Continuing with the theme of help coming from unexpected places, it’s actually Biff who comes up with an idea. O_O;
I’m not sure whether her assertion that she’s got a bigger brain now is actually accurate – that might be her subjective impression, but I would think it’s just as likely that the actual difference doesn’t lay in the size of the brain, but the usage. Biff’s past version had a long-standing habit of not using his brain, or at least not using it at any meaningful depth. The new Biff might not necessarily have a lot more in terms of raw brainpower, but she’s more willing to put what she has to use. Of course, that’s just my theory, and a plausible alternative theory involves the fact that the new Biff isn’t involved in concussion-inducing contact sports anymore…although, I guess “adventuring in a fantasy world” would count as a concussion-inducing contact sport, at least for characters that aren’t thieves or magic-users…
While the new Biff is more willing to put her brainpower to work, it’s still a new and exciting experience for her – and getting the kind of big idea she got today is still somewhat overwhelming for her, as you can see. But that’s nothing compared to how utterly floored Biff’s old coach would be if somebody could tell him that Biff has actually understood and processed something that he tried to tell him – even if it comes years after the fact, it’s still much more than the coach would ever have dared to hope for from Biff. ._. (Of course, if somebody wanted to make a sport out of flooring the coach, they could easily knock him over a second time by telling him that Biff has tits now.)
Following the age-old tradition of cliffhangers and associated tricks, the actual nature of Biff’s epiphany remains undisclosed for the time being. >_>
More on Thursday.
In fairness, Biff’s sudden intelligence might be a reverse of the adage, “When all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.” Jock!Biff was all about hitting things; whether that thing be something else or Biff himself. He’d hit something or something would hit him, everyone else would do their thing, and the day would be saved and a job well done. Didn’t matter how much he helped (or contributed) to the problem, Biff did his thing and positive results EVENTUALLY followed.
But Thief!Biff just doesn’t have the bod to do that (dishing or taking hits) anymore. Her hammer is gone (metaphorically, of course) and with it everything is reverting from the former nail-like state to what they actually are. Biff is now forced to rely on her other neglected skill sets. She’s still turning to her sports training, but now she’s focusing on the actual advice.
Yeah, that’s pretty much what I meant – oldstyle!Biff wasn’t really stupid as such, he just had a well-established habit not to think before acting. And the key factor in that is that it always worked out for him, from his earliest youth, throughout his ‘academic’ career and into his adventurers with the others. It’s hard to shake somebody out of a habit of such long and early standing, but giving them a completely different body, especially when it’s of the opposite gender, might just be enough to do the trick. XD