I think it's more likely that Ralsei isn't Asriel, but there's still an off chance Asriel and Ralsei are connected somehow. I think if Asriel IS Ralsei that at this point that would be... more of a twist, because it's one of those things where Asriel = Ralsei is so obvious as a conclusion most fandom would be like 'uh no'. I think if we believe Ralsei is Asriel, well... we know Asriel likes making games these days so. That's the one thing I can go 'maybe' about. Even if Asriel was Ralsei, I think Ralsei would be more like a character Asriel played than 'actually' Asriel or reflecting anything like his sincere thoughts.

I think most signs in the game point to Ralsei being something else though. I know the headband theory is common, and I'm inclined to agree that Ralsei represents the toy headband. I think he shares a similar role to OG game Asriel (a prince) and I can see vestiges of Flowey in him - I always think Ralsei is probably something similar to Flowey's first runs where he tried to make everyone happy, that we didn't get to see. But I don't think he's -actually- Asriel. We know 'being bad at naming things' is a family trait, so I think actually Kris naming Ralsei is something they did that just cements them as sharing this family trait. Or arguably maybe Asriel was involved in the naming process for Kris' monster OC version self. We know he can't name shit. I think Ralsei also tends to represent this fanon 'nicer' version of Asriel that most fans have conceptualized Asriel as being. So shifting this into the audience's mind and having it front and centre is going to a dramatic counter to what we see of Actual Asriel in canon... imo

merry christmas!!
ummmm hard ask! I love a lot of the deltarune characters, but feel like the mythical illusion of asriel always holds the most prominent view for me.
I like kris, noelle, susie and ralsei all a whole lot but I've been surprised how attached I am to kris based off the suggestions we've gotten about them and noelle who is usually a bit more sweet than my usual type. maybe it's because she has so much trauma and pressure exerted on her but I like her a lot!
I think ralsei is probably going to have more layers later on though too that'll make him more my type
we'll see, but I like everyone. I like that susie is such a certified Bad Kid though

krisriel is the most folgers commercial-esque ship I have right now. I like krisriel, but so much of it is so mysterious right now! I do think there is unhealthy codependence to it, as seemingly comes naturally to all of asriel's relationships, although it's interesting that we see it filtered mainly through kris here. whether its been in his relationship with chara or frisk in the main game, usually when we see codependent yearning it comes from asriel's big little fucked up heart. in the context of deltarune, kris is the one who is having a hard time letting go of asriel as asriel goes off into the big world. what does this mean about the asriel of deltarune? I want to know. we do have what we've come to 'think' of asriel through ralsei who seems set up to mimic fanon asriel's traits... what does THAT mean I wonder? anyway on kris and asriel specifics it seems like there's a lot to it... it's easy to imagine the two had a lot of secrecy and dark little secrets. the game at least implies one BIG dark secret between them (whatever happened to noelle's sister)... it's a small town too, so I imagine the nature of secret keeping was extra tightly wound. they seem like they did everything together, and two... one thing that's rarely emphasized is the town's religion and how caught up in it even kris and asriel were. there's no specifics given, but there's an oppressive atmosphere in that so much of their childhood is caught up in it and integrated into it. there's angel dolls they spent 'a lot of time making big wings for', noelle and dess were also in a youth group. asriel was in choir, kris liked the communion wine. asriel enjoys religious ska... it seems so much of their life is inherently intertwined with religion and while we don't know the details in full, we can imagine that this is the kind of atmosphere that leads to more secret keeping and very private ways of acting out that the two probably kept with one another. there's a fantasy catholic sense to it. asriel kissed someone, and they all went to church a bunch to make up for it... the idea of sins. so there's a different reason the two have been pushed into creating their own bubble or their own little world than in the original undertale... moving on from that, kris is someone who seems to be failing to thrive without asriel. we know asriel did a lot for them, and kris is constantly reminded of asriel everywhere they go and desperate to have him back. we know there's some weird guilt kris feels towards asriel (you've already taken enough). it's all super compelling, and it's SO easy to dive in and explore the different things this means and the different way things have developed between them. I love when two characters are inseparable, obviously, and I love all the suggestions about these two having a private and intimate world. Kris also seems to try to conceal some of what you can find out about asriel too - in ch 2 when you can 'look' in asriel's room, kris closes their eyes. they don't want you to 'know' what's inside. or even maybe, because they want to protect asriel from the player. heartwarming and sad.

ANYWAY... i love krisriel. it's one of the things that offers new tantalizing hints every chapter. it's SO part of some central mysteries too, and you know it's only on its way to getting more fucked up. it's so inherently codependent and I can't wait for when asriel returns from college for christmas and kris says 'you're my present this year'

and thank you so much cool anon!! merry christmas to you too

1. i was so excited about and in love with baccano! when I first watched it, maybe that. or mob pyscho, hxh, etc. those series are just genuinely good and refreshing. similarly i feel like i'm always chasing the feeling something like undertale gave me the first time I played it regarding asriel/flowey. that specific overwhelming love towards a character.
2. depends! right now... hm. i'd suppose to some extent everything becomes 'moderately better' in your head, you can adjust the details. i'd think most shounen series I enjoy are kind of like that, where I hone in on the details I care about. every series I love, I sort of get blinders and focus usually on what it has to say about trauma or its most dramatic parts/convoluted relationship dynamics so there's a bit of that everywhere I suppose. fe3hopes is a game I'm currently playing where the plot is kinda eh esp compared to the original, but where I'm focusing on the positives and what I care about more-or-less. when I was a teen... well I'll mention my 'embarrassing fandoms'... homestuck, hetalia, at some point in time i guess haha aka the Really Early Baby fandoms I had as a teenager. i think this is because hetalia did genuinely have thoughtful fans who took the source material and examined history in a much more nuanced way than the source esp before the series got an anime (im old), and then of course homestuck went off the rails part of the way through but so many wonderful ideas were constructed about where it could've gone before that. i'm pretty detached from both those fandoms now, but when i was a teen i had such fantastical ideas about them...
3. if you mean media wise, the ending of digimon tamers made me furious/put me in mourning for a bit as a kid. same with monster ranchers and it's weird nowhere ending. if you mean 'anything', i had a babysitter as a kid who used to blame me for things that made me upset. once i threw up because i was sick and she gave me a time out for an hour. another time one of the other kids she was babysitting bit themself and blamed me and she gave me in trouble for it. the kid whispered to me 'i know you didn't do it. it was me. i bit myself'. shakes fist.

gosh, there's so many possibilities... I think I'd want to do a dark animated series for adults with a cute style that focuses on a traumatized flawed cast of characters in a sort of fantasy/sci-fi combo dystopia, maybe something set post-post-apocalyptically, something where personal issues and relationships are cumulatively important. center to the story would be a codependent pair of friends? partners?, because that's a theme i like to explore, and how they begin to open up to experiences outside of them as events Happen and they meet more people outside of their circle. also probably some deep dark secret from the past binds them together and continues to cause emotional conflict with them to this day. various other characters showcase the structures of the world through their own lives and though the world has unique systems of magic and values that don't relate to our own world the characters also share common themes of trauma we can all relate to. more or less something like that is ideal to me