#lillieposts

okay but really. I thought the weird route was going to be optional and not really as important to DELTARUNE, but

for some reason I get the feeling that you're either supposed to clear main, get stumped on the ending, be unsatisfied, play weird route on another file, and then Gaster freaks out when you leave the world since he has no file for continuing this route, comes up with a quick fix by using your normal route ch7 file, and weird route Kris and Noelle get injected into normal ch7, extend the ending by a little, but still can't fix it overall.

OR

clear main, be unsatisfied, play weird route, there is no WR ch7, next time you play normal route, something breaks and ending changes

I know the first possibility is incredibly unlikely and I don't truly believe it's going to happen, but for some reason my brain is really insistent on this happening and I can't shut it up.

if we're talking realistically, based on evidence, Kris and Noelle are either in the depths or code

I don't believe it to be a dark world (unless the depths is a dark world?), I believe it to be the same plane Gaster or the device/game/menu is on. if you disagree, the rest of my post has my theory, to help you consider where I'm coming from.

if what was glowing as they submerged was Kris' heart, well, we haven't seen Kris' heart glow out of their body in the game on the same plane as DELTARUNE other than Kris sealing the fountain, (which Susie doesn't comment on or confirm whether or not she sees it) but my point is

usually when it glows, it's when we engage in enemy combat (undeniably the same layer as Gaster, it got the black with the green outlines)

or to show hitboxes near overworld obstacles (like sealing the fountain, nobody seems to comment that Kris' appearance changes, but unlike something as vague as the fountain sealing, we're given extra stylistic visuals, like Kris' body dimming, and there being extra outlines, sharing visuals with the enemy combat menu, implying it's also the layer above)

both instances happen in the plane above the DELTARUNE world, which is why Susie (best example of someone constrained to this world) doesn't comment on Kris' SOUL literally popping out of them and going into a box. because the SOUL is in the menu layer, and Susie can't see beyond her world's layer. (yes, she's INFORMED by flowery about it but she doesn't actually ever SEE it for herself.)

(Ralsei commenting on seeing Kris' soul during the tutorial doesn't prove or disprove anything, since he's clearly been informed of most game-related tools.)

so my point here in explaining that to you is to say that regular people can't see the SOUL, or it glowing.

if in ch5 when entering the lake, if that glow is indeed their SOUL,

1. Kris' SOUL wouldn't glow for no reason lol... ...unless, being put in a situation similar to combat or overworld obstacles. and it's only thanks to the menu layer's visual that we're able to see that. if there aren't any enemies, and there aren't any obstacles, the only reason their heart would be glowing would be because they're going onto the menu layer.

2. Noelle being able to see it, commenting on it ("KRIS!!!!!!!!!!") would imply that somehow she could also see the menu layer. although someone could be like "ooo it's cuz it's weird Noelle there's no explanation!!!", I actually believe this is because they are exiting the DELTARUNE world, entering the depths, the plane of which Gaster's cool videogame visuals reside, like the menu, and the SOUL, and stuff

the only cases I can find in which this reasoning could be invalidated would be if

the glowing was coming from something/somewhere else

That one developer in tower heroes: