I would mind displacing it forward actually.
The Catboying Machine is, in fact, a modified Catgirling Machine. They are (to give it some technobabble) preformatted articulatory modification systems, in that they modify the subjects articulation by essentially melting them down and molding them around a plastic skeleton. Going from the original CGM to the CBM is a logical path.
What people seem to forget is that Fen are a bit obsessive. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be Fen and thus no Fenspace. It’s one of the reasons pissing the Fen off is a Bad Thing. Take a look at how fast the Boskone War ended after Serenity-Con.
Now, once the Fen had an honest to C’tan Catgirling Machine to examine they went to work. In the overall scheme of things, switching the machine from Female to Male wasn’t too big of a change.
HOWEVER, as details about how the CGM actually worked leaked out, I doubt there were many NEW takers for the CBM. Still, it was much simpler for victims of the former to use the latter.
How many did so? Not as many as you’d think. Remember, the process uses a lot of handwavium and (as been pointed out many times on the forums) handwavium is a memetic substance. The knowledge the ‘you are a Catgirl’ is constantly reinforced by your appearance and the reactions of those around you. Quite frankly, the insidiousness of it only adds to the Evil of the Catgirling Machine in my opinion. Those who went for the CBM were either recently converted, had a tremendously strong male self-image, or simply had some psychological reaction to their transformation that they didn’t (or couldn’t) let themselves accept it.
The Puma-ising Machine was another modified version of the original CGM, this time attempting to remove the plastic skeleton since that was considered the primary structure the rest of the molding process was based around. It’s from this that the Biomolding process was developed.
Given the time at which a Catgirling Machine was recovered, and the resources likely put into attempting to reverse its affects, I can reasonably see the development of the above between late 2012 and May 2014. Waiting longer to help the victims is WRONG in my opinion.
If you want to limit the use of the tech, there’s a fairly simple way to do so. The Catgirling Machine has a heavy stigma attached to it and its use. Some of that shadow will have fallen over the descendants of that device, even when they were built to fix the issues the original machine caused. So, after all the excitement has died down they become another type of biomod. Outside some of the body modification sub-culture, the downsides (some of which are in the story) will keep this a uncommon thing to do, not unlike getting a biomod deliberately (in the latter case, it’s more about making sure that if needed the Docs can save your life via biomod).
Now, given the cause of all this was a character write up posted by ECSNorway, I want to add the following comments.
If Charlie Kowalski actually goes that way, I very much recommend something more like the Puma-ising Machine (or a Biomolding Machine with a Catgirl template) than the original.
The Catboying Machine is, in fact, a modified Catgirling Machine. They are (to give it some technobabble) preformatted articulatory modification systems, in that they modify the subjects articulation by essentially melting them down and molding them around a plastic skeleton. Going from the original CGM to the CBM is a logical path.
What people seem to forget is that Fen are a bit obsessive. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be Fen and thus no Fenspace. It’s one of the reasons pissing the Fen off is a Bad Thing. Take a look at how fast the Boskone War ended after Serenity-Con.
Now, once the Fen had an honest to C’tan Catgirling Machine to examine they went to work. In the overall scheme of things, switching the machine from Female to Male wasn’t too big of a change.
HOWEVER, as details about how the CGM actually worked leaked out, I doubt there were many NEW takers for the CBM. Still, it was much simpler for victims of the former to use the latter.
How many did so? Not as many as you’d think. Remember, the process uses a lot of handwavium and (as been pointed out many times on the forums) handwavium is a memetic substance. The knowledge the ‘you are a Catgirl’ is constantly reinforced by your appearance and the reactions of those around you. Quite frankly, the insidiousness of it only adds to the Evil of the Catgirling Machine in my opinion. Those who went for the CBM were either recently converted, had a tremendously strong male self-image, or simply had some psychological reaction to their transformation that they didn’t (or couldn’t) let themselves accept it.
The Puma-ising Machine was another modified version of the original CGM, this time attempting to remove the plastic skeleton since that was considered the primary structure the rest of the molding process was based around. It’s from this that the Biomolding process was developed.
Given the time at which a Catgirling Machine was recovered, and the resources likely put into attempting to reverse its affects, I can reasonably see the development of the above between late 2012 and May 2014. Waiting longer to help the victims is WRONG in my opinion.
If you want to limit the use of the tech, there’s a fairly simple way to do so. The Catgirling Machine has a heavy stigma attached to it and its use. Some of that shadow will have fallen over the descendants of that device, even when they were built to fix the issues the original machine caused. So, after all the excitement has died down they become another type of biomod. Outside some of the body modification sub-culture, the downsides (some of which are in the story) will keep this a uncommon thing to do, not unlike getting a biomod deliberately (in the latter case, it’s more about making sure that if needed the Docs can save your life via biomod).
Now, given the cause of all this was a character write up posted by ECSNorway, I want to add the following comments.
If Charlie Kowalski actually goes that way, I very much recommend something more like the Puma-ising Machine (or a Biomolding Machine with a Catgirl template) than the original.