Star-Crossed Lovers on Zal

At the beginning of what had traditionally been a peaceful era on the planet of Zal, Jennie and Lisa – two female noblewomen – found themselves together at a famous boarding school in the heavily walled capital city. Their days there were spent learning the different customs and laws expected of a female nobles, with little time for better understanding of their own feelings for one another.

And yet, despite their respective positions in society as well as their own constraints and boundaries, a unique connection began to grow between them. Against the backdrop of their burgeoning friendship, a dangerous and secretive attraction began to emerge, challenging the unspoken rules they were expected to follow. They were both forbidden – by both their peers and the law of Zal – to ever act on their mutual desires, yet neither could escape the intensifying emotion that marred the air or deny the need between them any longer.

So began the exploratory journey of Jennie and Lisa, two female nobles of the 15th century planet Zal passionate and devoted – but completely in the shadows of tradition and taboo. Neither other knew what awaited them in testing the limits of their mutual passion, and so might’ve unawarely entered a journey of unknown dangers and unimaginable joys.

The journey took them into darker territory as their feelings for each other became stronger and their positions within society weakened. The oppressive force of their peers, their families, and the leading bodies of government began to close in on them, and Lisa, not content to just suffer exclusion, fought back against rumor and gossip with a boldness Jennie wasn’t sure she could muster.

The circles around them began to spiral out in unknown yet inevitable ways and both Jennie and Lisa were soon swept up in the chaos around them. Now, at the midpoint of the story, they no longer had the option of a peaceful illegal affair – standing in the confrontation between society and individual were two passionate women full of electric energy, defending their right of love.

But at the same time, Lisa and Jennie were feeling more exposed and vulnerable, threatened by by the growing extremity of the widespread hostilities. This sense of danger created an almost physical impediment to their flight; there was no escaping anymore. With the oppositional environmental forces in play, the lovebirds are thrust into a crisis as they face the authentic judgment they had so wrongly tried to avoid.

And, with the noose of fate around their necks, it is only then that Lisa and Jennie realize the true level of intensity and emotion that spawned between the two of them in spite of the culture and people around them. Decisions needed to be taken, without the privacy of hidden comfort to hide behind.

The previously intangible forces of culture, tradition and law collided with their own devoted love to create an inescapable climactic tension. Zal’s historically opportunistic and narrowly thinking population only allowed for one way forward - defying expectations to make the decisions only their emotions could direct them. Seeking understanding and acceptance from a hostile world, Jennie and Lisa turn to one another for the strength to carry out what is needed on the furor for the courage to advocate for their own passionate care for the other.

The resulting episode created a combination of extremes, with Jennie and Lisa, proclaiming themselves as nonconforming individuals in truth and laughter and defiance, facing a future of, renewal and reunion and possible joy. The end of this story is not tied up in a neat bow with certainties and promises, but with hope and heartbreak and awareness of oneself, that resolve and bravery, even in the face of terrible fear and alienation, can sometimes be the only answer.