#entry 17

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God, I love this man /pl

So you know Ralsei’s explanation of what a Dark World is?

We have it when things start to not quite be what they seem: Dark.

We have it when nothing can be seen at all: Darker.

We have it when it goes even further and the imagination begins to take form: Yet Darker.

And, he says that it’s when you “take away the light that isn’t there.” Almost as if: Photon Readings… Negative.

Entry 17 has always been a mystery in the Undertale fandom. The bizarre half-non-existent words of the missing Royal Scientist but a select few can even recall. The strangeness of its words prevailed in remaining a mystery for years after Undertale's release, and later Deltarune's own release, many a fanfic, theory and AU created to facilitate people's interpretations of it. That is, until today. No doubt most people reading this post can recall it word for word, but for those who don't let us recall its (translated) words for clarity's sake.

ENTRY NUMBER SEVENTEEN

DARK DARKER YET DARKER

THE DARKNESS KEEPS GROWING

THE SHADOWS CUTTING DEEPER

PHOTON READINGS NEGATIVE

THIS NEXT EXPERIMENT

SEEMS

VERY

VERY

INTERESTING...

WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK

It was a starling realisation of mine when, earlier today, I was listening to one of the many remixes of Gaster's theme and realised something I had not seen or heard ever be brought up in any theory after the release of Deltarune.

In hindsight, much of the Entry is rather blatant foreshadowing of Deltarune. For it is a the sort of description you could expect a Dark Fountain to be given in a scientific context.

"But Nef," I hear you cry, "how is stating the obvious at all useful for theorising about the lore of Deltarune?" Well, caricature of a hypothetical reader whom exists solely to say that one sentence and will stop existing when I finish my own, you shall have your answer given in a question.

Why would the previous Royal Scientist from Undertale, who we know went missing after falling into his own creation, be describing a Dark Fountain from Deltarune?

The answer, should be clear now. We were wrong about which of his creations Dr Gaster fell into. Since it was attributed to him by the same follower whom told us of his mistake, we as a community (reasonably) assumed the CORE was the creation he fell into. However, in light (hah irony) of Entry 17 being clearly about a Fountain, a new option takes form. Dr W.D. Gaster disappeared without a trace, because he did not manage to escape his final experiment. An experiment into that which is darker than dark.

Likely whilst testing some device or another intended to break or circumvent the barrier, Dr Gaster inadvertently channelled enough of his will to accidentally open a Dark Fountain (perhaps it kept not working and he was at the "repeat the action harder until it works this time" stage of anger/annoyance, idk this is something for the fanfic writers to decide), as we know Monsters are capable of doing via Susie in Chapter 4. Being the scientist he was, he resolved to research his latest creation to find out if it could circumvent the barrier as intended or not.

However, unlike Castle Town and Chapter 5's Fountains, his Fountain did not have a designated exit. Or at least, not one he could find nor reach. The only way out required one to Seal the Fountain... but he was not able to.

As we have seen thus far in Deltarune, the act of Sealing a Fountain requires that your Soul be able to detach itself from itself from the body momentarily. An action only a Boss Monster could hope to manage in Undertale, with little guarantee to say it would survive long enough to finish the act. As a result, a standard monster would most assuredly be trapped forever, and, with enough time, become as much a fantasy as the world created by the Fountain. Only remembered by those who were close enough to have either been drawn into the Fountain as well, remnant echoes shifted after too much time in a dream, or perhaps so drawn to fantasy that they already blurred the lines themselves.

As with all things involving the nature of the Gaster Followers, that part remains unclear.

After so long trapped in a world such as the ones we know, likely reminiscent of Cyber World but more sciencey if I had to guess, would it be unusual to say one might grow to have some semblance of control over it? Especially if that world is as scientifically inclined as would be expected from being formed by such a Royal Scientist as Dr. Gaster. I certainly would think so, and I imagine Dess Knight theorists may also be inclined to agree given how long she would have been in her Fountain and the shapeshifting abilities of the Knight.

In a similar vein, is it not reasonable to assume that a realm born of Fantasies made manifest in Darkness would be connected to multiple worlds? Considering how this theory started out you can probably assume where I'm going with this. To put it simply, with enough time and capacity to manipulate the Darkness afforded by more time and practice, I believe it is reasonable to say one could form a door to a vast variety of places. After all, we have already seen this done on a smaller scale throughout each chapter of Deltarune, and some may have themselves also seen it in Undertale within a hallway that did not exist.

We do also already know that some of those linked to Gaster can travel (or at least see) other worlds via Clam Girl, which lends further credence to the possibility of the Doctor himself doing the same.

I will admit the title was a bit of a lie, after all, none of us have any hints as to who Gaster would've been asking the opinions of (my guess is actually Followers 1 & 3 since they talk like they were actually present when the experiment went wrong)

But with all but that last line of dialogue being related, I'd say I got close enough, and now I feel it is time to leave the rest of the theorising to the community. After all, it'd be rude to keep talking about someone who's listening.