how to: charlie's pronouns

hello there! one might've just asked, "how in the heck do your pronouns work?"... it's complex, but maybe really simple.

and yes, you've stumbled upon a weirdo with "pronouns"! we might even exist!

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this one is an "it/its" and "3pp pref" (third-person pronouns preferred) creature! it will commonly refer to itself in 3rd person, and would like others to try the same. some phrases are Hard to switch to 3rd person, such as "thank you!", and other times "you" is just easier!

charlie is acutely aware of the difficulty it's asking. please do what feels best! if one can refer to charlie without personalized pronouns, that would make it very happy!

how does one refer to charlie?

with love, of course! the following sections "expand" into examples of use. These examples assume the reader uses first person pronouns to self-refer.

Please use:

• it/its

  imagine that charlie is a helpful robot. it just helped a creature do something. it was very useful!

  (in place of "she"): it wrote a story i enjoyed... i wonder what it's up to today.

  (in place of "you"): OMG it gave me an idea!

• charlie

  imagine that charlie is "not around" (even when it is) and one needs to refer to it.

  (in place of "she"): i don't think charlie needs any more coffee today.

  (in place of "you"): good morning! How is charlie doing today?

• this one/that one/one/onesself

  imagine that charlie is more of a concept or a thing in a place, able to be pointed at.
  
  as a rule of thumb, keep the "this" vs "that" consistent throughout a sentence; this and that aren't the same things.

  "that/this one" can be freely replaced with "that unit", "that thing", "that robot", or any other affectionate term towards a relevant object.

  (in place of "she"): i get what that one is saying but...
  this one called me cute. that is an affront to the church.

  (in place of "you"): surely, this one cannot be serious...
  that one seems ultra eepy... zzzZZZ

what if depersonalizing charlie is too difficult?

that is O.K.! Anyone gets a free pass if a creature finds it difficult.

this one goes by "they/them" in a professional setting.

be aware though... charlie will likely treat you professionally if you use those; and less like a "friend". it can't help that, you'll need to be fine with that.

bonus: how will charlie refer to itself?

very carefully! it will usually speak as if it is not onesself, such as in third person. this one will refer to itself as it has in this entire page. sometimes, it will do some creative things to English to ensure the point gets across, such as stripping beginning pronouns ("i went to the..." becomes "went to the"), or either collectivizing or personalizing pronouns that might not otherwise need special treatment.

bonus 2: its or it's?

the word "its" is possessive. This website contains its pronouns.

the word "it's" is a contraction of "it is". it's going to visit a new universe.

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this page is adapted from 41666's page, which can be found here (CC0).