This will most likely be the last time I get to ask something about Paper Trail. So let’s make it a good one.
Firstly: why was there such a lack of Annoying Dog? There wasn’t much to be seen in terms of that. And I figure there should’ve at least been more than there was.
Secondly: was Gaster expecting the player to sever the connection? He said so much about seeing it through to the end. But even though we have a sort of end, it clearly wasn’t the true end- not the one Gaster interpreted from his saying for sure. So did this throw a wrench in his plans?
Third: who’s to say Kris doesn’t make a new ‘puppet’ themselves via using Gaster’s past knowledge against him? Perhaps down the road they might need some sort of help- help that only a SOUL could provide properly. And with the tie to us cut, the tie to the SOUL was cut as well. And Kris knows what a SOUL can do- SAVE, LOAD, be able to learn from mistakes even in a do-or-die situation… so perhaps that could happen, and while I already know you won’t be returning to this, perhaps someone else can take ‘control’ this time- not of Kris however. That ship has sailed too far away for boarding. (And it’s make sense plot-wise too- a different writer, a different player. A different connection entirely.)
Fourth: mentioning the SOUL made me realize, would Kris have the ability to SAVE and LOAD now? He lost connection with the SOUL, and the SOUL is how he SAVEd and LOADed. So he likely lost access with the SAVE, much like how it happened with DOFP.
Fifth: that mentioned, what would happen if the player tried to LOAD the SAVE file now that it’s no longer linked to Kris? Would the results be something in the vein of DOFP, where it essentially was allowing access to the events around the time of the last save (before we first met HyperFloof) but not quite RESET to that point? Perhaps a sort of ‘temporary link’ to allow access up to where the link was severed, then accessing a separate area? Or will it just be corrupt and inaccessible?
Sixth: if Gaster was able to reach out to the other versions of Undertale/Deltarune, would Kris and the others be able to do the same (given the opportunity)? Gaster managed to do so through technology- and technology is open to anyone who can access it. So if Kris got in, would they be able to call up names of the Undertale characters?
Seventh, and clearly the most important: would we have gotten to see the Ralsei fusion with Asriel added in? Because I think everyone wants to see all of the Ralsei group, alongside Asriel, becoming the true God of HyperFloof. That’s probably the worst thing the cliffhanger ending resulted in. Now nobody can have the true floof. ;-;
Eighth, and the last one: who would you want to take up the mantle of this story, should it be continued? (Plus sub-question, would you want to see it drawn or just written as a story?) Because we all want to see what happens next, admittedly- Gaster does have us there- but we don’t want to hold onto the connection with Kris- YOUR connection- any longer. So perhaps we can forge a different connection. One that not only will leave Kris alone, but also will let you rest. You’ve spent so much effort on this story, and it’s time that you get a much-needed break, while Kris finally gets their freedom. But who would you want to see the story continued by? And how would you want it to do so?
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I’m glad to have been able to be here for the whole thing. (Or at least the best parts, haha.) Take your break, Lynx- you deserve it.
Holy cow, that is a SUPER long comment! So I just wanted to say thank you VERY much for sending all these thoughts!! Uhh will try and get through them all:
1) Annoying Dog is busy playing the maracas in the librarby! We should leave it alone.
2) Gaster was not expecting that at all, so that would've thrown a big wrench into his plans.
3) While Kris might know about it, I don't think it'd be anything that they know how to initiate or control. It was a struggle enough for them just to try and have even some agency over what they did when the player was in control.
4) Kris would likely still be able to see the SAVE points, but wouldn't have the ability to load from them anymore.
5) That particular file would probably be inaccessible. But since Deltarune has multiple save files, another one might work, it'd just be starting all over from the beginning.
6) If they got access to the technology and figured out how to use it, then perhaps yes. That's a lot of extra factors to get through, though.
7) That may not be able to work since Asriel is not a Darkner himself. But there's always imaginations!
8) I don't have any preference or such for what people choose to do with the story from here! Folks can take it in whatever direction speaks to them! So I don't want to give any preferences for what I want to see...I'm just happy people would want to engage with it and write something themselves!
Thank you very much again!
