#In the depths of the underground (Underfell verse ~ Asgore)

[flowersofthedead]

distant looming

[noplotnostory]

Flowey in SwapFell

I consider Flowey a sort of linchpin for the events of UnderTale and pretty much every AU involving a similar backstory. So this post will discuss Asriel and Chara’s personalities in SwapFell and the effects their deaths had on their parents as well as the rest of the Underground.

First things first, this is my interpretation of the SwapFell AU, and therefore not all of the Swaps are widely-accepted Fanon.

For example:

In my headcanons, Asriel is Swapped with Chara. (The reasons for and nature of this Swap (sans any “Fell” elements) are covered in my Flowey in UnderSwap post.)

To summarize my headcanons concerning UnderSwap Flowey: The result of Asriel and Chara Swapping is Asriel being protective--perhaps to the point of possessiveness--of Chara and more prone to reacting in anger rather than openly expressing guilt or sorrow. Also, because Toriel is not an adept gardener, Golden Flowers are not particularly common in the Underground and the essence-infused flower that gets injected with Determination and becomes Flowey is a buttercup.

Now for the “Fell” influences.

I read a multichapter Sans/Reader fic on AO3 a while back that was set in the UnderTale world, but included a sentence that seemed more pertinent to UnderFell (or SwapFell, as the case may be). I don’t remember what fic this was and can’t find a link to it in my drafts, so if anyone reading this knows what fic I’m talking about I would greatly appreciate being re-informed of the title or author so that I can credit them for the idea and provide links on this post.

From what I remember, the sentence was a response to the Reader-Insert-Character asking why monsters are so open and kind to strangers even though they had every right to be bitter about the whole being-shoved-underground-by-humanity thing. The answer was that monsters had developed a sense of community which encouraged being exceedingly helpful towards everyone because intent is so powerful to them that it is actually a lot easier to harm or even kill a monster when they’re caught off-guard by a random outburst of violence, even if the individual lashing out has nothing against their accidental victim. To survive being stuffed all together in the Underground, the only alternative to near-uncompromising kindness would be everyone being on-guard all the time. You can see why UnderFell came to mind.

So monsters are angry at humanity. This is a totally understandable reaction to their situation.

In UnderTale, the area now known as the Ruins was the only populated area of the Underground before Chara fell because monsters were actively avoiding the Barrier, out of fear of what humans might do next. This is also an understandable reaction, and not necessarily one that contradicts the anger. In fact, the entire population of monsters being squeezed into such a tiny place probably made them even more irritated.

And then Chara fell.

Monster SOULs are still made of compassion and mercy, so when the Prince of Monsters found a small, injured human and started growing a little too attached to them, this particular human quickly found themselves under the slightly tsundere protection of the Royal Family. Keep in mind that this is a Swap-verse Chara, who is more passive and open than UnderTale’s Chara and likely willingly gave information on human society’s developments since monsterkind’s imprisonment--as well as Chara’s own history on the Surface. (If you subscribe to the theory that UnderTale is set in the far future and Chara is a modern-day child, then the fact that humans have largely forgotten the existence of monsters would be one of the more valuable pieces of information Chara would provide--particularly since a child is unlikely to have an in-depth understanding of governmental procedures, military technology or pathology.)

Since the composition of monster SOULs make them prone to strong attachments, the bond between Chara and the rest of the Royal Family was strong regardless of monsterkind’s stance on humanity. Meaning that they grieved just as strongly upon Chara’s death and the results of Asriel’s absorption of their SOUL went pretty much the same way it did in UnderSwap.

Toriel declared war. Asgore grieved.

But by the time Flowey was injected with Determination, Toriel had used the impotent rage and fear of monsterkind to reshape the majority of the Underground into a military dictatorship. The only region untouched by her army is the Ruins, home to several just-as-angry-and-scared-but-less-powerful-than-the-rest monsters and a still-grieving Asgore who at one point calmed down long enough to realize that oh, yeah...Chara was human...so maybe only most of them deserve annihilation?

Flowey is still angry at humanity. But with the Underground being even more hostile than he remembers, he wouldn’t be particularly happy to see Chara--or a certain red-SOULed child that eerily reminds him of Chara--be struck down by some random overzealous monster. No, if humanity falls at Toriel’s hands, he wants his dear friend to be right beside him to watch the carnage.

@popatochisssp

[flowersofthedead]

Time to loom at the dash

[flowersofthedead]

Attributes meme

“Uhm...”

-

“The horny is right.”

[flowersofthedead]

@reindeer-dad​ - "i'm just gonna say this; i find that arousing, and let's move on." Only Rudy's best buddy Asgore would know if he's joking or serious with that quip... - ((Well hello there!))

“Hah! i’m sure you do.”

After all, there was plenty to like about him physically, he was a handsome monster. Towering over most others at a staggering 14ft, The contrast of rich dark fur tipped red against the otherwise stark white of his body, muscled from long years of battle, Long tail ridged with fur, Sleek dark horns and his stunning two toned eyes in their red and blue that struck fear into his enemies

“Who doesn’t love a good strong daddy who’ll treat em’ right.”

[flowersofthedead]

@autumnisc​ -  ...... I'm tossing Maxine to your responsibility then if you're an available daddy.

“That’s for monsters only, Humans don’t get that luxury, No matter who or what they are.”

[flowersofthedead]

@anonymous -  DILF energy

“I don’t know what that means? what’s a dilf?”

-

“Not the first time i’ve heard that.”

[flowersofthedead]

Time for a HC post i thought about because i love this terrible bastard.

The reason that renegade is so widely despised by the war veterans who’ve survived the monster vs human war (Ferno, Vita, Gerson, etc) is due to the sheer propaganda he’s spread to the younger generation of monsters inside of the underground who’ve never seen the surface, most who’ve never seen humans as a means of militarizing them and inspiring most of the population to be soldiers.

It’s this same reason that ties into why the monsters of underfell are so eager, so willing to hurt and kill for power, Why they are all so eager to go back to war against humans?, it’s because the monsters don’t know a humans true strength. According to the history books, the tapestries, Even the prophecy in waterfall in their altered states have said that a monster could overwhelm a human with ease. They are ready to sacrifice themselves thinking they could lay decimation to the humans that sit above them, Spending their lives training, Becoming soldiers. Some of the best wholeheartedly believing in a cause that’ll get them all killed (Such as undyne).

Only the tiny handful of remaining few who survived the first war know the truth, They know that if they were ever to return to war with the humans, Monsters would truly find it to be the end of their civilization, Even with renegade’s declaration of absorbing the human souls makes them doubt they’d win, after all even that’s only a myth with no confirmation that the monster would become a god and even if they won....would any of them really want to live in a world emptied of those who’d inhabited it for so long?

[flowersofthedead]

Hunter was dragged before the King, forced to his knees by one of the guards. His hand are shackled together and he struggling against the restraints. Yet he stops when he finally looks up at the man on the throne.

He wasn't really a man, per se. He was a goliath of a monster. Similar to Toriel from the Ruins...

The boy knows for the most part how to deal with royalty. He bites his tongue, waiting for the ruler to speak. No sense in getting harmed for speaking out of turn. He's been through that too many times already.

Goliath in some ways was an understatement as he heard the familiar rattle of chains (wasn't it funny that even those were gold-), All it took was a raise of one large paw studded with sharp black claws to make the guards stop and grow silently still as if they were no more then mere statues in that moment.

"Release him."

two words that were a low rumbling growl in the depths of the monsters throat, Guards moving to obey his command release the shackles upon hunter's hands whether it was because hunter was believed to not be a threat (In renegade's eyes, he wasn't) or it was a show of good faith who knew (The whole kingdom knew-) despite his girth, he was whisper quiet as he rose up. Clad in neat golden armor, Paws soft on the tile floor, stepping towards hunter. It gives him a good look at his eyes, Each one was split into two colors at the slit pupil, Red and dark blue that glinted with thrumming magic and the softest crinkle of madness (But what creature wouldn't be slightly maddened in a world like this?)

and perhaps, in a display those guards would never see again. He kneeled before hunter, a small smile playing at his muzzle that seemed almost...fond.

"I apologize for their roughness, they are far to used to criminals, You may call me Asgore young one."

[flowersofthedead]

Someone a rather small, and timid looking, child skeleton wandered in here. He's just staring up at Renegade, wide-eyed behind those giant glasses of his, shaking slightly. Seems he's a bit too intimidated to say anything except stare.

It was not surprising the child was intimidated, Renegade was an absolutely massive monster and was scary to even adult monsters so it was hard to imagine why a child wouldn't be scared of him, He turns around to see who'd come in though finds himself having to look down towards the sound of light rattling and tilting his head. Eyes both red and blue in an even split down their middle seemed confused.

"..How did you get here little one?"

His weapon de-summons itself in an effort to appear slightly less intimidating and he crouches down though this doesn't do much to shift his stature, this child was rather small...

"Do you belong to one of the castle guards? i don't recall any bringing their children...I am king asgore."

[flowersofthedead]

(IT’S GOAT DAD TIME, NORMAL AND UNDERFELL, I’ll do a HC post at some point for renegade. But for now, Take his ref sheet and how i imagine he looks. Also his soul trait is spite though his magic forms Integrity to. This is the same asgore that @the-judge-of-bones Phoenix (My UF papyrus) is scared of Because he’s a dick)

[flowersofthedead]

TAG DUMP 2: Asgore’s tags

The king of the underground (Asgore),  A tired king on his throne (Main verse ~ Asgore),  The golden halls’ the golden flowers (Aesthetics ~ Asgore),  Quiet and classical (Music ~ Asgore),  She used to sing so often (Lyrics ~ Asgore),  I’ll shatter the barrier and i’ll save them (Musings ~ Asgore),  The birds chirp in his ears but he can’t find happiness (Post-game verse ~  Asgore), In the depths of the underground (Underfell verse ~ Asgore),  The king of the ruins (Underswap verse ~ Asgore),  Laughter in the darkness (Fellswap!gold verse ~ Asgore),  Cramped quarters and a warm fire (Storyshift verse ~ Asgore), 

[flowersofthedead]

@reindeer-dad​

He’s gonna remain smug about it Rudy, he won’t forget this moment either for later, Just in case

[flowersofthedead]

@anonymous - Curious what Renegade's thoughts on Chara were

“how bold of you to bring up their name.”

He didn’t often think about his kids for they had been the last good part of him, his soul seemed heavy with the LV in his chest, it was painful. Maybe that’s why he didn’t think about it, About them, He’d been a good monster once, they’d all been composed of love. He wasn’t like that anymore, Not since they’d died, Not since humans had landed that final blow on their already struggling kingdom. That both his kids had gone up with peace in their hearts, Wishing to be the best of all of them, only to have their body torn apart by humans who knew nothing but their hate. It was only reasonable he’d want to bring the hate back to them tenfold despite knowing the cost.

“Chara...was a sweetheart, They were a shy, introverted kid who didn’t always like how brash asriel could be and sometimes he made them cry. Yet i don’t think we’d ever been happier then, Toriel had always wanted more kids but as boss monsters, the kingdom had needed us and we couldn’t throw our lives away for them. So when chara came along, Injured and terrified about being found by the family they’d run from? they were our miracle.”

he’s sure they’d be afraid of him now.

[flowersofthedead]

@anonymous -  A-ayo? PEOPLE CALL YOU DADDY RENEGADE?

“What’s so wrong with that? if people want a daddy, they’ve got one right here.”

The sheer smug energy radiating off of him is astoundingly terrible, yes he’s proud of this, nobody encourage him

[noplotnostory]

Food for Thought

How Old is Papyrus? Part One

(This FfT is tagged “Reader is River Person AU”. Part Two will contain an entirely different headcanon and will be tagged “No Multiverse No AUs”.)

This headcanon actually took root in my mind when I read Chapter Five of Euryd1ce’s “Dead Ends” on AO3. This wasn’t the first time I read a fic that suggested Papyrus wasn’t just younger than Sans, but actually young himself, and yet something about a small exchange of lines in that chapter rang a bell that apparently just can’t be unrung:

“hey, it’s almost bedtime for a certain babybones….”

“STOP CALLING ME THAT, I’M A GROWNBONES!!!”

I probably would have waved off Sans’ line as teasing or just the author’s headcanon, but Papyrus’s defensive reaction reminded me of some of his interactions and behaviors in the timeline of the game. From what I understand, most of the UnderTale fandom agrees that Sans is older than Paps--although there are a few that think otherwise and some fanfic writers Swap the ages when they do the attitudes--but let’s go ahead and further examine the question of “how old is Papyrus?”.

A lot of the evidence I brought up in my Food for Thought concerning Muffet’s age also holds true for Papyrus:

Teenagers do not wear stripes. This actually stretched out into two points in Muffet’s post, but that’s because I went more in-depth there and counted the Confirmed Teens in Snowdin and the Possible Teens of HotLand separately.

He doesn’t have a job. I’m going to repeat myself just to make sure it sinks in properly: Papyrus--a WORKAHOLIC skeleton with a sweet, cheerful and energetic disposition who loves to help people and who’s older brother knows pretty much everyone everywhere in the Underground and has a generally friendly rapport with a decent amount of Snowdin residents--doesn’t have an actual job. His sentry station is made of cardboard and the “lazybones” older brother pays all the bills.

In addition to the Muffet-relevant evidence...well, for starters I’ll just go ahead and copy-paste from a list I already reblogged: “Monster Kid can’t tell if Papyrus is a kid or an adult.” More in the same vein as the line that got me thinking about this to begin with, Papyrus’s insistence to not laugh at his brother’s jokes and saying anime is for “babybones” when Undyne mentions it in his presence implies to me that he’s somewhere in that “big kids need to be cool” phase and probably not any older than the average college kid (to clarify since there’s more mature students nowadays, I’m thinking early twenties is the limit--and a bit of a stretch, at that).

Meanwhile the clothes we see him wear whenever he’s not in his Battle Body and Sans reading car magazines--and actually getting him a freakin’ car in the PaciFrisk ending--tells me he’s definitely not any younger than a high-schooler. But, like I said in the Muffet post, that might not mean anything, year-wise. We don’t know the rate skeleton monsters age at or how long their “adolescence” lasts.

Even Papyrus and Undyne’s history and interactions with each other support this theory: If Papyrus was a little kid she could have told him he was too young to join, but as a teen--even if he technically is too young at the time--that excuse wouldn’t work for long. If Papyrus was an adult with work experience, he could probably be given a job in training recruits--he has amazing control over his attacks and even Undyne concedes that his combat ability is more than enough to join the guard--or trap design and maintenance.

What does this mean for AUs?

(For the sake of my sanity, I’m going to restrict this to what I’ve seen some Headcanon Blogs refer to as the Main AUs (Fell, Swap, and the combo); partially because they tend to affect characters’ long-term attitudes and behavior rather than just their immediate situations/appearance/location.)

UnderFell has a lot of interpretations--which is probably why UF!Sans BittyBones come in two different types: Edgy and Cherry--but if we apply the idea that every AU character bears the same SOUL as the original version, it helps narrow things down. (Theoretically. I mean, what it narrows down to really depends on what traits you headcanon to be a SOUL-level part of that character’s personality rather than an environment-influenced attitude.)

(You might have noticed that much like how I always tag Undyne-related posts with “Undyne the Unpredictable” regardless of the AU, Sans is always tagged “Judge Jester” (for non-punny reasons) and Papyrus is always tagged “Stubbornly Optimistic Skeleroll” (even in AUs where the optimism is more stubborn than the optimist, like a so-called “cynic” who just can’t hide their squishy side). I tag them like this because a lot of my AU headcanons are centered around the theory that those particular traits never change in the skelebros.)

Whatever flavor you prefer your UnderFell AU--sweet, salty, tsundere or sadistic--if Papyrus is a teenager, than image is everything. In tamer versions, this probably results in what is pretty much Tale!Paps going through a “tough guys are cool” phase. The more violent ones give him even more reason to build an intimidating reputation--preservation (of himself, his brother or both of them). His willingness to part with this facade--even in private--probably varies with the intensity of the AU and/or how thoroughly his Sans managed to keep him sheltered from possible danger. Or he might keep it up just to look cool regardless. It is Papyrus.

Now, when it comes to the Swap-verses (UnderSwap, SwapFell, FellSwap), I’d like to point out that I do not think the skelebros’ ages should be Swapped along with their attitudes. EvagreenEmerald does a pretty good job of explaining why Sans might take on such a cheerful and energetic attitude, even as the older brother, in “We’ll be Magnificent” on AO3. Combining this with my headcanon that Swap!Queen Toriel is more of a pragmatist than Tale!King Asgore and probably actually taking measures to prepare for a war gives Sans even more reasons to try keep Papyrus as happy and hopeful as possible.

Some members of the UnderTale fandom take notice of Tale!Paps having trouble making friends and literally using a manual to navigate social situations and translate that into Swap!Paps having some degree of social anxiety (which I find best illustrated in a fanart by platypuspapyrus whose tumblr deactivated a while back--if you know the pic I’m talking about and where I can find it again to reblog it, please let me know) and hiding it behind the calm, laid-back attitude that was Swapped from Tale!Sans. This makes sense regardless of age group.

But if UnderSwap Papyrus is a teenager, we might see some parallel of the casual, semi-detached interactions Tale!Sans has with random citizens of various regions due to having classmates, acquaintances from before the skelebros moved to Snowdin, or just from being dragged around and introduced by his more-social(?) brother whenever his Sans is too worried to leave him alone or just wants to take him somewhere and try to cheer him up (considering how much Sans gushes over Papyrus in UnderTale, I definitely see Swap!Sans dragging his Paps around for such reasons so long as he isn’t the type to get grumpier/more depressed from having to leave the house).

Also, the whole “doesn’t have an actual job” thing probably gives him more time to keep his “protect the human” promise if "shortcuts”/teleportation is an ability Sans got from a specific experience instead of something both skelebros have. Or maybe they both have it, but it takes time and practice to master and Papyrus hasn’t reached that point. There’s a lot of room for speculation on that subject.

Because SwapFell/FellSwap is essentially a hybrid AU of the previous two, poor, poor Papyrus has some combination of the experiences, insecurities and habits of his Fell and Swap counterparts. This gives him two major goals in his day-to-day life: Look scary. Panic internally. Doing so externally may be a death sentence. Socially or otherwise, depending on the AU interpretation. Aside from that--and the other things I already discussed in the UnderFell and UnderSwap portions--I just feel the need to point out that in my headcanons, his Sans always seems to be the most (over?)protective of the Sanses. Huh.

...This post ended up a lot longer than I thought it would be.