undertale on here. This is the origin of this particular blog. And now, I have planned a Special Post(TM) for this occasion.

(Warning: this post is extraordinarily long - as in, over five thousand words long - and contains many spoilers for the game. I have hidden it under a "Read More" so that it doesn't clog up people's dashboards.)

I. Preface and Special Thanks

First, though, I must tell you a story. It all started when I made my husband play Undertale, because it was so great when I played it, and I wanted to see how he would play the game. Which route would he take? (He ended up doing True Pacifist after killing the first Froggit and feeling so guilty about it that he reset). Once he finished, I asked him who his favorite character was.

His answer? Papyrus.

"Papyrus?" I thought. "But why?" I felt like he was probably the most forgettable character in the entire game, perhaps apart from Sans (note: I have never done a Bad Time route). What was it about this goofy skeleton that made my husband like him so much? Was it his malapropisms? Was it the fact that he can somehow shout in whispers? Was it his Ghost costume... er, "battle body?"

So, I decided to do some research. I started searching "Papyrus from Undertale" on Google, and most of the results I found came from the wonderful, well-functioning website which we all know and love as tumblr. He was buzzing, and it seemed a lot of people felt about Papyrus the same way my husband did.

I made an account, and the first thing I posted was a Very Profound Theory(TM) which was met with some disagreement. That "theory" is that Papyrus is Sans' older brother, and not the other way around. (Keep in mind that, at this point, I had not seen Toby Fox's tweet about Papyrus calling Sans the common word for "older brother" in Japanese, which was actually an allusion to the fact that he was translating Undertale into Japanese, but I digress.)

The reasons I posted were simple enough, and if you really want to, you can even go back and read it for yourself. I'll link to it here for you also:

https://eroshiyda.tumblr.com/post/144298607667/papyrus-is-the-older-brother [link to my first tumblr post, "Papyrus is the older brother."]

This just came from my personal experience as an older sibling, and a closer analysis of Papyrus' character during my second True Pacifist playthrough.

Through this "theory" post (and I really am hesitant to call it a "theory" now, because it's so mundane), I met a lot of friends who were also theorizing about Papyrus. However, this is not the theory that I wanted to talk about.

As I gained more and more tumblr friends who were also very interested in Undertale (mostly Papyrus in particular), I started seeing more posts about all of the weird things he does and says. Not "weird" in a derogatory way, I just mean weird as in "odd," "unusual," "eccentric," and sometimes "nonsensical" or "unpredictable."

@undertale-encyclopedia did a really good job of compiling each of the canon strings of text, so I will mainly be using that blog as a resource for my canon information (since I never played anything but True Pacifist, and therefore do not have my own screenshots of certain bits of dialogue from other routes).

https://undertale-encyclopedia.tumblr.com/ [link to undertale-encyclopedia's tumblr blog]

@jewels336 (now deactivated) also provided a masterpost for which I am eternally grateful, as even though I had seen all of the posts (and even participated in a lot of them) compiled within that master list, they were now in a very neat and accessible place. I will be referencing those posts as well, as they were a springboard for many parts of this theory, and utilize canon information. Here it is:

https://eroshiyda.tumblr.com/post/151713943787/compilation-of-mysterious-papyrus-things [link to jewels336's tumblr post, "Papyrus Masterpost!"]

@uselessundertalefacts (formerly @uselessshoelacefacts), @lefthanded-sans, and @papyrus-knows also indulged a lot of questions I originally had about Papyrus. They all made some really good analysis posts about the skelebros in general as well, so you should definitely go and check out their blogs, too.

I would also like to thank each and every one of my followers/mutuals/friends, who let me talk about Papyrus with them at some point or another. I am very much aware of how wild my theories are, so thank you for putting up with me.

Right. *deep breath* Now onto the theory.

II. Introduction

If you have not yet read @napstamuse's "Goner Theory Part III: Skeletons in the Closet," I very strongly urge you to do so right now. Here it is, for your convenience:

http://napstamuse.tumblr.com/post/139568679252/goner-theory-part-3-skeletons-in-the-closet [link to napstamuse's tumblr post, "Goner Theory Part III"]

This is the actual post which made me join tumblr, and ultimately it led me to make up this theory. In summary, it points out how little we know about Papyrus, despite his talking incessantly. In fact, it even mentions at the very end that there's only one other character in Undertale of whom we know about as little: Mystery Man.

[picture of Mystery Man sprite]

With a name like "Mystery Man," one would expect at least some intrigue surrounding such a character. We know what Mystery Man looks like:

[picture of Mystery Man, surprised]

We know what font he speaks in:

[picture of Entry 17 in capitalized Wing Dings font with no asterisks]

And are therefore able to conclude that he was a Royal Scientist, as the only other person to write "entries" is Doctor Alphys, the current Royal Scientist of the Underground:

[picture of Doctor Alphys' entries in normal font, with standard asterisks at the beginning]

and that his name was probably Wing Dings, or W. D. for short:

[picture of one of Gaster’s followers referring to him as “Doctor W. D. Gaster”]

But what does this have to do with Papyrus? Well, let's start with what we know about Papyrus.

We know that he looks like this:

[picture of Papyrus wearing a cape, battle body, and hotpants]

sometimes this:

[picture of Date Papyrus with MTT-brand Basketball Shoulder Pads, a shirt which says "Cool Dude" in all caps, shorts, and sneakers]

or even this:

[picture of Papyrus wearing a sweatband over his head and a shirt which says, "Jog Boy" on it]

We know that he likes puzzles:

[picture of Papyrus standing next to and talking about one of his puzzles]

We know that he's a good artist:

[picture of Papyrus talking about how he painted the Snowdin bridge over a rock formation]

We know that his name is Papyrus (obviously) because he is referred to as such, and talks in this font:

[picture of Papyrus saying "Nyeh heh heh!" in capitalized Papyrus font, also without the standard asterisks]

And... that's it.

The rest of this theory involves putting these clues together. Ready?

III. Appearance

Let's start with Papyrus' appearance. He's pretty tall, compared to his brother Sans. According to this chart by @kitty4915, he's approximately 6 feet and 8 inches tall:

https://kitty4915.tumblr.com/post/138141358237/yo-undertale-heights-go [link to kitty4915's tumblr post, "YO UNDERTALE HEIGHTS GO!!"]

[picture of Papyrus next to a door]

A bit strange for brothers, don't you think? One of them definitely got the short end of the stick. *badum-tss*

[picture of Sans Height Chart, 4'8"]

Anyway, I've seen it speculated that Papyrus and Sans are not "brothers" in a literal sense, but they are very close friends who sometimes call each other "brother." However, I do not think this is quite the case.

Sometimes I forget that half-siblings are a thing that exist. Half-siblings are siblings who share only one parent. How is this relevant to the skelebros? Well, @zarla-s has come up with an AU called Handplates which has one possible explanation for this: the skelebros technically share one parent, because they are both cloned from the same person. That person is, you guessed it: Royal Scientist Wing Dings Gaster.

http://zarla-s.tumblr.com/post/139516306171/okay-i-get-a-lot-of-questions-about-what-order-the [link to @zarla-s' "Handplates" AU Index post on tumblr]

Speaking of Mystery Man, we haven't analyzed his appearance next to Papyrus':

[pictures of Mystery Man sprite and Papyrus sprite next to each other]

It is said that the eyes are windows into the soul. Something people notice right away about Gaster's eyes are that they are extremely asymmetrical. His left eye is much bigger than his right.

Papyrus, on the other hand... well, both of his eyes are small, but if you look closely, you'll see that his left eye is smaller than his right, even when it is facing slightly away from view, like in his battle and date sprites. And it's more noticeable from the front, like in his overworld sprite, pictured above.

Ok, so they're kinda-sorta mirror images of each other, nothing too special. Could be a coincidence. Right? Well, sure, if this was the only thing they had in common, it could definitely be a coincidence. Never mind the fact that Papyrus seems to be raising his right eyebrow and squinting his left eye, almost as if he's compensating for them naturally being the other way around...

But why stop there? The other thing to note is that both of these skeletons are tall. Very, very tall. We already know how tall Papyrus is, but how big is Mystery Man?

[picture of Gaster Height Chart]

Wow, 7 feet and 6 inches! That is really tall. Even taller than Papyrus (by ten inches). Cool. So, if Papyrus somehow came from Gaster, then Papyrus' extreme height would make a little more sense. But again, where does that leave Sans?

[picture of Sans shrugging]

One could argue that Sans has inherited Gaster's, shall we say, roundness. That makes a little less sense, as we are not even sure exactly how "round" Gaster even is. His black "cloak" (not even sure if it's really a cloak canonically) does not necessarily represent Gaster's bodily shape - as it could be flowy, melted, or otherwise augmented by some magical law of physics. And besides, this theory doesn't really have anything to do with Sans.

IV. But Something's Missing...

However, even I must admit that something isn't quite right about the height discrepancy between Gaster and Papyrus, either. With Gaster being nearly a whole foot taller, it seems as though there's something... missing.

And, even if you take away that extra ten inches from Gaster's height, there's something else which Gaster has which Papyrus, at first glance, seems to not have.

Refer back to the pictures of Gaster and Papyrus next to each other. See the holes in Gaster's hands? And Papyrus'... well, they're covered in gloves, so I guess we'll never know. Darn.

[pictures of Papyrus saying “I know it like the back of my hand… which, since I’m always wearing gloves… I don’t know anything about!!”]

Thanks, Papyrus.

But, there is still something else missing, and this thing has nothing to do with appearances. Of course, I am referring to Wing Dings' experience as the Royal Scientist of the Underground.

Gaster even has "followers" who consider him to be important in the Underground's history long after he is gone. You can find them with certain Fun values:

[pictures of Gaster's three followers]

In contrast, Papyrus holds no important status in the Underground (unless all of the other boss monsters are killed, leaving Papyrus to take King Asgore's place in the end). But he *does* want to join the Royal Guard.

[pictures of Papyrus saying that his “lifelong dream” is joining the Royal Guard]

Why? Well, for starters, he is friends with the Royal Guard Dogs in Snowdin (which is his place of residence), as well as the Captain of the Royal Guard herself, Undyne.

[picture of Undyne]

Undyne got her job because she asked King Asgore "Fluffybuns" Dreemurr to train her in combat. They subsequently became close, and she was so well-trained that she was basically a shoo-in. (This is all canon information which you can obtain by going on the "friendship date" with Undyne in True Pacifist.) But this theory isn't about her, either.

So again, what is Papyrus' motivation for wanting to join the Royal Guard? He's not close with the King. In fact, Papyrus is never mentioned by anyone other than Flowey (who knows everything, but we'll get to that later), Undyne (arguably his only friend), and Sans (his own brother); and, at the very end of True Pacifist route, by both Toriel (who had only heard his name because of Sans) and Monster Kid. No one really knows who he is, so the reason for his wanting to join couldn't possibly be his connections.

Could it be that he wants to FIGHT? Considering that he can't even bring himself to hit Frisk in any run (regardless of how many monsters they have killed in the Underground upon meeting Papyrus), I would say that this is also rather unlikely.

Luckily for us, Papyrus hints at what it is he is really after:

[picture of Papyrus saying "Powerful, Popular, Prestigious!"]

He wants to be powerful, popular, and prestigious. Sounds fair enough, right?

Not so fast. Who in the Royal Guard is powerful, popular, and prestigious? Certainly the Royal Guard Dogs are not. And, while Undyne is undoubtedly powerful, I wouldn't really call her "popular," except with Monster Kid (and Doctor Alphys, but that is a whole other story). But Monster Kid is exactly that: a kid. A child.

[picture of Monster Kid]

Papyrus wants a child to look up to him. Part of the reason he dresses up and acts like a super hero is to appeal to children and give them a role model to emulate. This is also evident in the way he treats Frisk, who is also a child: with open, accepting arms, ready to embrace them and be their friend.

[picture of Papyrus saying "I, Papyrus, welcome you with open arms!"]

But let's tie this back into Mystery Man, shall we? The previous Royal Scientist definitely had a connection with the monarchy as well (which, as we've already established, Papyrus did not have). How else would he have gotten such an esteemed position? He may have also been extraordinarily intelligent, much like the current Royal Scientist, Doctor Alphys:

[picture of Papyrus explaining to Frisk that Doctor Alphys made an advanced puzzle]

[picture of Bratty & Catty telling Frisk that Doctor Alphys made Mettaton's robot body]

but, ultimately, W. D. Gaster met with an untimely death after having an accident of sorts:

[picture of one of Gaster's followers saying that "he fell into his creation"]

which implies that he was a savant, or someone who could be considered "book smart," but also absent-minded and accident prone. That sort of reminds me of someone else...

[pictures of Papyrus explaining Alphys' puzzle]

[picture of Papyrus getting shocked]

Anyway, there appears to be something *else* missing, on top of everything we've just covered.

V. Memories

Papyrus seems to have a... sketchy memory, to say the very least. At first glance, he appears to retain nothing:

[picture of Papyrus saying "Really though!!! That human!!! Do I know that person?” Hint: the answer is "yes."]

but, upon closer inspection, we learn that he retains quite a lot (as evidenced by his telling Frisk seemingly random trivia about nearly each and every room in the Underground over the phone):

[picture of Papyrus saying, "I have a photographic memory for phone calls!"]

and, upon even closer inspection, we see that he actually can't even remember commonly-used idioms:

[picture of Papyrus using the malapropism "smells like the moon" instead of "odor the moon," which comes from the idiom "over the moon," as pointed out by @eheufeles]

then, upon microscopic inspection, we see that there's something definitely off with Papyrus' memory. He literally remembers and even references things which do not exist (or have yet to happen) in current timelines:

[pictures of Papyrus alluding to Mettaton's EX forme – specifically, his “bishonen eyes” – while Mettaton is still in Box forme, and Undyne inadvertently confirming that his EX forme has not yet been revealed, by replying “He doesn’t even HAVE eyes!!!”]

[picture of Papyrus talking about a "Laborador... y?" which is a reference to both Endogeny and the True Lab, yet to be discovered]

[pictures of Papyrus telling Frisk that he will talk to them again, even though this has not yet been confirmed at this point in the True Pacifist route]

[picture of Papyrus telling Frisk that they "can do a little better!" even after killing every monster they have encountered up until this point]

So... what gives? How can he remember things that have not yet happened, unless he is, say, perhaps, a time traveler?

VI. Time-Space Shenanigans

Now, I know what you're thinking: "But, eroshiyda, Sans already told us that Flowey gives Papyrus predictions, so this discussion is all meaningless!"

Ok, but we also know that Sans has the ability to travel across time-space in strange ways; namely, he teleports. It's not exactly an easter egg or anything, as it's too extraordinary a phenomenon to ignore.

[pictures of Sans appearing in two places in the same room at the same time]

[picture of Papyrus asking Sans if he is, in fact, in two places at once; walking into the next room will prove that this conjecture is correct]

But the implication is that Papyrus has the same ability (because they are brothers), or at least a very similar one, as Sans' ability comes as no surprise to Papyrus.

[pictures of Papyrus asking Frisk, "Is Sans pranking you across time and space? I hate it when he does that!"]

And, in fact, there is alternate evidence of their similar abilities:

[picture of Papyrus battle in Pacifist or Neutral routes, showing blue-colored, bone-shaped magic]

[picture of Sans battle, exclusive to Bad Time route, also showing blue-colored, bone-shaped magic]

[picture of the narrator saying, “Papyrus prepares a non-bone attack, then spending a minute fixing his mistake"]

[picture of Papyrus telling Frisk "Had I only used my Special Attack, you surely would have been blasted to..." with a forlorn look on his face. This only happens when you abandon a Bad Time route by sparing Papyrus.]

[picture of Sans using Gaster Blasters during his battle with Frisk. This is only available during a Bad Time route, killing everyone else – Papyrus included.]

Of course, you cannot possibly see them both in action during the same route (Toby Fox, you clever dog), so it is difficult to compare the two without going back to play Undertale in an entirely different way than before. So, this may count as an easter egg.

What is, perhaps, a bit more of an easter egg (at least, according to my Papyrus-fixated tumblr friends), is the fact that Papyrus can - and does - manipulate time-space in his own ways:

[gif of Papyrus literally walking on air over Frisk]

[gif of Papyrus quickly transposing off of the screen without moving his body otherwise]

So, who's to say that he doesn't travel across time as well?

[picture of Gaster's first follower saying that "he shattered across time and space"]

VII. Memories, Revisited

Remember that "memory" thing I pointed out? Well, I'd like to come back to that for a bit.

There are two things which I have noticed, and I get why they've been met with resistance in the past when I brought them up. But, keep in mind all of the evidence listed above and the things we've talked about thus far. As I said, I know that these are wild theories, but please bear with me for just a little bit longer.

Ok, here's the first thing I've noticed:

[picture of Papyrus leaving Frisk with 1 HP so that he can capture them after battle; this happens no matter what, if you lose to him]

[pictures of Papyrus referring to the battle as “a terrible memory" over the phone]

[pictures describing the Bad Memory item, found in the True Lab; it depletes exactly 1 HP when consumed by Frisk]

And the second thing is this:

[pictures of Papyrus immediately recognizing Frisk as a human during a Bad Time route]

[picture of Papyrus not immediately recognizing Frisk as a human during a Pacifist route; he asks Sans if Frisk is human]

Something about HP, bad memories, and a human... Now, how could this possibly be connected?

Well, I'm afraid that I have no more canon evidence to support my theory, so now we are plunging deep into headcanon territory from here on out. If this upsets you, please just stop reading now. I'd rather you form your own headcanon, given the canon evidence so far. Perhaps yours will be more satisfying than mine is, because it's about to get kind of dark. In fact, I would hide it under another "Read More" if I could. But I can't, so I'll give you a break.

Last chance to turn back now.

By continuing to read this, you are submitting yourself to probably the most wild and ridiculous theory that has ever been made in the Undertale fandom.

VIII. Conclusion

If you're still reading this, I must confess that I do have one, tiny piece of canon information to support this theory, which has seemingly nothing to do with anything I just talked about. Here it is:

[picture of a silhouette of Toriel standing next to a human in the introduction to Undertale, with the caption "Long ago, humans and monsters lived in peace."]

[picture of a silhouette of Asgore fighting with a human in the introduction to Undertale, with the caption "They were at war."]

The king and queen were on the surface during the Monster and Human War. This implies that they knew humans at some point before they were sealed away Underground when the humans won.

So... what if Gaster, their Royal Scientist before Doctor Alphys, was a human?

A stretch, I know. But here is another tiny piece of evidence to consider:

[picture of Gaster's second follower saying, "I'm holding a piece of him right here." In their hand is what looks like a human face]

Our Mystery Man once had a face which looks strikingly human. Of course, by the time we see him, he looks more like a skeleton with two large fractures on either side of his skull. So, it makes sense that his face went missing.

Which reminds me of this:

[picture of Papyrus realizing that he doesn't have ears]

[pictures of Papyrus referencing his “hair” and “skin,” neither of which he has, since he is a skeleton]

The only reason that Papyrus could possibly "realize" that he has neither ears nor hair is if he had had them before, and only now realizes that they are gone. Remember: Papyrus has a sketchy memory. Something definitely messed with it at somewhere along the way. But what?

Well, remember the aforementioned "accident" which Royal Scientist W. D. Gaster had? I would think that being spread across time-space would be... disorienting, if you will. Parts could go missing. Pieces. Memories, physicalities, any of it.

"Wait," I hear you thinking. "Surely you're not trying to suggest that Papyrus is Gaster! That would be ludicrous!"

Wouldn't it?

"They have such different personalities!"

Don't they?

"Papyrus could never be the Royal Scientist!"

Are you sure about that?

Let me explain to you how I think it happened.

(This is the dark part. I decided not to dive right into it because I wanted to give you time to adjust to my wild theory. Once you are comfortable with the headcanon of Papyrus being Gaster, please proceed. If this is against your sensibilities, I won't hold it against you at all. You are free to stop reading this post at any time.)

Gaster was a human who lived on the surface like everyone else. He was a friend to monsters before the war. He even knew Asgore and Toriel, although Toriel took to him a bit better. Once the war broke out, everyone had to choose a side. The line was drawn between monsters and humans. Only W. D. Gaster decided to cross that line.

When the monsters were sealed Underground by a magical barrier after the humans won the war, Gaster ended up being sealed with them. Asgore and Toriel were elected the King and Queen of the Underground, and they elected Gaster to be Royal Scientist.

The magical barrier transformed Gaster as time passed. He became immortal, like a monster. He started to adopt their mannerisms, and even started to look like a monster. As his body aged, soon all that was left of him was his skeleton. Without vocal cords, he could only speak in a strange font: Wing Dings. This earned him his nickname.

Then, "The Accident" happened. I don't know exactly how, or when, but we all know that it happened. Gaster "fell into his creation," and "was shattered across time and space," according to his followers. A new Royal Scientist was needed.

In the meantime, two skeleton brothers randomly showed up in Snowdin. We get this information from an NPC in Snowdin:

[pictures of the Snowdin Shopkeeper telling Frisk that Sans and Papyrus "just showed up one day"]

Interesting.

IX. Supporting Evidence/More Headcanons

But how did the Royal Scientist Wing Dings Gaster become the Papyrus we all know and love?

(trigger warnings: mentions of violence and child death)

Let's go back to canon evidence, shall we? We are far enough into the headcanon realm that I do think it's time for some canon reminders:

[Papyrus, looking slightly worried as he says "LOVE." in all capital letters, which holds a very different meaning than lowercase "love" in the game of Undertale]

I know that Papyrus speaks in all caps all of the time, but notice how the word is separated from the rest of the sentence (even though there was definitely room to fit it in with the rest), as if to draw your attention to the word. Also, look at the expression on his face. Doesn't that look like someone who knows what LOVE stands for "Level Of ViolencE," as Sans points out to us in Judgment Hall? Because it sure does to me. Also, remember how Papyrus definitely knows that Frisk is a human during the Bad Time route, but not during a Pacifist route? Why would Papyrus make the connection between humans and violence?

There are two explanations for this.

The first is that a few sub-conscious memories of his time as Gaster were somehow retained; that is, he remembers the war between humans and monsters, much like how he remembers having hair and ears. So that is one possible explanation.

The second is perhaps the wildest headcanon you will ever hear about Papyrus.

Ready?

Ok.

*sighs*

Papyrus... has killed before.

"WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHEN? WHY? HOW?" you ask. Well, here's my theory.

Papyrus, being newly incarnated from Gaster (alongside his brother, Sans), doesn't really know much about the world around him. He has memories missing. Which ones, we're not sure of, but he's definitely... not all there, if you get me.

Now is a good time for to mention Papyrus' stats versus Sans' before I continue with this story. Have you ever noticed how Papyrus is up to twenty times stronger than Sans?

[picture of Papyrus' Pacifist stats: 20 Attack, 20 Defense]

[picture of Sans' stats: 1 Attack, 1 Defense, with the caption "*The easiest enemy."]

But Papyrus and Sans are brothers, so we would expect that they would have the same stats, which clearly isn't so.

Tying this back into what we know about LOVE, we know that with every increase of LOVE, one receives an increase in stats as well:

[pictures showing LV 1 stats, and then saying, "Your LOVE increased!” to LV 2, and the HP stat going up.]

So, the only logical explanation is that Papyrus received an increase in stats because he received an increase in LOVE. And how did this happen?

Think about the Items which Frisk finds in Snowdin: the Tough Glove and the Manly Bandanna.

[pictures of Frisk acquiring Tough Glove and Manly Bandanna in Snowdin]

To which child did they belong? The Orange SOUL.

[picture of the Photoshop Flowey battle, depicting the Orange SOUL in the box and the Tough Glove being used as a weapon against Frisk]

Which trait is attributed with Orange? Bravery.

[picture of the Ball Game in Snowdin showing the word "bravery" in orange]

What happens when an attack is Orange? You have to keep moving.

[picture of Doctor Alphys explaining how orange lasers work in Hotland]

From this canon evidence, what can we infer the Orange SOUL kid's gimmick was, if they were "brave?"

I'll tell you: they kept moving forward, no matter what.

Now, what color magic does Papyrus have?

[picture of Papyrus using blue-colored bones in battle]

What does Blue magic do? It requires you to *stand still,* or else you will get hurt.

[picture of Doggo using blue magic on Frisk's motionless, red SOUL and doing no damage]

Tell me, how is a kid who is incapable of standing still going to survive Blue magic? Simple: they won't.

I even wrote a short ficlet about it here:

https://eroshiyda.tumblr.com/post/152526581522/orange-soul-headcanon [link to my tumblr post, "Orange SOUL headcanon"]

Of course, I'd like to think that it was just an accident. But, accident or not, Papyrus killed a human child, which was enough to raise his stats to twenty times higher than what they were originally. (Remember that humans are far more powerful than monsters, so they would be worth a lot of EXecution Points.)

This is why Papyrus knows exactly how much to lower his stats during the Bad Time route. He's not trying to kill Frisk, and he knows how much force is needed for that.

[picture of Papyrus lowering his stats to 5 ATK, 5 DEF in a Bad Time route]

That's also how he knows that Frisk is going down the "wrong path" by moving closer to Papyrus in a threatening way.

[pictures of Papyrus lecturing Frisk to stop moving before battling them during a Bad Time route]

Papyrus has experience battling at least one human child. And Papyrus didn't lose, either; otherwise, he wouldn't be around anymore by the time Frisk arrives, right?

But this is why his character development is so important to the story of Undertale. This is why he's (arguably) Flowey's favorite monster in the whole Underground, long after Flowey grew tired of torturing everyone else:

[picture of Flowey at the end of a Neutral route saying, "Took me a long time to get bored of that one." Yes, he is referring to Papyrus.]

Because even after Papyrus committed the most heinous atrocity any monster could ever think of, he changed. He resolved to never FIGHT again. He solemnly swore to only use MERCY, no matter how dire the circumstances got. Even after all he had been through, he proved that people can change their ways.

[picture of Papyrus saying, "Everyone can be a great person if they try!"]

It's all about the choices you make. Because accidents happen, everyone makes mistakes, but ultimately you have a choice; do you keep going down the path of least resistance, or do you learn and grow from it enough to do the right thing, no matter how hard it gets?

X. Afterword

Thanks for reading this theory all the way through! You're a real trooper!

I know that this is a topic that doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, and I probably left out a lot of discrepancies, but I really did have fun working on this for the past year and a half. I hope you had fun reading it, too.

As I was finishing up this project, the Japanese version of Undertale came out. Some of the information gathered from gleaning nuances in the Japanese text conflicts with this theory, while some supports it; but I just didn’t get a chance to include any of it, to my dismay.

By the time you see this post, I most likely will have left tumblr. So, I cannot accept any of your thoughts about it, unfortunately.

However, if you would like to do even further research of your own, I have left behind this blog as an archive, along with another, super-secret blog I used to reblog my sources. The url is @papyrus-is-gaster. Here’s the link to it:

https://papyrus-is-gaster.tumblr.com/ [link to one of my sideblogs, called papyrus-is-gaster]

I'd like to think of this as my sort of "tumblr dissertation," and I've officially graduated and am ready to move on to other things. Undertale was a fun phase in my life, but all phases come to an end.

And, with that, this post has also (finally) come to an end as well.

Just remember,

[picture of Papyrus saying "Still! I believe in you!"]

The Great Papyrus believes in you, and so do I.

#undertale #spoilers #the great papyrus #w. d. gaster

88 notes · View notes

papyrus-is-gaster-blog · 7 years ago

Text

wild theory

(Note: this version is cross-posted from my main blog, @eroshiyda [link: https://eroshiyda.tumblr.com], so please reblog it from there, if you can.]

I. Preface and Special Thanks

His answer? Papyrus.

The reasons I posted were simple enough, and if you really want to, you can even go back and read it for yourself. I'll link to it here for you also:

https://eroshiyda.tumblr.com/post/144298607667/papyrus-is-the-older-brother [link to my first tumblr post, "Papyrus is the older brother."]

This just came from my personal experience as an older sibling, and a closer analysis of Papyrus' character during my second True Pacifist playthrough.

https://undertale-encyclopedia.tumblr.com/ [link to undertale-encyclopedia's tumblr blog]

https://eroshiyda.tumblr.com/post/151713943787/compilation-of-mysterious-papyrus-things [link to @jewels336's tumblr post, "Papyrus Masterpost!"]

Right. *deep breath* Now onto the theory.

II. Introduction

If you have not yet read @napstamuse's "Goner Theory Part III: Skeletons in the Closet," I very strongly urge you to do so right now. Here it is, for your convenience:

http://napstamuse.tumblr.com/post/139568679252/goner-theory-part-3-skeletons-in-the-closet [link to @napstamuse's tumblr post, "Goner Theory Part III"]

With a name like "Mystery Man," one would expect at least some intrigue surrounding such a character. We know what Mystery Man looks like:

[picture of Mystery Man, surprised]

We know what font he speaks in:

[picture of Entry 17 in capitalized Wing Dings font with no asterisks]

And are therefore able to conclude that he was a Royal Scientist, as the only other person to write "entries" is Doctor Alphys, the current Royal Scientist of the Underground:

[picture of one of Doctor Alphys' entries in normal font, with standard asterisk at the beginning]

and that his name was probably Wing Dings, or W. D. for short:

[picture of one of Gaster’s followers referring to him as “Doctor W. D. Gaster”]

But what does this have to do with Papyrus? Well, let's start with what we know about Papyrus.

We know that he looks like this:

[picture of Papyrus wearing a cape, battle body, and hotpants]

sometimes this:

[picture of Date Papyrus with MTT-brand Basketball Shoulder Pads, a shirt which says "Cool Dude" in all caps, shorts, and sneakers]

or even this:

[picture of Papyrus wearing a sweatband over his head and a shirt which says, "Jog Boy" on it]

We know that he likes puzzles:

[picture of Papyrus standing next to and talking about one of his puzzles]

We know that he's a good artist:

[picture of Papyrus talking about how he painted Snowdin’s bridge over a rock formation]

We know that his name is Papyrus (obviously) because he is referred to as such, and talks in this font:

[picture of Papyrus saying "Nyeh heh heh!" in capitalized Papyrus font, also without the standard asterisks]

And... that's it.

The rest of this theory involves putting these clues together. Ready?

III. Appearance

Let's start with Papyrus' appearance. He's pretty tall, compared to his brother Sans. According to this chart by @kitty4915, he's approximately 6 feet and 8 inches tall:

https://kitty4915.tumblr.com/post/138141358237/yo-undertale-heights-go [link to @kitty4915's tumblr post, "YO UNDERTALE HEIGHTS GO!!"]

[picture of Papyrus next to a door]

A bit strange for brothers, don't you think? One of them definitely got the short end of the stick. *badum-tss*

[picture of Sans Height Chart, 4'8"]

http://zarla-s.tumblr.com/post/139516306171/okay-i-get-a-lot-of-questions-about-what-order-the [link to @zarla-s' "Handplates" AU Index post on tumblr]

Speaking of Mystery Man, we haven't analyzed his appearance next to Papyrus':

[pictures of Mystery Man sprite and Papyrus sprite next to each other]

It is said that the eyes are windows into the soul. Something people notice right away about Gaster's eyes are that they are extremely asymmetrical. His left eye is much bigger than his right.

But why stop there? The other thing to note is that both of these skeletons are tall. Very, very tall. We already know how tall Papyrus is, but how big is Mystery Man?

[picture of Gaster Height Chart]

[picture of Sans shrugging]

IV. But Something's Missing...

And, even if you take away that extra ten inches from Gaster's height, there's something else which Gaster has which Papyrus, at first glance, seems to not have.

Refer back to the pictures of Gaster and Papyrus next to each other. See the holes in Gaster's hands? And Papyrus'... well, they're covered in gloves, so I guess we'll never know. Darn.

[pictures of Papyrus saying “I know it like the back of my hand… which, since I’m always wearing gloves… I don’t know anything about!!”]

Thanks, Papyrus.

But, there is still something else missing, and this thing has nothing to do with appearances. Of course, I am referring to Wing Dings' experience as the Royal Scientist of the Underground.

Gaster even has "followers" who consider him to be important in the Underground's history long after he is gone. You can find them with certain Fun values:

[pictures of Gaster's three followers]

[pictures of Papyrus saying that his “lifelong dream” is joining the Royal Guard]

Why? Well, for starters, he is friends with the Royal Guard Dogs in Snowdin (which is his place of residence), as well as the Captain of the Royal Guard herself, Undyne.

[picture of Undyne]

Luckily for us, Papyrus hints at what it is he is really after:

[picture of Papyrus saying "Powerful, Popular, Prestigious!"]

He wants to be powerful, popular, and prestigious. Sounds fair enough, right?

[picture of Monster Kid]

[picture of Papyrus saying "I, Papyrus, welcome you with open arms!"]

[picture of Papyrus explaining to Frisk that Doctor Alphys made an advanced puzzle]

[picture of Bratty & Catty telling Frisk that Doctor Alphys made Mettaton's robot body]

but, ultimately, W. D. Gaster met with an untimely death after having an accident of sorts:

[picture of one of Gaster's followers saying that "he fell into his creation"]

which implies that he was a savant, or someone who could be considered "book smart," but also absent-minded and accident prone. That sort of reminds me of someone else...

[pictures of Papyrus explaining Alphys' puzzle]

[picture of Papyrus getting shocked]

Anyway, there appears to be something *else* missing, on top of everything we've just covered.

V. Memories

Papyrus seems to have a... sketchy memory, to say the very least. At first glance, he appears to retain nothing:

[picture of Papyrus saying "Really though!!! That human!!! Do I know that person?” Hint: the answer is "yes."]

but, upon closer inspection, we learn that he retains quite a lot (as evidenced by his telling Frisk seemingly random trivia about nearly each and every room in the Underground over the phone):

[picture of Papyrus saying, "I have a photographic memory for phone calls!"]

and, upon even closer inspection, we see that he actually can't even remember commonly-used idioms:

[picture of Papyrus using the malapropism "smells like the moon" instead of "odor the moon," which comes from the idiom "over the moon"]

[picture of Papyrus talking about a "Laborador... y?" which is a reference to both Endogeny and the True Lab, yet to be discovered]

[picture of Papyrus telling Frisk that he will talk to them again, even though this has not yet been confirmed at this point in the True Pacifist route]

[picture of Papyrus telling Frisk that they "can do a little better!" even after killing every monster they have encountered up until this point]

So... what gives? How can he remember things that have not yet happened, unless he is, say, perhaps, a time traveler?

VI. Time-Space Shenanigans

Now, I know what you're thinking: "But, eroshiyda, Sans already told us that Flowey gives Papyrus predictions, so this discussion is all meaningless!"

[pictures of Sans appearing in two places in the same room at the same time]

[picture of Papyrus asking Sans if he is, in fact, in two places at once; walking into the next room will prove that this conjecture is correct]

But the implication is that Papyrus has the same ability (because they are brothers), or at least a very similar one, as Sans' ability comes as no surprise to Papyrus.

[pictures of Papyrus asking Frisk, "Is Sans pranking you across time and space? I hate it when he does that!"]

And, in fact, there is alternate evidence of their similar abilities:

[picture of Papyrus battle in Pacifist or Neutral routes, showing blue-colored, bone-shaped magic]

[picture of Sans battle, exclusive to Bad Time route, also showing blue-colored, bone-shaped magic]

[picture of Papyrus "preparing a non-bone attack, then spending a minute fixing his mistake"]

[picture of Sans using Gaster Blasters during his battle with Frisk. This is only available during a Bad Time route, killing everyone else – Papyrus included.]

What is, perhaps, a bit more of an easter egg (at least, according to my Papyrus-fixated tumblr friends), is the fact that Papyrus can - and does - manipulate time-space in his own ways:

[gif of Papyrus literally walking on air over Frisk]

[gif of Papyrus quickly transposing across the screen without moving his body otherwise]

So, who's to say that he doesn't travel across time as well?

[picture of Gaster's first follower saying that "he was shattered across time and space"]

VII. Memories, Revisited

Remember that "memory" thing I pointed out? Well, I'd like to come back to that for a bit.

Ok, here's the first thing I've noticed:

[picture of Papyrus leaving Frisk with 1 HP so that he can capture them after battle; this happens no matter what, if you lose to him]

[pictures of Papyrus referring to the battle as “a terrible memory" over the phone]

[pictures describing the Bad Memory item, found in the True Lab; it depletes exactly 1 HP when consumed by Frisk]

And the second thing is this:

[pictures of Papyrus immediately recognizing Frisk as a human during a Bad Time route]

[pictures of Papyrus not recognizing Frisk as a human during a Pacifist route]

Something about HP, bad memories, and a human... Now, how could this possibly be connected?

Last chance to turn back now.

By continuing to read this, you are submitting yourself to probably the most wild and ridiculous theory that has ever been made in the Undertale fandom.

VIII. Conclusion

[picture of a sillhouette of Toriel standing next to a human in the introduction to Undertale, with the caption "Long ago, humans and monsters lived in peace."]

[picture of a sillhouette of Asgore fighting with a human in the introduction to Undertale, with the caption "They were at war."]

The king and queen were on the surface during the Monster and Human War. This implies that they knew humans at some point before they were sealed away Underground when the humans won.

So... what if Gaster, their Royal Scientist before Doctor Alphys, was a human?

A stretch, I know. But here is another tiny piece of evidence to consider:

[picture of Gaster's second follower saying, "I'm holding a piece of him right here." In their hand is what looks like a human face]

Which reminds me of this:

[picture of Papyrus realizing that he doesn't have ears]

[pictures of Papyrus referencing his “hair” and “skin,” neither of which he has, since he is a skeleton]

"Wait," I hear you thinking. "Surely you're not trying to suggest that Papyrus is Gaster! That would be ludicrous!"

Wouldn't it?

"They have such different personalities!"

Don't they?

"Papyrus could never be the Royal Scientist!"

Are you sure about that?

Let me explain to you how I think it happened.

In the meantime, two skeleton brothers randomly showed up in Snowdin. We get this information from an NPC in Snowdin:

[pictures of the Snowdin Shopkeeper telling Frisk that Sans and Papyrus "just showed up one day"]

Interesting.

IX. Supporting Evidence/More Headcanons

But how did the Royal Scientist Wing Dings Gaster become the Papyrus we all know and love?

(trigger warnings: mentions of violence and child death)

Let's go back to canon evidence, shall we? We are far enough into the headcanon realm that I do think it's time for some canon reminders:

[Papyrus, looking slightly worried as he says "LOVE." in all capital letters, which holds a very different meaning than lowercase "love" in the game of Undertale]

I know that Papyrus speaks in all caps all of the time, but look at the expression on his face. Doesn't that look like someone who knows what LOVE stands for "Level Of ViolencE," as Sans points out to us in Judgment Hall? Because it sure does to me. Also, remember how Papyrus definitely knows that Frisk is a human during the Bad Time route, but not during a Pacifist route? Why would Papyrus make the connection between humans and violence?

There are two explanations for this.

The second is perhaps the wildest headcanon you will ever hear about Papyrus.

Ready?

Ok.

*sighs*

Papyrus... has killed before.

"WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHEN? WHY? HOW?" you ask. Well, here's my theory.

Now is a good time for to mention Papyrus' stats versus Sans' before I continue with this story. Have you ever noticed how Papyrus is up to twenty times stronger than Sans?

[picture of Papyrus' Pacifist stats: 20 Attack, 20 Defense]

[picture of Sans' stats: 1 Attack, 1 Defense, with the caption "*The easiest enemy."]

But Papyrus and Sans are brothers, so we would expect that they would have the same stats, which clearly isn't so.

Tying this back into what we know about LOVE, we know that with every increase of LOVE, one receives an increase in stats as well:

[pictures showing LV 1 stats, and then saying, "Your LOVE increased!” and the HP stat going up.]

So, the only logical explanation is that Papyrus received an increase in stats because he received an increase in LOVE. And how did this happen?

Think about the Items which Frisk finds in Snowdin: the Tough Glove and the Manly Bandanna.

[pictures of Frisk acquiring Tough Glove and Manly Bandanna in Snowdin]

To which child did they belong? The Orange SOUL.

[picture of the Photoshop Flowey battle, depicting the Orange SOUL in the box and the Tough Glove being used as a weapon against Frisk]

Which trait is attributed with Orange? Bravery.

[picture of the Ball Game in Snowdin showing the word "bravery" in orange]

What happens when an attack is Orange? You have to keep moving.

[pictures of Doctor Alphys explaining how orange lasers work in Hotland]

From this canon evidence, what can we infer the Orange SOUL kid's gimmick was, if they were "brave?"

I'll tell you: they kept moving forward, no matter what.

Now, what color magic does Papyrus have?

[picture of Papyrus using blue-colored bones in battle]

What does Blue magic do? It requires you to *stand still,* or else you will get hurt.

[picture of Doggo using blue magic on Frisk's motionless, red SOUL and doing no damage]

Tell me, how is a kid who is incapable of standing still going to survive Blue magic? Simple: they won't.

I even wrote a short ficlet about it here:

https://eroshiyda.tumblr.com/post/152526581522/orange-soul-headcanon [link to my tumblr post, "Orange SOUL headcanon"]

This is why Papyrus knows exactly how much to lower his stats during the Bad Time route. He's not trying to kill Frisk, and he knows how much force is needed for that.

[picture of Papyrus lowering his stats to 5 ATK, 5 DEF in a Bad Time route]

That's also how he knows that Frisk is going down the "wrong path" by moving closer to Papyrus in a threatening way.

[pictures of Papyrus lecturing Frisk to stop moving before battling them during a Bad Time route]

Papyrus has experience battling at least one human child. And Papyrus didn't lose, either; otherwise, he wouldn't be around anymore by the time Frisk arrives, right?

[picture of Flowey at the end of a Neutral route saying, "Took me a long time to get bored of that one."]

[picture of Papyrus saying, "Everyone can be a great person if they try!"]

X. Afterword

Thanks for reading this theory all the way through! You're a real trooper!

By the time you see this post, I most likely will have left tumblr. So, I cannot accept any of your thoughts about it, unfortunately.

And, with that, this post has also (finally) come to an end as well.

Just remember,

[picture of Papyrus saying "Still! I believe in you!"]

The Great Papyrus believes in you, and so do I.

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