Agrotale Introduction Thread!! (Take Two)
Agrotale is an AU based on the Queen Alphys neutral ending you can get by abandoning a geno route in Hotland. Which means that Toriel, Papyrus, Undyne, Mettaton, and Asgore are all dead. The fallen human, Everett, must traverse the underground and avoid being captured by the Royal Guard and escorted to the Queen. The name Agrotale comes from the fact that Everett is a gardener and helps with the Underground's agriculture after a malfunction in the CORE limits food supply.
Everett - The Fallen Human
Climbed Mt. Ebott in search of rare plants, but accidentally fell in. Stuck in an unlucky situation, but tries their best to get on the Underground's good side. Uses the seeds in their pocket to plant food when the CORE experiences a malfunction. Got confronted by Muffet in the ruins, who was tasked by someone to take their soul, but was saved by Sans. He looks out for them to make sure they don't try anything stupid, and he makes it well-known that there'll be consequences if they do.
Muffet was banished to the ruins after her actions during the previous human's rampage led to countless more deaths, as well as the fact that she threatened to cannibalize the Queen on multiple occasions. Muffet is the same as ever- greedy, and willing to do anything for money. She may have even made a new business partner...? It may be best to grow eyes on the back of your head, I think someone may be watching you.
Dess Holiday - Head of the Royal Guard
《 Dess Casual Outfit , Dess Talksprites , Dess RG Walksprites , Dess Casual Walksprites 》
Dess was inspired to take up head of the Royal Guard after Undyne's passing, and was able to secure her position due to hard work and determination- as well as some nepotism sprinkled in the mix. Dess is great at her job, but she takes a lot of breaks to goof off with her sister, Noel, in the forest. She finds Sans a bit annoying, but for the most part they are on good terms. She has a rocky relationship with her mother, and after Asgore passed, it's been worse than ever. She's glad that her job gives her an outlet, and she's glad that she has a bat on her at all times (lest she needs to take her frustrations out on random items in the forest). She patrols Snowdin.
Noel Holiday - An Angel, Wouldn't Hurt a Fly
Dess's sister and Carol Holiday's daughter, Noel. A bit skiddish, but it seems she made some friends at the library. And, she's well liked amongst Dess's Royal Guard friends, too. Noel gets babysat by Grillby whenever Carol or Dess are unable to watch her, and since Sans is a frequent visitor she's become pretty close with him as well (to Carol's dismay).
Carol Holiday - Royal Advisor to the Queen
《 Carol Talksprites , Sans and Carol Doodle , He's Just Annoying (Twitter) 》
Is not handling Asgore's death well at all, and she's a pain in the Queen's ass, but, she's exceptionally good at her job. So, she keeps her position as the Royal Advisor swiftly secure. Becomes frustrated with Alphys easily, but does make an attempt to keep her composure, as she knows that this isn't Alphys's fault. Sans, on the other hand, she can't stand. In any other context, maybe she would have taken a liking to him, but in this situation? He never takes anything serious, and it irritates her to no end.
Birdly - Works at the Library
Works at the library whenever the owner can't make it. Definitely breaking multiple child safety laws, but his family needs the money, and the owner needs a break. So it's not like anything'll change anytime soon. Birdly lives with his mom, Bird. She's at Grillby's majority of the time, so he makes himself at home at the library. He even made a few friends too! Once Suzy came to town, she was a bit of a loner, and she wasn't up for conversation. She took a liking to Birdly when he started giving her recommendations for books he thinks she would like (and was correct). Noel also comes in for books pretty frequently, and it seems like she started showing up more once Suzy moved in.
Suzy - New Kid in Snowdin
Moved from Waterfall for a change of scenery, and because it's where everyone else was going. Doesn't talk about her home life, and no one knows where she lives. Friends with Birdly and Noel, and, she won't admit it, but the only reason she still comes to the library is to see either of them.
Grillby - Professional Cook and Babysitter
Still works at Grillby's, except now he has a new unofficial job as a babysitter for Noel. He became close with the Holiday's since Rudy was such a frequent visitor of his restaurant, and he used to watch Dess as well when she was younger. He enjoys the break away from his job, and he believes it's good for his daughter to get some work experience. He doesn't appreciate all the free handouts she gives to her friends, but I guess he'll let it slide. Especially considering he technically does the same thing for his. Sans and Alphys visit the restaurant frequently, and he's always happy to make them food even it's for free. He appreciates all the work they're doing for the underground, and he likes to help wherever he can.
Fuku Fire - Grillby's Daughter
《 Dess & Fuku Fire Doodle (Outdated Design) 》
Works at Grillby's whenever her dad can't. Friends with Dess, and gives her free food during her breaks. Pretty close with Sans, since he's known Grillby for a while, and she's been getting closer with Alphys because of how often she visits Grillby's nowadays.
Monster Kid Teen - Dess's Right Hand
《 Design , Doodle , Sunflower (Twitter) 》
Was inspired to join the Royal Guard after they watched Undyne die in front of them. Suffering with intense survivors guilt, MT swears that they won't wimp out this time when the next human falls, even if it means disobeying their orders. Deep down, still just a dorky kid, but they put on a tough exterior to seem more intimidating than they actually are. Really close with Dess, and Dess helps train them (and helps force them to take breaks when they push themself too hard). Alphys is very empathetic towards them because she knows exactly how they feel. Sans also helps train them every now and then, but his training style isn't nearly as serious as MT would prefer. They still live in Snowdin, but are assigned in Waterfall typically (per their request).
Gerson - Royal Guard Trainer
Wise old man with a lot of fighting experience, trained all of the new Royal Guard members, starting with Monster Teen, since they were the first to ask him. Of course, he obliged. Talks to Sans and Alphys often when they pass through Waterfall.
Mad Mew Mew - Vigilante / Future Royal Guard Member
Was killed by Frisk just after she fused to become Glad Dummy, however, she brought herself back to life out of spite and possessed the Mew Mew doll in a last-ditch effort to survive. She's now falling apart at the seams, and she is determined to get revenge. When she's not causing chaos, she's hiding in people's sinks or messing with fast food workers on their breaks. She patrols Waterfall, illegally.
Catti & Jockington - (Honorary) Royal Guard Members
Jockington is an official Royal Guardsman, however, Catti is not. She just follows Jock wherever he goes, and became an honorary member in that way. They both patrol Hotland.
Sans - Queen's Assistant / Bodyguard / Jester / Royal Scientist / ....uhhh? What the hell's this guy's deal, anyway?
《 Sans Royal Scientist Walksprites 》
The Queen's right hand man, almost never leaves her side. Says it's for Alphys's sake, but it's also for his, too. In contrast to his True Pacifist counterpart, Sans is secretly longing for a Reset to occur, and in a painful set of irony- no longer believes it to happen. Once he had this revalation, it took him weeks to catch up on all the months of grief he prevented himself from processing. But, Alphys was there to help, just as he was there for her. He's an all-rounder in terms of occupation, he does whatever Alphys needs whenever she needs it, no questions asked. Well, maybe some questions- like why she needs a flatscreen TV installed in the lab, and why she thought Sans was the right guy to call for help.
Sans proposed a new rule for humans, stating that there is no need to kill on sight unless they are shown to be outwardly aggressive or a genuine threat. He and Alphys are both smart enough to know that not all human children that fall down will be dangerous, and they don't want to continue the cycle of violence that ended up getting the people of the Underground nowhere in the end. And since they never made a promise to their people that went against their morals, they are free to do so. And since Asgore's plan didn't work out, the general public decided to give it a chance as well. Sans and Alphys put evacuation procedures into place for whenever a human were to fall down, just to be safe. They also installed cameras in the Ruins as well, so they can monitor whether or not that has happened yet, and plan accordingly.
Sans visits Toriel's home every now and then, keeping it as clean as he can for her. He does the same for the catacombs, since he knew she watched over the Ruins like a second home. He also found her joke book, and he writes a new entry every day to keep it going. He bumps into Muffet every now and again, but she knows to keep her distance.
《 Judgement Hall , Bonus Sans & Queen Alphys Doodle 》
《 I Depend on You , Design Sketches , Sans & Alphys Walksprites 》
The new Queen of the Underground. Tries her best to do what's right, but most of her good decisions come from the hands of Carol, who's really doing all the work behind the scenes. She was allowed to move into the Castle, but her room is too... imposing for her liking. It reminds her of everything that happened, of all of her new responsibilities as Queen. So, she uses it as a work station instead. And elects to sleep in Sans's room right next door, instead.
She tries her best to live up to Asgore's expectations, but seemingly falls short each time. She's grateful for Sans being around again, but she's upset that these are the circumstances that led to them getting back in touch. Not to mention that most of their interactions are work-related nowadays. But, she would rather it be Sans than anyone else. She made her armor as if she was making a cosplay, which is why it's so extravagent. It IS functional, but its very inconvenient, so she only wears it if she has to. Typically, she just wears pajamas under her cloak. She changed the Delta Rune symbol on her cloak in order to honor Undyne and Mettaton, along with all the others who fell to the human. Instead of a triangle in the middle, a star takes its place. Symbolizing their sacrifices.
With an unlimited budget and an engineering degree, Alphys & Sans spend a lot of their free time building gadgets. A lot of which ended up being weapons. Hotland has gotten a large revamp since Alphys became Queen, and it is one of the safest parts of the Underground due to all of the security measures in place.
《 Bonus Alphys Sketches , Bonus Sans & Alphys Sketches 》
This post will be updated whenever I can think of something else to add, or whenever I make more content for the AU.
There are some other external links for this AU I would like to share, one of which being the animatic I made on YouTube!!
I have an old Twitter QRT thread with reference sheets for most all the characters, however, some of the information and designs are slightly outdated, and all of the art is old so I'm not the biggest fan!! 😭 BUT!! For completion's sake I'll link it here if you want to give it a look.
IHop Saga (Twitter Thread)
gummygunk
blakekathryn
