Yup. She gets called by masculine pronouns in the anime, but is very explicitly trans in the manga, and transphobic weebs make a point of misgendering her
FYI it’s a headcanon, it’s not transphobic to point this fact out. The fact is in the Anime Felix says multiple times “I am a boy in both body and soul” and the references in the manga are very vague and open for interpretation.
Can we please stop propagating this shit, it’s been shown canonically that Felix isn’t trans. If you want to headcanon them that way go for it, but realize that it is a headcanon and not some deeper truth, that means don’t force it on people or say they’re misgendering or being “transphobic” for not following or believing in a headcanon. I see way too many comments on Reddit devolve into toxicity because people end up trying to push a headcanon onto others and start a fight because someone isn’t willing to accept what is ultimately a headcanon.
The first order of business in the morning was to address the reflection in the mirror.
“Cute! I am cute. A girlish young woman, a wonderful and cute girl.”
For quite a long time now, this had been the mantra, the words repeated like magic[…] A vow to one’s self that brought about change could be called nothing less.
[…] It was important to pick a shirt that wasn’t too loud and a skirt with a hem short enough to perhaps raise some eyebrows, then check how it all looked in the mirror.[…] And just as the earlier magical incantation had affirmed, the picture of the ideal young woman was now complete.
Striking a pose in front of the mirror, then checking once more to be sure nothing was out of place. No detail could be overlooked; there could be no mistakes. This girlishness was borrowed, though it ought to have belonged to this person to begin with, so it was important to treat it carefully.
…
Ferris, now sixteen, was a firm believer in the power of a person’s will and faith. If you kept believing, surprising things could happen.
For example, he should have developed secondary sexual characteristics long ago, but as if in response to his daily wishes and prayers, he showed no sign of becoming more masculine. His voice grew no deeper and his body didn’t thicken. He was quietly thankful to his ancestors that he didn’t grow a beard.
How is this not enough? This is straight from the light novel spinoff about her. She gave herself HRT by sheer force of will, and you still argue that is cis behavior?
How is this not enough? This is straight from the light novel spinoff about her. She gave herself HRT by sheer force of will, and you still argue that is cis behavior?
Yes, yes I do. Because when one calls themselves a boy that needs to be respected, because the key part about identities being valid is how people say what they are, not that they “don’t act entirely cis”. Again like I said before head-canon away but don’t force it on others or attack people for following canon, or even god forbid enjoying and identifying with felix as a Femboy.
Also that idea of people “not acting cis” does indeed violate the Egg prime directive, I sincerely hope you don’t do that with real people because it can end up being very hurtful and disrespectful to them. It’s important to look at other people’s gender as something personal and specific to them, and not something that can be semantically categorized and resolved without taking their feelings and how they identify into consideration.
I was very confrontational earlier, so first off, let me apologize for that. I’ve had a stressful week, but that’s no excuse.
Of course I would never dare to have this sort of discussion about any real person. Only they get to label who they are, and aren’t.
What complicates this, is that we’re talking about fictional characters. For those, everything gets filtered through the lens of the author, reflecting all of their biases and prejudices. We’re going off second-hand information, basically. In such a situation, coding becomes much more vital when analyzing characters, I think. A character being referred to and referring to themselves as masculine might be because they are, or it might reflect the author’s perception of trans people. It’d be easier in a work that already includes queer characters, because then the author would’ve already demonstrated understanding for their identities, and it would be easier to take them at their word.
In the case of Ferris, we have a character that presents feminine, displays emotions and struggles trans people are all too familiar with, and in the narrative it’s stated that she should’ve been a woman. But she’s consistently refered to by masculine pronouns.
There’s nothing wrong with simply reading her character as cis (even though most people that are adamant on that point have very icky opinions on real trans people). As a work of art, that interpretation is up to the reader. But, imo, doing so glosses over many queer themes, in a medium that is already starved for representation.
Another example that often gets brought up in discussions like this is Lukako from Steins;Gate. She also gets referred to by masculine pronouns throughout most of it. But then there is an arc where she begs the MC to use time travel shenanigans to turn her into a girl. This works, and she is noticeably happier in that world line. Then plot happens, and they have to revert the worldline, undoing that change. After that, the MC goes right back to calling her by masculine pronouns.
Once again, I would argue that her character is obviously written as trans, but in a medium and for an audience that are, for a large part, either ignorant of or hostile towards trans people.
This got way longer than I intended, sorry for the wall of text -
One could probably make a two hour video essay on the topic and still miss nuances, and there’s more I want to say, but this is long enough already. I hope I made my position a bit more clear, though c:
Ferris is trans
I’m assuming that’s the one next to astolfo? (I didn’t make the meme)
Yup. She gets called by masculine pronouns in the anime, but is very explicitly trans in the manga, and transphobic weebs make a point of misgendering her
I didn’t know that either…
FYI it’s a headcanon, it’s not transphobic to point this fact out. The fact is in the Anime Felix says multiple times “I am a boy in both body and soul” and the references in the manga are very vague and open for interpretation.
yeah I understand, kind of like gwen in the spiderverse movies? it isn’t explicitly implied she’s trans there, but there’s a heavy assumption she is
i didn’t know this either, but i also didn’t know about this manga before reading these comments.
Cool story, bro
don’t call me bro.
thank u for doing my job for me :3 fellow trams ferris acknowledgement-er
That was my thought as well
they turned the frigging crab gay
(the cat girl in the top right is called Ferris)
Can we please stop propagating this shit, it’s been shown canonically that Felix isn’t trans. If you want to headcanon them that way go for it, but realize that it is a headcanon and not some deeper truth, that means don’t force it on people or say they’re misgendering or being “transphobic” for not following or believing in a headcanon. I see way too many comments on Reddit devolve into toxicity because people end up trying to push a headcanon onto others and start a fight because someone isn’t willing to accept what is ultimately a headcanon.
…
How is this not enough? This is straight from the light novel spinoff about her. She gave herself HRT by sheer force of will, and you still argue that is cis behavior?
Yes, yes I do. Because when one calls themselves a boy that needs to be respected, because the key part about identities being valid is how people say what they are, not that they “don’t act entirely cis”. Again like I said before head-canon away but don’t force it on others or attack people for following canon, or even god forbid enjoying and identifying with felix as a Femboy.
Also that idea of people “not acting cis” does indeed violate the Egg prime directive, I sincerely hope you don’t do that with real people because it can end up being very hurtful and disrespectful to them. It’s important to look at other people’s gender as something personal and specific to them, and not something that can be semantically categorized and resolved without taking their feelings and how they identify into consideration.
I was very confrontational earlier, so first off, let me apologize for that. I’ve had a stressful week, but that’s no excuse.
Of course I would never dare to have this sort of discussion about any real person. Only they get to label who they are, and aren’t.
What complicates this, is that we’re talking about fictional characters. For those, everything gets filtered through the lens of the author, reflecting all of their biases and prejudices. We’re going off second-hand information, basically. In such a situation, coding becomes much more vital when analyzing characters, I think. A character being referred to and referring to themselves as masculine might be because they are, or it might reflect the author’s perception of trans people. It’d be easier in a work that already includes queer characters, because then the author would’ve already demonstrated understanding for their identities, and it would be easier to take them at their word.
In the case of Ferris, we have a character that presents feminine, displays emotions and struggles trans people are all too familiar with, and in the narrative it’s stated that she should’ve been a woman. But she’s consistently refered to by masculine pronouns.
There’s nothing wrong with simply reading her character as cis (even though most people that are adamant on that point have very icky opinions on real trans people). As a work of art, that interpretation is up to the reader. But, imo, doing so glosses over many queer themes, in a medium that is already starved for representation.
Another example that often gets brought up in discussions like this is Lukako from Steins;Gate. She also gets referred to by masculine pronouns throughout most of it. But then there is an arc where she begs the MC to use time travel shenanigans to turn her into a girl. This works, and she is noticeably happier in that world line. Then plot happens, and they have to revert the worldline, undoing that change. After that, the MC goes right back to calling her by masculine pronouns.
Once again, I would argue that her character is obviously written as trans, but in a medium and for an audience that are, for a large part, either ignorant of or hostile towards trans people.
This got way longer than I intended, sorry for the wall of text - One could probably make a two hour video essay on the topic and still miss nuances, and there’s more I want to say, but this is long enough already. I hope I made my position a bit more clear, though c: