aspirin

she literally spends all day with kris and she wants to spend a little bit with her crush? bro.

on the other hand...

Jevil and Susie are both violence-happy forces of chaos who love to Fight, and manage to become ‘free’ of the limitations the World places on them by simply denying they exist…

But Susie found new sources of joy and fun via her connections, as well as a desire for a Freedom that involves a true Happily Ever After with her friends, that’s harder to achieve than Jevil’s idea of ‘Freedom’. And Jevil himself…Well, he literally says that he ‘grows lonely in his little freedom’, and his backstory is based around him being betrayed and tricked by his only friend, Seam. When being betrayed and tricked by her friends was then established to be one of Susie’s biggest fears and most hated things.

I mean, Susie being locked up in prison after being betrayed by a close friend because her violence-happy attitude made her a danger to Card Kingdom and to King is literally a thing that happened in Chapter 1. Jevil is simply a reflection of what would’ve happened to Susie if she never managed to escape, and never managed to reconcile with Lancer, and just gave into her worst urges, as she was left with nothing except FIGHTing.

The Spamton-Kris parallels have been some of the most talked-about aspects of the game since Chapter 2 first dropped. Y’know, he’s controlled by both metaphysical puppet-strings and a Mysterious Voice on the Phone, he’s Ontologically Doomed to be a dishonest scam-artist (while Kris feels forced to participate in the Knight Conspiracy and thus also forced to lie and trick their closest friends) and he’s profoundly lonely because all of this shit ended up driving away every friend he ever had. And then Kris, as part of moving along Spamton’s Shadow Crystal quest, ends up isolating themself further from their friends…

Probably because they need to keep certain Secrets safe, for the sake of their own Mysterious Voice on the Phone…

By the end of the Battle, Spamton NEO stops obsessing over and projecting on Kris individually and comes to respect all three Delta Warriors and the strength they possess together. But I feel like Kris must still fear they are still the most like Spamton in this situation, a lonely puppet that will drive away anyone that has ever cared for them and cannot survive without their puppet-strings.

Then for Chapter 3… well, determining who should count as The Shadow Crystal Boss is kinda complicated (and the Knight specifically is so Mysterious at the moment, it’s hard to draw a lot of parallels), but I think that if we’re looking for a Ralsei parallel that has fallen into their worst impulses and fears due to isolation, than the obvious candidate should be Ramb. A Darkner with a smartass streak, dedicated to his ‘purpose’ of making Kris Happy above all else, to the point of becoming a Literal Pushover for them…

Only Ramb’s so dedicated to Kris above all else that it drove away any other connection he could’ve made (unlike Ralsei, who learns to live for themself and the true nature of friendship via the other connections they make, most notably with Susie) Ramb ended up lonely and rejected by even the world he lived in…. And by all accounts Kris didn’t even care for him that much.

Now with Gerson and Pink, I think this theme of paralleling the Fun Gang continues, but now with a more hopeful, positive twist. This round of Shadow Crystal Bosses instead represent the Delta Warriors’ hopes and the positive potential for growth they could have via connections with others.

Gerson, like Susie, is a hopeful Rude-Buster-using reptilian Monster Warrior that calls to mind Undyne Undertale to some degree, and he both represents the potential Susie could have if she was accepted and supported by the people of Hometown instead of being treated like an outsider and a pariah, and an important connection that could’ve allowed Susie to reach that potential earlier, if only he was still part of Hometown when she moved in.

And Pink is, much like Spamton, clearly meant as a parallel to Kris' situation. Not a direct one-to-one to their situation, again, like Spamton wasn't a one-to-one either, but where the salesman interpret the situation in the worst, most negative, most pessimistic way possible - Pink serves as the most optimistic possible lens on Kris' situation. You can say that if Gerson represents a 'What If' for Susie if she was accepted into Hometown's community, Pink represents a 'What If' where the SOUL and Kris got to choose each other, rather than being forced together.

But the most important part here is how Pink managed to resolve the issues and disagreements between her Body and her Ghost, by having a conversation, developing an actual connection. Another thing the SOUL and Kris never had a chance to do. And then also Pink being a non-Flower accepted as a 'big sister' among the Flowers is another Kris-parallel, a Darkner/Ghost adopted by Flowers and a Human adopted by Monsters. And Pink seems to actually explain the situation with her Body and her Ghost to Orange, at least (alongside obviously the Fun Gang knowing about it).

Kris has been so isolated through the fact nobody knows what they're going through (much like Spamton has become isolated from the whole of Cyber Society by being made aware of the Incomprehensible Horrors), but Pink also represents the hope of how reaching out to their loved ones, explaining what they are now, could make them feel so much less alone. It's just a question of whatever Kris will take the hint, if they even can take this advice in their current circumstances.

Then, if this is the pattern for this round of Shadow Crystal Bosses... I know it's said that Pink is going to be the last one...

But, like, seeing how there's two more Chapters left, my guess is that we have at least one more fight to look forward to with this side-quest. Probably against Seam, to earn that hinted-at 'Pure Crystal'.

And Seam would make sense as another Ralsei parallel, both are Mages, Ralsei is (probably) not literally a plush toy like Seam is but they certainly have Plush Toy Vibes, both grew from a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness to gaining a sense of hope again…

And Seam also seems to have some connection with Asriel, maybe they used to be his plush toy or something?

But… while I can see post-Shadow-Crystal-Quest Seam being maybe the more positive and optimistic counterpart to where Ralsei is right now, I dunno if there’s necessarily the angle of connections vs. isolation being the important factor. Like, I’d say that right it seems Ralsei is less isolated than Seam, that outside of a few interactions they have with the Fun Gang and a few mentions of fucking around with other Castle Town Residents and the like, their only real friend is still the one they locked away all these years ago.

(Hell, you can argue that we try to think up what sort of character would be the more Hopeful and Positive version of Ralsei due to having made stronger connections, that character already exists and this is Flowery. Another Flowey/Asriel analogue with Meta Knowledge who has all the confidence Ralsei lacks and breaks all the rules Ralsei is afraid to… for the sake of protecting his Family).

It’s possible that’s part of the point, that if Gerson and Pink exist to show what Susie and Kris could achieve through the power of connections, that Seam counterbalances it by showing what Ralsei can be if they’re able to stand on their own. That becoming too isolated is dangerous to Ralsei, as Ramb’s story demonstrates, but as much as they need connections, they also need to learn how to be independent, and that is what Seam’s story will represent to Ralsei.

Or maybe Seam’s newfound sense of hope will motivate them to try to reunite with their old Chaos-loving friend…

Or maybe I’m just totally wrong about all of this lol

There's something that really intrigues me about Ralsei and his role in the Fun Gang as soon as these two characters join... both in the story and in a large part of the fan content, he's immediately adapted and relegated to the background. It's incredibly easy to do; it almost goes unnoticed.

Like please. He's LITERALLY in the dark. Away from the path susie and kris are on. Definitely not on the spotlight.

1: Introductory slide, titling the slide show: “Writing Amputees / by me, mud-foot”. In small text underneath, it says “Credentials: I have 1 hand”

2: Title: “Step 1”. Text: “There are 2 types of amputees and they have REALLY different outlooks so you gotta decide which type of amputee your character is”.

3: Title: “Congenital Limb Differences”. In small text, it says “I’m this one”. Bullet list reads:

“‘I was born like this and it doesn’t bother me!’

Usually affects left arm for some reason? Nobody knows why

Nemo’s lucky fin is a good example

Like good to the point where there’s a whole organization about limb differences named after it”

There’s a picture of the aforementioned project’s symbol. It’s a white oval with a red border that has text on it reading, “Lucky Fin Project / Celebrate. Educate. Support. Unite.” And two black colored handprints with four fingers missing from one of them. An arrow points to it and says, “Cool people made this”.

At the side is written “Examples:”. Underneath it are stacked pictures of Nemo from Finding Nemo (picture is an animated goldfish with a smile) and Furiosa from Mad Max Fury Road (picture is a light skinned person in the middle of action, holding a gun with their right arm bent at the elbow. Their left arm is missing, except for a small bit under the shoulder). Text under Furiosa reads, “Furiosa’s a good example too, can’t quite put my finger on why though”.

Slide 4: Title: “Amputee Amputees”. Small text explains: “'Like like’ as opposed to ‘like’”. Bullet list reads:

“What people usually think of when thinking ‘amputee’

Became amputees after traumatic thing

Experience phantom pains, tend to be bothered by limb difference

Not always though

Ol’ Luke doesn’t seem too upset for example”

At the side is written “Examples:”. Underneath it are stacked pictures. One of them is an illustration detailing multiple angles of a light skinned blond person with their hair in a braid, wearing white shorts. Their right arm from the shoulder and left leg from the knee are robotic prosthetics. There are close-ups of the prosthetics. Second picture is of Luke Skywalker (a light skinned man) from Star Wars, with his arms raised, showing that his right hand is a prosthetic. It’s circled in red, and an arrow points to it, saying “Y'all forgot about this one didn’t ya” in all caps. Next to Luke is written, “'Oh Luke Skywalker, he’s one of us abled people’ Think again loser”. The last part is in all caps.

Slide 5: Title: “Telling Them Apart?” Text: “Congenital limb differences tend to have little vestigial finger stubs. Traumatic amputees have scarring. That’s basically it, you can’t really tell without getting uncomfortably close.”

Slide 6: Title: “Step 2: Prosthetics vs Adaptive Devices”. Bullet list reads:

“Prosthetics replace something, adaptive devices work with what’s there

Prosthetics are really expensive and insurance won’t pay for them

Adaptive devices are ‘I need help opening this peanut butter jar so I’m gonna duct tape a spoon to it’

Honestly if you ask me adaptive devices work better

I think prosthetics sometimes make people feel better if they’re traumatic amputees and miss their arm? I don’t know though”

Small text underneath notes, “Congenital limb difference people tend to like adaptive devices more”.

Slide 7: Title: “Adaptive Devices Cont.” There’s a picture of a kid with chin length dark hair and bangs in front of a bunch of other kids, holding a pink marker with the help of some white tape. There’s an arrow pointing to an off-screen person, whose blond hair is just a bit visible. Arrow reads, “(That’s my hair)”.

Text to the left of the picture reads, “No, I’m serious. I helped make this adaptive device so this kid could hold markers. Basically what we did was tape the markers to her hand.” An arrow points towards the picture.

A second paragraph underneath says, “I’m biased toward these because the focus is on changing the rest of the world, not you, and to be honest if you tried to change me I’d probably slap you.”

Slide 8: Title: “Prosthetics Cont.”. Small text informs, “Person who makes prosthetics = prosthetist. Works with amputees on a personal basis.” There are a bunch of green dollar signs scattered across the slide, and three pictures with text about them.

First picture is an unattached prosthetic with a clear arm as long as half a forearm, showing wiring inside, and a yellow plastic hand in an open grabbing position. Text underneath uses dollar signs in place of the letter S. It reads, “Myoelectric- Basically a glorified pincher arm (See below). Can only pinch, takes a long time to get used to.”

The mentioned picture below is a prosthetic arm. The joins are rounded, the prosthetic is to be attached from the shoulder. The hand part is thin metal made for pinching, and doesn’t resemble a hand. Text next to the picture, using dollar signs for the letter S, says, “They’re always making new improvements in prosthetic tech but unless your character knows like Tony Stark they probably can’t afford them”.

Third picture is titled “Cosmetic Prosthetics”, and show multiple realistic prosthetics, of arms, hands, legs, an ear, an eye and multiple fingers. Once again with dollar signs in place of S’s, text underneath reads, “Cosmetic prosthetic: Completely and utterly useless but makes you look ‘normal’. Used both to make traumatic amputees more comfortable and avoid weirding out normies.” Smaller text under that without the dollar signs reads, “Honestly I hate them because of the focus on looking ‘normal’ and the fact that you guys can kiss my butt but some people like them.”

Slide 9: Title: “Step 3: Jokes”. Bullet list reads:

“The number one thing missing from all media involving amputees

Except Toy Story if you wanna count that

Edward Elric gets whacked with his arm a couple times that could count too

These jokes are universal for all amputees. I’ve never met one who doesn’t make 'where’s my hand’ jokes”

A series of pictures show the joke from Toy Story. In the first picture, Woody, a toy cowboy, has his hands open as he says, “Buzz, will you get up here and give me a hand?”. In the second picture, he looks down at the floor, where lays an unattached arm. In the third picture, he’s frowning as he exclaims, “That’s very funny, Buzz. This is serious!”. Small text next to it says, “The best scene in anything ever.”

Slide 10: Title: “Bad Jokes”. Bullet list reads:

“Hangman jokes

Don’t do it, they’re really uncomfortable to hear”

There are two pictures. One is a meme. A white person sits on a red armchair, pointing at an empty canvas with a stick. Text on the meme reads, “If I ever saw an amputee getting hanged / I’d probably just start calling out letters.” Text underneath the picture commentates, “Thank you white dude with bad haircut, I feel loved now /sarcasm”.

Second picture is a 3D-animated gingerbread man missing his right leg, using a candy cane as an underarm crutch. Text underneath reads, “Gingerbread man jokes make me uncomfortable too but I don’t know if that’s just me.”

Slide 11: Title: “Good Jokes”. Bullet list reads:

'Don’t get your hand caught in the mixer!’ *Holds up stump and screams* [start all caps] 'Oh God you were right, look what happened!’ [end all caps]

'Give me a hand’ 'I can’t, I have no hand to give’ 'I hate you, come help me’

Telling outrageous stories when people ask what happened to your hand and they aren’t gonna contradict you so they just believe you (to this day someone out there thinks I lost my hand fighting alligators)

I knew this one dude who’d leave his prosthetic places to freak people out because it was one of the really lifelike cosmetic ones"

There’s a meme at the side. It’s a blue wheelchair sign, with text over it reading, “I have evolved / Past the need for legs”.

who even is this dude? someone needs some anger management classes.

love how he keeps reminding us that “I HAVE THREE GIRLFRIENDS”, “THEY ALL KISS ME”, and “THEY SMOKE WEED HURRP DURR”.

and let’s not forget the “Blaiz” and her “wicked tat”, or that he doesn’t “wanna see you standing outside [his] home at 3 am holding your weird dripping brown bags ever again”, and that this is “the FINAL FUCKING WARNING”.

“the goo pile that is now your body”

i’m dying over here, jesus

kris: omg they’re so ass at this fucking game this fight is going to take five fucking ever

the soul: *somehow manages it first try*

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