#unexpected guests lore

[undertalethingems]

Wait Sans' blaster was hissing. I thought they were like dogs? Or is Sans' one just a cat.

oh boy, i get to talk about animals! :D

so, hissing is faaaar from only a cat thing! all an animal really needs to hiss is the ability to force air out of its respiratory system--you don't even need lungs, as the hissing cockroach demonstrates. As such, a wide variety of creatures have turned this simple sound into meaningful communication, usually to say "go away!"--yes, cats (including big cats), but also snakes, crocodiles and alligators, opossums, geese and swans, owls, raccoons--even the humble rabbit can hiss, if my internet searching is to be believed. I have been hissed at, personally, by a pet cockatiel. There's probably a ton of others that I just couldn't find any sources on.

the blasters aren't based on any single type of creature, so hissing is a good, basic sound to give them that most people are familiar with the meaning of, whether through experience with cats or some other animal. Sans' blaster owes its voice to alligators and geese as much as it does any cat :>

[undertalethingems]

Hello! I discovered the comic last week, and I've been semi binge reading it for the past couple of days now

And, a thought passed through my head

You've been doing this comic since 2017, and I'm curious. Do you ever plan to end it at some point?

Or, will you go at it until you no longer feel passionate about UT or even just the comic itself

Hey, thanks for reading, hope you've been enjoying the story ^^

Unexpected Guests does indeed have an end, and believe it or not, we're approaching it, however slowly lol. Chapter 10 was originally the last one, but I thought of a bit more to wind the story down, so Chapter 10 is not quite the end.

i admire people's dedication to keep up stories that don't end, but, there's also a lot of stories that have lost their way because they've gone on for too long. I certainly believe a story ending on its own terms is preferable to one that ends up a shambling husk of itself because it's been dragged out beyond its capacity for a coherent narrative--and that's not how i want any of my stories to end up. so, i try to only share the ones where i have at least a plan for how they end--i don't always make it all the way there, but there's at least *a* plan, lol.

But I finished all the main writing for Unexpected Guests in 2018, so even if, for whatever reason, i'm unable to finish the comic, there'd still be an ending people could read.... but, i'm going to do my best to finish the comic no matter what :>

[undertalethingems]

Hello!! I absolutely love this comic and AU you've made, it's so silly, I just- ARRRUAGH

Anygays, with that outta the way, I dont know if this has been asked before, but is there an artistic reason the comic is in a grayscale format? Or does it save time when it comes to the actual creative process? Or is it related to undertale in the aspect that the game's fight sequences are(mostly) in black and white? Or all of the above?

I could honestly just spend hours just gushing about how good this AU is, down to the plot, writing, the dialog, the art- heheheh giggles and kicks feet

Okay im going to stop here before this gets too long, but again; i really love what you've created, and the sheer amounts of effort, creativity, marvelous writing and passion put into this is enough to warrant a whole book on its own. Thank you for sharing this amazing piece of fiction with the internet! ^^

aww hahah, thank you anon, I'm really happy you've been enjoying the story so much ^^

As for your question, there is indeed a practical reason the comic is (mostly) monochromatic! Full color would add a lot of work that would both increase how much time updates take to be made, as well as the likelihood of burnout. Keeping things as simple as i could meant the comic had a better chance of getting made consistently ^^

There's only been a couple instances where this choice has seemingly?? Been a "problem"--there was a UT fancomic group on DeviantArt that didn't accept black and white comics; i still couldn't have submitted because they also didn't accept unfinished comics, but, color isn't a sign of quality...

which bring me to the other instance--I've had at least one person offer to color UG, even though it's not meant to be. It left me with the impression they thought a picture is only finished if it's colored in... which, i think is more just an indication that someone's still growing as an artist. A sketch is a finished piece if that's what you want it to be :> the other option is they thought i only didn't color it because i didn't have time, and while that's closer to being true, i maintain that it doesn't need color to tell the story just fine. After all, manga and many other forms of sequential storytelling don't need it either ^^

Anyway, that's probably more than i really needed to say, but there you have it lol; don't be shy about asking about stuff like this or sharing your thoughts--i really do enjoy them and it tells me folks are engaged with my art ^^

[undertalethingems]

So I have only just gotten into the comic but have been wondering since I first read it was what was the inspiration for the whole New Guest story? Or what made you think of this whole plot.

PS This is a fantastic comic and one of the main reasons I made a tumbler so I could consistently read. :)

ah, thank you, i'm glad you're enjoying it! :D this is a question i've gotten before, but it's been a while so--

the short version is basically that i said to myself one day "i really like the idea of gaster blasters as creatures but i don't like the stories where sans and/or papyrus turn into them so much; what if they accidentally summoned their blasters like that instead? how would that happen? what kind of shenanigans would ensue?" and went from there. i originally thought it was going to be a pretty short, fluffy story, but uuuuuh here we are like. 8 years later :"D

a lot of my story ideas start with simply asking "what if", and the rest is about exploring the consequences :>

[undertalethingems]

Is Unexpected Guests!Sans pre- or post- dissertation?

uhhh i'm not totally sure if you're referring to something specific, but

while i show sans handing his completed thesis to Gaster, and Gaster congratulating him

somehow i don't feel like his degree was a full PhD. Like. "Doctor Sans" feels wrong somehow. I certainly feel he wouldn't like using the formal title even if he'd earned it, but...

i think his studies probably got cut short.

and if that's not what you meant, anon, i guess you'll have to send another ask :"D

[undertalethingems]

This is one of my favorite UTDR comics. I've been following along since elementary school, and now I'm a college student. I can't imagine the determination it takes to work on a fan comic for 8 years. I find it super inspiring <3

Has your idea of where the story is heading ever changed during all that time, or have you had a consistent story outline in mind?

huh what what do you mean you started reading in elementary school, undertale just came out 5 years ago right?!?! no, the fact i've been working on this project for so long is wild to me too, i've never stuck so consistently with one thing before @-@ the power of undertale...

anyway! i've mentioned this before, but, early on i thought the story was going to be a lot shorter and a lot fluffier....... but it quickly became apparent that wouldn't be the case, lol. I'm not sure how long that realization took, but it was almost certainly within the 1st 6 months of development and writing, haha. there was a bit where i got stuck on what should happen after chapter 5, but throwing flowey into the mix solved that. so, the story's been pretty consistent for a long time ^^

[undertalethingems]

Is Mad Mew Mew “in” Unexpected Guests? As in is their whole segment in the Nintendo update is canon in the unexpected guests world, where the skeletons sink leads to some random room. Do paps and sans use that sink room?

Toby keeps putting stuff in that room that i'm not sure is meant to be fully canon or not XD first it was the dog shrine for playstation, then it was mad mew mew for nintendo, and then it was the... casino? For the xbox?? Lol

But i think?? in subsequent extra-canon stuff like the newsletters, mew mew is clearly present. Toby clearly wants to keep her around, and I'm fine with that ^^ i can think of ways she'd get her body that don't involve breaking into the skelebros' house, so one of those would be what's "canon" lol

In any case, except for maybe the dog shrine, all this happened after i was writing unexpected guests. So no, there's just a really tall cabinet under there XD

[undertalethingems]

Just out of curiosity what is sans doing right now when all the fighting and commotion is happening out side the house?

Sleeping, mostly. Any action he's noticed has just sounded like what happens when Papyrus and Undyne get into a heated round of sparring--nothing unusual.

Nothing worth getting up for.