#susie…. and in doing so appears more real and grounded to kris

[giogio]

im back in friendship adventures 1000000 years

[chiya-eltanin]

hm. dont usually put my own two cents for theories but somethings been kind of annoying me recently so yeah. ralsei thoughts.

i really dont like the idea that ralsei is a specific object. especially not with newer stuff from chapters 3 and 4.

For starters, most people that try to figure out what ralsei is in the real world are basing it off of this appearance

however, I feel like there's plenty of evidence to point to this not being his real form, right? People have already pointed out that his original shadowed form isn't fully consistent. It's possibly the most obvious when you compare his singing animations in both forms. His hat form makes what was later 'revealed' to be his ears look more like hair?,

Ears don't really split the same way that hair does, and theres other examples of hatsei having this kind of spikyness to his 'ears' that hatless ralsei doesnt have.

even the fangamer plush makes his ears spiky!!

its a pretty major part of how hatsei looks, and its certainly been talked about before. And then comes chapter 3+4. And we have plenty of evidence that ralsei is a shapeshifter, and I have seen literally nobody talk about it????? huh?????

Oh, and the hat casting a shadow on him makes no fucking sense because he goes onto wear SEVERAL hats in chapter 3 and he's normal????

also I know its like. A funny bit, but HE TURNS INTO A HORSE

WHY THE FUCK WOULD KRIS'S HEADBAND TURN INTO A HORSE???? WHY WOULD A GREEN CRAYON TURN INTO A HORSE???? WHY CAN HE DO THIS????? THIS ISNT A COSTUME THATS NOT HOW THEY WORK????? WHERE WOULD HIS BODY GO.

not to mention that changing shapes was literally his ability in the legend of tenna game???? he plays it off like 'oh every character has abilities i can turn into a box' but he can also turn into a dog? since ralsei was the only one who read the manual it very well could be an ability given to him since the real Ralsei is also a shapeshifter.

It would also explain why ralsei draws himself in his hat form

thats closer to what his natural form is. Dont have any screenshots on hand right now, but he's got two lines in chapter four (if you leave him lying on the ground for too long, and right before they find the first fountain) about how much longer he can 'keep this body for' that make it very obvious that he's only using a form that looks cuter to appeal to us. Him being a shapeshifter would also explain things like

His face being a deliberately made abstraction would also make this interaction make a lot more sense. Pre chapter three, I assumed Ralsei based his face on Asriel to either try appealing to Kris or as fanservice for the player/red soul, however, now that we've slowly started learning more about Ralsei, it's beginning to seem more like Ralsei just wants to have a face and more distinct appearance, like the lightners do. However, because of how dark worlds work, he can only base it off of what already exists, with that already existing 'model' being Asriel, although with modifications to make himself cuter— pink horns and eyes, and his usual glasses. It's why Kris is always quick to point out differences between them, and why Ralsei is embarrassed at being told that they look similar, he didn't have a choice other than be based off something that already exists.

Alright, so Ralsei is a shapeshifter. He still has to have some equivalent in the Light World though, since that's how Dark Worlds work. He was literally about to tell Susie what he was before getting interrupted, and Toby Fox is deliberately dancing around the topic.

However, I think the answer is actually pretty obvious. Ralsei is a being of 'pure darkness', which is why he can exist in any Dark World, unlike Lancer and Rouxls, who need to be objects that 'belong' in their respective worlds. His form is made up by the original dark fountain, and he describes himself as a 'Prince of the Dark'. Characters in the Dark World know about what happens to and around their real world equivalents, but Ralsei in particular seems to be especially aware of all of Susie and Kris's actions and movements. He doesn't need to be brought in by Kris like Lancer and Rouxls do, and he always appears in the Dark World a few moments after Susie and Kris do, while somehow almost always having pretty intimate knowledge of how the world came to be. Ralsei is also the most adamant on being depended on by Lightners, even more than people like Tenna. He talks about how a Darkners role is to be used by Lightners and to make them happy, and his character development in Chapter 3 especially goes into how he wants to be needed and how he's afraid he's slowly developing his own personality, and why he believes darkners shouldn't do that.

So, taking all of that into account, I feel like the most obvious answer for what Ralsei is is a shadow.

He's a literal prince of the dark. It explains why he can shapeshift, since shadows can be made to look like anything— I'm specifically thinking of things like shadow puppets, and why when he gets knocked out he seems to literally disappear, returning to the shadows. A shadow is also the most dependant on light, shadows literally cannot exist without light, or they'll just be darkness. It even explains his empty room.

His insistence that his only role is to help the Lightners, the way that people can never find anything notable about him (asking swatch for specials his suggestion for Ralsei is based purely on how he dresses and Queen literally forgets to get him a cage), and his ability to be in any dark world (since there's literally nowhere without shadows) all seem to point towards Ralsei being a shadow.

Ralsei being a shadow also means he's literally with you in the dark, could probably straight up not exist if the world was plunged into darkness, and also makes him a weaker version of a titan (explaining the 'prince' title. not quite king, but noble nontheless).

[itsnothingofinterest]

So here's a post I'd been meaning to make for a good long while. Get out there with my interest in Deltarune. And with chapter 3 & 4 coming out in just one more tomorrow; it's now or never to talk about something I'd been meaning to for a while:

Kris Could be the Knight and that’s okay

A very "popular" take I'm sure we're all aware (although it actually has been having a resurgence); but this might be my favourite Deltarune theory since chapter 2 came out. So I wanted to go over not only the evidence I see supporting it & why I don't believe the evidence against it; but also touch on why I like it and maybe why others have a problem with it on a more emotional level. With that established: let's get started: (Be warned though, this is a very long post.)

Basic run-down & evidence

So, let's go over the basics to start with.

Deltarune's 1st Chapter established an entity known as "the Knight"; the person who set up King as the sole ruler of Card Castle by locking up the other kings & created the Dark Fountains the protagonists have to handle. We don't really here learn much more, there's no evidence pointing to anyone; we just know of a future antagonist.

We also get a closing scene of Kris late at night pulling out their soul, followed by a knife, and then a creepy grin as they took control away from the player.

Years later, we'd learn they ate a whole pie that night and Torial was rather upset about it. Guess that was...just a misdirect?

'Unrelated'; Chapter 2 would also have Kris & Susie find a new Dark Fountain in the computer lab of their local library, which was not there the day before. We're once again told the Knight made the Fountain for this Cyber World, although this time they seemed much less involved in otherwise setting up the plot; Queen's gone crazy on her own due to the internet being down and her wanting to make Dark Fountains herself after seeing one get made. Despite this, we get way more hints towards the knight's identity (which isn't saying much but still); Queen tells us it's a Lightner & apparently got a video of the Knight making a fountain in the lab by stabbing the ground with a blade, and while the light & smoke obscured their appearance, she did inform us the Knight did the job using a knife...huh.

Later that night, after Susie stops over at Kris' house; Kris once again rips out their soul to do...well all sorts of stuff to a) get Susie to stay over, b) set up the house in weird ways, and c) ...create Chapter 3's Dark Fountain by stabbing the ground with their knife.

The basic conclusion people drew was this: Chapter 1's end was not a red herring, Kris snuck off that night to open the Library Fountain, and they're the Knight.

"Wow" some thought, "how interesting, to have our player character be our own main antagonist. Now that's a cool twist."

But others said "Wait hold on, that doesn't make sense!"

Evidence against (and evidence against that evidence against)

Now there's a few things people like to throw against Kris Knight; but by far the most common reasoning why they believe Cyber World couldn't have been made the night prior is that Berdly and Noelle awoke at the desk with their books out when the Fountain was closed.

Thus, it is argue that they must have been in the room and already studying by the time the dark fountain was opened. The nearly closet is described as being able to fit a large person; so perhaps the knight made the fountain in there, or maybe waited for Berdly and Noelle to fall asleep to sneak out and make the fountain where Queen could see, and then left the room. Histories and timelines of Darkwords can be warped & exaggerated, so perhaps the entire short term set up of Cyber World from it's citizens perspectives happened in a real time second; and surely it's possible all the chaos that happened to Noelle & Berdly before the cast arrived could be squeezed in between, right? And if so; well then the Knight couldn't be Kris, we were playing as them and getting a tour of Castle town at the time.

Eh, personally I'm not so sure; for a number of reasons. The timeline is off for one; Kris & Susie see Neolle right before their tour of Castle Town and head to Cyber World right after. Plenty of time for her & Berdly to just get harassed by Queen, but a bit hard to fit all the rest of the set-up in. There' no sign of magic being a thing in the overworld so how did these two A++ nerds fall asleep studying in a half hour tops? Like, that'd be believable for Susie, but Berdly and Noelle? But the Knight couldn't have made the Fountain the closet, or else it'd be based on the closet like Castle Town is; so the Knight had to have been in the room. But there's not a lot of places to hide from the kid's supposed position, and even if you did, a Dark Fountain's creation is a bright, loud, and attention grabbing event. They'd be spotted, especially if they left the pillar of smoke to leave the room before Cyber world formed and trapped them. Plus; while Noelle & Berdly's books were on the desk, it's not as if they were open. If they just carried their books in; it'd make sense they ended up just scattered around close to the kids.

So already, it's not looking like those two could've been in the room; not without making some magic-based assumptions.

Also at risk of meta-gaming the mystery: if the Knight's identity is supposed to be a long term mystery plot; the above theory presumes a crime was committed with the culprit having left minutes before the player arrives. You'd expect there to be at least one(1) clue pointing to the real culprit if that was the case, especially since there's a big traffic jam outside blocking escape routes. But the only one besides Kris with evidence pointing towards them is the one person you can find outside the library...Undyne.

Who is not exactly a prime suspect otherwise. (And that's saying something when a semi-plausible motive is enough to make a character a suspect. Papyrus is a prime suspect because "maybe he wants friends.")

But so far we've just gone over why the Knight might not have made Cyber World within an hour of the gang's arrival. If possible; I'd like to avoid the common fallacy that if the above weren't true; the Knight must be Kris. Is there any evidence they were active while Kris was doing stuff at night though? Surprisingly there kind of is.

Internet evidence

So a recurring plot point in chapter 2 is that the internet is down throughout the town. Now we don't know when it went down; it's not mentioned at all in chapter 1 but we don't see anything using the internet that day & it's talked about mater-of-factly in chapter 2 by the time school is over, and while it's implied to be a recent inconvenience, we don't know how recent.

However, there is one sign that it went down that very day; and it's why the internet being down matters to the plot. It's cited as a reason for Queen's personality change for the worst, as she lost access to her source of information. However, the reason this is important to the Kris Knight theory is that it's not the only reason cited for Queen's personality change; it's said she also changed when the Fountain was made and she became obsessed with it.

There's no evidence Queen got worse twice; so these events probably happened pretty closely together, enough so that both are attributed Queen's madness. The Dark Fountain wasn't up by yesterday afternoon, but Alphys talking about the internet status so matter-of-factly to someone who slept through class implies it was probably down before school started that day. Oh hey, a lot of that time was when Kris was up. (And bonus points but them being very active and going around town that night would explain why they slept through twice as much of class as usual.)

Additionally; this brings the implication that the Knight is why the internet is down, and they did it to aggravate Queen. If this is the case; not only would it line up with how Kris manipulated the TV to set up chapter 3; but it's a plausible way the Knight set up chapter 1 by picking out & imprisoning 3 king cards from a deck. It also explains why the Knight was less involved in ch.2 than in 1; they were involved, just not in ways the Darkners knew about.

So yeah, I think Kris Knight is looking plausible. But even so, one has to ask:

Why do people dislike Kris as the Knight?

I think the reason comes down to two pieces of fandom history.

So when Undertale first got big and people started playing through the no mercy route; the impression some got of the final character you meat, Chara Dreemurr, was less than nuanced. They were seen as the main culprit of the route and the "true villain" who made Frisk kill everyone. A pure evil Demon who orchestrated everything.

This was annoying to fans with actual media literacy who found Chara to be one of the most interesting characters in Undertale (which is some high praise). Add in the implications that Chara was also the funny narrator and provider of flavour text and they hardly seemed evil; rather, it seemed some fans just wanted to scapegoat their own actions in the no mercy route onto someone who didn't let them wash away the consequences of their actions in the "your actions have consequences" game. You only get that route if you, the player, decide to kill everyone after all; the player is the only responsible party.

Years later, we'd got some distinct but familiar reactions to the chapter 1 ending where Kris pulls out that knife. They aren't exactly blaming Kris for any evil already done; but there were, if you can believe it, a lot of assumptions that the next chapter would open with them having gone all knife murderer on the town. Wild, right?

So there's this pattern, you see, of people taking these two really interesting green & yellow striped shirt wearing kids who are some of the most interesting characters in these games brimming with super interesting characters; and boiling them down to bog standard pure evil knife-wielding villains. No wonder fans were already sick & tired of it. Probably just see Kris!Knight as the 3rd such verse as we yet again see Kris framed as a villain, just of a different kind; many such fans going so far as to dislike it because Kris isn't supposed to be the villain, you are. Just like Chara, the true villain to them is the player, puppeting Kris' body against their will and potentially making them do evil things, it's no wonder they'd fight against you by ripping you the red heart to exert some autonomy, but that doesn't make them the evil Knight. That's someone else (Papyrus or Alvin maybe); and the real villain in Kris's life is the player, just like always.

Why do I like Kris as the Knight?

Ironically enough? Because I think it makes them a lot more interesting and makes a prsence seen as a villain a lot more nuanced.

First off: far from being made boring, Kris comes off as far more interesting than the child of divorce now helplessly puppeted by an unseen force until the game ends if they're the Knight, actively setting events in motion that you have to undo in their body. They become an active member of the actual overarching plot; seemingly active far before the game started. At minimum; Kris!Knight would've had to have learned about the nature of Dark Worlds and made one or two themself before you got involved. They probably even know Gaster and, heck, it becomes far more likely that not only did they call the player to them, but they're outright in control of our dynamic.

But at the same time; this wouldn't make them the outright knife murdering villain people say Chara or post Ch.1 Kris as. What we know of the Knight is that they're calculating, they want something, and if that something isn't the end of the world, then that's at least something they're willing to risk. We already know that's something Kris is willing to risk for whatever reason too, by opening the Ch.3 fountain. Already; we know this is something Kris isn't an unforgivable villain for; and this'd be true if it were done for another fun adventure with Susie, informing Undyne about Dark Worlds, or a long-running quest to find Dess or whatever the Knight wants. Even if Kris is the Knight, they'd obviously not be that pitch black evil.

Also, I just don't like the above framing of Kris as simple victim of the player from crimes committed by...playing Deltarune. Taking some measure of agency away from the main character of your video game is unavoidable; and the idea might be interesting to explore as an outside observer, but it's pretty weak to be called out on something you have to do to play the game. (Spec Ops the Line managed it I'll admit; but that game involved a lot more violence and militarism it was calling out. The above idea doesn't feel as strong, and doesn't even call out the military.) Especially as a follow up to Undertale's No Mercy route; which I found much more effective for calling you out for atrocities that were very much optional, and for motives it was very good at feeling out. Saying the player is bad for puppeting Kris no matter what just feels too much like Spec Ops and not enough like Undertale. "You're bad for playing Deltarune" just seems silly. What are we; catholic?

Looking at Kris as the Knight and acknowledging that they have far more agency in their dynamic with the player seems far more interesting to me. There's a relationship to be identified there, one with ups and down and a lot of ways it could develop, motivations to discover that might align our motives with Kris, and plenty of dramatic irony in the meantime.

It's what I said at the start, right? Our player character is, for at least a time, our effective main antagonist. How cool and interesting a twist to explore is that?

[jadeharley444]

AN: This is an untitled Deltarune fanfic i’m working on, lemme know ur thoughts, I’ll post chapter one as soon as it’s done.

Epilogue: The Roaring

The night sky had turned red as titans and beasts were spilling out of the fountain emanating from the ground. Through their pounding heart and their immense fear Kris couldn’t help but feel guilty for this. They knew they didn’t have control over this… thing? Inside them, but they could have at least resisted its strings enough to prevent this. The scene in front of them was not a pretty sight. No one had died as of this moment but the possibility was growing larger with every demented being that crawled its way out of that shadowy pyre. Kris heard their friends that they’d known for years yelling, screaming, shrieking from the terror of the Roaring as Ralsei had called it. Kris looked down at their hands.

“Why?” they thought

“Why me? Why did this thing inside me choose me?”

“WHY isn’t it doing anything about all this!?”

“Why can’t I move?”

This scene continued on for several hours, then several more. With continued brutality and with continued horror Kris witnessed their family, their friends all being consumed and mutilated by these creatures. Through all of it they never moved a muscle, they couldn’t, this being that had been controlling them for the last couple of days wouldn’t let them. The creatures never approached Kris, all of them had passed them by, either unaware or uninterested in their presence. Eventually, these screams died down, the town became quiet again. The sky remained red, however, and the dark fountain still poured into the air. This quietness did nothing to put Kris’s nervousness to ease. How could it? They knew this silence meant that everyone was gone. They were all that was left, and they couldn’t move a finger to stop it.

…

…

…

…

…

Something moved in Kris’s periphery. What it was they couldn’t tell, it could be a friend, or a foe and they’d be none the wiser. The way it slinked out of view would imply one of those shadowy beasts, but who knows? Maybe Kris had gotten lucky. Kris felt no fear. In the prior long hours of horror not a single beast had turned a head to look at them, why would they start now? Another movement, this time on the left of their view. Kris couldn’t move their head to turn and look, so all they had was the limited scope of their eyes which were obstructed by their hair.

“Hey! Hey! If you’re still alive, help me out!” they desperately thought, holding onto hope that this was one of their friends. Or at the very least someone from town. But it wasn’t, they knew it wasn’t. It was a beast and for some reason they had finished everyone else off first and were now coming for them.

“This can’t be real, this can’t be how everything happens. I want Susie back, I want Ralsei and Berdly and Lancer. I want Noelle.” they thought to themself, beginning to understand just what is coming next. But just then, nothing. The world went to black, and Kris is left alone in a void with nothing, no one, no sound. They move their arm.

“Wait, I’m in control??” they say, hearing the sound in their skull but not in the area around them. They try to walk forward, their legs swing but never hit a surface, they’re flailing with nothing to hit.

“Vessel, get a hold of yourself”

This booming sound echoed through the void and in Kris’s mind. They were silent for a moment, shocked.

“Who are you? Where am I?” They responded, unsure if this voice heard them.

“That isn’t for you to know.”

Kris grew more confused.

“Why am I here?”

“Because you need to calm yourself.”

“Ok I’m calm, I’m chill” they tried their best to appear sure in their words.

“Then be gone from this place”

[weaselweaselw]

The Origin Of the Dark World

PART II.V: THE POWER OF DETERMINATION

As you might have realized by now, the Cyber World has some chilling connections to Noelle, almost as though the world itself was centered around her.

Let's start with something you're probably very familiar with, and then build things up from there.

When talking to Noelle in Chapter 1, you get this dialogue:

And similarly, when talking to Rudy at the end of Chapter 2, he has this to say:

Rudy's words suggest that Noelle's mother has always been a harsh and demanding parent, putting a lot of pressure on her daughter. This might be why Noelle feels so anxious and unhappy now that Rudy, who was the more relaxed and fun-loving parent, is lying in a hospital bed and can't be there for her.

But Dess is missing, and in Noelle's mind, she could be dead, and Rudy is hospitalized.

And then there's.... this.

Queen plays a similar role in the dark world. She claims to want Noelle to be happy, but she doesn't care about what Noelle actually wants or feels. She manipulates and coerces her into doing things that go against her nature. Only when Noelle finally gathers the courage to confront Queen and tell her that she is not making her happy at all does Queen relent - It's like a twisted version of a mother-daughter relationship, where the mother thinks she knows best and ignores the child's voice.

Maybe that's what the dark world is for: a way for the Lightners to escape from their real-life problems and face them in a different way. Noelle can't stand up to her real mother, but in the dark world she has the power and the support to do so. The dark world seems to reflect the wishes and struggles of the Lightners (Kris, Susie, Noelle, and Berdly) and gives them a chance to overcome them.

And this... this... is very important. Let's go back to the very beginning...

This is how the Knight made the Dark Fountain:

Seems pretty simple. The Knight focused their determination into their knife and stabbed the ground - creating a Dark Fountain.

But the word 'Will' as a noun has been used in the context of Dark Fountains before...

Since the word "will" seems to be used in the same context that Ralsei uses, the obvious connection here is that the will of the fountain is derived from the will of the fountain's creator, which in this case is the Knight. This elevates the lightners, but more specifically the creator of the dark world itself, to the status of God…

But also, something of importance, evidenced by just how blatantly it is that Queen is a projection of how Noelle feels about her mother, is that the will of the Dark Fountain is not just influenced by the creator of the fountain... but by the lightners present in the Dark World as well.

Okay, let's go over what else is going on with Noelle...

In the Spamton Sweepstakes, she has this to say.

Does this sound familiar? Of course it does, because if you stand underneath the sockets for too long, they begin smiling:

And what happens when you stand underneath a hanging plug?

It zaps you.

Noelle's fears never truly went away, because these fears were exaggerated and personified in the Cyber World- a Dark World that she didn't even create, but through the sheer power of her determination...

The Dark World was bent to her subconscious will.

...

While the fountain's will is influenced by the lightners… the dark world itself was originally created by one person.

And despite what Kris, Susie, and Berdly want, Lancer still turns to stone.

The Knight's will is above all else in the Dark World.

The will of the fountain's creator seems to override everything.

It's interesting, because even with the S.Bosses, they appear to be fighting against the dark world itself. They all lose in the end, and never get anything they want.

Except... one time.

This... all of this... takes on a completely new meaning once you consider the Snowgrave Route.

The route in which you abuse Noelle's unnatural amount of determination to bend the rules around the dark world... and completely break the game.

This is the only route in which Spamton can be a big shot...

And only for a little while.

Noelle, put under enough stress, given enough strength, and realizing her own strength, can override the rules of the Wark World itself, and override the Knight's will.

This is interesting, because it sets Noelle up as an extremely overpowered character. Her ungodly amounts of determination means that unlike Jevil, Noelle might be able to do anything...

She just doesn't use her determination.

Wait.

Wait. A. Minute.

Queen wants to make Noelle the next Knight.

What if this desire... if from the Knight themselves?

What if the reason the Knight wants Noelle to be the next Knight is due to her determination?

If Noelle and the Knight were to make a fountain together, it would certainly be enough to completely shatter the barrier between Light and Dark.

Causing the roaring.

What does any of this have to do with Dess being trapped inside the Depths?

Well, everything. Since the Depths is the source of all darkness, every single Dark World would have some kind of trace leading back to Dess that we'd be able to find, right?

Yes. Yes, it does.

Notice that baseballs appearing in all of the Dark Worlds seems to be a common theme.

While not enough for this theory to stand on alone, there's the other evidence brought up previously that should suffice.

Dess has likely gone insane whilst trapped inside of the Depths, and its possible that in the presence of these Titans, Dess has been… brainwashed. Perhaps succumbing to the collective will of the Titans to be free and unleash their revenge upon the world for imprisoning them.

This would make Dess the Roaring Knight.

Okay, I'm gonna be honest, this part isn't as compelling, but it's still interesting to consider, because the ramifications of Dess being the Knight are interesting.

Of all the popular candidates for the Knight (Kris, Father Alvin, the Vessel, ugh... Oberon Smog), Dess is by far the most interesting, because the characters in the game know her and have that connection.

Kris can't be the Knight because it's physically impossible for them to create the fountain for the Cyber World, and judging by how Noelle and Berdly were already seated and... studying... when the Dark Fountain was sealed at the end of chapter 2, we can assume that the Knight created the Dark Fountain while they were studying. At that time, Kris and Susie were bumming around in the Castle Town, so it can't be either of them.

There's of course a lot more evidence, especially in the Chapter 3 previews provided several months ago (which honestly look like they were taken straight from the Cyber World. Why? Because Kris was probably thinking of their fun Dark World adventure while making the fountain. The Knight wouldn't do that, would they?), among other evidence, that can disprove the notion that Kris is the Knight, but in the end, it's unnecessary, as Kris being physically unable to make the fountain in the Computer Lab is what I consider silver bullet evidence.

As for the Vessel... no. By the time the Knight is actually revealed (let's say the climax of Chapter 5), I imagine most players will have forgotten about the Vessel. And besides, the Knight being a "blank slate" character that then decided to go evil is something we've already seen... in Undertale. Many times, actually. It would be much more interesting for the Knight to be a character with pre-existing motivations and reasons to be creating the Dark Fountains.

As for Father Alvin, well, him being the Knight sets up the Knight as the stereotypical religious fanatic that wants to cause the Rapture and end the world just feels cliche and wrong. It isn't that interesting. But I will say that evidence-wise, Father Alvin seems more likely to be the Knight for now, but I'm suspecting that Toby Fox is baiting us with that, just as he did with the main antagonist for Undertale.

As for "Oberon Smog," honestly, I don't even need to tackle it. The idea that Gerson's hammer somehow became a darkner, gained the ability to travel to the Light World, and then make dark fountains, is honestly so ridiculous that you begin to question why it was even conceived.

Anyway, this, all this, might not even matter. The possibility of somebody being trapped inside of the Depths is... interesting, but maybe it isn't so simple. After all, if the Depths resembles the bottom of the ocean, then no human could ever hope to survive there. But then again, Ralsei only mentions that Darkners get crushed during the roaring, not Lightners, so maybe the rule applies to the Depths as well.

[LINK TO PART III]

[makerofmadness]

Tearrorizer Route AU- VS. JEVIL

(WARNING: THE FOLLOWING IS AN AU OF DELTARUNE, SPECIFICALLY A WEIRD/SNOWGRAVE ROUTE AU. PROCEED WITH CAUTION)

(ALSO: DESCRIPTION OF DEATH IS BASED ON WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HACK THE GAME TO USE SNOWGRAVE ON A NORMAL ENEMY. JUST STATING THAT SO PEOPLE KNOW I DIDN’T MAKE IT UP [BASICALLY THEY TURN RED AND APPEAR TO TURN INTO MIST OR SOMETHING)

(FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS AU [AND SPOILERS FOR THIS PART...)

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

Whatever Queen’s Mansion had looked like previously, Jevil had left it unrecognizable. Many things were broken, and yet the traps still worked just fine, even the attacking paintings.

Nothing was where it belonged, platter lids stacked up in place of the tables, some kind of giant rubber duck just... sitting there. In the bathroom.

It was pure chaos.

Susie had let her eyes off the Devilsknife in Cyber City when the group split up. For some reason, the joker took the opportunity to flee. Now the group had to split up again.

Kris traversed the halls with their reluctant companion quietly following behind, searching for the loose jester before he could do anything too bad...

As if what they were doing wasn’t bad enough, but alas, it was not Kris’s choice to make.

They had never wanted to make that old cat come along with them, to make them join their party when they were alone in the city... 

By now the old fluff had stopped trying to object.

“BOO HOO, BOO HOO, UEE HEE HEE. SO BORED, BORED, I BE... THIS PLACE NEEDS A LITTLE MORE CHAOS!”

They finally turned the corner to find him, a few feet away, floating a few inches off the ground, giving the current hallway a “makeover” of sorts...

He noticed the footsteps from behind, turning around before gasping with evident excitement.

“BUT LO, THE LIGHTNER OF BLUE... AND THE OLD SHOPKEEPER, TOO? WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL! I HAVE BEEN WAITING, WAITING... UEE HEE HEE!! NOW, FINALLY, WE--”

Jevil was cut off by a familiar... yet uncharacteristically cold voice:

“It seems like another enemy, Hero. Shall I take care of this one, too...? How so? Hearts, diamonds... the choice is yours.”

“...EH?”

Their voice was quite monotone.

That wasn’t how Seam was supposed to sound. 

In all the years they had worked together, Jevil had never heard them speak like that. Even at their most melancholy, they didn’t sound lifeless...

Jevil felt a tinge of an unfamiliar feeling... at the very least, one he hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

“...MAGICIAN? IS SOMETHING AMISS...?”

–

!

–

This seemed to make Seam snap out of whatever daze they had been in. They stared in shock once the realization of who was ahead of them hit.

“J... Jevil!? Wh-When did you get here...?”

“OH, DIDN’T YOU SEE? I WAS WITH THE LIGHTNER GIRL!”

Susie had been carrying around the Devilsknife ever since after the heroes had defeated Jevil back in his cell... or, as he liked to call it, his “freedom.”

“TAKE ME AND DO YOUR STRONGEST---!” he had said then...

“I SAW, SAW YOU WITH THE BLUE LIGHTNER. OH, HOW EXCITED I WAS TO PLAY WITH YOU AGAIN...! SO, I WAS TRYING TO READY-UP THIS PLACE INTO A REAL FUN-FUN HOUSE! THEN WE ALL WOULD HAVE A PLACE TO PLAY, PLAY TOGETHER! THE LIGHTNERS, YOU, ME... EVEN THE QUEEN!”

“J-Jevil, I... I don’t think...”

“MY, MY, OLD SHOPKEEPER, DON’T TELL ME YOU DON’T WANT TO PLAY... BOO HOO HOO, UEE HEE HEE!”

“...”

Seam looked down to avoid eye contact. The former court mage... would’ve much preferred it if their old companion had never seen them like this...

“...OH? WHAT’S THE MATTER, CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE? UEE HEE HEE!!”

Jevil laughed at his own pun, expecting the joke to make them at least crack a smile...

“...”

Nothing. If anything, it made them feel worse somehow.

Then, Kris stepped forward.

“Wh... what? N-No... there’s no way... you...”

“OOH! THE LIGHTNER WANTS TO PLAY, PLAY??”

Jevil perked up, as if he had just forgotten all about Seam’s strange behavior.

However...

Kris turned towards Seam, looking directly at them.

Seam could feel the stare cutting through them.

They were quite visibly shocked.

“Y... you really...”

What if things went too far this time? That was the question sitting in their mind, and had been ever since this mess started in Cyber City. Regardless of all the harm the two had caused, all the damage done... they hadn’t killed anyone.

There’s no way Kris would do that now, they thought...

“...Hero... but why...?”

––––––––––––––––––

*❤️Why not?

––––––––––––––––––

“...I-”

“NOW, DON’T KEEP ME WAITING, MAGICIAN! UEE HEE HEE! LET’S DANCE, DANCE ONCE MORE!”

The battle started against their will.

After about a minute of deliberating, Kris chose to defend. Seam was unfazed at first, as TP was in fact necessary to cast spells, but then, even after having enough to cast a spell or two...

They again chose to defend.

And defend.

And defend.

Occasionally stopping for healing items when HP was low.

Seam had no clue what Kris was planning.

At first, Jevil just spouted his usual insane dialogue before each attack, having fun with his “game.”

However, he eventually started to notice that something wasn’t quite right...

“...EH? WHY DON’T YOU SEEM EXCITED, MAGICIAN...? IT’S JUST LIKE OLD TIMES!”

“...”

Another turn would pass,

“OH, ISN’T IT FUN...? ISN’T IT...? ... ARE YOU NOT HAVING FUN...?”

“...”

And another,

“...IS SOMETHING WRONG? (...WHY AREN’T THEY TALKING TO ME?)”

“...”

Seam wouldn’t speak. Jevil felt a pang of that feeling from before, this time much stronger.

Something just felt wrong about this.

He had known Seam as his laid-back companion, the court mage of Card Castle. They had always been his lovable goofball friend.

...what had happened to them?

...

Eventually, they reached 100% TP, and Kris seemed to be putting more thought into the next command...

––––––––––––––––––––––––

*❤️TEARRORIZER

––––––––––––––––––––––––

“...? T... Tearrorizer?”

––––––––––––––––––––––––

*❤️TEARRORIZER

––––––––––––––––––––––––

“I... I’ve never heard of that spell before...”

––––––––––––––––––––––––

*❤️TEARRORIZER

––––––––––––––––––––––––

“N... no.”

––––––––––––––––––––––––

*❤️TEARRORIZER

––––––––––––––––––––––––

“...I said no.”

––––––––––––––––––––––––

*❤️TEARRORIZER

––––––––––––––––––––––––

“What if... what if it... what if it’s...”

––––––––––––––––––––––––

*❤️TEARRORIZER

––––––––––––––––––––––––

“...”

––––––––––––––––––––––––

*❤️TEARRORIZER

––––––––––––––––––––––––

“......”

––––––––––––––––––––––––

*❤️TEARRORIZER

––––––––––––––––––––––––

“.........”

“...? ARE YOU-”

Seam cut him off with a sigh.

“Why not? (I can trust Kris... right?)”

––––––––––––––––––––––––

*❤️TEARRORIZER

––––––––––––––––––––––––

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

*Seam cast TEARRORIZER!

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

...

Nobody quite understood what was going on.

Scissors appeared, and then––

3500

...

“...wh... what just...”

The cat had blacked out when they tried to cast the spell.

Now, however, they could could see what had happened...

“O-OH, UH... IT SEEMS THIS BODY CAN BE KILLED AFTER ALL...”

Jevil’s fate had been sealed in dark red all over.

It was clear that he’d soon fade away, the only question was how long he’d be able to hold on before ultimately succumbing. 

Seam, once they finally processed what they had just done, was absolutely horrified.

“J-Jevil...!? Wh... what did I...!? I-I’m sorry, I...”

“...”

“I-I’m... I... h... how...!?”

“...IT’S OKAY.”

“...wh... what?...”

“YOU WERE JUST DOING WHAT YOU HAD TO DO TO WIN... I CAN’T BLAME YOU TOO MUCH FOR FOLLOWING ORDERS... JUST LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE: YOU’VE WON THIS GAME! ...BUT SADLY, THIS IS OUR LAST.”

“...”

“SEAM... I’M SORRY FOR ALL THE TROUBLE.”

Seam wasn’t even given the chance to talk before their former companion finally faded away into red mist.

“...”

They stepped bit closer to the spot where their friend had been, and fell to their knees.

“...”

They didn’t say another word, not to Kris, not to anyone.

[fusulyesheep]

I know im posting too much about deltarune this last days but ima do it again

If last week i was losing my mind, in this week i dont have a mind anymore

Im still questioning WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED

[under the cut if you want to see someone slowly losing it]

First, ralsei randomly changing form. i know we saw this last chapter but now its more uncanny. How did he get taller (also the fact he can just appear in other dark worlds and not turn into stone but this isn't that important)

Rouxls Kaards and Seam being extra suspicious, because Rouxls head doesn't turn into stone and he was stopped from using his real power whatever this is, and seam apparently knowing what are the shadow crystals and being able to take one from your different save and talking about a boss harder than Spamton and Jevil

Spamton basically confirming the influence of gaster in this universe, apparently knowing about jevil who probably also got crazy because of the man who talks with hands, and also his crazy talk about freedom and the chilling way he just breaks when you win against spamton NEO

Noelle having issues with the word "december" alluding to the fact Dess has disappeared and that's why asgore was sent out of the police force and toriel end up divorcing, and noelles mum's acts weirdly AND NOELLES DAD IS JUST WITH A UNKNOWN DISEASE THAT IM SURE WILL TIW INTO THE PLOT (and also what is this between rudy and asgore RUDY YOU ARE NOT DIVORCED YET)

You can manipulate noelle into killing literally everyone just because yes, so you traumatize her and now berdly is dead

And also she may be or at least have connections to the angel

Kris just RIPPING THE SOUL OUT OF THEIR BODY IN THE BATHROOM WHILE SUSIE AND TORIEL ARE JUST BAKING A PIE

GETTING OUT OF THE HOUSE BY THE WINDOW (SO THEY ESSENTIALLY JUST CRASHED INTO THE GROUND AND PROBABLY FELT PAIN, BUT NOT LIKE IS A BIG DEAL COMPARE TO THE FACT THAT THEY TAKE THE THING THAT KEEPS THEM ALIVE OUT OF THEMSELVES)

SLASHING THE THINGS ON THE CAR MAYBE BECAUSE HE DOESN'T WANT ANYBODY RUNNING AWAY

OPENING THE DOOR SO UNDYNE WILL NOTICE THEM

AND JUST CASUALLY OPENING A FOUNTAIN AFTER PUTTING THE SOUL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SOFA

And just

who are the titans?

aren't we gonna talk about the fact that there are literal GODS most likely going to appear at the same time asriel comes home?

AND YOU KNOW WHAT'S THE WORST OF ALL OF THAT??

THIS IS NOT EVEN EVERYTHING IS MAKING ME FREAKING OUT

TO THE BIG THINGS THAT CAN DESTROY THE WORLD TO THE LITTLE THINGS LIKE SUSIE NOW BEING IN TOUCH WITH PEOPLE (AND NOELLE) TO THE FUNNY THINGS LIKE THE BANANA TO THE EMBARRASSING THINGS LIKE BERDLY PREVIOUSLY LIKING NOELLE AMD NOW LIKING SUSAN TO THE THINGS I CANT EXPLAIN LIKE ONION-SAN BEING ALL "IVE HEARD A SONG OR SOMETHING" TO THE CUTE THINGS LIKE ALMOST CANON SUSELLE TO THE JUST BLATANTLY WEIRD ONES LIKE PAPYRUS JUST BEING NON-EXISTING FOR SOME GODAMM REASON

I LITERALLY CANT POSSIBLY SAY EVERYTHING, THE ONLY WAY TO SHOW WHAT'S MAKING ME LOSING GRIP OF MY SANITY (PROBABLY ALREADY LOST) IS JUST POINTING AT THE FUCKING GAME

BECAUSE HONESTLY IT'S IT IN ALL IT'S ENTIRETY

Ha ha i needed to get this all out of my throat,

sincerely, a random deltarune fan who is now insane

[pt-disconnected]

Anonymous Ask Responses #17

And here we are yet again, a few more asks from whoever out there is enjoying the story. We have some crazy stuff being set up on numerous fronts- from the Knight being strangely amicable, to Berdly's appearance... and a few other things.

Without further ado, here's Anon Ask Responses once again!

————————

"I can’t stop imagining player being all like “this is fine” while being carried by the head by toriel lol"

Honestly during the time where that was occurring, I can say that Player was certainly just confused. Just trying to process the situation and failing, only able to fully react at the end.

Think of it like when you stare into space with no real reactions in reality, even when people are trying to get your attention. That's what Player was essentially experiencing.

————————

" 'Okay, I have no idea what the hell you just said, but it sounds kinda accurate.' Susie is hilarious" (minor edit to separate the quote and the rest of the ask)

I mean, I'm trying to have Susie react as you'd expect in both the original Deltarune game as well as in Paper Trail. So that's pretty much what I figure her response would be.

————————

"So does this mean berdly’s going to the dark world too"

I mean, I would put the GIF here since that's yet to be seen, but let's be honest, it's pretty obvious, so I'll just say yes, that's what's gonna happen here.

And unlike Deltarune Chapter 2 he's not going to be absolutely painful to deal with.

...Maybe.

Who knows...

————————

"Player and the fun gang better watch out for gaster, I don’t like what he could be planning"

While the group may not quite know the name of the Knight yet, they do know he has some sort of plan. And, of course, we know what it is- maybe. Again, the timeline has shifted, so maybe his plans have too.

In the end, we've yet to see what his goals are. At least, the goals he has now.

————————

"I’m glad you updated your story but It’s okay to take breaks"

Thank you. I just feel bad for taking so long in between the segments- I feel like I'm making promises and then just failing to keep them.

I always say I'll make the delay less than the previous one and then somehow do the exact opposite.

Maybe this time I'll keep it. ...Totally not hinting at future events. I have no idea what you're talking about. ;)

————————

"Player must be surprisingly light for toriel to carry them by the head"

Actually I kinda figure Toriel is decently strong. She's also a good amount larger than Kris, and thus likely the Player as well. Plus the ground is taking some of the weight- she's more dragging them instead.

Another argument is that the Player is lighter because they're using the body of the Vessel- thus they may be lighter than other humans. But, that's highly unlikely.

————————

And that concludes the 17th iteration of Anon Asks. Pretty short, I'll admit. But there are some decent questions here. And whoever mentioned it was okay to take breaks, thank you. I just would prefer them to not be unannounced. I'll do my best to ensure that any of these delays isn't completely unannounced.

Aside from that, thanks for enjoying the story so much, and I'll see you all around!

[neondemon69]

Chapter 1 The Ace of Wands

Ralsei walked out of his castle  through the town looking around. He always went on walks in the morning especially now with the town being so much more alive then it ever was, still he had a feeling that they couldn’t shake off nothing bad but there was a gut feeling that something would happen maybe another fountain? No Kris literally just took care of one last night….

Maybe Kris or Susie is coming by? Ralsei made his way to the place they usually walked to when going to the dark world and sure enough Susie was seemly headed to Ralsei's castle, “oh hell yeah hey Ralsei you’re just the person I need to talk to right now, ” 

Ralsei raised an eyebrow “oh? Why didn’t Kris just come here and ask me themselves? Are they ok?”

Susie groaned under her breath “they seem fine honestly I didn’t know why they sent me to ask you but they seemed stressed so whatever, plus I can see lancer while I’m here real fast so it works out. they better not ask me for something like this again though…” Susie mumbled that last part

Ralsei nodded smiling a little “I’m sure he would love to see you Susie! So uh, what did Kris need?” he asked softly resting a hand on his scarf to enjoy the soft texture, he was slightly worried Kris has never ask Susie to give Ralsei a message

Susie crossed her arms, “you know that freaking weird puppet thing that got added to our party, the one that just kept going on about deals and crap?” Susie asked,

Ralsei took a step forward with a worried look on his face as his eyebrows scrunched up “yeah….Kris looked so unsettled….and he was strong but now he's a party member right?” Ralsei asked rubbing both their hands on the soft scarf 

Susie scoffed slightly “well that’s the thing Kris suggest that it might be good to leave him with you, apparently Kris thinks there was something going wrong with him, I think that puppet was just insane but we decided maybe it might be best for you to take care of that thing cause Kris is being a wimp and I would just drop kick him” Susie admitted, Ralsei scoffed looking a bit shocked “Susie!” ralsei shouted, sussie just laughed at ralsei who signed under his breath and looked over at his castle “ok…..if kris and you think it would be best…then I will try my best to welcome him with open arms! 

Susie huffed slightly showing their teeth “Hey before you go all pacifist about this guy, I’m going to keep coming by to check on you and if he does ANYTHING-” Ralsei softly interrupted Susie, his voice soft and loving “daaw! Susie, that's really sweet of you!” This only caused Susie to grow a deep blush and look away, “ugh!……. God you’re such a dork anyway but seriously, if he tries anything weird just let me know I’ll crush him for ya!” 

Ralsei nodded “ok, ok,  I’ll let you know Susie thanks for looking out for me…uh, say where is he?” Ralsei asked, looking around before Susie pulled out [Deal maker] “uh, here dummy, remember? Anyways, how do you get him out?” Susie said looking at the Glasses and cuffing it with both her hands like she might snap it in half, “do I just break it?-”,

Ralsei softly took it from Susie “um actually! Susie, can I try something?” ralsei asked as her purple friend rolled her eyes “yeah, sure I guess…” she mumbled under her breath

Ralsei closed his eyes as Susie started to watch the glasses glow, it looked like ralsei was using some kind of healing magic as Susie could see the soft green glow in her hand, as the crystal glow a bright white and floated Spamton soon appeared softly floating down to the ground

Before Spamton spoke up “HEY EVERY !! IT'S ME!!! EV3RY BUDDY 'S FAVORITE [[Number 1 Rated Salesman1997]] SPAMTON!”

Susie felt a shiver down her neck, this creepy little puppet thing was something she still didn’t like, she’s only seen Spanton in his neo form but somehow seeing him smaller still managed to give her the creeps, she quickly grabbed the robotic puppet by the chest of his shirt, lifting him off the ground causing a slight yelp to come out of Spamton, as he tries to escape Susie's grip, susie just growl at him, “listen here you little creep, after all you put us and kris through, I should have just killed you but Kris is giving you a second chance, so here's what’s going to happen, we’re leaving you with ralsei to watch over you’re ass and if you dare even consider hurting him or causing issues, I won’t hesitate to bite off your little puppet face and drop kick you out of here, IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?”

Spamton was frozen till the end as Susie started to show her teeth, he put his hands up surrendering to Susie 

“WOAH THERE! [HOCHI MAMA] YOU GOT YOURSELF A [DEAL] !! ALL YOU GOTTA DO IS PUT ME DOWN “

Susie blinked at Spamton before looking over at Ralsei and pointing at Spamton “did he? ...Did he really just call me a Hochi mama?” Susie asked, ralsei just gave a very confused shrug, Susie grunted dropping Spamton. “ugh, just whatever” Susie said pointing at Spamton once again, “don’t do anything you know I’ll kill you for and Ralsei, don’t let your guard down around him!” Susie looked Spamton in the eyes making spamtons eyes tremble slightly, “If it’s not obvious I still don’t trust you, not after the shit you’ve put us through but you better make me change my mind, cause if you do anything wrong I won’t be like Kris and spare you” Susie insisted, Ralsei just sigh “are you done scaring him? How is he supposed to be good if he's too scared to even trust us?” Ralsei spoke up stepping over to the two of them

Susie was caught off guard “uh…” she mumbled, god now she just looked like an ass, Susie looked away letting her hair cover her eyes.

Ralsei sighed “I know, what you’re trying to do and I appreciate it... but let’s try this differently…”ralsei said walking over to Spamton and offering a hand to him, who hesitated but took ralsei's hand and stood up off the ground where Susie dropped him,

"sorry about that, she's just protective of the people she cares about, isn't that right Sussie?" ralsei asked her.

Susie blushed looking away with a huff, "yeah, yeah, I guess…." Susie admitted, she looked down at Spamton who try to keep his usual grin but it twitched slightly as Spamton slowly let go of ralsei's hand, too shaken up by Susie, who was confused, Spamton was power hunger when she first met him and kept talking about her friends dying, so why is he scared they even spared and hell they even saved him from himself, yeah, she just threatened him but he was literally about to murder someone the other day even Susie was creeped out by him

Is there something she was missing here? 

Susie grunted knowing ralsei might be right on this one, susie got close to Spamton who was frozen, susie was so big compared to him and after all that madness, Spamton was more then weak, susie noticed Spamton slightly flinch in his shoulders as she crouch down to make Spamton feel less uncomfortable which only helped a little, susie lifted her hair out of her eyes "ok, Spamton…. Explain what happened… you and your crazy…. Whatever that was the other day, God,… even Kris freaked out and now, you're small as hell after we cut those strings. What were you trying to accomplish anyways?" susie asked 

Spamton opened his mouth but he looked down, ralsei frowned clearly seeing some emotional pain as the puppet froze up,

Ralsei walked closer but kept a few feet as though to show that he was listening to the puppet and was patient

Finally Spamton said something, "I USED TO BE A [BIG SHOT] BUT SELLS WENT [DOWN IN PRICE], I FELT……" for a moment Spantom's glasses turn to static and he started shaking before coming back into reality, "WHEN I SAW THAT LITTLE [SLIME] I THOUGHT, I COULD [SAVE 50% OFF] AND FREE US BOTH FROM OUR STRINGS…. I GOT KRIS TO HELP, MY NEO FORM WAS SUPPOSED TO BE [THE BIG DEAL OF THE SUMMER] BUT IT SEEMS AS THOUGH.... I HAVE MADE [THE MISTAKE OF THE CENTURY]" Spamton tried to explain Sussie was puzzled but slowly started to understand a bit of what he was saying…

she thinks?

Sussie looked at ralsei who shrugged but looked sad showing some empathy for the little puppet,

Sussie let out a sigh."so… you got stuck in a bad area basically… and you were trying to somehow help you and Kris but… you turned into that…. THING?" susie ask

Spamton nodded, smiling slightly seemingly relieved that sussie understood what he was trying to say...well for the most part she did,  Susie looked away for a moment "shit…. I know what that's like before I got here everything was hell… mm… I'll let you slide with ralsei, like I said, don't you dare think about hurting him...and if something happens…. I guess I'll help you out… just don't get too clingy, I already have ralsei to cling onto me like a monkey, he's driving me crazy. Hey, maybe this means he'll cling onto you instead! " Susie said playfully teasing, ralsei who blushed. "ugh… susie!...come on now you're just trying to embarrass me" ralsei softly whined but knew susie didn't mean bad so he gave a soft sigh 

Spamton just watching it reminded him of a conversation he had with an old friend, causing him to frown a little as they watched the two playfully tease each other, susie started to notice "hey, you good over there? You look like you just lost a loved one or something! Ugggh, don't tell me you're depressed or something after all that madness, I didn't think you'd be a softy after that awesome battle we had!" Susie admitted 

wait, susie actually enjoyed that battle?..weird..Spamton shook off his expression."EVERYTHING'S OK- EV3RYTH1NG'S 0K-" he glitch as susie and ralsei watched in horror, Spamton try to stop speaking but he couldn't seem to stop himself, sussie watched before suddenly slapping Spamton forcing him to stop

"OH MY GOODNESS SUSIE!" Ralsei yelled concerned. 

"what? Look at him, he's alright! His like those old brick TVs you just gotta slap it to make it work!" sussie said looking at spanton, who was in shock yas from the slap but also that someone actually got him to stop glitching, this was his first time that someone helped him out of his repeating glitch outs, even if it was being hit that stop the glitching 

Ralsei huffed "what am I going to do with you…" he mumble, looking over at Spamton

"hey, you ok?" he asked in his usual warm and soft tone 

Spamton nodded before looking over at sussie "YAS THANK YOU [VALUE CUSTOMER] FOR BEING [THE FIRST WINNER] TO GET ME OUT OF THAT [HELL]" Spamton said, 

Susie smirked widely, putting a hand on her forehead and leaning backwards slightly as she laughed, finally standing up straight "HAHAHA SEE I TOLD YA RALSEI! HE JUST NEEDED A LITTLE HITTING!" she laughed out before gently patting Spamtons back, "you good now? Or should I just slap you again?" Susie asked, Ralsei just observed the two, he made a mental note one that for now he would keep to himself 

Spamton shook his head "I AM ALRIGHT NOW" Spamton said for once not glitching out, ralsei had a thought "uh, Susie um could you do me a favor…." Ralsei mumbled, sussie raised an eyebrow at ralsei "yeah, what's up? 

Who do I need to beat down?" she asked with a smirk still on her face, 

Ralsei looked down at Spamton "can you watch over him while I quickly make him a room in the castle real fast?" ralsei asked 

Spamton looked up at ralsei "my own room…. [SERIOUSLY] you don't have to do that I usually just [SLEEP IN A LUXURIOUS].....dumpster.." he admitted, Susie and Ralsei stare, at him, is he…. Is he serious? 

"OH, HELL NO!" Susie said, making Spamton back up a bit, yeah she lived in worst but for fuck sakes how could this guy just accept living in a dumpster so quickly like that after being offered a bedroom? 

Spamton looked up at Ralsei "I Have [0 KROMER]" He admitted, Ralsei shook her head "oh no! No! You can stay with me for free. I don't mind, besides I could use the company! It can get lonely here…" he admitted to Spamton, who was just lost, there had to be a catch right? "WHAT'S THE [BONUS DEAL!!]?" he asked 

Ralsei shook their head "no catch…I promise! And you can stay with me as long as you'd like!" Ralsei encouraged him to stay, Susie suddenly picked up Spamton, who looked around trying to escape Susie grasp, "you aren't saying no to ralsei cause if you leave I'll get ya! Come on you weird puppet robot thing..you eat right? You're so light I could throw you into the sun!" Susie laughed, god Ralsei almost forgot that Spamton probably needed to eat.. 

Spamton didn't have much time to process everything, so he felt like he couldn't do anything but watch. "I'mma put some meat on this puppet, you make his room while I take him to get some food!" Susie insisted,

Ralsei nodded "good plan Susie! uh...just remembered chalk and moss isn't food!" ralsei said, Susie just groaned "yeah, yeah I'm taking him to that Cafe! It'll be fine!" Susie explained as she put Spamton on her shoulders 

What in the ever loving morning special did Spamton get himself into? These two people… he thought he would just be helping Kris but did Kris just help him for the 3rd time? And now Spamton thinks he actually has friends again? Still he was worried, the last friends he had drifted away still it all felt different compared to the past ones, they actually seemed like they cared… 

They cared if he was glitching out... 

They cared if he was living in a dumpster... 

They cared if he had food... 

But worries and fears of being left behind was still getting to him… he rested his head and arms on Susie's hair God it was so soft… yet a bit...well dirty as expected, still he closed his eyes just for a second, he could hear the two playfully bickering as they exchanged some information involving what their plans were, which was just to get Spamton food and bring him to the castle to sleep seeings he already looked like he was about to pass out resting on Susie's head, Ralsei even gave Susie some money to buy food at the cafe, “Alright Ralsei, me and this weird puppet creep are gonna eat something, maybe someone's face if their not careful” Susie said, making spamton’s eye slowly open as Susie started to turn around from Ralsei who smirk rolling their eyes knowing that Susie didn’t actually mean it, still Ralsei sighed “ok, have fun, Susie try not to hurt people….” Ralsei membled 

Ralsei sped to the castle seemingly excited about making another room for someone, leaving the two alone, Susie started walking, Spamton spoke up “YOU KNOW YOU DON’T HAVE TO  [CARRIED FOR A LIMITED TIME] RIGHT?” spamton said,

Susie just gave a loud “HAH, YEAH RIGHT!” she said, causing spanton to look confused before Susie started speaking “if you walk slower than kris, i would just drag you everywhere! Besides, are you scared of being manhandled or something? You’re puppet size and actually really light like this, so it’s hard not to unless of course you want me to throw you into that dark fountain!” Susie laugh at the last part, spamton blushed seemly embarrassed as his glasses went a bit dark

“Oh come on, don’t glitch out on me yet! You really hate me carrying you like this? Because you looked like you were about to take nap or something weird on my hair,” Susie admitted,

Spamton whole face turned red and he huffed, ugh, this was alway the worst part of his form he usually try creeping  the other person into leaving him alone or try selling something….but this time he took a deep breath “I DO...BUT THAT Doesn’t MEAN I LIKE YOU  [ $2 OFF YOUR FIRST PAYMENT ]- “

God why is it so hard for that puppet to speak, still susie kept her smirk “you mean teasing? Eh, i’m just messing around besides no ones gonna bother you for me carrying you...trust me there’s weirder shit here then me carrying a puppet on my back, i mean there’s a heart shaped tentacle monster around here so i’m not worried about being judged, also glad you like the view there, just don’t make this shit too weird or i might have to hit ya again” susie winked with a smirk as she said the last part

Now that Spamton thought about it he hadn’t been carried like this in a long time, last time it was the Addisons and he was just bullied and pushed to his mental breaking point which lead to a harsh night of drinking and tears, still Susie's only teased him a little and helped him out with his glitching, so.. maybe this would be ok,  Susie took the silence as a good thing and she kept walking to the cafe, spamton knew that this was a beginning of something more than, he expected honestly he thought he would be used as a tool for fighting, not being taken care of by a mean girl and a fluffy boy.

Soon Spamton rested his head on Susie’s hair again and relaxed as Susie walked them to their new adventure at the cafe

Next>>

[notesondeltarune]

Why does Ralsei look so weird when he takes off his hat? Discussion and (Possible) Explanation

Most people have noticed by now that when Ralsei takes off his hat, there’s a jarring transition from when he has his hat on:

From when he doesn’t:

The differences between the two portraits don’t need to be stated in too much detail. Beyond the complete shift in physical shape, proportions, and style that throws out any sense of continuity between what’s essentially the same character, the two sprites look like they’re for completely different games. The latter sprite looks more faithful to the original Undertale sprites, but with more tonal variation than would have been allowed in its strict black-and-white palette.

The most noticable change, of course, is the fur colour. What it implies at first glance is that all this time, Ralsei’s true features were hidden by the shade of his hat. But other people have pointed out that there are instances within the game when the hat is not directly on Ralsei’s head, and his fur does not change colour:

As well as the otherwise unreadable manual found within the sprite sheet where Ralsei mentions that his body is given form by darkness:

Unless these were strictly oversights, or suspensions of disbelief for the purpose of comedy/drama, the above sprites and Ralsei’s manual seem to imply that Ralsei’s body was indeed made of darkness until the very end.

This would fit in with the prophecy that Ralsei gives, where the Prince of Darkness is contrasted to the human (like Kris) and the monster (like Susie). Unless we suppose that the prince of darkness is Lancer (and that he is not a monster) we are led to believe that Ralsei is this Prince. This would imply that Ralsei is not then a monster, let alone one in disguise.

There are other notes that might be worth considering.

First, By the time that Ralsei reaches the king, the king does not differentiate Ralsei from the other Lightners that Lancer had befriended. This indicates that the King sees Ralsei as being a Lightner himself at that point.

Second, Unlike the other Darkners seen in the game, there is no “explanatory object” given for Ralsei. When Kris and Susie wake up in the abandoned classroom after the adventure, there are explanations for just about every entity in the dark world. Each monster, shopkeeper, map features after meeting Ralsei seems to be a manifestation of different objects in the classroom, but no clear reference seems to be there for Ralsei. (If Ralsei was an object, then perhaps it’d be Kris’ red horns that Toriel mentions. For whatever reason, we don’t find it within the classroom, however.)

So this implies that when Ralsei takes off his hat, there’s something more than a change of lighting going on. Maybe it’s symbolic, but even this symbolism must be referring to something more than just seeing Ralsei’s face clearly.

So, from here on out is speculation.

My explanation for this is that when Ralsei takes off his hat, it’s a transition between states or modes of being. That is, Ralsei is changing at some deep level beyond just his physical appearance. How this is happening is still ambiguous, but I think there are two further ways to explain how this is happening, neither of which I’m totally decided on:

A. Transformation/Realization: It could be a transformation from a creature of darkness to a flesh-and-blood creature (or dust-and-magic, in this case.) Somehow, the adventure that Ralsei has with Kris and Susie allows him to become real in some sense--to be “realized”. Whereas Ralsei was dependent on the pillar of darkness to be his “ground of being” before, we might consider that the adventure has allowed him to secure an independent existence. 

Just as playing the game through the Genocide Route is what manifests “Chara” in Undertale, participating in the dark world is what allows Ralsei to manifest as a being. It’s possible that doing just this might be one of his motives.

B. Shift in mode of being: It could be a change in the way we see him/the way he presents himself. When Ralsei takes off his hat, Ralsei is presenting a part of himself that is different from his everyday self. 

An example might make this clear. For instance, I’ve heard some people theorize that the whole adventure in the dark world was something like a game of Dungeons and Dragons, with Ralsei playing as the host. You could think of it like this: When Ralsei takes off his hat, he is no longer merely playing the character Ralsei, but speaking as the host.

If we roll with this explanation, there are about two consequences that follow that I can think of:

There is no true form of Ralsei. Simply, Ralsei is both a fluffy creature of darkness and a fluffy boss monster. Both are canonical, not merely a matter of preference. Not a huge deal in terms of literary analysis and theorizing, but it’s as good a justification as any for drawing Ralsei however you want. A boon to fanart.

There’s more to Ralsei than simply being a denizen of the dark world. If Ralsei had some other form just around the corner that he didn’t show until the end, then perhaps there’s something more to his character than what we see. Perhaps Ralsei is much more powerful than he lets on, or his very being extends beyond what we see of him in the game. If he had this power, why is he in the dark world? How did he get there?

At this point, the space for further speculation explodes, and he could very well become another Gaster or Sans. I personally don’t have an opinion if this indicates that Ralsei is actually Asriel, or that Ralsei was a monster disguised as an inhabitant of the dark world, or that Ralsei is responsible for the dark world. Perhaps that’s something that will be explained in a potential future chapter.

[badgersgarbage]

Controversial Deltarune Theory/Thought-dump Time!

Also known as the Ralsei Might (MIGHT) Be Not Be Part Of The Prophecy But Please Don’t Quote Me On That Or Shank Me In A Dark Alley Because I’m Saying The Best Fluffy Boy Might Not Be As Good A Guy As I Want Him To Be Thank You theory.

Someone may have covered this already but I honestly haven’t seen anything so I figured I’d give my two cents on the matter.

I wanna preface this by saying that I’m not entirely convinced that this theory is true, but it seems... somewhat possible.  We won’t know what will happen in the future or what Deltarune has in store for us, or if we get better screenshots for scale’s sake, but until then this is based on whatever I can find and thoughts from other theories I’ve glanced at.  To save clogging your dashboards or searching, I’ll put all of this under a cut.

Still with me then?  Alright, so, here’s the hypothesis:

Ralsei, our favourite fluffy boy, isn’t the Prince in the prophecy he mentions.  Instead, Lancer is.

I hit on this idea when I saw a comment on Game Theory’s first Deltarune video.  Now I know people tend not to like MatPat on here, but, personally, I found that video pretty decent, and it brought a perspective to what was happening with Kris and Susie and that’s not the point, the point is the comment.

The comment I saw is as follows, copied partially:

“In the prophecy:

Kris=The human

Susie=The monster

Ralsei=The prince from the dark

Asriel=The Knight

but what if there was a loophole where

Kris=The human

Susie=The monster

Lancer=The prince from the dark

Ralsei=Asriel=The Knight

and you would need to do something similar to what you did in undertale pacifist with Asriel at the final boss fight

i can see it working“

And that got me thinking.  What if Lancer is the prince in the prophecy, and Ralsei isn’t?

Now I’m not gonna say that Ralsei isn’t still a nice boy or that he’s actually the Knight, so don’t worry.  But I feel like Lancer has more claim to being the prince of the legend than Ralsei.

Here’s what I can find that supports it:

The Legend of DELTA RUNE requires, specifically, a human, a monster, and a Prince from the Dark.

While Lancer and Ralsei both use the title of Prince, Lancer is the only one who has currently-seen evidence of that title being legitimate.  His father, the King Of Spades/Chaos King, is, well, a King.  With a title and everything.  Sure, he was part of a quadarchy with the others, but he’s still a king and that makes Lancer a honest-to-Lightner Prince of the Darkners.

[said comment is followed with “The KINGDOM OF DARKNESS”]

Ralsei, on the other hand?  All he does is tell us he’s a prince. 

And it’s kind of hard to be a prince without subjects.

Okay, so let’s assume that Ralsei does actually have a father with the title of king, and his subjects are all missing.

What about the whole part of there being one pillar of darkness shooting up from the ground, with a second one sprouting up?

Let’s have a look at what the image in the prophecy tells us:

The one depicted in the foreground is the one we see when we meet up with Ralsei.  The one in the background is the one where the Chaos King fight happens and is connected to Card Castle.

From this perspective it seems like there’s a massive scale difference between the two, with the Card Castle Pillar being the larger of the two.  Which makes sense in two ways:  the first, that with it being a new pillar, it would be fairly wild and uncontrolled.  The second, and perhaps more likely for reasons I will explain, is that it’s the original one, and the one near Ralsei’s castle is smaller because it’s a newer one that isn’t nearly so powerful.

It could also just be a stylistic choice.  *shrug*

Now the perspective of both of these screenshots is a little off, and it’s kinda hard to tell how close or far these things are.  But above is the Card Castle Pillar (which is in the background, difficult as it might be to tell), which looks pretty big and could be somewhat far away from where the battle takes place.

On the other hand, the pillar here has at least a slight reference to it?  Gah, it’s hard to tell.  But here’s some screenshots of the courtyard you enter when you move towards the pillar:

That’s pretty much the size of it actually.  The entrance there isn’t too big and it’s kinda hard to say where it starts, but I’ll let someone better at that kinda thing work it out.

More to the point, the Card Castle Pillar has a pretty massive central castle around it, and is the hub of all of the various Darkners you encounter in Chapter 1.  The one at the Empty Town, however, has... well... nothing.  No people save for Ralsei, no real buildings of note (hell, they even look flat - just look at how the outer buildings in the screenshot curve around), it’s just... there.

Which, to me, seems just a tad suspicious, given it’s Ralsei presenting the legend.

Honestly, maybe the Darkners only need one fountain up at a time for them to survive, but I digress.

So what does this all mean?

Well, for one, it solidifies Lancer, our favourite milk-osmosing chubby boy, as a potential candidate for the Prince of legend.  He, perhaps obliviously, alludes to this in his first appearance:

Granted he only says this when you skip over the legend, and let’s be real it could just be from this image:

Does that mean Ralsei isn’t a potential for the slot of ‘Prince from the Dark’?  Weeeeeell... that’s kind of hard to say without knowing more about Ralsei aside from what he says when we meet him and his staggeringly obvious connection to Asriel.

Is Ralsei actually Asriel that has found his way into the Dark World?  Is he a projection of Kris’ desire to preserve how his brother was before he left for college?  Does Asriel tie into the Knight somehow?  Does Ralsei have a parental figure or two that will tie into Asgore and/or Toriel?

Honestly, I have no idea.  But I’m eager to find out.

I’m open to discussion about this idea, but please be civil, and please don’t gauge out my liver because I said bad things about a character, thank you :)

[acesmildfics-blog]

It’s Raining.

For the first time ever, Kris is anxious to get to school. They’re excited to get back to the Dark World. They may have managed to seal the fountain, but there’s a lot more to do. They’re not sure exactly what, but they’re sure Ralsei will let them know what’s next on the to-do list.

They decide to walk to school, leaving a half hour ahead of schedule, hoping that Susie has the same idea. It was pouring a little earlier, but now it’s slowed to a drizzle. Kris doesn’t care if they get a little damp.

In front of Catti’s house, they run into a familiar face.

It’s the witch, holding a clear umbrella and staring into a huge puddle. She looks significantly more put-together than the last time Kris saw them. She’s wearing real pants and everything. Her pink hair is pulled into a pair of tight buns on top of her head. It takes her a moment, but she finally notices Kris staring at her, and smiles at them. “‘Mornin.”

Kris says nothing.

The witch walks over to them. “Woah, hey...no umbrella? Or do you want to get soaked?” she looks them up and down with a questioning expression, then shrugs. She holds the umbrella so that they’re both half under it. “C’mon kid. Walk with me. We’re going in the same direction, anyway.”

They walk in silence for a block or so, until they get to the corner with the grocery store. There, waiting under the awning, is a little skeleton in a striped shirt. Kris remembers talking to Sans yesterday, and figures this must be the little brother he mentioned.

The second he sees the witch, his face breaks into a bright smile - even though it was technically already a smile, what with the lack of lips and all.

“LEVIE!” he yells as he breaks into a sprint. The witch quickly hands Kris her umbrella before opening her arms.

He barrels into her, and she lifts him into a spinning hug. Once she puts him back on the ground, she uses her sleeve to wipe away the rain collecting on top of his skull. “How’s my baby bones?”

He clings to her shirt and looks up at her. Somehow, there are tears in his eyes. “I HAVEN’T SEEN YOU IN FOREVER!”

The witch chuckles, “pretty sure it’s only been a couple of days.”

He takes half a step back and stomps his foot, “BUT I USED TO SEE YOU EVERY DAY! EVERY TWO DAYS IS UNACCEss...UNACCEpter...NOT GOOD ENOUGH!”

She sighs. “Sorry, kiddo...things are a little different now.”

“I KNOW…” the little skeleton seems to notice Kris for the first time, and shifts to stand behind the witch, half-hidden but clearly staring. “IS THAT ANOTHER HUMAN?” he whisper-yells, plenty loud enough for Kris to hear.

“Sure is. Papyrus, this is Kris, a new friend of mine. Kris, this is Papyrus.”

They stare at each other, neither moving an inch.  

“...Come on, you two. Papyrus, I know your manners are better than this.”

“SORRY, LEVIE…” he moves slowly out from behind her and offers his hand for Kris to shake. “IT IS NICE TO MEET YOU, HUMAN.”

“‘Human’ isn’t their name,” the witch chides.

“...IT’S NICE TO MEET YOU...KRIS.”

Kris switches the umbrella to their other hand so they can shake Papyrus’s. The little skeleton and the witch both look pleased by this. The witch takes her umbrella back, and the odd trio continues walking towards the school.

--

When they reach the school, Kris is surprised to see Father Alvin standing just inside. He’d probably be waiting outside, if not for the rain. He doesn’t look happy to see them...or the witch, either.

Based on the witch’s expression, the feeling is mutual. She pats Papyrus on the head, “okedoke, kiddo...you head on in. Old Al...uh...Father Alvin’s waiting for you.”

He turns around and wraps his gangly, boney arms around her. “I LOVE YOU, LEVIE!”

She smiles at him fondly, and leans down to press a kiss to his forehead. “I love you too, baby bones. With my whole heart.”

He gasps, “NO! YOU CAN’T!”

The witch gives him a puzzled look.

“NOT WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART! THAT’S NOT FAIR! YOU GOTTA SAVE HALF OF IT FOR SANS, OKEDOKE?”

The witch’s face flushes, and she darts a look at Kris, who honestly couldn’t care less. “S-sure, baby. You got it. Go on, now.”

Appeased, Papyrus rushes into the school building, greeting Father Alvin enthusiastically before rushing off to his classroom. Kris is a bit surprised to see him head in the direction of their mother’s classroom. They thought he looked a bit older, but then again, it’s pretty impossible to guess a monster’s age when they all look so different.

Before Kris has the chance to follow, Father Alvin comes out into the rain. He crosses his arms and fixes the witch with a cold glare. He opens his mouth, but she doesn’t give him the chance to speak.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard your spiel before. You feel it’s inappropriate for a human - specifically me - to be associating with a monster - specifically him. Here’s the thing, though...that job the mayor so generously offered makes it impossible for him to walk his little brother to school.”

The elderly turtle clicks his beak in derision. “Are you suggesting that he might run into trouble on the way? I assure you, Hometown is perfectly safe for monsters. Your experiences are not universal.”

“Relax, old timer. I’m not saying the town is dangerous, I’m saying the little guy has trouble staying focused. He’s likely to get distracted and wind up late for class. Can’t have that, now can we?” She asks, with narrowed eyes. “So, here I am. Helping out. What was it you used to say? One good deed a day…?”

He doesn’t respond, instead turning his attention to Kris. “Welcome, Kris. It’s good to see you here bright and early! Though, it’s also...unusual. Why, your mother isn’t even here yet! Perhaps you’ve come to get a head-start on your studies?” he chuckles, as if he doesn’t quite believe it could be true. It’s not, but it still gets on Kris’s nerves a little. He walks back through the doors, presumably to make sure Papyrus made it to his classroom without getting distracted.  

As Kris follows him, the witch speaks up.

“Oh, hey, before you go, Kris...A little advice from a pro. It might be unsolicited, but hey, it’s free.” Kris turns back to face her. “Now that you’ve opened the door, it can appear anywhere. So, uh...be real careful about all these puddles, okay?” Kris nods, their concern over the closet not opening fading away. “See ya, kid. Good luck.”

--

Father Alvin is still watching as the witch leaves, muttering to himself. “Honestly, I don’t understand why those brothers continue to associate with her…”

He catches Kris by the shoulder as they walk by. “Kris. I’ll tell you the same thing I told Sans. Ms. Rothschild is a dangerous individual. She cannot be trusted.”

*Because she’s human?

He shakes his head. “Certainly not. If it were because of her race, I would also be wary of you, would I not? No, there is something far more sinister about her than perhaps you realize, child.”

*Because she’s a witch?

He looks surprised. “You know she’s a mage, then? Well...to answer your question, yes. Her magic is what makes her dangerous. Humans were not meant to wield magic. She may think she knows what she’s doing, but no human will ever be able to truly understand the power of magic.” The old turtle takes a deep breath. “Kris. Listen to my words: Do not think that you are safe just because you and she are the same species. Levi Rothschild does not belong among monsters, nor does she belong among humans. She is best left alone. Do you understand?”

Kris does nothing, which Father Alvin mistakes as an act of agreement.

“Good. Now, get to class. I need to go check on that young lad…”

Kris stares after Father Alvin as he makes his way to the children’s classroom. They aren’t especially moved. Kris just needs her to upgrade his gear - no trust necessary. Their relationship is strictly business. Still, she seems fine. Helpful, clearly close with that skeleton kid...she doesn’t seem scary.

But then again, they don’t really know much about her, do they?

[kuipernebula]

Now I have to wonder... who’s the intended “singer” of "Don’t Forget”?

There’s always the “it’s no one specific, it’s just a song that reflects the themes of friendship in the game” which works well enough

But the leitmotif is all over the game in such a way that it feels... intentional to read into a bit.

It could be Kris but the intro and the epilogue make me suspect Kris doesn’t actually have many real friends, and has been dealing with the whole Chara thing for a long time. If anyone needs to hear “I’m with you in the dark” form someone else, it’s Kris.

We can safely rule out Susie given her whole character arc has been building her up but she hasn’t gotten to the point of the mushy lyrics of Don’t Forget.

Ralsei is closer but he’s not with us anymore, and certainly isn’t with us above-ground unless “In The Dark” is more literal than the song first appears.

It could be more sinister than we think and Chara’s reminding Kris they’re never safe, but I doubt that because... the game’s themes are far more linear and focused than Undertale.

So at this point there are two theories I think work the best: 1, it’s the player talking to Kris. We’re here for them throughout the adventure, and are doing our best to guide and protect them. 2, it’s someone we haven’t met yet, someone connected to both Kris’ “real” life and their heroics in the Land of Darkness.

[radwolf76]

FLASHBack: Week 97 - ShadowAOD's Deltarune Cutscene Remakes

So on FLASHBack, we've spent almost two years now pondering the question, "What makes a Classic Flash Animation?" -- Does it have to have won awards? How important was popularity? Did its viral internet buzz influence other creators and possibly even leak out into the real world? And a question pivotal to this week's entries: Does it have to be some dusty relic of the early web that you have to be some nostalgic Gen-X'er in his mid 40s to even remember, who even uses Flash these days anyways no wonder Adobe's getting rid of it at the end of the year? Alright, that's actually a run-on sentence with two questions and a statement, but the point stands. And so, this week, in honor of the second anniversary of the release of Chapter 1 of Toby Fox's Deltarune (also the announcement that Chapter 2 should release sometime in 2020, to which I'm guessing maybe on Halloween), we're going to look at some Deltarune fan animations that were made with the help of Flash, less than one year ago. And unlike the continuations of some long running web animation series that began as Flash, and are still updating in 2020, these animations were put together in Flash, while those longtime creators have moved on to other software, making these the youngest Flashes to be featured throughout all of FLASHBack.   Halloween is a good time to talk about Toby Fox and his fans, as he first rose to prominence for his "Halloween Hack" romhack of the game EarthBound made for starmen.net's 2008 Halloween Funfest. A few years later, he found himself living in the basement of the creator of the Flash-heavy webcomic Homestuck, Andrew Hussie, making Homestuck music while starting work on his own game projects, Undertale and Deltarune. Toby's music was a major portion of the soundtrack Homestuck's End of Act 5, Cascade, which went down in history on 25 October 2011 as "The Flash That Broke the Internet". Less than a week later on Halloween, his song English would be used as the soundtrack for Homestuck's second intermission, The Man in the Cairo Overcoat. The popularity and name recognition he got from the Homestuck fandom and the music he made for that webcomic's Flashes allowed him to have a wildly successful Kickstarter for his first game Undertale, and then on Halloween of 2016, he released the first chapter of his second, Deltarune.   But despite that wordy passage up there, I'm not here to talk about Toby. Instead, I'd like to focus on the work of one of his fans, pixel artist ShadowAOD, aka DOA687, aka Maber. In December of 2019, ShadowAOD posted some remakes of cutscenes from the opening of the game Deltarune. The initial spritework had been done in aseprite, but they then composited all their sprite animations into Flash for the final scenes. The first remade scene posted to YouTube, on 14 December, was Toriel taking Kris to school in the morning (For comparison, the game's original cutscene can be found from 0:20 - 1:35 in this video). ShadowAOD has added working doors to the minivan, a cameo for Toby Fox's self-insert character the Annoying Dog, and made the students more reactive to Kris' late arrival (including a exchange of waves between Kris and Noelle).  

The next two remakes were posted on 20 December 2019. For Susie confronting Kris in the hallway about her chalk eating habits (Original Scene 2:43 - 4:44 here), ShadowAOD has given Susie's sprite more range of motion, allowing her to face the camera at times, lending emotional weight to her bullying of Kris, and the scene is now punctuated at the end with a subtle shiver of fear from Kris. The remake of the Entry into the Dark World (Original Scene 5:58 - 6:51 here), Susie now pounds on the shut closet door in panic, the two look down as the floor gives way beneath them, as they plummet, their large sprites are animated as tumbling instead of just scaling down off into the distance, and Kris' recovery from being unconscious on the ground is more realistic, with a reaction to their changed appearance in the Dark World.   ShadowAOD has also done a Flash animation for Toby Fox's earlier game, Undertale. Posted to YouTube on 22 March 2016, and three days later to Newgrounds (where it took Daily 5th Place), The Choice is an animation of the first comic from the Undertale AU webcomic Dreemur Reborn. This one shows off ShadowAOD's strengths as a sprite artist, as rather than trying to keep mostly true to the original game's style while adding additional detail and polish as they did with their later Deltarune remakes, for this Flash, they re-imagined Undertale's sprites to have a more 3D rendered look.   That wraps it up for this week. Next week, I'll do something a little bit different.