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whitenoisewrites · 1 year ago

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True Pacifist part 5. Huge apologies for the massive gap. Stuff just kept happening. First it was uni assessments, then family stuff, then a bunch of general life things, and it all just piled up. Combined with how big a project this has turned into, I just couldn't find the time or energy for quite a while. I've been chipping away at it where and when I can though, and I've finally got another chunk ready.

As always, big shoutouts to @karmaspidr. Don't forget to check out the Official Guidebook on Ao3, and the Official Desert Sanctuary Blog, full of dialogues, interactions, hypotheticals, and other supplementary materials. And perhaps the occasional meme, for flavour.

Now then. Last time, we managed to convince Clover to let us out of Sanctuary. We made our way back to Hotland, where Dr. Alphys' Lab awaits...

-------

Even in the dark, it's obvious the Lab is a mess. You still can't interact/examine things in the dark, but the bowls and notes are strewn about the desk rather than being stacked on it. The surveillance monitor is off. The dog food bag is still present. Alphys will emerge from the "bathroom" and turn the lights on as normal, but her overworld sprites no longer smile, and some stains are visible on her lab coat. Her talk sprites also rarely smile, even nervously. Most of Alphys' dialogue will have a neutral or downcast/depressed expression.

On Alphys seeing us in the lab:

"Oh. It's... it's you."

...

"You're trying to get through to see the king, right? Don't worry, I couldn't stop you if I tried. And I know better than to try."

...

"Hotland's pretty dangerous though. I would've thought you'd rather stay in Sanctuary with the rebels. But then I got the call from her. I have to keep you safe. Make sure you get to New Home in one piece."

...

"It's stupid, honestly. What do they expect me to do for you that they couldn't do better?"

...

"You probably guessed by now, but I'm Dr. Alphys, King ASGORE's Royal Scientist. And no, I won't tell you why I'm helping the rebels."

Alphys: "Just know that if anything happens to you, I'm done for. So, no need to worry about me screwing you over. No more than I already have, anyway."

Alphys: "What's with that look? Surely you know what I mean. I created Mettaton. I made him famous. Famous enough to get filthy rich. Rich enough to hire his own mercenaries. Mercenaries that will stop at nothing to get a human SOUL for him. Mercenaries that were starting to get sick of trying to break into Sanctuary. Mercenaries that now have a much easier target. You. Every awful thing that's about to happen to you is all my fault."

...

Alphys: "I'll still try to help you, of course. But when I fail... you'll get hurt. You might even die. Especially if Mettaton decides to come after you himself. And he'll have plenty of chances. The elevators are almost always under heavy guard nowadays. Which means you'll have to take the long way. And since I can't be seen with you, we need some other way for me to try and guide you. You have a phone, right?"

*You show Alphys your phone.

Alphys: "What the... where did you even get that? I haven't seen that model in ages. Here, let me see if I can..."

(Alphys upgrades your phone)

Alphys: "There. You should be able to send and receive texts, and access your Storage Box remotely. I gave you access to mine too, just in case you need more space. I never use it anyway. I did have to make you an UnderNet account though. And... I had to add myself to your friends list too. Sorry. It's the only way to lend you my Storage Box like that. Don't worry, you can just remove me when you're done with it."

(Ping!)

Alphys: "...that's the UnderNet alert tone. But, I didn't send you anything yet..."

*You check your phone.

*METTATON has sent you a Mortal Enemy Request.

Alphys: "No... how did he...? Unless... oh. Oh, no!"

(The lights turn off.)

"OHHHH, YES! WELCOME, BEAUTIES AND GENTLEBEAUTIES, TO A VERY SPECIAL EPISODE OF..."

(The lights turn on, revealing Mettaton's Quiz Show setup.)

Mettaton: "METTA-TRIVIA! THE UNDERGROUND'S NUMBER 1 QUIZ SHOW! I'M YOUR HOST, METTATON! COMING TO YOU LIVE FROM THE HOTLAND LAB WITH THE EVER-ELUSIVE DR. ALPHYS, AND TONIGHT'S CONTESTANT... THE NEW HUMAN!"

(Applause)

Mettaton: "BUT BEFORE WE BEGIN, A BIG SHOUT-OUT TO THE GOOD DOCTOR! IF SHE HADN'T FRIENDED THE HUMAN ON THE UNDERNET, I MIGHT NEVER HAVE FOUND THEM! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP, DARLING!"

Alphys: "B-but-"

Mettaton: "NOW, ON WITH THE SHOW! THE RULES ARE SIMPLE, LITTLE HUMAN. ANSWER CORRECTLY..."

(Dramatic pause...)

Mettaton: "OR YOU DIE!"

*Mettaton attacks!

Unlike canon, getting zapped enough times will kill you. Getting zapped removes 1/4 of your max HP, rather than 1/2 your current HP.

Alphys is still present in the battle, but only helps you from Question 4 onwards. Her gesture when you answer right is also changed from a thumbs up to wiping her brow in relief.

-Question 1 (the prize) is unchanged.

-Question 2 (the King's name) has "Asgore Dreamer" as option D. The correct answer is still option C, "Asgore Dreemurr."

-Question 3 (what robots are made of) has "Steel & Steam" as option C. The right answer is still B, "Metal & Magic."

-Questions 4-6 (trains, flies, "memory game") are unchanged.

-Question 7 (smooch a ghost) is replaced:

Mettaton: "LET'S TALK POLITICS!"

"Q: Who is the leader of Sanctuary?"

A- Mayor Ketsukane: (Wrong) "DON'T FEEL BAD, EVERYONE FALLS FOR THAT ONE! I THINK EVEN SHE'S STARTED TO BELIEVE IT!"

B- Sheriff North Star: (Wrong) "PFFT, DOESN'T HE WISH!?"

C- Ambassador Clover: (Correct) "MY, YOU ARE A SAVVY ONE, AREN'T YOU? YOU'D MAKE A FINE AMBASSADOR YOURSELF, IF YOU WEREN'T ABOUT TO DIE!"

D- Captain Undyne: (Wrong) "EXCUSE YOU? I'M THE ONE WHO TELLS THE JOKES AROUND HERE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"

-Question 8 (letters in the name) is unchanged.

-Question 9:

Mettaton: "GET READY, HUMAN! HERE COMES THE LAST QUESTION! GET THIS ONE RIGHT, AND YOU'LL WIN THE MOST FABULOUS PRIZE OF ALL... A FEW MORE PRECIOUS MOMENTS OF LIFE!"

"Q: In the dating simulation video game, 'Mew Mew Kissy Cutie', what is Mew Mew's favourite food?"

All four answers are incorrect. When you pick one (or run out of time), Mettaton zaps you down to 1HP.

Mettaton: "OH, NO! OUR POOR CONTESTANT TRAGICALLY STUMBLES AT THE LAST HURDLE! YOU WERE SO CLOSE TO SURVIVING! BUT NOW, YOUR SOUL IS AS GOOD AS-"

Alphys: "That's cheating!"

Mettaton: "OH? LOOKS LIKE OUR SPECIAL GUEST HAS A COMPLAINT! WELL, THAT WON'T DO AT ALL! WHAT SEEMS TO BE THE PROBLEM, DOCTOR?"

Alphys: "None of the options were the right answer! Mew Mew's favourite food is snail ice cream! Ever since the fourth chapter of the first VN! You can't just have a quiz show that's impossible to win! It's... it's not fair!"

Mettaton: "...HMM. ACTUALLY, YOU HAVE A POINT THERE."

Alphys: "I-I do?"

Mettaton: "OF COURSE! AFTER ALL, HOW DO YOU INJECT DRAMA AND TENSION WHEN EVERYONE KNOWS HOW THE STORY WILL END? WHAT WE NEED... IS A TWIST! HUMAN, HOW ABOUT A NEW FINAL QUESTION? ONE THAT OUR FRIEND HERE CAN VERIFY IS FAIR?"

-Question 10:

"Q: Who does Alphys have a crush on?"

Alphys: "You... you wouldn't!"

Mettaton: "WHAT'S WRONG, DARLING? THIS ONE'S FAIR AND SQUARE, NO TRICKS! AND AS PROMISED, IF THEY GET IT RIGHT, I'LL LET THEM GO... FOR NOW. ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU WANTED? GO ON, HUMAN. GIVE IT YOUR BEST SHOT!"

A- Undyne: "IT'S A CLASSIC TALE, ISN'T IT? AS ROMANTIC AS IT IS TRAGIC. THE SMART, SHY SCHOLAR, DREAMING OF THE STRONG, STRAPPING SOLDIER. BUT ALAS, BOTH ARE TOO DEDICATED TO THEIR WORK FOR SUCH FRIVOLITY. UNDYNE IS ALWAYS BUSY PLOTTING THE REBELS' DOWNFALL, AND ALPHYS IS BUSY WITH... WHATEVER IT IS SHE DOES WHEN SHE'S SHUT UP IN HERE ALL DAY. WILL OUR POOR, NERDY HEROINE EVER MUSTER THE CONFIDENCE TO CONFESS? OR WILL SHE FOREVER PINE FOR A LOVE SHE CANNOT HAVE? OH, THE INJUSTICE OF IT ALL!"

B- Asgore: "ALPHYS, ALPHYS, ALPHYS. YOU REALLY SHOULD KNOW BETTER. WORKPLACE ROMANCES NEVER WORK OUT. STILL, I CAN'T REALLY BLAME YOU. HAVE YOU SEEN OUR KING YET, HUMAN? THAT LUSTROUS GOLDEN MANE. THAT BOOMING YET VELVETY-SMOOTH VOICE. THE POWER, THE PRESENCE, THE BOD! WHO WOULDN'T BE INFATUATED? WHO WOULDN'T WANT TO IMPRESS A MAN LIKE THAT? WHO WOULDN'T OUTFIT THEIR ENTERTAINMENT ROBOT WITH ANTI-HUMAN WEAPONRY IN THE HOPES OF CATCHING HIS EYE?"

C- North Star: "WAIT, WHAT? BUT HE'S... OH. OH, ALPHYS, HONEY, NO! OOOOOHHH MY, WHAT A SCANDAL! THE ROYAL SCIENTIST AND THE RENEGADE SHERIFF?! TALK ABOUT STAR-CROSSED LOVERS!"

Rather than blushing and covering her face like for Undyne or Asgore, Alphys will simply look shocked.

Alphys: "N-no! That's not, I-I mean, I would never! Not after-"

Mettaton: "OH, DO RELAX, DEAR, I'M JUST TEASING. IT'S NOT A CRIME TO FIND ONE OF THE REBELS ATTRACTIVE. DESPITE UNDYNE'S BEST EFFORTS. AND HE DOES HAVE A CERTAIN RUGGED CHARM ABOUT HIM, DOESN'T HE? EVEN BEFORE YOU GET TO JUST HOW GOOD WITH HIS HANDS HE MUST BE. ALL THOSE GUN TRICKS AND ALL THAT SHARPSHOOTING MUST MAKE FOR A VERY... DEFT TOUCH, DON'T YOU THINK?"

D- Mew Mew: "HERE'S A FUN METTA-TRIVIA TIDBIT! DR. ALPHYS TAUGHT HERSELF ROBOTICS BY REPAIRING AND REFURBISHING A LIMITED-EDITION LIFE-SIZE MEW-MEW ANIMATRONIC DOLL SHE FOUND AT THE DUMP! THAT'S RIGHT, METTATON FANS! YOUR BELOVED IDOL WOULDN'T EXIST WITHOUT OUR ROYAL SCIENTIST'S UNHEALTHY OBSESSION WITH EVERYONE'S FAVOURITE CATGIRL ANIME. OH, EXCUSE ME, 'MULTIMEDIA DOCU-DRAMA ABOUT THE HYPOTHETICAL PROPERTIES OF HUMAN-MONSTER HYBRIDS AND FUSIONS.' HOW COULD I FORGET."

All four answers are correct (or at least, Mettaton believes so. Alphys doesn't actually have a crush on Starlo, but her shocked reaction made him think she did). No matter what you pick:

Mettaton: "WELL, LOOKS LIKE THAT'S ALL THE TIME WE HAVE. CONGRATULATIONS, CONTESTANT! YOU WIN! YOU GET TO LIVE ON, AND FROLIC FREELY THROUGH HOTLAND. UNTIL YOU FALL INTO MY NEXT DEVIOUS TRAP, OF COURSE. FAREWELL FOR NOW, BEAUTIES AND GENTLEBEAUTIES! BUT STAY TUNED, WE'VE GOT PLENTY MORE DRAMA, ROMANCE, AND BLOODSHED, COMING RIGHT UP! ONLY ON MTT-TV!"

(Mettaton retreats.)

*You won! You got 0 EXP and 0 gold.

After Mettaton leaves, Alphys approaches you.

Alphys: "Are you alright? Here. I'm not the best healer, but hopefully..."

(She restores your HP)

Alphys: "I-is that better? If you're still hurt, you can grab something from the fridge. You should probably do that either way, actually. You'll probably need it."

...

Alphys: "I'm sorry. I... I wasn't thinking. I forgot Mettaton was on my friends list. So when I added you so I could share my Dimensional Box with you, he must've realised you must be near me. And since I hardly ever leave the lab anymore..."

...

Alphys: "You should probably go. He usually keeps his word, but if you take too long getting to whatever he's setting up for you, he'll get impatient. And he gets... nasty when he's impatient."

...

Alphys: "Listen, I don't-"

*Ring, ring...

Alphys: "...oh. That'll be... sorry, I need to take this. Head out whenever you're ready. I'll be in touch."

Alphys goes to the "bathroom," leaving the player to explore the lab.

With the lights on, you're able to examine and interact with things properly. If you return to the main entrance, the surveillance monitor will now be on. Rather than a live feed of you, the monitor shows Undyne's house.

*Looks like some kind of security monitor. The default setting seems to be a feed of Undyne's house.

The upper floor is mostly the same, albeit somewhat messier. The work table is not dusty, since Alphys has secretly been at work on projects for the rebels. There are also more letters on the nightstand.

*Read one of the letters?

-No:

*It's none of your business anyway.

-Yes:

*You find an open envelope from "C. Goldbell." You take out the letter...

*...it's complete nonsense. Just random jumbled letters. You put everything back where it was.

If you try to interact with the "bathroom" door:

*You can hear Alphys on the other side. You can't make out what she's saying, but she sounds upset.

Leaving the lab to the east, you'll occasionally see CORE enemies interspersed with the normal Hotland encounters. These are Mettaton's mercenaries. In the interest of game balance, they always appear alone, and deal slightly less damage when found in Hotland than in the CORE.

Alphys will text you directly rather than posting Undernet updates. Her messages will also generally be more serious in tone. Alphys will also call you less often, with most of her phonecalls being replaced with texts.

Aside from the new enemies and the tone shift, early Hotland proceeds mostly normally. Though rather than pretend to hack the laser blocking the west ship puzzle, she'll just tell you she has the access required to turn it off.

The cooking show is also mostly the same, although Alphys' phonecall to Mettaton is distinctly more tense, considering he's actually trying to kill you this time. When you go over to grab the SOUL substitute, you're actually able to grab it:

*You found a can of SOUL substitute.

Bringing it back to Mettaton:

Mettaton: "..."

Mettaton: "WHAT? WHY DIDN'T IT... ER, I MEAN, SPLENDID, DARLING! THANK YOU SO MUCH! NOW WE CAN GET STARTED ON THE CAKE! JUST BE AWARE, SOMETIMES IN THE KITCHEN..."

(Mettaton brings out a mixing bowl from under the counter, and brandishes a whisk menacingly.)

Mettaton: "...THINGS CAN GET A BIT MESSY."

*Chef Mettaton blocks the way!

The "fight" is relatively simple. Mettaton is still in his invincible box form, and ACTing has no effect. You just need to survive a barrage of ingredient and cookware themed attacks for a few turns until the cake is complete.

-For the first three turns, Mettaton will dump ingredients from above the bullet board into a giant mixing bowl below it. You need to navigate through the gaps, similar to the jetpack minigame from the normal game.

-On turns 4 and 5, the bullet board becomes extremely narrow, only allowing you to move left and right. Mettaton mixes the ingredients with a whisk, the handle of which pokes up into the bullet board repeatedly as it moves back and forth. You need to time your movements to get past the whisk when it's not poking up. The movement pattern on turn 5 is faster and more erratic.

-On turn 6, Mettaton puts the batter in the oven, which begins belching flames at you. Through turns 6, 7 and 8, the patterns gradually get denser as the heat cranks up.

-On turn 9, the oven dings, and the completed cake drops into the bullet board, potentially hitting and damaging you if you're under it.

Once it's done, Mettaton will Spare you, ending the battle.

Mettaton: "AND VOILA! A DELICIOUS, 100% VEGAN, HUMAN-SOUL FLAVOURED CAKE! EVERYONE GIVE A BIG HAND TO MY LOVELY ASSISTANT! THAT'S ALL THE TIME WE HAVE FOR NOW! UNTIL NEXT TIME, DARLINGS!"

Mettaton speeds off. After he leaves, Alphys calls to check on you.

Alphys: "Are you alright? Thank goodness I managed to disable the booby trap on that can of SOUL-substitute in time. It was a close thing... take a minute to breathe, then keep moving."

Alphys: "Just ahead, there's a cliffside where you should be able to see a huge facility out in the lava flow. That's the CORE, the main power plant for the entire underground. Inside is an express elevator right up to Asgore's castle. That's where you need to get to. Good luck."

*Click*

-------

God, that chapter beat the crap out of me. Just a heads up, the rest of Hotland will probably be quite a bit less detailed. I wanna try and wrap this up sometime before I keel over from old age lmao. Anyway, hopefully there won't be quite as big a gap between this part and the next. Take care for now.

Desert Sanctuary AU

Post Undertale Yellow True Pacifist. Clover decides to NOT sacrifice himself. Doing so would risk bringing humanity a set closer to extinction and there is also no real guarantee it would help anyone. And Asgore still needs to pay for his crimes.

He and the others return to the Wild East. After some discussion, the Wild East declares independence from the rest of the Underground and announces that any human within their borders is under their protection.

Roles

Clover: Unofficial Leader and Human Ambassador

He's at the head of all diplomatic meetings between the Wild East and the Larger Underground. Wants both peace and justice. Is trying to prove humanity isn't bad but is constantly battling his own anger. Still plans to free the five souls. LV 3, 0 EXP

Ceroba: Official Leader

After the Wild East declared its independence, it was made into a Democracy. Ceroba is the current Mayor of the town. Had the Steamworks repurposed to help the residents of the Wild East. Still wants answers about Kanakoe.

Starlo: Head of Law Enforcement and Defence.

Takes his new role very seriously but still goes by North Star. Human-hating extremists from the Larger Underground have sneaked into the Wild East to either sabotage them or steal Clover's soul. Caught the first unlucky bastard trying to kill Clover in his sleep. Doesn't want to risk that happening again.

Martlet: Scout and Mole.

Not an official resident of the Wild East. Still works for the Royal Guard but only to gather intel and have the best possible chance to find a human before someone else and bring them to the Wild East. Unsure if this is the best course of action.

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whitenoisewrites · 1 year ago

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Sharing your work is actually pretty hard. Putting yourself into your work is a big part of being creative. Which means that sharing your work means putting yourself out there. It's something I've always struggled with. Even online, with handles or even straight-up anonymity, it's still tough at times.

It can be frustrating, too. It can be hard work, bringing an idea to life. It can be painful, when something you were looking forward to exploring doesn't turn out how you wanted. But despite it all, we persevere. Because there really is just nothing like the feeling of creating. Exploring these worlds, getting to know these characters, and sharing what we've found with each other.

So thank you, @karmaspidr. Thank you for sharing your world with us. Thank you for giving us the chance to explore it with you, get to know its people with you. I wish you all the best through the rest of this journey, and beyond.

Stay determined.

Some self-motivation. Ink is supposed to help us after all.

#undertale #undertale au #desert sanctuary #desert sanctuary au

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whitenoisewrites · 1 year ago

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Howdy, folks! Time for True Pacifist part 4. Sorry for the big delay. Uni is back on, and I've got some other personal projects I'm juggling too. So updates are almost certainly going to continue being significantly slower from now on.

Bear in mind also that I'm very much writing by the seat of my pants here, so there is a very real chance that something I make up for this might contradict what might later appear in @karmaspidr's Guidebook or miscellaneous dialogues or what have you, especially as time goes on and they fill in more blanks. As time goes on, it's entirely possible that the original Desert Sanctuary and this take will end up diverging quite a bit. So if it turns out this isn't actually how DS!Clover would react in this situation... well, I apologise, but also this part took forever to write and I'm not redoing it lol. If that happens, I guess this will just have to be an AU of the AU lmao.

Also, this is a long one. I didn't want to leave you guys hanging again, so I tried to squeeze in as much as I could. Just a heads up.

Anyway, when we last left off, we were trying to sneak out of Sanctuary to get back to Hotland, the Lab, and the road to ASGORE. Clover wants us to turn back, but of course, we can't, or there's no more game.

Clover decides that we have to be stopped, even if it takes drastic measures...

-------

On all routes, the Clover fight activates Serious Mode.

The battle is affected heavily by your LV, and by whether or not any of your kills were rebels.

-If you have killed any rebels, Clover will always kill you. You cannot flee. You also gain the Taunt ACT, which reduces their DF but increases their AT.

-If you have not killed any rebels, but your LV is over 5, Clover will still kill you. But if you flee, they will let you go, allowing you to return to Sanctuary to heal, buy items, or adjust your equipment.

-If you killed no rebels and your LV is 5 or less, Clover will not kill you. Taking "lethal" damage will leave you at 1HP, and you will wake up back in Clover's room at the Mayoral Estate. They will also let you flee.

-If you're still at 0 EXP, you can flee, Clover will not kill you, and you gain access to a unique ACT which reduces their AT. This is what we're dealing with right now.

Clover's stats are also complicated. They have a base AT of 14 (starting AT of 10, +4 from being LV3) and a base DF of 18 (starting DF of 10, no LV bonus, +8 from Fancy Holster). However:

-They will use stronger ammo based on your LV. This gives them a max AT of 24 (14 base, +10 from Nails), exclusively in the Geno route. Here in True Pacifist, they use the Rubber Ammo, giving them no AT bonus.

-If they use an ammo type that has bonus effects in UTY, they do not receive that extra benefit, only the AT boost. For example, Glass Ammo will give them +5 AT, but will not heal them if they hit you.

-Their internal DF is much higher than Checking says it is. As discussed in Geno, this is to reflect the fact that, as a human, they are much more durable than monsters. In True Pacifist, attacking them is almost useless. Without AT boosts from levelling up, you'd basically be guaranteed to only do 1 damage. And since they have around 40 HP, that's 40 turns you have to survive. Even with the ability to reduce their AT, that's a tall order, for no real gain (other than satisfying one's sick curiosity of course).

Most of Clover's attacks utilise their revolver. Since they fight physically rather than using magic projectile patterns like monsters, their attacks are relatively simplistic, but are faster than average to compensate. A few examples of attacks they might have:

-A revolver appears outside the bullet board and fires in at you. Only one can appear at a time, since Clover only has one gun, and can't create more with magic like Starlo.

-A crosshair appears in the bullet board. Shortly after, Clover fires at that spot. They would start firing multiple times in a row as the battle progresses, up to a maximum of 6.

-A warning box appears across the bottom of the bullet board. A cowboy boot would sweep across the bottom of the board, representing Clover kicking up dust. For the next couple of turns, small dust clouds would float in front of the bullet board, obscuring your view.

-Clover holsters their revolver for a moment. Six crosshairs appear on the board in rapid succession. After all six appear, Clover's eye would flash from under their hat. They draw their revolver and rapidly shoot all six spots.

-Clover would only use their SOUL shots in Genocide. Even then, they can only use the normal shots and the Pacifist charged shot, not the Geno route beam.

(From this point on, the dialogue and battle actions will be based solely on the True Pacifist version of the fight.)

ACT options:

-Check:

*CLOVER 14 AT 18 DF

*The true rebel leader. Seeks justice for their friends, and for the fallen.

-Talk:

*You try to talk Clover down.

*They refuse to hear it.

"There'll be plenty of time to talk once you're home safe. Now git!"

-Talk (second time or more):

*You try to talk to Clover.

*They ignore you.

-Join:

*You offer to help the resistance.

*Clover turns you down.

"Not a chance. Even a cold war is still no place for a child. Trust me, I know..."

-Join (if you befriended Undyne):

*You offer your services as a double agent.

*Clover laughs incredulously.

"Sure, 'cause Cap'n Fish-face would definitely let a human into her precious Guard. How stupid do you think I am?"

-Join (multiple times):

*You say you still want to help.

*Clover rejects you again.

"I said no, kid. Try again when you're grown. If we're even still needed by then, that is."

-Shrink:

*You flinch at Clover's movements.

*They look at you with a strange expression.

*Clover's AT dropped.

"..."

-Shrink (second time):

*You take a hunched posture.

*Clover's breath seems to hitch for a moment.

*Clover's AT dropped further.

"..."

-Shrink (third time):

*You hold your arms up defensively.

*Clover can't seem to look you in the eye...

*Clover's AT plummeted.

"..."

-Shrink (4th time or more):

*You shy away from Clover.

*Clover's AT won't go any lower.

"..."

General flavour text:

*Clover twirls their revolver.

*Clover takes aim.

*Clover checks the cylinder of their gun.

*Clover breathes deeply.

*Smells like corn and cordite.

*Smells like feathers and cherry trees.

*Smells like dust and flowers.

The general structure of the fight would be similar to most UTY bosses, that is, you need to Spare Clover until you find an opening to use the correct ACT that will end the fight. As the battle progresses, Clover will continually try to convince you to turn back, frequently being torn between anger at you for being reckless and foolish, and disgust at themselves for attacking you, no matter how justified they think they are. Which folds over into anger at you for "making" them do this, which feeds into more disgust with themselves for feeling that way when they know in truth it isn't your fault... Clover is really just not in a good place during this fight.

Some excerpts from their dialogue:

"So. You're not gonna FIGHT me... but you ain't gonna back down either..."

"But why? Why would you wanna go back to the rest of the Underground? Back to fighting for your life, back to being hunted like an animal?!"

"Don't you get it? This is as good as it gets down here! Kind friends, no deadly puzzle-traps, and there's been no successful anti-human infiltrators for over a year now."

"We busted our butts for years turnin' this desert into the perfect home for humans. My friends risked their freedom and their lives for you. And you're just gonna throw it all away?!"

"Is it me? Am I the problem? What am I saying, of course I am! Get a grip, Clover, you're beating up a child to get your own way, of course they hate you!"

"But the city's big enough now that you'll never have to see me again if you don't want. We can find you someone else to stay with. My friends all adore you, they'd be happy to help!"

"Say you get by me. What then? On to Hotland, and the lab? Even if we can keep Alphys off your back, there's no shot Mettaton's gonna let you slip by."

"He'll find you. He'll kill you. And even if you somehow survive... next up is the King."

"You can't beat him. He's too strong. Stronger than all of us put together. What chance do you have? Especially alone."

"You can't talk him down. We've been trying for years. If he won't listen to his own people, why would he listen to you?"

"You'll die. He'll have his sixth SOUL. And then he'll come for me. For all of us. It'll be war. A real war. One we’re still not ready for, despite how hard we’ve worked."

"My friends will die. I'll die. And with my SOUL... ASGORE will break the Barrier, and destroy humanity. The world as we know it will end. I bet stayin' here with us doesn't sound too bad now, does it?"

"So why? Why do you still want to leave? Tell me.”

“TELL ME! WHY DO YOU WANT TO KEEP GOING SO BADLY?!”

“WHY ARE YOU SO OBSESSED WITH TAKING ON THE KING?!”

“WHAT ARE YOU REALLY AFTER?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING ALL THIS FOR?! TELL ME!”

“WHY DO YOU KEEP FIGHTING EVEN THOUGH YOU’RE TOO WEAK TO CHANGE ANYTHING?!”

*ACT- Talk*

*You tell Clover they aren’t weak.

*Clover appears stunned.

"..."

*ACT- Talk*

*You ask Clover why they would think that.

*Clover bows their head.

"..."

*ACT- Talk*

*You tell Clover they've accomplished something amazing with Sanctuary.

*But you have friends that need your help. Just like their fellow rebels need theirs.

*That's why you have to go.

"...but why? Why does it have to be you? This isn't something a child should have to face. It's not fair..."

*ACT- Talk*

*You thank Clover for trying to help you. You tell them you want to help them too.

"...even after all this? You still..."

"..."

*Clover holsters their revolver.

*MERCY- Spare*

*You won! You got 0 EXP and 0 gold.

Clover: "...listen kid. I ain't gonna waste your time tryin' to apologise. 'Sorry' never fixed anythin' anyway. Besides... I got a horrible feelin' you'd actually forgive me. But what I done to you ain't forgivable, so..."

...

Clover: "Just north of here is Sunnyside Farms. Keep following the main road, and you'll see a big metal door. You can't miss it."

Clover: "That's the entrance to the Steamworks. It's a bit of a maze in there, so you might not wanna go wanderin' in unless you got business there. But, y'know, it ain't like I'm the boss of you. You sure proved that, if nothin' else."

...

Clover: "But don't worry about it. I'll have Martlet meet you outside. She can fly you back up to Hotland. And back again, if you want, but... I wouldn't blame you if you just wanted to put all this behind you."

...

Clover: "And don't you worry about Alphys, neither. We'll remind her not to try anything stupid. Just steer clear of Mettaton and those damn mercs of his, and you'll be fine."

Clover: "So... guess this is goodbye. Just... don't let the king get ahold of you. No matter what."

...

Clover: "So long, partner."

Clover returns to Sanctuary. If you follow them back, Martlet is missing, and NPCs who are outdoors have lines about seeing Clover come through in a sorry state.

At the Mayoral Estate, Ceroba's office and Clover's room are both locked. If you knock on Ceroba's door, she will tell you she's on the phone. If you try to knock again:

*You don't want to interrupt the mayor's phonecall.

If you knock on Clover's door:

"Busy."

Knocking again:

"Can't right now."

Third time:

"Look. Whichever one of you it is, I appreciate you checkin' up, but... I need to think. Please."

Knocking more will simply have them ignore you.

Going up through the (much larger) Sunnyside Farms, you come to the entrance of the Steamworks. Martlet will be there waiting for you, regardless of whether you doubled back to town or not.

Martlet: "Oh! Hi... guess you're ready to go then?"

...

Martlet: "Clover told me what happened. About how you wanted to leave. About how they tried to stop you. I... I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I'm the one that just whisked you away without even asking, and now... you got hurt. And my best friend thinks they're some kind of..."

...

Martlet: "If... if you'd rather not be around me. You can make your own way back up to Hotland through the Steamworks. But before you go. Clover wanted you to have this."

*You got the Strange Package.

(If your inventory is full, Martlet will hide the package in a small patch of weeds near the door. "There. Now you can just come grab it when you have a space for it.")

Martlet: "So. What do you want to do?"

-Fly with Martlet:

Martlet: "Alright. Hop on, then."

Martlet takes you to the main Lab entrance.

Martlet: "Here we are. The Hotland Lab. Hey... if you like, I could give you my phone number? Then you can call me for a ride back to Sanctuary if you need one."

*You got Martlet's number.

Martlet: "Well... good luck. I'll keep the guards in this area off your back for as long as I can, but... be careful, okay?"

Martlet flies away, and you can now enter the Lab as normal. If you choose this option, you will need to return to the Steamworks another time to complete your spy mission for Undyne. You can do this by calling Martlet to give you a ride back to Sanctuary. Though this won't work until you at least meet Alphys for the first time. Alternatively, reaching the R3 lift for the first time will unlock the option to use any Hotland lift to go to the Steamworks lift terminal.

-Go through Steamworks:

Martlet: "...I understand. Okay, listen closely. First, you'll want to follow the signs to the Furnace. That's where the Hotland exit is. At the end of the path, there's an elevator. Don't get in right away. Instead, call me first. Here's my number."

*You got Martlet's number.

Martlet: "There's almost always a Guard patrol or two watching the elevators. But if I pretend I spotted you somewhere else nearby, I can lure them away for a while, buying you a safe window to use the elevator. Once you've called me, get in the lift and go to 'Left Floor 1.' That'll get you back to the Lab entrance. Don't try any of the other floors. I can't guarantee they'll be safe, especially the higher floors."

Martlet: "Oh, and... if you ever decide you wanna come visit Sanctuary again. You can call me, and I'll come give you a ride. But for now... good luck. And be careful, okay?"

Martlet flies away, and you are free to enter the Steamworks. The overall layout is much the same as in UTY, but the renovations mean no more rubble or broken walkways, and the steam vent hazards are off by default (Axis will activate them in Geno). There are also signs dotted along the path that will point the way to the Furnace, the Sunnyside exit, and other points of interest (most of which aren't accessible).

On entering the Steamworks for the first time (from either end), one of Axis' camera drones (see Ch4 of the Guidebook) will briefly stop you.

"HALT. VISUAL RECOGNITION FAILED. STAND BY FOR AUXILIARY SCAN..."

"SCAN COMPLETE. HUMAN DETECTED. CONTACTING HQ..."

"...HQ INPUT CONFIRMED. NEW DATABASE ENTITY 'NEW HUMAN' CREATED. ADDED 'NEW HUMAN' TO 'AUTHORISED' LIST."

"ACCESS GRANTED. WELCOME TO THE STEAMWORKS. WHERE TOMORROW MEANS PEACE."

Axis' main body is present in the Furnace room, where he fought Clover in UTY.

Axis: "GREETINGS, 'NEW HUMAN'. I AM AXIS MODEL 014 REVISION 2, CHIEF OF SECURITY HERE AT THE STEAMWORKS. I HOPE OUR EFFORTS BOTH HERE AND IN SANCTUARY PROPER HAVE BEEN TO YOUR LIKING."

From here, you can ask him about a few things.

-Steamworks:

"THIS FACILITY IS CRUCIAL TO SANCTUARY'S PROSPERITY. IT HOUSES OUR MAIN POWER SOURCE, OUR WATER PURIFICATION FACILITY, OUR RECYCLING CENTRE AND MORE. IT IS ALSO ONE OF THE MOST DIRECT ROUTES BETWEEN SANCTUARY AND THE GREATER UNDERGROUND. FOR BOTH OF THESE REASONS, IT IS A TEMPTING TARGET FOR ENEMY INFILTRATION OR ASSAULT. THAT IS WHY I AM HERE."

-Superweapon (only appears if you have befriended Undyne):

"OH, STOP IT. YOU WILL MAKE ME BLUSH. YES, MY REINFORCED ARMOUR RENDERS ME HIGHLY RESISTANT TO PHYSICAL ATTACK. AND YES, MY HOVER-HANDS CAN CARRY SEVERAL TIMES MY OWN WEIGHT, ALLOWING ME TO EJECT EVEN EXTREMELY HEAVY [troublemakers]. AND YES, MY SWARM OF CAMERA DRONES GIVE ME AN UNMATCHABLE STRATEGIC AND TACTICAL ADVANTAGE. BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, I ALSO HAVE EXTREMELY POWERFUL ENERGY BLASTERS THAT CAN DISRUPT ENEMY DEFENSES."

"...WHERE WAS I GOING WITH THIS AGAIN?"

-Revision 2:

"THE PROCESS OF REFURBISHING THE ABANDONED STEAMWORKS ALSO INCLUDED REFURBISHING ME. MY ORIGINAL DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS, RETROACTIVELY DESIGNATED 'REVISION 0', WERE FOUND TO BE INSUFFICIENT FOR MY NEW DUTIES. 'REVISION 1' INTRODUCED MY REINFORCED ARMOUR AND ENHANCED BLASTERS, AS WELL AS A GYRO-STABILISER TO PREVENT ME FROM BEING TRIPPED DURING COMBAT OR A PURSUIT."

"HOWEVER, ONE UNIT, NO MATTER HOW POWERFUL, CANNOT BE EVERYWHERE AT ONCE. CAMERA DRONES WERE CONSTRUCTED TO AID ME, AND 'REVISION 2' INVOLVED UPGRADING MY PROCESSORS AND FIRMWARE SO THAT I COULD INTERFACE WITH THEM MYSELF RATHER THAN RELYING ON A SPOTTER. NO ENEMY INFILTRATOR HAS REACHED ANY RESTRICTED AREA EVER SINCE."

-Clover:

"AH YES, YOU HAVE MET 'HATTED HUMAN'. THEY AND 'TALL LADY' WERE THE VERY FIRST ENTRIES ON MY 'FRIENDS' LIST. I OWE THE TWO OF THEM A GREAT DEAL. THEY AND THEIR ALLIES WORKED HARD TO RESTORE THE STEAMWORKS TO THEIR FORMER GLORY. THEY WERE THE ONES WHO ARRANGED FOR MY UPGRADES. AND ABOVE ALL ELSE, THEY INTRODUCED ME TO MY LOVELY SPOUSE DAISY. WOULD YOU LIKE TO TALK TO THEM? HOLD ON, I WILL SEND A CAMERA DRONE OVER TO THEM..."

...

"THEY SAY HI. ALSO THAT THEY LOVE ME VERY MUCH. I LOVE YOU TOO, DARLING."

Asking "Superweapon" or "Revision 2" gives you enough information to complete Undyne's mission. You don't have to ask both, just one is enough.

After leaving the Steamworks, call Martlet.

Martlet: "You're out of the Steamworks? Okay, I'll distract the guards. Hop in the elevator and come on up."

Attempting to use the elevator without calling her first will have Frisk call her automatically (*This must be the elevator to Hotland. You take out your cell phone and call Martlet.)

After leaving the elevator, you can proceed to the Lab as normal. You are also able to return to the Steamworks via the lifts immediately after meeting Alphys for the first time, rather than needing to reach R3 first.

Before we leave off, about the Strange Package. The Strange Package contains 3 items, meaning you need 2 extra empty slots in order to open it. If you don't have enough:

*You try to open the package...

*Seems like there's a lot in there. You might need more space in your inventory.

Opening it:

*You opened the Strange Package. It contained a Ragged Hat, an Old Toy Gun, and a Yellowed Letter.

Ragged Hat- INFO:

*"Ragged Hat" - Armor DF 11

*An old, child-sized cowboy hat. It's clearly been well-loved.

Old Toy Gun- INFO:

*"Old Toy Gun" - Weapon AT 9

*The spring feels completely worn out. Someone really loved this thing.

Yellowed Letter- INFO:

*A letter written on old-timey yellow parchment.

Yellowed Letter- USE:

*You read the letter. It's from Clover.

*Kid,

*I'm no good with writing letters, so I'll keep it short. I want you to have these. They helped me through some tough times. I hope they can do the same for you.

*No matter what happens next, don't give up. And if you ever need a break, you'll always be welcome here in Sanctuary.

*Take care of yourself.

*-Clover

-------

Okay. That finally wraps up Sanctuary. At least for now. We will be checking up on them again later on, but for now I want to move things along. Next time: The elusive Dr. Alphys and the mysterious and menacing Mettaton make their debut.

Desert Sanctuary AU

Roles

Clover: Unofficial Leader and Human Ambassador

Ceroba: Official Leader

Starlo: Head of Law Enforcement and Defence.

Martlet: Scout and Mole.

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whitenoisewrites · 1 year ago

Text

True Pacifist, part 3! Apologies for the gap. I decided to go get a covid booster before uni goes back, so I've been very ouchie and eepy for the last day and a half. I'm in better shape today though, so let's see what I can put together.

Honestly, it works out though, because @karmaspidr put out a new Guidebook chapter while I was out of it. One that was a huge help with one of the hardest questions I would've had to face, which is "What does the new and improved Wild East actually look like?" I still added a couple details/embellishments of my own, but big shoutouts for making writing this section significantly less painful for me lol.

Last time, we had just boarded our Martlet Airlines express flight to the rebels' home turf...

-------

Sanctuary, the rebels' expanded and revitalised hometown, is made up of three districts:

-The West District, colloquially known as The Oasis, in memory of its former existence as Oasis Valley. Just to the north of here is the Mayoral Estate, formerly Ketsukane Manor.

-The Central District, which is in the hypothetical area between Oasis Valley and the Wild East that the Girlboss Cactus was blocking off. The Sheriff's Office (which doubles as a strategic HQ for the rebellion) and the new-and-improved Jail are here.

-The East District, formerly known (and still known by most of the Greater Underground) as the Wild East. The old jail has been converted into an ordinary house, and the stables, hospital, and saloon have all been expanded. The Feisty Five's house has been expanded into a row of apartments that stretch along the new road between the East and Central Districts.

-The areas from UTY are more dense and developed than they used to be, and the new area is similarly dense. The dirt paths are now paved roads, and while exteriors still tend to look appropriately old-timey, most interiors are modernised. Think like a Café Dune kind of vibe. The main exception to this is the saloon, which retains its old-west construction and décor despite having been expanded.

Martlet touches down in the West District. The first order of business is to introduce you to the Mayor. She guides you to the Estate, then to the Mayor's office.

Martlet: "Now, Mayor Ketsukane can seem a bit intimidating at first, but she's really nice, I promise! She'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe. Well, we all will, really, but especially her!"

Martlet knocks on the door.

Mayor Ketsukane: "Enter."

She leads you inside. A fox-woman is sitting at a large, sturdy-looking desk. She looks up from an intimidatingly large stack of paperwork.

Mayor Ketsukane: "Martlet. Didn't expect you to be back so soon. Does this mean you have something for us?"

Martlet: "I do, Madam Mayor."

Mayor Ketsukane: "I've told you a thousand times, you can still just call me Ceroba."

Martlet: "Of course, Mayor Ceroba."

Ceroba: "...why do I even try?"

Martlet: "Because you're too stubborn for your own good?"

Ceroba: "Like you're one to talk. But enough banter. What have you found?"

Martlet steps aside, revealing you to Ceroba.

Ceroba: "...I see."

Ceroba stands up from her desk, and slowly approaches you. She kneels down in front of you to get a bit more on your level.

Ceroba: "Hello there, human. My name is Ceroba. What's your name?"

...

Martlet ends the awkward silence. "Um, they don't really seem to talk much. Maybe they're a little shy?"

Ceroba: "That's alright. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. Anyway, I'm the Mayor of Sanctuary, an independent city designed to be a safe haven for humans that fall into the Underground. I'm sure you're aware by now that King ASGORE wants to... take your SOUL? Well, we here in Sanctuary want to stop that from happening. We don't believe that it's fair to blame and punish every human for the crimes of only a few. To that end, we seceded from the Kingdom, and worked hard to create a place where humans and monsters could live together in peace."

Ceroba: "I'm sure you still have a lot of questions. But for now, I need to go let the others know there's a new VIP in town. Martlet, do you have time to show them around, or do you need to get back?"

Martlet: "Oh, no, I've got plenty of time before my next report. I can give them the tour."

Ceroba: "Thanks. Welcome to Sanctuary, human. I hope you enjoy your time here."

Martlet: "And don't forget to Vote Ketsukane!"

Ceroba: "I already told you, I'm not running again."

Martlet: "You say that every time. And every time, everyone just writes you in anyway."

Ceroba: "And yet, you all call me the stubborn one."

Martlet: "Hey, us being stubborn too doesn't make you not stubborn."

Ceroba: "...touché. See you at Dina's later?"

Martlet: "Of course! Safe travels, Miss Mayor!"

Ceroba: "..."

Ceroba leaves.

Martlet: "Okay! I think that went well. Now then, time to show you the sights."

Martlet leads you back down to the West District. Interacting with certain buildings, or landmarks like the oasis pond, would get you both normal flavour text, and some exposition from Martlet. E.g. interacting with the pond:

-*It's a small pond. Despite being still, the water is crystal-clear.

-"That little oasis was what let a handful of settlers build lives here, so many years ago. Even after Oasis Valley merged with the Wild East to become Sanctuary, most people still call this part of town The Oasis. And the pond itself is still an important source of high-quality fresh water for us, even today!"

You can find Mooch in Café Dune. She's having a coffee break, after just having finished delivering her latest "scavenging" haul to the Steamworks. Martlet will warn you to keep your distance.

Mooch: "Aww, c'mon! I'd never steal from our guest of honour!"

Martlet: "Yes you would."

Mooch: "Yeah, I totally would. But only for practice! I'd give it all straight back, honest!"

Martlet stares flatly.

Mooch: "Well... most of it :3"

Moving to the Central District, Martlet will point out the Sheriff's Office and the Jail. Starlo (in "North Star" mode) is in the Sheriff's Office.

Starlo: "Howdy there, Martlet! Ceroba said you found somethin' big?"

Martlet: "You could say that, yeah. Human, this is Sheriff North Star. He's in charge of Security and Law Enforcement around here."

Starlo: "A new human!? Well, welcome to Sanctuary, lil' pardner! Like Martlet said, I'm in charge of keepin' things orderly around these parts. We watch our borders closely, but nothin's perfect. From time to time we get mercenaries, Guard spies, and other ne'er-do-wells skulkin' around. Though, not so often anymore since we got done upgradin' the Steamworks an' all. But if and when they do slip by, it's my job to put a stop to 'em. I'll protect you, no matter what!"

(Starlo strikes his finger-gun pose)

Visiting the Jail, you can meet Moray. They'll give a brief overview of the sorts of people that get locked up here. General crooks and troublemakers just serve their time and get released. Mercenaries, saboteurs and other anti-human extremists are kept indefinitely.

Moray: "We discussed exiling them back to the Greater Underground, but... we can't afford to risk them sneaking back in again once we think they're no longer a threat. Or worse, telling the Guard what they know about Sanctuary's inner workings. So, they're stuck here for now. I try and treat them fairly though. Especially the few that seem like they might be coming around."

Guards don't slip through often, but when they do, their release is usually part of the next round of negotiations, with the caveat that they won't be given back a second time if they're caught again. (This doesn't really happen anymore, since the border checkpoints are locked down too tight nowadays, and the "Steamworks Superweapon" can spot a Guard a mile away.)

Over in the East District, Ace can be found up the back of the Stables. You can see his red-string board behind him, but you can't get past him to examine it closer (unless you return here in the Epilogue).

Ace: "This is the new human? Are you sure they can be trusted?"

Martlet: "Ace, what on earth would make you suspect a human of trying to undermine our pro-human organisation?"

Ace: "I'm our Investigator. Suspecting everyone is my job. Besides, who's to say that's even a real human? They could be a ghost possessing a human body, for instance. Or some kind of interdimensional being working through a human host."

Martlet: "You're messing with me again, aren't you?"

Ace: "Possibly."

Martlet: "...we're leaving."

Ace: "See you at Dina's."

Once you've explored to your heart's content, enter the saloon to progress. Martlet will briefly introduce you to Dina, then the two of you will sit down at the bar to wait for the others to arrive. Martlet will chat with you about your journey so far.

-Talking about Toriel: "So that's her name. I always wondered. But why does it sound so familiar? Oh, uh, I guess I should explain. See... our leader told me about someone in the Ruins who might be sympathetic to our cause. But I could never find a way in. I almost gave up... but I heard a voice from the forest. It said 'go to the door at the end of the western road, and knock twice. There's someone there who can help you.' I tried to find whoever said it, but it was like they just... disappeared. But sure enough, when I knocked on the door, someone answered. We never mentioned our names, but she promised to protect any humans that fell down. And she said if she couldn't, she'd send them our way. I hope she's doing alright. It must be awfully lonely in there. Maybe I should try and visit from time to time..."

-Papyrus: "He's great, isn't he? He's a strong fighter, a genius puzzle engineer, and he's just such a nice guy! But most of all, he's always positive, and he never gives up! To be honest... I was always kind of tempted to try and talk him around. Get him on our side. He never really seemed like the kind of guy that could hate anyone, never mind a whole species. But I was too scared. Scared it might not work, scared that if it did I'd be putting my friend at risk... in the end, I decided not to risk it. But hey, looks like you took care of it for me, huh?"

-Undyne: "No way... you fought Captain Undyne? I can't apologise enough that you had to go through that. If only I'd been faster... still. You got past her in the end. That's... seriously impressive. Even with ASGORE holding her back, she's the single biggest threat to our people and operations in the whole Underground! She terrifies me. Just reporting to her is nerve-wracking enough, I don't think I could stomach actually standing up to her. Which is why I'm a double agent sneaking around behind her back, not a frontline fighter staring her down from across the border."

-Lab: "...you don't have to worry about that anymore. There's no way Dr. Alphys can get to you here. And even if she tries, we have a few ways to convince her to back off."

After you pick all four topics, Ceroba, Starlo, Moray, Ace and Mooch arrive. After some brief banter, Ceroba interjects.

Ceroba: "As much fun as this is, there's one more person we'd like you to meet. The person who made all this possible in the first place."

Starlo whistles, and Ed enters the saloon. He holds still for a moment, as if inspecting the patrons, then takes a guard position beside the entrance. The saloon doors swing open again, and a tall, lithe figure walks in, slowly approaching the bar.

"Howdy, all. So... this is the new kid on the block, huh?"

Ceroba: "That's right."

"Where'd you find 'em?"

Martlet: "I first spotted them in Upper Snowdin, but I lost them in the fog. I tried to catch up to them in Waterfall, but that place is a nightmare to try and fly through. Eventually I found them in Hotland, trying to get into the lab."

"Well, ain't you a bold one? The name's Clover. Human Ambassador by day, de-facto rebel commander by night. And you are?"

...

Clover: "...not much of a talker. Fair enough. I was the same way when I first got down here. Lot to take in, ain't it? I hope Sanctuary's been a nice change of pace from... the rest. Kinda the whole point, after all. This whole place is designed top-to-bottom to let humans thrive here. Physical food, fresh water, safe shelter, good company. Everything a growin' cowpoke needs. Which reminds me, have y'all decided where the kid'll be stayin'?"

...

Clover: "If any of you say what I think you're gonna, you're spending the night in the lockup."

Moray: "I think they should stay with you."

Clover: "...I walked right into that one. Jokes aside though, who are they really stayin' with?"

Ceroba: "Well, the Estate would be the best place for them. It's secure, there's plenty of space, and the only other one of their kind in the whole Underground is there. Though, I'd need some help taking care of them. My mayoral work keeps me pretty busy."

Clover: "So does my Ambassador work and runnin' the rebellion."

Mooch: "The last negotiations were months ago, and you've set everything up so well we can basically run our respective sections all by ourselves."

Clover: "You hush. And give the kid back whatever you stole."

Mooch: "I didn't steal anything from them! Promise!"

Clover: "Wait... really? Huh. I'm proud of you."

Mooch: ":3"

Starlo: "For what it's worth, kid, I think you'd make a great Pa."

Martlet: "Or mom!"

Ace: "Or a secret third thing."

Clover: "W-well, I mean, I'm flattered y'all believe in me but... ah! Shouldn't we ask what the kid thinks? Kinda rude to be talkin' about 'em like they ain't even here!"

Starlo: "Good point. How 'bout it, pardner? Wanna bunk with a bona-fide rebel hero?"

-No:

Clover: "See? Even the kid knows this is a bad idea!"

Ceroba: "Unfortunately, I'm going to have to insist they stay at the Estate, at least until we're sure the Guard aren't going to try anything stupid. Once the heat dies down, we can move them in with whoever they want. Until then, though..."

-Yes:

Starlo: "Well there you go. Guess you've got a lil' deputy of your own now, Clover. Congrats!"

Clover: "Well... nothin' for it, then. Kid. I gotta be honest. I don't know how good I'll be at this. But I'll do my best. I promise to try and do right by you. We're... we're in this together, now. I'll do whatever it takes to give you a good life here."

Martlet: "We all will."

Clover: "But! That's tomorrow's problem. Today, we celebrate our new friend! We celebrate the fulfilment of Sanctuary's purpose! We celebrate the living proof that what we've set out to accomplish is possible! Humans and monsters, together in peace!"

Everyone: "TOGETHER IN PEACE!"

Clover: "Dina! A round on me! Just, uh, nothin' too heavy. Gotta keep things age-appropriate after all."

After the party, Clover and Ed take you back to the Mayoral Estate.

Clover: "This here is my room, but consider it yours until we can get you set up properly. I can handle crashin' on a futon awhile. Now, I know it must've been a big day for you, so why don't you go get some rest."

...

Clover: "That means you too, Ed."

Ed: "But boss-"

Clover: "We've been over this. You can't protect me if you're dead on your feet. When's the last time you slept?"

Ed: "...like, through the night, or-"

Clover: "Bed. Now. Or I'll sic Ceroba on you."

Ed: "Yes, boss..."

Ed leaves.

Clover: "Stubborn as a mule, that one. Fits right in around here. Anyway, go get some shuteye. I'll see you when you wake up."

Entering the room and interacting with the bed lets you take a short nap, boosting your HP like the Snowdin and MTT Resort beds. When you wake up, Clover will be gone.

-In Neutral or Aborted Geno, this would be the part where you could find rebel leaders around town and lure them away to pick them off.

Attempting to leave town to the west, you'd find the road to the Mines blocked off for repairs. Proceeding out of town to the east, you encounter Clover on the land bridge to Sunnyside Farms, the same place where he and Starlo faced off.

-If you killed any rebels, Clover would give a very different speech, chewing you out for wasting all Sanctuary's efforts, and preparing to put you down for the safety of their surviving friends. Since we're in pacifist, though...

"I knew you'd come here. I saw it in your eyes. You're like me. Like all of us here. Stubborn as a mule."

Clover turns to face you.

Clover: "I feel for ya, kid. I really do. I remember what it was like, when I first got here. Lost. Scared. Confused. But listen. Whatever you're tryin' to do... it ain't gonna work. There's no way back to the surface. The king ain't gonna listen to you. You're not strong enough to stop him when he doesn't. And nothin' else you might want is worth this kind of risk."

...

Clover: "But it seems like you ain't in a listenin' mood either."

...

Clover: "Kid... don't make me do this. You can have a good life here. Please... just go home."

...

Clover: "Please. You don't understand. I can't..."

...

Clover: "...damn it all. I'm so sorry, kid. I hope you can forgive me someday. But... even if you never do..."

Clover draws their revolver.

Clover: "I can't just let you throw your life away!"

*Clover blocks the way!

-------

Sorry for the huge cliffhanger, but the post's getting long and the hour's getting late, so I've gotta stop. Also, just a heads up, uni goes back this week where I am, so updates might be less frequent. I'll do my best though.

'Til next time!

Desert Sanctuary AU

Roles

Clover: Unofficial Leader and Human Ambassador

Ceroba: Official Leader

Starlo: Head of Law Enforcement and Defence.

Martlet: Scout and Mole.

120 notes · View notes

whitenoisewrites · 1 year ago

Text

Another Incorrect Quote based on @whitenoisewrites ' interpretation of 'Desert Sanctuary'.

Martlet: Wait a minute. You not only befriended the Captain of the Royal Guard but you also convinced her to recruit you.

Frisk: Yep.

Everyone in the Saloon: Bursts out in laughter

Starlo: Mighty fine work there, kid. This'll make the next round of negotiations very interesting.

Ceroba: Reminds me of Clover when he was younger.

Clover: Mutters something about his reputation in the corner

75 notes · View notes

whitenoisewrites · 1 year ago

Text

I'm back! Yesterday kinda sucked lol, but it's done now, so it's time for True Pacifist part 2!

Speaking of updates, don't forget to keep an eye on the Official Desert Sanctuary Guidebook. It now features updated versions of the initial character profiles @karmaspidr kicked this whole thing off with, so go show it some love.

When we last left off, Undyne had just decided to give you a chance to prove humans aren't all that bad...

-------

Examining certain objects in Undyne's house gives you altered flavour dialogue:

-Window: "Yeah, Papyrus goes a little overboard sometimes. Can't complain too hard though. All that positive energy works wonders for morale!"

-Piano: "...oh. That. Yeah, I promised myself I'd start playing again once the rebels were dealt with. But as you can probably tell, they're pretty damn stubborn, so it's kinda been a while."

-Greatsword: "Pretty awesome, huh? Alphys made that for me. It's based on some of those human history books of hers. Although with how scrawny you are, I'm starting to think some of those stories might've been a little exaggerated. More like legends than real history, y'know?"

-Her room: "Not happening, punk."

Instead of sitting at the table to progress, you talk to Undyne. "If you wanna talk, we should probably get comfortable. Go sit down, I'll get us something to drink."

Rather than providing options (and breaking her table), she just prepares the tea straight away. She know this will be a tense conversation, and the tea will hopefully help her keep calm.

"Here you go. Golden Flower Tea. It's pretty good, huh? It's the King's favourite."

...

"He was everything to me growing up. Hero. Idol. Even a mentor. See, I was a real hothead as a kid. Always picking fights, getting into trouble. I didn't want anyone to be able to push me around. I wanted to be strong. And one day, to prove I was the strongest, I challenged ASGORE. For whatever reason, he decided to humour me. We went out to his garden... and he wiped the floor with me. I couldn't touch him! He didn't even fight back, he just ran circles around me until I ran outta steam. I was expecting him to punish me, or humiliate me or something... but he turned around and offered to teach me how to beat him!"

"From then on, he trained me. He taught me almost everything I know. The day I was finally able to knock him down... I felt like garbage for hurting him, but he had the goofiest grin on! He was so proud! It seemed weird at the time. I mean, who feels good about losing? But it hindsight... I kinda get it. Not long after that, I joined the Guard. Over the next few years, I rose up the ranks and became Captain. Now I'm the one turning wimps into warriors! Though, some rookies are less wimpy than others."

"Like Papyrus! He was actually pretty tough, even before I got to him! But, when he first asked to sign up... I wasn't sure. He's just... too nice. I mean, you've seen it first-hand! He was supposed to capture you, and now you're friends! I thought if I ever put him in front of a real enemy, he'd..."

...

"But I didn't want to dash his hopes either. So I cut him a deal. I'd train him. Not as a guard, just as a friend. Once I was satisfied with his progress, I'd let him sign up. The idea was that either he'd toughen up enough to join, or I'd find some way to give him something else to do. Like, we'd cook together from time to time, and he looked like he was having a lot of fun! So I figured maybe if he found another passion, it wouldn't hurt him so much if I had to turn him down."

"But then the rumours started. About a pro-human enclave in the Dunes. Remote enough that the Guard's presence is limited, but close enough for pro-human sentiment to spread. I needed more hands. And Papyrus' training was coming along better than I thought it would. So I took a chance on him."

"A week after he enlisted, the Wild East seceded. I wanted to bring them to heel right away, but ASGORE talked me down. And as much as I hate to admit it? He was right to. Because the rebels had an ace up their sleeve. Their very. Own. Human."

"That's why I'm so obsessed with stopping them. Because if I fail. If an actual war breaks out. Then one of my best friends is going to die. Papyrus isn't ready to take on a human. You're living proof. Not that I'm one to talk. You got past me too, after all."

"ASGORE still thinks he can work this out peacefully. I don't really believe that anymore. But... part of me still hopes I'm wrong."

...

"Why am I even telling you all this? You're a human too. Enemy at worst, resource at best. Humans and monsters can't just... talk things out. That's not how it works..."

You can now move again, and must interact with the stove to progress.

"You... wanna cook something? With me? Huh. maybe if... yeah. YEAH! THAT'S IT! It's not that we can't talk... we just need MORE than mere words! We need to express ourselves. We need to show each other our PASSION! Our DRIVE! Our FIGHTING SPIRIT! NGAAAAHH! LET'S GET COOKING, PUNK!"

The cooking sequence proceeds as normal, until the house burns down.

"Ah. Probably should've warned you I suck at cooking, huh?"

...

"I really screwed up, didn't I? I couldn't befriend you like Papyrus wanted. I can't help but see them when I look at you. I tried to at least make peace with you. I couldn't even manage that. I tried to pretend to be my old self again. Let loose and have some fun. And I burned my damn house down. I'm sorry, human."

Undyne draws her spear.

"I guess in the end... it has to be this way."

</3 BATTLE START </3

Unlike the base game fake fight, Undyne will "attack" you, but the bullets are so slow that they can't actually reach you before her turn ends. If you attempt to Check or Spare, she has no dialogue.

When you FIGHT or Fake Attack:

"Is... is that it? Even after everything... you still don't hate me?"

...

"To be honest..."

Undyne drops her spear.

"I don't think I can really hate you either. But. If I can't fight you... and I can't befriend you... what's even left?"

*ACT- Enlist*

...

"WHAT!? YOU wanna be a GUARD!? How, why, WHAT!?"

*ACT- Attention*

...

"You know what..."

Undyne looks up with a big grin!

"Sure! Come to think of it, I could really use someone like you! The rebels would never suspect a human of working with the Guard, after all. And you've definitely got what it takes! You beat me and Papyrus after all! Alright then, rookie, listen up! The rebels have their territory locked down hard. The only ways in are by air, which is too visible, or through a border checkpoint, which both sides monitor closely. For a while now, we've been trying to create a reliable path to the Wild East through the Steamworks, to no avail. The rebels have some kind of superweapon in there that sniffs out our people every time, and throws them straight out. Nobody I've sent in so far has been able to fool it, sneak by it, outrun it, outfight it, or even get a decent look at it. If the rebels deploy that thing outside the Steamworks, the results could be catastrophic. Especially if they figure out how to make more of them."

"SO! Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to infiltrate the enemy stronghold in the Wild East, and find out exactly what this superweapon is. Under no circumstances are you to engage the enemy, especially not the superweapon itself. If your cover is blown, defend yourself if you must, but do not initiate. You're... a unique asset to the Guard. Risking you in open combat would be foolish. Understood?"

*ACT- Salute*

"Good. And... one more thing. If... if you can maybe find a way to let some of the rebels know that, y'know, that psycho Guard Captain that wants to stab them all is, like, a little less psycho now? That could be handy. But, uh, don't risk your cover for it or anything. The superweapon's more important. Now hop to it, soldier!"

The "battle" ends, and you exit the house. Undyne lets you know she'll be crashing with Papyrus until her house is repaired ("Yeesh... that's gonna put a dent in the budget. You, uh, don't mind if your first paycheck is a little late, do you?") then speeds off. From now on, she will join Papyrus' phone calls like normal. Her dialogues would be somewhat more subdued at first, slowly becoming more energetic and similar to canon as you progress.

In Hotland, when you attempt to enter the Lab for the first time, the door will be locked. When you turn to leave, Papyrus will call you. He will ask if his scout friend has caught up with you yet. When you say no, he advises you to double back and try to meet her halfway. When you return to the previous room, Martlet will be there.

-Undyne will not be present in this call, even if you befriended her before trying to enter the Lab.

Martlet will be relieved she finally got a chance to talk to you alone, but will express concern that she might miss Papyrus' friend as a result. When you tell her you're the friend that wanted to see the Wild East, she's surprised.

"Papyrus is friends with a human? But then... never mind. We've gotta get you to the Wild East, pronto! Hop on my back, quick!"

You don't move.

"Oh. Right, you're probably worried I'm gonna arrest you since, you know, I'm a Guard. But... well, can you keep a secret?"

-Yes: "Good. If this gets out, I'm done for, so don't tell anyone, okay? Because..."

-No: "What? C'mon, of course you can! Papyrus trusts you, after all! Just believe in yourself, like he would! Anyway..."

"I'm actually a Sanctuary spy. How else could we stay one step ahead of the Guard the way we do? But we can talk more later. For now, I've gotta get you outta here before someone sees us!"

If you try to leave the room, Martlet will tell you to hurry up and climb on. Approaching Martlet and interacting will have Frisk grab onto her, and she will fly them to the Wild East.

A couple of notes before we end:

-In a Genocide run, or if Geno was aborted after Martlet warned the rebels, the Lab door will be unlocked.

-In a neutral run where Papyrus is dead (or if you aborted Geno before Snowdin, but then killed Papyrus), Martlet will swoop down as you turn away from the lab and grab you by force with her talons. When you arrive at the Wild East, she apologises for scaring you and reveals herself as a rebel spy.

-------

Another part done. I was hoping to get further than this, but Undyne had a lot more to say than I expected her to lmao. This happens to me a lot actually, I try and speed through a quick highlight reel but one of the characters grabs me be the scruff and won't let go until I let them fully speak their mind. I hope it was interesting at least, and I hope her development is at least buyable. She still pretty conflicted internally, but she's putting on a brave face for her friends' sake. She does genuinely respect you now, though.

'Til next time!

Desert Sanctuary AU

Roles

Clover: Unofficial Leader and Human Ambassador

Ceroba: Official Leader

Starlo: Head of Law Enforcement and Defence.

Martlet: Scout and Mole.

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whitenoisewrites · 1 year ago

Text

Okay, time for the grand finale. Desert Sanctuary, True Pacifist edition. Except not really the finale because this got really, really long and I had to split it. Get nice and comfy, it's friendship time!

By the way, @karmaspidr just posted the first chapter of the official Desert Sanctuary Guidebook to Ao3. Check it out!

-------

The Ruins would be mostly unchanged, save for Napstablook making a vague reference to how tense things are outside, and Toriel telling you to find a way to the Wild East as soon as you can.

On occasion in Snowdin, you would see hints of Martlet's presence. A fallen feather here, bootprints that seemingly go nowhere there. She doesn't make contact yet though, as she wants to ensure you aren't dangerous before bringing you to her friends in the Wild East. That, and the fact she has to keep cover as a loyal Guard scout.

Dalv can be seen in the Snowdin Librarby, but he is heavily engrossed in his research, and apologetically asks you to please not distract him, if that's okay... sorry. Maybe you can talk later? Once he's done for the day? Unless he's offended you by sending you away...

Papyrus would be more hesitant to accept your affections if you Flirt during his fight. Flirting once has him question if you're serious. Twice, and he'll attempt to reject you. "A GUARDSMAN AND A HUMAN? SCANDALOUS! I'D BE DISCHARGED ON THE SPOT!" Flirt a third time, and he will test your resolve by telling you about his high standards. Regardless of your answer, he will cave, and agree to date you if you can prove yourself in battle. Further flirting will have no effect.

Returning to Papyrus after the battle, the date itself plays out mostly the same, until near the end.

-Papyrus' description of his Special Spaghetti is slightly less outlandish, as he is not as well versed in Undyne's... unique style of cookery, due to the fact that she actually trains him to fight in this AU.

-When Papyrus is letting you down gently, he will cite the tense political situation in the Underground as an additional reason the two of you can't be together. He is still willing to be your friend, albeit in secret, and still gives you his phone number. However, he will advise you not to contact him too often, as he doesn't want to raise suspicion.

On the Waterfall border, Papyrus admits to Undyne that he couldn't stop you, and he offers to resign from the Guard. Undyne responds, which we don't hear. Papyrus balks. "WHAT? NO, OF COURSE I DON'T WANT TO GIVE UP. BUT... I FAILED. I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE MORE UPSET?" Undyne responds again. "BUT I DON'T... NEVERMIND. THANK YOU, CAPTAIN. I PROMISE I WON'T LET YOU DOWN AGAIN."

-Papyrus wanted to tell Undyne that he doesn't think you're dangerous, but caught himself at the last moment. He knows how much Undyne hates humans, and how stubborn she is. Trying to tell her he respects you, or worse, admitting his friendship with you, would spell disaster.

Afterwards, Papyrus calls you. He warns you that Undyne will pursue you relentlessly, "BUT NEVER FEAR! THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS A PLAN! SOMEWHERE IN HOTLAND, THERE IS A PATH TO A PLACE CALLED THE WILD EAST! THE PEOPLE THERE LOVE HUMANS! PERHAPS A LITTLE TOO MUCH... AND THERE IS ALSO THE TINY HICCUP OF THEM TECHNICALLY BEING TRAITORS TO THE CROWN? AND ALSO BEING WANTED CRIMINALS FOR HARBOURING A HUMAN THEMSELVES... BUT IF YOU CAN GET IN THERE, THAT WON'T MATTER, SINCE THEY DON'T LET GUARDS IN ANYWAY. YOU WOULD BE SAFE THERE!"

"...WHAT'S THAT? WHERE IS THE PATH? OH, YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE STEAMWORKS! WHERE IS THAT? I HAVE NO CLUE, BUT I KNOW SOMEONE WHO DOES! I'LL CONTACT YOU WITH MORE INFORMATION LATER. SECRET AGENT PAPYRUS, OUT!"

A couple of Undyne chases later, Papyrus calls back. "HELLO HUMAN. ER... PLEASE DO NOT BE ALARMED, BUT I MAY HAVE MADE A VERY SLIGHT MISCALCULATION. YOU SEE, A FRIEND OF MINE IN THE SCOUT CORPS INFORMED ME THAT THE ELEVATOR DOWN TO THE STEAMWORKS IS IN EASTERN HOTLAND... AND IS ALMOST ALWAYS MONITORED BY ROYAL GUARDS. AND SO I MAY HAVE ASKED HER TO ESCORT YOU PAST THEM... WHILE MAYBE ACCIDENTALLY NEGLECTING TO WARN HER YOU WERE A HUMAN? BUT DON'T WORRY, YOU ARE BOTH MY VERY COOL FRIENDS AFTER ALL. I HAVE FAITH THAT YOU CAN BOND TO THE POINT WHERE SHE WON'T TURN YOU IN."

"...BUT MAYBE BE CAREFUL JUST IN CASE?"

Before the Undyne fight, a few notes on Monster Kid:

-Their dialogue in general is slightly changed. Basically whenever canon MK talks about generic "bad guys", DS!MK will instead be talking about the rebels specifically.

-They still don't realise you're a human until the last minute, but they will mention during the rain/umbrella sequence that you kinda look like that one rebel, the one with the gun and the hat. Not the star guy, the other one. The really scary one.

-When they fall off the bridge and you pull them up, they will still block Undyne's way. Undyne will actually take one step forward, then turn back. "Yo, did you see that? She actually went away! Man... for a second though, I really thought I was about to get skewered. Maybe she... I dunno. Just be careful, okay? I better get home. Later!"

-Undyne will still save MK if they fall. She also cannot be befriended if you let MK fall.

Undyne's fight plays out mostly normally, but her dialogue is heavily adjusted. She explicitly wants your soul for herself, though she intends to hand it over to Asgore once she's done using it to kill Clover.

-"The King doesn't want any monsters getting hurt, even the rebels. But with the power of your soul, I can just shove right through the rebel forces! I won't need to dust anyone! I can just sweep them aside, gut that so-called 'Ambassador', and free the Dunes from its brainwashing once and for all! Then, I'll hand your souls over to ASGORE, and he'll keep his promise and wipe you out. He WILL! He has to. Monsterkind will never be safe with you around."

Pleading with Undyne is less effective at reducing her aggression. By contrast, Challenging ramps up her aggression much faster. However, her anger will also cause her to lose her focus and release you from Green Mode sooner.

After reviving Undyne with the water cooler, she stares at you for longer before leaving.

Backtracking to Undyne's house, Papyrus is standing outside. There's no piano music.

"OH. HELLO, HUMAN. HAVE YOU COME TO CHECK ON UNDYNE TOO? I APPRECIATE THE THOUGHT, BUT I'M NOT SURE SHE'D WANT TO SEE YOU RIGHT NOW. HMM... I THINK I MIGHT HAVE AN IDEA! QUICKLY, BEHIND THAT CONVENIENTLY SHAPED CRYSTAL SCULPTURE!"

-A later phonecall in this room would reveal the sculpture was a gift from Sans. Undyne didn't want it in the house, but also didn't want to hurt Papyrus' feelings by throwing it out. She uses it for target practice on Mad Dummy's days off.

Once you're hidden, Papyrus knocks on the door. A visibly dejected Undyne invites him inside. After a while, Papyrus emerges and invites you in. Undyne is shocked.

"Papyrus... what are you doing!? You brought a human to my house?"

"CORRECT!"

"You said you brought a friend who might be able to help me!"

"CORRECT!"

"Papyrus... I owe this human my life."

"THEN SURELY YOU-"

"And that's the only reason that it's still alive and you're not under arrest for treason. Now get out. Both of you."

"...I UNDERSTAND. COME ALONG HUMAN. IT'S A SHAME, REALLY. I THOUGHT CAPTAIN UNDYNE WOULD BE UP TO THE CHALLENGE OF BEFRIENDING A HUMAN. BUT IT SEEMS THAT THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS FINALLY SURPASSED HIS MENTOR! AT LAST, VICTORY IS MINE! NYEH-HEH-HEH!"

You and Papyrus turn to leave...

"...What did you just say to me? You... you think you can beat me? You think I'd just... give up like that? LIKE HELL! Human... you and me aren't just gonna be friends... we're gonna be besties. Then together, we'll show Corporal Papyrus just how far he has left to go!"

"WAIT, DID YOU JUST PROMOTE ME-"

"DID I GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO SPEAK!?"

Papyrus instinctively salutes. "MA'AM, NO MA'AM!"

"Get outside and establish a perimeter. No-one in or out without my direct order, understood!? Don't let anyone interrupt our bestie hangout!"

"MA'AM, YES MA'AM!"

"Dismissed!"

-Despite not needing to make an awkward excuse, Papyrus dives out the window anyway. It's just too iconic, I couldn't bear to change it.

As soon as Papyrus is gone, Undyne's face falls. "Human... I'll be honest. Being friends with you is the last thing I want. Humans trapped us down here. A human split the Underground and turned us all against each other. And human souls are our only ticket outta here."

"But... Papyrus respects you. You saved that kid on the bridge. And if you hadn't given me that water, I'd either be dead or nursing the mother of all heat strokes. I guess, when I really think about it... you've earned a chance to prove me wrong. So... gimme your best shot!"

<3 DATING START <3

-------

Okay, splitting it here I think. Undyne is probably the hardest MC to write for so far. It's tricky to balance her increased hostility with, y'know, still needing to be befriendable. So I really wanna take the extra time to make sure I get her heart-to-heart in the date right.

Also I'm busy tomorrow, so next post might be 2 days out. I'll see what I can do tho.

Desert Sanctuary AU

Roles

Clover: Unofficial Leader and Human Ambassador

Ceroba: Official Leader

Starlo: Head of Law Enforcement and Defence.

Martlet: Scout and Mole.

#undertale yellow #undertale #writing #fanfiction #undertale au

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whitenoisewrites · 1 year ago

Text

Desert Sanctuary AU

Ceroba: What's the situation?

Ace: Well, Mayor, we caught another assassin. They've been in interrogation for almost a day straight but still haven't broken. North Star might be on the brink of going supernova.

Starlo: WHO SENT YOU!?!

Annoying Dog: Bark

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whitenoisewrites · 1 year ago

Text

Inspired by @whitenoisewrites 's interpretation of the Genocide Route for Desert Sanctuary.

Frisk: Fighting the Fiesty Five and Having a Bad Time.

Frisk: This can't possibly get any worse.

North Star: Heh. About time you showed up, partner.

Frisk: Wait, what?

Clover, jumps onto the screen: SUPRISE ATTACK, BITCH!! Unloads gun into Frisk's head

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whitenoisewrites · 1 year ago

Text

I want to save Pacifist for last, so it's Genocide Route time I guess. Another thank you to @karmaspidr. I'm glad you enjoyed my little dive into your world, but it's time now to go further. To the absolute limit, you could say.

This post and the eventual pacifist post will also integrate information from the second round of character profiles karmaspidr published recently, so go check that out if you haven't seen it.

-------

In Genocide, Martlet won't take you to the Wild East. Instead, she retreats to warn them about your rampage, after which she roams the Underground assisting in the evacuations. From Snowdin onwards, some generic encounters have a chance to be replaced with monsters from UTY. These are rebel agents attempting to stop you.

Dalv does not appear, as he was evacuated along with the rest of the civilians of Snowdin.

At the end of Snowdin, Papyrus will express that a good friend (Martlet) warned him that you are very dangerous. Despite this, he still believes you can do better, and will still open the battle attempting to spare you.

If you spare him, he will congratulate you on beginning to change your ways, but he will still attempt to arrest you for your crimes thus far, beginning the Neutral version of the fight. Regardless of whether you kill or spare him in this alternate fight, the Genocide route is aborted.

-Minor note on Papyrus, he no longer lets you through after capturing you three times. You must win the battle to progress. This applies to all routes.

If you attack, he will only lose about half his HP rather than dying outright. He will fight you, and will no longer be spareable. The fight is slightly shorter than in Pacifist or Neutral, but overall more difficult due to his more aggressive patterns. He will also kill you rather than leaving you at 1HP and taking you alive like normal.

In Waterfall, Undyne is noticeably more aggressive during her chase sequences. The Undying fight is mostly the same, but her transformation dialogue is more vengeful and spiteful rather than hopeful and heroic.

Since Martlet won't take you to the Wild East, you have to take a detour from Hotland to get there through the Steamworks.

Throughout the Steamworks, you encounter frequent rebel and robot ambushes, including multiple encounters with Axis, culminating in a final confrontation with him near the exit to the farm.

If you abort Genocide after Martlet warns the other rebels but before entering the Steamworks, Axis will be spareable. The Wild East sequence will play out mostly as it otherwise would in neutral, with a few key differences:

-If Martlet is killed, she will berate herself for leaving something important at home before turning to dust.

-If you destroyed Axis, Ceroba cannot be spared.

-The major rebel NPCs are more apprehensive towards you, even if you spare them.

-Clover cannot be spared, even if you spare the other rebel bosses/sub-bosses, since you likely had to kill at least a few generic rebel monsters to get this far. Even if you aborted by sparing all UTY enemies, Clover still knows you've killed before. In light of what they know about what happened to Kanako and Dalv, they decide that you are simply too dangerous to be left alive. And since the battle takes place in the heart of rebel territory, there's no risk of Asgore or the Guards gaining access to your soul.

If you stay on the Geno route, the sequence plays out differently. Upon destroying Axis and exiting the Steamworks, you are immediately set upon by Ceroba, who is furious both at your cruelty in general, and your destruction of her husband's legacy in specific. There's no save point in between, meaning if Ceroba kills you, you have to beat the final Axis fight again. You can backtrack to an earlier save point after beating Axis, but any given player is likely to get killed by Ceroba's surprise attack at least once. This is intentional, playing into the canon Geno route's habit of screwing the player around.

After killing Ceroba and entering the Wild East proper, you are confronted by the Feisty Five. They and Clover all split up to get everyone out of the Wild East and Dunes as fast as possible, but Clover isn't back yet by the time you arrive. They know they can't win, but confront you anyway to buy time until Clover finishes evacuating the last of the civilians. Their attacks are very long and chaotic, but things gradually get easier as you thin their numbers. There is also a turn limit on the battle. Take too long, and Clover will return and shoot you in the back, killing you instantly. This effectively means you can only afford to heal yourself a handful of times, though you can earn a little more wiggle room if you're good at landing crits/perfect attacks.

If you defeat the Five before Clover arrives, they attack you to avenge their fallen comrades. They have low HP (around 30-40, since they're both older and have higher LV than during the events of UTY) but ridiculously high DF, to represent them being a human, and thus not vulnerable to killing intent like monsters are. Even with the best weapon available, you'll be doing around 1-3 damage per attack. You can taunt them to temporarily lower their DF, but this also causes their AT to skyrocket, and their simple but lightning-fast attacks can be a bit tricky to dodge, so this is a risk. When you win, Flowey briefly pops up to take Clover's soul. This has to happen so that if the player aborts Genocide after this point, Omega Flowey can still happen.

Martlet does not appear in the Genocide version of the Wild East sequence.

After you kill Clover, rebel ambushes stop appearing. Upon backtracking through the Steamworks and clearing Hotland, the CORE and MTT NEO as normal, you proceed through New Home. After scaring Flowey away, you come to the Judgement Hall. Sans is there as usual, and so is Martlet.

Before we get to the fight, a few notes on Martlet possibilities:

-If Genocide was aborted after Martlet retreated to warn the other rebels, and she was spared in the Wild East, she will simply watch silently as Sans delivers his judgement, and fly away right before he disappears.

-If Genocide was aborted after clearing the Genocide Wild East sequence, Martlet will not appear at all. She will also not be mentioned in whatever neutral ending you get, the game will behave as though the rebels are completely leaderless. She intended to confront you after retrieving her DT syringe from her home, but could not reach the judgement hall in time due to you not taking the extra time to hunt down every enemy.

If Genocide was not aborted, Martlet will make it in time, and will fight you alongside Sans. You can attack either one, though obviously only Martlet actually takes damage.

-Attacking Sans will progress the fight as normal, until the point at which he would normally use his infinite turn trick. He still falls asleep from exhaustion, but Martlet keeps fighting. If you attempt to attack Sans while he's asleep, she will body-block it, taking the damage instead until she's at low health.

-If Martlet's HP gets low, she will collapse from her injuries and stop attacking. If you try to finish her off while Sans is still awake, he blocks you with a wall of bones. Doing so will exhaust him in the same way forcing him to dodge would, until he eventually attempts his infinite turn trick and falls asleep.

Once both of them are exhausted, you can finish one of them off. The other will use Martlet's DT syringe to transform, either into Zenith Martlet or some hypothetical Determined Sans form I don't have a name for.

-Z Martlet is similar to UTY, though she doesn't seal your ability to attack. If she did, the fight would be impossible since unlike Clover, Frisk can't return fire with soul shots. But this means that, unlike UTY, you can't heal yourself and damage her on the same turn, making managing your HP more difficult.

-DT Sans would basically just be like one of those "what if sans but EVEN HARDER" fangames that pop up from time to time. I don't have much to say that hasn't been said better by those.

After killing them, you move on to the throne room. Asgore actually attacks you this time. Between Flowey using Clover's death to convince him you're a serious threat, and his own inherent sympathy for Clover and their cause, he is driven to make one last desperate attempt to stop you. But similar to UTY's genocide ending, he can't even scratch you. In the Barrier antechamber, Flowey is frantically attempting to unearth the other souls, to no avail. Out of other options, and emboldened slightly by Clover's soul, he attacks. Thanks to the power boost from Clover's soul, he fares better than Asgore, but it's nowhere near enough. You're just too overpowered at this point. You cut him down swiftly, and Chara uses your power to erase the world.

-I did consider maybe having Asgore either absorb the souls or allow Flowey to do so, but cut it for two reasons. One, I think Asgore would worry that he no longer has the willpower to keep the souls in line, and wouldn't want to waste the survivors' best chance of escape on such a gamble. He would probably risk it if he knew you were strong enough to erase the world, but he doesn't. Two, if he instead gave them to Flowey, it would basically just be a rehash of Omega Flowey, which I don't think would be that interesting, either for me to write or for you to read. It is technically a possibility though, so I figured I had better at least mention it.

-------

That's all for now, but True Pacifist is coming soon (sometime tomorrow probably), so don't touch that dial!

Or do. Like, really, wtf am I gonna do about it? I'm not the boss of you.

Desert Sanctuary AU

Roles

Clover: Unofficial Leader and Human Ambassador

Ceroba: Official Leader

Starlo: Head of Law Enforcement and Defence.

Martlet: Scout and Mole.

#undertale #undertale yellow #uty #writing #undertale au

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whitenoisewrites · 1 year ago

Text

This is such a cool idea, I had to explore how it might play out in-game

Bear in mind, I'm not the author (@karmaspidr) so I might be off the mark on some points, but this is generally how I think it would go down.

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By the time Frisk falls, tensions are nearly at the boiling point despite the best efforts of the more peacefully-minded members of both factions. Almost everyone in the underground has picked a side. The main exceptions are:

-The Ruins monsters, who don't know much about what's happening outside (except Toriel who heard from Sans, Napstablook who can come and go freely, and the spiders who are in contact with Muffet)

-Sans, who doesn't really care (but is nominally on the rebels' side due to his promise to Toriel)

-Blooky, who's become even more isolated than canon because he can't handle all the tension and hostility

-Muffet, who flip-flops depending on which side pays her more that month (or so she says at least. In truth neither side gives her the time of day because they know she'd just turn around and sell their info to the enemy)

-Flowey. On the one hand, he resents that Clover is now such a high-profile figure, as it makes it next to impossible to find an opportunity to take their soul. On the other, he's not really trying that hard. This whole cold civil war thing is the most interesting thing to happen in the underground in a very long time, and he's curious enough about how it might play out that he decides not to reset and try again. Unfortunately for him, he waited too long, and now you and Frisk have stolen his power over time...

The guard presence in Snowdin and Waterfall is greatly reduced, since they're all too busy either monitoring key entry points like the Steamworks or sabre-rattling at various border outposts.

You eventually encounter Martlet at some point, who brings you to the Wild East. This allows you to potentially alter the course of the conflict by either befriending the rebels or picking off key members of the resistance.

Regardless of how you behave, the sequence culminates in a fight with Clover, either to try and stop Frisk from facing Asgore alone, or to avenge the residents of the Wild East Frisk killed. Clover cannot be spared if you killed any WE residents or Sanctuary agents. Sparing Clover will allow you to ask Martlet to fly you back and forth between the Wild East and the main path. If you kill Clover, you have to make your own way back via the Steamworks, fending off rebel ambushes and defeating Axis, who guards the Hotland entrance/exit. You can still go through the Steamworks if you spare Clover, but neither the monsters nor Axis will attack you.

-If Clover is spared, the neutral Asgore battle will be interrupted by Clover and a small posse of Sanctuary's strongest fighters, making Asgore's attack patterns easier to dodge (representing him being distracted fighting multiple enemies) and causing him to take a small amount of damage each turn (representing the posse's attacks).

-If Clover is killed, the rebellion will continue under a new leader (Ceroba > Starlo > Feisty Four > Martlet). If none of these candidates are spared, Sanctuary surrenders to the crown and the Wild East is reabsorbed into the Kingdom.

-Either way, Omega Flowey still happens. If Clover backs Frisk up against Asgore, Flowey uses the power of the other five souls to kill them before they can react. If Clover is killed in the Wild East, Flowey takes their soul then. Unlike UTY, Clover can't resist due to being weakened and exhausted from the battle with either Frisk or Asgore.

In the neutral endings, the conflict would play out differently depending on both which neutral ending you get and Frisk's actions in the Wild East:

-With zero kills and the rebels befriended, the Wild East rejoins Queen Toriel's new, pro-human underground. The former rebels mourn Clover, but take heart in the fact that their mission was accomplished. The fallen souls are free, humanity is safe, and neither Asgore nor any other monster will ever harm another innocent person again. If Undyne was not befriended, she ends up in jail for repeatedly harassing and picking fights with the former rebels. If befriended, she bonds with them over their shared fighting spirit and great respect for their fallen leaders.

-Under Empress Undyne, civil war breaks out, with the winning side depending on how many major players from each faction you killed. If the rebels win, their current leader takes the crown. Regardless of whether it's Empress Ceroba, President Starlo, the Council of Four, or Queen Martlet, the new leader/s declare the war on humanity over, but they're still wary of what the next human to fall might do...

-Under King Papyrus, the Wild East remains independent, but Sanctuary calls a truce with the crown, respecting Papyrus' policy of judging humans as individuals rather than a monolith.

-Under King Mettaton, the rebellion persists, but shifts gears. Sure, humanity is safe now, but monsterkind is now under the thrall of a tyrant, one that must be stopped, no matter the cost...

-Under Queen Alphys, the rebels have surrendered after finding themselves leaderless as described above. Alphys is glad. There are so few monsters left now after all, they can't afford any infighting.

-In a Leaderless underground, the highest ranking rebel survivor takes the crown similar to if the rebels defeat Empress Undyne. If all rebel leaders are dead, the Leaderless ending plays out as normal.

Might do pacifist and/or genocide in separate posts later on. I love this AU, this is just such a cool idea and I couldn't not explore it. Huge shoutouts to @karmaspidr for both coming up with it and giving me their blessing to put my little spin on it here.

Desert Sanctuary AU

Roles

Clover: Unofficial Leader and Human Ambassador

Ceroba: Official Leader

Starlo: Head of Law Enforcement and Defence.

Martlet: Scout and Mole.

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whitenoisewrites · 1 year ago

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I saw a post the other day (I think it might've been an ao3 tag?) that was like "the cosmic horror of realising old people fuck" and I was just like... no?

Because what about the heartwarming reassurance that old people fuck? The reassurance that as your body changes, you will see the beauty of your evolution reflected in the gazes, both loving and lustful, of those around you? The reassurance that while the finely aged wine is more an acquired taste than the fresh, juicy grape, it is indeed a taste that many or even most people do acquire and indeed actively seek? The reassurance that however time might try to rob you of what others tell you is beauty, it cannot, because you are beautiful and therefore whatever you happen to look like is beauty?

what companies who sell you anti aging stuff don't want you to know is that if you're chill about aging, your perception of attractiveness changes as you get older. there is no "wall" where you suddenly become ugly and unfuckable because in my experience what actually happens is you get into your thirties and suddenly realize that people in their thirties are hot as fuck and the "flaws" that the beauty industry wants you to panic about are a feature not a bug, and based on the std statistics in nursing homes I don't really expect that trajectory to change.

#tldr old people fuck and that's beautiful and important

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whitenoisewrites · 1 year ago

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You know what, fuck it. Literally the whole point of starting this blog was to teach myself to stop fearing being seen as cringe or whatever. To get more comfortable with putting myself and my weird little bits and pieces out there. So, against what *pretends* to be my better judgement but is actually just anxiety, here's the thing I vented about making in my last post:

"We Don't Talk About Gaster"

(Yes I know that's already a thing, but I *think* my version is different enough that it's *probably* okay. Do go check that one out though, it's pretty cool. There's an animatic and everything!)

The basic premise is that Frisk found the grey door and the followers and starts to wonder if Gaster might be the missing key to saving Asriel. After everyone's more or less settled in on the surface, they start asking around, starting with…

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[...Toriel and Asgore. Toriel only really knew him as the Royal Scientist. She believes he stole their magical secrets for his own benefit and went into hiding. Asgore knew him more personally and thinks he died in a lab accident (closest to the truth), but when Tori sets her mind on something…]

We don't talk about Gaster, no no no No-one talks about Gaster

See, it was a joyous day, (Such a momentous day!) The CORE was almost finished And in hours we'd soon see the sky, (Hours away from the sky!) An intern walks in, with his face looking grim (So sad…) Are you telling this story or am I? (I'm sorry, Tori, do go on~)

Gaster disappeared that day (Where did he go?) Destroyed his work and ran away (Will we ever know?) Our years of trust in him, betrayed! (I don't think that's true, but anywho)

We don't talk about Gaster, no no no No-one talks about Gaster

[Alphys was in her teens when she interned under him. She knew him as an intimidating but fair mentor. She believes he cracked under the strain of his impossible mission to break the Barrier and either fell down from despair or committed suicide.]

Grew to live in fear of Gaster stuttering or stumbling I could always hear him sort of muttering and mumbling Tough to comprehend him even if you spoke in hands It's a heavy burden, the task so daunting Takes a chilling hold, always there and haunting Having felt the weight of it myself I understand… Do you understand?

[Flowey found the grey door and the followers once each and NEVER went looking for them again. He believes Gaster is basically a creepypasta character, a vengeful void demon that will someday consume all. He never really knew Gaster as Asriel, so lacks knowledge of the REAL Gaster to contradict this, and never asked the others during his many runs due to his new fear.] [Or so he claims... it's possible he does know better and he's just screwing with Frisk for fun. IDK seems like the kind of thing he'd do]

Seven foot frame, face all warped and cracked When you call his name, it all fades to black There's no escape, he'll seal every fate

I don't talk about Gaster, no no no (note: chorus still says "we") No-one talks about Gaster

[The followers' relatives. Some remember more than others. The ones that do remember blame Gaster for their losses.]

My dad got a job with him, a year on? Gone. My boyfriend worked for him, now I'm all alone!

[MK. They only have one sibling... right?] I'm sure glad none of my folks knew that guy, they'd prob'ly be dead!

[All follower rels] He risked their lives just to put himself ahead!

[Sans. Gaster's experiments gave him his blasters, shortcuts and KR. He knows his dad wasn't a great guy. He still misses him.]

He told me that my brother would grow up and live freely under the stars. He told me that I had to be stronger so I could protect him from harm.

[Tori] It seems our guests are on their way.

[Papyrus. He never knew Gaster at all, he was only a babybones when whatever happened happened.] Sans told me that our dad would be proud of the man I've become, One who never surrenders! It's like I hear him now…

[Sans] Hey, kid. I'd drop all this if I were you… (It's like I hear him now,) (I can hear him now!)

[Frisk] Um, Gaster… Yeah, about that Gaster, I really need to know about Gaster. We need the truth and the whole truth Gaster!

[Flowey] Franken-lizard! Your girlfriend's here!

[Everyone at the house] Time for dinner!

[The big rounding chorus goes here, don't feel like typing it all out lol]

[Frisk tries to call to him. Not much happens, but they are DETERMINED. As they feel that familiar surge of energy, the shadows in the corners of the room start growing…]

[Chorus] Don't talk about Gaster!

[Frisk] Why did I ask about Gaster?

[Chorus, distorted as the VOID closes in] Not a word about Gaster!

[Frisk (& Chara)] I (we) never should've brought up Gaster!

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(Please don't forget to go check out the TwoAllNighters and co. take on the concept, I'd hate for my little shitpost here to take traffic from them after they put in so much effort. I know that video is a year and change old now but still.)

#kill the part of you that cringes #writing #fanfiction #lyrics #undertale

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