Ok so I have a question bout seams pronouns. Thought I’d ask this blog since you’re the first nb one I thought of. Sorry if this is a weird query. Anyway in-game Seam is referred to by no pronouns actually.. just name. But should I correct someone if they use pronouns in reference to Seam? Because in writing the only way to have gender-ambiguous character would be to use ‘he/she/they’ at all times when referring to said character or using the name or a title. (continues this ask)
(contd ask) So is it wrong for someone to assume Seams gender as
male/female/non-binary since it is never stated?? I am confused.
Aw, I’m flattered you thought to go to me first! I admit I haven’t been as involved in Deltarune-centric discussions as some other blogs, but I’ve heard some talk about this topic.
@everyone-needs-a-hoopoe was one of the first people I saw noticing that Seam doesn’t use any pronouns in canon. As they point out in their post, when Seam is referred to in third person, no pronouns are used.
This post also discusses the Japanese version and points out that Seam uses a first-person pronoun (atashi / あたし (translation)) which has historically been associated with men and with women. While Toby is notorious for avoiding making concrete statements about his characters’ genders, taking this into account alongside the English version‘s avoidance of using any pronouns for Seam, I think that for the time being, it’s reasonable to assume that is an intentional choice on Toby’s part and could very well be taken as a sign of Seam being nonbinary. Especially when you consider that a lot of nonbinary people don’t use pronouns in English and other languages. (apologies for the wikipedia link, it’s the best I could find on short notice outside people’s personal blogs)
So to answer your question, while the only official source we currently have is chapter 1 of Deltarune, if you want to stay true to canon it would be nice to try to refer to Seam as has been shown so far (example on how to skip using pronouns for someone). Plus, it can act as a vector for practicing how to refer to real nonbinary people who don’t use pronouns, which I think is an excellent side-effect of popular content featuring diverse nonbinary characters! :)
As for correcting people… This is only my personal opinion on the subject, but I think that depends on you. I can’t tell you to go out and fight people over this, but I do see that you are doing rather well in asking a nonbinary person (albeit one who does use pronouns) about a nonbinary character and considering how you can show the most respect to nonbinary people. So while I can’t tell you what to do, I think we could always use more people like you with open minds and open ears, and if you want to you can feel free to direct any friends you have who are curious about this subject to relevant discussion, and help nonbinary voices reach them! ^^
If you have any more questions, I would also recommend checking out @everyone-needs-a-hoopoe, @doge-w-a-bloge, @uselessundertalefacts, @suzyundertale, @determinators, @krispdreemurr and other blogs and nonbinary fans you can find involved in Deltarune/Undertale discussion!