#like the first time I played Undertale when it had JUST come out

[peachyutdr]

i finished it, was kicked out of the game, and then spent the next 10 minutes drawing this. i will now go take a shower, most likely cry, and then go through the emotional turmoil of convincing myself to reset so i can do a geno run. i hate it here :D

[under-lore]

How does Sans feel about Papyrus' death ?

A lot of common Undertale-related debates revolve around the morality of a character.

But among these, the one about Sans' reaction to Papyrus' death somewhat stands out. Both because of how widespread it is, but also because of the way two opposite yet equally inaccurate interpretations of it repeatedly seem to clash against one another.

So let's take a look at how Sans actually behaves in Undertale after his brother is killed :

First, we can observe a number of changes in his behavior, showcasing that he is not unaffected by it.

To start with an obvious one, the fact that nearly all of Sans' other casual appearances during that playthrough will be gone, Sans just... doesn't show up.

No pranks with telescopes, no stacking 29 hotdogs on your head.

While one flavor text with Shyren mentions that he is still 'watching over us' in some form even then due to his promise, he is evidently not as thrilled about this as usual.

But his lack of enthusiasm when it comes to watching over Frisk isn't the only thing that changes.

For instance, there is a present for Papyrus under the tree in Snowdin. However, as soon as Papyrus is killed and Sans vanishes, the present disappears along with him. Implying that Sans has retrieved the gift that his brother will not be able to open anymore.

He also appears to not have gone to Grillby's after our passage in Snowdin this time around. Something that's apparently quite unusual for him as it is part of his routine for that time of day.

And of course, in some iterations of his judgement scene in neutral routes :

...Needless to say that claiming Sans is totally unaffected by the death of his brother is inaccurate. While we do not see much of it, it is fairly solidly implied that Sans does grief his brother at least in his own way. And he does hold it against us to an extent.

However, that isn't all there is to it.

Sans' knowledge of RESETs does play a role in the way he handles the situation. Just not quite in the way it is often portrayed.

First, Sans may be aware of resets, but he does not remember them. This means that for a given Sans, the loss of his brother still feels permanent for that particular timeline iteration's Sans.

Knowing his brother will probably be alive again in another timeline eventually doesn't mean his loss in this one isn't real. Even if it does happen, he will not be there to see it. At least not this version of him.

However, Sans does still have a couple tricks up his sleeve, that maybe, if things work out, could spare of that fate the other Sans'es.

I showed this line earlier on :

However, this line isn't just Sans showing us his feelings about our actions. Instead, it is a part of a much more tricky strategy Sans begins engaging in after Papyrus is killed :

Psychological warfare.

The anomaly has reset this world many times before, and in neutral routes, he is left with the impression that it will likely do so again. This thought had previously been a demotivating one for Sans as he explained in genocide.

This was the case whilst Sans lived a semi-regular life under the constant threat of everything being undone on the snap of a finger.

However, now that what Sans incorrectly believes to be the anomaly has revealed itself and killed his brother, the situation has actually somewhat changed.

A reset, while it would wipe out his memories, would still bring his brother back to a different Sans. Papyrus' death doesn't have to be truly permanent. Because of this, Sans now wants the anomaly to reset. Not to keep doing it forever, but at least just one more time, to make sure that this timeline won't be the one that'll end up sticking around for good.

He also has a secondary motive :

While he is at it, he might also try to get the anomaly to changes its ways. Of course, Sans knows he's not a time traveller, not a god, but just a guy who is probably not capable of forcing a being such as the anomaly to change.

That being said, maybe, just maybe, he could help in giving it a little push to make it decide to want to change on its own.

To incite a RESET to happen, Sans has one main strategy : Making the anomaly regret its actions.

Sans believes that the anomaly keeps on RESETing the world because it is unable to find fulfillment, and that it keeps consuming timelines out of a desire to find happiness one way or another.

Thus, Sans aims to make the anomaly feel like this timeline can't be what they were looking for. Ensuring that, for the anomaly's quest for happiness to continue, they will have no choice but to reset this timeline as well.

That is the reason why Sans asks us this question :

The question was very carefully chosen on his part.

It both serves to confirm the anomaly's identity, but also more importantly, no matter what they answer, it allows him to either point out that the anomaly's actions did not match with their own morals, or forces them into making a selfish confession which he can then use to make them feel like they've done the wrong thing.

In either case, Sans is able to present his brother's death as an event that would only bring the anomaly further unhappiness. And thus, might get the anomaly to reach by itself the conclusion that the only way for it to find happiness now would be to RESET this world once more and avoiding killing Papyrus again in the future. A pretty good outcome for Sans.

This is what he refers to as taking it the 'easy way' to deal with an aggressive anomaly in a few routes. (as opposed to the 'hard way' he mentions halfway through his genocide dialogue).

In the neutral endings in which Papyrus was slain, Sans once again attempts a similar strategy. Although the awareness that a RESET still hasn't taken place even after quite some time passed since the anomaly was last seen in the underground & his last attempt at it is likely quite worrying to him.

This leads him to be a little more blunt than last time when it comes to the ways he tries to make the anomaly feel like this timeline isn't the one. Although his approach method remains broadly the same.

Though these lines are still rather noteworthy :

Given Sans wants the anomaly to go back, they might sound odd to hear at first.

It turns out that the more brutal we have been throughout the run, the less optimistic Sans' approach to dealing with the anomaly becomes during the phone call.

Here, Sans might be trying to play on another bleaker aspect of his psychological profiling of the anomaly : The consideration that they may view the world as a kind of game to explore, in which if they 'can', then they 'have to'.

By saying it is not welcome down here, he is also saying that it won't be able to keep exploring the possibilities of this world unless it makes them all forget everything.

In another of the neutral endings where both Toriel and Papyrus are killed, Sans seems to begin to doubt wether the anomaly can really be redeemed after all.

This all ultimately culminates in the leaderless endings.

In this one, Sans acknowledges that this is likely not our first time hearing him saying those kinds of things over the phone.

And that his 'strategy' seems to have failed to push it towards the right path.

In this route, Sans appears to have reached a similar conclusion as in the genocide one, that his hope of a redeemable anomaly merely looking for happiness may have been just naive/wishful thinking on his part after all.

In sum, Sans' awareness of the RESETs does not prevent him from missing his brother if Papyrus is killed. However, it allows him to weaponise his own grief using the psychological profile he has made of the anomaly in order to attempt to push it to RESET. Although he knows his own memories would be wiped out if he is successful, it would ensure Papyrus' death isn't permanent. Depending on the run, he also still harbors a dwindling hope that the anomaly itself could be steered towards a better path.

He mostly just needs to convince them to RESET one way or another though.

Past that point, it'll be up to the other Sans'es.

[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

[cpericardium]

This is the story of the time I interviewed at Ubisoft.

When I was a teenager, I became obsessed with the Bioshock series and got it into my head that I wanted to do game design for a living. I'd never seriously attempted it nor did I know exactly what it entailed, but how hard could it be? I gamed!! I had ideas!! I said this to my teacher during a what do you want to be when you grow up talk, and she said, "Oh! My sister works at Ubisoft Singapore. I'll get you an interview."

Emails were exchanged, and someone at the company arranged a "quick chat" with me a couple of weeks later. It was for a QA tester intern position, which I reasoned was sort of like game design. After all, in the Sims 3 it's one rung on the ladder to becoming a game developer. Also I didn't want to anger my teacher. She was quite volatile.

Round 1:

I'd never done a job interview before. I put on a nice blouse and pencil skirt and heels, nervously applied and reapplied makeup which I normally did not wear, and showed up at the office building an hour early. Then as I went up the elevator I realised they never said what room it was. I couldn't very well email to ask now. I'd look like an idiot!! Fuck!! So for an hour, I just skulked around outside various glass doors peering into offices hoping there would be some receptionist around to ask, but there was practically no one there. The email only said "let's have a quick chat at 2pm on x date".

I was about to slink home with my tail between my legs when the interviewer called at the scheduled time. It was a phone interview!!!!! He didn't say that!!!!! I found a dingy secluded stairwell. As if to taunt me, one of the first questions he asked was "have you ever been to the building?"

Me, through gritted teeth: yeah! actually I'm here right now, haha... to scope it out, you know... get a lay of the land..... it's really big... Lots of glass walls...

Him: oh that's nice.

I don't remember most of the questions, but I do know he asked me what my favourite games were. I said Undertale and Life is Strange (they had come out that year), but he'd never heard of them. Maybe I should've said Far Cry or something but what if he quizzed me on it?

Round 2:

I should not have made it to this round. I was coasting entirely on the goodwill of my teacher's sister, who was high up the chain. She interviewed me next. I think her only question was whether I would be okay working long gruelling hours with little support and no overtime.

Me, blissfully unaware of crunch culture being a massive human rights issue in the industry: bring it on!!

Her: what? 🤨

Then she ushered me into a room to take a pencil and paper test. While waiting earlier, I'd frantically googled and memorised a bunch of Ubisoft games, so I could answer the one asking me to list eight of them. I figured I could have gotten away with saying Assassin's Creed and adding a random number to the back though.

The biggest problem was on the other side of the paper: a diagram of a gaming controller asking me to label the buttons. Here's the thing. I'm a PC gamer. Always have been. At the time, my only experience with console gaming was playing Little Big Planet with my best friend when I was twelve, at her house. And I wasn't very good at it! I think I fundamentally lack the hand-eye coordination for console gaming, but that's just a guess because I can count on one hand the number of times I've ever used a controller. And I can count on one hand the number of controllers I have in that hand! It's zero! I knew the wiggly antennae were for movement and the buttons on the sides did esoteric things that people will yell at you to press during crucial moments, but that was it. I ended up labelling the buttons the shapes they were (circle button, triangle button, square button etc).

The interviewer came back into the room after about 15 minutes and said I now had an hour to play an unfinished level of Assassin's Creed, identify as many bugs as possible, and record them on a spreadsheet. And even though she set me up at a computer monitor, I still had to use a controller. Are you kidding me! This was the Victorian era Assassin's Creed. I had never played any AC games before, so I didn't know what were bugs and what were features. Was "can't jump" a bug? Was "invisible wall surrounding staircases"? What was the format and lingo you were supposed to use when recording bugs? I made no progress towards the quest at all (I did not understand it or who my character was), just wandered around and wrote down things I noticed and didn't like until time was up.

Anyway, that's the tale of how I didn't get a job I was woefully unprepared and underqualified for and in retrospect didn't want all that much. Maybe what I really wanted was to be... was Ayn Rand.

[silvermoon279-madam]

What was the original thought behind this au?Taking the Undertale ability to RESET and also SAVE/LOAD and giving it to Ford, who becomes the living embodiment of Consequences for the rest of the GF multiverses/Aus. (Similar to Chara at the end of the Genocide Route)

Actual proper story under cut to not blast you all with lore:

Due to Ford entering and exiting the “Do-Over” Dimension, reality had glitched and had granted him the power to SAVE, LOAD, and RESET similar to Undertale. During the Portal Era, he found he wasn’t exactly able to stay dead, somehow always coming back before his death and continuing like nothing happened. He hadn’t thought much of it, though had tested the lengths his “Saving and Loading” powers could go during it all. (He was still able to feel the pain of each death, but he was always able to come back to life like nothing occurred.)

He hadn’t properly realized the extent of his powers until he returned back to his Dimension like in canon, where exiting the portal is the "True Beginning” of his RESETs, as he realized he loaded back to when he first exited out of the portal after other tests.

The first time he exited the portal, he had a fist fight with his brother and caused a great deal of strain in the family before Weirdmageddon had occurred. And during that, everyone perished during it, except Stanford. And that’s when his first proper RESET happened.

And he walked out of the portal like before, and instead to try a different reaction to see how much would change. He hugged his brother, and things seemed to go well. Then Weirdmageddon, a twin dies and the other would be forced to go home alone. He couldn’t let that happen… RESET. Perhaps acting neutral will change it for the better? Not attacking his brother nor hugging him. No strain, just neutral. Weirdmageddon. Both twins die. RESET.

And it keeps happening. Reset, exit the portal, summer, Weirdmageddon someone dies, Reset and start again. Over and over again. After all, Stanford has a savior complex. Why wouldn’t he use his powers to give everyone the best possible ending of all? So he keeps resetting, changing his reactions, his actions, his words, every little thing to ensure the outcome turns out the way he wants.

Star dies. Reset. Pine dies. Reset. Star and Pine die. Reset. Crescent dies. Reset. All three die. Reset. Star and Crescent die. Reset. Crescent and Pine die. Reset. All three die. Reset. Star and Pine die. Reset. Pine dies. Reset. Star dies. Reset.

And finally, after so many times, after so many actions and resets taken… They all survive. Bill is defeated, everyone is alive and well, and they can all enjoy the lives they all wanted! The best possible ending! So why… Does he feel so hollow? Like all of his emotions had vanished into thin air like water evaporating? Perhaps the reason was because of how many times he had done this, forcing his emotions away to play a part over and over? Or perhaps it was because he had to grow numb, seeing his family die over and over countless times and seeing each action cause so much damage.

Sure, he could still put on a smile, still laugh, still care for the family he has! But there wasn’t any real emotion behind them. Just Stanford putting on the mask needed in that moment. But he knows he cares for his family. That’s why he did all this! It’s just…

At this point, are these even Stanford’s actual family members? The ones he actually saw when he first came out of that portal? Or are those long dead and he’s just filling the void with a different version?

He didn’t know. But he kept at it for a while, went on adventures with Stanley on the boat they dreamed about, and kept seeing the kids every summer. Hoping maybe it would fill that void back up. But it never did. And it only left a horrible thought in his mind. “What if something like Bill happens again because of me? What if I put these people in danger? It was all MY fault they were even in danger in the first place!” And then another thought. They would be safe if he wasn’t around. If something came for him, then they wouldn’t be around to be hurt. They wouldn’t miss Stanford. That was the final thought.

It was such a shame when Grunkle Ford passed away. He was so sick before then, on the boat while Stanley was forced to watch his brother wither. The brother was in so much grief he hadn’t noticed that Stanford brought a certain plant into the boat under the guise of adding color to the space. Or how the plant was missing a few flowers when Stanford got sick…

It was so easy leaving that dimension behind, allowing the family to continue living without the threat of something dangerous looming over them.

Perhaps… Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to see what other Stanfords and the others had done and what endings they’ve gotten? =) What a wonderful idea.

[ohthethingswedoforlove]

Yandere!Starlo headcanons

I've been playing Undertale Yellow and of course I had to write for Starlo, with an introduction and boss fight like that, how could I not?

Warnings: yandere character; vague descriptions of violence; imprisonment; some spoilers for the game;

Starlo

💛 Starlo, or North Star as he has taken a liking to call himself, has always been one for fixations.

💛 And you being a human who just so happened to have the unfortunate mistep of falling into the Underground fits oh so neatly into his acquired fascinations.

💛 Imagine you're a human who managed to venture through the Underground until you stumbled upon the Wild East before Clover even had a chance to.

💛 You're the first human, the first real human Star has ever laid eyes on. And how exciting that is!

💛 He just has to take you along! He's seen so much about your kind and he just yearns to mimic a part of it; and besides, imagine his posse, the Feisty Five, now with a human member!

💛 You barely have time to question what he means by that before you're being taken by his gang and brought to his town. 

💛 And if you somehow manage to break yourself out of the grasp of Ed or any of the other members, Star is pretty quick with his lasso. Don't worry! He doesn't want to hurt you! You just have to come with him them! You have to.

💛 He wants you as part of the team, immediately parading you around for the town's residents, delighted at his newest find. You're going to fit in just fine, partner! He's sure of it.

💛 But you can't leave.

💛 Try as you might to ask around, everyone seems to have a soft spot for Star and think of his antics as mostly harmless. They all share the sentiment that you could just stick around for a bit.

💛 They've never seen him so enthusiastic, so lively before. Maybe you could humor him? Just for a little while! It's the equivalent to playing cowboys for a few days, and where's the harm in that?

💛 Besides, this little town is just so welcoming and friendly. How can you not want to stop and stay a while?

💛 Nevermind that all possible exits seem to be closed off. Or even just straight up locked with a very clear intent.

💛 None of the other residents are as enthusiastic about your stay here. They're very nice to you and happy to see a new face, granted, but you can tell that some of them in particular are internally debating whether or not Star should be doing this. It's all in good fun... And it's not like he's actually trapping you here, right? You'll leave eventually, should you choose to.

💛 Oh, how wrong they'll grow to be.

💛 Star will drag you to "training" as soon as he can, hoping to get you started with a spot on his posse immediately. He has an eye for talent, so surely it'll be no wonder when you start showing sharpshooting skills just as impressive as his!

💛 Nevermind the fact you never held a gun with the intent to shoot in your life.

💛 Training goes over a bit awkwardly, with you clearly not being cut out to be a gunslinger and him being stubborn and convinced that you're made for this. Made to join them. Made to join him.

💛 It takes quite a bit of accidents and a lot of convincing from the other members for him to start accepting that maybe giving you a six-shooter and forcing you to answer to moral problems isn't exactly gonna work out.

💛 But he doesn't give up. 

💛 Sure, you're not officially part of the gang, but that doesn't stop him from dragging you around with him everywhere.

💛 Literally.

💛 Most of the time he guides you around by the hand or, during the moments where you are "refusing to cooperate for no reason", he straight up lassos you and then drags you around.

💛 He laughs it up and tries to play it off like it’s not a big deal. He's not trying to harm you in any way, he just wants to show you around! Show you to his town, show you how fun this life is.

💛 He dresses you up for the role too, insisting in giving you old hats he no longer uses and clothes that would fit the costuming of an old western movie, all things he handmade himself. He just wants you to look the part. And he also thinks you look really cool like that!

💛 You're always there during the gang's meetings, whether you asked to be there or not, and of course you have to participate in the group naps afterwards. 

💛 Star lets you take his spot on the old couch the first few times, but then he starts insisting that you two should share. He does take no for an answer, at least, a bit sad but not wanting to make you uncomfortable. Still doesn't really stop him from sleeping on the ground right in front of the couch. 

💛 Makes it easier to catch you when you're trying to run away leave mid nap, for some reason. You're supposed to rest up before the next mission, you know? He's just trying to help you care for yourself.

💛 When he's not busy playing the role of the town sheriff or hanging out with his posse, while dragging you along of course, he tries to get you to talk about yourself and your life on the Surface.

💛 Star absolutely adores hearing more about you, and gets super into trying to involve your experiences, preferences and stories into the whole old wild west town he has going on. Anything you tell him he absorbs, and then he tries to give you gifts that match or recreate things you've enjoyed to the best of his ability.

💛 Of course, he also goes to show off his brand new knowledge on humans and their lives to anyone in the saloon who's around to listen, all direct from a reliable and wonderful source!

💛 But all of this very obviously obsessive behaviour can only go on for so long before the members of his gang or even Ceroba start to point out how... Weird he's been acting ever since he found you.

💛 He tries to dismiss them. He just cares about you! You're special and he has taken a really strong liking to you. You're like… His partner. Yeah.

💛 So why does he keep you so confined? Well, you're human! Any other monster outside this town finds you and you'll very likely get captured and sent to king Asgore, who will kill you and add your SOUL to the amount needed to break the barrier.

💛 That is if you aren't hurt or killed by an aggressive monster before that even gets to happen.

💛 The others can't really argue about that, much to their frustration, but still point out that he's being overbearing and overprotective.

💛 He ignores them for the most part. Or plays it off, as he usually does. C'mon, the town has been so much more lively since you got here! Why think about all that depressing stuff when we could be having fun and distracting ourselves?

💛 Still, part of him knows it's wrong to keep you here.

💛 Especially when you come to him asking when you can leave. Reminding him that if you managed to get all the way out from the Ruins up until this town, it means that you can handle yourself despite not really being a fighter. And you want to go home.

💛 He feels his heart twist everytime you say that. Home. The guilt instills itself, but it doesn't stop him.

💛 Because... This is your home now, right?

💛 It's selfish, yes, but he doesn't want you to leave. He's grown attached. And he's also grown terrified you're going to end up hurt, or much, much worse. 

💛 Thinking about you being gone from his sight makes his hand shake over the holster of his gun.

💛 So you can't leave.

💛 The town is locked up and you're both figuratively and literally tied to him most of the time, anyway.

💛 You're staying.

💛 You're part of his gang, after all. You're supposed to stick together, through thick and thin.

[haveyouseenthisskeleton]

what woud they do if their S/O had a cuteness agression overload? idk how to describe it but if they were just cuddling or smf and their S/O got so happy that they hugged them tightly, REALLY tightly and like started giggling and screaming from happiness? how woud they react plz tell me i have a lot of these stuff happening

Undertale Sans - He jumps a bit at the sudden movement, just blinking at you in confusion. Uh, ok, yeah, he can cuddle. Can you just not crush his ribs, please? He needs them to breathe and stuff, you know. Sans doesn't mind much other than that, he's not that cuddly, but he lived with Papyrus his entire life so he's used to it.

Undertale Papyrus - Your excitement excites him even more and now he's doing the same with you. Papyrus has a lot of cuteness aggression too, so he doesn't mind. He was already a bit like that when you met him, because of Undyne, but now both of you are encouraging him so who is he to resist? He loves hug!

Underswap Sans - He whines, annoyed, and starts to wiggle his legs in the emptiness as you're holding him like a big cat under the arms, hugging him tightly. Please, he's begging you, let him go. He's not mean enough to push you away, but he definitely looks like a grumpy old man right now. He doesn't like hugs, that's a waste of time.

Underswap Papyrus - He tenses in surprise and shock, startled, before relaxing when it turns out you actually just want a hug. A very tight hug, right, but still a hug. You know you can just ask, right? If you missed him that much, he could come to cuddle with you in bed, you don't have to tackle him like a rugbyman.

Underfell Sans - It depends on what state you are in your relationship. If it's the beginning, he will bite your arm to force you to let go, and probably be mad at you for the rest of the day. After a few months though? He's just resigning to his fate. You can hear him sigh loudly as you kiss his skull everywhere and squeeze him like a teddy bear, but he doesn't do anything to stop you either. He guesses that's his life now.

Underfell Papyrus - Like Red, he tends to growl often the first few times, unhappy, but then after several months of this, he just rolls his eyes at you and sighs, not doing anything to escape your crushing arms. He still growls from time to time to show he's definitely the one in control here to please his gigantic ego, but you know it's all a facade and it doesn't have any effect on you.

Horrortale Sans - He whimpers pitifully as you're crushing his neck. Oak would never be that tolerant with anyone else and you know that, and maybe you're taking a little too much advantage of the situation. He likes hugs, but he's not a big fan of you jumping randomly at his face, it often startles him. But when he realizes it's just a hug, he immediately calms down and goes back to normal. Still, be careful to not play with fire too much as there's one day where he might punch you out of surprise lol.

Horrortale Papyrus - He grimaces in pain every time, as it hurts his spine. He would prefer if you rather not jump on him. One or twice is fine, but after that, he might stop you midway by making you faceplants into his hand. He doesn't feel particularly sorry either about it.

Swapfell Sans - He hisses, then chomps your arm with his very pointy teeth. The more you insist, the harder he bites. Nox doesn't like being tackled out of nowhere and will let you know. Usually, he's pouting a few hours after that, and giving you long intense dark stares for a good week every time you're getting too close. No touchy.

Swapfell Papyrus - At your own risk. Rus loves that so much that you actually trained him to do it as well. Except Rus is twice your size and twice your strength too. So yeah, the first time he tackles you on the couch, emptying your lungs as he hits you, it's going to be a surprise. Rus loves to play violent games, but maybe a little too much so be careful.

Fellswap Gold Sans - He does a dramatic slow turn to you with the most "WTF" expression you have ever seen him do.

You decide it's best to slowly let him go if you want to survive another day. Wine is not cuddly. And he's wearing expensive clothes. Do that again and he yeets you by the window.

Fellswap Gold Papyrus - When you come running to him, screaming, he freaks out and starts to run for his life as well, screaming at the top of his lungs lol. You startle him. Good luck tackling him without him screaming like he's getting murdered now.

[hexedrosel-arts]

Thinking about undertale yellow again,

(spoilers below!!!)

It's a tragedy, the prequel to a story with a happy ending, one this story never truly gets, they will get a happy ending, but not when this game ends.

A child on borrowed time is what Clover is. They have Flowey, but that won't do. Some day Flowey will get bored, but Clover can take what they can get. They have a mission after all...

One that was doomed to fail from the start. Clover is a tragedy running on time they can't afford to lose, but they will lose it, we know the ending already. They will die, they are doomed, so was everyone they came looking for. While the run into the chance to find out what happened, we know what happened, Flowey knows what happened, so many know what happened. An ending we can never stop. Not even Clover's friends can stop it, or know it until the end.

Dalv didn't know the child he has befriended will be gone just like another. Does he wish he could have protected them? Just like he did for her, or would that hurt him more? Does he hold his friends a little closer, does he worry they leave just like Clover?(Does he ever wonder if they would have liked Kanako, or the organ concerts he plays now)

Does Martlet ever look at her old puzzles and think about how Clover was so smart to solve them even with their messed up calibrations? Does she start a project and think of them, could they have been her roommate, a happy little kid that can make little wooden blocks with her?(Just like Chujin had). She didn't know that her little Clover was someone who would vanish like a molten rock, like feathers when she's in a rush.(The only time they had smiled was when she gave them a fist bump.)

Starlo gave a little badge, one to never be worn, one that is just as cold as the body it was given to. Did he consider Clover his lucky charm? Does he wear his hat a little lower when he is North Star? Does he do a double take looking at brown cowboy hats, thinking they're right there? Does Starlo pose and then wait for a second, as if someone was following his footsteps for a brief moment? He never knew that he had one moment to hold that kid, Only one moment before the kid become cold.(Does he wonder what the town would be like with them around?)

Ceroba is a tragedy, like lemmings to a cliff, she holds a tragedy's body, whether it be an arm, the body, the body again. All she holds are tragedies. Does she enter her house looking for them, some sign they had lived there before?(Does she see Chujin and Kanako sleeping in her the bed? Clover at the kotatsu messing with the bottom left corner?). Is the mask she has a reminder of them? Is her hand cold from where Clover touched it when she was upset? She didn't know the exact ending Clover got, she didn't think about the attachment, maybe she didn't want to. Maybe the one thing she thinks about, is how she met the luckiest Clover.(She thinks about Kanako just as much, most likely more than she does Clover, maybe she and Dalv think about how she would've loved to meet Clover.)

Axis has seen the end of a human before, an accident, something he was programmed to do. He can't cry or grieve, he may not think about Clover, he has a spouse after all! Who am I kidding. Axis must water the plants in the greenhouse, thinking about that hatted human, the one who won't come back, the one who cared(just like Chujin). Does he repair himself and think of Clover patching themselves up? Does he look at a trashcan lid and think of Clover? Of course he knew the ending humans will face, this wasn't the first time. But he didn't know he would befriend the human, that the human was nice to him. (Does Daisy remind him of Clover? They helped bringing her to him.)

Even thinking about those who aren't main cast:

Does Decibat think about the honorary sentinel of silence that was gone so quickly? Does he sleep thinking about that quiet child who stayed quiet with him for a brief moment?

Does Mo think about how his debt was paid off with the help of a dead kid? Does he continue his business wondering if that kid would be happy to seem him now?

Does El Bailador dance a little quieter to honor this small child he met for a few minutes? Does he wait a moment before continue his dancing, as if there was someone following his movement?

Do the feisty four look at an empty couch and think of Clover sleeping there right with Starlo?(Moray said that Star would have to share, no one would resist the chance to cuddle a sweet soul.) Do they all think about the little deputy who appeared and left so soon?

Does Ed pick up someone and think about how he held Clover a few times before they were gone?(He was never gentle with those hands until after they left) Does Moray practice a song when and think about how Clover never saw them perform?(Would they make a song named after them?)

Does Ace wish he had said he cared for Clover when they got their new(as new as it would be) hat?(He still reminds everyone to take care of their outfits and gear, it keeps him close to Clover). Does Mooch hold the one coin she got from Clover close to her?(The coin is dull in color at this point, she keeps it in her bed for safe keeping)

Does Guardener hibernate thinking about a hatted child who refuses to hurt in her during a scuffed protocol? Does she sleep thinking about how they tried their best not to harm her plants?

They must have mourned a child who was barely there, they came and went. A tragedy for a child who was going to die in the end, the ending we knew but they didn't.

Do you think it hurt? Do you think hurt them to hold the hand of a child whose hand was already cold? To hug them, to give items, to battle? Did they feel cold?

[s0lar-ch3ri]

what if i wanted to make another insane promo post?

yeah, ik, its promo time again. BUT this time around i do wanna add in the post both my cousin and niece

one thing i did get wrong, heartz is my niece, starz is my cousin! this will basically be going over what each of these 2 do (...and im also adding in a bonus competitor/promoed person, well actually 2 because I GOT A CHANNEL YIPPEE)

each channel will be seperated up so yeah lets go!

first channel:

Starzzz.andgalaxy (my actual cousin, lol) is a great yter who absolutely deserves to be celebrating more then just 170 subs! since shes actually here with me, i can let her say a lil something on the matter:

"hello! I would love to reach 200 subscribers at least, I think my hard work should not be for nothing!" <- her typing

shes very very fun (and also with this i hope all the god damn hate comments shut lol) and does very cool things such as:

Roblox videos

(comment is from me lol, we'll get there soon) For right now these are just rating videos of her avatar, but I find them very fun (plus since I play roblox if needed I can help with filming lol)! Not much to say on it cause it's not a common kind of post, so onto the next form, which is:

2. Art

As you can see, she does very cool art, this one in particular is a tutorial on how to draw bodies. Is it the best? No, but the fact she's trying makes it great! (this is also where I've seen a couple hate comments come up, so yeah, I'm trying to be mature enough to not commit violence for her upon them) She does admit this video isn't her best work, but she does A LOT of very very cool drawings! Go check them out and her channel of course! There is one thing she also posts about which I love most of all...

3. Paper Dragons!!

(the first image is her first dragon, second is her most recent i think) I don't get how these things are "paper furries", but I do know THEY ARE SICK AS FUCK. I got to see one in person and they're very cool, all with different stories! I honestly wanna ask for one but right now, I'm gonna stick with watching them.

Channel link can be found here:

(this section was finished on january first of 2024, so at the point of this being posted she wont be over here, but i had her here so yeah :D i love my cousin)

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Second channel:

Heartzzz.❤️ is my niece, and she does similar content, but still does good content! A couple of videos of Starz and Heartz are them promoting each other, so yeah. While she is on vacation and can't be here to give her reasons to subscribe to you, I certainly can!

Memes

One thing I forgot to mention my cousin doing (well, actually my cousin's section is just kinda old because it's from when she last came over, but she's back to help me again, yay!) is making memes like this. Sometimes they do involve a paper dragon, but I think they're pretty funny and/or relatable (also dragons very cool)!

2. Edits (and Undertale related things)

I'm putting these 2 in the same category just because of the example image above. While my cousin has recently started doing edits, Heartz is the only 1 of the 2 to make anything Undertale related. While the Undertale stuff comes once every blue moon it seems, that doesn't make it any less enjoyable.

I actually found in her description a run down on what she does post, so here:

Link to her channel can be found right here:

(okay ik this section was really short, again, she posts similar things to my cousin, and i didnt wanna repeat, so yeah, if you want more reason, here's what the cousin herself says: "[Heartz] is really nice, she's a good artist, and she's creative"; time i finished this section was 1/15/2024 lol)

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third channel:

Boli and gang (or as their original user is + the profile picture says, Boli the bear) is the channel belonging to 2 kids I babysit! They're pretty new to making content, but they have a promising start already! Currently, their content consists of...

Animations

One of them has really been getting into animation, posting things like ball loops and such on their account. They're very interesting to watch personally!

2. Cool places

I'm not sure if this is going to be a common theme, but there is around 3-4 videos of places like this one. I have to admit, this has to be the prettiest of them all.

3. Art (+FNAF/Five Nights at Freddy's Content)

This is another one grouped together, but because this is the first drawing related one I've seen. They're very big FNAF fans, of course leading to things like this. Is it the best? No, but they tried very hard of course, and maybe you could leave some tips for them to improve with!

(they also post memes and funny videos, but I'd rather not do repetition; FINISHED THIS ALSO ON THE 15TH LETS GOOOOOOO)

Link to their channel can be found here:

Oh, one final reason, their profile picture is super cool! Can you guess who made it? This actually provides me with the perfect transition into...

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fourth/final channel:

ITS ME!!! FINALLY I CAN STOP DOING PROPER ASS TYPING

yeah, i have a youtube now, and there's like nothing on it minus a couple videos. all of them are made back in like 2021-2022? cant really remember, but i posted them for younger me's sake. i have like a couple more to get through, but afterwards im probs gonna do a bigger variety of content! art videos, jrwi edits, animations, rambles, essays, you name it! (might even stream again on twitch if that seems what the people like lol)

you may want actual reasons to subscribe, but i currently dont have any. i can only make promises of better future content, but right now i can admit theyre shit. i dont post often, its only oc related rn, all very vague, nothing that interests most people on my blog (cause i know a lot of you are here for jrwi content, huh?). this channel, the choice to subscribe is fully up to you, im not gonna sell myself to it, im simply just saying its real.

Link to the channel is found here:

if you at all took the time to read through my part, i appreciate it, but please do actually check out the other 3. after all, you can always find me here, but you cant find the others anywhere else!

(FINISHED THE REST OF THE POST ON 1/15/24 LETS GOOOOOOOOO)

[raichukfm]

I played Undertale recently. My favorite character is Chara. No, I didn't kill anybody. I am going to go on about them, now.

Spoilers for Undertale, all the routes. "It came out nearly a decade ago!" Yeah and I first played it last week and was happily surprised by the sheer amount of things I hadn't been spoiled on, so. Have a courtesy warning! Also courtesy warning: Too many fucking words. I'm sorry.

As a preface: Undertale really genuinely touched me. I bring this up as a preface because I think it's important to why it is exactly I feel how I feel, and that is important to how I perceived Chara.

And it having such an impact honestly surprised me; Undertale seemed cute and fun but silly and something I had felt… prepared for? Like, inadvertently, from hearing about it and its characters for so long. And for some parts early on, I was, at least in part. I liked Sans and Papyrus from the start, but in the way that I liked a gimmick, and it took time for the enjoyment to get more and more… not genuine, it already was, but I can't find the word I'm looking for. I guess it struck me with less artificiality? It started actually getting to me. This was happening throughout the whole length of things, like, I really genuinely liked Toriel basically from the start, but the farther in I got the more it was happening. Actually, looking back, the intro cinematic really hit for me in a way that should have clued me in that this game was going to get me.

Because I really connected with Chara as the character I was playing as, to an extent that honestly really surprised me? It felt emotionally resonant. Admittedly, naming Chara the way that I did probably did a fair amount of lifting there; I used a nickname of mine that isn't used that often. I think that hit more than it would have if I had used one of my first names, since it was distant enough to easily have differentiation while also close enough to feel so immediately personal. Chara is someone where most things with them are up to interpretation, but I just had a specific interpretation readily and naturally come to me.

Of course, I knew the Chara and Frisk distinction beforehand, and that informed my interpretation pretty heavily; but I hadn't really heard much of anything about Chara other than the Genocide Route stuff, prior. I mostly saw them treated as like some pure evil nasty may-as-well-have-been-demon. I hadn't been reading like narraChara theories or anything (amazing name, 10/10 whoever coined it). I just landed there naturally. When Undertale was giving the early hints that Chara had actually come before the human you played as, like in the garbage dump, it only amplified those feelings.

My read was that I as the player I was, largely, controlling Frisk's actions, but seeing Chara's thoughts. Every time I saw or heard memories, they were Chara's. But I don't think Chara was in control of the body or anything. I think Chara was there tagging along as an observer, at first not sure what exactly was happening or understanding why; but linked to Frisk's SOUL and so having Frisk's feelings resonate through them. So, they decided to help. They not only lent their lingering Determination but also just tried to help Frisk stay determined in the normal sense. But that was what they were doing: Not acting, but watching Frisk's actions and feeling their feelings.

And in my playthrough, Frisk was a dogged pacifist who was very reluctant to even slightly hurt anyone and very willing to put themselves into terrible danger because of that. And I think seeing that, feeling the feelings behind it resonating with them, made Chara a better person. A profoundly better person. Just in itself, the way it would anyone, but… Here's an example of the best of humanity, that same humanity they despised. Here's someone willing to refuse violence even if it puts them at risk of dying, even actually dying once before they discovered they could LOAD even after death, if they remained determined. Someone who again and again and again takes attacks and doesn't fight back unless it's absolutely necessary, who sees a whole people that have time and time again just tried to callously kill them and keeps choosing to help them. To trust them, and reach out to them, again and again and again, and who each time is proven right. Even when there's nothing to reach out to but dead human children whose SOULs had been absorbed for power by an entity whose power was represented in their SAVE by the highest numbers expressible there.

I think seeing all of that really challenged Chara's worldview in general and view of humanity in particular. I think they understood that they had been wrong, and done wrong.

And then Frisk goes back one more time to set things right and save everyone. Chara is there experiencing what Frisk is feeling as they go through that lab, as they learn about Determination... when they find those videotapes and learn about how Chara died intentionally, hoping to wreak violence on humanity and then break the Barrier. And Chara learns that Flowey was their adoptive brother, all along. Sees with what must be horror what has become of sweet little Asriel, knowing that this only happened because of then. Understanding what Asriel chose in the end, why he chose it, and now seeing what trying to make up for that 'mistake' had done to him. And Chara sees Frisk try so hard to save him, even after everything he's done, just because he's another person. And Chara does everything they can to help Frisk, together mustering enough Determination to deny death itself, as many times as needed, until Frisk does it. Reaches out to Asriel and helps him to get over what happened enough to stop fighting, to start to heal, to give up on godhood... To use a moment of unity to bring down the Barrier without needing to hurt anyone else.

And Chara watched their brother realize that Frisk isn't them, and that that is good. That Frisk is a better person, and one whom Asriel wishes he could have had in his life before, as he admits to himself that Chara wasn't a good person. And Chara lets go. They let Frisk and everyone else go to their happy ending, while they stay behind.

And then Asriel and Chara have one last moment, in the game. Chara comes back and Asriel, even once again lacking a SOUL, cares enough about everyone else to ask Chara to let them be happy, to not tear them away from everything. But Asriel doesn't trust Chara, and so asks that if they are going to rip them out of their happy ending… do it to him too. Don't make him sit through everything repeating. Don't make him become deadened all over again by seeing everything play out over and over and over again in countless variations. And then he imagines that this exchange has happened again and again and again and Chara must be tired of hearing it. Because that is what Chara would do, isn't it?

But Chara doesn't say anything. Maybe they can't, maybe they just choose not to. Instead, they let their brother say goodbye to them. And then they choose to let go. Chara couldn't be the one to save Asriel; it had to be Frisk. Once Frisk has... What waits for them and their brother… I don't know. But I hope they can be happy. I hope they got their closure. And, maybe vainly, I hope they can find some way to have each other again, but healthily this time. But that's for them, not for me. Maybe one or both choose to let go entirely and fade away, return to the death that had once taken them. All I've got is hopes for the future of these people that aren't even real.

Immersion is a powerful thing, huh?

...

So, about the Genocide Route. There's a lot of characterization for Chara there, and some for Asriel too. I know people tend to read the Genocide Route as Chara taking Frisk over and unleashing their preexisting violent impulses, but I really don't think that's right. I don't think that route shows what Chara was like before much at all. I think the Genocide Route is what happens when Chara finds themselves brought back from the pall of death, given some sort of second chance, and all they can do in it is watch Frisk murder everyone they encounter. When they see their mother get murdered in cold blood, and can feel how little Frisk cared about her while doing it. When all they can feel when it happens is that sick sense of pleasure at an accomplishment. When they're forced to find some kind of meaning in that, some reason for why they were brought back and made to be complicit in this, some purpose to this existence.

And they find it. They find it in their idea of numerical invincibility, and they cling to it. And they are abraded down until all that's left of them is their worst impulses stripped of context, magnified, and then redefined under the light of this 'purpose'… and that sick sense of accomplishment. More and more, Chara wears down to this thing that only cares about power and violence, and more and more Chara loses their sense of distinction from Frisk, sees these actions as their own; or maybe they become more and more able to exert control of the actions as they redefine themselves to be better at wielding power. Either way, Chara murders their father. Chara murders their brother. Then Chara destroys humanity, not even out of hatred, but simply for the sake of power. They destroy all the monsters they missed, too. Only power matters; the gaining of it, and also the exercise of it for its own sake. The only thing they don't destroy is Frisk, their reliable partner, the one who showed them their purpose. The one they are perversely grateful to, but will betray the moment it suits them, now that they have the power to do so.

I've heard a lot about how this is criticism of RPG players, and I can see that but more and more I don't think that the purpose of this is to moralize, or at least that that's not the only purpose. Because this shows Chara become their worst self, this epitome of power in a husk of a person. Someone who wasn't a great person from the start falls to horrific depths. And then they can't climb back out. You can't help them out. Chara defines themselves as Numbers Go Up because after all this trauma from the first moment that their plan went awry and Asriel held back their powers, and they both died a second time… All they have refuge in is that belief in invincibility. Chara believes you can escape suffering if you become the strongest thing in the world. And so Chara does just that. And it's all they can hold onto, because it's the only thing holding them together.

But really they're just another lost soul who you no longer have the power to save or comfort or bring positive emotions to, someone tricking themselves into thinking they're an unfeeling demon beyond sentimentality just to feel like they have some control, so they can delight in exercising power over others without guilt or regret.

Frisk can give them their SOUL and Chara doesn't change, doesn't really feel anything more, no matter what Frisk shows them. Because they've closed their heart to those feelings. You can't take this back. You can't save them. They're the only person you can't save. Sometimes, when you hurt people you make them worse and you can't be the one to help them after that. And you can't cheat. Whatever you do… Chara remembers it. You can't just take it back, can't do it over. You can only look on in horror at what Chara has become and accept or deny your fault in it.

In the Pacifist Route… I think Chara feels something like that when learning that Flowey was Asriel all along, and knowing it was their fault.

It's easy to blame what Asriel became on the lack of his SOUL. But I really believe that's not what it was. Maybe that does dull feelings, but you don't need a SOUL to love, to care. We see that, with Asriel-as-Flowey asking Chara to leave the others to their happy ending. We can see it in how Chara, at their worst, gets a SOUL and gets no better. How Chara, with a SOUL, does not understand the sentimentality still held by the player who has already given up theirs. Flowey didn't become a monster because of the lack of his SOUL. He was a traumatized little kid who couldn't get his life back, couldn't get his sibling back, but had the power to evade consequences and abused it to try and cope until it further wore down his ability to care. So he retreated to seeing things as less than real to cope with it all, resorted to cruelty and vindictiveness just to feel something.

Where Asriel as Flowey makes a performative show of his petty cruelty and vindictiveness, Chara dresses it up with dispassion and a veneer of objective judgement. But, deep down? They're the same. If you don't let yourself feel anything you can't be hurt.

The Genocide Route isn't some creepypasta about a demon taking over an innocent. Nothing so convenient as that. Because the point is that you choose to do it. You do it, and you choose it every step of the way, and only at the very very end does it become too late to turn back. So it fits it better, I think, if it's not about Chara corrupting Frisk... But about you corrupting Chara. Whether that you is Frisk, or you the player, you make someone who was a bad person to start with so much worse.

Asriel was pressured and manipulated by Chara and became a worse person for it, and then retreated to the toxic ideology of "kill or be killed" to cope with that and further trauma, as well as denying his own emotionality in an attempt to make himself invincible. And in the Genocide Route, Chara does the exact same fucking thing. A different toxic ideology, that the only thing that matters is acquiring power, a different mask to deny their emotions which is impassive rather than irreverent, but so similar. Beat for beat. Even down to the fact that Asriel still idolized the person who hurt him, considered them special, the only person worth caring about: Chara wants you to come with them to conquer and destroy new worlds, considers you the perfect partner, doesn't kill you even when you try to resist them, even keeps remaking the world for you when you ask despite already getting your SOUL the first time. You showed them the truth of their existence, after all, even without meaning to. Just as Chara showed Asriel that this world is kill or be killed, even without meaning to.

So… Knowing that all of this could happen…

It adds a lot, I think, to the Pacifist Ending. To Chara getting better, growing as a person and helping everyone, learning they were wrong about the world and humanity, and letting power go. Letting Frisk go. Letting everyone go. Hearing out Asriel's grievances with what they did and accepting them. Just being happy that Asriel could be saved along with everyone else, before the end, despite the negative impact they had had on him and how coming back as a flower no one recognized as him fucked him up even worse.

I just like those two poor siblings, and can't help but be sympathetic to somebody young making a nasty plan with good intentions but without a real appreciation for what they were doing. I am so glad that such a tragic and awful thing got better the way it did, amidst everyone else getting their happy ending. And I think Chara just gets me so much because they become so much better than they were to begin with, and because I felt I was there with them. Immersion is a powerful thing. But maybe even more than that... It's that Frisk doesn't save Chara. Frisk can't save Chara. Frisk can just give Chara the chance they needed to save themselves.

[rupturedtaleblog]

Hi everyone, Tile here, under more ideal circumstances, you would have gotten everything I wanted to do for the anniversary all at once, but due to my personal life becoming far more busy than I'd like, the content for this year is going to be spread out over the rest of the month.

The following is mostly going to be a few thoughts of mine, over the history of this project, and about a few personal anecdotes. If you don't care about that, feel free to just look at the art up there, it was made by VeggieUTDR.

I would like to start things off by thanking those of you who have decided to still follow this project. What started out as a stupid joke made to spite someone had transformed into a project that is incredibly personal to me. One that I, come hell or high water, will see through it to its completion, one way or another.

8 years feels like an incredible amount of time. A lot of things happened to me, and some things stayed relatively the same. It's part of why I've decided to never really cancel this. By the time Rupturedtale started, it was during the boom of Undertale AU Sprite Comics, it was a project among many of those, and one that would surely fade just like a good chunk of them.

That never really happened, though, as I'm currently talking to you. As corny as this may sound, there is a part of me inside of this thing. And it's a part of me I cannot bring myself to hurt. This whole story is about hurt, really, it'd be cruel to put it out of its misery when it can become something truly beautiful.

If you're wondering why it's taken so long, besides my life in general being busy, it's because I've spent a lot of time developing some personal projects with some good friends of mine. Ones that for the time being aren't really meant for the public eye. Creating those memories is important to me, and they will also shape how some of the things in this project are going to be.

You might get to catch a glimpse at one of them.

There isn't anything of major substance that I can show right now, the Date itself has things that will be better off being shown in their proper context. And its overall script needs to undergo revision before it can be put into game form. In the event of complete and utter catastrophic failure, you can expect it to come out in comic form instead.

In general, for the projects that are made by my hand (and the very lovely people who help said hand), I will be publishing a roadmap of what to expect in the future. There are a lot of things that I want to do, and I'm very eager to show them to you. I just need to get to them first.

Again, I'm incredibly grateful for your patience, there's not a lot of you out there, I'm aware, but for the ones that still are, I promise you're gonna get what you've been looking for.

If there is anything I've learned the past few years, is that my love for this game will never truly die, I will be thinking about it for the rest of my life.

Though, that doesn't mean I will only create under its own shadow.

You can't just play with the same toy over and over again, you know.

You'd want something new.

Eventually.

[kenomacreature]

THE MAGIC CIRCLE, or "WTF is Darkness, anyway?"

Part Three

A comprehensive, themes-first take on what Deltarune is "really about"

The Gaster of it all

The foremost trouble with Gaster is that there just isn’t very much to work with. We know so little about the guy that we couldn’t even figure out if a certain Valentine’s Day letter was or wasn’t from him. And since we know such little concrete information about Gaster, some might argue that trying to conjecture one’s way towards grand conclusions about him is a fool’s errand. Luckily (or unluckily) for you, dear reader, a fool is exactly what I am.

All joking aside, I do actually want to try my best to be cautious in this section. Since Gaster is someone who exists just as much outside the text as he does within it, any theory involving him risks mixing evidence with unsubstantiated fanon interpretations. For this reason, I will try to specifically list every premise that I need to come to my conclusion, so we can be on the lookout, together, for any pesky leaps in logic. Make up your own mind on whether these are all within the bounds of reason, or whether there’s something here that you can’t accept or find implausible. 

Premise 1: We can use information about Gaster in Undertale to inform our understanding of Gaster in Deltarune. Given that every known character that exists across both Undertale and Deltarune share not only similar personalities but also broadly similar circumstances, it seems like a safe assumption that the same applies to Gaster.

Premise 2: The information the Gaster followers give us can be trusted. This is to say that Gaster was the former royal scientist, that he was shattered across time and space, and that he exists at some higher level where he can “listen in” or watch during gameplay despite not physically being present. If we don’t trust the information of the Gaster followers, there's barely any discussion to be had, as these are some of the only sources of information we have about him. We don’t have any reason to distrust their claims, so they can be taken on faith for now.

Premise 3: Entry 17 was written by Gaster. The room displaying Entry 17 is literally named room_gaster in the files of the game.

Premise 4: The subject of Entry 17 is the substance of Darkness, as seen in Deltarune. Gaster literally refers to the subject of his experimentation as “Darkness”.  

Premise 5: Gaster is the mysterious person talking to us during the opening of Deltarune. There are numerous allusions to Gaster during this opening scene, such as the track which plays during it being titled ANOTHER HIM, a reference to an Undertale file tied to Gaster. The person speaking also shares Gaster’s exact manner of speech and verbal tics, minus the Wingdings font.

Premise 6: Deltarune Gaster exists in a similar state to his Undertale counterpart. The Gaster who speaks with us in Deltarune is a disembodied voice who is somehow able to communicate with us, the player, and seems to exist diegetically as part of the menus. A reasonable explanation for this would be him also being shattered across time and space and occupying a higher plane of "reality".  

Premise 7: Gaster’s experimenting with Darkness is what led to him being shattered across time and space and existing in this higher state. What else could the relevance of Entry 17 possibly be? The fact that you need to manipulate time and space to even access the room displaying it seems to point clearly towards this conclusion. As discussed earlier, Dark Worlds seem to behave strangely when it comes to time and space as well.

Premise 8: Darkness is a metaphysical substance that somehow dictates the nature of Undertale and Deltarune's worlds. If Darkness caused Gaster to become a disembodied being able to exist within the menus and code of the game, then this must surely mean that Darkness is tied to the very fabric of reality that makes up the worlds of Undertale and Deltarune.

With all of our premises established, I can now make what might, devoid of context, seem like an insane claim, but which follows quite naturally from the premises outlined here.

Conclusion: The Light World is actually a Dark World

Okay, what does that even mean?

Well, think about how in Chapter 2, Queen planned on making a Dark World inside a Dark World. What if she’s already inside a Dark World inside a Dark World? If sufficient manipulation of Darkness can shatter one’s embodiment in time and space, placing oneself on a higher or deeper plane of reality, then what that seems to point to is that Darkness simply is the substance that makes up the reality of Deltarune and Undertale. And if that’s the case, it means that the Light World is essentially just a very big Dark World.

The beauty of this hypothesis is that it makes perfect sense thematically. Deltarune and Undertale are fictional worlds where, like in the Dark Worlds, certain characters are aware of their own nature as fictional beings – characters like Gaster. And really, Gaster is exactly like the secret bosses in that he’s not free even in his own confrontation with his lack of freedom. Like how the Will of the Fountain guided Jevil and Spamton towards their reckoning with their nature as Darkners, the Will of Toby Fox guided Gaster towards a reckoning with his own nature as a fictional character. This is why Gaster, and possibly Dess, exist diegetically within the code of the game. Here in our world, the code is what forms the existence of Deltarune (the program). But once you immerse yourself in Deltarune (the fictional world), crossing its Fountain (so to speak) via your suspension of disbelief, the code becomes representative of something else – the “Depths”, a deeper layer within the cosmological fabric of Darkness.

Armed with a basic understanding of Deltarune’s cosmology, we are prepared to tackle the question of who and what the Angel is.

The Angel is in their Heaven, all is right with the world

Let me pose you a question. If Darkness represents fiction, what does Light represent? Because Light is an established concept in Deltarune. It’s not mentioned quite as much as Darkness, but it’s right there in the name of the “Light World” and “Lightners”. Darkners talk about the light inside Kris’s soul, which also makes an appearance in the lyrics of Don’t Forget.

So, what is Light? Well, if you’re on board with the conclusion that Darkness represents fiction, I think there is no choice but to accept that Light, as its opposite, represents reality. Or, at least reality in relation to fiction.

Deltarune seems to operate on a certain hierarchy of command. There are Darkners, who, as Ralsei is eager to remind us, are subservient to Lightners. But Lightners themselves seem to be subservient to an even higher force, one that shines more radiantly… A figure that is, funnily enough, shrouded in darkness. Their Heaven is only briefly mentioned at the end of Ralsei’s prophecy. They’re worshipped as a monotheistic God in the organized religion of Light World’s Hometown. And Spamton yearns to confront them, hoping it will allow him to cut his strings. In fact, Spamton seems to think they’re already present and addresses them directly in dialogue, asking if they’re watching.

This hierarchy of command maps out perfectly to the metatextual layers of Deltarune. Darkners are fictional beings within the fictional world of Deltarune and so occupy the lowest level of this hierarchy, worshipping their creators, the Lightners. Notice that “Lightners” is plural – Darkners don’t just worship the individual creator of their Fountain, they worship Lightners in general because it’s only through them, collectively, that they can exist. And who are the creators of the Lightners? Well, it’s us, right? We’re the beings one rung up the ladder. We’re the ones who “give their existence meaning”. Granted, Lightners worship an individual being, the Angel, instead of a category of beings. I think this is fairly easy to explain, though.

The world of Deltarune is made in service of the player. It is for the player’s sake that the game is designed as it is. Even if Toby Fox operates in a sort of demiurgic role of actually having to construct the game and the narrative for us, it is ultimately we who are the God of this world. We, the player, are the Angel.

I can already hear the question forming in your mind: “But what about Noelle? Isn’t she the Angel?” I mean, she does literally compare herself to one. And an Addison calls her one. And Spamton calls her one. And she's associated with snow angels. And the doll her and Dess create looks like an angel. And her Dark World attire is very angelic too. Is there any possible explanation for this other than Noelle being the Angel?

Noelle is certainly associated with angelic imagery and language, as all the examples above indicate. But take note that whenever she’s associated with angels, it’s in the lower case, referring to angels abstractly. Not once is she directly associated with the capital-A Angel. What seems clear to me is that Noelle is a special Lightner, with a special connection to the Angel, which is to say a special connection with us. This is made clear in the Weird Route, where we can use Noelle to “break” the game, bypass certain restrictions, disregard what’s “supposed” to happen and forge a new path, in a twisted reflection of Noelle’s own interest in video game glitches and creepypastas.

But really, when you think about it, Noelle being the actual Angel is kind of an incoherent notion in the first place. Even beyond the thematic significance of Light, we know what the Angel is, broadly speaking. It is a watchful deity existing above the Lightners and Darkners – this much is clear from how both Lightners refer to them, and from how Darkners like Spamton do. There is simply no explanation for how Spamton could be referring to Noelle when he talks about the Angel.

If you’re already convinced that she’s the Angel, this dialogue might mislead you into thinking Spamton is referring to Noelle. But on further inspection it’s quite obvious from context that Spamton is referring to the one who’s actually looking for the ring – us, the player. Immediately proceeding this dialogue, he asks us (the player - or Kris, who we're controlling) to pay for the ring. It plainly does not make sense for the dialogue to be addressed to Noelle.

Likewise, you’d have to jump through a lot of hoops to interpret this as anything other than Spamton directly addressing the Angel’s Heaven, which he believes is observing his current actions (as opposed to many Noelle Angel theories which speculate that the Angel's Heaven will be not a literal, but abstract concept corresponding to a future Dark World, or even the Roaring itself, at any rate caused by Noelle). But this naturally leads us to the question of what exactly the Angel’s Heaven is.

From what Spamton says, and from its description in the prophecy, it seems that the Angel’s Heaven refers to an actual, tangible location or plane of existence. Given that, I think it makes intuitive sense that the Angel’s Heaven is simply our world – the world above the Light World, the Even Lighter World so to speak, the home of angels and divine light. This is how Heaven can be “watching”, as Spamton says.

Banishing the Angel’s Heaven – the goal of the prophecy – would thus mean, well, sealing away the real world and severing the connection that was established at the beginning of the game, which is just a more complicated way of saying that it refers to ending the game. As explained earlier, Deltarune is itself a sort of Dark Fountain, a constructed world filled with characters prepackaged in certain contexts that we’re meant to enjoy and bring meaning and resolution to. The primary difference seems to be that within the story of Deltarune, this “Fountain” (if you will) was opened from the inside, by none other than Gaster, our gracious host, and must thus be banished from the inside as well, by the Delta Warriors of Legend.

I believe that this is the ending that Toby has teased, the conclusion that he dreamed of nearly 14 years ago. As the boundaries between the player and the game gradually break down, so will the boundaries between the Light and Dark Worlds within the game's diegesis, culminating in the Roaring, which I fully expect to be represented through overt meta-awareness and glitch aesthetics, similar to Undertale’s endings. What else would an apocalypse look like within the metaphysics of a video game program, after all, but a fatal exception error? The Roaring is the edge of the shadow, where reality and dream meet. And to bring an end to the Roaring, that connection must be severed.

In conclusion…

Deltarune’s narrative, like Undertale before it, is highly concentrated on a metatextual exploration of fiction and the impact it can have on people’s lives. The crucial difference is that where this was mostly relegated to subtext in Undertale, Deltarune is overtly grappling with these ideas through its plot. Not only with the metaphorically loaded nature of the Dark Worlds which serve as the backdrops to the adventures of our characters, but also with the player character themselves, their outright awareness and rejection of the player controlling them, and the ways in which those complicated feelings manifest in the Dark Worlds generated from their Will.

In this way, Deltarune is not only interested in exploring the impact of fiction on the lives of its creators but also the impact of reality on fictional constructs, which in turn reflects our own real world struggles to make sense of our place in an incomprehensible world which may or may not be created by a higher being.

A proper understanding of the thematic preoccupations of a text can open up new avenues of speculation and focus one’s sight on the things that truly matter the most. In this essay, I offered answers to some of the most pressing questions in the community, such as the identity of the Knight, the mechanics of Dark Worlds, the nature of the Secret Bosses, the identity of the Angel, and the significance of their Heaven, but I think more important than any answers to those mysteries in themselves is how they connect and tie into the central themes of the narrative.

By no means do I expect all of my conclusions to be completely correct, having less than a third of the full game to work with, but I do at least think they’re in line with the established themes it's been exploring, and well supported by the textual evidence we’ve been provided with so far. I’m eager to hear my ideas picked apart and criticized, and even more eager to get my hands on Chapter 3 and 4 – even if it ends up invalidating every conclusion I put forth here. Ultimately our theories should not exist for the sake of establishing or perpetuating arbitrary divisions, or to further our own profile as independent theorists, but to attain a better understanding of the narrative we’re being presented with. To that end, I can only hope I was successful.

[voidandabyssal]

Hihi, I saw you had request open! I was hoping to request somthing. *hands you a dollar*

In this, I request undertale sans, underfell sans, underswap papyrus, and horrotale sans.

In this, they accidently run or walked into somone. When they try to tell them they are sorry, they see they are blind.

I was wondering how they will act and if they got into a relationship, how they will treat them.

Thank you for reading this and if you are busy don't worry and take you're time <3

Ohh money$$$

Sans:

Oof he’s double embarrassed

Sans doesn’t show it though and plays it off pretty cooly, just making some pun before apologising and walking off

He doesn’t want to bring up your disability in case it makes you uncomfortable

If your in a relationship with him, then he’s pretty good at not bringing it up

Like, at some point your not even sure if Sans is aware your blind?? He just??? Doesn’t say anything??

Sans does a bunch of research in relationships with blind people and how to accommodate them without being infantilising

He’s always been a pretty chill dude, fully treats you like no different from anyone else

Red (uf sans):

Red at first reacts pretty aggressively to bumping in to you,

He whips around to shout some demeaning insult

“What are ya fucking blind?!” Then he realises you are actually blind

Never in his life has he wanted to crawl into a deep dark hole and die there until now

He’s even worse in a relationship 😩

He keeps forgetting your blind and only remembers afters he’s cracked another blind joke

Aside from Red embarrassing himself he’s pretty normal about your blindness

He does get anxious about you going out alone though

Its not safe being by yourself so vulnerable like that. Anyone could come up behind you and dust you before you could hear them!

Stretch (us paps):

Again, one of the chill ones

He does apologise though, with a blind joke

Stretch is a bastard (and i say this in a very loving way)

You love him, he loves you

Still a bastard

He does worry about you

Worries about the discrimination, people taking advantage of you

Stretch is pretty easily calmed down though, he wont get so anxiously worked up like Red does

Axe (ht sans):

Another bastard (why are there so many of them??)

When you first meet Axe still had a pretty big bone to pick with most of humanity

Suffice to say, hes not nice

Funny, but not nice

When you do get into a relationship he tones down on the jokes, though there is still some pretty light hearted teasing

Axe is also pretty protective over you. He makes people move out of the way for you

And he’s certainly not gonna stand there and watch someone talk down to you because of your blindness

[bltngames]

I Have Complicated Thoughts About Mother 3

Note: Patreon donors can listen to this article as a podcast narrated by me. Click to learn more.

Confined to a tiny room, I pulled out my off-brand retro portable and loaded up the fan translation of Mother 3. It had been on my list of "important games to play" for literal years at this point, if not more than a decade, and playing Mother 3 was bottle necking a lot of other stuff -- for example, I also wanted to play Undertale, but swore I'd need to finish Mother 3 first, despite being very graciously gifted Undertale only a few months after it came out on PC. 

Being something I wanted to play, that obviously meant avoiding spoilers. When the ability was added to places like Twitter or Tumblr to block specific keywords, often the first one I'd block was "Mother 3" alongside the names of a handful of characters I knew like Lucas, Claus, and Kumatora. 

I'd played a couple hours of Mother 3 once before, right when the translation patch first came out, so I knew what happened in the opening scenes of the game. I knew what a gut punch it was. It definitely worried me, because as I started the game back up, now in 2021, I silently thought about what it would be like playing a game that starts with your player character's mother dying, as I looked up at my own bed ridden mother. 

It was May of 2021 that she developed debilitating back pain. There was an easy enough explanation for that; we had just gone through a hellish (and potentially legally dubious) renovation forced upon us by the corporation that owned our gigantic apartment complex. Due to a scheduling error, we had less than a week to pack up our whole apartment so they could move us out, renovate the unit, and then move us back in. We attributed her back pain to that moving process -- lifting cardboard boxes and such.

But the back pain kept getting worse. They prescribed her stronger and stronger medication for what they claimed was sciatica, but it never seemed to help. After multiple trips to the emergency room, she was finally admitted to the hospital proper, where her femur randomly shattered during a routine procedure. The femur is the longest, strongest bone in your body, and typically only breaks during extremely violent impacts, like car crashes and stuff. For my mother, it broke as nurses were shifting her around to clean her bedding. Tests for bone cancer seemed to come back negative, so the doctors shrugged at us and considered it a freak accident and just the toll of old age.

There was no way she was making it back up the stairs to our apartment any time soon (if ever), so it was decided she'd have to heal from that broken leg at my brother's place, and since my brother and his wife both work day jobs, I volunteered to take care of my Mom while she got better. Hence why I was stuck in this tiny room, booting up Mother 3 in July or August of 2021.

My Mom never got better. It would be eight months before they told us they had somehow missed detecting her cancer, and by then, it had spread so viciously they weren't even sure where it originally started from. By the time they told us this, she had only days left.

Every step of the way in those 8 months, as she insisted over and over she was healing and told me about all the things she wanted to get back to doing, I believed her. But my Mom also taught me to always expect and brace for the worst. So as I watched Mother 3's Claus and Lucas bury their own deceased mom, there was an undeniable heaviness swelling in my heart. A feeling I could not shake. Though I didn't know yet, I knew something wasn't right, even if the doctors continued to shrug as more symptoms mounted. I could see myself in the same shoes as Claus and Lucas, and I didn't like it.

Once upon a time, I loved RPGs. I cut my teeth on Final Fantasy 2 for the SNES. Though to be honest, I don't remember my time with it very fondly. I didn't really understand the genre; I thought "hit points" referred to points on the body you could be struck at. Like, your elbow is a hit point. Your ear is a hit point. So on and so forth. When the game told me a monster like Scarmiliogne had "3,000 Hit Points", I figured that meant he was a giant, and thus had more surface area to strike at. I was not a very bright kid, but in my defense, nobody ever bothered to correct me, either. 

The first RPG to really stick out in my head was Earthbound (known in Japan as Mother 2). On the surface, Earthbound felt like a kitschy look at hometown Americana, as filtered through the lens of a Japanese writer. Though Earthbound sort of focused on contemporary America when it came out, to me, it's always carried this vibe of Norman Rockwell by way of The Peanuts gang. Though you chat it up with mohawk wearing punks, visit video arcades, and order pizza over the phone, something about its story feels deliberately retro and nostalgic, even in the mid-90's when it first came out. 

Earthbound is about leaving home for the first time, feeling sad about it, and calling your Mom at a payphone to cheer up. It's about taking on huge responsibilities while you're still just a kid swinging a baseball bat. It's about going from your house on a dirt road and traveling all the way up to the big city and beyond. It's about making best friends and bullies, and some of those story elements hit close to home for me. It's about finding an inner strength you didn't know was there, and to keep going, no matter what. It's about music and the secret song that plays in your soul. 

Earthbound is a warm, deeply heart-felt game that also happens to feature zombies, bubblegum chewing monkeys, time travel, secret civilizations full of unknown creatures, and a sequence where you beat up an entire police force one cop at a time. 

That is not the kind of game Mother 3 is. 

I suppose I wasn't really sure what I expected Mother 3 was going to be. All I'd really known was Earthbound, plus the 5 or so hours I'd played of the original NES game, retroactively renamed from "Mother" to "Earthbound Beginnings" in 2015. The retro Americana vibes I felt in Earthbound are even stronger in Beginnings. Though the story of Earthbound Beginnings claims it takes place in the 1980's, the visual identity rings much closer to the 50's or 60's. One of round vintage Cadillacs, greasers with big pompadours, and roaming hippies preaching peace and love. 

Mother 3 deliberately obscures when and where it's set, for reasons that will eventually become clear. You better get used to it too, because holding information back is kind of a running theme. 

Because if I'm being totally honest, I didn't like Mother 3. And at first, I was struggling to figure out why. Earlier when I said "I loved RPGs", that's because my life changed to a point where I felt like I didn't have room for them anymore. Games with lots of dialog meant they demanded my full, undivided attention. When I was sitting at a TV or a computer, I was often multitasking between multiple forms of output -- I'd be doing work while watching a Youtube video or listening to a podcast, and that slowly began to push out story-driven games like RPGs in favor of lighter, more replayable experiences I could engage with while I also did something else.

The one place that was not true was in the portable space. I didn't have a smartphone for the longest time, so I'd often find myself in a commute or on a lunch break at work with nothing to do but pull out something like my Nintendo DS and crank away at an RPG. I devoured games like Final Fantasy IV, Phantasy Star Zero and Bowser's Inside Story. Even games I did not particularly like, such as Kingdom Hearts re:Coded and Pokemon Pearl ended up getting a lot of play. 

At some point that changed, and it changed so gradually I didn't even realize it for the longest time. Over the last ten years I have tried and failed to enjoy portable versions of Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI, and found neither game to my taste. FF5 felt far too boilerplate in terms of structure and I simply got bored of it halfway in. With FF6, hype had led me to believe it was some kind of life-changing RPG super-classic, and I came away extremely unimpressed with both its story and its pacing. 

Both FF5 and FF6 came at a time after I'd finally gotten a few Android devices of my own -- in fact, most of Final Fantasy V was played on a Samsung tablet while I was at work. By now, I was starting to question whether or not having breezy mobile games like Pac-Man 256 was hurting my ability to commit to longer RPGs, even in the last space where it felt like I could sit down and focus on them. 

This is sort of what spurred me to start Mother 3 at all: since I was at my brother's place, my desktop computer and most of my video games were on the other side of town. All I had with me was a 12 year old laptop that was only good as a word processor, and a handheld emulation device called an "Anbernic". As the weeks stretched into months, I needed something to do or I was going to go insane. It seemed like no better time to knock something off my bucket list, but now it was starting to feel like strike three with portable RPGs. 

My malaise only added fuel to the fire: am I now simply too distractible everywhere? Would I rather be playing simple, quick-hit arcade style games, forever? 

It seemed like the perfect scapegoat, too. Maybe the problem wasn't that Final Fantasy VI hasn't aged very well, and more just the fact that my tastes had changed. After all, Final Fantasy VI is deeply beloved and considered one of the best games in the series. Perhaps I was the problem. 

But that's not entirely true. The problem with FF6 is that its story simultaneously felt too complex and dead simple at the same time. By now, I was engaging with RPGs where I'd only play them for 20-30 minutes once a week, and I could never remember what was going on because the plot felt like it was over my head. But when a major event would happen, it was always conveyed in this rushed, shallow way. The reason I could never remember what was going on is because nothing ever felt important enough to leave a lasting impact on me. 

That was never true with Mother 3. Even though it took me close to three full years to finish it, it wasn't that hard to recall where I'd left off, even if "where I'd left off" was over four months ago. 

No, the further I got into Mother 3, the clearer it became that I was not vibing with the story. 

Whereas the first two Earthbound games seemed to be deeply mired in warm feelings of childhood nostalgia, Mother 3 is a bitter, angry game about how much growing up sucks. All three games are of children coming of age and taking their first shaky steps into adulthood, but whereas Earthbound wields rose-tinted sweetness, Mother 3 grabs you by the neck and lays out a cold, harsh reality. 

You play as Lucas, who has a twin brother named Claus, and a father, a cowboy named Flint. The death of their mother shatters their entire family; both Flint and Claus have emotional breakdowns, the latter of which ends in Claus running away from home and Flint leaving to go find him. Both of them vanish. That leaves you, as Lucas, in the care of your grandfather, Alec.

Unfortunately for Lucas, the accident that killed his mother was only the start of a dangerous chain of events, and he soon finds himself swept up in adventure in the way RPG protagonists generally do. Earthbound set itself apart from typical RPG tropes by getting away from fantastical elements and basing itself in real life (albeit a strange, exaggerated version of it). Places with bicycles, fast food, and ATMs.

Mother 3 generally avoids this. You're introduced to Tazmily Village, an isolated farming community of log cabins and dirt roads, buried deep within the heart of the Sunshine Forest.

It's not really known when or where Mother 3 is set. Compared to Earthbound's attachment to contemporary America, Sunshine Forest and the areas surrounding it feature strange creatures like dragons, and even old, dilapidated castles. And yet Mother 3 also seems to have more in common with the wild-west-era American frontier than it does anything else, but even that isn't quite right. 

Tazmily is presented as the ultimate in idyllic life. It's a place where everybody helps everybody, intrinsically, out of the goodness of their own hearts. Poke around at the start of the game and you'll find that though they do have a jail, it's never been used, because nobody has ever committed a crime. 

Until one day, a mysterious man named Fassad appears. He's quick to charm the residents of Tazmily, and introduces the village to the concept of money. He also introduces the concept of deception, as in the night, Fassad steals some of that same money, sowing the first seeds of greed and distrust in these simple people. This rapidly transforms Tazmily from a sleepy, easy-going community to a bustling town of paved roads, automobiles, and even, thanks to further gifts from Fassad, technological entertainment delivered by his "Happy Boxes" -- cubes with embedded, glowing screens that emit a hypnotic signal intended to make people feel good (and more willing to spend their newly acquired finances). 

As Lucas, you oppose all of this. Fassad is clearly an evil, scheming man, both establishing and sabotaging a structure of financial power for his own gain, and its changing Tazmily for the worse. Since Fassad has arrived, Tazmily has seen an increase in monster attacks, and eventually even freak lightning storms that destroy whole entire buildings -- which coincidentally always belong to people that oppose Fassad. 

Funny how that works.

After Lucas and his grandpa Alec accuse Fassad, he uses his foothold with the people of Tazmily to brand you as a traitor. The very people that once treated you like family now curse your name for daring to threaten their modernized way of life. Soon, the first mayor of Tazmily officially disowns you, your grandfather is locked up in the newly built elderly care center, and your house somehow ends up being the next thing obliterated by the mysterious lightning storm. 

It's a hell of a first impression. The dominating message Mother 3 sends in its opening chapters is that things used to be better. Back when it was just people helping people, before the days of television, and cars, and roads, and even money. When the only thing that mattered was the sweat on your brow, the food in your stomach, and where the sun was in the sky. 

It felt cynical to me. Jaded. Things were different in 2006 when Mother 3 first came out, but it's hard not to read that today as some extension of the tired complaints around having too many devices and too much convenience. Like that meme that simply blames all of society's problems on having a phone. And it's a well Mother 3 goes back to over and over and over again: that Fassad brings the corruption of money, the corruption of technology, and the corruption of modern civilization, turning the residents of Tazmily into rude, vapid, ignorant zombies who have grown complacent with the increasingly bad things happening around them. 

And that's not the only thing in the game that can be read as cynical, either. More than once Mother 3 presents us with scenarios where Lucas faces down adult responsibilities and uses this as a way to express something depressing or frustrating as just being the way the world works. Such as early on when Lucas has to enter a factory as a new employee, and we're told about the joys of child labor -- including the hard hours you're expected to work for minimal pay.

Or how about when you receive a fast travel vehicle halfway through the game. Not only will it become permanently unusable if you accidentally allow it to run out of fuel (pretty easy, considering there's no visible fuel gauge), but refueling it incorrectly will cause it to explode, also rendering the vehicle useless. After all, you're just a dumb kid, and complex machines like these are meant to be cared for properly. 

Some of this is definitely meant to be more funny than serious or soul crushing, but the whole game has this rough edge to it that wasn't there in the original Earthbound, where Lucas brushes up against some fact of adulthood and it serves as an uncomfortable lesson. I couldn't help but read it as the game imparting something about how much growing up sucks, and how much that's just a part of life. Your parents will die, your neighbors are ignorant, work sucks and you'll probably mess it up anyway. Get over it. 

I even got this impression coming from the game's own upgrade systems. Both Lucas and another party member Kumatora can learn PSI abilities, which are basically the game's magic spells. When Lucas or Kumatora gets strong enough to learn a new PSI ability, they break out in an uncontrollable fever, a status effect that limits your ability to do certain things like sprinting. Until that fever breaks, you have to slowly walk everywhere. 

It doesn't really add anything to the experience. It doesn't make the game more fun, or more exciting. It's just one of those annoying things you have to put up with, because again, that's life, kid. Sometimes you get sick and you just can't move very fast.

The overall vibe of cynicism gets even worse as you start encountering Mother 3's handful of references to Earthbound. Mother 3 may go out of its way to forge a narrative separate from Earthbound, but there are definitely more than a few scenes referencing special moments from that game, and at least to me, all of them felt extremely pandering. It was as if Mother 3 was beating me over the head, jumping up and down shouting, "It's that thing you remember! Do you remember? Remember Earthbound? Look, we can do that thing too!" 

The further you progress in the game, the more these references change from feeling pandering to almost being mocking. It's eventually revealed that the game's true antagonist, and the man giving orders to Fassad, is Porky, the mean little rich kid from Earthbound. Porky has now become a man who seemingly lives in the past, having constructed multiple shrines of mementos from his adventures battling Ness and friends in the previous game. The ultimate version of this is his monument to nostalgia, New Pork City, the final area of Mother 3. 

It's effectively one gigantic theme park patterned after the major locales of Earthbound, all focused around celebrating how great Porky was back then, and how great he apparently still is.

And again, it felt unnecessarily angry. Just like how Fassad conquered and spoiled the idyllic village of Tazmily, Porky had taken ownership over Earthbound nostalgia and made it feel dirty. It felt like Mother 3, a game that went out of its way to be so different from Earthbound, sometimes almost shockingly so, was now spitting directly in my face. Porky, the ultimate obnoxious loser who just won't go away, refuses to let go of Earthbound. And you don't want to be like Porky, do you? 

It started to feel insulting. Several times over the course of playing Mother 3, I was considering quitting the game and never looking back because it seemed to be going out of its way to twist the knife. Was Mother 3 somehow bitter about Earthbound's legacy? 

Again, I had done my absolute best to avoid spoilers. Blocking Mother-related tags on social media was just the first step. In general, when Mother 3 came up in casual conversations I was privy to, I would quietly excuse myself and find somewhere else to be until I was sure they had changed subjects.

There has been a degree of "spoiler culture" discourse in recent years. Some claim it's a marketing tactic. Marvel movies only make you care so much about spoilers because that's how they get butts in seats on opening weekend. I don't know about that -- I've cared about spoilers my entire life, and I know I'm not alone. The pilot episode of the seminal sitcom Seinfeld ends with Jerry trying to avoid spoilers for a Mets baseball game that he recorded. And that was 1989. It's been a valid concern for much longer than any notion of a summer blockbuster movie.

Simply put, surprises are better when they are surprising. That doesn't mean you necessarily have to like surprises, but I think you'd have to be a pretty sad sack to go out of your way to ruin a surprise for someone else. For people who aren't curmudgeons about it, there are few things better in life than a nice surprise. Something unexpected like that could make a person's whole day, if not their whole week.

If modern movie culture has done anything, it's made people unable to keep spoilers to themselves. Blocking social media terms will only get you so far. When an artist posts a piece of fan art or friends share memes and they don't include any text, then there's nothing for the blocking algorithm to detect. And when a conversation starts with spoilers, there's simply no time to avoid the landmine -- which, to be fair, was the final punchline Jerry suffered in the Seinfeld pilot, as his neighbor Kramer blurted out the results of the game before Jerry had a chance to protest.  

Many of Mother 3's biggest mysteries were spoiled well in advance of me ever actually playing the game. The biggest one being the reveal of the mastermind behind the game's Pigmask Army, the aforementioned Porky Minch. Mother 3 goes to great lengths to tease this mystery out across its entire 30 hour run time, dropping major hints as you pass the halfway point. 

And then Porky, in his Mother 3 form, cameos as an early boss battle in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, one of the ten best selling games on the Nintendo Wii. Thanks to director Masahiro Sakurai, more people know who the final boss of Mother 3 is than have actually played Mother 3 (or, let's be honest, will ever play Mother 3). 

This is why I freely mentioned Porky earlier, because if anyone knows anything about Mother 3 at this point, it's that Porky is the primary villain. The same goes for New Pork City, which was a prominent arena in Smash Bros.

In a roundabout way, Smash Bros. was also responsible for the other major Mother 3 spoiler I bore witness to; Mother 3 pixel artwork ended up being used in other Smash Bros. games over the years, including artwork of other characters with secret identities. That hasn't stopped a number of Smash Bros. fans from casually name-dropping the true, unmasked identity of this character online. I may have avoided conversations about Mother 3, but the tendrils of these spoilers extended far beyond its humble borders. Sometimes, you just can't escape it.

This is not me drumming up any sort of "woe is me" sympathy, mind you. But ultimately, it did have an effect on me. In most of Mother 3's cutscenes, I was waiting for the big reveals I knew were coming. Expectation is everything, and when you're watching every cutscene through a microscope, it changes how you see things. There's the old adage about being so focused on one tree that you miss seeing the rest of the forest, but imagine you're so zoomed in you can't even see the one tree, and you're just kind of... stuck there.

I often wondered if my general frustration with Mother 3's aggressive tone was related to the fact I knew some of its biggest late game emotional beats 30 hours in advance. 

Would its numerous Earthbound references still feel so patronizing if I didn't know what was coming? Or would all of its cute little surprises and shocking revelations make for a more enjoyable game over the long term?

Maybe the whole thing started off on the wrong foot in general. It's definitely a choice to play a game about characters processing the death of their mother while you yourself are processing the death of your mother. Characters in the game itself get bitter about this, so doesn't it make sense that I would be, too? Again, expectation is everything, and sometimes you just wake up on the wrong side of the bed. It could have just been a bad time in my life to experience this story.

And to some degree that's true, because the thing about Mother 3 is that I just didn't get it for the longest time.

Despite a big rant about spoiler culture just now, I can't talk about this without spoiling Mother 3's last big secret, because it turns out to be central to the game's entire theme. However, in my defense, I am giving you a big warning: If you've somehow read this far and still care about preserving the game's final mystery (and parts of the ending to Earthbound, too), this is your signal to turn back now. 

Okay. Ready?

So while the people of Tazmily are comfortable and protective of their newly developed suburban lifestyle, past the game's halfway point they all start talking about a far off land: the big city. It's a place where dreams are made, or so they're told. And as Mother 3 starts down its home stretch, Lucas and friends return to find Tazmily deserted. Everyone who's anyone has left for New Pork City. 

The reality of New Pork City is a lot more depressing than the dream, but then it always would be. The residents of Tazmily find it more trashy than cool. A lot of the theme park rides are broken, and those that still function are kind of dangerous. There's even open sewer vents leaking noxious gasses. And at the center of it all stands the massive Empire Porky Building.

Lucas and his friends are only allowed into the building when the time is right. Until then, you have to wander around New Pork City and explore. 

Those open vents turn out to be an invitation to enter the sewer when Lucas's dog, Boney, becomes lost. Reuniting with Boney leads you to discover a secret entrance to the less glamorous parts of New Pork City, and you find yourself in an old, run down apartment complex. Though the hall is strewn with trash and grime, at the very end you find an apartment belonging to a strange man named Leder. 

You initially meet Leder very early in the game. He's an older resident of Tazmily known for being unnaturally tall -- well over four times taller than most characters in the game. And to most people living in Tazmily, Leder is known to never speak. His only job is acting as a human watch tower, armed with a bell to be rung when there is danger. 

Leder's apartment in New Pork City is reasonably sized for a single person, with two floors, but for a man of his stature, Leder makes the space look tiny. However, by climbing up to the second floor, Lucas can now finally talk to Leder face to face for the first time. As it turns out, Leder can talk, but by being so tall, most people couldn't hear him. Not that it mattered much, given Leder had taken a vow of silence in order to protect the true origin of Tazmily Village. Given the circumstances, and considering Lucas is old enough now, Leder believes it is finally time to learn the truth.

The truth being that despite Mother 3's outward appearance of taking place in a fantasy land full of dragons and chimera, it is in fact a distant future earth. Or, well... what's left of it. 

According to Leder's retelling, after bracing itself for the apocalypse, humanity finally found itself at the end of the world as we know it. Facing mutually assured extinction, a select group of individuals boarded something known as "The White Ship" and traveled to the furthest, most secretive location on earth in order to escape destruction. Once they arrived at this mysterious island, those people used a device to erase the memories of their past lives. 

The idea was to start over from scratch, free from the bonds that lead to the destruction of the old world. And so, the simple farming village of Tazmily was born. It is very likely that Lucas is one of the first generation of people born and raised in Tazmily.

For years, Leder not only kept watch over Tazmily Village, but over its people, as well. Entrusted as one of the only people who knew the truth.

Tazmily Village was a success. Its people lived in peace and prosperity, free from greed and power. However, one day, a man named Porky appeared. Porky was not from this world -- not from the old world, and not a part of this new one, either. Using the Phase Distortion machine from the end of Earthbound, Porky had been carving a swath of chaos through all of time and space. Having been defeated and ejected from pretty much every other reality, Porky eventually found himself here: the last, most defenseless place on the timeline. 

With nobody around to tell him no, Porky set about treating the island like his own personal playground. He used the Phase Distortion Machine to pull in creatures from alternate dimensions, he used forbidden science to establish an army and build factories. And, once Porky became aware of Tazmily and the truth of "The White Ship", he made it one of his goals to restore their memories and further exploit their desires.

Leder's story recontextualizes all of Mother 3. It's not a game about people being corrupted by modern society; instead, it's a game about people being unable to escape it. That, despite their best efforts to run away from it, forget about it, and start over, who they are still catches up to them. When the residents of Tazmily brand Lucas as a traitor, they aren't doing it drunk on their shiny new toys, it's more that their old habits are re-asserting themselves. Not a people being corrupted, but a people who simply had their existing nature freed. Human beings acting like human beings.

This recontextualizes Porky's role in the story, too. More than being the harbinger of nostalgia, Porky takes advantage of Tazmily's amnesia to rewrite history to his benefit. His shrines to Earthbound memorabilia are less about making us remember what happened in the previous game and more about establishing his version of events, where he can refer to Ness, Paula, Jeff and Poo as his "precious friends" instead of what they actually were: the band of kids that stopped him from bringing about the eradication of the known universe. 

Instead of shunning the past, Mother 3 is telling us that not only is running away from our history impossible, but in trying to do so, we open ourselves up to an even worse and easily exploitable weakness where guys like Porky get to catalyze their twisted version of history. Only by moving forward, unafraid, with courage and the full knowledge of where we came from, can we create a truly better world. We cannot bury who we used to be; we must accept and grow beyond it. 

There is no stronger denouement to this ideal than the game's very, very end. 

All throughout the game, Lucas has dealt with two of Porky's highest ranking officers. The first one being Fassad, who brings commerce and greed to the people of Tazmily. The other one, someone I haven't really mentioned until now, is only known as "The Masked Man." Mother 3 pits The Masked Man against Lucas as sort of a rival -- he's one of the small handful of humans you meet able to use PSI abilities, and most of them are identical to what Lucas can do.

In the lead up to actually meeting Porky in the flesh for the first time, Lucas finally catches up with his dad, Flint. Lucas hasn't seen his father in years, not since the incident after their mother's funeral that broke up their family. And yet Mother 3 treats his reappearance as strangely casual. There's no big, emotional reunion. Flint and Lucas barely even acknowledge it. Flint is just here now, another NPC milling about with the residents of Tazmily.

On the way to the final showdown, Flint will suddenly ask you to stay behind. He plans to face Porky alone. 

And this is probably supposed to raise all kinds of strange questions. Could Flint be the Masked Man? After all, if Lucas has PSI abilities, maybe that's a trait that runs in the family. Maybe he inherited it from Flint, and that's why The Masked Man has all the same abilities. 

But just one or two rooms later, you find Flint completely laid out. He faced Porky and The Masked Man and came away defeated. It now falls on Lucas and his friends to stop them. Before Lucas leaves, Flint offers one more piece of information for us: The Masked Man, the rival Lucas has faced almost the entire game, is actually his twin brother, Claus. 

Once Porky is successfully dealt with, the final battle of Mother 3 comes down to brother versus brother. Claus, the boy who ran from his tragedy, and Lucas, the hero, the boy who became a stronger person by overcoming that tragedy.

That's it. That's everything Mother 3 is trying to say. It doesn't get much clearer than that.

Watching the credits roll, I couldn't help but think back to earlier in the game. There I was, having just arrived in New Pork City, and I was talking to my friends about how it had taken me close to three years to finish Mother 3. I'd only play the game in fits and starts because I didn't really like it, but I was forcing myself through it anyway. 

One friend told me, "If you haven't enjoyed the first 25 hours, then it's not like the last five or ten is going to change your mind." 

It really cannot be understated how talking to Leder completely rewrote my entire perspective on this game. But then you also have to wonder: how many more people were in the same boat I was and didn't keep going? People who got fed up with feeling like the game was bitter and patronizing and just gave up? 

I knew there must have been something special in this game. You have to figure that, given the circumstances (sequel to a 10+ year old RPG, only released in Japan), total lifetime sales figures for Mother 3 are probably under five million copies. Probably under two million, if I'm being honest. That's still in the realm of success, especially for 2006, but Nintendo is also a company that deals in games with 20 million, 40 million, even 60 and 80 million plus sales. Mother 3 is some very small potatoes for them. 

Despite such a comparatively modest success, Mother 3's influence feels hard to ignore. From fueling skits on Robot Chicken to Adventure Time and Undertale's whole... everything, Mother 3 (and the wider franchise as a whole) is extremely beloved by many, even if it doesn't do record breaking sales numbers. 

And that's before you figure in the whole fan translation angle, too. Everything about Mother 3 screams something that should be niche, and yet it's downright prolific.

It demanded more respect than giving up before seeing the credits roll. If I had quit upon reaching New Pork City, I would have missed this game's whole redemption arc. 

I suppose, then, that just makes this the chronicle of a long, difficult, emotional journey. One I originally felt like I needed to do more than I actually wanted to. That in itself is just another one of those many things adults just have to deal with, right? That's in keeping with the themes of the game.

And, ultimately, there is light at the end of this tunnel. I guess it's not really about charging forward with courage, it's more that as long as you hold on to yourself, everything will be okay. Everyone has their tragedies. But closing yourself off from tragedy or running away from it isn't going to fix you. Your love is what will save you. 

The love you share with family. The love you share with friends. The love you share with the world. 

Love meant Flint never gave up trying to save Claus, even as that same boy tried to kill him. 

Love led Kumatora, Duster and Boney to stay with Lucas no matter how strange or frightening things became. Together, they faced deadly mutants, the darkest hallucinations, and even had to contend with the possibility that all human life on their planet might cease to exist.

Love was Lucas never abandoning the people of Tazmily, even as they shunned him. 

Love will provide you with a strength beyond anything else in this universe. No matter how much adult life beats you down, love will always be the single greatest and most simple thing we all have. Rich or poor, old or young, love is the power that binds us all. It deserves to be cultivated, protected, and celebrated. Love heals all. Without it, we cease to be human. And believing in love is what takes the most courage.

But only through love can we find the way forward.

[yanderes-galore]

Yandere concept for Sans Undertale with Broken! Darling? I really love you writing and thank you for your hard work!!

Ooo~ I see you've given me more angst material. This may be short... but I hope it's an idea that's intriguing >:) I'm happy you enjoy my work, people like you are the reason I write.

Yandere! Sans The Skeleton with Broken! Darling

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Kidnapping, Denial, Manipulation, Mind break (Darling), Dark themes, Trauma implied, Dissociation implied, Stockholm syndrome implied, Guilt, Forced relationship/companionship.

I'm going to be honest, if Sans broke his darling it could go one of two ways.

You reciprocate... or become a husk of your former self.

The second option would be the one to break him too.

Sans himself is already under a ton of mental strain.

RESETS are a big cause of this.

Normally, Sans wouldn't get to this point.

His obsession over you normally doesn't result in kidnapping.

Although... I suppose it could if the normally laid-back skeleton managed to snap.

Even then, due to his nature he plays it off when he first brings you home.

It's eerie how casual he is with it, admitting that you now live with him and the doors are blocked off by bones....

Despite his laid-back nature, that does nothing to ease your mental state.

In fact it may make it worse.

First of all, you can just tell something deep in Sans changed to cause him to do this.

He's once again masking his true emotions about you, always trying to distract you from the fact he kidnapped you.

This works for either intention he has.

He just can't deal with only watching anymore.... he just had to have you.

Which eventually leads to your slow mental decline and break-down.

To get to such a point you'd have to go through a lot.

Several escape attempts... a ton of pleading... the isolation of it all....

For you to break you'd have to feel helpless.

Considering how powerful Sans really is, there's a good chance you aren't leaving if he doesn't want you to.

I personally feel Sans would feel bad and try to work things out before you get to such a point.

However... maybe things go too far.

Maybe Sans accidentally breaks his dearest.

Eventually they'll realize that escape isn't happening.

Not unless he allows it.

Such a thought may be enough to break you since Sans also dislikes punishment.

Soon you'll just... give up.

It really isn't worth it anymore, is it?

Isn't accepting your fate better?

Maybe then you can go outside.

Now, if you break and end up reciprocating, Sans is guilty but pleased.

He feels bad since he knows what was done to get you to this point.

Although, he tries to ignore such thoughts by distracting himself with you.

After all... now you love him, right?

The love may be artificial and not genuine... but perhaps it can be enough to soothe his own pain.

Then there's the opposite, you break and just... aren't you.

You're a shell of your formal self, you're there physically... not mentally.

You can no longer cope with this stress, soon Sans realizes this when it's too late.

You're like a living doll.

He can feed you, hold you... but you won't speak.

You're both you... and not you.

This would break Sans as he knows he's lost you.

There's no coming back from this, it becomes the only time he wishes for a RESET.

After all... then he could have you back.

This outcome he'd regret much more.

For him... this may be worse than you dying.

This second outcome is a constant reminder of what he's done...

Leading him to keep such a memory forever, even after a RESET if it ever happens.

[dragonridernoobie]

Inspiration has struck again! Okay so, ya know Clementine from the walking dead game?(if you haven’t played it I highly recommend it, make sure you start at season 1) okay so I’m specifically looking for a season 2 Clementine with a mix of season 4, okay so reader is badass, protective, dangerous(oooooo), and grew up in another universe separate from the bots and kids where a zombie apocalypse has occurred! She tries her best to protect the kids while she’s stuck in their world, looking for this other kid she’s was taking care of as well, and I kinda wanna see how she would react to first meeting the bots? I think she’d try and shoot them or attack them if they were in their holoforms, if it was Raf she’d probably try to protect him as she seems to have a soft spot for younger kids and he reminds her of the kid she was protecting- and I’m rambling:,) sorry! Anyways, this request is for Optimus, Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Wheeljack! If you don’t know much about Clementine look up some videos of her! She is awesome and I love her! Oh and she has no hesitation to kill.

(Just a warning I may request something similar to this in the future:,) I have a problem😔)

Thank you! *virtual Head pats*(if okay ofc)

P.S. Feel free to take any creative ideas you have that would fit to the personality I described and add it, I really just enjoy seeing what you come up with

Okay, so first thing fist, I don't know shit about the walking dead. Like, I was never into that stuff because i wasn't interested in it. (I was more into transformers, undertale, and tmnt at the time). But I will try my best, so thank you from the bottom of my heart that you tell me her personality. (I suck at reasurch), but I will try my best. Hope you enjoy it.

Transformers X Zombie Survival Reader

Optimus

When optimus met (Y/N) it was by accident.

Optimus was trying to stop the decepticons from getting a new artifact but when it activated, it and the next thing he sees is a human, in torn up clothes, has a few weapons, including the crossbow they where holding

The human looks between optimus and the decepticons.

After a silent moment, the human quickly throws some things on the ground and soon sparks start to fly.

It blinds them and the human takes their chance to run.

When optimus saw this, he ran after them.

Soo. He found them and told them he ment no harm and he needed to get them out of here.

Let's say (Y/N) dident trust him and yelled at him. Saying that they won't be tricked by a zombie cybertronian!

He was very confused but explained he was not a zombie.

Once he gained their trust, he brought them to the base.

They immediately took responsibility to protect the kids.

They also explained to the team about their world.

They felt terrible for them and told them that they welcomed to stay.

They told them they would rather return to their world since their jack, miko, and Ralphal are still alive and needed their help.

The team then decided to help them home.

Ratchet

When ratchet met (Y/N) it was by accident.

He was alone at base, fixing the land bridge.

When suddenly it malfunctions and causes a explosion.

When the smoke cleared, he is met face to face with a human.

This human was in army clothes, had weapons on their back, and they where holding a crossbow.

After a silent moment of looking at eachother, the human says his name in a whisper.

He told them how they got here.

(Y/N) explained that they where from a diffrent universe where planet earth has become a waste land and there is zombies.

They cried and huge ratchet.

Since ratchet was dead in their universe.

Poor ratchet dude, he had to explain to the team how a new human has been brought to the base

And that it was his fault.

(Y/N) took their role as the kids portecter.

When ratchrt offer to send them back, (Y/N) told them that there was no point of returning home.

Earth of her universe was dead. The autobots are no more, the kids are dead, and the decepticons are all zombies.

They welcome (Y/N) with open arms.

Wheeljack

Wheeljack was flying in his ship when he came across a black hole.

He accidentally got to close and was sucked in.

He found himself in another world.

It was earth but not.

That's when he met (Y/N).

He tried to go into a military base to steal something but came across (Y/N) who attacked him, thinking that he was a zombie.

When wheeljack explained that he wasent a zombie, he took this chance to look over (Y/N).

That's when he noticed how they where dressed.

Crossbow, guns, army clothes, coverd in dirt.

He asked what happened and (Y/N) explained that the decepticons realized a new weapon.

It caused everything alive, including cybertronians, to become zombies.

They where currently the only human alive that (Y/N) believes.

She helps wheeljack to fix his ship, in return he brings her to his world since there's nothing left for them here

He agrees.

After they return to his world, he interduce them to the autobot teams

Wheeljack has a new space traveling buddy.

Bumblebee

Bumblebee met (Y/N) when he was fighting Soundwave.

Soundwave opened 2 portals next to Bumblebee and sent him to another dimension.

That's when he met himself but as a zombie.

Bumblebee ran for his life, fighting for his life and soon found some shelter.

That's when he met (Y/N)

He beeped at them, trying to tell them he wasent a zombie.

Thankfully (Y/N) understood him.

They explained what happened and that the kids, autobots, decepticons, and life on earth are all gone.

Bumblebee felt bad, but offered to bring them back to his world.

(Y/N) was super happy and agreed.

They took him to the now abandoned autobot base and showed them the still intact ground bridge.

When he activated it, he wen thru with (Y/N).

The team was so happy to see him again and welcomed (Y/N) with open arms.

The kids loved (Y/N) and (Y/N) was so happy to see the kids again.

(Y/N) told optimus that they where so happy to see him again.

Since in their world, optimus went missing.

He told them that he is happy that he has a new friend and teammate.