AUTHOR’S NOTE
Transformation stories are ultimately coming of age stories. I view transformations in anime and manga as serving two possible functions: 1) A gaining of power, or 2) blossoming into a new self-realization. Think Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon.
For the purpose of this story, I decided to stick to the gaining of power model of transformation. At the beginning, I had wanted to incorporate both but I knew that that would be hard to do in a short story, not to mention confusing. I was struggling with which I would stick to when I was writing the opening scene when Brent and Natalie chat in the hall before class. Natalie sort of decided for me when she looked out at her peers with that better-than-thou look on her face. It was a first experience for me as a writer, where a character decided something with little input from me.
Character transformations are cool. I love them. But because this story is about twisting a trope, I couldn’t help poking holes in the outfits, the time consuming nature of transformations (or not), the rules, reasons, and catalysts. It actually took a lot of structuring, more than I thought I would need, but I had fun making up all the rules.
