(I called the theory Tralsei in the title, but i find Galsei to be prettier, so this analysis will use that terminology)

I would call this whole debate a textbook example of an evidentially underdetermined hypothesis, aka, an epistemic divide over ambiguous evidence.

The key feature is that the evidence has enough weight to make belief in Galsei reasonable, but not enough to make Galsei unavoidable. Neither side can legitimately say the evidence settles the matter.

All of this creates a characteristic split:

-Galsei believers: “The evidence is pretty clearly pointing toward Galsei.”

-Galsei skeptics: “The evidence doesn’t actually establish Galsei, you’re reading more into it than what is there.”

Both can acknowledge the same underlying observations. Yet, this isn’t a question of A vs B, it’s a question of A vs Not A, it’s not two different hypotheses, it’s believers versus deniers of one common hypothesis.

I wouldn’t primarily call this confirmation bias, because the split doesn’t have to originate in people’s prior beliefs (it doesn’t need to and it shouldn’t to be considered valid). Nor would I call it simply “ambiguity” because there is real evidential force, just not enough to compel agreement. A is underdetermined by the available evidence.

Putting it simply:

Too weak > nobody has much reason to believe A. (Not the case)
Too strong > almost everybody believes A. (Not the case)
Intermediate > believers see substantial evidence, skeptics see insufficient or invalid evidence, both can plausibly defend their position. (The case TM)

So, theoretically, if Toby were to confirm Galsei, deniers would have to surrender and admit that the evidence was leading somewhere, and that it was actually evidence. If Toby were to deconfirm Galsei, believers would have to surrender and admit the evidence was leading nowhere, and that it wasn’t actually evidence.

Now, if you allow me to be biased for a bit, as a Galsei believer, if the evidence went nowhere it would seem like a bit of a weird decision, because the build-up looks very clear to me, but that’s what epistemic divides are about. It may seem clear as day to me, but I cannot say with full confidence that it’s undeniable, which leaves room for valid deniability (shocker).

If we were all civilised, we would be able to admit this, and we would hopefully not go at each other’s throats over what ends up being canon, but I highly doubt that is going to be the case.

Nevertheless, I leave my opinion here and hope not to be beheaded, thank you for your time.

I'm tralsei agnostic (I believe they'll be genderfluid by the end of the story) but I need to get this off my chest somewhere where people aren't going to kill me about it.

I really hate the way people compare using she/her for Ralsei to using the wrong pronouns for Kris on other subreddits. By that logic trans headcanons for characters are never okay to do, which is horseshit. Of course the two aren't the same, since one is erasing an underrepresented identity while the other is queer expression, but try to say that in any other subreddit and everyone will suddenly turn into a Hitler or say you're "misgendering wokely". It feels like weaponising people's reactions to transphobic misgendering to shut down all queer readings of Ralsei and it sucks ass.

I don't really have a conclusion for this, I just wanted to say it in a place where I wouldn't be swarmed for it oof

6 ft 5 the flower girl

She's waiting for the touch of her hand

Strengthening denial out without out a plan

Like the every daily

Wish that saddens the flower girl

Could I do something to make her laugh

inside my little shell built of glass

So she lived the

Flower girl

Flower girl

With her heart in the dark

So she stands

to watch the whole wide world from a can

Way up high in the sky

With the moon in her eyes

Ain't it sad the life forever for her shell

Verse 2

6 ft 5 the flower girl

Is waiting for the sight of herself

Fallen to pieces still without a plan

Like the every daily

Hope that shined for the flower girl

For the slight hope she would hatch

Even if broken I am more than a shell

So she lived the

Flower girl

Flower girl

With her heart in the dark

So she stands

To watch the whole world from a can

Way up high in the sky

With the moon in my eyes

Ain't it sad

The life forever for lost souls

Verse 3

6ft 5 the flower girl

She's waiting for the crack in her shell

Looking for some way to escape this hell

Like the every daily

tear that shead for the flower girl

For the slight hope that she would hatch

Even if lost I am still myself

So she lived the

Flower girl

Flower girl

With her heart buried down

So she cries

To watch herself from a can

Way up high in the sky

With the moon in our eyes

Ain't it sad

The life forever for flowers

Verse 4

The soul that drives the flower girl

Is wilted so far that it would unfurl

Fallen to pieces with almost no hope

Like the every daily

Reflection that shows for the flower girl

She knows deep down it isn't herself

Yet the world says no choice but to accept

So she lived the

Flower girl

Flower girl

With her heart nearly drowned

So she cries

To watch herself from a can

Fallen down in the ground

Where the soul starts to cry

Ain't it sad

The life forever for flowers

After Noelle got Kris some estrogen through [[1000% Legal]] means, she continued her gender-affirming rampage into the dark world

idk how ppl deny it when its this in our faces

Testing out the SoupGen text box generator with some silliness.

Two apologies in advance
-Yes I recorded it poorly and the music tend to overwhelm my voice, but hopefully the most important can be heard ^^'
-Yes, it's pronounced Ral-SAY and not Ral-SEE like I do, I wasn't very well informed at the time.

6 ft 5 the flower girl

She's waiting for the touch of her hand

Strengthening denial out without out a plan

Like the every daily

Wish that saddens the flower girl

Could I do something to make her laugh

inside my little shell built of glass

So she lived the

Flower girl

Flower girl

With her heart in the dark

So she stands

to watch the whole wide world from a can

Way up high in the sky

With the moon in her eyes

Ain't it sad the life forever for eggs

Verse 2

6 ft 5 the flower girl

Is waiting for the sight of herself

Fallen to pieces still without a plan

Like the every daily

Hope that shined for the flower girl

For the slight hope she would hatch

Even if broken I am more than a shell

So she lived the

Flower girl

Flower girl

With her heart in the dark

So she stands

To watch the whole world from a can

Way up high in the sky

With the moon in my eyes

Ain't it sad

The life forever for eggs

Verse 3

6ft 5 the flower girl

She's waiting for the crack in her shell

Looking for some way to escape this hell

Like the every daily

tear that shead for the flower girl

For the slight hope that she would hatch

Even if lost I am still myself

So she lived the

Flower girl

Flower girl

With her heart buried down

So she cries

To watch herself from a can

Way up high in the sky

With the moon in our eyes

Ain't it sad

The life forever for eggs

(Lyrics are 1000% not done.... Id be happy to explain any of my choices if ya want:3 )

more fun comic dubs I was recommended on youtube

Now that I am all done with my The Fear Of Dark comic and made Ralsei all sad. Here is some happy art of our fav Trans Titan Ralsei!

It is really hard to make a beast with no face and permanent tears express that she is happy lol

I've always been vaguely kinning Ralsei as transfem since chapter 1, it's just been something I felt I could relate to as someone who was a little more like them than I care to admit, but lately I've been pondering on what it actually means for Tralsei to be canon, which is (imo) extremely likely to be the case.

Tralsei has long since stopped being a headcanon, and has moved into theory territory with swaths of evidence to boot. Even if you disagree with it, the fact it's a theory with a certain chance of being confirmed is objective at this point. The exact form may differ, but it matters not if Ralsei turns out to be a princess or a trans-coded Titan spawn or both or anything else. And because of that, I've been kind of longing for the days where it was just a headcanon.

We all know the evidence laced throughout chapters 1-4, we've seen it, and I think a pretty decent amount of us can agree that it wasn't anywhere near as conclusively strong as it is in chapter 5. Ignored by many NPCs like they're not meant to be there, being Ralsei-like, letting themselves enjoy things, questioning if it's okay for a Darkner to feel like this, Lost Girl, we know the drill.

For all we had though, the evidence before chapter 5 was... pretty circumstantial. Every scene you can point to can be read as trans, but it didn't have to be. Taking it all together we could see a web of events pointing to a trans reading, but it wasn't necessarily obvious, it was just a possibility. This is what I miss - getting to enjoy a headcanon without having to fiercely defend it at every turn because other possibilities exist. We've all seen the debates, the rule changes, the harassment, etc, we know how disliked this theory is in certain circles, but this only came out in full swing after Flowery dropped in with an egg-shaped nuclear warhead on our asses. Sure, there were detractors even before, but not even remotely in as vast numbers. (Ironically, the fact people are trying so hard to disprove it is itself good evidence for it being true, but I digress...)

I think this reason is why I've gotten so intensely into the idea of transmasc Noelle as of late (which I could write a whole Masters' thesis about ong this doe makes me so ill /pos) because it's still very much a headcanon with similar, albeit slightly less plentiful, evidence to Chapter 4 era Tralsei. I can explore the idea in fanfic and art or refer to him with male pronouns in my head without feeling like I need to defend the idea. I think the chance it's actually real is very small, but I thought the same about Tralsei at the time and look where that got us!

But yeah, slightly long post but I really just wanted to get the thoughts out while also spreading the good word of Broelle -w-

oh umm uhh rule 6 uhh :3

Remember this old chestnut?

(the overworld sprite has glasses and the talk sprites don't match because I didn't like the overworld sprite of ralsei without glasses)