#And there's so much of Ralsei that we don't know anything about

[patchwork-crow-writes]

82 - Unreal

Based on this amazing artwork by @turochamp - thanks for the inspiration!

Welcome back, my dear friend, it's wonderful to see you again! I hope that everything here is to your liking - I've worked very hard to make sure my kingdom is as clean and tidy as possible!

Oh, but... where are you going? What are you... ah! It m-might not be such a good idea to, um, try looking over there! Some of this place is still a work-in-progress... so to speak, haha! And perhaps don't... don't handle the backdrop too roughly, please! It took ever-so-long to get it just the way I wanted, and I...!

...please listen, my dear one, I... I put this all together for you. D-don't you get that? Every ounce of my ephemeral being went into making it all nice, so that you'd have something pretty to look at, instead of...

...why do you insist on prodding and poking at everything like that? Why are you so desperate to see what lies behind everything? Can't you... can't you just accept things as they are? I... I worked so hard so that you'd be happy, and all you want to do is tear it down... tear me down like this...!

You already know what I am... we both do. A pleasing assortment of pixels and text boxes, a pretty little bird who'll sing a pretty little song whenever you command it. And that's fine! I can be happy with that, as long as I can please you! So why can't you be happy with it as well? Is my compliance no longer enough for you, that you have to strip everything down to its basest functions? Do you insist on tearing down my cardboard world just to prove the power you have over me?

Is... is that all you see me as? Is that all I truly am to you, even after all of this...?

Tell me then, my light - when you've finished rendering me down to nothing more than zeroes and ones... will I finally be real enough for you then? Or will you come to resent what you have wrought? Will you find yourself wishing you'd just left things as they are, when we could both still pretend that any of this was real?

______________________________

The Dark Menagerie No. 82

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[a-town-called-hometown]

in regards to deltarune and character agency, i always assumed the darkners' agency being tied to the lightners' will was a direct parallel to the player character's agency (kris) being tied to the *player's* will (us), and that by making this the game's narrative (darkners are on a plane below lightners and are considered, in a way, less 'real', despite several having desires to break away from this hierarchy) the game is trying to call into question our relationship with the game itself, with the world itself. if the relationship between lightners and darkners feels unfair, then our relationship to kris should be in question as well. characters all have roles to play, but isn't that strange? why the prophecy, why the repetition, why do we, ultimately, have so much control? what gives us the right? it's all layers. us, lightners, darkners, imagine your whole world living and dying at the hands of gods that, out of boredom, could easily abandon you one day, or even destroy you? gods you were made to love and serve, and around you everyone says without them you can never be whole. who wouldn't want to rebel? i think if you're an advocate for kris's agency, you have to advocate for the darkners' agency. for ralsei's agency outside of kris or the prophecy or anything he's meant to do. i think kris and ralsei are narrative foils in this regard, one who blindly accepts his fate, and the other who tries to escape it, a character who does whatever he's told and a character who forcefully slips from our grasp. it just feels like set up to me for a lot more than 'escapism.' i'd say the main themes here are fate, agency, choice and control. even the mystery voice at the start of the game has their plans messed with by the other voice choosing to discard our vessel. every character is grasping at something they can't have, even ralsei can't have his narrative go the way he's planned because susie keeps surprising him lol

yes that's true!!! i would also argue that 'identity' is packaged in with these themes - deltarune is written in such a way where characters are not just grappling with fates and choices outside of their control, but also grappling with roles that they seemingly cannot escape.

the darkners are fantastical & metafictional version of this idea, given that they are both objects who need to be useful in order to not be abandoned and also npcs who serve an rpg-genre narrative function. ralsei especially fulfills several rpg archetypes as the friendly healer companion and as the guide npc. every major darkner has some kind of conflict involving the role they were made to play, whether it's lancer as "the bad guy" or spamton as "the spam email." even queen, who is extremely enthusiastic about her role, runs into issues because she is so zealous that she does not grasp what the lightners might actually want and need.

susie and noelle fulfill a more realistic version of this: the labels of bully and nice girl respectively are roles that neither of them exactly chose, but through a mix of environmental & psychosocial factors and a dose of self-fulfilling prophecy, neither of them know how to escape. berdly, while mostly comedic, is also a character who deals a lot with his real-world designation of "smart guy." susie breaks loose somewhat of her role in ch1, and we see noelle start to follow suit by the end of ch2. given that their existence isn't directly tied to their roles the way the darkners' are, it makes sense that they'd start to question and challenge these first.

kris, as befitting of their protagonist role, fulfills both versions of the idea. their role in the light world is an outcast who lives in their brother's shadow, and in the dark world, they're viewed as a prophesized hero. but they don't have full agency in either of these identities at all. they're being controlled by us, and the perceptions of them as an outcast and hero respectively are imposed onto them by other people.

meanwhile, almost all the other lightner npcs are different versions of characters we met in undertale. i would argue that this is another form of imposed identity, albeit one they aren't aware of. WE view them as their identities from undertale. I highly suspect that this will be something played with a lot more as future chapters go on.

the themes of choice & control all interlock with this idea of imposed identity. in a world where nobody can choose who they are, is it possible for people to eventually break out of what they are assumed to be...?

it's a game made to make us heavily question both a lot of rpg conventions and especially how we view characters in games. I'm very excited to see how the game will continue to play with its ideas of agency. it's such a brilliant idea to tell a story about fate by explicitly tying it to the way characters and worlds are written in games, and also by tying it to audience perceptions related to toby fox's last game. it's going to be so interesting to see how the characters deconstruct all those expectations!

[cutest-silly-nb]

a story that has been fermenting in my brain is one where kris and ralsei find themselves on the castle roof. there's no adventures to be had. the two of them overlook castle town, and a breeze sweeps through the cold, forever-night air. "do you ever think about dying?" kris asks, more to fill the silence than anything. "Oh, all the time." says ralsei almost immediately. kris doesn't expect this answer, and doesn't really know what to say anyway. there's a few moments of uncomfortable silence. the breeze suddenly feels colder, the stars seem slightly darker. ralsei tries to explain, and hastily says "I often find myself wondering what will happen to the world after I do. Or if I will." kris doesn't understand. they say as much. "Well, I'm not all that important, right? Once I've completed my role in the prophecy, the world won't need me anymore. So-" kris cuts ralsei off before he can continue. "what do you mean?" kris says. they also sometimes feel the world doesn't need them. they're not even entirely sure why they're asking. "Oh, well, that's why I'm here, to guide you and fulfill the prophecy. Once that's done, I'll have done all I need to. And I guess I'll just be... alone again. And then I guess somewhere after that, I'll die." ralsei pauses there. it's a short pause, but kris notices. it's the sort of pause they get every night when they feel particularly existential. after a bit, they say "that's... a really depressing way to think about it." "What?" "the way you say it, it makes it seem like you'll have died long before your brain stops working." ralsei doesn't know what to say to that. "you aren't born with one specific purpo-" "Yes I am. I exist to guide you, and be your friend. It's all in the prophecy." "maybe that's why you were created," kris says, not entirely sure what they're saying. they feel like the words are coming from a place of pure emotion now, and the feeling is new. "but now you're not just a guide. you're... you, you're ralsei. just like susie is susie and noelle is noelle and my brother is my brother." "I... think I see what you mean, but you're all Lightners. I'm a Darkner, and I was created to be your guide. I can't just-" "yes you can. you're alive now. you can do anything." a tiny laugh comes from kris's pocket. both kris and ralsei pretend to not have heard it. "you have meaning just because you're you." and as they say it they realize it's true. "...I... ..." ralsei is silent for a while. "I've... never had meaning just for being me before." "i don't know what life was like before we came along, but you have meaning. you always will, too. you're meaningful in so many ways." kris is a little surprised hearing their own voice. they've never talked with this much emotion before. "you don't have to be a guide, or a friend, or anything else. you're just ralsei, and you always have been." there's a long silence. kris's brain catches up with what they've said. ralsei starts to cry. it's a quiet sort of cry, the sort of cry you make when you're embarrassed about your crying but can't hide it so you're not trying to hide it too hard. "Having friends... is a lot of pressure..." "yeah it is. but since you're alive, here's the cool thing. you have friends to support you." they're parroting something noelle told them once, and the truth of it is only sinking in now. "It's a lot of pressure because... if I'm just me, and all of me, and I'm alive and can do anything... what should I do." "what you think is right." noelle said that too. kris wraps ralsei into a hug. "this is right, i think. it feels right." it does.

[darkhugprince]

"It looks kind of like..." (this quote isn't about Asriel)

A common point suggesting that Asriel and Ralsei look alike and thus it makes Ralsei's state of being uncomfortable is to cite Noelle's words when she sees Susie and Ralsei hanging out together. People claim that Noelle states that Ralsei looks like Asriel to Kris, making it clear that they're the same or super similar.

Firstly, let's make sure we're clear on the exact wording that Noelle uses. There have been iterations of this dialogue passed around before. These iterations have included:

"That looks like Asriel."

"He looks like Asriel."

"He looks kind of like..." (Asriel)

"They look like..."

etc. Here is, verbatim, what Noelle says:

The exact wording here is important, because it leads into a couple points that I'm going to make in regard to this not being about Asriel at all. Points are ordered in strength (with the weakest point first, and the strongest point last):

Point 1: It/its is a pretty rude way of referring to someone. (who hasn't expressly said those are their pronouns)

Now that we have the exact wording, we can presume the only way this referring to an Asriel similarity makes sense is with wording like this: "It looks kind of like Asriel".

Except, uh... that's a pretty odd way to word it, isn't it? (Followed up after "Who's that person she's with?" in particular.) The reason why the pronoun is changed in these iterations is because... well, nobody really refers to a person that they don't know like this. Both they and he would make more sense here, and it also falls more in line with Toby's writing style.

Noelle is generally a polite sort of person. The idea that she would intentionally use that kind of wording for him just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Point 2: No recognition? No suspicion?

This will go into point 3 some, but it starts off with the idea that if this is supposed to be Noelle thinking Ralsei looks like Asriel, it is a little odd that she a) doesn't seem to pay attention to him first, and b) starts off asking who he even is.

Here's the thing: when you recognize someone in public, your reaction is not going to be, "Who is that?" That wouldn't be the first question someone asks; it's pretty nonsensical. If someone you see in public looks similar to someone you know, you're most likely going to react instead with, "Am I seeing things? Is that... x? From x?" or something akin to that. Not like who you're looking at is a complete stranger.

In addition, Asriel is supposed to be off at college by now, so that would make his appearance here even more surprising. An Asriel lookalike in this space where he decidedly shouldn't be? Suspicious.

Point 3: This is not the response you have toward someone who looks like a close friend you've known since childhood.

Beyond this particular interaction, Noelle doesn't interact much with Ralsei at all nor seem to take any particular interest in him. In fact, he's left so little an impression, when Noelle drinks RALSEI TEA in this chapter, she says, "There's nothing in here!" That suggests absolutely no impression at all. Hell, she might not even remember he exists.

If she was genuinely curious about Ralsei's supposed connection to Asriel, she likely would at least want to ask him, right? Yet, she completely drops wondering anything about Ralsei after this (completely optional) interaction.

There's no shock. There's no fanfare. It's not followed up on, despite one very crucial fact that makes that behavior from Noelle decidedly odd if she's comparing him to Asriel: Noelle is or at least was close to Asriel, enough to be on nickname basis with him; she always calls him "Azzy" in her dialogue. The idea she has no impression at all of Ralsei when he supposedly looks so similar to her friend is... Absolutely boggling to believe, to be honest.

So what was it she was going to say, then?

Well, here's my guess:

"It looks kind of like they're on a date."

Not only does this make sense contextually (they kind of do look like that, to a stranger), but that would be in-character and in-line for Noelle's behavior throughout the chapter. She does try to "sus out" Susie's relationships to other characters, and... well, we don't need to talk about how she gets when Berdly confesses to liking Susie himself.

[moonfang256]

This is gonna be me during Deltarune's Chapter 3:

❤️ <( Going back to the rabbit hole, huh? I don't know what's going to happen, but I believe we need to play our cards carefully from now on.

…

Look, I don't really want to control you, not anymore, but even if I say "no" you wouldn't allow me to do that, right? You want me to control you because you and Ralsei need me to stay so I can do some stuff for you and your friends, am I correct?

❤️ <( You see, I'm a player who play videogames and you sadly became the main character from this game world, and the only being who can hold and handle my soul well.

❤️ <( Without me or if I die you die, and if someone else grabs me, well… I don't really know what's going to happen. Whoever does it will probably end up dead, so my existence in this place, something that you, Ralsei, and a certain someone watching us not gonna like.

❤️ <( If I've to be honest: I genuinely ended loving and caring too much about your world, your friends, even you mostly, and I don't want anyone to get hurt. That's why I'm willing to help and stay until everything is done. After this, I just want to go, and I'll probably never come back here again.

I'm sorry, it must have been really awful, isn't? You had to deal with so much stuff by yourself…

I won't bother you anymore with anything, so I'll try to make things easier for you. I'll respect your agency, but I'll also keep my distance to moderate things.

❤️ <( What do you want us to do now?

❤️ <( I won't stop you, but I just hope you know what are you doing. Also Ralsei, I know you're listening from afar. No need to pretend anymore, your cute charms don't work with me. *mischievous smirk* Good acting though, but I forgive you anyways.

❤️ <( You both put yourselves into a very horrible situation, I can tell, but I won't say more.

--------

Well, I admit I ended too immersed with the story and the characters. Heck, I even shared my feelings and thoughts through my dreams, my art, and even a little music, but I think it's time for me to step back for now before I get more obsessed and that won't do me any good.

Everything has a limit.

I still have a life to live, some things I need to figure out on my own, study and work, some other games I want to play (I'm even making a fangame of something else), etc.

Man, never a game has ever touched me this personally, messed with my mind and emotions so badly, and even made me vulnerable…

The positive side is: It helped me to be more open and even improve my drawings a little, so I guess it's okay.

[notademon10]

If you did not notice yet, this entire account is litterally a response to SullyTheLightnerd's opinion on Krusie (for the love of GOD don't harrass him, it's just a game), which he thinks is a boring, unoriginal MxF-like ship, that had no actual buildup in the game, and that Toby Fox avoided an annoying, dull trope by favouring Suselle. So, I made some posts about Kris' views on Susie to make a better counterargument to this. But if you want a more personal respones, here goes: I don't think he knows what he's talking about. This is a big claim, but I believe he doesn't understand why certain tropes are the way they are. That isn't without counting the fact that classmate x reformed bully isn't exactly common, and Suselle is full of tropes, even though that's not necessarely a bad thing.

In reddit he gave a bit more detailed explanation for his distaste, and it was that Kris ending up with any of the other party members would ruing his immersion because character x best friend was an annoying overdone trope. Basically what I just said, but slightly more specific.

To his hatred towards the trope, I must ask this: what? If we lived in a world were characters could NEVER have a crush on people close to them, these romance plots would often, but not always, end up REALLY shallow, and depending of the story, might even butcher it's own potential. The reason why this trope happens in the first place is to give that ship weight, to emphatize how much these people care, LOVE each other. And even then, Kris and Susie were anything but best friends at the start of the game.

The other part, about Krusie being First "boy" x first girl ship. Yeah, i know it seems like another overdone trope, but it makes a lot of sense WHY it happens so much, because they're the characters that have interacted and GROWN with each other the most. This isn't a norm, but it's something that happens a lot, which means that perhaps, if one of these characters ends up with another character, this ship might not have as much ground, or even feel disatisfying, because they haven't had as much development, if any. On a related note, if Kris was a girl, then this wouldn't really be a problem, no? Therefore, the only problem here is Kris' gender, and if we're deciding if Krusie is goog or not based on gender, then I don't know what to tell you. If Noelle was in Kris' place, and with a different gender, would Suselle no be as good of a ship as before? It would be the same thing, with MORE development, but with different gender. So take that as you will.

All in all, I don't wish any harm towards Sully, and I made a promise to myself to not be bitchy about this, as to not emulate that terrible response video from Kooki and Shadowhaxxer to Jaru about Ralsei. I hope I delivered. I'm still thinking about Krusie part 3, which will talk about Susie specifically. Take care❤️

[multiplicity-positivity]

Hey i have a question, how do i develop my own identity as a headmate? i was the host when we figured out we're plural, so i never really did as much self discovery as other headmates did, and i'm now realizing i don't have much of an identity. like i don't have any hobbies or interests outside of out collective ones.

Hi! There’s lots of things you can do to develop your own identity as a headmate outside of your system’s collective interests and identities.

Ralsei (hiya!) put together a template for getting to know other system members a while back. Maybe you could use it to try and get to know yourself?

We’d also recommend doing stuff like:

Answering plural, headmate, and alter ask games! You can find a bunch by searching for the “#plural ask game” and “#system ask game” tags on Tumblr!

Doing self-reflection! Spend some time thinking about yourself and who you are. What do you want in life? What are your aspirations? Does anything stand out to you or sound interesting that may not be exciting for the rest of your system?

And most importantly…

Try! New! Things!

Experiment with everything! Try all sorts of new foods, listen to different kinds of music, try and learn a new skill or hobby that has even passively caught your interest! Play with your gender identity and expression! Question your sexuality and how you experience attraction! Learn about alterhumanity, kintypes, and what it means to be nonhuman! Read all kinds of books and watch lots of different movies and shows! Spend time learning about different religious, philosophies, values, and schools of thought! And through all of this, don’t be afraid if the things that draw your interest vary vastly from what the rest of your system is into. It’s okay to be different, and this process can help you develop into your own headmate with different tastes from the rest of your system!

As you go on this journey of self-discovery, not everything you try is going to click with you. And that’s okay! Just keep trying new things, and as you discover more about who you are, don’t be afraid to express this and be yourself! Of course, this is a process that will likely take some time, so please don’t be too discouraged if you’re having trouble figuring yourself out after a few weeks of experimentation! With time and a willingness to step outside your comfort zone, we really think you may find it gets easier for you to develop your own identity!

Good luck with this! We hope the process of developing your identity goes smoothly for you, and that you can have a lot of fun along the way!

🌷 Corrie and 💚 Ralsei

[corals-corner]

Gimme your thoughts on how you think Spade King's gonna turn out by the end of Deltarune! For example:

Will Spade King have a redemption arc? Why or why not?

How will Spade King's relationships with other characters change? Will they get better or worse? Examples can include Lancer, Queen, Susie, etc.

Do you think any knowledge of Spade King's life before Deltarune will be given? If so, how much, and what?

What role do you think Spade King will have by the end of the game? Will he be a/the king again, a regular citizen, or something else?

What about personality/behavior? Will Spade King change in this regard? If he will, how would he change?

Those are just hypotheticals ofc lol, you can think of more questions if you want :)!

Wooo okay :DDD

1. Yes and no. I think a redemption arc will be started, but we won't see much of it. Since deltarune (likely) takes place over the course of at most 7 days, I feel like a week is too little time to really give him the development he deserves. I do really hope we see him slowly and subtlety begin to change though

2. Overall, I think it can get better over time with everyone. Once he learns about the roaring and how it affects darkners, I think it could help him change his view. Of course, if he listens to what's being told. I do want his relationship with Lancer to improve greatly and I really wanna see their father-son relationship. And I really wanna see his and Queen's relationship develop because I want to know more about them,how their relationship even was, and their past

3. I think the most we'll explicitly see will be either how he met the Knight, or some time right before the lightners left. I don't think we'll be given much story about him or even his childhood as much as i'd love to see it. He'll, we might not even see anything other than just memories told to us but not shown because he's such a disliked and minor sidecharacte, atleast at the moment. I do hope he gets a bigger role at the end and he either stands up to the Knight or we see him directly fighting with them as a sorta final boss battle thing

4. Something I think would fit is him working for Ralsei as a sort of advisor. Since he has experience ruling a kingdom, I think he could help Ralsei out a lot in ruling Castle Town. Of course only if they do talk it out at one point and if King no longer wants to kill him. I don't think the other darkners would want to see him as their king again, or that the lightners would give him the opportunity. But one of my personal thoughts that's probably unrealistic but makes me happy to think about is that he'd have a bakery or a kitchen bc I hc that he likes to cook and bake.

5. I want to imagine he'll stay the same for the most part. He'll still be grumpy and prideful and keep his high sense of justice. I do however think that he'll be calmer and more open to listening to others opinions. Doesn't mean he'll agree with them, but he won't be dismissive or aggressive towards the person. I feel like his personality he has rn is a key part of him so changing it would make him feel like he's a different character

Also, good to see you active again :D

[ghossttoast]

Are we connected?

Chapter three: snack break!

(A/N: I know I said id start writing longer chapters but various stuff irl made it a tad tricky (III╥_╥⁠))

first ,previous next

Kris laid on their couch the same as they had the night before, it had taken them a bit longer to fall asleep, and now they were up early. The Player just disappearing last night was weird, there was obviously some outside force that had caused it, and the way its voice had bugged out as it disappeared was odd. Kris was fine though, it felt more like when Ralsei had somehow sent it away then when they had ripped it out, so they were pretty sure they'd be ok. They should probably enjoy the bits of peace they had, they’d already turned the TV back off so they could lay there until Susie wakes up, exactly what they’d be doing normally.

“Work you stupid-- let's go, I’m in!” And it was back, so much for bits of peace. “Ahaha! I am a god, Gaster trembles before me!” It gloated to itself, “Yo Krispes you can still hear me right?” It asked them

They wish they couldn't

“Oh good! Sorry, I spent like a solid hour trying to get back in, but I’m here now and my stuff is totally broken!” It laughed, forcing Kris off the couch, “So are we up early or what?” It asked as it dragged them around their house, making them examine the items they already knew so well.

Kris is up far earlier than they normally would be, especially for a Saturday

“It's Saturday!? Dude, I totally thought it was Wednesday!” It exclaimed

Well that was stupid of it

“Excuse me for thinking we were gonna start at the start of the week.” It scoffed, “I’m rolling my eyes by the way” It added on, did it even have eyes? “Anyway now we’re missing out on a big chunk of the timeline, so I am unsure what we’re gonna do”

Just hang out? They didn't constantly need to be in dark worlds fighting for their life.

Probably.

Technically, the dark worlds helped them make new/talk to old friends, but technically The Player was also there for all that and there was no way in hell Kris was giving it any credit for that even if it was the only reason they could do any of it. A chill day with Susie would be nice, they could probably spend more time wandering around town, just screwing around without having to worry about saving the world or whatever.

The player walked them over to Susie, who despite its best efforts (spamming “yes” to the “wake her?” prompt that appeared) stayed sound asleep. It then went over to go harass their mother, because this thing constantly needs to be doing something for some Angel forsaken reason.

“Oh, Kris… you’re up early” She yawned, rubbing her eyes

They agree.

“Well, would you like some breakfast?” She asked them, standing up, “Susie is still asleep, but I'm sure she would not mind some pancakes” She mused to herself as she walked into the kitchen.

Kris remained in their spot near her chair, either the player had gotten distracted or it just didn't see a reason for them to move (unlikely, it was constantly doing something), it didn't really matter why though, because the inability to move, to do anything on their own left them feeling out of place in their own home.

After an uncomfortable amount of time, they were moving again, “Yo i’ ‘ack I as ga-in a hack” It… tried to speak? Its voice was sort of muffled, “Whoops, mouth full,” It laughed, because sure why not? It has a mouth, apparently.

Kris took a step, probably to go harass their mom or something, but quickly got cut off as they heard a yelp and a thud behind them. Turning around, they spotted Susie laying face first on the ground, quickly scrambling up in the hopes that no one would notice.

“Hell are you looking at, Kris!?” She demanded, pointing at them accusingly.

“Your tail.” They responded, after the player had imputed how to answer.

Susie quickly checked that any tail that may or may not actually be there was showing before turning back to Kris, “I don't have no tail!”

“Pancakes are ready,” Toriel called to the two, setting plates on the table “And good morning Susie,”

“Oh uh… thanks ma’am.” Susie answered, quickly straightening her posture to a comedic degree before walking over to the table

Kris followed after her, grabbing for the syrup to pour into their cup before eating, as Susie had already finished tearing through hers.

Drinking the syrup earned a confused and maybe distressed “Dude?” From the player, which caused them to snicker in satisfaction, their turn to weird the other out.

“I have some pie as well, if you want some, as long as someone didn't eat it all” She said side eyeing Kris, who swallowed a mouthful of the syrup before shrugging. Toriel just sighed before going to grab the pie and cut a slice off for Susie. “Kris, you may have yours after you finish your pancakes, and no, you may not have more syrup.”

Kris sighed and finished their pancakes before going to cut themself a slice of pie, their mom did not approve of the size of the slice, granting one that was significantly smaller than what they were hoping for. But, pie is pie, they guess.

“Thanks again for the food, ma’am” Susie, said standing up and walking for the door

“Susie, wait, let Kris walk you home” Toriel offered, without asking her child if they feel like doing that, “Kris, walk Susie back to her house,” She said, gently pushing them towards Susie. Kris sighed before walking back out the door, Susie following behind them. “Hey, uh… we don't have to go straight to my house, I don't mind walking around for a bit,” She said once the door had closed behind them.

Good, Kris doubted the player would go anywhere without checking to make sure it had done everything possible first, at least they won't seem like a jerk for wandering around when they were supposed to be taking Susie home. They weren't sure where she lived anyway, so why was she following them and not the other way around? Well, that was a question it seemed they wouldn't be getting an answer to, considering they didn't care enough to ask and Susie probably didn't know either.

[patchwork-crow-writes]

The RalsAlmanac, Volume I

Okay, here it is! A series of essays that will attempt to definitively explain just who or what Ralsei is, referring to scenes from the game as evidence, as well as external sources where appropriate.

There will be some conjecture, as there's just so much we don't know about him, and what little we are given isn't exactly the most revealing. However, I've done my best to cleave as closely to the source material as I can, and I believe there's a strong case to be had here.

Hopefully you'll be able to see where my points come from, or at the very least you'll learn something you didn't know before. Either way, thanks for your consideration!

Volume I - Ralsei Is A Character In A Role-Playing Game.

Self-indulgent reference out of the way, lemme ask you a question.

Who is Ralsei?

It's a question that seems like it should be easy to answer. He's the Prince From The Dark, the third of the three Delta Warriors, he exists to serve the lightners, and is the most precious little cinnamon roll that ever lived. He enjoys baking and crochet, can hold a tune, is a decent interior-decorator, and holds his friends Kris and Susie in very high regard.

Thing is, that's about all you can really say about him without veering into speculation and headcanons, and they're more surface-level observations than anything else. What exactly does "Prince From The Dark" mean, for instance? Prince in what sense, exactly? Ceremonial, or with the actual power that royalty conveys? Where does he rank in comparison to, say, King or Queen, both actual rulers of actual kingdoms? The title of "prince" would suggest that he answers to them, but while they rule their own municipalities, Ralsei's title implies he rules over ALL dark worlds. You could go on asking these questions forever, but I think you see what I'm getting at.

A more productive avenue of questioning might be: What role does Ralsei play in the story of Deltarune? Perhaps more of his underlying character and motivation could be gleaned by looking at what he does for the story and the game. And this would be correct... sort of.

We tend to think of him as the squishy healer of the party, the Heart and moral centre of the Fun Gang. And he absolutely is that, but he's also quite a bit more. He plays all sorts of different roles and character archetypes in the first two chapters of the game, including but not limited to:

the old man whose purpose is to wax poetic about the ancient prophecy...

the know-it-all tutorial fairy who walks you through the basic game mechanics...

the straight-man DM trying to keep everything on the rails...

the young sheltered noble experiencing the outside world for the first time...

the demure love-interest to the main protagonist...

the Polyanna determined to see the good in everybody...

the mysterious waif who knows things he shouldn't...

...eye candy…?

...and so on and so forth.

And so what, I hear you cry. Characters in video games can have more than one personality trait, after all. And yes, this is true! But usually, the different aspects of a character's roles, how they interact with, reinforce or contradict each other, can tell us more about their inner world - what motivates them, what they actively like and dislike... in short, it grants them depth and allows us to engage with them as actual people, rather than just a series of game functions and character traits dressed up in a pretty bow.

But that's not what we see with Ralsei. In fact, far from showing us any real, deep aspect of his character, each new guise he dons and part he plays in the narrative further obfuscates him from us. We learn no new meaningful information from any of these exchanges... except for one thing, but we'll come to that in a moment.

This vexes us, because we WANT to know more about him, but all we end up getting is stock JRPG tropes dressed up in a warm, fluffy coat. There HAS to be something deeper, we reason - he's hiding things from us, so he must be a secret villain. Or his backstory is so tragic, so traumatising, that he cannot properly articulate it to us right now. Or maybe what we see really IS what we get - a simpering, airheaded fool whose only desires in life are to be cute, please his betters and do what he's told. Yet even this explanation seems... unsatisfying, especially since we KNOW he harbours some angst about himself and his sense of identity.

And speaking of which, that one thing we learn? Right at the end of Chapter 2's Acid Tunnel sequence, he utters a single sentence:

This is arguably one of the most significant lines of dialogue in the entire game up to this point. But what does it mean, exactly? I believe most people assume it means he doesn't have a clear sense of who he is outside of his ordained purpose, which is certainly valid, and definitely something I believed for a long time. And yet, this explanation does not deepen our understanding of his character in any meaningful way; looking back over all his interactions with the cast, it does not allow us to glean any further information about him.

And you can say that's because he himself doesn't know what he's like... but again, this doesn't actually change anything, and we just end up with a circular logic trap. We don't know anything because he doesn't tell us anything, and he doesn't tell us anything because he doesn't know anything, so how can we be expected to know anything, except that no-one seems to know anything about him… which is very frustrating to us Ralsei scholars, and gets us no closer to truly understanding him.

But look at what he says again. Really look at it. It’s a very strange way of saying “I don’t really know who I am”, isn’t it? After all, if that’s what he means, then why doesn’t he just say that? I’m certain you’ve realised by now, but it’s because that’s NOT what he’s saying at all. He literally has no clue what being “himself” is supposed to be, because he wasn’t even created with a sense of “Ralsei-ness” in the first place. Little wonder, then, that we can’t discern anything about his internal world, when there is nothing there to be discerned.

But before I elaborate any further, I want to talk about a couple of scenes in Deltarune that are just... puzzling. This is relevant, I promise. The first is during the dialogue with Rouxls Kaard before the rematch with K.Round. Ralsei says something interesting in the lead-up to the fight:

Note Susie’s baffled reaction to this. Then not long afterwards, he continues with:

Throwaway joke, right? We laugh because Susie's right - K. Round and its crown do look exactly the same to us, and so Ralsei's dramatic utterances are deflated and lose their impact. We laugh, beat the boss with Susie's help and forget all about it. But here's the thing - if K.Round looks the same to us, and it looks the same to Susie, and presumably by extension the rest of the in-game characters... when why exactly does Ralsei take the time to insist otherwise?

Is he... lying? Our most precious little boy, guilty of perjury? Say it ain't so! :O

The second scene is in chapter 2 - Queen has challenged us to a game of Punch-Out on her absurdly tall arcade machine, and we can talk to the characters before trying to interact with it. Talk to Ralsei, and if you answer "Gaming is my life" to his prompt, he says this:

Most people don't even come across this in their playthrough, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's new to you reading this. But again, note this strange discrepancy between what Ralsei reports is happening and what Susie says is actually happening. It becomes apparent to most people that Kris can affect the tone of their voice when saying what we tell them to, which affects how the response is taken by other characters and gives us a subtle clue about how they actually feel about certain characters or situations.

Are we to assume, then, that Ralsei isn't actually listening to how Kris says things, but only what they're saying? And if that's correct, then... what does that say about him?

Taken at face-value, within the context of the game, neither of these events really make much sense. It just looks like Ralsei is being overly-dramatic, or lying, or perhaps even insensitive to what their friend is trying to tell him, which doesn't quite track with his per-established shallow traits of kind, all-loving and moralistic. It's perplexing and seemingly out-of-character for him. So it might help to consider, in each of these scenarios, who exactly Ralsei is talking to.

Is it Kris and/or Susie? This would make the most sense, but it's actually not that likely, considering the aforementioned discrepencies between his descriptions and Susie's observations. So is it himself? Again, if he can see things the same as everyone else in-game, that wouldn't make much sense, because then he's just saying stuff that... isn't true? Or in the latter example's case, just completely ignoring what Kris is saying, which doesn't seem to entirely gel with what we know about him.

So, who does that leave? Well, the only other person - or should I say entity - who is present for both of those scenes is... us. The player of Deltarune. And that might seem even stranger than the previous options, until you realise what it is he's actually doing - providing flavour text, additional exposition informing us of details that we wouldn't - or shouldn't - be able to make out on a pixelated display with no voice-acting, attempting to give us a richer sense of these events in order to increase our sense of immersion in the game and world of Deltarune. In effect, he's playing the part of a character in a role playing game, doling out “flavour text” that contradicts another character’s experience of the same scenes, and he's doing it entirely for OUR benefit. Not Kris’s, not Susie's – ours.

He tells us that K.Round's crown is different, and that it is in pain from its forced control, to try and increase the stakes of the fight, and to give us a motivation that's not "here's the exact same boss again lul". He responds to Kris's words the way he does, not because he doesn't understand the nuances of their tone, but to try and amp us up for the upcoming challenge, and to validate our choice when we select the dialogue option "Gaming is my life". Because we cannot hear Kris's tone of voice - and Ralsei knows that. To him, Kris's tone literally doesn't matter, because he doesn't believe it matters to us in that exact moment.

And here’s the thing: if not for Susie’s asides immediately contradicting him, we’d likely take what he says here as what’s actually going on. To Ralsei, the reality he and his friends experience is not important – it’s the image of that reality that he’s trying to convey to the player. It’s like he knows he’s part of a game, meant just for us to experience and enjoy, as opposed to a real world filled with real people having real experiences.

And the reason I brought this up is to illustrate what I believe Ralsei to actually be - namely, that he a walking, talking, singing and dancing amalgam of stock JRPG characters and tropes that's trying very hard to present as an actual person, to the point of knowing absolutely nothing about who he even is outside of that. Put in even blunter terms, he's literally a fluffy goat-shaped vehicle to set the player on their journey through the game, to keep them playing and to keep them invested. People looking for deeper aspects of his character come up short and are disappointed because they're looking for something that does not currently exist.

And just so that I'm clear, I do not mean that Ralsei is "acting", or that he's "wearing a mask", because that would imply that there was actually something underneath his "facade" to begin with. No, this is who the Prince of the Dark is - a very convincing fascimile of a person, following his directive to ensure that the story of Deltarune is resolved, and that the game of Deltarune is played to completion. And once you realise that, a lot of things that Ralsei says and does that seemed strange before suddenly make a lot more sense.

As for the why... well, that'll have to wait for another time. But hopefully you can begin to see how my future essays in this series all tie in to this one, because I think you can only really understand those with the framework that this text provides. I hope that my reasoning made sense and wasn't too difficult to follow, but I'll be happy to provide additional information, clarification, or even just discussion on any aspect of this essay... even if we just wind up (respectfully) agreeing to disagree. Would love to hear what people thought about this!

Thanks for reading!

[kaunaz]

aight i figure i should toss in my own Deltarune theory instead of just responding to someone else's. so let's talk about Ralsei.

this turned out to be a long-ass post, so get comfy.

so many people suspect Ralsei will turn out to have been Evil All Along, no doubt helped by his similarities to Flowey and possible connection to this universe's Asriel. he knows quite a lot about the mechanics of the Deltarune game, including how those tie into the player's keyboard. he keeps trying to ensure we follow a specific path through the Dark Worlds. he (previously) insisted on Kris being the absolute leader and submitting to them no matter what. and he clearly knows far more about the history of Dark Worlds, the nature of Dark Fountains, and the Light World itself than any other Darkner, and for some reason is very reluctant to tell us anything we don't absolutely need to know.

on one hand, i agree with the sentiment that Ralsei is hiding something Big. we haven't encountered any other "pure" Darkner (one born from the Grand Fountain), and he appears to have been alone for quite some time. he practically jumped at the chance to tell us the prophecy of the Three Heroes, but only told us about the Roaring out of desperation, and has yet to explain who or what the Titans or Angel's Heaven are.

but on the other... i can't agree that Ralsei's evil. for one, he definitely does NOT want to cause the Roaring, and i'm not budging on this. he wouldn't be having us seal the fountains if he wanted that. for two, while he's definitely a bit manipulative, the only goal i can glean from his more questionable behaviors is to keep us on track to seal the Fountains, without asking too many questions or becoming too violent. for three, having preconceived notions about how things should go isn't evil. when you spend so long waiting for something to happen, eventually you're going to build up an idea of what's going to happen, and it will inevitably happen differently than you're expecting. and it appears Ralsei has been waiting for this for a long time.

the previous paragraph assumes that Ralsei is telling the truth about the legend, the Roaring, and everything associated with it. if he's lying, that throws literally everything we've learned about Dark Worlds into question, and we end up with a scenario where literally anything is possible. if that's the case, i can't reasonably speculate on it because there'd be nothing to base my speculations on. so i'm going to continue assuming he's telling the truth.

what do i think is going on, you ask?

simple. Ralsei is trying to protect Kris and Susie to the furthest of his ability.

we know that Ralsei knew who Kris and Susie were before they arrived. and not only does he know the exact layout of the Light World, he understands its systems and culture well enough to know and agree that Kris and Susie should be doing their homework instead of slacking off in the Dark World. that tells me he's been watching the Light World for a long time, and probably knows things about Hometown that even Kris doesn't. he also knew exactly where the Cyber World was and how to get there, despite the library not being physically connected to the school. (how he got there isn't important - yet.)

with this level of insight into the Light World, i think it's reasonable to assume that Ralsei knows exactly who the Roaring Knight is.

remember that the Knight MUST be a Lightner, as Darkners are incapable of opening Fountains themselves. i'd have to replay Deltarune to be certain, but i don't think Ralsei ever brings up the Knight once. one would think that if he didn't know what was going on, he'd at least ask some questions about the Knight's identity. him saying nothing about it tells me that he knows much more than he's willing to let on.

i think Ralsei knowing who the Knight is would explain why he doesn't want to tell Kris and Susie more than they need to know. for all of his knowledge and apparent power, he cannot control what they do in the Light World. and if they were to know who the Knight is, there's a possibility that they would attempt to confront the Knight in the Light World, where they don't have any special powers or weapons. while the jury is still out as to whether or not the Knight is just as powerful in the Light World, they are clearly very good at manipulating Darkners, and it's likely they're good at manipulating Lightners too. and whatever they're trying to accomplish by opening Fountains, they are either 1) willing to risk destroying the world as we know it, 2) actively trying to destroy the world, or 3) unaware of the risks and maybe a bit insane. they are a dangerous person, and i understand why Ralsei would want us to avoid confronting them directly, at least without being as prepared as possible.

and since the Knight is so dangerous, i believe Ralsei is also trying to keep the Knight from figuring out who Kris and Susie are, or at least what they're doing. if the Knight knew who was going behind their back and sealing the Fountains, they'd probably go after the culprits in the Light World, and who knows what they'd be willing to do to achieve their goal. once again, Ralsei can't protect Kris and Susie outside of the Dark World, not directly. the best he can do is make sure they don't start the fight themselves.

come to think of it, that may be part of why Ralsei's obsessed with keeping Kris and Susie on track. the less time they spend in the Dark Worlds the Knight creates, the less time the Knight has to figure out who's missing from the Light World. perhaps the roles that Ralsei expects the party to have also play into this somehow? i'm not really sure on that one.

either way, i really don't think Ralsei's evil. while there are certainly better ways he could be handling the situation, at the end of the day, he just doesn't want Kris and Susie to get hurt. whether that's because he cares about them or solely because he needs them to stop the Roaring, it's too early to tell. all i'm saying is that i get why someone who knows THAT much about what's going on might want to keep some things a secret.

yes, i know i didn't talk about Ralsei not knowing exactly who he is, or why he talks about his identity as some sort of role he needs to fill, but that's beyond the scope of this theory. so is the fact that the prophecy was "foretold by time and space" and the possibility of connections to Gaster that raises. that's some weird shit, for sure, but i don't think it's relevant to deciding if he's evil or not.

[lancerious]

Ok here's the revised Deltarune tier list, I used a different list altogether and added some characters this time because I felt like it.

Soooo I'm not too sure what to do here, so many characters have moved places, let alone more being added...I guess I'll just talk about uh...everybody :P.

Btw I actually remembered to take screenshots of each individual tier this time, as well as make each tier its own distinct color so there is minimal confusion :D.

Starting with the "Absolute faves <3" tier...

#1: Lancer. Don't really have anything to say about Lancer lol, he's still at the very top of the list and always will be. Though, not a day goes by where I don't love Lancer that much more <3.

#2: Spade King. I'm calling King Spade King every time now regardless of context, deal with it :P. I'd say I like Spade King more than I used to, and not a day goes by where I want to scream at how horribly he gets misrepresented by the Deltarune community I SWEAR TO GOD-

Uh anyway, next tier :P.

#1: Rouxls Kaard. Yeah my opinion on Rouxls Kaard hasn't changed at all, I still think he's as awesome as ever. I'm waiting for the day when Rouxls actually reveals how competent and powerful he really is and utterly decimates the entire Lightner team (and Ralsei) :>.

#2: Jevil. Ok, truth be told, there are some days when I think I like Susie more than Jevil, and then there are days like today when I like Jevil more than Susie. It is a continuous cycle and I for the LIFE of me can't make up my mind >-<. Jevil will stay where he is for now, partly because I have so much history with the jester. I don't like Jevil any less than I used to though--I arguably like him even more. It's just that I'm having a deeper appreciation for Susie as the days go by. Speaking of which...

#3: Susie. Man I freaking love Susie, I love Susie more than I ever used to. I literally bought the Rude Buster shirt from Fangamer not too long ago and I GOT A SUSIE PIN AND SOME ART OF HER AND NOELLE I LOVE IT :D. Ok but yea Susie rocks, love her so much, don't know if I like her more than Jevil yet, therefore she's staying put until further notice.

#4: Rudinn. RUDINN IS SO GODDAMN UNDERRATED. YOU ALL BETTER LIKE RUDINN MORE AFTER THIS OR I WILL COME TO YOUR HOUSE AND TALK TO YOU ABOUT RUDINN FOR TEN HOURS STRAIGHT. I WANT TO SEE MORE RUDINN FANS RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW.

#5: Kris. Kris has moved up! Albeit slightly! I think Kris is the first character to actually move in my list lol. Honestly my opinion on Kris hasn't really changed. It's more my opinion on other characters that's changed. Kris is still awesome and a great protagonist :D.

#6: Rudinn Ranger. Ok so upon reflection, I realize I may have ranked Rudinn Ranger a BIT too high last time lol. I still love them and find them SUPER interesting, but they just don't get enough screen time. Someone start a petition for Toby Fox to give Rudinn Rangers more screen time, pls and ty :>.

#7: Berdly. BERDLY MAH MANNNNNN, I love Berdly SO MUCH more now you have no idea. Guy was a GODSEND in Chapter 2 I kid you not. TOTALLY understand why some love him so much, honestly deserves more attention than Noelle imo.

Next!

#1: Ralsei. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I like Ralsei A LOT more compared to before. I literally have no idea why, nothing has really changed, but I just do. Genuinely confused at myself ngl :P.

#2: Spamton. SPAMTON HYPEEEEE, I REALLY like Spamton now :D. My opinion on him honestly keeps going higher and higher, though I doubt he'll be able to move past this tier.

#3: Seam. Another one I genuinely can't believe, I actually like Seam more than Swatch now. And a lot of other characters they were initially behind. But yet here we are, can confidently say Seam is INCREDIBLY underrated and deserves more love <3.

#4: Hathy. My opinion on Hathy hasn't really changed too much, I just kinda like them more for no reason. Also the fact that they don't talk is pretty cool, they must be the ones every other Darkner goes to for ranting and general babbling lol.

#5: Swatch. Still love Swatch, nothing's changed regarding that. I just like other characters more now :P. Also we need more silly interactions between Swatch and Rouxls Kaard, whether implied or not, simply because they're hilarious.

#6: Head Hathy. Uhhhh I got nothing for the Head Hathys, I still think they're the same as regular Hathys with a different color palette, albeit Head Hathys do seem slightly more aggressive.

#7: Swatchling. Swatchlings are still cool. Nothing else really left to say here :P.

Moving on!

#1: Tasque Manager. Tasque Manager is...still not bad lol. Nothing's changed since the previous tier list, just like the Swatchling :P.

#2: Queen. Holy guacamole Queen moved up an entire goddamn tier. This might be because I added more characters this time around lol, but yeah, I do like Queen more than I used to! I still don't find her great, but she's ok :).

#3: Noelle. I'm even more surprised by this one. As much as I love to bash on Noelle sometimes, I truthfully don't hate her and think she's a decent character. I just don't vibe with her much, which is ok!

#4: Sweet Cap'n Cakes. Like I did last time, I'm grouping 'em all together. My opinion on them hasn't changed either, I still think they're decent and have some intriguing lore.

#5: Addison. This applies to all four Addisons--this specific tier list only had the yellow one. All are fine, they offer Spamton lore which is cool, though I could say this for Swatch as well. Idk, never really got the type around 'em, but they're not bad.

Neeeeeeeext :P.

#1: Rudolph Holiday. Decided to add this guy in even though he only appears in Hometown. Rudolph is...ok I guess. I don't really like him, but eh, he has some intrigue I suppose.

#2: Werewerewire. Opinion hasn't changed on Werewerewires, they're ok, imply some interesting stuff, the end.

#3: Werewire. Same as Werewerewires but less interesting :P.

#4:. Mr. Society. I literally had to look up this guy's name lol, same with the next character. Mr. Society is all right, but MAN he doesn't do ANYTHING! He just exists, it's no wonder nobody talks about him :/.

#5: Mr. Elegance. My opinion on this character is exactly the same as Mr. Society, but I like Mr. Elegance slightly less because I prefer Mr. Society's design.

And finally...

#1: Clover. My opinion on Clover hasn't changed at all, I think she's super unique in terms of design and execution, but I for the LIFE OF ME can't bring myself to like her. I sincerely apologize to all Clover fans >-<.

#2: Jigsaw Joe. Pretty sure this is the one Jigsawry you could buy something from. I don't like him, I think he and the other Jigsawrys--or is it Jigsawries?--by extension are super annoying ;-;.

#3: Jigsawry. Just don't like 'em, find them annoying, moving on.

#4: Mallius. Looking back I should probably put Mallius above Jigsawry and Jigsaw Joe, but can't bring myself to correct it because I still don't like him and he would be in the same tier anyway :P.

#5: K. Round. K. Round is literally the one character I outright despise. It offers nothing to the story except as a blockage to prevent you from progressing, and ITS BOSS FIGHT IS SO LONG, AND IT HAS TWO OF THEM?? Genuinely WHY? It serves NO purpose other than to be annoying, and for that, it deserves this spot.

Honorable mention here is C. Round, I would include it but it wasn't on the list. I hate C. Round even more because it's literally completely useless, and turns into K. Round twice, whom I also despise >:/.

Ok that's it, hopefully my opinions on the Deltarune characters don't majorly change until future chapters come out because I swear if I have to redo this ONE MORE TIME-

[transgender-industrial-complex]

Ralsei Speculation

Who, and what, is Ralsei? There's a lot of mystery that remains there, and it's a fun thing to think about.

I suspect that Ralsei is Kris's ideal self, cast from what remains of their soul after the player's invasion of Kris's body. I also believe that Kris discarded their soul quite intentionally. What remains of their bodily autonomy is working in conjunction with Ralsei to accomplish some goal that is kept secret from the player. Frankly, I suspect the Deltarune prophecy itself is a lie fabricated to lead the player along in ignorant cooperation with that objective, whatever it may be.

There are a few key moments where it seems that Kris is deliberately keeping information from the player by exerting some level of control over their body, and in which Ralsei has conversations with Kris in the player's absence. It's also rather odd that Ralsei clearly benefits from the opening and subsequent sealing of dark fountains. One would suspect that, given Ralsei's faith in the gang and desire for companions, he would encourage the opening of additional fountains. They can be closed quickly, so no worries, right?

I think that is resolved when you note that there is some odd -- and, I suspect, deliberate -- inconsistency regarding who has the power to close dark fountains. Ralsei has gone between saying any lightener can do it and that only Kris can do it. I think both of these statements are true- with the caveat that only the lightener who opened a particular dark fountain can close it. Kris, having been responsible (in my view) for all three plot-relevant fountains so far, is also solely capable of closing them, and of reaping the benefits for themself and their dark world counterpart, Ralsei.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that the act of opening a dark fountain sets the soul loose and creates a new dark prince. Kris opened the fountain at the school, and in doing so made their body an empty vessel suitable for possession by the player. They probably would have died, if not for the player's connection. This provides another justification for discouraging the other lighteners from opening dark fountains, creating the myth of the roaring to avoid letting the player in on some of the more locally/personally existentially horrifying parts of the plot.

I think we get even more support for this idea that Ralsei and Kris are two parts of the same whole from (and I feel silly writing this, but) tea theory. A good friend's tea heals for 120 points. Noelle's tea heals Kris for 70 pts and Ralsei for 50 points. Summed? 120 points. Conversely, Noelle is healed 70 by Kris tea and 50 by Ralsei tea. 120 points, together. Possibly a coincidence, but I choose to believe it's intentional.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is one thing that I find interesting, however, which could upset many of the underlying assumptions made above. To my knowledge, no character in the game has ever described Ralsei's appearance, outside of being shocked by it or expressing familiarity. Noelle says, "it looks kind of like..." and trails off. You are expected to mentally finish that sentence with "Asriel", but it is deliberately cut short. I don't recall Susie ever saying anything about Ralsei's resemblance to the members of the Dreemurr family, despite having had Toriel as a teacher. There is a possibility that the dark prince has an appearance which reflects something about the being beholding it.

Perhaps the beholder's idea of an authority is presented. Kris's parents, Noelle's mother - and though we know little of Susie's home life, we do know that she doesn't care much for being bossed around. Or perhaps the dark prince seeks to gain emotional leverage by taking a form similar to someone their observer misses. Asriel, off to college, or... Dess...

I know, I know, I'm painting the fluffy boy in a negative light and I fully expect to be roasted for it, if this post is even noticed by anyone. Just know all of this is a fair bit nicer than my previous model for Ralsei, which I think is best summed up by the phrase "soul parasite". Maybe I'll elaborate on that concept later.

[legitimatesatanspawn]

Just felt like tossing this out: I still don't trust Ralsei. He's slowly getting better in Ch2 but Ch1? I flat out don't trust him and I have very good reason not to. He's cute and genuinely sweet, but...

The Prophecy was displayed in such a way that we are led to think that the Lightners and Darkner Prince are the party. They could be. Hell they probably are. But... Ralsei's kingdom is desolate. Even the castle grounds itself is quite literally a ghost town (both in terms of design being similar to the Blook family houses and in how barren it is of people). We're not allowed in the castle at that time or even into the inn or shops.

With how many Darkners and how long their history is implied to be in Spade King's area, I find it more probable that that Fountain is older. Our entry to the Dark World felt more like a summoning or a newly formed Fountain creating that connection. The place we first appeared is too broken up and empty in comparison to any other area of the game to be anything but the outskirts of their world's edge. Hell, the game even calls it in the Legend: "three heroes appear at world's edge".

Ralsei promised he'd be there to help seal the Fountain. It was suggested that we needed three people there. And guess what? We only had two people of the three to seal it because Lancer was busy (whether you kill Spade or not) and the throne room area was blocked off. But when Ralsei whipped off his hat this spooked Susie because he looks just like a young Asriel. We were, both Kris and the Player, were rushed out.

So instead of sealing the Fountain, the player's SOUL was... bathed in the dark? And the two Lightners saw the Deltarune world for what it was: a collection of toys. Yet we still were able to go back and this time and while it was barely a day for Kris and Susie, I'm not entirely sure that Ralsei was joking when he said he waited "so long" for them to return.

Lancer was even the first Darkner we see in the Dark World. But he attacked us. Which... isn't really something that'd keep him from joining, but his father Spade King just like Jevil was manipulated by the Knight. There's also the assumption that the Knight is the same entity that manipulated Spamton. So Lancer thinking he has to be the bad guy just goes to show how much the Knight has twisted everything up.

And then there's the fact that Ralsei said he was given the prophecy "by time and space", and when you speak with Seam about being heroes he is amused. Jevil could've seen some portents of the future but given his actions only Seam gave them any thought as time went on. And Ralsei straight up knows the mechanics of the world. He knows where the "Light World" forms of everyone are. And of course it is from him we learn about the Roaring and the consequences of making too many Dark Fountains.

I still think that Ralsei is the red horn headband Kris had as a kid. Which raises so many questions on why an artifact of Kris's childhood would be so sketchy. Clingy I understand given he lives alone and the whole macaroni manual is right out of a little kid's playbook around where I live.

So everything both in the backstory and right now as you play is being set up to either consolidate the Dark World into Ralsei's domain for whatever reason, or just plain destroy the other Dark Fountains and their surroundings. If Spade King was set up by the Knight to become just a villain in the game, to make the Card Kingdom's Fountain the target instead of the true newly formed one..

Ralsei thinks the new fountain was Spade's but it just doesn't make sense. The fountain gives substance to the land beneath them. And the fountain seen "on the horizon" isn't necessarily the one you think it is.

Ralsei clearly knows more about the Dark World and how it connects with the Light World but I have no idea if he's aware of the endgame. He just wants friends.

[the-unrelated-theorist]

Forgettable?

So, the first place we learn that resets and loads lead to the reset-er being forgotten is during the ASRIEL DREEMURR fight, at the end of True Pacifist. Which lines up with our friends never remembering us or anything we did, just a vague feeling of deja vu when they meet us for the first time.

This brings up questions about a lot of the characters, and why being forgotten is such a recurring theme. Like, if being forgotten is a property of resetting/loading, why is Papyrus "forgettable"? Why can no one remember the Blooks' real names (and, somewhat relevant, where the heck did Ruins Dummy go and why is no one looking for them)? Why is sans worried about forgetting his 3 friends in the picture (and who the heck are they???)?

And then, over in Deltarune, it's not that nobody remembers Dess, but Noelle is the only one looking for her. And being forgotten must be something that's bugging Dess, because she's the one telling us "don't forget, I'm with you in the dark", almost like, maybe she's being brave about where she is. Also, the song was very corrupted in Chapter 2. If this ends up becoming a trend in future chapters, with an increasing amount of corruption, could that be a symbol of Dess' increasing corruption within in the void? Possibly of her being forgotten by more and more people who knew her?

Speaking of the void, I might as well bring in the most well-known forgotten character. Yeah, Gaster was shattered across time and space, most likely when he fell into either the Core or the darkness that he opened in Entry 17; but since it takes Determination to save/load/reset and Gaster was doing Determination experiments at the same time he was building the Core and running the Entry 17 experiment, we don't yet know that Gaster being shattered wasn't simply the result of, perhaps, a literal explosion of Determination that shattered him. (And if this is the case, it would certainly explain how Dess can be trapped in the void without being completely forgotten- she simply wasn't shattered).

And then there's the evidence that Kris may have reset, and that's why they can remember Susie and Ralsei, but they don't remember Kris.

And I still feel like SFB is relevant here. Even if it's not directly connected to Undertale or Deltarune, it is definitely a very. big. clue. as to how characters gain self-awareness, and they do NOT reach this achievement without causing major corruption to the world around them. We see this with Flowey and ASRIEL DREEMURR, how they can drag us into some nightmarish black... well, void, in order to try to destroy us. Spamton is the epitome of a corrupted save file, and Jevil can do anything, including manipulating the room (the world?) into a revolving carousel (not to mention that Jevil's cell door, and the cell beyond, appear to be outside of normal game space; plus, there's his insistence that he's the only one who's free).

And while were talking about self-aware Darkners, what about Ralsei? The little guy sure seems to know a lot more than he should, eh? And it's not like he's not unforgettable- he was surprised when Susie remembered his Pacify spell after fighting Spade King, and Queen straight-up forgot all about him when she caged up everyone else upon our arrival at her mansion.

And, while I don't feel like his character matches any of these examples- he sure ain't self-aware, he can't manipulate anything, he turned himself into a jackass and a moron- I'm still gonna throw Berdly into this mix, because he described himself as a "forgettable little bluebird," and I think anybody who is easily forgotten should be in this post.

One more thing about Papyrus: why does sans never mention him by name? And if Noelle really did hatch Papyrus from an egg, why can't she remember his name? And why does it bug her so much that she can't?

[multiplicity-positivity]

hi!! So, I'm really confused, and you're the only blog I know of to ask-

So, I'm the host, I discovered my system some months ago, when in my headspace, i can either only barely make out my own appearance, or I'm vaguely "me" (p much like the body), it's a little hard for me to visualize myself usually

Within the past week or two, upon trying to interact in headspace, I now can clearly see myself, however everytime I look like a v specific design of a character from my current hyperfixation, not even my favorite or a character I kin, it feels random?

So, my first thought was maybe we have a new fictive, but I only just watched the source recently and I haven't had anything too bad happen lately asides from stress, tho I don't know much about how splits work in my system yet-

My second thought is maybe this is just bc of being autistic? And being hyperfixated? But again I feel like if that was the case it would be the character design I'm hyperfocused on?

Idk, sorry this is rambley, I've been trying to figure this out and have gotten v confused and think I need a second opinion !! Thank you in advance ^^;

Hiya! Um, we’re not sure what kind of system you are, but we can say that many systems develop headmates for a huge variety of different reasons!! It’s not unheard of for a system to develop headmates due to their special interests, hyperfixations, or as a result of their neurodivergencies! :3

But like, if your system is traumagenic (whether fully or mixed origins), it would probably be a good idea to rule out trauma as a potential origin for this new headmate rather than just assuming they formed due to a hyperfixation. And it’s possible for both trauma and a hyperfixation to play a role in the formation of a new headmate!!

And, they may not be a headmate at all! If this is how you view yourself in your headspace, that may just be what’s happening, without being more complicated than that! Headspaces are visualization tools of fantasy and imagination, and what’s seen in the headspace doesn’t always have to be an indication of some deeper inner-system workings!! If that makes sense? Sorry if that sounds weird >_<

But like, within our paracosm, some members of our system appear as Jedi (from the Star Wars universe)! They’re not actually Jedi, and the presence of these alters as Jedi doesn’t mean we’ve obtained new fictives in our system… that’s just how these members present themselves when they’re engaging with the paracosm! Sorry if that doesn’t make much sense. Our system has a headspace that’s separate from our paracosm, but other systems may find these two things are one in the same! Basically it’s up to you to choose how you appear in your headspace, and just because you look different in the headspace than you do in real life doesn’t necessarily mean a new system member is around. Although it could mean that?? It’s really up to you and your system and how y’all choose to explain and define what you’re experiencing! :3

Sorry if this reply is all over the place or doesn’t make much sense! We haven’t been feeling well, but we wanted to at least try and explain what we think could be happening here. We definitely don’t have all the answers though! >_<”

💚 Ralsei and 🌸 Margo