No but like you're so fr. Ralsei updating pronouns to they/them in the middle of the chapter and me going :0 wow they're nonbinary? Exploring? But I go on Tumblr and it's only people saying transfem Ralsei. Which I don't hate! But it's like the only option people see even though,,, nonbinary game with nonbinary protagonist
i def feel ya!! i would note, it seems like those pronouns are exclusively in the Dark Vine title text, which definitely has some generally... concerning implications given the wording around it? and Ralsei is still referred to as he/him everywhere else, even tho everyone in the game seems to just automatically respect people's pronouns without question or anything, i.e. Kris being exclusively they/themed by literally everyone ever
but that's not discounting the idea! even if it's not specifically meant to be their chosen pronouns, just ambiguous/detached "they," the game still 100% they/thems ralsei there, and there's certainly no evidence against the interpretation. regardless of pronouns, i def agree that Ralsei feels very nonbinary, and i wish there were more people talking about & making art of nb & gnc ralsei!! demiboy, genderfluid, agender, bigender.......,, so many labels fit! there's so much room for interpretation
perhaps i will try my paw at ralsei nb fanart sometime .....
CORRECTION: I was tired & a lil drunk writing this and I totally forgot that Asgore also they/thems Ralsei. I was overly focused on how the game he/hims Ralsei during the Flowery fight and I missed that
It could be Asgore being unsure about Ralsei's gender because Ralsei is just such an absolute diva, but since characters in Deltarune seem to generally have innate knowledge of other characters' pronouns, and Asgore was dropping epic wisdom on the Fun Gamg. it could also just be the game updating to referring to Ralsei with he/they, or even gradually shifting to they/them! Regardless, we don't have a ton of material post-Dark Vine to fully call it imo but any interpretation is valid
Going to get boiled alive for this but. as a transfem and as a massive ralsei fan (ive had that ralsei in my pfp dressed up like that since the chapter 2 days) i am a little concerned at the way some people in the fandom have been talking about ralsei's gender. i don't personally fw the Ralsei Transfem Egg headcanon at all. i dont mind hcing characters as transfem even when they probably arent written to be. but mainly what ive been seeing is a lot of people acting like this is basically confirmed as canon, calling other fans transphobic for not agreeing, or comparing this to people who don't think Kris is non-binary, or even going as far as to say it's misgendering to use he/him for ralsei
First I think I should defend why I don't think it's canon and why I personally don't really interpret his character that way. His gender expression has always been feminine, it's never had much significant change even as his self-discovery arc plays out, and he doesn't have any insecurity whatsoever about his gender or presentation (aside from preferring not to wear the hat). if anything he seems more blushy and embarrassed about enjoying being a green horse than about wearing girly things
It's also worth mentioning that queerness isn't looked down upon even the tiniest bit in the dark worlds, and gender roles are extremely loose. Plenty of characters are GNC and queer with no stigma. The closest you can get is the prophecy calling for "The Prince alone in deepest dark" but I'm pretty sure the chapter 5 Ralsei Dress scene completely disproves that as evidence (arguably intentionally). #1 Prophecy Believe-In-er Ralsei looks you in the eyes and says "I can be your princess, Kris! If you want me to be!"
Like there is no way he's scared to tears about the absolute inevitability of the final prophecy panel, and wants to follow the prophecy to the letter, but is fine casually breaking the prophecy for an obviously fanservice-y people pleaser silly castle town scene???? I've seen a lot of people running with that like it's the final nail in the coffin, but I reaaaaaally don't think it's evidence that Ralsei is transfem; it's kinda the opposite imo. it proves that there's nothing even slightly pushing him to be male or masc
Maybe this is reading into it too much, but it kind of reads more like one of the many scenes throughout the game where the deltarune devs are directly acknowleding a headcanon or fandom thing, acknowledging that it's fine to interpret things that way, but also incorporating it into the story of how we perceive & play with fictional characters and aren't always on the same page as them. That last line, "If you want me to be!" just. Doesn't read to me as Ralsei being worried that exploring their gender is inconvenient for others. Him wearing a dress and that whole scene is just so unprompted, and even played for laughs if you have Starwalker recruited, so it can't be super plot-relevant. It reads more like "sure, you, as a player, can have a transfem interpretation of me if you want!" It has the same energy as the options to do borderline romantic stuff with Ralsei, and likewise, is not really followed up on as a major story beat. Not problematic, but not core to the story or Ralsei's character
This part is fully personal, but I also don't exactly understand what the point is of that reading of Ralsei. Like it kind of lines up with a "realizing you're trans but feeling like you can't be yourself because your religion prohibits it" if you squint, but especially as of chapter 5 I just don't see it? And that's coming from someone who had that exact experience and was terrified of being a bad Christian for most of my life so I refused to accept any of my queerness and used to be pretty nasty to queer people. but like. idk. ralsei's already a trillion times more fruity and fem than I or other eggs I knew ever were before our eggs cracked, and Ralsei doesn't seem to have much gender insecurity or dysphoria. so it all just seems incredibly strange as an interpretation. it just seems like he's already at least 90% of the way there on the gender front, and has other areas to grow in!
lastly, to clarify, i don't think he's just a cishet he/him man or anything, and i don't wanna ruin anyone's fun. i just don't think he's necessarily written to be an egg personally, and i think it's genuinely weird and a little creepy when ppl act like it's transphobic or ignorant to believe that. i haven't seen this kind of thing with other common transfem hcs in the fandom like Noelle, aside from maaaybe a brief moment in the Ch2 era, and it worries me as someone who generally likes this fandom. I know we really wanna feel seen right now but there are tons of great trans stories, plenty of which are more explicit, personal, or even autobiographical, and we really don't need to get validation by demanding that others share a deltarune headcanon with us or be deemed "a bad ally"
would be happy to respond to good faith asks or dms! im always down to discuss trans media, gender, & deltarune :3
also my personal "headcanon," ig, is that different cultures treat gender differently and the dark worlds seem mostly gender abolitionist. but ralsei gives me he/they demiboy/femboy energy
I was originally gonna draw the Lego Incident out fully, but the juice didn't feel worth the squeeze, so here are some disorganized doodles of it.
This ended up much longer than expected. Originally meant to precede this comic. Don't put pants on your Toriel plush (or do).
Here are some bonus sketches.
turnnoffyourmind
ellievsbear
stormborns
snowghoul
prguitarman
kaledo-art
blakekathryn
tangentwithtanner
andulkaphoto
pixelskylines
germansingergirl
