I wanted to apologize and explain things now that I’ve taken a bit of time clear my head and gotten educated
I apologize for my behavior and how I’ve been coming off. My words had no ill intentions. I was freaked out and got defensive. Initially, I was suddenly bombarded with judgment and being told I was wrong. Due to the sudden hostility and having felt singled out, I panicked, got defensive and my brain went into fight or flight. I explained more of my AU with terminology that made sense to me at the time, not realizing the terms I used were outdated. That being said, I brushed up on my terminology and will use such going forward. I realize now people were trying to educate me regarding the terminology I used but because of the sudden hostility of the initial judgement with my brain in fight or flight, I perceived all criticisms as threats. I apologized and tried explaining more in depth, continuing to use outdated terms that made sense to me at the time, that I wasn't trans and new to making a trans HC and getting slightly defensive as I still felt singled out. I decided to pull away for a bit due to getting overwhelmed and to educate myself as I started to realize I was doing something wrong
I want to explain myself now that my head is clear enough to do so. I initially made Patty afab because that’s what she struck me as during my first exposure as my AU is based on my experience of the game with my intro post also pointing out there would be additions and changes to the original canon. My intro post also points out that posts regarding my AU will be tagged as such. I heard she was trans from the fandom and made her transmasc. I also made her bi-gender as I kept hearing she/her from the fandom and he/him in canon/wiki. And I posted as such. First posting that I saw Patty as afab using she/he pronouns since it was easy to come up with appearance and pronouns on the fly as I was busy, then posting seeing her as transmasc and bi-gender in reference to the fandom and yugo drawing/addressing her as she/her and the game/wiki addressing her as he/him. I also made sure to tag my AU as this is my AUs version of her
I was also under the impression that transfem patty was a widely agreed upon fanon as I didn’t see it stated in the wiki nor catch any implication when I watched my friend play. That is why I got defensive and felt singled out after being judged and told I was wrong when yugo gave the fandom creative freedom with the characters
I also want to clarify I had also based Patty off my transmasc preference since my OC is shipped with her as stated in my intro post. I apologize I didn’t clarify that sooner. I can see how it came off as me preferring one over the other. I’ll make a post better explaining Patty’s backstory but the gist of it is that I wanted to make her backstory based on my experience as a woman in a male dominated field of work and I wanted to make a trans character inspired by all the coming out stories I’ve heard, with her work being the reason she transitioned
I handled the situation poorly and want to use the knowledge I’ve learned in my time of absence to better myself and be a better member of the community. All I ask in return is for my AU to be given the same respect as all the other AUs in the community
