#-them. could a lightner do so on an even greater level?

[transesyourgranddukes]

SUPER LONG RAMBLING I WROTE DUE TO that link to the villains section of the hays code wikipedia article at the end and your point about Dess wanting to find ppl like her in the form of queer representation , which made me think back to the secret bosses and how they're characterized

so far they have been shown to be queer in some way + antagonistic to the main trio + linked to the figurative devil and have their own (fallen) angel/demon imagery . they and the rest of the darkners are “meant to serve lightners” , and with how lightners interacting with dark worlds represent people interacting with fiction , darkners are fictional characters meant to help/represent people

queerness in jevil being implied to have a relationship with seam (who is nonbinary) , and spamton trying to get himself a new body (trans coding) along with being confirmed mspec

not to mention their ties to the holiday family

particularly noelle , who is smiled at by the devilsknife and finds spamton's garbage dump place to be nostalgic

notably , Noelle , a queer character , finds comfort in those two (except for spamton during weird route , aside from the obvious influencing-the-killing-spree-by-you-and-your-childhood-friend-is-BAD , it is also a case of heteronormativity being imposed upon her by him through the thorn ring and his comments about her and kris . but that's another conversation)

jevil and spamton are people who have been outcast and failed by society in some way, left to rot in jail or abandoned to live in a garbage can , which could resonate with dess, who is ALSO alone somewhere horrible and cold and lonely (going off of her being in the code) , and whose disappearance could be read as her running from the town that she feels has failed her as a queer person and trying to make her own freedom (like jevil claiming he is free in his cell)

additionally the act of disappearing could be her rebelling(?) against and running from the expectations set upon her (like spamton trying to prove he can make it big without being puppeteered. although dess presumably had more positive expectations, expectations are still constricting to the ppl they affect)

tldr: dess , in a similar way to her sister but for a different reason , could possibly find comfort in the secret bosses through how they parallel her own issues with herself and her environment , akin to a queer person finding comfort in queer characters that reflect their own issues/situation

here’s a loosely speculative and rambly queer reading of dess that i sort of accidentally wrote just now. enjoy ?? ?

the more i think on it the more i think like. yeah noelle might very well be canonically a transgirl. as a lot of people have speculated, we might get the subtext when the mayor and dess are revealed to be does without antlers — we have the “horned girl and her sister” line, and it does seem a little odd that the story is so far withholding information on the mayor or dess’s appearances. and aside from the confirmation just being dope as hell on its own merits, i also think it might matter in relation to dess’s possible conflicts as a metaphorically queer person in a small town, maybe specifically with her mother

because the thing is, queerphobia literally doesn’t exist in utdr’s universes as far as we can tell. it doesn’t make sense for their mom to be angry with dess for being trans, gay, or GNC, because being those things isn’t considered rebellious or deviant in this world — it’s perfectly within the range of normal. it fits within her mother’s worldview. noelle is a trans lesbian and as far as we can tell it’s perfectly fine; their mom probably wouldn’t be upset either way if dess continued to be her daughter or came out as her son or as her nonbinary child. the mayor herself is gender-nonconforming — a tough, powerful woman in a position of high authority who can punch a man so hard that he blacks out.

but that doesn’t mean there can’t still be queer-flavored conflicts — perhaps a parent upset with her child for pursuing hobbies and passions that she thinks are inappropriate for her, that aren’t in line with what she understands or respects; for not dressing or behaving or growing up in the ways she thinks her children should. a parent angry with her child for not following rules that, in her mind, are in the child’s best interests to follow — rules that she thinks should protect dess from a world that just Wouldn’t Be Kind To Someone Like Her. a parent feeling personally attacked when her child chooses a new name for herself, rejecting the one she gave to her. a parent feeling hurt and abandoned when the person her child chooses to be in the world isn’t the person she expected or wanted.

to very briefly speculate on specifics: consider the possibility that, while rudy and noelle only ever refer to dess by her chosen name, the mayor may insist on calling her “december.” and, while it does make sense in-universe for someone to suspect the worst from dess’s vanishing, consider the imagery of a parent possibly considering her young adult child “dead” after that person made choices for herself that she found frightening and confusing.

noelle, while arguably just as “queer” as dess (see her quiet fascination with the weird and strange, and her desire to be closer with both susie and kris, both characters who, aside from being literally queer, are also very metaphorically queer in their own rights) might be avoiding this conflict by essentially “closeting” herself around her mom — minimizing herself as a form of self-preservation (for example, stifling her emotional outbursts while playing video games so her mom doesn’t know she’s playing them). this is of course oppressive to her, as well — it’s simply that noelle has traditionally prioritized her safety, while dess may have prioritized her liberty. dess, while perhaps not literally queer like noelle, is metaphorically “out,” and while being out has its own rewards, it may have cost her their mom’s sympathy and respect.

none of this is to preemptively demonize the mayor — we haven’t even met her yet — but to speculate on a possible character flaw that could reasonably have driven dess away, and may be redeemed over the course of the story. the mayor may need to redeem herself before dess can, or is willing to, return.

and i don’t think it’s just her mom. i think her mom, as the town’s mayor, might be in part representative of dess’s relationship to the town itself — a small, insular community that dess feels limits her choices and opportunities, especially as a young adult with big dreams. we know she dreamed of taking noelle to the big city someday.

…something i think about a lot is the line about dess wearing asriel’s jacket — how classically Straight and heteronormative that imagery is. to be clear, that’s not in any way meant as a knock on the legitimacy of dess and asriel’s relationship itself (i have some more nuanced thoughts on dessriel, and the value it has thematically or whatever, that i don’t really think are really relevant here. but i don’t think dessriel is in any way bad LOL), nor does it mean that i think asriel or their relationship is necessarily heteronormative in the literal sense (asriel himself is arguably GNC from the little bit we currently know about him).

it’s more that the framing here seems to emphasize how traditional and exceedingly “normal” the relationship was considered to be, something that may have been at odds with dess’s interests and ambitions as a young, “queer” person. asriel is quite literally the boy next door — sweet, nice, non-threatening. they grew up together; their parents and little siblings are close friends. they’re a boy and a girl in a perfect narrative position to date — hiro and mari — so of course they did. who else would she have dated? pizzapants? meangirl bratty? i could see her feeling boxed in to that option, among so many other options she felt she never had a real say in. asriel may be a great boyfriend, healthy and stable and exceedingly normal, but who’s to say she wanted “normal”? what if she wanted something queer?

if we think about why dess might have run away, why she would have wanted to escape, and why she might have found the fantasy of the dark worlds so captivating that she lost herself to them, i think this could be one way to read into it. dess is — at least metaphorically — a young, queer person, lonely and existentially bored in a small town that cares about her but, from her perspective, doesn’t seem to really understand her, doesn’t give her the option to really be who she wants to be. maybe she just wanted to find another queer person like her. and, who knows — maybe she did.

[pt-disconnected]

It didn't take long for the Player to put two and two together- with nobody else around, it was clear that the Knight was speaking to them. And while normally the Player would find this weird... well, weirder had happened with the game. "...You're testing my patience. Tell me, what are you trying to do?" the Knight spoke again. Clearly there was some agitation in the Knight's voice, or at least there would be if it was audible and not a text box. Though the shaking effects of the text made it a bit clearer- that always was a nice detail. The Player started their reply. "You tell me first. What are you doing with Kris? And why are you doing it?" they typed, with a bit of agitation of their own admittedly. It was strange, but they got the feeling that this... wasn't quite a game.

The Knight replied pretty quickly. "I suppose it is only fair. However you only get one question, as I am only asking you one." This was a lot less aggressive, almost like the Knight had a sort of smugness for holding back the information. Not like the Player cared. "You see, I am merely... playing a game. And Kris... Kris is one of the pieces. I myself am also one of the pieces, though I am trying to maneuver into a winning position." This gave the Player enough context to tell what was going on. "...And I take it this guy had me moving Kris as well... having me play the game... even without me knowing... dammit, this jerk knows what they're doing, it seems." they mumbled under their breath. "Yes, I do know what I'm doing. Or rather... I did. Until a new piece entered the board... or rather, changed it."

This in itself startled the Player. How the hell had the Knight heard them without the typing?! But the Knight simply looked back... well, as best as one could through a slot-shaped helmet. (How did he see through it in the first place, though?) "You may not realize it, but the connections between how Lightners and Darkners, and you and us, is greater than it seems... allow me to... demonstrate." A flash of light, and what sounded like shattering glass, left the Player shocked and covering their eyes for a moment. By the time they had uncovered their eyes, the Knight was looming over them, having grabbed them by their shirt- suddenly having become a striped green and yellow. "If Lightners can enter the world of Darkners... then perhaps it, too, can exist one level greater."

The Player wrenched the Knight's hand around in a sudden manner, resulting in breaking loose. They quickly backed away, before turning to prepare themselves to fight. The Knight was caught by surprise, but the Player knew that already, this figure they saw was now calculating what they could use this for. And sure enough, they were. But instead of preparing for battle as well, they relaxed their muscles. "I don't need to waste time with you. I just needed to stop you from going any further back, like you had been. I could tell from how you acted. You acted like you couldn't do anything that'd be... unusual. So just from that, I knew you had already seen what happened after..." "But now that you're here, you can't do that anymore. Good luck getting back there." With that, the Player jolted awake... or, what they thought was awake. And of course, they were right with Kris, Susie, and the rest. In the church, just before they went into the attic- and the Dark World. "What the hell?!! You again?!" Susie said, mostly shocked. And yet, Kris seemed... unalarmed. As if it wasn't bad enough before...

If a player is changing the rules, add a new piece. Turn the tables a bit... Yes, we've just gone a bit deeper down the rabbit hole. I started thinking about the fact that the connection between Lightners and Darkners existing one level higher (as mentioned by the Knight in Part 70 of the main comic) probably means a whole lot more than we think. Including the idea of that same 'Reality into Lightner into Darkner' concept used in this part of story... Who knows what's next... We're really getting into this mess now. Here comes the confusion. Hopefully nobody has too much trouble with it, though I know I'll be having fun. (...Possibly sarcasm?) Regardless, see you all in Part 7, and hopefully I can get back to more regular updates. (And remember I mentioned I'd be able to add to the story at least twice a month, although I do guess the post I said that in was buried a good chunk. Regardless, it's mentioned again, and I guess I'll add it in the Masterpost too. If I do end up not updating it that second time then I'll probably get a lot of asks reminding me, and that'll get me to move again lol)

Previous Part | First Part | Next Part LynxGriffin's Paper Trail Comic (Check Part 50 of the comic to see the sort of location we ended up in, and Part 69 to see where the 'one level higher' idea was first made canon!) (Also if you're wondering why all the 'part selection' bits at the bottom of each story part look different, it's because I have no idea how to keep them consistent between both mobile and desktop Tumblr, plus for one of them I have zero idea what happened. Don't ask.)

[swe3tcoffe3]

Since originally writing this post I have actually discovered more evidence in favour of this theory; mainly that each of the characters' relations to Kris (so far) mirrors their relationship with the narrative, which could be interpreted as yet more evidence that Toby is utilizing Kris as an extended metaphor for the narrative (or at least something relating to that).

In the case of Susie, she's repeatedly shown to have a rebellious streak, often doing things her own way and not caring about order or rules. This mimics how she can send the story veering of its intended course at times (although it should be noted that the consequences are nowhere near as disastrous as they are when a character like Noelle does something similar)

Some examples of Susie disobeying and rebelling against The Player/Kris' authority, as well as her causing the plot to "change" through her own agency. While it could be just a coincidence, under the lens of this theory it's equal parts interesting and frustrating (for me specifically. Even as of now I don't like this theory).

In the case of Ralsei, he's practically at the opposite end of the spectrum. Instead of constantly rebelling against Kris (and by extension The Player), he goes out of his way to cater towards Kris' needs to the best of his ability (even if at times he can't quite understand them).

Some examples of Ralsei trying to cater towards Kris and their needs.

This "catering" and service is reminiscent of his relationship with the narrative itself, as Ralsei seems intent to try and keep things on track and following a "script" of sorts, trying his best to make sure things go a certain way and being obedient to his role and place in the world according to his limited knowledge, in a way.

Examples of Ralsei making some allusions towards following some kind of "script".

Moving onto Berdly, his role as an antagonist throughout most of Chapter 2 is also similar to his relation with Kris; everything seems to suggest that the two have some kind of mutual rivalry going on between them.

Evidence of the pair's very enthralling back-and-forth battle of wits.

And note that, even while as an antagonist, he's not evil or villainous. He's only acting as a rival towards the rest of The Fun Gang and an obstacle towards their goals, similar to his relationship with Kris. He even helps them at points. By being... himself he allows the plot to move forward and serves his role in Deltarune's greater story.

Noelle is, in my opinion, the most interesting character in terms of this theory, as she sort of straddles the line between both Ralsei's mindset and Susie's. She's willing to obey the Player/Kris and "follow the narrative" and her own role in the story, being very passive and letting herself get ordered around by others throughout Chapter 2. This is until the point where she faces Queen and stands up to her (on a normal route).

Her obedience mirrors how she's willing to follow Kris and has a large amount of trust in them (similar to most characters), however, what I find most interesting is that, assuming that this theory is true for the most part, it's possible that Noelle's tendency to break games and disrupt the narrative could end up being reflected in her performing an action that "breaks" Kris, possibly in Side B but also maybe in the normal route too.

This line of thinking immediately brought this quote to mind.

Now for those who haven't played or seen LIVE A LIVE and would like to, I'd recommend to stop reading this and finish that first.

But I find it interesting because this character in LIVE A LIVE specifically ends up going down a dark path due to being rejected by their peers and being left alone, something that does have some level of foreshadowing.

So far, all Lightners have shown some level of independence from Kris, the "leader". Susie can leave anytime she wants, Noelle's slowly becoming more and more independent, Berdly spends most of his time on-screen doing his own thing and even Ralsei, the person who's supposed to be the most obedient, seems to be slowly growing more into his own person.

So, the characters distancing themself, growing independent and eventually no longer being involved with Kris is actually a concerningly possible direction that Deltarune could take, especially so if we assume that the mage that "left the party" in Noelle's game is supposed to be some kind of foreshadowing (which given how much Toby loves to use foreshadowing, is highly likely).

Noelle potentially being the catalyst for a Kris Regression Arc and causing them to be left alone is something that could be very interesting and also beautifully tragic, as I can imagine it being executed in such a way where neither party are demonized or made to look "evil" for this happening, and it's probably the only aspect of Meta Kris that I like (because it would add depth to Kris, THE CHARACTER, not Kris, the abstract concept).

As for how it would happen, I have no idea. You could make an educated guess that it could be because of Noelle's affection for Susie which ends up forming a love triangle/quarrel between Kris, Noelle and Susie based on the sheer abundance of romantic imagery in Deltarune, but I feel that'd be out of character for everyone involved. While it'd make sense for Toby to take all of the romantic subtext and bring it into the main story's conflict, I don't think it'd be in this specific way.

Tangent about Noelle's character aside, I think that's pretty much every major character covered. As we only have 2 chapters, it's difficult to pinpoint everything for every character, or even if this pattern will continue (which I hope it doesn't), but these are pretty much all the major ones covered that seem to reinforce this idea that Kris could potentially be a metaconcept. You could probably include some of the more minor characters in this list and their relationship with Kris and how it mimics their relationship to the narrative of Deltarune as a whole, but then this list would end up going on for a long, long time and I honestly don't enjoy writing for this theory.

This theory doesn't interest me. I don't enjoy it because I don't enjoy most of what it means for the character. The only fun I had while writing it was exploring the possibility that Noelle's arc could end up negatively impacting Kris, and that wasn't even because it was part of the meta or anything, it was because it meant that Kris Dreemurr, the protagonist, would actually get some kind of development to their character and be allowed to be something more than an abstract concept. I don't like the idea of Kris being demoted to "concept". I want them to be an active character in the story who's role goes beyond just representing the narrative of Deltarune.

Pretty much the TL;DR of this is that I still don't like the theory but Kris' relationship with the other characters in Deltarune mimics the relationship that character has with the overall narrative of Deltarune, which is additional evidence that they are a metaphor for the narrative.

Kris Might Represent a Meta-Concept (And Why I Do Not Like This)

Now to start things off, this is just a theory or potential possibility for Kris' character. Deltarune is an incomplete story as of writing this, and it's unclear which kind of direction this story will take as of now. This could all very easily be disproven by later chapters. The reason I highlight this is because I genuinely want this to be proven wrong at some point (for reasons I will discuss later).

I believe that there is some reason to suspect that Kris might have some ties to the metanarrative of Deltarune, and might actually be a meta representation of the narrative itself, control over a narrative within the context of videogames or even the force that drives a narrative forward in a given direction, and that this is something that will become an important aspect of their character.

This has been on my mind for a while now, not specifically this idea, but more so "how will Kris, the protagonist, tie into the meta of Deltarune?" This has been a question I've had ever since seeing how many meta connections Noelle has with The Player and their search for Gaster (being mirrored by her search for Dess), as Noelle is very strongly linked to Kris; they form a sort of unique duo of sorts. At first, I assumed it would be in a way similar to her tendency to break games, until I started looking deeper into things.

My first piece of evidence that Kris might be a meta-character is what Ralsei tells us about Kris' Soul. Ralsei does seem to be quite aware of the nature of the world he lives in, possibly to the point of even being aware that it's a game.

The fact that he highlights that Kris' Soul specifically has some level of influence on the fate of the world is important here as it shows that Kris is, at least in some way, heavily tied to the world around them.

This also gives them some kind of connection to fate which could be an allegory for the narrative. The reason why I believe that this might be the case is because Toby makes frequent usage of allegory and metaphor to make his meta more diegetic (so instead of having The Player directly acknowledged as a video game player, it's likely that we have the role of The Angel, an otherworldly being separate from DR's reality. The power to SAVE and RESET is an actual logical mechanic part of both DR and UT that characters are aware of instead of something inherent to the player, etc). It would therefore not be too much of a stretch to assume another allegory is being used here, to have the characters acknowledge the "narrative" not as a story, but as "fate", something that would make logical sense within Deltarune's world as well as our own.

My second piece of evidence that suggests that Kris could be a meta-concept is their direct interference with the narrative.

Whenever Kris does this, what they are essentially doing, on a meta-level, is taking charge of the narrative and driving it forward in a specific direction of their own choosing, despite the "risK" associated with doing this. By creating the Fountain, for example, they force Chapter 3 to happen, and while it's possible for any Lightner to make a Fountain (according to our current knowledge), I think that it is still important and relevant that the only person who we've seen successfully create one on screen so far is Kris, as it ties in to this idea about them being the one to drive the narrative/plot forward, because Kris is that force, the one that causes the plot to march forwards.

I would argue that this can even occur while they're still possessed, as a lot of events only happen because Kris' actions and decisions make them happen, not only through acting independently of us by saving Susie and causing her to develop and change, but also by taking on the role of "Leader" and "Tactician", both of which are roles that require someone to take charge and orchestrate certain events to take place.

Another piece of evidence I would like to point towards is Side B/The Weird Route. We essentially use Kris to abuse what we currently have, in the pursuit of something greater (most likely Freedom). However, something that I feel is often overlooked is the reason why we are able to achieve all this in the first place. One of the main reasons it is possible is due to the amount of trust that Noelle has in Kris, but I don't think that's the only reason why. After all, Noelle even remarks that the voice she heard wasn't like Kris'.

Despite this however, she's still compelled to obey. And I think the this could be because what compels her to obey could go much deeper than just Kris being a childhood friend (although I do feel that was a contributing factor).

I think it could also be due in part to what Kris represents on a meta-level. Their control over the narrative and ability to drive it forward is twisted into something sinister by The Player (who is most likely to be inhabiting Kris' Soul), in order to try and change the narrative so they can get their Freedom via using Kris to give commands, utilizing Noelle's natural tendency to break games through glitches to achieve this goal.

I point out the "commands" status here as I think it is an interesting word choice, especially given its definitions. One in particular caught my eye.

"The ability to control something". In a literal sense, it could be describing how us using Kris enables us to control Noelle. But it is possible that it could also be describing how we're abusing what Kris represents (what pushes the narrative forward) in order to break the game itself by controlling the narrative, directing it down a different path (an alternate side even) when we shouldn't have been able to in the first place.

Another reason I believe there is evidence to suggest that Kris could be representative of the narrative is what happens when Kris dies.

I've always found it interesting that Kris' death is referred to as an "end", mainly due to the fact that we know Deltarune is only meant to have one ending. But it makes perfect sense if Kris is meant to be representative of a narrative, as if Kris dies, that would in turn mean the narrative has "died" and is therefore finished. The world becomes "covered in darkness" because the story has ended.

One final reason I believe Kris could potentially represent something meta is due to the fact that we specifically possess them, of all people. A lot of what happens in Deltarune would be for the most part impossible if it weren't for certain decisions that Kris needs to make, and given their soul contains "the fate of the world", it would only be befitting for a Player, who has been "connected" to this world, to therefore control such a person who is at the very heart of the narrative, who could potentially even represent the narrative.

This relationship we have with Kris could even tie directly to Deltarune's metanarrative about our relationship with fiction in general. Us, The Player, are strongly attached to the fictional worlds, characters and stories, almost parasitically, something mirrored by our mostly unnoticed possession of the protagonist. However, we can never truly be fully immersed in it, and ultimately someone unhealthily absorbed and attached to the characters is destructive, both to ourselves and the fictional world, as we endlessly consume until there is nothing left for the sake of our own pleasure.

This would be why we could never truly coexist indefinitely with the characters and Deltarune, because we're not supposed to be with them. We're a real person, and they're not. We just have to come to terms with that, and let go of them eventually, letting the story end, and letting them have their peace.

Now, to discuss the second half of the title, and why I specifically dislike this. There are two main reasons why the idea of Kris representing something "meta" is not really very appealing to me, personally.

The first is that I really don't like the idea of Kris' character taking this direction. I think Deltarune would work much better if Kris was just simply a human. Someone thrust into this new world and forced to take on an incredibly big role, with failure resulting in their entire world and everyone they love being doomed to an eternal night. That doesn't mean I dislike the idea of Deltarune having meta-elements or even a metanarrative. I just don't like the idea of Kris being a concept of sorts.

The very reason I grew to be attached to Kris in the first place was because they weren't a meta-character. They weren't special, they weren't some kind of abstract being. They were just themself.

I understand that Toby is willing to give his metacharacters personalities of their own and traits that are separate from what they represent, but I still am not very fond of Kris being one, because ultimately, for his metacharacters, their main role and function in the story is to represent that concept.

It's why Chara's only more physically present in the Geno Route; they represent the mindless consumption of content, watching the numbers increase, accruing more power.

On the flip-side, it's why we specifically only learn Frisk's name only in Pacifist, because ultimately you have to embody and channel what Frisk represents in order to complete that route; doing things because you enjoy them, not because it's right or wrong, but because you enjoy seeing the characters and because you love the game and its world. The mindful consumption of content.

For Kris, if this theory is true, it would ultimately mean that the only function their character would have narratively is to represent the narrative, so for a "Pacifist" route for Deltarune, our relationship with Kris would be far more courteous; we enjoy our time with the fictional world, cherish the story, and then let go once it's over and enjoy the memories and friendships we made.

In Side B our relationship with the narrative would be far more abusive, breaking the game to get more and more out of it, ultimately causing it to fall apart from the seams. I find this unsatisfying personally, as believe it or not the meta elements of Undertale and Deltarune are not actually my favourite part of the game. This might come as a major shock to a lot of you considering I often talk and bring up both games' meta but it's only out of necessity really (I prefer the regular narrative/characters over the meta. It doesn't mean I don't appreciate it of course, nor does it mean I actually hate it or anything, but I still will always prefer the more regular aspects of UTDR).

Now the second reason why I dislike this heavily is that it calls into question whether or not Kris is actually nonbinary. Now I made a promise not to go too in depth about this specific subject anymore so I'll try to keep things as brief as possible here (and relevant), but I don't like how Toby approaches writing nonbinary characters, simply because he makes everything about that aspect of them either incredibly obscure or really open to interpretation and non-definite.

Another issue I have is that Toby also uses they/them for characters who are likely to not be nonbinary (in addition to his nonbinary characters), which adds another layer of confusion on this matter. Examples of this are Frisk and Chara, where there are non-bad faith reasons to believe that the two aren't necessarily intended to be nonbinary. It's likely that, due to the fact they are meant to represent an aspect of the player, their gender is left ambiguous/unclear so that the audience can better understand what they represent and mean. Toby's even used masculine pronouns for Frisk in the past, which aligns pretty well with this interpretation; because Toby is male, it would logically make sense for Frisk to be a male specifically to him, because Frisk represents an aspect of himself (The Player).

It also accounts for all the other weird gender stuff about them (why he goes to such lengths to avoid mentioning their gender, why he's fine with people interpreting them as "some girl", why they're even listed as "androgynous", a term that can be used to refer to characters of any gender).

Now this all may seem unrelated at first but the reason I bring this all up is because one of the other reasons I like Kris is because they were probably one of Toby's most blatant examples of a nonbinary character and a sort of step in the right direction (for the most part, they're not as blatant of a trans character as DR!Mettaton for instance, who has his identity firmly tied to and undeniably shown in the narrative, but I do genuinely hope that Kris will become that way or at least similar in future. It would be nice to see).

(Just a quick comparison of the two, I didn't include Kris' nurse/doctor outfit here because context clues imply the outfits are more tied to the characters' personalities rather than gender. Susie being a more brash character has a doctor outfit while the kinder/softer Ralsei has a nurse's. Kris using both is just a sign that they can simultaneously be intimidating/scary and also soft-hearted at times too. It should also be noted that nurse and doctors aren't inherently gendered roles too, which is yet another reason why I didn't think it was worth mentioning in the image.)

However, if this theory is true, which isn't a 100% guarantee let me repeat myself here I cannot stress that enough, it suddenly calls into question whether or not Kris is actually nonbinary, as both Frisk and Chara lie in this weird ambiguous "it can be whatever" state as they both embody meta-concepts. If Kris also represents a meta-concept, would this logic also apply to them? Or is whatever Kris represents fundamentally different, which would allow them to be nonbinary and also be a meta-concept? Or is all of this just wrong and they are actually just a regular character after all?

Toby has corrected people on Kris' pronouns, but then also at the same time it doesn't necessarily prove that Kris is nonbinary, just that they use they/them, which again, when Toby writes a character doesn't automatically mean they're nonbinary (see Frisk and Chara, as while in their cases he doesn't correct others over pronoun-usage, I do think it's worth pointing out as within canon the only pronouns used for the two are they/them, which shows that when writing characters Toby doesn't consider a characters' pronouns indicative of gender). And given that it's not really possible to gender a narrative, it could be a case where Kris has to use they/them in order for the meta surrounding them to make sense. Or again, this could be all wrong and Kris will be proven to be nonbinary (the option which I hope is true).

All in all, my final thoughts on this is that while I do think there's a small chance that Kris could possibly represent something meta, ultimately I don't like it all that much, as I don't like what it means for the character in general. They'd feel sort of like an inferior version of Frisk in my personal opinion; incredibly passive in the way they portray their meta whilst not actually being capable on their own, relying on their influence over others instead, sacrificing what could have been an interesting character solely for the sake of the meta.

The main message their character would likely be portraying would also be mediocre in my opinion, as based on the current story beats and this theory, it'd most likely be something along the lines of "leaving behind the fictional world is the best option", which I don't think is 100% true. I think fiction in general is a good thing, it's an outlet for many different creative ideas, opinions, worldviews etc. I'm okay with Deltarune exploring the idea of a Player unhealthily attached to a fictional world, but if the final message the game had to say was that leaving said world completely is the right thing to do then I also think that too is wrong, as I personally think it's much better overall to find a healthy balance between consuming content and living in the real world, although these are just my personal opinions.

In all honesty I really hope I'm wrong here, as I don't like this theory at all. While writing this I was actually actively searching for ways to disprove it but couldn't find any myself. If there was anyway to disprove this, I would greatly appreciate it.