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      Welcome!   03/05/2016

      Welcome, everyone, to the new 910CMX Community Forums. I'm still working on getting them running, so things may change.  If you're a 910 Comic creator and need your forum recreated, let me know and I'll get on it right away.  I'll do my best to make this new place as fun as the last one!
Stature

Story Friday May 12, 2017

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4 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Let me see if I am understanding this comic.

Specifically being male or female in not important to Elliot's sense of self.  But the ability to change between male and female is now ESSENTIAL to Elliot's sense of self.

Or something like that?

 

'Essential' may be too strong. Possibly 'important' or 'highly important.' I am not sure. But I suspect you have the gist of it.

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It occurs to me that all of this may be a clue as to what Elliot's new spell is.  His awakening and initial experiences in magic have all been about gender swapping, and magic has required him to become not just tolerant of swapping genders but enthusiastic about it to the point that the potential loss of this ability is causing him distress.  The new spell has something to do with vision, and Elliot mentioned the word "highlight."  I'm thinking he's going to be able to see people's "actual" gender in the form of an aura.

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14 minutes ago, Nayl said:

It occurs to me that all of this may be a clue as to what Elliot's new spell is.  His awakening and initial experiences in magic have all been about gender swapping, and magic has required him to become not just tolerant of swapping genders but enthusiastic about it to the point that the potential loss of this ability is causing him distress.  The new spell has something to do with vision, and Elliot mentioned the word "highlight."  I'm thinking he's going to be able to see people's "actual" gender in the form of an aura.

Interesting hypothesis. If it turns out to be correct or even related to this, give yourself an entire roll of Oreos!

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If I was editing EGS, I'd advise Dan to cut down or cut out what I've seen so far of this part. It's looking to me like an existential crisis too far. The most essential part of Elliot's character is that he helps people he sees in need, but he's not even talking about that post yet. 

2 minutes ago, Nayl said:

I'm thinking he's going to be able to see people's "actual" gender in the form of an aura.

Interesting speculation. It would demand a return to color because there's at least four important characters who'd have rainbow auras representing gender fluidity. However, why now? 

Exactly what is Elliot's primary role in Sister III? What's he doing to advance the story? So far, the most positive thing Elliot has done is reassure Tedd. He was supposed to support Ashley, but he hasn't actually been seen interacting with Ashley since the end of So a Date at the Mall. He hasn't interacted with Sarah, either. Yes, they've broken up, but Sarah is supposed to be the friend Elliot has had for pretty much his entire life.

The new spell seems to be about letting Elliot see something he couldn't see before.  I'd bet it has to do with the two battles: With the vampire mercenaries, and with Voltaire. I'd also bet that it will allow him to save Tedd, and maybe Pandora, and maybe even Magus.

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15 minutes ago, Tom Sewell said:

If I was editing EGS, I'd advise Dan to cut down or cut out what I've seen so far of this part. It's looking to me like an existential crisis too far. The most essential part of Elliot's character is that he helps people he sees in need, but he's not even talking about that post yet.

I disagree. Character development is important and should never be ignored. As to Elliot not leaping heroically into action to save another person, remember that it is hard to keep someone else from drowning if you are having trouble staying afloat yourself. I confidently expect Elliot to go to work on that post as soon as she has recovered her equilibrium, but she needs to find it first.

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41 minutes ago, Tom Sewell said:

If I was editing EGS, I'd advise Dan to cut down or cut out what I've seen so far of this part. It's looking to me like an existential crisis too far. The most essential part of Elliot's character is that he helps people he sees in need, but he's not even talking about that post yet. 

Speaking of which total shot in the dark here but if Teed special role in all universes in as a seer, whatever that is. Is Elliot's special role in all universe's to be his restraining bolt? I can provide if needed.

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6 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

Of course, society applies oppression in an even-handed manner not caring about biological differences at all, only about how much each individual diverges from what is considered socially acceptable. Societies have existed and do exist where gender roles are far more flexible than they are in modern Western society. For society, your true crime is not what you actually are but how much you have dared to deviate from its norms.

The issue I think, is everyone's definition of normal. The word "normal" gets thrown around so much these day, but I honestly don't think people truly use it properly.

Normal, or status quo gives the impression of similarity and familiarity if you see someone doing something you would do, it's normal, someone has the same skin, eye or hair color as you, that's normal. The problem is, no one is going to be 100% like you. So really, the true definition of "normal" would be "me". Sure there's tolerance towards minor differences, but what people consider a minor difference varies from person to person. On the extreme end, people see someone committing acts of violence and say that's not normal. but at the same time, the quest for normalcy is littered with violence.

Being the same should not be normal, being different should be.

2 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

I disagree. Character development is important and should never be ignored. As to Elliot not leaping heroically into action to save another person, remember that it is hard to keep someone else from drowning if you are having trouble staying afloat yourself. I confidently expect Elliot to go to work on that post as soon as she has recovered her equilibrium, but she needs to find it first.

I should also add that Elliot is challenged by the fact that the poster asked not to tell anyone. So does Elliot betray the poster by telling Tedd? Does Elliot betray Edward by divulging information to the poster? So far Edward has been pretty lenient because all of the cases of other people finding out stuff have been accidental or beyond anyone's control. Edward would probably be mad if Elliot just up and told some complete stranger things about magic. Tedd might also not want Elliot to be the cause of magic changing either.

16 minutes ago, Tom Sewell said:

Another suspect for the Mysterious Poster: Last panel, narc on the left. Gender?

Looks female to me.

 

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15 minutes ago, Scotty said:

The issue I think, is everyone's definition of normal. The word "normal" gets thrown around so much these day, but I honestly don't think people truly use it properly.

Normal, or status quo gives the impression of similarity and familiarity if you see someone doing something you would do, it's normal, someone has the same skin, eye or hair color as you, that's normal. The problem is, no one is going to be 100% like you. So really, the true definition of "normal" would be "me". Sure there's tolerance towards minor differences, but what people consider a minor difference varies from person to person. On the extreme end, people see someone committing acts of violence and say that's not normal. but at the same time, the quest for normalcy is littered with violence.

Being the same should not be normal, being different should be.

I should also add that Elliot is challenged by the fact that the poster asked not to tell anyone. So does Elliot betray the poster by telling Tedd? Does Elliot betray Edward by divulging information to the poster? So far Edward has been pretty lenient because all of the cases of other people finding out stuff have been accidental or beyond anyone's control. Edward would probably be mad if Elliot just up and told some complete stranger things about magic. Tedd might also not want Elliot to be the cause of magic changing either.

Looks female to me.

 

Not necessarily. As a male who is quite overweight I can say that when you get to that bulk you start seeing man boobs. As a result i must say it is kind of up in the air.

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27 minutes ago, animalia said:

Not necessarily. As a male who is quite overweight I can say that when you get to that bulk you start seeing man boobs. As a result i must say it is kind of up in the air.

Unless you need a man bra. I'm not quite there yet.

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57 minutes ago, animalia said:

Not necessarily. As a male who is quite overweight I can say that when you get to that bulk you start seeing man boobs. As a result i must say it is kind of up in the air.

I'm overweight as well and have a case of the moobs, but just going by the figure of the person in question, there is another example I can base my assumption on, and that's Good Tom's girlfriend. They're obviously not the same person, but they have similar builds.

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3 minutes ago, Scotty said:

I'm overweight as well and have a case of the moobs, but just going by the figure of the person in question, there is another example I can base my assumption on, and that's Good Tom's girlfriend. They're obviously not the same person, but they have similar builds.

could we get a couple of links to George and Tensided to compare?

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4 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

Interesting hypothesis. If it turns out to be correct or even related to this, give yourself an entire roll of Oreos!

I had a similar idea, and just didn't post it.  Do I get Oreos too?  (...it's been way too long since I've had Oreos...)

 

About Elliot's gender identity: many people consider things like jobs, interests, nationality, religion, etc. to be important even though someone can't have an instinctive sense e.g. that one is supposed to be Christian or a programmer (at least not specifically, since those are culturally dependent and haven't always existed).  Couldn't someone who doesn't have a gender identity (in the sense trans people do) still consider their gender (or in Elliot's case, the ability to transform between male and female) important anyways, similar to jobs etc.?

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16 minutes ago, chridd said:

I had a similar idea, and just didn't post it.  Do I get Oreos too?  (...it's been way too long since I've had Oreos...)

Watch out for Oreos. They're a leading cause of man boobs.

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25 minutes ago, animalia said:

could we get a couple of links to George and Tensided to compare?

Here's George, though, George is taller than Justin.

And here's Tensaided.

Both obviously have man boobs, but their bellies are bigger than their chests. The narc in question appears to have a chest that's bigger than their belly.

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8 minutes ago, Scotty said:

The narc in question appears to have a chest that's bigger than their belly.

Hard to tell since the plus-size narc is facing us. The line of the hips suggested by the two pits of pants (or skirt?) that we can see below the sweater flares, more like a woman. However, the bottom seam of that sweater does suggest a belly that's pushing it out some.

I wonder how Dan did this panel. Did he draw the panel first and draw inside it? Or did he draw the narcs separately, full-figure, and then crop-and-paste? I kind of think the second because why show those bits of pants or skirt at all?

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27 minutes ago, Tom Sewell said:

Hard to tell since the plus-size narc is facing us. The line of the hips suggested by the two pits of pants (or skirt?) that we can see below the sweater flares, more like a woman. However, the bottom seam of that sweater does suggest a belly that's pushing it out some.

Ok, maybe "chest bigger than belly" isn't the best way to look at it. But I do have some other supporting evidence, Mama Kitsune. In the example, she appears to be wearing a similar bulky sweater, and in panel 4, her posture, and where she's got her arms, looks similar to how the narc is standing.

It's also worth considering that the narcs may be a fair bit older than the students.

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2 minutes ago, Scotty said:

It's also worth considering that the narcs may be a fair bit older than the students.

Um, they're not real narcs, they're hall monitors. And unlike my old dorm at USF, Moperville North is not three blocks away from the corner of Haight Street and Ashbury Avenue and it's not 1969, so it probably doesn't rate an undercover live-in narc like we had. We actually called him "Narc" to his face.

Of course, conditions may change if magic comes out of its closet and stays out. Then I can see something like the Alien Control Officers from R. Talsorian's Teenagers From Outer Space.

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4 minutes ago, Tom Sewell said:

Um, they're not real narcs, they're hall monitors. And unlike my old dorm at USF, Moperville North is not three blocks away from the corner of Haight Street and Ashbury Avenue and it's not 1969, so it probably doesn't rate an undercover live-in narc like we had. We actually called him "Narc" to his face.

Oh I know they're not real narcs, but that's how Susan referred to them.

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49 minutes ago, Scotty said:

Oh I know they're not real narcs, but that's how Susan referred to them.

Narc as slang for "tattletale" ("narcing on someone")

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12 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

This has gone a different direction than which I thought it would. I thought it'd lead to Elliot trying to convince Tedd to make the TG technology more available for transgender people. Instead, it's become an introspection about whether or not Elliot's sexual identity is changing. Looking back, I can see the foreshadowing, but the full-bore dive into Elliot's feelings instead of the former subject still comes as a bit of a surprise.

The part with Tedd might still come later.

6 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

As to Elliot not leaping heroically into action to save another person, remember that it is hard to keep someone else from drowning if you are having trouble staying afloat yourself. I confidently expect Elliot to go to work on that post as soon as she has recovered her equilibrium, but she needs to find it first.

Yes. Exactly.

10 hours ago, ssokolow said:

and I recently saw an article about how there's a correlation between autism and the child's grandmother smoking during pregnancy, which should give you an idea of how complicated this whole gene expression mess is.

Daaaaamn. Grandmother definitely did smoke. Who's pregnancy?

10 hours ago, animalia said:

why is it we only hear of Gender dysphoria and not stuff like racial dysphoria

... did you saw Michael Jackson?

5 hours ago, animalia said:
6 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

If I was editing EGS, I'd advise Dan to cut down or cut out what I've seen so far of this part. It's looking to me like an existential crisis too far. The most essential part of Elliot's character is that he helps people he sees in need, but he's not even talking about that post yet. 

Speaking of which total shot in the dark here but if Teed special role in all universes in as a seer, whatever that is. Is Elliot's special role in all universe's to be his restraining bolt? I can provide if needed.

It has been speculated multiple times. I'm not sure if "restraining bolt" is best way to describe it but Elliot is definitely needed for Tedd. Pandora thinks it too - that definitely wasn't going to be just "friend".

6 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

The new spell seems to be about letting Elliot see something he couldn't see before.  I'd bet it has to do with the two battles: With the vampire mercenaries, and with Voltaire. I'd also bet that it will allow him to save Tedd, and maybe Pandora, and maybe even Magus.

The spell is probably multifunctional. I don't think it involves anything with sexuality though. Meanwhile, highlighting vampires and/or Voltaire would be definitely useful.

4 hours ago, Scotty said:

The problem is, no one is going to be 100% like you. So really, the true definition of "normal" would be "me".

"Remember that you are absolutely unique ... just like everyone else."

4 hours ago, Scotty said:

I should also add that Elliot is challenged by the fact that the poster asked not to tell anyone. So does Elliot betray the poster by telling Tedd?

He said "private", not to not tell anybody. I would see little difference here, although yes it would likely be conflicting for Elliot.

4 hours ago, Scotty said:

Edward would probably be mad if Elliot just up and told some complete stranger things about magic.

Definitely. And rightly so. I suspect that he would insist on doing background check on him.

2 hours ago, chridd said:

About Elliot's gender identity: many people consider things like jobs, interests, nationality, religion, etc. to be important even though someone can't have an instinctive sense e.g. that one is supposed to be Christian or a programmer (at least not specifically, since those are culturally dependent and haven't always existed).  Couldn't someone who doesn't have a gender identity (in the sense trans people do) still consider their gender (or in Elliot's case, the ability to transform between male and female) important anyways, similar to jobs etc.?

I would say this is how I read the comics. Tedd is genderfluid in the true sense, while Elliot's feeling about being able to change sex is from different level of personality.

Note that you definitely can have an instinctive sense which surfaces as you being programmer. Actually two probably: one would be the same which could make you shaman or wizard in different time / universe, one would be shared with scientists. If you have both, you are limited to being programmer or work with magitech.

(Or, well, utilize those senses in different time.)

 

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A grandmother effect sounds like it might be an epigenetic phenomenon. There was a study of periods of hunger in a small, isolated village over several generations which found there seemed to be an effect that showed up two generations later. Your genes don't determine how you'll be on their own. There seem to be a lot of things that can make them express differently, and we're not at all sure what all of them are.

That said, the magic of the Moperverse has got to have all sorts of potential to out-do your grandmother's smoking.

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4 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

That said, the magic of the Moperverse has got to have all sorts of potential to out-do your grandmother's smoking.

I don't think Justin's grandma had abs like he does.

Can't say the same about Nanase though, most of the females of her family probably had magic boobs.

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