#i wake up and i want to draw flowey and nothing else

[villowstar]

i have so many pages of my sketchbook dedicated to just flowey doodles.

[punsmaster69]

19/OCT/20XX

at some ungodly hour, i woke up on the couch, papyrus sitting beside me.

i tried to get to the kitchen and snag something from the fridge without waking him, but he hopped up the second i set foot in the kitchen.

"...'sup, paps. sorry to wake you."

"HOW ARE YOU FEELING?"

"i'm good. pretty hungry, though."

"I'M GOING TO TAKE IT THAT YOUR LACK OF PUPILS IS.. NOT INTENTIONAL."

"...what?"

"they're gone?"

closed, open.

open, closed.

"nothing?"

"THEY'RE STILL GONE."

"..literally knocked my lights out, huh? weird."

"CAN YOU SEE ALRIGHT?"

"vision's the same."

in the light of the fridge, i could see him anxiously fidgeting.

"i feel fine, so you should go back to sleep."

"just gonna eat and then.."

"..well. can't say i'm very tired anymore, so i guess i'll just hang out. watch tv or something."

"I.."

"I'M NOT TIRED, EITHER!"

"..SO, I'LL ALSO JUST HAVE TO 'HANG OUT' ."

"ok. you want me to grab you anything while i'm here?"

he shook his head.

paps quietly observed me the whole time, but i don't know what for.

kept opening his phone, typing to someone.

"who else is up at this hour to be responding to you?"

"ALPHYS HAS YET TO FALL ASLEEP."

"wanna see if she wants to hang out too? that way we can all be nighttime losers together."

"..EXCLUDING THE LOSERS PART, A SLEEPLESS SLEEPOVER SOUNDS HELPFUL!"

"helpful?"

"FUN. I MEANT FUN."

——

"heya."

"Hey-"

"EEK!!"

"Wh-why are your eyes off?!"

"dunno. woke up with 'em stuck."

"HELLO ALPHYS!"

"Hi, Papyrus."

they exchanged a series of looks whose meanings were lost on me.

"..so whenever you're done with the staring contest, there's blankets here for you, alphys.

"Oh- um, yeah. S-sorry. Thanks, Sans."

——

"ARE THERE REALLY BEINGS UP THERE IN THE SKY??"

"This is show is (very) fake, Papyrus."

"REALLY?"

"what, you don't believe in aliens?"

"I do! What I 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 believe is that they'd visit Earth to draw circles in farmland and steal cows."

"WHY WOULD THEY NEED SO MANY?"

"Exactly!"

"Totally ridiculous."

"maybe they wanna make their own farm."

"But why the crop circles?"

"i'm not one to judge someone's artistic medium."

"What meaning do those hold??"

"PERHAPS THEY ARE SUGGESTING THAT LIFE IS BUT A CIRCLE THAT LOOPS ENDLESSLY."

"........."

"that's crazy talk."

"YEAH, YOU'RE RIGHT."

"CIRCLES ARE PROBABLY JUST THEIR FAVORITE SHAPE!"

"I guess that could be true."

"Still, weird place for it."

"maybe they buried treasure."

"THAT'S CRAZY TALK, TOO!!"

"All of this is crazy to begin with."

"true."

——

tori called me, hearing from papyrus that i was awake now.

we got off-topic quickly.

"i think my shirt has a hole in it."

"Would you like for me to lend you another one?"

"...i'll just sew it at some point."

"Hehe, okay. If you say so."

"What a shame, I was looking forward to finding the most embarrassing thing in my closet for you."

"the previous time was intentional?"

"..No! I do not know why you would ever think that."

"i feel less bad about that skeleton-hand shirt, now."

"What a shame it is for you, that I like it so much."

"I have been wearing it to bed as pajamas, since it is not quite appropriate for my little ones to see."

"probably for the best."

if flowey saw it.. my cause of death might suddenly change from 'unknown illness' to 'botany accident'.

"You are sounding a lot less drained today."

"Are you feeling better now?"

"yeah, way better."

"I am glad to hear that."

"Is your eye feeling better, as well?"

"they, uh, don't hurt, anymore...?"

"But, something is different?"

"....."

"nah. they're all good."

"Sans..."

"...."

"If they are 'all good' as you say, you would not mind turning on your camera, would you?"

i stared at the enable camera button on my phone.

it stared back.

"i'm.."

"naked."

"totally bones out-"

"Sans."

"ribs in the open air-"

"𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘴."

"You mentioned your shirt a mere moment ago."

"So unless simply talking to me over the phone was enough to make you strip..."

"Please show me your eyes."

damn it.

"...Please, uncover the camera."

"it's not covered. must be broken."

".........."

the disappointment was loud. i slid my finger off the camera.

"it-"

"this doesn't hurt, at all."

"my sight still works, and-"

"Does that not hinder your ability to express emotion?"

"like i did much of that."

"Sans, a monster's ability to express themselves is one of the most important things they could lose."

"they'll come back. i'll survive without 'em for a while."

"Have you tried doing it manually?"

"like...?"

"Can you use magic to return your pupils?"

"i-"

"Please, just try."

"....ok."

𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸,

....

𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸.

"......"

"anything?"

"Yes!"

"..huh."

had a slight ache in my skull before, but it felt like it got a little better all of a sudden.

"Without your pupils, you have quite the threatening energy about you."

"oh. ..yeah."

"It is nice to see your expressions again!"

"...."

"guess i'll keep doing this, then."

"There is nothing else I should be concerned about, is there?"

"that's it."

"It is easier to tell whether you are being truthful or not!"

"nevermind. i'm turning 'em off."

"Do not!"

"don't need an automatic lie detector on my face."

"It is so nice to see you look my way."

"..if you turned on your camera, i'd have more to look at."

".....Then, give me just a moment."

after about a minute, she returned.

"I apologize. I had to find some pants."

"n-"

"no worries."

tori turned on her camera.

i waited in anticipation as it loaded.

her fur was slightly ruffled, which she also said sorry for.

"I hope you do not mind too much."

"not- not at all. it's cu-"

"uh, looks. looks good."

"You are also looking good, for a skeleton sitting in bed right now."

"thanks. guess that's why they call it beauty sleep."

"It must be!"

——

she stared at me intently, as if trying to memorize my features.

"you're not gonna forget me that quickly, right?"

"Forgetting you would not be easy. I simply wish to have your image as fresh as possible in my mind."

"..You cannot stare back!"

"why not?"

"I am appreciating your candid face."

"...it's hard to stay that way when you're looking at me like that."

tori leaned even closer to the phone.

i covered the camera.

"Awww."

"I suppose I should go back to sleep now, anyway."

"Good night, Sans."

"goodnight, tori."

"....."

"I care for you very much. Please be safe."

"i ..care for you, too."

i stared at the blank phone screen for a while, replaying the call in my mind.

my soul felt like it was gonna jump out of my chest.

eventually gathering myself, i reentered the living room to join papyrus and alphys.

[utytimeline]

Thoughts on UTY (Pacifist Version)

Reactions from when I first played Pacifist, and observations I made as the game progressed.  A lot of these will be outdated by the time I get this list compiled, but it’s a faithful list of my reactions.  No spoilers, plz.  I haven’t done Geno, betrayal kills, or boss kills yet.  (I kinda don’t want to, these are my babies.)

Long post ahead.

Ruins

Questions

Clover is the narrator, aren't they? I don’t think Chara’s even in this game.

What happens if we don't leave a tip at the lemonade stand?

Is there a way to wake Decibat after he goes to sleep? (I know that's cruel, I'm just curious.)

Dalv keeps talking about a friend, talking like he thinks he will meet them again- Kanako?

Dalv is mistaking us for the human that attacked him, isn't he? The one that made Chujin decide to kill the next human?

Who was leaving Dalv corn? My best guess is Ceroba- that she's felt sorry for him this whole time.

How to look in Dalv's locked doors/drawers? (Probably have to kill him. That... is gonna hurt. I like Dalv, he's a sweetheart.)

Observations

Decibat's music volume decreases the more you stay silent. (Which makes me think all battle music is being generated by Clover, not the monster.)

"Penilla draws near." (Italics added for emphasis.) *facepalm*

"Rorrim" is "mirror" spelled backwards.

Also, "Dalv" is "Vlad" spelled backwards, so might Rorrim be Dalv's personal mirror? Seems to fit, Dalv is extremely tidy.

Dalv's furniture's "fine craftsmanship" is probably Chujin's work.

Other Thoughts

I feel like a sponge cake with 2x absorption should have an effect where it absorbs damage for at least 2 turns.

Snowdin

Questions

Does the Snowdin ice block ever move? The guy that comes here from the Dunes just stands there and does nothing. Perhaps I need to check very late in the game, return from the last SAVE in New Home or something.

What kind of creature is Mo? I looked it up, and all I can find is "he looks like a raccoon." Yeah, I can see that, but he's kinda reddish-brown, so maybe a red panda? I also considered the possibility that Mo could be a tanuki, a Japanese raccoon-dog (and yes, it looks like a raccoon) that supposedly tricks people, especially tricking them into buying drinks- and Mo is a drink salesman.

What are we to make of the human on the wanted poster that Marty describes?  She said they wore a hat like ours, but they came from space.  I can’t think of a single equippable UT item that seems outer spacey.  And since she’s describing a wanted poster, I don’t think she’s talking about Red (the monster she thought was a human).  My first guess is that some monsters may equate the Surface with outer space, since they’ve never seen either (and many monsters are obsessed with the stars- Starlo and all the monsters making wishes in Waterfall, for instance).

Observations

Flowey: "We won't be anywhere near your fancy surface air for a while." (Italics added for emphasis.) He sounds... jealous? This was when I first realized that Flowey's only playing nice, but I still have no clue what he’s really planning.

"Snowy" is just barely recognizable in "Snowfall."

Mo's theme is easy to recognize because not only does it use the Sega Genesis soundfont, it even includes the Michael Jackson whoop from Sonic 3&K.

Ice Wolf was when I started to realize that Yellow isn't that long before UT. (Yeah, I know, Flowey should've been my first clue, but I simply assumed he couldn’t be Asriel, that he was someone else that somehow turned into a flower.  Anything can happen in these games, after all.)

The Shufflers are all named after things you do with a drink: Toast, Swig, and my favorite, their leader Rephil (Refill).

The Shufflers scold Clover for starting a fight, but later Axis is the one trying to drag us into a fight.  I guess battles can go either way.

Shopkeepers have full animations, it's not just facial expressions.

Yellow finally gives us real puzzles. Some of them even take a bit to solve.

Flowey makes a comment about mailing ourselves to Asgore.  He clearly already knows about resets, so I think it’s likely that he’s seen the moment (at the end of The Dunes) that the whales start shipping people by mail.

Other Thoughts

Frostermit is so adorable. I need a Frostermit plushie.

Mo makes me think of what Spamton must have been like before Gaster (no, I'm not suggesting a connection, just that's what he made me think of- but given the other, more obvious DR inspirations throughout the game, I think it’s possible they were going for that kind of character).

Headcanon: Insomintot is related to Knight-Knight. They both inherited a genetic tendency to fall asleep when a human sings.

I love the UGPS jingle, it's so cute.

"(The remnants of a snowman. Once full of life. Now full of potential for new life.)" This line is a little creepy, to me. Clover may not realize it, they're probably just joking, but WE know that some snowmen in the Underground are alive, and I'm wondering what happened to this one.

I don't know if it's the same soundfont, but the Honeydew Resort theme reminds me of Final Fantasy: Mysticquest.

I actually picked "minor scales" when talking to the cellist at the resort, because I actually do like minor scales.

Being a Shadow the Hedgehog fan (the character, not just the game), I got a chuckle out of the description of coffee bean ammo. What do you mean, you can't eat the beans???

I haven't actually noticed any 4th wall moments, but Martlet's message on the second ball puzzle, the message that apologizes for making it too high to see and says the human must be very good at guessing, makes me think it's a very obscure allusion to the fact that Clover is being possessed by the player. There aren't enough moments like that in this game for me to go all crazy with lore and theories, but it's a nice touch to see such an allusion.

In all fairness, Marty has some craftsmanship abilities. Unfinished, shoddy workmanship notwithstanding, it still takes some knowledge of mechanics to make a water-powered door lock.

I just love Marty, she’s so sweet, I want her to be my little sister.

Waterfall

Questions

Why does the Royal Guard bother to survey their prisoners on “auditory ambiance” and things like that when they’re just gonna deliver the SOUL to Asgore???  I mean, isn’t the victim (except Red, apparently) usually dead before they get this far???

Observations

Not sure, but I’m guessing this is a different river than the one we travel with River Person.  Not only do we never meet River Person, but the colors of the ground and plants behind Ava look like the marshy sections of Waterfall that we never get to walk in.

Other Thoughts

I love how we never actually visit Waterfall (unless you count the post-credits scene), we just float past it.  Acknowledgement of the source material without actually copying it.  And gave them that much more time and room to include an entirely new area (2, if you count the Wild East as separate from the Dunes).

The mention of a Royal Scientist threw me off.  I totally did not expect Alphys, I thought this game took place many years before UT, and I’ve seen no Gaster references in this game at all.

The Dunes

Questions

More of a complaint than an actual question, but… if they wanted to make a Zelda reference, WHY OH WHY did they have to do the Death Mountain rockfall???

Since the Dunes are so near Hotland, could the gigantic Swelterstone be responsible for Hotland’s heat, too?

Since El Bailador calls us a “Sentinel of Silence,” how will killing Decibat affect the fight with Bailey?

If you do well in the Bailey fight, does he stop saying you don’t love dancing as much as him?

How to move the sunbathing (wait, what sun?) cactus that blocks that one road?

Observations

The Dunes is where I noticed that the battle theme changes depending on the location.

Sea Tea still increases SOUL speed.  Loved that they kept this in.

Same black slime that we met in MTT Resort Hotel.  And still outraged because of an elevator.  Feels like he’ll never find a working one.

Bowll being a china bowl shaped like a bull is probably a play on the phrase “a bull in a china shop.”

Clover got the green healing flowers (the ones in the Omega Flowey fight) from Violetta.

I sucked at Mew Mew Love Blaster, but I watched a walkthrough, and DID THEY SERIOUSLY GIVE MEW MEW A “BIG SHOT”?!?  (Coming back to this after finishing the game, I went, “yup, they did.”)

Other Thoughts

“Vigorous Terrain” is my favorite location theme, but I still haven’t figured out whether there’s any significance in it being a remix of “Your Best Friend.”

That first tumbleweed, the one that comes rolling out of the hole in the cliff, had me like “wut?”  I did love how they replaced Undyne’s rocks with tumbleweeds.

I also love the mines music.  The first few notes remind me of Zelda’s Lullaby (from LOZ).

I actually missed getting a free pickaxe because the monster’s trivia question about the Royal Scientist threw me off.  I still didn’t realize this took place after Asgore hired Alphys, I thought it came WAAAAY before that.  (This also finally confirmed for me that Flowey is, in fact, the same one we know from UT, Asriel.)

I tried not to make a lot of comparisons to DR, considering this isn’t even canon to UT, but I did feel like the mouse attack in Bowll’s fight was very similar to that one attack in the Maus fights in DR.  But I think the Maus fight itself was probably a reference to some old video game (can’t remember which one, it just always felt familiar), so maybe UTY was making the same reference.

Was stunned to see Undyne look-alikes in the Mines, was more surprised that they mentioned her, and was the most surprised to find that they’re not related.

Clover has a very cute animation for hopping in the mine cart.

I could not figure out Bailador’s fight mechanics, and tbh, I got thru it on an absolute fluke (and the silver scarf).  I had to look up a walkthrough later to realize you have to move into the right space AND press the action button when the color lights up.  I thought it was just being in the right space.  Every rhythm game controls differently, it seems.

Wild East

Questions

Do mail whales keep notebooks full of potential rhymes, like Marty and her notebook full of puzzle ideas?

Is “designated naptime” a reference to siestas, or did Star just not want to overwork everybody?

“A ballet shoe could be lethal if used enough times.”  Um.  Got anything to share there, Blackjack?  “Don’t question my morality!  I’m not prepared to speak on it!”  OKAY, I REALLY NEED YOU TO SPEAK ON IT NOW….

Can we get into the locked farm cellar?  (Preferably without killing anyone?)

Observations

Animals still living in the Underground at least provides some explanation for where monsters get their food (in addition to the corn).

The BEST part about the health overcharge?  You don’t lose it when you SAVE!  He might be a plague doctor, but Doc works absolute miracles.

Star paid double price for the gun he bought us.

They actually take around 15 paces for the dual (I lost count).  (And yes, I spelled it “dual” on purpose.)

Moray comments that Star made them walk around with a rubber snake in their boot.  I looked it up, and it looks like the first and most well-known movie to use that “snake in my boot” reference really WAS Toy Story (although it has origins outside of film from farther back).  So Starlo also watches animations (as long as they have cowboys).

Vengeful Virgil’s comment that not caring about others’ feelings is what makes him a villain, comes while we’re on our way to console Star after his cocky selfishness drove everyone away.  This was not a coincidence.

Every monster has a magical ability, and Starlo’s is literal “bullet time” (he can slow you down).

^This also makes me wonder: remember how he flew backwards in slow-motion when we shot him in the dual?  I wonder if he was using his bullet time on himself for dramatic effect.

Star’s family: his dad, Solomon (the sun), his mom, Crestina (the moon), and a brother who’s name I never found but looks like a 4-pointed star.  (I’ve seen people call him Orion, so I’m going with that, for now.)

Star has several sticky notes in his dad’s almanac, and keeps dad’s almanac on his own bedroom nightstand.  Seems like Star probably took his life on the farm seriously before he left home.

Star also apparently had an interest in outer space.  Possibly some confusion stemming from Toy Story?  (I actually started headcanoning that Toy Story got him into cowboys, and put together a fic on that.)

Not sure where the term “space cowboy” originated, or what Clover’s actually referring to when they say it about Star, but the first use of that phrase that I’m finding is a Steve Miller song from 1969 (referenced later in Steve Miller’s “The Joker” from 1973, the line that a lot of people associate with Steve Miller: “some people call me the space cowboy, some call me the gangster of love”).  The phrase has been used numerous times in multiple ways since then.

Seems like Star sewed his own outfit.

Other Thoughts

Picked “no” when Star asked if monsters die when you ride them into the sun cuz I thought the whole town would converge upon me, heh.

Was honestly surprised that the dummy finally showed up.  This was the first time I tried using the FIGHT option, and it turned out to be rather difficult.  I am not looking forward to Neutral or Genocide.

Star tells Ceroba we’re as good of a shot as him, and she goes, “Really?  A child?”  Still not entirely sure whether she’s poking a bit of fun at Star, but I don’t think she is.  Star doesn’t take any offense to her comment for himself, and her sprite when she speaks next, saying she’s “impressed,” looks extremely surprised.  (In all fairness, despite Blackjack’s claims, Star actually is really good.)

I suck at them all, but the mini-games in UTY are all so fun.

Love the change-up to the battle animation during Feisty Four’s attack, how they switch between characters and even team up.

“A tumbleweed rolls by.  It says hello.”  Well, why not?  I mean, the rocks and cacti are sentient.

The first mention of Kanako at The Lab had me in tears, because, like… we KNOW what happened to her.

Steamworks

Questions

“The Steamworks was the main power source of the Underground.”  This statement confuses the timeline a bit for me.  The Core is now the main power source of the Underground, but my understanding is that the Steamworks was operational long after Gaster died.

I NEED TO KNOW WHAT THAT LAST AWARD ON THE WALL SAYS.

Does the story change at all depending on what parts you use for Axis’ gf?  (Also, I wonder how many of us just picked up the first 2 or 3 items and then realized there’s way more than 4 items to choose from and wished Ceroba would let us start over.)

Is there a way to fix the grandfather clock?

Does the grandfather clock say something different if the time on your PC actually is 6:26 on a Monday morning in spring?

Observations

Ceroba telling Clover to wait in the corner, kinda refers back to her doubting that a child could be as good of a shot as Star.  She has very little respect for Clover at this point.  Not entirely sure if it’s just because Clover’s a human, or if it’s also because they’re just a kid.

Don’t think I missed Flowey’s comment about The Lab.  He clearly does NOT want us to go there.

Ceroba must have some kind of dimensional satchel, herself.  I don’t see how else she can carry the hunkajunk we built (not to mention pulling her staff out of hammerspace).

BTW, “dihydrogen monoxide” is just water.  Vendy probably just called it that to make it sound poisonous.

Vendy said their last boot up was yesterday and that their creator always comes by on Mondays to restock them.  Sadly, the grandfather clock is stuck on 6:26, Monday morning.  Kinda feel sorry for Vendy.

Guardener is actually nice.  She even grows a flower just for the bot that came late.

Telly-Vis starts using the bullet patterns of other monsters during the “reruns” portion of the fight.

You can cheat on the Axis fight if you have the silver scarf.  Just deliberately miss Axis when you ping-pong the red balls for enough turns to heal up.

I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m guessing that Ceroba would get mad and ditch you if you kill one of the robots, turning the run into a Neutral.

Other Thoughts

Screw those water puzzles at the start of Steamworks.

DAT MUSIC, THO.

I’m not gonna try to discuss Ceroba’s growing respect for us.  That needs a whole analysis post of its own.  (Well, everything about Ceroba needs its own analysis.)

Axis rolled in and I was like, “Oh, no, another one.”  Seems like we just keep running into these darned toaster ovens on wheels.

Axis music is fire, tho, all of it.

I swear I hear some DR inspirations in the music.  Haven’t learned the names for all the tracks yet, but at one point I thought I heard Digital Roots (when Ceroba’s fiddling with the generator) and at another I thought I heard Card Castle (the room where you build Axis’ gf).

A game mechanic I love: Ceroba’s shield effect (well, as long as it’s shielding Clover).

A mechanic I hate: Jandroid’s slippery floors.

I also love the manta ray ferryboat.

Mo’s level of professionalism is off-the-charts.  He ain’t about to let a little thing like his clothes and his stand catching fire ruin a sales pitch.

Being a Christian, I’m not going to share what I really think of the Axis chase.

Loved seeing the return of popato chisps.

I swear, I thought all that white stuff was monster dust at first.  Walked into the Science Division and nearly burst into tears.

I hope somebody finally has chance to either fix Guardener or shut her down properly once they reach the surface.

Conveyor belt puzzle caused me trouble because I kept trying to box up trash.  Took me a while to realize “red” and “blue” referred to the highlights around the objects.

I’ll talk more in depth later, but I love how Clover has this calming effect on Ceroba when she’s chewing out the productivity bot.

Believe it or not, I didn’t get caught by Axis in the fireplace room!  Go me!  (Actually, it’s really not that hard….)

Still not entirely sure what I think of Axis deliberately handing us a “weapon” just to give himself an excuse to attack us.

I’ve said this before: he took me an hour and a half to fight the first time.  I really hate the mechanics in his boss fight.  And it was especially humiliating for me because I’d only died, maybe, 3 or 4 times before him.  Didn’t have any trouble with Starlo, and while I never did get the hang of Bailey’s fight, I think I only died to him once.  Guardener was responsible for the other deaths.

I love how Ceroba’s been insulting the Steamworks the whole time, but I don’t think she ever insults Axis.  That was her late husband’s baby.  And then she even gives him tips on dating.

Ceroba finally respects us after the Axis fight.  It takes remembering why she needs us for her to be able to press on with her mission.

Chujin’s House

Questions

Woodworking, robotics, SOUL research, video game designer, loving husband and father- I know Chujin was kinda old, but how DID he find time for all this???

Marty finds Kanako’s room to be unsettling.  Not sure why.

Clover doesn’t like the gas stove and worries it will cause a housefire.  I’ve wondered before whether they came from an orphanage.  Did they lose their family in a fire?

“The Founder’s Crest.”  Who are the Founders?  Founders of what?  Or is this just a reference to something I’m not familiar with?  (Possibly something in Japanese culture?)

Was Chujin actually that much older than Ceroba?  Or did he just age rapidly because of his research?  If boss monsters only age when they have children, how could he have become so old before marrying Ceroba… unless he’d already had, and lost, one child before?

I’ve been told there’s a secret behind Chujin’s grave.  Will have to check it out the next time I do a Pacifist run.

Observations

Strange that Ed found the trapdoor so easily when Ceroba didn’t know about it until Chujin told her.  Ceroba must not have covered it up properly before locking up the house.  Possibly also Chujin somehow arranged it with her that he would be the one cleaning the dining room.

I feel like Moray’s the smartest one of the Four.  They knew it was a good idea to send for Marty.

And THIS is where Marty gets smart.  She takes charge in Star’s absence.  The Four listen to her, even Ed (reluctantly).  And SHE’s the one telling us to stay on track.

(Ok, she’s still a bit naïve- she doesn’t seem to consider that Chujin’s paper with her name is actually ABOUT her.)

The drawings on Kanako’s bedroom wall: Dalv, the monster on the Dunes swingset, her family… and a flower?  Well, I mean… a lot of little kids like to draw flowers, so that might not be anything.  Also a drawing of what looks like Axis lying on the floor.

“Nuh-uh!  Kids shouldn’t mess with knives!”  Nice little reference there, dev team.

And, of course, it’s Flowey who makes light of Ceroba’s mission, calling it a “science fair project.”  Well.  He has every right to say whatever he likes about SOUL research.  Doesn’t he.

Of course, we didn’t get Star’s letter in time because Ceroba wouldn’t let us check the mail.  But I highly doubt she planned it that way, as she had no idea the Five would be snooping around her old house.

Other Thoughts

Starlo is so. completely. PISSED.  And… uh, he has a right to be.  Like, she’s doing a lot of what he just did- lying and scheming and using Clover to fix her own problems (those two are a match set, I swear….)  And he’s torn.  These are his two friends, Clover being the human he practically worshipped, and Ceroba being one of his closest friends (not to mention the love of his life, but I digress).  He doesn’t want anything to happen to her, but he can’t let Clover get hurt, either.

The fact that Moray sent for Marty as soon as learning that Clover was in danger just seals in the idea that Marty is part of the family.

…how long has that corn chowder been in that fridge, anyway???

I’ve already discussed my thoughts about Chujin in other posts, a lot of them still in queue.

Hotlands

Questions

Kinda wonder what could’ve made Clover suspicious about the wall to the left of the UG Apartments.

Never did figure out where the “rain” was coming from.  I figure it’s just a leaky sink upstairs or something.  (I’d thought at first it was from the janitor cleaning the hallway, but that’s on the other side of the building.)

Observations

I’m sure everyone recognized it, but in case someone didn’t, Bailey’s in the colored tile room.

I think Muffet herself blocked the way thru Hotland, renovating for her pastry shop.

Mr. Cursor mentions a 10-sided die.  They have some version of D&D in the Underground.  Probably more like… idk, Houses and Humans?

Working for Mettaton must have taken quite a toll on the janitor.  He doesn’t look nearly so tired or decrepit here.

There was a flier on the bulletin board in the Wild East that was advertising the acts at the UG Apartments.  The band we saw in Honeydew Resort has a gig at the Apartments on Fridays.  So, this game- or at least by the time we reach Hotland- is on a Friday.

Other Thoughts

The monster candy is butterscotch-flavored.  *nods*  Of course, what else would it be?

Poor Heats.  Defeateeeeeeeeed again….

Star can actually survive drinking magma.  I’ve got headcanons about this boiling in my brain….

I thought Know Cone said he was just gonna look at Hotland from a mountaintop…?

New Home/Pacifist Ending

Questions

If there’s an elevator leading to the castle, I’m guessing that means at least one of the other endings has us actually fight Asgore.

How exactly does Kanako’s mask give Ceroba superpowers?  I feel like it might be a reference to Japanese mythology, but I know very, very little about Japanese mythology.

How exactly does Clover have the ability to see into Ceroba’s memories?

I kinda hate myself for asking, but… what happens if you choose FIGHT after you beat Ceroba?

Observations

Star is the one asking Ceroba if she’s gonna kill them all because while he doesn’t know all the details, he recognizes the headspace she’s in.

Other Thoughts

Not only am I thrilled to finally get to explore some of New Home, I’m absolutely in love with the design and the music.

I think when Ceroba says she lied about Kanako, she’s not saying she lied about Kanako falling down, or about sending her to the lab.  She lied about having any hope that Kanako would return safely.

How the heck do frikkin’ cherry blossom petals have so much attack power???

The dash mechanic took me time to learn, but if Toby ever decides to steal from Yellow, I hope he steals this :P

My reactions to Ceroba’s plan: “But Chujin specifically begged you NOT to use Kanako!  How do you think you’re honoring his memory by going against his final wish?!”  “Oh, I see, finishing the serum was his death wish.  That’s still no excuse to use your own daughter, tho.”  And finally: “…oh…”

I tried to get thru the game without cheats (except for being on easy mode) but I did have to turn on auto-fire for Ceroba’s final phase.

[sweetygirl90]

How did frisk realize they're enby?

It’s long to explain and I don’t have time right now for a comic :( So...

I made a One-Shot! I usually explain myself better by writing than drawing. I just want to clarify that this is Frisk’s personal experience, it doesn’t have to be the same as other people.

I’m a spanish speaker so... I did my best translating this! I hope it’s good. This is from Frisk POV (something like that) so I made use of “he/him” pronouns at beginning.

                                            “Don’t belong”

It was still late afternoon, Frisk knew it because the big clock that hung on the living room wall. He was lucky to have it, because guessing the time just by looking through the hole he had fallen into was not very efficient. Many trees covered the sky from there and not having a wide view of the horizon hindered him more. In other words; looking at the sky wasn’t an option.

He had fallen underground a few days ago after what he hoped was his last reset. He knew perfectly what awaited him behind the enormous door of the ruins, he knew that sooner or later he would have to venture beyond that great portal to finish what he had started by falling into that world. He had promised that this would be the last time he would restart things if he got a good result and was not forced to go back to the beginning due to a failure, but until then he wanted to prolong this as long as possible. So sure everything would work out? Maybe, but if he ended up failing he would have a chance to repeat this again.

Yes, it wasn't very responsible to keep procrastinating like that, but could they blame him for it? From his first meeting with Toriel, something told him that next to him he would find his home, a place where he belonged, and it was difficult to detach himself from that new reality.

He didn't want to leave all of it just yet. Each moment with Toriel only became more enjoyable than the last. He was beginning to placidly get used to waking up feeling the soft fur of her muzzle brushing against him when she was going to wake him up with a warm hug and a kiss, he had memorized her characteristic aroma of caramel and cinnamon, unconsciously filing himself in those smells that comforted him. He wanted to continue that home routine a little more, he wanted to enjoy it as much as he could before he got into his work.

He wanted to be just an ordinary kid before he was the hero everyone expected him to be.

"And then the prince of water and the prince of fire got married and lived happily ever after... The end!"

Frisk smiled, raising another piece of cinnamon and butterscotch pie to his mouth as he watched comfortably curled up on Toriel's lap at the illustration of both characters from the storybook. If he was honest, he was at an age where he had lost interest in children's stories a bit, but he could never turn down the woman when she offered to read him one of them and she did it with such dedication and emotion. She even sometimes interpreted the voices of the characters changing the tone, although sometimes he lent her his help with that.

Most of the repertoire of stories didn’t stray from the typical fantasy trope with princesses, princes, knights, witches and wizards but... It was curious how monsters could interpret things in so many different ways. He swore that if he had taught this book to the adults in his orphanage they would have been shocked demanding to know who the degenerate was that would write such bestiality for the children to read.

The adults saw something frightening, he for the part of him only saw two princes in love in a nice simplistic illustration. He hadn't stopped to observe until now that monsters saw these things so naturally, as if it were something from day to day. Perhaps for them the plot twists of princesses escaping from their kingdoms to marry witches was already something of a cliché.

"Ah, what a beautiful story." The monster sighed, closing the book and setting it aside. "Did you like it, my child?"

Frisk nodded smiling, letting her gently stroke his hair. He almost always heard a derogatory comment from his ghostly companion in such cases, but they had been strangely quiet, listening intently to the narration all this time.

“I loved it.”

He lifted some of the pie back to his mouth, allowing himself to be comfortably pampered by Toriel's matted hands. Frisk still could not find a way to begin to describe how much he enjoyed her continuous displays of affection, how much he loved that woman who, even with a broken heart after so many losses, had love to give to the helpless children who fell into that underworld due to misfortune. There was no space for joy in his heart after having longed for since he was aware of the unconditional love of a relative, and that even after having lost all hope she had crossed his path.

He didn't care that she was a monster, he didn't care about anything anymore. He loved Toriel, she was his mother, and he wanted to stay with her.

Yes... He would, if he managed to free them all and no one would separate him from her side.

"Glad to hear it, my dear."

Frisk sensed her genuine happiness in her blue eyes and wished she could know just by looking at him how infinitely happy she made him just sitting there, looking at him as if his mere existence meant something to be grateful for. Toriel was like that with him, she made him feel valuable just by staring at him.

How was he able to coldly grip the knife against her? How did he have that stupid primal urge to harm her? Who did he think he was to see her as if she were nothing more than a dusty pothole that he stepped on as he left the ruins?

He regretted so much... He really regretted it. Even if she was ignorant of his sins, now Frisk wanted to show that he could be worthy of her, that he could make Toriel very happy. If she wanted a perfect and loving child that is what he would give her, although it was not very difficult to get it when he willingly wanted to follow her everywhere.

When his adventure came to an end he would strive to fulfill the fantasy of a happy family. He would be obedient, well behaved, loving... He would be the perfect child, he could not miss this opportunity.

Frisk had already been rejected by so many families... His heart would not bear another rejection, much less after he had tasted the true joy and warmth of home.

No matter the cost, even if it meant suppressing that part of him that he screamed for out in the open... He would do it to preserve this illusion.

He would be a good boy… Boy… Why did it still not sound good to say it like that?

"Oh dear… Look what time it is. It will be late for us to go grocery shopping and recalibrate the puzzles in the ruins.” Toriel watched the clock strike 4:30, patted his head once more, and got up after he got off her lap with help. "I'll find the bags to go out, while you can go change, my child."

Frisk nodded and went to his room. Something that had motivated him to stay with Toriel for a few days before inevitably moving on to Snowdin was his curiosity about what was outside the house. If he remembered something well from the books, it was that the ruins were much bigger than it appeared to the naked eye, after all the monsters used to all live there before moving further into the cave and finding the other cities that today they know as Snowdin, Waterfalls, Hotland and New Home.

He had watched from the balcony that the city of Old Home stretched beyond what he had ever thought or stopped to look at. There were few monsters that from time to time walked the streets doing their daily lives, but they were enough to keep the city inhabited and sustained. Too bad he didn't have a chance to visit it and see it up close... Until today.

He searched the closet for something to wear. He hadn't changed his pajamas since he had awakened, and although he was very comfortable he admitted that it was a bad habit as a result of not leaving the house every day.

His sweater had gotten dirty the day before after getting too close to an old fountain in the ruins and falling inside. How was he to know there was mud at the bottom of the pond? The water was crystal clear, but the darkness in the corner prevented him from seeing all the details. But he wasn't that clumsy, he was sure Flowey had pushed him! Damn impatient flower. He knew how boring it was to wait for the flower to finally deign to move things forward, but he'd already warned Flowey that he didn't want to be pressured. Frisk would decide when to do it, he would not stay in the ruins forever.

He was lucky that there was some clothing of his size that Toriel could lend him. Could it be that it belonged to Prince Asriel? That made him feel a bit guilty wearing the clothes of Toriel's dead son, but since there was nothing else… There wasn't much left to choose from.

Frisk took out some things and put them on his bed so he could choose better. He knew it was just a grocery shopping outlet, but he didn't want the monsters to think that Toriel was raising a lazy person either. Never! There were many things, generally striped shirts that almost always shared the same color range. Was it customary for children in the basement to wear stripes? Monster Kid mentioned it high above, but he wasn't sure. Perhaps this was a signal for him to begin to investigate a little more in depth about monster culture.

Going back to his clothes… Nothing convinced him at all. And that he was not demanding, he alone believed that yellow and green did not suit him very well.

He looked among the things that were hanging on the hangers, there were very warm coats, hats, scarves and... An elegant tuxedo with a tie and everything. That made him smile a bit. Even in this underground life did the royal family have events where they wore elegant clothes?

His gaze then hit something he hadn't noticed so far, an immaculately white sleeveless gown hung between two coats, hidden between the two. Frisk took it off the hook curiously and leaned it against his chest to check that it was for someone small like him and yes, it was.

Why would Prince Asriel have one of these? Maybe it was a mistake. The adults were very explicit with their instructions "boys don’t wear skirts."

He himself had learned the hard way, with punishment and humiliation that it was not appropriate, no matter how much it hurt.

"Those aren’t Asriel's clothes… But mine.”

Frisk left his thoughts for a moment to turn to his ghostly companion, who crossed their arms and with a skeptical look just floated beside him.

"Asriel's clothes stayed in New Home, I think... Mom took my things with her when she fled to the ruins."

"Oh… Then it's yours."

“Yes.” They confirmed it again, now floating on their back and with their arms crossed behind their neck, giving him a look of displeasure but at the same time disinterest. “I wasn't in my plans to donate my clothes to a brat like you, but since it's not very useful to me… You can have it.”

“Cool! Thanks, Chara.” He thanked them with a smile. Chara might be a bit surprised that he had these courtesy details, but despite the fact that the human repeated that their reason for being there was to make life a mess... He couldn't help but think that being close to them was pleasant. Chara wasn't such bad company, at least not when they was trying to make him feel bad.

Frisk was about to put the dress in the closet, but then he realized something else. If it was Chara's clothes… Why would they have a dress and a tuxedo?

He unhooked this one, too, and spread both sets on the bed, set apart from the rest of the folded clothing he'd pulled out to choose from.

Maybe… The monsters didn't find these things strange either. Could that be it? His hand went to the white dress, he took it, took it with him to the mirror in the room and placed it in front of his chest to have a visualization of how he would fit it. The last time he had used something like this was when he and his best friend Emma exchanged the school uniform secretly from others, it was when after her departure she gave him said uniform to remember her, when the director of the orphanage found him wearing it, when he lost the last gift from the first girl he had ever loved, when...

When he started wondering what was wrong with him. He never hurt anyone when he wore those clothes, did he? Was Emma thinking the same thing too?

"Are you ready, dear?"

Frisk turned, surprised to find Toriel inside the room, already dressed to leave it and staring him with a calm smile. He couldn't help but start to shake and gasp when the goat's eyes focused on the dress, reflexively hiding it behind his back. She was confused.

Frisk couldn't even look into her eyes, he was terrified to do it and find himself with a disappointed or disgusted expression. It was something he had gotten used to enough by now, it was always a reason for the foster homes to decide that he was not the type of child they wanted to adopt.

"E-Eh… I just… I was just looking at what to wear and…"

He stopped abruptly when Toriel crouched down next to him and bringing one of her hands to his chin made him lift his head. She didn't look upset, she had the same peaceful glow in her gaze and that warm smile that she had seen the first day.

"Do you want to wear that dress, honey?" Frisk didn't come out of his bewilderment, but he nodded softly as Toriel got up and went to the door. "Okay, I'll be back, I'll look at for something."

Without further ado, she left the room, Frisk managed to look at Chara, who for the first time seemed to see him with some compassion, perhaps because they understood what he was feeling in those moments.

"You heard mom, don't keep her waiting."

Silently and with some anxiety, Frisk made the change of clothes. His dress was of a very soft fabric and the skirt reached below the knees. Apparently Toriel glued washes to his clothes so it wouldn't get smelling of dust and damp, because now he could smell the fragrance of laundry soap on it.

The only problem he had with this was the zipper in the back, it was difficult to make it go up without it locking in the middle of his back.

"Oh, let me help you with that, dear."

Frisk hadn't noticed that Toriel had returned, but he said nothing and allowed her to help him by zipping up.

“Don't worry, the truth is that it has always caused problems, so most of the time I had to do it.”

He assumed that she was referring to Chara indirectly, and confirmed it just by seeing the half smile that the aforementioned was trying to hide. With the dress already on, Frisk stopped to observe himself at ease in front of the mirror. He didn't look bad at all, he liked it.

Toriel touched his shoulder and offered him something. It was a country hat with a white ribbon around it and some fake flowers of the same color adorning it. Did she go looking for that for him? He didn't ask questions, he just accepted it and settled it on his head. It seemed that both things were made to go together.

"There is no sun to watch out for, but I thought you'd like it.”

Frisk looked back at his reflection and felt fear leave him suddenly. A smile crossed his face and he moved to the side for a twist that made the skirt of the dress move in the air. Toriel gave a light laugh when she saw him wearing that garment so happily.

“I look good?” He asked, doing a couple of poses that would make his mother laugh because of how exaggerated they were, but that made him feel looser from the tension of a while ago. He didn't perceive that this was a forced reaction from Toriel, she looked genuinely pleased about it. It was as if the laws of the surface didn't matter to her… Because they were underground now.

"You look gorgeous, my dear. You're a very handsome boy!"

Frisk broadened his smile for Toriel and didn't fight the urge to hug her skirt with all his might, hoping that maybe she could feel his gratitude in that little gesture. She accepted him instantly, wrapping her warm arms around him lovingly. Frisk wish she didn't notice the pair of tears of relief that stained a tiny space of her garment and then wet her snout when she gave him a pair of kisses near his eyes.

“Thanks… Mom.”

Toriel tightened the hug a little more but without hurting Frisk. He melted her heart whenever he called her that way. "You’re welcome, my little boy. If you are ready we can go now.”

When they parted, they both left the room on their way to the city of Home.

"Or dear... There are many things missing at home and I had barely noticed today. I think we will also buy you school supplies so that you can start classes at home. Better hurry up or it will get very dark by the time we're done.”

“Okay, mom.”

"I have to get you notebooks… One for each subject. I don't want you to be disorganized!"

Frisk nodded as she continued speaking. For Toriel it was already a reflection of her holding his hand every time they went out together and it didn't bother him at all.

He tightened his grip on her hand to keep her in step. She was so big that on occasion he was forced to be faster or take longer steps, this was one of those times. His heart had stopped weighing him down, replacing that suffocating sensation with freedom, feeling light with the air moving his skirt and the end of the hat's bow brushing against his shoulder every time he took a step.

He was happy.

Although something was still bothering him.

                                                                  . . .

The departure proceeded normally. Frisk and Toriel toured the city buying the groceries that were needed at home. It was not very different from the surface, there were supermarkets with electrical appliances, small shops, stalls to sell fast food, etc. They spent two hours shopping for everything on the list until they filled the bags, which Toriel could carry perfectly on her own and without any effort. Frisk wanted to help her by carrying one of hers, but this was already heavy enough that he could afford to carry one more.

They also went to buy supplies and notebooks as she said. In the old human school he could not afford to use many things because according to the director of the orphanage "it were unnecessary and a silly waste of money", which he understood perfectly, although he came to disappoint him a bit. He did not want to make Toriel spend a lot, however, he didn’t need to ask for anything, since she decided that she needed to buy him colors of all the materials available and to have (paint, watercolors, crayons, chalks, pencils, markers...) because she was afraid he would get bored at home and not have something to draw with.

They both had a good time. They talked about some things, Toriel bought him an ice cream, they decided what they would have for dinner at night, even some monsters greeted Toriel with respect —long ago he would not have understood why but now he knew it was because they remembered her as the former queen of the underground— and monster commented to her more than once that he was adorable. Toriel almost always replied "I know, isn't he a very cute boy?"

He didn't want to sound ungrateful at all, but… Something didn't feel right when he heard her say that. It was not for the compliment, throughout his life he was lucky if some adult remarked something positive about him, especially his appearance. Why now that someone did it, did he continue to feel dissatisfied? It wasn't for the compliment itself, of course not. There were times when Toriel said things like that, but... Something was left over, or maybe something was missing.

When they returned, he helped her organize the shopping and they continued with the routine. It was a bit late to leave so the rest of the duties were left to Toriel for the next day. She insisted that she go alone to recalibrate the puzzles in the ruins, but he wanted to accompany her.

It was no use being persistent because she was able to convince him to stay. She told him that she needed him to stay, as if he bathed in what she did her work then the two of them would have enough time to get ready to go out to dinner at night. It was too tempting an offer not to accept. When had he dined at a restaurant in Home? Never. Maybe at the Mettaton hotel, but he didn't count it as dinner. Sans hadn't even invited him anything!

Frisk accepted instantly, Toriel hadn't been long anyway because she was back in time to help him dry his hair. Apparently she wanted to help him get ready to go out.

For his part, it didn't bother him at all. Toriel had sat with him on the bed to brush his hair, and he was sure that she knew that it was not necessary for him to do it because he rarely ruffled, however Frisk didn’t complain, there was nothing to reproach her. Maybe she just wanted to cuddle him for a while and that's it. Would Frisk make a fuss just for that? Nah!

His mother hummed very softly as she continued her attentions. Her hands were gentle and soft, as if she were afraid to pull his hair by accident. That treatment in conjunction with her voice was the perfect recipe to relax him. If it weren't that dinner was still on the agenda, he would have already fallen asleep.

Frisk remembered again now how lucky he was to have Toriel close, but... Since yesterday he kept thinking about the same thing that had been bothering him forever, but that after yesterday became more evident. He reproached himself for letting such stupidity prevent him from enjoying his mother's affection to the fullest, but… Maybe it wasn't stupid after all.

It made him angry that he didn't understand what was tormenting him. For a boy it should be easy to rate feelings, only he was already pre-adolescent, he wasn't sure if he could continue to call himself a “boy” any longer.

What was this? Why did he feel as if something was missing? Why did he feel wrong? Every time someone made it clear that he was a boy, every time he think about himself with “he” something felt wrong. At first he thought it was due to those prohibitions that humans instilled in him just because of that, because he was a child, but even now that with Toriel he felt free of those restrictions... It was still the same.

"What’s the matter, my dear?"

His mother's voice snapped him out of his musings suddenly, but he struggled to sound like nothing was wrong. "Nothing, just... I was thinking."

“I see.” She said, always parsimonious about everything. “About what? It must be something important for you to be this overwhelmed.”

Frisk was surprised at how quickly Toriel came to that conclusion. It was his mistake to underestimate a mother's suspicion and now he was paying for it, feeling nervous that he didn't know how to explain himself.

"Nothing, it's... It's silly."

"Nothing that worries you is foolish, my dear boy. Your feelings will always be important, and sometimes to deal with it you have to know what causes that feeling.” She explained, putting the brush aside so she could better focus on it. "Talking about how you feel is sometimes helpful."

Frisk lowered his gaze not knowing what to answer her. If anything had remained in him from the adults who had cared for him, it was that those his age used to worry about nonsense, things that don’t deserve to be heard, something that would disappear under the rug. “You have no reason to feel like this. It's not important. People around the world are suffering more than you and you cry for a nonsense!” or “Boys don't cry. Stop being so girly! ” was a common sight around him. Why he would talk about what was bothering him then? Why he would bother trying to express himself? The world had taken it upon himself to let him know that it didn't matter at all, that by drowning in grief he would learn a thing or two that would serve him well in the future.

And now… It was shocking that Toriel told him that after all, if something distressed him, it wasn’t a foolish at all.

"I won't force you to tell me anything if you're not comfortable with it, Frisk. But I want you to know that if something bothers you… You can tell me, I will not judge you and I will listen to you.”

Frisk looked in front of him. In the midst of his hesitation to choose what to wear for dinner he had left the dress on the bed next to Chara's tuxedo he had found the day before. He knew that he had to choose one of the two, and not that he bothered to use one of them, but... Thinking about it too much gave him a different meaning to things.

He wanted to tell Toriel everything he was thinking, but his mind was a mess. He didn't know where to start, he didn't even understand what was happening to him! How was he going to put into words something he didn't know? It was so frustrating! Now that he was given the freedom to speak he didn't know what to say.

"I just… I don't know why sometimes… I don't know, I feel like there's something wrong with me."

Hearing his words, Toriel decided to move beside him to speak comfortably. She didn't say anything, she was still silent to give him permission to speak.

"It's like I don't belong anywhere, like I don't... Like I don't fit in. You know what I mean?"

"Uhm… I think so."

Frisk decided to continue, he knew that Toriel still did not understand where he wanted to go, even he did not know!

"It's just that... People always say you were born to be something, but... What if I don't like that something? Where I should go? Because they say that there are only two paths and nothing else, but... I don't want to choose any. I don't want the path I'm supposed to go and I don't want the second one either. They say "you are this or that" but... I think then I am nothing.”

They were both silent and he was beginning to regret having spoken. His mother surely didn’t understand what he was talking about. Frisk sighed in the midst of his frustration with a lump in his throat, he didn’t want to cry, however he could not continue with that tightness in his chest.

Frisk didn't know how far Toriel's tolerance went. What would happen if this completely exceeded it? He had to fix it but in that moment.

“I’m so sorry. I know you have treated me very well and I like it when you flatter me, but I...”

"You don't like it when I refer to you as a boy, do you?"

Frisk looked up at Toriel, still impressed at how easy it was for her to sink into his dilemma as if it were an everyday thing for her. It was just like when she found him admiring that beautiful dress, the way she looked at him hadn't changed at all.

He couldn't understand it. Why was this all right for Toriel? Why wasn't she like other human adults? Why wasn't anyone there that way? Is it that perhaps he had missed something? Why did he end up getting a caress every time he expected a slap? He couldn't find a way out of his own overwhelm and Toriel kept talking calmly, as if she had all the time in the world.

"Frisk, it's okay if you feel that way. Look, I notice how you react to everything and… I don't know how humans deal with these things, but if you think it seems strange or something bad… It doesn't.”

She paused, stroking his hair and then she got off the bed taking the dress and tuxedo. She looked at both garments for a moment and held them up in each hand.

“If you want to choose one that's fine, if you go for a different option that's fine too, if you choose both it's fine, and if you're not ready to choose something that's fine too. It's like when I want to choose cinnamon or butterscotch, I can't! So I create my own options.”

"B-But…" Frisk swallowed, hoping that would take away the lump in his throat and his confusion. "That's the problem. It's not that I'm choosing! It's not what I want, it's what I am What am I? I don't feel like I'm a girl either. So what am I? I don't have a third option.”

Toriel raised an eyebrow, perhaps as if surprised that he said that. "Uhm… Do you know what non-binary gender is, Frisk?"

He cocked his head not knowing what she was talking about, and knew that Toriel noticed because she smiled like when he was going to her with childish doubts.

“There are people who, like you, don’t see themselves as women or men, but as something different. They are not both and it is not that they are nothing, they are only on a third path among the others.” She explained patiently and put the clothes she had taken back on the bed. Frisk was watching her intently, still unable to process that there was an answer to his question. “There's nothing wrong with not being what others expect of you just because of how you look or how you are… Even for the way you were born.”

"But what about you?" He blurted out. That question had come to his mind a second ago and he felt that he would die if he didn't get an answer now. He felt very stupid saying it so suddenly, almost interrupting Toriel, but he couldn't help himself. “What do you think about it?”

"It doesn't matter what I want or think, Frisk. It is your happiness and your way of perceiving yourself. Nothing else matters than your own happiness. How you identify yourself or who you love you should know that everyone should respect it, and never apologize for being like that.”

She declared, and then moved to the basket of clean clothes she had brought with her when she came into the room. Frisk stifled a sigh when she returned to his hands the striped sweater that he had soiled days ago, and that he had missed even though he liked to change his style of dress.

"It doesn’t matter if you are a boy, a girl, or something else… You are still Frisk. That won’t change.”

An involuntary reflex made Frisk hug his sweater, and so he stayed, silent and lost in his own mind as he processed everything Toriel had said to him in his rhythm. So much information had left him somewhat perplexed, more than anything because he did not imagine that there was an option that would leave him satisfied.

"You don't have to know it now, you can keep thinking about it and take your time. I just want you to know that if it bothers you that I refer to you as a boy then I won't. And if you want me to call you by "they/them" instead of calling you by "he/him" like I did when we just met, I'll do it.”

Frisk muttered with his… No, their face still half buried in the sweater. They had a hard time letting the words come out.

“I… I think I like this third way and… “they” would be fine.”

Without having to say more, Toriel sat back on the bed with a satisfied smile. Frisk was still dizzy and dazed, not sure what to say or how to react, they could only respond to their own impulses when the woman touched their shoulder and immediately threw themself into her arms like a small child and began to cry. Toriel sighed, holding her child in a strong, protective hug, letting their crying stop on its own.

Frisk didn't know. Was they crying out of sadness because no one told them this before? Was the rage at this anguish that they carried with for years? Yes, it was all that, but it was also a cry of relief. Now they knew that they were not weird, that there was nothing wrong with them, that there were people just like them who knew how they was feeling including Chara themself.

Frisk knew then that they did have a place to belong.

They let all their tears release them from that stormy regret and let the goat's maternal affection slowly bring them back to reality, ending up warmly cradled in her embrace. They finally found the missing piece.

"I... Uh... Jeez.” They laughed through tears, still not letting go. “You must believe that so much drama just because of this gender stuff is silly.”

"I don't think gender identity discovery is silly. Maybe you don’t understand why it is so important to know it, but... I think it is difficult to judge when you don’t feel the pain in the hearts of others, much more when I know that you don’t come from this world.”

Frisk nodded with a sigh and finally pulled away from Toriel as she wiped their tears away.

"So… You know what you want to wear to dinner, my child?"

"I want to wear my sweater."

[chorusnihili]

Plot Ideas

This post will grow, but for now I’m just making it to give myself a kick in the rear. 

If you want to plot one of these, just let me know!

OR--feel free to just leave the spiel in my inbox and I’ll just jump straight to writing a starter for you!

Original Form

For muses that can explore space-time, encountering him before his accident.  Or if you want to go further back, before Chara and Asriel die.

Or if you want to go really far back, while he’s still on the surface.

Through some experiment/glitch in space, he ends up in a different timeline.  

Muses that visit other timelines also have the ability to visit timelines where things...... progressed differently.  For better or for worse.  

Muses that are old enough can interact with him while he was on the surface.  He’d be a teenager or child.

Muses that are old enough could interact with him before Chara and Asriel died.  You’d get to see the one time in his life he was genuinely happy.

Canonically speaking, no one ever knew that Gaster killed Asgore.  But, I’m more than happy ( >:) ) to explore a potential timeline of someone finding out or him telling someone.  

I’m also happy to explore timelines where the “accident” was different, or where the accident didn’t happen.  

Unbound Form

For human muses, accepting his “offer” to absorb his soul.  Usually this results in the muse getting most of his powers, as well as a vaguely naggy dad-Gaster voice in the back of their head.

If you’re into horror plots, Gaster can fit the role sometimes.  It varies strongly by muse so we’d have to discuss what it is he wants from your muse.

Your muse somehow getting lost in the Void and encountering him.

I’m open to other muses helping him become Refused Form.  It depends on the muse, but Alphys, or other science-heavy or magic muses, or maybe Frisk / Chara / Flowey / Asriel can do something.

Deltarune muses can encounter him as the God of their universe, if that’s something you’re into.  

Or if you want to explore some other ‘constructed reality’ plot.  

Refused Form

Exploring / experiencing his Determination / Void issues.

Your muse following the ‘conspiracy theory’ of Gaster and eventually following the rumors to his lab...and actually encountering him.

He needs friends.  Be his friend.

He can visit your muse’s timeline.  He does that a lot.  

Your muse ends up in an alternate timeline and Gaster goes to retrieve them...but doesn’t have the power to pull them back so they need to figure out how to do so.

This can also involve Original Gaster.  I’m willing to write them both at once.  

Gaster is experimenting with Determination even though it’s illegal to do so, feel free to confront him.

Gaster intends to try to fix the Amalgamates as well as revert Flowey back to Asriel.  Will he succeed ... ?  Remains to be seen.  

He’s level 9, despite not fighting in the war.  Maybe someone should confront him about that.

Gaster accidentally launches both himself and your muse into an alternate timeline, likely in response to a threat.  Where are they?  Will they figure out how to get home?

Gaster is dusted after he jumps in front of an attack meant for your muse.  Of course, he’ll come back after a few days...but does your muse know that?  Just what kind of monstrosity is Gaster?

Humans have captured Gaster for study and your muse has found and freed him.  But why hasn’t he freed himself?

He accidentally teleports himself through your muse’s table / roof / whatever.  One hell of a way (but a fun one) to start an interaction.  

Pokémon Verse

Scientific / curious muses studying Gaster / the Gamumu line.  

Plots where Gaster is reverting between pokemon and human form and needs help figuring out what’s going on.  

The Gamumu showing up somewhere they shouldn’t, like the thieves they are.  

Mermaid Verse

He’s a friendly sea monster, it’s OK.

AU where he’s existed in the Underground since before the monsters arrived and the activity is drawing him to the shallower waters of Waterfall.  

Little Mer G has escaped evil biologists that are trying to study him and encounters your muse.  The scientists are not far behind, though.

Your muse finds Little Mer G in their bathtub.  Or bed.  Or car.  Or anywhere he logically shouldn’t be but somehow is.  

Scifi Verse

He’s also capable of accidentally skipping across timelines.

He crash lands on your muse’s planet.

The more important question here is... what does YOUR MUSE want from him?

Other Verses

A Fell!Gaster, Swap!Gaster, Human!Gaster and AmalGaster all have tentative backstories and are available for plotting.

Lord Gaster AU -- Timeline where he has killed all humans on the surface, but only really gave the monsters something else to fear.

King Gaster AU -- Timeline (usually a Fell verse) where Gaster has murdered Asgore and took the throne.

Professor Gaster AU -- Timeline post-pacifist where Gaster (regrettably) finds himself teaching humans Science because god their education system is fucking awful. 

Other Plots / Misc

These were originally intended to be Dungeon Master style Plots where I don’t necessarily tell you everything that’s going on, but I’m more than happy to actually plot them out with you, as well!

Another Skeleton in Town:  Gaster claims he has always lived here, in this quaint little house in this strange corridor in Waterfall.  The problem is, he’s not lying.  So why is he here, how did he get here and why doesn’t he remember anything?

Indepth Reversion:  Your muse wakes up one day to realize that the world is nothing like they remember.  And yet, no one seems to realize anything is wrong.  What could have possibly happened, and what does a soft-spoken Professor named Gaster have to do with it?

Null Terminator:  It started simple--with sections of the Underground simply...disappearing.  With nothing but an empty blackness to take its place.  Then strange wolf-like creatures, incoherent and staticy began to emerge, the darkness grew, and the entire timeline is in danger.  Can your muse and Gaster fix it, or are they doomed to be the only survivors?

Civil War:  Life on the surface is far from peaceful, but things have gotten even worse after a series of attacks on monsters.  Analysis show traces of magic at the scene, implying that the culprits were other monsters.  But why are monsters attacking other monsters...or is something much more sinister at play?

Cooperation:  Under growing pressures by humanity to release the technologies he’s invented, Gaster is growing more and more aggressive towards the surface world.  Maybe your muse can talk him down...or provoke him into starting another war.

Ascension:  Growing more dissatisfied with Asgore’s submission to humanity, Toriel’s reclaiming of the throne, and monster-human relations, Gaster begins a secession from the monster kingdom, using space-warping abilities to make a surface, monster-only sanctuary for any monster that doesn’t wish to be in touch with humanity.  Will Gaster’s erratic behaviors doom the possibility of peace?  Can your muse get through to him?

Egregious Hatred:  On the surface, several high-profile anti-monster activists have suddenly gone missing.  Given the odd nature of the crimes, Gaster is the prime suspect.  But did he do it?

[the-river-person]

The Trial: Part 3

Once more he sat facing the human, waiting for them to begin. Sans knew he’d already crossed the line. He’d crossed so many lines. There was nothing he could do now that would make everyone look at him the same way ever again. It was exactly what he’d been afraid of. Maybe if he could think of even one pun it might ease the tension a bit, but his mind was whirling with everything but puns. But it was his duty. The role of Judge wasn’t something you could do halfway. And besides, if he didn’t bring out the whole story, then it would be harder to for everyone to see what a tangled mess all of this was. They needed to know, to hear everything, in order to accept his judgement. That was the point of all this. Was it worth it though? If he couldn’t meet Papyrus’ eyes? “The voice came first. Before Frisk met Flowey. Chara’s body had been buried in the exact place they’d fallen into the Underground, where all those children fell. But this time, Frisk’s determination was so strong that it not only wrenched Flowey’s powers away from him, but woke Chara from death.” The Human spoke quietly, but it was so quiet a pin dropping could have been heard. “As Frisk journeyed they offered their help. Giving information about the Monsters and world along the way, offering encouragement upon death, and being a silent and invisible companion. Not like a ghost monster, but more like a lingering will, a consciousness or a fragment of a soul, persisting despite time and death. When Frisk was determined to be kind, Chara was pleased. But when Frisk eventually began to lose their mind and kill, Chara was horrified.” The Monsters too were horrified. Papyrus looked incredibly sad and tears were beginning to form in Toriel’s eyes. “It didn’t happen all at once. There were runs in between with accidental kills, or where Frisk only killed the ones who got in their way, or who couldn’t be easily spared without effort. As time went on they killed more and more until it became genocide. Hate. Pain. They killed and killed and killed, desperate to alleviate boredom, to keep from thinking about the world they might have to go back to. The Determination to stay in this world was strong. But Chara didn’t know that, they could only see what Frisk did, not what they felt. And so they watched.” It must have been a heavy burden to bear. To watch as everyone you knew and loved was murdered before your eyes. Killed without mercy. When all you had ever wanted to do was help them, you were trapped in a nightmare where they were all suffering and you could do nothing. The human still showed no emotion as they continued the brutal tale. “With each kill, the violence and hate grew, and Chara was determined to do something, to stop it all. So they fed off of those traits, drawing power from Frisk. But only when even Sans had been done away with, did they have enough power for it. Refusing to let Frisk kill their brother, they chose to do it themselves. At least he could die by their own hand. And then it was enough. They could become visible, real, if only for a moment.” Pausing, the human looked around at all the monsters, meeting the eyes of those who had known Chara. “They offered a choice. The level of violence and all that hate was strong. It twisted them despite their resistance. If power was the only goal, then they could kill for it and destroy everything for its sake. But when Frisk refused, the shock was enough to bring them to their senses, and they struck Frisk down and destroyed the world with the power they had. It wasn’t enough. The Determination was too strong for Frisk to truly die without wanting to. So Chara struck a bargain. Offer up their soul, risk becoming an empty shell with a fading consciousness or they wouldn’t be allowed to reset the world properly. Chara took that soul and poured the hate and violence into it, all of the negative emotions and despair. And it was taken, by what Chara called a Demon.” Sans sat up, this was the first time he’d heard this part of the tale and it chilled him. “What do you mean a demon? Explain.” “It is the Demon that comes when its name is called. It doesn’t matter where, it doesn’t matter when. Time after time it will appear and help you eradicate your enemies and become strong. Every time a number increases: Hit Points, attack, defense, gold, execution points, level of violence... that’s them. When people are motivated by Greed, hatred, fear, apathy, rage, and so many other things they fall into its trap, they call its name without knowing it, and it comes and feeds off of the destruction and violence they create. When Chara bribed it into leaving, it took the soul and vanished. Leaving two spirits and one body and no soul between them. But there was one thing left. The demon couldn’t consume Determination, its not a negative trait even if it can be used that way. So it remained. That was the beginning of my birth.” For the first time, an expression of emotion had appeared on the human’s face, something like... a fondness? The warmth of remembering something from long ago? Sans considered them for a moment. He’d been skeptical at first of their claims of being neither Chara nor Frisk. But the more they’d insisted on it, and the more he’d heard others like Flowey insist that it wasn’t the human at all anymore, the more he believed them. This wasn’t what he’d expected to hear. Demons, determination. This was the problem of messing with souls and soul magic. It caused this sort of nonsense. “It was slow,” the human was still speaking. They’d spoken more today than any other time Sans could recall. More than anyone else had today. “I grew stronger as Chara and Frisk struggled for control, to remain. But eventually without all the hatred and violence that had been in the soul, they both calmed down and came to their senses. Frisk was disturbed at what they’d grown into and was all for releasing the Monsters right then and there. But there were problems with that, ones you are already aware of. Time had begun speeding by at unimaginable rates. The outside was no longer livable by that time, at least as far as they could tell. So they decided to lock everyone into the time loop, resetting endlessly. By that time you,” and they looked pointedly at Sans. “Had just barely begun to recall previous resets. You had some memories from the oldest ones, from the pacifist routes. But they were fragments. And it took a long time before you truly began to remember each time, hundreds or even thousands of resets before your memory was consistent.” Sans found himself nodding in agreement. It had been like waking up from a long dream. Bits and pieces of waking floated around, taunting you until you caught them and added them to the puzzle. When you had enough you realized that you were already awake and that things were going on around you. “By then, Chara and Frisk had begun to fade away. Human minds were not meant to last more than a hundred years or so, not at all like Monsters. And without a soul to tether them to this world, they slowly went silent. One day they were just gone. No more. And I was left. Determination. I was the Determination focused on their last wish, to preserve the Underground and its inhabitants by any means. They’d gone with endless genocide routes to keep you from discovering what was happening with Time outside the barrier, but I eventually decided that not knowing was hurting you more. The rest you know...” Finally they fell silent. No one made a sound. Deep in thought, Sans considered what to do now. He couldn’t punish this person, they weren’t even the true culprit, and it was useless to punish a person who was more or less dead so neither Chara or Frisk would be any help. And anyway, he’d made very clear that the human couldn’t totally be blamed for the mess they were in. He stood, his robes flowing around him. While he’d been thinking, the human had returned to their seat. They would have to call it something different now, because a being of living Determination wasn’t really human, and they deserved a name that wasn’t the memory of someone long gone like Chara or Frisk. With a decisive gesture he motioned for the pedestal to once again descend into the floor and the slab of stone to slide over top of it again. “I have reached a decision,” he announced. A sharp intake of breath greeted these words. Despite everyone’s desire for this whole event to take place, many of them were wishing they’d never wanted it now that they’d heard everything. Wishing that they’d not been so hasty. But it was far too late. “It seems to me that this person cannot be blamed. For they are no longer Frisk or Chara, but someone new. And Frisk the Human is not totally at blame for what took place either. We could point at other humans in their lives, we could look to this Demon that comes when you call it. Some might blame Chara for becoming violent, but they didn’t become that way until they were pushed to the breaking point, and still managed to overcome it to stop things. The truth is... we’re all at fault. You, me, everyone. Together we made the world a place where this kind of horror was... inevitable.” he sighed. There was no easy fix. Nothing would be easy. But at the forefront of his mind were all the things Papyrus had believed and told him about. About changing oneself and offering chances. But would they accept it? “Like my Grandpa Semi before me, I am called to be Judge. I play arbiter and executioner as necessary. Even deciding the fate of Kings if called upon to do so. But... I cannot force the world to change if it refuses. So here is my command. Learn to be better. All of you,” he glanced briefly at Flowey, who looked away. “Choose again and again to be a better person than you were. Offer kindness and where you can...understanding. Our world is small, and our prison is more final than ever before. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We can make it a better place, a better world. We can be free if we make our freedom ourselves, even if the bars are still here. We’re alive, which is a miracle considering everything. So let’s put that to use. I know some of it has already started with the new school and the media stuff I’ve seen everywhere. But there’s always more we can do.” He drew himself up to his full height. “That is my judgement. All are guilty, and all must throw everything they are into this new world we’re making. To ensure that its a better place than where we were before. To be certain we don’t lose hope. There’s no putting all the responsibilities on the shoulders of royals or heroes alone, we each have to do our part.” The two hooded and cloaked figures, both the large one with dark fur and the smaller jester-like one with a wicked smile and a lashing tail, came forward and stood on either side of him. As one they spoke the final ritual words of any trial. “Let the Angel’s will be done!” And then Sans simply vanished. One moment he stood there and the next he was gone. The other two began shepherding the shell shocked Monsters from the room, quietly advising them to return home and contemplate the Judge’s decision. Papyrus ran as fast as he could, hoping that Sans would have just gone back to their house in Snowdin. The River Person gave him a ride, for the first time saying nothing at all. He’d apparently watched the trial from a television screen set up for Monsters in the Capital, and he’d been able to watch without leaving his boat. When he arrived, the telltale signs that Sans was home were present. But Sans himself was absent. Knocking on the door of his brother’s bedroom, Papyrus called out to him. “SANS? SANS? I’M SORRY. I DIDN’T KNOW.” But though he could hear someone moving around on the other side, nobody answered. “SANS I WANT TO HELP YOU. IN YOUR DECISION YOU JUST SAID THAT WE SHOULD ALL DO OUR PART. WELL MY PART IS APOLOGIZING. I HAD NO IDEA YOU WERE THE JUDGE AND CLEARLY GETTING UP THERE WAS UNCOMFORTABLE FOR YOU. AND I’M SORRY...” The door opened. Still in his dark robes, but with the hood down now, Sans looked up at him with tired eyes. “I know. S’okay, bro. I just hope it does everybody some good. If it does, I don’t mind.” Papyrus hugged him and Sans let himself be hugged. It was going to be a bit before everything was really okay again. But now they at least had a chance at it.

[monochromerose]

by request: the self-indulgent fic

@heyoitskris you wanted this so :// here it is

it’s also not done but i’m p far into it so why not

You don’t exactly remember what happened. Last you knew, you had knocked out your girlfriend because… someone had possessed her. Just as she was beginning to wake up… what happened to her?

‘Your breathing and your heartbeat drown out most other sound as you stare down at her form, sprawled out on the ground and unconscious. She is littered with bruises and cuts, a few still leaking blood. You’re the one who did this to her. Are you happy? “But I had to!” You plead to thin air, knowing that you are the only one guilting yourself. Something had happened to her- it wasn’t her anymore. A being with no true name, referred only to as CHARA, had taken over her. Your only thought-your gut instinct to bring her back-only hurt her, leaving her all but dead at your feet.

A groan sounds from beneath you, and she stirs. Pushing herself up with her hands slightly, her eyes crack open and she lifts her head to look at you- then loses her grip and hits her head on solid ground. Your hands fly to stifle a gasp and you kneel down beside her, holding her arms to help her sit up. It seems to take much of her energy, and she nearly falls back, but you manage to support her until she recovers enough energy to balance again.

She mumbles an apology and tries to reach out to you, but quickly retracts her hand. Her head hangs down as she stares at her shoes, muttering indistinct words. You can only imagine she’s berating herself, like always. “It wasn’t your fault!” You try to convince her that she doesn’t need to be sorry, but she refuses to look up at you.

“It’s no use.” You can make out her words, but only barely. The phrase seems to linger in the air like fog, obscuring both of your abilities to think clearly.

“W- what do you mean?!”

“Goodbye.”

With those words, a ring of familiar objects appear around her- bullets. You recognize them. You try to pull her out of the way, but she simply smiles. The bullets strike, moving too fast for you to process, but it doesn’t matter. Her now-lifeless body falls to the ground, a red heart appearing over her.

As soon as the heart appears, it is gone, her body disappearing along with it. In its place, a flower appears. A flower with a face, and a sickening smile.

“You IDIOT. You haven’t learned a thing. In this world. . .” A spiral of hearts-no, SOULs- appears around him, each in different colors. Orange, green, teal, blue, purple, all surround him as his grin widens. Her SOUL, red, appears in front of him. You bite back a screech and attempt to swing at him, but something you can’t quite see stops you from making contact. “It’s KILL or be KILLED.” As he speaks, his face contorts into… something disturbing enough that you can’t even process. A cacophony of laughter- his laughter- echoes through the air, and as the SOULs come together towards him, your vision fades into white and you fall, unconscious, to the ground.’

The words you’ve heard so many times ring in your ears: “Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS.” Everything seemed normal enough, to you at least. You began to recite the rest of the story in your head along with it. “One day, they all disappeared without a trace.”

The discordant voice of Flowey takes over the sweet story you know, and a box appears in front of you. Your SAVE FILE. Flowey- My World. What happened to your SAVE FILE? You know what happened, of course- Flowey has taken over it.

You press ‘START’ and immediately find yourself inside a dark, seemingly endless void. The tiniest glimmer of light shines from far away- you can barely see it, but it’s still there. You begin to make your way towards it, though it seems you can’t get any closer than you already are.

You don’t exactly know how long you’ve been walking for. You’ve tried running towards it, but all that accomplishes is tiring you out faster. Your heart is pounding in your ears, and your heavy breathing seems to echo throughout the void, though it should just fade away. If your prison truly is endless like it seems, why does anything echo? Now that you’ve stopped to think about it, your footsteps do as well.

Now that you’ve realized your ‘endless damnation’ at the hands of your worst nightmare isn’t as unending as it wants to be, you stop short. The light of hope you gave up on sits right in front of you- a SAVE point. Your face lights up (though that may just be the glow of the SAVE point) and you press both hands on your star-shaped salvation.

A familiar box appears in front of you- it’s your SAVE FILE! Your actual SAVE FILE, not Flowey’s! You draw in a gasp as it comes to you: you can save over this mess! Your excitement drains, as does the color from your face, when the harsh truth sets in. Try as you might, something won’t let you save. A cracking sound fills the air, and you back away as your SAVE FILE begins to splinter into pieces.

‘FILE ERASED.’ You read the words to yourself over and over; this can’t be happening! Ah, but it is, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Once a few more seconds pass, the FILE completely shatters, and the pieces fall through the ground, disappearing into the void.

In the FILE’s place, a face that appears almost like a hologram looms above you. It’s him. Why would it be anyone else? You bite back curses and try to stop yourself from shaking, to no avail.

“Howdy! It’s me, Flowey! Flowey the flower!

I really do owe you a HUGE thanks. You really did a number on her, didn’t you?”

You clench your fists at that, but can’t force back the guilt you still harbor. This monstrosity of a villain just can’t resist pouring salt in the wound, can he? When you try to speak, to say anything, you can’t seem to form any words. It’s as if something is stopping you from speaking. In fact, it seems as though you aren’t able to form any sound at all.

“Without you, I NEVER would have been able to get her SOUL. But now, with your help…” His expression distorts into a cruel mockery of hers, and you shudder. He’s already gotten what he wants from the two of you, hasn’t he?

“She’s DEAD. And I’VE got her SOUL, and all the rest of them!” Deafening cackling rang through the room, and you cover your ears. His words are appearing below him, but that doesn’t make sense. You can hear him just fine- what would he need these apparent subtitles for?

“Boy! I’ve been empty for so long… it feels great to have a SOUL inside me again! Mmm, I can feel them wriggling…” Again, he sounds demented in his laughter, though it seems worse this time, somehow. You begin to just assume it will continue to get worse. The way he says that… it’s utterly disgusting. You suppose that’s the point, but you can’t stop yourself from cringing or turning away. Once again you try to speak, to make any noise at all, yet it seems impossible.

“Awww, you’re feeling left out, aren’t you? Well, that’s just perfect. After all, I only have six souls. I still need one more… Before I become G O D.” While you can’t make any noise, it’s safe to say you would be screeching right now if you could. Still facing away from him, you clutch your hands tight to your chest to stop them from shaking and you from attempting to charge at and punch him. You’re trembling enough (and yet also seemingly frozen in fear) that you’re certain you wouldn’t be able to hit him accurately, anyway. You try to scream, but nothing happens. You think you can feel a tear run down your cheek, but it seemingly evaporates before it runs off your chin.

“And then, with my newfound powers…”

“Monsters.”

“Humans.”

“E v e r y o n e. I’ll show them all the TRUE meaning of this world.”

“Oh, and forget about escaping to your old SAVE FILE. It’s gone FOREVER. But don’t worry. Your old friend Flowey… has worked out a replacement for you! I’ll SAVE over your own death. So you can watch me tear you to bloody pieces… over, and over, and over…”

You take in a drawn-out breath and, turning to face him, step forward. You’re still trembling, and unknowingly rocking from foot to foot, but you try to seem strong anyway. You have to defeat him. For everyone, for… for her. You bring your shoulders back and hold your head high, hoping that on some level, this feigned attempt at intimidation will work.

“…what? Do you really think you can stop ME?” He begins to cackle again, and it sounds even more demented than before, but you can’t back down now. You don’t know what’s going to happen, but you ball your fists and narrow your eyes, trying to ignore that you’re shaking.

“You really are an idiot.”

The world once again goes dark, your yellow SOUL illuminating the space in front of you, if only a bit. Your body disappears (a sensation you’ve never really gotten used to), leaving just the SOUL that you have to control. Ah. So he wants to FIGHT. Fair enough, though you’re sure that with six SOULs, he’ll become even more of a monstrosity than he already is.

Cutting through the darkness, the six SOULs appear, and your heart leaps into your throat. Something about the fact that all of them are there-including hers- unsettles you to a level you can’t understand. As soon as they arrived, they seemingly blink out of existence, leaving you in the darkness.

Your vision begins to flash red, but you aren’t seeing things. The silhouette of some… monstrosity stands out against the backdrop, looming overhead. It continues to lower, and as you see more of it, it disturbs you enough that you try to scream. You have no mouth, as a SOUL, yet you must scream.

Before your (non-existent) eyes, the face of Flowey fills a small bit of the shadow’s empty space. The rest of whatever form he’s taken is still obscured, but the slit eyes fill out into blood red sclera and green… Those aren’t even pupils, are they? His maniacal grin still hasn’t left his face, which only makes the whole situation more distressing, somehow.

In an instant, the shadow is fully uncovered. You try to back away only to remember that in a FIGHT, even one as dysfunctional as this one seems to be, you can't leave. You’re nearly trapped in place, able to move, but not back. This botanical monstrosity looks as though some horrific child was given full freedom- which would make sense.

While… it is distracted in a chorus of unhinged laughter, you try to break through your utter horror to study it. Somehow, it seems attached to something through tubes and wires, and cables of sorts make six rings around the face-looking piece it has up to the screen displaying Flowey’s. Thorny vines endlessly grow outward from the middle sets of rings, which house two eyes that spin and cross. Another set of eyes lay near the bottom two rings, on a face (you think) that extends into a sideways jaw. Hands… maybe… extend from arms attached to seemingly nothing but the wires. Oh, this is not going to be good at all.

You try to move (try being the key word for this entire encounter, apparently) but find that you can’t. It’s not as though there’s something wrong with the FIGHT system (although Flowey has seemed to have completely broken it, seeing as there’s no separation between you and him), so it must be something else. A few more struggles and it clicks; this situation is terrifying enough that it’s become absolutely petrifying. You’re so occupied in your distress that you only notice the beginning of the other’s attacks when they hit you hard enough that you lose almost all of your HP.

Are… are those bullets? Wait! What about your turn? Don’t you usually go first in this type of thing? An orange circle forms on the backdrop behind you, and you snap out of your daze in time to escape it, only to be hit by the bullets thrown out of it. A few more form, and that seems to be the end of his attack. So now it’s your turn, right? Right?!

...Apparently not. How is this fair? Wait, hang on a second- are those flamethrowers?! You dodge out of the way and into the middle to avoid the, yes, flamethrowers that have appeared on either side of you, but they still take off a bit of HP. You don’t even have much left to spare, you have to focus on not dying!

Oh god damnit! What the hell is that you’re hearing? Is that… talking? Say it isn’t so. This little brat flower is taking the time to monologue when you’re about to die! Of course, it’s all standard stuff- how you were an idiot for trying to make friends, how he murdered your girlfriend, all of which only fills you with rage. In hopes of using your anger-filled adrenaline rush for good, you only become more frantic, and lose even more HP. Great.

For a moment, the barrage of ridiculously powerful attacks ceases, and you pause to look up at where you are. Right underneath that mouth… thing. Before you can move out of the way, you can hear his voice. He sounds extremely immature for his situation, though it’s what he says that makes you listen.

“Toodle-oo, kiddo! DIE.”

Before you can process what you heard, something strikes from above and wipes out the rest of your HP. You can feel, and yet somehow see, your SOUL shatter into pieces, and you hear a familiar voice as the world goes dark around you.

“This is all just a bad dream… and you’re NEVER waking up!”

Just like in the beginning, the demonic flower has hijacked your only salvation in the torture he’s putting you through. The rest of your vision fills up with written out laughter, and you hear the exact same thing, but distorting, ringing in your ears. As soon as it ends, some unseen force ejects you back into a black void, but now there’s no light at the end of the tunnel.

You never did get used to dying, but dying this way seems different entirely.

While your save is nonexistent, where it should be is a ‘PLAY’ button. Usually, when you sleep (or die) you end up in what’s now this empty void. Back then, it would be full of light, and you could make whatever you wanted happen, but there was still the threat of the ‘RESET’ button. If you ever touched that, well, its label made it obvious to you. Now you have no idea what will happen if you press ‘PLAY’ instead of ‘CONTINUE’, but you can assume it will put you right back where you were. Really, what’s the point in trying? He’ll just kill you again anyway.

You don't even exactly know how to feel about this situation. Of course, the whole thing is terrifying, but beyond that? You aren't sure how you're meant to feel. Confused, because what’s going on is utterly baffling? Angry because he killed someone you love for his own gain, and took advantage of you to do it? Even more petrified, since the horrific form he’s taken makes absolutely no sense as to how it exists or functions? You don't know, and you don't think you want to.

You begin to pace unknowingly, just trying to focus. Is there a point to going back to certain death? By the same token, though, would it be any better to waste away in the void and let him win? None of your situation makes any sense to you, and you don't think it’ll get better anytime soon. Why did it have to be you? You could have just patched her up and neither of you would be in this mess. You can only imagine what could have been…

Is dying the same, for her? You don't think she has the power to SAVE or RESET, so what is it like to die? Can she see what's happening- or worse, feel it? Being the one attacked is already bad enough; you can't imagine what it must be like to be used in that way. You felt awful enough when she died, so you don't want to think of how she feels, being forced to attack someone she loves. Heaven knows that if you get her back, she'll never look you in the eye again. Never forgive herself, either. You know her well enough to guess that.

What's the point of all this thinking? You don't even have a SAVE anymore, you have to focus on getting through this! You clench your fists and scowl, holding back a scream of frustration. This is what he wants! He wants you to give up so he can have control over the timeline!

You don't even exactly know how to feel about this situation. Of course, the whole thing is terrifying, but beyond that? You aren't sure how you're meant to feel. Confused, because what’s going on is utterly baffling? Angry because he killed someone you love for his own gain, and took advantage of you to do it? Even more petrified, since the horrific form he’s taken makes absolutely no sense as to how it exists or functions? You don't know, and you don't think you want to.

You begin to pace unknowingly, just trying to focus. Is there a point to going back to certain death? By the same token, though, would it be any better to waste away in the void and let him win? None of your situation makes any sense to you, and you don't think it’ll get better anytime soon. Why did it have to be you? You could have just patched her up and neither of you would be in this mess. You can only imagine what could have been…

Is dying the same, for her? You don't think she has the power to SAVE or RESET, so what is it like to die? Can she see what's happening- or worse, feel it? Being the one attacked is already bad enough; you can't imagine what it must be like to be used in that way. You felt awful enough when she died, so you don't want to think of how she feels, being forced to attack someone she loves. Heaven knows that if you get her back, she'll never look you in the eye again. Never forgive herself, either. You know her well enough to guess that.

What's the point of all this thinking? You don't even have a SAVE anymore, you have to focus on getting through this! You clench your fists and scowl, holding back a frustrated scream. This is exactly what he wants! He wants you to give up so he can have control over the timeline! You're playing right into his hands by staying here! The beginning of a scoff escapes your lips, and you stare down at the 'PLAY’ button, holding your hand over it.

Looks like you'll finally have to get used to dying (this way, at least) after all.

Drawing in a breath, you slam your hand down on the button and feel your body disappear again. So you thought right. It puts you right back where you were when you died, not to the SAVE that you don't have anymore. Well… at least you won't have to start from the beginning and endure all Flowey’s taunting.

You're immediately thrown into a wave of attacks- a few you don't remember, a few you do. You manage to dodge some of them (as unfair as they are), but still only have a quarter of your health left. Lovely. One of the rings above you starts… what? What's it doing? It seems to be flashing teal, and you can hear an alarm bell ringing in your ears. This doesn't make sense! What's going on?

“Huh? Why am I still doing this?”

Oh God. Not him again. Can't he just fight you and get it over with? It's not like you even asked him anything! Whatever. That shouldn't be your concern right now. What matters is getting this whole situation over. You can RESET if you have to, but if you can get your SAVE back, even better.

“Don’t you get it? This is all just a story. And we’re playing parts!”

As the world goes dark around you again, static fills your vision and your hearing. While it does go away, you find yourself in a void… with swords? Yes, swords, swing and rotate in a seeming pattern as you try to dodge (and do, somewhat.) A monitor placed at the top of your vision shows a teal SOUL on screen- so that’s what the flashing was for!

You’re so distracted that you only notice the ACT button that has made its way through the swords right after it passes you by, but you manage to press it before ‘time’ runs out. '*You called for help…’ The swords slow and the static returns to your ears, but is replaced with the beginning of a soothing melody. You begin to notice that the visible wounds in your SOUL have started to heal, and your HP- oh! The swords turned into bandages- and they’re… healing you? You aren’t going to complain.

Once again, your vision goes dark and you're overwhelmed by the sound of static, but only for a moment. As soon as it ends, you're thrust back into the FIGHT with the monstrosity. At least you have full HP now? Oh well. Even if that was just a one time thing, you have to be able to beat him eventually. He… does have six SOULs, right? So that would mean he’ll do that kind of thing five more times? But why would it heal you?

A sharp jab of pain strikes your incorporeal body, and you can feel your soul shatter into pieces. Lovely. You died even starting with full health. Time to go through that whole sequence again. Again, your vision fills with written laughter and your ears with distorted laughter. You only have a sigh in response. It doesn't even feel threatening anymore. Perhaps that's sad, but you aren't sure.

Having been forced out of the ‘world’ again, you sit in front of the 'PLAY’ button, staring out into the void beyond it. Trying to work everything out in your head hasn't done a thing, so you suppose you ought to work it out aurally. “Wait, wait, wait…” You mutter, using a hand to prop up your head so you don't fall over and pass out from exhaustion. You don't even know how long it's been since you fought her, so you can't tell why you're so tired either.

“The SOULs… he has to be using them for that form of his. And the teal SOUL- why did it heal me? If it was under his control, it never should have done that!” You use your free hand to tug at your shirt collar, hoping to distract yourself from your shaking. Although, you aren’t quite sure why you’re shaking, exactly. “He has the SOULs. He’s ‘in control’. Then why would the teal SOUL have healed me with its attacks?” You begin to fidget even more, shifting your weight, pulling at various pieces of clothing, and such to hopefully keep yourself awake.

“It doesn’t make sense… it can’t’ve gone against him, right?” You hope it could have, but you really aren’t sure. The SOULs are just that because they died, isn’t that right? You don’t understand. “It could’ve… I think.” Your words begin to slur together as your eyelids start to shut despite your attempts to stop it. Oddly enough, the empty space you’re in isn’t exactly warm or cold. It just is, really. It seems to be that if you think it’s cold, it’ll be cold, and vice versa. The temperature won’t keep you awake or put you to sleep faster, then.

Taking off your sweater to show another shirt underneath, you ball it up and rest your head on it as a sort of pillow. You’ll only sleep for a little while. That way, you’ll be more alert and less likely to fall asleep during the FIGHT when you go back to it. Besides, it feels like when you’re here, time in the ‘real world’ stops. You won’t really be missing anything, you’ll just be put back to where you were when you died the next time you press PLAY. Drawing your arms back and curling up, you let your eyelids close entirely and try to focus on breathing. You just have to sleep for a while, you’ll be fine. What feels like a few minutes passes and you begin to drift into unconscious, letting yourself sleep mostly peacefully in a panic-ridden world.

A stinging cold forces you awake, and you jolt up. What just happened? You can't exactly tell. You're glad that you woke up, though. While you can't remember all of the dream you just had, it's enough to know it was a nightmare. Even remembering it, you're not sure you want to. At least it can't be worse than your real nightmare in the actual 'world’.… Perhaps you should try to put it from your mind. Dwelling on it will do you no good, not with your current situation.

Another flash of cold makes you shiver, and you take a quick glance around you. There's no reason it should be cold, it's not like there's any… Wind. That's what it is. For whatever reason, a wind must have started up. It does a nice enough job of waking up, but you don't know how long you were asleep for. In fact, you don't think time passes at all in this place. You feel more rested, but everything looks the same as it did when you fell asleep. Of course, nothing ever really changes here, but still.

Now that you think of it, the only time there's been wind (or any change) here, you… Ah. You didn't want to realize this, but here you are. The only time it changes is when something major happens, like someone's death. It changed when she died (and when flower brat took over your SAVE) to be the empty place it is now. It's changed again, so someone must have died. He must have assumed you weren't going to come back and decided to move on to torturing everyone you left behind.

You don’t really know what will happen when or if you re-enter his SAVE. Will it send you back to the middle of the fight, the way it did the first time? Now that you think something else has changed, will it send you to another void? You aren’t sure, and part of you doesn’t want to find out. You know that you’ll have to go back eventually- you don’t want to die here, in a world where no one remembers you because there’s no one to. At the same time, though, you don’t even know if it’s worth it.

The wind echoes through… something, and you quickly take your sweater from the ‘ground’ and slip it back over your head. You think you’re awake enough to go back to the ‘real world’ now. Of course, you don’t exactly want to do it, but what other choice do you have? Huh…? The ‘PLAY’ button disappeared. You frantically turn, hoping to catch even a glimpse of it, to no avail. Curses tumble out of your mouth, catching on your tongue, and you swear you can see something out of the corner of your eye. That’s impossible! You’re the only thing… here.

Closing your eyes, you bring your arms close to your chest and thrust them out in opposite directions, your arms outstretched. You open your eyes and flinch a little, though you aren’t sure if you’re upset or anything. In front of you sits your ‘PLAY’ button. Really, you ought to go back before it disappears again. Still, though, are you really sure you want to do this? You nod in response to yourself and gingerly place your hand on the button, feeling it rip you out of your ‘timeline’.

You’re placed in the beginning of an attack- you’re used to this one by now, but it’s still not particularly easy. You try to look up in hopes of him telegraphing his attacks, but you do notice something interesting. The ring-tube-thing that was flashing teal before you were put into the SOUL’s portion- it’s been all grayed out. Unlike the other five, it isn’t pulsing, only moving slightly with the motion of the attacks. That’s… odd. No time to dwell on it, though. The attacks are beginning to seem more familiar to you, but some catch you off guard even still.

It doesn’t even really matter to you anymore. The only thing that you care about now is making everything right again. You don’t know what it will take to achieve that, and in a way, you don’t care. While the bombardment of attack patterns won’t stop for your thoughts, you still find a way to get lost in them. To you, it’s more like you’re on autopilot now. You’re just going through the motions, trying not to get hit.

Just like the teal SOUL’s ring, the ring to its right begins to flash and pulse orange. You can assume it will be similar to the former’s section, though you aren’t sure. There isn’t any visual static this time, only the sound ringing in your ears. The world goes dark around you, save the screen displaying the orange SOUL at the top, and you’re thrown into another little “mini-game”. You have to take a second to process the sight- gloved hands spiraling in circles. While you can predict the pattern well enough, the demonic flower has begun to boast. What about, you can’t tell, though you can make out some things. Such wonderful things as telling you that your death will be in vain and he’ll just enjoy killing you. It’s not something totally out of character for him, but you don’t want to listen.

You direct your SOUL into the middle of another spiral and rush into the ACT button when you see it, letting out an inaudible sigh of relief. It turns yellow for a brief moment, then disappears. ‘*You called for help…’ This time, the words appear as a text box that fills your vision, rather than just a voice in the back of your head. While you almost get hit because it blocks you from seeing the gloved hands, it soon fades from your vision. The discordant ‘song’ that you just now realize has been playing in your mind the whole time becomes a peaceful, small little melody as the hands turn green. They still spiral in their patterns, so you have to move around to collect them and replenish your HP.

The sound of static echoes through the air just as you’ve gotten about three-fourths of your HP back, and you’re set back into the middle of the “real” fight. Like the teal SOUL’s ring, the one to its right, the orange SOUL’s, is empty too. It no longer pulses, or has any color to it, only moving with what it’s attached to. That seems to be an indicator of your progress, which is… helpful? You aren’t quite sure, but you’re committed to making it through at least another of those segments without dying.

Attack. Dodge. Attack. Dodge. You’ve begun to notice a sound not unlike that of a video game’s that plays whenever you get hit by an attack, which is… odd? Of course, this entire situation seems very much like something you would see in a game- if you ever get out of this mess, you should see if anything like this has been made. Maybe you could make it on your own if there hasn’t. Really, though, you shouldn’t be letting these thoughts distract you. Even though you know the attacks rather well, you do still run into them when you aren’t careful. Most of them are downright unfair, after all.

You push your SOUL out of the way in a sudden burst of speed as a blue beam cuts through the middle of the FIGHT. What’d… what? What just happened? Somehow, you weren't paying attention. A sound rings through your ears, and it's familiar, though you can't put your finger on what it reminds you of. You swear you've- heard it before. Ah. Of course. That's the thing that killed you the first time. How lovely. It seems like he can just use them whenever he wants, though you wouldn't put it past the nature of this FIGHT.

Blue. You know the familiar shade of blue in the SOUL on screen and the ring currently flashing it. Why you know that color, you'd rather… not talk about, but you recognize it nonetheless. Dodging the last wave of attacks as the ring pulses, you clench your fists- or, as well as you can, your body being incorporeal and all. Something about this whole situation has left you feeling increasingly sick. Maybe it's because you're facing off against a human-machine-plant monstrosity. Instead, maybe the crushing guilt of your fears weighing you down. Really, you can't know for sure.

Despite your mixed feelings, the world fades to black again and you end up in the same 'minigame void’ the rest of the SOULs have sent you to. You've begun to notice the seeming reprise of Flowey’s theme playing in the background of all these 'SOUL encounters’, though they sound different. Anyway, it shouldn't really matter- you've got a fight to win! While you were taking the time to think, your SOUL has been crushed underfoot by a… ballet shoe? Oh dear.

You're trapped in a thin space between the “bottom” of the minigame void and a row of- actually, what are they? While you aren't sure, you don't think you have the time to find out. The ballet shoes start above the line and swing down in a pattern. They're still coming towards you, so they'll hit you even if you don't move. You can just barely see the orange and yellow gleam of the ACT button in place of another shoe. You take a few hits in the process, but manage to make your way to ACT and watch it fade once you interact with it. ‘*You called for help…’  

The things (you can now tell that they’re stars, since you aren’t fleeing for your life) light up green as the ballet shoes slow, shake, and disappear. Since there are “more” of them, you try to get as many as possible, and end up with almost full HP. You have a sneaking suspicion, though, that it won’t do anything to help you. Seeing as you’ve died anyway almost every time you’ve come out of one of these little mini-game segments.

[feralphoenix]

best of 2016

i actually did write some things other than undertale this year, but this top 10 is undertale all the way down.

01. love does not make me gentle or kind (Undertale - Chara/Asriel, ensemble); February

And so this is how—Sans bossing you every step of the way—you wrap both your hands around Papyrus’ middle and carefully, carefully lift them up into the air. Judging by the squealing and wild waggling of tiny fists and bootied feet that ensues—that and Sans’ laughter—Papyrus is enjoying it too. You can’t help it—you start to grin.

“Nyooooom,” you croon, gently making Papyrus “fly” around you and Sans while the skeleton siblings both laugh. “Nyoooooooooom.”

You swivel your waist, still making zooming noises and grinning like an idiot—and there, in the doorway between the living room and foyer, is Chara: Standing still with one hand on the wall, with an expression you’ve never seen them wear before. There’s something raw and burning in their eyes, intense enough to give you chills even though there’s no anger or hostility there at all. They reach up to clench their left fist around the locket that sits golden and glowing against the black yarn of their sweater, and they never look away from your eyes even once.

As you bring Papyrus back down to sit in your lap, Chara startles a little and turns to their left. Prase is there, one pale hand on their left shoulder, shaking their long orange hair back. They ask something, so quiet that even you can’t hear them, and Chara makes a face and signs something to them. Prase signs something back. Chara wrinkles their nose and starts to smile. Both of them begin to laugh.

All the happy bubbles in your stomach from playing with the baby pop, leaving something sour in their wake.

a four-years-later followup to somebody out there needs you. the previous fic was a portrait of the repercussions of this series’ premise for chara, so this one focuses on what the far-reaching repercussions are for asriel and how he’s grown. the main plot revolves around chara trying to take a few steps towards independence and asriel, who over the past eight years has formed big chunks of his identity around being their caretaker, balking Very inelegantly.

at the time i remember this being very controversial characterization for asriel, lmao... but i like to depict the ugly parts of codependency to really show how unhealthy it is for everyone involved. expanding the worldbuilding for this series, and further developing the soul ocs who appear (prase and rufus), were also really fun.

02. don’t you let the thunder in (Undertale - Frisk & Chara, Toriel, the Player); February

They skip across the cracked-floor puzzle in light steps that don’t match their usual careful gait and they breathlessly hum Toriel’s old lullaby and they miss all the exact same pitches and it’s too much, it’s too much.

What’s wrong? they think at you. Their concern and uncertainty seep syrupy and horrible into all the wounded parts of you and it’s only then that you realize your helpless panic and rage must be bleeding into them the same way.

You want to tell them nothing but it’s too raw and you can’t, so: You scream instead, curl up and rage. You’d cover your ears if you were corporeal, if you had a hope of blocking them out. Stop looking, you howl. Cry. You want to throw things and stomp your feet and punch the wall and grab something sharp and slam it through your brain. Frisk flinches. You want claws so that you can dig them into wherever your minds connect and tear yourself away.

I’m sorry, they say, and they’re miserable and you’re miserable and you hate it, you hate it. I’m not doing it on purpose.

Figure out a way to STOP doing it! you shriek at them. You’re aware that you’re not helping, that in general it’s not going to do any good to throw a tantrum like a ten-year-old, but—but you ARE just a ten-year-old. So are they. You’re just a couple of stupid kids. It’s funny. It’s just—so funny.

a fic that i wrote for a friend on the premise of frisk and chara’s bodysharing/soul link also involving mindsharing, and the difficulty in drawing and maintaining boundaries. the same friend wanted to see a little more work involving the player as a neutral or benevolent entity, since undertale players irl aren’t uniformly evil but it’s really rare to see the player appear in fic except as the Ultimate Badguy(tm) or as a self-insert in sans/reader fics.

anyway, i alternated perspectives to show how the weird mind meld is hard for both kids, and the little hints about how they might work it out to something more beneficial and symbiotic in the future.

03. the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul (Undertale - Chara/Asriel, Chara & Asgore, ensemble); March

“If—it wouldn’t be imposing,” you begin, and falter. Take another deep breath. Let it out. “I want to learn how to fight, too. Will you teach me?”

Asriel’s eyes go wide, his expression blank and shocked—but behind him, Asgore breaks out into a wide, proud smile.

“Of course I will teach you, my child,” he says, every word filled with warmth. “I would be more than happy to help you learn to defend yourself.”

Your hands shake a little as you breathe out, relieved. “I’m sorry,” you tell him. “I know that I’m not—very strong to begin with, and there will be difficulties because of my problems with mobility, but—”

“There are ways to compensate for those things,” Asgore says. “If this is what you want, then we will find the methods that work for you.”

Your vision blurs, for a moment. The smile that steals across your face is shaky, probably ungainly and too-wide—it feels so much more natural than the contained expressions you’ve learned to produce for the sake of interacting with strangers. But the birdsong and sunlight in your chest make you feel warm and weightless, and you don’t care, you don’t care; finally, you have a place to start.

Asriel pushes back from the table in a great scrape of wood on wood, erupting from his chair and rising to his full height.

“No,” he says.

Your heart seems to—stop in your chest, for just a moment.

“I beg your pardon,” you say.

this one is a three-years-later followup to love does not (listed above). i wanted to follow up on the events that the previous fic had set in motion, with chara’s desire for change vs asriel’s fear of it. since asriel was a very unreliable narrator in love does not (and chara was also pretty unreliable in somebody out there needs you), from chara’s adult perspective we get a clearer picture of the ways that asriel’s overprotectiveness and control issues are harmful.

unfucking codependent fuckhell continues to be a cherished hobby. it was also a lot of fun to write the combat training scenes here and start to build groundwork for improving chara’s relationship with toriel too.

04. like ships had come home in me (Undertale - Frisk & Chara & Flowey, ensemble); April

One of the interesting things that’s happened as a result of monsters rejoining the surface world is that there’s been a great surge of interest in “retro” things from the humans who’ve welcomed them. Up until Alphys fixed up all kinds of new gadgets and appliances for everyone, at least, all monsters had to use of technology was whatever humans had thrown away and made it into the Waterfall dump in one piece. Sympathetic humans have helped the monsters get used to new technology, but monsters’ familiarity with old things makes them exotic in the eyes of young people.

This especially goes for entertainment. You’d guessed as much from Alphys’ Mew Mew obsession, but sometimes all the monsters could scrounge of human media was decades old—while everyone was more than happy to try out new things too, they still had a lot of love for everything they’d enjoyed in the underground. This brought old human fans out of the woodwork, and made new ones out of monster sympathizers, and, well.

Somehow or other this led to the revitalization of some things that were still new when Chara had fallen into the underground a hundred years ago. The old multiplayer game about squids fighting over territory with paint, for one.

“You think of this as new,” Chara says with despairing fondness, “but I never got to play this kind of stuff when I was alive. I was never allowed to have my own video games! Ree was, but he had, like, this ancient SNES and that was it.”

“Hey, shut up,” Flowey interjects from your lap. “You had fun with it. I know you did.”

“Once I got over my perfectly reasonable disgust that you thought Super Mario was the cool new game in 2015,” Chara says archly. And to you: “We found an N64 a couple months before we… y’know. He cried.”

this piece mostly started out as a way to explore the flowey-joining-everyone-on-the-surface concept because this angle on his characterization isn’t something i see very often in that context (or, uh, any other). the story winds up following two narratives - the trio’s adventures on the surface in the year after breaking the barrier, and also how flowey and chara sort of “came out” to everyone about their true identities, for lack of a better term.

it’s all mostly positive postcanon stuff with some wistful things and (naturally, because it’s me) trauma recovery-related content too, and i think it came out pretty solid.

05. a wish you tell a star and no one else (Undertale - Chara/Asriel, Asriel & Alphys, ensemble); May

Heat rushes into your face and chest, and you curl up like you’re a kid again—too shy to try to break down the barriers of politeness and status between you and your subjects yourself, and with no one willing to break them down for you except for Chara, who came from a place where your status never meant anything. “I guess,” you say.

They curl up next to you, shaky. You wonder what it is they’re holding in. The desire to order you not to talk to Alphys anymore, maybe, or a plea that you not leave them alone. It’s so weird, being in this position, after all the time you spent terrified that Chara would be the one to leave you for all their new friends.

It’s also weirdly embarrassing, watching Chara at least try to keep jealousy and anxiety buttoned in, when you were such a mess about it for such a long time. To teenage you’s credit, it’s probably easier to do when you have a lot of friends and you’re twenty-five, versus being fourteen and suddenly having to fight with the very human who’d scared your partner half to death for their attention.

But you’re gratified too: That they value your attention and affection so much to fear losing it, and that they respect you enough to urge you to do what might make you happy instead of clinging.

So you wrap your arms around them and hug them tight to your chest, closing your eyes and resting your chin atop their head again. “Thanks for encouraging me,” you tell them. And, after a pause: “I’m not going anywhere.”

Chara doesn’t say I know or try to joke. Instead, they make fists on your sweater and tremble a little, and they say “thank you” in a voice so tiny you almost don’t hear it over your father and Innig’s footsteps off in the middle of the garden.

a four-years-later followup to the subtle difference (listed above). this fic returns to asriel’s perspective, following a number of various plot threads - his upcoming coronation, the need to find a new royal scientist, his first friendship aside from chara and their social circle, and his attempts to propose to chara. it was a very ambitious story and covers a lot of character development on asriel’s part that was a long time in coming for this series.

doing the asriel+alphys friendship was unexpectedly fun and rewarding. they’re not characters i see written as friends very often, and the setup for this series allows them to have a very different dynamic from canon.

06. you in your veil and your pale white dress (Undertale - Chara/Asriel, ensemble); July

It’s good to be curled up half on Asriel’s lap and with your legs bent up over Prase’s, your toes on Undyne’s jeans. You have your pizza boxes propped on your own lap where they belong, topped with tomato sauce and substitute pepperoni and steamed peppers and none of that awful cheese; everyone else’s pizzas are more or less free-for-alls, with only yours and Liron’s clearly labeled in bold marker, since the others’ food generally has things that neither of you can eat.

You’re hungry from more or less skipping lunch earlier, you’re relaxed and sleepy from your afternoon spent messing around with Asriel, and as noisy as everybody is, it’s very calming to be here, amongst a friendly press of bodies—amongst people you like and whom you know are safe. Your and Asriel’s work is important, but it’s draining, so these chances to kick back are very valuable.

“Anyway, what are we going to watch tonight?” you ask. “I know we agreed on Sailor Moon last time, but I don’t think I’m quite steady enough for arguing with Alphys over whether the nineties adaptation or the reboot is better.” You having been introduced to the series by reading the manga at the library and her first finding it through someone’s discarded box set of the first anime, your opinions on the subject are very different. Debating it can be fun, especially since you do agree that you’ve got the right to think how you want even if you’re both pretty sure the other is dead wrong, but it can be stressful if one or both of you have brittle nerves.

Alphys, who understands this even if her anime opinions are occasionally incorrect, grins and shrugs, nodding. “Th-that’s fair, I think,” she says. “D-does anyone else have requests?”

a five-years-later followup to a wish you tell a star (listed above). it mostly deals with the separate plot threads of wedding preparations, the current state of chara’s recovery, and chara making friends with astis over the book kitchen and sharing food. aside from the literary references part of the plot, there’s a lot of discussion of chara’s past trauma and their frustration with growing up nonwhite & marginalized in a very white area with no connection to their cultural heritage.

this fic also happens to be a nice example of a plot that flagrantly disobeys the western conflict-centric model. i got a lot of confused and/or curious comments from people who didn’t know how the story still works and is entertaining despite its lack of overt conflict sources/things going wrong or getting worse. i don’t know whether to be smug about this or despondent that the conflict model is the only one western education will ever touch.

07. under my skin, there will be flowers (Undertale - Chara/Asriel, Yellow Soul Human); September

“Chara, when we talked about this earlier… you said you meant to… to destroy your whole village, when we were kids. I dunno... I don’t think your feelings, the hatred and resentment that made you want to do that, are bad or wrong. But I’m still glad that I was able to stop you, because taking people’s lives away is… it’s a really serious thing. It’s bad, you shouldn’t do it unless you have no other choice.

“I stopped you then. I… Chara, you’ve made it this far without ever gaining any LOVE. Wouldn’t it be great if you could avoid that now, too?”

“It would be,” you agree. “It would be great if there’s a way to end this with no one killing and no one being killed. But just like you acknowledged yourself, there are some situations where you don’t have a choice. You’ve hypothesized that that’s how it may even have been for the human, haven’t you?”

Asriel huffs. “Well, yeah, but.”

“If the situation arises where it’s kill or be killed,” you say, gentle as you can, “I will kill. Because if it’s her life or your life, your life is more important. To me—to the whole underground. I won’t let you die, Ree. If the only way I can keep you alive is to kill someone, I’ll do it. I can live with that. I know it may not sit easy on your conscience. You’re a better person than me, after all. But even if it makes you hate me, I won’t let you die.”

Your voice wavers only a little on that last sentence. Asriel holds you tighter.

“I won’t hate you,” he says, soft and velvet. His nose presses against the crown of your head. “After all the talking I did about how having LOVE doesn’t automatically make somebody evil… golly, I’d be such a hypocrite to. I’d still love you no matter how much LOVE you gained, even if you did really bad things—the kinds of things I couldn’t forgive. I’m always going to love you, Chara. That was the choice we made—all the years we’ve put into this.”

a four-years-later followup to you in your veil (listed above). whereas the previous fic had no conflict, this story is very tightly focused around conflict: how to prevent the new violent human from killing anyone, and also the friction between chara and asriel over methods. plus the fact that something’s definitely fucky here.

this fic was fun to do because the setup is basically playing undertale but from the defensive side - chara and asriel remain in new home where asgore is in canon, and spend most of the story directing their deputies, planning, and arguing about those plans while holly progresses through the underground.

although this fic ought to have been asriel pov based on the alternating pattern i set up, this story is really chara’s, no way around it. so i gave asriel the pov for ycouyo 6.5 instead (lmao) and let chara take center stage where they belonged.

08. the first shoots of green after a wildfire (Undertale - Flowey, Chara); September

The human child emerges into the light. They’re wearing clothes he doesn’t recognize—jeans heavily stained in dirt, orange-and-yellow striped hoodie with a cutesy leaf pattern on the sleeves. They’re shouldering a heavy-looking black backpack. Their hair’s in the same rough bowl cut as it was when he last saw them, and they don’t seem to have grown much. Their eyes are still hooded in the bright light pouring from the hole above him, but he can see slivers of red iris beneath their protectively lowered eyelids.

Flowey thinks about saying something rude and nasty to make them go away, and a little to see what it will make them do, little to no hope though there might be of getting pacifistic Frisk to lash out and end his miserable existence for him. Then he sighs and droops. “Do you seriously not have anything better to do?” he asks. It comes out sounding whiny.

They trudge stoically up and start shrugging out of their backpack, setting it down at the edge of the golden flowers that mark Chara’s grave. It clanks. If there’s a flowerpot and a trowel or something in there, he will scream and hide in the soil for a million years.

“C’mon, Frisk,” he says with a sigh. “I told you already—I don’t want to subject everybody else to some accident of science that’s missing his love and compassion glands. I’m fine with this.” He is a lying sack of shit, but this isn’t at all new. “Go home. Go be with the people who love you.”

“Frisk can’t come to the phone right now,” they say, a little flat and a lot sarcastic, and Flowey feels some phantom jolt in the vicinity of where his heart would be if he were still a monster.

i got the idea for post soulless pacifist chara trying to make things up to flowey using the only method the player has ever taught them (i.e. indiscriminate acts of violence) and it was just so awful and wrenchingly sad that i had to write it.

doing flowey’s pov for the first time was a fun way to flex my characterization skills, and this is one of only a very small handful of undertale fics i’ve done in third person.

09. to rest in crypts and wake in gardens (Undertale - Chara/Asriel, Frisk & Chara & Asriel, ensemble); September - November

“You’ve—fallen down, haven’t you,” they say, and take a step closer. “Are you all right?”

You shrug a little. Where are we? you sign, not thinking. I didn’t think anyone lived on the mountain.

“Oh,” they say again, eyebrows raising. And—so quickly that you can hardly believe it’s happening—they raise their own hands and sign along as they reply, “Technically, no one does. These caves are inside Mt. Ebott, not on them, and they’re certainly populated.”

I can hear, you sign back, stupidly, rudely, because that’s definitely what you need to say to someone who’s courteous enough to reply in the same language instead of being mean to you when they see you trying to communicate. You flush so badly that your ears feel scalded. Sorry, you add feebly.

The person actually smiles a little as they drop their gaze. “That’s all right,” they say, and then look back up at you hastily. “I didn’t want to assume either way, and now I know.” They rub at their upper arm in what you think might be self-consciousness, and then reach the same hand up to squeeze their pendant. “I am Chara,” they say, and then they finger-spell C-H-A-R-A for you, and show you a sign you don’t know: It looks like the sign for knife but in reverse, their right index finger sweeping towards their chest instead of towards you. It has to be their name sign. They make it a second time, and this time you repeat it. They smile again. “That’s very good. What do you like to be called?”

You spell F-R-I-S-K for them, and follow it up with the name sign you chose for yourself—an F with your right hand tapped twice over your chest in the same place as the sign for heart.

Chara mimics you, getting the sign right on their first try. “Frisk?” they ask, and they smile when you nod. “And what pronouns do you prefer?”

The relief that rushes over you when they ask this is as tangible as if someone has wrapped you up in a warm blanket and given you a tall glass of strawberry milk. They, you tell them, smiling.

This time they grin. “Will you look at that, we match,” they say.

a four-years-later followup to there will be flowers (listed above). this story shifts to frisk’s perspective as we follow them from their fall into mt. ebott through their adventures exploring the underground, guided and assisted by both chara and asriel. this allows for both an examination of the smaller changes in the world that have been created by this au’s setup, and for a comparison with the canon neutral/pacifist storyline of undertale.

i’d planned for this scenario literally before i wrote the second fic in this ‘verse, so it was really rewarding to finally get to write it. i originally planned to post it all at once, but it became so long that i had to split it up into chapters by area...

10. remember weather by the voice of the wheel (Undertale - Frisk/Chara/Asriel); December

You’re not old enough to buy things online yet, so you pull your mother aside late at night when Chara is in the shower and Frisk is upstairs. “I can pay you back for these later, I think,” you say quietly just in case, “but Frisk and Chara have been really miserable this year and I want us to have some nice memories of the holidays too, dang it.”

She doesn’t chastise you for saying “dang”; she just lifts your phone to give it a look herself, producing her reading glasses to appraise the pages more closely.

“This is very thoughtful of you, my son,” she says at last. “I would be happy to help procure these gifts. And—because I know that they are quite expensive—I would also be happy to negotiate a few extra chores in place of part of the price, if you would like.”

There were several timelines when you had the entire supply of gold in the underground to yourself. While in many ways you’re relieved to just be the prince instead of an aberration with godly time-warping powers, having to go through Mom or Dad for your allowance is not one of them. You sigh so that she’ll know how very put-upon you are, and that you’re deliberately choosing to be Mature when you say “Okay, Mom.”

return of the son of frisk and chara are jewish because i say so, the end, so there!!! it would be nice to start a tradition of hanukkah stories for every year i’m still writing undertale...

anyway this wound up being... mostly a story about trying to enjoy the holidays and find a way to keep your head up even when times are tough, both in a general sense (microaggressions) and a personal one (the kids’ various traumas).

[justanotherstoryteller-blog1]

Broken promise

        "So, you are telling me the whole guard can't find one flower? Is this right, Captain?"         "Your Majesty, my soldiers are searching an every single inch, but it's like it never existed."         "I am starting to question your competence, Captain. Or, perhaps, I should question your loyalty?"         "Your Majesty?"         "Maybe your search is so ineffective because you are in collusion with this weed."          "Y-your Majesty, how can you say this? I was yours the most loyal servant for years!"          "Prove it, bring me this flower, or I will find someone who will. You understood me well, Captain?"          "Yes, your majesty."          "Excellent, Captain. Now proceed."          "You've heard all, Lieutenant?" Undyne asks after a while.          "I wasn't listening on purpose, Captain!"          "Of course, you weren't, otherwise I would personally cage you. Now, give me your report."          "There isn't much to report... apart from disappearance of the dog couple."          "Deal with your subordinates yourself, is there something I need to know?"          "N-no, Captain."          "You are lying, Papyrus," she grabs him by the neck and lifts above the ground, "Spit it out!"          "It... is... my brother! He let... the flower escape!" a sound of clanging metal is heard when Papyrus lands on the ground.          "Dammit, Papyrus! You will be chewed up for this with the rest of your troop! Get out of here! And never, never, lie to me again! Understood?!"          "Y-yes, C-captain!"          "Yes what?!"          "Never, never, will lie to you again, Captain!"          "You are still here, maggot?!" the sound of retreating lieutenant is heard.

         "I thought Papyrus was rough," says Frisk when angered Undyne leaves.          "Yes, she might be a problem. Looks like her soldiers fear her because of purpose, we should be careful."          "You are saying this constantly."          "Because it is true. Speaking of truth. We should cut this chatter, get out of this brush and move forward. We still have much to walk."          "Humph, sir yes sir," Flowey lifts his brow, but says nothing.

         "Flowey, who was the other person? The one with horns," asks Frisk a while after they've left the bushed cave.        "Judging by the way the captain talked to him and his stature, it was Prince Asriel Dreemur. The only king's son. Don't know much more about him."        "Why everyone in here are so destined to find you?"        "Because the king has ordered so."        "Why the king wants you dead so much?" Flowey sighs        "They wanted to use me as a tool to break the barrier. At least this is what a scientist has told me. I am no one's tool, so I fled. Looks like the king sees me as a threat, or maybe he just can't stand that someone in the Underground doesn't obey his orders. I don't really care. I will kill the ones who are sent to hunt me, until there are no one left."        "And what is next? Will you find peace when there wouldn't be anyone to threat you?"        "Maybe, unless I would have to take care about another stupid kid. Your kind is troublesome."        "Then, why do you help me?"        "...You ask too many questions."        "..." Frisk is smart enough to know when a talk is over, still he thinks about Flowey's response, it appears he has found his companion's touchy subject, "Flowey, what's that?"       "Hmm?" Frisk stops near the statue. It is shaped in a form of a human kid sadly bowing head down, water drips on its head, "It is a statue, I guess."       "This doesn't make sense. Monsters are in war with humans, why the statue of a human is in here?"       "Doesn't matter, let's move. Look, caring monsters even put some umbrellas for you," Frisk takes one umbrella from the basket, but instead of leaving he walks back and covers the statue with it. Flowey rolls his eyes, "Leave this rock be, we have much to..." the music box inside of the statue begins to play instantly silencing Flowey's compalins.       "It is beautiful," says Frisk.       "Yeah... it is."  

      "This place doesn't seem to be vastly populated."         "People don't usually like living under a constant downpour," says Flowey while trying to find an another lamp it the dark.       "There are even no patrols in here."       "It is probably because— aha!" Flowey finally has found the lamp and the room lightens again, "It is because this is captain's usual place to be in. Everyone wants to be as far from her, as possible. Speaking of which, if you'll continue falling down from bridges, she surely will find us sooner, or later. So be careful next time!"       "Come on, Flowey! You've said it a hundred times already!"       "And will say a hundred more, if it will make you more cautions!"       "Flowey, the trail forks ahead, which way shall we go?" asks Frisk to move away from the unpleasant subject.       "Left," answers Flowey after a momentary hesitation.       "Where leads the other way?"       "In the village, kind of."       "How about we rest there a little?"       "We don't have time for this."       "Come on, I am tired, wet and hadn't saved for a while."       "We don't have time!" Flowey pushes the kid in the back making him to move.       "What's the hurry, Flowey? That man is far away, he won't catch up with us any time soon,"       "We are no longer alone, someone is here, I keep hearing steps and rustles."       "You are a paranoid, Flowey."       "Better that than to be dead. Now, hurry up and move," a loud splash is heard when Frisk steps into the next room.       "It is dark in here and I'm wet again!"       "What is better for you, be wet, or be dead? Now, cease kvetching and move forward."       "...I can't! There is a wall right in front of me! I can feel it!"       "Dammit, there has to be a way in here, somewhere, try searching in front," Frisk starts to move along the wall by touch, when suddenly founds himself right in front of a glowing blue eye.      "Ahh!" Frisk frights and falls on the ground. Moment later the room lights up revealing Sans, staring at Flowey's root right in front his skull. Flowey is the first to react.      "Damm it, Smiley! Stop doing this, or I swear, I will, actually, kill you one time!"      "Sans! Don't scare me like this!" Sans looks on Frisk sitting on the ground.      "Emm... Yea... sorry," he helps the kid to rise, "Wasn't my best bone-pull, especially minding flower's deadly seriousness," he looks on Flowey, who gives out one of his "Humph" and turns away.       "Why did you follow us, Sans? There must be a reason for you to put yourself at risk by leaving your post."       "Yea... what if I'll tell you that some angry, humany, person is now turning Snowdin upside down, searching for you?"        "..." Frisk looks away from Sans.        "Kiddo, don't you want to tell me something?" Sans sounds almost menacingly.        "...He attacked us in the ruins. We had to run."        "You knew he will come after you?"        "No..." a loud chuckle is heard from Flowey, "Flowey?"        "Oh, don't mind me. It's just funny how simple it has turned to be."        "It? What do you mean?"        "I was wondering for a quite some time why you keep being so nice to anyone who you meet, even to the ones who try to kill you. I thought you are stupid, or naive. But you are not, you are, actually, very smart. You've tried to leave as many alive as you possibly could for a reason, you needed them to keep your enemy busy, so you could escape. To use them as a meat shield. What a cowardly move. Heh, we are not so different after all. Well then, even through I admire your strategy, I have no interest in being one of your puppets. Good luck in finding your way out of here," having his speech finished, Flowey disappears under the ground.       "What a funny guy, I bet it won't be the last time we see him though," Sans notices that Frisk starts to slowly slide down over a wall he has leaned on, "Kiddo, don't let his mean words get to you."       "But he is right... I am a coward."       "W-w-wait, you are not a coward. You were right, you had no choice, but to run. You were protecting your life, there is no cowardice in this. You've talked some reason into my brother effectively saving his life, you are a hero, not a coward."       "But because of me so many have died, my life isn't worth of sacrificing other's!"       "Kiddo, death is a part of life, it can't be avoided. Everyone will die one day. What means is how people live their lives. People in here won't sit back watching some heel killing the kid. We all swore to protect Underground's inhabitants, even with our lives and this recently has included you. Dead did not like that you are sitting here wasting time they got for you, kiddo. Get on your feet. You still have some trails to walk."      "But I don't know where to go. Flowey was the one who leaded the way."      "Hmm... Tell you what, continue on this way until you get to the sign saying: "Hotland", There will be a bunch of elevators, use one to get to the top floor and then simply go forward until you are out of here. Oh, and if you'll find an armored, irritated, fishy captain on your way, tell her, that Papyrus needs her help with punching the murderous human in his face, this might help you to get rid of her. Besides, we gonna need her help anyway. Well, I have to go now. You've gave me a skele-ton of things to do, kiddo," Sans swiftly walks out of the room and disappears in the dark.

    The captain was there, right on Frisk's way. She seemed to be dozed off while leaning on a wall. Maybe Frisk could just sneak past her without waking her? Worth a try at least. Frisk was kinda light, so it wasn't a problem to be quiet. Thankfully Undyne's dream was deep, so he got past her without any problems. Suddenly, Frisk has felt someone's strong grab on his arm and found himself being pulled up in the air.      "Did you really thought you could just sneak past me, you little..." her only eye blinks when she realizes who she caught, "What—"      "Let my hand go, please! You going to tear it off!" Undyne looks on kid's hand like it was the first time she saw it and to the Frisk's great amuse puts him on the ground.      "Sorry for that, kid. I thought you were... someone else."      "Don't you going to... take my soul, or something?" asks the surprised kid. His hand still hurts badly, Undyne's grasp is truly iron.      "I'm kinda... against that thing. Killing your kind won't bring us anywhere better, it only will draw us into another war and since we have lost previous, I don't think we have a chance now. So don't worry."      "Why won't you order your soldiers to stand down, then? Papyrus wasn't so friendly."      "Well, I'd like to, but it is king's order, after all. I can't rebel openly. Let's change the topic. So, what brings you into our tiny hole?""      "I'm here not because of my choice. I've fell down."      "So... you are alone?"      "Well, there is another human, but he wishes to kill me, I don't even know why."      "Another human? You mean tall, with grey eyes, brown hair and large chopping blade on his back?" Frisk nods slightly, "Damn, I thought he left this place a long time ago."      "You... know him?"      "One day he just appeared, killed a fair amount of guards and one of the royal children, then he simply vanished. He scared the people and angered the king to the point of declaring this stupid war. The queen tried to protest, but the king casted her away in his anger. Weren't the best times this place had."      "Sans told me to tell you that Papyrus needs your help in fighting him."      "He is already in Snowdin?! Damn it, kid! Why didn't you say it sooner!?"      "..."      "Well, I guess, I have no time for talks anymore. Try your best to make it out of here in one piece, for everyone's sake."

    Undyne could already see him in the fog, fighting someone. It must be Papyrus, he was the only one in Snowdin who could hold out against a human fighter for some time. Despite Undyne's best efforts, there were very few monsters who could put a real fight. Maybe there was an actual chance to beat this human with the help of Papyrus. Papyrus spots her. "Captain!" he greets her. Undyne was about to shout something about diverting from a swordfight, but it was too late already. Human has exploited Papyrus's momentary weakness and immediately stroked. Papyrus fell down in dust even before he reached the ground, wind has instantly blew him away. One more soul for Undyne to avenge and she wasn't going to keep him waiting.  

   The place wasn't like anything Frisk was ready to see. He hardly could believe that this was king's home. It was just as simple like the house he walked through with Flowey back in the ruins. Even atmosphere was the same. It wasn't very polite to walk around in someone's house without permission, so he simply walked through it, like he did in the ruins. The hall farther was more like a royal place. It was decorated with pillars, gold and was unusually brightly lightened. In the middle of the hall silently stands a horned figure, waiting patiently. Asriel Dreemur, that's what Flowey has named him, it seems it is time for an audience.     "So, you are finally here and alive, what is remarkable."     "You've... been waiting for me?"     "A loyal citizen has informed me of your presence. As well as of betrayal of two high ranking officers... and one private. I wasn't going to believe him at first, but seeing you before me proves his words."     "Flowey..." the damn flower has dropped him! As well as everyone, who has showed him kindness. Again, people are hurt because him. A tear rolls down his cheek.       "You know this weed somehow? This explains where his intel comes from. Speaking of, I also shall give thanks to you. It is only thanks to your effort this filthy traitors are now disclosed," this can't be happening, everything has gone down in an instant. The last save is just in front of this hall, Firsk cannot change anything. He broke his promise, "It must be a beautiful day outside," such a sharp change of subject has caught Frisk off guard, "On days like this the sun pours down from the sky highlighting every world's detail, making it to bloom with colors," the prince was standing before one of the windows, even though he obviously couldn't see surface through it, "The sun makes sea waters shine like a sapphire and it lightens snow so much that it is painful to watch. Even such an unfriendly place like the desert becomes breathtaking at sunset, it's sands start to shine like gold, it's like the sea of golden coins. What a view it must be, I dream to see it one day with my own eyes. This is the other thing you are helping our kingdom with. With your help our kin will finally be free and will take it's rightful place. With your soul we can be free! You are the savior of all monsters, human. You should be proud of yourself. ...I guess I should stop bother you with my thoughts. It was an honor to meet you, human, farewell and sleep tight," Frisk have almost dodged his fireball, but wasn't fast enough.