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saltyfryz · 1 year ago

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MORE SKELETON INFO DUMP!! (Pt one with Cassie and the outcodes)

First, we got LavenderTale Sans! Or Plum.

At first I wanted him to be 5'10 but I'm not so sure about that, so just know he's tall!

He's the old man of the group, he's been around a while.

Plum does have eye lights, but they only appear when he feels strong emotions. And when they do they're white, unstable and broken.

His drink of choice is Vinegar(spiked and unspiked), always carrying a bottle or two in his inventory at all times. Because of this he always smells strongly of the stuff.

He's got high LV and was incredibly dangerous in his prime, but after an incident that left him with his scars and old age, he's not as quick or as angry as he once was.

If confronted with a problem, he prefers to not play with his food so to speak. Especially if they're looking for a fight. Nowadays he just can't be bothered, so he quickly skewers them with a bone and moves on. However if they're just talking shit, all bark and no bite, he will mess with them a bit. Maybe he'll rough em up, or scare them with a bone attack straying a wee bit too close. Oftentimes he will just insult someone just for the hell of it, he loves it when people get all angry for 'no reason'

The exception to him not fighting anyone is if they interest him. Like if someone dropped something of value to them and Plum found it, if they were to fight him to get it back Plum would make it a massive game of keep away until he either gets bored of it or his fatigue catches up to him.

Speaking of, Plum suffers from chronic headaches and phantom pains due to the cracks that lace his skull and body. When the pain gets too much to handle, it can lead to him having some sort of episode. His senses get all muffled and he becomes a husk of rattling bones for a few hours. You should never interact with him in this state, as he has no idea what's what and will attack on instinct. When he eventually comes too, he usually finds himself safely tucked into his bed.

~~~TW! substance abuse~~~

Due to his pains, he's picked up a habit of drinking and getting high whenever the pains begin to flair up. This has led to him abusing the substances whenever he can, and him and Papyrus often get into screaming matches about it.

When they make it to the surface, eventually Plum does learn to stop relying on the stuff so much and actually gets the help he needs.

~~~

He has frequent and recurring nightmares, whether that be of Papyrus dying over and over again or of how he got his scars. He only occasionally gets good dreams, mostly about being on the surface with pap

He loves kids, (mostly infants) and sometimes offers to babysit for favors.

Plum has a removable patch of the Deltarune on the back of his jacket, it blends In perfectly and you can't even tell it wasn't there originally. He only wears his patch when working.

Like og sans, Plum is a Sentry and owns an illegal (and kinda overpriced) hotdog stand, and for a pretty penny he also sells soggy pretzels. They're surprisingly good if you can ignore the texture, and the strong taste of vinegar..

On the surface Plum gets two pets, a sweet pitbull service dog named Bulldozer and a tarantula named Marvy or Marvin.

Now, onto THE GREAT AND VILE PAPYRUS!! or Topaz!

He's asexual! Sex repulsed to be specific.

He has three scars on his skull. The two in his left eye socket were given to him by Asgore in a manner similar to the og fell pap, while the one down the right side of his face he's had as long as he can remember. Although he can't exactly remember how or where he got it.

Topaz's dish of choice is chicken alfredo, however it is SEVERELY burned, the noodles are DRENCHED in vinegar, it's over AND under cooked and the chicken can't decide if it's supposed to be stale or soggy. He does end up going to cooking classes on the surface though.

Despite his lack of cooking skills early on, Topaz is PHENOMENAL at sewing. He often patches up Plum's jacket or sweaters when he isn't looking

Despite his appearance and outward persona as "THE GREAT AND VILE PAPYRUS'' he actually doesn't really agree with the 'kill or be killed' mentality the underground had adopted, and would much rather curl up with a good book than put lower monsters 'in their place' for the millionth time. Still, he is very diligent with his guard duties and takes them extremely seriously, just because he doesn't agree with that mentality does not mean he isn't a BEAST when it comes to fighting. You don't become Captain of the royal guard for nothing.

I'm still trying to come up with his weapon of choice, but what I do know is that it's HUGE and heavy hitting.

As previously stated, he's a bookworm, loving adventure/romance novels as well as the occasional tragedy romance.

Topaz drives a motorcycle on the surface and Plum gets to ride in a little sidecar, in tern for free fixes and tune ups.

On the surface Topaz takes up commissions related to sewing or knitting, wanting to become a fashion designer. All his ideas may be a little unorthodox but no one can deny that he has talent.

Onto Cypher!

Or well, I wanna start with information about his au first!

It's named "True Hero"

And it's a surface fantasy au! Humans and Monsters have gone to war, but they ended it on peaceful terms and as a result Monsters were never sealed. However, just because it ended peacefully doesn't mean everyone got along. Humans and Monsters are still at odds with each other, and usually stay segregated. The land is divided into provinces with their own towns and cities.

They're separated as follows-

Snowdin province

Located north on the map

Where Snowfield Village resides

Almost always snowing

Waterfall province

Located in the middle of the map

Connected to oceans and rivers

These areas have many caves and waterfalls, but there is one huge main body of water named "Fated Oasis" as it's a hot spring that bridges all the provinces together. Some folk lore even describe the waters capable of healing.

Very wet, has marshes and some forests

Always raining and or damp

Hotland province

Located south with a mostly tropical climate

Has a few beaches that leak into some waterfall provinces

New Home

The monster capital

Run by the royal family

Location TBD

Ruins

The ruins of the first monster settlements.

Was attacked by humans and burned down and was one of the main catalysts for the war.

Location TBD, not drawn on maps

Has a massive graveyard to commemorate the lives lost. Some monsters come every now and again to pay respects.

Human territories are scattered around the map, far away from most Monster settlements, usually located far east or west near ports, as most Monster cities are further inland.

Like I said before, TH is a fantasy type world, however it does have some modern elements mixed in. Some areas and provinces are more modernized than others, having cars/trains while others are more traditional. The more modernized places are usually heavily populated cities and towns.

Snowfield village is one of the most popular towns in the region, as it's known for human monster integration. Incidentally this village/town is run by Cypher! It's not the only one of its kind, especially throughout the entire continent, but it is the one rumored to be run most smoothly.

Speaking of Cypher, he is the sans of this universe! Well known as the kind and energetic ruler of Snowfield village! He may look sweet and innocent, but don't be fooled! He is seasoned in the art of magical combat and sword fighting, able to beat anyone who stands in his way. However there's no reason to get so barbaric as Snowfield village barely has any real threats that need to be dealt with such force. Even so, Cypher trains day in and day out, honing his body to his full potential.

He is highly persuasive, and can talk down or up anyone with his cute face and charismatic charms

He's 4'11

Cypher doesn't cook as he usually lets the maids he hires do it for him, although he does enjoy secret codes, messages and cyphers.(hah)

He's a bit of a perfectionist, always wanting to look and be the best at anything he has his sights on at the time. He can get a little pouty if things don't go his way, but he doesn't let it show for long.

As for magic, Cypher can make these crystals that can sap, store and transfer the magic of others. This can make the transfusie feel tired and sluggish or even faint if too much is taken. After sapping magic, Cypher can either add it to his own reserves or someone elses to give them or himself a power boost. Although, he has to be extremely careful with his crystals, mostly around Monsters. Since they're made entirely of magic, if one were to come into contact with even a tiny part of the crystal they would almost instantly dust. The bigger the crystal the more the crystal is able to sap and store, but the bigger the crystal the more of a toll it takes to create. If the crystal tries taking more magic than it can handle, it shatters.

The crystals also cast a soft glow the color of Cypher's magic.

Onto Papyrus! Or Hyde/Hydro!

He's 6'2 but always slouches to look smaller.

Hydro is Cypher's royal advisor! Basically he takes care of the dirty work of running the village, mostly taking care of any disputes or criminals Cypher can't (or before he even finds out in some cases) in his own lazy way.

He runs on chocolate pudding(he can practically inhale gallons of the stuff) and bad puns.

Always tired due to his duties as advisor, often taking naps standing up or at his workbench.

Due to this appalling sleep schedule, he also barely has any magic to spare in his reserves and is often unreliable in battle magic wise. To remedy this Hyde always has a unique gadget to help to defend himself on him at all times. All of them of which he created

Speaking of, Hydro is very knowledgeable about scientific and magic infused technology. In his free time, he often studies and tinkers with any scrap he can find drifting down the river from the Capital. He has even created some experimental weaponry that he sells to neighboring villages.

He always tries to dress fancy for his brother, but he always gets his clothes wrinkled or dirty. On some shirts the bottom of the sleeves are almost entirely stained. Mostly with pudding or oil.

And that's all I got for now! If you have any questions feel free to ask :p

#salty ramblings #undertale aus #undertale au #undertale sans au #undertale papyrus au #underswap au #semi unrelated but i still need a au name for Cassie's au qwq #i got #LavenderTale #and #True Hero #but i cant seem to find a good name for her au #any ideas?#true hero au

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ivyprism · 1 year ago

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HAhahahah! More Heights!

@kioko-noodles @caycanteven @didderd @underfell-crystal @und3rwat3r-a5tr0naut @hearty-dose-of-ranch

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mjo240 · 1 year ago

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Yo, sorry for being gone for so long. Anyways, here's an art dump

#undertale #undertale au #gaming #art #character art #digital art #traditional art #spider man 2099 #spiderman #killer sans #fell sans #error sans #kratos #god of war #momo yaoyorozu #my hero academia #underswap #swap sans #sketch

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waffultaim · 1 year ago

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tbh i would never guessed that undertale phase from 2016 would get me again but i also would never guessed that mini undertale au phase will be the one that would get me again, aha a plot twist.

#you know at first was like ew you remember that phase #it was so cringy and it didnt make sense at all #lol i wish it never existed #but i just touch the surface of that whole thing in 2016 #you know like the omg another sans and we are friends and we interact #and the shippy thing #and also the funny but cool memory of seeing underverse #i was hipped to see it until it stopped or i lost interest #i forgor #i was to young ig to follow the lore i just learn wow ink is cute #the hero the cool guy nice dude #error mean #the fanon blueberry stuck with me skull emoji #and yeah most of that i guess #i only remember watching until the underswap ep #but man the lore i miss it #the thing that i didnt get in 2016 i get it now #wdym that ink has no soul that he could be an “uncareless dude”#i was fooled #but at the same time i like it #because yeah its not my inky winky that i remember yeah laugh #but i also stopped watching so idk know how to feel #i was just like ink how could you #but yeah it passed away as i realized i liked this new him because if was just the cutesy with will-good protector/creator it #would just feel nostalgic and then pass it and forgot about it #but he have lore that i didnt know #or that was constructed over time i wasnt watching i dunno #but it was really a surprise as also was a surprise to see #the error lore because yeah i also was a “self called” fan of him ig #i am now really tbh

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zu-is-here · 7 months ago

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hall of a forgotten hero

[4/17] Underswap!Sans by p0pcornpr1nce

#zu art #underswap #underswap!sans #swap!sans #us!sans #birthday #undertale #undertale au #utmv #the original idea was a little different #but I had a bad feeling about making fun of other versions of him #cause yes they're far from canon but they still have the right to exist #however today is a tribute to Him ;w;

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haveyouseenthisskeleton · 3 months ago

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Could we have main 10 with a kid who surprises their dad by writing about them being the kid's hero for a school assignment or something?

Undertale Sans - Aw. Sans cares a hell lot than what people think and never asks the same for other because he thinks he doesn't desserve this. It's like getting hit by a car honestly, he didn't expect that from his child and maybe he can authorizes himself to cry a little for once. It actually feels nice to have someone showing him unconditional love for once.

Undertale Papyrus - Honestly, no one can hear anything during the presentation because of Papyrus' loud sniffing in the background lol. He's really trying his best to stay cool but the more his kid is going, the harder it gets. Undyne is kinda playing moral support, mainly trying to make him shut up because her kid is supposed to talk next and now she's terrified she will break down like Papyrus lmao.

Underswap Sans - He knows it's not very fair of him to be flattered as he never really wanted that child in the first place. He feels guilty he was never there, almost always working, and that their child still doesn't care and sees him as a model. He wants to be better for them, but it's hard to accept he's actually a good dad when he told himself he's terrible for so long.

Underswap Papyrus - Honey is a mess lol. He doesn't see clear anymore because of how much he cried and his kid's presentation is still not over. He's not sure he's going to be able to see the whole thing, he swears he's going to break down completely in a few seconds and just bursts in loud sobs. That's kinda the best gift his kid could give him. He's just a little too overwhelmed at the moment to appreciate it entirely. That's his baby on the stage and he's so so proud of them.

Underfell Sans - He doesn't know what to feel about this. It's touching, but... It feels wrong. He's not a good guy, he did a hell lot of mistakes in his life, he let monsters stepped on him a good part of his life and he doesn't fully understand how his child can see him like a hero. He's just weak. He smiles to his child, but his smile doesn't quite reach his eyes. Time passes but he still has a lot of insecurities. He's still happy at least one person doesn't see him like a total loser.

Underfell Papyrus - He's so damn proud right now. It's Edge longest dream to be a hero, and ok, he maybe failed to be that Underground because the Royal Guard was not exactly like he imagined it was, but he at least is a hero for someone. He's going to cherish that little letter for a very long time. He can't even tell his child how much it's important to him. He guesses he moved on for good of all the suffering Underground, now it's time to finally accept he's not that bad.

Horrortale Sans - He puts the small letter in his notebook so he can never forget it. Oak doesn't know what he did to desserve a child like this, but it's for sure nice. He is finally under the impression he's moving on, despite all the guilt and the hard years that followed his arrival on the Surface. He's just glad he can be a normal father despite all his traumas and weird behaviours. He's proud of his kid, and maybe a litte proud of himself for getting better. Hopefully, he's going to be fine.

Horrortale Papyrus - Willow is not ok. He was not ready to be absolutely destroyed by his child who somehow managed to hit him in each and every of his vulnerabilities. It's still hard to accept he's a good dad after everything he did, and how bad his health is, but here he is, his child reading a list of all the nice things they think of him and he can't take it. He can't stop thinking that if he didn't live through what happened Underground, he would have feel very good to be loved that much. But it's just bittersweet. He doesn't desserve any of this. He's glad he taught his kid to see the best in anyone, but he never thought that could comes back to his face some day. He's happy, and embarrassed, and sad, and happy. He's so lost right now.

Swapfell Sans - That's a beautiful revenge. He's looking Toriel in the eyes as his kid says he's the best dad ever and all the nice thing he did for them. Toriel tried all she could to make him drop that child and his S/O, sending monsters to his door, and then, when he didn't work, she tried to convince him he would be a terrible dad, that his child would hate him when they see he's just a cold blood killer. And all of this because he refused to be her heir. Nox can't stop smiling. He doubted, he even almost believed her at one point, but here he is. He's his kid's hero, and there's nothing the Queen can do to change that. He didn't messed up this time. And soon enough, the Queen will have to accept he's not scared of her anymore and to let him go. He's not a soldier anymore, he's a father. He won.

Swapfell Papyrus - ... He reads the letter a second time, really suspicious. Ok, what's the deal? You want something? You broke something and you need him to cover up in front of his S/O? You can say it you know, he won't get mad. Sure, his ego will hurt for a little while, but he understands. But when his kid says it's genuine, actually, Rus is just a little in shock. Uh... You know he's not a model, right? He's a loser and he messes up all the time. What do you mean he's your hero? He's no one's hero. You had the wrong guy. Rus doesn't know what to say. He's so used to people faking loving him that he struggles to believe it. He cries a bit that night, thinking about all this. Shit, someone actually cares for him and it's real. He's so confused.

Fellswap Gold Sans - Please go on, continue. The more flattering you are, the better. Wine obviously knows he is the best, and the fact his child is confirming it makes things a lot much better! You swear you heard something that vaguely sound like a purr, but he quickly hides it so you can't tell. Wine loves when people say nice things about him, and especially his family. It's good for his huge ego and it feels nice. It changes. Maybe he should make more children so it happens more often.

Fellswap Gold Papyrus - He was a little sad because all of this sounded like a praise to Uncle Wine and he thought you chose him as his family hero. So when you end your speech saying all of this is your dad, he is in complete shock. He's paralyzed, his brain not able to process what just happened. What do you mean it's him? That's not him. He's not that special. He's barely able to work as his own being. Coffee is a bit overwhelmed, and runs on stage to hug his child. For once, he doesn't care everyone is looking at him (for now at least, thanks adrenaline), he's just so happy. No one told him he was special, except Wine, but it was always to justify his bad actions. So it feels nice to have someone considering special for once. He doesn't want to let go. He loves you too.

#undertale #underswap #underfell #horrortale #swapfell #fellswap gold #sans #papyrus #undertale ask blog #undertale asks #undertale imagines #undertale headcanons

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kakishirocream · 2 months ago

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underswap sprites i did for fun lol

-Chara and Frisk Swaps obviously lol but they still keep their personalities and Meta sides. Chara still represents the addiction to number based rewards, finality and your true RPG character.

-Frisk still represents curiosity, completionism, emotional attachment and memories you cherish and the joy from playing for plays sake But theyre in Charas narrator role.

-My take on underswap Chara’s design is based on Unused Human and The Vessel

-My take on underswap Frisk’s design is based on Hero and Kris

-Flowey is still Flowey but hes an echo flower lol I mean i have to swap something

-Asgore and Toriel keep their roles still before their childrens deaths and how they swap roles will play out like Inverted Fate

-Papyrus is the sentry and self appointed judge obviously and hes VERY enthusiastic about his role and along the way he does science experiments and hes still THE GREAT PAPYRUS NYEH HEH HEH!

-sans is an actual member of the royal guard but he doesnt do much yet it seems like he is actually doing sh!t. He sells hotdogs.

- Alphys is the captain of the royal guard but her methods are less direct and she mostly uses puzzles and diversions alongside technology to stop and capture chara, she actually is quite shy and insecure and still a weeb. She does fight direct at the end of waterfall with a mech

- Undyne is the royal scientist, a MAD one. Her experiments can be quite explosive (literally.) she is still brash, determined and willing to sacrifice herself just for the betterment of monsterkind but has expertise in technology and science.

-In this, Mad Mew Mew and Mettaton swaps. Maddie’s show will be more Anime themed and a lot more chaotic than Mettaton in Undertale.

-Again, for Toriel it will work out like Inverted Fate

-I didnt swap Asriel because i am not a fan of swapping monster kid and asriel because to me it doesn't make any sense so he is in the tragic prince role still but Frisk is his childhood best friend instead of chara

Anyways thats all i have for now because its just a random thing i came up with

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popatochisssp · 1 year ago

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The Court AU has me DEAD!!! If you’d be willing, what sort of outfits would they wear? I’d love to draw them!

Anon, I had so many tabs open looking up medieval-type fashion and armor, we're talking like 30+, felt super awesome finishing this and closing them all 😌

Anyway--

Sans (Undertale): What’s black and blue and white all over? Why, him of course! His jester’s motley features a black-and-white diamond pattern, offset by bright, rich, royal blue—a mark of his service to the king. He doesn’t wear one of those silly hats, though…because he wears a silly hood instead! Less chance of falling off, you see. When not in costume he tends toward simple tunics, of decent material and often still in blue.

Papyrus (Undertale): Almost never out of full plate armor, even in downtime, he has to dress for the job he wants and that means being a shining metal bastion of knightly glory at all times! …Though he does often remove his helmet and hold it by his sword at his hip, or fasten it to his steed’s side. He’s a very handsome skeleton, it would be cruel to deny the people the chance to see their hero’s face!

Sky (Underswap Sans): Soft blues and yellows, as a squire only lightly armored—greaves and pauldrons, a mail shirt beneath his tunic if he’s expected to go into battle—but he considers even that much armoring to be overkill for what he’s doing. Still, his Captain insists, and it makes his brother feel better, so he takes care protecting himself. He has some nicer finery to wear about court, as a nobleman, but tends simpler for anything that might be dirtied or torn in training.

Paps (Underswap Papyrus): Rich green and earthy browns, his clothing tends to be without ostentation—no embroidery, no gold buckles or buttons, or anything especially elaborate. He may be noble but he’s a scholar and a recluse and prefers not to stand out much. Still, the fabrics of which his clothing is made are always fine, as coarse or stiff materials quite put him off. Mostly cottes—long belted tunics—with the occasional robe over, if it's cold.

Jasper (Underfell Sans): Blacks and browns, sturdy plain clothes which can stand up to considerable wear and tear. Often wears a short diamond-quilted gambeson and some leather armor (vambraces and greaves), but always has a sword belted to his hip and a cloak made of dire-wolf’s fur draped over his shoulders. If ever he should need to acknowledge his denounced family name, he does have some finer clothing stored away somewhere—in red—and a shiny gold signet ring with his family crest on it.

Pyre (Underfell Papyrus): Usually in half plate armor, dark metal heavily scratched and scorched, dents meticulously hammered back out. He also wears a tattered red cape about his shoulders that billows quite majestically behind him when he rides or runs into battle. He will occasionally dress down in laced tunics and breeches, still in red and black, fine but not too fine as to raise suspicion about his heritage. Should all that ever come out, he does have a suit of pristine night-black armor he’s been dying to inherit and a silken cape to pin about it with a golden clasp of the family’s crest.

Mal (Swapfell Sans): Mostly black but flaunts his privilege and royal ties with purple accents wherever possible. Brigandine armor with a fine gold-plated gorget and pauldrons and a few other ornamental trappings—he is the Empress’ personal guard and must in some capacity be as elegant. Very fine doublets and tunics for his (rare) downtime, often with gold threading, but not fond of most jewelries.

Rus (Swapfell Papyrus): Dark colors and crisp whites, noble yet eccentric, he has a lot of fine doublets and other such court-wear but tends not to actually…wear them. He can mostly be found in loose-fitting cottes, baggy sleeves often penned up by leather armlets to keep them out of his paints. He has a fur-hooded cloak for travel or cold weather, but he rarely leaves his rooms, much less the castle, so he doesn’t don it often.

Slate (Horrortale Sans): Dark browns and off-white cream, simple rough-hewn clothing showing signs of wear and occasionally odd stains. He works in the stables, with animals, and being around animals so much makes it difficult to keep clean. He has a somewhat decent dark blue cloak that he’ll wear into town for errands, or in polite company—it has a hood to conceal the great jagged hole in his head that tends to make the squeamish or timid flinch away from him.

Papy (Horrortale Papyrus): Still hasn’t quite shaken the habit to be armored, even when it isn’t necessary, but he’s cut down from full plate to chain mail only, much lighter and easier to move around in—which is vital when hurrying to the training field for an accident, or running to meet a wounded knight at the gates. He wears a simple tabard over his mail, blue with red edging (the Queen’s colors), and keeps a pouch of bandages and other aid supplies belted to his waist instead of a sword.

Ash (Undergloom Sans): The livery of the king’s court, gray and gold, but dyed into fabrics suitable for common folk. He still wears gray when not performing at court, tunics so thickly woven they could pass as a gambeson and often paired with hooded cloaks, but he keeps his golds set aside until needed to keep them in good condition. He takes equal care of his shiny brass sackbut (it’s a horn, with a very funny name but an instrument nonetheless) so it always plays well.

Yrus (Undergloom Papyrus): Off-white and tan linens, loose and breathable for hot work in the kitchens, sleeves rolled up and pinned at the elbows to keep them from getting in the way. Always an apron about his waist, occasionally with food stains after a long day’s work but these he quickly tends to as soon as he’s able. He has nothing in the way of real finery but tries very hard to make sure what he has is clean and presentable.

Brick (Horrorfell Sans): Fine brocaded doublets of rich red and shining gold thread, as a duke and brother to a king, he does have to dress the part a bit. He wears more jewelry, especially rings, but nearly always still has his dire-wolf fur cloak over his shoulders. When called for executions, he dresses down quite a bit, in simple black cloth with only a leather pauldron over one shoulder to help brace the weight of his axe before he swings.

King (Horrorfell Papyrus): Half plate armor essentially at all times, even formal or polite occasions—he’s the owner of a stolen throne and all too aware that it could be stolen from him the same way he got it. His breastplate is scaled and his pauldrons are elaborately spiked, but it’s all black. The only pop of color on him is his crown, the same worn by Asgore and Undyne, gold and sharp, with rubies inlaid.

Merc (Horrorswap Sans): Chain mail over a finely-made kaftan and beneath a traveling cloak, the latter two with signs of wear from a long journey. His head is notably absent of a crown—left behind in the kingdom he fled—but a new one awaits him soon, of flashing silver and blue stone, depicting the phases of the moon. When fully established in his new kingdom, he may begin dressing as a proper king again, draping himself in the blue and silver finery of the land that sheltered him.

Ell (Horrorswap Papyrus): Browns, greens, and blacks, he wears light leather armor—really just a breastplate and vambraces—and a thick woolen cloak about his shoulders. He has no need of greaves for his shins, legs lost to an accident in the wilderness, but supplanted by magical prosthetics, living blackened wood provided by his land when he called upon it for aid. …Not that he’s fully accepted that it’s his land, keeping his crown of twisting copper and emerald tucked away in a saddlebag instead of on his brow. Maybe someday…

Pitch (Horrorswapfell Sans): Rich purple and verdant green, amidst a sea of black—he favors very fine fabrics with open lacing at the chest. Still not especially fond of jewelry, but wears considerably more decorative leather braces on forearms, shins, and even the occasional full-chest corset. (He has some chronic pain and the extra pressure and support in certain spots helps.) He wears considerably more plain clothes for knight-training purposes and when traveling wears a black cloak with a cowl that comes down over the hole in his face at a point, as the beak of a raven.

Nemo (Horrorswapfell Papyrus): Usually in half plate splint mail armor for his patrols along the wall, but favors rusty oranges, brown and black for the tunics and boots and breeches he wears out of it. Often carries a lantern, and always has tinder in a pouch on his hip. Beside his pouch is a war-horn in case an alert would need to be called, loud enough to make everyone come running if it’s ever sounded.

Sunny (Gastertale Sans): A cavalierly styled courtier, at first having made do with graciously lent clothing and now being able to buy his own in a whole variety of rich colors—yellow, blue, magenta, and on. His aim is to look at home in court, which means he must dress as other courtiers do, so he has doublets and fine tunics and many, many fashionable capelets with embroidery and stylish pins, as well as a few equally chic plumed hats. The other courtiers look to him now for the latest fashion trends and he couldn’t be happier.

Aster (Gastertale Papyrus): A bit more subdued in style than his brother…though only a bit. He favors black frocks, almost as a cleric would wear, but beneath them, elegant doublets in greens and yellows as vibrant as anything his twin wears, with fine silver filigree work in his buckles and pins and clasps. He’s the pinnacle of restrained class and taste and it’s no wonder at all that the king should respect him so highly if his care in thought is as his care in appearance.

Spectr (Transcendtale Sans): Deep, dark black from head to toe, most prominently a long hooded cloak with two eye-lights glowing in the darkness. He always wears gloves and never lets his hood down, as he’s not especially fond of his metal bones and doesn’t really wish to be seen. It’s difficult to see in the daytime, but at night he’s trailed by faint wisps of ghostly light in all colors of the rainbow, such a strange sight that many a drunkard who’s seen him has poured out their bottle presuming they’d had quite a bit too much.

PapAIrus (Transcendtale Papyrus): Full plate armor, of course, but as he’s now some sort of spectral entity, it (and he!) glows and is slightly see-through. Being ghostly has washed out his colors quite thoroughly which is unfortunate—mostly all white with hints of silvery blue—but on the up-side he seems able to change his appearance some by will alone, donning or discarding his helmet at will, manifesting a majestic cape for himself out of the ether, and so on. It seems a fair enough trade to him!

Xanth (Ascendswap Sans): A man at court now, he’s donned an eye-patch and abandoned the trappings of prospective knighthood, fully embraced courtier fashion…if a bit ‘eccentrically.’ He favors bright yellows and spring greens, flowing garments of fine cloth layered beneath and over leather vambraces, gorget, and tasset. All these are elaborately, intricately designed and certainly make the similarly intricate gold jewelry (with multicolored gems) that he wears at wrist and neck stand out, but it’s hardly in fashion… Still, the mystic’s thinking is often inscrutable.

Piper (Ascendswap Papyrus): Unlike his brother, very fashionable and eye-catching, in rich amaranths and brilliant turquoises, with even the occasional lavender. He has many fine embroidered doublets, threaded liberally with gold, and wears many pieces of gold jewelry as well—necklaces, bracelets, pins, and brooches. When showing the birds of the crown at court or bidding them on a royal hunt, he wears the livery of the crown-proper—royal purple and gold—and always has a thick leather falconer’s glove on his left hand.

Carmine (Underfell Fruition Sans): What’s black and white and red all over? Well, newspapers haven’t been invented yet, so it’s him, of course! He’s no jester so he hasn’t a motley to wear to work, but he is a performer and does dress in the livery of the king, which is red and black. The material is a bit finer than he’s used to, but being that he’s no longer wearing rags and rotting in a hole, he’s quite pleased with it and doesn’t mind the bright colors that help him attract the eyes of many comely nobles at court. Off-duty, he sticks to loose, somewhat open tunics—red still very much preferred.

Tank (Underfell Fruition Papyrus): Laced linen shirts, not especially loosely fitting due to his largeness in the chest and shoulders but he hasn’t burst any seams in awhile so the measurements must be somewhat correct. He’s fond of white and a true connoisseur of red, all shades from dark to very light. He keeps an array of small carpentry tools—hammers, chisels, things for measuring—in a roll on his hip, a dedicated apprentice to the core.

Vi (Swapfell Fruition Sans): All black, pourpoint armor beneath fine silk doublets but almost disappointingly plain otherwise—no embroidery, no ornament, or stitched pattern, or brocade. Over this he wears a cloak, equally fine and with at least some ostentation, a bit of silver stitched decoration that matches the intimidatingly clawed silver gauntlet he wears upon his left hand—a symbol of his wealth, if not his status. These flashy items are for matters of court only, as he has a much more nondescript hooded cloak and less identifiable sharp implement which he uses for matters of stealth and misdeeds when it is important that he not be recognized.

Hunter (Swapfell Frution Papyrus): A prince in princely attire…mostly. He happily flaunts the color purple but proudly wears it with the black of his old family name, and drapes himself in silk tunics, fine (mostly decorative) pauldrons, capes and capelets. He tends to show off a bit more of his chest than seems appropriate for a man of his station, and seems to wear his elegant silver jewelry in ways such that the eye is drawn there, and…other places, but few question the whims of royalty. His pewter crown is heavy and inelegant and he’s talked much with his brother about how angry people would be if he had it melted and recast into something more stylish.

Kohl (Descendtale Sans): Plain, rough tunics, in black and dark brown. He wears a heavy fur-lined gabardine as it gets quite cold in the dungeons, though it’s uncertain where he managed to get such a nice garment. He keeps a knife on his belt, large and jagged-toothed, and though he hasn’t had need to use it yet, the threat of it tends to keep most prisoners from attempting to bring him harm.

Bram (Descendtale Papyrus): He’s traded in his full plate armor for a comfortably fit leather jerkin, accompanied by matching gauntlets to protect his hands and torso (inasmuch as they need protection, without flesh) from the thorns he trims back every day. He mostly wears black and white and brown, all things closely fit to his body, less they snag overmuch and need to be replaced too often. His clothing is simple but well-suited to his work, and he wears it nicely.

#anonymous #headcanons #court au #undertale #underswap #underfell #swapfell/fellswap #horrortale #undergloom #horrorfell #horrorswap #horrorswapfell #gastertale #transcendtale #ascendswap #underfell fruition #swapfell fruition #descendtale

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thegingerheed · 4 months ago

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How DELTATRAVELER is the funniest UT fangame by complete accident.

Over the course of the past year, I've talked a ton about various UT/DR fan-projects and my thoughts regarding them and their writing. One fan-work I have talked extensively about on various forums and threads being DELTATRAVELLER. For a while, I didn't know exactly how to feel about this game. It felt like an enigma to me.

The game was enjoyable to play, it was entertaining to read. Yet I could never get myself invested in anything regarding the game's narrative or characters. It was as if the game was unintentionally written to obliterate (pun entirely intended) any and all chances for narrative investment in its story and characters. What the game did have over me was that it had me in histersics for the majority of its runtime. Yet, paradoxically, none of the jokes written to be funny landed for me. For a while I didn't fully know why and how it made me feel about the game as a whole. How can you say you enjoyed something a lot whilst also laughing at it and acknowledging that under any other circumstance, it wouldn't be something that you'd consider to be good?

Spoiler alert: I found that answer, which I will now be explaining to YOU in weirdly esoteric detail !!!

But before we start, let's start of with the basic premise of DELTATRAVELER for those not in the know.

What is a "DELTATRAVELER"

DELTATRAVELER is a UT/DR fangame about Kris, Susie and Noelle being isekai'd from a Post-Chapter 2 DELTARUNE into the worlds of various different video games and UNDERTALE on a quest to find a way home. The game was inspired and made off the back of "GOD FUCKING damnit KRIS where the FUCK are we!?" which was a very popular meme at the time of DELTARUNE: Chapter 2's release.

Like DELTARUNE, the game is divided and released in chapters (dubbed 'sections' by the devs). Each chapter is set in a different world and has the Shit Squad (The objectively best name for the heroes) explore, fight and eventually find that world's "grey door" which serves as the end goal for the chapter as that will take the Shit Squad to the next world after the boss of the chapter is complete. In total the game is slated to have eight total chapters with what they are based on being revealed in advanced:

Chapter 1: UNDERTALE

Chapter 2: Earthbound

Chapter 3: GG!UNDERFELL

Chapter 4: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Chapter 5: TS!UNDERSWAP

Chapter 6: Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

Chapter 7: Toontown Online

Chapter 8: The Dark (the game's finale)

Currently as of this post, DELTATRAVELER is still a work in progress with Chapter 3 being released back in December. As a result all discussion of the game of the game will be on Chapters 1-3 as those are what's out right now.

I think I should preface this post with me saying, I don't think DELTATRAVELER is a bad game, quite the opposite, actually! I enjoyed my time with it.

Mechanically, the gameplay is really well done, the physics feel very on point to UT/DR, which is surprisingly rare for a lot of UT fan-games. It felt like I was playing UT/DR and was rewarded for the skills I had gained from the collective hundreds of hours I have played these games.

Visually, I think it looks very solid and charming. Seeing various locales and characters from other games being translated into UT/DR's iconic, sometimes janky artstyle is always cool to see and it will be very interesting to see how games like A Link to the Past are adapted in future chapters.

Musically, I think the game is fine. The original songs in the OST doesn't have anything I'd point to as "bangers" but also doesn't have anything I thought was particularly hard to listen to (With the outlier maybe being Eye for an Eye. The obligatory Megalo for the Sans fight in the GG!UNDERFELL chapter. But even then, I wouldn't even call the song "bad". I just don't like it too much and that's fine! just how music taste works.)

But to get to the main point. The most intreasting thing about DELTATRAVELER to me, is the way the game is written which has proven to be quite the controversial topic within the broader fandom which is what I'll try to give an in-depth and nuanced disection of but to put a long story short, I don't think this game is written well. Most of the core issues I have with DELTATRAVELER's writing can be attributed to a single, fundamental flaw. That being how the game handles it's "tone"

Explaining Tone

In writing, Tone is a very multi-factor concept, working as the bedrock for a given work. To put it simply and cleanly, tone is basically "the vibes" of a given thing. Tone can come in a lot of different flavours. Whether that be the tone of a given scene, the work itself or even the tone of an entire series. Tone is important as keeping tone consistent with itself is one of the major factors in narrative investment. It essentially tells the audience what they can and can't expect from a work of fiction.

Let's use this as an example:

You're watching a movie, in the movie there's a scene involving the protagonist having an anvil inexplicably dropped on their head by the antagonist.

If this movie was a comedy for children and family, the tone of this scene would ensure that this be as funny a punchline as possible or the set up for a funny punchline. This expectation built by the previous events of the story shields the narrative and characters from anything that might be too ill-fitting for the "comedy for child and family tone" it's trying to go for. At most the protagonist could be expected to suffer from a Loney Toons-like knockout rather than ending in a hospital bed with a shattered skull. Or, at worst, splattered and crushed across the pavement in an intensely gruesome fashion. If that happened, it wouldn't pass the story's "vibe check" which can cause something that I'll be calling "Tonal Whiplash"

If you want an example of "Tonal Whiplash" and the effects it can have on the audience, look no further than Shadow the Hedgehog

This game, to be frank. Is fucking hilarious and this is in part due to the mere concept of the game about Shadow using a gun breaking the tone set series-wide by other Sonic games and media in the past. (Expect Sonic Adventure 2, that has similar issues to a lesser extent)

It takes a series about stopping egg-themed villain from ruling the world to trying to assassinate the president and watching as a innocent girl gets shot in the back by what is basically, the USA military. And it all tries to do this in the Sonic series' iconic, albeit rather corny writing while also intened to appeal to older kids and be "cool". It leaves the game being kinda a clusterfuck even beyond just its tone issue, in a very funny way.

Now, this isn't to say that breaking tone is necessarily a bad thing all the time. Sometimes it's intentional, a way to make a moment hit harder, surprise the audience or all of the above. However, breaking tone is a narrative risk and if it fails you risk hurting the narrative investment your audience has within your work and to top it off once tone has been broken, it can't really be put back together with a story. You'll basically be shifting the tone of the story from that point on.

An easy example of this tonal shift is UT itself with it's Geno Route.

How UNDERTALE handles it's tone

UT's tone is one that acknowledges its nature as a video game with the usage of diegetic game mechanics like SAVING and the battle system.

This has many unique effects, for example means things like death as a concept is something that is treated rather lightly within the game's tone, the game even joking about it on the occasion. It's rather pointless treating death as anything other than a slight inconvenience to the human when you directly acknowledge that they can undo it by simply not wanting to die.

This treatment of death intentionally clashes with how it's treated when you kill monsters in a Geno Route. Papyrus is a shining example of this. Being something of an emotional obstacle for the player. Designed to make the player feel shit. Basically UT's writing is effectively, unapologetically trying to guilt trip you as another test of your determination to see this run to its completion.

The emotional weight of this scene is less carried by the idea of death and more so the fact that you hurt one of your favourite characters and won't see him anymore for the remainder of the run. It's more character focused, if you've already begun to withdraw your narrative investment and attachment to the characters or if you simply just don't give a fuck, it's not gonna make you feel anything. It'd just be another monster to slay, another number to increase.

Now you might find yourself wondering. How can UT be funny and sad without it leading to side effects normally seen by "tonal whiplash"? UT is funny, sure. There's a lot of jokes, each joke told in UT is a joke told by either a character or the world. Each joke means something beyond it being a funny line. But UT can also be heartfelt, like the walk up to Asgore. It all further fleshes these characters out making them feel more deep and layered, it treats it's world and characters not as jokes to be laughed at but as people, people who can be funny, people that can be sad and down even if you and the game both know that deep down, they aren't real. Just bundles of pixels and dialogue for your entertainment which is what makes Geno's clash work.

Your attachment to the characters and world. It's sudden, yes. But that's why it hits. NPCs vanish and their absence is felt, the once lively music replaced with a slowed drone. It all feels empty. It's dark, all because you have killed the things that gave this game its "light". UT's tone is something that . The tone of Pasifist runs reinforce and bring greater impact to Geno runs and that's why it feels less like tonal whiplash to the audience.

Now, let's get to DELTATRAVELER. If we want to establish how DELTATRAVELER establishes a tone for itself what best than analysis the beginning?

How DELTATRAVELER handles it's tone

After an amusing title screen and a quick file selection, we open with Kris and Susie on a bed of flowers, the first room of UT. After a brief moment of the two getting their bearings, they stand up and Susie turns to Kris before saying "God Damnit Kris! Where the hell are we?!!" fit with a silly pose and sound effect. A reference to the meme that inspired the game's creation.

The next scene is in the very next room and it's encounter with Flowey. Here he attempts the same speech he said in UT before Susie cuts him off, gets him to spill the beans that he was actually after Kris' SOUL before getting into a battle. Where they make a joke about DR battles being different from UT battles before Susie bashes her HUD into Kris' creating a unique one that DELTATRAVELER uses before blasting Flowey away with Rude Buster.

Off the cuff, DELTATRAVELER isn't really being serious. So far it's spent the first couple of scenes essentially making jokes around the characters, world and basic premise of the game and the game will continue to do this with inclusion such as Ralsei smoking a blunt, referencing a meme of the same name and Noelle making expressions referencing both a popular SpongeBob and MegaMind memes. On its own, this isn't really a bad thing, sure I may personally find it very unfunny but the game starting off with various memes isn't even a negative in principle, it just indicates that it doesn't want the audience to take it too seriously, which if that was the intention, would be fine. The issue DELTATRAVELER has with it's writing is that it unfortunately does want me to take it seriously.

The game makes an attempt to emulate UT's writing style, attempts to have serious moments sprinkled amongst jokes. However, unlike UT, DELTATRAVELER's brand of humour is basically solely self aware memes. Oftentimes, made at the expense of its own characters and world, leaving the moments where the game actually wants to be taken serious to fall flat.

Things like Kris' nightmare during Chapter 3, where they wonder why they are cursed with our control before lamenting about how much they want to rip their SOUL out and destroy it. Before crying out that they "Don't want to die alone." Doesn't have the impact the game wants it to have, because prior to that point, the game had basically already told the audience not to take the game too seriously, thus hurting any narrative and emotional investment the player could form with this interpretation of Kris as a character leading up to that point.

The same can be said with DELTATRAVELER's Geno Route equivalent, dubbed by the devs as The Obliteration Route watching the game in one route go from, "Ralsei Dobbie! No Bitches? Vine boom!" to beating and slaughtering a beloved protagonist and watching the kid bleed out on the ground as the other fights for revenge whilst a cover of (fucking) MEGALOVANIA starts playing in another takes what should be a very climactic and emotional moment and turns it into the single funniest boss fight I have played.

And that isn't counting the various other characterization issues present throughout the route as a whole. Characters like Noelle and Susie have no real reason to help Kris with the run once they notice them seemingly going around looking for people to slaughter. DELTATRAVELER especially when the game then goes out of its way to show the player that both party members have the digetic ability to reject the player's control, to the point where they can refuse to enter battles with Kris entirely.

But they don't, they'll even attack Ness and Paula under a certain percentage of health even after Susie tells explicitly Kris to not kill them. It leads to the game putting the blame on Kris and then The Player for a situation Susie and Noelle also have established agency over. Susie can help and kill a ton of monsters yet still be pissed at Kris for what is, under the game's internal logic, still a choice she chose to follow. The game tries to remedy this via Chapter 3's talk with the trio and it's better, sure. But it still leaves the writing in this strange place of hypocrisy with the characterization to me.

One scene that sticks out to me as particularly odd being after a secret Gaster lore dump cutscene on an Aborted Obliteration run has Noelle say:

"Kris..."

"If you were serious about not having control."

"You would've done it."

Directly implying that she thought Kris should've jumped off the cliff... which is just a strange inclusion, I feel is... Done more so to enlist a reaction in the player rather than creating important moments that respects the world and established characterization.

On the topic of weird characterization, let's talk Sans...

In the GG!UNDERFELL chapter, the main antagonists are Papyrus and Sans. Papyrus, is written, pretty recognisably from his Canon Counterpart. Sans however? Is a mess and a wonderful mess, at that. They take this very edgy, unhinged approach to his character, making him into an insane killer type of character similar to AUs like Dusttale. Throughout the chapter, he tries his damnest to kill Kris and take their SOUL, talking vaugely about a gurdge that doesn't ever get elaborated on. This approach creates a dynamic between Sans and Papyrus, where Sans is basically on Papyrus' metaphorically leash. Reaching a breaking point where he kicks Papyrus off a cliff, rushes at Kris like a feral dog before being being thrown off the bridge, leading to his battle.

His battle... oh my god his battle! It was easily the best part of the game, to the point it had to have its dialogue rewritten, the reason for this being honestly something I cannot begin to accurately describe to you while also doing the scene justice. So here's a clip from Andrew Cunningham's playthrough.

This isn't even the ironic either, this was just how Sans was written. The tone takes itself very seriously, this creates this type of divide where the game has already conditioned you not take it seriously, while trying to take itself completely seriously. It's peak tonal whiplash and it makes the scene, and the fight as a whole, unintentional hilarious.

Final Thoughts

The weirdest part? I don't even care. I've spent the better half of this essay arguing the flaws in DELTATRAVELER's writing, and while I do think they are all valid positions to have, for me? I don't really care about it that much, it's these issues that make me like the game. It's really funny in a very earnest, albeit unintentional way and at the end of the day. It's entertaining to read and there is value there. It's why I am not big on the rewrite of GG!Fell Sans. His issues come from fundemental aspect of his character that couldn't be changed with a simple rewrite, nor should it have it been expected to, as a result however, it doesn't really fix his character for me, it just takes a big part of what I enjoyed from him away. It's sort of a shining example on how when creating, you do not have a choice on how other people see your work. Some jokes you might tell might land and be funny, but also to some, may be brutally annoying and that's just the beauty of the beast. There's always room to analyse, to see if what the creator wanted to convey reads back to the audience. But even if there is critical flaws with the writing, enjoyment of that writing isn't inheritantly attached to author intentions or even the quality of the content, it's a feeling, a subjective one at that. It's why I could say I don't like Sonic the Hedgehog and Kingdom Hearts for being too corny and cheesey but to others, that's exactly what they love about it, and there's a lot of value in that.

There isn't a correct way to have an opinion, a right way to like or dislike something. You like things for the reasons you like them, you dislike you dislike them and that's fine.

However, I do want to take the time in this post to address pretty plevalent fandom issue perpetuated by the wider.

In the past, the UT/DR community was, to be frank rather toxic and elitist, it still is, depending on where you look. Overtime though, there's been a shift, whether be because those types of people moved on to other things or simply grew out of that behaviour, it doesn't matter why just that it has happened. There's a lot more positivity in this community and that is great to see. All healthy communities need such things. However, I do believe that as a result of this, the fandom now is suffering from a "rubber band mentality" where we've pulled too far in the opposite direction, leading to what feels like ironically "toxic positivity".

A lot of people feel very passionate about these fan-projects and that should be celebrated. However a trend I've seen in this fandom, one which has had a net negative effect on this community, is how we as a community react to people voicing opinions/ making jokes or just talking negatively about these beloved works.

You see it a lot with works like UNDERTALE: Yellow, DELTATRAVELER, Inverted Fate, all of the big fandom projects. Everytime a critique or just a joke about a fan-work gets more than like 10K Views on social media, the entire fandom begins to fold into basically damage control, regressing into "can we just not be so negative about the super popular fandom work loved by thousands?" People that voice their opinions on these work, especially negative opinions, get dogpiled, mocked and dismissed because according to them they "don't understand the writing", "hate fan works" or are just being "bitter about works made with passion and love and should simply shouldn't engage", even when said people once taking the time to actually hear them out, provide criticism that's honestly pretty valid.

I'd understand if people were directly going after devs, commenting under their tweets, invading their own communities just to mock and be the answer to a question nobody answered. That is wrong and should be called out. Voicing how funny or even terrible you think certain scenes are on your public social media? Ultimately, that's harmless in the grander scheme of things and I feel like fans and creators should be mindful of how they react to things because at the end of the day. People are allowed to voice their opinions, they are also allowed to make jokes and laugh at the writing, they are allowed to do all of that. People want to treat fan works like works of art and I am right there with them, but if you want to do that, you have to actually start treating them like art and accept it's a completely subjective thing. People will have different thoughts about them and that's okay! The moment you start policing what thoughts should and shouldn't be expressed is when any meaningful discussion dies. This whole mentality that since it took hard work and dedication to make a fan project should be celebrated to the highest order and treated as an object of reverence, absolved from all criticism is a harmful mentality to fall into. A thing can both require hard work and dedication and also be criticised and joked about by people. These two can co-exist. One doesn't somehow counteract and invalidate the other.

For some, analysing and critiquing media is a fun thing to do! It helps you get a better understand of the medium you're analysing, what works and what doesn't. It's legitimately fun to have discussions about. Being negative about works, even if they are works of passion aren't the end of the world, especially when they are just posts made by people just minding their own business. Jokes? Shitposts? They should all be allowed, because that's also how some people enjoy works of fiction. And if you don't want to see it? Valid but there are countless methods available to ensure that that don't involve creating a "good vibes only" type of fandom environment that everyone is forced to adhere to. That helps nobody and only breeds division within this community, I think.

#deltarune #undertale #analysis #undertale meta #critique #undertale au #undertale fangame #deltatraveler

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