tcoti-theories

[tcoti-theories]

Why I can't defend Dream when it comes to Gradient

I am very much a Dream advocate, but I can’t and wouldn’t defend the way Dream treats Gradient.

The council is aware of Gradient’s powers. At first, they tried to train him. Sending him to school and teaching him magic. But they eventually stopped because they were afraid of Gradient being too powerful. And Dream supported this decision.

And I can’t defend Dream for this. Because he’s making the same mistake he made with Nightmare as a child.

Gradient is actually incredibly similar to what Nightmare was like as a child. He’s an introvert and not the most social. He’s intelligent and has specific passions. He’s an overthinker and keeps his thoughts to himself. He has anxiety and acts shy because of it, but inside he is quite stubborn; arrogant, even. All of which Nightmare had as a child.

But above all, the world around him hates him. For what he is, not for what he did. Gradient knows this. And he’s mad about it.

I personally think the only thing that’s keeping Gradient from snapping and acting on his anger (like Nightmare did) is the fact that he’s scared of himself. He’s scared of being what everyone around him thinks he is: just like Error.

And Dream should know this. He DOES know this. So it shouldn’t be too much to expect Dream to understand what Gradient is going through and at least try to be supportive.

But he doesn’t. He wouldn’t directly say it, but Dream views Gradient as a threat. Just like everyone else does.

Again, he’s making the same mistake he made with Nightmare. When he chose to listen to the villagers more than his brother.

And I can’t help but think this mistake of his will end in a tragedy, just like it did with Nightmare.

[tcoti-theories]

UPDATED VERSION as of Chapter 31

CONFIRMED THEORIES (=These are now true!)

Foreign is Reapertale!Alphys, aka Knowledge.

Unknown Contact is also Foreign.

Big Boss / Doctor is also Foreign.

Ashes has been watching Gradient's visions, like a camera.

"Unknown Contact" (=Foreign)'s ex is Reapertale!Undyne.

REJECTED THEORIES

Unknown Contact is Reaper or Killer

UNRESOLVED THEORIES

Ashes is the scientist who created Gradient. aka, Gradient is one of Ashes’s previous projects.

OR the scientist who created Gradient is dead or captured. aka not active and is none of the characters introduced so far

The Woman in Chapter 29 is Molly’s (now dead) wife. She was killed and eaten by Fresh, aka the giant snake.

Error used to be Geno. Hence Geno who is married to Reaper (and is Goth’s parent) is a different copy from an Aftertale timeline.

Reaper and/or Geno know that Error is Geno.

Ashes is the same person who was speaking through Gradient's "Sleeptalks". aka, Ashes knows/knew Dust.

There are other "Mongrels" than Fresh. Some or all of them are relevant. (Possibly at least 86, judging from the fact that Fresh is 87.)

Theories I came up with (as of Ch. 29)

PLEASE finish chapter 29 before you continue!

Foreign is Reapertale!Alphys, aka Knowledge.

2. Unknown Contact is Reapertale!Sans, aka Reaper

Unknown Contact’s ex is Reapertale!Toriel, aka Life

3. Ashes is the scientist who created Gradient. aka, Gradient is one of Ashes’s previous projects.

4. The Woman in Chapter 29 is Molly’s (now dead) wife

She was killed and eaten by Fresh, aka the giant snake. (I feel bad as I’m writing this)

5. Foreign is the same person as Big Boss / Doctor

6. Error used to be Geno in this story. (This applies to canon Error, but it’s not confirmed that it’s the case in TCOTI.)

In this case, Geno who is married to Reaper (and is Goth’s parent) is a different copy from an Aftertale timeline.

Reaper and/or Geno know this.

7. Reaper has unknown motives. aka he's hiding something from the Council.

Reaper works with Foreign and/or Ashes

His motives have something to do with Error

8. Ashes has something to do with Dust

Note: There’s literally no evidence other than the names

9. Killer is planning to start a mutiny against Nightmare.

His motive has something to do with Dust.

10. There are other "Mongrels" than Fresh. Some or all of them are relevant.

Possibly at least 86, judging from the fact that Fresh is 87

11. Fresh is going to betray Nightmare and/or play double agent

Theories below are the ones that directly contradict the first ones.

Unknown Contact is Killer. Not clear who his ex is.

Foreign and/or Ashes are new character(s) that haven't been introduced yet

Foreign and/or Ashes are Original Characters

Foreign is Unknown Contact’s ex

Error was NOT Geno but someone else

The scientist who created Gradient is dead or captured. aka not active and is none of the characters introduced so far

Rejected Theory

Foreign = Reapertale!Toriel, aka Life

NOT true - Foreign betrayed the Council, while Life is still part of it

Life still might have secrets, but at least she isn’t Foreign.

[tcoti-theories]

Theories I came up with (as of Ch. 29)

PLEASE finish chapter 29 before you continue!

Foreign is Reapertale!Alphys, aka Knowledge.

2. Unknown Contact is Reapertale!Sans, aka Reaper

Unknown Contact’s ex is Reapertale!Toriel, aka Life

3. Ashes is the scientist who created Gradient. aka, Gradient is one of Ashes’s previous projects.

4. The Woman in Chapter 29 is Molly’s (now dead) wife

She was killed and eaten by Fresh, aka the giant snake. (I feel bad as I’m writing this)

5. Foreign is the same person as Big Boss / Doctor

6. Error used to be Geno in this story. (This applies to canon Error, but it’s not confirmed that it’s the case in TCOTI.)

In this case, Geno who is married to Reaper (and is Goth’s parent) is a different copy from an Aftertale timeline.

Reaper and/or Geno know this.

7. Reaper has unknown motives. aka he's hiding something from the Council.

Reaper works with Foreign and/or Ashes

His motives have something to do with Error

8. Ashes has something to do with Dust

Note: There’s literally no evidence other than the names

9. Killer is planning to start a mutiny against Nightmare.

His motive has something to do with Dust.

10. There are other "Mongrels" than Fresh. Some or all of them are relevant.

Possibly at least 86, judging from the fact that Fresh is 87

11. Fresh is going to betray Nightmare and/or play double agent

Theories below are the ones that directly contradict the first ones.

Unknown Contact is Killer. Not clear who his ex is.

Foreign and/or Ashes are new character(s) that haven't been introduced yet

Foreign and/or Ashes are Original Characters

Foreign is Unknown Contact’s ex

Error was NOT Geno but someone else

The scientist who created Gradient is dead or captured. aka not active and is none of the characters introduced so far

Rejected Theory

Foreign = Reapertale!Toriel, aka Life

NOT true - Foreign betrayed the Council, while Life is still part of it

Life still might have secrets, but at least she isn’t Foreign.

[tcoti-theories]

UPDATE ON THIS As of Chapter 31

Please finish reading Chapter 31 of TCOTI!!

FOREIGN = BIG BOSS = UNKNOWN CONTACT

Reapertale!Alphys. Previously known as "Knowledge".

Was part of the Council like the rest of Reapertale crew. Betrayed them in "pursuit of knowledge".

Nightmare's superior. Is referred to as "Big Boss".

Currently has Error's soul and trying to stabilize it.

Is seemingly obsessed with Error's magic, especially his strings. Going as far as to kidnapping PJ to get his magic.

Motive STILL unknown, other than A. Betraying the Council in seek of knowledge and B. Having had a 30-year-long project

ASHES

male

wants Error’s soul to do a comparison with his previous project

Has great relevance to Foreign's "project", to the point of being able to ruin the project if he wants

Is using Gradient like a camera to watch his actions.

VERY LIKELY the same person as the one who spoke and acted through Gradient's "sleepwalkings". If this is true, he knows Dust and likely worked with him before.

Identity unknown. Appearance unknown. Origin unknown.

We now only have 2 mystery figures, everyone.

Unrevealed Characters and their known facts

SPOILER WARNING: Please finish reading Chapter 23 of TCOTI before you continue!

FOREIGN

female

Knew Alchemy. Betrayed the Council.

currently has Error’s soul. Trying to stabilize it.

Motive unknown, other than it involving Error and his soul

wears glasses

BIG BOSS / DOCTOR

female

Likely Nightmare’s superior

Nightmare’s overall demeanor when talking to Big Boss

is referred by Killer as “Big Boss”, in comparison to Nightmare who is “Boss”

“UNKNOWN CONTACT”. “Unknown” for short

Gender unknown

the other person who was texting Fresh during lab incident

is aware of Error’s euthanasia plan - wants it to be done

Motive 1: Making sure Fresh successfully snatches Error’s soul away

Working with one or more people with the same motive (“We” need the soul.)

Casual style of speech. Insults Fresh often.

Has an ex who is female. This ex was not in the lab, but could potentially be there (she was simply busy and was not involved with this, according to Fresh)

Knew for sure that Nightmare was in the castle during the lab incident

Motive 2: Needed Error’s soul to be handed to Ashes, who wants to do a comparison with one of his “previous projects”

ASHES

male

wants Error’s soul to do a comparison with his previous project

Made Unknown in charge of transporting Error’s soul

[tcoti-theories]

You're doing God's work, bless 🙏

How are you doing after Chapter 31? I know I screamed a lot /pos

Thank you!! I'm glad you like my work

as for my current state:

[tcoti-theories]

Character Analysis: Alchemy

Please finish reading Chapter 27 before you continue!

Alchemy wants nothing but the safety of everyone in the Omega Timeline and the multiverse. He is a leader, and he takes his position very seriously. He always seeks to make the most moral decisions.

Alchemy. Reapertale!Gaster. God of Magic. Father of Reapertale!Skelebros. “Epic supreme leader of the whole entire multiverse”. And arguably the single most hated individual in TCOTI (by fans).

So if he is such a good person… why does he let those objectively-immoral things happen to Error? Why is it so hard for the readers to like him? To trust him?

I would argue that it is because as powerful as he is, he has a lot of weaknesses. And ironically enough, ALL of his weaknesses are caused because he is a good leader who takes his responsibilities very seriously.

Alchemy is hated the same way presidents are hated. He is in a position where even the best-meaning decisions may result in tragedies. And that’s the starting point of all his weaknesses.

[Weakness 1: With great power…]

Alchemy is powerful and knowledgeable. People trust him to make the right decisions. A lot of people. Practically the entire multiverse. This leads him to be extremely self-conscious of the impact his actions have on the people. 

And that was the exact reason he could not even consider reforming Error. And that was the reason he could not stop the experiments and eventual euthanasia on Error.

As frustrating as it is for readers to watch him just not take any actions, it is extremely difficult, nearly impossible for him to make any move when it comes to Error.

But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t conflicted. And Alchemy probably went through a lot of moral dilemmas and inner conflicts too. We unfortunately don’t have enough inner dialogues from Alchemy to see what exactly he went through.

But we do from Dream. And Dream’s behaviors are a perfect explanation to why Alchemy didn’t, couldn’t, do anything in regards to Error’s treatment.

Right after Error gets captured, Dream spends half of chapter 5 contemplating on his decision. No matter how hard he tries to convince himself that this was the right thing to do, he can’t help but feel guilty. Dream is not naive, and he knows that not everyone is completely in the right or the wrong.

But when it came to Error, this guy looked like an exception. He murders millions of lives for his own crazy logic. And he actively enjoys it. He refuses to talk or bargain. And Dream probably spent a couple of centuries believing that Error was not redeemable. Not this guy.

And after all those years, he finally gets captured… while napping under a tree. He cries during his trial. And he was feeling love. Not the picture of the one person who he thought was undoubtedly evil.

Which would have acted as a painful reminder that things just aren’t simple, no matter how much he wishes for them to be simple. 

But he doesn’t do anything about it. He can’t.

When neither of the given options is perfectly harmless and good, it is incredibly difficult to make an action to change what’s given. Because you would personally be held responsible for your actions. And you would be guilty of the consequences.

Hence you choose not to do anything.

This is a famous dilemma on ethics called “The Trolley Problem.” A trolley is about to hit and kill all 5 people tied on the rack, and you can only save them by diverting the trolley to kill only 1 person.

It is in every way a sensical and moral decision to divert the trolley and kill the single person. However, many people hesitate to make the decision. Because your action resulted in the death of one person, and no matter how justified your action is, you can’t help but feel guilty.

In TCOTI, just like real life, everyone is not completely right or wrong. The happiness of one may result in the despair of others. As a leader and an authoritative figure, Alchemy would face these kinds of dilemmas on a daily basis. On a multiversal level, too.

So he would be considerate, or rather hesitant on making any kind of decisions. Just like one would be hesitant on killing one person to save 5.

[Weakness 2: Objectivity and lack of self-driven motives]

Alchemy is very responsible and takes his job as a leader seriously. He is very considerate, too considerate of the opinions of everyone else that he doesn’t, can’t, let his personal emotions and desires drive his actions.

And this becomes his another weakness and yet another reason for his inactions.

Let’s get back to that trolley problem. Except this time, The one person on the first track is your best friend. And the 5 other people are total strangers.

I don’t doubt that in this scenario, most people would choose to let the trolley hit the 5 strangers. Heck, many people would even actively move the trolley to let the strangers die.

When it comes to making a decision, emotions easily surpass morals.

In fact, Dream, again, showed a perfect example. It was not his ethical dilemmas and inner conflicts that finally led him to get up and actively search for Ink and Error.

No. It was the fact that Ink was in love with Error. An incredibly personal and emotion-driven motive. But that alone got him to make the biggest move he ever has made after 26 chapters.

Now back to Alchemy. He shows a significant lack of emotional connections with anyone in the story. 

And this is likely because he intentionally stopped himself from forming close bonds with others. Because that would let him be biased and subjective. Such are not desirable traits of a leader.

But unlike him, most people are driven by their own emotions and selfish desires. His own idea of a “good leader” prevents him from fully understanding other peoples’ motives and also from seeing multiple sides of the stories. Ironically enough, his own sense of responsibility greatly limits his worldview and insight.

And that was perhaps why he didn’t see the signs of Foreign’s betrayal.

[Weakness 3: Lack of emotional connections with others]

All the previous weaknesses prevent Alchemy from forming emotional bonds with anyone around him. It is not a coincidence that he never shows personal, casual, not-job-related interactions with anyone in the story. Not even with his own son.

And I’m pretty sure that lack of bonds will backfire on him. Especially when it comes to Reaper. (Whom I have an entire set of new theories to speculate on.)

Summary:

Alchemy is an incredibly responsible and objective individual. He is a leader of a huge group of people, and he takes his position very seriously. However, it is ironically his own idea of being a good leader that causes all his weaknesses and ends in his failures. 

And considering how tragic this story can get, these weaknesses of his will likely not end in a good scenario.

How? Well I don’t know! I’m merely a fan who tries her best! :D

[tcoti-theories]

EXCITED NOISES

*EVEN MORE EXCITED NOISES*

[tcoti-theories]

Character Analysis: Fresh

SPOILER WARNING: Please finish reading Chapter 24 of TCOTI before you continue!

* For consistency, I’ll be using he/him for both the Mongrel and Fresh.

[Who is Fresh in TCOTI?]

In TCOTI, Fresh is a parasite that does not have a proper name other than “Mongrel Number 87”. Unlike the original, “canon” story, in TCOTI, there existed an AU called “Freshtale” which had been attacked and destroyed by Nightmare a long time ago. Mongrel 87 took the body of the Sans of this universe, using his silly appearance and demeanor to hide his true intentions.

Fresh is Nightmare’s spy. His objective is to gather intel from the Council and the Omega Timeline.

[So is he a bad guy?]

Short answer is: I don't think so.

Aside from the change in his background, TCOTI!Fresh is almost identical to canon!Fresh. He skates, he doesn’t like cuss words, he uses outdated 90s lingo, and he likes neon colors.

None of which are even close to being evil.

The only two things that keep canon!Fresh from being a “normal, good” guy is that 

1. He is soulless and therefore emotionless 

and 2. He is a parasite who cannot survive without sacrificing the life of another.

Him being emotionless, in fact, is helping him with his survival. He does not feel any guilt for taking another’s body and soul. He can make decisions that are beneficial to him and him only, because he does not feel guilty nor feel attached to anyone or anything. And that’s what makes canon!Fresh “scary”.

However, TCOTI takes place 100 years after the X Event. And within those years… this Fresh had somehow learned to absorb emotions from his “preys” as well as their life force.

And that’s causing him some unwanted effects.

[Unwanted Effect #1: “Identity Crisis”]

In TCOTI, “Fresh” is merely a role that Mongrel 87 plays. He is an actor, and Fresh is his character. His “true” form is a slimy, goopy, 20-ft monster with rows and rows of teeth. Not the definition of likable.

And then he starts “playing” Fresh. He skates, he doesn’t like cuss words, he uses outdated 90s lingo, and he likes neon colors. A far more interesting and likable individual than what the Mongrel is.

The mongrel grows invested in his role. He “likes” being Fresh. (Which is only possible due to having emotions.) Until it hit a point where he started thinking of Fresh as his “normal” self, rather than an act. He even prefers to be called “Fresh” rather than his real name.

[Unwanted Effect #2: Friendship with PJ]

Fresh had known PJ at least since he was 13. The details on the start of their friendship are unknown*, but his only goal in interacting with PJ is to gain intel about the Council through him (and eventually through Ink). But PJ is unaware of this, and he genuinely loves spending time with Fresh. He likes Fresh.

Most likely, this was the first time in Fresh’s life to learn what it “feels” to be liked by another. And that’s causing some problems.

Because for the first time in his life, he learns that it’s nice to be liked by another.

He grows fond of PJ. He starts genuinely enjoying “playing friends” with PJ. To the point where everyone who witnesses their interactions starts calling him PJ’s “boyfriend”.

Which is of course making his job as a spy difficult. And this, too, wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for having emotions.

In fact, all of which Fresh is going through with PJ is precisely what Error went through with Ink! (The confusion caused from being liked by another person for the first time). Which leads to the next issue.

[Unwanted Effect #3: Sympathy]

This part is solely my interpretation of his motives and inner conflicts. Not enough in-story evidence given here.

During the lab incident, Fresh was moving through vents, investigating everything. This makes Fresh the only individual that has witnessed everything that happened during the lab incident. More importantly: he’s the only character that knows of Ink’s attempts to save tError! Even Dream doesn’t know that one!

Yet when he confronts Nightmare and reports him of the incident, he chooses to omit that part. Which is not something a spy should do.

I personally believe that this was his attempt to “protect” both Error and Ink. As explained earlier, he understands (possibly better than anyone) how Error felt about being loved by Ink and loving Ink back. He would have grown sympathetic with Error.

And Ink? There’s no one in the multiverse that’s more similar to Fresh than Ink. They both suffer from being soulless. They find their respective “alternative” to real emotions like everyone else feels (Ink’s vials, Fresh’s absorbed emotions), but it never feels as “real” as those with actual souls. 

Which is, in fact, the exact reason why Nightmare dislikes both Ink and Fresh. He feeds off of negative emotions, so beings that are not able to feel any emotions are downright useless to him. Moreover, being an empath and yet a cruel person, he might find it disgusting that a creature can exist without feeling any kind of emotions.

[Unwanted Effect(?) #4: “Language!”]

Altogether, having emotions is making survival much, much more difficult for Fresh.

This in fact leads to the final difference TCOTI!Fresh has from canon!Fresh:

This Fresh actually says sh*t!!!

I have 2 different (yet related) explanations for this:

Cuss words are a method to express extreme emotions. Canon!Fresh doesn’t understand the need for that because he doesn’t feel any emotions. But TCOTI!Fresh does, and at some point in his life, he may have thought, “Okay, I think the word sh*t is needed sometimes.”

His life simply became too difficult for him to not curse. (sorry Fresh)

[Prediction: What will Fresh do in future chapters?]

All of this given, I personally believe that Fresh is going to be risking his life to help PJ out of… whatever the situation they’re in right now.

He in fact already did by sending that secret text message to PJ! (I personally like to think that what he meant by “I don’t have a choice anymore” is that “I can’t cover you up on my own anymore.”)

And you know what’s crazy? That text message was impossible to reach PJ unless he immediately opened Fresh’s text the second he received it.

Which proves that Fresh was confident that PJ was waiting ever since for his message. Ever since he went missing. Which has been a good few weeks.

…Seriously, you two, why can’t you be just happy??

* I like to think that before Gradient was found, PJ was seen as a threat in the Omega timeline just as much as Gray is right now. At the time, he was the only known child to Error. No one would actually be around him to keep his company.

I think Fresh decided to take advantage of that. PJ was under Ink’s care, but he didn’t have anyone around him. Befriending this not-even-13-year-old kid would get him directly to one of the most important members in the Council. So he did just that.

That, of course, led to a whole bunch of unexpected circumstances…

[tcoti-theories]

Unrevealed Characters and their known facts

SPOILER WARNING: Please finish reading Chapter 23 of TCOTI before you continue!

FOREIGN

female

Knew Alchemy. Betrayed the Council.

currently has Error’s soul. Trying to stabilize it.

Motive unknown, other than it involving Error and his soul

wears glasses

BIG BOSS / DOCTOR

female

Likely Nightmare’s superior

Nightmare’s overall demeanor when talking to Big Boss

is referred by Killer as “Big Boss”, in comparison to Nightmare who is “Boss”

“UNKNOWN CONTACT”. “Unknown” for short

Gender unknown

the other person who was texting Fresh during lab incident

is aware of Error’s euthanasia plan - wants it to be done

Motive 1: Making sure Fresh successfully snatches Error’s soul away

Working with one or more people with the same motive (“We” need the soul.)

Casual style of speech. Insults Fresh often.

Has an ex who is female. This ex was not in the lab, but could potentially be there (she was simply busy and was not involved with this, according to Fresh)

Knew for sure that Nightmare was in the castle during the lab incident

Motive 2: Needed Error’s soul to be handed to Ashes, who wants to do a comparison with one of his “previous projects”

ASHES

male

wants Error’s soul to do a comparison with his previous project

Made Unknown in charge of transporting Error’s soul

[tcoti-theories]

Hello and Welcome!

This is a blog dedicated for theories, headcanons, character analysis, predictions, and every other kind of thoughts about TCOTI!

What is TCOTI?

TCOTI, or The Council of the Inevitable, is an Undertale Multiverse fan fiction, written by Lorel / @onlyplatonicirl. The story takes place in the far future after the X-Event, when Error and Ink's secret relationship leads to severe consequences and a drastic series of events that unfold.

It is a VERY WELL WRITTEN STORY and I highly recommend it!

Rated Mature for dark themes (but it is perfectly SFW!).

For people who have already read TCOTI:

I started this blog only because I LOVE this story so much that I had so many theories and headcanons for the plot and the characters! And I wanted to share them with others and also listen to what other people thought about the story!

If you have any kind of thoughts on TCOTI, please PLEASE share them with me! Anything is welcomed! (Asks are open, and I LOVE reblogs and comments!)

I will be putting spoiler warnings as needed, but I recommend reading up until Chapter 15 of TCOTI before reading anything in this blog!

(and also just because the fic is great!)

Have fun, and remember that that the rabbit hole goes far deeper than you could ever imagine.