When an evil telepathic alien posing as T'Pel says "Look, look around you. You're back home on Vulcan" we see the above landscape, image one. When compared to image two, T'Pol's mother's house/ her childhood home we can surmise that either Tuvok is not at his house or that he lives in bumfuck nowhere.
Vulcan doesn't seem to be densely populated - the cities are spread out across miles of desert. This may be in an effort to preserve nature or to afford room for ritual grounds. We see across many different series that things like temples are often secluded far from cities. Rituals like the Kahs Wan also require space.
NOW. The REAL reason Tuvok looks like he's in the middle of nowhere is because where he's depicted is reused footage from The Voyage Home. So if we went with that he'd be at Mount Seleya but that's boring, that bores me to tears bc it doesn't mean anything really. I love Tuvok and he deserves more than just "they reused the footage" - I wanna dive a little deeper. Why watsonianly would this alien be making Tuvok hallucinate Mount Seleya when he thinks of being home?
When I look up where the mountain's located they tell me it's located in Na'nam
when I look up Na'nam this seems to be true
And when I see that Gol is also in Na'nam I get excited because I remember Tuvok has a canonical relation to Gol! He was a professor at the Vulcan Institute for Defensive Arts which is iiiin...
...Gol!
So it's quite possible that Tuvok's home on Vulcan is located in or near Xen'tal, Gol. There are other things that could (note 'could', this is all circumstantial) support Tuvok living in Gol, which I understand to be a notably religious/spiritual part of Vulcan:
He appears more invested in religion than other Vulcans - using a hologram of a temple so regularly that Tom & Harry know about and decide to tamper with it as a prank. He also seems to take pride in the fact that his wife and children journeyed to one of the most sacred temples on Vulcan to have a priest pray for his safety.
Janeway recalls an outing in which she accompanied him to buy his meditation lamp from a Vulcan master. It's notable to me that they were both in Starfleet uniforms at the time (as Janeway says the master raised the price after seeing them).
The fact he raised the price AFTER seeing them also implies Tuvok arranged to buy from him not in person, so perhaps he arranged it while on a ship and completing the sale was the first stop on shore leave before heading to Tuvok's home? One possibility of many. Even if not, the fact that Tuvok valued the lamp enough to buy it even with the jacked up price, presumably because it came from a Vulcan master, is interesting.
Tuvok also says that a Vulcan master gave him kal-toh lessons from the age of five, implying to me that he either lived close enough to a temple for this to be feasible or his family valued it enough to travel a bit, even with a child so young.
It's not stated when, but Tuvok says he witnessed a Vulcan master perform a complicated mind meld technique at some point in his life. All we know is he was old enough to believe that he could replicate it on Voyager. It might've been during his adolescent stay at the temple but it could've been another time. Point is, he has a lot of interactions with Vulcan masters.
Tuvok also completed the rite of tal'oth which is like the kahs'wan but as a young adult and for four months instead of ten days. It seems no other Vulcan has been canonically listed as mentioning or completing it (as of this post) so it could be specific to his region. It would make sense then if he lived somewhere with lots of land and stronger ties to ritual and Gol is stated on memory beta to be majority farmland and 'untamed deserts, unrivaled on the rest of Vulcan'. A description which would also match the screenshot we see of his home.
Tuvok's father banishes him and drops him off at a monastery. The monk who mentors Tuvok is stated to have spoken to his father. It's unclear how well they know each other but could hint to Tuvok's family being involved with the temple when paired with his parents having a Vulcan master teach him kal-toh at FIVE. Does a Vulcan master have nothing better to do?
In general Tuvok seems to have lived in close proximity to Vulcan masters and thus religion. Stereotypically, religion isn't a very strong force in cities and we've seen that canonically, Vulcan religious sites are found in more remote areas.
Both Gol and Xial are noted for being remote places with ties to ritual and religion. It would make sense to me that given Tuvok worked at the V.I.D.A for a time, an incredibly remote institute I don't know that many would know about, he may have already lived close by.
So! I'm positing that Tuvok's home is in Gol and maybe either close to Mount Seleya or some other sacred site in or around Gol that he visited often.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
âś“ Live Streamingâś“ Interactive Chatâś“ Private Showsâś“ HD Qualityâś“ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
i was always confused why its hard for people to understand Chara can be how they are in a Geno or Pacifist or Neutral playthrough or even how they were in life and still be the same person and represent the same thing at the end of it all
even in the metanarrative sense, they are about absolutism at its core, Flowey best represents the neutral runs which is why in those runs Chara is purely just meant to be "you"
on a geno run the idea that theyre about the absolute is obvious, theyre detached and meta as hell but in pacifist? theyre SO invested in this world, theyre so undetached that the idea of them being invested in the world isnt even presented as meta despite how meta it is because it isnt meta to them anymore
you learn about their life, their best friend, that the person youve been controlling isnt even them, they get to be a kid and they get to be a kid who moves on from this world, satisfied
because at the end of both absolute playthroughs, they get a conclusion and they want to move on
theyre uninterested in a neutral run because it isnt absolute, its fucking around with possibilities, but a pacifist or geno run? now we're talking
Thank you for answering! And I agree! Clover is cool. Yeehaw
And like Frisk I have many questions. So yes, if okay, I will ask them one after one.
So question 2 from me.
Exactly the same but for Chara!
If you were to describe how you write them and how you characterize him, what would it be?
I am surprised you made them angry like an animal to anyone, especially to their goat family (irony). Why is that? I do believe the they are cute but will kill you if you're bad to them
To me, I believe in Chara is narrator in game.
Also strange that Clover in Dark world is ginger . I would draw them with blonde hair like concept clover. I never seen gingers on my life
You're welcome :D
Any opportunity to yap about Clover, and now Chara is greatly appreciated hehe... Clover is indeed real cool! Silliest silly.
Chara time!!
CW for the post :
I will be discussing topics of suicide, CSA and SH, so beware!
Chara's an easier one to write as we hear a lot of them from Azzy himself (why they climbed the mountain, their misanthropy), from the narration (I consider NarraChara 100% canon atp), from the tapes in the true lab, the alarm clock dialogues and Asriel's letter on Undertale's 9th anniversary.
There's a lot of source material (and yet so little at the same time, it's ironically funny) about them already, and yet it leaves enough room for interpretation!
Undertale's dialogue about Chara presents them as a traumatized child, who hates humans, had a tendency to push things to their limit and had to have the most of things to feel safe. They make jokes about 'getting hit less hard if they look cuter', think Frisk insulting an amalgamate in the true lab has them say 'you look horrible, why are you even alive', and they appear to have told Asriel that 'big kids don't cry'. They laugh instead of crying. All this points to a kid that's at least been abused emotionally and physically, and since they hate all of humanity, then this may not be where it stopped, unfortunately.
Chara's however still a kid, a rather young one at that. They want to appear mature by reading grown up books and speaking properly, but in the end they're still young, mistake words for others (cups of butter/buttercups), don't always speak all formally (narration isn't always ultra formal, end of massacre run style), and they make childish jokes (ButtsPie). They're still young enough to put importance to a favourite number.
They're a kid that was really angry at humans, for reasons they never told.
(CW start to apply here)
They climbed mount Ebott to die. They told Asriel this, yet refused to even try to tell him just what the humans did for them to turn their back on their very life. To them, whatever this is is worse than introducing Asriel to the concept of suicide, which is already a big, awful thing. They're not okay, and they won't be for a little while. They eventually get hope in their eyes as Asgore said, but we all know this didn't last forever. The Dreemurrs have to file down the tools in the house and hide the knives, and Chara eventually still ends their life later down the line. They give little value to their life, and threw it away after a singular mistake, believing they'd be best useful dead.
They wound up in co-control of their brother's new powerful body after, and upon arriving to their village, got consumed by anger and called for Azzy to annihilate them all.
So. All of that being the info we have from canon, here's how I characterise the lil chocolat.
As established, they're a kid who fell to die. They were hurt on the surface, and carry those wounds. They don't know how to care without fearing being hurt, and their bio parents never expressed proper love to them so they don't know how to express it, nor how to process it being sent to them by the Dreemurrs.
To me, Chara was born in a small village in the late 2000's (falling down Ebott in 2015), being born in 2007 more precisely. The village they were born in was extremely closed off and extremely religious, bordering on, if not outright cult-ish. Their parents followed the rules to a T, being close to the church leaders, priding themselves in how 'holy' they were.
And then there's their kid, who just has something wrong with them.
I headcanon Chara as autistic, so that plays a part. They're deemed really weird and offputting, and are considered to be possessed or being a changeling for most the village. There's also the fact Chara's enby, though they were never out to their village. They're seen as this 'girl' that never acts girly, who just has something wrong with 'her'.
Chara's parents consider them to bring shame upon them, and resent them for just... being the way they are. They often get violent, resort to extreme physical punishments and never express an ounce of love towards them, and they're generally really mean to them.
Now I won't really get into details unprompted but parts of their backstory are real specific to me (Reminder, there was a CSA CW, here's where that comes into play).
There's also the fact that other people in their village hurt them, too. In a really disgusting way.
Chara's parents were really close to the church, and often wanted to do a lot around town to be perceived as really virtuous, moral, sympathic, etc. So, they often hosted dinners and after church events every week and so, at their place. A lot of people showed up for the food, people, stuff. Chara already hated those events because their parents dressed them up like a doll and had them stay at the noisy, oh so noisy table full of people for so long, leaving them rules to follow that didn't make sense to them. Too many people, too many sounds, too much light, too many sets of complicated social rules to follow.
They eventually managed to sneak away, but it wasn't always effective. They could get caught and sent back and punished about it later for being 'disrespectful to the guests'. Or sometimes they managed and got lucky. Or not always.
The numerous guests can roam about the entire house as they please, so there's little quiet spaces. Chara can retreat in their room, but it doesn't really matter. They don't have a lock, and adults always have their way, do what they want, just because they can. It happens often, unfortunately, and Chara isn't sure just how much their parents know about it. But they never can ask, as the church say those things are 'sinful', and worthy of being sent to hell over.
And when it happens, they're always told it's their fault. They corrupt innocent men. They're not a normal kid. They're a demon, after all. You can pin everything on the demon child. So they know they wouldn't get support. Not from their parents, who already consider them 'unholy' enough as it is.
They did try to reach out once though. A few times, too. But they were met with fleeing gaze of strangers who believed, 'someone else will handle that', eyes that couldn't stand to really look at what was happening, choosing to ignore it due to how 'uncomfortable' it was to look at.
They tried to call for help, but, nobody came.
So my Chara is angry, yes.
Desperate, angry. But they're also scared.
They're a scared child who never got to feel safe, who was deeply hurt, never knew how it felt to be cared for. They assume the worst all the time, they're always stuck on survival mode, even once out of the bad situation.
They don't know how to exist in a peaceful place. They always think the other shoe will drop, and if it doesn't, they get scared, because they're not used to that. They can't cope around something they're not familiar to, they can't reclaim the little control they need, so, they tend to sabotage things to get some familiarity.
The Dreemurrs, now I love them, but they didn't know how to handle a traumatized, mentally ill child. They operated under the guise that if the upsetting stuff wasn't talked about/they let Chara tell themself when they were ready without bringing it up; showed them enough love, that then it'd work out. That it'd be enough for Chara to heal. But it wasn't, and reinforced Chara's belief that they were 'too messed up to talk about'. So they kept ignoring it too.
Anon, you say you believe Chara's 'cute, but will kill you if you're bad to them'. How my Chara acts is, they always assume everyone secretly has expectations of them, that if they don't comply to even without knowing, they'll get hurt. My Chara perceives everyone as 'going to be bad eventually', or, as someone scary, and so they operate under the 'attack is defense motto'.
It doesn't matter if the person intends well or not. Of they scare Chara, they'll most likely be tested through some aggressivity, be it verbal, emotional or sometimes, physical.
Because when Chara is scared, they mask it with anger and lash out.
Same when they feel guilty.
They were conditioned to be afraid of anger, to prepare to be hurt upon seeing it in their parents. So they inconciously put an angry front onto their fear, because part of them believes this'll get them feared enough to be left alone.
TLDR : you can also think of this as Chara being a baby cat drenched in water, trying to puff their fur up and make round eyes to threaten, but they're still just a scared little kid that looks like it.
On the topic of cat Chara- my Chara has a lot of cat-like behaviours x)
They also have a 'creepy smile', as stated in canon. I see it as a masking smile, it looks wrong because they're pretending, they're offput themself and hate doing it because they know it looks creepy, but eventually they learned to 'weaponize it', and use it to offput others.
Pardon the shitty image quality but it looks like that (pic took of my drawing device) :
Despite how agressive Chara can get, they however cannot harm another, or at least it hasn't happened. They're more bark than bite, and tend to freeze up when presented with a threat too big.
When they were with Asriel in his body, here, this did not apply, as they finally were strong enough to 'bring about consequences without pain'. There was also the shock of seeing those assholes who hurt them again. It made them sick and scared, but anger took over, and this time, they were stronger.
Chara sees and values consequences of one's actions as something extremely important, and if they can be the one to bring them about, this is a bonus. They were denied justice for so long that when they perceive a situation as wrong, they will be upset. And god forbid it includes someone trying to escape consequences- they'll be as cold and cruel as can be if they deem the offense unforgivable. Hence their behaviour at the end of a massacre run.
So yeah, I could go on about this for hours, believe me or not but I've actually grossly summed up everything in this answer lol. But yeah, Chara isn't a 'perfect victim' to me. They were hurt, and they never processed it, and lash out. They really don't mean wrong, they don't, but sometimes they hurt others and feel horrendously guilty, but to them guilt is to be vulnerable and exposed, thus easy to hurt, so they don't know how to process that either and turn it in on themself. They're not really sympathetic, but they're definitely not evil nor sadistic in the slightlest. They just need a lot, a LOT of therapy and proper help, and to adress the issues they're keeping in on the inside.
Which is why I am writing my fics lol. This kid will get therapy and support and grow healthier.
A last lil comment on how I characterise Chara : I myself went through a bunch of shit as a kid. I was a pretty angry child too, turning the agressivity out and inwards, so most of their internal dialogue and thought processes are sometimes ones I've had as a kid myself. So think of it as me characterising them like that to see my lil self as a kid be represented and me writing them healing to heal that little me x)
Ginger Clover :
It just looked funny lol- I didn't really think about it when I made their Quartet Rune design, just went with colors that i thought would look good lols-
Also concept Clover mentioned!!
Anyhow, if you want any headcanon precision, ask away! Don't be afraid really, I can talk about any of them and am desperate for a place to yap about them lol x)
I will eventually make that long aah hc post about them, i didn't forget about that one lol-
Warning: may sound like Chara hate to some, but Chara is actually one of my favorite characters in Undertale since childhood. I love them. Please keep this in mind while reading this.
Undertale fandom (especially on Youtube and ESPECIALLY Tiktok) try to use critical thought and realise after 8 years that Chara is just as responsible for the Genocide route and is a willing participant in it challenge (impossible)
Like how can you think that Chara is punishing you for your sins at the end of Genocide or is disgusted with you if they helped you throughout it all?
We do not corrupt them.
We do not manipulate them.
Chara is your partner on equal grounds. They make it very clear right at the end of Genocide that you were never in control.
I repeat: we are NEVER in control of Chara.
Treating them as a lost and confused baby without any freedom of choice or thought is a disservice to the character.
Proof under the cut.
The Genocide Run has strict requirements for it to be started. For red text to appear, you need to kill 20 monsters in the Ruins, fully clearing them out. Yet, if you kill the first Froggit you meet, AND 19 monsters, Genocide does not begin. Why is that? I thought Chara was corrupted by all the LV and EXP we are gaining!
It's because Chara doesn't care if the first Froggit is killed or not. Only the monsters after it count.
Additionally, the last chance that Genocide can be aborted is right before Mettaton NEO, at which point, you should be at LV 15. Thing is, this LV can be reached even during a Neutral Run, by grinding 39 Knight Knights in the CORE. Yet, red text still doesn't appear.
Sparing monsters in Genocide is possible and doesn't deter Chara from the Run (but only if it's a common encounter).
Chara berates you if Snowdrake gets away and Genocide is aborted immediately.
Chara keeps count of the monsters needed to be killed and will stop you from advancing further in some sections if there are still monsters left.
They could easily just not do all of that.
Frisk's independent actions out of the Player's control during Genocide are actually not theirs, but Chara's. Chara kills Flowey, Asgore, and Sans. And while an argument could be made for us influencing Chara into killing Sans, the same cannot be made for Asgore's and Flowey's deaths. There isn't even any FIGHT button for us to press. The only thing we are doing at this point is advancing dialogue.
And this is considering that Flowey and Asgore were/are both Chara's family, or at least akin to one.
Listen, I get it. I also hate when people put all the blame on Chara. I also dislike when people just stamp "evil" onto them and erase all possible nuance. But that doesn't mean that we should go right into the opposite direction and act as if they're innocent or righteous.
At the end of Genocide, no matter your input on the matter, Chara ends the world. Not just you, not just the monsters still left alive in the Underground, but the whole universe. That indescribably outweighs all the misdeeds we have done during the Run.
Just think about it. Is really killing EVERYONE in the world justifiable, if you do it to punish someone? Even a murderer? To make them "see the consequences of their actions"?
How does that make sense?
How does that elevate them from you in any capacity?
Is it because they talk of "perverted sentimentality", which evades even them? Chara only talks about it if you try to return to the world you had a part in destroying. Chara only talks about if on the 2nd+ Genocide Run you do not comply with erasing everything.
In fact, if you play along, they compliment you. And they don't say anything about your feelings on the matter.
Killing and erasing is encouraged. If you do so, in Chara's eyes, you are a beneficial and trustworthy partner.
And the photo. The photo that appears at the end of Soulless Pacifist if you leave Toriel. Instead of Frisk, Chara is shown, and everyone else's faces are crossed out, implying that they are dead.
Some argue that this is just Chara trying to scare you, or remind you of all the murder you've committed, keeping you responsible.
Alphys is scribbled out.
It is impossible to kill Alphys in Genocide.
It's possible she kills herself during some pretty bad Neutral Runs. Not to mention that, in general, a lot of Neutral Runs are just as, if not worse than Genocide.
Why won't Chara guilt trip you for having done them, then?
And I just can't wrap my mind around someone thinking that Chara is literally pulling a "just a prank bro" here. Especially considering that this is never shown or hinted at to be the case.
And as the icing on the cake, look at the text that appears after the end of Genocide in the Undertale Demo:
To me, at this point, thinking that Chara is innocent is just denial.
Yes, Chara offers trying out a different route next time. Yet they sure as hell won't stop encouraging it if it is started all over again. No matter if it's the 1st, 2nd, or 100th time you decide to kill everyone to wipe out the world, Chara will play along. This is considering the fact that their dialogue changes on the 2nd Genocide, and thus, proof that Chara's memory is unaffected by RESETs or ERASEs.
Yes, Chara says that YOU were the one who lead this world to ruin. But in my opinion, considering their offer for you to try out a different path, and their actions in Soulless Pacifist (which are, again, out of their own volition and unprompted), Chara's ultimate goal is to take over your/Frisk's soul. Which is why the point fingers and erase their contribution in all the murder, to try and make you feel guilty for it, seeing how you clearly do not wish to part with this world so easily.
Evidently, they've succeeded.
Chara would never get what they want at the end, if not for your help. And you wouldn't get what you want, if not for Chara's help.
The Player and Chara are partners. Let's never forget that.
Credit to the Undertale Text Project for the screenshots and to the nochocolate blog for opening my eyes all those years ago. I love you nochoco.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
âś“ Live Streamingâś“ Interactive Chatâś“ Private Showsâś“ HD Qualityâś“ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
barring the no mercy route being an influence in this case, how would you describe chara's personality? I cannot describe them well at all despite them being my favorite character. they're too complex lol. all of the meta i can find at this time as them described at both extremes of innocent & evil but i don't think that's accurate
TW: discussions of canon dark topics such as abuse , death and suicide
i love talking about chara, i've talked about them at length before lmao. thank u for giving me a chance to talk about my beloved child.
you can actually read a character exploration i'm doing in a mini-arc for Askfallenroyalty. actually, if you want one condensed post, this comic sums up chara's motives
My interpretation:
chara is an abused kid and suicidal kid*(1) who ran to mount ebott to die.*(2) upon learning that monsters are made of love and humans aren't*(3), chara began to hate humanity. the deltarune prophecy*(4) makes them to be The Angel despite being a human. Feeling undeserving of this title and obligated to fulfill it, Chara wanted to be a good kid more than anything.
But then the buttercup pie incident happened. They've accidentally*(5) poisoned asgore and came up with a plan to ensure the prophecy could be fulfilled and take a hit against humanity. Two birds with one stone -who cares if it's also a personal win too? then obviously the plan goes up in flames and they and asriel are murdered. then asgore wants to kill of all humanity.
your influence*(6) gets Chara onto a path of redemption or a path of destruction, mirroring the deltarune prophecy's two main interpretations.*(7)
in summery: chara is a scared kid trying to fit into a world that demands violence by the past actions of the previous generations. The war massacred monsters and locked them up with a kill-solution -ensuring that further violence would be needed to be free, thus continuing the cycle of violence.
chara is just a kid. they knit, they make macaroni art, they loved their family and had a best friend forever.* (8) but they're also vengeful, they cared so deeply for monsterkind they were ready to die and had no idea they'd be awake as a soul, they were prepared for death. they're complicated, you can't have one side without the other. while i’ve never wanted to murder anyone, i can still relate deeply to chara and see myself in them a lot. the tragedy of them -the fact they never really got a “happy ending” like everyone else just haunts me and it’s why I spend so much time making AFR. I just... love this character so much, i want this kid to be happy. (not that it could ever be easy to get there, happy endings aren’t free.)
And frankly, seeing this hurt kid get demonized just rubs me the wrong way, and it feels completely against the morals Undertale tries to tell with it’s story. I see it as a cautionary tale against violence and dehumanizing others for the sake of hate and violence. how kids can be influenced by the violence -or kindness around them. you don’t need to forgive the ones who hurt you, but killing them is not always the solution -though sometimes necessary as framed in the Undyne the Undying fight.
People get both Undertale’s themes and chara wrong the most, and for the game that’s meant the world to me it bothers me more than it should lol. It’s a Good Story, and I don’t mean to frame my interpretation of the character or themes as 100% canon and I know Mr.Fox’s brain to confirm it kinda deal, but with all the time I’ve spent analyzing and thinking it over I do think it’s not off in the general direction of it lol. And besides the author’s intent isn’t really the end-all-to-be-all. It’s what you get out of the story and the themes that matter and stick with you. No one can take that away from you.
Sources and evidence:
"* If you're cuter, monsters won't hit you as hard." -faded ribbion flavor text * "The ends of the tools have been filed down to make them safer." -gardening tools in New Home (and iirc Toriel's home as well, too lazy to double check rn) * Where are the knives. -no mercy chara (this and paired with the previous imply there are no sharp objects in reach of chara's home because chara can't be trusted with sharp objects out of self harm. This doesn't necessarily mean abuse but paired with them hating humanity so deeply, being suicidal and a child it paints a picture of abuse.
"* I know why (chara) climbed the mountain.* It wasn't for a very happy reason." -asriel post pacifist epilogue dialogue
"* Love, hope, compassion... * This is what people say monster SOULs are made of. * But the absolute nature of "SOUL" is unknown. * After all, humans have proven their SOULs don't need these things to exist." -Library book on monster souls)
* Legend has it, an 'angel' who has seen the surface will descend from above and bring us freedom. - gerson
"* It takes at least a human soul... * And a monster soul. * ...* If you want to go home... * You'll have to take his soul. * You'll have to kill ASGORE." -Alphys. Because boss monster souls are the exception and can persist after death for a short period of time, Chara could of killed any of the family members to escape the underground.
this implies escaping wasn't the goal -it was to die (considering they already attempted suicide to fall underground the first time, this is explicitly suicide.) the plaque doesn't mention or speak like monster/human fusion's consumed soul would be aware. chara had no way of knowing they'd be awake.
also the whole thing with the pie is a prank. cups of butter. -> buttercups. putting flowers in a pie is a joke to do, we see Chara is similar to Toriel (they mimic her speech in the no mercy monologue, they say “greetings” as she does like how Asriel says “howdy” like Flowey does. Chara makes puns and jokes in the flavor text all the time.
https://imgur.com/a/zP18P -dog food bag at different LV. "When the protagonist first encounters Mad Dummy, they are given the option to beat it up. Choosing to beat it up prompts one of three responses depending on the protagonist's LOVE." (source: undertale wiki)
If the protagonist’s LV is 1, the response becomes "(You tap the dummy with your fist.) (You feel bad.)"
If the protagonist's LV is between 2 and 4, the response becomes "(You hit the dummy lightly.) (You don't feel like you learned anything.)"
If the protagonist’s LV is between 5 and 7, the response becomes "(You sock the dummy.) (Who cares?)"
If the protagonist’s LV is 8 or higher, the response becomes "(You punch the dummy at full force.) (Feels good.)"" This implies Chara (who is the narrator) will feel different about the dog food -which references the classic phrase of "glass half empty/full" showing your out look in life. Then hitting the dummy show's Frisk's out look on violence depending on LV. Note that by the end of it, it's no longer "you feel..." but "feels good" This is Chara.
     7. “* Lately, the people have been  taking a bleaker outlook...* Callin' that winged circle the  'Angel of Death.' “ -gerson “* Only the fearless may proceed. * Brave ones, foolish ones. * Both walk not the middle road. “ -the first plaque in the first puzzle room with Toriel. The idea is to walk on both the left and right sides -you can’t go half way in the middle. this mirrors the “true” endings are only accomplished if you stick to no mercy or pacifist only.
   8. literally their home in New Home is a treasure trove of pre-game chara characterization.
It's funny/horrifying/telling how Voyager's writers seem to view being a mother as like the pinnacle of womanhood and the ultimate happiness in a female person's life but also don't view mothers as influential or important at all.
Tuvok says that his father banished him in 'Gravity' while his mother (who is named so we know existed/exists) was....?? Just there I guess? "Men like you and my father" are who he talks about and throughout the episode he only mentions his father as being involved with his life. The only time his mother is mentioned as having influence over him is in one instance & when paired with his father, his parents wanted him to join Starfleet.
Kes's father taught her so much and was a wonderful, wise man whom she misses every day and was the greatest inspiration of her life. Her mom was also there probably. We do see Kes' mother after she's just been born but the only scenes I can remember where Kes is actually interacting are just her and her father. Kes' mother's line about how she thinks she'll be able to see the sun one day is beautiful and hints towards the type of person she is. Perhaps she instilled this rebellious and hopeful spirit into her daughter? Apparently not. Or if she did, Kes didn't think to mention it. #Letmenremindyouofyourmother.
Tom's father terrorized & molded him to become the model Starfleet Man and they have an extremely turbulent relationship and Tom hates him and feels he was always a disappointment to him. No mention of his mother that I can recall AT ALL. Does he have one? Did she die, abandon the family? Who knows. Who cares.
Chakotay has a very complicated history with his father whose death spurred him on to join the Maquis. We see entire scenes of them interacting. I think he mentions his mother twice in dialogue and it's just passing anecdotes - nothing that'd hint to them having an in-depth relationship. He has a mother, and they have a pleasant relationship. That's all.
Janeway's father was obviously highly influential to her as a Starfleet Admiral and his passing devastated her and he's the form an alien chooses to take in an attempt to convince her to give in to death. I think she mentions her mother once to say she wants to hear from her, so they're implied to have a good relationship but again she's just there. The vibe is the same as Chakotay but she mentions her even less.
Even Seven's relationship with her father is focused on over the one with her mother, though subtly. They're usually talked about together as a unit but notably ONLY her father is presented borgified by the Queen to Seven ("Papa...") her mother MAY be 'alive' as a Borg but she's not shown.
Neelix is anomalous because I don't think he mentions his parents at all? Maybe he does the 'in passing anecdote' thing about his mother's cooking but I really can't recall him saying anything about his father. His most important familial relationship is with his sister (and it's heartbreaking oh my God it's so good).
Harry Kim is the only character on Voyager whose father is the 'background parent' - his relationship with his mother and Janeway as a warped mother figure is more focused on, but he does seem to have a positive relationship with his actual mother. He notably really loves both his parents!
B'Elanna is the only Voyager character who seems to have a complicated relationship with her mother that's given any amount of focus though (even though it's much more even split than other characters since she DOES have an entire episode related to her mother and mentions their complicated relationship several times) it's still the relationship with her father that's given more focus as it's the one the show ultimately decides requires narrative closure over the one with her mother, having him be the one to reach out and call her instead of her mother whom she's not even sure is alive. In that case, either one of her parents calling her is incredibly unlikely and would provide an interesting dilemma for her but it's the father chosen over the mother once again.
Ok so. I learned that Tuvok & B'Elanna were at one point going to have a mentor-mentee relationship and I sometimes see people thinking about how Tuvok might be able to help B'Elanna with her emotional issues but I personally think that Tuvok would, without some kind of radical reflection (which would be interesting to see /genuine!) NOT be a good mentor to B'Elanna.
Tuvok is a good mentor to Kes because Kes is an eager and very even-tempered person whom he just had to teach technical skills. Tuvok is a person who's established to adhere very strictly to rules and practices he believes are best without deviation. His style of teaching is NOT flexible as seen in 'Learning Curve'. Even if it's clearly not working, the burden of that in Tuvok's mind is on the student - not him. His methods are sound and time honored and established and we see genuine confusion from him when confronted by people who can't learn the way he teaches. This is actually a very well-established trait of his that doesn't change even after the episode.
My methods are sound and time honored and have always produced desirable results. I have changed nothing about my approach, but the students are not improving. What's wrong? If the methods are correct (logically, they cannot be incorrect - they've been peer reviewed and tested thousands of times and yielded the desired result every time) it's the current students who are at fault.
Tuvok in 'cold fire' (season 2) and 'juggernaut' (season 5) - In both cases, when Kes/B'Elanna laugh he discontinues or threatens to discontinue the exercise they're doing. He has a high standard of conduct which he doesn't adjust much depending on the student.
When comparing 'Gravity' to 'Alter Ego' and 'Juggernaut' we can see that Tuvok follows the methods of the monk who taught him decades ago.
We see this again when taking the same scene from 'Gravity' and the scene with B'Elanna from 'Juggernaut'
Tuvok was antagonized by the monk so Tuvok antagonizes B'Elanna - not out of malice but a desire to show her how easily provoked she is because once HE was shown that he was able to change it. B'Elanna's inability to see this and change is, like with the Maquis, likely seen as a problem on B'Elanna's part. Exacerbated no doubt by how Tuvok views her (negatively).
Also, it's interesting to me that Tuvok (generally) seems to teach with a goal of what he wants the outcome to be. What I mean is he doesn't have an exploratory approach. Like the monk who taught him, there is an end goal where you will be 'fixed' or 'done' and everything is done in service of reaching that end goal. He seeks to hone and create a particular type of person. (This is also Starfleet's goal we must note, very militaristic!)
We know that B'Elanna is NOT seen as stable or trustworthy/levelheaded by Tuvok. In 'Juggernaut' he calls her unpredictable and volatile by nature. (notably Janeway does not contradict this, only says she'll have faith in her - the implication being 'despite all that'. It would be LOGICAL not to trust her but she'll trust her anyway.)
We get of course the 'burdened as you are by your primitive klingon psyche' line in 'Random Thoughts' but I'd like to draw attention to the fact that Tuvok does NOT seem to think he's insulting B'Elanna by saying this (important for characterization) and that he recommends various Vulcan techniques for increasing self-control.
When speaking with Janeway, Tuvok once again brings up that B'Elanna has 'violent proclivities' (in his mind) and Janeway once again doesn't correct him or stand up for B'Elanna, only saying that (once again) 'despite that' she won't let them scramble B'Elanna's brain without a fight. Because she doesn't see what Tuvok's said as objectionable or untrue.
Tuvok also notably compares the Mari to Vulcans - because he sees himself and his own people in the Mari's efforts, he views them favorably (natural I'd say) but also because the Mari's accusations line up with how he thinks of B'Elanna he's more hesitant to believe in her innocence. If it were, say, Harry I'm sure he'd be more disturbed by the thought of him being essentially lobotomized. Not emotional but perhaps not telling Janeway that the Mari should be applauded for their efforts. More like how he acted with Tom in 'Ex Post Facto,' neutral.
Tuvok's treatment of B'Elanna reminds me of Neelix's outburst in 'Rise' when he says "You have no feelings for me, but you have feelings against me." Tuvok doesn't seem to have ill will towards B'Elanna, but he definitely doesn't think highly of her (or Klingons in general.)
This would be interesting when paired with B'Elanna's own self-loathing. She doesn't want to be Vulcan but she damn sure doesn't want to be Klingon. She says she doesn't hate Klingons in 'Barge of the Dead' but that seems untrue, even if she doesn't want to admit it. She distances herself from everything Klingon, she conceptualizes her Klingon 'half' as volatile and barbaric. She never attributes anything positive to Klingons. She says she inherited 'the forehead and the bad attitude' from Klingons and she covered her forehead for a time to look more Human. She blames her mother's Klingonness for making her father leave and wants to genetically alter her own child so she doesn't look Klingon. She has a deep-seated internalized hatred of Klingons.
I think it's notable to me that Tuvok in that same episode only has one real scene and it's in B'Elanna's dreamscape. He says B'Elanna obviously despises being Klingon and talks through the symbolism of a dream with her (reminds me of a religious leader) then asserts that no matter what, she'll always be Klingon. He then physically attacks her and tells her she's not worthy of the blood in her veins.
We then hear B'Elanna speak about her mother.
We learn she was/is a devout Klingon who was/is very proud of her culture and also put B'Elanna in a monastery - an interesting connection to Tuvok who was also put in a monastery by a parent in order to forcefully connect more to his culture. However, while this worked for Tuvok it didn't for B'Elanna and the resentment between her and her mother grew to the point that B'Elanna is no longer in contact with her.
When we meet B'Elanna's (conception of her) mother, Miral says B'Elanna never understood honor or being Klingon and that she'd personally rather be sent to damnation with what little honor she has than cheat to get into [heaven]. That strong adherence to personal/cultural principles reminds me very much of Tuvok.
Tuvok is a very devout Vulcan. Notably so. He was involved with the temple as both an adolescent and a young man, his family prays for him, he frequently visits Vulcan temple holoprograms, and Tom nicknamed him "The Vulcan Master" in part in reference to the Vulcan religious rank. He also when confronted with death seemed to be willing to die rather than 'dishonor' himself and his bond to T'Pel by sleeping with anyone else. He is unshakably devoted to his Vulcan values and doesn't budge even when others think they're irrational - something which I'm sure reminds B'Elanna of her mother.
I think it's tempting to soften Tuvok and characterize him as someone who would just naturally be more accepting or lenient due to his prolonged proximity to diverse others. To make him universally wise and kindly and because he's surrounded by non-Vulcans so he'd of course become more lax in his attitudes. Make him someone who would be empathetic and give good advice tailored to the person he's speaking to. But that simply doesn't seem to be the case.
Tuvok is shown to be a strict, staunch person. He's a disciplinarian. He doesn't understand the emotions of people who are dissimilar to him and doesn't want to which causes issues multiple times. He's someone who lets his negative opinions out in ways he may not even be entirely aware of and when he's called on it (Chakotay in 'Twisted' & Neelix in 'Rise') he still seems to struggle to change. If something isn't working and he already views the other party negatively he assumes they're the problem. His/The Vulcan/The Starfleet way is best and if you can't live up to it that's an issue with you. He thinks highly of himself and the people/concepts he aligns himself with. It takes a lot for him to change his mind. Idk if he as he exists in canon would be able to give B'Elanna what she needs (understanding, compassion, pushback against negative perceptions of Klingons, peace with herself etc.) nor do I think B'Elanna has the ability to advocate for herself effectively in canon but it'd be interesting to see how they'd bounce off one another.
This is of course not to say Tuvok is incapable of flexibility or emotional connection/comfort. See: The ending scene between Him & Marayna. His deep understanding of Janeway. Him comforting Samantha Wildman or Seven. How he acts with such care towards the children in 'Innocence'. Him saving that Maquis ensign against protocol. How he apologizes to Chakotay and does a tiny one-footed dance for Neelix. But he does not act that way towards EVERYONE or even habitually.
