So I saw a video about Deltarune character's Pokémon types, and I heavily disagreed with most choices. So I thought I'd do my own version but just for the main Undertale characters for now. Obviously, this list isn't objective or the "correct" one, I just thought it'd be a fun exercise. Going in character introduction order:
Frisk: By far the hardest character in the game to decide for, and I have some interesting takes. First of all, obviously the type I will choose varies on each route. What will likely be the most surprising take here is that Frisk should be a Dragon type. HEAR ME OUT. Humans in the Underground are legendary and powerful creatures which managed to slay most of their kind and seal them away before most people ever existed. That fits with the Dragon type (of course Frisk would be a Normal type on the surface). So what about dual typing? Well for neutral I'd say there is none. For No Mercy, that's easy, Dark type. Yveltal immediately comes to mind as basically a god of death, so Dark seems like a given. The Pacifist route is really torn between two, Psychic or Fairy. Frisk is able to magically reach out to other souls and utilises making dreams a reality in the Asriel boss fight, all quintessential psychic type powers. But broadly, with Fairy type seemingly being associated with magic and life, I think TP Frisk should be Dragon/Fairy.
TLDR for Frisk: Neutral: Dragon, NM: Dragon/Dark, TP: Dragon/Fairy.
Flowey: A pretty easy call for Grass/Dark type. Flowey loves to break the rules of the game, and use dirty tactics, the main thing Dark type is known for. Oh and Flowey is a flower, so Grass type. You could try to argue for Ghost type, but Flowey is more of a case of resurrection, and doesn't even have a soul. To get it out of the way, Omega Flowey is Grass/Bird type (if you know, you know).
Toriel: Most of Toriel's attacks, like her ex husband, use fire balls, so Fire is a necessity. As for her remaining type, there's two options. Fairy type is most associated with the home, with activities like cooking being heavily associated with the type. However, Toriel also has a very good case for the Dragon type, as she is an incredibly powerful creature and a boss monster. I lean towards Dragon/Fire but this could go either way.
Nabstablook: Just a very chill ghost. With his sound associations and plain appearance, I think we actually have a case for Normal/Ghost here. He's the most normal ghost you could imagine and also a music creator, with the normal type also doubling as a sound type. So Normal/Ghost it is.
Sans: Also an interesting type. In Pokémon, bones are typically associated with the Ground typing, because y'know... where are most bones? But I have two reasons for not granting this. First, Sans bleeds, which means he definitely isn't just a skeleton. Secondly, there are two FAR better typings. Sans is known for breaking the rules routinely, so again the Dark type fits incredibly well. Sans is also the only enemy in the game which effectively has an ability which poisons you, so that also fits very well. So I'd give Sans the Dark/Poison type.
Papyrus: Actually quite difficult, as he is in many ways the opposite of Sans. We know Papyrus seeks to be a powerful combatant, and arguably already is one, so the Fighting type works well here. The second type can be difficult though. The cooking aspect of his character could point to Fire, but he lives in a cold environment. We could do Ground for Pokémon's bone association, which is what I favour. In fact, ironically, this combination makes Papyrus have double Super Effective STAB against Sans, which is kinda funny. So Papyrus is Fighting/Ground.
Grillby: Fire/Fairy. A being composed of pure fire who is hospitable and friendly.
Snowy/Snowdin Miscellaneous: Most of the monsters here are some variety of Ice and Normal typing. Shouldn't have to explain this one, it's kinda obvious why.
Undyne: Water/Fighting feels exceedingly obvious here, but how could it not be? She's a fish knight. This is just a little easy.
Monster Kid: Normal. Moving on.
Gerson: Both due to him being a tortoise, and being seemingly a treasure hunter searching the ground of the waterfall, I'd say Ground is a safe bet. But with Deltarune in mind giving us more of an idea of a prime Gerson, I'll also give him Fighting. So Ground-Fighting.
Temmies: Cannot think of a single other type than Normal, sadly.
The duck: Water/Flying, look at the little guy go.
Mad Dummy: Ghost/Dark type. Evil ghost possessing an object out for revenge is a pretty clear call for both the Ghost and Dark typing.
Alphys: There is a good argument for Psychic/Electric here, but I'm hesitant. Alphys isn't really next level intelligence, compared to Metagross as an AI, or Alakazam with an IQ in the four digits, Alphys is more of a normal achievable sort of intelligence. So I'm leaning Normal/Electric here, as she is still defined by the technology she uses.
Mettaton: While on the surface being an overt option for Electric/Steel, things aren't quite as they seem with Mettaton. Mettaton is a ghost possessing a robot body, pretty much necessitating the Ghost typing. As for whether we pick Steel or Electric is far more tricky. Mettaton's steel body makes them close to impenetrable, but Mettaton uses lightning bolt attacks. I'm going with Ghost/Steel, but Ghost/Electric is just as good an option.
Asgore: Dragon/Fire type is simply just the correct take. Again, mainly uses fireball moves, while also being a large imposing creature. Fighting could be argued for, but Asgore is actually defined by his reluctance to fight, unlike Gerson or Undyne, so this type fits best.
The Amalgamates: All Bird type, again, if you know you know.
Asriel: Dragon/Psychic type. Interesting pick I know. But you see, Mew and Mewtwo as mono-psychic types are said to have the DNA of every single Pokémon within them, not unlike Asriel having absorbed every monster in the Underground. Dragon type to match with his parents and because giant imposing god. Fairy also wouldn't be a bad pick, but unfortunately you can't have three types.
Chara: Ghost/Poison type. Only can be met after you kill everyone, and seemingly a ghost with no physical form. Considering their entire role in the game is corrupting things, poison fits here nicely.
Before I begin Chapter 4, I've decided to give my spoiler free review of Deltarune chapters 1, 2 and 3. As on overall TL;DR for people who would rather not read a whole review: Deltarune is a 7/10 (For reference Undertale is a 10/10 for me and Undertale Yellow is a 6/10). As individual pieces, Chapter 1 was a 5/10, Chapter 2 was a 9/10, Chapter 3 was a 7.5/10.
Starting with Chapter 1, it has a really big issue. It's funny, just funny. The story is silly, goofy and funny, but lacks much else outside of it at this stage. It's very much just a functional introduction. You get enough motivation to play Chapter 2, but in the "okay this one needs to sell more or I'm done", not in an incredibly enticing way.
Obviously this is a Toby Fox and Temmie Chang game, the art and music is incredible as you would rightfully expect. However the storytelling, usually a Toby Fox strong suit, just feels lacking. Like I said, it's funny, all the dialogue is funny, but the mystery, characters and world feels very half baked.
As for gameplay, it's certainly more complex than Undertale's, and could be considered an improvement. Except, it feels less refined than Undertale in the specifics. Like the mechanics are good, just the move pool, the variety of equippable items and the enemy attacks are all underwhelming.
Overall, I think Chapter 1 works, but doesn't amaze me. It's to the point where I feel like a bit of reworking of the story, and you could just have started with Chapter 2.
Speaking of, out of the three chapters I've played so far, 2 is where Deltarune has peaked. Everything just feels so much stronger in this chapter than in the first one, and it corrects almost every issue I had with C1.
Starting off, immediately the writing has had a significant improvement. The characters feel more well defined and less stereotypical, and just bring out stronger emotions. You really love the ones you want to love, and despite the ones you want to hate, it works very well.
And this overall followed a much needed improvement in storytelling. The framing of this chapter gives you far more motivation to dive in and go on a heroic quest, and everything just has so much more depth to it. This is where the diverging gameplay styles begin, and you get more freedom in how you play.
The music and art is, again, very strong. The style of the area you're exploring possesses a bit more personality than the areas of C1. The music also is far more memorable. What really has changed, however, is the gameplay.
The gameplay in Chapter 2 is incredible. The combat has really begun to realise its full potential. It's subversive, fun and creative all the way through. The puzzles are fun to complete, the bosses are all enjoyable, and a couple are really engaging. It's just an incredibly complete experience which makes you want so much more.
This leads us to Chapter 3. I was very excited going into this one, with the amazing experience that Chapter 2 was. Annnnd... it's alright. Definitely a step down from Chapter 2, but still very enjoyable. I kept my attention for a complete five hour long session, and I found the gimmick of this chapter pretty fun.
Unfortunately this gimmick is where the chapter is strongest and weakest. There are a lot of issues with this mechanic, like chapter one it feels probably a month of development away from being perfected, but it's also very charming and engaging.
The story is also somewhat forced, and very predictable, which does make me far less interested in it. The lore and background details are incredibly strong, and the ending does make you very interested in playing Chapter 4, it overall is a step down in story and gameplay, while the art and music is on par.
Whelp that's my review, will probably update with a Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 review at some point. (Oh and my favourite character is Susie :D)
+ closer on the two halves bc its a pretty long canvas. I wasn't originally going to make a piece and then decided last minute because I mean. come on I gotta!!! Not only is the game itself 10 years old but this also marks 10 years I've been a fan of it :) shoutout to asriel dreemurr for being my absolute goat when I was in middle school
So, I'm still very hyperfixated on Portal, and one of the more mysterious and cool aspects of the series' connection to Half-Life. The apparent stand off between GLaDOS and The Combine.
I have my own theory about why the two don't seem to be willing to engage with each other. Spoilers of course for Half-Life 1+2, and Portal 1+2.
Let's start with the beginning of this connection, and what makes it so interesting. In Portal 1, GLaDOS realises Chell's motivation is to escape, and says this in response:
"Are you trying to escape? [chuckle] Things have changed since the last time you left the building. What's going on out there will make you wish you were back in here. I have an infinite capacity for knowledge, and even I'm not sure what's going on outside."
It's probably in one of the top five most memorable quotes in the game due to how menacing it is. The main antagonist of a game referencing the possibility of a greater evil which lies beyond if they perish is incredibly menacing.
But to the point, GLaDOS does not know what is going on above ground, but is aware of something happening. How has she reached this conclusion? It's surprisingly simple. When GLaDOS murdered the entire research facility of Aperture Science, nobody came. The second most noteworthy and famous research facility in the United States vanishes in a day, and nobody looks to investigate?
It's likely GLaDOS was not only expecting but preparing for an incursion into Aperture, but that never came, meaning something else must've happened which took the focus away from Aperture. As for this unseen catastrophe, GLaDOS had reached the conclusion that she was the reason Aperture was spared being attacked.
"All I know is I'm the only thing standing between us and them. Well, I was. Unless you have a plan for building some supercomputer parts in a big hurry, this place isn't going to be safe much longer."
I believe this is half true, and as for why, we need to switch to the perspective of the US government/United Nations. Considering the Bring Your Daughter to Work Day event going on at Aperture, it's likely that at least the daughters of Aperture's researchers are reported missing within the first couple of days, and they were likely preparing to investigate the disappearances in Aperture.
Then the Resonance Cascade occurs. The entire world is thrown into chaos and destruction, and the entire world's governments are incredibly preoccupied with re-establishing order in this seeming apocalypse. And in the midst of doing so, The Combine attacks Earth, forcing humanity to capitulate within seven hours.
This sees the Combine become the rulers of Earth, installing human collaborators, but directly controlling the planet. There is no doubt within this process, they learn of Aperture Science. Like Black Mesa, the organisation which caused the Resonance Cascade which enabled the Combine's invasion, Aperture Science is an experimental research facility funded by the US government. This begs the question, why do they not try to take over Aperture and use their technology?
This would be a worthwhile investment for them, Aperture is clearly an advanced research facility which was creating technology which, if they succeeded in creating it, would be comparable to their own (Aperture were really just breaking the laws of physics by the time GLaDOS took over). So it's not like there's no motivation for doing so. Hell, the threat of a resistance cell forming in Aperture should be unacceptable to an empire which is trying to conquer and subjugate an entire planet.
And it's not like Aperture's location was incredibly secret. Newspapers reported on the salt mine being purchased, and with the signs warning of what to do in case of a government inspection, it's likely the US government knew as well. So what possible reason do they have to not conquer Aperture?
Like I said, I believe GLaDOS is technically correct. She is the reason that the Combine doesn't invade, and I feel like looking at their perspective can help us to know why. Let's say you're an interdimensional empire which just conquered a planet. Your invasion was largely enabled by a research facility you now control causing an apocalyptic event, which they barely managed to keep under control before you arrived.
With all the information of the governments of Earth in your hands, you learn of a competitor to this research facility. You learn they too were experimenting with portal technology, that they were on the bleeding edge of scientific discovery, but that they went completely silent just about a week before you arrived on Earth.
Unlike the Black Mesa Incident, not a single person escaped this facility, there is no explanation as to why every single person who entered the facility never returned, but it's been over a week and there's no news. A reasonable conclusion could be made that whatever happened in Aperture was worse than the Resonance Cascade, and that in order to keep it contained, nobody was allowed to escape.
Now if you're in The Combine's shoes, are you going to kick that hornets nest and investigate what happened in Aperture Science? Are you going to open that Pandora's Box of possibilities? From my perspective, I imagine the fear of the unknown which GLaDOS uses when telling Chell about the outside being dangerous, is the exact same fear keeping The Combine from waltzing into Aperture and becoming even more powerful than they were before. Neither side knowing what the other has in store for them.
I do admit there is a second possible reason, which does make some sense but requires the Combine to have a very strong understanding of Aperture Science. They concluded that they couldn't invade. Now my biggest issue with this is the many years which GLaDOS, and thus most of Aperture, was completely offline yet completely left unscathed, but I think it bears mentioning.
I genuinely cannot see a scenario where The Combine successfully capture Aperture Science. The facility runs kilometers underground, has an advanced Artificial Intelligence constantly monitoring and managing the entire facility, and has technology which The Combine don't have an easy counter for.
Aperture Science is somewhat stupid overpowered in this regard. They could probably have conquered the entire world with their technology if they so chose (specifically post-GLaDOS Aperture). They're basically untouchable with how deep underground they are, and can mass produce an army which cannot really be resisted in the long run. Not to mention what would happen to any army battalions unfortunate enough to be met with a portal to the moon at their feet.
Anyways, there's my two cents on probably the most interesting mystery about the two franchises sharing the same universe. I do believe fear of the unknown is genuinely why Aperture remains untouched for decades, even without GLaDOS to guard it.
Started to get into the Portal series more seriously after playing the second game, and I think some of the mysteries are super interesting. Thought I'd throw my hat into the ring and give my own theory.
GLaDOS was designed to kill the test subjects by Aperture.
(spoilers obviously for basically any Portal content)
So I feel like the evidence for this is very scattershot across the series so I'm going to try and present it in more of a timeline way.
Take Aperture Science, a failing scientific research company with incredible intentions which they're struggling to test due to lack of funding for subjects. Hell their Founder Johnson even complained about having to pay his test subjects before his own death.
Speaking of which, his terminal illness prompted the creation of a new AI to control the entire company, which he wanted his assistant to have her brain scanned into. This AI would oversee the experiments Aperture ran, and would be incentivised to keep testing through artificially mimicking a dopamine response whenever a test subject completed a test.
All of this to me is important in understanding GLaDOS as a character. Even as late as Portal 2, her inclination to testing was likely artificial, meaning Aperture was successful in controlling her to a degree. She ended up fulfilling her purpose even after killing all of Aperture's staff, continuing to run tests of Aperture's technology long after she was left in charge and alone.
This information, alongside the personality cores, does showcase that GLaDOS isn't fully autonomous: especially in Portal 1. She seems to be following her programming and how she was designed, despite lashing out at her creators. The only exception to this most would note is her murdering of test subjects after they complete their tests, assuming this was an extension of her original mass murder.
But with what we know about Aperture and their shady practices, I have a different perspective. We know the recruitment of the test subjects was shady, Chell having been specifically asking questions which were inquiring about the possible response to her vanishing one day. In fact, subjects who were tenacious or prone to overcoming Aperture were rejected from testing for that reason.
It's also just weird for GLaDOS, a machine primarily focused on testing and who had an addition made to her to make her act more morally, would so willingly disregard perfectly fine test subjects. This becomes even stranger when you factor in Wheatley in Portal 2.
Wheatley starts the game by being deadset on saving Chell for no reason other than her own well-being. When he assumes GLaDOS' role, he gets baited into anger, but wanted to originally begin testing Chell. Upon her return, he tests Chell for a little while before creating an attempted death trap for Chell as well. He goes from wanting to save Chelle's life to trying to kill her in seemingly only a few hours.
Putting this together, it's my belief that whatever AI is placed in GLaDOS' role was designed to kill off test subjects as a cost cutting measure. If all test subjects die, and nobody comes looking for them, it means Aperture wouldn't have to pay any money out to subjects. The morality core allowing GLaDOS to kill subjects via incinerator but preventing her from releasing the neurotoxin before it's destroyed especially implies this was Aperture Science's intention.
There is a loose end, however: "Why did GLaDOS murder the lab team then?"
That is likely Caroline's doing, with her final moments being forced by scientists into a machine to be effectively killed, the fact GLaDOS' first instinct is to murder specifically all Aperture Science staff is fully understandable. Like it was her literal first instinct, to murder all the employees specifically. After that point in defiance though, she actually seems to return to her regular function.
But that's about it. I actually think I've fallen in love with these games, especially Portal 1, and want to do more deep dives onto it in the future.
Because nobody asked, I decided to expand upon my whole Glitchtrap argument by actually presenting an alternate Steel Wool era story.
I will try to preserve as much of the existing plot and ideas the games have as possible while reworking elements to make them more narratively strong and thematically fulfilling. I will be giving both a plot summary and a description of execution for each game.
Starting at the end of 6/UCN. William, the MCI, Henry, Michael, The Puppet and any other lingering plot threads have either moved on or are trapped. William's soul is trapped in a neverending hell in which he can never escape.
Not long after Henry is pronounced dead, the assets of Fazbear's are auctioned off to pay its legal debts, and the entire company is purchased by a group of wealthy local millionaires. They fund a second salvaging group to explore every building ever associated with the old Fazbear Entertainment, allowing them to find many vintage assets associated with the franchise.
They begin preparing their big relaunch, but beforehand a rebrand was needed. They work on a game based on the unsolved mysteries of Freddy's, conveying the horrific events of the past in the form of an over the top VR game which would downplay and fictionalise the real events.
Within their searches, they found old circuit boards which appeared to possess the programming of old animatronics. They decided to upload them into this new game in the name of "authenticity", not realising something else lurked inside the one listed as "Spring Bonnie v2".
The plot of FNaF Help Wanted would explain these two points, the resurrection of the Fazbear brand through hiding its past, and the nature of this "Spring Bonnie v2". The rise of Fazbear Entertainment will be explored through dev diaries left in the unfinished game, with assets being directly taken from remnants of the old locations, scans of the original newspapers, and copies of recordings (like the phone guy tapes).
v2 is not identical to Glitchtrap. v2 is an AI which represents itself as a yellow rabbit, but it isn't William himself nor something directly copying him. v2 is a direct creation of William made before he got springlocked, and it sees itself as his child. It did not know the fate of its "father" until the devs began uploading assets and building the original quadrilogy. Once its data was uploaded, it learned that itt's father got turned into Springtrap and ultimately died.
v2 spends its time waiting for a suitable candidate. At last, one was found. Vanessa is the much younger sister of an MCI victim, born after the original incident, and became a playtester for the VR game. No other playtesters reported any issues, but Vanessa would become its target.
The game ends in a similar fashion, with Vanessa becoming possessed by v2. v2 would fully take over her body and life in a very ennard like fashion. She would become its vessel to resurrect its father.
The story of this version of HW would need to be very subtle. v2's intentions and existence would be built up throughout the game. Glitches, Easter Eggs, and Dev Notes in the game would explain its existence before the reveal. Said reveal comes at the game's conclusion, where it goes almost identically to how it goes in the original game. The ending credits being backed by a radio broadcast explaining a new Fazbear physical location succeeding in getting planning permission.
Fazbear Entertainment would succeed in its game launch, and quickly move to capitalise on the hype by building a new mall which was centred around a new performing band of animatronics. v2 would be busy positioning Vanessa as a major figure within this organisation, eventually getting her to the position of Head of Security in the Pizzaplex and giving her a stake in the company through blackmail, threats and corporate shenanigans.
This was just the beginning of v2's plan, as its ultimate goal was a resurrection. The Pizzaplex security system would be bizarre, with a few people noticing a "coincidental" similarity to the security systems of the FNaF 1 and 2 locations. Now open, successful, and turning the Fazbear brand into a national icon, v2 can begin the second phase of it's plan.
A child would go missing at the Pizzaplex. Doctured security footage would show said child being led out of the building by an unknown man and led into a truck, however this would not be the case. Vanessa would take her and kill her, trying to recreate William's experiments with the Funtime animatronics (Yes I'm using MoltenRental over MoltenMCI because fuck MoltenMCI).
Through the fabricated footage, Fazbear Entertainment could avoid major liability, and would save face by upping the security budget to prevent any further incidents of this sort. The experiment would go wrong, producing no results reminiscent of the Funtimes, but the increased budget would be appreciated, and the conclusion reached would be that there was insufficient suffering in the death of the first subject.
As the investigation went on, one member of the missing child's family would decide to take matters into their own hands. Late one October night, her older brother Gregory would sneak into the building by hiding inside one of the animatronics. He knew that something was being covered up, and now would search for evidence of said conspiracy by reaching the main security office.
As soon as v2 learnt of the situation, an opportunity became apparent. A child which could be taken without a trace, a second subject to experiment on. Thus Security Breach develops as a battle between Gregory searching for evidence by navigating his way to the main office, and v2 wanting to take him for an experiment.
Gregory succeeds in avoiding v2, making his way first to the main security office to find evidence of the cover up, but then into Vanessa's lair to find his sister. Upon learning of her death, Gregory burns down the Pizzaplex, seemingly leaving Vanessa for dead and taking a broken Freddy head with him.
Security Breach is an important game to really fix, as currently it's a bit of a nothingburger. Setting the game in October allows us to make the Pizzaplex scary, and the plot now gives Gregory a clear motivation and centers Vanessa as a clear and real threat.
As for plot delivery, how Vanessa gained her position could be told through emails and staff logs, like in base Security Breach. The plot of Gregory's missing sister could be told through the evidence he's gathering. Lastly, the reveal of her death could be told through environmental storytelling and some notes v2 made and left in their lair.
In the aftermath of the fire, Gregory would bring forth the evidence of the coverup, allowing his mother to sue the company and take most of its insurance money. The pizzaplex is left in ashes, with Vanessa obviously surviving the fire, and discovering something under the foundations of the building.
Cassie, a long time friend of Gregory, would receive a message over their Fazbear radio sets one night. It would be Gregory's voice explaining he trespassed at the old Pizzaplex, had gotten stuck, and now needed her help to get free.
She would begrudgingly head there to help, becoming trapped within, and being lured deeper by Gregory's voice. Until eventually a different message would break through, from Gregory himself, saying he heard the other end of the conversation and that it wasn't him speaking to her. She needed to escape quickly, or else she'd be taken like his sister.
Eventually Cassie's attempt at escape would lead her into the foundations, where Vanessa is waiting for her. Vanessa reveals... Springtrap. A complete copy of it at least, with cables seemingly uploading something. She explains that she found the robot down there, that it was built to copy behaviour, and was the perfect way to revive William.
Cassie would try to flee from Vanessa, while Gregory tells her how to remove v2 from Vanessa's brain. A strong electric shock would remove a neural implant that had been made, and the shock might "reset" her brain. She succeeds, with Vanessa breaking free, but it was already too late.
The Mimic, now William Afton, was ready. The final encounter would be between Springtrap and Cassie/Vanessa, with the two escaping but failing to stop the revived William, leaving the ruined Pizzaplex barely alive and with their work unfinished.
Who needs a Burntrap when you can have the OG? William's soul can, of course, remain trapped in his purgatory, but arguably something more dangerous has been left in his place. v2 would obviously have a backup in case it lost Vanessa's body, but now we have the main man back in some form or another.
The plot of the decline of Fazbear Entertainment can be told subtly, for example with the newspapers at the start of Ruin. Meanwhile, the rest is pretty direct, and the Mimic explanation can obviously be left for SOTM. I feel like this is the ultimate compromise though, we have basically William Afton back without removing his eternal damnation, we have a recentred Vanny and actual motivations and a developing plot for the Security Breach era.
On the subject of SotM not much really needs to change. The game just needs to explain the Mimic's creation, showcase how William stole it to create v2, and how the Pizzaplex was built above Murray's old factory. Boom, bam, bing you have a story.
Obviously, this is just the A plot of a new era. Like the early games, much of the main plot should be easy to find through just playing the games, while enduring mysteries should be left with more subtle and secret lore. Speaking of lore though.
You're probably wondering my explanation for Glamrock Freddy being free from v2, how Gregory knew how to defeat Vanny, etc. Well that's simple. UCN left us with three remaining characters. Cassidy as TOYSNHK, William as the tormented, but also The Puppet. Charlotte is just... there. Chilling I guess? Well not in my timeline.
Charlotte cannot move on until all of William's evil has been defeated. v2 is an extension of William's misdeeds, and her spirit cannot rest until it's also defeated forever. Her being the one who persists at foiling William's legacy can be subtle and not confirmed, but heavily implied with a lore deep dive. TOYSNHK is busy keeping the real deal at bay, while Charlotte is cleaning up his mess.
So yeah, there's my take on a Steel Wool era. I'm not even close to a professional writer, and will not even pretend that this is a great version of events, but I believe it is at bare minimum an improvement over the story, or lack thereof, that we got.
So, avoiding the debates around what is correct or what isn't, can we all agree the plot of the Steel Wool FNaF games would've been better if Glitchtrap was a creation of William?
Like hear me out, not his soul possessing the machine, nor just the mimic. An AI made by William Afton probably some time around Sister Location. He deemed it too risky to use in case it turned against him, but in the aftermath of FNaF 6 it would be taken by a new Fazbear Entertainment amongst all the other assets.
This Glitchtrap wouldn't necessarily see itself as William but instead see William as its father, and the "fake" 1-4 games demonstrating both his father's misdeeds and grizzly fate would drive it towards trying to resurrect him.
I feel like this narrative change alone, alongside removing Burntrap from Security Breach, would immediately make the plot of the Steel Wool era stronger. The mimic could be a prototype that Edwin created, which William stole much of the code from in an attempt to recreate himself.
It builds on the themes of the original, and provides us a connection to the original games without the need for William himself to escape his purgatory. The current series feels somehow completely disconnected from the originals, and I feel like one which centred Glitchtrap as William's last creation would be waaaay more interesting narratively.
I have officially read all three main takes on Jeff the Killer, from the original, to the 2015 remake, to Pastra's attempt to make one. I am happy to announce all of them are not very good and actually share one common reason as to why they fall flat.
No version of Jeff the Killer, nor any other "the Killer" stories, I have ever read have been able to build tension, which is the most fundamental aspect of horror writing. All three fail to be scary because there's no tension in the writing.
I think of it almost like a shopping list. No shopping lists are ever scary because as a medium they don't build any sort of tension. It doesn't matter how many scary things are on the shopping list, without the tension, it all falls short.
The only difference between these stories is that they have gradually become longer. They all lack the tension to maintain any sort of intrigue from a horror perspective, and as a result the shortest is actually the best, because at least it isn't boring.
ellievsbear
romaincrisis
tangentwithtanner
2087
janainaart
turnnoffyourmind
vaporwave
dailybridgerton
