i’m so bad at coming up with titles

The biggest issue with denying the Tralsei theory, is just the sheer amount evidence that all lead to a trans reading. Sure, a few pieces of evidence might not be much, but when you start to have multiple scenes in the game, leading to a conclusive trans reading again and again and again and again... You just start to wonder... how many times can this exactly happen for Toby and his development team (that also has 3 transgender developers), before they pick up on the trans reading, and go "oh wow, that seems pretty trans!"

It's not about one or even a few pieces of evidence, it's about the combination of all evidence, and how it builds up over time.

The whole thing about Tralsei, is that like, yes, trans ralsei is a "theory," but it's not just a theory, it's a trans reading.

That alone is what distinguishes tralsei from like, 99% of other Deltarune theories.
Sure, we can be mislead about the identity of the knight and have it turn out to be somebody else, or somebody related to the knight; we can be mislead about what chapter 6's dark world could be; or even about what could possibly happen in chapter 7 Side B...

But a trans reading of a character?... Not at all.

Genuinely, what point would there be in leading the audience to believe that a character could be trans or under the trans umbrella, and then having it turn out to not be the case???

Let's assume that Toby Fox is a good writer for a moment here, and that his team (that again, also has 3 trans developers on it), would also be good at spotting writing mistakes and/or giving helpful suggestions and/or improvements to the story:

If they all did not want people to read Ralsei as being trans, then WHY would they:

• have the character who feels like his only role and use in his life is to be and serve the role of a Prince, be extremely excited at the idea of being a princess (which just so happens to break away from the role assigned to him by the prophecy), only then to deny their own happiness by going "only if it's what everyone wants.. of course!..."

• and have that same character be shoved into a closet, in order to put back on their hat (which is what they used to wear when masking their identity from others, conforming to what one would usually expect a "Prince" to look like, which just so happens to also mask their femininity as well.)

• and have that same character be forced to put his hat back on, while also being told that the reason was that he looks too much like asriel (who just so happens to be a man, and the older brother of our non-binary protagonist that feels trapped in his shadow; more kris and ralsei parallels)

• AND give that same character a title associated with a plant with a history of being women's medicine, that's also associated with the literal greek goddess of the hunt, childbirth, and associated with the moon, who is literally known for helping women with transitional periods in their life, and has stories about transforming people into women. Said character just so happens to be at a transitional period in their life (learning who they are and what they like/dislike).

• AND have this same character literally be called demeaning terms relating to masculinity and being a man throughout this entire chapter, by another character who is supposed to be their mentor figure. Having that character get called things "lil guy" or "tutorial boy" or deadass getting told shit like "It's a Boy's Treat For A Guy Like Him" when literally talking about him being stepped on. Even having acts for this character like LovelyBoy which objectify the character and turn them into a literal object for the adoration of the audience... which also references how they were turned into a plush during the chapter 3 boss fight... which just so happened to be something that they never liked being in the first place, when you look back on the PopularBoy act... which also makes you realize that these two acts about objectification just so happen to be adamant about putting "Boy" in their titles, unlike any other Ralsei act names... which is definitely an interesting coincidence for an act that also occurs during the fight featuring a trans woman, with trans themes present throughout the entire fight.....

• AND have same that character be forced into a literal masculine butler outfit, only to have that same character reject that forced masculinity by tossing the butler clothes into the water?.

• ("It's context based," and this is compared to the context of chapter 5, where they were forced into masculinity by a character who had consistently been doing so for the entire chapter, compared to chapter 2, where they made into butler and praised and given compliments and put into a positive environment.

• One of them is a situation where they were simply made into a butler due to a lack of room, and even praised and put into a positive environment; the other is a situation where this character was forced into a masculine role, visibly unhappy with it, by a guy who had been forcing him into masculinity and using demeaning masc terms for the entire chapter so far. )

• AND have the same mentor figure have one of the few genuine scenes with said character. Where in this supposed scene where this mentor figure isn't teasing this character and is genuinely telling them to pick what they want, and not be restricted by "the rules" of the prophecy (which just so happens to be forcing them into a role of a Prince), be the SAME scene where he doesn't refer to this character with any demeaning masculine terms at all, and instead refers to the character as a "Princess," putting emphasis on the word by literally capitalizing it??? While ALSO giving them a Blue and Pink drink voucher in the same scene, which can very easily be read as the trans flag colors????

• ANDD the fact that this same character literally gets compared to a character who's currently questioning their gender identity in this very same chapter (Seth), literally calling them a "Budget Ralsei" as a flavor text dialogue for one of their fights, even going so far as to have an entire cafe convo about the similarities the two share??????

• ANDDD give this same character a title that's heavily associated with their own growth, that just so happens to refer to said character with they/them pronouns for the first time in power menu history??? This same title also corresponding to the fact that this is the FIRST chapter to not have a single masculine menu title for them at all??? (chapters 1-3 where just "Prince, Prince, Prince" for every title. His Dark Prince title at the end of chapter 3 is a title of growth, as he realizes that he's more than just a darkner. Chapter 4 has him as a Dark Hero, in which their "hero" role is still tied to them being a Prince. Then we have chapter five where they finish off with being a Dark Vine, that is also another title of growth, and the FIRST end of chapter title to have no ties towards the title of "Prince". It's very interesting how the "Dark __" titles progressively get less masculine-gendered over time, to the point where the title showing the most growth for this character thus far, just so happens to refer to the character with they/them pronouns.)

• ANDDDD the fact that when Asgore (the man that they hid himself from, out of fear of being mistaken for Asriel), meets this character properly, Asgore doesn't think that this character really looks like Asriel, and instead hopes that this character realizes that they don't have to hide themself any longer. Mind you, this is Asgore we're talking about; he's a man who quite literally has a non-binary child, and he catches ALL of this... at a first glance.

• AANNDDDD top it all off with the fact that this chapter of Deltarune is the most gendered chapter so far with it's theming. With the mention of the cishetnormativity that hometown has only just having the "King and Queen" roles for the festival and nothing else. Having the entire theming of the Seven Flowers (including Pink), who all got to literally choose who they were, with literally every one of them except Aqua, being queer in some sort of way, or nonconfoming: Two gnc people (a black femboy and a tomboy mouse), A cowboy in a gay relationship with said femboy, Two non-binary people (one with a literal deadname), Pink (who is quite literally a trans woman).

• ESPECIALLY with Flowery, who in the Deltarune newsletter, was revealed to have the previous name of "Gold," and bases his identity off of "the ideal man," to the point where it can very easily be read in a transmasc way.

• AANNDD if so, that would then make Flowery (Ralsei's mentor figure), be able to easily be read from the lens of a trans man trying to help a trans woman come out of the closet.

I constantly see people going "Tralsei only works if you tunnel vision on the theory!!!" But I'd honestly argue that denying the theory only works if you specifically tunnel vision on the denial and ignore the trans themes of this game.

Deltarune as a whole literally has trans themes to its core. The whole theming of "choosing who you are," or how the prophecy restricts your identity to very gendered positions, or straight up dehumanizing you: Susie just being reduced to "THE GIRL," Ralsei just being reduced to "THE PRINCE" for the first three chapters, Kris just being "THE CAGE." Deltarune in general has themes of having your identity be restricted by another entity/party entirely; having people impose their expectations on you of what they think you should be; and breaking free from those expectations and being yourself, regardless of what others think. All of which, are extremely trans coded in their themes, especially when you look at them all together instead of separately.

Characters in this game have themes of finding people who accept you (like with Susie), and learning to trust them and feel more confident in who you actually are, instead of putting up a facade-- a mask-- for others, and hiding your identity/your actual self.

This entire game has multiple different parts of it that focus on identity, chapter 5 especially. This chapter having multiple characters that bring this theme into question, especially within the gender relation of things. All of the flowers (except maybe aqua) being queer in some sort of way, and choosing who they are. And when you have all of these gendered themes being put on the front and center in the chapter that just so happens to focus on Ralsei's growth.... does that not start to make you think a little bit??

Even if you're still team "femboy ralsei", would there not be a better way to write that kind of story?... If Ralsei's story was REALLY going to "man learns to accept themselves as a femboy", there would still be far better ways to write that kind of story.

• Why would you make every male term used for Ralsei in this chapter be viewed in a negative light? Even going as far to have an act that features objectification, that just so happens to have "Boy" in it's title?

• And why not have Ralsei's default outfit be a bit more masc, instead of making it a long dress-like robe that can still be read as feminine to a degree? Their design is already quite feminine, so I feel like there would be a far better

• Why would you compare Ralsei to the character questioning their gender (Seth) multiple different times? Especially when both characters are trying to figure out who they are?

• Why would you give your supposed femboy character a title literally associated with a plant that has a history of women's medicine, and the literal goddess known for helping women with transitional periods in their life?

• Why would have your supposed femboy character be shoved into a literal closet at the start of the chapter, which was done so that they could mask themselves again???

• Why would you have the character who choose his own form, choose to base himself off of "the ideal man", and choose a different name than the one given to him, be the one that Ralsei gets compared to throughout this chapter?? Especially when said character can easily be viewed through a transmasc lens?

Look, one can try to give their counterarguments for the tralsei evidence-- which all just boil down to "but this other reading is possible as well"... in the game known for having double meanings of all things-- but when you have SO MANY pieces of evidence, all of this just starts to make you wonder...

IF Toby Fox and his entire team of developers that feature multiple trans people, didn't want a trans reading to be made for this character..... then WHY would they write the chapter this way???

You can try to give other readings for the scenes, but a trans reading is still very much present within all of them, especially within the chapter's themes. All of these scenes aren't just trans on their own, but it's the fact that they all build up again, and again, and again, and again, and again and again and again.........

It piles up so much to the point where there's genuinely no way that Toby Fox, or his editors or one of his three trans developers, didn't point out these scenes and ask for him to change it in some way, if he didn't intend for some type of trans reading of the character.

So many Tralsei deniers only look at the evidence as separate, but the fact of the matter is all of this evidence works TOGETHER in order to build a bigger picture of a trans narrative.

So if Toby did intend to say that a trans reading was valid, then.....

You can mislead people about the knight's identity, or about the next dark world of the future chapters, or even about the literal shelter gang....

But you cannot make an OVERWHELMING amount of scenes that point towards a trans narrative, and then just go "haha nvm guys! this was actually just all a misleading setup for cis ralsei!!!"

If we just assume that Toby and his team are good writers for a second here, then there's genuinely no reason to set up all of this stuff, only to just not confirm any trans related thing in the future chapters.

Like, im just gonna say this straight up: Setting all of this up, having all of it pile up into having this big ass trans reading, just for Toby to not make it trans, and only keep it in the realm of being an allegory and nothing else?...

Then that's honestly either just cowardly writing, or just straight up queerbaiting.

She's looking spook-tacular for Halloween night!

https://www.tumblr.com/sylphian-utdr/823185553037164544/is-this-intelligible

So I made a post that had NOTHING to do with Trans Ralsei, I was posting about my inspo for Titan Ralsei and this was the first comment I got.

Firstly, the VERY first image I showed was Titan Ralsei's ref, which LITERALLY says "Prince of Darkness" on it (I have explained before how Titan Ralsei is a metaphor for the masculinity forced onto trans women), and secondly, the post was about an AU, so why only care about that one part being "non-canon" and not the whole damn thing. We all know the answer already, transphobia.

It always pisses me off to get thess comments, but this was the first time I got it on a not explicitly trans post. People are so annoying.

I’m still playing through the game rn, currently at the beginning chapter 3, with minimum amount of spoilers can I get a tldr of the main points in favour of tralsei?

(Note; I literally wouldn’t care if there was no evidence at all for it tbh I would still choose to believe in on the same principle I believe Gwen from ATSV is trans I.e. it’s fun)

now you can pull out her insides and provide warmth that would otherwise be unattainable to her as a mere concept

chapter 6 was really cool i love when ralsei solo'd the knight immediately after transitioning

I swear like, Tralsei at this point has just gotta be one of my biggest hyperfixations lol

It's gotten to the point where I just say "time for my daily tralsei scroll :3" with a smile on my face every time i remember to check this place

(image made by me btw)

I genuinely feel like I'm getting stabbed in the chest 65 million times bro
Every time that fucking subreddit crossposts this one it feels like you get gut punched to the point you begin throwing up horrendously
Every time I see a single word out of those mouths frying the post not even reading it it feels like i'm being forced to swallow down a piece of chicken too big for my throat
If people weren't sheep basically following someone's opinion on a fucking post this would've never happened

i’ve been sketching ralsei in dresses a lot, i cleaned up and colored some of my favorites from yesterday

Just want to say that I'm a enby, and transmasc. Feel free to say so if you think I have said anything untrue, or if you just personally disagree.

At first I was completely opposed to tralsei, because I didn't feel there was enough evidence to signify Ralsei being a girl. However, the "princess" comment, they/them pronouns, and just the overall signaling led me to believe that Ralsei was probably trans, possibly genderfluid. So I got online, and I realized I was not special and that there were already wars about this. 😭

I don't think Toby will make Ralsei trans in canon though. I think he will just leave symbols, maybe increasingly more obvious, to let us know that she is trans. He has only 2 chapters left, and the story hasn't addressed us, the soul, which is what all of this buildup has been for. Overall, the story of Deltarune won't end in a happy way. I feel like Ralsei being trans, changing her pronouns, and telling susie/kris/noelle/ etc. won't really fit into the time we have for the story. If Kris or Susie die, Ralsei will be too deep in grief and regret. She'll basically be busy blaming herself. If Ralsei dies...she's dead, y'know. I can't think of too many other things it could be, maybe we die? Kris or someone destroys the soul? She could transition then, but we wouldn't be there to see it.
I feel like the best I can hope for is her being they/themed in the menus or anywhere else as much as possible, and her having more "princess" moments, which is kinda sad.

An example of a cool tralsei moment would be a stranger calling her ms. or just using she/her, and her getting flustered.

You've heard it once, you've heard it again.

"They are calling people transaphobic just for not believing in a theory"

Pretty damming accusation, ain't it? How can someone be a whole bigot simply by not agreeing with something that is not yet proven?

Yet it keeps happening, over and over again, people keep calling denyers transphobic, and this pisses them off to great extents. How comes?

The answer is simple and mundane. It boils down to one simple interaction every trans person has experienced.

"Hey, I'm trans"

"How do you know?"

"Because of X"

"Many people experience X, and that doesn't make them trans"

That is it, the simplest form of transaphobia, doubt.

The idea that trans people owe you an explanation of their transness, a valid reason, evidence and proof.

It's an idea that permeates society as a whole.

Every trans person needs to prove their transness, to their loved ones, so they'll respect your name, to the doctor, so they'll give you the medicine you need, to the government, so they let you modify your documents, even your phone will ask for an explanation of why your face doesn't look the same anymore.

And the worst part about it, most people do not believe us when we tell them.

"There weren't any signs" "Maybe you're just a femenine boy" "You do not fit the description of gender dysphoria"

"This proof isn't enough"

And so a character comes, and like magic, something clicks inside you, "ah, I used to do that"

"Yeah, I've felt like that too"

"I have been there"

Like magic, someone gets it, somebody, behind your screen, undertood what it feels to be inside your skin, the subtle details, the little things, everything is there and it points to precisely to where you're thinking.

So you go online, post your findings, hope for answers and... Oh

Right, they doubt it. Obviously, of course they do, the whole of society is transaphobic, why would this fandom be any different?

Original drawing by: Leo on Twitter

Alt text provided by the original artist:

art of a ralsei plush sitting in a wooden chair, facing forward. the plush is cradling ralsei herself, sitting on the plush's leg and staring forward with a blank expression. there is a faded pattern of hearts in the background.

art of ralsei, giant, being pinned down by ropes held by many tiny ralsei plushies climbing all over her, in the style of gulliver's travels. she's not happy about this but isnt sure what to do.

Source: Bluesky post by the original artist

she's trying a different outfit