#I HAVE been doing that it just hasn’t been deltarune related | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

xinallia-the-galactic-unicorn · 2 years ago

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ROLE-PLAY REQUEST:

Heyo~! My name’s Lailani and I’m a 21 year old nerd looking for a fellow 18+ nerd to rp with! I’ve been writing for 9 years, rping for 7- so, I know my way around. I’m also in my fair share of fandoms/have a wide variety of media I’m interested in. Mostly anime/video game oriented. But, my current hyper-fixation is FNAF Security Breach. Which is what I am sending out this request for, primarily.

WHO I AM/WHAT I DO:

As I said- I am 21, so absolutely NO minors.

I am someone who identifies as female and am comfortable with a variety of mature themes/NSFW content including all but SUPER weird or fucked up shit. For example:

Sexual assault/r*pe scenes (though I am totally open to stories utilizing characters that deal with past trauma of all kinds)

Overtly weird fetishes (primarily anything involving stuff like spit, defection, golden rain, but not limited to these)

Anything sex or hard drug related involving minors (just, like- no. We don’t need that)

Honestly- other than that, we’re adults. We can write adult themes if they fit the narrative.

Speaking of- my rps tend to be a bit of everything. Fluff, angst, whatever mix of genre there just so happens to be in the story in question. Though I will say that if angst is had, comfort/fluff must follow. I’m all for putting our characters through the wringer a couple times so long as they get their happy ending/some reprieve.

One thing that is almost (pretty much) always featured though is ships- I love ships, and usually go canon x oc double up. I write your character’s partner you write my character’s partner. I’m comfortable with:

MxF

MxM

FxF (though I will admit I am unused to writing this kind of ship)

NBxWhomever/what-have-you

Canon x OC

Canon x Canon

OC x OC (so long as a clear chemistry/rapport gets established. Admittedly I don’t write these sorts of pairings often either)

To what fandoms does this criteria pertain to? As of right now:

FNAF Security Breach

Undertale

Deltarune

TMNT (mostly 2k12, that’s the one I grew up with. But honestly I’ve been thinking about getting into ROTMNT so if anyone feels like educating me please do XD)

Hazbin Hotel

Helluva Boss

Haikyuu!!

BNHA/MHA

AUs of any of these properties can most definitely apply

What I tend to love most about these properties are the characters. So I’m honestly down for pretty much whatever so long as we make it fun and keep them in character.

I’m pretty flexible in terms of platforms for rp, I know a lot of people really love Discord- and I’m totally cool to use it if that’s what you like, but I personally find the character limit restricting/just a touch annoying to navigate. Mostly I use Messenger- honestly. But, again- I’m flexible. So just let me know! ^^

WHAT I EXPECT:

I am looking for a long-term partner who is ACTIVE. We are people, we have lives, so I fully understand being unable to go 24/7. But I want someone who can handle a solid back-and-forth more than once or twice a week. I’m looking for consistency. Rping is a primary hobby of mine, I love writing/sharing that writing with another person. As such, I make time for it daily. Responses here and there throughout the day are common practice for me. If you send me a reply continuing the story, I will make the time to respond that day- usually sooner rather than later. Though nowadays those more solid back-and-forths are concentrated into the evenings, I want someone with a similar passion that is willing to pick it up for at least one solid back-and-forth more days than not.

If you are gonna be gone for an extended period of time, a small heads up would be very much appreciated though isn’t at all necessary. I also would appreciate a simple ‘I am no longer interested’ if ever you fall out of favor with our partnership and see no reason to continue. I have been ghosted before and it hasn’t ever felt good- especially when it relates to a story I was SUPER excited to write at the time. It may bite for a bit, but I can promise you I’d be able to get over it. We’d be all good 😂.

Strict length requirements- for me, aren’t really fair. Sometimes certain scenes just, don’t need much said. Especially if it’s between two characters exclusively. Quantity of words is hardly an indicator of their quality. What that said, though- I DO consider myself a semi-lit to lit rper, and expect the same of my partner. If you want me to make use of what I’m given- I gotta be given enough. This doesn’t mean to agonize over a 3 page reply for hours on end, AT ALL- but it does mean to put some meat on them bones, you know? You can see my page or PM me for examples.

As a small note- please make sure that the meat on said bones is legible in terms of grammar/spelling all that. I’m not an English teacher by any stretch at all- like I don’t need perfect punctuation or anything. But I would at least expect full sentences and good spelling.

I’m also looking for someone who’s open to talking headcanons, experimenting, just, having fun. Getting out there; getting creative. Even if it isn’t directly in the rp and takes place OOC. Like, I’m not even going to lie to you- some of my current headcanons/concepts I love for the Daycare Attendant have been lifted from The Sun and Moon show. Like, now I love the idea of the two of them being brothers and find the concept of Eclipse extremely interesting- I also really love what artists like Shandzii and Animasup did with them. I’m looking for someone who’s just open to geeking out about and speculating on the characters we write, because it’s fun! Part of what I love to do in rp is add my own special little spice to a character interpretation, so don’t be afraid to do the same and just- share! I’m all for just, geeking out here and there too- trust me, I can go on for a while 😂

Having a clear plan/trajectory for plot and characters also helps a lot for me. Like, it helps to know what you want- so that I can give it to you. And I would do the same on my end, to make it easier for you. On a smuttier note (because that is a thing I am comfortable with/willing to write), we are adults, we can and should feel comfortable having open conversation about what our interests are for those scenes- should they come up. If you have interests/desires/stuff that you like- we can talk about it! There’s absolutely nothing wrong with clear communication.

Another thing of great importance to me is that my partner has the ability to write more than just one or two characters, canon included. If I’m going to rp with someone, I am looking to have a roughly 50/50 split between who writes which members of our given ‘cast’. It’s no fun when one person shoulders 80% of the narrative and interaction responsibility, much less when that someone is you (speaking from experience).

This further feeds into the idea of ensuring that exchanges are equivalent. Meaning that if I put the time and effort into a scene or stuff revolving around your characters/ideas etc. exclusively, I expect the same to be done for me. There have been occasions where someone is on-point with replies when it comes to stuff exclusively focused on THEIR character, but the minute it shifts focus to mine they suddenly drop off/take way longer inbetween replies and the momentum screeches to a halt. That, isn’t fair. This is a team effort here, there has to be a give and take. Of course the stuff involving your character would hypothetically matter more to you, but in my mind- a rp where you only care about one member of your cast and not the group/story as a whole isn’t a very good one. It should be fun/engaging no matter who the focus is on.

And, really- at the end of the day that’s what rp is about for me. Having fun sharing in a great story and characters with someone else. Having them go on adventures/go through developments and grow- it’s fun. Roleplay should be a fun, de-stressing sort of experience. Unless the scene in question is tense. If you find it to be a chore- then please, open up and talk with me about it. Because my goal is to make sure that both of us are having fun with what we’re doing- otherwise we won’t wanna keep doing it!

(Bonus: Pet-peeve) - I only have one pet peeve when it comes to rp. And that’s when someone writes a response, sends it, I reply, and their character responds with “I wasn’t finished talking.”

Unless you indicate some form of opportunity for interruption in the character’s dialogue using something like a hyphen, I will be operating under the assumption that the character has said their full piece and that thus I can respond with mine. Please, please, PLEASE do not negate what my character says with the “I wasn’t finished” line if you make it seem as though your character is, in fact, finished.

TL;DR:

If you’re an 18+ y.o. nerd actively looking to rp FNAF SB (or any of the other properties I listed above) with someone who’s got experience in/loves character interpretation and storytelling, or just wanna fangirl/human about stupid shit regarding the properties in question as a nerd friend (because I need nerd friends, tbh)? Hmu either in the comments or in PM, I’d love to chat!

If you’re contacting me for RP please be sure and include:

Your age

The characters you would like to play (I personally would like to play Moon)

What it is you’d like the rp to be about. I have my own ideas of course- but I wanna see what the two of us can create together!

Thanks so much!

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marsmarvel02 · 2 years ago

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Deltarune Amalgamate Not-Quite-A-Theory

Warning: Spoilers abound!

What’s the title about, I hear you wonder. Deltarune doesn’t have any amalgamates in it, since Alphys is just a science teacher and not Royal Scientist. Checking out the graveyard even reveals that the amalgamates’ components are dead, fell victim to whatever caused them to Fall Down.

Now, I wholeheartedly agree: Deltarune doesn’t have any amalgamates in it... yet.

This hypothesis (it has too many things missing from it to really call it a theory) was born of three things: Speculation about Deltarune’s endings or lack of plurality in that department, speculation about whether Berdly is “really” dead, and speculation about future Weird Routes.

First, future Weird Routes: If the sliding bead toy does indeed symbolize the “intended” route, and a bead breaking off it the completion of a Weird Route, than we have two more incoming: A “green” Route and an “orange” Route. Since it’s yet unknown what the colors actually mean (Was Snowgrave Route’s bead blue because of Noelle’s ice magic kinda being bluish or was it blue because Berdly was blue?) I hesitate to draw conclusions about who our future victims will be. Heck, and it would even be so Toby Fox to break our expectations and have a 4th Weird Route that just reuses an already-done color. So I guess we have a minimum of 3 routes (including Snowgrave) and a maximum of 6 (since that’s how many chapters are left plus Ch, 2′s Snowgrave). Unless Toby decides to be himself again and throw out a chapter with two seperate Weird Routes in it... Regardless, we’re obviously going to be taking more victims. (Oh, and a little side theory: With all the sliding bead thing’s weird meta properties, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was once in the possession of the Annoying Dog).

Second, is Berdly really dead or not? Snowgrave is stated to be “Fatal”, but his body hasn’t turned to dust the way monster bodies do when they die. There’s been some theorizing, but general consensus is that dying in a Dark World puts the monster’s Light World body into a “Fallen Down” state. Here, I predict that the cabinet will be found empty, and perhaps even a little dusty, in future chapters, but it will be the ordinary sort of dust that accumulates in unused places, and Berdly’s body will have been taken elsewhere. The same also stands true for places you stash your future victim’s bodies in. (Not related to the main theory, but I just got a really cool idea: A Flowey-esque character who’s a monster who died and came back without their SOUL, except they came back when the room holding their dust was turned into a Dark World, and they exist as a hive mind of Rabbicks).

Third, will Deltarune have multiple endings? Toby has said that there will only be one, but is it not in the nature of Toby Fox to find loopholes for this? A particularly interesting possibility I read is that the game’s “Bad Ending” will be you being stuck behind a boss that is literally impossible to kill. Now, that seems like it would be a bit hard to do, what with video game hackers and all, but he’s already created not one but many bosses that are unkillable: The Amalgamates, who refuse to take damage at all (except for the one that takes a pittance and heals back to full health right away.)

Now, here is what I think may happen: Someone will steal the Fallen Down bodies of our victims, inject them with Determination, and watch them melt into an Amalgamate to stop our rampage. If you’ll recall, the only way to “defeat” an Amalgamate is to SPARE it- and to follow through with each and every Weird Route is to utterly abandon MERCY.

The reason why my “theory” isn’t quite one is that, well, I have no idea who will make the Weirdmalgamate and why. Possibilities are: Everyman, someone we haven’t met yet, or someone who we’ve met but only as a background character so we don’t know anything about them. Everyman seems the most likely, since he had a connection with the Amalgamates in Undertale- specifically Reaper Bird, while our first victim was Berdly. In the Amalgamate battle, he appears being swarmed by butterflies- a common symbol of death and rebirth, fitting for someone who might take our dead victims and reconstruct them into a molten Frankenstein.

But hey, that’s just a(n incomplete) theory! A GAM- No we’re not doing that.

#deltarune #undertale #deltarune spoilers #undertale spoilers #weird route #snowgrave route #deltarune everyman #amalgametes #deltarune theory #everyman deltarune #hey look at that: it's a Deltarune theory that doesn't involve WD Gaster or Mike!

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bananonbinary · 3 years ago

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As a distraction from the celebrity post bullshit and because you have drawn me in with your theories and you seem like a fun theorycrafter: Papyrus! Where does he fit into all of this? There's like a single he exists in Deltarune, and if I remember correctly in Undertale it's implied he knows Sans is doing/is capable of wacky shit (and can do some himself - re: that weird fucking stairstep walk after you finish the battle with him?) So did Papyrus just sort of come with Sans (cont.)

- into a new reality from wherever they originated? Did Papyrus even exist in this third world or originate from a different one entirely? Or is Deltarune's Papyrus even the same as Undertale's (see: beta Papyrus, and this game's already meta) and we have some alt-timeline Davesprite-esque crises incoming? IDK if any of these are plausible, I just thought they might be fun scenarios to theorize or just to think about - imagine falling through some dipshit's hole in spacetime by accident (cont.)

and into a new reality, and when you get there you get a new brother, or another version of your brother that's similar but not quite, or another version of your brother that completely different. Anyways, discuss! (or not, no obligation to answer lmao)

i've been wondering about papyrus!! so...papyrus in undertale certainly doesn't seem phased by sans' weird shit, and i keep thinking about the shopkeeper's line about them, "they just showed up one day and...asserted themselves."

that makes me feel like they arrived together, but papyrus doesn't seem to allude to any Weird Past in undertale. that might just be because papyrus just doesn't see the need to mention weird shit sometimes, like "hey btw i have a flower friend that knows the future and only talks to me when im alone," but.....idk. it feels like he doesn't remember deltarune like sans does.

if we wanna go full meta red string, i also wonder if it means anything that we havent seen him in deltarune yet. when you knock on the door, it says the trousling of bones is getting further away, and sans just blatantly dodges the question on when we can see him. is this an ACTUALLY-meta throwaway gag to infuriate the audience, or is papyrus maybe not actually in deltarune universe at all right now??? sans got grillby's from undertale, so it seems at the moment in deltarune, there's a way over there. maybe papyrus is there?

or maybe, what i was saying before about gaster fucking up the code and doing kind of a sloppy job of it, maybe the people we haven't seen yet (papyrus, mettaton, noelle's mother, asriel) are actually like, metaphysically fucked up right now. like if they showed up they'd just be t-posing or some shit.

if the game code is literally a Thing in-universe a la ddlc, can the parts of the world that ARENT in that code even "really" exist properly? or are they just sort of vague concepts that only really exist in how the characters we CAN see remember interacting with them off-screen?? (related: sans' shortcuts and weird time-stop echo flower conversation in undertale implies that the world literally is editable videogame rooms, but most of the characters don't perceive it that way. so in this scenario, sans is keeping us from papyrus intentionally, because he's the only one that's aware that the way the characters perceive/remember him isn't what's "actually" going on)

so, tl;dr: i have two theories here: the more normal theory, that in-universe papyrus is maybe doing weird multiverse shenanigans and isnt available, OR the much weirder theory that we can't meet him because he literally hasn't been programmed into the game yet, and sans knows that

#deltarune #deltarune spoilers #dr spoilers #deltarune chapter 2 spoilers #i got distracted from the initial question of whether dr and ut papyrus are the same lmao #uhhh theory one says probably #theory 2 says possibly but he might have been edited

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mttstan · 3 years ago

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Okay some Deltarune thoughts:

Is Kris the knight, or are they just a lightener with determination? I personally think they’re a lightener with determination, and like Susie they love being with their friends in the dark world. I do think in chapter 3 we might see a glimpse of the knight, who is described as this great roaring beast which doesn’t rly match my impression of SOUL-less Kris.

I do think there’s some substance to both the Asriel as the Knight and Gaster as the knight, but I think it’s equally as likely to be one of the known adults from the deltarune town. So far they haven’t had huge parts, and I know that’s partially because of the strained relationship between Kris and…. Everyone? Asriel coming home different (since he’s apparently the towns golden child) might be the tipping point for whoever the adult knight would be.

I don’t think Kris has always been SOUL-less. I’m not sure why, but they just strike me as a weird kid who got stuck with us controlling them and they hate it. I think the vessel we made was the original body for the red SOUL. I think part of the Deltarune journey will be Kris getting their SOUL back. I don’t know how, but it’s a thought I keep having.

Toriel and Asgore divorce canon! Thank god! I don’t ship Soriel for… many reasons… but I do think it’s nice that she has a friend who isn’t her ex husband and, unlike Undertale, isn’t isolated from society because Asriel is “gone”. We’ve had so much Toriel and I’m living for it. I cannot wait to see her in the Dark World!

Ralsei is not Asriel good god. Yeah, buddy didn’t go to college even tho we have no reason to believe that, and instead stayed in the Dark World somehow becoming the Prince??? Totally makes sense. If it ends up being canon I’ll be pissed but I don’t think Toby is going that way.

On the note of Ralsei being the Prince of the “true” Dark Fountain, how is he related to King of Spades and Queen? How does he feel about them? If he isn’t related to them, where are his parents? None of the other darkeners resemble him. Are they dead? Missing? Trapped in the lightener world? I don’t know if it’ll get addressed but Lancer and Ralsei being cousins or something makes their chapter 1 banter that much funnier.

I don’t like Spamton but his theme slaps and his lore is mildly interesting. I think everything with Kris, Susie, Noelle, and potentially Gaster is much more interesting though.

Speaking of Susie, her home life must suck huh? Didn’t even have to call home to stay the night with Kris. She obviously hasn’t really had positive encouragement before meeting Kris/Toriel BUT she has the “yes sir/ma’am” thing that a lot of kids with authoritarian parents end up doing out of fear of being “disrespectful”

I have more thoughts but this post is already long so I’m going to post it! Thanks for reading and keep an eye out for a potential part 2

#undertale #deltarune chapter two #deltarune #deltarune spoilers #kris deltarune #susie deltarune #ralsei deltarune

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fadedtale · 3 years ago

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♦ Golly, it’s been a hot second! This may as well be a bit of a tradition; posting an update whenever a certain game does, huh?

Anyhow;

♦ TL:DR; Underfade/Colorless and its subsequent AUs, as well as the rest of the Undertale blogs under my wings, are in an indefinite hiatus. Should the faded!Frisk AU ever revive, then this blog (fadedtale) will serve as the main hub for it. The original blog will no longer be running at all.

♦ I’m doing great by the way!... but if this little message somehow reaches out to others from this tiny corner of the wide internet, here’s a full report on the status of things;

– UNDERFADE/FADEDTALE RELATED –

❥ Why is fadedtale becoming the main blog for your AUs when you still have the original blog?

♦ Ha ha, it’s quite simple really!

I no longer have access to the original blog.

The email I used for it? I can’t remember it. Any record I have saved for what that email could be is also unfindable?? Please believe me when I say that I have tried near everything I could to try and recover the blog. A solid portion of the time away from this AU is the utter despair I felt not finding any trace of what made that blog in the first place.

Watch me say that and then find the email I need to claw my way back into it. Until then;

Goodbye, Underfade/Colorless It will forever exist as a relic of its time; a personally cringeworthy yet humble seedling for the monstrosity of a brainworm it is even to this day.

❥ Underfade/Colorless, cringeworthy?

♦ Immensely!

Not because it’s an Undertale AU, and not because Undertale is. Undertale is genuinely, unironically, epic and joy inducing -- thus, the work I’ve done for Undertale through these AUs is also joy inducing.

However, as the years have passed, I’ve become increasingly unhappy with how I managed things. I can’t look at that blog without feeling like I’m drinking raw lime juice, ha ha.

On the plus side; I’m happy with how much I’ve grown and changed since the blog’s establishment! That’ll be my overall takeaway... even if my past, not-nearly-as-cool self may forever exist within its own bubble of the internet.

❥ What about your other blogs?

♦ I have no idea what the fresh hell is happening with my other blogs, as basically the only blog I do have access to still is fadedtale. So... my other UT blogs share the same fate as the original faded!Frisk blog: stasis.

❥ So... what’s the plan?

♦ Well-!

As much as I want to come back and finish what I started, it has been difficult to find the motivation to.

Between real life, finding myself with real (!) paying (!!) art jobs, getting the therapy and rest I need to in between contract work, surviving 2020 and building myself up to higher heights, there hasn’t been much room at all for these AUs. I cannot guarantee, at all, that I will have the time or energy to return and work/roleplay for this as I once did.

I did think of just writing out at least the Underfade/Colorless AU and putting it someplace like Ao3, either as a series of notes or as a flimsily written fic, with either or being accompanied by the artwork I have accumulated on and off throughout my years’ long hiatus. I’m perpetually on the fence on this front!

Maybe by the time deltarune Ch. 7 is out, we’ll come back to all of this.

– UNDERTALE RELATED –

❥ CIN, CIN, CIN, DELTARUNE CHAPTER 2

♦ YO

WHY DO YOU THINK I’M WRITING THIS STATUS UPDATE. COINCIDENCE??? NO

In all seriousness; deltarune chapter 2 was a delightful and inspirational experience!! The series really is a nostalgic-feeling one. It’s why I keep coming back to it I think, ha ha. I hope everyone’s had a fun time with the new chapter, too!

– GENERAL NEWS –

❥ How’ve things been?

♦ I graduated college! I work as a full-time 2D animator! If you see my name in places, you can go “whoa! That’s a bird!”

I’ve been to weddings, I’ve been to graduations, I’ve been across the country, and I’ve been at home with my loved ones for over a year...

All in all, I’ve been just fine!

❥ What have you been up to lately?

♦ 2D animation contract work, mostly! Being loosely active in my typical haunts, too. I want to say my most active one nowadays is Discord, ha ha.

One of these days, it would be nice to pick up my britches and make my own game or webcomic. My current work in the 2D animation scene is saving up for that sort of dream.

Maybe I’ll see you there! Maybe not. I’ll let you know when deltarune chapter 7 lands.

❥ I want to talk to you! How do I do that?

♦ Echoing my last status update; I’m on Discord! If we don’t share a Discord server or if we haven’t RP’d when I was active, then... whoops.

The next best option is skybluescarf, which is my permanently queue-ing fandom blog. It may take a month or year to see messages from there.

❥ Anything else you want to mention?

♦ Kris, Chara and Frisk all canonically use they/them pronouns 🎉 This is an indisputable canonical fact and I’ve gotten enough therapy to take pride in my assertiveness, which I am exercising right now in order to aggressively stand for this notion.

Anyone who ships these characters with adults are free to take a vacation to hell!

Anyone who ships Cha//risk or any of the human children with Asriel, romantically, can also give me a wide berth. I see them all as friends/siblings and am firmly asserting this as well.

Otherwise, that should be all for now. Thank you all for your time and patience.

I’ll see you all later!

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sudoscience · 4 years ago

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“New In Town” on Indefinite Hiatus + Headcanon re: Asgore & Toriel in Deltarune

Copying a Reddit comment I made because it relates to “New In Town” and the worldbuilding I've done for it, as well as being a Deltarune theory in its own right. By the way, I have done absolutely nothing with “New In Town” since I posted the last chapter, other than changing Kris's pronouns. I mean, I do occasionally think about it, but I feel like most of the background stuff I've written doesn't actually connect with the story so far. Sorry if anyone was actually looking forward to it, but I got practically no feedback on it (positive or negative), so it hasn't been a priority. I can post the notes if anyone wants them (there actually is a lot of background information that hasn't even been hinted at yet); maybe someone else can salvage them. Otherwise, I’m gonna say the story is not canceled, but is on indefinite hiatus for the time being.

Anyway, here's my theory on why Asgore and Toriel separated: the TL;DR is that Asgore didn’t mean to give away all of his flowers for free, but once he started, he couldn’t stop out of fear of disappointing anyone (this is basically the last chapter of “New In Town”). I don’t think it’s the only reason (it’s probably part of a larger pattern of behavior), but it’s a pretty big reason. He had to be paying for his supplies somehow, so he was probably using money that could have been better spent providing for Kris and Asriel. Toriel probably could have done more to help Asgore improve (and we don’t know that she didn’t), but that’s really something Asgore needs to change himself; Toriel can’t do it for him.

Full theory is below the cut. (CW: Asgore's actions in Undertale aren't the focus of this theory, but I do mention them as evidence of Asgore’s character flaws that would persist across timelines.)

[Replying to a comment that said "Toriel hates Asgore because he's a bitch."] That's pretty much my theory. In Deltarune, the monsters have had radically different life experiences, but their personalities are largely unchanged. Alphys is still an awkward nerd. Toriel is still a helicopter parent and a teacher. So, it stands to reason that Asgore is still a big fuzzy pushover.

Undertale!Asgore impulsively pledged to murder seven humans to give his subjects hope. When Toriel left, there was nobody to guide him off that path. He didn't want to do it, but he also couldn't back down from his promise. My headcanon is that Deltarune!Asgore gave some flowers away for free a couple times, then developed a reputation as the free florist and just kept giving them away because he didn't want to upset anyone. I suspect that isn't the sole reason he and Toriel separated, but it might have been the straw that broke the camel's (goat's?) back; the flower shop is probably just one instance of a pattern of well intentioned but ultimately self-destructive behavior that Toriel eventually grew sick of.

Plus, if he's not selling the flowers, where is he getting the money to keep operating the shop? Even if he's behind on the rent, he still has to be paying for the seeds, pots, soil, fertilizer, etc. somehow. That was probably a major factor in their separation. They have two kids to take care of, but Asgore's practically burning money on his hobby. (It's also now my headcanon that Asriel got a cross-country scholarship.)

Under those circumstances, you can't really fault Toriel for wanting to leave him. That being said, I don't think it would be too far out of character for DR!Toriel to jump immediately to divorce without first trying to reconcile her differences with Asgore, which is not as justifiable as it was in Undertale. If my husband publicly announced he was going to murder seven people, I'd probably get out of there, too—especially if I were to later learn that he was actually following through on his promise—but she could have reached out to him before he killed the first one.

#New In Town #update #hiatus #deltarune theory #my ramblings #asgore #toriel

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synthient · 5 years ago

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The Key to Understanding Deltarune: The Halloween Hack

So we’re currently in the middle of a 4000 year content hiatus

Which is unfortunate, because ever since the big iconic Halloween-day surprise demo drop, my brain has been rattling a baseball bat against the inside of my skull and chanting “CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT”

Undertale was like candy for the thematic analysis side of my brain. I still wake up in a cold sweat some nights going “fun value......he put a quantitative value on fun.....numbers going up.....”

I am desperate to know what kind of themes Deltarune is going to tackle. Can you effectively predict that from one (1) 3 hour demo? No. Does my brain care? No.

Which is what lead me to the wonderful world of intertextuality, or examining how a media text is shaped by other media texts

It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this with me doing a playthrough of EarthBound, the video game that Toby has cited as his biggest inspiration for Undertale

That was fun & interesting (the “throwing away an emotionally engaging experience to grimly make Numbers Go Up” thing feels a lot closer to home after trying and failing to get the sword of kings), but it didn’t provide much insight into Deltarune, specifically. It wasn’t enough. I needed more. I was willing to dig into literally any intertext (except Homestuck, which no force on this earth can compel me to read :) )

anyway thats how I ended up playing Toby Fox’s high school fangame

And somehow (sorry Toby) I walked out of there with an unironic theory (a game theory....if you will....): Deltarune is Toby’s adult reexamination of the Halloween Hack.

What is the Halloween Hack?

You know that thing where, like, people take the engine of a Pokemon game and edit it so there’s a new region and a bunch of new fakemon, and also There’s Swears Now

In 2008, Toby Fox entered a contest on an EarthBound fansite for the best Halloween-themed EarthBound hack

In one sense, reducing the Halloween Hack to a “bad romhack with swears” is a little bit of a disservice. There are some glimmers in there of a really affecting, thought-provoking game, and you can see some of the early blueprints of what would later become Undertale (“do video game ‘monsters’ really deserve to die” is a major theme, and the character of Dr. Andonuts was effectively split up into Alpyhs, Asgore, and Sans)

But it’s also. very much a fangame made by a 16-year-old.

You can read a basic summary of the Hack here. High school-age Toby wrote two pretty extensive analyses of his thought process behind the game. I’ll be referring back to them a lot, and I’d highly suggest giving them a read--Toby’s been so famously resistant to making any Word of God statements about Undertale that it’s kind of fascinating to see him being so candid

an extremely long and rambling examination of How This All Relates To Deltarune

The Halloween Hack opens in the town of Halloween Twoson. Twoson is one of the cites in EarthBound, and here it’s been painted orange. and there’s pumpkins now

See, high school Toby had...a bit of a chip on his shoulder. In the Making Of notes, he explains that he was frustrated that “most people generally thought I was just ‘another funny guy’”. So he designed the opening of the game to seem unoriginally close to the original EarthBound--like “a regular, funny, lazy hack”--to lull players into a false sense of security before the horror elements set in.

Two interesting things there:

“Lazily, unoriginally close to the source game” sounds an awful lot like the Dark World segment of Deltarune

Halloween Twoson looks very visually similar to Hometown

Toby’s description of Twoson also sounds pretty Hometown-esque:

The main impressions of Twoson that I wanted to give the player were: It's funny. It's a nice fall day outside. The person hacking this game is ridiculously lazy. It's a nice place to live. If you look at it a little closely, it's kind of claustrophobic.

And when does the horror kick in? When the player descends into the underground tunnels beneath the city.

The “horror” in the Halloween Hack is, however, Pretty Not Good.

There’s a whole lot of the flavor text narrator (put a pin in that one) insisting “this is so scary. you’re so scared. your hands shake and your head throbs because you’re so scared.” There’s also a thing where the battle text keeps going “the shambling zombie BITES your HEAD OFF!!! (you lose 15 hp).”

I think the True Lab sequence in Undertale is a decent demonstration that Toby’s come a long way since then (and that Honey We’ve Got A Storm Coming :’) ). But you know what the Hack’s style of horror reminds me of?

My first thought when I beat the demo and saw this stinger was “this looks like an intentionally shitty creepypasta.” Now I wonder if it’s lowkey adult Toby poking a little fun at teenage Toby

The Halloween Hack is a game about railroading. It’s Spec Ops The Line before there was Spec Ops The Line.

According to Toby:

The main theme of this game is the lack of choice. There is really no choice in this game. From the moment you start to the moment you finish, you're destined to kill Dr. Andonuts. There are two endings, but they both eventually end up the same way. It's all a big joke on the player.

You know why there isn't a choice there? Because you already chose to make Varik go into the door. You already chose to go forward. The only real choice, as Varik realizes at the end of the game, is to stop or keep going. By "stop" he means "turn off the game," and that's all you can do. Anything you play is your own fault for playing, and that's the only real choice you can make.

Interesting? Yeah. A little obnoxious? Also yeah.

That’s one of the criticisms people had of Spec Ops. "The atrocities we commit when we feel like we don’t have a choice” is an intriguing theme, but “~the only way to win is not to play~ [the game I worked hard on for the express purpose of people playing it]” isn’t a very satisfying conclusion.

Undertale, in direct contrast to the Hack, is all about choice. It earns the right to guilt you for the No Mercy Run by giving you every opportunity not to go through with it.

But even Undertale plays a little with the concept of railroading--you can’t stay with Toriel; you can’t spare Asgore in any of the neutral runs; you can’t save Asriel.

Now Deltarune seems to be returning full-on to the Hack’s “your choices don’t matter” premise. But it’s going to need to find something more insightful and satisfying to say about it.

Which makes me really curious about this:

If the Hack has a secondary theme besides railroading/lack of choice, it’s The Soul-Crushing Impact Of Internalized Homophobia.

The tragic antagonist, Dr. Andonuts, destroys his own life trying to repress his gay desire. He retreats into a dream world made of his neuroses and trauma, and he’s inevitably Otherized and murdered by the player. He’s something of a dark version of Alphys, who “disappears” into her lab without ever meeting and getting support from Frisk, Papyrus, and Undyne.

Undertale takes an opposite approach to its lgbt themes--the Underground is a utopia where homophobia and transphobia don’t exist. Everyone respects Frisk’s and Chara’s pronouns. Alphys finds solace and healing in her relationship with Undyne.

It’s a heartwarming growth from the despair in the Halloween Hack. And it’s a vision that’s been deeply meaningful to a lot of people. But that doesn’t mean that there’s no value in exploring issues of homophobia. 16-year-old Toby tried to do that, but...wasn’t exactly at a point where he was equipped to handle it with a ton of sensitivity and nuance.

(There’s. There’s a boss battle where you fight the physical manifestation of Andonuts’ gay repression. It’s a crotch. You fight a crotch.)

Some of the hints in the Deltarune demo, however--the Toriel Has Become Catholic thing; the fact that Alphys and Undyne haven’t met and Mettaton hasn’t been able to transition; the potential trans implications of choosing a name only to have it discarded for an assigned one (“you can’t choose who you are in this world”)--make me suspect that’s one of the themes that Toby will try to revisit from an adult perspective.

The Hack is interested in the idea of the flavor text narrator as a distinct, intelligent entity, whose thoughts and goals don’t always align with those of the player character or the player.

The Hack’s narrator makes a habit of dictating “your” emotions to you (you’re scared; you can sense ‘the monster’ and you want to kill it; etc). The narration starts to seem more and more unreliable, until, as Toby put it, “The narrator starts talking to you personally...rambling about incoherent things.”

At the game’s turning point, you’re given a yes/no choice to kill Dr. Andonuts. Choose yes, and the narrator (mockingly?) calls you a good person, describes the murder you commit, and then narrates what appears to be your (or their? or Varik’s?) psychological breakdown. Choose no, and the narrator tells you that’s not a real choice and redirects you back to the yes/no box. If you press the b-button to try and opt out of the choice (the game’s unofficial subtitle is “Press the B-Button Stupid,” and doing so allows you to follow Andonuts into his dream world), the narrator starts to panic, although the game ultimately ends the same way.

Not to NarraChara Real, but NarraChara Real

The Hack is also interested in the idea of the player character as a possibly-unwilling puppet controlled by the player (who in turn is controlled by the railroading/their need to beat the game).

According to Toby:

As you approach someone you've never met that you're labeling as a monster, your body pushes you forward to kill him. What's funny is that it's not even uncontrolled, it's really just the force of the player's controller pushing that little bounty hunter into murdering Andonuts. You might not realize it, but Varik is almost dead, and yet he can't stop moving because you keep pushing those buttons.

The Halloween Hack is, fundamentally, a nostalgic meditation on an existing game.

It’s a little obvious to say, but the Hack isn’t a standalone game. It’s a hack of EarthBound.

Toby writes:

EarthBound dominated my childhood, shaped my preteen years, and played a large role in molding me into the offbeat pseudohippie I am today. It gave me a sense of humor. It helped me learn how to read. Its lessons served as a basis for my sense of justice and courage.

But at age 16, Toby’s feeling about the game that had shaped him were a little mixed. He describes “the staleness of a fifteen-year-old video game” as one of his motivations for making the Hack.

In Deltarune, he (kind of hilariously) has Alphys parrot his teen-self’s “staleness” line:

(I could write a whole meta just on the Mew Mew Kissy Cutie vs Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2 thing)

Still, Toby’s nostalgia for EarthBound is essential to how the Hack operates. Earlier, I said there were glimmers of an thoughtful, affecting game buried in the “bad romhack with swears.” The most genuinely moving moment in the Hack, in my opinion, is the Onett sequence.

You wander though a faded, dream world version of Onett--the hometown from EarthBound--while a slowed down arrangement of the Onett music plays. Snatches of forgotten conversations appear on road signs. Various monsters from EarthBound follow slowly behind you, but don’t attack. The only battles are against creatures called “Remember Me?”

The EarthBound characters appear to recognize “Varik” as Ness, EarthBound’s protagonist--or are they recognizing you, the player, as the same person who played EarthBound once upon a time?

The one problem, of course, is that not everyone has played EarthBound. It’s a relatively niche game. The sense of remembrance and regret and loss in the Onett sequence is universal, but being shaped as a person by the specific video game EarthBound isn’t a universal experience.

But in the years since the Hack, Toby has created something with a wider reach than EarthBound. Something that can evoke that sense of memory and nostalgia in players. A familiar game that he can take apart, rearrange, and examine in an entirely different light.

He made Undertale.

And now he’s rearranging the pieces into Deltarune.

#deltarune #undertale #o and to clarify: i don't think the flavor text thing means that chara's evil #in fact i think deltarune's going to deconstruct that very reading of undertale #which is maybe a whole nother (hopefully much shorter) meta

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thedarkenedkeeper · 6 years ago

Text

What if he’s been in control since the end of Mayhem?

Okay, my left eye’s in pain from straining and all, but fuck it, I NEED to share this theory because I am quite a bit SHOOK and I need others to hear this. Brace yourselves, guys. This is going to be a LONG post.

I’ve seen a lot of theories before in regards to who’s been in control all this time, and I admittedly was one of those people who suspected Anti’s been here since Say Goodbye. But then there have been other theories in regards to Schneep having saved Jack every time Anti slit his neck, pointing out how bloodshed probably triggers Anti to come out. Now let’s say that’s the case, in which case Anti hasn’t been in control since Say Goodbye; he’s just shown up anytime Jack bled. That would mean we have been watching Jack for the most part with Anti trying to glitch out on camera and take control. Keep this all in mind, okay?

With what happened yesterday with Anti clearly being in control, acting calm and staring into our souls, only a twitch of his eye being a clear giveaway of who we were seeing, it made me have an epiphany last night:

If Anti’s gotten THAT good - THAT seamless - at acting exactly like Jack to the point no glitches show up, has he been in control for some time? Have we been unknowingly watching him for the last couple of months? And if he has been in control, well then when did it all start - when did we unknowingly lose sight of Jack?

The answer? May 16th, “Exiles” - near the end of Mayhem.

In the “Exiles” video, at the beginning, Jack was breathing quite heavy and looking around, looking and acting like he had just gotten transported there. He said he didn’t know anything about the game and he blatantly said he didn’t remember how he got into the room (in a hospital, by the way).

He also rubs at his eyes earlier on.

And it isn’t until the end of the video when THIS happens.

During mid-sentence, unexpectedly, he gets cut off and is suddenly staring at us, wide-eyed and mouth hanging agape. Soft groans of agony are heard rasping out of him as his eyes begin to bleed, all while whispers repeat “It’s your fault” in the background.

Jump to May 22nd, “First Winter”. A few glitches of the facecam are shown throughout the video, and at 2-3 instances, we see this:

Between the brief glitches, we get glimpses of Jack with bloody tears lining his face, eyes glazed over with emptiness, mouth agape, slumped in his chair. He’s dead.

Where I’m going with this is what if during the time of Exiles, Anti got to Jack, killed him AGAIN (just like Say Goodbye, used bloodshed to get control), got him out of the way, and took over right there and then. And the flashes of Jack’s corpse in his chair was an indication of that - a hint to us that the guy currently playing the game is NOT Jack and that the REAL Jack fucking died AGAIN a week before.

Keeping this all in mind, I went back to look into anything and everything that has happened AFTER “Exiles” to see how Jack’s behavior has been, and boy oh boy, guys...

Firstly, as far as I can tell, before “First Winter”, there were no glitches (excluding the ending of “Stories Untold - Chapter 4″ when Jack woke up and any glitches that showed Marvin or JJ). We got a few strange and eerie things here and there, such as the ending to the “GIANT SMELLY FEET!” video

and the “Barry Has A Secret” video

On June 11th - after Mayhem - he commented on a post with “Anti isn’t afraid of anything”

He reblogged fanart of Anti as a deviant, commenting with “F R E E”

And the titles of both videos that day were very ominous.

July 23rd - in his roast video, he said, “This is your chance to get a few stabs in. Get the knife, go crazy. Twist it, turn it!”, with an eerie smile and crazed look in his eyes at the end.

July 25th - the goddamn intro....the goddamn intro is the exact opposite. It’s supposedly Anti’s intro - word for word.

July 29th - He reblogged artwork of Jackieboy Man with the artist commenting on how they miss him. He commented with “We all do :)”

He also reblogged a gifset of him from REACT explaining how people want to see behind the veil, commenting with a winky face.

August 1st - he changed the title of the 1st FNAF Sister Location video to “THE START OF THE NIGHTMARE”

August 3rd - in the outro, Sam’s tank is broken and a figure is faintly seen laughing or screaming the background. Maybe it’s Jack trying to call out for help? (Just a little reminder: This was the anniversary of KJSE, in which we barely even heard Jack call out for help in....)

August 5th - at the very end, “I will return when you least expect it” is heard being said in reverse (If Anti’s been in control for this long and we haven’t been able to notice till now, I’d say it’s pretty fucking unexpected).

September 21st - Oh boy. There were glitches.

The title and description, as well as the fact he linked FNAF Sister Location as well.

September 24th - OH BOY. There were glitches, some of which showed Anti from “Dark Silence”

His right eye in the thumbnail is glitchy and has a small green tint to it.

And the title changed multiple times, once asking “HAVEYOUSEENHIM” and another with “HELP” combined with “edited” - maybe Jack’s trying to call out for our help.

October 14th - there were glitches in the video, most notable a glitch splitting down his face to show one side all glitchy, all right as he said, “Time to take off the masks” while grinning.

Earlier on, he questioned if he was dead, checked his pulse, and confirmed that he was in fact dead.

October 16th - the description was calling us out as puppets and asking us if we knew who the Puppet Master was - possibly Anti taking a jab at us.

October 20th - there were a few glitches with someone - possibly Chase - trying to reach out and tell Jack to wake up, only to get cut off.

October 22nd - During the Q&A at the Amsterdam show, he was questioned if Anti would be back on Halloween. He said “I don’t know, I can’t tell, maybe, who knows?” (If Anti’s been in control all this time, then he was right there, boldface lying to everyone because surprise surprise, he’s been here the entire time!)

October 26th - the title of the video blatantly telling us “The end is here”

November 11th - He reblogged a post about the Undertale thumbnails relating to Anti, to which he commented with “Time is broken”. He also reblogged fanart of the egos pixelated in Deltarune style, reading “Your wonderful creations will be discarded now”, to which he commented with “This is a neat idea!”

November 12th - at times, while voicing Susie, his voice bordered on sounding like Anti while angry. His right eye also acted up twice.

He was seen wearing his gauges this day as well.

November 19th - the title - possibly in reference to Anti having to kill Jack repeatedly to get control.

December 1st - the title

The glitches and the fact that he said “Do you remember?” at the very end.

I would like to point out here that, to me, it seems like any of the glitches we’ve seen before this have been more...subtle? Like, with Say Goodbye, Always Watching, KJSE - the glitches all seemed more frantic and intense. Any glitches we’ve gotten this year leading up to THIS video seemed a lot more subtle to me and it wasn’t until “Umfend” when we got more spastic glitches. Just an observation - maybe because it’s getting closer to when a certain someone was going to show himself...

December 6th - He was seen wearing his gauges to the awards. (Granted, it could be just because he wants to wear them for fun, but still...maybe our glitchy boy is getting more comfortable in his new meat suit).

December 7th - the title informing us to watch the ending (also a jab at what happened yesterday)

The goddamn outro was all glitchy and Sam disappears on 2-3 occasions - could be implying that Jack truly is gone and a certain someone is in control...

December 9th - at one point during the stream, he’s looking at Ethan like he wants to kill him (this just reminds me of last year’s Christmas stream when he told Ethan he was feeling murderous)

December 11th - the title - could be in reference that the big twist is that we’ve been watching Anti this whole time.

December 14th - the title of the video (also Cloak’s slogan) as well as the ominous description

At this point, he’s just blatantly telling us that he is right there in front of us, that he’s the one in control and we’re too fucking blind to see it. He took control of Jack way back in May during “Exiles” - just lured him in and with no warning, got to him. He made his eyes bleed, and with that, managed to kill him AGAIN and take control, and this time he’s ACED becoming human. How?

Schneep wasn’t there to save Jack this time.

Why?

Do you guys remember the last time we saw Schneep? Do you?

We last saw him on MAY 4TH! I would also like to add how - to me, anyway - it sounded like his voice cracked at one point and like there was pure madness in his eyes. Cause remember this, we STILL have no idea what happened from August 3rd, 2017 up to this date. We STILL have no idea what happened to our doctor. Yeah, some of you will say he had gone of vacation, but really, after what happened in KJSE, I CANNOT see how or why he would’ve gone on vacation. As I see it, he’s either horribly traumatized, he was corrupted by Anti, or he got replaced (in which case, the man seen here would not be Schneep).

I would also like to add, you know who else we haven’t seen since then?

Dr. Jacksepticeye - the one man we can all agree is NOT our doctor.

May 4th was the last time we ever saw Schneep and Dr. JSE. This was BEFORE Jack woke up and remembered what Anti did, as well as before he was murdered in “Exiles”. For 7 months now, we haven’t seen Schneep or Dr. JSE. 7 MONTHS!

Kind of coincidental if you ask me to have Schneep vanish only days before Jack was trapped, murdered, and possessed. Almost like it was all a trap....maybe Dr. JSE was a puppet or Anti in disguise, used to lure Schneep out...to take him out of the picture for good. Because without a doctor around, Jack’s left a helpless victim.

7 Months for the glitch to FINALLY truly adjust to his new meat suit and learn how to stay in control.

To learn how to become human.

Now everyone, take a look at this man’s face again...

Look at him...

...and tell me - TELL ME - that isn’t the face of a glitchy murderer who’s taken over and KNOWS he’s the one in control.

@fear-is-nameless @vity-dream @golden-eyed-guardians @septic-fallen @septic-possessed @no-strings-puppet @wingsofthefierydragonheart @jacksinsanity @nightmarewolf133 @steffid101 @huffletrax @lum1natrix

#it's really long and I apologize #but I'm so beyond shaken right now at realizing this #there's probably some holes in this theory but still #it's fucking scary to think about #jacksepticeye #therealjacksepticeye #antisepticeye #anti #septic egos #glitchmas #egopocalypse #dr henrik von schneeplestein #dr schneeplestein #schneeplestein #henrik von schneeplestein #schneep #schneeple #antisepticeye theory #anti theory

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nightowl33art · 5 years ago

Text

Welcome to the house of jesters!

I’m Nightowl 33 (also known as System 33, more about my system here), a crazy bonkers semi-professional artist with a passion for entertainment, storytelling, and the arts. This is my Tumblr, where we share our art, ramble, and can get a bit more personal than we do on other sites.

20 - male (he/him) - voidpunk - aroace spectrum - panromantic - ambiamorous - queer (basically every flavor of LGBT in some way)

⚠︎ General content warning for body horror, suggestive themes, mental health struggles/related topics, and mild (often cartoony) violence and gore! ⚠︎

⸸ We are a DID system. ALWAYS assume he/him since most of us are male. We will correct you as needed for specific alters if you’re unsure on pronouns. We use we/us and I/me interchangeably.

⛧ Demon/angel (nephion.) Certified cringe. Unironic ironic edgelord (it’s chronic and cannot be helped. I am not sorry.)

⚠︎ DID, bipolar, anxiety, PTSD, ADHD, OCD. There WILL be times I discuss mental health. I am okay with questions about any of my conditions and encourage open discussion and education on them! That being said, I am NOT a mental health professional and cannot give medical advice.

𖦹 Some interests include Phisnom’s community (the toxic cesspit), FNAF, Animal Jam, Ultrakill, Pokemon, Deltarune, Cuphead, Honkai: Star Rail, and A LOT of cartoons! I do not support the poor actions of anyone behind or connected to any of these properties- do not assume I share their views.

♥︎ Anyone can interact as long as they stay in their lane. Examples: minors cannot engage with any NSFW discussion, strangers cannot treat me like a friend, believers in various areas will not force their views on me.

For more information + commissions, visit: www.nightowl33.carrd.co

About my askbox:

I LOVE answering questions! If you feel like starting a conversation or have any questions for me, you’ve come to the right place! Don’t worry about whether it’s weird or rude, just ask and we’ll correct you and explain as needed!

Some guidelines:

Be respectful. Treat us like people. We are NOT fictional characters.

No explicit/sexual NSFW or fetishes. Just don't make it weird.

Questions for specific alters may take a lot of time to respond. Others can also answer for them. Generally we’re very similar so answers may be universal.

Don't ask simple questions or share stuff that can be answered with things like "haha lol"/"nice." Sharing media is okay, but I don't wanna respond one-dimension-y to basic stuff, so keep it interesting!

Keep in mind I'm not an expert in everything. I may answer stuff on certain topics inaccurately. This especially applies to mental health questions. I encourage open discussion and you’re free to ask as much as you want about anything I experience, but I am NOT the spokesperson of mental conditions, nor am I able to give expert advice. If you have SERIOUS mental health concerns, see a professional, NOT ME.

Do not advertise anything or promote yourself. I’m sure you and/or what you stand for is great, but this is not the appropriate place for it.

This is not a request box, I don't do requests.

Make sure your question hasn’t already been answered here on my website’s FAQ page.

#intro #nightowl 33 #important

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eroshiyda · 6 years ago

Note

Well!! I want to know what your theory is!!!

😀😀😀😀 Well, since you asked...

I really think it's a song from Chara to Asriel! I don't have any like... concrete evidence for this, only headcanons. But it fits when you think about it this way:

Deltarune, according to Toby Fox, is a game intended "for those who have completed Undertale. He mentioned this in a Tweet

The word "complete" sticks out to me, because we all know there are many, many different endings to the game. I think, by this, he meant "get to all of the endings." That includes neutral, true pacifist, no mercy, and soul-less pacifist routes, etc.

So, if we do that, then Deltarune makes more sense as an Undertale AU. But how did it come to be? Well, with your (as in, the player's) help, of course!

Chara specifically asks you for the red Soul in order for you to be able to play any routes post-genocide, including soul-less pacifist. They even say, "SINCE WHEN WERE YOU THE ONE IN CONTROL?" if you do a second genocide route with the Soul they lent you. This is very significant, especially in relation to Deltarune.

Deltarune starts out with the same red Soul that you used in Undertale; Chara probably gave it to Gaster, but that's not too important as far as the song goes. What is important is that Chara takes more control over the red Soul than they did in Undertale; after all, they saw what you did with it then.

One of the ways Chara does this is by discarding the vessel you make for the Soul at the beginning of the game. They don't even want you to give you a chance to name (or nickname) the Soul. They take away your ability to "flee" battles, because they want you to be held accountable for your actions. There may even be more ways, but we'll have to wait until the whole game comes out.

So basically, you're playing by Chara's rules in Deltarune. They own the red Soul now, since you gave it to them. They're just letting you borrow it. But what does Chara do with the red Soul when you're not using it?

The reason Chara wanted the red Soul in the first place is to be with Asriel again. "But Asriel's dead," you think. Technically true, but he's been partially reincarnated as Flowey, remember? Chara is using the Soul to hang out with their soul-less sibling, so they can spend eternity together, just like they originally wanted.

But, because they're there for eternity, they start to get bored and play games. They love to roleplay, and they're both super imaginitive kids. So they create a new reality together - one in which the monsters vs. humans war never happened - a paradise, if you will.

This would also explain why there are no humans in Deltarune (I'll get to Kris in a moment). Chara doesn't like other humans, so their version of utopia wouldn't need any. Asriel, on the other hand, likes humans; after all, his only interactions with humans include Chara, his best friend, and Frisk, his new friend. So they have to compromise. There is only one human.

Kris is how Chara imagines themself as a human. Someone who gets along with monsters, sure, but someone who is otherwise very dejected, jaded, and frankly wishes not to be human at all.

And Asriel creates another OC (do not steal) as well; Ralsei, who is also an idealized version of himself. Of course, there's Deltarune Asriel, who is loved, popular, and good at everything he does, which is the opposite of the "crybaby" Asriel in Undertale. But there's also the part of Asriel who wants to be vulnerable, who wants to give love as much as receive it, and he hasn't felt that in so long (as Flowey) that he desperately wants to. Ralsei embodies these feelings.

But Ralsei only exists in the Dark World. Kris exists there too, but in a completely different way than they do in Hometown. This may be because Asriel's pocket of reality is the Dark World, while Chara's is Hometown. This is why Hometown looks like the surface, where Chara is from, while the Dark World looks like the Underground, where Asriel is from.

Following this logic, Hometown Asriel is probably Chara's idealized version of Asriel, while Kris as The Legendary Hero of the Dark World might be Asriel's idealized version of Chara - someone who is so brave and actively defends their friends (Ralsei/Asriel included). Also a hugely successful flirt, but I digress.

So why, then, is Hometown such a strange place? And why does the Dark World only exist within the context of Hometown? Well, Chara has the determined red Soul, so they have more control over reality than Asriel as Flowey does (because, remember, he is still soul-less at the end of Undertale). Chara might not have been able to think of a place too different from it was like on the surface where and when they lived; pretty dogmatic, nothing too exciting. But at least they can put the monsters from the Underground they've come to know and love into their new reality.

Flowey (or Asriel), on the other hand, prefers to spend most of his time in his corner of the AU, where his imagination has free reign (within Chara's conditions, of course). The Dark World really integrates his fascination with humans (to the point of them beig part of The Legend), his desire for social closeness (hence all of the new friends we can make there), and the lessons about friendship and love (which he arguably learned a lot about from Undertale).

Being in the Underground forever must have its disadvantages, though. It's kind of impossible to think that Chara and Asriel would never argue, since their personalities are so different - and they are technically siblings, after all. And it must still get lonely for both of them, since no one else is there after the events of Undertale unfold.

So Chara makes up a song for Asriel, and it goes like this:

"When the light is running low,

and the shadows start to grow,

and the places that you know

seem like fantasy,

there's a light inside your soul

that's still shining in the cold,

with the truth,

the promise in our hearts:

Don't forget,

I'm with you in the dark."

(Sorry this got so long, I have a lot of Thoughts(TM) and Feelings(TM) about these games. And thank you so much for the ask, friend! 🖤)

#mine #theory #deltarune #spoilers #don't forget #friend #btw i know this is probably 100% wrong but anyway #have this thing that came out of my brain

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krixwell-liveblogs · 6 years ago

Text

Blind reactions to Deltarune chapter 1

Alright, so last night, I played through Deltarune chapter 1.

For those not in the know, this is a free teaser for the sequel to Undertale, which takes around 3-5 hours to complete. It’s meant for those who have “finished Undertale”, so if you haven’t either finished Undertale or, like me, watched enough playthroughs of the game that you’ve practically finished it by proxy, you should probably skip the rest of this post. Same goes if you haven’t played Deltarune yourself. Go do that.

Liveblogging Worm isn’t my first time sharing my reactions to things as I went along. It kinda comes naturally for me to do that. So a few minutes into Deltarune (in the classroom scene), I decided to share some thoughts I’d had up until that point. But the problem was, I couldn’t go into the #deltarune_spoilers channel on Loreweaver’s server to talk about it, or I’d get spoiled myself. So, I opened a NotePad document and began typing my thoughts there for later sharing. And then I continued doing that until I finished the game.

And hey, I have a liveblog, why not use it for this too? So, below the readmore, if you’re interested, here are my thoughts on Deltarune.

Warning: It’s long. Also, spoilers for Deltarune (duh), Undertale, Kingdom Hearts II and vaguely Homestuck, Wander Over Yonder and Over the Garden Wall.

It's kind of hilarious how the game goes "nah, you don't get to decide who you are", and then gives the character a name that works as a shortened version of my legal name.

Kris looks like an older Frisk, but doesn't share the name. Are they separate? But why would Toriel be raising them then?

The narration is far less filled with FUN than the narration in Undertale, giving Kris a depressing feel. The shaded eyes and the mirror narration "It's only you." (in contrast to Undertale's) "It's you!" reinforce this. I wonder if it has to do with Chara's presence in Undertale and the narrator!Chara theory.

Kris has a brother...?

Asriel's around? Well, then. Alternate universe alarm bells are ringing.

We could be following Chara, but the world seems to have monsters and humans living together, Toriel isn't a queen, and many characters in and after the driving cutscene shouldn't have been born yet when Chara was around.

Alphys as a school teacher is fun. I immediately went to her when she asked me to pick a partner, just to see what she'd say - I love that she's watching anime in class.

Decided to go for Monster Kid first, in case I couldn't check out everyone before making my choice. But apparently he's partnered already, so I guess there is no choice. I'm guessing the snake is the one who hasn't got a partner yet.

...Snowy, you're incorrigible.

Wait, so Temmie is partnered with an egg. That leaves an even number of other candidates. So I guess we're not going to find anyone to partner with. I suppose that fits the tone we're going for with the narration.

Blue bird guy is a jerk.

His name is Berdly? ...sure.

I like the reindeer.

Jockington. These names! And apparently the cat is named Catti. Not to be confused with Catty, whom I'm pretty sure I saw in the driving cutscene. Or did I only see her parents? I definitely saw Bratty, at least, so Catty shouldn't be in school. And the personalities don't match.

That's an origin story, alright. I suppose that means we've already got an implied ouroboros in this game, since Jockington was a hula hoop rather than a jumping rope.

Noelle is a good name for the reindeer. I'm not surprised to see Berdly objecting to the trio idea.

...hello there, important character. Susie?

So I suppose we're teaming up with the intimidating goth.

Poor Alphys is terrified of Susie. Susie honestly seems kind of chill at first glance, but there's gotta be a reason why she intimidates Alphys especially much.

Okay, who's eating chalk? I noticed the green chalk was missing from Kris' house, and now the school's chalk is gone for the third time. Did someone let a Homestuck character or two loose in this world?

So we're babysitting Susie on the chalk quest.

The classmates don't seem confident in Kris' survival. Apparently Susie has a reputation for beating people up.

"You SUZ, you LOSE!" Okay, Snowy, I'll give you that one. :p

What did Susie just do? Eat something? She doesn't seem to want me to have seen it.

Yeah, Susie doesn't seem so bad. So, secret, you say?

...bad timing to add that, huh. Also, quiet people piss you off? Hypocrite.

OH! That was the chalk! I was kidding when I said someone was eating it, but of course, this is Toby Fox. Which this electric guitar music is also reminding me of.

Whoops. Looks like she's gone full "well, why not make this worse so the punishment is worth it" mode.

"I would rather not lose my face, thank you very much."

All bark and no face-bite?

"If you hadn't gotten it by now, your choices don't matter." That's definitely meant in a meta sense. It's starting to become a theme. I suppose Deltarune isn't particularly branching, unless this changing is going to be a point.

Is "blurry yellow object" any way to talk about your teacher, Kris?

I like Susie's reactions to you trying to go the wrong way.

I don't think this is supposed to happen when you open a closet.

This is not a closet anymore, Susie.

"kind of big" YA THINK

Yeah, the closet's definitely broken, in some fashion. So where is this taking us? Narnia? The world of Undertale?

Aaand the door's closed.

And here goes the floor. Time to let gravity do its thing?

Can't have an Undertale game without falling into another world, eh? So, where's Susie? And is it just me or did Kris just get a new wardrobe? Yeah, that's definitely some kind of armor.

Oh hey, save point. I wonder if we're getting filled with anything. Dread, maybe. Everything's blue, even the save point...

"At times you see it flickering. The light only you can see. By second nature, you reach out and..." So Kris, whether they're Frisk or not, is familiar with the save points, and knows that others can't see them. Interesting.

Hang on, did I just overwrite a Kris save with a Krixwell save? I *knew* it wouldn't completely discard those answers from the start. (That's why I answered the same things when I restarted to get my headphones working.)

Hmm. Eyeballs on stalks that start swinging when you walk past them? I like the sounds they make.

Something just moved off-screen in the top right. Also, there's something flowing out of holes here. Oil?

Huh. An eye symbol. Reminds me of Madoka Magica.

Another one, in case you missed the first one... Am I supposed to go down this water(?)fall?

Yep. No return. Not that there's anything to return to.

Sleeping gray oozes...

Is this what's left of the underground after the pacifist ending? Except that doesn't explain the relation between Frisk, Asriel and Kris. I suppose it's possible that Frisk is the brother and took on the name Asriel as a tribute, but that honestly just seems rude. Besides, Toby would catch all sorts of flak if he were to gender Frisk now.

Pfft, those eyes and the oil hole look like a silly face. So, this *looks like* the first real choice of the story. Not that "real choice" necessarily means much - it's not like Undertale actually branched much. Most proper choices in Undertale were fake, still leading to the same outcome.

Hmm. If only one of these leads onward to the rest of the story, it's probably the silly face route. So I should probably go downwards if I want to not miss anything.

Yep. Dead end, with something shining in the oil hole.

...a Glowshard. Alright, let's see what its info says.

Woah, new menu! Earlier, in the house, I discovered that the menu was the same as in Undertale, but now that I'm in the closet, there's a new interface. Interesting.

The Glowshard's use is unknown. Alright.

Cell phone's not working and makes beautiful sounds to show that.

Apparently along with the armor, Kris wound up with a "wood blade". I wonder if that's actually the pencil they had earlier. I say this while sitting here with a shortsword-sized pencil next to me.

"Body contains a human SOUL." That's ominous. The fact that the game is specifying that makes it sound like it might change.

While Kris is wearing something that looks like armor, it doesn't show up on the equip screen as such.

They seem to have lost their 2 money.

Silly face path time!

Should I be concerned about that eyeball-stalk having a red outline? I probably should.

Interesting. Going into "combat" against the hostile stalks gave more things outlines, and the SOUL became visible. I wonder if getting hit would send me into a mini dodging game like when Undyne chases you in Undertale.

I should probably note that while I've watched many playthroughs of Undertale, I've never actually played it, apart from a browser version of the Sans fight. So if this contains bullet hells scaled after the end of Undertale at the very start, I'm kind of screwed.

"A power shines within you, breaking through the darkness." Determination? Hope? No, hope is HP. I suppose it could just be the ability to save, which is a side effect of determination. Even if Kris hasn't exactly seemed like the determined type so far.

Oh, right, restored HP. Maybe that was hope after all.

"Eye Puzzle". Alright, let's puzzle this out.

Without having read the sign, just looking at the iconography, I'm guessing the dots mean which eyes are affected by each light, and you have to close all of them to proceed.

"In this land, only eyes blinded by darkness can see the way..." Yeah, definitely sounds like I need to close them.

Rightmost eye and middle eye. Easy as p-eye. YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN MAKE BAD PUNS SNOWY

I just saw the black thing again, at the right edge, moving real fast. Looked almost like an Enderman from Minecraft at a glance.

There it is again. I'm about to catch up with it, aren't I. Did it come down the other waterfall?

Oh cod, did I just kill one of the sleeping oozes?

Oh! It's Susie! Hi.

How did Kris get you into this? You're the one who ate the chalk so we had to get more, you're the one who pushed on into the closet.

Susie's outfit looks like she fell out of Kingdom Hearts. Maybe that's what's going on. Maybe Kris is Frisk's nobody, who's been living in a fake world.

Ooh, someone waving, you say?

Apparently they've got hostility in spades.

This looks like a ghost town. Like, literally, a town for ghosts, with the curved houses and all.

Well, at least it's a ghost town in the figurative sense. That castle is intriguing. Not to mention the geyser.

"Why the hell is there a castle inside a supply closet?" Ahaha

"Welcome, heroes...!" is off-center and it's bugging me.

A masked stranger introducing himself as the Prince of this Kingdom. In yellow. I don't trust this at all. Flowey, is that you?

The Kingdom of Darkness. Alright. Is this connected to the Underground in any way?

The stranger knows our names and called us heroes. He's been expecting us.

Heroes of Light? I don't know, I don't think I'd peg either of them as having that aspect.

Foretold by time and space... look, the Homestuck jokes write themselves and I think Toby Fox knows that.

Hopes and dreams, light and dark, balance of the world being threatened... fairly basic plot beats in and of themselves. Fair enough. Three heroes, including the Prince, supposed to restore the balance... The thing is, I still don't trust the Prince to be telling the truth, or at least, the full truth, and I think a lot of the plot is left in the inaccuracies. I'm watching you, Prince.

"Delta warriors" sounds like something you'll try to make a thing but not really succeed at making a thing.

"Please, won't you accept this destiny?" "Uhh... Nah." Ahaha, I love it.

The Prince seems genuinely distraught at Susie's refusal.

Pfffft, bye Prince! Oh my cod, is that you, Sans?

Okay, no, this isn't Sans. And he sounds like he's an antagonist, talking about the heroes "running away". He mentions his dad, whom I'm guessing is the supposed main antagonist for now.

"I'm... the bad guy." I'm not hearing an elaborate and catchy song to explain that, so your point is invalid.

"We both know you'll go EAST!" Yeah, because there's no other exit that we didn't come from.

Lancer, huh. As if the Son of the Month thing didn't make it clear that you're not the main antagonist. So, hey, depending on the exact role of his dad, would Lancer perhaps also count as "a Prince from the Dark" for the prophecy?

Alright, new fighting UI. This ought to be interesting. It looks kind of early-Final-Fantasy-esque?

(Act -> Check) Ohh, Lancer was the spade guy. Pfft, he's just got a burning bike, not a motorcycle.

So Susie's also found herself with a new weapon.

He claims his bike's running out of fuel, but the check established it doesn't actually run on fuel...

So what's the real reason he's forfeiting-- oh, dinnertime. Fair enough. Enjoy!

Ralsei. I think I've seen fanart of you. I like how you have a heart on your shirt - a human heart - to contrast with Lancer's spade. I don't trust it, but I like it.

So why don't you have any subjects, Ralsei? Why have you had to wait alone your whole life?

"Ralsei, the lonely prince, is now your ally." Hey... Ralsei is an anagram of Asriel...

"The power of fluffy boys shines through you." Ahahaha

Ooh, training dummy. White outline, which I suppose indicates you can fight it but it's not hostile like the ones with red outlines.

This big door looks familiar.

Ralsei explicitly asks me to do a pacifist run. Interesting.

These red trees look weird.

I like how it gave me a little thing telling me the name of the track that was starting to play. The Field of Hopes and Dreams, huh? It's pretty sweet, too. Meanwhile, Lancer left a message about upcoming enemies. Should be fun.

"If you're reading this, I guess you're dead." I think you got that backwards, dude.

Hi there, Lancer. I thought it was dinnertime?

Hah, the group term for the diamond-based Rudinns is "necklace". Nice.

So if you do the thing that lets you spare an enemy, you can also have your partner spare the enemy on the same turn. Good to know.

RIP Topchef's cake.

Maze of Death? Sounds pleasant.

I see Susie's not doing a pacifist run. Hey, what if she's the true main antagonist by the end of all this?

Pfft, poor Lancer has no sense of direction, apparently.

Hehe, the White Ribbon enhances Kris's cuteness. I wonder if that has mechanical consequences.

Apparently only Kris can seal the dark fountain, and Susie is stuck with us.

Oh my cod the fanfare gag is hilarious

Whoops. Susie killed the C.Round because I took the time to *Check it. Does that mean I'm no longer on a pacifist route?

Violet tormentor. Good title.

"The power of mean girls shines within you." Oh my cod, Kris, you can't just ask people why they're violet!

*haggles the tutorial seller down to 1 dark dollar, buys, and then just turns around* Nah.

This shop guy looks like someone mixed together the Beldam, Mad-Eye Moody, an old cat and the goggles from Splinter Cell.

Seam, pronounced "Shawm"? Not a bad name for someone who looks to be part doll.

Lightners, Darkners... Apparently the Lightners were godlike. Are the Lightners the monsters, and the Darkners their "shadows"? Ralsei being the shadow of Asriel?

The Darkners were "locked away and left behind". Sounds familiar.

King seeking revenge...

Historically, there were four kings, in the "Card Castle". No points for guessing how the kings were themed, or who Lancer's dad is. Or who Ralsei's dad was, for that matter.

So does that make Lancer the Jack of Spades?

A strange knight, description in red, appeared and locked three of the kings away. Again, no points for guessing which one wasn't locked away. So does this knight work for the King of Spades, or vice versa? Are there Aces in all of this?

Oh, alright, so the King of Spades put the Knight and his son, Lancer, into power. That suggests the King works for the Knight rather than vice versa. Possibly not willingly.

"Haven't seen this much chaos since... Ha ha ha... Well, you don't need to know about THAT." Since what? Since just before the Lightners left for the surface? Since some plant absorbed nearly every Lightner's soul for a while?

Bought the Amber Card and a couple more Dark Candies.

Alright, let's go see what bullshit the desperate tutorial salesman has for us.

Ah, yes, because this group of suspicious individuals don't look ready to ambush us.

ROUXLS KAARD. The surname is obviously a reference to cards, but everything else about this name screams "anagram". DARK SOUL ARX? AR DARXOULS? SOUR KLAXARD?

I love how there are tutorial guys for Ralsei and Susie, and the way they barely know what they're talking about. Is the last one for Kris? ...yep.

Oh, nice, Kris Master and Ralsei point out the thing I found out earlier about sparing on the same turn.

So there are two paths that both seem to keep going. One with a puzzle, and one with an encounter. I saw the puzzle and went back to the encounter... Hm. Let's try the puzzle too.

Ahh, it's something you're not meant to be able to do unless you've been to a later section of the game. So either you'll be able to go back here later, or you're supposed to use meta knowledge from a previous playthrough. Then again, I kind of suspect what the order is anyway. If I'm right, I won't go on through, because I'm not supposed to see this yet, but I want to try it out.

Alright, looks like it's not the standard order of the suits. Fair enough, that'd be too easy. Even if the input is a puzzle in itself.

I have to do the encounter again?

Well, I made a few mistakes this time, so Susie killed one of the Rudinns.

"When you step into the light, you'll return to where you were before." I don't think it's talking about home. Avoid the glowing tiles, got it.

Hm. Easier said than done. Right, I should probably run.

Can I switch to the lane that's fading before the light fades in on the lane I'm on? ...yes! Puzzle solved.

Apparently the effect of the light only applies to Kris.

Is that a bucket, Lancer? Ew.

Oh great, it's literally to put bodily fluids in. Toby knows exactly what he's doing here.

Oh cod, he's asking for an official name. Ralsei, don't you dare say Delta Warriors.

"Blue person"... how did I not notice that Kris is still blue?

Alright, so I get descriptions of the papers. Definitely not going for the neat paper, which is obviously Ralsei. So my choices are to let Susie name the team, or to let Lancer name it. Great.

Let's see what Susie's got.

Ahaha, he's not allowed to say it. Classy, Susie.

THE $!$! SQUAD

Cool, I'm down with that. Better than Delta Warriors. Well, not really, but still.

Tier-TWO swear words. What's tier one? Darn, heck, etc?

Collective dad? Does he think we're siblings?

No, Ralsei, we can not consider a different name.

(Lancer to Ralsei) "Yeah! How about I be in the Squad and YOU be the bad guy?" That's an interesting idea you've got there, Lancer.

I kinda trust Ralsei a bit more at this point, because he seems a lot like the non-evil iteration of Asriel, but I'm still not entirely sure. That could easily be a front.

"The power of The $!? Squad shines within you." Ahahaha

So the Great Board is inhabited by chess people. I suppose maybe the Knight is from there? Or maybe that's just what Toby wants me to think. Now where have I heard a story about chess pieces and cards and a takeover from within before...

So what's this extremely dangerous thing? A card shredder?

Oh, a C.Round. Maybe we can keep Susie from killing this one.

Ah, fuck, it got promoted. Nice legs.

Hah, K.Round. As in King Round. Not sure what the C stood for.

That was a fun little fight. And now it seems it's time to explain to Susie that violence isn't always the best option.

Ahh, great. Switching sides because she's bad at heroing. Honestly, though, it really does suit her better.

Alright, now I'm in a forest, and there's a door with colorful flames. Interesting.

The door is for fast travel. Got it.

"We managed to fix this thingamajig up for you." Oh yeah, that's right, I found an empty doorframe earlier.

Oh jeez, they've practiced an alternating dia-monologue.

"Dark Jack Lancer"? Guess I was right about his card, then.

Ahaha, the Dark $!? Squad! And it's Lancer who says it, too. Susie, you're a bad influence.

So there's a Rudinn asking me to help with a gift for a friend named Clover (I think I have an idea which suit she's aligned to). Sports, cute boys and trees? Well, I've got one of those things.

Salsa stump. Well, at least they're getting along.

I got a scarf that's apparently sharp enough to use as a weapon. Nice.

Oh hey, a puzzle based on the same input method as the post-game puzzle from before. I know how this works, so this shouldn't be too hard, what with the password being stated.

...yeah, that only requires clubs and a heart, that's super easy.

I like Bloxer.

Alright, so there's a dead end down here with two seemingly unreachable buttons in sight. Looks like a path-building puzzle.

There's a symbol puzzle meant to teach you how to mix the lower and higher suits. I managed to find the answer in two tries, before talking to any of the hint... beings.

...who were apparently one three-headed being. I may have just triggered a fight by not talking to them when I came back into the room after checking whether the answer was the same to the symbol puzzle I just passed in the room with Bloxer.

Oh! This is Clover. Hey, Clover, would you like a gift? I've got a cute boy here.

Let's talk about boys.

"Herselves". Cute.

Alright, bake sale time. We've got diamonds, hearts, and spades (run by The Dark $!? Squad), but no clubs. Why not?

The Choco Diamond and the Hearts Donut each heal ??hp. The Choco Diamond sounds like it'll work better if given to certain characters. Maybe it heals more if the target is diamonds-aligned. Same going for the Hearts Donut on hearts-aligned characters. I should buy another Hearts Donut and test that on Kris and Ralsei.

Sure, I'll donate to the noble cause of kicking my ass too.

Did they just... do that so they could buy a Hearts Donut?

So to the west we have another fast travel door, and to the north there's... a martial arts dojo?

Oh, the smith! I just saw in the inventory that the Broken Cake is a key item that needs to be fixed by a master blacksmith. Guess it's time to do that.

Ahahaha the squeaky hammer sounds! And the cake was "fixed beyond recognition". I love this.

A topcake... can I wear it like a top hat? Is it armor?

Ah, no, but it is a 160 hp full party heal, single use. Good to keep in store, just like the butterscotch-cinnamon pie.

"(This cardboard stand is actually just a fake cardboard stand of a cardboard stand.)" Pfft. Glad we got that cleared up.

Hello, hungry hungry caterpillar.

Nice disguise, Lancer.

Oh, please tell me I get a choice of "the most evil thing I can imagine" here.

Oh fuck, this is even better.

Look, I know the duck face is "garbage", but I can't just NOT pick that one.

Tank body sounds good.

I'm torn between the sneaker shoes and the attractive wheels... I think I'll go with the sneakers. Wheels just make too much sense for the tank body.

Lancer: "Are you sure you're not evil?" Ralsei: "Er, no, I suppose we just have a knack for it." ...

Damn. The bird thing killed me and now I have to make my beautiful thrashing machine all over again.

"The darker it gets, the more you can see." That's familiar. Like the eye puzzle early on. What does it mean, thematically? That you have to see the darkness to truly understand the world?

I was right about the Hearts Donut. It heals Kris by 20 hp, but Ralsei by 50.

Alright, so a Rudinn just confirmed that Susie is considered a Lightner. Does that extend to Kris too?

The save point here names the room as "Before Maze". Way to spoil it, dude.

These villains are so ridiculously ineffectual. But how long is the Papyrus section of this game going to last? I didn't buy for a second that Lancer was even close to being the main antagonist, and now we've long since established the bigger threats (the King and the Knight).

Well, the maze was something. Ooh, machine time!

Aw, I didn't get to fight it. Fair enough.

Susie says our design sucked, so does that mean they've come up with another one?

Ralsei points out that Susie needs him and Kris to return home, but I don't think she WANTS to go home anymore.

Alright, defeat means friendship, huh? Bring it on.

Hah, trying to convince them not to fight is working on Lancer.

Ahahaha, Lancer blocked the pacification with his bike and the bike got tired.

Lancer, join OUR team! That way you can be a team with Susie even though she's joining back up with us! And then when Ralsei turns out to be evil, you can take his place as Prince from the Dark.

Pfft, poor Ralsei being tasked with making the track jackets.

Oh cod, no thanks, put those eyes back where they came from, Lancer, or so help me.

Lancer's Stool Forme is very useful.

Susie is SO into Lancer at this point.

I kinda like and kinda hate how Lancer just floats outside the path instead of following the rest of the party Earthbound-style.

It does seem like Kris is counted as a Lightner. I'm not sure how to feel about the whole "Darkners can't feel fulfilled unless they're helping Lightners" thing, though.

So this is very much the calm before the storm, where our protagonists are happy and content with being friends. What's going to shake this up?

Oh hey, it's Card Castle. Neat.

Lancer doesn't want us fighting people inside the castle. Is it for our sake, or for the sake of the people in there?

See ya, Lancer.

Well then. We've been captured.

So where's Susie?

Ate some moss and “mossed out” my HP. Nice. :P

Took me some time to realize that I had to continue talking to Ralsei to proceed.

Pfft. Classy, Susie.

I like the thing about thinking about what Susie's doing now to segue into a section where we semi-control her.

...alright, where we're tricked into thinking we can control her.

Especially the purple one, eh? Is that because she's especially dangerous, or because you care especially about her?

"It's fine, actually." Is it, Susie? "You don't have to say anything." This is becoming a trend for you. Making your conclusions and telling people not to bother saying things.

Lancer, you may want to explain yourself quickly, regardless of Susie's demands that you shut up. Your face is in danger.

He's attacking, but he's doing the Toriel thing where the attacks fan out. I wonder if there's a path in this game where you cause Lancer to accidentally kill Susie rather than let Susie kill Lancer. If things are going to get to that point.

These spades are better at dodging the heart than Toriel's flames were.

He's visibly trembling more with each attack.

Good, Susie. Good. Now put down the axe and listen to Lancer.

What, a lengthy elevator scene with no proper elevator music?

Susie is the best character in this thing, so far.

Card Castle, first floor. Time to pay attention to the order of the suits' rooms, I think.

"You are unbanned from free ham sandwich day" ahahaha

IT WORKED.

Alright, so diamonds first.

Club Sandwich, can be divided into three to heal the entire team. Cute.

So there's a disembodied voice that has trapped us in a room. "Thoust FOOLS!"

Oh hey, it's Rouxls Kaard, "thou're greatest adversary". Clearly also an adversary of grammar.

Shit, that puzzle looks really fucking hard, man.

So does the Royal Flush (bathroom) count as the spades room for the sake of the post-game puzzle?

Well, the third floor is clearly the Hearts floor, since there are Hathy here.

I just told Susie to flirt and it's beautiful.

Oh cod, it's so awkward that there's no need to even spare.

Well, that was definitely the Hearts room. Diamond, maybe Spades, then Hearts.

Clubs door, and now another room like the one we met Rouxls in. Time for another "puzzle"?

Hah! It's not even a different super easy puzzle, it's just a longer version of the earlier one!

I like the Clubs room.

Alright, there's the Spades room, so the Royal Flush doesn't count. Diamonds, Hearts, Clubs, Spades.

Oh my cod, Rouxls is a shopkeeper.

"decidedesteth"

Oh for the love of cod. He's got a K.Round too. :P

Ralsei thinks the crown looks different... is it a Q.Round?

Ahh. Rouxls is controlling it using the crown. Or so he claims.

Hah, tossing Ralsei at it. I like this plan.

Throne room. Time to meet the king?

What happened here? Lancer said he was going ahead to talk to the king. Did they end up fighting?

Hi, Lancer.

Wait, Lancer's dad was the Knight, not the King. Right? Or are the Knight and the King the same thing at this point, since the fourth king put the Knight in charge? Right, that's how it worked. So we're now seeing the talk Lancer was going to do.

Pfft. I like how the Knight/King is like "Oh, Lancer..."

What was that about "They care not for you", Mr. "I'll drop my son off the edge to let him splatter"?

I did not get a choice in whether to kneel or not. The characters made that choice on their own.

OOH, NICE BACKSTAB!

Ah, see, this is a guy I can believe when he claims to be the bad guy. Even if I'm still not fully sold on the idea that he's necessarily the final boss.

"Lightbringer"? "Your very existence goes against our own"? Interesting...

By the Knight's will... so this ISN'T the Knight?

Is Ralsei the Knight?

"You, that left us in the shadows, stripped of meaning..." Yeah, I think I was onto something earlier.

Ralsei probably isn't the Knight. His interactions with the King wouldn't make much sense that way.

The King seems to be indicating that he's worshipping the Knight instead of the Lightners.

The Knight made the second fountain? Maybe even the first?

The shadows of the fountains are creating a new world... for the Darkners...

I'm taking it that this is a survival fight, like Sans. I just need to let this guy exposit for a while.

Ahh, so it's not so much that it's making a literal new world as that it's darkening the existing world. An apocalypse which he believes to be in favor of the Darkners.

"Enough talk"? Was I wrong?

The King seems to be getting less confident.

And he ended the battle.

His... cape just flew away?

So he's asking for a peaceful solution now. Alright, sure.

I don't like the sound effects here. They sound too much like someone's about to get killed. Maybe the cape flew off to tell the Knight about the King's failure/betrayal?

Honestly, the King just seems to be dying without anyone actually hurting him.

Nice, yes, good work healing him, Ralsei. Let's just hope he wasn't faking it just to get that heal.

...yep.

"You can't even say?" Nice echo of what Susie said at the start.

"Let me tell you a secret." We're echoing the whole scene, huh? But somehow, I don't think "All bark and no face-bite" applies to the King.

Susie FTW.

"But THEY might." Who's "they"? Kris? And maybe Ralsei? Or are we bringing in other characters?

*crazy glue voice* get him

"Now I'M the dad!!!" Uh, Lancer, I don't think that's how it works.

And now we're getting Ralsei contemplating whether kindness is always the solution after all, since his healing the king almost fucked everything. Nice. Character growth all around.

Wait, Ralsei, why are you staying behind? I thought you claimed we needed you too to stop the fountain?

Nice try, Susie. I know you want to talk to Lancer.

See? Lancer sees right through you.

Hiya, Asriel! What's up?

Not gonna explain that, huh?

So, uh, did Kris's soul just leave their body to fuse with the fountain?

Aaand we're in the supply closet. Alright.

Wait, no, this is an unused classroom.

...menu's back to the Undertale style.

Let's try calling home.

Alright, so some time has passed. It's after school. Don't think going to tell Alphys you couldn't find the chalk is going to work, Susie.

Toriel is sweet. Though it's a little sad that the word "friend" makes her give Kris a free pass, because it implies she's surprised that they've gained one.

Playing cards and chess... Legos... Fuck, this is lending some serious credence to the dream idea, much in the same way a lot of things in Over The Garden Wall reflect what's seen in episode 9. But like there, I'd say this was probably a certain degree of real.

The room we ended up in is to the right of the supply closet.

Sure, go back there tomorrow... if you can.

The supply closet is locked now.

Hey, I found Asriel's/Frisk's/the brother's locker. And Kris's.

Ooh, Toriel's classroom!

The clock has been updated to 10 PM in Toriel's classroom, but in Alphys', it still says 2 PM.

I can visit the Librarby, neat.

So is the game over now, or will we be seeing the return to the Dark Kingdom?

Hah, found Toby. I'm aware that this is only supposed to be a teaser, so I guess it'll deliver on the promise that you'll be able to go into the computer lab in the full game.

Books written by Undertale characters, nice.

UNDYNE

Wait, Asgore's kid? Kris is Asgore's kid?? Or, wait, wasn't it Undyne who couldn't tell Asgore and Toriel apart? No, that was Papyrus. So this raises the whole alternate universe question again. Who the fuck is Kris?

Undyne claims not to know who Alphys is.

...who's the mayor?

I found a door to a bunker or something that makes spooky sounds. This feels like plot.

Gerson's dead, among a couple others who may or may not be characters we know.

At least Gerson being dead rules out this happening before Undertale, in the same timeline.

Burgerpants!

So Azzy's in college.

"Things happened" in Kris's family before Asriel left. Asgore and Toriel separating?

SANS

Sans is new in town, and has never met Kris. Kris, say hello to your future stepfather.

And he wants Kris to hang out with Papyrus. I'm all for this.

(I'm also all for finding a save point so I can go to bed.)

Asgore x Alphys???

So Alphys watches a Simpsons knockoff and has an imaginary cat named MewMew. The alternate universe theory intensifies.

Apparently Asgore runs a flower shop.

Aww, that hug was adorable.

Containers containing flowers instead of souls...

Time for bed.

Umm. Kris. You, uh. Kinda need that soul.

So, uh, the Chara option is still available...

Well then! That was Deltarune chapter 1. I'm gonna write a wrap-up tomorrow, because it's way too late now and I need to go to bed in real life. Good night!

...Alright, hello again! It's been about 17.5 hours since I finished Deltarune chapter 1, and in that time, I've been thinking a bit. I think I've come up with a decent theory about what's going on with the world of the Lightners in relation to Undertale:

I don't think this is post-pacifist. I think this is post-genocide.

"Oh, but many of the characters you kill on the genocide route are alive, and monsters seem to live on the surface!"

Here's the thing: At the end of the genocide route, you meet Chara, who talks about wanting to "erase this pointless world and move on to the next". The choice they give you is fake, both options end in you, the player, being killed, ending the game. What I'm suggesting is that Chara did just that: Erased the world and moved on to the next. That "next" world is the world of Deltarune.

Chara isn't entirely physical, so they need a vessel, like Frisk was in Undertale. That's why they're taking control of Kris, and throwing out Kris's soul (hey, look who managed to guess that their soul would leave their body, even if I didn't guess how). I'm not sure whether Chara was already partially possessing Kris at the beginning and just decided it was time to get rid of that annoying soul right at the end. The soul being the culmination of one's being and the center of emotion... Identity and emotion seemed to be fairly low in Kris from the start - maybe Chara had to weaken the soul before they could toss it out and take proper control?

There's also the player to deal with, though. Chara knows we're here - you can tell from the way they glance at the fourth wall after taking control - so I wonder if they'll let us continue controlling their vessel, Kris. Then again, in Undertale, Chara seemed to consider that a good thing, but what if the player continues to steer Kris towards pacifism?

Meanwhile, the world of the Darkners is still largely a mystery. They seem to be a remnant of the Underground's essence in some way, but who knows if monsters ever lived underground in this world?

A lot about the Dark Kingdom adventure in chapter 1 mirrors Undertale. In fact it very much feels like discount Undertale. (Which I suppose is fair considering this game does in fact cost 100% less than Undertale.) I wonder if any of it was Chara's work, whether Kris knew it or not?

This chapter of the game is deceptively simple, but there really is a lot to think about here.

All in all... The game wasn't quite as good as Undertale, though it had its share of funny and/or heartfelt moments, and it did good stuff with the characters of Susie and Lancer. I like the introduction of a party system due to its effect on character dynamics, and the battle graphics were a huge step up.

I suppose I shouldn't expect Deltarune chapter 1 to hold up to the whole of Undertale. The full version has a hell of a lot to live up to, but I'm optimistic about it. I think it can at least get close. And with Chara getting visibly involved, I have a feeling things are only going to get more interesting from here.

In conclusion: Fuck Berdly.

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glapplebloom · 6 years ago

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Last week I had a heavy focus on Microsoft. This week, the more likely to be part of Smash Brothers.

Shantae

This Half Genie has been heavily associated with Nintendo for the longest, I was surprised to find out she wasn’t one of them. With her varying movelist she can provide a lot of fun as a playable character.

What Music Would They Bring: Tons from multiple games. And I dare say unique compared to the other franchises?

What Stage Would They Bring: I’m thinking Desert or Scuttle Town.

Do they have anything in Smash: She has two Spirits: Herself and Risky Boots. And

What are their chances: I still like her chances. Just because you have a spirit doesn’t mean your chances are gone. After all many of the playable cast can also be found in stickers. Why should Shantae not be considered just because art from one of her games is in Smash?

Rayman

Ubisoft and Nintendo have been having a close relation with each other. Nintendo allowed them to use Mario for a crossover and Star Fox for their Star Link game. Not to mention Rabbid Peach being in their Just Dance Game. I'm surprised he hasn’t been in the game yet.

What Music Would They Bring: Just Dance songs? I’m kidding, but I bet they got a bunch of games to draw from.

What Stage Would They Bring: That swamp could be fun.

Do they have anything in Smash: In 4 he was a Trophy, the second (behind CommanderVideo) to be in Smash without having anything else in it. Also in Ultimate he’s a spirit.

What are their chances: This is the year I believe an Ubisoft character will be included in Smash Brothers. But I sadly see the Rabbids entering before Rayman.

An Undertale Representative

Like it or not, Undertale is a big deal. Its been ported everywhere and even the “Sequel” Deltarune is coming to the Switch. It is one of the biggest indy games out there and with Shovel Knight and Shantae in the Ultimate games, there is room for the first Indy Representative.

What Music Would They Bring: I’m just foaming at the mouth on the idea Megalovania being in Smash. Not to mention a bunch of other songs from Undertale and Deltarune.

What Stage Would They Bring: It probably would represent whatever character they pick. Or maybe a travel through.

Do they have anything in Smash: Nope

What are their chances: Despite loving the idea, I highly doubt it. I mean Frisk would be the first choice since main characters are usually picked first but how would you make a move list for him?

Scorpion

Mortal Kombat is a very violent game. So violent you can’t even buy a Japanese Version due to their grading system. Despite that, it has appeared on numerous Nintendo Consoles, including the upcomming Mortal Kombat 11 for the Switch. Would be neat to see the SF/MK rivalry up close. And it won’t be like they haven’t toned down the violence before.

What Music Would They Bring: Maybe its just me, but I wouldn’t mind seeing the Mortal Kombat Album be included. But of course they have plenty of music.

What Stage Would They Bring: Part of me wants to bring in the Pit. Either pit would do. Or maybe Shao Kahn’s Arena could be fun. Have an excuse to bring in Shao Kahn as a Boss Character too.

Do they have anything in Smash: Nada

What are their chances: While it would be neat, and Mortal Kombat has been toned down before, I don’t see it happening. Maybe they fear this would increase the game’s rating.

Crash And/Or Spyro

Crash and Spyro are back thanks to their remakes. They both have appeared on Nintendo Consoles. And their official crossovers are on the Game Boy Advance. Not to mention Nintendo did allow Bowser and DK to be in the Skylanders game. So that means Activision and Nintendo have had a relationship before.

What Music Would They Bring: So many, but one song comes to my mind...

What Stage Would They Bring: Would be nice to have a jungle theme that isn’t DK. Or a location from Avalar.

Do they have anything in Smash: Nada

What are their chances: I see them being pretty high. They were indeed rivals for Nintendo like Sonic was. Would be cool to see either or even both in Smash Brothers.

Lara Croft

The Survivor. The Legend. The Classic. Lara Croft is a gaming icon. And with Square owning the license, this could be their second representative into Smash. One that could donate a lot more than two music tracks.

What Music Would They Bring: That said, I have no clue. Pretty sure they have some tunes to use.

What Stage Would They Bring: She’s a Globe Trotter. Her potential on stage to bring is limitless.

Do they have anything in Smash: Besides fellow Square Enix Character Cloud, no.

What are their chances: It depends on why Final Fantasy has very little representation. If its because there are outside factors beyond Square’s control, then probably good. I see one other guy who would be more liked to be picked, but I think she has a better chance. But if it is because Square is stingy, then maybe not her.

Geno

People want him. Sakurai wants him. And it would be good to see Super Mario RPG return back home.

What Music Would They Bring: Obviously Geno’s Forest Maze. Not this version though.

What Stage Would They Bring: As mentioned, Geno’s Forest Maze could be a good stage to bring.

Do they have anything in Smash: Two spirits: himself and Mallow. He has also been a costume in the 4 version.

What are their chances: Again, this depends if Square is being stingy or not. This could be the year Geno finally becomes playable. Or it could be another year he isn’t here.

Sora

Rounding up the three possible reps of Square, Sora would be a likely choice. The Kingdom Hearts series have been major and have appeared on Nintendo Consoles before. Of the three, he is the biggest name among them. And he doesn’t need to bring in anything Disney either.

What Music Would They Bring: A bunch. My personal favorite would be the theme song from Kingdom Hearts 2.

What Stage Would They Bring: Traverse Town would be cool.

Do they have anything in Smash: Nothing other than a fellow Square Rep.

What are their chances: This I have to say, even if Square wasn’t stingy, would be the long shot. Apparently Disney owns Sora, but due to respect of the creator Nomura they don’t use him outside Kingdom Hearts. It could be possible only if Nomura wants him in Smash.

Heihachi

Behind Pacman, Heihachi is Namco’s go to guy for Crossovers. And Namco is heavily helping Nintendo with Smash Brothers

What Music Would They Bring: Pretty sure he got a good number of tracks. And if not, other Namco properties.

What Stage Would They Bring: While he could bring some Tekken stages, I could see him bringing in the Pacman Stage from Smash 3DS instead.

Do they have anything in Smash: In 4 he has a costume. In Ultimate, he shows up in Pacman’s taunt.

What are their chances: If Namco gets a second representative, I can see it being Heihachi. I doubt he really died in Tekken 7.

A Yakuza Representative...

This comes as a surprise to me too. While Sega is heavily known for Sonic, their A Team is working on the Yakuza series (they’re known as Sega CS1 while Sonic Team is under CS2). And while Joker is Sega owned since they own Atlus, having someone from the Yakuza series would show that this is Sega’s true bread and butter.

What Music Would They Bring: While I have never played the games, I’m sure there are plenty of choices.

What Stage Would They Bring: Its a big city. Pretty sure they’ll have stuff.

Do they have anything in Smash: Other than Sonic, nothing.

What are their chances: Sega could use a second representative that isn’t shared with Nintendo (Bayonetta). And of their franchises, Yakuza is their biggest and brightest. And its not like not having a game on the system stopped others.

#other

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claire-starsword · 6 years ago

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More thoughts on Undertale/Deltarune’s dark world

So, Deltarune has this whole thing where mundane equipment become real weapons once you enter the dark world. Also, the game in general has odd similarities with the end of the murder run: the “Erase/Do Not” prompt when deleting saves, use of kanji in the japanese text, and the themes of “your choices don’t matter”/”since when where you in control”, for example.

I just remembered there’s another similarity too. Only in that run do the final equipment, that have no real reason to be different because they’ve supposedly been in Chara’s room all the time, change from Worn Dagger to Real Knife and from Heart Locket to The Locket, that “you can feel it beating”.

I always thought that to be just a difference of perspective (like you being so violent in that run that any dagger becomes a strong, exciting weapon), but now I wonder if there’s something else to it, especially the locket because the description implies it is looking/becoming more like an actual heart. Is this warping of the item similar to what the dark world does? That implies that a reality can slip into darkness to the point of becoming a dark world. I feel “darkness” in these games is used in the sense of ”things falling into obscurity or disuse”, and also “things that were abandoned”. Given how monsters in UT were trapped for so long, and losing hope of escaping, you can say they were falling into darkness in that sense. Also, the world can stay erased forever if you wish, but if you come back, refusing to abandon it, you can bring it back (even if in a terrible way).

That view of darkness also matches Gaster’s story, since he hasn’t really been erased from the world (not from the past at least, otherwise the CORE wouldn’t exist), but just replaced and forgotten, or at least simply not mentioned by most. It could also match Chara, who has once the hope of the underground but was then clearly forgotten by almost everyone given how most monsters can’t even recognize a human. The tale of Chara and Asriel also doesn’t seem to be known by many. Given how Chara calls themself a demon, there’s a demon lurking in UT’s code who is someone’s servant, and there’s someone with Gaster in Deltarune’s intro, I think Chara’s essence got stuck in the dark world after their death, and that explains their influence in UT. The more the world falls into darkness, the more influence they have, until at some point they can give the last push and erase everything.

I do constantly wonder if the demon thing is serious though, since this is the sibling of Asriel “God of Hyperdeath” Dreemurr, so it could be just drama covering up their actual situation. They do have the power to erase worlds, bring them back, and also deal with souls though. Also, for whatever reason Chara is the one who levels up and such right from the beginning, and the one who possesses the save files, a pretty relevant thing to remember with all the discussion going around Kris’ files. I feel like we (the creators) in Deltarune have the same relationship with Kris as Chara had with Frisk. We never saw Frisk’s save being overwritten though.

This post feels really close to saying “what if Frisk was a vessel all along” and yet it won’t. We know the red soul in UT is Frisk’s, because otherwise Chara wouldn’t ask for it after the murder run. So for the stats to still be Chara’s, it implies that the mechanics of LOVE are connected to demons and the dark world. Interestingly enough, in Deltarune the save files keep track of both level and love, very unlike UT. I feel that this will have something with how Kris had a save file before the game. Like, Kris will have level while the creator gets love, Kris will save in the surface while the creator does it in the dark world, something like that.

I don’t know what this implies about the vessel creation, though. Chara seemed against it. Did Gaster gave them a chance to make one too? Did it go wrong? Did Chara have some reason to latch into Frisk or was it unintentional? Was Chara the one who stuck us with Kris, or was that too unavoidable and they just provided some dramatic narration?

I also have some scattered thoughts on how Asriel’s essence could have wandered the dark world for a while before becoming Flowey and how it’s unclear if Chara’s soul is gone or if it could be in the dark world too, but I don’t know where these thoughts would go. Actually this entire post went out of control a long ago lmao I wanted to say a paragraph or two about the weapons only.

tl;dr for the parts that make sense: I think Chara has been in the dark world for a while and how much they can influence the world depends on the world falling in darkness/obscurity (which is somewhat like becoming a dark world and changes items/objects somewhat), the creator in Deltarune is similar to Chara, the dark world is closely related to LOVE mechanics, and Kris and the creator might eventually get different save files/levels.

#deltarune #undertale #chara #gaster #kris #deltarune spoilers #dark world #dark world entrances theory #actually this kinda contradicts the theory since it implies the light world doesn't have entrances to the dark world #and instead becomes a dark world #but hey i'm sure i'll find a way to make these fit together #the initial theory was incredibly bare bones #anyway sorry if this doesn't make sense it sounded smart when i started typing and then got confusing

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sudoscience · 4 years ago

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New In Town: Background Info

Click here for a version with working hyperlinks.

Although it's never explicitly stated by the games, I'm going to assume the story is set in the US, or at least a country like it. The existence of monsters likely altered the course of several events in human history, so it's possible things are actually radically different. For the purposes of this story, I'll assume most things are still the same unless stated otherwise, (e.g. the American Revolution was still in 1776, and World War II was still in the early-middle of the 20th Century.).

Let's also just go ahead and say the story takes place in 201X for now.

[For the record, I pronounce 201X as "twenty-ex-teen". I guess you could say it "two-oh-one-ex", but why would you? I also assume it refers to the whole decade, so, for example, when I say "the early part of 201X", that could mean anywhere between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2014.]

Navigation:

Humans and Monsters (Current headcanon)

Humans and Monsters (Old) (Preserved for posterity)

Footnotes

Master Post

Humans and Monsters

Humans and monsters have always coexisted relatively peacefully, at least as well as humans and humans. There have been some smaller wars over land and resources, but nothing like the war in Undertale (hereinafter "The War").

Someone still remembers that other universe, though. The universe where monsters freely used magic. The universe where a monster could absorb a human SOUL. The universe where the monsters were sealed underground and later systematically slaughtered by a human child. Perhaps that someone is W. D. Gaster. Perhaps it is Chara. I haven't decided yet. Until that time comes, I'll call that person Individual 1.

Individual 1 remembers the world of Undertale, but the version they remember is the one in which the genocide route takes place. After that world is destroyed, Individual 1 uses their DETERMINATION to bring the world back. They restore the world to long before The War takes place. Individual 1 convinces the King of All Monsters (who is probably someone other than Asgore) to strictly curtail the use of magic. It is Individual 1's belief that the only way to prevent The War from occurring is if humans never learn that monsters can absorb their souls. This is why we don't see evidence of magic in Deltarune.1

Sometime in 1965, a man in Twin Falls (Bill Hammond) learns of the monsters' hidden power. He attempts to alert the government, but it's years before anyone in power takes him seriously. Most people view him as a crackpot; he's this universe's Alex Jones. However, he begins to gain a following among the commoners, who take to calling themselves the Arcane Enforcement Unit. Hate crimes against monsters become more frequent, and the government establishes the Directorate of Inter-Species Relations to combat this.

Hammond's influence grows, and he runs for president multiple times, though he rarely gets more than 2% of the vote. In 1996, his campaign performs surprisingly well, but he is assassinated. His following was strongest in Twin Falls, and it once again becomes a hot spot for anti-monster sentiment, only this time it extends to humans who are considered "monster sympathizers", including Kris's birth parents and eventually Rudy, who is born around this time.

Paul and Judy Harper are DISR employees in Twin Falls. In 2003, the year Asriel is born,2 the DISR begins a joint operation with DHS and FBI to infiltrate the AEU, which is now suspected as a terrorist organization. The Harpers are assigned to the team, Operation Golden Flower, as undercover agents in 2005. In 2007, Judy becomes pregnant. Later that year, their cover is nearly blown. In order to keep their child safe, they begin making arrangements with some old friends of theirs, the Dreemurr family in Hometown. Their son is born in December,3 and adopted by the Dreemurrs immediately. A few months later, Paul and Judy are killed; their death is not publicized classified in order to avoid jeopardizing the operation.

In the early part of 201X, an AEU supporter named Noah Trey Ullman is elected mayor of Twin Falls. This is when things really start to go south. Ullman incites violence against monsters and monster sympathizers. They usually stay out of the majority monster neighborhoods, but they tend to target monsters who are known to affiliate with humans. This is what prompts Rudy to move to Hometown.

Humans and Monsters (OLD)

Humans and monsters have always coexisted, but there's always been a lot of tension between them. For most of their history, they've lived more or less independently of each other. As humans began to industrialize, they began to expand and encroach on monster territory.1 Interactions with monsters became more frequent, as did altercations. While there hasn't been an outright war between humans and monsters, there have been frequent skirmishes, akin to the US and the Native Americans. There was a period where humans sought to make use of magic, primarily by employing the monsters. The monsters were often subjected to inhumane conditions, and uprisings, while infrequent, were not unheard of.

Knowing that a monster with one or more human souls could become a being of great power, this practice was eventually outlawed. Humans became reluctant to hire monsters at all, and most monsters eventually relocated to their own settlements. These are similar to Indian reservations, with the distinction that they are not considered sovereign. In order to keep things under control, the government created the Directorate of Inter-species Relations in the mid-19th Century. Under the pretense of fairness, the DISR banned the use of magic about 100 years ago;2 this would theoretically allow more monsters to be hired, so long as they weren't being exploited for their magical abilities. In practice, because magic is so central to a monster's existence, this drastically changed the monsters' way of life. Initially, smaller acts of magic were allowed, but as more monsters moved into settlements, their interactions with humans became less frequent, and the humans became more fearful, having only the legends and rumors to inform them rather than their own experiences. Eventually, all magic was banned, and the Arcane Enforcement Unit was created in 1956 to enforce said ban.

Of course, some monsters remained in the human cities. They felt they still had ties there, and refused to move. They are largely relegated to their own neighborhoods, and the AEU does its best to "gently encourage" them to relocate. Other than the AEU, very few humans interact with monsters.3

What happened five years ago?

There was a change in leadership at the AEU, and they became much more aggressive in their policing.

[I think this was a separate subsection because I originally planned on writing more, but now it seems pretty silly to have a subsection with just one sentence.]

Footnotes

Notes for New Info

There are several reasons I decided to scrap the old backstory, but this was probably the main one. I really liked the theory that Deltarune takes place after the Genocide Route, and I wanted to expand on that. I'm no longer sure I buy that theory, but I still think it's a cool idea. ↑

As noted in the "Headcanon for Existing Characters", I originally planned for Asriel to have started college early, which would further demonstrate how exceptional he is, and also factor into the resentment Kris wishes they didn't have of him. This is also his first semester of college, which is why Kris is so worried he'll have changed. I think I'll keep him a freshman, but increase the age gap between them. When Asriel gets back from college, he'll have just turned 19, while Kris will be turning 14 very soon. I'm assuming he's returning for Thanksgiving Break (and also that Thanksgiving still exists in this world), and this is the first time he's been back home since he left for college. ↑

Yes, Kris's full name is Krismas (no, not really). Their birthday is 22 December, and Asriel's is 15 September (unless there's an official birthday listed somewhere, in which case it's that). I hope it's okay if I write that Kris is biologically male, even though they identify as non-binary. Since I've already changed their pronouns in the main story, this is probably the only time it will ever be mentioned, unless maybe they go swimming or something. I got the idea from @caretaker-au and how they represent Chara as male non-binary (is that the right way to say that?); I know some people find that blog to be problematic, but I think that was more to do with them drawing porn of Chara and Asriel, not because they drew Chara as biologically male. (For the record, I was not aware of that when I started following them, especially since Tumblr banned porn a year before I even bought Undertale.) ↑

Notes for Old Info

Another reason I dropped this: I'm pretty sure this was inspired by @wolven0ne-universe's "Long Road" AU. Actually, there's a lot that was inspired by Long Road, even in the new backstory: the decision to have multiple OCs, the way magic supposedly works, humans exploting monsters for their magic, a shadowy organization that abducts monsters because of their magical abilities, etc. Some of this is attributable to the fact that I never read fanfics prior to playing Undertale, so some of these were "inspired" by Long Road simply by virtue of it being, like, the second fanfic I ever read, ever. (The first was "Flowey is Not A Good Life Coach".) Anyway, my point here is that I dropped this backstory in part because I didn't want it to be too similar to Long Road, not because I suddenly stopped liking Long Road. ↑

Here's an additional reason I changed the backstory: I wasn't sure if this was a believable timeline. I feel like it's plausible that human society would forget that monster magic involves a lot more than just a monster's ability to abosrb a human soul in just 100 years, but that doesn't seem like nearly enough time for monster society to forget that monsters can use magic. Plus, if monsters and humans have coexisted for all of human history, and monsters have been using magic for like 99% of said history, that seems like it could have created a lot of ripple effects that I would spend way too much time thinking about. Like, what if the existence of magic resulted in the first Industrial Revolution happening in the 15th Century? What would Earth look like in 201X if that were the case? I just didn't want to deal with all of that. ↑

Other than wanting to believe that Deltarune takes place after the Genocide Route, the next most important factor in my decision to scrap this backstory is that it's just really dark. The story has enough potentially depressing shit that I didn't need to add a monster Trail of Tears on top of it all. Plus, I was worried it might come across as racially insensitive. ↑

#New In Town #deltarune theory #deltarune fanfic #story notes

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