I just had the most outrageous plot bunny. Mr Bennet always expected to have a son to break the entail but it never happened. This plot bunny starts with the concept that when Lydia is born, he persuades Mrs Bennet to announce the birth of her son, and Lydia is raised as Gardiner Bennet. Now Gardiner is going to have to be aware that she is really a girl once her periods start, she will have had to have been told so she does not discuss such things with other young men! but she will have been given a good tutor, and raised in such a way that she is less likely to make an idiot of herself over Wickham. I'm not exactly sure where to take it from there, but no doubt ideas will come to mehttps://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127186#msg-127186Mon, 25 May 2026 18:00:48 +0100 Phorum 5.2.22 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127386#msg-127386 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127386#msg-127386
I think this is on Ao3, and there is an alternate versions in which james is indeed james, not E pretending. Or perhaps she just refuses to let J die and live as E. It's ambiguous. There is still a detailed HEA for ODC. *ahem*]]> KLM Tea RoomMon, 26 Mar 2018 10:48:22 +0100 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127376#msg-127376 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127376#msg-127376
The politically correct thing to say at this cultural moment is that we are born with a sexual orientation. But suppose it is not as black and white as that? Here is an article that discusses that very possibility.

Here also is my own little take on how your plot might play out. I am pretty sure you would not interested in using it, but I mention it for the pleasure of discussion. Suppose Lydia, whom her family might call Laurence or Lynton or Lowell, identifies as male and becomes increasingly discontent with her body's refusal to develop as she might hope? Her father had always planned to have her "die," after the entail was broken and return as a girl--a distant cousin who would be accepted into the Bennet clan like a long-lost sister. Instead, the girl who would be a boy joins the militia before Mr. Bennet can stop her, and he dare not make too big a fuss because Lydia threatens to expose the entail-breaking scheme.

In the militia, Lydia meets George Wickham, and he changes her mind about being a boy. She does not immediately speak of her affections, but they strike up a friendship. She is able to see him as few women can. What she sees destroys her affections but she is fearful of how he might use her secret. So, she goes on playing along as his male friend. I would change the P&P timeline to make Lydia present when Wickham attempts his seduction of Georgiana Darcy.]]> Adelaide Tea RoomMon, 19 Mar 2018 21:44:42 +0000 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127220#msg-127220 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127220#msg-127220 Harvey S. Tea RoomSun, 11 Feb 2018 17:22:38 +0000 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127219#msg-127219 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127219#msg-127219
Given how lazy the P&P Mr Bennet is, I could well imagine his father insisting his sign such a document, but even if he didn't, Longbourn would still be lost. But as a plot device, if Mr Bennet's father resented having to agree to the generation-skipping entailment and so Mr Bennet wasn't forced to sign anything, I suspect it would be ended as soon as Mr Bennet's son was of age and without the complicated shenanigans I've seen described to break the entail. And even if this is somehow wrong, it's close enough for a fanfic.]]> Harvey S. Tea RoomSun, 11 Feb 2018 17:15:39 +0000 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127214#msg-127214 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127214#msg-127214I also intend to write a couple of novellas about some side plots which were happening in the Jane and Caleb I just completed [and will be posting soon]]]> Sarah Waldock Tea RoomSat, 10 Feb 2018 21:03:35 +0000 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127213#msg-127213 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127213#msg-127213 Alida Tea RoomSat, 10 Feb 2018 20:34:21 +0000 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127209#msg-127209 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127209#msg-127209One scenario I had half considered was having a duel with Darcy over his treatment of her sister, and being wounded, he discovers her secret, and has to wait for the Bennet sister he realises is plucky enough to attract him ....

I have, of course, been reading about Dr James Barrie, who was a woman and became a male impersonator in her teens in order to qualify as a doctor, and managed to maintain the imposture all her life. Visiting Brighton to meet Phoebe would indeed be interesting.
It's one of those I need to mull over seriously so it may take a while
On the up side I've just completed another Jane and Caleb so I'll be dissecting that into 3 chapter blocks shortly]]> Sarah Waldock Tea RoomSat, 10 Feb 2018 17:56:53 +0000 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127207#msg-127207 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127207#msg-127207 Amytat Tea RoomSat, 10 Feb 2018 13:58:45 +0000 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127206#msg-127206 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127206#msg-127206
So the plan could be that when she gets old enough they will break the entail and settle things so it isn’t entailed away from the female line anymore. They could either expect that she will never marry or it could be that they mean to reintroduce her as a distant cousin or something once the entail is broken.

As far as her not growing facial fuzz ect. I think if people knew her as a boy since childhood they would just assume there was something wrong with him that he didn’t develop properly at puberty and that being the case, no one would be all that surprised if “he” didn’t marry. Depending on Mrs. Bennet’s age her being born last could help to add to the impression of there being some kind of abnormality.]]> Amytat Tea RoomSat, 10 Feb 2018 13:57:03 +0000 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127202#msg-127202 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127202#msg-127202 Emelyn Tea RoomSat, 10 Feb 2018 04:15:40 +0000 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127200#msg-127200 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127200#msg-127200
Anyway, as far as using ideas from that in some period JAFF, maybe the plan is that Lydia doesn't need to pretend to be a guy her entire life, just until some of her sisters are comfortably married, and then she can sneak off to Ireland or Scotland or Canada and be as girly as she wants, or maybe she'll be reintroduced to her sisters' families as a long-lost cousin after her male-self suffers a mysterious but fatal accident. And maybe she is mostly tutored at home to prevent boys from finding out her secret in schools. Maybe she spends more time with the Gardiners in London since she's not some spoiled brat, and that's how she gets to know other men her age without getting familiar enough with them to be at risk. And maybe as part of her brotherly duties, she had to introduce her sisters to eligible bachelors. So maybe she invites some friends to Longbourne for a hunting/"meet my sisters and fall in love with one so I can move on with my life" party, or maybe she talks her gullible buddy Bingley into renting Netherfield to host an even larger party. And that's how Jane and Lizzie meet Bingley and Darcy. And while those courtships are in the spotlight, Lydia is trying to ignore a budding attraction to a young man who doesn't seem to mind that she's a guy. Improbable situations and romance ensue. (If someone does this, please have Caroline Bingley flirt with Lydia like she does with Darcy. Maybe the two can bond over the shared experience. And, after growing up with 4 older sisters, if guys keep coming up to Lydia to ask for her advice about what girls like, that could be entertainingly cringe-worthy too.) And maybe, after Jane and Lizzie get married, Lydia elopes, and the guy's name is not George Wickham.

While I totally see why it has to be Lydia who is made out to be a boy rather than an older sister, it feels like a Mary opportunity to me.]]> NN S Tea RoomSat, 10 Feb 2018 02:11:28 +0000 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127199#msg-127199 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127199#msg-127199
The only way I could see it It might work would be if the disguise was intended for a few years only... maybe if there was a chance of the Collins line to die out and disappear (and the details of the entail were changed into a way that in the case of all the other branches of the family being extinct, Longbourn might revert back to the female line - however strange it might sound, I understand one could make up an entail just as they wanted to).
I can see the fun idea of a Bennet girl (I understand it has been done with Elizabeth, but I can see how exciting it would be to explre it with Lydia) pretending to be a young man, lving the much less restricted life of a boy/young gentleman. But I wouldn't want any girl to be stuck with no hope for a release and destined to live a lie.]]> Agnes Beatrix Tea RoomFri, 09 Feb 2018 20:33:05 +0000 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127195#msg-127195 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127195#msg-127195
Honestly, though, I would love to see a Lydia who is not as much into balls (because what's the fun if you can't actually dance with guys, even though she probably gets a kick out of dancing with her sisters), and more into horses/hunting. She seems like the sort of person who would go tearing through the countryside, and if she cares enough about her horses, she would probably be somewhat responsible. Plus she gets the added benefit of being able to talk about her horses and hounds for hours and bore girls she doesn't like. Half of Lydia's problem is boredom, and if she can do more than wait to get married and redo ugly bonnets, maybe it would help?]]> Emelyn Tea RoomFri, 09 Feb 2018 15:06:40 +0000 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127190#msg-127190 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127190#msg-127190 Alida Tea RoomFri, 09 Feb 2018 05:02:00 +0000 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127186#msg-127186 https://dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,127186,127186#msg-127186Mr Bennet always expected to have a son to break the entail but it never happened. This plot bunny starts with the concept that when Lydia is born, he persuades Mrs Bennet to announce the birth of her son, and Lydia is raised as Gardiner Bennet. Now Gardiner is going to have to be aware that she is really a girl once her periods start, she will have had to have been told so she does not discuss such things with other young men! but she will have been given a good tutor, and raised in such a way that she is less likely to make an idiot of herself over Wickham. I'm not exactly sure where to take it from there, but no doubt ideas will come to me]]> Sarah Waldock Tea RoomThu, 08 Feb 2018 12:48:32 +0000