#gasterouxls

literally its a godtier ship and i need u guys to understand how good it is or else i'll scream

firstly, taking into account their characters: they're both overdramatic silly dorks. with rouxls, its kind of self explanatory. that's his whole deal! "but spooky, how ever is gaster similar to rouxls in this fashion?" i hear you cry in concern like a sickly bedridden victorian era child from the ether, while i wonder how people are yet still finding my house to talk about a ship,

WHAT is more dramatic than that line? everyone presumes this to be gaster, yes? and he sounds like a big dork!! he sounds like a goofy DM having a blast thrusting upon u his newest plots he spent a week planning before u all met for this round of DnD! and from this, and the "gash weaves down as if you cry" poem, i really do believe gaster isnt going to be some senseless Big Bad, but rather, a man... a flawed man but a man nonetheless.

he is not a good man, if we are to believe he's orchestrated many things in deltarune, but i hardly believe he's doing it out of like. some innate cruelty or Evil quality or anything like that. i think he has a reason for his actions, and he feels very strongly about achieving his goals like this, even if he's going about it in a Presumably bad way... he is just a man... and i can empathize with that...

now, i know you're probably wonder Why And How this fucking Worms For Brains duke of puzzles complements him in a way that'd make me want to die on this hill of a ship. yeah rouxls is a favorite of mine but i really think they have a hidden depth to them thats beyond crackship territory! (and lest ye be reminded, fellow fandom Olds, papyton had originally started as a "crackship" itself despite its popularity now)

to start: lets talk about rouxls kaard, duke of puzzles

rouxls... is a strangely complex character, the more you look at him past his hilarious failures. he's... utterly fucking ridiculous with that speech quirk of his but lancer LOVES him despite not being his "real" dad. and when rouxls outright denies all connection to him and complains about the young Jack to the heroes? interesting. even more interesting when he admits some level of care/love for the boy shortly after.

rouxls is petty, vindictive, a liar, dramatic, and hates being wrong but... lancer loves him. and rouxls loves him back. he's stated to be the one that cooks and cleans in the castle, and is implied to have knitted that lacy scarf you can buy for ralsei and therefore helped lancer knit those itchy beanies for the puzzle guys, and gives lancer ginger ale when he's sick. he's literally the new step dad. he presumably finds it hard to claim parenthood over lancer but he DOES love lancer and cared for him more than spade king was implied to...

moreover, rouxls seems desperate to be the number 2 to someone's Big Bad again. that was pretty plainly stated in chapter 2. and who are we thinking's gonna be the secret villainous character (thats probably mostly alright if he stopped doing fuckshit) of DR? oh gaster? oh alright.

so we have 2 overdramatic, presumably villainous men that are probably not as bad as initially thought that most definitely have a chance to interact through one of them's need to be someone's high level henchman to feel fulfilled and that previous relationship of the same exact kind was implied to be Kinda Gay through certain framing and theyre both elegant goths and care a lot abt their goals and are dorks and one of them could help the other Fucking Dominate at engineering puzzles?

By silent candlelight the Rules Card wrote, dipping his quill in royal blue ink. Mountains of paperwork to look over, all dumped unto him by the terror of His Majesty. How long had it been since he'd put Lancer down to sleep? He didn't know. Hours ago probably. Hardly important now, he figured, with so many deadlines to meet.

Another paper in the finished pile, another paper plucked from the work yet to be finished.

Ugh. Another new puzzle architecture plan to look over. Rouxls swore he could feel his brain oozing out of his ears from the sheer monotony of it all. Allowing himself an annoyed groan, the Duke rubbed at his eyes which were drowning in sleep, hoping to massage them to life renewed. A deafening clank soon arose from outside Rouxls's quarters, however, waking the Duke up far faster than even the strongest espresso coffee.

The clanking only continued. It almost sounded like armor.

Roused from his chair, Rouxls took the white candle by the silver handle of the home it made in the extravagant candleholder befitting the rest of the royal's decor and crossed the floor quickly to make it to his door. He knew what the night patrol sounded like as countless nights up working made him very familiar to jingling footsteps ambling in the dark but this... This certainly was not any one of them. With a quiet creak, Rouxls opened the door to peek through the widening sliver, hoping to see whatever fiend may have lain past it.

There was a heavily armored figure there, in the dark, just beyond his candle's light. Rouxls's eyes widened, unfamiliar with this knight hidden in shadow. Had the Spade King somehow forgotten to clue him in on this strange Sir? Or did the King think such information beneath the Duke's station...

Rouxls was inspired to investigate regardless.

"HALT!" Rouxls called after the figure, soon stepping out of the safety of his room and holding his candle before him to light the space betwixt the two.

There was a man there. Tall and lanky, Rouxls could tell, even in shining platinum armor that broadened the silhoutte. And the man looked back at him from behind the shade of his helmet's visor. A pinprick of white in darkness.

Rouxls felt like he was sweating under the other man's odd gaze.

"Wh-who art thee? What be thine business h're?" Rouxls pressed on, despite his voice's faltering.

"I AM- YOUR KING'S KNIGHT," a surprisingly mechanical voice greeted Rouxls's query. Something akin to that one program that Rouxls vaguely remembered read text aloud. The Knight stepped toward the royal, causing Rouxls to jump just slightly. "CARRYING OUT ROYAL DUTIES. MAY I ASK WHAT YOU ARE DOING UP SO LATE YOURSELF, DUKE?"

"I-I, er- Uh... I'ms't carryinge out royal duties mineself?" Rouxls sputtered. How did this Knight know him already? Did his reputation as the new Duke of Puzzles really exceed him so much? "Lookingeth over puzzle plans and approvings't budgets and such..."

A strange silence hung over the air.

"I REMEMBER A TIME WHEN I HAD SIMILAR DUTIES. THAT TIME IS... GONE NOW. REGARDLESS OF THAT, IT IS VERY LATE. I SINCERELY HOPE THAT YOU ARE NOT OVERWORKING YOURSELF."

"'Tis... difficult not to, Sir Knight," Rouxls offered with a hesitant and awkward smile. "So many deadlines to meeteth..."

"AND SO LITTLE LIFE YET TO LIVE. IT IS BEST TO ENJOY YOUR TIME ON THIS MORTAL COIL, DUKE."

Ruminating on this thought, Rouxls looked at the man with a raised brow.

"...A fan of the great classics thyself, art thou, Sir Knight?"

"PERHAPS."

Rouxls felt like he was hearing things, but that robotic voice almost sounded to have a smile in it. Was it strange for Rouxls to be smiling wider because of it, he questioned himself.

"I MUST LEAVE NOW," The Knight began as he closed that space between he and Rouxls. "DO TRY TO NOT OVEREXERT YOURSELF, THY GRACE."

And with that, a gauntlet shining white slid forth from the dark to pinch the candle's wick and leave Rouxls alone there in the sudden dark. So many emotions roiled within the Kaard as he wandered back to his room over the interaction with that strange Knight, it was safe to say he knew he wouldn't be sleeping for another good few hours.