Frustrating relative lack of LGBT NPCs in this game

[KizuyaKatogami]

That's not really what 'canon' means from a literary standpoint. Canon isn't true or false, and I think it's weird to talk about literature in those terms. Canon doesn't deal with interpretation at all. It just refers to the actual contents of the text put in front of the viewer. The music, the scenes, the dialogue. Anything the viewer takes out of that becomes interpretation.

"Ryne and Gaia are friends," is an interpretation. "Ryne and Gaia have a sisterly bond," is an interpretation. "Ryne and Gaia have a blossoming romance," is an interpretation.

Eden's story was left pretty open ended and ambigious, and the text supports multiple readings and interpretations. That's the beauty of storytelling, different people could come away with completely different readings of the same story, and that's a good thing.

A word to describe something that is true to the original story.

Things considered “canon” are basically considered “true” (in the story).

-Similar Words:
Not Canon; Something that isn’t true to the original story.
Head-Canon; Usually used when someone creates their own AU (Alternate Universe), and adds their own “canon” part in their story.

I don’t see what was ambiguous when the journal and story itself states they’re close friends, that Ryne wants to save her friend.

Would you take that stance if they were not both girls and nothing else about the writing changed?

Yes, simply because the writing and journal states that theyre friends. It is never stated to be anything more than that, especially if you bring Mitron into the picture and if you want to take the savage version as context, she seems to still care for him. Loghrif and Mitron are said to have been romantically involved. We can use that as a template to compare that to ryne and gaia and they arent very similar whatsoever.

There are a lot of "relationships aren't a part of the story or quests" posts but aren't there a load of side quests where you're helping someone find their husband/wife or something like that where it is very clear that two heterosexual people are in a relationship. Also do we not remember Dulia-Chai and Chai-Nuzz, who are very clearly in a relationship and a prominent part of the ShB story. So yes there are lots of instances of heterosexual couples everyone just doesn't notice it because its so "normal".

There are also side quests involving gay npcs though. Theres one again, wanderers palace npc's that are both explicitly gay. Theres those two guys in kugane where the one falls in love with the actor who portrays a woman and then they meet and the guys says he doesnt care that hes a man. You have various npcs around the world that are bi or gay as well.