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ProfessorTomoe

Story: Monday, November 8, 2021

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The head of a secret agency dors need to be able to read people. Not only to tell if they are trust worthy, but to tell if thet have any vulnerabilities that could be leveraged for or against the agency

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28 minutes ago, Drasvin said:

The head of a secret agency dors need to be able to read people. Not only to tell if they are trust worthy, but to tell if thet have any vulnerabilities that could be leveraged for or against the agency

Yeah, and not necessarily to use them -- but they must be aware of them.

Edward Verres being a transphobe is a big one. Enemies could use it to drive a wedge between him and his son. Whether Arthur will do so... well. I don't think he will be blatant about it, he is too smart. I also don't think he will want to use it against Edward. But he could potentially use it to get Tedd closer to his own side.

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How many secrets can a person be expected to bear?

The need to protect secrets ahead of protecting people is almost certainly one of the reasons why Arthur sees himself as a monster

Edward attacking Abraham, while wrong, was possibly justifiable based on the need to protect the secrets

The fact that Abraham had attacked Edward's niece complicated matters to the point where the powers-that-be couldn't ignore the personal aspect of the assault

Now Tedd is finding his secrets exposed

 . . . 

Tedd, your life was not yet sufficiently complicated

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2 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

Edward Verres being a transphobe is a big one. Enemies could use it to drive a wedge between him and his son. Whether Arthur will do so... well. I don't think he will be blatant about it, he is too smart. I also don't think he will want to use it against Edward. But he could potentially use it to get Tedd closer to his own side.

I think he will use the secret in a way that makes Tedd feel that Arthur is a "good man," hence the callback from the earlier strip when Tedd and Elliot were in Gym class.

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Speaking of secrets, I've lost track regarding what Tedd knows about his mother

After leaving Moperville, Noriko had another kid, Van.  Tedd has met Van but does not yet know about his half-sibling status.  But for reasons, the Will of Magic saw fit to tell Van about Tedd.  Would any of this have gotten back to Noriko?

Noriko is one of the world's most formidable Monster Hunters, but her cover story is as a Travel Agent.  Not Tengu revealed this to Nanase.  Has this gotten back to Tedd?

Adrian Raven blames himself for Noriko leaving.  Edward hasn't expressed disagreement with that assessment.  Just what did Raven do?  Was it emphasizing the wrong lessons in training or was there something beyond the student/mentor relationship?  To be completely indelicate, could Van be yet another child of Adrian Raven?

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4 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

I think he will use the secret in a way that makes Tedd feel that Arthur is a "good man," hence the callback from the earlier strip when Tedd and Elliot were in Gym class.

Dan's commentary confirms this.

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4 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Speaking of secrets, I've lost track regarding what Tedd knows about his mother

He seemed to gain empathy for her when he saw the scar in the mirror.

 

After leaving Moperville, Noriko had another kid, Van.  Tedd has met Van but does not yet know about his half-sibling status.  But for reasons, the Will of Magic saw fit to tell Van about Tedd.  Would any of this have gotten back to Noriko?

Van was not told by magic to not ask her about it. I'm kind of assuming he would.

 

Noriko is one of the world's most formidable Monster Hunters, but her cover story is as a Travel Agent.  Not Tengu revealed this to Nanase.  Has this gotten back to Tedd?

It seems like something that would have been mentioned for as close as the core group has become. My guess is he would already have know generalities about his mom, so, her job would have been known to him. Probably less so her family history, as reflected by her sister's reticence to talk about it openly.

 

Adrian Raven blames himself for Noriko leaving.  Edward hasn't expressed disagreement with that assessment.  Just what did Raven do?  Was it emphasizing the wrong lessons in training or was there something beyond the student/mentor relationship?  To be completely indelicate, could Van be yet another child of Adrian Raven?

Raven seems to be quite ethical, I don't see him taking advantage of a student, nor knowingly coming between two of his students that are in a relationship. Also, if Van were Raven's son, and he was the cause of the split, then Van would be older, because Tedd was an infant when they split. He appeared to be some years younger than Tedd.

Based on some of Raven's musings around Grace, though, and not wanting to mess her life up, I think Adrian Raven pushed Noriko to excel at monster hunting to the detriment of her family. I don't see the mechanism of how that played out, but the overall scenario has been hinted at.

 

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8 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Adrian Raven blames himself for Noriko leaving.  Edward hasn't expressed disagreement with that assessment.  Just what did Raven do?  Was it emphasizing the wrong lessons in training or was there something beyond the student/mentor relationship?  To be completely indelicate, could Van be yet another child of Adrian Raven?

 

3 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

Raven seems to be quite ethical, I don't see him taking advantage of a student, nor knowingly coming between two of his students that are in a relationship. Alo, if Van were Raven's son, and he was the cause of the split, then Van would be older, because Tedd was an infant when they split. He appeared to be some years younger than Tedd.

Tedd was three years old when Noriko left. Tedd is currently eighteen years old. For Van to have been conceived before Noriko left, Van would have to be fourteen years old, but he appears to be younger than twelve.

Now, as to Edward's transphobia, I don't think that it's exclusively transphobia that is motivating him. Edward does not seem prejudiced towards any of Tedd's friends genderbending--not even Elliot, who is not only Tedd's closest friend, but also has the majority of his spells connected to genderbending. I think that Edward is upset primarily because it is his own child. Seeing Tedd as female probably brings up deep emotional baggage related to Noriko.

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2 hours ago, ijuin said:

Seeing Tedd as female probably brings up deep emotional baggage related to Noriko.

I would be unsurprised if female-Tedd looks very much like Noriko at the same age. Male-Tedd certainly doesn't look all that much like his father.

Come to think of it, didn't the magic mirror show that similarity?

I would also be unsurprised if Edward still holds a lot of love for Noriko, which would make the reminder a bit more painful. And also help explain why, as the kids grew up, he seems to have backed away from his sister-in-law and her family (most specifically Nanase) - by available evidence, probably a bit after the kids entered puberty.

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3 hours ago, Don Edwards said:

I would also be unsurprised if Edward still holds a lot of love for Noriko, ...

I think so, too. I expect if the comic continues long enough, we will learn more.

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8 hours ago, ijuin said:

Now, as to Edward's transphobia, I don't think that it's exclusively transphobia that is motivating him. Edward does not seem prejudiced towards any of Tedd's friends genderbending--not even Elliot, who is not only Tedd's closest friend, but also has the majority of his spells connected to genderbending. I think that Edward is upset primarily because it is his own child. Seeing Tedd as female probably brings up deep emotional baggage related to Noriko.

So few emotions are exclusively one thing. It seems entirely reasonable that there is personal baggage connected with Edward's transphobia. Also, there's transphobia and there's transphobia. It is possible to experience discomfort at someone being trans without being a raging TERF fighting against trans rights. Edward is clearly the former.

However, no matter the motivation behind it, the consequences remain the same -- Tedd feels justifiably uncomfortable and unsafe around their father concerning their gender identity and this erodes the trust between them. And that is worth remembering.

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3 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

Tedd feels justifiably uncomfortable and unsafe around their father concerning their gender identity and this erodes the trust between them.

Do we know that Tedd has "come out" about being gender fluid to Edward?  I know Edward is more than aware that Tedd spends a lot of time fem, but has Tedd explained why to Edward?  Edward might think that Tedd is doing it for "funnies" and not realize that Tedd really feels fem some times.  Not sure if that would make matters better, but it might.

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2 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

However, no matter the motivation behind it, the consequences remain the same -- Tedd feels justifiably uncomfortable and unsafe around their father concerning their gender identity and this erodes the trust between them. And that is worth remembering.

Quite astute, spot on.   I would say inarguable, but I don't think that's a thing anymore, if it ever was.

(Horse dewormer? From the ag shop? Because you think the vaccine might be bad for you?)

((They have a chip in it that can track you. I saw it on Facebook; here, I'll show you on my cell phone.))

(((Your child can't come to school because they were vaccinated. We don't want them to get the other children sick)))

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6 minutes ago, mlooney said:

Do we know that Tedd has "come out" about being gender fluid to Edward?  I know Edward is more than aware that Tedd spends a lot of time fem, but has Tedd explained why to Edward?  Edward might think that Tedd is doing it for "funnies" and not realize that Tedd really feels fem some times.  Not sure if that would make matters better, but it might.

I doubt it. Tedd will not explain because they no longer feel safe around their father. Edward's motivations are at this point irrelevant because Tedd cannot trust him.

At the end of the day intentions simply don't matter. Results do.

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While reading the thoughts of a comic strip character is always a bit hard, you may be right.  I think that there may be a chance of reconciliation between the two, particularly  given what appears to be  a positive response by Arthur.  

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1 hour ago, mlooney said:

Do we know that Tedd has "come out" about being gender fluid to Edward?  I know Edward is more than aware that Tedd spends a lot of time fem, but has Tedd explained why to Edward?  Edward might think that Tedd is doing it for "funnies" and not realize that Tedd really feels fem some times.  Not sure if that would make matters better, but it might.

If Edward knew that Tedd appeared as female in the mindscape, he might realize that it is integral to Tedd’s sense of self rather than merely an affectation.

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1 hour ago, ijuin said:

If Edward knew that Tedd appeared as female in the mindscape, he might realize that it is integral to Tedd’s sense of self rather than merely an affectation.

If Edward weren't a transphobe, he might realize it is integral to Tedd's sense of self just from the fact that they do it so often.

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Maybe, but Edward does know about the astral/mindscape representation of a person being a reflection of their underlying self, so it would be a piece of evidence that he could not reasonably deny. Perhaps also if he knew that Tedd had gotten the “not-an-enchantment” genderbending spell and how.

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48 minutes ago, ijuin said:

Maybe, but Edward does know about the astral/mindscape representation of a person being a reflection of their underlying self, so it would be a piece of evidence that he could not reasonably deny. Perhaps also if he knew that Tedd had gotten the “not-an-enchantment” genderbending spell and how.

You are missing the point.

It isn't about the ifs and maybes of Edward's transphobia. It is about the actual effects on Tedd. By centering the discussion on Edward you are putting the cart squarely in front of the horse. And right now the situation Tedd is facing is that they have been hurt by their father but that Arthur understands what their father does not. It is deeply ironic that Mr. Verres talks about not trusting Arthur when the major problem from Tedd's point of view is that they don't trust their father any more.

Also, forgive me for being pessimistic about transphobes and their ability to reasonably deny evidence as they are fully capable of unreasonably denying evidence if the situation comes up. There is nothing to prevent Edward from assuming that if Tedd's mindscape representation is female, 'he' is even more caught in an 'unhealthy' situation than Edward until then had assumed.

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Sorry, I am just trying to think of what to hammer Edward with to get a chance that he might actually become more accepting of Tedd. We haven’t seen yet that any prejudice he has is completely irreconcilable.

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1 hour ago, ijuin said:

We haven’t seen yet that any prejudice he has is completely irreconcilable.

Edward isn't a bad person

He does love and care for his son

He really does think he has Tedd's best interest in mind

Trouble is that Edward's world view is incompatible with what Tedd is, and is becoming

If Edward doesn't come to some sort of realization, there probably won't be a dramatic confrontation

No, just as Tedd goes on to higher education and whatever career may follow, the paths between Tedd and Edward will simply cross less and less often

After Noriko left, Tedd and Edward only had each other for support.   Without some sort of change on Edwards part, they will both be alone 

 - - - - 

I think I should mention something Arthur mentioned about Edward.  How Edward was the best at communicating with and understanding alien psychology

Tedd's psychology is not alien.  It is just a little different than what Edward considers normal, which makes it even more difficult for Edward to understand

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3 hours ago, ijuin said:

Sorry, I am just trying to think of what to hammer Edward with to get a chance that he might actually become more accepting of Tedd. We haven’t seen yet that any prejudice he has is completely irreconcilable.

It's simple.

He needs to let go of his bioessentialist prejudices, get over this idea that he automatically knows everything that is right for his offspring and stop treating Tedd in a way that alienates them. Given the way he all but forced Tedd into an outfit they were obviously not comfortable with and then kept nagging at them to keep it sitting properly... I am not waiting up.

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I think that Edward is simply too close to the problem to view it completely. He doesn’t use his diplomacy mindset to think about Tedd, because he believes that the child whom he raised is a “chip off the old block”—i.e. he does not question the assumption that Tedd shares his core values.

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3 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

It's simple.

He needs to let go of his bioessentialist prejudices, get over this idea that he automatically knows everything that is right for his offspring and stop treating Tedd in a way that alienates them. Given the way he all but forced Tedd into an outfit they were obviously not comfortable with and then kept nagging at them to keep it sitting properly... I am not waiting up.

Different in effect on the individual, but not really different in substance, from what every parent faces as their kids mature. There will always be salient issues, choice of mate, activities, education, and career, that a parent must let go of and allow their children to sink or swim. You can at best be there for then when they fail, to encourage them to keep trying. I'm not thrilled about everything my kids have chosen, and I gave my parents cause for concern. Gender issues do strike closer to home in terms of identity, which makes it a more sensitive challenge, but it's not unlike the more mundane issues, evidenced by how many parents learn to accept their kids in spite of their beliefs. If Dick Cheney can manage it, Edward is likely up to the task.

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