#dr meta

I got an idea for this meta from this post by @princess-valentineee, so please go check it out!

To quickly summarize here: Ralsei's plant-related title throughout ch. 5 was "Artemisia, goes well with tea". This is notable because Artemisia is the genus of the plant Wormwood, which has biblical implications:

Specifically to Revelations 8:10-11

"The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many died from the water, because it was made bitter."

The Book of Revelation is the Prophet John detailing his glimpse into heaven and what will occur after the second coming of Christ. One noteworthy thing about his description of heaven is that "in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God", which could potentially be associated with the seven human souls (the book of revelation has many references to the number seven, especially in regards to God/Jesus/light; there are seven seals that must be opened by Jesus Christ, seven angels with seven trumpets who bring calamity, the seven thunders, seven plagues, etc.).

So the fallen star that turned the water bitter was named Wormwood, a plant now associated with Ralsei. This in and of itself is tied to the peculiar book found in ch. 4's secret "ROOTS" room:

Based off of this information alone, it seems clear to me that Ralsei is the fallen star this excerpt speaks of. However, I think we can take this even further! First, let's look at the flavor text for the item, "Bitter Tear", described as "Bitter water that fell in droplets from the sky. Recovers all HP."

Ralsei doesn't say anything.

This is a consistent character beat for him, withholding the information he knows. Even into ch. 5, Ralsei is reluctant to share any knowledge he is not directly asked for (e.g., explaining the menu to Susie, versus remaining silent about the fact that Kris made the flower king dark fountain), so it isn't surprising he would say nothing when consuming an item directly related to himself.

Another thing I find interesting is that wormwood is heralded by the third angel, which is Ralsei's position in the prophecy:

If you continue reading revelations, a fifth angel is also described:

"And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit; he opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft." (Revelations 9:1-2)

Now to me, this imagery invokes the dark worlds. A "bottomless pit" (aka, deepest dark) you create by striking your blade into the ground, smoke billowing from the point of impact:

The roaring, then, is akin to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ/apocalypse, just as Deltarune is the second game, the second time we the player control the red human soul.

This calamity is one that Ralsei is continually trying to prevent, praying whenever he gets the chance:

"Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near." (Revelations 1:3)

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

"I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book; if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book." (Revelations 22:18-19)

Ralsei is a fallen angel/star who must function as a harbinger of chaos, yet he does not want to be. What else could he do but cry bitter glass tears

As this scene continues, Flowery points out that Ralsei hasn't destroyed him because he hopes that if Flowery wins, it will stop the prophecy. Flowery is part of the "Garden of Hopes and Dreams", part of a belief that fate can be changed.

And he dies

The consequences of all losing hope, of losing your dreams in utdr is dire. This can be seen with a plethora of characters: Flowey, Chara, the King of Spades, Spamton, the Knight, even DR Asgore. If Gerson hadn't stepped in to reinvigorate the group during the Titan fight in ch. 4, they likely would have failed.

So what would happen if Ralsei couldn't bring himself to believe any longer? What if he created his own shadow crystal?

The Alphys Juice Dilemma is, I think, a very brief but poignant way to exemplify the themes about control and kindness and what those really mean in Deltarune.

What am I talking about?

In Chapter 4, after church service you can talk to Alphys, who tells Kris that she really wants her juice combined but she's afraid of getting it because Susie is at the drinks table and she's afraid she will make fun or her. Alphys then asks Kris to bring her the juice for her.

After making it, Susie exclaims that was a really good idea, and that she loves it, proving Alphys wrong.

When you go to talk to Alphys again, you have two options:

*Give her the juice

*Drink it in front of her

Now, I imagine most people took the first option. It's the kind thing to do, after all. Alphys is happy and thankful to Kris, and it seems that's that.

But.

If you choose the second, after drinking it Kris will slam the cup to the floor and crush it with their foot, leaving Alphys extremely unhappy. But why would Kris do this? Well.

It has been well established that people in Hometown don't like Susie. Everyone seems scared of her, or simply hate her. Even Catti, who once was Kris' friend, states that as long as Kris keeps hanging out with Susie, she won't talk to them. And I hope I don't need to establish that Kris really, really likes Susie. She's their friend! They love hanging out with her! And Kris can be very petty. Especially when someone is insulting their friend, or. Being afraid of her. If someone would do that, and they had a chance to tell them "Screw you", they would.

So. Now that both things had been established, we're left with the Dilemma.

What will you do?

The kind thing, that overrides Kris' own will?

Or what Kris would want to do, even if isn't kind?

Also the starting up sequence for the mantle game is blue and yellow, so its basically saying in order to maintain this world (...illusion) (game = dark world = light world because in the end its all contained in a game: DELTARUNE) light and dark are needed

I want light to be perception as in our perception, and this is why the soul has the power to become bright, our perception of the game is necessary for it to exist (game over sequence being what happens if we stop perceiving it)

Dark is imagination, which is kind of in the mental realm as opposed to light which is physically perceiving and obtaining information that we can then interpret

Omg

Pink is interpretation

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!

am I the only one losing my goddamn mind about this

nowhere in the underground has green grass

Hometown has green grass

It's the horror season, and what better way to celebrate than by doing a Showcase on the main 'villain' of Danganronpa Kirigiri Volume 3, and Culprit of the Takeda Haunted Mansion Duel Noir: Korisu Kakitsubata!!!

(Korisu is the left silhouette behind Licorne)

Summary

Korisu was a detective registered in the Detective Library under the DSC of 488, specializing in animal welfare. Like all Victims, Korisu has a traumatic past that influenced her to take up the Duel Noir. Eight year prior to the Duel Noir, Korisu was with her family up on a mountain railway. However, a fire broke out and during Korisu's attempt to escape, she got seperated from her family. Her family, unfortunately, ended up being trapped behind closed emergency exit doors - doors that were shut by Suntetsu Shirasu. Shirasu closed the doors to prevent the smoke from killing more people, but as a result, 28 people (including Korisu's family) who were trapped behind the door, died in the blaze. Suntetsu was never identified or arrested for the incident, and Korisu was left traumatized to the point she heard voices of the victims in her head.

Korisu would be confronted by the Victims Catharsis Committee, and would take up their offer of competing in a Duel Noir. In her case, Korisu planned out the Takeda Haunted Mansion murder. The idea behind it was to lure in Shirasu with three other detectives: Sachi Mizuiyama (her scapegoat), Salvador Fukuro Yadorigi and Hajiki Yaki. Under the guise of the deceased Saiun Takeda, she lured them in with various tip-offs of crime at the manor. Once all five met, Korisu would eventually drug Shirasu to enact her scheme. Hoisting him between two armored warriors, she would set up her locked room case to have a bunch of rubber bands use a katana as a makeshift slingshot to kill her Target. The deed was done as Yui and Kyoko had arrived, with them being only moments away from saving Suntetsu before the blade plunged itself into his back.

During this exchange, Korisu tried to pose as just a vapid, party-gal, woman who didn't have a care in the world. Initially, she seen to have gotten away with her murder as Sachi was initially fingered as the culprit. But, to her downfall, this was a trap set up by Kyoko - catching Korisu back at the crime scene with the intent to destroy any remaining evidence of her misdeeds. Despite Korisu's attempts at trying to refute Kyoko's claims, not only did Kyoko figure out how Korisu's trick worked - she even had proof it was only Korisu that could have done it. The main piece being the fact that, during the murder, Korisu had used the armor sandals to walk outside since Salvador was too busy admiring art out in the hallway for her to safely get her stilleto's back. Unfortunately, given the size of the shoes was too big for the boys and too small for someone as short as Sachi, it was only her that could have used them, and when its clear they were used in the crime, Korisu was stuck as the sole candidate.

Korisu gives up, and admits to doing the Duel Noir to put the voices at rest. However, while initially coolheaded at her defeat, she panics once they saw she's in danger of being executed due to inability to pay the VCC back their earnings. Ultimately, she takes Kyoko's advice to go with the cops to be arrested, though the last shot of her from Yui's POV shows her to clearly still be struggling with the 'voices' returning. In the next volume, while she doesn't appear, she is mentioned by Salvador to be safe since Gekka has paid off her debt, but she'll still be tried for her crimes.

While Korisu acts like an airheaded, flashy, yet bubbly party girl - this is merely a facade. In truth, Korisu is pretty intelligent, lucid, and crafty to the point that she needed to be lured into a trap to expose her since her current set-up lacked real hard hitting evidence to expose her without it. Due to her trauma, Korisu hear the voices of those who perished in the fire's blaze, and was desperate enough to appease them by taking up a VCC. While not being a sore loser, she is terrified of being murdered herself and begs for the girls to save her as she realizes she's doomed to be executed.

Rundown

Being both a Detective and a Victim, Korisu has a few things going for her in regard to the DRK's theme - which I have already pinned as being about Justice & Corruption.

In this case, Korisu is on the side of Corruption, in this case Appeasement of her trauma and another aspect of criticizing the 'greater good' theme in Volume 3 on a whole. On the Greater Good theme first, while like the other Victims, she's motivated by vengeance - it's less hatred based and more so just trying to find some form of peace in her life. As stated before, Korisu had been severely traumatized from her family being roasted to death despite her protests because someone sacrificed them for their perceived 'greater good'. In turn, for the sake of finding closure for the voices, she's willing to not only slay Suntetsu, but also sacrificing someone else's peace for her own safety. In doing so, this puts her about as bad as Suntetsu himself. It also smacks into the Greater Good message that Gekka and Lico usually use to justify their own violent acts, since it shows such a line of thinking is both detrimental towards bystanders and those involved alike, but also winds up leaving new collateral to suffer down a path like Korisu's as well. Ergo sustaining the cycle further.

In terms of the Corruption theme (and her own Drive as a detective), namely Appeasement, Korisu's case is used to show why giving in to vengeance and bloody murder as means of clearing up mental issues, just doesn't work like how Gekka or the VCC think it works. She got her paybck on Suntetsu, yes, but in turn it didn't solve her problem with the voices in her head yelling at her and it certainly wasn't helped by her actual arrest. Even if she won, she was only confused, not satisfied with doing the deed - meaning that in spite of promising relief to the Victims they lure in, at best they only piled on new worries to give them. At worse, if they don't kill them outright, the Victims are left with new trauma and anguish on top of their old wounds. There's is no truly satisfaction to be gained by playing in a Duel Noir and looking for justice. Just tragedy.

In terms of character comparison and contrasts, the immediate one you would think of is Sachi, another Victim and Detective of the 12 Duel Noir Challenge. Both were willing to kill, and even harm innocents, not for their own sakes, but for the sakes of those who, really, couldn't have enjoyed such endeavors or approved of them, even if they really wanted to. Both Korisu's family and Gekka were dead by the time their Duel Noirs started. As such, their actions proved only to harm themselves in the long run with no real benefits. In terms of demeanor, they're kind of the polar opposite of each other in, even if their end goals are roughly the same. Korisu acts immature to hide the fact she's smarter than she appears, while Sachi portrays herself as a composed detective, to hide how much of a zealot she was for Gekka. In terms of scale, Korisu was hard focus on her own personal trauma, whilst Sachi's love for Gekka had her disregard even her own Catharsis for the sake of seeing him thrive in the VCC.

Of course, I'd also be remiss to not add in how much Korisu reflects on Junko Enoshima. Both being fashionista types that people would never suspect of masterminding intricate murders. Although the biggest difference between the two is that Korisu is ultimately doing her misdeeds as a form of closure, while Junko is working towards a goal of constant open despair.

Personal Thoughts

Korisu makes for a fine, 'final boss' of volume 3. Give the chaotic nature of the book in setting up the 12 Duel Noir Challenge, the battle at Meyura Station, Lico, one would think the actual Duel Noir Victim just wouldn't hit as well as Tadashi or Sae, but she's proved me wrong.

She's extremely entertaining play up the bratty fashion dive and love that the antagonist for this time around tried for the Junko Enoshima manner of villainess. It also helps her motivation is extremely compelling and makes her quite sympathetic as to why she'd work with the VCC. This is a high praise, especially when you consider how Vol. 4 and 5 treated the remainder of the Zodiac Victims.

Of course, beyond that, it also makes me sad volume 3 would be her only real appearance, but I was at least glad that she fulfilled her role properly. Beyond that, I loved the Takeda Haunted Mansion she set up and how it filled well with the ideas of her being haunted by her own past, and using it to take vengeance on Suntetsu (even if trying to wrap my head around the murder method was a real killer X_X)

Ultimately, for what it's worth, Korisu was a nice stopping point to end Vol 3 out on (besides Yui visiting Kyoko's home of course) and remains a favored of mine among the DRK cast!

-

Peko came out as Sparkling Justice (aka a serial killer) to hasten everyone’s vote to execute her. What did Fuyuhiko do during this time? I like to imagine Fuyuhiko and Sonia was trying to stop the vote to the very end. They kept screaming that something was wrong, but no one listened. I bet Peko made sure no one could hear them by consistently spouting out Sparkling Justice’s ideals. The imagery of Peko’s laugh drowning out Fuyuhiko’s desperate pleads.

In the end, Peko force herself to laugh at the fact that she was about to die.