land-of-blitheness-and-catharsis:
OH…
Oh, indeed. Yet another line where I had no idea this was here oh god this game is huge.
I’m just. Gonna use this as a jumping off point for more Sans thoughts. Don’t mind me.
How you treat Papyrus is such a big part of how Sans treats you, and how you treat Papyrus is one of the biggest markers of the differences between a Pacifist and a Genocide run, besides the obvious. There’s a reason it seems to be the “make-or-break” point for most people trying for it.
In a Pacifist run, Sans basically recruits you to play with Papyrus for a little bit, because Papyrus really wants to see a human. He acknowledges that his brother might come off a little intimidating, but assures the player that he won’t let things actually escalate to any sort of danger. For all that Sans has a wonderfully atrocious sense of humor and the power to basically nuke anyone who stands in his way, it’s contrasted with the fact that he can be legitimately gentle and kind to people who don’t give him a reason to be otherwise.
He’s trying to help you two make friends, especially knowing what he does about you and hoping that maybe “some nice friends” will stop you from breaking the entire world for fun.
And so you go through the woods and Papyrus’ puzzles are harmless at worst and nonexistent at best and in the end Papyrus is still so taken with the attention you’ve shown him and the time you’ve spent with him that he proceeds to try and slow down Undyne when she’s out for your blood. And he can give you his phone number and you can call and chat whenever you want for the rest of the game. And he even tries to help you make friends with Undyne later!
And Sans tries the same thing during a Genocide run but even that early on your character is completely uninterested in anything except murder. And so you wind up being so damn mean to Papyrus just through your sheer, bullheaded lack of interest that even he starts to get discouraged and Sans actually has to step in and cheer him up at a few points. He goes from trying to help his brother make a new friend to protecting him from a bully and that bully is you. He actually tells you after the bridge that “guess we didn’t need you to have a good time, huh?”
I swear to god, it wasn’t even actually killing Papyrus that left me feeling numb, watching a Genocide playthrough. It’s the total Break the Cutie you subject him to up until that point, and the way he still continues to profess his belief that you can be a better person even as he’s dying at your hand. And how we see that this laid-back, pint-sized skeleton will nevertheless turn into a totally protective big bro when the situation calls for it.
One of the most painful parts of a Genocide path is how all the major characters reveal themselves to be true heroes at heart, standing up to the heartless monster that you become.
Brotherly love is my fucking weakness, okay.
I'm really not that boring, I'm headstrong and annoying 