A Departure from the Norm:
My thoughts:
Poor Paul! Of all the people in SHADO that could be hit by a gender bender ray, he would have the worst time of it. (Except for maybe Alec.) I have to admit, this story started out as a funny spoof, at Foster’s expense. After thinking about it for a while, I realized that I could write a very serious story, and still have the humorous aspect, but I had to break a few rules to do it.
Since I started writing, I always balked at the idea of Ginny and Paul being involved in a long term relationship, they seemed too far apart. I could never picture Virginia going to one of the parties that Paul would frequent, as we saw in Ordeal. I also saw Virginia as being a few years older than Paul. In order to make this work, I had to write Paul a bit different than I had in the past.
I’m sure that the prologue of this story raised a few eyebrows. While I mention some of the events that happened in Silver Star, it’s important to note that Virginia’s and Paul’s relationship evolved differently in this universe. It’s the same canon, with a different interpretation, opening a new story possibility. I still wrote Ginny the same way I always have, and under the right circumstances, she fell for Paul.
In this story, I portrayed Freeman as a skirt chaser, a hard core womanizer. The introduction of Freeman, in Identified, can be taken in several different ways and I always saw Alec as a harmless flirt, with a heart of gold, whose bark was worse than his bite. But for this story, I chose to take a different approach. It was fun to contrast Freeman and Foster in the scene where they are watching the actress. Paul’s reaction, when Alec starts talking about Ginny is telling.
I showed the bond between Ginny and Ed to be a very close friendship rather than the romantic tie as in some of my other stories, although we know from her thoughts that she finds him attractive. Hey, she’s an intelligent woman, what can I say. I was also able to show Straker’s tender side as he helps a friend through a difficult time. Ginny is having trouble dealing with her feelings for Paul, a point that becomes apparent later in the story.
The fun part of the story, of course, is Paul’s reaction when he finds out that he is now a woman. I tried to cover all the cases here, shock, disorientation, having to deal with all the things that a guy doesn’t have to worry about. After all, it is hard being a woman. (Guys, who are not oblivious to their surroundings, know this.)
In the story, I refer to Paul in his own gender when he is with Ginny, Ed, or the medical staff, rather than his alter ego, Paula Harris. In the course of helping Paul, Virginia realizes she still loves him, and she finds herself struggling with the confusion of the situation. They end up in an intimate encounter, their feelings for each other transcending the gender issue. This is probably the closest I will ever come to writing a “slash” story and even here, I leave the intimate details off camera, and concentrate on the afterglow scene which focuses on their thoughts and emotions. This aspect of the story pushes it to an M rating, necessitating the adult tag.
Over the course of the next few weeks, Ginny struggles with her feelings, and concerns of how others will see them. The story poses a very real moral question, as did the ST:TNG episode, The Host. In the end, Ginny decides that she loves him, unconditionally, and I have her decide this before Paul is cured.
The endgame was fun, with Alec getting his just due. Paul has also been changed forever, I see him looking at the ladies with a new found respect.
I could have done a lot more with this story in the humor aspect, but I think I grasped the most important parts. It was a groundbreaker for me, in several areas.
I hope everyone enjoyed the story, writing it was a real eye opener.
Matt
My thoughts:
Poor Paul! Of all the people in SHADO that could be hit by a gender bender ray, he would have the worst time of it. (Except for maybe Alec.) I have to admit, this story started out as a funny spoof, at Foster’s expense. After thinking about it for a while, I realized that I could write a very serious story, and still have the humorous aspect, but I had to break a few rules to do it.
Since I started writing, I always balked at the idea of Ginny and Paul being involved in a long term relationship, they seemed too far apart. I could never picture Virginia going to one of the parties that Paul would frequent, as we saw in Ordeal. I also saw Virginia as being a few years older than Paul. In order to make this work, I had to write Paul a bit different than I had in the past.
I’m sure that the prologue of this story raised a few eyebrows. While I mention some of the events that happened in Silver Star, it’s important to note that Virginia’s and Paul’s relationship evolved differently in this universe. It’s the same canon, with a different interpretation, opening a new story possibility. I still wrote Ginny the same way I always have, and under the right circumstances, she fell for Paul.
In this story, I portrayed Freeman as a skirt chaser, a hard core womanizer. The introduction of Freeman, in Identified, can be taken in several different ways and I always saw Alec as a harmless flirt, with a heart of gold, whose bark was worse than his bite. But for this story, I chose to take a different approach. It was fun to contrast Freeman and Foster in the scene where they are watching the actress. Paul’s reaction, when Alec starts talking about Ginny is telling.
I showed the bond between Ginny and Ed to be a very close friendship rather than the romantic tie as in some of my other stories, although we know from her thoughts that she finds him attractive. Hey, she’s an intelligent woman, what can I say. I was also able to show Straker’s tender side as he helps a friend through a difficult time. Ginny is having trouble dealing with her feelings for Paul, a point that becomes apparent later in the story.
The fun part of the story, of course, is Paul’s reaction when he finds out that he is now a woman. I tried to cover all the cases here, shock, disorientation, having to deal with all the things that a guy doesn’t have to worry about. After all, it is hard being a woman. (Guys, who are not oblivious to their surroundings, know this.)
In the story, I refer to Paul in his own gender when he is with Ginny, Ed, or the medical staff, rather than his alter ego, Paula Harris. In the course of helping Paul, Virginia realizes she still loves him, and she finds herself struggling with the confusion of the situation. They end up in an intimate encounter, their feelings for each other transcending the gender issue. This is probably the closest I will ever come to writing a “slash” story and even here, I leave the intimate details off camera, and concentrate on the afterglow scene which focuses on their thoughts and emotions. This aspect of the story pushes it to an M rating, necessitating the adult tag.
Over the course of the next few weeks, Ginny struggles with her feelings, and concerns of how others will see them. The story poses a very real moral question, as did the ST:TNG episode, The Host. In the end, Ginny decides that she loves him, unconditionally, and I have her decide this before Paul is cured.
The endgame was fun, with Alec getting his just due. Paul has also been changed forever, I see him looking at the ladies with a new found respect.
I could have done a lot more with this story in the humor aspect, but I think I grasped the most important parts. It was a groundbreaker for me, in several areas.
I hope everyone enjoyed the story, writing it was a real eye opener.
Matt
