man i'm not even suselle's strongest soldier and it's annoying to ME to see people constantly downplay the amount of set-up toby did for them (the candy cane pencil, the way they both keep thinking about each other, the equip dialogue for each other's default wep, etc)
yes, susie is romantically attracted to noelle in a way that she isn't with others *gestures*
yes, noelle is romantically attracted to susie in a way that she isn't with others *gestures*
like...
'they're going to crash and burn because of the bell game' okay or maybe susie is going to make it work no matter what the game says??
'they're going to crash and burn because susie lied to noelle about the dark world' okay and susie is going to rectify that by coming clean to her next chapter????
'they're going to crash and burn because it happened too quickly' okay have you ever seen two teenagers in love?????
teenagers are impulsive to begin with, but susie is someone that has been so unloved that she jumps up at the sign of any affection. it's extremely clear that the reason susie didn't think noelle liked her is because she has such low self-esteem that she couldn't fathom that the 'top shelf' girl in her class would like her. it's not until noelle spells it out for her that susie puts a name to how she feels and even THEN she puts it in a 'i like you the way you like me' way
she then takes it SO SERIOUSLY that she views taking kris to the lake as if she'd be cheating on noelle. she doesn't even flirt with the floradinns! she learns how to make holiday cookies and what kind of flower to give noelle. the encounters with the flowers were to help susie define what love looks like to her because she simply does not know how to express it yet.
the interesting question here shouldn't be 'how will suselle crash and burn', but 'how will susie define love?'
how will the girl learn the true meaning of love?
the struggles of balancing your romantic love with a love that isn't quite that is so much more intriguing than hoping that susie just goes through a heartbreak, no?
and isn't that lesson way more relevant to this game's audience, anyway?
how do you show love to someone who is just as important to you as your romantic partner? what shape does that take? how do you do it without letting anyone feel like they're being left behind? how do you make sure that you're happy too and that you don't lose yourself by just prioritizing your partner's happiness?
i don't think suselle will remain this explosion of romance the entire time, but i do think they will work through it as it settles into something of its own. susie has so much love in her heart, she just needs to learn to believe in herself and that she can love people in many different ways, in ways that are equally important (toby, defeat the amatonormativeeeee)
ultimately, what will love look like to susie in the end?
that's far more interesting in my opinion!
