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Stature

Story Friday January 27, 2017

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4 hours ago, weirdee said:

I mean, if he's gender fluid, that just means that he should find a body he's most comfortable staying with (the least amount of body dysmorphia)

But the problem with being genderfluid is that you have to take many readings on that over time and either look for the extremes or average them (your choice).

Which would be easier if we had an accurate and reliable way of measuring someone's gender on the correct scale properly calibrated... we're currently weak on identifying the correct scale, calibrating it, and measuring people.

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1 hour ago, hkmaly said:

 

Or steroid use I guess :)

***

It would be good idea to talk about it, but shouldn't Tedd do it even if his father WOULD freak out?

 

 

Steroids, or probably any non-magic/non-superscience method, would not produce a visible difference in the three days since Tedd was last seen at school. It's not just a matter of Tedd looking different, it's a matter of a change that takes months by normal means happening over a single weekend. Also, if Tedd takes gym as a senior, any body changes are going to be noticed more easily than otherwise due to changing clothes and locker room stuff.

As for Edward freaking out about Tedd's spell, the fact that Tedd has the spell at all (and that it's clearly NOT a copy of Elliot's spell, which means that it's not Wizard-copying) is proof that being genderfluid is in Tedd's very nature--it's practically like having the literal Word of God on the subject. This punches straight through the top two arguments that are usually used against trans folks: First, that they are lying and trolling people, and second that they are mistaken/deluded and should just "get over" their desire to escape from assigned gender roles. The spell is proof that having a female body is an aspect of Tedd's True Self, rather than just something that Tedd does for sexy fun and to tease/troll people.

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1 hour ago, ijuin said:

Steroids, or probably any non-magic/non-superscience method, would not produce a visible difference in the three days since Tedd was last seen at school. It's not just a matter of Tedd looking different, it's a matter of a change that takes months by normal means happening over a single weekend. Also, if Tedd takes gym as a senior, any body changes are going to be noticed more easily than otherwise due to changing clothes and locker room stuff.

Between change blindness and people not really thinking it through and/or having experience with how steroids work, I would still say that rumors about him taking some illegal substances may be more likely than rumors about magic. But hard to say: it depends on how will general public see other stuff happening in Moperville. So far, official explanation is nothing extraordinary is happening. (Not counting Arthur Arthur, who might still not be exactly believed). With that failing, the options are magic, extraterrestrials, some sort of super heroes technobabble like gene X which Marvel claims is not magic (yeah sure) and earth-origin super-science.

WE know that both magic and extraterrestrials are true, but public does not and most people would likely assume just one is involved.

1 hour ago, ijuin said:

As for Edward freaking out about Tedd's spell, the fact that Tedd has the spell at all (and that it's clearly NOT a copy of Elliot's spell, which means that it's not Wizard-copying) is proof that being genderfluid is in Tedd's very nature--it's practically like having the literal Word of God on the subject. This punches straight through the top two arguments that are usually used against trans folks: First, that they are lying and trolling people, and second that they are mistaken/deluded and should just "get over" their desire to escape from assigned gender roles. The spell is proof that having a female body is an aspect of Tedd's True Self, rather than just something that Tedd does for sexy fun and to tease/troll people.

Actually, not true. In EGS, it is totally believable that Tedd gets spell for changing gender because he's really into sexy fun and tease/trolling. Remember that both Larry and Rich were markable with girl spells. Sure, spell which specifically changes default form might be different, but I still don't see it as ultimate proof. If Edward decides to not accept it, he can.

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7 hours ago, weirdee said:

I mean, if he's gender fluid, that just means that he should find a body he's most comfortable staying with (the least amount of body dysmorphia) and do what he wants the rest of the time. That's what a lot of folks I know ended up with. I don't think that it's going to be that easy to bully whatever choice he makes either...I guess it's down to having The Talk with Edward.

Agreed. That's what I think his decision is going to be - whether or not to tell his father.

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Nice fantasy sequence in panel three to illustrate the real life discussion.

This version of male Sarah looks more like a man than the body builder Sarah in the Squirrel Prophet dream sequences.  Maybe I'm just thrown by the hair.

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15 hours ago, Scotty said:

Grace assumed Tedd knew what transgendered meant

Just a semantics note, but one that's important to some.  I'm told that some trans folks really dislike being called transgendered, because it makes it sound like it's something that was done to them, rather than being a part of who they are.

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But yeah considering the chances of running into Tony, being a girl probably isn't a good idea. 

Actually, from what I've seen of Tony, I suspect that Tedd actually being a girl would be one way to get Tony off Tedd's back.

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I kinda wonder if he's referring to whether or not he should bother using the spell at all. Given that he felt that he was really close to being responsible for ruining magic by wanting to make it public. I wouldn't be surprised if the choice is to continue using magic, or give up on it.

That's another option.  I could also see him deciding between talking to his dad honestly and keeping everything to himself (and his friends).  Or whether to back off and allow the current magical status quo to continue, or to push on until magic does change, in the hopes that the new version will be closer to his dreams.

6 hours ago, Scotty said:

Also there is three, Tedd said that even though it the spell changes his default form, it's not exactly permanent. Because it's a spell, if magic changed and he loses the spell, then it's likely Tedd would return to his original form.

That was the distinction Tedd was making when he referred to changing his default form.  That is the form that he will be in if all magical influence ceases (unless she uses the same spell to change back, probably what's meant by not exactly permanent).  That's what makes it such an unusual spell, and why his thinking he can now make wands that would change other peoples' default forms was so frightening a thought.  If he changes someone else's default form, then it will not wear off, ever, and any enchantment turning them back to their previous form *will* wear off.

Tedd has an interesting option now....he can put himself in his "girlie" default form, and then zap herself with the TFG back to his usual male form.  If she does that every day, then should magic suddenly change and Tedd be stuck in default form, it would be her choice which form to be stuck in.  However, given how gender fluid they are, I really really hope Tedd doesn't end up stuck in either one.  That would be at best a bittersweet ending, at worst a real downer, which doesn't really fit the spirit of EGS.

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6 hours ago, Don Edwards said:

But the problem with being genderfluid is that you have to take many readings on that over time and either look for the extremes or average them (your choice).

Which would be easier if we had an accurate and reliable way of measuring someone's gender on the correct scale properly calibrated... we're currently weak on identifying the correct scale, calibrating it, and measuring people.

Of course it's never simple, but this is already more choice than people have IRL and Tedd still has the TG gun for day to day variances. I'm just talking about his overall comfort in his default FORM. He doesn't have to be technically correct by any contrived measurement, it's about how he feels. Seriously, how would you even measure human feelings by some quantifiable form? Tons of pseudoscientists have tried to judge folks like me using numbers and questionnaires but none of them have ever considered that the only people qualified to make those calls are, well, ourselves.

Seriously, is anybody in this discussion right now trans or genderfluid? He doesn't have to necessarily pick a gender, he's picking what his base body will be like without modifications, which may or may not happen to align closely with feminine/masculine forms. It doesn't even need to have a majority of characteristics specifically locked to the concept of the gender binary. Also, there isn't even a "scale" or anything, it's just a combination of preferences which are based on his needs, not anybody else's. It feels like I'm reading a discussion between a whole lot of cisgender guys speculating on how this works like people don't already face these kinds of decisions on a daily basis.

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1 hour ago, weirdee said:

Seriously, is anybody in this discussion right now trans or genderfluid? He doesn't have to necessarily pick a gender, he's picking what his base body will be like without modifications, which may or may not happen to align closely with feminine/masculine forms. It doesn't even need to have a majority of characteristics specifically locked to the concept of the gender binary. Also, there isn't even a "scale" or anything, it's just a combination of preferences which are based on his needs, not anybody else's. It feels like I'm reading a discussion between a whole lot of cisgender guys speculating on how this works like people don't already face these kinds of decisions on a daily basis.

Are you saying he could have a base form with a combination of male and female traits?  That might be optimal, and might be what would happen in real life (with technology rather than magic), but from what we know about the spell, he doesn't have that option (unless he creates a watch or something with a variant of the spell, rather than using the spell he was given); he can only choose between keeping his current (male) base form and switching to this (female) base form (although both his options happen to be fairly androgynous-looking).  Of course, he can also have much more thorough temporary changes than are possible in real life.

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the form actualized by the spell is based primarily on his own thoughts and feelings, so he doesn't have to adhere to those preconceptions if he just lets go of them and focuses on himself

side note: "masculine and feminine traits" thank you

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