[Mkguild] Distant Voices

[Alex Green]

Just a few points I'd like to add;

You should be able to access the link if you're a member of the *TSA-Talk
mailing list*. It's the *TSA-Talk mailing list* archive. The sign-in page
requires the email address and password that you used to sign-up for
the *TSA-Talk
mailing list*.

I posted this link because although the story has many non-cannon elements,
I thought it would be a good idea to see how Malisa's creator intended her
to be.

The biggest issue with the story is it basically outright states that
anyone with the TG curse can switch between genders while explaining the
reason Malisa can't. It also talks about portals to other universes. There
were a few other little details of questionable canonicity as well.

Calling herself Matt isn't just a throwback to her male name; it's an
important part of her character. She despises her sex change so much that
she tries to do everything she possibly can to remain masculine; she uses
what little control over the curse she has to force her breasts as small as
possible; she cuts her hair short; she wears men's clothes; she exercises
for hours at a time to maintain a more masculine figure; and she has
everyone refer to her as Matt or Matthew. She is referred to as Matt 112
times and Matthew 31 times in the story. She's only referred to as Malisa
once.

That particular story was posted November 27th only five days after the
original Metamor Keep story was posted. (looks like Metamor Keep just
celebrated it's 17th birthday last Saturday. We should really make some
sort of effort to point out the anniversary every year. (Metamor Keep was
posted to the TSA-Talk list on Saturday, November 22nd 1997.)) A lot of
stories from the first two weeks had issues especially because it took a
while for Copernicus to lay down the rules for the setting. Even
Copernicus's second story (an attempt to fix a continuity error) was later
declared non-canon when the original reason for the continuity error was
retconned.

I found the rest of Winc's (Mal's, Matt's, Matthew's, Malisa's (wow, that's
almost as many names as Hawl has)) stories in the Distant Voices arc and
Metamor Keep universe. I can't comment on them as I haven't read them yet.

The Team
Part 1 http://lists.integral.org/private/tsa-talk/1997-November/019217.html
Part 2 http://lists.integral.org/private/tsa-talk/1997-November/019282.html

Midtown
Part 1 http://lists.integral.org/private/tsa-talk/1997-December/019474.html
Part 2 http://lists.integral.org/private/tsa-talk/1997-December/019475.html

Three days after Midtown was posted, Winc left the TSA-Talk mailing list
<http://lists.integral.org/private/tsa-talk/1997-December/019740.html>, and
asked for someone to take over Malisa and her story line. I don't know if
anyone ever did, but there's nothing in the official archive about this
story line so for all practical purposes the answer is no.

Scratch that, Winc came back a month later, re-posted an edited
version of Distant
Voices <http://lists.integral.org/private/tsa-talk/1998-January/020564.html>,
posted some notes on the storyline
<http://lists.integral.org/private/tsa-talk/1998-April/023181.html>, posted
three <http://lists.integral.org/private/tsa-talk/1998-April/023180.html>
more <http://lists.integral.org/private/tsa-talk/1998-April/023182.html>
parts <http://lists.integral.org/private/tsa-talk/1998-April/023183.html>,
changed
names again, and promised to post more MK
<http://lists.integral.org/private/tsa-talk/1999-February/032546.html>, and
that's as much as I've found so far.

Also, I found a bit more on Jenn:

Character info:
http://lists.integral.org/private/tsa-talk/1997-December/019324.html
Story: The Alchemy of Love (Part 1)
http://lists.integral.org/private/tsa-talk/1997-December/019323.html

I didn't find a second part to Alchemy of love.

I hope this was helpful, or informative, or at least not too confusing,
-AlexSurikat

On Wed, Nov 26, 2014 at 9:09 AM, Azariah Wolf <azariahwolf at gmail.com> wrote:

>  I strongly object to you using your own stories as grounds for
> determining the canonicity of a story.  If you had left it at "people can
> change between genders", which I can neither confirm nor deny because I
> can't access the story in question, maybe I'd go easier on you, but your
> second paragraph goes on to basically proclaim your stories as gospel canon
> by stating that the character has long black hair and large breasts.  Alex
> already stated that yours are the only stories where these details are
> mentioned outside of Distant Voices, and I'm more inclined to go with what
> appears to have been an origin story than with what you added seven years
> later from personal preference.
>
> Also, having the character called Matt is likely as much a callback to her
> male name, and thus has no bearing on whether or not this story is canon.
>
> Considering that the archive dates this story at some time in 1997, I
> would say that the oddity of letting people change genders is most likely a
> misunderstanding of what was at that time a new story universe.  I move to
> consider the description of the character in the story as canon, while
> leaving the story itself outside of canon due to this misunderstanding.
>
> -LurkingWolf
>
>
> On 11/26/2014 4:24 AM, kyle.vernon at gmail.com wrote:
>
>  http://lists.integral.org/private/tsa-talk/1997-November/019174.html
>
>  Alex brought this story to our attention, I previously didn't know the
> tale existed and I don't think many of us did. I vote that it's added to
> the non-canon section. I haven't finished reading it, but in it some people
> afflicted with the curse can change to and from the two sexes, which is not
> the case in the series proper.
>
> Additionally, Malisa's physical appearance is different than what it's
> been listed in the canon events (Small breasts, short brown hair Vs. Large
> Breasts, long black hair) and finally she goes by Matt instead of Malisa.
>
> Incidentally, I do find it interesting that a few elements of Malisa's
> character that I thought I had made up are in this story. Eh, not quite
> sure what to make of it.
>
> All in favor?
>
>
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