This is a lovely story of discovery . . . the quotes are inspired, and I really like the backstory you give Will. The dorm scene in particular is very telling. I never really thought about it, having never gone to a boarding school myself, but the pressure to conform must be intense. I love how she handles it, though - her confusion must have been both disarming and exasperating to her schoolmates.
And I love how Irma recognizes her and is unafraid to say so, then opens her eyes to the riches untold which lie in books; she'd already had an inkling of self-recognition in one before, and now she gets to experience so much more. And Will is smart enough not to take everything there at face value: they said things that were fascinating and mad and bad, infuriating, illuminating, laughable, amazing, and sometimes even true. Books can seem so authoritative, that it is sometimes hard for even those of us who know better to remember that their presumptions can be wrong. It's sad to think of a younger girl reading books that call her and what she feels 'unnatural'.
But then there's that fact that magical sex manuals (and toys :-) ) are so much more fun than are plain old muggle ones. ::g:: Lucky ladies, lovely story!
This is a lovely story of discovery . . . the quotes are inspired, and I really like the backstory you give Will. The dorm scene in particular is very telling. I never really thought about it, having never gone to a boarding school myself, but the pressure to conform must be intense. I love how she handles it, though - her confusion must have been both disarming and exasperating to her schoolmates.
And I love how Irma recognizes her and is unafraid to say so, then opens her eyes to the riches untold which lie in books; she'd already had an inkling of self-recognition in one before, and now she gets to experience so much more. And Will is smart enough not to take everything there at face value: they said things that were fascinating and mad and bad, infuriating, illuminating, laughable, amazing, and sometimes even true. Books can seem so authoritative, that it is sometimes hard for even those of us who know better to remember that their presumptions can be wrong. It's sad to think of a younger girl reading books that call her and what she feels 'unnatural'.
But then there's that fact that magical sex manuals (and toys :-) ) are so much more fun than are plain old muggle ones. ::g:: Lucky ladies, lovely story!