Ignore that this is a little late, somebody forgot that paintings take a shit ton of time.
It's so hard to grasp that it's been 10 years, this game feels like it kickstarted my life in a way, so I hope I did it some justice with this (even if I wanted to do more honestly)
I can talk for ages about what this game means to me and how wonderful it was to be a part of it's community- but you've heard it all by now, I just wanted to show my passion for it!
Special shout out to InstrumentManiac's Undertale cover with a 100 participants for making be bawl my eyes out about this game and singlehandedly reminding me of all the good in the world, and inspiring this piece.
[Commissions!]
WALLPAPERS and progress shots under cut!
The way I formatted the drawing just felt like it could lend itself to wallpapers- Some are better executed than others but I didn't wanna leave anyone out!
There was 3 sketch phases and 3 render phases.... the render phases took me like.... 40+ hours I think....... I underestimated how much painting everything would take......
This year was the first time that the message of "Despite everything, it's still you" truly hit me.
When I first experienced the game I was too young to have a "me" I could be in spite of "everything."
I had truly just started feeling like a person in the first place. And while I understood why people had such a strong reaction to it, a show of surviving all the struggles and changes, I couldn't really relate to it in any personal way.
Until this year.
I was always aware that this kid was somewhere in me, I recognize the growth they've experienced, the new friends they've made, in a way they couldn't have imagined... I knew my old interests, my struggles, my art- But the way I remembered that kid was always distant. I thought of her only as my worst days, that I've been able to grow past, that I don't have much in common with her anymore.
But for a few months now- I've been revisiting my biggest fixation from when I was young. Undertale. And in my revisiting of the original source media, of the fandom, the good, the bad, the AUs, the passion and love and creativity-
I have come to realize that I still love this game, in a way just as strong and passionate as I did before.
Obviously it's not the exact same way, I understand the characters better, I'm not as tunnel visioned (I am so sorry for what we did to you Sans), and I am not a hormone driven teenager anymore.
But my joy and excitement- It's as powerful as I remember it. I see people showing their love for this game, even the "cringe" sides, the AUs and all, and I am so insanely happy every time I see celebration of the creations we have made.
Yes it's rough around the edges, yes it has unpolished writing, but we were people making things, coming together and showing our love not just for this game, but for each other. And to show all that through art- It really gets to me man.
So 10 years later, I am once again enjoying multiverse content of Undertale, and I had to face that girl inside me again.
And I had to realize that it wasn't me who changed throughout these years. I just got the space to grow into someone I can be content with.
My peers, my friends, my partner, my family, my occupation, my interests. It all helped develop me into who I am today. Letting me have the space to grow that I didn't have when I first found this game.
It wasn't always easy, obviously, it still isn't- But thinking back, I didn't have those things that welcomed me before.
And that kid? The openly cringe, excitable, passionate, artistic kid? The one that wasn't accepted like I am now? She didn't leave like I thought she did. I've been her for years. Openly. And I've been fortunate enough to feel safe being her for years. For her to be loved as she is, flaws, struggles and all.
I can't thank all the people who helped me get here. But I hope she can be proud of who we've become.
hm. dont usually put my own two cents for theories but somethings been kind of annoying me recently so yeah. ralsei thoughts.
i really dont like the idea that ralsei is a specific object. especially not with newer stuff from chapters 3 and 4.
For starters, most people that try to figure out what ralsei is in the real world are basing it off of this appearance
however, I feel like there's plenty of evidence to point to this not being his real form, right? People have already pointed out that his original shadowed form isn't fully consistent. It's possibly the most obvious when you compare his singing animations in both forms. His hat form makes what was later 'revealed' to be his ears look more like hair?,
Ears don't really split the same way that hair does, and theres other examples of hatsei having this kind of spikyness to his 'ears' that hatless ralsei doesnt have.
even the fangamer plush makes his ears spiky!!
its a pretty major part of how hatsei looks, and its certainly been talked about before. And then comes chapter 3+4. And we have plenty of evidence that ralsei is a shapeshifter, and I have seen literally nobody talk about it????? huh?????
Oh, and the hat casting a shadow on him makes no fucking sense because he goes onto wear SEVERAL hats in chapter 3 and he's normal????
also I know its like. A funny bit, but HE TURNS INTO A HORSE
WHY THE FUCK WOULD KRIS'S HEADBAND TURN INTO A HORSE???? WHY WOULD A GREEN CRAYON TURN INTO A HORSE???? WHY CAN HE DO THIS????? THIS ISNT A COSTUME THATS NOT HOW THEY WORK????? WHERE WOULD HIS BODY GO.
not to mention that changing shapes was literally his ability in the legend of tenna game???? he plays it off like 'oh every character has abilities i can turn into a box' but he can also turn into a dog? since ralsei was the only one who read the manual it very well could be an ability given to him since the real Ralsei is also a shapeshifter.
It would also explain why ralsei draws himself in his hat form
thats closer to what his natural form is. Dont have any screenshots on hand right now, but he's got two lines in chapter four (if you leave him lying on the ground for too long, and right before they find the first fountain) about how much longer he can 'keep this body for' that make it very obvious that he's only using a form that looks cuter to appeal to us. Him being a shapeshifter would also explain things like
His face being a deliberately made abstraction would also make this interaction make a lot more sense. Pre chapter three, I assumed Ralsei based his face on Asriel to either try appealing to Kris or as fanservice for the player/red soul, however, now that we've slowly started learning more about Ralsei, it's beginning to seem more like Ralsei just wants to have a face and more distinct appearance, like the lightners do. However, because of how dark worlds work, he can only base it off of what already exists, with that already existing 'model' being Asriel, although with modifications to make himself cuter— pink horns and eyes, and his usual glasses. It's why Kris is always quick to point out differences between them, and why Ralsei is embarrassed at being told that they look similar, he didn't have a choice other than be based off something that already exists.
Alright, so Ralsei is a shapeshifter. He still has to have some equivalent in the Light World though, since that's how Dark Worlds work. He was literally about to tell Susie what he was before getting interrupted, and Toby Fox is deliberately dancing around the topic.
However, I think the answer is actually pretty obvious. Ralsei is a being of 'pure darkness', which is why he can exist in any Dark World, unlike Lancer and Rouxls, who need to be objects that 'belong' in their respective worlds. His form is made up by the original dark fountain, and he describes himself as a 'Prince of the Dark'. Characters in the Dark World know about what happens to and around their real world equivalents, but Ralsei in particular seems to be especially aware of all of Susie and Kris's actions and movements. He doesn't need to be brought in by Kris like Lancer and Rouxls do, and he always appears in the Dark World a few moments after Susie and Kris do, while somehow almost always having pretty intimate knowledge of how the world came to be. Ralsei is also the most adamant on being depended on by Lightners, even more than people like Tenna. He talks about how a Darkners role is to be used by Lightners and to make them happy, and his character development in Chapter 3 especially goes into how he wants to be needed and how he's afraid he's slowly developing his own personality, and why he believes darkners shouldn't do that.
So, taking all of that into account, I feel like the most obvious answer for what Ralsei is is a shadow.
He's a literal prince of the dark. It explains why he can shapeshift, since shadows can be made to look like anything— I'm specifically thinking of things like shadow puppets, and why when he gets knocked out he seems to literally disappear, returning to the shadows. A shadow is also the most dependant on light, shadows literally cannot exist without light, or they'll just be darkness. It even explains his empty room.
His insistence that his only role is to help the Lightners, the way that people can never find anything notable about him (asking swatch for specials his suggestion for Ralsei is based purely on how he dresses and Queen literally forgets to get him a cage), and his ability to be in any dark world (since there's literally nowhere without shadows) all seem to point towards Ralsei being a shadow.
Ralsei being a shadow also means he's literally with you in the dark, could probably straight up not exist if the world was plunged into darkness, and also makes him a weaker version of a titan (explaining the 'prince' title. not quite king, but noble nontheless).
i trust we’re all mature enough now so can i just the say philza ace race incident? genuinely one of the funniest fucking things to ever come out of mcc. it’s up there it’s the mcc7 battle box incident. so many grown adults decided to ignore the actual track signals because of their immutable trust in philza minecraft and i think that’s beautiful
I just realized people have kept reblogging this drawing from me and I broke down sobbing. I just want to say I love the community we've built together and nothing will ever change that.
Please support Shelby and her story - many of her experiences resonated with my own in ways that both validated me as a woman and breaks my heart we couldn't put a stop to this sooner. This man should not have the power and influence that he does.
[id: a drawing of c!wilbur and c!tommy over a muted yellow background. wilbur is splayed over a light blue armchair, playing the guitar. tommy is sitting on the floor leaning against the chair, knitting a yellow piece of fabric. wilbur is shoving one foot into tommy’s head, and tommy is grinning up at him. end id]
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