#I have a feeling Narra will be something something me being afraid of being angry

[birb--birb]

its fascinating seeing my character's backstories change from "past issues I was dealing with in therapy" to "current issues I'm currently dealing with in therapy"

[goodnightkloe]

Scene 7: The Toymaker Dream

November 18, 1925

It's almost a week since the burial of my late sister Narra. I asked my mom if I can still sleep on her bed and she allowed me to do so. That very night I met a villain.

I found a house in the middle of a forest, it was already dark. The light coming from the huge window glass was mesmerizing. To my surprise, the house is a toy store, the toy display on the window attracted me to come inside. I was so happy to see my favorite toys, wishing I could have them.

I knocked on the door and a man in a fancy suit opened it. He welcomed me warmly, he is a good looking man, well-mannered, and tall. He gave me a tour of the toy store. I love that night.

"My name is Edvard. May I know your name?" He asked.

"I'm Kloe."

"That's a sweet name! I thought you would like this one," Edvard showed me a teddy bear.

"Yeah, I like it. All the toys here are amazing!"

"Thank you, I am the one who makes them." He proudly said. Then he moved away and continued talking, "I know toys make every kid, like you, happy. Toys ignite the imagination, it introduces creativity, and it makes us feel satisfied. Toys are better friends. They won't leave you, they will stay with you. You can be happy alone with them not needing anyone. If they get broken they will not be angry at you. You may forsake them, but toys will not forsake you as humans do."

I was listening as it seems to me he changed. He uttered words of bitterness in life and friends. But he became calm, his joyfulness returned.

"I would like to give you this bear toy as a token of appreciation. I think you shouldn't carry that pillow with you. Why are you carrying a pillow, by the way? You look great having this toy with you instead."

"Thank you, Sir, but I cannot accept that toy. Besides, this is the pillow of my sister, this is important to me."

"That makes me sad, it's a gift that you refuse. You can always get a pillow, but this toy is special. It wouldn't leave you, you will not feel lonely again. I can see in your eyes the sorrow. This is the one you need. Take it. This toy is yours."

I felt something strange looking at the toy. I know I shouldn't give him Narra's pillow, but I was so tempted to get the toy and cure my loneliness.

I gave Edvard the pillow and he gave me the toy. The toy bear came to life and started to growl and turned aggressive against me. I threw it away. I saw Edvard laughing at me with a sinister face. I made a mistake, I shouldn't trust him.

"Did you know what is this pillow? I know you didn't, it's power. A power to conquer was in your hands all this time, and now it's mine!" He mocked me and laughed hard. Then he raised his hands, large toys from shelves came to life and stood on his side.

"This pillow is the portal to the Nightmare Realm. Never thought I could touch this. I can now conquer the Dream World and rule everything in it! The Akumu is looking for it! But now the power is mine!"

I can't understand what's going on, and what he was saying. I was so afraid. Never thought Narra's pillow would have some kind of power.

The toys attacked me but I ran towards the door. Enemies are everywhere, they blocked every exit. One toy tackled me hard, I was so hurt. I stood and fled wherever I can find a place to hide.

.....

I hid in a room and locked it. The toys struck the door, they are determined to get me. I knew they could break the door anytime. I tried to look around and think. I saw a small window above. I climbed on the table then to the cabinet. I opened the small window and learned it leads to the factory. The window is higher on the factory side, I hesitated to jump. However, I heard the toys broke the door and I left no choice but to jump and I fell on sacks of cotton.

I saw a cabinet in the factory and I hid inside it. The toys rushed to the factory and inspected everything. They swarmed the place. I was frightened, I pulled my hair to wake up, but nothing happened.

There was a light entering the cabinet's uneven doors. It casts to a large bear in front of me. The stuffed toy was unfinished and lifeless. I removed some cotton inside before I clothed the teddy bear to myself. I grasped an enemy toy was approaching the cabinet. It opened the door and saw me. I thought it would hurt me; however, it just walked away. I moved out from the cabinet and I found out they can't recognize me anymore wearing this teddy bearskin.

I escaped the factory to find Edvard and to retrieve Narra's pillow. For every inch of the house, large toys were moving which I am certain were looking for me. I saw a toy entered a room and I followed it inside. The room is Edvard's and attendant toys were lurking and I moved inside discreetly. I approached his bed, he is laying with Narra's pillow on his head. He couldn't sleep and was very anxious.

He stood and screamed, "Get rid of her! This pillow will not submit to me if she is still alive!" He went back to bed to lay his head on Narra's pillow.

While Edvard was laying on his side, I crawled and went on the opposite side of the bed to pull the pillow. He sensed me crawling on his bed, he pushed me. I fell from the bed and I saw his pocketwatch fell too. He immediately moved to get the pocketwatch. I rushed to grab it and I was successful. I saw Edvard's face showing disbelief and fear. He violently ran towards me. I crawled in fear but the toys approached me. I couldn't escape it, I curled to cover myself. But the toys attacked Edvard and he fought back. He fled limping from the room carrying Narra's pillow. I followed Edvard and I saw the toys chasing him. He was being attacked by mobs of toys.

I learned the toys obey whoever holds the pocketwatch. I ordered the toys to capture Edvard. He was overwhelmed and hurt badly, he abandoned the pillow and escape.

I cried as I sat in front of Narra's pillow. I went outside and I was shocked to see Edvard laying unconscious on the ground, in front of the Riddle Man.

I woke up in this strange dream. What was stranger was having the pocketwatch in my hand. I kept the pocketwatch up to this day. This proved that my nightmares are real.

[fallendownfallenback]

Interesting stuff about Chara and Frisk. I remember Integ's line about there being "something else in the Ruins. Something... very angry, and very, very sad.", which is what made her leave the Ruins in the first place. I am curious, though; Have you ever heard of Judgement Boy's Narrator Chara Theory (Or as I like to call it, the Scapegoat Theory), and if so, does it apply to NSHE? Cool stuff on River, too, and I just figured, after nearly a year, you'd have found some new music that suits NSHE.

I was familiar with the narra Chara theory yes, though I hadn’t seen Judgement Boy’s video and took an opportunity to watch it. It’s an interesting theory, but not one that I can really say is very applicable to NS, I’m afraid.

One really important thing to note about NS, which I’ve stressed in responses to questions on AO3 about the fic before, is that its largest removal from the game is the fact that NS turns Undertale into a narrative story. All the meta stuff in Undertale simply... doesn’t work well in a story like this, and as such the player as an entity really doesn’t exist in NS. There are only three characters in the story with a near-omniscient understanding of what’s going on and an ability to pull strings behind the scenes, and one of those is Chara.

I should be honest and admit I love writing morally ambiguous characters, and that’s very much the role Chara will play in NS. They are not some inherently evil monster from birth, but they aren’t a protagonist either. 

NS is largely based off my feelings and perceptions from when I first played the game (I’d say there were about 2 months of design work between when I played and when NS first got released, long before a lot of meta theories started coming out), and I have always felt that Chara’s writing was very interesting and complex. The meta theories and ideas the fandom has developed about them are amazing, but they were definitely written to be disturbing and borderline scary. Toby Fox does everything with intention in Undertale, and while I don’t doubt some of the scapegoat theories may be on to something, Chara is not presented with a forgiveness like the other characters, which to me makes it feel whatever we can’t see going on in the background suggests they have a level of power in the situation we don’t give them credit for, which is also how I choose to write them. 

The closest thing I can point to on my feelings about Chara and how I intend to write them are from a couple of my favorite characters from FMA: Brotherhood-- Envy and Pride, both of which are incredibly well-done villains in their own right, but are also more complex characters than given credit for on first look. 

I’m personally satisfied with the character choices for my Chara I’ve made in my outlines and plans, at least. I’ll just have to wait and see if the readers will as well.