The Yuri Domino Effect: Why Krusie would never have become canon without Suselle (yes, I'm serious)
Man, last Pride Month was really special for yuri fans, wasn’t it? For it was on Yuri Day 2026 that our Lord and Saviour, Toby Fox, descended from the heavens to bless his flock with some of the best WLW romance in all of fiction.
Like, where do I even begin?!?!?! Susie bridal carrying Noelle into the lake?! Noelle telling her girlfriend how she gives her a reason to live?! Noelle confessing her feelings while simultaneously standing up to her mother!? BOTH OF THEM LISTENING TO EACH OTHER'S HEARTBEATS!?!?!?!?
I ATE SO FRICKIN' GOOD THAT I FEEL LIKE MY DIGESTIVE TRACT ASCENDED INTO THE ASTRAL PLANE!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah, there's no question that Deltarune’s flagship is sailing the shipping lanes more proudly than it ever has before! Hehe, get it?
But what if I told you that the top-of-the-line WLNB class ship, Krusie, will be sailing alongside Suselle in the future (and Kriselle once it gets out of the Doomed Yuri Triangle)? And you wanna know the really funny part? Krusie probably wouldn’t have ever become canon without Suselle’s help!
Yes, Krusie shippers. Turns out you owe Suselle and the good shippers sailing it a huge debt of gratitude because Suselle has been towing it towards the Canon Ocean this whole time!
And before I get into the how and why, I thought I’d clear something up, as I’m sure some of you who like Kris and Susie’s relationship to be nonromantic will probably want me walking the plank for my wavering faith.
Hahaha. Get it? WAVEring? I’m sorry...
I have NO INTENTION of arguing that Kris and Susie’s character or their relationship would be disserviced, ruined, squandered, lessened or negatively affected in any way if they don’t end up becoming lovers. I love nonromantic Krusie as much as the romantic version (especially since I'm aroace)!
And also, I do believe that (Queer)Platonic Krusie has some great things about it that the romantic version doesn’t have. Such as, if Kris and Susie don’t end up as an item, it can make for a really beautiful message about platonic love and how just because Susie and Noelle love Kris differently from each other doesn’t mean they love Kris any less!!!
And besides, the game has made it clear that whatever becomes of those three, they’re going to have a happy life together!
All I’m doing with this post is sharing why I believe that it's more likely than not that Susie will end up in a romantic relationship with Kris, along with Noelle; how Susie's romantic feelings for Kris are starting to bud after her romantic feelings for Noelle blossomed; and why she has not confessed them to Kris yet.
So without further ado, here’s how every Suselle anti’s worst nightmare becoming real may have paved the way for every Krusie(lle) anti’s worst nightmare becoming real!
Throughout Chapter 5, you can clearly see the great and small ways that becoming Noelle’s girlfriend has impacted Susie.
One notable impact is how she doesn’t want to flirt with random enemies because she wishes to save her flirting for Noelle, as she believes that, because of her romantic bond with her, it’s something special that shouldn’t be done with just anyone anymore. It should be done with and for the person that she holds most dear (no pun intended).
Now, some have used this little moment to argue that she is monogamous or doesn’t have any feelings for Kris because, if she didn’t have feelings for them, then she would’ve been eager to flirt with them as well, or like have already confessed whatever supposed feelings she has for them or something like that.
Is Susie not pursuing a romantic relationship with Kris because she doesn’t have any feelings for them, OR is it because she doesn’t think Kris themselves wants to be in a committed relationship at all (and that it would adversely affect her friendship with them if she confessed her feelings to them)?
Think about it. Susie wants to only flirt with Noelle because she sees it as a demonstration of her commitment to her, right? So would it not make perfect sense that this view would end up affecting her perception of Kris because of how she’s seen them flirt?
And she was aware of this as far back as the Chapter 4 where she talked to Noelle about how adept they are at flirting with enemies while chilling in Dess’s room.
What’s also interesting is that she also assumes that Kris has been flirtatious with everyone at school!
And what’s also interesting is that she also would really love to be “Kris’s first Chu,” which indicates to me that whatever she means by Kris “Chu-Chu-choosing” their classmates, she would be totally comfortable with Kris “Chu-chu-ing” with her.
And lastly, of course, you have this infamous scene that got her nominated for Worst Wingperson of 2026.
But really, can you blame her for thinking that Kris’s flirting would not indicate any desire to seriously date Pink, or herself, for that matter, if they were to be flirty with her? Because if Kris were to “Chu-chu-choose” or flirt with her, then it would not be different from how they “Chu-chu-choose” and flirt with other Lightners and Darkners, as much as she would love to be “Kris’s first Chu.”
So Susie wants to only be flirty with her deer girlfriend (that pun was intended lol) because she believes that being flirty with one person is a demonstration of a desire to commit to them. Therefore, because Susie has seen Kris flirt with the various enemies they run into (and thinks they’ve been doing the same with their classmates), it makes sense she would believe that they’re not interested in a committed relationship. Because if they were, then they would have saved it for the one they love most.
But that alone doesn’t prove that she’s holding back her romantic feelings for them because she believes they wouldn’t want to be in a romantic relationship with her. Or that she has any romantic feelings for them to begin with.
I mean, it's not like there's any proof in this Chapter that she's now starting to see her love/relationship with Kris in a new light, thanks to becoming Noelle's girlfriend...
The Blushy Susie Holy Trinity
Here’s a little trivia question! How many times did Kris make Susie blush between Chapter 1 and Chapter 4? ONCE.
That time was when they called Susie weird for trying to make Kris smell the shampoo in her hair (which, as people have rightfully pointed out, doesn't really prove any sort of romantic attraction on her part).
Alright. Now can you tell me how many times Kris made Susie blush in just Chapter 5 alone?
Yes, you heard that right! The number of times Kris reddened her cheeks reached the double-fricking-digits. Don't believe me? Check out this post right here!
But as many people have rightfully pointed out, blushing doesn't always indicate romantic interest. And to be fair, Susie blushes a lot more frequently in this Chapter. Not just with Noelle and Kris, but also about things that have nothing to do with either of them.
This is why context matters!
It's not just the blush that's important. It's WHY they're blushing and WHO they're blushing about!
It's why this scene from Chapter Two IS NOT (AND WILL NEVER BE) EVIDENCE that Noelle has feelings for effing Berdly:
And it's why THIS SCENE FROM CHAPTER ONE WAS SOLID EVIDENCE ALL BY ITSELF that Noelle had feelings for Susie:
Just like with Noelle, for Susie's blushing to give any hint that she has romantic feelings for Kris, she needs to be blushing while she's talking about how she feels about Kris and/or the relationship that she has with them.
As indicated by the cheesy subtitle, out of all the times Kris got Susie blushing, I found three specific moments! Three scenes that I strongly feel cannot be written off as embarrassment, being flustered, or anything like that. Three scenes that, when put together, make a compelling case that her romantic feelings for Kris are starting to develop in the wake of her confessing her feelings for Noelle! Especially given how (unlike Noelle with Berdly), I don't see any conclusive proof that she's averse to having a romantic bond with them.
First, we have this moment from the end of the chapter. While Susie is having a nice long chat with Kris about all the time they spent together while they’re walking her back to Castle Town, we get this:
Now, Susie merely talking about how she and Kris are a “good team,” and her thinking about her relationship with them wouldn’t hint in the slightest that she has feelings for them. That is, if it were not for one teensy, weensy, but ever-so-crucial, little, tiny detail...
…SUSIE WAS BLUSHING WHEN SHE SAID THAT!
Not just any blush, but a full-faced blush!
And while I do acknowledge that she could’ve been thinking about her bond with Kris for any number of reasons, the fact that she was doing a full-faced blush when she said that kind of nudges it in the direction of “she was thinking about it because she is wondering if she could have with Kris what she now has with Noelle.”
And remember, Toby Fox is very particular about every detail in his game, no matter how small, and face sprites are no exception!
So with that in mind, why did Toby choose to use this particular sprite for Susie? If he didn’t want to hint at any sort of romantic subtext, then why not do it like this:
See what a huge difference that blushing sprite makes?
And on top of that, this scene also checks off the box that she was blushing while she was explicitly talking about her relationship with Kris!
And what only strengthens my belief that she was blushing for romantic reasons, the two other times she got blushy while SPECIFICALLY thinking about her relationship with Kris and how much she cares about them.
And funnily enough, both of them come from the place you least expect: Mothertrucking Snowgrave.
You know how I’ve been going on about how it’s thanks to discovering and embracing her romantic connection to Noelle that she’s been able to develop one with Kris in the Normal Route?
So does she end up doing so in the Weird Route?
Yes, she does! And so, just like before, it stands to reason that her understanding of love, relationships, and romance is dramatically changed, just like in the normal route!
And that brings us to this scene here, where she talks about the Festival King and Queen.
First of all, it's rather interesting that she says, “Whatever we are, it's cooler” instead of saying something like, “Our friendship, it's cooler” or something like that. And yes, while there are times that Susie has addressed Kris as a friend before, the reason why it's different here is, as I said before, because of how her view of love and romance changed thanks to Noelle!
(And funnily enough, Susie doesn't call Kris a friend ONCE throughout this Chapter! No, seriously, I actually checked using a little dialogue dump for the game!)
Not to mention that this scene more or less checks off the box of her blushing while talking about her relationship with Kris.
And remember how I posed the question of whether Susie might actually have feelings for them? And how could she be holding them back because she believes that Kris wouldn’t be interested at all, and that if they found out, it would make things weird between them?
This is what I’m talking about!
The fact that she blushes when she says that implies that she may, in fact, have feelings for Kris as well as Noelle. And, for me, personally, she’s hastily telling Kris that she didn’t mean anything weird because she thinks that Kris might interpret it as her wanting Kris to move from a platonic relationship to a romantic relationship.
And since she’s kinda convinced that KRIS IS NOT INTERESTED IN THAT AT ALL, she holds those feelings back because she’s worried that it would make things weird between them if Kris found out.
And guess what?! We get another moment exactly like this, should you choose to abort the Weird Route in Chapter 5!
After rescuing Kris and Noelle from drowning in the lake, while having a poignant moment with just her and Kris where she talks about what happened between Kris and Noelle and how worried she was for Kris, we get this scene:
Again! Notice how her overworld sprite is BLUSHING!!!!! NOT TOO DISSIMILAR TO WHEN SHE CONFESSED HER FEELINGS FOR NOELLE!!!!!!
And I know it’s easy to compare this scene to the one from the Sword Route where she got flustered after Kris called her a weirdo for trying to make them smell her hair. But I just don’t think it’s quite the same this time around, especially given the context as to why she is blushing in the first place and how it checks of the boxes I talked about earlier.
Why does she think that telling Kris she's glad that they're okay is "weird"? And on top of that, why would Toby Fox deliberately choose to have blush like this after telling Kris that? Perhaps could it be because she does have feelings for Kris, but she’s worried that it might make things weird between them, because she convinced herself Kris wouldn’t want that, just like when she talked about her bond with them earlier at the Holiday Manor’s gate?
I think so! Especially given that, seeing how she thinks Kris is not interested in a committed romance, she believes Kris would be weirded out by the idea of being in a romantic relationship with her, or perhaps even the mere thought of her having feelings for them.
And if this particular scene existed completely by itself, then the argument that she’s blushing due to embarrassment or being flustered would have a lot more weight to it.
Heck, if any one of those moments from the Normal route, Weird Route, or Aborted Weird Route that I previously mentioned existed on its own, then I would totally get the argument that it’s not a strong enough case that Susie doesn’t have feelings for Kris.
But the fact that all THREE OF THESE MOMENTS exist simultaneously in the game, coupled with what we’ve learned about Susie’s perceptions of what Kris’s attitude towards romance and relationships is make for a very compelling case that she may just end up reciprocating whatever feelings Kris has for her later in the game!!!
And thus we reach the end of my dumb little interpretation.
And at the end of the day, it's just that: an interpretation. And you have every right to share your own and critique the one I shared!
So while I am pretty convinced that Susie will end up forming a romantic throuple with Kris and Noelle, I wouldn't feel bad at all if my views turn out to be incorrect!
Because at the end of the day, whether Kris and the girls will be a happy throuple or two lesbians and their (Queer)Platonic bestie that's always with them, the only thing that matters to this KralSuselle Propagandist is that those three want to be together, they're great together, and that they deserve to be together.
And as he indicated with that "eternal companionship" line, it sure as heck matters to Toby Fox as well!
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