#and here kris was enjoying their time in the underground

[spotaus]

Doing Doppletale designs, so here's Asriel and Chara!

There's not a lot going on with them, but I gave Asriel a tail, and he's got a cute lil human disguise too!

I like to think that Chara's a bit lanky (Kris-style) but never quite grew into their limbs. In fact, that and their naturally red eyes drew a lot of people on their hometown to believe that they were a Monster (<- y'know, doppelganger moment) which was how they ended up underground in the first place. They felt a lot more at home with the monsters than they ever had humans, and thoroughly enjoyed the time they spent underground.

(Side Note: "Flowey" takes on Chara's human shape rather than Asriel's own shape, because he misses Chara a lot. Chara was his older sibling, he wanted to be just like them, and so in some twisted way, he was.)

[bigscaryblueberry]

Please do share on why you think king and asgore would hate each other. I am curious 👀

(I'm glad you're interested in hearing it! So, let's see...)

I'd start with the typical "King currently hates Lightners", but I think Asgore in particular is an interesting case since King was first exposed to Ralsei, a Darkner who resembles the Dreemurr family. I'm not sure if King would be confused by the resemblance, or if he'd still be able to tell that Asgore is a Lightner, but King doesn't like Ralsei either since he "worships" Lightners, so the similarity would still leave a bad first impression either way, I think.

King is a manipulative sort of person. We've seen how he took advantage of Ralsei's kindness, using it to gain an advantage before stabbing everyone in the back. Without a redemption, he would do the same to Asgore if the opportunity came up, and that's definitely no way to make a friend, haha...

Even if King is no longer violent, he's still very closed off and doesn't trust others, so if he DOES get a redemption, I think he would still shut out Asgore's kindness and not want to associate with him at all. If Asgore tried to reason with him, I think King would get annoyed, and assume that the friendliness isn't genuine. King has betrayed others in response to a perceived betrayal by Lightners, and it's going to take a lot of patience for him to recover from that mindset. And the points below will explain why I don't think Asgore would be the patient person that King needs.

The most important point, King tried to kill Kris, one of Asgore's children. Asgore may be kindhearted, but he cares about his family a lot and would not want to befriend someone who intentionally endangers any of his kids. The man has priorities, you know? And I can imagine that Kris and/or Susie would be more than willing to tell Asgore what King did to them, so it wouldn't stay a secret from him... And remember, in the Undertale timeline, Asgore declared war on humanity after Asriel was killed by humans. Granted, he ended up being quite reluctant to actually kill humans that fell underground, which makes sense as those individual humans were not the ones who killed his son, + the passage of time for him to calm down from his initial anger and mourning. Now, King in Deltarune did not succeed in killing Kris, obviously, but the malicious intent was there. Could you imagine how Asgore (who is not a powerful monarch like he was in Undertale, but a former police officer and would still have some kind of access to magic and weapons in the Dark World) would respond being face-to-face with the would-be murderer?

Similarly to the above point, I don't think Asgore would take very kindly to learning about King's threat towards Lancer, either, even with the reveal of it just being a bluff.

(So yeah, those are the reasons I can think of off the top of my head. I just really see Asgore going into "protective parent mode" lol, and also I'm just not really a fan of the fandom's tendency to use arbitrary similarities ("oh they're both big burly divorced king dads!") as an excuse to put characters together, so I may have a bit of a bias as well. But I hope you understand my perspective and enjoyed reading what I had to say here!)

[missholoska]

my main UT fankids growing up ✨ this layout might make their main designs (oldest ages) seem older than they really are, but they're actually all under 10 years old and still Very Baby™

these were just supposed to be simple doodles but I realised I currently don't have any descriptions of these three up anywhere, so until I make their proper references I'll put some basic info about them under the cut!

Summer (she/they)

not quite as fierce as Undyne or as nerd-rambly as Alphys, but definitely inherited both their mothers' enthusiasm levels. can be a little bossy sometimes, but they're great at encouraging others.

loves being active in any form, be it sports, dancing or fighting.

always grossed out by her mothers' public displays of affection, but otherwise loves outdoor activities with Mumdyne and playing video games with Mamalphys.

can summon electric spears and use orange attacks, both of which they use to keep people moving with them.

was accidentally given a spear to chew on as a baby by a sleep-deprived Mumdyne a whole One time, and from then on somehow always managed to keep finding more spears to chew.

Autumn (he/him)

seems like a clumsy bookworm but he can easily keep up with his sibling's activities, even if the way he tries to read while jogging has mixed results.

particularly loves reading fairytale and fantasy stories, as well as learning about monster history and the Underground.

thinks it's cute that his mothers are so in love like the couples in his favourite storybooks, and enjoys anime with his family despite preferring to read manga.

can use green soul mode and electric magic, though he mostly uses the latter to light up the dark rather than for attacks.

was very shy as a baby/toddler, being nervous around strangers and happiest being cuddled to sleep by family.

Neue (she/her)

named after and speaks in the font Comic Neue, which has been described by some articles as "Comic Sans' child":

Sans' parenting resulted in her taking after Papyrus more than either of her parents, but Toriel's influence at least lowered the volume. kind and shares her parents' awful sense of humour, but can be prone to causing harmless mischief.

adores Halloween and spooky aesthetics, and can make herself look creepy just as easily as her dad.

wears a headband with fake horns until her real horns grow in, which has been part of her design since 2017 but the coincidence of Kris doing the exact same thing in Deltarune made me very happy 💜

the skeleton onesie she wore as a baby was Toriel's idea :'>

[more info about my post-pacifist future timeline aka Undertale Pacifist Family here]

[neitherlightnordark]

if you're interested in some UT thoughts, Grillby? if you're more interested in DR thoughts, the Radio Head Boys?

sWEET CAP'N CAKES my for some reason dearly dearly beloved <3

realistic: this is canon actually but i enjoy it enough to put it here. i am happy to see these three young boys join the fold of "shopkeepers that have experimented with gender and found their comfortable niche and we all adore them immensely for it". they all use they/them and he/him!!

that's not realistic at all but it's still very funny: "all our songs are only 4 seconds long!!" said k_k. you know, like a liar. unless....???

auaaauaugh: i could talk about how horrible banning music would be especially to three kids who love it and have it as their lifestyle and literally have it built into their bodies but it'd get into territory where i just start yelling about how important art is to me and that'd get away from deltarune rather completely!! i could talk about how they don't seem like they have any parental figures and it looks like k_k raised the other two but i won't. i could talk about k_k wanting to be short and a car but that's not really my wheelhouse. i could talk about how lonely they must be. i could talk about them knowing spamton.

or i could talk about them dancing with noelle and kris and helping the lancer fun squad beat up queen with an enormous scrap robot they built themselves and becoming good friends with lancer afterwards and having other kids for the first times in their lives. i could talk about that

if canon tries to put a limiter on us we'll just go underground: *gestures wildly at the funny meme and also oh this is very interesting potential sweet cap'n cakes have with seam and spamton and swatch, especially the latter two* like what if spamton and sweet cap'n cakes just hung out before everything. what if that happened. what if that's how k_k realized he wanted to be a car

[yougainedlove]

What kind of dates would the KFC gang like to take the reader out on? :3c

KFC GANG GETTING SOME LOVE!!!

you’re speakin my language, honey XD

CHARA

Staycation or bust. To be realistic, Chara is very much an antisocial person. They don’t like other people, especially in crowds, and whenever they’re out, their disdain for the rest of humanity always managed to get spiked by something. They vastly prefer to have a night in when they can… watching movies on TV or having a nice dinner. You’re one of the only people they can tolerate, so, why should any of the outside world get to ruin things between you?

You’ll find something waiting. There’s one spot that they’ve always considered their own ‘sacred’ place. Asriel and Frisk know about it, but it’s rare that Chara wants even them there. It’s in a forest just outside of town, deep enough inside that no one else wants to venture that far. It’s… a garden. Their own personal garden, complete with a small pond and a hole-in-the-ground freezer where they keep snacks. Once in a while, they share this place with you. Despite their hesitance at first, spending time with you here ― sharing a juice box, dipping your toes in the pond together, planting new flowers, lying side by side among the petals ― brings them a kind of peace they don’t often feel.

You would accompany them to a monster ball, right? Anything formal that involves being around monsters instead of humans allows them to relax more easily. They adore being able to do something actually romantic for once. Or, at least, what they think ‘romantic’ entails. It’s all the grand music that plays in a ballroom, the way they can dip you to the floor or allow themselves to be swept into a waltz, the confidence that comes with knowing that everyone’s eyes are on the two of you because they all think your relationship is beautiful. They’re very tired by the end of the night, but there’s a sense of accomplishment that they had such a good time doing something that they’ve always wanted to do with you: dance.

FRISK

Adventure is out there! Even as an adult, Frisk adores outdoorsy things and going exploring, whether in the locale of Ebott or somewhere that’s a bit farther away. An ideal adventure date means a hike through the woods… where you might possibly find a creek to splash around in and rocks to jump on! They’re such a kid at heart and can make silly things a lot of fun. They’ll drag you into a leaf pile to crinkle through it, climb trees, and roll down grassy hills. You both end up absolutely filthy, but… well, that’s one more excuse to take a bath together.

Rave about this with them! You might think nightclubs wouldn’t be Frisk’s scene. You would be wrong. They love to dance and clubs just have so much energy, they end up having the time of their life. And dancing with you? Heck yeah!! Everyone thinks they’re high on something ― nope, that’s just Frisk being Frisk. Honestly, they’re probably still dancing by the time they get home and might have trouble settling down for bed. Some cuddles should help that.

Star light, star bright… During their time in the Underground, they developed somewhat of a fascination with the stars. They’ve always enjoyed space, but seeing how their monster friends viewed stars gave them a whole new appreciation for all things cosmic. So, when they want a more quiet, intimate date, they take you stargazing. Something about lying in the grass with you, staring up at the massive, glittering expanse of universe above, hearing the cicadas and watching the fireflies, resting on your chest so close they can feel every beat of your heart… it fills them with DETERMINATION.

KRIS

Just a little piece of home, right? One of their best memories is at QC’s Diner, getting hot cocoa with Asriel… so they try to recreate it with you. They want you to be happy, and they remember that makes them happy. The two of you sit down at the counter or in a booth, wherever you feel comfortable, have a cup of hot cocoa and a slice of pie or a sandwich, and just enjoy each other’s company. Kris isn’t the most talkative person, mostly because they don’t always know what to say. However, it’s very clear that this is another good memory for them. They also like to hold your hand on the table, bonus points because everyone else thinks it’s cute.

There better be some good films showing. The movie theater turns out to be a pretty nice, easy date for them, even if you have to head to the next town over for the nearest cinema. It puts less pressure on them because the longest conversations they have to worry about are what you plan on getting from the snack bar (that is, if they don’t sneak their own rice-cereal-and-marshmallow bars in) and talk about the movie on the way home. Again, a big draw is that they get to hold your hand while pretending to reach for popcorn… they really like holding your hand, okay?

It’s fine if they don’t win, as long as you have fun. Sure, board games and video games might seem boring to some people… but not to Kris. It’s just the right amount of excitement to satisfy them without being super overwhelming. Although they try to cheat in various ways, they almost appear to be expecting you to catch them doing so. It’s funny to them, for some reason? Once in a while, they kiss you to distract you so that they can win. That’s not very often, though ― they don’t mind losing as long as it was a good time. However, if they ask you to play a game called Bath Bomb, politely decline or you’ll get in trouble with their mom. Just ask Asriel.

[spookytaleanddeltaspooky]

WELCOME TO THE UNDERGROUND AND DARK WORLD.

Hello! Welcome to the Spookytale (Spooky Month x Undertale)/Deltaspooky (Spooky Month x Deltarune) blog!

This is a pretty community safe blog run by@randompurplepanthergorl as in it's safe for LGBTQ+, rasist free etc.

And also: The blog creator is a minor so NO nasty shizz. Oh. And Gr00mers and Ped0's can BURN IN HELL for all I care, or even better: Get stuck in the underworld from Undertale AFTER everyone has escaped to the surface or even better: Get stuck in an alternate universe of Deltarune where the world dies-

-

But now that that is out of the way as I said earlier it's basically a blog for posting about my two Spooky Month crossover AU's like the SM characters live as the UT/DR characters with some original shizz

You can find all posts under these hashtags (Also if you make fan content please put it in these hashtags so I can see it)

Spooky Month x Undertale: #Spookytale

Spooky Month x Deltarune: #Deltaspooky

-

And here is the cast for the characters:

Spookytale Cast:

Frisk: Roy

(8th child to fall, but unlike Frisk...He did it on purpose.)

Toriel: Lila

(Lady with fire magic. Still Skids mom)

Flowey: Happy Fella

("GIMMI YO SOUL.")

Asriel: Joey (AKA "Kid" from Spooky Month)

(Youngest prince of the underground; died while fulfilling his adopted sisters death wish)

Chara: Suzie

(First child to fall; adopted siblings are Joey, Ross and Kevin)

Sans: Skid

("IT'S-"

Papyrus: Pump

("-A SPOOKY MONTH""

Monster Kid: Tom/Robert

(Dinosaur like teen with no arms)

Grilby: John

(Part fire dude. Still has the floating ciggy. Still Jack's partner, their partners in food business, Jack sells baked goods while John here sells actual food, they like to do small competitions at times for fun. Has a bar in Snowdin)

Muffet: Jack

(Part spider dude. Still John's partner, their partners in food business while John sells actual food while Jack here sells baked goods, they like to do small competitions at times for fun. He's also the king of spiders)

River Person: Candy Dealer

(Still sells possibly drugged candy on the side)

Temmie(s): Frank

(Yes that seriously means there is going to be an army of Frank running around yelling "HOI I'M FRANK-")

Mettaton: Ooga Booga/Luigi

(If I include a Mettaton to Mettaton EX like transformation it would be Luigi turning into Ooga Booga)

Asgore: Ross

(Middle prince of the underground; Ross is still a teenager in this AU, he was a prince who was forced to turn king due to his parents being slaughtered by humans-, he's part goat)

Undyne: Kevin

(Ross's brother in this AU; Thus he's the oldest prince of the underground he was supposed to be the next king due to being born first but Ross became king because Kevin's dream was to become the leader of the royal guard, he's part fish)

Alphys: Dexter the exterminator

(Was an exterminator before becoming the royal scientist, has a huge crush on Kevin and just like Alphys he loves anime in this AU)

Napstablook: Mr Clown

(Yes the ghost got replaced by the clown-)

Mad Dummy: The Eyes of The Universe

(Don't know how that's gonna work but all the other slots are filled-)

Annoying Dog: Moloch

(More like annoying demon-)

Gaster: If Gaster was included in the book his slot would be filled by Roy's nasty uncle

Everyone else from Undertale is the exact same-

-

Spookyrune Cast:

Kris: Ross

(Introvert frog smile boi)

Susie: Roy

(Roy eats chalk now!)

Ralsei: Robert

(Least he gets his arms back in THIS AU-)

Lancer: Skid

(Now Skid's a shizz-)

The rest of the cast is still being chosen.

-

So that's it for now! Hope you enjoy your stay.

.

.

.

.

.

ST!Ross: Normal (human). It was nice knowing you-

ST!Happy Fella: *VIOLENTLY BURSTS DOOR DOWN*

ST!Happy Fella: ARE YA WINNING BRO?!!?

ST!Ross: *INTENSE CONFUSED SCREAMING*

[mrfandomgage]

Ralsei: Do you have any stories?

Me: yeah, a few. As my name may apply, most are to things I enjoy

Ralsei: Oh? Can y-

Susie: Hey, we're back!

Lancer: I'm here too!

Me: Do you wish to hear a story?

Susie: A story? Can it at least have blood?

Kris: Susie, not everything needs blood. What does your story have?

Me: Death, violence, blood

Kris: ...

Susie: Yeah!

Ralsei: uh, how bad is it?

Me: I probably can't describe it as well as normal, but it's of my favorite creation. I'll tell the origins, the original story, and revisions.

Lancer: ...

Me: yes Lancer?

Lancer: Can I have some popcorn?

Me: yes

*One popcorn break later*

Me: thanks for the microwave Jevil. Is everyone ready for the story?

All, plus Jevil: Yeah!

Me: The origin of Night Terror. Originally, she was only meant to be a Roleplay character. A character to be nothing but a puppet, for evil actions and tom foolery. However, she needed a backstory, and concept. I took from dreams and nightmares, and my little understanding of Freddy Krueger as a "Dream Demon" to kill in people's sleep.

Me: Her original story was bad. "Oh whoah is me. I've been killed to an uncountable number, and now I'm a being of pure vengeance that killed everyone in the world". So instead of dropping this character like others, I gave the ideas flesh and bone. Instead of being uncountable, it's uncounted and exaggerated. Instead of nonsense violence, I gave the violence flesh, abuse, to a point that'd break bones for one off action. Instead of being the sole reason her world died, it died around her as she got used to killing. I left the blood on her slit throat to let others know, she's already dead.

Susie: that sounds cool and all, but are you going to tell a story?

Kris, Whispering: Susie! Rude!

Me: No, I find that fair. Now one last stage to let you know her life being alive. Her true name is Frisk. She was a girl who was very, tired, in her world. I designed it to beat her down, just so she'd be willing to kill anything. Of course, it was hard for her, she was naturally a pacifist. She is a dream, a soul of positive energy. In a world of nightmares, they hated the energy she put off. Her own parents murdered her as a baby, but all they knew is that she put off less energy, when she woke up. So they devised to keep her energy low. They'd give her old hard as coal beds to keep her restless, if she was happy with a day, they'd shout at her for any tiny mistake or fault even when it wasn't hers. Those parents hated her favorite things, like vibrant yellows, and gave her only greys and traditional purples for special occasions, not that they wouldn't make those purple items irritable. Best of all for the parents, all they knew was that if they had really wanted to beat down their little girl til she bled on the carpet, not fully knowing they already have, she would be in misery for weeks. They never gave her bruises, she never had evidence when waking up again. She was bullied at school for sleeping at her desk, and when it got physical, it was something her parents could taunt her for. She had a friend, but he'd demean everything she said of herself. She tried to hang herself once, but when she woke up, all she could do was cry. One day, one the rare occasion she was forced to be out on the schoolyard, kids were talking of a legend. The kids taunted Frisk, stating what she believed herself. "Nobody wants you, you should climb into Mount Ebott, so you'll never return". That day, she confided in her friend, of her "nightmares" and the thought of Mount Ebott may ending her for good. Her friend tried to sew doubt into her mind of this plan, in the end, only making her cry, and giving her more reason to see to it that she could die. In the dead of night, she only took a flashlight and her purple clothes up with her to that mountain. She entered a cave and found a deep hole. She stepped to it, stood with her back facing the drop, and plunged herself into the underground. It took her a while, but she woke up. She woke up. She woke up. She was upset, but her friend was right. She met a giggling flower. "Ah, another human. You seem different, but does that matter? Have fun in your grave!" Frisk smiled at the thought of dying. She walked the tunnels and carved out cave to find a floor of spikes. She tried to drop herself onto them, only for them to retract from underneath her. While getting up, she notice that only sets of retracting spikes are sharp, while the ones that were out were as dull as rocks. She marched on, growing tired, and falling asleep in the halls. When she woke, she was in an old used bed, it was remarkable compared to home. Getting out of bed, she left the room, and tried to leave the house. Approaching the downstairs door, she caught flame. Her nerves screamed from end to end in torent pain, her lungs prayed for oxygen only taking in the smoke and ash of her own body, blood and flesh. She tried and tried and burned to ash, she finally found the monster burning her flesh, admitted she wished to leave. Learning that the monster didn't want her to leave. The monster ran to the exit with Frisk hot on their tail. Screaming and crying, the monster attacked her, I shouldn't have to say, but she had died multiple times. She became exhausted, and moved without thought, with her only thoughts to be to improve her movements, before falling to the cold. The snow was biting her senses, even though she just got some sleep, she was exhausted. As if she was walking for days. A loud snap reminded Frisk of her bones. She dropped to her knees in the freezing snow, and drops thinking something broken. In the first time in a while, the girl had a real friend. The friend talked to her, he convinced her that she was ok, and knew a place where she could rest... sorry, my throats getting dry

Susie: Awww... It was just a little interesting

Kris: could be better if you extended it

Me: I literally don't have enough text space or patience to do that yet. Trust me, I've wanted to make this story whole for a while.

Lancer: Can she at least be a little more happy? I mean, she is a dream and-

Me: no, she's constantly weakened by negative influences, mainly her own thoughts after what her parents did to her. Her only friendly relationship with other humans is still one that undermines her own thoughts and feelings. Her only dream, her only hope, is to not be useless.

Ralsei: it's good... but I have a question. Why was she born a dream?

Me: Dreams and Nightmares used to share a universe, and even though they started to hate eachother doesn't mean they didn't mix. After a rift of magic, the worlds split, and Dreams became a recessive trait to Nightmares and vice versa. It became extremely unlikely, but there's still a chance in one in a billion.

Kris: Why are monsters separated from humans?

Me: the amount of magical power to create that rift was only created by the power of monsters. Humans feared if war were to break, they too could be thrown into oblivion. Seven mages forfeited their souls to bind monsters and whoever entered. Monsters realized that they couldn't break the spell, due to the power of the seven souls, even with their collective power... can I please stop talking?

Jevil: How does she come back after dying?

Susie: When does she murder people?

Me: After blending her soul, Susie. She comes back because dreams were extremely persistent, practically a bunch of immortals. Nightmares knew this when they shared a universe, but as I said, they had a few generations and forgot. The only thing that can truly kill a dream is when they have no dream for themselves.

[songfell-ut]

Chapter 16 ha ha help

These are getting more and more tiring, but we’re finally getting somewhere! Ha ha seriously send help @lostmypotatoes or anyone else whose contributions made (some parts of) this a lot of fun to do. Chapter is here.

 Just like Sans’ discovery of her “stripes,” Frisk only found out she could make barriers because of Papyrus.

They were playing in Snowdin, as they did almost every day. That evening, it was just her, Papyrus, and Asriel; Sans was nowhere in sight, which meant he was off napping somewhere. He did that a lot.

Someone had thrown a ball and gotten it stuck high up in the town Christmas tree, and the three of them were taking turns trying to get it down. The Prince was being very careful, flicking little fire-wads to hit the ball without burning it; Papyrus was in much better control of his bone-throwing than Frisk would have guessed, able to tap the ball in any direction with near-perfect accuracy. Of course, he could have used blue magic, but where was the fun in that?

It became evident after a few tries that the ball was almost loose already, so Papyrus proposed instead that they see how many times they could hit it without knocking it down. Frisk put her rocks aside, watching the skeleton and the young boss monster nudge the ball back and forth on its perch. It nearly fell so often that the child was soon standing right against the tree, trying to look straight up through the branches.

“Come away from there, Kris,” Asriel said after his next turn. “In fact, it’s time to head back now. Mama’s got another pie in the oven. Would you like some, Papyrus?”

The skeleton perked up. “OF COURSE, YOUR MAJESTY!”

“Wonderful! Come along.” Asriel held his hand out, and the little human skipped over to take it.

Then they heard the fateful cry: “ONE MOMENT, NYEH!” Papyrus threw one more bone to get the ball down, but in his haste, he aimed too high. It struck just below the decorations atop the tree, knocking down a great shower of powdery snow…and the heavy, pointed star.

The crack of breaking wood made them look up, and they glimpsed the star falling just before the snow hit their faces. Asriel could have moved them away in time, but the cold flakes in his eyes distracted him for one crucial second, and Frisk knew the star was going to hit them. Asriel was going to get hurt! She felt something strange burning in her chest, and she yelled at the top of her lungs, wishing with all her might that they’d be safe—

The star went plink off something, and Asriel’s grip tightened much too hard as the rest of the snowflakes settled to the ground. The ball came tumbling down a moment later, bouncing off Asriel’s shoulder.

“KRIS! YOUR MAJESTY!” Papyrus’ hands were clapped to his skull. “OH MY GOD! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?!”

“Yes,” said Asriel. But then Frisk whimpered, and the boss monster released her, aghast. “Oh, no—Kris, I’m so sorry! Did I—”

Frisk couldn’t help a little sob. Asriel had almost crushed her hand!

Papyrus was also near tears. “I…I DIDN’T MEAN—IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN—”

The Prince suddenly looked stern. “Never mind,” he said curtly. “It was an accident. Kris will be fine.” He held out his hand, which glowed a familiar green. “Here.”

Frisk grabbed at the light, wiping her face on her sleeve as the pain eased into a twinge, then nothing at all. Why was Asriel—

“PLEASE GO ON WITHOUT ME,” Papyrus said wretchedly. “I DON’T DESERVE PIE.”

“It was an accident,” Asriel repeated. “But it was a very easily avoided one. I think it’d be best if you stayed here while I have a talk with Kris.”

The skeleton nodded so hard that Frisk wondered how his skull stayed attached to his spine. “YES, PRINCE ASRIEL, YOU ARE COMPLETELY RIGHT. I WILL DO LAPS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT I’VE DONE.”

Puzzled, Frisk looked up at Asriel. “But it wasn’t his—”

“Thank you, Papyrus. That will be all,” the Prince said over her.

The moment Papyrus had jogged out of sight, Asriel squatted and seized her by the shoulders. “Do you know what you just did?” he demanded.

Frisk felt her eyes welling up again. “I…I’m sorry, but I don’t understand,” she whispered. What had she done wrong? Why was Asriel letting Papyrus think he was the one who’d hurt her? And why was he looking at her like a total stranger? Frisk sniffled again, more tears sliding down her cheeks. If Asriel hated her now, she didn’t know what she’d do!

The Prince let out a long sigh, head drooping. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry. Come here.”

The child threw herself into his outstretched arms. “It’s all right, Kris. You did nothing wrong,” he murmured, patting her hair. “In fact…”

Something about the way he said it made Frisk’s spine prickle. But when he gave her one last pat and released her, he was smiling again. “Would you like a ride?” he asked cheerfully.

Frisk nodded, and the young boss monster swung her up to sit on his shoulders, mindful of his horns. He let her grasp them in each hand, then turned his whole body to look around. Luckily, it was late enough that no one was out and about; even if they had been, the fallen snow had blotted out the flash of gold. Off they went, Frisk enjoying the view and their brisk pace.

The ferry wasn’t there yet, and no one else was waiting. “So,” Asriel said, stopping on the riverbank. “You didn’t know you could do that, did you?”

Frisk shook her head. “What did I do?” Remembering his reaction, she said, “I hope it wasn’t something bad. I’m sorry if it was bad.”

She felt him sigh again. “No, Kris, it wasn’t bad. You protected us both with a barrier.”

“A barrier?” After a couple of weeks Underground, she’d gotten the impression that barriers were an extremely bad thing. “But…aren’t they—”

“It’s true that we monsters are afraid of them. That’s why I squashed you,” he said sadly. “Again, I am very sorry for that. I won’t do it again, even if you make more barriers.”

She’d scared him? Frisk hadn’t been prepared to hear that, ever. “But how did I do that? Don’t you have to have magic first?”

He chuckled. “Yes, you do, which means you have magic.”

Frisk wound her forearms around his horns, resting her cheek on the downy fur atop his head. He smelled like soap, and…perfume? She didn’t realize what it was yet: she was too distracted by the idea that she – dumb, boring Frisk – could do magic. That was for grand sorcerers and sorceresses, not grimy little kids who scrubbed pots all day and slept on the floor. If she had that kind of power, wouldn’t she have noticed by now? Couldn’t she have made her back stop hurting, or lit Cook on fire to stop her from beating the other kids?

“It’s a very special gift,” Asriel said solemnly. “Not many humans have their own magic anymore, and you have enough to make barriers! Nowdays, humans with that much power tend to be…” He trailed off.

There was that funny voice again. Frisk didn’t like it at all. “Tend to be what? Am I in trouble?” she asked anxiously.

“Of course not,” he answered. “But it’s important to know that you can do it.”

“Why?”

“For one thing, you need training.” The Prince tapped her leg. “If you’ve never used it before, you should have a lot of power saved up. Also, did you know that it’s easier to use magic Underground than on the surface? That may be why it hasn’t happened till now.”

“Do…” Frisk squirmed until Asriel put a steadying hand on her back. “Do you think…could I stay here and learn?” she asked in a rush. “Monsters are good with magic, so…”

She couldn’t see Asriel’s expression, and didn’t know why he was quiet for so long. “No one here knows how to make barriers,” he finally said, “and I’ll be honest with you, Kris. I think you’d better not tell any other monsters about this.”

Disappointment rose up and nearly choked her. Not only did she have the one kind of magic monsters couldn’t teach her to use, it was the kind they were so scared of that even Asriel panicked when he saw it! Frisk pressed her face into the back of his head, sniffling.

“I’m so sorry,” the Prince said quietly, and she couldn’t hold it back anymore.

The ferry still wasn’t there. Asriel swayed from side to side, patting her leg softly, and she soon calmed down, trying not to get any more snot in his fur. “There may be something we can do,” the boss monster said, his tone so resolute that Frisk sat up straight. He reached up and put her back on the ground, staying at her level. “Who are your parents?” he asked.

Frisk blinked. “M-my mama’s name is Rosa. She works in the castle. My father is dead.”

Asriel grimaced, but not in a sad way—more like he didn’t believe her. “It’s true!” she insisted.

“I don’t think you’re lying,” he reassured her, lowering his voice as a couple of other monsters came up to wait for the ferry. “I’m just not sure that the grownups have been telling you the truth.”

She frowned. “But…why would they lie to me?”

“Why indeed,” murmured Asriel. Then the ferry rounded the corner of the riverbend, and the conversation was over for now. Everyone stood aside for Asriel, the Royal Guards bowing as he greeted them and Frisk took her favorite place at the very front. This time, though, she couldn’t enjoy the breeze in her face or the water splashing around the boat. It was too much to think about—she had magic, monsters would hate her if they knew, people might have lied to her about her parents…

Why did he think she had other parents? Was it something to do with her magic? Did this mean she had a real mama and papa somewhere waiting for her?

Asriel was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice her staring at him for several seconds. When he did, he tried to smile, but she wasn’t fooled. Something was wrong, or at least different, something very important. If only Papyrus hadn’t knocked that star down! They wouldn’t have found out she had magic, and Asriel wouldn’t be so worried or say these strange, sad things.

Frisk was already tired of thinking about it. She’d just be careful not to get scared and use a barrier again. She wasn’t going to tell anyone, and she trusted Asriel not to tell any of the other monsters. She’d be fine. Everything would be okay. It had to be.

 ~

             “…isk. Frisk! FRISK! Hey—”

           Two voices went “Shhhush!” and “P-please be quiet!” at nearly the same time.

           “What?! She’s just standing there like—”

           “Maybe she needs to just stand there like that,” retorted Alphys, uncharacteristically firm.

           “Yes, I agree,” said Toriel. “Let’s leave her alone for now. Will you ladies please assist me in setting the table?”

           Undyne muttered something very unladylike, but followed the boss monster out of the room, letting Alphys shut the door quietly behind her.

           It was Frisk’s own fault. Upon arriving, she had gone looking for the bathroom and opened the door of the guest bedroom by mistake; the moment she turned on the light, she was confronted with a sort of shrine to Toriel’s children. Old toys and books lined the walls, the closet was half open, and miniature portraits showing Chara and Asriel in various poses were arranged around one large family painting on the bureau. Frisk had told herself that it would be hard to see the room they’d played in when she was little – mostly jumping on the beds, with a generous helping of The Floor Is Lava – but she hadn’t been prepared to see everything exactly where it had been, and especially not the pictures smiling up at her like that.

           The others had found her staring at the bureau, a hand to her mouth. Frisk was profoundly grateful to be left alone: she sat down on a bed, grabbed Asriel’s old pillow, and buried her face in it to cry for a long, long time. Every time she started to slow down, she thought again of riding on his shoulders, or of him pretending to be scared when he discovered her in the golden flowers, and the pain was as fresh as it had been the first time she’d remembered him, just a few hours after reclaiming her memories.

           What if she had listened to her instincts back then and told the Queen about her magic? Toriel would’ve known what to do. At the very least, she could’ve negotiated something on Frisk’s behalf with the other humans; Frisk would still have been forced to leave, but she would’ve had the comfort of knowing she had friends Underground, and that she could visit them on holidays or even have them come to see her. Instead…

           Poor Asriel. Frisk had been able to keep from thinking of him by staying busy, and with the company of her giant apprentice, basking in his cranky, awkward, completely wonderful affection; now she couldn’t calm down, no matter how hard she tried to get up and turn away from the pictures.

           A little voice kept nagging her to say something to Toriel now about the things she’d remembered. The whole tragedy might have been avoided in the first place if she had just talked to the Queen…but no, that was different. If Frisk, the would-be ambassador to the monster race, were to say, “I have a solid idea of whose fault the accident was, but no details whatsoever,” what would that do for her mission?

           It would reignite the debate over what had happened, with enough new information to destroy any trust the monsters might have in her, but not enough to bring anyone closure. She’d be better off going straight to Asgore and announcing that she and Sans were planning to create the world’s first human-monster hybrid! She might as well, the way Sans was behaving…

           Frisk looked again at Asriel’s pictures, the white fur of his cheeks and his golden eyes, just like his mother’s. It had taken her a while to figure out that he only had those scary facial stripes and black sclera when he was prepared for a fight; they’d faded by the time they met Toriel on their way out of the flower cavern. Frisk glanced at the picture next to it, an older one of Asriel with his arm around Chara, and reached over to turn it around.

           Footsteps in the hall. Frisk snatched her hand back, ducking her head as the door opened. Someone sat next to her on the bed, and a huge, gentle hand stroked Frisk’s hair out of her eyes. She looked up, expecting to see Sans, and started a little as Toriel smiled at her. “I know, dear,” the boss monster whispered. “It never gets easier.” She drew Frisk against her, squeezing tight. “You…you learn to live with it.” Frisk felt her swallow hard. “Would you like to talk about it?”

           Frisk was getting so tired of crying! She shook her head, ignoring another stab of guilt as she wrapped her arms around the former Queen. Now was the time to say something about the past, or the future, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. For once in her adult life, she wanted to be taken care of and told everything would be all right, and eat homemade pie, and have her first-ever real slumber party, dammit! Besides, it was only the second night of her visit. So she allowed Toriel to pet her hair until her sobs had quieted, resolving to have a nice time for a single stupid night.

           When Frisk was more or less calm, Toriel produced a handkerchief from somewhere. “Stop using your sleeve. Here, blow your nose,” the boss monster instructed, and the human did so. “There we are, my child.” Like a true mother, Toriel folded the handkerchief up and put it right back in her robe. Frisk tried to hide her disgust, but Toriel just chuckled. “I meant to ask sooner—aren’t those Sans’ old clothes?”

           Frisk had to smile as she sniffled again. “Yes, ma’am. Papyrus spilled spaghetti sauce on my last clean dress. He had this in the back of his closet, so…”

           “I see. I can’t believe Sans was ever so small,” murmured Toriel, tugging down the blue jacket. “Would you like to borrow something else to wear?” She brightened. “I still have Chara’s things. She was much taller than you, but her old dresses are—”

           “No! No, thank you,” Frisk said, a little too quickly. “I…” She looked at the bureau again, then at the closet. Everything smelled clean, but not as if Toriel had come in and given it a quick once-over before their arrival; the room seemed eerily well-kept, like people still lived in it. “I forgot how comfortable boys’ clothes are. Could I please keep these on, or maybe wear something of Asriel’s?” Toriel looked disapproving, so Frisk added, “I promise I won’t let my tail stick out.”

           The boss monster laughed so loudly that she had to cover her mouth. “Oh, dear. I cannot believe I’d forgotten about that!”

           Early in her visit, Frisk had noticed how Asriel’s tail showed through a slit in his robe, but she didn’t realize that his parents kept theirs hidden until one family dinner when Asriel sat down the wrong way and nearly hit the roof. It turned out Asriel had insisted as a teenager that it was better to have one’s tail out; even as a young adult, and after several instances of getting it bent or grabbed or sat upon, he’d stubbornly refused to let his mother sew his clothes back up.

           “Really, Lady Toriel,” Frisk said once their giggling had died down, “I’m fine for tonight. These are basically pajamas anyway.”

           Toriel snorted. “Yes, they certainly are.” Sigh. “All right, my child, just for tonight. We’ll pick out something else for you tomorrow.”

           “Thank you so much.” Frisk hugged her again. “I need to wash my face,” she said, freeing herself from the goat monster’s embrace, “and then I’d love to have some pie. I’ll be out in a minute.”

           Toriel smiled sadly. “Of course, Frisk. We’ll be waiting.”

           The priestess’ hands were shaking a little as she fetched her gray bag from the entryway. How often did Toriel change the sheets on those beds, as if expecting someone to sleep there? How much time did she spend alone in her empty house, staring at pictures of her dead children? How was the poor woman still sane at all?

           Damn everything! Why hadn’t she told them about her magic when she first discovered it? Why had she let Asriel talk her into trusting someone she knew was a bad person? How much of what had happened was her fault, and how much of her memory was even accurate?

To hell with it, she thought, turning from her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Time for pie.

Luckily, when Frisk came out to the living room, her thoughts were diverted by the sight of Undyne and Alphys sitting in front of the fire with their heads together. “Er,” said the priestess, and Alphys nearly jumped out of her skin.

           “Hey there. Feeling better?” asked Undyne, completely unperturbed.

           “Uh…yes, thank you.” Bemused, Frisk glanced at Alphys’ bright-pink scales. She’d always wondered how that worked—monsters didn’t even have blood. “Let’s eat now. It smells fantastic,” she said, smiling as the royal scientist made a beeline for the table.

           At Toriel’s behest, and in keeping with what they assured Frisk to be sacred slumber-party tradition, the others had already changed into their nightclothes; the next step was enjoying the pie Toriel had baked before coming to get them. “This is amazing, Your Majesty,” Undyne said around a huge mouthful. “Thanks for having us over.”

           “Yes, thank you f-for inviting me,” Alphys said to the table at large, adjusting her borrowed robe.

           “Of course,” Frisk replied. “You still have a few things to open. You, too, Lady Toriel.”

           The former Queen had been staring at her plate, and glanced up a moment later. “I…I’m sorry, dear. What was that?”

           The Captain blinked, adjusting her pajama-wear eyepatch. “Uh…the pie is good?”

           The boss monster nodded vaguely, and the three younger women glanced at each other. Toriel had been quiet and distracted the whole evening, ever since she and Sans arrived at the brothers’ house; Sans had opened the front door and teleported straight into the kitchen, leaving the goat monster looking as though someone had smacked her in the face and run away.

Every one of their questions thus far had been answered with the insistence that nothing was wrong, but Alphys tried again: “A-are you sure you’re all right, Lady Toriel?”

           “Yes, Doctor, thank you. I…” She sighed, shaking her head and fluttering her long ears. “Forgive me. Where are my manners? Here I am with such wonderful guests, and I’m wasting time wool-gathering!” She grabbed the pie tin and dished out new slices to Frisk and Undyne, who had finished theirs, and then to Alphys, who was still halfway through hers and had to pick up the remainder to make room on her plate.

           “So,” said Undyne, stealing the half-slice out of the scientist’s hand and cramming it into her own mouth. “Whaff our day loo’ like humorro’?” Catching Toriel’s glare, the fish monster swallowed the entirety in one gulp. “I mean, for tomorrow, what do we need to do? Finish giving stuff out, stop by Alphys’ lab, then go see that creepy metal jerk?” When Toriel looked puzzled, Undyne explained, “He took Frisk’s laundry with him so he could get that stain out, and he wants to measure her for more clothes. If we go there first, we’ll be there all friggin’ day.”

           Toriel clapped her hands with a poofy sound of fur on fur. “My goodness, that’s right! We should go shopping for Frisk! Wouldn’t that be fun?”

           “It w-would,” agreed Alphys. “We don’t have to spend a lot of time studying y-your magic yet, Frisk. You might as well have some fun first.”

           Frisk glanced at Undyne, half expecting an objection, but the Captain’s eye was alight. “That’s right! We’ve missed twelve birthdays and Gyftmases since you left!” She sprang to her feet, fists clenched. “And now you’ve brought us all this cool crap, and we haven’t given you anything!” Undyne grinned again, eye narrowing. “Fuhuhuhu! We’re gonna get you so much stuff. You’d better be ready!”

           Alphys smiled fondly, looking down at her pie. “What?” Frisk asked.

           “Things have been so t-tense with Sans gone. It’s been too long since she did her evil laugh,” the royal scientist almost whispered. Her smile widened. “I really missed it.”

           Toriel chuckled as Undyne sat down abruptly, scales tinted purple, stuffing more pie in her mouth. “Indeed. I am so very glad you are here, Frisk,” the boss monster said softly.

           That was Frisk’s cue to say that she didn’t need anything, being here with everyone was gift enough…but she didn’t, because it would be fun to go shopping, dang it. Besides, she’d given the monsters so much stuff that it would make them feel better to buy her a few things in return. “Technically, it’s closer to thirteen,” she pointed out cheekily. “My birthday is in just a few weeks, not long before Christmas. Or Gyftmas.”

           “Really? That’s perfect!” Undyne gave the table a dish-rattling thump. “What day?”

“Uh…” Crud. Frisk tried to remember which date she usually used, but her mind was tired and mushy. It’d be easier to tell the truth, especially with people who wouldn’t judge her. “I actually don’t know the exact day,” she confessed. Maybe just one lie by omission: “My real mother is dead, and my foster mother wasn’t sure exactly how many weeks old I was when she got me. She could only narrow it down to late autumn.”

“Oh, my poor child,” said Toriel, her distress echoed by the others’ shocked expressions. “Can’t you check your birth certificate? Or ask your father, if he is still alive?”

Frisk winced. “I don’t think my father knew I existed until I was about ten. It’s funny you should mention my birth certificate—I’ve tried to track it down, but the only copies I’ve found were from people trying to sell me forgeries. None of the prints ever matched mine.” She snorted. “Rosa couldn’t even tell me which part of the city I was born in.”

Alphys looked ready to cry. Undyne patted her with one hand, and pounded the table again with the other. “Man, humans are the worst! Of all people, you’d think the frickin’ King would be held responsible for his own damn kids! How much did that jerk get around, anyway?! I can’t believe—” She suddenly stopped mid-rant. “Are you okay, Your Majesty?”

           Toriel was staring at Frisk, almost looking through her. The boss monster’s hand had clenched into a fist, bending her fork into a strange shape. “Your father is King Stephin?” she inquired, sounding distant. “Are you certain, my child?”

           “Yes, Lady Toriel,” said Frisk, hoping to get this over with. “He had fifteen illegitimate children, including me, and he started taking an interest in us when I was about ten. As soon as the delegation got back safely, he had me packed off to St. Brigid’s.” She was not going to let herself get weepy again! “Do you remember me telling you how I had my memories removed? It was partly because he came to see me and asked them to do it.”

           Toriel gave her a long, hard look. “Do you mean that you were ten years old when you visited us?”

           Where had that come from? “I…yes, ma’am. Why do you—”

           “So you’ll be turning twenty-three this year, whenever the date may be?”

           “Yes,” Frisk said again. What was going on, and why was Alphys staring at both of them like that? “Lady Toriel, what—”

The tension was broken by Undyne giving the table a two-fisted whack. “Let’s just pick a date and throw you a party! Mettaton’s doing that stupid ball thing before you leave, but we can do another shindig later! We’ve gotta make up for lost time!” She nudged Alphys, nearly knocking her out of her chair. “Right?!”

The scientist clambered back up, and said breathlessly, “Right. We could all use a little more f-fun.”

“…I like the way you girls think.” Toriel forced a smile. “What’s this about Mettaton and a ball?”

“He wants to celebrate Frisk’s visit with a dance,” Alphys answered. “So…”

“So he’ll make you do all the work, and take all the credit,” Undyne muttered. “That’s why I hate that guy. I’m telling you, the next time he tries to pull that crap, you should just send him to me!”

“That settles it,” said Toriel, sounding nearly normal. “Tomorrow, we’re going to pick up something nice for all of us to wear, especially Frisk.” She put down her mangled fork. “Dr. Alphys, it looks like we each have three gifts left. Shall we open them before bed?”

Minutes later, the living room looked as though someone had stuck a firecracker in a Christmas tree: paper was strewn everywhere, boxes thrown aside and ribbons collected into colorful heaps for reuse. At everyone’s insistence, Alphys went first; Frisk directed her to the biggest box, and they ended up having to politely take the figurines away from the royal scientist in order for her to finish opening the others. The second  box was a stack of romance- and slightly-action-oriented comics, which Undyne immediately confiscated until Alphys opened the third package: the last two novels in her beloved Adventure Lady series.

It took quite a while to work through all of the lizard monster’s squeals, dancing-about, and hugging of boxes – and Frisk – but she eventually wore herself out, and she was persuaded not to start on the novels yet; instead, she and Undyne each selected a comic and not-very-surreptitiously started flipping through them while Toriel opened her presents.

Frisk prided herself on her gift-giving acumen, and sure enough, Toriel was overjoyed to receive a copy of Educational Principles and Practice, Vol. 1; they both laughed about how it should be “Principals,” to blank stares and a mutter of “Nerds” from the floor. Next came a boss-monster-sized lambswool shawl, which she immediately draped over her shoulders as she tore open the last box. “How lovely!” the goat monster exclaimed, lifting out each of the little bottles in turn. “I ran out of bubble bath years ago! Thank you so much, my child!”

“I made the moisturizer myself,” Frisk said, and was rewarded with a giant hug. She stepped back and actually pinched herself to confirm that she was awake, reminding herself to stop questioning her happiness and just enjoy it. And speaking of reminders— “I have one more thing for you, Lady Toriel,” she said, shoving down her apprehensions. “One moment.”

All three monsters watched her retrieve her satchel and pull out a folder, selecting a single sheet of paper. “Here,” Frisk said shyly, holding it out.

Toriel took it, putting her reading glasses on and tilting the paper toward the fire. “Sheet music?” The boss monster squinted at the title – “Home” – then examined the notations as Frisk held her breath. “I…” Toriel cleared her throat. “I am sorry, Frisk, but I cannot read music.”

“Oh.” Frisk deflated a little. “I’m sorry. I thought you could.”

“Nah, that’s me,” Undyne said, flipping a comic page. “Remember how you used to sit on the piano while I played it?”

Frisk did remember now. “Yes. I’m sorry,” she said again.

“That’s all right, dear.” Toriel gave Frisk a big, eye-crinkling smile that reminded her too much of Asgore. Misinterpreting the human’s expression, the goat monster raised a finger. “I’ll tell you what, my child. When we visit Hotland tomorrow, we can bring this and ask someone to play or sing it for us. Is it a tune I know, or would you like it to remain a surprise?”

“Er…I guess it can be a surprise.” Frisk took the paper and stuffed it back in the folder. Maybe that was for the best…

“Well! Thank you again, Frisk.” Toriel nodded as the others murmured agreement. “I believe it’s time to settle down for the night.” The boss monster stood and surveyed the room, hands on hips. “Let’s clean up, girls. We don’t have enough beds, so would you all like to sleep in here?” They nodded so enthusiastically that Toriel’s smile broadened. “Wonderful! I’ll be right back. Put all the gifts on the table, and the wrapping paper can go in the kitchen for now.”

           As the boss monster bustled off down the hall and they began picking things up, Alphys lowered her voice: “F-Frisk, do you know why she was asking about your b-birthday? Asgore asked the exact s-same thing about you being ten years old.”

           Frisk thought about it, and hesitated, and made herself say, “I don’t know. We’ll see if she asks me anything else strange.”

           “What I can’t believe is you being as strong as a boss monster,” Undyne declared, wadding all the paper into a fist-sized ball. “That’s crazy! I mean, I didn’t think humans could have that much magic!” She gave her toothiest grin. “So, basically, you and Sans are—”

“Perfect,” Toriel said briskly, striding back into the living room and setting down a huge stack of linens. “We have just enough for three pallets! Claim your spots, ladies, and we’ll get you comfortable. It’s going to be a busy day tomorrow. Can I invite you back here for tomorrow night, Doctor?”

The lizard monster was delighted to accept, but Frisk wasn’t so sure. It was nice to see Alphys and Undyne so happy, but…did Toriel expect them to stay here every night of her visit?

As they arranged the blankets and sheets into makeshift sleeping bags, Toriel chattered about all the “campouts” Chara and Asriel used to have in the living room, but Frisk didn’t hear much of it; she was lost in thought about Sans. Toriel didn’t seem to suspect anything, but they had to tell her sometime very soon. Frisk didn’t know how they were going to convince the former Queen that maybe one human with magic and determination could successfully pair off with a monster—maybe they could appeal to Toriel’s concern for Sans’ welfare, not to mention that Frisk was literally his only option?

…Ouch. She rubbed her temple, trying to shove that thought back down where it belonged. Hadn’t she just scolded Sans last night for “joking” that she was only interested in him because some weirdo in a robe said she’d get pregnant soon? If he was really just interested in her SOUL, then he’d have shown some interest much sooner, wouldn’t he?

…Like…like getting flustered when she offered him that stupid fork during their very first real conversation…or agreeing to stay in the first place…or ignoring the opportunity to escape when she was sick from teleporting back to her rooms. Or all the odd looks she’d noticed, especially at her damn feet. Or him being so irate when she showed him her proposals, or the noise he made when she came out in her skin-tight All Souls dress, or being upset that everyone was going to see it, or his instant willingness to pose as her husband for the festival, or—

Frisk bit the inside of her cheek. She knew Sans cared for her. What was making her think like this?

As if in reply, cold prickled over her scalp and down her back. She glanced at the hallway, almost expecting to see—

“Hey!” Undyne snapped her fingers for the third time, startling Frisk out of her reverie. “Did you hear Her Majesty?”

“Ah…no. I’m sorry.” Frisk smoothed out her pallet and stood up to accept a plate with the last slice of pie. “Thank you, Lady Toriel.”

“You’re very welcome, my dear.” The goat monster bent over to renew the magic inside the fireplace, then smoothed the hair out of Frisk’s eyes again, surprising the human with a light kiss on her forehead. “Good night, Frisk. Good night, Undyne, and good night, Alphys. I’ll be right down the hall if you need anything.”

Frisk smiled as the others bade Toriel good night. Was this what being a normal person felt like, having a mother and friends?

Undyne could barely wait for Frisk to finish her pie before she sat down on her pallet and leaned in to ask, “So, what do the humans think of you and Sans? Are they okay with it, or are you important enough to get away with it?”

The human sighed, getting up to put her dishes in the sink. “They don’t think anything is going on,” she said. “He’s a skeleton, and that’s that.”

           Alphys squinted at her in disbelief, and Undyne said, “Wait a damn second. You mean to tell us he spent all that time with you, in your room, and no one even thought something could be going on? Do they have any idea how much magic a boss monster has to work with?!”

           “Really, I thought h-humans had more imagination than that,” Alphys remarked.

           “Yeah! You’re all supposed to be a bunch of perverts!” Undyne shook her head in disgust. “Can’t you guys do anything right?”

           Frisk had to laugh as she settled back onto her pallet. “Humans have no idea how monster reproduction works,” she explained. “I barely know anything myself.”

“Then listen up!” Before Frisk could stop her, Undyne leapt onto the armchair. “Here’s the facts of life, kid, and I’m not gonna hold anything back! You ready? It goes like—”

           “Instinct,” Alphys said hastily. “You decide to be parents, and you combine your m-magic, and then you have a baby. Or an egg, or a cub. It d-depends.”

           The priestess thought about it as Undyne grumbled at the interruption. “Sans implied that you need a male and a female to reproduce,” she said. “Is that true?”

           “Pffffft! Are you kidding?” Undyne gesticulated so wildly that the armchair pitched back and fell over, the fish monster gracefully shifting to stay atop it. “That’s just for bosses!”

           “It’s true,” said Alphys. “Lady Toriel had to incubate Prince Asriel like a human because there was s-so much magic involved.” She squirmed, claws twisting into her blanket. “O-otherwise, any two monsters can decide to h-have a b-b-baby.”

“Any monsters?” Frisk repeated. “Two men, two women—”

           Alphys turned a remarkable shade of orange-red, actually quite pretty to look at, and Undyne nodded so emphatically that she somersaulted onto the floor. “With enough magic, you can do anything,” she said proudly, folding her legs and leaning forward. “If you want a kid, the first thing you do is tell Asgore, and he gives you both a big hug and writes you…I guess humans would call it a birth certificate, except the kid’s not there yet.” Shrug. “Anyway, you both rest up and eat a lot, and then you decide where you’re gonna do it.” Undyne pointed at the floor. “It can be anywhere, but most people like to go somewhere special.” She smiled at Alphys. “Where’d we go if it was the two of us? I’d say the garbage dump.”

           The scientist paused, made a series of incoherent noises, and dove under her pallet, only her tail sticking out. “Why the garbage dump?” Frisk asked curiously.

           “Duh! It’s where we met!” The fish monster cackled, slapping her leg. “Look at her, all cute ‘n lumpy under th—”  Snort. “Oh my God, Frisk, we still have to tell her about that! And Alphys, you’ve gotta tell us what happened with Sans and Asgore!”

           Frisk heartily agreed; it was as good a time as any to get everyone on the same page. They coaxed Alphys into sticking her head out long enough to tell them about Sans’ conversation with the King, which seemed to have gone about as well as could be expected; then it was Undyne’s turn to relate the scene at Grillby’s, and how fun and easy it’d been to screw with Sans.

Of course, she also had to mention Gerson’s revelation about boss-monster attraction. “Frisk really is that strong, then?” the scientist asked, incredulous. “Sans said she was j-just like a boss monster, but…”

           “That’s what Gerson said,” the Captain replied with an air of finality. “Anyway, Sans was trying to convince everyone he thinks humans are all gross, and you know what that goofy bastard said?”

Once the story was finished and they were done laughing – nervously, on Frisk’s part – Undyne resumed her lecture: “So, when you’re ready to have your kid, you go wherever you decided, and everyone knows to leave you alone so you can concentrate.” She held her hands up and spread her webbed fingers to indicate a large oval between her and Frisk. “You both decide on a size and shape to aim for, and then you combine your magic to start forming it. How long it takes depends how powerful you both are, and what you want your kid to be—anywhere from a few hours to a whole day. When the baby’s done growing, you all go home, eat something, and get someone to watch the kid so you can sleep for a couple days. Boom! You’re parents!”

           “What do you mean, ‘combine your magic’?” Frisk demanded, too curious to care if she was being rude. “What does that entail, exactly?”

           Undyne cocked her head, scratching behind her fin. “Whaddya mean?” she asked. “You just do it. Think of what you want and why you’re doing it with that person, swap your magic with them, and focus it together for a really long time.”

           “But when you ‘swap’ your magic, how do you actually do it?” Frisk persisted. “Do you have to be physically touching each other?”

           The scaly monsters exchanged glances, more confused than embarrassed. “You just do it,” Undyne said again. “I mean, did anyone ever teach you how to sneeze? Once you’re ready, it just happens.”

           “It’s completely unique to each couple,” explained Alphys. “The important thing is your intentions, and your f-feelings—trusting your m-mate enough to have your magic directly connected with theirs, and wanting a ch-child badly enough to expend all your power. It can be through touch, or purely magical, though I think it’s usually b-both, depending on your individual preferences. It mostly operates on instinct.” Squirm. “At least I th-think so. People don’t r-really talk about it that much.”

           “Exactly! That’s my smart lady.” Undyne ruffled the spikes on Alphys’ crest, smirking as the scientist retreated again.

           Frisk supposed that made sense; if Sans were to partner with, say, another skeleton, he probably wouldn’t bother to imitate any human parts. But if she was a human who essentially qualified as a boss monster – still a strange thought, however gratifying – then it’d have to be done the human way, which meant…improvising.

“I don’t get how you don’t get it,” the Captain said to Frisk. “Isn’t it the same for you guys? At least a little?”

           The priestess sighed. “No. For one thing, only a male and a female can make a child, and it always has to grow inside the female. We instinctively crave physical contact, but that’s about it. We have to be taught how to do it, or else the whole race would probably die out.”

           That was an exaggeration, but not much, judging by the questions Frisk remembered the other girls asking in their class, and the things she had believed at that age. For example, she once overheard an older girl referring to a boy having “popped a boner” and concluded that the male organ must function like a jack-in-the-box, which seemed impractical at best, and potentially quite dangerous.

           “What you’re saying, then,” Frisk continued, “is that monsters only do it when they’ve made a serious, loving commitment to being parents?” She shook her head. “That’s the exact opposite of most humans. There’s no magic to invest, and usually not much forethought.”

           The monsters looked as horrified as Sans had been when he and Frisk conversed on the subject. “Is that how your dad has so many kids?” Undyne asked. “You just…”

           “I’d say ninety-nine times out of—no, more like nine hundred ninety-nine times out of a thousand, it’s purely recreational. There’s a huge demand for medicines that prevent pregnancy,” replied Frisk. “And a lot of humans – especially young women – think it’s more romantic to ‘follow their heart’ and just hope they don’t get pregnant. If they do, and it’s out of wedlock, the man is only held responsible based on social status and his own morals.” She stared into the fire,

the magic flames flickering in orderly patterns. “Powerful men can do almost anything they want. I was lucky that my father acknowledged me at all.”

           Shocked silence. “No, I’m not joking,” Frisk muttered. Completely against her will, she thought again of Chara railing at Asgore and Toriel— “If they get someone pregnant, they don’t have to deal with the consequences, do they?”

           It was hard to keep from scowling, or feeling queasy. Everything came back to Chara, didn’t it?

           “Well,” Undyne said in disgust. “That’s total crap. We’ve gotta get everything straightened out peace-wise so you can marry Sans and stay here.”

Alphys nodded eagerly, but Frisk felt as if she’d been punched in the gut. Undyne leaned down to peer into her face. “What?” demanded the Captain. She glanced at Alphys. “A couple weeks ago, Frisk talked to some guy who’s never wrong, and he said that if she got her memories back, she’d have a baby within a year. Then she comes here, and I find out Sans has been gnawing on her—”

“Undyne!” snapped Frisk, cheeks aflame.

“Well, it’s true! I know you’re not like other humans, so…” Undyne raked her loose hair out of her eye. “I’m assuming the best here. I mean, don’t you wanna get married?”

“Of course I do!” Frisk almost shouted. “I love him, and I hate that we have to hide it like this! It’s illegal with humans because they think of monsters as a cross between animals and public utilities, and I can’t do anything here because the last human who lived here was a spoiled, manipulative piece of—”

She stopped at the sight of tiny golden sparks crackling in the air. Both monsters had recoiled as far back as they could, Undyne against the capsized armchair and Alphys up against the low bookshelf. “Sorry,” Frisk said hastily, and the sparks vanished. Where had those come from? She hadn’t put up a barrier—was she just that angry?

Wait. It was easier to use magic in the Underground than on the surface, and her barriers always got more fizzy when she was upset…was her magic more reactive to her emotions down here? She hoped not, or else she’d have to be very careful to avoid scaring any more monsters.

Undyne scooted forward. “Yeah, I think we’re done for now,” she said. “We should get to bed. Gonna have a busy day tomorrow, and you’re probably pretty tired.”

“Yes, very.” Frisk rubbed between her eyes. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you, or…”

“That’s all right,” Alphys said, offering a timid smile that made Frisk feel exponentially worse. “Um…y-you know, you can talk about it with us, if you w-want. But you don’t have to.”

“Yeah! We’re your friends,” Undyne said stoutly. “Yell, scream, throw things—that’s what friends do!”

The priestess chuckled. “Thank you.” She rose on her knees and hugged Undyne around the middle, then Alphys. “Thank you both so much. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

Alphys was pink again. Undyne grinned. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s be good and get to sleep.”

Frisk slid under the blankets, letting warmth sweep over her and wash away the bitterness. On impulse, she said, “Who wants a lullaby?”

“Oh. D-do you sing?” asked Alphys.

Frisk didn’t think of Chara. She just took a breath, and the monsters blinked at each other in pleasant surprise as humming filled the room. It was Sans’ favorite song, light and sweet, and Undyne could barely mumble something complimentary before her eye drifted shut, Alphys following a few seconds later. Frisk had to let it taper it off soon after; it was so nice to think of Sans, but she couldn’t stay awake any longer. At least she’d see him tomorrow…

 ~

             Back a third time: in bed with her husband, she let him tip her head back so he could run his teeth and tongue over her throat. She remembered now how busy she’d been with work this week; they’d barely seen each other, much less been intimate. No wonder he was so eager, or that she couldn’t stay mad at him for waking her. Frisk sighed as his hand ran down her side, thumb stroking the delicate skin of her hip before it slid underneath for an appreciative squeeze. He nuzzled her cheek, then looked up enough to lock eyes before he kissed her.

Frisk pulled him closer, glorying in the slight pain of his ribs grinding against hers; not only was it the feeling of being close to him, she knew from experience how much Sans loved her softness. She was a little bemused when he sat up after only a minute or so, but he was breathing so hard and fumbling so awkwardly with his shorts that she had to recognize it as a compliment. Her body warmed in anticipation as he moved her legs aside to—

           Sans almost never cursed, but he muttered something very impolite as the doorknob rattled. “Daddy?” Rattle, rattle. “I’m hungry.”

           “it’s after midnight, kiddo,” the skeleton said irritably. “go back to bed before you wake your mom. she’s gotta be up in a few hours.”

           A token whine; sullen footsteps trudged back to their room, the door of which was nearly slammed shut.

Frisk sighed. “How does she do that?” she mumbled. “I swear I—”

           Her only warning was a glint in his socket and a sharp movement forward—her hands latched onto his shirt, jaws clenched to keep from crying out. “Sans! That’s…” Frisk bit back a moan as he leaned over her. “That’s cheating,” she whispered furiously.

           Sans chuckled. “not if i’m doin’ it with my wife.” His hips moved slowly. “get it?” He ground his teeth as she retaliated by rubbing her calves along his pelvis. “it’s…y-yeah.”

           Frisk smirked. He was so aroused that he couldn’t even come up with a followup joke! That was gratifying. So was…well, everything else he was doing. She leaned up to pull him in for another kiss, but he buried his face in her neck instead, gripping the sheets for better leverage as his pace quickened.

           There was nothing for it. Frisk hung onto him for dear life, dimly aware that she was getting louder, no longer caring if either of the kids heard them. It didn’t last very long, but that was fine: for the first time in a long while, Sans had to bite her shoulder as he shuddered to a stop, which was enough for her a moment later, leaving them both a panting, sticky mess—in other words, perfect.

           On one hand, she did actually have to get up in…crap, only four hours? Frisk glared at the alarm clock, then closed her eyes, stroking her husband’s skull as he caught his breath. Sans mumbled into her ear, and Frisk smiled, whispering back. At least she wouldn’t have any trouble getting back to sleep!

 ~

             Sans didn’t make a conscious decision to get up and go find Frisk right now; he just woke up and, a moment later, found himself standing in the dark entryway of Toriel’s house. Magic raced through his bones so hard and fast that he had to get ahold of himself long enough to adjust his vision. The colossal skeleton moved cautiously to his right, where the bedrooms were, then paused at a sound from the living room. A little snore, rustling…snickering?

           Right. The slumber party. Against his better judgment – any judgment at all, really – Sans crept down the hall and peered around the corner of the living room, where two people lay fast asleep; a third person was crouched over one of the sleepers, chortling to herself.

           The boss monster kept a tight rein on his urge to walk over, grab Frisk, and take her straight back with him to his cold, smelly, bedless room. At the very least, he wanted to ask Undyne what the hell she was doing to his human.

He didn’t get the chance: a silent presence behind him made him gulp. “Hey, Tori,” he mumbled, half-turning.

Toriel was in her normal clothes, looking tired and extremely unhappy to see him. “What are you doing here at this hour?” she asked coldly.

His bullshitting reflex saved him as webby feet padded over from the living room and Undyne joined the goat monster in glaring at him. “I was thinkin’ about that big load of food we need ta pick up, and who all should be goin’,” he said. “Frisk probably wants me to bring her an’ maybe you, Undyne, but I think it’s too dangerous fer her. I wanted ta grab some papers from ‘er and jus’ go take care of it by myself.”

“All by yourself?” repeated Undyne, and Toriel asked, “Right this moment?”

“Yeah. I can shortcut everything home way easier if it’s just me.” Sans jerked his thumb at the living room. “All I need are the invoices out of ‘er bag, and I can take care of the whole thing while you guys are doin’ whatever.” He shrugged. “I don’t want ‘er wastin’ her time in the Underground with that crap. She never hangs out with other girls, so this’ll be good for ‘er.”

“How considerate of you,” Toriel said warmly. “I know how much magic you possess, Sans, but surely you won’t attempt to take yourself and all that cargo back here single-handed? What if you can only come partway and get caught out in the open?” The goat monster looked around Sans. “Would you consider going with him, Captain?”

“Nah, she can stay here,” the skeleton answered. “I’ll get a room in the village if I need ta rest up. And if I really wanna keep myself in shape…” He didn’t have to fake a shudder. “Pap’s got plenty’a food in the fridge.”

The women were silent for a moment. Undyne came forward slowly to clap him on the back ribs. “Sans,” she said gravely. “I salute you.”

Toriel sighed. “I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures. If your mind is made up, I will not stop you. Undyne, would you get the papers from Frisk’s bag, please?”

And so it was that Sans found himself committed to the biggest solo grocery run imaginable, all because of a sex dream. It was good to know that he could still lie as long as Frisk wasn’t in the room, but he wished he could’ve found out in a more convenient way. Eh, whatever; it was true that she needed girl time, and that she’d be in danger if they ran out of magic and were discovered by poachers. He had his disguise, but she was way too cute to pass as anything but herself.

So Sans accepted the folder, flipped through for the most boring-looking, number-filled papers, and helped himself, taking note of the sheet music – ha – without giving it much thought. “Welp, ‘m off,” he said to the other monsters. “Tell ‘er ta have fun, ‘n I’ll be back soon.”

“Of course, Sans. Please, be careful, and don’t take any foolish risks,” Toriel urged him. “We will send out a search party if you’re not back within forty-eight hours.”

“And Frisk’ll probably insist on coming,” Undyne added pointedly. “Don’t get captured or die, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” The giant skeleton waved the papers at them. “I’m gonna say bye to Pap, and then I’m off. Toodles.”

True to his word, Sans went back to the house, woke his brother, and apologized in advance for eating all the spaghetti, explaining that he needed the energy in order to go get another load of food for everyone. Papyrus was two-thirds ecstatic and one-third fretful. “I CAN SEE YOU ARE ALSO SICK WITH WORRY,” the younger skeleton murmured as Sans choked down the last plateful. He wasn’t stupid enough to have his tongue out, but there was just something about Pap’s cooking that transcended texture or flavor. “ARE YOU SURE YOU CAN DO THIS ALONE?”

“Yeah,” Sans said feebly, reminding himself that the stuff basically counted as food. “I’ll be fine, Pap. I’m gonna be really careful.”

Papyrus put his hands on his fake-armored hips. “HMM. I HOPE THAT MEANS NO HUNTING.”

Sans tapped his fork on the plate. He had wondered if his brother was going to say anything about that. “Nah, bro. No hunting. No animals, not anythin’. I’m just gonna get the stuff Frisk ordered and come right back. I promise.”

The smaller skeleton – Sans was never going to get used to that – nodded, only looking a little skeptical. “NYEH! WE’LL WAIT FOR YOU, THEN. DON’T TAKE TOO LONG, BUT MOSTLY, TAKE CARE.”

“Sure thing.” Sans rolled the papers up loosely, tucked them into an outside pocket, and gave Papyrus a brief, manly embrace. “Take care of ‘er. I’ll see ya later.”

“OF COURSE! I WILL ALSO SEE YOU, NYEH-HEH!” Papyrus held his smile as Sans winked out of sight. Then he sighed, his whole body drooping. “…I HOPE.”

 ~

             Frisk woke to the sounds of laughter, voices, and a door closing. For a moment between rubbing her eyes and raising her head, the priestess had no idea where she was, or what she was hearing—was Sans making breakfast for the kids? Had she overslept? Why was the bed so hard?

           She pushed herself up onto her elbows and saw the living room of Toriel’s house, blankets and pillows heaped around the cooling fireplace. Right; they’d had a slumber party. Frisk yawned, sitting up for a deeply contented stretch. She could hardly comprehend it: they had stayed up late talking about girl stuff, and she had no responsibilities for today except to go shopping! Maybe she really should stay at Toriel’s for the rest of the trip…

           “Good morning, sleepyhead,” Toriel said, with an odd quaver in her voice. “Would you like some breakfast?”

           Frisk scratched her forehead. Then she scratched it again, checking under her nails, and decided she was imagining things. “Yes, please. I hope you’re not using your pie ingredients.”

           “Why not? I have butter, eggs, and salt, and three hungry houseguests.” Toriel waggled a finger to spread the fire magic more evenly beneath the skillet. Her shoulders hunched a little as Frisk got up and wandered into the kitchen. “Would you please set the table for me?” she asked without turning.

           “Certainly.” The human went to fetch four plates and glasses from the cabinet. “Where are Alphys and Undyne?”

           “Reading those silly comic books in the guest room,” the goat monster said tolerantly. “I’ve never seen grown monsters who loved those things so much.”

           The priestess found the silverware drawer and set out forks and napkins. “You seem to be feeling better,” she commented. “We were a little worried last night.”

           “Yes, of course…and speaking of last night, Sans stopped by very early this morning.” Toriel transferred the scrambled eggs to a serving bowl. “He’ll be busy today with a few errands, so we won’t be seeing him, but he said to have fun with the girls.”

           Frisk mumbled acknowledgment, her face growing hot. Had he had the same dream, or memory, or whatever it was? Was he avoiding her?

Toriel was quiet for another moment. Then: “I hate to gossip, dear, but… when Sans was apprenticing under you at the castle, did he seem…fond of anyone? I mean, has he grown attached to any humans beside yourself?”

           Frisk felt the hairs on her arms standing straight up. “Er…may I ask why? Did he say something last night?” she asked, sounding only mildly curious.

           The boss monster shook her head. “Please, Frisk. I’d rather not discuss it until you’ve answered my question.”

Frisk wanted to tell the truth so badly that she had to bite her lip before she answered, “I don’t know. We didn’t talk much with any one person. The only people he really interacted with were the sorcerers in charge of developing the solar panels.”

           “Ah, yes, humans don’t have them yet.” In one motion, Toriel cracked two more eggs into the skillet, incinerated the shells, and flicked the ashes into the sink. “By ‘sorcerers,’ you mean men and women with considerable amounts of magic?” A drop of egg splashed the stovetop as Toriel stirred the mixture, raising a little plume of steam. “Forgive me for asking, my child, but are any of them particularly strong? Perhaps one of your siblings?”

           Frisk stared at the table. Time to stop dancing around the subject, or at least come a little closer. “I think I know why you’re asking, Lady Toriel. Yesterday at Grillby’s, Gerson told us that boss monsters are only attracted to other boss monsters, or someone equally powerful,” the priestess said quietly. “Is that true?”

           An embarrassed pause. “That old—” Crack went another egg. “Yes, it is true.” Crack. “May I ask how the subject came up?”

Well, Sans had obviously said something, or Toriel had otherwise figured out there was a human involved…but she still didn’t seem to know who he meant. “Undyne was teasing him about liking humans. Gerson explained that it was basically impossible, but Sans acted as though it’d already happened,” said Frisk, trying to stay calm. “I won’t ask whether Sans told you anything in confidence, but…yes, he has met several extremely gifted humans.” When there was no response, the priestess turned to face the stove, where the former Queen stood rigid. “Toriel, please, tell me honestly—what’s the worst that could happen if Sans were to marry a human?”

           Crack. “He could not.” Crack. “It is not my personal opinion. It is fact.” More egg splashed the stovetop as Toriel stirred the mixture. “Neither humans nor monsters would recognize their union. She would be an outcast among humans, and we would not trust her enough to let her live here.” Crack. “Asgore would suspect Sans of collusion with humanity, or even treason, especially if he chose someone related to the King. Everyone in the Underground but myself and Papyrus would think likewise.” A giant sigh. “The best-case scenario is that Sans would have no home but what he and his wife could make for themselves, and he would have her for only a few decades at most before she withered and died. I don’t even know if they could have a child, but if they did, Asgore would feel threatened by—”

           “What if we changed any or all of that?” Frisk took a few steps into the kitchen. “Why couldn’t monsters learn to trust at least one human? Why can’t we try to convince Asgore that he doesn’t have to fear and hate everyone, and Sans isn’t a threat?” She couldn’t keep her voice from rising: “Why not give Sans a chance to have a few years with someone he loves, instead of making him live forever in abject misery?”

           Silence. Toriel turned the skillet to scrape more eggs into the serving bowl, mixing them all together. “You may be in a position of authority, my child,” she said, so gently that Frisk’s hackles rose, “but there are many things you do not understand yet.”

           Frisk took a calming breath. “I understand that when someone says that,” she said politely, “they’re either hiding something, or trying to end an argument where they know they’re wrong.”

           Toriel stopped moving. The ring of fire on the stovetop flared so high that Frisk had to control the impulse to turn and run. “Listen to me, child. I know that Sans is your friend, and that you are concerned for him,” the boss monster said to the flames, deadly quiet. “I feel the same way. If it were possible to allow him to be happy with someone, anyone, I would be overjoyed. But I will reiterate: the things I have said to you are not a product of my own narrow-mindedness. They. Are. Facts.”

           Frisk’s chest burned. “Facts can be changed, Lady Toriel,” she murmured. “I’m not claiming anything will be quick or easy, only that it may be possible. It stays impossible if we do not try.”

           The flames on the stove winked out. Toriel went to the refrigerator and took out a fresh jug of milk. “Go get the other girls, please, my child. Breakfast is ready,” she said brightly.

           So be it. “Yes, ma’am,” the priestess replied.

           “Uh…” Undyne’s awkward voice made Frisk turn to face the hallway. The Captain and the royal scientist were glancing around, clearly afraid to interrupt. Undyne looked up solemnly. “Frisk, I just wanted to saaaHAHAHAHAHA!” The fish monster nearly collapsed, staggering into the wall as she howled with completely unexpected laughter, raising a shaking finger toward the human.

           Bewildered, Frisk looked at Alphys. The latter tried to cover her mouth, but as her eyes met Frisk’s, the lizard snorted so hard that her glasses fell most of the way off. Another look, and Alphys was wheezing, sitting down hard. Undyne was already gasping for breath, but every time she looked up at Frisk, she nearly screamed. “Oh my—oh my gaaaaahahahaha!”

           Frisk whirled around and glared at Toriel, who was still facing away from her, but whose head was bowed and shoulders shaking as her laugh finally burst forth in great, rolling peals, forcing the goat monster to lean against the counter and gradually start slithering to the floor. She risked a peek at Frisk and clutched her gut as the human down stared at her. “My…my ch—” She shook her head, falling onto her side to giggle helplessly on the kitchen floor.

What in the—Frisk shoved past her debilitated friends and ran to the bathroom mirror. That was why Toriel had sounded so strange at first, and why she hadn’t turned around: in giant black letters on Frisk’s forehead and across the bridge of her nose, someone had written SHARKY WUZ HERE.

She knew her skin had felt itchy! What the hell was it written with? Indelible ink?! The priestess was so angry that…she…actually…had to admit it was pretty damn funny. She glared at her reflection, but it was no use: Frisk buried her head in her hands and allowed herself to laugh silently for nearly a full minute.

Out in the kitchen and living room, the monsters were starting to run out of steam, amusement fading gradually into concern as the human remained silent. “F…Frisk?” Undyne managed. She tried to get up, but the best she could do was a half-crouch against the wall. “Hey, Frisk? You okay?”

There was a distinct sniffle as Frisk emerged from the bathroom. Toriel wiped her face on her sleeve, sitting up against the cabinets. “My child? Are you all right?” she called.

Frisk came shuffling down the hall, her head hanging. She walked past the concerned monsters and sat down on her pallet, giving another noisy sniff.

           Undyne grimaced. “Hey, come on. It was just a dumb joke.” The Captain hobbled into the living room and bent over Frisk. “It’s a tradition to—”

           Whap went Frisk’s pillow, square in the fish monster’s face. Undyne fell flat on her back as Frisk burst out laughing. “This had better come off, Sharky,” she said, trying to sound very angry and absolutely failing.

           Undyne smacked the floor, giving another shout of laughter. “Who…who said it was me?! Why would you think that was my nickname?” She grabbed her own pillow and sat up for a swipe at Frisk, mindful of her much greater strength. “It was probably Her Majesty!”

           “Oh, really? Is that how it is?” Toriel got to her feet with difficulty. “I…” She had to pause for a few more giggles before she could say, “I suppose I’ll just comfort myself by eating this entire breakfast by myself.”

           At that, Alphys got up and tried to creep around the fringes of the now-full-blown pillow fight, but Undyne grabbed her ankle. “Hold on, Doctor! This is a question of honor, and you’ve gotta help me settle it once and for all! I—” She stopped as Frisk tried to catch her unawares. “HEY! Knock it off, you damn cheating human!”

           “Never!” Frisk had gone for her blind side, and ducked behind her pillow to avoid retaliation. “Alphys, help me!”

           “Mmm! This is wonderful,” Toriel said loudly, sparing the scientist from having to choose sides. “I’m so glad I have it all to myself!”

           Undyne dropped her pillow, but before she could stand up, Frisk said, more seriously, “Wait a moment, please. I need help getting this off my face.” She crooked her finger at Undyne. “We’ll be right back.”

           The Captain followed her to the bathroom. “Yeah, I have no idea how to get that stuff off,” she admitted. “I used one of the really nice pens out of Toriel’s desk.”

           “Splendid.” Frisk opened the medicine cabinet as Undyne closed the door. “That could’ve gone better,” she said quietly.

           “What?! That was fun as—oh. Right.” The fish monster sat down on the edge of the tub. “Yeah, so…Her Majesty knows something is going on with a human, but she doesn’t even suspect it’s you? I mean, you’re powerful enough to be High Priestess, you spent way more time with Sans than anyone else, and he really cares about you. How is she not putting that together?”

           Frisk sighed, selected a bottle of baby oil, and began rubbing it on her nose and forehead. “Toriel’s been alone for much too long. Now that I’m back, she still wants to think of me as a little girl, and being involved with Sans doesn’t fit that image.” The human dumped most of the bottle out and slathered it on. “It’s convenient for now, but when she finds out…”

           “Hmm.” The Captain gave her a hard, squinty stare. “That’s not gonna stop you, is it?” she demanded.

           “Hell no,” Frisk said. She was smiling, but she had never been more serious in her life…or at least she would be, once she got the damn ink off.

 ~

             It was now late afternoon. Sans was standing at the counter of a large grain clearinghouse in human form, hands in his pockets, waiting on someone who’d run off to find someone else who could assist him. He glanced around for the fifth time, but there wasn’t much point. There were shelves lined with burlap sacks that reminded him of his old shirt, wood floors, brick walls, and nothing else. At least if he’d brought Frisk with him, he would’ve had something to look at!

           If he’d brought Frisk along on this stupid impulse trip, he also wouldn’t be waiting for these dickwads to take their sweet friggin’ time tracking his stuff down; she would have done her scary thing at them and gotten their fleshy butts moving. He was doing his best to look intimidating, but it wasn’t the same with his disguise on.

           …But if he’d brought Frisk along, he’d be thinking nonstop of that damn dream, and his entire day would’ve been a frustrating waste. As it was, he was only thinking mostly of that damn dream, and the day had otherwise been really boring. This was the third place Sans had been, and according to the invoices, there were a couple more to go; he didn’t know why he’d assumed that everything they’d ordered would be sitting around in one place, ready to go, because holy shit, it wasn’t.

           At least the nice lady at the first warehouse had convinced him not to try getting everything together and heading back out tonight. She’d seen that he was completely clueless and given him some advice on what to actually do: show the invoices today so they could get it ready for tomorrow, then rent a couple of carts in the morning, bring them to each warehouse, inspect the cargo for damage, sign the bill of lading, make sure it got loaded safely, and head to the next damn place to do it again until everything was ready to go. Then he could worry about getting home.

           All these stupid, tiny, essential details—was this what Frisk’s life was like, running around arranging crap for everyone? No wonder she was so damn tired all the time! It was like being pinched to death!

           He was profoundly grateful to exit the last warehouse, even if the sun’s dying light was right in his eyes as he stepped out. Sans squinted his way down the street and selected the first okay-looking pub he saw. The place was noisy and crowded, but warm enough that he decided to sit down at a table near the door.

It was seriously weird to be by himself among all these people. With nothing better to do and the servers too busy to notice him yet, Sans relaxed as best he could, half listening to the humans’ chatter.

“That’s seriously the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” someone was saying loudly at the next table. “I don’t care how all-powerful it’s supposed to be, it’s a skeleton.”

Sans turned his full attention to that table as the guy’s friends murmured agreement. “Yeah, if that’s the worst thing they can come up with, it’s pretty damn stupid,” one said.

“You wanna know what I heard that’s actually true?” The first speaker’s voice dropped just enough to sound impressive. “If the whole monster thing works out, the King’s gonna legally adopt her—new title, next in line for the throne after the Prince, the works.”

This did impress his friends, who were thoughtfully silent. “Nuh-uh,” someone finally said, and they laughed.

“I’m not kidding! My brother-in-law just got back from the city a couple hours ago. The sorcerers did a big demonstration of those…those panel things, whatever the fuck you call ‘em, and they actually worked. The King was there, and a bunch of people said he couldn’t stop talking about everything the High Priestess was doing.”

“So how’d you get from ‘the thing works like she said’ to ‘huzzah for Her Majesty’?” asked a skeptic.

The knowledgeable human smirked. “He was asking for all kinds of paperwork when they got back to the castle, including adoption stuff. The Prince isn’t doing too good—” He paused, nodding agreement with their sympathetic murmurs. “I know. Poor little man. But—”

“Good evening, sir!” A smiling, apple-cheeked waitress was between Sans and the other table. “What’ll you have?”

“Water.” When she opened her mouth again, he said, “Just bring me whatever’s at the top of the menu.”

The waitress blinked. “Yes, sir. Can I interest you in—”

“Bye,” he snapped, and the woman moved on, trying to hide a scowl.

To his irritation, the humans were now talking about sheep or something. Sans stared at the back of one man’s head, his thoughts buzzing like flies. Had he jinxed it somehow? Just yesterday, he’d been thinking what a great ruler Frisk would be, and now, if these random assholes were to be believed—

Someone had made a dirty joke about a guy spending too much time with his sheep, and the table was getting so loud that Sans contemplated moving somewhere else, or leaving entirely. If he stayed at a decent inn, he could get food there just as easily.

“You’d better watch out. They thought my cousin was doin’ that, and he had to sell his whole farm to pay the fine,” said the grossest-looking human.

This revelation was met with even louder derision. “That wasn’t a sheep, stupid,” the talkative guy commented. “He was gettin’ cozy with a monster. Remember, the little one they were using for the mill?”

Sans’ entire body locked up. Dimly, he knew he had to make his legs move—he had to get out of here before he heard anything worse than—

“He didn’t actually do anything,” the gross guy insisted. “They just found him in the pen.”

Another round of merriment. “Yeah, drunk off his ass! If I was her, I’d’ve knocked him out, too! He got charged with attempted bestiality and letting her escape!”

“Nah, not bestiality,” someone said. “It’s…what’s that fancy word?”

“Miscegenation,” said the gross guy. “Fuckin’ a monster. He got lucky they didn’t throw him in jail. He just had to sell everything he owned and go work for someone.”

Sans stared down at his table’s cracked, beer-mug-stained surface. He was no longer listening to the group. So, it was actually against the law? That meant…

The noisy table gradually ceased talking and turned to look at Sans, who had started sniggering, then laughing to himself, and gotten so loud that the humans around him were edging away. “You okay there?” someone asked cautiously.

“It’s a fucking crime,” Sans said, distantly aware that it was in fact a deeply messed-up and unfunny issue. “Get it?” He got up, shaking his head, a hand to his side. With an incoherent sound, the disguised monster ignored the waitress’ approach with his food and staggered out the door. He could eat later; right now, he just needed to stop laughing at the sheer, ridiculous number of reasons why he should never ever see Frisk again, much less spend the rest of his life with her. At this point, what else could even happen?!

In a way, it didn’t matter: it was about infinity too late to decide that they’d better just be friends. Whatever happened, they could handle it between them, he told himself, and very nearly believed it.

 ~

 It wasn’t a sex dream this time, but the first thing he saw after falling asleep that night was Frisk, so he’d take it. “Heya,” said Sans, extending a bony hand. They were in Toriel’s living room, Frisk lounging in the armchair. “Come here often?”

           She smiled at him as he pulled her to her feet. “Not often enough,” she said, squeezing his metacarpals. “I’m so glad to see you.”

           “Yeah?” For a moment, Sans thought she’d grown way taller; then he realized that he was his normal shape, but human height. He opened his arms, and Frisk came right in to snuggle against him, sighing as he pulled her closer. “How was yer day?” he mumbled, running his phalanges through the ends of her hair.

           Her body rumbled as she laughed a little, and his SOUL almost purred with sheer happiness. How was he supposed to ever stop hugging her when it felt like this? “It was wonderful,” she said into his chest. “We had our slumber party, and then Papyrus came by in the morning to say hello, so we took him around to give out the rest of the gifts, and he came shopping with us.” Another giggle. “He’s actually got a great eye for color coordination.”

           “Yeah?” Sans ignored the tiniest pinprick of jealousy. “Thanks fer includin’ him.”

           “Of course!” The human squeezed him for emphasis. “I’ll spare you the full fashion show when you get back, but some of the things we got are really cute. I can’t wait to wear something that’s not black or gray.”

           “Or purple?” he teased her.

           “Or…” Frisk stopped, then thumped him in the ribs as he snickered. “You know I hate that stupid dress! I might as well go out wearing nothing but body paint!”

           “Okay,” Sans said agreeably.

That earned him another thump. “So,” Frisk said, very dignified, “then we went to see Mettaton.” She wriggled a little in excitement. “He’s already started teaching me a few different dance steps. The only time I’ve ever danced was when I was here, and it was so much fun! We’re going back tomorrow so I can practice.”

Sans tried to envision his normal, giant self dancing her around, and shifted his weight uncomfortably. “Glad ya liked it. Are you all back at Tori’s tonight?”

Frisk nodded. “We played cards until Undyne got carried away.” Snrk. “I bought some waterproof eyeliner while we were out today. I can’t wait for her to wake up tomorrow.”

That didn’t mean much to Sans, who figured he might as well ask, “Did they tell you what I’ve been doin’, where I am now?”

           He felt her tense up. “Eventually, yes.” Frisk pulled back enough to glare at him. “What were you thinking? You should’ve waited for us!”

           Sans let his head drift downward till his forehead was resting on hers. Was she wearing makeup, or were her lashes always this long? “I was thinkin’ of that dream from last night,” he said casually, “an’ then I wasn’t thinkin’. Tori caught me comin’ in to say hi.”

           Frisk’s eyes widened, face flushing. “Sans! You can’t do that! What were you even going to do with everyone else right there?!”

           Sans paused. “Hold on a sec.” He didn’t know if it’d work in a dream, but just in case, he released her, pulled the silver chain from his coat pocket, and slipped on his disguise. Frisk jumped back as he wriggled his human hands. “There we go! Now I can feel stuff, and now—” He reached down to run his fingers through her hair, his other arm pulling her close again. “I don’t have all those damn teeth in the way,” he said, and leaned down to kiss her.

           To his hurt surprise, she pushed him away, turning her face aside. “Hold on a second,” she protested. “I…” Frisk saw his expression and sighed. Her arms came up around his neck, and Sans had to try very hard to focus on anything else besides her softest parts smushed up against him. “You have to warn me before you do that,” she chided him. “I’ve only ever seen you like this a handful of times, and you startled me. That’s all.” She placed her palm on his cheek, and he wasn’t embarrassed to put his hand up to hold it there. “All right,” she said after a long moment. “Now you—”

           The rest of the sentence was lost to history: his mouth was on hers, arms almost crushing her. Frisk made a sound deep in her throat, and he ran his hands down her back and up her sides as her lips parted again. It was so much better not to have to worry about biting the crap out of her! Their teeth could still knock together a bit too hard or catch each other’s lips, but that was a tiny annoyance compared to the feeling of her breath on him, how he could ease his tongue into her mouth and let her explore him right back without snagging anything on his fangs.

           That also meant he could pull her hair back to expose her neck and bury his face in it, his other hand free to roam over her backside. It was a struggle to formulate anything coherent, much less to ask her if her physical limitations applied to dreams, or if they could lie down and pick up where they’d left off a couple nights ago.

           Frisk’s throat moved. He thought she was encouraging him to start biting again, until she said, “I’m going to try to speak with Asgore tomorrow.”

           Sans’ fingers dug into her waist. “Why.”

           “Because I have to show him that I’m not afraid of him. Don’t worry, he likely won’t agree to see me yet. It’s just important to try.” Her hands tightened, almost trembling. “And I have to talk to him about…”

           It came back to him in a flash, everything Grillby had said— “About Chara?”

           Frisk’s hands were definitely trembling. “I don’t think Toriel could handle it. Not yet. But I can’t hide it much longer.” She swallowed hard. “Can I tell you about it when you get back?”

           Sans frowned, resting his cheek where her neck met her shoulder. “Of course. Whatever ya need.” He paused, playing with her hair. “So, no offense, sweetheart, but…why are we talkin’ right now instead of makin’ out?”

           “Because Undyne saw what I did to her face, and she’s hitting me with a p—”

           Just like that, Frisk was gone. Sans stared at the empty space his arms were grasping, and allowed himself to slowly pitch forward until he fell into the armchair. He scooted and twisted around to face forward. Well, just because Undyne had ruined his chance to screw around completely consequence-free with the woman he loved and wanted with every fiber of his being, that was no reason to pout, was it? Except that it completely was! Fuckin’ Undyne!

           Sans exhaled, closing his sockets. His real self was so tired that he might as well stick around here for a minute, where no one else could bother—

           Something moved, so quiet that it wasn’t really a sound so much as a disturbance in the air. It didn’t feel hostile, but the giant skeleton felt a stab of foreboding. He peeked upward, and immediately felt his sockets grow wide. His mouth moved, but there was no sound. All it could do was shape the words Prince Asriel?

           The figure nodded slowly. Sans watched in awe as it knelt, golden eyes dark and solemn in the firelight. There came the soft, deep, courteous voice Sans remembered: “Tell her I’m sorry.”

           Sans shook his head. “Sorry for—wait!” Asriel was standing, stepping back with a shake of his head. “Prince Asriel! Hold on! Come—”

           It was no use. Just like in real life, the Prince was gone.

[cerysdelaney]

Deltarune Discussion

Spoilers below

1) Soriel is totally a thing in this verse. If there is something I may write, it will probably be that.

2) Noelle’s video game time with her dad had me tearing up. Also her dad and Cattie’s sister telling us to watch out for Noelle going dark is some interesting foreshadowing.

3) Those Butlers are either service bottoms or power bottoms and I am here for all of the fan content of them. The Cafe where they’re all flexing in the background… yes.

4) Where. Is. Grillby?!?

5) Kinda wanna see a Dark Toriel come out of this new tunnel… I noticed so people talking about Fell Rune and I would enjoy watching that.

6) Love that Sans keeps calling us out for wanting to meet his brother he’s never mentioned…

7) Most of my notes are from the ending tour of the town, but I enjoyed the game. It was cute getting to spend time with Noelle and Ralsei. My favorite part may have been the Ferris Wheel. But there was also just a lot to love from the recruitment to the various Acts with actual gaming technique attached to them. I enjoyed the rooms for everyone in Ralsei’s castle; that Lancer gets a mom (female dad); the fucking hamster wheel; the dojo; the swan boat ride with little houses; the underground resistance; and all the mice lol.

It really just impresses me how Toby Fox can make such a fun world full of all these Undertale jokes while also being uniquely it’s own. And Kris… man they make this feel like a kinda-Prequel and I nearly screamed when that knife was so close to Toriel.

I have NO IDEA where Chapter 3 is going; and, honestly, that is really fucking impressive.

[movedaccounts-readinfo]

Proposing to Aizawa

This is me proposing to Aizawa. I'm calling myself Kris as I hate writing in the first person

Class 1-A was having one of the rare silent days. Normally they would be chattering with each other while working or asking questions. Though today was not that day.

The class had managed to piss off Aizawa enough for him to raise his voice. He was very close to expelling most of them, though he knew that was an irrational impulse decision his brain was wanting him to make. So he didn’t, instead he was forcing a mandatory silent study period. If anyone spoke up then that person would get detention. Aizawa enjoyed the silence as he was grading their papers that they had them do on heroes.

It was halfway through the period and he heard the door open. He didn’t look up to see who it was as he knew if it was important then they would speak up. Kris decided in that moment that this was the scariest stuff he’s seen.

He looked at the students and saw Iida internally debating on whether or not to speak up. So Kris just rolled his eyes and went over to Aizawa, the class went back to working but also watched. Interested in who this mysterious male was.

Kris went behind Aizawa and wrapped his arms around his waist, resting his head on his shoulder. Internally glad that the male preferred standing desks at work, so the students wouldn’t see his gestures.

“What’s the matter?” Kris asked quietly as Aizawa subtly rested his head on Kris’. The class jumped slightly at the broken silence.

“What do you think.” Aizawa said quietly back to the male.

“Hm. I can make you feel better.” Kris said with a chuckle, Aizawa rolling his eyes and hiding his blush in his scarf.

“Later. What’s the real reason you’re here?” Aizawa asked and Kris laughed lightly.

“I was going to wait until after you were done with work but I was too excited. So I’m asking this now. Uh, will you marry me?” Kris said and the class blue screened. Kris pulled out a little ring that had a coffee mug on it. It was on a chain.

“Of course idiot.” Aizawa said with a small smile, taking the ring on the chain and putting it around his neck.

“Alright, you guys can talk now. Just don’t be too loud.” Kris said to the class and Aizawa lightly hit him.

“Who are you?”

“Are you a pro hero?”

“So Aizawa-sensei has had a boyfriend?”

“How long have you two been dating?”

“What’s your quirk?”

“How do you know each other?”

“Alright, shut the fuck up all of you.” Kris said as they were bombarded with questions, “This time one person at a time. Raise your hand and if you are called on then you can speak. Now, try again. You pick the kids Sho.” Kris said as Aizawa sighed.

“Kaminari.” Aizawa said as he knew his question would be tamer

“Are you a pro hero?” Kris chuckled and smiled.

“Yeah, I’m Underground. I’m the truth hero: Verisimilitude. My quirk is when I maintain physical contact with someone then they can only answer in truths. I often do undercover missions where I infiltrate the inside of groups. I meet with villains as someone looking to join them and get their trust that way. Then get answers in order to do a takedown.”

“Mina.”

“How long have you two been dating?” Mina asked with a smile. Aizawa knew she was going to combust and ask sooner than later so he figured why not get it out of her now.

“Well, we grew up with each other actually. We met in primary school. We started dating our second year of U.A. I remember when because that’s when Zashi had a-” Kris started talking though Aizawa put a hand over his mouth.

“During English today, one of you must get the story of his blind date in his second year at U.A. If you manage to get it then I will excuse you all out of english next week.” Aizawa said with a smirk and Kris laughed behind his hand.

“Alright, any more questions?” Aizawa asked as he saw some hands go up. He was about to clarify about the two of them though Kris removed hand and called on Sero.

“Was Aizawa-sensei always this strict and grumpy?” The tape boy asked and Kris laughed once more.

“Not at all. He just puts the persona on-” Kris said before Aizawa was quick to bound him.

“Alright, class is over.” Aizawa said and dragged Kris out by his scarf. Dragging him to the lounge.

“So you actually want to marry me?” Kris asked with a nervous smile and Aizawa rolled his eyes.

“Of course. Though I won’t hesitate to call it off if you continue to ruin my image.” Aizawa said, the last part clearly joking and Kris laughed. Everything was good.

[silyabeeodess]

Thoughts on Frisk, Chara, and the Player

Besides what I’ve covered briefly in the description of a comic a few years back, this is long overdue; however, since I might make something focusing on Chara in the future, I decided to go ahead and put down my two cents on these two characters.  Since this is effectively a long essay, I’ll have everything below the cut:

One of the most longstanding debates among Undertale fans is the morality of these characters and their relation to the Player.  Some see Frisk and Chara as effectively polar embodiments of good and evil following the Pacifist and Genocide routes while others see the Player alone as the individual in control of all choices with the two characters bowing to that control.  The truth might be somewhere in the middle.

Let’s cover the most basic thing first.  The Player is you.  Yes, it’s your decisions that take the story in different directions, but you are not a character. You are not a part of the world of Undertale.  You’re an intruder, an outsider, an anomaly--something that the people in Undertale only seem to have a vague understanding of.  Characters like Flowey will break the 4th wall by calling you out for your actions, but it’s often from the idea that you’re still Chara--even if Chara’s own story played out long before you came in.  Chara will ask for your SOUL, but you personally don’t actually sacrifice anything: Even as far as the game’s story goes with the “Soulless Pacifist” route, the most you lose is the time is takes to reinstall the game and play it as you normally would. You can cheat them out of “your SOUL” easily.  They think you’re Frisk.

Most glaringly, however, is that both Frisk and Chara will fight against some of your decisions.  For Chara, you have them not giving you much of a choice with how you end the Genocide route and declaring that you were never in control, amongst other actions like killing Asgore and Flowey. Most people might not notice Frisk’s refusal beyond the fact that we don’t pick their name like we can Chara’s; however, the point where this becomes most clear is during our interactions with Undyne on a Pacifist Run.  When we try to become Undyne’s friend and she insists on fighting anyway after her house catches fire, we have the choice to fight back.  Doing so though results in a weak attack, which Undyne declares as being the result of a lack of will to hurt her.  That isn’t the Player’s decision, and it effectively forces us to spare her whether we want to or not.  

This relationship parallels what we also see in Deltarune, with the Player there also exhibiting control over Kris, but Kris fighting back.  Kris isn’t an empty vessel or puppet for the Player to manipulate, and the same can be said for Frisk and Chara in Undertale. It’s a form of temporary possession, where we--an otherworldly being--take over a host for as long a period as the game’s designers allow. It means that we can’t pin our actions on either Frisk or Chara.  Let’s go back to that second paragraph though.  The other characters don’t really know this, making Frisk/Chara/Kris suffer as a result.      

From a gameplay perspective, this is an awesome idea to tackle. From a story perspective, meanwhile, things get a little complicated.

Here’s the thing about handling it simply as a story: The Player often has to be ripped out of the equation.  Again, you aren’t a character, and the only way the Player can really be present in the world of Undertale is as an OC or persona based on the independent choices of each creator.  Keeping them out means leaving the choices we would normally make 100% up to Frisk/Chara.  Ergo, stop attacking artists and writers for their portrayals of those two when creators have to give them qualities that are entirely up to each individuals ideas and experiences to try and fill in a bunch of blanks.  Beyond Chara’s backstory giving us some information on who they were, which is mostly told to us through other characters, there is no perfectly in-character portrayal of either of them.  

Which I guess brings us to the part where I try explaining my idea of them.  So let’s start with Chara, since again, they have the most background info.

What are some canon points we can cover with Chara?

Asriel describes them as “not the greatest person,” but still cared for them deeply as his best friend. From the recordings in the True Lab, we see they had a good friendship, even if Chara often took a more leading role.

Also according to Asriel, Chara “hated humanity” and had an unhappy reason for climbing the mountain.

It was Chara’s plan to commit suicide, have Asriel take their SOUL, and try to kill humans to break the barrier.

Chara laughed after poisoning Asgore with buttercups. It’s presumed by Asriel to have been an accident, but we don’t know Chara’s knowledge on the situation.

An extended monologue from Asgore has him describe Frisk and Chara as having “the same look of hope in their eyes.”

Asgore considered Chara “the future of humans and monsters.”

They refer to themselves as “the demon who comes when people call its name.”

As of the Genocide route, their goal is the complete destruction of Undertale’s world to join the Player and move on to another. They pin the Player’s actions on their newfound “purpose” to attain power.

Narration in the game is different depending on the route, speaking commonly from a 2nd-person POV on Pacifist and Neutral runs, but 1st-person on a Genocide run. This alludes that Chara is always with us during gameplay.

Chara’s dialogue mimics Toriel’s, hinting to a close relationship following the concepts of mimicry being a form of flattery and a child’s desire to be like a positive adult figure in their lives.

So here’s what I think.  Chara’s hatred toward humanity is supported not only by Asriel’s confession, but also in their actions.  If Chara took control as Asriel described after crossing the Barrier to kill humans and take their SOULS, that willingness to commit murder along with their own suicide indicates not only that general disdain, but also a hefty amount of self-loathing simply for being human.  Whatever happened to them prior to entering the Underground, that hatred was likely only nursed further by knowledge and ideas fed to them from monsterkind: Humans hurt monsters too and monsters are supposedly “made of compassion” while “humans don’t need any.” (They may have even been bullied or faced prejudice for being human, even if it wasn’t from the Dreemurrs, just like how Frisk was constantly attacked on-site.)  This likely led to a monster-centric worldview where all of humanity--and even themselves, to a point--was the enemy.  

I imagine the “Mr. Dad Guy” sweater we find was made by Chara rather than Asriel because of the inclusion of “guy” at the end, since this seems like something more of an adopted child would do than a biological one, maybe not entirely comfortable with the idea yet of calling Toriel and Asgore “Mom” and “Dad.”  I truly do think Chara loved their newfound family and never meant to hurt Asgore: The laugh, while it can’t be confirmed, seemed to be a mark of mental instability rather than something of true malice. With the pressure of being called “the future of humans and monsters” as well, they probably felt like they had to be responsible for humanity’s actions as a whole even if they personally did nothing wrong.  From that perspective, their life--and any other human’s--mattered less than a monster’s, because they had to atone for the crimes of others.  Humanity itself had to atone.  This is why they would be so willing to sacrifice themselves and kill for the sake of breaking the Barrier.

So what happens when the monsters Chara placed on a pedestal start breaking their script?  Asriel stopping Chara from committing murder is one thing: That seemed to be one part of the plan that Chara didn’t tell him about, probably because they knew he wouldn’t agree to it. Beyond that though?  What happens when monsters stop showing that legendary compassion?  Asriel started playing with lives and killed for fun as Flowey.  Asgore declared war against humanity and started killing children.  Toriel left her position as queen and couldn’t protect anyone. Not only was their happy family broken, but monsters started acting like the humans they claimed to be better than through their own “weaknesses” and desire to kill.  They were supposed to be above humanity’s choices, above even Chara’s choices. Vengeance isn’t an excuse anymore: It’s all the same, and it feels like the ultimate betrayal.  

They’re all the same.  Monsters, humans, it doesn’t matter.  It’s an ugly world where only the strong and terrible reign, and it deserves to be destroyed.  There’s nothing left.  There’s no good left.  There’s no hope left... 

Unless, maybe, someone new enters the game. Can they rekindle that hope or will they only prove those dark thoughts right?

In comes Frisk, who we really only know as a blank slate.  We don’t know their history or their desires except to leave the Underground one way or another.   We can’t really say much, so this is where it really is entirely up in the air how we portray them.

A personal headcanon of mine is that they were a bit of a little thief, “frisking” things off of others--which is why we can get G even without killing in the game.  A very morally grey character, fitting the multiple routes Undertale’s story can go and Sans description of them “maybe not being a saint” even if they play as a Pacifist.  Maybe they don’t really know what the right choice always is, but they desire to do their best when possible. 

I can’t say much here because, as I’ve said several times now, it’s up to everyone.  Me?  I like a Pacifist Frisk, even if they struggling and suffer before reaching their happy ending.  Some might have them go through a Genocide route on their own or by Chara’s possession. Some have them with guilt-riddled consciences and others treat them as the purest of souls. Some pick different endings.   

So enjoy your interpretations, your characterizations, and your AUs.  You don’t have to agree with my ideas or anyone else’s: Just don’t bash others for theirs.  Undertale’s gameplay opens things to everyone’s personal experience and should be enjoyed as such. 

[flyinghetfield]

Chapter 11/Part 2 Violin Girl If you haven’t read the first part of violin girl. Here is the start [x] Enjoy x. *This is based 6 Months later after the San Fran story.* also the name of this might change as its a second part now, haven’t made my mind up about that yet.

---------------------------------------------- The applause seemed thunderous as you and the orchestra bowed, the concert finally coming to an end. The past few months had seemed like a blessed whirlwind as you had been touring around Europe playing with some of the most best classical musicians in the world. Tonight? Amsterdam. The orchestra waits until the maestro walks off the stage, the house lights finally coming up as everyone starts to file out of the room. Walking off the stage you nod politely to some of the patrons standing around, their formal suits and evening dresses making you slightly jealous as they seemed to mold in with all the beauty around them. Finding your way back to the dressing rooms, you walk over to your bag and start to strip off the now sweaty black clothes you had worn on stage. “Charlotte, seriously has to get her shit together on sheet 20. She keeps coming in a second late and if stuffs John up every time.” You duck down to your little compartment, grabbing out your jeans and a nice shirt while tucking away your violin in your bag “Y/N what do you think?” “Hmm?” Glancing up, you shake your head as you pull your fresh shirt over your head. “Charlotte? She’s got her heart in the right place, just needs a little practice is all.” Dawn was always very strict on how everyone performed each night having been in this symphony for over 8 years. Don’t know why she want’s my opinion though.  “The only thing she’s practicing on every night is the maestros blowpipe.” Snickers erupt in the room and you resist the temptation to roll your eyes at dawn, settling on a tight smile as you sit down to put your shoes on.  as a fierce red head walks in the room, her hands on her hips, clearly peeved at over hearing what was just said. “Dawn, seriously, you were young once.. Charlotte is just having fun.”  Dawn makes a tch sound, before turning back to her clothes as Ruby smiles over in your direction. Ruby, was also a violinist and had been a world of help to you while traveling, taking you to all the cool little places in each town, as well as helping your drunk ass get back to the hotel each night. “Y/N, are you ready? Let’s go and enjoy the night while we’re still young.” Smiling, you grab your bag and follow Ruby out of the room. Ruby claimed that she had been touring since she was 16 and had been enjoying the spotlight for almost 10 years, the perks of being a wonder child. As the two of you walk in the corridors, people stop to congratulate the two of you on a wonderful performance. Well.. mostly Ruby. The two of you head out of the building and you breath a deep breath of relief at the cool night and take in the scenery around you as Ruby lights up a cigarette. “So my little protégé” Ruby blows a gust of smoke in your direction and you cough. “Where shall we go tonight?” “Do I actually have an opinion on where to go or have you already made plans like last time?” “I like to make you think you have some sort of opinion.” Laughing, she grins as she reaches down and grabs your hand, tugging you into the streets of Amsterdam. You still have to mentally slap yourself as you take where you currently are. It had been a fluke that you had been invited on the tour, since the Violinist who was meant to be in your spot had come down with some sort of illness and Kamen of all people had thrown your name in the hat, when people had asked about a replacement. A few weeks after, one soppy cry fest from Eric. “Bring home an exotic boyfriend!” and you were in business class, flying off to Italy of all places. It had been there on that flight that you so happen to sit next to the fiery red head who was now inseparable from you. “Here Y/N, wait here. I’m going to go grab us a drink. Don’t wander off.” You watch as Ruby walks off and you lean against the railing by the canal, admiring the couples as they lounge casually in their boats. Sighing as one of them kisses their lover, your mind drifts off back to San Francisco and you feel a pang on home sickness settle over you. Eric would love ruby, he would love being here, especially the red light district.. Looking over you notice a bridge and see two buskers standing there, playing acoustic guitars, serenading people as they walked past. I wonder... what’s he up to? You shake your head violently at the thought. It had been months since you thought of him, so why did he have to appear now? “I always have that reaction when looking over the canal.” Startled slightly, you glance over to your left to see a guy leaning against the railing as well. Well hello...This one is cute. Blonde hair.. tied back in a bun, Blue eyes, Boyish smile... I swear if he’s name starts with a J... “You stare at canals often?” “Only when I have to talk to a stunning girl.” You can’t help the sudden snort that comes out of the back of your throat and shake your head. “Ok.. ok yes that was corny but I had to try.” He extends his hand out. “I’m Kris.” Oh thank god. You look down at his hand and back up at his face. “Come on, don’t leave me hanging here.” Rolling your eyes, you shake his hand. “Y/N.” “Ah what a beautiful name to add to the cute face.” Sighing you stand up straight and pull a really? face at him. He throws his hands up and smiles. “I can’t stop, i apologize.” Oh why do you have to be cute? “Clearly this isn’t your first time here, if you have a habit of picking up girls along the canal” His eyebrows shoot up at the sentence and he smiles slightly. “How do you know i’m Foreign? Maybe I live here.” That makes you laugh out loud and you shake your head. “I can spot a danish accent a mile away.” As you nod in the direction of some of the natives walking around, talking. “You? I’m going to say good old U-S of A.” He stands there for a moment, staring at you before smiling. “New York.” You grin back, as he finally gives in. “What about you?” “San Fran.” “Ah, I've never been to San Francisco. Is it really as hilly as the pictures show?” “If you want a good cardio work out, it would be the place for it.” “I keep telling her to move from there.” Ruby finally reappears, scaring you slightly and you smile as she hands you a smoothie, which you happily start to suck away on. “Ruby we have only known each other for a few months, I’m not going anywhere and also you live in London, so you have no input in this.” She laughs and casually wraps a arm around your waist. A protective thing to ward of any unexpected attention when traveling around. This wasn’t the first time the two of you had received attention from some of the locals and had both agreed on some rules to help get each other out of trouble when needed. Girl code so to speak. “I’m Kris.” He extends his hand out to ruby, who shakes it firmly. “I know.” You almost choke on your drink as you whip your head towards her. “You guys have met?” “No but I have seen him before. This guy is quite a shark in the music industry.” Your eyebrows fly up as you look back over at Kris, who now has a smug smirk on his lips. “I just know how to do business, that’s all.” He looks back over towards you and winks, making you divert your eyes back over to the canal as your face starts to heat up. “So is it business or pleasure?” Now you look over at Kris, who is smiling at Ruby’s question. “Business.. I’m here closing out a deal before flying back home. Knowing.. I’m always down for a little bit of pleasure.” You swear you could see his eyes dart over to you and you lean against ruby at bit more, which doesn’t go unnoticed by her. “Well.. I was just about to take my protégé here down to the red light district, since she’s never seen it before..” Ruby pulling away from you, grabs your hand once more as you look at her Are you crazy!? “..You can tag along if you wish.” Kris smiles and you blush once again as he stands up fully, showing his full height. Jesus he would have to be over 6ft. “I would love to.” ~~~~ The three of you walk through the Red light district and you can’t help but be enticed by the neon lights bouncing off each shop, their red lights dazzling and flashing. There are people everywhere, and you grip on Ruby’s hand slightly tighter as you weave through a lump of people standing in front of a club with Exotic females dancing in each window. Oh Dorthy, your not in Kansas anymore. You giggle slightly as you walk past a fountain with an interesting sculpture piece sitting boldly on top. “I don’t think that would fit.” Jumping at Kris’s sudden voice in your ear, you turn your head and give him a smug smile. “Not if you don’t try.” He laughs and shakes his head. Ruby suddenly stops in front of one of the many bars open and turns back around to you, a grin on her lips. “Want to go for a drink?” She points up to the neon sign. “Do you remember the last time that happened!? You were dancing on top of the bar and almost cracked your head open when you slipped!” “Exactly! I need to keep practicing my dance moves, so I don’t slip again” You have no chance to rebut as Ruby walks down the stairs. You turn to look at Kris and shrug before following into a underground bar. The music is loud and pumping as you walk down the steps, which you know either yourself or ruby will be falling up or down at some point through out the night. Stopping on the bottom step you look around the full room and try to glance over the tops of people, looking for that particular shade of red hair. “Lets go to the bar” Kris yells into your ear and you blush as he grabs your hand, you give him a questioning look and he grins “Ruby would kill me if you were left alone” Yeah your probably right. The two of you weave through the dance floor, towards the bar and you can feel Kris squeeze your hand for a sense of comfort. Finally emerging from the pool of sweat and god knows what else bodily fluids, the two of you stand against the edge of the bar. Glancing down the bar itself you see Ruby up the other end shouting and pointing towards some particular bottles on the wall. “Anything in particular catch your fancy?” Kris voice is in your ear once more and you shake your head laughing. “Ruby usually orders for me, she knows all the hidden gems” You look up at his face and see him pondering what to order. “Well are you wanting something sweet like yourself?” Eye roll “Or hard and heavy like myself?” You can see the challenge rolling off of him. You were never one to resist a challenge. “Hard and heavy” “Excellent” He grins as he tries to get the bartenders attention. A cute danish guy finally notices and comes walking over. Kris throws his hand up “Two Genever’s please”  “Young or old?” The bartender questions and you throw your eyebrows up. “Old” He nods, before walking off to grab a bottle off the shelf. “Genever?” You lean against the bar looking up at Kris. “Pretty much the Quintessential dutch drink to try.” You shake your head smiling. “How many times have you been here?” “Let’s just say this isn’t my first rodeo.” You laugh as the bartender puts down the drinks and after a quick argument of who was going to pay, Kris hands over the money. “Come lets find somewhere quieter to talk.” Grabbing your hand he pulls you towards a sitting area, towards the back. Looking around you notice that most of the booths are filled with lovers, lustfully kissing or whispering temptations to each other as the two of you find a booth for yourself. Kris sitting down first before pulling you in next to him. You take a drink of the glass in your hand, and cough as it hits you. “I told you it was strong.” Laughing you wave your hand. “So Mr. Hard and Heavy” You put the glass down and smile at him “Ruby said you are in the music business, what do you do?” He runs his hand along his jawline. “I manage musicians, bands etc. and help with the booking and making sure those musicians make it to the next concert, interview, photo shoot etc.” “Ah a tough life indeed.” He laughs as he takes a sip of his drink. “Oh you don’t know the half of it, how many times I've pulled half naked rock stars out of motel rooms at 6 in the morning because we have to make a 8 am flight to a 10am photo shoot for, let’s say Rolling Stones.. well let’s just say I could probably buy myself one hell of an expensive yacht.” The both of you laugh and you notice Kris moving in closer to you. “But enough about me, a pretty girl like yourself, in Amsterdam of all places, you must have a story to tell?” “Not really, I mean it’s not always like this -” You wave your hand around “-I’m usually living my life in San Francisco or playing with a symphony less.. exotic.” “Symphony? What do you play?” “Violin.” “Ah” Kris raises his hand and traces along your neck, making you shiver “No wonder you have such a pretty neck, the violin has made it all the much sweeter.” You feel his lips kiss the edge of your jawline, your eyes fluttering to a close. Ok. Cute guy, kissing my neck, not exotic like Eric wanted but better than nothing. You feel his hand on your thigh, his thumb doing slight circles on the inner part. “Kris..” “Shh” His lips softly kiss on yours and you kiss him back, wrapping your arms around his neck as he deepens it, you feel his hands move to your hips and you instantly pull back. “What’s the matter?” Staring into his blue eyes you take a deep breath, The last time I was in this situation.. I was with him. You can recall the way his hands gripped into your hips leaving marks, the way his eyes shone as he kissed you, his moan, his scent. “I need to get out of here.” Standing up suddenly, you wobble and lean against the chair, holding yourself up. How much alcohol is in that drink?? “Are you sur-”  “She said she needs to get out of here, let her go.” You feel an arm wrap around your waist, and comfort his you as you lean into Ruby. “Let’s get out of here, I’m bored of this place already.” Once Ruby knows you are able to walk, she grips your hand once more as she pulls you back through the crowd of people. Looking behind you, you try to see if Kris is following but don’t spot him anywhere. Climbing back up the stairs - slowly so neither of you would fall - you find yourself once again leaning over the railing of the canal, taking deep breaths as Ruby lights up another cigarette. “How.. how did you find us?” “Not that hard.. I saw you two at the bar talking and saw him drag you off the back. Told myself I’d give you at least 15 minutes before coming and checking up on you.” She blows out a puff. “Good thing I did cause he was all over you.” You chuckle before going quiet again, a shiver vibrating through you as the night air really hit you. “Look stay here, Let me go see if i can find a taxi rink so we can get your drunk, ass home.” “Ruby I can function by myself” “Ah my protégé, that’s not how this works.” She grins and kisses you on the cheek. “Stay, hold my cigarettes so I have an incentive to come back and get you.” You laugh as she walks off towards the street. Looking down at her cigarettes, you smile and shake your head. Eric was going to kick my ass for making out with a random guy in a night club, who wasn’t even danish. You run your hand along your jawline where Kris was and hope no bruising will show. Dawn will have a field day. “You just can’t stay away from me can you Violin Girl.” The flood of ice that runs through your body hits all at once as you take in a gasp of air. That voice.. I’m hearing things.. this can’t be real. Slowly you turn around to meet a pair of, now amused, green eyes and let out a shaky breath. “...Lars.” ----------------------- < Previous                                                                    Next>

[stainedglassthreads]

Deltarune and UndertaleToybox Connection

Been a while since I made a Deltarune theory. 

Anyways, plenty of people have pointed out that everyone in the Deltarune World seems to be based off of toys found in the classroom Kris and Susie wake up in (Except Ralsei, who I’m coming around to the idea he’s not a Darkner, but I haven’t quite crystallized my thoughts on him yet. I will say i don’t think he’s deliberately malevolent, though. Perhaps instead being used as a vessel or pawn.) 

At any rate, we can agree that things seem to be as follows-- Various characters as a deck of cards: Spades King, Lancer, the other Kings, Roulxs Kaard, Jevil, and other enemies encountered. We can agree C. Round’s a checker piece, there are those jigsaw puzzle guys, we see a guy who’s a spinning top, and of course we see Seam as a plushy in the room. 

I’ve also already seen other theories before this speculating that this was all a dream, and one joking one that Deltarune was Susie and Kris larping for hours. 

I’d like to point out a few connections I picked up on as well, though. I’m certain I’m not the first to realize some of these, and as I said, I only picked up on some of these because I saw aspects of them mentioned elsewhere. 

The first everyone already knows, and I already mentioned. Deltarune is quite obviously a game. The Darkners are quite obviously toys and pieces of other games. But does that make them any less real? 

Whether Deltarune is a sequel or prequel to Undertale, we know now that they’re absolutely connected not just in characters, not just in the juxtaposition of ‘Responsibility to use your power to create the best outcome’ and ‘Your choices don’t matter’, or ‘Live and let live’ and ‘Violence is sometimes necessary’, but potentially in yet another theme. 

Does being a fiction or a toy make it any less real than the ones who play with it? 

The Lightners are those in a ‘real’ world while the Darkners are toys. Two Darkners seem most aware of their true role, both informed by the mysterious Knight-- Spades King, who has the strongest feelings on the Lightners for supposedly abandoning Darkners and is the impetus behind ever other Darkner who attacks you(in a Pacifist ending, the Darkners are willing to consider you their friends. It’s only if you’ve been too violent that they continue to be violent towards you after Lancer overthrows Spades King.) And of course, Jevil, who we already know the story of. 

In Deltarune, it’s the Lightners who are the ones who make their own own decisions, and who carry out the will of the story, though they have less control and fewer choices in how the tale ends. 

But this is reflected in Undertale too. Only here, the Lightners are Frisk, Chara, and Flowey, and the Darkners are all other monsters in the Underground. 

Here, the three most often claimed to be the antagonists of the game are the ‘Lightners’, the ones who play with the ones they see as ‘toys’. Flowey, who shows what a Player could be to the characters at their absolute worst. Frisk, who enacts a Player’s will upon the world. And Chara, who shows us in the end what we have become, and who will remember who we are even if the ‘toys’ don’t. 

The ‘Lightners’ of Undertale are not the only ones aware of the reality of the game. One toy is also seemingly aware and uses that in his fight. And fittingly, it’s the one who might be used to being a toy already. 

Is it possible to learn the truth of the world without losing your sanity? Is it possible to escape a reality where higher beings toy with you, to the point where you’re so easily mistaken for one of those higher beings? I don’t have enough this story to tell quite where it’s going but I really hope that this avenue is explored, also what Papyrus is if so. 

There’s something else to note here, though. 

There are two to three entities who seemingly are not Lightners, heroes, or Players, who may not even fit within the games of Undertale and Deltarune themselves, but who seem to hold as much, or perhaps more, knowledge and influence as any Players. 

We know very, very little about these entities, and we know significantly less of one than the other. But we do know their titles for certain. 

The Knight and the Queen. 

The Knight is only mentioned by Seam, Spades King, and Jevil. Seam refers to him as a ‘strange someone’ and ‘strange Knight’, who caused Jevil’s fall into madness by telling him everything was a game. The Knight also seems responsible for Spades King’s actions, the king repeatedly referring to them as ‘My Knight’ during his battle, saying the Knight has given him ‘fresh purpose’. 

A popular theory is that the Knight is Gaster, having been shattered throughout time and space and apparently now granted incredible knowledge and power as a result, including the power to spread his knowledge, and influence at least one pawn, in at least one other world. 

There is one strange and convoluted piece of evidence that makes me suspect the Knight is Gaster, and that’s the literal easter egg. There’s a secret room in Deltarune, and a man behind a tree there who gives you an egg. The egg is described as ‘Not too important, not too unimportant’, similar to what Seam says about things Jevil said after speaking with the Knight-- “He started saying bizarre things that didn't completely make sense -But didn't completely not make sense, either.” 

When Kris returns to the Light World from the Dark World, the egg is the only thing they can keep that doesn’t turn into something else, and if you try to drop the egg or put it in Asgore’s fridge, text just reads ‘What egg?’ 

And perhaps most bizarre and convincing-- translating ‘egg’ into Wingdings, which Gaster is suspected to speak, gives a hand pointing to the left, and two hands pointing up. One of the moves a Knight in chess could make. 

It also seems to be implied that Gaster was the one guiding us through creating our first vessel in the beginning. So it would be a simple guess that he has the knowledge and power sufficient to create his own vessel, he knows the nature of this game, he knows of us. 

We know even less about the Queen. The only tidbit on her we have is from defeating Jevil through violent means. 

“HA HA HA. WHAT FUN!!! YOU'RE FAST, FAST, STRONG, STRONG. BUT THERE ARE YET FASTER, YET STRONGER. THE HAND OF THE KNIGHT IS DRIFTING FORWARD. SOON, THE "QUEEN" RETURNS, AND HELL'S ROAR BUBBLES FROM THE DEPTHS... LIGHTNERS, CAN YOU STOP IT? UEE HEE HEE! EITHER WAY, A MISCHIEF-MISCHIEF, A CHAOS-CHAOS...! LIGHTNERS! FROM INSIDE YOUR LITTLE CELL!! TAKE ME AND DO YOUR STRONGEST---!” 

...Yeah I don’t have a satisfying way to wrap all this up, but I do hope you enjoyed my rambling and speculations, thank you for reading all the way to the end. ^^ 

[lynxgriffin]

Straight Outta Monster Narnia

HEY HEY I WASN’T EXPECTING TO DO THIS EVER AGAIN BUT WE’RE BACK

I’M GONNA PLAY ME SOME DELTA RUNE HERE

THOUGHTS AS I GO! ARE UNDER THE CUT!

Here we GOOOOOOO~!

Survey Program! Nice! Ominous!

I am here yes!

Truly excellent dude

OH MAKING A VESSEL NOW what are we Xehanort

NEATO I can pick Chara or Frisk heads or others…

Let’s do someone new. This kinda longish hair head.

STRIPES FOR DAYS! Longish sleeves, methinks

The legs are almost all the same LMAO

This is so friggin creepy I l OVE IT

Favorite food is PAIN nah it’s soft

BLOOD TYPE D. D for DOGGO

You have been gifted with kindness, not-XionFrisk

Pain AND seizure. Kinda wonder what happens if you say no tho…

But I don’t want to start over so let’s go with yes

OH FRIGGIN BUUUUURNED BY THE GAME, HAHAHA

Hi Toriel, you’re looking nice!

That’s a lot of friggin trophies over there

Also Kris, you need some eyes

RELIGIOUS SKA

So we have overachieving perfect child and sad boring child, okay

Awww Gerson wrote a book! How neat

It’s only you…..FOR NOW!!!!

It just isn’t home without white fur stuck in the drain, is it

CHAIRIEL’S RETURN!!!!

Also there’s some weird graphical flicker going on when I move and I wonder if it’s not because I’m playing full screen here

“Spray For The Boys, Flamin’ Hot Pizza Flavor” Damn Toby I missed your incredible sense of humor

DOES TORIEL USE PET SHAMPOO please say yes

ASRIEL’S AT COLLEGE AND UNDYNE’S A POLICE MONSTER, PERFECT

PROFESSOR ALPHYS IMMA GET AN A+ IN ANIME CLASS

DAMN who do I pick as my partner

Like…I really want Temmie…but also Snowdrake…

Random snake is also very good…

Ahhh I see this is gonna be pre-determined

HAHAHAHA FUCKIN BURNED AGAIN BY THIS HORRIBLE BLUE DUCK

Thank you cool snake I love your origin story

Oh this reindeer girl is very cute

MOTHA. FOKKIN. SUSIE

I instantly love her, goodbye

Oh Alphys you’re so not good at putting anyone in trouble

I JUST REALIZED TEMMIE HAS HER EGG ON THE DESK

Susie are you eating chalk

Oh sheet I like Susie less now

GAH DAMN THIS ESCALATED QUICKLY

Susie, Kris doesn’t even HAVE a face

Haha totally cut off my answer there

Hmm. I sense…a theme here.

Wow this really is putting on the restrictive aspects here

Now that’s a spooky face

Oh it ain’t gonna be that simple, mean girls

Well, this sure seems like an underground! Also…Kris is green now, okay

Hi there creepy waving things!

To reiterate: this is soooo creepy AND I LOVE IT

Puzzles! We got puzzles again! CREEPY PUZZLES

Whelp, we found Susie, just kinda hiding out in a…dead dust bunny thingie

LOL so much for a party member following you around

Well this is a new and interesting take on the bullet hell mechanics

Such interesting and different architecture

THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESSSSS

Yes let’s take a sudden HARD SHIFT into Final Fantasy

THE QUEST OF THE DELTA KNIGHTS that was an MST3K ep you know

About like…Leonardo da Vinci actually. Except he was a whiny bitch

LMAO Susie just “nah destroying the world sounds neat”

JOKESTER SANS GLIDES IN A FLAMING TRICYCLE SURE WHY NOT

VERY DIFFERENT COMBAT SYSTEM

“Dunno how I got an ax but like, that’s cool”

CAN’T WAIT FOR THE REMIXES OF THIS BATTLE MUSIC OKAY

Dunno if there’s a pacifist version of this game but I stick to tradition so I’m gonna try it

RALSEI. I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE

THE POWER OF FLUFFY BOYS SHINES WITHIN YOU it sure as hell does, game

The heckin heck Ralsei is so cute

Yup yup we gonna try pacifist this first time!

“If you’re reading this…I guess you’re dead.” Fair enough.

Gaster noises when trying to use the cell phone, hmmmm…

It’s an inverse papou fruit!

Susie just up and attacks this cake, all right

Battle is cool but it’s gonna take some getting used to, think I accidentally used both of my items

YOUR SENSE OF DIRECTION WON’T SAVE YOU NOW

“It’s like a dinner made out of three glasses of milk” Ralsei you’re SO CUTE

Now to see if TP stays leveled between battles…

“I thought you were running away.” / “Yeah, I finished.”

Fugdamn I want —pictures of Spiderman— remixes of this music ON MY DESK TODAY

FRIGHTENING FANFARE

Damn that puzzle still is tricky

Gah damn that was hilarious but also terrifying

We have the power of FLUFFY BOYS and MEAN GIRLS we are UNSTOPPABLE

Ohhh so that’s what the heart outline does!

Now that is a coooool cat and I like him already

Awww I don’t have enough money for the spooky sword

Susie just roastin’ everybody left and right

THEY GOT BARRY

These mechanics continue to be interesting and a bit more complex

“Damn, didn’t get to impale myself” I’m sure you’ll get your chance Susie

It’s really interesting how we’re basically group-battling to PREVENT the tank from beating the crap out of everyone

Oh now that light trick is weird

They keep throwing the usual chess and playing card guys at us and somehow I’m Suspicious

Is that a bucket. ARE Y’ALL HOMESTUCKING AT ME AGAIN

LMAO did Susie call us the Fuckboys or something

Oh, the Shit Squad, I guess!

THE POWER OF THE SHIT SQUAD SHINES WITHIN YOU HECK YESSSS

“I, Mr. Society, am far too intelligent to ever bow down to such a tyrant!” Hmmm.

Oh, it’s Sir Lion Plateface again

L E G S

THE BOSS JUST DRINKS A GALLON OF MILK THAT’S FINE

Well Ralsei got kinda junked there but WE DEFEATED SIR LION PLATEFACE

Cakes…are also my enemy…

Yeeeeah kinda saw that one coming

Susie I get the feeling you’re not going to enjoy being a bad guy either

Dang son I have no clue what’s going on anymore WE JUST HAD SOME SALSA IN A TREE STUMP

This jack’s got my number

That sure is a three-eyed three-headed cat thingamajig

Awww I like Clover

“All proceeds go to kicking your ass” CAN I USE THIS LINE IN REAL LIFE PLEASE

Hot damn we just squeaky hammered our broken cake into ULTIMATE CAKE

Why does a sweet little boy have a mustache indeed.

Create a machine to thrash your own ass, nice

It’s my beautiful death laser duck! Tops in GUN’S

Man Susie and Lancer are just having the time of their lives here

Finally, respect for pinecone-eaters!

Awww Susie, are you actually starting to worry about someone who respects your eating of chalk and pinecones

Oh thank goodness, got through that maze thing

Yes, finally, it’s our DUCK TANK LASER

Why does it say Tuna on it

“Your design sucked so we blew it up” This is like that one Berlin tour guide I had

GANGED UP ON THEM WITH KINDNESS, HA

Whelp, back to telling enemies that Susie will kick them in the shins I guess!

YES LANCER JOIN THE SHIT SQUAD

OMFG THAT FAAAAACE WHAT IS THAT FACE

Hey we’ve got a full Final Fantasy team now! Neat

STOOL FORME

I like how Lancer just sliiiiiides around outside the party instead of walking with

Hmmm well that friendship feeling didn’t last long

You done got locked in the dungeon

Yup sure did eat that jail moss two minutes in

HUH, we’re controlling Susie now

In which choices do not matter…

SUSIE’S FOKKIN PISSED

And we can’t control her actions…but why controlling the human soul?

A pair of eyes got arrested?! What IS the world coming to?!!

Oh dear, we found a bunch of kings in baby jail

Why are these filthy cages so happy-looking

Awwww Susie joined the party for realizes!

So, this about final boss point for this business?

Why are you guys just sitting on a pile of loot

And just who is this sassy lost child?

BAAHAHAHAAA

HECK YEAH WE GET TO FLIRT AGAIN

I am now BED INSPECTOR yes

Hello again fancy blue boy

“Can…can we see it” / “No.”

This sure is a jammin party with CLUB MUSIC OH HO HO HO

Awww he put his bicycle to bed

‘Welcome to my shop, you ungrateful worms” HELL YEAH

I do not wisheth to hear your MP3s! I would rather listen to the sweet song of Death!

Prepare for a battle with…WHATEVER THIS IS!!!!

JUST FUGGIN CHUCK RALSEI AT SIR LION PLATEFACE, I LIKE IT

Six dollars, for all of that?! Geez

WHELP this looks like final boss time…

Hiiiii there Lancer

Oh dang is gettin serious now

Oh woooow that’s…someone’s fetish right there

HOKAY that was tricky but! Having the defense abilities certainly helped with pacifism through that…

Despite ending this peacefully, I don’t think this scene is gonna end on a happy note…

W H E L P

DAYUM that face from Susie!!

Awwww poor Ralsei

We only have BAD-byes WUAH WUAH WUAAAH

DAWWW lil’ Asriel-lookin dude with glasses (and YES I see that anagram there)

LMAO Susie’s face

EPIC ROCK MUSIIIIIC

Also I’ve really been enjoying the color effects

Awww look at this epic adventure you two had in the closet

So basically we went to Monster Narnia, neat

Awww Susie likes Monster Narnia

Oh no we worried Toriel! THE WORST

LIBRARBY

YOU STUDY THOSE HOT DEMON COMICS FOR COLLEGE, TEMMIE

Hiiii Toby you busy makin’ something!

ALPHYS NO, YOU BETRAY MEW MEW KISSY CUTIE

OFFICE UNDYNE, DOn’T ARREST ME

I like reindeer girl’s rowdy hospitalized dad

PARTY ANIMAL TORIEL CONFIRMED

I like how there’s just a poster on the wall in this room that reads PAIN

The police tape simply reads NGGAAAAAHHHHH!

Good grief there’s SO MUCH STUFF TO EXPLORE HERE BUT I HAVE TO KEEP GOING

Snowdrakes don’t have arms, oh no!!!

“Does it hurt to be made of blood??” ….Yes. Yes it does.

HIIIIIIIII SANS

Woah woah woah WOAH WOAH SANS

Everyone is here! Even Ice Wolf!

Yes I’ll take a Double Ice Pizza you weirdos

OH MY GOOOOOOOOOD IT’S BURGERPANTS

10 OUT OF 10 GAME NOW

HIS FACES!!!! “C H I C K S”

That was brilliant, Burgerpants, thank you for existing

Catty!!! Hey where’s Bratty!

Noooo you gotta be besties with Bratty!

Brother Doug…?

Oh no, Mettaton, come out and talk to us!

ASGORE, HELLO

OMG Asgore hugs

Soul flowers….???

Awwww got some flowers for Toriel

THE GAY GUARDS IN THEIR GAY FLANNEL, YAY

It’s so late but I can’t stop until I’ve talked to LITERALLY EVERYONE

Thaaaat’s politics! …Rarely.

Comes to church for the fruit juice, sounds about right

DOG GRAVE, NO

Let’s go into the woods…what could go wrong…

Why can’t I get into the creepy shed…

Well, I think I got everything, so let’s go home now…

ASRIEL MAINS YOSHI IN SMASH CONFIRMED

Awwww Toriel is not big on Asgore’s bouquet!

OKAY decided to go to sleep here.

…Well that didn’t work out great

UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

UUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

WHAT??????????

WHAT????????????

WHAT?????????

HAHA I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT THE FUK HAPPENED IN ALL OF THIS BUT UH. WHEN’S CHAPTER TWO??

THAT SURE WAS A HELL OF A THING

No really Toby please WHAAAAAAATTT

OKAY I HOPE I DIDN’T MISS ANYTHING IMPORTANT BYYYYEEEE

[faligon]

if the “the promise in our hearts” lyric is abt asriel and chara’s friendship, then that supports the theory that the deltarune timeline was created by asriel bc he wants to live in a world where all his friends and family are present...... ugh toby’s MIND

 right? his mind is a gift we don’t deserve him 

i’m a big fan of this theory, however i also personally enjoy the theory that it was created by chara or by the both of them somehow. i enjoy the idea of the light world being created by chara, and asriel creating the dark world.

[meta post under the cut… i didn’t mean for it to get this long…]

after all, there are two narrators in the intro:

and chara definitely seems to be present here one way or another. [this links to a post by my wonderful friend bea @lunacria​ go check it out

both worlds tend to cater to their ideas of an “ideal perfect world” fairly well. 

is there anything that chara would want more than for their family and friends to live happily in a world with no humans except “themself”? for their brother to be happy, successful, move on to college, and live a fulfilling life, while not really caring what happens to “themself” in the process? kris’s personality is eerily similar to their own, down to the creepiness and the chocolate cravings.

kris seems to be the only person in the entirety of hometown who is looked down upon for being “creepy”. funnily enough, they’re also the only human.

their descriptors of the items on their side of the room are blunt and to the point, much like chara’s overview of their own room back in new home, even mirroring some of their previous lines: 

i’m not trying to imply kris and chara are the exact same person here, kris definitely is their own person with their own relationships and ideas - however, their stark similarities definitely make me think kris at least has some kind of tie in, they seem a bit too similar for it to be coincidental to me!

on the other side of the spectrum, the dark world also reflects asriel’s ideas and perceptions of the world.

asriel, who’s lived in a royal family underground for his whole life, seems more prone to creating a dark world that works under a similar hierarchy. the “heroes saving the world vs the bad evil villains” tropes feel much more black vs white in this world, but i feel like that’s done on purpose. in comparision to his sibling, asriel definitely seems more of the type to enjoy your typical hero’s story - especially considering his thoughts when supporting chara in the buttercup plan (We’ll be strong! We’ll free everyone!)

on top of all of this, it’s also a world in which there seems to be another direct tie in - another lonely goat prince, ralsei.

have you realized there are times in which ralsei quotes asriel/flowey almost directly? and they both have incredibly similar emotional character arcs?

for example, i feel this is most poignant in the game’s ending.

a sweet, pacifist prince believes that kindness is the best solution:

and learns through a circumstance (which he blames himself for):

that perhaps, the world is not as kind as he’d once thought.

afterwards, they are both left on their own, to continue being a lonely prince, and not affect anyone else they’d once known.

ralsei even quotes “assisting lightners” as his entire purpose and the only thing that leaves darkners feeling fulfilled:

and we know that asriel likes to feel “helpful” and “useful.”

all this along with ralsei seemingly doing nothing except drawing manuals and baking cakes before meeting kris and susie, it’s a very interesting comparison.

there are also plenty of themes still present in the game from undertale, one of which is the angel.

my pal @doge-w-a-bloge​ wrote a very nice post detailing more info about this, as well as likening both asriel and chara to undertale’s role of the “angel” depending on which route you play.

and what could you call an angel’s “perfect world”?

all in all, i just think it’s neat. thanks for listening to me!

PS my best friend chara​ and i have been talking about this since the day after the game came out so i can’t finish this post without giving them some kind of acknowledgement in this idea!!! i wouldnt have thought of all this without talking with them and everyone else ive already credited here about it!!!!!

[bloodsbane]

okay, here are the variables. kris at the moment of falling throguh the closet wakes up in the underground and frisk at the moment of falling down mt ebot wakes up in the dark kingdom. The player has no control of either characters actions. their choices are their own.

ohhh i love this! what a fun question to think about! 

okay so... that wording is really fun too, because it means everything that happens beforehand also stays exactly the same until the moment they ‘fall’. and we’ll say for the sake of having each world function that they still have a SOUL, but it’s fueled by their own will rather than the will of the player.

so, for kris:

they just entered the closet with susie. they were hesitant to go, and then when they fall... if we’re not in control, than whatever ‘force’ was controlling them is absent. because frisk is alone at the start of UT, lets say kris also begins by themself (susie doesn’t come along with them). 

so they woke up being controlled by something, unable to manipulate their own body for the whole morning, then they get bullied and cant seem to defend themself, then they enter a strange closet that turns into a pit, and wind up in some dark cavernous place all alone. i’d say they probably feel pretty freaked out! 

then we consider the fact that, if everything leading up to that point is exactly the same, kris will end up meeting characters who look exactly like their family, and many of the monsters will resemble people they know from the neighborhood but just slightly... off. same names and everything. 

i feel like kris wouldn’t trust flowey. they’d be at first comforted, then freaked out by meeting a toriel who doesn’t recognize them, but trust her ultimately. they’d also want to leave, and would be reluctant to fight her. i don’t think kris would kill any of the monsters, especially the very small skiddish ones they encounter at the start. i think when toriel tells them to be careful and to be good they would take it to heart, and by then kris would understand that they don’t seem to HAVE to hurt anyone to get by. 

im gonna try and generalize the rest from here so it’s not a total step-by-step summary of how i think things would go, hah, but i think in essence... kris COULD manage a true pacifist ending. i think they’d be very wary of everything/one, but ultimately they would enjoy exploring this weird world full of very friendly creatures who seem comparatively less cynical to some of their counterparts in deltarune. they’d have very mixed feelings about fighting asgore, but some things in DR hint that their feelings toward asgore aren’t wholly positive, and i think kris would be willing to FIGHT (and then SPARE) asgore as required. 

i think the biggest issue might be whether or not kris shows flowey MERCY after that fight, but given that kris grew up with an alternate version of asriel, they may see enough of their brother in flowey (even without knowing they’re the same) to show MERCY to him. 

and then the rest goes as it does. dunno if kris is as much of a shipper as frisk certainly is, but they’d be down for helping alphys and undyne. they’d be very freaked out by the dark lab i think, and everything leading to the end would be SUPER WILD for them.

honestly? going at undertale from this perspective, it could very well read as a sort of ‘coming of age/exploration of inner turmoil’ sort of story. this is something of a given, considering the way these two worlds are structured to mirror one another. but think about it: their parents are divorced, now literally separated by an entire world stretched between them. it has themes of power and choice, only this time kris actually has the ability to choose. for the first time (?) in their life, their actions hold real consequences - their choices matter! and if we’re to speculate that the player taking ‘control’ of kris is a frequent thing that happens, this may be one of the few times in their life they’ve really been able to explore themselves and an environment on their own terms, completely. no stuffy small town, familiar but unfamiliar faces, no one and nothing to fall back on... they really gotta navigate this place on their own, grow as a person. it even works with asriel being ‘absent’ throughout most of the game; that could read as their conflicted feelings about their older brother, the fact that he left for college, etc.

all in all, i’ll say we can stay optimistic; i have a feeling kris could achieve the true pacifist ending naturally, or if not, at least a neutral ending. if we wanna tie things up neatly and play by the same rules, they’d then exit the underground back in the supply closet with susie, who would have gone on her adventure with...

frisk: 

this one would be a lot more simple, given the nature of the game/world (and the length of DR). frisk is exploring mt. ebott, falls down a hole, and wakes up looking different in some dark cavernous place all alone. they walk until they find susie, and HONESTLY it may be a toss-up whether or not susie sees frisk and thinks they’re kris. obviously frisk is much smaller, but frisk isn’t the only one who got a wardrobe change. susie might assume frisk’s younger appearance is part of this weird place and whatever changed their clothes and gave them weapons, etc. 

for the sake of simplicity, let’s go with that route: susie assumes frisk is just kris, and they look different and act a little differently because of Weird Magic World Shenanigans. frisk would probably just go along with whatever susie said with little to no comment anyway, so it works. i’d say unless you wanna go hard with the ‘frisk is nonverbal’ headcanons, there wouldn’t be a way for susie to know and frisk just wouldn’t correct her. at most, they’d be surprised she keeps calling them the wrong name, but a name that is kinda almost similar...

anyway! from then on i think the game would be mostly the same. go along with the prophecy, try not to fight anyone, etc. Since DR’s world works more in a ‘your choices don’t matter’ context, frisk may naturally be at odds with some of what happens... there may be moments where they really want to make a choice, to change something, but end up feeling powerless, which is a feeling we don’t often experience in undertale (which is kind of the point). 

however, we don’t know anything about frisk’s background, unlike kris (which i’ve talked about before). we can assume they’re a goofy, playful, friendly, kind, helpful, creative, empathetic, passionate kid, but we don’t know what their home situation was/is like, or how they’d respond to an environment where they can’t utilize their free will often. i suppose you could say, in a way, they end up in the sort of position kris starts in before they enter dark world, when we were controlling them: being pulled along a set path, unable to deviate or make meaningful choices. 

sure, frisk gets to make some friends, they can still SPARE others and show MERCY, and the fact that they could FIGHT or try to do real harm to others isn’t relevant because we know frisk, as a character, wouldn’t do that (again, WE would do that, not frisk). But it doesn’t matter, even if they don’t utilize that choice it wouldn’t matter, and that’s the point of DR. 

I feel like the end would be much sadder for frisk. they defeat the spade king, they say goodbye to ralsei, they do not understand susie’s strange reaction to seeing ralsei’s face even in the slightest. they go with their new friend back...

home? 

and they are alone, all over again.