//★(bloomingasters)

By popular demand (one request), here is last night’s gif of Ganymede entering and exiting an eclipse, without the pause in the middle.  Photographed by Voyager 1, 26 Febuary 1979.  (It’s a pity that Voyager didn’t keep taking photographs for all of the eclipse entry.)

Anonymously tell me what you want to see happen to my muse.

send ❛ it’s all because of you! ❜ to angrily grab my muse by their collar shove them into something

It was a little worrying to see Gaster so blank looking. At first, Callisto had thought he’d tell them it was a silly idea; that there was no way they could guarantee that they could find anyone else to come back with them, that they couldn’t even guarantee that they weren’t just using this to get out of the Underground scot-free.

Callisto felt their heart leap at how excited Gaster was, smiling widely as he bounced. A genius. They were a genius! It made them bounce a little too, though less animated than Gaster. Not having to think of anyone else dying for this was making them feel a lot better--and knowing Asgore didn’t want to kill them was relieving.

They laughed as they were lifted off their feet, wrapping their arms around Gaster’s neck and hugging him tightly in return. Burying their face in the crook of his neck, they let their laughter collapse into joyful giggles.

“You don’t h-have to repay me,” They managed to splutter out, “it’s what friends are for!” They squeezed their eyes shut to avoid getting dizzy, though it was a little late for that.

The thought that all their poorly-executed backyard experiments would be a thing of the past, though, was extremely excited nonetheless. And not having to put out the money for a telescope would be nice, too.

For a minute he was entirely devoid of expression. Gaster blankly blinked at the child, his mind processing their plan.

“Callisto…You’re a genius!” All at once the scientist all but bounced with elation, laughter bright and buoyant, wistfulness lost in light of the thought of freedom.

“I’ve never thought of that before! No one has! With all that’s happened, no one’s even considered a human willing to set us free, but you, Callisto, you are a genius! An absolute genius!” He was gesturing passionately, a myriad of other hands popping up and following along in fervor. “No one else will have to die and we’ll be free to see the stars and feel the wind! Asgore must listen to you, dear young one, he must! He loathes the death of others more than any monster, you know.”

Gaster snapped his fingers at a sudden thought; the hands behind, beside, and all around him snapped in sync. “We’ll have to study a bit of course - cold, hard facts will convince anyone that your plan will surely work - but I’m certain it would work!”

Again, he laughed, the joyous sound resonating throughout the bundles of echo flowers, and twisted around to face Callisto once more. “And once the barrier is no more I’ll give you a telescope! One made by myself - it’ll be better than anything money could buy, I promise you. Oh, dear child, you have no idea how happy this makes me!” 

With hardly a second thought Gaster plucked Callisto off the ground and spun them ‘round and ‘round, mirth warm in his grin. “We’ll go star gazing together! I can always assist you with any lab equipment, and anything else you need! It’d be the least I could do to repay you, once you set us all free!”

Callisto had followed him to the little patch of flowers, eager to watch them closely. They’d been lucky enough to remember where their pencil was--something often forgotten--and began scribbling furiously on the first blank page they could find as Gaster explained everything to them. He was right; it was absolutely fascinating. One of the more amazing phenomena they’d witnessed.

They glanced over their messy notes briefly, making a few changes here and there to make things more legible, but they nodded, a grin stretching across their features. Pulling such a large smile out of the child was a miracle in and of itself.

“That’s... Wow. That’s really, really cool. Definitely not what I’d expected, either!” Callisto often found that discovering things were exactly the opposite of what they’d hypothesized was more satisfying, more intriguing than finding they’d been right all along. Caught up in curiosity, they leaned down to whisper a few words into the flower closest to them. The inquisitiveness was much more childlike than their intellect; and the faint expression of wonderment seemed to take a few years off their already-youthful face.

“.... H e l l o .....”

“.... H e l l o ,  l i t t l e  m o o n ....”

“Of course! Knowledge is meant to be shared, not kept to one’s self. I warn you though, I’ve been told by friends that once I start talking I never stop!” The good-natured scientist’s ensuing grin was crooked but jolly, and the prospect of rambling off about echo flowers excited him as much as it did the child. If not more so, even.

“I promise you I know far more than your scientists, Young One, so you might wish to take notes.” Pride shone visibly on Gaster’s expression. “I am over a thousand years old after all.” With an waggish wink he ambled over to a patch of nearby echo flowers. He beckoned for them to approach but spoke clearly and audibly enough for Callisto to hear him from their spot.

“As you may know echo flowers repeat the last words they hear. Essentially they mimic words - without anyone to speak around them they are eventually silent or their echoing becomes white noise.” Gaster drew a paw across the petal of one, whispering into it. 

“… C a l l i s t o…”

“It of course centers around magic.” After a lengthy explanation, pausing occasionally to catch his breath or to go into greater detail, the doctor peered back at them. “Fascinating, yes?”

Stargazing isn’t the same alone.

//Tulip: For your birthday, what kind of cake do you ask for?

meme; accepting

“Oh, well, I haven’t had cake in a long time. I can’t remember...

“... I think I liked marbled cake the best. With chocolate frosting.”

i fixed it. the other one had wonky colors and ALSO... it was flipped the wrong way :’)

the other one looked wrong and i couldn’t tell why and now it’s like 1:15 am but this was worth it because this one looked better and also... i saved the layers so i can edit the expression without having to erase other parts of it hah ain’t that smart

look at them

“Well... I’ve been thinking. Really hard, actually. And I think I can get everyone out of here. I think... I think if I went home, I could get some of my friends to come back with me. Or maybe my foster parents. Or someone, y’know?” Callisto scratched their neck, brow furrowing with thought for a moment.

“You don’t need seven dead humans, right? And you’ve already got... You’ve already got four souls, right? If I just came back with my foster parents or a couple of my friends, there’d be seven. And then we can break the barrier.” Getting two people to help was a lot less daunting than six. Nodding to themself, Callisto let another small smile cross their face.

All they’d need is to get past Asgore. And from what everyone was saying... It wouldn’t be too difficult. Their plan might even sweeten the deal, for all they knew.

“I promise I’ll come back, so you can see the stars again. Maybe we could get another telescope! I had one before but I--I don’t have it anymore. But we could get a new one! And maybe Ian and Ellie would let me get some lab stuff for my room, so I can study some more stuff.” They were starting to get animated, not only excited to have a new friend, but also new ideas. There were a lot of things they’d been wanting to test. Of course, there weren’t a lot of people for them to bounce ideas off of; not since their parents died.

The abrupt question caught him off guard; for a second Gaster stared sadly at Callisto, hallow gaze brimming with an ancient sorrow and a yearning for the sky far, far, far above.

He directed his focus to cave ceiling then - gems glimmered in the midst of the yawning darkness, false stars for all of monsterkind to wish upon.

“Yes, Callisto. Long ago I lived outside on the surface.” At such reminiscence nostalgia stole over his melancholy. “My home was atop of a mountain. Not this one, but a range of snow-capped terrain. I could see the stars for miles everywhere.” His voice took to a dreamy chime. “When I was a child I tried to count the stars.”

He laughed - the sound lilted more morosely than happily.

“It was hopeless of course. Of the billions of stars I always lost count around six or seven hundred. But I loved to stargaze. The night sky is truly one of the most beautiful wonders of the worlds.”

The scientist smiled over at them for a second.

“During the war…I’d look up to the stars for peace. During trials or any rough times, really.” Gaster heaved a sigh, though a frown had yet to eclipse him. “I’d give nearly anything to see the stars again, dear young one.”

what a nerd