#pg!geno

Brief Synopsis:

When 16-year-old Nightmare hits his breaking point under the cruelty of Dreamtale’s villagers, a violent outburst of his negativity fractures reality itself. Across the space of the Multiverse, a dying Geno Sans escapes into a blank Save Screen. Two identical bursts of agony resonate, forcing the system code to crash and opening a glitching portal between two lonely, rejected souls. Heavy AU story focused on psychological drama, angst, and slow-burn tragedy.

Chapter 1 ---> [Read]

Chapter 2 is available right below! Please enjoy the read.✨ Chapter 3 ---> [Read] Chapter 4 ---> [Read]

Credits:

Geno Sans (Aftertale) belongs to @loverofpiggies

(Crayon Queen) Nightmare Sans (Dreamtale) belongs to @jokublog

Original !Purple Glitch story and artwork cover by me (@pastelmore32)

///

# PURPLE GLITCH: VOLUME 1. THE RESONANCE OF PAIN

## CHAPTER 2: SUFFOCATING FEELING OF FROZEN TIME

The castle of Dreamtale was never meant to be an impenetrable fortress. Its grand, white stone walls wrapped loosely around a massive, sun-drenched courtyard, where the great Tree of Feelings spread its magnificent canopy over the world. The heavy iron gates always stood wide open, inviting hundreds of pilgrims and travelers every single day to bask in the radiant warmth of the golden fruits. 

Dream loved those gates. He loved the laughter of the children running through them, the grateful smiles of the village elders, and the soft, collective sigh of a valley that knew no sorrow. Born as the embodiment of positive emotions, Dream lived in a world where everyone always smiled at him. He was drowning in adoration, blinded by the pure, unfiltered light of his own power. To Dream, the world was inherently good, and because his own heart was filled with boundless joy, he genuinely believed that everyone in Dreamtale was happy by default. He simply couldn't comprehend that darkness could fester right under his nose.

But for a seventeen-year-old Nightmare, those wide-open gates were nothing short of a curse. The castle offered him no sanctuary. While Dream was away on the other side of the valley, handing out positive ripples to the farmers, the mob would corner Nightmare in the deep, shadow-choked hollows of the massive roots right in the middle of the courtyard. They kicked him, hurled heavy stones at his head, and dragged his face through the dirt, whispering viciously that his very presence "defiled" the holy ground. 

And the castle guards, standing just a few dozen yards away, would intentionally turn their backs. They didn't see Nightmare's blood as a crime; they saw his dark aura as an anomaly that shouldn't exist in their perfect paradise. They ignored the cruelty, believing they were protecting the castle's harmony. This absolute, legalized betrayal in his own home was what broke Nightmare's heart every single day, forcing his magic to rip open a portal, fleeing into the blank, silent canvas of the Save Screen. Over those eighteen months, the blank emptiness of the Save Screen had subtly transformed into the only place where Nightmare could truly breathe. It was a bizarre, ironic paradox: a glitching, monochromatic void had become his safest, most comfortable home, while his own beautiful, sunlit kingdom felt like a hostile prison. Whenever the weight of Dreamtale’s hatred became too heavy to bear, Nightmare didn't just flee; he ran to Geno. 

---

A year had bled away since his first meeting with Geno. Nightmare had grown significantly, his purple jacket now fitting a bit too tight around his shoulders, but every single time he stepped through the portal, a suffocating wall rose up in his chest.

But for Geno, time stood still right after his escape from the genocide incident. Due to the stagnant magic of the Save Screen, his body and mind were permanently locked at the age of twenty with his 0.1 HP. He was a grown man who had survived a brutal war and the terrifying deaths of all people he loved. And Nightmare... Nightmare was still just a frightened, underage boy in Geno’s eyes, someone to be covered with a warm scarf and fiercely protected like a fragile child.

They had developed their own quiet, comforting routines. Nightmare loved the soft, rhythmic sound of Geno’s breathing, the way the older skeleton would grumble but always make room for him on the sterile white floor, and how they would sit side by side for hours in absolute silence, reading books under the artificial glow of the system screens. Geno had become his anchor. For a boy who was constantly feared or despised, the fact that Geno looked at him without a single drop of malice was the greatest comfort he had ever known. He had attached himself to the glitching skeleton with all the fierce, desperate loyalty of a lonely heart that had finally found its safe harbor.

Nightmare couldn't pinpoint the exact moment it happened. Was it when Geno grumbled but still wrapped the scarf around him tighter? Was it when he caught Geno actually smiling at one of his stupid jokes from books they read together - a real, tired, genuine smile that made his whole face softer? Or was it the night Geno told him, barely above a whisper, that he used to read to his brother too?

Nightmare only knew that one day he looked at Geno and his soul ached for a completely different reason. It wasn't the ache of loneliness anymore. It was the ache of wanting to be seen. To be held. To be the reason that tired smile appeared on that scarred face. He buried his face deeper into the red scarf and silently cursed himself for being too young, too small, too broken to ever be taken seriously.

Nightmare sat on the sterile white floor, hugging his knees tightly to his chest, quietly watching Geno unpack the heavy basket he had brought. The young prince had tried everything: ordinary clothes, medical salves, bandages, and homemade food. He desperately searched for anything that could help, but the neon system counter above Geno’s chest never budged from its lethal mark. " - Kid, I’ve told you a hundred times," Geno sighed softly, his voice echoing in the emptiness as he accepted a slice of blueberry pie. " - The magic of this white box keeps my code in absolute stasis. Your bandages and medicines don't work here. The wound won't heal from mortal food."

" - I just... thought maybe it would work this time," Nightmare murmured, lowering his gaze and burying his face in the thick scarlet scarf that always smelled of dry dust and safety. 

He reached out to take the empty plate, but as he did, his fingers accidentally brushed against Geno’s cold, glitching hand. An electric, terrifying jolt shot straight up Nightmare's spine. He flinched, pulling his hand back so fast he nearly dropped the basket. His heart began to hammer violently against his ribs, a wild, chaotic rhythm that had nothing to do with the fear of the villagers. 

Geno blinked, tilting his head slightly, his single visible eye socket blinking in confusion. " - You okay, kiddo? Your face is... kind of bright purple."

" - I-I'm fine! Just... hot. It's hot in here," Nightmare stammered miserably, completely forgetting that the Save Screen had no temperature at all. “ - Or I’m just… I've с-сaught a cold. ” Geno shrugged in response. He didn't seem to suspect a thing. “- Hm? Tough luck, buddy. “

Nightmare squeezed his eyes shut, burning with a deep, suffocating blush that stained his cheekbones a dark violet. He quickly buried his face back into the thick scarlet scarf, trying to hide. But the scent of dry dust and Geno’s soul caught in his throat, making his head spin. Right there, trapped in his own sudden panic, Nightmare realized the terrifying truth. He wasn't just running here for safety anymore. He loved the way Geno looked at him. He loved the rough, comforting edge of his voice. He was falling for him, deeply and irreversibly, and the sheer weight of that realization made him feel smaller and more helpless than ever before. 

A mature, deeply rooted affection had long been burning in the young guardian's chest for this glitching skeleton with red scarf, but Nightmare was terrified to speak of it. To a twenty-year-old man like Geno, he was just too small. A child. A burden. Nightmare stared at Geno’s sharp profile, at the white pixels flickering erratically by his eye socket, and mentally pleaded with himself:

“I just need to wait. Just a little longer. I need to reach his twenty. I need to grow up. Just a little bit… When I turn eighteen, he will finally be able to see me as an equal. Not as the crying child from the portal... but as something more. Not as a mere replacement for the lost brother he mourns so deeply...”

This feeling of frozen time was suffocating.

---

It was on an ordinary morning when Grillby, a quiet and observant elemental servant of the inner chambers, approached the golden prince, Dream. The servant shared important information about finding something important. The castle laborers, while clearing out ancient, collapsed debris in the deepest cellars, had stumbled upon a false stone wall hidden behind heavy oak shelves. Recognizing the sheer historical importance of the find, Grillby immediately went to Dream. As the servants suggested, this new-founded room could have once belonged to Nim, the previous keeper of the Tree of Feelings before the birth of the new guardians. She died suddenly.

Dream’s eyes lit up with pure, childhood excitement. An adventure right inside the castle! Without hesitation, he dashed across the hall, spotted Nightmare sitting quietly in the shadows, and forcefully grabbed his twin brother by the hand. He refused to unearth any royal secrets without Nightmare. 

Grillby led the way down the spiral stone stairs, holding a lantern high. Yet, as they walked, the servant’s demeanor shifted noticeably. Grillby kept a respectful, warm distance from Dream, answering his enthusiastic questions with a polite smile, but every time his fiery gaze accidentally brushed past Nightmare, his flames flickered with a cold, guarded bias. He didn't say a word, but the way he subtly tilted the lantern away, leaving Nightmare to walk in the dim shadows, spoke volumes. It was that familiar, painful prejudice that the entire valley shared. Nightmare pretended not to notice, tightly gripping his own sleeves.

At the bottom of the stairs, behind the broken masonry, lay a completely hidden, dust-covered wing of the ancient library. 

Toriel, the grand, wise keeper of the realm of books, stood waiting by the arched entrance. She adjusted her heavy robes, her gaze calmly evaluating the three who had just entered. First, she looked at Grillby, then at the beaming Dream, and finally, her soft, intelligent eyes rested on Nightmare. 

The contrast in treatment was instant and striking. While Grillby stood tense, pointedly ignoring the dark prince, Toriel stepped forward. She didn't flinch from Nightmare’s heavy, negative aura. Instead, she offered the group a welcoming, deeply meaningful nod, her gaze lingering on Nightmare with a profound, unspoken warmth. With a gentle sweep of her hand, she silently granted them permission to pass into the deepest, most sacred vault of the archive, her subtle smile making it clear to the reader that she did not share the kingdom's prejudice.

It was there, among the half-rotted scrolls of the world's creators, that Nightmare's fingers brushed against the hidden journals of the Tree of Feelings. As his eyes scanned the faded, elegant handwriting, his heart skipped a beat. 

The golden apples held a concentrated, creative magic of pure emotions, a magic capable of rewriting damaged code and permanently closing even the most fatal wounds of a shattered soul.

Nightmare felt a surge of wild, overwhelming joy. Geno could be saved. His 0.1 HP could be restored.

But right on the heels of that joy came a cold, paralyzing fear. If he brought the golden fruit to Geno right now, Geno's code would release its grip on the Save Screen, and he would move forward in time into the normal world. He sure is an independent man who would drift far ahead, while Nightmare remained trapped in his vulnerable teenage years. The gap between them would widen, and Geno would forever look down on him as a child.

So, Nightmare made a heavy, selfish, yet deeply human choice: to wait. He would give Geno the gift of healing strictly on his own eighteenth birthday, proving they were finally both adults, ready to step into the future together, as equals.

- - -

From that day on, Nightmare began visiting the hidden room archive completely alone, studying Nim’s old journals, scrolls and tiny notes about Tree of Feelings and magic apples. Every afternoon, he would sit at a long wooden table beneath a dim magical lamp, quietly translating the ancient glyphs. Toriel was always there, moving silently between the tall bookshelves, her presence a peaceful anchor in his turbulent life.

During one of those quiet evenings, as Nightmare carefully rolled up a fragile parchment, Toriel paused beside his table. She placed a warm, heavy hand gently on his shoulder. A simple, maternal gesture that no one in Dreamtale had ever offered him.

" - You possess a very bright mind, young prince," Toriel said, her voice a soft, comforting hum in the silence of the library.

" - Never let the whispers of the courtyard dim your spirit. Knowledge is the ultimate light, Nightmare. It is a light capable of guiding, healing, and saving even the darkest, most neglected souls. Keep searching, young prince of shadows. The answers you seek are already within your reach."

Nightmare froze, a lump forming in his throat. Someone looked past his dark aura and saw him. He raised his head, looking up at the kind face of the librarian, and a genuine, radiant smile broke across his face. It wasn't the shy, hidden smirk he usually wore. It was a warm, happy smile of true gratitude. Toriel smiled back, softly patting his shoulder before returning to her duties, leaving Nightmare with a heart full of renewed motivation to find the finest golden apple for Geno’s cure.

He could give it to Geno right now. The perfect apple was ready and waiting. Nightmare looked thoughtfully at this sacred fruit lying before him on the library desk, caught between hope and unease. One bite, and Geno's 0.1 HP would begin to heal…

But then Geno would be free. His code would unlock, and he'd step into a world that moved forward while Nightmare stayed trapped in his vulnerable teenage years. The gap between them would become a canyon. Geno would see him as a child forever - a frightened little thing to be protected, not an equal to stand beside.

No. He had to wait. Just until his eighteenth birthday. Just until he could stand before Geno as an adult, as a man, and say: " - Look. I saved you. I'm not a child anymore. I'm the one who healed you."

The words burned in his chest like a vow. He pressed the apple to his heart and closed his eyes, drowning in his own dreams of the bright future.

---

Weeks later, the bright meadow in the inner courtyard of the castle was filled with the sweet scent of blooming flowers. Dream ran up to Nightmare with a playful, teasing grin, his eyes sparkling with brotherly amusement:

" - Hey, brother! You've been disappearing somewhere pretty often lately... right after we found out that golden apples can heal deep wounds. Oh! Don't tell me... Did you find yourself a lady of the heart?! Trying to help her, noble prince?"

" - Not exactly..." Nightmare turned away sharply, pulling his hood down to hide the sudden purple flush creeping up his cheekbones.

" More like just trying to be useful. I am not capable of feeling such things. I am the guardian of negativity, remember?"

" - Liar!" Dream laughed out loud. " - I feel you can. Knew it!" And then he came closer, nudging his brother playfully with an elbow. 

Dream happily ran ahead, laughing and shouting to the guards about the upcoming grand preparations for their eighteenth birthday of the prince-keepers. Nightmare remained standing entirely alone under the shadows of the mother Tree. The sounds of Dreamtale rustling through the treetops were supposed to be calming, but... to Nightmare, the world suddenly felt freezing cold. From afar, he looked with anxiety at the crowd preparing to celebrate the festival in the royal courtyard. Slowly, he lowered his hand into the deep, dark pocket of his jacket and pulled out a flawlessly round, shimmering golden apple - the very fruit whose healing magic he had spent months calibrating for Geno. Thinking of it, Nightmare pressed the warm, glowing fruit against his chest, closing his eyes tightly. A fragile, dreamy smile brushed his lips. He waited. He waited patiently. A day when he would cross the threshold of adulthood, hand this gold to Geno, and finally be seen as a man. Not as a substitute for a dead Papyrus... but as an equal capable of protecting him. Nightmare drowned in his own hopes, desperately forcing himself to ignore just how cruel, unfair, and agonizing the world was to him. He endured the beatings of the crowd, the silence of the guards, the crushing loneliness. He endured it all for the sake of that single day.

But beneath his fingers, where his trembling hands clutched the perfect golden skin, something dark was happening. From the sheer weight of the suppressed, unwept negativity that had been rotting inside his soul for years, the apple... began to turn a suffocating, bruised black. Dark, barely visible corrupt veins slowly crept outward from his palm, tightening around the gold, completely unnoticed by Nightmare himself.

💜The bloodmoon is rising💜

“He had never viewed him as anything more than a friend…

. . .

- He really is a unique child, isn't he? Today, he ran until he was utterly exhausted again. He tried to build a bird out of his crystals—the one from the book you recently brought back from Dreamtale. But the crystals fell apart, and he just laughed.

- Oh, thank goodness he finally fell asleep. What a baby.

- He shouldn't waste his magic on trifles. The code of his crystal soul is a lock that has somehow sealed within itself the explosive negative energy of the apples' corruption and my own excessive determination. The more he plays, the greater the strain on his system.

- *soft giggle* He’s three years old, Geno. He’s a child. And as long as this "lock" is happy, the negativity corruption in my head stays silent. This crystal... *points to his eye* ...didn't even pulse today.

- Don't deny that you care about him. I saw how tenderly you adjust his scarf when the little one gets tangled up in it. Some freedom isn’t bad for him. Patch keeps us both stable. He's our son…

- A son?! Don't you ever call him that in front of me, Nightmare! We don't have a son! (his voice begins to tremble and glitch; he places his hand directly over his crystal scar) We have a system anomaly that saved our pathetic lives when we almost wiped out the entire Dreamtale! Your homeworld! A-and I… I’m simply keeping an eye on the code that prevents the multiverse from collapsing. If baby gets tangled up and damages itself, the consequences could be fatal. It’s pure logic. I know what it’s like to lose your world, Nightmare. I lost Papyrus. Everything I touch turns to dust and errors! I-I can't...

- I can't bear the thought of getting attached to this boy, only for him to disappear one day after completing his task.

- . . .

Omg I’m so late but I think you will forgive me guys!

Today theme is perfect for Purple Glitch AU mini comic I always wanted to visualise someday

Brief Synopsis:

When 16-year-old Nightmare hits his breaking point under the cruelty of Dreamtale’s villagers, a violent outburst of his negativity fractures reality itself. Across the space of the Multiverse, a dying Geno Sans escapes into a blank Save Screen. Two identical bursts of agony resonate, forcing the system code to crash and opening a glitching portal between two lonely, rejected souls. Heavy AU story focused on psychological drama, angst, and slow-burn tragedy.

The full text of Chapter 1 is available right below! Please enjoy the read.✨ Chapter 2 ---> [Read] Chapter 3 ---> [Read] Chapter 4 ---> [Read]

Credits: Geno Sans (Aftertale) belongs to @loverofpiggies (Crayon Queen) Nightmare Sans (Dreamtale) belongs to @jokublog Original !Purple Glitch story and artwork cover by me (@pastelmore32)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- # PURPLE GLITCH: VOLUME 1. THE RESONANCE OF PAIN

## CHAPTER 1: THE RESONANCE OF SCARRED SOULS

There was nothing around.

Only an endless, suffocating darkness that felt almost tangible. A vast, white space entirely stripped of sound, time, and direction.

Deep within the dead center of this terrifying void, a broken silhouette knelt, his head hung low in complete defeat. A long, ragged scarf of a dull red color lay lifelessly across the invisible floor, stretching out like a trail of dried blood. On the pristine white fabric of his jacket, dark, wet stains were clearly visible.

The left side of his skull was entirely hidden beneath a harsh, erratically flickering white glitch effect that buzzed with silent malice. His single right pupil - a deep, canonical blood-red - trembled frantically with a mixture of raw panic and agony. His right hand clutched his own ribcage in desperation, trying to hold himself together as a thick, crimson fluid gushed through the pale phalanges of his fingers.

This was Geno. He breathed heavily, a sharp, ragged wheeze cutting through the silence as he forced bitter words through his clenched teeth into the emptiness. His voice echoed, doubling with a haunting digital delay.

" - Chara... You goddamn child... " His shoulders shook subtly from a toxic cocktail of rage and utter helplessness. " - You took everything. My home. My brother. You burned my entire world to its very core..."

Geno slowly raised his head, and a blind, pure hatred flared up in his single crimson eye. This was his absolute breaking point. A limit that his fracturing, glitching code could no longer endure.

" - Do you think this is the end?! " he screamed, his voice breaking into a piercing, glitchy crescendo. " - I hate you... I HATE YOU! "

Overcoming the searing agony in his soul, Geno summoned every last ounce of his remaining strength and slammed both fists down onto the invisible floor of the void with all his might.

*CRASH!*

The exact moment his fists hit the ground, the sound in the Multiverse abruptly cut off. Something is wrong.

—

At that exact same second, a bright, blinding light illuminated a completely different reality. The sky of Dreamtale was so azure and piercingly clear that it often made sixteen-year-old Nightmare’s eye sockets ache. To him, this world had always been way too loud, too bright, and too colorful.

Nightmare lay on a soft green meadow, curled up at the very foot of the giant Tree of Feelings. He buried his face deep into the dry, knotted roots, trying to hide his tears from the midday sun. His purple jacket was stained with dirt from the road, and a fresh, muddy footprint from someone’s heavy boot was clearly stamped onto his left sleeve.

The villagers had left only ten minutes ago. They walked away slowly, laughing out loud and joking about how easily they managed to shove the "rotten, cursed apple" face-first into the dirt, kicking him closer to the roots where a monster like him belonged.

The Dreamtale castle was never meant to be an impenetrable citadel. Its white stone walls enclosed a massive, sun-drenched courtyard, where the great Tree of Feelings spread its magnificent canopy. The heavy gates always stood wide open, inviting hundreds of pilgrims daily to bask in the radiant warmth of the golden fruits. 

But the castle offered Nightmare no protection. The royal guard, who practically worshiped his twin brother Dream, treated the Guardian of Negativity with cold, silent contempt. The mob had cornered Nightmare in the deep, shadow-choked hollows of the roots right in the middle of that busy courtyard. They kicked him and hurled heavy stones, while the castle guards, standing just a few dozen yards away, intentionally turned their heads, looking the other way.

Nightmare didn’t move. He clutched the dry grass with his fingers until his hands hurt. In his chest, where a normal monster’s soul would glow with a steady, warm light, something heavy, thick, and suffocating was churning. This wasn't just a child’s hurt anymore. It was a deep, ringing hatred for every single living being in this valley. A hatred mixed with an unbearable, tearing loneliness.

“ Why? I’m just guarding the dark side. I’m just existing... I didn't do anything to them... ” he thought, as large, salty tears dripped onto the bark of the tree.

His brother, Dream, was somewhere out there again, helping someone on the other side of the village. Dream didn't see. Dream never managed to notice when Nightmare was bleeding inside…

A sudden flash of pure rage, the concentrated agony of years of silent humiliation, forced Nightmare to his knees. Choking on unwept tears, he looked at his trembling hands. The overwhelming grief escalated into a peak, uncontrollable mental explosion. Nightmare squeezed his eyes shut and slammed both fists down into the dry earth at the roots of the Tree with all his might.

" I hate you… I hate you all! " he rasped into the void.

*CRASH!*

The exact moment Nightmare’s fists hit the ground, the reality of Dreamtale shuddered. The air crackled with a violent, deafening tear. Two identical bursts of tearing internal pain, one from the dark, bleeding soul of Geno, the other from the broken heart of Nightmare, found each other across time and space. The logic of the Multiverse simply collapsed under such a powerful emotional resonance. 

The image around Nightmare instantly fractured, flaring with jagged pixels, neon bars of corruption, and horizontal television static. The ground beneath his fists ceased to be solid, dissolving into a digital mess. Right between the roots of the Tree of Feelings, the space ruptured, tearing open a glitching, unstable portal that sparked with purple and white light.

---

Through the jagged, sparking rift, right onto the flawlessly white, sterile floor of the Save Screen, tumbled a terrified Nightmare. The portal snapped shut behind his back with a sharp, electrical hiss, cutting off the distant noises of Dreamtale.

" - WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! " a furious, raspy scream rang out, sounding like a severe system crash. " - Who sent you?! Chara?! Speak up before I wipe your code to absolute zero! "

Right in front of Nightmare's face, sharp, unnaturally lagging white bones erupted from the floor with a deafening crack. Their jagged digital edges pinned the teenager to the ground, blocking any chance of escape. Above the bones, breathing heavily, stood Geno. His single red pupil burned with madness, lethal panic and defensive fury.

Nightmare shut his eyes in terror. He frantically pressed an old, tattered book of fairy tales to his chest, the one Toriel used to read to him in the quiet library, covering his head with it like a fragile shield.

" - Oh p-please… Don't! Please, don't hurt me! " Nightmare screamed through his tears, his whole body shaking violently. " - I just... I just wanted to hide! They... they were throwing stones at me! I don't know who Chara is! Don't hit me!"

Geno froze. His hand, raised for a lethal strike, slowly wavered in mid-air. His furious gaze scanned the intruder's vulnerable figure: the dirty, oversized purple jacket, the muddy boot print on the sleeve, the raw tears in his eyes, and the children's book clutched tightly in his trembling hands. This wasn't a ruthless human killer. This wasn't a threat. It was a beaten, terrified child.

" - Damn it... " Geno exhaled hollowly.

The sharp, lagging bones instantly dissolved into white pixel dust, clearing the path. Geno staggered, clutching his bleeding chest, and slowly stepped back, sinking heavily onto the floor a few paces away. Glancing at how Nightmare shivered from cold and residual fear in this vast, sterile whiteness. This teen is so reminiscent of his brother Papyrus. Painfully reminiscent. Geno let out a heavy sigh…

He reached out, tugged at the edge of his massive, flowing red scarf, and softly but firmly tossed it forward, draping the warm, thick fabric over Nightmare's trembling shoulders.

" - Huh... Kid, you almost gave me a heart attack with your sudden portals, " Geno grumbled, turning his face away to hide his own weakness. " - Where the hell did you even come from? " …

---

Nightmare carefully rose to his knees, still wrapping himself tightly in the comforting scarlet fabric, and timidly crawled a bit closer to his strange savior. The scarf smelled of dry dust and something vaguely, longingly familiar. From his sudden movement, the collar of Geno's torn jacket shifted slightly to the side. Nightmare caught a random glimpse of his chest and completely froze. Right in the middle of Geno's ribcage yawned a horrific, jagged, eternally bleeding wound, through which his soul was completely visible. It was cracked exactly in half, its edges crumbling into volatile digital noise, and right above it, a neon system counter glowed dimly in the cold air: [HP: 0.1 / 1]

" - Y-your... your soul... " Nightmare's breath hitched, his voice dropping to a frightened, awestruck whisper. " - Are you dying?! "

Geno flinched, his expression hardening as he hurriedly, almost roughly, pulled the edges of his jacket together, hiding the wound and the counter from sight.

" - Hey, pipe down, kiddo, don't yell, " Geno hissed, scowling in annoyance, though a deep shadow of sheer exhaustion flickered in his pupil. " -I'm not dying. I haven't been dying for a long time. As long as I'm stuck in this godforsaken white box of a Save Screen, my counter is permanently frozen. So don't lose your mind, I'm not gonna turn to dust right in front of you."

But Nightmare didn't shrink back. Instead, he gently pressed the edge of the red scarf closer to his face, shifting his gaze from Geno's jacket back to his strange glitching eye. In the purple eyes of the Guardian of Negativity, there was no fear of a monster. There was only the endless, pure empathy of a soul that knew all too well what it felt like to bleed alone.

" - But it... it hurts a lot, doesn't it? " Nightmare asked softly, almost weightlessly, crawling one final step closer. " - It hurts you every single second... " Geno completely froze. His entire cynical, protective armor gave out for a brief, silent moment. Nobody had ever pitied him for a long time. In his shattered world, everyone just died or killed, but here, this strange, weeping boy from a random portal looked at his fatal wound with such genuine, aching sorrow that something painfully turned inside his frozen code.

A familiar, bitter, and tired and sarcastic smirk appeared on Geno's face. He reached out and adjusted the heavy red scarf on Nightmare's head, gently ruffling it.

" - I've seen worse, kid. I've seen worse... Alright, drop the subject. What's that book you've got there? You're holding onto it like it's the greatest treasure in the entire Multiverse. " Nightmare timidly looked down at the colorful cover, and a tiny, hesitant smile appeared on his tear-stained face for the very first time on this day. Very long, exhausting day.

Nightmare didn't return to Dreamtale. That night, he fell asleep curled up in Geno's scarf, right there on the cold white floor of the Save Screen. His small hands clutched the scarlet fabric like a lifeline, his breathing slow and steady for the first time in years.

Geno didn't sleep. He sat beside the boy, watching the faint rise and fall of his shoulders, and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, the void didn't feel like it was swallowing him whole. He didn't know why this strange, broken kid had fallen into his world. He didn't know why he cared. But he didn't pull the scarf back. He just sat there, in the silence, and let the warmth of another soul exist next to his.

It was the beginning of something neither of them could name yet.

💜 PG!Purple Glitch AU — Character Concept: PG!Geno 💜

Fresh out of the oven! Here is the official reference sheet for PG!Geno after the devastating incident. He’s been through so much, and his new design heavily reflects his role as the protector of his hidden family.

🛠️ Design Details:

- Stable system glitch: His iconic screen glitch is now stabilized, patched up by Patch's unique magic.

- White antivirus crystal seam: Visible crystal shards integrated into his design, keeping his code together.

- Modified jacket: He now wears elements inspired by the Dreamtale castle architecture.

- Scavenger's bag: His essential gear used for scavenging resources in the frozen, crystallized ruins of Dreamtale. While Patch was growing up, Geno secretly traveled there to bring back food, clothes, and everyday items to sustain their life in the void.

Finally sharing some early concept art for my upcoming Undertale AU comic, Purple Glitch! This is Patch at around 10–12 years old.

✨ Lore Snapshot:

Patch is a child of a massive system glitch, born from the raw resonance of Geno and Passive Nightmare's codes during the collapse of Dreamtale. His crystalline soul serves as a locked vault, sealing away the volatile Corruption and unstable Determination inside him to keep the Multiverse from tearing apart. He is growing up as a proud, stubborn kid, fully believing it’s his absolute duty to control, patch, and fix the broken code of this world... completely unaware of the heavy burden cracking his own system from within.

⚠️ Disclaimer & Warnings:

Heavy Angst & Psychological Drama: This AU features slow-burn tragedy, deep emotional trauma, and complex character growth. Rare Pair Focus: The story heavily revolves around the Blood Moon ship (Geno x Passive Nightmare). Their dynamics are rooted in mutual suffering, emotional boundaries, and unspoken words.

Heavy AU Rules: The laws of this Multiverse function differently under the direct, cold intervention of the faceless System. Please respect the author’s vision!

If you ever wondered what PG!Geno sounds like in the "Purple Glitch" universe, his voice is heavily inspired by Mr.Kitty, especially in the song "My Weak Side". It has that perfect, melancholic, glitchy synth-pop undertone. I just love it. Cold on the outside, but bleeding with hidden emotions on the inside.