If there’s one very important throughline of Lore in this Chapter is blurring the seemingly clear-cut binary line separating Lightners and Darkners.
Well, on some level that started already in Chapter 4, with the Hammer of Justice introducing the idea of Lightners being reborn in Dark Works as Darkners under very specific circumstances.
But the Flowers really put that point front and center. They are living things that receive some sort of Wish-Fulfillment in the Dark World, much like how our Lightner characters receive cool outfits and powers… but the main Wish being fulfilled for them is having a higher form of consciousness and a more anthropomorphic form, like how Darkners come to life in the Dark World. Flowery’s portrait is Black-and-White, much like the Lightner characters, because he is a kind of Lightner as far as the metaphysical mechanics of Light and Dark function… except he also has colorful Darkner-like Golden eyes.
And so much of the conflict of this Chapter is based on their unique liminality. They’re Lightner enough that being reduced back to their Light World ‘inanimate’ form feels much more like a death to them then it feels to a regular Darkner (who can find contentment as inanimate objects, as they are ‘alive’ from the Dreams the Lightners associate with them)… but also Lightner enough that they can’t actually survive for long in the Dark World, their physical bodies still have their regular physical needs, but unlike Susie, they also can’t exactly pull out of the Dark World, grab a snack for nourishment and then pull back in.
And then the Secret Boss is another kind of Liminal being, a more traditional Darkner (in the sense of a truly inanimate object come to life) that’s also being brought to life due to being possessed by a Lightner ghost. Another sort of unique being who is not quite as Ontologically Doomed as the Flowers, but struggles with figuring out what her identity is in her own way. She feels more at home with other Liminal Beings like the Flowers, despite being technically a different kind of being.
All of this feels like build up to exploring the nature of Ralsei, the so-called ‘impossibility’, who already has some of their own ‘Liminal’ elements - they look much more ‘like a Monster’ than any other non-Gerson Darkner, they can appear and survive in every Dark World, and from a meta-narrative perspective, their role as a Darkner Playable Party Member seems to clash with the game’s meta-commentary making Darkners to be like a whole species defined as Video Game NPCs on some level.
They don’t quite seem to match any of the ‘Rules’ of the Liminal Beings we know of so far. Resurrected Lightners like Gerson are specifically mentioned to only appear in very specific Dark Worlds, so this is like the opposite of Ralsei’s situation, and even with their white fur, their portrait seems considerably less monochromatic to me than Flowery’s. But I think this is still a thematic build-up being done to explore different kinds of liminality between Light and Dark and how they affect the relevant characters, before we get into the particular kind of liminality that Ralsei represents.
It’s also likely to be relevant to the Roaring Knight. We still don’t quite know what’s up with them, but it is a pretty decent guess considering their behavior, that they are also their own kind of Liminal Being - they are Lightner enough to open Dark Fountains and operate in the Light World sometimes, but clearly prefer to only ‘show their face’ in the Dark Worlds. So this could also be thematic build-up to establishing what the hell is up with the Knight as well...
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Kris might want to go to the festival with Berdly - And that's okay.
There's been a long-standing misconception in the fandom about the festival options with Berdly that I'm quite tired of still seeing around. I guess it's because it's funny to frame it as Kris being very adverse to the option to go with him, but the joke loses steam when it's based on a very possible misinterpretation of the relationship.
As the fandom has been exposed to one extreme end of the conversation ("Kris HATES Berdly" crowd), I think the fandom should also hear from an actual shipper and not an ironic one or Berdly hater (or Kris hater even). We will ALL give you a different point of view on this topic and one side honestly feels like blatant mischaracterization.
Basically. NO, Kris does not hate that we can choose to go with Berdly. They do not hate him. Annoyed? Maybe. Hate? No. I want to explain why I think they're actually pretty cool with this.
(Obviously this analysis will be VERY biased. I am a kerdly shipper, so a kerdly perspective is expected. This is a very long semi-serious text analysis & mild crashout post on the fandom btw. (YAY.) Post will be subject to future edits and additions!)
Clearing Out Some Thoughts
The popular interpretation of the "repeating Berdly" dialogue has been my BIGGEST HEADACHE ever since the chapters released and I'm frustrated it hasn't been cleared up after all these months. It mainly comes from people who don’t understand how Kris and Berdly’s relationship has been set up so far (which to be fair is kind of subtle). I personally recommend everyone, even me, to do another run of DR to refresh yourself on character relationships.
NO, Kris is not screaming in fear here. They are not flailing, gagging, nor throwing a fit about it. I've literally seen people claim that Kris "started crying" at this option...which just goes to show how the flanderization has blown out of proportion. Where is this dialogue you guys speak of?? What Deltarune did you guys play??
You can see where my frustration comes from after so many bad faith takes like these have been popularized. I blame viral fan content interpretations where they have Kris screaming and crashing out. Not to mention, one of the most popular voiceovers from what I've seen ISN'T EVEN THE RIGHT DIALOGUE. It's the one audio where Ralsei says "Why do you sound so confused Kris?" I know people don't like checking the source material, so I'm almost convinced this is what blew this misconception out of proportion because a "haha funni Berdly hate" video will stick with people more than the canon interaction. There's a lot of videos btw, this isn't any specific callout to anyone :/
ANYWAYS. Let me break down the actual dialogue for y'all. A lot of this comes from discussing with and seeing discussion between other kerdly-heads, so I think these are things that we've come to a common consensus on. Healthy debate is always welcome though.
Kris: Your Honor, He's Not That Bad
First of all, if the theory that the options are Kris's thoughts is correct (and the way these are phrased feels very "Kris-like" (of what we know SO FAR of their personality)), then Berdly being HERE is already quite suspicious because why are they actually considering him as an option?
If you remember, back in Chapter 2 when Susie asked Kris who they were taking to the festival, there were four options to choose from. Susie, Noelle, Ralsei, and just silence ("..."). I really like the take that this could have been the Berdly option (or "not going," that's fair too!), but Kris had not built up quite the confidence to think of him as a viable choice. Kris is also going through an arc which has them slowly gaining autonomy and confidence in the main route, and working through all of their strained relationships. It could be that up until THIS POINT, they didn't allow themselves to think of the possibility of hanging out with him again ESPECIALLY at the festival (which is a big deal btw).
Yes. These two have a history hanging out together several times. This has been very established. Kris is implied to have become distant and reclusive as of late, and that would have to include not hanging out with Berdly as much anymore. This has caused some of the awkwardness you can read between them, like Berdly's few attempts to appeal to Kris or have them join him (ex. coaster battle "join/do not join", Queen mansion puzzles) but simultaneously trying to maintain his rivalry shtick. I have to throw this out there because Noelle and Kris aren't the only ones with a weird strained/distant relationship. I think people forget this.
Despite popular fan perception, RALSEI is the one who was surprised here, NOT KRIS. Choosing Berdly momentarily stuns HIM as, to be honest, Berdly was likely not someone he thought Kris would have in mind...but they do.
The third ellipses and literal side-eye he's giving Kris is telling. He's thinking picking him was totally out of the blue (or judging their tastes /j)...and THIS is what makes Kris react. It's in response to Ralsei's questioning and silence, not because THEY were confused. They said "Berdly" just as straightforward as all the other options. If we pick Noelle, Ralsei's confusion is mild and short-lived. He simply encourages them to have Susie join them too as that would make Noelle very happy. He gets flattered if we pick him and wants Susie to hang out with them in his place, and tries to put a positive spin on the "not going" option. His reaction to Berdly sticks out awfully compared to the others, he only questions choosing him.
BTW, the way he phrases the Noelle option by not including Berdly makes me think he didn't even take into account him appearing at all, so his surprise to hearing Berdly as their choice out of everyone is understandable. It's like "Oh! Him? Yeah him, I forgot...I didn't know you two were close." And they ARE- Ralsei probably doesn't know this. They've literally met only 2 days ago and the only thing Ralsei knows about Kris (as far as we know) is what he's heard of the prophecy, and maybe Dreemurr family lore if his connection to them is true. Berdly is NOT in the prophecy, so Ralsei barely has any info on the guy (but somehow he does know about Noelle? debatable), and their encounters were limited to his short time in the Cyber World. Not the best impression to have of him vs Kris who's known and interacted with Berdly for years, so they know him way better.
I could get a lot more speculative here, and I'm totally overthinking, and say this is more proof of how Berdly is unpredictable by this world's prophetic standards. Or at least, his connection to relevancy and being “forgotten” is pushed a little further. See, Berdly is INSISTENT on going to the festival, even if his arm is fried/numbed out, he says how that won't stop him from going - and I believe him! He's stubborn! But Ralsei, the one who's been told secrets of the world and what's been foretold by time and space itself, being really surprised by Berdly being considered a festival option by Kris and him potentially joining/hanging out with the gang...is awfully interesting to me. He didn’t see that coming. Huh.
Berdly, Birds and Memory is a long post for another day.
The bread and butter of this whole damn thing. Here we go.
Kris repeats themself...LOUDLY. That's all that we get. There is no tone indicator at all. This is on purpose for some comedy, sure, but also for ambiguity. PLEASE keep this in mind for later, I will come back to this. The most important thing here is they repeat it for RALSEI who is stunned. They're trying to get their point across here. "Berdly. BERDLY. YES I SAID BERDLY."
Call me stupid, but in these two lines of dialogue, there is not a word that insinuates a BAD reception to this choice. Ralsei acts surprised at their insistence, but that doesn't mean it's because THEY were negative about it. He's trying to politely tell them "Okay I get it, I get it!!" Ralsei doesn't say “screaming,” he says “loudly.” I know debating semantics is kind of annoying, but I think it makes a world of a difference seeing how different sectors of the fandom ended up interpreting this and we still can't agree on what the right interpretation of it is.
Here's the truth though, they DIDN'T scream. They are only raising their voice at him, as if he didn't hear them the first time around (he did). Ralsei doesn't describe any other behaviors from them that would tie this to a negative connotation. Kris doesn't visibly move here like they've done in other occasions where they had a negative reaction to something. Examples are Post SNeo screaming & turning away from us, or the mild down tilt in the Chapter 4 ending cutscene. You could make the case that these are extremely serious moments and therefore more expression is needed, but there have been other subtle movements for positive scenes as well, like the Susie lake skip scene.
They've also been shown to know what the choice is before saying/acting upon it, so if they didn't want to say "Berdly," they would've been confused FROM THE START. That's literally what they did when choosing Ralsei or Noelle in Chapter 2 when Susie questions them about the festival and she comments they sounded confused. Or they would've done something to stop themselves from saying his name, even just coughing or yawning to cover it up. But they don't. They say his name. Then they double down on it. Triple down even.
Therefore, I think the interpretation that the fandom ran with...Kris screaming in disbelief, disgust, anger, even fear...is pretty baseless, false, and ridiculous. Also blatant projection from the massive Berdly hating side of the fandom who think Kris also hates him, nothing new tbh.
People ALWAYS leave these two lines out of the conversation and it makes me want to crash out, probably because if they were acknowledged their entire argument would be put into question.
Kris sounded genuine and insistent enough for Ralsei to wish them well. He thinks Susie would be happy for them to pursue him at the festival (which you can debate how true that is, but that's not the point here (but Susie WOULD care for their happiness and respect their choices, their autonomy, if that’s what they really want)). This dialogue here reads to me like "Okay, weird taste but we'll still support you! Go get him you!"
Ralsei is awkward, sure, and his social cues aren't always the best (he IS learning), but the entire conversation is simply a lighthearted back and forth. Kris is trying to be cool about this like "yes him, HIM, don't judge me damn it," which is wayyy funnier than the popular take imo!! Kris has mostly been established as a weird, kinda shy, but lowkey cool kid. A good flirt, but also easily flustered to do so ("cringe" blush sprite confirms this to me). So, with this reading of them, it's them feelling pressured by judgement and that freaking side-eye as they try to make a good case for their potential interest in Berdly. LOL.
By the way, why do so many portrayals of Kris have them acting like they're above Berdly's pompous and cringy personality as if they're not the certified weirdo of the town?? This kid barks like a dog and does weird shit on the daily y'all. They probably had cringy OCs and obsessions when they were younger that they’re trying to hide today. That’s the kind of vibes I get from Kris.
Anyways, Ralsei supports enby rights and wrongs.
Kris, Why Berdly?? - Sincerely, Everyone
I HAVE to mention this because I think it adds context to this scene and a previous chapter 2 one. In chapter 2, there is this scrapped swan boat dialogue that has Ralsei asking Kris what they are thinking about at the moment. It's a similar premise as well, and Kris DOES think about Berdly here as he's one of the choices, but goes silent when Ralsei specifically asks "what part" of him they're thinking about. (And wow, would you look at that. They’re not screaming or crashing out about choosing Berdly here either.)
This was scrapped...but the question was reimplemented in a more comedic moment with the Berdly statue. If you keep interacting with it, Kris keeps staring intently and Noelle starts to question "what part" they're even looking at. Kris is very persistent with admiring it (trolling at this point) till Noelle starts to compliment it as well.
There's also the plushie gifting options where giving it to Berdly makes everyone question them like, "Berdly, why Berdly??" Ralsei tries to wave this off as an act of kindness from their part, even if giving it to any other person would also be kind...so he was just flabbergasted. Again.
The takeaway here is that there is a small continuing pattern of Kris dodging being questioned on their interest towards Berdly because literally no one else but themself understands this. So far they don't feel like explaining. I rest my case for this point.
Kris Shoots Their Shot; Ends up in an IRL Dating Sim
This leads me here, to the choice that's been unnecessarily filled with dread by the fanbase. I have a lot of thoughts.
First of all, it's a bit weird how much people have been really stretching the joke about "punishing" Kris by having them go to the festival with Berdly. You're what, enjoying acting like you're purposefully revoking further autonomy over the kid you already control during most of the gameplay? Ah yes, the worst thing that you can do to them is pushing them to ask out the nerdy loud bird guy from class who they've already hung out with plenty of times before, and therefore knows what to expect and how to deal with him. So very punishing. Also, I know people like using this and the Ralsei dialogue as set up for the joke that this is why Kris beats the SOUL up later (I can't tell whether this joke has become unironic in the fanbase), but they were gonna beat the shit out of us whether or not we engaged with every single Berdly option or completely avoided him. That has nothing to do with him. They just hate us in general lol.
Seeing how much we don't know about Kris and their relationships still, it would be fitting for them to actually not have a problem with going with him at all to go against the popular consensus against Berdly. If the "options are Kris's thoughts" theory holds up, they were already actively considering accepting his indirect date invite anyways and you're simply acting upon their thought. You could say, the SOUL is wingmanning them to take a shot at it?? Pranking him here feels like their "safe" option because it stays in within their established dynamic so far (friendly banter), and seemingly wouldn't push their relationship any further...or does it?
Berdly’s reaction is what sells me on Kris not having a problem with this, because they say it genuinely enough to throw Berdly completely off guard. He takes THREE BOXES to recover, quite literally having a hard time comprehending what just happened here. Also, he’s flattered?? If Kris had said it in a confused or mocking way, he would have noticed right? His typical reaction to being at the other end of Kris's pranks is being quick to anger and annoyance. Him being FLATTERED, hesitant, and stuttering (just TRY voicing this out loud) makes me think Kris had no mocking tone in their voice. Maybe their response ranged from something like "Sure dude, I'll go with you." or straight up flirting with the way he's reacting - flustered!! He's FLUSTERED!!!
There’s other instances of him being confused about Kris being genuine with him. The most prominent example is at the end of the Berdly and Queen fight when Berdly is exhausted post-fight. We can have Kris walk up to him and they unpromptedly ask him if he’s okay. He’s kinda touched by the question but assures he’ll be okay, and further prompting makes him think they’re flirting with him and also pushes them away basically. It's almost like he questioned their insistence on his well-being as if they really cared, right? The plushy gift that coincidentally is figured with his desire (nipples, lol) also makes him very happy and hesitantly holds his truce "this once" with Kris. So when they actually accept his date invite, it fits the pattern of confusing him first and then...
Berdly being Berdly snaps back into his persona and, as classic (one-sided) rivals do, turns this into a competition for his hand. THIS IS THE ONLY OPTION WHERE HE MENTIONS THIS COMPETITION!!! Though, I do think it'll still end up happening because Kris, Susie, Noelle, and Berdly are going to the festival, and he's most certainly not going to show up with a partner. ANYWAYS. He was thrown so off-guard he made it up on the spot. I do think he enjoys being competitive with Kris, so this was an easy way to claim the “upper hand” in his eyes. However, I also think it was an easy excuse to make it harder to admit that this very forward acceptance was real, and not a joke on Kris’s part. He's absolutely dodging their answer here, so there could be heavy denial under that smug face.
A big part of Berdly’s journey is learning to differentiate platonic v romantic bonds. Like I've said before, a real romantic advance towards him would be met with confusion. Every instance of being kind to him in game is always met with Berdly begrudgingly thanking Kris or giving push back. He has a hard time being honest, and accepting kindness without expecting anything in return…why would he be liked just because? Why would anyone be his friend or care about him just because? It might have to do with expectations he either self-imposed or came from another figure in his life, but this is speculation on my part...it's a bit more than Universal Mother Theory.
“The lover who impresses me the most” is a very interesting phrase to me. His festival choice is not who he finds the most romantically appealing, but who he thinks will try to appeal TO HIM the most. He wants to see someone going above and beyond for him because he deeply craves that attention and true affection/connection. He’s basically saying: “I won’t make this easy for you, Kris! Show me how far you’re willing to go for me, and maybe I’ll actually believe you really want to date me! *smug face*” aaaand he will still end up denying it if they do “win.” It's par for the course with him.
ALSO he doesn't make it this hard for Noelle and Susie!! It's JUST KRIS he wants to make it hard for!! JUST SAY YES DUDE IT'S NOT THAT HARD. But now, no suspense in a ship set up would be boring, wouldn't it?
This last part just solidifies the kind of dynamic kerdly has had for a while now, which is cringe gamers taunting, challenging and ribbing at each other. Look, he's not even rejecting them here, so he's okay with them pursuing him?? I mean, HE'S the one who pulled them into this spur of the moment competition instead of just accepting god dammit.
I really think he does want to see Kris trying to vie for his hand though. He wishes them luck. That's pretty gay.
Best Prank of the Century? No, They're Just Down Bad
(↑ Ralsei surprised by “Berdly” choice VS Berdly reacting to Kris accepting ↑)
So to recollect our thoughts here, if Kris was sooo against going out with Berdly, why do they seemingly switch up overnight and decide to vaguely flirt/fluster him??? The reactions above with the popular take feel contradicting as in neither instance does Kris do anything to stop themself from acting on the choice. What, do they suddenly want to play up the prank? "SOUL, I would NEVER date Berdly!!!" to "Hey SOUL, I just had the FUNNIEST fucking idea-"
I don't buy this at all though. WHY?
BECAUSE we already have examples of Berdly being able to pick up when Kris is teasing him!!! If Kris is saying it in disbelief, in mockery, he would be able to tell! Take the scene in Ch1 when Kris taunts him to stand at the hospital window (so Rudy can throw something at him) and he picks up it's another joke; calls them unemployed. Or the many times Kris plays along w taunting/pranking him (both battles honestly, Queen's mansion interactions), or selecting the "Runs away fast" option in Ch4 which he plays along with because of their speedrunning shtick.
And why wouldn't he be able to read them when it's implied they've hung out a considerable amount of times? He would be used to hearing such tones from them. He has EXPERIENCE falling for Kris's jokes.
(Side tangent. This dialogue makes me clutch my head because he's simultaneously trying to appeal to them and putting them down. "Oh don't I seem just so cool right now, Kris? Join me and tell me I'm cool!" but also won't let them be THAT close to him. Similar to him asking for their help alone in Queen's mansion...simply to heal his bruising ego? But he's confiding in Kris in a vulnerable moment. More proof of their weird strained bond. Does he want them close or not god dammit! Is he scared of letting them in too close? To put down his walls around them? Is he just seeking their approval? What do you want Berdly?!)
(↑ Wrong Number Song VS Go with Berdly ↑)
If Kris was mocking him, I would have expected another angry or frustrated reaction that he got caught up in another joke of theirs, like in the alternate phone call choice. Yet, these are two completely different reactions, and when Kris accepts he doesn't react out of frustration, AT ALL.
I think people forget this and don't credit Berdly enough for actually knowing Kris's behaviors after all this time knowing them. Y'all forget HE'S the one who's known and interacted with the true current Kris the most than Noelle (nostalgic for the past, strained bond), Susie (past bully/victim history, current SOUL involvement), OR Ralsei (most knowledge is prophecy based/cryptic). Therefore, he’s one of the few who can read through their antics.
Berdly's a little dumb but not THAT dumb okay.
Weird Route: Hope And Longing
(↑ Chapter 3 S-Rank end of Board 3; Weird Route VS Main Route ↑)
I'm bringing this dialogue up because I think it adds another layer to the conversation. The choice to not change the Ralsei dialogue about Berdly in Weird Route but actively changing it HERE is strange. This is where the tone ambiguity that I pointed out earlier starts to become interesting because it coullllld confirm it's correct to frame it as positive.
It's FOUL sure because he's comatose, but almost hopeful and longing from Kris's POV?? The insistence suddenly makes sense here. Instead of going to the festival, engaging further with Noelle, and potentially causing more harm, we'll stay with Berdly at the hospital, potentially aborting the Weird Route at that point and letting Suselle play out similar to what's being set up on Main Route...just my two cents there. Kris would love nothing more but to put an end to the tormenting of the route, remember? Everything about their SOUL-less actions is them doing damage control, so this choice could be a moment of relief?
If the dialogue isn't changed, doesn't an offended and silly "Berdly? BERDLY?? BERDLY??!?" clash with WR's established grim and serious tone?? I mean c'mon, this is the route where Kris's care towards him is the most blatant and in-your-face. They have an undescribed negative reaction to Susie's joke in the picture above. There's the Jackenstein flavor text that implies they're thinking of him a bit more with tragic undertones (rotting apples, withering memories). They took him to the hospital and unpromptedly tried to nurse him to health when we take them to visit him later. They are persistent with Noelle that "Berdly will get better" to where I don't even know if they're trying to comfort her more or themself about his condition. Why would the Ralsei conversation suddenly change into disbelief and disgust in WR?? It doesn't make sense, nor does it hold up with the popular negative take.
What fuels this idea even more is that choosing Noelle on WR DOES make Ralsei react differently. Instead of encouraging them to hang out, he's despondent, saying going with her would not be a good idea. Kris isn't happy that we're pushing them to hurt her more, of course they'd happily take hanging out with Berdly instead in this scenario. Ralsei still wishes them well afterwards with Berdly. Ralsei assumedly doesn't know about his condition. He'd just see them being stubbornly insistent about the choice. "Berdly. BERDLY. BERDLY. (Please.)"
(The bird noises thing is very cute btw, more of Kris teasing/imitating him even when apart. Even Susie is weirded out. I love them sm)
Kris Plays It Safe and Wins Big. Wow.
OKAY FINALLY. As a huge kerdly-head, my favorite option is actually pranking him lol. It was actually my choice in my first playthrough! I just think this is the funniest portrayal of their banter-filled dynamic and threw me so off-guard with the entire interaction...because wdym Kerdly canon. Unfortunately, I do have wayyyy less to say about it; most of it would be me repeating my previous points. It’s also a much shorter response and I feel it's kinda self-explanatory.
The one thing I find very funny about choosing this option to “spare” Kris a festival date with Berdly, is that this option STILL ends up being kerdly-pilled. Truly, the illusion of choice.
The first thing to point out is how absolutely agitated he is with them here. It makes me think that Kris put their all into singing the song, maybe tossed in some swears, or sung it obnoxiously, who knows. Yet again, this is an example of Berdly reacting to Kris joking with him, claiming they’re “taunting” him even. His persona falters again as he falls for their bait. THIS is the reaction I would have expected for “Go with Berdly,” had Kris asked him out in a jokey manner. But they weren’t joking…and he was confused by this.
Berdly gets offended that Kris had the audacity to listen to his ramblings before being prompted with a date invite, and I think that’s interesting. We don’t get to hear a lot of Berdly when he thinks he’s by himself, and a lot of the rant was him trying to justify why Susie and Noelle had rejected him. Not only that, he basically admits how he’s also playing along with having “feelings” because he wants to throw up at the idea that Susie has “gone yandere” for him. Lol.
He’s offended that his so-called rival just overheard how he really feels about Susie and Noelle, stripping one layer away from his facade that he's worked so hard to build up. That's a MASSIVE slip up from him, and “taunting” could be him thinking Kris will use this against him? Maybe? Again, the strained aspect of their relationship shows as he puts Kris in an antagonistic light here. Not like they would do anything to intentionally harm their friends though, and put his thoughts on blast. Does he know this though? Does he know they care? Probably not...for now.
Afterwards, he tries to pull himself together and acts boastful because even though his actual feelings towards Susie and Noelle were just exposed, he’s still convinced the girls are falling for HIM. He’s confident he will also end up wooing Kris just like all of his other very very real suitors.
It would be incredibly funny if in reality Kris already fell for him a while ago, the first and only domino if you will, and he's just never picked up on this fact because of his platonic v romantic misunderstandings. He probably thinks he's oh so smart using a domino comparison that he's ALREADY incorrect on. Not to mention, Kris's affection would be anything BUT typical, so reading romantic advances from them would be quite puzzling on his end I think.
BTW, he does NOT BRING UP A COMPETITION HERE. He quite literally made that shit up to cover up his flustered reaction in option 1. It’s more like he takes it as HIS challenge that KRIS WILL FALL FOR HIM. The “competition” aspect is sorta flipped?? (Imagine Berdly trying hard to woo Kris using the most tropey things he's learned from all his VN's. And IT WORKS.)
Also Berdly is absolutely flirting with them here. "You're next," is a fire pick up line. And Kris is basically flirting with HIM in the first option based on his reaction. They're flirting with each other. And dancing around it instead of just accepting the date. I'M GOING TO BE SICK!!!!!!!!
-SO IN CONCLUSION-
"Berdly. BERDLY. BERDLY."
Kris thinks of Berdly as an alternate festival companion. Gay.
Ralsei is STUNNED into silence and judges their tastes.
Kris becomes insistent that their taste is not that bad okay.
Ralsei wishes them luck with their ugly ass (potential) boyfriend
WR: Kris could be insistent and RELIEVED they'll be spending their time with him instead of continuing the Noelle Torment™
"Go with Berdly"
Kris flusters Berdly by being genuine and forward...or flirting-
Berdly is in denial and basically playing hard to get by making it a competition
Berdly doesn't reject them and wishes them luck. This is GAY.
"Sing the Wrong Number Song"
Kris pranks tf out of Berdly and he rages; wins "fell for it again" award
Berdly claims he's got game and potential suitors (this is being fact checked)
Berdly claims Kris WILL fall for his charm and drops banger pick up line
Fact check says Berdly might have game AND a suitor
Berdly cannot understand actual romance for SHIT and Kris is struggling to get it through his thick skull that they're down to go on a festival date. It's totally fine dude. Berdly plays hard to get. Or thinks Kris wants to play hard to get. They should just kiss.
The conclusion is gay people can never simply ask each other out normally.
so i’m a big fan of age gap superbat but specifically older clark. by older, i mean OLD. i’d say he’s well into his 80s but doesn’t look like it. he looks like he’s in his early 50s, very dilfy like 🤭.
anyways, the main reason why i love it is the concept of clark burning out from being superman. he’s been in the game for decades and nothing seems to change. there is still war, death, pain. it doesn’t matter how many people he saves, how many villains he stops, there always seems to be more coming out.
working at the daily planet doesn’t help him either. he sees how politicians, corrupt businesses, and corporations are affecting the planet. how they don’t seem to care about the environmental effect they have or the lower class people who are struggling to survive.
i’d think the justice league is formed in this au but it’s more of a network instead of a solid group. anyways, he goes to diana and talks to her about how he is considering retirement. he’s been in the business for so long that with the things he’s seen, things he’s done, he’s starting to lose the love he had from it. he doesn’t want to continue being superman if he’s feeling like this. he doesn’t want to dread having to suit up or save people. he doesn’t want that. the people don’t deserve that.
diana, obviously, supports this. she knows her friend very well, and although she is sad about it, she understands why he feels that way. she tells him that it will be okay, that he deserves to rest and focus on his personal life. that if he ever changes his mind, his spot will always be open for him. so clark sets a date as his last day as superman. he begins to tell people in his inner group about his retirement but delays telling the world about it. he’s a little nervous on how it will be perceive and how disappointed the people will be. he decides that on his last day as superman, he’ll do a press conference so that way he can run to the fortress. he even put aside some vacation days so he doesn’t have to face the world after his announcement.
for this au, i’m going to use battinson and his movie plot. he’s gonna be a lot younger than he is in the movies, maybe early to mid 20s?
clark hears about what is happening in gotham. the murders of influential people and how there is a vigilante there working the case. the jl don’t work in gotham. the people there are very hostile to outsiders and a lot of the jl think that gotham is a lost cause. clark himself thinks that way too, unfortunately. as much as he tries not to. he doesn’t pay too much mind to it, though. it’ll just be pushed under the rug, anyways.
but then he hears the bombs. he hears flood water, gotham’s heavily polluted waters, begin to consume the entire city. he hears the screams and cries of people being swept away, drowning, choking. he hears the sound of riffles being drawn and used in a building full of people escaping from the waters.
no one calls for him. no one in gotham calls for superman or wonder woman. no one calls for anyone in the jl. instead, he hears the name batman.
he rushes over. he’s curious, he’s never heard that name before. he knows about the vigilante that works exclusively in gotham. who thrives under shadows, violence, and vengeance. when he reaches the building, he sees a figure holding a flare in the water. he sees how the figure is leading, casting a light in the darkness, a group of people out of the building.
there is a piece of cement that is blocking the only exit out. he sees how the figure tries to lift it. clark flies down on the opposite side and picks it up like nothing. when he moves it out of the way, he realizes that the light in the darkness is batman.
anyways, this begins superman’s obsession over batman and bruce reignites clark’s passion in being a hero.
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Digital circus' biggest problem is that it was written to be a niche show aimed at weird analytical queers with actual media literacy and it accidentally blew tf up and hit the mainstream and a bunch of people who have never had a second thought about anything got into it
"Jax intentionally doomed the cast!" "Jax was being mind controlled by Caine!" — Both of you are wrong. Here's what I think.
No editing no peer review we die like Gummigoo
Episode 7 was certainly one of the most wild episodes we've seen so far. Lots of twists, lots of ups and downs and a huge lore drop that was thrown right out of the window in the last 5 minutes of the episode.
One of the things that's been capturing the fandom's attention is Jax's "betrayal" that happens when he pushes the red button that presumably would doom the cast to stay in the circus forever.
Honestly, that scene was extremely well done, simply because of how ambiguous everything seems to be, and how it left many people confused on who to be mad at. Jax, or Caine?
The truth is, there's more nuance to this sequence of events than meets the eye. More than some of the fandom is willing to give the show credit for.
We should keep in mind that TADC is not a show about good guys and bad guys.
There's no hero that's chasing the villain, there's no protagonist that's going to come out victorious and there's no antagonist that's going to be blasted into oblivion and defeated for good.
TADC is a show about 6 deeply mentally ill, traumatized people who cope with being trapped in a horrible situation in vastly different ways. Jax copes by choosing to continue the cycle of abuse, despite being a victim himself, he chooses to also be an abuser in order to regain control of his surroundings, after losing everything when he first woke up here.
But, I want to start this off by reviewing what exactly happened in the scene where he presses the button, because that is what we're talking about after all.
The cast enter the room, silently, and are met with a giant blue screen and 2 big buttons; Red and blue. The screen describes to them exactly what each button does. The red button will keep you trapped forever. The blue button will set you free.
Pomni approaches first, then hesitates. Abel's words weren't sitting right with her. She pushes Kinger to choose instead, hoping it's dark enough for him to be able to come to his senses and make a wiser decision.
Jax sits in the background, observing, at first wanting no part in what's going on.
However, as Pomni and the others begin to cast their disagreements, Jax's anxiety suddenly starts to get worse. He starts hyperventilating, his eyes go blurry, he can't seem to calm down no matter how much he breathes.
Pictures flash in his mind, memories of the real world. Are they his memories? Who knows. But they are undoubtedly images of the real world outside the circus. The world Caine seems to have a strange obsession for.
His breathing gets louder, the flashes get worse, the pressure is on. Jax is having trouble grounding himself to reality, and in a moment of disoriented madness, he shoves Zooble out of the way, dashing for the two large buttons before him.
Pomni stands in front of the red button.
And he doesn't shove her out of the way.
Why?
Nevertheless, Jax slams an arm on a button. We don't even know if he knows it was the red one.
Silence.
Ragatha asks Jax what he just did, shellshocked by the absurdity of it all.
Jax looks down at the button, confused, coming to his senses. His panic attack only slows down after he finally chooses a button. And he doesn't say anything, not a single confirmation that he was confident about his choice.
When Ragatha prompts him, Jax doesn't know how to answer. Why? Why doesn't know how to answer? He made that decision, didn't he? Shouldn't he be able to justify it?
Should he?
This is where the lines get blurry. Many people are certain that it's one or the other.
Either Jax was mind controlled.
Or Jax did this out of his own free will.
I disagree with both. I don't think it's that simple.
There's nothing in Jax's general philosophy hinting that he wants to stay in the circus. In fact, we're usually lead to believe the opposite.
In episode 6, Jax tells Pomni that he knows she hates it here, everyone does. In episode 5, Jax also tells Pomni that he doesn't understand how Ragatha can pretend everything is okay in a situation like this.
He also tells Pomni, in episode 6, that the silver lining is that "you can pretty much do whatever you want." But does it make sense that this one philosophy is enough for Jax to justify wanting to stay in Hell? Especially when he doesn't even fully take advantage of this most of the time?
Jax wasn't mind controlled by Caine. But he was influenced.
The decision to press the red button wasn't one he made while fully himself, and given the fact that Jax never believed any of this was real anyway, it's unlikely he was even aware of the gravity of the situation. Or believed in it like the rest of the cast did.
When Pomni starts to doubt her decision, and Zooble pressures her to push the blue button, THAT'S when Jax's panic attack starts happening.
We already know that Caine is impatient and needs validation to function, that he starts glitching out and getting upset at the slightest hint of criticism.
It's very possible that Caine started getting impatient and decided to pressure Jax into pushing the button by provoking him into a panic attack, flashing strange pictures of the "macroverse" in his mind and possibly even amplifying his emotions way higher than they were supposed to be.
And so Jax, in an effort to stop the pain, lunges forward and slams his arm down on the red button.
In "I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream", Ted describes how he believes that he is AM's favorite because he's messed with him the least, and enjoys toying with his mind the most.
Caine chose Jax out of all the characters to organize this weird date with him, and to give him the validation he's been looking for.
There's also other hints dropped in the show that Jax is Caine's favorite.
Caine decides to give Jax the gun first. Caine chooses 2 of Jax's suggestions over the others. Caine never punishes Jax for any of the stuff he puts the cast through. Jax is also the only character Caine addresses directly in episode 1 as he's introducing Pomni to the circus; "Gadzooks you're right, Jax! We should have a brand new adventure for our new member Pomni!"
And have we forgotten that we already have proof Caine can beam images into the humans minds when he literally did this in episode 6 with Jax?
After being prompted by Ragatha, Jax doesn't look confident, or angry, or calm. He looks confused. Almost traumatized.
Jax's agency wasn't fully removed when he was pushing that button. But it's not like he had an active choice either as he was being coerced into doing it by Caine. Similarly to how in episode 2, Jax coerces Gangle into slamming the truck against the other by threatening to leak her weird secret.
"This is your life, this is the real world, you have no one to go back to, you have no one waiting for you. I am the only one that loves you. I love you. Stay with me. I love you. Do it. Press the red button. Stay with me forever. There's nothing left for you out there."
Ted never loses his agency to AM. His personality is never directly altered, his body was never changed like the others. He isn't made crazy like Kinger, his emotions never dependant on his masks like Gangle, his body isn't fragile like Zooble's, and he's not made into a peacekeeper like Ragatha.
He is authentically a cynical, paranoid, and broken young man. And yet, AM still has a fair amount of control over the choices he's allowed to make.
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The way we cant see Alastor's eyes in most of these frames. The way they usually reflect his mood yet MOST of the time we can't see them, in contrast to how we saw his eyes when he was gazing fondly at Vox. Please, please, tell me that Alastor had at least one good reason for reacting like this. (That does not mean I don't want him to apologize or be humbled. He'd deserve it, and he is still a top tier asshole, but I NEED RADIOSTATIC RECONCILIATION)
Ik what Al says to Vox was hurtful and… harsh, but (beside Al having trust issues because people are using him like Rosie and Mimzy) what if Alastor is protecting Vox from something or someone because of his deal. Like imagine Alastor is distracted by Vox and not doing his “job”, and that Rosie threatens Al if he doesn’t do his part, she’ll hurt Vox or worse. It’s a big stretch, but just what if… 👀👀👀
And I believe that Al does care about Vox because he seems comfortable around Vox and he enjoys his company. Plus, he has that genuine smile and he laughs a little when Vox did an impression of him. So in my theory, I think (I could be wrong) that he’s protecting Vox and he (still maybe) does care about him… idk 🤷♀️
sorry hi it’s me again you cannot POSSIBLY CONVINCE ME ALASTOR DIDNT GENUINELY LIKE HIS COMPANY?? not romantically sure BUT HE LIKED HIM I SWEAR HE LIKED HIM IM NOT CRAZYY
also maybe it’s just me but I feel like Alastor is trying SO hard to push Vox away constantly like its forced or something he’s so clearly obviously trying to hit a nerve (and it definitely worked)
I mean even now, in the present he makes constant jabs at Vox, making sure he keeps on ‘hating’ him (because we all know if Alastor stopped verbally assaulting this man he’d start getting even more gushy than he already is/hj)
[sticking my neck out and blaming Rosie for their doomed yaoi] I’m going insane I can’t accept that Alastor would talk to Vox like that because he WANTED to look how soft his expression was in these scenes
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