#but idk if that fits thematically with ralsei

[salamander-crimes]

thinking about it, the simplest explanation for ralsei being able to show up even in dark worlds that aren't connected to castle town would be for his light world equivalent to be something kris keeps on them.... hm.

[sparkerinparadise]

i will never stop assigning ace pokemon to my favorite characters.

[starlightshore]

red souls aren’t determination souls

so we know the colors and souls traits are linked because of the ball game

but note, red doesn’t get listed as determination.

GOLD is what actually is the color for determination.

(ignore how things are orange tinted, i have flux on and its 2am) determination is listed in yellow text.

it flat out says you’re filled with determination every time you use it.

note there are no red flowers, but a very distinct golden flower instead.

and golden flowers are frequently connected with determination. flowey is one injected with dt, chara is buried under the patch of flowers, they’re here underground purely because of chara’s dying wish and desire to use their will past death. one could say it represents that will to live despite everything else, even death itself. which. again, is what determination is.  The will to keep living. The resolve to change fate.

more evidence DT is yellow:

selected text is yellow, not red

as is the SAVE point. hell, even frisk is yellow. the golden heart lockets are yellow. (though, how canon that is up to debate, as we only see it in the collector’s edition as a merchandise, not ingame. but alas.)

yellow/golden is frequently and constantly used to refer for determination. and again, there isn’t a red flower, but rather the golden flower taking it’s place.

now granted, chara does use red text in no mercy and has a red soul judging by their empty casket. but that just means chara had a red soul, not that they were a determined soul! remember, the other humans souls have determination.

“I've extracted it from the human SOULs.”

if you go back without using a true reset, toriel will comment this upon your butterscotch/cinnamon choice. that she feels deja vu with humans, as if shes met them before

RED souls can’t be determination, determination is a trait shared between different soul color humans. to further this, the red soul we control in deltarune is the one we use yes, but we don’t USE determination to save. we use the “power of” something else, like fluffy boys and mean girls. it’s distinctly not a yellow light, its distinctly not listed as the feeling of determination. now, if the red soul was determination, than shouldn’t the power/save be the same?

now, what is the trait or red souls? i speculate below because this post is already fricking so long. i don’t have a concrete answer, but at least i have something?

so again, we know chara and frisk have red souls. chara has red text in no mercy, (though, not solely red text through the whole run) other uses of red are with sans mentioning LV as Level of Violence and EXP as Execution points. (which matches how chara says they are the stats and numbers of the game, including GOLD and LV and such)

another mention is asgore, when toriel brings him up as the one who killed the other humans. (there are more uses of red text as listed on this awesome link, however, these seem to be the biggest standouts. not discounting them, but i don’t really feel the need to add the snail race end into this theory)

now that said i AIN’T saying chara is inherently evil or that red souls being linked to violence/warnings means evil either. afterall, we use a red soul in detarune too, and nothing about the player or kris (tho, kris isn’t likely to be the original owner of the soul) are inherently violent. (and honestly i’m not as well versed with dr as ut, idk if/when red text is ever shown to compare it to.) LV isn’t the ONLY thing chara says they are. 

"HP. ATK. DEF. GOLD. EXP. LV. Every time a number increases, that feeling...That's me."

so maybe less so LV and more so the game mechanics and gui??? they are the flavor text after all? that doesn’t seem right either.

so, no i don’t think red = wrath is fully accurate or necessarily bad. the game itself is about choice, defying the status quo and fate itself to get what you want. maybe the use of determination over coming your wrath/violence is the point? i mean, their wrath is what was their character flaw that got them into this in the first place. them overcoming their mistake and growing from that despite their wrath is their character arc!

and to be clear, chara’s anger is honestly valid because humanity has done inexcusable and horrible things to both them and monsterkind. i mean, no, murder wasn’t the solution obviously, but frankly they’re a kid and the mages designed the barrier with death-ultimatums. Also like, Undyne is TOTALLY framed as heroic and in the right for fighting the player in no mercy. you CAN do true pacifist and punch every monster you meet. violence isn’t inherently bad, and can be used for good. self defense is fine, fighting people who wish harm innocents is fine. ideally don’t kill or be killed.

anyway, back to the red soul thing equally danger/violence and such. the link i posted earlier mentions its also with undyne’s speech and theres the red “!” in battle to warn players of upcoming attacks. asgore is frequently used in red and his trident is also red. the color theming is clearly pointing to something here. even if its not necessarily LV, i think its within the ball park. again, it doesn’t fully match because as far as i’m aware DR doesn’t hint towards any of this and doesn’t fully explain everything. AND i think its dumb for chara and frisk’s soul trait to be violence. esp when every other trait got a virtue-like feeling to it. it doesn’t hold up.

perhaps... red could mean heroism?

granted, more of a stretch here, but heros are talked about A LOT in undertale. not so much in words, but thematically. papyrus is based off an obscure super hero, undyne has Battle Against a True Hero in her no mercy battle, mtt uses heroism in his dramas/acting. ect.

now, this one feels too vague and nonsuported but it feels REALLY meta and on point at the same time. i mean. the red soul being the hero, the protagonist? oh my god. thats frickin amazing. on-top of that, heros are brought up ALL the time with deltarune. the heroes of light, ralsei insisting they need to be heroic, augh. it fits!

and heroes are so known for their violence too! heroic violence, sure, but its such a more positive note of it when you think of heroes . and chara’s wrath is in part for a heroic reason! perhaps wrath is the sin of the heroic virtue!

i’m really curious to what other people think!