Glad our playthrough was entertaining. To me, the very core of DELTARUNE (and by extension, UNDERTALE) lies within the relationship between Kris/Chara and Asriel... without them, there is no game, and I wouldn't have the interest I do in the games. So that's me just nodding along with, it makes sense to be interested in them even if the game itself isn't the most motivating to play. Hehe.

If you want a general rundown about the two... *taps lips* Ahh, where to even begin. Well for starters, I still think it's fascinating that Kris and Asriel have an age gap between them, compared to their UT counterparts. Not something that happened with other characters who were originally same aged? To me, it's as jarring as if, IDK, the game randomly created an age skew between Alphys and Undyne, because you'd have to think back to their UT selves and wonder what that says about them??

(And it would say SOMEthing, for the record; I'm not the type of person that treats the universes completely separately. I understand that UNDERTALE's narrative exists in its contained bubble and Toby doesn't want us to imagine mmhh, perhaps a sort of multiverse or timey wimey nonsense between it and DELTARUNE. However it's clear to me that DELTARUNE functions as a 'what if?' story, where we see the characters in a new context. It's still them though, as much as a mangaka can pitch an AU where the characters are going to a magical boarding school, and it's not as if the characters identities are lost in that AU, lol.)

It's always been clear to me that in UT, Chara was more mature and severe, while Asriel followed their lead helplessly. He seemed to absorb everything they said, tried to internalize their perceptions of the world, thought they were special and unlike anyone else. Making DR Azzy the older brother recontextualizes that obsessiveness into... being very attentive of younger sibling...?? Caretaking, doting...? And while I do feel like Kris certainly retains Chara's morbid predilections, it seems like they are softened with more mischief and playfulness, ala Frisk. (Disclaimer that I think Frisk is just Chara with less reservations, so Kris is similar, with less reservations due to a different upbringing.) So Kris in turn becomes this lovable rascal, to Asriel's loving onii-chan nature, and I'm like hahahah where Am I... What is this fanfic of a world---!! So interesting, I never would have conceptualized it myself... My Chara brain is small — I never could imagine us growing up past age ~8 anyhow... Injecting teen into this all is so messy. But ermm nothing so far has shocked me exactly — seems like Kris and Azzy both are ill-fitted to being a Teen. What with there being anecdotes of both Kris and Asriel being kind of,, taken for a ride,,,, by peers,, I think Asriel suffered from this more (trapped in games of spin the bottle, dragged to prom by exuberant girlz) but it seems Kris is not immune to, trying to get in with Cool Big Kids, and flopping. Ffffflop fail get nowhere...

In spite of whatever trophies & achievements are on Azzy's shelf, I can't see him as flourishing... Being in college does not indicate being self-satisfied at all. From what we can glean, he was sensitive and a crybaby (like in UT...), well-behaved and concerned about religion and the idea of 'sin' even without others imposing that onto him. Anddd... so, well, we know Toriel is very Strict No Contact NO!! Inappropriate Behavior, so god knows, whatever pressure mommy did exude was nervewracking, difficult for Asriel to contend with. I can't imagine he did well under the slightest expectation... I worry Asriel spent his life fumbling social interactions, being too polite to fend off individuals like Bratty & Catty, trying and failing to get anyone to listen to his music, and then was carted off to college. WERE IT NOT FOR HIS BEST FRIEND IN THE WORLD, IN THE FORM OF KRIS, I worry Azzy would be forsaken by this world. We've yet to learn the details of Azzy's dynamic with Noelle and Dess in the past, but so far it feels like the majority of interactions were had as a group. And um, Dess going missing many years ago means that whatever connection was there, was lost...

Rambling, but I just wanted to assert that I fret about Asriel's well-being and don't see him as a 'golden child' or favorable etc. Rather, I think he was possibly held to a high standard and never got to act out and be as free as Kris ever did. Much like how Noelle regards Kris as the only one who knows she's weird, since it seems Noelle and Asriel have overlaps in their nature & dynamic with Kris. Much like how UT Azzy declares with great emotion that Chara was special and the only one who ever understood him, I believe it's the same with Kris in DR; the only person who Asriel could share everything with... Combined with all the sweet sentimental stories of the time spent together, it's heart-wrenching, how much these two shared... Always playing together, having collaborated in game making (art, music, design...), making snowmen, watching TV and doing little BITS at the TV, making whipcream beards, nonsense like that... Seems endless... And there's even implication that Kris has stayed up all night talking to Asriel online while he is away at college — so even when apart, they focus a lot of energy in staying together, in one another's thoughts.

*SIGHS!* Kris's sheer listlessness at the start of the game, feels like they've withered away without Asriel there with them. But knowing Asriel Dreemurr, unable to Let Go, so so very painfully attached and dependent, I can't imagine he's faring very well himself. ANGST...! MISERY!! LOVE...

... AND THEN... UMMM, ALL THAT MADNESS LEADS TO... ?? ???????? WHATEVER is being accomplished with the deranged playtimes with Ralsei in the Dark World... Hahaha, I can't fathom how multi-layered and convoluted it's become at that point. If Ralsei is perhaps a constructed persona (with dubious awareness), then it's like... ?? What if onii-chan was... someone with NO friends, NO previous experiences, waiting in a room to meet you...?? Ralsei seeming more like a 'peer' than an older individual kind of feels like an odd expression too, like perhaps it feels more accurate to how Azzy feels, following Kris's lead, loyal, helpless... Simpering, making wet eyes at you, ready to do anything and, ready to accept any kind of behavior. Whatever you want to do Kris...!! Anything.....!!!!!!!!! *whine, whine*

Likewise I think it must be fun for Kris to be, a cool mysterious protagonist. Point, direct, command, go my steed... Combine that with um, the Dark Worlds all being some sort of omage to their past playtimes, staged in places of great import to them...? I guess it feels like Kris and Asriel have made a very elaborate, bizarre, passionate celebration of their relationship in the countdown before Asriel's arrival. Who knows what the goal of such a thing is... [squints at UT for guidance] Kris is um, slowly getting sicker, which happened to Chara due to Asriel poisoning them in some wild plan which ended in them fusing into an abomination... So. Wwwwonder what we'll be doing here... with the angel... and all that....... Ahah.

💁‍♂️ I have now provided a generalized rant about those two... I think they were woefully attached, perhaps to their own detriment, but nothing could stop them, because they needed each other very badly. Needed to bake pies together and watch favorite cartoons and make music with one another and linger in a diner together. Asriel needed to have chocolates ready in his pockets like a Kris treat dispenser... he needed to um carry Kris in his arms to school to enable their slovenly lifestyle. [furious] And that's why in the present day, Kris can do things like scratch a door and howl pathetically, and Ralsei can be like oouuu Kris need walkies? [NAUSEATED, FURIOUS...] Whatever. They suck actually, don't play this game ever. It's very bad and stupid.