#though i think he could be connected to noelle in some way with this | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sleekervae · 16 days

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New York Romantic .7

Masterlist

pairing: Tom Blyth x ballerina!oc

summary: sunny confides in tom, noelle and bianca play pool

word count: 3,429

taglist: @watercolorskyy @carolanns-world @alana4610

Snowflakes drifted lazily from the sky, replenishing Manhattan's winter wonderland cover. Noelle, her feet throbbing from the cold and her shoes, was bundled up in her scarf and jacket. She watched as Maurice and Chiara dashed down the block, waving frantically at passing cabs. Franca, however, remained inside, opting for warmth over the snowy scape. Tom and Noelle sought shelter under the protective awning of the auditorium, their breath visible in the frosty air as they waited.

"How are your legs feeling?" he asked, his hands stuffed deep in his jacket pockets.

Noelle simpered, "Like they went through the worst leg day in gym history," she replied.

"It paid off, though. You were amazing up there," he praised, "I should've brought you flowers, or something,"

"Don't worry about flowers," she assured him, "I'm just happy you came out tonight. And thanks for --" she motioned towards her uncle and cousin, "-- Putting up with my family. I know they can be a lot sometimes,"

"Don't be ridiculous, they're lovely!" Tom replied "And I can tell that they love you a lot,"

Noelle smiled back, "Yeah; I know how tough it was for them to let me come out here -- I'm sure the same could be said for your family. And they really like you -- my family, I mean,"

"Really?" Tom cocked a brow.

"Yeah! They're a loving family but also really protective, so bringing you out with us is a good sign," she replied, "You know... so long as you don't turn out to be a pervert or a serial killer or anything,"

"Oh no!" he gaped listlessly, much to Noelle's amusement, "There go my plans my murder you. What a shame!" he smirked.

"Such a shame!" Noelle chuckled, "In all honesty though, I'm really happy I met you, Tom. You're... you're a really cool guy," she prayed that her face wouldn't go red as she spoke.

Tom felt a rush of excitement coursing through him, her words stirring up some fluttering hope that maybe it was his moment. Maybe he could the opportunity to shoot his shot? The thought that she might feel the same way filled him with hope and anticipation, for what could be.

However, alongside the excitement lingered a sense of apprehension. Tom couldn't help but wonder if he was jumping to conclusions, reading into things that might not have meant much to Noelle. The uncertainty of where their relationship was heading weighed on him, casting a shadow over his excitement. What if pursuing these feelings changed everything? What if it jeopardized the friendship they already shared? Tom knew he had to tread carefully, balancing his newfound excitement with a sense of caution.

"I'm really glad I met you, too," Tom replied, "You're one of the few people I've met here that..." he trailed off with a shake of his head.

"What is it?" Noelle asked.

"You're gonna' think I'm corny," he chuckled nervously.

"And what's so bad about that?" she asked, lifting her chin at him.

Tom glanced warily at his shoes, could feel the cold creeping in his toes, in his fingers, nipping at his nose; but none of that could sway the warmth in his gut.

"You feel like home; like I've known you for forever," he admitted, "That sounds weird, I know,"

Noelle hadn't expected such a heartfelt confession from him, and the realization of the depth of his feelings took her aback. Yet, his words also filled her with a sense of warmth and comfort, knowing that she had such a profound connection with him. His admission deepened her feelings of affection for him, and in that moment, she couldn't deny the special bond they shared. It was a revelation that left her feeling both vulnerable and deeply touched, unsure of what to say but grateful for the honesty between them.

"No, not at all," she shook her head, "I think that's one of the sweetest things anyone's ever said to me. And I might feel the same way about you," she nudged him gently with her elbow, "I've never connected with someone so quickly like I have with you,"

The scene was set perfectly: snowflakes drifting lazily from the sky, creating a soft, magical atmosphere. Tom and Noelle stood in close proximity, their breath creating small clouds in the cold air. The quietness of the moment enveloped them, and for the most part, they were alone in their own winter wonderland. It was the ideal moment for Tom to take a chance.

The worst she could say is no, right?

"Noelle,"

"Yes, Tom?"

He took a deep breath, "Would you... would you ever consider --"

"Okay, we got one!" Maurice suddenly hollered, waving over Noelle and Tom, "Let's go, guys! Chiara, go get your mother," Chiara trudged through the forming snow banks, throwing a glance at the pair's way.

"Room for Jesus, you two!"

Despite the holidays passing, the cold in New York was here to stay. The only saving grace was the snow had finally melted away. Jackets and scarves were still layered on, frost nipped at people's noses and of course, it wouldn't be a complete winter if the generator didn't conk out.

The kids had called Doris, who in turn called her husband, who in turn called in one of their relatives to try and help out. Tom and Sunny were quite curious when they took off for school one morning and found three older men shrouding Doris' desk with random tools and a layout of the building plan that looked older than half the artifacts in the Museum of Natural History.

"So, how was the recital?" Sunny asked, his fingers hung around a ceiling loop while Tom gripped the handle bar on the bus. He had returned from England a few days ago, and telling from his heavy eyes and slower speech, he was still affected by the jet lag.

"It was really good!" Tom replied, "Noelle and Bianca did great,"

Sunny nodded, his shoulders slumping, "How as Iseul?" he asked.

"She was great, too," Tom nodded, "The school uploaded some videos on the Facebook page if you want to see,"

"Yeah. Yeah, I might just do that," Sunny muttered, "... Do you ever... talk to Iseul?"

"Not very often, but she's nice," Tom replied, though he still grimaced at the smile on her face when she dared him and Noelle to kiss, " -- Have you ever talked to her?"

Sunny snapped suddenly, "No!" then he composed himself, "I -- I mean, no I haven't. I see her in the lobby sometimes with Noelle and Bianca,"

Tom couldn't help but let a little smile worm its way onto his face, "Do you like her?"

"... Yeah," he admitted sheepishly, "I mean -- I think she's beautiful. And she seems so nice and sometimes we pass each other in the cafeteria and she smells amazing. But then again, I've never talked to her. She probably doesn't even know I exist,"

"Well, you'll never know if you don't try, mate," Tom said, "Why don't you try talking to her?"

Sunny scoffed back, "Why don't you ask out Noelle on a date?" he replied.

Tom paused momentarily, knowing fully well his cowardly answer, "I don't want to be rejected and risk our friendship," he admitted.

"Exactly," Sunny nodded, a wishful sigh following, "Face it Tom, the ballerinas are too good for us. If we were famous I'd get it but -- they're just out of our league, mate,"

The bus came to their stop shortly thereafter, though Tom was deflated. Any shred of confidence he had been gripping to was suddenly dashed away, Sunny's words, while hurtful, rang true to him. Noelle was an extroverted, high energy dancer and he was a shy, introverted would-be actor.

Noelle and Bianca had a free block between classes, and typically they liked to spend their free time in the recreation room the school had set up. There was foosball, some couches, a small kitchenette area and a pool table. The girls frequented the pool table mostly, while they weren't the greatest players it was a good way to kill a little time.

The sticks struck fast across the white ball, the multicoloured balls clicked and flew sharply across the felt, though much to Noelle's dismay she couldn't get her shot.

"Dammit," she muttered under her breath.

"You gotta keep your grip looser on the stick, kind of like a pendulum swing," Bianca wound up her stick and made the shot, sinking the blue ball into the pocket with ease.

"Alright, Liz Hurley," Noelle simpered, "You've been practicing without me?"

"Derek gave me a couple pointers when I was home," Bianca replied, "Speaking of my brother -- can you tell your cousin to stop texting him? She's still in high school and it's just -- it's weird,"

Noelle scoffed back, "Well, she might stop texting him if he wouldn't answer back," she pointed out.

Bianca shook her head, "Alright, alright, I'll talk to him," she conceded.

Noelle went on to wind up her next shot, none the wiser as they were approached by another student.

"What's going on, ladies?" the girls looked up to find Trey, another student in from their class. Trey was what was considered the equivalent to Matthew McConaughey's character in Dazed and Confused, laid-back, suave, and ready to party. He was also always looking to lock down his next "piece of tail" as the word went around. And for reasons beyond Noelle's comprehension, Bianca had a huge crush on him.

"Hey Trey," Noelle nodded.

"Hi Trey," Bianca smiled, her posture immediately straightened out, her arms braced up on the table's edge and her chest pushed out, chin raised and her head tilted just right. She was an image right out of a pinup rag, she would've been right in Trey's league.

"I was wondering if you guys wouldn't mind having a third player cut in," he grinned. He glanced between both Bianca and Noelle. Noelle didn't mind Trey, he could be a bit of a player and his ego could've been pulled down a few notches, but he was a really good dancer.

Despite her reservations, Noelle wanted to be excited for Bianca, "You know -- we only got two sticks at the moment but why don't you and Bianca play? I'll sit out," she volunteered, turning gleefully towards her friend. However, she was a little dismayed to find Bianca's smile had disappeared, her pool stick set down and her arms folded as she backed away from the table.

Noelle tried to get a read on her, subtly shaking her head as if to say what are you doing? Here's your moment to shine!

Trey was none the wiser to any rising tension within Bianca, he took his moment to check her out between glances at Noelle and the table. He would've gone for either one at the moment and it showed.

"We could take turns?" he suggested, his brows furrowing to emulate some sort of blue steel, "Winner gets a kiss,"

Noelle would've laughed right in his face if not for Bianca, so she turned to her again, "I'm a bit tired anyway but Bianca is a really good pool player!" she exclaimed, trying to hype up her blonde friend. Nevertheless, Bianca remained still and stone, staring a hole through Noelle.

Noelle was thoroughly confused at this point, recalling moments when Bianca would go on and on about all the tiny interactions she and Trey had in dance class, and all the fantasies she had about him doing whatever to her. This was her opportunity to shoot her shot with Trey, for whatever satisfaction she thought he might provide her and for some reason she seemed more upset with Noelle. Had something happened Noelle wasn't aware of? No, she and Bianca told each other everything, right down to when they got their first periods.

"You okay, Bianca?" Trey finally asked.

Bianca nodded, grabbing her backpack as she stepped back, "Yeah, I gotta go," and she started off down the hall, "C'mon Noelle!"

Noelle smiled sheepishly at Trey, saying a quick goodbye, grabbed her bag and followed Bianca.

"Girl, what the hell was that?" she tried to ask as she quickly caught up, "That was your moment!"

"No it wasn't!" Bianca snapped sharply.

"What are you talking about?" Noelle asked, "I gave you a bigger opening than a great dane's doggy door!"

"It wasn't a good moment, Noelle! So forget it!" Bianca exclaimed, her tone teetering on anger and annoyance.

"What does that even mean?" Noelle asked again, "You want a Daisy Buchanan moment in a garden? We're not in West Egg!"

"I said forget it!" Bianca echoed again, walking faster now. Noelle trailed behind by a few steps, her brain spinning to understand what had suddenly got into the usually perky blonde.

Meanwhile, Tom and his friends had settled at a table in the cafeteria, chatting amongst themselves with a plethora of snacks and to-go coffee cups scattered between them. Tom saw Noelle and Bianca from the corner of his eye, he turned his head toward them. Noelle found Tom near immediately in the crowd, some sense of relief washing over her as he gave her a little wave. She waved back, not wanting to interrupt the group, though much to her surprise she heard Bianca huff and grumble beside her. Noelle stopped dead in her tracks.

"What is wrong, Bianca?" Noelle asked, her patience quickly running out, "I've never seen you act like this!"

Bianca simply rolled her eyes, turning on her heel and walking in a different direction, mumbling words Noelle couldn't quite make out. She didn't bother to follow her this time, she stood stiff as a board in the middle of the bustling cafeteria, trying to piece together what had gone wrong.

Meanwhile, Tom and some of the actors had watched Bianca storm off, they too were very curious.

"That's your neighbour, right?" Marceline asked. She was sat across from Tom and cradling a half-drank matcha latte.

"Yeah," he nodded, "I've never seen Bianca look so upset,"

"Maybe they had a fight?" Jordan suggested, peaking over Tom's shoulder to watch.

Marceline scoffed, "And they say we actors are dramatic. The ballerinas are a whole other ballpark,"

Their conversation resumed onto another topic, but Tom couldn't help but keep glancing Noelle's way, right up until he looked and she had disappeared.

The generator was still out when Tom got home from school, as evident by the bone-chilling air in the lobby and the tiny space heater Doris had on her desk. She lit up when she saw Tom come through the glass doors.

"Oh, Tom! How's everything?" she asked.

"Can't complain," he shrugged back, nodding down to the space heater, "I guess the generator's still broken?"

"Like a clock that got run over by a semi," she shook her head, "My husband's bringing in his nephew's coworker tomorrow and they're gonna take a look at it. I'd like it to be fixed by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, you know?"

Tom simpered, "Have you thought about just calling in a repairman?" he asked.

Doris scoffed back, "Do I look like I'm mad of money? Get real," she replied, "Besides, between the income I make here and all the other bills I gotta pay, I'm lucky con-ed hasn't written me up,"

Tom didn't want to know what she meant, so he figured it best not to ask. He did however jump when Doris's desk phone suddenly rang. She picked it up immediately with a sharp, "Make it fast, I'm busy,"

Tom peaked over her desk, finding the most she was busy with was an episode of Emmerdale. That brought a little smile to his face.

"What?" Doris snapped, what little smile she had on before had formed into concern, "What room? Alright, alright, I'll be right up," she then hung up the phone, "Curse my knees, and curse that stupid elevator," she grumbled as she stood up.

"What's going on?" Tom asked, falling in step with Doris as they started for the stairs.

"Noise complaint. Your neighbours are scrapping," she replied simply, grumbling under her breath, "Don't they know I got better things to do? I gotta find out how James escapes from Emma!"

They marched up to the third floor and sure enough the closer they got, the more yelling they could hear. Much to Tom's dismay, the commotion was coming from Noelle's apartment. She and Bianca were in some sort of shouting match; accusatory names and curse words being thrown each other's way. Some of the other students had peeked out of their doors to see what was going on, including Sunny, who still had his violin bow in hand. Tom lingered back as Doris marched up to the door, pounding loudly with her fist.

"Girls! Clam it up! This isn't the Bravo Network!" she shouted, "Open this door, now!"

The fighting immediately ceased, the silence suddenly becoming just as tense as the noise. Everybody awaited apprehensively to see who was going to emerge. And sure enough, Noelle opened the door a few moments later, flushed and embarrassed as she came face-to-face with Doris.

"H-Hi, Doris," she greeted sheepishly.

"Where's your roomie?" Doris asked, clearly not in the mood to play around.

Noelle turned back around and shouted "Bianca! Doris is here!"

"I'm in the bathroom!" came a faint reply. Noelle's eyes slipped shut and her head hung low.

"Are you guys okay in here?" Doris asked, "Because when I come up to screaming like that in this city, I wonder if I have to call the special victims unit,"

"I'm so, so sorry," Noelle replied, "We're fine. It's just a misunderstanding,"

"A misunderstanding?" Doris gawked, "If that's your idea of a 'misunderstanding', I'd hate to see what your version of 'emergency' is. Is that what your parents teach you upstate?" the entire time she spoke, Noelle's eyes locked with Tom's. She appeared disheveled and exhausted, and her overall demeanour falling way to shame. Tom felt for her, he wanted to help her, or at least try to understand what was happening.

"It's okay, we're fine. And I'm sorry we were so loud, it won't happen again," Noelle promised.

"It better not," Doris cemented, "You've already got one strike and three months left of your school year. Don't make me have to evict you now," all the while, the other students continued to watch and gawk.

"It won't happen again," Noelle nodded, "I'm so sorry,"

"Good," Doris huffed, "And give my warning to your roomie. Next time I might not be so forgiving," she then glanced up and down the hall at the other students, "What're you all looking at? This isn't vaudeville! Back to your business!"

And everyone swiftly disappeared and slammed their doors shut. Doris then strutted back down the hall, patting Tom on the shoulder, "Have a good night, Tom," and she started down the stairs.

Tom watched her go before turning back to Noelle. She'd slumped against the door frame, her forearm cushioned between the wood and her forehead, she looked more exhausted than when she had coming back from dance class. Tom approached her cautiously.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly, sneaking a peek inside her room. Nothing looked broken, and Bianca still hadn't returned.

"Yeah," Noelle nodded, her tone of voice deflated, "I'm sorry you had to see that,"

"Hey, don't," Tom shook his head, "You have nothing to be sorry for," and instinctually he placed his hand on her arm, giving her a squeeze, "I just want to make sure you're okay,"

Noelle glanced up his way, quickly becoming entranced with his hazel-blue eyes. His touch was comforting, she craved nothing more to slam the door behind her and run into his arms. She was so embarrassed she let herself come to this point, even more so that Tom and seemingly the entire building had watched this go down. She didn't want Tom to remember her this way, as some sort of loose cannon who couldn't keep her cool, that wasn't who she was.

"I'm okay. Thank you, though," she assured. From behind her echoed the opening of a door, "Sorry -- I gotta run,"

"No worries," Tom nodded, "Let me know if you need anything, yeah?"

"For sure," she tried to smile as confidently as she could, though it didn't quell Tom's worry as she slipped back inside and shut the door. With a shake of his head he crossed the hall back to his own apartment, and the building remained quiet for the rest of the evening.

#tom blyth #tom blyth x reader #coriolanus snow #coriolanus snow imagine #coriolanus snow fanfiction #coriolanus imagine #coriolanus x reader #coriolanus fanfiction #the hunger games the ballad of songbirds & snakes #the hunger games x reader #original story #original female character #imagine blog

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unseededtoast · 2 months

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Turtle Doves | Joel Miller

Part Four

Chapter Directory

Series Summary: In which two broken souls connect so deeply, that if one should perish, the other would surely die of a broken heart. (slow burn, timeline changes. After TLOU1, before TLOU2, assumed knowledge of infected, uses elements from both show and game)

Series Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, death, and sexual content.

Also cross-posted on Wattpad and AO3. Link to my masterlist for everything else I’ve posted!

a/n: Hey y'all, I just want to ensure you that Joel will be showing up very soon!! I've just got a little bit more foundation to lay, thank you for being so understanding!

I make a vow that I will find and I will put an end to this serial killer.

The rain hadn't ceased throughout the night. In fact, I think it only started raining harder. The ground beneath my feet splashes with each hurried step I take. During my night-long planning, I had decided on going to James first with this information. I started second guessing if going to FEDRA would be the right thing to do, I began thinking that maybe if I reported it I would become the primary suspect and be charged with the crime. Though I know I am innocent, FEDRA doesn't always do a great job of investigating things. Plus, if the investigation gets messy, James might want to also take a break from smuggling until things die down.

I climb the stairs to James' place and knock heavily on the door. My weight nervously shifts from my left to right as I wait for him to answer. To my surprise, his wife opens the door, seeming to be shocked to see me on the other side. I must look deranged. I didn't sleep, I'm soaked from the rain, and I know my face isn't hiding my stress. Thankfully, she lets me in without a question. James' wife Theresa knows the business we're in and has no interest being involved, she typically leaves us alone.

"James!" She calls him out and gives me a curt smile before retreating to her bedroom. I give her a nod of gratitude and wait by the front door for James. He walks around the corner only seconds later, eyebrows shooting up once he sees me.

"What's goin' on?" His voice is serious. He knows that if I bothered to show up here, especially after our last conversation, that something is wrong. I rarely ever come by his place, mainly out of respect for Theresa. I swallow hard and take a breath.

"I found a body last night on the way back from area two. Young boy, maybe mid teens." I say, trying to keep my collected composure. James pulls out a chair at his kitchen table and motions for me to take a seat, a solemn look on his face. I shrug my backpack off and place it by the door before I go to take a seat.

"Was he infected?" He asks, lacing his fingers together on top of the table. I shake my head,

"No. No signs of infection. James, he was cut open, guts on the ground. And someone had carved the letter 'T' on his forehead. Whoever did this, it's almost like they're proud of it, they want people to know who did it." I say, voicing some uncertain conclusions I had reached throughout the night. He scowls and looks to the table's surface as he thinks. I hope he knows what to do, I really don't know what the right call is.

"You report it?" He asks, gaze coming up to my face.

"No. I was going to this morning but decided to come by here first. Get a second opinion." I adjust in my seat, my wet clothes clinging uncomfortably to my body. He nods his head in understanding.

"Go report it. That boy belongs to someone, the least they'll do is inform the family. They deserve that much." He says, giving me less than I was hoping for. Although, I don't exactly know what answer I came here looking for. Appreciative of his time, and feeling the need to get to a FEDRA post, I stand from the table.

"Might want to tell people to hold off for a few days, operations could be busted if they go out looking for the killer." I tell James and pick up my bag by the door. He nods,

"I will. Be careful out there Noelle, don't go doin' anything stupid." Opening the door, I give him a nod before I leave. I feel bad for intruding on his time, when I really shouldn't, he bothers me all the time at my place. However, I'm thankful he confirmed my plan of action.

James has been my number one confidant and partner for years now. We both ended up in the Boston quarantine zone fairly early during the outbreak. After I had been hauled away from my family, FEDRA placed me in a holding camp out near Philadelphia before moving me to Boston. James and I were placed on border patrol together when I first arrived, and we hit it off immediately.

Once rations started wearing thin and the hunger got to be too real, we got into the smuggling business together. Well, James got into it first and then brought me in once he realized how profitable it is. He had met another duo that were pretty heavily involved in not only pill smuggling, but arms dealing as well, and they let us take on a lot of the drug runs so they could focus on their guns. I never met them personally, but now they're both gone. James told me they had been offered a job and they were headed out of the QZ; they never returned and it's been about a year. So James and I had to step up and we began controlling most of the pill trade. James does more of the sourcing, and I do more of the running.

I reach the FEDRA post quickly and am pleased to see there's no line yet. It's early enough in the morning where people are probably just now getting ready to head towards their daily duties. The heavily armed soldier looks down at me as I approach him.

"The only extra duties we have today are in the sewer." He states, assuming I'm here for extra work. It's not uncommon for people to work two daily duty jobs, it brings in more ration cards. I shake my head,

"Not what I'm here for sir." I answer respectfully, knowing this soldier is not one I'm familiar with, and should be treated like a ticking time bomb. He just raises an eyebrow at me,

"What are you here for then?" He asks. I feel my heartbeat in my throat as I answer him.

"I was going to visit a friend on the west side of area two this morning, but I found a body. Young boy, stabbed to death in an alley." I keep my voice quiet, wanting to keep this between me and the soldier. Eavesdroppers would spread this news like crazy, and I know that's the last thing this investigation needs.

This piques the man's interest and he pulls me aside, leading me into a FEDRA building and into his makeshift office. He sits me down and pulls out a pad of paper and an old pen, writing down every detail of what I give him. My altered story doesn't seem to raise any alarms in him, and he buys whatever I tell him fairly easily. Once I tell him everything I know, he dismisses me. As I leave, I get an uneasy feeling in my stomach. Something tells me that FEDRA isn't going to solve this.

I resume my daily duties as I'm assigned, and luckily I was placed on graffiti cleanup again, so my day should be simple. Hours pass and I feel my eyelids growing impossibly heavy. After I'm done here today I'm most definitely resting tonight. Well, the best I can anyways.

After I've completed my duties, I return to my apartment and collapse on the couch. I kick my boots off on the floor and sleep overtakes me before I realize what's happening. However, even in sleep I am unable to rest. Images of the boy's body invade my dreams, turning them to nightmares. I wake with a start, a clap of thunder outside waking me from my demented slumber. Yawning, I rub my eyes and look out the window. The sun has disappeared, and of course it's still raining.

My mind is alive and my thoughts drift back to the boy, whether I'm awake or sleeping I can't seem to escape the murder. I'm convinced FEDRA isn't a reliable enough entity to solve this, they've proven over the years that they'd rather punish people for curfew violations than spend any time or effort on the real crimes being committed in the QZ. And if they do punish someone for a harsher crime, half the time they just place the blame on whoever is most convenient. If FEDRA won't solve this, then who will? The question weighs heavily on my mind and I'm unable to stop myself from pulling my boots back on and tucking my gun into my waistband.

The storm raging above is enough to cover the sound of my footsteps and the moon is still full enough to illuminate the ground a little, but is dimmed from the clouds. My feet carry me back to the alleyway where I found the body, but the boy has since been removed. I'm not entirely sure what I came here expecting, but I'm glad FEDRA was able to do the bare minimum. The spot where he was found has been washed clean by the rain, leaving little to no evidence and the smell of death no longer lingers.

Raindrops constantly fall on the spot, and my mind begins working. If I'm right, and the killer wants to be recognized for what they did, why would they stop at one victim? Surely they know FEDRA won't make a spectacle of this unless they find who did it, or who they're going to stick the blame on. No, it doesn't seem likely they'd stop until they get the recognition, or whatever else it is they're looking for. And, the brutality and branding of the victim shows they want to be noticed, they want to be feared.

The storm provides the perfect setting. The sound would muffle screams or struggles, the water would wash away blood and any other evidence. The storm and the QZ curfew is the perfect cover for someone who doesn't want to be caught in the act. My body freezes with this realization, the killer could be out here right now.

Once I'm able to move from my frozen state, I grab my gun and start walking around the back alleyways. If I'm right, the killer may prey on anyone they cross paths with, committing crimes of opportunity.

Methodically, I begin canvassing the alleys, taking care to watch for FEDRA soldiers and anyone else who may be lurking. My heart races each time I look down an alley, and slows each time I'm met with a dead end or an empty path. I'm not sure if part of me wants to find something or not.

I reach the south side of area five, having already searched through areas one and two. Area three is right in the middle of the QZ, it's too risky to search and I'm sure if there was anything to be found, FEDRA would find it. Area four is full of FEDRA apartments, and is also too risky to search.

So, I decide to put my gun back in my waistband and head back to my apartment in area one. I quickly come to terms that there's nothing out here to be found and that I searched as thoroughly as I could. It's both a relief and a disappointment. I would have loved to put down the killer on sight, so that they may never harm someone again.

My jacket is soaked through from the incessant rain, and my clothes feel heavy from the water. However, I can't seem to be upset about it. If wet clothes was the price to pay to find a killer, then I'd gladly pay it every day of my life. While I didn't find anything, or anyone, I can find solace in the fact I was out here for a good reason.

I try to make my trip across the QZ back to my apartment quick, not particularly enjoying being out past curfew for the second night in a row. Truthfully, this decision was borderline stupid. If FEDRA is openly investigating this case, they could be out in droves tonight. However, I can't seem to recall seeing a single soldier during my time out.

I pass through area five, backtracking the route I took to come here. Sure, there's a shorter way to my apartment, I could cut right through the middle of the QZ, but that's too big of a risk to take right now. I pass by alleys without looking, knowing they're empty.

Area five turns to area two and the rain finally starts slowing down to a light drizzle. Hopefully the storm is passing by and the sun will come back out in the morning.

However, my mundane thoughts about the weather are interrupted as I hear a cough to my left. I whip my head around to the sound and gasp when I see someone crawling on the ground, army style. My feet move before my mind can comprehend what's happening and I crouch beside the injured girl. She reaches out to me and I take her hand, observing the state she's in.

It's apparent she's been attacked, she's bleeding from several different places. There are large, deep gashes on her forearms and on the sides of her torso.

"Help us." Her voice is strained and rough. She grips my hand tightly and I try to assess how I can help her.

"It's gonna be okay honey. Here, turn over so I can help." I say, trying to roll her onto her back. My hands shake as I take my bag off and find my flashlight. I tuck it between my shoulder and head so that I can clearly see what's wrong.

The girl's breathing turns ragged and the shining light of my flashlight shows me why. The poor girl has been slashed, similarly to how the boy was. It looks like the knife must have hit her lung, she's choking on her own blood. I move my hands to try and stop the bleeding, but deep down I know there's nothing I can do to save her. I can't save a punctured lung.

"Shhh it's okay. I'm here, I got you sweetie." I say with tears streaming down my face. All I can do now is to comfort her as she passes on. My bottom lip trembles as I cradle the girl's head in my lap, listening as she chokes on her own blood and takes her last breath.

A sob shakes me as her body goes still. I move the girl's hair out of the way and am frozen to my core. On her forehead is carved the letter 'T'.

I stare at the letter carved into her precious skin as tears fall freely down my face. This sick, twisted monster struck again, right under my nose. Another young person dead and for what? It's like a sick game to whoever is doing this.

Gently, I place the girl's head on the ground and stand from my spot. The girl's words strike my mind once again, she said the word "us". Frantically, I look to my left and right to find someone else. And unfortunately, at the end of the alley, I see another dark form, unmoving.

With heavy steps I approach what I know to be another deceased teenager. To my horror, I'm correct. Bending down, I move the second girl's hair out of her face to see the same branding on her forehead.

As I crouch in front of the third victim, I take note of her injuries. She's been stabbed to death as well, her jugular looks like it was cut. Her death was likely quick.

The two girls in the alley look alike, possibly sisters. My heart sinks as I realize another family is going to receive the worst possible news. And my heart races as I realize these bodies also have to be reported in the morning.

Knowing there's nothing more I can do for these two girls right now, I reluctantly gather my things and head back to apartment for another sleepless night of thinking.

Once I reach my apartment, I resume the posture I had last night; constantly pacing back and forth. I'm sure my neighbors underneath me are furious, but they'll just have to live with it. Different possibilities and courses of actions run through my mind without pause all night long about what I could've done differently and what I should do now.

Surely I can't be the one to report these bodies. If I did, I know FEDRA would lock me up and sentence me to death. Someone else is likely to report them, they're not completely hidden away like the first victim was. So, hopefully I can count on someone finding and reporting them tomorrow, the family deserves to know.

Maybe tomorrow I can track down one of my FEDRA contacts and see if anything is really being done to avenge these kids. I have a bad feeling that this isn't going to stop until the person responsible is caught. If FEDRA doesn't do anything about it, it's only a matter of time before it falls to the vigilantes to take care of. With that thought, an idea crosses my mind, but it's more of a promise.

I make a vow to myself that if I find out FEDRA isn't taking this seriously, that I will find and I will put an end to this serial killer.

Part Five

#joel miller #joel tlou #joel miller tlou #pedro pascal #joel miller x oc #joel miller fic #joel miller fanfic #the last of us hbo #the last of us #tlou hbo #tlou fanfiction #tlou fanfic #tlou #joel the last of us

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patchwork-crow-writes · 6 months

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Additional Thoughts on Kris x Ralsei

This is a continuation of a collection of posts entitled "Thoughts on Kris x Ralsei", which are... exactly that. This series has already covered topics such as:

How Kris and Ralsei's roles in the story and game mechanics of Deltarune contribute to promoting their romantic arc;

How the game takes advantage of a player's knowledge of RPGs to create cute moments between them; and

How the relationship is being pursued irrespective of Kris's - or the player's - wishes on the matter.

If you would like to read any of the other posts in this series, below is a handy TOC that will point to all the posts that currently exist:

Part 1: And They Lived Happily Ever After Part 1.5: I Believe Your Choices DO Matter Part 2: A Pair of Star-Cross'd Lovers Part 2.5: In Another World, We Could Have Been (Just) Friends <- (You Are Here!) (Future parts to be added as they are written))

Part 2.5: In Another World, We Could Have Been (Just) Friends

Okay, so I've already talked - at some considerable length - about the Acid Tunnel of Love scene. But there is a really fascinating aspect of this part of the game that I didn't touch on in Part 2, because it wouldn't really have fitted there, but which I feel sheds some considerable light on the intention of this sequence.

But first, we need to talk about Parallel Universes.

...okay, FINE. It's actually the cut content from the Tunnel scene (link to Youtube displaying the options, courtesy of OrdinaryDeltarunePlayer2001.)

If you're not familiar with what this is, here's a quick primer: essentially, an earlier version of the scene would have had Ralsei ask Kris who they were thinking of, with the selectable answers changing depending on who you gave the present to earlier in Chapter 2. When selected, Ralsei would talk a bit about that person, in terms that would suggest that he is fully supportive of Kris pursuing a romantic connection with the person in question. An option existed for Susie, Noelle, and even Berdly... but NOT, crucially, for Ralsei himself, despite the fact that he can be the receipient of the gift as well.

Instead, there was another option that would always be present, which read "Thinking of you". Selecting this option would have Ralsei react... as you'd expect him to. But the interesting thing is how quickly he sweeps it under the rug and moves on to the next point in the conversation. Almost as if he doesn't take it seriously, or doesn't believe that he's a valid option in this instance.

(incidently, if you DID give Ralsei the gift, and try to select the alternative option, it will not work properly and completely skip to the next scene without any reaction from Ralsei at all... which means they either didn't get round to programming his reaction before they decided on the present scene, or they realised that it would be redundant (not to mention on-the-nose) to have two versions of the same dialogue option here)

So... what does this say about the present incarnation of the Acid Tunnel segment, or about Kralsei in general? Well, one thing it DOES say is about how we as players would have been given more freedom to pair Kris with any one of their friends, and perhaps would additionally allow us as players to more closely align ourselves with their own wishes and desires (which given all the positive attention she gets from them, would likely as not be towards Susie), while also potentially taking Ralsei out of the dating pool and into a more "agony aunt/confidante/cheerleader" role to Kris.

In addition, there is the "?" option at the top of the dialogue box, which effectively amounts to a "mind your own business, nosy goat". This would have worked effectively as a "don't care" option for people who... well, didn't care about any sort of romance centered around Kris, as well as giving them a way to assert their right (and perhaps desire) for privacy. Though it is interesting that Ralsei does default to mentioning Susie after this, I believe that's to make the link to the next topic of the scene.

However, there would have been a few problems. For one, it would have allowed players to throw a wrench into Suselle, right at the crucial point that that nascent relationship starts to take off. If, after all, we would have chosen either of Susie or Noelle at this point in the game, we would have an expectation that that pairing we chose would come to fruition, rendering the ferris-wheel scene right afterward devoid of a significant part of its purpose and weight.

(Not to mention that allowing either Kris or the player any real choice in this matter would run entirely counter to the whole "your choices don't matter" thing Deltarune has going)

Whether for these reasons or otherwise, we instead ended up with the Kralsei (and Suselle) show. Which means - at some point, a choice was made to initially present the player with options, which was then wrested away and replaced with what is essentially an on-rails dating simulation, which, if we're lucky, only one of its participants doesn't actually want to do. Within that context, it's difficult to see how people can refute the notion that the game is forcing Kralsei to happen.

But again, the question looms: WHY is Deltarune doing this? What is the game trying to say? What does our reaction to all this say about us, both as players of video games and as people who consume narratives and fictions for entertainment or escapism?

Uhh find out in part 3! Coming... whenever :P

#essay #rambling #thoughts #theory #Deltarune #Kralsei #Krisei #Kris x Ralsei #Acid Tunnel of Love #Cut Content #Your Choices Don't Matter #Shipping #Part 2.5

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octo-in-the-mainframe · 2 months

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Deltarune Stuff I Think Might Happen Before the Next Chapters Come Out (so I can say I was right)

Papyrus is the Knight. (I have a whole essay on this I just haven't edited it yet).

Gaster won't be evil, but he will be an antagonist at some point.

Gaster will probably make an appearance in Chapter 6, maybe in the Bunker.

Noelle is the angel.

Every Undertale main character will go to a Dark World, except maybe Alphys and probably Mettaton (Unless the whole town turns into a Dark World).

My reasoning is that Toriel, Asgore and Asirel are so obviously important, Toriel is already in a Dark World, Undyne is most likely coming along for the ride, and Sans and Papyrus are connected to Gaster and also Noelle and Dess through Snowdin and the weird bonus content for the Xbox version of Undertale.

Sans will die in the Weird Route, giving us an actual "No Mercy" Papyrus battle.

(I know this sounds edgy but like...Sans is the ONLY main character who doesn't die unless it's a No Mercy Route, mad sus).

Nightmare Knight will be used in some way for the Knight's theme.

Megalo Strike Back will make an appearance, possibly in whatever potential Gaster battle track we get.

Dess has more to do with the secret bosses than we think.

Dess is trapped in a NEO Dark World and/or the Depths.

The Secret Boss Soul Modes are based off the colors behind Sweet Capn' Cakes in the room where you can make them play their Jingle Bells remix.

Asriel is to Dess as Kris is to Noelle.

Gaster is 666, Chara is 999, Papyrus is 333. (I don't remember what the 3's stand for but there was a reason, or if this even matters in context to Deltarune).

Spade King will have an arc dependent on if you manage to recruit everyone, though I don't know if it will mean redemption. I've seen people get really mad at this idea and honestly? As long as it's a sensitive portrayal and has him apologize to Lancer and do better going forwards I'll be fine with it. I only really think this might be true because of how he is in Chapter 2, and that it would be weird to have the only guy actually criticizing you for your actions to be just straight up an evil guy you can ignore. Also, abusers are people too, and fandom spaces have a really hard time accepting that forgiving and growing is just as realistic as cutting the abusive person off. (shout out to @nukedimplosion for putting this into way better words than I could).

And now, for how I think the message of the game will present itself...

The game likes to tell you your choices don't matter right off the bat. I have a hard time believing the "No one can choose who they are in this world" person to be the same guy who was so nice about our "WONDERFUL CREATION," so I'm going to assume there are two different people talking to us.

I think this other person could be Dess.

Gaster, who has survived despite being shattered across space and time, Gaster, who has managed to connect with us, the real world, is ultimately someone who wants to change fate. Pushing and pushing until he gets the result he wants. I think Gaster believes that our choices mean everything. Why else would he gives us a character creator of all things?

But the other voice...

They do not believe in choices. They've been stuck in this pit of nothing, forced to keep going knowing everyone they love is living on without them. They most likely know about the secrets of this world now, having spent so long in its depths. Dess takes away the character creator, forcing you into Kris's body because she didn't get to choose. But some part of her, deep, deep down, wants to believe she still has a choice. So, she put us in someone who has even a slight chance to Find Her.

Someone who remembers the day she disappeared.

Someone who remembers the Bunker. Noelle isn't any help, no matter how much she misses her. Noelle blocks everything out. Asriel is out of town.

It has to be Kris.

It has to be.

And on the other hand, Gaster is optimistic, but some part of him realizes that this could all be for nought too. I think it would be really cool if we have an optimist desperate for freedom, and a pessimist who won't let herself believe in a way out.

(To clarify, I realize this has little to no evidence to back it up, it's just using what we DO have and filling in the blanks with the vibes I get from the characters. Like, I do genuinely believe Gaster likes us and the world of Deltarune. I don't think he's evil or anything. With the tiny bit of info we have on Dess, she seemed like a protective but fun older sister. I think she would feel ashamed for not being able to take care of Noelle while she's stuck, and after having been a very assertive person in her life, feeling hopeless when faced with the seemingly impossible to escape depths for years. Of course, I could be wrong, and she actually has some sick plans for the future or something, and Gaster could be more malicious than he seems. But who knows?)

Oh, and before I get someone asking why Papyrus would overthrow the three kings, every Knight candidate needs a reason to do this, and none of them make sense until we get more context. Another thing: all of the Knight candidates that seem possible either haven't been seen yet or are side content. (Or are Kris. And. I have so many reasons why I don't think they're the Knight. At least, not THE Knight). It's very likely that any of them could be built up in the next couple chapters.

Heck, I think we might see them in Chapter 3, curious as to why a new Dark Fountain has been opened. It would be a neat way to introduce them to the group, being in someone else's Dark World, where they're not fully in control. We would also get to see how they'd act towards the Darkeners of Kris's Dark World. We would be able to get some of their personality, without them being the main focus. At the very least, I think we'll get more hints so they will actually be a satisfying reveal with what we're given. Though, this might result in too many characters...hmm...

Anyway, I think that's it.

I might come back to this if I have more, and depending on how the 14th goes, we might have some new stuff to theorize over.

#deltarune #deltarune theory #papyrus #gaster #dess holiday #kris dreemurr #noelle holiday #sans #knight deltarune

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pt-disconnected · 1 year

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With the Dark World seeming to crumble around them, the Player was honestly terrified- as were their allies. Everything seemed out of place- the Card Castle was falling apart as parts of it were replaced with rooms that were from the school, collapsing in on itself. And the Knight was there, laughing. "You fools... so focused on a pawn that you forgot to block the checkmate! And now the game is over!" he said, grinning madly.

The Player looked around, trying to find something- anything- that would get them somewhere. And as they saw a path into the Light World, they grabbed hold of one of the Ralsei variants. "Hold on, guys!" they said, triggering a split-second reaction for the six to grab each other, and Lancer of course. Lancer, trailing at the end, also gave a warning. "G- guys?! That guy is chasing us! What'd you do to make him this mad..?! What's happening to the castle?!" the prince said, confused. But the Player didn't look back. "No time! We'll try and explain soon!" they said, before pulling the six out of the Dark World and into the Light World- without them turning into their respective objects.

This terrified the Ralsei group. Lairse, for one, was enraged. "This... this isn't supposed to be possible! The darkness is merged with the light- no fountain, light or dark, should be able to do that!" he shouted, albeit still in the line led by the Player.

The Player, however, had a focus on their goal. "We need to find Kris. Odds are, they might be able to put a few pieces together. And with what we learned from that guy- I'm not even gonna bother with his name- we might have a shot at figuring out what we need to do."

The group nodded, including Lancer- though he was a bit exhausted. "H- hey, lemon-lime..? C- could I just tag along in your pocket..? I'm not really... the running type..." he said, panting some. The Player sighed. "Yeah, that's fine. I can't be losing you in this mess- Susie would kill me." they say, to which Lancer ran over (conveniently regaining enough energy to do so) and hopped in. Seems the inventory logic of the Dark World had blended through as well.

With Lancer tucked away, safe in the Player's pockets, the group of seven made their way to Kris' house via the Player's lead. Around them, monsters and Darkners of all kinds were panicking, with humans emerging from the rifts connecting the Dark World to the Light World. But these seven were focused on the task at hand.

As they approached the house in question, three figures emerged. Kris, Toriel, and then one more who looked surprisingly like the Ralseis- to his complete confusion. Kris and Toriel were also a bit shocked- especially Kris, as Ralsei was currently in the Light World, something that shouldn't have been possible.

The first one to speak was Kris. "P- Player, what are you doing here?! And what's with Ralsei and the others?! You all should still be in the Dark World- especially them!" they said, referring to the Ralsei group at the end. But the Player shook their head. "This is a massive emergency situation, Kris. Things have gone haywire on both ends. We need to get Susie and Noelle... and probably Berdly as well. I'm not sure what's going on myself, but this is a very bad situation, and that's best case. Worst case... this could be the end of your worlds. And, possibly mine if things go really south."

Asriel spoke up. "Um, sorry to interrupt, but who are you..? And why are there... uh, six more of me?!" he said, completely baffled. Toriel sighed. "Azzy, there's a lot to explain. I'm lucky to have been filled in on the situation myself, especially when things weren't so sudden. We should find Susie, Noelle, and Berdly first, then we can try and sort things out..."

Ralsei nodded, as did the rest of the Asriels- including, well, Asriel himself. Asriel, for one, was surprised at the synchronicity he had with them, but shrugged it off. "Okay. We'll need to split up to find them- but I think we can handle this." he said. "But we also need to ensure everyone's safety."

Kris looked to their adopted mother. "Mom, you know Mayor Holliday, and she trusts you. You'd be best to get Noelle." The Player, in turn, looked to Kris. "Okay, Kris, you might be able to get Susie. I don't know for sure how well it'd go- but you should be able to find her best. Here- take Lancer. That should be enough to prove the intensity of the situation." they say, pulling Lancer out of their pocket (to the shock of both Toriel and Asriel). Lancer just looked around a bit, and chuckled. "Wow, nice castle you got, Kris! Maybe someday I can see what kinds of holes it's got!" he said, before Kris just smiled a little, putting Lancer right into their own pocket.

Looking to Asriel, along with his six other selves, Player sighed. "Asriel, we'll need you to ensure this place is safe. These six should be able to help with that- just make sure this place is safe for when we get back." they say, to which Asriel just looks toward them. "...How do I know I can trust you, though..?" Both Kris and Toriel, however, nodded some, with Toriel speaking. "You can trust them, Azzy. It might be crazy- but there's something different about them. And they've proved themselves. So just work with them."

Asriel sighed, and nodded. "Okay. I'll do my best." Though, Kris spoke next. "Wait, what about Berdly? Who'll find him?" they asked. The Player sighed. "I'm gonna have to try and find them. I'm not sure, but they might be in the library- I just hope that they're all safe. But we need to move, and we'll need to move fast. There's no telling what might happen."

The group all nodded, and began working on their respective tasks. Kris began making their way towards the general apartment complex in the town- and odds were, Susie would be out and about with the chaos going on. Toriel made her way towards the Holliday residence. The seven Asriel variants began work on a sort of base, trying to make the Dreemurr house into a decent place for them to keep themselves safe. And, the Player was making their way towards the library of the town- where Berdly would hopefully be.

But on the way, they wound up plowing face-first into a large, admittedly fluffy monster. They fell backwards, and upon looking up, found themselves staring straight at a startled, albeit armed, Asgore. They immediately put their arms up. "Wait! I don't mean any harm!" they said, knowing how the Light World residents saw the humans. Asgore, however, was just confused. "Wait, what..? Human, what's going on? Tell me now!" he said, starting out confused but quickly getting his weapon, a gardening rake, readied. The Player nodded some. "Okay, I can try to tell you... it's gonna be a bit unbelievable but I think with what's going on you might be willing to believe it... heck if you want I can get you to a safe place, but I need to get to someone- it's a long story, but please, PLEASE believe me. I'm not trying to hurt anyone..."

Asgore glared into eyes of the Player for a few moments, before sighing and allowing them up. "Okay. I believe you. Tell me where to go, and I will meet you there..." he said. The Player got up, slower than they would have normally. "Go back to Kris' place... they should be able to explain when they get back. It'll be a crazy story but this is already crazy as it is. I'll be back soon..." they said, and Asgore's only reply was a nod, before he started to run towards the house. Out of the corner of their eye, the Player also noticed Kris with Susie, as well as Lancer piggybacking on Susie's shoulders. That was good timing.

So they continued on their way to the library- but what they saw honestly terrified them. It wasn't entirely a library anymore- a tree that looked straight out of a pop-up book had grown through the roof, with Berdly on one of the branches. Upon seeing the Player, he called down to them. "Player! Help! I'm not used to this! I don't want to be a normal bird right now!" he said, admittedly getting a small chuckle out of the Player, before they refocused on the situation.

They quickly tried to find something that would break the fall- before noticing a nearby Darkner that was conveniently just an oversized pillow. As such, they quickly approached. "Hey, I need your help really quick. I know it's strange, but you need to break my friend's fall- are you able to do that safely?" they asked. Shockingly, they nodded- turns out they had been doing that for other Darkners too. As such, they went over to the spot where Berdly would probably land.

Unfortunately, it wasn't just that easy. Berdly was still clinging to the branch, not wanting to let go. "I can't fall that far down! I'd PERISH! This isn't the Dark World, where a single pillow would nullify all the fall damage!" he said, clearly afraid of heights. The Player just sighed. "Berdly, there's no distinction between the two right now! Whatever it is that's going on has messed up the rules of reality! Think of it as a glitch- fall damage isn't working right because of it!" they said. So Berdly gulped, closed his eyes, and dropped right onto the pillow-Darkner. Getting up, he looked at himself, and let out a sigh of relief and did a fist pump- before the Darkner asked for him to get off of them, which he did.

With Berdly back in the group, the Player now chose to make their way back to the Dreemurr house- Berdly not far behind. As they approached, the two could see Asgore and Toriel, actually talking. It was strange, but it seemed that the dire circumstances were allowing them to interact... somewhat normally. And with Toriel back, that meant Noelle had arrived as well. But to the Player's surprise, there was a second one there with her- another reindeer monster who seemed to be just a bit older than Noelle, and dressed in an outfit much like that of Noelle's Dark World outfit, except it was a light blue instead of white. She seemed to be talking with Noelle, as well as Susie and Kris, and when Susie saw the Player approaching, she pointed them out. Kris quickly went over, with Noelle and the other reindeer monster staying back for the time being.

Kris looked to Berdly. "Berdly, you got any idea what's going on?" The bluebird shook his head. "Not in the slightest, aside from the obvious. Why? You don't know either?" Kris shook their head. "Just checking to see if we needed to explain. Regardless, now that everyone's together, we need to get a sort of plan. Dad was worried for Mom, and Dess wound up finding out about things because her outfit changed, so they're getting an explanation of things from before."

The Player sighed. "Okay, once those explanations are done, I think me, Ralsei, and the rest of Asriel's alternate selves have some stuff to explain too. Turns out that the Knight had us all fooled. I don't know how we could have stopped him in the first place anymore."

Kris groaned, concerned but clearly not wanting to think on it too much. "Okay. Tell us later. Right now, we've got a lot to work on. At least we have another two in our team for now. I don't know where we'll go from here, but... I think once Azzy and the Ralseis finish getting the house fortified more, we can get things hashed out more calmly. For now, we should just get you introduced to Dad and Dess. That way, they don't mistake you for one of the other humans who seem to be... not as happy about what's going on."

The Player simply nodded. "Got it. Let's get that done."

Whoa, what's this? Part 20?! And I hadn't even done a Anon Asks yet!! Seems that things really have gone into chaos. And this is a nice, larger part too. I personally am unsure of the quality of it but if you guys all enjoy it then that's what matters to me. I certainly want to aim for quality as well in the end. So now we've had two parts in the span of one week (not in terms of a calendar, I mean two parts in seven days), and honestly I'm happy about that. I have a few ideas for where to go from here, and those vary wildly in all honesty. Depending on how I can work with Azzy being part of the story, as well as the new additions (hehe!) we might be seeing a variety of things. Could be new stuff, could be rewritten old stuff, could be stuff happening in the background of old stuff. There's even another option that you might be able to figure out if you hunt it down. Pgp lkwbak isow mqgba abj wep, xxnr zme isrbpn waabec penrxnm ezp isr zga. Qkz bbnpaan lka nzptpe fg lka dtqu uip rexmo abj bouznn royew nu mp. Md do ritnazzm vwzm pgc yafigapne pso htwe, tobp pso lmeeyo abj opzcg mqbpnjp. Hopefully you all enjoy this additional part of the story, and whatever else is soon to be! I'll see you all in whatever comes next, be it the next Anon Asks, or another part should I manage to pull more motivation out of thin air! Previous Part | First Part | Next Part LynxGriffin's Paper Trail Comic (Whoa, a completely original segment! Shocking! Check out the comic anyways though, you might find something that might be intriguing- there's all sorts of stuff in there that inspires these story segments!)

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rangarlamamicado · 1 year

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Deltarune Chapter 5 & Skies Forever Blue: THE MISSING LINK

Okay, so for the longest time I've been pulling my hairs in all of my previous theories regarding just what Chapter 5 would be. I know Chess Theory makes everything easy when it comes to determining that the boss of Chapter 3 will be a Rook (with the TV world already confirmed) and Chapter 4 a Bishop (which can easily be determined to likely be housed by the Church)... but since Chapter 5 supposedly has The Knight, I'd been a little confused. Especially since it could be ANYWHERE since The Knight clearly isn't restricted to one dark world, let alone any area in town.

However, recently, I saw a VERY GOOD Theory video by JaruJaruJ on Youtube about what several bridging pieces regarding Toby's newest independent piece of media is, as well as how it could easily be connected to Deltarune and December Holiday, the missing links, and potentially The Knight.

SO. With that basis in mind, I will heavily quote and paraphrase details from his video here to weave together why I think Chapter 5's Dark World will be...! DRAGON BLAZERS 2.

Look, let's face it, there's literally a Dragon within the first minute of the music video. In addition to this, there's also reason to believe that the version of Dragon Blazers being played here is the same because of the following:

In other media, such as Noelle's blog post at https://deltarune.com/icepalace_glaceir/ it's indicated that there's also a home-console version of Dragon Blazers. However, suppose this version of Dragon Blazers is meant to resemble being on the Gameboy. In that case, it's possible that the console version was on the Gamecube, since the Gameboy and Gamecube have cross-compatibility (this helps in the theory later, I promise).

The person in the music video looks to be a human, so it's possible that Kris at one point got to play Dragon Blazers 2, and is responsible for whatever happened in the music video instead of Noelle... whoops. Maybe that'll play into what happens during Chapter 5?

However, there's more - specifically, more to tie in the fact that the grander dark world (the darker world/dark world network? basically whatever allows things like Ralsei to move between dark worlds) exists with these details.

This sequence of events hints at the possibility that whatever grander darkness there may be - including the kind Ralsei uses to navigate Dark Worlds in addition to wherever the girl, who may be "Dess." Noelle literally remarks saying that the bow is familiar - whether with her sister or the character or both, it isn't known.

As for how I can ask or even question whether these places are even connected, I have an idea.

Noelle openly discusses that in Dragon Blazers, there is a Glacier Palace. The page leading up to this has very rudimentary spritework, yet the crude colors remind me very much of the music video, and I believe this location may be important - whether for the main boss or the secret boss.

There's also more evidence to support that, in some way, Dess herself may be directly related to whoever owned the game, hence connections in the music video.

A guitar case that could easily fit a guitar the likes of which appeared in the sweepstakes hidden site. To me I feel Toby was slowly trying to spread the crumbs of details, and it has led me to this ultimate theory thanks to the theorization of JaruJaruJ those who he also cites.

DRAGON BLAZERS & DESS: A HISTORY AND HYPOTHESIS

SO THEN! It's time for me to predict just what's happening here using the information we already have. Where do I even start though? Why doesn't Dess look like... well, Dess? Why does the grander dark world even come into relevance here? What do Noelle and Kris have to do with all this?

Well, to start, I'd like to use some relevant information to postulate how all of this is even possible.

While not directly stated, it's illustrated in the 'chair' hidden page during the sweepstakes that there exists the possibility of "darker darkness." To me, this begs the question: What does this mean for the dark world?

Well, for starters, JaruJaruJ postulates in the video that it might have to do with the dark fountain in Castle Town being made of pure darkness. He goes on to postulate how Dess might be related to that, but while I feel that might be important, to me, I think the possibility of a "darker world" is entertaining.

A meta-world of an already metaphorical thing such as a game - even Dark world have concrete items, places, and things, regardless of what it's based on. Also, clearly, the dark world has many things that the light world doesn't.

RPG Mechanics, "saving", darkners, fountains... you name it. All of these things are important, because to me, I think each of these represent basic structure for a dark world - and if a darker world were to exist, it seems to me that these traits may be blown even further into flanderization, perhaps even harmfully affecting those who venture into it. The one lifeline seems to be saving, as well as its connection to "heaven." JaruJaruJ makes this point in his video:

That said, if somehow it was possible that Dess got trapped

Save points. There seems to be what resembles a save point in the music video, but it's pink. Further, he says that, because being with determination seem to be able to save, (yellow for humans, white for non-human non-monster beings like Flowey (and Kris for some reason, do with that what you will) he says that we haven't seen what a monster with Determination seems to have a save look like - pink.

Save points seem to be the anchors in dark worlds to reality, whether from the angel or otherwise (he says in another theory that the world is an endless loop and supports it with saves and the angel as well as Ralsei having some stake in an endless reality).

Even Spamton, whose palette is literally mainly composed of white, yellow, and pink (the three colors) says he has a fascination with salvation, heaven, and darkness, as if some kind of symbol that found the interest of the darker beings (Gaster? Dess? Ralsei? The Angel?) whether it was an accident or not on his part. This, to me, is a sign by Toby. Nothing with his is a coincidence, and this music video having so many signs is the key.

Furthermore, even in the darkest of worlds, save points can help one out of darkness. However, for the girl, this isn't enough. She abuses saves to restart reality in this darker world to the point that she sinks further deeper, as if having used too much dark power, having lost her power.

But why did Dess do all of this? And what does it mean for the real world, as well as Chapter 5?

Well, to me, while JaruJaruJ might say there have been reasons otherwise, I find it interesting that, if Dess is stuck in this world as this girl, that perhaps she took this form for a reason? Was it the powers of Darkness that let her change her image? Is it metaphorically her, but not literally? Well, I believe that it may be one of two things.

If everything in the music video is truly Deltarune (the first possibility), that may mean a specific list of things. It means that Dess literally became the girl in the game. It means that only a human could've played the game, meaning it had to be Kris. It means that Dess was capable of saving, and according to the lyrics, loved Kris.

To me, if this line of logic is true, it means that Dess maybe wanted to take the form of a human princess because, like Kris, she loved humans. In addition, she claims that she was named the same as the one Kris loved, which may secretly have been Dess. (Hence, that's probably why Kris is probably so weird with Noelle in the weird route, since he sees her sister in her - albeit, these are all influence by the player and not Kris directly, it's just that not all the choices are the player either, which make me ask questions. But this isn't a Kris theory, it's a Dess theory.) I find it a far more compelling narrative for Toby to have weaved, especially if this all comes to manifest in Chapter 5, though I'll get to that.

The second possibility, to me, is that the video metaphorically represents Deltarune with some real details, but not completely. For example, this may negate that Dess took the form of a human, and Kris was the one playing the game. It may be that Noelle played this version of the game, and Dess' words in the song actually represent familial love, hence why Dess is familiar, albeit not completely remembering who she is or what she was/is. The love she may be singing of as well as the one the player loved may actually represent familial love, and in a way makes the scenes where Noelle and Rudy playing the game sadder to me. Because Dess may be trapped in the game, they may miss her and wonder where she is, but she may actually be right in front of them without knowing it.

This is why I brought up the details of NPCs, Darkners, and RPG-mechanics as well as a darker world taking a toll on those who may be trapped there, for whatever the reason. Dess may have forgotten about the life she had outside and only began to remember her role in the game - which she may have been afraid to break from.

If this is true, rather than the way it is in the other theory, it opens up a can of worms that also make sense along the lines of Spamton. There seems to be an "order" in the world. An order that, if broken, through causality and fate somehow bring ruin to those who stray from it. Spamton attempted to stray from fate by asking for assistance from someone with control over the dark domain, but causality assured ruin for him in the form of Kris. This may have to do with the theory about the loop that JaruJaruJ made (which I quite like), but I feel the Soul is just as important in the loop as the Angel is.

Anyways, if all of this were true as I said, Dess, having achieved her wish of becoming a human, may have been bound to the roll of her character in the game - hence order breaks. Dess likely wanted to tell Noelle or Kris that it's them and that they love them, but it would cause ruin, and the loops/saves in the game would come to an end. This perfectly follows the themes of "choices not mattering," but in the end it seems that Dess regardless confessed their love and sacrificed the world by breaking her role to tell the player who she really is in exchange for the world breaking and herself being banished into darkness.

So! If all that's the backstory, it's time to talk about Chapter 5 once and for all, and what it may mean.

CHAPTERS 3-5: THE GLIMPSE INTO DARKER DARKNESS

Now then. Based on everything I've theorized so far, I will rapidly cover what I believe will happen in Chapters 3 and 4, as well as what the secret bosses may be based on what we know and how this will apply to the future.

CHAPTER 3

The TV world is the world we know most about. The characters, to antagonist (to some degree), the setting... However, even Toby knows that we want to know who we fight and why - Spamton A. Spamton toys with that in the Sweepstakes video, even if it isn't canon.

Personally, I believe that the secret boss will be the Green Crayon. Too many things line up for it to NOT be relevant to this world. First, it's green, which may tie in with the green soul color. Second, it's discarded similar to Jevil and Spamton, in addition to having relevance to Kris in a way. They may be important in that they might have information about Asriel and his whereabouts, which would make for interesting secret boss information. The crayon also is already most likely within the home, albeit nobody knows where which would lead naturally to a good secret location. While I believe it's all interesting, as well as the potential of Toriel as the party member, I don't see relevance aside from the detail one person gleaned somewhere that has relevance to Dragon Blazers.

I don't recall who, but I remember reading something in the comments section that may have relevance here. I won't paraphrase. I will simply post it and move on to Chapter 4. Do with this what you will.

CHAPTER 4

This is where I have the most faith in my answers, theory wise and literally. As for the setting, aligning with Chess Theory, I can easily see this being the church and the boss as the Bishop. The locations including the church proper and the graveyard means there are ample opportunities for lore regarding the Angel, as well as with Alvin potentially as the antagonist/ "Bishop", attempting to revive Gerson and The Hammer Of Justice.

As for the secret boss, I can see it taking place in the Graveyard. There's very vague hinting at this during the Sweepstakes regarding information regarding the realness of ICE-E, but with the Pizza Box that supposedly winked at Noelle being burnt in the graveyard and left, I can see it coming back for revenge. Specifically, I cite a theory video by HalfBreadChaos regarding JUST what ICE-E might be, and how he might be an extraplanar monstrosity not too dissimilar from Everyman and even Gaster.

youtube

It would make sense since, in the soul order theory according to the strangely convenient order in this background in Deltarune that supposedly predicts the soul colors of each chapter...

... it would totally make sense if ICE-E's color was cyan. He may have connections to Gaster! He may have connections to Noelle! Hell, he may even have connections to Dess! I dunno! But either way, I totally look forward to this if it's real.

NOW THEN CHAPTER 5

I've TOTALLY had the hardest time predicting this chapter, as stated earlier. For the longest time, for some reason, I thought it would be in ICE-E's P"E"ZZA, but I don't think that'd make any sense aside from elements of horror for a chapter. I also thought, for some reason, that the antagonist would be Papyrus, because he's a knight, and it'd make the most sense.

HOWEVER, with this new information at hand and a seemingly perfect set-up, I can now say with confidence that the next dark world after the church is DRAGON BLAZERS 2. The antagonist, the Knight, could easily be a fake-out on the game's part - Specifically, I would find it very funny if the antagonist this chapter was The Knight from DRAGON BLAZERS, specifically the main character in the music video. It would be very funny if he was the stereotypical hero-type who sees the main characters as antagonists or dark-lords, and I would find it very interesting if, for this chapter only, everything was pixelated and downscaled like DRAGON BLAZERS. It'd make sense if the female character was there, albeit not Dess - a soulless replacement if you will, perhaps the real boss who turns on the hero and reveals the nature of things? Maybe it's the Everyman? The information that could be dropped has crazy potential here.

That said, as for the secret boss, I think the most relevant route would be something involving the labrynth that Noelle discussed in the secret post about the Glacier Palace that I discussed above. Seeing as it's greatly related to glitches and hidden areas like the door The Roaring Knight uses that's hinted to exist here (as hinted by Toby's unused intro using The Roaring Knight by The Door), it would only make sense to me if the boss was Dess Holiday. The blue soul color is related to ice, as Papyrus, who once bore it, resided in Snowdin, and is also related in the literal sense to being a "cold" color, similar to how Sans was cold during the Genocide battle in Undertale. To me, this is the only logical conclusion, and as for whether it hits the mark or not, I can't say.

ALL THIS SAID, THIS HAS BEEN A VERY LONG POST. I CAN'T WAIT FOR DELTARUNE CHAPTERS 3-5 AND I CAN'T IMAGINE WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE IN CHAPTERS 6 AND 7.

If you like the theory, please remember to like, subscribe, and hit that be- *GETS HIT BY BRICK*

okay but for real. please share if you agree in some way. I feel very confident about this, and would love to see what comes of it. Thank you for listening to my lengthy wall of a post, and thanks for coming to my TedTalk.

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stainedglassthreads · 1 year

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Headcanon that I don’t believe is fact whatsoever, because I’m still not convinced Chara and Frisk are in Deltarune to begin with. But imagine if Ralsei weren’t based off of Kris’ idea of Asriel or what they wanted to be like at all.

Imagine if Chara were the one behind Ralsei’s creation. If, in Undertale we explored Asriel/Flowey’s misconceptions and idealization of Chara, and now in Deltarune we get to explore Chara’s misconceptions and idealization of Asriel.

Again, I'm not really convinced that Chara is the one who interrupted the survey. But I’ve seen some interesting analysis about the survey, and about how it feels like Ralsei was not initially meant to be a part of the narrative, even if Kris, Susie, and Noelle were all always meant to. So I was briefly wondering if the same person who interrupts the survey is also the same person who created Ralsei. (Mostly going off of gut feelings here, I’ll admit. I think Gaster and a second entity are both trying to ‘alter the narrative.’ Gaster does talk about a ‘new’ future in the Twitter so... are Ralsei and Kris both an attempt by ‘someone’ to change the future?)

But. Anyways. I dunno. It’s been mentioned previously that Ralsei parallels Flowey in many ways, and seems to reflect the fandom’s perception of Undertale Asriel. He’s certainly the precise opposite of Deltarune Asriel. Deltarune Asriel, whose presence can be strongly felt in Hometown even when he’s absent. Who all of Hometown can’t shut up about, who most of Hometown thinks they share a special connection with. Compare it all to Ralsei, the lonely prince who Noelle and Berdly don’t remark upon at all, who other Darkners will refer to as a ‘Lightner’, who is the biggest proponent of how Darkners should be subservient to the Lightners, who just melts into a puddle of clothes and vanishes when he loses all his HP.

I do think that Chara was probably a fairly introverted and shy personality. Certainly, Asriel was a lot louder than them during the recorded tapes. But at times it does sort of match up? Asriel was Chara’s best friend, and Ralsei wants to be our best friend. Asriel and the other Dreemurrs showed Chara unconditional love and compassion, and Ralsei initially believes that ‘being nice’ is all you really need to be friends. Asriel followed Chara’s plan to free monsterkind, and Ralsei is very stubborn about Kris being the one to make decisions, Kris being the leader, Kris having the power to make choices, to the point Susie needs to force him to make his own decisions. Asriel was a pacifist and refused to kill the whole village even though he was willing to collect seven souls at first, and Ralsei makes a point about Mercy being the best choice (but will attack if Kris orders him to do so.)

If he is Chara’s idea of Asriel, then no wonder he has no idea how to be very “Ralsei-like.” He’s the echo of a ghost of an otherworldly reflection.

It is kinda interesting, though, how one of the most remembered of UT!Asriel’s traits is that Asriel is a crybaby, with even Chara remarking on it, but Ralsei... isn’t much of a crybaby? Like Toriel, he’s not very emotional at all, really. He’s more the type to just move along and not really address his own emotions. Either they can address the problem later, or there’s nothing they can really do about it at all.

It’s also interesting in that he isn’t completely without similarities to Chara. I feel like a similarity could be drawn in how it’s implied you Chara was reawoken by Frisk, and though beginning as a passive entity, is taught by Frisk’s actions. Either shown that everyone they cared for once has been saved, or taught that power is the only thing that matters. Likewise, Ralsei has been taught by Susie and Kris’ actions that sometimes fighting is necessary. He also seems to have some awareness of both the Light World, stats and game interfaces, and the separation between Kris and the Player.

Again, I still have lots of doubts about Chara being in Deltarune, but... it’s an interesting headcanon to toy around with? Flowey misses his best friend so much that he thinks they returned when he called their name. Chara misses their best friend so much that they create a warped reflection of him, and watch him slowly become the prince he never got the chance to be, adventuring along with some other human. Slowly becoming someone different. Someone... distinctly not Asriel. At what point are they forced to realize that Ralsei was never, ever Asriel?

#deltarune headcanon

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tartrazeen · 2 months

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Oh my God.

I think I just figured out DELTARUNE and the "Angel's Heaven."

Okay - work with me here.

Spamton keeps talking about going to heaven and such, right? And he calls Noelle an angel, right?

There is more than one angel.

I just realized that - I'm watching MatPat's theory and I'm like halfway through and it clicked.

Noelle has snow powers. She's the snow angel.

Onion-san keeps talking about hearing a song and there are lots of references to the ocean. Shyren's in this game too, right? Shyren's gonna be an angel fish.

What other kind of angels are there? Obvious puns that can get tied back to a possible world in Deltarune?

Well, immediately, my mind goes to angel investor. If there was ever a bank-related world, or a political world, that could come into play. Noelle's mom is a mayor and even the TV world could be all about funding the way Hollywood is. A stretch? Sure! But one of many possibilities now.

There's also guardian angel. I could see that being some sort of final boss, and maybe even Kris themselves since no 'angel' appears in the first chapter. That could be a grand reveal at the end of the story. But it could also be Undyne or Toriel or Asgore, given their roles in this story.

Fallen angel (or dark angel) could take on a whole host of meanings, especially when the prophecy is trying to "banish the angel's heaven." Maybe it'll be someone working against us, or someone who helps us more than anybody else. Who knows? Let's get crazy: maybe it's Sans! Maybe it's Papyrus!

I know about angels of mercy (or death), which would be very interesting given the focus so far on the hospital and the prominence of the church in this town.

It's not a term I personally hear used too often, but an "angel's advocate" exists. I don't know if that'd fit the theme though, since it doesn't necessitate having the advocate be an angel as well. There's also a "destroying angel" (aka "death angel") - which is a mushroom, and what could be a very clever nod to that dancing mushroom in Temmyville, along with that meme of "You cannot destroy me in a way that matters." That might be a bit too obscure, though. Just saying these two for the sake of it. I'm pretty sure there'd need to be seven types of angel to go along with the number of flowers/souls, which is why I want to leave those options there.

If we were to get real trippy about it, we could say no angel is an option. Like the phrase "you're no angel"? It could link to Kris not seeing their hand in the shadow crystal and their choices not mattering, or just as a quirky, meta way to get a seventh type for Kris to play. Hell, the fact that there's no angel in the first chapter could be the whole point: Kris is no angel. Whether that's heroic or even worse than ever, I'm not sure. It could definitely go either way.

The most fascinating connections, though, is with terms, like angel dust. Do I think Toby's gonna through drugs randomly into this? Probably not! But I do see the obvious fit between that term and the dust that monsters are supposed to crumble into, and how 'angel dust' could be used as a weapon somehow. Used a little less often but still with clear links that can be made is angel's tears, which is a type of flower. Then there's angel cake, which is something Ralsei has already cooked up out of pot! So, y'know, more connections there.

Yes, I know archangel is another term, but that doesn't quite fit the pattern of it being an [attribute] angel. I could see that as a boss name, maybe, but not one of several types in the story.

Anyway! :D That just struck me and I love the thought of it. Maybe "Angel's Heaven" refers to some sort of last-angel-standing battle royale? 🤔 Not sure. I don't think the grammar's wrong. But I think it's meant to be misleading.

#deltarune #undertale #angel's heaven #my stuff #good job tartra

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realm-of-aethercrest · 1 year

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Hey, I hope this doesn’t come out wrong, but how come Ember uses it/its pronouns despite it being based on Dess, who goes by she/her? I don’t have any problem with it, it’s just that Ralsei seems to be based on Asriel, and both characters go by he/him, so I’m not really sure why the same doesn’t apply to Ember and Dess. Is it a reference to angels technically being sexless entities?

Only its name that is based on Dess, specifically the last half of her name. I honestly think it's a clever name choice for it especially because it's an ACTUAL name which could separate it from just being December-inspired. Also, it's noteworthy to remember that Ember is based on the angel doll that Noelle and Dess made together and that it has become a representative of the Holiday family itself. That's why Ember possesses the core traits of every Holiday family member; the dedication of the Mayor, the charm of Rudolph Holiday, the valor of December Holiday, and the spirit of Noelle Holiday. Despite the name, Ember doesn't exactly follow the "Ralsei is based on Asriel" theme however still has a special and personal connection to the family. And I should clarify that angel tends to be portrayed as a humanly figure with wings and halo on media, that should explain why it does NOT look like Dess... which some people are still confused and wondering why it doesn't parallel Noelle's older sister the same way Ralsei parallels Asriel, haha. I don't blame them though, a lot of us are used with the concept of having the Ralsei role resembling whoever Asriel is along with their name rearranged in AUs. While I think it's a neat idea to work on at times, I also suggest (if I may) try going for a similar direction but strays from the pattern or standard if any of you wants to make an AU with said concept! As for the it/its pronouns... sort of? But I also find it cool personally.

#anon ask #AETHERCREST #DELTASWAP #Ember #Dess #Noelle

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agentravensong · 1 year

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i watched a theory video a little while back that i wanted to bring to y’all’s attention. here’s the link. long story short, it proposes that ralsei, rather than being the darkner equivalent of a specific item, is the darkner equivalent of hometown itself. the spirit of hometown, you could say.

now obviously this is out there. we have no proof that such a darkner could even exist based on our current understanding of this world’s rules. it’s not like i’m convinced that this is the case, or even the most likely scenario.

but if we run with it for a bit, it does lead to some intriguing trains of thought. so let’s do that.

firstly, i want to highlight some of the stuff the video brings up that is evidence for / potentially explained by ralsei being the spirit of hometown:

- his higher than normal level of knowledge of the light world (knowing kris and susie’s names, knowing the classroom to the east = card kingdom, knowing what kris’s room looks like)

- his ability to travel between dark worlds, when all the darkners we’ve seen so far get turned into items when brought out of a dark world into the light; if ralsei isn’t based on one particular item, then that might not be a problem for him

- him taking on asriel’s form, when asriel is the town golden boy and all anyone seems up to talk about; asriel is, in some ways, the heart of hometown (note: if we go by the idea that ralsei’s form pre-chapter 1 wasn’t fully solidified, then kris’s presence and bonding with him over the course of chapter 1 likely also played a part in this)

now for some of my own additions:

- you know how that one primary titan from the roaring legend has those eyes on it that look like the eyes found in the early bits of the closet dark world? and how some people have theorized that titan is, in some way, the closet dark world? if we’re willing to entertain that notion, then we could argue ralsei is of a similar nature.

- ralsei’s overly nice and coddling personality, particularly in chapter 1, has felt fake to many people. similarly, many have expressed that the cheeriness and simplicity of hometown, where bad things seem to get swept under the rug, feels fake. whether or not either is fake or genuine, it’s an interesting parallel imo.

- king and some other darkners group ralsei in with the lightners when speaking to them. this could just be because ralsei is on the lightners’ side, but if he’s also the embodiment of a light world location, it kind of makes sense in another way for him to be grouped in with them.

- on the other hand, queen’s and cyber world in general’s ambivalence to ralsei could arguably be justified because the internet is kind of separate to hometown and allows a connection to the wider world, so the cyber world’s inhabitants have less interest in hometown in particular (though queen has a few specific lightners she’s invested in (noelle))

if you’ve followed along so far, i’ll warn you now, here’s where we get into the craziest shit. first, some questions to get ya thinking:

- is there a potential parallel here to gaster as, in some ways, the spirit of deltarune itself? maybe even the red soul as the spirit of undertale itself?

- if a neo dark fountain gets opened in a dark world, will we see a darkner who’s suspiciously ralsei-like (not in appearance or even necessarily personality, but in terms of their role in the narrative and that same level of mysteriousness and out-of-place-ness), as the spirit of the dark world this fountain was made in?

and, lastly...

i made a post back on ut day (link here) postulating that there's a cycle going on in dr's world where a town forms around the current "grand fountain" and eventually becomes so real that it becomes the new light world hub. which is to say that hometown used to be like castle town, but now has become real (or, at least, more real relatively speaking), and the castle town we have now, which is becoming more developed as we bring more darkners to it, will eventually upgrade to be the new hometown.

now, if we combine that with the idea that ralsei is the spirit of hometown... well, i'd love to be able to put those implications into words, but i can't right now (which is why this post has been languishing in my drafts for a month or so). just. think about it. maybe i'll come back to this.

again, i'm not 100% convinced by this theory or anything, but it is, to use the cliche line, very, very interesting, if only as a fun hypothetical. i'd love to hear what you guys think of it!

#deltarune #ralsei #hometown #thanks to that one person for reminding me that i never posted this lol

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pertinasities · 10 months

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thinking about verses again; today feat modern verse! which, note on this; maintains the general regions/loose history of teyvat. i haven’t decided yet re: visions but that’s for future cedar to sort out. and also with this, tighnari is still valuka shuna, and xiao isn’t quite human, but the adeptal powers will be minimized down a bit. think modern fantasy by default. also mostly centered around a university set up… mostly because of who i am as a person.

kaeya; i like to think about grad student kaeya. he’s fueled by coffee, spite, and a furious desire to prove himself. his main area of study would be refugee/immigration law, with a minor focus on khaenri’ahn history. he works part time in the library with lisa, and part time at a community law clinic. and of course has his fair share of extra curricular activities for resume purposes. not tied to any specific portrayals and able to shift with who i’m writing with; connections he’d have as a default: best friends with rosaria and lisa, fairly close with jean, some kind of complicated past with diluc (though likely not as… dramatic lol), familiar with albedo and noelle. lives by himself in an apartment near campus that he spends as little time in as possible. likely in his mid-late twenties.

tighnari; still has his ears and tails because i said so. recent phd graduate, assistant professor. lives a little way from campus - will take a longer commute to live somewhere suitably quiet - and closer to the forest. only comes to campus maybe two days a week, maintains a garden and spends days not on campus in the forest conducting research and furthering conservation efforts. thinking that there still may be an iteration of the withering for him to be focused on - which would potentially also lead to him having a vision. much to think about. as for relationships; still closest with cyno, meets up with him/kaveh/alhaitham at least once a week, and collei is a student he tutored earlier in his university career and sort of took under his wing forever. i could see her living with him potentially as well. his main area of study is botany and ecology, but he has a decent base in medicine also. in his late twenties.

kaveh; established architect! still completely terrible with money so he still lives with alhaitham and works odd jobs. He does work for the university theater department on prop building and design, and does commissions for the university in addition to teaching some classes. also fueled by coffee, spite, and a furious desire to prove himself. his is closest to his canon set up. living with alhaitham, likely friends with nilou via the theater, and friendly with cyno and tighnari. early thirties.

xiao; still has stupidly long life span. maybe something akin to a demon or ghost hunter to fit with modern fantasy. would still maintain loyalty to zhongli. a bit chronically online in a search for intel on demons/spirits to exorcise. his is the most up in the air still while i try to decide balance between canon and modernization. i still see him having ties to venti and the other adepti as well as aether/lumine.

childe; grad student studying poli sci and business. know. one of Those Guys. way too much money, exchange student. works a frankly horrifying number of jobs, but just does not actually show up 90% of the time. unfortunately he’s terrifyingly capable and efficient so he can generally get everything he needs to done and fix a week’s worth of problems in one shift, so nowhere can quite bring themselves to fire him. he also has the tendency to just charm his way through things. big fancy apartment. possible frat bro but like in the same way he treats his jobs. single handedly funding every snezhnayan restaurant in town. still really good with kids, and his younger siblings sometimes come to visit and stay with him. connections would be scary who… probably hates him. zhongli, no one quite knows what’s going on there but it definitely isn’t heterosexual, the other harbingers in some capacity. living with yoimiya and/or generally besties with her.

#if you’re wondering if i spent hours doing this instead of replies #you would be right unfortunately #v | modern

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deltaruminations · 9 months

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Skeleton Darkners is in that space where i don’t buy most of the Evidence cited for it but i also don’t buy a lot of the of the arguments i’ve seen against it. the evidence feels like an overthinking of cherrypicked details that are more likely coincidences than anything else. on the other hand i feel like a lot of the refutations betray a lack of… i dunno… curiosity?

“shouldn’t they just be objects in the light world?” yeah. exactly. they should be. if they’re darkners walking around and retaining their form in the light world then that means they’re anomalies. is that not an interesting possibility in a game that incorporates glitches and game-breaking behavior into its diegesis? in a story that seems interested in examining the process of story-creation and the relationships between creators, creations, and audiences, in which darkners represent self-aware fictional characters? doesn’t that seem consistent with the skeletons' generally anomalous natures? why the hell do they have dark world doors in their house???

“why isn’t ralsei making a fuss about it?” who’s to say he knows about it? he doesn’t know about jevil or spamton before meeting them and they’re absolutely Problem Darkners. i don't think the evidence holds that ralsei is all-knowing; he has a Prophecy and some way of detecting other Fountains when they open, but he doesn’t seem to be clued into stuff otherwise. not to mention... if the person who’s feeding him information is also one of the people who escaped, then it follows that they could keep that information from him if they needed to.

“but how did they enter the light world at all?” <- a question i’ve posed myself in the past that is currently unanswerable, though we do know that spamton thinks it involves using a lightner’s SOUL. where’d he get that idea from? did he just make it up because he’s Random and Unhinged or is it possible he learned about it from someone? are there any known lightners who are presently unaccounted for? i can think of one. that does bring up the question of “did sans and papyrus take SOULs too?” to which i’d say i’m EXTREMELY skeptical that either of them would do that lol. but it’s possible that it isn’t as simple as Steal a Lightner SOUL, Become a Real Boy. maybe a Lightner SOUL is just part of a bigger equation? why does the story even have spamton make such a big deal out of the possibility of a darkner “reaching heaven” in the first place if that isn’t an idea it’s looking to explore further?

i think part of the issue is that most of this theorycraft centers around sans and papyrus being darkners and i just don’t think that’s the most fruitful lens for interrogating this given the current information. there aren’t majorly compelling reasons right now for why either of them should have originated as darkners, but i do think there are compelling reasons to think gaster in particular might have. light and dark are a balance, right? we have our Forces of Light. who’s our Force of Darkness? gaster’s entire deal centers around darkness, in both literal and metaphorical senses, as a major motif. he’s a satan figure, a representative of temptation and want; he’s a gnawing absence, an unknown that begs to be understood; he’s an eye peering through a crack in the wall. ENTRY NUMBER SEVENTEEN seems to discuss a descent into darkness beyond dark. memoryhead has only six faces until you count the laughing skull that they comprise. we may even have a direct foil for gaster in a specific missing lightner who parallels him in situation yet contrasts him in motifs. they’re mutually connected to noelle, who’s attuned to the unknown, a conduit between the Real and Unreal, the only lightner gaster seems to attempt to contact directly (barring the tree rooms, which may have more to do with the Player than they do with kris). does it not make sense for this story’s greatest arbiter of darkness — the one who, by the story’s own logic, is fulfilling a certain Purpose to a higher/greater power by facilitating the Player’s entry into a layer of reality below theirs — to be, himself, a darkner?

#again i’m not sold yet on this theory but i do find it weirdly compelling.#im just kind of infatuated with it right now lol i can’t stop thinking about it. the possibilities. the implications #if the skeletons originated as darkners then whose Will was it that initially gave them forms?#$ 666 mystery man lore hell

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sw4tch · 2 years

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Rotating Ralsei in my mind...

Going by the theory that he's Kris's old red horns brought to life, and that's why he's so lost in regards to what his own identity separate from Kris should be ("what it should mean to be Ralsei-like") I can't stop thinking about what his motivations are, and where his loyalities lie.

Ralsei seems to be aware of the Player to some extent. He can give Tutorials to the player (which in universe seem weird to other characters, like Susie who doesn't get what press Z means).

He triggers cut scenes where the POV of the player shifts away from Kris, and he seems to be aware that He can do that. Like he knows he should follow some sort of script (in ch2, even though we don't get to see the cutscene with Susie and Noelle if we've gone on a snowgrave route, he still wants Susie to tell the player what she experienced. She doesn't, but Ralsei was weirdly insistent on her telling us out loud what her cutscene was about).

He seems to be aware of the irl passage of time (to be fair this could simply be a meta joke, but that Ralsei felt like the time between ch1 and ch2 was Ever So Long instead of literally a single day in universe, might also mean that he's just aware of the passage of time for the player).

Anyway all this to say, Ralsei is basically established to just KNOW he's in a game where there's an outside force (the player) going through the motions.

The only other character that had that kind of knowledge was of course Jevil. [Spamton too, maybe?? But he didn't seem to be... like, aware he's inside a game, but rather that he was stuck forever in the dark world as a slave to the whims of Lightners]

Anyway with Jevil comes the inevitable Gaster (I'm saying Gaster bcus that's the most likely identity of the mystery man right now) connections. The basic premise of course is that Gaster has been sharing his knowledge of the truth of the deltarune world (that their world is just a game for players to play) to certain characters (which have become the secret bosses), and they have gone mad with the knowledge of it.

So, okay.

Following this logic:

Meta aware characters have all some connection to Gaster ->

So far Ralsei has been shown to have some sort of Meta Awareness ->

Ralsei has gained this meta Awareness thanks to having a connection with Gaster.

Right, so that's my working theory right now. That's who has given Ralsei his awareness of the player and the mechanics of the game world.

Now, how does that affect Ralsei?

Circling back again to the start:

In universe, Ralsei might just be the personification of Kris' ideal self when they were young. We know at some point Kris stopped using their red horns, and from their reaction to Ralsei tea, we can sort of infer that Kris no longer likes that ideal self.

So Ralsei's original purpose has been discarded. He's no longer something Kris wants. As an item (red horns) or as an ideal. Big old existential void left there to be filled.

[This might also have been the reason Ralsei covered himself up with his hat in ch1. His explanation for it implies he was nervous Kris wouldn't like him. Of course he'd be nervous about it, Kris has already discarded him. He knows he might not be wanted]

Darkners whole purpose is to Serve Lightners. What are you meant to do when your own personal Jesus Lightner and Creator no longer wants you?

Well, I guess you compensate by becoming overly lovable. Ralsei is extremely devoted to Kris and Susie. More so Kris than Susie (he is insistent in Kris being their sole leader, and in letting others know Kris Is The Most Special One Of Them All with their power to close off fountains and all), but I think he figured that another way to make Kris happy is to make Susie happy (and after ch2, he seems to have come to appreciate Susie as she is).

Anyway, Ralsei seems to have trained himself to become the most endearing and charming he can be. All for the purpose to be helpful, useful to Lightners. To Kris. Or... To the Player?

Right. This is where the question of his meta awareness comes in.

Who is Ralsei more loyal to? Kris or the Player?

After the NEO fight, Ralsei is so QUICK to dismiss everything that happened, as if it really was nothing. Despite Kris being so scared and shaken about it.

He cares more about moving on. And perhaps not ruining the experience for The Player.

Then again, Ralsei does take the time to hug and comfort Kris in order to calm them down.

So maybe it's a bit of both. Ralsei wants to please the Player, but he also wants to be liked by Kris.

Perhaps Ralsei wants to help Kris become free of the influence of the Player by playing the long con until he can work out how to separate Kris from the Player's influence.

But also maybe he just really wants to make the Player's every wish come true. Darkners live to serve, so maybe he believes that Lightners are of a lower importance than the All Knowing All Seeing All Powerful Player?

(Gahh! Who do you like more Ralsei?! Lightners or the Player?!)

And also, if his connection to Gaster is a thing, does Gaster himself influence who Ralsei is becoming more loyal to? Has Gaster adviced Ralsei to become sweet as he can be so the Player can love him?

Has he told him to guide the Player through these dark worlds and make them have a Whimsical Fun Adventure?

Must Ralsei fulfill a narrative purpose as some sort of obligation?

Why is he keeping up the fiction of being a Prince? (His Kingdom had no subjects, his houses were made of cardboard to keep appearances-)

Did Gaster promise that by becoming a lovable NPC, then Ralsei would no longer have to be lonely after being discarded by Kris ?! Is that what's happening?! Is that why we, as the Player, are recruiting more Darkners from other worlds to fill Castle Town?

Also, Ralsei made rooms for Kris and Susie "so they can find refuge in them no matter what's going on in the outside world"

Like, a bunker? Is Ralsei trying to get them all to stay in Castle town forever so they can be saved after the apocalypse happens?

WHY DOES HE NAME CASTLE TOWN AS "PLAYER"TOWN ANYWAY ?!

Anyway This huge ramble is inconclusive for now because it basically boils down to "WHY is Ralsei the way he is" and until we don't get more chapters there's no way to get answers to that.

So, thanks for reading my Many, MANY thoughts about the Fluffy Boi.

#deltarune #having a normal one folks... 😔 ralsei worms in my mind #snaily blabber #long post

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yukidragon · 2 years

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Oh, right, the ask also wanted my thoughts on Gaster, Dess, Chara, Papyrus, and Father Alvin as potential knight candidates too. I guess I’ll give them here real quick, even though I kind of gave my opinion on who I think the knight is. Let’s start from least likely to most.

Papyrus has way too little information about him in either chapter to make him any sort of strong suspect. If he’s the knight, then he hasn’t really had hints dropped that direction.

Father Alvin is an unexpected choice for a knight, but I guess I can see why some people suspect him. I don’t think he’s been given a big enough role in the story to point us in that direction, but rather stuff related to him are more hinting at the knight in general.

Dess could be related to the knight, but I don’t personally think it’s her. Given the hints we’re given, Dess seems to be gone, likely dead. Did that have something to do with the knight? That’s possible. Noelle had a lot of importance in chapter 2, especially in the snowgrave route, so there’s something going on there. I suspect it more has to do with tragedy that has yet to be revealed that is going to add more context to the knight.

Chara most likely has something to do with the knight. Chara has an obvious connection to Kris. I’m pretty convinced by this point. If Kris is Chara, then Chara is, ergo, the knight given my theory. As I said in my previous post, Chara is definitely being alluded to by Kris. If Chara and Kris are separate entities though, then that changes things, but I still think there’d be a connection. I can’t rule out that in that scenario Chara could be the knight, but I think Kris is the much stronger candidate.

Gaster... I think he intended to be the knight, or something similar. I think that he intended to set up this big experiment in Deltarune that got hijacked, likely by the knight, AKA Kris. It’s entirely possible that if Kris didn’t take control, Gaster would be the one pulling the strings and making fountains... or something similar. We don’t have enough information about what Gaster wanted to do or what the knight really wants in the end after all...

Kris’ actions definitely remind me that we don’t have a choice in the final ending, and of Chara’s unforgettable quote, “Since when were you the one in control?

#Deltarune #Deltarune Spoilers #Gaster #Chara #Dess #Papyrus #something dark is lurking in the background #and that something may just be Chara #and their true motivations #both in Deltarune and in Undertale #definitely looking forward to future chapters

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peace-coast-island · 2 years

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Diary of a Junebug

Revisiting the past, reclaiming what was taken, and late night fishing

Long nights like these are perfect for summer fishing tourneys. Ruby crimson fish are in season right now so we’re building a nice haul of them. And as usual, I’ve been lagging behind in the competition, though to be honest, part of it’s because I’m lazy.

For some reason I prefer fishing late at night, especially during the summer when the sunlight stretches. I don’t know why, it just feels more chill fishing at night while at daytime, I just feel like there’s a bunch of other things I’d rather be doing.

Sophea’s visiting the camp, along with Nuvola, Mamoru, and Noelle. The four of them just came from an interesting case involving an informal will and preserving one’s dignity and privacy after death. From Sophea’s experience, carrying out the wishes of the deceased isn’t always as straightforward as it seems. At least in the end, everything worked out smoothly and hopefully Nuvola’s old friend can rest in peace knowing that her affairs are in order.

Before I get into that, let’s go back a little bit, to Mamoru and Noelle. Before joining forces with Sophea and Nuvola, they finally got around to doing something that has been on their mind for a long time - visiting their old hometown. So after they finished their assignment, they decided to take the opportunity to check things out before heading back since they were around the area. Mamoru suspects that Connie planned it to work out like that as he and Noelle have some spare time before heading home.

Mamoru and Noelle came from Windgarde, a place once known as a small fishing village. Now the village has grown and changed so much that it’s almost unrecognizable. Noelle lived there until she was three when her family moved to a nearby city for more opportunities. Though she doesn’t have a lot of memories of Windgarde, her family had lived there for generations so she has a connection to the village. Mamoru grew up there and hasn’t returned since moving to Sango over ten years ago after his mother passed.

So, as expected, a lot has happened over the last decade. The neighborhood where Noelle was born in no longer exists as it’s been replaced by a bunch of buildings. Mamoru was able to find his childhood home, but aside from some remnants of the old neighborhood, you’d think it was a completely different place. Around the time he left, things were starting to change drastically for the once humble fishing village, which was the main reason why he decided to leave and move overseas.

On one hand, it’s sad that Windgarde isn’t the same anymore, but it had been heading for that direction for a long time. Had it stayed a fishing village, it would’ve gone into decline and might eventually end up a ghost town. Also, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway as people were leaving, allowing developers to easily take over. While a few familiar places still stand, it won’t be long before they’re gone too. Noelle was understandably sad about it while Mamoru had accepted that the changes were inevitable, even if he didn’t entirely agree. He says that the Windgarde he knew wasn’t meant to have much of a future sticking to its old ways, If it wanted to stay relevant, it had to change - even if it meant abandoning its roots.

From how Mamoru explained the situation, it seems like a no win kind of thing. He described the old Windgarde as a charming village, a quiet and peaceful place where the days moved slowly - maybe a bit too slow, he said. Due to various reasons over the years the village went into decline, forcing many people to leave. Noelle’s father was a fisherman and her mother ran a cafe owned by the family for generations. Then the cafe had to go out of business and the fishing industry struggled, so the family had no choice but to move when times became tough. As fishing could no longer sustain the village, the future became uncertain for many, including Mamoru.

While it was sad that Windgarde they remembered is no longer there, Noelle and Mamoru said they’re glad that they stopped by. In a way I think it allowed them to get some closure by seeing the town one last time before it becomes completely unrecognizable and devoid of the charm it once had. Mamoru was able to catch up with some of his mother’s friends and reminisce a bit.

Good thing they have the memories - sometimes that’s all there’s left, so you gotta keep those close.

On the way back home, they crossed paths with Sophea and Nuvola and joined forces with them. Nuvola sought out Sophea to deal with a matter regarding a former colleague. There’s no official will but Kim left some directives in writing that’s close enough. Nothing too complicated, just a list of things to do regarding personal items, finances, and whatever else needs to be addressed. It should’ve been something easily handled by her family but if they had to get Sophea involved, then that meant the situation unexpectedly became complicated.

What happened was that Kim’s estranged ex-father managed to pawn off most of her belongings by breaking into her apartment and a storage unit. Apparently he was in some sort of trouble and needed money fast so as soon as he heard word of Kim’s passing, he jumped at the first opportunity to make a quick buck. To make matters worse, he found a diary of hers and sold it to a tabloid, turning a journal of mundane happenings into something questionable by twisting her words out of context.

According to Nuvola, it was a messy divorce and in the end the family didn’t want anything to do with him. The man had a record of threatening Kim and her brother in the past as well as those associated with them - Nuvola and Tsuki had a bad run in with him once - and according to Kim, he always held a grudge against her since the divorce. Some parent he is - with the way he treated Kim, he deserves the title of “ex”.

Aside from retrieving valuables and family heirlooms, the biggest issue is the diaries. Kim actually left some information specifically regarding her old diaries. In short, after the divorce, Kim and her mother moved to a town where a scandal later took place. Kim wasn’t directly involved but she was sorta dragged into it. She kept a detailed account of what happened, an outsider’s perspective that revealed the truth. Though the whole thing happened over a decade ago, there’s still some people out to get her. And if the tabloids get a hold of that information, they could easily stir up trouble and maybe even undo the entire case - which was why Nuvola and Sophea suspect why he sold he sought out a tabloid in the first place.

And it’s not just that - even without the potentially dangerous information getting twisted the whole thing in general is a blatant invasion of someone’s privacy. In other words, it’s just fucking disrespectful. I can’t believe someone would just go and release someone else’s personal information for cheap entertainment - and for what, to make a couple hundred bucks? To take out their grievances over someone who can no longer defend themselves? Seriously, what kind of satisfaction would anyone get out of this unless you just simply fucking hate their guts or something. And to do that to your own kid? Gee, I wonder why she wanted nothing to do with him.

No wonder Sophea and Nuvola were a bit ticked off by this case. I can’t imagine someone I know pulling something like that on me after I die - at least, I hope no one would ever think of doing something like that. Mamoru and Noelle were pretty mad about it too, so they offered their assistance. At least in the end, thankfully, everything went back to its rightful place and Kim’s dignity and privacy are kept intact.

The easy part was retrieving valuables that were sold off - the transactions were legal so there was nothing shady about that and the people who bought the items were understanding. Most were shocked when they learned about what happened and offered money to Kim’s family, but her brother and mother declined. Between the four of them, it didn’t take too long for them to get through everything.

As for the stuff in the storage unit, it seemed that Kim had been keeping up with the bills but hadn’t checked in on it for at least a couple years. There had been so much stuff to sort through so Sophea felt that there was a good chance he didn’t come across her old diaries yet. Since most of those items hadn’t been sold off yet, that meant they were all in one place. So the next step was to find out where they’re hidden.

Basically, the four of them went on a heist. Nuvola, being the writer, went into great detail about what happened. Sophea, the intrepid legal consultant, uses her sharp investigative skills to infiltrate a secret hideout and retrieve the stolen items. Assisting her on this assignment are Mamoru, a housekeeper whose specialty is “cleaning house”, and Noelle, an unsuspecting maiden who’s a jack of all trades. (Nuvola left herself out for creative reasons as being the narrator takes up a lot of space.) Together, the three of them managed to find valuable information on the culprit and used their wits to outsmart him.

After searching for a while - and cutting it super close - they managed to find Kim’s old diaries along with a safe full of important documents. The diary containing the potentially dangerous information is safe in the hands of the person Kim entrusted it to. As for the others, they are left with a friend as stated in Kim’s directives. Sophea personally made sure that every single book was retrieved so she can spare her friends and family the pain of him tearing down Kim again.

Once all of that was resolved, Sophea and Mamoru decided to have a little talk with the former parent of the deceased. Knowing how Sophea operates and exactly what kind of work Mamoru is involved in, it’s safe to say that they scared him off. At least unlike most enemies they have to deal with, he’s just some nobody with no power or influence, so there’s no worry of retaliation.

While this case isn’t much different from her usual line of work - in terms of stakes, it’s actually pretty low, she said - Sophea found it mildly infuriating. She mentioned before that civil disputes and messy divorces are two things she hates the most about her job as they expose the ugly side of humanity. And the whole thing with Kim served as a harsh reminder as to how cruel people can be.

Like she said, the human mind’s complicated so there’s no use wracking your brain trying to make sense of some of the things that people do no matter how nonsensical it seems. Honestly, with all the shit she has to deal with, it’s amazing that she still manages to see the good in people. I think more people should be like her, open minded and optimistic with a healthy dose of skepticism and sharp critical thinking skills.

Now that the whole thing’s over, Sophea and the others can finally sit back and relax. Sophea said she didn’t expect the case to hit that much of a nerve with her, making it one of the few occasions where an assignment left her emotionally drained. Nuvola regretted not keeping in touch with Kim over the years, so that’s why she was so determined to make sure her affairs were in order. Mamoru and Noelle were more than happy to help, and in a way, it kinda helped them come to terms with their old hometown no longer being the place they remembered.

Dealing with mortality really does open up your perspective on things. I can’t help but wonder about Kim and what she left behind. Even if you are well prepared for the end, I think there’s always something left unfinished or unresolved no matter how well you sort out your affairs. There’s always going to be unanswered questions, regrets, what-ifs, if only, what this, why that - that’s not necessarily a bad thing, that’s just how life is.

I know it probably seems strange pondering about your own mortality while in a fishing tourney. The others were kinda hesitant to talk in detail about the case at first because they were worried about bringing the mood down but we were fine with that. They needed to get some things off their chest and it actually led to some interesting discussions. I think the late night fishing sessions also helped us open up and share thoughts that we’d normally keep to ourselves.

#animal crossing #animal crossing pocket camp #Diary of a Junebug #headcanon ramble

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