#I miss chapter 1 Ralsei

[stormagedoom]

Wanted to draw the lil' boi today 💚

[denim-wizard]

human.. i remember you're deltarunes.

[julescarstairs]

Istg the contrast between Susie at the end of chapter 4 and Susie at the start of chapter 1 is JARRING back to back

[snaletism]

watching gameplay of chapter 1 again and like. hat ralsei really feels like an entirely different character from white ralsei to me . like these are different guys

[creaturizms]

Shout out to all my critters losing their damn MINDS over a certain games new chapter release, fighting not to go on any socials for fear of being spoiled. Stay strong delta warriors. We can get through this unscathed

[book-casee]

Years ago on my very very very first Deltarune playthrough I caught on to the Dark World being based on inanimate objects oddly quickly (I thought they were either playing pretend or the closet was haunted or something) and I thought Ralsei was supposed to be a ball of soot or dust because he's fluffy and lonely so it made sense to me so it was lowkey a bummer to middle school me when he took that hat off

[jestinjoculators]

DELTARUNE DUMP!!!!!

All of the doodles I did from me & co replaying chapter 1&2 (we voice acted it, hence why Queen is smoking 40 packs and Ralsei has a voice too deep for the speech bubble. I played Susie, Jevil and Spamton!)

Tenna fanart was drawn today, you’ll never guess what I’ve been playing with company the past 2 days! Still going. It’s been 12 hours today. We like Deltarune)

(If you didn’t want to see Tenna prematurely and didn’t block spoiler tags or I missed one, sorry!)

Unfortunately, Tobias Fox knows exactly what kind of character I like best, I fall victim to pathetic men that charm me with their silliness too easily. I could go on about how easily and brutally attached I became to Tenna with anecdotes, but that would be embarrassing. Fangamer drop the merch.

[kingcatnine]

I've found myself intrigued by the nature of blood in deltarune, and its often contradictory mentions, and have thus decided to compile every textual mention of "blood" or "bleed" within the first 4 chapters, to serve as a reference. These are listed with context to the best of my ability, and presented in approximate order of when the player would encounter them. Made with the help of the deltarune text dump and the wiki. Some of these dont occur within normal gameplay, for example some of Noelle's reactions to items used on her when it's normally impossible to have her in the party when the items are found. There's also one instance of unused sprites, included because I find it noteworthy. Screenshots of dialogue are not included because it would take TOO LONG 🎃 and because tumblrs image limit prohibits it.

If you find anything I've missed, please let me know so I can include it!

i thus present to you:

THE DELTARUNE BLOOD COMPILATION

Chapter 1:

"YOUR FAVORITE BLOOD TYPE (A, AB, B, C, D)" (The Voice, vessel creation)

"It's stained." (Narration, referring to the large bloodstain on the carpet of Kris's room)

"That thing was BLOODTHIRSTY!!!" (Susie, after C. Round fight)

"'Cause my GUYS are about to smash you into blood! Lots of blood! Splooshing blood! Very gross and bad!" (Lancer, showing off his new scary routine)

"And saying you'd turn us into blood is, uh, cool" (Susie, same scene)

"It's to put the blood in." (Lancer, same scene, explaining bucket)

"I'll take the blood, and you take the skin!" (Lancer, splitting a Hearts Donut with Susie)

"Look, if no one else will eat it, I'll try it! ... there's a jar of... Blood...? In here" (Susie, if Kris declines to try the salsa)

"Mmm, blood!" (Feeding Susie a Hearts Donut)

"Everybody bleeds, right? don't worry about it." (Susie, assuring Lancer that she'll be fine fighting King)

"But my BLOOD is BOILING FOR BATTLE!!!" (The warrior, telling Kris why he's in the hospital)

"Does it hurt to be made of blood???" (Bunny Kid in apartment, asking Kris about being human)

"W-wait, this isn't another trick, is it, Kris? Like when you put ketchup on your arms and told me it was blood?" (Noelle, if Kris tells her Susie is a nice person)

Chapter 2:

(unused sprites of Injured Susie after falling off the trash heap in the Trash Zone)

"Heh, ask me again when it's, like, blood explosion magic." (Susie, discussing learning healing magic with Ralsei)

"Mmm... what!? It's blood!?" (Feeding Noelle a Hearts Donut)

"I guess i do like slime and blood..." (Susie relating to Noelle's description of horror movies as "comforting" on the ferris wheel)

"We'll make your bed with sheets blood red." (Swatchling, in battle)

"Kris, your deep concern for me... is dextrose. But stay sanguine, my fellow bluebird." (Berdly, spoken to after being freed from the wires. sanguine means blood which is why this is here)

"THE PIZZA'S SAUCE IS BOILING RED. BURBLING, BURNING LIKE MY BLOOD YEARNS FOR BATTLE!!!" (The warrior, making pizza at ICE-E's PEZZA)

"GAMER BLOOD ENERGY DRINK" (soda flavor at ICE-E's PEZZA)

"Hahaha, Kris, you READ that nerdy stuff? Heh! Giant swords, hammers, bloody battles... ... uh, so if there's any cool parts, you'd tell me, right?" (Susie, when Kris investigates the Lord of the Hammer series at the library)

"So what are we gonna marathon tonight? Blood Crushers 3? Hell busters? Invasion of the Cat Petters?" (Susie deciding what to watch on Kris's living room TV)

"I better not see you move until your eyes are bloodshot!" (Susie upon deciding she and Kris will watch a giant monster movie marathon)

Spamton Sweepstakes:

Nothing within the livestream itself is included, because it's noncanon. the link maze is canon, however, and includes one mention of blood:

"Listening to: Blood Crushers The Band - Raise Up Your Bat" Noelle's blog on the page deltarune.com/code

Chapter 3:

"Think YOU could survive BLOOD CRUSHERS 2, Ralsei?" (Susie, during the conversation at the beginning of the Dark World

"... obviously isn't real blood." (Feeding Susie a TV Dinner on save slot 3)

"I can hardly tell it's not, um, real blood." (Feeding Noelle a TV Dinner on save slot 3)

"WHEN THE DEMON HEART IS CRYING / AND THE BLOOD IS GUSHING BRIGHT" (Raise Up Your Bat lyrics, sung twice within the song)

Chapter 4:

"... what the hell is this giant bloodstain? Just use VINEGAR, dumbass. Vinegar and hot water. Cleans it up." (Susie, noticing, and helping clean, the bloodstain in Kris's room)

"It looks like blood. (Noelle: Definitely! Haha! That's why I'm! Always drinking it??????????) Yeah. Too bad they just ran out. Of blood." (Susie, discussing the Fruit Juice with Noelle)

"Blood of Power" (100% red fruit juice item description)

"Noelle, run! She'll drink your blood / Get closer! She'll drink your blood" (Dialogue options to warn/tease Noelle about Susie? unsure if used in-game)

"Faha, is that a Blood Crushers 2 reference?" (Noelle, discussing the noise from the basement with Susie)

"Kris, you... the glass, I didn't notice... it... You're bleeding... Umm, I'll... Here, let me heal it!" (Susie, noticing Kris bleeding after falling through the glass in the dark sanctuary)

"BLOOD POWER ACTIVATE!" (Equipping the Power Band to Susie)

"That red... is that blood?" (Attempting to equip the Absorb Ax to Noelle)

And, there isnt any text to accompany this, but Susie bleeds after destroying the Final Prophecy:

That's all! i hope someone else finds this as interesting as i do or can make use of all the information being gathered in one place. feel free to use or link this post as a reference for your theories or whatever 🫶

[humunanunga]

So here's what I think it means: Ramb was most likely talking about Noelle, right? She'd be on the right with the laptop, maybe playing Cat Petters, while Kris was on the left, maybe using the cards and dice to learn parlor tricks (if web searches wouldn't pull up results for teaching humans magic, they might've still been interested in learning sleight-of-hand).

And I think that explains what happened to Spamton.

Tenna doesn't recognize him anymore because they knew each other back when Spamton was a [[BIG SHOT]] in a matching red suit. He might've even had his own commercials on Tenna's screen, but this was also when he resided in Queen's mansion alongside Swatch. (And if this was when the King and Queen met, then it's also when Spamton would've met Jevil.)

Meaning... Spamton's calls with his mysterious benefactor could've been through the landline. Especially if they were still on dial-up internet back then. They stopped because Noelle stopped coming over with the laptop.

And as for Tenna... the dates 12/25 (Christmas Day) and 2/13 (Valentine's Eve) prominently show up, and Kris' implied aversion to watching TV might've been because it was always shoving the tragedy in their face. But it's still unclear whether Tenna knows Dess was never found, or if he was trying to focus on better times, or if he really was trying to push Kris' buttons; but he should at least know she's gone. Dess was the mayor's daughter, after all. If she went missing, it would've been all over the news.

And that could've been why Asgore was removed from the force. He wouldn't let it go, so Carol made him. And if Chapter 4 says anything, he's still investigating in secret– and suspicious of her. And maybe she's just a coldhearted ass who got tired of her public image revolving around an unsolved case instead of her success as town mayor. But she's definitely sus as fuck.

Back to Ramb, though: I think him petrifying establishes what generally makes a Darkner "belong." Darkners are animated objects, and maybe he was simply an overdue loan like the tutorial for drawing dragons, but Ramb was library property regardless. That one Zapper might've been for Asgore' TV all along, since he seems to have the same kind at the flower shop, and his remote could've been borrowed or mixed up.

Meanwhile, the Pippins were safe because they were... that property's property. The Rudinns, according to one, were from Kris' deck, explaining why Lancer and Rouxls were unaffected.

What it doesn't explain is Chapter 4 (which so far is likely more to do with the two Dark Worlds being treated as flipsides) or why the classroom Darkners don't seem to recognize Kris, but maybe the latter's for gender reasons. If Ralsei is an outdated sona, then Kris at least used to present as a boy like the brother they wished to be more like, and the Card Kingdom simply wasn't there to witness Kris' transition. Or maybe those Darkners forgot the Lightners just like the Lightners forgot them, but... speaking of Dark Worlds...

...belonging. The storage closet is an ideal place for a Dark Fountain because anything could belong in a place like public storage.

And maybe that's why Ralsei was put there in the first place. Safekeeping.

Darkners in Castle Town are safe from the Player. We can harm Darkners and even Lightners in other worlds, but not this one. We're not given the option. That's how Ralsei's been kept safe all this time. Chapters 3&4 give us opportunities to hurt his feelings, which Kris will resist, but he can't be damaged or killed through Kris.

Maybe not just Ralsei either. Kris' side of the room, or at least the side they sleep on, is empty... and noticably desaturated like the door to Dess' room... and their locker is also empty. The locker could be due to their implied absence, but it could also be because they knew a Player would come (or come back) and they didn't want to give us access to anything of theirs that they wanted left untouched.

It's been speculated since Chapter 1, I've been coming back to the possibility that this isn't Kris' first time being under a Player's control. We don't know how we seized Kris' body or why, or if we're the first; even if we are, though, there's a chance Kris knew to expect us. And so they prepared accordingly while they still had bodily autonomy.

Might post another ramble after I finish my Chapter 3&4 replay, now that I have save files with Dealmaker, Jevilstail and the original Starwalker again.

[t104b]

Taking the bait. Tenna x reader

A/N: Nothing explicit, just a oneshot of the reader being used as a distraction to Tenna cuz he likes them the most. Mentions of the reader being a big collector/fan of vintage and old items, reader is G/N, Reader is also the oldest of them all by like quite a bit (18+ reader basically). Can be seen as platonic and romantic because I suck at writing romantical oneshots without any build up. Chapter 3 spoilers this is set 2/3rd into the chapter. Haven’t written in 2 years so sorry if it is mediocre.

Tenna had gone rampant with the lightners missing. However, ralsei made a small suggestion to the Fun Gang as a way to distract Tenna, as well as get information on why exactly he was trying to stop them from closing the dark fountain. However, you were nominated as their bait to go find the TV host and get info because they believe the CRT has a favourite amongst them.

Words: 2.8k, Reverse comfort/fluff

You internally groaned, following the fluorescent red-carpeted maze of this dark world with the blinking lights of the surrounding TV that portrayed certain imageries besides you. A buzzing noise filled the air from the CRT screens whining, as well as the bright light blinding your vision slightly. Why did you have to be the one to distract him? Sure, it seemed as if he gave you slightly more lenience and ease throughout the challenges, and his mannerism towards you was way less brash as he did with the rest, but surely that’s not all the reasons to send you over to that heaping statue of a show host? I mean- you don’t even know if he’ll listen to you, or even bother indulging in your presence and instead seize the desperate chance to at least catch one of the lightners to use as a gambling pawn. Even with your retaliation, it was decided 3 to 1, the rest agreeing that if you wouldn’t come back in time they’d come after you. I mean, come on! You’re an adult, you should be the one protecting them- but instead those kids are saying they’re going to protect your back! You gulped, placing all of your hopes into their capabilities of backing you up.

Growing up, you’ve always enjoyed older, more vintage appliances and items that gave you that warm, buzzy feeling in your heart. You were never really sure why you had such an appreciation for older things, the things that any regular person would toss away in place for a newer version. Maybe it was because the thought of those items seeing through life more than you, maybe it was the charm that they all had and the little bits and bobs that had defined them (rather than the current minimalistic design choice that most people with a good salary choose), or maybe it’s just because of your background you had always had to rely on things that were either hand-me-downs from family or already used and pre-loved. Either way, it gave you the keen eye of appreciating the little things in older appliances. It also gave you a weird sense of anemoia, imagining how much better life was when it was ‘simpler’.

When you first saw Mr. (Ant) Tenna, you immediately recognised him to be Toriel’s old CRT TV. Well, not recognise- more like notice the details that resembled the TV greatly. You had spent a good deal of your time helping Toriel fix that old artifact, occasionally joining her family for special runs during the holidays as well as accompanying Kris and sometimes even Susie when you offered to babysat Kris for the goat mom. Later into the Dark world, it wasn’t hard to piece the clues together for you to realise that he was, in fact, her TV. Additionally, during your whole adventure you had hoped internally as well that he did not remember the times that you had praised his internal wirings and his model, realising now how embarrassing it’d be if he DID remember. Besides all of that, you quite liked the show host! I mean, who can’t resist his charms? Clearly not you. All of the others found him obnoxious, as well as in many instances desperate and insecure. But who doesn’t get insecure, and hell – sometimes desperate! You were always a sucker for watching reruns of old game shows with TV hosts long retired, further supporting your belief that you have an older soul. Additionally, his usage of neon flashing garments as an outfit was surely a questionable choice! One could mistake it as a satire prop costume that was made as a poke to the people out there who try to become big shots. Finally, the thing that stood out to you the most is his expressiveness in not only his face, but his voice as well. His voice was… indeed obnoxious, you can agree with that. You can also agree that he is absolutely horrendous at reading the room, making you question how fast it’d take (if he was a real show host) until he’d get cancelled on the internet for his insensitivity at times. Despite his voice sounding irritating occasionally, it had heavily reminded you of the same way that old TV show hosts would speak, in that exaggerated over-expressive tone that would grip the attention of the viewers (you also quite liked the old speaker-like effect on his voice that he had, even if it did ring your ears sometimes.)

Your point is that you could appreciate the guy and his efforts. However, what you can’t appreciate is the way he had been acting the moment Susie had given him a piece of her mind. Not only by entrapping you temporarily in big gotchy ball containers that had your claustrophobia at an all times high, but also by basically sending his whole company of workers to find you guys. He even referred to you all as “cheaters”. How rude! Also, the thought of a big/tall, TV – headed, unpredictable and desperate man on the loose trying to catch you all does unnerve you to quite a scale. Anyways, you had a job to do, and you were going to do this job damn right well. As you were prepared to turn the corner, your ears catch onto the familiar noise of that obnoxious charming static voice, not close by but still close enough to be able to hear clearly. Crap, you found him, but the room’s a dead end – it’s either all or nothing.

“What do you MEAN you don’t want to capture the cheaters? Have you forgotten who you work for?”

His filtered voice commanded, the majority of the zappers, pippins and shadowguys below him frozen in fear. As he continued rambling, one of the shadowguys perked up mentioning how he didn’t really want to fight the lightners. The others chimed in, before briefly being shut down by the TV host.

“Hmm… well, from what I remember – you guys are all abided to work with me as per says on THESE contracts! So, unless you want to get fired, you better find those lovely little lightners before they get away- “However, as he continues to talk, his speaking slows down slightly, the rambling coming to a small halt with his hands shuffling documents together.

“…These aren’t your contracts.”

Before he could react, he lifts his head up from the paper and witnesses the massive group of employed enemies leave quickly, and Tenna couldn’t help but drop to his knees and reach out to them.

“W-wait! Come back, don’t go!” before then proceeding to stand up and fix his golden tie, an annoyed expression on his face with fake confidence shining. “Fine, FINE!! I don’t need you anyways! I still have others… like, like mike!! Yeah, he’d never leave!”

You could feel yourself starting to get nervous despite the pumping up you did just a few seconds ago. This is going to be the end of me, you thought. Well, it was now or never. His form slightly shrunk as the others left, staring off in space with his screen dimmer than usual as if he was thinking. You clear your throat, a nervous smile present along with your nervous tone evident in your voice.

“Uhm- Hey man, you alrigh-“ His CRT never whipped around so fast, staring in shock. That speechless shock washed away pretty quickly though, as he took a few steps towards you instantly and attempted to put on his regular TVsona in front of you, smiling with an evident faux-brightness. It was one of those fake smiles you saw on celebrities, who try to maintain their usual persona around fans even outside of cameras.

“[Y/N]!! It surely is a wonderful surprise to see you here. Oh, I knew my favourite contestant would come back and play more rounds! Listen, why not bring over your other slippery lightners and we can go back to how things usually ar-“

“You can cut the act, you know.” Your voice hits harder than it should to Tenna, his smile faltering a smidge with his (you think??) eyebrows furrowing to the response. He stays quiet for a moment as [Y/N] continues speaking, maintaining a defensive stance towards the CRT. The gut inside of you churns at the nervous energy of the room, knowing he could at any moment summon one of those fluorescent gotchy balls and just ruin your plan of interrogation. Nonetheless, persistence was high in you.

“I… I’m not here to play more games Tenna, or indulge in your show. I just-“ Your expression turns to a slightly more worried look, taking a small step forward with your head high up and your eyes landing directly onto his screen. “Tenna, why are you doing this?? There- ugh, there must be a reason. Nobody just does this just because. I’d like to believe that you aren’t being this uh, no offense – desperate, just for the laughs and giggles. Is there something wrong?” The clenching of your jaw did not help the feeling of unsureness in you, not knowing how he’d react to your words. Carefulness is key here. One bad word, one wrong move and this interaction could go majorly against you. You’ve already witnessed some of his mood swings, the way he can easily switch from moping and wallowing to energised and bright. One wrong move, and you’d have to get literal children to save you. Fuck no.

He stands there for a moment, the faltering smile evident on his face. It was clear his circuitry was buzzing with thought. Suddenly, he turns his back towards you, shaking just a little bit before standing still once again. Finally, he speaks, and you swear he shrunk slightly just now??

“… I.. I really don’t want to hurt anybody… I just- I just want to be watched you know…” He pauses before continuing, with his hands going behind his back and fidgeting together as a comfort. “I…I’ve been lonely for a very long time [Y/N]. Nobody wants to watch TV anymore – it’s all about streaming services and apps and social media. No matter if I have an audience or not, it seems as if it’s growing… smaller and smaller by the day. I mean-“ He turns around to face you, scaring you slightly yet your footing returns back to where it was again. He wasn’t planning to attack, or do anything. His body language was enough to get your guard down slightly.

“Look at me [Y/N]!! I’m a CRT! My purpose is to entertain, and if I can’t do that… well, I’ll just be thrown away...” His shoulder slumps, his stature shrinking as he looks down with his dimmer screen. “…forgotten, washed up… I don’t want to be thrown out…” You hesitantly approach him, wanting to comfort him but the lingering reminder that he was kind of the guy you were supposed to be running away from stayed on your mind. Seeing as he doesn’t move from his wallowing, you approach him a bit more before getting close enough to nervously pat his back as a way to comfort him. Thoughts were buzzing in the mind, and you swallowed your nervous energy as you softly spoke to him.

“W-well… um, listen dude. I know how it feels to want to be noticed, and not abandoned. But, let me tell you… you’re a CRT! I mean- there will always be people out there who appreciate you. Even if we have new things like email, or apps, or streaming services, nostalgia is a huge driving force. Even if… if your audience isn’t as big as it used to be, you’ll always have an audience no matter what. And those fans are the real fans who, you know, stick around for you.” A small chuckle escapes your lips, smiling at him a little despite him facing away from you as you continued. “I mean- look at me! I’m a great example. I love old things, they’ve all got this… charm, especially technology. In the reflection of those screens - all I see is a piece of history that was at the time well loved and appreciated for the little knicks and knacks that came with it. And well, I think you’re a great TV host, a great entertainer. You sure have made me laugh and smile a lot whilst I’ve been in this dark world, despite all of the… um, other stuff that happened.”

“…You really think so?” he muttered, looking up at you from his shrunken frame. Your head nodded, patting his shoulder additionally. “TV’s not dead, nobody’s STOPPED loving TV, it’s just… not as popular anymore. And that’s okay!! Not everything lasts forever. Doesn’t mean you’ll get forgotten and thrown out though.”

After a moment of speaking, you were worried that you said something wrong… before your gut flipping from the sudden hug he gives you, his stature having grown slightly larger but still only just a bit bigger than you. Your body visibly flinched, before staying at your position and returning the hug hesitantly. The insides in your body were yelling at you to just get out of there, and that he was just going to guilt-trip you into walking yourself into a trap. However, with the way that he hadn’t made anymore hasty movements, and the small buzz of his screen next to your ear was calming in an odd, nostalgic way. You just patted his back awkwardly, surprised at how heavy he felt despite being much smaller than he usually is. Well, it’s not that surprising considering he’s made primarily out of metal. A couple awkward minutes go by as you just provide him silent comfort to prevent him from losing it, before his droopy antenna’s suddenly perked up, a gasp leaving his mouth and he places his hands on your shoulder in order to bring himself up again. In an instance he grew much bigger, the weight throwing you off slightly but you kept your balance.

“HAHA [Y/N] I GOT IT!!” He barked out happily, looking at you with a big bright smile. Well, that was a switch in mood alright. You looked at him confused and surprised, eyebrows raised and a nervous smile on your agape lips. “…Huh???”

“[Y/N]… My lovely lovely [Y/N]!! You’re a real charmer you know that? A real smooth talker! You and your attention and your charms are the main reason why you’re my STAR contestant!” His antenna’s twitched slightly as his famous smile was on brand. “How about we make a deal together?” You look at him slightly suspicious, raising one of your eyebrows as you replied hesitantly. “Uh, what exac-“

“Alright alright, I won’t take this opportunity to capture you, but in return I need you to at least convince your lightner friends into going back to the game show! Does that sound good? I trust you and your skills to turn their minds around.” He pats my shoulder confidently, fixing his tie with a small smile and patting his suit to flatten out the creases. With fidgety hands and your eyes avoiding his screen, you think for a moment, the CRT’s playful humming filtering out of my mind as he waits for your response. It couldn’t hurt for you right? You could just give a feeble attempt or tell your friends about what the deal is and ask them to pretend as if you DID try to convince them… Well, you never liked lying. It wouldn’t be good if you lied, especially if it meant hurting his feelings. A sigh left your mouth, your hands going to the pockets of your outfit as you gazed on him again with a small smile. “Yeah, alright. I’ll try.”

The TV host lifted his arms up into the air, beaming happily. He was finally back to his usual self, the bright and charismatic Mr. (Ant) Tenna that you knew. “Splendid! Oh I knew I could agree with somebody like you [Y/N]!” Suddenly, you felt his gloved hand usher you, pushing you lightly against your back towards where you first came from, hurryingly urging you to go. “Now hurry! We mustn’t waste anymore time, the watch is ticking!”

“Okay! Okay! I’m going!” You claim, chuckling at his attituded before speed walking quickly to the point of the hallway that made a turn. Before you disappear out of his sight, you look back at him, seeing the TV man looking at you and ushering you to go by waving his hands, before waving back at him and simply telling him : “Take care Tenna.” Your figure disappears from Tenna’s vision, and his figure stands there on the spot for a moment with his hands behind his back. His expression turns to a worry, as one of his gloved hands come up to fidget with his antennae with the lingering thought in his mind being “… Did I make a mistake?”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Credit to strangergraphics for the super cool divider!

Another A/N: hope that wasn't too bad for my first oneshot in ages. I need him in a jar

[koimethehorizon]

A Major Critique on Deltarune Ch 3-4's Shadow Crystals (maybe for future chapters as well)

(Massive Deltarune Chapter 1-4 spoilers!)

UPDATE (6/7/25): Thanks, dreams-narrator for pointing out that you can actually beat secret bosses on separate save files, then pick the crystal up at the random cliff in Castle Town in the next one.

Oh, it's the wrong number! The wrong number song! I'm very very sorry that I got that wrong!

...I do still think the points-of-no return issue is still very much of game design issue, but a lot of this is fortunately alleviated.

Hi, enormous Deltarune fan here who loved these new chapters. I'll be singing praises about this release and dropping Deltarune-shaped brain chunks out of my ears til 2026's Deltarune tomorrow.

Gonna say it straight up, Ch 3's secret boss requirements sucks and I think the frequency of points-of-no-return spells a bad precedent for the future of this game.

WHY TOBY???

One of the first NPCs you meet before Tenna's game tells you not to worry about what rank you get = a total lie, and if you commit to S ranking Round 2, Ramb will still let you play an unwinnable game then tell you "If only you'd gotten the S rank earlier".

SCREW YOU!!!!

So yeah, you gotta restart the whole chapter over.

And I'm damn sure that most people had to do this because S ranks for your first run at fighting the new enemies/getting used to the rank requirements/first time controlling the minigames is kinda unreasonable.

Yes, there is an NPC who can help you get from A to S with 1500 points but again, if this is your first time, you probably won't have enough to buy this. You might even spend a lot of it on the B rank gacha machine or the A rank Susiezilla minigame out the same curiosity you had trying to find the damn secret in the first place!

If only there was a way to convert dark dollars to Points... oh wait there is! IN THE S RANK ROOM!!!

Gerson's is fortunately far more forgivable and if you're curious enough, you'll get it without even realizing he's the secret boss... but still. Unlike Jevil and Spamton, you are locked out if you leave the first version of Dark Sanctuary.

Why even have so many warp points if we can't even do this...

The Issue with Replayability

This trend is troubling. Toby's games have always had an issue with being games that encourage replayability and secret hunting but, and I hate to admit this, they're not very engaging games to replay unless you're committing to a completely different route.

With Undertale, a boring replay (until the new content) and a fading emotional investment of the game is the MAIN THEME of the True Pacifist and Genocide routes. But most of all, Undertale was a short game so it wasn't going to be mundane walking through the same beats.

This is not the case for Deltarune. This game is [BIG]. If you miss something, you gotta go WAAAAY back to check something again. Worse, by the end of every chapter, you get locked out of that chapter's Dark World permanently.

When replaying a chapter, most of the time is spent either reading or skipping dialogue, and most fights are going to play out pretty much the same way. The reason why this shallow gameplay is mostly passed off is is because Undertale/Deltarune's humor, writing, and gameplay gimmicks are so varied (and good!) that you'll never be stuck on one beat for a very long time.

Fortunately, there aren't as many Undertale-level deviations in the narrative that require you to restart, other than the Weird Route. A lot of the missable items and conversations are mostly flavor text that you can look up later.

If you were restarting a chapter from the ground up, you were probably one of those sickos who tried to hoard every individual item available to see what Ralsei, Susie, and future playable characters would say about them... or an EGG hunter. (I can't believe I restarted for those teas...) This is NOT true with Shadow Crystals.

A Future Problem

These are unquestionably important missable items that the game WANTS you to get every chapter that requires not only a whole chapter reset to get, but MULTIPLE CHAPTER RESETS if you happen to miss the crystal in previous one!

And I want to emphasize, if you miss these, your ass has to reset SEVERAL HOURS back to get the one you forgot.

In the far future, when Deltarune completes and we find out what having all these crystals do and we have no QoL measure to get them all... and everyone misses the Chapter 3 one because of how unfriendly it is for blind runs.... we're in for a huge drag.

I really hope this is an issue that's on the Deltarune team's radar and that we can go back to some abridged sections to get these again. I'm a sicko so I have all these + the eggs and... god I hope the eggs aren't important too.

PS. Some might include the Roaring Knight being the secret fight into the BS I mentioned.... and I disagree.

Praise incoming!

The Roaring Knight is bullshit and hard as hell, but it should be! This is the first real fight in Deltarune that actually made me consider my equipment and battle strategy multiple times.

The Shadow Mantle turning an unwinnable JRPG stomp fight into a real-winnable fight is a genius misdirect that shows the first tangible evidence that Susie and the player might be able to defy the prophecy.

In Undertale, our struggle against Sans was made fun of because we were forcing ourselves through a frustrating fight purely to find out what happens at the end of the Genocide run. But here, even Gaster roots us on, hoping that the determination we show here will amount to something greater.

I think it's seriously understated how game-changing and brilliant this twist is with what it implies.

And come on, everything with Susie during this fight is so cool.

[krispdreemurr]

Partial joke theory that Ralsei isnt even a true darkener and is actually a titan spawn in disguise hence why he looked like a funny shadowbug thing in Ch 1.

But on a more serious note all the info we get in Ch 4 really makes me wonder what the heck is up with Ralsei's fountain and why is it like that? Why can that one specifically handle ALL Darkeners and none of the other ones can? There's other things too like it being in a Dark Supply closet not really affecting much it feels like? Cause like while a lot goes on the Church due to two fountains being next to each other... two were next to each other in Chapter 1 too! And titan spawn like the shadow bug things show up in the first sanctuary while the thing that chases you in the dark areas are one of those fetus things. I DID notice one of the Rudins had its colors... fade slightly though I dont know if that's anything to seriously take note of. Just. So many questions...

im so tied to horn headband ralsei/Somehow Influenced By Kris ralsei like. him looking so like Kris' fursona for no reason would confuse me so much. he can be a titanspawn tied to the horns maybe???

@craftlands hypothesized that the storage closet works for all Darkners because. any object can be put in storage lmao. as for the dual fountains not interacting I'm not sure; churchworld seems to have more going on than Just "2-3 fountains intersecting", like why it doesn't have a ruler and has the statues from the fountain that hasn't even been made yet.

my best guess on the bluedinn: the seven flying aces in the ch3 egg room are missing a member

[twilightofthesandwiches]

I just went through close to all of your deltarune analyses I think??? They’re really well thought out and made connections to things I haven’t seen anyone talk about !

I’ve been thinking about what the prophecy that susie saw could’ve said. I’ve seen both speculation that it could be a tragedy directly relating to the heroes, or alternatively that it’s a disaster involving Hometown or the Dark Worlds at large. Whatever it is, it was enough for Ralsei to want to bear the knowledge of alone. And it was enough for Susie to punch the glass and insist it would never happen.

I wanted to know if you have any ideas/theories on what it could possibly be??

Part of me feels like it may be too early on for anyone to definitively guess what it might’ve said, but on the other hand- we’re four chapter in and there’s so much foreshadowing from the moment you start the game

(if you’ve already talked about this and I missed that, I apologize !!)

First things first, thank you so much for your kind words!

I think I did get an ask about the whole Prophecy Thing before and I think my answer was indeed something along the lines of "it may be too early on for anyone to definitively guess what it might’ve said", but I actually have more Thoughts about it now and I was considering making a post about it, so maybe it's a good thing you sent this ask lol

So basically, I'm thinking again about Ralsei's hopes of changing the Prophecy through Kindness

Which I now realize was foreshadowed all the way back in Chapter 1.

Like, I think in retrospect, this whole moment at the end of the King Battle

isn't just Ralsei learning a hard but important lesson about not letting your kindness be exploited, I think it's also kinda Ralsei resigning himself to the idea that his plan to subvert the Prophecy via kindness and pacifism is probably going to fail.

So... it's probably something Ralsei thought he could prevent by being nice and resolving conflicts non-violently, right? I see Ralsei's hope for breaking the Prophecy being being 'nice enough' as a mirror of a Player who, despite knowing Deltarune only has one ending, still insist on going True Pacifist and hopes it will make... some sort of difference.

(You know, like me!)

But my reasoning in regards to my actions as the Player is that I suspect that the Ending of the game will always be a happy one for us, it's just that my actions will determine whatever this happiness feels just and deserved or if it'll be recontextualized as being about an ultra-powerful time-manipulating asshole being allowed to get away with all of the bullshit they did.

Clearly with Ralsei and the rest of the Delta Warriors this is not what's going to happen, there is some sort of inevitable terrible doom that Ralsei tried to stop by just being as nice as possible. So... what could it possibly be that he thought befriending every possible enemy could prevent? That realizing King will never accept his Mercy genuinely shook his hope that preventing it possible?

And I don't think this necessarily has anything to do with the Titans cause Ralsei seem to have always fully understood there is nothing Mercy can do for them....

And, I know one of the more popular speculations about what the Final Prophecy could be is that Ralsei will have to pull a Heroic Sacrifice of some sort, hence why he's so big on thinking himself as less important than the Lightners and that they should all accept that he'll be discarded and abandoned eventually.... but....

The thing is... Ralsei is so certain about his lack of worth and general disposability and is only now starting to really process how much he means to his Lightner friends. So... would he be talking about "just" his own death as some terrible fate for the Lightners? Right from the very start of the game, before they ever did actually grow fond of him?

I... guess you can read it as a very relatable and understandable sort of self-contradiction. Ralsei at the same time believing that he is disposable and that his demise shouldn't make the Lightners worried... but also secretly kinda hoping that he'd be valued enough as a friend that his death will be mourned and that his new friends would want to do all that they can to prevent it if possible?

Still, with how deep into the "please just forget about me it's no big deal it's my role to sacrifice myself for your happiness" juice he usually is, it is weird it never even comes up with all of the Prophecy drama. It seems like even in Ralsei's fucked up worldview the Prophecy is 100% an Unambiguously Horrible Unforgettable Tragedy for Kris and Susie from the very beginning, so I feel like it has to be something where they or their Lightner loved ones are hurt in some manner .

It also doesn't seem to be something heavily involving Noelle (like Kris or Susie being forced to kill her or whatever), since Ralsei talked about her as rather tangential to the Prophecy.

(That's leaving aside the debate of whatever Susie and Noelle might've 'swapped placed' in the Prophecy, which is also a common theory right now. The important point right now is that the role Ralsei thinks Noelle is meant to fulfill seems to be a minor one. So the Final Prophecy wouldn't be something like "the Girl Hero is forced to kill her girlfriend" or "and then our three heroes lose their best friend, the other girl". Cause whatever that's really talking about Noelle or Susie, Ralsei currently thinks it's Noelle and seem to view her as a side character at best)

The Prophecy also repeats the idea that this 'Final Tragedy' will be the only way to 'save the worlds'

So that presumably means that both the Light World and Dark World would still exist in some capacity after 'the Final Tragedy'. Although that still leaves the possibility that specific Light World locations (like Hometown) or specific Dark Worlds will be destroyed... although I find it somewhat unlikely considering, again, Ralsei talking about it as a sad ending for Kris right from the very beginning. Like, it's hard to imagine Ralsei thinking about a Hypothetical Destruction of Castle Town as an 'unfavorable' result for Kris when they barely know it at the moment.

Unless, the 'Worlds' refer to something else, like...

Hmmmm....

I think the best way I found to reconcile all these data points at the moment is that it says something like the Heroes dying (or maybe facing a fate worse than death like being banished to the endless void where the Unused dialogue is)...

...while battling against those they have 'Lost' or 'Forsaken' or 'Abandoned'. Basically a doomed last stand against those the heroes have wronged. Ralsei originally thought he could prevent by... never wronging anyone ever. By making friends and pleasing every Darkner they meet. That way there would be no one the Heroes have 'Dammed' to fight against and thus saving Kris and Susie's lives. But of course... that is not how that turned out...

Even in the best case scenario, King is still around and he's now like the Fate-Designated Slayer of Heroes. Maybe if we're as nice as possible he's the only one, but he'd become a much more formidable foe by the end (acquire his own Shadow Crystal?)... Maybe there are others who are 'Forsaken' no matter what we do?

... It's also possible that 'the Cage' is the only hero destined to die in this battle, or it's the Cage and the Prince, leaving Susie to remain the only one alive at the end of the adventure. Maybe the only way to defeat the Abandoned Ones is by becoming a Monster with a Human SOUL?

Remaining the one one standing but friendless again feels like a very thematically-appropriate tragedy for Susie in specific.

But that's just my wild guess based on how I interpret the information and foreshadowing we have so far... Like we both kinda said, it's very hard to predict this plot point at the moment, when there is still so much we don't know. It's pretty probable the upcoming Chapters will throw in some extra information that will totally change our understanding of the story... but... I think this is my most likely guess at this moment.

[abandoned-quiche]

okay so basically. chapter 5 ends with the roaring interrupting the festival. ralsei tells you and and susie to evacuate the townsfolk and get everyone into the shelter - it's the only place safe from the roaring. it was designed for this. susie refuses, saying she wants to fight back against the titans. ralsei is like "You don't understand, Susie! This isn't something that can be fought back against " (while also omitting some very important information because he's ralsei) but susie doesn't listen and ralsei concedes and lets her stay with him. she tells kris that above all else they have to make sure noelle makes it to the bunker.

so you bring the townsfolk to the bunker. it is not a dark world. it's a bunker it's decrepit and creepy and filled with... weird sciencey stuff, that nobody dares touch. except for sans. he's very, very interested in all this equipment.

this entrance area is where the townsfolk will stay. but you and noelle will explore deeper into the bunker. it seems to be a place between light and dark. nothing quite makes sense here, but it doesn't exactly not make sense, either.

as you explore, you find lab entries numbered 1 through 16. (i like @/marnielovesyouu's idea where noelle figured out how to translate wingdings as you explore.) you fight weird, creepy enemies with vibes similar to the memoryheads.

at the end, you find gaster, who is currently making entry number 17. you don't think he's spotted you, until he turns around and says "WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK?"

when you get back to the safe room, sans and papyrus are nowhere to be found. nobody seems to know where they went. but a few things are conspicuously missing - a few gaster blasters, and a strange machine with an unclear purpose.

[glossytoothpick]

Deltarune First Impressions (Excluding the Secret Bosses cuz I suck at the game)

Spoilers ahead

Ch3:

Because I got Starwalker in chapter 1 he became part of the polycule with Lanino and Lanina

The Snowgrave music popping up in Chapter 3 scared the fuck out of me

I loved the amalgamate reference in the beginning only for it to be revealed to be cat friend (idk if he’s a secret boss but I’m planning on watching the bosses right after this)

We got Tenna and Mike and that’s fucking awesome

Tenna is an asshole and he’s also exes with Spamton

“It’s normal for couples to fight sometimes. Cmon Kris tell ‘em!” What the fuck Tenna.

Damn I didn’t expect the knight to show up so fast but that fight was dope

RIP Undyne

Ch4:

I think it’s funny that Kris just had the knights phone number on their phone that they can just call anytime, like imagine Susie looking at their phone only to find like 20 missed calls from the knight

Also I know the game is trying to bait you into thinking the knight is like, Carol but I don’t believe it at all.

Gerson showing up was great and him coming in clutch in the final battle was amazing

Kris trying to beat the shit out of us with a hockey stick was funny

That water climbing section in the final area was hell on earth to do on Switch

Also that final boss was really hard god damn

Ralsei needs a hug what the actual fuck

That sprite with him and the blood on his cheek is just fucking horrifying

Susie needs a hug

I know we didn’t see the prophecy but I’m guessing it ends with everyone dying or smth

It’s raining somewhere else was a nice touch

Sans undertale fucked my mom.

[patchwork-crow-writes]

Deltarune contains a whole lot of mixed up religious (read: Christian) imagery, what with the Delta Warriors fighting against the Angel's Heaven; Ralsei having devil-like characteristics while being the kindest, sweetest boy imaginable; Jevil (a portmanteau of the words "Jester" and "Devil") referencing "Hell's roar [bubbling] from the depths" while Spamton obsesses over reaching "Heaven" as he attains a new winged form; and there being a light world religion that's heavily inspired by Christianity, that is very pervasive throughout Hometown, and yet has no concept of sin.

I think it's really easy to get caught up in the question of "which side are we actually fighting for/against?", trying to untangle all these knotty contradictions in an attempt to make sense of these recurring images and ideas. In doing so, however, I feel that we're missing the forest for the trees, and there's a far simpler and more thematically-appropriate explanation for their inclusion in the game.

Simply put - it doesn't matter because they're both functionally the same thing.

Let me explain what I mean: In the beginning of Chapter 1, Ralsei mentions that we have to "banish the Angel's Heaven", implying the threat of a heavenly force that will be unleashed as a result of the imbalance between light and dark. And then, at the end of Chapter 2, Ralsei mentions the Roaring and the Titans, implying the threat of a hellish force that will be unleashed as a result of the imbalance between light and dark. Now, both things might be real, or neither might be, or maybe they're two names for the exact same thing. But if you swapped them around, substituted heaven for hell, or light for dark, there's literally no real distinction to be made between them. In both cases, an apocalyptic event is being described that threatens the tangible, physical world our characters exist in - a world which incorporates both light and dark as two halves of a normally-harmonious whole.

To put it another way: it doesn't matter whether you're assailed by unrelenting light or plunged into unending darkness - your sight has still been robbed either way.

And I think that's the crux of it, I feel - Deltarune seems to tell the story of people - lightners and darkners both - who are lost, trying to find meaning or answers in some higher power, or otherwise consider themselves beholden to the whims of said grander force. It doesn't actually matter what this "greater power" even is - Heaven or Hell, the Player, the Narrative, Gaster, Toby Fox - or whether that power's incursion into people's lives is wanted or not. But as we see with Spamton and Jevil's struggles for some nebulous "freedom", with Kris's relationship to the Player, with Ralsei's seeming willingness to being a chew toy of the fates or what-have-you, and the existential threats of the Angel's Heaven/Roaring, as well as the Knight's willingness to bringing said event about, those forces and the ideals they inspire can all too often come at the cost of the world that these characters live and breathe in, right in this present moment.

Consider how many times worrying about a hypothetical future robbed you of joy in the present moment. Consider the people you know who are so wedded to the models of the world they hold in their head, that they refuse to engage with the more complex and nuanced reality that may contradict that model. Consider how we try and solve all our age-old problems - like loneliness, justice, fairness - using technologies that in many cases serve to exacerbate these same problems. And consider how any such thing can be glorified or vilified by different groups at different times.

The point I'm trying to get at is that I believe Deltarune is trying to tell a story that says, hey, maybe we should look past all these grand and abstract notions of heaven and hell or whatever, and try talking to each other every once in a while. Maybe we should try not placing all our hopes in some dues-ex-machina or higher power to resolve our problems for us. Maybe we should learn to live the lives we wish to live, help build the world we wish to see, be the friend that we wish others will be to us.

Because if we don't do it ourselves, something else will. And we might not like where we end up.