#Probably won't get ut but I want to try

[iloveschiaparelli]

I am officially in debt to my bank (I don't own a credit card). Duolingo charged me 83 dollars for a 1 year subscription so before it hit my bank I moved all my money to cashapp. Thankfully my refund request was approved, but then I had to pay my rent and there were a bunch of other charges so now the -amount in my bank account exceeds what I'm holding in my cashapp.

I have leftover stock from going to otakon artist alley and I have some plants in painted pots so I'm thinking can earn money quick by

Attending the punk rock free market on Sunday 1 week away and just selling everything that I can. Not just art prints and buttons but plants & YA books too (I have leftover volumes I've been trying to get rid or including a signed copy). I can HOPE that people will like my stuff enough that I'll make 1-200 and be able to pay my bills but also have enough stock left over to pay for more. It was a $700 investment to stock my art business and if I sell everything now and don't put anything back in, i wont ve able to invest that amount again.

Doordash (includes taking -70 psychic damage) even though my area is SLOW and I probably won't make back that amount even in an afternoon

My mom owes me a $150 loan that I haven't asked her for yet. She probably forgot so that will be a hassle to obtain. I originally asked for the loan to pay for Otakon 2024 table if I get in, but I've been waitlisted and as it is right now, even with a loan from her I wouldn't be able to afford the table or the lodging costs. The downside is that then I would be in debt to my mom instead of the bank and it wouldn't actually be clearing any debt. But, then I wouldn't have to worry about my account closing or being charged overdraw fees.

Back to the punk rock market thing, I could sell family heirlooms including a couple of sarees I got from family members. I think one of them is that fancy silk(?) And they're both hand embroidered/woven so they would each go easily for 100+ if not several times more. But that is a TERRIBLE idea. I would ask my aunt for money before selling those. But I also have a Japanese jewelry box and a sword and some cool rocks just auugghhhhhhhh they're all either special gifts from people or i have a super emotional attachment to them. They could go to the pawn shop also IG or some antique seller i just don't. Want to. This is a last resort option.

I have a job, but there has only been $500 worth of work for in the last month because of problems upstream of my boss. I cleared out my savings last month and this month and the only reason I have money right now is because of the $200 in forgotten cash/from my grandma. I paid my rent and insurance for June so I have a little bit of time before it hits the fan but I'm about to be in big trouble if I don't start making money FAST.

Ive been aching for another part time or alternative full time job but my area is just Not Really Hiring right now and I'm not the only person who has been beating themselves senseless trying to find employment. Being autistic doesn't help because I can't do some jobs or I'll burn out within a week.

[elsa-fogen]

So. On the topic of Alastor headcannons. What's your opinion on these radio themed ones:

Alastor has an internal radio. Like the concept of having songs play through your head, but more literal. He can tune to stations as if he was a radio himself. And if he really wants to, he can connect himself to other radios in his immediate vicinity and play that music though them instead.

His antlers help his radio powers. So when they get damaged (in battle, sheds them, whatever reason you wanna put here) his internal radio goes bazerk. Think; flipping stations randomly, connecting to other radios when he doesn't want it to, playing loud static at random. All the chaos.

He can hear through other radios. He once had to listen to Vox playing Barbie Girl through a TV right next to a radio in Vox's studio, for a week straight. Surely enough; Barbie Girl is now banned from all radio stations in hell.

What do you think? I got more like these if you like them. Give me a generic topic and I can probably list several under that category.

OHH RADIO HEASCANONS

Yes, but he also can turn it on and off when he needs

Never thought about it, but it's funny (don't think i'm going to use it anywhere but who knows, maybe i'll make some funzies with that)

Pretty much used it in one my comic slihdsdkjfh +headcanon that Vox taught him that, he also can control when and which radio he wants to listen (or his head would be a horrible mess) ut i like headcanon that he has some songs banned on the radio lol

speaking of other radiostations, i actually made an instruction on How To get Your Own Radio Station In Hell, let me just find it real quick... i wanted to share it long ago, but couldn't find a moment

Imagine you're a normal sinner in hell, who suddenly wants to become radio host for one small station. and it's possible! and you won't even die, and get some benefits, if succeed. So, it's kinda hard, but doable

1. You need to write a letter asking for a permission to have your own station to The Radio Demon himself. a) letter should be handwritten, and your handwriting must be at least readable. Or you can use typewriter, if you find one. DO NOT write it on a computer and then print, you'll probably won't be able to get your station in following 50 years b) You should send your letter via post. DO NOT try to meet Radio Demon in person, you'll just lose time, or even if you get lucky, he won't take your letter. b*) Now you can just come to Hazbin Hotel and give your letter to Charlie Morningstar and ask her to give it to Radio Demon. Don't worry, she won't read it. b**) You should leave your contacts, that's obligatory if you want to get an answer - that means you have to have a place to live. c) Do not try to e-mail him, he doesn't even have a phone or computer to receive it. If someone gives you 100% totally real Radio Demon's e-mail - don't trust them, its fake 2. You'll get answer from the Radio Demon in 1-2 weeks, he'll send you set of papers which you have to fill out. You'll probably have to do it 3-4 times so don't worry, he's just testing your dedication. In these papers you give general info about your future radio station - the name, schedule, what activities you'll gonna have and what kinds of music wanna play. Include some jazz, especially if you mostly want to have modern music. You'll also have to tell a bit about yourself. You absolutely should not be connected to voxtech in any way. 2.b) he may simply dislike your ass and become a real bureaucratic monster. Keep trying - you can impress him with you dedication and he may like you in the end 3. When you got your application approved, you'll have to sign a contract, that gives you right to broadcast on a certain radio frequency. According to the contract - your radio station belongs to the Radio Demon, you'll just getting it in unlimited use, until the contract terminated. You DO NOT sell your soul to the Radio Demon. He can broadcast over you any time he needs and you can't do anything about it. He can also ask you to change something in your broadcast schedule, ask to replace of cancel any of your programs, ban music and so on. (Tho, he probably won't do anything of it). But since your radio station is his property, you're as well under his protection while you on your station, so if someone attacks you and you're unable to protect yourself and your station, you'll have a way to contact him and ask for help. You'll have a specific channel for it and list of morse codes for emergencies. You should not use this channel for anything else, or you'll lose your station. 4. After all paperwork is done and approved, you have to get equipment for your station. DO NOT use ANYTHING voxtech related, and you absolutely cannot have TV on your station. 5. After you got all the equipment, invite the Radio Demon to your station. He'll set everything up for you and give you list of emergency codes. Do not try to interrupt his infodumps even if you lost track of it and can't understand shit, it's better if you show enthusiasm. 6. And done! Now you are happy small radio host! The Radio Demon may show up on your station sometimes to check how everything's going, but don't worry about it, he won't be bother you too often after few weeks.

P. S. You are NOT friends with the Radio Demon, even if he acts friendly and calls you "dear" - that's just his normal, not-threatenning behavior P. P. S. Don't be too personal, don't dump on him your problems if they aren't related to the station when he comes to you. Just make him some coffee, talk about weather and tell that everything works just fine P. P. P. S. ABSOLUTELY! DO NOT! TRY TO HUG HIM! He'll just laugh at you, and if you somehow succeed he'll make everything to make you regret every action in your life and afterlife that led you to this moment (and it doesn't necessarily means he will torture you physically, once he run into masacistic freak that got a boner when was tortured) P. P. P. P. S. If you caught feelings for him - suffer in silence and NEVER try to confess. You'll lose your station immediately and will never get it back.

All these instructions are totally written by Rosie who heared so many complaints from Alastor about how people want to become a radio host but can't do it properly

And Alastor is probably making them experience what he went through to become a radio host in life

GOD, TUMBLR WHY UR SUCH AN ASS TODAY WTF LET ME JUST POST MY SILLY TEXT

[cloudyskydreams]

Confessing headcanons UT,UF,US!

This is not my favorite so far. Oh well though my internets spotty and I wanted to get something out while I know I have some. Reds is by far my favorite I love him sm. As always hope you enjoy!

Undertale:

Sans: It'd have to be you confessing. Sans has his insecurities and doubts and they would hold him back from confessing. He might make hints more known like more flirty jokes than normal and he's a bit more protective of you but he won't outright confess when crushing. If he does it's accidental and happens because he got too comfortable. He probably whispered it or said it too quite to hear all the way and you have to ask him to repeat himself. Que a joke while sweating.

If confessed to: He's a little shocked, are you…sure? He doesn't know what to say all jokes he's ever learned slip out the holes in his skull lost to the void. You probably have to break the silence by repeating yourself or assuring him you mean it and he tears up slightly. He never expected you'd actually like him back he's a little overwhelmed just let him ride it out and you can cuddle and kiss his tears away afterwards.

Papyrus: Very likely to confess first. He's a straightforward man he knows he's got feelings he's gonna share them! He plans it all out and definitely looks up a wikiHow or some other manual on the perfect date just because it helps him feel better prepared. He'd wait till a lull in the activities to confess maybe after dinner or after a movie. He's nervously waiting for your response but he's just happy he finally let you know how much he truly cares for you.

If confessed to: He's overjoyed!! He'll reciprocate and give you a big hug maybe a smooch on the cheek. He basically sweeps you away and says you have to celebrate with a date. He definitely takes a picture to celebrate this man scrapbooks.

Underfell:

Red: This dude confessing? Yeah right he believes he has absolutely zero chance with anyone and feels like that would be setting himself up for the ultimate failure. He's happy to live with his delusions and daydreams thank you very much. That doesn't stop accidents from happening and he might have said something a little too sweet about you. Something about how much he loves your laugh or something about your smile or eyes. He's sweating hoping you didn't catch it. He might even teleport out if your reaction is big enough.

If being confessed to: He's actually a little angry and defensive at first. He thinks you're playing a prank on him he doesn't understand. Out of everyone why him he's a piece of shit, pervert, couldn't raise his brother right, can't do anything right… He starts spiraling. Reassure him maybe with some light physical touch it'll help ground him. He'll calm down and play it off but keep showing you're interested and he'll come around.

Edge: Hes pretty straightforward with it all. He thinks that's the best way to get it done. He invites you over for a home cooked meal because why settle for less than the best when he's trying to impress someone. Not that he should have to try to impress you he naturally does he reminds himself to ease his anxiety. He's definitely not extremely anxious over this whole thing. He presents the meal to you and takes compliments in pride they also help soothe this anxiety. Once the meals over he'll confess offering you your favorite flowers. He's blushing a carmine red and is struggling to maintain eye contact.

If confessed to: Takes it in stride. Of course you would have affections for someone as great and terrible as him. He's blushing and screaming internally but don't point out the blush or he'll deny it and sweep you away. He declares since you're in a relationship it's important you stay by his side so other monsters know not to mess with you. He likes feeling like he's protecting you even if it's just being in your company.

Underswap:

Stretch:He's worked himself up for this hella. He's a little nervous because if he's actually into you it's a whole nother ballpark. He's a bit of a flirt that's for sure but he's not used to anything besides flirting and lustful glances and stuff romance is something else entirely. He sets up a cute scenario maybe finds a way to play you his guitar because he's a dork and he'll stutter a bit while confessing.

If being confessed to: Is super happy and sweeps you into a hug. This takes the pressure off of him to do it and he's honestly flattered someone would confess to him. Impressed you had the balls to do what he was struggling with. He wants to celebrate with a game night at his house and he excitedly tells his brother what happened that night.

Blue: He's got it all planned out. He asks you on a date he'll know you'll be most comfortable on and actually enjoy. Dresses up slightly and gets you one of your favorite flowers. The date goes smoothly and he confesses at the end when taking you home after telling you he had a goodnight. He hopes you'll accept and if you do you get a cheek kiss and a very happy Blue. He definitely blogs about it later on

If being confessed to: He's impressed you beat him to he, he's quick with it once he realizes you return his affections. He happily accepts and smooches your cheek while pulling you into a hug. A sleepover is a must and he invites you back home so he can cook dinner and you guys can have an at home date.

[nogenderbee]

♡˗ˏ✎*ೃ˚ 𝕋𝕠𝕠 𝕒𝕟𝕩𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤 ₊˚ˑ༄

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ @wabatle request: HELLO HELLO HERE I AM WITH ANOTHER OBEY ME REQUEST 😋😋😋🔥🔥🔥

anyways!! can I request Lucifer, Satan, Asmo, Belphie and Diavolo with a partner that has really bad social anxiety? like they have a hard time talking to people and freeze up when they have to talk to someone, and they tend to overthink things they say a lot (me overthinking while I write this 🤑🤑)

THANKS POOKIE LOVE YOU 😘😍

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ WELCOME BACK LOVE!!

Yes you can!!! Also I dunno if this is considered short or no buuuuuut I feel like it kinda is so I'm very sorry for that but I don't really like forcing so I just wrote whatever popped into my head 😔

Either way! I hope you like it!!

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ fluff

✧ Lucifer would be rather patient with you...

✧ his 2nd younger brother is pretty social anxious too so he probably knows kinda what to do

✧ he'll try getting you out first with date ideas and so on, slowly getting you into going out more

✧ he'll do some talks but won't ever make you feel ignored, asking you about your opinion from time to time, even if it would be small nod

✧ he definitely likes taking pride in the fact that he's always the one who you ask to talk for you (even if you do it just because you have no other choice)

"Yes, we'll take two of these. Would that be correct, dearest? Or is there something more you'd like?"

✧ he's slowly getting you to talk more by gently pushing you to place your order by yourself and slowly goes onwards, trying to be patient with you

✧ if he won't see any results tho... he might get a bit pissed off, but he also knows it won't do anything...

✧ he might just need to think of something else... But how long will it take? Guess it only depends on you and how willing you'll be to cooperate!

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@wabatle - come get your scary brother!

✧ Satan most likely does slightly more research about it just to make sure he knows how to treat person struggling with that

✧ recognizing it in his brother, he'll probably also try asking him, but he doesn't get many information there in the end...

✧ he tries his best to help you but he's actually a bit forceful with pushing you towards talking more

✧ he's the type to not say a word when you finally come to counter at cafe, and when you look at him, he'll just look at you expectingly...

"C'mon. You can do it."

✧ even if you'd be stuttering, he's still gonna be proud of you!

✧ and don't worry if someone laughs or teases you about that... he'll most likely get pissed off for that quite easily and... you can figure out the rest...

✧ he'll sometimes ask you straightforward if you need any help from his side but he'll try not to spoil you by ALWAYS talking for you. You need to get some practice as well after all!

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@miya-akane @wabatle - come get your pretty princess~

✧ Asmo is literally like your opposite! Yet, you somehow landed in relationship together... How? Good question! But none of you really mind~

✧ though he does get a bit worried about you sometimes...

✧ he tried getting you out on many parties, trying to convince you it's gonna be fun and that he'll be by your side but... it ended differently...

✧ if you agreed, he definitely stayed with you but he also invited quite a large group to hangout with you as well...

✧ if you didn't, he's most likely to be a bit pouty for a little while... but he'll get over ut soon!

"C'mon, Y/N!! Just one party! I swear I won't even drink more than one glass, please! It'll be fun! We can even dance together there, hm~?"

✧ he usually just drags you with him wherever he goes hoping it'll work

✧ he's not really good with this, so you may want to be just honest with him and it'll certainly give him better understanding of how he should handle your anxiety!

✧ if you tell him what he was doing wrong, prepare for wave of apology kisses and even more promises he'll try better now that he knows more about your problem

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@vodka-glrl @wabatle - come get your cat lover!

✧ Belphie will support you but... don't expect him to push you towards going out more

✧ if anything, he may hold you back just because he's not done sleeping yet

✧ whenever you tell him you talked with someone on your own, he'll always praise you for that!

✧ though whenever you have little debate if you should go out or stay at home... he'll always tell you to stay at home and just take a nap with him which... doesn't really help your problem...

"Don't wanna go out? Yeah, me neither... Let's just take a nap."

✧ being with him would really require some motivation from you to overcome social anxiety...

✧ plus is he'll always leave the talking to you since he'll be too tired to do it himself, so whenever you drag him out, you'll get some practice in!

✧ if you're really too nervous tho... he'll drop few words every now and then to help you out

✧ and similar to Satan, don't worry about anyone laughing whenever you get nervous! He'll first drag you away but behind your back, he makes sure they learn their lesson...

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@miya-akane @wabatle - come get your sleepyhead~

✧ Diavolo is actually very understanding! But among all of that... he tends to spoil you by always doing the talking for you...

✧ if you ever feel like hopping in, he'll inmidietly shut up and let you speak tho!

✧ but don't expect him to slyly let you into a conversation... he'll be more than happy if you join on your own but he won't force you

✧ he'll also give you a little reward for every time you break your walls and open up to someone, even if you only said like one sentence

"Why of course! I want to treat you to cafe because of this very reason. I find it worthy to celebrate, don't you?"

✧ he probably will need you to tell him to push you sometime so you can break your walls more if you want him to get you to do that

✧ he'll still have a bit of trouble with forcing you but... he'll try his best! But he's teached to take first "no" so it may take a little while...

✧ either way, he'll shut up everyone who ever dares interrupt you. Not in a mean way... he's actually very polite but... he'll prioritize whatever you have to say over anyone else~

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@wabatle - come get your childish ruler!

[acerikus]

G o d. All gekkos' outertale posting makes me wanna talk more in depth about the characterisation and plot issues in this game and why they bother me...

(readmore bc holy fuck this got long, it's probably like 5k words. It's also pretty much all salt, categorised by character)

Toriel

Why. Why is she like this. Kinda feels like the creator of the game hates her and if they don't, they have a weird way of showing it. She's treated as overdramatic and unjustified in her anger at asgore despite the fact that he DID declare war on humanity and he DID willingly let the people believe he was killing human children to harvest their souls. Even if he didn't do it for real in this game, she has every right to be angry and to not trust him, and it CERTAINLY doesn't make her undeserving to be a mother or whatever. Idk about you, but I don't think wanting kids to stay away from a man yelling about wanting to kill every child that crosses him makes you a bad parent, even if it turns out he didn't really hurt anyone y'know?

They also REALLY zoned in on 'mother' with her in a way that doesn't really make sense here. I could maybe see her feeling guilty for making a snap judgement but how would that call her motherhood into question?

Sans saying isolation messed with her makes no sense too!!!! The outerlands or whatever they called the ruins isn't sealed off in this game, other monsters seem way less intimidated by her in this game than in undertale (she has friends! She knows sans by name and goes to napstablook's shows and even has their phone number!), and we outright get told she takes the taxi to get her groceries... Meaning she headed off to the rest of the outpost and probably does that often enough.

All things considered, Toriel seems fairly well adjusted in outertale, at least by outertale standards. Kinda then makes it feel like everyone's just trying to convince her she's hysterical and that... Sucks.

Also the fact that they added an ending where you stay with her and framed it as a bad ending that doomed everyone is... Really mean? It sucked ass I'm sorry :/

Sans

... Why is he like this. This take on Sans is absolutely infuriating tbh. The only positive I really have here is that his puns are kinda good, I've seen fangames that fuck up this element massively and it was kinda fun to see his interactions in starton.

Okay, back to salt. His whole 'i became a sentry to help humans' thing is trash. He didn't care about that in ut! He didn't care about that at all! The only reason he looks out for frisk is because he made a promise to toriel, and he hates breaking promises. He didn't want to let down his friend.

...Huh. realising this is yet another case of Toriel disrespect somehow. Yet another thing they took from her, that they then just... Handed over to sans instead. :/

His lack of backstory. Look, I get wanting something silly, but they took almost everything that makes sans interesting away. Not hyperfocusing on sans like certain aus do is nice, but it feels like in a lot of situations in this game they overcompensated by a long shot.

No mysterious past/origins. We know he worked with alphys I guess but???? Honestly I have a LOT to rant about for that part so I'll leave it for twinkly's section. And yet despite all this, Sans inexplicably bleeds in tpe when not even undertale has that happen? Make up your mind!

His role in non Asriel chaotic also... Sucks ass. I'm in a pretty awesome corner of the fandom in terms of the people I follow and the takes I see as a result, so if I'm honest, when I saw all those posts about 2024 fanon sans being indifferent to his brother's murder, I kinda just figured they were vaguing about this game. You're telling me that sans of all people just shrugs off you killing everyone and complains a little bit before letting you pass?! He should know alphys already ran off. He should know the only person left to stop you is asgore, and that it's obvious he won't. Part of this could be connected to how frisk is written perhaps, and much like the twinkly situation, I'll have much more to say on that further down.

I understand the creator didn't wanna have a sans fight in their game - however, if that's the case... Maybe come up with a reason for him to NOT show up in the last corridor, then? Have him busy helping with evacuations or something, or already dead like in the first chaotic ending... This was just sloppy.

Papyrus

Honestly he wasn't... Terrible. The phonecalls were fun even if most were cheap references (though they can be fun in fangames sometimes so I'm not mad at this lol). Him being extremely talented at making spaghetti is just one symptom of one of this game's biggest flaws, however. I really don't like how nobody's really allowed to be bad at anything or have any real struggles in this game - especially when spaghetti in undertale is used to demonstrate his relationship with undyne and the similar wavelength they're on when humans aren't involved. She's the one who started teaching him to cook it, it's deeply intertwined with his desire to be a royal guard, and it's something they suck at together. Him just inexplicably being good at it is... Weird, and feels really disconnected from their friendship and her reluctance to let him in the guard yknow?

Also: his boss final phase. Having the dog NOT take his special attack away this time was really funny admittedly but... Idk? Not only is the fight really unfair for pacifist/neutral and those who aren't as good at the game (ut never gets this hard outside of geno), it feels way too on the nose in terms of insisting he's strong and has powerful attacks. Undertale didn't need to overcompensate to get across that papyrus is strong and disciplined and the way you have to infer that in undertale is way cooler. I might just be nitpicking with this point tbh but it's whatever. Letting myself be a hater for once.

And don't get me started on him getting together with Mettaton. It seemed to come out of absolutely nowhere, the idea that they were already friends in this was glossed over really quickly and no time was really put into developing the relationship save for papyrus commenting on finding him attractive every few minutes.

Gotta be honest, I've never been a fan of this ship nor understood its popularity. Papyrus very briefly mentions thinking he's attractive in undertale, but it doesn't really go anywhere and I'm not even sure mettaton knows he exists. It feels like it was just kinda added because it's a popular ship and that's it, not sure it really contributes much to either of their arcs. It was a light-hearted celebrity crush in canon and never really tried to be more.

Oh, oops. Had more to say here than I thought.

Undyne

Not much to say here... I think she was okay, there's nothing super bad with her. I do think the way gerson kinda downplays her/lacks faith in her in the chaotic route kinda sucks and I think choosing to make her non-undying chaotic bossfight harder sure was A Choice, but it's whatever. Undying was weirdly easy in a way that didn't do her much justice. Honestly they didn't do enough with her for me to have a wall of complaints and I can't tell if that's a good thing or not. Her relationship with alphys didn't really amount to much and her lack of understanding of human culture doesn't really hit as hard when she's just talking about random sci-fi things that we have no way of knowing are real or not in this game's idea of the 2600s ourselves, y'know? Her love of anime (that she mistakenly thinks is human history) is pretty absent here except to validate her relationship with alphys in a very shallow way.

The Ghost Family

Hoo boy... Was gonna make this the mettaton section, but I wanted to talk about napstablook at the same time, so I'm just gonna lump them all together.

What. What the hell was this plotline.

It feels like they tried to go for 'smalltime farmer chases passion for stardom after feeling unfulfilled at home' and as I've seen someone else say, 'shy business owner struggles to talk to their cousin outside of work'. This would've been fine tbh, but... There's a lot of things in the execution of this that kinda grossed me out if I'm honest. I don't think they were intentional, but I think it could've been thought through a lot better to avoid some unfortunate implications - or even lean into them in a respectful way.

Firstly, the ghost family intervention was pretty long, awkward, and didn't feel like it really added much - especially when most people playing would already know mettaton's backstory anyway (and his house is still accessible like in undertale!!!!! What was the point?)

Mettaton airing out his family issues on live TV feels very ooc - he keeps that stuff very close to his chest and I doubt he'd like it getting out. Him entertaining any of that out in the open seems... Weird.

Speaking of the intervention, his cousins' treatment of him was horrifying! Part of it seems intentional and it's nice that there's at least one part in the game where characters are allowed to have flaws and do bad things but... There's also elements that feel like you're meant to agree with them? Their insistence that mettaton just come home and everything they did in the past with constantly badgering him to come and help out on the farm were rightfully treated as something that hurt mettaton's feelings and that gave napstablook and the others pause. That's (mostly, we'll come back to it later) fine. He called them out for it and they reflected on it, cool. The way his ghost form was utilised makes me extremely uncomfortable, however.

Napstablook talks about hearing 'the real [mettaton]' in the recording, right to his face, 'the real mettaton' in this scenario alluding to his ghost form. Considering mettaton is a trans allegory, this feels... Kinda gross? In a similar vein, when passing mettaton's quiz barriers, one of the questions is 'what is mettaton's true identity' and you have the option to deadname him (using a name papyrus literally just made up in undertale rather than having any kind of creativity ofc) Alphys' reaction is simply to ask how you know that which... Doesn't feel great. The correct answer is 'mettaton' ofc thankfully, but everything around this particular plot point feels weird. Maybe don't do that w the most prevalent trans allegory character..?

And ofc, they keep insisting he just come home, go back to working on the farm, go back to his family... Idk, gives me vibes of someone abandoning their shitty transphobic family and then insisting they want to see 'the real [deadname] again' and for them to abandon their new life and just go back to the way things were before. Not good.

All of this would still be okay for the most part since the ghost family are painted as being unfair to mettaton... But in true pacifist, he goes back to helping out with the farm anyway and talks about how he thinks he was probably just being dramatic after all, and how 'blooky didn't do anything that bad'

... What?

It takes me right back to Toriel's treatment. Napstablook, Maddie and lurksalot gave no real thought to mettaton's feelings, made it all about them and showed pretty much no support for his transition nor his career! Fuck those guys! It's funny - mettaton is pretty consistently a pompous asshole (affectionate) in undertale but here, I think all his feelings towards his family were COMPLETELY valid. Mettaton outertale didn't do anything wrong.

Lurksalot didn't feel like they contributed much to the story either, save to be yet another character treating mettaton like shit with zero consequences nor narrative judgement. They just made every ghost family event even more drawn out.

And then ofc!!!! Mettaton and Alphys' friendship is so bland in this game! They're two people who kinda know each other and she says some nice things about him in a letter in chaotic but that's about it. Their friendship and the subsequent conflict frisk's arrival brings to it in undertale is the heart of hotland and the core, but here it's just replaced with unnecessary, hard to watch, boring family drama. The two of them have no issues to work out. She doesn't ask too much of him. There's no funny quips and barely any chemistry at all. God forbid either of them have any real flaws.

One last thing: I'm glad maddie gets her mew mew body, it's nice. Wish it was an on-screen moment or something alluded to more though. Some of that time dragging out the family drama could've been used on that instead, y'know? Especially with napstablook getting the mew mew doll... Genuinely thought they were gonna show it to her when they first got hold of it, rather than dragging Frisk into their intervention. She should've gotten to be more mad, too. Kinda a big part of her identity.

Oh, and mettaton's no-asriel chaotic fight was bullshit. It was a nice spamton reference and the first phase was cool, but the second was utter bullshit and dragged out the fight way too long. Attacking him after snapping all the wires should've killed him im sorry. It's even more of a shame bc I genuinely really liked this game's mettaton neo fight - it was fun and creative and felt possible.

Holding myself back from adding any more to this bc I could go on and on, ugh.

Alphys

Alphys. For a game that tries to make her the star of it, it's actually kinda impressive how much they managed to take away from her and just how uninteresting she is in this game.

At the surface level she's awesome, powerful, and the star of the show. In my first playthrough I was actually pretty happy to see her thriving like this! The more routes I played and the more I thought about it though they just kinda... Declawed her. Took away all her flaws. Made her 'perfect' in a way that I don't think works at all.

The amalgamates never happened. None of her experiments went wrong. She never hid away from her mistakes, or lied to anyone (save for keeping Asgore's secret, which she has no negative feelings about), nor did she over engineer any situations to make herself seem cooler. She doesn't argue with Mettaton! She's confident and assertive! She's Asgore's right hand woman and next in line for the throne! And ofc, the badass final boss! What's not to love?

...But none of this is Alphys, is it?

Her anxiety isnt just because of the determination experiments, it's pretty clear she's always been a pretty shy and nervous person. In fact, based on her entries they were one of the things she was more confident in before it all went wrong. People are hard, but she knows science, y'know?

She doesn't get to be flawed or interesting - despite her presence, she's just a generic cool scientist who's suave with the ladies, I guess..?

She isn't particularly dorky, shes overly confident, she has zero issues to work through. Her relationship with undyne is perfect (derogatory) and her infodumping about anime just before the archive feels very forced, like they remembered last minute that she does that and thought it should be included somehow.

Depicting what she'd be like in a scenario where the determination experiments never happened is a fun and interesting idea! But deltarune demonstrates how to do that well, and I think they completely missed the mark. The way she talks, her body language, the way she acts around others in general... These things are universal constants and yet in outertale, she's basically a different person entirely.

Outertale alphys isn't allowed to lie (save to cover for asgore Secretly Being A Good Person), she isn't allowed to miscalculate, she isn't allowed to mis-speak or make mistakes or do anything she'd regret. She feels like an alphys written by someone who hates her in canon and thinks all her flaws make her terrible and unlikable. I doubt this is the case since I don't think a person like that would've given her such prevalence, but that's the level of love and attention I feel was given to her writing here. It makes me sad.

And, of course... The DT experiments and her fight.

... Why did she have vials of determination if all the humans are alive? Did she take it from them? If so, was this before or after they went into stasis? We know she's not been the royal scientist for long in relation to how long humans have been falling, so did ROMAN take the determination? How much of this did she even DO?

Why did she and sans even DO anything with determination? It... Doesn't really make sense.

Speaking of determination, why did she melt at the end of her fight? I'd assume she's injected herself with determination as one of the vials in her lab is mentioned to be partially used, but I'm pretty sure it's also like this on pacifist. Was that overlooked? Are we just meant to assume it's MORE depleted? Does she just have natural determination now because She's So Cool And Badass? This isn't even really a complaint about the fight, more just how poorly that part of her lab is handled lmao

But getting into her fight... Idk, it didn't really feel like her. A lot of it was just random bullshit that was hard for the sake of being hard, that didn't really seem to be tied to her identity very well at all. People complain a lot about the Zenith Martlet fight in undertale yellow but that's done far better than this, imo. It clearly reflects martlet's character, personality and canonical bullet patterns (we see Alphys' in ut tpe!), there's a genuine feeling of progression in the fight and the act you're given to help with the fight feels more effective - you can still damage her on her turn, so taking a turn to heal act doesn't feel like a waste. The Asriel acts though... They just don't last long enough to feel that worth it? Sure they're okay, but in general, you get a lot less time to breathe. Martlet's fight lets you retry from phase 2 if you die. Sans' in undertale gives you as many turns as you need to heal while he's sparing you. Alphys' fight just feels like it's made to feel un-fun and painful throughout in a way that just isn't worth it, and doesn't really feel like it fits her personality either, y'know? The fight was just a slog and like many others, I had zero motivation to finish it legit. I don't think it helps that the undyne and mettaton fights in this route are fairly easy and simple in comparison.

Tldr: they took away everything that makes alphys endearing, fun and interesting. This isn't alphys at all.

Asgore

A huge chunk of this essay accidentally got deleted, including my first attempt at writing this section. In it, I mentioned that the Asgore apologism went way too far.

This time though, I don't think I'd even call it that. Reflecting on it, it feels less like an attempt to defend him and more like a way to hate on and spite Toriel.

Seriously. So much of his character basically just feels like someone going 'fuck you toriel. I'm giving EVERYTHING to asgore.'

It's... Really weird?

Asgore having a way out of killing humans is an interesting concept! Outertale takes place 500 years in the future compared to undertale, so the idea that they have the resources and technology to do that is kinda cool and in theory, exploring this idea sounds really fun. In practice though, it feels like it was mostly done to make Toriel out to be an asshole for no reason and to laugh at her for ever assuming he would've really killed anyone (despite... Y'know. Telling everyone that's what he was doing.)

He just. Completely moved on from Toriel without a second thought seemingly, and doesn't even look that affected by seeing her turn up again - meanwhile SHE'S got crumpled up tea recipes in the trash and all the Sad Divorced Energy - it doesn't really fit either of them! Toriel wasn't really given a reason to miss him like that, and I think even if he DID fully move on, he'd be way happier to see her than that.

All his leading statements on how she must feel in LV1 pacifist sucked ass also, especially with the way she kinda just agreed that yeah, she feels like shit for not trusting that he'd suddenly do a 180 and not hurt anyone (AGAIN. AFTER HE CONTINUED TO LET EVERYONE BELIEVE THIS) and that she must feel unworthy of being a mother. She hadn't even said half of this in front of him yet! He put words in her mouth! That in itself would be fine (social blunders are pretty normal for asgore after all) but it... Wasn't treated like that. It was handled as if this was a sweet and compassionate thing for him to say which... Yikes.

And ofc he gets to adopt frisk, and monster kid, and get to have Asriel live with him! His fatherhood is never called to question in undertale, but ofc Toriel's motherhood has to be here. Hell, despite their divorced status, if you talk to gerson in tpe it's highly implied frisk asks if asgore would start aging again if he became their dad! Idk, all of this part just reeked of Toriel hate and nothing more. Asgore is just yet another character to get sanded down and de-clawed and it sucks. So much of what makes him interesting is his mistakes and flaws and how they impact him, y'know?

Twinkly

I wanna start this by saying I don't think his writing is too bad. It's not amazing by any means but by outertale standards, he's one of the better written characters. That being said, Flowey is my favourite character of all time so I'm still gonna be critical.

So they did save the goat. Save the goat aus really aren't my thing nowadays - I feel like so often people act like he's a separate person to Flowey entirely and act like the alarm clock app dialogue doesn't exist. Asriel didn't end the story as a doomed tragedy fated to fade away! Flowey ended the story as someone who finally got closure on the loss of his best friend, and can finally learn to move on, even if it takes him a while to adjust. I don't think he needs to be a goat again for that.

That being said, I know these kinda aus are a big wish fulfilment thing for a lot of the fandom that aren't even necessarily something people want to be canon as much as they just wanna explore the idea and see him truly happy, so I won't judge that element too harshly. People are allowed to have fun, and I think save the goat can be fine if it respects him as flowey rather than separating them.

I really like that they allow Asriel to be fucked up and an asshole rather than him soft rebooting into some Sweet Perfect Little Prince once he returns to his old form, like so many other save the goat takes. Even in lv0's ending he struggles to bite back insults and mean comments aimed at Monster Kid which is... Admittedly kinda refreshing! There's definitely some flowey (or I guess in this case, twinkly) behaviour that still comes through here and I'm glad. This carried over to chaotic, too. While his characterisation wasn't perfect, this at least felt like twinkly obtaining a few form and continuing to play with the world, rather than your standard Asriel take. I also really liked that he remembers and acknowledges chaotic if done before pacifist, that was neat and adds to his character (as far as this game goes) I think.

However, onto the biggest, glaring issue I have with him.

Why. Why does he exist.

No, seriously.

In its attempt to make the world perfect, a world that blatantly only exists so the creator could make a save the goat ending, mind, there's no reason for the goat to need to be saved at all. Nor for him to exist after dying back when Chara lived with the dreemurrs.

Asgore isn't killing humans, so the souls don't need to be absorbed by anyone. Frisk can just enter the archive and lend their power to destroy the forcefield themselves, so there's no ultimatum like there is in undertale - there's no implied tradeoff of Frisk's life for the freedom of monsters without twinkly's intervention. In undertale, flowey's messing around opened up an ending that would've otherwise been impossible, something that worked for everyone.

Without him existing at all here, frisk could've broken the barrier just fine. All it really added to pacifist was a couple extra boss fights and asgore being dead for two minutes. And him being saved I guess but again, there's no real story justification for him being here EXCEPT to pat yourself on the back for saving him.

Why was he created? In undertale it's pretty clear - they wanted a vessel to hold all the souls in for now during the true lab experiments. He exists because Alphys selected the first flower to ever grow in the garden and injected it with determination that she extracted from the human souls.

... But all the humans are... Alive and well in outertale? They don't need a vessel to contain their souls. They don't need to extract any determination from anyone. Again, why do they HAVE vials of determination? And why did she inject one into a flower?

AND THAT'S THE OTHER BIG THING. It's established she and sans injected a starling flower for... Whatever reason. SO WHY THE HELL IS TWINKLY A CARTOON STAR?!

This point makes absolutely no sense at all. He looks absolutely nothing like a starling flower nor does he behave like a flower at all, which is confusing if that's what he started as. Honestly, I think it would've made more sense to just keep him as Flowey if they were gonna include him at all, and just have his appearance reflect a starling flower instead of a golden flower.

This applies to his fight too. Mechanically I think it's AWESOME, but the visuals are... Just very very boring. A huge part of why his fight in the original is so good it's the bizarre and chaotic nature of it, the horror elements, and the way so much of flowey's trauma in terms of how he was created and the things he finds scary was put on blast for all to see. The combination of mechanical and organic elements, all the plants and insects... Idk, just going 'hmm he's a star. Let's have him go through a star life cycle' is boring, there's no visual appeal.

If his creation is so vague and wishy washy, this would've been a great opportunity to flesh it out more. How was he created? What kinds of technology and machinery did alphys use to put all this together? How did she (or roman????? unclear) get the determination? What does twinkly remember?

That leads me onto a tangentially related topic - his trauma. I... Don't think this was shown very well. He talks a bit about BEING traumatised from the lab, but telling isn't the same as showing and canon flowey is terrible at hiding it, whereas I'd just as easily believe outertale Asriel made it up for sympathy points. He never really projects, he doesn't force anyone else to experience anything like he did, nothing like that. He's just a cocky asshole who likes killing, and who eventually decides to start being nice.

This game constantly seemed to be speedrunning ways to get him from being twinkly to being Asriel as quickly as possible in almost every single route which... Huh???? It's weird. Would've been nice to let him be a star more rather than just Asriel...

(final amendment bc I lost a huge chunk of this essay originally and had to rewrite it, and I'm realising I didn't manage to fit this in this time... How does a single monster soul let him get his Asriel form again? Sure he's still treated as if soulless and it doesn't make him a good person, but if he was 'so tired of being a star', why hadn't he tried doing this sooner? It makes no sense...)

For a game that exists to give him a good ending, it's so ironic how little he needs to exist at all in this world. Just goes to show what it looks like when you go too far with 'fixing' things or removing stuff you seem 'too problematic' for the sake of being wholesome or whatever.

Chara

Speaking of which... Look I'm just gonna say it. This version of Chara sucks so bad.

Chara is one of my favourite characters - they're really interesting, morally grey, and a fascinating way for undertale as a game to interface with us as players.

They're a child who likely saw the worst of humanity, then found themselves in a home with family who genuinely loved them once they fell down and met the monsters. Their intense saviour complex made them feel like the best way to help their family was to sacrifice their own life to get enough souls to break them free (and once they realised they had control, get payback against the humans while they were at it). They could be mean-spirited and a prankster. They valued efficiency HIGHLY. Their favourite number was nine because it's the limit, the absolute, a way to stop hurting and to stop others hurting.

And by doing geno, you can push this fixation on stats further. Max out all your stats. Gain power. Get stronger. Become invincible. Nobody can hurt any more if the world is gone. And ofc, they stand as the final arbiter of consequences for the player. Your punishment for killing everyone and for pushing them into believing it needs to be completed. Chara both IS is and is separate from us in a way that can't really be fully disentangled and it's really, really cool.

Anyway, enough gushing about undertale Chara. What's outertale Chara in comparison?

... Nothing.

They're nothing.

Outertale Chara narrates occasionally. They're a ghost that follows frisk around, but aren't confined to that, and have been actively wandering the underground since their death. They also still have a SOUL for some reason? This part doesn't really make sense at all.

Other than sacrificing themself and maybe wanting to take out a few humans after Asriel absorbs them, they don't do anything that could be considered bad ever. The most devious thing they ever do is snatch Asriel's diary to leave a silly comment in there when they first arrive at the outpost (sans does this with Toriel's phone in undertale tpe for comparison lmao). Despite what Asriel seems to believe, Chara is completely absent from the chaotic route - never getting corrupted, never caring about our stats, never wanting to hurt anyone, never even trying to make us face any consequences. They're just... Not here. For a character so prevalent in the murder based route of undertale this is fucking wild.

They all but vanish if you so much as say something slightly mean to someone, too! It's strange, makes no sense, and just like with sans, it feels like they overcompensated waaaaaaay too much for the people who insist they're evil. On top of that, if you do chaotic before lv0, they don't even remember chaotic happening! They'd may as well have just been a member of the ghost family who likes following Frisk around when they're especially nice. Like Asgore and alphys, they've been sanded down and de-clawed to be 'wholesome' and 'perfect', and it just results in a bland, boring character who loses anything that made them interesting, nuanced and fun.

'Chara wasn't the greatest person'... Why, though? They don't have enough substance in this game for that line to really have as much impact.

Frisk

I'm gonna be honest - I actually ADORED their frisk at first, and I think that's because I started with a neutral run and ended up drawing them a lot. They felt silly and mischievous and interesting, and this continued into chaotic. They seem pretty chill with what's going on but then take that even further by being hilariously affectionate with Asriel and still doing silly things like being up for picking up the electrodampening fluid or drinking directly out of the fountain. They felt like a funny little mini-kris (save for being okay with all the murder ofc).

Then uhhhhhhh... That's when I experienced the second chaotic ending, the one without Asriel, as well as lv0. I feel like they definitely DID try to lean on the Kris angle on purpose in terms of their feelings on being controlled and stuff but it???? Just doesn't work very well? There's no ambiguity to this version of frisk once you've seen all the routes. Just like EVERYONE ELSE, they're just a perfect little angel who would never do anything wrong and anything past lv0 is just the eeeeeevil player influence or whatever. Come on, we have deltarune for that kinda approach to control 😭 (though even then, Kris is a layered and interesting character who isn't goodness and innocence personalised, and that's why they're cool)

In undertale, we have no idea what frisk is like as a person. WOULD they spare everyone without our influence? Would they kill? Would they be a scared child lashing out in self defense? Would they run from everything, then give up and let themselves die permanently somewhere? We just don't know! We're not supposed to know! It feels like it went back to the very early fandom interpretation where frisk is Good And Sweet and Innocent while Chara is evil incarnate - except this time they're BOTH the former.

It's a contradiction too! Why in the Asriel chaotic route are they so down to follow him, and pet him, and hug him every chance they get if they don't like all the stuff we're making them so? The player has no influence over Twinkly. Every single thing he did, he chose to do, and yet even if the only time frisk has seen him was him destroying their mercy button and forcing them to kill for him, they seem to love him to pieces and go along with whatever he says happily. What.

I feel like they didn't know what to do with Frisk here at all and it shows.

Other characters

This has been ridiculously long, but to quickly go over non-major characters... They did very few things to make Roman seem interesting, the amount of stuff hes implied to have helped Asgore with just reduces even further any influence or impact alphys had, and (a smaller nitpick)... Why didn't he use times new roman as a font when we DID see him speak in the archive/on the signal stars? It's such a missed opportunity...

Burgerpants was fun... Kinda. Developing him like this feels like something that should've happened DURING the actual game rather than before it though because it made him feel like a whole other person entirely? The poisoned food was very funny though.

Why is Snowy now Stardrake when his dad hasn't changed at all and Crystal looks like any other snowdrake? That was bizarre.

I actually really liked the humans! Establishing them as actual characters was really fun, and I especially like justice. Justice, at least in my opinion, is probably the most interesting character in this whole game tbh - someone who tried to do good but ultimately caused more harm than good, while NOT downplaying it, showing the consequences directly, and showing them work to try to make things better. The way we don't grab their item like the others in the twinkly fight nor go through an area for them in the archive (and just talk to them instead) really adds to their intrigue - what are they like? Who did they know? Is there something they don't want us to see? How are they strong enough to not need us to grab their weapon at all to lend their help? I think it's get funny that the only character I'm fully praising is the clover-adjacent one. Justice outertale they could never make me hate you

(that being said... seeing the way this game is clearly just supposed to be a 'fix' for undertale does sour my thoughts on the humans a little. did they only do this bc they thought them NOT being full characters in ut was bad/a problem with it? 🥴 This applies to the additional monster kid story focus too).

Speaking of monster kid... Them being an orphan was clearly just a plot device to give asgore more kids and therefore feel like he won more than Toriel. Monster kid in undertale seems like they probably did have real and loving parents, and they have a sister too!!!! Would've been nice if they'd at least done something with their sister :(

This got... Way longer than I expected, so I'll stop here. But outertale definitely gave me an even bigger appreciation for other ut fangames. My gripes with deltatraveler section 3 feel much smaller in comparison now, if tsus misses the mark on Flowey later down the line they've at least already done most characters so much more justice, and it really puts into perspective all the heart and soul that went into kissy cutie, as well as its genuine love got the source material and characters.

Sorry outertale, you weren't for me. That being said, if anyone disagrees with any of this then that's fine! These are all just my opinions and feelings on it after going through all the routes and talking about it with friends. Media is always gonna resonate with different people in different ways and that's a good thing! If your perspective on any of this is different and if you had way more fun with it, I'm glad you did and I genuinely wish I could've felt the same. I feel like at the very least, making it has probably been a great learning experience for the devs and I really hope they carry on making games and improving their skills. Hope y'all are thriving and having fun regardless 💙

[lynxgriffin]

Ive always had this feeling which I call "The dark ending", cause you know, darkness? Dark- nevermind

But bassicly so far every chapter (that being two), has either had the weird or snow grave routes, which over the course of the 5 will have similar routes. Now there will be the actual good ending, unlocked by completing all chapters as normal (and maybe a secret type of ending which unlocks after getting all 7 dark crystals, one for each chapter), but the dark ending will be unlocked by doing the weird routes in ALL 7 chapters in order, starting with one with information being carried on two the next chapters.

Gonna be honest, its probally not an original theory, and Im sure hundreds, probably thousands have already reached the same conclusion.

What that ending is, im honestly scared to think of because of the information and implications given to us about the roaring and stuff, but we all know that some people are gonna want to try kill everything, so Toby of course is gonna want to make us feel bad for doing that. Because its a bad thing, that no one should do, but will do because they can,

And since we can, we have to.

Mmmm, I actually am gonna debate on this one. I don't think the weird route is actually just Undertale's no mercy route version 2.0. I don't think the point of having the weird route this time around will be to teach the same lesson as UT, where completionism and trying to exhaust all possibilities will inevitably distance you from the characters you claim to love. The possibility to kill all monsters in UT was advertised upfront in UT's trailers. The weird route in DR was a complete secret until intrepid players worked hard to find it themselves and share it. This is not a lesson about completionism and emotional distance, this is a lesson about finding secrets, of oldschool creepypastas, about doing things you aren't supposed to be capable of doing.

First off, there is no weird route in chapter one. The differences between being kind to enemies and attacking them are pretty minimal by the end, although that can feed into the larger recruitment mechanic. We also don't know for sure if the weird route will continue with every chapter...there's the possibility that this will only be relevant when Noelle is in the Dark World, considering her penchant for finding weird secrets and glitches in video games. There's also no telling if "weird" means "killing/destroying enemies" every time, or if "weird" can be a more encompassing name for any route that's off the standard path.

And finally...there's also nothing to indicate yet that Toby is being dishonest about there being only one ending. I think it's much more likely that we'll come around to the same conclusion, but are capable of doing so through different paths...the game itself points out that both forging bonds and breaking them are means of gaining strength. It's not about choosing to be kind or cruel like in UT, it's about Kris (and their friends) finding the strength to take control of their own lives. That could be done through following the story as expected, but it could also be done by discovery of hidden secrets.

I don't know what sort of places we'll go with the weird route, but I feel pretty confident in the idea that it won't be the same places that Undertale went.

[yelenasdiary]

Forbidden || Meet The Characters - Natasha Romanoff

No Warnings | 0.6K

Forbidden Masterlist

Hi there! I'm Natasha, Yelena's older sister. I have a place in Drybellow where I run an orphanage for young girls. I'm sure Yelena has told a little of our back story and why I have this orphanage, so I won't bother you with more details on that. 

I house 16 girls from ages 6 to 20. These girls have nowhere else to go, these are girls who have run away, girls in trouble and girls who's parents couldn't look after. I do my best; I have a small background on basic medicine, so I am able to treat them correctly when they need it. I educate them and teach them things a woman in this world should know. I'd do anything and everything for them. 

We all live together on some land, well, you'd probably call it a small ranch. We grow our own fruits and vegetables, and we have some animals. Everybody helps out and has their own chores to do before they go off and do their own thing. I don't like to make them feel like they need to work to keep a bed here, when they are ready, I help them find a job and a new home to stay at. Most girls will write and give me updates on their new chapter of life and others like to come back for a visit. 

Some of the older girls and I like to knit things like blankets and clothing for new-borns, that's one of the ways we make some money to help keep this place running. Gardening is also something we all do, the younger girls love planting anything they can find so our home is full of orange, yellow, red, and purple plants. I like to try and keep the younger ones more entertained, long walks around the small, wooded area near the ranch, walks along the coastline, painting when we get some supplies, playing in the mud, enjoying their freedom and letting to be children is important to me. 

Every single girl that comes into my care will leave with the skills they need to care for themselves, look out for themselves and make something wonderful of themselves. But enough about that, I'm sure I've just bored you with all that information. 

As for me, I like doing many things. I do a lot of reading, mostly books that teach you something. Cooking, I love to cook! I've taught the girls how to fish and sometimes when the girls go on a walk, they'll bring back a dead rabbit for me to cook. When my days aren't spent looking after the girls, I'm usually trying to keep track of where Yelena is! We have a system; she is to write to me when she's off catching outlaws and if she doesn't, I'll go looking for her. That's if I don't hear from her within two weeks. 

I don't do all of this by myself though. I have to thank Maria Hill for being such a rock through all of this. She has been with me since I told her about the idea of buying this old, broken and run down property and turn it into something beautiful. She helps with everything, looks after the girls as if they were her own, we both do. Without Maria, this place wouldn't be possible. 

Well, I won't chew your ear off any longer! Feel free to write us a little letter, we're the ranch closeted to the railway station in Drybellow! We would love to hear from you. Stay safe out there! 

~ Natasha, Maria & the Girls of Black Hill Ranch.

Taglist: @madislayyy | @riveramorylunar | @teganmiller | @kyleeservopoulos | @yelenaslyubov | @kacka84 | @lesbiarmy | @meurgen | @caporal-nino | @sl-ut | @scarletwidowblackwitch | @dogtamer415 | @mousetheorist | 

If you want to be on the taglist for this series, please see the masterlist. It's link at the top of this post.

[wickjump]

I'M SORRY THIS ISNT ABT MTT + CREPIC POLY BUT OGNYKHMHMH I NEED TO ASK THIS DESPERATELY.

Would milkbone hang out w the dogs in UT like greater dog n doggo n stuff more often because yk milkbone............ Not to make him an animal or smth ofc,,,, ALSOALSOALSALSOSSOO. I WANNA ASK ON WHY MILKBONE WON'T ATTACK ASRIELS BUT THAT'S LORE WORTHY STUFF RIGHT THERE.

AN OC ASK?????? FOR ME????? I MUST BE DREAMING OH MY GOD. DO NOR APOLOGIZE THIS IS THE BEST THING TO EVER HAPPENTO ME. I AM SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW WORDS CANNOT DO IT JUSTICE OKAY!!!!!

milkbone would probably initially hang out with the more anthropomorphic members of the dog group, ie dogamy, dogaressa, and doggo rather than greater + lesser dog. he has an odd feeling when around greater and lesser dog but doesn’t look too deep into it. doggo, dogamy, and dogaressa are more. sapient? i guess? milkbone’s more sly than classic sans, the sort of person your more socially adapted friend would point out and say ‘don’t talk to him he’ll scam you out of 20 dollars and your left shoe’.

but he can relate to the hound patrol (is that what they’re called?) to an extent, even if he might distance himself at times out of discomfort. while he gets their love for certain things, there’s a sort of animal thing about them he feels off around. they like petting, they smoke dog treats, they bark and yip and do all sorts of dog things that he doesn’t do, and he doesn’t want to associate with something so… animal. this isn’t a dig at them, even if he mistakes his discomfort towards those things as discomfort towards them. before his au’s plot “went down” he didn’t mind hanging out with them, and probably cracked a lot of jokes about being an ‘honorary dog’ or something. he just doesn’t like being compared to a dog, or any sort of animal, now. dehumanization is my most favorite trope so he gets all of it.

as for why milkbone wont attack asriels, he was asriel’s caretaker for a while. the au they’re both from, undertrap, is still a work in progress, but ive established a familial bond with them. the general idea of undertrap is that monsters were viewed as less than human, kept as novelties and all that, and to escape it they went underground, where they lived happily for hundreds of years. however, humans eventually found them when looking for chara, who had gone missing. chara was angry about this because their intent was never to hurt their new family, blah blah, but most monsters were taken back to the surface against their will.

two of those monsters were asriel and sans, aka milkbone, who were both looking for their families whom they got separated from, as they managed to escape the humans. this is why milkbone doesn’t like being dehumanized—outside the general discomfort that comes from it, he was quite literally treated as an animal as every other monster was.

over time sans became a familial figure to asriel, an older brother of sorts. still working out the kinks, but so far i think that at the end of it they’d find asgore and then humans try to kill them all, sans steals part of asgore’s soul to keep himself alive whilst he dusts, blah blah. and then! memory loss! bro doesn’t know who he is or what he is! he just has brief snippets of memories and discomforts, and while he’s done dirty work for his clients before, an asriel is the one monster (outside of papyri) he feels an extreme discomfort doing any harm towards.

he is canonically a multiversal character due to this split second decision throwing his fate off. by all means he was supposed to die there, but he didn’t. and his code, not knowing what to do, basically threw him out of the au until someone else approached him and he got introduced to the multiverse.

this is what im thinking anyway, he’s still hugely in development,, fun fact though! his collar wasn’t a choice he made to have, it was given to him, but he couldn’t take it off at the time and now, since he doesn’t remember the reason he has it, still wears it under the assumption ‘past’ him had picked it out himself.

THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH FOR GIVING ME AN EXCUSE TO TALK ABOUT HIM GAH. man if only we hadn’t established a multiversal status quo id love for him to have been popular in 2016 😔 unfortunately i was stupid and also eleven years old with unrestricted internet access, and not exactly an artist of sorts either. maybe ill write a long fic about him and get some people to think he’s cool. i mean undereats and post sans got popular, and i think tear and stitch are too but i might be biased cause i love them. i can do this

ANYWAY YEAH THANK YOU FOR THE ASK ANON IM GIVING YOU A LITTLE KISSY ON THE HEAD :333

[darkspellmaster]

As kuroshitsuji gets a hiatus to make way for Yana to prepare for the climax, what are your current thoughts or predictions to how the next events will unfold? How long do you think we still have before the loose end of the story gets tied together?

Also.. do you think Lizzie will still have a chance to return to Our!Ciel, or will it be too late for her/them? I have a horrible thought that she might end getting injured or killed (I really hope she won't though 😭) but I still hope there will still be time for them to explore and acknowledge their feelings for each other, no matter the nature of it.

And what about Soma? I really hope he finds out the truth soon that it wasn't his best friend who killed Agni :< he can't drop out of the series not knowing anything sksksks

I absolutely love these two characters so I hope we get to see them return to the earl's side eventually

Thoughts for Yana going on break. GOOD! Girl needs it, she hasn't had a break ever, and avoided it even when her mother passed in 2011. So yeah I'm all for her going on a trip.

Few things are crossing my mind. First, the stranger, Barnabus, who showed up to greet Sebastian and O!Ciel, I have a feeling he's going to be someone like Blavat. He knows things. Honestly I feel like the young Earl is going to have to come face to face with some aspects of himself, and possibly the fact that Sebastian liked to trick him into the contract.

My guess, at least a few months after the break, and probably a year or more for it to conclude. I'm of the opinion that Lizzie is going to be like Gerda from the Snow Queen and be the one that saves O!Ciel from Sebastian in the end. I think the kids from FOL are going to play a part, (what I'm worried about with Theo is that HE's going to be the one that gets with Lizzie since HE fits Ciel to a T and Finny even implies that he's the most like his young master) in dealing with R!Ciel and Undertaker. I honestly think UT isn't clued in about how R!Ciel may have helped in the deaths of Vincent and Rachel. I honestly think there will be for the two of them. I'm wondering if Yana will end up doing what Kaori Yuki did and split the series into two. In that case we had Godchild and Count Cain. In this case I wonder if we'll have Black Butler and something else. So that would allow more exploration with Ciel and Lizzy. God I'm going all over the place with this because so many theories in my head right now. Soma I think will come back and protect Ciel, he's going to be his Agni going forward and keep Ciel safe from things. I think he knows that O!Ciel and R!Ciel are two different people and realized that it wasn't O!Ciel that killed Agni. If I was a betting person, given what Yana has said in tweets: Druitt is the final big bad and not the Queen as she stated that he is always there when important things happen.

(We've seen it with each arc where something happens. Jack the Ripper (Madam Red dies and we get the Reapers), the curry arc he's a judge, Circus I think he's mentioned only, Ship arc he's trying to take over the world, Public school he connects Redmond to Stoker, He's seen as the Red house leader in the Green witch, He probably will show up in Brighten. Also the guy is based on Alister Crowley, the famed Occultist, so Yeah...I'm banking on him being behind the whole thing.

Already has a connection to Vincent via the past.

Noble and a doctor

Has the goal and desire to be a king

Dude was willing to sell Ciel as a girl to the highest bidder.

There's more there, but maybe I should do it as a theory.

O!Ciel and Lizzie are going to be the Kai and Gerda of this story and in order to stop Sebastian, Lizzy is going to have to cry out the seal in some way and remove it with tears.

Soma is going to be the one that protects Ciel from R!Ciel and helps beat him.

I feel like by the end, Sebastian just isn't going to want to eat Ciel since it would be no longer fun for him. Or he can't because of Ciel's connection to Undertaker.

I hope so too. Soma will be coming into my story though.

[haveyouseenthisskeleton]

Can I get UT toriel, Papyrus, alphys, undyne, and grilby's reaction to frisk telling them that sans once said if he didn't make a promise to toriel, then they'd be " dead"?

Undertale Papyrus - Papyrus suddenly choked on the pasta he wasn't even eating yet. What? You probably heard that wrong, Sans would never say something like that, he loves children. ... Right? Well, anyway, it's in the past so who cares? He quickly changes the subject to not talk about it. He still will confront Sans later who explains why he did this. Papyrus is a little shocked he could say something like that to a child, but yeah, he can guess why. But that was still terrible. But he can understand. Sometimes, he wishes Sans confess a little more to him, but knowing he's trusting at least Toriel to give up on such crazy plans is still comforting him. Sans needs more real friends he can rely on, and that's a long time since Papyrus resigned to not being one of his confidants. Sans is too scared to hurt him to be sincere. Not that Papyrus is that sincere with him either though. But, well... Maybe it will be better someday.

Undertale Toriel - She acts like it's nothing in front of Frisk, but it's upsetting her slightly. She's glad Sans trusted her on this and (more or less) protected the child on their journey, but... She can't stop thinking about what would have happened if she never answered that weird jokester back then. Could Sans really have killed a child in cold blood? Maybe she doesn't know her best friend all that much after all. She's still looking for a chance to have a heart-to-heart with him about this.

Undertale Undyne - She gives the kid a big tap on the back and says with a big shark smile that if the Hotlands weren't this hot they would be long dead too and that she perfectly understands the feeling! ... Uh, thanks Undyne, I suppose. She can't really blame Sans anyway when she puts so much effort into destroying the kid Underground lol. She doesn't take Sans' words seriously, he is always a little weird.

Undertale Alphys - She quickly looks down and pretends she didn't hear any of this. She is closer to Sans than most people think and she knows it wasn't words he said only to scare them. He was thinking each of these words. She saw him hesitate on the cameras at the entrance of Snowdin, as he followed you. She saw him hesitate several other times through your journey. Sans didn't attack you only because he's one of the most empathetic monsters she knows, and he cares deeply and grew attached. A lot more than what people think. Everyone sees Papyrus' kindness because he's a lot more expressive, but Alphys knows that Sans raised him and that the apple never fall far from the tree. She can't say to Frisk that Sans wasn't serious, but she won't call him out either. When she needed help, Sans was always here for her, and she wants to be a good friend back and not call him out for his past actions.

Undertale Grillby - He's a little disturbed by Frisk's revelations, but not too surprised. Grillby has known Sans for a long time, but more importantly, he witnessed a lot of things Sans said when he was completely drunk. Grillby is one of the first who got concerned about Sans' evident depression and tendencies to sabotage himself. He talked with him a lot about this, trying to get him to find some help. But Sans is way too stubborn. So of course, when an opportunity to finally leave this hell showed up, the first thing Sans would think about was to take it and kill a child. Grillby is not sure if Sans would have done it. Oh, he definitely could have done it, Grillby knows he's stronger than he seems, I mean, have you tried to drag a drunk angry Sans home? But he also knows he would never have forgiven himself for this. He cares too much to be a cold-blooded murderer. That wouldn't have ended well for him, so he's glad he gave up that stupid project.

[utytimeline]

Thoughts on UTY (Pacifist Version)

Reactions from when I first played Pacifist, and observations I made as the game progressed.  A lot of these will be outdated by the time I get this list compiled, but it’s a faithful list of my reactions.  No spoilers, plz.  I haven’t done Geno, betrayal kills, or boss kills yet.  (I kinda don’t want to, these are my babies.)

Long post ahead.

Ruins

Questions

Clover is the narrator, aren't they? I don’t think Chara’s even in this game.

What happens if we don't leave a tip at the lemonade stand?

Is there a way to wake Decibat after he goes to sleep? (I know that's cruel, I'm just curious.)

Dalv keeps talking about a friend, talking like he thinks he will meet them again- Kanako?

Dalv is mistaking us for the human that attacked him, isn't he? The one that made Chujin decide to kill the next human?

Who was leaving Dalv corn? My best guess is Ceroba- that she's felt sorry for him this whole time.

How to look in Dalv's locked doors/drawers? (Probably have to kill him. That... is gonna hurt. I like Dalv, he's a sweetheart.)

Observations

Decibat's music volume decreases the more you stay silent. (Which makes me think all battle music is being generated by Clover, not the monster.)

"Penilla draws near." (Italics added for emphasis.) *facepalm*

"Rorrim" is "mirror" spelled backwards.

Also, "Dalv" is "Vlad" spelled backwards, so might Rorrim be Dalv's personal mirror? Seems to fit, Dalv is extremely tidy.

Dalv's furniture's "fine craftsmanship" is probably Chujin's work.

Other Thoughts

I feel like a sponge cake with 2x absorption should have an effect where it absorbs damage for at least 2 turns.

Snowdin

Questions

Does the Snowdin ice block ever move? The guy that comes here from the Dunes just stands there and does nothing. Perhaps I need to check very late in the game, return from the last SAVE in New Home or something.

What kind of creature is Mo? I looked it up, and all I can find is "he looks like a raccoon." Yeah, I can see that, but he's kinda reddish-brown, so maybe a red panda? I also considered the possibility that Mo could be a tanuki, a Japanese raccoon-dog (and yes, it looks like a raccoon) that supposedly tricks people, especially tricking them into buying drinks- and Mo is a drink salesman.

What are we to make of the human on the wanted poster that Marty describes?  She said they wore a hat like ours, but they came from space.  I can’t think of a single equippable UT item that seems outer spacey.  And since she’s describing a wanted poster, I don’t think she’s talking about Red (the monster she thought was a human).  My first guess is that some monsters may equate the Surface with outer space, since they’ve never seen either (and many monsters are obsessed with the stars- Starlo and all the monsters making wishes in Waterfall, for instance).

Observations

Flowey: "We won't be anywhere near your fancy surface air for a while." (Italics added for emphasis.) He sounds... jealous? This was when I first realized that Flowey's only playing nice, but I still have no clue what he’s really planning.

"Snowy" is just barely recognizable in "Snowfall."

Mo's theme is easy to recognize because not only does it use the Sega Genesis soundfont, it even includes the Michael Jackson whoop from Sonic 3&K.

Ice Wolf was when I started to realize that Yellow isn't that long before UT. (Yeah, I know, Flowey should've been my first clue, but I simply assumed he couldn’t be Asriel, that he was someone else that somehow turned into a flower.  Anything can happen in these games, after all.)

The Shufflers are all named after things you do with a drink: Toast, Swig, and my favorite, their leader Rephil (Refill).

The Shufflers scold Clover for starting a fight, but later Axis is the one trying to drag us into a fight.  I guess battles can go either way.

Shopkeepers have full animations, it's not just facial expressions.

Yellow finally gives us real puzzles. Some of them even take a bit to solve.

Flowey makes a comment about mailing ourselves to Asgore.  He clearly already knows about resets, so I think it’s likely that he’s seen the moment (at the end of The Dunes) that the whales start shipping people by mail.

Other Thoughts

Frostermit is so adorable. I need a Frostermit plushie.

Mo makes me think of what Spamton must have been like before Gaster (no, I'm not suggesting a connection, just that's what he made me think of- but given the other, more obvious DR inspirations throughout the game, I think it’s possible they were going for that kind of character).

Headcanon: Insomintot is related to Knight-Knight. They both inherited a genetic tendency to fall asleep when a human sings.

I love the UGPS jingle, it's so cute.

"(The remnants of a snowman. Once full of life. Now full of potential for new life.)" This line is a little creepy, to me. Clover may not realize it, they're probably just joking, but WE know that some snowmen in the Underground are alive, and I'm wondering what happened to this one.

I don't know if it's the same soundfont, but the Honeydew Resort theme reminds me of Final Fantasy: Mysticquest.

I actually picked "minor scales" when talking to the cellist at the resort, because I actually do like minor scales.

Being a Shadow the Hedgehog fan (the character, not just the game), I got a chuckle out of the description of coffee bean ammo. What do you mean, you can't eat the beans???

I haven't actually noticed any 4th wall moments, but Martlet's message on the second ball puzzle, the message that apologizes for making it too high to see and says the human must be very good at guessing, makes me think it's a very obscure allusion to the fact that Clover is being possessed by the player. There aren't enough moments like that in this game for me to go all crazy with lore and theories, but it's a nice touch to see such an allusion.

In all fairness, Marty has some craftsmanship abilities. Unfinished, shoddy workmanship notwithstanding, it still takes some knowledge of mechanics to make a water-powered door lock.

I just love Marty, she’s so sweet, I want her to be my little sister.

Waterfall

Questions

Why does the Royal Guard bother to survey their prisoners on “auditory ambiance” and things like that when they’re just gonna deliver the SOUL to Asgore???  I mean, isn’t the victim (except Red, apparently) usually dead before they get this far???

Observations

Not sure, but I’m guessing this is a different river than the one we travel with River Person.  Not only do we never meet River Person, but the colors of the ground and plants behind Ava look like the marshy sections of Waterfall that we never get to walk in.

Other Thoughts

I love how we never actually visit Waterfall (unless you count the post-credits scene), we just float past it.  Acknowledgement of the source material without actually copying it.  And gave them that much more time and room to include an entirely new area (2, if you count the Wild East as separate from the Dunes).

The mention of a Royal Scientist threw me off.  I totally did not expect Alphys, I thought this game took place many years before UT, and I’ve seen no Gaster references in this game at all.

The Dunes

Questions

More of a complaint than an actual question, but… if they wanted to make a Zelda reference, WHY OH WHY did they have to do the Death Mountain rockfall???

Since the Dunes are so near Hotland, could the gigantic Swelterstone be responsible for Hotland’s heat, too?

Since El Bailador calls us a “Sentinel of Silence,” how will killing Decibat affect the fight with Bailey?

If you do well in the Bailey fight, does he stop saying you don’t love dancing as much as him?

How to move the sunbathing (wait, what sun?) cactus that blocks that one road?

Observations

The Dunes is where I noticed that the battle theme changes depending on the location.

Sea Tea still increases SOUL speed.  Loved that they kept this in.

Same black slime that we met in MTT Resort Hotel.  And still outraged because of an elevator.  Feels like he’ll never find a working one.

Bowll being a china bowl shaped like a bull is probably a play on the phrase “a bull in a china shop.”

Clover got the green healing flowers (the ones in the Omega Flowey fight) from Violetta.

I sucked at Mew Mew Love Blaster, but I watched a walkthrough, and DID THEY SERIOUSLY GIVE MEW MEW A “BIG SHOT”?!?  (Coming back to this after finishing the game, I went, “yup, they did.”)

Other Thoughts

“Vigorous Terrain” is my favorite location theme, but I still haven’t figured out whether there’s any significance in it being a remix of “Your Best Friend.”

That first tumbleweed, the one that comes rolling out of the hole in the cliff, had me like “wut?”  I did love how they replaced Undyne’s rocks with tumbleweeds.

I also love the mines music.  The first few notes remind me of Zelda’s Lullaby (from LOZ).

I actually missed getting a free pickaxe because the monster’s trivia question about the Royal Scientist threw me off.  I still didn’t realize this took place after Asgore hired Alphys, I thought it came WAAAAY before that.  (This also finally confirmed for me that Flowey is, in fact, the same one we know from UT, Asriel.)

I tried not to make a lot of comparisons to DR, considering this isn’t even canon to UT, but I did feel like the mouse attack in Bowll’s fight was very similar to that one attack in the Maus fights in DR.  But I think the Maus fight itself was probably a reference to some old video game (can’t remember which one, it just always felt familiar), so maybe UTY was making the same reference.

Was stunned to see Undyne look-alikes in the Mines, was more surprised that they mentioned her, and was the most surprised to find that they’re not related.

Clover has a very cute animation for hopping in the mine cart.

I could not figure out Bailador’s fight mechanics, and tbh, I got thru it on an absolute fluke (and the silver scarf).  I had to look up a walkthrough later to realize you have to move into the right space AND press the action button when the color lights up.  I thought it was just being in the right space.  Every rhythm game controls differently, it seems.

Wild East

Questions

Do mail whales keep notebooks full of potential rhymes, like Marty and her notebook full of puzzle ideas?

Is “designated naptime” a reference to siestas, or did Star just not want to overwork everybody?

“A ballet shoe could be lethal if used enough times.”  Um.  Got anything to share there, Blackjack?  “Don’t question my morality!  I’m not prepared to speak on it!”  OKAY, I REALLY NEED YOU TO SPEAK ON IT NOW….

Can we get into the locked farm cellar?  (Preferably without killing anyone?)

Observations

Animals still living in the Underground at least provides some explanation for where monsters get their food (in addition to the corn).

The BEST part about the health overcharge?  You don’t lose it when you SAVE!  He might be a plague doctor, but Doc works absolute miracles.

Star paid double price for the gun he bought us.

They actually take around 15 paces for the dual (I lost count).  (And yes, I spelled it “dual” on purpose.)

Moray comments that Star made them walk around with a rubber snake in their boot.  I looked it up, and it looks like the first and most well-known movie to use that “snake in my boot” reference really WAS Toy Story (although it has origins outside of film from farther back).  So Starlo also watches animations (as long as they have cowboys).

Vengeful Virgil’s comment that not caring about others’ feelings is what makes him a villain, comes while we’re on our way to console Star after his cocky selfishness drove everyone away.  This was not a coincidence.

Every monster has a magical ability, and Starlo’s is literal “bullet time” (he can slow you down).

^This also makes me wonder: remember how he flew backwards in slow-motion when we shot him in the dual?  I wonder if he was using his bullet time on himself for dramatic effect.

Star’s family: his dad, Solomon (the sun), his mom, Crestina (the moon), and a brother who’s name I never found but looks like a 4-pointed star.  (I’ve seen people call him Orion, so I’m going with that, for now.)

Star has several sticky notes in his dad’s almanac, and keeps dad’s almanac on his own bedroom nightstand.  Seems like Star probably took his life on the farm seriously before he left home.

Star also apparently had an interest in outer space.  Possibly some confusion stemming from Toy Story?  (I actually started headcanoning that Toy Story got him into cowboys, and put together a fic on that.)

Not sure where the term “space cowboy” originated, or what Clover’s actually referring to when they say it about Star, but the first use of that phrase that I’m finding is a Steve Miller song from 1969 (referenced later in Steve Miller’s “The Joker” from 1973, the line that a lot of people associate with Steve Miller: “some people call me the space cowboy, some call me the gangster of love”).  The phrase has been used numerous times in multiple ways since then.

Seems like Star sewed his own outfit.

Other Thoughts

Picked “no” when Star asked if monsters die when you ride them into the sun cuz I thought the whole town would converge upon me, heh.

Was honestly surprised that the dummy finally showed up.  This was the first time I tried using the FIGHT option, and it turned out to be rather difficult.  I am not looking forward to Neutral or Genocide.

Star tells Ceroba we’re as good of a shot as him, and she goes, “Really?  A child?”  Still not entirely sure whether she’s poking a bit of fun at Star, but I don’t think she is.  Star doesn’t take any offense to her comment for himself, and her sprite when she speaks next, saying she’s “impressed,” looks extremely surprised.  (In all fairness, despite Blackjack’s claims, Star actually is really good.)

I suck at them all, but the mini-games in UTY are all so fun.

Love the change-up to the battle animation during Feisty Four’s attack, how they switch between characters and even team up.

“A tumbleweed rolls by.  It says hello.”  Well, why not?  I mean, the rocks and cacti are sentient.

The first mention of Kanako at The Lab had me in tears, because, like… we KNOW what happened to her.

Steamworks

Questions

“The Steamworks was the main power source of the Underground.”  This statement confuses the timeline a bit for me.  The Core is now the main power source of the Underground, but my understanding is that the Steamworks was operational long after Gaster died.

I NEED TO KNOW WHAT THAT LAST AWARD ON THE WALL SAYS.

Does the story change at all depending on what parts you use for Axis’ gf?  (Also, I wonder how many of us just picked up the first 2 or 3 items and then realized there’s way more than 4 items to choose from and wished Ceroba would let us start over.)

Is there a way to fix the grandfather clock?

Does the grandfather clock say something different if the time on your PC actually is 6:26 on a Monday morning in spring?

Observations

Ceroba telling Clover to wait in the corner, kinda refers back to her doubting that a child could be as good of a shot as Star.  She has very little respect for Clover at this point.  Not entirely sure if it’s just because Clover’s a human, or if it’s also because they’re just a kid.

Don’t think I missed Flowey’s comment about The Lab.  He clearly does NOT want us to go there.

Ceroba must have some kind of dimensional satchel, herself.  I don’t see how else she can carry the hunkajunk we built (not to mention pulling her staff out of hammerspace).

BTW, “dihydrogen monoxide” is just water.  Vendy probably just called it that to make it sound poisonous.

Vendy said their last boot up was yesterday and that their creator always comes by on Mondays to restock them.  Sadly, the grandfather clock is stuck on 6:26, Monday morning.  Kinda feel sorry for Vendy.

Guardener is actually nice.  She even grows a flower just for the bot that came late.

Telly-Vis starts using the bullet patterns of other monsters during the “reruns” portion of the fight.

You can cheat on the Axis fight if you have the silver scarf.  Just deliberately miss Axis when you ping-pong the red balls for enough turns to heal up.

I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m guessing that Ceroba would get mad and ditch you if you kill one of the robots, turning the run into a Neutral.

Other Thoughts

Screw those water puzzles at the start of Steamworks.

DAT MUSIC, THO.

I’m not gonna try to discuss Ceroba’s growing respect for us.  That needs a whole analysis post of its own.  (Well, everything about Ceroba needs its own analysis.)

Axis rolled in and I was like, “Oh, no, another one.”  Seems like we just keep running into these darned toaster ovens on wheels.

Axis music is fire, tho, all of it.

I swear I hear some DR inspirations in the music.  Haven’t learned the names for all the tracks yet, but at one point I thought I heard Digital Roots (when Ceroba’s fiddling with the generator) and at another I thought I heard Card Castle (the room where you build Axis’ gf).

A game mechanic I love: Ceroba’s shield effect (well, as long as it’s shielding Clover).

A mechanic I hate: Jandroid’s slippery floors.

I also love the manta ray ferryboat.

Mo’s level of professionalism is off-the-charts.  He ain’t about to let a little thing like his clothes and his stand catching fire ruin a sales pitch.

Being a Christian, I’m not going to share what I really think of the Axis chase.

Loved seeing the return of popato chisps.

I swear, I thought all that white stuff was monster dust at first.  Walked into the Science Division and nearly burst into tears.

I hope somebody finally has chance to either fix Guardener or shut her down properly once they reach the surface.

Conveyor belt puzzle caused me trouble because I kept trying to box up trash.  Took me a while to realize “red” and “blue” referred to the highlights around the objects.

I’ll talk more in depth later, but I love how Clover has this calming effect on Ceroba when she’s chewing out the productivity bot.

Believe it or not, I didn’t get caught by Axis in the fireplace room!  Go me!  (Actually, it’s really not that hard….)

Still not entirely sure what I think of Axis deliberately handing us a “weapon” just to give himself an excuse to attack us.

I’ve said this before: he took me an hour and a half to fight the first time.  I really hate the mechanics in his boss fight.  And it was especially humiliating for me because I’d only died, maybe, 3 or 4 times before him.  Didn’t have any trouble with Starlo, and while I never did get the hang of Bailey’s fight, I think I only died to him once.  Guardener was responsible for the other deaths.

I love how Ceroba’s been insulting the Steamworks the whole time, but I don’t think she ever insults Axis.  That was her late husband’s baby.  And then she even gives him tips on dating.

Ceroba finally respects us after the Axis fight.  It takes remembering why she needs us for her to be able to press on with her mission.

Chujin’s House

Questions

Woodworking, robotics, SOUL research, video game designer, loving husband and father- I know Chujin was kinda old, but how DID he find time for all this???

Marty finds Kanako’s room to be unsettling.  Not sure why.

Clover doesn’t like the gas stove and worries it will cause a housefire.  I’ve wondered before whether they came from an orphanage.  Did they lose their family in a fire?

“The Founder’s Crest.”  Who are the Founders?  Founders of what?  Or is this just a reference to something I’m not familiar with?  (Possibly something in Japanese culture?)

Was Chujin actually that much older than Ceroba?  Or did he just age rapidly because of his research?  If boss monsters only age when they have children, how could he have become so old before marrying Ceroba… unless he’d already had, and lost, one child before?

I’ve been told there’s a secret behind Chujin’s grave.  Will have to check it out the next time I do a Pacifist run.

Observations

Strange that Ed found the trapdoor so easily when Ceroba didn’t know about it until Chujin told her.  Ceroba must not have covered it up properly before locking up the house.  Possibly also Chujin somehow arranged it with her that he would be the one cleaning the dining room.

I feel like Moray’s the smartest one of the Four.  They knew it was a good idea to send for Marty.

And THIS is where Marty gets smart.  She takes charge in Star’s absence.  The Four listen to her, even Ed (reluctantly).  And SHE’s the one telling us to stay on track.

(Ok, she’s still a bit naïve- she doesn’t seem to consider that Chujin’s paper with her name is actually ABOUT her.)

The drawings on Kanako’s bedroom wall: Dalv, the monster on the Dunes swingset, her family… and a flower?  Well, I mean… a lot of little kids like to draw flowers, so that might not be anything.  Also a drawing of what looks like Axis lying on the floor.

“Nuh-uh!  Kids shouldn’t mess with knives!”  Nice little reference there, dev team.

And, of course, it’s Flowey who makes light of Ceroba’s mission, calling it a “science fair project.”  Well.  He has every right to say whatever he likes about SOUL research.  Doesn’t he.

Of course, we didn’t get Star’s letter in time because Ceroba wouldn’t let us check the mail.  But I highly doubt she planned it that way, as she had no idea the Five would be snooping around her old house.

Other Thoughts

Starlo is so. completely. PISSED.  And… uh, he has a right to be.  Like, she’s doing a lot of what he just did- lying and scheming and using Clover to fix her own problems (those two are a match set, I swear….)  And he’s torn.  These are his two friends, Clover being the human he practically worshipped, and Ceroba being one of his closest friends (not to mention the love of his life, but I digress).  He doesn’t want anything to happen to her, but he can’t let Clover get hurt, either.

The fact that Moray sent for Marty as soon as learning that Clover was in danger just seals in the idea that Marty is part of the family.

…how long has that corn chowder been in that fridge, anyway???

I’ve already discussed my thoughts about Chujin in other posts, a lot of them still in queue.

Hotlands

Questions

Kinda wonder what could’ve made Clover suspicious about the wall to the left of the UG Apartments.

Never did figure out where the “rain” was coming from.  I figure it’s just a leaky sink upstairs or something.  (I’d thought at first it was from the janitor cleaning the hallway, but that’s on the other side of the building.)

Observations

I’m sure everyone recognized it, but in case someone didn’t, Bailey’s in the colored tile room.

I think Muffet herself blocked the way thru Hotland, renovating for her pastry shop.

Mr. Cursor mentions a 10-sided die.  They have some version of D&D in the Underground.  Probably more like… idk, Houses and Humans?

Working for Mettaton must have taken quite a toll on the janitor.  He doesn’t look nearly so tired or decrepit here.

There was a flier on the bulletin board in the Wild East that was advertising the acts at the UG Apartments.  The band we saw in Honeydew Resort has a gig at the Apartments on Fridays.  So, this game- or at least by the time we reach Hotland- is on a Friday.

Other Thoughts

The monster candy is butterscotch-flavored.  *nods*  Of course, what else would it be?

Poor Heats.  Defeateeeeeeeeed again….

Star can actually survive drinking magma.  I’ve got headcanons about this boiling in my brain….

I thought Know Cone said he was just gonna look at Hotland from a mountaintop…?

New Home/Pacifist Ending

Questions

If there’s an elevator leading to the castle, I’m guessing that means at least one of the other endings has us actually fight Asgore.

How exactly does Kanako’s mask give Ceroba superpowers?  I feel like it might be a reference to Japanese mythology, but I know very, very little about Japanese mythology.

How exactly does Clover have the ability to see into Ceroba’s memories?

I kinda hate myself for asking, but… what happens if you choose FIGHT after you beat Ceroba?

Observations

Star is the one asking Ceroba if she’s gonna kill them all because while he doesn’t know all the details, he recognizes the headspace she’s in.

Other Thoughts

Not only am I thrilled to finally get to explore some of New Home, I’m absolutely in love with the design and the music.

I think when Ceroba says she lied about Kanako, she’s not saying she lied about Kanako falling down, or about sending her to the lab.  She lied about having any hope that Kanako would return safely.

How the heck do frikkin’ cherry blossom petals have so much attack power???

The dash mechanic took me time to learn, but if Toby ever decides to steal from Yellow, I hope he steals this :P

My reactions to Ceroba’s plan: “But Chujin specifically begged you NOT to use Kanako!  How do you think you’re honoring his memory by going against his final wish?!”  “Oh, I see, finishing the serum was his death wish.  That’s still no excuse to use your own daughter, tho.”  And finally: “…oh…”

I tried to get thru the game without cheats (except for being on easy mode) but I did have to turn on auto-fire for Ceroba’s final phase.

[gengarartblog]

Not really phases of the incident but more like different concepts of what could have happened? These are mostly scrapped now but I figured I could post them since they were technically almost done. This is again leaning into the "what if Dalv was the Integrity SOUL's final boss fight" idea I had. Maybe if I figure this out I'll make a doodle page or something.

Ramblings below the cut for my thought process atm when it comes to me trying to figure out the timeline of events with the Snowdin Incident. Because I am fucking STRUGGLING with this one.

Enjoy the scrapped concepts and, if you read it, the rambling below the cut.

All I know that I have to work with is:

-Kanako was unharmed -Dalv was injured, bad enough to be traumatized by it. He's also aware of the integrity human dying. (He mentions that day just repeating for him, which is probably flashbacks.) -Chujin knows that Dalv was injured, and instead of comforting his daughter or helping Dalv, he sends Axis after the human only to arrive to an absolute mess of a scene when he finds Axis and the remains of the human.

So the first issue:

Did Chujin and Axis show up before the human ran? Chujin was told by the other Snowdin residents about the human and he definitely found Kanako and Dalv at least. I'm actually starting to lean towards him having not arrived before the human ran since Chujin mentions that Kanako had no one to protect her (technically incorrect, as Dalv was 100% there and likely would have been protecting her. BUT if he had died then she would have been next with no one to save her). This would mean that for Kanako to be unharmed and for Dalv to be still alive, one of three things had to have happened:

a. The human decided to spare Dalv. Maybe because they didn't want to kill in front of another child or because they just decided to spare Dalv after beating him up. They then ran to waterfall because that was the next area they needed to go to get to the castle, and had no idea that Axis would be following soon.

b. Dalv managed to deal enough damage that the human decided to flee. He does mention holding back against Clover, and he's one of few monsters that live long enough to speak a few sentences after a fatal hit (like Starlo, Ceroba, Papyrus, and Undyne to name a few examples, who are all stronger regular monsters). And as we've seen from Undyne, even regular monsters can hold their own against a human if they're protecting someone or something. Hell, with Undyne we even have to run from her to be able to spare her in UT. The problem with this is that Dalv mentions that he won't run away this time ("All I know is that somehow... you found me. Sorry to make things difficult but I'm not cowering away this time"). But I'm not sure if he means the snowdin incident or if he means when he ran away twice from Clover in the dark ruins. Because while he's mistaking Clover for the integrity human here, he did run away from them in the dark ruins. However the pillar fun value event has Dalv running away???

c. Dalv and Kanako ran when they had the chance. But then why did the human run to waterfall instead of just wiping out snowdin? Sure Dalv and Kanako could have been the last monsters the human encountered before waterfall, but then Chujin would have likely encountered the human before Dalv and Kanako did. Not only that but from the sounds of it, Dalv stuck around for a bit probably due to injuries since Chujin mentions that he should have stayed to help calm Kanako down and to help Dalv with his injuries.

So what the hell is the timeline of events here? Like. Was the human already past Snowdin and went backwards for some reason at some point? Maybe they found out what happened to some of the other humans and that upset them to the point where they started violently defending themselves? I dunno.

The second issue:

Who the hell is the "friend" that Dalv mentions in his journal that apparently "doesn't exist"? I'm guessing it's whoever was leaving the corn right? Maybe Kanako since he said it's been a year?

I have no idea. I'm gonna go back to trying to figure out more stuff and put a timeline together for this. See ya.

[teetle-time]

Live or Die, Man, We Need Each Other (Part 1 of ???)

Shortly after the invasion, Leo and his brothers go on their first post-Krang mission: stopping a different ominous group of occultists from summoning a being of unknowable power from another (non-prison) dimension to wreak havoc. Evil never rests, after all, even if he and his bros should probably still be recovering from their last big all-out battle.

Meanwhile, Danny just wants to take a fucking nap.

Surely this won't turn into something absolutely massive in scale that sucks them all in.

(or, so do yall remember that Danny Phantom crossover that's been haunting me? yeah lol behold. throwing some ghost king danny in a blender with the rise guys and some classic tmnt tropes that rise never really got a chance to explore, with an eventual side of textfic/chatfic, jack and maddie fenton trying to be good parents, dani, the epf, the giw, roughly one and a half farmhouse arcs, rise-ifications of minor characters from previous tmnt iterations, and *checks notes* shelldon my son <3)

Not actually posting to ao3 right away this time I think- I kinda wanna polish/tweak this bit a lil more first, but I figured this first bit works well enough on its own! also i wanted to infect yall w/ the brainworms because a mere 8 dp-only xovers on ao3 feels like it should be illegal <3

〜

There was an electric charge in the air as Leo peered down at the cultists from the rafters.

Considering the fact that the charge felt like a portal despite Leo's lack of portaling intent, he would bet away his rights to the final pizza slice for a month that something was about to come through.

The cult below (not the Foot, shockingly enough) had chanted enough Latin that Donnie had gone pale upon checking his tech for a translation, so that 'something' probably wasn't good, either.

Just how Leo wanted to spend the end of his first full day off his crutches.

Really.

(Idly, he wondered if there was any point to being so bitingly sarcastic in his own mind when nobody could hear him anyway.)

He met Raph's eyes, then Mikey's, then Donnie's, each of them mirroring his own resignation and resolve.

"Veni ad nos, Rex inquieti Mortuorum!" cried the cultists as one. "Veni ad nos ut serviamus tuo glorioso proposito in mundo viventium!"

Leo opened the mind meld for a split second. Right, so I caught "rex," "mortuorum," and "serviamus." All in favor of sending these idiots to the Pain Train?

That got matching smirks from his brothers, and Leo grinned back before flipping down from the ceiling and dropping into the main mass of observing cultists. "Hey, guys, I think I got a bit lost. I was looking for the bathroom, but it looks like I found a bunch of would-be world-conquerers instead!"

The face of one of the lead cultists, the one at the head of the summoning circle, contorted into an expression of rage almost comically intense- and, to be quite honest, second only to Casey's extremely emotive face.

And then the rest of the cultists swarmed him.

Luckily, his brothers had only been a split second behind him, and the four of them wove between cultists with ease when possible and laid the hurt on 'em when slipping through wasn't an option.

"We gotta break that circle!" called Mikey worriedly. "Barry told me even circles half as ornate still summon things way above our pay grade!"

"We're getting paid?" quipped Leo, even as he zeroed in on the circle and slashed his katanas through the air. "What, we get an allowance now?"

No portal of his own appeared, his energy immediately flowing into the air just above the circle instead. Lovely.

As Leo inwardly rolled his eyes and just pressed further through the mass of people, Raph's crimson projection shot overhead. "POWER SMASH JUTSU!"

While Raph did successfully manage to bring his glowing fists down on the circle with enough force to shake the ground and knock the cultists nearest him off their feet, the circle only glowed an ominous acid green, completely untouched despite the now-massive cracks in the concrete around it.

The lead cultist laughed from where he'd fallen to the ground. "Yes! Yes! The King has heard our call and is coming to do our bidding!"

Leo watched in horror as the acid green crackled into icy blue, and as the temperature plummeted, an eerie voice rang through the warehouse.

"Uh, the only bidding I was planning on doing today was in an online auction for a rare piece of Dumpty Humpty merch."

What.

All motion froze, and Leo found himself gawking as smoke billowed from the circle before coalescing into…a white-haired humanoid teenager.

"And I'm pretty sure that auction just got sniped from me with 10 seconds left on the clock, but instead of getting the chance to snipe it back, I got yanked out here," snarked the teenager, glaring at the hooded cultists with eyes the same acid green as the circle had been.

One of his eyebrows lifted slightly at the sight of Leo and his bros, but otherwise he paid them no mind.

One of the cultists spluttered. "What-?! You're not the Ghost King!"

The teen's face went flat. "No, actually, I'm pretty sure I am. Wasn't planning on it, but, yknow, the old guy picked a fight with me a few years back. If it's him you wanted, uh…you're shit outta luck. I don't really do things his way."

The cultists all started turning towards the teen in anger, but-

One.

One single flick of his wrist, and the cultists were all encased in ice, save for small holes just in front of their noses and mouths.

That was all it took.

The teen groaned and dropped his head into his hands, some of the eerie reverb fading from his voice. "And today's a test day."

"Uhhh…" said Leo intelligently.

The teen stiffened, then stood up straight and scratched at the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. "Ah, shit, sorry about all this. Were these idiots trying to sacrifice you? Cultists have a tendency to do that, even though I keep telling them not to."

"Um, no…Your Majesty…?" tried Raph, his voice rising to a squeak at the end.

"Ugh, ew, please no." The teen grimaced. "You can just call me Phantom. Or my first name, but I'm not really sure I wanna say that out loud with these guys right here." He hooked a thumb over his shoulder at one of the cultists, who helpfully made a furious little peep in the ice.

"Fair enough," said Mikey, getting his metaphorical feet under him just before Leo could. He clapped his hands together cheerfully, and only Leo's lifetime of growing up with Mikey let him still see his younger brother's nerves. "So, are there any rules or anything for that summoning circle that need to be put into action before you can go back to your online auctions?"

Phantom shrugged. "I mean, technically if there's still somebody conscious around, I still have to make a deal before I can leave, but I'd be willing to get these guys to the cops with evidence of their crimes in exchange for directions back to Illinois."

Leo met Donnie's eyes. He could see the urge to ask Phantom every question in the English language.

Donnie shot him a pleading look.

Leo pressed his beak together thinly, then smiled at Phantom. "As long as that evidence doesn't include us four. And also my twin bro over there wants to be able to ask you things. Probably all the things."

"I can keep you out of it," Phantom agreed immediately. "I know what it's like to wanna stay on the down-low, trust me. Though…I probably can't stay very long, but I can make an email address so we can keep in touch?"

"That would be splendid!" declared Donnie, a grin already splitting his face.

"Sweet," said Phantom. With a snap of his fingers, the cultists and their icy cases shot out the door, the circle's light died, and a slip of paper appeared in front of Donnie. "Now, uh…how do I get to Illinois?"

Seeing Donnie preoccupied with entering the text on the paper into his systems, Leo went to pull out his phone, but Raph beat him to it, already opening up TelloMaps and showing Phantom. "Well, it's a bit of a ways away, but-"

Phantom's hands flew up to grab at his hair. "I'M IN NEW YORK?!"

Leo frowned. "Hey, what's wrong with New York?"

"Nothing!" said Phantom far too cheerily, already lifting into the air. "Except! It is an almost 900 mile flight and I have cl-uh, gotta be somewhere in under two hours! Gotta go, I'll keep in touch, can't stay any longer BYE!"

And he shot out one of the upper windows in a flash, leaving only a skybound sonic boom in his wake.

Leo blinked. "…huh. D'ya think he knows I could just portal him there, or…?"

Mikey visibly deflated into Donnie's side. "Ohhhmegosh, Barry's gonna lose it when I tell him about this."

"Woah, woah, hold on, who says we gotta tell him anything?" Leo asked.

"Bro, the 'old guy' Phantom mentioned?" Mikey quirked a brow ridge at him. "That'd be Pariah Dark, a violent ghost who ascended to the ghost throne right about when humanity was learning about this hot new thing called 'fire.' Barry taught me about it on, like, my second day of mystic training. Dude was so big and bad his subjects had to revolt and lock him up, like the Shredder on steroids except without the evil armor possessing him."

Donnie pressed his palms together and lifted them against his beak, the perfect picture of someone who'd just realized something horrifying. "Is the throne passed down through, perchance, a line of conquest?"

Mikey nodded. "But usually mystics tend to figure that anybody who could beat Pariah Flippin' Dark would be even bigger and badder than him. Except…"

Raph's face was turned down in a thoughtful frown. "He sounded…kinda like a normal human teenager our age. Except for the 'dead' thing. Did he actually mention Dumpty Humpty, or was Raph just hearing things?"

"If he'd known there'd been a change in power, Barry would've told me," Mikey continued. "Not just because I'm his favorite, but because he knows I'm just chaotic enough to think about trying bigger things on my own, and learning about the Ghost King is kinda huge."

"Only thinking, though, right, Mikey?" prodded Raph sternly.

"Scout's honor!" chirped he immediately.

"Is that even something we can say after we failed at being Todd Scouts…?" Leo trailed off.

"Casey made me an honorary Brownie Scout when she came to visit after the invasion and you guys were all out cold," said Mikey unapologetically.

"I wonder what happened 'a few years back,' and what a white-haired fellow teen from Illinois had to do with it," mused Donnie, helpfully bringing the conversation back around to the important bit.

"Betcha Hueso might be in the know," Leo suggested. "He's a yokai instead of a ghost, but being a skeleton yokai might mean he knows stuff like this."

"Let's get home before we do anything else," said Raph. "I can see Leo's legs shaking under his weight."

"What?" Leo protested. "My legs aren't-!"

Unhelpfully, his knees knocked together hard enough to draw his attention to where they were, in fact, shaking from the effort of holding himself up.

"Ah, crud," Leo groaned. "Never mind. I can still portal us home, though, at least."

"That's what I thought," Raph snorted. "Besides, I think this whole Ghost King mess can probably wait until we're all sitting down, if that's the new guy."

Mikey nodded. "Gotta give ya that. Barry'll probably still make a funny face, though."

"Eh, let him." Leo hefted himself up onto Raph's shell, then leaned to the side and sliced a portal open. "Vámanos!"

〜

As Danny streaked over Pennsylvania, he dug out his phone and started tapping at the email app Tucker had coded a few months back. It'd been mostly for laughs- who on Team Phantom even needed email when they all had Fenton Phones? and even regular phones, nowadays?- but it was just as secure as everything else Tucker made, and as it turned out, it was exactly what he needed this morning.

Better to have it open in the background so he knew when the purple turtle guy got around to emailing him.

Once he made sure he still remembered his password, he pocketed the phone again and pushed himself a little faster. He'd clearly gotten faster since the last time he'd checked- the sonic boom was honestly his first clue- but he couldn't keep that kind of speed up for very long yet, and he was still over…looked like Ohio, now.

Oh, wait, there was a 'welcome to Ohio' sign just up ahead- and he passed it.

Now he was in Ohio.

All that to say, he still couldn't afford to slow down in distraction for very long if he wanted to get to class in a bit more than an hour.

As if waiting for Danny to think exactly that, his phone buzzed.

He tugged it back out to check, and it buzzed again in his hand.

The first notification was a text from Jazz: 'I saw you weren't in your room just now. Fight or flight?'

The second was an email from an alphabootyyyshaker9000@geniusbuilt.com- an email that seemed more like an essay, if the shortened version in the notification meant anything.

Danny grimaced, made sure he was aligned with a highway down below so he wouldn't drift off-course, and tapped out a response for Jazz.

'flight. bookin it rn, p far. tell u later, but im ok'

She responded with an immediate thumbs-up and smiley emoji combo.

"Never change, Jazz," Danny huffed with a grin.

Then he tried to look at the email.

'Tried' being the key word.

Luckily, the purple turtle had prefaced his email with the sentences 'You are welcome to answer this once you have the time. You did mention being in a rush at the moment.'

Relieved, Danny shoved his phone back in his pocket and turned his attention towards his own personal Get-Back-Home 100% Speedrun.

[midnightkens]

tw: eating disorders, mentions of sleep deprivation/dv, self-hatred, and paranoia

--

"This is so stupid."

Ken glares at the plate as he spears the pasta with his fork. The clock ticks in the living room, a taunt that grows louder by the second. It's been nearly an hour. The pasta is probably cold by now and it won't even taste good, so maybe he should just -

"It's not stupid." Ken closes his eyes, inhaling sharply through the nose. He'd nearly forgotten about Colt. He hasn't looked at Colt since they sat down for dinner. Colt entwines their fingers, but it's a cold comfort. "It's okay, dollface. Look at me for a sec. I have an idea."

Ken hesitates before he turns his head to face Colt. When he opens his eyes, he fully expects to see anger, irritation, maybe even mockery, but there's none of that. Colt smiles softly at him, no hint of judgment. Ken doesn't deserve him. "Um." He swallows and jiggles his leg, trying desperately to calm his racing mind Don't eat that, it's not safe, but I haven't eaten all day and I'm so hungry, you're disgusting, stop that. "What was your idea?"

"I take a bite, and then you take a bite. We can do it together."

Guilt and shame curl deep in his belly. Colt's plate is untouched, pasta primavera long gone cold. "You didn't have to wait." Ken mumbles. "You could've eaten."

Don't wait for me. I can't eat normally. We're going to be here all night, can't you see that? I'm not worth your time.

"I know," Colt says airily. "I wanted to." Colt lifts his fork, and the smell of pasta, bell peppers, pepper flakes and so many vegetables Ken likes hits his nose. Resentment boils under his skin, always so close to the surface. As with most things, there is before and there is after.

In this case, before four and a half days of sleep deprivation and after four and a half days of sleep deprivation. Not being allowed to close his eyes for even ten minutes broke something inside of him. All he remembers is being irrevocably convinced that Patrick was poisoning him.

He wasn't. But from that moment, even when he finally slept, food was unsafe. Everything started innocently enough - Ken made sure that either he cooked, or they went out for dinner. So long as Patrick steered clear from the kitchen, it was safe. But then only certain foods were safe. Safe from what? Ken doesn't even know.

All he knows is that the list of safe foods got smaller by the week. He stopped having people over for dinner. Couldn't let them see how he ate, right? If there were plans to go out to eat, he wasn't allowed to eat until they got to the restaurant. Ken thought he was making the decisions at first. It's a funny thing, isn't it, the illusion of control? One minute you're eating without a care in the world, you're cutting zucchini into perfect symmetrical slices because it has to be Just Right, and of course I know what I'm doing, I'm fine, don't worry about me!

Then someone brings home pizza, and then there's the quickening of breathing, heart hammering away, palms sweating - finally, the illusion shatters.

There is no control.

There never was.

Now he's here, trying to recover and put the broken pieces of his life back together.

"Come on." Colt coaxes him with a gentle smile and knocks their shoulders together. "We're in this together."

Ken exhales slowly and lifts the fork to his mouth. If he doesn't try, he'll never get better. But being brave enough to try is so hard. "Together," he repeats. He quickly shoves the pasta in his mouth before his brain jumps at the chance to talk him out of it. He doesn't even taste the food before he swallows it. The fork falls onto the plate with a clang, and Ken buries his head in his shaking hands.

Stupid idiot, fucking worthless, why would you do that? Do you know what you just did?

Colt pulls Ken into his side, and Ken shudders. Colt shouldn't touch him. He's filthy, disgusting, and the dirt will spread and Ken can't do that to Colt, he can't -

But then Colt presses a kiss to his temple and utters a soft, "Good job." Ken doesn't pull away, even though he knows he should.

He's always been weak. What else is new?

[dotster001]

I saw your event (two days before it ended, man am I lucky) and wanted to ask for a Twisted Wonderland matchup

To put ut plainly. Im an asshole

Low empathy and lack of need to give a shit about anything. I'm very cynical and view the world as this place where nothing good comes without a cost.

When something good happens I'm quick to find a fault with it and I'm a lazy person. I have goals but I couldn't give enough of a damn to try and accomplish them.

When I'm angry and will go for insecurities, I'll make it hurt which I admit is a very toxic trait that I'm working on fixing, it's slowly getting there but still quite which is why I added it.

And that's all i can think of right now...OH WAIT im a dark humor type of person, sexual humor as well, i tend to see innuendos in a lit offf things, and that's abt all I can think of...

Thank you and congrats on the milestone ♥️

Event Closed

(glad you were able to hit the event, cause I had fun with this one 😂 honorable mentions to Jamil and Ruggie, but...)

I match you with Floyd Leech.

Low empathy and lack of need to give a shit? Welcome to the Leech family, you'll fit right in. I thought about you with Jade, but realized you were too alike. Meanwhile, Floyd is used to his cynical brother, but brings some fun to life. If you're settled in a cynical point about something, Floyd can take that viewpoint, and smash it to smithereens as he does a chaotic break dance. Or he'll back you up on your viewpoint, with the most stoic expression on his face. Pick your poison.

Too tired to accomplish your goals? Fine with Floyd, he just wants to cuddle anyways. But if you want him to push you, he will. He goes with the flow. You don't even need to tell him what you want, cause when it comes to those he cares about he is incredibly insightful. (On a side note, if he is feeling lazy today, don't you fucking dare push him. I can't say for sure what he'll do, but it'll probably involve you being stuck somewhere with him for hours until someone can come save you.)

Go for his insecurities. It makes him laugh. Not in a, he looks down on you way, but in an, aw, look how well shrimpy knows me way. He won't do it back unless you want him to. But he sees it as a love language. Look at you! You see me! Not as half of a pair, but as me! (What a weird little freak)

Look, I'm super  ace so idk how to sexual joke, but I know for sure Floyd does. He might give you a run for your money. If you want to get him to laugh really loud, drop a good out of nowhere, and he'll be dying. Yes, he has gotten kicked out of class for laughing too loudly at a sexual joke you made. But he'll do it back to you, regardless of the consequences, so be on your guard. 

Again, he has perfected the art of the dark joke. Some people can't tell if he's kidding, or if he's really killed people. But if you can keep up with him, he's enamored. Head over heels. Bewitched. Hopefully, you don't have a "that's too far" joke, cause he has millions to drop on you. 

The time had come. The part of the relationship everyone fears had arrived. Meeting the parents.

Floyd, as usual, was no help in preparing you for the encounter.

"What are they like?"

"Sometimes they're boring, sometimes they're not."

"I've never even met land Mafia, how do you act around mafia from the ocean?"

"I dunno."

"What if they don't like me?"

"They don't like a lot of people."

Useless. All of the "information" he gave you was useless. But now that you were seconds away from the arranged get together, he seemed more readily available to help.

"How should I act around them?"

"Honestly, Shrimpy, just be yourself," Floyd said with a soft smile.

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," you scowled.

"Nah, for real. I'm gonna be running their empire one day, and they wanna make sure the person by my side is a bad ass and tough as stone. They're probably gonna be mean to you on purpose, at first, to see if you can handle it. But I know you can, cause my shrimpy bites, and bites hard."

"Only when you beg," you smirked, causing Floyd to giggle.

"See? Nothing to worry about. Plus, if everything goes wrong," he took both your hands in his, and gave a lovesick smile, "we can always just kill them."

"Aw, I love you so much baby."

"Love you too, shrimpy."

[endercreep25]

Intro Post

Hello! I'm EnderCreep, also called Ender, EC, or Karl!

Important/Quick Read

The things to read if you don't want all the details

I use any and all pronouns!

I am a minor

My ask box is currently open (and will remain as such for the foreseeable future) for Undertale-related art or fanfic requests (AUs encouraged)

Please keep things completely sfw. (I will ignore you if you send nsfw, request or otherwise, into my ask box)

I think that's everything- read below for more detailed information!

My Tags

Tags for easily navigating my page (Also located in the tags of this post)

#ec art - My art

#ec writing - Anything I've written

#ec asks - Answering an ask

#ec sona - Anything to do with my sona

#ec ut - Undertale content

#ec reblog - Things I've reblogged

#ec talks - Unrelated text-based posts

About Me

A few things to know about me (duh)

I love Undertale, and mostly will only post stuff related to that.

I also really like cats! (And anything cute, small, or fluffy...)

My Quirks

Weird or potentially annoying things I do

I am somewhat forgetful and take my time with things. If I'm taking a while on your request or to respond to something, I promise I'll get to it! (I won't get mad if you remind me ^^)

I enjoy the visuals of spacing things out. I often break up my sentences and add unnecessary blank lines when posting.

I use more advanced vocabulary in my writing.

I add little sidenotes (I'm sure you noticed) often to place extra thoughts I have while writing things.

I do not post regularly. I try to, but life has a tendency to get in the way...

I am semi-unfamiliar / not very skilled with social cues and certain terminology. It would be great if tone tags could be used when interacting and please be patient with me!

Requests

Details on my ask box / requests

I will draw Undertale-related art.

I particularly enjoy drawing Sans.

AUs are greatly encouraged. (Classics are great but the fandom is so fun-)

I will draw ships!

I will also write fanfics!

I am not good at nor have ever written a romance/ship fic.

They will probably be shorter in length.

Will not do anything nsfw whatsoever

Sona

Information about my sona

- Here's the link to my Sona's ref!

- They have canonically eaten a politician

My AUs / Projects

AUs and projects I've started (You may ask things about the AUs that don't have ask blogs ^^)

SymTale / Ray!Sans's ask blog

NebulaTale

Mirrored Truce - A Dream and Nightmare truce one-shot

ForgeTale

Udnertal

Additional Thoughts

Anything I think to add that doesn't really fit anywhere else

- Uhhh... My go-to "say something random" is Pineapple. Idk why. I don't even like pineapple...