This story was a lot of fun to listen to and reminded me fondly of Robin Hobb's character, Althea Vestrit, from The Live Ship Traders..
I'm not fully done with this tale yet, but I had to get this off my chest... I hated the Live Ship Traders. So grimdark. So rapey. Urgh. I liked the first book, started to get uncomfortable with the second, and couldn't finish the third.
Did I hear that right? Amarantia got her handmaidens pregnant before running off to become a pirate?
Did I hear that right? Amarantia got her handmaidens pregnant before running off to become a pirate?
Yeah, I noticed that... I think it was supposed to be a "we will gloss over this to maintain the prudish voice," but actually I think the author erred - too much gloss, too much uncertainty.
Did I hear that right? Amarantia got her handmaidens pregnant before running off to become a pirate?
Yeah, I noticed that... I think it was supposed to be a "we will gloss over this to maintain the prudish voice," but actually I think the author erred - too much gloss, too much uncertainty.
The uncertainty didn't bother me. I'm just wondering if she played with the amulet a bit with her handmaidens while the chaperone was doing something else with the eunuch parked in front of her door. On my next listen I'll try to see where the saucy stuff was happening. Victorian (style) writing has some really naughty material, they just never tell you any of it.
Did I hear that right? Amarantia got her handmaidens pregnant before running off to become a pirate?
Given that their mistress seems only interested in men with Rugby player's legs, I rather suspect the maids were enjoying the company of the sailors.
Did I hear that right? Amarantia got her handmaidens pregnant before running off to become a pirate?
Given that their mistress seems only interested in men with Rugby player's legs, I rather suspect the maids were enjoying the company of the sailors.
That was what I assumed, too, at least in part because the chaperone wasn't hired to watch over them...
This story had me tied up in a couple knots. At the opening, I found the lengthy interludes giving elaborate backgrounds to the characters to be awkward, but despite their somewhat clumsy length, it was my favorite part of the story as it managed a lengthy sidelong bout of worldbuilding. I know a proper editorial attack on the story would've demanded excision or at least sizeable reduction of those backgrounds, but it really came off as a unique, fun little self-aware affectation; a style specific to the story that became quickly endearing.
My real trouble, though, is with the story's sexual politics. (Let me be clear; I mean that specifically. Not the politics of gender in this story, but specifically the politics of the sexual relations that take place.) The main character dons the magical talisman in order to avoid rape and murder at the hands of the pirates. However, he/she is converted to a man and bargains for passage with his implied ransom. Couldn't he/she have bargained for the same as a woman? An obvious reply would be that it would be naïve to think a woman aboard the pirate vessel wouldn't be raped anyway, except that the pirate captain apparently intended designs on the main character as a man, anyway. But the truly confounding thing is that our main character, having (apparently) narrowly avoided being raped as a woman, proceeds (once drunk) to jump into bed with the very same potential rapist as a man, and enters into a lengthy physical, if not romantic relationship with him. I've tried and can't really resolve this apparent contradiction without some really distasteful conclusions about the story.
I'd have to go back and listen to it, so correct me if I'm wrong, but was it really rape that was the issue, or was it sex generally? That is, that whole prizing of virginity thing as Araminta's marriage value would plummet if people couldn't absolutely guarantee she'd never been alone with a dude? That's what I got out of all the comically elaborate protections for her virginity when she boarded the ship--sleeping between two maids, with more servants at the foot of the bed, plus the amulet for in case "The Worst" happens. It's just as much about protecting her from any whiff of impropriety as it is about not being raped (I mean, I'm sure rape was on the spectrum of things they were concerned about, but I think things extremely far from rape were also of concern).
There was some clear indication that there was man-man love going on in the sailors' quarters. That being said, in a world of propriety, no one would ever admit that sort of thing goes on. In the world of society and propriety, turning Araminta into a man would protect her from having sex because homosexual encounters just don't occur.
You know, on second thought, I'm not sure this would be a fantasy rom-com. The more I read the premise above, the more it sounds like porn. Weird porn. Weird fantasy genderswapping porn. That said, I'm not sure that would be a bad thing...
You know, on second thought, I'm not sure this would be a fantasy rom-com. The more I read the premise above, the more it sounds like porn. Weird porn. Weird fantasy genderswapping porn. That said, I'm not sure that would be a bad thing...
I'm sure there's a market for it. :)
I didn't think it was necessarily because there was an assumption homosexual encounters don't occur.
I didn't think it was necessarily because there was an assumption homosexual encounters don't occur.
I didn't think homosexual people existed in Proper Victorian Society and the literature that reflected it. That makes the nod to the homosexual encounters actually happening more impactful drawing the line between fact and fiction.
I didn't think it was necessarily because there was an assumption homosexual encounters don't occur.
I didn't think homosexual people existed in Proper Victorian Society and the literature that reflected it. That makes the nod to the homosexual encounters actually happening more impactful drawing the line between fact and fiction.
I've been trying to think about what I'd do if I had an amulet that could swap my biological sex at will. Somehow I can't get past sarcastic stuff like "ask for a raise", much less figuring out what my love life would look like. :P
You know, on second thought, I'm not sure this would be a fantasy rom-com. The more I read the premise above, the more it sounds like porn. Weird porn. Weird fantasy genderswapping porn. That said, I'm not sure that would be a bad thing...
I'm sure there's a market for it. :)
Not only that, there's a Podcast (http://nobilis.libsyn.com/) for it! (Not just for that, I should point out, but it would fit perfectly there.)
I've been trying to think about what I'd do if I had an amulet that could swap my biological sex at will. Somehow I can't get past sarcastic stuff like "ask for a raise", much less figuring out what my love life would look like. :P
I've been trying to think about what I'd do if I had an amulet that could swap my biological sex at will. Somehow I can't get past sarcastic stuff like "ask for a raise", much less figuring out what my love life would look like. :P
I think that a person who was willing to use that freely would be amazing in bed. Not even necessarily from sleeping with lots of people, but just being able to be on the receiving end of stimulation of either a female body or male body at will--a few hours alone with that amulet could get a person a lot of experience of what the other half may experience sexually. You could rent it out--just make sure you sterilize it after each lend.
Or even not sexually, but just seeing how other people react to you, converse with you if were male or female.
You could force people found guilty of sexual harassmnet and the like to wear it for some period of time, in an effort to make them understand what it's like to be on the receiving end.
Also, if someone expressed doubt as to her virginity, it's possible that she might be physically examined to prove that virginity. But if she was male at the time of sex, then I would guess her maidenhead would still be intact when she switches back.But all the work and hearty food greatly physically changed her. Who can say what loss of "male virginity" might translate as...
And as a major bonus, I hear that lacking a uterus is a 100% effective form of birth control--
On a tangent, I wonder what would happen if she got pregnant and then put the amulet on? Would she be a pregnant dude? Would the baby disappear forever? Would the baby just kind of be offstage until she turned back into a woman but then would come back when she did? Maybe the amulet just wouldn't work for the duration of the pregnancy?
Enjoy while male:
- Quicker orgasms
- Pockets
- Grow a beard and have fun wearing it in different styles (Movember!)
- Higher alcohol tolerance
- Easier/simpler fashion choices, and how you basically just need to shower to be presentable in public
- Easier access to male-coded hobbies like automotive stuff, tech, computers, etc
- People generally don't mess with you
Okayokayokay! I've been thinking about this, and with the help of my hilarious husband, have come up with the following list of suggested activities everyone try in case of Magic Amulet Acquisition! (We tried to pick mainly non-depressing stuff, so YMMV)
Enjoy while female:
- Multiple orgasms
- (In USA) Easier to have multiple high-quality friendships with people not your SO (esp with other women)
- Working in an elementary school/with small children without raised eyebrows
- try out pregnancy and see what that's all about
- More variety and range in fashion options
- Easier access to female-coded awesome hobbies like crafts, cooking, dancing, etc
- People generally find you more approachable
Enjoy while male:
- Quicker orgasms
- Pockets
- Grow a beard and have fun wearing it in different styles (Movember!)
- Higher alcohol tolerance
- Easier/simpler fashion choices, and how you basically just need to shower to be presentable in public
- Easier access to male-coded hobbies like automotive stuff, tech, computers, etc
- People generally don't mess with you
Also, since I've mentioned it, The Amulet must have done rather more than just physical changes. It would have to change your Gender Identity too, otherwise you'd get crippling Gender Dysphoria.
Also, since I've mentioned it, The Amulet must have done rather more than just physical changes. It would have to change your Gender Identity too, otherwise you'd get crippling Gender Dysphoria.
Does gender dysphoria really come in "crippling?" I get "unpleasant" and "distracting" and "please God let me win the lottery so I can afford the treatments/surgeries/etc to help me live in a body I can be comfortable with," but... crippling? As in "renders one incapable of dealing with immediately dangerous and life-or-death-situations?" Hm... I'd be willing to listen to someone who has actually experienced gender dysphoria tell me that I'm wrong, but at the moment this doesn't make sense to me.
Sorry, not true... Beards, for example, are not evenly distributed... some are only able to grow hideous moth-eaten greasy crabgrass on their faces. Alcohol tolerance is only higher on average, not universal... just ask the southeast Asians (who generally have vastly less alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme).
Also, since I've mentioned it, The Amulet must have done rather more than just physical changes. It would have to change your Gender Identity too, otherwise you'd get crippling Gender Dysphoria.
Does gender dysphoria really come in "crippling?" I get "unpleasant" and "distracting" and "please God let me win the lottery so I can afford the treatments/surgeries/etc to help me live in a body I can be comfortable with," but... crippling? As in "renders one incapable of dealing with immediately dangerous and life-or-death-situations?" Hm... I'd be willing to listen to someone who has actually experienced gender dysphoria tell me that I'm wrong, but at the moment this doesn't make sense to me.
Oh yes. GD can be literally crippling. I does vary, which is why not all Trans have surgery or even need to live full time in another gender, but I do speak with one woman who, as a man, suffered blackouts and hysterical blindness as symptoms of her dysphoria.
Admittedly, that's a very extreme case, but when stress leads to things like blackouts, seizures, and hysterical blindness/deafness/amnesia, that is a bad sign.
Like, "Get this person away from the stress before it kills her!" kind of bad.
And the woman I mentioned who wants to b a Naval Nurse attempted suicide when she was 14 because of her GD. I'd call that pretty crippling.
The trouble is, and this is true of all mental health problems, that those who do not suffer find it very hard, if not impossible, to appreciate the severity of the illness.
If it helps though, I'll tone down the statement to say you could get crippling Gender Dysphoria.
Sorry, not true... Beards, for example, are not evenly distributed... some are only able to grow hideous moth-eaten greasy crabgrass on their faces. Alcohol tolerance is only higher on average, not universal... just ask the southeast Asians (who generally have vastly less alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme).
...We're agreed about the pockets though, right? :P
Also, I'll take the half-assed beard. ;D
What else SHOULD go on the "do while male" list?
...We're agreed about the pockets though, right? :P
Sorry, not true... Beards, for example, are not evenly distributed... some are only able to grow hideous moth-eaten greasy crabgrass on their faces. Alcohol tolerance is only higher on average, not universal... just ask the southeast Asians (who generally have vastly less alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme).
...We're agreed about the pockets though, right? :P
Also, I'll take the half-assed beard. ;D
What else SHOULD go on the "do while male" list?
Pulchritudinous Princess Procures Phony Penis, Penetrates Pirate, Promotes Populous Petticoat Pockets.