Line #8 WMG/MonstrousRegiment


1	[[AC: {{WMG}}s for Literature/{{Discworld}} / Literature/MonstrousRegiment. Warning: Potential unmarked spoilers.]]
2
3	[[WMG: Maladicta was [[spoiler:not really a girl]]]]
4	His incredibly offhand confession of his "true" gender near the end of the book was just him messing with the of the group. Think about it; at this point in the book, he was very much a male. If he had truly been a girl, he should have come out with the rest of the girls. Such behavior wouldn't be out of character for him or many of the other vampires. I can't take credit for this one. That belongs to my (again) boyfriend.
5	* Too bad we didn't see him/her use that shape-shifting trick, that would settle it. Only male vampires can reform their clothes.
6	* Like that a lot. Given how by the end the whole gender issue was so confused and played with to the point the details didn't matter - Polly didn't ''care'' about Maladict's confession - it would be a rather neat addition for him to (per Polly's complaint about the offer of male uniforms?) be a boy pretending to be a girl dressed as a boy, who ultimately 'reveals' himself as female. It just messes the with group, the readers, and the whole way in which gender had been discussed until that point - reminding all that it's not even ''that'' simple (and see below for a different theory).
7	* He/she confesses it by saying "I'm Maladicta." Note that ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'' includes a male vampire named Maledicta (sic) in one scene.
8	** Perhaps gender presentation works differently among the Disc's vampires -- think of some other [[Literature/TheVampireChronicles slightly-built, androgynously beautiful male-identified vampires]], which is given a nod when Jackrum says it's hard to tell with vampires. Perhaps Mal's persona, not being slinkily and bosomily inclined anyway, was masculine-presenting, and actual gender aside, this suited Mal's purposes in joining the army.
9	** But a Maledicta is specifically named as one of the younger vampires hanging on to the deMagpyr family in ''Carpe Jugulum''. Perhaps after seeing what way that went - and it wasn't good - she decided to desert old-tyme vampyrism and join the Army to forget?
10	** No reason to assume it's the same Maledicta, as Borogravia is hundreds of miles away from Escrow. It's most likely just a common name among vampires.
11	* Maladict's revelation did seem like a bit of a copout, considering the narrative kept us guessing up until that point. It's interesting to consider Maladict as actually being trans or genderfluid, as one of the other entries suggests.
12	** While the genderfluid aspect is implied when Jackrum notes that it's hard to tell with vampires, it could just as easily be underlining the point that what was originally a great big secret doesn't really ''matter'' at this point.
13	* Or maybe it's as simple as Maladict not wanting to be left out. If he honestly couldn't care less what sex people think he is, he might "confess" to femaleness just for solidarity's sake.
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15	[[WMG: Tonker and Lofty didn't meet in the Grey House; they were put there in the first place ''because'' they were lovers.]]
16	* Alternatively, they did meet there, but were put there, because they were lesbians.
17
18	[[WMG: Maladict is comfortably transgender.]]
19	Hence the differences between the SweetPollyOliver [[UnsettlingGenderReveal unmaskings]]: The lack of [[UnusualEuphemism socks]] was only relevant on a physical level.
20	* This troper always took Mal to be quite contentedly genderqueer.
21
22	[[WMG: Nuggan wasn't [[spoiler: dead.]]]]
23	Just impotent. He may have had believers outside of Borogravia that accepted him as fact. Not as good as "proper" faith, but it's still belief (for example, [[Literature/TheLastHero the unnamed bard]]).
24	* He ''was'' earlier named as the god of over-organized office supplies outside the country...
25
26	[[WMG: Nuggan is gone because the bard from ''Literature/TheLastHero'' killed him]]
27	Pretty self-explanatory. It was implied he had attacked Nuggan, and Om in ''Literature/SmallGods'' stated that physically harming a god is just as fatal as losing all their worshippers.
28	* Alternately, the bard could have incorporated an ''accurate'' [[AuthorTract description of Nuggan]] in his saga of Cohen and the Horde, exposing him as the fussy, obnoxious, conceited little blowhard git that he was, and discrediting him in the minds of everyone outside Borogravia. As Borogravians ''really'' worship the Duchess and the formalities of the faith, not the god himself, Nuggan would've starved for worship until there was nothing -- not even a tortoise -- left of him.
29	** Wait, this ''bard'' killed a god '''''twice'''''? That's the most badass thing ever.
30
31	[[WMG: Jackrum will replace the Duchess as the prayed-to entity]]
32	But he'll actually be able to do something when prayed to, like good battlefield advice. Or even ascend to Cori Celesti as the god[[spoiler:dess]] of war.
33	* Getting on quite well with my head canon God of Watchmen, Sam Vimes. And neither of them will be entirely happy about it.
34
35	[[WMG: Tonker goes on to become a respected army official, probably in a neighbouring country.]]
36	Based entirely on the fact that Tonker's surname is "Halter", and all the officials bearing the names of Roundworld items of clothing are destined for greatness in Discworld armies. And - as Borogravia can be seen as a Discworld take on the Austro-Hungarian Empire[[note]]Which collapsed in ruins after bankrupting itself in a long pointless war especially with neighbouring Serbia.[[/note]] - consider the meaning of the German word ''büstenhalter''.
37
38	[[WMG: Maladict revealed her sex because Polly was checking out Angua, and Mal got jealous.]]
39	Polly's narration does go on a bit about Angua's hair and obvious femininity, in a way that kind of sounds like EatingTheEyeCandy. Mal (who this troper also read as genderfluid) noticed, got jealous, thought "wait, you like girls now? I can be a girl too!" and dropped the bomb. And was subsequently disappointed when Polly didn't care.
40	* Alternatively, it was the old vampire-werewolf rivalry making her jealous. Can't have your friends getting to chummy with the doggies, can you?
41	* Why not both?
42	* Which trumps the gay/lesbian subtext and notches it up another level... Terry P is good at this. Possibly lesbian former bar-wench cross-dressing as a man (Polly) in a homoerotic friendship with a possibly male, possibly female, genderfluid vampire. This becomes a polyamorous thing with a female werewolf... not only bisexual but "inter-racial" between people of three seperate species.
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Context WMG / MonstrousRegiment