rocket cats!

For Kris themselves, not only they'll believe that whatever crash out their loved ones will unleash upon them is completely deserved, but it'll reinforce their belief that all their lives will be better without them. They've always been struggling with guilt and self-hatred, and it's driven them to the point where they're seriously considering taking their own life (as seen with them taking the poisonous seeds)! Remember that line from the Sword Route, "YOU WERE USED UP"? It's meant to emphasize how they see themselves as expendable! In their eyes, since their collaboration with the Knight has destroyed any hopes of having a happy future with Susie, Noelle, and/or Ralsei, they believe they don't deserve a future at all! And don't forget how the game has been hinting they'll end up losing their hand, which will no doubt ruin them, seeing how they love playing piano!

For Susie, it's even worse than you think it's gonna be!!! Not only is she gonna be drowning in negative emotions over Kris working against her before she even befriended them, but most of those negative emotions are going to be directed at herself BECAUSE OF HOW SHE USED TO BULLY THEM! Yes, it's clear that Kris has forgiven her for how she treated them, but she hasn't yet forgiven herself, and her guilt over that is one of the many anxieties and insecurities she's been trying to suppress, along with other things like the shattered prophecy. So when she discovers that Kris has been working against her the whole time, all of those anxieties and insecurities are going to burst to the surface like a limnic eruption, and she'll end up thinking that Kris working with the Knight is SOMETHING SHE BROUGHT ON HERSELF. On top of that, seeing how Kris's plan is likely about restoring Dess, how do you think she's gonna feel about the fact that she's been trying to ruin a plan to bring back her girlfriend's long-lost sister even though it's being accomplished through nefarious methods (i.e. sacrificing Undyne)?!

Speaking of which, if anyone's gonna have the most horribly tumultuous feelings about this whole thing, it's gonna be Noelle Holiday! You really think her relationship with Susie won't be impacted at all by the fact that she may ruin any chance she could have of seeing her long-lost sister again!? And it's gonna be even worse for her, seeing how it's extremely likely that Dess is the Knight, because of course she's not going to take well at all learning that her sister has become a violent and destructive entity that's willing to harm the people she loves. And again, how can she stand with Susie against her sister since foiling her and Kris's plan would mean that she'll never see her again. And how can we forget that her father's days might be numbered, and also how her mother has made Kris into an unwilling accessory to aid her against Susie?

And lastly, we have poor Ralsei, and don't think for one moment that things are gonna be easy for her because they absolutely won't!!! She has been fighting tooth and nail to ensure the prosperity of all lightners and darkners and, y'know, stop the literal apocalypse from happening! You really think she's not gonna crash out when she finds out one of THE HEROES FROM THE PROPHECY HAS BEEN WORKING FOR TEAM ROARING BEFORE SHE EVEN MET THEM?!?! And not only that, the truth hits her just as she's starting to develop romantic feelings for Kris!!!!

˙⋆✮ Weave thought into action instead of stopping the scene to explain it. Let your character think mid-motion, not instead of motion. She doesn't need to stand still for a paragraph to process something, she can be pulling her jacket on, still fumbling with the zipper, while the thought is happening. The scene keeps moving EVEN while the internal stuff is happening underneath it.

˙⋆✮ Keep introspection specific, not vague. "She felt sad" tells the reader almost nothing and kind of just sits there. "She kept waiting for the ache to make sense, and it never did" gives the reader something concrete to actually feel alongside her. Specific, sensory thoughts land so much harder than a generic emotion word ever will, bc they're doing the work of showing instead of just labeling.

˙⋆✮ Use internal monologue to contradict what's being said out loud. that gap between what a character says and what they're actually thinking is genuinely where all the good tension lives. She says "i'm fine" out loud while internally thinking "i am so far from fine i don't even know where fine went," and that contrast tells the reader more about her than either line would alone.

˙⋆✮ Don't over-explain emotions the scene is already showing you. If you've already shown your character's hands shaking and their voice cracking, you don't also need three sentences of internal monologue confirming "she was nervous." Trust your reader to connect what the character's doing with what they're feeling, bc over-explaining it on top just slows everything down and insults their intelligence a little.

bras personally make me dysphoric, but the information packrat in me loves the resources from r/abrathatfits

love my pumpkin