#utdr.gnar

[gnarly-websurfer]

i understand and really enjoy the transfem kris vision but i also worry that it's somewhat enbyphobic.. like amab trans kris makes A Lot Of Sense (they seem to present more androgynous instead of fem but the general understanding im getting is that tfem kris = amab trans kris)

but isn't it also kind of misgendering as well? because kris being they/them nonbinary specifically is a thing the game has gone out of its way to emphasize repeatedly, and saying they're going to grow up to be a she/they woman or that they're just hiding/ignoring the fact that they're transfem feels no different from the people who insist kris is up to the player's interpretation (read: male because "men are the default") in that it ignores the canonical nonbinary representation. i think the "breaking out of a man's world" reading works just as well if they're they/them nonbinary with no elaboration

(i say no elaboration because tbh as a nonbinary person i get most like me dislike speculation on what a nonbinary's agab is, both real people and characters, because it's generally trying to sort them into "girl nonbinary" vs "boy nonbinary" instead of acknowledging their experience as not just being a girl or a boy)

(additionally I don't think kris is boymoding they seem to solidly be nonbinary? as the idea that they're pretending to be a man, or that they're going to change to a woman or hiding the fact that they're woman-aligned is kind of offensive because it plays into the idea that being nonbinary is a phase or an inbetween state not a real gender)

sorry for bad english it's not my native language. and sorry if i said anything offensive, feel free to tell me if i'm wrong and where i'm just trying to understand since there's been a lot of misgendering of kris recently and i'm a bit paranoid :') sending this ask to you because you seem to be an expert on kris as well as the transfem interpretation

Ok I feel like this ask was meant well but a lot of the stuff in here is really transmisogynist. For one, I certainly wouldn't call myself an expert, because while I do love some good media analysis my personal experience as a pretty cut and dry (trans) woman, and a straight one at that, certainly hinder my analysis in this instance. However to actually respond to your points, I never said anything about Kris being a woman (nor have I seen anyone else who thinks Kris is transfem say that either), and importantly, someone can be a woman, use she/they, and still be non-binary. None of those traits are contradictory. I don't even think Kris has to (or will, honestly) use she pronouns at any point, but even if they did that wouldn't make them suddenly not non-binary.

And also I'm sorry but AGAB is actually very very important when telling trans stories of all kinds including non-binary ones because gender assignment is the primary means by which the gender binary is maintained and enforced. Being real, it's the very thing transness is defined against, without that binary and gender assignment to enforce it, the transgender identity (as we currently understand it) wouldn't really exist! And that's not a bad thing, that doesn't mean trans people aren't real, just that we as people are necessarily products of the environment we came up in (something that's patently obvious in all other areas of life as well).

So like, bottom line, if you're creating a protagonist whose whole narrative purpose is to draw a line between them and the player by giving them an actual detailed life beforehand and their own goals and motivations, and that character is trans, then I would argue giving them an actual concrete history that required them to CHOOSE to transition, that we actually see/hear of, would be much much more impactful then leaving it vague and undefined just so people can project their own experiences onto them. This isn't sorting a character into "girl nonbinary" or "boy nonbinary" it's acknowledging that they have their own history separate from the players POV in which they chose to adopt an identity contrary to their birth assignment!

And in all honesty, if that ISN'T done, if it is left vague, I think Kris will be worse enby representation because of it! If you can't be bothered to actually represent the lived experiences of the demographic you're "representing" then does it really qualify as such at all??? This is my core issue with a lot of enby rep that comes in more fantastical forms like robots or aliens, because most of them end up being effectively cisgender non-binary (their chosen gender matches with their birth assignment), which isn't a thing that happens in real life!

Anyway, to your last point, I wore the same outfit for several years straight even after realizing I was trans and coming out because I lacked any and all confidence in myself. Presentation can be deceiving. I'm not even saying that Kris wants to present differently but doesn't feel able, just that they COULD, and that's why I made that joke (which was not meant at all seriously or as an actual read of Kris' character).