![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bad_addictFirst of all, in plain view, a brief note on why I am keeping Mal's spoiler as a spoiler. It isn't something that will affect 98% of his interactions. For the vast, vast majority of the time, it has no bearing on anything at all. In fact, I feel sort of silly for making it seem like such a big deal. Because really? It's not.
However, what it does have bearing on is if you decide to read Monstrous Regiment.Which, if you haven't, you should, so that you can app people from my canon. For one thing, Maladict's spoiler is not revealed until near the end of the book, so it would spoil you for a considerable portion of the canon. For another thing, despite not being revealed until the end, I think that it would also set you on the road to being semi-spoiled for a large part of one of the major themes/events of the book. (People who have read MR, what do you think?)
So, it's mainly an OOC/meta issue for me. And really? Unless you are one of a certain set of people in camp, it's probably "better" if you don't know. And if you are one of those certain people and/or are in a situation where it comes up, I'll ask you OOC if it's all right to spoil you. Really, if you plan on reading the book and would rather not know, feel free to say so, and I'll conjure up something.
Aaaand, it's LJ-cut time. Below lies both SPOILER (for Mal and MR in general) and some of my speculation on it.
Maladict's female. Name's Maladicta, actually.
Given her relief at telling Polly near the end of the book and her willingness tomaterialise out of thin air show up in full female military uniform at the very end of the book, she's quite happy with being female and is not transgender in any way.
She just doesn't like how other people deal with her being female.
While vampires have it better off than the majority of the Borogravian population, women vampires are still pretty hemmed in by custom, and I doubt that they are able to freely flout all of the religious laws of the land, despite their ability to kick serious arse. Despite joining the military and not showing any terrible sort of rebellion against the military hierarchy, I would say that Maladict enjoys being in control, both of himself and of others.Ahaha, I'm so used to using male pronouns for him, they just sort of appear now. Watch me totally mix and match. While he doesn't necessarily go out of his way to push people around, he very much enjoys letting them know that they can't push him around. Whatever obedience or respect he gives to his superiors? He makes it very clear that he's doing it because he is playing along -- the way that he thinly veils his threats and intimidation with a pleasant and friendly manner goes along well with this, in my opinion. (Think Hakkai-esque: I'm so friendly and helpful and could strangle you with your own intestines and I'm so glad we can agree on this! ♥)
Needless to say, having a very particular way that she is supposed to act -- and a helpless, subservient way at that -- just because she's female probably doesn't sit too well. Just a hunch. Again, being a vampire (and presumably well-off, materially speaking), it isn't as bad for him as it is for others. Gives us sort of a Poor Little Rich Girl scenario. Only actually sympathetic, because the lot for women in Borogravia sucks ass. But anyways.
Unless you're a god-modder (e.g. Aziraphale) or have gender-fu (e.g. Umeda), you will not be able to tell that he is female. In the book, even when the rest of the regiment has admitted to being female, opening up the very real possibility that Maladict is also female and causing at least Polly to actively try to figure out if s/he is, none of them can figure it out for sure. It is possible that Sergeant Jackrum could tell, but: 1) Jackrum probably has gender-fu, and 2) Jackrum never says either way, so while he might just feel it best to leave Mal his secret, Jackrum also might genuinely not know for sure himself. So basically, even under close scrutiny, Mal's gender remains indecipherable.
A couple interp things regarding the above...
The reason that I think Maladict can pull of male so well is that, unlike the others, he isn't trying to pass himself off as male. Maladict is a cocky bastard. Because he's a good guy, he's badass. If he were a bad guy, he would be... well, an annoying and insufferably cocky bastard. He has a hell of a lot of confidence, some of which comes from his own character and some of which comes just from being a vampire. It's generally accepted in Discworld that one does not mess with vampires.
So, what he says goes, which has a lot to do with him projecting the attitude that what he says will go or he will have to choke a bitch and we don't want that, right? Maladict says you're going to let him enlist in the army? Maladict is enlisted in the army. Maladict says that there's good beer hidden in the back and you're going to bring it out? You can't figure out why you didn't think of that before. Maladict 'says' (through his name, appearance and how he refers to himself) that he's male? Why on earth would you think otherwise!
The other interp thing regarding the canon mentioned above concerns why he didn't tell the group the he was female during their female bonding session, despite later being so relieved to get if off his chest to Polly. This, I think, goes back to the control issue. I wouldn't call Mal a control freak, not exactly -- it's more like I mentioned above, that she doesn't usually want to order you around, but like hell is she going to let you have control over her. Maintaining her secret keeps her in control of that part of herself and gives her a one-up on the rest of the girls. It also adds to his Mysterious (And Thus, Badass And Totally Cool) Image.
And despite sort of assigning himself the role of regiment uncle, he really doesn't get especially close with the group. He's made a corporal relatively early on, which I feel sort of symbolises the distance he keeps between himself and the others, however little the rank might actually mean within the group. He's lone wolf-like. The only reason that he's passing for male and joining the army is for himself -- unlike many in the group, he's not searching for someone or running away with someone. This is for the Number One. A self-centered sort of guy? Yeah, I'd say so.
(By the end, of course, Polly and he are friends. Thus, the disclosure. But more on Polly another time!)
So, to sum up? Maladict's a girl. But mainly, Maladict is Maladict -- self-assured, cynical, independent, snarky and not as mature as he appears. He'll be keeping his secret, a little bit on the off-chance that anyone from Borogravia should show up, but mostly because: it doesn't really make no mind to him, it's habit by now, and he likes having secrets.
Ahaha, wow this was disorganised and incoherent. Hopefully a bit informational, though. For me, at the very least. Be a little sad if I wasn't helped by my own essaying, given that it's probably not good enough to help anyone else. Okay! Brain goes to bed now!
However, what it does have bearing on is if you decide to read Monstrous Regiment.
So, it's mainly an OOC/meta issue for me. And really? Unless you are one of a certain set of people in camp, it's probably "better" if you don't know. And if you are one of those certain people and/or are in a situation where it comes up, I'll ask you OOC if it's all right to spoil you. Really, if you plan on reading the book and would rather not know, feel free to say so, and I'll conjure up something.
Aaaand, it's LJ-cut time. Below lies both SPOILER (for Mal and MR in general) and some of my speculation on it.
Maladict's female. Name's Maladicta, actually.
Given her relief at telling Polly near the end of the book and her willingness to
She just doesn't like how other people deal with her being female.
While vampires have it better off than the majority of the Borogravian population, women vampires are still pretty hemmed in by custom, and I doubt that they are able to freely flout all of the religious laws of the land, despite their ability to kick serious arse. Despite joining the military and not showing any terrible sort of rebellion against the military hierarchy, I would say that Maladict enjoys being in control, both of himself and of others.
Needless to say, having a very particular way that she is supposed to act -- and a helpless, subservient way at that -- just because she's female probably doesn't sit too well. Just a hunch. Again, being a vampire (and presumably well-off, materially speaking), it isn't as bad for him as it is for others. Gives us sort of a Poor Little Rich Girl scenario. Only actually sympathetic, because the lot for women in Borogravia sucks ass. But anyways.
Unless you're a god-modder (e.g. Aziraphale) or have gender-fu (e.g. Umeda), you will not be able to tell that he is female. In the book, even when the rest of the regiment has admitted to being female, opening up the very real possibility that Maladict is also female and causing at least Polly to actively try to figure out if s/he is, none of them can figure it out for sure. It is possible that Sergeant Jackrum could tell, but: 1) Jackrum probably has gender-fu, and 2) Jackrum never says either way, so while he might just feel it best to leave Mal his secret, Jackrum also might genuinely not know for sure himself. So basically, even under close scrutiny, Mal's gender remains indecipherable.
A couple interp things regarding the above...
The reason that I think Maladict can pull of male so well is that, unlike the others, he isn't trying to pass himself off as male. Maladict is a cocky bastard. Because he's a good guy, he's badass. If he were a bad guy, he would be... well, an annoying and insufferably cocky bastard. He has a hell of a lot of confidence, some of which comes from his own character and some of which comes just from being a vampire. It's generally accepted in Discworld that one does not mess with vampires.
So, what he says goes, which has a lot to do with him projecting the attitude that what he says will go or he will have to choke a bitch and we don't want that, right? Maladict says you're going to let him enlist in the army? Maladict is enlisted in the army. Maladict says that there's good beer hidden in the back and you're going to bring it out? You can't figure out why you didn't think of that before. Maladict 'says' (through his name, appearance and how he refers to himself) that he's male? Why on earth would you think otherwise!
The other interp thing regarding the canon mentioned above concerns why he didn't tell the group the he was female during their female bonding session, despite later being so relieved to get if off his chest to Polly. This, I think, goes back to the control issue. I wouldn't call Mal a control freak, not exactly -- it's more like I mentioned above, that she doesn't usually want to order you around, but like hell is she going to let you have control over her. Maintaining her secret keeps her in control of that part of herself and gives her a one-up on the rest of the girls. It also adds to his Mysterious (And Thus, Badass And Totally Cool) Image.
And despite sort of assigning himself the role of regiment uncle, he really doesn't get especially close with the group. He's made a corporal relatively early on, which I feel sort of symbolises the distance he keeps between himself and the others, however little the rank might actually mean within the group. He's lone wolf-like. The only reason that he's passing for male and joining the army is for himself -- unlike many in the group, he's not searching for someone or running away with someone. This is for the Number One. A self-centered sort of guy? Yeah, I'd say so.
(By the end, of course, Polly and he are friends. Thus, the disclosure. But more on Polly another time!)
So, to sum up? Maladict's a girl. But mainly, Maladict is Maladict -- self-assured, cynical, independent, snarky and not as mature as he appears. He'll be keeping his secret, a little bit on the off-chance that anyone from Borogravia should show up, but mostly because: it doesn't really make no mind to him, it's habit by now, and he likes having secrets.
Ahaha, wow this was disorganised and incoherent. Hopefully a bit informational, though. For me, at the very least. Be a little sad if I wasn't helped by my own essaying, given that it's probably not good enough to help anyone else. Okay! Brain goes to bed now!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
on 2006-06-23 04:17 am (UTC)And what Mal doesn't know that other people know won't hurt him... her... him... whatever...
...and I was about to say something about River psychically freaking out Mal, but the first person who's caught on and confronted her ICly has been Umeda, who's damn near psychic when it comes to cross-dressers, so. XD