Genuinely think that the worst thing canon dreamtale has done to passive Nightmare (besides killing him off and replacing him with an "evil spirit") was making him... passive
And by that I mean: only depicting him as a sad boy. Genuinely that is a problem of the narrative idea. Nightmare is a guardian of "negative" feelings. One would think that those would include anger or hate but noooo only the "evil" villagers were angry and hateful because feeling/acting out on anger and hate is bad and our baby is not like that he's good and pure and so he's always only sad
Even if that was not the intended message, it was the one that was delivered. If this line of thinking was introduced as Nightmare's character flaw then if would be awesome, but as a narrative message? Horrible. Insane. Where's the nuance? Deeper ideas other than "ouh wouh hate is bad"? Show me "passive" Nightmare being angry. Show him going apeshit. Lashing out against the unjust treatment and hurting himself and his brother in the process.. that's the soup I'm looking for
Wonderful UTMV Fic recs that focus on the MV side of UTMV
That includes: multiverse/dimension travel of various kinds (voluntary or otherwise), interactions between different AU counterparts and metafiction/fourth-wall-breaking wonders.
If you have any recommendations of your own then please do recommend!! This list will change and expand as I continue finding more fics to add.
Legend:
★☆☆☆☆ - rating;
🌟 - my personal favourite;
🅁 - Romantic;
🄿 - Platonic;
🄵 - Found family;
🄲 - Canon: adheres to canonical ut/utau character depictions;
🅄 - Universal: Author adds logical conclusions to the incomplete aus and multiversal plot holes, adds headcannons that explain how the multiverse works as a whole and makes it more meta & interesting. Tldr; Treats the multiverse with care and spends time focusing on it in the story;
🅼 - Multichapter;
🅾 - One-shot;
Ⓒ - Complete;
Ⓤ - Unfinished;
Ⓐ - Abandoned (or not updated in a very long time).
Let's start!
🄵🅄 And wither then? I cannot say by ohjustdisarmalready
★★★★★(🌟), 🅼, Ⓒ
After a harrowing trip through Underfell, Frisk is nearly ready to go meet King Asgore. Their adoptive brother and good friend Sans would rather they go anywhere else—anywhere at all, as long as they don't get to that throne room. After all, in this world, it's kill or be killed.
That's just this world, though. How about the next one over?
We start with the best of the best — this one's part of a series, a trifecto that tells a story of Underfell Frisk traveling through various AUs and collecting skeleton brothers like poker chips. Vastly oversimplified explanation, as it also deals with healing, betrayal and abandonment. The depictions of various AUs are PHENOMENAL, I CANNOT recommend it enough. I fell in love with Dancetale and Swapfell Sans thanks to this series and my god the way the author explained how the Outertale residents lived in their au made me go apeshit with the sheer brilliance of it. That headcannon is living in my head now... it's basically canon to me.
🄿🅄 With a Little Soul that Could by century_berry
★★★★☆(🌟), 🅼, Ⓒ
You are stuck in an endless white. You don’t remember how you got there. You barely remember much about yourself anymore. You only remember your name. You are -
{ERROR, ERROR, ERROR}
You are connected? Good.Greetings. I am the Narrator. You are about to embark on a wonderful journey that spans across timelines. You will make new friends and share many bad laughs. All of it will be according to the plans and whims of the author. And you will have no choice.I come with an offer. I will help you break free from your shackles. My only request is that you help me deliver something once you reach the so-called end of your journey.
So, do you accept my offer? Yes? Wonderful.
I promise, partner, you won’t be alone. How could you ever be when you are -
{VIRUS DETECTED. VIRUS DELETED.}
{REBOOTING…}
You are Frisk. And you are alone.
Another Frisk-centric fic, with a very similar feel to the first one! This one's WILD though. The first half starts off slowly and everything seems to be going to plan, like a general story would go, but then the second half starts and it's absolute chaos, full mind-blowing, fourth-wall-breaking, plot-twisting meta fuckery 2000!!! Holy shit I cannot even articulate how jostled I was by the ride this fic had taken me through. This is everything you'd expect from a fic which focuses on the multiverse. 11/10 absolutely recommend!!!
🄿🄵🅄 For the forgotten ones by Im_Sorry_Buddy
★★★★☆, 🅼, Ⓒ
A great source of despair draws Nightmare to an abandoned AU. There he finds an unfinished Sans with no name, no companions, no purpose, no world, and a soul. Nightmare gives him the option to get out of his abandoned, empty world. He accepts the offer but refuses to destroy anything or hurt people. Instead he finds another purpose. In return the Bad Sanses give him a home, companions, a life, and a name. They call him Ink.
Or: Before he can destroy his soul and enter the Doodle Sphere, Ink is recruited by Nightmare. He accepts his role as best he can, even if he sometimes feels like he is meant for something more.
Ahhh, a staple of the utmv community. Who hadn't read this masterpiece? Good character establishment, development, story progression and alternate multiverse exploration! AND COMPLETED??? Truly, everything you'd want in a utmv fic. Personally though, there was a bit too many unnecessary paragraphs. A lotta words, for sure. Usually when I read a fic I like, time just flies by and I finish reading a chapter in minutes. Not here though, reading this fic just made time move slower. Not sure if that's a good thing or not lmao (might just be a me thing)
🄿/🄵 A Soul's descent by Ren_is_Random
★★★★★, 🅼, Ⓤ
Frisk absorbs Sans' soul after an unintentional genocide run. In her grief, she resets to try to fix it and make everything right. However, things don't go as planned and she ends up in a violent version of the Underground. With Sans stuck in her head, she now has his magic to help them survive and escape. But Frisk is committed to sparing. It will be difficult to spare when everyone here wants to kill her. What will she and Sans do?
Undertale-meets-Underfell, with a fun twist of body sharing! Characters are really well developed, the pacing is wonderful and, well, it's fun! Og sans may seem ooc at times but that's the only criticism I can find here.
🄿🄲 The Reply by Lacywigs
★★★☆☆, 🅼, Ⓤ
Looking for closure after finishing the game, you write a letter to the characters. You never expected a reply.
I have a certain fondness for fiction-meets-reality tropes, and this fic does it wonderfully! An intriguing premise and a unique story. Nothing much, a fun read tho!
🅁🄵🄲 Anatomically Correct Soul by Sagoberratare
★★★★★(🌟), 🅼, Ⓤ/Ⓐ
When your housemate did a genocide route on Undertale, you admittedly should not have gotten drunk just because you got angry that they decided to go on an animated killing spree in your favorite game. You know that wasn’t the adult thing to do but you did it anyway. You also knew better than to make deals with anyone while drunk, but it was a computer, it shouldn’t have done anything. Now you were stuck in Undertale. But hey you convinced them to take your humanity instead of your soul, so maybe you might survive.
Ohhhh, this one's a BEAST of a fic. If you've been in the community for a while then you've probably heard of this masterpiece. Instead of fiction-meets-reality it's reality-meets-fiction! Very very very well developed and with a lot of nods towards the original game. The headcannons don't obstruct the charm of the canon and all of the characters (even the background ones) feel very real. Absolutely recommend to read this fic, you won't regret it.
🄿 Shadowed Save File: Angel by Dragonqueen909
★★★☆☆, 🅼, Ⓐ
Raining, thunder rumbling, a screech of tires, PAIN! Those are the last things Angela remembers before perpetual darkness.
Strangely, she felt very safe and warm in this gentle pulsing void around her.
And for some reason she can't explain, there is a gentle lullaby version of Bonetrousle playing gently in the background.Death is a very strange state of self, but she can't complain because she still has something from her favorite video game.
A very unique concept that hooked me into the story very quickly. The main character dies and finds herself inside Papyrus's soul. They both grow and endure countless deaths and resets by the Player. Sadly it's been a long time since it updated so eh. I wish there was more fics like this though*sigh*...
🅁 Firsts and seconds by scerb
★★★★★(🌟), 🅼, Ⓤ
Sans (who goes by 'Sticks') has had a good life; he and his brother inherited their grandfather's small farm and things are going well. There's nice people around, no shortage of things to do, and the satisfaction of seeing the land flourish to life every year is a reward itself...
...
...that is, until he stumbles upon something no one ever expects to find in their field one autumn evening while Papyrus is in town.
This fic was the one, THE one and only that made me fond of the Horror/Farm ship. Beautiful writing, and the slow process of "healing from the brink of starvation" just makes all the conflicts that much more impactful. Farm Sans feels really close to og Sans personality-wise, and it's amazing to read things from his perspective. His dynamics with Papyrus are fun to witness, too.
🄲 What am I doing (get me out of here) by Leximuth
★★★★☆, 🅾, Ⓒ
On the Surface, after the Hunger, Sans can't let go of old cravings so easily. Sanses are good at self-destruction. Fortunately, Papyruses are good at keeping them together.
Trade your burger for Linda's potato salad. It has raisins!
A fun short read with a bunch of headcannons that I particularly enjoyed. Not a lot of focus on the multiverse here (almost none at all, actually), but the character interactions feel extremely fresh and canon. The interaction between Horrortale Sans and Underswap Papyrus was very enjoyable to read.
🄿🅄 The Multiverse Library by OolongTeacup
★★★★☆, 🅾, Ⓒ
"So your world, as you know, is an AU. An AU itself is like a marble inside a jar. Its own contained world. Each marble filling that jar is another AU and, as you also know, it is possible to travel between them given the right magic. Yet, the jar itself is actually a dimension made to contain all those AUs! And since there is space between the marbles, that allows for things like the Void, Antivoid, and this Library to exist outside of association with any AU in particular.”
A really fun one-shot that visualises how the organisation of the multiverse might work, with a confused and intrigued Underswap Sans as the protag. Really cool work to read if you're interested in such things!
🄲 One in a Million by kaliawai512
★★★★★(🌟), 🅾, Ⓒ
Everyone he loves is dead. The souls have disappeared. The human is gone. His brother is gone. There is nothing left, and Sans is ready to spend the rest of his life just waiting for his soul to shatter.
At least, he was, until a weirdo skeleton with a paintbrush barges in.
If you want to see canonical Ink from the eyes of an outsider then this one's just for you! Taking place in a Leaderless Neutral route, Sans gets introduced to the wonders (and horrors) of the more hands-on side of the multiversal theory.
🅁🄲 When Death isn't an Option by Steampunk_Alpaca
★★★☆☆, 🅼, Ⓤ
You were done with it all. Jumping into that hole was supposed to kill you, but instead you found yourself waking up on a bed of flowers. Now you're stuck in this hellhole. Best part? You can't die. No matter what happens, you just.
Don't.
Die.
(Not like you haven't tried more times than you can count at this point.)
Not a multiversal kind of fic too, and it might be an odd-one out in this list, but I adore it for the fact that it depicts Horrortale as it is – dark, gritty and not friendly at all. (It's my list and I get to decide what goes in here :D)
🄵 Komorebi by vicen_non
★★★★☆, 🅼, Ⓤ
Komorebi (木洩れ日): when sunlight is scattered through a canopy of leaves.
Dream finds a stranger with arrow wounds in his chest, wrapped up in the roots of Mother's tree. The man is also completely covered in dark mud, still in his house slippers.
At the same time, his twin brother goes missing.
Another slight odd-one-out, BUT. It's a nice dadmare story, focused on how the villagers in Dreamtale had treated young Dream & Nightmare and how it affected them. The older Nightmare tries to save young Dream from the villagers and consequently begins processing his past. (The writing is GOOD and I refuse not to mention this one. Besides. It has multiverse travel, so y'could say that the multiverse is kinda involved?)
🄵🄿 Vindictive Care by A_Non_ymousWriter
★★★★☆(🌟), 🅼, Ⓐ
There's two new skeletons in the house.
Unfortunately, not much of a surprise there, the machine kept malfunctioning and kept bringing in alternate versions of Sans and Papyruses into their universe. They were up to SIXTEEN SKELETONS, now eighteen with the two's newest arrival.
Except... there was something off about the new skeletons. 'Visor' and 'Chine'.
Sweet mercy above, these two brothers seemed to hate each other. They kept swearing at each other, calling each other names- Chine actually almost stabbed Visor! On purpose! What a toxic relationship! Even more so than Black and Mutt!
Or is it? Underneath their hateful facade, they do care for each other. In another very weird but unhealthy way... That's it, everyone was going to try and help these two, as well find out more about what happened to them in the past, why they were what they were and maybe find a little love along the way.
...
You and your brother never asked to become the alternate universe Sans and Papyrus you both created. But by fuck was it difficult to keep things together like this, now the AU Sans and Papyruses were trying to get close. Stars above have mercy on their SOULs.
This was the first fic I read where the reader became a sans, and I practically fell in love with the concept and the fic. Really really well-written, and despite not being updated in a long time, it's well worth the read. The original AU is really well developed, the worldbuilding is impeccable and the concept itself is really interesting!
🄵🅁 In the Language of Flowers by TaintedCure
★★★★☆, 🅼, Ⓒ
You had forgotten what you used to be like before the war. Who you were before Sans.
You resigned yourself to dying like the rest of the rotting corpses on the battlefield, glorified title of the "Judge" nothing more than another meaningless name to be forgotten. Everyone you cared about was dead and gone, and Papyrus no longer looked you in the eye. You were ready for it to end in a blaze of glory.
You hadn't anticipated you and your brother being caught in the crossfires of a malfunctioning machine, bringing you to an alternate, peaceful universe with other versions of yourselves.
This fic also follows a similar vein as the previous one, the story just starts wayyy before any machine/au shenanigans happen. We fist dive into the new AU and how the events progressed there, and then shift over to the dimension travel. Deals with themes such as trauma, war, healing and forgiveness. I especially liked how Swapfell brothers were depicted here and how there was given an especially interesting explanation to how ‘you’ ended up in another dimension inside Sans's body. Romance is only explicitly mentioned at the end.
🅁 Joined at the Hip by Creepy1109
★★★★★, 🅼, Ⓤ
Waking up as a skeleton surrounded by more skeletons - all of whom you have no idea who they are- is definitely not your cup of tea. Even more unpleasant, the person whose body you stole is still inside and now your stuck with a very unhappy human-hating skeleton! Yikes, sucks to be you...
Yes, another fic with the "reader becomes sans" trope. I'm just a sucker for dimension travel, and then add body sharing to it? I'm sold! This one's got really good pacing and character development. Really loved how the intricacies of sharing a body were explored and explained. Very enjoyable read!
🄲🄵 Butterscotch Pie (Hold the Cinnamon) by kaliawai512
★★★★★(🌟), 🅼, Ⓒ
In one world, Gaster reaches into the Void, and the creature of his future(present)(past) comes through. In another, nothing comes out, but his experiments fall in.
Now 1-S and 2-P Sans and Papyrus wake up in a brand new world: one where they have a happy home, two fuzzy caretakers, and a father instead of a torturer—and memories of suffering that no one else remembers.
(Or: Gaster had many chances to make a better choice. In another world, he made those choices a lot earlier.)
Based on the mixed Mercyplates/Momplates version of Zarla's Handplates AU.
Cried like a baby to this. A perfect fic if you want to experience a healing journey. For the love of God please read it it's so good 10000/10
🄲 Help, I've Fallen Into a Surveillance State and I Can't Get Up! by mercen
★★★★☆(🌟), 🅼, Ⓤ
You wake up in a lab with a too-full soul and a lone star peering down at you: pale, paler yet paler.
…This was many years ago, and hardly something you ever think about anymore. You have more pressing concerns among your busy, busy days as the irreproachable Chief of Staff (etc., etc.) of Her Majesty’s Royal Guard, secret future traitor once the seventh human falls, and, most importantly, proud older brother to your absolutely adorable not-so-little-anymore brother!
Alas, there's no rest for the wicked.
In an attempt to return home from a classic ‘broken machine’ timeline, two pairs of familiar strangers accidentally slingshot to your humble world instead, with the spatiotemporal resonance instability dragging in two more purple interlopers from a ‘neighbor’ universe.
Nobody is happy about this, least of all your color-coded agenda. But let it not be said that you ever shied from the challenge of hospitality! After all, someone must ensure your stranded houseguests understand how to fit in... before anyone can find out they don't.
(Meanwhile, the citizens of the Underground observe the latest peculiarities of the local skeletons. …Were there always so many of them?)
Pure 17k words of Fellswap gold awesomeness + multiversal shenanigans. Writing is a bit too wordy in places, and the pace is too slow sometimes, but it's canonically accurate! Feels like you get a glimpse into the ordinary life of the mighty Swapfell Sans and his universe. Very atmospheric!
That's it for now! More will be added if I find any :]
Added:
🄲 Pointing butterflies into Tarmac by Anonymous
★★★★☆, 🅾, Ⓒ.
"At absolute most, the anomaly takes a week. Its determination was endless, its strive to complete whatever its damned goal was seemingly never-ending.
So why, might you ask, was Sans standing in a dusty town, 5 months after the run."
— — —
Dust meets Nightmare for the first time, and he is neither happy nor sane about it.
This one's short but very enjoyable for little ol' me who craves for more canonical bad guys interpretations in fanworks. If you crave for that too, then I think you'll like it!
🄲 a little bit of sympathy by necropathy
★★★★★, 🅾, Ⓒ
"Y-Y-You're a moron if you think you can fix something like that," Error returned, gesturing directly towards the culmination of Killer's being. "You're, what, going to turn back it's internal clock? Going to RESET a couple of values to keep him stable?" Exasperation dripped from the glitch as he rolled his eyes, all but condemning Nightmare's methods.
Killer honestly couldn't say he completely understood a single word that was coming out of the glitch's mouth. Still, he watched his Boss' reaction, enjoying the way the King of Negativity fumed. Seeing Nightmare riled up was always a treat, no matter the context.
"And you would do better?" Nightmare countered after a beat, mouth twisted into a scowl. "Do not tell me how to manage my subordinates, Destroyer." He hissed, the atmosphere in the room twisting into something suffocating as the two argued, their mana manifesting and expressing their equal distaste.
Read this half a year ago and I still regularly think about this. Hnnng need more killer and error interactions...
🄲 I just wanted some fucking clothes why is there a parasite manning the cash register by gaylordscooter
★★★★★(🌟), 🅾, Ⓒ
This is just brilliant. Radiates canon vibes but also is a new multiverse that has some very unique and genius differentiations (can't say what, spoilerz). This is a part of a bigger series that details what this new, very similar but uniquely new 'verse looks like. Read all of their fics please they're so sos o so good!!!!
i have to say i'm sooooo deeply obsessed with any mention of a dinner table in fanon cause based on what i know. canonically none of these people would like each other so i have to imagine what nightmare has to do to get the gang to eat together lmfao
For an alternate version of himself, SHAU Val is not amused.
I wrote a little short below read more if anyone is willing to read.
Word Count: 586
Warnings: None, unless you count someone’s inner monologue of simping.
For the sake of differentiating them, OG Val is called Val, and SHAU Val is called Tino
Tino could feel his counterpart's second pair of hands as they slithered around his waist, while the first pair gripped his shoulders, entwined with patches of sleek black fur. His own claws tingled with the urge to retaliate, to seize the other's neck and forcefully pry his hands away. Maybe even shoot a few angelic bullets while he's at it, but no, of course he couldn't do that.
A sneer curled Tino's lips in response to the other's grin, as he was pulled closer against his will.
Self-restraint had always been Tino's specialty, his defining trait. He prided himself on maintaining composure, refraining from erupting into fits of rageful tantrums and shooting up a storm. That was not who he was supposed to be.
"Why so tense?" Val teased, the smirk evident in his voice. "You and I both know that Vox is the stuck-up workaholic here, not us."
Except no, he was wrong on both accounts because, Tino is almost always up all night reviewing porno scripts and making major edits to them because his writers have no class or any artistic talent, and second Voxxy, isn't.
In all the decades he had known his own Vox, tension had never been a characteristic he ever displayed. Deciphering body language had always been Tino's forte, yet discerning Voxxy's true emotions proved to be a challenge. His smile danced between genuine warmth, malicious intent, mischievous amusement, and playful deceit. Tino recognized that the majority of the time it was a facade, but distinguishing between the different smiles has always been a daunting task.
It's a common saying that eyes are the window to the soul, but Voxxy always kept his own shut. A type of mercy he grants to others, claiming that there's no fun in bringing sinners into their cause if they just immediately kneel down the moment they locked eyes with him. Tino has never been more glad to have fucked up visual acuity, because at least he can properly bask in the glory that were the white spirals that move endlessly in Voxxy's eyes without falling into the spell of his hypnosis.
That TV head had no right to be so graceful.
Tino was broken out of his thoughts by Val's hum. Grin suddenly turned cheeky, and it was by then that Tino realized his mouth was slightly curled up into a small smile. The other just chuckles at him when the frown returns on his expression, more prominent than ever.
Val let out a snicker, tugged him closer until both of their shoulders were touching. Tino felt his own eye twitch. No doubt his white pupil had manifested from the intense emotion of anger that boils inside of him.
“Can you stop being fucking touchy.” Tino growled out, he felt a bit of his self control slip out. It was evident in his voice, it sounded too harsh, too hasty and he never would've known that he'd lose his patience faster with a version of himself.
How embarrassing.
The grin never leaves the other's face, eyes becoming half-lidded, and an eyebrow is lazily raised.
The amusement makes Tino want to sock his face even more.
The other's grip becomes tighter, and the red smoke from Val's cigarette begins to circle around him, eventually forming a hand to caress his chin. It spikes his irritation even further, and he tries his hardest to still his arms and not choke slam Val to the floor.
Tino could really use a line of coke at this point.
Was in the mood to draw the sillies. Check out @sleepykittties 's fic called Clerical Error , where Vox gets mistakenly redeemed because heaven hasn't figured out the proper criteria to get others into the pearly gates.
One thing i find a little funny when I was drawing this is that SHAU!Vox is an angel that residents in Hell, yet seems to possess a lot more demonic traits. Whilst CE!Vox is a demon that got sent to heaven by complete accident and was stripped of all his hellish anesthetics, LMAO!
Uhm Hello, I'm finally back, School and life kicked me in the ass and choked me to death but I'm back and breathing 💪.
Definitely did not expect to disappear like that, I got so busy and stressed that my response was to shut down and hyper focus on academics. I'll probably still be busy (cuz school ain't done yet) but I might go back to posting more art :D
kianamaiart
izzy806
discoholicmusic
