I love to think about the general hormone compote that is Dess + Noelle + Kris + Asriel, stimulating for my mind. The only reason Dess is presently excluded from my shenanigans, is that I do not wish to presume or invent my own design for her, or extrapolate too far on what exactly anything was visually. I'm patient and "working with what I've got" at the moment! There is ENOUGH to play a little in the Kris/Asriel/Noelle space, for now.

Dess/Asriel is intriguing to me, in that any combination of these kids is mystifying and curious. Processing the current information for me is like...

What we see of Dess's room looks, to me, like a teen who planned to run away sooner rather than later (but disappeared before that could happen). Her instruments are all dented, and there are many of them, which to me implies she quickly got bored or fed up with things and lashed out. Perhaps constantly oscillating between understimulated/overstimulated. I do not feel this was a little girl with a stable, loving boyfriend or something. Absolutely not!

We have this weird parallelism briefly suggested between Kris/Noelle and Dess/Asriel, which I think is SUSPICIOUS and NOT TO BE TAKEN AT FACE VALUE. It's a little too convenient if you and your brother like the girls next door in such an organized arrangement, isn't it? I don't think Toby is that straightforward.

Noelle vaguely mentions, in a ferris wheel interaction with Kris, of her concern that Kris was always just "going along with what [she] wanted, just like..."
so what does that mean eh? Hrm. Did someone or something make Noelle consider how people sometimes charitably placate or pretend to have feelings, for someone else's sake?

We HAVE evidence that Asriel was placating towards multiple girls around the same time; we have Bratty spin-the-bottle, and we have Catty prom. We have UNSENT love letters to BOTH Catty AND Dess. Which of these do we place stock in? Why is one more or less valid than the other? None of them 'prove' any relationship. They only suggest a purgatory.

My impression of Asriel is that he was a pushover, always being told what to do by others, reticent to ACT on his own will. Perhaps scared to. Did Asriel WANT to be in choir? Did Asriel WANT to do cross-country? Did Asriel WANT to go to prom with Catty? Did Asriel WANT to be King with Dess's Queen? Did Asriel WANT to go to college? Did Asriel WANT to be a bad kid, or a good kid?
(stares at Ralsei's entire arc in the entire game thus far)

Kris is, in contrast, a very free-spirited and impulsive child, and very dependent. Asriel seems to have fostered this dependency soooo exceptionally, he was known as Kris's only friend (what on Earth has Kris done or failed to do to make Noelle and Dess NOT seem to be equally friends with them?!).

My biggest theory at the moment is simply that Dess disappeared before Asriel or Kris could even crystallize what either of them wanted with her, or Noelle. And the disappearance created so much fear, anxiety, it froze everything in place. If Asriel couldn't be with Dess, why would Kris be with Noelle? That would entail leaving Asriel all alone. What does Asriel's future hold? We now know the 4 of them talked about crossing to the other side of the lake. But did Kris, Noelle, and Asriel actually have that ambition, or were they just going along with Dess's dream, to stay together?

This concept of "going along with [something you may not want] in order to stay together/maintain harmony" is I would say, Very Deltarune. Berdly does shit to keep his dynamic with Noelle stable (in his delusional mind), Susie tries to not step on Kris's toes with Noelle and Ralsei (asking who Kris likes before the festival is in MY OPINION, her attempt to douse for interest so as to not unintentionally blow things up with any actions), Kris sits in the cuck chair for Noelle & Susie to have their dynamic,

I think DELTARUNE overall has a very persistent exploration of unrequited or incompatible feelings, which is a very interesting component of the "your choices don't matter" theme. That concept sounds so dismal, so desolate, but if we apply it to the concept of crushes or love, it's kind of painfully true, isn't it? It doesn't matter who you love, if they don't want that with you. You don't get to choose who you are. You're Kris.

We have a lot of weird missed connections going on...

Asgore of course loves Toriel, but she has moved on. Also a crush on Rudy. (I also feel like Rudy has a crush on Toriel but this is largely unsubstantiated delusion on my part. The church interaction is just so loaded. I also feel like Carol has some sort of thing for Asgore but this is just a feeling. Perhaps everyone shuffled into the arrangement that made the most sense, but there are Missed Connection feelings all around which is what leads to somewhat raising their children side-by-side together)
Berdly performs having a crush on Noelle as an act of charity, but comes to like Susie, who will not like him back.
Susie admits in ch5 to having assumed Kris and Noelle were dating, making her jealous.
Obviously Weird Route Kris can express a crush on Noelle, who presently crushes on Susie.
Noelle seems to express having had a crush ?? on Kris as children ?? (and I felt this is suggested in her initial ferris wheel memory in Queen's chapter, so it's feeling like canon to me).
""""Ralsei"""" is very desperate for Kris's attention, regardless of this being reciprocated through player action. He is eager to change virtually anything about himself or accept any treatment in order to remain available to Kris. He is anxious of having any preference at all, for fear it may make him less appealing to Kris. (stares at Asriel) (Stares at Asriel's dynamic with Chara in UNDERTALE)
The entirety of the Burgerpants/Bratty/Nice Cream Guy situation, which is too complicated to even summarize here, but is bonkers amounts of everything I am saying here.

Weird dynamics are explored even in the toybox in DELTARUNE, with participants for some reason fixated on concepts like "throuple" and then escalating recently to discussing "symmetrical" 4-partner relationships.
and then you know.
Whatever Spamton & Tenna have going on,
Whatever Queen and King have going on,
The entirety of Rouxls
I could write an unwell essay about Goulden Sam & Suilver Sam & Sons

And of course, in UNDERTALE we also explore a lot of similar weird things, suchas Alphy's one-sided crush on Asgore and Mettaton, and also somehow she has slept with Sans who I don't think was ever her endgame and we do not know what Sans feels/felt about that. whatever
Blooky's fanboyism for Mettaton (who cannot tell them he is their cousin and already loves them dearly. reciprocation can be complicated, even if you want to give it!)
Mad Dummy has a crush on Undyne as her practice dummy, and MOST LIKELY Alphys is horny for the Mad Dummy's body as the original owner of the huge sexy figure. Mad Mew Mew accepts Alphys and Undyne's relationship respectfully (though the 3 proceed to be depicted together in newsletters, what does that mean?)

and Toby, in general, has a funny fixation on relationships shifting and changing over time. If I may be presumptuous, I think "cloistered, small, enclosed community which feels simultaneously comforting, and entrapping" is an interest explored in both DELTARUNE and UNDERTALE. It's a "small town vibes" in both games... that the few people who are "stuck" here are rotating all around one another, trading partners, everyone knows each other, relationships come and go. Do we want to escape? Or is everything we love, care about, right here? Do we blow it all up? Do we leave????? Asriel doesn't, can't, in UNDERTALE. Too permanently altered by love for Chara. What do we take from that?

Now. What is my opinion.

My main opinion is I DO NOT THINK THE 4 OF THESE KIDS HAD WORKED OUT WHAT THEY WANTED OUT OF ONE ANOTHER BEFORE DESS DISAPPEARED AND ALL POSSIBILITIES OR POTENTIALS VANISHED BEFORE THEY CAME TO BE TRULY KNOWN. I DO NOT THINK ASRIEL AND DESS WERE IN A COMMITTED, OPENLY EXPRESSED AND DISCUSSED RELATIONSHIP. I THINK DESS DISAPPEARED WHEN SHE WAS LIKE 12 OR 13, based on my calculations???????????????????????? I DO NOT THINK EITHER FAMILY WOULD HAVE ALLOWED THEIR CHILDREN TO BE DATING, SINCE EVEN AN OLDER ASRIEL IS PUNISHED FOR KISSING A GIRL BY BEING FORCED TO GO TO CHURCH EVERY DAY. AND I DO NOT THINK ASRIEL WAS SO CAPABLE OF STANDING UP TO HIS FAMILY AT A YOUNG AGE, BASED ON WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT HIM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do not think any of these kids really CRESTED what they WANTED out of life! Dess wanted to leave, everyone liked her, but did THE OTHER KIDS want to leave? Did Noelle want to go to the city? Did Asriel? Did Kris? Did any of them simply want to stay in this little town forever and enjoy their life together just as it was? Is Dess's idea of escape childish, or might someone else's idea of things staying just as they are, be childish? Might both ideas be unrealistic? Unachievable!? Does this incompatibility have something to do with DESS GOING MISSING?

Did Kris see Noelle as something like a sister, a potential girlfriend, or a funny toy to mess with?
Or did any of those definitions ever have the chance to solidify themselves, amorphous and unidentified to this day? Might Kris willfully reflect on these embarrassing or inconvenient feelings, which could jeopardize the harmony of their friend group? Or Might they violently avoid all of it internally, to the point of splitting in twain?

Saying yes or saying no to an opportunity will close a door. Even if you like both opportunities, to whatever degree.

I think that kind of unresolved, unknown, unanswered desire could result in contradictory, unpredictable, hard to read behavior (literally what is happening right now in-game, literally parts of Kris warring with self over the definition of their dynamic, as "more than friends" and "something else", literally body VS soul)

Over the years of growing up, did the kid's impression change, evolve? I feel as if the "MAN COUNTRY" sign evolving into "non-men are OK too" points to this kind of childish attitude evolving to include the girls as players over time.

MAYBE Noelle had a crush on Kris, MAYBE Kris thought Dess was cooler, and was more eager to hang out with her! Maybe Dess Liked Asriel, but uncontrollably had compatibility with Kris! Maybe world's Tiniest Noelle had a baby crush on Asriel, who was placating in a way that eventually hurt her feelings! Maybe Asriel was placating Dess's crush on him! Maybe Kris had a crush on Dess, the bitchy older girl!! Maybe Kris liked both of them! Maybe Noelle liked both of the Dreemurrs!! Maybe Dess just liked to bully everyone, but wouldn't acknowledge liking anyone at all directly! ALL OF THIS IS MORE INTERESTING TO ME THAN ANYONE STRAIGHTFORWARDLY DATING .................

Now briefly I WILL try to get into a little bit of my thoughts for, Dess's dynamics... I think the Cyber's World is based around Dess's interests primarily, and what her and Kris's dynamic was like. I think Queen was a character Dess played with Kris. I think they could play arcade games together, and Dess liked how Kris didn't have opinions and was mostly silent. We know Kris at some point sycophantically brought food to the "Oneesans" (it's fucking gendered in Japanese localization) at the diner. Was Dess at that table? Did Kris wish to be openly friends with Dess, but she was too cool to accept that in public????????? This feels so damn likely to me. Kris, to a detrimental degree, was resistant to providing Noelle virtually any reassurance about her value to them, as kids, but what if Kris was much more openly barking up Dess's tree of approval? Could you IMAGINE Kris buying NOELLE food at a diner???????????????????? This burger oneesan story HAUNTS me.

My personal delusion is that Dess will have either a chipped tooth, gap tooth, or missing tooth on one side, as the Queen mech & Rouxls feature this aesthetic, and are both sexually vivacious WHORES, unlike Asriel & Kris's characters, who are ugly flop buffoons. Rouxls and Queen also both condescend to the kids and overtly bully them. And are worse at puzzles/arcade games than Kris.

But what of Asriel. Queen refuses to acknowledge Ralsei. Hm. But Ralsei is so amenable to being dressed as a butler for Queen, compared to Flowery doing the same action. We know Ralsei can feel "fuck OFF!!!!" emotions. So I don't think it is that.

I don't nauuuuuuuuuuuuuuur about Asriel and Dess, honestly...! We have so much GAP. We have MORE information about Kris's dynamic with both Dess and Asriel, because Kris is the player character, the perspective we share. The love letter in the drawer is familiar to Kris, it is not a surprise. Did Kris help WRITE IT? In what context did Kris ever see this? How many years ago?

Did Kris in any way WANT Asriel and Dess to date? Was there a benefit to that for everyone? Could Asriel marrying Dess, in their childish minds, force her to stay here in this town with them? Who did it please, or displease, this concept? Did Kris NOT want Asriel to be with Dess, and that's why the letter was left unsent?

In this crazy compote I think anyone liking or not liking anyone else has the potential to blow it all up... I can see why Kris may have left everyone in limbo eternally. And maybe Asriel did, too.

"Dream Holiday" (any mixed-and-matched combination of the Dreemurr and Holiday kids) is of Big Interest to me, but it remains to be seen what is ultimately true. A LOT OF MOVING PARTS IN THIS RUBE-GOLDBERG MACHINE. Will I ultimately like what we are shown? Well, Toby Fox has warned us all that we might be fostering delusions, and canon may explode us in viscera. So I have my fun little theories and I play with my little dollies. But who knows (:

I like to think about them all playing things suchas Snugglebug and Taste My Steel. At the moment Asriel/Dess is the least mentally explored for me, but again, this is because there is just too massive of a gap for me to cross with respect to the both of them. While I'm sure to a lot of people, any Asriel & Noelle stuff I draw is only 200x more insane and contrived, BUT I KNOW WHAT THEY BOTH LOOK LIKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND I KNOW KRIS IS ATTACHED TO THEM BOTH! I KNOW HOW THEY BOTH TREAT KRIS! I know what their everyday actions with Kris were like! So I PERSONALLY feel more comfortable extrapolating a little there, even if canon may humiliate me later.

Basically I have no hatred for Dess/Asriel, or fear of it. I think it COULD COME TO PASS that I some day draw all 4 of them, heaven forbid. But my own reservations have me sitting on my hands for now.