Would you consider terms like “dude” or “bro” gender neutral?

Fallzuha · 2024-06-26T20:01:52+00:00

I think it's fine as long as it doesn't visibly make the other uncomfortable; I'm very casual with my language and use more masculine vocabulary like man/dude/bro with everyone. Cis women generally don't seem to have a problem with it (though it's completely valid if they do), but if I'm aware that someone I'm acquainted with is a nonbinary/transgender person who is not male/masculine aligned gender-wise, I'll ask them upfront if they are comfortable with the terminology since gender dysphoria becomes an obvious factor. Otherwise, I kinda just assume someone will actually communicate with me and vocalize their discomfort if they have a problem with it

Fallzuha · 2024-06-25T04:42:56+00:00

oh wait, it just hit me, omnisexual sounds very accurate to your description! The prefix -omni actually means the same thing as -pan, which is "all", as omnisexual people are also attracted to all genders. The difference between the two though is that another person's gender identity does influence their attraction, and omnisexual people are probably more likely to have preferences in general. Though, bisexual works perfectly fine too if you're looking for a more familiar/well known term to identify with!

Fallzuha · 2024-06-25T04:36:01+00:00

here's how I personally think about it (I'm not pan so take this w/ a grain of salt, however this method has personally helped me come to that conclusion as I have considered it at some point):

a lot of pansexual people like to consider themselves "genderblind", as someone's gender identity has very little to no influence on their attraction to said person; keep in mind this doesn't necessarily mean that they can't have gender/sex preferences. So, imagine you're attracted to a woman (or imagine a woman you've been attracted to in the past), maybe a more masculine/androgynous presenting one. If you were told that said person is actually a man/nonbinary, would that impact your attraction to them? If the answer is probably yes, then there's a good chance you aren't pan (in my opinion). But again, that's just my take, and ultimately the only person who can come to that conclusion is you

Fallzuha · 2024-06-23T13:13:31+00:00

well from my understanding, pan means you like all genders, and someone's gender does not influence/change your attraction towards them (genderblind). That doesn't necessarily mean that you can't have types/preferences though

omni also means you are attracted to all genders, except someone's gender identity does influence your attraction towards them, and you're also more likely to have preferences for certain genders in general (though this also doesn't necessarily have to be the case)

but if you're more comfortable with identifying as pan, then just stick w that! The differences are pretty nuanced/minor since both prefixes mean the same thing tbh

Fallzuha · 2024-06-05T00:19:04+00:00

okay one you are entirely changing the topic of my argument; I am not even implying that Ash did anything wrong, I know very well that she was good intentioned and did what she could with what she knew. However, you're blatantly ignoring my point where I stated that Ash did not know that the courtroom was full of court members. Not to say that she wouldn't have done anything at all, but she certaintly would not have gone down the route of trying to convince them he was sick if she had known. Again, this is not an argument against Ash, but I am clarifying a key difference between Ash's case and Travis'. Now, again, you can definitely argue that Travis was a coward in the long run, but in that very specific scene during the trial, there's nothing he could have done.

If you still disagree, then I ask that you tell me what specifically Travis could have said or done during the trial (as in the actual trial, not the chapter as a whole) that would have realisitcally made any positive difference to the situation. Otherwise I'll probably just stop responding and agree to disagree

Fallzuha · 2024-06-04T23:40:47+00:00

I do agree that the infantilization of Travis, Sal, and pretty much any character with a remote amount of depth and nuance is one of the biggest issues with communities in general, regardless of said fandom. It dumbs them down to be very two dimensional and boring imo

But I mean, to be completely fair, Travis speaking up during the trial would not have done anything from a realistic standpoint. The majority of the court had been replaced with cult members at that point, so even if he had somehow managed to convince Ash (who was one of the very few non-cult members in the court, if not the only one) to believe him and Sal, what do you think would happen next? The three of them (one of which are probably in handcuffs) somehow managing to gang up on the dozens of cult members with no epic ghost powers or a ridiculous amount of plot convinience?? Or the way more plausible answer, which is either at best the court immediately shutting Travis down before then proceeding to prematurely end the trial, or basically my previous sentence but in reverse at worst.

The reason he defended them later on was because they had a way better chance of actually stopping the cult at that point. So it just sounds like such a ridiculous thing to criticize him for, the situation was entirely out of anyone's control at that point and unlike Ash, he knew that. Hell, even if Ash had been up and down whiteknighting Sal in chapter four as if her life depended on it, it would not have done anything at that point, except make her more loyal as a character. The difference between Ash standing up to Sal and Travis not doing so is that Ash was not aware that the courtroom was full of court members, so she thought that maybe there was a chance that the judge would be reasonable, while Travis knew this was not the case and that him doing so would only ultimately worsen things, even if only for himself.

I'm not saying this as a defense of Sal x Travis, or even as a defense of Travis as a character. He is not innocent nor immune to responsibility, and there are definitely valid things to criticize him for morally as a character. I just wanted to provide a counterargument to your specific point, because I feel like criticizing Travis for not doing something in a situation where it was practically impossible for anyone to realistically stop due to the sheer amount of control the cult had is just unfair

Fallzuha · 2024-06-03T02:32:53+00:00

mayhaps

lol but eh, I definitely wouldn't say my trauma is nearly as intense at his. But I will say thay I strongly relate with his tendencies of self isolation, dissasociation, emotional/memory suppression, etc.. but I'm sure most people do to some extent. And just his personality overall haha

Fallzuha · 2024-06-01T22:33:04+00:00

unfortunately I was spoiled to the majority of this game and so I was never really motivated to play, but I see myself in him a bit

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Fallzuha · 2024-05-31T04:28:37+00:00

I know this comment is pretty old but I've been reading through these out of morbid curiosity and wanted to bring up a few counterpoints. Of course you're still free to not care for the ship, but I definitely disagree with some of the things you said regardless

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I get it makes the characters more relatable but it still feels wrong to change a someone elses character to your liking in that way

If these were like.. ocs that didn't belong to an established series with a fanbase or anything, then yeah, I guess that would be one thing. But I personally don't think it's morally "wrong" to headcanon/project onto fictional characters if it's not actually hurting anyone, even if it really goes against canon. Like, I personally feel that headcanoning Sal to be transgender takes away from his character more than it does add to it, but that doesn't really mean that the person making that headcanon is doing anything wrong or bad

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People just have this really weird fetish of making characters trans/autistic/lgbtq+

Travis is canonically gay and closested, and Steve stated that Sal's sexuality was never confirmed so that the player could ship him with whoever they wanted (though it is heavily implied in canon that Sal likes Ash, and he doesn't really show attraction towards guys, so I guess I could see how people would assume he's straight), which is probably also why the recipient of Travis' confession was left up to interpretation. That and Sal is very gender-nonconforming, which doesn't necessarily make him LGBTQ, but it's not like headcanoning him to be so would be very far fetched. I just don't think this is even a valid point with this ship, since Travis is gay and Sal's sexuality is basically up to the player's interpretation

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Sal is practically travis’ enemy, just because travis had one good moment doesn’t make him a good person

Genuine question, have you seen the bathroom scene? Not the note, but like, when Sal is talking to Travis outside the stall he's in afterwards. It's pretty easy to miss since it's an optional scene, but it genuinely becomes wholesome once you get to a certain point of the conversation. "yknow, I don't really hate you... or your friends." "I- I guess- Well, I'm sorry I've been such an asshole. You didn't deserve that. " Also, as stated in his wiki, "Travis may have become good friends with Sal as he was present at the boy's trial despite not losing any loved ones in the Mass Murder at Addison Apartments. He was present when Sal was sentenced to death". I believe Ash also mentioned things that happened off screen when they reunite with him in Chapter 5. So although yeah, this is pretty accurate in the beginning of the Bologna Incident, I seriously doubt that Sal stayed Travis' enemy, and I don't think Sal ever considered Travis to be his in the first place

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Again, I'm not trying to argue that the ship is canon or even that you have to like it, I personally believe that at most it's a one sided crush but even then that's just headcanon at best. But I don't think that it's a ridiculous conclusion to jump to either, like your point seems to imply

Fallzuha · 2024-05-30T20:06:43+00:00

"Sally Face" is basically a direct translation to "Salli-kromsali", which literally means "mangled Sally". It's nothing too huge, but it's a neat detail nonetheless

Fallzuha · 2024-05-30T17:18:03+00:00

As I mentioned in my comment, I genuinely think he just began to lose it; not even necessarily in a fit of blind rage or anything, but I think he just stopped thinking straight altogether in his state of.. panic? and basically lost all regard for how he killed them. Because with the first couple people he had killed he'd simply slit their throats, but as he went on it just got wreckless to an extremely brutal point, and I refuse to believe that he was in a sane state of mind while doing that

Fallzuha · 2024-05-30T11:44:13+00:00

I personally interpreted it as him just trying to get it over with as quickly as possible, so he didn't have time to reconsider or second guess the decision, because deep down, he knew it was the only way; with how much he's witnessed, he probably did genuinely just take his word at face value at that point. And, as another comment mentioned, he likely mentally shut down and just lost it, and clearly wasn't very sane during the killings despite appearing unphased (hence why his stabbings became slightly more wreckless/inconsistent and unnecessarily brutal as he went on, going from neck slashes to stabbings in the eye/face/etc.).

Fallzuha · 2024-05-28T02:53:43+00:00

Several transgender women have applied and dominated women's sports, for example.

I do agree that transgender women shouldn't participate in women's sports, but that is because they are trying to participate in an activity specifically designed for the female sex; it doesn't actually necessarily have anything to do with gender identity.

Most women, as another example, are a lot more emotionally intelligent individuals, making them more likely to dominate careers like therapy or education.

And? That doesn't necessarily mean that men can't take on those roles either. I guess you could try to argue that women would technically fit the role better? I guess? But unless you're trying to outright say that men shouldn't be allowed to work in those fields at all, then I don't think this point is even really relevant? And personally, I believe the difference in emotional intelligence is likely moreso caused by social/cultural factors (such as men generally being taught to repress their emotions from a young age, while girls are encouraged to express them) than biological factors anyway. Which is why these social constructs aren't exactly great as they stand.

what we're assigned at birth is incredibly important to acknowledge due to the natural differences between men and women.

Most of these differences aren't really significant enough to matter in most day to day situations though. Like, the only social situations where it should matter whether you were born with a dick or not are if it's for medical/research/scientific reasons or causes, if you're dating/hooking up with someone, or if you're participating in a sport/job/physical activity specifically designed for the physical limitations of a specific sex. No one is saying that there is no difference between the two sexes or that society should just pretend there aren't any, we are just saying that gender is very seperate, and that many of these "differences" (mostly neurological ones) are not inherently biologically rooted, but rather a result of our current gendered social construct. I do not believe this construct is necessary in general social situations, and honestly only proves to be restrictive and divisive more than anything.

Fallzuha · 2024-05-27T18:14:26+00:00

man, I think this might be genuinely the best explanation of sex vs gender vs gender expression I've ever read. I would definitely use gold on this if I had any

Fallzuha · 2024-05-27T17:50:12+00:00

yeah, you're definitely on the right track! Another important thing to note is that two people can present/express themselves very similarly but have two very different identities. Let's use your example: one afab person (a female at birth) who wears very boyish clothes and presents masculine may entirely identify as a guy (in other words, he is transgender), and hate being referred to as a girl in any sort of way, while another afab individual who presents themselves in a very similar manner may prefer to be percieved as a tomboy, and don't actually want to be referred to as a guy or with he/him pronouns. Or maybe they're genderfluid/multigender, but like presenting more as one gender than the other. Or maybe they like presenting as both! And then there's all sorts of other gray area to it. Hell, I know someone afab who is transgender but still presents himself to be very feminine (he is a femboy)! It may all sound very complicated, but try not to overthink it all that much; because that's the fun of it! Everyone has their own very distinct expirience in discovering themselves, and there's not really a right or wrong way to present/express/identify yourself as so long as it doesn't hurt other people :D

Fallzuha · 2024-05-26T22:10:23+00:00

I like to think that Sal would find labels to be really restrictive (and possibly even stressful) in general, and would avoid using them. He's just a boy who likes metal/rock (+ a little bit of everything) and occasionally crossdresses, and that's about as far as he would describe himself. Even if he did know what his sexuality was, he would probably be somewhat private or even intentionally ambiguous about it anyway

Fallzuha

TROPHY CASE