really love imagining a bunch a kids and teens on their pokemon journeys staying the night on the couches and floors in the lobbies of pokemon centers, having long talks about their experiences and feelings sharing funny and scary stories and myths about legendaries and trading items and sharing TMs along with sugary snacks and pokedex chargers all while their pokemon are out of their pokeballs and all bundled up in blankets sleeping soundly next to their trainers while they stare up at the stars shining through the glass ceiling over their heads
the fact that lights don’t start flickering ominously and short-circuiting whenever i’m upset is maximally unsexy and not at all excellent if you ask me
Okay, so, I’m not an Undertale blog, but ever since I started listening to the UT soundtrack just on my own, I’ve had this… idea– well, it’s probably more of a headcanon, actually– about the bosses’ themes in particular.
I started wondering if maybe the leitmotifs, dynamics, or other elements in their combat music correlated with the bosses’ thoughts during their respective battles.
Hear me out:
Heartache (Toriel’s battle theme) starts off quiet, then quickly swells into a bold and distinct pattern– but later in the song it becomes shifted, almost dissonant in the harmonies and not making a ton of rhythmic sense. In comparison, she starts off wanting to hold back from fighting Frisk (the soft intro), then reassuring herself (the swelling melody), and then questions herself again as the battle goes on, not sure if what she’s doing is good (the dissonance).
Bonetrousle is just Papyrus’s main theme sped up and with more actual instruments. Drums are even added, pounding along with the beat. Some little patterns and harmonies are added along with the original melodies, and a lot of notes have a single extremely short trill effect or accent note before them to add to the sense of quickness. In comparison, when he faces Frisk in battle, he’s getting so excited because finally capturing a human means that he’s going to impress Undyne and get all the recognition he’s dreamed of. He can barely contain himself, and the music reflects that.
Spear Of Justice blasts you in the face with a bold and heroic melody, much like the way Undyne presents herself to Frisk. After a thorough enough introduction, the key shifts higher, the pattern swells in triplets on top of itself, and then– we’re presented with the melody from the Ruins, which might seem odd until you take into consideration what exactly she’s fighting you for. She is fighting on behalf of the underground, being a warrior for all those smaller monsters not smart or strong enough to resist Frisk’s kindness. Undyne is standing up for the little guys… just like the ones back in the Ruins. And, conversely– Battle Against A True Hero has a very similar tune to the main theme of Waterfall. In a Genocide run, she’s not fighting for the monsters who came before her– she’s fighting to protect those who will come after her.
Death by Glamour is a pretty easy one to figure out in my opinion; it starts off smaller, then gradually swells and swells until there’s just *tons* of fabulousness piling up on top of itself, making more pressure– which fits, considering the battle is supposedly being watched by Mettaton’s fans. You have to do well for the camera and the ratings.
Asgore is a cool one to think about. It starts off with the main theme from Bergentrückung, then gradually builds and builds in intensity, until… Toriel’s theme from Heartache slips in there, and then everything starts building on top of that instead. He’s thinking about his wife, what she would think if she saw him now, attacking such a poor innocent youth for its soul. His doubt is building and building– then a softer new piano melody comes in and takes over, starting the cycle of fitting all the instruments around the same tune all over again. By the end of it, Asgore is just repeating the same patterns over and over, because he can’t get his guilt quite fully out of his mind. It’s like an invasive thought that won’t leave him alone.
Hopes and Dreams is another fun one to dissect, too. Immediately, the main theme of the entire game presents itself as the basis, suggesting that Asriel is fully aware of the game he’s become by absorbing every soul in the underground. As such, the most common recurring melodies in his music come from the roots of Undertale itself– the main menu, the background tune of the original legend, a small bit from Snowdin Town. Every now and then, Flowey’s theme peeks back in and takes over, as if it’s the kill-or-be-killed side of him reminding himself what he needs to do and why he’s doing it: to reset the game, to erase the timeline he’s seen quite enough of, to go back to a point where he doesn’t have to deal with the things he deals with anymore.
Now… you know what’s really an interesting boss theme to look at in this context?
Megalovania.
It has literally zero connection to any other track in the entire game, and there aren’t even fragments of it found in any other place.
What makes this one so fascinating?
Song That Might Play When You Fight Sans never actually plays in his battle.
And what tunes are intertwined in that track?
Papyrus’s theme. Gaster’s theme.
The fact that their melodies never get to emerge while Sans is fighting you would mean that Sans isn’t letting himself think about his dead brother or the shattered scientist. He’d lose his concentration in grief if he did, and he’d slip up and let himself get hurt.
All of his effort in this battle is 100% focused on destroying you. There is room for absolutely nothing else in his mind.
… holy jeez this is an essay, I apologize for rambling, I’ve just really wanted to share these thoughts for a while now
Fun fact: Megalovania sounds like megalomania, which is basically delusions of grandeur.
But Sans doesn’t have such delusions does he?
So who does?
None other than Chara themself, the player, who wants to wipe out an entire civilization just for the fun of it…for the power.
One thing I really appreciate in The Adventure Zone is how Justin chooses to play Taako’s reaction to Barry and Lup’s relationship. So often, if you have sibling characters who are really close, especially twins, one of them getting a significant other is this huge source of Angst and Drama for the other one. And to an extent, it is understandable – if you’ve been the most important person in your sibling’s life for all this time and suddenly there’s someone else that they love, yeah, I can understand that there’s potential for jealousy there. It goes all the way back to Artemis and Apollo, who are basically the root of most of my Twin Character emotions and have been since I was about 6. It shows up in Critical Role, too, with Vex getting really jealous and petty about Vax’s feelings for Keyleth. And it’s not really gendered – Apollo is the jealous one in their story. Taako could so easily have gone the petty-and-jealous route. And I wouldn’t have blamed them if he had, because Taako is a petty and jealous person! It wouldn’t have been out of character at all, if Taako had resented Barry for taking Lup’s attention away from him. But instead, we get this really beautiful conversation where he encourages Barry and is just really supportive and kind. And there’s a bit where he’s like, “This isn’t a surprise to me,” like, of course you’re in love with Lup, Lup’s the best, she’s just the best person, everyone should love her, and of course she should have a happy and fulfilling romantic relationship, this isn’t even a question. It just makes for a much healthier, happier dynamic and it’s such a nice change.
Every writer on Tumblr: “I would combust out of love if someone ever drew fanart of my fic!!”
Me: “oh man I wanna draw this scene BUT THEY WOULD PROBABLY HATE IT AND HATE ME FOR THE NERVE”
Dear artists.
We, the writers, will accept any of your fan arts.
We don’t care if it looks like shit to you, or you think your art skills are not good enough.
We will love any fan art, because it’s the most beautiful way to say “I love what you write”.
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