There was an interesting point made, however, that I keep circling back to -- how until the farce of Wilde's trial and the ensuing fear that men together were acting inappropriately it was a lot more acceptable for men to be physically affectionate with each other ('Kiss me, Hardy') and so naturally I wonder just *how* much that affection could be shown publicly without inciting suspicion. Absolutely. And there was another crack-down on men-expressing-affection in the late 20th c. I don't remember now where I read it, but I saw somewhere that Georgian sailors could express a lot more affection than would be acceptable to modern eyes.
Yes, Barbara is SUCH a 20th c. male fantasy -- she may be "mannish" for 1808, but there's nothing about her that's unfeminine for 1937.
And yes, I do want the Barbara/Maria story, although I fear there that's still just Barbara interacting with another woman for a man's benefit. Oh, it could be, certainly. I think it's up to the author whether it is, though.
(This is just making me want to work on my gender-swap story, which always ends up being very funny because the male versions of Marie and Barbara exist ONLY to be there for women.) Yay, more stories!
*does the more fic cringe* Hush, that ficlet was the high point of my morning. Your fic brings genuine pleasure to other people, and you have my permission to tell yourself that as often as you need to.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2019-09-15 07:53 pm (UTC)Yes, Barbara is SUCH a 20th c. male fantasy -- she may be "mannish" for 1808, but there's nothing about her that's unfeminine for 1937.
And yes, I do want the Barbara/Maria story, although I fear there that's still just Barbara interacting with another woman for a man's benefit. Oh, it could be, certainly. I think it's up to the author whether it is, though.
(This is just making me want to work on my gender-swap story, which always ends up being very funny because the male versions of Marie and Barbara exist ONLY to be there for women.) Yay, more stories!
*does the more fic cringe* Hush, that ficlet was the high point of my morning. Your fic brings genuine pleasure to other people, and you have my permission to tell yourself that as often as you need to.