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spectascopes · 11 months

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Battle Body Blues

Undertale fanfic (2.5k words, 1 chapter) AO3 LINK Papyrus maybe isn't a huge fan of his body when it isn't properly battle-ready. Frisk sniffs it out like a nosey little hound dog.

Warnings for talk of dysmorphia, dysphoria, transphobia, and gender issues. Frisk is nonbinary!

okay, so THIS POST by @sansofhumor drove me into a little frenzy over Papyrus Undertale and how Gender he is. so this one chapter fic was written!

Frisk hadn't noticed it before, but Papyrus didn't seem to like how he looked without his “battle body” on.

When they'd fallen underground, so much was happening and so many new people became their friends that they couldn't possibly have put it together. Papyrus was strong, confident, and Frisk thought his body was cool as hell! They'd also been nine, and though going through some weird body-feeling times themself, didn't have the capacity to notice or address such things in others.

But now they were on the surface. Six months into their top-side life, Sans and Papyrus had moved in with Frisk and their mom. It was incredible, and catching Sans smooching their mom and watching him get uncharacteristically embarrassed was always funny. He liked to make jokes about it, but being caught in the act turned his skull a few shades darker, because he was just a poser. They played a lot of pranks on each other, but Sans was better at it by far- he was thirty five, practically a grandpa even if they’d decided he was their dunkle, so he'd had a lot of time to practice. The human took any advantage they could get.

They were eleven now. Toriel home schooled them so they could attend any human-monster ambassador business that needed attending to. They didn't do a whole lot, but people really liked them and thought they 'stood for something' so they did it with a proud heart and a smile.

It really helped that none of the monsters would let any human misgender them. Initially, they/them pronouns had been a spur-of-the-moment decision when they'd fallen underground- an experiment that had been a euphoric success. Sure, they'd thought a whole lot about using them before that, but they never actually did because the one time they brought it up, they'd been scoffed at. They were nine and apparently that was too young to be 'worrying about that kinda stuff' but that was stupid. And the monsters all knew it, because nobody even batted an eye! Or a weird socket-blinky-thing! Or a second, translucent eyelid that Undyne and Alphys both had!

The monsters knew what the hell was up, and so when they got to the surface and people started misgendering Frisk again, Toriel was not having it. She put her foot down, she refused meetings, once she even summoned a fireball and threatened somebody. Sans had a really fun way of making people doubt themselves when they did it, the way he'd just look at them like they were the dumbest person on the planet before correcting them like he was talking to a preschooler... it made Frisk smile. It was a lot- it meant the world to them. Nobody had ever stood up for the child in this way before, but their new family did it without a second thought.

After the first time, said family had asked what the hell- heck, mom corrected- all that was about, and they'd explained. Frisk said they were trans- nonbinary- agender- whatever, they didn't know, but that it wasn't all that common or widely accepted. They'd shrugged it off, because that's what everybody else in their life had done, but the monsters were furious. It became an immediate, non-negotiable part of the relations between the two species: queerphobia would not be tolerated. It was mostly for the monsters who either didn't have a gender binary or were trans themselves, but it started because of Frisk, and they spearheaded the movement. They wore the little pride buttons mom got them for their last birthday to every meeting.

They were eleven and a half, they were somewhere outside of the gender binary, and they had unlocked the ability to recognize when somebody else was struggling with something kinda similar.

Frisk knocked on Papyrus's door.

"NOT NOW, PLEASE! I'M NAKED!"

"You didn't put a shirt on?" Frisk asked, amused. His battle body had been damaged by a rusty piece of barbed wire just a couple of hours before, the point sharp enough to tear through its new-and-improved leather exterior. Toriel was fixing it now, but Papyrus was in his room with the door shut.

"YES- NO- I MEAN, YES! I AM WEARING CLOTHING, BUT IT ISN'T MY BATTLE BODY, SO I MIGHT AS WELL BE NAKED!" came the ever-loud, lovable voice.

"If you're wearing clothes, how come I can't see you?" they pressed. "I want to show you a video."

"UHM, YOU SEE, IT'S BECAUSE... IT'S BECAUSE IT IS MY BEDROOM AND YOU CLEARLY DID NOT READ THE SIGN!" he shouted.

The sign- 'NO GIRLS ALLOWED, NO BOYS ALLOWED, PAPYRUS ALLOWED'- had followed him above ground. It made Frisk smile- he was nonbinary, too, by human standards, they just didn't have the same concepts and definitions as humans did. He wasn't a boy or a girl, he was a skeleton! Obviously!

"But I fit two of the three requirements," Frisk tried. "Come on, I thought you liked showing off your cool bod?"

"YES, BUT IT IS BEING MENDED!" he replied, exasperated. "YOU KNOW THAT, YOU'RE THE ONE THAT TOOK IT TO MISS MOM-QUEEN!"

Frisk frowned. The cogs started turning- the slow, eleven year old cogs- and they put a hand to the wood of the door.

"Your battle body is your cool bod?" they asked. "I thought it was your bones."

Papyrus was quiet- definitely unusual for him. Frisk continued to stand there but respected his wishes.

"Should I just send you the video?" they asked. They weren't mad, too confused by his actions for that.

"...NO, FINE, COME IN! YOU WORE ME DOWN!"

Frisk smiled and did as permitted. They did a finger-gun at the general room as they stepped in, closing the door behind them.

Papyrus was sitting on his newer, larger race car bed. He had his legs criss-crossed and was slouching- another atypical Papyrus behavior being exhibited. He wore a shirt Frisk had never seen, a plain black one with a small cartoon skeleton head on a blue breast pocket. He didn’t wear shirts very much.

Frisk was too wrapped up in whatever was going on to remember the video. Papyrus looked at them, brow raised.

"THIS WASN'T A PRANK, WAS IT? YOU REALLY DO HAVE A VIDEO TO SHOW ME?" he questioned.

"I do, it's only like a minute. It's a parrot one."

Papyrus's sockets lit up. "OH, I LOVE THOSE!" He patted the mattress beside him. "SHOW ME AT ONCE, PLEASE AND THANK YOU!"

Frisk snickered and drew their phone out of their pocket. The child was limited in what they could do on it- they were eleven- but they could watch videos and text.

Frisk got up beside Papyrus, expecting him to scoop them up and deposit them in his lap like he always did. And he looked like he was going to... but then he deflated a little and didn't, just watched as Frisk sidled up close to his side.

He liked the video. It was a parrot doing a silly little head-bobby dance and making a silly little noise.

"OH, THAT WAS SO CUTE... WHAT A STRANGE LITTLE BIRDIE!"

"Parrots are weird," they agreed. They looked at him and his... thinness. This might have been the first time they'd seen him without his battle body- even when he wore a cool jacket or shirt, it was over his battle body. The old one was out of commission, having been upgraded to the more durable one that had been jabbed earlier. Without the extra padding and bulk, he looked a lot... smaller.

Papyrus noticed the looks and went blue with magic, arms crossing over himself like he was hiding.

"WHAT? IT'S RUDE TO STARE!" he muttered, looking away.

Frisk looked down at the mattress for a moment. They had to be a little careful, because they knew what it was like when people didn't take problems seriously, but they were- again- eleven. It could be hard sometimes.

"Do you not like it when you don't have your battle body?" they asked. Papyrus tittered nervously, and that was answer enough. Frisk frowned. "How come?"

"I AM GREAT AND POWERFUL IN ALL MY FORMS, BUT WITH MY BATTLE BODY I LOOK WAY BETTER! I LOOK LIKE THE SKELETON I AM MEANT TO BE- BIG AND BULKY AND MUSCULAR!" He didn't sound as confident as he usually did. He always tried to sound confident even when he wasn't, but Frisk could tell he was getting close to a 'ditching the facade' moment.

Frisk looked at him. He didn't return the gaze for a while, but when he did, he quickly flushed deeper.

"WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT?" he asked, clearly nervous.

"I just didn't know," they said honestly.

Papyrus huffed. "KNOW WHAT? THAT I LIKE MY BATTLE BODY? OF COURSE I DO! WHEN HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ME WITHOUT IT?"

Frisk leaned away from him, a little hurt. He sounded... angry. Before they could think of something to say, he noticed.

"OH, I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN TO BE CROSS WITH YOU..." Papyrus let out a deep breath, finally bringing his arm around the child's shoulder and pulling them into a hug. "I'M VERY GOOD AT BEING SURE OF MYSELF AT ALL TIMES, BUT SOME PEOPLE DON'T REALLY 'GET' MY BATTLE BODY, AND THEY MAYBE TEASE ME IN A WAY THEY THINK IS LIGHTHEARTED, BUT IT’S WITH A HEAVY HEART I MUST CONFESS THAT IT… ISN’T."

"It's okay, it just reminded me of stuff I read online, is all."

Papyrus looked worried. "WHAT STUFF?"

"When people really don't like a part of their body and change how it looks because it makes them feel better," Frisk explained as best they could. They didn't know a lot themself (eleven). "I just know trans people do it to make themselves look more like they want to. Like, humans with boobs will wear binders to squish ‘em and make them harder to see because they like that better."

"OH." Papyrus gave Frisk a squeeze. "DO YOU FEEL THAT WAY ABOUT YOUR BODY?"

"Sometimes, but I’m pretty young, so most of it’s just in my brain-place since my body is ‘still developing’ or whatever," they said with a groan and a smile. "I'm sure when I'm older it'll happen more, but it isn't bad right now."

"AND YOU'RE SAYING THAT THIS IS... NORMAL?"

Frisk smiled and looked up at Papyrus. "Normal as me, I guess."

Papyrus smiled back down at them, but he looked deep in thought. Frisk just enjoyed his company, one of his big, mittened hands gingerly holding their own and running a thumb along it.

"THAT IS... INTERESTING INFORMATION!" Papyrus finally said. "WHAT IS THIS THING YOU READ ABOUT ONLINE CALLED, FRISK?"

"Uh, well, when it's gender it's dysphoria, but I think it's a little different for stuff that's not gender... here, gimme your phone," they said, seeing it laying on the bed nearby.

He handed it to them. "JUST DON'T LOOK UP SOMETHING INAPPROPRIATE AGAIN."

Frisk snickered, remembering the time they'd looked up 'skeleton boobies' before and how mad he'd gotten. Sans had thought it was funny, at least. Toriel... not so much.

They did some clicking and typing and waiting for things to load before they nodded and handed the device back to Papyrus.

"Yeah, that's it- dysmorphia."

"THANK YOU, INTERNET SURFER!" He beamed, taking it back and reading for a while. Frisk sat with him, head craned up to look at him looking at the phone. He frowned.

"IT'S A DISORDER," he said, voice flat.

"So was being trans before," Frisk said. They snuggled closer to him. "I think it's only a problem when you hurt yourself over it? But your battle body is cool, so that's fine. Plus, you're a monster, so it's probably different for you guys."

Papyrus read a moment longer before he sat the phone aside. He seemed thoughtful.

"THANK YOU FOR TEACHING ME ABOUT THIS, FRISK. I DIDN'T KNOW THAT I..." he trailed off.

"That you weren't alone?"

It made Papyrus jerk, looking down with wide sockets. But, after a second, he nodded.

Frisk could tell he was a little upset, so they gathered up their legs and hugged him tight around his neck- his neck was usually the same, so hopefully he wasn't too sensitive about that.

"I think you're cool and pretty and handsome with or without your battle bod, but if the bod makes you happy, that's all that matters."

Papyrus hugged them close, only hesitating a second when their squishy, warm human body was pressed against his bare (well, shirt-covered) ribs. It wasn't unfamiliar to the human- Frisk hugged Sans all the time- but it must have felt weird to him.

"THANK YOU, HUMAN, YOU ALWAYS KNOW HOW TO CHEER ME UP!" he said, and Frisk pretended not to notice him bring up a hand and wipe some tears away. "I WILL HAVE TO DO MORE RESEARCH ON THIS TOPIC. I'LL KEEP YOU UPDATED!"

Frisk pulled away from him and grinned. "Yeah, I like knowing stuff." They grabbed his hand and returned to sitting in his lap. "Like I said before, even if you aren't nonbinary since you don't want to use that word, you feel a lot of the same things I do. That makes me feel less alone."

Papyrus hugged them tighter and harder from their new position in his lap, putting his teeth against their hair in a skeleton kiss.

"YOU ARE SUCH A GOOD LITTLE SIBLING,” he said, nuzzling his skull against them.

“The best?” Frisk questioned.

He hummed. “PERHAPS! BUT YOU'LL NEVER OUT-SIBLING YOUR WAY INTO MY TITLE! AND THAT IS BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT A BROTHER, SO I AM SAFE! I'VE BEEN SANS'S FAVORITE LITTLE BROTHER FOR TWENTY SEVEN YEARS RUNNING!"

"I'll trans my gender to man and then take the 'brother' title, too," Frisk joked.

Papyrus put a hand to his chest in mock anger. "EXCUSE ME! NO YOU WON'T, BECAUSE SANS IS YOUR DUNKLE- YOUR WORDS, NOT MINE! THAT MEANS YOU CAN'T BE HIS BROTHER EVEN IF YOU 'TRANS THE GENDER' AND BE A BOY!"

"I'll trans my gender to whatever it takes to defeat you," they said, dead serious, and it made Papyrus shout in the funny way he did when he wasn't actually mad, but he was definitely laughing. His retaliation was a devastating noogie.

“I really like that shirt, it looks good on you,” they said after escaping the chokehold and hair-ruffling. Frisk poked the small embroidered skeleton. “Can I steal it?”

“IT WOULDN’T EVEN FIT YOU!” Papyrus said, slapping their hand aside, but he didn’t seem quite so uneasy. It was fine to want to present a certain way, but Frisk thought he should know his un-battled body was good, too.

“Skeleton boob pocket t-shirt dress,” Frisk said matter of factly. “Fashion statement.”

“DON’T STEAL MY SHIRTS!” Papyrus demanded, poking the child’s side and making them giggle. “DON’T STEAL ANYTHING AT ALL!”

“But what about… your heart?” They dramatically flopped themself into his arms.

Papyrus immediately dropped them onto the bed beside him and hit them with his pillow.

“NO! I ALREADY LOVE YOU, AND YOU CAN’T STEAL SOMETHING THAT YOU’RE GIVEN FREELY.”

“I can try,” Frisk mumbled into the blankets, laying face-down, succumbing to the thrashing.

“YOU CAN FAIL!” he said as he lightly thumped them with a pillow a few times. They didn’t move at all, and the onslaught stopped when Papyrus picked them back up and plopped them beside him, raising his brows and pouting at their cheeky little expression. He couldn’t hold the look for long; it melted into a warm, toothy skeleton smile.

“ENOUGH TOMFOOLERY, SHOW ME THAT BIRD AGAIN!”

You watched videos of parrots being silly until his battle body was finished.

#undertale #undertale fanfiction #papyrus #frisk #queer stuff #dysphoria #body dysmorphia #post pacifist #found family #papyrus is so... everything #most complicated man in the whole world

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h-worksrambles · 2 years

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Undertale Post-Pacifist Headcanons

Like many people who’ve played through Undertale’s Pacifist route, I have my own fair share of thoughts on what happens to all the characters after the credits roll. And because I’m feeling in a sentimental mood, I wanted to write them all down in one place. So I thought I’d go through each of the main characters and talk through where I see them ending up. Some of these have been partially shaped by other takes, or even fics, that resonated with me. Others are purely my own interpretation. This isn’t a fic or anything super comprehensive. Just me splurging out my thoughts onto a page to get ‘em out of my head after all this time. Also a few side notes before we start: -This is NOT referring to Souless Pacifist. That’s an interesting thing to think about but, frankly, I’d like to actually be happy today. -I’m mostly leaving Deltarune out of this because’s it’s a seperate canon, it’s not finished and frankly, I have NO IDEA where that story is going. -This all purely my conjecture based on my interpretation of the story and characters and what I’d like to think happens next. Nothing more. Frisk Frisk accepted Toriel’s offer to stay with her and they settled down in a house in the town, Ebott, not far from the mountain of the same name. Originally the pair just had a small place to themselves, but in a couple of years, they moved into a much larger house. Since Frisk was spending so much time with all their friends, Toriel decided they might as well all have a room there, and nearly all of them sleep over there pretty frequently. By this point, they’re almost as much one big family as they are friends. They also accepted the position of Ambassador of monsters, but didn’t really step into that role for a few years. The position requird a lot of knowledge that makes for a rather unfair responsibility to put on someone so young. Plus, most human world leaders would likely turn their nose up at negotiating with a child. Though Asgore’s role as king was now greatly reduced, and Toriel had long since renounced her position as queen, they stepped back into a more pronounced diplomatic role while Frisk was still learning. As a young adult, Frisk took on more and more responsibilities, finally flourishing in the role of ambassador. Shortly after the monsters leave the surface, they were recognised as having gone missing previously, which raised questions about where they came from before the Underground. They have only ever shared the full story with Toriel, and later Asgore, and they still don’t like to talk about it much. But between Toriel acquiring full custody, and Frisk finally opening up to at least one person about it all, they’ve made a ton of progress moving past whatever their old life was like. And they seem content to focus on their new life for now. Frisk never found themselves in a position where they needed to muster up the Determination to SAVE or LOAD. They decided that this ending was one worth keeping, and left it as it was. One time, many years later, they tried to muster up the concentration to make a SAVE point just in case...and found they couldn’t. Perhaps whatever external influence had given them that power had left them. Maybe it went off to find something new to occupy its time...Anyway, with the burden of that power gone, Frisk is now free to devote themselves to their new life fully, and maybe that’s ok. While Frisk’s efforts do not single handedly rebuild bridges between humans and monsters (as such a task is far too big for one person) they do make a world of difference in establishing peace between the two during their career. Toriel Toriel finally fulfilled her dream of becoming a teacher when she opened a school for monster children. A couple of years later, she expanded to welcome humans as well, the first school to teach both human and monster children, leading others to follow. As headmistress she is very well-liked by her students. While there are a handful of jokes about how scary she can be when she’s angry, she is generally considered a caring figure to her students and a practical overseer of the school. She is still very good friends with Sans, and since both the brothers are already spending a lot of time with Frisk, she gets plenty of opportunities to trade jokes with him whenever the two show up to visit. She has also begun to practice cooking with Papyrus and Undyne. Papyrus is actually getting a bit better, and Undyne...well, Toriel appreciates her enthusiasm, even if she usually has to make time to clean up pretty thoroughly after a lesson. Stepping into a teaching role also led Toriel back into her aptitude for magic, something she had only used for essentials for a long time. She began studying and researching the topic extensively, not just to better instruct her students, but for out of a long dormant intellectual curiousity. She has been an invaluable source of consultation for Alphys on multiple research papers as a result. Nor is Alphys the only one. While Toriel was once afriad to face her subjects after hiding away from them for so long, she finds herself a welcome presence of her community, even amongst humans. She ultimately ends up meeting many of the monsters Frisk met on their own journey and befriending them in her own right, be it lunches out with Dogamy and Dogaressa, or tea and sewing sessions with Muffet. Having such a social life is a little strange for someone who was alone in those ruins for so long, yet it feels oddly right. Toriel still remembers her lost children and she still misses them greatly. But settling down into a new life on the surface, fulfilling dreams she never thought she would and being part of a family again after all these years has helped her find contentment. Papyrus Papyrus is still comfortably living with Sans on the surface. The early adjustment period was quite hard for him. As happy as he was to finally be out and able to meet new people, his dreams of joining the Royal Guard had still been throughly dashed. Nonetheless, Undyne was still happy both to train him, in both magic and cooking. And this gave Papyrus time to think. He loved training with Undyne, and the feeling of improving himself and getting stronger. But he never wanted to use that power to hurt anyone. It was Undyne who suggested he try training other people in turn. Taking his friend’s advice, Papyrus opened a fitness gym, where humans and monsters could hone their bodies and/or magic in a safe, fun environment. And he quickly proved himself a surprisingly empathetic and supportive instructor, as well as being a unexpectedly strong and well-versed one. Maybe Undyne wasn’t kidding when she told Frisk how tough he was while training him. He’s still certainly an eccentric trainer of course. In particular, he has made a habit of offering his homemade spaghetti to anyone who seems to be getting tired while workig out. It certainly works. The offer alone is generally enough to make them hastily insist they’re fine to keep going another few sets! Papyrus and Sans both maintain an exceptionally close friendship with Frisk, and have sleepovers with them at least once a week, often more. He tends to be quite fussy over Frisk whenever they’re over, keen to insist they are well cared for, sometimes a lttle too zealously, often chiding Sans to help more whenever Frisk is their guest. However, Toriel is all to happy to leave her child in the brothers’ care, and at this point they’re basically a mix of uncles and big brothers to them. Papyrus is quick to notice that one of his friends never left the Underground, and still makes time to visit him whenever he can. He’s not sure why this one monster is so loathe to leave the mountain, but he’s still keen to make them feel a little less alone regardless. Papyrus once wanted nothing more than for people to like him. Now, with a fulfilling job and plenty of friends, more people like him than ever. But more than that, he can now say he likes himself plenty as well. Sans Of all Frisk’s friends, Sans might just have had the hardest and longest adjustment period to living on the surface. At least to those who knew him. Sure, he was mostly still his lazy, good-natured self, everybody’s carefree pal. But those who knew him best, Papyrus especially, could see that the smile didn’t always reach his eyes. And every now and then, he would spend the day laying in bed. He’d joke that he was over-rested from too much napping, so now he had to nap EVEN MORE. But neither Papyrus, nor Toriel, nor Frisk were convinced. The truth was that Sans hadn’t forgotten how trapped he’d once felt. Putting the pieces together and guessing (rightly) that the world around him was looping, was a bitter pill to swallow. And the painful thought that nothing he did would matter was not an easy one to forget. He was still happy to be a good friend to Toriel and a good brother to Papyrus, but he couldn’t fully convince himself that he wasn’t just going to wake up one day back in his room in Snowdin. And as happy as he was to have Frisk over, there was always the awkwardness of something that was being left unsaid. Eventually Sans finally gave in and asked Frisk one day if they were going to reset. But Frisk, not sounding terribly surprised that Sans knew this, said they weren’t. That they were sticking with this. As much as Sans wanted to believe them, it seemed too good to be true. Then the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, months into years, and still no reset. And somewhere along the way, Sans started to believe a little. Those listless days in bed started to grow less frequent, his smile seemed a little wider and more genuine. And he seemed warmer to Frisk than ever. He even became quite protective of them. Whenever any narrow minded human had any intentions of harming the Ambassador, they would quickly find themselves caught in a cage of bones. What was once a promise to look after the kid for Tori’s sake, was now a personal vow to look after a true friend who’d helped him out of a very dark place, and keep them safe. Aside from that, Sans is much the same as ever. He can still be found at Grillby’s new venue most days, he’s still a frequent visitor at Frisk and Toriel’s house and he’s even become surprisingly good friends with Alphys. Turns out the lovable lazy skeleton is a little more of a dork than he lets on, and he doesn’t mind lazing around binge watching Alphys’ latest shows or joining her to play a video game. Plus it’s one more way he can shirk off the last thing Papyrus told him to do. Occasonally, Alphys can weedle some surprisingly profound scientific knowledge out of him during their time together. But he usually complains that recalling that is too much work, nor has he ever talked about where he learned it. It took a lot of time, and a lot of work for Sans to really feel at home on the surface. But now Sans is probably the most content, and the most alive he’s felt in years. Undyne With the Royal Guard disbanded, Undyne found herself on the surface but out of a job. Sure, being out of the Underground was fun and all, but for someone so dedicated to her training, it was a little hard to find something to fill in the time. Then one day, as she and Alphys were watching yet another anime she had an idea. The show in question featured a martial arts tournament, where people could put their skills to the test in competition. A place to fight where nobody could get hurt (mostly). ‘Man’, she thought to herself. ‘If only humans had something like THAT!’ Except, hold on...they do. Undyne signed up for classes in karate and the rest was history. She ultimately took classes in tons of different martial arts, and, when she was ready, she began entering local wrestling tournaments. Over the years, she carved out a fearsome career in professional wrestling. Under the alias of the ‘Legendary Hero’ (a name originally born out of a sponsorship deal with MTT that ended up sticking) she had plenty of wins under her belt. She has now has no shortage of fans, humans and monster alike, and helped encourage other monsters to enter professional sports fields, changing the industry drastically. Outside of her matches, Undyne still makes plenty of time for her friends. Papyrus’ gym tends to be her training venue of choice (when she first showed up Papyrus wasn’t sure whether to cry of joy or reinforce every piece of equipment ASAP), and will still spar with Papyrus and Frisk whenever she has time. Sometimes she’ll volunteer to do a training course at Toriel’s school. When she does the students are half in awe, and half dreading how throughly she’ll put them through their paces. This also led her to interact more with Toriel on her personal level, and while making small talk with the fabled ‘lost queen of the Underground’ (as well as her mentor’s ex) was decidedly awkward, the two eventually became friends, and even have cooking lessons together. Plus, she and Alphys still make time to visit Asgore whenever they can. Speaking of Alphys, their relationship has also progressed since the Barrier broke. They started dating in earnest once the dust had cleared and monsters were established on the surface and eventually moved in together. They remain firmly supportive of each others’ work, with Alphys never missing one of her girlfriend’s matches. Undyne has also helped Alphys to better come out of her shell. They started going to conventions together, meeting new people along the way. A couple of years down the line the two made the step to get married. When they did, Undyne asked Asgore to walk her down the aisle. Eventually, the necesarry arrangements were made for them to have a kid together, and, with their new daughter, the three now live together happily. They’re also still delighted to have Frisk over whenever, and effectively became their cool aunts. Undyne may not have become the legendary warrior who struck down the last human for the sake of all monsters. But what she now is still pretty legendary as far as she’s concerned. Alphys Much like Undyne, Alphys too had to find a new path in life after losing her job as Royal Scientist. Not that she really minded. That was a part of her life she was more than happy to leave behind. Her first major concern was helping each of the Amalgamates get settled back in with their families, since she naturally felt responsible for them. She had steeled herself to expect the worst from their relatives, and some definitely took the truth worse than others. But mostly she was surprised by how many were just happy to get their loved ones back. Some even thanked her for it. This left Alphys deep in thought for a long while, unsure what to think after finding some closure to the events that her haunted her for years. She eventually sought out professional therapy. After a while, it led her to accept that, even if her past experiments had caused unexpected harm, they’d done some good as well. And there was no reason she couldn’t learn from her mistakes, and use her talents to help people. Soon she set to work in her little lab in her and Undyne’s home. Across the later years, Alphys made a variety of inventions that combined human advancements in science, with the unique magic of monsters, to help improve the quality of life for both. Using helpful devices like the Dimensional Box as a starting point, her creations helped improve the lives of humans and monsters across the world. But she had two important caveats. She would accept no governmental or (especially) military funding. The profits from these devices were more than enough for her and Undyne to live comfortably, and she didn’t want to be back in a position of being obligated to do research she knew was wrong. And no experiment that involved directly experimenting on human or monster bodies in any way. All of this has helped Alphys feel more fulfilled than ever. Where before she felt cursed to ruin everything she touched, and that her craft had only resulted in what she considered evil, now she was helping all kinds of people. And it means a great deal to her to this day. Outside of that, she has a pretty comfortable life. She still loves to unwind with a good anime, and has even begun dipping her toes into the communal side of fandom. Whether that be online communities, or even going to conventions (Undyne is always happy to join in on a cosplay) and all sorts of things Alphys never dreamt she would have the nerve to do. But throughout it all, Undyne has remained her rock, always able to cheer her up on her bad days, and encourage her on her good ones. Between this, striking up a friendship with Sans, and getting to spend time with Asgore in a non professional context, Alphys has more friends now than she ever thought possible. But as much as she loves her daughter, as much as she values her friends, or as much as she joins everyone in spending time at Frisk and Toriel’s house, it’s still sometimes nice to take time to herself to unwind and rewatch Mew Mew Kissy Cuitie...even if Season Two still sucks. Asgore Asgore’s road to making a new life on the surface was...complicated to say the least. For one thing, he was incredibly busy right from the off. Most of the diplomacy needed to make peace with humanity once monsters were reintroduced to the world naturallly fell to him. And many monsters who had settled down in Ebott still came to him for help with numerous small matters.Still, Asgore appreciated the distraction. Outside of that, Asgore mostly kept to himself, in a small house with a garden for him to tend to. Asgore was all too happy to help monsters re-integrate into surface life, but truthfully, he still didn’t really feel he himself deserved to do the same. He tended to avoid contact with people unless they came looking for him, still believing he didn’t deserve to enjoy a peaceful life with the blood he had on his hands. And yet, to his surprise, people still wanted to come to him. His subjects still valued his advice, and applauded his efforts to negotiate with human world leaders. Alphys and Undyne still visited him whenever they could. And most of all, Frisk still seemed to want to talk to him. Asgore had convinced himself that Frisk would never want to see him again. After all, he’d try to kill them. Besides, seeing Frisk meant seeing Toriel, and he could hardly bear to look her in the face. Yet still, Frisk would ask Toriel to bring them round to visit after school, to which she eventually, if somewhat reluctantly, relented. He would spend the day making them tea, playing with them, working the gardens with them, or just being a confidant to the child. After everything he’d done, this human child still wanted him to be a part of their life. And not just them, but countless monsters. It was more than Asgore felt he deserved. It was a few months after the first of these days looking after them that Frisk called Asgore ‘Dad’ for the first time. He nearly burst into tears on the spot. Shortly after the immediate aftermath of the Barrier’s destruction had died down, Asgore made quiet, private arrangements to find the relatives of the six fallen humans. He thought it best to deal with the matter on his own terms and take full responsibility, lest it make life harder for monsters trying to live alongside humans. Their reactions...varied. For some, it had happened so long ago that none of their immediate families were alive, and their descendants were just relieved to have closure. Others were angrier and more hostile. But all of them eventually recieved some form of resolution and support. It wasn’t an easy task, but one Asgore thought was important to do. ...Asgore even tried to find out about who Chara’s family might have been. But he turned up no results. He’d been afraid that might happen. Asgore is still mostly quite withdrawn in his social life, but outside of his role as king, he still has his fair share of friends. While his old friend Rudy fell down a long time ago, he still checks in on his daughter whenever he can. He still sees Gerson on occasion as well, who is always keen to swap old stories. He now happily embraces his role as Frisk’s father figure and has them over most weekends and the odd weekday. And of course, plenty of his subjects still respect him enough to ask for his help with their problems, and he’ll always sit them down with a hot cup of tea to hear their troubles. Of course, spending time with Frisk meant spending time with Toriel, which was...awkward. Toriel was still understandably angry over everything, but they wordlessly agreed that, both for Frisk’s safe and their diplomatic roles, it was important they try to get along. But it was plain to all that there was a lot going unsaid. It was Alphys who eventually convinced them to sit down and talk through everything that happened. Lay all their cards on the table, everything they’d felt, and gone through since that day. Not a pleasant prospect for either but, remembering how forgiving and merciful Frisk had been to the both of them, both chose to follow their example. These talks were long, and difficult, but ultimately cathartic for both parties. It didn’t magically fix everything, far from it, but with their newfound understanding, the two gradually found themselves able to spend time together comfortably, which was especially important as Asgore became a bigger part of Frisk’s life. As a final olive branch, Toriel offered Asgore a job as gardener at her school. Deeply touched by this expression of trust, Asgore accepted. Between spending time together at the school and co-parenting Frisk, Asgore and Toriel began to build the first steps of a new friendship. It was undoutbtedly a tentative one given what they’d been through, but genuine all the same. And, several years later, by which time Frisk was already almost an adult, they began to remember why they’d once fallen in love in the first place. Of course, neither had forgotten why they had seperated either and so they knew better than to ‘get back together’ officially. But over the course of several ‘not-dates’, they slowly started to build...something. It wasn’t what they’d had before, but it was something new. They’re still slowly working at it, ignoring any comments about how ‘everyone else can see it’. For now, they’re both content to see where this goes. They’re still Frisk’s parents whatever happens. Asgore is still the gardener at Toriel’s school, where he is well liked by the students. Being around children is a pleasant reminder of happy times for Asgore, and his hedgework and carefully nurtured flowerbeds are a source of pride for the school. Deep down, Asgore still has bad days where he feels he doesn’t deserve any part of this new life. But each day, it gets just a little bit easier to believe it. Mettaton Mettaton’s stardom in the Underground carried through into his surface life. His performances are still widely watched by monster from all over. Winning over the brand new, enormous demographic of humans is a tough task, but it’s a challenge Mettaton was willing to take on. And he did eventually make his way into the mainstream, developing a lengthy career in both film and music, with human and monster fans alike. Because of this, unlike many of the others, Mettaton chose not to settle down in Ebott, but he still made sure to keep on eye on his friends who did. Eventually, Mettaton saw the efforts his friends were making, as ambassadors, inventors, diplomats and the like, to make life better for monsters, and he began to wonder if he could do more with his fame. After this period of SOUL searching, Mettaton began using his platform to advocate for unity between humans and monsters, and taking roles in movies with human and monster casts and crews. The day he fought Frisk in the Underground taught Mettaton the positive impact he had the potential to make on his fans through his art. And he’s more committed to that than ever. Naturally, such a busy career often keeps him on the move, but he will occasionally make time to make a low profile visit to Ebott (or a high profile one if he feels like it). When he does, Napstablook and Alphys are always his first ports of call, and there’s generally a day out shopping with Frisk on the agenda at some point (anything to get them out of that tacky striped shirt). As part of her research, Alphys has sought his advice on how to build more mechanical bodies for those who want or need them, and, touched by her efforts, he’s happy to share his experience when she’s coming up with new designs. It’s odd really. Despite being more famous than ever, Mettaton has found that’s not actually why he’s so happy with himself right now. Flowey Even as all the other monsters chose to go up and live their lives on the surface, Flowey alone, stayed behind. Much like he once told Frisk, he simply couldn’t bring himself to leave the Underground. Maybe he didn’t feel he deserved it after all he’d done. Maybe this self imposed exile was his idea of punishment. Maybe he just didn’t want to re-open his parents’ centruies-old wounds of grief. Maybe it was all of those reasons. Whatever his logic, he stayed. Occasionally, he would get visits from either Frisk or Papyrus, neither of whom had forgotten him and both resolved to keep him company. Frisk always made sure to let him know that Asgore and Toriel were both doing fine. Every time either of them visited, they asked Flowey to come with them. Every time, Flowey said no. He never regressed to the state he’d been in before he met Frisk. Just because he turned back into a flower and lost his SOUL again didn’t mean he’d forgotten what these experiences had taught him. But becoming the person he once was, even for a moment, just made it even harder to believe he’d ever really be accepted out there after everything he’d done and everyone he’d hurt. Left to his own devices, Flowey was true to his word and spent most of his time taking care of the flowers. Flowey’s magic had always allowed him to manipulate plant life, but now he was using it to nurture the various plants of the Underground. Slowly, he learned to use his magic not to kill, but to give life. Under his care, the various areas of the Underground became some of the most famous sites of natual beauty on Earth. Now that the Underground is easy and safe to reach, people come from miles around to see the plants that now grow there. There are rumours of some guardian who has grown the Underground into what it is today, but no one has ever seen him. Over the next few years as he tended to the kingdom alone, Flowey came to realise something. For so long, he’d thought that all he could do was destroy. That was the only thing left to do after countless time loops had numbed him to everything else. Yet here he was, using his powers to heal, to grow, to make the Underground he’d once terrorised so much more beautiful. Is it possible, then that he could do the same on the surface? It is then, and only then, that Flowey agrees to go with Frisk outside the mountain. Even after this experience, Flowey’s life is not smooth sailing. He never recovers his SOUL to restore his original form. As a result, his capacity to feel emotions and empathy is not entirely as it once was. But there are plenty of factors other than his SOUL-essness that made Flowey into who he became, and there are parts of himself he can still work on, SOUL or no SOUL. Flowey is still very dry and reserved in his deameanor, but he’s not willfully cruel like he once was. He still struggles to say the right thing at times, but he’s learning. He’s been able to rekindle his friendship with Papyrus. The two were implied to be much closer friends in earlier time loops, and Flowey hopes that he’ll be able to make something new in pace of what he once reset away. Asgore and Toriel are happy to meet another of Frisk’s friends, but he’s reluctant to tell them the full story of who he once was. Maybe someday he’ll tell them. But for now, he’s just glad to see that they’re happy. And while he pretends it doesn’t matter to him as he’s not that person anymore, he’ll still constantly hound Frisk for details once Asgore and Toriel start spending more time together. That said, there is one person who Flowey still struggles to get on with. Sans may not remember anything that happened in the previous resets, but he at least guesses who the other person was besides Frisk, who had that power. While he puts on a friendly air for Frisk and Papyrus’ sake, he never trusts Flowey entirely, and their exchanges tend to be pretty terse and snarky when their mutual friends aren’t around. Flowey may never have the life he once had back. But he seems to be on the way to making something new in its place. Chara This will be the shortest, because not much needs to be said. Even if Frisk never even knew they were there, observing Frisk on their journey through the Underground gave Chara a lot of time to think. For a long time, their life had given them no reason but to believe the worst of humanity. Their ‘plan’ was just as much a revenge quest against the people who once hurt them as it was a bid to save the monsters they loved. And their last memory was being held back, betrayed, in a sense, by their brother as the humans took everything from them yet again. Suffice to say, when a strong source of Determination awoke them from death, they had little reason to see any worth in humans, or monsters, or the world in general. Perhaps, in another time, they might have met someone else who validated those dark thoughts. Someone who made the wrong choices, who led Chara themselves to the worst possible conclusion... And yet, that’s not what happened. What they saw instead was a child who only offered mercy to a kingdom that wanted them dead. They saw a child with the power over time itself who used that power to help people. They saw their family find healing and redemption through the actions of this stranger. They saw their sibling find himself again, and make his peace with their own departure. In watching so many monsters find their catharsis through Frisk’s actions, Chara found a degree of catharsis themselves. Maybe they were wrong. Maybe humans weren’t as bad as they thought. Maybe power wasn’t everything. Maybe the future of humans and monsters their father once spoke of still existed. Finally able to let go of their anger, Chara is free for the first time. And with the source of Determination leaving after the credits roll, there’s nothing to keep them bound to this world anymore. After all, what do ghosts do in all those old stories when their unfinished business is resolved? With everything finally settled and no Determination to anchor them anymore, Chara is able to pass on peacefully, at long last, safe in the knowledge that their friends will be fine without them....

And that concludes my Undertale Post Pacifist headcanons for all the major characters. I hope it was an enjoyable read. I think it’s safe to say this game made a huge impact on a ton of people who played it, and their reactions are all very personal. As such, I know full well that these are just my projections and interpretations of what happens after the ending. But I think the fact that this game left enough of an impression that I wrote this much says something about its quality. I’m so sorry these are all so sappy. But I’m not as funny as Toby Fox, I’m afriad. Also, good lord, I didn’t mean this to be so long. If you somehow read the whole of this mess then thanks. It’s nice to think at least someone enjoys the crazed ramblings I call my blog.

#undertale #post-pacifist #pacifist route #frisk #toriel #papyrus #sans #undyne #alphys #asgore #mettaton #flowey #chara #headcanon #character analysis? kinda?#look i just want all these guys to be a found family ok?#undertale spoilers

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