#like. did you know susie and kris went to middle school together.

[acaciapines]

as someone who’s very excited to read your Dess raises Kris AU, something that i’m really excited for is the dynamic between Dess and Chara! From the little excerpt we saw of them in the past i’m so curious as to how they’re relationship functions / how it’ll effect Kris growing up and such. If it isn’t too much to ask, could you go a bit in depth as to how they ‘work’ in a sense?

jkegkjdfgdf IT MEANS SO MUCH THAT UR EXCITED.....WOW.....like i am too its just so fun to know other people are!!

and! yeah so. i go into them a lot in this post here where i said. a lot of what my ideas are right now (and its said better lol) but i can for sure talk about them forever and ever and ever. most relationship of all time.

under the cut cause Oh My God it was not supposed to be this long.

so!!! i think a lot of how dess and chara work is that as time goes on it becomes increasingly obvious that They Do Not, actually. like, the way i see dess is that she is very much a person who needs to be on the move--she cannot stay in one place. that just...isnt who she is, and its stifling, and she HATES being weighed down. and kids, uh, sorta do that to you lol. vs chara, who like...has defined xirself around this role xe took up, 'cause the huge difference between them is that chara chose to have frisk and dess just sorta ended up with kris, right? so thats one point they arent ever going to like, understand the other one on.

so a lot of what leads them to deciding to stick together is this sense of loneliness they both feel...dess for being someone who is always on the move has also always had people with her: azzy, for one, but i think shes also the sort of people who makes a lot of like, surface-level friendships? i think shes A Lot and most people never get to know her that well, but like...chara DOES. and vice-versa for chara: people never bother to get to know xir, but dess WANTS TO. dess really truly cares about xir and xir life and who xe is which is very new for chara. cause before this all xe's had is frisk who is. literally a two year old and doesnt have any other choice lol.

theyre both people who have been dealt a poor hand in life in regards to dark world bullshit, something they cant exactly get help with through like, traditional means. they meet when theyre both super young--iirc dess is 18, chara 21? 22?--and yknow, raising a kid at that young an age isnt the most common experience. dess has run away from home, basically, and chara's a college dropout with a biological family xe never want to see again...neither of them have anybody else! they dont have any help! so they bond over that, a lot. its like...seeing someone Like You for the first time in your entire life.

and all that said its the kids thing that really throws a wrench into everything.

because dess cant stay still, right? she cant. shes not wired for it. but chara does, and she trusts chara, and chara doesnt mind watching kris, so dess doesnt feel bad leaving them with xir. but. a day becomes a week. week a few weeks, a month, a few months. as time goes on dess coming home grows more and more sparse. but theres this sense of like...chara doesnt really know who xe is, anymore, outside of this family xe has? outside of being a parent and spouse? so to chara, to leave dess is like, unimaginable. dess is xir person. dess loves xir, which is something xe cannot really comprehend as a loveless aromantic, but having never been loved in xir entire life (chara had a Bad childhood lets just say) its like...dess chooses xir. and sure, shes gone a lot, but when she does come home, her home is XIR. her home is chara. its gloriously dizzying.

and dess does feel the same way!!! dess never really means to leave chara for so long, she just...loses track of time. hates being Needed by kids in any way more than a cool aunt they see occasionally. funnily enough she gets on with frisk better because frisk doesnt really expect a mom out of her. (that isnt to say its returned lol kris likes dess wayyyyy more than frisk does. but for dess its easier to be around frisk cause they dont expect anything). if the kids werent a thing chara and dess would actually work a lot better--chara is a lot less adventurous and likes staying back and tending to things, but without frisk to like, REALLY cement that xe'd enjoy going out with dess, probably not into dark worlds but travel might be nice. and dess wouldn't feel so much pressure, if its just chara, 'cause chara kind of just likes dess for who she is. so for just-chara, dess could stay. dess is used to people wanting her to be someone else--her mother, her father, hell, even AZZY, who like...he never acted on it, but he had a crush on her for their entire friendship. she knows he'd rather she return those feelings.

but chara GETS HER. chara cares for her in a way that doesnt want her to become something she isnt--its why they get married!! dess never felt romantic love, and still doesnt, but its chara who makes her go--oh. oh, so i think i know why people might get married, actually. its saying--youre my person, and chara is her person. and vice-versa, of course. dess is this light chara never had.

but. of course. they have two kids.

which. complicates things. dess puts chara first--she LOVES chara, loves xir in every single way she can feel love. but chara...chara cares about dess, a lot. its why xe's really blind to a lot of xir faults for a while...because thats dess. xe doesnt know where xe would be without dess. but chara is a parent. frisk and kris do come first.

the kids are like, aware of this. frisk is very much aware of this--they're younger than kris but they dont have these rose-colored glasses about dess, and they sort of notice, how much of a toll it takes on chara to be a single parent, essentially, still. dess sends money back--she IS sort of the breadwinner lol, turns out selling weird dark world things is sometimes actually a viable career--but she doesnt, like, parent. when she comes home shes a friend. but not a parent.

kris fights with chara a lot. idealizes dess. its that idea that the parent who has to be the PARENT, be the one to say no, be the one to deal with all the crying and meltdowns and just general messiness of raising another human being, is the one that also gets the most flack. dess is never around! which is hard, but it also means she never messes up. at least in kris's eyes, lol.

for frisk and kris dess really is the one thing that like, gets in between all else. its the wound they all keep opening again, because shes never around, and it hurts. whenever she comes back and stays for a week when she said a month the kids know how sad chara gets!! how lonely xe is! but kris writes it off because dess will come back, and frisk grows bitter. its the one thing the two dont talk about because its the one thing that fractures their sibling relationship. every serious fight the two have is in some way about dess.

the entire reason why noelle and kris end up meeting? because kris thinks that if they prove themself as brave like dess, and dive into and close a dark world like she does, she'll stay longer this time. but of course all that does is get them stuck.

dess never does things maliciously. she does, really, truly, care about chara, kris, frisk. but she also just...does things. she never looks before she leaps. she shies away from facing consequences. and thats like...the sort of thing you CANT do, when youve got kids. but she never wanted them. she never meant to take kris.

she's just. in too deep. and chara does NOT hold her accountable which doesnt help. it would be best for the kids if chara got a divorce but. chara cant do that. xe cannot be alone again.

OKAY THAT WAS A LOT. uh. if you (general) wants to know more!! hit me up!!! tho i will say i'll have more to say about other relationships lol, i think i've said most of what i can able dess&chara right now. BUT I AM ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT THIS AU I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ON HOW IT CHANGES THINGS--

[anomalousgirl]

HAIII!!!! Can you make a Kris one?? From deltarune? Sfw and Nsfw both, please? Tyy!!

Hiii! ofc! I was kinda struggling with this one so i hope its good -w-

warnings: nsfw, nsfw written by a minor, biting kink(?), face sitting, thigh kink(? not rlly sure what to call it😭), if i missed anything lmk!!

all characters are aged up!!

Kris Dreemurr x GN!Reader HC's

sfw:

you and kris met at school your senior year, in alphys's biology class. You were sat next to the quiet kid and eventually you befriended them... somehow. You're not quite sure how you did it, but you did. 

After you two became friends, you started to learn a lot about them, including this "dark world" they and their other friend susie liked to go to. At first, you didn't believe them, thinking they were just a... really imaginative guy, but eventually they convinced susie to let you see it and once you did your mind was blown. 

of course, you had to explore this new and foreign place, having kris, susie, and their other friend ralsei show you around the dark world. 

The experience helped you become even closer to kris, and after a while of exploring the dark world and fighting evil bosses together, you noticed that you had grown feelings for the nonchalant guy.

You weren't sure how to go about confessing your feelings to them, you weren't sure you should've even confessed at all, but after Susie convinced you (because she thought Kris would reject you and she'd get a little laugh out of it), you went for it.

You wrote them a cute little love poem (cringe i know), slipping it onto their desk in the middle of class, hoping and praying to every god you knew that they wouldn't reject you.

Surprisingly, they said they felt the same way, they even took you to the local diner after school as a sorta 'date', and it was the most fun you'd had in a while.

Since they were already such a quiet and reserved guy, it was difficult to have full conversations with them. You didn't mind though since sitting together in silence actually proved to be quite nice. Just hanging out together, doing different tasks in the comfort of each others presence, it was quite relaxing honestly.

Kris wasn't really into PDA at first, opting to show their affection behind closed doors like hand-holding and cuddling, but eventually they came out of their shell and held your hand out in public for the first time, and when they did it made you ecstatic (which you kept inside for their sake).

Whenever you, Kris and Susie are in the dark world, Kris has a tendency to be protective over you, always keeping you out of danger. You found it quite endearing, the way they'd always jump in front of you to protect you from an enemies attack, making sure you weren't injured.

Of course, if you did ever get hurt, whether it be from battle or just a small accident, they were always there to take care of you. Sometimes they'd heal you with foods like dark candy or club sandwiches, and sometimes they'd use their healing magic to heal you up, always making sure you were at max HP. What a sweetheart<3

Their favorite thing to do with you is sit by the lake at the edge of town and watch the sunrise/sunset or stargaze with you, the two of you just sitting side-by-side, your hand in theirs, sometimes you guys will even try to find constellations when stargazing or just try to find little shapes in the stars. They always laugh when you say some stars look like them, they donmt quite see it, but they believe you.

nsfw:

Now if it wasnt obvious, Kris was a virgin, so when you first did it with them you made sure to take things slow, and as you both started getting more comfortable with each other you tried out different things.

Their favorite position has to be cowgirl, they just love looking up at you as you ride them, giving you full control (also its totally not cause i think their a sub).

Kris definitely has a thing for your chest, always pinching and gently pulling on your nipples, sometimes even licking them or sucking on them, you always end up having teeth marks and saliva on your chest when you two are done.

Kris loves to mark you up, always biting you or sucking hickeys into your skin, leaving dark purple spots on your neck, chest, stomach or inner thighs.

Speaking of thighs, they loves yours, always squeezing the soft flesh, loving the sight of hickeys there (they also love to lay their head on your lap when their tired and needs a nap).

They know you worry about hurting them, but they go feral when you sit on their face, always making sure to pull you down onto their face when you hesitate and just hover above them. And, of course, they make sure to eat you out like his life depends on it, always slurping and licking like you were their last meal.

Of course, they always make sure to take care of you after, cleaning you with a warm and damp rag and making sure to get you anything you needed, water, snacks, a warm and fuzzy pillow, anything at all. They always made sure you were comfortable and well taken care of, cuddling up to you after and falling asleep soundly in your arms.

thank you for reading and i hope you enjoyed!!

please let me know if you'd like to join the taglist!

[reds-fluff-extravaganza]

Susie x musical!reader

I’m surprised by how many I have for Susie

Susie mumbled curses under her breath as she was being dragged to the school's talent show by none other than Kris. She really did not want to go, she would rather just be at home or doing literally anything else than be here.

"Kris, let me ask you just one thing... why the hell am I here?" Kris turned to face her, then signed to her, since he had at least taught her how to read it,

"Because I wasn't going by myself. Besides, it's not that bad, Susie. Plus, there's someone here I want you to meet, and they're going to be performing."

"Yes, it is, Kris. I could be doing literally anything else. You want me of all people to meet someone? Hilarious, Kris." As the two went back and forth about how Susie thought the talent show was just a waste of time, they didn't see everyone else setting up everything for the different performances. Susie was about to just give up trying to argue with Kris and just leave, even if she ended up dragging the poor brunette with her, until she saw the lights had dimmed down.

"Dammit..." Susie mumbled, just loud enough for Kris to hear. Kris just shook his head and brought her over to two chairs which were a bit further away from the others.

"Well that's a little better..." Susie sat down in one chair and Kris sat in the chair beside her. Susie sighed and leaned back in the chair as the first few people performed. She yawned a bit out of boredom. That is, until three students walked up onto the stage from behind the curtain. Out of the three, she had noticed the one up front and in the middle, the one with (h/l) (h/c) hair, (s/c) skin, (e/c) eyes and wearing a long sleeved (f/c) shirt and long dark blue/gray/black jeans.

"Hey, Kris?" The brunette looked over as his name was called.

"Who is that?" she asked, pointing over at you.

"That is Y/n L/n. That's who I want you to meet."

"Is that so..?" Kris only nodded and the two of them quieted down as you and your two friends began your performance.

~timeskip to after the talent show brought to you by musicals~

"Hey, Kris!" You called out to the brunette who had approached you. You smiled and hugged him once he was close enough. Kris tensed up a bit at the sudden hug, but relaxed and hugged you back. You let him go as you saw someone else approach you. You've seen her around before and you've definitely heard about her.

"Y/n, I want you to meet my friend, Susie. Susie, this is Y/n."

"It's nice to meet you, Susie."

"Yeah, sure."

"Don't mind her, she didn't want to come here, but I wanted her to come and meet you. I think you two would be good friends."

"Oh, I see."

"Well, I should get going before my mom freaks out that I'm not home, when I told her I'd be home as soon as this ended. See ya."

"Bye Kris! It was good to see you!" You waved as he took off. You then looked up at Susie.

"So..."

"...you did really well, Y/n." You just barely heard her say. You smiled at her compliment.

"Thank you."

"You.. want to hang out sometime?"

"sure!"

"Sweet. I'll uh, see you around?" Susie looked down at you. You smiled and nodded in response before the two of you went your separate ways.

~timeskip to a few months later~

You tapped your foot as you waited for your turn to perform. Your friends were trying to get you to calm down and that you were getting impatient.

"Y/n?"

"Susie?" You looked over as she walked over to you.

"I figured you were back here. Anyway, uh, good luck, Y/n."

"Thanks, Susie!" You smiled and hugged her. She hugged back and pat your head.

"Come on, Y/n, it's our turn!" One of your friends nudged you. You let Susie go from the hug and followed your two friends to the stage.

Susie walked back to the audience to watch you perform with your friends. As she watched your performance, she thought back to the night you met. The next day, you had bumped into each other and you exchanged phone numbers. After school, the two of you hung out and got to know each other a little better. During the past few months, you and Susie have spent so much time together, you were nearly inseparable. A few people had even thought the two of you were dating, to which you would blush and Susie would just laugh a bit. Though you both wished you could be a couple, but you didn't say anything due to fear of rejection.

Susie was brought back from her thoughts as you were finishing up your performance. She was going to do it. She was finally going to tell you how she felt. As soon as you walked backstage, Susie followed you back there.

"Hey, Y/n. good job out there."

"Thanks, Susie!"

"Y/n? Can I talk with you for a moment? Alone..?"

"Hmm? Sure." You followed her over to where there were no people.

"So, what's up Susie?"

"I'm not very good at expressing myself but well... over the past few months I've developed... feelings for you. I had no idea what the hell it was so I ended up having to ask Kris, who then proceeded to make fun of the fact that I have a crush on you... I was going to tell you sooner but I had a weird feeling that you wouldn't like me back a-"

"What are you talking about, Susie? I love you too!"

"wait, really?"

"Yes, I do."

"Oh, hell yeah!" Susie picked you up and kissed you. It was short, yet sweet.

"It's about time you two!" You looked over to see your two friends standing there.

"(F/f/n)... (s/f/n)..."

"Run, (s/f/n)!" The two of them took off with you hot on their heels. Susie just stood there with a 'wtf just happened?' look on her face, before she ran after the three of you.

[promisedangel]

Prodding The Past

This is a request for the winner of the Ko-fi Commission Raffle, @not-a-heathen-potato ! They requested a nice little story about Ralsei trying to learn more about Susie! Enjoy!

Susie grumbled to herself, “Damnit, Kris.” It was still morning, on a Saturday no less. Yet, unlike many of her peers, Susie had been up for hours. She sat in the grasses near the entrance to the school, empty of children and adults. Since yesterday, one promise hung in her mind, ‘Let’s go back there tomorrow, alright?’. With a nod and a smile in response, the promise was set. Susie sighed, maybe she overthought this and arrived too early? Maybe Kris was still asleep? She shrugged and growled in frustration. She was getting impatient.

She stood tall and scoffed, “Tsk, I’m not waiting any longer. They can catch up.” Susie approached the entrance to the school. The door was unlocked, it opened with a simple turn of the knob. She smirked; they forgot to unlock it after she and Kris strolled out of the Dark World. She closed the door behind her and strolled to the back of the school. Her eyes dead set on one particular room; the supply closet linked to the abandoned classroom.

A doubt floated to the surface as she drew closer to the closet. Would she even be able to enter the Dark World without Kris? They’d only gone once, but it was together. Susie remembered many trips to the closet for a snack, yet no Dark World. Or… was the path now open because she and Kris fell into it? She scratched her head. She remembered the extra dark fountain. Maybe it was that. Damn overthinking. She knew she had to stop. Susie reached the closet with ease. She hesitated, her hand just over the knob. She turned back towards the entrance of the school. Part of her wished Kris was there, opening the door. But there was no one. Not an adult, and certainly not Kris. She couldn’t wait any longer. She roughly opened the door to the same darkness she saw before. What was once met with hesitation, she strutted forth confidently. She closed the door behind her. Darkness engulfed her vision. She could spot no walls, nor any nearby items on the floor. Just like before.

She walked. Step by step. She noticed her steps went far longer than the closet would have let her. Was it working? She couldn’t tell in this darkness. She didn’t pause. After what seemed like hours, she could see a low light peak in the distance. Her eyes lit with determination. Her calm strut instantly changed to a swift dash. Slowly but surely, the light grew. It seemed to peek through leaves and branches. She pushed the branches aside and stepped out.

The area was familiar. The luminescent purple grasses and bushes. The pink trees and path. She’d traversed this field just yesterday. The question was, where in this field was she? A quick thought entered her mind; she looked over herself. She was in the same outfit as yesterday. Spiked armbands. The purple sleeveless shirt and black sleeveless overcoat. The lighter purple pants. It was all familiar to her. She paused. No axe. She shrugged; she’d probably see it soon enough.

She began to walk once more. Most of the inhabitants she saw yesterday were docile or far off. Still, Susie kept her guard up as she walked. She rounded a corner to see a hathy and a rudinn. They had their weapons out. A patrol. The pair quickly spotted Susie. The rudinn called out to her in shock, “Hey!” Susie readied herself. Her axe faithfully appeared in her hands. The hathy readied themselves as well. The rudinn took a step back, “W-wait a minute! We’re not your enemies, I swear!” Susie scoffed as she held her axe on her back, “Then why are your weapons out?” The rudinn continued at a break-neck pace, “We were just patrolling! There’s still a lot of Darkners who think the king’s still in power! Prince Lancer ordered us to spread the word of his father’s defeat!” Susie relaxed at Lancer’s name. She smirked, “Oh, so you guys were sent by Lancer? How’s the little evildoer doing?” The hathy replied, “Not any evil at all! He’s… come up with strange new rules and um… the throne room has a lot of holes now…” Susie fully relaxed. Her axe disappeared. She went neutral, “Cool. I’m gonna go see him.” The rudinn replied nervously, “I’m… sorry, Hero Susie. He’s very busy today, with the changing of power and all.” Susie scoffed, “C’mon! It’s been a day! How busy could he be?” The hathy spoke bluntly, “He’s trying to shove all the paperwork he has to do into holes. Rouxls Kaard is currently teaching him the rules of Lancer’s…. well… rule.” Susie muttered under her breath, “Damn teachers.”

The rudinn perked up, “But, we’ve been given instructions from Hero Ralsei!” “What does he want?” “He wanted you and Hero Kris to meet at his home. He said… something about a promise of cake?” Susie snickered. The last words she heard from Ralsei echoed in her mind. She laughed, “That furball wasn’t kidding, huh?” The rudinn gave a look of confusion, “Um… where is… Hero Kris, anyway?” Susie shrugged, “I waited for them, but they never showed. They’re probably not far behind me. Just uh… keep looking! And send ‘em our way when you find them!” The rudinn and hathy stood in attention. They scrambled out a ‘yes, ma’am!’ before they scurried off. Susie stood there silently. Her hand curled into a tight fist for a few moments. She scoffed, “Ma’am, huh? Tsk. Never heard that before.”

———————————————————————————————

Susie trudged through the Dark World westward until she came across the familiar sight of the empty town Ralsei’s castle dwelled. No longer was this town empty, however. A few Darkners seemed to now inhabit, or at least begin to consider inhabiting the empty homes. Once Susie entered the town, she was quickly noticed by the populous. They cried out her name, “Hero Susie!” many of them cried out in jubilation. Some gave a silent bow to her. Yet no one approached, all but one. This young Darkner smiled, “Hero Susie! Prince Ralsei’s been waiting for your and Hero Kris’s arrival!” They raised a brow, “Where is-“ Susie huffed, “Seriously? I have to explain this again? Kris is running late, so I’m here now and they’ll show up later.” She muttered, “I hate repeating myself.” The Darkner gave a nervous laugh, “Is that so? Well, worry not! We’ll be more than happy to let Hero Kris know where to find you and Prince Ralsei!” Susie began to walk once more with a scoff, “Pretty hard to miss the giant castle in the back of town, y’know.” A few chuckles echoed from the crowd, but no more Darkners deigned to stop Susie or speak to her again. Instead, the crowd began to gossip on how they all ‘met’ one of the heroes. Susie tensed as she walked. Heroes… it still felt strange.

The courtyard was as plain as yesterday. The large door now guarded by two heavily armored Darkners, so much so Susie couldn’t make out their details. The two silently opened the doors for her. In front was a dusty hallway, years of neglect and care appeared obvious. The hallway was lined with portraits of various Darkners. Susie didn’t pay any mind to them, instead, she continued down the hallway along the dusty carpet. At the end of the hallway was a fork. A sign was put on the opposing wall. Susie read aloud, “Go left! I’ll be waiting in the garden! If you’re early, the kitchen is just before the garden!” Susie’s stomach growled at the thought of a kitchen. A castle kitchen. Ralsei might have been alone, but the kitchen was have been fully stocked for him to actually survive. Susie continued down the left hallway until a scent caught her attention. Chocolate. Vanilla. Baked goods. The scents emanated from a door on the right side. She creaked the door open and was hit with a wave of heat and the smell of fresh baked goods. She began to drool heavily.

Inside, she saw a large kitchen. Ovens were full of a batch of sugary sweets while another batch sat on cooling racks on a nearby counter. Across the kitchen, Susie saw Ralsei without his hat. He was stirring and mixing something while pleasantly humming to himself. Unaware of her presence. Susie slowly slunk into the kitchen and walked towards the cooling cakes. She dug her claws into one and began to noisily chomp it. After a few bites, she noticed the confection was still piping hot. She yelped out in surprise. Ralsei gasped and finally noticed Susie. He exclaimed in a panic, “Did you eat those?! I just got them out of the oven!” He rushed over to a cabinet and got a glass cup. He quickly dashed to a sink nearby Susie and turned the water on. He began to fill the cup with water, “D-don’t worry! I’ll help!” Susie approached the sink, her mouth still full of cake. She pushed the glass cup out of the water’s flow and stuck her mouth under the sink. Slowly but surely, she drank. The cake in her mouth wetted and cooled. After many large gulps, Susie let out a satisfied ‘ah’ noise and shut off the sink. While Susie was busy with her drink, Ralsei looked over at the cake Susie had dug into. Literally. Large claw marks dug to the bottom of the cake, in the middle of it. Ralsei bemoaned, “I was going to frost all these cakes… at least it was only one…” Susie recovered with a smile, “Yeah! That cake’s not bad, Ralsei!” Ralsei beamed, “I’m glad you remembered my name!” He frowned, “But, you should have said you were here! I could have warned you about the cakes!” Susie shrugged, “What’s the deal? I ate some cake and got some water, no problem.”

Ralsei sighed. He decided to let the subject go. He calmly spoke, “I’m glad you’re here. You’re just much… earlier than I expected.” “Yeah, well, Kris is some ways behind, so I guess you can have all those frosted cakes for them.” Ralsei scratched his cheek, “I was… planning for more than cakes. I was going to make us a good lunch together. I… I remember you said something about ham sandwiches?” Susie’s face lit up, “Dude, you were gonna do all that?!” Ralsei nodded, “It’s the least I can do! You and Kris are great heroes after all… even if it took you a while to embrace it!” Susie scoffed, “C’mon! You're supposed to be one of these heroes, too!” Rasei blushed. He went to grab his hat but found it not on his head. Instead, he put his hands to his cheeks to hide the blush, “I… I mean I suppose… but I… I’m just a prince with no subjects… well… I don’t know. Some Darkners mentioned the possibility of moving to my village…” “Yeah. It’s only been a day and it seems like a lot is starting to change. Lancer’s stuck playing king. The Darkners aren’t picking fights they can’t win.” Ralsei gave a nervous laugh, “Well, Lancer and I have tried our best to spread the word so that you and Kris don’t get attacked. Or any other Lightners that would come here.”

He changed the subject, “Well since Kris is coming later, we can have some cake and wait for them in the garden! Thank goodness I set the table very early! Go ahead and have a seat while I make us something to drink. Um… I guess we can snack on the cake you already tasted." Susie began to walk out of the kitchen, “Go ahead, don’t need to get fancy on my account! I eat stuff like chalk as a snack!” Ralsei stood there bewildered as she left. He quietly asked, “Chalk?” Susie had already left. He had no response. He sighed before he picked up the bowl of near-finished frosting he had been working on.

————————————————————————————

Susie existed the kitchen and turned towards a large, duel-door exit. The doors had some heft, but they were no match for her strength. She opened the doors to a brick path lined with delicately trimmed flowerbeds. Susie paused. She was both impressed and concerned at the scale of this garden. Thick bushes of various flowers lined the walls of the castle. The flowerbeds along the path had gentle colors and were smaller in size. In between, flowers were planted into shapes. Some hearts. Some diamonds. Some spades. And some clubs. As she walked deeper along the path, the garden became more natural, but not untamed. She found herself walking to a small brick area with a table next to a little pond. The table was set for three with plenty of space to put the many treats Ralsei had planned. Susie sat down at the table, slightly uncomfortable at the masses of flowers around her.

A few minutes passed in silence. She heard footsteps approach. Her head turned to see Ralsei lightly jog towards her with a tray. It held a full tea set with three cups. Susie raised a brow as Ralsei set the tray down, “Is that tea?” Ralsei smiled and nodded, “Yes! Tea and cake is always a good combination!” Susie spoke bluntly, “I don’t like tea.” Ralsei gave a worried look, “Oh! I’m sorry! I should have asked! Um… I think I have some coffee around somewhere.” Susie nodded, “Yeah, that’ll do. You uh… sure you don’t need any help?” Ralsei shook his head vigorously with a nervous expression, “Nope! I’m sure I have this all handled!” Susie crossed her arms and replied dryly, “Doesn’t sound like it.” Ralsei sighed and slouched over, defeated, “I… I just wanted to make everyone a nice lunch and… well… have a chance to just talk and relax and… not have to worry about defeating evil and such…” Susie snickered, “You dork.” Ralsei huffed, “I’m serious!” “I know, that’s why it’s funny!” Ralsei stomped off, “I’ll be back with the coffee and cake!” Susie blinked before she rubbed the back of her head, “Guessed I pushed his buttons too hard.” She frowned, “No surprise there.”

Another few minutes passed before Ralsei returned with another tray. This time another pot with one simple cup sat on the tray. Accompanying the coffee was a stack of three plates and the ruined cake with a light layer of frosting. Ralsei set the tray down and smiled. He spoke with a bit of breath to catch, “Th-thanks for waiting so long!” Susie took the cup and pot of coffee. She spoke as she poured herself a cup, “Man, for a prince you got to do everything around here.” Ralsei sat down in the chair across from her with a sigh, “Yeah, but I’m used to being on my own. It’s been this way for a long time.” He chuckled, “I only got this frazzled because I wasn’t expecting you so soon! but, I’m sure Kris can’t be too far behind! Then I can make those sandwiches!” He went to cut the cake, “But, we have this cake in the meantime! And now it had some frosting!” “It was fine without the frosting.” Ralsei cut a piece and plated it in front of Susie, “It’ll be even better with it!” Susie sighed before she tried some of the cake and frosting. The frosting was smooth, not able to chill from it’s rushed preparation. Still, the thin coat did give another bit of flavor that Susie did notice. She spoke, “Well… it didn’t make it worse…” Ralsei frowned, “Well… that works… I didn’t have time to chill it.”

Ralsei was quick to change the topic as he began to eat his own slice of cake, “Um… what’s the Lightner’s world like?” Susie raised a brow, “Wow. That’s a big question out of nowhere.” “You don’t have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable.” Susie took a swig of her coffee. Decent stuff, better than she was used to. She rolled her eyes, “Nah. The only difference is that we have a blue sky and a big yellow orb for light.” Ralsei smiled, “Ah, yes! The fabled ‘sun’ I believe!” “Yep. But, it still gets dark sometimes. Not as dark as here, though.” “That’s so interesting that the Lightner world is capable of such change.” “It’s nothing special. Most just go to sleep when it’s dark.” Ralsei seemed disappointed, “Oh… I see.”

Ralsei adjusted his glasses, “What about you? Do you sleep during the dark?” “Yep. Kris does, too. These are weird questions. Why do you want to know?” “Well, I just want to get to know you two. That’s all.” “Not much to know about me. You’ve seen a lot of what I am.” Ralsei beamed, “Yes! And how you are capable of great change in yourself!” Susie chuckled darkly, “That was only for our adventure. I can’t change.” Ralsei’s expression dropped. He set his cup of tea down and spoke seriously, “Susie. I watched you go from a disinterested hero, to a rambunctious villain, to an earnest heroine! I’m sure you could change anything about your life just as easily.” Susie scoffed, “Like how you all could change how you’re stuck in the dark?” Ralsei frowned, “Well…” Susie smirked and relaxed back in her chair, “Yeah. That’s something you can’t change. There’s some things you just can’t change, y’know.” “From what you said, your world is already capable of so much change. What could you possibly not be able-“ Susie lightly slammed a fist on the table, “Shut up!” Ralsei curled inward with an apologetic face. Susie growled, “Why the hell does a fur ball like you think he has to know everything about me?!” Ralsei replied quietly, “I just wanted to connect with you two more…” A few tears escaped Ralsei’s eyes. Susie gave a distressed look. Her muscles relaxed slightly as Ralsei let loose a few sniffles. He asked, “Why do you have to be so mean? I just wanted to be your friend…”

Susie slunk back into her chair. The two were silent, save for Ralsei’s quiet sobs as he recovered. Susie’s fists tightened for a moment before they relaxed. She sighed, “You really won’t stop prodding.” Ralsei began to wipe away his tears. Susie locked eyes with him with a serious look, “Fine. If it’ll get you to shut up, I’ll talk. But you’ll never say a word of this to Kris or Lancer. Got it?” Ralsei nodded. A small smile shined from behind his hands as they wiped away the last of his tears.

Susie folded her arms on her chest after another drink of coffee. She started slow, “I guess if you want to blame anyone you could blame my parents. They always weren’t the kindest when I was growing up. Actually, they weren’t there much at all. Then, when I was about ten, they got busted for being the ringleaders in a huge multi-town drug ring. Turned out they’ve been doing this since before I was born.” Ralsei’s expression dropped as Susie continued, “So, I was left alone. Went from foster home to foster home. Not many gave me a chance, and when the parents did, the kids or neighbors didn’t. I fought back against their jeers. Sometimes through shouting or intimidation. Other times…” She smirked, “Well, y’know how tough I am.” Ralsei gave a small nod. Susie poured herself another cup of coffee with a frown, “Kept getting in trouble and having to move. Dunno how much longer I got in my current town. I don’t even bother with the names anymore. Much easier to push nameless people away from you.” Susie set her cup down and gave a gaff, “Yeah. Why would anyone want to be my friend anyway? Soon as word spreads about my parents and situation, that’s all they’ll think of me. They all look at me like a bully and a criminal. So… might as well just give ‘em what they want.”

Ralsei shook his head vigorously, “But you don’t have to!” Susie raised a brow as Ralsei professed, “You don’t have to give them what they want! You don’t have to fit the way people look at you!” Susie scoffed, “Easier said than done, fuzzball.” Ralsei’s arm swept the area around him, “Well, what about what you’ve accomplished down here? Everyone here knows you’re a hero! Not a criminal! Me, Kris, Lancer, we’re all you’re friends! And we know you can be whoever you want to be, not what others think of you!”

Susie felt a small knot in her chest. Her mind somehow drifted to her fight with Lancer yesterday. How he distraughtly asked if they were still friends after that fight. How the two bonded as evildoers. How he looked up to her. She paused. Maybe Ralsei had a point. Susie smirked, “Yeah. Maybe I’ll move down here when that town kicks me out. Just disappear, y’know?” Ralsei gave a nervous laugh, “That’s not where I was going with that… but it’s a start. I’m sure there’s something you can do to get other Lightners to change their minds about you.” Ralsei beamed, “You’re headstrong and sometimes you can be a little scary, but I think you’re a nice person, Susie!” Susie downed another cup off coffee before she replied with a smirk, “At least someone believes in me.”

Ralsei looked over towards the garden path, “Hey… it’s been a while since you got here, right?” Susie frowned, “Yeah, why?” Ralsei looked back at Susie with concern, “I… I wonder what’s keeping Kris. This is nice, but I wish they were part of this, too.” “You better keep your mouth shut about what I told you, got it?” Ralsei nodded, “Of course, Susie! I promise!”

[krixwell-liveblogs]

Blind reactions to Deltarune chapter 1

Alright, so last night, I played through Deltarune chapter 1.

For those not in the know, this is a free teaser for the sequel to Undertale, which takes around 3-5 hours to complete. It’s meant for those who have “finished Undertale”, so if you haven’t either finished Undertale or, like me, watched enough playthroughs of the game that you’ve practically finished it by proxy, you should probably skip the rest of this post. Same goes if you haven’t played Deltarune yourself. Go do that.

Liveblogging Worm isn’t my first time sharing my reactions to things as I went along. It kinda comes naturally for me to do that. So a few minutes into Deltarune (in the classroom scene), I decided to share some thoughts I’d had up until that point. But the problem was, I couldn’t go into the #deltarune_spoilers channel on Loreweaver’s server to talk about it, or I’d get spoiled myself. So, I opened a NotePad document and began typing my thoughts there for later sharing. And then I continued doing that until I finished the game.

And hey, I have a liveblog, why not use it for this too? So, below the readmore, if you’re interested, here are my thoughts on Deltarune.

Warning: It’s long. Also, spoilers for Deltarune (duh), Undertale, Kingdom Hearts II and vaguely Homestuck, Wander Over Yonder and Over the Garden Wall.

It's kind of hilarious how the game goes "nah, you don't get to decide who you are", and then gives the character a name that works as a shortened version of my legal name.

Kris looks like an older Frisk, but doesn't share the name. Are they separate? But why would Toriel be raising them then?

The narration is far less filled with FUN than the narration in Undertale, giving Kris a depressing feel. The shaded eyes and the mirror narration "It's only you." (in contrast to Undertale's) "It's you!" reinforce this. I wonder if it has to do with Chara's presence in Undertale and the narrator!Chara theory.

Kris has a brother...?

Asriel's around? Well, then. Alternate universe alarm bells are ringing.

We could be following Chara, but the world seems to have monsters and humans living together, Toriel isn't a queen, and many characters in and after the driving cutscene shouldn't have been born yet when Chara was around.

Alphys as a school teacher is fun. I immediately went to her when she asked me to pick a partner, just to see what she'd say - I love that she's watching anime in class.

Decided to go for Monster Kid first, in case I couldn't check out everyone before making my choice. But apparently he's partnered already, so I guess there is no choice. I'm guessing the snake is the one who hasn't got a partner yet.

...Snowy, you're incorrigible.

Wait, so Temmie is partnered with an egg. That leaves an even number of other candidates. So I guess we're not going to find anyone to partner with. I suppose that fits the tone we're going for with the narration.

Blue bird guy is a jerk.

His name is Berdly? ...sure.

I like the reindeer.

Jockington. These names! And apparently the cat is named Catti. Not to be confused with Catty, whom I'm pretty sure I saw in the driving cutscene. Or did I only see her parents? I definitely saw Bratty, at least, so Catty shouldn't be in school. And the personalities don't match.

That's an origin story, alright. I suppose that means we've already got an implied ouroboros in this game, since Jockington was a hula hoop rather than a jumping rope.

Noelle is a good name for the reindeer. I'm not surprised to see Berdly objecting to the trio idea.

...hello there, important character. Susie?

So I suppose we're teaming up with the intimidating goth.

Poor Alphys is terrified of Susie. Susie honestly seems kind of chill at first glance, but there's gotta be a reason why she intimidates Alphys especially much.

Okay, who's eating chalk? I noticed the green chalk was missing from Kris' house, and now the school's chalk is gone for the third time. Did someone let a Homestuck character or two loose in this world?

So we're babysitting Susie on the chalk quest.

The classmates don't seem confident in Kris' survival. Apparently Susie has a reputation for beating people up.

"You SUZ, you LOSE!" Okay, Snowy, I'll give you that one. :p

What did Susie just do? Eat something? She doesn't seem to want me to have seen it.

Yeah, Susie doesn't seem so bad. So, secret, you say?

...bad timing to add that, huh. Also, quiet people piss you off? Hypocrite.

OH! That was the chalk! I was kidding when I said someone was eating it, but of course, this is Toby Fox. Which this electric guitar music is also reminding me of.

Whoops. Looks like she's gone full "well, why not make this worse so the punishment is worth it" mode.

"I would rather not lose my face, thank you very much."

All bark and no face-bite?

"If you hadn't gotten it by now, your choices don't matter." That's definitely meant in a meta sense. It's starting to become a theme. I suppose Deltarune isn't particularly branching, unless this changing is going to be a point.

Is "blurry yellow object" any way to talk about your teacher, Kris?

I like Susie's reactions to you trying to go the wrong way.

I don't think this is supposed to happen when you open a closet.

This is not a closet anymore, Susie.

"kind of big" YA THINK

Yeah, the closet's definitely broken, in some fashion. So where is this taking us? Narnia? The world of Undertale?

Aaand the door's closed.

And here goes the floor. Time to let gravity do its thing?

Can't have an Undertale game without falling into another world, eh? So, where's Susie? And is it just me or did Kris just get a new wardrobe? Yeah, that's definitely some kind of armor.

Oh hey, save point. I wonder if we're getting filled with anything. Dread, maybe. Everything's blue, even the save point...

"At times you see it flickering. The light only you can see. By second nature, you reach out and..." So Kris, whether they're Frisk or not, is familiar with the save points, and knows that others can't see them. Interesting.

Hang on, did I just overwrite a Kris save with a Krixwell save? I *knew* it wouldn't completely discard those answers from the start. (That's why I answered the same things when I restarted to get my headphones working.)

Hmm. Eyeballs on stalks that start swinging when you walk past them? I like the sounds they make.

Something just moved off-screen in the top right. Also, there's something flowing out of holes here. Oil?

Huh. An eye symbol. Reminds me of Madoka Magica.

Another one, in case you missed the first one... Am I supposed to go down this water(?)fall?

Yep. No return. Not that there's anything to return to.

Sleeping gray oozes...

Is this what's left of the underground after the pacifist ending? Except that doesn't explain the relation between Frisk, Asriel and Kris. I suppose it's possible that Frisk is the brother and took on the name Asriel as a tribute, but that honestly just seems rude. Besides, Toby would catch all sorts of flak if he were to gender Frisk now.

Pfft, those eyes and the oil hole look like a silly face. So, this *looks like* the first real choice of the story. Not that "real choice" necessarily means much - it's not like Undertale actually branched much. Most proper choices in Undertale were fake, still leading to the same outcome.

Hmm. If only one of these leads onward to the rest of the story, it's probably the silly face route. So I should probably go downwards if I want to not miss anything.

Yep. Dead end, with something shining in the oil hole.

...a Glowshard. Alright, let's see what its info says.

Woah, new menu! Earlier, in the house, I discovered that the menu was the same as in Undertale, but now that I'm in the closet, there's a new interface. Interesting.

The Glowshard's use is unknown. Alright.

Cell phone's not working and makes beautiful sounds to show that.

Apparently along with the armor, Kris wound up with a "wood blade". I wonder if that's actually the pencil they had earlier. I say this while sitting here with a shortsword-sized pencil next to me.

"Body contains a human SOUL." That's ominous. The fact that the game is specifying that makes it sound like it might change.

While Kris is wearing something that looks like armor, it doesn't show up on the equip screen as such.

They seem to have lost their 2 money.

Silly face path time!

Should I be concerned about that eyeball-stalk having a red outline? I probably should.

Interesting. Going into "combat" against the hostile stalks gave more things outlines, and the SOUL became visible. I wonder if getting hit would send me into a mini dodging game like when Undyne chases you in Undertale.

I should probably note that while I've watched many playthroughs of Undertale, I've never actually played it, apart from a browser version of the Sans fight. So if this contains bullet hells scaled after the end of Undertale at the very start, I'm kind of screwed.

"A power shines within you, breaking through the darkness." Determination? Hope? No, hope is HP. I suppose it could just be the ability to save, which is a side effect of determination. Even if Kris hasn't exactly seemed like the determined type so far.

Oh, right, restored HP. Maybe that was hope after all.

"Eye Puzzle". Alright, let's puzzle this out.

Without having read the sign, just looking at the iconography, I'm guessing the dots mean which eyes are affected by each light, and you have to close all of them to proceed.

"In this land, only eyes blinded by darkness can see the way..." Yeah, definitely sounds like I need to close them.

Rightmost eye and middle eye. Easy as p-eye. YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN MAKE BAD PUNS SNOWY

I just saw the black thing again, at the right edge, moving real fast. Looked almost like an Enderman from Minecraft at a glance.

There it is again. I'm about to catch up with it, aren't I. Did it come down the other waterfall?

Oh cod, did I just kill one of the sleeping oozes?

Oh! It's Susie! Hi.

How did Kris get you into this? You're the one who ate the chalk so we had to get more, you're the one who pushed on into the closet.

Susie's outfit looks like she fell out of Kingdom Hearts. Maybe that's what's going on. Maybe Kris is Frisk's nobody, who's been living in a fake world.

Ooh, someone waving, you say?

Apparently they've got hostility in spades.

This looks like a ghost town. Like, literally, a town for ghosts, with the curved houses and all.

Well, at least it's a ghost town in the figurative sense. That castle is intriguing. Not to mention the geyser.

"Why the hell is there a castle inside a supply closet?" Ahaha

"Welcome, heroes...!" is off-center and it's bugging me.

A masked stranger introducing himself as the Prince of this Kingdom. In yellow. I don't trust this at all. Flowey, is that you?

The Kingdom of Darkness. Alright. Is this connected to the Underground in any way?

The stranger knows our names and called us heroes. He's been expecting us.

Heroes of Light? I don't know, I don't think I'd peg either of them as having that aspect.

Foretold by time and space... look, the Homestuck jokes write themselves and I think Toby Fox knows that.

Hopes and dreams, light and dark, balance of the world being threatened... fairly basic plot beats in and of themselves. Fair enough. Three heroes, including the Prince, supposed to restore the balance... The thing is, I still don't trust the Prince to be telling the truth, or at least, the full truth, and I think a lot of the plot is left in the inaccuracies. I'm watching you, Prince.

"Delta warriors" sounds like something you'll try to make a thing but not really succeed at making a thing.

"Please, won't you accept this destiny?" "Uhh... Nah." Ahaha, I love it.

The Prince seems genuinely distraught at Susie's refusal.

Pfffft, bye Prince! Oh my cod, is that you, Sans?

Okay, no, this isn't Sans. And he sounds like he's an antagonist, talking about the heroes "running away". He mentions his dad, whom I'm guessing is the supposed main antagonist for now.

"I'm... the bad guy." I'm not hearing an elaborate and catchy song to explain that, so your point is invalid.

"We both know you'll go EAST!" Yeah, because there's no other exit that we didn't come from.

Lancer, huh. As if the Son of the Month thing didn't make it clear that you're not the main antagonist. So, hey, depending on the exact role of his dad, would Lancer perhaps also count as "a Prince from the Dark" for the prophecy?

Alright, new fighting UI. This ought to be interesting. It looks kind of early-Final-Fantasy-esque?

(Act -> Check) Ohh, Lancer was the spade guy. Pfft, he's just got a burning bike, not a motorcycle.

So Susie's also found herself with a new weapon.

He claims his bike's running out of fuel, but the check established it doesn't actually run on fuel...

So what's the real reason he's forfeiting-- oh, dinnertime. Fair enough. Enjoy!

Ralsei. I think I've seen fanart of you. I like how you have a heart on your shirt - a human heart - to contrast with Lancer's spade. I don't trust it, but I like it.

So why don't you have any subjects, Ralsei? Why have you had to wait alone your whole life?

"Ralsei, the lonely prince, is now your ally." Hey... Ralsei is an anagram of Asriel...

"The power of fluffy boys shines through you." Ahahaha

Ooh, training dummy. White outline, which I suppose indicates you can fight it but it's not hostile like the ones with red outlines.

This big door looks familiar.

Ralsei explicitly asks me to do a pacifist run. Interesting.

These red trees look weird.

I like how it gave me a little thing telling me the name of the track that was starting to play. The Field of Hopes and Dreams, huh? It's pretty sweet, too. Meanwhile, Lancer left a message about upcoming enemies. Should be fun.

"If you're reading this, I guess you're dead." I think you got that backwards, dude.

Hi there, Lancer. I thought it was dinnertime?

Hah, the group term for the diamond-based Rudinns is "necklace". Nice.

So if you do the thing that lets you spare an enemy, you can also have your partner spare the enemy on the same turn. Good to know.

RIP Topchef's cake.

Maze of Death? Sounds pleasant.

I see Susie's not doing a pacifist run. Hey, what if she's the true main antagonist by the end of all this?

Pfft, poor Lancer has no sense of direction, apparently.

Hehe, the White Ribbon enhances Kris's cuteness. I wonder if that has mechanical consequences.

Apparently only Kris can seal the dark fountain, and Susie is stuck with us.

Oh my cod the fanfare gag is hilarious

Whoops. Susie killed the C.Round because I took the time to *Check it. Does that mean I'm no longer on a pacifist route?

Violet tormentor. Good title.

"The power of mean girls shines within you." Oh my cod, Kris, you can't just ask people why they're violet!

*haggles the tutorial seller down to 1 dark dollar, buys, and then just turns around* Nah.

This shop guy looks like someone mixed together the Beldam, Mad-Eye Moody, an old cat and the goggles from Splinter Cell.

Seam, pronounced "Shawm"? Not a bad name for someone who looks to be part doll.

Lightners, Darkners... Apparently the Lightners were godlike. Are the Lightners the monsters, and the Darkners their "shadows"? Ralsei being the shadow of Asriel?

The Darkners were "locked away and left behind". Sounds familiar.

King seeking revenge...

Historically, there were four kings, in the "Card Castle". No points for guessing how the kings were themed, or who Lancer's dad is. Or who Ralsei's dad was, for that matter.

So does that make Lancer the Jack of Spades?

A strange knight, description in red, appeared and locked three of the kings away. Again, no points for guessing which one wasn't locked away. So does this knight work for the King of Spades, or vice versa? Are there Aces in all of this?

Oh, alright, so the King of Spades put the Knight and his son, Lancer, into power. That suggests the King works for the Knight rather than vice versa. Possibly not willingly.

"Haven't seen this much chaos since... Ha ha ha... Well, you don't need to know about THAT." Since what? Since just before the Lightners left for the surface? Since some plant absorbed nearly every Lightner's soul for a while?

Bought the Amber Card and a couple more Dark Candies.

Alright, let's go see what bullshit the desperate tutorial salesman has for us.

Ah, yes, because this group of suspicious individuals don't look ready to ambush us.

ROUXLS KAARD. The surname is obviously a reference to cards, but everything else about this name screams "anagram". DARK SOUL ARX? AR DARXOULS? SOUR KLAXARD?

I love how there are tutorial guys for Ralsei and Susie, and the way they barely know what they're talking about. Is the last one for Kris? ...yep.

Oh, nice, Kris Master and Ralsei point out the thing I found out earlier about sparing on the same turn.

So there are two paths that both seem to keep going. One with a puzzle, and one with an encounter. I saw the puzzle and went back to the encounter... Hm. Let's try the puzzle too.

Ahh, it's something you're not meant to be able to do unless you've been to a later section of the game. So either you'll be able to go back here later, or you're supposed to use meta knowledge from a previous playthrough. Then again, I kind of suspect what the order is anyway. If I'm right, I won't go on through, because I'm not supposed to see this yet, but I want to try it out.

Alright, looks like it's not the standard order of the suits. Fair enough, that'd be too easy. Even if the input is a puzzle in itself.

I have to do the encounter again?

Well, I made a few mistakes this time, so Susie killed one of the Rudinns.

"When you step into the light, you'll return to where you were before." I don't think it's talking about home. Avoid the glowing tiles, got it.

Hm. Easier said than done. Right, I should probably run.

Can I switch to the lane that's fading before the light fades in on the lane I'm on? ...yes! Puzzle solved.

Apparently the effect of the light only applies to Kris.

Is that a bucket, Lancer? Ew.

Oh great, it's literally to put bodily fluids in. Toby knows exactly what he's doing here.

Oh cod, he's asking for an official name. Ralsei, don't you dare say Delta Warriors.

"Blue person"... how did I not notice that Kris is still blue?

Alright, so I get descriptions of the papers. Definitely not going for the neat paper, which is obviously Ralsei. So my choices are to let Susie name the team, or to let Lancer name it. Great.

Let's see what Susie's got.

Ahaha, he's not allowed to say it. Classy, Susie.

THE $!$! SQUAD

Cool, I'm down with that. Better than Delta Warriors. Well, not really, but still.

Tier-TWO swear words. What's tier one? Darn, heck, etc?

Collective dad? Does he think we're siblings?

No, Ralsei, we can not consider a different name.

(Lancer to Ralsei) "Yeah! How about I be in the Squad and YOU be the bad guy?" That's an interesting idea you've got there, Lancer.

I kinda trust Ralsei a bit more at this point, because he seems a lot like the non-evil iteration of Asriel, but I'm still not entirely sure. That could easily be a front.

"The power of The $!?  Squad shines within you." Ahahaha

So the Great Board is inhabited by chess people. I suppose maybe the Knight is from there? Or maybe that's just what Toby wants me to think. Now where have I heard a story about chess pieces and cards and a takeover from within before...

So what's this extremely dangerous thing? A card shredder?

Oh, a C.Round. Maybe we can keep Susie from killing this one.

Ah, fuck, it got promoted. Nice legs.

Hah, K.Round. As in King Round. Not sure what the C stood for.

That was a fun little fight. And now it seems it's time to explain to Susie that violence isn't always the best option.

Ahh, great. Switching sides because she's bad at heroing. Honestly, though, it really does suit her better.

Alright, now I'm in a forest, and there's a door with colorful flames. Interesting.

The door is for fast travel. Got it.

"We managed to fix this thingamajig up for you." Oh yeah, that's right, I found an empty doorframe earlier.

Oh jeez, they've practiced an alternating dia-monologue.

"Dark Jack Lancer"? Guess I was right about his card, then.

Ahaha, the Dark $!?  Squad! And it's Lancer who says it, too. Susie, you're a bad influence.

So there's a Rudinn asking me to help with a gift for a friend named Clover (I think I have an idea which suit she's aligned to). Sports, cute boys and trees? Well, I've got one of those things.

Salsa stump. Well, at least they're getting along.

I got a scarf that's apparently sharp enough to use as a weapon. Nice.

Oh hey, a puzzle based on the same input method as the post-game puzzle from before. I know how this works, so this shouldn't be too hard, what with the password being stated.

...yeah, that only requires clubs and a heart, that's super easy.

I like Bloxer.

Alright, so there's a dead end down here with two seemingly unreachable buttons in sight. Looks like a path-building puzzle.

There's a symbol puzzle meant to teach you how to mix the lower and higher suits. I managed to find the answer in two tries, before talking to any of the hint... beings.

...who were apparently one three-headed being. I may have just triggered a fight by not talking to them when I came back into the room after checking whether the answer was the same to the symbol puzzle I just passed in the room with Bloxer.

Oh! This is Clover. Hey, Clover, would you like a gift? I've got a cute boy here.

Let's talk about boys.

"Herselves". Cute.

Alright, bake sale time. We've got diamonds, hearts, and spades (run by The Dark $!?  Squad), but no clubs. Why not?

The Choco Diamond and the Hearts Donut each heal ??hp. The Choco Diamond sounds like it'll work better if given to certain characters. Maybe it heals more if the target is diamonds-aligned. Same going for the Hearts Donut on hearts-aligned characters. I should buy another Hearts Donut and test that on Kris and Ralsei.

Sure, I'll donate to the noble cause of kicking my ass too.

Did they just... do that so they could buy a Hearts Donut?

So to the west we have another fast travel door, and to the north there's... a martial arts dojo?

Oh, the smith! I just saw in the inventory that the Broken Cake is a key item that needs to be fixed by a master blacksmith. Guess it's time to do that.

Ahahaha the squeaky hammer sounds! And the cake was "fixed beyond recognition". I love this.

A topcake... can I wear it like a top hat? Is it armor?

Ah, no, but it is a 160 hp full party heal, single use. Good to keep in store, just like the butterscotch-cinnamon pie.

"(This cardboard stand is actually just a fake cardboard stand of a cardboard stand.)" Pfft. Glad we got that cleared up.

Hello, hungry hungry caterpillar.

Nice disguise, Lancer.

Oh, please tell me I get a choice of "the most evil thing I can imagine" here.

Oh fuck, this is even better.

Look, I know the duck face is "garbage", but I can't just NOT pick that one.

Tank body sounds good.

I'm torn between the sneaker shoes and the attractive wheels... I think I'll go with the sneakers. Wheels just make too much sense for the tank body.

Lancer: "Are you sure you're not evil?" Ralsei: "Er, no, I suppose we just have a knack for it." ...

Damn. The bird thing killed me and now I have to make my beautiful thrashing machine all over again.

"The darker it gets, the more you can see." That's familiar. Like the eye puzzle early on. What does it mean, thematically? That you have to see the darkness to truly understand the world?

I was right about the Hearts Donut. It heals Kris by 20 hp, but Ralsei by 50.

Alright, so a Rudinn just confirmed that Susie is considered a Lightner. Does that extend to Kris too?

The save point here names the room as "Before Maze". Way to spoil it, dude.

These villains are so ridiculously ineffectual. But how long is the Papyrus section of this game going to last? I didn't buy for a second that Lancer was even close to being the main antagonist, and now we've long since established the bigger threats (the King and the Knight).

Well, the maze was something. Ooh, machine time!

Aw, I didn't get to fight it. Fair enough.

Susie says our design sucked, so does that mean they've come up with another one?

Ralsei points out that Susie needs him and Kris to return home, but I don't think she WANTS to go home anymore.

Alright, defeat means friendship, huh? Bring it on.

Hah, trying to convince them not to fight is working on Lancer.

Ahahaha, Lancer blocked the pacification with his bike and the bike got tired.

Lancer, join OUR team! That way you can be a team with Susie even though she's joining back up with us! And then when Ralsei turns out to be evil, you can take his place as Prince from the Dark.

Pfft, poor Ralsei being tasked with making the track jackets.

Oh cod, no thanks, put those eyes back where they came from, Lancer, or so help me.

Lancer's Stool Forme is very useful.

Susie is SO into Lancer at this point.

I kinda like and kinda hate how Lancer just floats outside the path instead of following the rest of the party Earthbound-style.

It does seem like Kris is counted as a Lightner. I'm not sure how to feel about the whole "Darkners can't feel fulfilled unless they're helping Lightners" thing, though.

So this is very much the calm before the storm, where our protagonists are happy and content with being friends. What's going to shake this up?

Oh hey, it's Card Castle. Neat.

Lancer doesn't want us fighting people inside the castle. Is it for our sake, or for the sake of the people in there?

See ya, Lancer.

Well then. We've been captured.

So where's Susie?

Ate some moss and “mossed out” my HP. Nice. :P

Took me some time to realize that I had to continue talking to Ralsei to proceed.

Pfft. Classy, Susie.

I like the thing about thinking about what Susie's doing now to segue into a section where we semi-control her.

...alright, where we're tricked into thinking we can control her.

Especially the purple one, eh? Is that because she's especially dangerous, or because you care especially about her?

"It's fine, actually." Is it, Susie? "You don't have to say anything." This is becoming a trend for you. Making your conclusions and telling people not to bother saying things.

Lancer, you may want to explain yourself quickly, regardless of Susie's demands that you shut up. Your face is in danger.

He's attacking, but he's doing the Toriel thing where the attacks fan out. I wonder if there's a path in this game where you cause Lancer to accidentally kill Susie rather than let Susie kill Lancer. If things are going to get to that point.

These spades are better at dodging the heart than Toriel's flames were.

He's visibly trembling more with each attack.

Good, Susie. Good. Now put down the axe and listen to Lancer.

What, a lengthy elevator scene with no proper elevator music?

Susie is the best character in this thing, so far.

Card Castle, first floor. Time to pay attention to the order of the suits' rooms, I think.

"You are unbanned from free ham sandwich day" ahahaha

IT WORKED.

Alright, so diamonds first.

Club Sandwich, can be divided into three to heal the entire team. Cute.

So there's a disembodied voice that has trapped us in a room. "Thoust FOOLS!"

Oh hey, it's Rouxls Kaard, "thou're greatest adversary". Clearly also an adversary of grammar.

Shit, that puzzle looks really fucking hard, man.

So does the Royal Flush (bathroom) count as the spades room for the sake of the post-game puzzle?

Well, the third floor is clearly the Hearts floor, since there are Hathy here.

I just told Susie to flirt and it's beautiful.

Oh cod, it's so awkward that there's no need to even spare.

Well, that was definitely the Hearts room. Diamond, maybe Spades, then Hearts.

Clubs door, and now another room like the one we met Rouxls in. Time for another "puzzle"?

Hah! It's not even a different super easy puzzle, it's just a longer version of the earlier one!

I like the Clubs room.

Alright, there's the Spades room, so the Royal Flush doesn't count. Diamonds, Hearts, Clubs, Spades.

Oh my cod, Rouxls is a shopkeeper.

"decidedesteth"

Oh for the love of cod. He's got a K.Round too. :P

Ralsei thinks the crown looks different... is it a Q.Round?

Ahh. Rouxls is controlling it using the crown. Or so he claims.

Hah, tossing Ralsei at it. I like this plan.

Throne room. Time to meet the king?

What happened here? Lancer said he was going ahead to talk to the king. Did they end up fighting?

Hi, Lancer.

Wait, Lancer's dad was the Knight, not the King. Right? Or are the Knight and the King the same thing at this point, since the fourth king put the Knight in charge? Right, that's how it worked. So we're now seeing the talk Lancer was going to do.

Pfft. I like how the Knight/King is like "Oh, Lancer..."

What was that about "They care not for you", Mr. "I'll drop my son off the edge to let him splatter"?

I did not get a choice in whether to kneel or not. The characters made that choice on their own.

OOH, NICE BACKSTAB!

Ah, see, this is a guy I can believe when he claims to be the bad guy. Even if I'm still not fully sold on the idea that he's necessarily the final boss.

"Lightbringer"? "Your very existence goes against our own"? Interesting...

By the Knight's will... so this ISN'T the Knight?

Is Ralsei the Knight?

"You, that left us in the shadows, stripped of meaning..." Yeah, I think I was onto something earlier.

Ralsei probably isn't the Knight. His interactions with the King wouldn't make much sense that way.

The King seems to be indicating that he's worshipping the Knight instead of the Lightners.

The Knight made the second fountain? Maybe even the first?

The shadows of the fountains are creating a new world... for the Darkners...

I'm taking it that this is a survival fight, like Sans. I just need to let this guy exposit for a while.

Ahh, so it's not so much that it's making a literal new world as that it's darkening the existing world. An apocalypse which he believes to be in favor of the Darkners.

"Enough talk"? Was I wrong?

The King seems to be getting less confident.

And he ended the battle.

His... cape just flew away?

So he's asking for a peaceful solution now. Alright, sure.

I don't like the sound effects here. They sound too much like someone's about to get killed. Maybe the cape flew off to tell the Knight about the King's failure/betrayal?

Honestly, the King just seems to be dying without anyone actually hurting him.

Nice, yes, good work healing him, Ralsei. Let's just hope he wasn't faking it just to get that heal.

...yep.

"You can't even say?" Nice echo of what Susie said at the start.

"Let me tell you a secret." We're echoing the whole scene, huh? But somehow, I don't think "All bark and no face-bite" applies to the King.

Susie FTW.

"But THEY might." Who's "they"? Kris? And maybe Ralsei? Or are we bringing in other characters?

*crazy glue voice* get him

"Now I'M the dad!!!" Uh, Lancer, I don't think that's how it works.

And now we're getting Ralsei contemplating whether kindness is always the solution after all, since his healing the king almost fucked everything. Nice. Character growth all around.

Wait, Ralsei, why are you staying behind? I thought you claimed we needed you too to stop the fountain?

Nice try, Susie. I know you want to talk to Lancer.

See? Lancer sees right through you.

Hiya, Asriel! What's up?

Not gonna explain that, huh?

So, uh, did Kris's soul just leave their body to fuse with the fountain?

Aaand we're in the supply closet. Alright.

Wait, no, this is an unused classroom.

...menu's back to the Undertale style.

Let's try calling home.

Alright, so some time has passed. It's after school. Don't think going to tell Alphys you couldn't find the chalk is going to work, Susie.

Toriel is sweet. Though it's a little sad that the word "friend" makes her give Kris a free pass, because it implies she's surprised that they've gained one.

Playing cards and chess... Legos... Fuck, this is lending some serious credence to the dream idea, much in the same way a lot of things in Over The Garden Wall reflect what's seen in episode 9. But like there, I'd say this was probably a certain degree of real.

The room we ended up in is to the right of the supply closet.

Sure, go back there tomorrow... if you can.

The supply closet is locked now.

Hey, I found Asriel's/Frisk's/the brother's locker. And Kris's.

Ooh, Toriel's classroom!

The clock has been updated to 10 PM in Toriel's classroom, but in Alphys', it still says 2 PM.

I can visit the Librarby, neat.

So is the game over now, or will we be seeing the return to the Dark Kingdom?

Hah, found Toby. I'm aware that this is only supposed to be a teaser, so I guess it'll deliver on the promise that you'll be able to go into the computer lab in the full game.

Books written by Undertale characters, nice.

UNDYNE

Wait, Asgore's kid? Kris is Asgore's kid?? Or, wait, wasn't it Undyne who couldn't tell Asgore and Toriel apart? No, that was Papyrus. So this raises the whole alternate universe question again. Who the fuck is Kris?

Undyne claims not to know who Alphys is.

...who's the mayor?

I found a door to a bunker or something that makes spooky sounds. This feels like plot.

Gerson's dead, among a couple others who may or may not be characters we know.

At least Gerson being dead rules out this happening before Undertale, in the same timeline.

Burgerpants!

So Azzy's in college.

"Things happened" in Kris's family before Asriel left. Asgore and Toriel separating?

SANS

Sans is new in town, and has never met Kris. Kris, say hello to your future stepfather.

And he wants Kris to hang out with Papyrus. I'm all for this.

(I'm also all for finding a save point so I can go to bed.)

Asgore x Alphys???

So Alphys watches a Simpsons knockoff and has an imaginary cat named MewMew. The alternate universe theory intensifies.

Apparently Asgore runs a flower shop.

Aww, that hug was adorable.

Containers containing flowers instead of souls...

Time for bed.

Umm. Kris. You, uh. Kinda need that soul.

So, uh, the Chara option is still available...

Well then! That was Deltarune chapter 1. I'm gonna write a wrap-up tomorrow, because it's way too late now and I need to go to bed in real life. Good night!

...Alright, hello again! It's been about 17.5 hours since I finished Deltarune chapter 1, and in that time, I've been thinking a bit. I think I've come up with a decent theory about what's going on with the world of the Lightners in relation to Undertale:

I don't think this is post-pacifist. I think this is post-genocide.

"Oh, but many of the characters you kill on the genocide route are alive, and monsters seem to live on the surface!"

Here's the thing: At the end of the genocide route, you meet Chara, who talks about wanting to "erase this pointless world and move on to the next". The choice they give you is fake, both options end in you, the player, being killed, ending the game. What I'm suggesting is that Chara did just that: Erased the world and moved on to the next. That "next" world is the world of Deltarune.

Chara isn't entirely physical, so they need a vessel, like Frisk was in Undertale. That's why they're taking control of Kris, and throwing out Kris's soul (hey, look who managed to guess that their soul would leave their body, even if I didn't guess how). I'm not sure whether Chara was already partially possessing Kris at the beginning and just decided it was time to get rid of that annoying soul right at the end. The soul being the culmination of one's being and the center of emotion... Identity and emotion seemed to be fairly low in Kris from the start - maybe Chara had to weaken the soul before they could toss it out and take proper control?

There's also the player to deal with, though. Chara knows we're here - you can tell from the way they glance at the fourth wall after taking control - so I wonder if they'll let us continue controlling their vessel, Kris. Then again, in Undertale, Chara seemed to consider that a good thing, but what if the player continues to steer Kris towards pacifism?

Meanwhile, the world of the Darkners is still largely a mystery. They seem to be a remnant of the Underground's essence in some way, but who knows if monsters ever lived underground in this world?

A lot about the Dark Kingdom adventure in chapter 1 mirrors Undertale. In fact it very much feels like discount Undertale. (Which I suppose is fair considering this game does in fact cost 100% less than Undertale.) I wonder if any of it was Chara's work, whether Kris knew it or not?

This chapter of the game is deceptively simple, but there really is a lot to think about here.

All in all... The game wasn't quite as good as Undertale, though it had its share of funny and/or heartfelt moments, and it did good stuff with the characters of Susie and Lancer. I like the introduction of a party system due to its effect on character dynamics, and the battle graphics were a huge step up.

I suppose I shouldn't expect Deltarune chapter 1 to hold up to the whole of Undertale. The full version has a hell of a lot to live up to, but I'm optimistic about it. I think it can at least get close. And with Chara getting visibly involved, I have a feeling things are only going to get more interesting from here.

In conclusion: Fuck Berdly.

[mystic-malevolence]

DELTARUNE

So uh. Hi. First things first: What the heck Toby, who said you could do this to us.

Alrighty, that out of the way... It’s been just over 24 hours since I finished it, which means we can now discuss the issue of DELTARUNE. So now I get to share my thoughts and theories.

This is your last spoiler warning if you want to experience the program first.

Okay, something is seriously off. I’m sure I’m not the first or only one to notice this, but this is my first chance to ramble about it.

Fun middle-parts aside, when I first played through DELTARUNE I was delighted to see all of my favorite characters again at the end (sans Papyrus, pun intended). It was nice that we saw the school from the Undertale credits Asgore’s flower shirt and truck. But when I went back in the end to talk to everyone, some things stood out as a bit unusual.

Kris, our protagonist, is the adoptive human child of Toriel and Asgore. Kris has a brother named Asriel, who is off to college. Asriel is most likely a goat monster; we know this because Toriel mentioned Kris asked when thier horns would grow in as a child, implying the brother they grew up with did have horns.

Maybe it’s not unusual for a couple who has gotten back together after the tragic deaths of their children to name their new goatson after their first goatson. But the two are still seperated. Did they remarry, have a child and adopt another human, seperate because of something Asgore did, and then send their kid off to college? Maybe, but I somehow doubt it. Kid’s even got a flower picture.

Monster kid is still a kid. Undyne seems to have not aged. The snowdrake family seems to be the same. I suppose you could argue that ~20 years age difference is hard to represent at this resolution, but what about Snowdrake’s mother and the other amalgamates? In town you can find their graves. They’ve been living off of that determination in them for a while at least prior, why fall down again now? Plus, nowhere on Gerson’s tombstone does it mention that he fought in the war (and survived).

Nobody seems to want to mention the underground. Susie doesn’t strike me as a histroy buff, but...

You’d think the deaths of the royal children, starting the war that eventually freed the monsters, would be somewhat common knowledge.

That’s not to mention that nobody seems to remember each other -- Undyne and Alphys:

(Above: two-eyed Undyne doesn’t know Alphys but might be joking. Alphys still lives alone.)

Katty doesn’t even remember Bratty. Did they grow apart, completely forgot about each other, and started hating each other. They practically finished each other’s sentences in Undertale!  Where are the humans? I don’t think I’ve seen another one this whole time! One of our classmates was even afraid of humans under the bed:

Implying that humans are viewed by the monsters as if they are a frightful entity, as humans traditionally view monsters.

This was all swirling in my head as I walked through town, but then I saw something that sealed the deal: An “anonymous yellow lizard” (Alphys Alphys Alphys) stated that Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2 was better than Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 1.

This is blatant heresy.

Because of all of this, I believe that we are not looking at a sequel to undertale--rather, an alternate universe where monsters were not the ones locked away. Perhaps the ending of this part of the story even coincides with that of Undertale. That would certainly explain that ending scene.