#But Asriel makes me more depressed

[angelxd-3303]

Tw: kind of a vent, mention of depression and anxiety.

I'm sure you've all noticed by now that I haven't been posting a whole lot as of late. To be honest, I've kind of been avoiding this blog, not because of anything my followers did, but mainly because I kind of lost the meaning of my art.

I started using Tumblr exclusively to use the messaging feature to chat with my partner four years ago, but decided to share some of my art, just for fun. I wanted to make people happy, wanted to use my art and writing to not only convey how I felt and what I was experiencing, but to help those going through something similar feel heard and seen. I feel like I have achieved that, in some cases, and it makes me feel good to know that I've made someone's day, or that my writing made them feel understood.

As time progressed though, I began to feel like I had an obligation. Art and writing began to feel more like a chore, and that combined with my resurfacing depression and anxiety made it nearly impossible to even pick up the pencil. It seemed more draining than anything, and the art I did make I didn't share because it reflected my mental state in a deep and personal way.

Tldr, I'm sorry to all the people who have been waiting for updates to my stories, or more Mario content in general, or answers to their asks. It's not that I don't want to finish them, or make more content. It's just that I've realized that my lack of motivation is coming from the fact that I'm making art that I think others want, and not art that I want.

I've been rediscovering Undertale lately, reminded of how amazing the game is and how deep the storyline is, and I want to make more content for that. I'm big into weirdcore and would like to explore it as a style. I want to revisit Dhmis and expand on their story. There's so much I wanna do, but I've been holding myself back and trying to make myself as enthusiastic about Mario as I was before. The truth is, hyperfixations come and go for me, and that's ok. Mario will probably come back here and there, but I'm gonna try to focus on the stuff that I wanna do, because that's when my art is best, and when I feel the best making it. I can't tell you how satisfying it was to draw that piece with Asriel and his parents! I was into Undertale when it first blew up, my friend and I, but left when the fandom began to get toxic. It's so sad to me how disturbed it was, but now I'm much wiser with regards to internet safety, and I know to avoid certain things.

It's very nostalgic for me to rediscover the game, the music I listened to on loop years ago, the amazing artists who had a pure and genuine love for the characters, all of it.

In short, Mario isn't gone, they're just off enjoying their happy ending for awhile before they feel like visiting again. Again, I hope you all understand, and can find content you love from my blog! From now on though, I'm gonna try to avoid forcing myself to make content I don't love. Because from the beginning my art has been an escape that made me happy. If it doesn't make me happy, what's the point lol?

I love and appreciate you all so much,and I hope you can understand this word vomit. Hope you all have a lovely day.

[wily-art]

Been meaning to say this (if I have already said some of this in some form, I am sorry, hahaha), but I absolutely love ur portrayal of so many characters! Esp. Sans and Paps (Sans who is my favorite in the game, and Paps who is another one from the game I love very, very much. Though UT characters are generally just so good), Gaster, Frisk, Chara, and Alphys (been liking the stuff between her and Sans too)! U do them all so well!!

I also love Sans and Paps GB's and how they have personalities and stuff! Even though Sans seems to just think they are his magic and nothing else, while Paps, doesn't. Which is an interesting contrast between them.

The skelebros dynamic is also just so funny and on point. Frisk and Chara's dynamic is quite interesting (and the dynamic between Chara and Gaster puts me on edge. And the one between Chara and Asriel is just tragic like always). And Sans (both younger and present) and Gaster's dynamic is probably one of my favorite Sans and Gaster relationships portrayals I have seen so far. Like, they are such coworkers, and trust each other (to some extent), but there is also seems to be some tension going on w/ them. And Gaster is just terrorizing present Sans basically, lol.

And one of the most interesting dynamics to me, is the one between younger and present Sans. Idk, it is just so interesting and weird to see them interact. And it will always stand out to me younger Sans saying to older Sans that just because he stopped being him, doesn't mean he isn't Sans, in reply to older Sans wanting to give him another name. Idk, I just found that line interesting. And makes me wonder if older Sans will ever be more like younger Sans again.

On the topic of younger Sans. It is kind of heartbreaking to see how happy? (I say with a question mark, because like I said, Sans seems to kind of helping keep Gaster sane in some form, and I don't know how good that is for either of them, even though I love their relationship in this), and outgoing and just actually more enjoying life, to his present self, that is just so more worn down and tired, and depressed. It just makes me sad. Though it is also so interesting.

Saying that, I don't know if it is because younger Sans seems so happy and stuff; even more so in contrast to older Sans, but like, I don't trust him for some reason. I do actually trust older Sans; guarded and secretive as he is, but younger Sans, something about him. I just don't trust (I don't really trust Gaster either though). I love younger Sans, like I do older Sans, but he is suspicious to me for some reason.

Also, in reply to to another ask you did, I am very curious about Sans' yellow eye, and why that gets weird/messed up/whatever.

Last of all, ur animation looks great! Paps looks so awesome and expressive and badass so far in it. Though, it looks like in one of the frames, there is some geno stuff going on; which, oh no.

It is cool to see this comic; which already looks great, get an awesome animation like this. It is always cool to see gifs, animations, animatics, etc., sometimes like this with comics and/or etc.! Though, I also know they can take a lot of time, so take ur time and rest and stuff okay! Really excited for more of this series, but I can also wait!!

Oh man this gave me all sorts of warm feelings. It really hits me in the feelings when people enjoy my work especially the relationship exploration because its one of my favorite things to explore. Trying to find some key things about a character and see how they react and interact with scenarios and people that you haven't before.

For example the younger intern version of sans is, at his core, pretty much the same person. Just a version that hasn't "gone through" the same things yet.

And it sort of is an exploration of the relationship a person has with themselves and the people around them especially after they have gone through things and change.

But anyways thank you so much!

[crescentmoonsandroses]

Deltarune's themes of escapism and why they hit me hard

I was going to do some Deltarune art based around this and then just have the definition of escapism under it, but I can't think of what to draw, so I'm just going to ramble about it instead.

Deltarune, as I'm sure many many other people have pointed out before, has strong themes of escapism in addition to its themes of control, freedom, the narrative, etc. The Dark Worlds transform objects into people, rooms into environments, high school students into heroes. They seem to bring to life the sorts of games you played as a kid, with your toys and your friends, making up a story that played out in your mind, enhanced by your imagination. It's theatre of the mind, helped along by the toys and props and whatnot - like when you're playing D&D, too. This sort of thing is mainly in Chapter One, with the game pieces and cards and toys. I remember playing make-believe with practically everything as a kid - I made up stories with chess pieces a few times, that was fun. Castle Town and Card Kingdom are both reminiscent of a very traditional form of escapism: fantasy.

The Cyber World is a little different, but it still holds the same sort of idea - hell, we're all here on Tumblr, we know what it's like to bury ourselves in the internet, in videos and memes and posts, and forget the world for a little while. This is emphasised by Queen's commentary - I can't find the exact quote, but it's something about being worried that the Lightners will become depressed without the 'bliss' of the internet, which isn't currently working in Hometown. We also know that Chapter 3 will take place in Toriel's lounge room and seems to be specifically based around the TV (and, this is off topic, but I literally just realised Mike could be, like, mic, as in microphone, and Tenna could be short for antenna), which can also be a form of escapism for people. I know that my mum, for one, watches TV most nights.

There's also the specific characters who fall into the Dark Worlds - Kris, Susie, Noelle, Berdly.

Kris seems to be considered weird by most of Hometown, where they are the only human and don't seem to have many - or, well, any - real friends apart from their brother, who was the town's golden boy, who everyone keeps talking about and seems to hold in high regard, whose side of the bedroom holds trophies and pictures and colour while Kris' is bare and grey (they also have Susie now, but she only became their friend during the first Dark World). In the Dark World, however, Kris gets to be a hero, sword and shield raised, saving the world with their friends. Everyone in Castle Town loves them. The room Ralsei built for them has trophies aplenty. And then there's the matter of Ralsei, who looks so much like Toriel and Asgore and Asriel, who is so nice and so supportive of Kris, who has pink horns like maybe a certain red headband faded (yes I headcanon that Ralsei is Kris' old horn headband and will continue to do so until proven wrong).

Susie, who drinks milk from back alleys and threatens to eat people's faces, who didn't actually call home when she had a sleepover with Kris, who gets uncomfortable around the block of flats in Hometown, who doesn't seem to know how to react when shown kindness or friendship, who considers herself the 'bad guy'. Well, she gets to be that bad guy, strong and powerful and scary, with a big axe and sharp teeth and enemies to defeat. And then she gets to have friends, she gets to have food, she gets to be the hero and maybe that's not so bad after all if she does it alongside people she cares about, people who care about her. We can see how much happier she is in the Dark Worlds.

Berdly, who tries so hard to be perceived as smart, who loves videogames. I don't have as much to say about him, honestly, but his Dark World design is quite distinctively Cyber World when compared to the other Lightner's more fantasy-inspired designs, and being in the Dark World gives him the chance to be a hero, even if he's not great at that for most of Chapter 2.

And Noelle. Noelle, whose sister seems to be missing or dead, whose dad is in hospital, whose mum is the town's mayor and works a lot and has an icy personality. Noelle who searches for bugs and secrets in the games she seems to love. Noelle who wishes she had magic to heal her dad. Noelle who seems to feel powerless to help someone she loves, who doesn't stand up to Berdly or her mum. Once she's in the Dark World, she can heal people. She stands up to Queen, who is a sort of mother figure. She gets to spend time with Susie. She gets to see the city lights that Dess promised her.

All this to say that Deltarune in general and the Dark Worlds specifically have some not-so-subtle themes of escapism.

Now, the 'why it hits me hard' bit. Escapism has always been one of my main coping strategies, and even beyond that, I love fantasy, I love stories, I love burying myself in another world. It's much easier to be in a world where there's magic and quests and maybe there's struggles and strife and people still get hurt and mess up and go through bad things, but eventually there's a happy ending because that's how stories work, they don't have the constant uncertainty of real life. And, you know, if I could go to a Dark World, I would. I can understand why Susie likes the Dark Worlds so much, why Noelle and Berdly wanted to make another. Escapism is something that I can understand, especially after having struggled with my mental health for a few years (I'm a lot better now though). The world can be messy and complicated and hard, and wouldn't it be nice to be in a different world for a bit, one where you can be who you want to be and you don't feel lost anymore?

So, uh... yeah lol.

[katapotato55]

Undertale analysis: Chara was a bad person but not because they were an "evil serial killer child" like the fandom portrays.

TW: mentions of mental illness, self harm, and suicide. SPOILER FOR UNDERTALE. yes this game is 8 years old and scarily popular, but its still worth playing! its 10 bucks on steam! get it! Post also contains stupid edits I made to ENHANCE your experience by at least 50% guaranteed or your money back (post cost $0)

first: some backstory. I played Undertale way back in like, 2016 when the game was still fresh yet gaining popularity quickly. The fandom soon after became criminally insane and went on a moral panic where people were harassed for "playing the game wrong". I remember stories of youtubers cancelling Undertale let's plays because they would kill a character and people would get upset. other than AUs, the biggest thing that stuck out to me was the strange obsession with claiming Chara is an evil demon child who is the root of all evil and eats puppies and enjoys drinking the blood of the innocent. and then counter-culture made it so that chara is actually innocent and that the PLAYER is the horrible evil monster eating puppies etc etc.

two extremes that i half-agree with, but mostly disagree with. There was an INSANE black and white mentality that flooded the Undertale space with no breathing room for mistakes. nowadays people have matured and the fandom calmed down, so now would be a great time to explain why i think Chara is a more complex character than people give them credit for. please don't hurt me.

1- Chara very much had mental health issues.

and not in the horror movie way where they were a caraaazay evil serial murderer

a huge misconception is that people assumed the garden tools in toriel's house being dulled was somehow "proof" that Chara was an evil serial murder or something.

though... I think people also forget Chara heavily hinted at struggling with serious depression and misanthropic tendencies.

Chara climbed the mountain to end their own life. the reason the garden tools were dulled wasn't because the Dreemurs were trying to protect other people from Chara, they were trying to protect Chara from themself. it baffles me how a lot of people didn't catch onto that. It could be that we were young teens and didn't know better... but i digress! "but kat? how is Chara a bad person ? are you saying people with depression are-" get that objectively wrong idea out of your head. Having a mental illness does not make you a bad person. If you struggle with suicidal thoughts please get help from loved ones and don't EVER think you are a bad person for struggling. no. chara is a bad person because...

2- Chara was a bitter misanthrope that didn't care about anyone else or their feelings.

there are several lines of dialogue that point to the fact Chara did not like humans. There is a high probability that Chara had a hard home life before falling to the underground and that is possibly why Chara was the way they were. I am not going to send you a million screenshots as to every single bit of evidence of this, I am not made of time and jpegs. (besides i spent the entire budget on photoshop edits) I am however, going to send you the most damning evidence on my side: the true lab tapes. In the pacifist run, you can visit the true lab and find Asgore and Toriel's old home videos. The tapes basically showcase Chara's plan to Asriel where they were to eat the butterscotch flowers, and then Asriel will absorb their soul when they died.

you can watch this youtube video on all of the true lab tapes. to recap the story, Chara died, Asriel absorbed the soul, took Chara's body to the human village and then the humans thought Asriel killed Chara. Asriel refused to fight, walked back to their home and died in the flowerbed. Later on if you talk to Asriel, He mentions he wasn't the one who went to the human village, but it was Chara that was controlling him. He refused to hurt the humans and fight back and essentially they were both taken down. so here are my thoughts (please remember this is my interpretation you are OK to disagree with me)

-Chara probably just used the freedom of the monsters as an excuse to off themselves, Then put that emotional responsibility on Asriel. -They then USED Asriel's body to try and enact revenge on the humans in their death as some kind of messed up murder-suicide but in the wrong order -This ends up Killing Asriel, then he later became a bitter misanthropic husk after being reincarnated by Flowey. Possibly due to the trauma. -This ends up putting the ENTIRE underground in a depressed state with no hope and causing a massive war with the humans -their adopted parents are now divorced due to this tragedy and both Toriel and Asgore started to have conflicting issues on the topic of humans -Asgore basically trapping everyone with him in his own grief because he didn't want to actually face what happened and played the long game collecting souls one by one. -Toriel struggling to move on and essentially trying to mother any human that falls down without facing her demons. -Litterally all of undertale happened. essentially Chara was not a bad person because they were a child version of Jason Voorhees Chara was a bad person because they manipulated their family into having emotional responsibility for their self-inflicted death and hatred of humanity. They made their issues everyone else's problem and didn't consider how their horrible actions would affect others. and in a way, that is one of the morals of Undertale If you don't care about others and how your actions will affect others, then you would be making the world a shitty place in the end. Lets get back to that thing I said earlier about fans harassing other players for little mistakes. killed Toriel on your first play through ? congratulations! you are a horrible irredeemable person who deserves to get death threats ! /s God forbid we have nuance and acknowledge that most players at this point feel BAD about what happened since this is their first play through! And that they CARE about what they did to their new friend! These kind of people ignore the fact that the issue with the genocide run wasn't just the deaths, but that the player didn't consider how the monsters felt after you just ripped away their happy ending. which is the mentality that both Chara and Flowey had.

here is a video i recommend. to quote this video about the sans fight: "They call out the player not for acting immorally but for acting with no moral guidance whatsoever. Flipping back and forth between good and evil for no real reason except that they want to see what happens. In the boss’s own words, committing genocide “because you think you can, and because you can, you have to.” " Chara offed themself and made Asriel emotionally responsible for Chara's fucked up revenge fantasy without considering others feelings The player restarted the timeline (more than likely the good ending) to kill everyone all for the reason of curiosity without considering others feelings. the reason why Chara goes after you at the end of the genocide run is because you basically VALIDATED the deep dark desires of a mentally damaged person and made them watch their loved ones get ritualistically murdered. meanwhile in the pacifist run (with no history of the genocide path on your file), you simply let Chara remain as they were when they passed away. You didn't validate their dark mentally unstable desires, you simply shown Chara that the world isn't a horrible place and that actually caring about other people leads to a better life. If you HAVE played genocide before the pacifist ending, then the lesson does not sit because you still basically led them down a dark path in the end. By caring about how others feel and the impact you leave on people, you are helping retain hope for a better future for everyone, and that is one of the many reasons why i love Undertale.

thank you for reading this massively long analysis, it took me a lot of time and effort to get this put together.

[promise-keeper-papyrus]

I don't think Asgore would actually let Gerson spread false information about Chara...

Asgore didn't stop Mettaton from replacing the statue that could either be honoring a war hero or his son Asriel... Asgore is a bit of a pushover... I know he lost his family and is depressed, but still...

Also, the reason why I made Gerson and others spread false information to the descendants about Chara being a monster (when he isn't) is because it doesn't make much sense to me that everyone in the kingdom is okay with humanity being wiped out, when King Asgore adopted a human himself.

You'd think some of the kingdom would question Asgore wanting another war and maybe even rebel against the idea of genocide against humanity.

It doesn't make sense that everyone is more or less okay with letting this happen, even Toriel and Papyrus.

It also doesn't make sense that Undyne hates humans so much to the point where she enjoys attacking a human child, yet she has a close bond with Asgore... Considering that Asgore adopted and adored Chara... Realistically, Asgore and Undyne would NOT have a close bond, or they at least would've drifted apart, or Undyne would treat Frisk with some more respect (since Frisk is a decent person and looks a lot like Chara aka Asgore's kid).

However, if nobody knew or remembered that Chara was human and believed that the humans destroyed Chara as well as Asriel, then it would make much more sense why everyone is okay with the war against humanity.

[theriverdraws]

I have so many thoughts and feelings about Asgore x Toriel. It's just so depressing.

Talking about undertale first, Toriel seems to have moved on from Asgore completely, and even more, completely despised him for years because of his actions, which is fair. And Asgore on the other end really just held on to hope to be with her again, because what he really wanted was to have his family back and for everything to return to normal. Because holding onto that hope is all he had. But that could never happen.

I really appreciate how close they were when they were happy together, and even with how messy everything got after the kids died, they eventually reconciled in the post-pacifist route. Asgore working in front of Toriel's school and they're just chilling, and also the alarm clock dialogue where they're happily reminiscing and playing together.

One could interpret they got together again? But I mean, not to put soriel in the conversation, but considering all the neutral routes where they end up living together, and hints in the alarm clock dialogue, and that one ut q&a that implies they also live together post-pacifist route (or at the very least close enough she makes sans and papyrus lunch everyday), and yknow, everything in deltarune - it's pretty clear Toriel has moved on completely. And post-pacifist Asgore too it seems. And I'm happy for him.

But deltarune boy oh boy.

This isn't decades after their falling out where I'm sure both of them are just tired of this by that point. Oh no, this is probably not even that many years after at ALL, maybe it even happened after Asriel went away for college. We're literally watching them crash and burn right now and it's so bad. PLUS WE DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW IT HAPPENED.

And obviously it's not good to be together just for the children - sounds like a nightmare to me but that's probably a bit of projection on my part - and Toriel shouldn't be with him if she doesn't want to. But Asgore's financial and living conditions is just so bad, and to put salt in the wound he hasn't even moved on from Toriel yet, while she definitely has. (Or trying to, as soon as her ex stops sending her flowers and flirting with her in front of another guy she was trying to flirt with. Sorry, that scene just kills me it's so good).

I really hope Asgore can get better from this state soon since I don't see them getting back together at all. I assume their falling out wasn't so simple as Toriel just not loving him anymore, there's definitely something bigger there and I would bet it's something involving him losing his job at the police department cof andDessmaybe cof.

But even then I still hope we manage to hit that reconciliation we have with undertale because they were so good together and can be very good friends again. We can only hope.

[under-lore]

Yoshi is Gaster

For years the fandom has been theorising about the past of WD Gaster, today this mystery has finally been solved once and for all.

Gaster is non other than Yoshi from Super Mario.

Still skeptical ? Let me present you the undeniable evidence.

First of all, in Deltarune a man in a tree that is obviously Gaster gives us eggs. But why eggs of all things rather than anything else ?

Its because eggs are always associated with Gaster's true identity.

As we all know, Gaster is trapped in the void, now lets look at the most famous trope related to Yoshi in the super Mario series : The Yoshi sacrifice.

It consists of using Yoshi to jump further by sacrificing it and letting it fall into the void below.

Now you might still think this is a coincidence and that Super Mario isn’t canon to Undertale and Deltarune. But you would be wrong.

In Undertale, we can clearly see a video game console in the garbage dump.

The console which we see is a SNES.

And guess on which console did super Mario world come from ? The game where Yoshi is first dropped into the void ? That’s right ! The SNES !

But Deltarune is where it gets even more troubling.

Asriel plays super smashing fighters, and in this game, his favorite character is non other than :

YOSHI.

We therefore have proof that Yoshi really is canon in the world of Undertale/Deltarune.

Lets dive deeper into the connection between Asriel, Yoshi and Gaster.

Gaster doesn’t exist in Deltarune under this name, he only exists as Yoshi. In Undertale however he was always Gaster.

Asriel, naive child that he was, threw Yoshi into the void in the world of Deltarune when he played Super Mario world.

But remember that Undertale and Deltarune are parallel worlds, if in Deltarune Yoshi falls into the void sacrificing himself for Asriel then the same must be true in Undertale as well.

In Undertale, Asriel almost fell into the core but Gaster saved him at the last second, falling into the core himself instead.

In both worlds, Gaster falls in the void to save Asriel.

Gaster when he fell was shattered across time and space so when Asriel in Deltarune sacrificed Yoshi, a gap opened in the space-time continuum and he saw the Undertale timeline and what he had done to the Gaster in Undertale by throwing Yoshi into the void in Deltarune.

Because of this, Asriel in Deltarune became depressed and ever since that day he never loved Yoshi and eggs again because it reminded him of what he had done.

For more proof that the universes did interact with each other. We have this secret line in the code of Undertale in which we can see Yoshi/Gaster from the world of Deltarune talking to Asriel just before sacrificing himself for him.

We also see proof that Asriel knew Who Gaster was since Flowey can imitate Gaster’s face.

More evidence that Yoshi is connected to all of them :

Papyrus, who is connected to both Gaster and to Flowey (so Asriel) also happens to have an egg in his room !

Flowey has won every game and lost every game, which means he must have also played Mario World on the SNES from the garbage dump that we saw earlier and killed a Yoshi, everything comes full circle.

But there is still one more big revelation to make.

Yoshi and Gaster are both always linked to Asriel and to eggs in both Undertale and Deltarune. But what other secret does the egg hold ?

Its because the word “egg” when translated in wingdings which is Gaster’s font translates to the coordinates of the movement pattern of a knight when playing chess.

That’s right, Asriel is non other than the knight.

Everything lines up : the egg, the connection to Gaster in both Undertale and Deltarune…

The “game” that made Jevil insane was super Mario world when he saw Yoshi die and saw all the timelines just like Asriel when the universes interacted.

Spamton is a scammer to reference how when Super Mario world first came out, video game piracy in Japan was at an all time high.

To finish this off i’ll predict the secret second ending of Deltarune.

In chapter 7 if you collected all of the 7 eggs, you can merge them together into a big egg and a Yoshi will get born from it, then it will turn into Gaster, revealing the truth about Gaster’s identity. After the final battle, Yoshi will use his tongue to eat the titans before sacrificing himself one last time by jumping into a dark fountain. The roaring will have finally been stopped and Gaster will have succeeded in stopping it, being remembered as a hero.

Any naysayer to this theory is objectively wrong.

[prism-forgone]

Asriel Dreemurr is a Prince of Doom ((bangs pots and pans))

[ALT: he seems like he'd be a prince of doom since princes usually act like their opposite aspect AND he acts like a life player methinks]

via @ghostzdrawz

in a reblog for this post: x

putting this as a separate post because it got so long that i couldn't simply put it below your reblog ^^'

yes that is exactly my classpect for asriel!!

( just as a sidenote, I find it very fun that, given my track record of assigning UTDR characters classpects, when a character is a Prince, they are also literally a prince in canon, like Ralsei, and now Asriel).

Asriel Dreemurr // Prince of Doom

You (very correctly!) stated Princes ghost their opposite aspect, and they do that since it's only prudent for a destruction class to destroy their aspect through leaning into the opposite one, too. The fact Princes destroy their aspect or destroy with their aspect supports this even more. They're destructive inwards and towards their environment, zeroing in on things having to do with their aspect and, depending on their mental state, destroying the enemies of its well-being or (usually, really) making it wither.

The ways Asriel supports Doom as an aspect are so numerous that it isn't even funny, so I'm just gonna list some things from my aspect notes and provide brief explanations:

affinity for unfortunate events, either in being the victim or invoking them (the incident he and Chara had with buttercups instead of cups of butter, Chara's death and subsequently Asriel's death during the scheme they both agreed on, creating entire timelines where he concocts his own genoroutes)

natural magnet for the worse parts of the narrative (being fated to live as a soulless being by pure chance, since his ashes were on the flowers purely by coincidence)

great supply of empathy and/or wisdom (the former is true for Asriel, who has a soul; the latter for Flowey, who is soulless and tested how things work many times - he even gives you a mock tutorial)

sufferers and martyrs (Asriel sacrificed himself to not kill anyone, even when attacked)

affinity for attunement with some kind of... otherness, alongside Life (like the exiles or horrorterrors in HS, or what I interpret as game mechanics in UT, and kinda just us - Flowey addresses Frisk, Chara and the player all at separate occasions)

Doom's symbolism of skulls, fire, explosions and bombs (he literally uses all these in his various attacks, most in the Omega Flowey form, that one with the added caveat of vaguely destroying Doom by using plants, Life's domain, too; but the skull appears in his Hyperdeath form attack)

literal meanings of death, sacrifice, entropy, acceptance (the first two are already plenty clear, entropy is just what Flowey was doing before we got here again and again, and what he attempts to do as Omega Flowey; and acceptance is what he finally exhibits at the end of True Pacifist)

abstract meanings of deterioration, nihilism, stagnation, static state of affairs, pessimism and limitations (most are already clear - the static nature of Flowey is him resetting again and again, to the point where Sans, along with whoever he was conducting research with, noticed the time anomalies and literally had depression induced because of the fact time is just Standing Still in a loop and nothing seems to matter anyhow so why bother trying <- destroying with Doom at its finest example; but also, the loop could be seen as something exactly opposite, since Flowey always tests something different).

Additionally, as the Extended Zodiac tells us - even though I try to not rely on it too much - the best a Doom hero can be is wise, kind and non-judgmental, while the worst they can be is being filled with bitterness, resentment and fatalism. The difference is between if they cling to the past or if they learn from it.

so, yeah. to sum up, my track record already shows i need very little to get me going about this so i'm very sorry ☝️however, counterpoint: it's really fun to do this hahah

[clonerightsagenda]

HDM episode 5:

Will and his mom have a pretty nice home considering they only receive a "subsistence" payment from John Parry's trust.

As stated before, I wasn't expecting this much Will content in season 1, but I suppose it makes sense because a lot of the harassment and bullying is described as things that were happening to him prior to the events of the book, and obviously we can't do narrative exposition dumps on screen. Although they sure are trying with the Prophecy Voiceover in this episode. Don't care for that.

More added-in tension between Lyra and the gyptians for some reason.

Additional Farder Coram/Serafina drama, although I suppose Lyra could've just not been privy to it in the book. His story that she wanted to tear the universe apart over the death of their son while he wanted to peacefully mourn and that's what split them up is weird, though, given that in the books Serafina mentions that witches accept that the men and sons in their lives are brief, fleeting things.

I always imagined the witches riding cloud pine branches like broomsticks but Serafina Just Does That, I guess

The true most important foreshadowing of this episode... Will's omelette.

So much stress for his mother who struggles with mental illness (OCD? depression? schizophrenia?) but also there are actually people out to get her. And even her loving son assumes she's delusional. (Liked the detail of her realizing someone had been in the house because the cat was stuck outside. Amateurs. Chekhov's Moxie... she will fire again.)

Pan is embracing their Arctic vacation and being an Arctic fox. Warm

The sewing machine is a great hiding place, honestly, because I bet no hired goon would ever think to look there.

I don't object to switching Tony out for Billy as the severed child Lyra finds - it lets us see the impact of the child's death - but I *am* annoyed that they cut out the villagers' and rescue party's revulsion. Everyone (including the people who came to rescue them) instinctively retreating from a severed child because they're so horrified by their mutilation was really memorable, as is Lyra furiously telling them to stop. Most of all, I'm mad that they took out the dried fish and we lost the moments of the villagers trying to ask her to pay for the fish (are you fucking kidding me) and Lyra's reaction to the rescue party taking the fish away. That's the part of the book that makes me tear up, and I'm disappointed that it wasn't there. It was all he had to hold on to!!!

Iorek: This shit is getting dark. I'm out.

Had to look this up because I was confused (again, just reread the book! Almost like chowing down on an entire novel in an afternoon doesn't always give you perfect recall) but as I thought I remembered, before Asriel tears a hole between the worlds, all man-made doorways passed through Citigazze, including the ones Boreal used. However, they've got him walking directly between his world and ours. To simplify things, I guess?

I mentioned "oh this is going to be a dark episode. well, this is kind of a dark series" which made me think, the first book involves Lyra looking for Roger, and she loses him. The second book is Will looking for his father, and he loses him. At least TGC has the wins of destroying Bolvangar and defeating Iofur. TSK really does not have any wins at all.

[secret-time-is-here]

Underlust gets a bad rep, not the story, the concept.

TW: Mature topics/sexual themes, and miscarriage

We can argue the about the story and its execution all day, but the concept itself is the most realistic alternate universe and possibly timeline (more on that later) of Undertale.

For some much needed background monsters in the underground need HoPe [HP] to survive. Also if I'm factually wrong on any of this please correct me, and I'd love to hear constructive criticism and/or further thoughts on this.

Underlust starts with the idea of Toriel miscarrying Asriel which causes a depression in the underground, causing more miscarriages and loss of live due to the lack of HoPe [HP]. The underground becomes underpopulated and the royal scientist makes LusT [LT] (an offshoot of LoVe [LV]) to bring the population back up. By the time the seventh human falls into the underground, LusT is still rampant.

When not pushed to the extreme, this is very realistic for Undertale. Think about the amount of kids, and considering 7 children fall after Asriel's death, let's include teens, you pass on an average playthrough of Undertale. Pushes the lack of kids/teens to the extreme, in younger portrayals of them, we could even say Papyrus and Sans might not be alive.

The concept very well could be an alternate timeline of Undertale, similar to if Asriel and Chara didn't die, or Toriel and Asgore stayed together.

Sticking to the roots of the concept (while using the existing Underlust), suddenly the underground isn't so much overly sex-crazed but trying to survive. It makes the concept closer to Horrortale than Underswap or Underfell. Although of course, it's a fandom and people are free to write/draw things how they want.

With the context of their history, Underlust becomes something solemn and a fight for life. Furthermore, in the context of the multiverse and including the general battles between Nightmare, Error, and the Stars, Lust while he may not be as fight oriented as others, is still a Sans. It's arguable that Lust may better understand HoPe and LoVe/LusT better than any of the stars, having a fight with it everyday.

To close, Underlust is criminally underrated, and I wish people wrote about the AU and Lust more, because the concept is fucking amazing.

[butterscotchcookie2000]

ASRIEL BALLPOINT PEN DRAWINGG

I present you guys another Asriel ballpoint pen drawing because I am obsessed with Asriel and want to hug the little goat boi and take care of him because he deserves so much better! This drawing totally didn't destroy my mentality and make me more depressed :'3

[dimonds456]

Undertale is 8 years old today, and Papyrus is still one of my favorite fictional characters of all time, and definitely the one that's still the most important to me. Thank you, Toby Fox, for everything.

Time to get sentimental.

I was in middle school when Undertale came out. I wasn't there for the release, but I was there before the new year, around November.

At the time, I was in the worst mental state I have ever been in. I was deep, deep in the depths of depression, and no one in my family believed me when I told them that, since I had always been the "dramatic child". Attention-seeking. My brother was still very young at the time, too, so y'know.

To put it bluntly, my life was in danger from my own mind. Without saying the word, you can probably guess what I mean. I was alone, when I tried to reach out for help I was either denied or made fun of, and I was getting increasingly worse.

Then Undertale came into my life.

I loved it instantly, watching Jack play through the game and then quickly convincing my parents to buy it for me once I got to the end of his pacifist route. And playing it myself took weeks, since I wasn't good at games and the bullet hell format was torture, but finally making it to the end and getting to hug Asriel for myself marked a change in my life's trajectory.

See, I did not have the courage to play through the genocide route on my own, instead watching Lets Plays and YouTubers React compilations. I remember latching onto Flowey and Chara immediately (and I was in the camp of thinking Chara was good until the fandom made me second-guess myself, unfortunately). I remember getting upset at Undyne's death and feeling awful at Sans'. And I knew what the game was trying to tell me, I picked up on the themes of love and mercy.

But that's not the part that stood out the most to me. That, instead, goes to Papyrus' death in the genocide route.

"W-WELL, THAT'S NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING. ST... STILL, I BELIEVE YOU CAN DO A LITTLE BETTER, EVEN IF YOU DON'T THINK SO. I... I PROMISE."

This single quote saved my life. I say that without exaggeration.

Whenever I was struggling in school, I'd ask myself what Papyrus would tell me if he were there. And then he'd comfort me. Lift me up. Encourage me. Told me I wasn't the terrible person I thought I was, and even if I was that person, I had the potential and capability of change. I could do better. BE better. Help others do better.

So I did. I used that energy to pull myself out of my depression (by myself, btw. no one came to help me except one (1) teacher, who finally convinced my parents something was wrong with me, and even then they didn't really do much to help so). I put forth a persona of kindness, one that I embodied more and more as the months and eventually years went on.

To this day, I still try to be like Papyrus.

He's not perfect, far from it, but he also acknowledges his flaws while lifting himself and others up despite them. He loves himself, and uses that self-love to help other people, which is something I still desperately want to embody.

Papyrus' encouragement was the one thing I had to cling to when I was deep underwater, and he brought me up high enough that I could start swimming on my own again.

Was it silly? Yeah. Was it cringy? Maybe at the time. Do I regret it? Hell no.

When I fell, Paps was there to catch me, even if it was just from my own imagination. But if he could help me out that much simply by existing and leading by example, then goddamnit, there's hope. Hope I cling to every day.

Thank you, Papyrus. I owe you my life.

Thank you, Toby Fox, for creating Undertale in general. The whole game helped me out to many, many extensions (like telling me lesbians and trans people exist lol), but I can't emphesize enough just how much it's helped others, too. Just how sincere the game is. Hopeful. I look at Undertale today and I see a better future. Thank you.

And thanks for reading. Surely this isn't the first story you've heard like this, as Undertale is just one of those games that touched a lot of people, so I appreciate you giving it the read. Undertale means a lot to me, and it always will.

We can all do a little better, even if we don't think so. I promise.

[theveryconfusedartistsart-blog]

Flowey's Funniest Home F Ups

(Contains MAJOR spoilers for my fics, Growing Pains 1 and 2) Basically, little scenes from throughout story where Flowey accidentally does something stupid and it ends up biting him in the metaphorical ass (BUT it's more funny than depressing)

Interestingly, I noticed there were more of these types of scenes in GP 2 than in the first one, he gets VERY humbled in a more physical comedy sort of way.

Growing Pains 1, Chapter 2

Flowey summoned up a spikier vine to guard him, to which the girl nimbly backed up from before she could run face first into it.

“Apologize first!” Flowey snapped back.

“Apologize for WHAT?” she argued, she too was beginning to look like she was about to cry, mainly out of frustration.

But apparently wasn’t as frustrated as much as Flowey was as he lost his patience and slammed a basketball hard into the side of her head, she immediately fell to the grass.  .   .  .

 He stopped everything when she didn’t get up fast enough; noticing her eyes were closed, he stared carefully, fear twisting inside of him. .  . 

The fear rose when the others quickly became aware of the scene, he could see the anxiety in their eyes, the hushed whispers between them as they stared at the scene. .  . 

 He was beginning to call it quits as the sickening dread spread through him and worsened, if the others found out that he killed a human or severely hurt one they’d probably lock him back in the Underground or… worse.

All he wanted was to teach these brats a lesson they’d never forget, not kill them. . .

Then! To his relief, the girl suddenly groaned and rubbed at her head and shot up back to her feet.

“Done napping?” he quipped, quickly brushing the incident off as if it were nothing.

____________________

Growing Pains 1, Chapter 2

“You have to talk to me, you can’t ignore me forever. We live together for fudge sake!” They said, talking to his back while he was pretending to be busy playing his zombie game.

“…,”

“Look I’m sorry for outing you to mom, but you know she deserved to know you were alive, dad too, besides, you know they were eventually going to find out anyway, I know you try to hide it, but you still sort of look like yourself, I know that doesn’t make any sense but- it’s true,”

“…,”

“If you’re a grumpy jerkwad who beats up people with basketballs say nothing,”

Finally, Flowey shot around inside his flower pot to look at them so hard he nearly knocked himself over, his face seething with anger, “ME?! YOU THINK I’M THE JERK?! I TOLD YOU I DID IT FOR YOU!”

_____________________

Growing Pains 1, Chapter 2

His bad mood was getting worse and worse “what are you TALKING ABOUT?! I’ve told you, I don’t HAVE a soul- WHICH MEANS I CAN’T CARE ABOUT ANYONE! This is a stupid pointless conversation! Don’t you understand that taking me a therapist isn’t going to work?! I bet you’re just doing this to make you feel better about yourself!”

Toriel remained calm though, if anything, she seemed almost intrigued “but if you do not have a soul, then why did you want ‘revenge’ on the other children that bullied Frisk?”

But stubbornly, Flowey was no longer listening, “LALALALALALALALALALA!!! I’m not talking about this anymore! This whole thing you call a ‘conversation’ is as stupid and idiotic as you are, you OLD. UGLY. HAG!!”  

 “ASRIEL!” Frisk gasped loudly in disbelief, glaring at him in disgust.

____________________________

Growing Pains 1, Chapter 3

Once Frisk was finished they finally looked back at Flowey, whom had been distracting himself by making tiny airplanes out of the sticky notes, catching him in the act of aiming a plane at them, one eye squinting in concentration.

The little teenager cracked an amused grin as the airplane flew off and immediately began to crash way too soon, falling to the floor between the two.

Flowey’s face went deadpan serious, “look at what you did.”

Frisk didn’t fight the giggles that came out, and it forced Flowey to break character and crack a shy smile.

_____________________________

Growing Pains 1, Chapter 21

Frisk sighed glumly, "I miss the Shopkeeper, she's so nice and pretty, mom, we should really go back for a visit sometime,"

"Of course Frisk, oh and that reminds me, Flowey, when will you visit the Underground again? It's been so long since you left, don't you miss it at all?" Toriel asked.

Flowey licked a bit of marshmallow from the side of his cheek, "nope! Hahaha."

Toriel paused at his answer, leaning forward to get a clear, careful look into his eyes "...dear… just how many s'mores have you had?" she asked with a skeptical frown.

"Just one, I think I need- s'more!" Flowey replied with a giggly toothy grin.

Toriel and a few others giggled, but Papyrus gasped, "YOU NEVER MAKE PUNS, WHAT HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU MY FRIEND?" and then, as he looked closer, he noticed a small plastic bag that Flowey was hiding behind a blanket close by, and with a quick snatch, he held it up in the air.

It was the second bag of backup marshmallows, and by the looks of it, Flowey had managed to eat half the bag while no one was looking.

"lots of marshmallow by the look of it," Sans quipped.

"Golly, not my marshstash!" Flowey said in a sudden surprise, but was unable to hold the frown and started laughing hard; the second pun causing Frisk to finally crack and join him in his laughter, unable to resist his silly behavior.

"Oh Flowey no! You know what too much sugar does to you! You are going to regret this later when that headache hits mister," Toriel lectured.

(Later that night…)

The downside to it was that he was unable to sleep due to the headache that was rearing its ugly head, he opted for closing his eyes and focusing on the gentle sounds outside, the slight shifts of everyone's slowing movement, quiet conversations he couldn't quite make out, the peaceful crickets, hushed giggles coming from Alphys that insinuated she was probably texting Undyne. . .

____________________

Growing Pains 1, Chapter 13

Frisk sighed, groaning to themselves "I should have just surprised you, I don't know what I'm thinking. Ugh, I feel so baaaaaad,"

"Go back to bed,"

"Read your book,"

"I don't feel like it,"

"Alice in Wonderland is a good book. Keep. Reading. It."

"Ugh,"

"You want to keep talking don't you?"

"Ugh," he did, but he really wasn't going to admit it.

On the other end of the line, he heard Toriel say something in a stern voice, causing Frisk to abruptly start talking again.

"Oh-! Never mind, queen of the house wants me to go back to bed too, like mother, like son… well, love you, talk to you later,"

"Love you too,"

There was a sharp pause over the phone. . .

________________________

Growing Pains 2, Chapter 2

He sat there for a moment, completely enchanted until he finally noticed he was staring and that Frisk hadn’t noticed he was there yet- oh, jeez, was this creepy? He hadn’t meant to spy!

He was quick to make himself known.

“Howdy I-,” he began but took a misstep with his roots and fell face-first into the carpet “ggghh, damnitall,”

Maybe too quick. 

Frisk jumped to their feet, brush still in hand as they hurried over to him, kneeling down in worry, ready to help as he worked to push himself back up.

“I literally just bathed,” he grumbled, rubbing at his face in annoyance.

________________

Growing Pains 2, Chapter 2

Toriel had taken Frisk out to do some clothes shopping, leaving the teen home alone and unchaperoned.

Everything was going fine until he found himself feeling peckish.

That in itself was also fine, heating up two… no, three simple easy to make frozen burritos, the big problem was a few minutes later after he finished his food and attempted to crawl back down the table when he lost his bearings and slipped off, falling down onto the hard floor below.

Usually, he was good and did well when it came to falling, he was lightweight so it was rare for him to get hurt from doing so, but this fall in particular hurt, a lot, maybe it was because of all of the extra burrito weight that he was holding inside himself or… the weird angle he’d fallen in, or… maybe it was from the armrest of the chair he’d smacked into on the way down.

 All he knew was that his head and left eye hurt and that he was dizzy and angry that no one was there to help him when he finally needed it.

He groaned in pain, he had felt worse, much worse than this, still, though, he was hurt and he was embarrassed he had fallen so unceremoniously.

…Maybe it was a good thing that no one had been here to see it happen.

______________

Growing Pains 2, Chapter 9

“Alright, as much I love chatting with crazy women, it’s time to get going, c’mon Frisk,” Flowey said quickly, hastily hopping out of the boat.

“I share the same feelings, I love talking to the local crazy women here, we usually get together and talk about annoying teenage boys who don’t know how to hold their tongues when they should,” Vise retorted.

 Frisk smiled nervously, “sorry about him again, I guess we’ll see you later?”

Vise nodded to Frisk, “you will, but not too soon,”

“Oh, okay, well thank you for the boat ride!” Frisk said and hopped off, running to join Flowey who already started rolling away.

And as they got a better view of him, they started giggling.

“What is it?” he asked, still slightly annoyed.

Frisk bit their bottom lip to stop themselves from letting out any more giggles, they then took out their phone, and with an easy ‘click!’, they snapped a picture of him.

They then showed him the picture, revealing that somehow, Vise had placed her orange on top of Flowey’s head, it was strangely a cute look for him.

Flowey gasped, reaching up to snatch the orange from off his head, and scoffed in annoyed amusement.

______________

Growing Pains 2, Chapter 11

It was then, up ahead in the distance on the road, he caught the glimpse of all too familiar car, Toriel’s car-

Instantly panicking and his mind running faster by the millisecond, he turned and left, running off the pathway and speeding into the grass, making a beeline toward the nearby overgrown bushes that towered over the both of them.

“What’s wrong? Where are we going?” Frisk asked with concern.

But he didn’t get to answer them as he made another turn, but it was too sharp and too fast-

-and due to the combination of physics and gravity-

-It threw Frisk off of him and straight into the bush, practically disappearing- except for their hat, which was grabbed by a branch.

“Agh! Holy crap!” he heard them shout in distress.

____________

(Growing Pains 2, The Entirety of Chapters 22 & 23)

___________

Growing Pains 2, Chapter 25

Sunday, the same kid came back, catching Flowey in the middle of shooting bees. 

“HAHAHA!” Flowey laughed as one exploded.

“You’re not supposed to do that, my teacher says the bees are dying out,”

“Heh, I hope so!” he said, then shot another, “I hate bees with a passion,”

“They’re helping to keep the earth alive, please don’t do that!” the kid said, getting upset.

Flowey looked over at the kid, “I’ll stop when they leave ME ALONE!”

At this, the kid backed up, “wait here… I can get you something, just please stop hurting them,” then ran off.

“Huh?” Flowey said, confused, “what are you going to get?”

“BUG REPELLENT!” the kid shouted back.

Flowey watched as the kid proceeded to get on a parked bike and fly off, disappearing from view.

Flowey then screamed in terror as a bee landed on his cheek, and he swatted it away and then proceed to shoot it dead, glaring down at the corpse with disgust.

After a few minutes, the kid came back, urgently spraying the bug repellent all around Flowey.

Once they were done, they handed it to him.

“Please don’t hurt anymore bees,” they said simply and ran off.

At this, Flowey only sighed, staring down at the bottle, reading the label and ingredients out of boredom, then proceeded to squeeze the trigger, accidentally spraying himself directly in the eyes and swearing obscenities in pain.

_________________________

Growing Pains 2, Chapter 25

Then, Flowey screamed and jerked back in fear as the loud sound of thunder instantaneously pierced into his brain, and then he jumped in the distance, lightning struck… catching a tree on fire.

He stared at the sight as the shock quickly faded, it was too far away to be an issue to him.

But he decided to take it as a sign, he needed to leave, now, before he was burned too.

At this decision, Flowey slid off the jungle gym, tunneling into the ground, going south. 

But after fifteen minutes, he heard the strangest sound coming from above… it almost sounded like… rushing water?

That was odd.

There shouldn’t be water in this area…

In his curiosity, Flowey began to climb to the surface, but as he did, he was abruptly grabbed and swept away by a strong current of rushing water, quickly solving his curiosity.

_______________________

Growing Pains 2, Chapter 30

Four hours later…

Flowey was currently mixing Frisk’s cake in a mixing bowl, humming nervously as he eyed the coo-coo clock on the wall.

Then he screamed as he accidentally splattered the mix onto his face and eyes, dropping the bowl in a panic-

[stainedglassthreads]

What are opinions on Toriel and Asgore immortality?

Just like in general? Or any specific facet of it?

From a worldbuilding standpoint, I tend to overthink it.

It has made me wonder a lot in the past what would happen if a boss monster has more than one child. Do boss monster children with lots of siblings end up having shorter lifespans compared to boss monsters who are only children? Or perhaps, like in some fics I've seen, only one child gets boss monster status. Or maybe any child a boss monster has becomes a boss monster, whether both parents are boss monsters or not? Were they already a dying race with slowly shortening lifespans by design, even before the war?

From how it effects them as characters, I think it's pretty interesting. I've seen Asriel's reset ability examined as a metaphor for grief and trauma, and Sans being stuck in resets and how it intersects with his depression. But I feel like Toriel and Asgore being stuck forever at the exact moment their son died also says something about grief and loss. Especially with how neither of them ever allow themselves to grow past that loss. Toriel keeps trying to adopt children and do it Right this time and keep them safe, but they keep leaving her, and she'll never watch them grow up, or grow old herself. Asgore is burdened with a war he no longer wants, and duties and responsibilities he cannot give up but which weigh on him more and more, but his people need him, and he can't step down, and he can't age so he doesn't need to retire.

Looking at it like that, their immortality is something pretty depressing because unless either has a new biological kid, taken at literal face value it means they can't heal and move on. And I'm not really a fan of readings where Marriage/Babies Fix Everything Ever. I'd like to think if I HAD to take away that reading, then the cause and effect are reversed. Having a kid means both are READY for that sort of responsibility again, be it together or with completely new partners.

I think it's also a good ending for them both to keep their immortality for as long as they want it, though. It's a very popular headcanon that Asgore was the king in Undertale's opening, and that both he and Toriel remember the war. It'd be really cool if they could bring it all full circle and, being some of the few survivors of the war, now see humans and monsters make peace again, and find peace themselves.

From an out-of-character perspective I'm pissed at how weird it makes Deltarune's timeline, and how it causes certain people in fandom to believe every single monster is immortal until they have kids, rather than just boss monsters.

[askfallenroyalty]

"After a few months of post-pacifist, Chara feels they "have to true reset" after something bad happens to Flowey"

Ruh-roh; if it's not too spoilery, what happens to Flowey that causes Chara to feel the need to True Reset?

//probably won't be explored for AGES. cause the kids have so much on their plate they're not going to reminisce on why they got on this quest to SAVE Asriel.

And because the True Reset wasn't a year (cause really, that was too extreme in my writing) Frisk isn't like, THAT upset over losing that timeframe. I mean, don't get me wrong, it still sucks, but they were struggling with life post pacifist which is something I regret not committing to. (Frisk implies this way back in Chapter 1)

Frisk likes the adventure underground because its predictable. It's easier than the scary unknown, and Frisk missed their ghost buddy. (another change where because it was so long, Frisk forgot Chara which. I feel is a bit too mean/sad as a story beat. the two saved monsters together. they literally shared a SOUL! of course Frisk cares about Chara and wouldn't forget them!)

anyway i'm going to spoil this plot point. ignore this if you just want to read it in comic.

like in Chapter 4, 5 monsters go missing. (Sans and Papyrus aren't included so it's 5) Frisk is staying with Toriel and is ambassador. There's a lot of tension from that responsibility where they feel torn to just be Toriel's child and being responsible for the peace. Tensions become high but Asgore brushes it off, more humans start to visit monsterkind's home base area. Monsters start exploring the world, more and more monsters go missing and more conflicts build up. Frisk is Scared. The underground is predictable and safe once you know what happens. This is scary, and Frisk has to deal with humanity up front.

Meanwhile, Flowey is the caretaker of the Ruins, mainly gardening and overseeing Chara's grave. When humans start to see Mt.Ebott as a tourist spot, Flowey's home is invaded and defiled. This gets bad enough that a bunch of humans picnic at Chara's grave and get upset when Flowey tells them to scram.

This leads to the humans stomping on the grave (not that anyone knows that it's a grave, but I think on some level Flowey sees it as it. Canon Flowey only pieces that together in NM). Flowey freaks out, gets hit when trying to stop them. Chara's life force is within the flowers + their worry over Flowey causes a True Reset.

This time, while Frisk is upset at being ripped from their life, they understand Chara's dilemma more. Their worries as ambassador and their wish to escape makes this a bit of a relief. (in my thought process that this hard period would of been passed and Frisk would of been happy, but they didn't get the chance to cause of the True Reset)

Also, I want to show Chara and Frisk's bond is greater and more mutual in this version, so Frisk also missed their ghost pal. Cause Chara went through all of that with them. They understand Frisk more than anyone else. They literally shared a SOUL together. Of course Frisk wants their friend back, and right now they're upset. Of course Frisk would see their job as peace keeper and savior incomplete.

in the first writing of AFR I never explained why Chara wanted to True Reset. I was saving to reveal Flowey and Chara had a fight, or that Flowey was growing more depressed and it'd be foreshadowing for Asriel's present day depression but I already felt bad over how the backstory was handled and didn't wanna add more onto it.

Now, when Asriel is king Frisk can reflect on what the original timeline was like, and how stressful it was and Chara can be like "yeah and humans coming in only caused problems for us too. we couldn't protect ourselves." which shows the stakes of what could happen if Asriel doesn't handle things "correctly" this time. Which obvs builds up to the border closing, which while, yeeeessss monsters were unsafe and public understanding of them was limited and humans can suck, is STILL VERY BAD.

hoping this all works better to show character motivations and makes things feel more organic and less angsty x-x like the whole point was they were trying to help Flowey, the focus should be on the kindness of that. And yes, its important to respect Frisk's life too, but I feel it can be in character if pushed in this scenario to want to use the SAVE power alongside Chara. Which is why they can remember true resets, cause they're still a team

[busybussinbee]

played a bunch more undertale today (got to the asriel dreemur fight but haven’t attempted it yet)

i love alphys so much and i always get sad when i think about her

she’s such a good character who’s been through so much and i feel like a large part of the fandom just dismisses her cause they think she’s annoying

and for a very nd-coded and incredibly depressed character that makes me really sad

might ramble more about her tomorrow idk