I flailed madly when I saw the link on the Quibbler report this morning. Then I flailed some more when I saw your Author's Notes.
I haven't stopped yet.
So much love for what you did with the prompt. Your take on the late 19th/early 20th sexologists (love Oxwald and his Wizardiana) and how – as problematic as much of their work was – they helped women to make sense of themselves is spot on, as is Will's reaction to what she reads.
They were books that talked about her, about the way she'd always felt, and they said things that were fascinating and mad and bad, infuriating, illuminating, laughable, amazing, and sometimes even true. Will couldn't stop reading them, even the ones that tried to tell her she was unnatural.
This. Krafft-Ebing is vile stuff, but at least where I come from, he (quite inadvertently) triggered the first attempts at a lesbian sexual liberation. And I love how your Irma makes sense of Will and of herself – still in terms of male/female attributes (as she would!) but seeing the nuances and knowing that her desire are no more "pseudo" than Will's only because she has lovely curves and longer hair.
"Not manly in the same way you are, no. But there are many different ways for us to be what we are." And she turned gently turned Will's head and kissed her. In its own way, this move was a glorious "manifestation of courage and bravado," and Will responded with enthusiasm.
In fact, your whole use of the male/female dichotomy is great. Not only does it place us perfectly in the period and its thinking, but it also makes for some damn hot sex.
I'm not telling you anything new when I say that I love your Will – her outdoorsiness, her non-bookish common sense and her wonderful voice.
Those silly story-books were all the same, anyway -- the girls were always such twits, and if you did find a jolly, adventurous heroine, she always seemed to end up twisting her spine or hurting her legs and then spending half the book flat on her back learning to knit and be kind. -- I have a feeling that this is based on empirical research. *g*
If men, when looking at women, felt a sudden tightening in their groin; if they felt that they wanted to know the sensation of a woman's lips on their own and wanted to feel a woman's soft breast in their hand; if they wanted to inhale the tantalizing musky scent that sometimes threatened to overwhelm Will in the Quidditch shower room, well, then, Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank did undoubtedly feel what men felt, too. -- Lovely glimpse of young Will's budding feelings and desires!
Will had no objection to walking anywhere with boys; she enjoyed their company. But for the life of her, she couldn't see why she needed curly hair to do it. -- Death by flail.
"So then am I the only person in wizarding Britain who doesn't know about these. . .inserts?" ... "The Restrict. . .you mean inverts are Dark wizards?" -- *g*.
Will wasn't sure if she had a "masculine soul," but she knew that there was very definitely something heaving in her female bosom. She had a sudden intense yearning to feel Irma's hands on her bare skin, and the only thing that kept her from summarily Vanishing the tweeds and her undershirt altogether was an obscure sense that such a move might be a tad precipitous as this stage. -- Example x of n of what I love about your Wilhelmina's voice.
Also, just as much love for your Irma. Looks, books, satiny bits, her not-so-manly-but-still-decidedly-inverted self-confidence, and her matter-of-factness. Laughed out loud at the sheer multi-level perfection of "Of course not," said Irma. "You're an invert." OMG. And the whole dialogue that follows.
The sex scene is perfection – erotic, IC, and I love that Will isn't the only one who gets a new pleasure here.
Please send me the ISBN of The Joy of Wizarding Inversion.
I flailed madly when I saw the link on the Quibbler report this morning. Then I flailed some more when I saw your Author's Notes.
I haven't stopped yet.
So much love for what you did with the prompt. Your take on the late 19th/early 20th sexologists (love Oxwald and his Wizardiana) and how – as problematic as much of their work was – they helped women to make sense of themselves is spot on, as is Will's reaction to what she reads.
They were books that talked about her, about the way she'd always felt, and they said things that were fascinating and mad and bad, infuriating, illuminating, laughable, amazing, and sometimes even true. Will couldn't stop reading them, even the ones that tried to tell her she was unnatural.
This. Krafft-Ebing is vile stuff, but at least where I come from, he (quite inadvertently) triggered the first attempts at a lesbian sexual liberation. And I love how your Irma makes sense of Will and of herself – still in terms of male/female attributes (as she would!) but seeing the nuances and knowing that her desire are no more "pseudo" than Will's only because she has lovely curves and longer hair.
"Not manly in the same way you are, no. But there are many different ways for us to be what we are." And she turned gently turned Will's head and kissed her.
In its own way, this move was a glorious "manifestation of courage and bravado," and Will responded with enthusiasm.
In fact, your whole use of the male/female dichotomy is great. Not only does it place us perfectly in the period and its thinking, but it also makes for some damn hot sex.
I'm not telling you anything new when I say that I love your Will – her outdoorsiness, her non-bookish common sense and her wonderful voice.
Those silly story-books were all the same, anyway -- the girls were always such twits, and if you did find a jolly, adventurous heroine, she always seemed to end up twisting her spine or hurting her legs and then spending half the book flat on her back learning to knit and be kind. -- I have a feeling that this is based on empirical research. *g*
If men, when looking at women, felt a sudden tightening in their groin; if they felt that they wanted to know the sensation of a woman's lips on their own and wanted to feel a woman's soft breast in their hand; if they wanted to inhale the tantalizing musky scent that sometimes threatened to overwhelm Will in the Quidditch shower room, well, then, Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank did undoubtedly feel what men felt, too. -- Lovely glimpse of young Will's budding feelings and desires!
Will had no objection to walking anywhere with boys; she enjoyed their company. But for the life of her, she couldn't see why she needed curly hair to do it. -- Death by flail.
"So then am I the only person in wizarding Britain who doesn't know about these. . .inserts?"
...
"The Restrict. . .you mean inverts are Dark wizards?" -- *g*.
Will wasn't sure if she had a "masculine soul," but she knew that there was very definitely something heaving in her female bosom. She had a sudden intense yearning to feel Irma's hands on her bare skin, and the only thing that kept her from summarily Vanishing the tweeds and her undershirt altogether was an obscure sense that such a move might be a tad precipitous as this stage. -- Example x of n of what I love about your Wilhelmina's voice.
Also, just as much love for your Irma. Looks, books, satiny bits, her not-so-manly-but-still-decidedly-inverte
The sex scene is perfection – erotic, IC, and I love that Will isn't the only one who gets a new pleasure here.
Please send me the ISBN of The Joy of Wizarding Inversion.