#i think its on 1 to 3 and Alright Alright???

[unabletonotlovesatoru]

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ teddy’s notes: kinda bridget jones’s diary coded/inspired bc its one of my fav romcoms, watched it solely bc of colin firth when i was 15 and i think nanami kinda reminds me of him soooo, also reader is awkward and bridget inspired obvi

new year’s resolutions were stupid. you knew this. they were a yearly tradition of setting unrealistic goals and then abandoning them by february. and yet, here you were, writing them down anyway.

1. stop embarrassing self in front of nanami kento.

2. get life together (financially, emotionally, spiritually, etc.).

3. no more hopeless pining over emotionally unavailable men (see: nanami kento).

you tapped your pen against your notebook, frowning.

this was going to be a disaster.

nanami had been a problem for you for far too long. serious, disciplined, devastatingly handsome—he made suits look unfairly good, and his deadpan sarcasm made your brain short-circuit. worse, he was kind to you. not in a flirty, obvious way, but in that nanami way—remembering how you took your coffee, covering you with his jacket when you fell asleep on a mission, standing between you and danger without a second thought.

but that was just who he was.

and you? you were… not like him. your life was a mess. you were the kind of person who accidentally sent texts to the wrong people, spilled coffee on important documents, and tripped over nothing. a disaster, really.

so, resolution #1. stop embarrassing yourself in front of him.

simple enough.

except it was not simple, because ten minutes later, you were at gojo’s new year’s party, wine glass in hand, already halfway to ruining your life.

“looking serious as always, nanamin.” gojo slung an arm around nanami’s shoulders, grinning like the menace he was. “you here to celebrate, or did someone trick you into coming?”

“i was invited,” nanami replied, sipping his drink. “and unlike some people, i have manners.”

you watched from across the room, pretending not to stare. he looked unfairly good in that suit—tie loosened just enough, hair slightly tousled. new year’s was supposed to be a time of fresh starts, and yet here you were, still hopelessly into him.

“you’re staring,” shoko murmured beside you.

“i’m not—”

“you are,” she said, smirking. “just go talk to him.”

“no. absolutely not.” you took a sip of wine. “besides, he doesn’t think of me that way.”

shoko gave you a look. “right. sure. keep telling yourself that.”

before you could argue, gojo’s voice rang out.

“alright, everyone, five minutes to midnight!”

the room buzzed with excitement, couples moving closer, people laughing as they grabbed champagne. you swallowed, suddenly hyper-aware of the fact that at midnight, there would be a moment—the kind of moment where people kissed, or at the very least, awkwardly looked around for someone to kiss.

you, of course, had no such luck.

instead, you found yourself standing near nanami, your brain short-circuiting as you tried to act normal.

he glanced down at you. “enjoying yourself?”

“oh, yeah. love parties. love new year’s. nothing like a fresh start.” you gestured vaguely, then immediately regretted it because you nearly sloshed your drink onto his sleeve.

nanami raised a brow. “right.”

you cleared your throat. “what about you? any resolutions?”

he was quiet for a moment, then said, “just one.”

before you could ask what, gojo started counting down.

“ten! nine! eight—”

the room filled with excitement, voices overlapping, people turning to their partners. you, meanwhile, were frozen in place, heart hammering.

seven! six! five—

nanami was still watching you, expression unreadable.

four! three—

you opened your mouth, about to say something, anything—

two! one!

the room erupted into cheers, and before you could process it, nanami was leaning in, his hand brushing your waist.

oh.

your breath caught, and then—softly, gently—he kissed you.

it wasn’t dramatic. it wasn’t some grand, cinematic moment. it was just him, warm and steady, like he had been waiting for the right time.

when he pulled back, you stared at him, dazed.

“happy new year,” he murmured.

you blinked. “oh. uh. yeah. happy new year.”

nanami huffed a quiet laugh, then—so casually it nearly knocked you off your feet—brushed a thumb over your cheek before stepping away.

you stood there, absolutely wrecked, as gojo whistled somewhere in the background.

shoko sidled up beside you, smirking. “so. about him not thinking of you that way…”

you groaned, burying your face in your hands. resolution #1 was already a failure.

but honestly? maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.

[patchworkcuddlebug]

notes

DONT SUBMIT THIS. this is just where im gonna write down observations and hypothosises hypotheses about the artifact this isnt a formal report. keep this pages seperate from anything you submit to the class

i found it at a non-magical thrift shop. its a single ribbon that was in the toy section, but its too big for a stuffed animal, and it was on a shelf too high for kids to reach anyway. its a simple red colour and you can tell from the wear/bends in the fabric that its meant to be worn in a bow

its SO cursed. i could sense it as soon as i was through the door. something doesnt get that powerful accidentally, unless a witch older than the professors have been using it for over a century. i think it was intentionally enchanted and left for some human sucker

ill read up on class protocol and start experimenting tomorrow

day 1

i scheduled some time in a mannequin room. i double checked everything, the falsified humanity in the mannequin, lack of external contamination, everything seemed fine. after 3 hours of the bow on its wrist, and then its hair, i cant find any registerable enhancements or curses.

my current hypothesis is that there isnt any effect on the wearer. its a false positive enchantement, where all of its energy is going towards appearing powerful instead of actually doing anything

which is a relief cuz according to protocol i can wear it now ehehehe. i was really hoping its be benign because its a really cute ribbon? i was kinda distracted by the magic part but its really nice! it has a fun retro vibe, i love how the colour is just a little faded too. should i wear more ponytails?

day 2

started out by just wearing it on my wrist. i know it probably doesnt make too much of a difference as long as im wearing it at all, but i dunno if it really is cursed i at least dont want it to start by my brain

i dont think there were any effects? maybe its cuz i kept fiddling with it all day so it may have interrupted the connection? most cursed artifacts need a physical connection and if this is an accessory it could be designed for long-term contact. so i guess as long as i take it off every once in a while ill be fine? im still sticking with the false positive hypothesis, just being precautious

i guess i could just talk about my day in case there are symptoms in retrospect? i cant really think of anything negative though. i did a great job focusing in class and i feel like i was really productive. i made some good progress on my term paper and i took really solid notes

i guess i kinda zoned out between classes? it wasnt when i was talking with friends or anything just doing menial stuff like walking around. i wasnt daydreaming or anything it was just like my brain kinda shut off and my body moved on its own. i dont think thats a thing, im probably just on edge and noticing a habit for the first time. nothing to worry about

Day 3

alright. i wore it in my hair today. so far so good?

i experienced the following things that may be symptoms: minor stiffness in the muscles, a greater inclination to formality, and a strange feeling in the wrist (specifically the same one i wore the ribbon on yesterday). the feeling is hard to pin down, its a strange floaty stiffness underneath the skin. it isn't unpleasant, but the asymmetry isnt welcome.

i feel like this is definitely an effect of my wearing it closer to my head, like i suspected the other day. i dont think its enough to warrent taking it off yet. its a very nice ribbon.

Day 4.

I am turning into a doll.

I shouldn't have kept wearing it. I should've taken yesterday as a warning. Now I feel that emptiness spreading and it's spreading way too fast. There's also the... physical transformation.

My left wrist is starting to... it's hard to explain. I can feel the changes happening. There's still skin over my wrist joint but it feels like it's not natural. It's still literally human skin, but it feels as if there's a glove that's growing thinner by the hour. I think before the day is over it'll waste away completely as it slowly corrupts the rest of my hand.

The mental transformation is much more worrying. In the grand scheme of things my behaviour is mostly unchanged. I'm just more... aware of it now. Typically, I naturally slouch, and I've been made more self-aware of this habit to the extent that I need to manually initiate it rather than falling into it unconsciously. It's the same with whenever I notice my attention drifting during lectures, or notice that I'm walking too loosely, or speaking too casually. It may just be that heightened awareness is an aspect of dollhood, or... it's more noticable because it's out of place for a doll to act in such a way. Regardless, I do not feel forced to defy this inclinations yet.

I don't want to write the same way I did before. Looking at how I did before feels... wrong. Inappropriate. i can try and force something more casual but i have to force it, it feels like trying to speak a second language youve only. Excuse me. That you've only just started learning. I want to go back and fix that but I feel like it would undermine my point. It just doesn't feel right, there's something viscerally discomforting about doing that.

I'm very hesitant to reach out about this. Beyond a fear of social repercussion inherent to admitting that a witch is becoming a doll, I'm worried that there will be a serious academic punishment attached to being this callous with a cursed artifact. I'll need to find a student I can trust to reverse this.

Day Five.

Things are getting dire. This I can feel the changes getting harder to resist.

Physically, the transformation has already converted my entire left arm. My wrist, elbow, and most of its my left hand have been changed into a hollow plastic, only movable with exposed joints. This one exp I expected it to feel more harrowing, for the creeping conversion to feel more tangibly uncomfortable, but so far it is... pleasant. Being emptied out always seemed so unwelcome when the older witches described it, but it feels nice to not have the constant pulsing of blood or the strain of muscles. This one likes the noise it makes when it taps agains

I. Me. I do. Me me human person witch.

This is what I mean. It feels like I have to be vigilant to talk like a person, and a single moment's broken concentration is all it takes to give in and become complacent to dollhood.

I need to intentionally break my posture to slouch. This one c I cannot stop my footsteps from being dainty and gentle. During lectures when the professor asks for input from the class, it takes deliberate effort to avoid participation, because good dolls always do as they are told.

I didn't write that. I swear to the stars I didn't write that. It was thinking about what to write next and that thought just... naturally injected itself. Perhaps this one needs to. Perhaps I need to resort to desperate measures and remove the bow. But I... really don't want to. It makes this one look so pretty, like a good doll.

No, no, I'm not a good doll, I don't WANT to be a good doll. I feel like I'm going insane. My humanity is draining by the second and soon there's be nothing left but empty pliability and polite docility. That is a bad thing. I am not excited for that. This one needs to put more effort into finding a witch to break this curse. It wishes it could skip its lectures, but good dolls do as they're t

I. Am. Going to bed.

Day Six.

This one's friends have finally noticed. This one accidentally called one of them "miss" when answering a question, and then the entire secret quickly unravelled. This one needed to use a sweater to hide the transformation reaching its shoulders, and there's a distinctly inhuman texture to this one's face, so it was easy for them to unravel once I gave them reason to be suspicious.

They offered to be the ones to conduct the search for the cure, on the only condition that this one take care of some menial chores to help free time in their schedules. This one feels... a little conflicted. On one hand, it is excited to be closer to its humanity! It cannot wait to feel blood spill through its body, and escape that terrifying feeling of having its brain shut off so it feels nothing but a fluttering emptiness.

This one. Just said "Awawa". Out loud.

It does not want this to progress further. Yes, it feels... very nice to be a doll. But that enjoyment has to be the work of the curse. This one needs to return to its study, it cannot afford to fall behind in the academic arms race. Being a human means having expectations to fulfill, something dolls are too simple and too docile to understand.

This one. Did it. Again.

This is a vacation. Nothing more. It will indulge in its urges to be obedient when doing chores for its friends and then return to developing its magic talent to the greatest degree the curse will allow.

Day Five Hundred and Twelve.

This one was rather surprised to find its notes from before it became. They were tucked away in its closet, with other sentimental items such as certain childhood keepsakes and its government identification. This one figured it would be fun to return to journaling as a hobby.

As can likely be surmised, this one remains a doll. The search for a cure was fruitless and fizzled out naturally due to a lack of investment, both from this one and from Miss. Speaking of, Miss is one of its friends from university, although the word "friend" feels like a shallow means of explaining a doll's relationship with its witch. Its other friends still keep contact and meet up for tea, which this one greatly enjoys catering for.

It feels very silly looking back at this one's humanity, especially given the apprehension it felt towards becoming. In retrospect, the situation being forced upon this one was likely the only way it would have become without years of soul-searching introspection, so it is very thankful to have happened upon such a gift so long ago. Perhaps part of its enchantment was to find the right host?

Part of this one misses that ribbon. It was such a nice colour... but this one feels confident in the decision to return it to the same thrift store it was once found in. It feels excited for the next lucky doll to feel the same joys that this one did. The exhilaration of feeling your body become lighter and more rigid, the stillness slowly overtaking your mind with greater and greater intensity, and of course the pleasure of following one's purpose. Awawawa...

It is late, and good dolls need rest. This one is excited to spend tomorrow night writing about all the joys of serving Miss.

[kangsaena]

What is this? :

An AU if kang - mina survived, (but Se - mi died)

its inspired by another AU I found but the chapter I wrote (that were simillar) had their credits,

but still, credits to @mayoscribble077 for the AU idea, not the chapters from ch. 3, onward.

ch. 4: not out!

Ships? :

Actually yes! Although the story revolves around thanos and mina the most there are mentions of other ships in this story,

(though its probably gonna come out in later chapters.)

Kang - mina x Thanos

222 x 333

Young - il x Gi - hun

Status : in progress

Extra note 1: Any Profanity is censored in this chapter, though they might not always be.

Extra note 2: Please read chapter 1, and chapter 2, their short, easy to read chapters that quickly explain the beginning.

CHAPTER 3

Just the start of it all

*after the voting the O's and the X's are split up, chatter fills the room. Thanos is with his group, Min - su, Gyeong - su, Nam- gyu and mina.*

SPEAKERS: 30 minutes until lights out.

*Nam-gyu and thanos are whispering about something in thanos's bed and gyeong- su and min- su are against the wall having a chat, mina is thinking about something*

Thanos: 30 minutes until lights out, huh?

Nam-gyu: come on, what are you planning?

Thanos: you know..the Xs were close on our tail..

Nam-gyu: by one, so?

*thanos whispers, smirking* Thanos; we could kill them.

Nam-gyu: mm, okay..but with what?

*thanos pulls out a glass bottle, shattered with sharp edges, the same glass bottle everyone got for dinner*

Thanos: you still have yours?

Nam-gyu: no, but I could always just..*nam-gyu quickly takes a person's bottle and shatters it on the wall, he gives the person the middle finger.*

Thanos: alright that works..wait...*thanos spots someone familiar walking in the middle of the hall, he chases after that person, quickly giving mina a quick flirtatious look while walking to them.*

Mina: huh? *mina says in confusion*

*nam gyu follows, thans grips the person by the neck* Thanos: f**king MG coin huh?

Player 333: We've already delt with this..

Nam-gyu: really?

Thanos: every single last penny, YOU OWE, goes to me, you got that?

Player 333: what if I don't want to?

Thanos: OH, come here you f**kng cunt. *nam-gyu holds player 333 like a ragdoll, allowing thanos to punch him, mina watches from her bed, so this is what they were planning, or atleast she thinks.*

*thanos grunts and punches player 333 to the ground, 333 covers his face, thanos kicks him and nam-gyu come from behind*

Nam-gyu: ay! Let me get a kick-

*they kick him, dae-ho and jung-bae have their sleeves up*

Jung-bae: someone should help them, right?

Dae-ho: what, me?

*they put their sleeves down and young il comes to interfere*

Young-il: Hey, kids! What makes you think you can behave like that, and infront of your elders too!

*mina whispers to herself* mina: thanos was right, old f**ks that interfere with everything.

Thanos: OH, you wanna try me?

*nam-gyu nods in agreement, thanos tries to throw two punches, but young-il dodges, nam-gyu trys to kick him, but young il throws a powerful kick towards nam-gyu making him hop, falling to the ground, mina rushes over*

Mina: you good?

*thanos keeps on trying to attack young-il but he dodges every shot, thanos is trying his best, but this random 50 year old is stronger than him?! Young-il punches thanos and tackles him to the ground, choking him*

thanos: I'm sorry s-sir, I won't do it again, p-please sto-

*young-il looks intensely, wanting to beat the life out of him, but a shouting mina interrupts*

Mina: STOP! DONT HURT HIM!

*young-il slowly stops choking him and a round of applause forms, mina comes to check on him*

Mina: are you okay?

*thanos grunts as he gets up, he says with his voice strained* Thanos: of course! W-why wouldnt I be?

*mina scoffs and nam-gyu, thanos and mina all walk over to the beds.*

SPEAKERS: 20 minutes until lights out.

*they all sit on thanos's bed, talking, mina went to the bathroom for a little while.*

*thanos swallows something he got from his steel, crucifix necklace*

Nam-gyu: Hey bro, what's that?

Thanos: *thanos stops for a second then he mutters* later.

Mina: What were you guys talking about?

Thanos: OH, I'm just a guy to you, huh, how about a nickna-

*thanos is obviously high, moving his head around and striking rapper poses*

Nam-gyu: alright, let's be quiet. *he whispers*

Nam-gyu: We were planning to well..kill some of the X's, you know, so they definitely don't have a chance of winning the next vote.

Mina: can't we just let the actual games do that, their violent and eliminate peop-

Thanos: yeah, uh huh, but like, what if we don't have a chance or something. They can still, you know, kill summa the Os. *he touches his hand and minas face* Thanos: Come on senorita, do it for us.

Mina: do the killin-?!

*nam gyu chuckles* nam-gyu: no, just allowing us to kill, you know, we gotta..uh..*nam-gyu wonders why their asking mina to allow them, she's not the boss after al- ohh! It's because thanos likes her..uhh, excuse, excuse* Nam-gyu: we gotta..work as a group!

*thanos winks, mina slowly takes his hand off her face* Mina: fine: but..just don't get hurt..*she exhales*

Thanos: BAHAHAHA! you really think, I, the legend rapper, WILL GET HURT! *he laughs* Thanos: dollface, you worry to much!

*nam-gyu does a facial expression like hes saying, "just leave him be", he literally just got beat up by some random 50 year old.*

*thanos stops laughing and says with a smile* thanos: y'know, you gotta do something, people are probably plotting to do the same think as us, yo!

Nam-gyu: you wanna hide?

Mina: uh..well..I..do, just..I'd somebody finds out where I a-

thanos: SELF DEFENSE, YO! grab a knife and hide! *he says in a attempt to rap*

mina: and where will I find the knife..?!

thanos: uhh..I dunno, steal it, that's the way I'd did it!

Nam-gyu: just ignore him, I'll find one for you during the night.

SPEAKERS: 10 minutes until lights out.

*thanos whispers to nam-gyu* Thanos: you trying to flirt with her bro?

*nam-gyu whispers back* nam-gyu: don't worry, she's all yours. *thanos smiles*

Thanos: nam-gyu, ask if min-su and gyeong-su want to join.

*nam-gyu goes over to the two, which leaves thanos and mina alone, mina starts.*

Mina: wait..*mina places her hand to the back of thano's neck, seeing a still bleeding huge scar and and big red mark, the shape of fingers* Mina: thanos..seriously, tell me if you get hurt like that.

*although thanos knows this is supposed to be a meaningful moment, he says* Thanos: Well, thanos the great never gets hurt, OWH-

*she giggles, she accidently pressed his neck too hard, she's sorry about that, but he definitely didn't prove his point right* mina: heh, sorry.

Thanos: everyone gets hurt! It's just..I go to the gym, every day, and like, when I don't, I'm really wea-

*thanos is making absolutely no sense, but mina interrupts him* mina: it's okay! You don't have to make up so much excuses.

Thanos: Excuse me?!

*mina laughs, damn, he's hot and funn- no no no, shut up. it was just a joke..* mina: Hey, uh..take this as a compliment or not, but you look like the type of guy that would attack groups of peo-

Thanos: HELL YEAH! I'm undefeatable, in..uh..killing!

mina: don't, don't attack groups of people unless you and nam-gyu are together, alright?

Thanos: what, so I'm wea- *thanos thinks a bit, mina said thanos looked like the type of guy to attack groups of people, if she calling him strong and flirting with hi-

mina: and I'm not flirting with you.

*She is flirting, or..she just doesn't know she's flirting.*

Thanos: well, I can't keep, such promises.

Mina: come on! I trusted you that you can kill people, why no-

Thanos: shh..just look at me. *hes just trying to look all seductive and romantic and hot, but it is kinda worki-*

SPEAKERS: 5 minutes until lights out.

*'thank god that interrupted!' Mina thought, she was really about to just..*

*mina gets up, saying* mina: better get my bed read-

*thanos grabs her arm* Thanos: who said you can't sleep, with me? *he quickly raps*

mina: what.. huh..NO WA-

*thanos chuckles* thanos: I mean the bed infront of me. *thanos did that on purpose, he just can't stop flirting*

Mina: why..?

Thanos: uh..gotta make sure..you good!

Mina: alright, fine.

Thanos: BOOYAH! *he says making and long O with his arms*

*nam-gyu arrives* Nam-gyu: alright, here's the plan, we wait until lights out, and sneak our way to the nearest X's we see, then kill them, and so on. And after I kill an X, I'll give mina a knife.

*thanos whispers to mina* thanos: I'll check on you 24/7 my ten.

SPEAKERS: 30 seconds until lights out.

*they all get sorted, mina infront of thanos's bed, in her new bed, the lights are off, as thanos is sneaking, he quickly blows mina a kiss, please tell me he's drunk, mina hears thanos's manical laughter as he's the first one the stab someone, they scream, which is followed by a crowd of screams and killing, she forgot that people would also kill the O's.*

*mina sneaks by thanos's bed, going against the wall, a minute passes by, she sees a tall man, a bit shorter than thanos with long black hair running over too her.*

Mina: oh s**t.

*the man approaches mina, and without a flinch, mina kicks the man in his crotch, making him groan, wait..*

Mina: nam-gyu? Oh s**t I am so so sorry!

*nam-gyu says with his voice strained a bit in pain* nam-gyu: f**k..no its o-okay.

Mina: what are you hear fo-

*nam-gyu quickly hands her the knife, it's a small pocket knife, usually if someone was attacking mina she would probably stab their leg, arm, or stomach, but this small knife will do nothing unless..she slices the person's throat*

Mina: ugh! *she shudders even thinking of that*

Nam-gyu: you good?

Mina: uh..yeah, I'm alright.

*nam-gyu runs away, shouting* nam-gyu: Good luck!

_______________________________________

Welp, that's Chapter three, I've been doing nothing today but working on this and making illustrations of the AU.

I don't really have any inspiration to give out based on this chapter. As soon as I post this, I'll be working on ch. 4.

Oh, and if you have any fanart to give out, that would be highly appreciated, and I'll g/ you a shout out, (though not immediately)

If I REALLY like the fanart I'll allow you to give me a summary of a scene in the next chapter.

[bratzboykai]

Like that this album is less airy and atmospheric to match Suho's vocals this time, the density of its bass and rhythm sections and stronger to sharper guitar sounds make it more earthy and serve to contrast the vocals this time. I definitely hear a pleasant evolution to the rock arena that Suho likea playing in! I just wish he'd be a lil less afraid to fuck up his vocals lmao it doesn't need to be soo precise and clean, get a lil gritty!!

[heartorbit]

searching for a star that's still unknown to anyone!

[greyedian]

MAN I'm seriously so sad about season 2. Bc I wish act 2 had the same emotional impact on me as it appears to have on so many others. But rn I'm just somewhere between unable to care and actively annoyed by some of those writing decisions. Seriously the more I think about it the less I like it.

[velaraffricate]

one thing ive been wanting to do for my conworld is invent some sports. came up with this idea yesterday:

there's typically 3 or 4 evenly spaced apart (5-20m away from each other) trees, but can be more depending on field and team size

trees thickness can vary but are usually somewhat thick, can also be replaced by movable poles so field size can be adjusted depending on how many players there are

space in middle is clear, ground is usually just dirt

1-3 players are assigned to each tree

each player/team has to hit the opponent team's tree and avoid their own tree being hit

hitting a tree gets you a point, getting hit loses a point

once a certain number of points, typically ranging between 5 and 10, is reached by one team, they win

trees and players are marked with colourful cloths for easy identification

ball is usually made from leather stuffed with wool or feathers

players are only allowed to touch the ball with their feet and knees, but not their hands or other body parts

if ball is touched with forbidden body part, that team loses the ball, and whichever enemy's tree they were closest to, that team gets the ball

shoving other players or being otherwise overly aggressive isn't tolerated and results in point loss or disqualification

if tree is hit, that tree's team gets the ball. one player stands at the base of their tree and kicks it to a teammate, or if only one player, they just start playing again from the tree

who has the ball first is decided by random chance, like pulling coloured stones out of a bag, or often if there's only one player per tree, who the youngest person is

the ball can't go outside the field. if that happens, whichever team's tree it was closest to when it exited, that team gets the ball barring the team that kicked the ball out

obviously inspired a lot by soccer in some parts but still different enough for my taste. am curious if something like this already exists, i did do a bit of research into ancient sports but really only took a cursory look and didn't find anything quite like this

[rae-unbeloved]

Gmorning chat :3

[baekuras]

Tomorrow I need to do an eye checkup in english (instead of german aka the norm) and I just checked if there are any better ways to explains things or tell people what to do etc instead of my basically direct translations and turns out

nope

it sounds exactly as stupid as i already worded it, no special words or better formed sentences around 10/10 school english is good enough (nice)

[an-unraveling-unknown]

My thoughts on Undertale and philosophy

This short thought barf has so many holes and ramblings and the concept in itself could probably be explained far better by the countless video essays that genuinely had hard work into them and I recommend them no questions asked but I need to gush and further procrastinate on my French or else my brain will eat itself and explode (I’m sorry Ms. L)

Undertale is a game based in Nihilism that wants you to think that it’s based in Existentialism, while simultaneously having elements of both. Oough okay here we go

The basic outline for Nihilism is that nothing matters and we’re all going to perish unceremoniously. In broader terms, everything and anything we do as human beings does not change anything, it doesn’t matter, we are bound to fate and there is no meaning to life - meaning is a social construct per se. 

Existentialism, however, was created in more optimistic direct opposition to Nihilism, saying that we make meaning. We are defined by our existence, in our actions, who we are, people must choose a direction and meaning in life. 

Undertale happens to juggle both of these with humor upon a polka-dotted unicycle with mirth in its eyes.

One of the coolest things about the Undertale is that its game mechanics are a very real part of the world. You die, you can reset, you can reset at any point whatsoever, whether you choose mercy or fight or both has a specified outcome, you have control. A few select characters know this, like Flowey and Sans, but they can’t really do anything to stop you if you’re determined enough because determination is in ALL human souls - the will to keep living and change fate. It is RIGHT THERE is the description, Existentialism, where we make meaning, where we are in control, where we can change fate because we are determined to make meaning. Everything matters because we think it does (which could also tie into trying to decipher the story and make sense of things where they are chaotic and unknowable, like the elusive W.D Gaster. That, and that’s what a lot of the games were striving for at the time - rewarding the player by making sense, for all the puzzle pieces to satisfyingly click together.)*

But no matter how you play the game, Genocide route or Neutral or Pacifist, no matter what you do, you always end up back in the underground. If Chara goes up to the surface and presumably murders everyone she sees or something along those lines, it all resets. If Flowey decimates you and does whatever he does, it all resets. If you die in a fight with a monster, if Asgore defeats you and uses your determination soul to break the surface barrier, if you do the morally correct thing and find a way to break the barrier so the monsters can be free from the underground’s confines, it all has to reset.

The Monsters cannot truly go back up to the surface, and neither can you. 

Everything you did, all that you accomplished to help them, to break the mold, or to betray them and slaughter them all (or just a select few,) as a whole, It did not matter. What’s more, you will likely reset, regardless of any ending. You may reset, again and again and again, perhaps to see what will happen because of human curiosity, mayhaps because its just a really good game, or perhaps to subconsciously get proper closure - but regardless of any of these, you always end up back in the underground. You cannot win, but isn’t that what games are for?

The only way to ‘win’ at this game is to never play it, really.

Undertale game mechanics are a very real part of the world built up around it and is a game that is self-aware in more ways than one - it knows what you do, it judges you for it, and it knows you cannot get out.

HOWEVER, like most things, there are two sides to that coin.

In all of this, you’re allowing yourself to have Determination - Hope. That’s what’s keeping you going as you claw and scrape your way through fights and levels of the story, what’s keeping you kind through the pacifist run (it takes a lot of effort to be kind sometimes, that’s not for nothing), that’s what’s keeping the Monsters going, the hope that they’ll see the surface again, that you can help, that again and again and again is hope. You are all in a perpetual state of hope.

Isn’t that an incredibly human thing to be?

Even better, that’s the games point. That we can come together, respect our differences and get along. Regardless of who we are, we are all bounded together by determination and hope. We can, and should care for each other, and learn and grow.

Heck, in the act of doing all this, we are making meaning, Cos’ we play games and everything feels alright for a bit.

“The human soul can be indomitable” Hell yeah it can.

[lunarcry]

im going to end it all (positive)

[ajdrawshq]

watched highlights of the p5 anime (dub) bc i cant be assed to watch the whole thing and uh. that was a good decision bc i could not handle watching all of that i think

[radrobotz]

had to get more blood drawn but it wasnt as bad i didnt even get that nauseous 🥰

[konoharfts]

*crawls out of the pit*

Part 2 of silly 1 panel comics I made featuring Naruto fic tropes (and fandom head canons) I enjoy that make me giggle a lil :) !!!!!

Niche edition, so bare with me-

Naruto doing fox things randomly (thank you @alternitavely )

T&I being the home of Konoha’s rumour mill, and specifically Aoba and Anko being PROLIFIC gossipers (Ibiki pretends to hate it but he doesn’t stop them)

Not from a fic but @oh-no-its-bird turned me on to the concept of Sakumo Hatake being a sex symbol back in the day and it haunting Kakashi. It has not left my head since.

Alright that’s it, if I can think of more I might do this series semi-periodically but we’ll see 🤷‍♀️

Also thank you so much for liking part 1 of this series, it makes me so happy that people enjoy my brainworms <3

‘Till next time byee~

[p2iimon]

should i drop everyone i went to school with as revenge for never comforting me ever ever even once even trying (except my boyfriend, who did) y/n

[transgaysex]

its 5 am and i really shouldnt be having thoughts right now but im so anxious about school