Changing Cal: Chapter 1

Printer-friendly version

Cal is a 16 year old boy who has been chasing the girl of his dream almost all his life. When some pesky nanites infect Cal and turn him into a girl how will he deal with it? Will he still be the same person or will he become someone else when the girl in him now takes over?

Edit 2/22/10: After returning to this story I went back and reread the chapter I had and looking back there was some things I thought I could do better and thing I thought wasn't needed or just stupid. So with that in mind I have edited the first chapter a bit it's still the same story just with some minor changes and maybe a bit more character development. I think this is a better version and check back with the other chapters as I’ll be editing them too. This story is inspired by the "Kate Draffen" and the "For a Girl" stories but is NOT set in either universe. However there are some common elements but other then that this story stands on it's own. Thanks in advance for your votes and comments and I hop you enjoy!

Ok so I was a normal guy a 16 year old boy like all the rest doing my best to get through high school alive. As a teenager I had my crush too like most do and her name was Madison Green. I’d known her since first grade when she moved into the neighborhood and from that moment on my crush grew with every year. By highs cool you could say I was obsessed but for some reason she couldn’t see me as anything more then a good friend.

I took every chance I had to suggest a relationship but no matter how I did it she always managed to keep me as just a friend. As most guys can tell you the worst place for a guy to be is to be just a friend to the girl you want more then anything but that’s where I was. It was the start of our Junior year in high school when without any idea how to become more then just a friend to Madison I chose to listen to my brother Mark.

Mark and I were typical brothers messing with each other any chance we got and fighting the rest of the time but for some reason his plan made sense to me. “Girl’s want what they can’t have you idiot! She knows she can have you anytime she wants you and that’s why she doesn’t want you.” It probably sounds stupid to you but to me this was a surprising wisdom from my brother. I should have known then that this was just another way of my older brother messing with me but I was desperate.

When school started i began avoiding Madison putting my brothers idea to work that if I wasn’t so available to her then she would want me more. At first she didn’t know what to think from what I heard and I guess assumed I was just busy but after several weeks she started to get upset. Madison and I were really good friends close to best friends and when a girl’s best friend ignores them it doesn’t make them want them more it makes them upset and wondering what they had done wrong.

As the weeks passed Madison got more and more upset as I continued to ignore her thinking that all the notes she was sending me was a sign that Mark’s idea was right that she was starting to want me. In reality she was just becoming more and more upset until it finally got back to me what I was doing to her. Kevin my best friend and another good friend to Madison told me one morning that she had been crying through the whole class in his last period after I had ignored another one of her efforts to find out what was wrong.

“You’re an idiot she’s really upset! You need to talk to her and forget this whole stupid idea of your brothers” Until then I hadn’t really known just what I was doing to hear I had heard little things but every time I did it just made me believe what I was trying to do was working. “Alright you’re right this was stupid I’ll talk to her after biology and put this all to an end I promise.” I could tell Kevin wasn’t happy with me he and Madison were almost as close friends as her and I were but he never had the feelings for her I did.

As I sat down at our lunch table with the rest of our friends Scotty and Ashley who despite his name is a guy and a pretty ruff one at that I picked at my food feeling sick about the whole thing. “You are an idiot I told you that wouldn’t work.” Scotty the most blatantly honest person I knew wasn’t going to miss the chance to rub it in my face that he was right. He’d told me along with the others that all I was going to do was lose her as a friend and now I was worried that it might just happen. “Does anyone else want to tell me how big of an idiot I was?” I asked after hearing it from both Kevin and Scotty.

Ashley smiled as he was eating “Yeah but I’m eating and it wouldn’t be polite to talk with my mouth full” I laughed shaking my head I hadn’t known Ashley as long as the other two he had just moved to town the year before but he was a good guy and we got along really well. Ashley always knew how to make me laugh but today it didn’t last long as I felt sicker by the minute thinking about what I’d done to Madison and how I was going to fix it.

It seemed like lunch was lasting way too long as the other three ate and continued to make fun of me while I felt worse by the minute. The conversation had now moved on to weather or not my brother Mark had done this all on purpose to mess with me and I have to say they were probably right. I should have known better then to listen to anything Mark suggested but again I was desperate and apparently and idiot. “So what are you going to tell her?” Kevin asked.

Kevin and I had lived next to each other all our lives and he was probably more then of a brother to me then my real one. I knew he wanted to make sure I didn’t mess things up again but I had no idea what I was going to say so that’s what I told him. “Idiot” Scotty laughed along with the others as he felt the need to remind me how stupid I was again. I’d known Scotty almost as long as Kevin and the three of us had been friends for a long time along with Ashley and Madison they were the only ones I had any interest in hanging out with. It was a common site to see the three of us together at lunch and the only reason Madison didn’t eat with us was because she had an extra class early in the morning and took lunch and hour earlier.

“Just tell Mady the truth Cal she might be mad at you for something so stupid but I think she’ll forgive you. For whatever reason she seems to like you.” Kevin always liked to call her Mady she of course hated it because it was her nick name when she was a little girl. Kevin was the only one that could get away with it and he loved to use it even when she wasn’t around. I knew he was right that I should be honest and tell her the truth but it didn’t make me feel any better as I stared at the food on my tray I hadn’t touched.

The nausea got worse as our lunch went on and my “friends” started taking bets on weather Madison would hit me or not and where she would hit me if she did. I started to get dizzy and held onto the table for the first time realizing this feeling wasn’t from being so upset about Madison. “Are you ok man you look green?” I looked over at Scotty as he asked me if I was ok but I didn’t answer fearing if I opened my mouth I would hurl. Still holding on to the table I stared at it as a listened to my friends continue to speak unable to make out what they were saying as everything went black.

When I woke up I was in the nurses office at school I knew it well from all the times I faked sick to get out of a test or whatever it was I didn’t want to do. Calling it a nurses office was pushing it a bit though it was little more then a cot and a cabinet of basic medical supplies. In fact for anything more then a bruise or a headache the local hospital was a better choice. As my vision cleared I saw Mrs. Foster the English teacher at our school looking down at me with a look of concern “Are you Ok Mr. Anders?”

Mrs. Foster the schools default nurse for no other reason then she had taken a CPR course was one of the nicer teacher and I could tell she was concerned. “I don’t know…What happened.” I tried to clear my head as Mrs. Foster took my pulse one of the few things she could do but I couldn’t remember anything after I passed out. “Well you’re friends Mr. West (Kevin), Mr. Paulson (Ashley), and Mr. Caleb (Scotty) brought you in a little while ago saying you just passed out at the lunch table.”

I shook my head to tell her I had no idea what had happened which didn’t seem to relieve her concern. “Well I’m really worried about what’s going on with you so we’re going to take you over to the hospital. The ambulance is on it way and I’m sure the doctors at the hospital will figure out just what’s going on with you.” I shook my head again and told her that an ambulance wasn’t really need because I was feeling much better. It was a lie though if anything I was feeling wore but I really didn’t want to get taken out by an ambulance in front of all my friends.

No matter how hard I tired to convince her I was ok and to call off the ambulance Mrs. Foster wasn’t budging. When the EMTs got there and loaded me up on the stretcher I could have died from embarrassment as they wheel me out past every including my three friends who were waiting outside the nurses office. I tired playing it off as Mrs. Foster over reacting when Kevin asked me what was going on and so seeing the chance my friends decided to have fun with me all pretending to pass out together. It did make me laugh even if I was still feeling like crap.

I figured it couldn’t be to serious as the EMTs ran what tests they could and asked me how I was feeling and what I was feeling while they drove slowly to the hospital. If it was serious I figured they would have at least turned on the siren. It was a short ride to the hospital only a few miles from my school but when we got there my mother was waiting as they opened the doors of the ambulance. Cal! Oh my god! What’s wrong? Mrs. Foster called me and told me you were being taken to the hospital but didn’t say why.”

I could tell my Mother was nervous as she looked down at her youngest son speaking so fast she wasn’t giving anyone a chance to tell her anything. Typical Mom when she heard one of her boys was going to the hospital she taps into her super power of super speed and beat the guys trained to drive fast there. In truth though we only lived a few blocks from the hospital so I wasn’t that surprised she beat us there. “I’m fine” I told her as she walked with us into the emergency room. “I passed out at lunch and Mrs. Foster overreacted that’s all” I knew I wasn’t making her feel any better but I had to try as the worried look on her face got worse when they EMTs checked me into the hospital.

After being dumped off in a private room in the ER my mother filled out some paper work from the hospital as the real Nurses did the normal tests checking blood pressure, taking blood, checking my pulse, and telling me where I could get undressed. I always hated the gowns in hospitals they’re always cold and drafty but after a stern look from my mother I went and put and put one on. It always seemed strange to me that no matter why you were there hospitals always made you wear one of those annoying little gowns no matter what’s wrong with you.

With a knock at the door and a huge smile entering the room before him my doctor walked in and greeted me and my mother with a hand shake. “Hello Mr. Anders… and Mrs. Anders. I’m Doctor Eastgate. How are you feeling young man?” I told him I was fine and with a serious look from my mother I sighed and admitted. “Ok… ok I have a pretty bad headache I’m a little dizzy and well…My stomach feels like it’s trying to escape out of my mouth.” With that Doctor Eastgate went to work with a hmm shinning a bright light in my eyes and then looking in my ears.

Doctor Eastgate was somewhere around his late forties early sixties and with his gray hair and beard looked like you’re typical small town doctor. You know the type the older doctor that looked like he’d been doing this forever and probably delivered every baby in the town for the last few generations. “Well no concussion so that’s good. Now tell me exactly what happened and I promise we’ll try and get you out of here as soon as we can.” I liked doctor Eastgate he seems to know I didn’t want to be there and that he knew what he was doing.

I told him everything about what I remembered trying to be as calm as I could and play it off as nothing as my mother took my hand. I knew this was worrying her to death just like every other time Mark or I ever needed to go to the hospital. I told the doctor that sometime around lunch I started feeling sick to my stomach and that it just kept getting worse. After a nod and a sound to acknowledge he was listening he asked what happened next. I thought back trying to remember everything and told him that my nausea just keep getting worse until I started to feel dizzy and passed out shortly after. Holding my chart Doctor Eastgate made notes as we spoke making eye contact a few times as we spoke.

“Well the how long have you had the headache?” I thought about it for a minute but I couldn’t remember my head hurting before I passed out so I told him. “Just since I woke up in the nurses office at school.” I could tell that he wasn’t sure what was going on but I asked him anyway “So what do you think Doc is it the flu or something?” With a nod he smiled at me again and put away my chart “It could be but I’m not sure just yet. Right now you seem alright and I’ll have the nurses give you something for the headache and nausea but I want to keep you here at least until we get your blood work back.”

I was ready to leave so I really didn’t want to wait for my blood work but the doctor said it would only be an hour and my mother wasn’t about to let me go anywhere unless the doctor said it was ok. Before he left he told me and my mother not to worry that he didn’t think it was anything serious. I was glad to hear him say that not so much for me but for my mother as it seemed to make her feel a little better.

As he left my mother told the doctor thank you and fixed my hair with her fingers. “You had me worried sick little boy. I swear between you and your brother I am going to go gray early” I laughed I knew me and my brother worried her to death a lot with our broken bones and other injuries that came with being boys but she was far from going gray. At only 38 my mother was actually one of the younger mothers in of all my friends.

I told her I was sorry and that I didn’t know what happened. “One minute I’m feeling fine then the nest I just start feeling worse and worse till I pass out.” I wasn’t worried too much about having contracted anything serious I hadn’t been any where to catch anything and my regular check ups always came back good. However I knew my mother wasn‘t as sure as I was and wouldn‘t be completely until the doctors told her I was fine. “God I hope they don’t keep us here long.”

“Oh hush you baby they’ll keep you here as long as it takes to figure out what‘s wrong with you. Have a hot date their keeping you from or something?” It was more of a sarcastic comment then a question as is common in my family but it reminded me of Madison. I couldn’t believe this was happening she was already upset with me and by now I was sure she’d heard I was taken away in an ambulance which would only make her more upset.

While I was trying to think how I was going to make this all up to Madison my father showed up and walked in with a smile on his face almost as big as the doctors. “Hey bud how are you feeling?” By now we’d been there about a half an hour and my father had just missed the doctor’s second visit. As we waited I had started to flip through TV channels while my mother was texting one of her friends on her phone.

“I’m fine dad I think it’s the flu or something their just waiting for my blood work coming back.” Running his fingers through my hair my father messed up what my mother had just fixed earlier as he gave her a kiss on he forehead. “And how are you?” he asked my mother as she smiled and looked up at him after finishing her text message. “Fine he’s been doing laps on the TV since the doctor left and I think we are going to have to tie him down to keep him here much longer.”

My father laughed and told me to listen to the doctors and to try not to give my mother such a hard time because she wasn’t going to let me leave until she was sure I was ok. Looking up at him now my father gave my mother another quick kiss on the lips weirding me out as I looked away. It was nice to be one of the few people I knew who’s parents were still together but it didn’t change the fact that stuff like that made me uncomfortable. My mother and father were still very much in love and liked to show it with stuff like that even if it did gross me out.

As my father settled into a chair and I went back to the TV I tired to think of how I was going to deal with Madison. I knew one thing I had to call her as soon as I got home because she was going to be worried to death and mad as hell if I didn’t. As I flipped through the channels and all the stupid shows I could tell I was starting to annoy my mother so I settled on a day time comedy and tried to watch. By then it had been more then an hour and as the doctor came back in I almost jumped out of the bed I was so ready to go.

“Not so fast Mr. Anders I just came to tell you that your blood work is going to take a little longer then we thought. We’ll let you know something as soon as wee do but while I’m here how are you feeling? I rolled my eye annoyed I had to stay any longer and returned to the bed as I told him I was still feeling about the same. After a few quick tests blood pressure and pulse again Doctor Eastgate went back to his round and left me and my parents alone again.

“God what’s taking so long?” I guess one of the disadvantages of living in a somewhat rural area was that it wasn’t exactly state of the art medicine going on. I went back to flipping channels on the TV after the show i had been watching ended and shook my head watching my father trying to get comfortable in the tiny hospital chair. “Hey Dad why don’t you go home I’m sure it won’t be much longer and I’m ok with mom here.” I told him as he sighed and gave up trying to get comfortable.

With a nod he agreed and said that Mark would be getting home from school soon and that he and my brother would fix some dinner for us. My father and brother were never good cooks but between the two of them they could make spaghetti which was fine with me. I took after my mother and could cook just about anything so my brother and father rarely had to fix dinner between me and my mother. However it was always interesting when they tried because you never knew what it would taste like when they were done.

With a smile my mother told him she would call if anything changed and I averted my eyes again as they gave each other another kiss goodbye. After my father left I still couldn’t get Madison out of my head and couldn’t help but worry about losing her as a friend. I knew she was probably going to be mad but no matter what I knew I wanted to keep her in my life even if I could never be her boyfriend.

Another hour passed slowly as we waited and finally my mother started becoming just as impatient as I was. In that time Doctor Eastgate had made a couple more visits to check on me and how I was feeling. Nothing much had changed though i still felt like crap but other that he wouldn’t tell us what was taking so long. School was just letting out when he finally came back in and bringing two more doctors with him. The two new doctors were both wearing street cloths under their white coats so it worried me a little that maybe they’d been called to help treat me. I couldn’t help but think they don’t do that unless it’s something serious.

I squirmed nervously along with my mother as Doctor Eastgate introduced the new Doctor. “This is Doctor Phillips and Doctor Rivers from the state hospital folks they’ve reviewed your blood work with me Mr. Anders and have come down here to speak with you.” Suddenly the results on my blood taking so long to come back made sense now. They hadn’t been waiting on the results they had been waiting on doctor Phillips and Rivers to get here. I’ll admit I was really nervous now and knew it wasn’t the flu I had.

I stared at the two doctors who had obviously just driven almost two hours to come see me and wondered what they had to tell me. Doctor Phillips a younger female with dark brown hair spoke first as she came over and shook mine and my mother’s hand. “Hello I’m Doctor Phillips but you may both call me Angie. I just want to say up front that your son has nothing fatal.” I was relieved to hear that for me and my mother I’m sure but I was a little annoyed by the fact she was talking to my mother and not me.

While Dr. Phillips spoke to us Dr. Rivers checked my vitals again. An older man with sandy blonde hair Dr. Rivers wasn’t as old as Dr. Eastgate but gave off a feeling that he was a lot more experienced then him. My mother still nervous couldn’t hold back any longer and asked what was wrong with me as she looked back and forth between me and the three Doctors.

“Your son has contracted a very rare affliction Mrs. Anders. Tell me have you heard of G...A...Ns or Gans?” Again talking to my mother Doctor Phillips looked at us both as she waited for an answer from us. I could see the same shocked come over my mother’s face as she looked at me. Of course we’d both heard of Gender Altering Nanoids microscopic robots infecting people and changing their genders. How could anyone not have heard of them they’d been all over the news since the first few cases hit. I freaked as it hit me why the were asking us.

“You mean I’m gonna turn into a girl!”

up
116 users have voted.
If you liked this post, you can leave a comment and/or a kudos! Click the "Thumbs Up!" button above to leave a Kudos

Comments

Good Start

I like the story so far. I'm looking forward to more.

Jessica Marie

Nice Start

A very nice start for your first story, I look forward to reading the rest.

Good start

Good start Issy maybe Cal will not be the only one to be infected with our little nanite friends? Looking foward to reading some more v,soon.....kirri

Nanobots!

Pretty much every vaguely sci-fi TG story uses Nanobots (including mine) - the tricky part it coming up with a new abbreviation for the syndrome/disease. Except the ones using skinsuits. *cough*
There are three (complete) long nanite stories I've found that I really liked - Kate Draffen was one of 'em, the other two were Grover's "Dragons, Fairies and Elves, oh my!" and one that I've completely lost track of called "For a girl", written by 002BX or something.
The tricky part with these stories it that you have to differentiate yourself from the others, even more so if you're using the same nanobot. While I've got nothing against using the same basic ideas, another only slightly altered plot is unlikely to attract attention.
Anyways, I'm done being verbose - hope to see this story continuing soon. ^_~

~ Compulsive online gamer, supernerd, and geek at your service ~

I think 'For A Girl' by O2BXX was only posted at FM

Shalimar pointed me at it well before the site went down.

A series that uses nanites is the Hugglebugs stories, which were by multiple authors. Piper is in the process of rebuilding the Hugglebugs site, but several stories are around other places, including Storysite.

It’s not given to anyone to have no regrets; only to decide, through the choices we make, which regrets we’ll have,
David Weber – In Fury Born

Holly

Actually, the author was O2BXX

It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.

Holly

Story Credits to Author

I am usually not one to complain like this, or at least too much, but I think that you should be crediting or at least asking another author to let you work in her universe. I wasn't clued in until the very end when you used the term Gender Biomorphism or GB. The term if not both was used originally several years ago in a story called For A Girl by o2bxx. Therefore, IMHO, the original author might need to be credited or asked permission to write in the universe. Biggest issue about the story and the proof is that it was posted only on FictionMania, as far as I know. I only know because it has always been one of my favorite stories since it is a long one. As such, I have a copy of the story on my computer for my personal reading pleasure. Enough on this rant.

Secondary rant. More than anything else, you need to have someone do a proof-read/edit on the story before posting. I hate to say it but the style came across as something a freshman in high school might have written. Someone who has a good idea but really don't know all the rules about writing. Of course, that seems like the perfect style considering the age of the character, but if you're an adult it makes it a bit obnoxious in reading.

I'm sorry to sound so critical and down on the story. I say what I feel to be truth and everyone know truth sometimes hurts the recipient.

Goldie

I have no problem with

I have no problem with criticism so thanks for the reply and I'll keep it in mind when writing. As far as not giving credit to the creator of the universe I did at the being saying that this was inspired by the story Kate Drafen and another story I'd read a while back. When i posted this i couldn't remember what the story was called or who wrote it, and couldn't find it again. Anyway now i know and knowing is half the battle so in further installments I’ll credit the For a Girl story.

Now as far as asking permission to use a universe. I really don't think it's to big of a deal as there are a ton of fan fictions floating around, and I’m sure most the authors never asked permission to use the universe either. So if you like just consider this a fan fiction but also if I remember correctly at the end of the For A Girl story the author gave permission for anyone that wanted to expand the universe of the story.

Thanks again for the comment
Issy

Here's what you're looking for

From the ending of "For A Girl" by O2bxx:

GB may work as a new 'universe'. I've deliberately left it
a little vague, in case I revisit the idea and flesh it
out. Whose doing it, why, etc... But GB was not the central
theme for this story - just a tool. Hence, it remains
mostly in the background. If another author wants to
develop GB further - go for it! We'll make up the rules as
we go.

But I think it would be a good idea to get prior permission, as a courtesy to the original author. Doesn't cost anything.

Damaged people are dangerous
They know they can survive

Permission

erin's picture

I personally would take O2bxx's paragraph above as explicit permission. There is a very clear message - go for it! And no request for communication.

As for "Doesn't cost anything," it would cost some effort and perhaps much time to find O2bxx and establish two-way communication. I think I have seen posts under that name on Crystal's not too long ago but there is no active account on BC under that name.

I'm all for respecting the rights of original authors but in this case I think non-restrictive permission has been given for works in this universe.

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

I would

I would always ask, anyway, if there is an email addy for the author. If the story postings don't have an email addy, then ya can't ask, can you? But at least you can say you tried.

Damaged people are dangerous
They know they can survive

Not in this case

erin's picture

Asking implies waiting for a reply. Sending an email to inform would be courteous and probably should be done.

With prior permission granted, there is no need to ask for permission and courtesy does not require it. That's the point I'm trying to make. O2bxx gave explicit permission, there is no need to ask. But, yes, making an effort to inform would be courteous.

I take O2bxx's paragraph as expressing a clear desire not to burden any other contributors with unnecessary restrictions.

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

I agree with you

But I would still ask, if I could contact the original author. I wouldn't even start writing in another author's universe without at least trying to contact that author first. If I couldn't get ahold of the author, and the permission was granted to other authors in a story, I might write the story. If the above paragraph or something similiar wasn't in the story, I wouldn't write it at all.

But that is me, your actions are your own business. I can't tell you what to do, I can only speak for myself.

Damaged people are dangerous
They know they can survive

What I'm doing ...

erin's picture

... is trying to say, "Don't discourage authors by putting obstacles in their way that the author of the original work did not put there." That's all. I disagree with suggesting that it is always better to ask and strongly enough to keep restating this until the message is clear.

Unless O2bxx steps in to modify the original statement, it's my belief that no request for permission is desired or even desirable because O2bxx clearly preferred that other writers feel free to write stories not requests. What any writer may do themselves about asking permission or not is up to them but suggesting to other authors that it is better to ask is contrary to O2bxx's expressed instructions.

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

So I see...

...NOW... sorry about that. I hardly every read a forward since it usually don't mean too much towards the story. I pay more attention to the story than any other part of the story. I went back and looked and sure enough. As for asking permission from an author to use their universe, I have always felt it was most polite to ask before I do it. Mainly because an author has the right to restrict anyone from utilizing their work, especially if they are writing other stories in the universe. Take the Professor's work with Ovid. He had a specific goal with it and anything else written in it would have taken away from his ultimate goal. He refused everyone permission to use the Ovid Uni for good reason. Although, most people won't say their universe is open, I treat them as if they are closed w/o permission. I will *always* ask permission first before I write in a closed uni. This is the reason I mentioned the asking for permission to write in a uni. An open one is a bit different. I always give the credit where the credit is due. If I can't remember the name of the author, I don't write in the uni. If it's not listed as open, I treat it as a closed one and try to create one of my own. As an afterthought, I went back and looked at 'For A Girl' and you were correct, she did leave it open. So, you have it correct. I had just felt that credit was due to something and not given. For giving credit in the future parts, I feel like saying, Thank You.

Goldie

You are right about permission IN THIS CASE

"GB may work as a new 'universe'. I've deliberately left it a little vague, in case I revisit the idea and flesh it out. Whose doing it, why, etc ... But GB was not the central theme for this story - just a tool. Hence, it remains mostly in the background. If another author wants to develop GB further - go for it! We'll make up the rules as we go."

Was part of the afterword

It’s not given to anyone to have no regrets; only to decide, through the choices we make, which regrets we’ll have,
David Weber – In Fury Born

Holly

It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.

Holly

Nanites are ubiquitous...

Puddintane's picture

And Gender Biomorphism is just two simple words. There are dozens of "nanite" stories I can think of just offhand, including the Caregivers stories, several by Maggie Finson (Miko, etc.), Carversion, For King & Country, Longing in the Urals, After the Ashes, New U, and even Zapped! uses them parenthetically. Gender and Biomorphism are both mere dictionary words, and no author can claim rights to words from a dictionary. You might as well say that writing a story about potato chips means that no one can ever write about crisps unless they call them "Freedom Flatties" or something equally silly. If you want to claim rights, you have to make *new* words, Fnorkle, for example, or Wackzamio.

Ideas cannot be copyrighted. Trademarks can be, but you have to demonstrate that no one has already used the trademark, or at least in your market. Even Hugglebugs are probably suspect, as there seems to be a real "Huggle Bug" in Oz, about which Selena Griffith of the Uni of New South Wales has written. It's defined in the Urban Dictionary, and is a Wiki software programme as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Huggle

This is why trademark lawyers get paid the big bucks...

Puddin'

-

Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

What is a Universe and who can use it.

RAMI

I think the arguments regarding Issy writing a story is someone elses "universe" is pushing the point in this case. There are numerous stories on this site and Crystal's Storysite and other similar sites where a boy or man turns into a girl as a result of a mysterious disease. Right now there is a story on this site discussing Feminizer Disease.

If Issy had called his disease something other then SGR or GB and the little nanites had another name, no one would be able to accuse him of writing in someone else universe. There would be no attack for the failure to seek permission.

A universe where permission should be sought is Aunt Jane's Season's House. That universe has a history, and strong prior character development.

All Issy would have to do is change 6 words and two sets of appreviations to avoid these attacks.

I liked the story and hope Issy continues with further chapters, and if the disease gets a name change, it would not bother me.

RAMI

SGR GB Nanites

RAMI

As I am not a writer, nor

As I am not a writer, nor familiar with the other stories mentioned, with the exception of "Kate Draffen"; I don't know all the "ins and outs" of presenting a story on this or other websites. Therefore, I will just say this story is starting out very interesting and I look forward to more of it. J-Lynn

Nice start

I just feel like you have a lot of latent talent just begging to be developed. I hope that you will continue to write and to work at developing your language skills.

I really like your feel for plot, and dialogue.

Many Blessings

Gwen

Big Bang Theory

I spent the weekend watching the olympics and the first two seasons of the Big Bang Theory.

The Big Bang Theory derives its humor from the awkwardness that occurs when geekiness runs up against common sense.

Much of this thread sounds like dialogue from that show.

Angela Rasch (Jill M I)

Angela Rasch (Jill M I)