A list, in ascending order of importance (to me):
1) Familiarity. I started with the English dub (on DVD) and still stick to it when I can. Therefore, I'm more familiar with the dub names than the original French names. If I'd started with the fandom when it was still only available in French with subtitles, I might have gone with "Chat" instead of "Cat", but I might also (still) be using "Papillon" instead of "Hawkmoth". Yes, I am that stubborn, often to my own detriment.
2) Consistency. I use the English dub names for everyone else whose name gets changed. Anime fandom has instilled in me a deep respect for sticking with a single version when using names, as well as, when possible, one language; I use Hawkmoth and Dark Cupid and Evillustrator, therefore I use Cat.
3) Hilarious but unfortunate brain quirks. So I took exactly two semesters of French in my first college attempt, something like ten years ago now, which is just enough to be dangerous in this fandom. (And enough to learn the Five Most Important Words In French, but I digress.) I also had the accent down pretty damn well. I know how "chat" should be pronounced in French. I also know that there exists a word in English with a different meaning and a very different pronunciation, but the exact same spelling. When I see a word spelled "chat" in the context of an otherwise English-language* fic, even when capitalized and followed by the also-capitalized "noir", my brain tries to pronounce it both ways at once. This often results in my brain reading it as Shat Noir, AKA Crapped/Pooped Black, and more of a reason to visit the doctor than a superhero's name.
* Listen, I know "noir" is also French in origin, but it's been adopted by the English language as a genre name. There's also no originally-English same-spelling equivalent.
That's the one I tend to tell people the most, because it's relatable and it might get a laugh. The next one is slightly more important to me, though.
4) Screen readers. Blind folks who know English better than French are almost certainly watching the English dub rather than the French version, subbed or otherwise. (*waves shyly to at least one of you*) As above, in the context of a fic that is otherwise mostly or entirely in English, I'm pretty sure the screen reader is going to pronounce "chat" like the English word for "brief, informal conversation", rather than the French word for cat. Folks primarily using screen readers to consume fic probably figure things out pretty quick, but it's still something I'm conscious of and try to accommodate. If there's a way to alert most common screen reading programs that a word should be pronounced/interpreted as French rather than English, or to just indicate a particular pronunciation of a word at all, I am entirely down for using it. Not that I've so much as looked, of course, with spelling CN's name with one letter less being a quicker fix and all.
I don't mean to pressure anyone to change their minds, or to guilt anyone; as I mentioned above, I'm fairly certain most blind folks accessing fandom stuff with screen readers have or can figure this stuff out in a jiffy. It is a reason for me, though, and if the other three reasons didn't exist or were fixed, I might be out looking for that pronunciation code in earnest.
Anyway, for anyone who's ever wondered why I went with "Cat" over "Chat" when referring to CN, that's why.
Edit:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
caramarie at ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
access_fandom to the rescue! It might not work for screenreaders that don't have the right dictionaries installed, but at least it's something.
= Chat in French, hooray! *happy claps*
Edit 2: The above workaround, unfortunately, is not currently usable on AO3. I live in hope, though!
Edit 3: A fifth reason enters the room! As of 2023, perhaps earlier, people have begun to use "chat" as a fourth person pronoun; that is, they are addressing an assumed or imaginary watching entity, as if their lives are being streamed on a service that offers an active side-by-side chat room. Trying to figure out which one any given person is talking about in fandom is going to be a headache, and while I can't control anyone else's behavior, I can control my own. Therefore, I am not going to be part of that particular problem.
1) Familiarity. I started with the English dub (on DVD) and still stick to it when I can. Therefore, I'm more familiar with the dub names than the original French names. If I'd started with the fandom when it was still only available in French with subtitles, I might have gone with "Chat" instead of "Cat", but I might also (still) be using "Papillon" instead of "Hawkmoth". Yes, I am that stubborn, often to my own detriment.
2) Consistency. I use the English dub names for everyone else whose name gets changed. Anime fandom has instilled in me a deep respect for sticking with a single version when using names, as well as, when possible, one language; I use Hawkmoth and Dark Cupid and Evillustrator, therefore I use Cat.
3) Hilarious but unfortunate brain quirks. So I took exactly two semesters of French in my first college attempt, something like ten years ago now, which is just enough to be dangerous in this fandom. (And enough to learn the Five Most Important Words In French, but I digress.) I also had the accent down pretty damn well. I know how "chat" should be pronounced in French. I also know that there exists a word in English with a different meaning and a very different pronunciation, but the exact same spelling. When I see a word spelled "chat" in the context of an otherwise English-language* fic, even when capitalized and followed by the also-capitalized "noir", my brain tries to pronounce it both ways at once. This often results in my brain reading it as Shat Noir, AKA Crapped/Pooped Black, and more of a reason to visit the doctor than a superhero's name.
* Listen, I know "noir" is also French in origin, but it's been adopted by the English language as a genre name. There's also no originally-English same-spelling equivalent.
That's the one I tend to tell people the most, because it's relatable and it might get a laugh. The next one is slightly more important to me, though.
4) Screen readers. Blind folks who know English better than French are almost certainly watching the English dub rather than the French version, subbed or otherwise. (*waves shyly to at least one of you*) As above, in the context of a fic that is otherwise mostly or entirely in English, I'm pretty sure the screen reader is going to pronounce "chat" like the English word for "brief, informal conversation", rather than the French word for cat. Folks primarily using screen readers to consume fic probably figure things out pretty quick, but it's still something I'm conscious of and try to accommodate. If there's a way to alert most common screen reading programs that a word should be pronounced/interpreted as French rather than English, or to just indicate a particular pronunciation of a word at all, I am entirely down for using it. Not that I've so much as looked, of course, with spelling CN's name with one letter less being a quicker fix and all.
I don't mean to pressure anyone to change their minds, or to guilt anyone; as I mentioned above, I'm fairly certain most blind folks accessing fandom stuff with screen readers have or can figure this stuff out in a jiffy. It is a reason for me, though, and if the other three reasons didn't exist or were fixed, I might be out looking for that pronunciation code in earnest.
Anyway, for anyone who's ever wondered why I went with "Cat" over "Chat" when referring to CN, that's why.
Edit:
caramarie at access_fandom to the rescue! It might not work for screenreaders that don't have the right dictionaries installed, but at least it's something.= Chat in French, hooray! *happy claps*
Edit 2: The above workaround, unfortunately, is not currently usable on AO3. I live in hope, though!
Edit 3: A fifth reason enters the room! As of 2023, perhaps earlier, people have begun to use "chat" as a fourth person pronoun; that is, they are addressing an assumed or imaginary watching entity, as if their lives are being streamed on a service that offers an active side-by-side chat room. Trying to figure out which one any given person is talking about in fandom is going to be a headache, and while I can't control anyone else's behavior, I can control my own. Therefore, I am not going to be part of that particular problem.
