Everybody's Aunt

(Credit also to @maxwellelvis​ and @alephnull47, and @wackd​ for creating the chat and @zarekthelordofthefries​ for posting the link to the video that somehow accidentally started the tangent that made this the funniest fucking thing ever.)

your name is undyne the undying

yet, you are currently dying

curious

it feels to me like she has this kind of mania i can’t explain, except in a vague “i get it” way.

both literally and metaphorically, i think she does want to see the other side of the lake. it represents everything she previously thought was impossible.

maybe it will cost her her life! “she was used up.” but i don’t think it will be on purpose. if she dies, i think it will be more in a spamton “i was desperate to attain freedom from my role, but i learned the hard way i can’t escape, because i’m just a video game character”-way.

i think she really does think she can break the rules now. it may be dangerous, and the results may not be pretty - but i don’t think she would go out of her way to seek “the entity that breaks the rules of the world” if all she wanted was death. she doesn’t need kris for that.

it also rubs me the wrong way, because it feels like people have this genocide route trauma where they think everything in the weird route exists only to punish the player for being a meanie. like we need a second game to do that? like we can’t explore how “bad” routes can also give other characters a sense of agency? everything just has to be about the player’s guilt, always?

idk man, i just think it’s cool that the weird route here feels more complex. yes, it’s the forbidden path. yes, things are not exactly sunshine and rainbows. but similar to all the other “hidden” stuff in this game, there’s a throughline of exploring whether it’s possible for people to escape their predestined roles. it’s existential and meta as hell. how becoming self-aware of your “role” in this “game” is a soul-crushing yet thrilling thing. it causes people to act in desperate ways to escape it. fly or fall.

if noelle can be described as suicidal because she wants to escape her role, so can everyone else in the story. everyone are constantly trying to outrun their “destiny.” which is true in all routes btw, not just the weird route. either you embrace the existential horror of the meta, or you don’t. yes, noelle is doing it in a more Creepy!! Dangerous!!! Scary!!!! 😱 way than most. she killed people, and is at minimum willing to risk her life to escape.

but the game also challenges you in the aborted weird route to be like - is this better? is it actually?

noelle sure doesn’t seem to think so. she skips over the happy cutscene with susie like she’s bored of it. “nothing changed.” which, to me, reads like being awakened to your role is kind of a one-way trip. regular life doesn’t feel the same anymore, when you know the “script.” when you feel you have no choice. or as queen put it, noelle awakened “too much.”

this is me basically saying the true suicidal noelle is the aborted weird route one. because the weird route has its own twisted sense of hope. she still thinks she can escape. aborted route is her realizing she can’t.

to me, this is noelle in the “true” weird route -

and this is noelle in the aborted weird route -

“Scared of the Dark”

(You might need to turn up your brightness or turn off light mode for this one! I did my best to fix it but I got a little carried away with the theme of darkness, sorry!)

Noelle: Dess? Dess: *inaudible mutter* Noelle: I can't sleep. It's too dark, I keep seeing scary things in my room. Noelle: Can I sleep with you? Dess (weakly): Okay…

As Noelle toddles over to her bed, Dess sits up.

Dess: You know it's that blasted hallway light's fault, right? Dess: You're not scared because it's "too dark".

Noelle looks confused. Dess gets up to go to the door.

Dess: If it was really too dark you wouldn't be seeing anything. It was too bright is what it was. Pure darkness is nothing to be afraid of, just like full light. Dess: …it's the inbetween parts you have to be worried about… Dess: Come on, let's try sleeping without it tonight.

She turns off the hall light, then goes back to her bed to sit with her sister. Constellations of glow-in-the-dark stars line the walls.

Noelle: But now I can't see anything at all! That's worse! Dess: Nah, it's not. You've just got to learn to trust that everything's still there.

The sisters lie down together, almost asleep.

Noelle: Can you sing a song to help me sleep? Dess: Sure thing, kiddo.

As she sings, the camera pans around the dark room, towards their sleeping faces, and their hands clasped together, before landing on the ourline of Dess curled around Noelle, their silhouettes in empty space.

Dess: When the light is running low, And the shadows start to grow, And the places that you know Seem like fantasy,

There's a light inside your soul, That's still shining in the cold With the truth-- The promise in our hearts…

Don't forget, I'm with you in the dark.

during the events of chapter 4, gerson drags susie out of her slump, he encourages her storytelling as a fellow author and teaches her how to practice her craft. because he saw a story burn in her eyes, brighter and blacker than everything around them.

so gerson gave her the justice axe.

i like to extrapolate from that she carries a comb on her at all times just in her pocket or something just like how kris has their pencils... i never really thought about where yhe axe ACTUALLY came from besides probably Something she was carrying around. idk if its something from an earlier chapter but its info i have Now.

do you think she like. cares abt how her hair looks/feels despite her otherwise pretty unkept apperance... that's probably easier to keep looking presentable if she can't afford new clothes. she seems to have given up on presentability before this story started but i could imagine she at least doesnt like feeling gross. plus her hair being brushed out of her face is obviously being used as a sign of her opening up so. its cute... i like this little detail...

If Kris is the princess, they're probably Ariel (water references, no voice).

Yeah, well, we never knew what Susie's axe was made of until she told us it's her hairbrush.

Susie's the one who told us how to solve the last light puzzle in Queen's mansion.

Susie can tell which Dark World objects become which Darkners.

Susie figured out how to trick Gerson without our input.

Susie's the one who came up with a plan to seal the titan.

Yeah, well, we never knew what Susie's axe was made of until she told us it's her hairbrush.

Susie's the one who told us how to solve the last light puzzle in Queen's mansion.

Susie can tell which Dark World objects become which Darkners.

Susie figured out how to trick Gerson without our input.

Susie's the one who came up with a plan to seal the titan.

1) asriel, staring towards the viewer with a wide-eyes shocked expression. text: the night dess disappeared forever. the night everything changed forever.

2) the dreemurr children's room. kris sits on their bed, knees drawn up to their chest and crying. behind them, asriel lies curled up on his own bed, with his back turned towards them. the posters on his wall are ripped up and a book with pages torn and crumpled up lies on the ground. text: grief overcomes the siblings. and a rift is found in the gap december left. guilt and rage.

3) text: fighting, screming, crying. it hurts at first. but after a while it just becomes annoying. asriel sits in his room, clutching at his ears as toriel and asgore argue outside the door. his teeth are gritted and his eyes squeezed shut as he yells "shut up shut up shut up!! i hope you all go to hell die die die die die die!!"

4) asriel, crying at church and praying the rosary (which has the deltarune symbol instead of a cross). he thinks "im sorry i thought all those awful things about mom and dad. i know im horrible but i truly am so sorry is it too late?"

5) kris, looking up with a pleading expression. text: "guilt…" asriel, staring down at them, wide-eyed. most his face hidden in shadows. text: "… and blame" asriel loosely wrapping an arm around kris, not quite pulling them in close. he looks off into the distance. he says "its… fine…", but thinks "why do i feel… this way? there must be something deeply wrong with me…" kris still looks upset, thinking "he doesnt mean it i bet mom is making him do it…"

6) toriel hugging asriel and holding him close. text: momma a close-up on toriel's face. she is crying, but smiling. she thinks "im glad hes feeling better. we can finally put this all behind us". close-up on asriel's face. his expression is empty. he thinks "shes so emotional. why cant i feel this? i dont feel like anything at all."

7) asriel, slightly older now, wearing glasses and starting to grow a goatee, is pulling kris' face into a big grin. he gives a small smile and says "we good, see?" kris thinks "maybe it really is true, but i still dont deserve it."

8) toriel watches asriel sitting at his desk and looking at a book. she thinks "look at my darling boy… studying so well!" asriel's thoughts are nothing but static. text: brain fog… mentally checked the fuck out

9) kris, with tears in their eyes, hugging asriel who is resting a hand on top of their head. he says "its okay kris, things change all the time. its just a part of life! ill go but ill come back! youre gonna be fine…" kris says "okei…" but is thinking "youre abandoning meee, i cant take it alooneee" even though he is smiling, asriel thinks "i NEED to get the fuck outta here asap i cant take it anymore".

10) asriel lying on his bed, arms outstretched beside him as he stares at the ceiling with a haunted expression. he thinks "i shouldnt have left i shouldnt have left i abandoned them i abandoned everyone i am evil and selfish oh angel oh angel"

11) asriel sitting at his laptop, sipping a coffee with a smile. he thinks "nevermind this is awesome i shouldve done it sooner"

12) a smiling kris introduces "snoozi" to asriel. susie, grinning, says "sup". asriel is smiling, but his face falls as he watches kris and susie laugh together and remembers dess, looking much like them.

13) asriel looks off into the distance with a thousand yard stare. he gets completely startled when kris starts talking to him. a seperate drawing of asriel surrounded by four smiling figures, all talking to him. he says "yeah.. uhuh… of course… so cool…" with a forced grin, as he thinks "i dont caaare i couldnt give less of a fuck im sorry can you leave me alone i dont care brooo i know thats awful but i truly madly deeply am not even listening".