#what if something is wrong with asriel

[slimester]

Was just thinking about how in C2 DELTARUNE theres a door in queens palace that leads to a room queen designed for asriel but kris wont let us, the player, see it. And that got me thinking, so I thought I'd share the fan theory that came out of it. I'm not fully convinced by this since we'd need more information but I think it logically follows and I'd like to share. So, stop reading past this point for major spoilers of secret stuff and easter eggs.

In chapter 1, theres a lot of talk around town about asriel, his friends who haven't gone to college yet, or aren't going to, miss him and tell us a lot about him. About how he was helpful, kind, supportive, he easily made friends with everyone. Kris doesnt have many friends their age because they were always following Asriel around. We know that Asriel is supposed to be coming home from college soon in a week, and each chapter is roughly a day so we're counting down to Asriel coming home.

I'd like to also preface with the observation that Gaster, or atleast the goners seem very present in the light world around hometown. Temmie has an egg which they say is their partner, which seems like a call back to the hard boiled egg in undertale, but what if instead, it's the man behind the tree seen later in the dark world which is the only source of eggs as an item. Theres also the striped bird in the library, which greatly resembles a goner from undertale.

And lastly, near the bunker that you cant enter, if kris stands near it in chapter 1, it begins playing ominous music which has been associated with Gaster.

Now that we've got all that out of the way, I'd like to pose a question: what if something happened to Asriel?

What if something happened to asriel when they last came back from college, leading to asriel dying, potentially near the bunker? And kris, so distraught was willing to do everything in their power to undo it? We can see gasters tendrils through the light world, especially concentrating around the bunker. If he reached out to kris or vice versa, and kris begged them to fix it, gaster could have made a faustian bargain with them, and taught them how to open dark worlds that are manipulated by his desire when he opens them, and he could create a vessel for Asriel. But in the meantime, Kris needed to incubate asriel, or the cost of plucking asriels soul from the aether was kris's soul, and we're playing as Asriel possessing kris. And Ralsei is the intended vessel, extra indicated by the heart on ralseis robes. Kris might be avoiding developing feelings for ralsei as an individual knowing what the outcome will be, but needs Asriel to love Ralsei to cement the connection later, assuming love of the vessel, something mentioned very early into the vessel creation, could be what ties a soul to a new body. It also makes ralseis name make more sense.

I feel like kris and Ralsei are indeed up to something that we dont know about, considering Ralsei talked to kris in the cutscene without us knowing what they said. And from spamton we know that lightner souls are powerful, and if [heaven] is the light world, then a lightner soul could make a darkner into a lightner.

It could also add an extra level of horror to the genocide and snowgrave situations, considering that kris didn't know his brother was capable of that kind of evil, and that maybe subverting the natural law was a mistake, asriel becoming a vengeful wraith, lashing out at being denied peace and destroying kris' life, not remembering who they were.

If pacifist it also makes sense how easily we the player befriend everyone. It's incredibly out of character for kris, but not for asriel. And why kris' room in the dark world looks more like asriels side of the room which makes me think that if true, Ralsei may be in on his own annihilation. Because darkners are meant to serve a purpose and cant deviate beyond reasonable limitations. And to come full circle, maybe the reason kris is hiding things about asriel from the player is that the player is asriel, and if that realization comes to early, we'd be lost as we completely disassociate from kris.

And it would also tie into the themes of overcoming loss present in undertale. In undertale it was Asriel who couldnt accept charas death and everything was set in motion by his inability to accept her death or harm others, and everything ended when she possessed frisk and led him to help asriel overcome his grief. This time it would be charas counterpart, kris, unable to accept his brothers death, and brought him back, willing to sacrifice as many other people as it takes to regain what was lost.

Like I said I'm not completely sold on this yet but I thought it was interesting and would fill in some holes left by the story so far. We'll need more information to verify but it definitely seems like something toby would do, based on undertale. We'll have to see how it shakes out.

[acaciapines]

guys what if i told you ive been thinking about dess and actually i think dess/chara might be able to work out in the drkau...like ive been doing some thinking into dess and her reasons and why she does what she does and how she cares about people and im starting to nail down the role i want asriel to play, and. and.

guys i think dess is actually going to be able to change. i think dess figures out how to change but asriel never does....

[queenofnabooty]

A part of film history, honestly

(art direction: @oceanssapart)

[luifaro]

me when the people who Get Flowey think i did really good

the big, defining difference between underfell and canon flowey is that while uf flowey is deprived of love, canon flowey refuses to let himself be touched by it.

flowey has no lack in exposure to love. he’s the prince of the underground! but i think there’s a big roadblock stopping him from connecting the love to himself. because flowey quickly goes from “asriel” to “flowey.” and everyone loves “asriel.” not him.

and if that fails, it’s simply a matter of them not knowing what he’s done. yeah, sure, papyrus “cares,” but no matter how much he does so, he’s only doing it to someone who’s never killed before! because who could care about someone like that? who could care about flowey? he’s not supposed to be cared about.

flowey has all the love he needs, but he refuses to let it in. refuses to let it touch him. it drives his character. he’s looking for someone who likes him for him, who’s like him. that’s why he doesn’t see the people who care in spite of everything he’s done, not because of it.

[lynxgriffin]

Eldritchrune - Story Setup and Character Info

Start | Next

Full text transcriptions under the read more:

Hometown was once a quiet, largely rural community…until, as often happens, much larger powers decided to move in. An expanding empire takes over the land around the small community, and the old town is now surrounded by a rapidly growing fortress and city. A more threatening military presence is felt, and poverty quickly creeps in as the expanding empire takes advantage of the residents still in Hometown. 

[Image of a smaller, more rural Hometown with a much larger city and fortress walls behind it]

While the younger generation at least attempts to adapt to all the changes, the older generation deeply resents this intrusion into their old home. Many of the elders, including Asgore and Toriel Dreemurr, Father Alvin, Mayor Holiday and her husband Rudolph, form their own tight-knit group that soon spirals into a cult.They’re a small community with no means of standing up to an empire’s armies. But, there’s always been old whispers of things far more powerful and terrible…old gods and strange horrors that hail from a Dark World parallel to their own. The cult focuses their attention specifically on tales of a Dark Prince, a goatlike entity made of fire and shadow that can pacify any enemy. Surely, if they can gain the favor of something so dark and powerful, they’ll have a means of driving away all of these intruders and restoring Hometown to the way it used to be.

However, as everyone knows, trying to call up old gods demands sacrifices. Mayor Holiday, having gotten the group together, tries to take the brunt of this duty and first sacrifices her daughter, December. However, it seems to be a botched ritual, and nothing useful results from it, leaving the Mayor extremely bitter. The other elders are tasked with picking up vagrants or other troublemakers to try and successfully complete this ritual, but none seem to work. 

Unwilling to offer up their own dutiful son, Asriel, the Dreemurrs instead adopt an orphan from the poverty-stricken streets of the encroaching city: Kris. However, they find that upon adopting them, Asriel quickly forms a close bond with Kris. Asriel, like most of the younger generation, is unaware of his parents and grandparents’ intentions. Kris is not easy to take care of sometimes…they have weird interests, aren’t very clean, and are often disobedient. Despite this, Toriel and Asgore find Kris growing on them, too. The thought of sacrificing them gets harder and harder to swallow. [Image of Kris and a human Asriel hanging out together and talking while Asriel sits at a writing desk. Toriel and Asgore look on the both of them from a nearby doorway.] However, the other elders start to pressure them, questioning why they’re so intent on keeping this weird orphan around. Aren’t they a symbol of everything going wrong with their little community, and with this invading modern future? Toriel continues to put it off, using the excuse that she is doing extensive research to make sure that they finally do this ritual correctly. While she is indeed conducting research, she also knows that they can’t do anything with Kris as long as Asriel is around with them. 

However, when Asriel is offered an extended stay at the city’s new university to get advanced training as a scholar, the Dreemurrs don’t have an excuse anymore. At the other elders’ behest to do what’s necessary for the good of the town, they decide to conduct the ritual with Kris. The cult brings Kris to an underground shelter in the woods outside town, with Kris none the wiser about their intentions until they are incapacitated and unable to escape.  Toriel’s extensive research pays off, and Kris is appropriately sacrificed to the Dark Prince. The ritual causes them to vanish from this plane, seemingly dead…but there’s still no sign of the old god they were trying to summon. 

[Image of Asgore, Toriel and other older townsfolk, dressed in various goat or deer masks and robes, with Asgore carrying Kris towards an altar.]

The Dreemurrs are distraught at this seeming failure, after they worked so hard to ensure that they did this right. The remaining elders double down, though, insisting that they have to keep trying. Asriel returns from his training, and is devastated to find his sibling missing. Toriel and Asgore, unable to admit what they did, lie to Asriel and say that Kris had a huge argument and left home on their own. Asriel vows to search for them and bring them back home, and while his parents try to dissuade him from this, they’re unsuccessful. 

[Image of Asriel stepping out the door of his home, a large backpack slung over his shoulder, and waving off Toriel and Asgore in the foreground. They stay indoors while he heads out into the world.]

Meanwhile, unknown to anyone in the Light World, the ritual was actually successful, and transported Kris to the Dark World…right into the home of Ralsei, the very Dark Prince they were trying to reach! Ralsei is delighted to finally have an actual human from the Light World visit him! Sure, he’s heard about all those previous sacrifices, but they never actually got to him. The Dark World and the afterlife aren’t really the same place, after all. [Image of Kris floating down into a new Dark World, where Dark Prince Ralsei stands next to a large cauldron and welcomes them.]

Kris, however, is infuriated and despondent…they’ve already had a very hard life as an orphan, and now just when it seemed like they had a new family they could trust, that trust was broken by adults who once again threw them away for their own purposes. Ralsei, ever cheerful, assures them that they must be here for a reason…and that he has a means for them to not only return to the Light World, but get retribution for what’s happened to them and their Hometown. 

[Image of the silhouettes of many large eldritch beasts: Susie, Noelle, Berdly and Catti.]

The Dark World is full of eldritch beasts, strange demons and old gods, after all. He can grant them the forbidden knowledge and ability to speak to and even command these eldritch beasts. Once they form a strong enough bond with the beasts, and make it through the bound gods that may bar the way, they can bring them back to the world of light…and command them to do whatever Kris would like to the people living there. However, such power and ability comes at a high cost…Kris’s human soul. 

[Image of Kris giving their soul to Ralsei; the soul emanates a red glow between them.]

Kris, seeing little other option and not feeling much attachment to their humanity anyway, agrees and sells their soul to the Dark Prince Ralsei. Ralsei excitedly promises that he’ll take extra good care of their soul, and that he’ll accompany them as they befriend the eldritch beasts lurking in the Dark World. This arrangement certainly has some other benefits for Kris, too…in addition to this forbidden knowledge, Ralsei’s control over their soul grants them a degree of invulnerability. If Kris dies or is somehow psychologically destroyed, Ralsei can use it to revive them completely. 

[Image of Kris, now decked out with armor and a sword, standing on a cliffside looking out over the Dark World. Ralsei stands nearby.]

Ralsei gives Kris suitable armor and weaponry for this venture, and the two set out into a vast Dark Realm of strange horrors, lost cities and twisting paths in search of new friends and a means back to the Light World. While Kris is unsure about this journey at first, Ralsei is all smiles, excited for them to gain some friendships that they clearly desperately need! Of course, he’s excited for other reasons, too…those cultists have been calling out to him for such a long time, and now with Kris’s human soul, he can finally enter the Light World. Kris can forge the bonds they’ve been lacking, Ralsei and the eldritch beasts they find will finally have access to the human world, and the people clamoring for terrible things to happen will get exactly what they asked for. How could that not be a happy ending?

[akanemnon]

Chara headcanons? Ngl I want to see what happens if I hug them.

(Famous last words.)

Alrighty, now we get to TR!Chara

back on the surface, they used to be an only child

they learned how to play many instruments and how to speak multiple languages but forgot all of it after being dead for so long

they never really were allowed to have much chocolate on the surface. They always savored every bite they could get their grubby little hands on

Chara used to get into other people's hobbies in hopes to appeal to them and get their approval

they did learn to really enjoy knitting and gardening. Two hobbies they picked up from Toriel and Asgore, respectively

they're ambidextrous

the first time they really received any affection was when they were adopted by the Dreemurrs. They never really got used to the concept, even though they did love them back.

their way of returning love is through acts of kindness, and not by words or hugs.

physical contact makes them very uncomfortable. Some people just like their personal space

they hate smalltalk with a dying passion. They're a "either say something meaningful, or say nothing at all" kind of person

Chara is the only one of the main cast who knows and uses heavy swears (they picked that up from Toriel)

they (typically) don't use contractions. The way they were brought up was to always talk proper. They only use contactions when they're comfortable (aka with Asriel) or something is very wrong

[sunny-knight]

* My brothers never seen a human before

I dont personallyyyy think the college thing is gonna happen with Papyrus (for several reasons-) BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN I DON’T ENJOY IT A LOT 😭 Him, Asriel, and Frisk all being buddies is really cute.

I DO think Papyrus and Asriel should/could definitely have a/some fun interaction in Deltarune when they both pop up….eventually…

And just Frisk being in Deltarune is something I feel like everyone would enjoy-

Im also a supporter of the Papyrus Is The Knight guild, and I will DIE on this hill until im either proven wrong and I shamefully drag my feet to AO3 where I am forced to dream of what could have been, or proven right and get to freak out about it for the next 30 years of my life. What a butterfly effect

[hellspawnmotel]

i LOVE ur analyses (ur noelle + ralsei ones completely changed the way i view those characters) and if u ever started a yt channel for video essays i would BE THERE. ur art has a comforting quality that can be twisted into something disturbing/raw that i rlly like and admire. i wanna know more of ur thoughts on chara. i think they killed themselves bc of their dread of humanity + they thought what they were feeling (anger/vengence) was inherent to being a human and not a monster. thoughts?

thank you, that's very kind of you!! I don't think what I have to say would be very well suited for video essays though haha, it's just my personal readings of the text and I really don't want people to look at it and assume that I'm completely right, or even that I think I'm completely right. there are tropes and themes that I get particularly caught up in and I have my very obvious biases, plus when it comes to deltarune the story isn't even done yet..... I would hate for somebody to get totally invested in my interpretation and then get mad or disappointed if something that happens further in negates it. (that and my video making/editing skills begin and end with cutting together amvs)

as for chara..... (warning this is about to get heavy, maybe don't read if you're dealing with suicidal thoughts of your own)

.....always a complex question, especially when it comes to their death. I never really want to say anything definitive about them, because well, we don't actually know, do we? but this in particular...... with suicidal thoughts and ideation, you're always looking for a way to justify it. I don't think there was one specific reason chara went down that path, because there never really is. it starts with one thought, and then all the reasons you could possibly come up with start to clump together and form an unbearable weight. I think it's significant that chara came up with "the plan" after (accidentally or not) poisoning asgore. maybe it started with the guilt of hurting somebody they loved, which grew into the guilt of 'I'm such a burden to these wonderful people, they would be better off without me' which grew into the guilt of being human at all. but they still wanted to be useful to their family, leave them with a gift.... if their death can both free monsterkind AND destroy humanity, then really it would be worse of them to NOT die. that idea would stick in their brain and become a comfort to them- it's okay, because before too long, everyone I love with be safe and happy and I'll be dead, and I won't have to feel so awful every day. this is the only way to make up for all the time they wasted on caring for me. but then, of course, everything goes so extremely wrong..... I can't imagine the anguish chara would've felt in death, for not only failing but dooming asriel alongside them. they weren't thinking about the pain it would inflict on their family even if the plan had worked, or ever stop to consider that one day they might be able to feel better, and now they'll never get a chance to see it.

I think that also nicely leads in the main routes in undertale's storyline. in one, chara is a passenger on frisk and the player's journey, and they watch frisk inconvenience everyone they meet over and over but ultimately make their lives better just by being a friend and believing in love, which mirrors chara's own life and what they failed to see in it. in the other, chara is guided into dealing with their pain in a different way, by destroying it. the world is cruel, and unfair, and it hurts the good people while the bad flourish- better to do away with it entirely. if there's no life, then there's no suffering. if chara is all that exists, they become the nexus of pain. if they have to become a demon anyway, they can learn to love it. it's all humans are good for anyway. maybe this is easier than trying to fight it ever was.

but like, it's not, obviously. being a good person is hard sometimes, and it's even harder to be good to yourself. in the end though, if you give into hate and destruction, you'll be left with nothing but emptiness. whether through harming others or harming yourself..... either way you've closed yourself off from the world and your ability to experience the beauty of life, in all its faults.

okay I think I should stop there before I get too preachy or existential LMAO I hope that answered your question though! talking about chara is a dang rabbit hole. like, you're a creepypasta-ass character from a video game, why you making me think this deep. maybe if you werent so tragic and interesting I'd get less distracted, jerk.

🌻

[the-fabled-void]

*emerges from lab, with messy hair, eyebags, and carrying a conspiracy board*

We've been thinking about Frisk's personality the wrong way! They're not either merciful or murderous, or flirty or childish. They're all of them at once. Their personality is one of possibly. They aren't one individual option, but choice itself.

They represent something we don't consider a part of their personality as a human, and that's something that makes them *so* human. Because humans aren't a set of choices, but all of those choices combined, and the drive and possibly to make any of them at any given moment.

They're not a blank slate or something you project yourself onto. They're their own character, you just help them choose.

The choices are always there, Frisk always has them. The choices are not ours, they're theirs.

The Frisk who flirts with every monster, being silly and becoming friends with them? That's Frisk.

The Frisk that's pissed off at everyone but still wants to be friends? That's Frisk.

The goody two shoes who's as nice as possible? That's Frisk.

The Frisk that does what is necessary to achieve the best ending? Frisk.

And the Frisk who kills off everyone, just to see what happens? Still Frisk.

They only allow the player to choose between a very specific set of actions. Fight, Act, Item, Mercy. And the ACTS change from monster to monster, only a few they seem really fond of staying the same.

As expected from a kid, they seem to be driven by curiosity. They want to know as much as possible about a given Monster. Conversations- there's quite the extensive set of options when calling someone. You don't have to give them any input for what to say if they choose to call anyone. Simply calling is enough.

It's implied they made quite a dirty joke if they're told to flirt with Toriel after calling her mom. Because believe it or not, kids sometimes know about weird topics without engaging in them.

Even their expression could be used as evidence: -_- is now they look- their eyes closed, they're allowing you to guide them.

Despite how people portray them, they're not a silent protagonist, they're not speechless. They're actually quite talkative.

It's like they recognize that you want to play the game, and that you can only do that by giving them choices. And they allow you to give them choices. But only those specific ones.

It's like they're saying "you can play, but you gotta play by my rules"

Not to mention the circumstances that have to happen for you to know their name.

Because despite all these options, the kid does have a preference. They want to be friends with everyone. Or at least, they want everyone to be as happy as they can make them. That's why, only once you manage to help them free everyone, you get to learn that they're called Frisk.

"You're not really [Player Name], are you?"

That? That's Asriel, not just acknowledging that Frisk is not his childhood friend and kindered spirit. The one he misconstrued in order to relate to them, who wasn't perfect, but still trying their best. He knows Frisk not them.

No, he's acknowledging that, despite everything, despite the choices made in their regard, Frisk is happy. Someone chose for them, but they did it by their rules. Everyone is happy, just like they wanted. And Frisk did not change as a person.

You do not learn Frisk's name if you do not appease them.

Instead, they disown your choices, and you by refusing to let you know who they are, if you don't make them happy.

If you do the opposite of what they want you to do, you only get what you've been doing reflected back at you.

By someone bearing your name but not your face.

And they? [Your name]? Chara? ? They will remind you, even if Frisk is gone, that you were the one to drive them away.

"You didn't follow the rules, you betrayed the trust I gave you. You proved yourself unworthy of control. I won't even allow you the illusion of playing through me anymore."

You thought you could do what you want with them, but now, they're rejecting you.

Despite how little control they seem to have, Frisk is the one pulling the strings.

This is their game.

[everysongineverykey]

i've said this before but i think a huge part of the reason undertale's character writing works that doesn't get talked about enough is the fact that it doesn't fall into the trap of having FRIENDSHIP fix everything. i mean in a way it kind of does but like. the characters fix their own mistakes. they are the ones to decide they've done wrong and take action to fix it, not you. they just realize that through frisk. friendship gives them the new perspective necessary to change their ways, but it's only half the solution.

it's alphys who decides, on her own, to take the amalgamates home and admit her mistakes. it's undyne who, when it's her turn to attack you, outside her flaming house, decides there's no point in this path of mindless murder and destruction she's dug for herself, and breaks the cycle herself by dropping her weapon and deciding not to fight you anymore. it's asgore who, after you've done nothing but attack him, realizes what a coward he's been and decides to end the cycle of violence at the cost of his own life. it's mettaton who hears the voices of the hundreds who love him, and who he loves, and realizes that for now, it's more worth it for him to be content where he is. it's asriel who, despite the comfort of pretending chara's still with him, chooses to recognize frisk as who they really are, and face a harsh reality so he can save his family. sans sees your determination and perseverance in the face of hopelessness and decides that maybe there is something to fight for, all by simply watching you. hell, papyrus gives up his fight entirely on his own- all he needs is an opportunity to really think his plan to join the guard through, and a taste of what that guard actually stands for, and he decides it's not worth it without you saying a word. undertale presents you with all these flawed and complex characters and says, "here, look. they're just like you, and they chose to save themselves, despite everything in them telling them they were damned. will you do the same?"

[bopbobpbobpbobpbobpbobpb]

Sleepover gone wrong on noesss

Writing underneath

It had all started so well. Simple plan. Simple. Plan.

Step one: become unpossesed

Step two: sleepover

Step three: pie

Step four: wait for mom to go to sleep then get out the ouja board and play fun sleepover games!!!!! Thats how it works!!!! Kris would know!! They've had plenty of sleepovers with Azzy, Noelle and

Step five: have fun and go sleep. (Kris would NOT be sharing everyone else has to sleep somewhere else)

That was the plan!!

It had started of so well. Kris had entered the room and Susie and Berdly, well did what They always did. Argue. It was friendly though!! They always do that it was normal. Noelle suggested truth or dare (a classic) and it was going well!! Bonding!! With friends!!! Kris had missed this. They had missed having so many people in their life, shouting amd screaming, having fun until they were too loud and Toriel had come into their room and remind them to be a little quieter. They had missed laughing and being "sneaky", talking about the most random things and playing little games. They had missed the noise and the warmth of the ones close to you just simply being there. Kris had finally resolved everything with Noelle Berdly and Susie. Until they just made that shit go crashing down.

One thing had led to another. Berdly truthed susie to tell something. Susie got defensive. Things got heated. They both lashed out. Noelle tried to diffuse the situation. Berdly said something. Noelle got pissed. Berdly said something. It struck a nerve. Kris saw red.

The whole room had stared at Kris in shock. Kris's eyes widened. No. No. They didn't mean that they didn't mean tha- Berdly rushed out. Eyes suspiciously shiny. There were only three of them left. Kris, Noelle and Susie. All of them could only stare dumbly at eachother. Shit SHIT. Kris CAN'T go back to before they CAN'T they CAN'T. Panic rose. Kris had just made up with Berdly and they immediately ruined it. Kris went after Berdly, determined to make things right again.

Except ...

Kris stood at the doorway, frozen. How do they do this? Their breathing got funny. WWAD What would Asriel do? He was good at this sort of thing wasn't he? But.. Asriel wasn't there. Only an idiot human and a crying bird on the footsteps. Kris thought about what to say. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it .you're my friend. I love you. Kris flushed no they could NOT say that don't be an idiot. No they had to say what they were sorry about right? Like uh: Im sorry i-

"are you just gonna stand there"

Kris flinched. Berdly sighed and continued looking away form Kris.

"I'm sorry" Kris could only say.

Berdly ignored them. Kris sat down on the steps next to Berdly.

"I didn't mean it" Kris looked down, avoiding eye contact.

"It's not true"

There was a silence.

"But what if it is" Berdly's voice cracked. Kris looked up in shock.

"What if I am" Berdly burried his face in his wings

" I AM a forgettable little bluebird and when I die no one will care because I have done nothing in life and I'm not exceptional at all and I was so mean and I -"

"No."

"What do you mean no?"

"Berdly I was being a dumb shit who got mad and took things too far you ARE NOT foegettable you ARE exceptional and if you died I would be really sad and track down your murderer and kill them and you're my friend and i love yo-" shit shit shit shit.

Berdly faced Kris.

"What"

"What"

"What did you just say"

"If you died I would be sad and kill your murderer"

"No after that"

"You're my friend??"

"No the one after that"

"That was it"

"KRIS STOP GASLIGHTING ME"

"I'm not??"

Berdly laughed. Kris could not help but grin a little at the sight. Suddenly they stiffened the birb hugged them tightly.

"I love you too kris"

Suddenly there were two idiots crying that night.

[pinkcottoncandyss]

After Yellow

What's it's story anyway?

After Yellow will not have a comic for some reasons;

I'm too lazy to do this

I have trouble thinking that nothing is good enough

To be quite honest, the comic is bad and poorly written.

There's no point in having a story made without knowing how put it into practice

But I don't want to leave my au without having it's story shared! I have a lot of affection for this, it took me a long time to write anyway.

Anyway, let's get started

What is the story of the AU?

Chara and Asriel's plan went very wrong, and while the prince returned underground, an adult with the soul of justice followed him wanting to "avenge the child" that Asriel carried in his arms.

The monsters were devastated, they lost both heirs to the throne on the same day! So his protections were down when the human attacked. Half of the population was killed, Asgore and Undyne were two of the thousands of victims. Toriel, seeing everything around her, laid down a new law; The next human to fall would be killed and their soul would be used to break the barrier. She no longer had compassion for humanity, her entire family was killed by a human! Anyway, when Frisk fell underground, he was the third human to get there.

Looking around, they had no idea where they was.

Frisk was playing in the forest when this happened and they didn't even see what they had done.

Anyway, on their way underground, they found Flowey. The flower desperately tried to feel something, but nothing worked. When he saw the human, he was initially with one foot behind, but realized it was just a... child.

Flowey decided to follow Frisk on their journey and help them get out of here. Heading to Snowding, the human met MK, also a child whose parents were victims of the massacre. They didn't remember what a human looked like, when it all happened, MK was just a baby, so they didn't realize that Frisk was one of them.

All the monsters would hide wherever the trio passed, all afraid of what the human was capable of. That's why Frisk at no point had the obligation to defend themselves against anyone. Anyway, MK guided Frisk to snowding, where Sans was. Sans was the first guinea pig with the determination experiments, and also the only one so far. He thought that what was the point of living in this place when some human could fall and kill his brother? But unfortunately, his body couldn't handle the determination within him. His bones are slowly melting and rotting from the inside out. Sans at this point can no longer walk without crutches. That's why, when he saw Frisk together with MK, he couldn't stop their journey.

The children continued walking until Watterfall, where Mad mew mew showed up! the leader of the royal guard and the second scariest woman in the entire underground (second only to the queen). She wasted no time and tried to kill the human, hunting the child with anger in her eyes. When MK tried to stop her, she told him that Frisk was a human and why she wanted to kill them. Even knowing this, MK didn't let her do anything to Frisk and helped them escape to Hotland. Unfortunately, having to stay behind.

Frisk continued their journey with only Flowey hidden in their backpack, their only company. They continued until they found a restaurant, where they met Muffet and Grillbys. Both best friends.

Grillbys helped Muffet get the spiders out of the ruins, their fire keeping them all warm until they reached Hotland, their home. They both started a restaurant together! It was a success! The food there was genuinely delicious.

Anyway, Frisk stopped for lunch there (they hadn't eaten anything since they fell underground, they was hungry). However, they was unable to eat their meal in peace, as the chief cook, Papyrus, attacked. She took that job because Mad Mew mew "didn't want weaklings in the royal guard" (her words) and kicked him out. Not letting him even want to be trained. Seeing Frisk there, a flame of hope lit up inside him! He could finally follow his dream! But of course, he couldn't kill Frisk and they both ended up becoming friends.

They both talked about various things. Papyrus mentioned a friend of his who hadn't left the house in months and even showed a photo of her to Frisk. He also gave the idea for the human to convince Toriel to repeal the law of kill humans. After a long conversation, Papyrus gave Frisk his number (even though they said that they didn't have a phone) and went to work.

Frisk and Flowey even tried to continue their journey, but some lasers blocked the way. The talking flower said there was a control panel in the lab that could make them deactivate, so they went there.

Frisk tried to open the door, but it was locked, they also tried to ring the doorbell, but no one answered. Flowey, already bored, picked up a rock and threw it at the window. The human reprimanded him, but still entered the laboratory.

when the lights came on, GOD WHAT A MESS! The laboratory stank worse than a dump, everything was overturned and spread across the floor.

Looking around, Frisk noticed that a woman was lying on the floor, it was the same woman that Papyrus had shown her. She was sleeping amidst stacks of paper and packets of snacks, her white coat was dirty yellow.

The human couldn't see everything so, against Flowey's pleas, they approached the woman and woke her up. Standing up startled, Alphys stared at Frisk for a moment before realizing what they were. The child assured her that everything was fine and that they would not hurt her. Frisk asked if she was friends with Papyrus, to which Alphys nodded and buried her face in her hands. After Undyne's death, she had entered a phase of mourning and depression. Even though Frisk was a child, they could see what was happening.

They both ended up talking, Alphys couldn't hold back her tears and even though that human didn't even know her, they helped her. At the end of the conversation, Alphys gave Frisk a cell phone and let them continue their journey.

A lot of things happened in the meantime, puzzles were solved, soldiers tried to kill Frisk, but managed to reach the palace. The queen was waiting in the garden, irritated by the human's insolence in appearing like this.

Frisk tried to talk to Toriel, but was almost hit by her scythe. The queen seemed in no mood to talk. The fight began, Frisk tried to act, talk and convince Toriel in every way, but she just ignored it. Eventually, she hit Frisk squarely, leaving them with just 1 HP. Flowey was about to intervene, but Frisk decided to just spare Toriel. And when she tried to make the last blow, she couldn't. She couldn't hurt a poor child, even a human one, they was still a child.

She fell to her knees, dropping the scythe. Toriel couldn't do that.

At the end of it all

I would like to say that I had the courage to make a sad ending, but I really couldn't

In the end, Frisk was adopted by Toriel. They and MK were officially siblings!

The law was changed, every human who fell would be a friend, not an enemy.

Mad mew mew was obviously angry with all of this, she didn't like the new terms, but she had to accept it

Alphys finally sought professional help and talked to Papyrus and MTT again

MTT got a robotic body too :D

Papyrus continues to work at the restaurant

Unfortunately, the barrier will never be broken. It takes 7 human souls to do this, something that will never happen.

Bonus; Sans and Toriel are a Canon couple here

My notes

It's really not the best thing in the world and it could be much better, but I'm satisfied and that's what matters!

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me.

[floweycidal]

do you think when flowey was a wee weed and just got into calling himself flowey that he had a kind of embarrassing stage he does not want to talk or even think about where he tried too hard to be the opposite of asriel and it was so obvious everyone could tell it was asriel

BAHAHAHAHA, YOU BET I DO! this is probably going to be as headcanon-y as it gets (kinda), sorry in advance. but really, making him a total sopping wet soggy loser is the best part of writing him. it's my favorite angle, no doubt.

the first month of being "flowey" was an exercise in second-hand embarrassment, except the person you're embarrassed for is yourself. and you can't even leave the room to escape it, because surprise! you are the room. you're a flower. stuck there. living it.

he had it all planned out. goodbye asriel dreemurr, the prince of crying-at-literally-everything, hello to... whatever cool and clever thing he was supposed to become. the details were fuzzy, but he figured being soulless meant the whole "evil" thing would come naturally.

it did not come naturally.

the cracks showed almost immediately. everything he tried just came out wrong. his threats sounded more like worried suggestions. his evil schemes kept accidentally making things better. his idea of entropy was essentially community service with attitude.

he couldn't even get the basics right. he'd tried tossing out sick burns, but they'd just hit with all the impact of a wet napkin. they weren't even insults half the time—just weirdly specific observations that petered off awkwardly.

he sucked at it. no way around it. he sucked ass.

so, he worked harder. determined to sound edgy, bad to the stem—whatever that meant—but it didn’t seem to take. every affront felt more like an accident than an attack. 

and the laugh. god, the laugh. he practiced it, forced it, tried every variation. dry chuckles, derisive cackles, even an exaggerated villain’s howl. none of them worked. what kept slipping out instead was the exact same dorky laugh that used to bubble up when #she would do silly voices during storytime.

this was the worst. he was the worst at being the worst.

his own body double-crossed him at every turn, still running on years of ingrained kindness his mind was trying to stamp out. he'd be right in the middle of his most "menacing" speech yet, really getting into the whole eternal suffering thing, when someone would sneeze.

"bless you!"

every. time.

the number of “villainy” monologues ruined by his automatic politeness was actually impressive. really, it was almost a talent.

it was a drawn-out process, this transformation. no guidebooks or cheat sheets. however... i’d argue the closest thing he had to a mentor here was toriel.

she didn't know it was him. obviously. somehow that made it worse, because she kept almost-recognizing things. little stuff he hadn't managed to burn away yet.

a familiar turn of phrase. how he'd end sentences. that godawful giggle that still sounded too much like pillow forts and frolicking in the mud. how he’d fill glasses, just enough to make them brim above the edge. the efficient way.

each time her eyes would catch on these moments, these tiny betrayals of self, he'd slam that reset button with all six petals. nu-uh, no buckaroo.

her reactions were the compass he followed, pointing to what needed to be carved away. reset after reset, he got better at it. harsher. finer. a little less like the kid who used to run up to her with flower crowns and scraped knees. 

the kindnesses got rarer; the callousness came easier.

never easy enough, though.

she'd still tilt her head sometimes, something glittering in her eyes like she was hearing the first few notes of a song she’d once known by heart. and he'd realize he'd effed up again, let some stupid little piece of asriel show through.

she’d never know she was teaching him how to stop being her son. to her, he was just some weird flower guy that occasionally felt eerily familiar, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on why.

every time she almost intuited something in him, he'd reload, desperate to finally become someone she wouldn't know at all.

ahhhhh. and so it came full circle. in his frenzied bid to unlearn being her child, he was still (by the most bruisingly contorted logic) turning to her for guidance. still just a kid, looking to his mom for answers. just… not in the way either of them would’ve wanted.

[goomyloid]

PLEASE explain your thoughts on kriselle in full detail

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS 100% UNPROMPTED ASK! I SHALL EXPLAIN

i hate toby fox. why did he do this to us. he really put it better than anyone else. not really romantic not really platonic but…. something else… some secret more sinister more heartfelt more absurd third thing

i wonder at what point should i clarify that i dont even really seek out kriselle in a romantic context… DONT GET ME WRONG i have zero issues with the ship whatsoever and all of the krisellers out there are living their best (most painful) lives and i SEE THE APPEAL. BUT when i rotate them in my brain i dont need them to kiss or anything like that i just need them to sit down and sadly hold hands and stay like that forever and ever. in case you couldnt gauge that from my art so far

tldr i dont think i ship them in the traditional sense at least …. the things that i usually fixate on for any romantic ship are not there with these two. there are no romantic feelings there In my mind. and all at the same time i start screaming and throwing up and killing myself (all positive) whenever i see them even in the same image together. hngh

ive tried explaining this to people before and they usually suggest something along the lines of a QPR and even that doesnt feel right to me. truly the best way i can put it is… that red string of fate man… which i almost hesitate on saying too because i dont actually know if noelle is Quite an important enough character to the story to warrant a connection like that. WHICH IS A CRAZY THING TO SAY. I KNOW. DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT GETTING ME WRONG i think dess and her connections to gaster and her usage as a stepping stone into the weird route are all VERY important… but in my brain its just not kris/knight/asriel/every other mysterious main focus of the story Important. i didnt mean to get into deltarune theorizing here i hope nobody’s blood is boiling rn

so yeah in the end. toby fox once again put it best. they are friends, but they are also something else.

back to the actual pairing though… sometimes i think im going overboard and overestimating how close kris and noelle were as children because noelle will go and say things like “i wonder if we were ever really friends at all.” which is kind of a fair statement considering the circumstances. sure they played together and all and tagged along with their siblings to do stuff together but when dess went missing… it all kind of stopped. kris is just a kid, they dont know what to do or even how to process it, much like noelle. asriel is probably dealing with his own feelings, he just lost his friend and likely old enough to understand the weight of what happened. while noelle and kris cant say much to each other at all.

im always back and forth on speaking headcanons for kris but the one that i always seem to come back to is selective mutism… to me kris had a lot of trouble communicating well as a child and could only grow comfortable around certain people, asriel and noelle being clear examples because they’re both so patient with them. maybe because of this noelle felt like they could understand each other without really needing words, and just physical interaction was enough to achieve some form of closeness… or maybe that was all just on her end, she thinks when kris goes to play the piano. but if that’s the case, why does it feel like a concert just for her…?

jesus dont even get me start on them as teenagers either. noelle has lost her sister, and now kris has lost their brother… but not in the same way. they look at each other and wonder if they’re the same now. or, maybe thats too cruel. maybe its not the same thing at all. asriel’s coming back soon, after all. it will all be over soon, kris won’t have to feel this way for much longer, right? so then, why does kris look so miserable, sitting in the corner over there? all noelle feels like she can do is sit next to them quietly. to be there, and to somehow, vaguely, messily help each other. the misfit kids that dont really know how to talk to each other and yet understand each other regardless

thats why the dark world feels like such a dream to her. these crazy city lights, fantastical creatures, susie’s there, and she actually might have the means to defend herself and stand her ground, whether it be verbally or… otherwise

and most of all, much like with kris offering an adventurous haven to susie in ch1, the same is extended to noelle. by kris’s side, no less. it feels like theyre doing things together again, and its fun, and nostalgic… she wants to bring dess. and i think its okay to assume kris wants to bring asriel, too. recreating the make-believe world they lost so long ago… is it really possible?

no… how can it really be possible, when this isnt kris? something is wrong. its almost perfect, except kris… it’s them, but it’s not. she sees their face, their expressions, their laughs, their worries. and yet the voice that comes from them… isnt them. and it scares her! even if nothing particularly bad happened as a result. and if something bad DID happen, well…

she just wants what they had before back. is it really so impossible? can they reconcile after all these years? does kris want to? is kris capable of doing so? maybe they just need to hug again. will it feel like a real hug? the person she thought she understood is acting in ways she doesnt understand. they’re telling her to do weird things. they cycle through actions as if they just want to know what happens. and they cant even play piano anymore.

[acerikus]

What’s wrong with psoutertale <- has never seen it but wants the tea

Gonna put this under a read more bc this is about to become a hater zone. Anyone who doesn't wanna enter the hater zone this is your last chance to back out 🥰

Short answer (this might not look short but TRUST ME YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE ALTERNATIVE YET): the game was made with the intent of being 'undertale but wholesome' essentially. The dev has talked before about how they originally just wanted to make a lv0 ending for undertale (basically frisk is so Perfectly Nice And Wonderful that everyone loves them even more and they magically save Asriel AND save Chara and nothing is sad or bittersweet) and then decided people would probably rather play a full game, basing it on the outertale au and adding in neutral and several geno routes too. The murder routes are incredibly edgy yet at the same time, the Dev admits they didn't really care about them when developing them at all. (And there's. More of them than in undertale???? Like there's three separate murder route variations and even more neutral variations than undertale's 90-something versions. It's wild). They even went back and made a 'peaceful mode' that's just the same game again except you can ONLY play pacifist and they take the fight button away. I honestly think they should've just done this from the start and left it at that.

There's parts of ps!ot that are decent. The equivalent to the omega flowey fight is incredibly fun, despite the tone and vibes really not feeling flowey at all and kinda missing the point of his character (much like the rest of the game). There's a handful of really fun bosses amongst a bunch that just seem Hard And Unfun For The Sake Of It, but not enough for me to recommend it.

The characterisation is.... Really really bad. Everyone is flanderised pretty extremely, asgore is woobified, chara is woobified, frisk is woobified, alphys is treated like a cool badass and yet when you look beneath the surface there's nothing to her and nothing about her is alphys at all, there's absolutely no justification for floweys existence in this au (also they made him a star for no reason but establish in his backstory that they still injected a flower with determination. It makes no sense), and overall they just took away everything that made every character interesting and compelling and made them one-note, boring, occasionally just there for yaoi, and in some cases just treated certain characters like shit for seemingly no reason. (Mainly the women. Mainly toriel. Stinks of misogyny even if not their intent.)

There's also so many bits that just kinda feel like they're trying to passive aggressively 'fix' undertale in ways I really don't vibe with. It makes me sad.

Long answer? Here's an essay I wrote a few months ago going over my gripes with it (as well as some very good additions someone added in the tags). Be warned, it's incredibly long so you might wanna make sure you have time for it lol

The long answer breaks down every single main character and some of the minor characters and exactly what pisses me off about their treatment, I talk a lot more specifically about how they fucked up flowey in the narrative, the misogyny and the woobification in it so if you want more details on that, check it out!

[carlyraejepsans]

Sorry in advance for the long ask! The nature of Darkners being literal objects brings up many fascinating questions, at least in my opinion. The obvious one is the whole Darkners serving Lightners as their purpose, because that is the purpose of their Lightworld equivalents (cards are made to be played with by Lightners, computers are made for Lightners to use, etc etc), but I feel like that one is going to be tackled in-game. The questions I'm more interested in are the ones that aren't going to be answered in-game. Somewhere in the deltarune world there is a company that sells decks of cards, that company has a factory to make those cards, one of those decks of cards was shipped to a store, that deck of cards was bought by someone who works at the Hometown school, that deck of cards was left in a classroom, a dark fountain was opened in that classroom, that deck of cards became the Darkners of the Card Kingdom. So my question is, if you got another deck of cards from that same company from that same factory and opened a dark fountain with that second deck of cards, would you get the same Darkners? Would the jack of spades from that second deck be a second Lancer, or would it be a new Darkner?

you're not wrong in pointing it out! in fact, i think the most likely development at this point is that the light world itself is a simulation based on our own memories/nostalgia towards undertale. it's not really a realistic world in the sense that a full fledged universe would be. ie: the light world doesn't extend much past hometown's confines. after all, why would the greatest and oldest and mightiest dark fountain... be in a school closet? something isn't adding up here. what does that imply for asriel and college? heheh. heh...

don't worry about it.