Should be specified that neither Rouxls nor Starwalker are ever referred to as "princesses".the former is moreso an announcer and starwalker is described as "your darling" and "your best friend".
"your darling" during a climbing minigame where you have to save a damsel in distress at the top of a tower.
the point is that he's not called a "princess".
Not to be rude, but basic context clues apply here. If saying that Starwalker is also implicitly referred to as a princess is a stretch, then what about the rest of the Tralsei theory which requires even greater leaps in logic?
context clues make starwalker able to be referred to as "prince"? im not discrediting the romantic tones i'm saying that the specific term isnt used.
Princes generally aren't damsels in distress though, and considering this is Roulxs Karrd we're talking about, it's likely not supposed to be taken literally (like him calling Ralsei a bimbo all the way back in Chapter 2.)
what does rouxls have to do with this? he nver says "princess" either? also like... who cares that princes aren't typically the ones that need saving? is that really the most important thing?
Because the entire sequence is parodying fairytale tropes by having Kris's "darling" be at the top of a Rapunzel tower they have to climb, Plus, that's literally my point, if we can't take this as confirmation Starwalker is a princess (or Kris's darling, at the very least), I don't think we should be taking this as any confirmation or foreshadowing of Ralsei's gender identity either, especially given the amount of negative qualifiers Ralsei's dialog has which takes away from that interpretation.
a "parody" would indeed have a prince though. and the difference is that ralsei actively defines himself "a princess".
I wouldn't call Ralsei saying " i can be your princess, if you want me to be!" and "the only difference is how you present yourself" as him defining himself as a princess in the most literal sense, it's quite literally a performance for Kris combined with his newfound eagerness to try new things in general (like trying different kinds of drinks, or exploring new hobbies). You're massively conflating gender identity with expression here.
Also, the reason I'm bringing up the context of the scene is because it does actually matter in terms of tone and reader expectations, and Toby isn't exactly the type of writer to intentionally leave this amount of ambiguity and alternative explanations in for what is supposed to be trans foreshadowing, he's more direct about it. (Like Seth saying "Heh, a real tactician never reveals any unnecessary information!" when asked if they're a girl or a boy)
....yeah because its not something immediate? it would be a change the character goes through that takes time, do you want that to happen offscreen?
No, but it wouldn't make sense to have this foreshadowing be weakened by, if not completely contradicted by several other details in the text and game itself. Toby knows how to write scenes and establish tone, it would be uncharacteristically sloppy for him to write trans foreshadowing like this, given his handling of other trans characters and identity arcs in the same chapter just fine.
...why are we back to trans ralsei anyway?
Because that's the main driving force behind the inclusion of the gender section on Ralsei's wiki page in the first place?
where was that ever said
The red cup at the bottom of the minigame and Ralsei's text about running out of princesses make it pretty clear everyone at the top are "princesses" to be saved. (Also an example of Noelle being referred to as a princess)
* My liege! As training for Susie's courtship of the reindeer princess...
* We have built an excessively tall place, for various darlings to wait at the top of.
Then Ralsei flat out refers to the other options as Princeses, if you don't have Star Walker
* Turns out the other princesses they put up here, mostly left...
* But, I can be your princess, Kris! If you want me to be!
All context clues are very clear that every prize up there is a princess. They're all stand ins for the "reindeer princess" (aka Noelle)
And while Roulxs keeps calling them Darlings, he is consistent in calling Ralsei that too, making it clear that is just his word for them
* Well, well, well. Kris. It seemseth, the truest darling of your heart...
* Is none other, than thou're Best Friend.
And they're never referred to, even once, with a gendered pronoun so a section for them to clear up some confusion makes some logical sense (I find it personally not needed, but I get the logic behind them specifically). Over 100 uses of "he/him" and "boy" for Ralsei in the script all together establish a pretty clear baseline. No other characters with gendered pronouns have needed a gender section, despite some "non conforming" behaviors (Susie, Roulxs)
Again, right now we run the risk of presenting one (valid) read out of several conflicting ones as the more objective truth when simply waiting for chapter 6 is the more prudent call. The risk of having wildly inaccurate information for close to a year vs just waiting and being sure is not worth it. This particular read of Ralsei is an extremely hot topic and there are a lot of ways to read the character right now and the raw, contextual evidence suggests a lot of it was for gags or easter egg style scenes.
i do agree that we should wait to say anything definitively.
I will say this, though - I do not think Toby would write a scene where a character potentially chooses an identity (in this case, princess) and then still give the player a choice to deny them that (Kris can say "nah, bro" even reinforcing it with a gendered word). I do not think, for a moment, that Toby Fox would ever include a scene that is meant to be a positive statement of identity and gender and allow the player to shut it down. The messaging there is antithetical to everything Toby Fox usually does, and is in stark contrast to how he normally handles it. The implication that we could shut down a serious exploration of a character's identity just doesn't seem like something he would do. That's why in my personal opinion - which should not be taken as fact, but just something to consider - I don't think this scene is meant to hold any real weight beyond being part of the gags of the other princesses and starwalker.
It would be wildly uncomfortable and out of character for Toby to write a scene where the a potential is read is telling a closeted character to stay closeted, and them accepting that without it being portrayed as a bad thing. Toby lets players sometimes make bad choices in his games, but there's no real ambiguity in them being morally dark. This isn't portrayed that way, it's more of a "Nah, bro, I don't want you to be my princess" and Ralsei takes it fine, and playfully still says he hopes being Kris's prince (which he's been before) is still enough.
Just my two cents on the it, and me being unobjective and personal for once. Thought this angle might want to be considered.
Right, I don't believe the choice to say "nah bro" or "of course" is even saved as a flag in the save file for later, meaning Toby's not going to follow up on what the player even chose in that specific scene. Additionally, and this is admittedly me just spitballing, I find it strange that the option to say no is presented in Kris's tone of voice, especially when you compare it to what is widely considered to be other dialog choices of theirs like
- "Bangin' sermon my man"
- "Looks bad chief"
- "Park your butt, mister"
- "Nah bro..."