Sti is a test tube baby, one of three attempts, Gasters last chance to create his ideal successor, his ideal protégé.
some heavily implied emotional abuse and lore below the cut
but no matter what sti does, he'll never be good enough.
THEY will always point out his unideal coloration abnormalities, his fragility, his weakness.
but as we know, the little insults build, and build, and build, until someone breaks.
and it all
comes crashing
down
darkness in all directions
a figure falls surrounded by nothing
darker yet darker as they fall
their soul pulling apart at the seams
and as they fall they wonder
why would all my creations betray me so?
as they crumble they ponder
was it all destined?
or,
am i merely a fool?
-----
Sti stands in the snow, striped shirt speckled with dust. Digit sits somewhere behind him, trembling in the snow, clutching a red scarf as they cry and wail.
Sti stares blankly down at the gold rimmed glasses coated in a fine layer of dust, or maybe its snow, those were the pair THEY always wore when they were going to see the king.
Yes. I am full (user) naming you @violetthepixie. You know what you did. Where's the decency? The humanity? ...Monster-anity? The Dadster and the Sanster universes must never interact.
This is sheer cruelty for all the characters involved! The embarrassment! The horror! It's terrible! Awful! An absolutely brilliant idea!!!! I love it!!! Let's get to it! :D
For anyone that's curious, I'll break down the AUs Vi mentioned and some background after the cut before I get into how they would interact!
The following content contains spoilers for my fics and series.
Warning: The following contains mention of Sanster (Sans/Gaster) between two unrelated adults. They aren't even the same species. However, it may reference: Abduction, de-humanization, abuse, and other unsettling topics.
Sea Glass: Upon consulting with Vi (the one who asked) I will be replacing this Gaster with How To: Gaster, as Sea Glass Gaster doesn't really exist. And not in the "yeeted from the universe" way, and more in the "I literally have no backstory for him" way.
How To: Underfell Gaster. He's a hardass, but when you get past his prickly exterior, he's actually a good person. He disguises all his acts of kindness with insults, and hired Sans so he could keep a better eye on him and Papyrus. He never got the chance to adopt his Sans and Papyrus before he fell into his creation, but he sees them as his sons.
You can see more information bout him in this ask. We'll call him "Boss."
Pirate!AU: The former royal scientist and retired pirate captain who now lives with his hot tavernkeeper boyfriend and their raccoon. He adopted his sons, Sans and Papyrus when they were kids, and they are now the ones that are in charge of the Sail la Vie (his former ship). There was never a barrier in this world.
You can read more about him here: [1] and [2] (this is a oneshot about him and Grillby.) We'll call him "Pyre."
Heart on the Table (HotT): An absolute softy, and canon-compliant Undertale Gaster. He adopted his sons, and while he was clumsy with parenting at first, he loves them with his entire soul. He fell into his creation when Papyrus was still a kid and Sans a young adult.
However, his story didn't end there. A large portion of his soul actually got trapped outside of the barrier where he roamed, unable to be seen or heard or touched. ...Until he met Frisk! Whom he immediately adopted. As of right now in the series, he's trapped outside the barrier while Frisk is Underground. (well... at least most of him is trapped out there.) For the purpose of this ask, it will take post-reunion (with minimal series spoilers regarding how that will happen)
You can read more about him in the Finding Home series. We'll call him "Wings."
Lamiatale (Aka "Mr. Snake Smoocher (bald edition)): And this is where the problems start. This description is going to be longer to the others because there is no content posted for it yet on my tumblr or ao3.
All the other Gasters so far are good people. This Gaster... is not. He's a human scientist with a craving for knowledge and recognition.
He runs and operates Ebott Zoo - the only zoo in the world to boast a magic exhibit. Sure the lamia and the sirens eat people on occasion... but what the media doesn't know doesn't hurt anyone!
He's fully aware that the lamia and sirens are as intelligent as humans - but until they're willing to talk with him and negotiate, they'll be staying right there in the zoo. Too bad Sans, the oldest of the lamia at the zoo, has no intention of cooperating with the man who betrayed him. And where Sans leads, Red and Fell follow.
But despite everything... Gaster is still in love with Sans, and is consistently found begging with the prideful skeleton to just give him a chance. That if he just helped, things would go back to how they used to be when they were young and in love.
We'll call this Gaster "Doctor."
Now lets get to it!
To start with - all four of the Gasters will be investigating the situation first, before they even really think to talk about themselves or make idle chit-chat. They'll be fascinated by the fact that one of them is human, and vice versa, but after taking note of that, and establishing that they are all, in fact, Doctor W.D. Gaster, they'll be back to theorizing about why they're all together all of a sudden.
Pyre and Doctor will be the most confused, as neither of them were... well. Voided. Boss and Wings will be trying to figure out why the void has suddenly crossed dimensions.
Theories will fly around the room, incomprehensible calculations and math... they're all quite happy to find an equal level of intelligence.
It's only when they've finally figured out that there's... well. not much to figure out, that they'll sit down and actually start chatting with each other.
Wings and Boss will probably pair up to talk at first, since they both come from startlingly similar universes and situations. They quickly realize that they had near identical upbringings, and quickly deduce that their timelines diverged after they ended up underground.
Wings is fascinated and horrified by the picture Boss paints of his home - one where cruelty goes rewarded and kindness punished. He's also... uncomfortable with the lack of mention of any sons, but not suprised. In such a cruel world… would he have given a second thought to Sans and Papyrus? Would he have even known they existed? He doesn’t like thinking about it.
For his part, Boss shares most surface level things, but like any fell monster, he keeps what he really treasures close to his chest. He doesn't mention his Sans or Papyrus, and he doesn't consider that Wings may also have met them. Things are different - the world kinder - surely in Wings's world, Sans and Papyrus were never orphaned in the first place?
That's until Wings's starts talking about his world. It becomes clear to both of them that Wings's is a shut-in, who only really knows much about his own corner of the world. ...And about his children.
When given a chance, Wings will do what Wings does best - and that's talk. You can't ever get this skeleton to shut up about anything, and one of his favorite topics is his children. He's going to sing all sorts of praises about his kids - how funny and clever Sans is, how proud he is of him for taking a step back and relaxing. How intelligent and driven Papyrus is, with a strong sense of integrity to boot. How determined and kind his little Frisk is, so small but getting bigger every day now that everyone is healthy.
Boss is going to get very very uncomfortable, though he won't show it. Mainly because jealousy is now simmering through him so hotly that he burns with it. Because that's the life he always wanted. Sure, maybe Wings still suffered, but he got his sons. He eventually got out of the void. Boss doesn't even like humans, but for the sheer principle of it, he's jealous of Wings for Frisk, too.
In Boss's world, Frisk is Papyrus's child. Perhaps... maybe... if things had gone differently, they would be his grandchild. But they aren't, and those boys aren't his. They're his employees, and maybe he took on a more parental role than a boss normally would, but he'd wasted his time. He hadn't adopted them when he still had a chance, and now he never would again.
When Wings presses and Boss finally (reluctantly) admits that he thinks of the boys like his sons, Wings... pities him, though he tries not to show it.
Wings never wants to think of his life without his children.
Aaand on the other half of the room!
I imagine Doctor and Pyre will pair up to start talking at first, as their universes are more similar. There's no barrier in either of them, and both men live on the coast. Doctor will be utterly enthralled with the fact that every other version of him here is a skeleton. Pyre has no love for humans, but neither does he have a large bias against them, and so he will eagerly sit with Doctor as they discuss the differences between their worlds.
Doctor is completely enchanted with the skeleton across from him, and he wonders if that's why he's so drawn to monsters - because apparently, in every other universe, he is one. Meanwhile, Pyre is sitting back and spinning tales as he is wont to do - he's quite the entertainer.
That is, of course, when Sans's name comes up.
Immediately Doctor perks up and presses Pyre for more information on the skeleton. Some of the questions are... overly familiar. Pyre is using Sans's name to talk about him - he hasn't said "my son", and so neither of them quite realize exactly what's going on.
Until, inevitably, Doctor asks something that's too familiar, and inappropriate, and Pyre sputters.
"Why the hell would I ever want t' know about me son's sex life? I taught 'im how t' be safe 'n dat's all I care t' know! I don't want t' details!"
"Your SON?!"
Immediately the room goes silent, and Wings and Boss are moving over because there is SOMETHING going on here, and they aren't sure they like it.
Pyre is sputtering.
"Yes, me son! What else would he be? Ye! Tell me Sans and Papyrus are ye sons, too?"
Pyre drags Wings and Boss into it, and Wings immediately confirms, though he also adds on that he has another child, too - Frisk. Boss hems, haws, and mentions that Frisk is Papyrus's child in his world (of which Pyre agrees that Frisk is Papyrus's in his own as well - they're his grandchild). But eventually Boss is too curious about what's going on to really deny it, and admits that they were his children in everything but legality.
They're all facing Doctor now, who is staring at them in utter fascination.
"Children? I imagine you are older than them in that case, by a fair bit."
They chime in with their ages - Boss and Wings are nearly the same, though Boss is a handful of years younger. Both are in their 900's though. When Pyre admits that he's 148, (though that's firmly upper- middle aged for him - his life expectancy is around 200) both Boss and Wings tease him for being a baby.
Of course, they then find out that Doctor is in his early 40s and while they partially expected it - he's human after all - it's still an odd shock.
Doctor then hums and says that Sans is the same age as him, and (very carefully, without admitting the details of what happened to break them up - Doctor's not an idiot, and admitting to kidnapping and putting monsters (and an alternate version of their son! how fascinating!) in a zoo when he's clearly outnumbered is a terrible idea for his health.) He casually admits that Sans was his lover.
Needless to say, Pyre, Wings, and Boss are all very uncomfortable with this information, though logically they figure that there's nothing... truly wrong with the relationship. They aren't related, and there isn't even an age gap.
Still. They're all feeling very squicked out. They'd really rather remove this knowledge from their skulls, actually.
From there... well. That's about it. None of them really hate each other, though they're all vaguely uncomfortable around Doctor. They just put that on the whole "he was his Sans’s lover" thing. Pyre, Boss, and Wings, get along pretty well, both Boss and Wings taken by Pyre's stories of the high seas. ...And his stories about the raccoon he lives with (both Wings and Boss discard these as rubbish, and Pyre bemoans his fate of never being believed.)
Doctor's crimes may very well never come to light. He’s actually quite clever and tricky! He’s not going to freaking admit to what he did. Let’s say… the topic of how they got their scars came up. Doctor would simply say he doesn’t like thinking about it and is uncomfortable with it. He’s incredibly closed lipped, and while the other’s may find themselves increasingly uncomfortable around him, Doctor will not admit to anything incriminating.
But Doctor deserves some good old fashioned justice, so lets just turn this into a full on chaotic, random crossover and dump both Lamiatale Sans (and lamiatale Frisk in order to give him some incentive/motivation) in the void with ‘em.
Boss, Pyre, and Wings are all immediately VERY curious of the fact that he’s—well, half snake, and Sans and Frisk are about to be bombarded with well meaning questions. Sans and Frisk, on the other hand, are going to be very slowly backing up. …Actually this would be a mess for more than one reason. Maybe I shouldn’t have chosen this to be the way Doctor’s crimes are revealed… Cuz like. Sans would immediately grab Frisk and hide them behind himself and puff up in a threat display, and Frisk’s fear is going to be so palpable, the Gaster’s would be idiots not to see it. They’re probably about a second away from fainting. …Fear of Sans, that is, NOT anything else. (Frisk and Sans have a complicated relationship :) )
Ummm I could turn this into a whole mini fanfic, but to show restraint for your sake and not derail too much from the gasters, I shall refrain. Let’s just say, one thing turns into another, with Frisk’s presence, Sans isn’t able to hide his voice, and it all eventually comes pouring out.
Er. for purposes of this ask remaining gaster centric, I’ll also say the void is preventing Doctor and Sans from physically interacting. Meaning Sans can’t just. Kill him and be done with it. Sans will (eventually) realize that the other Gasters are VERY much on his side (which… they’re monsters too. yes. that makes sense. He still doubts their INTENTIONS, but at the very least they wouldn’t be harming him in the same way.) and when he realizes someone might actually be willing to deal justice on his behalf… well. He will tell Frisk to cover their ears and then begin to describe, in depth, what Doctor had put him and the others through.
Now then. Let’s get into the gasters again. Furious doesn’t even begin to cut it. And Doctor is, by FAR, the least powerful one there. He’s just… a human. He doesn’t even really have the advantage of INTENT, because Boss and Wings have literally already been dead and scattered and can’t be killed like that. In Pyre’s case, he’s quite practiced at killing much more trained humans than Doctor.
Pyre and Boss have both killed humans for way less, and with Sans THERE, they aren’t feeling particularly merciful. This may not be their son, but he LOOKS like him, and acts like him… it’s enough for both of them to be very VERY protective.
Wings will be concerned with making sure Frisk can’t hear or see what’s about to happen… but once he’s reassured their eyes and ears are covered, he’ll be turning right back to copious amounts of violence.
He probably won’t actually take place in what’s about to happen though.
Don’t get me wrong—Not a single one of these Gasters are pacifist people. Not even the softest of them. Wings would gladly tear a man’s head off for hurting one of his kids. But, eh, torture doesn’t settle right in his stomach. To take part in. He won’t stop it though, and he’ll gladly get a couple kicks in before retreating to distract Frisk. (Sans does NOT like the man’s proximity to Frisk, but he’s doing a better job at distracting the kid than Sans is, so… not much he can do.)
Boss and Pyre on the other hand…? Yeah. Uh. They have nothing against actual, drawn out torture. Doctor is going to WISH he were dead by the time the void releases them all.
Doctor doesn’t even blame them. He, too, is possessive over what he sees as his, and he just sees this as the monsters staking their claim. He sees much of himself in them.
They do not like hearing that. And Doctor is the one to suffer for it.
(All of them are going to be reexamining themselves after this and fearing that they are horrific abusers. Boss is going to be the one who spirals the most as he draws comparisons. It’s not going to be pretty mentally.)
Aaaaand I think that’s about it?
TLDR: Wings, Boss, and Pyre would get along swimmingly, though Boss and Wings would have an odd, jealousy based relationship.
All of them would be uncomfortable around Doctor, and if they found out what Doctor did, they would have his guts and also beat him up. A lot. It would probably end with his death, unless the void interfered in this.
THANK YOU FOR THE ASK I HAD SOSOSO MUCH FUN. terribly sorry it took so long!
Cross idly kicked his feet behind him as he lay on his chest, coloring book in front of him. It was about sea life, and this page had a cool-looking shark. It had a really long tail and was called a thresher shark. According to the little bit of information on the page, it uses that tail to hunt. The picture had the animal in a dynamic pose to demonstrate how.
He was so engrossed in his coloring and thinking about how cool the shark was that he didn’t hear what was happening around him. It was when he was randomly pounced and let out a yell in fear that he knew that Horror had been creeping up on him. The slightly taller skeleton child picked him up and held Cross in a bear hug.
“Gotcha,” he chuckled as Cross squirmed.
“you’re a jerk!” Cross snapped as he was set back down. In that background, he heard Killer giggling away from where he was sitting with some Legos.
“sorry, was just bored,” Horror sighed as he patted Cross on the head.
No surprise, they all were. It had been a week since being here at Mr. Night’s castle. It was the times that Mr. Night was off doing his errands or working that were the dullest. There was a lot for Mr. Night to do. He was caring for them, for starters, and then he had all those animals he cared for. Then he had a job. When Cross asked if anyone helped him with his job, a moment of sadness appeared in the dark skeleton’s eyelight. He said he used to have help, but those who helped him could no longer assist. Cross asked if he could help, but Mr. Night patted him on the head and said ‘Maybe when you are older.’ There was such sorrow in his voice that Cross couldn’t forget how that sounded.
Dust was the only one who didn’t seem to mind these long periods of nothing to do. They had to be even longer for Dust, as he was often done with all the lessons Nightmare had for them before everyone else. So, he had to sit quietly and do something else while Mr. Night finished teaching the others. That one knew a lot of cool stuff and could do math easily.
Looking over, Cross saw Dust sitting by himself, reading a book that Nightmare had given him. After all, he had already read all the other books written for children their age. Still, he had to be lonely, too, right?
“let’s talk to dust!” Cross said.
Horror shrugged, and they walked over, Killer following along behind. Dust was as focused on the book as Cross had been on his coloring. Horror looked ready to pounce, but Cross grabbed the other’s shirt. Unlike the others, Dust seemed jumpy and nervous about new situations.
“hey, dust?” Cross asked, and Dust looked up at him, his eye lights shrinking nervously as he noticed the other two.
“yes?” Dust replied, his tone flat to hide the fear. Not wanting to scare him anymore, Cross decided to sit down. That way, the shorter of the four didn’t have to look up and feel like he was surrounded.
“i wanted to ask you something since you’re so smart!” Cross replied happily. “i wanted to know if your dad is really smart too, since you never talk about him.”
Dust looked down at his book for a moment, then back up at Cross. “i… i… uh… don’t like him, so i don’t want to talk about him.”
“you don’t like your dad?” Killer asked as he knelt by Cross. “why don’t you like him?”
Dust was quiet for a while, and Cross tilted his head, curious. “did he give you up? are you an orphan like i was before dad adopted me?”
“no…,” the other replied as his fingers idly flipped the corner of the pages. “i… my father, uh… mr. night says he was a bully and not a father… that i should just forget him.”
“whoa! really?” Killer asked.
Cross watched as Dust sat there quietly for a moment. He looked up at Cross, then Killer and Horror. “your dads taught you what a family was… right?” To that, Cross nodded. “well… he… the doctor… he never taught me the word father or family or other words or things you all know so easily. to him, i wasn’t his son. all he did was make me and then… stuff i don’t like… so…”
“wait, mr. night won’t return you to some mean bully who doesn’t think you’re his kid, right?” Horror asked, frowning.
To that, Dust shook his head. “mr. night says this is my home now.”
“good!” Killer loudly declared.
“yeah, you deserve someone nice for a dad!” Cross added. He then got an idea, “maybe mr. night can be your dad!”
“yeah! you should totally ask him to be your dad!” Killer insisted, approving of the idea.
“i don’t know… maybe?” Dust frowned. “not now… but after you all go home and it’s just us, i can ask.”
Horror moved over and sat next to Dust. “i think mr. night likes having us around and would be happy if you called him dad after we leave.”
“me too!” Killer said. “he seems so lonely and sad sometimes.
“ok,” Dust said quietly. He looked worried.
“something wrong?” Cross asked.
“well… i… don’t know what to do, so maybe i won’t,” Dust muttered.
“know what to do?” Killer asked, and Cross was confused about what Dust meant also.
Horror then wrapped an arm around Dust and picked up the shortest of them up. “enough talking, let’s play a game.”
“but dust is confused about something,” Cross protested.
“yeah? and i say the cave dragon is tired of answering questions,” Horror announced as he carried Dust from the corner he had been reading his book in.
“the cave dragon’s cave is in the kitchen,” Killer frowned.
“the cave dragon is no longer a tiny hatchling and needs more space and territory, right?” Horror asked Dust, who looked between everyone nervously. “see! he needs more… uh… experiences! learn about life and have a larger home.”
Horror stepped up on the stool by the bed and guided Dust to climb up. The smallest of them looked at everyone, looking confused. “this is…”
“your mountain home,” Horror announced with a smile.
Dust looked down for a moment, then whispered to Horror, though Cross was now close enough to hear, “what am i supposed to do now?”
Cross, ignoring the stool, climbed up on the bed. Dust and Horror watching him made his way as Cross said, “hang on, cave dragon dust!”
“look… i wanna play and will totally build a village for dusty to wreck and steal sheep from if he wants, but i’m hungry,” Killer frowned.
“hmmm… well, if we are careful, maybe nightmare won’t care if we grab some snacks from the kitchen?” Horror asked.
“he didn’t want us to leave the room…,” Dust said nervously.
“i know, but… i think he would understand. he said he wouldn’t be gone long, but it’s been a few hours,” Cross pointed out.
To that, Dust started to say something but stopped. He frowned and looked down for a moment and then shrugged.
“you two stay here; we’ll be back. that way, if he is mad, we aren’t all in trouble!” Killer announced before he grabbed Horror’s hand, and the two left the room.
Cross sat there and looked over the room from the bed as he kicked his feet over the side idly. Dust had his knees drawn up to his chest and was looking at nothing in particular, it seemed. The need to break the silence came over Cross, who was about to speak when Dust beat him to it, “what are sheep?”
“sheep?” Cross blinked as he looked at Dust, but the other just looked away. “their animals with big fluffy coats that monsters and humans raise. they cut off their fur coats to make clothes and stuff with.”
There was a pause for a moment after that, and then Cross asked, “hey, dust… what were you saying before?”
The other was quiet for a while, then looked at cross with his red eyelights. “horror was right… i don’t wanna answer any more questions.”
“oh…,” Cross replied.
“we are back!” Killer announced as he ran into the room. “we found chocolate!”
“chocolate?!” Cross grinned and slid off the bed.
As Killer and Cross opened the bag together, Dust watched, and Horror reentered the room. Horror grabbed some chocolate and joined Dust on the bed while Cross and Killer dug in. Chocolate… blessed chocolate! Cross grinned as he enjoyed the flavor with a big smile.
Looking over, he watched Dust investigate the chocolate piece Horror gave him. That is something Dust does when he hasn’t eaten something before. Now that Dust said his ‘dad’ was mean, it made sense why he hadn’t eaten so many things before. That was most likely why Mr. Night told him to take it slow with things he is unsure about and see what his magic tells him. Dust then put it in his mouth, and Cross saw his eye lights brighten.
“let’s make the chocolate loot and stuff for us and the cave dragon to find!” Killer announced.
“yeah!” Cross agreed and he worked with Killer to make a lego village of simple block houses to hid the chocolate in.
---
That took longer than expected. Nightmare leaned against the wall of his room as he tried to calm down. The truce with Dream seemed to have only angered others. Those others have learned to add positivity to their magic-made weapons. Who would have thought a simple shopping trip would have been interrupted by mercenaries out for him?
They notice his followers have been missing…
And Nightmare had been gone for too long.
With a sigh, Nightmare had to accept that at least he had some of his errands done and wouldl have to try another neutral AU later to go shopping. Regardless, their positive tainted weapons aren’t as powerful as Dream’s attacks, and the wounds were nearly healed.
He had to check on the boys.
Luckily, they were close, and he opened the door to their bedroom… to find them curled up on the floor. Nightmare would be worried if it were not for the bag of chocolate kisses, previously unopened and now empty, laying in the middle of them. “You all have belly aches?” Nightmare asked as he entered the room. The boys flinched except Dust, who looked utterly sick.
“it was soooo good,” Cross whined.
“It would have been better if you ate them in moderation,” Nightmare frowned as he grabbed some of the wrappers.
“what’s moderation mean?” Killer groaned.
“It means smaller amounts of things, for example, a few chocolates so you can enjoy them and not get sick,” Nightmare replied as a tendril started to tickle the immobile child.
Killer whined and swatted the limb away, “doooon’t, i’m gonna spew.”
…
As mad as he should be… he was just happy he was able to return home to them.
theres not enough morally ambiguous Gaster content and I stand by that until the day I die
Badster and nice Gaster are good, don’t get me wrong, but feed me more morally ambiguous Gaster content please, I beg of you.
Especially in storylines where Gaster is the skelebros dad or brother, like...please, that would be so good. Especially how Papyrus could be super conflicted over some of Gasters decisions, like...mmmM yes, please
