A Kris and Susie Every Day

First of all I want to say that I understand the appeal & popularity of Suselle & I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops in canon.

But it's pretty obvious that Noelle has... a specific thing she wants from Susie, if I can put it that way. They don't know each other that well. Noelle's crush has all the intensity & sweatiness that a gay teen crush deserves, and Susie's obliviousness to this is played for laughs (for now). I can see a lot of ways it could develop which would get me more invested but right now it feels one-sided. I do think this is a great storytelling move for Noelle as a character overall! It immediately makes her more complex before we know that much else about her, and it fits with everything we find out after. I have faith it will lead somewhere interesting, even if that isn't necessarily "romantic."

Meanwhile... Kris steps in front of Susie to save her at the end of Ch 1 with no input on our part, Susie returns the favor, and then they're friends.

They're so silly. They're eating moss together. They care about each other in such a straightforward and immediate way. I love how Susie plays off Kris despite us not getting to see a lot of their dialogue, you still get a great sense of their chemistry. Kris has comical underreactions and Susie has comical overreactions but they're somehow matching each other's energy??? The feeling of egging on your best friend to do something stupid... It's truly unparalleled....

Kris lets Susie push and pull them around a lot and doesn't seem to mind. She does "whatever she wants", which is also why Noelle likes her. She's a social outcast, just like Kris. This is the core of their friendship to me. Being a teenager can be so awful, and if your home life is bad and/or you have brain problems it's genuinely like being in hell. And finding another person your age who's weird and unpopular and has their own problems, who won't judge you, who you can just hang out with and crack stupid jokes, who makes you actually want to show up at school... That's real, and that's special.

Day 10.

But when I draw their hair too clean or purposefully shaped, it doesn't feel "Kris-like."

Right now my main reference is Toby's old concept art. Charm points: the gross texture, their weird little smirk, and the visible ears.

Day 7.

Bonus

It's not a problem in-game because her overworld sprite cleanly separates the two (and her talk sprite doesn't show the collar) but you can tell from earlier iterations that this was an ongoing issue! Some of these designs obscure the collar entirely.

It feels so unnatural to draw Susie's hair spilling over her shoulders without overlapping the jacket collar at least a little. Her hair is messy...