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The Unspoken Inevitable

It is actually CRAZY. How little the Prophecy came up in this chapter. Like, I think it was only alluded to by Ralsei two or three times, and I'm not sure the WORD. PROPHECY. Was even SAID in the whole chapter. Like, correct me if I'm wrong, but the fact I'd have to check frankly says enough.

She tried to hide it, but we know Susie was haunted by what she saw of the Final Tragedy. It should be sticking in her mind, impacting her thought process, weighing on every decision. Instead, the thing on Susie's mind...

...is Noelle. Her love. ...Riiiiiight???

The Final Tragedy

Before Chapter 5, I made a prediction on what I think the Final Tragedy might be, and while I doubt I got it word for word, I think I'm on the right track. If you don't care to read that post, here's the prediction:

THE GIRL'S LOVE MUST MEET ITS GRAVE.

If Susie is "THE GIRL", which... you know, probably, then whoever her "LOVE" is is in narrative danger. Previously, I proposed that Susie is worried it could be Noelle or Kris, but honestly, I was being conservative! Susie just learned about polyamory the night before, it could be Noelle and Kris! Hell, why stop there? For all Susie knows, her "LOVE" could constitute any number of people she cares about! Kris, Noelle, Ralsei, Lancer, Toriel, Tenna? What counts!? Could you define "LOVE" real quick!? 'CAUSE THE PROPHECY SURE DIDN'T!!

So what's Susie gonna do? We know what she's like at this point, she's not gonna let anybody die because of her. So, she hatches a plan...

Susie's Idea (Derogatory)

Now, if you're following my logic so far, it might sound like I'm proposing that Susie is focusing all her "LOVE" on Noelle to pin the death flag on just her, which... no. Not quite.

As I was struggling to put all this together, I remembered an odd thing Susie said to Noelle at the lake. Something that I think is the lynchpin that explains all of her strange behaviour.

...That's weirdly... broad, right? She submitted a blank cheque. FOR A LOVE CONFESSION. That's kinda weird. And I KNOW she can do better than that; did you SEE her rizz at the hammer game!? Girl has an incredible talent for making people feel SO LOVED.

No, Susie had a reason to say that. To declare her and Noelle's feelings for each other as equal. Equivalent.

...Interchangeable.

Do you get it yet? Susie is trying to game the Prophecy, to swap her and Noelle's roles so she'll be the one that dies instead of Noelle.

And she's doing it with Noelle specifically because Noelle is her only "LOVE" that can fill the same roles as her; Kris and Ralsei are already in the other hero roles, and, you know, aren't girls (obviously Ralsei is trans, but Susie doesn't know that), so "THE GIRL" has to be Noelle.

And that means making Noelle a hero. Susie's previous apprehension in telling Noelle about the Dark World is completely gone, and while she missed her chance to tell her at the lake, she's got Castle Town going all out to give Noelle a warm welcome and induct her into the Delta Warriors.

All so Noelle can be "THE GIRL, WITH HOPE CROSSED ON HER HEART.", and Susie can be the "LOVE" that "MUST MEET ITS GRAVE".

Susie's gearing up to sacrifice herself. Because of course she is.

Evidence (20%TP)

With this in mind, a lot of things Susie says, that didn't seem very like Susie to say, take on new, disturbing double-meanings.

As much as she can... however little that ends up being.

Her relationship with Noelle... or her plan to save her? Can someone like Susie fill the same role as someone like Noelle?

As far as I can tell, Susie never fully breaks out the L-word for Noelle. She wants to love her... but she's scared. Scared of putting Noelle in the crosshairs of fate.

Blue likely meant "love" in the normal and cool and gay way (The flowers don't seem to be clued in on the deeper goings on besides Flowery), but all Susie's hearing is how she can best shape herself to take a bullet.

With this framing, what appear to uncharacteristic levels of yearning are revealed to be the coded words of a very scared girl. A girl that's scared to mess up, scared to lose someone she loves... and scared to die.

The best days she can have... however few that is.

Susie's sprite does this a LOT in this chapter, even in happy moments like the lake where it otherwise doesn't make much sense. She isn't saying it, but she's really struggling. And she's struggling alone, because she knows if she tells Ralsei or Kris or Noelle what she's planning, they'll probably try to stop her. And she can't allow that. Nobody else is dying because of her.

Bound In Ribbons

Now, one part of Susie's behavioural shift that is notably not explained by this theory's base premise is her trying to wear ribbons.

Ribbons have been a common armour since the start of the game, and are filled with metaphorical significance. They're signifiers of femininity, and how each party member reacts to them tells us more about their relationship to femininity.

Ralsei is shy but joyful, Kris can't object or approve, Noelle gets nostalgic... and Susie refuses them. She doesn't like 'em. That ain't her. And she hasn't been reprimanded for this, by her friends or the narrative. Her gender-non-conformity is representative of her will to defy fate and resist tyranny.

So for her to suddenly 180 on all that and not only accept, but insist on wearing ribbons, through audible discomfort... it's a red flag. And her reasons for doing it... aren't all that convincing.

Like, come on, Susie. Noelle isn't into you for your femininity, and you know that!

And her immediate reaction to wearing one demonstrates my point aptly: she was forcing herself to ask to wear the Ribbon, and resorted to a technicality when it turned out she couldn't stomach it.

But why? Why is it suddenly so important to her that she's wearing a ribbon?

Considering all of her other behaviour shifts are explained by it, I think it's a reasonable assumption to propose that something in the Final Tragedy also inspired this. Perhaps the accompanying image featured a collapsed figure wearing a ribbon, or something like that. Something that ties wearing ribbons to being the "LOVE".

A Small Aside

Sharp-brained readers might remember that Ralsei said that Susie is "supposed to wear ribbons". While he might have just meant this in the sense that Susie shouldn't be refusing to wear things she's given by "Kris", it's also possible he meant that Susie specifically is supposed to wear ribbons, which would tie (heh) wearing ribbons to "THE GIRL" role in the Prophecy, instead of the "LOVE".

Now, while I personally lean towards the former explanation, it is possible that I have the roles backwards, and that it's "THE GIRL" that dies rather than her "LOVE". This would require the Final Tragedy panel to also imply that Noelle is the true "GIRL", and while that's a lot more convoluted and might muck up a few of the "evidence" points, it... works. I guess.

Ultimately, though, it doesn't really matter which way around the roles are. The point is that Noelle is in the role that dies, and Susie is trying to swap them so she dies instead.

Beat to the Punch (That Looks Like Blood)

Now, there's a small issue with Susie's little plan, here:

I'm pretty sure Kris is already doing the same fucking thing, because OF COURSE THEY ARE.

As I've pointed out previously, as vigilant as Kris has been in being a good vessel and not expressing themselves, they've had no such restraint when it comes to Susie, and I don't think that's just because of how cool Susie is. No, I think that Kris intends to be "THE GIRL'S LOVE" to save Noelle, and has been actively pursuing Susie to achieve this.

And it's at least somewhat working. Susie doesn't use the same words as she does about Noelle, because she's trying to push her framing, but the way she talks to and about Kris makes it obvious how much they mean to her. Their talk on the way home is just one example.

But Kris's plan has hit a snag, in the form of Susie suddenly being all over Noelle. And they want to be supportive, but...

They can't. Because it's supposed to be them.

Because they promised.

This might be the true purpose of Kris & Carol's conspiracy: to save Noelle from the Final Tragedy by making Kris Susie's "LOVE", and keeping Noelle and Susie apart to keep their "LOVE" from flourishing.

Although, speaking of Carol, if she found out what Susie is planning, I could honestly see her being tempted to switch gears and make Susie "THE GIRL'S LOVE" instead. I mean, then Kris gets to live, too! And Carol likes Kris! Kris is family! Carol loves her family! Now, the only person that has to die is the town delinquent who nobody will miss.

(Wouldn't be the first time Carol's nearly jeopardised the plan with stupid, sentimental decisions. Like seriously, why was the code in that guitar!?)

But even without Carol getting greedy, the conspiracy is now in trouble, because the central piece - Susie - is going off-script. A battle of wills is spilling out over Noelle's fate, threatening to squander all of their efforts.

And you wanna know the worst part of all this?

I Don't Think It Was Ever Going To Work

I don't think Susie or the conspiracy will succeed. I don't think the Prophecy can be negotiated with in this way, and I don't think Noelle's death can be stopped... not anymore. If there is a path where Noelle survives (and I think there is)... we've already passed it.

And that's because none of these bozos have realised why Noelle is going to die, and why her death is what saves the worlds.

...

But that... is an explanation for later, because this post is already way too long. Seriously, I had to start combining screenshots because I hit the image limit, that's never happened before

For now, I invite you to reinspect Chapter 5 with this theory - which I'm dubbing Fate's Crosshairs Theory - in mind. And please, let me know if you spot any glaring holes in my thesis or smoking guns that I missed in the Evidence section.

Join me next time, when I talk about how I think the Normal Route will end and tie all of this back into my DEVILRUNE THEORY.

That's right! This was a DEVILRUNE THEORY post all along! It was all a ploy to support my headcanons! MUAHAHAHAHA!!

(Read DEVILRUNE THEORY from the beginning!)

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