#it's not fair...

Oofuri

With this Song

https://youtu.be/-oCCnxBos10

Please and thank you.

i hope this doesn't sound mean. as a preface: i am an advocate for all things fandom, fun, and frivolous. the mere concept of an original character is something i find precious, and one of the coolest things ever, and it is a neutral term at worst to me. i'd never use "OC" as an insult.

my thoughts:

IMAGE_FRIEND, akin to W. D. Gaster, is a collective fandom OC meant to satisfy the inherent frustrations of a mystery that cannot or will not be solved at this time. it, and iconography associated with it, is being utilized to plug up nagging, perceived holes in a fan's conception of the grander deltarune theoryboard, regardless or even because of any evidence suggesting its involvement in said perceived holes.

i think that's not only fine, but healthy for a fandom to do. i don't know how correct anyone is about anything they have to say, but i'm avidly reading theories all the same.

and this isn't to say that i don't think the UTDR team will leave the greater mystery behind IMAGE_FRIEND totally unspoken on or without conclusion, either.

originally, i elaborated on the great amount of trust i have in the UTDR team to tell complex, comprehensive, and cohesive narratives, and how i believe IMAGE_FRIEND and elements relating to it is a part of that. and then my computer crashed without having a draft saved, so that first draft is gone now.

i don't hold much interest in IMAGE_FRIEND or what it may mean, at this point in my playthrough it's a spooky easter egg with possible connections to various other parts of the game and its metanarrative. it means something. i don't know what, though, and it doesn't feel as tangibly interesting to me as actual, existing characters in the game who have their own, to me more tantalizing, mysteries. IMAGE_FRIEND is definitely connected to Noelle and likely connected to Kris, but it's a single image with vague in-text allusions while both other characters have dozens upon dozens of them, on top of lines and lines and lines of things said by or about them.

i think IMAGE_FRIEND being mike is... stupid, and i don't think IMAGE_FRIEND is spamton's benefactor either.