LOST in the TUNNELS

He's such a fucking cunt I adore him!!!!! Half of this is just him bitching about Hotland!!

Also obsessed with his apparent lack of respect for Asgore????

Keep in mind that the average monster refers to Asgore in a borderline deific way. A very friendly figure, but someone of infinitely more power than themselves. It makes sense when Undyne and Gerson rag on him, they are very personally familiar with the guy, but Papyrus has never met him?? He just??? Doesn't give a fuck??? He calls him a "big fuzzy pushover", which he might've gotten from Undyne, but he also comments on his puzzle policies being lackluster, "of course". OF COURSE???? PAP. I love him. He's so fucking funny. "King Fluffyboy" Get his ass, Papyrus!!!

I also really love how he doesn't hold back on teasing his friends, but goddamn he is BRUTAL!

"Am I allowed to be proud?" PAP PLEASE HE'S NOT EVEN IN THE ROOM

"Will I need an umbrella?" PAPYRUS YOU'RE GONNA KILL HER he bullies her about Alphys so much, it's adorable

"(THE SOUND A BABY MAKES)" P A P Y R U S

HE SAYS "DON'T TELL ME MORE OF THIS GARBAGE." ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS SIR!!!!!!!!

This isn't as analytical as the Undyne one, but that's because I just wanted to sit and appreciate Petty Papyrus. I feel like this aspect of his personality gets smoothed over a lot of the time, which is a damn shame because the man can be an A-Tier BITCH when he wants to be. And sometimes he wants to be!! For as much as Paps is unwaveringly kind and well-intentioned, he's also not afraid to voice his displeasure when he feels safe to do so. I think his naivety and lack of experience are often mistaken for innocence or childishness, but Papyrus is very capable of handling both his own and others' feelings.

We get introduced to Papyrus and Undyne in opposite ways. First we see that he's a goofball, then we see that he's actually very competent. First we see that she's terrifying, then we see that she's a massive goober.

another thing i tend to think about with this. i also just think in chapter 5 there's a theme of care and dependency. the flowers have extreme guilt over being taken care of by asgore. flowery conceptualizes himself as weak and useless. in the dark world, his fantasy, he tries to return the care given to him to asgore to "make up for" asgore taking care of him when he should've died decades ago. it's an extreme example, but i also resonate with his feeling.

when your body or mind puts you in a situation where your reliance on other people becomes really explicit, you're trained by the world to see that as shameful or to see yourself as deficient. your efforts to ignore your needs just to avoid "being a burden," will leave you worse off. you punish yourself because of deeply internalized ableism.

regardless, even by virtue of being a living thing on this planet, you are already designed to need others. you have to listen to your body's needs even against a society that teaches you you shouldn't. you have to be okay with the fact that you have needs. sometimes your needs are different or are greater than the person next to you, and all you can do is listen to your body and turn to others when you need them. you're still a person when you need people.

when toby says this:

it's interesting to me how much he uses the language of deltarune to express this feeling. your hopes and dreams slipping away, and bitterness growing is literally the explanation we get for shadow crystals (and so wept the fallen star, making rivers with its tears. then, slowly, from the bitter water, something grew. it looked like glass). this is also the crushing feeling when you lose a sense of control when you're in pain, when you can't do things the way you want, the way you used to. but when you find yourself still able to fly, you do so because you've adapted. you've listened to your body. you've learned that listening to your body means changing the pace, letting yourself be cared for, letting yourself be helped.

Tenna art by @9Aaaalt29 on twt

some sort of web weave on making yourself a ghost