Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-27136653-20180228205701/@comment-27136653-20180311134714

"I don't see any real-world mountain staircases period."

Have you ever been to China? Actually, you don't have to be there, just google "the steepest staircase" or something like that and I'm sure something interesting will pop up. Like this for example:

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/10/02/11/2CF983BA00000578-3257293-Not_for_the_feint_hearted_The_hilly_steps_have_been_carved_into_-a-39_1443780232331.jpg

"...The cliff's directly above the magma, though. So.. yeah, it would. Which is, as you said, a stupid idea. That's why they went for the elevator idea instead."

Yeah. As if building an elevator over magma is any safer or easier than carving stairs into the surrounding walls. You know, for someone with so many arguments, you sure do lack imagination.

"Of course Asgore followed the rest of the monsters, and didn't stay too long. It doesn't take a week for Asgore to come up with a terrible name. Also, we all know how bad Asgore is at being good with names. We can't just say "Asgore wouldn't do that because that's not how you do names". The whole point is Asgore is bad at names! YES, he did it wrong! And what's the problem again? He gets just about everything wrong when it comes to names! Also, we do. It's called Snowdin Forest, according to the SAVE display. The entire area is actually called Snowdin."

That doesn't mean that every bad name that exists in the underground was his work. But if the entire area is called Snowdin, and the town simply bears the same name as that area, then I'm willing to believe that. As I said, Asgore being the one to name the areas is very probable, and the Snowdin forest is indeed "snowed in". And I guess the inhabitants liked it or something, so they never bothered to come up with an extra name for their little town and just called it Snowdin too. You get my logic now? Asgore had no part in the town's foundation, so it's improbable he named it. But it's very probable that he named the entire biome that the Snowdin town is located in, so I'm willing to believe that.

"...How? The book NEVER says it was recent, at least not in the pages we can see."

It's literally written in a first person narrative. It almost resembles a diary or something.

"Besides, the very fact that it says "Volume 1" meant the author was planning on making a Volume 2, at least."

I thought about that too. You know, someone had to compile all of these, and eventually labeled them as such. As I said, no one would wait a thousand years to write it all down.

"But, we've still been calling America "The New World" when speaking about history, despite the fact that it isn't really new anymore."

It's still called by that name though. Or am I missing the point here?

"Also, it might be fuzzy NOW, but what about a few decades ago? Just a little bit after Asgore got his hands on the sixth SOUL?"

Rapid Alzheimer's, you say? Can't we just agree on the fact that living through a majority of the history will certainly make you forget some details?

"Unless Asgore created these books, that wouldn't make sense because labelling it "monster history" would be just plain wrong when it comes to naming stuff. And if Asgore DID make the books, it STILL wouldn't make sense, because it makes fun of Asgore's bad names. "Monster History" is supposed to be about monster history, not about random other stuff."

Haha, yes, very funny. My point was, that someone continued writing the same story, telling the events, explaining various things, and eventually, it lost the "history" part of it. Or maybe we've simply opened the book on a page that discusses things that have nothing to do with history by pure chance (although yes, there's only one page per each book in the game, but the books are rather thick too, aren't they?).

"So, we must provide an explanation on how this non-history information actually helps convey monster history. Why do we need to know this stuff to understand history?"

Well, either what you said, or what I said. Either it went encyclopedically and explained everything from the very basics, which is why I wonder why did the first volume then start with what happened right after the war, instead of for example explaining what monsters actually are to begin with, or, it went as various people were adding more info to it, and when something needed an explanation, they added a footnote. Which is what I currently believe in.

"Also, there's no proof of a 2nd volume existing. Toby wrote it all down and yet, decided to keep it in? Despite choosing to turn a half of those volumes into an actual narrative? If a 2nd volume existed, it would be there along with the rest. But it is not, there's no part 2."

You know what? I wanted to write some lengthy paragraphs, but that didn't really work. I'll just repeat my thoughts, since I think I may have veered off the topic a bit.

Part 1 and 4 of monster history are the only ones accessible in the game. Since no one just "spontaneously" stops being afraid, there must have been a concrete reason as for why the monsters have decided to move out. My hypothesis is, that this reason was Chara. And that this is what the volumes 2 and 3 described. Or maybe just volume 3, and volume 2 described something else, for example the puzzles.

Part 5 is missing, and parts 7 and 8 are just the stuff we know from Waterfall. Part 6 condenses what we learn from the other books in the library, Alphys's lab and Mettaton.

What was written in that blog post does make sense. What you are suggesting however is that by only knowing the babble about boss monster souls can we actually understand what happened to Asriel and Chara, ergo, their story is written in a hypothetical part 9. Why would you need to know about boss monster souls? It wasn't Asriel's soul that was abosrbed. The 8th volume wouldn't explain anything, it would just pointlessly talk about something unrelated. Part 7 does work, but it also works with my take on the matter. And part 6 could be a reaction to Asgore's illness, which did happen before Chara fell ill, so it would also fit your theory. Though, it contains some omnious stuff, such as "unfortunately, monsters are not experienced with illness," or "in a way, this confusing situation was all too familiar."

So, my conclusion is, that since the 8th volume doesn't really agree with your theory, your theory is wrong. I'll keep my argument that simple for now.

"If A came before B, which came before C, than A came before C. Since the monsters feared the humans no longer before the plaques were written, which happened before Chara fell, that means the monsters feared the humans no longer before Chara fell. Simple as that. That's my foundation."

It all depends on the 'no entrances and exits' part. Is it referring to the fact that there are no natural entrances, even if they're blocked by the barrier, or is it simply referring to the fact that all natural entrances are sealed off?

"Yeah, modern technology! The technology to see whatever the humans are doing on the surface, and witness magical princesses!! SEE THOSE GIANT SWORDS TEN TIMES THE SIZE OF THE HUMANS!! NGAH!!!!! THIS IS SO AMAZING!!!! THE MOST MODERN TECHNOLOGY EVER!! ALPHYS!! LET'S GO WATCH SOME MEW MEW KISSY CUTIE!!! IT'S A TOTALLY ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF HUMAN HISTORY! /undyne impression"

So you do agree with me then. This part disproves that Chara fell down shortly after the barrier was erected, as you were saying. I'm believing Undyne's word here. She may think that humans are living an anime life, but that doesn't mean they don't have trash.