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imbonewary · 4 months

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How My Multiverse is Set Up

This is spoilers for how my multiverse functions so it'll be under the cut but I really wanted to post it anyways cuz I'm kinda proud that it came together so well. This is also for more than just Undertale but my focus is currently on Undertale anyways so it may as well be. I might update this later, possibly with an actual picture.

It always kinda bugged me that everyone kept making "Sans clones", and while I do have my own Sans character (yes, I'm a hypocrite) I decided to use different characters for some of the more common "multiverse gods", namely Ink, Error, Dream, and Nightmare.

The Watchers are basically a stand-in for me, the Author. Just as I, as an Author, have ultimate control and power over the multiverse I have created in my head, the Watchers have unlimited power, constrained only by their own creativity and near single-minded desire to "watch a good story”. Other Authors exist, interacting with their unique multiverses (whether they realize that’s what they’re doing or not), which the Watchers can look at, and even gain inspiration from, but cannot touch or influence; if they want to interact with it, they have to generate their own version of the source material. This includes Authors of EVERYTHING, “fan” made or official content, meaning that the Watchers are responsible for creating AUs for everything as well, not just Undertale, though contact between AUs is kept to a minimum and Crossovers are very carefully curated.

The Watchers decided to delegate their responsibilities as Author into Four entities, known as The Watchers’ Hands; these are Kreo (Kris), Roots (Flowey), Remaster (Gaster) and Nightmaster (also Gaster). Remaster, or Rem Gaster, further split himself into two beings, Lucid (Papyrus) and Dream (Sans), who work together to accomplish Rem’s duties.

Together, they all look after a place they call Void Town, which is a hub for all of the AUs I, the Author, have created. Most are kept distinctly separate, even if they start from the same source material. Old or abandoned AUs are “pruned” from existence by Roots, the Custodian and Destroyer of Worlds. Kreo, the Steward of Creativity, will sometimes try to recycle AUs, or pieces of them, before Roots prunes them entirely; this could entail ideas and concepts for places, relationship, archetypes, and even full characters, if they were beloved enough. The Idea Garden was created to store these disconnected ideas, the fruits of which can be used for inspiration later, and one large building in particular, called the Void Hotel, houses displaced characters, hoping to someday receive a “glow up” or reimagining and find a new AU to call home. Some of the more permanent residents of Void Town have actual houses all to themselves.

Crossovers can happen in empty void spaces between full AUs, made from copies of existing AU material that can be manipulated before (usually) being pruned by Roots as well. Occasionally, a crossover will stick around to be used as a playground, which may eventually evolve into a full-blown AU if it receives enough attention.

In general, Kreos tries to keep as many ideas alive as they can while Roots tries to reduce as much “clutter” as possible. Thus, balance is maintained.

Nightmaster, or Nightmare Gaster, could be called the “Guardian of Negativity”, as hardship always follows in his wake. Nightmare himself is a very curious being, constantly seeing how far he can push a character or concept before it breaks. He is responsible for creating the kinds of environments that spawn darker stories, like Underfell, but sometimes he goes too far, creating places like Horrortale, and even set in motion the events that would lead to Serif’s creation. Nightmare took a near-canon Undertale AU and basically stripped Guile (Gaster) of every ounce of empathy he had, just to see what would happen, then moved on to JumbleTale to test his results on a larger scale, making [JT Gaster] live long enough to engulf most of the Underground in his experiments.

Lucid and Dream were unable to completely undo Nightmare’s work but they could help give these stories a happier ending by working through the hardships Nightmare had created. They interfered just enough to get [JT Flowey] and Lucky Papyrus to erase [JT Gaster] from existence, along with much of what he created, leaving the world to heal on its own for a while. Seeing it struggling to move past the collective trauma, they decided to save Serif from his repetitive fate and insert him into JumbleTale instead, hoping to solve both problems at once. They also connected the Reset Power to the Barrier’s existence so that it would be gone as soon as the Barrier was broken; they understood the usefulness of Resets but have seen it abused so often that even the ever optimistic Lucid is wary of it. This is also why they resurrected Buttercup Chara, attaching her soul to Hero Frisk, in order to temper his psychopathic ways. Lucid and Dream are now rather invested in making sure JumbleTale gets its happy ending and Serif has been brought to the Watcher’s attention.

In general, Lucid and Dream are in a tug-of-war battle with Nightmare over how much peace or chaos is introduced into the lives of AU inhabitants.

Nightmare also stirs up chaos in Void Town itself, causing strife between inhabitants just because he can. He has a small group of “followers” that stir up trouble as well, evading the “authorities” appointed by Lucid and Dream to help keep the peace in Void Town. A lot of what they do is fight, with an unspoken understanding that neither group actually wants to kill the others, hoping to just release their pent-up aggressive energy.

Roots and Nightmare don’t exactly get along, since Nightmare’s meddling tends to make more AUs, but Kreo doesn’t really like Nightmare either, since Kreo wants to focus on the AUs already there. Sometimes Kreo will actually ask Roots to destroy an AU if it’s just not working, after taking what can be salvaged, of course. Kreo is more neutral towards Lucid and Dream; peaceful AUs are nice but they aren’t very interesting. Lucid and Dream understand Roots’ job and purpose but still don’t necessarily like what he does. The Watchers are flighty and distractible, always looking for the next cool thing to grab their attention. They create the most AUs, asking both Nightmare and Lucid/Dream for inspiration. Lucid tends to come up with the fun stuff; setting, theories, positive character traits, etc. while Nightmare comes up with the drama; situations for the characters to navigate, tragic backstories, negative character traits, etc. Dream is the realist, acting as mediator between the extremes and finding a way to make it all fit.

In the future of Serif's story, Dream and Lucid intend for Serif to return to his original AU and help fix the damage done there as well, giving that AU a happy ending too. They also intend to have Serif travel to different AUs to fix other "damage" caused by Nightmare, as a sort of avatar or emissary of their will.

edit: i made a picture :p

As for personalities, Kreo is very much based on the quirky goblin-child that Kris seems to be in Deltarune. They also take inspiration from a headcanon I heard about Ink Sans being slightly feral, having “grown up” all alone, so he doesn’t really understand social situations and boundaries. Kreo has very little self-control or shame, doing what they feel like just because they can. This also bleeds into AU creation, specifically early creation being chaotic and uncontrolled until it stabilizes with a more solid trajectory; like a child playing with their toys, throwing everything against the wall and seeing what sticks. They also get attached to their “toys” very quickly, even speaking in the character’s voices rather than their own when they’re “playing as” that character. They rarely use their own voice, but when they do it’s a quiet monotone. Only a few residents of Void Town know of Kreo’s role in creating AUs, which suits them just fine; they prefer to be the weird but harmless kid that watches a little too closely while others go about their day.

Roots takes his custodian job very seriously but that’s the only thing he takes seriously. He’s cruel and manipulative, a very good actor when he needs to be, and only out to serve himself. He is also very secretive and most of the residents of Void Town don’t know what his role is, assuming he’s just another displaced resident like them. Roots plays the part of an innocent little flower boy, even making up a fake backstory as an underswap Flowey (taking a Temmies’ place) but on the few occasions he craves sincere (but positive) interactions, he’ll seek out Lucid. Like most Flowey and Papyrus relationships, Roots tries his darndest to corrupt Lucid, knowing it won’t work, and Lucid believes there is good in Roots, as he understands the necessity of Roots’ job, even if he doesn’t like it. No one is quite sure what Roots’ real body looks like; the flowers he shows everyone are just extensions of the tangled mass of roots and vines under the entirety of Void Town. He can have several “flower bodies” up at once, though this split in attention means he might mix up what he’s saying to who, helping support his Underswap story. There is very little that goes on in Void Town that he doesn’t know about, and he absolutely uses this to his advantage.

As self-proclaimed “Guardians of Positivity”, Lucid and Dream try to help everyone by meddling in established AUs; tampering with codes and probabilities from outside the AU, but sometimes entering the AU physically, when necessary, to make sure the plot progresses how they want it to. They tend to stay hidden, manipulating events from the background, rarely showing themselves to AU residents but occasionally getting caught by those paying enough attention. They are also the driving force of order in Void Town, setting up a system of government and protection that functions separately from themselves, but even after delegating these tasks, the two are just as busy as ever. Lucid is as energetic and eternally optimistic (at least on the outside) as any Papyrus, always seeing the best in a given situation; he knows what results he wants but isn't so naïve as to disregard the reality of getting there. Dream is more realistic, bordering pessimistic if separated from Lucid for too long, but his knowledge of psychology and story beats lets him find a way to manipulate the AU and its inhabitants to get the best outcome available, doing his best to cover the logistics of making Lucid's visions of sunshine and rainbows into a reality.

They could fuse back into Rem Gaster is they wanted to but, after spending so much time apart, they aren't actually sure what Rem would be like. Besides, Lucid and Dream rather like being themselves.

As mentioned, Nightmare Gaster is a very curious monster. Responsible for the generation of a lot of darker AUs, as well as the darker side of lighter AUs, Nightmare creates interesting obstacles for characters to overcome. Which is a nice way of saying he makes life as difficult as he can for everyone he comes into contact with. He is highly manipulative and can be very charming when he wants to be, rarely outright lying in favor of half truths and misdirection. I know I want him to have a small group of "followers" that help him do his job but I haven't decided exactly who those will be just yet.

The Watchers use plural pronouns and speak as if they are a collective group, generally embodying the thoughts of myself as author and the people that look at my creations. As mentioned, the Watchers' only goal is to "watch a good story" with interesting characters, good development, and surprising twists. While technically omnipotent, they are able to narrow their perspective so as to enjoy their "good story" as it happens and not just all at once, like I do as the author.

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imbonewary · 7 months

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Shifting Sans Chapter 16 "Bronze Mice and Tragic Tales"

Chapter 1 - Chapter 15 - Chapter 17

“Is the Great Papyrus playing hooky?” the masked monster chuckled in a wispy voice, cocking their head to the side. It seemed like they were trying very hard to sound sinister and creepy but I could feel their amusement, ruining the illusion for me.

“I am most certainly not playing hooky, Bronze!” Papyrus huffed in annoyance. “I’m just helping out a friend-”

“And leaving your post unguarded?!” the mouse accused again in a somewhat shrill voice, leveling their spear at Papyrus’ face. He rolled his eyes, not intimidated in the slightest.

“Yes, because I’m completely irresponsible,” he said sarcastically, brushing the spear away. “I asked Alphys to cover my post while I made lunch and retrieved these two.” he gestured at me and Frisk. “They are Frisk the human and Serif the Skeleton, wards of Sans the Skeleton.” Frisk waved and I gave a loose salute as we were named. Papyrus then turned to us and gestured to first the masked monster then the mouse. “And these are Bronze Masque and Spear Mouse, Royal Guards assigned to Snowdin Forest.” He turned back to the two Guards, boldly standing his ground. “I see you’re recalibrating the tile puzzle.”

Bronze Masque seemed to be mollified while Spear Mouse openly scrutinized us with a slight sneer. Both Guards *Checked us and I couldn’t help but flinch slightly at the piercing magic. I could always feel *Checks but never quite so sharply; must be playing off the emotion feeling. I *Checked them back; it was considered rude and vaguely threatening for the average monster to *Check someone outside of a Fight but they did it first so I consider it fair game.

Spear Mouse - 14 ATK 2 DEF *She doesn’t trust you. She doesn’t like Papyrus.

Bronze Masque - 7 ATK 10 DEF *His mask hides much of his emotions, but not from you.

I wonder what they see for me and Frisk.

No time to worry about that now.

“She’s not a full guard, Papyrus,” Spear Mouse said after the brief exchange of *Checks. I could feel an amount of jealousy behind her annoyance. “You really shouldn’t be relying on her so much.”

“If there is a problem, then take it up with Captain Asgore,” Papyrus countered defensively. “He’s training her personally and you know she’s strong enough to handle any threat.”

“It’s not her battle prowess I’m worried about,” Mouse muttered, turning away with another spike of jealousy. “And yes, we are doing our job,” she snapped, walking away. “Not playing babysitter. Now go on past before we finish so we don’t have to reset it again.”

While not in charge of this area, it seems Papyrus and Alphys get special treatment around here, which seems to chafe some of the other guards, but not all of them. Who did he say was in charge of Snowdin again?

“Thank you, Mouse, Bronze,” Papyrus nodded to each as he strode confidently past them, me and Frisk in tow. I could feel general amusement from Bronze while Mouse side eyed Frisk as they passed. I felt oddly protective of them, though that might be overflow from Papyrus’ own protectiveness.

I remembered the Tile Puzzle from my old home; it kept “randomly” generating a straight path for the human. I wonder if it actually works here? Currently the machine was off and all of the tiles were various shades of grey. We left the puzzle behind with Bronze Masque and Spear Mouse. I wonder who they were in my old universe?

After that was a series of button puzzles and spike walls, likely made out of the stalagmites that must have inhabited the open area before the monsters got to it. I hung back again as Frisk rushed ahead, followed closely by Papyrus. I glanced around, far enough away from the Guards that I could barely hear them squabbling. I was alone, as far as I could tell.

“Chara, you there?” I said quietly.

Silence.

Oh yeah, I can feel for her presence, assuming it’s detached from Frisk’s. I extended my emotion feeling all around, eyes unfocused as I concentrated. I barely picked up the two Guards behind me; Mouse was embarrassed about something while Bronze was filled with amusement, likely at his companion’s expense. I could feel Papyrus and Frisk up ahead, Frisk filled with the bright joy only a child can feel while Papyrus was feeling begrudgingly affectionate. No Chara, though-

No, wait, there she is; moving towards me from the puzzle Frisk and Papyrus were working on. As I looked through where her energy was, I could barely see her beckoning me closer. I nodded and she disappeared again. She must have become only slightly visible just for me, but why couldn’t she come over here?

I took my time wandering over, past the finished puzzles, until I got to where Chara’s energy was.

“Heya, kiddo,” I said quietly.

“I’m sorry, Serif,” Chara replied, barely above a whisper. “The astral body can only go so far away from the physical body before it snaps back, so I was unable to reach you before.”

“Huh, good to know.”

“Are you ready for the next part of my tragic tale?”

“Ready when you are.”

“I had just finished telling you about the incident with the Buttercup Pie,” she began. I nodded, paying attention to where Frisk was, now knowing Chara was more tied to him than I’d originally thought. “Sans recovered from the poisoning and assured me it wasn’t my fault, that all was forgiven, but all I could do was smile blankly, completely detached from reality. I had ruined the best thing to ever happen to me and I was not taking it well, retreating from both of my guardians. It was at this time, in this mental state, that I heard of a possibility to redeem myself, to help the monsters with the only thing of value I felt I had left; my human soul. If a monster were to absorb a human soul, they might be able to cross through the barrier and, once across, they could gather the other six souls required to break the barrier. At least I could be useful for something, and I wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone ever again. It seemed like the perfect solution to me. I knew neither Sans nor Asriel would willingly take my soul, they were too kindhearted, so I devised a plan to make the decision for them; I knew they would try to save me if they could so I decided to poison myself to death with buttercups, just like I’d poisoned Sans. A fitting end for a despicable creature like me-”

“Before we go any further,” I interrupted Chara’s downward spiral. “You are not a despicable creature and you have more value than just what you can do for others. You were a kid who made an honest mistake; nobody’s perfect. Besides, you have people who Chara-lot about you, kiddo,” I finished with a wink.

She huffed a laugh before putting up a wall of feigned offense, but I could still feel the affection underneath, slightly tainted by pain. I wonder why?

“Did you just make a pun out of my name?” she accused. I could hear her smile in her voice.

“Maybe.”

She let a small chuckle slip out.

“Sorry for drifting too far into self-deprecation,” she continued, amusement fading back to the background. “Thinking about this always brings my self-loathing to the forefront.”

“I know the feeling all too well,” I nodded sagely. “Made my fair share of mistakes. Anyways, I think I know where this is going, sounds a lot like what happened in my universe, but please continue.”

“Right,” Chara cleared her throat. “So, I managed to go forward with my plan and eventually fell ill enough that I couldn’t be saved. That’s when I begged Asriel to take my soul, to not let my death be in vain. Then I died. I assume Asriel granted my final wish but that time was so chaotic for me I don’t think I ever got my bearings before Asriel, too, died. From what I’ve heard, he did leave the Underground but returned mortally wounded, turning to dust in Sans arms. Sans did not take this well and removed himself from politics, knowing he was too emotionally compromised to think clearly. He took my body and buried it where I had initially fallen and I awoke when Frisk fell on my grave. You heard the rest from there.”

“I see,” I said quietly. “It’s a hell of a story. There are a few important differences between your story and what happened in my world though; the biggest difference being that Asriel was a young prince at the time, rather than an adult king. This difference also means that Asriel was living with his parents, King Asgore and Queen Toriel-” Chara giggled. “Yeah, I know, but skipping that for now, both kids became inseparable and both decided to substitute buttercups for cups of butter in the pie. King Asgore was the one to eat it and get sick. Chara convinced Asriel to help with the plan and he absorbed Chara’s soul, leaving the Underground but returning injured and empty handed. Upon his death, King Asgore declared war on humanity, that any human who falls was to be killed and their soul harvested to eventually break the barrier. Meanwhile, Queen Toriel left Asgore to live in the Ruins, disgusted by his reaction. And that was the state of things by the time I was born.”

“And since no one was around to declare war here,” Chara said, understanding dawning on her. “Queen Undyne followed in Asriel’s footsteps to adopt the fallen humans. Fascinating how that one difference could affect so much.”

#shifting sans #undertale #jumbletale #oc #alternate universe #serif #buttercup chara #hero frisk #lucky papyrus

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imbonewary · 7 months

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AAAAH I'm so happy! it turned out great, especially the outfit you designed!

Commission for @imbonewary, ft. their boy, Serif!

Thank you again! I had so much fun designing a new outfit for him ^^!!

Commission Info // Ko-Fi

#commission

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imbonewary · 7 months

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Shifting Sans Chapter 15 "Walking in a Winter Wonderland"

Chapter 1 - Chapter 14 - Chapter 16

Walking through Snowdin was a surreal experience.

Frisk skipped around me and Papyrus as we passed the Librarby, which looked exactly as I remember it, misspelled sign and all. A brown bear monster in an orange jacket exited, nose buried in a book labeled “Political Science”. They nearly bumped into Papyrus, giving a short greeting before continuing to read and not look where they were going. That must be the same bear that kept going on about how strange politics were back in Snowdin.

I mean, my Snowdin.

Just beyond the Librarby I noticed two young, white dog monsters building long necked snow dogs, who barked a greeting as we walked by and all three of us waved. They looked so familiar but I couldn’t quite place them.

What really threw me was Grillby’s being replaced with “The Dog House Bar and Grill”. I stood frozen, staring at it until Papyrus grabbed my shoulder, snapping me out of it. I shook my head to clear it before whispering “later” since I didn’t wanna talk about my world so openly. Not yet at least.

We passed the Gyftmas tree in the center of town, decorated festively with gifts scattered beneath it, and the connected Snowed Inn and Snowdin Shop. Looking in the windows revealed Catty at the Inn’s front desk and Bratty at the Shop’s cash register. Where were the bunnies that populated most of my Snowdin? There were plenty of other furry monsters walking around, just going about their day, but I had yet to see a single bunny.

There was no “Welcome to Snowdin” sign as we headed out towards Snowdin forest.

Frisk had been running ahead throughout the town, swimming in Papyrus’ largest sweater, knitted with thick, pale yellow yarn. Their hands barely made it past the elbow of the sleeves, the extra length trailing behind as they waved their outstretched arms around wildly. I couldn’t tell who was in control but whoever it was seemed to be having the most innocent time of their life, kicking up snow while laughing and dancing around in oversized clothing, singing some wordless tune.

It was adorable.

And it hammered home that these two really were just kids. They’d been thrown into an impossible situation, with far more power and responsibility than any kid needed to be dealing with; they were just trying to make the best of it. Not only with the resets but their potential involvement with that “joint family” thing Sans had mentioned; I couldn’t stop thinking about it. For the sake of monster kind, I hope it works. For our personal sakes, I hope it falls through.

The kid stopped and waved at me and Pap in their excitement as we trailed behind them.

“Somethin’ tells me they left their jacket home on purpose,” I said, waving back. They giggled and took off again.

“I don’t know what it is about that sweater but they always wear it at every opportunity,” Papyrus chuckled, allowing himself to feel some affection for the human. He called to them, “Don’t forget about the traps, Frisk!”

“I~ know~,” they sang back before stopping at the bridge marking the edge of the settled area, flopping onto a snowbank and began waving their arms and legs about on the ground.

The bridge wasn’t just painted stone like it was in my world, it was a proper suspension bridge; support cables ran from one side of the crevasse to the other, attached to giant arches with their own inner suspension systems. I was no architect but it looked very complicated.

“Look! I made a snow Sans!” Frisk dragged me away from marveling at the architecture to show me their imprint in the snow. “See the long, flowy sleeves and the poofy pants?”

I looked at the vaguely humanoid imprint. I could see the arms and legs, at least, but any resemblance beyond that was lost on me.

“Looks just like ‘im, kiddo,” I replied with an easy smile. I brushed some of the snow off their back.

“You liar!” Frisk laughed before taking off again. They had way too much energy.

“Walk across the bridge, Frisk, don’t run,” Papyrus instructed. “We don’t need you falling off and getting hurt. Again.”

“Yeah, yeah,” they said dismissively. Despite that, they did slow down and even held onto the guard rail as we all crossed the long bridge.

I looked down over the side but couldn’t see the bottom, shrouded in darkness. A shiver ran up my spine and I kept going.

How far down does it go?

If I can figure out how to fly, could I find out?

We arrived at the other side without incident.

“So, traps, huh,” I said as Frisk took off again, but sticking closer to us now. “And here I thought humans were welcome around here.”

“Building traps and puzzles as a community is one of the few remaining traditions from before the barrier,” Papyrus responded, giving me an odd look. “Is that not the case where you’re from?”

“Originally yeah, I guess,” I shrugged. “But catching humans became a bigger focus after Asriel died.”

“You said he was still a young Prince when he died, right?” Chara said from somewhere in front of us and I couldn’t help but flinch.

I glanced around.

“Where’s Frisk?” I asked

“He had to, uh, relieve himself,” Chara was suddenly very uncomfortable. I couldn’t see her but I got the distinct impression she couldn’t look at me or Pap in the eye. I barely remember human anatomy from the time I could still consider the Anomaly a friend but I guess even monster food has to do the whole “digestion” thing. Human anatomy was weird.

“That reminds me, I wanted to confirm,” I said, hoping to distract her. “I’ve heard you and Frisk use gendered pronouns for each other while everyone else seems to use neutrals for you. What do you prefer I use?”

“On paper, we identify as gender-fluid, since I’m a girl and Frisk is a boy,” Chara said, still invisible but feeling less uncomfortable. “Using they/them pronouns makes the most sense, especially when referring to the two of us as a single entity. Neither of us are very attached to our genders anyways but gendered pronouns are convenient when referring to only one of us at a time.”

“Gotcha, so neutrals double as plurals for you two,” I nodded as Frisk emerged from a bush to the right of the path. “Back to your original question; yeah, my Asriel was still a kid while yours was an adult, if I remember right. I don’t know everything about his story but I’ll tell what I can if you’ll tell me about your story sometime. And we should probably come up with a name for him, too.”

“Frisk and Papyrus have already heard my story so I can tell you about it while they take care of these next few puzzles,” Chara offered as we came upon an ice field with buttons scattered around it.

“Sounds good to me,” I nodded watching the other two slide around on the ice. “I’ll keep an eye out for anyone approaching.”

“Thank you. I fell into the Underground over a hundred years ago, the first human to have done so in living memory,” Chara began. “Asriel was King at the time and Sans was his closest advisor and best friend. They found me, hurt and scared, and took pity on me, Asriel taking me in as his own child. Due to my upbringing, I felt the need to earn my place in Asriel’s home and did everything in my power to not be a burden, especially with my near constant nightmares. One night, after waking yet again, I decided to practice baking rather than risk going back to sleep and, in my delirious state, I misread a recipe to include buttercups in a pie, rather than cups of butter. I had been introduced to so many strange foods in the Underground that it seemed reasonable enough to put flowers in a pie, and I eventually passed out from exhaustion later that morning. Sans tried some of the pie as I slept and became violently ill as a result. This… did not help my mental state.”

Frisk and Papyrus had solved the ice puzzle and were calling and beckoning me to the other side. While I wouldn’t call myself graceful by any stretch, I skated across the ice with no problems.

“Something similar happened with my Chara,” I stated as we caught up to Pap and Frisk. “The whole buttercups, cups of butter mix up.”

“She’s giving you the long version, huh?” Frisk grinned as we headed to the next puzzle.

“It’s not that long,” Chara huffed.

“It’s long enough,” I whispered. “Someone’s coming.”

A short mouse monster in a cape with a spear twice as tall as themself waved at us from across an open field and Papyrus waved back. Behind them was a tall monster whose body was obscured by a cloak, face covered in a mask. Both began approaching.

“Papyrus, what are you doing here?” the mouse said, somewhat accusingly.

#shifting sans #jumbletale #alternate universe #oc #serif #lucky papyrus #hero frisk #buttercup chara

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imbonewary · 7 months

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Shifting Sans Chapter 14 "Called Out"

Chapter 1 - Chapter 13 - Chapter 15

“I’ll put you on speaker,” Frisk said as he took the phone away from his ear, muttering “so I’m not the only one being yelled at.”

“where are you and who all is there?” came Sans’ exasperated voice from the phone. Despite the tone, Papyrus perked up upon hearing Sans’ voice. I don’t have time to analyze his emotional reaction, let alone mine.

“Heya, bro,” I interjected. Hopefully he’ll go easy on us if I remind him he has a brother now. “Me and Frisk are at Pap’s house with the man himself, feeding us soup ‘n sandwiches. How’re things on your end?”

“don’t change the subject, serif, I’m still mad,” Sans announced. “i literally gave you two one job, to call me at noon, and you both failed.”

“I know, bro, I’m sorry,” I continued. “We were just having so much fun getting to know each other we lost track of time.” Not exactly a lie, even if “fun” was a bit of a stretch.

Sans huffed a laugh.

“fine, i’m glad you two made it to pap’s safe,” Sans relented. Ha, got ‘im.

“Like I said, best friends by the time you get back.”

Frisk gave me some major side eye but kept his mouth shut. I just shrugged at him with my signature Easy Grin.

“i could be called in at any time so i can’t stop by,” Sans continued and Papyrus visibly wilted. “but i did find out that, since frisk fell recently, they’re the first human whose surface family is being contacted, which will happen tomorrow. the counsel wanted to knock this out as quickly as possible to help with peace talks, but it would’ve been nice to have more time to prepare. you’ll be given the opportunity to return to your human family, frisk, even though you’ve already expressed your desire to stay with me.”

Frisk had opened their mouth to interject, likely to reiterate that they wanted to stay, but simply nodded as Sans had continued. They must’ve then realized they were on a phone call and gave a grunt of recognition as well.

“we’ll have to discuss it with your human guardian, of course, but there was also talk of a joint care arrangement or dual citizenship as a way to bridge the gap between humans and monsters; trying to make us all one, big, cross-species family. it was just a thought, though, nothing solid yet. it would throw you right in the middle of a political circus and i’m not exactly ready to come out of retirement myself.”

Frisk had stiffened at the idea. Their opinion seemed to be pretty clear.

“You ok, kid?” I breathed, quiet enough for the phone to not pick up. They swallowed.

“I guess I'll have to be there,” they said, staring straight ahead. “Since they want my opinion and all. Merri’s the only one in Ebbot City itself but I bet the others will come running once they smell blood in the water.”

“Once they what?” Papyrus voiced what we were all wondering.

“It’s a surface saying, referring to sharks,” they shrugged, less uncomfortable now that they weren’t actively talking about their family. “Uh, you might not know what sharks are. Sharks are an ocean predator that can smell an injured, bleeding fish from, like, a mile away or something crazy, I don’t remember the actual distance. My point is, they’ll come if they think they can get something out of it. Even if it’s just the satisfaction of knowing they won.”

“i see,” Sans didn’t sound too happy to hear that. He may have to fight for Frisk anyways.

“So if that’s mostly settled, what are you in line for?” I asked, changing the subject for Frisk’s sake. Their emotions were not doing well.

“the counselor for Lab victims,” he replied, allowing the change. “i was able to get an emergency meeting with them since you’re the first new victim to come forward in a while. if i understand correctly, a similar process to human adoption is used for Lab monsters if guardianship is required, so we’ll get some financial aid, among other things, until you can get yourself settled and on your own two feet.”

“Neat,” was my only response. I wonder if I’ll have to come up with some fancy lies about the Deep. This could require some research.

“so, how ‘bout you?” Sans turned it back on us. “what was so enthralling that you forgot to call me?”

Frisk and I glanced at each other. We definitely couldn’t tell him the truth.

Or at least, not the whole truth.

“I was telling ‘em about my world,” I responded after a bit too long of a break. Hopefully Sans didn’t notice. “And they even helped come up with some new names for the more important characters in my old life, just like how I have a new name.”

I shrugged at the others, who were looking at me. It wasn’t exactly a lie, right? Frisk gave me a thumbs up while Papyrus looked uncomfortable and Chara had disappeared at some point.

“well i hope you don’t mind repeating some of it,” Sans replied. “’cause i’d like to hear about your old life, too. oh, it’s my turn, see you all for dinner!”

And with that, the line went dead.

“Welp, that was fun.”

“How were you so calm under pressure like that?” Frisk asked in awe. “It’s like you knew exactly what to say to make him not be mad at us earlier.”

“Well, he is me,” I said with a shrug, though I couldn’t help but smirk. I think I can fit a lesson in. “So I knew he’d cool off a bit if I called him “bro” since he’s probably not used to it yet. Just one more reason learning empathy is important, yeah?”

“Wait, are you telling me to learn empathy just to manipulate people?!”

“If that’s what it takes,” I replied, taking a bite of my now cold sandwich. Still tasty.

“There are other uses of empathy, of course,” Chara piped up. She’d reappeared behind Frisk.

“And how many of those did it take to convince Frisk to even try to learn?”

“Eeeh…” Chara trailed off. Pap looked nonplussed but mildly suspicious of where I was going with this. Neither had a response therefore I win by forfeit.

“If you can figure out what someone else wants, you can convince them it lines up with what you want,” I continued. I think I gained Frisk’s respect at least, even if Chara and Papyrus weren’t quite on board yet. “And getting inside someone’s head is a great way to understand what they want and, more importantly, why. Most people get there through natural empathy but, lacking that, you’ll have to get there through logic and psychology.”

“I see,” Frisk said quietly, thinking very hard about something.

“And that, my friends, is how it’s done,” I announced, taking another bite of sandwich.

“How what’s done?”

“Manipulation, of course,” I replied. Fell right into my trap. “You’d have figured it out on your own eventually, Frisk, but you might need it sooner rather than later, if your description of your family is anything to go by. They sound like they wouldn’t be above manipulating a child to get what they want and you’ll need to be able to recognize it for what it is. And possibly use it in return, but hopefully me and Sans can handle that part.”

While still uncomfortable, realization seemed to dawn on both Papyrus and Chara. My soul clenched as Papyrus gave a small “nyeh heh heh” chuckle.

“You really are Sans’ clone, aren't you, Serif,” he said with a smirk and I tried to hide the pain with a shrug. I turned back to my sandwich.

“Weren’t we supposed to take some of this Alphys?” Chara came to my rescue with a change of subject.

“That’s right! I need to get back to my post!” Papyrus cried in alarm, shooting to his feet. “I can eat my sandwich while I’m there, are you two done?”

“I am,” Frisk raised his hand.

“Just about,” I said around my last bite of sandwich before washing it down with my lukewarm soup. “It was great, Pap, thanks.”

“Of course it was,” he preened before turning on his heel. “I just need a moment to throw Alphys’ lunch together and we can be off.”

I started gathering dishes.

“And Frisk, grab a jacket from the closet! You’ll not be catching cold on my watch!”

#undertale #jumbletale #alternate universe #oc #shifting sans #serif #buttercup chara #hero frisk #lucky papyrus #sanatos

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imbonewary · 7 months

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i got my first ever tattoo :D i’m super happy with it

it’s on the outside of my left shoulder

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imbonewary · 7 months

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wouldn’t be fair to post Frisk without a little Chara :p

i imagine this is how she was “sitting in midair” with her ghostly tail

#shifting sans #buttercup chara #sketch

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imbonewary · 7 months

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just a quick 5 min sketch of one of my favorite lines from Frisk so far, from Ch 7

“Nothing against you, kiddo, but I haven’t had much positive exposure to humans and wasn’t expecting to see one with a knife this morning.”

Nonplused, they looked at the knife in their hands.

“It’s a butter knife,” they deadpanned.

“Still registers as a knife.”

They raised an eyebrow.

~*~

They're wearing a plain white tank top as PJs, with black stripes drawn on it to indicate their child status

Edit: I updated the pic cuz some things were bugging me :p

#shifting sans #hero frisk #sketch #ignore my crappy handwriting

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imbonewary · 8 months

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Shifting Sans Chapter 13 "Lucky 13"

Chapter 1 - Chapter 12 - Chapter 14

The smell of warm, savory tomatoes invited me into the Snowdin house as I followed Frisk inside.

“I didn’t have much time to make anything fancy,” Papyrus lamented, heading straight for the kitchen. “So I’ve made some tomato soup and grilled cheese BLTs.”

“Just threw that together, huh?” Frisk teased, flopping onto the entire couch. “Smells good.”

“Frisk, don’t take up the whole couch,” Chara chided and Papyrus froze, plate of sandwiches in hand. He glanced at me and I shrugged with an easy grin. He relaxed, but only a bit, as he delivered the plate to the table, next to a glitter covered rock on another plate. Guess he knows I know now.

“I apologize, Papyrus,” Chara said, appearing in the middle of the room. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s… fine, Chara,” Papyrus couldn’t quite swallow his huff, balancing three bowls of soup. Among his confusing mix of emotions, why was he feeling disappointed? “Come on, we have to eat somewhat quickly so I can deliver Alphys her lunch as well.”

“Sounds good to me,” Frisk rolled off the couch and headed for the table with a hungry look.

“Maybe don’t eat so fast this time, though,” Chara advised, floating behind him. “Alphys can wait a few extra minutes while you eat properly.”

“You just don’t like feeling stuffed,” Frisk replied, sticking his tongue out at her. “Maybe you should stay out of my body if you don’t like it.”

Chara sighed in annoyance, with an undercurrent of guilt.

“Papyrus, we have some good news for you,” she changed the subject. He looked up, having just finished setting the table. “Frisk and I no longer have access to the reset power.”

Papyrus blinked at her a few times.

“You… what…?”

“That’s mostly why we wanted to see you today,” Chara continued while Frisk watched in open amusement as he grabbed a sandwich. “We wanted to Save after breaking the barrier but weren’t able to, no matter how hard we tried. We’ve just been so busy we haven’t had a chance to speak with you about it until now.”

“You can’t… it’s gone?” Papyrus breathed and I couldn’t help but think of my own reaction to the news. “You don’t… o-oh my god, it’s… been a part of my life for so long, I… I’ll need a minute to… to process this.”

He sat down heavily at the head of the table and just… stared into space while his emotions felt like the equivalent of shallow breaths, dull and distant but swirling quickly, all while Frisk continued to watch in amusement as he munched on his sandwich. I sat on the long side of the table with him, putting Frisk between me and Papyrus, as I pulled a bowl of soup towards me, reaching for a sandwich.

“Well, while Papyrus uh, processes that,” Chara said. “Serif, you mentioned you wanted help coming up with names, right?”

“oh, yeah,” I glanced at Papyrus, he remembers I’m from an alternate universe, right? “I should come up with a list of people that need to be renamed but uh, I dunno how much help Pap is gonna be at this point.”

Papyrus looked at me with wide, blank eyes, barely registering my presence. “Serif?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Right, I forgot you retired before I picked my new name. Heya, I’m Serif the Skeleton,” I waved. “Since I’m living with your Sans it made more sense for me to take on a new name while I’m here, being the visitor and all,” I explained, catching him up on my thought process. “And since everyone I used to know seems to have some kind of counterpart here, it made sense to rename them too so I could talk about them more freely without letting on that I’m from another universe entirely.”

“Right…”

I Finally got a chance to take a bite of the sandwich and oh my god it was delicious! Crisp lettuce, crispy bacon, and sweet tomato slices between melted cheese on toasted bread…

“Mm! This is really good!” I praised, taking another bite.

“Of course it’s good!” Papyrus preened, apparently shook out of his former stupor. “I am the one who made it, after all!”

“Welcome back, Pap,” Frisk snickered between bites, dipping his sandwich in the soup. Oh right, I almost forgot about the soup.

“Y-yes, well,” Papyrus cleared his throat, blushing slightly.

“Cut yourself some slack, buddy,” I said, washing down the sandwich with some soup. Yummy. “If your experience with resets was anything like mine it’ll take some adjustment. Don’t push yourself just ‘cause you think you have to.”

“And you’ve got us to help you too,” Frisk smirked, exuding mischief. “Lucky you, huh?”

Papyrus growled, positively bristling with a deep-seated hatred. This reaction only seemed to amuse Frisk further while Chara gaped at him, appalled. While the exact reason was lost on me, it was obvious Frisk was playing with triggers.

“Frisk!” Chara recovered first. “I thought you knew better than that!”

“Just because I know doesn’t mean I care,” Frisk responded, still smiling. “Besides, Pap can take a little teasing.”

“Playing with triggers is not “a little teasing”, kid,” my permanent smile had dropped. “But uh, what part of that should I not be repeating?”

Papyrus sighed, rubbing his face with a hand, while Chara looked uncomfortable and Frisk finished off his sandwich, happily sipping his soup. I’m really starting to resent this kid.

“I guess now is as good a time as any to share my story,” Papyrus said tersely, glaring at the ground. “I mentioned I’m the clone of the former Royal Scientist. Well, I’m the thirteenth and most successful attempt he made at cloning himself, even though I’m still not a boss monster like he was. I became his assistant and favorite test subject, called 13 whenever we were in the labs and “Lucky” anytime I had to interact with the general public. Upon escape, I chose the name “Papyrus” instead.”

“Ah, as a fellow favorite test subject, I feel your pain,” I cringed slightly as I nodded, trying not to think of my own time in the Labs. Great pun potential but best to avoid that for now. “Thanks for trusting me with that.”

“I’m one of the most well-known Lab survivors,” he replied with a shrug. “You’d have heard about it eventually. And your… Royal Scientist got to you too, then?”

“Yeah, arranged an “accident” for my parents to trick me and Pap- I mean, my younger brother,” I quickly corrected. “As test subjects, using him as blackmail to keep me in line. Not fun.”

“I see,” Papyrus nodded in solidarity. I think we may actually have something to bond over, sad as it is. “So, what was all that about new names again? I was distracted.”

Distracted. That’s one way to put it.

“Right, so just like I got the new name "Serif",” I allowed the subject change. “I decided to rename some of the more important people from my past life too, so I can talk about them more freely without anyone getting suspicious, or having to constantly take ownership of them like saying “my Alphys” and “your Alphys”.”

“Right, that makes sense.”

“And I’ve already got a name for your Gaster,” Frisk piped in and both me and Papyrus flinched at the name.

“Frisk,” Chara said in warning. He waved her off.

“Since he tricked you, what about “Guile”? It sounds like it could be a cool, regular name, right?”

“Guile,” I tried out the name. It didn’t feel too bad, at least. “Ok, I think I can live with that, especially if it means I don’t have to hear his actual name as much, let alone say it.”

“Frisk, give me your phone,” Chara said, holding out her hand. He did, smacking his lips as he finished his soup. Fingertips glowing slightly, she began typing away at the touch screen. “I had a thought for Serif’s younger brother but I need to look it up first. Papyrus is a font, of course, but it got its name from the type of paper used in ancient Egypt. I’m looking up the name of the plant it's made of..."

“Huh, good thinking kiddo,” I praised and I felt her delight as she smiled, along with jealous streak from Frisk. Well, maybe I’d praise you, too, if you weren’t such a little shit all the time.

“Cyperus papyrus,” Chara read. “Also called papyrus sedge, paper reed, Indian matting plant and Nile grass.”

“Cyperus sounds pretty cool for a name,” I nodded. “I can live with calling my little brother Cyperus.”

We all collectively jolted at a loud alarm sound from the phone formerly in Chara’s hand, as she’d dropped it on Frisk’s head in surprise. Frisk fumbled but caught the phone, despite the head injury, and answered it, speaking a little too quickly.

“Hey, hi, yes, hello!” he verbally fumbled. “What, no, we totally didn’t forget to call you, Sans! Ha ha, what a silly thing to say!”

#undertale #jumbletale #alternate universe #oc #shifting sans #serif #buttercup chara #hero frisk #lucky papyrus #13

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imbonewary · 8 months

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here’s a slightly more dynamic pose of the previous sketch, again, super quick, maybe 30 min tops, and i didn’t feel like finishing his legs :p

and i actually remembered his wings this time lol…

#serif #shifting sans #sketch

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imbonewary · 8 months

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Here's a back pic of Serif, mostly to show off his wings. Ignore how wonky his head looks :/

Serif's wings are made of "conjured flesh" rather than feathers and act more like bat wings, always having four points. Think of conjured flesh like "energy constructs" a la Green Lantern but more sensitive, like skin. It takes a while for him to figure out but he learns to manipulate the energy making up his wings to become different shapes, like grasping hands or tentacles, and he can also move the flesh to different parts of his body, like filling out his belly/midsection or make a set of cat ears and tail, among other things.

From his wings, he can also feel other people's emotions (empathy) and can "fly" (levitate).

#serif #shifting sans #reference #sketch

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imbonewary · 8 months

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Shifting Sans Chapter 12 "Taking a Hike"

Chapter 1 - Chapter 11 - Chapter 13

Equipped with a pair of boots that felt oddly natural on my feet, I followed Frisk out of the Ruins. We wove around rocks and rubble as glowing mushrooms lit our path and the distant sound of water echoed through the streets as they slowly became more tunnel-like. We were likely somewhere under Waterfall but it was hard to tell. It was surprisingly peaceful, though, considering how wound up I’d been recently. I can’t decide if the lack of other monsters was creepy or calming.

“What is the Deep, anyways?” I asked, just to fill the silence. “I don’t think we had anything like that where I’m from.”

“The Deep is a labyrinth of lava tunnels filled with monsters that don’t participate in polite society,” Frisk answered as he clamored over a particularly large boulder blocking the path before offering me a hand up. “Or at least, that’s how it’s usually described to me anyways. I know some of the shadier experiments from the Labs happened down there but even before that it was kinda lawless, I think. Monsters that couldn’t or wouldn’t conform to society’s standards live down there, where might makes right and everyone only looks after themselves. Not that I’d know anything about that kind of attitude,” Frisk looked back at me with a cheeky grin.

“Even in my day,” Chara interjected from somewhere over our heads, audible but invisible. “a common saying from the Deep was “kill or be killed”. Some say that something down there can influence a monster’s soul, making them more aggressive, more likely to accept that kind of mindset; it's part of why the Ruins stand abandoned now. Many tests were conducted but all were inconclusive at best.”

“Quit being spooky, Chara!” Frisk laughed. I could feel a cold sliver of fear buried under a bold heat. The kid’s literally haunted and he’s afraid of ghost stories?

“Probably a psychological trigger then,” I nodded absently. The path was smoothing out and I could feel the temperature slowly dropping as the path wound upward. “Just knowing you’re exposed in a place that’s unprotected can do that.”

“Probably. Sans lives in the upper parts of the Ruins,” Frisk continued. “Which is at the upper part of the Deep, and most entrances to both have been blocked off, so anyone trying to get between The Deep and the rest of the Underground would have to pass by his place. Being a boss monster, Sans is no pushover and has a bit of a reputation in the Deep; most monsters don’t mess with him and sometimes injured monsters will ask him for help, if they can swallow their pride. I explored a lot of it during the resets but not so much this time around. Nothing like that where you’re from, huh?”

“Nope, closest we had was an abyss that we could never fully explore,” I replied as we stopped at a stream with small bits of ice building up on the sides. We must be close to the Snowdin side of Waterfall. “Sans’d have my head if I let you walk around Snowdin in wet clothes. Lemme see if I can still do a shortcut, haven’t tried since I got here…”

I held up my hand, cautiously going through the magic motions; I wanted to be ready in case it imploded or something. Reaching for that old, familiar window, I mentally tossed the other opening to the opposite side of the stream but when the portal itself opened, way too much magic flooded into it, making what should’ve been a hand-sized hole in reality suddenly explode over my head and I immediately shut it down with a gasp and a step back. The thin line around the opening and the opaque screen separating the two realities should’ve been blue, the usual color of my magic, but there was definitely some mottled red bits bleeding through.

Right, so the influx of soul magic must’ve affected how much pressure is in the hose. Just have to adjust for that. At least the magic pathway is the same, even if the magic coming out of it is slightly altered.

Good thing I was cautious.

I squared my shoulders to try again but felt that building determination from before and caught myself, folding my wings tight against my back. I really don’t need any extra fire power behind my magic right now. Shaking my head I tried again, slowly letting the pressure build until I could call forth the hand-sized portal again, careful to keep the overwhelming power in check and only drip what I needed into it. The window opened, chest-sized rather than hand-sized, but definitely more blue with only a faint flicker of red now and again. I could feel the different magic types, my own calm blue against the fiery red that I assume was coming from the soul piece. I’ll have to tease the two apart more later, but for now…

I glanced through the gate, then across the stream, confirming that it was stable before opening the shortcut wide enough to walk through, beckoning Frisk to follow. They did without hesitation but upon reaching the other side and dismissing the shortcut, letting my wings relax, I felt what I can only describe as a sigh of relief, but not from Frisk. I guess Chara had her concerns, which may not have been unfounded, all things considered.

“Well that was an experience,” Frisk said with a grin as they started walking again. “Guess your shortcuts are different than Sans’s.”

“Yeah,” I fell in behind them. “I noticed that when he shortcutted me home last night.”

Was that really just last night? It feels like ages ago.

“What happened that first time, anyways?” I could see their breath now. “You looked uh… surprised.”

“Oh, uh,” I stumbled slightly. “How do I explain?... I said I absorbed a piece of the human’s soul, right? Well human souls have a lot of magic potential and my body decided to accommodate the influx by making these wings.” I ruffled them slightly. Dunno if I'd made that obvious to them before. “But that can’t account for all of the magic I’ve gained so it’s like shaking a carbonated soda bottle; the magic was pressurized so I had to open the bottle very slowly and carefully to avoid making a mess. I thought I’d opened it slowly enough the first time but it started to overflow so I screwed the lid back on in a hurry. Does that make sense?”

“I think so,” Frisk replied. “Do you think that’s part of why your magic has been on a hair trigger this morning? Like, you can feel the pressure and it’s been leaking out more?”

“That… is a good question,” I mused. “That might explain some of my jumpiness, at least.”

Frisk shivered. We’d been walking through a misty fog for a few minutes now but the temperature had dropped suddenly and I was now acutely aware that Frisk hadn’t brought a jacket, just wearing a long sleeved shirt, blue with yellow stripes.

“Snowdin’s just through here,” Frisk said, ignoring the cold. “This place is always misty because of Waterfall’s warm humidity meeting Snowdin’s chill. I call it Misty Pass but I don’t think it has a true name.”

The mist suddenly faded, rising to obscure the roof of a large opening containing a very familiar little settlement. Stalactites pierced the mist occasionally, reminding me that it wasn’t just a layer of clouds and we were, in fact, still underground. Even though I knew this wasn’t my Snowdin, at least the familiar crunch of snow under my feet was comforting.

Even though those feet were covered in boots rather than slippers.

Ignoring the niggling conflict of wrongness and rightness in my soul, I followed Frisk down the street, lit with lamps and salvaged Christmas lights. It reflected off the snow and the mist to create a warm glow that didn’t really have a source.

Frisk shivered again.

“Need a jacket?” I asked, grabbing the front of mine in offering. “The cold doesn’t bother me much.”

“Oh, I’m fine,” Frisk waved me off. “We’re almost there anyways.”

“You sure?”

“If I thought I’d need one I would’ve grabbed one.”

“Ok, if you’re sure.”

“I am sure.”

“Right.”

“Besides, we’re here.”

We approached a familiar house on a familiar street but instead of being lined with colorful lights like mine had, these lights were all white or off-white. It made it look sterile compared to the cheerfully careless colors I was used to. Just one more difference.

I let Frisk knock while some bystanders walking down the street stared at me and I pretended to not notice.

“Frisk!” I was suddenly called back to the present. “Why are you still not wearing a jacket?!” Papyrus admonished. “You’ll catch your death of cold!”

“Awe~ it warms my heart that you care,” Frisk grinned cheekily. Does the kid even know how to smile any other way?

“Ugh, you belong with Sans, alright,” Papyrus groaned. “Get in here, lunch is almost ready.”

#undertale #jumbletale #alternate universe #oc #shifting sans #serif #buttercup chara #hero frisk #lucky papyrus

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imbonewary · 8 months

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made a sketch, in like 20 min, it’s kinda terrible but i wanted to share it anyways :p

Edit: based on a scene from my fic Shifting Sans

Edit 2: i can't believe i forgot Serif's wings *face palm*

Edit 3: fixed it ☺️

Also, feet suck

#serif #undertale #sketch #hero frisk #buttercup chara

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imbonewary · 8 months

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Shifting Sans Chapter 11 "In the Know"

Chapter 1 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 12

“Yes, Serif,” Chara assured. “As far as we can tell, the reset power is gone.”

It’s over.

The nightmare is really over.

Right?

“You better not be lying or pulling my leg with this shit,” I growled, sockets dark. “This is not a subject to joke about.”

“Of course not,” Chara said, holding up her hands, looking mortified at the thought.

“Dude, I may lack empathy, but even I know that’s too far,” Frisk waved the notion away. “Ya don’t mess with serious trauma like that.”

I stared them both down, trying to detect any hint of deception.

I didn’t find any.

The resets really are done then. Unless…

“You will tell me if that ever changes, right? If it somehow comes back?”

“You’ll be the first to know,” Chara replied.

My wings were flared slightly as I dialed up my emotion feeling to the max, scrutinizing them both. Frisk was just mildly flippant about the whole situation, with a slight undercurrent of defensiveness; how dare I accuse him of such things when he’s been working so hard to be better. Meanwhile Chara was being as open and forward as possible, pretty obviously vying for my favor. Normally, this would bug the heck out of me but for now I was grateful for it; she’d likely be willing to reveal or agree to just about anything if it meant getting (and staying) on my good side, for better or worse. Let’s just hope she keeps her word. And keeps Frisk in line.

“Ok. Who else knows about you two?” I changed the subject. I don’t wanna out Papyrus if they don’t know he knows, cuz if his reaction last night is anything to go by, he definitely knows something.

“There’s me an’ Chara, of course,” Frisk began counting on his fingers. “And now you. Flowey used to have the reset power until I fell down. He mostly remembers but it’s kinda hard to tell how much since he’s kinda… loopy. After his own resets.”

“We’re also unsure how much of his supposed insanity is an act,” Chara continued. “Sometimes, he is able to speak with perfect clarity while at others he barely seems to know his own name.”

“Flowey had control of my resets too, until the kid fell,” I nodded. “He was a manipulative little shit but I wouldn’t call him “loopy” or anything. A topic for another time though. Anyone else? Does Sans know he’s got two kids for the price of one?”

“We did tell him during a few resets,” Chara looked away, uncomfortable. “And he seemed fine with the idea until he discovered it was me. Sans and Asriel were very close before my death, I even called him “Uncle Sans” after Asriel adopted me, and losing both of us in such quick succession seems to have traumatized him greatly.”

“To his credit, he really tried to be ok with it,” Frisk also looked away. “But he was stuck somewhere between wanting to hold her a little too close and wanting to push her away. So, we’ve decided not to tell him, at least not yet.”

“Right, I’ll help cover for you when I can then,” I nodded. “But hopefully we can ease him into the idea so you won’t have to hide from him forever.”

“That would be nice…” Chara trailed off with a yearning smile.

“So, anyone else?” I continued. “I had to mention the resets last night, while being interrogated by Doc Tori and Mettaton- I mean, Mettané, but I only talked about the Flowey controlled resets. I wanted to talk to you first before accidentally outing you.”

Both kids froze, glancing at each other. Suspicious.

“A-and you were at Papyrus and Alphys’ house,” Chara said, though it was more like a question. I nodded.

“Guess you already know that Papyrus knows then, huh,” Frisk said the quiet part out loud. I nodded and Chara sighed.

“Well, there’s no point hiding it if you already know,” she seemed uncomfortable while Frisk looked wholly unbothered. “But we didn’t want to reveal his involvement without his consent so, aside from confirming he does have some recollection of resets, we’ll leave it up to him to share his experience with you when he’s ready.”

“Fair enough,” I said. “I didn’t wanna out him either if you didn’t know he knew, just like my human didn’t know. We’ll be seeing him later today anyways, though, right?” I continued, hoping to lighten the mood a bit. “If we can get Alphys out of the house-”

“Why do you think I suggested going over there for lunch?” Chara said with a cheshire grin, aparently very proud of herself. “We haven’t really had a chance to talk with him since the barrier broke and he was pivotal in Frisk’s reformation.”

“But you didn’t know I knew about resets yet.”

“We just would’ve ditched you and Alphys at some point but now we only need to get Alphys out of the way,” Frisk shrugged. “And if Pap knows that you know, he’ll probably preemptively get rid of her before we even get there.”

“He’ll probably ask her to watch his sentry post while he makes us lunch,” Chara nodded, though she seemed annoyed about something, then shook her head, apparently dismissing it. She smiled. “Alphys’ idea of “making lunch” is warming up a Cup of Noodles for us, which Papyrus always complains about.”

Frisk snickered.

“Heh, guess some things transcend time and space,” I chuckled, thinking of my own Alphys.

Which reminds me.

“By the way, if you’re up for it,” I offered. “One thing you could help me with is renaming everyone from my original universe, or at least everyone important. It would make it easier to call them by a name instead of saying “my Alphys” and “your Alphys” and would be easier to talk about things without being too obvious to those who don’t know that I’m from another universe entirely.”

“You could just be from a small community in the Deep,” Chara nodded. “That would work as a cover story.”

“Good thinking,” I praised. Chara smiled and I could feel her trying to downplay her delight. “Speaking of cover stories though,” now it was my turn to be uncomfortable. “I’d rather not let on that I absorbed a piece of a human soul; it sounds like that won’t go over so well around here.”

“Yeah, I can imagine,” Frisk smirked.

“And absorbing the soul piece has changed my magic somewhat,” I ruffled my wings; it was hard letting myself be vulnerable. “I wouldn’t mind having some help getting used to my new abilities, if you two wouldn’t mind helping me.”

“All things considered, I don’t think Papyrus would hold it against you either,” Chara mused. “So he might be able to help as well.”

“And I’m sure some of our other friends wouldn’t mind training with you, even if they don’t know about the soul piece,” Frisk concluded. “Besides, some messed up stuff happened in the Labs,” he shrugged. "Absorbing a piece of a human’s soul probably isn’t the worst thing any of them have heard of."

“Somehow, that doesn’t make me feel better.”

“How much time do we have before lunch anyways?” Frisk muttered to himself, taking out his phone. “We’ve got, like, a half hour until we gotta call Sans so we should probably start heading over to Pap’s. We can take the scenic route since we’ve got time.”

“You should get changed out of your pajamas first though,” Chara reminded.

“Oh yeah, thanks Chara. That would’ve been embarrassing.”

“You can borrow some of our clothes, Serif,” Chara offered. “You look about the same size as Frisk.”

I looked down at my outfit. I’d slept in my jacket and my white shirt was rumpled and creased but it wasn’t that dirty. I didn’t smell too bad either.

“Nah, I can wait til I get my own,” I declined, starting to get off the couch and slide into my slippers, when something struck me as very, very wrong. Like putting my shoes on the wrong feet but way more intense. And I definitely had them on the right feet.

“Serif?”

I sat there, frozen, for longer than I care to admit.

“Serif!”

I gasped, yanking my feet out of the slippers as if they tried to bite me. I shook my head, that was weirdly intense. Maybe save looking into that for some time when I’m alone though. For now…

“Eheh, could I uh, maybe borrow some shoes?”

#undertale #jumbletale #alternate universe #oc #shifting sans #serif #hero frisk #buttercup chara

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imbonewary · 8 months

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Shifting Sans Chapter 10 "Seeing Double"

Chapter 1 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 11

I heard knives.

I tasted dust.

I smelled blood.

I saw their empty smile.

I felt my foot slide against the floor as I summoned blue bones, angled into them.

“Them” being plural, not just neutral.

Oh god, there’s two demons now. One was bad enough. Both were frozen in shock until “Chara” stepped forward. Through the bones. As if they weren’t there.

What the fuck.

“Those will not be necessary, Serif,” Chara said with calm stoicism. “I apologize for startling you, but…”

“You should’ve seen the look on your face,” Frisk was barely holding themself together, face split in a wide grin. “That was amazing.”

The kid was practically vibrating with poorly contained mirth.

Kid.

These are just kids, what the hell am I doing?!

I stumbled back, hitting the door, dissipating the bones. Holy shit, what is wrong with me? Am I just gonna start attacking every kid I meet because of that thing?!

Am I really so broken?

“I-I’m sorry I, I didn’t mean, I just, you were-”

“Dude, calm down, we’re fine-”

“It’s not fine, I just attacked you out of nowhere!”

“I mean, it wasn’t really out of nowhere-”

“You’re just kids! I’m supposed to be the fucking adult here!”

“They were only blue attacks, I knew to stay still-”

“That’s not the point!”

“The point is that we’d like to know why we keep triggering you so badly.”

I froze, wings flared over my head. This isn’t the first time I’d almost attacked them. They deserve an explanation. Even if I’d rather not give one. I don’t wanna think about it. But they deserve to know. Maybe it’ll even help. Even if the resets are still a thing, the Anomaly is gone and these two haven’t fallen as far. There’s still hope for them.

I swallowed hard. I can do this.

Am I filled with Determination?

Not really.

“Right, ok,” I breathed, rubbing my face with both hands, leaning back against the door. “Ok, I… I’m here. I’m fine. This is fine. I just. Need a minute. You two. Go sit down. I’ll be there in a bit.”

Frisk shrugged and clasped their hands behind their neck, moseying around the couch, while Chara hesitated before flying over the couch, their legs turning into a ghostly tail as they went and found a seat in midair between the couch and the large TV, ghost tail curled up under them like a snake. I openly stared at the two before shaking my head. I took a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before letting it out slowly. I did this a second time before my soul had calmed enough that I could think relatively clearly.

I’d been planning to tell them about my experience with the resets anyways, as a sort of cautionary tale, but I hadn’t expected there to be two of them. That shouldn’t change things too much though, right? And they’ve obviously been keeping their own secrets so I should be able to trust them with mine. It’s just two kids, I can handle this.

With one more slow breath, I walked around the couch and took my own seat. Ok, I’m ready for this. Or at least, as ready as I’ll ever be.

“So, resets,” I started. It only made sense for me to go first, after all that. “I mentioned I’m from an alternate universe and that a lot of the people I used to know are here too, just slightly different. Well, the same goes for you two. From what I’ve heard, Chara’s story is pretty much the same, just that your Asriel was an adult king while mine was still a young prince when he died. We can talk more about specifics of that later, if you want. As for Frisk… My Frisk had control of the resets and didn’t know that I remembered everything.”

“At first, the kid was alright,” I continued. Frisk and Chara were paying rapt attention now. “Tried to make friends, even got us to the surface. But then I guess they got bored and reset their “perfect ending”. They broke the Barrier a few more times but never left it alone as long as that first time. Eventually, they stopped getting us out altogether and started abusing their power. Which was fine, right? Everyone would just wake up next reset none the wiser. They didn’t know that they’d had their dreams come true, only to have them ripped away. They didn’t know that they’d died, or watched their friends and family die. They didn’t know. But I did. And I couldn't talk to anyone about it. Who would believe me?”

“It learned everything it could about us,” my voice was quiet, almost taking to myself. “Even how we responded to hardship and heartache. What was left? What more entertainment could we provide? Even though it knew us inside and out, we could still give it the thrill of the hunt. And hunt it did, every last monster it could find, over and over again. As Judge, I was the last line of defense before it could face the King. I lost track of how many times we fought in that hallway, long enough for me to know its every move and for it to know mine, a knife being its weapon of choice. The last time we fought, I stole a piece of its soul and interrupted the reset, which somehow landed me here.”

There was silence as I resisted the urge to retreat into my mind, away from the trauma, away from the spiraling thoughts that echoed so loud in the empty air. I sat there, legs crossed to keep from going fetal again. Worthless, should’ve done better, useless, couldn’t save them, lazy, couldn’t protect him, broken, how many times did you watch him die before you couldn’t cry anymore-

I took a deep breath. Talking was better than drowning.

“So, that’s why I freaked out,” I concluded, looking up from the floor I’d apparently been staring at. “I’ve been fighting for so long, and you look just like them…”

I trailed off as I registered their reactions. Chara looked suitably horrified, hands over their mouth like they might cry, meanwhile Frisk looked utterly fascinated. I could dissect that later. I really wanna think about something else.

“Fair’s fair,” I said, offering them the floor. “Your turn; what’s up with you two?”

“Well, skipping most of my story,” Chara began. “I was buried where I initially fell, on the southwest side of the cavern, somewhere between Snowdin, the Ruins, and the Deep. Frisk fell on my grave and something about his soul resonated with whatever was left of my soul; we’re still not entirely sure how that happened but it did, and that’s the important part,” they shrugged. “Frisk?”

His? I thought Frisk used they/them pronouns. No time to think about that now.

“I was avoiding going home by hiking around the mountain until I fell into the Underground,” Frisk picked up where Chara left off. “I landed on Chara’s grave and she started haunting me,” She? “which somehow gave me the reset power. After I realized what I could do, I used it to… uh,” Frisk looked away. “Don’t judge me too bad for this, but I used it to get what I wanted, to do what I wanted with no consequences, since I could just go back and act like it never happened.”

“I was only partially aware at the time,” Chara took over, feeling slightly uncomfortable. “But the more LV he gained, the more lucid I became. As much as I hated it, I encouraged him to gain more and more LV until I was able to contact him directly and tricked him into giving me control of our shared body.”

“Turns out I’m a bit of a psychopath,” Frisk deadpanned. “But Chara’s been trying to help me see the value of at least pretending I have empathy for others. Through the Chara-controlled-resets, we found a way for whoever wasn’t controlling the physical body to have an astral body, like Chara has now. The astral body’s got some pretty cool abilities and uses but we can get into that more later.”

“After being in control myself for a while,” Chara began again. “I gave the reigns back to Frisk on a more full-time basis and, with the help of Flowey, broke the barrier with the other six souls the monsters had gathered and some anime logic. We’d never managed to do that before and had wanted to save our progress but it seems we no longer have access to the reset power so you don’t have to worry about us abusing it; we literally can’t.”

I sat stunned. There was a lot to digest but the only thing I could think was…

“… it’s gone?”

#undertale #jumbletale #alternate universe #oc #shifting sans #serif #hero frisk #buttercup chara

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imbonewary · 8 months

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Shifting Sans Chapter 9 "Sharing is Char-ing"

Chapter 1 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 10

Their persona had shifted again, back to that more playful energy. The seriousness was still there, though, just, detached from them? I shook my head, thoughts for another time. I turned back to the dishes I’d abandoned, half turned back to show that I was still paying attention.

“that reminds me, frisk,” Sans said, taking over the conversation for me. “we’ve been so busy this past week i never really got a chance to ask you about what your life was like on the surface.”

“It’s not all that interesting,” I couldn’t see them with my back turned but their words were tinged with bitterness. “My dad was gone before I was born and my mom was a flake that got into drugs so I was carted around to different family members until I got here. I don’t wanna go back to that but I guess I should tell them I’m still alive and found a new home.”

“You said you’d been here for like a week,” I noted. “Whoever is supposed to be looking after you is probably freaking out that they lost you, if for no other reason than fear of legal repercussions.”

“Yeah, I guess,” they agreed. I could feel a twinge of guilt. From two sources? “Merri wasn’t so bad. Comparatively.”

One source was more directly behind me, where Frisk was, but the other was a few feet to their left. What the hell?

“that’s actually what I was originally going to the capitol for today,” sans admitted. “to see if I’d have to fight to keep you, frisk. I know finding the human families of those that fell is part of the peace talks.”

“I doubt they’d put up much of a fight, none of them really wanted me around,” Frisk tried to sound nonchalant but I could feel their hurt disappointment. And regret from the second source. Despite everything, it triggered my protective Big Brother Instincts. “My cousin Merri was kind of my last shot before going into foster care for real. She was nice enough but I know I was only a burden to her. She just felt obligated to take me in, even though she’s young and doesn’t want kids anyways. And you’re right, she is probably freaking out.”

“i’ll see how far along they are in the process,” Sans nodded. “i might need your help finding where she lives; we'll need to have a chat at some point but probably not today. i also need to start serif’s paperwork; luckily with all of the other monsters from the Labs, there’s a ready-made process for that. i’ll take care of what i can today, serif, but you’ll have to do a fair bit of it yourself.”

“I can do that,” I said. I can figure out what's up with the human later, when Sans is gone. “Paperwork isn’t that hard.”

“it’s more than just paperwork,” Sans countered. “there’s a small battery of assessments we’ll need to make appointments for too; mental health evaluation, medical screening, magic function, job placement for vocational training-”

“Alright, alright, I get it!” I said with a nervous laugh. This was not going to be fun.

“Does everybody have to go through that or is it just monsters from the Labs?” Frisk asked.

“a lot of it is to make up for an entire childhood of missing information,” Sans continued, going into teacher mode. “to make up for lost time, so to speak. fallen humans have to go through a similar process but, being a child yourself, you only would've needed a single interview to knock those out, so i’m not exactly surprised you don’t remember. i’m sure that time is a bit of a blur for you now.”

“Y-yeah, I… went through a lot. In the past… week.”

That was a mildly suspicious answer. Filing that away for later thought too.

Sans was suddenly nervous.

“would you two really be alright if i left you alone for a few hours while i find out about surface families and get serif’s paperwork going?”

I handed the last dish to Sans and he caught my eye, holding my gaze as he scrutinized me. I’d had two panic attacks in the few hours I’d been awake this morning and I’m sure he was worried about leaving me alone with a veritable stranger. Not to mention the kid was just that; a kid. I gave him a reassuring smile and a thumbs up.

“Despite all evidence to the contrary, I’m usually pretty stable,” I said and Frisk huffed a laugh, hiding it behind a cleared throat. “I’ve just been through the wringer in the last 24 hours or so and it’s kinda catching up to me.”

That “or so” was doing a lot of heavy lifting there.

“frisk?”

“I can take care of myself,” they assured.

“in that case, i guess i should be going soon, now that breakfast is over,” Sans sighed, I could still feel his apprehension as he hesitated. “who knows how long it will take. frisk, you still have that phone I gave you, right?” Frisk nodded. “serif, we’ll have to get you a phone as well, and some new clothes; but until then, please stay together, you two, preferably near the house. we’re pretty close to the Deep and i don’t want either of you getting into a fight. maybe i should call papyrus or something-”

“You’re fretting, bro.”

“i know i’m fretting, serif,” Sans nearly snapped, frustrated. “and it’ll be a long and boring process so i know you’ll not want to come with me, i’m just nervous about leaving you two alone…”

“I may be new around here but I am an adult,” I tried to sooth. “Me and the kid’ll be fine. We’ll just stick around here, play some games, and get to know each other better. We’ll be best friends by the time you get back.”

Sans was shifting his weight back and forth, hemming and hawing nervously.

“What if we went over to Pap’s for lunch?” Frisk offered. Their energy changed again, back to serious. The playful was still there, though, sort of. Disconnected, like the serious had been earlier, a few feet away. That couldn’t just be my imagination, there was definitely something going on. “We’ll call you when we get there and you can update us all on your progress. You can even drop in if you have time; I’m sure Pap won’t mind seeing you.”

“that… is a good point…” Sans seemed to be swayed. Still nervous but sure enough that he could leave us be. “alright, I’ll call papyrus with the plan, and i expect you to call me at noon. if it get’s to 12:30 and i haven’t heard from you, i’m going to start worrying, alright?”

“Sounds like a plan,” I said with another thumbs up.

“You can count on us!” Frisk saluted. While happier, the serious energy was still with them while what I'd labeled the "playful energy" was still detached from them.

I cannot wait to dissect what the hell is going on with them.

Sans went upstairs to change clothes, came out almost identical to what he’d been wearing yesterday, purple pants and shirt with a long black tunic on top, and then it took another half hour of assurances to get him out the door. I was finally alone with the kid.

“Alright, Frisk,” I locked the door. “Let’s not beat around the bush.”

I turned to them, dark eyes narrowed, and their anxiety suddenly spiked. Good, be afraid. Be very afraid.

“How long until you reset again?”

They froze. My gaze didn’t waver.

“W-what-” they wheezed, like the air had been knocked out of them. They tried to recollect themselves but they’d already given away too much.

“Whadya mean?” they said too fast. “Reset? I dunno what-”

“Don’t play dumb with me, kid,” I tried to not growl. They flinched. “Your reaction just now is all the proof I need. All cards on the table or you are gonna have a bad time.”

They stared, stunned. Then they narrowed their own eyes at me.

“So, your cards go on the table too?”

I stiffened. I hate talking about me.

But if that’s what it takes.

“Yeah, my cards, too.”

We stared at each other for a long time. I can’t speak for Frisk but I was sizing them up, trying to read micro-expressions, emotion feeling dialed up to the max, all to try to parse what they were thinking. I lost track of the serious and playful energies as their emotions went nuts, expression showing how they were debating in their head. Suddenly a second child walked out from behind them.

“Greetings, I am Chara.”

#undertale #jumbletale #alternate universe #oc #shifting sans #serif #sanatos #hero frisk #buttercup chara #i pronounce it “care-uh”

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