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ariapmdeol · 2 years

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please be free and post your coe analysis i want to see it

OK SO. THIS IS THE METAFICTION THEORY/ANALYSIS, AND INVOLVES SPOILERS FOR THE MOST RECENTLY TRANSLATED PART OF THE DLC (part 5), ALONG WITH SPOILERS FOR. THE ENTIRE BASE GAME. it has nothing from beyond that, to the best of my knowledge (though it implies things for future content). This ended up as longer than expected oops. I will make another analysis post on specific moments that stood out to me at some point but this one is specifically for metafiction stuff!

I want to do character analysis posts at some point as well, so if you have any suggestions for who i should do first please lmk! :D

relevant image:

OK SO. METAFICTION is a type of fiction that consistently reminds the audience that it is, in fact, fiction. I've been also using this term to stories in which the medium through which it is told is relevant to the story and narrative. One example of this would be DELTARUNE. The soul (player) is separate from the protagonist (Kris), and the in game mechanics are relevant as well (re: snowgrave). it's Meta in the sense that it challenges the reader/player to reconsider what we see as normal from a gameplay standpoint vs what is a part of the STORY.

I BELIEVE that Cell of Empireo uses metafiction as a part of it's narrative, and that the structure of the game itself is relevant to the remainder of the game. Cell of Empireo, ESPECIALLY in the DLC, makes use of the fact that IT IS A GAME as a major plot thread (i predict this to be more relevant in future DLC parts/hermits room/interlude). I've talked about this a little in the other COE theory post but. this is a DEDICATED analysis so i can go into DETAIL.

one of the earlier and most explicit hints we get of this meta narrative in COE is in chapter 6 part 2 of the eng translation. THIS DOCUMENT HERE is in the Empyrean Heaven Research Institute, and is listed without an author.

I BELIEVE the author of this document is NONE OTHER than SEODORE RIDDLE. It's either him or Mutei, but Mutei was uninvolved with the EHRI so it HAS to be Seodore. I am pretty sure he's aware of the true nature of 'this world' (the ingame world).

specifically, by referring to the 'source code of the world', I don't think they meant this metaphorically. i think they meant this LITERALLY. LITERALLY THE SOURCE CODE OF THE GAME THAT WE ARE PLAYING.

I want to specifically point out the Purple text at the end of S, before S+. it reads:

"Oh, what a surprise. Well, congratulations! I hadn't thought it possible to come to this domain without going through anything else. ......Nn? Aah, who are you? Well, no need to act so defensive. That aside. It'd be nice if hope could be found in that 'this was a process'?" "Well, but this is a matter of will. No matter how God interferes. Without one to receive it, God's love can't be written out. So, please tell me. Your 'will'." "'Do you accept God's love?'"

By selecting yes, we see the three rings of light (i wonder if its relevant that there are THREE of them...) and get sent back to our first meeting with Hatsutori. This. this is META. the game itself plays with our expectations of a 'credits' scene and uses it to PUSH FORWARD THE NARRATIVE. it breaks what is expected as a PART OF THE GAME.

It's more than just a bonus scene too; the fact that S route happened is a PART of the story as well! Haruki specifically says THIS

Hatsutori: Once again, good day. Haruki Atou-kun. This is our first time meeting, shall I say. Atou: No....... This isn't our first time.

He IS AWARE of the S route. Hatsutori calls it "arrival."

Why is the term "Arrival" important? because that is what we call the endings! the translation calls them "Arrival Points"! This links us back to the SAVE FILES OF THE GAME. Haruki is AWARE of the S route on a subconscious level. This can also link to why the game has hidden timers and route info as well-- by playing multiple times, us the player AND Haruki the character know more of whats going on! That's why it's so hard to get the S ending first try, because it relies on the PLAYER'S knowledge of what to do! We are a PART of Atou's story beyond just controlling his actions!

The three rings of light.... Three books of the Divine Comedy (Inferno Purgatorio Paradiso).... Which connects us back to "the Divine Comedy is a reality left in this world." I need to think more on what this could mean. I think this has to do with accessing the 'source code' but either way it is meta.

Mutei's document (the only one we've seen so far) expands on this when we get to see it in DLC part 5. I will put the document below (note that this is the only mutei doc we've seen in the eng TL so far. i am so desperate to understand this man so fucking bad. the second i understand whats going on with him its over for all of you).

he says this AS A WRITER. SEODORE is using this info to REWRITE the definitions of the world, and edit the source code. This is why he has that glitchy effect whenever he uses Brugmansia: he is LITERALLY rewriting the code. I think Seodore is the only one TRULY aware of this whole world as a 'story', along with Mutei.

HOWEVER. I believe that these rewrites are limited to what is REALISTIC. I believe that each COE route is a different pseudo-universe as described in Mutei's document. The minor changes build up to a butterfly effect! It's like using save files to change your actions! to reset to try to save everyone! We still follow the world's definitions, but are changing the outcome using information we've gained!

The above screenshots... The line about playthings makes me think that seo is aware of the Source code. We the player are a level above the characters, looking into their little fictional world. I think seodore wants to 'end the game'. Make it so the player CAN'T keep looping things and playing over and over. Seo is right, from his perspective people AREN'T playthings. but to us? the player? These are FICTIONAL characters in a FICTIONAL world and seodore is RESISTING that. he wants the story to END.

I believe Sanemitsu and Atou both have the power to do this as well (Harada factor). I touched on this in the other COE post but I swear to god it makes sense. Atou SPECIFICALLY acknowledges that the scenario Hatsutori expected has been REWRITTEN (again calling back to the WRITER themes). Sanemitsu... i will write him his own analysis post bc i love him

ATOU SPECIFICALLY CALLS OUT THE META ASPECT BY ACKNOWLEDGING THIS WHOLE THING AS A 'FINALE OF A PLAY'. HE HAS HIMSELF HAS DONE THE BEST HE CAN. ITS META FICTION. ITS LITERALLY META. ATOU IS REMINDING US THAT THIS IS INDEED A GAME AND IS FICTION which is DOUBLE interesting bc HE KNOWS!!! ATOU KNOWS AND HE DOESNT AT THE SAME TIME!!

anyways i cannot wait to see where the story goes! i am sane and normal over this game (lying).

#aria rambles #cell of empireo #aria answers #anon #coe spoilers #coe theory #aria's analysis #gavi no clicky #I. NEED TO HTINK ABOUT FUCKING SEODORE AGAIN #BC #IF HE WANTS TO DESTROY THE NARRATIVE #THAT. HAS IMPLICATIONS #its time to rotate them in my mind again :pensive:#>live aria theory crafting means i realize things AS I WRITE THEM

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shayberri789 · 2 years

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I posted 6 393 times in 2021

45 posts created (1%)

6348 posts reblogged (99%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 141.1 posts.

I added 602 tags in 2021

#mha - 103 posts

#show meep - 90 posts

#deltarune - 88 posts

#aftg - 81 posts

#loz - 56 posts

#tloz - 47 posts

#pjo - 41 posts

#shay posts - 34 posts

#pied piper fic - 31 posts

#deltarune chapter 2 - 31 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i’d do the tag but what i last wrote was character profiles for oc’s lmao i don’t even know what the last bit of creative writing i did was

My Top Posts in 2021

Okay but also, what if in the rwrb movie we get shots of Henry’s point of view during events? Please for the love of god I want to see henry Doing some royal bullshit in the palace or eating Jaffa cakes or whatever the fuvk they are at 3am and losing his shit at the weird texts Alex sends him.

OR OR OR. Henry’s reaction to the emails during meetings

And the TURKEYS. From an outside perspective. JUST IMAGINE

Like the directors don’t even NEED To change the plot to make the movie interesting to ppl who’ve read the books 6 times. Just make it the rwrb from Henry’s perspective. It’ll tick all the boxes for a great adaption:

- faithful

- yet new and interesting

- fulfill the undying desire of the entire fandom

- two hours of gay pining and panic

Like I would seriously kill for it sidndkdnd

108 notes • Posted 2021-10-20 02:54:51 GMT

Ok but this shouldn’t be a surprise for anyone (but for some reason I have yet to see someone else say it) BUT.

Andrew’s love language is acts of service.

I don’t think I need to make a case for this; look at how/what he gives ground:

the halloween party

helping neil with his injuries both after christmas and baltimore

the time he spent with neil at the police

how much effort he goes through to keep his promises

his quietly doing things for people he cares for without a word

80% of what he does for kevin

giving up crackers

I think a similar case could be made for gift giving. I know Nicky says that “Andrew isn’t one for giving gifts” in tfc but like.

the keys. Come on.

he gives neil cigarettes without being asked

the clothes he buys neil

bee’s figurines

he gives renee the keys to help jean

I’m blanking but there’s more, feel free to add lol

155 notes • Posted 2021-08-10 01:15:25 GMT

Alright it’s been about 2 months since I read Carry On because Life but anyway from what I’ve seen the fandom is COMPLETELY sleeping on that part in CO when Baz returns to Watford after being kidnapped and he is LITERALLY like “I’m gonna announce myself before anyone else does and I’m going to be a Dramatic Gay™️ about it” and used magic to fucking FLING the cafeteria doors WIDE FUCKING OPEN while dressed all fancy like “I hope Simon notices me” Boy PLEASE

163 notes • Posted 2021-11-02 19:13:54 GMT

If you think about it, the scene at the Hemmick’s house and Nicky’s relationship with his parents is a lot sadder when you consider what the foxes stand for.

In tfc, wymack said (paraphrased Bc j can’t remember it word for word) “it s about given you another chance - second, fourth, sixth, seventh I don’t care so long as it’s one more than you would’ve gotten otherwise”

That’s the foxes’ thing; second chances, they know they’re all fucked up and messing up and triggering each other left and right but they have faith in one another and even if they don’t always forgive they do give new chances. Nicky sees the benefit of it, he does it with his teammates and it rewards him, and they give him.

But he kept giving his family second chances, more than the other foxes would’ve, more than I would’ve (I would have never given them a second chance if they sent me to conversion camp, even if I had to live in the same house as them) because he hoped they’d do better like the foxes did, because surely they’re not as screwed up as the foxes right? But he didn’t fully realize that being fucked up is not the same as being filled with hate, and he didn’t realize they didn’t deserve his chances until they did something that made that fact apparent: they hurt Andrew, the person who Nicky gave second chances to and Andrew made them worth it, while all his parents ever did was hurt him further. And the parallels are just sad, ya know?

171 notes • Posted 2021-09-09 07:29:03 GMT

My favorite thing about the aftg fandom is that we collectively decided Andrew has pierced ears and the twinyards have freckles.

266 notes • Posted 2021-09-22 20:46:30 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #I cry as my fandom contributions are the only notable thing about me and not any of the creative writing bits I did #rip me #also what do you mean I made 45 posts but only 34 of them were tagged #I try to tag all my original posts with shay posts #tumblr when will you give me a way to actually see all my original posts #without having to tag for them or have them not show up when I search for these tags #arg #shay posts

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afterthelastreset · 4 years

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Kris’s Soul Theories

Ok. So I was talking with my pal @makiswak about these and thought I’d share them here. These are just possible theories I came up with while rewatching the playthroughs of Deltarune and that scene of Kris ripping their soul out. So I thought of these to help maybe explain it. Hope you all like it.

Theory 1: KRIS IS POSESSED BY SOMETHING

The red soul is something else and something is posessing Kris. Before you all go out and point at Chara, Chara wasn’t ever really a bad person (watch the theories about it on youtube) so Chara wouldn’t posess someone. Plus we’ve never seen Chara posess someone cannically so- Plus there’s no WAY it could be Chara for 2 specific reasons.

1. This is a separate au from Undertale and the two games are two separate cannons as stated by Toby Fox

2. Asriel ain't dead so Chara is probably alive and well somewhere too, college aged since in Undertale they were the same age, and it seems everyone is their cannon age here

But ghosts ARE a real thing in undertale like Napstablook and we see a house similar to his house in town so maybe Kris Is being posessed by a evil ghost monster. And before someone suggest Frisk it couldn’t be either. Frisk was WAY younger than Chara or Asriel might’ve been and the only way Asriel was the same age as them in Undertale was because he was dead and an ageless flower for so long, and when he was brought back he reverted back to the age he was when he died. Everyone seems to be the same age they are as they were in Undertale. So Cannoncally if we’re calculating the numbers right, Frisk would be alive and younger than Asriel possibly even younger than Kris. So they’re not an option either, and Frisk was never shown with red eyes or a knife in game.

Theory 2: THE SOUL IS THE PLAYER

The soul is the player is probably the most obvious and likely but I’ll include it too just to be fair. So this one’s pretty basic. What is it’s US that’s possesing Kris and Kris is just rejecting the player’s control over them? It wouldn’t be the first time we got a fourth wall break. Remember in Undertale when Sans winked at us when he made the joke when Papyrus first appeared? And it didn’t seem like Kris was ever a cruel or dangerous person? Sure he scared Noelle by hiding under her bed but that sounds like something kids typically do. Scare their friends as pranks whether by hiding under the bed or jumping from around a corner. What if Kris only has the knife to defend himself? Because like everyone says in the game, Kris is a quiet kid but he never hurt anyone. Even in the 'genocide' run of the game no one dies. So what if Kris is holding back from the player's commands and shows us a his scary face as a warning? Because he doesn't want to hurt anyone.

Theory 3: THE WHOLE THING IS JUST A METAPHOR

Yep! What if Kris ISNT really ripping out their soul and what we see is just Toby Fox animating out what Kris is eternally feeling inside? It isn’t that too far of a stretch. This is Toby Fox who made Undertale, a game where a skeleton broke the fourth wall once, a ghost who possesses a robot, and talking goat’s who want to adopt you. And in undertale Toby included two meanings of ‘Love’. The love you gain in the pacifist route and L.O.V(Level of violence) for the genocide. And Sans uses all kinds of metaphors, jokes, and puns to refer to things. Why would it be too far a stretch that what we see isn’t actually happening and just symbolism to how Kris is feeling inside?

What if the soul IS Kris's soul, but he’s not ACTUALLY pulling it out and it’s what he’s feeling? You know what a soul looks like? YEP!! A HEART!! His ‘soul’ could be representing his heart. There’s things call heartache and heartbreak. And this kid has a LOT to be heartbroken over. He was adopted so he’s probably already feeling lost not knowing what his real family’s like, he’s the only human in a town of monsters, his adopted parents are divorced, his brother's not home anymore, and he has no friends outside maybe Noelle except when he meets Susie and the dark world gang.

What if Kris pulling out his soul out of his chest symbolizes his escape from all the hurtful emotions he's feeling? What if he's not REALLY ripping out his soul and what we see is just what Kris FEELS like is happening? He feels his 'heart being ripped from his chest'(which is already a real metaphor) and the red eyes and knife could just be metaphors too. Like the red eyes could just mean he's angry and the knife could just mean he feels like he has to defend himself from everyone because of what he's going through. Well what about his crazy smile and his trapped soul in the cage? Well his smile could symbolize him always smiling away the pain he’s feeling, and the cage could symbolize all the hope and love he wants to feel is buried deep down trapped in this cage he feels himself trapped in.

And if you point out the cage and the wagon is always in the game, it could be just a symbol throughout the game. Like maybe Kris feels constantly trapped by his emotions and doesn’t know how to stop carrying it around with him hence the wagon. Because he might feel like he’s dragging his caged weight with him everywhere. And the other thing’s that happen in the animation. Kris looking like he’s being throw outta bed and being forced to throw his soul out like a puppet. Perhaps it symbolizes that Kris feels he has to force himself to do this, to force himself against his better judgement to cage these emotions so avoid anymore pain?

Maybe Im looking to far into this but with Toby Fox anything is possible.

Theory 4: IT’S ALL JUST A NIGHTMARE

Kinda an extension of my third theory but hey, like I said with Toby Fox anything is possible here so us seeing Kris’s nightmare isn’t too far a stretch too.

So here me out. The animation with the soul shows us nighttime with Kris in bed before the soul ripping out thing even happens so what if Kris is having a night mare and in this nightmare, he’s reliving through all the emotions and trauma he’s experiencing? Just some more possible symbolism here, but the part where Kris falls out of bed could possible symbolize that this dream has happened before since’s he’s eerily silent. Maybe he’s had this dream so many times to be barely affected anymore. If so then poor Kris. Again this one doesn’t hold up as much as the other three do but it’s one regardless.

Theory 5: THIS IS JUST A PREVEIW

The whole game’s not done so maybe the end of the first chapter is just a small preview of what WILL happen but HASN’T yet. After all in some games like Bendy And The Ink Machine after every chapter it showed a small preview of what’s to come for the next one. Perhaps Toby was just showing us what was to happen in later chapters to come?

Well these are my five theories of what’s actually going on in that one scene. Tell me what you guys think of all this?

#Kris #Deltarune #Deltarune soul

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sophtopus · 6 years

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Okay many people have not read Toby’s Long Tweet about Delta Rune

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sqn3p9 See that URL? It’s the official link. Here is the full transcript copy pasted from the Tweet. I won’t put it under readmore because people tend to scroll past that. Past the break line is Toby’s own words. Deltarune is it’s own world. It’s NOT related to Undertale. This is exactly what he said in point 1 of his post. It’s also something he had worked for 7 years (earliest file was 2012). This game was more difficult to make compared to Undertale. Toby also doesn’t know when he’ll ever finish Deltatune. That’s why he released this demo to share with us. I cannot stress how important it is to be patient with the artist/author and let them do whatever they want. If Toby wants to create something new, LET HIM! Trust the Dog that he’ll make something interesting! Repeat TLDR: Deltarune is NOT Undertale!!! No matter how many similarities they have, they are NOT the same. Insisting that it’s the same will just rob you of enjoyment. It’s all in the first question. Scroll down for the rest of the transcript.

Here are my thoughts on Ch 1 of Deltarune. This should answer some questions.

It's October 4th. The DEMO (first chapter) of my game is supposed to come out on Halloween. Actually it was done a little while ago but I'm waiting for the translation to be finished. I feel like I should address what I think people will think before the game comes out. Of course, if I'm all wrong about this, then I just wasted my time, but... QUESTIONS I PREDICT PEOPLE HAVE 1. "Is this a sequel? What's going on?? I'm scared..." Please don't worry too much about that. Actually, I'm worried if people worry too much about "what it is," they might not be able to properly enjoy it... (laugh) I will say that basically, what you're seeing here is not the world of UNDERTALE. UNDERTALE's world and ending are the same as however you left them. If everyone was happy in your ending, the people in the UNDERTALE world will still be happy. So, please don't worry about those characters, and that world. It will remain untouched. To rephrase that, DELTARUNE's world is a different one. With different characters, that have lived different lives. A whole new story will happen... I don't know what you call this kind of game. It's just a game you can play after you complete UNDERTALE, if you want to. That's all. 2. "I have questions I want to ask about the story..." There's a lot of questions I'd like to answer, too. That's why I have to make the game. Please wait until then. 3. "When will the next chapter come out?" This is a difficult question. When I made the demo of UNDERTALE, I made it to prove to myself that it was possible to make a whole game alone (with some help with the art). Because I was able to make it in a few months, I felt that I had proved that it was possible. However, making the demo of DELTARUNE... took a few years. So, given the length of the rest of the game, and how long I'd be willing to spend on a project (7 years maximum) I think the answer is that it's actually impossible to make this game. Lots of things make this game harder to make than the last time. - The graphics are much more complicated and don't play to my strengths (black and white battle graphics were easy...) - The battle system is much more complicated due to multiple characters (I'll write about this later) - The overworld and other sections are more complicated due to multiple characters - Having multiple main characters is much harder to write especially introducing everyone properly in chapter 1 - The entire town had to be created correctly on the first try to set up properly for the rest of the game And further things outside of those: - Trouble starting tasks/concentrating and general difficulty paying attention - Travelling / other responsibilities like translation/ports - Self-doubt / burnout regarding the creation of the game Essentially it's not possible to make this game as one person (and Temmie). However, it MIGHT be possible to create the game if I'm able to make a team. So I'm going to try making a team. Because I really want to make this. But I may not be able to succeed because I have no experience successfully directing a team and I have no idea who I'm going to work with. Since I haven't started assembling the team yet I have absolutely no estimation of its completion. It could take up to 999 years depending on the efficiency level. By the way, I currently plan to release all of the chapters at once after we complete them. I'm not sure how long that will take. You'll buy all of the chapters at once as one purchase. That'll be the only option. I'm not doing pre-orders because I don't like those. It just seems like the best way not to burn anybody. Price is unknown. It depends on how long the game is, and how much it costs to make... I don't know anything about what consoles, etc. it'll come out for because by the time it comes out we might be on Playstation 14 or something. So... in short, I have no idea. 4. "Is this the game's final design? Will you change anything?" It's possible I could change things. This is basically a demo. I might even change this first chapter before release depending on how development goes. This is really an excuse to talk about the parts I think had issues. THE BATTLE SYSTEM: I think the battle system could be explained better. I had a super duper long explanation of things here but really it boils down to: 1. UT's system is incompatible with multiple party members but I wanted to do it anyway because it's cool 2. I'd like to make it so for pacifist players, characters won't have to "defend" so much Oh. The people who tested the game thought that the TP system and animations were cool so it's not all bad. By the way, did you notice that getting close to bullets makes enemy attacks end faster? It doesn't work for every attack, but... EVERYTHING ELSE: I thought everything else was OK. Actually some parts were kind of lazy, like finding the key pieces, but oh well. The UI had some things that could be changed too. When making a game, there's so much to do you have to draw the line somewhere. That's why I need other people to help me (laugh) Oh, and I have no plans to add more content to the first chapter. 5. "Will there be multiple endings?" No. No matter what you do the ending will be the same. (Honestly most games are like that, but for some reason it feels really oppressive to say here...) I think that's part of the reason why the ACT / FIGHT system feels so vestigial in this one. Oh... I'm just talking about the battle system again... 6. "I found some kind of bug, will you fix it?" Hopefully an e-mail for that exists on the website by now. Or, it would be better if you could tweet it with #deltarunebug . That would really help us and make our lives easier because tweets are easier to ignore than e-mails 7. "Can I be on the team?" I'll ask you first!!! (Total silence) 8. "What's the progress on the rest of the game so far?" 0%!!! Nothing!!! I've done nothing!!! I mean, I've done some songs and written the whole story, but... Since no programming or final art has been done, it's best to just think of it at 0%. 9. "Will you do a Kickstarter?" I still haven't finished that damn Alarm Clock, are you kidding me? There's no way I'm doing a Kickstarter this time. 10. "The game doesn't work" / "I don't like the game" / "Will there be a version for (platform)?" Because it's a free download I'm surrounded by a forcefield that destroys all complaints and platform requests. There might be more platforms for the DEMO but I don't want to make any promises. (At the very least it'd be nice to do something for the people who bought the game on console.) By the way at the time of writing I haven't even rendered a Mac version whatsoever at all. I hope I can release it... (laugh) 11. "Can I buy the soundtrack for Chapter 1?" Yes! You can buy it at [ http://tobyfox.bandcamp.com ] And other forms of distribution will be in the works too. I'm writing this in the past so I don't know what I just said. 12. "Any closing remarks?" (No one asks this, but...) Thanks for playing my game. I hope you liked it. For the past 3 years I've been waking up in the middle of the night unable to go back to sleep because I've been thinking about the scenes that happen in the game. Even though so many details are still hazy, I really want to show you the things I've been thinking about. That's really my only reason for making this game. If I don't show you what I'm thinking, I'll lose my mind. (It was actually a totally selfish motivation...) By the way, I was really worried at first about making this. The expectations for my next work would be really high, so high that I knew that no matter what I did, I felt like people would be underwhelmed. If you played "UNDERTALE," I don't think I can make anything that makes you feel "that way" again. However, it's possible I can make something else. It's just something simple but maybe you'll like it. See you in ?? years... OK? Don't forget.

#deltarune #delta rune #tobyfox #undertale #twitter #deltarune spoilers #spoilers

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fireflysummers · 6 years

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Delta Rune: Addendum

People have asked me if my opinions have shifted at all in light of Toby Fox’s FAQ.

The answer is yes and no.

Also, I’ve gotten a fair amount of...unasked for feedback on my other post, which was mostly just my own musings and opinion? So I might as well just kinda...address a bunch of things here, based on a couple observations over the last 48 hours.

What People Didn’t Like (And Why)

The Repetition of Plot Elements from Undertale in the Dark World

This one’s pretty common, and very justified given that, when the demo first launched, we had no idea that it was a demo. For all we knew, it was some kind of finished product.

Although I didn’t want to believe that this is the case, it’s not uncommon for creators to accidentally fall into a sophomore slump of sorts, where under the pressure of measuring up to their freshman fame, they end up creating something dull and uninspired.

Despite that, there wasn’t any level of self-awareness that indicated that the Dark World was supposed to be a cheaper version of Undertale. And then it ended by falling into the “it was just a dream” trope (not entirely, but close enough), which is one of my least favorite tropes, so I was just turned off altogether.

The Battle System

I didn’t really enjoy the new combat system (that’s definitely a personal thing though...turn-based jrpg games have always been a struggle for me, and I straight up don’t have the time for the strategy that it often takes). That aside, Fox himself admits that the system is rough and really unbalanced.

Also, I get the sense that he wants to bring home that theme of your choices mean nothing, but isn’t exactly sure how to do that yet, which explains a lot of the issues with ACTing in the demo.

Even after he gets it fixed up, I’m not sure I’m really going to enjoy the battle system, although I do commend him for his creativity and the attempt to integrate Undertale’s bullet hell into a turn-based game style.

Underdeveloped Characters

This one I can forgive almost entirely, by nature of it being a demo rather than a finished piece of work. I can relax my criticism of the Dark World NPCs as a result.

That said, I still failed to really feel anything other than aww...cute a couple of times (usually as Ralsei)

Oh, that and a shit ton of existential horror at Undyne and Alphys not knowing each other, the world being generally indifferent to whatever made Susie the way she is, and that everybody is turning a blind eye or actively punishing Asgore for some unknown crime.

But I’ll talk about that a bit more in the next section.

The Vague Relation to Undertale and the Re-Use of Characters

Okay so like. I understand that Toby Fox insists that it’s Not Undertale.

Except that like.

I don’t buy that for a second.

Like, it’s Not Undertale only in the sense that it’s not related to the pacifist ending, but doesn’t disqualify it from being a follow-up to the genocide run (and therefore a direct sequel of sorts).

That aside, if it truly was Not Undertale, then he wouldn’t have named it Delta Rune, brought Gaster into it, and drawn visual and flavor text metaphors to the original game. It’s related, it might be an AU, but that doesn’t make the OOC meanness of the familiar faces easy to swallow.

It could easily interpreted as “unsettling and OOC to show the player that their expectations will be subverted and that there is something Seriously Wrong with this world,” and a lot of people have interpreted it that way! I’m on the fence there myself, but you gotta understand that not everybody shares that interpretation.

For others, including myself to some extent, the message was:

In the absence of dire circumstances, the characters that you were led to believe cared deeply about each other and you, are indifferent, apathetic, and downright mean.

I mean, even if Kris on their own is a total dick? That doesn’t justify the way that the other characters treat each other.

And that lack of warmth in the story was felt like a gut-punch to a small number of people.

On top of that, the weird twist ending didn’t do much to subvert that message. It gave no sense of whether or not the entire thing indicated a fundamentally sick world, or disprove that sense of they only cared about you and others out of a mutual need.

And if you can put yourself in that mindset, you can understand how that could be painful.

What People Didn’t Like About Me (And Others) Not Liking It

You’re Complaining Because it’s Not Undertale

No, I’m complaining because it’s Too Much Undertale. Because my personal prerogative is that Undertale is perfect the way it is and any additional content would only detract value from the original.

I was sincerely hoping for a totally new game, with maybe cameos or nods to Undertale, because I didn’t want to risk that horrible sequel syndrome.

And while we, as fans, can opt to ignore horrible sequels (see: the entirety of the Harry Potter fandom), at the same time...sometimes you can’t unsee what you’ve seen. Sometimes sequels are enough to mar your affections and feelings for characters, especially because it comes from The Voice of God Dog.

You’re Can’t Complain that Things are OOC When It’s an AU!

-rubs forehead-

Look. I don’t know if you know this, but I adore AUs. Not every AU, of course, but I loved the concept and how the community came together to create some kind of semi-cohesive multiverse.

I mean, I literally drew over 100 different AUs: SET 1 || SET 2 || SET 3 || SET 4 || SET 5 || SET 6 || SET 7 || SET 8 ||

But there’s a difference between fandom AUs and canon AUs--namely in that fandom AUs can be as out of character as they want, because it’s a fan creation.

There are multiple series that play with that multiverse theory as well, within their own canons, starting with the entire body of Osamu Tezuka, but also including the works of CLAMP (most notably XxxHolic and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles), Adventure Time, the Final Fantasy series, and so on.

And the key to making an effective multiverse? The thing that makes it work?

Keeping the characters in-character. There has to be that kind of consistency, otherwise it doesn’t function on a narrative level. You’re just reusing character designs and assigning new personalities, because you’re too lazy to design new characters.

Or worse, you’re baiting in previous players on a sense of nostalgia which is a trick I do not appreciate.

You Shouldn’t Rely on Fictional Works to Aid Your Mental Health

Screw you.

Everybody has Real Issues in their lives. Sometimes we need a hand from something or somebody else to keep moving.

Fine, But There’s No Reason To Be Publicly Upset by DR

It’s okay to dislike additional material, for whatever reason, so long as you’re not attacking others for liking it. It’s okay to be upset by something, even if it’s not rational, and you don’t need to force others to like what you like, nor should you feel guilty that somebody else doesn’t ‘get it.’

Will You Play Chapter 2?

I will purchase it to support Toby Fox on his endeavors.

But you gotta understand, I straight up don’t play video games most of the time. Don’t have the time or the energy.

I only played Undertale after I’d had the whole thing spoiled to me, and knew it was worth the investment of my time. I should’ve waited on this one too, but I was too eager, and instead lost 4-5 hours of critical time for my graduate coursework (which definitely contributed to my annoyance).

TL;DR

You guys realize it’s okay for people to dislike deltarune? It’s okay for them to have been hurt by the characterization in deltarune? And people don’t have to write an essay in order to hold those opinions?

And that you don’t have to aggressively convert people to it like you’re some kind of church missionaries?

-sighs- At any rate, beginning to feel a bit more optimistic overall, and after that interview I can feel Toby Fox’s enthusiasm (he had something cool and he couldn’t wait to show it off!!), and I can get excited for him and others, even if as a whole the entire game experience fell flat.

Some day, I might even warm up to the game well enough to draw some stuff some time. I’ve got some fun ideas and theories, but still refuse to be hopeful that it’ll actually shape up.

Because I am made of salt.

#undertale #undertale spoilers #deltarune #deltarune spoilers #delta rune #delta rune spoilers #text #long post

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kitty-does-stuff · 5 years

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you like homestuck? why not try ___

(reblogs > likes, if you read this all and think to yourself that you should check out one of the things i talked about then why not reblog and share with others?)

hiya so ain’t a normal post for this blog, think of it like a youtube video but text (i’d make this a video but i don’t have a good mic & idk how to edit), anyways this is a start to a series of posts i’ll sometimes make, the point of this series is to point some fandoms at other pieces of work like the thing that fandom likes, so like in this post i’ll talk about other pieces of work that homestuck fans might like

anyways most of the post is under the cut cause it might be a long but i’ll show the 1st 2 that way you can see if you like my reasoning, also i haven’t seen every piece of media ever so i might miss some things so feel to add in a reblog

(also the numbers i use aren’t to show the quality, it’s just what came to mind 1st)

1: borderlands

ok tbh this game is why i made this post, this game series has a lot of the same kinds of humour (though borderlands doesn’t to what i can recall have any ablest jokes or the stuff like that), it’s a very fun game series even for those who most of the time don’t like shooters as it’s kinda like what would happen if overwatch’s fun shooting mechanics had a baby with diablo 2‘s skill trees

the story is really great, taking a lot of cues(and names) from greek legends, also a hot tip, you really don’t need to play the 1st game, just start at borderlands 2 then go to pre sequel and then tales from the borderlands and you should be fine

also there are quite a few lgbtq+ characters (including a canon lesbian relationship that can end in marriage, i say can as it’s a part of a game where what you say and do can have things end in other ways), and there is also a lot of room for oc making as it takes place in it;s very own world that has a lot of things no other story really has

2: Undertale/Deltarune

ok you most likely know about at least Undertale but hey this is my post and i get to add what i want. anyways Undertale’s story is this: once a upon a time monsters and humans both lived above the ground but one day a war started, humans with their determination sealed the monsters deep beneath Mount Ebott, creating a barrier only a human soul could pass, one day a child climbs Mount Ebott and falls into the undergrond, the way this tale ends is up to the player

ok so there are quite a few characters that you get to know well, they all have backstorys that are quite the tales, there is canon lgbtq+ characters (including a canon relationship with two of the woman characters, a non binary protag and trans coded characters),

it’s also a very funny game and the story is one of the best story's i’ve ever heard, also if you like the music of homestuck then you’re gonna love this game’s music as it was made by toby fox (some of his songs from homestuck are: Black, Descend, Savior of the Waking World, MeGaLoVania, ect)

now Deltarune isn’t a full game yet and only chapter 1 is out rn but if you’ve already played Undertale then give this a go

3: My Hero Academia

ok so a lot of you already know about this anime but i still feel i should about it. So the show’s plot is about a world where most people have superpowers called Quirks, the main character (named Izuku Midoriya) has the dream of be coming a superhero like his role model All Might but he has a problem: he was born without a Quirk, the show has him slowly learn how to be a hero, make new friends and fight evil

there are a lot of characters so if you liked the bigger cast size of homestuck then this will be great. the fights are very well done and the super powers are well done, there is also a lot of room to make oc’s so if you liked making oc’s this show should be great for you

you can find this wherever you stream/watch anime

4: danganronpa

did you like the murder in homestuck? wish there was more and it was somehow more nuts? well then these games (plus anime and book or two) are for you!

the 1st game story is this: you are Makoto Naegi, a student of Hope's Peak Academy, who finds himself trapped in a game of mutual killing among his peers, in Hope's Peak Academy everyone is some kind of Ultimate (of skills or things like being a robot), Makoto Naegi is the Ultimate Lucky Student witch is a Ultimate given out in a lottery

the games have a lot of unique characters and a story about as messed up as homestuck, there are also canon lgbtq+ characters but for the most part most are only coded (and the ones that are canon don’t uh really get any happy endings), also due the whole Ultimate thing there’s a lot of room for oc making

here’s the order that you’ll wanna use (bolded means you need to see or else later things won’t make sense anything else is just a plus): Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc > Makoto Naegi Secret File > Danganronpa Kirigiri (may not be canon) > Danganronpa: Togami (not canon, also just save yourself from wasting time and don’t read it, it sucks) > Danganronpa 2: Goodby Dispair > Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc IF (non canon) > Danganronpa Zero > Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls > Ultra Despair Hagakure > Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy (there are two different complimentary series. The idea is that you alternate between the two of them starting with Side Future, then Side Despair so your order would be F1, D1, F2, D2, etc...) > Super Danganronpa 2.5 > Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer > anything else to do with the main danganronpa universe > Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (not canon to the rest of the games, it is it’s own verse)

5: steven universe

so i’m sure most of you have heard of this but it’s really good so it’s worth sharing, here’s the plot: The Crystal Gems are a team of magical beings who are the self-appointed guardians of the universe. Half-human, half-Gem hero Steven is the "little brother" of the group. The goofball is learning to save the world using the magical powers that come from his bellybutton and he goes on magical adventures with the rest of the Crystal Gems, even though he's not as powerful -- or smart -- as fellow group members Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl. Despite his shortcomings, Steven usually finds a surprising way to save the day.

this show has so many lgbtq+ characters that if i tried i wouldn’t be able to list them all, there is so much room to make oc’s if you can think of a type of gem then you got a gemsona idea buddy cuz any gem can be a character and the story is really great

6: the adventure zone

ok so this one is a tabletop rpg podcast, so far there has been two main campaigns though one is still on going, the 1st one is called The Balance Arc it’s the campaign that was for d&d and so far is the only main campaign to be over as it has a ending (though they sometimes still do live shows set in the campaign), it’s also the one you should must likely start with, then the 2nd main campaign is called: Amnesty it uses the monster of the week rpg and is on going, this podcast is hosted by the McElroys

here’s what campaign 1 can be summed up as: The story of four idiots that played DnD so hard that they made themselves cry.

here’s a fan-made trailer for The Balance Arc

youtube

7: critical role

another d&d show! yeah i know but this one and the last one are very very different, for one everyone in this show knows how to play d&d, anyways this is a web series in which a group of professional voice actors play Dungeons & Dragons, that is played live every Thursday. There are two campaigns, one of them is over while the other is on going, both are already very long so you better have some free time on your hands

if you do watch then be ready to cry at least once

8: 17776

ok so uh this one is a bit odd, it’s on the shorter side os things and is a serialized speculative fiction multimedia narrative by Jon Bois published online through SB Nation, it’s odd but from what i know it’s good

9: paranatural

a webcomic that is made by the same person that made summerteen romance (y’know from Paradox Space?) anyways the comic follows the story of Max, the new kid at school, and the other members of the Activity Club as they fight ghosts, investigate the secrets of Mayview, and interact with their fellow middle school students

it’s a fun webcomic that has characters that you end up really wanting to learn more about

10: young justice

so this show is a pertty good way to get into the dc fandom, you don’t need to know much of the lore of the main dc verse as a lot of the stuff isn’t quite the same in the show so need to worry if your not the must into comics, the story is about the the teenage team of superheroes as they save the world as well as deal with normal daily life issues

it’s a fun show that can make you cry really fast, that goes from light hearted to dark very quick and isn’t afraid to kill off a characters

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ghouliday-music · 6 years

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To Save Those Who Can’t Be Saved Chapter 5

Beginning

<– Previous

Well, this took longer than I’d hoped, due to stuff like dentist’s appointments, camping trips, a shift of interests, and that Deltarune survey program. But this chapter’s finally ready to read! While I’m not entirely happy with this, I think it’s as good as it’s getting.

Don’t forget, I’m always open for constructive criticism!

To Save Those Who Can’t Be Saved

AO3

Work Summary: Frisk, Asriel, and Chara go back to Waterfall to solve the mystery of the lone statue sitting deserted in its halls. Along the way, they uncover more questions than answers, and find themselves forced to face their greatest faults and failures.

Chapter 5: Ghosts of the Past

Chapter Summary: A new mystery has brought itself to the siblings’ attention, and Frisk has their doubts about how soon it will be solved. But will their trip to the statue uncover anything else?

Rating: T

Chapter Warnings: No Mercy Route Discussion, Guilt, Self Deprecation

As the raft glided back into view, with Frisk standing on top, the tension left Asriel’s body in one great sigh. He’d been worried about not sending Frisk over first, and had been even more concerned when Chara arrived on the docks next. He knew Frisk got worried when they were alone, even if they didn’t admit it.

And then he saw the look in their eyes. They were frightened, more than they usually were when they were left alone. The kind of frightened they were when something serious had happened, when they felt helpless and powerless.

An impression flashed before his eyes; their face, pale in the light of a television screen, staring up and up at him.

He fought the urge to curl up at the memory and instead focused on the fact that his sibling was terrified.

Toriel was the first to speak to them as the raft arrived at the dock, of course.

“Frisk, my child, what is wrong?” She barely had to pull them into a hug; they stepped right into her embrace, burying their face into her dress. “Do not worry; we are with you now.” She stroked their hair, careful that her claws didn’t scratch them.

Asriel glanced over at Chara, whose face was slightly tenser from concern. For a brief moment he considered that they’d left Frisk like this, but they’d promised to be a better person. And Asriel knew they’d meant it. They wouldn’t push their sibling to wait alone in Waterfall to “toughen them up” as they might have done before their revival.

“There was a kid.” Asriel almost doubted what he heard, Frisk’s voice was so muffled. “I just turned around and they were there.”

“Did they do anything?” Asriel was sure only he could hear the slight edge to Toriel’s voice. The only way that a kid could truly upset her was to hurt one of her own.

A swish of rustling clothes was her response as Frisk shook their head. “No, I don’t think they meant to scare me. They were scared themself.”

Asriel could almost see Toriel’s hackles smooth over. “Are they still there, or are they coming here?”

Frisk shook their head again, this time taking a small step back. Asriel couldn’t help but lay a hand on their shoulder, hoping it was comforting them as much as it was him.

“They were telling me to forget,” Frisk said, and from how slowly they were speaking Asriel could guess this was what was bothering them the most. “But then the raft came, and I looked away for a second and they were gone.”

Toriel bit her lip and stared into the darkness that hid the dock where they’d come from. She was clearly wondering what to do about it, because it was clearly upsetting Frisk, but at the same time would there be any point in looking for them?

“I do not like the idea of leaving a child alone and in distress,” she said. Her eyes flickered, just slightly, in his and Chara’s direction. Asriel stepped closer to her and reached for her hand. “But you are clearly distressed as well, my child. Since there are more monsters present in the Underground than I accounted for beforehand, there must be some form of system set up for situations such as these. We shall contact them and have them handle it so you will be able to calm down. Is that acceptable?”

Frisk looked down at their feet. Asriel could see their face shift to something unreadable. He fought down the irritation that he couldn’t read their expressions quite as well as Chara’s and focused more on reading it. They looked…almost thoughtful, though the corners of their eyes still seemed a bit tense. Maybe they were still on edge? Or irritated? He kind of wanted to ask them, but that would probably upset them, and Toriel wouldn’t like that.

“Can we go look for them ourselves instead?” they asked, speaking slowly as if unsure they truly wanted to.

Asriel wanted to bite his lip, but forced himself to stay relaxed. Sure, he wanted to see the statue, but if Frisk thought the kid they met was in trouble, then shouldn’t they at least try to help them, even if they were on their way to figure out something no one else had learned?

Toriel shook her head. “You were so very pale when you came over here, child,” she said, and gave their shoulder a gentle squeeze. “I know you wish to help others, but it should not come at the cost of your peace of mind. Rest assured, the child will be found and offered any assistance they might need.”

Frisk nodded, their gaze turning to their shoes. Asriel was pretty sure they were irritated and had wanted to search for the kid themself. They never were one to let others do things for them, no matter how hard, whenever possible.

“Very well.” Toriel patted Frisk’s head, then glanced over at both Asriel and Chara. “Are you both ready to set off?”

Chara nodded. They looked remarkably calm at first, but between the longer than usual breaths and slight tenseness to their muscles they were doing their best to calm themself from…nervousness? Nervousness. “Yes. Are you, Asriel?”

Asriel nodded.

Toriel still seemed nervous, but she took the lead, Frisk’s hand in one of hers. Chara took theirs as they passed them, and Asriel trotted to grab their mother’s other hand.

As they continued down the corridors of Waterfall, he wondered why the kid waited until Frisk was alone to approach them.

The moment Toriel was distracted, talking to a monster heading the Underground Guard, Frisk tapped on Asriel’s shoulder to get his attention. They’d apparently already let Chara know, given that their sibling was already focusing their attention on them.

Frisk immediately began to sign once he turned around, arms moving with an energy that was almost frantic. “The kid I saw at Waterfall–they appeared once there before, in one of my resets, but I can’t remember seeing them in any others.”

Chara tilted their head before they signed back. “You do remember we hardly remember anything after we use a True Reset, do you not?” Their eyebrows turned up slightly, a hint of skepticism.

Frisk nodded, hair flying all over. “But I’m pretty sure we’ve never run into them in any other timelines, even the ones where I did backtrack there. I would remember a monster that looked just like Munsta, except all gray and with fewer spikes on their head.”

Chara shrugged. “I shall have to take your word for it, as I do not remember them myself.”

Frisk looked at them like they’d told an obvious lie. “You sure?”

Chara closed their eyes for a moment. Asriel winced as they held back the slight irritation they felt as they replied, “I am sure I do not remember anything of the sort. They seem distinctive enough so that I could not get confused.”

Frisk turned to Asriel. “Azzy, did you ever see anyone like them during your resets?”

Asriel bit his lip, thinking back to his own resets as he raised his hands in preparation to sign. “Not that I can remember.” And he was pretty sure he’d remember someone like that. He’d memorized everything about every single monster he could find, from what made them the happiest to what broke them the fastest, every route they took to go shopping in every circumstance, everything.

Frisk frowned in a mixture of disappointment and concern. “Really? Nothing?”

Asriel shook his head. “Nothing.” If he’d found even a hint of something that changed even when he didn’t make different choices, well…

He internally winced. Frisk would’ve never gotten the chance to fall down and gain the reset abilities for themself, most likely.

“How about anyone that remembered True Resets?” Their gestures were sharp, almost frantic in their haste.

Asriel shrugged. “Besides me, no one else.” The thought of someone who knew what happened in Frisk’s resets, and probably remembered his…

It was unsettling, to say the least.

Frisk shifted their weight toward the heels of their feet, biting their lip. They raised their hands to sign.

“Chara, Frisk, Asriel, you may lay any worries to rest.” Toriel’s voice made Frisk twitch, and even Chara looked like they’d tensed from the surprise. Asriel was sure that only his thousands of resets’ worth of experience hiding his emotions stopped him from doing the same. Toriel paused as she glanced between the three. “Oh, I did not mean to startle you.”

“It is fine, Mother.” Chara shook out their hands and folded them behind their back, their muscles relaxing as they seemed to reassure themself everything was fine. “The Underground Guard is on the case, I take it?”

Toriel’s face relaxed. “Yes. They say they did not receive any reports of distressed children, but they plan to send their best after this lost one to make sure that they are taken to safety and reunited with any family they might have lost, if possible.”

Frisk nodded, but it was so faltering that Asriel knew that they weren’t very confident that the kid would be found and helped.

But what else could they do? Toriel was already concerned about how seeing the distressed child had upset Frisk, and wouldn’t change her mind about joining the search themselves. And if they all snuck away…

No, the only choice that would help everyone the most would be to let the Underground Guard do their job. That way, if the child could be helped, they would get it from more experienced monsters. Toriel would be happy, and Frisk could relax knowing that they were safe.

The problem with the kid remembering their resets?

He put that aside for the moment. It wasn’t like anyone could do anything about that, right? And the important thing was that the kid was found and helped. Finding out why they remembered, or if they planned on telling anyone else, would have to wait.

“I was thinking,” Toriel said as she took Frisk’s and Chara’s hand, and Asriel took Chara’s, “perhaps we should head home instead of stopping in Waterfall.”

Asriel’s soul pulsed, a flurry of alarm and protest running through his body. Guilt soon followed; Frisk clearly had been alarmed by the encounter, and still was, and wasn’t it selfish to feel disappointed in not being able to try and answer some questions when they might need to take a break?

A swish of movement drew his attention over to Frisk, who was shaking their head in a panic. “I’m fine, Mom! I still want to go! Please?”

Toriel’s jaw was still tense as she seemed to consider their plea against what she felt was right for them. “I do not know, child. You seemed very upset and concerned. You should not push yourself to do something we can always return for.”

Asriel glanced over at them. While they looked quite upset still, their face tense and creased into a frown, their eyes were bright and pleading.

“But Mom, really, I’m fine! And we walked all this way and everything.” Frisk glanced over at him and Chara, eyes wide in a silent plea.

And if they said they were fine, and looked like they were okay, and would be disappointed if he refused to help, wouldn’t protesting be selfish?

“I think Frisk’s okay, Mom. Really.” He smiled up at her, seeing her hesitation start to falter just the slightest bit.

“It would be a waste to have walked all this way without doing what we set out to do in the first place.” Asriel frowned when he heard the hesitance in Chara’s voice, and turned his head to face them. They were staring at Frisk, looking tense. It almost looked like they were judging how wary they should be.

But that was ridiculous, right? Chara had no reason to feel wary around Frisk, not when the two already knew each other’s worst secrets, right?

He’d just have to ask Chara when they were alone.

At the very least, Toriel relaxed slightly, in resignation rather than feeling reassured that Frisk was all right. “Very well, then, Frisk. But please promise me that you will let me know if you change your mind, at any time?”

Frisk nodded. “Yeah, Mom, I will!” They beamed up at her, and Asriel could pretend that they didn’t still look a bit tense around the eyes.

It didn’t take that much longer to reach where the statue sat. It wasn’t playing its song, but that was only because its umbrella had slumped over to its left, leaving it uncovered from the fat droplets of water that dropped down from the hole in the ceiling. Frisk quickly fixed that, and its chime once again began to echo through the halls.

Toriel grinned at the statue that was just a couple heads shorter than her, slumped as it was. “You always did love this song, did you not, Asriel?”

Asriel nodded. He vaguely remembered being a toddler and asking his mom to hum him this song, over and over, and Toriel would patiently pick him up and do so. And while he didn’t actually remember it, she’d told him many times she’d used it as a lullaby when he was a baby.

She’d hummed it to Chara, too, when a nightmare woke them up during the night and Asriel had gone to her for help. It’d been one of the few times he’d actually seen them cry. And while Chara always hid their sadness from others, Toriel gotten in the habit of just humming when she was around them, “just because.” It was a habit he’d taken up as well. And on the first anniversary of Chara’s adoption, he’d had a craftsperson make two engraved lockets which played the song when wound up. Maybe it sounded a bit different, but it hadn’t mattered at all to Chara, who wore it every day and kept it into its gift box at night to protect it from harm, even though it’d been especially enchanted not to rust and to resist breaking.

And when he was nothing but a flower, wearing a different name and identity like he’d worn a different body, having distanced himself from his family because that was a mess he’d learned not to get into, it’d been a source of comfort for him to come to this statue and listen to its song. The few times it’d been playing since Undyne chose to make it part of her puzzle, at least. She’d decided that leaving it running would be too obvious a clue, and so any time it had played it was due to his meddling.

He glanced over at Chara and grinned when he saw them resting a finger on their locket. They looked so relaxed, their eyes slightly unfocused, he knew they weren’t really aware of the gesture.

He glanced over at Frisk, but they were staring at the tunnel from where they’d come, as if trying to decide… something. They were definitely thoughtful about something other than the statue.

He didn’t have to be good at reading people to know what was occupying their thoughts.

Asriel was kind of worried about the strange kid too, but he was more concerned about his family right now, how Toriel’s eyes were tense around the corners, about how Frisk was no longer excited about something they’d been looking forward to for several days, about how Chara’s posture seemed more forced than usual.

Guilt pulsed through his body. Shouldn’t a good monster be worried equally about both? Sure, his family meant a lot to him, and he really didn’t want them hurting, but the strange kid was important too. He shouldn’t be prioritizing one person over another, because that wasn’t what good people did, and anyways, didn’t Asgore once tell him that the whole Underground should be like family to him since he was a member of the royal family?

Not that he was acing the whole “future king” thing anyways, he reminded himself with a hidden wince. What was one more failure to the pile?

It was Frisk taking a step closer to the statue that reminded Asriel that they were where they needed to be, and there were things to do rather than sit and worry.

Frisk squinted up at the hole in the ceiling, where a faint light filtered down with trickles of water. “Where’s that light coming from?”

Well, Asriel might not be a good future king, but he did know the Underground better than anyone else.

“It’s from a tunnel that leads from a spring, and the whole thing is, like, made out of those glowing rocks.” A beautiful little one, too; the walls were always glimmering with water which reflected the glowing stone that was abundant there. It never grew too full for him to visit, either, since the tunnel prevented it from flooding too badly. “Sort of like the fake stars in the Wishing Room, but brighter. I went to see what was up there when I was, you know, a flower.”

He winced as that seemed to kill the mood. Frisk’s face creased with guilt, pain flashed across Toriel’s face, and Chara’s face grew fixed even more into a forced smile as they suddenly seemed unable to look at him.

I’ve got to fix this, he thought, taking one of his hands in his other and giving a squeeze. But there wasn’t exactly a guide to cheering people up after you reminded them of your original revived state.

Just laughing it off and saying, “It’s okay, everyone!” wouldn’t exactly cut it. His mother would likely try to calm him down when he should be trying to cheer her up, Chara would pretend it hadn’t affected them when it clearly had, and Frisk would be apologizing for something that wasn’t even their fault.

Or resetting so it never happens.

The thought was so angry he couldn’t help but glance around, terrified someone saw the rage flash across his face.

It didn’t seem like they had, but if they did…

He had to get a handle on his emotions. He was the master of his thoughts, and his thoughts were not the master of him; he should know better than to let anger through. He had to be better.

“So the more likely route is that its creator either made it here and abandoned it, or they or others brought it in from elsewhere.” Chara’s voice broke through his thoughts, and he could’ve hugged and thanked them for it.

Asriel fought back the urge to do that, though, since it would’ve let everyone know something was up. Instead, he nodded and said, maybe a little bit too loudly, “Yeah, that’s exactly what I was thinking!” He turned to Toriel, who still looked concerned. “What do you think, Mom?”

She blinked, probably interrupted from darker thoughts, and frowned in thought rather than concern. “You are on the right track, children.” She squinted at the statue. “However, if it was moved from elsewhere, it could not have been from Home, as no monster saw it being removed from there. And while stone was most frequently used from Home’s expansions, not a single shipment was moved from there to elsewhere.”

Frisk blinked. “I thought no one knew anything about the statue!” They glanced at Asriel as if trying to convey how awesome this was, not knowing he’d heard the explanation before in a previous reset.

“Nothing of substance on which you could write your History essay.” Chara’s gaze was fixed on the statue, still tense from before.

“We did look into its origins when scouts searching for a location in which we could build New Home came across it.” Toriel stared at the statue, her gaze a little unfocused. “As far as we could tell, very, very few monsters lived outside of Home at the time, and none of them claimed ownership of the statue. Many were even surprised to hear there was one at all, given no other examples of art appeared in the Underground before the exodus to New Home.” She ducked her head slightly. “It is possible that one or more of them could have lied, to distance themself from it or to protect the privacy of the one who created it, but as it stands, not a single monster had any information to offer us.” She gave them a rueful smile. “It is likely a mystery to which we might never have a full answer.”

The look on Frisk’s face made Asriel wonder if this was an answer they’d accept.

They stayed for a while in Waterfall, but didn’t learn anything new. If there had been any hint of a signature, it’d long since been worn away by the rain, as it’d eroded quite a bit since its creation. Toriel had stopped them from turning over the statue to check there, but said that in the investigations centuries ago, there hadn’t been anything, just smooth stone. Frisk had had Asriel use his fire magic to illuminate the shadowy cavity of its hood, but beyond the glimmer of buried musical mechanisms nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

So when Toriel announced that it was time to start heading back if they wished to be home before bedtime, he bit down the protest that they hadn’t found anything yet and accepted it. After all, while he felt the urge to stay down there and tear the statue apart with his own hands to learn more, there wasn’t anything left to discover. They probably could learn more from a book than poking and prodding at the statue’s worn surface.

Frisk, though, had begged for a few more minutes, and then for even more few minutes, until Toriel finally declined.

And so the statue was left in the darkness, playing its tune for an audience that wasn’t there.

Asriel’s disappointment of their trip’s results, though, was soon replaced with the relief of being home. He’d quickly excused himself to change into his pajamas. He was never more grateful that his comfiest set was clean and ready to wear, and if anyone would find it weird that he buried his nose into them to catch a better whiff of the lavender scent that clung to them, then they weren’t around to see.

After that, it was time for journaling. It’d been something his therapist had suggested he do, something to help him express his thoughts in a place he didn’t have to fear judgement.

The thing was, he still kind of worried. He knew none of his family or friends would read it, but putting it down meant it existed, somewhere in the world, and maybe in the future, long after he’d turned to dust, someone would pick it up and read through it and judge him by what he’d written.

But he wanted to improve, and his therapist said that this might help with that, so he resigned himself to burning it before he dusted.

He caught himself before he just wrote down “Nice day today!” and chewed on his pencil. Not too strongly, because fangs broke wood easier than human teeth, but enough to help him feel like he was gathering his thoughts.

Instead, he jotted down what had happened. About how excited he’d been about getting to examine the statue firsthand, only for the excitement to fade once Frisk had reset and then after Frisk encountered that strange monster kid.

He tapped the eraser on his lips as he stared at the last sentence, wondering if he should elaborate more on his thoughts about that. How he disliked how they’d scared his sibling, and was afraid of their knowing what happened in previous resets, even if they hadn’t said anything about it to anyone else.

“There’s no right or wrong way to journal,” the therapist had said, but then why did it always feel like he was doing it wrong?

He decided that if it was still bothering him later he’d write about it then, and continued on until he finally wrote that the trip had been a failure, sadly.

Asriel had just slipped his journal back into its drawer when there came a knock on the door. Three soft raps; that had to be Frisk.

He was proven right when he opened the door and saw his sibling standing there, rubbing their arm and looking away.

“Frisk, are you okay?” he asked, because although they were clearly worried, it’d be kind of awkward if they went off script, right?

Frisk puffed out a quick sigh and met his eyes. “Yeah, I’m just worried.”

“About that kid from Waterfall, right?” He guided them over to his desk chair and let them sit down while he took the bed. “Don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll find them.”

Frisk hunched their shoulders in what looked like a partial shrug. “Kind of about that.” They bit their lip and grabbed at their pajama sleeve, like they wanted to hold their own hand but were too nervous even for that. “How can someone remember what happened after a True Reset? Chara and I barely do, and you don’t remember ours, either!” They let go of their sleeve and picked at his chair’s armrest. “And other monsters only had déjà vu of regular resets, at best. And never past True Resets.”

Asriel nodded. “That is kind of weird.” He went to scratch at his head and then winced when his claws dug into a tender spot near his budding horns. He settled for resting his hands on his knees and then weaving his fingers together.

“Weird? It’s impossible!” They bit their lip and glanced at the door, probably realizing they half shouted. And right on cue, Toriel’s claws clicked their way across the floorboards in their direction.

“Is everything all right, children?” Toriel opened the door to glance in, her face drawn with worry.

Frisk nodded and grinned. “Everything’s all right, Mom! I was just getting a little too worked up.”

Asriel fixed his expression into a smile, beating down the guilty feeling about lying. It wasn’t like she didn’t know about their powers, and he knew she suspected just why he, Frisk, and Chara were so ashamed of how they’d used it in the Underground, but it wasn’t exactly a topic anyone felt comfortable about speaking. And anyways, it wasn’t lying, not really. It was just not saying anything, right?

Toriel looked between them, looking torn and concerned, before she nodded. “Very well, then. Perhaps you should change the subject into something more relaxing? It is nearly your bedtimes, after all.” After a small smile that was too tense to be truly genuine, she disappeared down the hall, to her own room.

Frisk’s long exhale calmed Asriel’s own nerves slightly. Not the guilt, no, but at least he didn’t feel quite as on edge.

“Thanks,” they said, and sounded truly grateful.

Asriel shook his head. “It’s nothing, really.”

Another knock came at the door. Solid and loud, but not aggressive at all. It was probably Chara.

As Asriel guessed, Chara was standing by the doorframe. “May I come in?” they asked with an incline of their head.

Asriel glanced at Frisk, but they didn’t seem upset. They’d perked up, even. “Sure, Chara. Come on in!”

Chara walked in and glanced between him and Frisk. “I assume you were discussing the child you saw earlier today?”

Frisk nodded. “Yeah.”

“Hmm.” Chara sat down on Asriel’s bed, eyes half closed as they seemed to think about this. “It is a bizarre situation. But it is clearly possible, if the child you met was telling the truth about remembering you.”

Frisk shrugged and tugged at a lock of their hair. “They remembered me before I remembered them. They just reminded me that I forgot.”

Chara nodded. Their gaze was a little unfocused, but Asriel was pretty sure they were just thinking and not zoning out. “So not only did we not uncover anything about the statue, but we also took on a different mystery to which we have no answers.”

Asriel picked at some fur on his ear. “Uh, not yet, at least. The Underground Guard might turn up something.”

Frisk snorted. “If the kid vanished from right next at me in one second, then how will they find them?” The annoyance crackled out from their slump in the chair.

Asriel decided not to push further.

“Let us not dwell on something that might not come to pass.” Chara smoothed out a wrinkle on their pajama shirt. “Until your outburst, I was considering a way to look more into the statue’s mysteries, and I have an idea.”

Frisk still looked rebellious, but Asriel would be lying if he said his interest wasn’t sparked. “What is it?”

“Alphys is part of the Volunteers of Digitizing Monsterkind’s Knowledge, is she not?” Chara paused, as if waiting for anyone to contradict them. “Surely if we asked her if there were any books regarding the Waterfall Statue, she might be able to locate them, or find someone who would.” They shrugged. “While they did not solve its mysteries, perhaps they hold information we happened to miss while there.”

Asriel allowed himself to grin. “Golly, Chara, that sounds like a good idea.” He glanced at Frisk. They still didn’t look cheered up, but at least the idea had gotten their attention.

“When do you think we can see her?” they asked.

“Well, the weekend’s in a couple days.” Which meant they got to stay at Asgore’s, so long as important government stuff didn’t pop up, but since Frisk hadn’t needed to act as honorary ambassador recently, it was probably unlikely. “We can ask if Alphys and Undyne can come have dinner with us or something.” While Asgore always did his best to set weekends aside for only them, Asriel knew he wouldn’t say no to company, especially company they’d specifically requested. He was friends with Alphys and Undyne, anyway, so it’d work out for everyone.

“It sounds as if we have a start of a plan.” Chara stood up and brushed off their pajamas, and then smoothed the creases on the blankets they’d made. “It is settled, then. Now, shall we head to bed?”

Frisk got up, the chair squeaking as they did so, and rolled their eyes. “Fine.” They didn’t make a move to exit the room, though. “If you hear anything about the kid, will you tell me?”

Asriel laughed. “Of course, but I’m pretty sure we’ll hear it the same time?”

Frisk gave him the most unimpressed look, and Chara raised an eyebrow. He had to laugh in embarrassment.

“Okay, I’m a bit nosy. But I’m trying to be better!” He wasn’t really a fan of anyone snooping around his past, although he kind of deserved it. And now that he was trying to distance himself from his past, he was trying to extend the same courtesy to others and not be a nosy little snoop, as painful as not knowing everything was sometimes.

Frisk giggled. It was weak and ended within a second, but it was something.

“Good night!” they said, and left.

Chara, though, did not leave. They were staring at the door, and Asriel could sense that they were tense.

“What’s wrong?” Asriel asked.

Chara shrugged less fluidly than their normal gestures. “Do not worry yourself over nothing.”

“It’s not nothing.” The thought of them thinking that they meant less to their own family than anyone else… It filled him with sadness.

And guilt.

“You’re my sibling. I want to help you.” He really, really did. He’d let them down by not stopping their plan to save the monsters with their own soul so many years ago. He wanted to make it right.

Chara’s smile twitched. For a moment, he thought they looked sadder, even if the expression was more genuine. Then their expression was fixed back to the normal blank grin, and they clasped their hands together.

“It is of no consequence.” They shook their head and glanced at the door again. “Something crossed my mind earlier, when Frisk Loaded their Save.”

Asriel bit his lip, recalling how wary Chara had looked at Frisk earlier at the statue. He was pretty sure that Frisk hadn’t Loaded another Save back in the Underground, but perhaps Chara had spotted something he’d missed?

Impossible, his mind supplied, and he squashed the thought and the accompanying envy.

“Yeah, you did kind of seem on edge a bit, back there.” He stopped himself from picking at furs on his arm and instead grabbed his own hand. “It must not have been a very good thought.”

They shook their head. “No, it was not. However, it was only a passing theory I doubt could ever be proved.” They inclined their head. “Therefore, not important. I shall see you in the morning, then?”

Asriel sensed that if he dug deeper into this “unimportant theory” they’d be upset, and he’d learn nothing more.

He decided to leave it for another time.

“Yeah.” He half-raised a hand in farewell. “Good night.”

Chara clasped their hands behind their back. “And to you, as well.” And they walked out the door.

Asriel sighed and turned toward his bed. He might not know the future events of the world anymore, but he knew enough to predict that getting to sleep tonight would be difficult.

He consoled himself with the thought that maybe Undyne and Alphys could provide more information on the Waterfall Statue, at least.

Next –>

#undertale #undertale fanfiction #to save those who can't be saved #useless reptile writes #saved asriel #saved chara #undertale au #post pacifist #frisk #asriel #chara #dreemurr siblings #dreemurr family #death mention cw #murder mention cw #self deprecation cw #guilt cw

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energyscarf · 2 years

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I posted 2,582 times in 2021

11 posts created (0%)

2571 posts reblogged (100%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 233.7 posts.

I added 1,228 tags in 2021

#deltarune - 247 posts

#shinx - 158 posts

#explorers - 141 posts

#kris - 119 posts

#eevee - 104 posts

#susie - 97 posts

#cats - 93 posts

#pikachu - 91 posts

#animal crossing - 90 posts

#deltarune spoilers - 88 posts

Longest Tag: 94 characters

#i've known about this line for 5 minutes and i've already committed to buying everything in it

My Top Posts in 2021

ok so I finished deltarune chapter 2 last night!! this is definitely shaping up to be one of my favorite games

assorted spoilery thoughts below the cut

ralsei and susie are!! so important!! i just want to hang out with them all the time!! their little character moments together were perfect, like going to the carnival, susie stealing ralsei's glasses, etc. i'm glad they've got so much dialogue from ACTing and equipping and everything! just... what a perfect party

and NOELLE!! i think i was most excited to see more from her after chapter 1, and boy did this chapter not disappoint. she's so sweet and i ADORE her christmas theme! i'm glad the chapter focused so much on her gaining confidence and i hope her family life gets easier...

also i'm fully expecting berdly to become one of my faves. between jayfeather and revali, i seem to have a thing for "asshole blue bird" characters lol

i'm really excited about the recruit system! it's a great reward mechanic for sparing, plus it satisfies the pokemon impulses in my brain

also the spamton fight was one of the most intense things i can remember playing in a game... between his vocal tics, the bullet patterns, the world revolving/power of neo/mad dummy motifs in his battle theme, and then him cutting his strings... i was really glad susie and ralsei stopped to talk things over after. honestly started tearing up when ralsei hugged kris ;-;

ok i think those are most of my initial thoughts... probably will share more as it all sinks in (and i replay the chapter maybe lol)

7 notes • Posted 2021-09-20 02:15:50 GMT

has anyone else had tumblr say you've got a new ask, but then it not appearing in your inbox? wondering if it was spam or something that got blocked

8 notes • Posted 2021-12-17 15:48:21 GMT

DELTARUNE CHAPTER 2 HELLO??

8 notes • Posted 2021-09-16 03:35:40 GMT

hello fellow deltarune enemy

(i thought to change my icon bc i liked yours so much! maus and tasque are rly cute ^^)

15 notes • Posted 2021-09-24 06:02:54 GMT

does sweet cap'n cakes remind anyone else of those early 2000s educational kids games? like i SWEAR i've played games with characters like these on my elementary school's old PCs. i think it's the eyes and gloved hands that do it?

WAIT they did come from stuff in the library computer lab... maybe they really were inspired by that stuff?

49 notes • Posted 2021-09-20 02:31:03 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#lol deltarune absolutely dominated this year #toby fox has a way of hijacking my brain #my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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isekaisyouwithmyforearmlaser · 6 years

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i just read tobys tweet explaining things in deltarune, and here are my thoughts.

spoilers for deltarune

1) deltarune isnt undertale, and it isnt related in anyway (ie. if you did a pacifist route and had a good ending in UNDERTALE, those characters in that universe are still happy.) its neither a prequel, sequel, or reset as many have theorized. its its own thing. it just... is. i like that.

i like the idea that this is just a different scenario/set up for the characters seen thru a new lens, while still staying somewhat true to their character (fishy things, such as alphys hating mew mew 1, seemed to point to a reset of some sort, but shes still the same in that shes nervous a lot and can go into long tangents about her interests.)

this idea makes it easier to make deltarune a separate thing, as toby said later in the tweet that he cant bring you the same feeling you had in undertale, but he will instead give you a new game that will give you new feelings.

but since the story isnt released, i have no idea how far or deep it goes- it seems that chara (now kris) is mostly still chara (still kris) and im happy the story has him as the main character. i think its an interesting contrast from frisk and undertale, much more suspenseful and takes on darker themes. (no im not going to discuss gaster lol)

2. toby seemed to have a lot of reprehension of the games battle system. i thought it was great and fun, the bullet dodging making it active more so than most rpgs, and the idea that blocking creates more TP in battle rather than TP being a distinguishable thing that you deplete and often cant restore until later, this was also a great idea. also the left over TP becomes more money. you cant lose in this scenario.

doing pacifist route (though this phrase itself means just that: not hurting enemies. nothing changes.) i found this to be an extremely fun and useful mechanic when used correctly. for ex (SPOILER) when fighting jevil, where i suck at dodging his bullet patterns cause i havent really figured them out yet, having kris ACT while suzy and ralsei blocked made it so that when they got hurt, i could have ralsei heal them, and could continue playing. it made it very tense too, having to manage and know where your TP percentage is at all times.

i believe that while the battle system could be improved on, (perhaps more interactive ACTS like rearranging block man, or blowing on bunnies. more gear [it was a demo so there will obviously be more], idk. im not a dev im an art major.), it isnt inherently flawed. it is just that: a demo. a thought or concept that can be flushed out more.

i also loved the style of fight sequences, the flashiness of attacking and ACTing, and seeing characters interact with eachother in battle. it really was something i loved and will remember!

3) the in game bullet dodging, outside of battle sequences. this made walking around the world be more than walking around the world. i thought it did a great job at solidifying the concept of the soul/heart, and it was fun maneuvering around them. i love dodging bullets lol. i can see this becoming a big part of the game.

4) Puzzles. toby admitted that some things were lack luster compared to others, but i wouldnt necessarily say that grandeur = to value of its function. puzzles and their concepts repeated themselves, such as the symbol puzzle and button puzzles. the one exception being the eye puzzle. i thing that while these were simple, i had fun going through them. sure, they were easy (for the most part, getting the key was a pain in the ass 4 me cause i kept fucking up the door order). all in all, the puzzles were fun, but not an focal point in the game (Demo, btw.) im sure that when toby does bring puzzles into the next chapters, they'll play a bigger role. that brings me to

3.5) i added this after cause i remembered it but didnt want to change all the numbers cause lazy .... so.

NO multiple endings

this makes sense as it would take a long time to create multiple endings given everything else thats on the plate this time. im not disappointed or sad, i simply understand. it IS a different game, and i think it will be important to the lore (your choices dont matter).

also, like toby said, most games are already like this. i welcome it.

4) the development for the next chapters.

Toby making a game as great as undertale (i never played it but watched a walkthrough, an understood the plot as most of my friends loved it) by himself for the most part, with help from Temmie (of course!) and as well as help with the art, its an incredible feat. no wonder the whole theme of the game was determination. that being said, deltarune is an incredibly ambitious game, even more so than undertale, and it seems that hes had it in the vaults of his mind for a long time. maybe even before undertale.

it makes sense that a game of this scope will take much longer to create. with a much more complicated party system, battle system, increase in pixel art quality, more dynamic fight sequences and UI as well as like, a thousand things im forgetting, its a fucking miracle he had the determination to create and finish that. (if only i could start having that much motivation sadface).

i look forward to what he has in store for us, and i will be patient until then, considering these things take time, and toby is a human, depsite what people believe. many do have high expectations of him, but i think so long as he remembers this is about him giving his ideas and stories to the world, he'll be okay (hopefully).

5) the team

im not sure how, when, what, or uh whomst it will be obviously. point 7 was really funny. i think that toby wont have a hard time finding people wanting to work with him and on the team, but i think it will be difficult to find people who are motivated and determined enough.

6) last thoughts

i think that the world with darkeners being seperate from kris' real world is a very interesting and cool thing! it makes you wonder if its real or not. i think this will make future chapters SUPER interesting, seeing if actions in the darkener world change things in the lightener world? how it will play into the plot in the lightener world will be interesting.

also, asriel is alive in this game. hes in university, so hes an adult. im scared that something bad will happen to him and kris in the future. but also, theyre both alive! yay! i wonder if we'll see of hear about frisk again, either way i love it.

and last, the ending. what can i say? its like, really vague. i think the contrast between asriel and kris will be a big conflict in this game- asriels side of the room being filled with trophies and personal items, while kris' is empty excluding the mysterious birdcage. people in town bringing up and talking about their wonderful memories with asriel in the past, but im not sure if this is relevant or just toby letting us get more of an idea of his role. all in all he seems very loved and popular, while kris is... something else. i dont know what yet. i hope he gets a happy ending though.

and he seems like he was possessed, or not wholly himself at the end. his snappy walk and dragging himself was very unlike what we've seen throughout the game. i dont know what this means, if its more like his true nature or something else. did he know about his soul/heart before the events of the game? does he do this often, as at the beginning the desription of the birdcage and wagon depicted itcas heavily used? why the hell does he have a whole ass knife? he gonna kill someone?

also i think kris is in early highschool/late middleschool as his classmates seem to be working around town. i dont know what the work age there is tho. el oh el

all in all, i really wish him luck, i was SUPER, ULTRA satisfied with deltarune chap 1, and i cant wait to see what happens in the future. also, i loved the music

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