#like idk man i feel like if my husband suddenly declared he was gonna kill a bunch of kids to start a war i would not feel very safe.

[sukifoof]

YEAH EXACTLY U GET IT!! like her whole character is a foil to asriel and they both set up the themes of the game like. forgiving yourself for things out of your control and allowing yourself to move on. to escape the cycle of self imposed imprisonment out of guilt and to be able to set up healthy boundaries. how badly grief can mess with someones head and sense of self. she's such a well written character and it's bizarre to me when people completely ignore that because they view her character through the lense of Mom Or Wife Who Could Have Saved Everything. that's the Thing no one person is responsible for someone else's actions that's the whole Point. even flowey himself says he thought that she would be the one person who could help him but the only person who can really change how he feels is himself. he has to accept what has happened and that he wasn't in control of chara's actions. all of the dreemurrs are extremely traumatized and i feel like a lot of the misunderstandings when it comes to them and the way they act is because everyone experiences grief in different ways and it might not exactly be easy to understand why those characters act the way they do if you haven't personally lost someone in those ways. that's what i really love about undertale it's such a good way to show how to love and accept others with experiences u might not understand BUT anyway yeah toriel and asriel best characters. i love them they are so well written

i feel like toriel's character is really commonly like. reduced to either Perfect Mom or Evil Woman when it's so much more interesting to look at how her trauma has affected her... toby is extremely good at writing trauma and flawed characters and a lot of people look at his work in a black and white way unfortunately. anyway toriel is one of The Best Characters Ever. i really wish her relationship with flowey was explored more cuz he seems to be so frustrated with both of his parents but he especially cares for toriel, yet the way he views her and talks about her makes him seem like he feels betrayed... or maybe he doesn't understand why she bothers caring for humans when it just gets her hurt in the end... they both have a lot of Projection Issues and i love that toriel says she needs proof that you're strong enough to survive. Because Asriel Wasn't. Her Other Kids Weren't. and then and THEN flowey does the Same Thing. they both just want everyone to be safe and alive and loved. and i really Really like how her fight parallels to asriel's fight where neither of them want to let their child/friend go again but they come to terms with it and forgive themselves... "you can't regret hard choices your whole life" is one of the quotes that Gets Me cuz it's just so perfect for everyone character in this game. do u get it do u see what i mean shes so interesting (explodes)

tldr toriel is one of the best characters in anything ever and i need her to be appreciated immediately 💖

[kn1feinthec0ffee]

in too deep (part 6) - jules

jules x reader

warnings: implied drug use, head trauma, choking, death

notes: as i’m typing this i’m SO excited to post it i just really love how this turned out and i hope you guys do too

also idk how to make a hyperlink but if you’re looking for any of the other parts just search #jules on my page and they should come up :)

******************************

everything felt... numb. quiet. miles and miles away.

you thought you had felt silence before, but this was on a whole other level. you could see yourself standing in an empty, pitch black void, mindlessly wandering in circles.

you felt a small tickle underneath your nose, but seemingly nothing caused it. you rubbed at your face, some invisible antagonist causing an irritating tingle across your skin.

suddenly, the air became trapped in your lungs, your throat itching with the need to breathe. you took in a breath through your nose and watched in wonder as the barren darkness around you rapidly morph into a magnificent rainbow of colors.

the colors turned paler and paler as a bright whiteness set in, a searing pain bursting through your chest. you cried out for the light to stop, begging to go back to the comforting darkness.

your eyelids flew open as you began to hyperventilate in panic. your pupils darted around the room, taking in all your blinding surroundings. you tried to speak, but jules held a firm hand over your mouth.

“hey, hey, it’s okay, baby! you’re okay!” she lifted her hand and ran it down your jaw comfortingly. “hey, i have a plan.”

———————————————

“let’s get the hell outta here and find ‘em.” george mumbled, the door slamming behind the couple.

jules peeked our the window, ensuring that they had left before you came out of hiding. she let out a frantic laugh, excited beyond belief that the two of you had finally managed to escape from under their watchful eyes.

“i can’t believe that fucking worked!” you breathed out. you pulled her in for a deep kiss before snatching the keys you spotted during dinner. you busied yourself unlocking the garage, looking over your shoulder to find jules looking at you disapprovingly. “what is it, babe? we gotta get the fuck out of here!”

“y/n, the kid.” she gestured towards the basement door.

“shit, yeah, you’re right,” you sighed. “let’s go get her.” you practically flew down the stairs, pulling the keys from your pocket and unlocking the chains.

“c’mon! let’s go!” you quickly realized she was hesitant because of your earlier actions. “oh, are you still mad about earlier? i was lying, didn’t you see me wink? that’s what a wink is; it means you’re not supposed to believe what i said!”

sweetiepie stubbornly refused to move. “look, hun, i’m really sorry for what i said, alright? i should’ve known you don’t know what a wink is. i get it, this is clearly a very serious household, but we have to get out of here right now, and we really want you to come with us, okay, sweetheart?” you held out a hopeful hand towards her.

she nodded silently, placing a tiny hand in yours. “there ‘ya go, let’s beat it.” you scooped her up into your arms as you ran up the stairs.

the three of you burst through the garage door, placing sweetiepie in the backseat after jules unlocked the door. you slid into the driver’s seat, searching blindly for the garage-door-opener but coming up empty handed.

“shit! where’s the fuckin’ garage thingy?” you panicked. jules opened the console, pressing the button as soon as she found it.

as the door finally peeled open, the air left your body in an instant. george stood in the driveway, your pistol trained on you.

motherfucker.

“get outta the goddamn car, y/n.” he demanded. your brain was racing hundreds of miles a minute, working through every possible way this could end.

“i love you, julie, but please forgive me for just how fucking stupid i’m about to be.” before she could protest, you uttered a simple command. “duck.”

sweetiepie and jules covered their head, bracing themselves for whatever was about to happen. you took a deep breath before stepping on the gas, ducking down behind the steering wheel.

you heard the crack of three gunshots, followed by the thunk of george’s body underneath the car. you slammed on the brake to avoid crashing into the forest, your head whipping into the wheel as the car jolted to a stop.

jules peeked through her fingers, elated to see all the passengers alive and bullet hole-free.

“ah fuck, my fuckin’ head, i-“ your words were muffled against jules lips as she desperately mashed them against yours.

“you’re so fucking brave, baby! i love you so much! i love you so fucking much!” tears slid down her cheeks as she declared her love for you. you smiled at her praises and pulled away from her with a parting peck. 

  “you alright back there, sweetheart?” you looked in the rearview mirror. she offered nothing but a simple nod and a nearly imperceptible smile. before you could shift into reverse and leave this hellhole, the driver-side door flew open and you fell to the ground. 

george threw you into the pavement with impressive strength for someone who had just been run over only moments ago. your head jerked into the unforgiving macadam, stunning you momentarily and giving george enough time to wrap his hands around your throat. 

  “you thought you could kill me?” he gurgled, blood dripping from his wounds. “i’m never gonna die!” you practically felt the life slipping out of your hands. you so desperately wanted to put up a fight, but you couldn’t find the strength to do so.

  “i’m the last thing you’re ever gonna see. time to go.” george growled, squeezing tighter. you could faintly hear footsteps in quick succession, but you had no idea who they were coming from. 

  “let go of her!” jules yelled, trying with all her might to wrench the psychopathic man off of you. for a moment you thought she might succeed, but you heard another woman’s voice, gloria, you assumed, pull her away from you. 

through darkening vision and fluttering eyelids, you caught a glimpse of the older woman brandishing a knife against the neck of your girlfriend as she struggled fruitlessly. 

fighting seemed hopeless as you had run out of breath and darkness began to encapsulate your surroundings. this is it, you thought. this is where it all ends. 

until,

      click.

the sound of a pistol cocking. the pressure eased off of your esophagus and you rolled onto your side trying to catch your breath. 

  “sweetiepie,” george began with his thick southern drawl. “where’d ‘ya get that gun? c’mon now, give it to daddy. what did these people say about me? d’they tell you i’m a bad man? i’m not a bad man, i’m a good man, bring the gun to daddy.”

sweetiepie stood stoic, refusing to move the gun from it’s place in her hands. george decided to try a different approach. “what’ll make you feel good? you know what makes me feel good? ice cream. mint cho-”

a gunshot rang through the air, it’s bullet making a rapid path straight through his eye socket. his body fell onto the ground with a thud.

  “george?” gloria crooned. “are you okay?” the knife clattered against the driveway. jules rushed away from her over to you, helping you from the ground. she grabbed the gun from sweetiepie’s hands and aimed it at the widow in case she made any sudden moves.  

  “time for us to go! the open road is ahead, george.” she sniffled. “oh, i suppose we could wait a bit longer, if you need.” she continued to mumble some more crazy talk as she stroked her deceased husband’s cheek. 

jules lowered her gun, turning to the little girl who saved your asses. she pulled her close, running her ringed fingers through the girl’s matted locks. sweetiepie looked up to you, leaning against the car door for support, and buried her face in your shirt as she wrapped her arms around you. “i wanna go with you,” she murmured quietly.

  “let’s go, julie.” you wheezed. she nodded, checking to make sure gloria wasn’t going to pull anything on you. 

the three of you made it to the main road. the rush of adrenaline from the coke had finally worn off and the pain and exhaustion from your injuries had caught up to you as you leaned your weight on jules’ shoulder. you weren’t quite sure where exactly you were trying to go, mainly just looking for any means to leave this state. 

  “when we get out of here,” you mumbled. “are we going back to stealing?” you looked over to your girlfriend who was looking down at the little girl holding your hand. 

  “i don’t think this one needs any more bad influences in her life, i’m sure we’ll find something. maybe we can start that business like we’ve always wanted to.” she smiled. 

before either of you could elaborate any further, the sound of gravel crunching beneath tires filled your ears. jules stuck her thumb out, hoping the driver had enough of a heart to pull over. the red truck slowed to a stop and you watched as the window rolled down, revealing an older woman. 

  “where you girls headed?” she asked considerately. sweetiepie stood on her tip toes to get a better look at what was presumably the first person she’d seen in what you assumed had been years. 

you shared a look with jules, silently coming to the same conclusion. “florida.”

the woman smiled, unlocking the doors with the switch on the door. “well, i’m not exactly a taxi service, so i can’t guarantee ‘ya i’ll get you that far, but i’ll see what i can do.” 

jules grinned happily, thanking the woman immensely. you gave sweetiepie a boost into the back seat, jules helping you up next to her before sliding into the passenger seat herself. 

some country song started playing at a low volume over the radio while you let your head fall back against the headrest. sweetiepie looked equally as worn out as you, but somewhat excited at the prospect of seeing what anything outside of a dingy basement looked like. 

jules turned around to check on you and smiled at what she saw. you were passed out with your head against the cool glass of the car window, sweetiepie fast asleep on your lap, the two of you out cold before you even hit the first red light. 

she turned back around, tears welling in her eyes as she imagined the life the three of you would live together.

******************************

HAHA YOU DIDN’T ACTUALLY THINK I WAS GONNA WRITE THE ACTUAL ENDING DID YOU???? jokes on you i am FAR too soft for that!!

if you’re wondering how i came up with this alternate ending, this was the situation that i came up with immediately after watching the movie for the first time when i realized just HOW AVOIDABLE mickey’s death was

and another factor in that is that i think i’m physically incapable of writing anything that doesn’t have a happy ending sooo

tags: @emmyrosee @bill-skarsgard-owns-my-ass @flowers-in-your-hayr @willyourecognisemee

[unproduciblesmackdown]

it’s 7am and for no especial reason im gonna throw out “bat boy” numbers that really go off which is, really all of them, but still, might as well share my wisdom

a) COMFORT AND JOY: obviously!!!!! THE song. it is seriously like, wow. the drama. and its Such a jam. what haven’t i already said to endorse it? cuz i’ll say some more.

b) SHOW YOU A THING OR TWO: automatically gets second spot b/c its second most likely to be in my head. it’s all “i’ll show you a thing or two, second verse with these-two-notes [two-notes]” and i do a little dance for those two-notes. and the lyrics “you’ll soon complete it—but, wait! ((??)) don’t eat it ((oh))” will loop thru my brain like fifteen times. lot of Musical Style variation in this whole show and this ones got like, a highstepping chorus line theme & thats a delight. and lots of incredible lyrics too, like this song’s “but now say howdy to a summa cum laude.” oh wait and i suppose its self explanatory but meredith The Mom and shelley The Daughter are teaching edgar The Bat Boy like, all of general knowledge in a matter of weeks / maybe several months. dr parker The Husband / Vet is tangentially helpful but not really because he sucks. meredith’s patience is v nice. you really have to root for them, except dr parker, because he sucks.

C) CHILDREN, CHILDREN: any ranking order beyond this is basically just me throwing darts w my eyes closed but this is a good third cuz its again that musical variety......this ones like, this 90s-ish movie credits remix echoey chimy synthy thing going on?? but its really a jam too. when the company joins in with the “oooo~shalala” i go BERSERK.....and there’s this suddenly punk rockish break in the middle of it. pretty great. what’s going on is that, as edgar and shelley are fleeing from Society into nature / the woods to reinvent their notions of humanity, the god of that sort of stuff Pan has shown up with an eden-esque panoply of animals to sing this song to set the mood. obviously.

D) WHATCHA WANNA DO: speaking of punk rockish...this is that? it’s a bit head-tiltingly jarring as its just this number in which one of the local teens who found edgar in the cave shows up to the parkers’ house where he’s currently caged and reacts to him in a Thematic Microcosm of what will be others’ reactions, aka to reflect a like, lack of inhibition re sex and mostly violence back at his feral nature and perceived inhumanity. one of the stranger numbers in a weird musical, but still a jam, see: punk rockish

E) A JOYFUL NOISE (REPRISE): end the musical here and everythings fine! just a real short one but a lot of fun because of what i just said. edgar goes to the local revival to beg the townspeople’s and preacher’s acceptance, and they give it to him. yet more musical style variety and a shoutout to this exchange

F) THREE BEDROOM HOUSE: send the musical in a different direction in the middle of this and everything could still be fine. this is a fun boppish number kinda reflecting elements of “show you a thing or two” musically, which i suppose is since its again mostly about meredith having decided that they can make this mess of a situation work. that mess being that, edgar Was accepted by the town but actually her husband killed a local teen and then showed up and blamed it on edgar & implied the mysterious plague upon their cows was edgar’s fault too and edgar’s run off into the woods. then this one is followed by children, children. i could go in order but its chaos rules only!!! the amount of fun energy in this song is frankly great and its like hell yeah meredith!!!!! hell yeah hock this stupid ring!!! kill your husband!! or whatever. js

G) CHRISTIAN CHARITY: god this one is fun idk......also self explanatory imo. local teens have found a cave cryptid, now the sheriff has him, he’s dragged him into the house where the local vet lives and is just p much casually dumping said cryptid on them, which is funny. there’s Musical Themes here repeated w some of the townspeople’s numbers & set up for comfort and joy....what really gets me is the sheriff’s part that starts abt a minute into the number where it’s like, this really neat almost-lilting musical phrase in the key of i don’t know, but its cool. i like it

H) INSIDE YOUR HEART: man, this one’s got this like, p simple musical Theme in there that’s just like, that’s all you need really. sort of like, the classic ballad duet type of song now. but also sort of cutting its own drama, b/c the musicals like, tragicomic and all. like edgar has this whole swelling “oh god this curséd existence you have to leave me” declaration and then immediately you get shelley’s matter of fact “...no.” even tho its a bit Meta Humorous like that, frankly its still a pretty great straightforward and sweet number which im sure a lot of musicàl love songs Wish they could be, which is just made more Smh by the fact that a) it’s about shelley trying to convince edgar its okay to drink her blood and b) because right after it ends meredith shows up to belatedly inform them that they’re half siblings. shits a wild ride.

I) A HOME FOR YOU: careening back to the beginning....this one is also less like, oh shit im gonna dance along, more of a subdued and quiet number, but its a nice solo of meredith’s and p sweet but not in a way like Inside Your Heart where its gonna get immediately wrecked. instead its one of the more grounded songs where she’s just telling the feral bat teen now in her house that maybe he can like, belong somewhere. it also has the Additional Depth not yet revealed in the plot that meredith is aware that edgar is her own child whom she had previously presumed dead. and this song is also Significant in that it’s Reprised when edgar realizes he might actually be fully human (he’s not) and is eager to go to the town’s upcoming revival and win their acceptance; and its Musical Theme is briefly reprised in “apology to a cow” when edgar is at the total opposite end of things, having been turned on by the town thx to the betrayal of his evil stepdad, and then having his and shelley’s attempt to forsake the need for social acceptance in the first place Also Wrecked by their mom telling them she’s their mom, so then he’s just mad at everything and murders a cow b/c he feels the only thing left is to embrace their idea of him as a killer monster, and he Reprises the a home for you theme as he swears to kill both meredith and dr parker, which he doesn’t, although they do Die around him. whoops. wanna @ will roland and be like “hey can you sing this one single line from Apology For A Cow?? cuz its rly cool and honestly a lot of these songs make me sure that wroland’s version of this material what with his voice and acting and how dramatically that production seemed to treat the outlandishness in general all means i’d fucking go ballistic and i wanna hear ‘this face will be the last thing that you ever see’ cuz that key change and that like, rise and fall at the end,,,,OOF,,,”

J) I IMAGINE YOU’RE UPSET: just round it off by slapping this climactic song right down. it’s a lot. dramatic again but also kinda fun...ish......i mean its the “everythings gone to shit and lets bring everyone together for peak disaster” so how much fun can be had? yet the quick exchange of “i smell [...] her sweat” “oh my god” whole town: “JESUS!!” and the sheriff singing “im sorry your life’s a sham” like hfvlmao thanks dude. but there’s all the clashes of characters’ built-up emotions and edgar is over here covered in blood and demanding to be killed while the town is like YEAH but all meredith’s lines are especially bittersweet and honestly like its a weird absurd story obviously and we’re all here to be ourselves and have fun but the story does make me bummed cuz of thinking about it all as “okay, yeah, but if you treat it earnestly,,,,Sad” like man you hearken back to three bedroom house and how meredith is determined to see it all be okay and really like just wants to live with her kids somewhere safe and NOT with her crap husband who’s been ruining everything the whole time for once. and then she’s here caught between the final confrontation of the Dramatic Foils that are edgar and dr parker and in general everything is a bit too late. ugh. lot of Dramatic Exchanges here and musical theme reprises!! that’s the good shit. and then the song ends on dr parker’s sort of ominous yet resigned-ish “are you hungry edgar” (shoutout to comfort and joy!!) after which he cuts his own throat, and, just like in comfort and joy, (and sort of like just prior to comfort and joy, when edgar reflexively defended meredith from dr parkers Violent Behavior) when he presents edgar w the fresh blood edgar automatically Attacks, wherein dr parker takes the chance to stab him, and inadvertently stabs meredith when she tries to shield edgar, and they all three die w edgar bleeding-outly refuting his humanity to shelley, and then there’s the final number where everyone’s like wow that was some shit. but ACTUALLY there is also this one specific detail i’d be desperate to see from the nyu steinhardt version, which is that after they all die and there’s that Breathless Moment, the Man From The Institute who the sheriff had called earlier to deal with edgar Rushes In and sort of beholds the whole town gathered staring at these three bodies and maybe a cow’s head off to the side, and one of the townspeople just goes “...you’re late.” and i am so certain that this line is HghhfGH-wheeze-laugh worthy; but the performance i saw they did NOT do the timing right!!! they said it like right off whereas what you need to do is hold the pause at least three full seconds!! and then go: You’re Late. i’m adamant about this. so much of Landing The Delivery is timing!! anyways. god. press f. anyways. it’s now 9 am. thanks and good morning. basically saying that the whole soundtrack is basically pretty great and really will roland has doomed me to actually be invested in this weird story, b/c its the ol magical realism comedic-framed wild obviously-that-would-never-happen plot, but, still, you’ve got this teen trying his best and it COULD all be fine actually but it all goes to shit b/c nobody killed dr parker in time really. well i’d just like to conclude by saying it’s raining and that’s great b/c i love when it’s raining