An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
This chapter is dialogue heavy as everyone chills in the living room and Coffee gives your scalp the attention it's been begging for.
Teaser:: “ey,’” she blinked her eyes open at Mutt’s deep voice. When had she closed them? And when had Stretch basically pulled her back so she leaned back against him? Across from them, Mutt was sitting up rather than slouching and gesturing to them languidly with a single digit, “when do the rest a’ us get cuddle time?”
She could feel her face starting to burn. “when i’m done,” the skeleton behind her stated.
“t… that’s not fair…” Coffee pointed out, “...if we actually waited until you were ‘done.’” He made air quotes at this before pointing an accusing digit, “...we’d never get a chance.”
Also, I know you're not a Sans girl, but pick three polyships for Red. :9 Can include as many participants/Papyruses as you like. Tell us what you like about them. Bonus points if one of them is Red/ALL THE PAPS in a messy romantic orgy. (Extra extra bonus points if you talk about your Fellcest feelings and how Red and Edge might work with or around each other in a polyship, but only if you're comfortable doing so.)
Ooh…. Red is actually my favorite Sans, so this really isn’t much of a hardship.
1. RedMapleBlossom - OT3. I adore everything about this pairing. Their sexual dynamics—which I explored in “(No) Need for Violence”—are really appealing to me, but I also really enjoy them as a pairing outside the bedroom. They bolster each other, rather than dragging each other down.
Papyrus is relentlessly positive, and both Slim and Red are in need of that on occasion, when their depression and/or anxiety gets the better of them. Slim is the kind of person that is very mellow and soothing to be around, which is good for both Papyrus—who sometimes can’t settle down—and Red—who has his own anxiety issues on occasion. Red is very sharp and can even be combative in social situations, so he’s not likely to allow anyone to bully Slim or take advantage of Papyrus’ kindness. In general, they work really well together; each of their strengths slotting nicely against the others’ weaknesses.
2. Red’s Papyrus Harem - …I usually tone this down to a “mostly platonic Papyrus Harem”, but I have no problem seeing it as a romantic or sexual harem. Red pretty much adopts the Papyrus-es as he meets them—partly because he feels as if he has both failed his own Papyrus and as if Boss doesn’t really need him. These other Papyrus-es, though? They definitely need him.
Stretch is in desperate need of looking after and cheering up. Slim is constantly criticized and verbally beaten down, to the point he’s developed some pretty serious anxiety. Papyrus himself is bright and cheerful on the outside…but that smile sometimes wears thin, and Red can see that even he is strained. (Not to mention his sexual suppression.) Twist is so close to losing it that he doesn’t even bother to hide it anymore. And Cash is probably one of the most self-destructive bastards he’s ever seen. They all definitely need him, and I can see him happily swooping in, befriending them and doing his level best to provide whatever they need, including sexually.
On the flip side, I do believe that they’d be good for him as well. Red, like most of my Sans-es, has a tendency to take on more than is reasonable. Twist, Stretch, Slim, and Papyrus are all more than happy to snatch him up and get him to relax for a bit. Alone, Cash might not be a very good match for Red, but I think Twist, Papyrus, and Slim would all do a pretty good job of reigning in his more destructive tendencies.
I definitely like the Papyrus-es/Red ship. It’s a fun poly dynamic.
3. Red/Papyrus/Razz - This one I like mostly because it has a lot of intriguing possibilities. I generally don’t think Red/Razz as a pairing would work with my headcanons, because I don’t think Red could easily come to forgive Razz for the way he’s treated Slim. But if we throw Papyrus into the mix….
It would not be a neat, easy pairing. The Cherryblossom would be nice and healthy, I think, and the Poisonpuff would be primarily based on Papyrus’ desire to see Razz become the best version of himself. His hope for Razz and his desire to help him. Whereas the PoisonCherry would be a mess. Hatemance more than anything, but both of them would grit their teeth and try to play nice at Papyrus’ request and urging.
It would be such a mess, but I kind of love it for that?
Bonus: Fellcest
Fellcest is actually one of the brother/brother ships I generally don’t mind very much, so long as the focus isn’t on the incest aspect. (Uh…very much not my kink.) @bonerpuns, for example, does an amazing job exploring that dynamic, and I love the way they portray that ship. (And while I am actually behind on your fic “For Business or Pleasure”, I do really enjoy it and intend to catch up on it one of these days.)
But that’s as a reader. I can’t bring myself to write it as a romantic or sexual pairing. However, aside from Twist and Blackberry, the Fellbros have the closest relationship with each other—and they definitely have the healthiest relationship. (Twist and BB are actually more codependent than is entirely healthy.) In Broken Bones, there’s some soul-fondling between them that could definitely be construed as Fellcest, though I wrote it with a more platonic perspective in mind.
Any kind of poly ship featuring both of these boys would definitely have them dancing around each other and generally ignoring the fact that they’re both banging the same person. However…I can see situations in which their third simply wouldn’t know what to do to help either of them. Red is the one that best knows what to do when Edge is in one of his self-destructive moods, and Edge is the one that best knows how to bring Red out of his Fell-verse mindset and into something a bit more stable. They definitely share a kind of intimacy that you only really find in people that have gone through hell together and come out the other side. I like to portray that intimacy, even if it isn’t necessarily sexual. (Though, really, if that is how someone wants to read my works? Then I don’t mind that.)
From my 450 follower celebration. Last one for the night—I’ll be answering more tomorrow.
