A few thoughts on Malahide...
I mentioned this to a few people in the chatroom a while back, and I figured I'd post it here for everyone to consider. Some thoughts on Malahide and her looks...
If you've finished DS, you know that at a young age, Malahide traded a very *ahem* personal item in exchange for her Talent. She says that she did so willingly, being quite glad to be rid of it, as she already felt as though she were a little girl (aka transgender-- her gender identity didn't match her biological sex). Of course this didn't actually make her into a woman physically; it just made her "not male" anymore, and she chose to portray herself as female.
The closest historical correlation that I can see is a eunuch or castrato, who were either castrated or had their genitals removed to preserve aspects of boyishness (singing voice or sex appeal, inability to have sex with a woman, etc.). One example of this from modern times is David Reimer, who was born a boy and had his penis tragically destroyed during a botched circumcision, so his parents decided to remove his testicles and raise him as a girl (bad idea, btw!). If you skip forward about a minute in this video, you'll see him as an adult:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noqRhuE8_XA&NR=1
Also, here's a picture, though it isn't as clear as it could be because he's wearing loose clothing and his hand is in an odd position, but can you see how his shoulders are very narrow, and his body looks like it should be larger to fit his head?
People who have no sex hormones of any kind will have smaller skeletal structures and less musculature, often making their head look too large for their body. David's neck in particular looks really thin in the video, and he has no adam's apple and very sparse facial hair (and he might be taking artificial hormones that create the facial hair). I'm guessing Malahide had her testicles removed also, because just removing the penis wouldn't make her look less masculine-- it's the lack of hormones that does it. When Rook describes her as "a boy in a dress," he's pretty much right on the mark: (s)he never went through puberty and still has a slender, delicate boy's body.
Anyway, that's my two cents on what Malahide's deal is and what she'd look like. I can't draw, so this is the closest I can do to fanart LOL. I saw David on Oprah years ago, and he immediately popped into my mind when I read Malahide. Any thoughts?
If you've finished DS, you know that at a young age, Malahide traded a very *ahem* personal item in exchange for her Talent. She says that she did so willingly, being quite glad to be rid of it, as she already felt as though she were a little girl (aka transgender-- her gender identity didn't match her biological sex). Of course this didn't actually make her into a woman physically; it just made her "not male" anymore, and she chose to portray herself as female.
The closest historical correlation that I can see is a eunuch or castrato, who were either castrated or had their genitals removed to preserve aspects of boyishness (singing voice or sex appeal, inability to have sex with a woman, etc.). One example of this from modern times is David Reimer, who was born a boy and had his penis tragically destroyed during a botched circumcision, so his parents decided to remove his testicles and raise him as a girl (bad idea, btw!). If you skip forward about a minute in this video, you'll see him as an adult:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noqRhuE8_XA&NR=1
Also, here's a picture, though it isn't as clear as it could be because he's wearing loose clothing and his hand is in an odd position, but can you see how his shoulders are very narrow, and his body looks like it should be larger to fit his head?
People who have no sex hormones of any kind will have smaller skeletal structures and less musculature, often making their head look too large for their body. David's neck in particular looks really thin in the video, and he has no adam's apple and very sparse facial hair (and he might be taking artificial hormones that create the facial hair). I'm guessing Malahide had her testicles removed also, because just removing the penis wouldn't make her look less masculine-- it's the lack of hormones that does it. When Rook describes her as "a boy in a dress," he's pretty much right on the mark: (s)he never went through puberty and still has a slender, delicate boy's body.
Anyway, that's my two cents on what Malahide's deal is and what she'd look like. I can't draw, so this is the closest I can do to fanart LOL. I saw David on Oprah years ago, and he immediately popped into my mind when I read Malahide. Any thoughts?