#enchancer | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

inbarfink · 2 years

Photo

Okay, so like, I love Undertale to bits, but it does often rub me the wrong way when people use it in comparison to games like OFF, which condemn the Player’s violent actions without actually offering the option for a Pacifist resolution, like “well, Undertale is Objectively Better because there’s an actual choice to be nonviolent so it can actually condemn the player in a meaningful way”.

Especially with OFF, I think. Cause while many people consider it a predecessor to Undertale, their themes and the way they relate to their “What the Hell, Player” moments are very different, I think. And this attitude of judging them purely on whatever they’re effective at making the player ‘feel bad’ about their actions is really reductive for what both games are trying to do with these kinda moments.

Like, in general it’s super frustrating when video game moments discussing morality and player-player character relationships are evaluated purely in the sense of ‘are these games justified in Making Me Feel Like a Bad Person’. That’s usually a super-reductive way to look at video game morality. And I really don’t think it helps the discussion to frame “What the Hell Player” moments as an actual personal attack or attempt to evaluate your IRL morality.

And specifically with OFF, I feel like it’s actually very thematically important that the game only has one ‘Route’ and that it is the ‘bad’ one. Because OFF, in my reading at least, is a game very much about narrative framing. Like, that’s the whole thing with the Batter not actually transforming as his Special Ending Monster Duckie Form.

The Batter didn’t change, our point of view did. When we’re controlling the Batter, it is his POV that we’re seeing the world through - and in his POV he’s just an ordinary guy doing the right thing. But if we take the Judge’s side, we’re also taking on his POV. And the Judge, much like any other victim of the Batter, sees him as some sort of monster.

And that’s like a huge theme in the game. While there’s probably no POV that makes the world of OFF like an actually good place to live, it is important to note we are viewing it through the perspective of someone who has already vowed to destroy it. I know a lot of people look at the difference between the Guardians as they are in the Room’s Chapter 4 and the Guardians as the Batter face them as a matter of a personal change between then and now - I think the matter of different perspectives also plays a part.

In the Room we are viewing Dedan, Japhet and Enoch through the eyes of an innocent child that is desperate for companionship and sees them as friends - in the rest of the game we are viewing them through the eyes of a man who sees them as obstacles in his holy mission and upholders of a world that must be destroyed. Neither of them can give a truly unbiased perspective when it comes to the Guardians.

And despite the game making it explicit that the Batter is as a puppet controlled by the Player - although the Player is the one who give the Player Character power - it is the Batter who manipulates the Player into aiding him on his mission by framing it in a way that is more palatable. Despite all the power the player supposedly holds, the Batter holds the power over the narrative framing, and that’s enough to let him take control.

That’s why there’s really no choice in the game but keep helping the Batter along his ‘Holy’ mission - him being able to influence our framing also means being able to influence the options we can see. It is the Batter who wants us to see a world where his violence and destruction is the only possible solution. And the point of the Judge calling out the Player for continuing along the Batter’s set path (rather than stopping the game and turning it off) isn’t just to Make the Player Feel Bad for doing what they need to do to, like, see the whole of this well-crafted story....

It’s to make the Player self-reflect. When did they first had the inkling that the Batter isn’t on the up-and-up? If (‘if’ bring the keyword here) it was all real, when would the point where continuing to aid the Batter would be morally inexcusable? By the point the Batter is beating a defenseless child to death it’s pretty darn clear that We’re the Baddies, but did the Player process any of the hints beforehand? Just how much sway did the Batter’s framing of the world and the narrative hold over the player? And how this is different and similar to how the Player normally engage with other narratives, especially other RPGs?

There is a reason, after all, why the Judge big speech at the end is also about how felt deceived and tricked by the Batter’s words. His feelings are meant to be a reflection of a Player’s on some level.

And despite ‘calling-out’ the Player, he does make it clear he also sees himself as culpable of aiding the Batter in his henious actions. The Player and the Judge’s situations are somewhat paralleled here.

And it feels very notable that the Judge starts out explictly addressing to the Player much more than the ‘Puppet’:

And by the ending of the game, although he does call-out the Player to, he’s got a lot more to say to the Batter as well.

I think it’s because he also underestimated the power the Batter had as a ‘Puppet’ of the Player, up until he realized how he managed to manipulate both him and the Player (although he still sees both himself and the Player at fault for falling for it and helping the Batter).

I think the main point here is to try and make the Player think more critically about the narratives they engage with. In many ways, the Batter is the concept of the RPG protagonist dilluted to its logical extreme. He was literally brought into existence just moments before the story started, and his only purpose in life is to defeat all the bosses, ‘finish’ all of the areas and then just turn the game OFF. That’s also why siding with the Batter is considered the ‘canon’ ending of the game, in this allegory it is the ending that correspond most to Regular Player Behavior.

It’s trying to make you think about how different POVs and narrative framing can be used to change the way we view a story. If the Batter can skew the lens we view the story enough so that it makes us side with him… how other forms of media, and in this case espacially other games can convince us that the protagonist’s actions are justified and heroic? Is there some ignored angle in this and that game, some ignored ‘Judge’ of sort, that would totally reframe the supposed morality of the story?

I think that’s the main thing, or at least one of the main things, one is supposed to get from OFF. Not just a blanket sense of guilt for all the made-up pixels you killed in this game or other games, but an invitation to try and examine the stories you play from more angles, and think more of the narrative tricks that can be used to justify morally dubious actions. For this to work, the game has to work in tandem with the Batter and his POV for the most part. And because of all of this, I believe OFF’s lack of a ‘moral choice’ system does not take away from its central points and actually helps them. The only choice comes when the Judge barges in and offers a counter-narrative to the Batter.

Undertale, in contrast, is a lot more about Player Actions and Player Agency. Like, Chara and a Murder-Route Player have essentially a reverse dynamic from the Batter and a Normal Ending Player. With the Player convincing the Player Character (?) into the viewpoint that the world exists just to be drained of Content before turning it Off and moving on to the next one.

Undertale is more about the Player having power, and not just in the Unkillable Time God sense, in the sense of the power to reframe and change the narrative. Both the Undertale Pacifist and Murder Route has an element of going ‘off script’ of what the game story ‘expects’. Like, the Normal Ending is the only one where the the Player just does what was expected of them and engage with the game world in the same way all the other characters do - that’s just why it only exist to try and convince you to go on one of the other routes.

The Pacifist Route is about the Player using their Aforementioned Unkillable Time God Powers to break away from the world’s general resignation to violence as the answer and proving to everyone a peaceful resolution is possible. The Murder Route is about the Player engaging with the world like… an ordinary RPG basically (as long as you’re heavy on the grinding) and in the process twist the entire narrative into something much darker. The narrative isn’t tricking you into it, if anything, the narrative is subtly nudging you to the Pacifist Ending.

If Undertale comes off as a more effective ‘condemnation’ of the Player than OFF, that’s probably because compared to OFF Undertale is more about what the Player does and the Player’s actions. I still don’t think it’s a very productive to paint it as, like, trying to Shame you. It just makes things far too unnecessarily personal in a really weird way, and it also kinda isolates discussion of the game’s mortality to only how justified it is within the game’s own context - without any acknowledgement of what the game’s trying to say in a larger context when it makes the characters so darn lovable and makes it so heartbreaking when they die.

Both in context of how we can try and take the game’s ideals into the real world....

And how it relates to other video games. And I mean, Undertale isn’t just about whatever violence in video game narratives is really necessary - that’s absolutely part of it but also, it’s about how Players engage with video game narratives. And whatever looking at them as just challenges to be one by getting the Big Number....

or challenges you need to 100% complete and drain every single secret from

can take away from what makes a good story actually work.

There’s a reason why the in-universe ‘morally correct’ to play Undertale is to experience the True Pacifist ending once and never open it again. (I dunno if I’ll say the Message of Undertale is ‘looking up all kinds of different minor options and content mining always ruins the magic of stories’ and if it is it’ll be a very funny case of a game’s fandom disproving its own thesis, but it’s certainly something the game wants you consider.)

Despite the obvious influence OFF had on Undertale and especially on it’s Murder Route, I actually think it might be more useful to compare it to Deltarune, at least once we see more of it and where it’s going. With both of these games exploring a very complicated power dynamic between player and player character and the player being robbed of moral choice and possibly forced to do bad things to advance the narrative - it might be actually a more interesting comparison.

#Off #undertale #undertale meta #undertale analysis #off game #you see on one hand I can't say I enjoy the story of Undertale LESS just because the fandom complied this big ol' lists of Every Single #Event Trigger in the whole entire game or something #but on the other hand there is something very impactful about going through the Pacifist Route #and KNOWING you won't be able to justify to yourself doing a True Reset #so you just try your best to do everything that you can and really experience the game to it's fullest before you have to say Goodbye to #all of these characters basically forever #and espacially after just helped Asriel agree to let US go and move on #the fact the game also pleads for us to go and move on does enchance the emotional power of the ending on some level I think

381 notes · View notes

crazyunsexycool · 2 years

Text

My little love

Chapter 1

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Enhanced!Reader

Warning: mentions of death, implied child abuse, slow burns, idiots in love- if i forgot something please let me know.

Word count: 2.8k

A/N: AAAHHHHH!!!!! so here is chapter one to this new series. It really wasn’t my intention to start this series yet but when inspiration hits you just gotta go with it. Permanent and series tag list open

Series Masterlist

The hydra detention center had been the biggest the Avengers had come across. The area you were in was a prison block. There were three floors of cells and it was currently crawling with Shield agents. It was clear from the moment the team entered that the place was used to keep their ‘experiments’. It was too easy to identify prisoners from hydra scum. Anyone would be sick to their stomach just seeing the filth all of the detainees were being kept in. Most of them seemed to have been used and abused beyond reason.

The crackling sound of your earpiece gave way to the voices of your team and friends. They each checked in as they cleared the area they had been assigned. Although you were enhanced and trained for combat, your main job was to be the team’s on site medic. So many times during missions you would be the one running from one place to another. Currently you were standing in a cell checking in on someone.

“They’re gone.” You say to Steve as you hear him approach the cell door.

“Let’s keep moving.”

You give a curt nod as you stand and start to walk out of the cell but Steve puts his hand up.

“If this gets to be too much for you, let me know.”

“I will Cap. Come on, we have a lot more cells to check.”

Steve moves his hand to his right ear and presses down on the earpiece. “Any updates?”

A chorus of all clears rings through but one voice is missing. You look up at Steve worriedly before the last person checks in.

“I found another lab in the basement. I really need a medic down here.”

“Y/L/N is headed your way Buck.” Steve says as he watches you jog toward the elevators.

The elevator doors slide open and you’re greeted by Bucky. The hallway is dimly lit but you can still see his panicked expression. He grabs your hand and pulls you down the hallway.

“I wasn’t sure what to do, I thought it would be better for you to take a look.” He says as you follow him into a viewing room. The huge windows are facing an operating room. In the center there’s a heart monitor that’s beeping steadily and all sorts of abandoned equipment. It seems that when the team stormed the facility they were in the middle of an experiment. But it wasn’t the place that gave you chills, it was the test subject.

“Is that what I think it is?”

“Most likely. That seems to be the only entrance.” Bucky points at a door at the other end of the room and you run towards it.

Bucky is right behind you. It feels like it takes ages for the first door to close and the second to open. Once it does you rush to the operating table and have your worst fears confirmed.

Unconscious on the table is a child. They look no older than two year old but considering how malnourished they look they could be older. You run over a few quick checks to make sure you’re able to move the baby.

“It’s a girl.” You say softly after lifting the sheet that covered the lower half of her body to check for other injuries.

Bucky stands by feeling angry and helpless. It was one thing to use and torture adults but what had this innocent life done to deserve such treatment. It took you calling his name a few times before he snapped out of it. You ask him to relay information for what you’ll need once you’re on the jet and begin to remove everything that had been attached to the child.

As carefully as you could, you wrap up the little girl in the sheet that had been covering her and then you take her in your arms. You look at Bucky and nod to let him know you’re ready. He leads the way back out to the viewing room and then to the hallway, his gun up and ready to fire if needed. Once you’re in the elevator you take a moment to look down at the child in your arms to make sure she’s still breathing.

“What could they want with her? She’s a baby.” Bucky asks, his back to you.

“Knowing hydra, a lot of things. I just hope we weren’t too late.”

“She’s in great hands I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

You can’t help the small smile that appears on your lips. The elevator doors open and Steve heads over to you. He opens his mouth to say something but the words are lost on the tip of his tongue when he sees the little bundle that you’re holding. You don’t wait for him to say anything, instead you rush past him and toward the main entrance where you see Bruce with the supplies you needed. The others kept their eyes on you as you rushed by, unaware of what’s happening.

“What’s going on Barnes?” Nat asked as she and some of the others approached the pair of super soldiers.

“Hydra was experimenting on a child, a little girl. Hopefully Y/N and Bruce can save her.”

You and Bruce rushed off of the jet and onto the medical area of the helicarrier. It was a fight against time to be able to stabilize your small patient. In a comfortable silence you both work alongside each other, only speaking when necessary.

There’s a small whimper that comes from the child and it stops you in your tracks. You look up at Bruce and he also stopped what he was doing.

“That’s good. She’s responsive, we still have a chance to save her, right?”

“Absolutely.” He responds with a hopeful smile.

For the next few hours you work together until you're able to keep her stable. Once you’re done you head out of the small room to find the rest of the team waiting. Bucky and Steve walk towards you first.

“How is she doing?”

“Bruce and I are confident that she’s going to pull through. She’s a fighter.”

“Told you she was in good hands.” Bucky says proudly, making you smile.

Steve stands beside you both and rolls his eyes, amused at how oblivious you both were. He clears his throat to get your attention.

“Do we know what they were testing on her?”

You shake your head. “No, we were stabilizing her. Once we are able to push some fluids and she’s able to stay stable for a longer period of time we’ll start doing an in-depth physical. Bruce is doing some x-rays and we’ll go from there.”

“Ok good, Tony is looking through the files to see what we find on her. Keep us updated.”

“Sure thing.” You watch as Steve informs the others before they disappear into other parts of the helicarrier.

“Do you need me to get you anything?”

Your eyes moved from the hallway back to Bucky. He looked tired but as handsome as ever as he stood there waiting for an answer.

“Yeah, if it’s not too much trouble could you get my go bag. I want to change out of this.” You motioned towards your uniform. “I wouldn’t want to scare her if she wakes up.”

“You got it. I’ll be right back.”

You returned back to the room where Bruce was busy reviewing something on the computer. When he heard your footsteps he turned.

“Come take a look at this.”

You come to stand beside him as he pulls up the scans he’d done while you were talking with the others. Bruce begins to point out multiple healed fractures on her arms, legs and ribs. As you both tried to figure out how old the fractures were there was a knock on the door. Bucky popped his head in and opened the door more once you waved him in.

“Here you go.” He hands you your bag and you excuse yourself to go change. Bucky takes a moment to look around the space before his eyes stop on the girl. “Do you know if she has a name?”

“Not yet, Tony’s looking through the files though. I’m going to meet up with him now. Can you let Y/N know?”

Bucky nods and Bruce excuses himself. He gets slightly closer to the stretcher, taking in the tiny body wrapped up in clean sheets. They had shaved her head, it was evident by the tiny scars on her scalp from where they used a razor. She was incredibly pale and malnourished. If he wanted to, Bucky could count her ribs.

He takes his gloves off and grabs one of her hands in his right one. Bucky smiled slightly at the huge difference in size. Although she wasn’t awake her little fingers wrapped around one of his. He was so focused on her that he didn’t hear you walk back in. You observed the scene before you with a small smile.

“Where’s Bruce?” You asked quietly.

“He went to meet up with Tony.”

You hum in acknowledgement as you grab the chair Bruce had been using and move it towards the stretcher, sitting down in the process. There were no words exchanged for a few minutes, just the two of you watching over the little girl.

“What��s going to happen to her?”

“I’m not sure. I’m going to talk with Fury and ask to keep her under my care until we’re at least able to determine what hydra was planning. After that I’m not sure.”

“Well if he objects I’m sure the team will back you up, myself included.”

“Good.” You smiled and you were about to say something else when Jarvis announced that you were a few minutes away from Shield’s headquarters. So you get up and start preparing some of the equipment and your little patient for transport.

When it was time to move Bruce and Steve appeared at the entrance of the room. Both men along with Bucky escorted you out and into a jet so that you could fly directly to the compound while the others handled the other people they had taken into custody.

It was turning into a long night. Once you’d set foot into the compound you were relieved to find that some of the nurses had been appointed to help you with your patient, Angel, as they had nicknamed her. One of them even had previous experience in working with kids. You weren’t surprised when you walked into the medbay room that had been assigned to her and found a crib along with the medical equipment needed for someone so small and other necessities such as diapers and clothes.

The nurses had insisted you go get some rest but you weren’t ready to leave Angel alone just yet. You took some time to clean her up and get her dressed. Jenna, one of the nurses, stepped in and helped with the diaper. After that you did finally go to your living quarters, took a shower, changed into some pajamas and finally took a nap.

About two hours later you wake up to the smell of food and you make your way out to your kitchen to find Bucky at the stove. He turns his head to look over his shoulder and smiles.

“I went by the medical wing and Jenna said you came to rest. Thought I’d make you some food.”

“Thanks,” you say as you sit on one of the barstools that line the kitchen island. There were two plates and coffee cups. “What is the chef preparing this evening?”

Bucky turns with the pan in one hand and a spatula in the other. “French toast. I know it’s your favorite. And some coffee because I’m pretty sure you’re going back down to see Angel.” He says as he places a few pieces on your plate and then a few on his. Then he moves to fill your coffee cup and sets some sugar and creamer. Finally he sits down next to you.

“Thank you.”

“You are very welcome.”

“Are the others back yet?”

He shakes his head. “Nat called to check in, said they were still dealing with all the detainees and Stark was in a meeting with Fury. Steve headed back there to join them.”

“Is it about the baby?”

“Yeah, but Steve said not to worry about it. He isn’t going to allow her to leave anytime soon.”

Hum as you flick your wrist, your fork and knife begin to work on cutting up your French toast while you add cream and sugar to your coffee. Bucky shakes his head while he chuckles.

“What’s so funny?”

“Your little party trick.”

“You’re just mad you can’t do it.” You say before taking a sip of your hot drink. Bucky hides his smirk behind his own coffee cup.

You both sit in silence as you start to eat. It’s easy for both of you, not needing to fill every single minute with conversation. Once in a while you look at Bucky out of the corner of your eye. It still amazes you that he felt so comfortable with you, how much he had changed from the first time he came to the compound. How at ease he was around you. Even after all he’d been through he had shown you that he could trust you and you trusted him too. It’s why you didn’t mind when he just came into your apartment and vice versa. There was nothing hidden between the two of you.

You stood and grabbed your now empty mug and plate, taking them to the sink.

“I’ll wash the dishes if you want to go down and check on her.”

“But you already made food.”

Bucky waved you off before walking towards the sink with his own dirty dishes. “I know you want to check on her, go. Really.”

You reached up and kissed his cheek before thanking him. He stood there with a pleased smile as he watched you go.

There wasn’t much for you to really do down in the medical wing. But you went anyway. Normally when you helped someone on the field, you would help get them on the jet and once you arrived at the compound you’d tell the medical team what happened and what you did so they knew what they were dealing with. Now you have a feeling that you’ll be spending a lot of time here, or at least as long as it takes for the sweet Angel to recover. The nurses had informed you that there was no change in her condition and she was still unconscious which was starting to worry you. But still you dragged a chair and sat by her crib. There wasn’t much to do but you wanted to keep an eye on her. You grabbed your phone and searched for fairytale stories, once you found one you liked you began to read to her.

Every once in a while there would be a small whine or whimper coming from the crib. In those instances you’d stop reading and stand up to get a better look at her. You’d grab her hand gently and tell her that it was ok that she was safe.

“And they all lived happily ever after. The end.” You finished softly and you looked up to the crib. A small gasp leaves your lips as you realize that not only is your patient awake but she’s looking right at you.

You get up slowly and you move to stand by the crib. She follows every move you make. The closer you get though her bottom lip begins to wobble and her eyes close.

“It’s ok sweet girl, I’m not going to hurt you.” You coo softly as you try to grab her hand. She flinches at your touch as she begins to cry. Without many options you carefully pick her up and bring her to your chest, letting her head rest over your heart. You do what you’ve seen your mom do with your younger siblings which is to sway slowly and hum a lullaby.

Once the crying dies down you turn your head to look at the baby in your arms and find her looking up at you. Stunning bright blue eyes. Eyes that you’ve looked into before. You move to the other side of the room and open a few drawers until you find a sealed off q-tip.

“Ok sweet Angel, I’m going to get a sample from you just to check something ok?” You said as you sat her on the counter. She wobbled a little before settling down, blinking slowly as she looked up at you. You rip open the package and take a sample of her saliva. When one of the nurses comes by to check in on both of you, you hand her over and head towards the lab.

With some help from Friday you manage to run the sample and compare it to everyone in the Avenger’s database. You sit back as the monitor mocks you by displaying the result you were almost sure you’d see.

Hydra’s newest test subject was Bucky Barnes’ daughter.

Ch. 2

Permanent taglist:

@kunaikunari @rebekahdawkins @cjand10 @nalny5 @oliviafc15 @sturchling @angywritesstuff @seitmai @writing-for-marvel @goldylions @darkhairedmenrule @little--baby--bear @almosttoopizza @littleseasiren @teambarnes72

#my little love series #bucky barnes x reader #james bucky buchanan barnes #bucky barnes fanfic #dad!bucky barnes x reader #enhanced reader #bucky barnes x enchanced!reader #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes fluff #dad!bucky barnes

496 notes · View notes