Textual Support for Kriselle
Yesterday, someone I respect told me there was no textual or subtextual evidence for Kriselle. It's one thing to disagree with the reading or to dislike the ship, but it's another to imply that the game's own text is fanfction. I, like a coward, avoided confrontation. But I did spend practically the whole day double checking evidence. I do not currently have sources or text dump references. Maybe this will become a better project later.
Ch1
They were neighbors, hung out a lot together as kids with their older siblings. Noelle has pencils for Kris to use in case they forgot one, and assumes that they'll ask her for one before anything else. She is open to working on a group project with them. Kris did frequently prank them in their childhood and scare them (but it's worth noting that Noelle likes being scared). Rudy has multiple mentions of them often being around their home and the previous closeness of their families. He calls them Krismas. Rudy also instructs Kris to keep an eye on her. This part is more of a reading. I know, it could be a nothing burger, but I feel like it says something that dad is using the family nickname convention with daughter's best friend.
Ch2 and Spamtom Sweepstakes
She isn't sure if she can call Kris a friend, but is glad when Kris says that they are friends. She mentions having rode the ferris wheel together. She talks about how everyone knows that Kris is weird, but they are the only one who knows how weird she is. The "A concert just for me" blog post. Kris in the normal route uses many opportunities to tease her, from equipping items for her to the way they interact during puzzles to using items. Very similar to when they were kids. Noelle always reacts in a flustered-but-enjoying it manner. She repeatedly demonstrates that she trusts Kris to help her and handle things that are too much for her, in puzzles and in equipment dialogue. Kris has an option that breaks the WR by saying to Berdly, "I'm protecting her from you!" Worth noting that Kris' dialogue options are much more emotive than normal if they would break the WR, as if Kris is dangling juicy fruit for the player to please, please stop hurting their friend. Much later back in the Light World, Catti instructs Kris to protect her (from Susie). Noelle asks Kris to protect her once during a puzzle, and the Fun Gang to protect her if Kris teases that "she's an enemy." This is a very vague possibility, I prolly shouldn't even include this-- If [hyperlink blocked] is love-- which is a stretch-- then Spamtom literally asks if Kris and Noelle have been making love.
Ch4
WR first. After ch2, Kris pulls out the soul, takes Berdly to the hospital from the librarby, and at some point visits Noelle on her balcony. They remove the thorn in her finger (the thorn ring), give her back her watch, and tell her that it was all a dream and Berdly's gonna be okay and that they'll protect her. Noelle says she almost started crying. "Kris, you're back!" Onwards in ch4, Noelle invites Kris to sing in choir with no pretext for getting closer to Susie. At her house, we see that she has 1) a cactus that used to be named Krismas 2) a photo of Kris and her after the ferris wheel hanging in her room 3)Her mother bronzed the snowflakes she made with Kris from when they were a kid and hangs them in the hallway 4) a screen saver of Kris on her computer. Susie points this out to her and Noelle deflects with that 'we're just neighbors' line though her dialogue has a fair amount of hesitation. Back to the WR, Noelle asks Kris for some alone time in her room. I'mma just say that again. Noelle has Kris alone in her room with the door locked and window blinds pulled and wants to talk to them alone instead of Susie. The couch scene starts with her talking to Kris about what happened last night. She starts way over on one side of the couch, but closes her eyes and smiles and starts scooting closer to Kris until she isn't just 'next' to them, but quite up in their personal space. Finally in ch4's weird route if the player delays too long, Kris will grab Noelle and pull her out of the room to keep her away from the soul. I'm going to do another reading. That's to protect her. If the player is successful with, um. What happens on the couch. Then Kris throws the soul in a garbage can and beats the living shit out of their own heart. To their own expense. Susie and Noelle are getting their flirt on in Dess' room while Kris who definitely has feelings for at least one of them but won't admit it is *stuck in a closet and wrestling with their own heart. To their own expense. Which is perhaps more subtext than text, but the child needs to come out of the closet.
Ch5
In the bookcase in the upstairs hallway, Kris will look at a scrap album. It has a couple random pictures and always stops on "A picture of you and Noelle… The book slammed shut." If the player selects Noelle as queen and Kris as king and shows that to Noelle, she has a memory about how they wanted to do that as kids too. They bickered about who should be king and who should be queen. Even though they couldn't spell each other's names correctly, they voted for each other, and she at least was devastated they didn't win. The player can then choose Noelle and Kris to ride the ferris wheel and she'll agree to it. Depending on if the player has Kris shake the ferris wheel, she either recontextualizes the memory as Kris trying to cheer her up, that it wasn't forced. Or that she was the one who forced Kris to ride with her. This option also includes the line "Just like…" without further indication of what Noelle is referencing. The hammer game which tests how strong of a relationship two people have shows that Noelle and Kris always perfectly win. If Kris goes fast, if Kris goes slow, Noelle will perfectly match their timing. Noelle mentions a few times that having Kris with her and Susie feels natural. If Susie and Kris ride the ferris wheel, they make heart hands at Noelle. In an aborted weird route, Susie mentions that she thought that Kris and Noelle were an item. She was jealous of them. Susie's "a new girl," she must have moved to Hometown recently, which means that even now-ish, with Noelle even wondering if they're still friends they've grown so distant, people still assume they're a couple from the outside. … And then there's whatever the fuck she meant by "You can't even say 'stop' like you used to."
Thematics, Tropes, and Symbolism
Noelle has a cactus named after Kris. Kris has a cactus upstairs which is confirmed to love them. The cactus itself (in the first board) says that sometimes it's good to push away your loved ones. It is possible to read that the cactus is a metaphor for Noelle/ their relationship. Cactuses are still tsunderes in Deltarune, even if Kris hates weeb shit. Color theory exists too. We have four instances of yellow and blue characters. Undyne and Alphys (in UT), Lanino and Elnina, Blue and Yellow flowers. Kris and Noelle (their battle sprites). Angel and devil symbolism. Childhood best friend and First Girl Wins are pretty common tropes in romances. Kris is heavily associated with piano, and Noelle sings in the choir. "Don't Forget" is a duet with a female vocalist and pianist. It is possible the song is a duet between them, and the "promise in our hearts" refers to some promise they made to each other.
