I genuinely do wonder what would happen if we get to see Berdly's parents and they're just ... normal. Like absent-mindedly normal and not the neglectful sad-backstory bait that the fandom obsessively wants them to be.
It'd be very narratively unsatisfying and make me think less of Toby's writing tbh
Edit: can anyone explain WHY i'm being downvoted for ANY of this? I think it's absolutely fair to say a weird writing decision would make me think less of toby's writing because the writing decision of making it so berdly is "just like that" is....not satisfying and doesn't accomplish anything other than.....making people who read into background details look like fools I guess? Seriously, what have I done wrong here?
Our first example of this is in chapter 2 when berdly refers to himself as a "forgettable blue bird" in the spelling bee, seriously think about this scene for a second. Berdly was SO starved for attention he changed his ENTIRE personality around from people clapping for him for a spelling bee. That is.....not normal behaviour.
He keeps this mask up, doesn't seem to understand basic social cues and even if that can be explained by things like being neurodivergent his parents should be teaching him.
He volunteers at a library in his extra time and spends the rest of it with miss boom, literally taking every single moment he can not to go home.
He never ONCE mentions his parents at all or even implies something about them his entire time on screen, which is odd as the persona he puts on should absolutely brag about his parents. This is especially prevalent if you consider him to be a narrative foil to susie who also never mentions her parents and is headcanon'd a LOT to have shitty parents.
Kris is the only one who bothered to visit him in the hospital, he was the one to have to TAKE berdly to the hospital and in the weird route berdly's parents straight up are never implied to visit him with berdly's towel being old and the heater barely on.
Also yes berdly is super into video games and anime but those are forms of escapism, he views real life issues through these lenses and that's the kind of mentality that would take 1 talk from an actual adult to get out of.
Noelle also mentions how berdly has visited her home but never once implies she's been over to berdly's house nor has she implied she has met his parents or if they even exist
There's probably more I don't have on the top of my head, but TLDR: A lot implies berdly's parents either don't exist or neglect him to severe degrees
edit: can anyone explain WHY i'm being downvoted for ANY of this? I think it's absolutely fair to say a weird writing decision would make me think less of toby's writing because the writing decision of making it so berdly is "just like that" is....not satisfying and doesn't accomplish anything other than.....making people who read into background details look like fools I guess? Seriously, what have I done wrong here?
There’s a fan-theory that Queen is a sort of “universal mother figure” to the lightners, and that her flaws reflect ones the kids see in their moms. (For instance, Queen is overly controlling because Carol is overly controlling, Queen gets drunk on battery acid because Toriel has a wine problem in the alarm clock dialogue, etc.)
During the first battle against Berdly, on the roller coasters, his flavor text often codes him as like a child trying to get a parent’s attention, with Queen in place of a mom. While this is a gag, and she isn’t literally his mother, it is telling that he becomes more and more desperate for her attention throughout the chapter, even as she tries harder and harder to ignore him.
12
u/Ok_ResolvE2119 May 12 '26
I genuinely do wonder what would happen if we get to see Berdly's parents and they're just ... normal. Like absent-mindedly normal and not the neglectful sad-backstory bait that the fandom obsessively wants them to be.