Wait what do you mean carmen and vi can't shortcut this is news to me— :0c
Is it because they haven't known they could do it or it's cause their souls got tampered to hell and back that they cant do it anymore?
The missing piece in this one is actually Gaster!
In (nearly) every other universe, Gaster ceases to exist, scattering everything he ever was or could be like dust in the wind, into the Void.
Which puts the things (and people) he left behind in an odd position of 'not supposed to exist.' But they do, and as load-bearing elements of the world--the CORE, Sans, Papyrus--they must continue to exist, even though the monster that made them is gone, both proactively and retroactively.
The universe abhors a vacuum.
So does the Void.
When Gaster ceased to exist, it left one such vacuum and the Void flowed in to fill in the cracks, like a kintsugi vase.
Most people lost memories, or found them altered to simply warp around the empty space Gaster left behind.
The skeleton brothers…discovered some new abilities.
But in the Fruition 'verses, none of that happened!
So Carmine (Underfell Fruition Sans) and Vi (Swapfell Fruition Sans) can't cut through time and space in the blink of an eye, and Tank (Underfell Fruition Papyrus) and Hunter (Swapfell Fruition Papyrus) can't look sideways at the world around them and perceive its building blocks to no-clip right through them.
Don't worry, they're still pretty, they have plenty of other stuff going for them!
Carmine, due to his…adjustments, generates magic at a ridiculous pace, to the point of being able to fire off bone-bullets and blasters seemingly bottomlessly.
He makes so much, in fact, that his extrasensory perception is through the roof and if he tunes into it just right, he can skim surface thoughts right out of peoples' heads--which you'd think would be why he seems to be so wholly, near-comically lucky, like he's just operating around the thoughts and intentions he's subconsciously gleaning from the people around him.
But no, that supernatural luck seems to be a separate Boon entirely, gut feelings and weird, off vibes that Just seem to come and go, steering him through and around trouble he'd otherwise walk into without that strange auspice. Eh, he doesn't question it much…
Tank is, of course, extremely strong, with more physical power at his disposal than any other monster he's ever heard of--even stronger than Asgore, and he's a Boss Monster.
His grasp on and control of magic is admittedly much weaker than it should be, but as a trade-off he's entirely immune to damage from intent, which is huge. A hate-filled blow that would dust another monster would only glance off of him, doing only as much damage as the physical power of the strike contains.
Not that he FIGHTs much anymore, but Underground he was an absolute powerhouse, reflective of his nickname. He never once lost an Encounter or let himself (or anyone with him) get hurt, moving through battles like he'd fought them a dozen times before, like he just knew exactly what to do and when. Oddly enough, Frisk had the same way about them, when they eventually fell down… Huh.
Vi, after Gaster's focus shifted to the stronger sibling, actually didn't undergo much Adjustment. He wasn't the central project, only a peripheral asset, so he wasn't much invested in. Still, he was practically born with a keen eye for detail, almost hyperattentive to outliers and discrepancies in data presented to him, making him an excellent analyst.
And even without enhancement, his ability to stealth and slip beneath peoples' notice is impressive, only more and more finely honed over the years. He can cross nearly any room without making a sound, utterly silent, and unless you're already looking for him, you'd never notice him in a crowd--whether it was a crowd of monsters or a crowd of humans.
And naturally, he has the patience of a god, a seemingly limitless ability to sit by and accept even the worst of circumstances quietly while he waits (read: arranges the circumstances) for it to change. Doesn't seem like a super-power at first, and technically isn't, but to actually see it in action, how calmly he can just wait…it's impressive.
By comparison, Hunter is a good bit flashier. He has been enhanced--stronger, faster, more durable, heightened senses and reflexes--nothing shocking for a monster, but certainly more than anyone else of his build and breeding would be capable of without significant training.
He even has a built-in poison resistance, shrugging off toxins that would knock out anyone else and walking away from poisons that could fell a Boss Monster with little more than a headache or a queasy feeling to show for it. Needless to say, even hard drugs and alcohol tend to barely make a dent in him.
But he wouldn't be much of a spy-slash-assassin if he couldn't also be stealthy, so he ended up learning how to suppress his LV. It's not something most monsters in a 'fell verse would even think to bother with--letting other people feel the strength of your magic and your willingness to kill is a great deterrent to being messed with, so why hide it? Why seem weaker than you are and let other monsters think they're stronger than you?
Obvious answer: when that's what you want them to think, so they'll let you get close, and so they won't think twice about being alone with you. :)
I have a question!!! What would it take to get the more stoic boys (like Ell, Merc, Nemo, Vi and King—and anyone else you want to add) to crack a smile?
So you want to make the stony faces crack a smile, huh? An admirable goal!
I went ahead and picked out the most stoic skeletons I could think of, and the best way to get them to break and laugh for you—or at least grin…
King (Horrorfell Papyrus) – He’s a tough nut to crack, but if you don’t happen to have a clever wit to banter back and forth with him, using your sharpest ripostes and most stinging barbs, physical comedy is actually your best bet. He’s a bit of a sadist and has just enough of a mean streak to always find it funny when someone falls, or walks into a pole, or really any other form of slapstick as a result of someone’s clumsiness or inattention. He generally has enough grace to rein his visible amusement in, but if you ever see some sort of petty accident waiting to happen, do point it out—or be the clumsy fool yourself, you just might see an undignified snicker.
Merc (Horrorswap Sans) – He actually has a great sense of humor and joy, so he does already smile quite a bit! Just…because of his condition, he has to keep in control of his emotions, so those smiles are small and slow and restrained, lest he feel too much and lose his handle on himself. That said, the element of surprise is crucial to winning the big and real reactions from him, catching him off-guard so he doesn’t see it coming and can’t mount an internal defense against it. Non sequiturs and unexpected punchlines work great for this, but are best used sparingly—both to keep the element of surprise at play, and to keep his discomfort from getting a little melty to a minimum.
Ell (Horrorswap Papyrus) – In spite of his often surly or sour mood, he’s not especially difficult to amuse. Probably his favorite thing, though, is anything that happens to be unintentionally funny—as in, something that was not meant to be comedic but, by circumstance or execution or some other factor, has just completely missed the mark and has worked its way around to funny. Really badly outdated special effects or especially hokey dialogue in shows and movies tend to work well in getting him to smile, but he’s liable to bark out a laugh for signs and billboards and such that should not have been placed next to each other, or if you share with him something stupid and out of touch that a celebrity or politician may have said.
Nemo (Horrorswapfell Papyrus) – He’s only deceptively hard to get a smile out of. He’s often anxious, or in guard-dog mode, thinking about things that could happen, and what he’d have to do in the event of X, Y, or Z, which has the Resting Bitch Face out in full force…but he’s far from a heart of stone. When he’s relaxed and comfortable, he’ll smile about pretty much anything, even just for it being a kind of nice day outside. …But if you want to see him smile even when he's not entirely chill, all it really takes is some kids, or maybe a funny animal. Seeing kids goofing around doing kid things, or a puppy dog up to some puppy type antics, he has a hard time not smiling for that.
Spectr (Transcendtale Sans) – He’s a very, very tough one, almost the poster skeleton for ‘nothing to smile about in my life.’ He’s definitely lost in his own existentialism a lot, or the opposite and trying not to think about more than what’s directly in front of him, which does make it pretty difficult to get a laugh out of him. Still, he can’t quite help himself when it comes to skeleton-based jokes and puns—it’s tired, old material, sure, but very comforting and familiar, and he likes to hear it. It’s not a guaranteed laugh if you hit him with some humerus wordplay, but he’s pretty likely to be smiling behind his mask, and even likelier to throw you a bone and respond in kind.
Tank (Underfell Fruition Papyrus) – With him, it’s a little bit like getting one of those palace guards to crack a smile—it’s not so much that he’s humorless, just that he’s (until recently) not been allowed to show a response…and as a related issue, he’s not at all familiar with social cues and doesn’t always realize a certain response is expected of him. Because of that, one of the best ways to get him to smile is to explain a joke for him, or just let him know that what was said was a joke. It’s easier for him to feel comfortable expressing his amusement if he knows for sure that he was meant to be amused, but as for a specific preference of humor… Well, he actually really likes skeleton-related puns and jokes, too! His brother used to tell them all the time when they were younger and since he wasn’t around long enough to use them to death those are very fond memories!
Vi (Swapfell Fruition Sans) – Now he’s the poster skeleton for ‘nothing to smile about in my life,’ and consequently, not very easy at all to coax a smile from. He’s too into the habit of keeping his most important and genuine feelings off his face to be fully comfortable smiling over just anything. If someone knows that something makes him happy, it can be taken away from him, after all. …But if whatever he’s smiling about is something vague, deprived of its context and mysterious to anyone who isn’t in the know… His fastest and easiest smiles are the ones that come from inside jokes, funny moments that maybe he didn’t laugh about at the time, but will freely grin and reference later with just a ‘YOU HAD TO BE THERE’ to anyone else prying for more context. He likes secrets, and the ones he can share with you are the most fun.
I would absolutely love to hear more about the UFF boys! Maybe some general romance headcanons?
Good taste, those are some excellent boys~ (biased af) 😏
Some romance things about Carmine (Underfell Fruition Sans) and Tank (Underfell Fruition Papyrus)…
Carmine is very physically affectionate, and as his partner you’re sure to find that out, quickly.
Unless you tell him otherwise, consider any physical contact fair game. He loves slinging his arm around you, leaning against you, bumping into you (hip-checks, elbow nudges, shoulder shoves, et cetera)… and of course if you happen to turn your back on him or bend over, some of his favorites: pinching, goosing, and the occasional playful smack.
Hey, how’s a man to keep his hands to himself when you’re right there, looking like that? 😩
Except y’know… you don’t really have to be looking spectacular to wow him. For all the attitude he has and the big game he talks, he’s actually pretty easily impressed, by basically anything you do.
Wear an outfit that shows just a sliver more skin than usual? He’ll do an actual double-take and genuinely have to restrain himself from saying something embarrassing like ‘yowza’ out loud. Change up the fragrance you wear? He’ll lean in for a whiff and tell you it smells amazing. New shoes? Oh baby, you’re hot stuff in those, you gotta strut those things around town!
He’s crazy for you and there’s not much you can do that doesn’t drive him wild. You’re a total knockout and he wants to be tuned into your frequency all the time!
Actually, after awhile with you… he pretty much is.
Being close to you, having your soul and your feelings and thoughts so near (and dear), he starts to get very familiar with the flavor of them and it gets easier for him to—occasionally, instinctively—pluck some of those surface thoughts out of your head.
He’ll absently finish sentences for you, go get ‘the thing’ for you without any further elaboration on what it is, and be the absolute hero to say “you wanna get chinese tonight?” when you were only silently pondering how good wontons would be right now.
He can’t really go any deeper than that, he’s not a full-blown psychic or anything, but he’s certainly capable of catching your drift without a lot of effort or words involved and it can be damn nice to have a partner on hand who’s thinking what you’re thinking—or can be in a snap.
As for Tank…
Well, he’s certainly not as audacious as his brother is, considerably more restrained.
…Maybe a bit too restrained, actually.
His life being…what it’s been, up to this point, he’s not especially comfortable being the one to initiate things—conversation, activities, affection (physical or otherwise).
Your hint that he might be wanting some of these things from you is his intense and unbroken gaze. He tends to stare quite a bit, especially when he’s admiring something, and you’re the epicenter of all his forbidden(?) thoughts about wanting, so you’re bound to be his focal point often.
Maybe eventually he’ll get bold enough to just ask, but if you catch his eye-sockets lingering somewhere—your hair, your hand, your knee—an explicit invitation to reach out and touch won’t go awry.
And, if you happen to like any of those invited touches and want to increase your odds of getting more, do speak up!
Positive feedback goes over great with him: the more clear you make it for him that you like something he’s done, the greater the chance of a repeat performance. If you say you like a shirt he’s wearing, you’ll be seeing him wear it a lot more often. If you thank him for doing a random chore, you’ll find him doing it every time it comes up. A kiss for giving you a ride somewhere? Lots more offers of rides and hopeful, expectant looks when you arrive at your destination!
There’s very little he wouldn’t do if he knew it would impress you or make you happy—he loves getting attention and praise and affection from you and he’s downright hooked on it.
Anything at all from you is considered an important treasured possession, and that shows in how he pretty much never gets rid of things you give him. Big things, of course, no partner worth their salt would toss a meaningful gift without good reason, but he keeps it all: the mini dollar-store puzzle he finished in the first five minutes, the tee too threadbare from use to wear out in public anymore, the heart you folded out of a gum wrapper on a whim one day…
Even if it’s been ages he’s guaranteed to still have it, whether you deemed it a worthy enough token for him to have kept or not. It was from you, for him, and therefore it is special and important and won’t be thrown away if he has a say.
Honestly, he’s just a total lovesick puppy over you, and it’s only by the grace of his naturally stony default expression that the entire world doesn’t know it instantly just to look at him.
tw for confinement and medical abuse and abuse in general
Underfell Fruition
A young Sans’ attempt to escape his creator, the Royal Scientist, is a failure.
No one hears anything about it.
Life continues as normal for everyone Underground, with few exceptions.
A handful of shop owners around the Capital and the researchers working in the Royal Labs may notice that Dr. Gaster is sending a lot of new interns around on his errands instead of the young skeleton he had doing it, but nobody is especially surprised—the only surprising thing about it is that the guy had lasted so long.
The Royal Scientist gets bored of his interns easily, and everyone knows that.
Gaster is and continues to be a force to be reckoned with, a fearsome reputation and easily the power and ruthlessness to back it up.
They say he’s loyal only to Emperor Asgore himself, and he considers anyone less as utterly beneath him, minions to do his bidding and stepping stones along his path.
(Fodder for his experiments, the rumors say too, but there’s no evidence of that.)
(He’s far too careful for there to be evidence.)
Asgore allows the Royal Scientist the freedom to operate as he pleases, in spite of the doctor’s somewhat ill repute, for all the impressive work he does with the carte blanche he’s given, resulting in significant military advancements for monsterkind.
As the years go by, Gaster happily proves his worth, producing many innovations that will be invaluable when the time comes to seize the final human soul, shatter the Barrier, and take back the Surface by force.
His most famed creation is a device which produces magic limitlessly, boundless energy for its user to draw upon as if it were their own, infinite bullets and fighting potential without tiring or running dry—no one knows what it looks like save the Emperor and the Captain of the Royal Guard, but they vouch that it does exactly as advertised.
Gaster is still working on expanding the use of the device to more than one monster at a time, but its potential is clear.
In the meantime, while he gets the math to work on that, he hasn’t been idle.
His latest feat of engineering, painstakingly perfected, is a living war-machine that he calls 2P.
2P, while not truly sentient, is capable of comprehending orders given to it and employing basic problem-solving skills and intensive physical training to obey those orders with swift, devastating precision.
An army of monster-shaped weapons of its kind is a tantalizing prospect—soldiers for the upcoming war that won’t think or feel or do anything but drive forward, with unrelenting force…
But first, it needs a field test, to see if it’s viable.
Gaster lends 2P to the services of the Royal Guard, with instructions on how to command it and to report back when—not if—it satisfies all conditions of whatever tests and trials they put it through.
Captain Undyne is…far from satisfied.
Not with 2P’s performance, of course, for its strength and speed and obedience are everything the Royal Scientist advertised it would be.
But…
There are signs she’s seeing, things she’s noticing as she works with 2P that she…really wishes she wasn’t.
2P isn’t supposed to feel pain, but she’s caught it wincing or favoring something after a heavy blow.
It isn’t supposed to think for itself, but she’s seen it in Waterfall, gazing out over the glowing pools and sparkling crystals with an expression she can only describe as ‘thoughtful.’
It’s not supposed to be sentient…but she saw it, smiling when she told her soldiers a stupid joke during training—and she saw fear in its eye-sockets when it realized she was looking, before it went coolly, irreproachably blank again.
It’s only a suspicion, a gut feeling pushing insistently through the denial, but…
Undyne doesn’t think 2P is an ‘it.’
And if ‘it’ isn’t, that’s a very, very big problem.
She can’t report this to Gaster.
If 2P is more than a living construct meant only for battle, then telling its creator, the man with complete power over it, in charge of whether it lives or dies, is the absolute last thing she should ever do.
Emperor Asgore…
Well, she trusts Asgore, but…he’s a busy monster, weighed down by duty and grief as much as he’s always been and he trusts Gaster—as questionable a choice as that is. If it came down to the Royal Scientist’s word against her ‘gut feeling’…
She needs proof.
Something solid to open an investigation over, to really do it by the book.
Luckily, she may have an in.
One of Gaster’s assistants, a former intern, with rumors flying that she could even be his successor, if she lasts long enough.
Alphys is close to the Royal Scientist, and has clearly honed the ability to keep her mouth shut—which will be very useful for Undyne if it turns out that she’s trying to open up Pandora’s Box with her digging.
The young doctor is thankfully very willing to assist with the very very hot Captain’s covert investigation and freely shares all she knows.
Definitely only in the interest of cooperating with the law.
Yes.
But well, she is suspicious of Gaster herself and has been for some time—not because of 2P, but because of his ‘magic-creating’ device.
Alphys is a scientist and its never sat right with her, the idea of magic being created from nothing. It’s not possible, it should be coming from somewhere! But her boss always brushed off her questions, and when he started giving her looks, the same kind of looks he gave people who lost their jobs and were never seen again…she stopped asking questions.
Gaster is almost certainly up to something shady, and if the Guard is getting involved, maybe now they have a chance to figure out what.
Unfortunately, Alphys wasn’t brought in until well after 2P’s completion. She was never allowed to be involved in any of his training and refinement, so she isn’t much help there…
She does make an attempt to pull up its documentation, but what she can access is heavily redacted, and the rest is locked behind Gaster’s credentials.
The most she can find is a mention of an earlier iteration, a 1S, but nothing about it beyond it being put into storage, and nothing at all after that point.
It’s most likely just a failed prototype, but it could be a place to start, if they can track it down to wherever it’s been stored.
It takes a lot more digging, some risky exploration and a bit of hacking into systems she definitely should not have access to, but Alphys manages to find what she thinks is the ‘storage’ mentioned in the notes—an extremely deep basement level of the Royal Labs, far below the other floors and not shown on any blueprints, locked up tight.
She can’t investigate further…but Undyne can.
A gut feeling isn’t cause for a search, but a secret unsanctioned dungeon beneath the labs that no one knows about with such high security…?
That’s something that warrants the Emperor’s notice.
Asgore is not best pleased to hear that his Royal Scientist has kept such a secret from him.
He orders that Gaster be detained pending further investigation, and is quite unpleasantly surprised when—even at his order—Gaster refuses to cooperate and allow access to the elevator down.
Undyne takes Alphys and 2P with her to investigate anyway. If Alphys can’t hack the door, then 2P should be able to brute-force it.
Besides, whatever’s down there… 2P’s probably seen it before and can help handle it.
What they find…is not pretty.
There’s evidence there, the dust of monsters Gaster ‘disappeared’ because they got in his way, or simply because he could.
Shambling amorphous creatures that once were monsters, Fallen Down and resurrected with DT, only to melt into each other, amalgamated beings. ‘Impervious to damage,’ the Royal Scientist had written of the poor souls he kept locked away, ‘possibly useful, further testing needed.’
And…far back, in the very last room—barely the size of a broom-closet—a skeleton.
Another skeleton, strapped down to a chair and hooked up to more monitoring equipment than even Alphys has seen at one time before.
This one is nothing at all compared to 2P, short where 2P is tall, frail where 2P is sturdy, sickly-looking and seemingly half-dead where 2P is strong and healthy and alive.
“Th-this…must be 1S—”
“SANS.”
The captain and the doctor both jump to realize that 2P was the one who said it.
It doesn’t speak again though, for all that it’s staring very intently at the other skeleton in room, utterly frozen and immovable in the face of this sick and terrible discovery.
Because…the thing is…
………
He was just…gone, one day.
Their creator never spoke his name again.
He wouldn’t acknowledge him, that he’d ever existed.
And 2P…
He…forgot.
He tried to forget, because Sans wasn’t real.
Sans was never real, Sans was something he made up to pretend he wasn’t alone in a horrible place with a horrible man who said he wasn’t a ‘he,’ he was an ‘it’—and he had to forget any stupid ideas he had that he was anything but an object, a tool meant to take orders and obey and don’t think, never think, never want, never be anything but 2P.
Never be…
Papyrus.
He is…Papyrus.
And his brother is real.
Alive, though just barely.
1S—or, Sans, apparently, takes some time to come around from his heavily-sedated, comatose state, but all too eager to cooperate with the strange monsters hovering over him when he sees his brother is among their number.
The story as he tells it is this.
He and Papyrus were creations of the Royal Scientist, created from his body—his kids, if the man had been any less of a maniac, but since Gaster is indeed a maniac, he planned to keep them under his thumb for the rest of their lives and use them (but especially Papyrus) in all kinds of fucked up, illegal experiments, to mold them into whatever he saw as their greatest utility.
Sans tried to snatch his little brother up and run, but he got caught, and Gaster got to have his way.
Papyrus became the living war-machine dear old dad had always wanted, and Sans—who had fucked up by proving he was a stubborn, uncooperative jackass who no threat against him or his brother could seem to control—was repurposed.
See, he’d always generated magic at a pretty high rate, but after what Gaster did, he became a battery, a constantly replenishing source of energy to be drawn on at any time, an impressive little toy to win some brownie points with the Emperor and earn even freer reign to do whatever the hell he wanted, whenever he wanted.
Alphys has to double and triple-check the readings on the monitoring equipment around him to believe it, but he really is the source of Gaster’s impossible device, producing massive quantities of magic with such incredible range that (if she’s reading it right) Gaster or anyone else using it would be able to siphon his magic from miles away.
But that’s not the only thing Sans can tell them.
He also knows, and is more than happy to provide, several passwords and access codes that the Royal Scientist was too lazy or too cocky to change in the years since he put Sans under and locked him away.
Which is, of course, access to more than enough detailed and meticulously recorded evidence of Gaster’s crimes against monsterkind to shut him down.
Permanently.
The Royal Scientist is unceremoniously fired, convicted, and eventually, executed.
Alphys, who played a large role in bringing him to justice and is a brilliant and respectable scientist in her own right is ushered in as his replacement, and Undyne is given several honors for her dedication to uncovering and bringing down corruption at the highest level.
The skeleton brothers receive support—both official and unofficial—from the crown in order to integrate into society without undue hardship, after the significant hardship they already faced.
Life continues as normal, but maybe a little bit better now.
Carmine (Underfell Fruition Sans)
In poor physical condition at first due to how long he spent unconscious and immobile, but recovering mobility and independence as fast as monsterly possible (fuck the wheelchair, fuck the crutches, fuck soup, he is gonna walk his ass to a damn burger and nobody is gonna stop him)
Only vaguely aware of time having passed while comatose, but as his magic grew stronger and his range stretched, he developed an ability to poke into peoples’ heads. It’s very surface-level, mostly just skimming thoughts off the top, but he’s found himself drifting through enough monsters’ subconscious that these days, most people Underground might not recognize him but still get the feeling that he’s hauntingly familiar
Still overproducing magic at an extreme rate due to modifications made to his body, magic which he actually needs to use in large amounts regularly. If he doesn’t, he starts to physically overheat and things around him start to fritz a bit from the outpouring of excess magic, which is naturally something he’d rather avoid if possible
Eager to make up for lost time, open-minded to all kinds of new stuff he never got around to doing before he got locked up
A little bit cocky, loud and arrogant, but with just enough boyish charm and joie de vivre to pull it off…most of the time
Tank (Underfell Fruition Papyrus)
Extremely physically powerful due to biomodifications over the years as he was growing up, very tall, wide, and strong. His soul was also…adjusted, and he no longer takes damage from even the most vicious and lethal intent, only physical or magical attacks that land can harm him
Struggles significantly with free will and independent thought—largely due to how heavily punished and very not allowed any signs of choice or independence were. Slowly getting comfortable with being a person, and being allowed to be a person again, supported heavily by his brother and Undyne
Went a very long time under the impression that his brother was a figment of his imagination, and there’s some…complex feelings there, that he was real and alive and trapped the whole time and he didn’t do anything about it. Said brother doesn’t blame him in the slightest, but it may be awhile before the two of them aren’t a package deal everywhere they go
Likes things that are slow and with obvious correct ways of doing them—or at least no wrong way of doing them, so he can take it at his own pace and not be afraid of making a mistake
A little stoic and a lot intimidating, but (with a bit of patience beyond that first impression) curious and gentle and just starting to learn what it means to be himself
you said tank worked in construction so i was wondering if he was union? divided we fall and all that ^^
Oh, Tank (Underfell Fruition Papyrus) is a union’s dream, and a toxic boss’ nightmare—he knows all the regulations and industry standards and labor laws by jurisdiction, and will not accept violations of any of them without raising it to whatever governing body needs to hear about it.
He’s admittedly not a quick reader, and does find it difficult…but it’s very important to him to know what the rules are, especially when it comes to safety, so he always takes the extra time to work through every handbook and manual and list that he’s given. And from there, he has a mind like a steel-trap so once he’s got it, he’s got it and no amount of obfuscating language or brush-off justifications will make him drop it when there's a problem.
Any workplace of Tank’s will be OSHA-compliant and treat its employees correctly, because he will make it so by his presence and action alone.
Not even the scariest and greediest of the corner-cutters and wage-thieves can intimidate someone of his size! 😩
for the new boys, how’d they pick their nicknames?
(The same for the first ones are here, here, and here)
But as for the newest ones!
Spectr (Transcendtale Sans): The color of his magic is technically all the colors, the full ‘spectrum,’ so that works. …He also has a tendency to lurk and wander like a restless spirit—and it’s not like he doesn’t think of himself as exactly that most days—so the last little bit drops off and that’s what he goes by.
PapAIrus (Transcendtale Papyrus): Just like any Papyrus, he would prefer to keep his original name—so he does! With just a bit of wordplay cleverly inserted into the middle to distinguish him from the original. He doesn’t mind going by just AI (pronounced ‘eye’), if further distinguishing is needed though.
Xanth (Ascendswap Sans): Going by color is always complicated when there’s more than one at play, but the word ‘xanthic,’ meaning ‘yellowish’ seems like it would work well enough to describe the flecks and streaks that run through his magic. Xanth it is! …Though he’d respond to just about anything, he always seems to know when someone means to refer to him, even if they just say ‘Sans.’
Piper (Ascendswap Papyrus): Following in the example of another Papyrus who ran out of name fragments and picked a nickname based on what he does (or did, at least), he chooses Piper, a reference to the story of the Pied Piper and a nod to his special ability. It’s a name with two ‘p’s in it, just like the original, so it shouldn't be too hard to switch to responding to.
Carmine (Underfell Fruition Sans): Colors? Sure, carmine red, easy peasy. What, like picking a shade of red is hard? Skill issue. 😎
Tank (Underfell Fruition Papyrus): His first suggestion, upon the realization that a nickname will be needed, is that he’s used to responding to the designation 2P. ...Absolutely no one likes this idea, and his brother suggests a nickname he uses for him, Tank, ‘cause he’s fuckin’ huge and built like one, and already accustomed to answering to the name. This is deemed a better solution.
Vi (Swapfell Fruition Sans): A shortening of the color ‘violet,’ it’s quick and easy to say as just a single syllable and he’s perfectly satisfied with that. No further work-shopping is needed.
Hunter (Swapfell Fruition Papyrus): He looks at what King and Piper did for their nicknames and follows suit. Pick what you do, and what he does is hunt, so Hunter it is. There’s no need to elaborate on what he hunts, don’t worry about it.
Kohl (Descendtale Sans): So many shades of black to choose from and kohl is the winner. It already sounds like a name—(char)coal was also in consideration for the same reason, but the ‘k’ has a harder edge to it that he likes the sound of a little bit better than the ‘c.’ (Skeleton monsters can understand the distinction, even if the human ear might not catch it…)
Bram (Descendtale Papyrus): He decides to choose a nickname for himself after one of his distinguishing features over the other Papyri—Bramble, for the cool and distinguishing spikes along his arms. It shortens nicely to Bram, which is also the name of a famous human author, so he’s quite pleased to wear the moniker!
Apparently I haven't been checking here enough because there's so many new boys I didn't recognize in the sibling post!!! And they all sound so cool and interesting!!
Thank you! But you’re probably not as out of the loop as you think—I’ve been a little shy about sharing my stuff lately, so I actually haven’t posted about any of those guys before!
If you want a quick rundown…
Transcendtale: The result of a never-ending cycle of RESETs with a No Mercy sort of human. Monsters gradually became aware and eventually resorted to extremes to put an end to the cycle, sacrificing themselves to create one single vessel powerful enough to kill the human for good. In the aftermath, most of monsterkind is gone…physically, but still persist as consciousnesses recorded digitally instead. (Sort of a cyberpunk aesthetic answer to Dusttale.)
Spectr (Transcendtale Sans): The unlucky bastard who got tapped to pilot the ultra-powerful human-killing vessel and one of only a few physical monsters remaining. His new body is entirely robotic but similar to what he had before—the only thing missing is a soul. He’s coping in the aftermath of Everything about as well as could be expected, but pretty heavily dysphoric and doubting his identity and his personhood as…whatever he is now.
PapAIrus (Transcendtale Papyrus): A virtual consciousness, a snapshot of the previous ‘original’ Papyrus, his thoughts, his feelings, his memories, his entire sense of self… AKA, Papyrus, just detached from a physical body and soul. He considers it a major upgrade, really—he’s eternal, everywhere, everything… Maybe a slight god-complex about it, but can you blame him? He can interact with the world directly via hard-light projections of himself if he chooses, so it’s hard for him to see a downside to his new state of being.
Ascendswap: Another never-ending cycle of RESETs with No Mercy to be found, but after a bargain is struck with an entity beyond mortal ken, a small inner-circle of monsters is granted awareness of the cycle, and access to deeper, older, more powerful magic in order to put a stop to the human’s reign of terror. Most of monsterkind is only peripherally aware of all that happened, but a select few have been Elevated beyond what they once were.
Xanth (Ascendswap Sans): He’s the one who struck the eldritch bargain and consequently gained power and magic, as well as the ability to share it with anyone he chooses. It’s come at a significant cost and large swathes of him have been lost, dissolved into pure magic. He’s also now one who’s seen beyond the veil, the ant who has perceived the circuit board so to speak, and he’ll never be quite who he was. Still, he’s happy, and far more attuned to souls and magic and energy than he ever was before, so he’s not complaining.
Piper (Ascendswap Papyrus): One of the beneficiaries of his brother’s meddling, a newly-minted boss monster with full awareness of RESETs and much stronger magic—including an ability to push intent into his words as he speaks them, making their influence stronger. Due to the nature of its source, there’s only so far that little trick can go, but between being far more persuasive than he ever hoped he could be, his increased power, and more than a few timelines of experience, his confidence is through the roof and stress over what people think of him is a thing of the past.
Underfell Fruition: The Royal Scientist is never erased from reality. He continues his work as planned, without interruption and continues experiments which produce marvelous innovations for monsterkind’s eventual conquest of humanity. Two of his most impressive achievements are a device which allows the user to produce magic seemingly limitlessly, from thin air without drawing on one’s own energy, and a war machine that attacks on command—both of which are frequently lent out to the Emperor and the Royal Guard to serve the crown’s purposes. …Until a bit of poking around uncovers some…moderately…alarming monster rights violations, amongst other charges, which lead to the Royal Scientist’s conviction and execution.
Carmine (Underfell Fruition Sans): Captured during his attempt to escape from Gaster with his brother, and due to a consistent pattern of disobedience, locked away—permanently. Altered to produce magic at a significantly higher rate and used as a magic battery, he’s got plenty of energy and a whole lot of living to catch up on now that he’s out of the (barely metaphorical) box. What he lacks in worldly experience, he makes up for in luck, intuition, and a cocky can-do attitude, all too ready to make up for lost time.
Tank (Underfell Fruition Papyrus): ‘Raised’ alone by a cruel ‘father’ whose only use for him was as the pinnacle of his project to create a perfect living weapon for the war against humanity, he is extremely new to a lot of concepts—making decisions, having opinions, being a person… None of that was allowed while he was being developed…er, growing up, so in spite of being tall, intimidating, and built like a truck, he’s hesitant around new people and situations where he needs to do any more than just follow orders. Tentatively starting to branch out and discover what being a monster (instead of a monster-shaped weapon) is all about now that his creator is out of the picture and the brother he thought he’d only imagined is back in it.
Swapfell Fruition: The Royal Scientist is never erased from reality. He continues his work as planned, without interruption and continues experiments which lead to the development of a black ops division for the Empress, a secret service of sorts to serve the interests of the crown and to do the unsavory dirty work involved in maintaining an empire whose citizens are prone to corruption and violence. Espionage, blackmail, and quite a few assassinations are carried out by the unknown team managed, equipped, trained, and modified by the Royal Scientist. …Until one day, he happens to turn up dead and it’s uncovered that the ‘volunteers’ for the program were less willing participants and more lab-grown experiments who were given no choice otherwise. Bearing in mind what’s come to light about the circumstances, the black ops program is disbanded.
Vi (Swapfell Fruition Sans): Stopped during his attempt to murder Gaster and escape with his brother, and because of his clearly duplicitous nature, far more tightly controlled and observed and forced into obedience to his creator after. Used primarily as a handler to debrief, control, and monitor the real asset, he developed a keen eye for detail and skill in fact-finding, being secretive, and lying…which was probably a tactical error because he devoted himself wholly to playing the long con and waiting for the perfect opportunity for another attempt to free himself and his brother. A little late…maybe too late…but better than never.
Hunter (Swapfell Fruition Papyrus): The asset and field agent, a thoroughly trained and heavily mentally conditioned assassin, operant on a small library of trigger words and phrases which compel him to follow directives and alter the functioning of his mind and body. He’s extremely competent when working, charming and ruthless and efficient, but off the leash, impertinent, impulsive, and impossible. He does as he pleases whenever possible which, now that his boss/creator/dad is dead, seems like it’ll be all the time. On some weird footing now with his erstwhile handler—his brother—who was apparently less complicit in said boss/creator/dad’s bullshit than he’d thought, but y’know. He’s out of the cage either way and can chase his whims wherever they take him.
Descendtale: A Horrortale variant, a human’s passage through the Underground has left monsterkind without their king, without any of the human souls they’d gathered to break the Barrier, and without a handful of citizens. The long-lost queen returns to lead her people and pivots toward survival, weathering the long-haul trapped Underground with dwindling hope and resources. An alternate food source is the highest priority as monsters are already starting to go hungry in the wake of the chaos, and one is found…though not without its…side-effects. Light sensitivity, slowed metabolism, darkening of extremities, thorn-like growths on the body, and some mental changes and personality drift among other metamorphoses. The Underground takes on a deep-sea quality—slow, cold, dark—monsters subsisting on what they have and waiting patiently for the next whalefall to swarm.
Kohl (Descendtale Sans): The human’s disappearance has left him more than a little bitter (betrayed, though he’ll never admit that). His opinion of humans (or anyone new) is quite low after what the last one did to them all and he’s not keen on trusting or believing in any, anytime soon. He’s chilly, selfish, and reluctant to engage—though he does have a slight mean-spirited streak, and is greatly amused by creeping out or otherwise agitating humans by his presence. Coping with the changes they’ve all gone through and settling in to his new normal, but very stubbornly digging in to the small pleasures that his altered biology makes more difficult. Determined to live much in the manner of a cockroach: through just about anything and regardless of the opinion of those who’d prefer him not to.
Bram (Descendtale Papyrus): The human’s disappearance has left him confused and hurt. He’d thought they were friends, but well…then they did all that and left, never to return. There’s…a lot of conflicting emotions in there and he probably shouldn’t try to unpack it all—he’s just focusing on being the best friend possible from here on out! He’s a little bit clingy with new friends and people he’d like to become new friends but as much as possible, a perfect gentleman, host, and conversationalist. Some strong emotional outbursts from time to time, and his tendency towards unintentionally unnerving statements do make that a bit difficult but he’s very amicable and unlike his brother, only creepy on accident, so…he can still be popular, right? …Right?
If anybody’s interested in a full lore dump for anything, I can draft something up, but that’s the gist of all the brand new ones!
So since Carmine is a smol man (affectionate) and you said he really likes physical affection, how does he feel about being picked up? (By s/o or Tank or whoever)
Carmine (Underfell Fruition Sans) is not opposed!
(For context of sizing, with static heights, Carmine is 5'0" even, and Tank is a solid 7'3". With relative heights, Carmine has an inch on you and Tank has two feet and four inches on you)
Generally, he prefers to do most of his getting around independently—there was a damn long while where he wasn’t walking, or running, or even standing, and he’s put a lot of work into making all that happen again—so if he can do it, he wants to.
That said, in the process of that, he’s gotten pretty pragmatic about his limitations, and if there’s something he can’t do himself, he’ll take the helping hand.
Tank (Underfell Fruition Papyrus) was a huge (pun intended) help when Carmine was more unsteady, but even now that he’s up and running at peak capacity, it’s not uncommon for him to get picked up here and there, and he’s pretty used to it. Whenever he’s too short to see something, or he’s overloaded on magic, or he just happens to be in the way, Tank will come along and scoop him and Carmine probably won’t even stop running his mouth long enough to acknowledge it.
He might shut up for a second if it happens to be his partner doing the scooping…but only for a second, and then he’s undoubtedly leaning into them and flirting his smug little face off, as casually as he would from the ground.
Just couldn’t keep your hands off him, huh? Had to take him into your arms and bring him with ya? Well of course, you’re welcome to, he’s aware of the effect he has on people, comes with the territory of being such hot, hot stuff… 😩
………And if you don’t want to drop him after that, well he doesn’t mind being carted around for a bit, as long as he does get put back down eventually. 😉
