AMA (Ask Me Anything) 6:00-9:00pm MT

[AzaleaEllis]

@Keid

How did you come to your decision to write Siobhan’s/Sebastien’s gender as you did, referring to her as a person using both names, according to who she’s presenting as at the time, but consistently referring to her with she/her pronouns and as a girl even though nobody else sees her that way as Sebastien?

It’s a somewhat unusual way to deal with characters that magically swap gender presentation, especially as Sebastien grows into being part of her identity instead of just a mask she wears, possibly indicating some fluidity in her own gender.

I’m not exactly sure how to word this, but I’ll do my best.

Siobhan/Sebastien is a person independent of their physical form.

For an example: If your brain were transplanted into a robot body, are you now an “it?” If your robot body has breasts, are you a “she?” A penis?

Siobhan/Sebastien uses female nouns because she thinks of herself as a woman. Even when she accepts Sebastien as a name, it’s just a name.

She’s still herself.

Even if Sebastien becomes an identity, it’s still her identity, formed from her mind inside that body. She might be a little gender-fluid, but she’s never thought of herself as a man, and so she isn’t.