User:JonBuck/Eve's Apple - Revision history

JonBuck: More pages added mid-story and lots of smaller edits. Not finished with my runthrough yet.

2009-03-20T07:14:25Z

More pages added mid-story and lots of smaller edits. Not finished with my runthrough yet.

JonBuck at 06:20, 9 March 2009

2009-03-09T06:20:02Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:20, 9 March 2009
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	{{WIP}}{{universe\|National Enchanted Forest}}{{XXX}} [[Category:Jon Buck]] [[Category:Transgender]] [[Category:National Enchanted Forest]] {{DEFAULTSORT:Eve's Apple}}		{{WIP}}{{universe\|National Enchanted Forest}}{{XXX}} [[Category:Jon Buck]] [[Category:Transgender]] [[Category:National Enchanted Forest]] {{DEFAULTSORT:Eve's Apple}}

	{{author note\|See the Discussion page for an explanation of why this story starts here. Has to do with a personal Travel Nightmare. Also, there are some graphic depictions of self-exploration here. As cliche as they are, I think it's only natural.}}

	{{author note\|I am updating this story so fast, and doing other smaller edits to text already written, that I won't be using this green text to indicate new bits. Please check Recent Changes and click "diff" to see where my changes are. Thanks. --[[User:JonBuck\|Buck]] 01:05, 9 August 2008 (EDT)}}

	~~{{add\|I'll have to add chapter breaks. This story is going to pass the 200kb mark pretty soon. --[[User:JonBuck\|Buck]] 23:36, 23 August 2008 (EDT)}}~~

	{{title		{{title

JonBuck: Small edits here and there. Nothing new yet.

2009-03-09T06:19:10Z

Small edits here and there. Nothing new yet.

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JonBuck at 04:48, 1 March 2009

2009-03-01T04:48:27Z

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ShadowWolf: add {{universe}}

2009-02-14T18:37:51Z

add {{universe}}

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:37, 14 February 2009
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	{{WIP}} {{XXX}} [[Category:Jon Buck]] [[Category:Transgender]] [[Category:National Enchanted Forest]] {{DEFAULTSORT:Eve's Apple}}		{{WIP}}{{universe\|National Enchanted Forest}}{{XXX}} [[Category:Jon Buck]] [[Category:Transgender]] [[Category:National Enchanted Forest]] {{DEFAULTSORT:Eve's Apple}}

	{{author note\|See the Discussion page for an explanation of why this story starts here. Has to do with a personal Travel Nightmare. Also, there are some graphic depictions of self-exploration here. As cliche as they are, I think it's only natural.}}		{{author note\|See the Discussion page for an explanation of why this story starts here. Has to do with a personal Travel Nightmare. Also, there are some graphic depictions of self-exploration here. As cliche as they are, I think it's only natural.}}

JonBuck at 06:06, 11 September 2008

2008-09-11T06:06:21Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:06, 11 September 2008
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	"Call Scott, or Carrie, or whoever she is right now. I'm shocked Gloria didn't leave the state, at least," said Jennifer, backing out of the parking space. "There goes the afternoon."		"Call Scott, or Carrie, or whoever she is right now. I'm shocked Gloria didn't leave the state, at least," said Jennifer, backing out of the parking space. "There goes the afternoon."

			{{Separator\|f}}

			When she called Ilene, the witch put her on hold as she called Carrie/Scott. She was on hold about three minutes. "Scott's way up in Everett. He works at Boeing--they both do--and it's going to be hours before he can get here," Ilene said. "Do you think she's staying at the Lodge? Or will she just go up and down the mountain?"

			"I don't know. Should we risk driving up to check? She may not have even stopped in Paradise. There's more than one way out of the park, though she'd have to ride a long distance," Jennifer said.

			"Go ahead. If you end up running into her, at least try and talk. I don't think she'd run away from you. I hope," Ilene said.

			''She'll just punch me out,'' Jennifer thought. "We'd better get going, then."

			"Good luck."

			Jennifer explained the situation in more detail to her mother as they drove back up the mountain. Rachel came to the same conclusion as her daughter without her even mentioning it. Gloria was just like David and broccoli. "What will you do if you find her?" her mother asked.

			"Use the payphone and call Ilene back. Chances are slim that she stopped in Paradise anyway. It's a busy time of year... though today seems oddly quiet. Maybe we'll actually find parking."

			There was still snow over five thousand feet. Jennifer breathed the familiar air deeply. For her whole life she'd been torn between the mountains and the sea. She wanted a sailboat, at least a sloop that had enough of a belowdecks cabin for multi-day trips. But aside from a few sailing lessons and a boat rental or two, that dream was now put off several years. Her other obsession was mountains, and these Washington had in abundance. Mount Baker, Rainier, St. Helens, and other, little-known peaks like the Tatoosh Range and Mount Si, near Snoqualmie Falls. She avoided the Plains like the plague, preferring the rolling Appalachians, or the Ozarks, to any flatland.

			Her mother looked surprised to see all the snow. It was the second week of July and the ground was still covered with icy, dripping, dirty snow. All the way up there were still tiny meltwater waterfalls. The thinner air felt clear and crisp. There were few clouds today, and the Nisqually Valley a picturesque descent towards the west. "Well, here we are," Jennifer said, looking for a parking space. She found one right between to an older blue Tercel wagon and a huge Ford SUV that made her 4Runner look tiny.

			Motorcycles had heir own parking area. Jennifer and her mother gathered their things and headed towards the Paradise Inn. Gloria's Harley-Davidson Cruiser was wedged in a parking space between two more SUVs who each took up more than a single parking space apiece. "How much time do you want to spend looking for her?" her mother asked.

			"Let's just try the obvious places first. The Inn and the Visitors Center. I doubt she's gone mountain climbing, especially with all this snow still around," said Jennifer.

			The Inn had the rustic look one would expect on a mountain like this one. The lobby had visible roof support beams and columns of roughly-hewn logs. To the left were couches, and near the windows a series of picnic-style benches with a view of the mountain. Gloria sat on one of these, gazing up at Rainier's peak, chewing on her lower lip. She had lipstick on, and wore a wine-colored camisole top trimmed with white lace. She must have changed clothes, because she was also in a pleated knee-length skirt, full makeup, earrings, and a silver chain necklace. As if she'd dressed for a date. ''Must've spent some time primping after she arrived. What's she trying to do? Pick up guys?'' Jennifer thought. ''Didn't want to look like a biker chick?''

			Gloria looked her way before Jennifer and her mother could duck out of line of sight. The Amazon just looked at her, expressionless, then shrugged. "Well, don't just stand there looking pretty, Jennifer. Come on. I'm not going to bite. Who's that?"

			Not knowing what else to say, Jennifer said, "Gloria Steiner, meet my mother, Rachel Lambert."

			"Happy to meet you, Gloria. My daughter's told me about you," her mother said.

			"And I bet you're happy to have a daughter now, if you didn't have one before," Gloria said bitterly. "Come, sit down. I think I have an explanation or two to make."

			She looked defeated, Jennifer reflected. ''No... not defeated. Indecisive.'' All dressed up, 5,500 feet up a dormant volcano with snow on the ground outside. She tried smiling and sat down on the bench across the table. "Well, we women like to talk, don't we?" Jennifer said.

			To her surprise, Gloria actually chuckled. She played with the silver bracelets on her right wrist. They looked quite expensive. "I got all the way to Montana on my bike before I realized just what a damn fool bitch I was being. I... I... I got this crazy idea in my head that I could arrive on the hog at my wife and kids' place in Michigan, dressed all butch, and things would be fine again." Jennifer expected tears, but it seemed like she was finished crying. "I can't go back to that. My ex told me that once I stabilized I ''might'' be granted visitation rights, but..."

			"We could find someplace more private," Rachel suggested.

			Gloria shrugged. "At this point, I don't care." She gave Jennifer a measuring look. "That picture you took? It was... really good. But when I saw it I ''had'' to go. God, what a mess. But the Captain who did this to me is doing ten to fifteen in prison." She cupped her breasts. "I visited him, once. Pulled my top up and jiggled them in his face across the glass. The MPs took me right out again, of course. That was just before I went into the mental hospital.

			"You know, with the Bloom dosage he put in that bottle of beer, I think he wanted to make me some kind of sex slave. Though there was that time he called me 'bitch' to my face before that. Got him for insubordination, but he got back at me."

			"Sounds like a real piece of work," Jennifer said.

			The Amazon pulled on the top of her camisole and looked at her cleavage. "And these are mine. All mine. You like your breasts too, don't you? I think I do, finally. That is, I ''admit'' that I do. Wish I had that top from the picture with me... Scott gave it to me, actually." She lowered her eyes, embarrassed. But it might have been the first time she'd ever admitted to having a boyfriend to anyone.

			"Frankly, Gloria, I'd like to see how it looks on me," Jennifer said, trying to lighten the mood.

			Gloria smiled and gestured at Jennifer's rather plain yellow shirt. "You stopped by Cabela's on your way up, didn't you? They have that huge new store in Lacey. Nice boots."

			"My old hiking gear didn't fit, obviously," Jennifer said. "I came up to take pictures of the climbers with a telephoto. Perfect day for it."

			"Scott would love those photos you took of us. You weren't following me, were you? No, of course not..." Gloria said, gesturing dismissively. She looked at her pink-polished nails. They weren't very long. "I spent half an hour getting into this outfit, you know. Then I had a hard look at myself in the mirror and decided... I like it. I like the way I look ''in it.'' Bloom gives you a youthful appearance and it cured my heart problems even regular magic couldn’t help."

			"What do you plan to do now, Gloria? Where do you go from here?" Jennifer asked.

			The former Marine looked over at the payphone down the hall. "I was planning to call Scott. Tell him I'm here. I've ''dreamed'' about him the past couple nights, sleeping in motels. Romantic dreams. Um... erotic ones, too. He knows... I mean... he and I... we've actually..."

			"You don't have to spill everything, Gloria," Jennifer said. "Whatever you decide, I'll support. But I'll be honest with you. I went down and called Ilene. She knows you're up here, and so does... Scott. But he's ''hours'' north of here. Why don't you call him? Tell him how you really feel? You're a grown wom... person."

			"Woman, you can say it," Gloria said. "I'm a woman, and I'm going to be one for the rest of my life. They even took scans of my brain, magically and mundanely, and proved that I'm pretty damned female in the way my brain works. I still find wife attractive, though. So I don't think even ten times the Bloom made me a straight woman. I just feel squicky looking at myself in the mirror and getting a little turn-on." She shivered.

			Jennifer's mother raised her eyebrows. "Well, I've certainly learned more than I expected here. But I'm glad you've come to terms with yourself. After how long?"

			"Two years, Mrs. Lambert. I'm sorry if that's too much information," Gloria said. "I should've known you'd do that." She actually looked relieved. Even ''happy.'' She stood up and waited next to the table. "I'm going to call him right now. Then I'm going to see if there's any rooms available for tonight..."

			It seemed like all Gloria had needed was someone to talk to, but surrounded by strangers in the Inn, there hadn't been anyone until Jennifer had walked in. "I'm glad I could help, Gloria."

			"A 'tell me your feelings' girly gabfest if there ever was one," Gloria replied with a chuckle. "But it worked, so I can't exactly complain. I want some nice, big prints of those photos... and you can use them in your portfolio. I'm sure I can get Scott to agree to ''that''."

	{{Separator\|f\|Work in Progress}}		{{Separator\|f\|Work in Progress}}

JonBuck at 04:45, 6 September 2008

2008-09-06T04:45:03Z

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JonBuck at 04:43, 6 September 2008

2008-09-06T04:43:29Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:43, 5 September 2008
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	Jennifer smiled, carefully replacing the diary in the box and closing the top. "What did you have I mind?"		Jennifer smiled, carefully replacing the diary in the box and closing the top. "What did you have I mind?"

			{{Separator\|f}}

			Over the next few days Jennifer divided her time between her mother and her career, returning to Pike's Place, looking for distinctive faces. There had to be more moments like the one she had caught between Scott and Gloria. Not necessarily romantic ones, but still special. The little girl at the fountain had ''almost'' been there. Over the next two days, Martha rejected nineteen out of twenty of the photos she emailed. But there were enough now that Jennifer had "a good start, but not enough. Keep trying," Martha had emailed back. Of those she had chosen, a woman feeding pigeons.

			The light had been good for that one, Jennifer knew.

			"I'd go hiking up the mountain, but I don't think this body's up to it," she confided to her mother on Thursday night. "Yeah, I'm fit. I have a nice figure. But this isn't exactly the body of a rugged outdoorswoman."

			"We can at least head up to Paradise," Rachel said. "I haven't been to Mt. Rainier in years, since we stayed at that lodge."

			"It's the same old mountain. I've been there dozens of times," Jennifer said. It was distinct among national parks in that it only had a moderate level of background mana, which only a few shared. Though it was high enough that there were small communities of nonhumans within the Park. "I'll have to bring the film stock if we did go. This is climbing season... maybe I can use a telephoto and get some of the climbers..."

			"Do you have warm clothes that fit? There's still snow up there, even at this time of year, if I remember right."

			"It won't be that cold, Mom."

			Rachel tugged on her daughter's shirtsleeve. "But you're smaller now, remember?"

			"I know, I know. But in some ways it's nice, despite being shorter, too. I can actually fit in Coach seats on airplanes, the bath is nice and large." Jennifer smiled. "But I'm pretty sick of shopping."

			"Humor me? We have some catching up to do. Besides, we should get you some nice professional attire first. Let's save the mountain for tomorrow and take care of the rest of your needs today. After what I've seen, there are things you simply don't know and I should be the one to teach you."

			The young brunette woman wasn't sure if that was a good thing, or a bad thing. Jennifer smiled and folded her arms under her breasts. "Yes, Mom."

			{{Separator\|f}}

			Most National Parks, even those without enough magic in them to officially be called "Enchanted", were staffed by non-humans like centaurs, sphinxes, spirit-animals, and furries. Rainier National Park had enough mana for them to live somewhat comfortably. It was fluid enough in these parts that any magic used up would be replaced fairly quickly, unlike in city cores where it flowed like treacle in December. Mana was funny. The more concentrated it was, the more fluid it became.

			The centauress ranger recognized the 4-Runner, and clopped a forehoof. "You know, I knew you'd get caught sometime. We've found Bloom growing in the Tatoosh Range."

			"Must be a hardy type," Jennifer said.

			"The raunchy type, actually. The male and female phases are quite obvious, if you know what I mean." She flicked her equine ears suggestively. "But not enough mana for the pollen to affect physical shape. At least, so far."

			"I bet some hikers are getting some nasty surprises," Jennifer said, smirking.

			"Things get much worse and we'll have to apply for Enchanted status. Have a good time, Jenny."

			The atmosphere inside the SUV changed as she pulled away from the Park entrance. Since going through downtown Seattle they'd been chatting about some stereotypically feminine things. Jennifer felt like she was in some kind of boot camp. Her mother was relentless, determined to make up for the past thirty years, but equally determined that her daughter not forget her past. She was trying to highlight the differences between what she and her sister had experienced. But a cold tension now replaced that oddly lighthearted what-if chatter.

			Not sure how to break the ice, Jennifer pulled into the parking area next to Christine Falls, a small, scenic waterfall about fifteen minutes inside the Park. She drummed her polished fingernails on the steering wheel. "Okay, Mom, what is it? Is it my nephew and niece?"

			She looked at the dashboard, then shook her head. "What are we going to tell your father?"

			Jennifer stiffened. "We're not going to tell him. I haven't spoken to him in five years, and I'm not going to start now."

			"Okay... okay..." Rachel said, still not looking at her. "Well..."

			There were always motorcycles going up and down the winding road to Paradise. Crotch rockets and cruisers. The route was a challenge for any rider, with all the sharp turns and increasing altitude. Jennifer happened to be looking in the rear view mirror when one went by, going more slowly than she expected. There was no mistaking that flowing black hair. "Gloria?"

			"Who? You mean, that woman who left Ilene's in a huff?"

			"That was Gloria! I'm sure of it!" Jennifer exclaimed. ''Did she see me? Oh, I hope not!'' She fished her Blackberry out of her purse before she remembered there'd be no service here. "She's probably going up towards Paradise. Maybe I should drive back and call Ilene."

			"What do you think she could do?"

			"Call Scott, or Carrie, or whoever she is right now. I'm shocked Gloria didn't leave the state, at least," said Jennifer, backing out of the parking space. "There goes the afternoon."

	{{Separator\|f\|Work in Progress}}		{{Separator\|f\|Work in Progress}}

JonBuck: More.

2008-08-30T05:47:54Z

More.

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JonBuck: Ending this scene.

2008-08-25T06:37:47Z

Ending this scene.

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:37, 25 August 2008
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	"I'm fine. I've just... gained a whole new respect for women. And I am one now. Mother of God."		"I'm fine. I've just... gained a whole new respect for women. And I am one now. Mother of God."

	"Mother indeed. Welcome to the sisterhood. Now, are you going to take today's picture before we leave? And have you decided what to wear today? What about that dress?"		"Mother indeed. Welcome to the sisterhood. Now, are you going to take today's picture before we leave? And have you decided what to wear today? What about that red babydoll dress? You want to show your mother how comfortable you are."

			That was a statement rather than a question. "I'll go with one of my polos and... er... a skirt, I guess. That long denim one. It's simple." Jennifer folded her arms under her breasts and opened the bathroom door. She'd done enough photos of Katie now that neither was at all body shy around the other. The pregnant woman had her hand on her swelling belly, as usual. "You're still coming with me, aren't you?"

			"Of course, my friend." Katie said, giving her a hug. "We have a few hours before we have to leave. Let's make sure things are perfect around here."

	{{Separator\|f\|Work in Progress}}		{{Separator\|f\|Work in Progress}}