Undertale is a story about letting go

[@ElbyHere]

Undertale's definitely a game that means a lot of things to me. I had three playthroughs--one that was just shy of a "No Mercy" route, followed by a Pacifist route, and then capped off with the Genocide route. I do not regret any of it, as all of it's come together to build a compelling narrative in my mind. Like, something Sans says during the Genocide route that's stuck with me--"You do it because you can. And because you can, you have to." Out of context, it sounds like a motivational mantra. In context, it's, well... you know. There's a lot more things littered throughout that mean various things to me--specific characters tied to specific people I know, certain elements reflecting on certain aspects of myself, and so on, but I think there's one moment that's forever stuck as my favorite: there's the snowman you meet early on that gives you a snowball--a part of themself, that they ask you to take with you on your journey, so a part of them can see the world. At the end of the Pacifist route, during the victory lap where you talk to everyone at the end, I met back up with the snowman, that piece of snow still in my inventory. I talk to them, about how everything's great now, etc. etc. Then I refuse to return the snow piece. I eat it there in front of them. I talk to them again, and get unique dialogue--about how perhaps no one will believe them, how I'll be lauded as a hero and friend forever. But they will know of my treachery, my pointless spite. They will know.

[@WritinRealSlow]

I honestly didn't know that dialogue was in the game.

[@miamikala-ofori8785]

Undertale has been a game that I enjoyed as a teen. I liked the characters and enjoyed the characters and the flaws that were shown. I agree about the theme of letting go and how holding onto the past has stopped major characters from developing. Even Frisk has a backstory where you can choose whether Frisk let go on purpose or not. Also, I love your videos and it's a comfort for me :)

[@WritinRealSlow]

Aw, thank you ^_^

[@melissaquinn1463]

I’m currently writing an AU called Battle Scars, which you can read on Ao3 under the name ButternutWillow is your curious, and one of the main themes is kindness and war: what they can do and what the cost is. But another theme I could apply is ‘letting go’ as well, at least for some characters. Like the boss monsters, who are a seemingly unchanging variable amid the sea of people who will die before them. I have a character named Andricia who knew Sylvia, the Soul of Patience, in her youth and is loosely tied to UTY’s Ceroba and Kanako by way of her brother. Andy never chose to have children, so while her brother and her friends lived and died, she stayed the same if not mellowed out over the centuries. Letting go is a fact that Andy is all too familiar with, but in some ways is unable to do, looking after the shrine dedicated to the legend Sylvia made while also teaching magic to the children of her little settlement. Sylvia too, in a minor spoiler for one of my stories, when she’s revived into a monster the world is drastically different from what she knew. The land has changed, almost everyone she knew is gone, and history wasn’t recorded how she remembers it. It’s a hard pill to shallow. Sorry to ramble! I’ll leave now.

[@WritinRealSlow]

don't apologize, I love hearing about people's stories!

[@nootking6966]

Shortest UNDERTALE video essay

[@WritinRealSlow]

I'm very impressive like that

[@brb.8962]

Mythical recommendation, KZbin's algorithm can do good sometimes.

[@WritinRealSlow]

I wish it favored my videos a little more, but I'm glad you found it ^_^

[@yourordinaryduck929]

i wish the algorithm pushed this further :(

[@WritinRealSlow]

Me too. Glad you liked it tho ^_^

[@newtswampi2583]

Undertale is a masterpiece in exploring empathy and the feeling of letting go. I played the game when it came out and had a genuinely life-changing experience that stayed with me even a decade later. I decided not to replay the game for the moral reasons you mentioned, but I can still relive those memories through discussions like this. p.s. I love your videos talking about the Nonbinary experience and what makes good representation, as a Nonbinary person myself! I look forward to seeing your channel grow :)

[@WritinRealSlow]

Aw, thank you! And thanks for sharing your experience with undertale, I honestly love hearing about how stories and games affect people.

[@BondforgedSky]

Undertale is a game I've been wanting to play for a while. And this made me want to play it even more. I actually bought in on Steam a few years ago, so I should probably play it at some point. Also has it been 10 years already? Damn

[@WritinRealSlow]

It's a good game, I highly recommend it. Though I'm sure you've heard that plenty already.

[@amanofnoreputation2164]

The underground itself is a kind of purgatory from which monsterkind as a whole cannot move past. Unsurprisingly, when the story ends, everyone leaves to go to the surface (if you don't kill any of them.) Given just how queer the game is, you could just as well called it Closet-tale. Everyone in the story is living some kind of contradiction. All of them gave up on being loved too soon.

[@WritinRealSlow]

Interesting interpretation.