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#haven't beat the game yet. just heard some stuff

agentravensong · 2 years

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I feel this is a little mean, but the Youtube Theory Crew feel like they are way behind Tumblr Theory Crew in both breadth and depth of their analysis of the game.

You know what? Fair.

I mean, some of those people are actually on tumblr (Dorked at least) and there are specific which I'd say some of them have covered more in-depth than any tumblr posts I've at least seen. For example, there's HalfBreadChaos's element video, Jaru's shadow crystal video, and Andrew Cunningham has what is in my mind the definitive DeltaRune narrator video with everything we have as of Chapter 2.

But I can definitely see where you're coming from. Like, on the one hand, I think the tumblr theory community can be so wide in their breadth (partly because it's a lot easier to justify typing up a rambly tumblr post about random details than scripting recording and editing a whole YouTube video about such details) that there's probably a lot of stuff it gets obsessed over that isn't really relevant. But it does also allow for catching on to things the YouTube theorists miss; like, no one's made a video focused on the water stuff in DeltaRune yet as far as I know (though the original ocean.gg observation that originally led me down that road was brought to my attention by a HalfBreadChaos video). Maybe I'll be the one to do that. Maybe.

And in terms of character analysis in particular, I think the tumblr theory community has the YouTube theory community beat by a mile. Not to say I'd agree with the takes of everyone in the tumblr community, but it at least feels like there's a lot more thought and focus on it here. Like, I don't think I've ever seen a Youtube video that really Gets Noelle, Susie, Ralsei, or the Kris - Susie - Noelle dynamics the way certain people here on tumblr do (though if people have recs, I'd love to hear them!). I'm pretty sure tumblr caught on to the idea that "hey, maybe Kris's red eyes and knife trick doesn't mean they're going to go around killing everyone in Chapter 2" way faster than YouTube did.

And while I haven't watched, say, Jaru's Spamton analysis video (and I get how it must suck to put so much into a project like that only for a bunch new canon info to drop and potentially upend a lot of it), that's because of how turned off I was by his Frisk & Chara takes and other vids I've vagueposted about here.

(Also the fact that Jaru made that whole Frisk - Chara - Kris video and just casually implied via attributing a line of narration to Frisk that he hadn't even heard of NarraChara? Like, it's one thing to not believe it, but to just take for granted that Frisk is narrator implies he did literally zero research on other people's takes on Chara that would have least made him question that.)

(Also he made a video about whether DeltaRune was a different timeline or an entirely separate universe to UT and decided it was a different timeline because otherwise there was no way to justify how similar the two were, only to admit later that he hadn't even thought of the alternate explanation of them being parallel universes? A very popular sci-fi concept? And, even worse, when people were bringing it up in the comments, he refused to give it genuine consideration until it was the only way to make his Sans theory work? Like, how am I supposed to believe you're actually willing to be proven wrong like you say you are after that?)

The only exceptions to this character analysis point in my mind are Dorked, who, again, is also a tumblr person, and Andrew Cunnigham's videos on Kris specifically. He gets them.

It was interesting listening to those podcast videos and seeing the places where I heartily agreed with the Youtubers' takes (like how most of them agreed that pianpian does not disprove that Kris can play piano - though they were mainly countering another YouTuber, Two Left Thumbs, in that section), and then the places where I was kind of disappointed by their analysis. Like, my man Andrew being kind of surprised at Noelle's growing relevance to the story, as if she isn't equal with Kris in being at the thematic center of the narrative (in my opinion anyway).

And then the whole thing where they were talking about how the dark worlds work and largely seemed to come to a consensus that their histories are backloaded in when the fountains are made... I talked about this in a tumblr server already so I'll just copy-paste that. For context, someone else brought up the topic and was talking about how they dislike the theory because:

there's no way to prove it or disprove it. Very simply: if they darkworlds didn't exist before they were made then there would be no NARRATIVE reason to have it be a function of them to just make shit up about their histories. Functionally it is identical to if they had always existed.

To which I added:

"i feel like making it so the dark worlds only exist when a fountain's made also takes agency away from the darkners in a way that makes them less compelling as characters. "like, when i posted about how noelle's interactions with spamton as detailed in the bluecircle secret page is pretty good proof that spamton and, by extension, the dark worlds, were around before the fountain, there were a few people in the notes who said they hold to the other theory and that the dark worlds were just drawing on that history when making spamton. "and i didn't response to any of them, but, like... that's just less interesting to me. i like the idea that spamton, as a character with agency, was reaching out to lightners and had this moment of connection with noelle. if they were actually just random emails that later "became spamton" or whatever... first of all, it really doesn't feel like it's written that way, the writing makes it feel like those emails were sent by someone with some agency, and secondly... it's lame. imo."

I get that it complicates our understanding of what the fountains actually do (Queen does say the Knight "deigned to create this world" that day, for example) and the exact relation between the darkners as characters and the items they're supposedly derived from, so I wouldn't necessarily say it's the easier, obvious answer... but at this point, if you actually look at all the evidence, I think it has to be some variant of "the darkners have always been sentient in some form and the dark worlds existed in some form before the Knight started making fountains". And a lot of tumblr people already figured that out, for both that reason and the more thematic reason I talked about.

And this is all without talking about the wide gulf between UT tumblr and YouTube theorists. Like, there are genuinely great UT analysis vids, talking not just about lore, but characters and themes. But, like, you know that tumblr post that goes ""undertale's meaning finally explained" actually, youtube man, tumblr user girl16378 figured it out years ago"? That post is spot on.

TL;DR, the tumblr and YouTube UT/DR theory communities have different strengths and weaknesses. They're both huge, and there are great thinkers and shitty takes in both, so your impression of both is gonna largely come down to which creators you happen to see.

That being said, I totally get it, anon.

(also subscribe to andrew cunningham and halfbreadchaos. and dorked. do it.)

#deltarune #undertale #thanks anon!#i really spent an hour on this huh #also there’s the number of popular utdr theorists who misgender the humans. can’t forget that

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oh-my-may · 2 months

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I finally got around to play Cosmo Canyon! Took me a while to get there bc family stuff and i was feeling a bit under the weather some days, but today I'll finish the protorelic quest and then do the side quests and that was it for Cosmo Canyon...

Thoughts on story: RED (or should I say Nanaki?) IS SO CUTE LEGIT A TEENAGE BOY TRYING TO PASS AS AN ADULT MAN the way I was hollering. The city is beautiful and very huge... Felt very overwhelmed when I first got there. Generally loved the focus on Red, had lots of questions about him originally. Now I wonder how old his kind can get if he's like 15 in human years but actually 48... huh. The story with his parents is pretty basic i guess? Didn't really blow me away, i could see the turning point coming from a mile away but it was very sweet nonetheless. Really enjoyed the gameplay during the trial, the Gi enemies WERE SO COOL. Also loved that we could scale walls with Red, I wish we could do that in the open world... The final boss almost kicked my ass because I'm not used to playing Barrett and Red actively, BUT THEY SLAYED. Shoutout to Titan, homeboy always comes through for me. Also couldn't help but be reminded of Genshin's Misty Dungeon event during the trial. And the mines of Moria. My weird interests meet in the most unusual of circumstances sometimes. My brain does that occasionally.

Also, the Gi Nantaak first scared the shit out of me. Then he kinda reminded me of Vision (you know, from Marvel) but that also wore off. The random sequence with Zack almost made me cry again. Whenever I see him on screen something just urges me to. Him and Biggs also looked so damn good during that entire scene I took so many screenshots 😭 I'm still so confused tho... Biggs ended up in Zack's timeline because of the Whispers/ the Wind for whatever reason? Really have no clue where they're going to take this part of the story, I just know it's going to hurt me so bad in the end.

I also let out an audible ' Hear me out' when they showed Seto... I'm not sorry.

On the exploration side of things... The flying chocobos are so confusing to me, I started the chocobo quest right as I landed in Cosmo Canyon and I immediately failed the first part because the controls as you fly are just??? Therefore everything that was placed so that you could only reach it through flying was a bit of a pain at first. I figured it out eventually, but i still haven't continued that quest... Also saw a bunch of people complain about this so at least I'm not the only one struggling lol.

Everything Else was very enjoyable tho. Go to explore team was Cloud, Aerith and Cait Sith this time and I gotta say Cait's Moogle Magic skill is busted I was so surprised when a full ass Ifrit suddenly stood on the field 😭 Bahamut Arisen was a surprisingly quick clear after I got all the Intel, Tifa just died in like the last minute. A worthy sacrifice tho. Immediately tried Bahamut while beating the Jabberwock, huge Dragon Battle was crazy insane to watch. He's busted. Put him on Cait for now.

I haven't finished the protorelic quest yet, but I didn't expect it to have this much lore right from the get go... So you're telling me Wedge is dead in Cloud's timeline???? Just like that?? The whispers killed him? MY BOY. Also Yuffie's friends (?) - the NPC's for that quest - immediately reminded me of Bella's High School friends in Twilight 😭💀 They just look like they belong in these movies idk

Now I wonder if the last two parts of the protorelic quest are gonna be as much a pain in the ass as Fort Condor was... I managed to clear the first two stages quite quickly so I hope it's gonna be okay with the AI helping me for the configuration part...

So that's that! Will definitely finish Cosmo Canyon tonight and then maybe start Chapter 11... Just a few more steps until meeting Vincent. Heard Chapter 11 was quite long so it'll probably take me the whole weekend to finish next to work and all. My goal of finising this game before easter is probably gonna be left unfulfilled... But I'd rather take my time.

Will add screenshots to this post after I get home from work!

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smilingangel582 · 1 year

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Prince of tennis is an anime I heard from a friend. Its a pretty old one but I like the plot and characters too much.

Lol if only there were many fanfics if them

Plus, this arrogant cocky little freshman deserves some punishment! Honestly, he's a brat but a chibi one at that 😄

Warning spoilers alert... so read the manga or watch the anime

Enjoy this tk fic, dear peeps, and sorry for the late posts... I had some difficulties in writing and personal stuff... well, enjoy!

(Also... I got no title for this, sorry ~tehe)

Momoshiro eyed the twist serve that began to shoot through the wind and cut the air in half. He was dreading the final serve from Ryoma Echizen, who had the lead over their practice match.

Meanwhile, Eji Kikumaru grinned in excitement and gleefully waved at them. "One of more set Ochibi (little kid/baby boy/shorty) and Momo you gotta break his service game!"

Momo growled irritably, but then Echizen's shot suddenly sprang into action. Yet again... the game ended as soon as Momo prepared himself for the worst.

"G-Game and match! 6-4 Echizen"

Pointing his racket. Echizen's smirk lifted from his cap. "Mada mada dane (no, not yet)"

"You punk!" Momo grabbed the towel first, and then the rest of the regulars were there along with Kikumaru and Fuji, who had finished their match before.

"What a pain, you just get better, haven't you?" Momo stated with a hint of amusement as he took a sip from his water.

Next to him, Echizen finished his sip in a gulp and huffed in nonchalance. "Don't you mean you're getting worse?"

Momo frowned. "Oi, oi... be nice like a good kohai (underclassmen)" yet seeing how Echizen disregarded this Momo took the initiative to lunge at the freshman who backed away a few steps in preparation regardless of the brave face he forced. He slowly slipped from the corner and towards the other senpais; Kikumaru, Fuji, and Inui.

Echizen was cocky. "Senpai (upperclassmen)... your speed is the worst... I can beat you in anything at this rate"

"Well, you got your own downfalls too you know..." momo tried to argue his way, sheltering his own pride though Echizen mercilessly attacked.

"Like?"

Momo swallowed now, seeing how Echizen was superior in every sense. He sighed now which made the younger shake his head with a shrug "Mada mada dane senpai"

"Oh yeah...? Then our height... is that beatable?" Momo raised an eyebrow as he towered over Echizen. He stumbled back again but remained firm.

"I jump higher, so it's not a disadvantage"

"We'll see how you escape this!" Then, seeing his look of rebel, Momo grabbed Echizen by the waist to pull him over his shoulder. "Maybe in strength I can carry you around..." he added wittily."You who weigh nothing more than a tennis racket..."

Echizen gasped by the sudden lift. He was struggling over his shoulder, now kicking around. "Oi! Put me down, momo senpai!"

Seeing this, Kikumaru laughed. "Hey Momo, don't be mean to ochibi-chan, ne?"

"Not until he apologised to me and respects me," Momo laughed victoriously, this time still holding Echizen by the waist, who was slumped over his shoulder in a strong grip.

"Let me go!" Echizen twisted like a fish through the firm grip of his senpai.

"Hmm....nope -gah! Itai (ouch)! That hurts, baka (idiot)!"

"Hey, now don't fight." Kikumaru, for once being a senpai, tried to stop them. He tried to take Echizen from his shoulders, with a firm grip around his hips to get him down.

However, neither of the older boys expected the short boy to yelp in a startle gasp, his voice sinking with puzzlement, then his foot narrowly missing a kick to Kikumaru's nose.

Momo paused now, he turned to Kikumaru first "S-senpai what did you just do now?"

Kikumaru still had his hands on Echizen's hips and blinked in response (probably the lucky escape of a titan kick), but then turned back to a blushing Echizen who was vigorously struggling even more. "D-dont surprise me like that Kikumaru-senpai"

"Eh? All I did was..." To demonstrate, he squeezed his hips, and Echizen let out another cry, this time with a whine."Don't touch me!"

Inui, who was watching the scenario with Fuji, turned with interest to them. He pushed his glasses and stated in his monotonously factual tone, "I see, that strong reaction proves my data on Echizen, It was 95.46% accurate regarding the probability of Echizen being ticklish"

Fuji gave a soft chuckle. "You don't need data for that Inui... It's obvious, " Inui returned the same chuckle.

Echizen slipped away from Momo's shoulder, now backing away defensively. "I wasn't! H-he startled me... besides, the captain doesn't want to see us slacking off..."

Many were surprised by a defensive Echizen, his blush deepened when his senpais exchanged cunning glances.

"Gotcha!"

"Ah!" Kikumaru's speed became Echizen's downfall today, as he felt two hands attack his sides immediately. "Ochibi! Is that true?"

Feeling the electric touch, he yelped again but managed to escape temporarily though he was cornered by four senpais.

"M-mada mada da -ahahneeh!" His catchphrase was suddenly erupted with giggles when Momo and Fuji tackled the player to the ground with quick scribbled and pokes. He was small enough to be easily pegged down with no strength in brawls... thus, he was helplessly straddled by Kikumaru, who excitedly cracked his fingers "Aww Chibi is so cute! Being ticklish is something we never expect from you"

"K-Kikumaru senpai-!"

Inui began now as he cuts in Echizen's words. "Best way to break Echizen is to find his weak spots very slowly... It's valid even for tennis... to bruden the enemy with bith mental and physical stress"

Echizen tried to argue back, but Kikumaru's nimble fingers pinched his waist, making him struggle to conceal the giggles and jolts.

Fuji, his smile still plastered, smirked even more. "I see where you're coming from Inui"

This was too much, thought Echizen, as he kicked his feet against the ground. With his wrists pinned down, he was trapped, and he was forced to take this torment. He knew he couldn't let them embarrass him... It's bad enough that his father's a bigger humiliation to him in public.

"Oya...?" Momo also joined in and started to poke his collar bones, which made Echizen squeak in pure horror as he scrunched his neck, "Ain't that just adorable. I never thought someone so uncute could be this cute..."

He broke there and brust into proper giggles "Gahaha Momo-sehehenpaii stahahap ihihit!"

Inui grinned his glasses, reflecting sadism "Unfortunately for the cheeky rookie... we've discovered a weak point... poor Echizen's sensitive neck was in my data all along, but I should add ears too..." he was back to scribbling notes making Echizen growl irritably.

"Gehehet ohohoff! Ahahahahoooo(Aho - idiot)!"

Momo gasped, feigning shock. "How dare you be so deceitful, guess we should let him know the consequences of his rash actions, senpais" With that he used his knee to pin Echizen's forearm and then raised both his hands to attack his armpits. That was a wild reaction, making Inui scribble even more on his notes. Echizen wondered if the guy attacking or the guy making notes on his weaknesses is more dangerous...

Kikumaru, the acrobatic, was more engrossed in making Echizen burst into more giggles and reached back to squeeze his knee.

Inui smirked, jackpot Kikumaru.

Echizen shrieked loud, and soon the nearer courts had the attention of Echizen's laughter.

"Oh! Ochibi's weak in the knees!" Kikumaru grinned playfully."Tickle tickle tickle chibi-chan!"

The teasing made it worse. Echizen began to cackle like a madman, and he had never laughed like this since the last time Nanjiro, his father, tickled him to tears as a losers punishment.

"GAHAHA! EHEHENOUGH CUHUHUHUT IHIHIT OHOHOUT NOHOHOW! OIHIHIHIHI!" He was louder, and as a result, they stopped, but Fuji raised a hand thar hovered over him teasingly."I believe you need to appologise to Momo since he's your senior"

"Nehehever..." Echizen just dug his grave through his pants and heavy breathing"

Nevertheless, something cold trickled down his back when Fuji's eyes opened to reveal a severe glint of mischief. "Hmm, are you sure?"

Echizen gasped when Fuji's longer fingers snuck under his shirt and attacking his stomach. "This will be his breaking point, Inui..."

"OHOHK! PLEHEHEASE STAHAHAP! IHIHIHI AHAHAM SOHOHORRRY MOHOHOMO SEHEHENPAIIII!"

"Yush!" With that, Fuji clapped his hands with satisfaction."I think I enjoy this even more than watching people suffer from Inui's special remix drinks"

Kikumaru nodded brightly. "Right, nya? Isn't he the most adorable thing you've ever seen?"

Momo, who was satisfied with Echizen's apology, looked warily at Kikumaru. "Ah... senpai I doubt that's what Fuji implied of enjoying Echizen's laugh"

Echizen straightened up with gasps and uncurled from his balled position. "I hahate you guys"

Momo smiled as he helped a tired Echizen up from the ground. "You should laugh more. It's a nice look on you." With that, Kikumaru pounced on Echizen with a hug of affection."Right! Ochibi!"

Ryoma Echizen smiled genuinely now, "Mattaku (jeez) my senpais are so evil"

Tezuka arrived now, with Oishi, who was next to him. He turned to everyone with a knowing look. Then stated "Rub forty laps... for slacking off everyone!"

Wincing Momo nodded. "Hai(ok) kaicho(captain)"

Inui and Fuji gave uneasy smiles and accepted their fate while Kikumary pouted in offence.

"Echizen..." The captain began again. This made him anxiously look up at the captain, expecting a greater punishment "Twenty five laps"

Surprised Momo snapped back. "W-Why????"

"Forty-five laps..." he warned Momo, who yelped in fear."Sorry!" Echizen sighed in relief for his penalty.

They began the run, and Oishi chuckled next to Tezuka. "I didn't think you were this soft... was it his laugh?"

"Quiet Oishi, or else I'll make you run as well." With that, he was gone, Oishi watched them with a smile, a hope for nationals for erupting in his mind.

#tickle fic #cute #tennis no oujisama #prince of tennis #lee!ryoma #ler!momo #ler!kikumaru #lee!echizen #ler!fuji #ler!inui

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szalamireaktor · 3 months

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An Introduction to Szalámireaktor

Hello! Welcome to the Szalámireaktor. The Szalámireaktor is, essentially, a collection of all of the works devianDog and Odnecsrec have created from 2023 onwards.

Expect lots of art, some games, some music, and some misshapen fragments of ideas and emotions that don't really fit into any category that has yet been created by man.

devianDog

hi! i'm devianDog, your local friendly sentient cognitohazard who's desperately trying to gain some kind of physical presence. you most likely know me from my youtube channel (@deviandog), where i post speeddrawings and disconcerting videos.

besides drawing art and making nigh-incomprehensible videos, i also do game development, worldbuilding and music production. i've got some pretty exciting stuff in the works that i can't wait to share with y'all!

government mandated addendum: "DevianDog has not been, is not, and will never be a real entity. Anyone who attempts to tell you otherwise is posing an immediate and severe threat to both your and the government's safety, and should be reported through the number 1-457-555-3847 as soon as possible."

Labels Gender: male Pronouns: he/him Age: unspecified (it's a mystery!) Location: eh Fandoms: Rain World, Madness Combat, the Cosmere, FNAF & Factorio DNI: losers, wimps, crybabies, & the like

Odnecsrec

Hello, hi. I'm Odnecsrec, and, er... I'm also here, I guess.

I am aware that this introduction is supposed to tell you something about me, so I will give you the following information: No, you can't beat me in a fight.

I'm going to be honest: this website scares me. You people are (Lord save my soul for saving this) kind of weird. Devian says that y'all are a good kind of weird, but I don't think I can be blamed for having my apprehensions.

As for my interests: digital art and storytelling! I haven't made much yet (I haven't been at it for very long), but I have high hopes for the future!

Labels Gender: No Pronouns: Any (I honestly don't care) Age: 6044 (yes, really) Location: Eh Fandoms: None, as of yet. I guess Rain World by default? DNI: Dentists (don't touch my teeth, you creeps!)

Questions (+ maybe a few answers)

Do either of you do commissions?

D: no. i don't mean to cast you guys in a bad light, but i've heard enough horror stories about commissions that i'm not willing to do them. O: No, for largely the same reason. Also, I don't even know what I'd do with the money. Start a garden?

How often should I expect games/art/whatever to be posted here?

D: games will probably come every two months or so; art will vary. don't be surprised if one month there's a piece every week and the next there's nothing. O: Don't hold your breath.

Where can I download your art?

D: all of the art posted here is also saved in the Szalámireaktor Dry Cask Storage, which can be accessed via the 'ART ARCHIVE' link.

Who even are you people? Why are you in my feed?

D: 'person' is a strong word. O: Does it matter?

Why?

DevianDog: why not? Odnecsrec: Devian said 'hey, Odnecsrec, I think we should start posting our stuff to the internet', and I just shrugged and said 'okay'. It's not like I'm doing much else, anyways.

Wait... if Odnecsrec's name is Crescendo backwards, then isn't it supposed to be Odnecserc and not Odnecsrec?

O: Good catch! No.

So then it's not Crescendo backwards.

O: It is.

...That's not how that works.

O: Do you want to fight me?

No?

O: Then I'm right. Crescendo backwards is Odnecsrec.

Well, that was a waste of time.

D: i'm not very interesting. sorry. O: You're staring at a colorful pane of crystals and occasionally pawing at a scroll wheel. You expected to get something done by doing that?

#deviandog-thoughts #introductions #art #game development #game design #worldbuilding #paint.net #odnecsrec-thoughts

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jorrmungandr · 5 months

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(. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)

Ahhhhhhhh, havin' another relaxing day.

Been playing more Lies of P lately, it's really good. I had trouble with it at the start, but since I came back to it the other day it's been smooth sailing. Not sure if that's just a brain rest thing, or if I was just right at the breaking point where I got enough stats to play the way I like to. That way being sort of a strength-focused block-based bruiser, as my traditional favorite style in this kind of game.

I've just been flying through bosses, beat the city streets and the factory. The weapon combination system is very cool, though I haven't really been able to find any especially interesting combos yet. I keep just going back to the starting greatsword, it's nice and solid. Can't wait to be able to buy some boss weapons, the one you get for the King's Flame looks really cool.

I never did get very far in Bloodborne, even though I was finally able to get it with my PS5. I dunno, I think it was overhyped over the years, and the framerate really does feel bad. I've heard that it has like... subtly messed up frame pacing, that actually makes it feel way worse than the 30fps it consistently has, and I believe it. Probably would've loved if I had played it when it came out, but alas! Well, I am also a noted Parry Disliker, so maybe not.

I've been taking a break from podcasts this afternoon, doing some personal writing and listening to the Misericorde soundtrack. It's been going for two hours and I'm not even halfway through, this is a truly absurd amount of music. Xeecee really spoiled us.

Feeling very tempted to get back into FFXIV... the next expansion is coming out over the summer, so now would be a good time to go and start getting caught up. I stopped playing after the first Endwalker patch, I felt kinda burned out on the game. I'd been playing pretty intensely single like patch 5.3, so a good two years.

Also like... I really enjoyed the plot of Endwalker, but I do think it tied things up a bit too neatly. It was too final, y'know what I mean? Like, it felt like there wasn't really anywhere left for the plot to really explore that would be interesting. The stuff I've heard about the patch plots is cool, but not enough to draw me back in. Plus I wasn't super interested in the raids or alliance raids, either for plot or for aesthetics.

Part of the problem, I suppose, is that Shadowbringers was just so good that anything would be a letdown afterwards. And, indeed, it was. I am way more interested in the next expansion, though, where we're just goin' to a brand new place and exploring again. It'll be great to have something geographically and thematically coherent.

#pext toast #mundaneposting #ffxiv #lies of p

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pidayforpi · 1 year

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So...there is this UNDERTALE story idea I have here...

Yes. You heard right. UNDERTALE.

----------------------

Okay.

I actually never thought I would have the chance to share this to...virtually anyone.

And by "never", I really mean it.

When I came up with this idea, I had prepared to die without anyone else knowing this madness I have in my head (to be honest I still have a lot of crazy stuff in my mind that I am not sure if I will ever share with anyone).

But...uh...now that I am (technically) involved in fandoms, and have already spread my cringe, even in completed story forms, I think...maybe I will share this one as well...

(Sequence of discussion: Creation Background → Story Settings → Plot → Explanation)

[Also spoilers for Undertale, if you haven't played/watched the game yet. Like, total spoilers.]

----------------------

Background

Back in 2015/2016, I was a...rather big Undertale fanboi.

Also I was a kid. Put two and two together you get a really cringy fanboi kid.

To be honest, Undertale really had taken my heart for a while. I remember I started playing the game in autumn 2015, and I was quite literally captivated by it. I actually played the demo first in October, and then later went on to play the full game in November.

I can't pinpoint what attracted me the most, or what attracted me at all. I still can't. Perhaps it was the music? I bought the soundtrack as well, and I think the songs are something I still love to this day.

But without a doubt, Undertale had truly given me many happy memories, especially that winter.

I first beat the pacifist neutral ending (which is my favourite), and then the true pacifist ending (pacifist neutral is a prerequisite for the true ending for a first playthrough anyway, iirc).

I specifically remember that I beat the true pacifist ending on 24 Jan 2016 (Sun). I specifically remember that because that day was also an exceptionally cold day for my old home (around 3°C, which is very uncommon for there).

I would say Undertale made that day extra special for me.

("Screenshot" I took of the true pacifist ending, on my old laptop. [24 Jan 2016])

I left the game alone for some time, before deciding to try the genocide ending in February. And no, it was nothing personal.

It was just a usual routine of me when playing RPGs: I try to see all the endings that the game provides, whether they be good ones or bad ones. I want to see them all. I want to see all the content the game has.

And...knowing how bad I am with video games...I got stuck at Sans.

And I have never touched the game since then. (also don't ask me what "aslan" means I am too embarrassed to explain)

Seriously, it wasn't even rage quit. Sans is literally impossible for my pathetic gaming skill. I am still surprised I somehow cleared Undyne.

I did, however, watch the rest of the genocide route past Sans.

...and I am glad I gave up.

Now, I am not here to give a review of Undertale. Long story short of my feelings towards Undertale: Subjectively, it did give me wonderful memories, and become a significant symbol of a period in my life; Objectively, it's okay.

Even after putting the game away (to this day), I did think a lot about Undertale for the first quarter of 2016 (before something else occupied my mind for an even longer period of time, and affected me much deeper). Now that I think about it, Undertale might be my very first fandom.

And being young and new to fandoms...I did some stuff that I didn't even know were "fandom stuff" (relax those were all normal stuff): Fan art browsing, fan fic reading, comic dub watching, fan animation viewing (Seriously, some Undertale animations were SICK)...

Back then, I didn't think of producing something (i.e. writing a story) for a fandom. Probably because I didn't have time/talent/determination, or simply because my interests shifted too fast (my interests started to become stable only since Disney Ducks).

One thing edgy, cringy young me did sort of "produce", was a story idea.

And before you ask, no. I am never putting it on paper. Because of multiple reasons, and it being too edgy is not one of them actually (otherwise I wouldn't be sharing it).

First and most importantly, I am no longer in the Undertale fandom. I know what it is, but I am no longer interested to the point of producing something for it.

Secondly...well, you see...The reason why I say "story" idea instead of "fic" idea is because...it isn't a fic idea actually.

When I daydreamed about the idea, I actually imagined it being played out like an anime (told you I was cringy). Technically I could write the idea out in a story format, but it would be very hard to convey the plot and the message. And no way am I ever animating/drawing it out.

But I actually like the idea, so that's why I am writing this down in a descriptive format.

To be honest, I don't know how young me thought of such a "woke" message for a story. I am not sure if there was any "post-production" tinkering to the idea, because it seems too advanced for kid me. At least, the story plot is (mostly) unchanged, that's for sure (because I really had written it down in 2016, albeit a very simple version).

What struck me the most about Undertale was the concept of "morality" (again, I have quite something to talk about this one, but this is not a review).

One thing I noticed was the hypersensitivity of morality when it comes to you, and you only.

That monsters can kill you infinite amount of time without any guilt, but you immediately become a total trash person for killing just one monster. Gameplay wise, you are immediately locked out of the true, "good" ending of the game if you dare kill one soul. In the neutral "phone call" endings, characters literally feel betrayed/heartbroken/furious when you kill just one random monster, and even more so if it is a named NPC.

But no one mentions the fact that it is the monsters who initiate aggression, and attempt murder.

It is as if the concept of "self-defence" is unheard of to monsters.

Or, it is unheard of to monsters only when it is applied to you. Monsters can self-defend alright.

As a player sitting in front of a computer, it is easy to just "spare" everyone, as the game is "intended" to be played. Sparing or attacking is literally just a difference of a button. It isn't a hard decision at all, even sparing monsters.

But think about Frisk: A literal child. Alone. Stranded in an unfamiliar, dangerous territory. Lost in hostile terrains. Surrounded by actual, literal monsters who want to literally kill you and take your soul. Also their ultimate goal being invading your homeland.

Even the seemingly "most friendly" monster is a skeleton boi who literally proclaims he is going to send you to the guillotine just so he can get a promotion.

How would Frisk feel? What would he do? I have heard about "fight or flight", but "spare"? Would "spare" even be an option to him? Could he even comprehend "spare" in his situation?

And somehow, the burden of morality has fallen on the shoulders of this distraught, desperate child.

Notice how it is always Frisk sparing monsters, but never monsters sparing Frisk? Think about how bizarre that sounds: A child sparing a monster? A prey sparing a predator?

Killing with kindness is good, but sometimes it is too good to be true.

Especially, when there are people who don't understand you, who don't want to understand you...or who want to take advantage of your kindness.

----------------------

[Okay. Now we get to the actual story components. Just a heads-up: In general, the story is dark, violent, somewhat depressing, very edgy. And I am also going to make some characters you love look bad. Like, real bad.

Also certain characterisations/plot points may be altered for the sake of storytelling and message delivery. And it has been 8 years. Please don't challenge me on lore-friendliness orz]

Settings

These are the story settings I have as background/world-building. Kind of like a "list of headcanons used".

→ The story is essentially a retelling, alternative universe of the genocide route.

→ Frisk enters the monster world by accident.

→ Frisk actually has very powerful supernatural abilities. His weapon is a wooden stick (the default weapon in-game). I imagine his main ability taking form as psychokinesis (after a character I am also too embarrassed to explain), the magnitude of which is much more powerful than Sans'.

→ Another ability of Frisk is his "Determination", which allows him to revive infinitely as long as he is determined. Therefore, he essentially can't die how many times he is killed, as he will be resurrected in a nearby place afterwards (a reference to "reloading" after a game over). This "Determination" ability is also what prevents Frisk's soul from being taken when he dies. Frisk does, however, retain memories of his "past lives", and can feel pain. This "samsara" can also end if Frisk is no longer determined. When that happens, Frisk's soul can be taken, and he will truly die. What Frisk is determined about in this story is leaving the Underground alive. (When Chara is in control, what he is determined about is protecting Frisk.)

→ Since an early point in the story, Chara appears alongside Frisk. Chara is (sort of) a ghost, and shares Frisk's body with Frisk. Chara's weapon is a knife. He is very skilled in physical combat, and does most of the fighting in the story. However, when compared to Frisk's power, Chara definitely cannot compete.

→ Some rules apply in this "shared body" situation:

☆ Only one person can control the body at one time. "Wrestling" for control will lead to the stronger one gaining control.

☆ When the person is in control, the body will shift to that person's appearance. Since Frisk and Chara look very similar, the main difference is the shirt colour. The weapon will also shift to the corresponding one (stick for Frisk, knife for Chara).

☆ Only the person in control can actively control the body's physical movements. In return, only the person in control will feel pain inflicted to the body.

☆ Abilities are also exclusive to the person. It means that even when Chara is in control of the body, he cannot use Frisk's psychokinesis ability.

☆ The only shared ability is the "Determination" reviving ability. It means that no matter who is in control of the body when it dies, the body (and Frisk and Chara) will always be revived.

☆ The person not in control cannot influence the body's actions (unless he is strong enough to overcome and gain control of the body), but he can still see and hear what is going on.

→ Frisk here cannot reset the timeline whenever he likes (otherwise he would do that in a heartbeat), because his soul is not powerful enough. Only a strong enough soul, possible only by absorbing other souls, can reset the timeline.

----------------------

Plot

(This is the "raw" plot of the story. Explanations and themes are in the next section. Some plot points/details may seem weird, but they will be explained in the next section.)

Frisk, a child, falls into the Underground (monster world) accidentally.

Alone, hurt, cold and scared, Frisk wanders around the entrance of the Underground, trying to escape via where he came from, without success (the "boundary" between the human and monster worlds exists in both the entrance and exit. Not even Frisk can break through with his powers).

Frisk cowers in fear and despair on a flower bed, crying alone until a sentient flower suddenly emerges. Flowey introduces himself with that fake friendliness, to which the desperate Frisk really believes. Shortly afterwards, however, Flowey breaks that trust and attacks Frisk, who then runs away even more terrified, while Flowey laughs and states that he will continue watching Frisk from the sides.

This time, Frisk does not meet Toriel immediately. In fact, Frisk does not meet Toriel until after a long time in the Ruins. During that time, Frisk wanders around the Ruins aimlessly, still searching for a way out.

Shortly after running into the Ruins, Frisk has his first monster encounter. Monsters here literally want to hunt down Frisk and take his soul. Frisk tries asking for help, or "talking it out", but monsters either are too mindless to understand, or simply don't care. Although Frisk is powerful (he knows he is powerful too), the gentle human child does not want to hurt anyone. The only option he has is to keep running away from monsters.

However, trapped in a monster-ridden dungeon, there is really no place to run. Frisk is soon cornered, injured...and when the damages accumulate to maximum, his body succumbs, and Frisk dies for the first time.

Frisk is surprised to find himself awaken in another part of the Ruins, as if nothing has happened. The damages are all healed, his clothes and stick are still there with him. It is as if Frisk has had a dream.

However, as the process inevitably repeats, Frisk dies again, and again...He soon realises it is not a dream. He really died, and somehow lives again.

Trapped in this endless loop, Frisk starts to lose hope, but he never loses his kindness. He will still run away from monsters; and, when he can't, he will just let himself get killed and revive later.

He doesn't need food or water to live too. Even when the monsters don't get him soon enough, so that the hunger and thirst kill him first, Frisk will just revive feeling okay. The pain of getting attacked or starving is still there, and it hurts like hell, but Frisk is starting to get used to it. After all, there doesn't seem to be a way out.

Until after who knows how long, a once again dying Frisk is found by Toriel in the Ruins. Toriel expresses pity, and brings Frisk to her home. For the first time since falling into the Underground, Frisk experiences love and kindness, and breaks down in front of Toriel. Toriel promises to take care of Frisk as if he was her actual child.

Frisk is finally happy and safe after uncountable time of torment. These happy days go on for some time, with Toriel really fulfilling her promise. She really takes good care of Frisk, provides a home for him, and protects him from danger.

However, at some point, Frisk asks Toriel about how he can leave the Underground and go back to the human world. At first, Toriel feigns ignorance, brushes it off, or otherwise ignores his questions. When Frisk keeps pressing the issue, Toriel angrily warns that he is not going anywhere, before quickly reverting to her "gentle" demeanour, saying something like "mother knows best" and "there are dangers outside, I am just trying to keep you safe".

After that exchange, Frisk decides not to bring up that topic, but instead secretly searches for a way out. He thinks Toriel is nice, and the home is safe, but he really wants to go back to his own world. He couldn't possibly stay in the Ruins forever, could he?

Eventually, Frisk discovers the exit of the Ruins, located in the basement of Toriel's home. Toriel finds out, and, expectedly, is furious. She reiterates that she just wants the best for Frisk, really treats Frisk like her own son, etc.

Frisk thanks Toriel for her kindness. He really means it, for Toriel is the first person to show him compassion since he was stranded in the Underground. However, Frisk, although scared and somewhat guilty, insists that he wants to leave and go back to his actual home.

Toriel isn't having any of that. Seeing that the easy way isn't working, she forces Frisk to fight her, as Frisk "needs to prove that he is strong enough to survive on his own". Of course Frisk is unwilling, but Toriel still insists.

This conflict is locked in a stalemate for some time: With Toriel pretending to attack Frisk, actually attacking and hurting Frisk, and then crying and showing guilt and the "look what you've made me done" expression. Frisk, on the other hand, is 200% unwilling to hurt Toriel, and only keeps dodging or withstanding.

At the end, Frisk starts to really believe Toriel is thinking for his good. Combined with the fear of the outside world, and the despair that he may actually never go home, Frisk is about to give in.

When suddenly, Frisk feels that he has blacked out and lost control of his body. When Frisk comes back to his senses, he finds out his wooden stick is now somehow a knife, and is stabbed into Toriel.

Frisk cries, and tries to remove the knife. However, he finds out that his voice isn't going out, and he can't move his body. The knife is only plunged deeper, as Frisk can't do anything but watches in confusion and fear.

Toriel is visibly shocked, and even more shocked when she looks at "Frisk's" face, as if she recognises him but as another person.

At her last moment, Toriel still says that she just wants to keep "you" safe, and "mother knows best". She wishes "you" all the best, before saying goodbye to "you, Chara".

When Frisk finally regains control, Toriel is dead on the ground (and fading, because monster). The knife has returned to a wooden stick, but it is bloodstained.

Before Frisk can comprehend what is going on or even break down, he hears another person calling his name. It is a boy's voice, but when he looks around, there is no one there. Frisk hears it again, and he starts to "see" the person.

The boy introduces himself as Chara, a child looking just like Frisk, but with a different shirt pattern and a knife in his hand. Chara looks transparent, and Frisk can't really "touch" him. Chara explains that he is a human child spirit roaming the Underground. He is the person who took control of Frisk's body, and killed Toriel "for him".

When confronted by a devastated Frisk, Chara calmly states he is trying to save him. Frisk scolds Chara for killing Toriel when "she just wants to protect me", to which Chara rebuts, saying "I am the one who wants to protect you". He wants to say something about Toriel, but seeing Frisk's heartbroken expression, he decides not to. Instead, Chara asks rhetorically if Frisk wants to stay in the Underground forever. Frisk pauses, as he wonders if there really is no way of escaping without killing Toriel. Chara states that he has seen several human children meeting their ends in different parts of the Underground, and Toriel is just one of the obstacles. This time, however, Chara is strong enough to intervene and saves Frisk.

Chara then promises he will protect Frisk from now on, before leaving the Ruins together with him. Seeing Frisk still grieving and distraught, Chara vows to himself that he won't let anything or anyone hurt Frisk anymore, physically and mentally. He will do anything to protect Frisk's innocence, even if it means doing all the dirty works himself.

The following story is as linear as it gets (or I haven't thought it through). Chara leads Frisk to navigate to the Underground exit, in the same route as it is in-game.

When there are monsters in their way, Chara will take over and exterminate the threats for Frisk, so that Frisk won't get his hands dirty or get hurt. At first, Frisk still tries to talk it out and/or run away, and Chara lets him try that. But when communication isn't an option and/or there is no place to run, Frisk will despair, allowing Chara to take over and fight their way out. Eventually, Frisk loses hope in doing things the pacifist way, letting Chara engage in combat when there are monsters picking a fight. However, unlike the in-game genocide route, they don't actively seek out monsters to kill (because they have no reason to. No one has a reason to, to be honest).

Outside of combat, Frisk is mostly in control, and the two boys can communicate with each other. Over time, Chara explains to Frisk most of the background/settings of the story (e.g. what are discussed in the previous section), such as how his "Determination" ability works, the monsters' plan to get to the human world, Chara's own backstory (which is the same as it is in-game. Chara has been wandering the Underground since his (and Asriel's) death), etc.

The named characters they meet are mostly the same. In this story, I only highlight some characters of interest. Mini bosses (e.g. Muffet), side characters (e.g. Monster Kid), and a few "bosses" (e.g. Mettaton, Alphys) are omitted.

Below I will list only those characters of interest, and Frisk/Chara's encounter with them. The significance of each of these characters will be discussed in the next section.

Papyrus and (technically) Sans are the first characters Frisk meets.

Sans is very elusive at this point, almost like a background character. He only observes Frisk from behind Papyrus, but the story makes it obvious that Sans is not a simple person, and is very interested in Frisk (but not Chara). It is also implied that Sans knows there are two people in Frisk's body, as well as Frisk's hidden abilities, showing Sans' extraordinary perception and potential powers.

(It's very hard to describe these "animation effects" in words. In short is that Sans does nothing apparently, but is heavily hinted to be important/powerful later on. Also his interest in Frisk (and Frisk alone) is shown, and is a significant plot point. You will see why later on.)

Papyrus does what he does in-game, trying to "arrest" Frisk as part of his "duty" as a royal guard. At first, when they are still in the snowy wilderness, Frisk tries to ignore him (and Sans), as Papyrus isn't really much of a threat (and is doing a very bad job at "stopping" Frisk). This frustrates Papyrus (in a comical way. Papyrus is the only comical/lighthearted character here).

These "Papyrus encounters" repeat for a few times. Chara refrains from attacking immediately, as Papyrus is annoying but pretty harmless. Especially when Sans is also present, as Chara senses that Sans is not as simple as he seems. Chara just (tells Frisk to) ignores Papyrus' traps and stuff, and eventually arrives at Snowdin Town.

It is at there when Papyrus shows up alone, and really tries to stop Frisk. Papyrus is convinced that Frisk is an evil/dangerous individual, even though his only evidence are the words of Undyne and general propaganda on humans. He "ensures" that Undyne is a friendly person, and all they are going to do with Frisk is to send him back to his own world. Chara tells Frisk that both of which are false: Undyne will kill him without question and harvest his soul for Asgore (but Papyrus really believes what he is saying). Papyrus rambles on about how being a royal guard means "fighting injustice" and "helping the weak", further showing his ignorance.

Still refraining from attacking, Chara allows Frisk to try to talk it out (because even Chara hesitates on outright killing Papyrus). Frisk takes over, and explains to Papyrus his situation. Papyrus, of course, doesn't believe Frisk at first. However, this rejection once again triggers Frisk's hopelessness, leading him to cry.

Seeing Frisk's pitiful expression, Papyrus softens. He comes over to comfort Frisk, and listens to his pleads once more. After Frisk settles down, Papyrus decides to believe in what Frisk says (showing how gullible he is, although Frisk is telling the truth). Papyrus then begins to lead Frisk to the Waterfall.

When Frisk (and Chara) thinks he can finally settle a conflict in peace for once, Papyrus says that he will bring Frisk to Undyne to ask for help (because she is his "superior"), and that "Undyne will definitely understand". Papyrus keeps reassuring Frisk that there is nothing to worry about, and how things will go smoothly for Frisk (in an unrealistic way, such as allowing Frisk to cross the barrier when it is technically impossible to do so).

Frisk stops in his tracks, realising Papyrus still doesn't understand the whole situation, and is leading him to his death (albeit unknowingly). In fact, Papyrus will never understand. Frisk's willpower plunges, as despair fills his heart once more. Subconsciously, Frisk allows Chara to take control. Chara, knowing that Papyrus will never change his mind and never let Frisk go (also evidenced from Chara's previous witnesses of Papyrus' encounters with other human children), makes a hard decision.

In a swift attack, Chara swings his knife at Papyrus.

The next boss they encounter is Undyne, at the end of the Waterfall. Undyne is, as Chara described, hellbent on destroying Frisk at all cost. This is partly due to Undyne knowing Frisk (Chara) has killed monsters before (without knowing the context, nor does she want to know the context), partly due to wanting Frisk's soul for Asgore's plan, and partly due her ultimate (blind) hatred for human beings.

Frisk doesn't even have the chance to explain this time (nor does he want to, at this point). Frisk quickly lets Chara take control and fight Undyne.

Undyne's battle is the first tough one they encounter (reference to the in-game boss fight). Chara has a hard time facing Undyne, especially after she has "powered up". He even dies (and revives) a few times, but he insists on being in control and doing the fighting himself.

Undyne notices Frisk (Chara) reviving as well. Although taken aback at first, she quickly remembers that previous human children had displayed this "Determination" ability before. She then states that she just has to fight harder, and strike Frisk down how many times it is required to completely kill him.

Undyne's insults towards Frisk anger Chara. He stands up for Frisk, saying that he is just a lost child wanting to go home. He has explained and sought help numerous times, but the monsters just won't listen to him. Instead, they treat him like nothing, or worse than nothing. They keep ignoring, attacking and taking advantage of him. Now pushed against a corner, Frisk is only attacking in self-defence. He just wants to survive and see the light of day again, and somehow this makes him the villain? What is so wrong about it?

Undyne actually didn't know that Frisk is in the Underground because he got lost, or that Frisk is attacking monsters because monsters attack him first. Actually, she didn't know anything about Frisk in the first place (not that she wanted to know anyway).

After hearing Chara's plead, however, Undyne immediately hits him with an "USODA!!!" (LIES!!!). Undyne cannot and does not want to believe that Frisk is innocent. That Frisk is actually the victim. That Frisk is not killing monsters because he is sadistic. That Frisk is not the absolute piece of trash she thinks he is. She is fixated on believing Frisk is completely the guilty one, and that she is the "justice one" ridding the world of a total garbage human being.

Undyne's words set Chara berserk. He attacks with even greater power, fighting in revenge of Frisk for the pain he has endured. The monsters' hypocrisy pisses Chara off, and he is done letting yet another human child fall victim to those lies and manipulations.

Chara finally fights neck-to-neck with Undyne. At the end, Chara defeats Undyne, but she stabs herself with her spear before she can be killed by "a filthy human". Chara stabs his knife into her fading ashes, crying out in a fit of rage. Frisk only silently watches and listens as Chara lets his anger out on his surroundings.

Past the Hotland and the Core, Chara and Frisk arrive at the "Last Corridor" to meet their final enemy: Sans.

Sans has been awaiting Frisk, but frowns when he sees Chara instead. At first, Sans still puts up his facade. He proceeds normally, same as what he does in-game, judging Frisk/Chara's actions and such. He comments that somehow what has happened to Frisk throughout the Underground - taking many monsters', Toriel's, Undyne's and even his brother Papyrus' lives - is still "not enough". (Also showing that Sans doesn't care about monster casualties)

Chara throws his knife at Sans in rage, telling Sans to cut the crap. He tells Sans to give up, and that he "will never let Frisk out". He "will not let Frisk get hurt by trash like you". Sans will be fighting Chara, and Chara alone.

Doubting and amused, Sans accepts Chara's duel. However, soon it is very obvious that Chara is no match for Sans. Sans easily overpowers Chara, killing him over and over again. Chara's determination to protect Frisk and not let him get hurt allows Chara to revive after each death, but the pain and exhaustion still get to him. At some point, Sans even purposely hurts Chara as much as possible before killing him off, just for Frisk to see, because "I know you are there, watching your friend Chara taking all the suffering for you".

During the fight, Sans reveals (to Frisk) that he actually knows everything from the start: The reason why Frisk came to the Underground. The fact that Frisk is just an innocent lost child. The fact that Frisk is desperately asking for help. The fact that Frisk actually does nothing wrong.

And most importantly: Sans reveals that he knows about Frisk's hidden power.

At this point, Chara, knowing what Sans is trying to do, fights with all his might to stop Sans, but he is still no match.

Sans taunts Frisk, that if he doesn't want Chara to keep suffering because of him, he just has to "come out and play for a little while". Chara becomes desperate upon hearing Sans' "invitation", causing his attacks to miss a lot more, and himself to get hurt even more. He yells that he will not let Frisk fight Sans, but Chara's willpower has faded a lot along with his physical strength. Chara still tries to get up and continue the battle, supported only by his resolution, but at this point he isn't in any condition to fight any longer.

Annoyed by Chara's "stubbornness", Sans cripples and trips Chara, such that he cannot stand up anymore. Still, Chara uses his remaining energy to keep his consciousness from fading, and tells Sans to kill him without ever seeing Frisk. That "even if I cannot protect Frisk's life, I will at least protect his innocence".

All the while, Frisk has been watching everything. His heart aches every time Chara gets hurt and killed because of him, and he is terribly upset to hear that Sans actually knows everything but does nothing. Still, he obeys Chara's request to "never come out", despite how painful it makes him feel to see Chara doing everything to protect him. Frisk only sits in the void, hugging his legs as everything unfolds in front of him.

Seeing as Frisk isn't coming out no matter what, Sans takes his last resort.

He spares Frisk.

Sans says that he surrenders. Everything he has been doing is only to test Frisk's determination. Now that Frisk has "passed", Sans has no reason to continue fighting.

He even says he is "sorry" for everything Frisk has had to gone through. He understands Frisk's pain, sorrow and despair, and he knows a way to undo everything Frisk has experienced, and give him the happy ending he deserves.

Knowing very well it is a trap, Chara cries for Frisk not to fall for it. However, Chara can no longer retain control.

In the body, Frisk looks up at Sans' offer with teary eyes. A monster sparing him is something Frisk has been dying for since he has fallen into the Underground. No one ever spared Frisk, no matter how much he cried and begged. He just wants someone to truly understand and empathise with him. Hearing a monster sparing him makes him drop his guard immediately. At this point, Frisk's heart is too broken and damaged to think rationally or have any sense of deception.

At Sans' words, Frisk finally takes control of the body. He slowly walks towards Sans, who is welcoming Frisk with open arms. Teardrops keep falling, as Frisk recounts all the ridicules and hostilities he has encountered. Now, he will finally be spared and saved. He can finally return to being the innocent, helpless child that he is.

Frisk rushes to Sans in an embrace, crying over Sans' shoulders, completely defenceless. Frisk cries that he never wished for any of this, and he only wants to go home. He is just a scared child, after all. Sans does "comfort" Frisk for a while, stroking his head and patting his back.

Before...

"geeettttttt dunked on!!!"

Sans attacks Frisk in point-blank range, killing him instantly.

But he makes sure Frisk knows damn well what he has done. That Frisk will remember what he has done.

Sans gained his trust and betrayed him. Then made a joke about it.

Gained his trust and betrayed him.

Betrayed.

And this completely breaks Frisk.

To Chara's fear, as this is what he has been trying to prevent.

To Sans' entertainment, as this is what he has been trying to achieve.

"Liar..."

When the boy revives, it is finally Frisk that appears. Sans laughs in excitement, as the boy's hand is now holding a wooden stick, and his entire figure enveloping in a different, much more powerful kind of magic.

Then immediately, Frisk overpowers Sans (much to Sans' own surprise). In an instant, the battle turns entirely. None of Sans' seemingly devastating abilities proves effective to counter Frisk's overwhelming magic. Frisk awakens his long hidden ability to maximum, holding nothing back as he silently but brutally attacks, throwing Sans around and throwing things towards Sans with his psychokinesis power (like what Sans did to Chara).

(I imagine it to be Frisk directing his psychokinesis vector with his stick, same as how Sans throws Chara/the player in-game around with his hands.)

The attack begins and ends as quickly as a storm. By the end of Frisk's assault, the entire corridor has been completely destroyed, and Sans is completely incapacitated. Chara watches in shock, as he witnesses what Frisk is capable of, and what he doesn't want to witness in the first place.

Sans is just as shocked and puzzled. Now heavily wounded, Sans lies against the crumbled wall of the corridor, unable to move. He looks up at Frisk standing at where he revived, hasn't moved a step.

Then, Frisk slowly walks towards Sans. His steps are unsteady. His eyes are unfocused. He says nothing and makes no sound, but anger as deep as the sea can undoubtedly be felt.

Realising Frisk is going to finish Sans off, Chara shouts for him to stop, and leave the killing to him. Chara has been preventing Frisk from hurting anyone (and getting hurt by anyone) at all cost, because he knows that once Frisk kills someone, it will be the final nail to the coffin. His innocence will forever be tarnished. That's why Chara has been doing all the killings for Frisk.

However, Frisk has already been broken. Seeing as Frisk is no longer listening to him, Chara resorts to taking the control by force. But with his injuries and Frisk's now super-determined (and violent) willpower, Chara only succeeds for a second before losing the control. Chara tries again desperately, only to win and lose repeatedly.

(I imagine this process to be one "switch" per step. That is: They take one step → Switches to Chara → They take one step → Switches to Frisk → [Repeats])

The last step is Chara, and he immediately swings his knife in an attempt to finish off Sans for Frisk. However, Sans dodges that attack with the last of his strength. When Chara desperately prepares for another swing, the knife has become a stick again. Frisk has regained control.

With a violent slash, Frisk kills off Sans.

And Chara knows Frisk will no longer be the same.

In a mindless rage, Frisk stabs, punches, tramples, kicks the fading remains of Sans. Until there is nothing left of him.

Then, Frisk slowly walks out of the ruined corridor, continuing towards the exit of the Underground.

Since then, Frisk is always in control. Chara loses all influence on the body (except talking to Frisk, but Chara is also completely hopeless and distraught now).

Frisk has completely changed. He talks no more, cries no more, and holds back no more. All monsters (if still any) in his path are violently slaughtered without a word.

The first monster Frisk still encounters is the ecstatic Flowey. Flowey has been watching Frisk all along, including his previous fight with Sans. He "congratulates" Frisk on finally becoming the violent killer that he always is, "providing him (Flowey) with a good show".

Flowey then tells Frisk that he can do an "encore": Frisk can take the human souls that Asgore has collected. With that power, Frisk can reset the timeline and do it all over again, while Flowey will be watching once more. Flowey also wonders if Sans has told Frisk about the ability to reset timeline, as he learned it from Sans as well.

Before Flowey can talk any further, however, Frisk approaches him, much to Flowey's confusion and uneasiness. Flowey didn't do anything to Frisk, did he? All he did was watching. There's no reason Frisk would despise him, right?

Those are Flowey's last thoughts, before Frisk violently kills Flowey.

The next and last monster Frisk faces off is Asgore. Well, not really "faces off", because Frisk just one shots your personal favourite goat dad. Frisk won't listen to or believe in any monster anymore.

With Asgore dead, Frisk takes the human souls, and uses their power to break through the barrier.

Frisk escapes.

He returns home to his very surprised parents, who thought he was dead after missing for who knows how long. After a very emotional reunion (to his parents at least, because Frisk no longer feels anything, but his parents are too happy to notice that their son is already broken), life starts to return to "normal".

Frisk is finally back to being a child, but he is no longer an innocent one.

How many days have passed since he left the Underground cannot heal the wounds Frisk has suffered. That traumatic experience has completely changed him. He smiles no more, trusts no more. It is the worst outcome, the outcome Chara had tried his best and failed to prevent.

After many seasons have passed, and Frisk is still the same emotionless being, Chara speaks to him in his room one night, as one last effort to try to fix everything.

He asks Frisk to consider resetting the timeline.

Now that he has the power of all the human souls, Frisk has the ability to reset the universe as Flowey stated. With this reset, Frisk can do everything all over again, and make everything "right" this time.

Chara tells Frisk of what could happen in this timeline, which is what would happen in an in-game pacifist run. Chara shows Frisk the happy ending that he, and all the monsters who could be his friends (for real this time), could achieve. That this time, everything will be what Frisk had wanted.

The "screen/animation" then visualises scenes of the pacifist run, such as the end credit scenes of the pacifist ending. In those scenes, everyone is genuinely nice to Frisk. Everyone understands him, helps him and treats him with kindness. Together, Frisk and the monsters escape the Underground, into the human world where everyone miraculously accepts the monsters immediately. In the end, everyone, monsters and humans, live together in harmony, just as what Frisk had wished for. A happily ever after straight out of a fairy tale story, except that it could be reality. If Frisk would just press the reset button...

To which Frisk smiles, and replies:

"No way."

The scene cuts to black, and the story ends.

----------------------

Okay.

So, WTF does all the insanity above mean?

Again, I have to reiterate that I am really not sure if I thought of the following message at the same time I thought of the plot, or after I had thought of the plot.

Because I really cannot imagine ~12 y/o me thinking of such an edgy message that makes sense. Young me had so many edgy ideas that made no sense, but this one somehow made sense. And deep sense. At least, enough sense for me to write it down in words logically. Therefore, I suspect I might have thought of an explanation "post-production". That is, after I have...you know, grown up a bit and be less cringy.

But either way, this is the message of the story.

Explanation

Apathy induces apathy.

This is the message of the story.

Just like how empathy induces empathy, apathy can also induce apathy. It's the same teaching that "life changes life", but for the worse.

Frisk is originally a very empathetic person. At the end of the story, his empathy has completely been replaced with apathy, apathy even stronger than the monsters'. The most pure person is the one who can become the most broken.

(One character that this weeb author has taken inspiration from is Gon Freecss)

Apathy is the main theme of the story. Many of the monsters' actions are driven by apathy, or, to put it more simply, "don't care".

Frisk could have got the help he needed if someone would have just lent him a hand. The "pacifist ending" vision at the end of the story represents what could have happened if the monsters had done something. Chara is not trying to give Frisk the choice to do over, because there's nothing more Frisk could have done. Chara wants to bet another chance that the monsters would do the right thing in the new timeline, and give Frisk (and the monsters, as a side effect) the happy ending he deserves.

Think about it: If you kept on sparing monsters (first of all, why are you sparing monsters to start with???), but the monsters showed no response/ignored you/took advantage of you, would Frisk be able to get the happy ending that is the "pacifist ending"? It's never only the choice of you.

Frisk has done his best, in such a desperate state. He has done what he could have. Even with a reset, Frisk would once again ask for help, and try to fight hostility with kindness. What leads to the tragic end for both Frisk and monsters is the monsters' apathy.

And apathy can be because of many reasons. Each of the "significant characters" in the plot above represents one of the reasons for apathy.

I have divided the characters into 2 categories, based on whether their intentions for apathy are relatively "good" or "bad". Emphasis on relatively, because ultimately all of them choose not to help Frisk and instead watch him die / kill him. Some reasons are more acceptable. Some reasons are just pure evil.

(Also this is the point I am going to get burned lol)

Characters with relatively acceptable reasons are:

(A1) Papyrus

(A2) Undyne

(A3) General Monsters

...in decreasing morality (i.e. More and more evil).

Characters with absolutely horrible motives are:

(B1) Flowey

(B2) Toriel (yes)

(B3) Sans

...again in decreasing morality.

I will explain each of these characters in the following time. Aside from character analyses and symbolism explanations, I will also cover plot points that may have seemed "weird" in the above [Plot] section (e.g. wtf is Sans' deal).

(A1) Papyrus

(I really can't taint the best skeleton boi can i)

Papyrus represents apathy because of ignorance.

He is the most innocent monster of the entire monster cast in the story. And therefore, also the most tragic monster casualty.

Papyrus is naive. Period. And this is what causes problems.

He believes everything everyone tells him. He believes everything at first sight. Very deeply, too. Without challenge.

He believes humans are all bad guys because Undyne tells him so.

He believes monsters are the good guys because Undyne tells him so.

He believes Undyne is a good person because that's his own impression.

He believes Undyne will understand Frisk because that's his personal wishful thinking.

I could go over all of Papyrus' mental gymnastics (that's actually what I did in the first draft), but that would be too verbose. In conclusion, what I am trying to show is how dangerously simple Papyrus' mind is, both for himself and those around him.

He really thinks he is doing Frisk a legitimate favour. He really thinks Undyne will immediately pity Frisk as Papyrus does, and help Frisk as Papyrus wishes for. And then everyone will immediately understand Frisk, and with the power of friendship, they can do anything and achieve a happily ever after.

That is simply not possible.

You can say he is "stupid", and I will have to agree. But this stupidness, or ignorance, is what makes him a culprit and a victim.

This ignorance causes him to believe in a lie that leads to many humans killed.

This ignorance causes him to deny a human salvation.

This ignorance causes him to unknowingly send a human child to his death.

And this ignorance is taken advantage by those who wants to push their own agenda.

Ignorance itself is innocent, but ignorance can be manipulated into committing terrible acts of evil.

===

(A2) Undyne

Undyne represents apathy because of stubbornness.

Another way of describing Undyne's attitude is "the unwillingness to change (a concept)".

Undyne has believed humans to be literal scum of the earth for so long, she doesn't (and quite frankly, cannot) believe otherwise. She doesn't believe she has been killing the wrong people this whole time. That the humans killed all had emotions, dreams, memories and families like this child (Frisk) in front of her. She refuses to believe so.

Also, her pride plays a part to her refusal to accept the truth. She is the noble, righteous knight of the Underground. How could she admit she was actually the villain here? What would others think of her? (And more importantly) What would she think of herself?

Therefore, upon knowing the real truth behind Frisk, she really believes that it is a lie. She has to believe so: This is what keeps her going. The belief that humans are evil, and it is her duty to eradicate them from the face of the earth.

This extreme stubbornness is what causes her apathy. If she helped Frisk, how would she explain to herself? About her belief? About what she had done to many humans in the past? She would rather just be wrong her entire life, rather than owning it up and accepting the truth. That would make her life easier.

Undyne is not evil per se. She has just believed in an extreme ideology for too long to let go. Now she can't let go anymore, because her entire meaning of existence now depends on it: Her apathy towards humans. She can't change anymore.

Not for Frisk. Not for any other pitiable human.

She can only bring that apathy to her grave.

===

(A3) General Monsters

General monsters (like the "random encounters" in-game) represents apathy because...just cause.

In other words: "Why should I care?"

This is the most common cause of apathy, and it is exemplified in those "general" monsters.

Rather than having a reason not to help, they don't have a reason to help.

They see Frisk in trouble, and then they think: "Why should I help him? How does that benefit me? And moreover, why should I help him? I don't have the responsibility to."

At best, they will ignore him.

At worst, they will bully him, because...hey, easy target, am I right?

Notice how all of those general monsters, no matter how "flashy" and unique they may be, attack you for seemingly no freaking reasons? They aren't even seeking out your soul. They are just being annoying and a nuisance. And you suffer for it.

And to an already troubled individual, this is not "just a prank, bro". This is humiliation.

======================

The next section of characters are the "bad" ones. They all display apathy for absolutely terrible motives.

To summarise, all of them represent apathy because of selfishness, with different selfish "reasons" for their (in)actions. And by "selfishness", I mean inflicting absolutely unnecessary pain for absolutely unnecessary personal pleasure.

(B1) Flowey

Flowey takes pleasure in watching Frisk suffer and break.

Flowey is right: Really, he didn't do anything to Frisk. Well, aside from that little skirmish when they first met, but that was just to "teach" Frisk about "stranger danger".

(That's a lie. It was used to elicit the dark side of Frisk's personality, which had been suppressed pretty well because of Chara. Had been.)

In other times, Flowey doesn't even appear near Frisk. Flowey doesn't intervene with Frisk. Doesn't sabotage him nor help his enemies. Flowey is just...watching from afar.

And this is the problem. If Flowey didn't appear to Frisk near the end of the story, he wouldn't be killed, honestly. Frisk probably wouldn't even remember him. But Flowey's appearance and comments show Frisk that he is being watched like a freak show. His suffering is viewed as pleasure. His breakdowns, cries, pain, despair...they are all enjoyed by someone.

Imagining how someone can be smiling in ecstasy while he's literally dying inside and outside, that rage drives Frisk to brutally murder Flowey for his schadenfreude.

===

(B2) Toriel

Alright. This may seem a shock to you, and I can tell you it is intended.

Toriel takes pleasure in keeping Frisk.

In a nutshell, Toriel's mindset can be summarised with a quote from someone and something you may or may not know.

"You're funny. I'm keeping you."

~ Doofus Drake, "Day of the Only Child!", Ducktales 2017 (S01E14)

It is hard to convey via text, but what I want to show with Toriel is that she views Frisk as a possession rather than a person.

When things are going smoothly, these two nouns can seem pretty synonymous. But when things go down (i.e. when Frisk wants to leave), that is when these two words start to show contrasts.

Toriel loves Frisk, and wants to keep Frisk. Period.

She doesn't care if he likes it or not. She doesn't care if he loves her back or not. She doesn't care if he is happy or not. As long as Toriel has Frisk in her home, she will be happy. And that's the only thing that matters.

To keep Frisk, Toriel will do anything to make him stay. The most prominent (and heinous) thing is emotional manipulation.

In other words: Guilt-tripping.

This is why Toriel wants Frisk to fight her, even though Frisk is terribly unwillingly and that is mentally unhealthy for Frisk (imagine your parent asking you to fight them???) She knows this, and this is why she is forcing him to do it.

Because Frisk is going to feel extremely guilty for having to hurt Toriel (after everything she has so "graciously" done for him), and Toriel is going to exploit that guilt. The only way Frisk is going to leave is over Toriel's dead body. Don't wanna hurt Toriel? Can't leave then, kid.

And when Frisk is feeling more determined (i.e. when he actually tries to "fight" Toriel to escape), Toriel ups her guilt-tripping game: She purposely hurts Frisk, and then feigns guilt/regret. Making a "look what you've made me done" face, and making sure Frisk sees it. This makes Frisk feel like the scum of the earth for ever wanting to leave the Ruins, and Toriel wants that.

This is why Chara intervenes and immediately kills Toriel without questions. Chara has seen so many human children fallen trap into Toriel's manipulation, thus staying in the Ruins until they eventually lose their determination (soul) and die.

He has seen so many incidents of that guilt-tripping happening; and when Toriel is "bored" of that child, she just "I don't want to play with you anymore" and lets them die.

And he's not going to let Frisk be another one.

This is why Chara says he is the one who truly wants to protect Frisk.

Chara thought of telling Frisk about the true nature of Toriel, but seeing how Frisk is still so innocent (at that time), he decides to keep it to himself.

Of course, by the end of the story, Frisk probably has deduced that himself.

===

(B3) Sans

I know Sans has a lot of fans (apparently he is a "tumblr sexyman" without me even knowing??? I even learnt this fact outside of fandoms), and I am probably gonna get gaster-blastered for saying what I am going to say.

But Sans is the absolute piece of shit in my story.

If I have to swear to comment on a character, Sans is that character.

To really summarise, Sans takes pleasure in fighting Frisk.

But what Sans enjoys is general sadism.

Sans loves to fight (and defeat) strong people. This is his primary motive. And he will do anything to have an "exciting" fight. I realised afterwards that Sans' character is quite similar to Hisoka Morow (afterwards, because I didn't know HxH at the time I was thinking of the plot).

When Sans first sees Frisk (or rather, when he first senses Frisk, because Sans often visits the exit of the Ruins), he knows at once that Frisk has a very strong power hidden. Sans wants to fight Frisk in his "awakened" state.

To his dismay, however, Chara is there to protect Frisk. To make him awaken his powers, Sans will do anything to break Frisk.

Sans purposely makes Frisk (Chara) murder everyone in the Underground, just to awaken his "dark side". Sacrifices include Undyne, Toriel and even his own brother Papyrus (and especially Papyrus. Because he is pretty much innocent and his death will deteriorate Frisk's sanity by a lot, and Sans knows and wants this).

Think about it: Sans is literally there in the second area of the game, and he knows you are a (supposedly) violent individual. Why the hell doesn't he stop you right then and there??? We know Sans is strong af. He is definitely more than capable of stopping you from continuing your genocide route at that point. Why, then, does he do nothing, and even lets you kill his brother?

My reason for this is to break Frisk. He purposely lets Frisk undergo all the suffering, pain and traumas throughout the Underground, just so he can make Frisk unlock his potential and have a good fight with a broken Frisk. And monster sacrifices don't matter, because Sans knows about the timeline reset ability (not that he cares about casualties anyway, he just cares about himself having fun).

Sans is so confident in his ability that he can definitely defeat Frisk and make him submit (thus losing the "Determination" revival ability). He is so arrogant that he thinks he can "have fun" fighting even an awakened Frisk, and win. And then he can take his Soul and reset the timeline with it, saving everything and everyone. And doing it all over again for the thrill.

(This is why it's important that Sans is the one to bring up the topic of timeline reset, because this is the mechanism he intended to exploit.)

When he sees that Chara has been doing a very good job at keep Frisk (barely) sane, Sans takes advantage of Frisk's most vulnerable: Despair.

When a person is desperate, they would do anything to achieve what they want, even things that would be deemed irrational otherwise. And this is what Sans uses against Frisk: He knows very well that Frisk is innocent all along and just wants to be spared, so he gives him what he wants and then immediately betrays him. Not to mention making fun of his despair and helplessness.

That is the final breaking point for Frisk. And Frisk does break, much to Sans' excitement for 1 second and then shock for the next.

Sans didn't know just how powerful Frisk really was. He thought he was the strongest fighter in the entire world. He didn't know how exactly strong an awakened Frisk was, but he was so arrogant in his ability, he thought he could beat him anyway. Of course he was wrong.

This is why Sans gets rekted immediately after Frisk takes over, because Sans didn't expect Frisk to be this strong. He doesn't even have the chance to fight back (and so he isn't having any fun at all).

In the end, Sans pays his price for his psychopathic behaviour, but the damage to Frisk has been done. A damage that not even a timeline reset can erase.

======================

To add on one last bit: The ending of the story is meant to showcase Frisk's complete transition from empathy to apathy.

What Chara shows Frisk (i.e. The True Pacifist ending) is real. If Frisk chose to reset the timeline, he really would achieve that ending.

Notice how I said in the [Settings] section that "Frisk would reset the timeline in a heartbeat"? At the end of the story, Frisk finally attains the power to do so, but he no longer chooses to.

Even if Frisk would not retain the memories (traumas) of what had happened in the previous timeline, he still wouldn't choose to reset.

This is because Frisk's happy ending is no longer the issue here. He doesn't care if he is stuck in the worst ending possible. What matters is that he doesn't want the monsters to have their own happy ending.

The monsters didn't give Frisk a happy ending, why should Frisk give them one then?

In the end, no one is happy.

----------------------

(7-2-2023 ~ 20-3-2023)

#this is so crazy I don't know what to tag #I guess I will just tag #undertale #frisk #chara #if I tagged sans I would probably get publicly executed #other works

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yisanged · 11 months

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i now have shapeshifting in the orv dnd campaign and we beat the guy underground who tries to manipulate all the people who don’t have enough for the 100 gold a day living thing

AWESOME. shapeshifting is so cool... and hooray for justice. i don't know how exactly it went for you but i remember the arc from the book i even remember the dude's name cheon inho.... i heard he gets fleshed out more in some of the orv side stories but i haven't actually read any of said side stories yet so i wouldn't know. it seems like your campaign is pulling from events that happened to kdj and co in the book even though you're technically somewhere totally different and wouldn't necessarily go through the same things. that makes sense though it would be a lot of unnecessary work to make up entirely new stuff. it is interesting to think about though how much of orv works with or without kdj..... themes and metaphors win. but anyways if you're more or less following the book then you're probably going to be approaching the scenario with the landlords and everything soon which'll be cool! i don't know how much you've read of orv itself and i don't want to spoil you or your dm's fun if they do use what happened there but it was an interesting scenario for sure it felt a lot more like a game instead of just a bunch of fighting like it is a lot of other times in the novel. the fighting's still cool! it's just neat when things are shaken up a bit. anyways the landlord scenario arc would be really fun to play i think so look out for that. thanks for the update i love hearing about this it's so fun!! i love orv and dnd i love when my interests intersect yayyyyyy

#ask

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endless---possibility · 1 year

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If I want to get into Sonic, what game/media would you recommend to me first?

Ive heard that like Sonic Adventures 2 is the best 2D game from the original series at least but i dont actually know much at all

I did watch both recent live-action movies but that's about it

Ok so I'm still very new to Sonic, having only gotten into it almost 6 months ago, but here's what I've got to say.

The first Sonic game I played was Sonic 2, which is one of the 2D games. I played it because it's available with the Nintendo Switch online membership and its also on the Nintendo Switch E-Shop for pretty cheap. It's definitely a fun time passer and honestly you could probably beat it in a few hours if you're not trying to get all the Chaos Emeralds.

But for my second Sonic game, I wanted to play a 3D one, so what I did was I looked through a bunch of Sonic games to see what ones people liked the most.

I went with Sonic Unleashed. While it does have a mechanic that quite as fun as going super fast, the speed stages are incredibly fun and the story is really good too!

And despite it being new, I'd also recommend Sonic Frontiers. Frontiers has 2 modes, one for people who are used to Sonic gameplay, and one for people who aren't, so I feel that could be pretty good for you. The game is also relatively open world, so you're not just running on stages like you would be in Unleashed.

I've also heard good things about Sonic and the Blacks Knight and Sonic Generations, but I haven't played those 2 yet.

As of other media, there's shows and comics! I havent read too many of the comics, but they're pretty fun and quite short to read, though the only place I've read them was a sketchy website so uh yeah :')

There's also a bunch of shows! I'm not the best at explaining them, so here's a post with them all -> X

The post has descriptions for the shows and stuff, so you can just pick whatever interests you!

I'm also sure some of my Sonic mutuals would gladly add onto this post to help you out a bit too! :D

So yeah! Sorry if this all is just a rambly mess. I don't think I'm the best at this sort of thing, but I hope it at least helped you a little :')

#oh this is way longer than i thought-

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christophercant · 1 year

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How to compete against AI: Future-Proofing your Art Career Part 2

This article was originally published on ChristopherCant.com

This is part 2 of my series about AI art, and future-proofing your art career.

Part 1 was an overall look at what the potential threat of AI art might be to the working artist, and an overview of the different solutions an artist might use in order to continue a sustainable income in an uncertain future. If you haven't read it, it's over here.

After writing that article, I wanted to look a bit deeper into alternative solutions, and figure out a list of ways to make myself a more competitive artist in a world that can generate cheap, high-quality imagery in seconds. This is as much a letter to myself as it is to anybody else.

We've all heard the comments that AI is a tool, and that artists should just adapt and use our artistic skills to paint over AI outputs - but I don’t think many of us would be happy with that.

We became artists because we have a personal vision, and enjoy creating - I expect few of us would find joy in handing over our creativity and vision to something else, and relegate ourselves to cleaning up what it makes. In that situation, it seems more to me like we are the tool, and the AI is the artist.

So let's dive into the many ways to remain competitive, without resorting to giving up the most enjoyable part of an art career to a robot!

Compete against AI by being yourself

AI is only your competition if you try to match it and beat it at its own game. Instead, concentrate on doing your own thing, and become something that AI will never be able to imitate.

Become yourself

Stop chasing the big freelance gigs in the hopes of getting hired. Stop trying to make your art look like the Blizzard art style, a Magic the Gathering card, or League of Legends splash art. These styles are sought solely by companies looking for art to help sell their products, and they are the things that the AI art is learning to make. In all honesty, I think these companies will bite at the chance to replace 90% of their artists with AI and reduce their expenses drastically; I just think they are going to try to transition to that as quietly as they can, so they don’t get a mob after them.

Now is the time to chase YOU, to dive into your own vision. When AI is churning out masses of the same stuff, you should be creating the things you love. Of course, still learn your fundamentals - good art is still good art, and a good idea can still be undermined by bad execution.

Developing a distinct, recognizable style is key to standing out as an artist, and will become even more important.

My work - more over on my Artstation

Developing a style isn’t so much about finding some obscure trick that clicks with your tastes, or about learning from the right sources, or purposefully doing something a little bit unorthodox in your work to make it stand out. It’s more about removing all of the expectations about what your work ‘should’ be, and unburying what it really, truly is that you like to make. Underneath all of the expectations that your work should have dynamic perspectives, that it shouldn’t be just black and white, or should have painterly yet controlled brushstrokes, or that you should be a master at male, female, and all other forms of anatomy.

Beneath all of that is what you actually like to make. Don’t try to do things with your art to make yourself purposefully stand out - just figure out if there are things like colour palettes, compositions, or subject matters that appeal to you more than others. Embrace the things that appeal to you most and reject that which doesn’t appeal to you; you’ll make the art that really matters to you, and standing out will just be a byproduct of this process.

Experiment and explore

AI is able to generate a large number of variations of a piece, but it can be challenging for AI to come up with truly original, creative ideas. An artist can set themselves apart by focusing on creating new, unique pieces of art that push the boundaries and introduce new ideas.

Try out different mediums and techniques, explore completely unrelated disciplines and incorporate what you learn into your art, integrate your own personal history into your work, try out telling personal stories with your pieces. These are things that AI will struggle to imitate.

Use randomness, chance and improvisation to your advantage - so called ‘happy accidents’. These don’t exist in the same fashion in AI art; though you can certainly find mistakes and random noise, there is a distinct and recognisable pattern to it. It’s not truly chance, like the happy accidents you or I might find in our works.

Taking that further, art that is heavily abstract or non-objective in nature can be challenging for AI to recreate because it lacks the ability to understand the emotional or conceptual elements of the work. If you enjoy abstraction to any degree, try out leaning into it and see how it affects your art and its reception.

A landscape by Victoria Rose Park, a successful abstract artist

In a similar vein, humor, satire, and irony is also a struggle for AI; it’ll never be on the cutting edge of comedy, because it lacks the ability to understand the nuances of human humor and irony. If it suits you to include comedic aspects into your work, that's one way AI will really struggle to compete.

Build a strong personal brand

Building your personal brand is important for any artist in this day and age, as it helps to establish an artist's reputation and reach potential buyers and collectors. In the AI age, it’ll be more important than ever.

Use social media platforms, a personal website, and other online platforms to showcase your work, connect with your audience and build a community around your art.

Include a bio on your website that lets people get to know you, and highlights your personal background, influences, and the themes and concepts in your work.

Create a strong and publicly broadcasted narrative around your art, such as a backstory, or the process behind the work.

Create blog posts and youtube videos that share your thoughts about your work - about anything at all. Just by saying what you think about things, you’ll be building rapport with people. Hell, you’re getting to know me better just by reading this very blog post!

Importantly, be as authentic and true to yourself as you can be. People can tell when someone is being honest and sharing with them, and most will appreciate it, and want to support your openness.

Compete against AI by showing your humanity

I mentioned this in part 1 of this series, that one of the key advantages of human-made art is the unique, personal touch that it has, by virtue of being made by an unique individual with their own experiences and perspective. AI will struggle to imitate this authentically, and people will often be able to feel the difference.

So let’s play into that.

Incorporate evidence that your art was made by hand.

This can be done in many ways, such as fingerprints, brushstrokes, or other marks that indicate ‘humanity’. This is obviously already present in most traditional mediums like oil painting and watercolor, but can also be purposefully included in digital art as well. If your digital painting style is very smooth and clean, you might want to roughen it up slightly, to let more evidence of your hand show through in the finished result.

To go even further, things like mixed media, collage and paper cutouts are currently impossible to replicate with artificial intelligence.

Personalise all of your products.

If you sell merchandise and products, find a way to make them more personable. Sign everything, hand embellish your prints with some gold leaf or a personal stamp, include a thank you note with each purchase, that sort of thing.

AI Art is focused on creating quantity, and lacks soul; focus instead on creating a high quality human-experience. Create the very best work you can, present it the most human way you can, and sell it in the most personal way you can.

Record and share your creative process.

When you sit down to create, record it on video. It doesn't have to be particularly high-quality or professional, just good enough to demonstrate that you handcraft the things you make. If you are a traditional artist, set up your smartphone or a camera to record; if you are a digital artist, use a screen recorder while you paint. Clip Studio Paint, Procreate and Krita all have recording built-in.

Turn those recordings into videos, put them on social media, display them in your gallery alongside your artwork, think of the finished piece and the process footage as one and the same product. If you can, narrate the footage and talk about why you made the decisions you did, where your inspirations come from, if you are happy or disappointed with the end result - anything you can talk about at all will help the audience connect to your work, when most of the art they see has no voice behind it at all.

Not only is this one way to help audience connect with your artwork, it’s also proof of your process, which might matter to some art consumers. This might become especially important to digital artists, as there are very few ways to differentiate a finished digital painting from one generated by AI, except for a proof of process.

Compete against AI through diversifying

AI art is fairly one-dimensional, and still requires people to actually facilitate it and turn it into a product or make it part of something bigger. It certainly can’t compete with a multi-talented person.

Diversify within your Art

AI can’t yet integrate different art disciplines together, such as music, performing arts, theater etc into a single experience. This requires a human, so it’s the perfect way to set your work apart.

Incorporate multiple mediums such as painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, and digital media into your work, creating a unique and layered approach to your art that is difficult for AI to replicate.

Take it further and create multisensory, interactive and performance-based art that incorporates movement, sound, and audience participation.

This would create a unique and unreproducible experience that AI wouldn't be able to match.

Diversify outside of your art

Combine your art skills with other complementary skills, you may be able to create projects that make you stand out from the pack, without even having to utilise AI at all, and without having to compete with those that do.

Digital tools are becoming much easier to use year-on-year, and allow a single person to achieve much more by themselves than ever before.

Web design, programming, social media, video editing, music production, writing; the list goes on.

Find a way to combine your art with other skills to produce something new, something that even other people aren’t doing, let alone AI.

I’m diversifying by learning to write, learning web design and SEO and then combining those skills into educational and entertaining websites that as far as I can tell, no one else has built yet. See if you can combine skills in interesting ways and create something new.

My current website-in-progress, FallofCamelot.com, a site about the Arthurian legends

Diversify your income sources

This isn’t exactly competing with AI art so much as it is sidestepping it, but still deserves to be mentioned.

There are many ways to earn an income as an artist, outside of freelancing and commissions, and many will be completely unaffected by AI.

Teaching is one such method. Even if AI art somehow took over 100% of art sales (don’t worry, it won’t) people would still want to learn how to paint for fun, and these people will want someone to teach them.

In fact, as more people get their hands on things like iPads and more people from third-world countries connect to the global art community through the internet, the number of people looking to learn art seems to go up and up each year.

Teaching is something that many working artists should be doing anyway; we have some responsibility to pass on what we know to the next generation of upcoming artists, so that they can create even more amazing things than our generation did. Where would we be without the previous generation of artists inspiring us to live as creatives?

You should also consider selling your own merchandise. As automation comes along and threatens our very jobs, it also presents opportunities, as it makes it easier for each of us to create and sell prints, books, games and other merchandise. These are things I want to go further into, but I’ll do it in the next part of my AI series.

Compete against AI through engaging directly with people

People don’t want to buy art, they want to buy a small piece of the artist, so to speak. Most people definitely don’t want to buy soulless art that has no artist behind it at all.

So let people get to know you. Selling your art is as much about selling yourself as it is your creations.

Your motivations, what it is you are trying to accomplish and why it’s important, how your work represents the things you believe in; communicate these things to people and it will endear them to you. When a person hears something they resonate with, they want to support it, and to help it grow.

Engage with your audience through livestreaming and video

Whatever social media platform you prefer using to share your work and talk to the people that like it, you should be able to find a way to livestream. This is the best way to build a relationship with people online; to let them see you, to hear you, live. They can ask you questions, and see you respond in real-time. It’s human, and it will help you build a relationship with people.

Livestreaming on Twitch was the activity that brought me my core audience. My art was probably what got their attention initially, but it was the stream that kept them around. I try to let my personality out as much as I can on stream, and it’s rewarded me with a small band of loyal supporters and close friends.

My Twitch channel

Whether it’s Instagram, YouTube, Twitch, or any other social media platform you use to communicate with your followers, you’ll be able to find a way to livestream.

Recorded video can also be used to achieve the same thing, as long as it is not too scripted and impersonal; you want to let yourself shine through, and show people who you really are.

Sell your art face-to-face

Conventions and galleries attract people that like art, but who want much more than that. They could just buy art online, but instead they want to go to it in-person, to be there themselves. They want to see the art with their own eyes, to meet the artist, to talk with them about the art. AI art simply doesn’t satisfy any of these criteria at all - but you can.

So make prints and other merchandise of your art, and be prepared to dive into the world of face-to-face sales. There are artists today who make six-figures annually from these sorts of events, and this won't be impacted by AI art much, if at all.

Create art for specific people and locations

Your local businesses, bars and cafes, social venues and public spaces; AI art can’t connect authentically with the spirit of any of these places. Even if AI could somehow paint art straight onto walls, it still lacks the ability to understand the context of the location. It isn’t able to understand why certain ideas, phrases, imagery or memes are important to a certain place, and the people who go there.

Murals and graffiti immediately fall into this category, but it also goes much further: each local business has its own culture, each district, each town, city and country. My birthplace of the Falkland Islands has immediate connection with penguins, sheep, the words ‘kelper’ and ‘benny’, Margaret Thatcher, Argentina, looking beautiful in photos yet windy beyond belief in person, etc; a massive list that only people who are really familiar with the place will fully appreciate, and only artists who understand the Falklands will fully be able to cater to them as an audience.

The Falkland Islands - if I ever need it, I have a market here

Wherever you are, there is bound to be some distinct culture nearby that you’ll be able to appeal to as an artist, and people that will support you for it.

And that’s everything I can offer you today!

If you’re here at the end of the article, you probably realise that there are many things you’re going to have to try in order to figure out what will suit you, what will actually work for you, and ultimately what you are willing to do to create a stable art career in an increasingly uncertain era.

I wish you luck figuring out your journey. If you want to talk about it, drop me a comment. I’ll see you next time (which, by the way, will be about why AI doesn’t have to be the enemy.)

This article was originally published on ChristopherCant.com

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humblemediagenius · 1 year

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i have been curious about your characters since I heard first about them! unfortunately, am a little shy talking online, but since now seems like the least bother-y time i'll take now not really 100% sure what to ask first, so I'll start with this: What different stories do you have going on right now? Or do you just have one large narrative? (by stories I mean anything from big projects to a little handful of guys who happen to be in the same place doing similar things) Either way, I'm interested in hearing any synopses, little details, or longform rants! I like hearing about others' ocs

HI IT'S TOTALLY OK anyone can ask about my ocs anytime it's never a bother !!

But to answer your question! I have THREE stories I am currently working on! My motivation to work on them fluxuates on whatever im fixating on LOL but I realize I havent talked about them too much before so I might as well explain a little bit

Story #1: OUTCAST CHAOS !! It is my passion project and the most developed story (it turned 2 years old in January!) I'd like to make it a TV show or webseries some day! It is about a bunch of people finding themselves in a really weird game show, and discovering more about the weird little town they live in 🤔 this is indeed the story with Mic in it, LOL!! I'm literally in the process of planning entire seasons and episodes, hopefully I will get around to designing secondary characters soon HDKDHKDBD

Story #2: CORRUPTION (this is a placeholder title because I can't think of a better one, but I will someday istg) this is the story I've talked about the least on here unfortunately I just haven't gotten around to it, but you can see I tag the main characters in my oc tag a lot LMAO!! It's about a really nosy teen and the worlds saddest man having to deal with an evil sentient computer. It's a little dark but I've been really confident with story beats lately, id also like to do something with it! But I haven't been fixating on it like I was last year LOL

Story #3: MICROBIAL!! My most recent story and what my blog is currently themed to LOL its conception is so silly (it was an AU of an AU with my outcast chaos ocs that got turned into something both original and completely separate)!! It is both about the microbe apocalypse and about the very hectic relationship between two bisexual and mentally ill young adults. It's my current fixation (see how long that lasts) and I've been working hard on it since last October! I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with it yet but I know the internet is not immune to the microbez. Also Eve and garrett are from this story for anyone who's been paying attention to my incessant poll reblogs and my blog takeover on April fool's day

I have more OCs than just the ones in these stories, but they're basically all in metaphorical storage and I don't draw them much anymore. I'm really proud of my current works and I hope to tell people more about them soon! I unfortunately have a lot of anxiety, so I tend to just tell people major story stuff in private, but I'm trying to get out of my shell more! I have WAY too much info about like, all my OCs, I can answer basically anything you'd wanna know about any of the characters LOL

#oc tag #seaspeak #ask #sorry this is long and formatted poorly I'm on mobile rn lol #but yea!! my ocs are my biggest blorbos #feel free to send asks whenever I looove answering em

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justatinybunwriting · 2 years

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Haunted 1

Author's notes: This is part 1 of a Halloween themed story that I posted on Deviantart last year. The prompts are the remaining ones from the 31 day challenge from that time. One reason why I haven't uploaded this before on my previous account was because aside from the last couple of chapters, this story has no g/t. Since I'm no longer limiting myself with this blog, I can post any of the stories I want with my ocs regardless of the theme. So expect to see more "regular" stuff in the future alongside the giant tiny shenanigans x3

Synopsis: Jac and Aiden visits a haunted mansion on a scavenger hunt, where the latter discovers some of it's dark history

CW for some darker themes

With a slight push, the door opened with a loud creeeeeek

Jac slowly made her way inside the abandoned house, taking care to not make a peep as she searched around for the next clue for their scavenger hunt. Switching on her flashlight, she was grossed out by the sheets of cobwebs and dust that largely blanketed the rooms. Some of which still had furniture that feel like relics of days gone by.

"C'mon!" Jac spoke in a harsh whisper "Let's just find the paper so we can get outta here. Stat!"

"A-xhoo"

Lagging far behind her was Aiden, whose sinuses have flared up through the roof. "I don't like this place. It gives me the creeps..."

"Well, the sooner we can find that paper, the sooner we can get going!"

"Aren't we kinda, like... trespassing? Someone might still own this joint..."

Jac was mostly wrapped up in her path on finding the missing clue. She was more determined to beat this game they've gotten swept up in; in her mind, there was no time to get concerned over something silly like this place being supposedly haunted.

Unfortunately for the shrunken Wile, Aiden wasn't able to do anything but focus on the eeriness of the house as a whole. When he wasn't clattering his teeth and firmly rooted in wherever place he chose to just... stand on, he was sneezing up a storm from all the dust that Jac had kicked up as she continued to dive deep into her search.

"What are you doing? Help me out by looking around in any of the other rooms!"

"Uh, yeah! I'm on it!"

Aiden was actually grateful to have gotten away from that dust cloud. The nearest entrance carried him to a large living room that housed shelving that was filled to the brim with rows of old books. On the furthest corner, there was a grand piano that appeared to be playing on its own.

Wait...

That was probably a prank the guys who set up the scavenger hunt made.

'It's a joke. No doubt about that one. Yep.'

Just then, Aiden spotted something sticking out from the top of the piano- a small white sheet of paper. The Beta Wile was just about to lift the lid to gain access to it when he heard a voice reverberating from behind him. It felt like it was breathing down his neck.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!"

Aiden dropped the piano lid and squealed at the top of his lungs. The older gentleman from behind covered his ears and shouted, "What in tar nation's!!! Get a hold of yourself, young man!!"

Aiden spun around and came face to face with the fellow who came up from behind, a time worn man who greeted him by tipping his black cowboy hat. The latter took a moment to recover his piercing eardrums before speaking.

"Mornin' to ya, laddy." He spoke in a ruffled yet strong voice, "I wasn't expecting any guests in this fine hour."

Aiden let out a long breath, holding his hand to his chest to calm his thumping heart. "Oh thank goodness. I had no idea anyone lived here."

"Who? Me? Naw.. I wouldn't dream of it. I just own this plot of land here and I come over to check in on it every now and again."

"Uh! I'm sorry for barging in like this-"

"No need for that now. I could use some company. Gets kinda lonely for me when I'm here."

At that moment the room was lit with a bright orange glow that shone from the large windows that took up half of the room. The sunrise looked marvelous from this view; Aiden couldn't help but stare at it in wonder for a bit.

"It sure is pretty from up these hills" the older man said. "I had no idea we were in this house for so long..."

"Don't worry about it. You're welcome to stay as long as you like."

Aiden was scanning the yard outside when he spotted a small skinny tree from a distance. The bark appeared to have been charred from a fire, and not a single leave adorned its branches. Aiden's eyes narrowed to a pencil slit, and he started to shiver at the tip of his shoulders. The landowner took notice of this.

"While you're here, would you like for me to give you a rundown of the history of this place? I promise I won't take up too much of your time."

That snapped Aiden back into focus. "Uhh.. sure? I don't see why not."

The older gentleman gave out a long sigh through his nose before he proceeded. "Well this estate used to be owned by a very wealthy man. A cruel and wicked man who had used his money to carry out all sorts of fornication and what have you. Folks who worked for him would tell strange accounts of him harboring evil spirits... But I'm getting ahead of myself."

He looked down at the piano, its tune continuing to play. "One day he brought home a woman who looked to be the prime of her youth. She was a sweet person, whose beauty matched both her appearance and her personality. He made her into the model wife- she cooked and cleaned and did everything for his needs. She loved him and he made himself to be the model man for her, only for her to discover that he was still craving other women behind her back. Before long, she confronted him about it. And that's when he--"

The man began to sweat, and shook his head while pinching his eyes. Aiden watched this and drooped somewhat. He had sensed where this was going. The landowner turned his head to the sullen tree and finally spoke.

"That tree right there? The man hung himself on it after he murdered his wife."

The Wile opened his eyes widely when he heard that revelation, his stare never parting from the tree in question as the man went on. "That tree had lost all its luster and it hasn't grown any leaves since that time. Rumors spread of the man having housed as many as 108 unclean spirits within him during his life, which have now taken root in this entire area. But who can say if any of that holds any truth to it or not." The man then gave one more sigh. "Pardon me for taking up your time with this sad story."

"Oh? Oh no. It was... eye opening. To say the least. It gives me more of a good reason to want to get out of here as soon as I can."

"Do you believe in spirits?"

"I... wish I didn't."

The man had to laugh at that reaction. "Well, that's an honest answer! You seem to be mighty keen to them, that's for sure! All right then, that's fine by me if you want to get going. But before you do..."

The man then picked up the piece of paper that had flung out of the piano before and handed it to the young Wile. "You'll be needing this, right?"

Aiden had completely forgotten about what he had came for at that exact moment, but he was grateful to see the poorly handwritten sticky note when it was given.

"Oh! Yeah. Thank you!"

"I'd be careful with following the instructions for that if I were you."

"Huh?"

"Aiden!! What the hell!?"

Aiden whipped around to see Jac covered in a fine coat of dust bunnies, panting and looking kind of beat.

"Wha? Wha happened?" He replied.

"I heard you scream!"

"I did?!"

"Yeah! Like a little girl!"

"Hey! And... uhhh.. I didn't just now? The last time was about... maybe, ten minutes ago?"

"No it wasn't! You had just come in here like a minute ago and then you screamed enough to scare the ghosts away!"

Aiden took notice of what she had said, and it had just occurred to him at that point that the room was dark in the dead of night.

"W-wait.... what time is it?"

"It's half past midnight!"

Aiden's face colored white momentarily as he was trying to wrap his head around those words. He looked down on his right hand to make sure that he hadn't been hallucinating. Sure enough...

"You found it! Thank you so much Aiden!"

"Y-yeah."

Jac pulled the paper from his hands and held the flashlight onto it.

Your next clue is in the graveyard next to Bartleby's tombstone

Jac let out a very long groan.

"I'm tired. We'll pick this up another time. Let's--"

Aiden was ignoring much of what was being said, for he was transfixed to what he was seeing when he turned his head to the side where the old man had stood. Or rather, what he doesn't see. He retraced the man's steps in his mind multiple times and followed him as he made his way towards the windows and the side of the grand piano. Dust had covered much of the floor with a blanket of gray, disturbed by the shoe prints of the two visitors as they snooped around. However, no footprints were left where the man stood...

"Aiden? Are you ok...?"

Aiden remained silent.

Jac took on a more comforting approach once she took this as an answer. "I'm sorry I brought you along into this. Let's go home okay?"

"Y...yeah..."

Jac patted Aiden on the back and helped him along as they made their way out. As soon as they closed the front door behind them, the piano, which had continuously played its tune on a loop, had finally stopped.

Next Chapter >>

#bun writes #oc: jac #oc: aiden #scary stories #halloween theme #haunted mansion #writblr #writing community #old writing #multichapter #jac in the beanstalk society #non canon maybe

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vanriblogs · 7 months

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Feelin bad about being burnt out on Baldur's Gate.

A friend got it and was enjoying it. Later they bought it as a gift for my boyfriend, Skirmish. I'd heard enough to be intrigued because I do love Lore and Smoochin NPCs. I asked Skirmish if he'd be willing to stream some of the game for me, and rather than just continuing his own save, he started a new file to let me make my own character.

I regretted this a LOT because I wanted to continue the story, but it was unreasonable to expect my boyfriend to play as much as I wanted to.

But then that same friend gifted ME a copy with their next paycheck.

It took 2 days to download and I had made the unfortunate mistake of having Discord open when I could finally start the game because it snitched on me and Skirmish called while I was starting character creation.

We started a multiplayer game and I was quickly learning that I don't really like the multiplayer aspect.

So when I finally got to make my own character on my own save file that I could play whenever I wanted, I had gone through the opening 3-5 hours twice within a single week, making this instance number 3.

And at some point I felt really stuck and didn't feel I could continue any of my active quests, so I restarted. That new game was TOO efficient and I restarted again because I felt I had missed out on a lot of character interactions and that's what I thrive on.

All the while I was getting increasingly frustrated because my friends wanted to know how my progress was coming along and kept eluding to things in the game and it felt like the only way to get them to stop talking about it was to beat it, but every restart pushed that further away. (I prefer playing games blind and didn't expect to ever own Baldur's Gate, so I didn't mind discussions beforehand)

But I finally had a save where it felt I could progress and was finally getting to stuff I Hadn't Seen Yet after like... 3 weeks of owning it myself.

So visiting Skirmish and having brought my laptop, I realized I didn't actually wanna do the multiplayer because it was still the beginning of the game that I had gone through SO MANY TIMES in such a short timeframe.

And the character he used in our game, he had two copies of...

And deleted the one where he had been playing with me on accident...

Meaning that we had to start ALL OVER again with different characters...

And the character I chose to play just didn't feel fun to be in the Baldur's Gate setting.

He did let me play on my own for a little bit. And I felt bad cuz I know he wants to play a game with me. He and I just have different priorities and play styles, so finding one we can do together has been a challenge. Honestly, Minecraft has been the most successful

(He and I have talked it out since then, we're chill)

So yeah... I haven't even gotten through Act 1 and have burnt myself out within a month trying to complete it in a way that I'm happy with while also trying to progress quickly enough to satisfy other people.

And I'm just feeling oddly guilty about it all while I'm trying to design some merch.

#VanriTalks

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kurakurakura99 · 7 months

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Thinking bigly on a PS2 game we hyperfixated on for a few days

with the combined autism of four people in my head we have gotten every ending in Way of the Samurai 1 (but may have missed some events) over the course of a weekend and I have some thoughts. I have many thoughts, I fucking love this game and it astounds me. So peep this shit, if you don't know about it, Way of the Samurai is a funky little game set in a seemingly sleepy mountain pass during the early days of the Meiji period, in which you are making your way through-as a Samurai even. You get pulled into some bullshit, most likely on your first playthrough when you witness a kidnapping, and hopefully stop that shit because the series has a central mechanic that measures your "Samurai-ness" on a given playthrough and tallies it up at the end. Its structered in tiny Japanese game open world fashion-think Yakuza or Shenmue, in fact its very Shenmue at first glance until you realize how open the game is. It takes place over the course of two days, with time passing when you trigger certain event flags. the first day is slightly longer and more open to exploration and roleplaying:the second day is almost entirely spent on a balls out, fuck the Meiji government cop killing spree where your choices on who your siding with come to fruition with varying success:most playthroughs end when your character is slain in a fight:any death puts you into new game + mode to try it again, and the shortness of the story is most likely to prevent this from being too frustrating:unlocking new moves and picking up better swords usually means your making noticably more progress from run to run, I don't really wanna slap the roguelike term on it but. It comes to mind. And like, structurally, its really nutty to me that this game came out in 2002, it gives me big Mizzurna Falls energy with how innovative its trying to be and sticks the landing pretty solid for such an early title. (Wether that "Sticking the landing" can be said for MF is debatable at best, haven't finished that yet but thats another time) Granted I did have a brainfart and forget Shenmue came out before Way of the Samurai but like. Even then, the branching narrative and all the little events you could find, like who the fuck was doing that at the time? uhhhh mechanics are alright. It really do be a beat em up, y ou square on they triangle until you HAVE DISCOVERED A NEW MOVE:R1 + TRIANGLE FUCKO GRAB. The durability system rocks though and is more about maintaining rhythm and momentum without pushing your blade to far:the bigger your durability, the bigger your sword meter, and your durability only goes down when that meter gets full: essentially a better maintained sword in the hands of a player who knows what their doing is gonna outlast anything else. Its definitely the most agency I've felt with this kind of system in an RPG, doesn't just devolve into a fallout-ian "If I use my good rifle once it will be more broken in the future when I need it" Once I figured out what I was doing and picked a sword I liked (there are several different movesets divied up amongst the various swords with their own fighting game inputs and stuff) I could take it through several playthroughs without compromising its durability, and I like that. Apparently this system also accounts for the heat of your blade and tracks the condition of your opponents swords, too, so I've heard people talk about getting good at breaking their opponents sword. a popular strategy in the VS fighting mode that just comes included. Such an awesome addition that used to be more common and I think if a Yakuza game had a 2P VS mode it would fix me. It plays pretty alright here.

presentation-wise its very PS2:Memorable soundtrack that can get repetitive but definitely has some bangers (Righteous soul and Final Fight against Tamagawa my beloved). If you don't appreciate PS2 graphics this g ame won't change your mind but much like the branching storyline they did alot with what they have, enviroments look easily at their best during the evening/sunset and when the camera gets all fixed perspective on a bitch:Fighting Ronin on a high mountain road while the sun sets on the valley, really beautiful shit if your like me and have terminal nostalgia for a console you grew up with. An emotional clash on top of the foundry which the major factions are fighting over, Fucking up a cop and his goon for getting all sword-ban on your ass, helping the foreign Samurai compose a poem for his sweetheart-all great scenes that are framed in that beautiful palette. I don't know man its a really short game and you should play it and more people should talk about it because the series deserved much more than it got, its pretty much radio silent since the fourth installment on PS3 and that was a long, long time ago. This started as Kenzan cope (Can't find a ROM for it anywhere after I've resolved to bumblefuck my way through it with little to no Japanese comprehension) but Way of the Samurai might be my personal favorite game and a few others in my system found themselves playing and liking it as well. PS:Also also been playing the Spin-off, Samurai Western that isn't AS innovative and much more linear but also a really fucking good hack-n-slash that deserves mention because I've seen people dismiss it as being bad for focusing on other aspects of the series. game fucking kicks ass and despite the voice acting being very 2000s it has characters speaking different languages when it makes sense and More games should do that because it pisses me off when everyone speaks English lmao. game plays kinda like No More Heroes now that I think about it, and has some kinda suda51 vibes to the bosses so if you like that kinda shit check it out too.

#Way of the Samurai #PS2 nostalgia #long text post #ps2 game #Kura rants #Kura...reviews #Did this because I am too lazy to edit a youtube video lmao

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thesefourwallsstory · 8 months

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Part 2: ???

The sun peeks its head through my blinds, pouring heat over my body and a bright light into my eyes, "I guess it's time to get up" I think to myself. I slowly rise from my bed and make my way to my bathroom. I brush my teeth, comb my hair and steal a long look in the mirror.

"Maaaaaaaaaan, when did I start looking so tired, these bags are huge" I say as I stretch out the skin beneath my eye, turning darker and darker from lack of sleep and constant rubbing. "I really should get to sleep at a better time but I'm always having too much fun dinking around on this thing" I exit my tiny bathroom and pick up my old, beat up guitar and strum the strings. What greets my ears is the most disharmonious sound I've ever heard, I wince. "Yeah, I should probably get you tuned before I try that again." I set the guitar back down and turn to face my mess of an apartment, "Same goes for you, I always wonder how you get so trashed when i'm hardly here." I finish my daily routine off with some half-burnt toast and sit down at my computer. I grab my headphones and put them on, and slowly get sucked into some games and social media.

Before I even realize it, it's approaching noon and I'm starting to get hungry again. My phone dings. I pick it up off my desk and look at the notification, it's a text from Tanaka, "Hey Makoto-chan ;P, you up to get some food?"

I hastily replied, "Don't mock me or I'll start calling you Tana-kun again around your girlfriend"

Another message "Okay okay, jeez man when'd you get to be such a hardass?"

"When you started calling me Makoto-chan, anyways I'd be down to get some food, I'm assuming you don't mean any food and you really want...."

"Yeah... I'm craving that ramen place again, you can't blame me though, it's really really good, all the intricate flavors of the broth and the supreme texture of the noodles.........." He goes on for a while about how good the ramen is. At this point, I've learned not to stop him.

"......I guess what I'm trying to say is, they just put a lot of love in every single bowl!"

"Yeah yeah, all this hearing you ramble on is making me even more hungry, I'll meet you there in 20 okay?"

"Sounds good to me Makoto-chan <3"

"Didn't I just threaten you about calling me that?"

"Yeah yeah, just don't forget your wallet this time, see ya there >:3", I seriously don't know how Tanaka does it, he doesn't have a job and still lives with his parents yet he manages to always have the money to stuff himself full to the brim with food, and I know he pays for it too! Well whatever, not like I'm complaining, he always reminds me to bring my wallet but he covers me every time we go out. I grab my laptop bag and make my way out of the apartment.

Oh, and before I forget, my name is Makoto Shigeru, though you already knew the Makoto part. I’m fresh out of college and fresh out of a job haha. I’m 21 with bleach blonde hair and the most mediocre.. I mean the sexiest pair of brown eyes you’ll ever see. No matter what I seem to do I always get struck with bad luck, but eh that’s just a part of life. I’m learning the guitar to keep a promise to my late father. He always saw an artist in me, although I haven't seen it just yet. When his time was near he left me with his prized guitar and asked me to learn it so I could “free myself from my worries with music,” he was an odd one sure, but I knew he only wanted what was best and it’s not like I’m going to reject the wishes of a dying man. Soon after he passed, I picked up the old six-string and started to practice. One thing that irks me is self-centered people who don’t even try to get others. I don’t think I’ll ever see eye to eye with someone like that, even as much as I try to respect and show kindness to everyone.

Speaking of self-centered people, I think my next door neighbor hates me, he hasn’t made an issue out of it yet, but I can hear him groan every time I start to practice. Though I’ve never seen him, he just strikes me as the type of guy to push his problems onto the world. I know he’s working for some tech company and from the unintentionally audible monologues, I don’t think he’s a huge fan. Maybe I’ll try to give him some advice….. Yeah, maybe I will.

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#story #fiction #mlm fiction #yaoi bl #author #writer #creative writing #writing

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gaycey-sketchit · 1 year

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(Gary anon) Heard some wild stuff happened in the plot, especially towards the end. Anipoke isn't a stranger to dark storylines, but between what went down with BW, XY and Journeys lack of Galar, I wonder how much Paldea's story events will make it in or be drastically changed. (Yeah, some fans on both sides did say they're really only tuning in to see if Goh catches Mew [or the fandom aftermath of it] or for *Gary himself. *With some being mixed about his contribution;)

(Part 2) (or lack of, so far. I share some of these feelings, but we haven't seen the full arc yet to give proper conclusions. I assume they're holding back the juniors to give Danika and Quillon some last minute showing of their skillset, as mentioned in the recap. But regardless on how this goes and ends, I'm still of the opinion that Gary didn't need to be glued to this plotline and could've easily just been used similarly to Dawn for all three characters. Still, better than being thrown)

(Part 3) (into the PWC and getting the Alain treatment; which was an early fear way before his return episode. Plus, the idea of a ragtag group of researchers going on dangerous adventures sounds fun; it's the execution. Heck, that's what Ash and Goh were originally doing) I'm not sure how I'll feel if Project Mew turns out evil, that Gary somehow NEVER picked up on something up for how closely he worked with these people. Tokio, I could buy. Goh, I think he would sense something too by now.

Yeah. I beat the game yesterday and one of my liveblogging posts is literally just "WHAT THE FUCK" so you know I was having A Time. Very curious to see how the anime adapts some of those plot points, the game has such a good story and I'd love to see the anime make good use of it.

Understandable on both accounts! I'm here for both but I can see why people would tune in just out of curiosity for how Goh's pursuit of Mew will turn out or for the beloved icon that is Gary.

Yeah, there's a lot of things that could be said about the Project Mew plot and Gary's role in it. Love the concept, the execution could've been better. I've been rewatching the early Journeys episodes again and as much as I love the slice-of-life vibe, in hindsight having such a slow paced beginning turned out to be a bit of a detriment. At the very least it shouldn't have taken 68 episodes to introduce the Project Mew plot. But yeah, it's definitely preferable to Gary just being insignificant PWC fodder.

Yeah, Gary strikes me as very socially intelligent and especially good at reading people, so if things are about to take a turn and he hasn't realized something's up... hm. Tokio seems kind of optimistic to a fault so it'd make sense for him to not suspect anything, yeah. And while Goh has struggled socially, and it took him a while to figure out what Gary's whole deal was, he's pretty observant and his past difficulties trusting people would probably make him suspicious by nature, so his suspicions could've been raised by now. Unless the idea is that these people are just like, insanely good at deceiving people, which is a possibility considering they've got respected folks like Professor Oak endorsing them.

#Andrew answers #Gary anon

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