2018-12-24 [DMFA #1890] insert clever title here

[Cassi-kun]

Calling it now, Mama San was gonna name Wildy "Wedge."

The "mad with power" line confuses me, but I thiiink Mab is referring to Biggs trying to shut off the fire himself, being Fae magic.

[Kenku]

Huh...you know I think I'm gathering stuff from it. Biggs is a guy because the general rumor and beliefs of him became that he was a guy. HUH

[Tuyu]

Important safety tip:  never stick your flaming hand in you pants pocket while your hand is flaming.

Wildy > Stratton.

[Akisohida]

Calling it now, Mama San was gonna name Wildy "Wedge."

The "mad with power" line confuses me, but I thiiink Mab is referring to Biggs trying to shut off the fire himself, being Fae magic.

I think the 'mad with power' line is a joke on how people mad with power tend to set things on fire. You know, loot & pillage and all that.

Only Biggs set himself on fire instead of something else.

[Grey Wolf]

Huh...you know I think I'm gathering stuff from it. Biggs is a guy because the general rumor and beliefs of him became that he was a guy. HUH

No, I think he already knew he was a guy and had been thinking of transitioning.

Though, maybe it gave him enough power that he didn't have to get outside help. He could just snap his fingers and, boom, instant T. No needles or scalpels required.

EDIT: Not that all trans folks do hormone therapy or surgery, but Wildy has boobage and post-boon Biggs decidedly does not.

[Sofox]

He's gaining the ability to change the entire world he is in, the power and intention to drastically change the lives of countless people, overthrow the core foundation and belief system of his world's social and institutional hierarchy... and yet people are still focused on whether this means he can change sex....

I mean, yeah, hooray for him if possible, but can we please focus on the bigger picture anytime this century?

[Hariman]

He's gaining the ability to change the entire world he is in, the power and intention to drastically change the lives of countless people, overthrow the core foundation and belief system of his world's social and institutional hierarchy... and yet people are still focused on whether this means he can change sex....

I mean, yeah, hooray for him if possible, but can we please focus on the bigger picture anytime this century?

Well... we kind of know where this goes, and what Biggs' goals are, and how far along he is.

I mean... it IS interesting that he's gaining a power with a massive amount of potential, that could catapult him to being a reality warper if he could convince people to believe he could warp reality. (Or fail because too many people doubt his power at the wrong time.)

But it's also interesting to speculate that his own power changed his body from female to male as the Biggs persona she crafted became the dominant belief of who she was, making she into he and Bridget into Biggs.

Personally, my guess is that there was the aforementioned "Full transition spell that the mythos who know how to cast take VERY seriously" was involved, and that the Biggs identity was crafted after as a focus for the deception.

Also... How much DO people believe that Biggs is capable of? He's used the Twink territories as a disguise, and masked some of their/his capabilities, but he's also known as a power and someone to be feared.

So... he's got a very important con to maintain, because once it starts faltering, it can lead to a very deadly spiral of people seeing him as nothing important anymore.

...

I enjoy analyzing and overthinking things, at times.

EDIT: Por que no las dos?

EDIT2: I actually came here to post that I love the NEXT comic's final line from Mab, but there was no new thread for today's comic and I got distracted by analysis.

[Cassi-kun]

I've said this before, but according to my understanding, the only way for Biggs to transition a la boon would be to convince someone he had the power to do so on his own.

[Grey Wolf]

He's gaining the ability to change the entire world he is in, the power and intention to drastically change the lives of countless people, overthrow the core foundation and belief system of his world's social and institutional hierarchy... and yet people are still focused on whether this means he can change sex....

I mean, yeah, hooray for him if possible, but can we please focus on the bigger picture anytime this century?

NGL, when I fantasize about having magical powers (one or twice a month...), one of the fist things I imagine doing is curing my nauseating, skin-crawling dysphoria.

Biggs is either a trans man or a cis woman pretending to be one. He refers to Bridget as his dead name. That is a trans term. Cis people do not have dead names.

Using Occam's Razor, I figure he's trans.

But it could be that I'm just starving for trans representation. Don't get me wrong! I'm super mega grateful for Mink (especially since they're nonbinary, like me)! But if I can have more, I will absolutely take it.

[Puyon]

Biggs is either a trans man or a cis woman pretending to be one. He refers to Bridget as his dead name. That is a trans term. Cis people do not have dead names.

Using Occam's Razor, I figure he's trans.

But it could be that I'm just starving for trans representation. Don't get me wrong! I'm super mega grateful for Mink (especially since they're nonbinary, like me)! But if I can have more, I will absolutely take it.

Oh don't worry mate, Biggs is, undeniably, canonically, confirmed by word of god, trans: https://mobile.twitter.com/Ambaaargh/status/694201695010754564

This was confirmed like. Two years ago when Biggs was first dead named. And since I'm trans and nb too I was thrilled about the confirmation, but the way it gets discussed on here rubs me the wrong way sometimes... in that I don't think... a lot of people really understand the implications of him being trans?

And by implications I mean... it's not his single most defining character trait, and folks often treat it like it is when he's far more fascinating in addition to being trans. Like people who deadname him every chance that they get because they probably don't understand how to discuss trans characters... like i would love to discuss how gender stuff gets effected when all this magic nonsense gets thrown into the pot, since it's got a lot of interesting potential!

I love Biggs as a character, and I have even before we got the trans confirmation, but ever since we got that, people have been obsessed over his body, or whether he's just faking it for some reason, and it's exhausting because that's a reflection of how trans people often get treated when they come out to folks! All I really want when it comes to Biggs being confirmed trans is for people to be a little more considerate with how they discuss him, and that includes staying focused on the NEW information we're getting about him now.

[Jasonrevall]

Woops lol looks like I posted in the wrong part of the forum discussions. Sorry about that.

[Amber Williams]

I will say, as the creator I took a lot of deliberate time to try to make sure Biggs was a fully fleshed character before I began to reveal this aspect of his character.  Because I didn't want it to feel like he was a token character, instead I wanted him to be someone who was already shown to be very involved and with several nuances of personality...with the reveal of him being trans simply another detail to him and not the focus. 

Biggs is definitely one of my more complicated characters in the cast. And I already realize I tread a risky line since he technically can also qualify for one of the more villainous cast members considering he is sort of in cahoonies to take down all the dragons.

That said, at this particular juncture I also realize there can be an awkward past disconnect.  Especially when flashbacks are involved.  However, much like how Matilda was once called Kissriss (and in her case her new name was actually a translation flub that she adopted)...considering how everyone calls Matilda Matilda...I am hopeful that once the flashback dust wears off people will simply call Biggs Biggs.  As it is his name.   It who he be.

[Hariman]

I will say, as the creator I took a lot of deliberate time to try to make sure Biggs was a fully fleshed character before I began to reveal this aspect of his character.  Because I didn't want it to feel like he was a token character, instead I wanted him to be someone who was already shown to be very involved and with several nuances of personality...with the reveal of him being trans simply another detail to him and not the focus. 

Biggs is definitely one of my more complicated characters in the cast. And I already realize I tread a risky line since he technically can also qualify for one of the more villainous cast members considering he is sort of in cahoonies to take down all the dragons.

That said, at this particular juncture I also realize there can be an awkward past disconnect.  Especially when flashbacks are involved.  However, much like how Matilda was once called Kissriss (and in her case her new name was actually a translation flub that she adopted)...considering how everyone calls Matilda Matilda...I am hopeful that once the flashback dust wears off people will simply call Biggs Biggs.  As it is his name.   It who he be.

In my opinion, you did quite well with Biggs. He's a well rounded character with depth.

He also has a noble goal, for good reasons, though his methods are likely not the nicest, he's also against a very powerful and "not nice" foe.

There's a decent bit of gray in the conflict too.

Also, I appreciate the fact that DMFA is a fantasy world of predatory/non predatory creatures where the deaths and conflicts that creates are addressed with more than a handwave. Not everyone has the courage to address that part of such worlds.

And by implications I mean... it's not his single most defining character trait, and folks often treat it like it is when he's far more fascinating in addition to being trans. Like people who deadname him every chance that they get because they probably don't understand how to discuss trans characters... like i would love to discuss how gender stuff gets effected when all this magic nonsense gets thrown into the pot, since it's got a lot of interesting potential!

It's a very complicated issue, and difficult to discuss in the first place, due to the heavily differing views on the matter, and due to how personal an matter it is.

I tend to keep magical world discussion of Trans separate from RL discussion (and when thinking about it), though I've had few chances to discuss it at all, and I hesitate to discuss it due to the aforementioned personal and hot button nature it can have.



And, as mentioned above, this comic has me wondering how much Biggs con will come into play later.

[Zorro]

So what is Biggs?  Male?  Or Female pretending to be male?

[The One Guy]

So what is Biggs?  Male?  Or Female pretending to be male?

Have you not been paying any attention?  He's a magically-post-op trans-male.

[Tuyu]

I hope this isn't too terribly old for a post, but, on the subject of Wildy's name:

How about "Janus"?

Puts a new spin on the old novel...