"A Jar Full Of Pixie"

"Pixies" was from the start designed as a pilot for a series. Not that I intended to write a series, but I drew inspiration from pilot episodes of various tv series. I wanted to establish a good protagonist and dislikeable (but slightly relatable) villain. I tried to set the story up in a way that would fuel the imagination of the reader. They should imagine how the series would play out. I am not sure if I was successful, but it was still fun to write.

One of the major mechanics was the pixie home and that pixie homes could be owned. Resulting in mental changes along the way. For me, the intriguing part was that the hero would have a nontypical weakness. One that wasn't just "damn this hurts" or "damn you killed me". It was a way to the core of the person. With Jeri witnessing it first hand and escaping, she has all the reason to loathe her weakness and to protect it more than if the knowledge had been just theoretical.

There was one scene that didn't make it into the story. Early on I imagined Jeri finding out about her arousal inducing spells way sooner. After the meeting with the flying bus of fur (the encounter with the cat), I also Imagined her stumbling onto an elderly couple. The idea was that she would bewitch the old husband and wife and they would have sex. As in rediscovering the passion for each other. I scrapped the scene as I feared it would diminish the reader's view of Jeri as a hero. Willfully using her spells to toy with other people lives. Instead, it became melody who "pressured" Jeri into using the spells.

Fun fact: If I ever would blow up this story into a series I'd imagine it would draw a huge amount of inspiration from the smurfs. I think why should be fairly obvious.

"Troublesome Beauty"

I regret a little writing "Troublesome Beauty" as a short story. The idea that a label might define you not just mentally, but physically as well was intriguing. To this day I think I haven't fully explored that part and maybe one day I revisit the story.

I had a lot of fun writing about Leon and how he was "haunted by trouble". Throwing him or later her into the school was like throwing a fox into a chicken cob. Especially as Leona still attracts trouble.

Part of what makes me regret cutting the story short is an unexplored aspect. Conceptually I had the internal logic that people with a mature/developed title can give others new titles. With Leona being legendary I imagined quite a few girls around her getting titles offered to them. Maybe even without Leona noticing that she is handing out titles.

Following comments and questions I added those explanations:

The original concept was this: People in Leona's world can't access magic without a catalyst. The linked titles. They make the magic work accordingly to their meaning. A "little troublemaker" may cause some mischief by accident. A legendary will cause legendary trouble. In the story, you can see it work to Leo's disadvantage. Broken fire-ladder rungs or loose shingles. One detail that is missing that I imagine would be realistic is that people who have a developed / strong linked title can give linked titles to others. They give, so to speak, people a faint connection to magic. The headmistress clearly has mastered her title. She was giving Leo his second one. Of course, that implies that Leo's mother was a strong linked title bearer too. More intriguing is the prospect that Leo(na) is not just someone with a strong title, but a legendary one. I imagined that Leona might give a few titles to other students by accident. Of course, they would have to accept the title. If that one is vague enough or they envision a different effect they might just accept a very naughty one. Which would cause trouble? Probably.

About selling titles: As mentioned just now powerful people can give titles. They might do so in return for money. The school Leona now attends is more or less exactly that. People pay to get their daughters into the school where they get a title bestowed and get education how to best develop said title. Such a prestigious school might know of other titles or more specifically about titles that are safe. Giving someone a new or unexplored title could lead to unwanted results. For example a legendary troublemaker. However, handing out a few titles that are explored to reward well-behaving students, might result in better-motivated students.

So why did Leo become Leona when he accepted the title? Well, titles work along with their intended meaning. The Young Maiden title implies the wearer is female and it creates expected evolved titles. All of them female. With Leo being male the title can't work. As the title is magic and not something smart, it resolves the problem by making Leo a woman, instead of other means like don't form the bond at all.

"An Elusive Fetish"

This story was conceived as a possible prequel to a bigger story. I wanted to get a feel how readers would take in the idea of fetishes being traded as a commodity.

Sadly the reading count on Fictionmania was rather low and the reviews sorta mixed. This led me to put the story aside. The reception on TBC was better.

If I would have continued I imagined Melise using deals and bets to get other pupils at her school to cultivate fetishes for her.

"What Are Heroes Anyway?"

The first review on Fictionmania of this story was along the lines of "Great superhero story, but it has barely anything to do with gender bending. It shouldn't be on Fictionmania."

Maybe because of this review the story didn't get as many views as I hoped. Still, I was kind of sad that the review was deleted. After all, it was a valid opinion.

Writing the story I was tempted to include more reaction to the gender bend. After all, that is the part that fascinates me the most about TG. How characters react to such a sudden and drastic change. So why didn't I?

The answer lies in the story. More specifically the world. Silvio grows up in a dystopian future and he had to fight for everything he got. Be it hard work or stealing. In such circumstances could you envision dressing up or hitting the mall or a hair stylist? The world itself excludes many reactionary actions we are accustomed to TG stories.

Even Silvio's reaction to the gender bend is logical from his perspective. He had a hardened youth. Risk and quick hard decisions part of his upbringing. Violet has no time to mourn the loss of her male self. All her instincts tell her to look forward and do the best in this situation. It is just another hurdle life throws her way. It makes sense in her shoes to ignore the change itself and focus that "the sacrifice of losing her male body" was not in vain. Hence her immediate instinct to start training.

Her frustration of failing in said training also has another consequence. The realization that she might have sacrificed her male body for nothing. Hence her determination to make it work.

Those that got that this story is not only about heroes and villains, and is a full TG story by showing a realistic reaction: cheers and thank you. Those who can't agree, please read the story again and then I welcome the chance to discuss your opinion.

About a few other questions I got. Why aren't the super villains and police capturing the bearer of the Phoenix spark? Try keeping someone alive who is in full-on berserker mode. With enhanced strength, even metal and walls could be rent in time. There are plenty of opportunities for a spark to escape and then you have a spark inside a base. Not good.

Why not bury a spark? That would lead to the death of the spark. As a consequence of being killed by an enemy the spark would be reborn stronger before and as often as needed to escape the grave.

Why are the villains keeping the slums and people alive in the first place? I omitted this detail to not blow the story up too much. Many villains use emotions as a source of power. Namely, the despair of people around them.

"Doll Rebirth"

Rebirth was a very old story idea. So old that it wasn't even included in my official collection of story ideas. I had this story so often iterated in my mind that it had a rich background story ready to use. When I looked for a story idea to use in a writing exercise that was about telling detailed background Rebirth was a logical choice.

I long since wanted to write a story about a wind-up doll transformation. I roleplayed a wind-up doll in Second Life for a long time and the theme was dear to my heart. For the said reason I mulled the idea of how to make a wind-up doll explainable over and over in my head. I hope the "Ki transferration" was a satisfying explanation to all the readers.

Wendy Jean remarked, "If no one was there to wind her up this could be a nightmare." I totally agree. So would probably everyone who played an (RLV based) wind-up doll in Second Life. Scary stuff to run out of juice in a public setting. I imagine this for real would be a thousand times worse.

Fun fact: One of my test readers remarked that a week for a drive from Florida to the redwood forests might be a little unrealistic. It was pure guesswork on my parts. So I researched it and apparently, you can make the trip in 48 hours. You just need to forgo any form of break or sleep. So what took them this long that they needed a week? Geez.