#swirlby

You said any AUs so I did all of them. I hope these are adequate!

EVERY GRILLBY

- Every few years, a piece of coal spouts out of Hotland’s lava before it animates itself and becomes a living monster. They’re adopted and raised as coal-children until they hit puberty and slowly burst into flames. Adult fire monsters still have the coal body underneath the flames, it’s just that the fire is a thin layer feeding off the coal and magical oxygen in the air.

- Not directly related to Fuku, and has only met her once or twice.

- Since US and SF Grillby live in Hotland, US and SF Fuku live in Snowdin!

- Cries hot wax. Doesn’t matter that he’s not a candle. He just does.

- Claustrophobic. Tight enclosed spaces means he could run out of oxygen, then he would suffocate and his flames would snuff out, so Grillby avoids elevators like the plague.

UNDERTALE

- That’s also why he doesn’t live in hotland. The fastest way through is the elevators, and Grillby doesn’t have the patience to solve all those puzzles every day. (Even though he knows he won’t suffocate just because he’s in an elevator, it doesn’t assuage his fears.)

- Reads murder mysteries and crime novels. Grillbz loves a good mystery.

- Opened his bar at age 25 after working for Muffet for a few years. They are simultaneously good friends and business competitors (on the surface at least). At the bar’s 15 year anniversary, Sans got drunk off ketchup and passed out but not before rambling about how awesome his brother was for 20 minutes.

- Grillby was Gaster’s friend for many years before the scientist disappeared, and met Sans when he was a babybones. Gaster had created them (for fluff reasons, lets just say it’s cuz he wanted to be a dad) and wanted to show his best friend his wonderful creations children. So Sans and Pap have been friends with Grillbz their whole lives. Sans uses this friendship pass to not pay his tab. (And Pap likes Grillby well enough, he just despises unhealthy foods.)

UNDERSWAP

- A theatrical penny-pinching chef who lives in Hotland. His tavern is very popular (despite the high prices) and Sans visits frequently.

- Ate a pinecone once. When he was visiting Sans in Snowdin, he saw it on the ground and, well… it was covered in snow; it looked like a sweet treat!.. was how Grillby later reasoned it. The whole things was scarfed down before he realized it was not, in fact, a sweet treat. He froze (heh), and proceeded to stiffly walk away, blushing furiously. Sans teased him about it for weeks.

- Met Sans when the skeleton visited Hotland to inspect the puzzles (they’re still terrible btw). Sans stumbled upon Grillby’s business and they quickly became fast friends. Whenever alphys and pap are busy, he hangs out in Grillby’s tavern, enjoying the wonderful burgers as they both talk about their troubles.

- Like UT Grillby, he apprenticed at Muffets for a few years before setting out to make his own restaurant. But instead of sweets, he wanted to try something more savory. His business became a hit success in Hotland.

- Bit of a theater nerd. Grillby loves having live bands and actors play during the busy hours, even participating himself once in a while. Its always so much fun!

UNDERFELL

- Generally pretty rude. Doesn’t talk to people when they enter his bar, and glares at anyone who tries to talk to him during his off-hours.

- Secret soft spot when it comes to kids. He always finds them too adorable to keep up his grumpy act.

- First talks to Frisk in MTT Resort. He saw them in his bar, but finally met them on his break. Tells them to scram at first, but when they persist he talks about his bar a little and that punk sans not paying his tab.

- Dresses like UT Grillby when he’s working and hardly ever talks, but dresses like how the fandom usually sees him when he’s not working. He’s also a dedicated worker who loves his bar to bits. Anyone who fights in his business gets their butts thrown out.

- First met Sans and Papyrus in Snowdin Forest. UF Gaster was none too happy to discover his accidental creations, so he ended up dumping them in forest for them to be easy EXP. Grillby heard them crying and his heart melted as he introduced himself and lead them into his bar. He practically raised them for the next 15 years before Sans and Pap moved out to be independent. Now whenever Sans comes in for a meal, Grillby begrudgingly allows him to use the tab excuse. Anyone who tries to do that gets burned before paying up double than what their bill says.

- Classic tsundere. Hides his affections about anything from everyone. A genuine compliment or tips on how to save money completely fluster him. Tries desperately to keep up his cold, calculating facade. (He even hides his fatherly affection about Sans and Papyrus. Grillby just calls them punks because, well, it’s Underfell. Feelings are a vulnerability, so he hides them as best as possible.)

SWAPFELL

- A melodramatic chef who runs a tavern in hotland. (he and swap grillby are still afraid of elevators, they just never bother to leave their corner of hotland) He’s like a cross of Mr. Krabs and Mettaton. Very fancy, very rich, very haughty, but ultimately a good person when you get to know him.

- Grillby’s business is perfectly legal; the only difference from swap Grillby is that for some reason, people decide his tavern is the best place to make illegal deals. (And yes, it pisses him off to no end. He has a business to run, dammit!)

- Adopts a cat on the surface. He never intended to get a cat, it just started sneaking into his tavern looking for a meal… and well, he just couldn’t manage to get rid of it. The tabby loves him so very much. Grillby gives the warmest pets and scritches, so it hardly ever leaves his side. And he, in turn, is captivated by its cuteness elegance. Grillbz brings it to work all the time (anyone who says it’s a health code violation gets their asses kicked). He named it Butterscotch ♡.

- He and Sans are cat buddies!! Sans and him have been friends for years (ever since the skeleton started showing up, looking for a good savory meal), so Sans’s cat, Doomclaw, and his own Butterscotch started having playdates. It’s the cutest thing.

- Grillby is basically Sans’s informant about what trouble brews in Hotland and the rest of the kingdom. Shady people often make deals at Grillby’s tavern, so he’s always got the best dirt for Sans and the Guard.

DELTARUNE

Claps hard as I post Grillby doodles.

doodle dump

All the Grillbies have varying ages depending on their universes and circumstances of their lives.

For example, Outertale (and variations of it like Outerfell and Outerswap, etc.) Grillby is older than any other monster due to his previous existence as a star that was around long before any of the monsters he lives among.

Undertale Grillby is old enough to remember the war, but he only joined at the tale end of it, like most civilians at the time had to as the monsters were corralled into the mountain.  That's why he's so good with anyone he interacts with: he's been around long enough to reminisce with older monsters (like Gerson), yet become close friends with younger ones (like Sans).

No one knows a lot about Underfell Grillby.  He was a part of the war like most Grillbies, but he was created with fire magic (maybe even by the King and/or Queen) for the sole purpose of aiding monster kind in their fight for freedom rather than being born before the war.  He was never a child, and due to the unusual aging process of elementals, he is actually close to Sans' age.

Swapfell Grillby was deep in the throes of the war since the beginning, being a rather old monster, and because of that, he became accustomed to the sight of monsters turning to dust all around him.  In fact, sometimes he was the only monster to return from an attack on the human forces.  Since monsters are made of love, the LOVE he was racking up effected him severely and he went insane when monsters were trapped under the mountain and he no longer had anyone to take his grief and anger for fallen comrades out on.