I'm worried that without an outline the sprite will not read very good in front of the background, even with this blue-ish outline it doesnt really stand out yet.
Good advice on the shading, I have a habit of trying to shade even the smallest bits which usually doesnt work out that nice. And yes, I should probably move the hair back a few pixels to make room for eyes at least.
About the feet not being horizontally aligned, I think I should slightly show the tops of the platforms since the water is not exactly front-on either, so I will adjust the tiles a bit.
(don't mind the horribly dithered background, I quickly generated it and it looks shit)