PhantomBagels

Idk I just felt that there was a lot left to be desired. I mean I did really like it!!! Like the music was great, and so were the area and background art (obviously), and I loved some of the callbacks—especially the field of hopes and dreams label callback. And the long-awaited festival!! And oh my god asgore in his kingly armor. That shot of him half in the light and half in the dark, the words on his papers all messed up and he delves deeper and deeper into this obsession with being *right*, dismissing the flowers who love Asgore (this *had* to be how Kris and Asriel felt, watching him push everything away) and learning to let Toriel go—

Incredible.

What I wasn’t as fond of were some of the character choices. Like I understand why it was done, I just think it was a bit too much. The sprites of aqua and seth particularly felt out of place, almost as if they were meant to be in a fangame.

I think flowery’s name was brilliant. It’s clearly a callback to Undertale, but he’s more than different enough to be his own character. But as his own character, I feel that he mimics Tenna too much.

And I know that’s partially on purpose—this *is* Asgore’s Tenna. Both dark worlds were created by Kris. It only makes sense that they’re similar.

But I feel like they could have done a better job making them more different. The initial shocking introduction sequence that’s not the same artstyle, the voice lines, wanting to live as a person themselves, thinking that they know best for their lightner and trying to keep them somewhere where they can be happy, and then finally learning that what they’re doing *won’t* make them happy and letting them go. If anything, I feel that it’s hammering in our face almost too much that Flowery is Asgore’s Tenna.

I did really enjoy how Flowery pushed Ralsei out of their shell even more, helping this chapter to focus on him. First the hat, almost like shoving them back into shadow, Ralsei developing actual ire at Flowery (lmao) and then standing up for himself even though he doesn’t entirely know what he wants! This was a similarity and difference from ch 3 that I really enjoyed, where Tenna steamrolls over Ralsei but Ralsei just kind of takes it.