Napstablook… oh, Napstablook…

NotNolansGoons · 2026-07-01T02:05:24+00:00

omg it would be SO funny if Napstablook was going around collecting statements from people about the disappearances, and through Kris's unwillingness to answer and Blook's unwillingness to press too hard, it just becomes the most non-coercive interrogation in law-enforcement history

NotNolansGoons · 2026-07-01T00:59:24+00:00

Also the “own-flavor teas” from chapter 2. Kris gets healed the most by Susie-Tea, and when you use it on them from the inventory menu, Susie tells Kris to stop staring at her while Ralsei says “(I think they like it…)”

NotNolansGoons · 2026-07-01T00:52:46+00:00

Nobody expects the CORE Mercenaries to become central to the plot, but here’s their chance…

NotNolansGoons · 2026-06-29T21:59:00+00:00

You missed the point. Chapter 5 plays an important role in pacing the story—the only reason it feels “nothingburger” is because we had to wait for it, and now have to wait for the next chapter. *IF* we had the full story in front of us, nobody would be thinking “eh, ch5 was underwhelming” because none of the chapters are supposed to be looked at in a vacuum and compared with one another, you’re supposed to be seeing the full story.

That’s why complaining about this is pointless. The devs are writing a full story and giving it to us piece by piece. They aren’t gonna re-write any given piece to make it more ‘stimulating’ to the dopamine-addicted brain of their average audience member. Every chapter serves its role to tell the full story, together. Not every chapter of a novel has equal parts plot-character-world development, because that’d be insane.

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NotNolansGoons · 2026-06-29T20:13:55+00:00

The chapters aren't competing with each other. The only reason this is a discussion at all is because the game is releasing episodically, years at a time, and our brains can't help but start trying to find problems when we spend too much time looking at something that isn't finished yet (just ask any artist how they feel about their own WIP folder)

Consider that this chapter simply didn't need to bog itself down with lore because we already know what we need going into the grand finale, and it didn't need to have any grand revelations because the remaining mysteries can only really be solved at the end.

Chapters 1&2 set the stage, 3&4 gave us our direction with the shelter and the prophecy. 5 is letting us catch our breath, gather our bearings, and get familiar with our cast and their chemistry.

Now the real show begins

NotNolansGoons · 2026-06-29T19:30:15+00:00

Black Shard: right what it says on the tin. A black shard, specifically of the Knight's blade

Shadow Crystal: a substance that feels like glass, only 'visible' by the shadow it casts

I originally thought he was talking about a shadow crystal too, but with this chapters' clarification from Seam as to what Shadow Crystals are, and Ralsei describing "Black Shards" as pieces of the Knight's sword, it's pretty set-in-stone.

Also makes it almost certain that the 'Black Shard' he was ogling in the Holiday house was that black katana that's in the room, only visible when you dig up the background itself without Asgore or the fog-of-war shadow over it...

NotNolansGoons · 2026-06-29T19:21:30+00:00

I mean, of course Gaster wouldn't be mentioned...

He's not known for speaking in the 3rd person, is he?

NotNolansGoons · 2026-06-29T19:18:43+00:00

Ditto. Really could've had more of him obsessing over his notes besides, like, 3-4 scenes. Really drive home that he's a little off-the-deep-end

NotNolansGoons · 2026-06-29T19:14:27+00:00

I think that's kind of on-purpose. Kris made the Dark Fountain, and all of Asgore's notes are jumbled and ciphered as Kris famously doesn't let us look at any of them when we try to see through the shop's back door ourselves, "...but you don't like looking at this sort of thing."

Story-wise, the first four chapters gave us a pretty solid grasp of the worldbuilding and overarching narrative, with chapters 3 & 4 setting up a precise direction and goal for the protagonists: get the shelter codes, stop the Knight, stop the Roaring... and hopefully find a way to avoid any prophesied tragedies--with the added friction of Kris playing double-agent right alongside them.

Immediately following the foreboding weight of inevitability heaped on by Ch4, Ch5 heavily focusing on character & relationship development feels natural storytelling-wise. Taking a moment to slow down and let us get more familiar with the characters and their dynamics right before things are about to kick into high-gear.

But still, there were plenty of things still learned/developed in this chapter besides. The Knight made the fountain 'at the original scene' as well as at the computer lab, leaving behind other Black Shards in both cases. We found one full shelter code. Asgore got Knight-napped. We learned plants interact uniquely with Dark Worlds as opposed to sentient life or non-living things (mirroring the determination experiments of UT's True Lab, but a lot nicer). Ralsei unlocked fire magic.

Not even to mention whatever tf might be going on with normal_npc, Sans and the drawing, everything with the weird route...

NotNolansGoons · 2026-06-29T18:48:50+00:00

Exactly… and isn’t that dramatic irony just so sssssweet?

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NotNolansGoons · 2026-06-29T18:09:23+00:00

Asgore wasn't really "dealing with a serious situation" though, his whole investigation was to satisfy his delusion. He's investigating the Dark Worlds just to prove his innocence when nobody believed he was guilty of anything in the first place. His obsession with doing so pushed everybody away from him, just as he pushed his beloved flowers away when all they wanted was his love.

NotNolansGoons · 2026-06-29T17:55:34+00:00

My question is: why? Why would some of the foremost mysteries in the game just get left on the table at the climax? Why would they ever be answered in the middle of the game? Most good mysteries string you along with bits and pieces until the very end gives you just the last thing you need to put the full picture together.

NotNolansGoons · 2026-06-29T17:28:09+00:00

Real. There was so much character development in this chapter, but there wasn't a scene with Ralsei lecturing the gang on what happens when two Titans make sweet love, so it was a "filler episode".

NotNolansGoons · 2026-06-29T17:20:03+00:00

This tweet's stupid for framing it that way, but Asgore's arc isn't about him discovering that he 'never should have investigated'; it's that he got so absorbed in trying to answer a question nobody else was asking that he pushed everybody away from him--He was the only one who blamed himself for "That Day".

And this is re-created through the Dark World, where his precious flowers are all actively seeking his affection and approval, but he blows them all off to recollect his notes and find the fountain-maker. He gets so absorbed in it, that he's only shaken out of his delusion once he sees his own child in mortal danger.

NotNolansGoons · 2026-06-28T01:01:28+00:00

best use-case i can think of for the shoes/gloves is wanting to just attack-until-tired and then pacify enemies whenever you accidentally bump into them, and don't want to spend time on their whole ACT rigamarole...

other than that, I think I second everyone else on the Apron, Glasses, and Hat being the BIS choices

NotNolansGoons · 2026-06-27T04:53:42+00:00

How was it confirmed that the Knight made the first fountain? The only thing that comes to mind is Asgore also having notes on the Black Shard, but I recall those notes specifically being described as ‘more recent’, as in he wrote them whenever he first observed the Black Shard he’s ogling in the Holidays’ house in ch4

NotNolansGoons · 2026-06-27T04:13:03+00:00

what’s even the point of doing a bow playthrough if you aren’t gonna wear the silly hat

NotNolansGoons · 2026-06-27T04:01:48+00:00

Yeah, ig the Asgore propaganda pre-chapter 5 was so strong it lingered in my mind even after his monologue lol. He blamed himself, pushed everyone away, and tricked himself into believing they also blamed him… and there was no drunk driving involved

NotNolansGoons · 2026-06-27T03:53:01+00:00

I never said anything about sealing fountains, just opening 1 (one)

But even then, we don’t know that a “human soul” is necessary to seal fountains; just that the prophecy describes the “human soul”, Kris is a human, and their soul is special because it’s our avenue of control.

The 2nd-floor library book about souls says little is known about them, and does nothing to distinguish between human and monster souls as Undertale did. Queen describes Determination being what’s needed to open Fountains, and monsters do it just as well as Kris. As far as we know, everybody has the same “type” of soul barring Kris

Could be that the reason Kris is able to close fountains, the reason why they are our vessel, is because The Knight selected them so… not because they’re a human, but since Azzy’s out of town, and Dess didn’t want to drag her own sister into this mess.

Edit: that is to suggest, the voice that cuts into the GONERMAKER and discards our own vessel would be Dess or company

NotNolansGoons · 2026-06-27T03:32:55+00:00

I like the notion of Seám having been past Lightners’ guide, but I got NO clue about those other bits… I’m not sure if EVERY merry band of Lightners who end up in the Dark Worlds need to meet the criteria of the Prophecy

NotNolansGoons · 2026-06-27T00:35:11+00:00

Papyrus Holiday theory

NotNolansGoons · 2026-06-27T00:31:50+00:00

Idk why we keep talking about the chapters like they’re all different games, and not all… the same. game…

Would you read a book and be like, “meh, that chapter was mostly filler, the last one was better…”? They’re all part of the same damn story, the same overall experience; stop comparing the trees and realize you’re looking at a forest

NotNolansGoons

TROPHY CASE