X-I-L2048

An artist I've been watching for some time, SkyroreDraws on DA and skyroredraws on tumblr, is starting a series on YouTube where she'll take submitted pieces of artwork that people give her plus her own artwork and give an honest critique of them. As we can all improve in our art, whether we've been drawing for 10 months or 10 years, I thought some of my watchers here on DA might be interested in this new show, especially if they've asked for critiques on their artwork in the past.

Submission rules and guidelines can be found here and you may submit your artwork there as well. You do not need to have a tumblr account to submit artwork. If you have any questions, feel free to message her.

FuzzyPickles42 is responsible for this.

RULES:

1: Write the rules or copy and paste them.
2: Write 13 things about yourself.
3: Answer 13 questions made by the person who tagged you and make your own 13 questions.
4: Tag 13 deviants. (THE PAIN!)
5: Make sure they know that they are tagged.
6: Don't say "You're tagged if you read this"
7: It's forbidden to not tag anyone.
8: Tag backs are allowed.
9: If you don't make this tag in a week, you HAVE to obey a single wish of the person who tagged you.

On the subject of me:

1. Mermaids are my favorite mythological creature by a landslide. I’ve always wished I could be one or even just meet one. (Imagine my sheer delight when I learned there were actually people who are professional mermaids. Like, they get to pretend to be mermaids FOR A LIVING, how cool is that??)
2. While I’m officially left-handed, I do some things right handed, like peeling vegetables.
3. I prefer cats over dogs, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love dogs, too.
4. Rather ironically, I have pollen and cat dander allergies, though thankfully it doesn’t kick in around all cats.
5. I make homemade soap as a hobby, and I’d like to do it professionally eventually.
6. I’m missing one of my bottom permanent teeth. It just never grew in after the baby tooth fell out. The hole where it should be makes a handy space for a straw when the opportunity presents itself. XD
7. I still have not forgiven Bryke for the 2^nd season of Legend of Korra. I still haven’t and will probably never check out the later 2 seasons because of it.
8. My favorite kinds of chips are the salt & vinegar flavor. I could literally eat them all day. My mouth would be a mess at the end of it, but it would be worth it.
9. My favorite part of the art process is coloring. When I’m feeling uninspired with my own art, I like to color the occasional bit of lineart from other artists.
10. I have never broken a bone before.
11. I have, however, fainted twice. Would not recommend.
12. I’ve slowly been converted to liking nail polish. I actually enjoy painting my nails and having them look pretty. The effect doesn’t last long, usually, but it’s still fun to do.
13. I have this little stash of baby items I’ve bought to use as gifts just in case I’m ever invited to a baby shower someday.

Questions:

1. Are you excited for new year’s?
Meh. It’s just another year. So nah, not really.


2. What do you like the most about yourself.
Tricky question. I suppose I like that I’m critical about things. I want to know how things work, I want them to make sense, I want to believe the best of people while also acknowledging that sometimes they aren’t what they seem, and you can’t do that if you don’t know how to ask the right questions, do your own research, or automatically take everyone at face value. It’s a balancing act, but one that I think I’m getting better at doing.


3. Do you have any songs that always get to you, no matter how many times you hear them?
I have a few.
“Run to You” by Pentatonix
“The Last Unicorn” by America, as covered by Kenny Loggins
“Sound the Bugle” by Bryan Adams
“Alternia” from the Alterniabound Homestuck album
“Evenstar” from The Two Towers OST
“Into the West” by Annie Lennox
“Vanilla Twilight” by Owl City


4. What are some of your favorite fictional characters? You have one sentence to describe each.
“Some” is a really vague word, you know. >.< I have so many favorite characters, how am I supposed to choose just a few?? But okay fine, here are 5 random characters:

 -Lapis Lazuli (Steven Universe)

Smol demure flying space rock armed with hydrokenesis, an ocean’s worth of salt, and a smashing case of PTSD from being a civilian POW for 5000+ years, looks like a cinnamon roll, could most definitely kill you.

- Papyrus the Skeleton (Undertale)

The purest, sweetest, kindest skeleton you’ll ever meet in your life, looks like he could kill you, is actually a cinnamon roll, 10/10 would go on a friend-date again.

- Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III (Critical Role)

Traumatized, trigger-happy, snarky disaster nerd who brings guns to a sword and sorcery fight, regularly makes terrible life decisions, and is in desperate need of hugs, sleep, and lots and lots of intensive therapy.

- The Dolorosa (Homestuck)

An amazing, strong, badass mom who dared to love and raise a child society said should never have been born, helped spearhead a revolution, and deserved a much better fate than the one she got.

- Stanford Pines (Gravity Falls)

Local lonely, eccentric, misunderstood paranormal scientist just wanted to find someplace to belong and be accepted for who he is, accidentally wound up ushering in the apocalypse, needs immediate and eternal protection from abusive triangle demons, his creator, and the fandom in general.

5. What's the number one thing you think I (FuzzyPickles42) should improve about my art? Be constructive, but don't hold anything back; I want to get better.
Ack, I’m the worst person to ask about art improvement, because unless something needs drastic improvement, I usually feel like I’m critiquing something subjective instead of objective, and if someone wants to draw/shade/color/etc. a certain way, then who am I to judge? That said… Hm, it might be interesting if you started to experiment with different coloring or drawing styles. Mix it up a little.

6. What's the number one thing you think you should improve about your art?
I really need to get better at backgrounds. They’re a pain for me and I hate doing them, so anything I come up with automatically feels lackluster to me unless I spend an inordinate amount of time on it.


7. Are there any movies, shows, games, etc. that you consider guilty pleasures?
The first Bayformers movie. I KNOW it’s got problems, and thinking about the sequels sends me into fits of frothing rage, but I legitimately love the first movie, and it’s responsible for sparking my decade-long love affair with the giant transforming robots from outer space, so I’ll always love it for that.


8. Are there any movies, shows, games, etc. that you wish would get more attention?
Let’s just go in alphabetical order, shall we?

- Abzu:

The prettiest video game I’ve ever seen. Maybe not the deepest (*brick’d*) story or character-wise, but DAMN is it gorgeous. Every single screenshot from this game is a masterpiece, I don't know why it's not being talked about more.

- Animorphs:

6 normal teens are Earth’s last line of defense against a covert extraterrestrial invasion, using technology given by a dying alien prince that gives them the power to turn into any animal they touch. This ain’t just your run of the mill story about kids turning into animals and having wacky hijinks, though. These kids are regularly putting their lives on the line to fight a bloody, traumatizing war, and it drastically affects each character in different ways, with all the kids growing and changing over the course of the story. Basically this is “War Is Hell: The Series” for teenagers. Now, where is my 4 season animated series, Netflix? It’s 2017, it is Time.

- Monster Pulse:

A webcomic focused on a group of kids whose body parts transform into fighting monsters. How’s that for a premise, eh? The main character has a heart monster, another character’s monster is her hair, another has a blood monster, and so on. The main conflict of the series is figuring out why this is happening to people and how to stop it, but it’s also focused on the day to day struggles of the teenage characters and how they handle interpersonal conflict and normal “kid stuff.” The comic is well drawn, with an interesting premise and relatable characters, and more people should be reading it.

- Motorcity:
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The Firefly of animated television shows, a show that did everything right and was adored by most people who watched it, but faded into relative obscurity after it was canceled after just one season. Go watch this, then go watch the show. It’s only about 20 episodes long, you have no excuse to deprive yourself of this much unadulterated awesomeness.

- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (circa 2003):

I’m not going to outright say that this is the best TMNT animated series, since that’s a subjective statement, but it’s definitely my personal favorite. It’s a real shame that more people didn’t give this show a chance when it was airing, and it’s sadly been often forgotten ever since when talking about different TMNT incarnations. It really shouldn’t be though. It has dynamic characters, awesome fight scenes, a surprisingly dark and mature tone without sacrificing humor, and the first case of explicit onscreen PTSD I’d seen in a western cartoon, which takes the character in question an entire season to even begin to get over. Check out the first 4 seasons if you like sci-fi shenanigans with an edge, you’ll be glad you did.

- Usagi Yojimbo:

While this series isn’t completely unknown, at least in the comic world where it’s won numerous awards during its 30+ year run, most people who don’t follow comics or watch the older Ninja Turtles cartoons have no idea that this comic series even exists. Which is a shame, because it has some beautiful artwork, wonderful characters, and a lot of very interesting historical tidbits about Japanese history, mythology, and culture. Stan Sakai, the creator of the series, is great friends with Peter Laird, one of the creators of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Usagi has made guest appearances in 2 of the animated series thus far, in addition to multiple crossovers between the comic series themselves. It’s way overdue for its own animated adaptation.

- Worm:

Hands down the best and most realistic superhero story I have ever read, and I do not say this lightly. Look, just go read this, and then go read the thing. I’m not finished with it myself because this monster is twice as long as the entire Harry Potter series and I have the attention span of a goldfish so other fandoms keep stealing my time, but seriously, it’s well worth the read, and I’m incredibly surprised more people don’t talk about it.  


9. How do you deal with creative blocks?
Do something else for awhile. Maybe talk to someone, get some feedback, work through issues out loud.

10. If you were the opposite gender, what do you think your name would be?
My mom says I would be a Jack. (Must be why I’ve always liked that name)  

11. Who's your favorite Disney princess and why?
Rapunzel. She has a lovely design, and she’s kind, quirky, creative, and sweet. I relate a lot to her, too.

12. What's a random talent that you have?
I like to think I’m quite good at getting people gifts that they’ll actually like without being explicitly told what exactly they want.

13. Do you think 2017 will be better than this year?
I guess we’ll just have to see, now won’t we?

Tag, you're it:

WhisperanzaRose

Artoveli

AngelCou

Medli45

MayakaEd

papajack1

StareyedInLA

VicodinFlavoredMints

unicorn-skydancer08

The-Sprite-Lady

Jozbeau

MissCath

Schreibaby-Zephyr

Question time:
1. Were you ever responsible for getting a friend into a fandom? Give at least one example if so.
2. Planes, trains, or automobiles?
3. What was one thing from a work of fiction that really scared you? And I don’t mean jumpscares, I mean legitimately haunted you, kept you up at night, gave you nightmares, etc.?
4. If you had to pick, would you choose to play a game with a really good story and lackluster gameplay, or really good gameplay and a lackluster story?
5. What are 5 songs that you’ve been listening to a lot lately?
6. What is your favorite food recipe that you know how to make yourself?
7. If you had to give up either your sight, hearing, or voice, which would you choose, and why?
8. What is your favorite flower and why?
9. Do you prefer outer space or the ocean? Why?
10. If you had to pick a fictional universe to live in for 1 year, what would it be and why?
11. If money was no object and you could make or procure any high-quality costume of your choice, who or what would you choose to cosplay and why?
12. If you could only eat 1 flavor of ice cream for the rest of your life, what would it be?
13. What was something (book/show/game/etc.) that started out super promising, but ultimately disappointed you in the end?

The concept of daemons is borrowed from the His Dark Materials series. A daemon is a person’s soul manifested outside of their body in a tangible, physical form, which permanently settles into the form of an animal that most resembles them in character as the individual matures.
Human and daemon are not separate beings, but two halves of one mental coin, which means that they each know everything the other does and thinks and senses. Daemons have a distinct personality than their human to a certain degree, as human and dæmon represent different aspects of the same whole. Dæmons are almost always the opposite gender of the human.They cannot move more than a few yards from each other without severe mental anguish.
Although they take on animal form, dæmons can speak aloud, though they rarely do. There is a set of etiquette around dæmons. Humans address humans, and dæmons address dæmons, unless the two people know each other very well. The most important rule is the taboo: it is considered a violation tantamount to rape to for a human to touch the dæmon of another without permission. Permission is only given in the most intimate of relationships.

-0-

HUNK + BUMBLEBEE

Hunk’s daemon is a member of the largest and gentlest of all the known species of bees, well known for their communicative, group-oriented, nurturing, and hardworking natures; bumblebees are social, docile, non-aggressive insects and only sting if they absolutely must, but if their colony is threatened, they will not hesitate to put everything on the line to protect it. She represents Hunk's stubborn, outspoken, protective side, while Hunk himself is more domestic, habitual, and practical.

Hunk usually transports his daemon in a small case he wears on a lanyard around his neck to keep her from being accidentally harmed due to her tiny size, though she can also be commonly found nestling in his hair. And though as a daemon she doesn’t need to eat, he always lets her have a tiny taste of anything sweet he makes in the kitchen.

As the smallest daemon on the team, Hunk’s bee is sometimes frustrated by the fact that she cannot be as physically affectionate with her daemon friends as her human can, though she makes up for it in her own ways. She will often flit from daemon to daemon and bodily nudge them companionably while hovering beside them, and will also simply land on and cling to them if they allow it. If someone is feeling down, she’ll even stroke them with one of her small legs to impart what reassurance she can while humming comfortingly to them.

-0-

LANCE + WHITE WAGTAIL

Lance’s daemon takes the form of a small, agile, extremely energetic and verbose black and white bird that can survive and thrive in almost any environment; it can be quite territorial, brash, and competitive over its mate and nesting sites, but it is also extroverted, playful, and cooperative, as it is monogamous and sometimes flocks together with other wagtails in groups for warmth and to find food more easily. She represents the introspective side of Lance, the one that's nostalgic and sentimental and just a wee bit insecure. Lance is the confident, spontaneous, innovative side.

She is almost always in motion, constantly jumping from his shoulders to his head to his arms and back again, wagging her tail all the while. Alternatively, she will fly around above his head, doing little aerial twirls and tricks to show off her agility.

Lance’s wagtail is quite forward and casual with the other daemons who live in the Castle of Lions. She takes great joy in playing practical jokes on them, fearlessly sneaking up and pouncing on them, pulling their tails, cawing in their ears, etc., but she’s also quite affectionate and enjoys letting the smaller daemons hang out on her back or perching on the larger ones’ heads from time to time. She also has absolutely no fear of Keith’s eagle daemon, even though the larger bird could utterly mangle her in seconds if she felt so inclined. The sight of a huge eagle and a tiny passerine angrily screeching and posturing at each other while their humans argue in the background never fails to be vaguely surreal to any onlookers who happen to witness it.

 -0-

PIDGE + GREEN AND BRONZE POISON DART FROG

Pidge is initially the only member of Team Voltron to have not settled on a stable form before the start of the series. Instead, her daemon usually takes the forms of small, intelligent mammals, reptiles, and perhaps the occasional insect, which helps him to stay out of sight of teachers and other cadets so they more readily assume he’s female and buy Pidge’s disguise. He represents the driven, calculating, protective side of Pidge, while Pidge herself is more impulsive, open, and emotional.

It isn’t until she fully commits to her team and accepts her duty as the Green Paladin that her daemon finally settles as a green and bronze poison dart frog, a tiny, bold, inquisitive, intelligent amphibian that secretes highly toxic poison from its brightly colored skin when it feels threatened, and - despite its tendency to form loose groups with others of its kind - which is fiercely protective of its individual territory and young. 

After settling, her daemon can usually be found tucked in her pockets, balanced on her shoulder or head, or clinging to the folds of her clothes or one of the lenses of her glasses. While not the most open or touchy-feely of daemons, Pidge’s frog does come to enjoy occasionally perching on the heads of his teammates’ daemons, and will sometimes burrow into their feathers/fur for warmth or when he’s feeling particularly affectionate. Alternatively, Hunk’s bee, as the smallest member of their group, will sometimes perch on her fellow daemon’s head, and the two small creatures can often be found in this position when their technologically-inclined human halves are doing sciencey stuff together.

 -0-

KEITH + GOLDEN EAGLE

Keith’s deamon is a large, imposing, powerful species of raptor that is an apex predator in its range, with few to none natural enemies and only other golden eagles for competition; they are territorial, private, aggressive birds, though they can and will bond closely and work well with their exclusive mates for years, sometimes even for life. Keith is more taciturn, focused, and analytical, while his daemon is the passionate, reckless, and confrontational part of his personality.

Keith wears thick falconer’s gloves in this AU instead of the light fingerless ones that he wears in canon, so that his daemon can safely perch on him without accidentally hurting him. His jacket is reinforced in the same way so she can ride on his shoulders if she so chooses as well. One of their favorite pastimes on Earth was for Keith to ride his hover bike over the open plains around their shack while his eagle flew as fast as she could overhead to keep up, and they enjoy doing that in the Red Lion as well when they get some downtime on the planets the team visits.

Keith’s eagle is quite standoffish around other daemons and is usually openly affectionate only to her human. In fact, initially, the only daemon she showed even an ounce of respect or affection for was Shiro’s, as the other three were so new and small and helpless and inexperienced to her. However, as Keith and his daemon got to know their team, their protective instincts started to surface and she began to open up to them a little more and tolerate their affection (though that doesn’t mean they don’t still butt heads with Lance and his wagtail on occasion).

-0-

SHIRO + PYRENEAN MOUNTAIN DOG

Shiro’s daemon is a large livestock guardian dog that is known for its loyalty, strong will, and calm, patient, protective disposition, fierce and powerful enough to maul animals as large as bears that threaten its charges, but also gentle and approachable enough that a child or lamb can approach and fall asleep on it with no fear of reprimand. She represents Shiro's nurturing, affectionate, sillier side, while Shiro himself represents the stoic, authoritative, dutiful side.

Shiro's daemon can usually be found standing at her human’s side or laying at his feet, one of his hands more often than not tangled in her long, soft fur. She quickly develops the same relationship with the other paladins’ daemons as their humans do with Shiro, and has her work cut out for her mediating disputes, keeping everyone on track, and making sure no one gets themselves killed. She’s very physically demonstrative, and doesn’t mind in the least if the other smaller deamons hitch rides on her back or use her as a pillow.

Seeing how caring and unflappable Shiro’s dog acts around the younger deamons under her care makes it easy to forget that her jaws are as fully capable crushing metal and rending flesh as her human’s metal arm is. And at night, when the castle is asleep, she’ll curl up against Shiro on his bunk, somehow managing to fit despite her size, the contact comforting to them both. They’ll sometimes dream of standing in a dusty arena, the roar of the crowd swelling around them, the fur around her mouth and the metal of his arm drenched and dripping with foul, viscous, alien blood; of walls and steel and space, space, space, too much space between them, horrible, agonizing, soul-crushing loneliness the likes of which no human or daemon should ever experience as they are incarcerated separately every night; of bright lights overhead, restraints holding them down, sharp metal and violet electricity, hands on him, hands on her, and how dare they, how dare they, let her go, it hurts, don’t touch her, stop it it hurts, this is wrongdisgustingperverserevoltingsick, stop touching her, it hurts it hurts, stop it stop it stop it S T O P- When they finally wake from these dreams, panicked and panting, tears stinging his eyes and puppyish whimpers fighting their way out of her throat, his arms will inevitably find their way around his daemon’s scarred neck and he’ll bury his face in her fur, reminding himself for the hundredth time that he has her, he has her, not them, and though what he and his daemon have isn’t the same as it was before (nothing will be the same ever again, you’re both dirty, unclean, tainted, broken, broken, broken), it’s enough. They have each other, they have their team, and it’s enough.

-0-

So because I've fallen headfirst into Robot Space Lion Purgatory lately, I thought it might be fun to put together a list of my headcanons for the Voltron paladins' daemons. Hope you guys enjoyed!

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I was tagged for this by FuzzyPickles42 a couple weeks ago, but I only just finished filling it out, so it's a bit late. Well, better late than never, I guess?

1. When did you first get into Undertale?
After hearing months of vague hype about the game, I was able to actually start playing it starting in late February. I really started to love it by the time I got to Toriel's house (the puzzles and random encounters getting there kinda annoyed me, but I persevered) and started firmly enjoying myself after meeting the Skelebros. After completing the Neutral Run sometime in mid-March, I knew there was no going back and another fandom had claimed me.
 
2. Where did you hear about it?
Tumblr. I started seeing skeletons all over my dash in October, and was utterly, thoroughly confused. I ended up unfollowing a few people because of it and did my best to ignore the whole thing, since I was thoroughly in the throes of my Gravity Falls craze at the time and had no energy to spare on another fandom right then. I figured that I’d eventually at least watch a playthrough of it, but until then, I’d try to steer clear of any fanart (was not entirely successful but an attempt was made).
 
3. How many playthroughs have you completed already (and what routes)?
2 playthroughts, 1 neutral and 1 true pacifist.
 
4. What is your favorite fan theory?
 I have such a soft spot for Dadster. I think it’s very plausible given what little we know of him, and family fluff is a huge weakness of mine. I also really like the idea that Papyrus’ eye/s glow orange likes Sans’ glows blue.
 
5. Who is your favorite character and why?
 Papyrus. For the following reasons.
 
6. What would you do upon falling into the Underground (assume you know nothing about it)? 
 Probably stay with Toriel for a good long while before finally deciding to try to find a way out of the Underground because I just can’t leave my friends and family thinking I’m dead for the rest of my life. (And then Undyne would probably kill me once I got to Waterfall, lbrh.)
 
7. What part of the game scared you the most?
The start of the Photoshop Flowey boss fight where he destroys the save file (I visibly jumped in my chair), the entirety of the True Labs were pretty creepy, and the part in the Genocide Run where you almost kill Monster Kid freaked me out because I was not expecting that and I was terrified that one of my favorite secondary characters was about to get murdered in cold blood.
 
8. What part of the game did you like the best?
I really enjoyed the dates with Papyrus and Undyne, actually. I also liked SAVEing everyone during the final Pacifist run.
 
9. Is there anything about the storyline that you felt was unfinished or confusing?
Nearly everything having to do with how much of a role Chara ultimately played in the Genocide Run and if the player is supposed to be interpreted as a separate entity from Frisk AND Chara in the actual game. It’s really confusing to me. Also, the freaking timeline. Did Asriel die just a few years before Frisk fell? Was it hundreds of years before Frisk fell? I just don’t know, and it frustrates me.
 
10. Sans or Papyrus?
 Can’t have one without the other can you? If you put a gun to my head and made me choose, though, Papyrus. I’m sorry Sans, I love you, too, hon.
 
11. What puzzle did you find the hardest?
That one vent puzzle with the switches in Hotland. >.< I finally caved and looked up a guide because I got so frustrated. 
 
12. If you could cosplay any character, who would you cosplay?
Hmmm…If money was no object and I could actually make the costume… think I might be able to pull off Toriel or the rabbit shopkeeper.
 
13. You are stuck in a room with one of the characters with no visible way out; assume that there is a way to leave, but you’d have to work together to figure it out. Who would you want to be stuck with and why? (Reasons being teleportation and timeline jumping doesn’t count as an effective way out, either! That’s too easy!)
Probably Papyrus, since he would have food so we wouldn’t go hungry immediately, and since he canonically loves puzzles and can think outside the box to a pretty surprising degree, we could probably get out before we starve to death.

14. Would you smooch a ghost?
Sure, why not. Platonically, though. On the cheek, preferably.
 
15. Assume you could only taste one of the following: Papyrus’s spaghetti, Toriel’s butterscotch-cinnamon pie, Grillby’s burgers and fries, Nice Cream, or a Glamburger. Which one would you taste?
Well, given the fact that Papyrus’ spaghetti should probably be classified as a biohazard until he gets cooking lessons from someone who actually knows what they’re doing, I’m not really a fan of butterscotch or cinnamon, burgers and fries are burgers and fries no matter where you go though the quality may admittedly vary somewhat, and I’m not too keen on eating sequins and glue, magical though they may be… that basically leaves Nice Cream as the default candidate. Which is fine by me, since I love ice cream, and I’m interested to see what it would taste like.
 
16. Which cousin is your favorite– Blooky, Meta, or Mad Dummy?
 While I don't hate him exactly, I'm honestly not all that fond of Mettaton, and Mad Dummy, while hilarious, isn't really someone I'd choose to hang out with voluntarily. Now Napstablook, on the other hand, is a sweetheart, and I love him. He’s probably tied with Monster Kid for my favorite secondary character. So I’ll definitely have to go with Blooky for this one.
 
17. Out of all the locations in the game, where would you rather live?
 Well, if the surface isn't an option, than probably Waterfall. I love the calm, peaceful atmosphere of the place, with the gem stars and echo flowers and luminescent water. Snowdin is also close enough to visit, so I could see snow when I want to instead of all the time, which would probably get tiring really quick.
 
18. What is your favorite track from the game?
 Oh goodness. Honestly, this game has such an amazing soundtrack (that I still have not listened to in its entirety, i have to get on that ASAP) that I don't feel comfortable choosing just one, so I'll take a page from neonUFO's book and put down my top 5 in no particular order (I couldn’t narrow it down any further than that).
 
1. Megalovania – YES I AM BEING CLICHÉ, NO I DO NOT CARE. This was the very first song I heard from the soundtrack back in October, and while I didn’t know or care about anything else from the game at the time, this track impressed the heck out of me. It’s epic, it’s pure, 100% undiluted badass, it gets me psyched every single time I hear it. Plus, there are so many awesome covers for it. 

2. Hopes and Dreams – Unlike most other boss battle tracks aside from ASGORE, I avoided listening to this song for fear of spoilers, so the very first place I heard it was in the game itself. When that electric guitar kicked in as Asriel became silhouetted in rainbows, a huge grin appeared on my face, and I knew, I KNEW I could beat him. After everything else I’d been through, all the other hardships I’d faced, nothing was impossible for me. BRING IT, FLOWERY GOAT BASTARD, SHOW ME WHATCHA GOT. THINK YOU CAN INTIMIDATE ME WITH YOUR SWORDS AND STARS AND LIGHTNING? THINK AGAIN, BUCKO. In short, I was PUMPED, and I think that’s what this song does best. It’s a battle anthem, through and through, and makes you determined to see this final fight through to the end, no matter what.

3. Dummy! – This song is probably the best mashup of Ghost Fight and Spider Dance I’ve heard, and it’s the theme for another mini-boss no less. But far from being “just” a mashup, it also puts its own unique, offbeat, quirky flair on the jazzy themes found in the previous 2 themes and makes something entirely new with them. Gets my feet tapping every time.

4. His Theme – I was going to put Home here, because of all the ambient music in the different locations, that one’s probably my favorite, but I realized that one of the songs from the OST that I listen to the most is His Theme, and I couldn’t in good conscience leave it off of the list. While Memory is a lovely track all on its own, the added piano and strings lends a rich, full feeling to the melody that evokes nostalgia, sadness, and hope all at the same time, just like the character it was written for. It’s just as likely to make me burst into tears as it is to make me smile, and for that, it earns its place on this list.

5. Undertale – It’s fitting that this song is called Undertale, because I don’t think any other song perfectly encapsulates the feeling I get when I play this game. Not to mention that the part it plays at was one of the most emotional in the game for me.

19. Out of all the monsters shown, what kind of monster would you want to be?
 I would rather go with some aquatic based monster, but if I’m restricted to only the monsters we actually SEE in the game, then… well, I guess those bunny monsters in Snowdin are pretty cute. So probably one of those.
 
20. Do you think if you had to go through the True Lab yourself, you would be able to do it? Or would you chicken out?
 Well, like others have pointed out, I wouldn't really have much of a choice now, would I?
 
21. Do you look at buttercups a completely different way now?
 Kinda, yeah. I mean, I vaguely remembered that they're poisonous before I played the game, but now they'll always remind me of the good times I had playing it. :3
 
22. Junior Jumble or crosswords?
Crosswords are usually easier for me. (Sorry Sans.)
 
23. Who is your least favorite character and why?
There are only a few characters in the game that I can say that I actively dislike, but of those few characters… probably Flowey, if we’re talking about them as people. Don’t get me wrong, he’s masterfully written and developed, and a great villain period, but man, I despise that little weed so much. I dislike Chara as well, but we don’t really get a good look at their motivations for doing what they do or their personality for me to really actively feel anything for them beyond a general feeling of disgust and rage at their actions. With Flowey, though, I feel like my dislike is… personal in a way. I knew he’d be bad news going in because of the fanart I’d seen, but I didn’t expect the game to clue me in to that fact right out the gate; I thought it would be a spoiler at the end that he’d be evil all along. I mean, the first thing he does in the game is trick, betray, and actively try to murder you while pulling some of the most unsettling nightmare faces I’ve seen in any game in a long while. Adding that to the fact that I’ve been unsettled by plants with mouths and faces ever since I was a wee thing (it’s one of my odd phobias, don’t ask), I was only 2 minutes into the game and I was already thoroughly creeped out by him and would have been perfectly happy never laying eyes on him again. And THEN he had the audacity to rub my accidental killing of Toriel in my face, which just plain angered me as well as made me feel even worse about the whole affair. Needless to say, when Sans told me that a flower was talking to Papyrus, I was ready to break out the flame throwers and herbicide right then and there. You can creep me out and insult me all you want, but when you go after the cinnamon roll, all bets are off.
 
I didn’t see much of Flowey for the rest of my Neutral Run, for which I was profoundly grateful, but then he had to go and murder Asgore right in front of me in cold blood when he was injured and talking about how he wanted to take care of me and be a family. The boss fight with Photoshop Flowey was probably the most intense one in the entire game for me (even though I probably died to Muffet and Mettaton EX more times during my Pacifist Run), and sparing him after I had FINALLY beaten him was unquestionably the hardest choice I had to make during both my playthroughs. I was stressed out from the boss fight as it was, I was livid that Flowey had killed such a nice, sweet guy like Asgore without batting an eyelash and had been fully intending to torture me by killing me over and over again until he got bored, and I just didn’t want him to hurt anyone else, period. But I knew at that point that wasn’t how the game worked and it would probably punish me for doing him in, and so I begrudgingly let him go. I was already planning on doing a Pacifist run, but when he appeared and made a bet that he would let everyone have a happy ending if I went through the game without killing anyone, I was like “BRING IT ON. I’LL SHOW YOU, YOU WASTE OF FERTILIZER.”
 
I had an inkling that Flowey MIGHT be Asriel from fanart as well, though I wasn’t 100% sure and was hoping I was wrong all through my 2nd playthrough, because I didn’t know how to feel about that. In a way, though, I was kind of right, even though I was also wrong. And to be honest, I’ve never really viewed Flowey and Asriel as the same person, even after the big reveal at the end of the Pacifist run. Asriel himself says that he doesn’t want you to think of Flowey and him as the same person before he disappears again. And I think it all boils down to Flowey being… kind of like Asriel’s Nobody (those of you who are familiar with the Kingdom Hearts series will get what I’m talking about). Someone with Asriel’s memories, but fundamentally separate, just like Roxas is part of Sora, but also his own person, in a way. Asriel is capable of showing genuine regret and remorse for Flowey’s actions, which in turn makes me pity him and want to forgive and comfort him when he breaks down in tears at the end of the Pacifist Run, because wants to do everything within his power to make it all right as much as he can.
 
But Flowey couldn’t care less about the people he’s hurt and the things he’s done. He views everyone in the underground as just toys to amuse him. And I don’t buy for a second the excuse that he’s emotionless, because he is damn capable of running the entire gamut of emotions through the entire game, from annoyance, to anger, to glee, to fear. Okay, so he can’t “feel” love like he could when he was Asriel. He still remembered what it was like to feel these things, and he could still think and reason and use logic, and he even says that at first, he didn’t want to kill everyone, because he still remembered his conscience. Yes, his existence was basically hell, and no, I don’t think anyone deserves to be condemned to an existence without a soul, but he’s still responsible for his actions. There’s no excuse for doing what he did to the denizens of the Underground. We don’t know everything that he did and that’s probably a blessing, because my mind swerves into pure unadulterated Nightmare Fuel pretty quickly when considering it for more than 2 minutes. I mean, when he killed Asgore and absorbed the souls, he gloated in Frisk’s face that he was going to save over their death and kill them again and again and again. There was no reason for that. He could have just killed Frisk and taken their soul right then and there to leave the Underground for good. The only reason to do that is because he wanted to see them suffer. And he flat out says to Chara in the Genocide Run that he has literally done every single thing this world has to offer, explored every route and every option he could think of to do. Just… let that sink in for a second. And go read “Flowey Is not a Good Life Coach” aka “The Fic That Ruined Me and From Which I Will Never Recover” while you’re at it, in case you’d like some more ideas that’ll keep you up at night.
 
Bottom line, Flowey has done what a genocide route player/Chara has done and worse who knows how many hundreds of times. And he’s not sorry for it. I’m not too inclined to look kindly on that kind of behavior. /rant

24. Do you have any headcanons?
- Papyrus has mild dyslexia. Not enough to seriously impede his reading ability, but it does make it more difficult for him than it would otherwise be, and word jumbles are immensely challenging for him.
- I’ve basically adopted 90% of all of zarla’s headcanons concerning font skeletons and the skelebros, including them being another type of normal monster like moldsmals and froggits, why their eyes glow, etc.
- Font skeletons are also all 100% asexual and couldn’t care less about having sexytimes with anyone or anything, since they don’t reproduce that way to begin with.
- Toriel and Asgore end up adopting Frisk after the True Pacifist ending and the two gradually repair their relationship over the course of a number of years.
- My headcanons concerning Frisk can be found here.
- Monster Kid is male. His actual name is Kidron, but everyone calls him Kid.
- When Asriel is briefly “revived” during the Pacifist ending after absorbing the souls of every monster in the Underground, the being that speaks to Frisk is not actually Asriel per se, but a copy of him instead. The real Asriel died with Chara all those years ago, and his spirit/soul – the essence of a monster - had gone on to whatever reward awaited it. Flowey was then created with Asriel’s memories, and when he absorbed everyone’s souls, a bit of their love and compassion was briefly transferred to him, causing the copy that had been created to really truly remember and feel what it was like to be its former self, which is what we see and refer to as Asriel in the game proper. This “echo” of Asriel, as it were, ceased to exist when the remnants of the love and compassion that he briefly absorbed wore off and he fully reverted back to Flowey.
 
and last, but not least…
25. Did you cry?
HA. HAHA. HA. "Did" I cry they ask. A better question would be "How many times did you cry?" I'll count them for you.
 
1. When I accidentally killed Toriel. I liked her very much already and didn't want to fight her at all, but I thought that perhaps if I got her health down low enough, she'd let me go, but her last words to me... I was wracked with an overwhelming wave of grief and guilt and couldn't continue for at least 5 minutes. It's still the action I regret most from my original playthrough, and I'm very happy I was able to go back and change that after the neutral ending I got.
 
2. Hearing the story of Asriel and Chara from the New Home monsters for the first time. I dunno what I was expecting to hear about that little goat kid that I’d seen in fanart, but that… was not it. And it caught me completely off-guard.
 
3. "I don't want to let go." Nuff said, really.
 
4. Sans' death from the Genocide Run let's play I watched. His last words just opened the floodgates, and I just broke down in tears for him and Papyrus and all of the other poor monsters that been senselessly killed just because of one person's curiosity.

And I have all of this week off from work. I plan to use this time to catch up on some shows and on some fanworks I was planning on doing. So I’m curious; after I finish the pic set I’m currently working on, is there anything you beautiful watchers of mine (or anyone who happened to stumble onto my blog) would rather see?

Here’s a list of stuff I am thinking of starting after I finish my present project:

• My very first fanmix (complete with “album cover” art) for runescratch​‘s Big Hero 6 Darkpath AU
• Designs for Wasabi/Honey Lemon/Gogo/Fred from my Big Hero 6 fantasy AU
• More art for my Inside Out post-apocalyptic AU
• My headcanon designs of the 5 Missing Children from Five Nights at Freddy’s
  
• Firefly daemon analyses for the Serenity crew 
• Axis Powers Hetalia daemon analyses
  

Please feel free to comment if there’s anything here that catches your fancy.