#chapter 4 roseverse

[coolingrosa]

“Get down from there. You’re gonna break something and then Nightmare will be on my ass.”

“In multiple ways, yeah,”

WHAT DOES HE MEAN BYT TGAT??????

HA IM SO GLSD PPL LOVE THIS JOKE

Killer’s a cheeky little shit…

[coolingrosa]

Honestly about nightmare....it upset me quite a bit how he just didn't at all understand why Killer was acting out like this. It felt so obvious? Like with Dust showing up and Killer acting out in response to it....Unless this is a common occurrence? I am really wondering what nightmare thought about this, if he even tried to read Killer and his behaviour or perhaps ask Dust about the relationship between the two. Did he just not think anything about it? Just assume "oh its a kid throwing a tantrum, it'll pass"? Man i'd rly like to know it from his perspective. Maybe he is used to ppl throwing tantrums, considering I am pretty sure error flips out a lot too. I guess the problem hereby lies with the fact error is an immortal and an adult and killer,.,,is not. and nightmare just simple doesn't distinguish the two properly.

But honestly I think nightmare should have known better than to snap at Killer ToT..... I believe that him snapping did ultimately the most damage, error just kinda added a bit more salt to it to be put it simple. After all Killer favoured Nightmare obviously a lot more than Error, he was like a parent figure for him basically. So Nightmare snapping would mean a lot more than what Error says. I don't like how error told Killer that advice though, he basically just told him to "suck it up", in the pretense of "caring" for nightmare and not wanting to see him upset. It feels wrong to say that error cares though, because of how he is STILL stuck in the past. It almost feels like he is talking and giving advice to Killer more for himself than for nightmares sake.

Both error and nightmare are so inexperienced with mortals and so fucking mentally fucked up themselves, I doubt they will act any different unless someone who is a mortal corrects them...And I honestly thought Dust would do it? At one point it felt like he knew why Killer did it, but then it felt like he did not?

ultimate question however: how will nightmare react to Killers change? I wonder if alarm bells will ring or if he will just think that Killers "phase" finally passed. And I fear it'll be the latter.... So sorry for the long ass essay, I have SO many questions AND IT IS SO HARD TO TELL WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN AND HOW THIS MESS OF A MAKE-SHIFT FAMILY IS GOING TO DEVELOPE.....

You’re analysis is so wonderful and definitely the mixed emotions I wanted to give. Especially since good and evil doesn’t exist in Roseverse, just people and their actions. A lot of my YouTube and tiktok dragged on Dream solely for a while due to the limited knowledge, so chapter four was a big drop as it showed just how out of depth and horrible Nightmare and Error could be as well. I’m gonna try to answer each part of this the best I can without revealing too much!

1. Nightmare is used to Killer acting out, which happened a lot in the pilot, so he doesn’t put two and two together that these moments are connected- especially since Killer has never been put in a situation around him to show that he ALSO has jealousy issues as well as self esteem issues. For a while it was just them and sometimes Error in the castle, which Killer never showed an act of jealously towards- only distrust.

2. Nightmare’s perspective won’t be shown a lot in the next Bad Sanses chapter unfortunately, so I’ll try my best to explain his reasoning here. Don’t take it as a defense. I may explain characters and their actions, but at the end of the day, Nightmare is a adult and has a responsibility.

Nightmare’s main flaw (and I can now finally state this) is that he doesn’t care for people who are not under his radar. Saying he doesn’t know much about negative emotions is redundant, but his abilities to help with them have long since faded ever since the loss of Ink. Killer clearly is the product of a teenager with intense mental health issues, and Nightmare never got to see Ink as a bratty teenager. Killer is the only example around him and so he quite frankly sucks at it and sees his outbursts as…well…tantrums. He can’t fully see Killer for what he is and constantly sees him as a child due to his own age, and that belittling makes Killer’s emotions and rightful feelings come across as childish to Nightmare.

The mention of Error is also correct. Nightmare is used to emotional and violent outbursts since he was thirteen- especially from those close to him. Error and Nightmare as children weren’t healthy and Error was an abusive friend. I will always state that. However, though Error improved his ways, Nightmare never fully blamed him for such things and therefore never saw anything wrong with the people he loved lashing out and being hurtful. It’s normal for him- and also not smth to be addressed in his eyes. However, Killer is a child and as the adult, Nightmare has a responsibility to step in and correct his behavior with disciplinary action rather than passiveness. But, of course, he doesn’t until he finally snaps

3. Yeahhh I will say what Error told Killer didn’t bother him too much until he made the comment about Dust. Killer is far too use to the verbal abuse Error shoots at him that it rolled off of him and he was more annoyed Error was still in the room. Error and Killer just aren’t and will never be close enough for their fights to leave any impact. Nightmare, though? After finding out truly what Nightmare is capable of and then being told that? Oh, yeah, Killer is crushed.

4. This was one of the few times Error tried to actually help in his own way. Error doesn’t word himself well, even when being vulnerable. He hoped Killer would understand it as “there’s no need to lash out as ur already here and cared for. So just stop hating urself and others and finally feel secure. “ Was it not so great advice and easy to be misunderstood from what he actually meant? Yea. Did he just COMPLETELY miss the mark on mental health and the struggles of slowly getting over the fear of abandonment and the steps it takes to FEEL that security? YEAH LMAO. But Killer definitely misunderstood him as well. And Error also misunderstood something about Dust as well. I’ll expand more on that in my last point.

5. Dust may be smart, but he can’t put together a case without solid evidence and explanation and due to him not being there from the start, he doesn’t truly understand why Killer is acting like he is. He knows it has something to do with Nightmare, but what that actually is? He can’t know. I believe this won’t be a shock, but Dust does think Killer was being abused by Nightmare and therefore becomes like a guard dog. When Killer jumps him, that ideas gets thrown out the window and Dust is left utterly confused on the motives. He doesn’t hate him, though. He’s just confused, and hurt.

6. And unfortunately, Dust isn’t empathetic enough to be the one to truly understand things. Wonder who will be, though…

7. I cant say too much as that’s a chapter seven thing, but I will say it’s where Gus the immortal frog comes in (Killer’s pet) and given by Nightmare. I’m sure you can put two and two together as to why Nightmare, who is clueless about everything teenager related, is stooping to giving the apathetic Killer a pet 😭

8. Almost forgot this part but Killer is an unreliable narrator. He will always be, and the next bad Sanses chapter will see that, as it won’t be in his perspective solely. Everything he sees and thinks is unreliable. For example, when they reach the au and Dust is slowly blinking at him while Killer demands to know why he came too, Killer takes it as a threat. What if Dust actually doing? Blinking at him like he’s a angry cat bc Dust doesn’t understand emotions and defeats to animal behaviors to help soothe this teenager LMAO

[coolingrosa]

THAT NEW CHAPTER DESTROYED ME OMGG::::...WHY IS ERROR SUCH AN ASSHOLE!!! AH WHY ERROR WHYYY KILLERRR OOOHHWW im sobbingggg my poor bby....

I was wondering what my askers were gonna think of Error after this…since I know he’s dearly loved lolololol key note: I make my favorites assholes.

Killer really can’t catch a break 😭

[coolingrosa]

Just wanted to drop in and say Chapter 4 was incredible and it absolutely devastated me.

Killer finally finding a sense of security only to have it ripped away from him… Dust trying his hardest to acclimate to the most jarring change of scenery possible and being constantly rebuked by the only other mortal there… Nightmare trying to defend his employees/found family(?) and instead so severely damaging the relationship he had built with them…everyone is trying so hard and failing so miserably and hurting each other in the most perfect, in-character ways possible and it is wonderful and agonizing to read!!!!!!

(The end. The end will haunt me.)

I already love how Dust is depicted, and his dynamics with both Killer and Nightmare are SO GOOD! And of course Killer and Nightmare’s relationship continues to be fantastic and heartbreaking. Ah, I so badly want this little family to be happy and healthy but it seems there is so much they have to work through before that can happen - and I loved reading the beginning of that journey.

All of that to say, Roseverse is astounding.

(P.S., to make this an actual ask - on his reference sheet, it says Dust’s scar is from a fight. Is it from the fight with Killer?!)

EEEE I CAN FINALLY RAMBLE ABOUT CHAPTER FOUR IM SO EXCITED

Yes, the fam is struggling so hard. All of them are terribly different people and yet are stuck in a situation where all they have are each other. And so, they desperately want to cling to one another, but their differences and behaviors make it tricky to properly co-exist. I’m very glad everyone could see all sides of the dynamic. Nightmare was definitely most at fault given his status and power, but I also hoped to show how he’s still trying to connect to both Killer and Dust and keep everything afloat. He’s bright, but shockingly horrible with emotions as he never dealt with many before where he actually cared for those around him. It’s a hard situation.

I was so so nervous about my characterization of Dust and how people would take it! I had Dust written out in drafts and plannings to be cold and a jerk to Killer, as the typical fandom interpretation. However, none of it felt right. It always felt so off even if I was staring at a character I was used to reading over and over, and I think that was the major problem: RoseVerse Dust, to be a smart character, had to have a level of empathy for Killer. To be so observant and insightful on why people do what they do and yet bash Killer for his actions was inaccurate and made him a hypocrite whose smarts faltered in favor of who and pride. Which just….isnt Dust??? Not even including just RoseVerse Dust here regular Dust just isn’t that egotistical when he has so much self hatred. Plus, Killer isn’t an adult here. He’s a child- a younger version of who Dust could’ve been. It’s kinda hard to be hurtful to someone who looks just like you when you were still happy.

And yes! So glad I can confirm this now. The scar Dust sports is from Killer punching a crack into the corners of Dust’s sockets and it healing like that.