The way Berdly and Kris’s relationship is perceived by the general Deltarune fandom is doing my head in. Practically every connection they share, any sign that Berdly is more than just a minor annoyance to Kris, is thrown away for the joke that Kris Hates Berdly As Much As The Players Do.
The fact that Kris canonically plays games with him and joined his mining server after prank calling him according to comments on Noelle’s blog? That’s just so they can mess with his files and beat him at games lol, nevermind that Kris genuinely bonded with Asriel over gaming and they’re clearly missing the companionship, and the fact that Kris playing with Ramb and giving him meaning was important enough to initiate the sword route.
The fact they double down and repeat his name after Ralsei seems perplexed at their response in chapter 3? They’re actually screaming his name in disbelief and horror, nevermind the fact That Is Not How They Act when they don’t like a choice the player has made considering they take back their words or outright refuse in other instances, and having this line be the Gotcha Moment proving Kris Can’t Stand Berdly relies on pure circular reasoning. Is Kris’s tone also up to the player’s interpretation?
The fact that Kris can ask Berdly to go with them to the festival and he takes their response as genuine? That’s just the Soul somehow getting payback across space and time for being beaten with a hockey stick ten minutes later, nevermind the fact that Soul Choices Don’t Work That Way, and there’s a completely separate route that shows what it’s like to be forced into a relationship with someone in a scene that’s taken dead seriously.
The fact that there’s a 3% chance of Kris recalling Berdly in the weird route Jackenstein boss, along with the evocative description of Rotting Fruit? That’s just them being disgusted at the very idea of Berdly, ignore all the fruit and rpg-related symbolism going on here it’s just a joke guys.
The fact that a recurring line of this game is Don’t Forget while Berdly goes forgotten by his parents, those he considers to be his friends, even the game itself doesn’t give a damn about the clearly neglected child, yet Kris will desperately try to keep him alive once he’s rendered comatose? Uhhh, that’s just because they don’t hate him enough to want him dead, you can’t use that as proof they actually care about him. It’s okay to forget about Berdly because he deserves it apparently… nevermind the fact they seem to be the one person who’d actually shed a tear for him.
All the player-induced mischaracterisation of Kris (or Krischaracterisation one might say) in regards to how they treat other characters under our control becomes completely flipped once Berdly is involved, and now any horrible options towards the poor bird become Just Kris Being Kris, and any nice things you can do becomes The Soul Manipulating Poor Kris. Even when there’s zero evidence that shows hesitance towards their choice, that interpretation becomes superimposed on a character we know by now we shouldn’t project everything onto.
It sickens me how the one genuine positive connection Berdly has in his life is completely overwritten by outdated fanon perception, even after all the evidence that Kris Is Their Own Person. They play games together. In a game where the connection between Kris and The Gamer Reading This is one of the biggest factors behind the story. Read between the lines guys.
