#it reminded me of the end of the pacifist route in undertale

[colorful-bees]

Volo's friendship story in the Trainer's Lodge is so interesting to me because it seemingly contradicts his usual way of thinking. He asks to take a commemorative photo with you in the event that the world disappears, obviously referring to what he wants to eventually accomplish in the future.

And I can only wonder why he does this. His exact words afterwards are, "Please remember me as you've seen me during our time together." He plans on erasing the world to build a better one, as per is goal in P:LA but the idea that he would want you to remember him as you knew him, someone who was simply friendly and nice to you, goes against how he views relationships with people. There's no transactional value to taking this photo with you nor is there for him wanting you to remember him fondly.

Volo is overly nice to people to get what he wants out of them, that's kind of his thing. You see it with the protag in P:LA, you see it with Jacq and Trevor, and later with Lear in the Mysterious Stones chapter. He likes to get in people's good books so that he might get something out of it later. But what does he want out of you in this interaction? What is he hoping to gain by telling you to remember him the way he is now? He plans on destroying the world and so... he asks to take a photo with you? I can only imagine that he wants it for himself since if the world disappears, you won't even be there to remember him in the first place. He plans on destroying the world and you won't even be there and yet, he still asks you to remember him.

I don't think Volo necessarily lied when he said, "It's just a matter of using them before they use you." Those were thoughts inside his head, he has no one to lie to there; that's what he truly believes. However, I do think there's a disconnect between the kind of person Volo is and the kind of person Volo believes himself to be.

I think maybe he does love his Pokemon, maybe he even wants to be your friend. I don't think he knows that though. His genuine view of himself is that he feels no love or care for others and relationships are just a means to an end and that is mostly how he comes across when showing his true colors. But he has moments that don't quite line up with that. He wants you to remember him fondly. He considers Pokemon tools and yet, there's that photo of him and Togepi. It's these two moments that make me question things. He looks after Togepi and in return, Togepi sticks by his side; that's their trade-off, what they both get out of their relationship. But the photo is what throws me off. If there wasn't even a little bit of love for Togepi, why does that photo exist? Why did he take it? Volo in this same conversation says, "Photos are wonderful things! They allow you to capture and isolate the best moments!" Why take a photo with something you don't love? Why consider that one of your "best moments?"

Volo honestly believes that he doesn't love his Pokemon and that he's no one's friend. That isn't a mask he's putting on, that's who he thinks he is and I can only assume that the reason for this is due to whatever event happened in his past that set him down this road to begin with. But he has these small moments that contradict that view of himself. Volo does have a capacity to care for his Pokemon, to have friends. I just don't think he realizes that. He's incapable of recognizing if he loves or even likes someone in a genuine way; so caught up in viewing every relationship like it's a barter or a trade that he has no idea that he can care and that maybe, at some points, does.

[fanvoidkeith]

why is the undertale game so good... ough...

[alastor-simp]

Hazbin Hotel Gang Reacting To Video Games Headcannons Part 1/2🎮

❥Summary: Your are a massive gamer in the Hazbin Hotel. What happens when the residents see you play a game that interests them?

❥Tags: Hazbin Hotel x Reader, Gamer, Video Games, Hazbin Hotel Headcannons, Hazbin Hotel x Video Games, Headcannons

❥Notes: I'm obsessed with videos games, including dating or RPG games, and I wanted to know how the hazbin hotel gang would react to video games. Enjoy:)

❥Credit: Divider from @cafekitsune

Charlie Morningstar🌈 + Undertale❤️

🌈Upon entering your room, Charlie was about to remind you to come down to the lobby for the group exercise, until she noticed you being completely immersed on your computer. Curious, she walked over to you slowly, leaning over a bit to stare at your screen, wondering what you were doing. Noticing the shadow that had outlined in front of you, you looked up to see Charlie, staring with adorable curious eyes at the screen.

🌈"Oh Hey Charlie! I'll be right down, let me just try to find Temmie village first." Her red pupils were gazing at the screen with fascination, "Oooo what is this?" She had sat on the bed, where you were laying, computer still stationed on your legs. "Oh its a game called Undertale, its really cute and fun." Looking back at the screen, you motioned your hand to move the main character, to follow the illuminated mushroom path, searching for the hidden secret. After a couple of tries, you were able to locate the village, that was covered in these adorable dog like creatures, named Temmie. "YOU FOUND IT! OMG THEY ARE SO CUTE!!" Charlie was acting like a sports commentator next to you, she was so astonished by the game, wanting to see more.

🌈Seeing how much Charlie loved the game, you motioned the computer over to her. "Want to play?" Stars were literally in her eyes, once you said that. She nodded her head up and down rapidly, filled with excitement, as she started to play the game on the computer. As the game progressed, Charlie soon learned that the story of the game is about a human, who had fallen into the place called the Underground, where monsters roam. The human ventures throughout, encountering other monsters and either befriends them or attacks them.

🌈Charlie continued to play the game, having completely forgotten about the group exercise. However, Vaggie had managed to find Charlie, reminding her that it was time to come down. Slumping her shoulders, Charlie was so into the game that she didn't want to stop playing, but you told her that you could bring your computer down and both you and her can start playing again after the group exercise, which earned you a bear hug. The group exercise session had ended, and everyone went back to doing their own thing, while both you and Charlie, sat on one of the lounge chairs, continuing the game. The interactions with the human and monster characters always made Charlie smile, especially whenever the character became friends with the human. She loved Undyne cause it reminded her so much of her girlfriend, Vaggie, and she LIVED for the relationship between Undyne and Alphys.

🌈Her number one character, out of all of them, was definitely Toriel. She loved that motherly goat monster so much, wishing she could give her a warm hug. The music was Charlie's biggest compliment about the game, she couldn't get over how catchy some of the songs were. During the other times when you weren't playing the game, since the both of you needed a break, you would hear Charlie hum the "memory" song when the main character gave an umbrella to a statue. PACIFIST was the only route she would choose, the genocide route was a path she never wanted to take in the game, which was sweet since you knew how kind and generous she was, given the fact that she started this hotel. You knew for a fact if these characters were real, she would invite them all to stay, especially Flowey

🌈The day the both of you finished the game, was the day you both cried your eyes out, at the sweet adorable ending. Charlie was so happy that the monsters could finally be free and explore the outside world, as her arms were wrapped around you, tears streaming down her face. "It was so beautiful *sob sob*, but I'm so sad it's over." You placed a reassuring arm around her, trying to provide her some comfort, until an idea came into your head. "There is another game that the creator made. Want to play that?" The tears in Charlies eyes had disappeared, as she glomped you with excitement, happy to play another game with you.

Vaggie🎀 + Legend of Zelda: Breathe of the Wild🛡

🎀Vaggie was, well, she was nice, but she kinda scared you. She always had her spear around with her, ready to strike at anyone if she deemed them a threat. It was hard for you to get close to her, so you decided it was better that way. Charlie knew about your gaming tendencies and she was nice enough to get a video game console set up in the lobby room of the hotel, for you to play with and have other join in as well.

🎀You mostly played by yourself, but sometimes Angel and Husk would join in or either watch you play. Turning on the console, you sat on the couch with the controller in hand, as the game started to load up, as the words Nintendo flashed on the screen. A cut-scene plays with the main character, Link wakes up as a voice speaks to him, urging him to wake up. You progress the story by controlling your character, climbing up certain areas, and defending yourself against monstrous creatures. You were so in tuned with the game that you didn't noticed the shifting on the seat next to you, "Having fun?" Turning your head, you realized Vaggie had sat next to you, giving you a soft smile while her once eye glanced at you and back to the screen.

🎀"Oh..yes I am. I really appreciate Charlie getting this. Tell her again I said thank you." You smiled back at Vaggie, which she responded with a nod. You felt a bit awkward, so you continued playing the game. What surprised you was that Vaggie remained next to you, watching you casually play the game. "Does she like games like this? Should I ask?" Thinking to yourself, you paused the game and turned to look back at Vaggie, asking if she was interested in playing. Not expecting you to say that, Vaggie wasn't sure how to respond. She found the visuals of the game very pleasing and like the adventurousness of it, but she didn't want to intrude on your gameplay. Motioning the controller closer to her, she gave a soft sigh, and grabbed it, giving you a thank you

🎀The gaming continued as the story progressed with Link, traveling to different areas, training hard to learn master skills, upgrade weapons, and defeat the evil creatures that roamed the kingdom. You quickly realized that Vaggie had a bit of a competitive side to her, as she continued playing. She was quick to anger when she lost to the enemies, but would jump and celebrate when she finally beat them. She enjoyed the puzzle concept in the game as well, enjoying how different they were from time to time.

🎀Charlie had checked in on the both of you, happy to see the both of you getting closer, and that Vaggie was making friends, since she knew how heated her girlfriend could get. She gave you a thumbs up and walked away, leaving the two of you to play the game. Vaggie really liked all of the characters, but her favorite was Urbosa. She was the definition of a female warrior, extremely agile and quick. To her enemies, she was feared, but to her friends, she was a kind and motherly women.

🎀Seeing how late it was getting, you both decided to call it a night, as you loaded the save file to save your progress on the game. Letting out a sigh, the both of you leaned back on the couch, feeling exhausted from the long gaming session. "Well that was fun." Vaggie looked at you with a tired smile, while she nodded her head. "Wanna play again tomorrow?" She said to you, stretching her arms up above her head. Smiling back, you said yes, happy that the both of you were coming better friends now.

Angel Dust🕷 + Baldurs Gate 3🗡

🕷Gaming was something you really enjoyed, and it was something you did whenever you had the time since you always attended Charlies exercises at the hotel. Grabbing your non-Vox tech computer, you sat on one of the lounge chairs, and began to start up your game. As your game began to load up, two sets of arms had been placed against your shoulder, causing you to jump. Turning, you saw Angel, leaning against you, smirking, holding a bottle in his other hand-as always

🕷"Whatcha up to toots? Entertaining yourself with some porn huh~" His eyebrows waggled at you - magenta eyes filled with playfulness and somewhat lust. Shaking your head no, you told Angel that you were playing a video game. Angel slumped a bit in disappointment, and turned his head away, mouth guzzling down the beer. The both of you remained in silence as you continued to battle enemies with your team as well as interact with the characters in the game.

🕷You didn't noticed, but Angel eyes were gazing hard at your computer screen. Something about the game intrigued him a bit. He remembered when he was young, him and his sister would often play on the pinball machine, so it's been a while since hes played any type of game. Turning back to look at him, Angel quickly turned his head the other way - pretending he wasn't looking at your screen. Smiling, your poked his shoulder, which made his head to turn back facing you. "Wanna play?" Angel raised his head up in thought, debating it, before he smirked, showing his gold tooth, "Why not?"

🕷The game controls were a bit confusing to him at first, but he was able to get the hang of it. You had to explain to him the concepts of an RPG game, and how you are playing as a certain character, and there is also a storyline in the game as well and your actions/decisions can affect the story and may be good or bad for your party. Angel nodded the whole time you were explaining it, as he started being introduced to each new character in the game. "You can form romantic relationships as well with certain characters too." Angel raised an eyebrow at that, clearly interested.

🕷A few hours into the game, and Angel was groaning in frustration, "Toots, why did you make me play this?! Ya got me simpin for both the sexy vampire and the badass demon!" His comment made you laugh, falling of the couch from how hard you were laughing. "I didn't make you play this, I asked and you volunteered." Angel grabbed your hand, picking you up off the floor, as the both of you continued to play the game. He seemed to sympathize with the character, Astarion, a lot, like his backstory really got to him, but he also enjoyed how flirtatiousQ2w and funny he could be

🕷Seeing how late it has gotten, the both of you decided to call it a night, signing off on the game. Angel stretched his four arms up, letting out a yawn. "This game ain't half bad." You copied him as well, yawning as the both of you got up from the couch, ready to turn in for the night. "Yeah it's a good one, wanna go at it again tomorrow?" Angel smirked, "Hell yes, I need to see more of the horny parts with the vampire." Chuckling, you shook your head at him, as the both of you headed up to your bedrooms, ready to hit the hay.

**TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2**

Sinners:

@alastorsgoldie @91062854-ka , @delectableworm , @iiotic

@cookiekyo , @demoarah , @danveration , @beebsbea ,

@veethewriter , @forbidden-sunlight , @pinkcrystal44 , @luujjvi ,

@unholycheesesnack , @saturnhas82moons , @jyoongim ,

@aceofcards0-0 , @ghostdoodlen , @yourdoorisunlocked ,

@starshipcookie , @ainsliemac , @aria-tempest , @nobuharashinyao

, @sweet06tart , @blakedbeanss , @ihyperfixatedagain , @ktssstuff ,

@yakultt-art , @mooniee123 , @nightmarenaya , @darischerry ,

@sadnessiscoldtea , @alastorssimp , @imacollasaltitan ,

@dilucragnvindr-my-beloved , @batmanmonstarr , @felice-jaganshi ,

@justchillaine , @crazed-flower , @ohmylovewhereartthou-blog ,

@akiooshizuka , @lokis-imaginary-friend ,

@themysteriousslenderman , @huntlowfan , @futureittomainn ,

@christinaatyourservice92 , , @just-trash-yeah-thats-it ,

@angelinevalentine89 , @yunimimii , @staryosh1 ,

@mihawksdemoness , @crystalreads , @blahblahbruhmeow ,

@madam-strawberryrose , @inkslayer , @azazel-nyx , @lixanjewel ,

@artemisandhunters , @thereeallink , @ask-theradio-demon ,

@lousypotatoes @l4zyb0n35 , @midorichoco

@lillyisfreakyy , @alastorthirsty , @yukiinee ,

, @aconstructofamind @angiiiiiiiiie

@pumppkinlynn @erikaafernns , @silverpaw2 ,

@cosmiccandydreamer , @killer-nightmare0 , @visara-valentina

@thereallsaturnstar , @coffee-or-hot-cocoa ,

@fckedupandbeautiful , @alaskathestereodemoness , @fries11 ,

@toneystank-3000. , @doll-babe-a-tron-queenthousand

, @alastor-the-radio-demons-blog , @twistedvanillacoffee

@morganodaidiot , @boldlyenchantingfox22 , @verona2314

[sariels-world-ella]

Can we see more characters from UTY if they were in Sw!Fallenswap? (I think you're Ceroba design and AU's lore is very cool btw)

Sure and thanks! I'll even expand on each of them, though none of it is 100% canon to Sw!Fallenswap, and thought up quickly as they aren't canon.

I couldn't settle on a Azimuth Dalv design but I did make a pacifist route Starlo design, he reminds me of a power ranger for some reason? (It's probably the mask.)

I had to do some math to get it to fit in the Timeline, get everyone's ages and get Martlet's life expectancy and to get Dalv's persumed age by finding the life expectancy of a Fox Anthropomorphic (there is an equation I use to find life expectancies of all the Anthropomorphic races) to see if it lines up in the timeline for Kanako's grandparents to be alive in 1013, as that is the most notable year in the timeline where Anthropomorphics did kill a bunch of Undeads matching Fallen!Dalv's description on why he has beef with the Ketsukanes (though Dalv never mentioned a year). The life expectancy number came out to be 950, then by adding Ceroba's age of 39 (assuming either Ceroba or Chujin's parent(s) had their child near the end of their lifespan) minusing it by 1985, got me 996 which did check out timeline wise.

Character notes:

Clover Notes: Clover doesn't change much from their UTY appearance, changes are they are much more verbal, Clover can save and load, doesn't have Flowey/Temmie because Temmie wasn't made animate until the 90s and they carry around a Polaroid Camera (which was very popular in the 80s), which there are certain spots that you can take a picture of giving you the Achievement "Picture Perfect" and doing them all gives you the achievement "Photographer's Eye"

Clover will become a Myling with the other souls and kill Ultra Temmie in Chara's non-canon neutral ending still. Clover is one of the 11 characters known to be from Gen X.

Unlike Genocide UTY Clover, Genocide Fallen!Clover does die still, due to Sans ripping Clover's heart out and eating it before Clover was able to shoot Toriel, meaning the Clover’s Genocide Route in Sw!Fallenswap could technically be canon if it wasn't directly stated Sans only killed Patience, Bravery, and Perseverance.

The fact Sans was able to sneak up on Clover implies he was expecting Clover to show up, even though Clover managed to enter the castle undetected, so it's likely Dalv conversed with Sans beforehand.

Since Temmie didn't exist yet when Clover was alive, you can wait for Asgore to drop a rope for you gaining the Achievement “Patience is Virtue”, which will cause you to skip the Martlet fight and proceed like normal Undertale except you have to sneak out of ruins which is difficult but worth it as you also skip most of Snowdin as well, because Papyrus saves you from Sans and teleports Clover away,  Papyrus gives you a medallion and tells Clover to show it to Dalv and say “Papyrus sent you” which can skip the Dalv fight (if you so wish) which will get you straight to the portion of attempting to travel to Hotland, the medallion can actually also be used to instantly spare MOST random encounter enemies which will give you the achievement “VIP”

If you don't wait for Asgore to drop the rope the playthrough plays similarly to UTY, but without Flowey or Temmie, if you do a genocide route Dalv won't shapeshift into a wolf and swim you down the river, instead The Boatman (Wingding Gaster) does, but Clover still ends up falling off the dam, but instead of Sans causing a wave from striking a bone wall into the water, Wingding purposely knocks you off the dam knowing what you did.

Either way, you wash up on a Dunes’ shore on 1 HP, which makes the medallion very useful to have if you waited for Asgore to return and got the medallion from Papyrus as it can instantly spare most enemies, so you won't get killed by them before you reach a save point.

Martlet Notes: She's a hermit that lived in the ruins before they were abandoned, she met Chujin before and due to her age she is old enough to have met the Integrity soul who fell down in 1936. She likes jigsaw and logic puzzles, as well as reading textbooks.

She's the only known character from the Cavalier Generation. Her personality seems to be a blend of her original personality and Dalv's

Dalv notes:

Dalv (or Sir Alucard by Ceroba and Officer Alucard by Starlo) His personality is similar to his original and Martlet's, the most notable difference between his personality and UTY!Dalv’s personality is that Fallen!Dalv has much more of a spine when it comes to advocating for himself and speaking his mind, he is much more willing to stand his ground and overall is much more brave, he is also much more willing to use profanity, albeit not in English, usually in Romanian or Monstarian when speaking to another Monster (adult monster that is, as he doesn't swear at children).

Judging by the fact he is stationed in Snowdin but doesn't wear the Snowdin Guard Armor, means he was either off duty when he ran into Clover or not apart of the Snowdin police force, but he is also not wearing a deltarune so being off duty is more likely.

He has beef with The Ketsukanes due to Kanako's Grandparents role in the 1013 Mass Undead Racial Cleansing, but doesn't have that same resentment towards Kanako as she tried to right the wrongs. Judging by the fact Dalv mentioned having parents and a younger sibling, it means Dalv is either a traditional variant (parents are the Elden Variant) as Elden Variants are naturally spawned, or Ancient variant if his parents were Ancestral Undead (once Elves)

Dalv is seen to shapeshift into a bat and a wolf before, bat when trying to escape with Clover and when they dropped over a waterfall and a wolf when swimming in the river with Clover on his back to try to get to Hotland.

As a Vampire, like all Undeads, he does have telekinesis and teleportation, so in his fight Blue Soul Mode is used for some attacks. Instead of Puzzles in Snowdin, he sets up riddles due to his love of storytelling.

It’s implied Dalv likely conversed with Sans before the Azimuth Dalv fight due to the fact Sans was able to ambush Clover before Clover could kill Toriel, which isn't unlikely as they are both on the royal guard and Dalv seems to be on a first name basis with Sans as Dalv said “Sans, you're a tâmpit!" instead of “Sir Gaster, you're a tâmpit!” (tâmpit which in this case means "asshole" in Romanian) when Sans causes Dalv and Clover to get washed over the dam, this is notable because Royal Guards only refer to each other by first name if A.) They don't have one (which Sans does, it's “Gaster”) or B.) They are on frequent speaking terms outside of the Royal Guard, this means Dalv and Sans must converse frequently outside of guard duty to know each other's first names.

Genocide phases:

Dalv is in his normal form, and his fight is a harder version of his pacifist/neutral fight

When Dalv gets low on HP he injects something (either DETERMINATION or SPITE) into himself, which turns him into Azimuth Dalv

Once killed Dalv's Shade spawns, like all Shades in Sw!Fallenswap, it has high attack and defense but only one HP, meaning you have to do all the shots perfectly with the wild revolver to actually kill him, any mistake won't be enough damage to get through the Shade's Defense.

He seems to inject himself with either DETERMINATION or SPITE at the end of Genocide, due to the fact in that scenario DETERMINATION will turn a monster into a Draugr and races in the Undead Monster Type will not have that reaction to DETERMINATION but neither would SPITE as it creates a Shade after dying and doesn't put them into a temporary state, so it's unknown what caused that reaction, but it's still likely SPITE instead which explains why Dalv was able to handle it so easily and not melt as SPITE destroys light mana in a Monster’s soul while DETERMINATION melts it, but since Undead Souls have Dark Mana instead, SPITE doesn't harm their soul. It also explains why phase 3 Dalv is a Shade. It is also more likely to be SPITE instead of DETERMINATION, as that would be easier to acquire, only way Dalv would get his hands on DETERMINATION is if he extracted it from Undyne, though he does know her, Undyne would likely try to stop Clover herself. The way Dalv could get his hands on SPITE would be extracting it from Sans or another Undead, though Dalv did call Sans an asshole and Sans did cause a massive wave which caused Dalv and Clover to get washed over the dam and fall into the Dunes area in a Pacifist and neutral run, Sans would likely be willing to extract SPITE from himself to give to Dalv, and not go and fight Clover instead like Undyne would, as he is more likely to stay at New Home to defend Toriel which Sans does successfully in Clover's genocide run as he does very graphically and violently kill Clover.

Starlo Notes: he seems to work with Ceroba in some way, despite not being in the royal guard, he is either a part of the boomer generation or Silent generation in the case Starlo is a year older than Ceroba. Like his original counterpart, he had a crush on Ceroba and knew her since childhood, though unlike his UTY!Counterpart as he doesn't have this North Star Persona, he is more open about his nerdy side and seems to be rather intelligent when figuring out how to defeat the robots in Steamworks. Since Starlo has no attachment to Kanako's robots, killing Axis or Guardener will not abort the pacifist route, he's just relieved you made it out okay.

His personality is similar to UTY, but his temperament seems much more like UTY!Ceroba, he injected Chujin with the serum made from the Kindness Soul, because Chujin tricked Starlo into injecting Kanako's concoction into Chujin thinking it as harmless leaving Starlo into believing he accidentally killed Chujin, but he never told Ceroba this. Starlo also only tries to kill Clover as a mercy-kill-last-resort type thing because if Clover makes it to Toriel, Toriel will burn Clover alive resulting in a painful death, if Clover isn't handed over to Toriel, Clover will die of heart failure due to vitamin D deficiency, and if Clover somehow manages to kill Toriel the underground will possibly go into anarchy, so Starlo attempts to kill Clover in Pacifist route realizing these 3 outcomes.

Ceroba notes: Ceroba (or Sherif Ketsukane by Dalv) is an abrasive personality, and unlike UTY!Starlo she is affiliated with the Royal Guard, as Sherif and Dune's Police Chief are the same occupation in the Dunes region of the Underground, and unlike UTY!Starlo but like UTY!Ceroba, she has an antagonistic role. Ceroba will lash out at Clover if you kill Starlo, but Dalv will call her out as a hypocrite, as she was willing to condone murder of other people's loved ones, causing a short  altercation between the two, which Dalv does end up over powering Ceroba pushing her off the edge, which she survives after being found by some other royal guards.

Kanako Notes: Kanako was an intern, to whomever J.A River's Successor and Undyne's predecessor was and got cryogenically frozen, due to Undyne being non observant and the true lab access keycard being lost, it's unlikely Kanako will ever be found.

Kanako got her internship at 14 years old by submitting her idea of Steamworks to be a backup power supply if the core ever breaks, the robots were made in collaboration with a younger Undyne who was also an intern between 16-18 years old at the time.

Kanako wanted to make amends with Dalv Alucard as her ancestors killed his family during a massacre and wishes to right that wrong, which makes Kanako the only Ketsukane that Dalv doesn't have beef with.

Chujin notes: Very little is known about Chujin other than he tricked Starlo into administering the serum and that Chujin was a stay-at-home parent, we also know he's not a boss monster like he was in UTY, as Boss Monster is a specific race of Monster and not category. We also know like Ceroba and  unlike Kanako, he is unwilling to try to make amends for his ancestors wrongdoings in the 1013 Mass Undead Racial Cleansing, as implied by what Kanako said to Dalv, further supported by Ceroba's predisposition of hating Dalv. We can assume he had a lot of faith in Kanako's abilities as he was willing to try her concoction on himself, which ended his life and due to Undyne not being the Royal Scientist yet, he wasn't used in Undyne's experiments and died in hospice.

[michainabox]

Okay so I’m revisiting Undertale after a long time and I just have to say this. This is a very very long post.

I don’t know if I should tag this? But uh. I guess I go a little in depth with Flowey and the major spoilers of Undertale, have a brush of a spoiler for In Stars and Time, and just major ramblings.

Flowey somewhat unsettles me.

And I don’t mean fear or scary enough that it distresses me, I mean truly unsettles me in an uncomfortable sense where I have to take a step back to analyze.

Like. Yes that’s the point, he is suppose to be an unsettling character. But my thing is, it is hard to unsettle me. You can ask my partner and anyone I know, I consume a lot of horror media. It is hard to unsettle me, or make me uncomfortable with certain things. And with games? Even harder. There has only been a couple of times where media has unsettled me that I can count only three instances of this.

The book Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White (had to unpack a lot of my religious trauma with that book. Good read though.)

Act 5 of In Stars and Time because I related a bit to much to Siff’s breakdown and the fact that you can’t stop it no matter how much you wanted too. You were powerless to do anything. You just have to sit and watch and follow.

And then of course. Flowey. The character himself.

What spurred this ramble Micha? Well. I’ll tell you.

We find out that before Frisk had fallen, Flowey had enough determination in that stupid little flower body to reset the timelines himself. Without the souls, he still had the powers of a god, but it was limited much like Frisk. He has reset hundreds, if not thousands of times. He says that he has tried anything and everything to change the variables. Maybe doing little things like planting ideas into monsters heads, or bigger things. (After all if anything goes wrong he can always reset.)

But nothing could change.

No matter what he did, it never mattered.

It never worked.

It would drive people insane.

And then Frisk shows up. And Flowey doesn’t have the power to reset anymore. Instead, this little kid with a red soul (and the same fashion sense of his dead sibling) shows up and destroys everything. And if you go with the pacifist route. Doesn’t head the lesson of kill or be killed.

And it start to work out for Frisk. It also works in Flowey’s favor too. We can imagine that Frisk is the first ever child to face Asgore for the first time since he started to collect human souls, and Frisk has the power to come back, Frisk even reminds Asgore how many times he has killed them. And Flowey watches as Frisk can either spare or kill Asgore in the final moments. But the players choice doesn’t matter.

Because Flowey was waiting for this opportunity. With the souls unguarded, he can use them. And of course, he can practically torture Frisk until he is ready to claim their soul. And even after all of that, you can choose to kill Flowey or grant him mercy. And he doesn’t understand if you do give him mercy. Because for him, it really is killed or be killed.

(I also have my own theory or analysis for the phone call and where Frisk went after the neutral ending, but that’s another post if anyone is interested in my thoughts.)

Anyways. After the phone call he pops up again, and here is where the unsettling part comes in.

He plants the idea in the Frisk/Player’s head that there is another way. That they didn’t truly save their friends, they didn’t truly save themselves.

And Flowey knows Frisk would try anything to get that happy ending.

Because we would want to find out what that happy ending looks like. Because it’s human nature to be curious and want something better.

He preys upon that and uses it to only serve as his own stepping stone. He isn’t even sure it will work. But he does that anyways. Because if your playing pacifist he sees the fact that Frisk took the time to befriend and spare all the monsters.

Flowey isn’t unsettling because he can change his face, wants to kill Frisk, and even attempted and succeeded multiple times.

It’s the fact that while he says he is soulless, that he can’t understand why he is being spared, he learned just enough to prey on that human nature to get what he ultimately wants.

That’s what ultimately unsettles me about him.

(If anyone has any questions about my thoughts or other theories just ask. I love rambling)

(Note. I edited it slightly to fit in more with the games because of some issues I had with misremembering events)

[yuzurujenn]

[2024.05.15] Ice Jewels Vol. 19 : Toby Fox - "RE_PRAY" is the freedom to try new things

Hello everyone! I am Toby Fox, the developer of the game "UNDERTALE" and the composer of all the original soundtracks in the game. This time, Yuzuru Hanyu used the music I composed, "MEGALOVANIA", "Bergentruckung" and "ASGORE" in the "RE PRAY" performance. I am really honoured and I still can't believe it. In fact, although this is my first time to watch an ice show live, I am still amazed by Hanyu's superb skating skills. I think every move Hanyu showed must be extremely difficult, but the smoothness of his moves makes people completely unaware of the difficulty... I don't know much about figure skating, and if I were to give an evaluation of the performance, I'm afraid it would be "super awesome, so awesome", so this time please allow me to write my thoughts on other elements of the ice show.

Inspiration from my "UNDERTALE"? Having said that, a special warning! What I'm going to talk about next is not only "UNDERTALE", but there will also be spoilers for the "RE PRAY" performance, so please be careful... I heard that the story outline and some scenes of the "RE PRAY" performance (especially the first half) seem to be inspired by "UNDERTALE", right? I actually watched it and I think there are indeed some similarities. For example... First, about the "replay" structure of the story. As we all know, "UNDERTALE" has two quite extreme routes. One is the killing route where you defeat all enemies to gain experience points and sacrifice everything except yourself to become stronger. The other is the pacifist route where you advance in the game world without hurting anyone. Although the content of the second half of "RE PRAY" is not quite the same as the pacifist route of "UNDERTALE", the "destructive" route in the first half is very similar to the killing route of "UNDERTALE". Defeating all the enemies he encountered, gaining strength and making sacrifices, and finally reaching the incredibly difficult level, this journey made Hanyu-san suffer a lot. This part really reminds people of the final battle in "UNDERTALE" when you choose to defeat all enemies. After that, just like the plot in "UNDERTALE", Hanyu-san's game save was deleted and he had to start from the beginning. The title "RE PRAY" also means to perform "re-prepare" (start over) in order to change the ending of the story. There are also very similar parts in the expression of the image. The scene of a red heart appearing in the middle of the black screen appears several times, which is the symbolic picture of "UNDERTALE". As a game character, Hanyu-san's eyes are also like hyphens, which is also very similar to the protagonist of "UNDERTALE". Also, the scene where Hanyu-san, the game character, finds a flower that looks like it is illuminated by a spotlight is also reminiscent of a scene in the beginning of the game "UNDERTALE". In addition, the corridor that serves as the stage for the scene “where Hanyu-san is in agony when reaching a difficult level" mentioned earlier is exactly the same as the location where the boss battle that "tortured" most of the players of "UNDERTALE" took place. The "final boss" that Hanyu-san fights looks very similar to the final boss in "UNDERTALE". In this way, I found many similarities and was extremely excited to watch. When I was at the venue, I thought, "Eh? Could this be the one from "UNDERTALE"!?", and in a positive sense, I smiled (laughs).

What is the meaning of the story...? Based on this, there are many things in the first half that remind people of "UNDERTALE", but I think the story of this performance can also be explained in another way. Of course, what Hanyu-san meant by "gaining experience points" and "making sacrifices" was not just about defeating the enemy literally. The enemy to be defeated was probably the tournaments he had participated in so far, and the scene of him struggling in the corridor probably symbolized the long years of hard training to achieve a perfect performance. In other words, this was a route that sacrificed all of his private life in order to become the world's number one. However, his time as a competitor ended, and that route also came to an end. Then began the second route. Every performance began with being locked behind a fence, and Hanyu-san realized that his way of survival had trapped him in a small space. He walked out of the cycle of tournaments and refused to play this game over and over again. In this way, he would reach a space where there was nothing. But even so, he was still not free. He was still controlled and trapped by some existence. However, he didn't know what that existence was. So he began to pray. To gain freedom, he prayed to the "god". But who exactly was this "god"? In my opinion, isn't "God" Hanyu's audience? He is just a game character, a puppet controlled to please the audience. He cannot live a normal life and is often forced to play the role of "Hanyu Yuzuru". Then, Hanyu, who began to doubt that he was just a game character, stood on the stage and began to pray in a literal sense in front of the audience. Finally, he found a place he had never seen before. It was an unknown and incredibly beautiful place. "God", that is, the audience, has always regarded Hanyu as a "character". But it is also thanks to the grace of "God" that Hanyu has found new freedom. That is the freedom to challenge new things and keep trying (just like this performance). In addition, Hanyu also used this opportunity to call on the audience to cherish and protect their own freedom and daily life. Of course, this is just my own interpretation, and it is not the result of in-depth research. However, I think the wonderful thing about this performance is that it can be interpreted freely in any way. So, it would be great if everyone could come up with their own interpretations!  

The power I felt through his performance What moved me the most was that I could feel the power of his performance even when he wasn't performing any difficult moves. Here are some scenes that left a deep impression on me: ■ In "A Fleeting Dream" program of "Final Fantasy X" that appeared in the beginning of the ice show, there was a scene where he skated along the curve extending from the huge trees drawn by lights on the ice. That performance instantly moved my heart... Although he was just skating, I felt a sense of nostalgia. The moment I saw it, I thought "This is the best thing I have ever seen in my life" (sorry for the exaggeration). ■ Before "MEGALOVANIA" started, the venue went dark and silent, and Hanyu-san took his time to slowly enter the ice. The only sound echoing in the venue was the sound of his skates, raising anticipation for the next program. ■ As a fanservice, he put his face close to the camera and covered it with his hand. Everyone couldn't help but cheer and scream. I did the same. The audience around me was mostly female, and I was the only foreign male voice. This development seemed a little strange... ■ He took a tissue from the Pooh tissue box and blew his nose several times. After blowing, he checked his snot for a while (no, this kind of thing doesn't matter at all, I'm so sorry...). Anyway, it was a really wonderful performance. It would be great if we could see the recording someday... If so, I hope everyone will watch it! But... maybe you can hear my cheers from the audience... I'm sorry everyone!

Source: https://weibo.com/1746783312/OgzomvYei Info: https://www.kazi.co.jp/icejewels/backnumber/vol19/vo19.html 

[blitzxiiru]

I just found you and I love your posts, if the like/reblog spree was any indication. I was looking through your blog at work and it gave me so much energy.

I wanted to know what you would think of a tmnt/Undertale crossover. I don't know if you even like undertale, but I've been thinking about nonstop since I thought of it. Wether the boys have the game, or they're actually in the universe, I think it would be super cool.

hello!! welcome to my silly blog :) i’m glad my posts helped give you a little energy boost for work, i know how tiring working can be, take care of yourself!

oh man this brings me back to the ABSOLUTE GODDAMN HURRICANE amount of undertale aus back in the day. christ, there was so much and i genuinely couldn’t keep up. practically anything you could think of — like candy, space, swapped roles — there at LEAST one post about it that was mixed and matched with undertale. i left the fandom years ago though, it was getting super toxic atp and i stuck to looking at it from afar

to answer your question — if the boys were to have undertale, it was released in 2015, so they would’ve had the game when they were like 18?? donnie would be scrounging around in the sewers and stumbled upon some thrown away copy of it

raph would defo be the one to instantly start off killing everyone towards the genocide route. laughs maniacally while doing so, and everyone is concerned for his mental well-being

• “bRO WHY’D YOU KILL THE LITTLE FROG DUDE”

• “IT WAS LOOKING AT ME WRONG. IT WAS BEGGING ME TO JUST FUCKING KILL IT”

• “raph, we’re having a therapy session tomorrow.”

mikey would be the complete opposite of raph. he’d be the most pacifist and try to befriend everyone despite the monsters trying to kill him. he was devastated when he couldn’t save asriel. his favourite is undyne

• “KILL HER, MIKEY. KILL THE FISH AND CHEW ON HER BONES AND FLESH”

• “WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU NO???? I WANNA BE HER FRIEND!!”

• “mikey she is literally trying to murder you”

• “I DONT CARE WE CAN BE FRIENDS SHE REMINDS ME OF LEATHERHEAD”

donnie would be the one to try to actually try to get all the endings. doesn’t matter if he has to go genocide or pacifist or neutral, he’s going to get all the damn endings. he secretly enjoys doing the genocide route bc it was a challenge, nothing more! (totally)

• “donnie you’re hogging the game”

• “leave me alone leo i’m currently trying to get the true pacifist ending”

• “i don’t care donnie take a break you’ve been playing for 10 fucking hours”

leo would try his best to be pacifist, but in the end he got the neutral ending because he killed some monsters along the way. he swears it wasn’t his fault — the game activated his fight or flight

• “LEO NOOOOO WHY DID YOU KILL UNDYNE”

• “WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO, NOT FIGHT BACK???? SHE WAS ATTACKING ME”

• “i thought you were being pacifist”

• “I WAS. I WAS TRYING OKAY.”

[lonestarss]

For the character ask game, sans Undertale :]

SANS UNDERTALE MY FIRST BLORBO EVERRRR i'm so happy you chose him june you have no idea.

my first impression

tbh, that was so long ago that i don't even remember LMAO. i've loved this guy since like, 2016 or smth.

my impression now

normalest guy in the world ❤️ genuinely such a well-written character both in terms of his comedy and the bits of his inner self we find in the pacifist/no mercy routes. i still think about the conversation you have with him while you're having dinner sometimes.

favorite thing about that character

ouh toughie. i guess it has to be how they balance his goofy side and his more serious aspects... and i'm just now realizing that characters that unironically go "at first i lol'd and then i serioused" are often my favorites. huh.

least favorite thing

does the way the fandom treats him count? that's the only thing i can fully say i dislike. not even the vagueness of his knowledge of the timelines/gaster disturbs me that much because i know it's probably just ignorance on my end (<- hasn't interacted with undertale in a while and has forgotten so so much)

favorite line/scene

i mentioned this before, but it's the pacifist (?) conversation where you're having dinner with him and he tells you about the promise he made to toriel! it's so down-to-earth and it just warms my heart tbh. minus the part where he threatens you.

favorite interaction that character has with another

i'm gonna be a basic bitch and say that sans and papyrus's relationship is my favorite in the whole game. hard to pick a particular scene, but i guess i'd go with the very first one they have?

a character that I wish that character would interact with more

SANS AND ALPHYS SHOULD'VE INTERACTED SO MUCH MORE OMG. there's so much potential with them and i wish toby took advantage of that, especially with the implication that sans is connected to gaster.

another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character

rip cyno genshinimpact you would've loved running a sans kinnie blog on tumblr back in 2016

a headcanon about that character

aroace 💥💥‼️ if this isn't canon (i'm like 50% sure it is) then i also like transmasc sans. projection is so fun

a song that reminds of that character

skipping; i don't have one unfortunately.

an unpopular opinion about that character

uhhhmmmmm. most au sanses bore me to death tee bee aich. the only one i can fully get into is dusttale sans.

favorite picture

skipping this one too because i don't wanna see what happens when i search up "sans undertale" on my browser. i've seen enough as it is.

[a-legacy-not-to-be-forgotten]

Even More SequenceShift Facts

I know I've been pretty quiet on my AU's front. Part of that is because I was briefly disheartened by what I saw as a lack of interest in it from other people. I'm willing to admit it does kinda sting to see all these other AUs popping off while mine only gets a few passing nods, mainly because I can't draw any of my AU. I'm not trying to sound ungrateful though. I mean, there's always a handful of peeps who always like and reblog my SequenceShift stuff, and I do really appreciate you folks! With that out of the way, I decided to do another round of these facts with details that I didn't add in the guidebook, either because I felt they weren't important or because I forgor. Again, if I haven't mentioned something, feel free to hit me up.

Mooch is an adult by the time Clover is in the AU, but she was still a child/teen when the Outlaw (one of the Renegade humans) committed his massacre on the Wild East. It's given her a good dose of anxiety that she tries to keep covered up. There are times where she wakes up in the middle of the night after a particularly bad nightmare, with Moray calming her down and watching over her until she falls asleep again.

Starlo is the only member of the cast that interacts with Kit (think like Flowey and Papyrus in the OG Undertale). Due to Kit's reluctance, she doesn't really open up much to him besides some small talk. Starlo does have some suspicions about Kit, but due to being very busy with his duties as Captain of the Rangers, he hasn't looked into it just yet.

Echo Flowers are still existent in this AU, but they're very much endangered due to their natural habitat completely drying out. Some are still just barely alive but clearly withered, and any conversations they may have picked up are either partially or completely distorted. There is one location where they're still alive, a hidden cavern in the Barrens that only Ceroba, Starlo, and Dina know about.

Starlo still wears his poncho and sheriff's badge to this day (Ceroba does want her Rangers to wear proper uniforms, but she mostly doesn't mind any customizations beyond that). It serves as something of a reminder for what life was like before the Wild East Massacre. However, on a Vengeance run, he completely ditches the poncho to symbolize him embracing his role as Captain of the Rangers.

When it comes to SequenceShift's Genocide/Vengeance/No Mercy route, none of the boss fights are killed in one hit. All of them have different, harder encounters and fight like hell to the bitter end. There'll also be environmental changes beyond just the populace leaving.

Also, a Neutral Route will have a lot more variation beyond just the endings and NPC dialogue. Even a very ruthless neutral run will be acknowledged by the Monsters and treated as such. Clover will be punished for a near/aborted Genocide run. (I always found it weird how the original Undertale never did that, and Undertale Yellow to a lesser extent)

There are four routes planned so far: Neutral, Pacifist, True Pacifist, and Genocide. A fifth route might be possible, but nothing's come of it just yet.

Frisk is also in this AU, having arrived some time before Clover did and basically had this Sequenceshift's version of Undertale Yellow. Again, still haven't thought of much beyond that.

I'll add him to the guidebook, but Mo is indeed in this AU. He's pretty much entirely unchanged too, because he's perfect.

[kevinthetarotreader]

Continuing with my recent rambling about vidya games and magic cardboard, this is the single greatest depiction of the Devil (XV) card I’ve seen so far, and I’m into the esoteric shit, so that’s saying a lot.

It only makes sense if you’ve played or looked up enough about Undertale, but to fully grasp its meaning you’d have to not only play the game, but commit to the Genocide route.

Throughout that route, every character that manages to speak before you turn them into dust calls out the player character and even the player directly. The gameplay structure becomes a slow paced, meticulous slough, forcing the player to wander from room to room hoping to find surviving enemies in the hopes of making a number on a screen go up. Characters who would be your friends in a normal or pacifist play through are reduced to things that can help you get more superficial strength, or as dark reminders that you do not have to do this, you are making yourself do this.

When fighting against the last “enemy” in the game, (Sans) he speaks directly to the player, saying “you can beat me, and because you can, you think you HAVE to”, highlighting that fact that you haven’t lost control, you’re willingly surrendering control to whatever part of your brain wants increase above all else.

Finally, we’re confronted by a ghostly image of “Chara”, referring to himself as a demon before destroying the in-game universe and closing the game itself.

If you try open it again, “Chara” shows up again, asking the player why they’re here, they got what they were after by destroying enemies and becoming strong to its natural conclusion, then offers to bring reset the game and allow you to play again… in exchange for your SOUL.

Spooky, but everything about this route, start to finish, is the essence of the Devil card. Relinquishing your free will in exchange for material gain, giving in to temptations, addictions, and baser tendencies; pacts, contracts, deals, being bound by commitments, staring the darker parts of yourself in the face, etc, etc.

The best part to me is that this specific, twisted myth of a fallen child shutting down every part of themselves except the desire to slay and conquer until the world crumbled, can only be told through the lens of a game, occasionally alluding to the nature of modern games, developers, and gamers. There’s a lot to be said about the glamorized Skinner Boxes being pumped out by “triple A” companies and consumed by an addicted market, but it can all be summed up nicely by Undertale’s genocide route, or by the Devil card.

(Side note: I personally don’t think the Chara we see at the end is actually him. It’s the impulse that leads somebody to pursue the genocide route wearing his avatar. At previous points in the game, certain text implies that the player is Chara completing his plan, but in the story, Chara is absorbed in the same twisted impulse as the genocide route player is, just to a higher degree in a world where their actions have far darker consequences. Ditto for Flowey/Asriel)

[sukifoof]

My goodness this is such a captivating AU, my mind is racing with different possibilities. Flowey follows us all throughout the game, I'm not sure if Asriel would be able to do the same without attracting attention? His friendship with Papyrus might not come to pass. How would his reactions to our different actions in the Ruins change? Would he defend Toriel if we tried to kill her? What about Asgore. Would he even know his son woke up in the most recent reset or would he assume that he finally died? And how would Asriel's/Flowey's involvement in the Asgore boss fight change? Would he still kill him, and still take the Human SOULs? Or the True Pacifist ending, since he's still a Monster in this AU he wouldn't be able to take the SOULs of other Monsters to equate that 7th Human SOUL, completely changing how shattering the Barrier could work. Perhaps he would discover over the course of the fight or in the leadup to it that he still has Chara's SOUL, and then coming to accept that have to let go of it at the end to destroy the Barrier (and also free himself, more metaphorically)?

Or the entire Genocide Route, Asriel's involvement in it would be different from Flowey's, simply due to them having different forms. He would obviously have a greater capacity to fight back, would he be the final boss after sans? Or replacing the sans fight altogether?

Or even the simple question of what happens to him in the various Neutral endings?

This is an AU with such great potential for anything and everything to change, it deserves to be developed into a full thing

(Although the question of how Asgore's and Toriel's aging was affected during Asriel's coma would also have to be addressed, since Undertale as it is takes place at least 100 years after Chara's death)

HI I MEANT TO ANSWER THIS EARLIER but this week has been so busy </3 my General Thoughts on it is that it pretty much just stays the same and asriel is just an elusive guy.... like.. u know how the amalgamates are gooey?? he just kinda learns how to slip out of sight after who knows how many resets. so if it were to come down to papyrus or toriel or whoever else everything would pretty much have the same dialogue and scenes, except for Specifically Toriel who would probably be. really worried about asriel all the time. especially if u tried to kill her. she would probably be like "Oh God My Son Has Already Lost So Much Oh My Baby Boy" and then asriel would show up at the end of the ruins like "ok Wow u didnt even Try to spare her! u kind of remind me of myself ahaha" and then he follows u like flowey does via amalgamate goo. i think sans would probably be mildly worried about this Goat Friend papyrus talks about but overall i think he would be like "oh sick my brother has a pal. even if hes imaginary"

BUT as for the true lab i think some things would be different. asriel was kept there for a VERY long time and since he was on the verge of death he didnt take much Soul Power from his parents so they barely aged, just like him. toriel and asgore figured there wasnt much hope and everything goes pretty much the same way as it does in canon. but asriel wakes up alone in the lab and FREAKS OUT cuz hes like "oh my god how long have i been out where am i is chara dead what happened to their soul whats going ON" and when he sees asgore and feels numb he immediately thinks that there MUST be something wrong with his soul. that maybe he died and hes living off of charas soul and theyre gone because of him or that charas soul is gone and that Did something to him. he doesnt know but hes pretty much convinced that theres just something Wrong with him now. and thats when he realizes he can reset and he goes about all his resets and whatnot

i think what really happened is that after he went into a coma, charas soul stayed but they pretty much disappeared kinda similar to how chara "wakes up" when frisk falls, but asriel cant tell. i think he wouldnt find out about his soul until he kills asgore and absorbs the six souls and turns into an abomination and the six of them revolt... like he Knows charas soul is There Now but hes convinced that its frisk hes sensing, so he still ends up believing frisk is chara especially after frisk goes through the true lab. i think the true pacifist end would be different in like.. a way that he just uses his Various God Powers to isolate him and frisk like in the photoshop flowey fight. he breaks the barrier after accepting that chara is gone and he Literally has to let them go to break the barrier and hes just a Regular Monster now who is mildly fucked up and dripping cuz of the dt. at least those are my rough thoughts

im sure theres a lot of holes cuz im still trying to think of how i wanna go about it...... i might just have charas soul be gone if i think about it more but either way i wanna try to keep that idea of him having to let chara go to move on from his trauma... most of his issues with his parents would probably be a post game thing where he still avoids asgore but lives with toriel and frisk cuz of his time in the ruins with her. i hope my rambling makes sense i think about asriel so very much

[otakween]

Digimon Tamers - Episode 5

Plot summary: Culumon and Guilmon share one brain cell and then accidentally summon a demon.

This one was really fun and lighthearted. Not too much plot progression, but the kids meet Culumon and we realize he's more of an anomaly than we thought.

Notes:

Why does Culumon kinda look like the McNuggies meme in that title card?

Uncanny...

I liked getting a little more of a glimpse into the daily school life of Takato. Basic stuff like a pop quiz, school lunch, and then cleaning duties. Very slice of life vibes in this episode.

Culumon becomes a school legend and they call him the "teketeke monster" which is pretty adorable

Guilmon and Culumon interacting was great, just two dummies having fun together. I was happy that Guilmon had company for once since it must get boring waiting around for Takato.

I guess the kids haven't realized that they were "chosen" to be tamers because they try to find someone to just give Culumon to. Historically, it hasn't worked like that. I wonder what would happen if someone just raised a digimon like a pet/child without getting a digivice (or whatever we're calling them now lol)

I forgot Evilmon was so teeny tiny haha. He made a fun gag villain and I liked how Guilmon wasn't intimidated by him at all (which pissed him off).

Ruki shows a twinge of guilt for her behavior at the end there as Takato confronts her for not viewing digimon as living beings. The way she seeks to gain strength by defeating digimon reminds me of Undertale. Like she's on the genocide/neutral route and Takato and Jian are on the pacifist one haha. I wonder what her epiphany moment will look like in her redemption arc...

Culumon is very chaotic. Wants to play, but doesn't want to be tied down. I don't know if he even knows what his goal is tbh. I kind of expected him to cling to the gang after finally getting some positive reinforcement, but nope!

I missed this previously, but the pink void they fight in is called a "digital field." Did they explain what a digital field is? Not really...I think it looks dumb and is a lazy "we didn't want to animate backgrounds" shortcut.

[lintwriting]

Undertale and Crow Country: More Alike Than You Think!

A lot of what’s sweeping about Crow Country reminds me of what swept Undertale into massive popularity. Great music, retro but in a way that plays with the source materials, a good story—but most importantly, one with time to breathe.

Like some of Undertale’s most memorable aspects were the way it played with the player in a way unique to video games and RPGs.

Genocide and pacifist routes play with the standard RPG violence that most games never question.

The player chooses to name a character at the beginning who is NOT your player character, but instead a different character altogether, and your player is actually a character in their own right (named Frisk) rather than a character you can project onto/role play as, as would be the norm in a ROLEPLAYing game lol.

(The RPG Disco Elysium was also famous for these kind of meta elements, with the game making it clear (through the narrative device of amnesia) that while you can customize the player character, he is not a blank slate/player insert either! Much like the way someone in real life will still find themselves predisposed to certain traits through nurture/their environment, even if they make their own choices. Read my thoughts here!)

Undertale I remember being considered very retro at its time for being an 8-bit RPG. Particularly memorable is that people clowned on the graphics, which I thought were cute as someone who wasn’t very familiar with video games, but I didn’t realize that the 8-bit stuff wouldn’t be commonplace for most gamers. So yeah, it was considered weirdly retro at the time.

Similarly, Crow Country plays with nostalgia in a way that I’m not familiar with at all. I’m unfamiliar with its influences—unfamiliar with Final Fantasy, unfamiliar with PS1 graphics (except as the new trend that’s been making the rounds as of late). As such, it’s not nostalgic to me beyond being a puzzle game like Undertale and a lot of RPGmaker games were. But yeah, both Undertale and Crow Country bring something new to the table to this nostalgic rehashing.

Undertale mostly with its meta storytelling/themes, though the combat system was unique. And Crow Country in its faux pre-rendered background, mimicking old survival horror games, that acts as an immersive-sim-like interact-able background that would’ve been impossible for its era. The ability to interact with objects you assume are just part of the background is a hugely pleasant surprise in a game like this, rewarding exploration—a key game mechanic. A positive feedback loop.

And like, the nostalgia is HUGE. A lot of the moments reviewers keep referencing are the bits where characters make cute jokes about how it’s weird you need to go through like 5 puzzles just to get a key, referencing in-universe how weird their world is. That’s the type of joke you only get once a genre has established tropes and cliches, aka when a genre has been around long enough to feel nostalgic. Undertale also made similar meta jokes that show a love for the genre it’s in, as does Disco Elysium, and it creates a sense of kinship between the player and the characters and the developers (because it’s an in-joke and a badge of honor).

Finally, the moments to breathe. The game encourages and rewards exploration, and it has story beats and moments that reward slowing down before a big moment and to just feeling what the characters are feeling AND appreciate the experience of this genre of game itself.

With Undertale, it’s the whole “filled with determination” save mechanics and the “you’re still you” mirror scenes.

With Crow Country, it’s Mara’s scene where she appreciates her key items (like a lot of survival horror fans do near the end of play throughs). Mara has her own quiet save room areas, too.

Along with the almost tonally abrupt Undertale lore dump of the echo flower room. A dump would be boring in a different game, but the echo flowers, thanks to its visceral atmosphere, instead feel like the intimacy of a child finding out their family secrets. To achieve this, rather than characters telling you, it’s just flowers echoing you secrets from the past—leaving you the player alone enough to really take in the info (as if you were Frisk) and letting you process it as you will, without any push from other characters. Not frisk (who doesn’t speak), not any other character else, just the player. Alone with these secrets.

Similarly, that scene where Mara is climbing down into the heart of darkness on that ladder. Just an endless view of her going down and getting smaller and darker, like Omori going down the stairs. Oh boy, it’s that same feeling of letting you really process what you’re getting into, of slowing down to feel the visceral emotions and enjoy the experience thanks to its intense atmosphere. But it contains that same heart pumping, introspective feeling of appreciation and excitement that Undertale has with its save points, with none of the dramatic fear that Aomori’s stair scene evokes, because it’s a slow moment to breathe.

(this gif and its texts via ElucidatedByFire's WONDERFUL video on Crow Country. Truly underrated and highly recommend!!!)

Cross-Demographic Appeal

I think under this lens, it makes a lot of sense why Crow Country is on such an "easy" mode despite ostensibly being a survival horror game. I feel like in a lot of ways, it has cross-demographic appeal, specifically connected to Undertale’s more RPG puzzle/newbie/young demographic. Undertale even has that horror level with the creepy amalgamations.

So while Crow Country’s survival horror audience is baffled at its choice to make "easy" mode the default, since the whole point of the genre is stuff like resource management and the adrenaline of trying to survive, an RPG audience is not quite as used to that level of anxiety while playing lol.

It would be forgiving to these undoubtedly beginner players who come for that RPG crossover appeal, who don’t know what to expect and therefore wouldn’t know to go on “easy” mode (if murder mode was set as “normal”). Though maybe this is a bit too coddling XD

[northstarwomenblog]

Why hello there! Here's some questions from the fictionkin meme:

❔ - How did you figure out you kinned this character?

🤝 - What's your relationship with this kintype (ie spiritual, psychological, etc)?

👕 - What sort of clothing do you associate with this kin?

💥 - What skills or abilities did this kin have, if any, that you can't do now but wish you could? (ie superpowers, languages you don't speak, skills you don't currently have, etc)

🔮 - Have you ever predicted something about your source material before it happened based on kin feelings? (For example, having a kin memory that lines up with something that happens in your source before you ever knew about it)

👥 - Do you have any canonmates for this kin, and/or are you interested in finding canonmates?

thank you for sending this ask!!!!!!!!!!

❔ - i figured out i was starlo kin cause of. well its a really long story BUT the short of it is i finished playing undertale yellow and he was my favorite and my friends started joking about killing him in their runs to give me psychic damage and it made me feel personally attacked for some indescribable reason and i ended up ranting about it hours after they had stopped and then they were like "hey you might be fictionkin" and i was like "oh that would. make so much sense." and then that night as i was falling asleep i re-experienced a memory of the part of the pacifist route where ceroba flung me against the wall so hard that i passed out when i was trying to stop her from fighting clover. and that basically solidified it for me.

🤝 - uhhhh mostly just neurodivergent if im gonna be honest. so mental/psychological i think?? i dunno, im still very new to this stuff. i talk about it like it is a past life even though i dont believe in past lives, and im pretty sure its just because i am extremely neurodivergent that i kin starlo.

👕 - COWBOYS!!!!!!!! i get so much happiness from wearing the blue scarf i crocheted recently cause it reminds me of my blue bandana i wore! also overalls any generally any farm-like clothing. makes me so happy and like i am in the right body :D

💥 - magic, like every monster!!! it feels so incredibly weird to not have magic and not be able to summon a magic floating gun wherever i want or to just sit still and summon a small, harmless bullet to juggle around in my hands when i get bored.

🔮 - not really cause i didnt kin starlo until after i completed the pacifist route, and any other memory i got came after i finished that route, unfortunately. unless in canon i was in fact transmasc. if it gets confirmed that i was transmasc in canon then that would be one thing cause the game is so new that i wouldnt be surprised if anything new gets confirmed about me lol.

👥 - yes!!!!!!!!!!! i have several sourcemates and i have one canonmate!!! my beloved friend @yellowclovers who found out he was clover kin literally minutes after i found out i was starlo kin. and then turns out we end up having memories that line up with each other. cause he remembers having awoken after the ut pacifist route and when going out to search for one of their friends, they found out via martlet that i had died and that ceroba was also still dead. which lines up with my memories cause i come from flawed pacifist in which i died not long after wishing clover good riddance. we are still very good friends though and i forgive him for everything now that i played the game myself and understand the pressure they were put under. it wasnt really their fault, after all, as much as it sucked.

i would also love more canonmates,,,,, especially a canonmate ceroba. i know a fictionkin ceroba but she does have enough memories for me to confirm if shes a canonmate or simply a sourcemate. though i suppose it would be bad to wish to have a canonmate ceroba because she literally died in my canon so i mean.

ANYWAYS!!!!!!!! thank you for sending in an ask!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i really appreciate it :D

[yourbuddy1984]

It's 1am, I am trying (and failing) to sleep. And I was thinking.

How would Buddy hold a 3ds. Or any game controller for that matter

Mans fucking fingies are too long. He will never know the wonders of Pokemon X

I think he can at least play a switch with joycons (only if they're attached) or a ds with like. Using the very tips of his fingers to hold it. His joints are long enough to where I don't *think* it would feel weird. He most certainly cannot hold a like regular controller. I guess he can also use a keyboard but using a mouse probably feels fucking weird

(Also the thing about using a 3ds or switch is mans is so fucking tall he's gonna have to sit in a real awkward position just to see the screen good. Well it's not like he's ever had good posture anyways </3 He was born to be a gamer)

...Well if anything he can watch Friendo play viddy games I guess. Just like in canon :)

(I can't sleep and wanted to get this out of my brain and I like talking to you. Please excuse me ;; Been thinking about replaying old ds games and this popped into my brain lol)

so true and real!!! goddd buddy ... i think.. buddy could use a joystick to game, maybe? ive never played with one myself, but i think they could just grab it and game !! ya know?? these things

one hand for grabbing other for pressing little buttons... other than that, maybe some kind of gaming pad? something like this, maybe... arcade gamer perhaps? also i doodled a buddy losing at candycrush with a joycon i think theyd suck at it

buddy and pokemon.. this reminds me of this art by nintendraw with buddy and friendo as gym leaders:33 i dont know That Much about pokemon, the only pkmn game i ever played in my life was pokemon dungeon gates to infinity and i havent finished that yet </3 though i DID name my friend pikachu in that 'buddy' :3 ohh maybe buddy could enjoy text based games? like the first one they make for you, where you type stuff !!! theres gotta be some kinda keyboard thats accessible to them... or maybe twine games!!!

buddy and undertale... GUH!!!! i agree that they wouldnt do the genocide route.. i think maybe they'd.. like, maybe they think they Have to kill the first few enemies they meet, but then when toriel reveals that you shouldnt kill them, they'd stop... but then we gotta take into account that in buddy sim you befriend enemies by beating them to death, so its possible buddy would persist in their killings? no... i'm mistaken. i think undertale could teach them valuable lessons about friendship (like, "dont beat up your friends").. i think they'd like papyrus:) oh god the dogs. buddy is a pacifist Unless theyre faced with a dog ❤️guhh buh the true ending (is that what its called i forgorrr) would jsut.. like.. itd GET them... itd hit them in the HEART!!!! secret buddy sim ending number 5 where you and buddy play undertale together ❤️

[kkkkkafka]

i have been looking back at undertale a few days and thinking

i realized that both chara and cassidy (fnaf) tended to be demonized (?) by their fandom. like painting them as some anomaly entity that knows nothing besides kill and torture

for me i think their purposes were "karma" to the characters who had harmed other people

chara appeared in the end of souless pacifist route (when you do a pacifist route after a genocide route) as if to remind you that your actions have consequences and there is no going back unless you decided to do a true reset. also, if the player decided to play genocide it was on them, not "chara possessing frisk" thingy had been going around. yes, from asriel's words, they might be not the greatest person, but honestly, a murderous child bringing the whole underground world "hopes and dreams"? sound ridiculous, don't you think? they also chose to sacrifice themselves by eating buttercup (if you look up the symptoms of buttercup poisoning, it was a slow and agonizing process) so the underground monsters can be free by their soul

and for cassidy, the most popular interpretation of them in fnaf fandom is they have created a "special hell" or purgatory if you called it for william or kept reviving him countless time to torture the said man. i agree with the first one, honestly, but my perspective is they did that, as william's actions had harmed not only his family, but extended to other people, so he deserved a punishment by his victims (aka, cassidy and charlie here). but many times i saw people did said scenario and made cassidy as some kind of brutal sadist to satisfy themselves, for their own entertainment rather than "punish" william we don't talk about moral here as i intepret all characters in fnaf having morally grey

also shit aside. chara and my cassidy share the same =) face and "unknown" gender