i was gonna ask this in some Q&A community

[slumber]

but asking the flist is so much more fun!

SO! Based on a conversation I'm having with ccharlotte, I would like to know what you--yes, you--would do if the person you are currently seeing (or the last one you were seeing, or someone you would like to be seeing, or the cashier you were flirting with at the store today) ~magically~ switched genders.

• How long have you been seeing this person?
  
• Would you keep seeing this person?
  
• Will the relationship stay romantic, sexual, both, or platonic?
  
• Do you identify as straight, gay, bisexual, asexual, or something else?

Speaking of gender switching-- is this something that, like, could ~hypothetically~ happen in the Harry Potter universe? In Tales of Beedle the Bard, it's mentioned that Transfiguring a person into an animal is not the same as becoming an Animagus, because Transfiguration makes the object of the spell lose his/her consciousness while an Animagus retains it. So if you can Transfigure a living person into a living being, does that not then mean that you can Transfigure a living person into another living person? (Which, incidentally, renders Polyjuice moot, unless the potion is somehow easier to do or something.)

And really, now that I think about it, this goes into two different discussions, doesn't it?

A. Human Transfiguration

It would somehow be possible for (let's say highly-advanced and skilled) wizards to Transfigure people into the other gender (wizarding world's version of sex ops?), then this is probably how mpreg can ultimately happen in the wizarding world, right? Right?

Someone tell me fic for this exists?

B. Law Against Human Transfiguration

In one of the books, Hermione mentions some law of Transfiguration that makes it impossible to Transfigure anything into food, so it would actually make more probable sense to say that there is also likely a Law of Transfiguration (or whatever those were called) that renders human-to-human Transfiguration impossible.

Only, if we can Transfigure people into animals (if Beedle the Bard is to be taken as canon), then why can't we turn them into people?

God, Jo. I would really love it if you were more meticulous with how your universe worked, but that would take all the fun out of writing fics, wouldn't it?

Comments

[onlysayitonce.livejournal.com]

How long have you been seeing this person?
Complicated question. Online relationship. We decided it was more than friends about two and a half months ago. Met up for a week over Christmas break. :) But we've been really really close for longer - year and a half?
Would you keep seeing this person?
Yes.
Will the relationship stay romantic, sexual, both, or platonic?
Um. Yes? It would stay how it is, and probably progress however it would otherwise.
Do you identify as straight, gay, bisexual, asexual, or something else?
Asexual, mostly. The relationship is about the person/personality, rather than sexual attraction. It's confusing and I'm still working it out. Um.

[postingwhore.livejournal.com]

Well, since I'm a polyamorous aromantic...:P
I'd continue loving all of my life partners if any of them magically switched genders. :P

[acidpop25.livejournal.com]

To your first question, I'm not seeing anyone at the moment, but I don't think it'd matter to me all that much as long as the other person was okay with it. I'm bi, so it's sort of a moot point.

To the HP side, your reasoning is sound, and I think that loophole about human-to-human Transfiguration never being explicitly states as impossible is made to be exploited. In HBP weren't they charming their eyebrows different colors and things for class? That implies at least minor modifications are possible, so I don't see why that couldn't be stretched some.

[slumber.livejournal.com]

Awww, that's awesome! :) I didn't even know! Do I know this person?

And I figured when I posted this on my LJ that my sample size would skew towards those with more fluid sexualities (case in point, the first three replies ;P) but that's because my flist is cooler than average. :D

[slumber.livejournal.com]

*g* I was thinking of you in particular when I wrote "or something else"! :P

[slumber.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you don't count. :| :D

To the HP side, your reasoning is sound, and I think that loophole about human-to-human Transfiguration never being explicitly states as impossible is made to be exploited. In HBP weren't they charming their eyebrows different colors and things for class? That implies at least minor modifications are possible, so I don't see why that couldn't be stretched some.

So, uh, if I were to use this plot as an excuse to write an MPREG, would it still be called MPREG? And more importantly, do I somehow, well-- do I now have an excuse to write plausible MPREG? :|

[onlysayitonce.livejournal.com]

Um, war_n_peace? :)

You do have a rather awesome flist. :P I'm not sure you could claim an unbiased sample, though.

[slumber.livejournal.com]

See, I've seen that LJ name mentioned every now and then and it looks like we've got a few common friends too, from the GnH days, but I don't know if I know her/him (see? D:), really. But this does explain your post a while back! :D

Obviously. :P And yeah, I'm not trying to be a statistician here or anything, haha.

[onlysayitonce.livejournal.com]

Ainsi is from GnH, but she was from a generation after you left, I guess? But she's definitely part of our MSN group now. Yeah, I've sort of been thinking I should tell people but... an announcement would seem kind of weird, wouldn't it? I'm not very good at this stuff.

No worries - it just kind of acts of proof of your fantastic taste in friends.

[slumber.livejournal.com]

Aha! See, Ainsi is a familiar name, I do remember it vaguely. *nods* And I know what you mean, I don't announce that sort of thing either, though I also think it would be good to like, know what's going on in general with my flisters. :P HOW DO I RECONCILE BOTH, I have no idea. :|

:D

[onlysayitonce.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think that was her FAP name? I mostly just call her Faily though. |: There should be mandatory, basic-detail updates like, monthly so we can keep track of everyone without people feeling awkward about asking or announcing things. :D?

[slumber.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, yes, I am all for it!

[acidpop25.livejournal.com]

Wellll. I think you'd have to warn that it's at least mpreg-ish so no one's like, "HOW DARE YOU TRY AND TRICK ME INTO READING MPREG YOU BITCH?!" But I don't think you need an excuse, if you like it– I don't think I've ever found truly good mpreg, so on the whole I steer clear, but that's just me.

Out of idle curiosity, did you have a pairing in mind?

[slumber.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's more -ish than not, lol. And that's the thing, I don't absolutely dislike the idea of mpreg, but it's just always annoyed me that the usual explanation for it is, well, not really so much an explanation but a blatant disregard for biological probabilities. Granted, the world is magical, and perhaps I'm speaking out of ignorance as well. Don't knock it til you've tried it, I guess? Mpreg also just tends to come with fluff, too, I feel, and I am just not a fluff reader. :P

None particularly, but Line and I were plotting and the subject of a gender reversal spell came up, and which of our characters would be cool with their partners switching genders (answer: everyone but Terry, lol), and then there was the whole "maybe they do it for kinky sexytimes" theory followed by the "omg what if they have an accident?" scenario that kind of (naturally?) flows from that sort of, uh, conversation. :|

[acidpop25.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Well, I've seen it rationalized decently before, but... yuck, fluff. Fluff is not my thing. I have never yet found a well-crafted angsty mpreg, though I would be all over it if it existed... and it's odd to me, since the topic seems to lend itself to angst, or at least complex drama, really well.

Haha that sounds like a cool premise. Though I think a fair few of my characters might react more along Terry's lines than anything else... I had a genderswap verse once that I toyed with, and my Theo was an absolute wreck.

[slumber.livejournal.com]

The challenge with that is that the idea (of mpreg particularly) itself is so cracktastic that, well, it's hard to try and carry on a "THIS IS SRS BIZNESS" tone, which is also probably why a well-crafted one has thus far been impossible to find.

Also, that was why I was asking about whether or not people would be cool if their partners switched genders. :P Most of mine aren't 6s on the Kinsey scale and would probably swing for the less-preferred gender if it was their partner, but there's also the assumption that the partner would change back.

My Theodore would be fine if his Blaise or Draco changed genders, but I don't think he'd much like it if genderswapping had happened to him, either. :|

[postingwhore.livejournal.com]

XD! Really? XP I actually thought the asexual was for me XD

[acidpop25.livejournal.com]

True. But the nature of fantasy is a certain suspension of disbelief, as well.

I have several characters who fall in the Kinsey 2-5 range who'd be okay, but I suppose I'm thinking of my Theo particularly, since he's so emphatically not straight in most every verse. He may form pretty intense emotional attachments to the women in his life, but sexually? Men.

Haha, well, the genderswap verse is fun for me, because I like torturing my characters. But it gives rise to Theo angsting a lot over, er, her sexuality, since everyone in that verse gets switched, and also, well. Theo makes a pretty girl, and does not care for the resulting harassment.

P.S. Are you on GTalk, or AIM?

[slumber.livejournal.com]

LOL it was, but I know you've adjusted that into polyamorous aromantic, only I couldn't remember the exact term you were using, hence the something else. :P

[postingwhore.livejournal.com]

:P Well, I don't think I've used that term explicitly on lj until now, although I've been using it in everyday conversation. I still consider myself asexual, too, just with more qualifiers than ever, heh.

[slumber.livejournal.com]

There's that, and then there's also the question of what extent disbelief can be suspended. Hm, that would make a great essay topic, actually. ;)

Yeah, a 6 is probably not going to be able to take that all too well.

I'm also coming from a crack-source perspective here because I first thought of genderswap in HP after rewatching this old anime show, Ranma 1/2, that shows genderswap in a humourous light. In terms of character torture, though, well. It'll happen to Terry, sort of. Who do (did?) you PB for girl!Theo?

PS. I am on Gmail but not the chatting. Am at work, so as a matter of, er, principle, I'm avoiding the chatting apps. :|

[slumber.livejournal.com]

just with more qualifiers than ever

lol, that almost sounds like one of those old school ads on TV. :| :D

[acidpop25.livejournal.com]

Well, I am too lazy to write it.

Not at all, snorf. My Theo isn't even all that comfortable in his own skin to begin with. That verse was a silly one on the whole, though. And if memory serves I used Liv Tyler as the PB... though now that I consider it? Leighton Meester would work better if I chose the pics right.

Poor Terry. Pat pat. Theo feels your pain. There was a kind of hilarious scene where Blaise was all like oh hello and Theo was freaking out– in what, it was pointed out, was actually a rather girlish fashion. The phrase 'my face is up here' got used a lot in that verse.

P.S. Ah, ok. Just wondering. ♥

[slumber.livejournal.com]

Haha, I was gonna say. Too much work. :P Plus this would be the sort of topic (suspension of disbelief, the rules and extent of in particular genres of fiction) that would probably be better accompanied by academic references on craft. (HI DATING AN MFA STUDENT CAN YOU TELL, LOL)

Aww, Theo. I ♥ Leighton, though she does often look young and impressionable. And vulnerable.

You know Blaise totally would, too. *giggles* Theo ought to learn to appreciate, um, appreciation. :|

PS. My work ethics, they have loopholes. :| ♥

[acidpop25.livejournal.com]

Especially too much work for me right now, as it is lateish here and I am sick.

Vulnerable is kind of apt for my Theo though, at times. Idk. She's got the dark curly hair and the big dark eyes and the uptight attitude as Blair... and also factor in that my jumping-off point is his mother's young PB, which is Anne Hathaway.

Of course Blaise would. But the notion of sleeping with a girl kind of makes my Theo's skin crawl, and that fact that at that point he is one is just as bad. But also confusing, because Theo still finds Blaise as an individual attractive, and, yeah, you see where I'm going here. Only slightly less unnerving is what a cute boy Tracey makes.

P.S. ...tell me more.

[slumber.livejournal.com]

What time is it over your side of the world?

Hehe, yes, though Anne looks a tad harsher in recent photos than she normally is. I think it's because she's gotten thinner? Leighton's face is a little bit softer, and I love her lips. They pout so very well.

*giggles* I see now where the angst is coming from; 6 on a scale must be so tough. Obviously sexual fluidity makes everything better!

PS. Mainly alluding to the fact that I'm on LJ but not on IM apps during work hours. :|

[acidpop25.livejournal.com]

10:30 at night.

Me too, she has amazing lips. (My girl!Theo PBs both seem to be much softer-featured than Theo normally is– he's got kind of a sharp face, but whatever, that's pretty minor when you're suspending disbelief enough for a genderswap).

Haha. Well, I have a couple verses where there are exceptions for individual girls (born largely to humor friends, admittedly...), but yeah. Idk. Theo himself acknowledges that sexuality is fluid... but his personal preferences, not so much.

P.S. Ah, gotcha.

[slumber.livejournal.com]

Plus seven; will be good to remember in future.

Haha yeah; you gotta work with what you have, right? :P

C'mon, you have to admit the idea is fun. ;)

[acidpop25.livejournal.com]

Oh, definitely fun in my opinion. Theo just disagrees with me. But then, he also dislikes the verse born out of me going, 'LOL, the veela cliché would be hilarious applied to him.' Cannot fathom why. >>

[slumber.livejournal.com]

*gives theo cookie for putting up with you* :| :D gee I don't know, the veela cliche is a very sensible verse premise for him, I think. *whistles*

[acidpop25.livejournal.com]

Lulz. Unwanted attention for him, much? XD His Blaise can't decide if he digs actually being the person seduced now and then, in that verse, or if it's galling that he's not the most lusted-after Slytherin.

[slumber.livejournal.com]

Uh huh. :P

Oh, Blaise, you are such a whore. ♥ For a dude who had two words' worth of existence in the first book, and virtually nothing until the sixth, he's got quite the rep around fandom, doesn't he? I think my favourite part of HBP was still Jo's nod to fen with her "Behold Blaise, he is pretty and rich and yes, everything you said he was." :P

[acidpop25.livejournal.com]

Bwa ha ha, it's true. Though the Blaise I play with is actually very complex and angsty. I don't care for most Blaises in fandom, but hers rocks. Though, yes, he does keep the whoreishness cliché XD

[slumber.livejournal.com]

Thing is, even though there's this fandom-wide notion of Blaise as a, well, fandom broomstick, I think everyone manages to still put their own spin on him.

I was going to follow it up by linking you to some B/T that I read ages ago that I thought was really awesome, but as I was rereading it I remembered that it had Theodore/Neville in it, somehow. And that it was the main ship. And I'm sure it's still brilliant and everything, but right now, um. No. :|

[acidpop25.livejournal.com]

True. I went through a phase of toying with the notion of playing him, actually, but never did.

Confession, I have actually played Theo/Neville. And read a couple. So that wouldn't immediately scare me off.

[arcanetrivia]

How long have you been seeing this person?

Ten years come June.

Would you keep seeing this person?

Absolutely.

Will the relationship stay romantic, sexual, both, or platonic?

I hope it will continue unaltered, which is to say, romantic/sexual. This will require adjustment on my part, since he'd be a girl, but I think that since it would still be him (her?), that I'd learn to cope.

Do you identify as straight, gay, bisexual, asexual, or something else?

As it is, straight. I can appreciate other women aesthetically, but I don't feel sexual urges towards them.

God, Jo. I would really love it if you were more meticulous with how your universe worked

Wouldn't we all?

[maladroitoracle.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm a random person who saw your post linked in the daily_snitch. About your question A, I remember reading a MPREG fic (very probably Harry/Snape or Harry/Draco) where the MPREG was possible by casting a certain spell (or possibly drinking something?) so that the male would have the female reproductive organs for the period of the pregnancy. It's been several years since I've read the fic, so I'm afraid that I don't have a link.

[teshara.livejournal.com]

3.5 years
yes
stay the same
bi/pansexual

new things to play with! W00t!

[snorkackcatcher]

Regarding the genderswitch thing: ignoring the fact that I'd probably be totally freaked out by the whole magic aspect(!), I suppose a relationship would become platonic. Same-sex doesn't really ... erm, cause any disturbance in the Force for me.

As for the HP-specific stuff, you can certainly change your appearance by Transfiguration, but it requires a fair degree of skill. (Polyjuice is just a convenience -- the advantages being that it requires no skill at all if you can get hold of a supply of the potion, and guarantees that you get the look exactly right.) The Trio use Transfiguration to alter Ron's appearance before raiding Gringotts, McGonagall mentions that Aurors do it all the time, and I suppose a Metamorphmagus like Tonks or Teddy in effect does it without a wand.

I don't see why you couldn't Transfigure yourself or someone else into the opposite sex if you can Transfigure them into a different species. Polyjuice apparently enables that -- cf the escape method of Barty Crouch Jnr in GoF, or Hermione and Fleur changing into Harry at Privet Drive in DH -- although that doesn't necessarily imply that the internal anatomy is supposed to change along with the outward appearance. But it might -- in the same way that Crouch Jnr loses a leg when impersonating Moody. In both cases, though, there seems to be a time limitation -- one hour with Polyjuice, and according to JKR Transfigured things tend to revert back to what they started from after a while. So mpreg by this method is probably canonically implausible -- but then if you were worried about plausibility you wouldn't be writing mpreg anyway, right? :).

[verdenia.livejournal.com]

* How long have you been seeing this person?
over 7 years
* Would you keep seeing this person?
absolutely!
* Will the relationship stay romantic, sexual, both, or platonic?
both, for sure!
* Do you identify as straight, gay, bisexual, asexual, or something else?
bi/pan

He'd have a tougher time if I turned into a boy, for sure! He is straight but thinks that gayness is great, so, who knows, maybe for *me*, the boundaries could be stretched, IDK. ;p

And, yeah, I've read fic where mPreg uses Transfiguration, and fic that uses Potions. H/D, Snupin... The most recent mpreg I read [I don't read a ton of it but it doesn't turn me off] was by geoviki. Transfig maybe? Spells definitely!
Practicing the Same Religion, H/D, for Smutmas 2005 I believe. It is awesome!