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haveyouseenthisskeleton · 1 year ago

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Can I have jealous Skellies??

So, s/o have a friend who always flirt with them, BUT, the skellies and s/o are not together

The question is: would them tell s/o about their feelings in the end??

Sorry for my English, I suck in writing, but I'm trying to be better in it

Undertale Sans - Sadly, he's not a very brave skeleton and he prefers to give up. So either you tell him or that will never go further. He tends to give up easily when there's difficulty on the way. But he will be very glad to know your feelings are the same though.

Undertale Papyrus - He would. Scream his feelings. While your friend is flirting with you. Because he can't take it anymore and your friend doesn't get the message when he tries not so discreetly to have alone time with you. Now you know. And they know. Ok, maybe he was a bit too fast with this, but he's impulsive sometimes.

Underswap Sans - He's maaaaaad. He's so jealous he's vibrating. He's good at charming people but he's not very good at telling them what he thinks. He prepares his confession long ago but every time he tries, your stupid friend gets in the way. So yeah, he might have break his car so you don't show up one day so he can confess to you lol. He regrets it. ... No, actually. He really doesn't.

Underswap Papyrus - He's devastated honestly. He's too shy to show he exists and that he has feelings so he's just.... Staying there. Looking at your friend flirt with you. Slowly dying inside. He's not even sure you like him back so he's resigned to just watch you fall in love with your friend. That's it until Blue notices and breaks your friend's car, and then locks you two into his house so Honey has nothing to do but talk to you lol.

Underfell Sans - He's definitely going to threaten your friend as soon as you're not looking. Red is very jealous and exclusive, and he really doesn't like how your friend is clearly seeing how he feels but still trying their chance. They might fight in the mud if it escalates further. Red is not really good at the confess thingy so it's the only way he knows to show you he cares.

Underfell Papyrus - Your friend keeps taunting him, but that's fine. When you're not here and your friend tries to tease him about how they're not going to give him any chance, Edge just laughs at him and says with a very condescending tone that they're clearly not playing in the same court, which makes your friend gasp in offense. Edge doesn't see your friend as a menace at all. He just waits for the good moment to tell you how he feels and watches your friend die inside.

Horrortale Sans - If he has feelings, he says it out of nowhere in the middle of a random conversation. Oak doesn't really care about your friend, chances are he didn't even notice they're flirting with you because he was too focus on you. Bonus point if it happens while your friend is flirting with you lol. He doesn't care at all.

Horrortale Papyrus - He can't rival your friend :( He knows he's not a gift with all his problems and maybe it's better if he buries his feelings for you and lets you have your fun with your friend. He doesn't want to be a burden. He's too full of insecurities to take the first step. He's too old for this :( Make the first step, please, he thinks he's not worthy.

Swapfell Sans - If you know Now a little, you can tell how annoyed he is about your friend. He answers only with short answers, his eyes are throwing daggers and he's trying all he can to make your friend understand he should leave now, getting more and more ironic and mean as the minutes pass. He wants to confess, he really wants to confess, but right now he's going to explode if your friend doesn't get the message soon. He's steaming.

Swapfell Papyrus - Oh, it's fine. Since your friend doesn't get the message, he starts to flirt with your friend very insistently until they get uncomfortable and leave earlier lol. Rus has no shame, and he's quite proud of himself. Now he can finally have some alone time with you. He's not good at confession though, but he needs a little more time for this.

Fellswap Gold Sans - Oh, he doesn't care. Wine is a big tsundere so, you know, he didn't realize he has feeling yet and will push you because your friend flirt with you. You're going to need another way to reach him lol. Good luck with that, he's not going to make it easy at all.

Fellswap Gold Papyrus - He's so uncomfortable every time your friend is talking to you, but he doesn't know how to show it. So every time your friend talks to you, he's running to hug you and get some attention, clinging to you with all he has to distract you from your friend's flirting. He doesn't know how to confess, he just knows he doesn't like when your friend is flirting with you.

#undertale #underswap #underfell #horrortale #swapfell #fellswap gold #sans #papyrus #undertale ask blog #undertale asks #undertale imagines #undertale headcanons

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history-stan · 7 months ago

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OKAY so I saw a post about making an Undertale Christmas Party type thing with a bunch of Bills (courtesy of @foundfamilyeric), so I decided to join+make a bit of an informational post on my witch Bill!

And so, I present to you...

Bill on the Boiling Isles AU summary

Now, for those of you who don't know what The Owl House is, let me give a bit of a small explanation:

The Owl House is a show about a teenage girl named Luz Noceda. Attached below is a picture of Luz Noceda:

Luz Noceda is a strange (likely neurodivergent) teenage girl who doesn't really fit in with her peers. She's a lot like Mabel, in a way—fun, emotional, a bit impulsive, very imaginitive. She's also pretty smart, as well as obsessed with magic.

Anyways, Luz finds herself in the demon realm, which is where witches live. Witches, of course, can produce magic. They do this by drawing circles in the air. This specific place in the demon realm the girl ends up is known as The Boiling Isles, which is run by Emperor Belos, a tyrant who insists on witches joining covens and only using said coven's magic for the rest of their life. However, there's one witch who's very adamant on NOT following this stupid rule, and that is Eda Clawthorne, also known as "The Owl Lady." Below is an image of Eda:

Because Eda refuses to follow Belos' system, she's a wanted criminal—however, she's a really powerful witch, too, due to her ability to use ALL magic. She makes a living selling human things to other witches (also in season 1 episode 2 it's mentioned that she sells potions, but I can't remember if that ever comes up again, so I'm not counting that). There's also a popular theory that she's Stan's ex-wife, Marilyn, who stole all of his winnings in Vegas.

Now, another important character is King. Attached below is a picture of King:

He's a silly little guy. Literally no one knows what he is other than a silly little guy. He swears he used to be the King of Demons (hence the name "King") and someone ended up being changed into this silly little guy. Whatever the case, he's a silly little guy who believes he's meant to be some tyrant overlord.

Another thing to mention: notice how Eda's staff has an owl at the top of it? That owl is Eda's palisman, Owlbert. A palisman is a statuette that's carved from a magical tree that bonds with their owner via strong emotional conviction. At times, the palisman will be in staff form, sitting motionless at the top, but other times, the palisman may be off the staff, acting as a familiar or helper for its owner. They can even telepathically speak with their owner. Attached below is an image of Owlbert off of the staff:

Anyways, with that out of the way, time to get into...

The Condensed AU Summary

So, Bill has been in the Theraprism for quite some time now, so the Axolotl talks to him to check out what's the problem. Bill, being Bill, is obviously like "therapy is stupid and I want to have my powers back and leave this place because this SUCKS." And so the axolotl is like "but you haven't made any progress." Bill, again, being Bill, says something along the lines of "well this is stupid and obviously not working. Just give me my powers and let me leave." And the axolotl thinks for a moment before telling him "okay, but you'll have to face your greatest enemy if you do this." And Bill is all sarcastic and replies, "What? Are you going to send me to work at the Mystery Shack? Because I've read all those fanfictions about me, and it's both cliche and dumb" (obviously no hate to those who DO write fanfics like that, I just think it'd be a funny fourth wall break moment). The axolotl says something along the lines of "not exactly, talk to the Owl Lady" before Bill is given his new physical form and dropped into the middle of a forest.

Bill immediately notices that his form is human-ish, but he doesn't realize WHERE he is yet. When he finds the town of Bonesborough, though, he realizes that this is the Boiling Isles and that he helped a loser witch hunter human named Philip Wittebane (who he now hates for reasons Bill refuses to explain) build a portal to help him get back to Earth. However, because of his transformation, he doesn't remember where the portal is or how to build it. That's when he notices a stand selling human stuff, and. when he looks closer, it's actually real. He talks to the lady selling them and asks where she got all of this stuff. Obviously, the lady tells him they're from the human realm, and Bill asks if she has a portal. She dodges the question.

This goes on for quite some time until a guard tries to arrest both the lady AND Bill (apparently, talking to a criminal means you're fraternizing with them). Bill, still thinking he's a human, tries to physically fight the guards, but obviously, this doesn't work. The lady, seeing how Bill is trying to fight off the guards, decides to step in and help him, and long story short, she ends up taking him back to the Owl House to lay low for a bit. The lady introduces herself as Eda the Owl Lady asks him why he didn't use magic, and Bill's like "because I'm a human?" And Eda's like "you literally have pointy ears, you're a witch." That's when Bill finally notices that he IS a witch, and thus DOES have powers. The Axolotl gave him what he wanted—he gave Bill powers and let him leave.

Except, Bill doesn't know how to use these powers. How's he supposed to have fun with his magical abilities if he can't use them? Eda asks him if he's learned how to use his magic. Bill's like "obviously I have, I'm an adult witch, obviously I know magic." Eda's all skeptical and asks him to cast a spell. Bill refuses, giving the excuse of his magic being too strong and it would probably kill Eda in an instant. Eda keeps pressing and Bill (feeling extremely insecure and vulnerable) explodes and tells her that yes, okay, he doesn't know how to use his powers YET, but he's fine, he can learn to do magic on his own, and that he doesn't need any help before leaving the Owl House.

Bill lives on the streets for a while, trying to learn magic as best he can while evading the emperor's guards. Him and Eda cross paths sometimes, Bill always making a point to tell her that he's doing GREAT on his own (he really isn't), but after almost being caught by the emperor's guards multiple times, he decides to FINALLY swallow his pride and go to Eda for help. When he finally does, Eda acts all smug and goes "oh? I thought you were fine on your own" and Bill's like "well yeah, I am, but if you're offering, I GUESS I'll accept." Eda says that he CAN stay, but if he wants to, he'll have to work for her. Bill's against this at first, but begrudgingly accepts.

So, Bill now lives in the Owl House and works for Eda, but he still insists on figuring out magic on his own. He actually grows quite close with King—he basically considers him a Junior Henchmaniac because of his drive for conquering kingdoms. Anyways, Bill keeps trying to figure out magic on his own, but is kind of struggling. Eda sometimes gives him some pointers, but Bill's like "I don't need your help!" After a while, however, Bill decides to actually try and TAKE the advice, and sure enough, the spell works. This causes Bill to trust Eda slightly more, and over time, he learns how to harness his magic pretty well.Still, he doesn't FULLY trust Eda—besides, he can still figure things out on his own.

Eventually, Eda decides that Bill's learned enough magic and is now ready to carve his own palisman. As a final test, she takes Bill on a heist, having Bill use the magic he's learned to steal the wood from the Boneborough garden club. He passes, and Eda teaches him how to carve. Bill decides to carve an axolotl (I have no reason for this other than it's funny), and when it's done, Eda tells Bill that in order for the palisman to wake up, he needs to tell it what he wants. Bill, being Bill, is like "I want to take over Earth and start the apocalypse and also get revenge on the Pines family for basically forcing me into therapy." Despite how driven he feels, the palisman doesn't wake up. Eda is super confused and slightly concerned, while Bill is frustrated. That's his end goal, and he feels so strongly about it, so why won't the damn this just WAKE UP?

Anyways, Bill is really moody for a while, trying to get his palisman to become animate or change into its staff form. This is WAY worse than the theraprism. He's come so far, and it's been for NOTHING? Bill's convinced that there's NOTHING that could make this any better.

Enter Luz Noceda.

I won't give too many spoilers, but season 1 of The Owl House happens. Bill gets character development. He learns to trust Eda more. At some point, Luz manages to break down his walls slightly (she's really good at that). Eventually, some time during either late season 1 or early season 2, Bill's kind of venting to his little axolotl palisman, and at some point, he says something along the lines of "I guess I've been alone for so long that I've forgotten how it feels to have a family. I... actually like this. I don't want to lose it again."

That's when it happens. In a flash of vibrant blue light, the axolotl statuette comes to life. The axolotl introduces themself as Frillson, but Bill doesn't reply. He's in complete shock. Bill realizes 3 things in that moment:

1. He actually admitted to seeing Luz, Eda, and King as family

2. This whole time, his strong, emotional conviction was not AT ALL related to Weirdmaggedon or his hate for the Pines—it was because he didn't want to be alone

and

3. The axolotl statuette he was just vulnerable with could hear him the whole time.

Anyways, seasons 2 and 3 happen, and Bill gets even MORE character development, and by the end, even though he's still a snarky, sarcastic jerk at times, he's also a bit more open, compassionate, and vulnerable than original Bill.

Attached below is an image of Bill in this AU:

Attached below is an image of Frillson when off the staff:

Now, with THAT out of the way, here's a few...

Bill tidbits

-Bill's witch form is short (only 5'3"), and he's kind of (extremely) insecure about it.

-Despite being really adept with his new magic, he's still not as powerful as he used to be. He's also pretty insecure about this.

-Despite the fact that Bill can no longer read minds, Frillson can read minds and tell Bill what people are thinking.

-When off the staff, Frillson will typically hide under Bill's hat.

-Bill keeps a lot of important things under his hat. This includes a picture of him, Luz, Eda, and King took together.

-Despite the fact that Eda and Bill are NOT romantically involved, King sees Bill as a father figure.

-Bill has accidentally called Luz "shooting star" on multiple occasions.

-Bill found pictures of Eda and Stan's Vegas wedding and he flipped out. Ever since then, he's been getting on her about her "horrible taste in men".

-If someone brings up the name "Philip Wittebane" around Bill, they should be prepared for him to go on a rage-filled tirade, talking about he's a "pathetic loser witch hunter who wasn't even that cool, and even though he thought he was smart, he wasn't, he was just jealous that his brother got a hot witch girlfriend and he didn't." He hates Philip Wittebane just as much, if not more, than Stan.

-Bill will never bring up WHY he feels such a strong hatred for Philip Wittebane. He always just says "personal reasons."

And now, for Christmas party reasons, attached below is a concept for Bill's sweater:

#bill cipher #gravity falls #the book of bill #crossover au #crossover #eda clawthorne #luz noceda #king clawthorne #the owl house #bill cipher redemption au #human bill cipher #witch bill cipher #philip wittebane #emperor belos #au #au info #it's 3:22 am here

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barryductions · 2 months ago

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Oh, yeah. It's all coming together.

Any questions?

Undertale & Deltarune (C)Toby Fox

Ultimate Undertale & Ultimate Deltarune (C) BARRYDUCTIONS

DONTFORGET (C)RickyG

Xtale, UNDERVERSE and "DELTAVERSE" (C) @jakei95

Delta Memory (C)HelianTheFox

Underswap (C) @p0pcornpr1nce

Underfell (C) @underfell

Deltafell (C) @ask-polvera-sans

Alphatale & Alpharune (C)Alphasaith

Outertale (C) @mimipippin

Undernovela (C) @pig-demon

Deltaruined (C)Romualdo666

Inverted Fate (C) @megaderping

Rulesrune (C) @deltarune-au-domain

Delta Experiment (C) @gonerboy

A.L.I.V.E. (C) @tatatale

Salt Route (C) @campyvillain

Impulse Break (C) @ut-impulse-break

Omega Timeline (C) @dokudoki

Poppy's Story (C)FmsDraws

Underevent (C)OctoYT, TheRustySfm, FmsDraws, & Synth Mints

Twin Runes & Lost in the In-Between (C)akanemnon

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ut-poppy-askblog · 1 year ago

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In which the robot rises again.

Here's a belated birthday art for Rust! This month is sure full of birthdays, huh?

#undertale #undertale au #undertale oc #ot poppy story #rust ut #impulse break #undyne #lab

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smilingmxsk · 4 months ago

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🚕 my most embarrassing roleplay moment

MY EXPERIENCE IN THE ROLEPLAYING COMMUNITY | Accepting!

Gonna just lump these all together!

I think my most embarrassing roleplay moment had to be when I was deep in the Undertale fandom and I felt left out from my mutuals and other rp peers around me having child muses to do fun adventure stuff, so I made it so that my muse at the time (within realistic means) had a child to also do fun stuff with. I.... have not touched that child muse and a long time and I don't think I ever will :') Never do dumb shit on impulse just because you're lonely kids-

I like characters who are multi layered! Like, on the outside they front whatever kind of personality they want people to know, but inside there's just something more to them that they keep hidden away... Not to say that I don't like the simple faceted characters too! But I love holding a magnifying glass up to the multilayered blorbos like 'whatchu got going on in there....'

Uhhhh.... I 3d model on the side but I'm not VRC good ;v; I just make parts and stuff for a dif platform

(tagging @question-marked because u also asked this!) I love love love action threads!! Right next to Angst and Fluff :3 Maybe that's a sign that I watch too many shonin anime LMAO

Oh no you can't make me choose.... but uhhhh, @skxrbrand @byanyan and @violetgleams are among them!! But I'm breaking the rules to also say @crystal-grotto, @therxtking, and @lunaferrous too!! >:D

#divisicn #love u all...))

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ericmuriedas · 2 years ago

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GD EVAN COMIC ORIGIN (Page 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, And 8)

Comic, Artwork, Au Gd Evan By @ericmuriedas

Undertale By TobyFox

START PREVIOUS NEXT

Specific Aus That Appeared In This Part Of The Comic

Core Frisk By @dokudoki / @corefrisk

Poppy By @fmsdraws / @ut-poppy-fangame / @ut-poppy-askblog

Dusted By Dihze @ut-impulse-break

Off Frisk By @kolbiewa

Underswap Sans By Au Community

Delta Sans/Ultra!Tale By Animated Zorox

Some Are Just Random Undertale Characters I drew just for the background and stuff

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sandstormjoneshusband · 8 months ago

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thoughts on ceroba

You would ask that

- how I feel

i HATE her!!!!1!1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- ships

sonaroba have you guys heard about sonaroba it’s sona from kissy cutie and ceroba from undertale yellow and they’re forced into each others lives and they hate each other but they soon realise they’re a reflection of each other in all the worst ways and that keeps drawing them together despite it all and ceroba reaches out to sona when she loses it because she knows what it’s like to make a mistake so horrible the guilt is eating you alive and you truly believe there is nothing left in life for you and you have to die because you’re beyond redemption but really you just need people who care about you and know you’re only trying to do what you believed was right even if it was terribly misguided and you’re capable of good and want to give you a second chance. I also like staroba and ceroba/chujin and ceroba/toriel and ceroba/alphys 👍

- non romantic otp

I thiink I talked abt her and clover th last time I did one of these 4 her so ummmm. remember. Ceroba and dalv best friends. Source: me + also the pacifist ending that no one talks about ever except me!!!!! They r going to enjoy a nice corn based meal together :)

- unpopular opinion

You all probably know how I feel abt The Scene by now. I think it’s fine!!!!!! good even!!!!! Ceroba isn’t a mastermind who thinks things through she’s just had her ordinary life ripped away from her and been thrust into the expectation of saving monsterkind from a presumed inevitable and fast approaching slaughter against humanity despite having no qualifications of COURSE she’s going to make a stupid as fuck decision.+ I’ve seen ppl claim she’s acting ooc for making the decision she did bc she should know better and it feels like ppl r just taking her being the mysterious and sensible straight man in the wild east at face value while forgetting that the game from the steamworks onwards quickly reveals how easy it is to break this put-together composure she maintains in front of others, showing how impulsive, unprepared and uninformed she actually is. Ceroba sucks and is a loser but I think that is. A good thing

- thing I wish would happen in canon

They could start by finally fixing all her bugged/missing text LMAO bugged ceroba is not currently meeting the ceroba hater moment quota.

^i could’ve talked about smth else here but I love these sm I need to make sure as many ppl are aware of their existence as possible. Anyway yeah ceroba I don’t care about her that much.whatever

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amalgamgooze · 11 months ago

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the most annoying Smash Brothers character butterfly effects me into studying Japanese

(Big Earthbound/MOTHER 3 spoilers ahead!)

Back in December of 2018, Super Smash Brothers Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch had released. I didn't think much of it at the time--it was just a game that I'd end up playing with my cousins over Christmas break. It functioned great as a party game back then in that more innocent time, since we all sucked equally at it.

We'd most often play with the standard rule set, forcing ourselves to choose random characters so nobody could get good at using one spammy character.

It was this fatal mistake that introduced me to the character known as "Ness", otherwise known as the kid who screams "PK Fire" several times before exclaiming "Okeh!". If you know how to do this, he becomes a rather irritating character to play against in casual settings.

Fortunately for my cousins, they only suffered the wrath of Ness for one single game.

Unfortunately for everyone, I decided I would get better at playing Ness in Smash Brothers just for the fun of it.

Fortunately for everyone, I didn't really become much better than knowing how to use the shield button and following the PK Fire spam with a swift swing from his trusty wooden bat--which is still annoying to play against, but not terrible to avoid if you know how to.

Of course, when I got my butt handed to me repeatedly in Smash's online matchmaking, I stopped really trying to get better at the game. Even through that disappointment, though, there was still a nagging impulse to try Earthbound, the game that Ness originates from.

Fast forward to 2020, the year the world went weird. In the boring isolation of the pandemic summer, between bouts of working on a Minecraft mod that never got finished, wasting away on the servers of Team Fortress 2, and attempts to stay in shape for the upcoming soccer season, I started playing games on my 3DS again, sticking mostly to eShop-exclusive titles such as indie and Virtual Console games. (RIP 3DS eShop, you will be sorely missed by many.)

Of course, in the midst of indie titles like VVVVVV, Cave Story, and The Binding of Isaac, there lay Earthbound: the original Earthbound-inspired indie RPG. About depression.

I'm kidding, of course. Earthbound explores more existential/absurd themes as opposed to tackling depression. In fact, the only Earthbound-inspired indie RPG I can think of is OMORI. (I think Undertale ends up getting lumped into that category a lot too because of its substantial story--though at that point I'd rather just call the genre "Indie RPGs with interesting stories". But enough ranting.)

Surprisingly, I'd managed to play Earthbound without getting major spoilers about crucial story moments--which I think really adds to the experience of anything. Though, that's kind of obvious. Still, I think the story still lands and hits just as hard even if you know what's coming.

Earthbound, as mentioned earlier, is a 1994 SNES RPG produced by Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory (yes, the masterminds behind the Kirby series!), written/directed by Shigesato Itoi and with (legendary) lead programmer Satoru Iwata. There's more interesting history behind the game and its development, but I'll leave that up to you whether you want to read into it more or not.

The story of Earthbound itself is built upon the quest for Ness (and his friends) to save the world from the evil alien Giygas--though the looming threat of world destruction honestly feels so minor in the quirky world of Earthbound. Sure, there's robots and animals that have been influenced by Giygas to kill you, but Giygas's influence ends up nothing more than a justification as to why otherwise peaceful entities go out of their way to chase you down on the overworld map.

There's so much to Earthbound to unpack that, again, I've only really got space to discuss my top-very-most-favorite moments of the game.

Perhaps one of the best moments of the game happens about a third of the way through its course--it's got no official name, but Earthbound fans know it as the "Coffee Break" scene.

After defeating a mound of ooze that's been terrorizing the curious Mr. Saturns, Ness's party takes a short rest in a hot spring while drinking coffee served by a Mr. Saturn. The screen fades to black, and an epic monologue begins scrolling in front of a psychedelic blue-and-green background. The end of this monologue is perhaps the most inspiring part:

One thing you must never lose is courage. If you believe in the goal you are striving for, you will be courageous. There are many difficult times ahead, but you must keep your sense of humor, work through the tough situations and enjoy yourself.

(Earthbound "Coffee Break" Scene)

Now, when I experienced this scene for the first time, I was nothing but a weird anxious mess of something between a middle schooler and a freshman, daunted by the world and its uncertainty. So of course this scene resonated well with me.

Four(ish) years later I'm in a much better place psychologically and these lines still inspire me. I've been fortunate enough to receive a print with those exact lines that's now proudly displayed on my dresser in my room.

This is just one example of Itoi's masterful writing in action--though unfortunately it's not the 'original original' text--it's been translated. I think the translators did an excellent job with these games--but no matter how good a translator is, it's just fact that you're not reading the original text and thus you might not be picking up on the author's true voice.

Anyway, continuing on with Earthbound's awesomeness, there's a scene much later in the game where Ness ventures deep into "Magicant"--a world formed from his own memories. This is where I feel like Earthbound's story's "coming-of-age" portion hits the hardest. It's a very literal representation of Ness reflecting on himself and continuing to grow throughout his adventure--especially at the end of the stage, where upon defeating "Ness's Nightmare", a short cutscene plays where our hero receives massive boosts to every single stat--much more substantial than after any other fight. It's to reflect him overcoming his fears and doubts, and growing immensely as a result--returning to that idea of courage again.

If I ramble any longer about Earthbound, though, I'll never finish this post.

So, moving on, after beating (and loving) Earthbound, I obviously searched for similar games to play next.

MOTHER 3 tends to be high up on these lists of "what to play post-Earthbound". Being another game written and directed by Shigesato Itoi, I obviously had to try it next!

Unfortunately, it's never been officially released in English. In fact, at this point, it's just comedic how Nintendo sort of refuses to mention the game to non-Japanese audiences outside of Smash Brothers. There's even a Robot Chicken skit about it!

Thankfully, there's a fantastic fan translation for the game (project lead Clyde "Tomato" Mandelin) that lets stupid Americans and other English-speakers play the game without learning a new language.

So I'd tried this fan patch that same summer. Unfortunately, I got stuck right before the best part of the game started, so I never got further than the beginning of Chapter 4.

And it stayed that way for years.

Until last summer.

Towards the end of the summer last year, I'd picked my now-modded 3DS back up again and decided to hack the MOTHER 3 fan translation onto it.

I know I said the game only gets good after Chapter 4, but that's not because the beginning of the game is terrible. It's just sort of slow--at least in my opinion. The story for these sections are fantastic too--it's very good exposition, in my opinion. Somehow, though, the later story manages to dwarf that excellent exposition with how well it's done.

There's so much else I could rave about this game too--but again, in the sake of finishing this today, I've got to stick to my favorite parts.

First, the hardware upgrade. The graphics and soundtrack for MOTHER 3 are permitted to be much more expressive because of refined console capabilities. Every single animation is so expressive--from the cutscenes to the gameplay, everything just exudes personality. Perhaps the expressiveness of it all makes it an excellent case study for the idea of "show, don't tell"-- something I've noticed quite a few modern games lacking in.

Shigesato Itoi obviously does a wonderful job of tackling emotional themes again in this final installation of the MOTHER series. This game's story jumps from character to character at the start of the game, eventually focusing on Lucas's response to the rampant urbanization of his once-peaceful hometown--as well as his dead mother, missing brother, and mourning father. His ragtag party grows to include his dog Boney, the assertive princess Kumatora, and the limping thief Duster.

There's a scene late in the game where the party washes up on the shores of Tanetane Island and consumes psychoactive mushrooms, leading to a miserable trip filled with hostile hallucinations. At points, people important to the party members end up ridiculing and threatening them. There's an incredibly memorable moment where Lucas hallucinates his brother and his father threatening to beat and flog him. It's easy to see this scene as just "Generic Drug-Fuelled Hallucination Scene #87", but in reality it confronts these very real (and sometimes rational) fears of being betrayed by those closest to us.

Again, I could go on and on about MOTHER 3, but for the sake of time, I have to move on.

After beating MOTHER 3, I started reading into a lot of media regarding it--stuff I'd avoided beforehand to avoid any more egregious spoilers than the ones I'd already unfortunately received. One of the most interesting pieces of media, in my opinion, were the lead translator's "commentary" on the process of translating the game. (These notes can be found here, if you're interested!)

Being an aspiring story-rich-game developer myself, the notes were incredibly fascinating to me, with all the minute changes and creative liberties that were taken in order to preserve the original intents of the game while preparing it for Western audiences. If I remember correctly, the team needed a programmer to modify the text scrolling methods the game had in order to print English text properly!

This ultimately inspired me to start learning Japanese myself, in hopes of trying out the original, untranslated MOTHER 3 and experiencing the differences for myself.

After weeks of literally studying just the characters of Japanese hiragana and katakana, I'd finally started actually "studying" Japanese with the help of Duolingo and my friend who'd been part of a Japanese exchange program before.

Just over 200ish days later, here I am with a 199-day streak on Duolingo spending hours earlier today studying how to discuss public transport and houses in Japanese. It's a slow process, but if I keep studying my textbooks and learning vocabulary, I'll become more and more fluent until I can play MOTHER 3 untranslated.

And to think this all began with the worst character to play against in Super Smash Brothers Ultimate.

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Thanks for reading ALL of this! I know it's SUPER long, so I really appreciate it!

See you later!

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(PS: There's probably issues with my post. Unfortunately, I'm a little pressed for time right now, so I can't really go back and proofread right now. Sorry!)

#blog #writing #learning japanese #learning a language #Earthbound #Mother series #mother 3 #video games #shigesato itoi #super smash bros #duolingo #narrative #memoir #long post

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