#check out mirror-ralsei

[potabo]

That one damn hospital scene

There's something (besides the creepy faceless angel) that has always struck me as a Little Odd about the light world hospital scene in Chapter 2. As you may or may not be aware, in Chapter 2, the hospital has a scene where Noelle and her father, Rudy, are playing the in-game stand-in for Deltarune, Dragon Blazers. Now by the time Kristoph and Susleigh get to the room, the two are about to take on the

(now if "Silver Drake" means anything in particular I'm a bit lost as to what but, again, perfectly possible) From here Rudy makes the perfectly reasonable suggestion

because this is, as we learn... elsewhere, the Ice Palace boss

in response to which she says the following:

Which reads as "the only party member who can use spells such as fireshock (the mage) is no longer with the party," at least by the point which you reach this ice boss.

This is where things become a Little Odd.

So we, having completed the Alternate Route, establish that we are fighting the same boss, the ice palace drake:

this time Rudy asks Noelle what the game plan is, but this in and of itself doesn't seem terribly significant beyond being one of those Slight Differences we all love (perhaps a showcase of how her Boldness going up means she interacts with the world differently)

but then here's the kicker:

Now there's two main takeaways from this, firstly Noelle is still a bit Fucked (understandably) from the whole chain of events leading to this scene

but secondly and, more importantly, this implies that the game Dragon Blazers- the in-universe mirror of Deltarune has changed between routes

More specifically, the mage in this version has not left the party.

Now I think there are two main ways you can read this with regards to Deltarune as a whole:

This means that Noelle returning to the dark world is a Side B exclusive thing (uh oh)

We fight Noelle at some point (also uh oh), Noelle being the Ice Palace boss, and this is some clever wordplay around how having done Side B does not help the situation (Iceshock being ineffective and all that)

But also neither of those seem super likely to me at least, so theres some room to work with here

[ask-dcf]

*The group walk into the cavern, taking note of the gray crystalline walls. It was simply gorgeous. However, there was something odd about their reflections…*

*Ralsei stared down at his mirror image, his reflection being that of his old attire: a completely green robe and hat, a pink scarf, and fur covered in a dark shadow. It made him feel…uneasy. Flara looks at her own reflection.*

*Nothing seemed any different from her usual attire… Well as usual as a Ninja suit she is currently wearing…. But…*

*She sees something behind her…. Something…. Purple…. SMILING???*

*She immediately turns around to see… Nothing… She took a sec to catch her bearings… Seems it may have been a trick of the light… She moves on from the gray wall*

*BONK*

*Something hit her head and she feels up what hit her, there was something solid in front of her that is invisible. Data walks over…. And bumps aswell… He blinks and Knocks on air… he slowly slides his hand down the invisible surface to the floor.*

*He knocks on the crystal wall*

*Emeline looks over at her own reflection. The mirror showed a version of her from the past - from when she first entered Darkerland. She was shorter, not as chubby, and cladded in barbarian armor. There was a visible smile on the reflection's face - a smile that wasn't present on the Queen. It was heart-wrenching to see how happy her past self was, and she tried desperately to fight back tears.*

*As Data inspects the invisible walls for a way to move forward. Flara notices the Queen, and tugs at her dress sleeve to get her attention*

*Ralsei aids Data in the search for a way out and eventually they found a way forward!*

*As she moved forward she had bonked her head again. Data feels the area Ralsei previously checked… Now it was solid aswell.*

*Everyone quickly gets close to eachother in hopes of not getting separated*

*Flara had bumped another wall that separated her and Ralsei from the others*

*He runs over only for reflection to be seen now. The reflections from the crystals is disorienting even for Data. Now it’s only Data, the queen, and Cheshire. Emeline bangs her fists against the wall, clearly furious.*

*As Data and Emeline desperately try to regroup with the others, Cheshire merely stares at his own reflection the entire time.*

*It had distorted itself into a familiar figure, one that Cheshire knew very well. His reflection was that of his older brother, Jevil, staring right back at him with a menacing grin.*

(Art by @theyoshimister)

[deltarune-darkheart]

Analysing lines from the Deltarune: Chapter 1 en lang file every two days until the next chapters: #37 (lines 159-160)

* (You checked the time.) * (… It seems to be time for class.)

<! --

"obj_readable_room1_slash_Other_10_gml_264_0": "* (You checked the time.)/", "obj_readable_room1_slash_Other_10_gml_265_0": "* (… It seems to be time for class.)/%",

-- >

The clocks are not synchronized.

Apologies if this is not fully about this line, but there is something to be said here.

You cannot see this at that point of the game, but the classroom on the right takes the one on the left mirrored as a base, and the clock stays mirrored. Not giving the same time. (2 and 10 hours respectively) The unused classroom gives a different time. (both hands down, which is not actually possible as the hours needle would be pointing between two hours when the minutes one is down)

This could mean nothing

OR

it could be lore.

Dark world time could easily work differently. Chapter 1's adventure started near the start of school and ended so late at night that Toriel was worried and sent Kris to bed early when they returned. Chapter 2's adventure started after the end of school, plus the time to bring things from the first dark world to Castle Town, spend time there, visit the rooms Ralsei made... ...and the adventure lasts a long time (as long as you're not using glitches to skip most of it, of course), yet, when it ends, you simply come back home, and it is not late enough that Kris needs to sleep until they stay outside for an undetermined amount of time.

If time works differently in dark worlds, then a clock being in a room where one was made then sealed would be desynchronized.

That would mean someone made a dark fountain in one of the two currently used classrooms...

Of course, it may sound ridiculous to attempt to get lore out of those, but our goal is to attempt to analyse whatever we can. No harm in being a little silly at times. It may even be preferable.

It was time for class.

[anacecherry]

Ace Lore

Everyone in my friend cycle is posting their lore and Louie gave me the idea to make my own as well so here we go. Kept switching between 3rd person and 1st person because I felt like using both so the phrasing may seem weird

This isn't in any order I wrote them down as they came to my mind

Named Ace because of Among Us

Had a Danganronpa phase in 2020

Was a mod in dr-transparents

Also had a dr edit blog have fun trying to find that one

Used to be homophobic but one day during breakfast I asked my mom if being gay was a sin and she just thought for a second and said no so I stopped being homophobic

Dad in jail (out in march 9 😎)

Watched the entire mcu once

Goes to one of the greatest schools around the area and its shit

Watches how to learn Turkish videos despite being turkish

Has been pirating movies ever since I started using computers because I didn't know you had to pay for it until 3 years ago

Has an """uncle""" and """aunt""" thats younger than me (the aunt is a toddler)

First experience with the sonic franchise was that flash fangame based on sonic advance 2 and I thought Knuckles was a girl

Has an evil twin named Allo, who likes reddit and men

Knows every single frame of animation in Rise of the TMNT

funneylizzie follows me. I forget about that a lot.

The only person that never misread Penosh's og url

.w batman

Will :handshake: me

The CEO of Rise Casey Jones (Cassandra)

The mere sight of Cjj is enough to fill me with rage

Got kicked out of a toh youtubers server bc I tried to explain the owner that the potion coven was, in fact, a real coven and not just a track that they only teach at Hexide

Once woke up and saw a short weird girl with long black hair watching me from the side of my bed, she disappeared after I closed and opened my eyes again. No it wasn't sleep paralysis.

Has a sunflower seed addiction

I was Penosh's first follower I think that should be here

The 6 kittens we took care of after their mom died, most didn't last 2 months alive, the 5th one ran away like an idiot and the 6th lives with our neighbors and hates us

Most likely had a crush on my middle school best friend

Says "Lan" a lot in real life my friends think it's funny

Grew up near the sea so Im immune to the smell of fish

Remembers her first earthquake in 3rd person

When I clear out likes it takes a long time and I end up rebloging a lot of posts, and it might happen again & will be real big this time so be prepared

The Ralsei icon is traced from the og sprite from Deltarune and I will never ever change it it is a part of my identity now

Url used to be tsundere-blue-cherry before I changed it

The first time I remember throwing up might be one of my core memories. did you know you cant talk when you're just about to vomit

Has headaches forever ever since elementary school

Had a budgie named Şans that flew away because mom kept forcing us to keep the windows open

When I was ~6 I a dream where a Caillou toy that I had came to life and I got so scared that I tore it apart and ran. When I woke up I checked the drawer I put the toy parts in and he was still there and greeted me I screamed and slammed it shut and never looked at that drawer again

Ayıcık the teddy bear

Had 2 imaginary friends and one of them was a mirror

Diagnosed as American

I have cherry in my url but cannot eat cherries bc when eating cherries I realized it had worms in it and it happened twice and I have not been able to eat cherries without drowning in anxiety ever again

My youngest sister called my middle sister Dede despite her name not having those letters in it and the word dede meaning grandpa in our language. We started calling her that as well

Had a dream, before the sonic 2 trailer came out, where the trailer released and it was normal except Boom Knuckles was there as a separate character from normal Knuckles and had his model from the show

Made up number lore when I was younger

Uses light mode

[teruthecreator]

man sometimes i think. and tonight it’s about how ralsei isn’t meant to be a version of asriel, but a version of kris. and that really fucks me up. let me elaborate. 

there is a lot of evidence to suggest that kris idolized/loves their brother, that’s true, but i think some of that may also stem from a desire to almost be him. if that makes sense. like kris is the only human in a town full of monsters and has likely never been socialized with other humans. the “how to raise a human child” book that toriel checked out a bunch suggests that she either happened upon kris or was given them in very rushed circumstances. she did not have time to prepare for raising a human. and i think, despite her and asgore’s best efforts to keep them tied to being a human, kris would be raised like a monster. they would understand monster customs, monster eating habits (hence the affinity or at least tolerance for non-foods like moss), and a monster’s way of life. but they are human. and, despite all the socializing and raising in a monster’s home, they would always remain that way. 

they were clearly unhappy with this concept. that much is evident in the mentioning of the horned headband they used to wear consistently (until they one day--quite suddenly--stopped wearing it). they were confused about why they weren’t becoming like their brother and their parents tried to help them cope, but ultimately the coping mechanism failed and kris either lost it or “lost” it. aka intentionally left it somewhere. but regardless of their species status, they were still going to be raised exactly as the dreemurrs were raising asriel. so kris still wore the same striped sweaters (i believe their current one is a hand-me-down from asriel), still attended the same church where asriel sang in the choir, and still hung out with the same monster kids that asriel was friends with. and it becomes clear to me, with the way their rooms are set up, that kris wasn’t sure what they were outside of being asriel’s younger sibling (asriel has a lot more trinkets and things, while kris’s side is mostly bare--save for the birdcage and red cart). 

when kids are young, they will sometimes openly desire to be just like the elders in their family. it is the classic concept of a kid going up to their parent and exclaiming “when i grow up, i wanna be just like you!!” and usually the parent will laugh or feel awkward, depending on the parent’s outlook on their own life. and i believe kris has that with asriel. or did. they don’t really seem to connect with their parents. asgore very clearly doesn’t understand what kris is growing up into, and toriel is stuck in this perspective of kris still needing to be coddled like a child. the only person kris really connected with is their older brother. their other half. so it feels obvious that they, as a little kid wearing a red-horned headband and a striped sweater, wanted to be just like asriel. 

hence, ralsei. 

ralsei is an anagram of asriel. if kris wanted to be like asriel, a person derived of that desire would probably have a name that is similar to asriel’s. ralsei is kind and devoted to a grand prophecy--mirroring asriel’s kind demeanor and his religious affiliations (lot of this we only hear from other characters, but i’m using it as evidence to support. asriel was clearly active in the church community, and people generally have nothing but nice words to say about him.) that might be an aspect kris has always been hard on themself for not having; from a lot of the other character’s admissions, kris has always been an awkward, quiet, and kinda weird kid. and they’ve never seemed that dedicated to religion, unlike their brother. ralsei is also a bit of a gnc king on his own, sporting traits of being both masculine and feminine. that part isn’t, like, Concrete evidence (none of this is LMAO), but if ralsei is meant to reflect a version of kris-more-like-asriel then it is fitting that he’d be uncaring about gendered stereotypes and fall sort of in the nebulous space. just like kris (hashtag nonbinary legend). 

ralsei is also incredibly lonely. he lives in castle town all by himself, waiting patiently for the heroes to arrive and be his new friends. that part screams “kris” the most to me. asriel very clearly Had close friends. he had dess, and burgerpants, and catty and bratty (tho they were like Into Him so maybe those two a little less). but kris only had asriel. noelle was there and it is evident they connected, given chap 2, but i think she just...paled in comparison. who could beat asriel? to kris, that answer was: nobody! nobody could beat asriel. he was their brother and their friend and their support. and when he’s gone, kris has to just....wait. alone. and hope he comes back so they can keep playing and kris can keep feeling like they belong in this family where no one shares their face. 

ralsei is a child’s concoction. an amalgamation of hopes and dreams. some wishful thinking, mixed in with deeply-rooted insecurities, all rolled up in some pink horns and a familiar face. he is the version of kris that they would see when they’d shut their eyes, playing in the imaginary yard with asriel and noelle and dess. 

but that dream has, for the most part, died off. kris is different now. maybe the time alone has let them realize some things about themself. that they can’t change something so fundamental, so why bother--why bother with anything, for that matter. which is why ralsei is so...off. they’re what kris used to want. 

the horns were forgotten for a reason

[starxscream]

Morning Off

“   Forced to take the morning off, Swatch realizes what exactly they have been missing. “

SwatchKaard fic!

Oh buddy we got another bc I have problems and it’s them. (Also check it out on ao3 if it’s easier for y’all to read there!)

It was hard to tell when it was morning or evening in the dark world, but time flowed all the same.  Just today, it happened to be early morning, the sound of the rushing fountain in the middle of Ralsei’s kingdom filtering through the windows as if to say ‘it’s time to wake up’.  Other than that, however, there was nothing but a blissful silence, Castle Town still in a state of slumber while the Darkeners continue to rest while few others begin to slowly wake up.

Swatch was one of the latter, always an early riser, even if today they did not have to go into work until later- forcibly given the morning off due to the swatchlings thinking that they ‘worked too much’.  It would have been the whole day, but Swatch was not having that, needing to make sure that the cafe was being run in perfect order.

The bird sighs sleepily, a part of them torn between trying to doze or shaking off their tiredness and getting up anyways.  Eyes barely cracked open, they slowly take in their surroundings, waking up just slightly.  They become aware of someone’s back pressed against their chest.  Arms still wrapped tightly around the other person, Swatch doesn’t make any sudden movement yet, instead dipping their beak down slightly to be able to bury their face in the mass of hair beside them. They could make out quiet snores from the other person, Swatch’s feathered fingers unconsciously stroking the patches of skin where they held him.

As much as Swatch complained about having the morning off, this was…nice.  The knowing that they didn’t have to get up and leave so quickly, just being able to lay here and take in the slow morning.  They let their eyes slowly flutter shut again, silently making their decision on what to do this morning.

Unbeknownst to Swatch, however, their oh-so-wonderful partner had started to stir, his internal clock telling him it was time to wake up.  Unfortunately he did not want to wake up.  A silent groan works past his lips, mouth curved into a frown as he suddenly rolls over in Swatch's arms and pulls himself even closer to the bird, resting his head on his chest.

The sudden movement rouses Swatch from their state of dozing, cracking open a singular eye to gaze down at the other, lifting their beak only slightly while he shifts his position around.  Once settled, Swatch lowers their head back down to rest on top of their partner’s a soft coo escaping their beak.

“Good morning beloved.” Swatch whispers quietly, only earning a tired grunt from the other, pushing himself further into Swatch- at least, attempting to.  He hung tightly to Swatch, wrapped around them like a coiled rod.  It earns a chuckle from Swatch, moving a hand to pet their partner’s messy hair.

“Rouxls…” Swatch speaks again, trying to get their partner’s attention.  Hoping to catch him off guard and get him to respond, at least just for a second, a guilty pleasure.

There’s another groan, Rouxls still nuzzling Swatch’s chest, before a huff, rolling his head slightly back to sleepily peer up at Swatch’s face.  He sits there for a minute, slowly blinking, trying to shake off his own sleep but not wanting to.

“What does- doeseth…thou…” Rouxls fumbles over his words, trying to speak with his usual accent but too sleepy to properly think it out.  There’s a frustrated sigh, Rouxls grumbling quietly before speaking again, “…Good morning.” The blue man lowers his head to bury it back into Swatch’s chest after that, hoping for just a moment’s more peace, expecting Swatch to have to get up and leave soon and Rouxls not wanting him to- as it was every morning.  The amount of times Rouxls complained and tried to get Swatch to stay home…

A smile spreads across Swatch’s beak as Rouxls speaks, catching the poor attempt and then lack of the usual arrogant accent, a pleased chitter vibrating from his throat, “Hm…” Their gaze lingers on Rouxls for a moment, “I now see why you are so desperate to keep me around in the morning.”  Casually poking at Rouxls as they usually did, waiting for the moment Rouxls remembers what      this    morning was.

Rouxls mumbles something incoherent, still refusing to pry himself away from the bird.  Still too sleepy to question why Swatch hadn't tried to get up for work yet? The thoughts immediately erased by the tired selfishness of wanting to keep Swatch here.  To actually stay for even just a morning…

Wait…

Puzzle pieces begin to fall into place, Rouxls’ mind finally jump-starting itself into working. Swatch is still here… It takes Rouxls a moment to realize, still enjoying how warm and comfortable it was in Swatch’s arms, before it suddenly hits and Rouxls’ eyes snap open.  He cranes his head back to look up at the bird, blinking slowly.

“Thou art still hereth?” It’s phrased as a question, sleep still lingering on Rouxls’ voice- having not entirely figured it out yet, but enough to realize the important thing.

“Yes my love, I am still here.  Did you forget what day it was?” Swatch leans down to give a kiss to the top of Rouxls’ head, “I will be here all morning.”

It takes Rouxls a moment for Swatch’s words to register and when they do his face breaks into a large smile, arms squeezing Swatch tighter.  “Of courseth I did not forgete!” Rouxls boasts, obviously lying, “I am...happyeth that thou is hereth.” His voice gets quieter the move he speaks, flush rising to his cheeks at the admittance.

Swatch’s own smile gets wider, heart giving a pang in their chest at Rouxls’ admittance- truly Rouxls’ expressions were their guilty pleasure.  “If it makes you so happy, perhaps I can entertain the idea of doing this more often.”  They watch as Rouxls seems to light up at that, his own sleepiness fading at the prospect.

“As thou should! Thine paramour shouldeth spend thy morn with their belovedeth! It is as thy haveth always toldeth thou.”  A smug tone invites itself into Rouxls’ words, Swatch unable to keep themselves from rolling their eyes at it.  Not that the smile ever left their face however.

Rouxls’ hands move upwards, threading into the fluffy feathery hair on Swatch’s head, “I enjoyeth waking upeth and seeing thou faceth, even if thou is stilleth thy most frustratingeth and annoyinge worm-avian.”  He hums, no ill-intent behind his words, feeling just a little bit more confident this morning, “Howevere that meanseth, that thou art here, I can noweth do this…” Rouxls pulls himself up further, giving Swatch a soft kiss to their beak.

“Mmm...if I knew I would be getting such special attention from you, I would have taken a morning off ages ago…” Swatch chuckles, opting to pepper Rouxls in more kisses, not satisfied with just the one, “So…” Swatch speaks between kisses, “What is it that you commonfolk do during the morning if not preparing for work?”

Rouxls scoffs at that, yet still giggling in between each kiss, “Commonfolk? Thou must surelyest be mistakene! I am enjoyingeth my time, somethinge thateth thou shouldeth take into considerationeth more ofteneth.” His voice slowly turns to a mumble, a half-hearted attempt to keep up the banter, “Thou ist more commonfolk than thy…”

“Says the ‘butler supremeth’ who has no one to buttle for…” Swatch murmurs in response, fingers tangling in Rouxls hair.  Still leaving kisses on Rouxls’ lips, casually and so...normal. Swatch felt as if all of their worries were just...gone, like work was nothing more than an idle thought in the background.  Why were they so adamant about not taking time off...

The two continue to cuddle and kiss during their idle banter, neither making any effort to move or get up.  Instead just enjoying the time between them that was not usually shared.  So distracted with each other, neither of them noticed the door to their room creaking open with a stifled giggle of someone (poorly) trying to sneak in.

It wasn’t until a small round flash of blue and white flew onto the bed loudly announcing, “SURPRISE LANCERBALL ATTACK!” And crashing into them both that they realized Lancer had snuck into their room.  The little round prince slams into them, knocking them with a loud oomph, forcing the two to separate from one another.

“LANCER?” Rouxls loudly gasps in surprise, skipping his usual nicknames due to the shock of the sudden appearance.  Swatch blinks in confusion, stunned silent for a moment, just taking it in and letting Rouxls handle it for now while he registered the situation.

Lancer laughs loudly, plopping down into the bed in the space between Rouxls and Swatch, his music player in hand.  “You should’ve seen your FACES…LOL!” He says the term letter by letter aloud, “Mom Dad showed me how to make MIXTAPES and I made a really really good one! So as my other dads, you have to listen!”  His tongue sticks from his mouth, wiggling the earbuds coiled and tangled around him and holding the ends up for Rouxls and Swatch to take.

Rouxls sighs dramatically, “Thine dearest water-beetle, how manyeth times haveth I told thee to knocketh!  Does thou needest to learneth thou manners as parteth thou royaleth duties...” He pulls himself up, back resting on the headboard, Swatch mirroring the motions.  Lancer’s grin seems to falter for a moment as he’s being reprimanded, before Rouxls continues speaking, “However! I shalt entertaine thee request to listeneth to thou ‘mixtape’ that shalt certainly be nothinge moreth than rackety driveleth.”  There was no real harshness in Rouxls’ words, and Lancer lit up again, rolling over and clambering into Rouxls’ lap, the man instinctively wrapping an arm around the prince.  Swatch opts to accept the earbud, moving closer and sliding their free arm behind Rouxls to pull the two closer into them.   Rouxls accepts the other earbud, the two sticking them into their respective ears.

“I am sure it will sound lovely.” Swatch coos, counterbalancing Rouxls dramatic demeanor with their calmness, “Thank you for sharing Lancer.” Always so polite.

Lancer laughs loudly again, “Of course it will! Now hurry it up, I wanna go show Ralsei!” Kicking his legs up and down in excitement, snuggling closer to Rouxls as if he wasn’t planning on leaving.  Rouxls rolls his eyes, still with a hint of a grin on his face, giving a glance towards Swatch who only offers a shrug and a smile.

“Thou needeth to press play.”

“Oh…right.  Thanks for the reminder, vice father!”

Lancer slams the play button…unleashing the monstrosity of his fully splat sfx “mixtape” upon Rouxls and Swatch.  Swatch was caught off guard, hand flying to his beak to keep from laughing, shoulders quietly bouncing at the absurdity of it.  Rouxls…saw it coming, wearing a tired pleasant smile as he endured listening to it- at least this was different than just the usual sounds Lancer constantly played.

Leaning over, Rouxls rests his head on Swatch’s shoulder, watching Lancer fiddle with his music player with one hand and grabbing Rouxls’ and bouncing it around with the other.

Swatch peers over at Rouxls, a contented smile on their face as they lower their hand, resting their own head on top of Rouxls’ while the blue man appeases Lancer- the two keeping with their usual banter as the mixtape finished.  Swatch remains silent, simply enjoying the moment with them both, maybe they would thank the swatchlings for giving them the morning off.

Maybe.  They wouldn’t want them to get too cocky.

But…perhaps they will take a full day off sometime in the future, if this is what they were missing when they were always at work… Mmm, maybe not a full day.  But another morning for sure.

[tratserenoyreve]

(1/2) Ok so I'm the anon from the 'Ralsei might be a drawing' ask. And first of thank you for replying! I hadn't really thought about wish-fulfillment as darkners' "role" so I like that interpretation a lot! Also, I just remembered (and had to double check) Kris' room in Castle Town, not only is a mirror of Asriel's, but Asriel's "side", feels, deliberately, empty, like even the floor missing some "carpet"... (1/2).

ur no bother!

i definitely think it’s super possible for someone like kris to, for all their love and admiration of their brother, to also feel pangs of jealousy. envy for how seemingly -easy- it is for asriel to be adored, everyone is looking forward to his return to town. kris of course misses their brother, we learn things like how kris and asriel would drink cocoa together at the diner, asriel used to carry kris to school, they are very close siblings.

but, with that closeness, it’s also super easy to make comparisons between the two, how the bar seems to be set really high for kris, even if their family isn’t consciously holding them to such standards. asriel ran track, asriel has a wall of trophies, asriel is going to university and everyone misses and is rooting for him. meanwhile, kris’s side of the room is dark, near colorless, devoid of any trophies or treasures of their own, empty shelves and a red-stained carpet.

people around town see kris less often as kris and more often as “asriel’s weirdo little sib” or “the dreemurr family’s human kid”. even when clearly loved by their family, kris doesn’t fit in easily. there’s also the mysterious cause of the divide between Toriel and Asgore, and while moments like the store moment in chapter two with sans can be hilarious for us, that must suck so much for kris to witness and experience. their family is a mess, their mom doesn’t know how to help them in the way they need to be helped so she keeps up this act of normalcy while throwing away the bouquet of flowers kris passed on to her from their dad. they don’t discuss it, or discuss why kris is disappearing, or why kris is secluding themself from even their old childhood friend.

with that sort of life situation, where kris has lost their anchors and sense of stability, it’s actually really common for kids to blame themself for whatever is going on. divorcing parents? something wrong with them. bullied for not fitting in? they should have been someone else. not keeping up with the achievements their brother accomplished at their age? they don’t seem to even try anymore, the walls stay empty.

so, with all of that, kris is then faced with ralsei, who is earnest in his statements of wanting to support and help kris. who is genuine when he says that kris is important, and needed, and that the Quest cannot be complete without them. but, when kris has already seemingly lost control over much of their life, how does it feel to hear that? from a face they may have wished was their’s. ralsei who makes kris a space to call their own, when their whole life they’ve shared a room with their brother, and then that space is just a reflection of him still, with the empty other half cut out and removed from it.

[thebigshotman]

mirror of sorrow??

LOOK INTO THE CRYSTAL BALL

Somehow, in the hustle and bustle of life in Castle Town, helping friends and trying to become a big shot again, the worst possible thing happens. His Thorn Ring…finds its way to someone else.

His inventory glitches into disposing it, and someone finds it on the street. CHECKing its garbled description doesn’t immediately explain what it does, but rest assured…they find out.

And experiments into figuring out its scope eventually cascade into a Snowgrave scenario, where quite a few people are killed. Luckily, it’s contained before it can grow as bad as it is in the Weird Route…

But Navy and Coral end up dying. And probably either Shy or Eileen, too.

When the survivors that know him find out its his Thorn Ring based on the evidence Ralsei and others collected, they are livid. It’s not his fault, but at the same time…

And Spaul has to live with the grief and guilt for the rest of his life. Perhaps he locks up and resets back to his in-game state for the rest of his life, perhaps he runs back to NEO, hoping it brings them back to life…?

It doesn’t matter what path. The outcome is the same either way.

[madamecricket]

First Impressions of Deltarune Chapter 2

So, um, that sorta came out of nowhere. I’m pleased, though! And I’m especially pleased that I can get in on a story-rich indie game right after it comes out for once! That doesn’t usually happen to me. Spoilers under the cut!

- We open on a genuinely tense and genuinely hilarious gag based on the post-credits scene of the last chapter (the really creepy one). You know how everyone joked that Kris was actually just getting the knife out to go get some pie? Well, that’s been confirmed! 

- I check the house for new stuff and it’s mostly the same. Two differences I noticed: 1) There was $5 in Asriel’s drawer that I decided not to take. Did Kris just not see that before? 2) I checked the mirror and it said something like “This is what they call ‘you’”. God, the implications in that sentence... - The school section goes really quickly this time, mostly because Kris immediately falls asleep during a reading, and Susie immediately wants to go check out the closet again. Good, back to the action right away. I did notice that Alphys seemed very worried about us getting paired with Susie, which is sweet, although I’m not afraid of her at this point.

- One short delay before we go see what our Dark World friends have been up to: Noelle wants to know if Susie wants to go do homework together at the library, and Susie is a useless lesbian. Is it symbolic that this is immediately followed by us going back into the closet? ...I’m going to go ahead and believe it’s symbolic.

- Time for a ~** TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE **

- You know, I played through the first chapter real quick before downloading this one to refresh my memory and because I read on the site that it would make a difference if I started with a save file of the first one. Well, I can see it made a difference right away; not only did I start with the D$ I had at the end of the last one (!!!) but the enemies I spared last time are now recruits.

- Okay, I’m gonna back up a bit; when we first dropped down into Darkworld, Ralsei was there completely alone in his cute pink-horn form. We ask where everybody is, and he instructs Kris to exit Darkworld and come back with all the gathered-up junk from the abandoned classroom. After another ~transformation sequence~, the Darkworld is now populated with all your favorite NPCs from before, but now as denizens of Ralsei’s Castle Town. Okay, so it did matter whether or not we spared them.

- So the theory that the Darkworlders are basically just toys given life? Pretty much confirmed.

- Speaking of Ralsei, I thought he was vaguely sus in the last chapter, simply because I was skeptical of his actual credentials as a Prince of Darkness when Lancer seems to be a better fit for that role. Now he’s very sus. Firstly, we know that all the monsters we spared last time are now his subjects, meaning all that time he spent last chapter insisting that we save ~ everybody ~ and that every battle is winnable by peaceful means? That suddenly looks a bit less altruistic. Secondly, Lancer abruptly became homeless when we “repopulated” Darkworld, which brought him back but not his castle. So it’s like Ralsei usurped his role as the Prince of Darkness. And finally, he’s following me around with his hands clasped behind his back like a damn Bond villain.

- tl;dr, I’m watching you, Ralsei.

- Ralsei says he has a surprise for us in his castle. That was about the time I had to go start dinner, but that seems like a good enough starting point. Ta-ta for now, I’m gonna come back later and see if Ralsei is about to bake us into a cake or something.

[mythicaldemigoddess-of-deltarune]

Since I Feel Better, I Want To Talk About Undertale/Deltarune Theories

 okay I decided to post one more post up,

but I will say again “Happy Late New Year Everyone”

anyway this might not be canon to any of the Fan AUs.

but besides believing that Chara, The True-Chara.

their own soul is in the true lab’s power generator thing.

I have this crazy theory about Flowey and Ralsei,

being two parts of the Original Late Prince Asriel,

not to be confused with the one that we haven’t seen that lived in Deltarune.

but yeah I believe that having Asriel’s memories from the dust,

Flowey would be the part of the original Prince that remembers, but might not have all the memories, as he could suffer from amnesia.

I believe that Ralsei makes up the Soul part, and is a creation of The Knight.

or Gaster, we all love the adorkable goofball Dadster & Broster

(and I like the idea of those two versions of Gaster being father & son, aka Wingdings Gaster Sr. & Jr.)

 but if the theory is true, and Gaster brought Asriel’s back to life,

and kind of made him be reborn in the dark world...which is maybe underground of Deltarune....?

then wouldn’t that make Gaster technically Ralsei’s Dad?

the same with how Alphys from Undertale,

is technically Flowey’s Mom.

I don’t think I can fully trust Toriel from Undertale,

I believe Papyrus was correct about her being Asgore’s Clone.

why is it that she is the only one’s who’s eyes turn red?

I mean I think with some monsters a type of red eyes can be normal.

but the new theory I had explained before at another place I go to...

is that Kris’s Mom Toriel, is the REAL Queen Toriel from Undertale.

her eyes are never red, even when she gets annoyed.

and I get that other characters that the Player/Frisk fights in Undertale,

their eyes glow too, but Asgore’s eyes NEVER glowed red.

but most eye glows (not counting Fluffybuns.)

their eyes will glow during a Geno Route.

and I think I’m not sure, but I think Toriel’s eyes do turn red

if we keep trying to leave and she ends up becoming mad.

I’m not sure, I will need to check once I do decide to open up the game and reset...

even if I did spare everyone BUT Toriel in Undertale,

I ended up not being able to befriend Undyne.

so yeah even if you do spare everyone in the ruins and even outside it,

and even befriend all of them and even Papyrus,

Undyne will just know you took out someone in that game.

even if the only one you gave a Bad Time, was Toriel.

plus even after beating Asgore, I did show him Mercy in the end.

but Flowey ends up taking that mercy I gave him away.

Asgore is a big Fluffy Sweetie Pie, in both Undertale and the Deltarune.

anyway I believe that the Toriel we know from Undertale,

is really a clone of Asgore, that was made to appear like his wife that took off after the death of their children.

(and she in theory, ran away to Deltarune.)

also I’m kind of hoping that the whole Steven Universe and Sans being one and the same, does get confirmed to be true, I know I had watched a video

where someone said that I think it was Rebecca Sugar,

I will need to try to find that video again to be 100% sure.

but I know the person that was talking about it, said that they said,

that it is up to the creators of Undertale to decide.

and I hope the one who made that video wasn’t pulling everyone’s leg. 

 if it turned out to be canon, I can bring a whole new theory into the mother of all theories....

that when White, Blue, and Yellow shot that light of corruption.

they not only corrupted the gems (well all but Rose, Garnet, Pearl, and those that were bubbled or trapped in a mirror.)

but it caused half of the humans on that planet, to be “corrupted” too.

but it could be seen as a magical evolution.

so that would mean that all the monsters who were forced into the underground, are all descendants of the first humans that were hit by the corruption light by White, Blue and Yellow Diamond.

and the reason why they don’t have a physical forms, and their bodies are made up of mostly magic, is because those who were the first to get hit by those three diamond’s corrupted light, had in deed hit their physical forms.

but any offspring they had later on after the change, would not hold a physical form and would be made up of mostly magic.

so even if by using the same method to heal the corrupted gems,

it will not necessary make them “human”,

in theory it will give the descendants of those humans who were turned into monsters by the diamonds, some physical bodies that can still have magic,

and if they ended up being cut, they can bleed.

they will stay the same when they were born, but the only difference is that they have the same physical body as their distant human cousins who escape the blast from the diamonds.

but it could be magical soul conciseness physical manifestation of light.

they might still be very in tuned with their souls,

and I know that theory is really crazy.

but it is most like a Crossover Theory, that has to do if it is confirmed by the games and show’s creators, about Sans and Steven being one and the same.

there are already Crossover AUs of that theory.

now back to the whole Toriel....

even if we can still trust her Fanon Counterparts.

she might have a split personality,

one that is trying to fulfill capturing humans and using them to free everyone.

 plus the way she asks Frisk to not come back, or the whole if we say we have other places to go, she is like see you around.

there has to be a hidden meaning behind that.

like she knows about the Resets but at the same time,

Gaster programmed her to not know about them at the same time.

and here is a theory, the more we do a pacifist route,

as well as befriending everyone.

the more likely the dark personality that was programmed into her by Gaster,

has less control.

and if we should decide not to let Frisk go and live with her,

the dark personality will take over once again.

I guess that theory is a bit insane, but I believe she is hiding something.

how do we know that after replacing the original Toriel, who left that universe to go live in the Delta Universe....

didn’t take Chara’s body not just to give it a proper burial,

but she might of known that the determination that was created by Gaster as first, would infected someone like Frisk.

plus if two parts of Asriel could end up going to a Flower like Flowey

and the other being reborn as Ralsei.

then it might be possible that Chara was cleaved into some parts too.

the true them being used to power the generator in the true lab.

and the other that has Toriel take Chara’s body to the ruins.

but no one has to agree about these theories.

but I hope some like the the theories about the monsters

being descendants of humans who were changed

by White, Blue and Yellow Diamond.

anyway thanks for listening to these theories.

plus the Toriel we know in Undertale,

could turn out to be a clone like Papyrus had pointed out.

and could of been injected with determination,

so her soul breaking on it’s own, could be from her being a clone

and she had lost her determination when we decide to show no mercy to her.

but no one has to agree about that theory either.

anyway I’m tired, so I am just gonna go now.

so see ya later and stay safe.  

[metelius]

Chaos Ralsei Cosplay Progress Report--- #2

Now onto the next step in tackling the making of @smieska-draws 's Chaos Ralsei!

The Old Outfit

So, there were a lot of mishaps in the process of making this outfit. Here's a list of what happened.

I accidentally got two yards of fabric instead of three.

I got a lighter shade of blue fabric.

I measure once and cut once a few times. (This is why the phrase "Measure twice, cut once." is so important! It's good to double check. You can't go back after you cut fabric.)

I tried to save it by adding panels with scraped fabric.

To make those seams look natural I cut slits in the skirt and sew to make it look like a somewhat intended design.

I ended up not feeling happy with it and I started over. (I will reuse the fabric from the old outfit in the future)

Here's the mess of the dress above. Not my proudest work but I learned a lot from the mistakes I made! It's also super wrinkled after being bundled in the corner of one of my scrap bins heh. I will use the fabric for something in the future, don't worry.

The New Outfit

So, I took notes from the mistakes I made and studied the other Ralsei related cosplay I made more heavily.

I ordered three and a half yards of blue fabric and used my Ralsei cosplay as a rough pattern.

Above is a quick drawing representing that pattern. I sewed along the sides and the bottom of the sleeves because I traced the pattern on a fold where the top sleeve were.

I flipped it inside out once fully sewn and cut a straight line in the back starting at the collar to make way for an invisible zipper to make getting in and out of the cosplay easier.

I then cut triangles at the bottom of the skirt and splattered with white paint by clicking a coarse brush. I also hand painted a few stars.

I then applied trim to the bottom of the skirt and around the collar. I ended up being a few inches short on bias tape so I made some with the extra fabric I had.

I also would hem the sleeves' edges, cut and apply a felt star on the chest of the outfit and tie black lace around the waist to mirror my Ralsei cosplay.

Above is a comparison of the two so far.

And here is the outfit as a whole. It's a little blurry. I'll take better photos but I'll have to make the hat next. I don't know when I'll get too finishing it since I am going to be busy with other stuff soon.

[sandian-sherwood-uhle-blog]

DELTARUNE

So, there are plenty of allusions/paralles to Undertale in Deltarune and some easter eggs. I’ve made a list of the ones that I managed to find/catch. I’m pretty sure there are more of them.

1. There is an easter egg with naming your vessel and yourself. Like in Undertale using names of characters from the game will trigger a special dialogue (and like in Undertale naming your vessel or yourself “Gaster” will close the game).

2. When you look through the window in your room there is reference to Sans’ genocide fight.

3. A reference to Tsundere Cactus from Undertale, but in Deltarune it’s just an average cactus.

4. Recognizing yourself in the mirror.

5. Toriel hugs Kris almost the same way she hugs Frisk.

6. Alphys is still a weeaboo obsessed with Mew Mew ^^

7. Temmie still has the EG, but this time she is a partner not a proud parent.

8. If you try using your phone in the Dark World it will start making “Gaster noises”.

9. Ralsei’s cloak resembels the one that River Person wears (could River Person be a Darkner?)

10. Lancer’s bike might be a reference to Sans’ bike from the True Pacifist credit scene.

11. How Ralsei introduces us to the game mechanics is like a combination of both Flowey’s and Toriel’s tutorials. Telling what a soul is and how the fighting works is “Flowey’s part” and usage of Dummy and sparing being a preferable option is “Toriel’s part”.

12. Possibly a parallel to comforting a goatbro (Ralsei is a Goat/Boss Monster and a prince just like Asriel).

13. The shopkeepr hints a secret battle with Jevil in the early stage of the game.

15. The plush that Seam has on a shelf has is a reference to one of the Temmie Chang’s (she helped Toby create Undertale) characters, but I couldn’t find a picture of it.

16. Seam also gives us hints that Jevil knows Gaster. Here’s a video with a full dialogue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PukI_JTyVg

17.  The crown that K. Round wears might be reference to Super Crown, but the way it works is a ref to the big shroom power up. The sound that K. Round makes while growing up and shrinking is very similar to the sound from Mario games.

18. It is surely a reference to Sans’ room door (the weird glow), but it may also have something to do with Gaster’s grey door.

19. The sequence that Lancer and Susie perform is possibly a reference to Team R’s sequence from Pokemon series.

20. Possibly an Undertale Yellow easter egg? (the main charater is named Clover in UT:Y)

21. Even if you got rid of that tree you can still interact with it and get the dialogie box.

22. Lancer misses his attacks on Susie the same way Toriel does that when Frisk has low HP.

23. The theme that plays on floor ?????? inside the Card Castle uses the leitmotif of Gaster’s Theme. (can’t find a link with the theme)

24. A reference to Patrick from cartoon “Spongebob Squarepants”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNZSXnrbs_k

25. Another Pokemon’s reference.

26. You can interact with these pictures, when you interact with all 3 of them they’ll make a splat noise. I’m not sure if it does anything else.

27. Lancer has the same weird pics in his room, you can interact with them too, but they won’t make splat noise. But on the other hand there are CDs with recorded splat noises (the same that 3 previous pics make).

28. She talks about the cake that Susie ate ealier.

29. A missing pixel lmao

30. The cards and chess are references to the enemies from Dark World. There’s also a plushie of Shopkeer Seam under the board.

31. Kris looks similar to unused Frisk sprite.

32. The word “library” is still misspelled.

33. Temmie still wants to go to colleg. That’s the spirit!

34. Apparently Alphys prefers Mew Mew 2 now.

35. Heats Flamesman reference.

36. Just Toby at work.

37. He’s slacking off however.

38. We finally know after which monster Gaster Follower 3 was modeled.

39. Deltarune is definitely a different universe/timeline, cause Undyne doesn’t know Alphys and she still has both eyes. Also Bratty and Catty not only barely know each other, but they hate each other as well (in Undertale they are best friends).

40. On the left - dude who bought Muffet’s donut and regreted that later on, on the right - that weirdo from Napstablook’s snail farm.

41. Police station and Undyne’s house share the same doormat.

42. The big mouth monster that was spending time at Grillby’s, also a possible reference to nurse Joy from Pokemon series.

43. A reference to the absurdly tall sink from skelebros’ house. (also that blue bear might be inspired by 5.0.5 from Villainous)

44. Gerson is dead in Deltarune, also his last name is Boom. The hammer on his tombstone refers to his “nickname from war times” from Undertale - Hammer of Justice.

45. The tombstones of monster who were amalgamates in original Undertale, but since in Deltarune Alphys was never a Royal Scientist, all of this monsters just died. From left to right - Snowdrake’s Mother, the dog (Endogeny), Shyren sister (Lemon Bread).

46. Hand Receptionist from MTT Resort and politics bear from Snowdin.

47. That weird cube-dog-like monster from Sans’ crossword.

48. A reference to Purple Guy from game series FNAF (in Deltarune Burgerpants works at Pizzeria after all, hello?! it must be it xD).

49. A bunny shopkeepr from Snowdin, the guy who works in Core, the Ice Wolf (and he finally has pants as he wanted), Fuku Fire and Skateboard girl (but they already graduated), the lion monster who is a fan of Mettaton and gets a dress from him after his musical, and the dragon dude who couldn’t return to his family cause the elevator at MTT Resort was turned off.

50. Sans’ store is literally Grillby’s bar, but the name “Grillby” was removed and Sans added “ans” to the letter “S”. But he didn’t remove apostrophe. Well done Sans, well done.

51. A reference to Spider-Man, “I’m your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man”. Sans even calls Kris “tiger” which is how MJ calls Peter (I forgot to make a screenshot of it tho).

52. F#ck you Sans xD

53. “trousle of bones” - it obviously refers to Papyrus’ theme Bonetrousle.

54. Little bunny in the window is a child of that bunny monster who runs Snowdin Inn.

55. A monster from Snowdin who loves knocks lives there. And apparently Kris is not as good at knocking as Frisk is.

56. In the alley where you meet Alphys again there is a painting of Everyman (attack of Reaper Bird - one of the amalgamates). You can’t escape from your sins Alphys, even in another universe/timeline.

57. Asgore’s introduction dialogue in Deltarune is literally the same as in Undertale.

58. These flowers are an obvious allusion/parallel to the souls containers. The golden flower in the middle might be representing the empty container for Frisk’s determination soul. If you remember, in Undertale Alphys used a golden flower as a empty vessel to inject determination and that flower became Flowey later on.

59. RG01 and RG02 are still together, and for some reason they are still wearing helmets even tho the Royal Guard is most likely not a thing in Deltarune xD

60. If you wait long enough by the lake Onionsan will appear. He will ask what’s our name and will want to become friends. He also doesn’t remember his own name due to being alone for too long, so we have an option to gave him one.

61. He also might have a dark secret hehe

62. So there is most likely Mettaton, but we have no idea what’s up with Blooky. I’m hoping that in chapter 2 we will find out Mettaton’s canon ghost form and maybe his real name. Also I doubt that in Deltarune Mettaton has machine body, since Alphys never was a Royal Scientist in this universe/timeline.

63. Chara possession much? also a hint to the ending of Deltarune chapter 1

64. After Kris locks his soul in the cage you can still move it, but you can’t escape.

65. The glowing red eyes, Post Genocide Pacifist vibes are strong in this one.

These are all the allusions/parallel and easter eggs I was able to find. I’m sure there are more. Also there are some that I forgot to screenshot such as “characters titles” in party menu change: - Kris has a title of Leader, but if you check all 4 beds in Card Castle he has a title of Bed Inspector - Ralsei title changes after giving him different scarf There’s also at least one Annoying Dog easter egg in the party menu. Not to mention the anagrams: Deltarune - Undertale Ralsei - Asriel So yeah, that’s all folks. Hope you enjoyed, bye!

[nighttimepixels]

on deltarune

Okay, holy hell, I can’t start without saying that, quite frankly:

I loved it.

The music, the visuals, the new characters, the evolution of the battle style - it still retained so much of what I loved about Undertale, yet pushed further/evolved to suit this game.

I was nervous, admittedly, at the first battle - honestly, I’ve never liked team management RPGs too much because so often they get tedious. This, though? It was the perfect balance, and with the shifting team dynamic throughout the game, it really enhanced the story and added to it, rather than being a tedious distracting!

I also have to immediately say how much I loved the Dark World. The designs, the music, the uniqueness of the characters - seriously, Toby Fox did an incredible thing. This doesn’t feel like The Underground 2.0 - this feels like a different place, with beings that are different.... yet their attitudes and interactions still have that freaking charm and depth (even in minor NPCs) that I love about his style of storytelling.

Also, Ralsei is fluffiest best boi, I’m weeping.

Okay - I’m going to save the majority of my gushing over the team & team dynamic in the Dark World for another separate post, because given how much everyone is freaking out, i want to jump right into the meat of it:

Thoughts & Theories

First off... Do I think that this is Undertale 2: the Sequel?

No... but, also, kind of.

I do not think that Deltarune is in any way a direct sequel to Undertale. I especially strongly feel that it’s not an accurate take away to say this is ‘erasing the canon of Undertale’ or ‘destroying the characters/messing with what I love about them’.

I absolutely believe that this is, very literally, an alternate universe to the one we know and love in Undertale. The evidence is everywhere, especially once we return from the Dark World. The characters are nearly all there (and then some), and all the familiar ones carry the same personality and traits that make up the core of them, but the relationships, the context they’ve lived is different. This makes them different people in many ways- hell, with how widely accepted AUs became for the fandom, this should be nothing unfamiliar - but I think a lot of people are wildly thrown off by the fact that Toby Goddamn He Sure Did That Fox legitimately made AUs canon with this game.

Hell, the world of Deltarune seems to even give us the detail that The War (between humans and monsters) never happened here! There’s no hints of it - while the town seems to be almost entirely monsters but for Kris (presumably adopted), there’s no mention of some past sealed in the Underground (or the relationships/bond formed from such an experience), and frankly it doesn’t seem like there’s animosity between monsters and humans, either.

So if it’s not a Sequel™, what is it?

Deltarune is exploring a new theme, using familiar characters, a familiar setup, which in my mind makes it all the more powerful-

Namely, I believe Deltarune is taking two main characters/’entities’ from Undertale as it’s core focus-

‘Chara’ and Gaster.

Why do I think ‘Chara’? (and why the quotes?)

This, from the end of a No-Mercy Route:

and once you select ‘Erase’:

(see too, the fact that if you do a full Pacifist ending after a No-Mercy run, the post-credits include ‘you’ waking up in the middle of the night, and the ‘Chara’ face and familiar red glint occurring.)

Deltarune is a natural ‘evolution’, a follow-up to this specific moment, this concept.

Especially, especially, I note the phrasing ‘this pointless’ world’-

because a major theme of Deltarune (Chapter 1) is the idea that your choices have little impact on the world.

This is in direct juxtaposition to Undertale’s them of ‘choices matter’ - hell, in Deltarune, the ending is damn near the same in the Dark World even if you fight every monster - you can’t even kill any of them, because they run away, scared of you.

So, Deltarune’s theme - so far, your choices... don’t matter.

I’m not here to conjecture without proof - the fact is, this is Chapter 1, and we just don’t have all the details, not even close. We don’t know Kris’ origin (adopted, almost certainly, but how/why? from where, when there seems to be no other human in this town? are monsters largely separated from humans, or is this town just a case of a concentration in population?); we don’t know Gaster’s role (I’ll get to him shortly); we don’t know if the Dark World (and Lightners) are something even whispered about in legend in the world we came from.

(That said, I don’t stand by the interpretation of ‘all that being just a dream’ situation, but again, I’d rather have more info from the next Chapter before I try and conjecture there.)

We see in the beginning of the game something that the weight of doesn’t really hit hard until after it all- Kris, when facing the mirror and checking it, gets the flavor text ‘It’s just you.’

Naturally, at first playthrough, this largely just seems like a callback to the mirror text in Undertale, and a minor insight into Kris’ personal self-value - with the ‘just’ seeming a little sadly self-deprecating.

But after you’ve seen the post-credits-

Suddenly, that feels more like tired relief.

I don’t want to say for sure that Kris is ‘haunted’ or anything like that, but Kris is definitely not just Kris. The post-credits confirm that without a doubt. Suddenly, they lurch out of their bed - not moving normally, as if something else is... piloting them, for lack of a better term - they look like a freaking zombie, at best... and then they rip their soul out of their body and slam it into a cage. The next moment, we get the chilling red-glint and distinctive ‘Chara’ like expression.

I say this tentatively, but my guess is that Kris, being adopted (though certainly at a young age, given the text about Kris growing up with Asriel) came from a bad situation. Again, avoiding too much conjecture in this post, but there’s a lot of signs that point towards that - and I mean, the symbolism of ‘separating yourself from your heart/emotions’ after something traumatic...? The emptiness of Kris’ side of the room, the way that Kris doesn’t fight back in the beginning against Susie, the emotional distance... Seeming, based on interactions with others, like Kris has been largely reticent or at least distant from others more and more, with the exception of big bro Asriel? That’s a lot of red flags, in my mind-

But it’s more than just having issues from whatever happened in their past (and presumably to their birth parents...), it’s also that either because of or in relation to that, ‘Chara’ has become a part of them, and, apparently, takes over at times. That red wagon, that cage... that’s not new. It’s rusty, there are stains nearby seemingly from it/what it held-

This is why I keep putting ‘Chara’ in quotes. It’s moreover a name for the entity of hate/no mercy that you face at the end of the game, not so much the actual Fallen Child from Undertale.

We don’t know what’s been happening with that, we don’t know how much or how often ‘Chara’ has control - but they’re there, and Kris knows it.

This is what so strongly ties together that theme of choices don’t matter - because that seems to be what Kris feels.

Additionally, on the note of Gaster:

No, we haven’t ‘seen’ him yet, or received.... direct confirmation. But Toby Fox, despite being the greatest troll with the best payoff to have ever lived, doesn’t do things lightly. Hell, despite the overwhelming popularity of Undertale, he’s only ever done a handful of proper interviews, and rarely gives concrete details about anything - if he doesn’t want to imply or say something, he won’t.

But we know for certain that he never does things lightly, and the tweets leading up to Deltarune’s release were all in the style of the ‘Missing Entry’, the DARKER YET DARKER entry - ie, the Gaster entry. Coming from a background of writing analysis and style analysis, this matches to a T (though seriously, you don’t need any kind of background to notice that...) - and furthermore, matches the ‘character creation’ start of Deltarune.

Gaster, wherever, whatever he is, is likely ‘viewing’ all this from his position smeared across space-time... everywhere and nowhere at once. He’s positioned as the narrator in an overarching since - his seems to be the ‘voice’ speaking to you when you game-over, his is what you see in the beginning... I’d bet we’re going to be seeing a lot more, though almost certainly in unexpected ways, in future chapters.

Wrapping up-

There’s so much up in the air, but I feel certain about that much based on all the evidence so far. The fact that a game of this length came out of the blue when only some of us even dared to hope for a small demo from the Gaster Tweets on Oct. 30th... holy shit.

Some people seem to have mixed feelings, but seriously - Toby Fox released a 3-4 hour game (depending on how you played it, that’s about the fastest I’ve seen on average for first plays without rushing), with no Kickstarter, no whisper of it coming out - and it’s only the first chapter of the story. However you feel about that, seriously - this man is an incredible creator, and I couldn’t be more in awe.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to reblog this/add on! I might come back and do some light edits/add-ons as I’m sure I’ll think of something I forgot to say in hardly ten minutes, but anything major I’ll likely add in a personal reblog.

With that, I’ll leave off with one final note that I think no one’s brought up yet in what little I’ve seen on full thoughts of the game:

Anyone remember the Stretch Goals from the Undertale Kickstarter?

Well, under the last, largest one, Toby Fox wrote this:

The “other” game... I can’t tell you anything about it. Its very nature is shrouded in darkness.

Toby Fox, everyone.

Toby Goddamn Fox.

[typenull]

if the “the promise in our hearts” lyric is abt asriel and chara’s friendship, then that supports the theory that the deltarune timeline was created by asriel bc he wants to live in a world where all his friends and family are present...... ugh toby’s MIND

 right? his mind is a gift we don’t deserve him 

i’m a big fan of this theory, however i also personally enjoy the theory that it was created by chara or by the both of them somehow. i enjoy the idea of the light world being created by chara, and asriel creating the dark world.

[meta post under the cut… i didn’t mean for it to get this long…]

after all, there are two narrators in the intro:

and chara definitely seems to be present here one way or another. [this links to a post by my wonderful friend bea @lunacria​ go check it out

both worlds tend to cater to their ideas of an “ideal perfect world” fairly well. 

is there anything that chara would want more than for their family and friends to live happily in a world with no humans except “themself”? for their brother to be happy, successful, move on to college, and live a fulfilling life, while not really caring what happens to “themself” in the process? kris’s personality is eerily similar to their own, down to the creepiness and the chocolate cravings.

kris seems to be the only person in the entirety of hometown who is looked down upon for being “creepy”. funnily enough, they’re also the only human.

their descriptors of the items on their side of the room are blunt and to the point, much like chara’s overview of their own room back in new home, even mirroring some of their previous lines: 

i’m not trying to imply kris and chara are the exact same person here, kris definitely is their own person with their own relationships and ideas - however, their stark similarities definitely make me think kris at least has some kind of tie in, they seem a bit too similar for it to be coincidental to me!

on the other side of the spectrum, the dark world also reflects asriel’s ideas and perceptions of the world.

asriel, who’s lived in a royal family underground for his whole life, seems more prone to creating a dark world that works under a similar hierarchy. the “heroes saving the world vs the bad evil villains” tropes feel much more black vs white in this world, but i feel like that’s done on purpose. in comparision to his sibling, asriel definitely seems more of the type to enjoy your typical hero’s story - especially considering his thoughts when supporting chara in the buttercup plan (We’ll be strong! We’ll free everyone!)

on top of all of this, it’s also a world in which there seems to be another direct tie in - another lonely goat prince, ralsei.

have you realized there are times in which ralsei quotes asriel/flowey almost directly? and they both have incredibly similar emotional character arcs?

for example, i feel this is most poignant in the game’s ending.

a sweet, pacifist prince believes that kindness is the best solution:

and learns through a circumstance (which he blames himself for):

that perhaps, the world is not as kind as he’d once thought.

afterwards, they are both left on their own, to continue being a lonely prince, and not affect anyone else they’d once known.

ralsei even quotes “assisting lightners” as his entire purpose and the only thing that leaves darkners feeling fulfilled:

and we know that asriel likes to feel “helpful” and “useful.”

all this along with ralsei seemingly doing nothing except drawing manuals and baking cakes before meeting kris and susie, it’s a very interesting comparison.

there are also plenty of themes still present in the game from undertale, one of which is the angel.

my pal @doge-w-a-bloge​ wrote a very nice post detailing more info about this, as well as likening both asriel and chara to undertale’s role of the “angel” depending on which route you play.

and what could you call an angel’s “perfect world”?

all in all, i just think it’s neat. thanks for listening to me!

PS my best friend chara​ and i have been talking about this since the day after the game came out so i can’t finish this post without giving them some kind of acknowledgement in this idea!!! i wouldnt have thought of all this without talking with them and everyone else ive already credited here about it!!!!!

[rxlseii-archive]

The Okamirune AU/CO

( it’s a working title )

Before I start my rambling: this whole crossover/AU is HEAVILY inspired by the fanfic Ammytale by commenter! I’d recommend giving it a read ( it’s got one of the most impressive written boss fights I’ve read in ages, but it hasn’t been updated in over a year, so be ready to sit and be sad about that )

the tldr; the story kind of just as seamlessly as possible integrates Amaterasu from Okami into the story of Deltarune and makes her part of the Fun/Fuck gang / Lancer Fan Club. A full manuscript is under the cut for longevity!

So in this crossover a stray dog just suddenly turned up one day, funnily enough not too long before Kris started feeling the effects of Someone Else’s Soul In Their Body. Nobody really paid it any mind but it was pretty friendly, often coming up to people or picking things up for those who dropped or lost possessions outside. It seemed to take a particular interest in Kris when it spotted them, but never really approached them or pushed them to a point.

During the events of Deltarune, the dog somehow sneaks into the school right as Susie and Kris are heading to the closet. Susie is naturally startled by the fact that a goddamn dog made it inside the school, and opts for it to check out the closet ahead of the other two. They follow it in after they hear a bark from inside, and everything proceeds as textbook for our canonical heroes.

When Susie and Kris make it to the castle, they find the hooded Ralsei having a chat with a wolf that looks vaguely like the stray dog that’s been following them, except it’s a brighter white with cherry red markings and hosts a mirror on it’s back - as a quick design note, Solar Flare in the Dark World has blue, green, and pink fires only, rather than the rainbow of colour it usually bares. It’s *~*symbolic*~*!

Lancer turns up, and the dog is part of the party - at this point her name can be seen along the party roster at the bottom as ‘Ammy’ & while her hp is almost ridiculously higher than Kris and Susie’s, she seemingly cannot attack - leaving her only options to ACT, DEFEND, and SPARE.

Things go as textbook - when Susie leaves, Ammy sticks with Kris and Ralsei for awhile, participating in their shenanigans (during the dummy tutorial she can ACT - she can’t hug Ralsei like Kris, but she certainly can hop up and cover him in doggy kisses) up until the maze in the Field of Hopes and Dreams, when she seems to catch a scent and rushes ahead. She can be recovered by the decimated cake later, where she rejoins after being awoken from a nap. It’s to be noted that she has cake crumbs all over her face, suggesting she joined Susie in devouring the treat.

And the game is basically like that from there - Ammy bounces between being part of Kris and Ralsei’s squad or hanging out with Susie and, later, Lancer (Susie voices her frustration about this in the room where they’re lazing around while Rudiins fan them with leaves; “Look, dude, if you wanna hang with us, that’s chill… But you need to pick a side! You can’t be on The Fuck Squad and the Dark Fuck Squad at the same time!” “Bork!” “Ugh…”)

She ends up with Susie in the dungeon, and they go their separate ways when Susie manages to solve the puzzle unlocking their cage. Her cutscene with Lancer plays out like normal, but when she goes to recover Ralsei and Kris, Ammy’s already freed them (somehow…) and they’re able to move on.

Ammy visibly likes: Head Hathy, the animal crackers, and Roulxs.

Ammy visibly dislikes: Any mentions of the King, the Knight, and Jevil.

Ammy takes larger damage than usual during Jevil’s fight, and it’s one of the only two times she’s able to ATTACK. Her attack comes in three hits, however, syncing with the way she swings her reflector in Okami - a side swing, an uppercut, and a final bash before the reflector returns to its place. The sight of the key and pieces of it make her uneasy, and there’s a brief line of dialogue when he’s beaten where she seems worried, but relieved.

The King fight goes as scripted, though two new options show up for Ammy’s ACT: Pray, which puts her out of commission for a round but boosts TP massively, and Sunrise, which causes her to howl and summon a blinding beam of light to attack the King - it deals massive damage, but takes 100% TP.

She lends her strength to Susie when the King threatens Kris’ life via a power slash along with her red buster.

At the very end of the game, instead of being shocked by Ralsei’s true form, Ammy seems pleased and excited. She also reacts with excitement when they return to say goodbye to everyone, and while Kris interacts with NPCs, her sprite can be seen approaching them in the background, playing a licking animation when she’s close enough.

She stays with the both of them when they finally leave to close the fountain properly. Susie remarks that while she and Kris lost their cool looks when they returned to their world, Ammy seemed to retain her red markings, though not her weapon. Dialogue implies that Kris does not see it. Ammy’s sprite has not changed, either.

Ammy leaves with Susie, too, at an invitation to stay somewhere warm “since, y’know, you’re just a stray, and it gets cold during fall.” However, she pauses just after Susie leaves, staring at Kris, and a dialogue box says something along the lines of * She seems to be worried… before she buggers off for good, leaving Kris to explore Hometown on their own.

[make-an-undertale-blog-why-not]

Okay something just hit me about Kris and Ralsei which might explain why Kris has a low opinion of Ralsei, so hear me out

Kris and Ralsei, while being really different, are similar in one key way, their lack of agency. Kris’ loss of bodily autonomy is central to their character arc, and Ralsei fully believes his only purpose is to serve Lightners, and also cannot perform his own actions until Susie gets him to it by force. Moreover, Kris and Ralsei are very much tied to the player, and both are meta-aware to some extent. So we’ve established, they’re both very similar in this regard.

Where Kris and Ralsei differ however, is how they react to player. Kris is outwardly shown to resent the player, tearing away from their control at the end of the day in order to experience some freedom. Ralsei is the complete opposite however. I think due to already having beliefs about having to serve, mixed with being a self-aware entity, Ralsei becomes a servant to the player, and his loyalty to Kris, is actually just him being attached to the player.

AND SO, Kris and Ralsei’s contrasting feelings and actions towards the player is exactly why Kris hates Ralsei, or at least doesn’t think very highly of him. I’m sure that Kris views Ralsei as some sort of minion for the player, who’s there to keep them in their place. And while Ralsei may be aware of the soul controlling Kris, his naivety may lead him to believe that this is genuinely what needs to be done for either the sake of the prophecy, or this is whats good for Kris, or simply that he doesn’t want to shake the status quo. Remember Ralsei isn’t directly aware that this may be hurting Kris (in fact no one is), as the two soul ripping segments happen in the Light World.

This all isn’t to say that Ralsei doesn’t care about Kris. He seems to genuinely want friends, as proven with how he interacts with Susie. And he seems to authentically care for Kris, as when he tried to calm them down after the Spamton NEO. While yes, I admit his dialogue is very suspicious, it is possible he may be as confused as Kris, or maybe he himself doesn’t want to think about it too hard due to how it might affect his own beliefs.

how do we know kris and the knight are the same entity? how do we know it's kris who tears the soul out? and, if neither of those other two have concrete answers, when is it shown that kris dislikes the player*? also???? when is kris ever shown to not like ralsei? like i dont really.. recall any part or the game that implies this?? i'm not really searching all that hard or at all but i genuinely like. dont recall and would like to know.

*With the exception of checking the mirror in chapter 2, i don't really recall any active resentment towards the player. i don't mean to dunk on the theory cause if i was i'd probably do a lot more searching and maybe replay the game as well; i'm just saying where you see deeper meta meaning i see "creepy and cringe fortnite player, lesbian who talks big shit but couldn't run more than 20 feet before passing out, and lonely fluffy boy who keeps secrets and likes to look pretty all go on a funny adventure to save the world (maybe). also the cringe one has some weird shit going on." i mean you're probably right but. yknow.

also completely unrelated -- ralsei even actively tells kris that the heart is THEIR soul. like yeah we control it but like. it's kris's soul. it's not like flowey where he may be addressing the player; ralsei specifically says "See that Heart, Kris? That is your SOUL..." then again, ralsei is definitely hiding shit so taking his word for it may be a bad idea and also it has next to no relevance to what im saying but i just figured i'd point that out.