#stringcutter route

[sharedcontrolau]

Final Battle with Extra Boss forcing Plsyer to fight against the Fun Gang, and a new attack is in Player’s menu. Red String.

Extra Boss keeps telling Player things like, “you’ve come this far, what’s a few more?”, until Player is finally pushed over the edge and uses the new move. Red strings fall out of the sky, some lifting Extra Boss into the air, and others ripping and tearing and skewering them. Was that their intended target? No one knows, least of all Player.

Player refuses to speak for the rest of their time in the Dark World.

[sharedcontrolau]

👀👀👀👀👀👀

Prologue

Heres a quick prologue, as I’m still working on the first real chapter and to introduce the series! (Clarifications/ side au, 1- Player has a physical form, like a replica from kingdom hearts 2- Player died just like the other SOULS. 3-also Kris, Susie, Ralsei, and Noelle are the main adventure team.

Pronouns: Kris- he/they Player: they/them Susie: she/her Ralsei: He/him Noelle: she/her. I would make Player and Kris both go by they/them but it would be really confusing to me when they interact, Im stupid, sorry.)

Guide: Author note, character thoughts, change of pov or character focus/ place

3rd person

Kris awoke from their sleepover with Susie. They rubbed their eyes and sat up. Their sight adjusted to their surroundings. (Google pictures of dark academia aesthetic for better image of Player’s dark world.) It looked like their siblings, Frisk’s heaven. It was night, and Kris was in a white rose garden in a castle courtyard. Kris stopped admiring the garden. Wait-I’m not at home! This was indeed not Kris’s house. They looked to their hand. The red sword they hadn’t seen in forever was in their hand.

My...sword? My dark world sword? And wait my skin! Kris looked at their hands. Kris was in the dark world, in a new fountain. Maybe we went to school and I forgot? Well, Susie might remember....I should go find her. Kris wandered around the garden with no sign of Susie. Before they knew it, they were at the entrance to a building. Well, maybe Susies in here. I haven’t heard from sib in a while though....maybe they’re just sleeping!

As Kris entered the castle, they heard crashing that broke the silence.

inspired/original au: @sharedcontrolau

[isuggestwishcraft]

What if kris was turned into a lost soul like how everyone was in the fight with asriel dreamurr. What you do you think would be Kris’s save options/flavor text? (note the player is the one trying to save them)

Anon, my friend, my fella, my bestie of besties, I think you're forgetting a very large inconvenience: I'm not author of this au.

As much as dear @sharedcontrolau lets me somewhat co-supervise over these things, and adopts my headcanons (such as Kris calling Player "sib"), it's still their au to toy with. I'm a mare writer that got Really Excited over this idea. I cannot declare what is canon and what not......

But I sure as FUCK can speculate!!

Okay, so. I hope you are aware that I'm a big sucker for mechanics, attacks, special abilities and whatnot; more specifically, how it reflects the state of the person and their story, fears, likes, etc.

Kris is a REALLY fucked up kid. Not on purpose, but a bit of a "mentally ill" nevertheless. Living with monsters and never seeing other fellow human exept on pictures can give you anxiety and insecurity about your person, who would've thought

Let's move a bit forward. To the first Kris & Player meeting, giving them one HELL of a spook, in my fics. Paranoia spark, existential fear of being not in control enough or at all. Despite the fact that it never really lived past that, never burned bright for long, it still was and IS a very memorable experience, in my option

If it's post- whatever-the-hell was the deal with Spamton, and perhaps even post-stringcutter rote, the trauma is ✨sparkling✨. They might be VERY in tune with Player 9 times out of 10, but seeing your sibling as an allegory to the Puppeteer of that caboose and just generally a murder machine they're DEFINITELY can become- it might leave some scars. It might leave some fears

It might leave some doubts

If Kris becomes a lost souls, this all will bloom so hard it's ridiculous. They're not JUST shrugging words off, they're Accusing Player of their misshaps. Who else would know enough about you than the very person you shared a body with?

They WILL use their knowledge against their sibling. Their demotivating speech WILL hit HARD and way too close to home. They WILL remind Player that they're a Failure in stringcutter route if they craved in to the whims of Secret Boss, and that one would blast Player straight into fucking oblivion, cuz DAMN they're weak on this front

Kris is a hard opponent....

But they are also very, very scared.

They're scared of implications. Of not knowing where the truth lies, where dream ends and nightmare begins. They're scared of not understanding how to help their obviously hurt and broken sibling, not understanding how to turn everything back to... Normal

So, the way to save them is giving them comfort, no matter how many times they'll deflect it. There would be a crack, after n-th try, where they'll start to cry, when they start to actually hear what Player has to say. There would be words, retelling memories. There would be hugs, deepening the break

There would be smiles through tears, and the stream of "sorry"s that might flood the world

And then, they'll be alright.

[sharedcontrolau]

Don’t imagine that some time after the Stringcutter Route, Kris trips, and Player catches them with their strings. Cue Player freaking out and trying to rip the strings off them.

[sharedcontrolau]

Ralsei keeping his distance from Player after the stringcutter route would probably splinter the Fun Gang.

Kris would be very defensive of their sibling after the incident, starting arguments and getting frustrated with Ralsei for being upset that Player isn't the grand infallible entity he expected them to be.

Ralsei, on the other hand, can't look at Player without seeing the limp, lifeless bodies of innocent darkners. They of all people should know about the importance of sparing darkners. Yes, they were in a bad spot, but they should have at least refused or protested more! They have so much power at their command, and they never use it for the betterment of the future!

Susie and Noelle don't know how to proceed (heh) about this situation. On one hand, Player did a bunch of fucked up stuff. They killed a bunch of innocents and almost killed Ralsei before Kris managed to talk sense into them (heated argument that was not helped by Player's broken mental psyche). On the other hand, they were manipulated into doing those acts by the Bosses. It wasn't entirely their fault. Kris and Ralsei are at each other's throats, arguing about the incident. They just want it all to go back to the way it was before.

Player is feeling so much worse than before their adventure in their own Dark World. They've failed Ralsei. He's arguing with Kris almost everytime they see each other, because of <i> them </i>. They don't- they don't deserve Kris. Not after what they did.

I could definitely see Kris being a lot more protective of Player following the events of the Stringcutter Route. They don’t want to fight with their friends over this, but Ralsei acting like it was completely Player’s fault and all those lives meant nothing to them just manages to get under Kris’s skin in a very special way. Player is a teenager like the rest of them, a kid who wasn’t in a good mental state and the Extra and Final Bosses took advantage of that.

Ralsei is the absolute worst person for Player to be around unattended right now. It’s either him glaring daggers or telling Player they should have known better. It’s not doing them any good, Player knows it was their fault, but they want to help and make things better, but they don’t know how. They’ve completely lost control of how they view themself, and they don’t know how to get it back.

Susie and Noelle don’t know the best way to go about this, but they try to treat Player as normally as they can. They don’t fight about Player’s actions, and invite them along on things. Noelle knows how difficult it is to function when your family is in shambles, so she tries to create some kind of stability. Susie tells Player how it is, that while they did some fucked up things, it wasn’t done out of their own free will. Susie is still their friend, and she’ll be there to help them move forward.

But Player doesn’t know what forward means anymore. They’ve completely destroyed one of their friend’s trust in them, and might just destroy Ralsei’s and Kris’s friendship. Hundreds of lives were gone an instant because of them, people with homes and friends and families. No matter what Kris says, they don’t deserve forgiveness. They don’t deserve to be redeemed.

[sharedcontrolau]

Thinking about pacifist Stringcutter route.

Player ultimately decides to trust their gut, and just spares the enemies instead of cutting their strings.

They make a friend or two along the way, and then they join the party. Said friend (s) listen to Player and help them regain control of their self image. Player still has a long way to go, but it’s a start.

Also, I like the idea of Kris hugging them once they find Player again

[sharedcontrolau]

okay but like i am having ideas about the player snowgrave route

extra boss guy convinces them to cut the strings of the darkners they encounter. player is worried at first, remembering what happened to spamton after his strings were cut, but bossman takes them away before they collapse. see? theyre fine, they say, making sure player doesnt look back to see their goons taking the limp bodies away. player only sees the brief moment of freedom and happiness the darkners have before they cannot keep themselves up anymore. was spamton just an outlier then? an exception, when cutting the strings of the darkners is actually beneficial? soon enough, theyre cutting strings with wild abandon, sort of at ease with their previous dilemma. theyre doing something right! they arent just an otherworldly entity forcing someone to do what they want! theyre freeing darkners from their puppeteer, like the hero they’re supposed to be!

the fun gang arrive in a world half decimated by their once-protector. kris is frantic, trying to find their sibling. they ask a darkner for directions. it points them in a direction and gives them a warning: beware the string cutters, for they will leave you without anything to support yourself with, and discards you without a second thought. this is actually serious, they realize. player could be getting themselves hurt trying to stop these string cutters, so they race off to find them.

player’s hands tremble as they stand before the fun gang. ‘strike them down’ , their guide says. ‘theyre blocking your way and preventing you from freeing the people here. are you going to let a few familiar faces stop you from being a hero?’

kris begs for player to stop listening, cant they see that theyre being manipulated? susie yells at them to pull their head out of their ass- they messed up big time, sure, but they know player isnt like that, theyre their fourth member. their best friend. ralsei stays quiet, but his judging stare is enough to make them drop their staff.

they drop to their knees, unwilling to fight the children they swore to protect.

Player probably needs the Sharp Scissors (+15AT, “a light touch is enough to draw blood”), then the Silver Shears (+30AT, “even the light reflecting off is stings”)

Player probably has moments where their mental health is beginning to take obvious hits, crying and having panic attacks the further down the route they go.

Kris is enraged once they realize what exactly these people have been doing to Player and the Extra Boss comments on this, “what’s with that face, kid? You look like you want me dead.” It’s ultimately Kris who finally breaks through to Player:

Back at home, Player breaks down, crying that they fucked up so hard and hurt so many people. Susie’s like “I’m not going lie, you did. But those two, especially that Extra Boss guy, they saw you weren’t doing well. And they took advantage of that. So don’t go acting like you’re the only one that deserves to be blamed.”

Player tries to recover the best they can. Ralsei doesn’t seem to trust them again, and that’s fair, they earned that. They’re honestly not sure of going back to a previous save point is the right thing to do. They didn’t deserve to die, and Player doesn’t deserve to walk away with no consequences

[sharedcontrolau]

kris, at how player acts towards th extra boss: "i can fix them" YOU DONT HAVE TO. THIS ISNT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AND YOU DESERVE BETTER. GET TF OVER HERE WERE HAVING HOT CHOCOLATE

*I know you love helping people, but it’s not and shouldn’t be your responsibility to help everybody. People can’t improve unless they want to, and you’ve done everything you could. C’mon, we’re going home

[sharedcontrolau]

I like Ralsei. I think he’s cute and sweet and a pleasure to be around in the game.

But he would be the absolute worst person for Player to be around unattended during or after the stringcutter route, especially if he sees them as more of a perfect being than an actual person.

[sharedcontrolau]

Angst. After Stringcutter route, Kris + fun gang discover that Player has developed Linonophobia; fear of strings.

(I'm so sorry Player ily)

Oh, absolutely

Just bringing up strings or puppets or Spamton is enough to put them extremely on edge.

[sharedcontrolau]

imagine that in th stringcutter route theres a bunch of cuts on players hands from mishandling the scissors accidentally-

Player hides their hands almost all the time following the Stringcutter route. Stuffing them in their pockets, holding them behind their back, you name it.

Player keeps having breakdowns whenever they see their scars. Noelle or Susie or Kris gets them a pair of gloves to help this problem.

[sharedcontrolau]

The items Player needs to move forward with Stringcutter Route should have a high attack. Player’s own stats are reasonably high, so pair those two factors together, and the people of this world never stood a chance.

And that isn’t doing Player’s mental health any favors, especially during the moments of clarity, until Extra Boss forces them back into the delusion they’re helping

[sharedcontrolau]

Player after the Stringcutter Route: welp, time to shove all of that deep down and never talk about any of it to another living being for the rest of my existence! :)

[sharedcontrolau]

I don’t wanna copy the Snowgrave route event by event, but wouldn’t it be funky fresh if Extra Boss more or less forced Player to steal scissors from one of the dead Darkner’s houses?

[sharedcontrolau]

Hear me out- I’m making multiple endings to each major chapter and the end of the story in general, what if in one of them Kris actually murders final boss?

Extra Boss takes away Player’s ability to act like what Asgore does with the spare option, so they have no chance but to fight.

Player clearly doesn’t want to, but there’s no other way to go about the battle. But before they can land the final hit, Kris does it instead. They can at least keep Player from adding this to their guilt

[sharedcontrolau]

first things first, route name, stringcutter route, second things second, i feel like in th whole aborted stringcutter route th final boss wld prolly use that whole fiasco against player, and player just completely freezes up, mortified. kris is abt to kill someone

Absolutely!

“i didn’t want to that! i-i don’t wanna hurt anyone!”

“And yet You did. Odd. how Much longer Do you Think you Will be To fool Those around You???”

“i…”

Kris is about to commit first degree murder if the Final Boss doesn’t shut up