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Curled up and grabbed my face with an exaggerated wail because I love this interpretation and I adore when people pay more attention to the Papyri since they're all such interesting characters and have their own worlds and characteristics that have so much potential if only people would take it. I've thought about different ways people interpret Stretch for example and I like to think the two have such an awkward relationship due to them both being secretive about stuff and struggling to balance their protective nature and more private lives. I wonder how Stretch would react to Blooper(Blueberror) and visa versa since they both lost a brother and overall struggle with a lot. Blooper has new trauma and Stretch in your interpretation of him has stuff to deal with as well.
The fact that, oftentimes, even when the Sanses involved in all the Multiverse stuff still have living brothers they're supposedly attached to, those brothers still become irrelevant to their story has always saddened me a bit.
Especially because the Papyruses have the potential to be just as interesting as their brothers.
Like, imagine being Horrortale Paps and your brother gets taken away. Your brother who is the only one holding the little community you live in together. Your brother who is the one making sure that, despite the food scarcity, you still got something in your plate every day.
You worry endlessly about him. You spend days hoping he's still alive, holding fiercely onto that hope that has always defined you. And nobody else believes it. Sans had been starving himself for years, he was bound to drop dead at some point, they say. They all knew it would happen, and they didn't know how to comfort Papyrus when he still refused to believe it.
Papyrus learns to be a leader in his brother's absence. He learns to take charge, become more assertive, and stand up to Undyne. And yet, through it all, he still has the strength to remain kind. He still follows his passion for puzzles. He still cooks any chance he gets. His brother isn't there to act as a buffer between him and the world, so he has to adapt, but adapting doesn't mean giving up everything that is at his core.
And then, one day, Sans comes back. And he has some friends with him. He goes by Horror now, and he's got a bunch of new traumas to deal with. And his friends do too. Killer, Cross, Dust, they're all huddled together, hesitant to approach. Killer's putting on a front, he's all sharp edges and deceiving smiles, Cross is being all formal, he's walking on eggshells constantly, as if Papyrus would hurt him if he dared to step over a line that isn't even there, and Dust doesn't say a word. He doesn't even look at Papyrus.
Papyrus welcomes them all to his home. Horror seems uneasy at first. Papyrus is fine after all. He survived and he and Snowdin are both thriving as much as they can. For a bit, their chat is awkward and stilted, but, eventually, Horror asks: "You don't need me here anymore, do ya bro?". And Papyrus, who never gave up hope and never changed any more than he needed reassures him: "I don't need you, but I would like it if you stayed. I would like to know you're safe" and he's as loud as he's ever been, as bright and positive and, well, Horror can't say no to his little brother.
Cross, Killer, and Dust can also stay as often as they want. His brother has a big heart and he won't care about their bloody pasts. And, yeah, Killer and Cross will probably go back and forth between the Epic Sanses and Horrortale, but at least they have some stability now. At least they know that there is someone out there in the Multiverse who won't look at their scars, their high level, and their EXP and immediately think they're the scum of the Earth, and that's... well, that's nice.
On the other hand, imagine being Underswap Papyrus, and your brother was never taken from you, he chose to leave. And everyone assumes it must have been your fault. Perhaps you were too protective, and that's why. Perhaps you didn't support him enough. Perhaps you didn't get along. Perhaps you were straight-up abusive. The rumors abound both out in the Multiverse and in your own home because Blue didn't go quietly. He doesn't do quiet.
He said goodbye to all his friends while parading around with two literal gods and then he vanished into a golden portal. He dismissed all of your concerns and almost resented you for them. Because he's not weak he's not stupid and he can take care of himself. And you agree with all of those points, he's the coolest after all, but also you know nothing about the Multiverse and there are gods out there, so you can't know if being the coolest is gonna be enough to keep him safe.
Papyrus was never social. He got along with his brother, Ms. Muffet, and the man behind the door. That's his entire circle of friends. And now one of them is gone, and many more people than before have turned hostile. Because Blue is a nice person, he's nice to everyone, he's outgoing and social, of course, he wouldn't just leave his brother unless he did something to deserve that! Especially when everyone knows that Papyrus' HOPE is so low and that he's been struggling with depression for a long time. Blue wouldn't just leave.
Except he did.
Except he left.
Except he's not there anymore, because the Star Sanses could offer him glory and fame, and the love of thousands of AUs, and Papyrus could give him none of that. The only thing he could offer was his support for Blue's dreams and his unconditional love. And it was obvious to both of them that those two things could never be enough.
Papyrus doesn't change, because he was always well-rounded enough to make it by himself, just like his brother was. They were two whole people who never completed one another.
If they meet again, it won't be a sweet reunion like for the Horrortale brothers. It will be in the Omega Timeline if their AU ever gets destroyed. And they will be strangers making awkward small talk that will never develop into anything more than that, because neither of them wants the other to stay.
However, perhaps there in the Omega Timeline Papyrus can find a nice ending to his story. There are people there who are rejects just as much as he is. Who have wild rumors spread about them that are more or less founded than those about him. Other people who lost everything and are trying to find themselves with some help.
And maybe one day he can meet other Papyruses who dealt with being left behind, willingly or not. Horrortale Paps certainly wouldn't mind acquiring a lanky brother too