Hi every !... it seems I wrote a "Masterdoc" for "spam tenna"
you can read it here!
There is certainly a lot of information about them online already, but there doesn't appear to be any one single spot with Everything, nor do most of them contain in-depth analyses.. so i thought i would do it myself, just for my own sanity, since a lot of their canonical information can be obscure.
It will go over both basic/well-known information, and also some things i've never really seen anyone talk about.. so if you're interested, or don't know a lot about them and want to know more than you would ever need to know... maybe give it a read!
these are just my own interpretations, you can disagree with it all you want!
Some snippets 👇 my this
i love these lines so much it's like one of the few times Tenna talks out of his stage persona character. hashtag his bitchiness. hashtag his passive aggression. do you think his internal monologue is like this
and then this one is from the bonus round board that got cut from chap 3. 🫵 SELF CENSORSHIP EVIDENCE
Susie is, and was always meant to be, The Girl from Deltarune's prophecy
I've seen a lot of people who believe that "The Girl" was meant to be somebody else- particularly, Noelle. To be blunt, this is false, and I'm tired of seeing this interpretation pop up everywhere. I can understand how one could come to this conclusion initially- hell, I used to believe this theory- but when you look at all the evidence, it just doesn't line up whatsoever. So let's get into why.
First off, let's tackle the big one.
THE SECOND HERO.
THE GIRL, WITH HOPE CROSSED ON HER HEART.
I'm gonna tackle this one argument at a time, so...
"The silohuette looks nothing like Susie!"
I mean... eh? I can see the point being made here, but... would you really say this looks more like Noelle?? The silohuette is vague in general, and hardly resembles either of them, to be honest - but if I had to pick one of them, the hair at the back reminds me more of Susie - it's much spikier, more reminiscent of Susie's hair than Noelle's.
Apparently some people think that the hair is angel wings? I can... kinda see it, but, like... let's take a look at another prophecy panel for a moment.
The hero on the left here looks very much like Susie. The silohuette evokes specifically her hairstyle- Noelle's hair just doesn't look like that whatsoever, there's clearly no wings in sight, and the silohuette also lacks antlers. And they can't be wearing a hood, like the White Mage does in MAN'T'LE - that's clearly hair.
Plus, Kris's silohuette is accurate to their appearance, and Ralsei's is accurate to how the prophecy typically depicts him, always with his cloak, so I don't see any reason for The Girl's silohuette to just... randomly be wrong here, if it's meant to be Noelle.
"The Girl is wielding a sword! Susie can't wield swords, but Noelle can!"
Alright then, let's see what swords Noelle can equip!
Jingle Blade - Light World: Holiday Pencil
Black Shard - Light World: Black Shard
So, we have... literally her pencil, which isn't exactly strong evidence, and... the Black Shard. Now, let's look at the description for the Black Shard real quick...
"dagger-like", huh? That doesn't sound much like a sword to me... plus, it's also... not that big. Or sword-shaped. It's... kinda just shaped like a piece of glass. Now, where did we get the Black Shard again?
The Roaring Knight, who- regardless of which of the two candidates you're rooting for- is 100% a Holiday. With this in mind, along with the Black Shard's description, I think you can understand why I don't think The Girl wielding a sword is very strong evidence towards The Girl being Noelle.
But the silohuette still wields a sword, not an axe, which is quite interesting... but I think people are looking at it from the wrong angle here. Let's think about this a different way; Here, take some dialogue from Gerson's fight.
This comment about the "white pen, known as hope" intrigues me, because... well, as Susie says herself, Kris has the pen, and... hm. What do Kris's weapons become in the Light World, again? Let's go through one by one.
Pencil -> Wood Blade
Halloween Pencil -> Spooky Sword
Lucky Pencil -> Trefoil (UNUSED)
Eraser -> Bounce Blade
Mechanical Pencil -> Mecha Saber
Cactus Needle -> Saber 10
Quill Pen -> Winglade
Holiday Pencil -> Jingle Blade
Black Shard -> Black Shard
Even if you don't count the Trefoil, there's clearly a pattern here - most of Kris's weapons, which are all swords, are writing equipment - with the majority just being pens and pencils outright! Now, this is purely speculative...
But it would be really fucking cool and thematically appropriate if Susie got her hands on some sort of pen at some point, and then in the Dark World, it turns into a sword only she can equip, right??? Like- that'd be really fucking cool!! And also extremely appropriate & relevant to the game's themes!!!
But, admittedly, that is just speculation. You don't need to take my word for it - but I do think that using the fact that The Girl wields a sword as evidence that it's meant to be depicting Noelle is... a very shaky argument.
"The Girl is mentioned as both the second, and then as the last! That means there's two The Girls!"
Putting aside how needlessly obtuse the idea of there being two "The Girls" is- two people referred to by the exact same identifier... I don't have a not-incredibly-blunt way to put this-
It's a POEM.
Like- let's take a look at these prophecies, in the order they appear in-game.
THE THIRD HERO, THE PRINCE, ALONE IN DEEPEST DARK.
THE FIRST HERO, THE CAGE, WITH HUMAN SOUL AND PARTS!
AND LAST, WAS THE GIRL. AT LAST, WAS THE GIRL.
THE SECOND HERO, THE GIRL, WITH HOPE CROSSED ON HER HEART.
It's a poem! And, considering the third panel, it looks like this poem follows the order they joined the party.
Ralsei first, since he uh. IDFK, had the prophecy beamed into his brain at birth or smth???
Then Kris, as we/them immediately join up with Ralsei when we first meet him.
And then Susie, who sort of joins our party twice - and the first time hardly even counts, considering that she refuses to listen to us and then joins the bad guys - she's by far the last to join the party, only truly working with us after her fight with Lancer in the prison.
They're "out of order" in the sense that it doesn't go 1-2-3, yes, but it's deliberate - maybe that's in part because of Susie's Dark World being topsy-turvy, but I don't think that means there's suddenly two "The Girls".
...and with that said, I feel the need to mention that the image for-
AND LAST, WAS THE GIRL. AT LAST, WAS THE GIRL.
-is literally just Rude Buster. Like- that's just Rude Buster. Sure, you could argue that it's also the act symbol, but the act symbol is never really referenced outside of the UI & characters talking about the UI, as far as I remember. Rude Buster, on the other hand...
...is literally used for the pattern on Susie's carpet. And you can't argue that this one is the act symbol, because... it's Susie's room. It's clearly meant to be Rude Buster...
Now- what does Noelle have to do with that symbol, if The Girl is meant to be her? Regardless of whether it's meant to be Rude Buster or the act icon, how does that relate to Noelle?? She has nothing to do with either of those things- hell, Susie even has a stronger relation to ACTing than Noelle does, what with her being the one to prompt S-Action & R-Action to exist. Now, to move onto my next point.
LOVE FINDS ITS WAY TO THE GIRL.
This prophecy! So- people think this might be referring to the Weird Route, and how "LOVE" - that is, Level Of ViolencE - will "find its way" to Noelle... but, like.
The weird route is explictly anti-prophecy.
Ralsei freaks out a bit when the ferris wheel scene doesn't happen, he literally tells you he thinks taking Noelle to the festival is "a bad decision" specifically on the weird route, and...
I think this dialogue speaks for itself. Though, some context: This dialogue is spoken by Ralsei if you tell him it's okay to not smile... specifically on the weird route. It's, like- the most blatant foreshadowing ever.
...also I don't know why everyone tries to make this panel about LOVE when that's not been a plot-point so far in Deltarune and the regular meaning of this panel would apply to Noelle on all routes anyway.
(Even weird route... in a much more unfortunate manner.)
THE GIRL, WITH HOPE CROSSED ON HER HEART.
Now, I want to talk about this for a moment- the way the prophecy describes The Girl here: with hope crossed on her heart. Hope. Real quick, I'm gonna go through a bunch of mentions of "hope" in the game to prove a point - not every mention, but any that might be relevant.
I'll circle back to this one later, because I just realised something about this- just keep it in mind.
wow, it took way longer than i expected to find a thematically relevant example of "hope"...
So! This scene- it's a really big moment. We get a huge loredrop on Susie's backstory, and rather pointedly- she talks about hope, and it's the first time we get a really relevant mention of "hope" as a theme- and it's Susie who drops it. She talks about how Toriel gave her hope- and how that hope has been growing as she makes friends- and she says all this to Tenna, who's in a similar spot to the one she was in before...
...and it inspires hope in him, too. Her speech- her empathy & sympathy, and her offer to find him a new home- it gives him hope. Hope that he won't be thrown away- that he can find a new home, that he can be used and be happy again... and it's all thanks to Susie.
I've not really got much to say for this one, TBH- I think it just speaks for itself. IDK, words hard sometimes.
I brought this one up earlier, but I think it's relevant here, too- Gerson specifically believes Susie has the "white pen of hope"- the power to change fate, to change the ending and write her own- and he calls it hope. I think that's important.
I'm bringing up this Seam dialogue because, for most people, Susie- and her Rude Buster- is the only reason you could even touch the Roaring Knight. It's thanks to her that you could get that crystal - without her, you'd be shit outta luck.
(That is, unless you're extraordinarily cracked at the game, but I'm not considering that edge case...)
So, you could say, indirectly, Susie's inspired hope in Seam, too.
I saved this one for last on purpose, because I think it's the most poignant.
Ralsei directly talks about how Susie's hope is "infectious"- her bright, shining hope, it's spreading, it's giving Ralsei hope, too. Hope that the ending can be changed- that the final tragedy can be averted, despite everything- despite the fact that the prophecy has yet to change. I've got something to say regarding that, actually- but I wanna finish this train of thought first.
So, Susie has a very clear connection to hope- even in Chapter 3, before the prophecy is in the picture, she establishes herself as a person full of hope- a person that inspires hope in others. Now, what connection does Noelle have with hope? What are her thematic ties to the idea and feeling of hope?
...
She, uh. She doesn't really... have any. Like- she mentions hope... once??
Like- Alphys and Hathy have more text connecting them to hope (or, the word hope) than this. Noelle really just- doesn't have any narrative association with hope like Susie does, which I think is a big point against Noelle being The Girl, considering that "with hope crossed on her heart" is the way the prophecy defines The Girl.
Now- to circle back to that text from the legend real quick, I had a thought about that! So- it says it's a legend of hope and dreams. Light and dark. Hope and light on the left, dark and dreams on the right. This is a complete tangent and probably doesn't mean much, but- dark worlds are already associated with dreams, and what with Susie's connection with hope, and how she's a lightner... I dunno. I just think it's neat that it lines up like that, Gyaa Ha ha!
THE PROPHECY HAS NOT CHANGED YET
Alright so I really need to address this point- the prophecy has not changed. Ralsei makes a point of this multiple times during Chapter 4, and even the shadow crystals support this idea.
Now, assuming Noelle was meant to be The Girl, and that Susie took her spot... I don't think Ralsei's mindset here makes much sense. After all, that would mean that the prophecy was already changed- and in quite a significant way, too. Like- one of the three heroes just being replaced?! That's huge! Ralsei would totally freak out about that the moment he saw us in Castle Town for the first time if it was true!
Some people try to argue that Ralsei just- wouldn't know that Susie isn't meant to be The Girl, but I don't think that's right. Ralsei knows the prophecy in full- every last detail- and he knows Susie by name when he first sees her.
I think that's quite relevant- he recognises her appearance, calls her by name before she introduces herself, and is confident that she's one of the three heroes. Not once is he like "uh- okay then i guess i'll go with this-" or anything like that- and he has not once expressed that this is wrong.
Also- frankly, the idea that the prophecy has already changed is a weak idea that wouldn't serve the story well. On first glance, yeah- cool, Susie broke it by being Susie from the get-go, cool, go Susie! But when you look at it more deeply, it's... kinda just a weak plot point?
This overbearing force,
This prophecy which forces the hand of fate,
This antagonistic force that's being built up to be broken at the end of the game...
yeah susie already broke/bent it in hour 1 lmao, its actually entirely worthless
Like. It just... doesn't really serve the story very well. At all. If Susie wasn't meant to be The Girl. Susie hypes up the prophecy because she's in it- it seems cool! She's finally- part of something, and it's something massive- she's a HERO! And then, as she learns more, she loses faith in the prophecy, even despite that- she calls it stupid. She forsakes it, and swears to defy it.
I think that arc would kinda be ruined a bit if it turned out that she wasn't meant to be part of the prophecy in the first place.
Additionally- I'd like to provide a quote from @ liz_x51 on Discord about this, she put it really well:
The idea of "we need to change the prophecy but it has never been done. We don't even know if it's possible" is kind of undermined if it either has a lot of ways to interpret it already (that's already a form of 'change') or if it's already changed from the beginning of the game by Susie being a hero
NOELLE & SUSIE ARE DIFFERENT PEOPLE
While trying to think of any more Girlelle points to debunk, I realised another reason why The Girl can't have been intended to be anyone other than Susie- and especially why it can't have been Noelle:
Are you really trying to tell me that swapping Noelle out for Susie wouldn't immediately change fate?
Those two are nothing alike- there is no way in hell they'd make the same choices, that they'd follow the prophecy all the same- especially with how specific the prophecy is!
Like- yes, these are all jokes- but they're also examples of how specific the prophecy is, and I don't believe these are meant to be random, throw-away exceptions- I think they are specifically meant to show us how specific the prophecy is- how it captures every event.
And, with that in mind... are you really telling me Chapter 1 would play out exactly the same if you swapped Susie for Noelle? Really?? The chapter would diverge in the first 10 minutes of the dark world! Like- I think this is something nobody really thinks about when talking about this theory- there is no way the plot would happen the exact same with Noelle in place of Susie. That just wouldn't happen.
"Ralsei says Susie is supposed to equip ribbons, so he isn't really very reliable."
...and Susie can equip ribbons. She just doesn't, because she doesn't want to. I think "supposed to" is just a case of weird phrasing from Ralsei.
While I'm on this topic- there's some dialogue I think is relevant.
Susie asks about Noelle, and Ralsei's first thought- which takes him a moment, mind you, considering the "Umm..." - is what items she can equip. I think that's quite a striking indicator that she's not very relevant to the prophecy - at least, not in a way Ralsei could identify her with. (There's still hope for y'all, Angel Noelle truthers.)
If Noelle was meant to be The Girl, this would be the perfect moment for Ralsei to mention that, no? This is right after he said he'd be more honest with the party- that he'd stop hiding so many things from them- and he is being explicitly asked about Noelle. This would be THE perfect moment for that loredrop!
But it doesn't happen, and I think that says enough.
This is where I'd put my closing thoughts... if I, uh. Had any. But, uh, I got nothin'. There's one The Girl, and her name is Susie [Lastname], not Noelle Holiday or any other name. If I forgot to debunk any points about Girlelle, I'll edit the post with those, I guess. But. Yeah. That's it. That's the post. go home
Been thinking about the Ultimates system in Tetro Danganronpa.
In the original Danganronpa franchise, the term "Ultimate" holds a lot of weight. Hope's Peak Academy is known worldwide as the ultimate (haha) authority on talent recognition. You cannot apply to Hope's Peak, they have to notice and scout you. And if you are scouted, you will be set for life. When you look at the characters in Danganronpa, you see that they are almost superhumans. Akane Owari is seen being able to climb the facade of the school all the way to the top in the anime, Nagito Komaeda's luck is straight-up supernatural, Miu Iruma is shown to be able to create and build cutting edge inventions in just a few days, Mukuro Ikusaba is a literal child soldier who was never once injured in battle.
In Tetro however, the students are not literally the best in the world at what they do. Isono Miki is not literally the best Internet Idol, Tamba is not literally the best Gymnast.
In the original Japanese version of Danganronpa, the students are not called Ultimates but Super High School Levels. And I believe this term works best for the Tetro students. Ojima is not the Ultimate Illustrator, but the Super High School Level Illustrator. Nakamigawa is not the Ultimate Designer, but the Super High School Level Designer.
In the original Danganronpa, the board only selects students based on their talent. Everything else about them doesn't matter. The scientists in Tetro chose the students because they are often the embodiments of trauma. And thus, will create more drama. Most of them are traumatised queer teenagers with a lot of insecurities and skeletons in their closets and they took that into account first. Their talents are just a bonus.
I've been following @druidposting's DR2 playthrough on discord and we just had a really good discussion about DR's Closing Arguments. Specifically the way the murderer is depicted as grey and featureless, which until now I found a bit annoying.
In Danganronpa it's repeatedly the case that we don't have the full picture until the talking actually stops- which always goes beyond the end of the trial. We generally vote first and come to understand what the murderer's actual motive was, sometimes filling in important pieces of the timeline in the process, afterwards.
But none of that matters for the killing game because characters' emotions aren't directly relevant to who was the 'blackened'- the only thing that matters to Monokuma- so it comes out afterwards and does nothing to change their execution. It doesn't matter how sympathetic they are (basically everyone) or whether other people share responsibility for the situation (eg. Hanamura, Pekoyama, Momota) or whether they intended to murder at all (Nanami). They objectively pulled the trigger and nothing else matters. Nothing about them as a person matters.
The Closing Argument mechanic might illustrate that problem- literally. They're a dramatic, conclusive summary of the entire case... constructed before the vote even happens, before we know if we're actually right, and they're missing something really important:
The actual perpetrator.
We quite literally don't even begin to see the real person behind the crime, any real exploration of their mental state, anything besides the cold, hard facts of the murder that are necessary to convict them, until the comic finishes and the protagonist makes their final accusation- replacing the grey figure with their real appearance in a shot that's often intensely emotional.
And these comics lack crucial parts of the case's timeline and sometimes important parts of the very scenes they depict that we only find out about afterwards. And those are what we know; characters may die with some pieces of the truth and prevent us from ever learning them. These aren't objective depictions of the murder, they're the protagonist's subjective attempt to connect the facts they have. A join-the-dots portrait of someone with missing dots and no colour.
Even characters' expressions may not match how they truly feel, with the grey placeholder potentially looking way more confident and sinister than they were in reality. Pasting Falter's commentary here since they put it well.
For obvious reasons this could especially be a problem for characters that die before the trial- the ones we never get a post-vote testimony from. DR1 chapter 4 really highlighted that in the way Asahina's huge misinterpretation of Oogami's feelings took up a lot of the post-trial discussion, only for Monokuma to reveal Oogami's real suicide note and recontextualise everything.
It might really be a problem for how Komaeda's depicted in DR2 chapter 5. While he isn't greyed out, we get panel after panel where he's either level-headed or maniacally evil, and even the depictions of his self-torture and death don't humanise him:
But we know that his real feelings were more complicated than that. We have his actual corpse to compare the last page to.
He died afraid.
If we approach the comic as Hinata's mental image of him instead of reality, he died without anyone truly understanding him. He was alarming, very hard to relate to, actively fought against people doing so, ensured even the killer didn't watch him die, and the survivors couldn't begin to understand his motive until a chapter later. The Closing Argument reflects that.
Early in DR1 Togami calls out the rest of his class for judging others by their own standards. However, he, too, is doing this, maybe more so than many other characters; his inability to view other people through anything but the cold, brutal logic of the killing game bites him in the ass in chapter 4. In DR2 chapter 2 voting without a good understanding of Pekoyama's motive or Kuzuryuu's involvement nearly got everyone killed. Komaeda's a walking embodiment of the problems with flattening people into caricatures and not empathising with them, suffered from people doing that back to him, and his case- the Closing Argument for which turned everyone else into grey placeholders- was impossible to solve with objective facts. It was only survivable because the survivors cooperated and one person tried to analyse things the way he would.
The games have always been a critique of the justice system and Japanese society and push us to care about others as individuals, not reduce them to- and judge their right to exist by- something they've done or their net impact on society. There are always consequences when someone neglects to do that, and the above might be yet another way the games explore that theme.
“In memoriam” is a scene depicted in chapter three of tetro danganronpa Blue. It features the two victims of that chapter shortly before their deaths, and gives insight into the thoughts and motivations of both characters throughout the chapter and going into their demise. Mainly, it shows Yaitabashi Sou and Kumada Erina’s feelings towards each other and their current situation.
(Admittedly large essay below read-more)
(Please skip the following two paragraphs if you don't care for recaps.)
The scene “In Memoriam” requires a bit of background to understand; it takes place after Yaitabashi has taken multiple torturous punishments as directed by the motive. These punishments, prolonged over the course of the chapter, were all taken voluntarily, however Yaitabashi eventually reaches his breaking point when next punishment is stated to be lobotomy and expresses a fervent desire to die to avoid further pain, both out of self-hatred and fear of the punishments. While this happens, Kumada has spent the entire chapter searching for an escape route that doesn't involve the game even at the risk of her own life, continuously claiming she's going to die in the killing game if she continues to participate. The morning before the scene takes place, Kumada states that if she does not escape by that night, she will die in the killing game.
The scene begins with Kumada knocking on Yaitabashi’s door, checking in on him after his breakdown earlier that day. Yaitabashi, who has again isolated himself in his room, initially claims he's alright, but can't seem to hold back when pressed and begins to cry and rant about the motive, saying he doesn't know what to do, and revealing that his motivation for volunteering for the past punishments were to protect Kumada and Ikeda. However, when faced with the current punishment, he desperately wants an escape–torn between a desire to keep his classmates from voting the two, and not wanting to endure any more pain. Kumada comforts him by reminding him of their friend, Mutsuko, who would have wanted him to live, and assuring him everything will work out, before making him promise to stay alive and be present the next morning. Yaitabashi promises, and Kumada leaves with a request that if the two don't see each other again, Yaitabashi should take care of and prioritise his own life before any others.
Beginning with the obvious, this scene displays a care both Kumada and Yaitabashi hold for each other even after they've become estranged. Throughout the scene Yaitabashi refers to Kumada as ‘Erina’ multiple times, something he hasn't done since she participated in Nishiguchi’s death. He chose to take punishments in an effort to protect her despite her past actions and his inability to forgive her, going so far as to consider taking a lobotomy to prevent her from suffering the same fate; though he did ultimately break down at this point and reach his limit. On the other hand, Kumada’s care is much less dramatically shown but no less relevant. After Yaitabashi breaks down in front of multiple people and expresses suicidal sentiments, he’s implied to have been left alone in his room for hours. Despite having a growing friendship with Ikeda and being liked by the entire cast, he is nonetheless isolated from them without any close or trusted friends. The only person who checked in on him or successfully comforted him was Kumada, making him promise not to follow through on his statements and wanting him to protect himself. Even though Kumada has continuously pushed people away and been irritable throughout the chapter, she's incredibly soft and empathetic towards Yaitabashi in this scene, showing a side of her unseen since the first chapter. Yaitabashi’s willingness to open up to Kumada and Kumada’s desire to comfort him after the fact suggest that in spite of everything, they likely remain the most important people to each other in the wake of Nishiguchi's death.
This is also relevant to Yaitabashi’s individual character. As someone with a deep sense of pride and independence, it's been shown that he dislikes being coddled and is very capable, especially at his age. This scene shows the other side of that coin–Yaitabashi’s habit of isolating when faced with intolerable stress. This was shown when he isolated inside his room after Nishiguchi’s death, only leaving when faced with Tei’s disappearance and refusing to talk about his feelings, and again in chapter three when he tried to get Kumada to leave and insisted he was fine despite undoubtedly needing someone to talk to. Yaitabashi is a very independent character, and it shows both in his capability and his struggle to be vulnerable with others.
Moving on, while Yaitabashi states his motivations openly in this scene, Kumada does not. However, that doesn't mean her motivations aren't relevant or notable–in fact, they likely shape the chapter. As stated previously, Kumada has set an odd deadline for herself in escaping the building– if she doesn't escape by that night, she won't escape at all. Furthermore, she nearly died multiple times trying to find an exit both in the elevator and the vent, so it's not like she's become unmotivated or suddenly afraid of getting killed any more than if she stays. With this mindset, her actions in the scene become much more distressing.
Kumada comforts Yaitabashi at first by insisting that he cant allow himself to die, invoking Nishiguchi to stress her point. She goes on to promise him everything will work out, and asks him to stay alive until the next morning, not leaving until he promises despite not making any promises herself. As she's leaving, she outright suggests she won't be alive the next morning and asks Yaitabashi to protect himself, and only himself. These events, while odd in isolation, paint a rather alarming picture; Kumada is going to kill herself.
This might seem out of character, but it actually makes a decent amount of sense.
Firstly, Kumada has been slowly losing hope throughout the chapter. She can't find an escape route and seems confident she's going to die as a result. She says this herself multiples times the day before, and has at this point reached her self-imposed deadline on escape. It's incredibly unlikely she’d accept either being voted for or Yaitabashi being voted for again given how she asked him to prioritize himself; which can only mean she either needs someone else to get voted, or someone to die.
Secondly, Kumada's statements in the scene are incredibly concerning when viewed with objectivity. She first seems to struggle with a reason Yaitabashi can't kill himself, simply repeating “you can't just die”. When she does find a reason for him to live in Nishiguchi, she insists he doesn't want to meet Nishiguchi in the afterlife with a tentative tone– an incredibly odd statement, unless she was projecting her own thoughts in this moment. Kumada has expressed extreme guilt over her role in Nishiguchi's death, and stated repeatedly that she considered Nishiguchi a genuine friend, so it's not unlikely she herself might wish for a chance to apologize to Nishiguchi. She even continues to call her Mutsuko in this scene, Nishiguchi's first name.
Third, Yaitabashi’s promise to Kumada, where she insists he promise her he'll be alive in the morning but doesn't make the same promise herself. Why would she insist he promise to ‘be there’ in the morning, rather than staying by his side until then or promising to see him again in the morning?
Leading to her parting statement, asking Yaitabashi to take care of himself “in case I don't see you again.” While she claims it's just a gut feeling, it's very obvious she’s saying this because she expects to die. This is Kumada saying goodbye, but she has no reason to do that unless she is both expecting and willing to die. If Kumada only feared dying, she would not make that statement with the casualness she did.
The final nail in the coffin is the manner of her death. Many people have claimed that Kumada dying in a knife-fight to Shishikura doesn't make sense, considering the difference in strength between the two. Even if he caught her by surprise and somehow managed to stab her without her shoving him away and fighting back, even if she somehow forgot to lock the door despite her extreme paranoia, she would still likely do serious damage to him before he could take her out. So how did he kill her? The easiest explanation is that she didn't fight back. The most likely answer; Kumada, when faced with a way to die in a relatively quick manner and protect her friend, didn't put effort into stopping it.
In the end, this is all just speculation. Kumada could truly have been plain murdered by shishikura, no suicidal intentions involved, given he was fully recovered from his prior illness and a few inches taller than her. Yaitabashi’s vulnerability and sacrifices, while rather telling, don’t automatically mean that he still liked Kumada so much as he still felt loyal to her. However, these are my takeaways on the released episode “In Memoriam” from tetro danganronpa. What do you think?
Heard Andrew Cunningham was releasing his symbolismgem video soon(listen to his last stream) and that made me think about heaven and the how light works in DELTARUNE and here are my crazy ideas I just made while sleep deprived. I always thought it was weird the angel had to be banished like what’s the in-lore reason? I can get it on a thematic level with playerangel (And I am a trinity angel believer) but is there a reason for it in the story?
Fiction/Reality: This is the obvious reading of the relationship. This has been talked about much better by others and it’s already been talked about alot so I'll skip this one
Shadows/Objects: This has been one way of viewing how darkners function I have seen. The darkners act similar to Plato’s cave where they are just shadows of objects are given life and the objects that they originate from exist on a "higher plane" to them. This is moreso a space filler but still felt like I should mention it.
HELL/HEAVEN: Hell has been connected to darkness since Gaster the darkness king has the 666 connections, "HELLS ROAR BUBBLES FROM THE DEPTHS" and with the angel/heaven being connected to light it makes sense HELL is connected to darkness
Sensory Deprivation/Overestimation: This the first "opposite" idea I had. Ralsei's description of dark worlds in ch3 made them sound very similar to what happens when you are deprived of your senses. When you "lose"/block your senses for long enough in our world your mind can "make" images/sounds to keep itself stimulated. Dark worlds are like the fantasy version of that. So, what would the opposite be? What would happen if things became too real? Well, I my first thought was that the game would take the "eldritch" approach where it is too much information for the mind to handle so the mind won't be able to properly understand/comprehend it. While darkners do interact with the light world just fine which might make the whole “too hard to comprehend angle” weak it makes me think angelic/holy beings will not follow the conventional rules of deltarune's world like Winglade's for example its textbox being different. And the angel prophecy panel being unsettling. The angel will be something otherworldly that’s why it needs banishment
Dreams/Waking: Dark worlds have been likened to dreams for a while with Kris waking up in ch4 and the whole Noelle and Berdly lie and the whole Eram(nightmare) Zelda connections. The Mizzles the water creatures are called sleepy. And once the "dream" ends we wake up to the real world. During dreams we believe them to be real but once we "wake up" we realize it wasn't real. This could be likened to immersion.
Eyes open and closed: "In this land, only eyes blinded by darkness can see the way" this relates to the dreaming idea aswell but this puzzle shows when we close our eyes more matter shows up. During the Titan climb when the eyes are closed more darkness is made pouring out. And Winglade has a wide eye open in its centre and hell it even says "Open your eyes Open your eyes" ofc this could just be revolution talk but it could have a double meaning
Life/Death: The dark fountains are referred to things that give the world "life/form" so darkness creates life. But when we use light to close the fountains, we are technically removing the "life" from the darkners. While they remember their time as objects they still don't have as much "form" as lightners do. This could suggest that light as a force removes the "life"/form from an object.
BUBBLE/Ring-Revolution-Ripple: The darkness plumes look like bubbles and it's much more clear in the Titan fight and again the HELL'S ROAR quote. The angel prophecy has a ring/halo, winglade greets wit "halo" and its text spins in a ring. And ripples are able to "cut" through the darkness allowing us to see again via echoes during the darkness segment and the ripples are halo shaped (this is weak but it’s connected to the sound point). On a later point, Gerson an author Gerson who writes stories talks about a song from the see and that being the hammer of justice which is him with his hammers representative of his desires for Susie break the prophecy and write a new story while the sound of justice is alien and silent and only leaves destruction in its wake and ripples(Also note how this boss mainly uses a sound based indication attack another tie to angelic imagery). The bells of justice are ringing and Susie made a darkner from their sound. And revolving is connected to the angel by winglade and Jevil's theme. "THE WORLD REVOLVING" is referring to Jevil's delusion of him being above others and the world revolves around him while thi isn't true for him its true for the angel. They are the main figure of the symbol and the 2016 deltarune website image makes mention of the angel's heaven, and when we disconnect from the game the world ends.
Lies/Truth: This is just moreso just repeating the earlier points but I felt I should put it here to feel more complete.
Sight/Hearing: "THEY'LL SEE THE TAIL OF HELL TAKE CRAWL." "THEY'LL HEAR THE RING OF HEAVEN'S CALL."/Organik: "Listen! The song of legend plays. Amen" Yeah this is weak but I feel like it's gotta mean something.
Silence/Bells-Sound: Bells ring and toll and the ring ps4 achievement can be gotten by ringing the bells and the light has been already connected to rings and halos so I feel like silence makes sense with darkness with the ch4 segments being linked to silence. And bell sounds ringing light our way. The starwalker bird thing from ch1 also is brought down by the bell (and it shoots stars).
Creation/Destruction: This might be less popular and more weak point as the Titans are seemingly embodiments of destruction but I think it could be more complex than that. First darkness creates and light takes away we have pointed this out already. But I have 2 ways of looking at it the Titans are the repressed fears within the back of a person's mind that’s why they so massive they are literally too "big" for a person to handle so the person themselves hides it away at the back of their mind and they seek destruction as a way as retribution against the world as they are darkners based on true hatred. But another way to look at starts with a question, now why does the Titan have light imagery? I think the wings is just the Titan taking the shape of the angel as it is mentioned in its act it can take multiple forms in its act and the thing the heroes fear in the chapter is the prophecy and that is about the angel. Also, the titans in the dark truth scene only have the star eyes. The star in its face is seemingly the only thing consistent with Ralsei's telling of the roaring which I think could imply the Titans are fallen angels/stars that’s why they cry during hatching they were forced into this role without choice due to the prophecy. And stars are connected to the player's save point and stars are lights in the sky. But alot of this is just speculation idfk about the titan star imagery yet. Now one might mention the “Revive Kris” act has holy light and while yeah that’s sorta true I see it more so the light showing you the artificiality/fakeness of the situation (dark world) allowing yourself to heal yourself via the belief of you are fine. (This is hella weak but I gotta try) Are likelier conclusion is that light has a hope connection. Also, a Winglade and Wiccabel destroy a piano in 3rd sanctuary which could be part of the revolution thing but I think its deeper with the idea of “tearing things down”
Water/Fire: The dark fountains and depths connect darkness to water already but fire is a destructive force and if it is linked with light it sorta explains why the angel needs to be banished. The roaring cutscene fire is displayed and I think this could be due to the angel burning away the darkness but the angel is alien to the world and needs banishment. This can explain the Spamton eyes burning line with him being the character who has mentioned heaven the most. Elec/Holy exists and electricity does cause fires. Susie is also a dragon.
Fluid-Changing/Rigid-Constant: Darkners can be anything really depending on the fountain creator Tenna could have been just a giant display for an abstract concept darkner to use but due to his connection to Kris he gained a personality. But in the real world he is a TV whether fixed or broken he is still just a TV
DEPTHS/SKY: The depths has already been mentioned already a ton so lemme go onto sky. In chapter the Organik fight dialogue says "Organik considers the meaning of the stars and sky" and stars are already player related the sky is already connected to the stars. The skymantle in the code also protects against Elec/Holy attacks so that’s further evidence
Writing/Blank: When you create a story you write with something dark on a blank page usually. Black on white, darkness of the light. So, when you “add” white you take away the story
Max/Null: The Knight has a 999 motif with its swoon ability and darkness adds so light should remove and there has been that one code of 000 in ch3 to access the outside and the 0s were only there once the game was finished/off. Once there was no more story it all goes to 0 null. A 0 is also halo shaped
Despair/Hope: Hope is Susie-core and Gerson mentions Susie “Burning everything up” and she also wants to break the tragedy with the rest I outlined there is some light vibes coming from this. Hope is also seemingly the thing that empowered you during the ch4 dark fountain sealing. Despair seems like an apt opposite a case I can think of is the UNUSED voice in the code who is seemingly slowly giving up in a way as they lose their sense of self
???/Stars: Ok I have no idea what this could mean but stars are related to light with the save points and like the starwalker angel bird and like a lot of other things. The Knight is dark/star but they’re a fallen star because of that ROOTS room book in my head and Titans idfk man but I do think it suggests one thing. Light and Dark are not in opposition like enemies but work together like art. When you create stories some parts or entire stories you abandon or get rid of to start from scratch that’s the creation process. There is a Winglade who says “cleave you own path” they are light and they destroy so others can make something new from the ashes. Now the prophecy is similar it made of both light and dark elements, look at the Organiks description “A philosopher who studies the ancient words. Their light-blocking mask is said to let them commune deeper with the truth of the dark.” This implies the prophecy has some light emitting property why? Here’s the idea the prophecy made from darkness is just a telling of events but with the light of the heavens its was put as truth onto the world but it burns away/destroys any other ways for the story to end. Gaster does say “MY DELTARUNE” this story is his not anyone else’s contrasting Gerson who thinks the opposite. But the members of the dark and light both want something like a new path I believe with the light making the path clear and the darkness building it.
Now I want to mention on last thing. GLASS. I believe glass acts a medium only in the connection between layers of reality or the holy/divine/metaphysical. Your computer screen is made of glass is it not? Now what this means for the shadow crystals Knight and all other crystal shit and what I really mean I would love to get into it another time as I am really busy rn. This entire post is also super messy and unorganized but I wanna get this out there for now at least. Maybe Andrew will connect all these together. I do want to get another version of this post out in the future much more neat and properly organized but for now this will suffice.
Whose your favorite character in deltarune? Im guessing ralsei bc he's kind and people pleasing to the point of self sacrificing and was created to be used by others. Real Mk vibes
Post-ch 2, Kris was easily number one (followed by Noelle, then Spamton, and then everyone else). They were what I found most interesting in the game, and their dynamic with the player is still one of my favorite parts of the narrative (I LOVE a character with a puppet motif)
Post-ch 4 however, there are multiple character who have really shot up my ranks. Kris and Ralsei are currently in a quantum state of sharing both 1st and 2nd place for my favorite character, followed by Susie, then Noelle, then Gerson and Spamton, and then everyone else (I am currently eyeing Carol, I know she has the potential to come out one of the strongest characters in Deltarune, just the track record with Toby's antagonists. Bronzing your daughters snowflakes to preserve them is an absolutely insane piece of characterization).
So you were half right!
What really gets me about Ralsei is of course his lightner-complex (in comparison to Kris' monster-complex, lmao), and that he's self-sacrificing due to his belief that his "fake pain" is a better alternative to Kris or Susie's "real pain". Another thing about me is that I love a character who's hollow, and Ralsei fits that bill perfectly (hello barren room). It's even better if they're empty so they can better serve those around them ("I don't really have any hobbies, or interests. Baking, sewing, singing... those are all just...Things I thought to do...for you two."). Ralsei's desire to change the prophecy, along with his selectively-strict adherence to it, fascinates me. Susie's has to be a hero in ch 1, she should wear bows, she should follow Kris' orders and obey the "rules" of the game, but now he appreciates Susie more for those exact reasons. Her hope inspires Ralsei for a different ending, but it's hope also predetermined by the prophecy. Kris shouldn't go to the festival with just Noelle, Susie should be there too ("Love finds it's way to the girl"). He'll choose to dawn a cloak that shrouds his face, just like he does in the prophecy, to introduce himself to the other heroes. But he wants to change the ending. He doesn't want it all to come to pass, but he'll pick and chose what he does want to happen. He'll even encourage it, sometimes. He'll fulfill the role expected of him, knowing where it all leads, wanting to change it, but also knowing it's what gave him friends and his sense of identity and purpose. There's this constant internal juggling, balancing the foretold knowledge forced upon him VS how he wants to be perceived VS what he actually wants. Like I'm obsessed
