Here comes Napstablook. (
lookstabnap) wrote2022-11-06 06:17 pm
the app
( CHARACTER INFORMATION )
Name/Work Name: Napstablook / Spooky
Canon: Undertale
Canon Point: Not long after the good end!
AU/CRAU: n/a
Age: .........ghost
History: Wiki!
Personality: Napstablook is a sad sack. That's the first impression anyone will get of them within seconds, and it's also the conclusion most will come away with after extended interaction, just with more nuance.
Mind, getting the extended interaction in the first place isn't common. They keep to themself, usually staying at home where they find music on the internet, watch TV, or do farm work -- or they go out visiting somewhere even more isolated, by way of ghost. They're not shy in a panicky-anxious way, but unconfident and pessimistic, and just... not really feeling up to it, shall we say. It's evident when they do interact with others that they really don't expect it to go well, and they will occasionally simply retreat when things get to be too much for them.
Napstablook is quick to point out their own awkwardness; on multiple separate occasions they say a few lines and then apologize for rambling. They express honest surprise if the player character decides to visit them at home (after they gave an extremely hesitant invitation... if you want... but no pressure) and seem a little unsure how to go about having a guest -- but they do their best to roll with it anyway and it's a pretty chill time. On the other hand, if you attack them at the start of the game, they will eventually apologize for not dying when you tried to kill them. "Self-effacing" doesn't cover it. They have some obvious self-esteem problems here.
All of that being said, it's not like they're incapable of functioning as a person. For one thing, they're not too down on themself to appreciate someone being nice to them -- they quickly become fond of the player character (enough to go over and say hi when they see them in passing, anyway) and are distinctly more comfortable once that roughly friendly relationship has been established. On their own terms, they're... frankly a pretty normal person. They have a major music hobby. They take their job running the farm seriously. They acknowledge that they should probably try to make friends with their next door neighbor even though they're not great at it, and decide to do something nice for her.
Also, from the sound of things, Napstablook was at least a bit happier and more active back when their cousin was around -- or, at the very least, they did better with someone to pull them out of their shell. It was undoubtedly quite painful when he left, and it's not clear how long Napstablook has been on their own, but certainly long enough to do some damage. Okay, yeah, that's depressing, but if they got worse that means they can get better! In recent times (i.e. when the game happens) they've become familiar with some more nice people, and said cousin has reconnected with them even if that's all a wee bit different now. Things should be looking up.
Still, Napstablook is a sad sack. They're such a sad sack that when first encountered in the game, they have gone off somewhere secluded to just cry a lot. When the player approaches their immediate reaction is to pretend to sleep so this person will leave. They're such a sad sack that they ignore some sort of soul-stealing wave sweeping across the entire underground by sheer force of apathy. They don't even get different bullet patterns on hard mode. They're such a sad sack that their dialogue is written in all lowercase with tons of ellipses.
But I'll defend lying on the floor feeling like garbage as a pastime. That's not Napstablook's fault, that's a family tradition.
Debt: Honestly, Napstablook could easily be bullied into signing any number of shady magical contracts. Here's my story: the Witch's initial offer was to help Mettaton, since he's already deep in debt (not even a lie). They liked the idea but dithered endlessly because they couldn't conceive of actually being able to do something helpful. So then she just sold them a sequencer. They probably WILL end up trying to help MTT anyway as well as their other friends. And pay for ghost food!
Previous Game Info: n/a
Inventory: They don't wear clothes. They don't have pockets. They don't really own much beyond major appliances. They got nothin'.
Abilities: Napstablook's special abilities stem from being a ghost in a very stereotypical bedsheet-blob model. They're generally intangible, going through walls and stuff, although it seems like they can interact with things. By extension, they cannot be harmed physically at all -- it should be possible to hurt them with magic, though this never comes up in the game. They even have intangible ghost food in their fridge. And they fly everywhere, having neither legs nor gravity.
Also, uh... they cry telekinetic tears?? They can make a hat out of tears and write themself a note with tears. (And shoot tear bullets, but to be fair it's normal for monsters to shoot magic bullets constantly for little to no reason and possibly unintentionally.) These apparently feel like acid rain!! It's probably just ectoplasm. They most likely could do similar stuff without the crying, but they're usually crying anyway.
Strengths and Weaknesses:
+ Being physically untouchable is pretty swell, also they can just straight-up disappear from an overly awkward conversation.
+ Honestly, they're a sweetie, even if they probably don't realize it. They'll always put other people's happiness above their own, which certainly has a lot to do with them not valuing themself, but shows a lot of sensitivity too. They're very conscious about hurting anyone's feelings except their own.
+ Basically, being mean to Napstablook is like kicking a sad puppy. Only terrible people can do it.
+ ....Experienced in heliciculture?
+ ......... They're good with music and they have a cool cousin?
-/+ I'm not sure whether getting left out of the apocalypse through depressive apathy is actually a good thing or a bad thing.
- Okay, sure, their ghost properties and magical acid tears could potentially have a lot of uses. Unfortunately, Napstablook just don't have the drive or interest to actually do anything cool. They'll be surprisingly useless in a fight situation.
- No self-esteem. No spine. None. Those who are terrible enough to abuse them can have a field day.
- Very passive; going out and doing things and talking to people is difficult for them. (Being in a position where they have to do it anyway or have people to encourage them should be beneficial, though.)
- Sad. Sack.
( SAMPLE )
Characterization Sample: I've been bumming around dear_player/etc for a while. Here's a post I made that has a handful of threads! I think none of those quite made it to ten comments, though, unless I miscounted, so here is the longest thread I've had yet I think.
