#Nightmare's Gang

[stellocchia]

Killer being incredibly touch-starved is something I've been thinking about for a while. We know very little about monster biology, let alone Killer's who's something in between, so I'm gonna base this on the effect of touch deprivation in the real world (which, yes, is a very real and highly studied thing. And no, the people using it as an excuse for why they're 'owed sex' are still full of shit, because to the human brain the kind of touch, as long as it's positive and well received, doesn't make a difference).

Killer, for his whole time with both Chara and Nightmare, is deprived of any positive touch. Nightmare stabbing him and forcefully manipulating his soul certainly doesn't count as positive, and most Chara did was cut him up for fun (and out of curiosity).

There is a chance for him to receive some affection in an expanded Nightmare's gang situation, as I refuse to believe that people stuck in such awful conditions together would not develop a certain degree of closeness. Still, they live under Nightmare, so they probably cannot afford to indulge in any form of comfort too much. And I don't doubt that, in such a tense situation, fights would also break out often. Meaning he'd most likely get more gaster blasters to the face than pats on the back.

With that out of the way, here are some of the symptoms Killer may experience:

Overwhelming loneliness

Strong cravings for affection

Feelings of depression

Anxiety

Heightened levels of Stress

Difficulty sleeping

Attachment avoidance patterns

He'd also most likely do things to emulate the feeling of touch like cuddling his cats a lot, laying under whatever heavy thing he can find, and taking hot showers/baths. After all, this is Killer we're talking about. These are a lot of feelings and uncomfortable sensations that are entirely out of his control, he's definitely gonna try and reign them in.

I do think that, of course, this would affect every Stage differently. And they'd probably go about dealing with it differently.

Stage 1 would have a conflicted relationship with touch. On one hand, it's hard for him to keep from showing the discomfort he's feeling due to the touch deprivation. On the other, he also always struggles with feelings of guilt regarding the fact that, in his mind, he put himself in this situation. He probably wouldn't think he deserves to feel better. And definitely wouldn't outright ask for a hug or to hold hands unless he was desperate.

He'd probably try to deal with it quietly. Probably running the shower as hot as it can get and hoping it gets rid of the itch in his bones. He has probably begged both Chara and Nightmare for affection before, though I doubt that ended well. I think Chara just pushed him away in Disgust, Nightmare probably made him regret asking.

I feel like later on with Color he's probably gonna need constant reassurances and frequent gentle reminders that he can ask for a hug whenever. And, if that feels like too much, he can sit close to Color, shoulder to shoulder. They can hold hands, and, when that feels like too much, they can interlock pinkies. There are ways for them to navigate around this. And I think Color would be happy to help from the get-go with him.

Meanwhile, with Stage 2 I've always felt like they probably dislike touch (something something they don't allow themselves to show any degree of vulnerability and never let go of control. Both things that would happen if they indulge in any amount of physical affection). To be clear, this does not mean that they're immune to the consequences of touch deprivation, it just means that dealing with them will be even harder for them.

During their time with Chara and Nightmare they'd probably use a lot of the good old "gaslighting themselves into thinking that everything is okay" method. Similarly to how they did with convincing themselves that they actually enjoy being hurt on the regular, eventually, they'd probably start believing it. Also, they'd be highly reliant on their cats if they have any around. Cuddling them does soothe a lot of the symptoms for quite a while, and those little balls of fur at least are not gonna backstab them.

Even once they're with Color, I still feel like Stage 2 would rather cuddle with animals than with other monsters or humans. They'd just be far more free to do so without the threat of Nightmare killing those little critters hanging over their head. Also! A lot of types of dance and stuff like theater can help stave off the touch starvation in a way that may feel more comfortable to them. In a lot of those situations, there's a ton of touch involved, but as they'd be able to remain professional about it, it would probably feel less like giving up control and showing weakness than the alternative of being physically affectionate with Color.

Stage 3 is an interesting one. I feel like it would be the most open to admitting (at least to itself) that they have an issue. However, to solve said issue would mean putting the body in danger and that's not something it's willing to do.

Still, it would try to mitigate the discomfort as much as it can. Trying to find soft things to wrap the body up tightly with. Trying to find small places where it can feel somewhat compressed. It would never try to ask either Nightmare or Chara for help. Ever. It hates them with a burning passion and, besides, it's fully aware that, whatever is wrong with them, is most likely the fault of those two.

It probably also would regard Color with distrust at first, but, eventually, as it comes to trust him, it probably would be more than happy to get some cuddles in with him. I do think its favorite thing would be to sleep all curled up around one another in whatever safe den it has built. And, of course, as it builds trust with more people, those people are gonna be let in too. Though that's gonna take time, because for Stage 3 to trust anyone, Stage 2 and Stage 1 have to trust them first.

Stage 4 my boy... it's suffering. Not only can it not remember any instances of kindness, however rare, the other 3 may have received, but it is also the one that would struggle the most receiving any kind of genuine help even after running away with Color. And, before that, it basically just gets treated like a dog. Though, no matter how much he'd want it, the treat for a job well done is never a hug or a pat on the head for it. Usually, it's just it being allowed some basic necessities like water, food, maybe even sleep if things went particularly well.

And it wouldn't try to soothe any of its needs by itself. Just like it doesn't eat, drink, or sleep if it's not explicitly allowed. If Nightmare or Chara wanted it to get a hot shower or some cuddles from its feline friends, they would have said it. Since they didn't clearly it's against the will of the Players, as they're the Players' mouthpieces. The same would go for Color not saying anything.

And, here's the thing, Color would struggle to show kindness to Stage 4 at first. Both because it starts off as hostile as it doesn't initially recognize him as an owner and because there is something fundamentally unsettling about a being so divorced from humanity and monsterkind wearing the face of his friend. Stage 4's biggest downfall is the fact that it is so other that even the kindest souls would struggle to not dehumanize it. It was created to be a tool and it doesn't recognize itself as anything more than that, so others often fall into the trap of doing the same.

Anyway, Stage 4 would straight-up weep the first time it gets a hug. And, seeing that, Color would undoubtedly feel like shit for ever thinking that Stage 4 wasn't just as lonely, hurt, and deserving of kindness as the other Stages.

[mikimakiboo]

Nightmare's blind spot

So we all know how Nightmare has a massive blind spot due to his missing right eye

And I thought

What if the mtt took adventage of it ? Not to attack him but to play pranks on him

Of course they noticed immediately that he has a blind spot but at first they didn't do anything because Nightmare is their boss and is stronger than them, but the moment they started getting closer and the line between boss and employee became blurrier ? Nightmare was in for a loooot of pranks

Now why doesn't Nightmare use his magic to detect their aura and feelings ? Because first he feels safe enough in his castle not to use it, and because Killer doesn't have an aura when on stage 2, Dust is surprisingly good at hiding his, and Horror's is incredibly weak to help him hunt and be sneaky, so even if he wanted to he would have a hard time detecting them through the aura

Now

The pranks

The mtt would come up to him from his right side sooo slowly and silently just so they can be like "boo", not even loudly, and see Nightmare fucking scream EACH TIME and it never gets old, sometimes they don't even speak they just poke him and watch him have multiple heart attacks at once

Or sometimes, even funnier, when talking to Nightmare on his left side, the one he sees from, they would slowly pass an arm around his shoulders, holding one of those rubber chickens in their hand, and when it is just next to his face, press it

It never fails to work and they love it

Nightmare hates it tho

[crescentmoonsandroses]

Dust, Killer, and Horror would all be able to play the trombone, since all three of them used to be Classic.

IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES.

[swiftmitsu]

game night with the kids ✨

[cakesmelons]

Downside to being the only Star Sans that can’t universe hop.... 

(I feel like this would be set when Blue first joins so Dream and Ink forget they need to take him with one of them)

[pigeonstab]

Gonna stop here for the night, I'll finish it whenever

I think I might like the sketches better but eh

[thechildoffandoms95]

i know tumblr is gonna eat up my image quality, but here's another wip for the animation i've been workin at. edit: more of him

nm belongs to jokublog

[triglycercule]

do you think that the bad sanses and the star sanses have whole ass fanclubs that follow their every move

the fanclubs are made up OCs and simps and self inserts and people who are just obsessed with these characters. they cannot leave their respective aus because the fans will find them. both teams regularly have stalker fans breaking into their homes. there are whole communities on the undernet dedicated to the teams. as soon as they are spotted in the multiverse update accounts tweet about whete they were spotted. it's like theyre multiversal celebrities except it's a protectors of aus, 2 emotion guardians who have beef, and a few random mortals that these immortal people dragged along

for the star sanses its a lot more freaky and scary. swap had to get ink to find a way to keep his underswap protected from all the people who would swarm the au and bother him in his day to day life. dream struggles with being able to help the people in danger who actually need help because every tine he enters an au people always swarm him for his autograph and photos (he has it the WORST with his positive aura making more people like him too 😭😭😭) ink tries to do this job but then he just gets distracted by the swarm of people gawking at the fact that OMG the protector of aus is here holy crap!!! and then he has to find a clever way to escape the swarm. it's really not fun for the stars

the bad sanses on the other hand have come up with a way to (kinda) avoid the fans. nightmare sends out the gang to go on missions with costumes and secret identities and stuff. 50% of the time missions fail because the costums get ruined or the fans are just smart enough to figure out the bad sanses are here 💀 killer started off enjoying all the attention but after a good month of thr fans swarming him it started to piss him off. dust tries to teleport away every time a fan spots him but thenANOTHER fan sees him. it's like a sick game of hide and seek for him. horror immediately gives up on the mission as soon as he's spotted because theres no point. nightmare has given all of them free reign to kill thhose stupid fans (even if it gets rid of negativity he CANT PROGRESS WITH HIS EVIL PLANS WHEN THERES LITERAL WALLS OF PEOPLE STOPPING HIM)

it's misery for all of them

[stellocchia]

The fact that, oftentimes, even when the Sanses involved in all the Multiverse stuff still have living brothers they're supposedly attached to, those brothers still become irrelevant to their story has always saddened me a bit.

Especially because the Papyruses have the potential to be just as interesting as their brothers.

Like, imagine being Horrortale Paps and your brother gets taken away. Your brother who is the only one holding the little community you live in together. Your brother who is the one making sure that, despite the food scarcity, you still got something in your plate every day.

You worry endlessly about him. You spend days hoping he's still alive, holding fiercely onto that hope that has always defined you. And nobody else believes it. Sans had been starving himself for years, he was bound to drop dead at some point, they say. They all knew it would happen, and they didn't know how to comfort Papyrus when he still refused to believe it.

Papyrus learns to be a leader in his brother's absence. He learns to take charge, become more assertive, and stand up to Undyne. And yet, through it all, he still has the strength to remain kind. He still follows his passion for puzzles. He still cooks any chance he gets. His brother isn't there to act as a buffer between him and the world, so he has to adapt, but adapting doesn't mean giving up everything that is at his core.

And then, one day, Sans comes back. And he has some friends with him. He goes by Horror now, and he's got a bunch of new traumas to deal with. And his friends do too. Killer, Cross, Dust, they're all huddled together, hesitant to approach. Killer's putting on a front, he's all sharp edges and deceiving smiles, Cross is being all formal, he's walking on eggshells constantly, as if Papyrus would hurt him if he dared to step over a line that isn't even there, and Dust doesn't say a word. He doesn't even look at Papyrus.

Papyrus welcomes them all to his home. Horror seems uneasy at first. Papyrus is fine after all. He survived and he and Snowdin are both thriving as much as they can. For a bit, their chat is awkward and stilted, but, eventually, Horror asks: "You don't need me here anymore, do ya bro?". And Papyrus, who never gave up hope and never changed any more than he needed reassures him: "I don't need you, but I would like it if you stayed. I would like to know you're safe" and he's as loud as he's ever been, as bright and positive and, well, Horror can't say no to his little brother.

Cross, Killer, and Dust can also stay as often as they want. His brother has a big heart and he won't care about their bloody pasts. And, yeah, Killer and Cross will probably go back and forth between the Epic Sanses and Horrortale, but at least they have some stability now. At least they know that there is someone out there in the Multiverse who won't look at their scars, their high level, and their EXP and immediately think they're the scum of the Earth, and that's... well, that's nice.

On the other hand, imagine being Underswap Papyrus, and your brother was never taken from you, he chose to leave. And everyone assumes it must have been your fault. Perhaps you were too protective, and that's why. Perhaps you didn't support him enough. Perhaps you didn't get along. Perhaps you were straight-up abusive. The rumors abound both out in the Multiverse and in your own home because Blue didn't go quietly. He doesn't do quiet.

He said goodbye to all his friends while parading around with two literal gods and then he vanished into a golden portal. He dismissed all of your concerns and almost resented you for them. Because he's not weak he's not stupid and he can take care of himself. And you agree with all of those points, he's the coolest after all, but also you know nothing about the Multiverse and there are gods out there, so you can't know if being the coolest is gonna be enough to keep him safe.

Papyrus was never social. He got along with his brother, Ms. Muffet, and the man behind the door. That's his entire circle of friends. And now one of them is gone, and many more people than before have turned hostile. Because Blue is a nice person, he's nice to everyone, he's outgoing and social, of course, he wouldn't just leave his brother unless he did something to deserve that! Especially when everyone knows that Papyrus' HOPE is so low and that he's been struggling with depression for a long time. Blue wouldn't just leave.

Except he did.

Except he left.

Except he's not there anymore, because the Star Sanses could offer him glory and fame, and the love of thousands of AUs, and Papyrus could give him none of that. The only thing he could offer was his support for Blue's dreams and his unconditional love. And it was obvious to both of them that those two things could never be enough.

Papyrus doesn't change, because he was always well-rounded enough to make it by himself, just like his brother was. They were two whole people who never completed one another.

If they meet again, it won't be a sweet reunion like for the Horrortale brothers. It will be in the Omega Timeline if their AU ever gets destroyed. And they will be strangers making awkward small talk that will never develop into anything more than that, because neither of them wants the other to stay.

However, perhaps there in the Omega Timeline Papyrus can find a nice ending to his story. There are people there who are rejects just as much as he is. Who have wild rumors spread about them that are more or less founded than those about him. Other people who lost everything and are trying to find themselves with some help.

And maybe one day he can meet other Papyruses who dealt with being left behind, willingly or not. Horrortale Paps certainly wouldn't mind acquiring a lanky brother too

[hashileio]

you join the cafe & meet the crew (minus one)

[swiftmitsu]

so... the three of them doing the deaf, blind, mute challenge while making a cake....i feel like this could go so many ways oml

i got the idea from @itsxroxannex tweets :) (can i even call them tweets anymore,,, TT)

who gon tell nightmare what happened

[zerooriginalityitsalljustcrabs]

joke so funny i had to post it twice

[mikimakiboo]

Holding hands

When Nightmare was a kid in Dreamtale he used to always hold hands with Dream, whether it was for reassurance when scared, not to get lost when they went for a walk or simply because they felt like it, they would always be holding hands. It was comforting to them and especially to Nightmare since it was a break from the bullying, when he hold hands with his brother then he knew no one would come bother him.

After the corruption he couldn't hold hands anymore with his brother, obviously, or with anyone. At first he thought that he would be fine, but the lack of reassuring contact was actually very affecting him, he needed to hold hands with someone, to feel safe again, but he just couldn't, and holding his own hand only felt ridiculous...

But one day, after a fight with his brother where he was left greatly weakened, he went with his gang in an AU to collect negativity. All the time they were in this AU Nightmare felt unsafe, Dream or the Stars could arrive at anytime and he wasn't strong enough yet to fight back or protect his gang. He was anxious, panicking internally but trying to stay calm as to not worry his boys, but it was too much, and without really thinking, he reached for a hand to hold onto.

Everyone froze to look at him, but he didn't look at them, freezing too. Why did he do that ? Were they going to laugh at him now for showing such weakness ? Were they going to be disgusted by his pathetic need for reassurance ? Were they going to leave him ?

But as he was starting to panic he felt a gentle pressure on his hand and the gang moved again, without saying anything. Nightmare followed, looking at the hand now firmly but gently holding his, and for the first time in centuries, he felt safe.

[pigeonstab]

Doodle dump inspired by @somegrumpynerd 's red riding hood/bad sans drawings (sorry for the tag)

[lanlishiba]

The gang's back

incorrect quote belongs to : @flowerscentedartist

[m-to-z-andbackto-m]

Edgy skele cuddle pile, courtesy of @randomartistworld :3

THIS WAS FUN MAKING AND I'LL GET RIGHT TO OTHER REQUESTS HEHEHE

Edit: I just realized some people include Error in the mix but I don't throw him in with the gang, sorry about that if you would've liked our silly lil' glitch in there, we'll just say he didn't join due to his haphephobia 😞

Edit Again: Replaced the second image where I cleaned it up just a tiny bit and gave NM a nose-hole 😭