[Sans's thoughts stutter to a halt when he sees the human. That human, smiling at the camera--a child, brown hair, mouth cracking and splitting and opening too wide--
Sans's voice changes its tone; there's a little echo, like his voice really were bouncing around in that skull of his.]
Frisk. [He repeats thoughtfully, again with the ease of the sound of it.]
And something was... pretending to be them??
[Please don't tell him you've seen the face stealer wearing this Frisk's face, Sans. He doesn't want to worry that his own face is a replacement, with the original is being worn as a mask somewhere, or anything.]
Yeah. Hang on--[Sans pops open the files on his bracer, scrolling to the footage he got from when he recorded the other side of the wall and playing the end of it. This one keeps going beyond where the footage Sans put on the network ends, though--it records one of the Cursed changing its shape into a human with chin-length brown hair, a human whose face cracks open. Sans cuts it off there, but not before the shaking of the footage makes it obvious that Sans has grabbed the liveriverer and jerked away.]
[Papyrus watches the video, frowning with a little impatience at the familiarity of it, then startles when it continues past what he's watched repeatedly. He startles again at the Cursed changing shapes like that.]
Oh my god!! But that... how did it know to look like that...?
[If some of the Cursed can turn into memories that people don't even remember, that's awful and unfair. But the alternative is...
Angus and a couple others mentioned the Hunger eating peoples' worlds, but... He didn't really think about what that might mean for the people in them. If he'd imagined anything, it was like the worlds had been frozen and stuck in a bag, or something. Out of reach, not changing in their absence.]
[Sans is very still. It might be more fitting for a skeleton to be like that, except when you're talking about a live skeleton, it might just be extra creepy.]
It had to have gotten it from me, right? It'd be a hell of a coincidence. [Who knows how many things it could have turned into instead. But he doesn't know if it pulled the memory out of Sans's soul blind or if--well, if Frisk was in there somewhere to react to Sans's presence.]
Lucretia said--and she lied a lot, but I think she believed this when she said it--she said there was a way to get our worlds back.
[If that's true, the details have to be stored somewhere.]
he's also good at being a friend Papyrus can encourage... to become a better person!
[It's a little creepy. Not that it stops Papyrus from going still and watchful himself at times, but it's different being on the watching end than the stillness end.]
Angus said the same thing... Though, I guess, he might just have been echoing her. [A discouraging notion, and one he hopes isn't true.]
The Hunger ate them, right? So, we just have to get it to... spit them back out.
[You know, like a dog that's eating something it shouldn't be. Or maybe a constantly shifting pile of shadow goo temporarily making shapes like the people it's eaten.]
[Sans doesn't like thinking about this. Even so, he thinks about it a lot. What are they going to do about the Hunger? Is there a solution in someone's missing memories? Or maybe this is all going to be for nothing.
Deliberately, Sans loosens up.] Well, once everybody does get spit out, they're gonna be pretty mad if we can't remember their names by then. Show me those other pics again. [Deliberately, he winks.] Hope they're not covered in gross Hunger spit.
Maybe that's what they look like. [It's probably not what they look like, especially since Sans has that photograph where they're standing still to prove otherwise.] Or it was the best one you could get.
Somebody got that one with seven not-blurs. [Grumble, grumble. As if his skills aren't up to the task that someone else achieved, he's a great photographer, he's sure. Never mind that most of his pictures of the book in the coral were also blurs.
It just goes to show, something like the importance of trying and trying again until you succeed. A feeling that makes more sense the more he thinks on it. Being instantly perfect at things is great, but so is learning and growing, right? Right. Which leaves the mystery of why he seems to have only tried once, with these blurry figures...?]
Maybe... it's a joke. And we just forgot the punchline.
Edited (tagging during first meal of the day: grammar sure is a whimsical thing) 2020-10-15 17:26 (UTC)
If we forgot a punchline, we definitely have to remember it. [Jokes are very important.] I guess if we found whoever took that pic I've got-- [Or just someone besides Papyrus, in general, since Papyrus seems to like taking many, many pictures of himself. Hm.] Hey, hang on.
[And with no further elaboration, Sans vanishes. At least when he teleports here, he leaves mist behind to kind of indicate what happened.
He'll be back in a few minutes, though, and holding up a similar-looking phone. Sans's is significantly more beat up, though.] I hit up the vending machine.
[Okay, Sans probably isn't the only person on these islands that teleports, but it's still a little bit surprising every time. Even a lot a bit. Thankfully Papyrus wasn't in the middle of sipping anything.
The few minutes are enough time for him to continue scrolling through his images, enjoying a continuing parade of selfies in a couple recurring locations. The room with the pirate flag and the flame carpet and all, the snowy woods, a couple set in some wet caves with glowing decor, some outside somewhere. Even a couple more pictures of other people, including a robot not seen in the original picture... But none taken with the same care for focus as all the selfies. Unhelpful priorities, past Papyrus!
So when Sans reappears, the first thing Papyrus does - after jumping just a little bit - is take a picture of his brother.]
Yeah. [Sans settles himself back in his seat as he scrolls through the apps.] Maybe I took some pics, too.
[There's a moment of hesitation as his thumb hangs over the photo app, though, like maybe he should check through the whole phone before showing stuff to Papyrus. He doesn't know why, but it also doesn't feel odd to think--he trusts Papyrus, he's sure of that, but there's something--
Sans hedges his bets and shifts the angle of the screen so he gets a look at the thumbnails before Papyrus can make anything out. And, well, it's nothing bad, but--]
Well, I guess I did take some. [But he opens the first one and--well, it's Papyrus cooking in a kitchen with a way too tall sink. From a somewhat lower angle than Papyrus's photos of himself, but still.]
[If the vending machine had one phone, somehow, stands to reason it might have more. Papyrus rattles a little with enthusiasm and impatience waiting as his brother goes about the whole secretive preparation, and quickly leans in - when Sans finally reveals it - to examine all the details of the newer pictures.
...Wow, will you look at that sink. It looks like... an incredibly inconvenient design?? Maybe that place is rented, and he didn't have permission to lower it, or something.]
Well, I can't fault your taste in subjects. [He cackles a brief nyeh heh.] More of me... but this time, much more slice-of-life than all of my, uh...
[Aspirational modeling? Dating bait? Whatever he was going for, with all those selfies.]
[Sans starts flipping through. There's another of Papyrus cooking--it looks like it's from the same day as before, only now there is spaghetti sauce absolutely everywhere, a white blur of a dog, and Papyrus looking generally upset. Next up: Papyrus next to a snow Papyrus (not in the Underground, though Sans would not know to look for that specifically). Third: Papyrus and Sans! At least it's not just Papyrus this time.]
[If he's being honest with himself, while this isn't the most helpful recollection-sparking collection of images they've found... It's delightful. Papyrus cackles again with each additional photo of himself.]
It seems that way!
[There's a lot of himself he hasn't rediscovered, but there's things he's learned about himself since waking up. Things are easier to remember and do when he can see them, he's found. Whether it's because they're in places he frequently travels, or depictions he frequently sees, or because he skims back through the various pictures he's taken during quiet late nights and finally remembers about things...
But that probably has nothing to do with this habit.]
But with a face like mine, who wouldn't want pictures of me?? Doesn't it just brighten your spirits, seeing these great photos?
[Not to mention, it's not only Papyrus, and not only Papyrus and Sans... but that looks like a familiar white canine, too! The small white dog Appears from wherever it's been lurking, clambers up onto Papyrus lap, and gets a load of what looks suspiciously like a picture of itself from their home. Isn't that mysterious.]
[Yeah, dog, what are you doing in that picture? Though it could be another dog... Still, weird.]
With all these, everyone must be glowing back home. [But actually, Papyrus isn't wrong. There's something nice about them, even if Sans can't remember the details.
Flip, flip, flip... Papyrus (next to a red convertible), Papyrus (posing with way too many sunglasses), Papyrus--being carried by a blue fish monster. It's even not blurry!]
[Time is weird. Maybe the dog follows them home, but ends up years before they leave. Stranger things have probably not-happened in other time loops.]
Oh, the blue fish lady! [She sure seems to like to carry people. And there's no hesitation from Papyrus in gauging her as her, despite hesitating with they with so many people of the islands.]
And it's not blurry...
[If anything, it looks very deliberately posed, with some kind of pretended-dismay and laughter in his own face.]
[Sans pulls out his hard copy photograph for comparison. She's in that one, too, of course.] You guys seem like you get along. [Does this count as getting along...? Sans is pretty sure it does, actually.]
We must be friends! [...Though, that's what he assumed about Sans. It made sense, because sure they're both skeletons but is there any resemblance to speak of...? No. So if that's not stopping them...]
I dunno, that seems pretty fishy. [Actually, Sans has no real way to prove or disprove Papyrus's theory. She's not a skeleton, but Sans isn't really sure if that matters.]
But not a red herring! [Because she's blue. Papyrus snickers again as he continues studying the picture, because if anything's clear, it's that the skeleton brothers are connected by bonds of punnery.]
Hmmm. She seems like... an older sister, if a sister. [Partly because she's taller than Papyrus, partly because she's hauling him around in this picture. He goes still, then considers Sans.] Say......... do you remember. How old you are.
Thirty-two. [Though he's not sure where he got that number, actually. One year in the bureau, he remembers that more or less, and then-- Well, he's sure that's the answer (even if he still can't remember the year he spent stuck in a weird illusion where he thought he was the Cheshire Cat).
Actually, his birthday's coming up, isn't it? Yeah. He'll be thirty-three soon. Well, nobody knows when his birthday is anyway, and they have more important things to worry about than that.] What about you?
[Looking at Papyrus, Sans would guess early twenties, but maybe Papyrus just looks young. Or maybe he looks older than he is?]
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Sans's voice changes its tone; there's a little echo, like his voice really were bouncing around in that skull of his.]
Go back. There was a picture of a human.
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Uhhh. Okay... I'll go back. [Careful swipe, and there's the human again. A perfectly normal smile on a perfectly still photo. No cracks, no lunging.]
This one? Do you, remember something about them?
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Not them. Something that looked like them.
[He probably should have mentioned this.]
Frisk. That's Frisk.
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And something was... pretending to be them??
[Please don't tell him you've seen the face stealer wearing this Frisk's face, Sans. He doesn't want to worry that his own face is a replacement, with the original is being worn as a mask somewhere, or anything.]
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See?
finaglc: great icons for moments with horror bs
Oh my god!! But that... how did it know to look like that...?
[If some of the Cursed can turn into memories that people don't even remember, that's awful and unfair. But the alternative is...
Angus and a couple others mentioned the Hunger eating peoples' worlds, but... He didn't really think about what that might mean for the people in them. If he'd imagined anything, it was like the worlds had been frozen and stuck in a bag, or something. Out of reach, not changing in their absence.]
finally flowey is good for something
It had to have gotten it from me, right? It'd be a hell of a coincidence. [Who knows how many things it could have turned into instead. But he doesn't know if it pulled the memory out of Sans's soul blind or if--well, if Frisk was in there somewhere to react to Sans's presence.]
Lucretia said--and she lied a lot, but I think she believed this when she said it--she said there was a way to get our worlds back.
[If that's true, the details have to be stored somewhere.]
he's also good at being a friend Papyrus can encourage... to become a better person!
Angus said the same thing... Though, I guess, he might just have been echoing her. [A discouraging notion, and one he hopes isn't true.]
The Hunger ate them, right? So, we just have to get it to... spit them back out.
[You know, like a dog that's eating something it shouldn't be. Or maybe a constantly shifting pile of shadow goo temporarily making shapes like the people it's eaten.]
thanks flowey???
Deliberately, Sans loosens up.] Well, once everybody does get spit out, they're gonna be pretty mad if we can't remember their names by then. Show me those other pics again. [Deliberately, he winks.] Hope they're not covered in gross Hunger spit.
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I'm sure they'll forgive a little forgetting, if they know we saved them! [Honestly, what kinds of ungrateful friends wouldn't???
He flicks back to the previous picture anyway. It might as well have been covered in gross Hunger spit, with the blur of blue and yellow.]
...Hmmm, nope, I don't remember why I saved a picture like this.
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It just goes to show, something like the importance of trying and trying again until you succeed. A feeling that makes more sense the more he thinks on it. Being instantly perfect at things is great, but so is learning and growing, right? Right. Which leaves the mystery of why he seems to have only tried once, with these blurry figures...?]
Maybe... it's a joke. And we just forgot the punchline.
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[And with no further elaboration, Sans vanishes. At least when he teleports here, he leaves mist behind to kind of indicate what happened.
He'll be back in a few minutes, though, and holding up a similar-looking phone. Sans's is significantly more beat up, though.] I hit up the vending machine.
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The few minutes are enough time for him to continue scrolling through his images, enjoying a continuing parade of selfies in a couple recurring locations. The room with the pirate flag and the flame carpet and all, the snowy woods, a couple set in some wet caves with glowing decor, some outside somewhere. Even a couple more pictures of other people, including a robot not seen in the original picture... But none taken with the same care for focus as all the selfies. Unhelpful priorities, past Papyrus!
So when Sans reappears, the first thing Papyrus does - after jumping just a little bit - is take a picture of his brother.]
Oh? Oh! Is that your phone??
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[There's a moment of hesitation as his thumb hangs over the photo app, though, like maybe he should check through the whole phone before showing stuff to Papyrus. He doesn't know why, but it also doesn't feel odd to think--he trusts Papyrus, he's sure of that, but there's something--
Sans hedges his bets and shifts the angle of the screen so he gets a look at the thumbnails before Papyrus can make anything out. And, well, it's nothing bad, but--]
Well, I guess I did take some. [But he opens the first one and--well, it's Papyrus cooking in a kitchen with a way too tall sink. From a somewhat lower angle than Papyrus's photos of himself, but still.]
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[If the vending machine had one phone, somehow, stands to reason it might have more. Papyrus rattles a little with enthusiasm and impatience waiting as his brother goes about the whole secretive preparation, and quickly leans in - when Sans finally reveals it - to examine all the details of the newer pictures.
...Wow, will you look at that sink. It looks like... an incredibly inconvenient design?? Maybe that place is rented, and he didn't have permission to lower it, or something.]
Well, I can't fault your taste in subjects. [He cackles a brief nyeh heh.] More of me... but this time, much more slice-of-life than all of my, uh...
[Aspirational modeling? Dating bait? Whatever he was going for, with all those selfies.]
You know. What else do you have??
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You really like being in pics, huh?
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It seems that way!
[There's a lot of himself he hasn't rediscovered, but there's things he's learned about himself since waking up. Things are easier to remember and do when he can see them, he's found. Whether it's because they're in places he frequently travels, or depictions he frequently sees, or because he skims back through the various pictures he's taken during quiet late nights and finally remembers about things...
But that probably has nothing to do with this habit.]
But with a face like mine, who wouldn't want pictures of me?? Doesn't it just brighten your spirits, seeing these great photos?
[Not to mention, it's not only Papyrus, and not only Papyrus and Sans... but that looks like a familiar white canine, too! The small white dog Appears from wherever it's been lurking, clambers up onto Papyrus lap, and gets a load of what looks suspiciously like a picture of itself from their home. Isn't that mysterious.]
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With all these, everyone must be glowing back home. [But actually, Papyrus isn't wrong. There's something nice about them, even if Sans can't remember the details.
Flip, flip, flip... Papyrus (next to a red convertible), Papyrus (posing with way too many sunglasses), Papyrus--being carried by a blue fish monster. It's even not blurry!]
Here we go.
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Oh, the blue fish lady! [She sure seems to like to carry people. And there's no hesitation from Papyrus in gauging her as her, despite hesitating with they with so many people of the islands.]
And it's not blurry...
[If anything, it looks very deliberately posed, with some kind of pretended-dismay and laughter in his own face.]
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Unless. What if she's secretly our sister, too.
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Hmmm. She seems like... an older sister, if a sister. [Partly because she's taller than Papyrus, partly because she's hauling him around in this picture. He goes still, then considers Sans.] Say......... do you remember. How old you are.
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Actually, his birthday's coming up, isn't it? Yeah. He'll be thirty-three soon. Well, nobody knows when his birthday is anyway, and they have more important things to worry about than that.] What about you?
[Looking at Papyrus, Sans would guess early twenties, but maybe Papyrus just looks young. Or maybe he looks older than he is?]
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farmer sans... reminded of all the oira art
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this icon: obligatory
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