Transgender Adventure!

[Cleophila]

If transgender adventure has a name, it probably isn't Indiana Jones!

I've been toying with the idea of writing a globe trotting treasure seeking adventure in the style of Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider or Relic Hunter, based on the legend of Hermaphroditus (an intersex character in Roman and Greek mythology from whose name derives the term "hermaphrodite") and I'm wondering if people would be interested in reading that sort of thing.

I have always been interested in mythology and folklore and the Hermaphroditus story is one that has particularly caught my attention as it taps into another interest of mine. I am fascinated by metamorphosis and transformation in general, and transgender stories and characters in particular. I like the idea of one thing being able to change into another and of playing around with gender roles. I think this would be a perfect setting for a somewhat different take on this well worn genre.

Essentially, the legend (told in Ovid's Metamorphoses) tells of Hermaphroditus (the son of the gods Mercury and Venus, Hermes and Aphrodite in Greek), a beautiful youth with whom the idle nymph Salmacis falls madly in love. When Hermaphroditus seeks to bathe in the pool where Salmacis resides, she dives in with him, grabbing him and wrapping her body around his. She wishes that she and Hermaphroditus should never be parted and so their bodies merge together as one, leaving Hermaphroditus with a body part masculine and part feminine, with the organs of both genders. Angrily, Hermaphroditus curses the waters so that any man that bathes or drinks from them in future will also assume a new feminine form.

So, what we have here is a legendary fountain whose waters transform men to women, a power that could be sought after by many. Our heroes would have to discover the fountain before it is found by a secret society who wish to use the power to weaken armies of men and thus defeat and conquer them. The heroes would be a man who has always felt insecure in his masculinity and seeks the fountain in order to transform his body to the beautiful female form he has always desired, and a tough feminist lesbian who gradually comes to reveal the gentle side to her nature and has a growing tenderness towards her companion.

Although not entirely an erotic story, the subject is obviously one that is partly sexual and the idea would be that it would build to a climactic sex scene between the two protagonists upon discovering the legendary fountain. It would be this moment of sexual togetherness between the two as the enchanted waters flow over them that enacts the transformation and turns the hero's masculine body into soft female curves, so he would turn more and more feminine as the passionate sexual moment continues, until their shared orgasm becomes a shared celebration of their feminine beauty.

So, I guess my question as I begin to develop this idea is whether people think there will be an audience for it on Literotica?

 

[Cleophila]

So, I've been researching the idea a little on wikipedia (hardly the most high brow academic source, I know!) and I actually think that the story could work a bit better as something more like a pastiche of the Da Vinci Code where our heroes are caught up in this big conspiracy and have to follow clues in famous works of art and architecture to unravel the mystery and find the legendary Fountain of Salmacis.

I found out that the most famous statue of Hermaphroditus is in the Louvre (a very Da Vinci Code setting) and that the mattress on which he/she lies was carved by the sculptor Bernini (whose works feature heavily in Dan Brown's other book Angels and Demons as containing secret messages for the Iluminati to follow), so perhaps this would be a good place for a clue to be concealed. The sculpture also inspired Diego Velazquez' Rokeby Venus, one of the most famous and best paintings in London's National Gallery. This painting could function like the Mona Lisa in the Da Vinci Code (obviously a similarly iconic image in art history) as having a murder take place in front of it setting in motion the plot. The much debated symbolism of the picture itself could hide a first clue for our heroes to uncover.

I also found that the location where the Fountain was supposed to be was beside the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. And that the Mausoleum's stone was later used to build Bodrum Castle, one of the great strongholds of the Knights Hospitaller. Like the Knights Templar used in the Da Vinci Code and other conspiracy stories, the Hospitallers were a group of crusading warrior monks who became incredibly rich, powerful and influential in the middle ages. Maybe this story could trace the origins of this power to a secret discovered when building their castle. Also, like the Priory of Sion hoax of the 1950s that inspired the Da Vinci Code conspiracy theories, there have also been hoax groups in the 20th century claiming to be modern versions of the mediaeval Hospitallers. That would set up a pretty good secret villainous organisation to be my story's antagonists.

I feel this is enough inspiration to fill out my plotline a little so I have decided I will give this story a go. I've decided to call it "The Hermaphrodite's Curse".

 

[GratefulFred]

My 2nd spoof story was "Raiders of the lost cock" (not here for those looking)and though the audience for humor & satire out here is rather thin if you wish to jump into such an story do so because you feel the passion for writing and not what others may think.

You got a good premise and plenty of solid ideas whichever way you decide to go. Don't worry about the level of sexual activity. Tell a good story and put only what's necessary. Most of my stories deal in oddities of sexuality or make fun of the whole subject. It doesn't win me brownie points but I prefer to write my style of different stuff than run of the mill porn.

 

[Cleophila]

I guess I'm not really thinking of the story as a straight up spoof of the genre. I want to write a story that playfully recalls things like the Da Vinci Code and isn't meant to be taken too seriously, but one that still functions as a fun, exciting, romantic read in itself. I am thinking of it as more pastiche than parody. I mean, I definitely still want the sex scene to be sexy and that means writing characters that are real and a deeper relationship developing between them than you might in a simple parody story.

 

[DC29]

Sounds like it would be interesting to read , can't wait to read it.

 

[MsLinnet]

Sounds like it would be interesting to read , can't wait to read it.

me also i very intrested in reading it but i dont think i would like to write it good luck

 

[Cleophila]

Well it's been over a month, but I've finally got something down that I'm happy with. I've got the first part of my story (a bit less than 10,000 words), at least in a draft that goes how I want it to, although there may be a few flaws. There's three more parts to do so I guess the story is going to turn out fairly long. I've made it more Da Vinci Code than Indiana Jones, more mystery than all out action. It's also a bit more serious than silly, but it's still meant to be taken as not entirely seriously. I'll post what I've done so far and see what people think about whether I should take it further. Bear in mind this is just supposed to be the first part and the main sexual scene doesn't come until towards the end.

 

[Cleophila]

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[Cleophila]

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[Cleophila]

Now that I'm done with that first part of the story, I just have a couple of questions for regular writers/readers. First of all, and most importantly, having got this far, is it worth me continuing with the story? Would people like to read more?

Secondly, do people think it would be better for me to finish the whole story before submitting any part of it to the site? Also, I think it would be good for me maybe to find an editor to clean up some of my mistakes or lapses before submitting but I don't really know how to go about doing that and finding someone who is right for this.

Thirdly, what section of the site would be most appropriate for a story like this? It is not at this point very erotic but the story as a whole does not completely fit in the non-erotic section. I guess it has a transgender theme but might also belong in novels and novellas, how long do those have to be?