Reviewed:
MORFS turns a Latino boy into an Anglo girl with minor bio-elemental powers. Supposedly minor. Which means, of course, things escalate. Entertainingly.
Sidebar: MORFS is an open shared universe, taking place in the decades following a plague, Massive Ontogenetic Regulation Failure Syndrome, that frequently causes infected teenagers (after the initial epidemic, only teenagers are affected) to morph unpredictably. Sometimes it’s just a shift in appearance, sometimes it’s a hybridization with animal traits, and sometimes they gain psychic powers—some of which lead to superhero adventure yarns. Many stories involve a transgender morph, usually MTF per the rules of ’net porn, and most writers in the universe have migrated off SOL to a couple transgender-themed sites. But of the stories still here, there’s a couple excellent tales, including this one.
More than most MORFS stories, this goes into detail about Angel’s learning to not just pass for female after an unwanted MTF transition, but her coming to terms with this new identity. Even more interesting, though, is how short-range bio-elemental powers can be not just very useful but very powerful. Personally, I’m most amused at how Angel goes about assembling her superhero team for purposes of her own devising.
This is, frankly, my favorite MORFS story, despite continually ramping up the power curve. Recommended. (Fair warning: there is a sequel, focused on someone else—boo!—that’s unfinished—double boo!).
Reviewed: - (Review Updated: )
My Goodness, it's been a while since my last review and I have to say, it might be because I have been waiting for a good tale like this one to come along.
This story is a gem, nothing less. The technical aspects are top notch. The universe is obviously something that several people have spent a lot of effort to build and it shows.
There's a wonderful insistence that the reader should know what is going on, no hand-holding with the technology.
Dialogue is beautifully handled and characterization is expertly done.
I found myself smiling at the very clever mechanism where up to the beginning of a central paragraph the main character: Angel (going through a gender identity crisis,) was consistently referred to as 'he' and then, once he "saw the light," was from then on referred to as 'she.' Very good attention to such detail made reading a real joy.
There's a concentration of the minutiae of a young girl's daily life and this story never falls into any clichéd traps. I found it rather intriguing to be carried along through the day-to-day progress as Angel learns to cope with not only becoming a girl but becoming a powerful new being.