Germany had so much renewable
energy on May 8, 2016, that it had
to pay citizens to use electricity. It
was so windy and sunny that turbines
and solar power sources were
supercharged, output exceeded
demand, and prices went negative, so
customers were actually paid to
consume energy. Source
Oh god that’s an accounting nightmare.
and yet american politicians still insist that renewable resources is not as good as petrol based.
that last post reminded me i wanted to make a psa about asgore because a lot of people treat him badly and justify it with “he killed kids”
but like… here’s the thing…
he didn’t?
while asgore was the one to come up with the 100% shit plan of taking human souls, his whole character has to do with cowardice, and how is heart is too soft to really go through with something with that, how he’s just desperate to bring his people hope even if it means hurting people he doesn’t want to hurt.
toriel was the brains behind his whole reign as king, and with her gone, he’s forced to lead in areas he never really has before. he’s forced to improvise under pressure, all while recovering from the grief of losing his own children.
but asgore never actually killed anyone. the various armor and weapons you pick up throughout the game belonged to the children that had fallen long before frisk, the souls that asgore ended up taking. but the items you find, that they’ve left behind? all long before you get to him. the very last soul’s equipment and weapon is found at the hotel MTT, which is a whole core away from him. those children were likely killed by undyne, by the royal guard, by sans. by ALL your faves who you love in favour of king fluffybuns.
asgore waits in his castle for the souls to come to him because he doesn’t have it in his heart to seek out and kill. it’s apparent enough from the way he reacts to seeing frisk up close and in the flesh. everything about his face, his words, his actions, speak of a man who has just realized he’s going to have to take an innocent life. he’s been able to dissociate himself from the situation before, reaping only the spoils when his soldiers bring the souls of what was once living to him. he cannot anymore.
so like. give asgore a break maybe.
I feel like I could see this argument, if it wasn’t for a couple of lines here and there that seriously hint (to me, anyway) at the fact that Asgore has killed at least a couple of the children himself.
Firstly, when Papyrus describes what’s going to happen to you after he captures you:
Though this is obviously Papyrus’ first time encountering a human, if he’s following orders directly from Undyne, I think it’s safe to assume he’s following a pre-established protocol. Dangerous humans might’ve been dealt with on-site once they were found, but I think what usually happens is someone in the Royal Guard is meant to simply capture the human and deliver them directly to Asgore.
This idea is also supported by some dialogue from Undyne during your fight with her:
Undyne IS willing to kill the human for Asgore, yes, but her dialogue explicitly states that other humans have fought (and have been defeated by) Asgore himself. Whether they were delivered to him or the humans managed to find their way all the way to him by themselves, Asgore at the very least met a couple of the humans and took their souls personally.
The last thing is a bit of a personal interpretation, nothing very concrete, but I think it’s fair to add anyway. You read Asgore’s reaction to meeting Frisk as,
it’s apparent enough from the way he reacts to seeing frisk up close and in the flesh. everything about his face, his words, his actions, speak of a man who has just realized he’s going to have to take an innocent life. he’s been able to dissociate himself from the situation before, reaping only the spoils when his soldiers bring the souls of what was once living to him. he cannot anymore.
I can kind of see why you might’ve gotten that impression, but personally, I kind of got the complete opposite idea! He’s very surprised, yes, but the way he talks and acts after he gets over his shock at seeing Frisk…
These don’t strike me as the words of a man who is forced to face the consequences of his own shitty decision for the very first time; the words of a man who realizes that he finally has to take the life of an innocent child, and there’s no way around that. It sounds, to me, like he just kind of… knows it’s something that has to be done. Or, he thinks it has to be done this way. I think he’s long since accepted what’s going to happen next.
And I feel like a lot of Asgore’s dialogue here is just as much him trying to comfort himself as he is trying to comfort Frisk.
Yeah Asgore… and who’s really the one in the dentist’s chair?
All of this feels scripted and stale to me. It feels practiced… Streamlined. It feels like Asgore has done this before, and he knows the least painful way to get the job done is to just get right to things - like ripping off a bandaid.
As far as your other, smaller points go:
the various armor and weapons you pick up throughout the game belonged to the children that had fallen long before frisk, the souls that asgore ended up taking. but the items you find, that they’ve left behind? all long before you get to him. the very last soul’s equipment and weapon is found at the hotel MTT, which is a whole core away from him. those children were likely killed by undyne, by the royal guard, by sans. by ALL your faves who you love in favour of king fluffybuns
I think plenty of this is up in the air to interpret, especially the exact details of how/when/where the previous human souls were captured or killed, but I’d like to make the argument that just because you find their items in a certain place doesn’t mean that’s where they died.
Frisk has been running around down here picking up and dropping whatever they so please. Who is to say the other children didn’t pick up or discard certain things on their journey, too? Perhaps on accident, or maybe on purpose… There are plenty of reasons why they might’ve lost or gotten rid of things.
And you gotta remember that there have been years between each child falling down. Who is to say the items didn’t simply get shuffled around in the garbage or by monsters. I mean, you find the ballet shoes and tutu in the same ‘area’, but in very different spots. Catty and Bratty say they found the toy gun in the garbage, which is all the way back in Waterfall. Things get moved and displaced.
Lastly, you suggest Sans might’ve captured or killed one or more of the humans, and I’d have to disagree? If only because Papyrus has never seen a human himself, so I feel like their involvement in all this is a relatively new development. It’s hard to tell exactly, because Sans isn’t transparent with details, but I think it’s fair to say he and Papyrus probably appeared in Snowdin between human appearances (with Frisk being the first since).
I certainly hope this doesn’t come off as bitter or angry or anything! This is all coming from someone who really likes Asgore! Despite everything he has done - all the choices he has made and people he has hurt - I still adore the big guy. But I think… ahh, I hope this doesn’t come off wrong, but I think it’s unfair to overlook or take away an aspect of his character that is so huge.
Asgore made bad choices. He had to take responsibility for those choices. Asgore might be something of a coward, yes, but he is first and foremost a figure of hope, and he is fiercely Determined to be a good king to his subjects and keep their dreams alive. Asgore would never, ever forego responsibility if it meant betraying or ‘using’ any of the monsters under his rule. I can absolutely see your argument, that Asgore reaped the spoils of the Royal Guard’s work for him and never really got his own hands dirty, but I don’t think Asgore would sink so low as that. Not killing someone yourself doesn’t mean you’re not doing an awful thing, nor does having someone else do the deed absolve you of any blame.
Asgore is great, but… He made a mistake. A big mistake. But he is who knows how old… and he understood the consequences of his actions. Though he didn’t like them, he accepted them. He did what he thought was right for his people, all the monsters who love him, and whom he loved just as much if not more.
To truly appreciate a character, you have to take all the good and the bad, and understand how everything helps make them a more interesting, dynamic, and lovable person. Asgore is the King Under the Mountain; Asgore is the King of all monsters; Asgore is Mr. Dad Guy, and he is Mr. Fluffybuns; Asgore is the one who condoned the murder of six human children and probably took their lives himself.
And Asgore is the one who had coffins built for them - custom made and engraved with their names - so he could respectfully put their bodies to rest when it was over.
Asgore: *declared war on humans, killed six humans and took their Souls. hired alphys as his royal scientist and consented to her doing experiments on both human and monster Souls; was 100% ready to kill frisk before he was defeated. could have only taken one soul, crossed the barrier, and taken six more peacefully from the humans before freeing all the monsters a long time ago, but didn’t, and no concrete reason why is ever given (beyond his cowardice.) subjected all of his subjects to many years of fading hope and imprisonment due to this choice. is only seen during the last parts of the game, given very little actual screen time - most of what we know about him is through hearsay and various accounts from NPC’s and friends*
giant nerds: ohhh I love Asgore! He’s so funny and cute. I think most people are way too hard on him - I mean, he did some bad stuff, but like, he’s just so sweet! honestly i don’t even think he killed any of the humans at all - maybe sans or someone else did it. but asgore could never actually kill or hurt anyone! people need to stop being so mean to him in comics, they should leave him alone - just forgive him, he said he was sorry!
Alphys: *was originally going to stop (possibly capture/kill) frisk, but decided to help them in their journey. wanted so desperately to be seen as someone important who could be your friend that she devised a plan to make it seem like she was helping and saving you while going through hotland. shows real concern for your safety and immediately attempts to stop messing around after you’re hurt in the Core. built mettaton’s robot body (to impress asgore?), and was then hired by him to be the royal guard. was afraid to finish mettaton’s new body for fear he would stop being her friend altogether. was hired specifically by asgore to experiment on Souls and find a way out of the barrier. accidentally created the amalgams; accidentally created flowey. felt too guilty and scared to admit her mistakes. eventually realizes the only way to help herself is to be brave and tell the truth, no matter the consequences - not wanting to burden anyone, she attempts to do so alone. understands lying about the experiments was bad, and lying to/manipulating you was a ‘gross’ thing to do, apologizes for all of it.
is shown to have social anxiety, low self-esteem, and is implied on multiple occasions to have suicidal urges/thoughts. introduced about halfway into the game and is given lots of dialogue and characterization*
giant dorks: man i don’t know, like… i don’t really hate alphys or anything, but i just cant connect with her, i mean, she did a lot of bad gross stuff and lied a lot. I just don’t like how she got off the hook so easily, like, she didn’t get yelled at or punished for the experiments at all! it’s like everyone just kind of swept it under the rug. it just felt super rushed, like everyone just ignored all the bad stuff she did.
me: ?????????????????????????
if yesmans face is an egg does that mean someone could sit on it and hatch a little yesling?
idunno i think part of the reason why i get so upset at disney’s treatment of wreck-it ralph and the princess and the frog is because they have the most modern morals to their stories
like damn princess and the frog was mostly about how “hey you can’t depend on wishes to make your dreams come true. you have to actually do something about it and work toward it.” which is SUUUCH a change from cinderella’s “be a good person and idk wish or some shit” moral. like i’m 100% she would’ve still gotten her restaurant even without the events of the movie.
and then you have wreck-it ralph where it wasn’t about ralph even CHANGING much but rather recognizing that this perceived idea society had of him was just that, an idea, and that you don’t have to live up to it. along with that, it all doesn’t matter because what matters is accepting and loving yourself because that’s so damn important.
like both of these films kept their lessons ultra real and i love them so much i just wish they weren’t IGNORED and pushed out to nowhere land
I am Silver Tongue, I am an artist. I have many characters and you can check out my art in the art tag. I occasionally practice witchcraft though I don't do anything too complicated. I am girl 2 and don't know what else to put here.
