The Order of the Stick

Haley. She's even better in this series than she is in One Piece.

That's a really good way of putting it, actually

I was wondering if anyone else had noted the similarities between Haley and Nami. ^note And by similarities, I mean they start off in their respective stories as basically the exact same character.

I'd have to go with Haley too, although it's a tough choice. Roy, V, and Belkar are all close behind her. (Durkon and Elan, unfortunately, I have issues with.)

Roy, for basically the reasons Tobias said. Plus, he doesn't transcend fighter character types, he also noticeably not the usual kind of character you tend to get as black, which I've always appreciated.

Haley's usually the most practical member of the team. For now, she gets my vote.

I like Roy best, but probably because I feel like he's the closest to my personality.

I trid to list the rest in order but I really can't. I don't dislike any of the characters.

Roy and Haley are tied for me, although V's pretty up there. Xie's character arc is going to be fascinating.

Who the hell is Xie?

Also, I think my next Order favorites are Belkar and V, in that order. Elan's just kinda randomly stupid, sometimes annoyingly so; Haley... is mostly alright, I think.

EDIT: Bet we're gonna be seeing that and its variations in the dictionary next, way things are going. Picking a default's not good enough, slashes take too much effort, even semi-plausible stuff like "hir" is too mainstream...

edited 13th Sep '13 9:01:11 PM by Knowlessman

Given context, Xie seems to be one of the Hurricane of Euphemisms for possessive pronouns. Given V's lack of defined gender.

Roy, for all the reasons Tobias listed, followed by Haley, for me.

what Eagal said. V doesn't seem to adhere to or claim any known gender, so. Neutral. Hir bothers me because it's still using the gender binary. Xie, or zie, is something more outside typical human genders, as elves seem to be.

I feel it'd be incorrect and even a little insulting to use him/her when Rich has made such an effort to keep V gender-neutral.

Singular "they" to the rescue yet again.

I do enjoy that option, too. buuut it's also imprecise because it implies a plural.

We somehow seem to scrape by with "you" being both singular and plural, so I feel the problem is greatly overstated. Context.

V is a bunch of squirrels in a human suit.

Personal bias, then. Years of indoctrination.

I don't really see how 'hir' is using the gender binary. I do see how it sounds similar to 'he' and 'her', which was probably a deliberate choice to make the pronoun more phonetically palatable to the English-speaker. What I don't see is how the phonetic choice has a consequence of "gender binary usage".

I've always preferred just alternate pronouns randomly.

Whenever I remember to use gender neutral pronounces I just you V/hir.

It's not really, it was originally made to describe people who were genderfluid. or so I hear. so it'd be people going between him and her, or just not feeling like they fit with either specifically.

but that's not really V's situation, is it? however V identifies, I doubt we'll ever know.

I prefer sticking with what works. If the word you're using has to be explained and serves the exact same purpose as a word that already exists, it doesn't work too well.

Shakespeare would disagree.

Not that using new words is necessarily poetry, but new word for a different situation - it defines it. I think it's important to let people define their circumstances, especially with something that can be as touchy as gender.

V's never really stated a preference on what gender she wants to be considered, one way or the other. She's also never stated a preference for being considered agendered. So she's not really defining any circumstance.

Rich may enjoy this running gag, but V has never weighed in on the topic.

edited 13th Sep '13 9:52:14 PM by TobiasDrake

Shakespeare invented the word "doorknob." Considering a doorknob is a knob that is on a door, I hope he'd side against the invention of a new pronoun every week for people who have decided that gender is a matter of opinion.

So pretty much it's a case of reader bias. What you think about V's gender says more about you than it does about V. which is the point.

and now we're getting to a place I'm not sure we necessarily want to go, because we're working on different definitions of gender vs. sex and that can get argumentative. and get people thumped.

but my case is this: I feel that using "xie" and other like pronouns is more respectful to V's status as a nongendered character, because it signifies xie's status as not necessarily identifying with either male or female, or even comprehending the difference. It's not a case of making up a new pronoun every week; it's a case of using a new word to describe a situation that doesn't get described that much, to the point that knowledge about it is barely available.

whatever issues you have with that, I ask that you outline them respectfully. because that's the intended point: respect.