No Matter What, Keep Going Forward.

This scene here really captures everything that I find so beautiful and tragic about Kris and Noelle's relationship. The reason this is such a poignant scene for me isn't just that it shows Kris and Noelle's relationship is still as strong as ever; it's also because it shows that it's strong despite the fact that both of them think they don't deserve to be together again! Because they want to be close again, and yet they just can't bring themselves to do so because their low self-esteem and inferiority complexes keep telling them that they're not good enough.

The sad fact is, you'll find plenty of moments where Kris and Noelle don't think that they can be close to each other ever again, whether it be Kris shutting the book when they see pictures of them and Elly, or Noelle doubting that Kris would want to play piano for her after Susie talks about her newfound love for Kris's piano playing.

And yet, despite all of their doubts telling them they can never be together again, both of them not only spend time with each other at the festival, but end up doing things that remind both of them of what they used to have, be it riding the Ferris Wheel or voting for each other as Festival King/Queen.

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....When did you start being yourself?

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In chapter three, they create a dark fountain limited to the downstairs part of the house. Given that chapter 5 shows us that there is a photo album upstairs + all of Kris’s stuff (that they probably hid) this was most likely done on purpose so we wouldn’t go snooping.

In chapter 4, they avoid praying directly about Noelle and instead focus on her father recovering. They practically avoid her during the study time because they need to keep us distracted and away from the code. However, old habits are hard to kick as they slip up with their narration when we interact with objects (helping themself to food, the plant, the tree, the piano most of all etc).

Now in chapter 5, they quickly shut the photo book whenever the two of them would appear. They also do not object when you have her and Susie do everything together. But again, they can’t help themself and they slip up: perfectly in sync at the hammer game, purposefully write both of their names wrong, and they shake the Ferris wheel.

In short, Kris longs for their relationship with Noelle, but they fear us and the roaring too much to risk endangering her. That’s why I think they’re hesitant about confirming the Dark Worlds to her— imo, a big part of why they’re conspiring with the knight is to protect her. They love her too much and would rather have her hate them and move on with someone capable of giving her a happy ending (or at least ease her loneliness) than expose her to such a horrid fate.

tobias fox is doing some evil shit to my brain

Marching down my path.