My thoughts on the prophecy post chapter 3 & 4
Get ready for disorganized, non double-checked, and probably inaccurate ramblings concerning the Prophecy. Please feel free to factcheck me ofc!
Note- I use the Snowgrave Route to refer to the Weird Route. "Queer" is a blanket term for LGBTQ+ people.
Anyway, here's what I think will happen:
The normal route will break the prophecy, and the weird route will fulfill the prophecy.
From what I've seen, this actually isn't as popular of an opinion as I thought it'd be. Anyways, why do I think so?
First of all, Toby Fox's track record of queer characters.
First of all, in Undertale, there are a variety of implied queer or trans characters. Practically all of the ghost characters could be viewed as trans or gender non-conforming, especially Mad Mew Mew. The lion taking inspiration from Mettaton (another very non gender-conforming character) near the end of the game is also likely meant to be trans. And then, of course, how could anyone miss the blatant gay and lesbian representation from Alphyne and the two knights?
Then, in Deltarune, a variety of our main characters are queer. Noelle and Susie are sapphic at the very least. Kris is non-binary, or at least uses exclusively they/them. Rouxls is practically confirmed bisexual in the new chapter, as well as polyamorous with the Weather Duo (and Starwalker, sure). Spamtenna is... complicated, at best.
Now, why would this be relevant?
Well, queer people are constantly seen as the outliers of society, in a sense. We don't fit the mold, don't fit in with the identity that a cis-hetoronormative society has created for us. We break the prophecy that has been written by the "normal" people around us- so why would Toby Fox, an author who incudes a variety of fantastic queer stories within his works, write a story where the ending implies that the role that society provides to you- the "prophecy", if you will- is one that you must inevitably play, and one that cannot be subverted?
And then, of course, we go back to the Snowgrave route, and we see how the queer characters are twisted into something they very clearly aren't. Kris, a very likely non-binary character, is forced by the player into a very toxic heteronormative relationship with a character implied to be a lesbian- Noelle- that has previously been shown to be appalled at being the object of romantic interest for a man (though, to be fair, the man was Berdly, so...). Snowgrave, the spell that we force Noelle to use in the Snowgrave route, is a spell she doesn't know- a spell that's not part of her identity, in a sense, in the way it isn't meant to be part of her moveset. The way we force the spell onto Noelle, through the Thorn Ring, actively hurts her. The Snowgrave Route erases identity, especially queer identity, the same way that society at large tends to do to queer people growing up.
The Snowgrave Route erases queer identity in the same way society does, and the Prophecy erases the character's freedom in the same way society erases queer identities.
Second of all, it's worth noting the Prophecy's connection to religion.
Please note that I was raised atheist and have no relationship with religion or religious trauma, so I might get things wrong.
Religion has long been used to enforce specific doctrines and beliefs onto the children that grow up within its ranks. i have personally seen countless stories online of queer people that either became disillusioned with religion after realizing their queer identities, or were forcibly ostracized from their own religion upon coming out. Hell, some people go as far as justifying their crimes using their religious doctrine- take the countries in the Middle East that enforce the death penalty for homosexuality, for example, under the guise of religious justification.
Religion can be a good thing in some circumstances, of course. In Deltarune itself, we see the religion of Hometown form a community within the town. Church is shown to be an integral part of the childhoods of multiple characters. Gerson's books are written using inspiration from the Prophecy.
But that doesn't negate the role religion often plays in society as a whole. For many places, religion is the moral justification and the social standard. It enforces the people its followers become and encourages the specific, often heteronormative roles they must play.
And what is the religion of Hometown? The Prophecy.
It's actually worth noting, in this case, that Gerson specifically tells Susie that she would play the role of the dragon in Lord of the Hammer, not the hero. The antagonist in a Prophecy inspired narrative, not the protagonist- as religious people often view queer people (like Susie) to be.
But IDK, isn't the Snowgrave Route all about breaking the code?
There's a reason queer people often refer to their queerness as their identity.
Queerness is immutable and integral to someone's existence. If I could choose not to be queer, I probably wouldn't've ever been queer in the first place, but I'm still here. I can't just choose to be cisgender, because queerness isn't a choice. It's just how my psyche works, and that isn't something that just changes.
This is all my interpretation, of course, but there's an argument to be made that the code itself is the identity of Deltarune, the story, the game. Just like my psyche, the code of Deltarune is immutable and dictates how it functions on a fundamental level.
The Snowgrave Route, just as it overrides the identity of the characters, attempts to override the game's programming. Its identity.
And perhaps the most ironic thing is that the Snowgrave route will never be able to erase the programming that creates the Normal Route- the route where the characters (i predict) will subvert the prophecy and live out their queer identities, just as queer identities themselves are impossible to erase, no matter how much outside influences try.
And like, come on, we all know what happened in Undertale with "it's kill or be killed", right?
Anyway, you should watch Why Kris Being Nonbinary Matters because it's a really good video and everyone should watch it, in my opinion.
Remember, this is all just my thoughts! Toby Fox might prove me wrong, and my interpretation isn't universal.
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