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raining-anonymously · 1 year

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OKAY SCREW IT you’re getting the full Deltarune theory post. Buckle in—this will be a long one.

Part 1: Undertale Connections As we all know, Deltarune is its own game, separate from Undertale, but is also specifically intended for audiences who have not only played but delved into the lore of Undertale. I’m interpreting this to mean that while most of Deltarune’s questions won’t be answered by Undertale, plenty of Undertale’s questions will be answered by Deltarune. They won’t be the main focus of the story, because we’ve already seen their story—but they’ll be there.

For example, the Soul. I don’t think it’ll ever be explicitly stated, but I do think we’ll get implications as to the nature of the Red Soul. My belief is that sometime after a True Pacifist route, Undertale!Gaster managed to get in contact with Chara—still connected to Frisk—and asks it to assist him with saving the world of Deltarune. It agrees, which is what the hidden demon dialogue is about. Gaster plans to do this by putting Chara’s Soul into a vessel, but has not realized that the Chara’s Soul belongs to Frisk, and has to change plans and bring Frisk along, too. The Soul we see in Deltarune is Frisk, and the narrator is the same Chara who narrated a Pacifist Undertale, which is why their tone and jokes are so familiar.

Then there’s the question everyone has been asking since Undertale’s release—what the hell is up with those funky skeletons? Like I said, I don’t think Undertale characters are going to be the main focus of this game, but they are going to have roles—like Toriel and Undyne/Napstablook probably will next chapter. The difference between that role and the role I think Sans and Papyrus will play is that Toriel, Undyne, Blooky, Mettaton, Alphys, Asgore, Asriel, the Mad Ghost, everyone… they’re all different people than their Undertale counterparts. Sans and Papyrus are not. I know, I know, you’ve heard this one before—but hear me out. A lot of the cast is older in Deltarune, right? Frisk, a small child, is about the same age as Monster Kid and Suzy, and MK and Susie are teenagers in Deltarune (assuming the MK and Susie of Deltarune aren’t siblings of the original two). DR!Gerson is also (probably) dead of old age. Kris, who is a parallel to Chara and Frisk, is a teenager. There are exceptions to this rule—Snowy is, bizarrely, the same age—but most people appear to be around the same age or slightly older. But then there’s the skeletons.

Sans is more awkward (the whole Torgore scene), taking longer to come up with jokes (when you return the Heart Candy), and acts a little more immature with his humor (your mom). Papyrus is also implied to be a teenager, seeing as Sans thinks it would be weird for him to hang out with Kris, but also thinks Papyrus should. That’s kinda odd. They’re both clearly adults in Undertale—Papyrus even refers to Sans as a grown man in the fifth anniversary alarm clock dialogue—but their Deltarune selves seem to be years younger. Plus, Sans has the exact same sprite as he does in Undertale. I don’t know if anyone else has this, and the other major UT characters certainly don’t. I’ll elaborate on how this occurred later, but I think the place Sans wants to go back to in Undertale is, in fact, Deltarune. Upon getting to Undertale’s world, Sans and Papyrus connected with UT!Gaster, leading to Sans becoming a scientist in search of getting home.

Part 2: Gaster

I’m a fan of the Two Gasters theory. Most of the other Lightners are or are implied to have alternate selves, after all. That leaves us with Undertale Gaster and Deltarune Gaster, who I’ll call UT!Gaster and DR!Gaster for clarity’s sake. UT!Gaster is the guy who we have a 1/1000 chance of meeting, who built the core, who wants to save Deltarune, whose text appears during the survey and other points of Deltarune, and who gives Kris the Eggs. He’s a pretty nice guy, actually.

Then we’ve got DR!Gaster. Basically, he’s everything we’re working against. He wants to open more Dark Fountains—but he’s not the Knight. I’ll get to that. Point is, this guy is not the friendly survey guy. He’s Gaster, sure, but a completely different version of him.

Part 3: The Knight At the moment, I’m team Papyrus-Is-The-Knight. We’ve all seen every evidence post for every character, so I’m not gonna get too into that. In this theory, Sans and Papyrus either moved into Hometown with DR!Gaster (probably a third brother, a father, or some other acquaintance), or to get away from him. If it’s the latter, it did not work. DR!Gaster is encouraging Papyrus to make the Fountains, and is the reason Papyrus developed the Knight persona. Sans has no idea this is going on.

Importantly—I do not think Papyrus is a malicious character here. If he is the Knight, I’d expect he’s doing what he thinks is right, or at least what DR!Gaster thinks is right.

Part 4: Secret Bosses I still can’t decide which Gaster is more likely to have manipulated the secret bosses. Maybe it’s both—the strange someone seems to have pushed them too far by accident, but there’s also a threatening presence who doesn’t want Spamton talking about the Knight. Then again, there’s the theory that Jevil and Spamton and all the others are failed attempts at making a Ralsei. I don’t know... maybe this stuff will make more sense when we figure out how Tenna and Mike connect to Spamton?

Part 5: Seam and the Shadow Crystals In case this actually gets notes, this feels like a good place to remind people that Seam does not use he/him pronouns. Canonically, Seam uses they or no pronouns. Please don’t misgender Seam on my post. *pointing at Seam* This cat is gonna be so important I’m telling you—no where are you going come back— For real, though, Seam is a very interesting character, even without what I like to call the Blorbo Bias. Seam is the only Darkner we’ve met so far who’s been unintentionally exposed to the same kinds of information as a secret boss—it seems like Jevil relayed the things he learned to Seam without the strange someone’s knowledge. Seam’s eye is also foreshadowed in Undertale. It’s also implied that Seam beat Jevil in a fight, despite how strong we all know Jevil to be. And Seam is collecting our Shadow Crystals without much consent on the Player’s part—which is a bit concerning considering that Shadow Crystals make Darkners stronger (kinda like human souls for monsters amirite-). By the end of Deltarune, Seam could have up to seven Crystals. ...yeah. There’s more, but this post as a whole is not about Seam, so I’m holding back.

What I’m getting at is that as much as I like to joke that Seam just has a Shadow Crystal special interest, this cat is definitely planning something. My theory? The Crystals seemingly allow us to see into other timelines and other worlds, so I’m thinking that if Seam's planning to use them to reach into the Light World and get a Gaster’s attention. Why? Well, Gaster did kind of ruin Seam’s life, so... revenge, maybe? Or, if Seam thinks Gaster is going to be the cause of the Roaring, maybe it’s a last-ditch attempt to save the world. Anyway, the party probably knows enough by Chapter 7 to realize that this is a bad idea, so we’re going to end up fighting a seven-shadow-crystal Seam as the final, overpowered secret boss, who is only unlockable by beating every other boss. (Good for Seam. Seam deserves to let out that repressed emotion, even if that means killing us so many times that we want to throw out the game.)

Part 6: Dess and Asriel I don’t know, I don’t KNOW LEAVE ME ALONE- Yeah, that sums it up. For the most part, I’ve got no clue what’s going on with these guys. My only main theories are that Asriel is not as perfect as he seems, and Dess went missing in the bunker when Noelle was little+Asgore couldn’t find her. As for the rest... we shall see.

Part 7: Susie and Kris Based on Everything, especially the recent Spamton Sweepstakes lore, I’ve come to the conclusion that Kris and Susie were together in the foster system, specifically a human-run branch. When they were in first grade, the Dreemurrs adopted Kris. During this endeavor, Susie started acting out and got in trouble, possibly threatened with arrest; Toriel prevented this from happening, which Susie remembers and remains grateful for years later. However, Susie still resented Kris for leaving her, unbeknownst to Kris, who thought they parted on good terms.

Susie lived in a human community for years, facing discrimination for being a monster, before eventually moving to Hometown, possibly on her own after running away.

Part 8: Ralsei Ralsei is a weird guy. He refers to himself as a Darkner, but other Darkners refer to him as a Lightner, and most people tend to look him over easily—take Queen, Noelle, and Berdly. I’m not saying “only Kris and Susie can see him” or anything—he is acknowledged by other Lightners and Darkners alike, but only when he pushes the point.

I don’t think that he’s quite a Lightner nor a Darkner—a sort of parallel to Flowey in Undertale, who wasn’t human nor monster. As for his existence, keeping with the theory that secret bosses are failed Ralseis, I’d like to think that he, too, is the discarded object of Kris’s headband—or, possibly created from the Dark Fountain itself after his creator gave up on the discarded object shtick. I think he is created to represent Kris’s more complicated feelings about themself and their family, but Ralsei is unaware of this and only knows he’s meant to be a guide to the Lightners and the third part of the Legendary Heroes.

I don’t think he’s secretly evil—in fact, he might even be created by UT!Gaster to help save Deltarune’s world. Ralsei himself definitely seems to be on the side of good, even if he isn’t sure what that means for him. Do I think there’s something off about him? Yeah. But when push comes to shove, he’s going to have to make a choice, and I believe that choice will be in his friends’ favor.

Part 9: Reset Theory I believe the original Deltarune timeline was when the whole “new girl” post on Noelle’s blog happened. Over the course of that timeline, the Roaring did in fact occur, and Kris was unable to stop it no matter how many times they reloaded, and so gave up—similar to the six human kids giving up during their fight with Asgore. The key difference between Kris’s experience and the six kids is that something triggered a Reset in Kris’s timeline, rather than just quitting. Thing is, I don’t think the person who triggered the Reset was Kris—because just like Frisk and Chara don’t remember True Resets, Kris doesn’t act like they remember any of our Saves and Loads, let alone another entire timeline.

Enter UT!Gaster.

He, likely with the help of Frisk and Chara, triggered a Reset, where everything was the same—except for Kris’s soul, which is now Frisk’s. Together, all of us are trying to get a better ending, and if we fail, the world will be covered in darkness.

Part 10: The Plan What exactly are we trying to accomplish with Deltarune? A better ending, sure—that seems to be almost everyone’s end goal. But there also seems to be a lot of infighting. UT!Gaster wanted the Soul in a vessel; Chara discarded the vessel and put the Soul in Kris. Kris wants to help with the plan, but doesn’t like to be controlled. Everyone within the plan wants to stop the Roaring, but Kris and Chara seemingly arranged to make a Fountain together. And if the Soul shatters, we can reload, but if we don’t, UT!Gaster assumes that the world was “covered in darkness”—aka the Roaring.

So what’s going on?

I believe UT!Gaster and Chara have had the same goal from the beginning, but simply have different ways they want to accomplish it. UT!Gaster wants to create a vessel for Frisk and Chara, but Chara—efficient as ever—prefers to use the perfectly fine human who’s already there. Kris, although willing to help with this plan, does not fully trust the Soul, and obviously chafes against being controlled. As the Soul, Frisk’s purpose is to give us some more control over the narrative, as well as provide Kris with the Determination they need to manipulate the timeline and the Fountains.

But if that’s the case, why did Kris and Chara plan to pull the Soul out before creating the Fountain?

Simple—Frisk didn’t know about the Fountain. Maybe the other two suspected they’d try and tell UT!Gaster (who would likely disapprove), or that they’d try to stop it from happening. Either way, they were intentionally kept out of the loop. We’ll probably find out the reason for creating the Fountain at all next chapter, but it was not an attempt to cause the Roaring.

Part 11: Kris, Frisk, Chara, and the Player If you don’t believe in Player Theory I’d just skip this part.

I think there are four parties involved with our choices during Deltarune. Chara has little to no control over individual actions, but can help by providing the extra information they have access to. Kris has a bit of their own agency, as shown whenever they move or say things on their own, and can control the way things are done. Frisk makes Kris stronger and supposedly is the one making the choices, and is the one behind the actions the Soul itself—like when it turns yellow during the Spamton NEO fight.

But if these are the only people involved, there would be no cause for a Weird Route. Kris is obviously unhappy with the route. Chara and Frisk are post-Pacifist—and the “Proceed” and whatnot text doesn’t sound like something any of them would say. Plus, in Undertale, it’s established that while Frisk typically conforms to our decisions, they have their own preferences, and occasionally will act against us—like refusing to put effort into attacking Undyne during her hangout, walking at a slowed pace in the True Lab, and looking miserable when we tell them to ask for soda. I could ramble on forever about all of Frisk’s subtle characterizations, ‘cause there’s a LOT, but I won’t. My point is, someone else is pulling the strings—someone behind the scenes.

There’s a lot of hints to this being us. Like, the real us, pushing buttons on a keyboard or console or what-have-you. For example, there’s a point where Ralsei will tell Kris to press one of the buttons—but this can’t be brushed off as Toby working tutorial stuff into the game like in Undertale, because Susie reacts to this with confusion, saying something among the lines of “Who the hell’s [A]?”

Then there’s Jevil’s awareness that the world was a game. While this could just be referring to the fact that he’s a playing card, the other Darkners seem to know their nature as objects—Queen knows her serial number, Lancer+Rouxls can be taken into the Light World in Kris’s pocket, etc. Then again, Lancer also references pushing buttons in one of his signs, so who knows?

Part 12: The Roaring Let me start by saying that the plan is going to fail. The Roaring is going to happen.

I mean, we’re not getting off that easily—you saw the Prophecy. Kris, Susie, and Ralsei are destined to stop this calamity, and they can’t do that if the calamity never happens. Somehow, we’re going to get three Dark Fountains at the same time, probably around Chapter 6 or 7. All our friends will turn to stone, with the possible exception of people we have in our pockets, Seam (via the Shadow Crystals), and Ralsei. The key difference between this and the original timeline is that with the help of the Soul, Kris&co. will be strong enough to stop it.

Just a theory here, but I’m guessing that the third Dark Fountain will be created by Papyrus sometime after or during our hangout with him, and that in order to help the heroes stop the Roaring, he will have to sacrifice himself by leaving the world of Deltarune and going to the world of Undertale. Sans chooses to go with him. By doing this, both brothers are going to experience memory issues—Papyrus slightly more severely—which is the cause for the “Don’t forget” paper in their Undertale secret basement.

Other events leading up to and surrounding the Roaring may involve include learning what Ralsei’s deal is, a possible fight with Seam, Dess, the adult Lightners traveling to the Dark World, meeting either Gaster, and the reveal of what happened in the original timeline.

Part 13: Only One Ending? There is one ending to a completed Deltarune—the Roaring is stopped, Kris gets their own soul back, the skeletons are sent to Undertale, and Chara+Frisk go home. But the way this ending occurs will vary wildly.

I’m thinking that the Weird Routes for future chapters will only be available to those that did the Chapter 2 Weird Route—and all the ones after that. Similar to aborting a No Mercy route in Undertale, you need to stick to it the whole time to make it work. If you never take a Weird Route, you, Kris, and everyone else will part as friends. If you abort the Weird Route in later chapters, it’ll be a bit more tense. But if you continue the Weird Route through Chapter 7, Kris’s friends will have to help them break free of you.

Conclusion There are other, smaller theories and questions I have—whatever’s going on with Gerson and his family, for one—but this is the gist! I didn’t really proofread this, but if you stuck through the whole thing, well, congratulations! I’d love to hear your thoughts, whether you agree or disagree about any of this, or any add-ons. And, of course, I’m looking forward to being proven completely wrong when the next chapters come out!

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snowdin-shopkeeper · 2 years

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@abysslll, a story told in pictures <3

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i am still going to answer this, just in a slightly different way since you've seen to gotten the jist lol :]]

i, myself, have not been able to play undertale, believe it or not, lmao. though i have played deltarune chapter 1 and 2, along with watching multiple playthroughs of both games, fan theories, and have seen enough au's being born and being left to die to feel like i'm entitled to answer this SDFSAF-

Personally... i would replay undertale if you haven't replayed it recently, and then go into deltarune. not even the whole game... just load a save file and explore the underground. watch a playthrough to familiarize yourself with your old friends, yk

the rest under a read more due to both length and spoilers. the above is the answer to your question, but below I'll actually go into length about why I chose that as my answer.

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And to clear something originally, Deltarune was a game that was supposed to come before Undertale, but simply was in development so long that Undertale came first. Both games have many references to one another, many that would and wouldn't be discernible to the casual player. Deltarune never was a sequel (and let me say, a prequel, either) to Undertale. while many suspect that Sans and Gaster both have roots in this universe, it does not change the fact that, besides those two very specific characters, they've lived their own lives.

In the words of Fox himself, "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."

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(Link to the Twitlonger, Toby explained alot of stuff in this, I highly suggest reading it :]])

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The main reason that i'm suggesting it the way i'm suggesting is not only because deltarune was intended to be created before Undertale, but after each chapter (and during chapter's.. but it's more permanent afterward) there are ALOT of interactions from your old friends. Alot of new faces, many more old ones. While it is, "Just a game you can play after Undertale", it doesn't change the fact that there is alot of information, secrets, and Easter Eggs in general that.. you just won't get if you haven't played before.

"But Lilo, you haven't played the game either!!" ...Yeah? And? Your point being??? I'm sorry that I don't have money, but if a mutual of mine DOES have the money to buy and play and replay Undertale and wants to do it, then I'm sure as hell giving them the green light.

While, yeah, you just can't get the same feeling from a playthrough as you do from playing the actual game (learned that pretty fast from Deltarune, lols) it doesn't change the fact that both games, despite (likely because of) their simplicity, tell beautiful stories about people and monsters and people facing their own monsters inside of them. it's easy to see and something anyone can appreciate.

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tl;dr, watch a playthrough or smth at least before playing deltarune, you'll thank me <3

#DELTARUNE IS A SEQUEL #HEHE HELLO #YES I SAW THIS SORRY #I WAS UH #I WAS READING FANFIC LMAO :DD #BUT YES I SAW THIS #I WAS THINKING ABOUT NOT ANSWERING BUT THE SHIT YOU SAID MADE ME SO MAD I WANTED TO ANSWER ANYWAYS :)#NOT YOUR FAULT JUST KNOW I WANNA PUNCH WHO TOLD YOU THAT SINCE TOBY SPECIFICALLY SAID THAT WASN'T THE CASE <3 /hj #ALSO I SUGGEST IF YOU'RE GETTING BORED OF UNDERTALE LOOK INTO IT'S AU'S #I HIGHLY SUGGEST X-TALE/UNDERVERSE #BUT I WOULD ALSO SUGGEST LOOKING A LITTLE BIT INTO THE AU'S FIRST BC IF YOU DON'T IT'S A BIT CONFUSING LOL #BUT YEAH HOPE THIS HELPED VANITAS <3<3 /gen

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offbrandmercyplates · 3 years

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An OBMP Holiday Fanfic Special

Me: I should do a thing, get back in the writing spirit and all that.

Time of Year: *Is a holiday*

Me: I think I know what I’m going to do today.

So, yep! It’s a OBMP fanfic holiday special! WHOOOP! This thing actually went through a few different versions before I finally settled on one. There were some weird versions, which reminds me: what would happen if you tried to bake cookies without proper ingredients? One of the versions involved trying to make chocolate chip cookies with powdered milk, egg protein, and no baking soda. I have no idea what would happen if you actually tried that. I can only assume the worst. Also, there was a salt rock. And an elaborate traipsing through the halls and down the stairs. Not the best setup.

Anyway, this one should be much better! Please enjoy!

…

Messy Gyftmas!

Emmibee’s cozy cocoon of warmth and hazy sleep was viciously torn open by a muffled buzzing sound. She quickly scrambled to shut off the old alarm clock she had buried in clothes and towels on her side table. She flopped back onto the bed. Just a few more seconds… a few more seconds…

…Kind of weird that Dr. Gaster hadn’t come into her bedroom to see what the alarm was about.

…Dr. Gaster?

Emmi snapped upright. That’s right; Dr. Gaster was taking his once-a-week night off and actually sleeping! (It was very, very slow progress in getting him to sleep more properly, but progress all the same.) She quickly threw off the covers and slipped on the fuzzy pink socks she had managed to find at the Snowdin Shop recently. She tiptoed out of her bed room and past Gaster’s room.

She was halfway down the stairs when she heard a gravelly snore that made her freeze. She turned towards the couch and spotted the skeleton doctor sprawled across the couch, glasses askew and a bunch of papers over his torso and lap. It seemed that he had fallen asleep while working instead of sleeping in his room like they agreed.

She shook her head. That stubborn old man…

Well, he was actually asleep, so that was good enough for today.

Emmi stepped into the kitchen and reached into the fridge. She had been meaning to ask why exactly Dr. Gaster kept so many bags of Popato Chisps in the fridge, of all places, but they hid Emmi’s personal purchases more than adequately, so it didn’t matter right now.

She retrieved the frozen waffles, bagels, and the two different kinds of spreads, and set them on the countertop. Two waffles were popped into the toaster, a few bagels were cut in half put in the oven to warm, and the two spreads— plain and strawberry flavored cream cheese— were opened and set out to soften a bit.

Emmi grinned and clapped her hands together quietly. A nice, warm, sort of-nutritious breakfast would hopefully give the doctor a reason to have more regular sleep schedule.

She pulled a large plate out of the cupboard and began to tastefully arrange the food (ha, puns). It was a shame she couldn’t find any maple syrup to put on the waffles, but maybe Gaster would appreciate being able to hold them in his hands and bite them like cookies. Once the plate was arranged to her taste (somebody stop her; she’s having a pun-derful morning!), she picked it up and began to carry it over to the coffee table by the couch.

At least, that’s what she intended to do, before a crunchy *thump* sounded from outside the house, followed by a strange, almost annoyed-sounding lowing. Emmi set the plate down and peeked out the window.

The snow wasn’t glittering with the warm, orange lights of the buildings in town, which meant that by all standards, it was still nighttime. Still, Emmi’s eyes quickly adjusted to see a strange, four-legged creature stumbling around in front of the house. Perhaps a fellow monster needed help?

She stuffed her snow boots on over her socks and grabbed her heavy coat. She opened the door to the house and stepped into the cold.

It was snowing, as it did every night in Snowdin. Emmi realized that the monster wasn’t stumbling; rather, it seemed to be bucking like a horse, a donkey, or a deer. The crunchy *thump* from earlier was likely caused by them tripping and smacking into a snowbank outside the house. They lowed again, more loudly, and shook their antlers. The movements were accompanied by tinkling bells, rustling paper, and other sounds.

A Gyftrot, Emmi realized with a quiet gasp. She had not yet met this particular monster, but the distressed noises it made were probably because of the decorations adorning it.“Hello?” Emmi called. Gyftrot snapped their attention to her, and she flinched.

Even when playing Undertale in her old life, Gyftrot was a funny looking creature. In person, though, they were almost terrifying. Their big, gaping eyes seemed both sunken and laser focused, and their sideways mouth steamed in angry sounding puffs and clicking teeth. They towered over her, their antlers almost doubling their height. They growled and backed away, dragging their hooves in the snow.

“W-wait!” She called. “I promise I’m not a child! I’m a perfectly grown-up adult!”

Gyftrot paused, then tilted their head in a way that seemed to say, “Oh, are you, now?”

“I am!” Emmi insisted. “Look, I’m not wearing a striped shirt.” She opened her coat enough to show off her pastel-colored nightgown, then closed it quickly. She was not built for cold weather.

Gyftrot rolled their eyes and huffed out another cloud of steam. “Okay, fine,” they seemed to be saying. “Now what?”

“You look like you could use some help. Would it be okay if I undecorated you? I’ll be careful, I promise.”

Gyftrot squinted at her for a good few seconds before folding their legs and resting in the snow, their antlers more at Emmi’s level.

“Thank you,” Emmi bowed politely and approached them. The tinkling bell sounds came from some thin plastic balls smacking together, looped over the prongs of Gyftrot’s antlers. The rustling paper was, in actuality, several strands of threadbare garland strands, wrapped around their neck and, again, their antlers. Following these were some of the strangest items Emmi could imagine: multiple stockings, tiny walking canes, boxes of raisins, a few car fresheners, and for some reason, a small, very confused dog. Emmi could have sworn the dog gave her a knowing wink before bounding into the forrest.

She looked over her handiwork and nodded. “Everything looks good.”

Gyftrot rose back to their hooves, and Emmi gave them some space. “Thank you, Miss,” they said in a deep voice. “I was asleep on the edge of the forest for the night, and when I awoke, I was covered in all manner of trinkets and nonsense. No doubt the work of some young punks. Oh, and pardon me for thinking you one of those children. You have a youthful demeanor about you, and you are very short.”

“Hey!” Emmi laughed with mock indignation. Gyftrot snorted a few times, a mischievous gleam in their eyes. Then their gaze dropped, and they went quiet. “Something wrong?” Emmi asked.

“It’s a bit silly, but… after all of that, I’m a bit hungry.”

Emmi thought for a second. “Well, I was making some breakfast for a friend when I heard you out here… Would you like me to bring you some?”

Gyftrot’s ears flattened a bit. “Well, I’d hate to take the meal you made for your friend…”

“No worries! I can make more. Wait right here; I’ll bring you a plate.” Before they could protest, Emmi sped-walked into the house, grabbed the plate of food, and brought it outside. “Here we are! Waffles and bagels. Do you like cream cheese—?”

As soon as Gyftrot spotted the plate, their eyes grew as big as saucers and they stuck their snout into the food. They were an enthusiastic and sloppy eater, but Emmi was too distracted by watching the way their jaws worked to notice the bits of cream cheese and crumbs spilling onto the front of her coat.

They grinned at her when they finished; a grin that, without context, would have seemed almost sinister. Emmi knew it was a smile of satisfaction. “Thank you again, Miss. Perhaps we’ll meet again, at a better time of the day. Good night.” Gyftrot trotted out of sight.

Emmi watched them go. Her socks were starting to become soaked through her boots, but the warmth in her SOUL distracted her from the cold.

The snow began to glitter orange in certain spots around her. “Emmibee?” She looked up to see a tired Gaster standing in the still open doorway of the house. Oops. “Why is the door open at this hour? You hate being cold.”

He stepped into the snow, not bothered by the weather, and stood over Emmi, looking her up and down with an analytical curiosity. She turned to face him, grinning just a little deliriously. Maybe she should have gone to bed earlier instead of reading all night…

“…What are you wearing?” Dr. Gaster asked.

She looked down at herself, seeing the crumbs and cream cheese smears from Gyftrot’s early breakfast, as well as a few of the decorations she had removed from Gyftrot’s person. Somehow, the garland had wrapped around her shoulders, a tiny walking cane hung around each of her ears like strange headphones, and a few stockings hung from the buttons on her coat. She blinked for a moment. Then, she smiled up at her housemate. “I’m the messiest Gyftmas tree. Hohoho, heeheehee.”

Gaster squinted at her, his bone brow furrowed as he tried to comprehend what she just said. “…You’re a very strange woman,” he finally stated.

“Actually, if you recall, I said I’m—”

“Yes, I heard you the first time. You are the messiest Gyftmas tree.”

“You have to say ‘hohoho, heeheehee’ after that part.”

“No.”

“Phooey.”

“Will you explain why you’re outside at this hour now?”

“After we go inside. I’ll make more breakfast.”

In the time it took Emmibee to remake Gaster’s breakfast plate and tell her story, she was barely standing on her feet. Before she could fall over, Gaster guided her to his spot on the couch, removed her coat, boots, and decorations, and tossed his lab coat over her sleeping form, since it was the closest thing to a blanket within arm’s reach.

He found himself glancing at her repeatedly and he ate the breakfast she made. Her curly brown hair was frizzy and tangled from the snowy winds, and her round little face was pink from the warmth of the house. It filled him with… nondescript contentment. It definitely didn’t make him feel nice. Most certainly not. Definitely not.

…So what other word could he use to explain these feelings?

…

A strange and messy Gyftmas, but satisfying all the same, I hope.

Gyftrot showing was one of the first things that came to mind for this story. Who could be more perfect for a holiday special? And, one of my favorite parts: it shows off Emmi’s integrity. Even a scary looking fellow like Gyftrot deserves a good breakfast and not being covered in weird decorations. (Seriously, though; look at Gyftrot’s battle sprite and tell me that wouldn’t be a little spooky in real life.)

There were some little tidbits in some of the earlier drafts that didn’t make it into the final story, like Emmibee spending her evenings in bed reading by candlelight, the exact spots that don’t squeak on the stairs, and little things like that. Now that I think about it, I don’t know if flashlights would be prevalent in the Underground, or if they’re a more limited resource. It can’t be that easy to find fresh batteries in the dump heap, but maybe the Underground is able to make batteries with the materials it has. For some reason, my mind was in a kind of archaic rut, so I think I imagined the Underground having more limited resources than it probably does; hence the earlier draft with the powdered milk cookies.

Gaster: What is this feeling? It couldn’t be… the warm fuzzies!? No! I’m too sophisticated and cool to have the warm fuzzies!

It has been said before, by many different sources, and it shall be said again: Emmibee is a smol.

Also, the “messiest Gyftmas tree” is a reference to the song “The Happiest Christmas Tree.” It’s… interesting.

Okay, I think that covers all the extra bits. With Ms. Emmibee’s permission, I’ll be posting this to my fanfiction and AO3 accounts at a later date. I hope everyone had a happy holiday! Let’s hope next year’s just a little bit better. Until then!

~~~

THE WARM FUZZIES!!

Apologies for posting this so late, but I truly truly appreciate and adore this fic. Gyftrot is one of the most interesting monsters, I think, and Emmi’s interaction with it is SO pure????? This is wonderful and I love it and THANK YOU!!!!

Please post it to FF and AO3 at your leisure!!

#OBMPfanfic #yours the author #submission #i usually try to comment more on these but im so exhausted #i read it when it was first submitted and it really cheered me up at a tumultuous time #so thank you for that

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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 4 years

Note

As an Undertale fan, what are your thoughts on Chara?

(Rubbing hands together) I have. A lot to say about this.

Chara is such a fascinating and sympathetic figure in the story. In some ways, I even hesitate to call them a character (even though I know their name is a play on the word) because they are only ever alluded to in the story and have no spoken lines, barring a very psychedelic scene at the end of No-Mercy that may or may not have even been them, it was rather ambiguous. Their presence is definitely felt throughout the story, however. You can see them, just as you see Asriel, in the other characters. The haunted look in the eyes of their parents. Not to mention, the plot could not have happened in the way it did without Chara’s fall. I’ve said before that the story begins and ends with Asriel, and it does...but the same could be said of Chara.

Good or Evil?

The main question people have when it comes to this character is how involved they are with the events that occur, and what was their true nature? Were they a disturbed, evil child? Hell bent on slaughtering humanity and later the monsters? Were they just using Asriel? Or...was Chara a victim? An innocent child who wanted to do the right thing and died to save the society that rescued them? There’s no arguing that Chara was a saint - Asriel himself admits by the end of Pacifist that they were not the greatest person. But there’s a difference between being a snarky, traumatized hero, and being a hateful, wicked villain. I would say from the start that I question the validity of calling any child “evil.” On the other hand, Asriel did some pretty messed up things as Flowey, and it’s universally accepted that whoever was driving the No-Mercy Route, be it Frisk or Chara, was making evil decisions. There are also those who would point to you, the player, for making those choices...but for the sake of the fourth wall, I’m not to discount those interpretations. I want to talk about the characters, not the “anomaly.”

Here’s the thing. If Chara is responsible for the No-Mercy Route, if we follow the theory that they possessed Frisk, and that by the end they were in complete control - which is supported by a lot of the end-game red text - well, then to be entirely fair, we also have to credit them for the Pacifist Ending. If Chara was somehow reincarnated in Frisk, then that was true in every timeline, surely. We can’t condemn Chara and make them shoulder the blame for No-Mercy, while also declining to give them credit for the golden ending. Hell, Asriel has canonically taken the No-Mercy Route several times, by his own admission - I swear, everyone forgets that. If we don’t demonize Asriel for this, it seems wrong to do the same thing to Chara, even if No-Mercy was entirely their fault.

“I should have laughed it off, like you did.”

There is also some evidence that perhaps Chara wasn’t a very nice kid even before the Undertale story begins. People have suggested that they intentionally tried to kill Asgore, for example, with the Buttercup incident. However, I think people are forgetting that that was a joint effort. Asriel and Chara were both involved in making that pie, and we have no way of knowing which of them made the mistake. Yes, Chara did laugh about it later, but it’s not unheard of for people to laugh in horrifying situations, simply to cope with it. Sirius Black from Harry Potter was said to laugh when he was arrested for facilitating the murder of his best friends. Spoiler alert, he was innocent. Chara is a kid, and Asgore didn’t actually die. I don’t think we should assume that they intended to do this, or that they took pleasure from his pain.

The day Asriel died.

Chara’s gambit, the one that ultimately got Asriel killed and reborn as Flowey, is pretty ambiguous. First and foremost, we cannot blame Chara for what happened to Asriel. They wanted to fight back against the humans. Asriel resisted doing this. It seems very clear that whatever else was going on, Chara did not plan for Asriel to die, and they tried to stop it from happening. Otherwise, there are hints that they wanted this confrontation to happen, and that maybe that was why they took their body with them to the surface. Here’s the thing - killing humans was already part of the plan. It wasn’t like they were tricking Asriel into that - both of them knew they’d have to claim some human souls to break the barrier. Chara may have calculated that the humans would assume Asriel killed them and attack as a result - but that would simply be triggering the altercation that they and Asriel had planned on creating anyway.

The “Charrator” Theory

After this happened, Asriel was reborn as Flowey...and Chara is hinted to have became Frisk’s unseen companion. Perhaps Frisk’s fall disturbed their rest, since Frisk did land on top of the golden flowerbed that Chara is implied to have been buried under. There’s a major theory that the narrator of all the game’s text is actually Chara’s spirit. It would explain how the narration knows things that Frisk would have no way of knowing, like when you can “check” monsters in battle. Plus, the somewhat snarky sense of humor in the narration, yet still overall hopeful personality...well, it lines up a lot without how Chara was suggested to behave. There are other moments too, like how shocked the narrator seems when Asriel calls Frisk, addressing them as Chara. Or how the narrator falls silent when Asriel breaks down during the end of his fight. They also push Frisk to save him. Not to mention this is hinted far more in the No-Mercy path. It’s made blatant with lines like “The date I came here.” and “Still has that sweater.” and even “My bed.” So, yeah, I tend to subscribe to this theory a lot.

What happened to Chara?

My belief is that Chara was confused and traumatized and not at all sure what happened when they were first reborn in Frisk - either because they were haunting them, or because they were reincarnated. Hell, that might have been why Frisk climbed Mt. Ebbot. - In a way very similar to how Flowey was confused and scared when he first resurrected. I believe Frisk’s actions help Chara rediscover who they are. If Asriel can be forgiven for having to re-learn things like compassion after something as traumatizing as being murdered, can’t Chara be given the same patience? They died twice. Can’t it be assumed that they might need the same rehabilitation? I believe Chara learns from Frisk’s choices. One theory I’ve seen that I really like, is that they felt embittered toward Asriel for completely screwing the plan, by refusing to fight back. Hence Flowey asking “No hard feelings about back then, right?” Hence why Chara, after being on the No-Mercy Route for that long, might feel so much contempt for him that they slash him half a dozen times like we see. By completing Pacifist, Frisk teaches Chara what Asriel already knew - that any situation can be resolved peacefully, and thus refusing to fight back was the right choice. At which point, Chara is able to properly move on and rest. Having grown to the point of understanding that their hatred of humanity was not healthy.

That’s another thing, we never find out why Chara hated humanity so strongly. The same way we never find out why Frisk climbed Mt. Ebbot. It’s left to mystery. There are plenty of reasons it could be true. It could be as simple as them being infuriated at what humanity did to the monsters. Or maybe it suggests something worse, like abuse or neglect. Chara tripped, so we know it wasn’t a suicide attempt, but...I mean, what were they planning? The actual fall was an accident, but were they going to jump anyway? That’s the thing. Chara is jaded. They recognize the evil in the world and it makes them pessimistic. They hate humanity and thus they hate them-self, most likely. Ever notice how Chara’s plan to break the barrier results in their human body dying, and them living on as a Monster instead? Maybe it was coincidental, but I can’t imagine they minded. Still, they were willing to die to bring freedom to the Monsters, and they seemed to live in harmony with them for...well, it had to be at least a couple of years.

TL;DR: I’m a Chara fan. A major fan, actually. I find them fascinating and I don’t blame them at all for what happens in No-Mercy. I also love the Charrator Theory. Any head-canon is valid, but I really don’t vibe with the idea that Chara is a “demon” child.

#Undertale #Undertale Headcanons #Chara (Undertale)#Chara Dreemurr #Asriel Dreemurr #Asriel (Undertale)#Chara the Fallen Human #Narrator Chara

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lucyhblack · 4 years

Link

It's time to learn about the powerful and mysterious Gasterblasters.

Gasterblaster

The Gasterblaster Class is a Class exclusive to Pokesans, with habits and physical characteristics unique among all pokesans.

Physically they are easily recognizable by their considerable size (some documented specimens reach 6 meters from the snout to the tail) and their more “animalistic” physical structures, mainly their “draconian” skulls, similar to the floating skulls (blasters) that the pokesans can cast for attacks.

In fact, not only do they just look like blasters, they really are blasters!

When the puppies of pokesans of this Class are born, the parents conjure blasters to cover the small and soft skulls of the puppies as an extra protection. When the pokesans evolve, their skulls fuse with their "improvised helmets" making them part of them.

In the first stage these pokesans are bipedal, as most pokesans are (those that have legs, I mean), but once evolved their bodies change and they become quadrupeds. They can still occasionally walk on two legs but their main form of locomotion is in four, like the bears (the animals, not Monsters).

Gasterblaster are the largest pokemons found in the world, being able to easily reach 6 meters or more.

As well as their appearance, they behave more wildly than other Classes and live exclusively in family flocks that are very difficult to find due to the fact that they inhabit inhospitable and difficult to access regions such as deserts, the top of snowy mountains or the deep volcanic caves. That is why it is so difficult to study or capture them.

The Classic Family's are found in the vast Hotland desert (and are the "easiest" to find), while the Swaps prefer Snowdin's high mountain ranges (very difficult to find them, but there are a number of sightings) and Fell the volcanic caves between the two territories (practically impossible to find and very rarely seen).

This is another unique feature of this Class, since other Classes (with the exception of Outer if we consider that its main habitat is space) are found spread across the Continent.

The Gasterblaster are considered to be the oldest known pokesans (and perhaps pokemon) and there is much speculation in the scientific field about them.

Some researchers believe that the Gasterblaster are the original pokemons, that is, the first pokemons created by the Angel.

Others believe that in fact they are a species that diverged from the first pokemons, and due to their isolation, they ended up not developing in the same way as the rest of the other pokesans.

Regardless of their origin, they are pokesans with unique looks and habits and have very complex social structures (the most complex in the Pokemon world).

The little we know about their is thanks to the great Explorer (and current member of Elite 4) Arthurus who explored the Desert of Hotland and observed these great beings up close.

They live in groups (usually family members and belonging to a single Family), ranging from a few members (4 or 5) to groups containing more than 10.

The pack is usually led by a mated main couple (they are usually a monogamous), and only that couple can reproduce. If a pokesans want the chance to mate, they must beat the leaders or leave the pack and form their own pack.

A pokesans who challenge the leaders and lose are immediately expelled from the pack. A pokesan of this Class has little chance of surviving without a pack and it is very difficult to be accepted in another pack (usually they will have to beat the Leaders or work hard for it).

If the challenger wins the fight he takes the lead of the pack. The defeated couple remains in the pack, but they are no longer allowed to reproduce, or even challenge the new leader.

The packs are incredibly organized, with each individual having their role within.

They are usually nomads (so it is too difficult to find them), only settling in one place to reproduce and lay eggs. Once the puppies are able to travel, they move back.

While in this period they are extremely territorial, not allowing any other pack/pokemon to approach the established territory.

They are known for their skulls, their resilience, ferocity and difficulty in finding them (and therefore in capturing them).

Their overalls are usually very basic and, like their magic, follow the colors of the Families. Once evolved, their clothes do not seem to follow their growth and often end up torn (usually at the level of the chest, exposing their rib cage or dividing the jumpsuit into two pieces, blouse and pants and sometimes even disappearing completely).

It is rare that they conjure an ecto-body, except for reproduction or for flight (covering the bones of the wings).

Once evolved they only conjure blasters to cover the cubs' skulls, never to attack. They preferring to attack directly (their own skulls are, in part, blasters! So they usually loop these attacks themselves).

They are usually found in the Dragon Type with the greatest variation for Earth, Flying, Ice and Rock.

Few coaches were able to find them and even more captured them. They are very powerful pokesans, but they are not so difficult to train, once a bond is established.

Despite this they are not pokesans for beginners.

If you intend to risk and trying to capture one, I recommend taking Cyan (Friendly ball) or Purple (Long ball) Pokeballs, and a good dose of Repel (in case you survive the capture and don't get killed by the rest of the pack).

Once a bond is established, don't be alarmed by not having good mental communication with him.

These pokesans don't seem to care (or strive) to communicate, yet you will know what they are thinking or wanting communicate (or so all the Gasterblaster masters say). They seem to be a Pokemon species that cannot (or again, does not want to) communicate, not even in a few words, in the language Monster.

We don't know much about their Heat cycles since only one couple per pack reproduces and they usually isolate themselves from the rest of the pack during that period. The couple is believed to have some kind of inhibitor that suppresses heat from the rest of the pack.

The couple usually generates 2 to 5 eggs, once again being an exception among the pokesans (who do not usually generate so many eggs) and the puppies are considered the most fragile among the pokesans and those who take the longest to control their powers (perhaps due to that’s why parents started using blasters to cover their skulls). The hatchlings are raised mainly by their parents, but the entire flock participates in their protection.

All this information was taken from observations of flocks of Gasterblaster of the Classic Family. Unfortunately, due to living in inhospitable and isolated places (such as mountains and deep caves with difficult access) it is almost impossible to observe flocks of other Families of this Class.

Compared to others in the same Family, the Classic are not as lazy (in fact they are considered the most active among the Classic), yet they can remain inactive for a long time, just sleeping under the scorching sun and the cold desert nights, or just enjoying the puppies playing.

Of the Swap, we only know that sometimes they help travelers lost in the snow and a greater tendency to be flying.

Fells seem to be often described with large horns and even spiny tails.

Both Families seem to have an incredible talent (we can even say magic, if you know what I mean) to hide or disappear without a trace, even though they are such big creatures.

Swapfells in this Class are so rare (since the packs do not mix and the Swap and Fell Families prefer very different habitats) that they were only briefly seen once by a traveler, who reported 2 puppies with their parents before they disappear amid rocks and fog.

To finish, out of curiosity, this Class was named in honor of the first scholar to discover them (or at least catalog it scientifically), the Researcher and Explorer WD. Gaster (the great-grandfather of the world famous Dr. Gaster).

(Hmm? What do you mean, "I'm talking too much"? That's the idea... Now wait a minute Geno, I'm not "favoring" anyone! It's not my fault if we have so little information about them that I can summarize EVERYTHING in a single article... Oh, no Cherry! Of course I don't like them more than the Fells... or the you... Oh, Come on guys! Guys? Guys?!)

#undertale #gaster blaster #gaster blaster!sans #gb!sans #gaster #w.d. gaster #pokemon #pokesans #encyclopedia pokesans #fanfic #my fic #my au #From Pockets to Monsters

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sage-nebula · 6 years

Text

sweetchcolate replied to your post: Every single time I see one of those “theories”...

Part of this fandom has a serious confirmation bias: they select the hints that fit with their theory, and tend to discard/forget the other facts. A LOT of people are mixing up Original Story Saeran with his Another Story traits (even though the latter is more of an AU than a true “1 ½ year ago” flashback), and to an even greater extent, mix Saeran’s personality with Saeyoung’s, interchanging them and their roles. I miss Original Story/post secret ends Saeran ._. I’m also seeing quite a few posts about how the reset theory/“x” character loves you in every route/“x” character is the wizard would apply to Saeran and like… y'all are just copy-pasting this stuff from one twin to another, as if they were the same character.

“and to an even greater extent, mix Saeran’s personality with Saeyoung’s, interchanging them and their roles. [. . .] y'all are just copy-pasting this stuff from one twin to another, as if they were the same character.”

YEP! YEP YEP YEP!!! I’m seeing so much of this and, to be honest, it’s really infuriating!!

Like, sometimes it’s something small, such as portraying Saeran with a space aesthetic / space related things (space is not Saeran’s thing and never has been; Saeran has flowers, and Saeyoung has space). That’s annoying, because it honestly feels like people enjoy Saeyoung’s space aesthetic and so they want to give it to the twin they prefer / feels deserves it more, but at least it’s something small that can be mostly ignored.

But honestly? The problem runs far deeper than that. You have no idea the amount of fics or “Imagines / headcanons” I see in the tags where the twins’ personalities are just swapped. It’s like all of Saeyoung’s good or “desirable” qualities are stripped from him and given to Saeran, and all of Saeran’s flaws are stripped from him and given to Saeyoung. Saeyoung is left with everything undesirable (the inexplicable lashing out, the insecurity, the inability to take care of himself), while Saeran is given everything to make him The Perfect Boyfriend™ (being protective, able to offer great comfort, stability). It feels as if people prefer Saeran, for whatever reason, but they still like certain qualities that Saeyoung has, and so they take the aspects of Saeyoung’s character that they like and transfer them to Saeran so that he’ll be Perfect™ in their eyes. And you know, whatever, people can do whatever they want, but what I absolutely loathe about these instances of blatant mischaracterization is that it’s often done to denigrate Saeyoung, to make him look worse in comparison to Saeran, so as to “justify” MC ending up with Saeran instead. Saeyoung is an incredibly important character to me, and to see him so blatantly misrepresented all the goddamn time in this fandom (not just by Saeran fans, but lately moreso by them) is really, really upsetting.

And yes, the recent upsurge of people trying to prove that Saeran is actually the protagonist of Mystic Messenger / that Saeran is the “true route” is just . . . more of the same. I literally saw someone try to claim that the “I’ve been watching you from the start” lyric in the original OP is evidence that Saeran is the true protagonist / true route, despite the fact that the entire song is from Saeyoung’s point of view (confirmed in game!), and that “I’ve been watching you from the start” does apply to Saeyoung considering that he had to have tapped into the CCTV during the prologue chat to be able to identify that MC is “a cute girl.” The amount of reaching is ridiculous---but again, it’s done in an attempt to take desirable qualities from Saeyoung and copy-paste them over to Saeran. Like, I’m sorry to disappoint anyone, but while Mystic Messenger is an ensemble cast and it is therefore difficult to pin down who the protagonist is supposed to be, if there is any character who can be identified as the protagonist (i.e. the character that drives the plot forward, the character the story centers around), it’s Saeyoung. It’s his search for the truth that drives the narrative forward, that brings the mysteries to light, that ultimately culminates in the true ending of Original Story. His perspective owns the opening song, and hell, he’s even the face of the icon for the app, for crying out loud. I do not like telling people that Saeyoung is the “true route” because I don’t want to diminish anyone else’s feelings for their favorite character (and more on that in a second), but if you’re really determined to identify a protagonist for this story, that protagonist is Saeyoung. The core plot is very much about him and his family, he’s the one the Secret Ends follow, and he’s the one that drives that plot forward. Even when we get to Secret End 02, which is in Saeran’s perspective, it’s Saeyoung’s actions that drive the action along. He’s the one that breaks Saeran out of the hospital, he’s the one who stops Saeran from committing suicide, he’s the one that organizes the party at the end. Choi Saeyoung is the character who drives the action in Mystic Messenger, at least as far as Original Story is concerned (because Cheritz butchering him in Another Story is another conversation altogether). And Saeran? Saeran is an antagonist, because his goals run in opposition to those of the protagonist. This does not change until the very, very end of the Secret Endings. He’s a sympathetic antagonist, but he’s still an antagonist. No amount of reaching is going to change that.

(And it is reaching, and it’s also---I remember that this theory that “Saeran always loved you” originally cropped up even before Saeran’s Route released, and the person who posted it literally said that “since Saeyoung loves you, Saeran must as well” and it’s just---they’re twins, and I know that Saeyoung likes to say that Saeran is his other half, but they are not the same person! Not at all! They’re individuals! Maybe try using some critical thinking to treat them as such, ffs!)

But on that note:

“I’m also seeing quite a few posts about how the reset theory/“x” character loves you in every route/“x” character is the wizard would apply to Saeran . . .”

I’ve seen that, too, and honestly . . .

Like, I’m going to be upfront: I don’t think that Reset Theory is actually canon for any character, Saeyoung included. I think that if it was intended to be canon, it would actually come up as a concrete part of the story that would be unable to be skipped or ignored, much like the player’s ability to SAVE and LOAD is treated in Undertale. The fact that it isn’t says, to me, that Reset Theory was never meant to be a canonical part of the storyline. So while it’s absolutely a fun thing to play with, and while I myself like to play with it (though I like to think of MC as the one who carries over memories, personally), I don’t believe that it’s actually factual, even though, yes, if there was one character who would most likely remember things across timelines, it probably would be Saeyoung since, from an objective narrative standpoint, he is the protagonist.

But with that said, I also think that sometimes people in this fandom take things like Reset Theory and Wizard Theory (which is one which, if I understand it correctly, I actually really hate) too far. What I mean by this is, there are people who try to use Reset Theory to prove that their fave is objectively the best, while all others are inferior---or people who try to use Wizard Theory to prove that a character they don’t like as much can’t / doesn’t actually love MC. (Again, from my understanding, the Wizard is a Cheritz character who exists beyond the realm of the games, but doesn’t actually / is incapable of actually loving the players. If I’m wrong, I’m sorry, but that’s how I’ve understood it.) In my opinion, pushing things like Wizard Theory, or trying to prove that only your fave fits Reset Theory and that none of the other characters could possibly love MC for real is . . . mean. Like, there’s no other way to describe it, it’s just mean. I mean, obviously this is a dating simulation game, and all of these characters are fictional, and none of them could ever actually love the players for real, but the fact remains that a lot of people do turn to this game for comfort. They honestly feel better about themselves when these characters that they adore say sweet things to them. They know it’s not really real, but the nature of the game is immersive enough so that it still does make them feel better when they feel that, say, Jumin, or Zen, or Jaehee really and truly loves them. So to that end, why would you want to make them feel as if their preferred character doesn’t---or is incapable---of feeling that way about them? Why would you want to take that away from them? What do you gain from it? I think that things like Reset Theory are tons of fun to explore in fic, but when you post lengthy meta about how only one character is valid, then that sort of invalidates the experiences of every other character. And I know it might sound weird for me to say that, because I just got through explaining how Saeyoung is the central character of the narrative and how it would make the most sense for him to fit Reset Theory if any character did, but you’re still not going to catch me telling people, “He’s the only real endgame option,” because that’s not true. The Secret Endings are part of his route, yes, and you’ll only find out the actual plot by following his route therefore (since Mint Eye isn’t exposed in any of the other routes, et cetera), but just because his route is the true route for me doesn’t mean that others won’t prefer, say, Yoosung’s or V’s Routes. Maybe for someone else, Zen is the true endgame. Maybe for someone else, it’s Jumin. Their experiences are valid, and there’s no reason to try and make them feel any differently.

So tl;dr, while I think that Reset Theory is a fun thing to explore in fanworks, I feel that it---and especially Wizard Theory---can be very easily used to make other fans feel bad, and that’s not cool. Saeyoung is my favorite, and his is the true route for me, and obviously he does own the Secret Endings. But that doesn’t mean that he’s “canon,” even if he’s the implied love interest, because ultimately the player decides who MC ends up with. If the player puts MC with Saeyoung, great! If not, that’s valid, too. There is no “canon” route, especially for those who care more about the dating than the mystery (which is a valid way to play, since this is, after all, a dating simulator).

And note, before anyone comes @ me: No, my pointing out that Saeran doesn’t love MC in Original Story is not a case of invalidating people’s experiences. It’s a case of pointing out that abusive behaviors and threats =/= love, as well as the fact that Saeran was never intended as a love interest in Original Story (hence why every single Saeran ending in Original Story is a Bad Ending). Rika doesn’t love MC in Original Story, either. Neither does Vanderwood. Neither does Driver Kim, and so on and so forth. The only time Saeran develops feelings for MC is in Another Story, and even then, I’d argue only on his route, since although he says his love was real in V’s Route, he was still in his obsession stage. So no, I wasn’t invalidating, I was just pointing out that he was never in love with MC in Original Story. The RFA members are, but Saeran is not.

Anyway, this is a super long essay, but tl;dr, my space boy deserves better than this fandom and Cheritz so often give him, and it makes me tired. Hopefully someday things can get better. Hopefully.

#sweetchcolate #//#///#////#/////#mm discourse #mystic messenger discourse #god seven #choi saeyoung #unknown #choi saeran #meta #each day the MM fandom makes me dislike Saeran more than I did previously #it's incredible #or like . . . it's not that i dislike him per se #it's just that i very strongly do not care for him

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kingofthewilderwest · 7 years

Text

Alright I’m writing this post before I wimp out on this decision that I need to make. I’m going to try to explain with some thoughtful honesty about where I’m potentially going to be heading with my main blog. But because I have the habit of being... verbose... I’m putting my TL;DR at the top:

I am opening my ask box even though I still have dozens of analysis prompts saved from before I closed the ask box. It’s because I’m tired of not chatting with people in this amazing fandom. I love interacting!

I can no longer consistently analyze prompts. This means I cannot guarantee I will give a thorough analysis if I receive an analysis prompt. I will have to start giving answers like “I don’t know,” “I don’t remember,” or something based more on my gut than thorough research. If a topic really intrigues me, I might give a classic Haddock thorough response. But I can no longer guarantee long, consistent asks. I will, regardless, still respond to every ask I get!

I am so thankful for the experiences I have had with the HTTYD fandom and I would not trade my time on tumblr with you guys for anything. Seriously, you’ve all been amazing. I never would have expected to have such journeys, find such laughter, or make such friends as I have with all of you. Here’s to more fun times to come!

So now... the long version...

I do encourage people to read it.

I have known for at least a year, if not two, that I could not keep up the pace of my blog analyses... not without sacrificing major opportunities or experiences in my life. I will be honest, me spending too much time on tumblr during my one year of the PhD program could have been one of the key reasons I couldn’t keep up. As much as I enjoy the community and as much as I am so happy to answer asks - it’s very fun and somewhat addictive - I know that I have to make decisions with my limited time.

I’m currently working three part-time jobs (~60 hours a week), am trying to find a good game plan for a stable lifelong career, and I have a lot of other adult-ing to do. When I do have free time, I want to be able to spend it hanging out with irl friends, reading books, studying theology and other topics of interest, reintegrating myself in the local church, writing novels, playing music, composing, drawing, conlanging, cosplaying, hiking, jogging, skiing, snowshoeing, watching good tv shows and movies, playing video games, spending time with family, making meaningful memories, etc.

I want to say that answering analyses on tumblr is something that is very meaningful to me. I don’t know how to say how touched I am that people are curious to hear my perspective. I never intended for kingofthewilderwest to be an analysis blog, yet here I am, wowed and grateful for over five thousand followers who have listened to me yak up a storm about an amazing franchise. I never would have imagined this would happen. I’m beyond grateful. What’s made it so worthwhile is interacting with you guys. I’m so happy to have had this experience and... I want to keep having this experience.

That said, answering asks on tumblr is perhaps not as “helpful” to me in the long run as working on a novel I hope to someday publish, or making sure I get a good night’s rest so I’m ready for another day of work. If I want to reach my life goals and have the meaningful experiences I dream of having, I have to make changes to my current day-to-day situation. I HAVE to. I want to get my life back in order, and I recognize my life has not been as “put together” since I started investing more time in tumblr. To get myself really firmly on track, I do have to loosen my hold on some of my free time activities, if not drop some things out altogether.

Answering analyses is a very time consuming process. VERY time consuming process. It can take me forty minutes or four hours to answer a single question. Not an exaggeration. This is because I often have to rewatch episodes and movies, do a bit of research online, give myself time to mull, and, all in all, invest a lot of time into answering a question. Even when I do consistently try my best to stay on track with answering asks... I cannot keep up with the volume of questions I receive. I wish I could, but I acknowledge I can’t. I still have asks in my inbox from the new year or older (Btw: the way my ask box system works: I keep the ask box open until I am >100 asks behind, then I close the box and answer all those, then open the ask box again). I am so, so sorry that I haven’t responded to all of you who have been patiently waiting for me, or you who may have even forgotten you sent in a question or comment.

I am sorry for all the people I will disappoint by not getting to your submitted asks with the thoroughness you were hoping. I will answer them, albeit not to my previous thorough standard. However, I hope you understand I feel it would be more thoughtful to provide you any response than to never return your messages.

My ask box has been closed because I still have about fifty asks left to answer before I’m caught up. But my ask box has been shut for a long time and I want to hang out with people and chat back and forth. So...

I’m going to open up my ask box again, but I hope you understand I suggest you do not inundate me with analysis requests. I want to open up my ask box so I can interact closely with everyone again... I always feel a little shut off and stale when I have my ask box closed. Now, you can send me analysis requests (when I’m not going through the really old ones in my drafts... again, sorry), but I cannot guarantee I will write an analysis in return. I’ll answer, but it might be a short “I’m not sure” or a few sentences of speculation instead of an essay. I’m happy to chat, I’m happy to discuss back and forth, whatever I want to do when I have the time for recreation, but I cannot be a one-person powerhouse publisher.

I don’t like doing this, but I’ve been needing to do this for a long time. So while I have the guts to write this and post it, I’m going to do it and make the decision final. Don’t make me back down. Don’t make me reverse this choice. Keep me accountable to my long-term life goals.

Another truth, and I am sorry to admit this to you guys, is that I’m not someone who’s used to staying in one fandom mindset for so long. I mean, I always love what I consume and always will get into it. But I’m more of the person to dance from passion to passion, from current interest to current interest, jumping in and out of the buzz of what I love. For instance, I might be on-and-off again with Star Wars, one year thinking about it and fanning about it a lot, another year not really caring. And I usually don’t get involved WITH a fandom... usually just scream about it with a few close irl friends and then move on. How to Train Your Dragon was a notable anomaly, a strange divergence from my typical patterning, and frankly it’s something I wouldn’t have stuck with for so long if not for my interaction with tumblr. If not for the HTTYD tumblr community, I likely would have been out of my HTTYD craze by mid-2015.

And while the HTTYD community has helped me sustain my ongoing interaction with the fandom, my personal passions are focused elsewhere now. I’m still always happy to talk dragons, mind! You guys can fuel me up again when I see you posting about it on tumblr. But in the last year and a half or two years, my mind hasn’t been focused on HTTYD. It’s been first Gravity Falls, then Undertale... and then, with the release of Andromeda, the Mass Effect franchise. I’ve also been going through crazes for things like Voltron: Legendary Defender. So, currently, my head is obsessing about Paladins and Alteans and Salarians and Spectres and Pathfinders and Space Exploration... not so much dragons and Vikings. It’s why my video game blog has been more active and responsive than this one. I’m very sorry if that statement disappoints you, friends. It’s a little weird for me too because I don’t know who all I can shout about my interests with (I only have a few friends who share these interests with me, and I’m sort of annoyingly “late in the fandom” if you know what I mean... don’t want to annoy the same people over and over again about something that’s 5+ years old, but who else do I talk to?). But, well, it is what it is. And it’s more fun for me to charge around with my latest obsession.

Let’s be clear: I’m not leaving you guys or running away or shutting myself off or becoming a hermit or anything. XD You guys mean too much to me to run off. I’m stuck here for good with you dragon nerds. Again, this community has been an extraordinary thing to me, and honestly, my interactions with the HTTYD fandom was the way I got out of a big depressive slump in 2014. So I’m still here! I’ll be staying here! I’m still going to commit to respond to every sincere message I receive! I’m just saying I’m going to invest less time in original posts, especially analyses. That’s all. :)

It’ll be the best for my life. I hope you friends can all understand. We have to make decisions about the limited time in our lives.

But please! Feel free to chat and say hello and hop into my inbox again! Send little nothings or whatever’s on your mind. I’ve missed getting new asks! It’d be wonderful to hear from you again. <3

So yeah! That’s my honest report and stuff.

Take care, dragon nerds.

#httyd fandom #kingofthewilderwest #analysis #my analysis #it's not actually an analysis but I'm tagging it so people see it when they look through my tags #blabbing Haddock #my life #PS if you like Mass Effect scream with me please!

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