#the froggits in undertale do that too. i think that's just because you need to know what buttons to press

[loveletterworm]

since its  heavily implied if not just already true that the red soul (the analogy/representation for the player) in deltarune is the same one from undertale  and since presumably deltarune’s still going to be more of a “game mechanics just kind of exist in sort of a magic way in universe” kind of meta like undertale is rather than a “ohhh creepypasta the video game is alive” thing    that would basically make it so that “Varyingly amoral floating heart thing that can hop dimensions and keeps possessing children to do rpg battles” is just sort of like, a "character” that exists in these games. As a very literal player-insert yes but still just kind of like  there as a thing that exists. I do wonder if they’ll ever give some sort of in-universe context for it now that deltarune’s made it more of a focus or if we’re just meant to accept that part and concentrate more on just like the effects of it

[mirror-ralsei]

THEORY: The Ink Blot Test & Symmetry in UTDR

This isn't as much of a typical theory as it is pointing out a design element that I think really needs more discussion: the distinctive style used in certain visuals in the game.

It's actually kind of difficult for me to describe. But there seems to be a recurring style used across many enemies and their weapons. This style is typically white in color, and typically very ornate and detailed-looking. It's easy to pick out because most of the shapes in Undertale/Deltarune's sprites are more simple...and because of one fact: all of these designs look symmetrical.

Here are the places I noticed this style appearing. Hopefully as you look at these, you can understand what I mean by a particular “ornate, symmetrical look”:

Reaper Bird's overworld appearance

Reaper Bird's body

Asriel's CHAOS BUSTER

Final Froggit

POSSIBLE: Knight Knight's Good Morningstar (listed here as “hammer”)

POSSIBLE: Memoryheads (they're in 3/4 view and melting-looking so it's harder to tell, but notice the curly parts and comb-teeth-like parts)

Gaster Blasters (using the unused version since it's easier to notice the style without the eyes)

(While most of these designs are technically not symmetrical if you look closely, they all definitely give the impression of being so.)

There's some other possible references to this style, but I'm just going to focus on the more distinct ones for now. And even some of the ones I've listed are debatable. If I had to pick just a few, I'd use Reaper Bird, their overworld sprite, and CHAOS BUSTER as the definitive examples.

So it's taken me a couple years of not quite being able to place why this style felt so familiar. At first I thought they might look like fractals...

...but that wasn't quite it. Finally, all of a sudden, I put my finger on it.

This design style reminds me of Rorschach blots.

For anyone who doesn't know, the Rorschach test is a psychological test involving the subject looking at inkblots and determining what these patterns look like to them. As you can see, the inkblots are very intricate and symmetrical - just like the examples above.

How does this connect to Undertale? Not too much. But Deltarune? Possibly a lot! Maybe that's the reason most of the instances where this style appears seem connected to Deltarune in some way.

For starters, inkblots are black and white. Specifically, they're black patterns on a white background. So far, every instance of these inkblot-like designs in UT/DR have been the inverse of this: they're all white patterns on dark or black backgrounds. We know light and dark have meaning in Deltarune, so this makes sense.

The ink blots' meaning are what you make of it. Your brain determines what real world things this abstract ink on paper looks like to you. This seems like it could tie into the concept behind the Dark Worlds, and how they seem like “interpretations” of items in real life: For example, the Halloween Pencil becomes a SpookySword. (It's possible the ShadowCrystals may play on this “perception” idea a bit too, but we don't know yet.)

Doctor Gaster seems to be conducting tests on us (Sound Test, SURVEY_PROGRAM, etc.) to observe our feedback. This thematically fits with this whole Rorschach blot test reference. I'm not sure if “WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK?” from Entry 17 and the egg man's flavor text 'What do you think?” are necessarily connected to this at all, but it does happen to fit the theme, lol.

All right, so we've established that there seems to be a symmetrical-looking style. We theorized that maybe they were supposed to evoke a similar look to Rorschach blot tests.

Now we're going to speculate even further.

So why exactly was this Rorschach blot looking style chosen? I think this symmetrical look might be based around reflections. After all, Deltarune involves a Light World and Dark World that reflect each other. And there are actually a few important references to reflections across Undertale and Deltarune.

Kris first appeared in Undertale as the PC's reflection in a puddle if Undertale is being run in Debug mode (Video by marxvee)

Reaper Bird is encountered in a mirror

Asriel and Kris' sides of their room are almost perfectly symmetrical in terms of layout and furniture

Kris' room in Ralsei's Castle has mirrored sprites of Asriel's trophies

The File Select text before Chapter 1's completion states “CHOOSE THE TARGET FOR THE REFLECTION” when copying a file, “IT IS IMMUNE TO ITS OWN IMAGE” when trying to copy a fiile onto itself, and “IT CONFORMED TO THE REFLECTION” when overwriting a file with a copied one

Mettaton NEO's attack is incredibly high but defenses are low, Spamton NEO's defense is incredibly high but attack is low

Gaster's motif of “666” is “mirrored” by 999: 999 appears in multiple places, eg. Chara's attack, stats of Grandpa Semi were “atk: 99999, df: 99999, hp: 999” (pointed out by LeedleLel's comment on this video by Lil' Alien).

The background of Jevil's fight is a mirrored image of a carousel.

The mirrored sinks in the right hospital room read “(It's a regular sink.)” and “(It's a clone of the other sink.)” Also: “(Perhaps there was originally one tall sink that was cut in half to create both of them.)”

All leg options in the GONER_MAKER are identical except the final one, which is mirrored. (pointed out by Shayy via Semi Frequent Undertale Facts)

The background of the GONER_MAKER itself is mirrored.

The background of the Asriel Dreemurr fight is mirrored.

The strange fog graphic before Papyrus' battle appears mirrored.

"I can't get any closer to the camera, I can't even see...my...little reflection." from the Spamton Sweepstakes

POSSIBLE: Gaster's belly face (upside down, details are white on black background, where Gaster's main face are black on white background)

POSSIBLE: Hot Fridge (inverse of the function of a normal fridge. look this one's loose lol, only including it because Alphys invented it and fridges are tied to Asgore's egg fridge, Snowdrake's mother, the Sans fridge call, and maybe the unused “rustfridge” in the Trash Zone (a place rife with possible Deltarune references))

POSSIBLE: Unused rooms 123 and 321 (123 is a relatively accessible unused room with interesting dialogue and 321 is...dark, and "empty").

So notably, the places we find this reflection motif in Undertale seem mostly connected to Deltarune: Kris is the PC of Deltarune, Reaper Bird is tied to Deltarune through Everyman, Mettaton NEO is similar to Deltarune's Spamton NEO, and Gaster is...well, probably the one who gave us our SURVEY_PROGRAM in the first place. Even the more tenuous examples of reflections seem plausibly Deltarune-related, such as the fridge Fun call and the Gaster belly face in Spamton's dumpster and a reflected dark room.

I'd like to expound a little bit on the File Select and sink dialogues. Both of these seem to be playing with a concept that could explain this reflection motif.

Copying a file in the File Select seems to mean we are “reflecting” it onto another slot: “CHOOSE THE TARGET FOR THE REFLECTION.” We cannot copy a file onto itself because “IT IS IMMUNE TO ITS OWN IMAGE.” If we overwrite an existing file with a copied one, “IT CONFORMED TO THE REFLECTION.” Interestingly, though, if you copy a file into an empty slot... “THE DIVISION IS COMPLETE.”

Not multiplying the file - dividing it in two. The original file is also implied to be changed in some way by this, because if you cancel the action of copying a file into an empty slot, “IT RETAINED ITS ORIGINAL SHAPE.” Meaning it would not have retained its original shape if it were copied.

The flavor text for the “cloned” sinks reflects this (hah) exactly. “(It's a regular sink.)” and “(It's a clone of the other sink.)” are followed by “(Perhaps there was originally one tall sink that was cut in half to create both of them.)” Aside from being relevant to the only tall sink we know of, Papyrus' in Undertale, this seems to be setting up a concept of “reflections” representing “an original being divided in two.”

That's about as far as I can take this with the context we have now. We don't know what exactly this reflection/division concept will mean in the plot of Deltarune, as it hasn't showed its hand yet. We don't know if the resemblance of that one recurring style to inkblots is intentional or just coincidence. But at least we have some possible explanation for why these motifs of symmetry and reflections keep showing up.

[worstutfanonthingpoll]

Hey babygirls, poll is on hiatus because I just got back from italy and i am so so so so so so so so so so very very tired.

Instead, have a list of all my Undertale Aus!

Fishdings

TECtale

Underswitch

Doki Doki Monster Club

Underflame

Blankstatale

Fishdings

If you don't know this one by now you have not been here long. Here's the link to the account:

TECtale

So you know the early fanon version of undertale? Evil Chara, OP Sans, UWU Papyrus? Yeah, that's kind of what it is.

Basically, Sans (a genius scientist, ofc) and Frisk (a nineteen year old girl and his gf) decide to banish The Evil Chara (TEC) to another universe. They succeed, but TEC resets the timeline as they do it.

TEC ends up in the canon UT universe, where she (gender up to interpretation) is reduced to an angry narrator. Like that one "what do you want" "souls of the unliving" "a bagel" "nooo" meme. She is still convinced she's making you kill everyone, and even if you only kill a single Froggit she will remain convinced it's bc she's controlling you. At the end of the pacifst run, you get this dialogue:

(Art by worst ut canon)

Meanwhile, Canon Chara was sent to the fanon universe. It is literally Hell. Their mother is hypersexualised, their brother is a tsundere, the child they follow around and narrate about how has boobs, and worst of all said child is convinced they're making her kill everyone!

Once Frisk gets to Snowdin (after killing everyone in the ruins) she warps off to Sans' house with the man himself, leaving Chara to explore the underground on their own. Strangely enough, the world seems to be... glitching out? Monsters will talk about how their heads feel foggy or how they don't even know why they hate Sans so much and then glitch into a loop of "I hate Sans I hate Sans I hate Sans"

Is it something to do with those garbage noises that seem to constantly be playing with the music? Hopefully Chara can find out... before it's too late.

Underswitch

Literally just a common or garden roleswap, nothing special. Swaps are as follows:

Toriel ~ Gaster (a white fire elemental here)

Asgore ~ Grillby

Sans ~ Napstablook

Papyrus ~ Alphys ~ Mad Mew Mew (three way swap)

Undyne ~ Mettaton

Frisk ~ Human from the first image in the prologue

Chara ~ That one alt design

Monster Kid ~ Heats Flamesman

Asriel ~ Fuku Fire

Burgerpants ~ So Sorry

All the Blooks are cat people and cousins.

Papyton real, is the date storyline.

Alphys was Timid Dummy, and then Rar Rar Scratchy Clawy, a violent anime dinosaur sk8er.

Metta is captain of the royal guard and has a ponytail. Maddy wants to join but he fears she will kill everyone accidentally due to her incredible violence.

Undyne has several violent tv shows and movies. You shoot her legs off first and she's like "who needs legs... with arms like these?!" and starts suplexing shit.

Napsta makes sick beats and has anxiety, but is great at pretending they don't. They are incredibly popular. They still live in constant fear.

Sans records stupid jokes and never lets people hear em. He and the other ghosts aren't related.

Speaking of that last point, Alphys and Undyne are exes. Undyne abandoned her and Sans for the Hollywood dream. They probably get back together post pacifist.

Heats Flamesman is a child. He likes Metta because everyone knows his name. He aspires to be like that some day.

Monster Kid wants you to believe in them. If you don't they will be traumatised. If you do, they will be so shocked you did, they will be traumatised anyway.

Doki Doki Monster Club

Co created with my good friends @sans-au-war-ii and @bestfictionaldivorce.

The girls (™) are:

So-Sorryori

Grillbyuri

Natsundyne

Mewnica

It's pretty damn obviously who's who. The only thing of relevance I can think of to mention is that Grillbyuri is obsessed with water (not knives) and instead of stabbing himself he pours water on himself. Instead of watching his corpse decay for three days, you watch him slowly evaporate over three days.

And everyone wears a skirt.

Art by sans au war!

Underflame

Epic Au where Frisk gets blasted by Toriel's fire magic and their soul's like "not today satan" and turns upside-down and Frisk becomes a fire monster.

Sansby real, and they adopt Frisk. They call them Dad and Also Dad. Fuku is their cousin now, and Heats Flamesman is their weird tiny uncle.

Anyway, worst ut canon wrote this oneshot for it read it right now pls

Blankstatale

First off, Blankstablook is an oc of mine of sorts. They're the ghost possessing the ruins dummy and they live there to avoid the sheer chaos that comes from living in the same vicinity of its cousins.

Anyway, resets don't exist and the player is the opposite of an alpha gamer and gets wiped out by the first Froggit they encounter after Toriel skedaddles. Blanksta feels bad for them (and for Toriel, she'll only blame herself) and so decides to possess them.

It ties the soul around their neck with Frisk's bandages, and proceeds. They do an awful job at pretending to be an alive child. It floats two feet off the ground the whole time, while the soul flails around trying to kill.

They also just generally act like an eldrich abomination and freak the shit out of everyone. Except their cousins. Who are just like "man, classic Blanksta"

Oh yeah and being a ghost they can't take damage which makes fights both very interesting and incredibly hilarious.

Heres Blanksta!Frisk:

(Art by me for once lol)

Yeah that's it really. Feel free to ask about any of the Aus in my askbox! Also I will take drawing prompts for them, as long as they're sfw :)

[therealnotta]

MAN after going down that rabbit hole about Papyrus Undertale (i reblogged most of the stuff, you've probably seen it) i just... i have so many emotions about it like wow

(under the cut bc this is kinda rambly and long)

first off, most of it i was kinda like "yeah okay not everything has to be grimdark, he's just a funky guy and these are just jokes" but the four vines.... that was the main bit where it became obvious that SOMETHING is going on here

like okay basically at the end, flowey ties everyone up, two vines a piece, except for Papyrus. Papyrus is tied up with four vines and Flowey uses enough force to??? Break Papyrus' arm????? Like that thing is bent backwards idek how I didn't notice it before. But Flowey has fought Sans in the past AND died to him... and yet Sans only has two vines.... like, what did Papyrus DO? is he that much stronger than sans? is it something else??

like, okay, branching from the theory of "papyrus is secretly op" for a minute. maybe flowey just... cares too much about papyrus. they're friends! for all his protesting, flowey is the one who knows papyrus' favorite foods and talks to him and yeah, he's a bit of a dick, but he's still friends with Papyrus. maybe he was worried that he would let Papyrus go and the extra restraints are more as a way to force himself to stick to his guns. who knows.

(also, a large part of this theory was the way that Papyrus seems to think no one cares about him and he's not important even though if you LITERALLY ONLY KILL HIM the entire underground decides that all of humanity needs to die as payback like. everyone loves this guy to pieces!! but also it's p obvious that flowey is making him insecure imo. sans mentions that papyrus has been feeling down lately AND has recently started talking about being friends with a flower, although he says it in the context of "someone is pranking my brother and i WILL hunt them down" and not really like... "i think the pranks are making him feel bad" so who knows. i still think that's what's going on there)

alright, back to the theory. another part of it was like... sans is TRYING to make you suspicious of him to draw attention away from his brother. this is terrifying to me. sans is this character who is COMPLETELY overpowered. any other character in the game would probably not make it one-on-one against him if they were both able to give it their all. if he's trying to protect his brother by not letting you find out how powerful papyrus is? if he's so much weaker that he's willing to sacrifice himself? wack. also would mean that genocide would be HORRIFIC for him because his brother, who is so much stronger than him, dies without a fight. like, okay, papyrus was planning on fighting back and just... lowered his guard a little too much and got got, but now it's less of a "oh no my little brother!!" angst moment and more of a "wow i do not stand a chance if my brother died that quickly." like. man. imagine. this is the most horrifying possibility here. i choose to believe that if papyrus is wicked strong, sans just doesn't know or doesn't realize the extent. the alternative is wild

the whole "papyrus tells you how to play the game!!" thing is nothing imo, unless we're saying that that one froggit is also wicked tough secretly; papyrus is an early boss who's introducing a new concept, other characters do this earlier in the game, etc. etc.

NOW HIM FLYING IS ANOTHER MATTER but also pretty easily explained, blue magic affects gravity and its direction/force. papyrus uses it to keep you on the ground, Sans uses it to throw you wildly around a room and impale you on things, but it can lift stuff up. he just used the exact same magic on himself; you "fly" over the bones in his fight. easy

him breaking the glass backwards.... is weird i've got nothin on that one

the annoying dog taking a special interest in him just tells me that he's toby's favorite, along with the trailers all having his theme. i mean, if you want to get wild, mettaton is the only character we've really seen in live action, even if it was just his hands/arms (and was TERRIFYING HES SO BIG??? IDK WHy I THOUGHT HE WAS THE SIZE OF A TODDLER) so im sure that's somethin

but man i just. i keep coming back to the vines. when flowey said that it took the longest for him to get bored of papyrus, i thought he meant like... bc papyrus was his bestie, if he meant it was bc papyrus kept killing him then like. wow. wow. i can't imagine.

AND now in deltarune sans is really weird about papyrus... like, papyrus isn't allowed out of the house. papyrus can't answer the door. papyrus isn't allowed around anyone sans hasn't personally vetted, and even then sans is like... basically acting like papyrus is a kid? which, i mean, better than letting a demon child kill him ig, but it's such a weird change to be happening. especially when it's sans, the guy who knows what's going on in undertale. wild

[doctorporkchop02]

Underswap Ruins Map Layout (Rough Sketch) and the Events of the new Incinerate Ruins.

So I made a little Doodle of the Map layout for the new version of Incinerate Ruins... Well I can't really call it Incinerate Ruins any more. So after months of struggling to find a theme for a Summer Version of the Ruins, I decided to get rid of the Volcano and Desert theme and instead go for a... Drum roll please...

AN AMUSEMENT PARK THEME!!!

Yep, I decided to make Incinerate Ruins a mix of the Ruins from Undertale and an Amusement Park with Rollar Coasters, Bouncy Floors, other stands for little games the monsters could play for prizes, Balloons and other decorations everywhere, and at the very end of it, a giant Circus Tent runned by the one and only Hapstablook!!!

Actually, the Rollar Coasters and other stuff was all Hapstablook idea so not only could the Catacombs be more Lively and Exciting, but it also gives him an excuse to appease his own ego, by putting posters and statues everywhere, and making the prizes in the games themed after Hapstablook... because of course of course Hapstablook would do something like that.

But yeah, I don't have a name for this new version of the Ruins yet, but I'm happy with this and I hope you like the change too. But I guess I should go through this doodle and explains what's going to happen...

Okay, so when you first start off, Chara is laying down on their stomach on a bed of Golden Flowers, reminiscent of Undertale's Intro.

But Chara gets up, shakes their head, looks up where they fell down, and starts walking through a long hallway and goes through a giant door. Then Chara encounters the Temmie Dolls where She introduces herself, offers to give you a Tutorial like Flowey's Tutorial in Undertale, and then they {DOG!} and {DOG!} and barely leaves Chara at 1 out of 20 HP, but where Asgore comes in a shooes Temmie away with a Fireball, Introduces himself, realizes Chara is hurt, and offers to guide you through the Ruins.

Chara follows King Fluffybuns and finds themself in an area similar to Undertale's Weird Stair Room, and is also where Chara finds their first Save Point, after that Chara and Asgore go through the door at the end of the room and... Asgore realizes the Puzzles have been reactivated mysteriously and then says...

Asgore: Oh my, those pesky kids must have reactivated the puzzles again. I'm afraid I am going to have to have another chat with Mrs. Eyewalker again.

(Asgore then turns around and faces Chara)

Asgore: I apologize child, but it seems like we are going to have to do some puzzles into order to proceed. Thankfully, the puzzles here are not going to be too hard, I have a feeling that you are a very smart child and can solve this puzzle easily. I have faith in you, now go child, go and push those... boxes...

Asgore: Ho ho ho. Maybe I should ask that young fellow if he could help me make this puzzles more exciting.

So now Chara has to do a Box puzzle similar to the ones from Deltarune. It's not complicated at all and when Chara pushes both of the boxes to the two "X" Spots, the Spikes blocking the way deactivate and Chara and Asgore can proceed.

Then Asgore stops and says...

Asgore: Now Child, I'm sure that you are aware that I am not the only monster down here, and like how that doll did before, monsters may try to attack you... but I assure you that it is nothing personal.

Asgore: It's just that monsters have not seen a human in years, centuries even, and your soul is... well very valuable, monsters may try to take your soul, and I am not sure if I will be able to protect you from them. But that is why I am going to teach you how to defend yourself if a monster were to attack you. While I am far too old to teach you myself, I have someone else who can assist me with that.

(Asgore gestures Chara towards Mad Dummy)

Asgore: Now I suggest that you try to only talk and spare the monsters that attack you, so you can end the fight peacefully, you might even make a few friends afterwards. I also suggest that you only resort to Violence if it is absolutely necessary. But the monsters down here are very kind, so you will more than likely never need to resort to violence.

Asgore: Here, let's practice here on Mr. Dummy, now remember child, try to talk with him and then spare him. I wish you the best of luck child, although I do not think you need it, I bet you are a very kind child and I bet this will be as easy as pie for you. Hohoho.

Then the battle is initiated where "Fighting" Mad Dummy is really similar to "Fighting" the Ruins Dummy in Undertale. So let's just assume Chara tries to talk to Mad Dummy first.

-ACT > TALK

(Flavor Text: You say "Greetings" to the dummy... he doesn't seem up for a conversation.)

Mad Dummy: . . .

-ACT > TALK

(Flavor Text: You try talking to the Dummy again, he still doesn't seem up for a conversation, you and the Dummy just end up awkwardly staring at eachother for a while.)

Mad Dummy: . . .

Mad Dummy: . . . . . .

Mad Dummy: . . . . . . . . What?

Mad Dummy: What are YOU looking at?!

Mad Dummy: Yes!! I'm a Dummy!! I know!! I KNOW!!

Mad Dummy: How Rude of you to just walk up to me, say "GrEeTiNgS", not even asking me how my day has been by the way!!! Then!! THEN!!!!!! You just stare at me with that Creepy Face!!! How Awful!! How Despicable!!!!! How Disrespectful!!!!!!!!

Mad Dummy: Haven't your parents ever told you it's rude to stare at strangers?!?!?!?!? Do you not listen to your parents or something?!?!?! Awful!! Awful!!! AWFUL!!!! You should have more respect for your parents!!!!! They know much more and have lived much longer than YOU!!! You should listen to them more!!!!! You are such a bad seed!!! A Rotten Egg!!! A Despicable Whatever you are!!!!!!

Mad Dummy: Somebody around here should teach brats like you a lesson!!!!!! IN FACT, I'LL GIVE YOU A LESSON YOU'LL NEVER FORGET!!!!

(Mad Dummy Pulls out a Knife)

Mad Dummy: LESSON START!!!!!

(Mad Dummy throws the Knife at Chara, but Chara dodges the attack)

Mad Dummy: . . . . . I'm . . . . . Outta lessons . . .

(Asgore launches a Fireball towards Mad Dummy and yells "That's enough!"... but the Fireball actually hits Mad Dummy... The dummy is now on fire...)

(Mad Dummy Creepily Turns his head 180° And Slowly Floats towards Asgore...)

Mad Dummy/Burnt Dummy: . . . . .

Burnt Dummy: Did you. Just hit me. WITH A FIREBALL?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Burnt Dummy: WASTHATREALLYNECESSARYTODOOHMYGODOHMYGODYOUARESUCHAHYPOCRITESAYINGYOUSHOULDNEVERUSEVIOLENCEANDTHENYOUGOANDUSEVIOLENCEYOUAREJUSTASBADASTHISLITTLEBRATSERIOUSLYWHATISTHEMATTERWITHYOUDOYOUTHROWFIREBALLSATANYONEWHOISANGRYWHODOESTHATOBVIOUSLYLUNATICSLIKEYOUYOUHAVESERIOUSLYISSUESANDTHISMESSAGEISKINDAGETTINGABITTOLONGANDSOIAMJUSTGOINGTOENDTHISMESSAGEHEREANDIFYOUAREREADINGTHISTHENYOURANERDBUTSERIOUSLYFLUFFYGUYWHATISYOURPROBLEM-

(Burnt Dummy gets hit by an oncoming Rollar Coaster Car and gets carried away.)

(Both Asgore and Chara are wide eyed... o_o)

. . . Moving on . . . The next room is just a random room with a long hallway next to it, but there are three lone Cardboard Boards in the corner and a Cardboard Stand that says "TeM!!1!1!" On it with Marker. But when Chara and Asgore walk down the long hallway, Chara gets a Forced Encounter with a Whimsun and instead of Asgore glaring at the Whimsun like how Toriel does with Froggit in Undertale, Asgore politely asks Whimsun to not attack Chara, which Whimsun does and Flutters away awkwardly, after that is the Invisible Spike Path Puzzle thing, where Asgore gives Chara Piggyback ride while walking through the Spike Path.

After that is sadly the end of what I have right now for the new Incinerate Ruins, the next room is just a big Room filled with Tables, Balloons, and other stands with games for the Monsters to play and to the very left of the room is the legendary "Candy Bowl of Amazingness" where it acts basically the same as the Candy Bowl from Undertale...

... Yeah that's all I have for right now, if you have any ideas on things to be added or changed in the first part of Incinerate Ruins, lemme know.

I really hope you guys like what I have so far, because I know that I do.

But as always, I hope you guys have an awesome rest of your day/night.

[fellwhite]

SwitchTale

(Im not sure if that name is taken and its just a temporal name, it will be changed later)

Tws: Genocide, death

Just a heads up, this will be a long post cause i have no idea how read more works in mobile, also i do not know if someone has had this idea before so bruh, anyway here we go:

Basically, the concept is that instead of Chara being the first fallen child, Frisk will be the first one to fall instead in an underground where Asriel hasn't been born yet, effectively swapping Chara and Frisk's roles

And also Asriel is still just a child on Chara's arrival and he will help them go through the underground

This idea was based mostly on Epictale! But in this case it's on the classic undertale. Epictale by @yugogeer012

Frisk being the first one to arrive made A LOT of changes in the underground, some of them being by example:Toriel and Asgore didn't get divorced or anything, but they have been separated for decades, some monsters being more passive, while others are more aggressive, a similar yet fairly different underground with new chara-cters and more.

I still haven't figured out a lot of stuff so yeah this will have plenty of plotholes or things that make no sans-e. But anyway

Characters:

Frisk:Attack 20 Defense 25

*The first fallen human

*A rather kind and passive human child who heavily dislikes humanity and loves their monster family,while most of the time they act very nice sometimes they can lash out revealing their not-so-friendly side,their metods to achieve what they want or to do what they think is right are a bit extreme sometimes,loves puns and dominates flirting, their favorite food is charamel and chocolate

Chara: Attack 30 Defense 20

*The last fallen child

*A sassy and almost creepy human child,they hate humans but they're a bit more nice to monsters, they love chocolate,hugs and golden flowers

*Asriel is their best friend

(Chara's personality will heavily change depending on the route)

*Toriel: Everyone's favorite goat mom, she stays mostly the same but she is more protective and better trained at fighting, her fight is significantly more difficult in all routes

Asgore: The king of the underground and a big fluffy dad, his fight is a lot more difficult since he feels even more guilty and he's more desperate to end this, he wields his good ol'trident and will sometimes use a knife, he fights in genocide too. Asriel is forced to stay on the entrance to the throne room by royal guards so you have to face the king alone

Asriel: Everyone's favorite fluffy boi, he becomes Chara's best friend in just a couple days and he will help them go trough the underground

He's against murder but he will protect Chara either way and might even take a life for them

In genocide he will disappear after Toriel's death

He's 12 years old

THE GREAT PAPYRUS: Paps is a former member of the royal guard and he is a lot more serious with his job, he still won't kill you and there's also a lot less puzzles on Snowdin because of his job and instead there's a lot more royal guards in the way (mostly dogs)

He still hates his brother's puns and still has great self esteem but he is more aware of many things,he has a bit of knowledge on timelines and resets thanks to Sans but he still does not know when a load happens

Sans: The funny bone man, brother of Papyrus and another member of the royal guard (against his will) Sans is one of the characters with the most changes, he joined because of Papyrus and now has 2 Defense and 2 Attack, still 1hp, still does a lot of puns but just like Papyrus he's more serious and he will fight you once before the fight with paps to prepare you (he can't be killed in that fight as he will dodge and he will use only some simple bone attacks). He fights you on all routes in the last corridor unless you're in neutral and you didn't kill Papyrus, he is not the last genocide boss anymore, still has gaster blasters and karma but both are used only in genocide

Mk:????

Undyne: More ruthless and negative, her fights are all harder but not too much, she is even more determined than before and bleeds during genocide route, her undying form is pretty much the same but the heart in her armor is constantly changing from green, yellow and to white

You'll depend on Asriel to survive

Alphys: Our number 1 lizard nerd

Alphys is another character that's pretty different, she's more confident but she still is very shy, she's also more less kind at the start so you'll have to make her trust you first, she'll be against you for a bit in hotland but she will start to help you once Mettaton tries to kill you with the chainsaw (which by the way it's an usable item here and you get it on all routes after the Mettaton fight, it's the second most powerful weapon only behind the true knife)

Mettaton: He's literally the same, in fact he's a bit easier but has a longer fight and a couple new weapons, in genocide his NEO form can take only 7 hits but the attacks are very long and devastating. Asriel stays out of this one as it's a 1v1

Napstablook: they're a little bit more confident but still incredibly shy, their fight is easier but takes a couple more turns and you will need Asriel to help you

Muffet and Grillby: They united their places in order to have a better chance for their businesses to survive, it worked out really well but they constantly fight. Muffet is the exact same but a bit more stressed and Grillby is more talkative, Muffet offers drinks now aswell as spiders, and the same goes for Grillby

Temmies: hOI

Red: yes baby Red is here too, she appears around the CORE with 2 dog guards (which she mentions on her original fight) and she's an main boss and character

W.D:????

There's some additional characters that i added, like Captain froggit, yes their name is literally captain so their position is quite convenient, and a few more here and there

Toby isn't here, instead there's a wolf with... An smiling face? (yep that's me)

A few additional changes:

Frisk is viewed as an mostly chaotic neutral and inclined to chaotic good, but in genocide this changes ti chaotic evil

Yes Frisk is the narrator and acts somewhat similar to Chara

Both Chara and Frisk use they/them, i personally view em both as female and nonbinary respectively but i'll leave it like this to avoid discourse or anything

Napsta is nonbinary and uses they/them and he/him, prefers they tho, i left them like that since i haven't seen much discourse about Napsta's gender so bruh

Sans and Paps are ??????'? sons

Since im no Toby Papyrus can use his special attack (which is a blaster here) but he will hold back by himself in his fight

Some notes:

There's some guard campaments and the royal guard headquarters, only the campaments are accessible but you can see the hq from far away

You can ask me any doubts or anything idm

There will possibly be a comic, plenty of art, a written version or even possibly a couple playable fights in the future, but it will be a while before that happens

Odds are it will be all written but im not sure yet, references will be on an individual post

The au name is subject to change

THIS IS MY FIRST TIME DOING ANYTHING LIKE THIS SO ITS A TOTAL MESS IM SORRYYYALCKAOFKAOC

[puppypaw-wc]

i just wanted to ramble ‘bout undertale... hhhhhhhh.

aka me just describing the whole plot of the game... this one’s just the ruins tho cuz i don’t think tumblr would let me type out the whole game’s plot in detail.

i understand if y’all don’t wanna see this so it’s under the cut.

soooo uh. the opening “cutscene”/whatever you call it is just a few images with text explaining the events prior to the game.

“long ago, two races ruled over earth: humans and monsters. one day, war broke out between the two races. in the end, the humans were victorious. they sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell. many years later . . . mt. ebbot. 201X. legends say those who climb the mountain never return...”

the last frames show a human who you’d at first assume to be the player character climbing the mountain and falling in; however, it is not the player character (frisk), as the human in the intro only has one stripe on their shirt, while frisk’s shirt has two.

anyways after that you get presented with the start menu (it’s track is creatively entitled, you guessed it, start menu!) with instructions on how to play the game. once you start, you get to name the fallen human.

now, this is honestly kinda ingenious. it doesn’t say “name your character”, it doesn’t say “what is your name?”; no, it says “name the fallen human”.

there’s also responses to some specific names.

like if you name yourself “fight” (or something like that) or “mercy”, the response is “that’s a little on the nose, isn’t it?”, though the name’s still allowed to be used.

naming yourself one of the main characters’ names (or however much can fit) also elicits special responses, and most of them aren’t allowed to be used, but there’s a couple instances of them being usable. like papyrus’ name is too long so if you enter “papyru” as your name the response is “I’LL ALLOW IT” and the name’s allowed to be used. the names “blooky” or “napsta” (as in napstablook) are also allowed, with the response being “... (they are powerless to stop you)”. my favorite is either naming yourself “flowey” or “temmie” tho.

the name “flowey” gets the response “i already CHOSE that name” (flowey had the ability to reset/save/etc. before frisk) with it not being allowed, while naming yourself “temmie” gets the response “hOi!!!” as a reference to the species of temmie (temmie is best undertale character /hj) and is allowed. it used to make tem flakes heal more but that was removed for some reason.

ANYWAYS the game starts after you name yourself (the “true name” is chara, which elicits the response “the true name”, so i’ll be referring to “the fallen human” as such). you start out with your armor as the bandage and your weapon as the stick... both of which have 0 of their corresponding stat.

in the next room, you meet a talking flower, who introduces himself.

“howdy! i’m flowey! flowey the flower! hmm, you’re new to the underground, aren’t’cha? golly, you must be so confused! someone oughta teach ya how things work around here. (oop i’m listening to the undertale ost and finale started playing-fitting-) guess lil’ old me will have to do? ready? let’s go!”

you then find yourself in a battle. on the bottom of the screen, there’s two things: your LV, which is 1 at the time, and your hp, which is 20/20. in the middle of the screen is the bullet board, with a red heart inside. flowey’s above the bullet board. oh, and in battles, everything’s black and white other then the heart and some attacks.

“see that heart? that’s your SOUL. the very culmination of your being! your SOUL starts off weak, but grows stronger with LV. what’s LV stand for? why, LOVE, of course! you want some LOVE, don’t you? *he winks* down here, love is spread through little, white... “friendliness pellets”. go on! collect as many as you can!”

now, here, there’s two options: run into the “friendliness pellets” (which makes this part go by faster) or dodge them, which elicits some funny responses from flowey.

“hey buddy. you missed them. let’s try this again, shall we?”

“is this a joke? are you brain dead? RUN. INTO. THE. BULLETS friendliness pellets.”

“you know what’s going on here, don’t’cha? you just wanted to see me SUFFER. who would pass up an opportunity like this? DIE.”

running into them elicits basically the same thing as the last response, though he states that “in this world, it’s kill or be killed” first. i also don’t remember what he says if you run into them cuz i always dodge them... cuz it’s funny...

you find your SOUL surrounded with the “friendliness pellets”, and it seems that you’re doomed to death... but when they hit you, instead of harming you, they heal you.

flowey gets a confused look on his face before he’s hit with a fireball and goat mom toriel appears!

“what a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth. do not be afraid, my child. i am toriel, caretaker of the ruins. i pass through here everyday to see if a human has fallen. you are the first to have come here in a very long time.”

she also says some other stuff but i don’t remember it so. :shruggie:

anyways, you follow her into the next room, where you find a four-pointed star; a save point.

“the shadow of the ruins looms above, filling you with determination. (HP fully restored).”

this is your first opportunity to save, which is interestingly enough not just a game mechanic; it’s an in-universe feature as well.

(okay wtf undertale ost on shuffle, it played temmie village and then tem shop immediately after, wtf???)

anyways, toriel guides you through (read: does for you) a few puzzles, before you find yourself in a long hallway, where she says she wants to test your independence by making you walk to the end of the hallway by yourself. 

she’s just hiding behind a pillar at the other end of the hallway.

toriel says that she has a few errands to run, and gives you a cellphone before leaving. you can get some funny calls if you do wait, and at the end of it all her phone gets stolen by a dog. despite this, she still calls you when you leave the room. she does actually have special dialogue, though: “My apologies. A strange dog kidnapped my phone.”

anyways, you travel through the ruins, getting encounters with the enemies (froggit, whimsun, loox, vegetoid, moldsmal, migosp), who you can all spare.

i forgot the dummy battle tutorial, basically toriel has a training dummy as a battle tutorial.

things you can do:

talk to it: this makes the battle end, and makes toriel seem happy with you. it’s technically the right thing to do but the others are funnier.

fight it: this kills the dummy, though it doesn’t give you exp, and thus you can still get a true pacifist route.

flee: you run away from the battle and toriel says that it’s a good strategy... but it’s just a dummy, it can’t hurt you and doesn’t seek revenge.

do nothing: if you do nothing for eight turns (including missing attacks), dummy “tires of your aimless shenanigans” and leaves. toriel is confused by this, but continues on as if nothing happened.

whatever you do elicits a different response in a future mini-boss’ pre-battle dialogue, so. yeah.

ANYWAYS!

the ruins’ mini-boss is napstablook, a ghost who, according to themself, “usually comes to the RUINS because there's nobody around”.

to spare them, you need to cheer three times; this makes them show you their “dapper blook” trick, which is a top hat made of tears. they stop attacking to await your response, and if you flirt or cheer, the encounter ends.

also random fun fact: just like with the dummy, killing napstablook doesn’t give you exp, and thus a true pacifist route doesn’t end.

“FIGHTing Napstablook causes them to remind the protagonist that they are a ghost and therefore unable to be killed; they were only lowering their HP to be nice. They then vanish, and the protagonist suffers a loss of one "experience point" (not the same as EXP). This action does not abort the True Pacifist Route since it does not accrue any EXP.”

(x)

oh yeah, did i mention that EXP and LV don’t mean experience points and level?

flowey was actually correct about LV being LOVE. however, it’s an acronym, namely for level of violence. EXP, on the other hand, is an acronym for execution points.

continuing through the ruins and doing some puzzles (one of which includes several holes you must fall through to find a switch, one of which has the faded ribbon, a piece of armor, in it), you can get the toy knife, a weapon, before heading to toriel’s house, where she’s made you a butterscotch-cinnamon pie.

you see, earlier on in the ruins, she asks if you prefer butterscotch or cinnamon (if you’ve reset/loaded a save from after this point, she actually remembers your answer), before asking if you’d turn up your nose at the sight of the other/if you have allergies. there wasn’t enough of both at the store or something along those lines if i remember right.

anyways, you go to sleep in your room (yes, you have your own bedroom and yes, that is pure, and yes, toriel is the best), and she puts a slice of the pie on the floor for you to collect. it’s a healing item that restores all your hp, but i’d recommend saving it honestly.

toriel’s reading in the living room, where you can talk to her and either ask how to leave, or just talk to her. you do have to leave for the game to progress, though.

after asking her how to leave like three or four times, she goes downstairs and talks to you before fighting you, asking you to prove that you’ll be able to survive.

you see...

“Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again. They come. They leave. They die. You naive child... If you leave the RUINS... They... ASGORE... Will kill you. I am only protecting you, do you understand? ... go to your room.”

the fight with toriel is one that people often mess up on, though the strategy for her fight is actually foreshadowed by an npc froggit earlier on in the ruins.

many people think that you have to weaken her, or just end up killing her because they don’t see how else to do it.

so, what does happen if you kill her? well, it depends.

if you attack her once she stops attacking:

“You... ... at my most vulnerable moment... To think I was worried you wouldn't fit out in there... Eheheheh!!! You really are no different than them! Ha... Ha...”

on a neutral route:

“Urgh... You are stronger than I thought... Listen to me, small one... If you go beyond this door, Keep walking as far as you can. Eventually, you will reach an exit. ... .... ASGORE... Do not let ASGORE take your soul. His plan cannot be allowed to succeed. ....... Be good, won't you? My child.“

on a genocide route:

“Y... you... really hate me that much? Now I see who I was protecting by keeping you there. Not you... But them! Ha... ha...”

fun fact: until today my dumbass though that “them” was referring to chara and only just realized that it’s referring to the monsters further in the underground.

and now, it’s time for flowey (slash indicates a break in the text).

on a pacifist route (where you don’t kill anyone):

“Clever. Verrrryyy clever. / You think you're really smart, don't you? / In this world, it's kill or be killed. / So you were able to play by your own rules. / You spared the life of a single person. / Hee hee hee... / I bet you feel really great. / You didn't kill anybody this time. / But what will you do if you meet a relentless killer? / You'll die and you'll die and you'll die.Until you tire of trying. / What will you do then? / Will you kill out of frustration? / Or will you give up entirely on this world...... / and let ME inherit the power to control it? / I am the prince of this world's future. / Don't worry, my little monarch, my plan isn't regicide. / This is SO much more interesting.”

on a genocide route (where you kill everyone, exhausting the kill counter until the “but nobody came” message appears):

“Hahaha... / You're not really human, are you? / No. You're empty inside. Just like me. In fact... / You're Chara, right? / We're still inseperable, after all these years... / Listen. I have a plan to become all powerful. / Even more powerful than you and your stolen soul. / Let's destroy everything in this wretched world. / Everyone, everything in these worthless memories... / Let's turn 'em all to dust.”

(note that by “chara” i mean “whatever you named the fallen human”)

and that’s it for the ruins.

uh. yeah.

sorry for rambling about undertale so much on main, i love it too much.

[measuredantagonism]

Undertale and Story Telling Potential

Undertale´s choices are very black and white, that shouldn’t be a very controversial statement, I don’t believe the game even really implies that if you happen to kill a froggit or a whimsun, you are suddenly a bad person for it, and, if the game took itself too literally that way it wouldn´t make any sense, why would undyne want to be your friend if you killed a moldsmal that was in your way? She wouldn’t, so it doesn’t really count, that death is taken more in a traditional rpg sense, as if saying, that didn’t really happen, it just happened here because it’s a game, but in doing that it ends up making so that only certain characters actually have a sort of consequence from a storytelling perspective, it is only impossible to bond with undyne if papyrus is dead; all monsters then, and to some degree your own choices, are put in an objective value scenario, when papyrus dies, is really sad and emotional but an whoshua just drops dead and that’s it; that’s okay, if the game accounted for every death the same way, it would make for a worse game, a first time clueless player will inevitably feel cheated out, and righteous moral judgement of the community would be even worse, it needs to have that effect, precisely because it’s an rpg, I just feel that, even in great games such as undertale, there exists a sort of “potential story value” to all choices, in his video about fallout 3, hbomberguy posits that “walking into megaton and shooting moira in the head has worse consequences than nuking the whole town” and I feel as if that was a more egregious example of what I am trying to say, fallout 3 completely fails in those kind of scenarios, the developers are shown to be in favor of breaking immersion than to let a sliver of content go to waste, because it is a game, it ends up having a worse story, undertale does this well enough I think, it is still a great game, but I feel as if there could be a game that also takes gameplay into account when immersing the player in his choices.

It should also come to mind that I am judging this from a neutral run perspective, which is, I believe, the most likely ending a first time player will get, undertale is great in what choices it has and I don’t think that should be ignored by anyone. (consider it as a hitpiece on Bethesda, as if it hasn’t been done to death at this point -_-)

[ihasafandom]

argentdandelion          How to Add Angst to the Pacifist Route

Oh, wow, that's a good point. Frisk's age is estimated as 8-12, but Frisk is likely to approach all the angst differently depending on age. (I seriously doubt Frisk is 3, though.) 

It really depends on how they fell. A three year old is really unlikely to be up on a mountain falling into holes. 

But as long as they DID fall, they only really need to be able to walk. Toriel guides them through the first part of the ruins, and if they die they come back the same physical age. It might take them a LONG time to get through the ruins. But the only limit, if we extrapolate to the horrific, is how long Toriel is willing to wait for. So long as the longest length of time accumulated between save points is less than the amount of time that Toriel takes to shop and bake a pie, then Frisk can take as long as they need to happen upon the correct route to her.  Even if they spend an hour or two here and there chatting with Froggits or having a nap, so long as they have to load again after it doesn’t count towards the time Toriel assumes they have had to wait.   

And if Frisk is too young to automatically save at every save point they might get to know each part of the route well enough that the final result doesn't look like very long at all.

The other main limiter on Frisk's age is how old they would have to be before Toriel will risk leaving them alone at all. And that depends on how much she knows about the human development cycle and how very young children behave. She may have even expected those froggits at the start to keep watch, who knows.

When it comes right down to it, the Frisk that walks out of the ruins and back into Toriel’s age might act a lot older than they did when they first met her.

argentdandelion          How to Add Angst to the Pacifist Route

I didn’t really consider the whole “Controlled by The Player and/or Chara” angle for the Pacifist Route, and, boy, that was an omission. To be controlled from afar by some unseen, unknowable entity or filled with constant compulsions, even when it’s all for friendly things, must be terrifying. Sometimes, I consider an interpretation where Frisk thinks the Player is a god and Chara an angel, which could just add to the fear and helplessness.

Or, something more horrific: Frisk is controlled by The Player in the most angsty-possible interpretation so long that, when they’re finally in control of their actions again, they don’t even remember how to act on their own desires. Or, if barely aware of the fact their compulsions are such, suddenly being unable to maintain the new personality or facade or role to the monsters once The Player is gone.

P.S. I love the creative and thorough approach to making even the harmless and friendly Pacifist Route horrific. I believe you post about Animorphs; I wonder if being controlled by The Player could be a similar horror to being controlled by a Yeerk?

Thanks! Undertale’s so open-ended in what information you get, so there’s a lot of things you can do with it. Thanks for leaving this particular interpretation open for me to explore here.

Frisk being controlled so long that they forget how to do things of their own volition is VERY Animorphs. A lot of fans have speculated that ex-controllers no longer show unconscious tics like facial expressions, or have difficulty moving, or are passive and opinionless. With the ones taken as children being the worst off because they didn't get to experience the childhood bits where your brain is growing the most. I think the biggest difference would be that in animorphs the yeerk can still hear and react to your thoughts, read all your memories and emotions, and is trying to pretend to BE you while also advancing the alien invasion cause. So you would still have someone who could hear you, even if it was your captor. Meanwhile, the player isn't listening to Frisk. We don't know Frisk's past, and they could be anyone. They are anonymous until the very end, and the loss of that anonymity something that I used for horror in that ficlet.  I am unsure which is worse.

[jordynthepotato]

more questions huh? 1-11, 13-16, 19, 21, 24, 28, 31, 33, 35-38, 40, 42, 44, 47, 48, 51, 52, 59, 60, 66, 70, and 72

this is what i get for asking for more questions

long post

1. Who’s your favourite character from UT?: it varies, currently toriel

2. Who’s your least favourite character from UT?: j e r r y

3. Your opinion about UT fandon: a chaotic mess of art, theories, and alternate universes

4. What’s your favourite quote?: “* Despite everything, it’s still you.”

5. What’s your favourite soundtrack?: this also varies, but before i realized it was destroying my phone battery i would listen to the more calming ambient soundtracks to help me sleep- like waterfall, it’s raining somewhere else, quiet water, uwa! so temperate 

6. Pacifist, neutral or genocide?: aaa this one was really hard to answer- i’d be lying to myself if i said pacifist, but i can’t really say genocide either. but i hate the neutral endings-

7. Why did you decide to play UT?: OH THERE’S A STORY BEHIND THIS- so i’m nearing a year into the fandom, still haven’t gotten to play the game yet because i’m broke. BUT i’m going on a school trip to washington dc for a week, my mom gives me money on a visa card for souvenirs. i’m wandering the shops, when i realize: i don’t have to spend this all on overpriced souvenirs. once i got home i bought undertale and later bought stardew valley with the rest of it-

8. Favourite battle?: in a pacifist run, undyne. i just like blocking spears- pff

doing genocide, sans, i love it and hate it at the same time-

9. Favourite scene?: when you get to talk to everyone standing around you after saving asriel, there’s just a bunch of cute little exchanges between everyone eirbgkutiebgr

10. Your first letter to Mettaton was: it was either “leg” or “toby” my first playthrough

11. Your reaction when you saw Omega Flowey for the first time: i was watching a youtuber play it a few years ago, my reaction was essentially just “what the /frick/ is that thing is that flowey wh”

when i got to play for myself i beat him without dying on my first run

13. Which UT character reminds you of yourself?: i’m... honestly not sure-

14. Which UT character reminds you of your best friend?: they flip between sans and papyrus

15. Would you smooch a ghost?: heck yeah

16. Which UT character would be your best friend? Why?: papyrus, he’s so friendly let’s be honest i’d have no choice but to accept him as my best friend

19. Which ending was your first?: tECHNICALLY neutral since you get a neutral ending and /then/ go back for the alphys date and true lab to do true pacifist-

21. Your favourite place in UT and why: (Undyne’s house for example): hm... new home. no matter what run you’re playing you get so much story and emotion out of it, and it just sort of... feels safe there? i don’t know how to describe it i just

new home’s a cool place

24. Butterscouch or cinnamon pie?: cinnamon, but i like butterscotch too

28. Do you wanna have a bad time?: :)  🔪

31. Would you want to fall into underground?: yes and no? being honest i’d probably manage to die to the first froggit in the ruins but just- undertale’s been a big hyperfixation of mine for the past 2-3 years i’d /love/ to experience its story firsthand yknow

33. One reason why you love UT: toby just has this really unique sense of humor and i love it- i don’t know how to describe it but it’s good

35. If you could choose one type of food from UT, what would it be?: butterscotch cinnamon pie... mmm...

36. Your favourite amalgamate: am i the only one that was actually disturbed by the amalgamates- i don’t have a favorite, but i feel bad for them all aaa-

37. Your headcanon about Gaster: who do you think Gaster is to Sans and Papyrus? (Father, brother, uncle etc): i’m open to most headcanons/interpretations, and i don’t feel like going through other blogs right now to find data to make a decision based on anything, i’m gonna say either father or brother

38. Your opinion about bad puns: they’re usually funny

40. Which of human souls fits you the most?: OH this one’s interesting, for the longest time, none of the soul traits seemed to fit me and i joked about how maybe i’m just soulless. a couple of weeks ago i had this dream, all i could remember was that i was holding out my soul, and learned that in the very least my subconscious self thinks my soul is integrity

42. Which song reminds you of UT or one of the UT characters? Why?: megalovania, i don’t think i need to explain

44. Do you forgive Asgore for what he’s done?: while i don’t think anything can justify him killing 6 human children, i can forgive him. it wouldn’t be easy, being king in his circumstances. knowing your people would never be truly happy until they were free, but also knowing that you could suffer the same fate as your son if you cross the barrier and get the rest of the souls yourself. if the solution falls down a convenient hole in the mountain and comes to you, you’d be very compelled to take it and live with the guilt and consequences.

47. Do you listen to any fanmade songs? If so, then which are your favourite?: too many... i can’t choose-

answered 48 and 66 here: https://jordynthepotato.tumblr.com/post/189152978131/bruh-how-about-sixty-six-and-fourty-eight-one

51. Who is your favourite dog?: annoying dog

52. What was your reaction to true lab?: d i s c o m f o r t

59. Your favourite puzzle: i don’t know what it’s called- the ones in snowdin where you have to turn the x’s to o’s?

60. Which battle was the hardest for you?: genocide, it was obviously sans-

on my first pacifist run, though, i forgot to grab something from the spider bakesale in the ruins and had to go through muffet without it. i almost ragequit

70. When playing for the first time how many candies did you take?: i think i took one? but ever since i’ve always tried to take four pff

72. If you had to be one of the main characters, which would you choose?: i’ve thought about this for way too long i can’t choose-

[bublp0pr]

you know, sometimes i take a step back and wonder what i’m doing sticking around in a fandom that i’ve been obsessing over for a little over a year now and then i take a moment and look at my life and go...

DAMN IT FEELS GOOD TO BE SILLY INTERNET UNDERTALE TRASH. 

Papyrus is bae and goals and everything great and pure and perfect in this word. I will never forget our date my sweet skele-dove your spaghetti riddled its way to my heart from the word ‘boondoggle’ and every second in this world since you rejected me is that of a half life, a cursed life, and empty life. And yet, I forgive you. Truly you are a skeleton of unspeakable honourable standards and I respect that. You are the greatest Papyrus. The greatest.

Undyne is my spirit animal and thinking about her when no one else is around make me want to stand up, yell at the top of my lungs and roar like some beserker-mode she-hulk from hell and crush my opponents into the ground so hard they pulverise on contact. It makes me want to release all the energies of my soul in a punch of passion that leaves destruction in my midst and drives in me some warrior instinct I never knew i had.

Sans and Papyrus are the BroTP that i never knew my heart needed to survive but it most DEFINITELY does just... just take my soul already. The feels have melted it anyway. Take it. I don’t need it anymore, these skeletons are my heart. Their love is my love. Their life is my life. 

Chara and Asriel’s back story gives me feels so hard i break out the dramatic single tear whenever i hear His Theme and the full magnitude of every single shred of their implied history i hold in the most sacred of gravity, appreciating how their actions directly are interwoven into the entirety of Undertale’s main storyline.

Though their words come out like loud nasal clicking from an old-school gameboy system I can hear every word, every tone, every inflection, every hesitation, every last drop of emotion in those lines and their voices live on and resonate with me long after that text finishes loading or I press X.

Toriel. Asgore. Sans. Papyrus. Alphys. Undyne. Mettaton. Naptsablook. Asriel. Frisk. Chara. Flowey. Monster Kid. Muffet. Dogamy. Dogaressa. Moldsmall. Migosp. Whimsun. Vegetoid. Loox. Mad Dummy’s cousin (~you are the apple of my eye ;D). Specifically the Froggits who teach Frisk about showing a little mercy, showing respect for monsters by not skipping through all their dialogue all the time, contemplate the amount of frogs in the room and can arrange for all the monsters to change their names pink instead of yellow as a favour if you want. Not to mention the poor Froggit that Toriel gave a full on death glare when we tried to compliment lol. Snowdrake. IceCap. Gyftrot. Chilldrake. Doggo. Lesser Dog. Greater Dog. Snowman. Grillby. Nicecream Guy. That bunny who walks her brother bun on a leash. The bunny who finds that disturbing. The monster who spends all their time rearranging presents under a decorated tree. Mysterious person behind the door who loves the sound of me knocking their door. That wolf who constantly throws large blocks of ice from a machine into the water knowing it will cool down the core. The fish monster who threw out a pick up line. The dog who’s playing poker against himself and losing. The monster who talks about crowding in New Home and how people will start moving to Snowdin and slip on their butts. The bear who goes ‘thaaats politics’ and should really be elected mayor (I’d vote for you). The librarian who has to put up with the spelling mistake for their Librarby sign. The monster who wasted all of their school life on wordsearches to realise that it was actually worth it after all. The ladies who write the newspaper including the one who’s still in the process of writing a book. The rocks who play human and monster. The shopkeeper who makes the classic cinnamon bunnies and greets a traveller. The inn keeper and her kid who are kind enough to not charge you without staying the full night and give you a refund. The annoying dog. Shyren. Aaron ;). Woshua. Temmie. Jerry (ok... maybe i don’t appreciate him. But still. He’s memorable)  Moldbygg (i respect your space). That little monster who doesn’t know what a star is. That monster that just wants you to step on their face. The small bird that carries me over a disproportionately sized gap. The two monsters who must have made wishes to the echo flowers and laughed when they realised their dreams were one in the same. Gerson, who has the guts to stare a homocidal maniac in the eye and know they can’t do a thing to strike him down while he’s like this and actually calls the little demon out on it too; respect dude. Tsunderplane. Vulkin. Pyrope. RG01 and RG02 you crazy dragon and bunny lovers you ;D. Heats Flamesman (of course I can’t forget). Okkkkkkkkk clam guy (you’re such a poser). The Mettaton fans that couldn’t make it to work who were actually quite well-informed about what Mettaton’s demographics like. The school kid monsters who loitered around and celebrated the time off because of those activated traps even though they were already in summer holidays anyway lol. The poor sucker who spent all their money when they walked past Muffet’s sales bench. The lion who wanted to wear a dress like mettaton and looked fabulous wearing it btw. The dragon with a wife back at home he desperately had to call because of the broken elevator. The slime who, as a slime, had a legitimate disliking to the situation. Bratty and Catty. The poor janitor perpetually cleaning forever but never taking a break either (now that’s dedication). The fathah of the Snowdrake and his amalgamate wife, happily reuinited and accepting their son for the aspiring comedian he is. The monster who makes reservations for literally everything in the restaurant. The totally relatable guy who stuck it out with that plan like a socially awkward pro in there. The monster who loves his job and puzzles. The monster who hates his job and puzzles. Burgerpants, my man you bring cred to the minimum wage class. (...i’ll admit all the NPCs started to blur together by the time i reached the core but i’ll give it my best shot. *deep breath*) All dem mercenaries hired by Mettaton, the ones who looked like bananas as silhouettes, you know who you are. Night night Knight Knight, sleep tight (don’t let the bedbugs bite). Madjick. My mystical friend Final Froggit. Whimsalot. Astigmatism. In particular that one dude who liked the fire room and would try to find it when the core reshuffled itself and chill in there sometimes, something about that story really stuck with me. All those monsters in New Home kind enough to fill me in on the story of the dead prince and human. Alphys’ amalgamates: the bad memories, the one whose ‘attack’ was getting themselves attacked by bees and then setting them off on me, Endogeny, the one whose speech was overlapped from all the different people in them, the one with the giant monster mouth attack, the one who put a blanket over us that was absolutely adorable, the one that Frisk tried to check out in the shower that weirdo (good for you disappearing on us when we open the shower curtain and respecting your privacy, i’d get progressively more panicked if someone was trying to perv on me too) and the ones that disguised themself as a SAVE point and shock bubble symbol (classic but meta at the same time, really inventive you guys). And i’ve probably missed people... but yeah. Lots of memories. Lots of friends. Gotta love em all. 

DAMN IT FEELS GOOD TO LOVE UNDERTALE. AND I DAMN WELL DO. I DAMN WELL LOVE IT. AND I WANTED TO SAY THAT DAMMIT. 

[darkhymns-fic]

The Usurper

A broken knight disobeys a gentle queen.

Based on the Exiled Queen neutral end where Undyne takes the throne.

Fandom: Undertale Characters: Undyne, Toriel, Sans Rating: G Mirror Links: AO3, FF.net Notes: Written by Sky.

“Ah, you must be Undyne,” a sweet kindly voice called out. She hated that voice. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Yes, Your Majesty?” The knight replied, full of a resentful acid, unhidden to either of them. She bowed her head ever so slightly before the Queen, a tight frown on her lips.

Toriel faltered. This knight didn’t even attempt to hide her contempt. But, her anger was understandable. From what she read and heard from the other knights, the Captain of the Royal Guard was very close to Asgore.

“I-hm…” Toriel’s words needed to be chosen carefully here. “Please, you can call me, Toriel,” the Queen said, voice filled with respect and honey.

A sharp clank. “I will not.” She treats me like a fool. She treats him like a fool. She treats all the Underground like fools! “You are the queen, aren’t you? You must be addressed as such.” A lone eye glared.

The Queen frowned, startled. She wasn’t ready for this reaction. She wasn’t ready for any of this. It had been so long since she heard these royal titles, and even longer since she spoke like one deserving. “If that will make you feel more comfortable,” she conceded, struggling.

“It won’t.”

The days since the human left the Underground had been stressful on the newly appointed queen. Monsters everywhere were shocked at the loss of their king. Some found that loved ones had gone missing. All Toriel’s searches turned up nothing.

Except dust.

Would the human really do such a thing?

She found it hard to believe. The human that she had spent time with was such a sweet and innocent child. They harmed no one in their path, avoided Froggits, talked with dummies, even ate their veggies. However, in the ruins there was no order to capture a human.

Toriel’s mind wandered at the possibilities, her feet following along her aimless thinking as well. It had been such a long time since she returned Home. So many memories. They left a bittersweet taste in her chest. The stone walls of the corridor, the wooden planks of her home, and that beautiful garden stayed the same as ever, even after so many, many years.

Eventually Toriel’s thoughts brought her to a balcony overlooking the beautiful golden garden. The stained-glass doors were opened wide in a careless fashion. It seemed she wasn’t the only one exploring the interior today.

Undyne stood tall over the balcony’s railing. Her crimson hair billowed in a light breeze from the outside above. Strangely enough, a red cloth danced along next to her hair, almost emulating her heroic stature. Toriel didn’t notice this in her first meeting with Undyne.

A scarf?

Their first encounter wasn’t completely pleasant, for many reasons that Toriel knew. Maybe now, after a few days had past, she had time to heal. With slight hesitation, she spoke.

“Good morning, Undyne,” Toriel mustered up, her voice low but cheerful.

The knight barely craned her neck, single eye staring back at the Queen. A muffled grunt escaped her lips and nothing more. She went back to staring at the garden. What a strange sight, Toriel thought. A serious knight brooding on a balcony with a cheery scarf prancing and hopping happily in the breeze around her neck.

Toriel nodded to herself. It was a great conversation opener. “That’s such a pretty scarf,” she complimented. Her smile, while forced, remained sweet and polite. “It matches your hair wonderfully, like a little dancing partner!”

A pause. “Is this really the time for that?” Undyne growled, suddenly clutching the red cloth with a frightening intensity. “Pointless banter.”

Once again, Undyne was insulted by a seemingly harmless question. Toriel, admittedly, felt ashamed. Had she grown so out of touch with her people? Had her time alone in the ruins made her unable to speak with fellow monsters?

“I apologize, I merely wanted…” the words streamed out of her muzzle dumbly, and she realized every word spoken merely angered the knight ever more. “I will leave you be, for now.” With a silent sigh, Toriel turned to escape this trap she had set for herself.

“That’s not what I meant,” Undyne said, halting the Queen in her tracks.

Toriel’s mind raced, trying to understand. “Hm?” she mumbled, desperate to keep appearances, but failing.

“What are my orders.” It was more said than asked. Almost a demand.

To her own displeasure, Toriel’s reply came out a stutter. “Oh, of course! I, um…” In truth, she did not know how to use the Royal Guard to their full potential right now. RG-01 and RG-02 were already searching for the missing monsters, and the other royal guards were stationed in their usual positions.

Undyne let out a heavy sigh. Disappointed. “Forget it. I’ll figure it out.”

With a clank of armor and a dramatic twirl of her scarf, Undyne stomped out of the balcony and down the hallway. She never looked Toriel’s way.

The Queen gave one last look out to the garden, noticing a few flowers had started to wilt. Asgore would know how to tend to the flowers better than I.

Golden petals drooped, their brilliant color dimmed by death. Not many flowers died, but their dark splotches stained the once perfect garden. Toriel looked after them to her best ability, but she simply did not have the time or knowledge. She sighed.

Still, she wouldn’t allow it to get her down. It was a beautiful day. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming. On days like these, old ladies deserved a nice cup of tea. Toriel wasn’t always one for tea, but ever since she returned to the castle, she couldn’t help but miss the taste.

Her eyes focused on the black stains in a sea of gold. If only…

Metal clanked against concrete. Flowers greeted the knight with a bow, a gentle gust of wind blowing from the surface. “Your Majesty,” Undyne greeted absentmindedly, her eye lost in that golden sea. The scarf fluttered sweetly near her ear, as if whispering sweet nothings to her.

“Good day, Captain Undyne,” Toriel nodded, placing her teacup down on the table she sat at. The knight didn’t appear irritable today.

With the jerk of her head, Undyne glared again, but her gaze fell upon the tea instead. Her frown softened, muscles relaxed. “Is that tea?”

Somehow, the question sounded so innocent. Nothing at all like the leader of the Royal Guard that Toriel was getting so used to. “Yes, it is,” she smiled. “Would you care to join me?”

Undyne grimaced, about to decline. A lone breeze brought the scarf near her face, urging her to reconsider. The flowers missed her. “Sure,” she said at last, taking a seat across from Toriel.

The Queen was pleased, feeling at ease with the knight for the first time. “Oh, good! I’ve made too much anyway,” she giggled lightly. “I wouldn’t want it to go to waste. That would be tea-rrible.”

Undyne glared. The scarf snapped around her angrily.

Toriel cursed herself silently. It was so easy to forget that not everyone liked puns, especially this Undyne. She poured the pot nervously, her paws letting out the tiniest of trembles. A drop of tea missed the cup and landed on the table. The dark spot ruined the beautiful cloth. Undyne stared at it.

Why must I act like a frightened child around her?

The knight craned her head back and swallowed the tea in one loud gulp. A light flashed in her eye. “Not bad,” she noted.

At least she could do something right! Toriel inwardly let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. I know it’s nothing like my husband used to make.” Undyne cringed at the word ‘husband.’ “Asgore might have been a foolish old man, but he knew how to make a good cup of tea.”

“Don’t speak ill of the dead,” Undyne growled, spear hand gripping tightly over nothing.

Toriel cursed herself again. The only old fool here is me. How could she speak so plainly about the old King? Of course, to her, he was just a husband, but to Undyne?

“You are right, I apologize.” Toriel nodded.

The knight simply grunted in response, looking at her empty teacup. Empty.

“He loved you, you know,” Undyne said. “Asgore. Never talked about you, but I could tell.”

Toriel let out a deep sigh. “I know.”  

For a while, the two women simply sat in the garden, watching over that golden sea. Memories of the past filled her with joy and sadness alike. It appeared Undyne felt the same way.

“Why do you think I lived?” Undyne asked suddenly, still staring deep into the flowers.

The question caught the Queen off guard. Was Undyne even asking her? “I’m sorry?” was all she could muster.

The knight turned to Toriel, expressing a sincere concern. “Why didn’t the human kill me?” Undyne appeared so confident and sure of everything, yet now uncertainty took her. “Why did the human kill some monsters, but spare others? Why didn’t the human kill you?” It was almost an accusation.

That was a question Toriel still struggled with every day, and she believed it would be something that would haunt both their minds for the rest of their lives. What could have possibly caused things to lead up to this?

“I am not sure,” Toriel admitted, looking to her tea for answers. There were none. “Maybe because I tried to be kind.”

Undyne sneered. “I don’t think that was it.” Through gritted teeth, she continued. “I think I lived because I was strong. Because I showed no fear, didn’t allow it to trick me. I forced it to flee.” A pause. “I failed to kill the human myself, but I was too strong to be killed. That must have been it. The others let the human get too close. They didn’t know any better. It wasn’t their fault.”

Toriel frowned. That couldn’t be right, but she didn’t wish to upset the knight. “Maybe it is best if we do not overthink it.”

For the first time, Undyne agreed with her. “Yeah.”

It is easier said than done.

When there was almost nothing but bad news day after day, Sans’ visits felt like a blessing. Toriel rarely found time for breaks between meetings and listening to her peoples’ requests. Many monsters simply wanted a shoulder to cry on. A Chilldrake who lost his son came to her today, hoping the royal guards might find him. Toriel and the father knew better, but kept up the façade of hope.

She comforted him the best she could. Old wounds opened, but she hid them well. Toriel’s shoulder was always there to cry on, but her shoulders felt heavier and heavier each day. Only one strange little monster could lift her spirits.

Her dear friend was a stout skeleton who had often told knock-knock jokes with her on the door to the ruins. Though it was only a few days ago, it felt as if years had gone by. Sans would come at the same time every day with a new joke, or just to talk about mundane things. In that lonely world, those jokes were all she had. Although, ever since finally meeting him, something felt strange.

He laughed, but it wasn’t as genuine. Not like it used to be before. And he never talked about his brother anymore.

“hey, tori, what’s black and white and red all over?” Sans asked, sitting back lazily in his chair. The garden was peaceful today, the perfect spot for a tea break.

Toriel stifled a giggle, already knowing the answer. “Sans, I am quite the old monster. In fact, I probably invented this one! It’s a newspap-”

“a blushing penguin.” The skeleton grinned.

The Queen nearly fell out of her chair, giggling uncontrollably. Undignified hiccups, ill-fitting of a ruler, escaped her, flying towards the bright light above. In that moment, all her troubles were gone, everyone’s troubles were gone. She wasn’t a queen, she was just an old lady again, sharing tea with a close friend.

“liked that one, huh?” Sans huffed, finding her laughter infectious. “found it after i fell off my dinosaur.”

Another hiccup. Oh, goodness, she would need to get rid of these before her next meeting! But for now, she held onto them, the laughter strengthened her, lifted her problems away. She would never forget them, of course, but they didn’t feel quite so looming anymore, so heavy.

A sharp voice called out through the garden, slicing their laughter in half. “Your Majesty,” it hissed. “Working hard on the Underground’s problems, I see.”

Undyne.

Toriel scrambled out of her chair, as if she was caught plotting treason. “Oh, Undyne, it’s -hck!- so good to see you! Do you have any news to -hck!- report?” She cursed herself again and again, wishing these dreadful hiccups would leave her.

The knight glared. Though this time, it wasn’t at Toriel for once. Her glare focused squarely on Sans. “What are you doing here?” she growled, scarf waving at the shorter skeleton.

For the first time in her life, Toriel witnessed Sans go quiet. His smile remained, but his eyes were dark. It was clear he tried to hide it, but he stared at that scarf. Stared hard. It frightened Toriel, but Undyne felt nothing.

“i’m on break,” he said quietly. No joke, no sarcastic quip.

“You were fired,” Undyne said bluntly. “You were an embarrassment. Now you waste the Queen’s time, mine, and all of the Underground’s. Haven’t you done enough damage?”

Sans shrugged. He did not wish to speak anymore.

The uneasiness in her stomach at least cured Toriel of those hiccups. “No, no, it is quite all right, I asked him to be here.”

Toriel almost wish she hadn’t spoke up. Undyne’s piercing gaze was now directed on her. “You shouldn’t spend time with this fool.” Her tone gave it all away though. ‘A fool for a fool, a coward for a coward, the perfect match.’ Undyne grimaced, disgusted.

“gotta go,” Sans said. Toriel looked over, hoping to stop him, change his mind, beg him to stay, but he was already gone, as if he was never there.

The scarf waved goodbye.

The halls of this castle-like structure could be so lonely, but the home of her former husband was lonelier still. Toriel found it much easier to think and plan her next moves if she walked. It allowed her to meet new faces, grow closer to the subjects she had distanced herself from so long ago. Even if she was often met with sad faces.

However, on one of her walks, she found herself stumbling upon Undyne again. Memories of their meetings filled her stomach with an uneasiness that left only shame. Queen of her people, yet she was terrified to speak to the captain of her own guard.

On this day, she felt weaker than usual, doubted herself too much. More reports had come in. More dust. Shame gripped her throat again, and the Queen stood behind a slightly open door. Neither Undyne nor her Royal Guard underling had noticed her.

A strong queen should be able to barge in at any time, demand to know what they were speaking of! But… was Toriel a strong queen? Had the years been too unkind to her? Cursing herself, the goat monster eavesdropped on the unsuspecting guards. An old familiar guilt pushed down on her shoulders as she listened.

“Anything to report?” Undyne asked, her voice sounded hopeful. Toriel had never heard the knight captain this way. That scarf dangled delicately at her back as well, mingling together with her hair, making a crimson waterfall at her back, washing over the dark metals.

“The usual, Captain,” a gruff voice replied, his voice charred and brutish. She recognized that voice! RG-02! He was always so quiet. He must have felt more comfortable in Undyne’s presence.

There was a strange pause, a heavy silence that threatened to swallow the knights whole. Absentmindedly, Undyne held her scarf and asked, “Any sign of her?”

Another long wait. “Nothing, I’m afraid.”

There was a strange light metal clanking heard in the room. What on earth was that? Toriel focused her eyes, saw Undyne trembling, her gauntlet curled into a fist. “It’s been more than a week, and no one has seen her.”

“There’s still a chance,” RG-02 said, but even his stoic voice broke with hopelessness.

Undyne nodded, but her mind was elsewhere. “Keep looking, then.”

“Yes, Captain.” RG-02 nodded and made his way out. Toriel panicked, hiding behind a pillar, more ashamed of herself than ever.

Once she was sure the guard was gone, she resumed her watch through the doorway at Undyne, all alone.

The warrior was alone now. Head in her arms, she clutched the scarf with such a tight hold that she threatened to rip it. She was alone. “Damn it!” Undyne screamed, smashing the stone desk underneath her fist. She was alone. “Damn it! Damn it! Damn it damn it damn it!” She roared until her voice was nothing more than an animal’s wailings alone in the wild. Her gauntlets were cracked, alone, and bloodied.

Unable to hold the weight of that strange familiar guilt anymore, Toriel left Undyne alone.

She dreaded the moments Undyne needed to be called in. Weeks had gone by, and the Captain of the Royal Guard showed no signs of an improved attitude. It seemed Toriel’s mere presence alone enraged the warrior. No matter how polite she was, no matter how royally she appeared, Undyne’s eye spat in her direction.

Just thinking about this meeting alone gave her many a sleepless night. Toriel wanted only the best for her people, but Undyne seemed to think otherwise, doubting her decisions at every chance.

“I’d like to propose a new policy for the Underground,” Toriel started, standing before a table of important monsters. One of those monsters being a certain Captain.

Most of the monsters at the table were quite agreeable. Whimsalots always followed her orders, supported her ideas, and even at times helped improve. Madjicks had a bit of trouble paying attention, but they appeared more or less on her side. Even the Final Froggits, while very strange, very quiet and very thoughtful creatures, nodded along with Toriel’s words.

But there was always Undyne.

“Haven’t you changed enough?” she interrupted. Despite the relatively safe atmosphere, she refused to take off her armor. The black sheen of her metal plates shone like a wild thing. “Things were just fine before.”

This, of course, caused the other monsters to doubt her as well. Whimsalots stayed loyal, but Madjicks grinned with a strange delight, pondering her words mischievously. The Final Froggits appeared even farther lost in thought.

The rest of the Royal Guard was all too eager to support her.

“She’s right! (She is!)” Dogamy and Dogaressa barked, sharing a single chair together. “Things weren’t so bad before! (I was happy enough!)”

Even Greater Dog panted and drooled, tail wagging happily.

It was hard to take it as anything other than an insult.

“I’m sorry, but I have not even told you what the policy is,” Toriel said through strained tones, feeling the room already turning against her. “Please, at least allow me that.”

“Don’t need to,” Undyne growled, lone eye focused on the spear in her hand. She never seemed to let that thing go anymore. “The old King’s rules were just fine.”

Surely, she could appeal to some of the monsters’ sympathies! “Please,” she sighed, feeling humiliated.

“… Let her speak, Captain,” the dragon monster huffed. He was usually quiet during these meetings.

“Bro!” A bunny knight close by yelled too-loudly. “You, like, sure bro?”

Undyne grit her teeth for a moment, but proceeded with a nod. “Fine. Go on, Your Majesty.”

Her tone was as hate-filled as ever. Although that wasn’t what worried Toriel. A sudden cold realization ran through her. Who runs the Underground? Me? Or her? Can the monsters tell the difference? That lone eye glared her way. Can she tell the difference?

Regardless, Toriel had no choice but to make her voice be heard, now. “I think our policy on fallen humans needs to be revisited.”

Metal smashed against wood. “Nonsense!” Undyne hissed, her armored fist covered in splinters.

“It must be,” Toriel continued, unflinching. If there was one subject she would stand strong for, it was this. Her eyes met with Undyne’s own righteous fury. “It’s possible we could have avoided disaster in the first place if things were different.”

This sent the black knight into a rage. “You dare?!” she roared, throwing her chair back as she took a towering stance, spear at the ready.

Nobody came to Toriel’s defense.

The Royal Guard, originally meant to protect their ruler at all costs, now stood dangerously close to attacking the Queen. Still, she would not back down.

“I do,” Toriel continued, anger spiking in her voice. Insubordination could not be tolerated anymore if she truly wanted to rule, if she truly wanted to help the monsters of the Underground. “King Asgore’s rules placed our fellow monsters in danger.”

“What would you know?!” The warrior shouted, taking a step forward. The rest of the Royal Guard merely watched, awaiting word from their captain. “You don’t know anything about the Underground anymore! You don’t know what we’ve suffered!”

Her words struck a blow to Toriel. True, they were. Toriel lived in solitude in the ruins for generations, barely speaking to others for the most part. But Toriel was still a queen. She had suffered her own tragedies as well.

“I know that threatening a human can cause them to act defensively,” Toriel countered. “What if they had acted in self-defense? What if they never meant to hurt anyone?”

Undyne clenched her fists so tight, it looked as if her claws would break through her own gauntlets. “Did Lesser Dog seem like a threat to anyone!?” She whirled to face Greater Dog. His tail drooped, muzzle sagged. “Did Shyren seem like the type to hurt anyone!?”

Even the Whimsalots couldn’t meet her gaze.

Undyne gripped that bright red scarf. Eye distant, gone to the past. Her words were barely audible. “He wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

Toriel shook her head. She would not budge on this issue. “I am sorry, I truly am, for the monsters lost. I will not speak ill of them.” She clutched her fist absent-mindedly, near her pocket where her phone used to be. “But the human could have been frightened. Monsters were ordered to capture them! To treat them as the enemy!”

At that, Undyne let out a booming laughter. It was a dark, spiteful thing. “You’re more of a fool than I thought, lady!”

Toriel fumed, a fire burning in her eyes. “I will not be spoken to in such a manner! I am your queen! You have undermined me in front of my people for long enough!”

The warrior didn’t hear. “You’re not my queen. You’re not my ruler.”

Toriel’s eyes widened with shock. She knew Undyne was wild, but this? “I advise you to watch your words, Undyne. You’re speaking of treason.”

“I know exactly what I’m saying!” Chairs screeched against the tiled floor as the Royal Guard rose around their captain, albeit slightly unsure.

A team of Whimsalots fluttered before Toriel, shaking their heads. The Madjicks simply vanished away in a puff of smoke, while the Final Froggits hopped back, attempting to avoid the confrontation all together. A lone Knight Knight arose from her slumber, armor screeching against stone. Mace in hand, she stood silently before Toriel, guarding the Queen with a quiet intensity.

Toriel’s mind reeled. How could this happen? How could she lose control so easily? She only wanted to help monsters and humans alike! She wanted to make a better world where tragedy and hate were no longer common!

“Am I truly so horrible?” she asked, unable to take a defensive stance against her own kind.

“No,” Undyne spat, her spear crackling with energy. “But you are a fool and a coward, unfit to rule. You ran from your duties and left Asgore to rule alone. Asgore may have been a fluffy pushover, but he did what needed to be done.” She took another step forward. “You? What did you do? Run. You let the human in. It’s your fault that they…”

The knight’s words trailed off. For the first time, Toriel understood Undyne, and they shared that strange familiar guilt. I could have stopped this. I could have done better. The scarf tightened around Undyne’s neck, urging the knight to reconsider. She loosened its grip, slightly. Only slightly. Sorry.

Undyne shook her head, but the memories would never leave her alone. Her voice went hollow. “Revenge won’t bring her back.” The scarf huddled close to her neck, alone and frightened by the fight soon to unfold. “It won’t bring anyone back.” That lonely eye flared with the energy of a just hero, alone on the battlefield. “Still, I won’t allow the past to repeat itself.”

Toriel fell silent.

“Will you step aside, or will I have to use force?” Undyne threatened, a real danger behind those fangs.

Toriel motioned to the Whimsalots and Knight Knight. “Stand down.” With a slight hesitation, the Queen’s guards lowered their weapons. “I will not have any more dust fall if I can help it.”

Undyne’s voice was filled with conviction. “Neither will I.”

It was a revolution that went quietly into the night.

Toriel did not spare much time in leaving the castle, only stopping to gather her journal full of jokes, and dropping a quick visit to a certain room, where toys sat in a chest, covered in age-old dust. When she headed for the entrance of Asgore’s home, she stopped.

Undyne was there to see her out.

“Is there nothing that can be done?” Toriel asked, unable to keep her voice from pleading.

Undyne narrowed her eye. There was no breeze this evening, leaving her scarf completely still. “We’ve both made our choices.” She shifted, metal clinking harshly in the quietness. “Don’t act like you care.”

Toriel felt a spark of ire. “I have never pretended otherwise.”

The knight clenched her fangs, then lifted her arm. The glowing spear was held tight, it’s point wicked sharp.

At that, Toriel’s instincts shouted at her. She would attack me now. After assuring everyone that things would end peacefully. No other guards were around. She tightened her fists, fire magic gathering.

Undyne pointed the spear opposite her, straight out the door.

“Don’t come back this time.” Undyne’s voice was low. “I’m sure your friend is waiting for you.”

Toriel’s pulse lessened. Perhaps I am truly not ready to be a leader again.

Still, with dignity, she walked down the steps, past Undyne and into the garden. She stepped carefully, avoiding trampling the delicate flowers, even those that were wilted and dull.

She left New Home for the second time, feeling Undyne's eye pierce through her back.

[hoodiesncookies-blog]

So, since I don’t plan on doing anything significant with this blog anymore... might as well just share the headcanons I’ve had but have never had the chance to play out in story because of my procrastination and indecisiveness.

Best place to start that I’m sure everyone is fairly interested in is, of course, Hoodie’s genocide battle. So, here we go. Be warned, it’s a lot.

Will be approaching it from the perspective of it being a game.

‘Cause y’know, Undertale is a game.

The Buildup

The initial walk down the Last Corridor would go exactly as you expect it would; Frisk just goes forwards before being brought to a stop in the center of the hall, camera pans to show Chara standing in their way. 

Now, I haven’t decided on what Chara’s exact dialogue would be, but I do know that she wouldn’t be as good at staying apathetic and “not mad, just disappointed” as Sans is. She’d be sad. angry, and confused; and that would show on her face and in her dialogue. She’d want to know why this happened.

After she’d try asking why, and the only response is Frisk taking a step forwards... that’s when Chara’d force herself to be calm. Still very much pissed in an apparent way, but calm. And then, she’d make her threat.

Which, of course, Frisk isn’t gonna heed.

*Battle Encounter Sound Effect*

Intro

Again, exact dialogue isn’t something I have right now, all I know is that it wouldn’t just be a copy-paste of “it’s a beautiful day outside”. Headcanon whatever you want, send me your ideas, I’m welcome to it.

Now with that out of the way... nearing the end of the dialogue, Chara would lean her head down so that her hood is partially concealing her face; pausing with a “...” before looking back up. 

Her final line being whatever replacement for “burning in hell” you want, the text coming out slowly... all while at the same time, her sprite’s face would gradually turn disfigured, goopy, and dare I say, demonic. Think of Flowey’s face going creepy at the end of a neutral route, that’s the right idea.

All silent, aside from the Undertale’s text sounds.

... and then, not waiting for the player to click ahead, a jumpscare will flash across the screen with accompanying demonic laughter, loud sudden music, and a flashing background. Think something between what happens at the end of genocide (here, jumpscare warning), and a traditional scare from any number of horror game’s; FNAF being a prime example. Hard to put into words.

The scare only lasts for, at most, two seconds; it’s just transparent enough that most people would be able to see that. while it was happening, the initial attack had already started. Literally as the the scare is flashing on your screen, Chara has already pulled out her knife and taken a swing at your soul.

And if it hits because you were busy being spooked, that’s half of your HP gone already. And after the jumpscare fades away? You’ve still got the rest of her attacks to deal with. A fire pattern is very quickly gonna appear on the bullet board, accompanied by ten knives circling around the board and launching towards your soul, one by one while the fire magic restricts your movements.

It ends with three quick & successive real knife slashes, without jumpscares.

It’s not an exactly complicated string, and Chara makes a point of saying that it is in no way her “strongest attack”. It relies on shock to work.

And considering we’re all human, it’ll probably work on all of us.

Into the Fryer

Opening up at the battle screen, there’s nothing much to explain.

My personal theme for Chara’s battle, regardless of my outdated broken autplay, is Zenith. And, just like with Megalovania, it only starts playing when you get to this point. Otherwise, the menus are all the same.

Now, going into player actions...

CHECKing Chara we’ll yield this description.

*CHARA, 10 ATK 5 DEF.

*The strongest enemy. Humans aren’t effected by your LOVE.

*Still, no one is invincible. Knock em’ dead, darling.

FIGHTing Chara will of course, yield nothing but a MISS (and invisible battle progression). But, in a way that is different than Sans’s battle.

When the attack is made, Chara’s sprite will temporarily disappear; and in it’s place, a bullet board opposite to yours will appear with another, paler red soul already inside of it. The soul will move to dodge your attack, resulting in the MISS, and afterwards Chara’s sprite will reappear.

And taunt your inability to hit her, as quote, “I’ve fought Froggits harder than you.” The point of all that being that it’s a LOT easier to dodge a child swinging around a chainsaw than it is to dodge bullet patterns.

And, with that, it’s time to enter into the actual fight.

Unique Mechanics

Chara would have a lot of uniqueness as far as how her battle would go in comparison to every other battle we see in Undertale. She needs unique rules, because her actual attacks aren’t exceptionally strong or intense.

The main things she has on her side are battle length, RNG, and defying the player’s expectations. To break down constants in her fight:

LV doesn’t mean shit- AKA, your stats are all back down to default. This is to supplement for the fact Chara’s magic doesn’t hit as hard as say, Sans’s; your HP is back down to twenty for this entire fight. 

Randomized Attack Order- Meaning, while her different attacks have mostly set patterns, the order those attacks come in over the course of the fight is randomized from the beginning. All that’s guaranteed is that you’ll see each of her attacks at least once... beyond that, there’s no way to know what you’re gonna get. 

Random Additions- Before, during, or after any of her attacks, Chara has the possibility of adding something else atop of them. A breakdown of possible editions will be somewhere below this section.

She Remembers- While this would probably push what is possible by Undertale’s standards, this is just me writing so let’s go with it. Chara will remember what attacks you, the player, are good at dodging, and what attack you’re not good at dodging, and will make additions based on that information. If she might deliberately change her attack order next go-around so you have to do the one you’ve died the most on first, or she might add stuff to an attack pattern she knows you don’t have trouble with. She will do anything to make this harder for you.

*This will likely not happen until you’ve died at least like, five times. If you beat her before then, you won’t have to deal with it. Good hecking luck doing that, though.

Now, onto those randomized additions I mentioned!

Jumpscares- Yeah, that jumpscare that happened in the beginning? She throw that into any attack pattern, at any time she likes. It doesn’t do anything on it’s own, but is meant to disorient and distract you while her attacks continue. And, if the player has a heart attack because of it... well, I guess that means Chara won right?

*Sometimes she’ll jumpscare you after her attacks end, just out of spite.

Attack Additions- Yes, she can add straight up more attacks into her set patterns. These can be any of her attacks; as long as it doesn’t disrupt the way the pattern is set, of course. No overlapping knife circles or fire patterns or real knife slashes. 

Counters- Sometimes, when YOU do your attack, when it misses you’ll be immediately thrown into the middle of an attack pattern with no warning. 

*And yes, all these additions CAN be made on top of each other, and become more and more common as the battle goes on.

I can’t really go over actual attack patterns and stuff because... I’m just not smart enough to come up with them okay. I’m not a game designer.

Out-of-Battle Shenanigans

Thanks to Chara remembering everything after LOADs, she’s gonna be very proactive about challenging the player’s expectations outside of just randomizing her attacks. While these changes will only show through her attacks and insults at first, the player will encounter others the farther they manage to get in her fight.

A couple of examples of the kind of stuff you’d see, just to give you an idea of what she’ll pull, both occur after the player gets to the midway point of the fight; AKA, the spare offer that, of course, is completely fake.

No hard feelings right- If the player chose to SPARE Chara, and got rekt because of it, the next time they enter the battle Chara will start things off by offering them the chance to spare her again... and doing it again will lead to the same result. Choosing to FIGHT her will, of course, lead to a MISS and her throwing you right into her initial attack.

*Each time you accept the SPARE, her sarcasm and patronizing “Mercy is good” act will grow more and more obvious to the point it will be pretty much mocking the player’s intelligence. If you continue, Chara will just stop saying anything out of boredom.

I’m impatient- The first time the player gets to the midway point, if they chose to attack, and ended up dying afterwards; after they LOAD and respawn, the second they start to move Chara’s sprite will run down the hall and force them into a fight, completely skipping the dialogue and going straight into a jumpscare & the initial attack.

*If you survive this, and didn’t have an episode because of the shock, Chara will follow the attack by saying “What? You thought I was just gonna wait for you to make your way over?”.

Again, this is just SOME of the shit Chara would pull, I’m just not creative.

Second Half

Upon denying Chara’s mock spare attempt and FIGHTing instead, you might initially think you managed to score a grazing hit. Chara’ would be grasping her arm, red dripping from it and her looking like she’s in pain... but, her health bar wouldn’t show up. Why?

Because, as she will reveal... that red stuff was ketchup.Specifically, ketchup packets; y’know, the ones she uses for the handshake prank when Frisk first meets her? Yeah. As she’ll say, “It’s never too late for pranks.”

And with that, she will toss the ketchup packets at you; or, from the menu’s perspective, your whole UI. Several parts of your menu will be splattered with red; most worryingly, parts of your bullet board.

Because your soul blend in with it when you’re fighting, so in portions of the bullet board you won’t be able to see your soul. For the rest of the fight.

From an in-character perspective, what Hoodie did was toss ketchup in Frisk’s eyes. She just used ketchup offensively. Step up, Snas.

But, beyond that, the new changes include new, more intense attack patterns; which, again, are randomized in order and additions. After three attack patterns that follow what she’s been using, however, new attacks will be added into the mix. Specifically... imitations of her family’s attacks.

These being:

Hand Sweep- Mimicking Toriel’s attack where her hands would float across the edges of the bullet board creating tracking fire patterns, Chara’s attack will be similar except, instead of a boss monster paw, it will be a mitten-covered hand will sweep across casting fire magic. 

Eye Flashes- One of the few times you’ll see Chara’s sprite change in battle, during this attack she’ll lean her head down so her hood is casting a shadow over her face; underneath he hood, her eyes will flash red in a specific order, showing where red knives are gonna come flying. This is an imitation of Asgore’s Orange & Blue attack, but because Chara doesn’t know how to cast orange or blue magic, she’s just going with what she knows; red. 

Galacta Blazing- The most accurate of Chara’s imitations is of her brother’s special attack; sadly, she can’t make her stars quite as colorful. They all come out red and hit for the same damage as her magic knives do, but act in the same way Rei’s stars do.

These attacks have their own patterns, but are also implemented into the random additions as soon as you get to this point.

*You feel like the act is coming to a close.

The Finale

By this point in the fight, it will have become apparent that Chara is no longer being as much of a little shit taking pleasure in wrecking your shit.

Because, she’s getting tired and she’s getting scared.

So, reaching the homestretch, you enter into what Chara reveals is her actual strongest attack. And, it should be noted, she doesn’t seem entirely confident.

Still, it’s a hecking insane attack; and the only one of hers I’d say matches up to Sans’s level of intense what-the-heck bullshit.

Problem is, I’m too lazy to create an entire attack pattern.I can promise she’d make use of literally everything she had used up until then, like you’d only expect her to. But, eventually you’re gonna get through it.

The final portion of this attack pattern would be Chara spamming jumpscares and wildly slashing the bullet board with her real knife the entire time, trying to dice your soul like a tomato. She’ll give everything she’s got.

Eventually though, the jumpscares will grow... slower, quieter, less intense. As will her knife slashes. Up until the point they stop altogether.

Chara would inevitably slip to her feet out of physical & magical exhaustion, having used up all of her magical reserves and completely worn her body out. She’s only a kid, and a sickly kid at that. This is to be expected.

... because of her knife slashes, the bullet board will fall apart, and you’ll be able to freely move your soul over to the FIGHT button. And when you attack, her bullet board will appear and her soul won’t even try to dodge it.

But, her HP will only drop down to 1. Her chest will have big slash across it like San’s does, but because she’s human she’s able to just barely stay alive.

She’s about to try and stumble back to her feet, when a second, automatic hit goes through... finish her off. Thanks, Mettaton.

Post “Victory”

After the battle ends, Chara’s body won’t disappear; she’s not a monster after all, she doesn’t turn into dust. Thankfully, in the lighting of the last corridor, the player won’t be able to see much besides a black lump on the floor with something pooling on the ground around it.

Examining the corpse will be met the lovely message of *You got the Real Knife. The description is as follows:

*”Real Knife” - Weapon ATK 20

*Finders keepers, losers weepers.

Walking by the corpse will cause Frisk step in the pool of blood forming around Chara’s body, and as such leave footprints. That’s nice.

I’m not gonna go over what happens if you LOAD your save after killing her, because my ability to type has degraded tenfold since I started writing this. All I’m gonna tell you is that it’s sad and you’d be a horrible person for doing it.

[askthepacifistmultiverse]

The Pacifist with More than Determination Ch. 2

Kirara: Well let’s keep going on this adventure shall we. More dialogue in this one. And very creative title by the way. I suck.

As I was writing this chapter, it turned out longer than I expected, but I wanted to get these chunks from the game over with quick.

Disclaimer: Undertale belongs to Toby Fox. I only own my OCs.

Chapter 2: The Ruins

Frisk POV

“Howdy!” the flower spoke. “I’m Flowey. Flowey the flower.”

I blinked once. Twice.

“Hmm,” The flower studied you closely. “You’re new to the Underground, aren’tcha?”

“Y-yeah,” I managed to say. I was still trying to process that I was seeing a talking flower.

“Golly, you must be so confused.” Flowey said. “Someone ought to teach you how things work around here. I guess little old me will have to do. Ready?”

I silently nodded. Something seemed slightly off about the cheerful flower, but she couldn’t figure it out.

“Here we go!” Flowey exclaimed and I suddenly felt a pull on my chest. A vibrant red heart shape came out of my chest. It floated in thin air in front of me.

“See that heart? This is your soul, the very culmination of your being.” Flowey explained.

I looked at my soul in wonder and I could move it too. I always believed in having a soul, but to see it physically was something else entirely. It felt so real and I felt a certain emptiness inside me that I didn’t notice before. Is it what happens when your soul leaves your body?

“Your soul starts off weak, but can grow stronger if you gain a lot of LV.” Flowey continued once my attention was back on him.

“What’s LV stand for? Why, LOVE, of course.” He said, smile never leaving his face. “You want some LOVE, don’t you?”

Love was a physical thing here as well? Like my soul? I thought back on my life thus far and gave the flower a quick nod. It seemed like a good thing.

“Don’t worry. I’ll share some with you.” He winked and I saw some little seeds appeared spinning around him. “Down here, LOVE is shared through, little white, ‘friendliness pellets’. Are you ready? Move around! Get as many as you can.”

I eagerly moved my soul, which moved along with me, reaching out and catching the incoming pellets. The second my soul touched one pellet though, pain shot throughout my entire body and injuries formed. Most of them were deep cuts bleeding profusely. I dropped to the ground, having no strength to stand, and looked at the flower helplessly. My eyes widened when I saw his face change to a malicious grin.

“You idiot.” His voice sounded so, evil, for lack of a better word. “In this world, it’s kill or be killed. Why would anyone pass up an opportunity like this!?”

I only noticed at the moment that I had an HP bar with 01/20. Was this like a video game? No. This was real. I was suddenly surrounded by a spinning circle of pellets. Friendliness pellets my ass.

“Die.” He simply said as the pellets spun closer towards me. I closed my eyes. I could hear his evil laughter, as I braced myself for impact. I was going to die for real this time. I waited and could feel my eyes tearing up. I didn’t want to die.

Then, suddenly, everything stopped. Flowey’s laughter and the pain in body numbing to almost nothing. I opened my eyes in time to see my HP at 20 and a fireball knocking Flowey in a way that was almost comical, if it wasn’t for the current situation.

“What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth...” a feminine voice said.

I looked up and saw a goat woman, I think? She has white fur and dark red eyes. She is wearing a long violet dress with long white sleeves. There were some symbols on the area of her chest that I did not recognize. Whoever she was, she saved my life.

“Ah, do not be afraid, my child.” She said helping me stand. “I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down. You are the first human to have come here in a long time.”

I looked at myself and found all my injuries completely healed. I smiled at her.

“Thank you for saving me Toriel.” I said extending my hand. “My name is Frisk. Pleased to meet you.”

She gently shook my hand with her large warm paw. I took notice how tall she was compared to me. I barely reach her chest, but I am quite short being only an exact height of 5 feet tall.

“Come! I will guide through the catacombs.” Toriel said with a smile. “This way.”

She began to walk through a door, similar to the one I came from, and I followed. We entered a room of light purple bricks and a staircase leading to another door. I assume this is the entrance to the Ruins? There were red leaves in between the stairs, but something else caught my eye. A glimmering yellow star was floating on top the pile of leaves. I quickly got close to it. I have seen this before back at the surface, but nobody believed I could see them. I touched it and I was filled with such a wonderful feeling. The feeling that I could do anything as long as I put my mind to it. Determination. I could see Toriel on top of the stairs waiting for me. I climbed the stairs and we continued on our way.

“Welcome to your new home, innocent one.” Toriel said in the next room. “Allow me to educate you in the operation of the Ruins.”

She stepped on some buttons on the floor and pulled a switch opening a closed door.

“The Ruins are full pf puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and doorkeys. One must solve them to move from room to room. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them.” Toriel explained.

I nodded and studied the puzzle. I loved playing puzzle games growing up with Hana. With that, I continued onwards. The next room had another puzzle that Toriel helped me solve by pulling switches she marked down. I felt like a little kid again doing all these things. I probably look like one too. The next room contained a training dummy of some sort.

“As a human living in the Underground, monsters may attack you.” Toriel said. “You will need to be prepared for this situation.”

This got me thinking. Am I really going to live here? Is there no way out? I won’t see the Sun, Moon, and stars, or Hana, or… I stopped myself. These people really are monsters. Does no one else know they exist down here? As for monsters attacking me, that got me worried. Monsters like Flowey could easily end my existence.

“However, worry not!” Toriel reassured. “The process is simple. When you encounter a monster, you will enter a fight. While you are in a fight, strike up a friendly conversation. Stall for time. I will come to resolve the conflict. Practice talking to the dummy.”

I nodded. It was a relief knowing I don’t have to hurt anyone. The world lacked kindness. I learned that the hard way. In return, give kindness and you shall be rewarded. No matter how hard things get and no matter how much you may get hurt, in the end kindness is all you got. I went towards the dummy and my soul sprung out instantly. I took a moment to appreciate how beautiful and fragile it is. I looked and saw my HP at a healthy 20 and a LV of 1. Options have appeared saying FIGHT, ACT, ITEM, and MERCY. I selected ACT and chose to talk. Too bad the dummy doesn’t seem like much for conversation. I could see Toriel smiling at me from the corner of my eye. My soul went back inside me after that.

“Ah, very good.” Toriel complimented. “You are very good.”

We went into the next room afterwards where Toriel said there was another puzzle. She went ahead as I looked around. All of a sudden, my soul sprang forth and I encountered a frog monster, I think? Froggit was its name. I quickly looked at my options and complimented it. It didn’t seem to understand what I said, but was flattered anyway as it blushed. Toriel then appeared and scared it off. I walked up to her and saw a lot of spikes jutting from the ground.

“This is the puzzle, but…” Toriel started to say. “Here, take my hand for a moment.”

I held her warm white paw and she guided me through a specific path through the spikes. I breathed in relief when we reached the other side. She told me that puzzles seemed a little too dangerous for now. The next room was a very long hallway that Toriel left me for a second to reach the end by myself. It was fun honestly. Reaching the end of the hallway, I saw her behind a pillar and she told me that she didn’t leave me and she was proud of me. I felt like a small child all over again. She told me this was to test my independence because she needed to attend to some business and had to leave me alone for a while.

“Please remain here.” She said. “It’s dangerous to explore by yourself. I have an idea. I will give you a cell phone. If you have a need for anything, just call. Be good, alright.”

She gave me a black cell phone with her number on it. It looked older than the ones we currently have up on the surface, but it will do. I was happy. I never had a cell phone in my life. With that, Toriel left. I sat down by the white pillar and contemplated everything that happened so far. The Underground was rather interesting so far. Toriel is a really nice monster. She was like a mom. I had to keep going though. I’m not a little kid anymore. I walked out the room and instantly encountered another Froggit. Without Toriel this time, I had to actually dodge attacks. I thanked dodgeball back in school. I easily spared the Froggit. I could do this if this is how the rest of the Underground is like. I did not care if I didn’t earn EXP or LV if it meant killing. The stupid flower is wrong. I touched the star in a nearby leaf pile and let myself dwell in the amazing feeling it gives me. I swear I could hear some words in my head telling me to save. Save what though? I didn't think too much about it. It only makes my head hurt if I think too hard. I continued exploring and found some candy in a room. I only took one piece. I was taught not to be greedy. I continued onward. When it came to monsters, I encountered frail Whinsums and wiggly Moldsmals. Some even gave me a bit of gold as gifts. When it came to puzzles, there were two pitfall traps and one that involved pushing rocks to open a path. On the way, I got a sudden call from Toriel asking if I preferred butterscotch or cinnamon. I picked butterscotch. As I entered another room, I found a ghost sleeping and blocking the path. I had no choice but to wake him up. My soul and stats were up in front of me. His name is Napstablook from what I checked. Looking through my options, I cheered for him. His attacks came in the form of tears and I did my best to dodge, though I got hit a couple times. I kept trying to cheer him up and apparently it worked.

“I usually come down to the Ruins because there’s nobody around, but today I met somebody nice. Oh, I’m rambling again.” Napstablook said to me. I smiled at him.

“My name is Frisk.” I told him. “It was nice to meet you, Napstablook.”

“I’ll get out of your way now.” The ghost said before disappearing into thin air.

I decided to call Toriel and say hello. I didn’t want her to worry about me. I dialed the number saved there and she picked up instantly.

“Hello, this is Toriel.” She answered.

“Hello Toriel.” I greeted. “I have a question.”

“What is it my child?” Toriel asked. This is it. I have been meaning to do this for a while ever since I met her.

“Is it alright if I called you mom?” I asked my voice small. There was a pause for a while.

“Will that make you happy? To call me mother?” She finally replied. “You may call me what you want, my child.” She hung up soon after. Toriel was really like a mom to me and wanted to let her know that.

I adjusted my bag and continued walking. There was a spider bake sale and I bought a spider doughnut. Spider cider was a bit too expensive for me at the moment. The rest of my way involved more puzzles and monsters. There were Loox, Migosps, and Vegetoids. I solved another pitfall and switch puzzle and a long switch pressing puzzle with pillars. I went to a path that led to a dead end, but I could see a city from where I stood. On a corner, I saw a toy knife, but chose to ignore it. I had no need for it anyways. I went back to another path I did not take before. A large black tree with all its red leaves scattered on the ground stood in front of me. The Ruins really did remind me of autumn. Just as I was about to keep moving, I heard Toriel approaching.

“Oh dear, that took longer than I thought it would.” She said as she got closer and took out her cell phone. It appears she didn’t see me yet. My phone began ringing and her gaze fell to me. She walked quickly towards me.

“How did you get here, my child? Are you hurt?” Toriel asked, worry laced in her voice. She seemed to notice the small scratches and bruises I got from other monsters on my way here, but no biggie. I ate a monster candy and it healed me right up. I figured out monster food replenishes my HP. Though the candy didn’t heal me fully, I was fine with 17 health points. It obviously did not comfort Toriel.

“There, there, I will heal you.” She said using some magic from her paws. It was nice and warm for a healing process. The surface needs some of that. “I should not have left you alone for so long. It was irresponsible to try to surprise you like this.”

I gave her a confused look.

“Err…”Toriel stuttered. “Well, I suppose I cannot hide it any longer. Come, small one.” She walked towards a cute house up ahead. There was another star in front of it that I quickly touched. As I entered the house, I told myself to tell Toriel the truth about myself.

That’s a wrap everyone. Hope this longer chapter also makes up for my lack of updates. This story is also available in Wattpad, AO3, and fanfiction.net if you guys are interested. This is how long exploration chapters are going to be. Snowdin forest, Waterfall, Hotland, etc. will have similar chapters.

[proxylynn]

UNDERFELL: FILE NAME NOT EDGY ENOUGH part #3

Chapter 3: Napstablook

WARNING: I WANT NO RESPONSIBILITY OVER SPOILING THINGS FOR OTHERS. THAT BEING SAID, THIS HOW FILE NAME NOT FOUND WOULD FUNCTION IN THE AU OF UNDERFELL. BEFORE YOU READ THIS, UNLIKE THE NICE TIME OF UNDERTALE, THIS WORLD IS KILL OR BE KILLED. THIS STORY WILL BE GRAPHIC, GORY, USE SWEARS LIKE NOBODY'S BUSINESS, AND DEAL WITH SENSITIVE SUBJECT MATTERS. FOR EXAMPLE, THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE READ THE FILE NAME RELOCATED SPOOF WILL KNOW HOW I PICTURE THIS VERSION OF LYNSIE COMING TO THE UNDERGROUND. IT IS NOT AN ACCIDENT. IT IS NOT BECAUSE OF SOMETHING DUMB. IT IS BECAUSE SHE CHOOSES TO END HER LIFE. AGAIN, THIS IS A BETA AND THIS OPENING CHAPTER IS LIABLE TO CHANGE TO BETTER FIT THE STORY AND MY NEWEST WRITING ABILITIES. SO TAKE THIS DEMO WITH A GRAIN OF SALT. I MADE IT BECAUSE I NEEDED TO LET SOME OF THIS EDGINESS OUT OF MYSELF. WHICH I GUESS MAKES UNDERFELL LYNSIE EVEN MORE TRUE TO WHO I REALLY AM. ANYWAY, ENJOY. ^_^

"Oh, my! That was pretty close. A second later and you would have been a pile of ashes."

Such a weird combination of tones in this voice. There's the tone of someone that is concerned about having attacked us and yet also the tone of twisted delight in the idea of death. This "HER" steps out of the shadows and I almost can't take her seriously. Toriel seems to be a monster that resembles a white-furred Nubian Goat, complete with droopy ears and short horns. She has a pair of visible fangs and long eyelashes, her irises have a dark red tint that looks insane or exhausted in the glow of the yellow sclera of her eyes. She has an anthropomorphic body, with paws at the end of her limbs. Which has me wondering why paws and not hooves? She wears a black and blood red robe that is frayed at the bottom, though the sleeves and leggings are a dusty gray. The robe displays a symbol of sorts on her chest that probably has a deeper meaning then I'm willing to care about right now. Right now, I'm more focused on the fire-wielding goat lady that is looking at me funny from across this really long room.

"Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am TORIEL, caretaker of the RUINS. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down. You are the first human to come here in a long time. I will do my best to ensure your protection during your time here."

I look at Flowey.

"Dude, is she for real?"

"She hasn't been the most stable since she left her husband."

"She left him? Huh...Judging by this intro of hers, I'd say he dodged a bullet."

Flowey shoots me a mean look and I'm confused.

"Come! I will guide you through the catacombs."

"You just threw a ball of freaking fire at us. I think we're better off going solo...or tandem? What do we call this thing we're doing?"

"Temporary joint union."

"Yeah! We're doing that."

Toriel's eye twitches and she step a bit more into the room.

"C-Child, please. I-I-I have only the b-best intentions for you."

"Considering we've just met and it started with you sneak attacking us, I'm calling bullshit on that. Flowey, do you have anything to add on why we shouldn't go along with her?"

"While she is motherly and caring some of the time, under the most minimal tension, she will become aggressive. She tries to keep the humans for herself. Always offering love and care. However, when the human inevitably tries to leave, she will fight them and attempt to kill them. Offering them a comparatively quick death, rather than a long and painful death at the hands of Asgore or any other monster."

"Huh...So what you're saying is, she's lonely?"

"Uh...I guess? Wait...What's with that look? Don't tell me you're actually considering it?"

"...Maybe."

Flowey proceeds to berate me and my questionable life choice when I notice something more urgent. Toriel is sprinting...towards us...and FAST!

"Fuck!"

"Huh? Holy sh-!"

I don't have enough time to evade to the side. Gotta go with a risky maneuver. I take a drive and skid under Toriel as she charges by. Once she's able to slow down, she sees us making a beeline out of here.

"You brats are making this so much harder than it needs to BE!"

Fireballs chase us out of the room, some getting way too close for comfort.

"I think we made her mad."

"We? Oh no, this is all on you."

"What did I do?"

"Less talky and more run for our lives!"

Now out of the room of fiery hell but with a crazed goat woman after us, we find a split path. There's a room to my left where a Froggit sits by and a hallway down the right.

"Which way?"

"That room's a dead end. Go right."

"Understood."

I ignore Flowey and the Froggit as it seems to ignore me as I enter the room on the left. The only thing there's nothing there but a bowl of candy on a pillar with two channels of water on either side.

"What are you doing?! She'll find us for sure."

"Can you hold your breath?"

"What?"

I slowly make us go into one of the channels and Flowey is shivering badly from the cold water.

"This is a stupid idea."

"Be quiet. She'll be gaining on us soon. You don't want to attract attention. Now hold your breath. We're going under."

We take in big gulps of air and I hold my nose as we sink beneath the placid surface. Flowey glares at me for doing this but then we hear the sound of someone enter the room. Heavy footsteps wander around the small room, obviously confused. There's silence for a time. Flowey begins tugging on me to get me to surface but I refuse. I won't go up till I feel it's safe. Soon, the heavy footfalls patter away out of the room and I wait an additional moment or two before carefully raising for air.

"*gasp*! Didn't you feel me pulling?! I needed air!"

"*sigh* She was still here. Going up would've been suicide."

"Fine...Can we get out now?"

"For the moment, yes."

"What do you mean for the moment?"

I drag us out and sit on the edge.

"Do you see what I see? The water is flowing into this room."

"Okay? So what?"

"If it's doing that, then that means there's a tunnel system. We can bypass running into her altogether and pop out somewhere else maybe ahead of her."

Flowey blinks a couple times.

"That's...That's actually a smart idea."

"The only issue would be air. Might be a tight squeeze in there, so we'll have to keep our faces up and hold our breath for a while."

"I was afraid you'd say something like that."

"You ready for this?"

"Wait...Eat some candy first."

"Uh...Why?"

"It'll restore your HP."

"..."

"Human?"

"It makes so much sense that I died in the fall and ended up in a purgatory that acts like a video game."

"That again? Look...I 100% assure you, you are not dead and this is real. Now go eat the candy, refill your HP, then get us back in the water so we can avoid the Boss Monster."

I stare at him blankly.

"You hear the words coming out of your mouth, right?"

"Yeah yeah. Just do it."

I stand up and go over to the precariously placed bowel.

[In this hellish world, you can only take 3 pieces of candy...Has a distinct, non-licorice flavor.]

"How would I even know that?!"

"Who are you talking to?"

"You really don't hear that?"

"You talking to yourself? Yeah. I'm pretty sure the Froggit heard you too."

"Ribbit." [I did.]

My eye twitches in frustration but I give up trying to understand and take a piece of candy.

[You took a piece of candy.]

"I swear I'm losing my mind."

[You ate the Monster Candy. Very un-licorice-like.]

"It's not wrong about that. Pretty tasty stuff."

[HP ██████████████████ 18/20]

"Mind sharing?"

"Croak?" [Me too?]

"Sure. Why not."

[You took more candy. How disgusting...]

"Bite me, voice in my head."

I give it to Flowey who happily munches on the treat.

[You took another piece. You feel like the scum of the earth...]

"No, I most certainly don't."

I toss a cady to the Froggit and it snaps it up with its long tongue.

"Ribbit." [Thank you.]

"No problem. Enjoy. And one more for me to max out my health."

[You took too much. Look at what you've done. You monster.]

"Whatever."

[You ate the Monster Candy.]

[HP ████████████████████ 20/20]

"Okay, back in the water we go. Yo, Froggit, if you see Toriel around here again, can you not say anything?"

"Croak, croak." [You got a deal, human.]

"Thanks, buddy."

Flowey and I take a deep breath before diving back in. It's dark in these tunnels, I have to feel my way along the walls for guidance. Luckily for Flowey, I stay close to the very tiny surface so he can breath more easily. Oddly, I find myself coming up for air less often than I'm used to. A crazy thought comes to me. Flowey's sort of fused to me in a parasitic fashion...What if he's able to filter some of the air he's getting into my own body? That would be so badass.

We skim along for a while. Aimlessly following the current as tries to push weakly against us. This is actually really relaxing. It's like going on the lazy river ride in water parks. It's a small break in the mad dash of the world where one can just forget all the insanity that goes on in our lives. But a reprieve like this is one that doesn't last long enough to my liking.

"Hey, I think I see light up ahead."

I can't really speak without gargling water, so I opt for nodding and move slowly towards it. I do so in caution. I know not what is out there. So when we near the opening I hold the walls and keep us stuck.

"Why did you stop?"

"*burbles* Check it out."

"*snickers* I'm sorry? I didn't quite get that."

"*growls*"

"Okay, okay. I'll take a look."

Flowey stretches his stem out to let his petal head take a look.

"The coast is clear."

He returns to me as I swim out the opening and pull us ashore in yet another room in the Ruins. I ring out my hair and clothes in a pretty dull room. On the end where I guess we would've entered are three boulders and three corresponding floor switches that would seem to go with the spikes that cover the bridge to this side of the room. I would say this is a smart puzzle but lying isn't nice. One can easily do what we did and swim across. Hell, with enough of a running start, you can jump the gap. Or even walk through the gaps in the spikes. Whoever is making these "puzzles" are terrible at making them trap anything. Unless...They aren't really trying to do so in the first place. Toriel...What are you up to?

"Wow! We made great progress."

"Did we?"

"Oh yeah. We skipped a bunch of annoying trap. I say we've got a mighty fine lead on Toriel."

"Good to know."

"Are you okay? You sound a little disappointed?"

"No. I'm just thinking is all."

"About what?"

"...Nothing. Let's keep going."

The room following this lame boulder-pushing puzzle is a room containing a mouse hole and a small table with a piece of cheese on it. Checking the table, the cheese appears to be stuck to the table due to being there so long.

"Hey rodent, I wouldn't try to eat that. That will definitely make you sick."

"Why bother? It's just going to eat it anyway."

"Better to speak up than say nothing at all."

"...You are a strange human."

"So I've been told."

Entering the next area another split off to two more passages. One going straight and one continuing on the left. Both paths are, however, blocked by what I can only imagine is a ghost. The ghost is like that of a simple bed sheet costume. But instead of the sheet being white, the sheet is black. The ghost has red eyes with black sclerae and aside from that is very undetailed long body apart from a mouth. A thin red line separates the eyes. It's just laying there on a pile of dead leaves, not even asleep either, though it's pretending to be.

"zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...zzzzzzzzzzzzzz..."

"Should we say something?"

"It's a ghost. Walk through it."

"That's rude."

"How? It's not like it can feel anything. It's incorporeal."

"Dude, you are so racist."

"How is that racist?"

"That be like me walking on you just because you're a flower."

"Fine. Point taken. But we still need to get past him."

"Okay, I'll handle this. *ahem* Excuse me, Mr. Ghost?"

"zzzzzzzzzz...(are they gone yet) zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...(can't they tell I want to left alone) zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..."

[This ghost keeps saying 'z' out loud repeatedly, pretending to sleep.]

No shit, Sherlock. I don't want to provoke it. But it seems like I have no choice but to bug the thing.

"Look, pal. I hate to bother you, but would you mind moving out of the way? I need to pass by."

"grrr...who's the moron that can't take a hint?"

It rolls over to sit up and face me. I'm not surprised to see it confused to see me.

"Yo. That would be Ms. Moron. Nice to meet you too."

I do a little bow for derpy effect and Flowey rolls his eyes.

"Don't mind her. She hit her head pretty hard earlier. Though I'm starting to think she's always been like this."

"Took you long enough to notice."

I pat Flowey's head but the ghost is unamused.

"oh...so it's a human that thinks it's funny. *scoff* just my luck. not only does a human have the nerve to piss me off. but it's a retard too."

I mock a gasp.

"Sir! I'll have you know I am far from that abhorred word. If anything, I'm special. With just a hint of A.D.D."

Flowey slaps himself.

"If you were trying to make yourself sound better, you failed miserably."

"that was trying? I'd hate to see what it's like when it actually makes an effort."

"*scoff* I'm surrounded by haters. But I've dealt with worse. My skin's gotten so thick I doubt any insult you throw at me will strike a nerve."

This intrigues our spooky new acquaintance.

"is that so? heh...alright human, you asked for it. *inhale* you are physically repulsive, intellectually retarded, your soul isn't even worth taking, you have no taste, a lousy sense of humor, and you smell. you're not even interesting enough to make me sick. you are nothing! if you were in my toilet I wouldn't bother flushing it. my bathmat means more to me than you. you pompous, stuck-up, snot-nosed, scumbag, fuck-face, dickhead, asshole of a human being!"

Wow...Who knew ghost could get winded.

"*panting* how...was that...human...?"

I clap impressively.

"Not bad, dude. That has to be a record for the most insults said to me in a single go. I give you a ten out of ten. Flowey?"

"...That was so messed up."

"And another ten from the second judge. The results are in. And...Yes! The ghost takes home the gold! The crowd is going wild!"

The room is dead silent.

"...are mocking me?"

"Far from it. If you think that's mockery than you're mistaken. If anything, I was trying to flatter you."

Another thing I didn't know about ghosts...apparently they can blush.

"f-flatter me? w-wow...heh...no one's ever done that before."

This ghost is adorable. I must resist the need to hug him. Unfortunately, while I'm having this internal battle to do something super awkward, the ghost shakes off the effect of my charm and smirks wickedly.

"I'll admit, you got me there human. but that's the last time that trick will work on me."

"Dude, I wasn't tricking you."

"I don't think it cares."

[GHOST FIGHT begins to play in the background.]

Huh? Is that...music?

[Here comes Napstablook.]

"Wait, what?"

"you talk a lot, human. but let's see how good you are at fighting!"

"Oh, you are so not ready for this."

"I am so not ready for this. I mean, how fair is this? He's a ghost! You can't hurt a ghost."

"that's right. you can't hurt me...but I can hurt you!"

My now purple soul emerges and the ghost, now known as Napstablook, proceeds to attack me with music notes. How does that work? Easy, he fires them like bullets at me! Sure the , , , and are easy to avoid, but the 🎼, , , and symbols are a lot trickier. Those are the ones that hit me quite a bit and riddled me with holes.

[HP ██████████████ 14/20]

"Damn it...*pant* I had just replenished my HP."

"We should've taken more candy with us."

"So true."

[FIGHT]

[ACT]

[ITEM]

[MERCY]

"Let's see what I'm dealing with here."

[ACT selected.]

[New options available.]

[CHECK]

[THREATEN]

[CHEER]

[FLIRT]

"Hold the ding dong phone here...I can flirt with him?"

"Please, human, for the love of god, do not flirt with him! Resist any sort of sentimentality and defend yourself!"

"Hmmm...Tough call here. I think I'll check first."

[CHECK selected.]

[Napstablook – HP: 88 ATK: 10 DEF: 10 – This monster doesn't seem to have a sense of humor...]

"oh, I'm REAL funny. make your move and find out."

Threat feels like the stupid option here and I really do want to see how flirting would go, but...I did only just meet the guy. I'd rather not make this too awkward right away.

[CHEER selected.]

"As far as fights go, you're doing a hell of a good job. Best one I've had all day. Keep it up, my spooky friend."

"...Did you really just say that?"

"*whisper* Shut it, flower-boy. I'm working here."

[Napstablook is wishing they weren't here.]

"heh...you think this is my good material? nah, you haven't seen anything yet. I've got jams way hotter than this. in fact...here's my latest remix!"

Napstablook shuts his eyes and concentrates. Curiously, he begins to sing a ghostly tune. These notes are floating notes are surrounded by purple bubbles They slowly fill the room more and more as he sings. Frankly, if this keeps up I won't be able to maneuver around these things.

"They're getting closer."

"I can see that Flowey. Not much I can do about it."

"What do you think will happen if you touch one?"

"I don't want to find out."

I find out when one pops on my head and the weirdest numbing sensation happens that is soon followed by my nervous system going nuts and I'm rocked with painful spasms.

[HP █████████ 9/20]

"Holy hell! Are you alright?"

"*slurred* C-Can't...m-move...B-Body...s-stuck..."

"Not good. This is not good at all."

Napstablook peeks with one eye and smirks at the sight before him.

"heh...that's the face of some that likes good tunes. tell me human, what do you think of my music?"

Concentrate Lynsie! Say or do something before he finishes you off!

"*slurred* I-I know...y-you're mocking me...B-But honestly...y-you have a...l-lovely voice.."

[FLIRT selected.]

Wait! I didn't select that!

Napstablook is flustered by this as much as Flowey and myself are. But this also breaks his concentration and bursts all the bubbles, allowing me time to recover in this confusion.

[The faint odor of ectoplasm permeates the vicinity.]

"w-w-what?! w-why would you say something like that?!"

I slap myself a couple of times to get the tingles out of my system.

"Because it's true. We might be fighting and acting like jerks, but that doesn't mean I'm going to lie about something like this. I mean, think about it, what would be the point?"

Napstablook averts his eyes from me.

"you're just making fun of me."

"Dude...Are you for real? Since we've met, have I even come off like a dick that would sling hate at you?"

"...no."

"Exactly. Life beats on people enough as it is. I'm not about to add more bullshit onto anyone's plate."

For a moment, this scary ghost holds a soft smile that makes him looks so damn cute. Yet it doesn't last long and he glares daggers at me seconds later.

"stop that."

"Stop what?"

"stop being nice to me."

"That's what I've been trying to tell her!"

"Zip it, Flowey. This is a serious moment. Napstablook is trying to speak and we should respect his turn to do so."

"just stop! you don't even know me. you're just some strange human. why don't you just back off?"

"To be fair, I can't really leave you alone. You started the fight and it won't let me leave unless we fulfill the 'end the fight' requirements."

"*scoff* that's not my problem."

"Though now that you mention it...Heh, I am coming on a little strong, aren't I?"

"Just a little?"

"Yeah...Tell ya what. Let's start over. S'up, I'm Lynsie the human. It's nice to meet you, Napstablook."

Napstablook fidgets and appears unsure how to respond.

"I come here because I don't want others to bother me...guess that turned out badly on my end."

"You do that too?"

His eyes widen.

"It makes it easier to be alone. To shut everything out. No one can hurt you when there's no one else around."

Napstablook looks sadden by my words and even Flowey is looking at me oddly. But Napstablook shakes this off.

"hey! mind your own business."

I frown.

"I know that tone. That's the voice of someone that is in pain and isn't ready to talk about it."

"*growls* hmph...I'm telling you, I'm fine. but soon you won't be..."

He summons more music note bullets.

"and it's not like you really care anyway!"

He fires them at me and I do my best to avoid taking damage as best I can, at least this attack isn't as strong as the last one. Purple bubbles hit for 5 HP while the note mullets hit for only 3 HP. My soul changes color, from purple to cyan light blue.

[This battle is taking everything you have...It's difficult and bringing up things you're not ready to go into either...But despite everything, you are filled with the need to him this ghost...No matter what.]

[HP ███ 3/20]

"*huffing* That...should've killed me..."

"Yeah, you took enough hits to have hit zero. What happened?"

"n-nothing! nothing happened...I'm just useless is all. I can't do anything right..."

Napstablook looks sullen, his inner pain creeping out to consume him. Damn it! I don't like this. I don't like that I can see myself in him and the tears that are threatening to pool in his eyes.

"Don't say that!"

Napstablook and Flowey flinch at my snap. I ball up my fists trying to keep calm.

"Don't talk like that! You're not useless. No one is ever useless. Everyone matters. It may never feel like it. It might always feel like everything is your fault and the world is better off never even knowing you exist. But damn it...That's not true! *sorrowful* It's not true..."

Don't you fucking cry! Don't you do it, you stupid bitch! Not now...Not like this.

"Lynsie? Hey, you're shaking..."

I bite my tongue and force a fake smile. No one's buying it.

"h-human...you shouldn't waste your nice words on me. I mean, I am trying to take your soul. no one should care about me...I'll just weigh them down and they'll end up getting hurt anyway..."

[CHEER selected.]

"You don't know that. It may be what you feel, but you don't know if that's the only outcome. The possibilities are as infinite as the stars in the sky. The only one that is really stopping you from finding out is yourself."

[Napstablook is staring into the distance.]

"..."

"Napstablook...*sigh* I know this is awkward as fuck. But I'm telling you these things not to be weird or upset up. But because I don't like feeling this pain. The same pain I see in you."

"...stop it human. this will get you nowhere. I don't want your pity."

"I'm not pitying you. I'm being sincere."

"Lynsie, maybe you should stop and...you're not going to listen to me again. *mumbles* Why do I even open my mouth?"

"I don't...just be quiet human!"

"It doesn't have to hurt. If you just talk to me..."

"stop it! stop doing this! can't you see I want you dead?!"

"Killing me isn't going to make you feel better! That won't make the pain stop!"

"SHUT UP!"

All this agitation is getting to Napstablook to the point his attacks change. Now he attacks me with his bloody tears. How does this attack me? Simple...He starts crying long wiggly tears that change direction upon approaching the walls, they climb up the walls and eventually fall once they are above me. So yeah, I'm trying to dodge blood tear rain. What the fuck is my life right now?! Either way, I manage to avoid everything up until the last couple of drops which burns my soul like acid!

[HP ███ 3/20]

"It burns! Argh! Why do tears burn?!"

"Here, let me..."

Flowey holds my soul and rubs it in his leaves. I don't question why this relieves the pain, I'm just incredibly grateful it does. Hooray for the healing power of plant aloe! I think?

"Mmmm...Thanks a million, Flowey."

"Thank me after we get out of this. It's your turn."

[REALLY NOT FEELING UP TO IT RIGHT NOW. SORRY.]

Poor Napstablook. He's crying and it's all my fault. I have to make this right. But how? Could it really just as simple as cheering? I mean, it is an option for a reason. I know if I felt this bad I'd like someone to cheer me up...Not like anyone ever gave a shit about me. No! Not now. Save the pity party for later. My light blue soul changes color again...now it's green.

[CHEER selected.]

"Napstablook...Please don't cry. I know this hurts. And you don't know how to deal with it. But the more you hold it in, the worse it will get."

"s-s-shut up! I'm not crying! *bawling* just shut up and die already!"

Napstablook starts crying normal looking magic blood tears that rise up before falling at a curved trajectory towards me. This attack is, by comparison, the easiest to avoid, as there aren't as many tears coming down like the other attack. This gives me a crazy idea that Flowey would so tell me not to do. I use this to my advantage and move inward, going straight for the sad specter.

[HP █ 1/20]

"What are you doing?! Get away from him, you idiot!"

"s-s-stay back...d-d-don't come any closer!"

"I can't do that."

"w-why not?"

I stop in front of him and he shuts his eyes in anticipation of some sort of hit. I just shack my head and put my hand on top of his head much to his surprise.

"I can't stay away, because I can't do this from afar."

I kneel down and wrap my arms around the poor guy in comfort. Once more, Flowey is both amazed and disappointed. But he's not my concern. Napstablook is confused, unsure whether or not to accept this.

[You hug NAPSTABLOOK.]

"*sobbing* why...w-why are you being so nice to me...?"

"I know the ache you're feeling. But no one ever took the time to ask if I needed help. I don't want to see anyone go through this like I did. So please...No more tears."

"*sniffling* I-I'm not crying...I'm not crying so you can just shut up...I don't need you to understand me...I don't need you to bother with me..."

"That's where you're wrong. I want to understand you. I want you to know that you can't do anything that would bother me. I...I want to be your friend, Napstablook. *sniffle* I want you to know that you're not alone."

Napstablook flinches at a sudden cold feeling. Turning to look at me his eyes widen. I'm crying. I couldn't hold it anymore. It's not as bad as I want to, but the tears are steadily falling. Napstablook looks over at Flowey who is just bewildered by the entire event.

"Don't look at me, she's the weirdo hugging you."

"Hugs are nice. Hugs make the pain stop."

Napstablook frowns and pats my back. Wait, he has hands? Where? How? Ghost logic!

"you...you're not bad...for a human."

"Thanks."

I let him go and he just floats sadly.

"I know this whole thing was weird between us. And you probably want to, you know, go sort some stuff out on your own instead of yukking it up with some strange human chick. But I want you to know...*nervous* If you ever feel like just...being around someone or...maybe talk for a bit...I won't mind being that person you come to. I-If that's cool with you and all? *nervous giggle*"

I rub my arm sheepishly. Why am I so nervous all of a sudden? Napstablook gives me a patient smile.

[Cheering seems to have improved Napstablook's mood.]

"heh...heh...heh...oh gee...you...you really are something else. but...maybe that's a good thing. I usually come to the RUINS because there's nobody around...but today...I met somebody nice. odd, but nice."

I smile fondly at him. I did good. I can be proud of myself.

"oh! I'm blocking the way...I'll let you pass now."

With that, Napstablook fades away.

[YOU WON!]

[You earned 0 XP and 0 gold.]

This clears the way for me and Flowey to continue, but I find myself frowning.

"What's wrong? You won. Now we can continue."

"I...I kinda was hoping he'd stick around. Maybe tag along?"

"What? Why?"

"He seemed like a nice guy."

"Nice? He tried to kill you! You have 1 HP left!"

"He was lashing out because he's hurting. I won't blame him for it."

"You are without a doubt the stupidest human I have ever known."

"If being kind to those that need it the most is stupid than I rather be a nice idiot than an intelligent asshole."

"That way of thinking is going to get you killed."

"Whatever."

I stand still for a while, my head looking down at the ground and my hair draping my face. Flowey becomes uneasy by this.

"Uh...Human? You do realize we can walk, right?"

"...Flowey, I need a minute."

"But, Toriel can be anywhere! We don't have time to..."

"FLOWEY!"

Little guy flinches and I rub my face trying to settle down.

"Please...I need a minute...Just one..."

"Human..."

Halfway into that moment of silence Flowey speaks again.

"Um...Sorry to bother you, but...That stuff you were telling the ghost...Was...W-Was that stuff true?"

I don't reply.

"Lynsie?"

"...I'm not ready to talk about it. Not yet. Not now..."

"O-Oh. O-Okay."

"...Sorry I snapped at you."

"...I forgive you."

He pats my head with his leaf and I start walking into the room straight ahead of us. This room is empty apart from two spiderwebs and a sign. The sign informs us of a Spider Extortion Racket, which is held in the two nearby spiderwebs. All proceeds will go to befit some monster named Muffet and her plans on taking over the Underground for all spider kind. Sounds lame to me. The smaller web wants 7 G for a single Spider Donut? Weird. The larger web wants 18G a thing of Spider Cider? What? Wait...There's small print on the sign. 'Please note, since we spiders are trapped in the Ruins and therefore can't give our gold to Muffet, we really don't give a crap if you pay us or not'. Well...I feel awkward.

"Take the food and let's go."

"None of these sounds good."

"Of course not. It's made by spiders, for spiders, with spiders. Who would WANT to eat a spider?"

"Not me, that's for sure."

"You don't really have a choice. You need something to heal. You can't go walking around with only 1 HP. You're a target waiting to be hit and hit hard."

"I'd rather press my luck without eating or drinking spiders."

Still, part of me feels odd about this place. So I take the 2G I got from the fight with Froggit and put it in one of the webs.

"Why'd you do that?"

"Meh. I don't need it."

A tiny spider comes down and takes the gold with a small snicker.

"Have a nice day."

I wave it off as we exit the room. Only now do we see that we have a slight problem. My fight with Napstablook has taken more of a toll than we knew, as I have been bleeding from bullet wounds this whole time and leaving a trail in my wake.

"We better go."

"Yeah."

Taking the other path leads us into a large room with three Froggits, who have huddled around and playing a game of craps. They look at us and for a second, it seems that they are about to attack us. But I think of something to distract them.

"Look behind you! There's something in the way!"

They look at the wall and much to our surprise, there IS something there. A fourth ant-sized Froggit is found in a crack in the wall and its got a tiny switchblade. While confusing as hell and so many questions coming to my mind, Flowey gets my body moving into the next room before the Froggits take notice of us again.

"...That was so weird."

"I know, right?"

This new room is just as odd. This room has spikes blocking the exit and six cracks, three on either side, on the floor. A plaque on the wall reads "There is just one switch." hinting that we need to trigger one switch to solve the puzzle in this room.

"Do you know where it is?"

"Nope. I don't really 'do' a lot of the puzzles here. I can just shift around in the ground and get by them."

"Cheater. *sigh* I guess we have to check each spot till we find it."

"Seems like it."

Starting with the three parts on the left, I kneel near the crack and push on it. This breaks the floor and we look inside.

"I don't see a switch. Do you?"

"Nah. Just a rooted Vegetoid. Let's keep looking."

Moving on to the next on the left side, we once more break the cracks. But lady luck smiles on us this time.

"I see it!"

"Great. Drop down."

"Drop down? How will we get out?"

"There's a set of stairs to get back up here. See those ledges? You climb over those to get back out here."

"...You monsters and your crazy puzzles, I swear."

Flowey doesn't get a chance to respond as I drop down the hole and land in a pile of dead leaves. Flipping the switch, we hear a loud clank and head up the stairs to return to the upper floor. Once there, we see the spikes are down.

"Great, let's keep going."

"Aren't you curious as to what the others have?"

"No."

"...We're looking."

"Why?"

"Because you never know unless you try."

Flowey sighs as I move over to the last hole on the left, but this one contains nothing but a leaf pile.

"Lame."

I go back to the start of the room and begin now on the right side. Breaking this first crack has me tilting my head in puzzlement.

"What is that?"

Flowey looks down and a look of familiarity hits him.

"Be right back..."

I watch as the flower-boy stretches down the hole and comes back with an old red ribbon.

"Why'd you get that?"

"For this..."

Flowey pulls my hair back with a couple vines and ties the ribbon tightly around it, making a ponytail.

"There. Now you can see better and not look so darn creepy."

[You equipped the Bloodstained Ribbon.]

[You gain 5 Defense.]

"Huh? Neat. A little gross, but neat."

[If you're cute, the monsters will still hit you just as hard...but now they might feel bad about doing it.]

"Really? Okay, I can dig this."

Moving on to the next crack, I break it open and I can't help the smile I get.

"What? What's with that goofy face?"

"Shhhh...You'll see."

I climb over the ledge to the hole's corresponding stairway and head down. Flowey is deeply confused until we get to the bottom. There, laying in a pile of leaves and facing the wall, is our spooky buddy Napstablook. Flowey's about to chastise me but I cover his mouth. Slowly I take careful steps closer.

"don't come any closer human..."

I shrug.

"Damn, and here I thought my ninja skills were top notch."

I try to be funny to show we're still cool. Though Napstablook does make a small chuckle, he doesn't turn around to face me.

"So...How ya doing, dude?"

He doesn't answer and I frown.

"Guess I really do suck at this whole friend thing. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bother you."

I turn to leave from whence we came.

"wait..."

I pause.

"...I didn't say you had to leave."

The smile I get hurts from how big it is and Flowey is at least glad to see I'm in a better mood. I turn back and go near Napstablook, sitting on the ground just a foot or two from the pile of leaves he's on.

"human..."

"Yeah?"

"I...I've been thinking...about the stuff you said...did...did you really mean it?"

"Every word."

Don't choke up now. He's willing to talk. Don't make this awkward.

"heh...you were right about some things...I...I have some problems...I'm angry and hurt...but not at you...there's just so much shit in my life...I need to really resolve so much and think about how to handle things..."

"Do you maybe wanna...talk about it?"

"no...not yet..."

"I understand."

"thank you...it's hard for me to say stuff like this...but I just want you to know that...that I'm grateful to you...no one here has the patience or kindness or mercy to put up with someone like me..."

"Is that what you think? That I put up with you? *groan* This is harder than I thought it would be."

"Lynsie? What are you doing?"

I move closer to Napstablook and lay behind him. The ghost visibly tenses up and flinches when I drape my left arm over him. Yep...Kind of spooning a ghost that tried to kill me some time ago. This is my life now.

"h-h-human?"

"I'm not 'putting up' with you. I know the people down here tend to be douchebags, but I genuinely care about you."

I nuzzle the back of his head and he sniffles at the possibility of tears happening.

"I'm sorry I attacked you so badly."

"It's okay. I forgive you."

"I..."

"Shhhhh...You don't have say anything, Napstablook. We can just lay here."

I feel him relax and feel a hand take hold of mine.

"human..."

"Hmmm?"

"this...this is nice."

I smile and shut my eyes.

"Yeah. It is."

I would love to see the look on his face, but at this point, I couldn't open my eyes even if I wanted to. I'm so worn out and low on health, exhaustion takes over.

"Lynsie? Aren't you worried about...?

"*sleepy* A little nap...Please?"

Flowey frowns but can't help that he's stuck on a lump of dead weight at the moment.

"Fine. But only for a little while. Besides, sleeping can recover your health above your maximum HP. So I guess it's for the best."

I'm out cold in moments. With me unconscious and Napstablook snoring soft Zs, Flowey gives in to the group. He curls up and lays his head on mine. Peaceful slumber soon fills the room in a place that knows no peace.

[Hours later]

Napstablook can't remember the last time he slept so well. Not that ghosts need sleep, but it still doesn't hurt to do so either. This human...Very strange, yes. But she made him feel so comfortable. From the kindness of her words to the gentleness of her actions, and the warmth of her body laying there against...wait...Where did the warm go?

Napstablook sat up and looked around. The human was nowhere to be seen. The only evidence she was there at some point was the indent in the leaves and small blood drops on the ground. Something doesn't feel right. Her behavior didn't match this. He had to investigate. Floating up to the upper level he found his answer as it was leaving the room. There was the human, still unconscious, but now being held and carried away by Toriel. Most likely taking the human to her home.

"oh, shit..."

[advocatewrites-blog]

Into the Unknown Part 2 Chapter 1

Into the Unknown

Fandom: Undertale, Coraline (book), Over the Garden Wall, Paranorman, Gravity Falls (season 2)

Characters: Frisk, Norman B., Dipper P., Mabel P., Coraline J., Wirt, Greg, the Cat, the Frog; Sans, Toriel, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Asgore,; the Other Mother, the Beast, Agatha P., Bill Cipher, Asriel D., Chara D.,

Pairings: Not the focus. Alphys/Undyne, with mentions of Papyrus/Mettaton, sans/Toriel/Asgore, and Wirt/Sara. Due to the nature of Undertale and the dating segments, there is also interpretable Papyrus/Wirt, Undyne/Mabel, Alphys/Dipper, Napstablook/Norman, Mettaton/Norman, Mettaton/Mabel, Sans/Dipper, Sans/Norman, and Sans/Greg.

Rated a high +K for violence, mild language, horrific elements that may be disturbing to younger readers,  mentions of child abuse and bullying, character death that is sometimes permanent, and mentions of suicide that may be triggering. These elements remain relatively unchanged from their source material, which most all are for children, but discretion is advised nonetheless.

Disclaimer: Undertale was created and owned by Toby Fox. Coraline was created by Neil Gaiman and owned by Bloomsbury and Laika. Over the Garden Wall was created by Patrick McHale and owned by Cartoon Network. Paranorman was created by Sam Fell and Chris Butler and owned by Laika. Gravity Falls was created by Alex Hirsch and owned by Disney. Any other work mentioned or homage are property of their respective owners. This is a fan-made, nonprofit work that only seeks to entertain. Please support the original franchises.

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“WOWIE! YOU DID IT! YOU DIDN'T DO A VIOLENCE! TO BE HONEST, I WAS A LITTLE AFRAID. BUT YOU'RE ALREADY BECOMING A GREAT PERSON! I'M SO PROUD I COULD CRY. WAIT, WASN'T I SUPPOSED TO CAPTURE YOU...WELL FORGET IT! I JUST WANT YOU TO BE THE BEST PERSON YOU COULD BE. SO LET'S LET BYBONES BE BYBONES.”

Their hands are shaking as Papyrus leaves. It's hard to breathe, like she had just gotten out of the fiercest battles. They stand there for a long time after Papyrus leaves but they don't know why. Her knife clatters to the ground.

She doesn't know why she's done anything she has. She shouldn't have spared him. She should have killed him like the rest. In this world, it's kill or be killed. It's hurt or get hurt. She shouldn't have accepted his mercy, because he's going to hurt her just like the others. They all hurt her in the end never let them get close never show them mercy no mercy no mercy no mercy she calls for help

* But nobody came.

They wipe at their eyes, trying to remove tears they aren't crying. More Dust gets in them than before but it's a good feeling. It was just a mistake. They can go back and fix it.

They call for help.

She wonders how much longer they're going to keep this up. It shouldn't be much longer now, she thinks.

The end will be here soon. She will erase this world.

* Reset

Two are the Trees An Undertale/Over the Garden Wall crossover fanfiction By the Poor Sap Advocate

Chapter 1

“Antelope, Guggenheim, Albert, Salami, Giggly, Jumpy, Tom, Thomas, Tambourine, Leg Face McCullen, Artichoke, Penguin, Pete, …Steve…but I think the worst name for this frog is—“

“Wait, wait a second.”

Their surroundings were just becoming clear to him. It was dark, barely bright enough to see his brother in front of him. The only light came from above, and it looked miles away.

“Uh, Greg,” said Wirt. “Where are we?”

“Underground?” Greg offered.

“Weren’t we in the woods a few moments ago?” Wirt asked.

Greg hummed and thought, and turned to his frog for a second opinion. The frog let out a slightly confused croak.

“Nevermind,” said Wirt. “Let’s just…keep going the way we were.”

“I don’t think we can climb that high,” said Greg.

“No, Greg, I meant forward.”

And forward they went. The light in the caves grew as they travelled down the corridor, though Wirt couldn’t figure out why. It was becoming increasingly clear they were somewhere in a cave or underground or both, and the light source above was fading. Wirt could see almost everything in his way now, from the cave walls to the beds of flowers to the…

A golden flower, looking at them with a very confused expression.

“Hello Mr. Flower,” said Greg.

The flower made a face that Wirt couldn’t quite read.

“More of you? Really?” the flower asked. “Alright. Let’s get started then.”

It was dark, wherever Frisk ended up. It was also cold; not quite as cold as Snowdin, but cold enough that they tugged their sweater closer to them. The moon shone above them, so it’s not the Underground, and it was a quarter moon uneclipsed so it wasn’t the Other Toriel’s world.  They are in a forest, so thick with trees that it’s hard to see if there was supposed to be a road. It’s something completely new to them.

Yet they still felt determined.

*File SAVED

They did not know how long they walk in the woods alone. It was hard to measure time when the only repeating pattern is stepping on twigs. Eventually, the repetitive sounds came from something hard smacking against wood. Frisk decided to follow that.

More sounds became audible as they walked closer. Sounds of breaking branches. Sounds of one moving around the ground. Sounds of humming, not so much a song as it was a march. Frisk only got close enough to see something humanoid walking away from the sight, the sounds carrying after them.

“Hey kid? What’re you doing out here?”

That sound came from behind the scene. Frisk had to turn around and crane their neck to see their addresser--a small bluebird perched on one of the higher branches.

“You’re not lost, are ya?” the bluebird asked.

Frisk shrugged. They had no idea where they were supposed to be heading anyway.

The bluebird groaned, and buried her face in her wing. “Well, do you need—?”

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE?”

Frisk froze at the voice. They stayed frozen as the light shines in their eyes. The bluebird murmured something and flies off but they did not quite hear it over the pounding of their heart. They did not unfreeze until the light of the lantern grew enough that they could make out the holder’s face. Just the woodsman from before. Frisk let themself wave a bit to be friendly.

The woodsman gives them a steady glare. “These woods are no place for a child like you. Don’t you know the Beast is afoot here?”

Flowers did not have faces. Goats were not bipedal and matronly. And there certainly wasn’t an entire society of monsters living under a mountain. Wirt was fairly certain of these things. At least, he had been up until fifteen minutes ago. He concluded that, in order for him to be seeing the flowers with faces and motherly goats, he must either be dreaming or going crazy. Possibly both.

Greg, however, had no problem accepting any of the things in his way. This did not surprise Wirt as much as it should. This whole Ruins area looked like it was something Greg had dreamed up.

This was all Greg’s stupid dream, Wirt decided, and he just had to get him through it.

“Come on Wirt!” said Greg. “They’re not too bad once you get to know them!”

The frog gave a croak in agreement.

“Greg, you just got out of a fight with a carrot!” said Wirt.

“Vegetoid was nice,” said Greg. “I don’t know what he wants me to do with all these vegetables though.”

The frog croaked again. This time Wirt wasn’t sure what it meant.

“It’s still a carrot,” said Wirt. “A-and a monster! You shouldn’t be anywhere near those things.”

“Okay. Why don’t you try then?”

Before Wirt could figure out what Greg meant with that, he found himself being pushed ahead. A Froggit blocked the way.

Wirt tensed up as the battle began and his Soul left his chest. The Froggit unleashed a few bullets that flew around like flies, but otherwise seemed uninterested.

“Pst,” said Greg in a way that was not actually meant to be quiet. “Trying complimenting her!”

It was worth a shot, Wirt decided.

“Listen,” said Wirt. “You look like a frog of decent logic, and we are but two lost souls in the Underground. Would you consider letting us pass?”

The Froggit seemed to think for moment. Wirt was pretty sure it was because it had no idea what he had said. It hopped away, leaving behind two coins.

“Uh, excuse me, you forgot your—“ Wirt started. Greg stepped in and grabbed the coins before he could finish.

“Greg, those aren’t ours,” Said Wirt.

“Sure they are!” said Greg. “It’s just like in a video game when you defeat an enemy!”

“Greg, this isn’t a game!”

“Why can’t it be?”

“Because it’s dangerous down here,” said Wirt.

“All the more reason to think of it like a video game!” said Greg. “Now come on, I think I’ve saved up for the Spider Cider.”

It took the Woodsman a while to figure out Frisk was just a lost kid in the woods. It took him even longer to realize they could not talk to him. It was easy to tell when he did. His tone grew softer, yet it was still full of worry. He asked if they knew where they were going, and when they answered no, offered them a place to stay at his house.

Well, it was not his house. It was the house that he used when he needed a roof over his head while he worked. Before him, the house had not been touched in a long time. Yet it was nice to be in a house Frisk did not recognize, so they ignored the smell of must and feathers.

“You may stay here for the night if you wish,” the Woodsman said. “But beware if you leave in the night. There is a Beast that lurks in these woods. Ever singing his mournful melody in search of lost souls such as yourself.”

Frisk wasn’t very good with words, but they knew what Beast meant. It was something like a monster…a monster! Was there a Monster out here? Could they know how to get back to the Underground?

“I’ve work to attend to in the mill,” the Woodsman said. “Do what you wish. You may find me in there.”

He threw another log on the fire for them, grabbed his lantern and left.

The frog did not have a name. Most frogs don’t, naturally. Names are things given to distinguish between humans. Frogs, especially frogs on the Surface, did not need them.

This frog, on the other hand, was no longer on the Surface. Yet he was still not given a name. Greg had yet to decide on one, and the frog was not in any hurry to have one.

He was quite curious about where he had ended up, however, so while the two brothers negotiated for baked goods at the spider bake sale, the frog decided to explore some more.

There were frogs in the Underground. Not real frogs; frogs of flesh and blood and grew from tadpoles. It was frog that was held together with magic.

“Hello traveler,” said the Froggit. Or, rather, the thing that lived under the Froggit.

The frog croaked a greeting.

“I do not wish to fight you,” said the Froggit. “Nor do I think any of the creatures in the Ruins anymore. You and your humans have been quite kind. However, I wish to ask you a question.

“Before you there was another human in the Underground. They were the first in a long time. They were usually quite kind to us, but something changed the last time they were here. I do not think they were quite themselves. I am not sure if they were safe. Have you any idea where they might have gone?”

The frog did not, and told him as much.

“I see,” said the Froggit. “Thank you. And if I may impart some advice, traveler of the Surface, be cautious of the old queen. She has lost a lot, and she is not always aware that she hurts because she is hurting.”

“Kitty!” Greg called. “Kitty! Now where is that frog named Kitty?”

The frog croaked to grab his attention.

“Oh there you are Kitty!”

Greg ran up and scooped the frog into his kettle.

“Hiya Froggit!” said Greg. “You’re looking fantastic today!”

The Froggit did not understand what he said, but blushed anyway.  They dropped a little more gold than most Froggits do when they left.

Frisk spent the night. They left early in the morning, as the sun was beginning to rise. They did not see the Woodsman again.

They wondered if he ever left the mill after that, if he ever got sleep or if he went back out into the forest. They would have to find a way to thank him later. But most people, they realized, would come back when they needed them.

They stopped thinking as they heard something move in the woods. It was too big to be the bluebird, or even the Cat from the Otherworld. They braced themselves.

The fight started.

The thing that emerged was not a monster, or at least a monster they could recognize. It walked on all fours and towered above Frisk. It looked like a dog, but the way its fur stood up from all sides made the shape hard to distinguish. And its eyes…

The creature attacked first, lunging towards Frisk. They dodged. Their turn opened up, but all Frisk could think to do was compliment their eyes.

The creature was not flattered. It lunged again, swiping at Frisk. They dodged and jumped back. They tumbled in the creek.

The creek was not deep in the slightest. It did not hurt them too much to tumble into it, nor did it take them very long to pull themselves back up. But in the process, they left the fight.

Something else was fighting the creature. Something small and black that crawled over the creature and forced it back into the creek with them.

The creatures tumbled into the creek. A black turtle emerged, followed by a normal-looking dog.

Next out the creek came the Cat. He leaped out of the water in a blur of black. He shook himself dry the same way the dog did, and started to lick the rest of himself clean.

“There are few creatures I like,” said the Cat. “But dogs have a special place in hell for them.”

The dog noticed Frisk for the first time and rushed over. This time, its intentions were far more friendly. Frisk gave it a few decisive pats before it disappeared into the woods once again.

The Cat didn’t speak up until the dog was out of sight. Frisk watched him carefully.

“There are few creatures I like, but perhaps I was too quick to judge you.” said the Cat. “This world is…new, to me. Perhaps I would be willing to walk part of the way with you.”

He avoided making eye contact with Frisk. However, when Frisk extended a hand, he leaned into it and let himself get pat.

Wirt had not really meant to get into Toriel’s bedroom. He was looking for a way out. He had tried to find a way outside of the house, but the Ruins ended with Toriel’s house.

He wondered if that was deliberate.

Toriel’s room was ordinary. It was incredibly well kept, thought that did not surprise Wirt. It had been decorated with bookshelves and typhae, but it all looked so old and out of place that it was hard to believe Toriel put it in.

Wirt looked through everything. Through the sock drawer, the pots of plants, under the mattress.  And he felt bad about it but what else was he supposed to do?

His eyes fell onto the diary on her desk. It was thick and full, but it was already turned today’s date. Something on the page had been circled in bright red ink.

Wirt swallowed as he leaned in closer to read it.

Why did the skeleton need a friend? Because she was feeling bone-ly!

“You know, perhaps I overestimated her abilities.” said Wirt to nobody.

Greg’s calls shook him out of his thoughts. The younger brother rushed into the room, the frog trailing behind him.

“Toriel’s gone!” Greg exclaimed.

“Gone?” said Wirt. “What do you mean, gone?”

“Well, she was sitting in Chariel and I asked her—“

“What, the chair? Why did you name her armchair and not your frog?”

“I didn’t name it!” said Greg. “But I asked her how do we leave the Ruins and she got up and said she had something to do but she’s been gone for five minutes now and I really wanted some of the butts pie!”

Toriel would know how to leave the Ruins. Why would she get so defensive the second Greg asked?

“Come on, we need to go find her.”

Author’s Note: Fall this year lasted about 2 minutes, so I’m really sad I didn’t get to watch Over the Garden Wall. I could watch it now, but it’s like watching Halloweentown during Christmastime; it loses some of the magic. But after this, I feel like I’ve watched it enough.