ask-the-bonefire-family-blog

[ask-the-bonefire-family-blog]

[[ ao3 question submission ]]

[[ I just want you to know that I beleive in you, get some sleep and maybe then you will be able to notice how successful you will be. I know it's way too early, but I'm curious, at what age do monsters begin to use different types of magic like bullets, healing, speed and strength boosts or anything? ]]

W.D: It really depends on the individual. The typical age where one may begin to harness control of any outward magical abilities, like those you mentioned, tends to be anywhere between the ages of 8 and 10. Of course there are “late bloomers” and even those without any sort of outward abilities at all, neither of which is uncommon.

[[ ao3 question submission ]]

[[ Yay! Your kid is no longer Sans a name, I have a feeling he will be quite the Comic like Grillby and FONTastic at science like his daddy. ]]

G: .....I can’t believe they thought of all those jokes before I had a chance to.

W.D: Don’t pretend you’re not going to use those to death just like every other joke you’ve ever told.

G: Hmph... You used to think I was funny.

W.D: I still do! Just not when you’re using the same punchlines you’ve used with me a billion times before!!

G: Hey, don’t get all fired up-

W.D: Don’t-

G: -that’s my job.

W.D: ....

G: ....

W.D: I hope you’re proud of yourself.

G: Well, considering I may or may not do this to you for my own enjoyment, yes. Yes, I am.

W.D: *siiigh*

[[ ao3 question submission ]]

[[ Sorry if this is too early or like I'm pushing anything, you cross the bridge when you come to it, but have you got any ideas on how you'd like to raise him, things you'd like to teach him about morality or science, ways to keep him safe or anything? ]]

W.D: ....That’s quiet a.... broad question. I’m not sure I have any sort of answer for that...

[[ ao3 question submission ]]

[[ Now he has a body will he be staying out in the living area, or in a cot or box near your bed so you can reach him quicker? ]]

W.D: Well, during the night when we’re all sleeping he’ll likely just be in bed with me. Most monsters do this while their children are still very young for both closeness and convenience.

If, for some reason, I have to be away at night and leave him home with Grillby then we’ll have him sleep in a crib, once we’re able to get one.

As for all other times of the day, he’ll be with me whether I’m working or not. Not only because I need to monitor him closely and administer his medication, but because it would raise questions otherwise...

As I’ve explained before, until they are a year old, infant monsters are only able to “feed” on their parents’ mana energy so parents keep their children with them practically at all times until at least the first year is up.

Even though Sans is different and has to be taken care of differently, and technically anyone could do in my place, it would appear suspicious and....I don’t intend to let anyone else know the whole truth about him. Not yet anyway. So I don’t want anyone suspecting something is off and asking questions.

I’ll admit, I even briefly contemplated keeping him hidden away completely. But that’s just not realistic and it wouldn’t be fair to him even if I could pull it off.

So, starting tomorrow, he’ll be coming with me to work....and I’m hoping it all goes smoothly.

[ask-the-bonefire-family-blog]

After the initial chaos of the first day, it was almost a relief to Tenebris that the child seemed to just be content to sleep most of the time.

However, well into the evening of the second day, with the child having only woken or fussed briefly a handful of times, he was fairly certain this wasn’t exactly a positive trait.

He’d established a routine for administering the life-sustaining medication and had kept his stats stable thus far, but they hadn’t risen above the point they had started at which only concerned him more as time went on.

Perhaps the stabilization solution needed to be altered. Maybe it wasn’t potent enough now that he had manifested a body. He wasn’t too keen on testing that out though. At least not while he was still so young. It had kept him alive so far, tempting fate by changing it to force a better outcome when there may not be one didn’t seem wise. After all, maybe it would correct itself with time, once he’d grown.

Had it not been for the fact that the child seemed capable of clinging onto the fabric of his sweater whenever he held him or grasping his or Grillby’s fingers whenever placed in his small hands, all while in his sleep, or the faint yet persistent life he felt through their bond, he would have been fearing the worst. If he was aware and alert enough to do all of that maybe it wasn’t as bad as his mind was making it out to be.

Sighing, he set the monitor on the nightstand and looked down at the child in his arms. It still seemed so surreal to him. Like it was just a dream or hallucination or something.

The mattress creaked and he looked up to see that Grillby had joined him, seated opposite him at the other end of the bed. “How’s he doing?”

“Fine. I think so, anyway. I mean, nothing’s changed so... I’m just worried.”

“I know. I get it.” Grillby placed a warm hand on one of his own. “But you’ve done all you can for now. So...he’s fine.”

“Right. He’s...he’s fine.”

There was a heavy silence for a while before Grillby spoke up again.

“So... Names. Thought of any yet?”

Tenebris fought back a grimace, his hold on the child tightening involuntarily.

He hadn’t. In truth he had been avoiding thinking about names at all. He had been distancing himself from this child for the past two months of his existence to selfishly protect himself, and even though he no longer wanted to, he still felt himself being guarded.

Naming him...that was something big. Something that made this very....real. It was already real, obviously, but naming him felt...more so.

His brother seemed to pick up on his silence and, mercifully, continued without waiting for him to respond.

“I know you’ve been dealing with a lot lately. Work, of course, and now this. So I figured I’d help you out with some ideas, if you don’t mind that is.”

He hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Grillby smiled. “Alright. So, I was thinking.... Since your name, or one of them anyway, is apparently based on a typing font....”

He handed over several sheets of paper, covered in words. “I did some looking around and I found a load of other fonts. I remembered you mentioned once before that it could be a clever way for coming up with names. I know you probably weren’t thinking about naming your own kid, but still I thought it could be worth trying some of them out.”

Tenebris looked over the papers, several of the “names” already catching his eye, despite his own inhibitions. “That’s...a really good idea actually.”

“Thought you might say that. Hey, maybe it could become a family thing. You know, maybe he’ll name his own kids after fonts one day?”

“....Grillby. I just became a father and I’m trying very hard to process that, so bringing up becoming a grandparent is really not helping me do that right now.”

“Okay okay. Just sayin’... It’d be pretty neat if he did though-”

Tenebris groaned and turned his attention back to the papers. “...Did you hand copy all of these?”

“Yeah. Well, not the way they look, a lot of them look the same anyway. Basically any that seemed more name-like than the rest that weren’t necessarily typical names to begin with. They apparently have different categories for each type so I kept them grouped the same way too. Not sure it matters. Just figured I might as well keep somewhat organized.”

“Hmm...” He nodded, though he was barely listening anymore, poring over the extensive list now.

Aldus, Calisto, Garamond, Arial, Calibri, Avenir, Corbel, Eras....

Any of them could be a name. But could they be his name?

Yes, he was still apprehensive about the whole thing, but he wasn’t going to be careless about it either. That just wouldn’t be fair.

After reaching the last page he went back to the beginning to go over it again.

“It doesn’t have to be a font, Dings.” Grillby said. “If nothing there fits we can figure out-“

“Wait.” Tenebris set the papers down, pointing to the header of one of the categories. “What about...this? I mean...it’s not a specific font so much as a group name for them but, I don’t know, it seems to have a nice ring to it.”

Grillby looked at where he pointed. “Sans Serif?” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Hmm... Yeah. Yeah, it does. Definitely unique too.”

“Sans Serif Gaster. Yes, I think that just might be perfect for him.” Tenebris looked down and lightly stroked the sleeping baby’s skull. “Hello there, Sans.”

[ask-the-bonefire-family-blog]

[[ ao3 question submission ]]

[[ Dr Wing Dings Gaster Royal scientist for the kingdom of monsters, you have brought light to the underground, providing a healthy modern life for all monsters in a cave made to be a prison, you built an inter-universal communication device out of trash and have reshaped the world to match your best predictions! You are an amazing man that can do anything, I know you will make an amazing dad!!! ]]

W.D: *looks at the ground, almost bashfully, scratching the back of his skull* I can’t take all the credit for that, really. I have a whole team helping me with many of the things that have been done over the past few decades so...

Well...anyway. Thank you. I will try my best.

[ask-the-bonefire-family-blog]

[[i know that until i can draw things for this blog again it might not seem as interesting as an Art/Drawn Responses Only ask blog but i will still answer asks with written/text-style responses like i have been to the best of my ability so really feel free to send asks!! ^_^]]

[[if my computer hadn’t totally kicked the bucket suddenly on me I’d be able to draw so until I can replace it we’ll have to make do ^_^; ]]

[ask-the-bonefire-family-blog]

[[i know that until i can draw things for this blog again it might not seem as interesting as an Art/Drawn Responses Only ask blog but i will still answer asks with written/text-style responses like i have been to the best of my ability so really feel free to send asks!! ^_^]]

[[if my computer hadn’t totally kicked the bucket suddenly on me I’d be able to draw so until I can replace it we’ll have to make do ^_^; ]]

[ask-the-bonefire-family-blog]

He hadn’t wanted to do it, he had been holding out hope in case it turned out to be unnecessary after all. But after having watched the Stat Monitor for hours straight only to see the readings steadily declining, he’d had no other choice.

Now he winced, both internally and externally, as he wrapped gauze around the wailing child’s painful humerus to keep the newly inserted tubing in place. It would be good enough for now while he was still so small but eventually, when he’d grown more, he would replace it with something more secure and permanent.

“I’m sorry, little one. I know it hurts. ” He murmured, gently lifting him into his arms once more as he trained his eyes on the Monitor again, watching the readings slowly continue to stabilize. “I’m sorry. But you’ll be okay now. Shhhh...”

The whirlwind of physical and emotional feelings he felt through their bond was overwhelming and told him that the crying was not going to subside anytime soon and, for now, there didn’t seem to be any hope of soothing the child. Not that he blamed him, wincing again as he eyed the modified drill and other tools that had done the job, and remembering his own number of self-tested “injections” as well.

Good lord he felt terrible for having to do this to him.

“Grillby,” he turned to his brother, nodding to the baby in his arms, “could you maybe...take him for a bit? I, uh... I don’t think he wants me anymore right now...”

Grillby gave a sympathetic smile and took him, careful not to jostle the still-sensitive arm too much. “He’s not mad at you. He just doesn’t understand what’s happening. He’ll feel better soon, I’m sure. Especially once he finally gets to sleep.”

“Right... You’re right. I just...” He trailed off with a long yawn. “Sorry...”

“I think you should get some sleep too. It was a long night for everyone and you definitely need it.”

“I’m fine. I should keep and eye on his readings for a bit longer....make sure everything’s fine...” He yawned again and was met with a stern look from his brother.

“You’ve been up all night, Dings. It’s past noon now for, goodness sake! Seriously, you should just-“

“Wait,” Tenebris sat upright, “Noon?! I was supposed to be at the lab hours ago! Or...a meeting? Damn it I can’t remember but I need to-“

He tried to jump up from the sofa but was stopped by both Grillby’s firm grasp on his arm and sudden lightheadedness that caused the room to spin around him. “Oookay....maybe... I need to stay home for today. Maybe tomorrow too.”

“Damn right, genius.” Grillby frowned at him. “I swear, sometimes I think I need to literally tie you down to make you get enough sleep. And that’s under normal circumstances!”

Tenebris sank back into the sofa, a tired groan escaping him as he felt the exhaustion beginning to finally take hold. “Well....you know I’ve never been good at taking care of myself.”

“And that’s what I’m here for, right?”

“Heh...right.”

He found himself frowning then. He really was terrible at taking care of himself. How on earth was he going to properly take care of a child of his own now?

“Stop it.” Grillby took one of his hands, interrupting his thoughts. “I think I know what you’re thinking right now so stop. You will be a great dad, Dings. I know it.”

“How do you know? I haven’t even done anything yet.”

“You have though! You brought him home. You gave him a chance. And now he’ll be able to live and have a good life. That may not have happened if you hadn’t done that.”

Grillby reached over the side of the couch and grabbed a spare blanket, using his free arm to drape it over Tenebris. “Now get some sleep. I’ll get this little guy something to wear. I mean, I know skeletons aren’t as sensitive to temperature as other monsters but I’m sure it’ll-“

“Oh no.” Tenebris shot upright once again, his guilt from that night returning with a vengeance. “We don’t have anything for him. I never got any clothes or a crib or anything! Damn it!”

“Welllll....actually,” Grillby scratched the back of his neck and smirked, “Last week...I may have went ahead and gotten a couple things. Just just some blankets and an outfit or two. Though clearly they’re going to be way too big on him. We can worry about anything else later.”

“Oh stars, and names! I never even thought of names for him!”

“We can worry about that later too.”

“....I’m a terrible father...”

“You’re an overworked, overthinking, ball of nerves, not a terrible father. Everything’s going to be okay. Trust me. Now please just get some sleep!”

Tenebris was too worn out to argue any further. He flopped back down on the sofa with a sigh, pulling the blanket up over his head.

He trusted his brother. He just didn’t know if he trusted himself.

~~~

[[ ao3 question submission ]]

[[ AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have an amazing kid and a borne survivor who deserves all the cuddles! What will you do now? have you thought of a name? Will you 2 ever get enough sleep? ]]

~~~

Grillby smiled at the text on the screen. “I said it before and I was right, this is a tough little monster right here.”

He finished buttoning up the much too large onesie on the still fussing child and picked him up again, sparks of joy flying off of him as the little one nuzzled up against him.

“There isn’t a lot to do at the moment except let everyone get some much needed rest,” he addressed the communication bot again, “I had a short rest earlier so I’ll be fine for now. I just want to make sure Dings and the baby do too. And I know Dings didn’t think of any names....but I had a few ideas so I’ll run those by him later on once things have settled down. Maybe tomorrow.

Oh, and don’t you worry,” He pressed a kiss to the top of the infants skull, “I plan to cuddle the hell out of this new nephew of mine!”

[ask-the-bonefire-family-blog]

- Alive -

Sleep usually came easy to him after a long day of work, but lately he’d been spending most nights lying awake, unable to quiet his worried and restless mind.

This night in particular was the worst so far, it seemed.

He had been tossing and turning and staring at the ceiling for hours now, his thoughts whirling around so much he felt like his head was just full of loud static.

“Damn it all....” Throwing his blankets aside he hauled himself out of bed. What was the point of lying there if he wasn’t going to get any sleep?

He wandered down the hall and, as he entered the apartment’s sitting room, found Grillby on the sofa where he’d left him several hours before. He had apparently dozed off in the meantime, his blanket askew and halfway falling off of him with one arm dangling off the side of the sofa and resting limply on the soul-jar beside it. Once again, Grillby had offered to stay up to watch for any changes so his brother could get some sleep, even though he was exhausted himself from doing just that for the past few days.

A pang of guilt struck Tenebris at the sight before him and he hugged himself tightly.

His brother had always been something of a natural when it came to caring for and nurturing others. He’d taken in and raised him when it wasn’t even his responsibility to do so, after all. And now he had more than willingly stepped in without a second thought to fill the gap and care for this unexpected addition to the family while Tenebris barely even acknowledged it as a reality.

He could say all he liked that it was his work keeping him away and that may have been true, but he certainly didn’t try to be around as much as before. He didn’t give the soul any more thought or attention than was absolutely necessary, and yet he was the one responsible for him coming into existence in the first place. At best he had done all he could to try and prolong his survival in a clinical and guarded way that a doctor might to any number of patients, at worst he had simply been keeping his distance and waiting for what he assumed was the inevitable end of the soul’s short life.

What was wrong with him?

Quietly as he could, he crept over and adjusted the blanket to fully cover Grillby again and sat down on the floor with his back to the sofa.

He carefully slid the jar away from Grillby’s loose grasp and set it in his lap. The lopsided-looking little soul inside blinked a bit brighter and floated against the glass where he had one of his hands, sending fluttering impressions of excitement and happiness through their bond, along with the usual, persistent ache that didn’t appear to ever stop. This only served to worsen his guilt.

“You shouldn’t be so happy to see me...” He chuckled halfheartedly. “I’m surprised you even know who I am at this point... Grillby’s been more like a father to you than I have, after all.”

The soul, of course, didn’t understand his words at all and only persisted in brushing against his own soul with varying impressions of joy and contentment but now laced slightly with concern or worry, perhaps detecting Tenebris’ negative mood.

He sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m just.... I’ve been pretty terrible so far, haven’t I? I mean...you didn’t ask for this. If you’d had the choice, anyone else would have been a much better option for raising you. So I guess we owe a lot to Grillby... I know I do already. I don’t think I’d be here right now without him. Maybe you wouldn’t be either.

“I know you don’t know what I’m saying, but...I do want to say that I’m sorry for being this way. For....avoiding you, I suppose. But...I think I know why I’ve been so guarded with you. Well, I think I knew from the beginning, I just didn’t admit it.

“I’m scared. I’m scared for you. You shouldn’t have been possible, and I didn’t think you would survive for a week let alone this long. But you have and now I’m not sure whether I’m more scared that you won’t make it or more scared that you will. I...I didn’t want you to die, I still don’t, but.... This world, the Underground....I never wanted to bring a child into this.

“Children don’t deserve to be trapped down here. Nobody does...but I guess there’s not very much we can do about that, except maybe improving our current state of living a bit more. But that’s still a poor substitute for actual freedom, isn’t it? Or maybe.... maybe I’m going about things wrong. There’s a lot down here that can be improved....It’s just that I’ve been so sure I’ll find a way to get us to the surface! I feel it! And I don’t want to give up on that... but I suppose that doesn’t mean we can’t try to have better lives down here, in the meantime.”

Tenebris sighed. “I don’t know where I was going with this... I guess....I’m just sorry that I haven’t given you the attention I should. I’m sorry that I brought you into this mess. I’m sorry that I can’t promise you’ll be okay. I’m sorry that I’m so afraid of everything that comes along with you. Watching you grow up a captive, part of another generation without freedom, having to see you live with the consequences my actions, how you were created, may have on you, and worst of all....I’m afraid of losing you. I’m afraid to lose you because I know...I know that will be worse than anything else. Stars above, I just want to be able to give you a good life! And I don’t think I’m capable of that at all!”

He didn’t notice the movement of the formerly sleeping figure sliding down to sit beside him until a pair of arms wrapped around him, pulling him into a warm embrace.

They sat in silence for quiet some until Tenebris spoke again. “I didn’t want to wake you. I’m sorry.”

“Mm. ‘S fine...” Grillby yawned. “You couldn’t sleep, huh?”

“No. I’ve just...I have a lot on my mind right now.”

“So I heard.”

“...I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing or I’ll punch you.”

“Sor- ...Okay.”

“....You wanna talk about it?”

“Not at the moment, no.”

Grillby sighed and leaned back against the sofa, keeping one are around Tenebris’ shoulders. “I guess there’s not a lot I can say to make you feel better, huh?”

“Probably not...”

“....It’s all going to be okay, Dings.”

He wanted to protest. His brother always said that. He hadn’t been wrong so far....but for somebody without even a bit of Foresight it was quiet a bold statement to make.

So, he prepared to retaliate but then paused, brow bone furrowing as he peered closer at the jar in his lap.

At first he’d thought the soul’s glow had become somewhat fainter as often happened when returning to his semi-dormant, almost sleep-like state. But upon closer inspection he could see that a small cloud of gray-white particles had accumulated around it, slightly dimming the light. Almost as if absorbing the soul into itself as it became a more solid looking mass before his eyes.

It lacked any clear shape at first but was steadily growing and changing, developing a more definable form and features as it did so.

Wait.... Good lord was this really happening? Right now?!

“...Grillby...” The sudden anxiety was clear in his voice as he held up the jar, unable to muster anymore words.

Grillby blinked sleepily, silent for a moment, before his eyes widened in realization. “Oh gods!”

At that moment, a light flashed brightly from within the jar and then faded, leaving a clear view of a rather small, now fully formed skeletal figure lying on the bottom of the glass container.

Both Grillby and Tenebris sat for a long moment, completely stunned. Then, finally forcing himself to move again, Tenebris set the jar between then and removed the lid and, with shaking hands, reached inside and removed the small monster from within.

As soon as he fully removed the little one from the fluid in the jar his body twitched; small, bony hands clenched into fists, and face scrunched up in displeasure as he began to whimper and then cry.

All at once, Tenebris was struck with the horrifying realization that had never even held a baby in his life, let alone cared for one at all. And now he had one.

Oh stars, he had a child now and had absolutely no idea what the hell he was even supposed to be doing!

A warm hand in his shoulder brought him back out of his thoughts and made him jump slightly. Looking up, he saw Grillby holding out the blanket to him and without a word Tenebris took it, loosely wrapping it around the small monster.

Stars above, he was so small! His whole body fit easily in just Tenebris’ hands, and the overly large blanket made him appear smaller.

Small, fragile, weak, and, like Tenebris had feared, he could still detect that constant, sharp ache through his bond with the child that he had felt from him over the course of the past two months.

And yet... And yet he was still alive. Despite everything he had assumed, he was still alive.

“Wingdings?” Grillby’s voice grounded him once again. “You okay?”

Tenebris looked up, realizing only then that his vision had begun to blur with tears. “He’s....he’s alive.” He choked out something like a laugh that quickly became painful, shuddering sobs as he hugged the bundled up infant close to him. “He’s still alive!”

[ask-the-bonefire-family-blog]

[[ ao3 question submission ]]

[[ since it is a formula could it be bottle fed to him or made into ghost food to be absorbed over time? if it causes virtually no damage is there some way to inject monsters with food when they can't eat, like the IV drip or insulin pump? Sorry if these ideas don't make sense or ignore basic biology, I'm just trying the shotgun approach. ]]

W.D: No, those are all good ideas. I suppose great minds think alike, as they say. I’ve been going over them myself for a while.

It isn’t formula as in a food. It’s a chemical solution I came up with. I don’t believe it can be ingested. If he is the same type of monster as I am then anything that isn’t an edible substance specifically made or altered to be mana-absorbable would not react the same way or at all since we, having no real digestive systems like humans or some other monsters, ingest food differently and are often limited in what we can have. That is a whole other topic and project for another time, however.

I’ve settled on having to go the injection route. It can be tricky but I researched and found a technique that could have potential to be very successful. I’ve tried it on myself recently, obviously not using the stabilizer solution made for the soul since that could be dangerous, and it appears to be the best and only sure answer to this problem.

As you can imagine, being skeletal and therefore made of mostly solid, magic-constructed bones, an injection works differently than it would for most other beings that are more....soft, I suppose. And given that injections aren’t a common occurrence anyway among our kind when treating illness or injury I had to look to human techniques and medicine to figure it out.

Apparently, humans at some point developed a way to safely drill and inject directly into the bone of a patient when necessary.

It doesn’t sound at all pleasant, and it really isn’t, but as I stated I have attempted this technique on myself and it is indeed safe and seems to work the same way it might on a human. It helps that their skeletal structure and that of skeleton monsters is very similar, even if it’s not identical.

So, as far as I can tell right now, I have found the solution for this problem if it should come to that.

[ask-the-bonefire-family-blog]

[[ ao3 question submission ]]

[[ How does monster naming work? most names seem to be very fitting like Grillby for worlds best cook, Wing Dings for a mysterious genius who uses his hands a lot or a powerful sounding name like Asgore for the king, is it coincidence or do all monsters get names based on who they are, either for simplicity, tradition or magical protection? ]]

G: Well naming itself doesn’t have any special rules. Most parents name their children something that has some kind of meaning behind it, either from the name’s origin or meaning itself or personal meaning to the parents. It’s possible it ends up just being a coincidence that names seem fitting for most monsters.

Actually....Grillby is what I started calling myself after leaving the children’s home. I didn’t feel like I could keep going by the name I had been given by my parents....

W.D: ....It’s a good name.

G: ......

W.D: You may change your mind about it one day.

G: ....Ok.

W.D: *sigh* ....Anyway. There aren’t really rules for naming. Sometimes there’s a solid meaning behind it, like Grillby said. Other times it may just be a name that the parents like the sound of. So, there isn’t a way that naming work, it varies from monster to monster.

[[ What do you do once the body first forms? does the new monster immediately need a new energy source or direct physical contact fro emotional bonds or anything, is it anything us askers can help with from beyond the void? ]]

W.D: Well normally, since the soul and parent would be with each other at all times prior to their body manifesting anyway, they would of course be in close enough proximity to each other for the new monster to already be receiving energy from a parent. So in a normal situation, it wouldn’t even be a concern. There’s no chance of the new monster not having a parent be with them immediately, they would already be together when it happened. So at that point there’s nothing especially specific or different that needs to be done. They already have emotional contact with their parent and are certainly physically close enough to continue receiving energy from them as before.

But....this is different. Extremely. Nothing like this has ever happened so I have no information to go on, only guesses really.

As it is now, this soul hasn’t been receiving any energy from me. So, for all intents and purposes...he should not be viable. But he is.

It could be that the stabilization formula he’s kept in currently is the reason he’s alive right now, as it does contain mana among other substances. So I suppose it’s possible that he’s been able to draw mana energy from that and sustain himself that way. But if that’s the case, I’ll need to figure out some way to administer it to him after he manifests a body as I doubt applying it externally would work the way that it has been so far.

....I honestly have no idea what I’m going to do....

So, unfortunately, there’s nothing that can be done to help us with this. We’ll just....need to wait and see.

[ask-the-bonefire-family-blog]

[[ ao3 question submission ]]

[[ My question is: how common are orphan monsters and without a parent to bond o are there any problems that you had to face, sorry if this strikes a nerve. ]]

G: I think there were more orphans durning the first generation or so in the Underground than there are now. The first were, of course, children of those who fought and died in the war...and there were certainly many of them. After that, all of the orphans were those born down here. So compared to back then, orphans aren’t as common as they were....though that isn’t entirely a good thing.

W.D: Right. You see, the reason there aren’t as many orphans now as there were in the beginning is that not as many monster children have been born in recent generations. As stated before, monster reproduction is dependent greatly on maintaining a healthy emotional state. Down here, that isn’t often easy to do. Many monster don’t expect to be able to produce children at all because of this, and then if they do....they may simply fall into despair, a common cause of death down here, having to see them grow up in these dreadful conditions....

G: Or they just abandon them for whatever selfish reasons they have.

W.D: Grillby-

G: Fortunately, I was well past the age of bond-dependency so I didn’t have any problems or complications, physically at least , after they were gone. Once a monster is about a year old it’s possible for them to survive without a parent. Before that it’s close to impossible. So, no, I was fine. I don’t know about Dings’ parents or their situation, but he was about four or five when he showed up at the children’s home so he was old enough as well.

W.D: Well, yes, surviving without a parent is highly probable after the first year but there can be other adverse effects from growing up without the parent or parents who had the initial bond with you in the first place-

G: And maybe it just doesn’t matter and we don’t need to talk about this right now.

W.D: All right I was just-

G: Dings.

W.D: ....So! Change of subject then!

[[ Also, have you been getting enough sleep Grilbs? you seem to be staying up just as much as Gaster when you're cooking or helping look after the new SOUL and you can't keep BURNING the candle at both ends. *ba dum tss* ]]

G: ....*snicker*

W.D: Okay. That was a pretty good one. I’ll give you that.

G: To answer your question though...we could both do with more sleep, that’s true. Dings more than myself though.

W.D: I’m fine!

G: If anyone’s working themselves to the bone it’s him.

W.D: Oh I definitely haven’t heard that one a million times before-

G: He has the Core and other duties to deal with almost around the clock and, when he’s not here, I need to look after the soul like you said. I actually had to take this week off specifically for that since, well, it could happen any day now and somebody should be here when it does.

[ask-the-bonefire-family-blog]

[[ ao3 question submission ]]

[[ does the king or hospital keep records of everyones stats or are they kept private? ]]

W.D: Yes, health records are typically kept at the hospital if a monster has gone there for any reason.

[ask-the-bonefire-family-blog]

[[ ao3 question submission ]] [[ When a monster body forms, is it done in stages like a digestive system to get more magic, then some protection and so on or is it all at once or something else? also are there any other STATS than HP, ATK, DEF, SPEED, INV and LV/EXP, specifically ones that might affect how a child grows or what abilities might be available to them. ]]

W.D: Yes, that particular part happens all at once.

The process of soul and infant monster development is typically three separate stages.

The first is before the soul actually manifests physically, the Pre-Germination stage, which has been determined to be anywhere from one month to several.

During that period of time if the right environmental and emotional conditions are present and maintained consistently then a new soul will be likely to manifest within the soul of its parent.

The second stage is about two months. During that time the newly existing soul builds up a store of magic from the emotional and physical bond with its host parent and, if a second parent is involved, from them as well through the bond the parents have with each other. If there is only one parent it can be more taxing on their mana levels but otherwise nothing is different.

At the end of this stage the young soul will separate from the parent’s soul and the body will manifest. This begins the third stage of monster infant development which is about a year. During this stage the young monster is still able to take in magical energy from its parent or parents, or another guardian should the need arise. This is their sole...pun not intended...source of energy or mana intake for their first year. Afterwards, they are able to take in magical energy through mana-based foods and such like all monsters.

As for statistics like you mentioned, there are a few we are able to monitor in our kind such as HP, LV, mana/energy levels, and of course emotional states. I’m not familiar with the others so I don’t believe they are legitimate terminology. At least not any that I’m aware of.

[ask-the-bonefire-family-blog]

[[ ao3 question submission ]] [[ How did humans win the war? you have teleportation, infinite magic bullets, some monsters have foresight, telekinesis, longer life spans, better healing, way more HP, you don't have billions of stupid diseases, in fact, I don't know if it's true in your world but I remember reading a librarby book that said monsters don't get sick, how did they cheat their way to victory? You don't have to answer if this is a sore topic, sorry. ]] [[read more for lengthy response]]

“Magic is not the limitless all-powerful thing you assume it to be.

“I suppose I should give you all some basic monster physiology, since you seem to be unaware of how it works.”

“Monsters are made up of magic, but this isn’t necessarily something that makes them more powerful. In fact it can vary greatly from monster to monster. Humans have their own different biological components, but it’s been found that even humans, being physically stronger and more stable, aren’t always that way. There are many weaknesses among them, and they are not the same from human to human.

“I may not be an expert in human biology and anatomy but I know enough to make this analogy at least. Humans have many different factors that keep their bodies functioning, many more than monsters have. One thing that is of extreme importance is blood. The closest thing monsters have to this is what we call ‘mana’. It’s essentially just magic, but it’s more like magic concentrated and in a physical, one might even say biological, state. This is what makes up our physical forms and is how we stay alive.

“If you were to cut a human, they would bleed. The same thing happens to monsters but it’s not blood, it’s the concentrated mana that more or less holds us together.

“So monsters can be injured in the same way humans can be and have their own range or varied weaknesses, but our biggest weakness is that mana relies on our emotional as well as our physical well-being. That is something that puts us at a much greater disadvantage when it comes to weakness.

“Again, it can vary from monster to monster or even human to human, but while even negative emotions can bolster a human and drive them to press on in the face of almost certain failure, negative emotions are more likely to hinder a monster instead. Like I’ve said, this isn’t the case with every human or every monster but it is the most common outcome based on my studies.

“Humans, unlike monsters, don’t rely on pure mana or emotions to stay alive or to even come into existence in the first place. Another reason humans outnumbered us. So while their emotional state does have an effect on their physical well-being at times, it isn’t dependent on it. Following so far?”

“Although it seems we have greater abilities than humans, monsters are simply not as....physically stable.

“We also may not have the same illnesses or diseases that humans do, but we can still become sick in our own ways based on how different emotions in extreme circumstances affect us.

“Emotions are fickle things, and when your physical state is tied so directly to them, it can put you at a great disadvantage. This is where the humans had us outmatched.

“They won the war because, when it came down to it, they were stronger physically and stronger in numbers.

“I believe the only humans and monsters that could be most equally matched would be the ‘boss’ monsters and the human mages. Boss monsters are closer to humans physically and not so reliant on emotions while human mages are closer to monsters in that mana makes up a great deal of their life force and is then of course tied to their emotional state.

“That isn’t relevant to your question exactly, but I thought it important to note that as well.

“Anyway, I wouldn’t say there was any “cheating” their way to victory, especially considering there happened to be humans aiding our side as well. They were simply just stronger than us. I hope this cleared a few things up for you and I apologize if I lost you anywhere amidst my explanations.”

[ask-the-bonefire-family-blog]

W.D: It- He is...fine, as far as I’ve been able to tell. He hasn’t gotten any worse. But...he hasn’t gotten better. It seems the most I’ve been able to do is keep him stable and nothing more.

That’s one of the main issues with how he is, how he came to be. The bond we have isn’t how it should be with....with a parent-child bond.

Normally there would be something of a physical bond as well, and if that were the case I wonder if he might improve more. At the very least maybe I would have had a better sense of why exactly he isn’t improving. I don’t know.

As it is, it seems the bond is strictly emotional, more or less. Normally that’s all that remains of the parent-child bond after the soul has developed a body, when the physical bond is severed.

.....I guess I really have no idea what to do in this situation. None of this is normal so I have no real way to know what will happen or what to do...

But....he’s still here. That’s the most surprising thing. 

I can’t say if he will improve after his body forms or if he will survive that part of the process at all.... I suppose we’ll know within a couple weeks now.

[ask-the-bonefire-family-blog]

[[ ao3 question submission ]]

[[ Also what exactly are boss monsters? Where did they come from? ]]

W.D: Boss monsters, as they are called informally, are monsters who’s souls have greater strength than an average monster.

Their formal title is Greater monster, while the average monster is formally referred to as Lesser.

They live the longest out of any monster, their lifespan and magical potency is only matched by that of human mages. They appear to be virtually immortal, as far as studies have lead us to believe, and have much more physical resilience as well compared to the average, Lesser monsters.

The reason for this is that, apparently, once they’ve reached maturity they will not continue to age until they have a child. Studies have been inconclusive so there is no answer for why exactly this is the case.

In summary, their souls are far more powerful than an average monster’s. Their strength is closer to that of humans, or human mages more likely.

A Greater monster’s children will always be Greater monsters, but Lesser monsters have been known to produce Greater monster children on occasion. So there isn’t any real answer for where they come from.

Unfortunately, magic and souls are not an exact science. There is much we don’t know and likely never will.

[ask-the-bonefire-family-blog]

[[ao3 question submission]]

[[ So that means that a monster could get really sick just from being stressed or otherwise emotionally drained?? *gives Tenebris even more coffee/tea* Take care of yourself!!! You have a child now!! ]]

W.D: *nearly chokes on his coffee* I- ahem... right.

I assure you I’m taking care of myself just fine, thank you.

But you’re correct. Stress and emotional strain can cause various illnesses. The type of emotional strain determines what illness it is.

Frenzy, Delirium, and Melancholia, to name a few of the quite serious ones. There is also Mana Fatigue, which is a common one and not too serious. I believe a human equivalent to it would be a “cold” or “flu”.

[ask-the-bonefire-family-blog]

W.D: *drinking coffee* Mmm... I love coffee. It’s been quite a while since I’ve had any. It’s pretty hard to come by down here.

And...thank you. I know Grillby worries... He’s my brother after all, and I do tend to overwork myself at times.... but I have good reason to. It’s necessary, but I’m not sure he understands that...