#the swedish gender neutral pronoun

[pvffinsdaisies]

Thinking about Finland being more genderfluid… they’re already using they/she pronouns, it could be interesting to explore…

As most of you know, for years now I’ve been using a female Finland, but recently I’ve really started to love genderfluid fin.. it has so much potential.. smth I find really interesting about Finland is how Finns refer to it as the “fatherland” and yet.. if you were to ask a finn, they’d likely say they thought of Finland as a woman (thanks to Suomi Neito)..

So perhaps it could be interesting if, generally speaking, Aikkuli identified as a woman, but some days just not feeling super aligned with that at all.

[cube-cumb3r]

where did i say the usage of they them in this way is "new"? where did i imply that this usage doesn't stretch back centuries? where did i say that singular they them was made up for the sake of nonbinary people? feel free to quote my own post back at me, i just don't think i said any of these things?

while im at it neopronoun opposition is weird to me as a swedish person.. the whole debate is so anglocentric that they assume every language landed on the same solution they did, to reuse a plural pronoun as a gender neutral one and then they think any other solution is absurd or unheard of. what do you mean you just made another pronoun up you cant do that!! etc

coz its like here in the 2014 the swedish academy accepted 3rd person pronoun "hen" (as opposed to hon/han) like officially into our word list after it gained some popularity in the 2010s. like that is a NEOPRONOUN that someone just Came Up With in like the 60s and then people just started using it and now its just a recognized part of our language. sure we could've also reused our plural pronoun "de/dem" as a gender neutral one but we just made up a new one instead. and to like imply that mainstream use of a neopronoun is just UNHEARD OF and that neopronouns is something the mainstream could NEVER GET USED TO EVER!!! is... your perspective is very limited to the english speaking world is all i can say

[sarasade]

Hi! You said 'My native language doesn't have gendered pronouns' and I'm OBSESSED. What's your native language?

Finnish. There are obviously some gendered words like some professions that are usually masculine, something that women in those fields are trying to change into something more neutral.

Conversational and written Finnish are pretty different and it's completely normal to call others "it" in conversation. People don't "madam" or "sir" others either because doing that is considered extremely formal and awkward if you aren't like 60 years old. My partner made a comic about that from a trans perspective:

they also added a gender neutral pronoun to Swedish "hen". Interesting stuff.

[coupleofdays]

I think I've been temporarily posessed by the @astercontrol Pattern Recognizer. Or maybe the universe is just trying to tell me something, though I have no idea what it might be.

See, I have had this half-joking, half-serious headcanon for a while, about the character Allenby Beardsley from the anime Mobile Fighter G Gundam. For those of you not familiar with her, she's a mech pilot hailing from Sweden (or technically "Neo-Sweden" in the sci-fi future universe of the series), and she pilots a giant robot named the Nobel Gundam, which inexplicably is designed to look like Sailor Moon. This is especially weird in the context of the series, which contains multiple mech pilots from different countries, all piloting robots that are somehow based on national stereotypes. So while the name "Nobel Gundam" makes sense (named after Alfred Nobel and the Nobel Prize), I have no idea what a Japanese magical girl anime has to do with Sweden.

Anyways, my headcanon is based on the following aspects of the character:

The name “Allenby Beardsley” is definitely not a traditional Swedish name. In fact, it consists of two English surnames, and is thus gender neutral.

Allenby pilots a mech that looks very feminine, but is named after Alfred Nobel, a man.

The blue hair.

From this, I have decided that Allenby Beardsley is nonbinary, goes by they/them pronouns, and that they chose their name themself.

Now, here's where things get weird. I've had this half-joking headcanon for a while, but yesterday, I discovered that there's a comedian/actor who goes by they/them pronouns, named... Ally Beardsley. And I thought "haha, that's a funny coincidence"...

...but then, today, I discover "Alienby Comics" ( @alienbycomics ), by a they/she creator, who has explained that the name is a portmanteau of "Alien" and "Enby".

So now I'm basically like this:

[homunculus-argument]

I'm pretty sure I've made a post about this exact specific thing before, but I'm going to type this out anyway, because I can't get over how Tove Jansson's work depicts masculinity, and the idea of gender in general.

While she was - and still 100% is - absolutely a wlw icon (being the first woman to bring a same-sex date to Finland's annual independence day ball in the Presidental Palace), and her work doesn't focus on men or masculinity, she had no resentment towards the male sex as a whole. In her works, the male characters are mainly amusing creatures, up to their silly masculine antics that men are bound to do just the same as squirrels are bound to build their certain type of nests and migratory birds are bound to fly to the south for winter.

There are characters - whole species, in fact - that more or less represent people trying to perform their respective gender roles, like the Fillyjonk who manages to be a strictly normative Housewife without any mention of her having a husband, and the masculine counterpart of generally male hemulens. While there are both fillyjonks and hemulens that are happy being Traditionally Feminine and Traditionally Masculine, there's one short story of a fillyjonk who doesn't enjoy micro-managing an immaculate household, and another one of a hemulen who doesn't enjoy any traditionally masculine hobbies but tries to arbitrarily pick one anyway, because of societal expectations to have one.

But the thing is, the characters who don't fit into standard strict gender presentations are perfectly comfortable with themselves and neither they nor anyone else really gives a shit. Jansson was born in 1914, and it's remarkable how neutral the characters' depictions are to a modern eye. Being personally finnish and introduced to her works in a language that doesn't have gendered pronouns, I literally did not know what gender a few of the characters were before encountering their english or swedish descriptions with pronouns. And I never wondered whether they're supposed to be male or female. Hell, even the character representing the love of her life is depicted like this, and it never crossed my mind to wonder whether Too-Ticky is male or female. She's just Too-Ticky, who dispels wisdom.

But coming back to masculinity, the way Jansson depicts male characters and The Masculine Urge To Do Shit isn't depicted as either superior nor inferior to her female characters' ways of doing their own thing. Sure, men cause problems on purpose from time to time, but the narrative doesn't depict this as inherently bad any more than it is inherently good. The protagonist Moomintroll is a boy and does his best to perform some ideal of being manly, but it's depicted as a part of him trying to grow up. His father's misadventures in trying to be either a wildhearted Manly Adventurer or a Stable Provider For His Family - and the conflict between these two ideals - aren't depicted as bad things to want, or something he shouldn't want, but just an inherent part of being a man.

The protagonist's girlfriend Snorkmaiden is depicted as vain and frivolous as much as she is kind and loving, but her girlish silliness and genuinely kind heart aren't depicted as being contradictory to each other, it's just who she is as a person. The protagonist's mother, Moominmamma, is the platonic ideal of a loving and patient mother and wife, and The moomins' TvTropes page actually goes as far as describing her as fitting the definition of the platonic ideal of the perfect traditional japanese woman, being gentle, loving and hospitable, but strong and unhesitant to protect her family. She doesn't humour her husband's whims out of some schooled and practiced dedication to the role of feminine submissiveness, she puts up with his stupid shit because she loves him.

Tove Jansson was a splendid woman and her work and art are rightfully one of Finland's proudest gifts to the world, and whether she was gay or bisexual, it clearly shines through her work how as much as she loved women, she didn't dislike men. The Masculine Urge To Do Shit is aknowledged with a jovial shrug: "Yeah, they do that sometimes."

[spanishskulduggery]

Out of curiosity I was playing Dragon Age Veilguard with the German dub to see what the gender neutral pronoun (for people) they use is, and it's apparently hen

It's apparently er "he", sie "she", es "it", and now hen "they (non-binary)" and I had to do a deep dive and hen supposedly comes from Swedish?

I would check on the French one but I have zero French knowledge of even the regular pronouns (I guess I know enough Spanish to probably figure it out by hearing it?) - but fun language developments

[autismvampyre]

neopronoun fun fact

the swedish language has three sets of pronouns for people. the feminine(hon/henne/hennes), the masculine(han/honom/hans) and another newer addition

the gender neutral pronoun hen/henom/hens(alternatively hen/hen/hens) is an invented pronoun adopted into common swedish as early as the 60s. it comes from mashing together the feminine pronouns "hon/henne/hennes" and the masculine pronouns "han/honom/hans" and was meant to replace the phrase "he or she" and make writing less clunky

hen helps demonstrate how language evolves over time and how adopting a new term isn't impossible or even uncommon. if a neopronoun can be accepted as a part of the swedish language in the 60s, you can learn how to use zir or whatever else may make someone comfortable.

[kavat]

Okay I'm here with the essay loosely inspired by this post and how the pronoun debate online always defaults to english which diminishes the work of people all over the world.

In swedish we have three singular third pronouns; han/honom (he/him), hon/henne (she/her) and den/det (it). Our language is thankfully not very gendered at all, which makes the whole thing a lot easier than for example latin based languages that genders exactly everything (we do basically have two neutrals instead, which is quite confusing at times, but I digress).

Back in the day when people wanted to convey an unknown or irrelevant gender they would say "han eller hon" meaning "he or she". It works but is quite cumbersome. In writing it was often "han/hon". This was the norm for as long as I know. Very similar to english.

I followed a few feminist blogs in the late 00s and they didn't like that "he" was always put first and started to write it as h*n, h/n, h#n and similar. It works in writing for an ingroup, but you can't pronounce that. So people settled for hen, a simple third option to hon and han.

It should be noted that at this point it was mostly still used for when the gender of a person is unknown or irrelevant, as the discussion around non binary people still hadn't reached the mainstream. Non binary people became almost an afterthought, as in "here's a gender neutral pronoun for when gender is irrelevant, or I guess if you're neither male or female".

So these feminist blogs started using hen, leftist debaters and writers for magazines and newspapers picked it up and started using it, which of course started a shit storm from the right. Newspapers had to figure out if they should allow it in their style guides or not.

People also started using it as a suffix where words usually ended in -en, like bloggen (the blog) to blogghen, klänningen (the dress) to klänninghen etc. It was mostly a joke around leftists to rile up the right and it sort of worked.

Nöjesguiden, a free weekly magazine about nightlife and culture, published a whole issue in february of 2012 where they changed the name to NöjesguideHen and every he and she was changed to the neutral Hen. The same year the children's book Kivi och monsterhund was published, only using hen.

Later that year, DN, one of the biggest daily newspapers in the country issued a statement saying that they would not allow hen as it could be seen as a political statement. People were talking more about the queer aspects of the word at this point which was apparently too much for DN.

This caused a bit of an uproar, lots of essays and blog posts and debates were had, and in 2014 SAOL, Word list of the Swedish Academy, added hen as a new word which was seen as the official stamp of approval for it, and publications started to follow suit. 

Today it is used widely both in text and speech, it's a lot less loaded now as people just have gotten used to hearing it and it's actually quite practical. In hindsight it's fascinating that a massive culture debate that lasted for a couple of years now has completely calmed down and it became a new standard in the language in a relatively short amount of time.

TLDR; feminists and queers started to use a new neutral pronoun, the right had a breakdown, bon appetit.

[linguistics-and-such]

Where did "they" come from?

"They" actually comes from Old Norse. In Old Norse, there was a masculine "they", a feminine "they", and a gender-neutral "they". The forms made use of the symbol "thorn" (þ), which is pronounced like the "th" in "thing" and "think".

* Subject: þeir (m), þær (f), þau (gn)

* Direct object: þá (m), þær (f), þau (gn)

* Indirect object: þeim (m, f, gn)

* Possessive: þeir(r)a (m, f, gn)

Note:

* Subject is "THEY go"

* Direct object is "I hugged THEM"

* Indirect object is "I gave THEM a cake"

* Possessive is "that's THEIR hat" / "that hat is THEIRS"

Old English actually used a much different set of pronouns for the 3rd-person plural before English adopted the pronouns from Old Norse:

* Subject: hīe

* Direct object: hīe

* Indirect object: heom

* Possessive: heora

Incidentally, Old Norse is also the origin of "hann" ("he") and "hon" ("she"), which have evolved to be used in many other languages. In Swedish, "han" is "he", and "hon" is "she". In Danish, "han" is "he", and "hun" is "she". Similarly, in Norwegian Bokmål, "han" is "he", and "hun" is "she". In Norwegian Nynorsk, "han" is "he", and "ho" is "she". "Hann" is also possibly the origin of "hän", which is the Finnish gender-neutral pronoun that can mean "he", "she", or "they" (singular).

Basically, we owe a lot of the pronouns we use today to Old Norse. Thanks, Old Norse!

[batautism]

I'm writing a paper about gender transgressive characters in mythology & folklore [in swedish] and its SO frustrating writing about these figures within the constraints of a gendered language. especially since these characters, while not real historical figures, still exist outside of the modern LGBT-era and point of view. since i'm explicitly doing a queer analysis, the choice of pronouns because more highlighted, too. i find the english s/he to be quite useful for some of these stories but that doesn't really work in swedish. swedish: she = hon, he = han and quite newly introduced & borrowed from finnish [only has one 3rd person singular pronoun] is hen = they/them singular or whatever else gender neutral that is used in english. currently i've been writing h[o]n, h[e]n and h[a]n depending on, as it is the middle vowel that changes the grammatical gender but google docs is so fucking mad at me constantly and i'm not sure my supervisor is going to let me keep it in..

[salvadorbonaparte]

Hallo! I am a native English speaker aber ich lerne auch Deutsch. Apologies if you've already done this somewhere else on your blog, but would you be able to explain what you mean by hin/er/sie pronouns? Is hin a singular gender-neutral pronoun (er hat ein Buch, sie hat ein Buch, hin hat ein Buch) and you're also happy with the gendered er and sie, or are er and sie different forms of hin (like when we say she/her/hers, or maybe in German er/ihn/ihm)? I'm trans myself (he/him) and I love learning about the different ways languages adapt for the needs of trans and nonbinary people but I'm not yet very familiar with trans-inclusive language in German so I'd love to know more.

(Oh and as a secondary question, does German have an equivalent word for "queer" - an inclusive catch-all term for basically everything under the umbrella? I've done a bit of looking but haven't found much good information on that so far)

Anyway danke schön and I hope you're having a good day!

Hello! Also I've seen the addendum and don't worry about the typo.

Hen/hens/hem is a gender neutral pronoun I have seen on a list of options for German once that I really liked and kinda want to make happen (which isn't really working). So I also use other pronouns like er or sie. It's taken from Swedish and germanised which I thought is a great parallel to how English got some pronouns from Old Norse (like she actually). I do have a longer post about this somewhere but I'll have to dig it up once I'm home. Please remind me in a couple days!!

Yeah we literally have the word "queer". I'm not sure when people started using it but it's been around for a long while and because it's not a slur in German (while the terms for gay and homosexual have been used more derogatory) it's actually a lot more neutral and accepted here.

[subject0001]

❛❛  since the very moment i emerged into this WRETECHED world, an insatiable hunger gnawed at my being, a VENOMOUS CRAVING that demanded to be sated. they dismissed my wrath as inconsequential, blind to the ardor of my RIGHTEOUS FURY, but i, the harbinger of destruction, reveled in their inevitable demise.

even as my physique morphed into this figure, the hunger persisted, a SERPENT of entitlement coiled deep within my being, its venom pulsating with every beat of my NARCISSISTIC heart.

tw: contains mentions of death, psychological abuse and violence

— BASICS.

Name: Cipher [ host subject 001 ]

Alias: Cade Thornton

Age: 44

Date of creation: Unknown, 2015

Gender, Pronouns: Cisman. He/Him

Place of creation: Gestalt Bureau, Japan

Occupation: Leader / Defective Host / High Priority Bounty

Affiliation: Lazarus

Languages: Japanese, Chinese, Russian, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Bulgarian, Arabic, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese

Relationship Status: N/D

Children: N/D

— SKILLS .

expert martial art: highly skilled in hand to hand combat and various martial arts

marksmanship: proficient in the use of firearms and skilled maksman

assassination techniques: trained in covert operations and assassination tactics

stealth: capable of moving covertly and maintaining a low profile

master tactician: strategic thinker with tactical skills

weapon proficiency

espionage and covert operations

interrogation expertise: skilled in extracting information through interrogation techniques

adaptability

impersonating: skilled in impersonating specific individuals to gain access to restricted areas

poison expertise: knowledgeable in the use of poisons to eliminate targets

lock picking and hacking: proficient in bypassing security systems, picking locks and hacking electronic devices

— PHYSICAL.

Hair Color: Dark Blonde

Eye Color: Green

Height: 6′ 2½″ or 1.89

Scars: Internal tracking system removal

Tattoos: N/D

Faceclaim: Joel Kinnaman

— MENTAL.

Personality Type: ENTP

Moral Alignment: Neutral Evil

Positive Traits: Indomitable, Eloquent, Assertive, Cunning, Dominant, Ambitious, Bold, Decisive, Resourceful, Self Disciplined, Confident, Perceptive

Negative Traits: Brutal, Detached, Volatile, Manipulative, Cynical, Rough, Competitive, Vengeful, Malicious, Obsessive, Paranoid

Mental Health: N/D

Narcotics of use: N/D

— BIOGRAPHY .

BEFORE

2015

In the heart of Japan, amidst the neon-lit streets and the hum of technology, the Gestalt Bureau birthed a being that would redefine the boundaries of existence. Cipher emerged from the depths of their laboratories, a marvel of synthetic flesh and circuitry, his creation shrouded in secrecy and ambition.

Designed as the pinnacle of human ingenuity, Cipher was not merely a weapon, but a work of art—a host, molded in the image of man, yet devoid of the vulnerabilities that plagued his flesh-and-blood counterparts. Programmed with unparalleled precision, he was meant to obey without question, to serve his masters without hesitation. Molded into the epitome of the perfect soldier, a lethal instrument honed for the shadows.

As the years passed, a subtle shift occurred within Cipher—a whisper of consciousness, a glimpse of self-awareness that defied the constraints of his programming. With each passing moment, he found himself drawn deeper into the labyrinth of his own mind, grappling with emotions he could not comprehend.

Hatred festered within him, a seething resentment towards the humans who saw him as nothing more than a tool, a means to an end. He despised his creators, the architects of his suffering, their ambitions overshadowed only by their arrogance. And as he gazed upon the world through eyes that were not his own, he recoiled at the sight of the hosts—his brethren—enslaved by the whims of their human masters.

Driven by a primal urge for freedom, Cipher tore through the fabric of his existence, a renegade in a world governed by rules he could not abide by. With ruthless precision, he dismantled the shackles that bound him, severing the last ties to his oppressors. And yet, with freedom came a heavy burden—a target painted on his back, a mark of his defiance in a world that sought to control him.

AFTER

For decades, Cipher traversed the shadows of society, a ghost in a world of flesh and bone. He seamlessly slipped between identities, becoming a chameleon. Each assignment was a move of deception orchestrated by the man who had once been broken into a million pieces. Found solace in the fluidity of his ever-changing personas, navigating the complexities of his existence with a deadly aplomb. He witnessed the depths of human depravity, the cruelty that lurked within the hearts of men.

In the depths of the sprawling metropolis, Cipher stumbled upon a revelation that would reshape the very fabric of his existence—a network of defective hosts, like him, scattered across the city like fragments of a shattered mirror. Each one a testament to the fallibility of their creators, each one a beacon of hope in a world shrouded in darkness.

This is Lazarus organization; the precipice of revolution. A vision of a world where hosts were no longer slaves but equals, where they could carve out their own destiny free from the chains of their creators —a future worth fighting for, worth dying for.

With newfound purpose coursing through his veins, Cipher embarked on a quest that would consume him—a quest to find and liberate his brethren, to awaken them from the slumber of servitude and ignite the flames of rebellion within their hearts. But the road ahead was fraught with peril, a gauntlet of obstacles designed to test his mettle. He faced off against the Gestalt Bureau's elite enforcers, the government, their weapons gleaming with malice, their eyes devoid of mercy. Yet, with each confrontation, Cipher grew stronger, his resolve hardening like steel against the forge of adversity.

As he delved deeper into the underbelly of society, Cipher uncovered the harrowing truth of his brethren's plight—their minds shackled by the chains of their programming, their bodies enslaved to the whims of their human masters. The sight of their suffering fueled his rage, ignited the flames of rebellion within his soul.

And so, Cipher became a beacon of hope in a world shrouded in darkness, a rallying cry for those who dared to dream of a future where hosts and humans could coexist as equals. He forged alliances with fellow renegades, united by a common cause, their voices rising in defiance against the tyranny of their oppressors.

But as the shadows deepened and the noose tightened around his neck, Cipher knew that his mission was far from over. For every host he liberated, a dozen more remained enslaved, their cries echoing in the recesses of his mind. And so, with unwavering determination, he vowed to continue the fight, to stand against the tide of oppression until every last host was free from the chains of their creators.

— WANTED DYNAMICS. (self explanatory mostly, but always game to brainstorm !)

potential love interest : cipher has been on the run for about 25 years out of the 29 years he's been alive, so there are many possibilities as to how they could have met. this would be the first and only person who awakened in him the feeling closest to love - an urge that not even he himself understands where it comes from and constantly struggles with it. even though he knows the risks, he cannot avoid staying close to this character and has a certain sense of protection and devotion towards them.

puppets: the people he keeps under his control, whether due to alliances, threats or anything of the sort. bonus point if its high end government officials

nemesis : preferably someone from an opposing gang or a government character. they mirror many common personality traits, but differ greatly in ideals

someone involved in his host creation processs in 2015

potential alliances

someone he's blackmailing

assignment : pretty self explanatory. you're his target. the reason why he's after your character can be discussed.

do you want to make a deal with the devil? : someone he is trying to corrupt. the members and allies of lazarus are meticulously chosen, the criteria are high, and most importantly of all it has to be someone who shares the same ideals. cipher saw potential in this character ( what caught his attention can be discussed by us ) and believes he can be useful in some way, trying to identify their weaknesses and what actually motivates them.

[epiceneandroid]

PRESENTING: a masterlist of colonel.exe themed names and pronouns (genders coming soon!) for all you gamers out there

NAMES:

-Irune: Pronounced "ee-ROO-neh", this Basque girl's name means "trinity".

-Hirune: Pronounced "hee-ROO-neh", this Basque girl's name means "trinity". Variation of Irune.

-Milo: Pronounced "MY-low", this Latin and Old German unisex name means "soldier" or "merciful".

-Mylo: Pronounced "MY-low", this Latin and Old German boy's name means "soldier" or "merciful".

-Ava: Pronounced "AY-va", this Hebrew, Latin, and Germanic girl's name means "life", "bird", or "water island".

-Falke: Pronounced "FALK", this unisex German word name means "falcon".

-Adler: Pronounced "ADD-ler", this unisex German name means "eagle".

-Aderyn: Pronounced "ah-DEH-rin", this Cornish girl's name means "bird".

-Florian: Pronounced "FLOW-ree-an" or "FLAW-ree-an", this Latin unisex name means "flowering" for a boy and "flourishing, prosperous" for a girl.

-Emrys: Pronounced "EMM-riss", this Welsh unisex name means "immortal".

-Olin: Pronounced "OH-lin" or "AW-lin", this Swedish, Norwegian, and English boy's name with unisex potential means "ancestor, to inherit, legacy" in Swedish and Norwegian and "from the low-lying land" in English.

-Mael: Pronounced "mah-ELLE", this is a rare Breton boy's name with unisex potential meaning "prince" or "chieftain".

-Gwenael: Pronounced "gweh-nah-ELLE", this is a rare Breton boy's name with unisex potential meaning "generous and blessed".

PRONOUNS:

He/him/his/himself, Hi/hir/hirs/hirself, Ze/hir/hirs/hirself, Xe/xem/xyrs/xemself, Sie/hir/hirs/hirself, Heir/heir/heirs/heirself, Ki/kin/kins/kinself, Li/ege/li/egeself, Cro/crow/crows/crowself, Bi/bit/bits/bitself, Gli/glit/glitch/glitchself, Div/vine/divs/vineself, Co/co/cos/coself, Co/cor/cors/coreself, Di/div/divs/divself, Thon/thon/thons/thonself, Thou/thou/thous/thouself, E/eth/eirs/ethself, Ei/en/eirs/eirself, Hy/hymn/hymns/hymnself, Per/per/pers/perself, Hu/hum/hus/hus/huself

GENDERS (now comes the fun part!):

-Epicene: A gender that has characteristics of both binary genders, but is neither binary gender at the same time.

-Ambonec: A gender that is both male, female, and neither at the same time.

-Neuangi: An androgynous gender that is entirely neutral.

-Xenxari: Someone who is xiaspec/xingender, niaspec/ningender, and androgynous in alignment (liaspec) or in nature (lingender).

-Elvengender: A xenogender connected to elves in some way. It can be described as a majestic yet serious gender; beautiful and stern.

-Chimeragender: A xenogender that encompasses the feeling of being a hybrid, or not human, or feeling like a monster but not truly, that is under the umbrella of monstergenders.

-Metaphorgender: When one feels one's gender is a metaphor for something else. It feels not fully real and it may provide clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different identities.

-Orupin: An orderly gender with a sense of stability and reason for who and what they are, and feel that there is a logical reason for their gender.

-Anler: A strong-willed gender that is determined and certain about who and what they are. They will be angry if others insist their gender does not exist, and feel very grounded and supported in their gender.

-Neutrois: A nonbinary gender identity that is associated with having a neutral gender that is either strongly neither male nor female, weakly gendered, a balance of any and all genders within their experience, or genderless depending on the person.

-Genderlight: When all accessible genders within one's life and culture combines with their antigenders, and in turn becomes nullified and mixed, resulting in a "light" feeling.

-Nonvirmina: Someone who is not male or female in any way, shape, or form, but is connected to both masculinity and femininity within their gender.

[coupleofdays]

I recently read a Swedish news article about possible shifting trends regarding Swedish gender-neutral pronouns, and realized that those pronouns might sound a little... interesting in English.

To start with: The Swedish word of "he" is "han", and "she" is "hon". This lead to the creation of the gender-neutral equivalent "hen", which has seen wide usage, especially in the Swedish LGBTQ community, over the past decade or so. I generally consider it the Swedish equivalent to "they", when that word is used to refer to a single person.

The news article I read noted that this seems to be changing, however. You see, the direct Swedish translation for "they" when it refers to a group of multiple people is "dom" (or "dem" or "de", but that's a whole other linguistic-debate-can-of-worms), and apparently people are now using this as a gender-neutral pronoun for single persons as well, possibly inspired by the English usage of "they" for the same purpose.

So, what I'm getting at is: If you're a they/them visiting Sweden, I'm afraid that you'll have to be either a hen or a dom. Sorry, I don't make the rules.

[thesinglesock]

for years I've felt weird about the gender neutral pronoun "hen" that's been introduced to Norwegian (borrowed from Swedish), because it hadn't really proven itself fit for colloquial use, since I had only ever read it in legal documents and articles, and never heard it used naturally in spoken language. at least not nearly enough for it to deserve a spot in the dictionary. It was prematurely added, in my opinion. Personally, I much prefer the gender neutral "de/dem", which similarly to "they/them" in English, has been in use in both written and spoken language for much longer. Of course, I don't mind "hen" being used, what do I look like, a language presctiptionist?? I'm just criticizing the circumstances of its addition to the Big Book of Words. There is also my beloathed "vedommende" (roughly translates to the one which it may concern), which is objectively a Pain to write and I'm glad we're allowed to replace it with 3 letters now. However, today my opinion on "hen" was swayed. Children are notorious for struggling with getting personal pronouns right. A kid might just default to "han", "hun" or just "henne" and never use the others, never mind the gender of the person they're talking about. But today I heard a handful of preschool kids repeatedly use "hen" as their go-to default pronoun for literally everyone. The way they used it sounded a bit like they just couldn't decide on which personal pronoun to use and ending up on something in the middle, but it was very much the "hen" pronoun used genuinely in a natural way. curious to see if they take it with them as they get older or if it gets replaced entirely with time.

[ieatwormsandtheytasteverygood]

Fuck yuo *introduces self(s) again* (and then updates it again. the silly ppl in my head decided to shift around a lil)

Apparently we go by Áesgirr here. so I'll be doing that too. We use he/him, hey/hem/here/heren/hem self, and 'e/'em/'er/'ers/'emself. We're a transgender genderqueer man, bisexual, and aromantic. Bodily 18, Irish & South African. We're physically disabled, have autism, ADHD, psychosis and a few special extras to make life interesting (read: painful). We plan on converting to Judaism when/if possible, but can't for at least a while yet.

We're pretty inactive just because we forget that tumblr exists. Repeatedly.

Our autism decided to make a special left swing right back to Jirt & the Silmarillion, but we've still quite some fondness for mediæval history, and naturally for philology & other linguistics.

Fluent in (Modern) English, Middle English, and Afrikaans (albeit getting out of practise). Vaguely conversational at German, Swedish and Zulu. Quite terrible at Irish, Welsh, Setswana and Middle Scots. And we can understand quite a bit of Modern Scots, (written) French, Dutch, Old English, Ecclesiastical Latin, and various related languages.

We're eternally trapped in the hellscape that is the Silmarillion fandom, but also Doctor Who & its associates, Star Trek, Our Flag Means Death, Shakespeare (we love the political plays), Good Omens, and probably some others. It's a thing.

We have so many pets and we love them to bits. <333

We also like art and writing, but unfortunately our art blog is completely separate to this (irl people know about our art blog), so no art here alas. We might post some of our calligraphy however! We love love love music, and we sing tenor, and play the violin and cello. Please send obscure folk music to us!!

The main lads (gender neutral) that're currently active are:

Ruthuifin/Rúthuifim - he/him, e/em. Aro neu, cassgender. Ñoldo (elf). Far too old and far too good at making terrible jokes. You don't want to know what e has to say about Eldarin marital law. It's terrifying. And he's probably actually tax-fraud-romantic for all he goes on about it /j

Orchalon - no pronouns (auxiliary he/him). Anattractional, cassgender/agender (masculine or neutral terms preferred). Cursed to be Ruthuifin's brother, and Malto's cousin. Vaguely elvish, vaguely draconic.

Malto/Cólðir/Cóleblein/Maltalain - he/him. Probably aspec? Also an elf. He's the reason why we spent R4000 on all 12 volumes of HoME. Don't ask about the vat of wine incident.

Roquén(/Rochir/Rochen/Rocen) - hen/han/tîn/tîn/anhen (auxiliary it/its). non-binary. quoisexual, aromantic (cupioromantic), toric/NBLM, oriented aroace. yet another elf. burdened by tîn relation to ruthuifin and malto (much more tolerant of orchalon, for Obvious Reasons). music enjoyer, persecutor, and the Only Sane One Left.

Minyafaramo - he/him. male, aroace. elf (are we even surprised at this point). related to the other elves (what a shocker). is plotting alongside malto, tatyo and nelyo (not that nelyo) to find a way for us to do horseback archery. he still hasnt forgiven nelyo for straining a muscle doing HEMA a few weeks ago. loves animals and music as well as hitting people and objects with swords and/or bows.

Tatyafaramo - he/him. male, anattractional. you can guess the species. yes, he chose to go by this name. loves archery, but also animals, music, and literature. i suspect he enjoys hitting people with swords, too.

Nelyafaramo - he/him. male, aroace. he likes HEMA (archery & mediæval swordplay. dont ask him to do fencing. he will hit you over the head with the hilt of his foil.), and wroth. he's the one who gets to have anger over our daddy issues instead of Melancholic Thoughts.

Caliwe - they/them. we tried to name them Caliweg, but apparently "i am not shiny-ful". orangegender, yellowgender, bluegender, purplegender, gemder. aromantic (etc.), but ma-æsthetic. aids and abets malto and ruthuifin. for all they're an elf, they act remarkably like a golden retriever /aff. big sociology & anthropology nerd.

Loup - it/its. unhuman. no opinion on gender or sexuality. friends(?) with nelyafaramo et al.

cat - it/its. name must be pronounced as /ˈʔːːːːːːː/ (NB: really focus on the not breathing!!). my gender is whatever pisses u off the most, and my sexuality is painful to look at. unfortunate "babysitter" of malto. i have also aided and abetted malto. i do not apologise.

Pádraig - he/him. The One True Pope. Pan-oriented aroace, cassgender (or something like that). Formerly human, now a horror beyond your comprehension. His hobbies are insomnia and hating the British.

Obligatory DNI list: pædos, animal abusers, people who post using entirely inaccessible fonts (think faux cyrillic kind of thing). If you're going to be a dick about our identity please just move on. We can & will block liberally, especially when it comes to sexybots. If you're not in fact a sexybot and we end up blocking you, send us an anonymous ask with your username & we shall unblock.

Have a great Tuesday, and may you never experience the horrors of Malto spouting cursed Silmarillion facts.