Heph

I've played Deltarune twice as of now. While not a lot comparatively, I have definitely formed strong opinions on the three main ships (in my opinion), which is Krusie, Suselle and Kerdly (Arguments can be made for Susie/Ralsei but their friendship is way more important to me), and in my humble opinion, they're all very likely to happen. The dream would be a very confusing this is my girlfriend Susie, this is her partner Kris and their boyfriend Berdly situation, but alas, that's not what this post is about.

Noelle is one of the core characters in Deltarune and very lore important, which makes her interactions with Susie and Kris more or less inevitable. What I want to talk about, specifically, is how Noelle is a relatively meek and fawnish person, with very low boundaries and even lower strength to stand up for herself, and how that translates to her crush on Susie.

Now, I will admit, I'm not a huge fan of Suselle. I think they wouldn't work out for the long run due to a plethora of reasons, and a lot of that will be reflected in this.

To start with: Noelle is a people pleaser. Undeniably, she has the tendency to let people walk all over her and press her into agreeing to things she doesn't want to do. Her mom is definitely the reason for this, and while she comfortably can express her own opinion and wants around family and Kris, she seems reluctant to do so around anyone else (ex: Queen, Berdly and Susie). This, in of itself, is a nice contrast with Susie, who isn't afraid of loudly saying no and hurting feelings to get her boundary respected and it gives them a nice point to bond and they do take that opportunity several times! Mostly through Susie standing up for Noelle and encouraging her to be more headstrong and express her wants and needs (go Susie), which Noelle seems to take to heart.

Before their hangout in chapter 4, she's very meek, quiet and even with the space and ability to do so, she seems to defer majorly towards another person to help decide things and express herself (ex: asking Kris to help hang out with Susie through studying, deferring to Queen and Berdly during chapter 2, relying on Kris to stand up to/distract Queen, etc). Because we don't see Noelle after their study session, we can't know if what Susie told her really stuck, especially since Carol came home to punish her nearly immediately.

How does this relate to her crush on Susie? Well!

Throughout the chapters, Susie's and Noelle's interactions make it clear that they don't know each other well or at all. Because they're in the same class, they're aware of each other's names and the archetypes assigned to them, but that seems to be it. Noelle is the smart kid to Susie, while Susie is the rebellious troublemaker to Noelle. Completely separate worlds, as far as they were concerned. Susie wasn't the social type before befriending Kris, and God knows that Noelle had no guts to approach Susie by herself.

Her crush on Susie also seems very shallow to begin with from the soul's perspective. She seems to find her attractive, but what else? People don't tend to like bullies/mean people, especially in such an enclosed space and Noelle doesn't seem the type to exactly enjoy knowing her friends get picked on by someone.

So why Susie?

To me, Susie is the ultimate sign of freedom for Noelle. She's mean, she can do what she wants, she has no qualms with telling people no, to shut up, to leave her alone, nothing is off the table for Susie. She's a very physical person, and in comparison, Noelle is very dainty and non-physical (clumsy in battles and a magic user vs Susie's very offensive fighting style). All of these are things Noelle wants to be to a degree. She wants the ability to stand up for herself, to be able to do what she wants and the freedom to be mean, even if it isn't in her to be because she's a kind person.

Susie has always been a status symbol for Noelle, especially when Susie came to their class (iirc, she's a transfer but please do correct me if I'm wrong!). She wants to be Susie, she wants the freedom and the rebellion, but she can't be. She's stuck in a cookie mold life that she has no control over. What's the one thing her mom can't control, though? Her feelings.

That's where her crush on Susie developed, which to me reads more like infatuation. Do they get along? Absolutely. Could they work out for a while? Yes! Does that mean that Noelle's feelings were 100% genuine from the start? No!

Of course, none of this means that her feelings for Susie didn't develop further over the few days where she could interact with her more (discounting Chapter 2 due to the fact Noelle considers that a dream), but her personality, circumstances and who Susie is as a person in Noelle's life all point to her feelings stemming from rebellion, rather than true attraction to who Susie is as a person.

i had fun with my double mutation au :) i love my birds. and the sea. and kiltro.

▹ Mikey is a peacock. He is a pirate that sails the gulf of Mexico and Caribbean sea with his mismatched crew. He was a slave in american colony before a cowboy helped him escape and get to the sea where he got his ultimate freedom.

▹ Leo is a magnificent frigatebird. No ties, no bounds, no limits, he is always on the move, soaring around the coasts of Mexico and across adjacent ocean. One day he makes a friend with a captain of the ship and crosses paths with him constantly during his wanders, chit-chatting and warning him about british ships in the area.

▹ Donnie is an aloof turkey vulture. During the storm he injuries his wing and gets stuck on the coast where a wandering fisherman finds him and helps him back on his feet.

more thoughts: after Donnie helps Mikey escape they take course towards the coast and Donnie shows Mikey his home - endless canyons and deserts under the cover of scorching sun and freezing nights :] Mikey cant fly, but he has his sea that will take him anywhere he wants and that's all that matters to him. his life goal is to help other unfortunate souls and fight against oppression and he follows his path diligently

seabirds have dense bones so they can dive. terrestrial birds float. Leo really wants Donnie to know that there is a whole world hidden underwater :D

in this story they dont stay together. they meet, have an adventure, and part ways. they all want different things from life, and yet they always find each other again and again. on land, on sea, in air. Mikey invites Leo and Donnie to spend time on the ship with him. Donnie shows them the inlands. Leo shows them the waters. your home is where your family is and it happened to be always moving

i made these guys as part of the magma activities with no strings attached but they grew on me and they have lore now 𓅐

kiltro!!!!! i love kiltro. this whole au is build on kiltro. mi capitán, curicó, if I lead, the drunk. kiltro.

and sketches/finals compilation as a treat

I just felt kinda bad, so I drew something I think Leo would write to himself. Maybe to keep track of things, maybe to ramble when he doesn't want to be listened to—maybe just cause he was scared and so, so alone.