*No worries, hun! Asks like these don’t make me uncomfortable. When things keep piling on, break-downs like this happen, and I’ve been through plenty where I wished there had been a cute skelebae there, too. I hope things have gotten better now. ❤
“EXCUSE ME.”
You start a little, your head buried in your arms. You had tried to pull your legs up on the bench, to curl up and look as if you were taking a quick nap before class, but the boisterous voice that rang out directly from your left managed to ruin the facade by making you jump.
Surely, the person couldn’t be talking to you. Everyone around you is busy either talking or heading to their own class, and you’ve been careful to be as quiet as possible. Anyone that just glanced your way would surely think you were just napping.
He’s talking to someone next to you or behind you. He’ll go away in a moment, he –
A hand grasps your shoulder and shakes you slightly.
“EXCUSE ME, HUMAN?”
Human? As startled as you are (and mortified; you may be in public, but you’re trying desperately not to draw attention to yourself), you pick up on that odd phrase. Reluctantly, you lift your head from your knees and meet the hollow sockets of a skeleton monster. You’ve seen monsters around before, especially on your college campus, but this is the first time you’ve come face-to-face with a skeleton.
Your arms drop from your knees. You forget about hiding your face and instead study his. For a skull, it’s rather animated. There’s a brief moment before you notice his bright, toothy grin fall and his brow bones pinch together. Confusion? Concern?
“ARE YOU ALL RIGHT??”
Shit. Oh yeah, you were in the middle of a melt-down, huh? Things had been a little much lately, and they built and built until you couldn’t take it anymore. It wasn’t like you to cry in public, but with everything going on, you couldn’t help it. Undoubtedly, he could see it on your face – the tear-tracks on your cheeks and your blood-shot eyes. You pull your sleeve down past your palm and hurriedly wipe your cheeks.
“Ye…yeah, I’m fine, I just…” you trail, not willing to go into the details with a stranger. Instead, you suck in a shaky breath and force a bright smile. “Did you need something?”
His concern melts away, replaced with vibrant grin. “YES! I WAS WONDERING IF YOU COULD DIRECT ME TO… WHAT WAS IT CALLED AGAIN?? THE CENTER OF STUDENTS?” He cups his chin in a gloved hand and rubs it. For the first time, you realize that he’s wearing a hoodie with the school name on it, some bone-tight skinny jeans, and a tattered red scarf. Somehow, he really pulls the look off.
“The Student Center, yeah,” you correct, leaning to the side of the bench so you could point to a set of double doors. “Just head out through there and follow the sidewalk until you see a single-story, round building. It should have a sign outside it.”
“THANK YOU!” The skeleton takes a step forward, then pauses. When he turns around again, he tilts his head to the side, bone brows knitted. “UM… ACTUALLY, I DON’T KNOW IF I CAN FIND IT AFTER ALL. IT MAY BE BEST IF I HAD A GUIDE – SOMEONE THAT KNOWS THIS PLACE WELL! BUT I WONDER WHERE I COULD FIND SOMEONE LIKE THAT??”
He’s giving you a sidelong stare and his smile looks almost… sly. “Do you want me to go with you?”
“WELL, IF YOU INSIST! IT WOULD PROBABLY BE FOR THE BEST!”
He’s a funny guy, you think as you stand and wipe your face again. You don’t want to have attention drawn to you, and standing beside a skeleton monster that towers over you and doesn’t appear to have an inside voice isn’t exactly keeping a low profile. However, he seems nice, and you really can’t say no to that smile.
Besides, you still have nearly an hour before class.
“Okay, it’s this way,” you instruct, leading him through the doors. He matches your stride, beaming and chattering away. By the time you reach the Student Center, you learn that his name is “THE GREAT PAPYRUS”, he’s doing his general studies while he figures out what he wants to major in, and he’s considered the monster mascot – the friendly face of monster kind. Or… he was, until they realized that humans relate skeletons to the Grim Reaper, and that didn’t go over so well.
He’s funny and charismatic, making you laugh with his stories, and inquiring into your own studies with genuine interest. He doesn’t ask you what was wrong; he doesn’t even try to pry. He keeps the conversation on fun things, learning what you like. Cooking really interests him, so he’s also taking some culinary classes; there’s even a chance he’ll switch his major to that. Time flies by, and you check the time on your phone. If you don’t hurry, you’re going to be late to class.
“I’m sorry, Papyrus, but I really need to go. But this was fun.” Your smile isn’t watery or forced this time.
“NYEH HEH, BUT OF COURSE! FUN IS MY MIDDLE NAME!” He pulls out his own cell and flicks through a couple of screens. “CAN I HAVE YOUR NUMBER? THEN WE COULD HAVE FUN AT A MORE CONVENIENT TIME!”
You’re not the type to just give out your number at random… but you really would like to do this again. “Yeah, here. Let me get yours, too.”
You exchange numbers, Papyrus sweeps you up into a hug, and then you go your separate ways. You feel much better on your way to class; he was a great distraction, and talking to him really lifted your mood.
Not even five minutes later, your phone buzzes in your pocket.
Papyrus the Great: WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE FOOD??
Papyrus the Great:
I’M GOING TO MASTER IT AND THEN YOU COULD COME OVER AND HAVE DINNER!
Papyrus the Great:
IF YOU WANT! NO PRESSURE! BUT I DO EAGERLY AWAIT YOUR REPLY!!
If there’s one thing you learned that day, it’s that life got a lot more interesting after you met Papyrus.
After all, not everyone can say they went for dinner at a sweetheart of a skeleton’s house and got to meet the king of monsters.
Gunna start moving my art over the next couple days and wont be posting here anymore. I’ll still crosspost sfw stuff (and probably cropped nsfw stuff?) over on safetyprance which will probably get the safetytrance url once this is over
If you’re confused by what’s going on with tumblr- don’t beat yourself up about not being able to keep up.
If you have irl stresses with exams, work etc and this is just one thing extra thing you can’t deal with – don’t beat yourself up about ‘not caring enough’.
If your favourite blogs are leaving to X Y Z platform and you’re not sure where you want to go or if you even want to leave- don’t beat yourself up about not being able to support everyone on every platform.
If you’re a creator but this whole thing is making you clam up when you try to create something or you’re spending time looking into new places instead of creating- don’t beat yourself up about loosing your drive.
If you make or enjoy nsfw/suggestive media and this change is making you feel like you’re doing something ‘wrong’- it’s not, censorship is the problem and not you.
Please, If everything that’s happening around tumblr makes you feel like crap- Don’t beat yourself up about it.
It’s confusing, stressful and can make any issues you’re dealing with seem even worse than usual. Don’t punish yourself if you’re being negatively effected by what’s happening.
I’m sorry I wasn’t able to reply sooner to all of your concerns, I normally stay at school quite late on Mondays and Wednesday’s especially now that it’s close to finals.
Regarding other platforms I’m glad to say I have two twitter accounts: one is NSFW and the other is Personal. I will possibly make a SFW account soon as well.
And I also have an Ao3 account which you can find here: nsfwgarbagedump it is where I’ll be posting my future fanfics such as the Kustard Mafia!AU. and a secret project.
I know you’re all concerned right now, and in order to make sure you all know where I’ll be this post will be reblogged every day until the 17th. As I am a NSFW blog chances are I might not live on here anymore and while that saddens me I just hope to continue sharing fun and happy memories with you all. If you can, please be sure to follow me on this adventure!
I will continue posting art however chances are that might end on the 17th if Tumblr goes through with its new policy. Please try to remain positive and we will all make it out alright!
QuikSilvear's Blog 