"Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?"
— Terry Pratchett, Going Postal
The Two Deaths timeline is a canon-compatible (as in, it won't crash it when installed ;)) "series", focusing on pre-canon character and worldbuilding, centering Grillby and Gaster. The main, carrying fic is the titular The Life and Two Deaths of (dubiously a doctor) W. D. Gaster, but side fics have popped up since. They should be readable on their own, should you want to, but you might miss on some minor connections.
Both Grillby and Gaster are written as aromantics. Whether you'd call their relationship platonic or queerplatonic is up to you, they do get little nonstandard from time to time. They are, definitely, very close.
I've been writing on TD since summer 2020 and it has been tremendously important to me ever since. Fic closest to my heart.
Fics on this page are ordered chronologically by the in-universe timeline (NOT in upload order!)
ONGOING
ONGOING.
Meta: Teens and Up, Major Character Death, Grillby, Grillby-centric, Grillby & Original
Characters(s),
Pre-Canon, Pre-War, Surface
Published: 2022-09-13
Last updated: 2022-09-13
Wordcount: 1,416
Elementals aren't inherently big, strong, dangerous or anything like that, but they do have a tendency to pop up into existence in peculiar places. Here's pieces of growing up of one that appeared in a... cooking fire?
Table of Contents; CH01, CH02
Meta: General, No Warnings, W. D. Gaster, W. D. Gaster-centric, W. D. Gaster & Original
Characters(s),
Pre-Canon, Pre-War, Surface
Published: 2023-01-06
Wordcount: 2,006
Gaster departed on his Journey To Get The Hell Away not that long ago and he's kinda broody about everything. Cue: There's A Child Under His Tree.
Meta: General, No Warnings, W. D. Gaster, Grillby, W. D. Gaster & Grillby, Pre-Canon, Pre-War,
Fluff, Pre-Canon, Pre-War, Surface
Published: 2022-05-11
Wordcount: 2,925
Alt title: Roof Repair and Gaster, You're Overthinking This, You Can Calm Down. Gaster finds out his help is needed on his morning walk. To Grillby's slight dismay, he actually agrees to help (which puts the poor flame up on a roof).
Meta: General, No Warnings, W. D. Gaster, Grillby, W. D. Gaster & Grillby, Pre-Canon, Pre-War,
Fluff, Dancing, Pre-Canon, Pre-War, Surface
Published: 2023-08-26
Wordcount: 2,390
Grillby finds Wing in a tree during his work break and decides the skeleton longingly staring off to the town square needs a dance. Or two.
Meta: General, No Warnings, W. D. Gaster, Grillby, W. D. Gaster & Grillby, Fluff, Pre-Canon,
Pre-War, Surface, Autumn, Snails
Published: 2021-09-22
Finished: 2021-09-22
Wordcount: 1,961
That afternoon, Wing sat differently than usual. Instead of his place by Firebreak's bar, he settled by a table right next to a window. Not very good for any conversation. When asked, he noted something about having to catch up on studying with an awkward smile.
Though once it started raining, that intent seemed to have gone out of the window. Perhaps literally, considering Wing was too busy staring out of it to notice he was absentmindedly drumming his fingers on a page he hadn't turned in at least half an hour.
ONGOING.
Meta: Teens and Up, Major Character Death, Graphic Depictions of Violence, W. D. Gaster, Grillby,
W. D. Gaster & Grillby, Undertale Ensemble, Self-Loathing, Dad!Grillby, Dad!Gaster, Good W. D. Gaster,
Self-Loathing, Implied/Referenced Child Neglect, Implied/Referenced Child Death, Pre-Canon
Published: 2020-09-17
Last updated: 2023-06-20
Wordcount: 78,560
W. D. Gaster survived what should have, by all means, been his own death, and now he has to deal with the consequences of the stunt he pulled along with the fact that all of Monsterkind is suddenly stuck underground.
Also, eventually, he has to learn that a family can be a fire monster, his best friend skeleton(?) scientist, and two tiny skeleton souls he was given to care for.
Table of Contents; CH01, CH02, CH03, CH04, CH05, CH06, CH07, CH08, CH09, CH10, CH11, CH12, CH13, CH14, CH15, CH16, CH17, CH18, CH19, CH20, CH21, CH22, CH23, CH24, CH25, CH26, ...