elaborating on my last post, I wanted to go through just how Mew Mew manages to act as a foil to the entire Fun Gang/$!$? Squad/Lancer Fan Club
Kris: this part is fairly, obvious, a lot of people have talked about it before, but the dynamic of one character possessing the body of another, and the reveal that the body is still its own person worthy of moral consideration who's capable of being hurt by the possessor. the ending with Pink and her body coming to a compromise that makes them both happy is probably where Deltarune is headed, since, while it's happy to point out the way inhabiting a person as your video game avatar can hurt them, UT/DR is generally a bit more savvy and smart with it's commentary to end with a point of "it's morally evil of you to play a video game" so an ending about how a balance can be struck makes a lot more sense
Susie: so, Susie is probably the member of the fun gang who's parallels are the least obvious, but I do think they're also present. Both Susie and Pink are people using the dark worlds as a means of escapism, which has been fairly standard as a metaphor for the whole game. But chapter 5 takes this detail one step further by revealing that Susie has taken to living in the dark world when not hanging out with Kris. Both Susie and Pink are very close to abandoning the Light World, abandoning reality altogether in order to escape the real difficulties that plague them. For Susie it's a difficult (or perhaps non-existent) home life and the way she's perceived as a no good trouble making jerk by the people of Hometown. For Pink, it's being stuck in a body that doesn't reflect her inner self, that makes her miserable, and presumably being perceived as having a gender that doesn't actually line up with her internal identity. Especially since Pink isn't actually "close" to abandoning the Light World, she's actively trying to abandon the Light World, because, unlike Susie, she seemingly doesn't have any bonds or friendships strong enough to make reality bearable for her. In this way, Pink is a more tragic version of Susie, who can only enjoy life when completely immersed in escapism.
Ralsei: so the obvious link between Pink and Ralsei is the trans subtext (I know some people disagree with the trans Ralsei theory, but even if that interpretation is going to get subverted, can we at least agree that chapter 5 points pretty strongly in that direction). Pink is a trans girl, and Ralsei seems like they're closeted. Open and shut case, right? Well, I think it goes a little deeper. Namely, I think Ralsei has a pretty strong connection to Pink's body in particular. It's a Darkner, and it does initially just server the purpose of being used by a Lightner. Over the course of the battle it grows as a person and becomes more able to vocalize its desires. but fundamentally, it is limited by its Lightner. Pink trying desperately does seriously hurt and almost destroy the body, something I think has a lot of impact for Ralsei. Ralsei's arc this chapter has been about how he's still passing his personal desires through Kris 'I can be your princess, if you want' 'what drink would Kris want'. He's able to be a bit more of himself but still won't allow himself to escape his role, despite the role clearly hurting him. It's not a direct one to one, since Pink's body is more assertive in the fight, but it is still a good foil for how Ralsei's ability to be happy and more like himself is dependent on the Lightners in his life.
