Under-Band AU

This is a blog for an AU of mine known as UnderBand, where everyone plays at least one musical instrument. I can't draw, no, but at least I can write! Also, feel free to ask questions to me or the characters, if you have any questions for them.

[under-band]

Meet the Skelebros

The child let out a small sigh as they exited the Ruins. Toriel was going to destroy the exit to the Ruins. They couldn’t go back now even if they wanted to. So, instead, the child looked down the path and began to walk forward. Their feet crunched against the snow, and that was the only sound that seemed to fill the otherwise silent forest with noise. They continued walking, stepping past a stick that lay in the middle of the path. They didn’t think much of it, of course. It was only a stick. How important could it be? Though, as the child walked a few more steps down the path, they heard a snapping sound and turned around, only to find the stick was broken in half, like someone had stepped on it. The child frowned and tilted their head. What could have caused that? The human looked around their snowy environment, being unable to find anyone among the trees. Right, that was odd. Growing a bit uneasy, Frisk looked down the path once more and continued on. A minute or two later, the human would come across a bridge, as well as some sort of gate. As they were about to walk past the bridge, they heard another set of feet, crunching the snow behind them, and the noise was just getting louder, and louder...it was right behind him. “human,” said a deep voice that took Frisk by surprise at first. This person’s voice was much different from the goat mother’s kind and gentle voice. “don’t you know how to greet a new pal? turn around, and shake my head.” Frisk, who was getting a bit nervous, turned around to face whoever this new pal was. It...was a skeleton. It was about the same height as them, but the skeleton was a few inches taller, and the business hat he wore also made him a bit taller. The short skeleton was in a business suit, as well as a formal looking pair of pants, but as Frisk looked down the skeleton’s legs, they’d notice the creature was wearing...bunny slippers. Huh, that was odd. Frisk then looked back up and noticed that, not only was the skeleton’s mouth in a grin, but the skeleton’s arm was also outstretched, while in the other hand he held a trombone. The child then reached out and grabbed the skeleton’s hand. Though, as soon as the child grabbed hold of the bony hand, a noise had filled the air. It sounded like...wait, what did that sounded like? The human tilted their head slightly and the skeleton laughed. “the ol’ whoopie cushion in the hand trick. gets then every time.” As the skeleton continued to laugh, Frisk couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. Right, that was actually pretty good...a weird thing to do just for a little joke, though, huh? Who was this person, anyways? Eventually, the skeleton stopped laughing and did a quick scan of the human’s appearance. “hey, you’re a human, right?” The child nodded, and the skeleton’s grin grew slightly. He hasn’t stopped grinning since the first contact with the human. “heh, that’s pretty funny, actually. i’m supposed to be on guard for humans, y’know? i’m supposed to catch them.” Frisk would stiffen up at this information and take a step back from the skeleton. Oh no. That didn’t sound good. Their hand went to their pocket, which held their harmonica. They were going to have to play, weren’t they? “hey, don’t worry. i don’t really care about doing my guard duties anyways.” The skeleton was hoping to put the human at ease, but the human still seemed to be suspicious, judging by that expression. “look, i already have to be a band manager most of the time. doing all this guard stuff is just putting too much on my plate. trust me, i don’t think i’d even have the energy to catch you.” This seemed to convince the human to calm down, as the began to relax, moving their hand away from their pocket and nodded. Right, so this skeleton won’t capture them. That’s good. So, Frisk would give the skeleton a friendely wave and sign out the words, “I’m Frisk.” Sans would take a moment or two to process the sign language, but he nodded. “well, frisk, i need to tell you about my brother, papyrus. that guy is a human hunting fanatic.” The skeleton looked at his trombone and moved the slide back and forth. “i just don’t seem to care as much as him, y’know?” Frisk nodded in response and was about to say something, when off in the distance they heard a very loud, “SAAAANS!” Well, whoever said that definitely sounded annoyed, that’s for sure. Frisk would turn around and look through the gate, trying to find the loud speaker. “oh, and that’s my brother. i should probably hide you. just head through this gate thing.” The human blinked and looked back at the skeleton, who only nodded. “yeah, that’s right. just go through. my brother made the bars too big to stop anyone.” With those words of encouragment, Frisk would walk through the gate and look around. Right, where were they going to hide? “here, hide behind this conveniantly shaped lamp,” the skeleton said as he guided the human over to a lamp that was...in the shape of themselves, actually. Sans put the human behind the lamp and then looked down the path. His brother just so happen to walk over right after Frisk had hid themselves. Perfect timing. “SANS!” this new person (Papyrus, apparently) shouted again, walking over to his shorter brother. Frisk was able to take a glance at the skeleton from behind the lamp, and he was much taller than his brother, and dressed in less...formal wear. He wore a orange hat that was backwards, as well as a T-shirt that had the word ‘cool’ in all caps as well as in bold. The skeleton even had orange shorts. It didn’t take long to figure out what the skeleton’s favorite color was. In one of the skeleton’s hands he held sticks to...some percussion instrument. Frisk couldn’t tell at first glance. “‘sup, bro?” the skeleton asked with a wave, waking over to a nearby guard post and leaning against it. “something happen?” “YOU KNOW WHAT’S ‘SUP, BROTHER,” Papyrus said, giving his shorter brother a look of annoyance. “IT HAS BEEN OVER THREE WEEKS AND YOU STILL HAVEN’T RECALIBRATED YOUR PUZZLES!” “sorry, bro, but i was busy doing other things,” the skeleton said. “y’know, like making sure you have places to play at. things like that.” “THAT IS NO EXCUSE FOR YOUR LAZINESS!” The taller of the two skeletons took a step towards the shorter. “YOU COULDN’T HAVE BEEN DOING THAT FOR THREE WEEKS!” “feels like it.” The skeleton put the mouthpiece of the trombone to his mouth and played an experimental note (how could he even play that?). “i’ll do it later, bro.” “SANS, YOU OBVIOUSLY DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH THIS MEANS TO ME,” the skeleton said. “IT IS CRUCIAL THAT WE SET UP THESE PUZZLES! I WILL BE THE ONE, I MUST BE THE ONE! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN! THEN I WILL BE A PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD, AND THE ROYAL BAND!” “geez, dude, don’t go working yourself…” the skeleton’s grin grew slightly as he chuckled. “to the bone.” At this, the taller of the two would stomp his foot on the ground, similar to how a child would have a temper tantrum. “SANS! YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I HATE YOUR JOKES! HAVE YOU BEEN DOING ANY WORK AT ALL?” “yeah, i was talking to the royal guard dogs ealier, telling them how to catch a human if they come by. i was pretty...dog tired afterwards.” The skeleton chuckled once more and shook his head. “ENOUGH WITH THE JOKES!” Papyrus said, throwing another child-like tantrum. “I WILL BE GOING BACK TO MY PUZZLES! SANS, YOU BETTER PUT SOME MORE BACK BONE INTO IT!” The skeleton broke out into a fit of laughter and ran off. Well, that was...odd. “okay, you can come out now,” the skeleton said as he glanced over at the lamp. The human slowly stepped out and walked over to the short skeleton. “hey, before you go, could i ask you something?” Frisk tilted their head slightly and nodded. Oh? What is it? What would a skeleton want with them? “papyrus has been a bit down lately when it comes to his guard duties. i’m sure seeing a human would cheer him up. just let him see you and play along with his puzzles. don’t worry, he won’t hurt you. the guy means well.” Sans looked the human up and down and nodded. “think you can do that?” Frisk smiled a bit and nodded. Oh, sure, they could play along if it meant cheering someone up! What’s the worse that could happen? Sans nodded. “alright, thanks kid,” he said before looking down the path for a few moments before looking back at Frisk. “you better get going, othereise you’ll have to hear more of my amazing jokes.” Frisk chuckled a bit and nodded before walking down the path, where Papyrus had gone. While they’d be perfectly fine with playing along with this, they couldn’t help but think about what they’ve gotten themselves into.

[under-band]

A casual fight.

Frisk couldn’t help but remember the words the Flowey said as they looked at their harmonica. In this world, it’s play or be played, the flower said. Though, Frisk couldn’t believe that. Everything seemed so nice here, and no one would be mean enough to play with them, right? They could still remember how Toriel taught them how things work around here.

“As you walk through the Underground, monsters will invite you to play with them,” the goat mother had said, walking towards a dummy as they did. “If this happens, then you will use your harmonica to play with them. Try doing so with this dummy.”

Frisk, though, had just stared at the dummy, not sure how exactly they were going to play with this dummy. It wasn’t like it could play an instrument, so, instead, Frisk looked at Toriel and tilted their head slightly.

Toriel blinked and chuckled. “Oh, right, I suppose the dummy wouldn’t make a good playing partner, would it?” She shook her head. “Maybe you should just wait until you meet a monster willing to play with you, but remember, before you start the playing session, you must harmonize with your partner. Make sure you’re in tune with your playing partner. If you’re out of tune with you’re playing partner,then you won’t have a very good playing session.”

Frisk nodded, taking their harmonica out of their pocket and staring at it. Could they really play this thing? They could barely do so when they were on the surface, but right now…it felt like they could play this very well. It may have something to do about being in the Underground…though, that’s a silly thing to think about. Though, Frisk then looked at Toriel, pointed at her, and then at their harmonica.

Luckily, Toriel was able to understand what the child was implying. “Oh, me? Play with you? Oh, no no no. I haven’t played an instrument in a long time. It wouldn’t be a great experience to have me as a partner.” Toriel shook her head and made her way to the door.

Frisk could tell that Toriel wasn’t exactly telling the truth, but the child just shrugged and followed the goat mother. It wasn’t long until the child had ran into a Whimsun, who was nervously flying around and holding a flute.

“Ah, here’s someone who could play with you,” Toriel said before walking towards the Whimsun. “Excuse me, could you please stop for a moment?”

The Whimsun, who was almost so surprised he dropped his instrument, looked at Toriel and the human before nodding. “Y-Yeah, I can stop,” the monster muttered, obviously nervous. “W-W-What do you want?”

“I was wondering if you could play with the child here.” The goat monster gestured to Frisk, the human having a kind smile on their face. “I need to make sure this human gets used to the Underground.”

The Whimsun frowned and looked at the human, lowering himself down to his feet. “Oh…sure,” the monster muttered. “I guess I can do that.”

Frisk nodded and, without Toriel telling them to, took a few steps towards the monster, their harmonica still held in their hands as they did. The Whimsun would put the flute up to it’s mouth and blow into the instrument, holding a note to help get into tune. Frisk would glance at Toriel and, with encouragement, began to play their harmonica.

After a few moments of making sure the instruments were in tune, the Whimsun when then began playing, walking in a small circle around Frisk, and every time the monster changed a note on their flute, they’d take a step forward. Frisk just turned in a circle, following the Whimsun with interest. Was this how monsters got along? They could get used to this, if that was true.

Suddenly, the Whismur stopped, turned to Frisk and spun around, still keeping up the song he was playing. Little white butterflies flew around the monster and then straight towards Frisk. Still trying to keep the song going, Frisk backed up and sidestepped out of the way, adding a spin into the mix for effect. Wow, they didn’t know they could dodge like this!

When the butterflies disappeared, Frisk would walk towards the Whimsun, doing their best to keep up the music, but walking, playing, and thinking about what they were going to do at the same time was difficult. They were somehow able to approac the Whimsun, but they were barely able to keep up with the song, which was now going faster than before.

The human would walk circles around the Whimsun. Once they were behind the monster, they tapped on the creature’s right shoulder, and when the Whimsun jumped slightly and looked to the right, Frisk spun to the monster’s left and tapped their left shoulder. The Whimsun looked to their left and Frisk gave the monster a wink and a friendly wave.

This song and dance (quite literally, actually) would go on for a while, and the music would continue to get faster, the notes beginning to blend in with each other, Eventually, the Whimsun began to spin around almost wildly, and Frisk had decided to do the same. The Whimsun stopped facing Frisk and bowed, taking the flute away from his mouth as he did, while the human would stop spinning, take the harmonica away from the mouth and put their hands in the air.

As soon as that finished, the two could hear Toriel clapping. Frisk looked to the goat mother with a smile. “Bravo!” the mother said. “I am very proud of you. You did that very well. Your ending needs a bit more work, but other than that, you did great.“

((That was me writing a fight scene and…eh, could be better. I wanted to incorporate dancing and playing instruments, so enjoy that. Also, for anyone who happens to stumble by, please tell me what else to write. Pairings and whatnot are allowed.))

[under-band]

Just a Sansby Doodle

Sans sat at his usual spot in Grillby’s and noticed that there was a distinct lack of music today, which was odd. Grillby’s was usually filled with all music, but now…it seemed empty. Sans took a look at the small stage in the corner, one that was supposed to hold performers, and looked at Grillby. “hey, isn’t a band supposed to be playing, grillbz?”

“Well, yes, they’re supposed to be playing,” the fire elemental said. “But apparently none of them are showing up. Not only is that rude, but now I don’t have any entertainers in today. My customer’s are going to be upset.”

“oh, that’s tough,” the skeleton said as he grabbed a ketchup bottle and took a sip of the red condiment. “wish i could help you out, there.”

“Actually, there’s a way that you can,” Grillby said, perking up slightly as he thought of something. “You could play for the customers. I know you play an instrument; every monster does.”

Sans blinked and shook his head. “grillby, i…i can’t play,” the skeleton said with another shake of his head. No, he didn’t want to play. He wanted to keep what talent he had a secret. It’d just be embarrassing. “i’m…not very good at it.”

“Nonsense, Sans,” the barkeeper said as he leaned forward and towards Sans. “Not only have I grown up listening to you play, but I also heard your trombone once when you were you in Snowdin. You were good.”

Sans let out a somewhat nervous chuckle. “no, grillby, i can’t play,” the skeleton muttered, taking another sip from his ketchup bottle. “it’d be too embarrassing…”

Grillby shook his head. “If you think it’d help, then I could play with you, Sans.” Of course, he wouldn’t be able to see to the customers, but he wanted to be entertained.

This seemed to catch the skeleton’s attention as he raised a non-existent eyebrow. “really? you’d want to play with me?” the skeleton asked, straightening up as he did. “i think i’d like that.”

Grillby nodded, a small smile visible on the elemental’s face, and a smile wasn’t common, so this was saying something. “Good. Now, what do you want me to play? Castanets, or the saxophone?“

“saxophone, of course,” sans said as he got out of the bar seat. “i’d have to go home to get my trombone, though. you can wait, right?”

Grillby nodded. “Of course I can, Sans,” he said, already looking around for his saxophone. He knew he kept one of those in the bar, he just had to remember where…ah, here it is. He bent down to pick it up, and by the time he stood up straight, Sans was leaning against the bar, holding his trombone.

“you ready?” Sans asked, checking the slide of his trombone to see if the instrument needed to be greased. The instrument worked well enough, so it should be good. When Grillby nodded, Sans shot the elemental a grin and lowered his hat so that it covered his eyes. “then let’s get started.”

The two then walked over to the stage and got onto it. Sans tapped the microphone on the stage to get the people’s attention and cleared his throat. “so, due to technical difficulties, the band that grillby over here promised you is not here.” There were a few people in the crowd that sounded disappointed, but Sans put his hand up to motion for silence. “but, we don’t want you getting bored, so me and the bartender over here have band together to bring you a song.”

The people in the bar looked at each other and muttered to themselves, not sure what to expect from these two. They usually just made jokes at the front of the bar; and didn’t play for an audience, but it was better than no entertainment at all. So, they payed attention.

Sans looked at Grillby. “you know that one song that blooky plays?” the skeleton asked, and when Grillby nodded, Sans grinned. “right, we’ll be playing that, then. so, let’s get in tune.”

The fire elemental once again nodded and blew into the instrument, of course making noise come out, and keeping it at a steady pitch. Sans was quick to join in with his trombone, and if they were out of tune, they’d correct themselves. It wasn’t long until they were finished, and Sans started to count off with his fingers. “one, two, and-a-one two, three, four.”

And just like that, the two started to play their instruments, Sans’s hat was adjusted so it was over his eyes, so it would be difficult to look into his eyes. It made it easier to block people out as well. He was imagining he was only playing with Grillby. Heh, speaking of Grillby, the guy was pretty good at playing that saxophone. He didn’t miss a single note. It’s been a while since Sans had actually played with anyone. It was nice.

Of course, eventually, the song ended. When Sans hit the last note, he moved his trombone away from his mouth, pointed it downward, turned towards the audience and bowed, Grillby doing something similar soon afterwards. To Sans’s surprise, the people in the bar actually applauded. Well, he thought they’d please the audience, but not that much.

“Well, they seem to like your playing, Sans,” the fire elemental said as he glanced at his skeletal companion. “You want to give them an encore? I’d be fine with you playing a bit more, but I need to get back to the bar.”

Sans slowly nodded. “well, i guess i can’t deny the people what they want.” he said before looking at his friend, his eyes still covered by the edge of his hat. “you go back to the bar. i’ll give them an encore.”

Grillby nodded and then walked off of the stage and went behind the bar, while Sans was already starting up with his next song. Heh, he was actually seeming to enjoy this, judging by the smile on his face every time he took the trombone away from his face.

This went on into the night, and eventually the bar was closing down. Sans, who was out of breath, hopped off the stage, trying to catch his breath. “wow, haven’t played for that long since i was in school,” he said. “i think they liked it, though.”

Grillby nodded. “Yes, I’m sure they did,” he said as he made sure everything was where it should be. “I appreciate the help, by the way. You really kept the crowd entertained.”

“hey, you also helped with playing your saxophone,” the skeleton said as he moved his hat out of the way of his eyes. “you were pretty good with that thing. you know what would be better, though?”

“What?” Grillby asked as he walked over to the door. He could sense a joke coming on, and he was prepared for it.

“if you gave me your saxo-phone number.” The skeleton chuckled and grinned at Grillby. “well? what do you say?”

Grillby let out a light chuckle and then picked up a napkin, taking a pen out of his pocket as he did. He wrote the number down and then offered it to Sans. “There you go, Sans,” he said. “Now, I should probably be leaving.”

Sans, who was slightly surprised that the joke even worked, took the napkin and put it in his pocket. “yeah, let’s get going,” he said before stepping out of the bar and walking home. “wow, that actually worked. wait until i tell papyrus.”

((Well, hope you enjoyed that. I wrote this up a while ago, and I just wanted to show it off))

[under-band]

Characters and Instruments

Of course this was going to be one of the first things that was posted! So, here we go.

Frisk: Frisk is nothing more than a fallen child that ended up in the Underground. The only thing they have with them is a bandage and a harmonica, and they have to make their way through the musical Underground.

Flowey: Flowey absolutely hates music, as well as most monsters in the Underground. He wants to break every instrument in the Underground and kill the ones who play them. Despite his hate for music, you can still hear him hum a tune every now and then. A tune he can never forget. It’s His Theme, after all.

Chara: Chara, like Flowey, hates music with a passion, but despite this, they seem to be incredibly good at playing the drums after being exposed to the Underground’s influence. Their weapon is a broken Drumstick, which broke when they had struck their drum too hard.

Toriel: The motherly figure Toriel, while already knowing how to sing beautifully, also plays the harp, and is attempting to try her hand at the Violin. She’s the guardian of the Ruins, and often sings for the monsters in the Ruins.

Napstablook: Napstablook doesn’t actually play an instrument, but instead makes music in computer programs whenever he’s at home. His music is actually well known in the Underground, but he remains anonymous as he doesn’t want any attention directed to him.

Sans: Sans is a skeleton who can often be seen wearing a business suit, of all things. The skeleton plays a trombone, of course, but doesn’t often play in front of others. He’s the manager for Undyne’s band, and he dresses up for the part, despite not always acting the part. It’s sort of a mystery how he got that position.

Papyrus: This innocent skeleton wants to be a part of the Royal Guard (which also doubles as the Royal Band), and he plays the xylophone. He is in a band with Undyne and Mettaton, and he looks to Undyne for musical guidance. Papyrus’s outfit consists of an orange hat that’s on backwards, a shirt that’s bright orange that has the word “COOL!” on all caps and in bold, and he has a pair of orange shorts to boot.

Undyne: Undyne plays the guitar, which Gerson had taught her to play, or at least tried to. Undyne eventually began to teach herself how to play, and eventually she was able to start a band with her friends. She’s also captain of the Royal Guard, as well as lead guitarist of the Royal Band, and close friends with the Royal Scientist Alphys. She tried playing the piano once, and…it didn’t go well. While she doesn’t prefer to wear her suit of armor, she will if she has to. She often just wears her casual clothes, such as her leather jacket. She also has a black streak in her hair.

Mad Dummy: This odd, possessed dummy is surprisingly good at beatboxing for having no mouth, and that’s what it’s been doing ever since he’s discovered his talent. His goal is to become one with his Dummy body, and still tries to every day. Don’t tick this dummy off, by the way, or you’ll get aggressive beatboxing.

Mettaton: This robot, built by Dr. Alphys, was nothing but a singer at first when he had his first, rectangular form, but since he received his EX body, built specifically to dance, he’s add dancing to his list of talents. Not only is he one of the biggest stars in the Underground, but he also is lead singer in a band with Undyne and Papyrus.

Dr. Alphys: Doctor Alphys is the Royal Scientist, who is frequently asked about her DETERMINATION experiments, but often dodges the question. She spends a lot of her time at the garbage dump, and has become great friends with Undyne. She doesn’t play uh front of others often, and usually only plays when she’s stressed. She plays a synthesizer, but she doesn’t believe she’s good at it.

Muffet: The spider lady Muffet, who not only runs a bake sale to help the spiders in the Ruins, but also plays for people’s entertainment for money. She plays the piano and also plays songs for her little spider dearies.

Asgore: The king of all monsters, like his wife, is very good at singing, but on top of that he plays a ukulele, which seems comically small for a man like him, but it’s what he enjoys playing. He knows he must fight Frisk, and while is reluctant to kill a child, he knows he must do this for his people.

Asriel: Asriel, like his whole biological family, is very good at singing, but he also has a tendency to turn songs into a music box format, which he shows to his parents with pride. Once Asriel died and became Flowey, he grew bitter and disliked any forms of music.