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nat-without-a-g · 2 years

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Long post about fandom, specifically STs, on other socials. I’m just not happy with the recent fandom containment breaches rn and am ranting, just scroll if that sounds annoying. I’m intentionally not tagging any fandoms or characters i mention, LMK if this post is in your tag and I’ll fix it.

It’s not even the usual kind, like when fandoms start invading other fandoms or when a piece of content made by the fans becomes popularized without context or people realizing it’s fandom (… idk if this counts but I love the “shut up terf” meme being printed and shown to UK Parliament as an example.)— it’s the surface level fans sinking into the actual fandom and not realizing that their thrashing is making them sink faster.

It’s not a native-to-tumblr issue wildly enough (woo! No algorithm!), but on other socials that fandom is big in, the algorithm keeps pushing fandom stuff toward people who usually don��t interact with fandom but like certain popular games and shows. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, and to be honest it really wasn’t when this happened with FN@F, but with ST non-fandom fans it’s so bizarre. Maybe FN@F is a different case, fandom is what made the game popular, and creators with large followings and fandoms put it on the map. ST, however, is a Netflix show, and you don’t need to have an association with fandom to watch a show on Netflix. On top of that, if you don’t already want to end up in a fandom space, you wouldn’t see stuff from deep in the fandom unless you interacted with progressively more and more actual fandom things, even if it’s just to hate comment and bicker. However, the surface level fans and ST fandom have stayed separate for years, and while i blame algorithms for overstepping and the surface-level fans for not knowing how algorithms work, Iiiiiii think we all know it was Eddie specifically that caused the breach to happen.

Like. Those of us who have been in fandoms for awhile know there’s going to be a character the fandom latches onto more than others, and therefore gets more theories, content, fanart, AUs, and cosplays then others. It’s not a problem, it’s just the fandom blorbo. This usually aligns with sexymen— (sans undertale, the onceler the lorax, bill cipher gravity falls, tony the clock from dhmis— junko danganronpa if you count her?) and sometimes there’s a split (like from Resident Evil Village, Heisenberg verses Lady Dimitrescu, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!!!) Normally what winds up happening is that a character blows up in fandom and people on the outside don’t notice until Months later and only if it breaches containment. (I think this happened with Bill Cipher?) And during these months we do what fandom does best; we create stuff! We make art, comics, songs, fics, theories, alternate universes, crossovers, cosplays— this has ALWAYS been a thing. What happened now is that the first properly centralized fandom-favorite blorbo for ST? He was heavily merchandised, a huge focus on the show was his survival, and he was a weird nerd. Maybe he’s hot or something too I dunno I can’t actually recognize that stuff.

People who aren’t in fandom but are fans buy merchandise, they express interests in characters well-beings, they’re sympathetic toward characters who the narrative are sympathetic to, and maybe they like hot characters— I don’t actually know about that last one— on top of all that, they could be just as avid watchers as people who are in fandoms. It doesn’t seem like a surprise to me that most people cringing at Eddie cosplay today also say “I tried to find a H/llfire c/ub shirt when season 4 came out and now I’m glad I didn’t”. Or that they found the Eddie Memoriam fan song that several actors from the show referenced, reacted to, and one of whom did an interpretive dance to. Or they jumped past the character and expressed interest in the actor like you would a band or something. They didn’t realize their apps tracked their interests and searches. Also. After using TT for awhile, it listens to you. I know it SHOULDN’T, but it listens to the words you say and will adjust your FYP to learn more toward things you talk about a lot. Despite not interacting with Danganronpa anything, after talking about it for a long time with a friend who Does enjoy it, it became my FYP. And it was predominantly cosplayers.

Not to mention unlike security breach, it’s convention season this year! Conventions are wicked popular during the summer and early fall, Comicon happens in July, and with COVID over, so many people are/were bustling to go to one. The new STs season came out in late May, and the character with the most exciting storyline has an easy look to replicate that doesn’t change over the series. Not to mention unlike other STs characters, he’s a young adult with a style that is very specific and recognizable even with massive changes while also being easy to thrift. With emotions high about this character, conventions coming soon, and interests in the show and characters running high, of COURSE fandom, specifically cosplayers, flocked to this man! This is not an unnatural thing that happened! I knew this was coming as soon as I saw him in the TRAILERS.

Like. It’s not even our fault this time, we’re just minding our business and having fun, right? And then a metric Ton of people who seem to have never looked up a show they liked on social media before start bullying cosplays for… cosplaying… Y’know, that thing a lot of them put backbreaking amounts of work into just so they can have fun and sometimes even get paid? Like. Do they know about fanart? Fanfiction? Years-spanning fancomics? Webcomics that started as fan works? Have they ever read a fic? Do they know what the concept of shipping is? Do they know how horrific some popular ships are?? Have they ever read a fic that combined fandoms or ones that decided canon was dead and we killed it??? The entire fantasy genre? Do they know the simple joys of watching podcast fanartists interpretation of the characters become canon? Do they know the more excited joy of watching an artist’s interpretation of characters with a visual medium become accepted as fact by the fandom? Where WERE these people during the past seven or so years when there was a raving fandom for every show meant for teens??? Do they not know what a body pillow is??? Do they know what rule 34 is??? Do they have any idea what conventions are and what happens at them??? What do these people know and why do they hate it before they even know it???

I don’t think people in fandom are better than people who aren’t, there are a Lot of things in fandom I’m not happy with either (including rule 34 tbh). However, I’m not upset with people who don’t interact with fandom. I’m exhausted by the people who accidentally fell into fandom like quicksand and is just thrashing around and getting mad at people yelling at them to stop moving. So instead of rolling their eyes and scrolling, they put cosplayers who are just cosplaying on blast with the intention of having their audience chase them like wild animals. “Wow I’ve been seeing that on my FYP too!!!” You moron, algorithms push the things people you follow interact with toward you. It’s probably BECAUSE of this person picking a fight with the fandom that you’re seeing the same posts as them. “They won’t shut up, why are new fans like this, this has never happened before!” This happens in EVERY FANDOM. Don’t believe me? Look one up and start scrolling. Especially if it’s a tv series, book series, game series, or podcast that’s appeared as a popular hashtag in the past 10 years.

It makes sense that this isn’t happening on Tumblr tbh, we know why we’re here.

Also the app doesn’t stalk us, thanks Tumblr.

#nat rants #fandom culture #tiktok is a curse #long post #super long post #essay post #fandoms invading other smaller fandoms happens too #and that’s annoying #fanfiction culture annoys me to no end too.#like even outside of discourse #BUT.#THIS? THIS RIGHT HERE?#people who have never interacted with a fandom in their life trying to single-handledly bring back cringe culture?#the ones trying to bully cosplayers— literal fandom staples— off the internet #It’s disgusting. they haven’t even done anything.#They do realize some TT cosplayers have got away with murder and still have a platform?#these people are exhausting.#ask to tag #covid mention

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authenticaussie · 2 years

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fic writer interview!

How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 98 on my main!!

What’s your total AO3 word count?

413,645 words! Probably more in general, but I’ve not posted everything I’ve written :”) (something something, seven chapters of hoc buried somewhere, 2k of Conflagrate, a bunch of random drabbles aha)

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

One Piece....just. mostly one piece. I've also got xovers for Aladdian and Merlin, and then, uhhh, I think in order it goes Power Rangers, TMNT, Naruto (ah, my sordid past), Hetalia, The Untamed, Homestuck, Batman, FMA, Carmen Sandiago, Undertale, Harry Potter, Rise of the Guardians, Ultraman X and The Avengers. Honestly??? More fandoms than I thought! 😳

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Flirtations of the Most Luffy-like Kind (zolu - where Luffy wants to kiss Zoro, but Zoro doesn’t realise he’s being flirted with.)

a subtle, simple perfect (Carmen Sandiago, where Carmen tries to get some information from Julia)

Gestures that are (Somewhat) Affectionate (Luffy talks with his hands. It’s a problem)

Bets and their Consequences (Ace tries to fake very real feelings for Marco)

Sparks (a marcoacesabo soulmate au where Marco tries to stop believing in soulmates)

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I used to!! I still respond to comments on ff.n, but I kinda hate that ao3 counts your own comments to the total of the comments on the fic? so I got out of the habit and now I have so many and it’s so many years later I feel rude replying to them djhjdhd. That’s. That’s literally the only reason :”)

I've always considered trying to get back into it...but. having my comments Count makes me crazyyy

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I think the one people are the most mad about is Count the Stars dkhjdhd I still get crying emojis from that one

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

Ummm, I think the craziest one hasn’t been posted yet! But I do like writing xovers with x character superimplanted into a different world, mostly because I like exploring how that would change them. I don’t normally write xovers where other characters interact, mostly because I’m pretty heavy into Basically Only One Piece Ever

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Mmm, not directly in reviews? But I’ve received hate-adjacent comments - there was that whole fall during everything with the op*bb when I had some people lashing out or trying to pit me against the mod & also I’ve had some people mock a few of my things before? Like, to post my work and be like “wow what an example of why zolu sucks!” or if I express a negative opinion about a character or ship, sometimes I do get people who don’t accept that like.....I have a different opinion then them? But it doesn’t make THEIR opinion on their character/ship not valid. And they’re still allowed to like it even if I don’t?

I think the worst was when a friend said my writing was over dramatic aha. Like....yeah? Sorry that I like dumb romance contrivances? I dunno. I try and keep the mindset now, of like, so what if it’s overdramatic and I like things going wrong! but it does still hurt to think about. /shrug

ANYWAY mostly I don't get hate mail and I'm really thankful for all the comments and support I DO get, you know? I save a lot of those comments for when I'm feeling down, and mostly, why talk about people who aren't gonna be nice when there are so many more people who ARE nice? My brain doesn't always believe it, if I ask, but I do know if I ever did post about being sad about my writing I would get some support from my quiet little followers. And they're/you guys are awesome! 🥰

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Not anything worth publishing. The most I really veer to is stuff like XXXcessory. It's not my forté

'what kind', tho...variations of mas, what else?

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

hdkshdgg yeah it’s really exhausting. It happens every now and then and I have to keep searching for it, which just....sucks. so much ):

The funniest one was when someone posted a section from one of my fics and just changed the names to be for OCs but didn't change them all the way! So it just looked SO badly written 🤭

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! It delights me. Fic translators are super cool. I have fics in Russian and Chinese now. And a podfic! 🥰

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! Lucky and I have written fics before and it's so much fun 🥰🥰 We've yet to publish them tho. Mostly because I keep forgetting. Tried to do a BB asl-as-dragons project with Minister-of-silly-walks but then stuff happened and I dropped off the face of the earth. Also I've written fics and done roleplay ish fics with Lolles, and done live rps with Nez and Rbooks!! I think co-writing fics is fun :3

What’s your all time favourite ship?

///w\\\\\ marcoacesabo, probably. I’m such a sucker

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

The Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters rewrite. It had so much POTENTIAL, man!!!!!!!!! YOU JUST TWEAK LIKE FIVE THINGS AND IT BECOMES AN ACTUALLY FANTASTIC AND WELL CONSTRUCTED SHOW WITH MULTIPLE THEMES! PLEASE!

also probably the Shazam!Angus au. I would love to write it but I just. Am bad at writing not-one piece haha. (Though ask me about it whenever, I will TOTALLY stop drop and roll over to info dump. I just think Angus being Shazam and tres horny boys accidental adoption is SO GOOD.) Also the trollhunters/taz crossover (Magnus is Jim) where I fix the fucking ending bc it sucked 🔪

What are your writing strengths?

lol

Okay no I joke I can definitely think of some

UM. I think one of them is being very clear and snappy? I like to make sure that my writing isn't florid or purple prose stuff. And I like writing like that, to make things fun for people to read, you know? I think I write good people? As in, the way they interact with each other? And I think I do a good job on dialogue 🥰

What are your writing weaknesses?

Subtext? I like things to HAPPEN and be clear, and I rush into things. Longfic is a struggle because I just want it to HAPPEN! I also put a lot of pressure on myself when writing for other people, which then leads me to. Literally not writing at all for years :") not the best move aha.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Depends on how you do it!!! I love the inclusion of bilingual rep etc. but there's a difference in rep vs. just dropping random words etc. (of which I am also very much guilty of shskfh). I think it's super cool but ALSO. if it's not translated. omg pls. That hurts me.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

allmighty sjhjshs UHH

oh no shit it was DEF Naruto. I wanted to impress a girl I liked.... whoops

What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

The Bearing of Marks - I just kinda think it's well written, character wise, I like the descriptions I used; it feels poignant and well-crafted and a lot of it is subtext which I'm not fantastic at. It's one of the pieces I use most often for zine entries aha, because I think it's really solid

Tagged by: @touchmycoat

Tagging: ahh oh god. Literally dm me and I'll tag you!!! But I can't think of anyone rn/I actually kinda hate tagging people because I'm never around lmao

#bip bop nari drops #text #it took. so long to think of writing strengths. so hard to do self analysis 😭😔#ask games #rb bait

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humankk · 2 months

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(about dreams) funnily enough, despite ut/dr brainrot, I've never had a dream about it. And another weird thing is that I technically had a dream with an omega flower lookalike BUT I didn't even know what undertale was at the time, and it was strange.

Also my K:D ratio in dreams is 2:1, surprised I've only died once :/

Weird world of dreams

ha yea, mood, I'm here with utdr fandom since like a few months after deltarune came out, that's like... 5-6 years now and that's like the one dream I got about it, I can't remember when I got that but it might have also been a fever dream, those are like famous for being weird, and being remembered, for some reason

...I have no idea what K:D ratio is Kill:Death? ...I honesstly don't remember enough dream to count, what counted ass death? does that one 'falling from high place' dream people just get sometimes for no reason counted?

#ASK!

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synapple · 3 years

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I am not taking questions at this time. pwease don’t assassinate me

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metellastella · 3 years

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In Honor of Deltarune Chapter 2, Lemme tell you about exactly HOW world-breaking Chara really was, and IS.

Here's the thing about Chara. It is implied that they are THE PLAYER's insatiable thirst for new video game worlds (or, they have latched onto it). As in, they accompany the player to the next world they go to.

Direct quote:

"HP. ATK. DEF. GOLD. EXP. LV. Every time a number increases, that feeling . . . That's me. Chara. Now, we have reached the absolute. There is nothing left for us here. Let us erase this pointless world, and move on to the next." i.e.: Let US move on to the next.

Every time THE PLAYER conquers and sets aside a new game . . . they have effectively DESTROYED it. Because they do not "exist" unless they are played and interacted with. Also, they only exist up until the end of the game anyway (most of the time)

And- I say usually- no matter how many times THE PLAYER plays a game- they will eventually tire of it. Also, if they play 500 games in their lifetime . . . it is unlikely they will re-play that many consistently. Plus, add on random internet "mini" games.

Now, that's only considering ONE player.

But since Chara is a multi-dimensional being, because they are aware of other worlds . . . it's not much of a stretch to say that the millions of people who are carrying around Chara "with" them count . . . as Chara.

Bill Cipher, from Gravity Falls, to my knowledge, despite his reality-warping godly demon powers, makes no such 4th wall shattering and domineering claim.

Let's assume for sanity's sake, that this current dimension you're sitting in and reading this screen on is the primary reality. There ARE no dimensions higher than this. All others are contained within human imagination. Bill Cipher was Created by a Creator.

All the 'lower' dimensions we can muck around in as basically gods. (gods or demigods either incarnate as weaklings, or come about some other way, in many mythologies, but then grow steadily stronger to realize their godhood. Ya know, Hercules. Krishna. In Hinduism. That sort of thing.) We can travel between dimensions on a whim by flipping a switch. With enough Determination, we can ALWAYS reach the end. Now, sometimes collaboration does expand these universes a little bit- through comics and fanfiction. But even these created 'higher spheres' nearer to this primary dimension, author 'omniscience' is taken as a given. Actually there is some debate about that, given the real-world phenomenon of novel writers in some cases having no clue where characters are taking them . . . they just sit down to write with a kernel of an idea. That's how I operate, for instance. In that case, they somehow have had their 'future sight' that should be default as a god, blocked. People who outline plots and know where they're going with a story beforehand, and then create characters to fill in the gaps, they're the type of 'gods' that could tell their characters future events, if they wanted to. Anyway. Back to video games specifically, and their fandoms. There is only so much CONTENT and it can always be recorded and shared. So there is still a limting factor. Here's the weird thing about Undertale. You are there as a 'god.' Just as usual. That's nothing special. You're just there to muck around. But. The whole toe-curling horror aspect UT was demonstrating, for specific characters NPCs who realize this sobering fact . . . such as Asgore and Sans, they are driven to despair, mental instability, and in two cases, suicide, by the fact.

If Homestuck is considered a "game" that is destroyed once you reach the end? It is rolled into all of this as well. Homestuck is a game. What evidence to I have of this, since it's a 'written story'? It has many playable elements and 90% of its lore and plot is based on deconstructing game conventions and sticking them back together in weird angled positions with crazy glue. Therefore. If the player reads Homestuck after playing Undertale, (i.e., someone who is newer to internet culture, and entered it after Undertale came out, which was far after Homestuck) Chara has CANONICALLY destroyed the Homestuck Universe. (or, if you re-read Homestuck after playing Undertale)

YOU. The PLAYER make or break all fictional characters. They live and die by your interest in them, or, for games, your direction, and no other character has explicitly taken YOUR control over the game, as Chara has. In Homestuck, it never gives you something to "do" and then takes the decision away from you, as Undertale does.

Chara, except for someone who has 100% control of that little dopamine rush that comes with leveling up (read: no one), is out there, gleefully wringing out, growing bored of, and then destroying hundreds of thousands of worlds. Chara is the first of zeir kind. And possibly the last. Or at least, anything that comes afterwards will be but a pale imitation. Toby Fox is truly LEGENDARY, in this way. I'm not sure even he fully understand what he's done here. Let me try to explain this. Our education system is currenlty ripping itself to pieces over back-breaking student loans and the realization that we don't actually need all these professors because of the easy availability of information on the internet (Demonstrated, in a roundabout way, in one or two deft lines of dialog in the movie A Beauriful Mind). Now, let's say colleges and universities do survive this shift in society, going foward. It's probable that at the very least technical colleges and vocational schools will. Any others, including high schools, will be replaced by students shrugging and just taking a G.E.D. certification, because why should they spend time at a high school if they hate it, or if they want to learn at their own individualized pace? No reason to do that at all. If the stuffy old guard of the outdated higher education system ever starts treating stories told by video games as literature, as they ABSOLUTELY SHOULD, because they're merely a different medium, not some weird separate thing . . . Toby Fox, having overturned the "trope" of the RPG "genre", wrecking and dismantling it so thouroughly that it has unsettled millions of people who ever again play an RPG where they slaughter any monsters for 'points.' He should be immortalized. Just like any other author in history who has churned out a landmark piece of literature. It's merely his fair due. Perfectly logical, right? He is the Ubermench game-changer. Literally. I hope Sans appreciates the pun. Chara is the vehicle through which this overturning of the trope happens. Chara stares directly at the player, deconstructs a longstanding staple in the 'literary genre,' and gives a body and voice to the psychologically addictive quality of video games.

One estimate says there are more than 60,000 video games in existence. And millions of copies of each one.

Chara, as we've established canonically, has access to ALL that are played after a runthrough of Undertale. (or at the very least, genocide Undertale) In Hinduism, it is Shiva that is the god of destruction. To quote Oppenheimer, Chara has become Death, Destroyer of Worlds. Checkmate.

Q. E. D.

Endgame.

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protectchara201x · 3 years

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(ignoring all the other juicy Deltarune 2 stuff to shove Chara Talks into it lololol)

I haven’t been super active on this blog because frankly I have like, three? looong analysis/theorycrafting posts I’ve been putting off working on and it fills me with shame to log in and see them waiting in my drafts.

But.

With the release of Deltarune Chapter 2, I wanted to talk kinda in general about how I thought it could impact the fandom’s perception of Everybody’s Favorite Demon Baby, and also point out something in specific about the Weird Route that might connect back to Undertale.

Putting it under the cut to avoid spoilers and long-winded ramblings for the unwilling. Includes spoilers for the Weird Route.

(NOTE: may update later if I notice more things for to put in section II. I’d like to make a full list of parallels if I can tidy them up.)

I. Pre- vs Post-Release Thoughts (you can skip down to II if you don’t care, it is genuinely Long and Pointless)

Okay, so first off. I got SO worried like, the day before the new chapter dropped? It hit me that whatever new stuff we got out of this, people would connect back to Undertale, and. Honestly, I really do hate connecting everything back to Chara, because I do think of Kris as their own character and I really like them and don’t want to ignore everything they got going on. But, I am first and foremost a shameless Chara stan and they’re very important to me, so I kinda... did spend a few minutes reeling from all the new DR stuff as its own stuff, and then immediately started thinking about how this would reflect back on Chara in Undertale lol.

But that’s ok for me to do here because this is my All Chara, Only Chara, All The Time blog, so I am gonna only really talk about Deltarune here to talk about them lol.

So yeah, I started getting anxious beforehand worrying about how everyone would take any and all implications and apply it to mean “aha, Chara IS evil!” The fakeout with the pie reveal in the anniversary stream was a big relief, but I still got worried leading up to the release about what could be in it.

Because part of why I’ve always thought that “Chara was genuinely evil from the start” and even “ok maybe not TOTALLY evil, but Chara was still a kinda bad person” were unlikely was, even if you throw out all the other popular Chara-sympathetic theories. To me, both these takes just seemed too below TF’s talent and the way he wrote all his other characters with depth and love; a Chara like the one these theories propose just doesn’t belong in a world created by TF, and the way the Dreemurrs talk about them overall, the way TF made a point of having Chara say they were guided and repeatedly, correctly blame you the player for the destruction in Kill-All, I was sure that he never intended them to ever be as bad as the fandom sometimes tried to make them out to be.

... Like, mostly sure. Like, 80% sure? Because he never ever talks about them, so it’s impossible say for sure, and it is still theoretically possible that “Chara was and is bad” was the cold-ass take he’d intended all along. So yeah, leading up to the release, I started getting antsy that whatever new lore came out of it, either he’d directly confirm “Chara was a villain?” “*cocks gun* Always has been” or there’d be something that’d at least heavily implicate them, or could be twisted to implicate them, as a negative force. More ammo to be used against them in the Chara Debate Circles would be a drag, and outright confirmation of them as a villain would honestly break my heart and I’d be forced to disown Toby Fox, My Beloved Cool Dad.

And, right now? Tell the truth, I’m SO relieved and I am SO happy. And not just because of how much depth and characterization it seems Kris is getting! (imo, because rn I just headcanon them as an unhappy teen desperately trying to keep their new friends going on adventures with them and trying to fight back against the player’s control)

I love how this chapter seems to be TF doing course-correcting based on fandom interpretations. Because Kris just isn’t evil, even if they are a knife teen, even if they are the Knight, they’re just NOT evil and that’s canon, baybeeee; it’s made clear in this chapter and the previous one that they love their family even outside of the player’s control, they care about their new friends even outside of the player’s control, they’re established as a weird creepy kid but no one sees them as scary or evil, they’re just Kris, and even in the Weird Route, TF made a point of hammering in the differences between Kris and the player in the Weird Route: Susie and Ralsei notice how distressed Kris seemed after you have Noelle ice Berdly, Noelle heard a voice that she said wasn’t Kris telling her to kill, and the FUCKING Spamton fight: “Kris called for help... but nobody came” again and again, and then “You whispered Noelle’s name”... you, not Kris.

I know TF has never commented much on fans’ perceptions of Frisk and Chara, or who exactly is pulling strings in different routes. But after all this, and especially after seeing all the little winks and nods to fandom jokes in this chapter (what comes to mind: pulling everyone’s leg by seeming to have Kris attack Toriel with a knife only to reveal that pie theory was right, Susie not liking Ralsei’s real face as much as his shadowed one, Ralsei with a gun getting referenced with the ad, Kris getting a joke fixation with knives after the fans made Chara and Kris have knife obsessions as a joke), and seeing what looks like him try to correct some things (what stuck out to me was doubling down on showing that Kris is loved and valued in their family: lots of fans came away from Chapter 1 thinking that Kris was not valued as much as Asriel, but here we see that Toriel is supportive of Kris’ friendship with Susie, and it’s stated that Asriel is the one who used the crappy controller, not Kris) -

I think while he hasn’t commented directly, while he admitted to being overwhelmed by Undertale’s success, while he tends to be pretty tight-lipped about the lore (whether that’s because it’ll be addressed by future chapters or because he prefers to let fans sleuth it out), this chapter convinced me that Toby does keep tabs on fan reactions in Deltarune, so he probably does with Undertale too and would know about all The Discourse surrounding Little Mx Pink Cheeks (and in turn, popular theories like Narrator Chara... Toby if you integrate Narrator Chara into Deltarune being a borderline creepypasta and have the narrator start talking directly to the characters or to the player or the characters start talking to the narrator I will lose my damn B E A N S).

(Kris and Chara not being demonized and the narrator interacting directly with the characters were the only two things on my wishlist going in, I was fine with literally anything else happening lmao)

I even kinda think he’s going out of his way to separate Kris and the player because we didn’t get it before with Undertale, we still insisted that Frisk or Chara was the one doing it, and he’s even using Kris to show that even if this kid can be scary, maybe even mean, and maybe they’re even the Knight (with their reasons unknown), they’re still not a bad kid, they’re still funny and likable, and they still genuinely love their family and friends - which falls in line with Undertale’s cast of complex but likable people who can be antagonists and make mistakes but still aren’t truly bad people, and imo is a direct response to some people fixating on the idea that Chara was always evil because they seem scary/complicated.

... Which is a long way to say that I came out of Deltarune with my confidence fully restored about TF’s intentions with Chara and Kris. Even if he never comments on Chara directly, now I really don’t think TF thinks they’re evil or ever intended for them to be. Deltarune convinced me more than ever that Chara is meant to be complex, yes, and able to be influenced to do horrible things, but they were never intended to be as malicious or shallow as some fans insist.

TLDR:

Toby Fox read your mean fanfiction where Chara is a bad abusive serial killer no one likes, and he made Deltarune in revenge.

... Hm? Ah, you’d like me to get to the point! Right this way!

II. Undertale, Deltarune, and The Point

While no doubt some will still take the voice Noelle hears to be Chara influencing her to turn her into a murderer (I haven’t gone looking for it yet, but I’m sure it’s already a thing because I know this fandom), since it’s made too clear by the game that they can’t blame Kris for this one, I think at this point that’s just being too stubborn to consider other ideas.

If you believe in the totally made up idea used in so many fanfics that Chara is an evil spirit trying to whisper in Frisk’s ear to kill everyone, literally (for some reason) the embodiment of raising stats, and gets more control over people who have increased LV to take over their body... sure. Could be them, they did talk about moving on to the next world and all. I mean, that wouldn’t really make sense because it’s literally never implied in the actual game that Chara encourages you to kill outside of the Kill-All Run or even wants you to, certainly not as the narrator and we get no hint of them doing this as an unseen, unheard third-party either.

Not to mention they’re NOT literally possessing you because of increased LV; they don’t control you even with high LV in any Undertale route other than arguably the Kill-All, and if you fail the Kill-All and it turns into a high-body count Neutral, Chara suddenly stops using first-person narration and showing up in mirrors entirely even though they were showing themself before, the LV remains the same or even can get raised as high as LV 19, nor do they suddenly take over in any other Neutral runs. We can speculate on why (personally, I’d place this either on Chara’s mindset, such as them sinking into shock from the trauma or becoming more assertive as the player feeds their megalomania, or as a sign of Frisk’s withdrawal, leaving Chara alone in the body to take the reins and act out the player’s orders), but canonically, no, Chara does not take over due to high stats.

In fact, there’s even more evidence against this. First-person narration also exists for fleeing your battles in Undertale, even on Pacifist runs with base stats, 0 EXP, and an LV of 1. Since Chara is established to use first-person narration to refer to themself, is the only one who canonically does so, and is confirmed to be present even in all runs through their name and memories always showing up, it seems pretty likely that Chara can take control to flee battle. That means an increase in stats is not a sign of their presence or control, in Undertale or Deltarune.

The most damning blow to the idea that Chara is the voice corrupting Noelle are the lines in the fight with Spamton I mentioned. Kris called for help, but nobody came. You whispered Noelle’s name. Well hold on. If that’s Chara, shouldn’t it be “I whispered Noelle’s name”? As soon as you’ve officially started the Kill-All in Undertale, Chara starts up their “It’s me, Chara” schtick right away, right there in Toriel’s home in the first area, and if they weren’t the narrator before, they’re beginning to speak through the narration now. If the voice was Chara, surely Toby Fox knows it’d be a way bigger “oh shit” moment if the creepy scary hidden route once again switched into first-person, scaring us the same way he did before when we first saw “It’s me, Chara” and knew something was wrong; unfairly or not, their reputation as a villain is still well established and hinting to Chara’s presence with a simple “I” would drive the menace even further, if he intended for them to simply be a demon that possesses player characters when you grind enough. But it’s still just you. The player.

The Weird Route does even more to help Chara’s case than that. Not only is it made pretty clear that Kris and the player are separate, and the player is the one responsible for corrupting Noelle and making her kill... consider how similar Noelle and Chara are, in the Weird Route and the Kill-All Route.

This “voice” that “guides” them in growing strong, compelling them to kill everyone in order to fight for them, eventually driving them to murder people they know. Chara calls themself “the demon that comes when people call its name”, and you whisper Noelle’s name to have her appear to kill Spamton. Noelle’s conflicting emotions towards Kris and the voice as she is manipulated, as she becomes more violent and sadistic, as she goes into shock; does that not sound like Chara, who flipflops between holding you dear as their partner and wanting to move on to the next world together, to be together forever, and them being disgusted by your refusal to accept consequences and the perverse enjoyment you get in killing everyone again and again? Chara, who clings to their quirky narration for much of the Kill-All, but keeps slipping up, who becomes terrifyingly cold, aggressive, power-hungry, and even sadistic, yet still calls Undyne “the heroine”, still seems to still care about their locket, still has moments where they seem to falter?

Noelle does put up significantly more resistance to the voice’s commands than Chara does, and at least much more visibly shows distress and trauma. I don’t think this is a black mark on Chara’s chara-cter either, or an indication of them being more violent or cruel.

For one, while Noelle is still herself with her own soul, it is heavily implied by Chara, Flowey, and Undertale’s lore that Chara was reincarnated without their own soul, at best perhaps attached to Frisk’s (or yours): as I speculate in one of my currently unfinished theories, while monster souls are made up of love, compassion, and hope and thus Asriel was reincarnated without these qualities, it could well be that human souls are correspondingly made up of their own multiple traits, namely determination, patience, bravery, integrity, perseverance, kindness, and justice; if true, a soulless Chara would be lacking these qualities, which would make them less equipped to resist the player’s commands or to feel as torn up about it.

Also, the player has a hold on them both as “party members” to the player’s vessels, but it is also possible that the player naming Chara and having them directly attached to Frisk also gives them a stronger connection to Chara they can abuse, similar to how Kris and Frisk (as the player’s direct vessels) have much less autonomy than Kris’ party members.

(Fun observation: We know that when the thing controlling Kris forced Noelle into becoming a killer and using her to kill Berdly, Kris was horrified and shaken-up according to Susie and Ralsei. How do you think Frisk felt watching Chara be used to slaughter the Underground and then erasing the world when they’re totally corrupted?)

And lastly... look, Noelle and Chara are both minors, but Chara is significantly younger - a small child compared to Noelle’s teen. I know it’s fiction and strong wills and determination and anime is real and all, but a traumatized young child who died two violent and awful deaths back-to-back, may have literally experienced being a corpse in their own coffin/grave for who knows how long, and then came back ”confused” only to immediately start hearing a voice relentlessly commanding them to kill everyone?? I can absolutely see a traumatized kid shutting down and just going with it out of fear at first, before the LV sets in.

TLDR:

What you do to Noelle in the Weird Route is the same fucking thing you do to Chara in the Kill-All Route.

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twixtandshout · 3 years

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Tagged by @pidgeonpostal! And not tagging anyone else because I have SOILED the original template (soiled it!!) in deference to my [brushes off skirt] mostly clean public-facing appearance.

...I’ve been making a lot of Spongebob memes lately for someone who has not seen Spongebob.

How many works do you have on AO3?

71!

What’s your total AO3 wordcount?

...306,834. Jesus.

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Uh. Many! I do a lot of one-offs (and/or start long things I never finish) in many different places. My top three fandoms by fics written are RWBY (29), Undertale (25), Gravity Falls/Transcendence AU (4).

Bet you can’t tell where my hyperfixations have fallen.

I’ve also got some Pokémon and Sonic the Hedgehog fics back on my ff.net account, or I think I still do, anyway, but let’s never go back there pls

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Sweeter Than Honey (Undertale): Taking a Completely unsurprising first place, with over 600 more kudos than the runner-up, the haphazard Underswap fic featuring a post-college self-insert I wrote just after high school! I shake my head some at how overblown and ridiculous the gap between this and all my other stuff is (c’mon, guys, I’ve written way better fics), but this is also the fic which prompted me (and at least one other person!) to start using they/them pronouns. I’ve gotten a lot of really sweet comments about how seen and appreciated it’s made people feel, so I can’t get down too far about it.

2. To Be A Hero (BNHA): I don’t count myself as part of the BNHA fandom, for a number of reasons, but for something that’s arguably the main motivation for the entire plot, Midoriya’s quirklessness is something I’ve never thought has been handled well. This fic marked the first time I (somewhat tentatively) claimed the disability label (thanks again to Sweeter Than for prompting that realization) to hold that lens over canon. It also really shot up my chart, dang! It’s the only thing here I’d consider “recent.”

3. Three-Sentence Shipping (Undertale): Self-explanatory.

4. Brothers Beyond Bonedaries (Undertale): Ah, the way-overcomplicated AU³ I got nowhere close to finishing. One of the things I really like about Undertale is the interface screw, how Toby Fox uses the medium of the video game to pull off crazy things and enhance his game, but most of the fic written for the fandom seems dedicated to explaining it away, grounding it, rather than taking it to the next step and messing with the medium of fanfiction when you keep the story going. I tried to do something cool like that here, playing with questions like narrator and authorship and breaking the fourth wall, even taking the “final boss” fight to a “totally separate” fic reached through the first by link – but, well, then I never finished it, which probably didn’t make anything less confusing for the poor folks who missed the intent.

5. Spirit and Such (Gravity Falls: Transcendence AU): A whole fic written to line out a particular image I had, which, naturally, never made it to the page. I consider it a bit of a cautionary tale for myself when it comes to writing (near-)original content; there’s a lot I look back on and cringe. I still love the characters, though – well, the important ones – and I think just stepping away from the tried-and-true Mizar formula nets it a star sticker here.

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

>w>; I try, but a lot of the time I just don’t have anything to say? Like, oh, you liked it? Neat. There’s not much to respond to in comments like that, and then I’m weighing falling down on an ~obligation~ to respond to every message in my inbox vs annoying people with copy-paste fluff responses all down the page. Plus I know I make more of an effort to comment on things that didn’t get the attention I feel they deserve, so if I’m driving up my own comment count with nonsense, am I preventing myself from being in a position to receive more comments later? And then if I do comment, am I being too effusive or running people’s ears off explaining things they don’t actually need to know? Sometimes people just want to express interest or admiration and don’t necessarily want a whole peek and guided tour behind the curtain.

Can you tell I have anxiety? x3;

Anyway, I do respond when I can. And I keep most of the comments I’ve gotten to go back and reread.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Hm, hmm. Lots of stuff in the TQ Nonsense series would probably qualify! I’m thinking of Unfixable, Wolfsong, and Ethanol. And there’s Bursting Through A Blood-Red Sky (I Can Live, I Can Breathe), of course, but that was always intended to have a fix-it epilogue. It’s just that I wrote it in a couple of hours day-of, stared at it, and decided I didn’t wanna just then. But now that’s As Long As You’re Still Burning Bright (I’m Still Awake), and that’s probably the best romance I’ve written, so that one worked out.

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve ever written?

Now and then! When the urge strikes. Uhhh, I’ve got a series of Doctor Who x Undertale crossovers I actually made a whole dang verse for that never made it to print. Get a couple great comments on that every few months or so. I think the World Trigger x Undertale crossover is probably weirder, though, by virtue of WT being a very small fandom. My enthusiasm kinda sputtered out on that one.

Mostly I just daydream crossovers with whatever happens to catch my eye at any given moment. I have a lot!!!! Though odds are out on whether I manage to remember any of them once the initial thought’s passed, lol.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Gotten a couple eyebrow-raising comments, but I think mostly I’m just too small a writer to draw that kind of attention.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don’t? think so? Think my tastes are a little niche for most people to bother ^^;

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I had someone apologize once for any language mistakes in their comment cause they had to run it through a translator! That’s not what you asked (the answer is no), but it’s very flattering to think that someone liked my fic enough to read and comment despite the language barrier.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! :D @pidgeonpostal was gracious enough to agree to co-write Five Nights at Denny’s with me off an idea about shoes. This has fulfilled a long-held dream of mine (collabing with someone, not the shoes) and also introduced me to some lovely people.

What’s your all time favorite ship?

Who has time for just one? ;3c Honestly, I care more about the characters and how the relationship – any relationship – between them changes them than I do about ~A Ship~ as a solid, bounded noun-object. I’ve got characters I like more and less and feelings about who does and doesn’t have chemistry in which directions with whom, but finding anything that agrees with those preferences is hard, harder when you take alloromanticism into account. I’ll play in any sandbox with cool toys, especially if other folks have already built sick sandcastles there.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

[kicks every single unfinished fic further under the bed] What nooo no WIPs here, everything on my account is either finished or does not exist

I’ve got a couple extra chapters of Sweeter Than floating around unposted, but 1. that fic’s a mess 2. high school Twixt and post-college Twixt are different people and trying to contort myself into three other me-shapes just cause people Like this fic is not something I’m super interested in 3. it’s headed for an emotional dip and I’d rather leave it where it is than post two chapters, stall out again, and leave folks with a bad end.

As for other fics... it’s looking more and more likely that v7 of my Yellow Brick Road AU will never actually make it out. >w>; I’ve got some really great ideas, but not enough to make me feel like I know what I’m doing, and that’s a big roadblock. Plus trying to engage with RT’s Atlas-Mantle worldbuilding in any serious capacity is... a headache. I can’t recommend the Happy Huntress Cinematic Universe enough, but it leaves some pretty big shoes to follow! And I’ve got small feet. <w<;

What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue’s fun, probably as an extension of characterization. I love tearing into what makes people tick, especially against the backdrop of their environment, the story they’re in, and the people they’re up against. Voice is a double-edged sword; I’ve been told my writing is really recognizable and individual, but on the other hand, I’ve been growing frustrated with with the limits of my narrative ability. There’s a strong rhythm I keep when I write (you might notice it here, even) but that leaves me feeling predictable and stale. I’m not sure I’m great at setting as a matter of course, but I’m pretty good at describing setpieces where the need comes up; that comes from my background in poetry, as does the fun I have with sublimating and abstracting complex imagery. And I think I bring some needed nuance to the universal. For good or ill, I don’t do what “everyone else” is doing.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Well, writing, for one thing. If I don’t know how something’s going to go and don’t have the urge to write it, it isn’t getting done, which means there’s a billion things that will never see the page and a few hundred more that are never getting finished. I lose momentum easily and have a hard time getting started, and I put way too much standing on finding a foothold with other people; as critical as I am of my work, I have high expectations for the stuff that passes muster, and it never seems to measure up. I’m also really uncreative. Yeah, I can mix up elements and extrapolate events, but coming up with things wholesale is really hard, which is why I avoid it wherever possible and steal/reskin stuff from other places instead.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Something along the lines of “Hoo boy, I am Not qualified for this but hopefully it’s decent anyway.” Maria’s Spanish lines haven’t been a big deal – I’ve used it sparingly and, as a Latin language, it should be easy for English-speaking audiences to pick up on the gist – but I’ve had a harder time with Tai’s Chinese, both because I have Even Less background there and because it is, of course, an entirely different language system. If I write it out in English or Romanized italics, am I colonizing it or changing the meaning? If I write it out in the presumed-original characters (presumed because it’s Google Translate and who knows if I’m even barking in the right forest), am I confusing or alienating my presumed-majority-English-speaking audience? Where should I put the translations? Should I put the translations? And for Frisk’s sign language, thinking back, are the brackets I used instead of quotes alienating/infantilizing? I like that different characters give the text between a different feel, but I’m not an ASL speaker – and I’m pretty sure the word is “speaker,” which would only reinforce that that demographic would rather I didn’t do that. It’s important for all these characters, I think, that they use non-English language where it makes sense; it’s part of who they are. But as a white monolingual English-speaker, I don’t think I can really weigh in.

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?

Thaaaat’d be Pokémon, followed closely with Sonic the Hedgehog. Whether those fics are still on my ff.net account or not (pretty sure I’ve purged them, but you never know) I’ve still got a couple saved to a folder on my current laptop, ostensibly so I can look back and see how far I’ve come and more practically to allow for the possibility of furthering group cohesion through public shaming.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I still like the idea behind The Man Who Is Atlas, and Burning Bright (Still Awake) gets props for being my current fic, though it’s currently in that spot where I’m excited to get new chapters posted but also quietly marking everything up in red pen. I think Harbinger gets the crown here, at least for now.

#answerin' stuff

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mcfudgie · 4 years

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30 Days of Autism Acceptance 2020

I borrowed from @autie-jake‘s list of question prompts about describing your autistic experiences and I couldn’t resist the allure of filling out an organised list of questions... anyways I’m gonna store my ramblings under the cut so it doesn’t clog up anyone’s dashboards >w> feel free to read

April 3: Talk about special interests. Do you have any? What are they? How long have you had them? What does it feel like to have special interests? What does having special interests mean to you? Talk about your past special interests

Oh boy DO I HAVE SOME SPECIAL INTERESTS! I’ve always been interested in doodling and making funny things, so it’s not a surprise I went onto study Animation and haven’t stopped being obsessed with all the practical theory behind it. As for more tangible things, I’m lately obsessed with Invader Zim and a little bit of Undertale. Undertale was my previous fixation but it’s calmed down a bit. My interests usually manifest as a fandom but outside of that kind of context, I enjoy studying behavioural patterns and observing the way in which people interact with the world (force of habit really).

Having a special interest feels like a burning passion in my bones. I get swept up in the feeling of wanting to find out everything I can about a topic and then making stuff about it and generally being very inspired. Although sometimes it can consume me a little too much and I forget to attend to my important business but nonetheless I have fun feeling so energised.

April 4: Do you consider your autism to be an important part of your identity?

I consider it an important part of my person since it’s not exactly removable. It impacts greatly on my identity but I try to not let it be my only defining feature. I’m a person too y’know. Got lots of facets both inside and outside.

April 5: Talk about your living situation. Do you live with your parents? Do you live on your own? Have roommates? Etc. If you live on your own how hard was it to get used to?

I moved out of my parent’s home 5 years ago and currently live with my best friend. I’ll admit, the first year living on the outside was difficult to adjust to because suddenly there were all these new things I had to learn in order to become a proper adult. I hadn’t been prepped much before so the learning curve was STEEP but eventually I got what I needed to get by. Over the years I’ve been experiencing so many new aspects of adulthood that are sometimes fun and sometimes difficult. Thankfully my housemate has been super supportive and understanding, so he usually helps me cope with the bigger changes.

April 6: Are you able to drive? If you can, was it hard for you to learn? If not, what alternatives do you use, if any?

I can drive! At first, it was extremely difficult to learn because I had been told to just ‘observe’ and try to replicate but I wasn’t aware of what to actually look for so the entire process was incredibly frustrating. I cried so much 😂 But eventually my Dad was patient enough to go through the process with me step-by-step and I got better at driving.

I used to be pretty scared of it but now I count it as one of the most relaxing activities. Nothing better than rolling down the highway at 4am in the morning, windows down, listening to synthwave as the orange streetlights pass overhead. I like driving best when there isn’t a lot of traffic so usually super early mornings and late nights are the best times to drive.

***soz for the gaps, I skipped a couple of questions bc I didn’t wanna answer them lol

END OF PART ONE

#30daysofautismacceptance #2020 #fudge says shit #autism acceptance month

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argentdandelion · 4 years

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Is Joe Cuppa Coffee Sans?

Or: Who is Sans, Anyway?

Caveat: It is impossible to reference every "AU", or even every permutation of "major" (common on the Undertale Tumblr tag) "AU". As such, mentions of various "AU Sanses" should be assumed only broadly correct.

The Undertale fandom has many, many works called “AUs”. Some of them count as Alternate Universe works, where the work’s very premise is altered, and so do not, but many of them feature distinctive versions of or interpretations of Sans, or Sans-like characters. Indeed, Sans is so disproportionately popular he’s practically a subfandom in himself, what with the many Sans-centric works or creative works or worlds which only feature Sans and Sans-oid characters.

But which works’ characters “count” as Sans, and which do not? There are multiple ways in which one can define "What is Sans?", and each definition has various problems. Some of these Sans-es look and act drastically different from the canon one, from lankier interpretations of Gaster-Sans to the hyperactive Underswap-Sans. Yet, supposedly, they are “Sans”, or “a Sans”, rather than Sans-like characters. Complicating the matter, it’s impossible to say how far Sans can change while still being himself. Indeed, canon timelines alone sometimes show the malleability of characters’ identities.

As a point of illustration, what’s to say Joe Cuppa from O.K. K.O. isn’t "a Sans" called Coffee Sans?1 After all, if a “Sans” can differ drastically from the original’s looks, relationships, and role, what would disqualify Joe Cuppa?

1. Genetics.

If the DNA is duck DNA, it’s a duck.

People often ascribe "essences"---something invisible from which recognizable traits arise—within living beings. By definition, essences cannot be measured, only the things that are presumed to be manifestations or signs of it. When it comes to living things, essences are generally conflated with DNA. If a particular animal’s DNA matches a duck, it’s a duck, regardless of whether it looks really weird. (say, being a plucked duck, or a plucked duck whose legs are missing).

By this logic, an individual who is genetically identical to Sans is Sans. For this to be a valid interpretation, a “Sans” would need to have the same parent(s) or source as canon Sans, whatever that may be. In works where a character obviously can’t have the same origin, DNA, or material composition as canon Sans that character cannot “count” as Sans.

Weaknesses & Oddities

This approach has obvious weaknesses. Identical twins, despite having the same DNA, do not count as the same person. Indeed, as time goes on and their environments diverge (e.g., not going to the same school), they come to differ more from each other. Though they may have the same DNA, the way that DNA is expressed (such as through epigenetics) can differ, and the differences can magnify over time. Therefore, to say than two Sanses are the same because they have the same genes only makes sense if identical twins ‘count’ as the same person, or variations thereof.

Joe Cuppa Verdict

It’s bizarre to assume a DNA test would reveal he’s identical to Sans, as his physiology differs so much. In fact, even if he were a “monster” or class of monster within the world of O.K. K.O., monsters’ natures differ so much in O.K. K.O. that it’s unlikely they’re equivalent.

Other Evaluations

In ReaperTale, a work where various Undertale characters are gods, Sans and Papyrus were made from a black hole. Dream Sans and Nightmare Sans were created from the light of a mystical tree, which is, again, not like canon Sans. However Sans and Papyrus were made in canon, they certainly weren’t gods made from a black hole or made from a tree’s light; ergo, none of them qualify as “Sans” by this logic. Though Fresh-Sans looks just like Sans in tacky 80s/90s clothing, he’s actually a bizarre alien parasite controlling “a Sans”, not a monster. In that case, the only thing that makes him a "Sans" at all is his looks.

2. Looks

If it looks like a duck, it is a duck.

Image by Insanelyadd.

In an "AU" where Sans is the only character (generally, Dream Sans, Ink Sans, Nightmare Sans, etc.), it's not possible for Sans to have similar relationships or roles, and other similarities are also less likely. Therefore, looks are the only thing which establishes a character is Sans.

Weaknesses & Oddities: People can look different over time. In fact, some people change so much photos of them as a child and an adult they aren't even look like the same person. If one of Sans' defining traits is that he's nearly as short as 8-12-year-old human child, but he's not actually fully grown by skeleton standards, what would stop him from not being "Sans"? If his face drastically changed in shape or proportions when he was much older, would that also affect this factor?

Joe Cuppa Verdict

Although Joe Cuppa acts much as Sans does, Joe Cuppa is clearly not Sans: he has a coffee mug-shaped head/a mug for a head, for one thing. Therefore, despite his behavioral similarities, he is not Sans.

Other Character Evaluations

Fresh-Sans (“Fresh”) is, supposedly, a bizarre alien parasite that is unlike Sans in genetics, relationship, most behaviors, and role. He has simply taken over a “Sans”. However, viewed from his host alone, he looks strongly like Sans, and if looks are all that is needed, he counts.

Furthermore, depictions of Sanses as other species (e.g., humans) or breeds of monster drastically change his looks, so they don’t count as Sans, by this logic.

3. Relationships

If it likes me, as evident by it wagging its tail and running to me, it's a duck.

According to this interpretation, whoever is Papyrus's brother and cares strongly about him, and is also the friend of the old lady behind the Ruins door, is Sans. This suggests that, in a world where Papyrus never existed, Sans wouldn’t exist—not as we know him. It would be someone who looked like Sans, certainly, but not someone with the same identity or properties.

If "a Sans" exists in a universe without other characters which are important to his identity (e.g., Toriel and Papyrus), then he's not really Sans.

Weaknesses & Oddities

This may mean that, in any Neutral route where Toriel and especially Papyrus dies, Sans would eventually stop being himself. However, it is possible a character counts as Sans if the character had a strong relationship with Toriel and Papyrus for a specific length of time, regardless of whether that relationship lasts indefinitely, for the full game, or beyond the game’s scope.

Joe Cuppa Verdict

Joe Cuppa does not have Papyrus for a brother, nor a close relationship with a different character who’s his brother. Indeed, Joe Cuppa never even mentions having a brother at all, and he certainly doesn’t talk about Toriel or Toriel parallels. Therefore, Joe Cuppa is not Coffee Sans.

4. Behavior

If it quacks like a duck, it's a duck.

By this logic, if a character acts like Sans, it’s Sans. For example, Sans is prone to sleeping, "boondoggling", eating "100s of midnight snacks", keeps secrets, and so forth. By this logic, Underswap Papyrus, who's generally depicted as "Sans, but in Papyrus's body” is not "a Papyrus" but "a Sans".

One should note not every depiction of Sans will show all his traits, in general or in behavior, due to length and genre limits. Yet it’s generally agreed these less fleshed-out depictions count as Sans. It seems there’s a consensus that a character needs to show most of Sans’ traits within a work, or some number of especially distinct traits.

Weaknesses & Oddities

Behaviors and beliefs don’t arise in a void; they are products of the environment. It would be hard to have a personality if nothing ever happened to oneself, or if one never had a choice on what to do.

Indeed, some have suggested some of Sans' recognizable traits are not things inherent to him at all, but consequences of having depression. (see related reading) For example, suggest Sans’ lazy ways come from a sense of nihilism or depression, which itself come from his studies on timelines stopping, starting, and ending. Papyrus himself says that Sans has been “sleeping more” lately: his laziness, thought essential, might have only started recently. In that case, if he stopped having depression, would he not be himself? (or, rather, "himself" as far as Undertale fans can tell)

If it takes only very Sans-like behavior for something to quality as Sans, then making it so he develops certain behaviors, or stops doing them, could make it so he no longer “counts” as Sans. If Sans talking about his brother a lot is a defining trait, then Papyrus never even existing would prevent this behavior, meaning that “Sans” is, in fact, not Sans. Furthermore, in a Post-Neutral work where Papyrus dies, if Sans stops talking about his brother years after his death, he also might stop counting as Sans.

Joe Cuppa Verdict

If only most of Sans’ traits/the most distinctive or crucial ones need to be shown for something to count as Sans, then, by this logic, Joe Cuppa is Coffee Sans.

Other Evaluations

Dream Sans (Dream), Ink Sans (Ink), Error Sans (Error), and Nightmare Sans (Nightmare) have drastically different environments, personalities, and relationships, and thus different behaviors and identities. Under any definition but a pure (and loosely-interpreted) visual definition, they don’t count as Sans.

On the other hand, Geno Sans (of AfterTale) might qualify as Sans, since his backstory was exactly the same as Sans’ up to being struck with the final blow in the Genocide Route. Although Geno Sans ends up more violent and cynical than canon Sans, it could be seen as continuing a trend established within the Genocide Route itself, and therefore support the malleability of identity.

5. Role

If it’s a small, lovable, somewhat tame animal that makes distinctive noises and enjoys small bits of food thrown into a pond on picnics or nature outings, it’s a duck.

Comparison between the turtle-ducks of the Avatar cartoon and a duck and between Storyshift Chara and canon Sans.

Using the “role” parameter, the exact role Sans plays within a work’s plot is a big cue to what makes him him. Therefore, any character which follows Sans’ role or closely parallels it counts as Sans. (specifically: second-area sentry, arranges puzzles with another character in that area, does something funny with a sentry station, gives the judgment, does the Genocide Route battle)

This consideration is especially important when considering role-swap “AUs”, such as Scramble Saga, Storyshift, and Inverted Fate.

Weaknesses & Oddities

At times, Swap Papyrus (best described as “Sans’ personality in Papyrus’s body”) fulfils a Sans-like role in fan works. By the logic of roles, Swap Papyrus counts as “a Sans” if fulfilling a Sans-like role, but, if not, he may be sorted as a Papyrus instead by virtue of appearance. However, this brings up Storyshift Chara, who fulfills a Sans-like role and has a Sans-like sense of fashion but is a human child who fell into the Underground and got adopted by a scientist-Asgore and royal guard captain-Toriel. Would Storyshift Chara count as “Sans” due to a Sans-like role and fashion, regardless of anything else?2

Joe Cuppa Verdict

Joe Cuppa is a somewhat glum/loosely "depressed", washed-up/loser-like person who receives help from a human child (K.O.) and others (Enid, Rad), and ends up happy at the end, having achieved his dream (becoming a successful comedian for Cuppa Joe, presumably getting to the Surface for Sans). Depending on how tightly one defines “role”, Joe Cuppa may count as “Sans”.

Other Evaluations

Dream, Nightmare, Ink, and several “AU Sanses” which don’t exist with other characters, roughly the same plot, and the same premise as canon Undertale cannot really fulfill the same role, and, as such, do not count as Sans.

This article was made with the help of Batter-Sempai (consulting), Ihasafandom (consulting), Voltrathesparking (creator of Storyshift; consulting), Loverofpiggies.

The author of this article, ArgentDandelion, enjoys discussion, comments, and reblogs. Feel free to do so on the Tumblr version, or on the Archive of Our Own or Pillowfort versions, where discussion is much easier.

The author also has a Ko-Fi and Patreon, and invites you to gaze upon it.

Related Works Did you like this article? There’s plenty more, so be sure to spread the love.

Papyrus is Probably a Better Boyfriend than Sans (series) (Character analysis of Sans and Papyrus, with emphasis on suitability as romantic partners)

It’s Okay to Hate Alphys (Or: We All Have Favorite Characters for Different Reasons) (Interpretation of a character and character reactions)

How to Make Underswap Sans: Antidepressants? (Subjectivity or malleability of identity in a Sans context)

Reasons Papyrus Would Kill a Human (Part 1, Part 2) (Talks about environmental influences on behavior and personality, but also argues one "AU Papyrus" is closer to the Undertale version that he might seem.)

It turns out, there are so many “Sanses” there actually is a Coffee Sans already. The name shall be preserved for the sake of rhetoric. ↩︎

Note that Storyshift exists in two versions: the preboot and the reboot. Many of the points about the preboot don’t hold up to the reboot, but the reboot isn’t developed enough yet to use in an analysis like this.

↩︎

#Undertale #Sans #AU Sanses #Character Analysis #Meta #Analysis #Character Design #Identity

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melien · 4 years

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Simmer - Get to Know

Thank you for tagging me @cloudberry-sims and @aestheicpixels! I love being tagged in these, even though I usually take ages to do them. Generally, I’m certain that anyone can do tags regardless of whether they were tagged or not, but I mostly do the ones that I was tagged in, unless there’s something super cool around that I really want to do. I guess it’s because I have way less time to devote to simblr now.

Your name: Regina. I go by Mel on the internet and I highkey enjoy the contrast between my fancy first name and my rather simple nickname

Languages you speak: My first languages are Ukrainian and Russian, and I'd also say Polish (I don't speak it on a regular basis but I used to go to Polish school for the first seven years of my education, and my mom's side of family is Polish so I know the language very well). Then there's English, of course, which I've been studying since very young age, and German, which I have some basic knowledge of. I used to study Spanish too but my knowledge of it is even more limited

Are you a mermaid: Nah, I'm more of an alien 👽

Your play style: For a long time I almost exclusively did legacies and some side projects branching from them. But - spoilers - I want to try a completely new blogging style and pay more attention to stories, sim making whenever I feel like it, and maybe some gameplay reminiscent of my ts2 uberhood, because it brings me SO much joy. All this stuff isn't as pressuring as legacies and is much better for my mental health. More on that soon.

Your selfsim picture:

Stories or gameplay, builds, lookbooks, edits or cc: I'm really into storytelling, but sometimes I just like fun gameplay.

Your favorite age state: Well... I guess toddlers, teens and YAs.

Your favorite season: I just have summer on most of the time in game. In real life, that's probably my favourite season as well, though I like all of them in their own way.

Your favorite holiday: New Year's Day I guess

How was your day: It’s just getting started, but yesterday was nice for me in terms of simming, because I finished my CAS BPR and did some essential scenes in the Lilygreen legacy to end my queue on a positive note

Your favorite career: I enjoy playing with musicians

Your favorite aspiration: If I'm honest, I rarely fulfill them. I'm a kinda laid back sims player who doesn't go to great lengths for all the game challenges and sees the game more like a creative outlet

Your favorite EP, SP or GP: Into the Future ❤

How old is your simblr: It will turn seven this year!

Have you woohooed: I bought some 30 diamond scenes on Choices, does this count?

Your favorite skill: I don't know honestly, I rarely make my sims develop skills

The size of your mods folder: 8.48 GB (ts3) and 10.9 GB (ts2). I’m actually shocked because I was pretty sure ts3 one was bigger. It’s also funny because my ts2 game runs super smoothly while ts3... not so much, and note that it’s hairs that take up 90% of the folder

Your 3 favorite mods: Master Controller, Pose Player, and Time/Weather change mod

Your interests (other than sims): I love drawing, writing poetry and prose, spending time with friends, volunteering, travelling, photography. I'm very passionate about teaching English and I'm pretty sure I could land a teacher job soon which I'm super excited about

Your favorite sim (picture if possible): I'll go with my fiery queen Claret Dawn Twinkle 🔥

Which Sims games you have played (including mobile games): I've played all the four parts, even though I only touched ts1 a few times and it kept crashing anyway, so it's not as nostalgic for me as for many players. For me a “nostalgic” and special game is ts2, and the one that helps me express my creativity in the best way is ts3, so I love them both. I don't like ts4 that much but it has good sides and I can play it once in a while when I have a craving. As for other games, for me everything basically started with ts2 Life Stories! I'm still not over that Naomi choice where you have to give up your wealth or she dies. Also, I played sims mobile once but deleted it quickly because it was just too much sims for me and I didn't want to become addicted (for this reason I hardly ever install any games on my phone)

Propose a crazy scheme: Let's, I don't know, be nice, understanding and helpful to each other? Crazy, right? 😂

Best part of simblr: Creative and kind people who inspire me every day

Worst part of simblr: Unfortunately, there are also toxic people who crave drama and you can't escape them even in such a wholesome community

What other games you play: I'm not much of a gamer, but I do have some nonsims favourites. I love Undertale and Deltarune very dearly, and I'm also very much into Choices (my current jams are Blades of Light and Shadow and Bloodbound). Pretty sure I've played more good games but they're escaping my mind now.

Other websites or accounts (origin, twitter etc..): I have a Twitter, where I talk a lot about the game, my plans, my fandoms and completely random stuff. I'm semi-active there because it's not as lively as it used to be, so you're welcome to follow if you have a sims twitter too, I definitely need more people to interact with!

Are you single: Yeah and I don’t really mind it, even though I wouldn’t want to stay this way forever. On a related note, this question and the woohoo one stick out among the others in a kinda weird way

#text post #saviorhide #personal

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huds-hub · 4 years

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THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; MUN & MUSE - MEME

FILL OUT & REPOST ♥ This meme definitely favors canons more, but I hope OC’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multi-Muses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm.

Stolen from @mrfunnybone. Since this meme has a bias for canon muses, I’m tagging two of my favorite canon writers that I know didn’t fill this out yet: @soulcoerced and @spearslinger (I wonder if a fellow Undyne RPer has a different take on some of these questions? ^^;;). For everyone else, feel free to steal it and tag me if you do! I’m curious to see how OC muns answer some of these questions...

MY MUSE IS: CANON / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless / complicated [[ The adult version of my muse is canon, but her teenage equivalent is not present anywhere in Undertale / Deltarune. So, uh… canon but kind of complicated I guess??? I like describing my muse as canon-wise. My Deltarune fishies are undoubtedly AUs at most, canon-divergent at least. ]]

[[ Mun’s note: I’m going to cheat on this. For the next 8 questions, I’ll answer for both Undyne as my teen muse AND regular adult canon Undertale Undyne. My thoughts on her counts as something, right? My muse is based on canon! ]]

Is your character popular in the fandom? YES / NO / IDK [[ Undyne’s character to the rest of the fandom is unpopular (compared to Sans, Chara, Gaster, etc…). It’s a shame, because her dialogue portraits alone would make great meme fodder. HOWEVER, among Undyne fans, I notice there’s an interest in depicting her early years because she’s one of the few cast members who’s had their childhood explicitly mentioned. ]]

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom? YES / NO / IDK [[ She’d better not be, because my muse is a C H I L D. As far as I’ve seen, canon adult Undyne is depicted more often as a ‘badass’ than a ‘sexy fish.’ ]]

Is your character considered strong in the fandom? YES / NO / IDK [[ Younger Undyne is definitely interpreted to be a determined, tough kid. Of course it’s the same for adult canon Undyne. It’s basically her most distinct character trait. ]]

Are they underrated? YES / NO / IDK [[ Lordy, Undyne as a whole is entirely underrated by the fandom... ]]

Were they relevant for the main story? YES / NO [[ OMG... you’re gonna get me started. I’m marking ‘no’ on this question because this is supposed to be about my aged-down muse. But Undyne... sweet violent Undyne’s very important to Undertale’s story! *fangirling START* Besides being the mid-point antagonist in the game, Undyne adds a layer of the theme of DETERMINATION to the game and how it can manifest in monsters if their bodies are strong enough to handle it. In an allegorical sense, she represents extremism in reaction to oppression and how that passion can take on the form of extreme love or extreme hatred depending on circumstance. So HELL YEAH she’s important to the main story of the game! AAAHILoveThisFish!! *fangirling END* ]]

Were they relevant for the main character? YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG. [[ Same as the previous answer for my teen Undyne: begrudgingly marking this with a ‘no’... It’s a YES for canon Undyne. In all routes, original game’s Undyne is the first character who is purposefully trying to kill the Player. Players can��t get the best ending without helping her hook up with Alphys and not incurring her wrath by killing any monster. In the worst ending, she’s one of the two antagonists that put up enough of a fight to make any player abort the Genocide Route. ]]

Are they widely known in their world? YES / NO [[ My muse WANTS to be significant to her world. In the original game, Undyne’s only mentioned by others in Snowdin and Waterfall (not counting Alphys in Hotland). She’s described as a “local hero” by Gerson. I get a sense she’s not exactly famous to the people in the entire Underground compared to, say, Mettaton. ]]

How’s their reputation? GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL [[ Oof. Pretty sure my teen fish annoys the residence of Waterfall for being a loud-mouthed little scamp. The only reason she’s not considered ‘bad’ is because it’s pent-up energy and misguidedness, not flat-out cruelty. In canon, it seems like the people who talk about Undyne do it in either a positive or neutral light. You have Monster Kid, Papyrus, and Onionsan singing her praises. The Royal Guard members respect her. Asgore thought of her well enough to have her lead his military. Uhh, for a neutral instance, I remember an NPC in Snowdin saying she’s “loud, rude, and beats up anybody who gets in her way” (I don’t remember the exact quote). To weigh this more on the side of my muse, I’ll mark this answer as ‘neutral.’ ]]

HOW STRICTLY DO YOU FOLLOW CANON? [[ Since I have an aged-down character, canon is literally my END GOAL! I gave her a “starting point” on her journey to the determined, dedicated, and excitable warrior fish we all know and love from the game. I filled in the gaps from there, using parts of her past mentioned in the game to glue the headcanons together. Deciding what she was like when she was younger – What’s her family background? What aspects about her changed as she matures? What internal and external conflicts would she deal with as a teen? – THAT’S the non-canon part. My Deltarune AUs are… different. Canon is my end goal too, but the timelines are all wonky to fit the needs of wanting to interact with the Fun Gang. LOL ]]

SELL YOUR MUSE! AKA TRY TO LIST EVERYTHING, WHICH MAKES YOUR MUSE INTERESTING IN YOUR OPINION TO MAKE THEM SPICY FOR YOUR MUTUALS. [[ This kid is spunky, loyal, compassionate of the plight of her people, and will see through anything she sets her mind to, despite life’s barriers. She’s got a lot of pent-up energy and is searching for what she can do with it to help her achieve her goal of setting Monsterkind free! ]]

NOW THE OPPOSITE, LIST EVERYTHING WHY YOUR MUSE COULD NOT BE SO INTERESTING (EVEN IF YOU MAY NOT AGREE, WHAT DOES THE FANDOM PERHAPS THINK?). [[ The teen fishy has a streak of selfishness and short-sightedness. Being honest, Undyne would be a racial supremacist if she existed in real life. Big yikes. Also, she’s willingly being trained as a child soldier. Another big yikes right there. ]]

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO RP YOUR MUSE? [[ Ages ago, I RPed the adult version of Undyne, which resulted in a bunch of headcanons for her past. I had no desire to RP any of them after it ended. A year later, I commissioned an artist for a Gerson vs. teen Undyne piece. That single-handedly made me want to get back into RPing again. ]]

WHAT KEEPS YOUR INSPIRATION GOING? [[ My fellow RPers wanting to interact with this silly fishy! When I first started, I expected my interest to peter out over the months. I didn’t expect many RPers wanting to interact with an aged-down character. But here I am, wanting to expand my headcanons further and making AUs so I’m not limited to canon. ^^ It’s all thanks to you guys!! ]]

SOME MORE PERSONAL QUESTIONS FOR THE MUN.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

Do you think you give your character justice? YES / NO / I SINCERELY HOPE I DO?

Do you frequently write headcanons? YES / NO / SORT OF? [[ I should do it more often TBH. But I find showing them via story-telling more fulfilling than just explicitly explaining them in posts. Plus, it gives me more leeway if I’m still playing around with an idea. ;) ]]

Do you sometimes write drabbles? YES / NO [[ I’m not counting the three pending drabbles until I finish them. ^^;; ]]

Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day? YES / NO [[ She finds a way to bother me! Usually in the form of sudden inspiration for how to respond to RPs. ]]

Are you confident in your portrayal? YES / NO / SORT OF? [[ Sometimes I wonder if I forgot some aspect about Undyne that’s in canon, or unintentionally exaggerating other less-important aspects of her other characteristics… ]]

Are you confident in your writing? YES / NO / SORT OF? [[ Generally, yes. But I do have my days when I suffer from low self-confidence. ]]

Are you a sensitive person? YES / NO. / SORT OF? [[ It depends on what’s meant by that. I’m sensitive to other people’s feelings, so I don’t intend to sound rude OOC, even if I’m expressing something negative about something I think the other did. If this is referring to being sensitive about events in RPs… my sensitivity is equivalent to that of being invested in any work of fiction. I know it’s not reality. I can pull away from the fictional world and it won’t bring down my real life. ]]

DO YOU ACCEPT CRITICISM WELL ABOUT YOUR PORTRAYAL? [[ If it’s given in good faith and is constructive, sure. ]]

DO YOU LIKE QUESTIONS, WHICH HELP YOU EXPLORE YOUR CHARACTER? [[ Hell yeah, give them to me! ]]

IF SOMEONE DISAGREES TO A HEADCANON OF YOURS, DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY? [[ It depends if they want to tell me. I don’t mind either way. Personally, I like hearing other people’s interpretations! ]]

IF SOMEONE DISAGREES WITH YOUR PORTRAYAL, HOW WOULD YOU TAKE IT? [[ *shrug* It doesn’t matter as long as they don’t harass me. ]]

IF SOMEONE REALLY HATES YOUR CHARACTER, HOW DO YOU TAKE IT? [[ I’d just ignore it. They don’t need to interact or follow me. If my muse really is a bother to them, they can block my account. ]]

ARE YOU OKAY WITH PEOPLE POINTING OUT YOUR GRAMMATICAL ERRORS? [[ I hope my grammar’s good enough, or else my English degree studies went to waste! But yeah, sure. Fun fact: explaining grammar rules so people can avoid major errors in the future is more helpful than nit-picking insignificant errors without explanations. ]]

DO YOU THINK YOU ARE EASY GOING AS A MUN? [[ As long as fellow RPers aren’t being rude OOC, don’t break any serious rules, or do something that I mention are personal triggers to me, I am easy-going! RPing is fun and it should stay that way for everybody involved! ]]

#mun monday #ooc #long post #yikes that took me a week to finish writing #but it was fun #this post was such a pain to format

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maxilsmaster · 4 years

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writer ask meme

https://ciiardha-blog.tumblr.com/post/158543702841/writer-ask-meme

1. Tell us about your WIP! right now, i’m working on a fic with classicfresh, scifell, errink, dustberry, horrorlust, afterdeath and killercreammare. basically, dream invited everyone on a picnic but it went horribly wrong and everyone started arguing.

2. Where is your favorite place to write? i mostly write stuff out on google docs then post to ao3, but sometimes i just skip to ao3

3. What is your favorite/least favorite part about writing? favorite: i don’t necessarily have to share my work. least favorite: describing things.

4. Do you have any writing habits/rituals? lots of dialogue, start with a line of dialogue.

5. Top five formative books? haha what

6. Favorite character you’ve written? probably error or ink. maybe my own sans, illusion.

7. Favorite/most inspirational book? i like the sight (warriors arc 3 book 1) and curiosity killed the error (by the lovely @shandycandy278).

8. Do you have any writing buddies or critique partners? i recently gained a position beta-reading for @jasmynation‘s undermaze fic. also my friend CosmoCat07 on ao3

9. Favorite/least favorite tropes? i have no idea.

10. Pick an author (or writing friend) to co-write a book with CosmoCat07

11. What are you planning to work on next? dying inside slowly

12. Which story of yours do you like best? why? New Beginnings, the thing I’m writing with CosmoCat07.

13. Describe your writing process oh hey this would be funny *types ideas on notepad on chromebook* *writes it out on google docs*

14. What does it take for you to be ready to write a book? (i.e. do you research? outline? make a playlist or pinterest board? wing it?) type a vague idea, and wing it from there

15. How do you deal with self-doubt when writing? bottle it up internally :D

16. Cover love/dream covers? i don’t like covers.

17. What things (scenes/topics/character types) are you most comfortable writing? not sex.

18. Tell us about that one book you’ll never let anyone read my first warriors fanfic. 30 chapters of me not fully understanding warriors. (un)fortunately, it got deleted when my old laptop broke.

19. How do you cope with writer’s block? write more

20. Any advice for young writers/advice you wish someone would have given you early on? don’t doubt yourself.

21. What aspect of your writing are you most proud of? the grammar, definitely. i’m not giving a shit about it here, but i’m good at grammar. no grammarly stop giving me your ads, i can write just fine on my own.

22. Tell us about the books on your “to write” list 50 one-shots then 70+ more.

23. Most anticipated upcoming books? the next warriors books

24. Do you remember the moment you decided to become a writer/author? no

25. What’s your worldbuilding process like? what worldbuilding process?

26. What’s the most research you’ve ever put into a book? very. very. VERY. little.

27. Every writer’s least favorite question - where does your inspiration come from? Do you do certain things to make yourself more inspired? Is it easy for you to come up with story ideas? inspiration? fanfiction. it’s pretty easy.

28. How do you stay focused on your own work and how do you deal with comparison? i don’t compare and i don’t get comparison. i’m not that popular.

29. Is writing more of a hobby or do you write with the intention of getting published? hobby

30. Do you like to read books similar to your project while you’re drafting or do you stick to non-fiction/un-similar works? all i read is fanfiction all i read is undertale fanfiction all i write is basically undertale fanfiction

31. Top five favorite books in your genre? genre: fanfiction. ckte, um ckte, undermaze, our tangled web, and uh ckte. i like ckte.

32. On average how much do you write in a day? do you have trouble staying focused/getting the word count in? i have trouble writing over 1000 words at once, but i try. i also write a lot. it’s been occupying most of my time lately.

33. What’s your revision/rewriting process like? oh, i messed up this word. edit. oh, this sentence would fit here... add sentence. oh my god this whole story sucks burn it in hell.

34. Unpopular writing thoughts/opinions? idk.

35. Post the last sentence you wrote from prompt 49. dear god. at least i’m done prompt 5...

“S’ why m’ not gettin’ ya somethin’ greasy,” Red answered, pulling open the door to Grillby’s.

36. Post a snippet SPOILERS FOR PROMPT 33 OF MY THING

Cross stepped between the two. “Alright, who wants to play hide and seek?”

“OOH! ME!” Blue cheered, wiggling around in the strings.

Horror raised the hand his axe was in, and Killer raised a hand as he stood up to retrieve his knife from the wall it had been stuck in from when he threw it. Meanwhile, Dust and Error let out a groan.

“Alright, majority rules, we’re doing hide and seek!”

“Yay!” Horror, Blue and Killer said, all in different tones.

“And Error, no cheating this time,” Cross ordered. “You know what, you can seek.”

“Fuck you,” Error spat as he dropped Blue from the strings. Killer caught Blue dramatically. “That was gay.”

“Then it’s a good thing we’re already dating,” Killer refuted, dipping Blue and kissing him.

“EIGHT! NINE! TEN!” Error yelled, turning around and subsequently causing everyone to jump.

They then proceeded to run out of the room.

37. Do you ever write long handed or do you prefer to type everything? type. i can’t write with a pencil for shit.

38. How do you nail voice in your books? i don’t XD

39. Do you spend a lot of time analyzing and studying the work of authors you admire? idk, really

40. Do you look up to any of your writer buddies? shandy

41. Are there any books you feel have shaped you as a writer? what?

42. How many drafts do you usually write before you feel satisfied? one, then edit.

43. How do you deal with rejection? haven’t had to yet.

44. Why (and when) did you decide to become a writer? late grade 7, i guess. that was when i first started getting into warriors.

45. First or third person? third

46. Past or present tense? past, definitely

47. Single or dual/multi POV? i’m cool with either

48. Do you prefer to write skimpy drafts and flesh them out later, or write too much and cut it back? write everything in one go (spread out over multiple days, normally), then add/remove a few details

49. Favorite fictional world? right now utmv but i also like warriors

50. Do you share your rough drafts or do you wait until everything is all polished? i edit before i post, but i post individual chapters

51. Are you a secretive writer or do you talk with your friends about your books? mostly talk about it amongst the fandom

52. Who do you write for? myself, mostly.

53. What is the first line of your WIP? my current one, where i’m writing seven different ships in a one-shot?

This picnic was a terrible idea. Everyone was arguing over something so pointless and mundane that it may as well not even have started.

54. Favorite first line/opening you’ve written? not the one above

55. How do you manage your time/make time for writing? (do you set aside time to write every day or do you only write when you have a lot of free time?) i just write constantly

#spoilers for my one-shots #55 questions

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thefloatingstone · 5 years

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overlordraax replied to your post: Not feeling much better after waking up. Somebody...

List your top fave fanfics. List your top fave tropes in fanfic.

Oh noooooo this is a really good one too sdjkjdhfsh

I was actually thinking of doing a fanfic Rec list tbh!! I hope you don’t mind that they’re all Undertale fics! I think I’ve read more fanfiction for this fandom than I’ve read for any other fandom I’ve ever been in. (Including MLP which is a friggen miracle if you stop to think about it)

BUT ANYWAY! Please check out these fics by some incredibly talented individuals (some of these I’ve put in lists before but w/e here it is again!)

(in literally no particular order at all)

Postcards from Waterfall

Rating: Explicit (Fic as a whole is T but occasionally has specific smut scenes which are marked for easy skipping)

Ship?: Sansby

Setting: Classic timeline

Word Count: 353 763

Ongoing

After an unremembered Genocide timeline, Sans is struggling with lingering feelings of dread. On top of this, coming to terms with his own childhood, and dealing with a lifelong recovery from a massive accident in his youth. However, things seem to slowly improve as he unexpectedly grows closer to Grillby, and feelings turn towards the romantic. But there are still things lurking in the Underground that would do them harm.

(the fic mostly focuses on Sans’ childhood trauma dealing with a apathetic Gaster, an mysterious “Accident” he can barely remember in his near-childhood, his developing feeling for Grillby, and their awkward relationship developing and reacting to situations around them. the plot is paced slowly, but I wouldn’t call it a slice-of-life story as there are larger things at play and get slowly revealed as things move forward)

Thunderstruck

Rating: T

Ship?: Reader / Underfell Papyrus

Setting: Classic Timeline with Underfell Sans and Papyrus

Word Count: 263 284

Ongoing

It’s the classic timeline, and monsters have been on the surface for almost 2 years already. In the Skeleton household though, Sans and Papyrus have acquired two tag-alongs in the form of Underfell Sans (Red) and Underfell Papyrus (Edge) who have come from a much more violent and desperate timeline with no way of going back. This wouldn’t be so bad, but a lifetime of being on constant alert and being intimidating and scary to everyone, where it once had Edge be the most respected of monsters as Captain of the Royal Guard, now sees him severely emotionally and socially crippled. Unable to make friends due to his learned behaviour of being scary and permanently angry, unable to find work because most monsters AND humans find him too hard to handle, and struggling to find his place in his own family unit, with his relationship with his own brother awkward after so many years of pretending to be “boss and henchman”, a strained relationship with Sans who does not trust him (for admittedly good reason) and with the only person he seems on good terms with being Papyrus (who also represents everything Edge could have been but have no hope of achieving).

Things change when caught in a pretty bad thunderstorm, Reader (you) finds him hiding in an alley outside your apartment. And lucky for him, you’re crazy enough to let a terrified stranger into your home until the weather improves, and even crazier, as you decide once he starts yelling, that you’d like to stay in contact with him.

The story is a slowburn Reader-insert romance, but it’s almost much more than that. Told from Edge’s perspective, it’s a recovery fic more than anything. Recovering from a lifetime of trauma, violence, learned survival behaviours, mending relationships with family, learning to fit into a world that at first seems completely incompatible with you, and finding a place in life. Lots of self reflection, sometimes self loathing, pining, confusion, frustration, brief arguments over stupid petty things, arguments over really IMPORTANT things, and a lot of tenderness, even if you’re not someone to go for Reader-insert stories, I highly recommend this one if only for the characterisation and emotional and psychological exploration, especially for Edge and his relationship to to his brother and the world at large. It definitely sold me on his character in a way I’ve never really considered.

Panic Room

Rating: M (note cw on fic)

Ship?: Nothing yet but working towards Reader/Papyrus Reader/Sans (no f//ntcest)

Setting: Swapfell

Word Count: 150 548

Ongoing

It’s been years since monsters broke the barrier, stormed into Ebott, and forcefully took over, place Toriel as the monarch and cutting the city off from the outside world. Ebott has become a dystopian dictatorship, where humans are second class citizens who can have incredible luxury depending on how useful and accommodating they are to their new monster rules, or simply be exterminated if stepping out of line. Reader (you) have been imprisoned for almost a year, living in torturous conditions, scarred from beatings and with no hope or future to even think of. But due to your spirit of Perseverance, you continue to live, to not give in to despair. One day, Swapfell Papyrus (Rus) wanders into the prison, looking to “buy” himself a human (for reasons unknown to you) and, for whatever reason, picks you.

He brings you home, has you cleaned up, healed up to the best of his ability, and then has the hurdle of trying to present you to Swapfell Sans; the Lieutenant of the Royal Guard and Alphys’ right hand man. On the verge of throwing you out, Sans allows you to stay and work as the maid in his meticulous home. A hard job, but you accept, unwilling to try your luck on the streets of Ebott. And so your new life begins with the brothers, and the longer you work there, the more you learn. You learn more about the very touchy but at his core good-hearted Rus, you learn more about the terrifying and ruthless Sans, and the sadness and desire to show kindness behind his mask, and you learn more about Ebott. About the constant servailence, the propaganda machine, the injustice, the violence, the broken system ruled by the blind and terrible queen.

You don’t know what sort of life or future is in store for you now, but it’s better than the prison (ANYTHING is better than the prison) and just at the edges of reality, where you can’t even see or notice them yet, a change is coming. Invisible and far in the distance, but slowly approaching.

Dirty Laundry

Rating: T

Ship?: Reader/Papyrus Reader/Sans (poly relationship, no f//ntcest)

Setting: Swapfell

Word Count: 49 369

Ongoing

Reader (you) have recently moved to Ebott for a change in life (it being monster central may or may not have something to do with that). It’s been a few months since monsters were freed, and many are integrating with society slowly but surely. One day, while at the laundromat, you find yourself watched by a scary but ultimately nervous and “I don’t know how to laundry!” Swapfell Papyrus.

In time, a friendship forms. He’s a really sweet guy, anxious but eager to please. It would all be very cute if not for the fact that his asshole brother doesn’t seem very pleased with you (or anybody?) “worming their way” into his baby brother’s life. Nevermind that their therapist said they needed time apart! Nevermind that Papyrus has asked him for some space! He’s going to make sure his little brother is safe! Just as he always had.

Besides... if he doesn’t, what else is there for him to do? Leave Papyrus alone? Leave both of you alone? Accept that Papyrus doesn’t need him any more? May not even want him any more?

...would that make him happier?

Fired Up and Bone Weary (Series)

Rating: G - T

Ship?: Sansby

Setting: Classic Timeline

Word Count: various

Complete

A collection of short stories and oneshots, documenting the everyday life and events in Sans, Grillby and Papyrus’ lives, starting underground and early dating, and working its way to surface life and marriage. Mostly just fluffy, slice of life settings, only now and then undercut by misfortune or drama. Dealing with Grillby’s complicated family, trying to manage Sans’ fluctuating depression, and Papyrus’ role and desire for a family. Most of it is just small, everyday happiness though. And the fear that at any moment all of it could disappear with a reset is (most of the time) not thought about.

(I haven’t finished the series myself just yet. I got stuck on the third last story in the series, the one with the most chapters, due to personal reasons. I do plan to finish it at a later date, but at this point in time it hit a little too close to home. I still recommend all of it whole-heartedly, as I doubt other people will react to it the way I did.)

There are also a few oneshots as well as fics I’ve mentioned before (like SSLL for instance which I STILL love and you guys should STILL read!!) but these are the main ones I’m reading/have read at the moment!

If you guys want I can make a list of oneshots too. Just let me know 8′D I also didn’t include people’s tumblr names just in case they didn’t want it spread around for any particular reason, and I didn’t include more than one fanfic per author, I may add some of their other work in another post at some point. But I wanted to give each author equal exposure in this post.

Anyway! Hopefully you guys consider any (although you really should read ALL) of these fics! And give the authors comments and kudos!

#fanfic rec #Fanfic #Fanfiction #recommendations #C-Puff replies #overlordraax

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sleepyfan-blog · 5 years

Text

Killer has a bad time

fandom: undertale aus

characters and pairing: Killer!Sans, Horrortale!Sans, Error, Nightmare killer x hatchet x Error

warnings: panic attack, sensory overload

Summary: Killer has a panic attack, but his boyfriends are quick to help him calm down.

tagslist: @anxiety-is-married-to-depression @angelofthehalfmoon @trainwreck-of-skeletons @hisame-amadashi @therandomskelekey @capisnotonfire

Killer had just gotten back from a solo mission for boss - it had gone fairly well, all told. It was a curse-ridden and post-pacifist Overfell. Tensions were incredibly high between monsters and humans, made worse by the fact that both sides were suffering from the lingering curses that each race had cast upon the other towards the end of the war before the two races had been separated by a very powerful magical barrier for three hundred years.

He'd reported in to Nightmare, who seemed to have been pleased by the amount of data that he'd gathered. And Killer had even been sure to stick to the no stabbing on recon missions rule that the other absolutely insisted was necessary on missions like that. He wasn't entirely sure why when it was likely that they were going to cause chaos later, but Killer had done as he was told.

He stretched a little and concentrated for a moment, frowning a little as he realized that he couldn't sense either of his boyfriends... As far as Killer was aware, Hatchet didn't have any missions (unless something had come up) and Error had decided to stay with them at the castle, as it was a damn sight more secure than the Antivoid, which both the Star Shits and Fresh could access if they wanted to.

Unless Error had wandered off to go make sure that Ink wasn't too busy? Killer tried to shake off the worry that bubbled where his stomach would be, if he had one. He meandered over to one of the common rooms, sitting down and switching on the TV, doing his best to watch what was going on in that portion of the Undernovella AU that they were currently following. There was a lot of shouting and fighting and -

Killer groaned quietly as he felt a headache pounding the front of his skull and squinted a little as he wondered just who in the hell had turned on the lights this bright? The shouting and flailing of the beings he was watching was grating on his nerves, so with trembling fingers, Killer switched off the TV. His breathing was fast and shallow, and he felt as if what was left of his soul was slowly being strangled.

He panicked a little and summoned his soul - the red target-look still the same as ever. It wasn't dripping or melting or changing color. So what the fuck was wrong? He tugged his hoodie over his face as he tried to slow down his fast and frantic breathing, a shudder running through him as he tried not to break down into miserable tears. Stars above and demons below, why was he such a weak and useless fucking moron? There was no Asgore-damned reason why he should be reacting like this. He had to calm down... But he couldn't for some stupid fucking reason!

"Hey... Babe... Mind coming out of hoodie town for a moment?" Hatchet asked suddenly, his warm presence next to him and magical aura startling Killer.

"You don't have to, if you don't want to. We just want to show you something, love." Error murmured from his other side, a couple of strings gently wrapping around one of his wrists. Not to try to restrain or pull him anywhere, but to show that the other was there and that he was there and sent a pulse of soothing magic through it.

"T-Too bri-bright..." Killer managed out, leaning into Hatchet's familiar warmth as he clung to him desperately.

"Alright... I'm going to get up and turn off the light. Is there anything else that's bothering you, love?" Error asked, staticky voice filled with love and care.

"J-Just t-try to keep speaking q-quietly please.” Killer begged, shaking a little bit as he clung closer to the other. Some of the fearful static in his mind was quieting down a little at the sound of their voices “B-But please k-keep talking. I-It helps me to hear your voices…”

"Alright sweetheart. We've gotcha... Anything in particular you want us to talk about, or just the sound of our voices?" Hatchet asked, his voice a pleasing rumble as the other gently rubbed little circles into his back "Can you do some of those square breaths for me, sugar?"

"C-Count f-for me?" Killer asked timidly, pressing a little bit closer to the larger sans as he heard Error moving around the room.

"Alright, In for one, two, three, four." Hatchet started, his voice calm and caring as he counted out the square-breathing exercise.

Error called out after a couple of moments, sounding close again "Do you want us on both sides of you, or just one of us at a time? I know that pressure can sometimes bother you, Killer."

"Mnn... Want to feel you both close... Please?" Killer responded after a moment "But only if it won't bother you being so close, Error."

"I wouldn't have offered something that I wasn't able to give you, darling." The glitch reassured his anxious boyfriend as he walked over and sat down next to the other, reaching out and gently placing a hand on one of the other's shoulders.

"O-Okay... Th-Thanks." Killer responded after a relieved sound, feeling himself relax a little further. After a couple of minutes he tugged his hoodie down and asked quietly "What is it that you two wanted to show me?"

"Error made us both a couple of dolls!" Hatchet explained with a grin, revealing to the other the tiny, plush versions of the two of them, along with a doll-Error. The three of them were very cute.

Killer gasped softly and reached out for the Hatchet and Error dolls, carefully picking them up and kissing them on the teeth, purring softly "Th-they're really well made, thank you, Error."

"You're welcome, Kills." Error hummed, purring a little in response, the other's hand still resting lightly on one of his shoulders.

Hatchet was purring as well, still rubbing gentle circles into the small of his back. He wanted to ask how Killer's mission had gone, but he wasn't sure if that was part of the reason why the other was so anxious - something might have happened on the mission and Killer was now freaking out because he was in a safe space. Nightmare had summoned the both of them as soon as the negative guardian (and their boss) had sensed Killer's panic attack, so that they'd be able to help him through it. "Hey... I learned a new recipe while you were away! I figured out how to make meat and cheese ravioli from scratch. It's a repetitive task, but the movements are kind of meditative, after a while. And I figured I might as well make as many as I could, so there's a bunch for you to try... The first batch aren't the greatest, but they still taste good. And boss even let me use fresh herbs and some of the tomatoes from that big-ass garden of his, too. For the sauce. And the ravioli themselves, in exchange for a bunch of them."

"Oh... That does sound tasty... Did you just make the ravioli and sauce, or did you make cheesy garlic bread too?" Killer asked, half-hopefully. He loved everything that the other made, but garlic bread just made any pasta dish so much better.

"Of course I did, made the bread myself- we were out getting a bit more yeast, 'cause we used the last of it for the dough. I missed you in the kitchen, kneading the bread, but orders are orders." Hatchet answered with a grin, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of Killer's forehead.

"I like the feeling of the bread in my hands... 'Nd it's nice to be able to use my strength to make something, for once." Killer half-mumbled as he nuzzled into Hatchet, still purring a little. The feeling of impending doom had almost gone away. The tightness in his chest had stopped entirely, though he was still feeling a little bit shaky.

"I quite agree... It's one of the reasons why I like making these dolls... It's nice to see how I improve over time." Error remarked lightly as he gently patted Killer's shoulder gently "Is there something we can do to help you? Or would you rather we stay close?"

"Stay, please." Killer answered immediately. He was kind of hungry - and that plate of pasta and garlic bread sounded really good... But he would rather his boyfriends be in the same room with him, then one of them getting him something to eat.

"Alright." Hatchet and Error acknowledged at the same time. The three of them stayed snuggled together on the couch until they slowly fell asleep.

Killer shifted a little, waking up just enough as he realized that someone had draped a blanket around the three of them. He could just barely make out the figure walking out of the door. “Thank you…” He calls out, tired and starting to wake a little.

“You’re welcome. Go back to sleep, Killer.” Nightmare responded, voice just barely above a whisper, sounding amused and… An emotion that Killer couldn’t readily identify when this sleepy.

“Okay… I can follow that order…” Killer mumbled with a sleepy smile, drifting back off again. It was nice to know that Boss did actually care for him, as grumpy and grouchy as Nightmare could get. Cuddled between his boyfriends and feeling utterly safe, Killer was so glad that he’d finally found a home to call his own.

#my writing #killer!sans #Horror!sans #error!sans #panic attack tw #sensory overload tw #Nightmare sans

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