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Trust Machine Shorts - Play Ball

His hand slipped inside like it was made to be there. She’d been waiting patiently for hours. She relaxed. Molded to her insides, his hand felt amazing. He flexed and squeezed sending waves of pleasure through her body.

He ran his hand along the leather. The venned glove fit perfectly. He couldn’t wait to try it out. He punched his fist into the center.

She felt her body open and swing through the air. Something solid landed inside and it felt like slap against her ass. With the fingers inside her squeezing and the slap to what she perceived as her padded ass she orgasmed. If she could get wet, she would be dripping down his wrist.

When he got into the car, he tossed the first baseman’s mitt onto the passenger seat. She wasn’t happy to be removed from his hand but the playful way he tossed her always made her happy. She knew he was headed to his game.

She felt him pick her up, carry her for a while, and put her down. They must be at the dugout. She heard several men talking about softball. They were the visiting team for today’s game. Without his hand inside, her mind wandered until she felts two firm hands grip her waist.

He was batting second and he held his bat, the other half of her venn, by the handle. Being a glove forgotten, she felt him rubbing her hips with pine tar before taking a few practice swings. The air rushed over her surface like a lover’s caress. His hands on her hips made it feel like they were dancing.

Soon, she felt her body make solid contact with a ball. Her entire body vibrated and she barely felt it as he dropped her to the ground to run the bases. To her it was even harder than the spank she’d felt earlier. She was in a post orgasmic haze when she felt someone pick her up and return her to the bat rack in the dugout. She was happy when she heard someone saying he’d gotten to second base. She laughed since she felt he’d given her a grand slam.

After a while, the glove half of her was lifted and he slipped his hand in. This was her favorite part. His fingers flexed inside her. The ball landed in her pocket frequently as the infielders took their warm ups. She was always dizzy from the activity by the time the actual inning started. Two ground balls had been caught by her before she found herself in the dugout again.

The game continued. By the third inning she’d orgasmed so many times she couldn’t count to three: a necessary skill to follow a game of softball. When she recovered her wits she wasn’t sure where she was. A flat wall was outside of the… car. Yes, car. She was in his car. She was looking through the windshield at a wall.

It took her a moment to remember she was human. She got out of the car and entered the bar. The Lone River Ducks were boisterously celebrating in the back room. She guessed from their laughter that they’d won. She saw him as soon as she crossed the threshold to the room. She spun him around and kissed him.

His teammates cheered them on.

“Sorry I didn’t see your game,” she said. “I bet you did well.”

“Two doubles and a single,” one of the other men said. “She always seems to know when you have a good game.”

“She’s really in touch with the game,” he said. “I assume you want me to leave now.”

“I do,” she cooed into his ear.

“Sorry, boys. I’ve got to go.”

More hoots and hollers followed and they walked out arm in arm. When they were outside he whispered. “How much do you remember?”

“Maybe four innings. There were a lot of ground balls early and you got those two of those hits in your first two at bats.”

“True. I guess I hit better when you aren’t euphoric.”

“We’ll have to see how well you hit when we get home, Stud.”

“I love how revved up you are after my games.”

“I think I could only be more turned on if you were the Ducks’ catcher.”

“I’d probably find you in the car a drooling, mindless mess when I left the bar if I were a catcher.”

“Don’t tempt me with a better time.”

Note: It only occurs to me now that I'm a month later with releasing this story. Play Ball!

Premium Repair Service

“Oh, excuse me, ma’am, I…”

“Don’t mind her, she’s just a dummy.”

“Mr. Tomalson, I usually don’t make house calls but you are a premium customer.” The service man look at the naked mannequin standing on the Mannequin Disk 2000. Its hands were on its hips and one legs was posed with its knee forward. It was very life-like because it was probably the subject of the device’s last successful use. He was here to service the Disk. “Um, I can’t really service the Disk with her standing on it.”

“So? Move her.”

“She’s naked.”

“She’s plastic. Surly someone like you has encountered hundreds of mannequins before.”

“Most people clear off the Disk before I arrive.”

“Well, I’m not most people. Besides, she’ll enjoy being manhandled. Grope her tits and ass and I’ll throw in an extra fifty.”

“Um, that wouldn’t be very professional. What if people found out I was being indecent with my customers’ goods?”

“I’ll keep it secret. She won’t mind at all. Having heard this conversation, she’s more likely to do something vindictive to you now if don’t fondle the dummy.”

“As you say, Sir.” He grabbed the mannequin without regard to where he grabbed it. “Where should I put it?”

“If it will take you more than today to fix the machine, I’d rather you put her away in that closet.”

“The closet?”

“Yes.”

With a shrug, the man put the mannequin in the walk-in closet. He tried not to be surprised when he found five other mannequins standing in the walk-in closet. One seemed dressed for a gala or cotillion. Another wore lingerie. The third was dressed to visit a country club or attend a spring luncheon fundraiser. The rest were unclothed just like the sixth one he had just delivered to the closet. He noticed they were attached to mannequin stands and there were a few unused doll stands in the walk-in closet as well. He put the naked mannequin on one of the empty stands.

“Now, you know.” The homeowner said as the repair man stepped out of the closet.

“Not my business, Sir.”

“It could be.”

“What could be?”

“The mannequins in that closet are all very dear to me. And as long as the Disk doesn’t work, I have no choice but to leave them in the state they are in.”

“You could bring them to my shop. We could restore them easily.”

“You misunderstand. I have no choice but to leave them in the state they’re in. Otherwise, I’d have eight women to keep happy at once.”

“There’s only six mannequins in the closet.”

“One’s in the pool house. And the last one, my actual wife, will be home in a few hours. If she doesn’t get a turn as a mannequin there will be hell to pay. And if I have hell to pay, imagine what you’ll have.”

“I’ll get the Disk fixed before she returns.”

“That isn’t strictly necessary. You could easily pad your bill saying you need a part and returning in a couple days.”

“You said something about hell.”

“Claudia has her own Mannequin Disk 1000 in her bedroom. She just feels she shouldn’t have to use the previous model given how rich we are.”

“So, those women in the closet.”

“There are no women in the closet.”

“Those mannequins in the closet. You really don’t need me to restore them. You just choose not to.”

“Claudia would want to kill anyone finding out she has an older model anything that she uses. Shallow, I know. I’m not allowed to tell these other ladies she has it.”

“Your wife knows about the other mannequins?”

The man sighed. “My wife and I have an arrangement. She likes to spend extended periods of time as a mannequin. I find not having a significant other for extended periods of time off putting. After the first couple months she was using the mannequin disk, she capitulated. She told me when she’s a mannequin, she’s not a person and thus not anyone’s wife. That means I’m not married and I can do as I please. But, when she is my wife, I’m not allowed to have a mistress.”

The repairman’s face lit up. “And when these women are mannequins, they aren’t your mistresses.”

“Exactly.”

“How did you find eight women willing to spend so much time not being your lover?”

“Wealth.”

“That’s what I would have thought even if you’d said something else.”

“Great. We understand each other. Or at least you understand me. So, how long can you make it take to fix this?”

“Are you sure you want me to take my time? What if your wife comes home and sets the other disk for a month?”

“True. I had promised myself I wouldn’t add a fourth mannequin to my collection and I now have seven. Well, first, you should look at the broken disk and see how long the repair will take.”

“I could do that. Or we could step into the hallway so I give you another option.”

“The hallway?”

“You might not want these mannequins to know what I’m going to say.”

“I’m already more interested.” They stepped into the hallway.

The repairman said, “I’d like to tell you about an experimental model sitting outside in my truck.”

“Experimental how?”

“Well, it is a pre-release model so I’m sure your wife will like that.”

“She will. But if I give her that, I don’t think she would let me use the 2000 model on my mannequins.”

“You could tell them you bought it as a back up. You never really had an issue here. But, I would emphasize the word experimental to set expectations for your wife. There could be bugs, for example. What if your wife used the new disk and there was a glitch that caused her to be stuck for like eight months?”

“Mannequin Disk would sell a product with a bug like that?”

“Well, no, they don’t want the prototype I have sold to the general public.”

“Intriguing but not really helpful.”

“No? Does Mrs. Tomalson associate herself with the general public?”

A smile broadened across Mr. Tomalson’s face. “You do understand me.”

“I would never presume.”

“How much?”

“I have two prices in mind. The prototype has a DNA scanner. Now, you might not think that matters. But with it, it can be programmed to react to specific people standing on it. I could make the prototype glitch the first time it’s used and that wouldn’t cost you much. Or, if I had a strand of your wife’s hair, perhaps from a brush that happened to be sitting on that vanity I saw in the bedroom, I could make it glitch whenever she uses it or randomly only when she uses it.”

“I suspect I’m going to be paying more than I originally thought.”

“I’ll waive the fifty dollars you offered for manhandling that first mannequin if you go with the second option. Are you interested in the second option?”

“Let me get my checkbook.”

“No, no,” the repairman said. He took out his phone and tapped out some text. He showed the phone to his client. “Transfer that amount into the account shown.”

“You have an account in the Cayman Islands?”

“Over the years, having this account has been necessary in order to provide Premium Repair Service.”

“Go get the prototype. The money will be there before you return to this bedroom.”

The repairman had returned to the bedroom and put the prototype down where the wife’s Mannequin Disk had been. Receipt of the payment was confirmed. Mr. Tomalson handed the man a brush with hairs on it. The repairman placed the hairs on the prototype and entered a bunch of codes into the machine via a keyboard he attached to an expansion port. A few minutes later he said, “How long should she be locked out when she uses it?”

“Can it be random? Like between three and six months each time? I don’t want to her to figure out the lockout is always the same duration.”

“Does it ever work correctly?”

“Maybe thirty percent of the time. But not the first time, of course.”

“Sure, give me a bit.”

An alert sounded on the home owner’s phone.

“She’s home.”

“Perfect.” The repairman put the keyboard in his workbag and said loudly, “I’ll test the machine myself.” He stepped onto the machine and tapped the control button. He turned into a mannequin.

“Claudia, in here,” her husband called as he heard her on the stairs.

“What is it?” She said. “Who’s that?”

“This is the man from Premium Repair Services to fix the Mannequin Disk.”

“Is he done? I guess it worked on him.”

“He didn’t repair the MD 2000.”

“Send him away, then. I won’t use the 1000.”

“No, no. Look at the disk he’s on. It’s an advanced prototype of the next model.”

“Advanced prototype?”

“No one has one of these. It’s the only prototype of the next model in this country, he said.”

The mannequin on the disk shimmered and turned back into a person. “Good day, Ma’am. Yes, these won’t be available for at least another six months according to the marketing info I was given.”

“And we can buy it?”

“Mr. Tomalson already transferred the payment to my account. Premium Repair Service has its perks.”

“Can I try it?”

“Sure. The interface is just like the 2000 series model.” He held out his hand to help her step onto the disk.

“That says five minutes, right?”

“That was the time I just spent doing the demonstration test.”

“Okay.” She tapped the activation button. She felt the normal transition from living being to mannequin.

The repairman took a photo of the control display. He picked up the 2000 model and motioned for her husband to follow him out. He made a show of saying, “Let me just take this 2000 model back to my shop. Will you want to keep it or should I just resell it for you once it’s fixed?”

“I’ll let you know.” The man said, following the repairman out of the room.

When they were heading down the stairs, the man of the house said, “What did you photograph?”

“Look.”

The display said: Lockout. Restoration disallowed. There was a five month countdown next to that.

“It worked!”

“It did. If you tried to manually restore her, it would not work until after the date shown.”

“What if she were placed on the 1000 or 2000 model?”

“The lockout is coded into the conversion. All Mannequin Disks since the 1000 will tell you she can’t be restored until five months from now. Any prior model will say it doesn’t know how to restore her at all.”

The homeowner laughed. “Can I pour you a drink?”

“Sure, I’m off duty as of now.”

“I think I need to spend an hour out of the bedroom.”

“That would be wise. When you see her still a mannequin, it would be easy to assume after the five minute test, she set it for some other duration.”

“Exactly. Cheers.”

They drank.

“That whiskey was more expensive than I care to guess,” the repairman said. He finish he tumbler.

“It’s a good day. Why not splurge?” The man finished his drink. “Why do they have such a feature in those products?”

“As I understand it, for people like you. There are all sorts of menus only found in those Disks only accessible from the developer firmware.”

“She’s really stuck that long? You could have set it for ten years and there’d be nothing to do about it.”

“Well, no, anyone who purchased my Platinum Repair Service could have her restored at any time, no additional fee. They made sure it was reversible, with effort.”

“How much is the up charge from Premium to Platinum?”

“Let me show a figure on my phone. The same Cayman account is always ready for a payment.”

TALK - AVNs Update

Hey, I posted, Tuesday and Wednesday, why not Thursday, too?

I can't remember if mentioned it here. The AVN is currently off. I first mentioned AVNs a year ago. At the time I was going to attempt to do it with 2D artwork. Then I took a stab at Daz 3D rendering. That's still where I'm at.

I mentioned on Tuesday I might work on it "full time" (aside from my day job) once I get ahead with some stories/comics. Currently no AVN is in progress and all of the existing ones are in an "I may return to them eventually" status.

My render skills still need work. Part of the reason for making the comics it that they have to have continuity. But, unlike an AVN, they don't require sequences of a 30-40 images to make a "scene". Also, they use more sets. And making sets is a pain in the ass unless you like living rooms with a sofa, a coffee table, and a television and nothing else. Artwork on the walls? knickknacks on shelves? Lamps? Coffee stains, magazines, or little mementos on the coffee table? A throw rug? Couch pillows that look like someone uses them as pillows occasionally? Plants? Ugh. All of that requires thought.

But I digress. So far I've started and aborted several AVN ideas.

• The Haunting - a story of a haunted house where the three ghosts used to be bondage subs to the former owner. The MC (main character) is a freshman college student living in off campus housing, the haunted house with eight bedrooms). Possessions, bondage, etc. FATAL FLAW - Too many characters. A lot of "norms" would be squiked out by the possession stuff. It is, admittedly, a bit r*pey. This one was before I started doing Daz. I'd like to return to this one but it won't be the first or second AVN I make.

• Ted's Dolls Volume One - Okay, for a brief moment, I considered just saying fuck it and doing a doll transformation AVN. The main characters would be both Emily and Jane. The story would start during the day time before the first Jane story. Whenever the girls were turned into Dolls, the focus would jump to the other MC for the "boring" parts of being a doll alone in a room. The opening scene of this was fully written. Images of Jane and Emily are here and there. (Although, I would remake them if I went near this. Those figures were the second and third Daz figures I ever made.) FATAL FLAW - It would take thousands of hours to make an AVN. Doll Transformations are a bit niche for that.

• Delights - a story about a boring man and the woman who works in a strip club. Started as the writer only with a guy who is amazing with 3D but can't commit to getting anything done. Sigh. I might tackle this one without him. It was a short story. FATAL FLAW - unreliable partner.

• The Elevator - a slice of life story with 3 or 4 LIs (love interests) in which the MC just moved into a building in the city where he occasionally bumps into them on the elevator in his building. Small city. Wendy, Xenia, Yuliana, Zabrina, and Victor (MC) have all appeared in various Random Renders. (This was a phase where I thought too many AVNs have characters named Bella. But none have a Xenia that I'm aware of. :) ) FATAL FLAW - the premise is meh.

• Djinni Island - Only 4 LIs but overly ambitious. This was a Fantasy Island (90s US TV) homage/rip off in which the MC is a rich dude looking for love that only Mr. Belloc can help him find through magic. I spent a lot of time trying to make a tropical island setting. All the images from yesterday are from this AVN. It will be the second AVN if I ever finish a first one. FATAL FLAW - ambition exceeding talent.

• Case Files - One LI. This is a "do something small first" over simplification. The premise is the MC is a private investigator. Woman comes in, she asks him to find something. He does. They have sex. The End. The longer I put off starting this, the more complicated it gets: The woman is searching for a missing person the MC was dating in the prologue scene. Find her. They have a threesome. The End. :) Or I start thinking, if I make one, I can make another, and there's an unseen connection revealed in the fifth one. Sure, do something small. Right. FATAL FLAW - My penchant for making sequels.

What will I do? No idea. At this point, my scheduling is horrid. While the comics are good through the end of the year (and beyond), the story queue is only full through July. And I should get around to Ted's Doll 5. There were 9 months between the start of Season 2 and Season 3. 12 months between Season 3 and Season 4. The start of Season 4 was already 6 months ago and I have 6k words in 3 of 15 stories finished in Season 5. (One of them is "kinda done" at 3k of those words. (Libby is so easy to write. She's even more fun than Emily. (And they are both in that story.) But that's TD#57 aka S5E5 to extend my television metaphor.)) Based on prior works, I need about 50k words for Season 5.

In any case, comments... you know the drill. Tomorrow (Saturday) is the short story Premium Repair Service. (Since I'm moaning about word counts. I thought it was finished 1200 words about a month ago. It was just shy of 2k words when I posted it here a week ago.)

TALK/RENDER - First of the Month (May 2025)

I don't know what to do with this slot in my schedule. I could just eliminate it. It's not like any of my scheduling is fixed in stone, kind of ironic using that turn of phrase. Recapping, Saturdays are releases of my "serious" writing. Tuesdays are dominated by rendered comics with a smattering of "serious" writing that are considered too short, less than 1000 words being the rough threshold. (Tuesday, May 6 will be a short Trust Machine story, 765 words.)

And then there's the first of the month. When I started doing 3D graphics, I would experiment a lot more than I do now. The renders that I'm posting here today are all from late 2024. This is starting to feel weirdly indulgent and a waste of time. Maybe do some pinups? Any thoughts on this are welcome. I'm leaning toward just ignoring "first of the month". Or just posting stuff there occasionally.

Speaking of "from late 2024", even the comics are generally made of renders that are two to three months old. Little Witch #6 releases May 13. The renders for it were made in early February between the Feb 8 and Feb 10.

In fact, if I stick to the current release schedule of three issues every two months, the renders I was working on last night (4/29) won't be released until January 13, 2026. More about those renders below.

More of Yesterday

Yesterday, I complained about my own lack of brevity (he said in paragraph five of the "a bunch of renders" post he was composing). Since making that post that appeared yesterday, I've modified a few of the future releases: turning a handful of pages into two handfuls. (I meant to update that post but forgot to do it. So this post is a bit more padded.)

For example, last night I finished Statue Rentals #15 by splitting #14 into two comics. The original SR15 was pushed back. On 4/12, I had considered #14 done. Both were re-finished last night and the original #15, that I'll be working on next, is now #16. (Though, keen eyes will see they are both named Resting. #15 needs a better name. :) )

Looking at it like this, I really didn't do much to panel 1, did I? I hope the shift from 1280x720 to 1280x1080 makes that panel feel better. I believe the standing figure between the teal panels is easier to see in the larger format. (Seeing the renders would help. Will I remember to show the older format? Maybe. :) )

There are some dense pages that I will leave as is because they don't split in half very well story/pacing -wise. Most of yesterday was time spent rerendering the 9 panels and adding 3 new panels. A few of them really needed tweaking. That will probably be the true determining factor of which ones get revisited.

AVN Update

This was going to be a short comment because of the renders below. I'll post this as a separate story tomorrow.

The Render Roundup

In any case, I feel like getting some old renders posted and moving on from them. Most of these are from the AVN that I've put on pause and I imagine will start from scratch on the renders when I return to it. For example, this first panel was already abandoned before I stopped working on the AVN. It's was rendered on New Year's Eve 2024, so four months ago. I was learning how to use HDRI lighting and testing out a tropical building asset:

Julia here is Meredith in Statue Rentals. While making Statue Rentals I've discovered a lot of things about how Julia was poorly designed. And gods, that dress is a nightmare.

Keiko here is also going to be redesigned for the eventual AVN:

She's now Noriko in Statue Rentals. Her first appearance is in the next Statue Rentals page (#3) due May 20. (And I constantly find myself using Keiko in my scripts. A find/replace last night updated 21 instances.) I think, not sure, I made this render (along with two others similar to it) because I was trying to get her hair to drape backwards like that. Yes, she is essentially flying here.

Stacy, from Statue Rentals is the main character of the AVN. He might not change much when I return to the AVN. Here's a very old headshot.

Lastly, I hope this is the last time I post a render from 2024 (November). Someday, I'll figure out a good reason for this image. The figure was first seen by any of you in the background of "Taking a Sip" which appeared in the January Roundup. Her name is Zabrina. She's from an AVN I've probably never mentioned here (until tomorrow when I will mention it). LOL. The image is titled Dancing In A Cage In The Rain. I'm sure I was just testing out a rain asset I'd purchased.

Even more "lastly", this is some thumbnails from an animated sequence I haven't looked at since October 2024. No idea if I'll ever return to it:

As always, comments are welcome.

TALK - Comic Thoughts

This isn't a story. This is me thinking about my current and future process for telling image based stories. While I speak only about Little Witch below, this also applies to Statue Rentals and whatever other insanity spills forth from my brain in the future. Before diving in, a warm welcome to any new members who haven't seen me welcome them before. Thanks for your time...

I'm starting to wonder if I chose the wrong format for my comics. I decided to make them one big page with panels inside, probably because of my love of comic strips and comic books. I'm finding the format isn't necessarily in line with my story telling. Below are previews of just the frames and speech bubble that will be seen in six future Little Witch comics. (What's with the circular stuff? Wait, and find out. Heh. No, that's a sequence where someone is remembering a past event. You could figure out who based on the bubble color. The colors are consistent from page to page.):

They are certainly visually interesting, I guess. But, the necessity for the little curved pink arrows is unfortunate. There are 63 little panels in those 6 comics. Even at the full 3840x2160 image size, some of the tiny ones are only 240x320 pixels. My plan for those is to include the tiny panels at a larger size as bonus images. But would these comics be better served as 60-odd uniformly sized images around 1280x720. The story would unfold vertically.

Even "uniformly" would have to be strict. The center vertical panel in the top left comic is 1280x2160, or the equivalent of 3 1280x720 panels. There's nothing saying that couldn't be kept as is in this more uniform presentation.

I also think a vertical presentation would favor "surprise endings" far better than hoping the reader doesn't glance at the lower right corner of the image and see the spoiler before reading toward it.

The change to passing would also be interesting. I could take a more webcomic view of the pages. Little Witch #5 through #9, #10 through #14, and #16 through #22 are each story arcs. I think they'd present on a website better as 26, 63, and 49 images, respectively, that are released a couple times a week, then now as 17 images release 3 every 2 months, as currently planned. (Although, I don't know if the panel counts would translate one-to-one if split up. Some "single panels" might still end up as 2 or 3 panels just so long sequences of dialog don't last forever.

(Sidebar: As I'm writing this, panel 10 of 14 is rendering for an episode #21. This may also be influencing this post.)

I started thinking about this when I was showing a comic to someone on my phone. The text was hard to read without zooming in. There are other navigation issues. If that comic had been merely 5 or 6 1280x720 images. Navigation would be far easier, even if some zooming were needed for the text.

Frankly, the largest barrier to switching formats is inertia. Currently, I have 79 Statue Rentals and 135 Little Witch renders that would probably need to be redone to fit the proposed standardized format. (And oddly, I'm considering this anyway. The Angela, Tish, and Jenny models I'm using were "morphed into children" in an entirely incorrect way I have discovered as my Daz knowledge grows. Rebuilding their models from scratch and redoing any scenes they appear in has been on my mind.)

In any case, I've mostly written this to think about it more structurally. I considered making this a poll but the options probably would have been:

• Stay the course.

• Single panels rule! Especially if they release more often or even if they don't. (And you could fix the models. Think of the children!)

• A mix of both?

• Why are you asking us? You're going to do what you're going to do.

• Squirrel?

Yeah, I acknowledge that fourth one is the most likely outcome. But, I'm hoping for some insight from you, my helpful readers. No pressure. Comments, as always, are encouraged.

(Sidebar: Hadn't planned to mention the issue with the kid models. But, now that I have, I'm curious. How old do you think Angela, Tish, and Jenny are?)

RENDER - Premium Repair Service (Teaser)

What's going on here? You'll find out on Saturday. This is a Mannequin Disk story with a slightly darker bend. Since, presumably the repairman is an honest service worker.

There'll be a new TALK posting tomorrow. I didn't want to put it in with the teaser.

Every time I make these one offs I reuse model assets. Some of these models haven't been seen by any of you. And still I want to ask who recognizes any of them.

Enjoy. Comments-- yada yada.

I didn't have as much luck as I was hoping to have getting rid of the model's belly buttons. The nipples worked well. Oh, well.

Trust Machines - Against Medical Advice

This Trust Machines story takes place somewhere in my Tom and Susan continuity. Neither of them are the main characters here. Susan’s friend Angela and Angela’s husband Pat are. Angela and Pat have been mentioned in a few Tom and Susan stories I have no idea how “canon” this story is to the Trust Machines rules. And I did make a small edit to it a few weeks ago. If you know, you know. Enjoy.

I should have published this three weeks ago, except that I made a few edits I just mentioned. The first Tom and Susan story, Big Red Button, was released April 5, 2020. I’m always amused by meaningless anniversaries.

“Where’s Angela?” Tom asked.

“She had me venn her again,” Pat said.

“Sex doll?”

“Yep.”

“Who likes it more, you or her?”

“I guess her since this time she surprised me.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, a couple weeks ago she’s all excited and when I ask why it was like she was about to say something and stopped herself. I said, ‘What?’ And she says, ‘Let’s go venn.’ Didn’t see a reason to question it until we get to the machine. She says do it for a year but I want you promise to change me back on October fifth, I have a doctor appointment I can’t miss on the sixth.”

“She wanted a four and a half month venn?”

“Right. Then she tells me to turn her into the best fuck doll I can imagine because she wants me to fuck her every day.”

“Did you have like six birthdays she forgot? You love turning her into a sex doll.”

“Not that I’m aware of. And I said, ‘What about your job?’ And that’s when she tells me she got laid off and wasn’t sure how to tell me.”

“You’re at the machine at this point?”

“Coin is inside, the year symbol is lit, and there’s like three other couples waiting behind us. She points them out and says it’ll all make sense in October. I just gave up and did what she asked.”

“Have you been…?”

“Of course, I have. I’m not stupid. Me being a little mad at her doesn’t mean I don’t love her to death.”

*****

“Where have you been?”

“Susan?” Angela gave her a hug. “You should talk. I distinctly recall you spent a few months painted to a wall.”

“I was art. Tom tells me you were a sex doll for over four months.”

“That’s envy in your voice.”

“Of course. Was he attentive the whole four months?”

“He told me he was sick six weeks ago and may have missed a few days. I don’t really remember.”

“So, back to the job hunt?”

“No, I just left an appointment today. When he gets off work…” She looked around conspiratorially. “I’m having him venn me again.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I like the quiet between the fucks. Actually…”

“What’s that look in your eye?”

“You could venn me. Put me in bed and lock up when you leave. He’d just find me there and have no idea how long the venn will last until Tom tells him.”

“Why would Tom tell him?”

“Will you tell Tom?”

“Yes.”

“Tom will tell him.”

“I happen to know how good Tom is at keeping a secret.”

“Not from Patrick.”

“Why didn’t I know this?”

“Oh, it only applies to me. Tom tells Pat nothing about his high jinx with you, Handlebar Girl.”

“Drat. Fine. There’s a machine in that plaza not far from my car.”

“You’ll do it?”

“I haven’t gotten a bunch of funny looks in a while. Carrying a female sex doll through the plaza to my car should fill my monthly quota in no time.”

When they got to the machine, Susan asked, “How long?”

“Just two months.”

“Who does two months? Sixteen hours, sure. Two days, probably most of venns that start on Friday. But two months?”

“I have another appointment on December tenth. Two months covers it just fine.”

“I guess.” As she hit the buttons to set it to two months Angela stepped over to one of the doors.

“Hey? Who does two months?” Said a man waiting behind them for his turn.

“It’s her idea. Not mine. What’s it to you?” Susan said.

“Weird, that’s all.”

“That’s what I said.”

*****

“I guess the current venn wasn’t just a month,” Pat said to Tom.

“All I know is Susan did the venn. She wouldn’t tell me the duration.”

“She must be aware you tell me everything.”

“Angela knows this?”

“True. Well, I have another couple months with a sex doll so I’m not complaining.”

“It could just be for two months,” Tom said.

“Who would do that?”

“No one. That makes it almost a certainty.”

“You’re always trying to find ulterior motives.”

“Aren’t you?”

“What was that appointment she had a month ago? Why two months after four and a half? Does she have an end goal?”

“It’s a good thing you found Susan. No other woman would tolerate you.”

“I’m well-aware of how lucky I am.”

They both drank from their open beer bottles.

“I think she’s just hiding from the world,” Pat said.

“Really?”

“A few months before the prior doll stint, she miscarried.”

“Oh, that’s awful. I’m terribly sorry for you two.”

“It’s okay. We had only started trying a few months before that.”

“Did you tell me already? I hope I didn’t forget.”

“I didn’t tell you. She didn’t even tell Susan and that has me worried now. Make sure you mention the miscarriage to Susan.”

“Are you sure Angela wouldn’t want to be the one to tell Susan.”

“She might. But, I’m asking you to. This way when Angie’s done with this venn Susan will know better than to venn her again.”

“You could just end the current venn.”

“I will if it turns out to be more than three months. But I can wait that long at least. For her sake.”

“And for the sex.”

“I was thinking about her feelings first, wasn’t I?”

“If you say so.”

“I don’t really know if it’s the right thing to do. But, it feels fine.”

*****

The scent of dinner hit his nose before he opened the front door. Pat shook his head in disgust: 55 days. Tom had predicted the venn would only last two months. Somehow.

He called out as he entered, “Who venns for two months?”

“Hi, Pat. Did you miss me?”

“I saw you everyday, Angie.”

“Did you miss talking to me?”

“I also talked to you every day.”

“Did you miss hearing my sweet voice?”

“What is with these ques--?” He entered the kitchen. “Angie?”

“I’m just glad to make di--”

“Woah!” He said, cutting her off. “Explain…”

“What? Do I look different?”

“Are you pregnant?”

She cupped her round belly with her arms. She nodded so fast her head looked like it would fly off. “Six or seven months now.”

“How?”

“I don’t know if it was a good idea. But people don’t get sick when they’re venned. And some people get better when they’re venned. I figured if I were venned, I wouldn’t miscarry.”

“That’s amazing.”

They kissed. Something in the kitchen was beeping.

“I gotta finish dinner.”

“Why didn’t you tell me your plan?”

“If you knew, you’d have been worried the last seven months. Thinking that whole time I was just a sex doll was probably much better for your mental health than being worried about our baby. I have an appointment on the tenth at two o’clock. I’m hoping you can come with me.”

“With Doctor Turling? Wild horses couldn’t keep me away,” he said. He stole one more kiss before she pulled away to prevent dinner from burning. “Are you worried there might have been side effects of being venned for so much of the pregnancy?”

“What if I had miscarried again? All pregnancies have risks.”

“I suppose.”

*****

Many years later…

At a frat house party, three of the brothers were talking.

“Do you know the sex doll chick’s name?” said brother one.

“Samantha? Yeah, she has one of her friends bring her to these frat parties as a doll every time we host one,” said brother two. “Carrie, I think. There she is. Carrie!”

“Not just our parties. I hear she goes to all the frat parties and some of the sorority parties handing out easy lays,” said brother three.

“You talking about my girl?” Carrie said. Her voice was angry, and a little drunk. “You think she’d appreciate being called an easy lay?”

“Damn! I’m not complaining. I’m just wondering why,” said brother one.

“I’m just messing with you,” Carrie said with a laugh. “She wouldn’t care about being called an easy lay. But, only when she’s a doll. You call her that when she’s human she’ll knee you in the junk. And she won’t miss even though I’ve just warned you.”

“You going to ask her out?” said brother three.

“How could I? There’s a Greek party every night,” brother one pointed out.

“She isn’t always a doll,” Carrie said. “What’s your name? I’ll tell her she has a stalker.”

“Greg. Are you venned? I assume you must venn her every day for these parties.”

“No, I haven’t venned since the semester started. Sam’s uncle is some kind of venn machine whisperer. It’s the damnedest thing. She’s got one of those thirty year venns.”

“No way.”

“She has a switch that can somehow change her from doll to human – well, mostly human – and back again.”

“Her uncle set her up to be a part time sex doll?”

“Tom is nearly as awesome as her Aunt Susan. Sam’s wanted to be a doll since she could say the word.”

“But she’s anatomically correct as a doll. Her uncle did that?” Greg said.

“He had to. Who do you think she practiced kneeing guys in the nuts with?”

They laughed. “You’re pulling our leg,” brother three said.

“Ask her yourself.”

“Since you know her so well, why a sex doll?”

“Anyone who asks her is told, ’Some people are just born liking certain things for no observable reason,’” Carrie said. “She still won’t give me any further details. And I’ve know her for ten years.”

Statue Rentals #2: Saying Goodbye

I hope we are all fans of the infamous Armed Apples sports team franchise. He does look like Mr. Rockford...

Transcript

PAGE 2 – Saying Goodbye

Panel 1 – Stacy and Reggie sitting on sofa of their shared apartment, talking

Reggie: You got the modeling gig but it turns out your aren't posing for a statue... You are the statue?

Stacy: That's the gist of it. It pays so well because I'll made of stone for three months, perhaps six.

Reggie: Six?! This is crazy, Stace.

Stacy: I'm well aware of how crazy it is but the money's just too good to ignore. Besides, it's not like I'll be dead for six months. I'll be aware, able to think, feel, and watch.

Reggie: Ick. That could be worse than being unconscious. What if being immobile is an itch you can't scratch for months?

Stacy: I don't need you adding your anxieties to my own, Reg.

Panel 2 – Bedroom, goodbye shake, boxes packed in corner

Reggie: Have this Meredith send me the details when you get... installed. I'll bring Leona to see you and your rock hard abs.

Stacy: Are the puns going to start already?

Reggie: You know it.

Stacy: Just remember who your best friend is while I'm impressing the art world.

Reggie: Tyrel, of course.

Stacy: Your attempt to get blood from a stone has failed.

Reggie: Stacy, I want you to know I've never taken you for granite.

Stacy: Marbleous.

Stacy: Now, help me carry these boxes to storage.

Fashion Fantasies

“You busy after work?” Annie said to her coworker during lunch.

“Yeah,” Pamela said. She perked up at the thought. “Holden gave me a birthday gift last night and said I had to cash it in tonight before the weekend.”

“A week early? Isn’t your birthday next week sometime?”

“It is. But he said I had to pick up this gift now and couldn’t wait until my actual birthday.”

“Cool. This all sounds like fun. Cash what in?”

“I really don’t know. He knew I wanted to buy a dress for his sister Rebecca’s wedding but nothing was working. So he spoke to her and she said she knew the owner of a shop that had all the details about her wedding and would be able to get me something I’d like. And I’d be able to wear it somewhere other than a wedding.”

“That’s thoughtful.”

“She’s no nonsense. When I heard she was getting married I thought I’d end up in the wedding party. But other than her best friend and the groom’s best friend, no one else is in the wedding party.”

“Cool. Probably saves a lot of money too.”

“Probably. In any case, Holden is paying not only for the dress, but he said there’s a side business at this store and I would get to be pampered or something like that as part of the shopping experience.”

“Why isn’t my husband like Holden?”

“I had him first.”

“You can’t share?”

“Sorry.”

“But, you have no idea what the pampering involves?”

“I assume it’ll be a makeover of some sort. I doubt a clothing store has like a spa attached to it.”

“True. Did you drive in today?”

“He said I should take transit and he’d come pick me up when I was done. That way I wouldn’t have to deal with any merchandise afterward. And we would get something to eat after we leave the store.”

“Shopping and a date. You sure you can’t share.”

Pamela just smiled.

*****

The bus stop was right outside the store: Fashion Fantasies. Cute name, she thought. When she entered, the store appeared to have no one in it. But a woman in her early forties immediately entered the show room before the front door closed.

“Are you Pamela?” The woman said. “You look just as described.”

“I am. I was told I’d be expected but I didn’t know they’d sent a picture.”

“Of course. Wouldn’t want to expend any of the VIP treatment on the wrong person.” She clapped her hand and two other women entered. One was older than the greeter. She was probably the seamstress given the tape measure wrapped around her neck and the chalk dust lingering on her hands. The other woman was perhaps an apprentice to the seamstress.

“Would you please come over here so Genoa can take your measurements? My name is Mrs. Sandoval and I am the owner of Fashion Fantasies. But, you can call me London.”

“What interesting names?”

“Thank you, Ma’am,” Genoa said. “Monaco, help her to stand on the platform.”

“Monaco?”

“Huh? No, Monica, Ma’am. We aren’t are all named after cities.”

Pamela laughed at herself as took hold of the younger woman’s hand. It took a high step to get onto the platform. In the mirrors, she could see over all the merchandise in the store.

“I really have no idea what kind of dress I want.”

“Tut-tut,” the owner said. “You aren’t here to make decisions. You’re here to have decisions made for you. You just look pretty and we’ll take good care of you.”

It struck Pamela that London had told this to many people before. There was a gentle forcefulness to her words. She decided this was part of the fantasy part of the store’s name.

The seamstress gave her various instructions to turn or twist, step or slide, and so on that she performed without hesitation. She seemed to need to measure every inch of her body. Still, neither the demands nor the time seemed to bother Pamela. She felt very at ease. In fact, she was alone in the store and hadn’t noticed the others had gone in the back.

With nothing to do, Pamela waited. After a moment, she heard London say, “Okay, she’s ready. Go bring her back here.”

Monica walked over to the platform and picked Pamela up off of it.

Pamela had no idea what to think. She couldn’t move. She must also be light as a feather for a small woman like Monaco to just pick her up. Was she hollow now? She also wondered why she wasn’t panicking about any of this.

In the back, Monica set the plastic body down on a lower platform and removed its clothing. She started by removing the mannequin’s arms. Quickly, the armless mannequin was bare.

Although she couldn’t move or look around, Pamela could see there were a few other mannequins in the back. The details on them made her wonder if they were like her. She hadn’t notice at the time, but when she was in the show room, she could see a line of well made mannequins in the store window.

Monica removed Pamela’s head while she was ruminating. She set it down on a table filled with paints, dyes, and other art supplies.

Pamela was facing the doorway and saw Monica leave to return to the showroom. Several minutes later, she returned carrying one of the mannequins that had been in the store front window.

London cut off her view of Monica as she sat down in front of Pamela’s face and said, “I’m told you are probably loving this. Let me fill you in.” As she spoke she used brushes and applicators to change the color of Pamela’s makeup. “Rebecca and I have known each other for ages and she has told me several times about your secret desire to be a mannequin. Holden and Rebecca have been planning this for years. You belong to me now. You will decorate my front window for the foreseeable future.”

Pamela was beyond excited. She had always wanted to be a mannequin. She couldn’t understand why she hadn’t even given the store’s beautiful mannequins a second glance. She also had no idea when she had been transformed. She thought about all the things Genoa had said as she had measured her until she realized almost as soon as they started she just believed she’d been doing as she was told. The change had happened rather early in the process.

“Perfect.” London declared. She turned the mannequin head toward the mirror. Pamela almost didn’t recognize herself. Her face was stunningly beautiful. Just like she’d always dreamed. London set her down looking at herself in the mirror. She had no idea how long she just stared at her own face.

She was picked up without warning. She was flying through the air toward her body. It was dressed but she didn’t get a good look at the outfit. It wasn’t until her head was refastened to her neck that Monica stepped away so she could see herself.

Her body was a deeper skin tone, as if she’d been tanning for the last few months. The tone matched the dress perfectly. Shoes, stockings, asymmetrical print dress, loose plunging neckline, hoop earrings, a fresh hairdo. She wanted to go dancing looking like this.

And she wanted to stand in the store front stunning people who walked by. Monica and Genoa carefully lifted her onto a hand cart and wheeled her out to the showroom. The empty spot in the window grew wider as she drew closer to it. They placed her on the stand already waiting in the window. After a few last adjustments to her hair and carefully adjusting the draping of the dress, they left her alone.

Time passed.

A cat call made her focus to her left as well as she could without the ability to turn her head or move her eyes. Holden stood there. He was dressed casually. There was no way they could go out to eat. He was under dressed or she was overdressed no matter where they might go.

He disappeared. She heard him talking to London. They were standing next to her. London was talking, “Now that she’s here, can we extend the rental to five years. She is stunning.”

“As much as she would love to spend the next five years in the window, I don’t think that really works for me. My transfer to Tokyo is for eight years.”

“I can do eight years.”

“It’s a deal.” He leaned in close to her ear and said, “Enjoy your birthday present.” He kissed her cheek. She felt him move away.

Transfer? He had said something about a long distance transfer a few days ago. He’d been down about it because he couldn’t figure out how it could work. Their marriage could never survive living on separate continents. Was this how he planned to solve the issue?

“Today’s been a great day. Let’s go home, ladies.”

The lights in the store dimmed. Someone moved up close to Pamela and whispered, it was probably Monica, “He won’t come back in eight years. You know that, right?”

*****

The first few days were heavenly. All she could think about was being a pretty mannequin in a pretty dress in a fashionable window. The world hustled by outside the store window and she thrilled to everyone who slowed down or even stopped to give her a passing glance.

But, it nagged at her. Would he come back? Would he meet some cute anime girl and forget about her? Would he spend all his spare time in the geisha houses?

A presence appeared behind her and London said, “I sense some stress. Did Monica prank you with a nasty thought? That girl. Good help is so hard to find. You put the thought out of your pretty hollow head. You’re a mannequin. There’s no reason for you to think about anything but being pretty.”

Right. She was a pretty mannequin in a pretty dress in a fashionable store window making the world a pretty place.

A few days later, the mannequin next to her disappeared. Not a concern. She was a pretty mannequin after all. Later in the day it was replaced by a different mannequin. It looked familiar.

It was a week later when she had rubbed enough brains together to realize the new mannequin was Monica. Serves her right for scaring her like that. Although, she couldn’t remember how she had been scared. And being a mannequin wasn’t punishment. It was a privilege. Lucky Monica. Lucky me, she thought. We’re pretty mannequins in pretty dresses, right, Monica? Can’t hear, she thought. No matter. Pretty, pretty me. Pretty, pretty me.

*****

She wasn’t in the window. She wasn’t sure when she’d been moved. Genoa was changing her dress. Oh, that’s all. It was barely a blip on her stay at the store as she was back in the window in no time. This dress was a dark green. She thought about it and thought Rebecca hated green. She couldn’t go to Rebecca’s wedding in a green dress.

She would have laughed if she could have. She wasn’t going to any weddings. She was a pretty mannequin in a pretty dress in a fashionable window making the world a pretty place. Pretty, pretty me. Pretty, pretty me.

She remembered the wedding existed a few more times before the memory stopped getting her attention.

She didn’t like winter. All the pretty women outside were all covered up. She loved winter. That meant she was one of the few pretty mannequins in a pretty dress in a fashionable store making the world a pretty place. Pretty, pretty me. Pretty, pretty me.

*****

Several years had passed. She’d lost the ability to actually count them long ago. The Monica mannequin next to her had disappeared that morning. She didn’t know why. Maybe she was going to another store to make it pretty. Pretty, pretty me. Or maybe Monica was no longer being… no, that wasn’t it.

She heard London say, “We’ve already sold three of them. The others haven’t garnered any interest.”

“Pack it up?”

“I guess so. Rebecca will understand.”

The mannequin was carried into the backroom. A foam lined carton was set out on the floor. Its dress was removed and its parts were packed into the carton.

It was dark. Pretty, pretty me. She’d long since stopped singsonging about being in a window, which was good since she wasn’t. Pretty, pretty me.

*****

Arms held her. She inhaled. “Surprise!”

Pamela’s head darted to and fro. “Where?”

“How was your fantasy?” Holden said. He kissed her. It took a moment for her to give in to the kiss. She knew he’d make sense of it all.

When they stopped she saw Rebecca, Holden’s parents, her mother, her cousin Maria and her husband, Annie from work, and Monica and London?

“My fantasy?”

“She really thinks years have passed, Holden,” London said. “Sorry, Pamela. It’s only been a week.”

“A week? That can’t be right. There were winter coats on the people outside. And…”

“Time dilation fantasies are my specialty.”

“She is awesome,” Rebecca said. “Happy birthday, Sis.”

“That’s why you had to give me my gift early?”

“Yes.”

“Were you in on it?” She said to Annie.

“Who do you think covered for you for a week? How was it?”

“It was awesome. It’s starting to come back to me. Part of the time I think I wasn’t able to think.”

“That makes it easier to do the long term fantasy. You’ll get your actual memory of the past week back probably as part of dream tonight or tomorrow.”

The surprise birthday party followed normal birthday party form from there. She received other gifts, cake was cut and eaten, she was teased about her age using a nursery rhyme, et cetera.

One thing she hadn’t realized she missed was the sex she had with Holden that night. He had obviously missed her during the week she was gone. She was just glad the apartment hadn’t been a wreck with him living alone like that. They kissed one another gently as she fell asleep in his arms.

*****

She was in the window. There wasn’t the brain fog like the last time. She watched the world go by for several days. Nothing was the same. People just walked by never giving her a first glance. No one cared if there was a mannequin in the window or not.

London and the staff completely ignored her. It wasn’t until the ninth dawn had risen that she realized something was truly off. Shouldn’t it have ended in a week like they’d said?

It was then that Monica appeared in front of her, hovering in mid-air outside the store. Her mouth didn’t move but her eyes were red and orange, full of mirth marred by cruelty. “Did you enjoy my little joke? The fading mannequin mind. That had been your fantasy according to Rebecca.”

“What are you talking about? This is a dream.”

“No, the first time was the dream. This time is real,” she laughed. “I’m sure you thought London was the witch. Didn’t you? I let her give the customers that impression. I own you for eight years and you aren’t spending them in a mind fog. You’re suffering every day of it right there, my pretty, pretty mannequin. You’re watching the world completely ignore you. Day after day, month after month.”

Her laughter outlasted her image, which faded from view.

This was the dream, she thought. I want to be a mannequin. Being a mannequin would be so amazing. It can’t be like this. It can’t be. Holden wouldn’t let this happen. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.

Wake up.

WAKE.

UP.

A familiar voice whispered in her ear, “He won’t come back in eight years. You know that, right?”

--

I don’t usually put any commentary after my stories. I just want to point out that I’ve left this open to interpretation. Maybe it is as Monica said. And maybe this was the dream turned nightmare. Hearing those words would have cause her to bolt up in bed in a cold sweat, right? Is Holden holding her, asking what’s wrong? Maybe. Maybe not. That’s up to the reader.

Given that I usually reserve new stories on Patreon for six months, I released this in April so it will reach deviantArt by Halloween. As always, comments are welcome.

Little Witch #5: Gym Shorts

This was a four panel comic when I started. Jenny was so much fun I needed to give her one more reaction shot, FOR SCIENCE!! Or gym shorts.

Pigtail Girl doesn't have a name. And other than "Julia", the faceless crowd members are unnamed. Tish and Jenny are deaged characters from other stories. And Mr. Rockford will be seen in next week's Statue Rentals story where he is only known as Reggie. Reggie Rockford? It could be his name. I can't confirm or deny they are the same.

Panel 1 – outside some lockers

Angela: Oh, no. I don’t have my gym shorts.

Jenny: Why not?

Angela: Mommy was supposed to wash them but she played doll with me until morning.

Jenny: Hey, you can turn me into your gym shorts.

Angela: You’ll miss gym, Jenny.

Eavesdropper (out of line with other dialog): Wish I could play doll with my mother.

Panel 2 – Dramatic feinting imminent

Jenny: Oh, no. Miss gym? Why didn’t I realize that would happen before you turned me into gym shorts?

Latisha: If she’s gym shorts being worn by someone in gym class, she’d be in gym class.

Jenny: Tell her, Tish.

Angela: Don’t blame me if Mr. Rockford doesn’t see it that way.

Panel 3 – serious face on Friend 2

Jenny: Mr. Rockford probably doesn’t care if I am there. I’m not one of the chosen sports heroes.

Latisha: Besides he’s afraid of you.

Angela: He is?

Latisha: He’s worried you’ll turn him into something.

Panel 4 – Insert

Jenny: Something like... GYM SHORTS!!!

Panel 5 – At the start of gym class

Mr. Rockford (holding a clipboard): Jenny? Has anyone seen Jenny?

Angela: She’s right here.

Mr. Rockford: Where?

Angela: She’s my gym shorts. She’ll be in class the whole time I am.

Mr. Rockford: Oh, oh, uh, okay. I’ll mark Jenny present. Julia?

Julia (off panel): Here!

Magic Shoppe - Autocurious 6

As the door opened, a bell bracketed to the wall rang. “Welcome back to the Magic Shoppe,” the tall, thin man behind the counter announced. “What could you possibly need from my shoppe now?”

Dana stepped in. “Can’t I just visit you because I enjoy your company?”

“I don’t think you need any more relationship advice.”

“No.”

“And you seem to accept your new self, although you still haven’t used the item I gave you to use when you were sure.”

“What? Oh, I forgot all about that. Good thing I stopped by.”

“Yes. Good thing. So, did you enjoy the last toy you bought? Don’t leave me hanging.”

“I thought you were better than the others.”

“No, I’m not. Did anyone say ‘low hanging fruit’? ‘Hang in there’? Something about being a wallflower?”

“Yes, yes, no.” She rolled her eyes.

“So, let me guess, you want to be turned into a goldfish in a bowl? A music box ballerina? I know: a painting.”

“Hadn’t thought of any of those. The painting sounds fun, but a bit redundant with the wall hanging.”

“I was going to suggest it the other day but I didn’t think anyone but you would want to buy the shelving brackets.”

“The goldfish would be different. I could move but still be stuck in one place. Same for the ballerina. That one would be great but it wouldn’t really go with Charles’ décor.”

“Hmm, yeah, I don’t have any pirate themed music box dancers. Though a ballerina with a cutlass would be amusing.”

“Ah, ha! You know about his décor. He told me you set him and I up somehow.”

“Dana, I am not in the matchmaking business. I’m in the problem solving business. Someone came into my shop wanting to suck their own dick. Twice.”

“What a weird request,” she joked.

“I think finding you someone else with a dick solved your problem a lot better than your initial request.”

“The funny thing is, I haven’t… There just hasn’t been the right moment to do it.”

“He wasn’t looking for that in particular. He was looking for someone who could truly handle the idea that he was unavailable most of the time and yet would still want to spend time around him without disturbing him.”

“Sounds like matchmaking to me.”

“Don’t argue with the wizard.”

*****

Dana retrieved the item she had been given almost two months ago that she’d forgotten about. Inside it was a small urn, kindling, a match, and a few powders. A hand written note. It appeared to have been edited. Where the text at the beginning had been, “if and when,” was crossed out. Above it was written, “now that”. The full edited text was:

“Dana, now that you’ve decided to be Dana for the rest of your life, the ritual in this kit will seal your destiny. Place the locking ribbon and the kindling in the urn. There are two powder packets in this box. One is in a white paper wrapper. Add it to the urn. The other is in a pink paper wrapper. Add this one to the urn if you will ever wish give birth to children as Dana. You can only do this ritual once. Do not do it lightly. Consider all the consequences of your choices.

“Once your decision is made, strike the included match (and only this match) against the side of the urn and drop it inside. The powder(s) will cause a flame to flash and burn out quickly. Inhale the smoke that rises out of the urn for at least a full minute afterward.

“I suggest you do the ritual in the presence of a loved one as it will probably be an emotional experience. After the ritual is over, you will be a woman in all ways. The wig will be your hair. The breast forms will be real breasts. And if you included the pink powder packet, you will ovulate monthly and be fertile.

“The salves that were used to remove your penis will become inert. You will still have a connection to the dildo. But, it will no longer ejaculate.

“I hope you enjoy being the woman you were meant to be. And that you’ll no longer need to shop at my shoppe, though I’m sure you will continue to visit.”

She read the note several times. Each time, she was derailed by the idea that she could eventually give birth to a child. Or not. How could she make that choice? She wanted to make her womanhood permanent. But, she wasn’t sure about the pink powder packet.

She needed to talk to someone. She wasn’t sure who to call. She had already decided she wanted Charles to be there when she did the ritual but she was also sure it was too soon in their relationship to talk about having children.

Her sister would tell her to have many babies as that was how she had always talked about adulthood when they were younger.

Nancy had been her womanly consultant for relationships. She wasn’t sure if she was the right person to talk to at all.

She had suspected this box contained what it did all along. She just didn’t expect there to be a weighty choice to make as well.

A few days passed. Dana had spent the last few nights streaming her game play online. She had accumulated a decent number of followers. She had just told them she was going to take a short break when her phone rang. It was her father. She knew Rachel had told him about her transition but she hadn’t spoken to him yet.

“Hi, Dad.”

“Hello, Dana.” She could tell he was a bit uncomfortable calling her that.

“It’s good to hear from you. How are you?”

“Oh, my,” he said. He sounded surprised, perhaps shocked.

“Dad?”

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting…”

“What?”

“You sound like my mother.” Her grandmother had died before she was a teenager.

“Does Rachel?”

“No, she sounds more like your mother’s sisters. I’m sorry. I’ve been meaning to call you since I last spoke to Rachel. I just wasn’t expecting to hear… I need a moment.”

“I don’t think I am supposed to say ‘I’m sorry’, but…”

“Oh, goodness, no. I’m just a little overwhelmed. And a little mad at myself. I’d forgotten how much I miss her.” She could hear his hands rubbing near the phone, likely wiping tears from his eyes. “Anyway.” He cleared his throat, still a bit more choked up than he wanted to admit. “I heard you have finally met someone you’re dating regularly.”

“Finally?”

“Well, now that you’re my daughter I want to meet this young man.”

“Way to be sexist, Dad.”

“I’m treating you like I treat Rachel. Fair is fair.”

“I should be thankful for that. Charles is wonderful. We’ve even gone to a few baseball games together.”

“Oh, no one cares about your loser team, Dana.”

“Sorry for never rooting for your favorite.”

“It’s okay. Should I have Ellen invite you two down soon?” Ellen was his current wife. Dana wondered if her rocky relationship with her would change. And whether it could get worse, perhaps.

“I’ll have to check with him. He works like eighty hours a week, it seems.”

“He isn’t cheating on you, is he?”

“No, I’ve been there on the weekend when he was putting in additional hours. He’s a senior VP level officer at an investment firm. And while Wall Street goes to sleep at night, I’ve learned that investors do not.”

“Then I wonder if he spends enough time on you.”

“It’s fine, Dad. I’m just glad you’re comfortable with my changes.”

“I’m still getting used to it really. Rachel’s news was a total shock.”

“Was it?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Someone told me you were aware that I wasn’t very masculine in your eyes.”

“Dana. I loved you before. I love you, now. I will always love my child. Okay, yes, I was aware that you were far more likely to be a woman’s friend than to be her lover. But, that doesn’t mean I ever expected to receive a phone call with the news ‘your son was magically changed into a woman and she’s good with it.’”

“I suppose that would be a weird thing to expect.”

“And you know Rachel. She went into far too much detail about your former genitalia.”

“Oh, god.”

“My point exactly. And it’s your own fault for telling her.”

“It is.” A normal conversation lull occurred and Dana realized she had the right person on the phone. “I… I’d like to ask your opinion on something.”

“You can ask me anything.”

“I still need to finalize my changes. The details aren’t important except for one. As part of the ritual, I have a choice to make. I don’t know how thorough Rachel was. Essentially, I am very similar to a transwoman. I don’t have the reproductive organs of a woman. But, as part of the finalization ritual, I could gain them. I’m not sure what I should do.”

“Be fertile. You may be unsure now. But, if you don’t do it and regret it later there won’t be anything you can do about it.”

“Yeah, but…”

“No, buts. Yes, you’ll have to be careful. Yes, you’ll get a monthly period, I presume. Just like half the population of the world does. Why would you cut that potential experience away? You’ve never indicated before you never wanted kids.”

“I do want kids. I just never…”

“You’re afraid to be pregnant? I can’t believe you’d be afraid of that. And I can’t imagine you’d be more afraid of it than any other woman. It’s an unknown. You’ll be fine.”

“It does sound silly saying it aloud.”

“Incredibly silly.”

They talked about other things. He told her several stories of his mother she’d never heard before. After they hung up, she had to fix her runny makeup.

*****

“I would be honored to attend,” Charles said. “I’m a little surprised you want to make a big deal about it.”

“Not a big deal,” Dana said. “But, I’m sure it will be emotional and I don’t want to do it alone.”

“But, me? We spend time together and we’re building a relationship. I just would have thought you’d want someone closer to you there.”

“I’d invite Rachel and she would move heaven and earth to get here. But, I don’t need the universe rearranged just for this. I just need someone to hold me when I start crying. And, frankly, you’ve known me, Dana me, longer than most people have.”

“As I said, I am honored. What about Nancy?”

“You understand me more than she does. You sometimes understand me more than I understand myself, like when you had your friend call my phone. If you continue to make up reasons perhaps you’re right and you aren’t the person I should ask. I suppose the wizards at The Magic Shoppe might know me better. But, I don’t know what it feels like to get a hug from him and I’m not really keen to find out.”

“He probably has a cloak that can wrap around you and give you warm vibes.”

“Hmm, true…. I’ll have to ask him about that.”

“I know when you’re trying to get a rise out of me.”

“Because you know me so well.”

“Fine. When are you planning to do it?”

“Given your availability, if you are available for the next few hours, there’s no time like now.”

“I told you I’m due at the airport for a red eye flight.”

“And you won’t be back for three weeks. If not now, I’ll have to wait.”

“Tell me what I have to do. I can sleep on the plane.”

*****

The smoke rose from the urn. She breathed it in. It smelled of… home. She could hear stability, see life, feel love. Emotions washed over her in a tidal wave of chaos. Her entire life flashed before her eyes but only the last few months were in focus, crisp, raw, exciting, real.

Her eyes opened. She was leaning back awkwardly against a warm, hard chest.

“There you are,” Charles said. His voice was strength, power, and a little concerned. “How do you feel?”

“You sound worried.”

“You fell over like your marionette strings had been cut. If I hadn’t been right behind you, you’d have landed flat on your back. Are you alright?”

“I feel...” She sat up. The room was more in focus. She was Dana now and forever. Her old self felt like a dream she would fondly remember. But was it real? She had always been Dana. Right? “I feel great.”

“You look like you just woke from the most restful nap ever,” he said. “There’s a spark in your eye that was only hinted at before.”

“Do I look different?”

“Maybe only to me.” He inhaled. “You even smell better than ever.”

“What?” She attempt to whiff her own scent.

“Don’t do that. You know I haven’t been thinking you stink. It’s just you exude a confidence you never did before.”

“You like it.”

“It arouses me.”

“Oh? Tell me more.”

“I’d rather show you.”

*****

“You didn’t have to drive me to the airport,” Charles said.

“It’s my fault you aren’t getting there early enough.”

“I didn’t have to make love to you a third time.”

“Yes, you did. And that’s why it’s my fault. Now stop whining and just graciously accept my ride.”

“I thank you deeply, Dana.”

They kissed one another for a few moments. They were standing outside the check point area for his terminal. She couldn’t get any closer to the planes without a ticket. People gawked a little at the love birds but no one said anything.

“I really have to go.”

“I know. I’ll miss you.”

“You seem so self-confident I’m worried you’ll start dating other men while I’m gone.”

“I will chew them up and spit them before you get back. If you don’t go through the trash in search of the bones, you’ll never know.”

He laughed. “It’s funny. Seeing this side of you excites me. As much as I love seeing you on my wall, I love seeing you like this, too.”

“I have become multi-faceted.”

“Do you know the ironic part?” He said, “I don’t know your old name. I’ve never known it.”

She kissed him and shooed him toward the terminal afterward.

“What does it matter?” She said, “That name is dead to me.”

Statue Rentals #1: Into The Art Studio

Welcome to the start of a new comic series. Statue Rentals will be at least 20 pages, perhaps more, once it's finished. I've only finished plotting the first 16 pages so I don't know how long it will be. I do hope there will be more than one story line since the word "rental" in the title is plural. :) Future tags include: tg, statuefication, stuck, etc. I'm posting these at rather high resolution: 3840x2160. When these inevitably end up on deviantArt (and I might only tease the series there with just the first 5 or 6 pages) they will be 1920x1080. Let me know if you think I should include the small images here as well. (Though I can't imagine why.)

At this writing, there are 13.5 completely rendered episodes. Between Statue Rentals and Little Witch Captions, three episodes will release over the span of two months on the 2nd and 4th week in one month and the 3rd week of the other month. While the pages tend to end with -- I'll call it "an attempt at" -- humor, this isn't meant to be a funny comic. It's more slice of life. Slice of stone?

Part of the reason this isn't just another one of my written stories is me trying to get into the habit of getting renders finished faster. (Posing and set design drive me crazy.) Usually I wait to post things until the entire work is complete. This series (and the Little Witch series) are exceptions to that.

Finally, yes, that is Heather making a cameo in panel 3. Where did Meredith manage to get a photograph of her? (Crap, did I create a comic universe? Does Meredith know the gorgon from Heather Goes Off The Trail? Hot take: She is the gorgon... No, that makes no sense. Is the rock woman in Climb Avery Mountain really big or is the "mountain climber" (also seen in panel three above) just really small? These and other questions will not be answered. Nope. I will not do it.)

Transcript

PAGE 1 – Into The Art Studio

Panel 1 – Stacy peers into art studio through window. Meredith sits at a desks and waves to him.

Stacy (thinking): This is the address I was given. It certainly looks like an art studio. Is that the artist? She's pointing the door.

Panel 2 – Shaking hands in doorway.

Meredith: Hi, I'm Meredith. You texted me earlier, right? Did you fill out the paperwork?

Stacy: I'm Stacy. Pleased to finally meet you. Yes, I did. I sent the paperwork to your email. You have a modeling gig for a statue, I believe.

Meredith: Great. Come inside. Can you start right now? Probably not, right? You'll need to get your affairs in order first.

Stacy: Is that why there was a waiver to sign? Some of the paperwork didn’t make a lot of sense.

Meredith: The waiver is because I got sued by a former model. They didn’t realize they were going to become the statue.

Stacy: What?

Panel 3 – Chatting on a sofa in the studio

Meredith: Oh, dear. You didn’t understand either? You aren’t posing for the statue. I’ll pick the pose. You’re just the raw material. That’s why it’s a three month gig.

Stacy: I thought that was too long to make a statue.

Meredith: Definitely. Once I’m finished with you here, you’ll be installed at the client site for an initial period of three months, which could be extended to six. All of that is laid out in the paperwork you already signed.

Meredith (continued): It also explains how your fee changes if the extension is taken. Afterward, you’re brought back here and returned to flesh.

Stacy: That actually sounds like it could be a cool experience. I’ll need a day or two. Be back Friday?

Meredith: Great!

TALK - Scheduling and Stuff #39 (I checked)

April. I've been focused a bit much on rendering. The Animator Matter has run it's course, for now. Today is the second Tuesday of the month and for the last four second Tuesdays that meant a new Little Witch Caption. But, not today. Today begins the serial comic Statue Rentals. Details of what it's about are in the first posted page. Little Witch #5 - Gym Shorts will release next Tuesday.

I plan to release three serial comics each month. In a two month span, there will be three Little Witch comics and three Statue Rental comics. The 2nd and 4th Tuesday of this month and the 3rd Tuesday of next month will see the first three Statue Rental comics. Little Witch comics will have the same release schedule but in opposite months. Thus, one Little Witch comics this month on the 3rd Tuesday and two Little Witch comics next month on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays.

Renders and Assembly for both comics are completed and queued up into December. It's funny. I did most of the Statue Rentals renders in February but due to other releases in front of it, scheduled it for an April debut. While getting ahead with Little Witch in mid-March, I've finally standardized my logos and stuff. I had to go back and re-assemble the twelve Statue Rentals comics I'd considered finished a month earlier. (Thankfully, I'd only queued four comics. I didn't have to do too much reuploading here.)

The depth of both queues is one of the reasons for speeding up the schedule of Little Witch. There's even a crossover in November. (Somewhere I joked about not wanting to create a story universe. Well... here it is.)

About now, I suppose folks might be curious about the 1st and occasional 5th Tuesdays of the month. Yeah. I wonder about them two. I've been putting out short short stories on Tuesdays for a while now. So they will fill those slots when they exist. When a Saturday story has renders, teasers could run on Tuesday. And the first of the month lands on a couple Tuesdays. And first of the month is still the Renders Roundups days for now.

I still haven't decided how I'm going to post these to deviantArt. Little Witch will continue over there. But I might only tease the first eight or so comics of Statue Rentals. I haven't decided.

OTOH, my writing queue ends in mid-May. I have a bunch of things 80-90% finished and just haven't concentrated on any one of them long enough to get them to the finish line. I'll probably finish queuing the comics and then focus on writing. That's how I ended up finishing Season 4 of Ted's Dolls. Which reminds me, I need to get around to plotting out Season 5. So much to do, never enough time.

Final note: It is March 23 as I write this. Yes, I even queue these status updates.

Update (April 5): Since that final note, there are six more Little Witch comics ready. And only one more Statue Rentals comics ready. (It has a lot of renders due to a montage sequence.) The written stories queue does extend into June now. I'm hoping to push that to a depth of 5-6 months and then, perhaps, tackle a small scale AVN with no ASFR content.

Magic Shoppe - Autocurious 5

“Welcome back to the Magic Shoppe,” the tall, thin man behind the counter announced. “What can I do for you today, Charles?”

“I’ve met a young lady who seems a bit too eager to like me. You mentioned I would meet someone new the last time I was here.”

“Dana?”

“Yes. Did you send her to me? She’s… perfect.”

“I didn’t send her to you. You just happened to move into the right apartment.”

“You told me to find an apartment in that area.”

“Did I?”

“If I knew your name, I scold you like a parent would: first, middle, and last name in a sharp. Staccato. Cadence.”

“I know. I have something for the two of you,” the proprietor reached under the counter and placed a box about the size of a shirt box on it. “Instructions are inside.”

“Has she been here before?”

“Technically, Dana has only been here once.”

“What did she buy?”

“All of my sales are made in the strictest confidentiality, Charles.”

“If you can’t tell me anything, why did you mention she’s been here at all?”

“That’s public knowledge. Anyone watching the storefront could see who enters and leaves.”

“Is her brother also a customer?”

“Dana’s brother?”

“Yes.”

“He’s been in the shop.”

“Did they both come here together?”

“That’s a bit too close to the line, Charles.”

“Dana mentioned a friend named Nancy. Could you give me her phone number?”

“Nancy is not one of my customers.”

“Damn.”

A slip of paper appeared in his hand out thin air. “And as such, I am not bound by any warranty of confidentiality with Nancy Moon O’Brien of 43 Lambert Street, Apartment 4.” He handed the paper to Charles.

Charles smiled.

* * *

“I had a great time,” Dana said. She was wearing a polo shirt emblazoned with the logo of the local baseball team with the name and the number of their star center fielder on the back, a matching hat, and jeans shorts. She and Charles were standing in the hallway outside both their apartments. His support for the local team was only seen in the cap he wore.

“I love seeing a game with an enthusiastic, fellow fan,” he said.

She looked at him like she wanted him to kiss her. He didn’t. What was he waiting for?

“May I come in?” he said. “We need to talk.”

“We do? I can think of something I’d rather do.”

“First, we have to talk, Dana.”

She had been about to lick her lips suggestively. She stopped in time, she hoped. “Okay.” She unlocked the door and they sat down on the sofa.

“There’s something you need to tell me. I don’t think you like lying to me. And if you told me, you wouldn’t have to lie any more.”

She was stunned. He knew?

“I’ve been to the Magic Shoppe,” he continued. “That look. Please don’t make me say it first.”

“I don’t have a brother,” she said. “Never have. Just a sister.”

“You’ve mentioned Rachel. You have more to say?”

“I used to think I was a man. I’m getting a name change. And I’ve told work only Dana will be showing up from now on. How did you figure it out?”

“You and your brother were never in the same place at the same time. And you never remember he exists when I bring him up. But, I confirmed my suspicions when I gave your number to a friend and asked him to call you Wednesday night at eight. While your brother and I were sharing some drinks, his phone received a call from an unknown caller at eight.”

“Sneaky. This is a relief. I didn’t lie at first. I was that man. Or so I thought.”

“How does it work?”

“What?”

“The magic. I know from the shop keeper that you’ve been to the store. It must be magic since you don’t really look like your non-existent brother. How does it work?”

She explained how the boobs and wig worked.

“Is that all?”

“What do you mean?”

“I met a woman named Nancy who refused to tell me about you.”

“How did you meet Nancy?”

“Not important. She said I should ask you about a certain dildo.”

She sighed and stood up from the sofa. “It’ll be easier to show you.” She led him into the bathroom where her old cock was sitting on the counter top.

“Impressive. May I?”

“I will feel you touching it.”

“Still.”

“Why would I want that to stop?”

“I see.” He picked it up. “Firmer than I expected.”

“The day after I did it, it changed to that firmer dildo density.”

“You could attach and detach it?”

“Since the day I detached it, I’ve never reattached it.”

“No?”

“No. Having nothing down there is surprisingly freeing. You should try it.”

“I’ll just take your word for it.” He made a fist around the shaft and stroked it a few times.

“Mmmmm.” Her eyes closed and she had to resist the urge to put her hand in her shorts.

“You want to touch yourself as I do this.”

“Yes.”

“Do it.”

She unbuttoned her shorts and put her fingers under her panties.

“Follow my rhythm.”

She found it hard not to as he stroked the cock dildo smoothly and quickly.

“You ever give handy before?”

“This is my first on cock that isn’t mine,” he said. He sped up and she pushed deeper into herself and sped up.

“Don’t stop.”

“What if I did?”

“Don’t you dare stop.”

Her eyes were closed as she said, “I’m so close. So close. Ye-e-e-s. Fuck.” She came. He had pointed the business end of the dildo at her face and her orgasm was accompanied by a face full of cum. “What?”

“I almost didn’t believe you when you said it still ejaculated.”

She reached for a towel and wiped her face. “I never did that to myself.”

“Sorry.”

“No, you aren’t.”

“Where do you usually point it?”

“It’s usually in my mouth when it cums.”

“What does that look like?”

She took the cock dildo from him and teased at tonguing the tip before putting the head into her mouth. She slid it deep into her mouth with single motion.

“Wow.” He reached out and touched the ribbon hanging from it and said, “Lock.”

Her eyes went wide. “(H)ow (d)id (y)ou (kn)ow a(b)out (th)at?”

“When I was at the Magic Shoppe, the good proprietor gave me a few goodies he thought you might enjoy.”

“W(h)at (g)oo(d)ies?”

“Follow me to my apartment.” He said, leaving the bathroom.

“(W)ith (th)e (g)ag (st)u(ck) (i)n (m)y (m)outh?”

“If I leave, you’ll be stuck like that until I come back and unlock it.”

She didn’t want to admit it to him, or to herself, but she was so turned by the idea of being stuck with the cock in her mouth. “O(k)ay.”

They crossed the hallway to get to his apartment. She was disappointed the hallway had been completely empty of neighbors. No one else saw her crossing to his apartment with the dildo in her mouth.

He closed the door behind her and retrieved a box from the kitchenette table. Inside were a set of beaded bracelets. He put two of them on her wrists. “These other two go on your ankles.” They were slightly larger than the bracelets. He touched each band of beads in turn and said, “Snug,” for each of them. They shrank in diameter to snugly fit around her wrists and ankles.

“They work like the ribbons.” He touched the bracelet on her left wrist and said, “Lock.” Nothing seemed to happen until he did the same to her other wrist. She couldn’t alter the angle or distance apart the two bracelets sat relative to one another. It was kind of like being tied up. She just wasn’t attached to anything.

“You can still move about. But as you’ve noticed, this arm remains positioned relative to that arm. At least until I do this.” He grabbed her left wrist and said, “Shift,” as he moved her arm independently of the other bracelet. When he let go, the geometry between the two bracelets was now how he had shifted it. He shifted her arms a few more times until her arms were stuck pointing straight out to the sides putting her in a T-pose.

“(N)ow (th)at -m (st)uck, w(h)at -re (y)ou (g)oin’ (t)o (d)o (t)o (m)e?”

He put his hands under her armpits and carried her into his bedroom. He flopped her onto the bed with her arms stuck straight out to the side. He grabbed each of her ankles and locked them in place together and straight up in the air. He pulled her shorts off her, followed by her panties. He shifted her legs out to the sides and left them there.

He placed his face between her legs and started licking her. Even gagged, her moans were long and loud as he forced her to orgasm several times in a row. When she was completely incoherent beyond the effects of the gag, he got up and went to the kitchen. He returned with a couple glasses of water. As he stood above her, he noticed for the first time that a pool of cum had leaked out of the sides of her mouth and a little was dribbling from her nose. He unlocked the gag and removed it.

He grabbed her arms and sat her up, her legs were already at a convenient angle for sitting. He fed her the water from the glass.

“Thanks,” she managed to say after a few gulps. “That was incredible.”

“Do you want to be released? Or do you want to watch some television stuck?”

“I hope you mean in a different pose.”

“I could just get some hooks and hang you on the wall.”

“I’d look good adjacent to the 1723 map in the living room. But, only if I were dressed up in my green sleeveless dress, stockings, and matching pumps.”

“You want me to do it, don’t it?”

She nodded. “I do. If you continue to feed me, you can leave these thing locked on me all weekend.”

He did.

* * *

Charles unlocked the bands from her wrists and ankles shortly after they woke up with her locked in his arms. As Dana returned to her apartment to get ready for work she felt truly free for the first time. She was in love and she loved herself. When she arrived at work, there was a lightness in her step that she could not hide. When Gregory stopped by her desk that afternoon he chuckled and congratulated her on having a wonderful weekend. She was feeling so good she just thanked him.

She met Nancy and Oliver for drinks after work on Tuesday. It was the first time Dana was meeting Oliver since Dana had told him to buy Nancy a drink. After a brief exchange of pleasantries she spilled the tea on her weekend.

“You were totally at his mercy to move at all the whole weekend?” Oliver said.

“Basically.”

“Maybe I should visit this Magic Shoppe,” Nancy said.

“Unless you plan to wear the bands, buy something else.”

“Oh, I think you would look cool decorating my living room.”

“Dana didn’t do that,” Oliver said.

“Yet,” Dana said.

“Charles sounds like he will honor your request,” Nancy said.

“That’s my hope.”

“Make sure he invites me over to take a few pics.”

“I’ll tell him.”

“Why isn’t he here with you?”

“He works like twelve hours a day during the week and I had a front row seat to him doing work on the weekend. I’ve told him I’m worried about him burning out.”

“Part of the time you were stuck he was doing real work.”

“Yep. He parked me on the sofa and locked my arms so that I could interact with my phone and not much else.”

“For how long?”

“Four or five hours, I think.”

“I can’t believe you’re the same person who introduced us,” Oliver said.

“That guy is gone.”

“If you had approached me like this, I would have bought you that drink.”

“Seriously?” Nancy said.

“I told you that when you first showed me Dana’s picture.”

“You are a foolish man, Oliver Herbert Brown.”

“Please. I have no chance with Dana given the stuff she’s been up to with Charles. I couldn’t treat her half as well as she wants to be treated. She’s a very lucky woman.”

“And so is Nancy,” Dana said.

“I need more convincing.”

“Later. I promise to give you the best foot rub these hands have in them.”

“I told you not to mention that,” Nancy said.

“After the story Dana just told, you orgasming from foot rubs isn’t anything to be embarrassed by.”

“You do?” Dana said.

Nancy rolled her eyes. “Yes. My Achilles Heel is in my heel.”

Oliver made a level fist with his thumb dipped downward and slowly raised it upward, following the imaginary curve of her instep. Nancy shuddered.

“I feel less freaky.”

“You should be proud to be you, Dana,” Oliver said, repeating the thumb motion.

Nancy grabbed his hand and pushed it down onto the table. “Enough. For now.”

* * *

Wednesday night, Dana was nervous as she knocked on Charles’ apartment door. When he opened the door he was surprised to see her.

“I know you said you were busy during the week. But, I went to the Magic Shoppe at lunch today and the wizard sold me this to give to you.”

“It’s fine that you’re here, Dana. Except, I was about to go to bed.”

“Sorry. Here.” She handed him a box that was narrow in two dimensions and long in the third.

“What’s in it?”

“I actually don’t know. I told him about my idea for sprucing up your living room and he said what was in the box would do it.”

“And he didn’t tell you how it works.”

“Instructions are in the box, as usual,” she said. She poked her head into his apartment. “I think that spot on the wall there needs the most sprucing.”

“Noted.” He took her chin in hand and gave her a kiss. “I will have to punish you for keeping me awake on a work night.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time.”

With a chaste kiss, they said good night to one another.

  *

Two hours after work on Friday, Dana was all dolled up for her weekend with Charles. She knocked on his door and was surprised he was in sweat pants and a t-shirt. She was wearing a fancy dress, stocking, “do me” heels, and beautiful makeup.

“Right on time,” he said. He stepped aside for her to come it.

“I’m not early?” she said.

“For that?” He pointed at the section of his living room wall she had indicated a couple days before. It was still basically blank except for a pair of what looked like ordinary shelf brackets without a shelf on them. “You are going to make a very fetching wall hanging.” He picked her up at the waist and put her up against the wall with the brackets under her armpits and when he let go, her body stiffened up against the wall.

“Oh, my,” she said. Only her head was still mobile. “This is cool. Now what?”

“Now what what? You just hang there. Wasn’t that the idea?”

“Well, yes, but I thought…”

“Well, keep those thoughts to yourself. You’re just a decoration at the moment.”

She giggled. “Okay. Go watch TV or something.”

He did. For several hours he watched a show she didn’t care for, all the while ignoring her. When it was late, he turned the television off and was about to turn out the light when she said, “Do I at least get a good night kiss?”

“I don’t usually kiss the décor. I’m afraid I’m going to just leave you hanging.”

“You… oh, god, that was awful.”

“Yes, it was your PUNishment for stopping by on Wednesday.”

“Ugh.”

“And here’s your reward.” He touched one of the brackets holding her up and said, “Lock.”

She could no longer move her head or speak. Without another word, he turned out the lights and disappeared into the bedroom.

Saturday, he spent the morning on his computer working. He went out during the day and returned. He watched a baseball game on the television. He did nothing to acknowledge her presence. She was nothing more than an object hanging on his wall.

As he slept, she considered this was the first time she’d gone over 24 hours without masturbating or playing with her cock dildo since she first removed her cock. Mid-morning on Sunday, the doorbell rang. She hadn’t seen Charles yet that morning. He left his bedroom dressed casually for the day.

He opened the door and let Nancy and Oliver in.

“I can’t believe it,” Oliver said.

Nancy was already snapping pics of the beautiful wall hanging. “She does brighten the room.”

“I know,” Charles said. “It’ll be a shame to take her down Monday morning.”

“You’re going to leave her dressed like that until Monday?” Oliver said.

“This was her idea. I’m pleased to honor her desires.”

Nancy was standing right next to her. She squeezed one of Dana’s boobs. “She still feels like a person.”

“Yes, the magic locks her in place and suspends the need to eat and related functions. But otherwise, she unchanged.”

“How long could she stay up there?”

“Months, according to the instructions. I don’t know if I could handle that.”

“If she didn’t like her job, I could see her asking you to do it,” Nancy said.

“I’ve thought that myself.”

“I wonder how she feels about that.”

Charles touched the bracket and said, “Unlock. How do you feel about that?”

“Hi, Nancy, Oliver,” she said. “No, I don’t think I could do this for months. I mean, unless you were to take me down each night and make passionate love to me before hanging me back up here in the morning.”

“We’ll have to discuss that at a later time.”

“It’s been nice knowing you, Dana,” Oliver said.

“I’m sure we would bore of the arrangement,” he said.

“After a month?”

“I was thinking after two or three months.”

“Certainly no more than six,” she said.

“Optimists,” Nancy said.

They laughed.

“We do have to get going, Nan,” Oliver said.

“Yes. We only stopped by to check out what you’ve done with the apartment.”

“Take care,” Charles said, escorting them to the door.

“I’d say don’t do what I wouldn’t do but you’re already well beyond my comfort zone,” Nancy said. “Hang in there.”

They left.

“Oh, god,” Dana said. “Will everyone make that joke?”

“Low hanging fruit,” Charles said. He locked her up before she could moan about that pun.

Dana was mildly miffed she still hadn’t gotten a kiss. Not that Charles could tell she was miffed. He spent most of the afternoon working. Dana wondered how much work he was making up from their weekend spent together the week before. Perhaps not occupying his time for the entire weekend by being stuck on the wall was beneficial to Charles.

After dark, he disappeared into his bedroom for over an hour before reappearing. He was wearing a dressy suit and tie. Without looking at her, he left the apartment.

Where was he going? She wondered. Each passing moment she wondered what he was doing. Had he gone to dinner? Was he meeting someone?

He returned a half hour later. “Sorry, sorry, sorry.” He immediately came over to her and took her off the wall. When her feet touched the ground she could move for the first time in two days.

She flung her arms around his shoulders and kissed him deeply.

“I only meant to step out for about five minutes to make you stew about what I was up to. But, I ran into Walter, from apartment 609 and he talked my ear off about sports and stuff. Sorry.”

“I wasn’t worried.”

“You are a terrible liar.”

“I know. You look spiffy.”

“We are going out to eat at a fancy restaurant. I own a very expensive wall hanging and this is how I’m still paying for it.”

He escorted her to the apartment door.

“I hope the installment plan lasts a long time.”

“Oh, god, no. I’m in finance. Long term debt is always bad.”

“Ruin the mood, why don’t you?”

“You can be returned to the wall.”

“Next weekend.”

“It’s a date.”

RENDER - April 2025 Renders Roundup - Lila Edition

These are old renders. <<<Record Scratch!!>>> I just noticed. They're 6 months old. The file dates on the first two are October 2. That was 6 months ago?? Wow. Time flies. Sorry. Where was I?

They all feature Lila who was seen last week in the Animator Matter in her signature dress and updo. This was me learning how to do light and fog and weird lens effects. This is probably why she became the --v-i-c-t-i-m-- subject of the Animator's... um... Matter. Lila's also the character hanging out of a car window in January's NFSW Render Roundup. This month we're keeping it clean.

I just realized the fog image would be cool with a microphone stand in it. Oh, well. (EDIT: I probably didn't own a microphone stand asset in October. LOL)

Magic Shoppe - Autocurious 4

As the door opened, a bell bracketed to the wall rang. “Welcome to the Magic Shoppe,” the tall, thin man behind the counter announced. “What can I do for you today?”

“Can we just talk?” She said, setting down several bags of clothing and shoes.

“There’s no rule against it. And it’s not like I’m slammed at the moment.” No one else was in the shoppe.

“You said I might have a proclivity for being female.”

“I was trying to be gentle. You’ve been a woman longer than you’ve had all the bits and bobs. Or perhaps bits and boobs.”

“I have?” This had floored Dana and she stopped paying attention.

“It sounds to me like you need relationship advice. Given how long it’s been since I’ve dated, I don’t think I’m the right person to help you.”

“A woman? Certainly not always,” she continued. She was having a private conversation with herself.

“I sense you’re figuring it out right now.”

“Am I? I’m a guy. I’ve always been a guy.”

The proprietor sighed. “Remember Gloria?”

“How do you know about…? Oh. Magic. Duh. What about Gloria?”

“Did you desire her?”

“Of course. She was hot.”

“You never asked her out. You were her BFF all through high school. You helped her hook up with some other man. Did you desire her or did you just think you were supposed to desire her?”

“I…”

“Anita. Same question.”

“She…”

“Bianca? Caitlyn? Hmm. You didn’t do this with someone who’s name started with a D. Is that why you named yourself Dana?”

“No. Dana sounds like my given name.”

“I guess it does. Eva? Felicia? You even hooked Third Leg Curious up with a guy at the bar.”

“Nancy and Oliver. I’d be jealous if I hadn’t met Charles. I probably should have asked her about relationships.”

“Maybe after this talk about who you are she could help with how you move forward.

“This is a lot to think about.”

“I’m sure it is.”

“What would I tell people?”

“What people? I shouldn’t say this but your father already knows. Your sister will probably be thrilled. Your so-called poker buddies all have small children and you haven’t all been in the same room in four years. If you had any close friends, Marie doesn’t really count, you wouldn’t be here. And I’m sure you can find a way to deal with your job.”

“Gregory would hit on me. Mark from accounting would stop trying to set me up.”

“Both true.” The proprietor took a box out from under the counter a little larger than a ring box. “It’s funny. I’m going to give you this one for free. I should really consider making the fourth magic item free like you suggested the last time you were here.”

“What is it?”

“That would ruin the surprise. There are instructions and a description of what this does inside. You are not to open it until you’re sure you believe me when I say you were always a woman. Perhaps after you’ve told your family about the new you.”

“I’m not there, yet.”

“No, you aren’t. Take your time. Continue seeing Charles or someone else you might fancy. But, not Gregory.”

“No. You didn’t need to tell me that. Gregory would be a mistake no matter how big his dick is.”

*****

After her first real date with Charles, she had gone directly to meet with the proprietor. When she left the Magic Shoppe, she messaged Charles that she’d love to see him again the next Saturday. Charles said that was perfect since his job kept him busy most weeknights.

For the rest of Sunday, she packed away most of her ‘guy’ stuff into a spare closet. She was surprised how much room was left over in the closet when she was done.

After spending all weekend as a woman, when she woke up on Monday she forgot she had to unlock her choker in order to remove the wig. She was so happy afterward because she hadn’t panicked. She would have called out sick. Her world wouldn’t end if he had been stuck as a woman.

At work, Mark from accounting happened to chat him up in the bathroom.

“Weekend weather was great. We got to use the grill both days.” Mark said.

“Sounds like fun. Hannah didn’t have to cook, I bet.”

“No, no. The grill is my domain.”

“Man is in charge of the fire, I suppose.”

“Of course. You do anything fun this weekend?”

“Didn’t play with fire. I went to the museum with someone new I’m seeing.”

“Cool. Gonna see ‘em again?”

“This Saturday.”

“Good for you.”

When she got home she immediately put on her wig and her boobs. She changed into comfortable clothes. After dinner she wasn’t sure what to do with herself. She had been indulging in self-gratification far too much and had decided to cut back. She had gotten use to spending a couple hours each night in an incoherent, post-orgasmic haze and wasn’t sure what to do instead. She turned on the computer and played a video game. It occurred to her that if she started streaming it, she might get more than the three followers she currently had who never watched her former self live.

For fun, she created a new Glitch channel and streamed herself playing a popular game she was halfway decent at. The first time she saw a message in the chat she almost got sniped in the shooting game she was playing. She even had to wait till the end of the match to say something because she hadn’t remembered to turn on her microphone.

“Oh, hey, chat. Sorry. Microphone problem,” she said. She felt stupid, like she was talking to herself. After a moment another chat message arrived and a second viewer joined.

“Yes, this is a new channel so I’m sorry if I’m not good at chatting while I play. But, you should enjoy my game play. Be nice.”

She played another match and managed to talk about what she was doing a little bit. By the time she had to log off, there were almost twenty people in her channel. Kind of cool, she thought.

She gave herself permission to engage in self-gratification by wearing the penis gag to bed before jilling herself to sleep.

Tuesday morning as he headed to the elevator, Charlie was also leaving his apartment. “Hey, haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Um, yeah, hi.”

“You know. I know so little about you. You’re apartment is like mine, isn’t it? How do you and Dana share a single bedroom?”

“She only recently moved in with me. I’ve been on the couch while she’s using the bedroom.”

“That’s amazingly chivalrous of you.”

“Thanks. I heard you and Dana had a good time Saturday.”

“We did. I hope she didn’t go into too many details.”

“You could say we’re pretty close. I believe she told me far more than I needed to know.”

“She seems so shy around me.”

“She hasn’t known you forever.”

“True. I’m guessing you don’t have any problems with me dating her, do you?”

“No, of course not. She’s her own woman. Just treat her right and you and I won’t have any problems.”

“I can assure you I would never do anything to her she told me not to do.” As they walked out of the building they turned in opposite directions. “Hey, we should get a beer sometime.”

“I’d like th-- Sure. Busy tonight?”

“Yeah. How about tomorrow?”

“Text me a location.”

“I don’t have your number.”

“Send it to Dana. She’ll forward it to me.”

“Okay.”

*****

That night, she sent Nancy a text. «How bad an idea is it to send my other self to have a beer with Charles?»

Nancy replied after a moment, «When Charles finds out, will he be mad?»

«I’m already worried about that.» Dana replied immediately.

Time passed. «Maybe you should tell him first.»

«I was hoping you’d have advice for what kinds of things I could find out about him without him knowing it was me asking.»

Her answers were arriving after longer and longer delays. «And this is why it’s a bad idea.»

«I know. I know. It just seemed like it could be fun.»

«It could be. Will Charles think it was fun?»

«I think he might.»

It was at least ten minutes before this arrived from Nancy: «Well, then it might be okay to do it.»

«Am I interrupting something?»

«Gregory is trying to get into my pants.»

«He would look good in your panties.»

«Gregory laughed and said, “That’s your shtick.”»

Dana sent back a rolling smile emoji.

The next evening, he entered the bar Charlie had sent the name of. He found Charlie at the bar with a freshly poured draft beer. “Hey, Charlie,” he called as he sat the stool next to him.

“You made it.”

“Map apps make giving directions a thing of the past.”

“They do. There’s a booth over there. I’ll grab it while you get a drink.”

“Okay.”

In the booth after talking about current events, Charlie asked, “I have no idea what you do for a living.”

“I’m in marketing.”

“Like Dana?”

“Yeah, she’s…” he cleared his throat and took a drink. “She’s a copycat. Don’t tell her I said that.”

Charlie looked at his phone. “I’m sure there’s a good story behind that.”

“I don’t think I can tell it.”

“She would get mad?”

“Absolutely.”

A few moments later they both checked their phones when a ringtone sounded. “It’s you,” Charlie said.

“Unknown number. Hello? Hello? Silence. I hate that.”

“Probably a telemarketer.”

“Probably.”

After a couple drinks they walked back to the apartment building together. “This is weird,” Charlie said. “I usually don’t bring men home from the bar.”

“Yeah, me too.”

As they stepped off the elevator, Charlie said, “Do you think Dana would like it if I popped in to say hello?”

“I guess.” He said, unsure how to play it. He unlocked the door and called out, “Dana?” When there was no response he said, “I’ll check the bedroom.” He disappeared into the bedroom and returned. “She’s not here.”

“Oh, well,” Charlie said. “I’ll see her Saturday.”

“Date on Saturday?”

“She didn’t mention it?”

“She probably did when I was busy with something.”

“Sure. See you around.”

“Take care.”

*****

On Thursday, she went to lunch early to visit her lawyer. She no longer felt comfortable as her old self and starting the legal name change process felt like the next step. Her lawyer had known her since college and was a little shocked but didn’t question her resolve. When she returned home and logged into the office. She’d told her boss she had an errand that morning and would work from home. She set up an appointment with human resources and her boss for first thing the next day. Her boss arranged for them to meet at 8:30, before the workday normally began.

Dana strode into the office Friday morning with an extra bit of spring in her step. Although she was wearing her old face and her former men’s clothing. She was about to change her life for the better.

She went directly to the office of the human resources director, Rita Miller. She was admitted immediately. Sam, her boss, was already there. The director said, “Ah, good. You’re here. Have a seat. What was so urgent?”

“Rita, I have had a recent epiphany about who I am. I would like to be referred to as Dana going forward. I have a legal name change in the works.”

“That’s not a problem. Once the court issues its order, just bring it to HR. Is there more to this?”

“Yes.” She opened a backpack she was carrying and pulled out a box. Inside was her wig and mask. “I also will no longer look like I am now.” She put the wig on and transformed back into her proper feminine form. “I will look like this from now on.”

“Woah,” Sam said.

“That is a shock,” Rita said.

“I had heard rumors about magic but it’s hard to believe when no one uses it in public. Or, maybe they do and we just aren’t aware of it,” Sam said.

“There’s a little place on seventh called The Magic Shoppe. It is the real deal.”

“Apparently.”

“Do you also have a change of clothes?”

She removed the wig. “Yes, I plan to go into the bathroom after this meeting and change from these clothes to the kind I intend to wear from now on.”

“If that’s all, let me be the first to welcome you, Dana, to our office.”

“This isn’t any problem?”

“Can you still do your job?” Sam said.

“Yes.”

“Then there’s no problem.”

“If you’d like, there’s a private bathroom two doors down from here,” Rita said. “Instead of walking all the way back to reception, you could change in there. It’s unisex so you don’t have sneak in to or out of the so-called wrong bathroom.”

“Thanks.”

“After you’ve changed, if you don’t mind, I’d like to see what you’ll be wearing today.”

Dana laughed. “I’ll stop by to show you, Rita.”

“I need to get to my desk,” Sam said. “Good day, ladies.”

*****

Dana went to the washroom a few doors down. It was a private bathroom with a lock on the main door like a bathroom found in a home. With a sigh of relief, she removed the clothes she had worn to be her old self. She also removed the sports bra she had worn so it wouldn’t be obvious she had breasts. She took the wig and mask out and put it on.

Immediately she felt relieved. She was herself again. She put on the collar the proprietor of the Magic Shoppe had given her. She thought, “Lock,” and felt it now lying snug against her neck. She thought about the wig coming off but it didn’t.

She rolled a new pair of dark, sheer stockings up her legs. She stepped into a pair of low heels. She pulled on a pair of lacy panties and matching bra. The dress flowed easily over her head and into place. She zippered it closed. It occurred to her that if normal clothing could lock closed like her magic items all sorts of cool outfits could exist. She hoped to talk to the proprietor about this idea.

With her old clothes in the backpack, she retrieved her purse. She did her makeup with the products within it.

She held the door handle for a moment before stepping out into the hallway. A young woman passed by and gave her that perfunctory, “I guess we work together, stranger,” nod. Otherwise, there was nothing special about her stepping out of the washroom. She poked her head into Rita’s office.

“Thanks for your help, Rita.”

“Wow. That’s what I like to see.”

“What?”

“Employees with grins as wide as their faces. You look so happy, Dana.”

“I am happy.”

“I hope you remain happy for many days to come.”

“Thanks.”

*****

Dana was at her old desk. A few coworkers asked who she was. She was honest with them and they seemed fine with what wasn’t really their business. The one person she wasn’t looking forward to seeing was Gregory.

He stopped by her desk in the afternoon. When he saw her, he chuckled and said, “I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure if I was being pranked or not, Dana.”

“Probably not. Although, I don’t know what you were expecting.”

“True. So, about the other day. I have one question.”

“I was alone.”

“That answers my question. Would it be awkward if I asked you out?”

“Extremely. But, I can save you from embarrassment. I have a date tomorrow.”

“An actual date, this time.”

“Yes. His name is Charles. He lives in the building I live in.”

“Are you sure you want to date someone you live so close to?”

“I should be concerned, I suppose. But, for now, that horse has escaped the barn. I’m surprised you didn’t say something about it being a guy.”

“Truth to tell, I’m relieved. I thought I was getting weird signals from you the end of last week. I suppose they weren’t as weird as I thought.”

“I have seen you naked, Gregory.”

“And that turns you on now?”

“Like I would admit to that at work.”

He smiled. “If it doesn’t work out with Charles, you know where to find me.”

“Are you sure you’d want to date someone you work closely with?”

He laughed. “Touché.”

*****

That evening, she was able to change out of her work dress directly into a nightgown. Taking off her bra at the end of work felt good, as did kicking off her low heels. She made dinner. After eating, she tucked herself onto her sofa to make a call she finally felt ready to make. She knew she had put it off for too long.

“Hey, Bro,” her sister said.

Dana had forgotten about caller id. “Hi, Rachel. This is Dana. You’re going to find this hard to believe, but I’m your brother.”

“Really? You must be using his phone. I suppose he’s sitting right there.”

“No, no. I’m him. I’ve discovered my true self as a woman.”

“You don’t sound like him so I believe you when you say you’re a woman. But, I don’t believe you’re my brother.”

“Well, I guess I’m actually your sister.”

“I’ll play. Tell me something only he knows that he wouldn’t dare tell his girlfriend.”

“When you were twenty-two, you got drunk and decided to get a word that starts with a W tattooed on your lower back.”

“I’ll kill him for telling anyone that story,” Rachel said through clenched teeth.

“The tattoo parlor was called Fine Inks and the only reason you only have that W on your back is because he didn’t get there in time to stop you from doing something so stupid.”

“That proves nothing except that my brother is fucking asshole for telling you the story.”

“When you sobered up, you said, ‘I owe you one, Bro. You get one free pass to tell me or ask me anything and I will move mountains to do it.’ I’m using that free pass. Believe I’m your sister.”

The phone was silent for a moment.

“You’re serious.”

“I only had the one free pass. You’re still allowed to kill me.”

She laughed. “Well, start talking, Br-- Sis. When? Why? How? What do you look like?”

“I’ll send a selfie.”

“And the other questions.”

“How is the easiest?”

“It is? You couldn’t have transitioned since I saw you a few months ago.”

“Magic.”

“You might need another pass.”

“There is a place on seventh called The Magic Shoppe. And the trinkets and doodads there are actually magical. The ‘when did this happen’ started about a month and a half ago. As for why…”

Dana talked for over an hour giving Rachel a run down of everything that had happened, though she left out the three foot long cock story. The next half hour was spent talking about liking guys and Charles in particular.

“I feel better about myself,” Rachel said.

“What?”

“I thought I was just a freak. Nymphomania must run in the family.”

“Details.”

“Do you think I wanted that literal tramp stamp because it was funny? In my twenties I was juggling like three guys and still having side sex with anyone who looked decent. I’m not surprised you’re addicted to cock.”

“Are you saying it’s hereditary that I can’t be on an elevator with another guy without wanted to do him right there.”

“Same as me, Sis. Mom would have been proud.”

“No.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, Dana. I went on a few double dates with Mom after the divorce.”

“You didn’t.”

“No, not exactly. She kept meeting these men with young sons and the four of us would have dinner together and then they’d go off to continue their date and I would be left with the son. If he didn’t seem like a total fuck up, I’d usually sleep with him. You didn’t know this?”

“Not a clue.”

“How do you think I met Troy?”

“Mom dated your father-in-law – what’s his name? – Frank?”

“That’s his name. Yes. They dated a few times until she moved on to someone else.”

“How have you managed to stay with Troy?”

“You and I share another sexual trait that shoppe keeper told you about yourself apparently.”

RENDER - The Animator Matter #3 & #4 (NSFW)

The first three of these were written and rendered in December, three months ago. Number four was written and render a few days before #1 & #2 were released a month ago. This is why the lighting is a bit better in #4 than in #3. I also doubt if in December I could have done the floating panel trick without compositing it outside of Daz.

My favorite shot of Lila is the wary glare she gives to the Animator as she's climbing out of the box. Sometimes the expression fall down and sometimes they work so well.

Transcript

PAGE 3 – Erasure

Top Panel – Sequence of images, no panel separations

Shot of the basket from Page 2.

Animator: Hoo! Wow, I haven’t laughed so hard in a while.

Lid on basket lifted, Lila’s head peeks out.

Lila: Is it safe?

She starts to climb out. (It isn’t obvious how she could possibly fit.)

Animator: Heh. Yeah, it’s safe. I was just having some fun. You can get out of the basket.

Lila: That wasn’t very funny.

Lila: You know that isn’t something I want.

She standing outside the open basket.

Animator: Yes, yes, I actually do know what your want. Have a seat.

She’s sitting on the basket, hands on her lap. A huge eraser is floating behind her.

Lila: I’m afraid to think what you think I want.

Bottom Panel

Her chest is much bigger. EEE/H cup range

Lila: Seriously?

Animator: What? Bigger?

Her chest is now comically bigger while the eraser is erasing the basket under her.

FX: creak

Lila: NO!!

FX: CRACK whump

She busts through the broken basket her enormous breast exposed.

Lying flat on her back and the rubble from the basket, her breasts lay spread out wider than she is tall.

Lila: Can’t… wheeze breathe…

PAGE 4 – Stick A Cork In It

Panel 1 – (actual panel wall, too) Lila in non-descript background saying something.

Lila (speech bubble): I love sucking cock.

Panel 2 – reaches through panel wall to grab bubble

Lila: What the hell! What is this?

Animator: A speech bubble.

Animator: It's a graphic device used in visual, originally printed, media. It's used in place of sound to indicate the words spoken by a character in a story.

Lila: I know what a speech bubble is. This is not my speech bubble! I did NOT say that.

Animator: The speech bubble says otherwise.

Lila: That’s why I’m complaining. Don’t stick words in my mouth.

Animator: I’m not the one putting things in mouths. You made the statement about what you desire. You're still clutching it in your hand.

Lila: I said no such thing!

Panel 3 (Bottom Row)

Animator: Look at the first panel behind you. It says you said it, even if you grabbed the bubble afterward.

(An image of panel 1 without her hand grabbing the speech bubble floats just behind her. She turns to look at it.)

Lila: When did you make me make that face?

Animator: That’s not important. Can we get on with the story?

Lila (pointing at panel): Not until you promise not to put words in my mouth any more.

Animator: Fine. I won’t put any more words in your mouth.

(She has a cork in her mouth.)

Lila: Mmpf?

Panel 4 – Her eyes looking at the speech bubble.

Animator: And you were right. There was a typo. I do apologize. Take a look at the bubble now. Better?

Lila (speech bubble): I love sucking cork.

Lila: Nnpf.

Magic Shoppe - Autocurious 3

“Welcome back to the Magic Shoppe,” the tall, thin man behind the counter announced. “What can I do for you today?”

“Do you have repeat customer card? Buy three magic items, get the fourth free.”

“I’ll run that by marketing and see what we can do. How’s life with a detachable penis?”

“Perfectly normal.”

“I’m sure.” He reached under the display counter and pulled out a box, maybe a foot long and six inches square on the ends.

“If I guess what’s in the box, do I get a discount?”

“You’re really into sales promotions, aren’t you? What can I do for you?”

“If there are boobs in that box, you already know.”

“There are. I do. I just prefer that you ask so it doesn’t seem like I coerced you.”

“The deluxe detachable dick thing creates a really sensitive pussy on purpose, doesn’t it?”

“Not really. If you thought the orgasms provided by your new parts were particularly strong, you might have a proclivity for being a woman.”

“I spent the past couple weeks at work trying not to drool over my male coworkers.”

“Really?” The proprietor said, genuinely surprised. “And you never felt something like that before?”

“Not even slightly.”

“Fascinating.”

“If that box just contains boobs, I’d also like something to convert me completely.”

“That’s great. Self-discovery is a wonderful thing.”

“I’d also like a mask or something so the woman I become isn’t recognized as me in a dress.”

“I have something like that. Most of them come with programmed personalities but you seem to already be stepping away from your male persona. Let me check in back. Any descriptive preferences? Hair color? Length? Eye color? Face shape?”

“I think I’d like to have shoulder length sandy hair and blue eyes.”

“Excellent choice.” He disappeared in back. There was a purple and green flash of light in the back room just before he returned. He brought out what looked like a hat box. “In here, there’s a wig and partial mask. It should do the trick. The boobs will be slightly large once the wig reduces the size of your rib cage. I had picked them out based on you keeping your masculine look. Attaching them should be easy to figure out.”

“Are the wig and boobs easily removable?”

“Yes, you just have to want to remove them and they come right off. Otherwise, they’re a part of you as long as you like.”

“This sounds expensive.”

“It kind of is. $1,500.”

“I feel like a fish.”

“Hung on a hook.”

He paid.

* * *

The man rushed to his bathroom when he got home. He was naked by the time he got there. He removed the cock dildo from the sink and set it aside. Inside the box were two boobs. The backside of them had a small indentation where he guessed his nipples would stick into. He placed one on his chest and felt his nipple drop into the indentation. The breast adhered to his chest seamlessly. It looked like a natural boob, hanging lonely on his manly chest. He rubbed the nipple and pleasure sparked through his boob and torso brightly. He willed it to come off and it dropped off in his hand as if it had never been attached.

Satisfied he attached both boobs. As the second one attached, the hair on his chest and most of his arm hair vanished. Check in the mirror he noticed most of his back hair was gone too. He turned his attention to the wig box. He put on the wig and as it settled into place, his body shrunk a couple inches. His face below the eye mask became softer. The stubble on his face vanished. The rest of his body hair mostly disappeared. His chest and shoulders shrank. His waist shrank as his hips widened.

“I’m hot.” She said aloud. “And I have nothing to wear.”

A problem for later. She grabbed the dildo that was once her cock and got into bed. Using the dildo to pleasure herself, she noticed she still felt what the dildo felt. It wasn’t long before she came several times in a row as the orgasm passed from her vagina to her cock and back again and again.

She wanted to nap but she was too hungry. She looked through her closet for something to wear when she spotted a sundress left behind by a former girlfriend. Caitlyn had moved away six years ago for a better job opportunity. They hadn’t wanted to try a long distance relationship. Last she had heard, Caitlyn was engaged.

She put the dress on. It wasn’t a perfect fit. It wasn’t going to fall off either so it was functional. Without a bra her nipples were definitely going to be visible. It couldn’t be helped. She found sandals that went with the dress. Could she go out?

She stood in front of the door to her apartment for several minutes before opening the door.

A man stood there, his hand raised as if he were about to knock. “Oh, excuse me,” he said.

He was gorgeous. She wanted to rip off her clothes and declare her his property. She dismissed that thought and then realized he was the man she’d met on the elevator a few days ago. “Ah, um, who are you?” She said.

“Sorry, I was looking for your boyfriend, I guess. Didn’t catch his name, though.”

Boyfriend? No, no, she couldn’t let him think she had a boyfriend. “I think you mean my brother.” She said, checking him out. “We share the apartment. I’m Dana,” she said, holding out her hand.

He noticed her checking him out and did the same to her. He shook her offered hand. “Charles or Charlie, whichever you like. Is your brother in?”

His handshake was firm: manly, but not overtly forceful. “I haven’t seen him today. Say, I was on my way out to grab dinner. Have you eaten?”

“No, I haven’t. Are you inviting me to dinner?”

“Sounds like I am.”

* * *

She was sure she had been attentive and had hung on every word he had said. But, as they were walking back to the apartment building, she could not remember what she had eaten or what he had spoken about over the last hour. She could point out dozen of places where his normally black hair would look red or blue depending on how the light struck it. She had cataloged how the light caused certain parts of his eyes to twinkle when his head tilted or turned. Halfway back her hand found its way into his hand. He didn’t seem to mind.

The elevator bell dinged and they stepped off the elevator. He said, “I had a lovely time, tonight.”

“Thanks for walking me home.” As soon as she said it, she became beat red.

“It was a bit out of the way. But, I couldn’t let you walk alone after dark in the city.” When she only seemed more embarrassed, he said. “Would you like to see my apartment? You seemed interested in my map collection. It isn’t too late, I hope.”

Map collection? She thought. “Oh, I’d love to see it.” To force herself to look away from him, she walked over to his door ahead of him. “This one is yours, right?”

“It is.” He unlocked the door and flipped the lights on.

The living room had several packed boxes in a corner and a nautical theme was attempting to assert itself. Several bookshelves with heavy-looking cardboard boxes lined one wall. A few naval knickknacks were already unpacked. A pair of large framed historical world maps hung on the same wall as the television.

“A sextant? Ever go sailing?”

“I wish. Unfortunately, I’ve been a landlubber all my life.” He moved over to the boxes on the floor. “I think it’s in here. Those maps are beautiful. But my favorite treasure is this.” He took a frame from the box that held a dozen large coins on a velvet backing. “Real Spanish Doubloons recovered from shipwrecks.”

They weren’t pretty. But, if they were real, having a small collection of them was impressive. She wondered if she sounded like this to anyone she’d ever dated when she was talking about sports. “These are nice. Do you know what ships they came from?”

“I do. But, I can see you are just trying to be nice. Would you like a drink? Going on and on about my hobby has me thirsty.”

“Sure, water is fine. If you have a dark beer, that would be good.”

“Not a fan of lagers?”

“No, I prefer to chew on my beer.”

He laughed. “I will be sure to get a six-pack of something dark in case you stop by again.”

“Oh, don’t buy it just for me.”

“I’ll drink it, too. Might even chew on it.” He opened the fridge and grabbed a couple bottles. “Want to watch a movie or something?”

“Sure,” she said, happy for an excuse to sit down and stay awhile.

“The remote is right there. Best I can do is an IPA, if you’d like.”

“Whatever you have is fine.”

They settled on a horror comedy film. She figured he would expect her to want to be held by him. Her desire for him grew as the film played. His arm around her shoulder was powerful. He could probably pick her up with the one arm. And yet he held it gently against her, squeezing comfortingly after each jump scare in the movie.

She lay her head against his shoulder so she wouldn’t keep looking at his eyes. His scent danced in her nose. Shivers ran down her spine as he lightly tussled her hair. Her hand hovered above his thigh barely brushing against his khakis. She heard rather than saw his other arm move. If not, she would have been startled when his hand covered her hand, pressing it down on his thigh. She squeezed it tentatively. A soft, “Mhm,” escaped his lips.

Slowly, her hand crept up his thigh, his hand atop hers would sometimes halt her progress and other times allow it. Still trying not to look down, she sensed her hand was a hair’s breadth away from her goal. He did not let her move it further. As the movie ended, he stood up. “I’m glad you stopped by. I have an early morning so I hope it isn’t too rude to end the evening here.”

“No, not at all. I have an early morning myself,” she said. After a moment she stood up. She wanted to try to set something up for the next night, Friday, but wasn’t sure if she wanted to seem as desperate as she felt.

“There’s an exhibit at the Robeson Museum Saturday. It’s about seventeenth century piracy. You can guess I plan to go. It would be far more fun to go with someone than to go alone.”

“I’m sure.” He had had her off balance all night. She added, “Do you know anyone who would go with you?”

For the first time, he seemed nonplussed. “I was thinking about asking your brother.”

“He… he, um.”

“Got you back.”

They laughed.

“I did mean you. Wear comfortable shoes. I was planning to walk the five blocks between here and there. And, of course, museum visits involve a lot of walking.”

“What time will you go out of your way to pick me up?”

“Around one? I have other morning plans.”

“I’ll be ready.” As it started to become awkward, she headed to the door. “Good night.”

“Good night.”

* * *

She hadn’t realized women could be cock-blocked. Why was her fantasy man such a gentleman? She was so frustrated she couldn’t get herself off when she returned to her bedroom. After an hour trying, she just went to sleep.

In the morning, he willed the boobs and wig to fall off as he rose from the bed. He showered and went in early so he could leave work early. He found himself comparing every man he saw on his commute and every man in the office to Charlie. He wanted Saturday to arrive right now. Except, he had nothing to wear. He managed to get out of the office by three and home shortly thereafter so he could put his boobs and wig back on.

Dana had been putting off buying too much of a wardrobe. But, with Charles living next door, she wasn’t sure she could pull that off. She wanted someone to talk to but she had no friends as Dana and only one as himself. She sent a text.

* * *

The woman from the train ride was sitting at a table in the outdoor cafe. She alternated between looking at her phone and looking around as if she was expecting someone. She was a little startled when woman she’d never met before stood at her table and said, “Pardon me, but are you expecting someone?”

“Yes, but I realize now I don’t know his name.”

“I’m Dana,” she said offering her hand.

“Nancy. Is there a reason you wished to speak to me?”

“I may not look it, but you know me as Non-Spreader.”

“Oh, my god. No way.” She looked around again. “He’s pranking me right?”

“I visited the Magic Shoppe again so I could look like this.”

“No way.”

Dana didn’t respond.

“You’re serious.”

“Yes.”

“You look beautiful. But, that dress doesn’t fit.”

“It was in my closet. An old girlfriend left it. Same with the shoes. I was wondering if you might have time to help me go shopping.”

“You didn’t seem like you were interested in going this far when we spoke the other night.”

“I met a guy and…”

“Before you tell me about the guy, tell me about your recent Magic Shoppe stuff.”

She told Nancy about her breasts and mask magic.

“Are you still just experimenting or is this you now?”

“Both? I want to tell them at work about this me. But, I’m worried about how they might react.”

“I have no experience with this but you should probably set up a meeting with your boss and human resources and just show them the transformation.”

“Hmm. That would remove all doubt. And I would be able to get into the office without being some unknown, random woman off the street.”

“Exactly,” she said finishing her coffee. “You wanted to go shopping. Tell me about this guy as we find out what your style is.”

“I have a style?”

“Everyone has a style, Honey. Hopefully, you’ll find clothes that fit yours.”

* * *

She didn’t finish telling Nancy about them watching the movie until they were in Dana’s apartment. All the bags of clothes she bought were on her bed.

“He’s either a perfect gentleman or a control freak,” Nancy said.

“That’s what I thought. I’m confessing a lot to you and...”

“That sounds juicy.”

“I’m kind of hoping he’s a bit of a control freak.”

“What?”

“I’ve never really noticed before. I defer. I let stuff slide. I capitulate. I’m a bit submissive. When he was holding my hand in place, I kind of liked him being assertive.”

“Look at you. When we spoke before you said you went to the shoppe because you didn’t want to suck some other guy’s cock. What are the prospects for that now?”

“Can’t wait. I would have done it last night if he’d let me.”

“Why didn’t you ask?”

“Should I have?”

“I’d say you should be more assertive but you probably know that. Since demanding it was out of the question, and you didn’t ask, you’ll have to wander through a museum to get it, now.”

“I hope that isn’t too bad. I don’t mind going to the museum if there’s an exhibit I want to see.”

“Seventeenth century piracy in the Caribbean?”

“I thought that series of pirate movies years ago was okay.”

“I hope he’s worth it.”

“How was that guy at the bar?”

“He’s taking me to a baseball game Saturday.”

“We could trade.”

She laughed. “I like baseball. And I’d prefer a non-control freak guy. Thanks. Before I talk more about Ollie, can I see it?”

“It?”

“Your living dildo.”

“I’ve never shown my cock to a woman I wasn’t dating.”

“You did get my phone number so we might have dated.”

“It’s in the bathroom. I didn’t have time this morning to do anything with it after I washed it.” They went into the bathroom.

“Glad to hear I’ll be seeing it clean and not with…”

“You don’t have to finish that sentence.”

“Can I pick it up?”

“I will feel it if you do.”

“That wasn’t a no.”

She just shrugged.

Nancy grasped the shaft close to the base and picked it up close to her face. “Good size.”

“Never had any complaints.”

She licked the tip.

A shudder ran up Dana’s spine. “Don’t start something you won’t finish. Aren’t you worried about cheating on Oliver?”

“Oliver asked me to do it.”

“He said lick my cock? Wait, you told him?”

“On our second date, he had a lot of questions about my best guy friend whom I knew practically nothing about except that we first met less than a week ago,” Nancy said. “I had to tell him some of the story for it to make sense. By the time he finished his interrogation, he knew everything about you that I did. He’ll flip when I tell him about Dana. I suppose I should ask for your permission now.”

“Fine. You can tell him,” Dana said. “Did he really ask you to lick my cock?”

Nancy laughed. “I hadn’t thought about that phrasing. Yes, he asked me to lick your cock.”

“And what will you tell him about it?”

“If I weren’t dating Oliver, I wouldn’t mind licking it some more.” She stared intently at the base of the cock. “What’s this?”

On the side of the cock right where the balls were attached was hollow thin slit. An opening three-quarters of an inch tall and an eighth of an inch wide ran through the cock from side to side.

“I’ve never noticed that before. Maybe a way to hang it up. Weird.”

“I doubt that. Maybe you go ask your wizard friend,” Nancy said. Her phone buzzed. “Oh, Oliver is asking if he and I are still on for tonight. Want to come?”

“I’d love to orgasm. But, I don’t think I want to be a third wheel on your date.”

“I’d say invite Charles but you guys still haven’t had a real first date.”

“He isn’t available tonight. He said something about making up at work tonight for spending the evening with me last night.”

“He works that much? What’s he do?”

“Investment something. I should pay more attention to what he says.”

“Yes, you should. I’ve got to go.” She tossed the cock to Dana. “Have fun.”

She caught it. “I will. Let me know if he wants you to take it up the ass after you tell him all about me.”

“Dana!”

Dana just smiled.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time.”

Nancy laughed at Dana’s shocked expression. “Ta ta.”

After eating dinner, she had a thought about that slit in the back of the dildo. She retrieved from under the bed the box that the salves and stuff had been packed in. She found an envelope poking up from the side of the foam where the salve jars sat.

Inside was red leather strap that seemed just the right width and thickness to slip into the slot in the dildo. There was also a hand written note from the Proprietor. “Dana, I forgot to put this in the package before you took it home. If you are reading this the transference spell worked. The strap, you’ll notice, has no buckle. Slip the strap into the dildo and take it all into your mouth. If someone takes the strap and pulls it behind your head, they can touch the strap while thinking the word ‘lock’ to make the strap unremovable. It can only be removed when they touch the strap again and think ‘Unlock.’ If this someone isn’t you, you won’t be able to remove the penis gag until they release you. Enjoy.”

She put the strap through the slot in the dildo and eased the cock into her throat. She pulled the straps behind her head and thought, ‘Lock.’ The strap tightened in place, pulling the dildo a bit further into her throat. She wondered if the dildo was the reason she had no gag reflex.

She ran her finger around the strap. It felt like a seamless circle. She could not get a fingernail between it and her head. No amount of effort caused the strap to slip or shift from where it was locked in place.

After satisfying her curiosity that she could unlock it, she got in bed with the penis gag locked back in place and masturbated herself to a chain of multiple orgasms and sleep.

* * *

In addition to dreams about having sex just about everywhere in her and Charles’ apartments that night, she also dreamed about taking Nancy’s ass and Nancy taking hers. With and without Oliver and Charles. She woke up bathed in sweat. She moaned around her gag.

She looked at her phone. It was nearly eleven. She needed to get ready for her date with Charles. She used the bathroom and showered. Since she wasn’t going to work, this was the first time she had showered wearing the wig and breasts in the shower. Pleasuring herself using her water-slicked boobs lasted for only a moment or two before she got back to getting clean. She used the shampoo and body wash Nancy had insisted she purchase the day before. She liked how it made her smell.

It was only when everything else was washed that she removed the gag. She clean it off in the shower before turning off the faucet. She set the gag down on the counter and brushed her teeth.

With a towel wrapped around her, she sat on the bed and painted her toenails. She’d watched several online videos to do it mostly correctly the first time. After her toes, doing her fingernails was much easier. While waiting for them to dry, she surfed to a website Nancy had recommended to buy some toys. As much as she had enjoyed her own penis dildo, there were other toys to explore.

When she finish her order, her nails were dry. She remembered the note from last night had mentioned the wig package. She took that box out from under the bed. It had been empty when she had put it there. Now it had an envelope in it. There was a black leather collar, maybe five-eights of an inch wide, inside along with a note: “Dana, I’m glad you found and enjoyed the new strap used with your first purchase. This collar is similar. When you wear it, your wig and breast devices can’t be removed by you accidentally thinking about them coming off. The collar locks just like the strap from the other box and can only be unlocked by whomever locks it in place. Enjoy.”

The collar had no buckle just like the strap for her dildo. She put it around her neck and said, “Lock.” The collar became a seamless ring around her neck. Not loose, but not tight either. She willed her wig to come off. It didn’t. She thought about the breasts coming off. They didn’t. She was thrilled by the idea that she couldn’t accidentally be revealed for who she had been.

After applying a light bit of makeup, she was zhuzhing her hair when there was a knock at her apartment door.

“You look lovely,” Charles said as she stood in the open doorway. “Give me a spin.”

She blushed as she turned on the ball of her flat shoe. The skirt of the pale blue sundress flared out from the cinched waist and thick dark blue belt. She felt so pretty and the way he looked at her made her also feel sexy.

“Ready?”

“I am.” She locked her apartment door and they walked hand-in-hand to the elevator.

As they walked to the museum, they talked about various things after starting with the weather.

“Do you follow baseball?” He said.

“Yes. Hey, the Pirates are in town, aren’t they? Kind of ironic.”

“The game is probably starting now. I was planning to watch the game with a friend of mine.”

“Am I keeping you from your friend?”

“I’d much rather go to the museum with a beautiful, intelligent woman than watch a baseball game with Larry.”

“It’s funny. My friend Nancy and her new boyfriend are probably at that game right now.

“She likes baseball, too?”

“She does.”

“We’ll have to catch a game sometime.”

“My father use to watch all the time and I’d watch with him.”

“With your brother?”

“Yeah, he watched, too,” she said hesitantly. “Oh, look, you can see the museum from here. Are you excited?”

He chuckled. “Not as much as you seem to be.”

“Would you prefer that I wasn’t excited?”

“Of course not. Let’s get inside.”

They walked through the exhibit at a leisurely pace. Charles was a font of information about the pieces on display, adding an anecdote not found on the little information placards at each station. Occasionally, people would gather as he spoke about the past with passion.

After visiting the last part of the exhibit, Charles mentioned he’d made dinner reservations at a restaurant nearby. They had to spend a little over an hour doing something else. He suggested going to a nearby park. They found a quiet part of the park and sat on a bench.

“What was your favorite part of the exhibit?” he said.

“You talking about the stuff on display. You should work there,” she said. “You’re so knowledgeable about the subject matter.”

“I make better money in finance.”

“Probably. But, is it as fulfilling?”

“Maybe when I retire I’ll just hang out in museums and give people unofficial guided tours.”

“Your voice is made for orating. It’s so dynamic and soothing. At the same time, it commands one’s attention. When you were talking about that pirate queen and your voice dropped to a whisper about her boudoir antics. I felt it in my spine.”

“I have bedroom voice?”

“I hope so.”

After dinner, dusk turned into evening and the walk home was a bit cooler than she had expected.

“Maybe we should have hired a car to go home,” she said.

“Are you cold?”

“A little.”

He pulled his polo shirt off revealing a clean white T-shirt beneath. “You can put that on or just drape it over your shoulders.”

She pulled it around her upper arms and shoulders. “That’s much better. Did you plan for dinner to run late?”

“Ha, ha. I’m not that clever,” he said. “But, now that you’ve given me the idea…”

“Oh, you.” She preferred to think he spent time coming up with ways she would have end up with his shirt wrapped around her neck, giving off the pleasing scent he had.

He put his arm around her shoulder. She didn’t say anything to stop him. When they reached their building, he held the door for her. As they stepped off the elevator, he said, “Your place or mine.”

“Yours.”

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want to be interrupted by your brother.”

“No, we wouldn’t want him to make an appearance.”

“Oh,” Charles said. He took his shirt back and walked toward the hamper. “Are you and your brother having troubles?”

“No, no. I wouldn’t want him to be a third wheel for what we do next.”

He returned from the bathroom. “That sounds promising. What are we doing next?”

“You tell me.”

“I think we could spend some time on the sofa. And then a short time traveling from the sofa to the bed. And then a lot of time in bed. All under the guise of getting to know each other better.”

“Uncovering our mutual mysteries is one of the things I love best to do.”

* * *

The next morning, she awoke spooned up against Charles. She wrapped her hand around the wrist of his arm that was holding her close to him. He adjusted his leg, putting it over top of both of hers.

“Have you been awake long?” He said.

“No, I just woke up. Though, it’s a good thing I have no where to go given how much you’re wrapped around me.”

He pulled her tighter to him. “Feels great to me.”

“I wasn’t complaining.”

RENDER - Springtime For Heather

Never planned to have Heather become a recurring character. Especially not as a statue. Yes, Summer and Autumn renders will be forthcoming. I've also considered a short post statue story where she thanks the gorgon for the lovely year and she jogs back down the trail. I might do that only for the idea of revisiting the "trail" files after I've been doing renders for a year.

Heather Goes Off The Trail has been available on deviantArt for 3 months now. The popularity of the individual pages fascinates me. They are, in liked order:

• Ten 86 - all the marble(s)

• Five 69 - the closeup of the statues seen while following the gorgon

• Nine 55 - decision made

• One 37 - Thought this would be higher. Only because folks would want quick access to the start. Maybe. Perhaps not.

• Three 36 - First rando statue

• Four 32 - Second rando statue

• Eight 31 - Making the decision

• Seven 28 - Gorgon offers Heather a plinth of her own

• Two 25 - Stepping off the trail

• Six 20 - The really dark image of following the gorgon

  The popular ones average around 6k views and the unpopular ones average around 4.5k. Guess that means people do revisit the favorites now and then.

I wish I had made a collection for them immediately (or that the multi-image post functionality had existed at the time). I wonder if that would have made a difference.

Transcript

Heather, still a statue, stands on her plinth.

Trust Machines Short - Fun Bags

Not my typical fare. But these TM shorts are like that. Written and posted in about one hour. Enjoy.

----

“I’m shocked, Taylor,” Britney said.

“What?”

“We venned to get fancy dresses and do our makeup and stuff and you didn’t give me huge boobs.”

“You always complain when I do. Now you’re complaining I didn’t?”

“I’m not complaining. I’m just expressing shock.”

The early evening walk from the mall’s venn area to the dance club a block over was refreshing before plunging into the expected stale air of the club.

“It’s not like I’m into boobs. You just constantly complain your B cups should be Ds.”

“And then you give me Hs.”

“They average out to like over-sized Cs over time.”

“It doesn’t work that way.”

“It does to me.”

They were admitted immediately and were dancing less than twenty minutes since venning. It was a decent night. Plenty of eye candy. Britney found a good looking guy that wasn’t too grabby and tried to dance with him. Eventually he asked if she wanted to get a drink and talk. She couldn’t stop herself from saying, “Yes,” just a little too fast.

“Do you want me to get the drinks or do you prefer to get them yourself?” He asked.

“Myself, or perhaps together.”

“Sensible woman.” They went to the bar and ordered. He paid. “I’ll find us a table upstairs if you don’t mind bringing the drinks back. Some division of labor is efficient.”

She laughed. “Sure. You just want me to serve you.”

“I am flabbergasted by your outdated gender notions.”

They laughed and parted ways.

She found him upstairs waiting for her. “Oh, good, the waitress has arrived.”

“I’ll throw this in your face.”

“Oh, the poor martini didn’t do anything to you.”

They talked for a while. Danced some more. And talked for more some more. Taylor found them. “I struck out. But this looks promising.”

“I’m going home with him. I was waiting for you to stop by.”

“Right. Do you consent to be recorded?” Her demeanor was suddenly all business as she unlocked her phone.

“You are serious. Sure.”

“Can’t be too careful. What’s your name?” Taylor asked him, she was pointing her phone at him

“Roger.”

She waited, moving her hand and forearm in a circular motion.

“Roger Gardner Pulman.”

“I told you his name. Wait, Gardner?”

“My grandmother’s maiden name. Don’t ask me why.”

“Making sure.” She snapped a couple pics of him alone and with Britney. “What’s your cell number and address?”

After answering, he said, “I already called Britney a sensible woman earlier.” His cell beeped. A pic arrived with the text «Is this you?»

He replied «Yes.»

“Cool. Have fun you two. Roger, can I whisper something you can’t tell her?”

“Are you kidding?” Britney said.

“You’ll thank me later.”

“Fine.”

* * *

Later, Britney and Roger were in bed. She was still half in her dress when she leaned back and pulled it over her head. She immediately realized Taylor had pranked her again. Freed from the dress, her breasts instantly ballooned in size, well beyond the typical H cups Taylor was known for. She was knocked flat on the bed, pinned beneath them.

Roger laughed. “I thought she was kidding.”

“Holy fuck. I’ll kill her.”

“Oh, please calm down. Don’t let this be a mood killer.” He tried to kiss her but they were in the way.

“I’m not mad at you.” She started laughing. “I can’t sit up.” In addition to being enormous, they were insanely sensitive. His hand was rubbing the areola of one of them. It was bigger than his hand. “Oh, god, that’s…”

“She isn’t a total dick, I see.”

“I will get my… ooohhh, fuck... revenge. Just… just keep rubbing them.” After a few moments she orgasmed. As she rode it out a thought occurred to her ruining her mood. “Fuck.”

“Was it good?”

“It was great. I just realized she insisted we set the machines for sixteen hours instead our usual eight.”

He laughed. “Guess I’m stuck with a lot more of you to work on.”

“In that case, get to work.”

* * *

“You don’t have to stay.”

“I just wanted to kiss you one more time in your normal body. I’m fine. And we are getting along, I hope.”

“I am stuck in bed. You saw what happened when I tried to stand up.”

“Your friend said she was sorry.”

“I know. Her text said she assumed I’d be alone when this happened.”

“I hope you aren’t still plotting revenge against her…”

“I am.”

“… without me.”

“Oo, what do you have in mind?”

* * *

“You heard a boing?” Martin said. He had recently started dating Taylor.

“I swear they were spring loaded,” Roger said.

“I didn’t put a boing sound, or springs for that matter, in her boobs,” Taylor said.

“You weren’t there,” Britney said.

“Every time you tell the story it gets bigger.”

“Like my breasts were.”

The group laughed.

“I think you should thank me.” Her best friend pointed at the engagement ring on Britney’s hand.

“Oh, yeah, manifesting immense boobs was how I got Roger to stay with me.”

“Do I need to remind you, you go to the machine and repeat those boobs once a month?” Taylor said.

“I really don’t mind them,” Roger said. “We should have venned them tonight.”

“It would have been appropriate.”

They four of them were in Roger and Britney’s living room. The two of them were sitting next one another on the sofa.

“They’re fun for short periods of time,” Britney said. “Just like you’re finding my revenge is fun, I hope.”

“I can’t believe I convinced you to wait nearly a year to get your revenge,” Roger said. The two of them kissed one another.

“Worth the delay,” Britney said.

“I can’t believe you helped her,” Taylor said to Martin, who sat on her lap. He kissed her and her stern comment had less bite.

“I am an assman.”

Taylor’s ass was as pliant as a bean bag chair. It was also the size of a bean bag chair, easily supporting her and Martin. Roger had moved the chair that usually was there out the way since he knew she would be taking up a lot of space on the floor tonight.

“Just be glad I made your dress expand with your ass.”

Magic Shoppe - Autocurious 2

Although it was posted here in May last year, the original only part to this story was first posted to Tumblr in July 2012. This follow-up story was started in 2014 but I never really worked on it until the middle of August 2024. I’m glad I waited so long. 2014 me would not have told the story that follows. There are six total chapters, five new. The new chapters are much longer than the original story. The first part is linked above. You might want to (re)read it. This is the second part.

“Welcome back to the Magic Shoppe,” the tall, thin man behind the counter announced. “What can I do for you today?”

“I wanted to discuss alternatives to the device you sold me the other day,” the man answered.

“Forget to wash it off first?”

“Well, yes, but the thing is while the device allows me to autofellate....”

“Great Word-of-the-Day kind of word, that is,” interrupted the proprietor. “Well done.”

“Yes, it isn’t very forgiving if one is interrupted. Nor does it allow one to suck ones balls.”

“Oh, you didn’t say anything about wanting access to your balls. Hmm, let me see if I still have one,” he bent down and rummaged around for a moment then looked up at the customer again. “I have two of course, not just one.” He laughed. “Get it, sir?”

The man just stared back at the proprietor blankly.

“Um, right,” he returned to his rummaging and placed a small box on the table.

After a moment the man said, “Perhaps you’ll tell me something about this box you’ve placed here?”

He opened the box. “This is a thin silicon ring that you stretch around your cock and balls. You rub this cream in the black jar on your cock and balls. Once you’ve massaged yourself to full erection, you give the ring a slight tug and your cock and balls detach from their normal location so you can lick and suck on them at your leisure.”

“You make it sound like removing ones cock and balls should be a calming experience?”

“It should be. Nothing to panic about. When you are done you just rub this cream in the white jar on the smooth baby fresh area of skin of your empty crotch and the cock and balls will kind of snap into their proper location when placed there.”

“What's that third cream?”

“This is the deluxe package. You rub the cream in the pink jar on that same patch of new skin and after about five minutes it will have turned into a fully functional vagina, but no uterus.”

The man tilted his head in thought for second before continuing. “And how long can my cock and balls survive detached from my body?”

“As long as you like, after about an hour the cream causes them to become a little harder than usual, almost like a dildo. It also preserves them against the riggers of time.”

“How much this time?”

“$150 or $200 for the deluxe package.”

* * *

The man stepped out of the shower and toweled off. He opened the box he had purchased and reached for the ring. He was already partially erect in anticipation. The ring was not a simple circle. It was two circles, one with a larger radius overlapping the other circle. A small tab stuck out from a part of the circle. He made sure the tab was pointing upward as he maneuvered the ring down his waiting cock. With care he pulled his balls through the wider opening as well. He took the black jar of cream and placed a dollop on the first two fingers of his right hand. The cream was almost as firm as petroleum jelly. He rubbed it onto his cock and found it made for an excellent lubricant. The first thing that surprised was how all of the cream transferred onto his cock. Not a hint of the cream was left on his fingers. He took another dollop and continued to slick down his cock and cover his balls.

Satisfied they were all completely covered, he stroked his cock to a very firm erection. The cream seemed to remain on the surface of his cock and continued to provide excellent lubrication. When he was sure he couldn’t get any harder he stopped. He took the tab between thumb and forefinger and gave a gentle tug. Without a sound, his cock and balls pulled away from his crotch. The silicone ring rolled off the back of his liberated cock and balls. He scrambled to catch the ring with his other hand.

He raised it toward his face and gazed upon his erect cock closely. He rubbed the tip with his other hand and he still felt the jolt of pleasure he would have if they’d still been attached. The cock was hard, firm to the touch but could flex a little. It was far more flexible than most dildos. The balls hung from the cock like they should. Rotating the shaft caused them to be knocked around a little. They felt like his balls. He wanted to know how sucking them felt.

He place one on his tongue and realized all the cream had completely disappeared. He pulled the ball into his mouth and lightly sucked on it. It was heavenly. Women who would suck on his balls were hard to find but this was one of his favorite forms of stimulation. He switched balls after a moment and he could feel them tightening. Pre-cum was leaking from his cock and that surprised him. He put his cock in his mouth and fucked his own mouth until he came. He continued sucking gently at his cock for several minutes but it remained erect in his mouth.

Unconsciously, his other hand strayed to his crotch and found a smooth featureless patch of skin that seemed to lack any pleasure nerves. He noticed the pink jar in the box. He took his cock out of his mouth and lay in on the bed. The fabric running across his cock felt divine. He picked it up again and set it down on his nightstand so that the flat part in the back was face down against the surface of the stand. He smirked at the sight of his cock rising majestically upward from the surface of the nightstand.

With a glance at the clock, he figured he had time to experiment. He took the pink jar with him into the bathroom. The area of his crotch that was smooth and featureless was larger than he thought it would be. It made him glad he had come into the bathroom to do this. He took a dab of the thicker salve onto his finger and spread it on the easy to see area of new flesh: it was totally devoid of hair, unlike the rest of his crotch.

As he rubbed the salve into the blemishless patch of skin. It itched a little. A divot formed vertically. As he continued to rub, pleasure struck his mind. The divot turned into more of a space beneath two folds of skin. At the bottom of the divot a deeper depression formed, like a channel into his abdomen. He pressed a finger against the channel and it felt like he was going to split himself in half. He pressed on and his finger slipped into a shallow hole that had just formed. He pulled it out and tried again, but it remained shallow. He noticed his finger had no more pink salve on it. He grabbed the jar and added some more to his finger. Pushing it into the opening, the hole became deeper. He added more salve and a second finger to make the hole deeper. When he could no go any further, he returned to the bedroom to lie down. He picked up his cock and pressed the tip into the hole.

He had never pushed his cock into a pussy as tight as this one. He added more pink salve and plunged the cock in and out. He ran out of salve just as his balls reached the point where they were pressed up against his crotch.

He could feel the itching sensation still inside him as the channel, or vagina, continue to take form. The man at the magic shoppe had said there wouldn’t be a uterus. But, he could feel something still happening inside him.

He slid the cock slowly out of his pussy and couldn’t resist pushing it back in. Soon, he was fucking himself with no thought of stopping. His breathing was shallow and he could feel a whole body orgasm about to happen as well as his balls straining for release.

When it came, his entire body spasmed. His head flew backwards, his mouth opened and he cried out is ecstasy. His felt his cum fill his new anatomy and the pleasure from that caused a second, whole body orgasm. He ejaculated again and another body orgasm followed.

The bed was soaked where his crotch lay. He pulled the cock out and pushed it into his mouth. It was the easiest way to clean it, he told himself. He liked the taste of his pussy and his cum combined.

His pussy was leaking cum. He didn’t do anything about it. His legs felt like jelly from the multiple orgasms he’d just had. He was sure attempting to stand would land him flat on the floor.

He laughed at a thought, “I should take myself out to dinner before I fuck myself next time.”

Too tired to think, he allowed himself to fall asleep. It was morning when he woke up. He felt sore in his new private parts. It was a good kind of sore, but he wasn’t really interested in going another round now.

He went into the bathroom and placed his cock in the sink. It was much harder now, firm like a proper dildo. He wasn’t surprised about needing to sit to urinate. After his shower, he rinsed his cock dildo off. He was running late and had no time to fool around with reattaching it.

He left it in the bathroom and got dressed. His boxer briefs felt funny since there was nothing in the pouch his cock usually rode within. On the train ride to work, he was able to sit with his legs close together, leaving more room for the woman sitting next to him.

“You’re very considerate,” she said after a few stops had passed.

“What?”

“Not manspreading like that guy.” She indicated a man across the car from them. His left ankle was planted on his right knee giving everyone a good view of his crotch and taking up more than his designated seat.

From his vantage point, he could see the man’s penis. It was large. Larger than the cock sitting in the bathroom of his apartment, for sure. How would that feel in his mouth. Or better still, pushing into his pussy?

“Some people are just born inconsiderate,” he said in response to the woman.

“He probably just likes showing off that third leg of his.”

“Third legs intrigue you?”

“Not when they’re so blatantly on display.”

“Perhaps we could discuss this over coffee sometime.”

“Perhaps.” She took out her phone and snapped a selfie of the two of them. She pushed a bunch of buttons and then handed her phone to him. “Send yourself a copy of the pic and then I’ll have your phone number.”

He took her phone and entered his number and pressed send. “What are you going to name the new contact?”

“Non Spreader. You?”

“Third Leg Curious.”

They chatted a little longer. She got off the train a stop before he did.

Work was weird. Every guy he saw, he wondered how it would feel to be fucked by them. A bigger dilemma was talking to Gregory or Tanner. He’d gone to the gym with them frequently. From the locker room, he knew what they looked like under their clothes. Tanner was hung like a horse. His pussy became a little wet just thinking about that dick fucking him.

It didn’t make sense. He’d never wanted these guys to fuck his ass. He pondered this as one does as they sit in a bathroom stall masturbating. He wondered if the magic shoppe had anything to give him boobs. With a different face, he could meet up with these guys and try to seduce them. He climaxed as those unbidden thoughts rose to supremacy in his mind. Did he really want to be a woman? He didn’t think so.

He pulled his boxer briefs up and thought they looked stupid on him. He left the office for more than just lunch at lunch time. Before getting something to bring back to his desk to eat, he stopped into a women’s clothing store to buy some proper panties. The clerk rolled her eyes when he had no clue how to answer the question, “What size?”

He looked around the store. It was empty except for him and the store clerk. “Can we go to the changing area? The panties are for me.”

“That isn’t as unusual as you might think, Sugar.”

“And I don’t have a penis.”

“That is a smidgen more unusual given you don’t know your size. But, it’s only a smidgen more. Go pick a changing room stall, I’ll bring a couple things back.”

He bought several plain panties as well as a couple nicer looking ones. He wasn’t sure why he bought the latter two pairs. He left wearing one of the lacy ones, the black ones. He liked how they felt.

Shortly after lunch, Gregory was about to pass by when he said, “You know, when I saw you earlier this morning I didn’t say anything. But I was thinking you had the look of a guy who got lucky last night. You’re still a bit too chipper. Who was the lucky woman?”

He turned to look at Gregory and the thought of Gregory ripping his black lacy panties off and doing him over the desk flashed before his eyes. It then lingered for a moment.

“You okay?”

“Sorry. Yeah, um. A bit exhausted. I went out last night and hooked up. Probably never see her again.”

“She was ugly this morning?”

“She was gone this morning as if she never existed. No idea how to call or text her.”

“That sucks. At least, you’ll always have last night, right?”

“Yeah. And I didn’t have to buy her dinner.”

“Up top!” Gregory held his hand up and they high-fived.

The opportunity to slip and tumble into Gregory as part of a failed high-fiving passed. His eyes lingered on Gregory’s ass before he got back to work.

* * *

Before leaving the office, he took a picture of himself with his legs crossed, knee-over-knee, and texted it to Third Leg Curious.

«Busy later?»

«Drinks?» She texted back.

«Sure.»

They exchanged location suggestions and decide to meet in an hour at a bar they both had been to before. He was sitting at the bar when she arrived. He bought her a drink and they moved to a booth.

“I wasn’t sure if you were serious this morning,” he said. “Glad you came.”

“If you hadn’t sent the pic, I might not have. I was a bit too preoccupied this morning to remember your face. You photograph well.”

“You aren’t hard to look at yourself.”

As they exchanged small talk details about their lives, he got the impression she was really into him. He wasn’t sure how to deal with his missing third leg. It was in his apartment. Honesty? He thought. She seemed like a straight shooter.

“You got quiet,” she said.

“Sorry, I was distracted by your hand on my thigh.”

“I could move it.”

“That could be interesting.”

She slid her hand up his thigh and dipped it between his legs.

“Still third leg curious?”

“More than I was a moment ago,” she lowered her voice. “Are you trans?”

“That’s an interesting question as well. Have you ever heard of a store called The Magic Shoppe?”

“Is that the place that’s supposed to actually have magic stuff?”

“Yes.”

“You purchased something there? What was it?”

“I did. It made what you were expecting to find detachable.”

“You could pick it up and put it on a shelf?”

“Or rub it and get me off.”

“That’s a little weird.”

“Perhaps.”

“I bet that makes it easier to keep your legs together.”

“Other than the awkwardness here, leaving it home during work hadn’t been as bad so far as I might have thought before actually doing it.”

“No urinals?”

“Yeah, no urinals.”

“Anything else?”

“Is the tall, blond dude at the bar as hot as I think he is?”

“Oh, my, good eye,” she said. “So, you’re bi.”

“I wasn’t a week ago.”

“Losing your penis makes you attracted to guys?”

“I don’t understand it either. I think the guy at the Magic Shoppe is having fun with me.”

“You did ask him if he had a way to remove your dick. Hold on. What’s down there now?”

“Something that I presume is similar to what you have between your legs.”

“You traded your dick for a vag?”

“Louder I don’t think the bartender heard you.”

“Sorry. This is amazing.”

He sighed. “The vag wasn’t the initial plan.”

“What was?”

“You’ll laugh.”

“That’s why I asked. C’mon, you’ve gone this far. Telling me one more secret won’t kill you.”

“I like blowjobs.”

“All guys do.”

“I was curious about giving one but didn’t want to suck some other guy’s cock.”

She laughed. “Not sorry. That’s amazing. But, you need some help. That guy you pointed out at the bar is looking my way and since you look like a guy, you aren’t wingman material.”

“You want me to tell him you’re interested.”

“Really?”

“Only if you dish every detail about how he looks under his clothes later.”

She laughed. “Deal. Maybe you are wingman material.”

He finished his drink and said goodbye. As he left, he stopped at the bar and said to the handsome man, “Just so you know. She’s an old friend. And she’s into you. We’ve never dated. Buy her a drink.”

“Really? Thanks.”

He stopped in the bathroom before leaving. When he was ready to leave, the blond man was sitting where he had been talking to her.

As he masturbated that night, sometimes she was fucking him with his own cock. Sometimes the blond man was fucking both of them.

* * *

A few days later, after work, there was a man in the lobby of his apartment building waiting to board the elevator. They had not met before. When they both got off on the same floor, they shared a laugh. “Do you live here?”

“604. I moved in last week.”

“I’m across the hall. 605,” he said. He wanted to get away quickly as he thought the man was hot. Even hotter than the man from the bar a few nights ago.

“Great to meet you. Goodnight.”

“Night.”

As he repeated his now nightly ritual of self-pleasuring, he found himself fantasizing about his new neighbor far more so than Gregory or Tanner from work or the random blond man from the bar.

As much as he was enjoying masturbating with his own dick and pussy in various combinations, he wanted more. On the ride home from work the next night, he stopped at a familiar shoppe.

Little Witch #4: Bethany's Mother

When I made this in December, it was going to be a one off story. But, there are two more in the Bethany subseries in coming months. She's just too much fun. Maybe I should have named the series The Little Witch's Friend. Hah. While these were supposed to be "a gag a day" style (gag a month?), they aren't necessarily going to be funny.

This comic is the first with colored word balloons. I've updated the prior two comics, but not the original comic. Why be consistent! Now that I have continuity, I've reordered some of the future comics. This story line was going to play out over these next three comics. Now there are support stories intermixed with the tale of Bethany.

The washed out looking panels viewed from above Bethany's Mother's head within the bookshelf originally were nearly pitch black (see the bonus below). I could have just done "proper" lighting but that would also look weird as one might wonder why Bethany setup some lights behind where she was hiding her mother. In the end, being able to see Bethany's face made the most sense. (Night vision goggles? Nah.)

Transcript

Panel 1, left one-third: Dad and Angela are eating together at a table.

Daddy: Angela, Bethany's father called. He said her mother is missing and you had something to with it.

Angela: Bethany got hold of Mommy. To get her back she had me turn her mother into a doll.

Daddy: You didn't have her mother's okay to cast a spell on her. Did you?

Angela: There were extenuating circumstances, as I told you.

Daddy: Why would the school teach you that phrase?

Mommy, a doll on the table, thinking: Good words, Angela!

Mommy, thinking: Oh, dear. I hope Bethany hasn't shelved her mother like she did to me. She's always had mommy issues. Not really surprising.

Panels 2-6, right half, five intercut panels: Seen from out of a bookshelf, a doll is placed between books.

Bethany's Mother, thinking at her daughter: Bethany Ann Wilson! Get me out of here! This prank has gone too far.

Bethany's Mother, thinking: Stop giggling! This isn't a joke.

Bethany's Mother, thinking: What are you doing with that book? You can't just hide me on a shelf. I'm your mother. Bethany!

Panel 7, lower half: Giggling the whole time, Bethany is leaving the library. The walls are covered with shelves of books. None are out of place.

Bethany's Mother, thinking: Where are you going, young lady? Get back here.

Bethany's Mother, think shouting, large text: Bethany!

Panel 8: Darkness... silence...

Narration: Later...

Bethany's Mother, thinking softly, tiny text: Bethany?

Bonus Content

Below is the original dark paneled version of the comic:

Magic Shoppe - Knobs

This was a completed story about a week ago. Now, it might be part one of two. While creating the images embedded in the story below, more ideas expressed themselves. When will part two exist? No idea. Not surprising. When I started this story last August, I also didn't know it would end up having the TG tag. Not knowing if there will be more is par for this story.

“Welcome to the Magic Shoppe,” the tall, thin man behind the counter announced. “What can I do for you today?”

The beautiful, young woman who entered was still looking around the shoppe as she said, “Hi, my friend sent me here because she said she had a similar problem that you solved for her.”

“Oh, do tell.”

“She and I seem to have equally annoying neighbors with no appreciation of the volume of our exuberant reactions during a sexual encounter.”

“You and your friend are screamers.”

“Yes. It wasn’t a problem for me until I moved in with my boyfriend recently. We used to only have sex at my place. But, we decided we’d had enough of our separate roommates and moved in together a few weeks ago. The neighbors are constantly complaining to the super.”

“I see. I might even remember your friend. Lacy?” As he said this, he rummaged through the bottom of the counter between them.

“That’s her. She said you had a small tube that did something to help but she wouldn’t give me the full details.”

“Yes. Zip It. It lets you put a zipper where a zipper isn’t, such as your mouth.” He seemed a bit frustrated. “I don’t seem to have any more Zip It. Works well because it muffles you and is faster than a gag would be. I’ll be right back.”

He went into the back room for a few moments before returning. The loud thumps of something falling from a high place and slamming into a wall could be heard. He returned only slightly disheveled. “Yes, I’m out of Zip It. I’ll have to make some more.”

“When will that be available?”

“Not for a few months because of the ingredients and other items ahead of it in the queue.”

“You can’t help me?”

“No, I have something else, perhaps a little less convenient.” He placed a worn, beaten up, unlabeled, cardboard box on the counter. He opened the lid. Inside there was a jumble of eight to ten plastic knobs with the numbers zero through ten arranged around the knobs’ circumference.

“You nick them from a bunch of guitars?”

“They are in fact volume and tone knobs taken from guitars.” He seemed to pick one up at random and present it to her in his palm. “This one is a true volume knob. You put the pin end of the knob into your belly button. Then turning the knob will regulate your volume.”

“How?”

“Counterclockwise is lower volume, clockwise is higher volume. It’s a volume knob.”

“No, I meant how does it work.”

“Didn’t you read the sign outside? This is a Magic Shoppe.”

“Real magic?”

He dropped the knob into the box and shut the lid. “Yes. Do you want to buy it or not?”

“Are all of those knobs volume knobs?”

“No, they do various things.”

“Like what?”

He shrugged. “Try them. They shouldn’t do you any harm.”

She opened the lid. “Which one was the volume knob? They’re all the same?”

“They aren’t.” He picked one up without hesitation and showed it to her. “This one. Here, I’ll mark it.” He produced a red marker from nowhere and put a V on the face of the knob. “Good?” He dropped it in the box when she nodded.

“Twenty-five dollars. You’re saving money. Lacey paid fifty for the Zip It.”

* * *

That evening, Anya and Hank were eating at the kitchen table together for once.

“Those fucking idiots were parked right at the edge of our spot again.”

“The neighbors?” She said.

“Yeah. They just hate us, I think.”

“I might have a solution to our noise issue.”

“Frankly, I’m so pissed I hope that solution involves being louder tonight.”

“Maybe. But, I’d prefer we didn’t keep antagonizing them.”

“They escalated.”

“That doesn’t mean we should.”

He stuffed food into his mouth so he didn’t overreact. He didn’t want her to think he was mad at her. “What’s this solution?”

“Lacy told me about this Magic Shoppe and I went there this afternoon.”

“Magic?”

“She swears the thing she bought there works. I told you about the pussy zipper.”

He laughed. “You mean when she got it up the butt from that guy. What was his name? She stopped dating him shortly thereafter.”

“Conner. Yeah. He wanted her to only do anal after that first time. She didn’t mind the first few times but be reasonable.”

“Unlike out neighbor.”

“Now, now.” She got up and returned with the box.

“That’s interesting packaging.”

“The guy gave me a box of these knobs.” She slid them around until she found the one with the V mark on it. “We only need this one though. He said it will adjust someone’s volume.”

“How?”

“Magic.”

“No, I mean, how do you use it?”

“Oh,” she said. She laughed and he wasn’t sure why. “You put the pin on the back of the knob in your, or in this case my, belly button. Turning it will adjust how loud I am.”

“Put it in now.”

“Okay.” She lifted her top up. “I hope this doesn’t hurt.”

“You didn’t ask?”

“Didn’t think about it at the time. But right now, I’m holding a pin in my hand and about to push it into my flesh. Wondering if it will be painful is now important to me.” It slid into her navel easily and painlessly. “I’m good. No pain.” She turned it clockwise. “HOW DO I SOUND?”

“Fuck,” he said holding his ears. “Look at the bowl over there. It vibrated enough to slide a few inches from where it was.”

She turned the knob the other way. “How about now?”

“Normal, I guess.”

“Now,” her voice was but a whisper.

“That’s quiet. Does it just affect your voice?”

“What do you mean?”

“What?”

“What do you mean?” She shouted but it was still softer than her normal speaking voice.

“Clap your hands.”

She did. They barely made a sound.

“Oh,” she said. “It’s not just my voice.”

“It’s not just your voice,” he said. He hadn’t seen her speaking because he was looking in the box. “Do all of these affect someone’s volume?”

“No, he said they did other things.”

“Turn the knob up.”

“Sorry,” she said. “No, the guy at the shoppe said they do other things but when I asked what he just shrugged and said they weren’t dangerous.”

“Cool. Turn that back down and let’s go have some fun.”

When they started she had set herself to about a third her normal volume and it was a good setting for a while. But in the throes of passion, their bodies rubbing against one another caused the knob to twist. The sound of his thighs striking her thighs resounded like a clap of thunder as did her gasp. He immediately grabbed the knob and twisted it twice around to the left and pulled it out of her belly.

Her mouth moved in protest and in complete silence. He playfully smacked her ass and not a sound issued from her jiggling flesh. He silenced her mouth, or stilled it, by putting his on it and kissing her passionately. She soon didn’t care that she was entirely silent and their love making continued.

“Turn over,” he said. She said something he couldn’t hear before she got on all fours. He took her from behind. “This way if you’re saying something I don’t get distracted trying to read your lips.”

If she reacted, he didn’t know.

As his ardor rose, he grabbed her by the hair and yanked as he fucked her fast and hard.

She didn’t mind it rough but this was on another level since she had no way to tell him to keep going or to stop. She came as she realized this and he came not long after. They lay in a heap for a little while before she silently tapped his shoulder.

“What?”

She pointed at her stomach.

“Turn it up.”

She pointed at him. Made a yanking motion and pointed at her stomach again.

“Oh, right, I took it out.” He opened his hands. “I don’t have it. I must have dropped it.”

She silently struck his chest.

“You look for it. I’m tired.”

She yanked up the blanket, moved the pillows, pushed him onto the floor.

He was laughing. “Stop, stop. I put it in the box just after your first orgasm.”

She stomped her foot. No sound. And pouted. She picked up the box and went through it. She shifted them around. She did it some more. And some more, a bit more frantically. She held the box out to him.

“What now? It’s in there.”

She shook the box at him.

He grabbed it from her and looked through the knobs. “It’s not here? It has to be. I put it in the box.” He examined each knob thoroughly. “Ut oh. These three knobs have red marker smeared on them. The marker on the volume knob must have rubbed off from our sweat.”

She was fuming in silence. She held out her hand emphatically.

“You want the box?”

She pointed at the three knobs in his hand.

“You want these? Okay.”

He held them out but she only took one of them. She put it into her navel and turned it hard clockwise.

Before he could react, she pushed him onto his back. The box of knobs went flying. She grabbed his cock and sucked it like her life depended on it.

“What are you doing?”

She didn’t look up. Her entire focus was on his cock.

He wasn’t sure if he should stop her or let her continue since he doubted this was what she had in mind after all the sex they’d just had. Pleasure overruled his desire to fix her volume problem in that moment.

When he came she guzzled down his load. With a final swallow, her eyes rolled back in her head for a moment before she resumed: massaging his balls with one hand and stroking his penis with the other.

“You want more?”

She nodded without looking up from her focus on his balls.

“Okay. This was fun but perhaps you’re a bit too focused on milking me.” He managed to get his hands on her stomach and turn the knob to the left far enough that she let go of his balls. She was still staring unnervingly at his cock so he turned the knob a little more until she looked him in the eye.

“Better.”

She mouthed, “Yes,” before she remembered she was silent and nodded instead.

“We’ll discuss that knob later. Try this one.”

She mouthed, “Okay,” and nodded. She took the knob from him and put it in. This time she only turned the knob a little to the right. She was moving her mouth but nothing seem to happen. She turned it a little more and a little more.

He wasn’t sure what she was doing. She seemed to be sitting there with her hand on the knob but not moving. “Anya?”

She remained unmoving.

He touched her shoulder and it felt hard, stiff. Her squeezed her bicep but it was rock hard. Had the knob solidified her? He tried move her hand away from the knob but her limbs were locked in place. He poked at the knob through her fingers and her hand pulled away slowly. He spun the knob hard counterclockwise and she collapsed on the bed. Her eyes were unfocused and pointing in different directions. Her mouth hung open and drool began to puddle. He turned the knob back the other way until she had control of herself again.

“Better?” he said. “I guess that knob tightens or loosens in some manner.”

She nodded.

He pulled the knob out and handed her the third knob.

She put it in and turned it. A soft whisper issued from her mouth and she quickly turned it up and then back down until she sounded basically how she normally sounded.

“That tighten, loosen knob was cool. I wonder how solid I was.”

“And the first knob.”

“I might need to put that one back in as I don’t think you reduced it far enough.”

“What did it do from your perspective?”

“Oh, I wanted cum. I wanted to wear it. I wanted to drink it. I wanted nothing else and could think about nothing else.”

“Really? Why would someone make such a knob?”

She just stared at him.

“I mean why make it a dial? Let’s say you at the baseline of zero is will swallow cum if necessary with no real desire to seek it out. Why would you set it to five percent more likely to seek it out? Or twenty percent? Why more do you need than a yes or no will or will not seek it out and will do anything to find it?”

“I don’t know. I’m not a guy. And I think I’m still around thirty percent over normal based on that.”

“You want cum?”

“A bit. Not an overwhelming directive like it was before. But if you really asked, I’d have a hard time saying no.”

“Maybe later.”

“Great. I mean. No, that’s what I meant even if I know it was caused by the knob. Don’t abuse my trust.”

“I wouldn’t.”

She just stared at him.

“I might indulge my curiosity once or twice before I can make that promise for certain.”

“That sounds more like you,” she said with a yawn. “I’m really tired. Let’s sleep.”

“Let me do something.” He went to the computer printer a took a page out and placed it flat on the desk. With a pen, he drew a large three by three grid. She was watching over his shoulder as he wrote ‘Volume’, ‘Stiff/Loose’, and ‘Cum’ in three of the boxes and placed the knobs they knew the functions to in the appropriate cells. He took the remaining knobs and placed them in the unlabeled cells. “As long as we don’t disturb the paper this will help us keep track of which knob is which.”

“Good plan. Now, bed.”

They got into bed.

“Want to stiffen or loosen up before bed?” He said.

“Tempting. But, we can play with the knobs another night.” She kissed him and when they separated she said. “Tomorrow night, you can be the test subject.”

“Good thing it wasn’t me who tried the cum knob.”

“I don’t know. If you hadn’t been here, I might have gone out to find a cock to suck. Could have been funny if you’d had to do that?”

“I’d probably have jerked it into a cup.”

“No, I had no desire to give you a handy. It had to be direct from the source.” After a moment, she cursed.

“What?”

“My mouth is watering.”

“Go to sleep. The bar is closed for the evening.”

“Thanks. Good night.”

* * *

When he woke up, she was gently sucking on his cock. “I hope you don’t mind that I opened the bar early today,” she said. He gave her a look and she laughed. “Like you would mind. Damn, that knob is still doing a number on me.”

“Let the record show I had nothing to do with your current position.”

She just nodded as her mouth was otherwise occupied. When he filled her mouth, she orgasmed. Her hand was about to reach for his balls to massage them for another go around. She stayed her hand and sat up.

“We could put that one back in and reduce this desire,” he said.

“I appreciate your concern for my throat. It’s fine as it is. Either that or it’s brainwashed me into thinking you taste really good. I just orgasmed hard as you came, so there are several upsides for me.”

“Okay. Breakfast?”

“Odd. I was famished before you woke up. I couldn’t eat a thing now.”

“Do you consider that just another side effect?”

“For now.”

He sat up in bed. “Are we experimenting or are we going to get up and be productive members of society?”

“We should go to work. The knobs will be here later.”

The knobs were there later. After dinner and a little television, they did some experiments with them. Hank picked up one and without saying anything, pushed it into his belly button.

“I thought I’d have to cajole you harder to do it.”

“Cajole?”

“You know what it means.”

He turned the knob counterclockwise as he believed that was usually safer. “Nothing,” he said with a sexy, deep voice.

“I like that. Turn it the other way.”

He spoke as he did. His voice rose from the deep bedroom voice to various higher pitches. “Okay, deep. Kind of normal. High, almost like a woman. Too high, like a cartoon voice. Squeaky.” After that she couldn’t hear him but several dogs in the neighborhood started to howl. He turned the knob back until it was just a bit to the windershins side. “How’s that?”

“I like the extra deepness. But, I suspect we won’t need that knob again.”

“Probably not.” He labeled the sheet and placed the knob on it.

“Oh, I just remembered,” she said. She dashed out of the room and returned with a long thin piece of Styrofoam. “We can poke the pins into the foam so they can’t roll around.”

“Great idea.”

After the new storage arrangement was setup, she said, “I suppose it’s my turn.”

“I’ll go again if you like.”

“No, I’m a big girl.” She paused with her hand hovering over the remaining knobs like she was trying to decide which nondescript piece of chocolate would or wouldn’t be a flavor she liked. She set the knob in place and turned it slowly clockwise.

“Anything?” he said.

“I don’t know. I don’t feel any different.”

“You’re talking faster.”

“I am? You do sound a little slow.”

“Speed control? I guess that fits with volume and pitch control.”

“Oh, I didn’t notice it before. Though where does cum desire fit in.”

“Lonely wizards.”

She dialed it back a little. “I can tell now that I’m slower.” She nudged the knob forward before removing it. “Not sure how useful that is. When you need speed you can’t say, ‘Wait, I need to get my knob.’ Your turn.”

“Okay.” He chose a knob and put it in, turning it a little. “I don’t feel different.”

A curious look crossed her face. “Turn it some more.”

“Okay. Did my voice rise? Did I grab the wrong knob?”

“Turn it a lot more.”

“Why?”

She reached forward and though he tried to block her hand, she was too fast. She spun the knob quickly.

He felt a little smaller, a little lighter, and he could tell his body was changing. His eyes were drawn toward her hand and he saw breasts swell up on his chest. “A femininity and presumably masculinity knob?”

“How girly can you get?”

“Have fun.”

She ended up spinning the knob several full revolutions before she stopped. “You’re very pretty,” she said.

He got off the bed and looked at himself, no herself, in the mirror. She was a little shorter than before, much curvier, and after removing the oversized underwear he had been wearing, she seemed fully female.

While the new woman was distracted, Anya still held the knob. She put it in her abdomen and turned it several full turns the other direction.

The former man said, “Well, this is amusing. We should…” She turned to see Anya was now a taller, stronger, perhaps burlier man and naked.

“Yes, dear, we should.” He took hold of Hank and pulled her into his arms. His lips were strong but soft against hers and a protest died on her lips and she was engulfed by the new man’s strength and musk.

What little clothing remained was discarded as they both fondled and caressed the other. Anya took Hank without hesitation. Hank for her part never wanted it to end and loudly demanded more and more.

Later, they lay in a heap breathing heavily. The pounding on the wall that had started a while ago finally registered in their ears. Anya laughed, “I think you were louder than I’ve ever been.”

“Probably. Totally worth it.”

“Want me to get the gender knob? Or perhaps the silence knob and we go another round?”

“In the morning, I just want you to spoon against my back. I never get to be the little spoon.”

Anya smiled, “Okay, Little Spoon.”

RENDER - Vanishing Act (NSFW)

Stage magic. Always a fascination. I just haven't gotten around to telling stories of stage magic. There is one in cooker. It isn't done yet. This is probably a normal part of a Las Vegas stage act. Well, except maybe that last part.

RENDER - March 2025 Render Roundup (NSFW)

These renders are still from December/January. I may have hit the bottom of the barrel. Most of the other renders are related to the game I'm spending like 5% of my time on.

• Sea Plane at the Dock - Same plane, same figure, seen in the Feb25 roundup. This render proved to me I needed there to be people to help folks out of the plane.

• Pole Dancer, far - This is a long shot of the artwork from Pole Dancer. If you look close at the right hand side of the image, there's a reflection of the screen bouncing off some glass on the balcony above the camera. If I'd tried to make this effect on purpose it probably would never have worked. But, there it is.

• Cinder Block - Just to see if I could sculpt a cinder block. I guess I could.

• Tree Cat - Test image of Cat, from Ted's Dolls, as a Christmas Tree. The better version is in Libby's Diary.

• Another Batch Overrun - What do you do when you've made too many mannequins?

Trust Machines - Sister Bros 2

If you haven’t read Trust Machines – Sister Bros, you probably won't understand this part without it. If you read part 1 and are still going to read part 2, it continues the same morning where part 1 it ends.

-------------

Beth and Jo entered the Bro Cave before eight in the morning.

“Dibs on the shower,” Beth said.

“No way.”

“I won't be long.”

Jo stripped off her dress and plopped down in her favorite spot on the sofa. “Fine. I need to get to bed not reeking of dick.”

“I do, too.”

Beth got in the hot shower and while she intended to be quick, the hot water felt so good on her skin. Her neck felt stiff from her recent activity. She remembered the shower head had a massage setting. Turning the knob to massage, she aimed it at her neck.

When her neck felt better she remembered another use for the massage setting on the shower head.

Forty minutes later, there was a pounding on the bathroom door. Though the pounding was far less intimidating in Jo’s weaker form. “Hey, you said you'd be quick.”

“Yes, yes.” Beth hadn't intended to shout like that. The massager felt that good. “I mean. Just five minutes.”

Jo sat back down.

When she came out of the bathroom, Beth said, “Use the massager.”

“The massager? It's annoying when it hits your head like that.”

“Not on your head. Down there.”

“Down where?”

Beth pointed until Jo seemed to get it.

Jo's shower lasted almost an hour.

* * *

Around three, they were wearing an odd assortment of men's clothes in the mall.

They went straight to the venn help shop.

“Oh, Lord,” Amanda said when she saw them. When they saw her they waved and rushed towards her. “I see neither of you drowned last night. Who won?”

“It was a tie.”

“We both did.”

“We need clothes.”

“Lots of them.”

“Some really nice ones tonight.”

“Double date.”

“Look at you,” Amanda said. “You want an assortment of venn clothing for a month?”

“We can share.”

“We're identical.”

“My boobs are slightly bigger.”

“Yes, yes, and you're older,” Amanda said. She leaned back and called into the back room, “Stacy?”

“I am older. I left the machine first.”

“Yeah, Mand?” Stacy said. “Hey, are these those guys?”

“We're the BJ….” They started in unison but ended with Jo saying, “Bros,” and Beth saying, “Sisses.”

“It's BJ Bros.”

“We aren't bros at the moment,” Beth said.

“Sisses sounds silly. Heh.”

“Good one.” They high fived. “How about Chicks?”

“BJ Chicks?”

“It fits,” Amanda said.

“What fits?”

“BJ Chick's. Chick's who give head.”

“We're done with that. I've seen enough dicks for at least a month.”

“Only a month?”

“That’s when my dick returns.”

“Where did BJ Chicks get you to giving head?”

“BJ.” Stacy said.

“Brent and Joe.”

“Beth and Jo, no E, now.”

“Right.”

“BJ usually means blowjob.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Of course.”

“Sure.”

“Wait,” Jo said as a synapse snapped. “Do people think BJ Bros is Blowjob Bros?”

“It isn't?” Amanda said. “You two just had a contest.”

“What does that have to do with it?”

“That was our first contest involving blowjobs.”

“First?”

“Only.”

“So, BJ Chicks?”

“What do we do about BJ Bros?”

“We're girls now. Let Brent and Joe figure it out.”

“But, I'm Jo.”

“Joe with an E.”

“Without.”

“You're without. Bro Joe is with.”

“Right.”

“I meant it's Bro Joe's problem.”

“Oh. I get it. Fuck him. What about the Bro Cave?”

“We’ll circle back on that when we aren’t busy.”

“Why are they here?” Stacy said.

“It's almost hypnotic how they talk,” Amanda said. “You up for being a bunch of women's clothing for a month.”

“These two? Listen to that for a month?”

“I'll add a hazard fee.”

“How about Hazard Chicks?”

“Maybe.”

“Sure,” Stacy said. “Maybe I'll zone if I'm split among enough clothes.”

“$475.”

“There have to be two stand out pieces for our dates tonight,” Jo said, paying the fee.

“If you promise dancing, I'll have Amanda throw that in for free,” Stacy said.

“I like dancing.”

“Deal.”

“Let’s get venned.”

Amanda got in one side and Beth in the other for a one month venn. Through the wall, Amanda explained to Beth how to turn her into a clone. When they stepped out, Jo cat called. Amanda was wearing the same style outfit the guys had worn the night before.

“I always wanted a baby sister.”

“I just realized I'm commando now,” Amanda said.

“You know, Amanda,” Jo said. “We could call Alejandro and arrange a third guy for our date.”

“I'm going to regret this,” Amanda said under her breath. She added, “Where did you two get dates?”

“We went a club last night. Beth had no plan.”

“I had a plan.”

“You started in an alley outside the club. I found a big table in back with a bunch of guys….” Several storytelling minutes later, “... and in the morning, Alejandro and Renaldo found us in the diner just after six.”

“And I insisted they take us on a double date.”

“I concede that was smart.”

“Well? They're picking us up at eight.”

“We could change that if needed.”

“Sure. Alejandro sounded nice.”

“Hey, with Amanda we could be the JAB Chicks.”

“I prefer that to BJ Chicks,” Amanda said.

“And I would get top letter for once.”

“We'll talk about it in a month.”

“I'll call him.” Jo made the call. “Hey, Alejandro. It's Jo.

“What?

”No, we aren't canceling. We have another JAB Chick looking for a good time. Could you get someone like Dominick or Marco to join us tonight?

“Yes, I know it’s short notice.” Jo muted her phone. “He's going to check,” she said to the other triplets.

“Ruiz? He's a bit blunt.”

“I can deal with blunt. He was the guy who fucked your face?”

“You were paying attention to the story?”

“It didn't suck.”

“We did.” After they high fived, Beth raised a hand to Amanda who returned the high five request. “I knew you liked us. Last chance, Amanda.”

“I’ll go.”

“Sounds like Ruiz is acceptable,” Jo said to Alejandro. “We also need dancing, tonight. But a different club. We aren't repeating last night.

“Right. Meet the three of you at the Edsel at eight.”

She hung up.

“This is how you’re going to get over breaking up with David?” Stacy said. Stacy was carrying a couple empty shopping bags for the clothes.

“We didn’t break up. We’re just taking a break.”

“Does David know that?” Stacy said. “He stopped coming to the store.”

“He’s giving me space, like I asked him to.”

“I didn’t know you were seeing someone,” Jo said.

“No, no, I’m not. We’re on a break.”

“Are you sure?” Beth said.

“Are you?” Stacy said.

“Yes,” Amanda said. “Let's go, Stacy.”

“Oh, we need makeup, too.”

“Why not?” Stacy said, getting into one side of the machine.

Amanda stepped out a few minutes later. Beth and Jo retrieved the bags from the other chamber.

* * *

Alejandro and Renaldo glanced back and forth among the three identical women approaching the three men. “How can you tell?”

“The two we met last night have the new dresses on,” Ruiz said. “The new girl is wearing last night’s style.” As the women stopped in front of the men, he took Amanda’s hand and kissed it. “You must be Amanda. Pleased to meet you. I’m Ruiz.”

“You’re on your best behavior, I see.”

“Whatever these ladies said about me, it’s probably all true. Still, you came so I couldn’t have sounded too bad.”

As they spoke, Jo latched her arm onto Alejandro’s and Beth sidled up to Renaldo.

“Let’s do some dancing,” Jo said. “Woo.”

“I’ll claim a booth and we’ll meet you on the floor,” Ruiz said. He offered an elbow to Amanda and she accepted it. Ruiz led her to the bar and they got a couple drinks before finding a booth. “You aren’t like the other two, are you?” he said.

“We established that.”

“No, I’m not referring to you being a women when not venned. I mean you have a brain.”

“Glad you noticed.”

“How did you get mixed up with those two?”

“I work at the Venn Shoppe in the mall on eighth street.”

“Oh. The boys and I have you to thank for creating those two and now you as well?”

“I suppose.”

“What kinds of things happen at the venn shoppe?”

“Usually boring things. Taller, thinner, younger, blond, tan, bigger boobs, bigger butts, gender flips. Sometimes fun stuff. Extra limbs, no limbs, extra other parts, animals, animal hybrids, inanimate things, clothing transformations, androids, robots and stuff. And then, there are the nut jobs.”

“Like those two.”

“Those two are even rare among the nut jobs. Why would anyone have a blowjob contest?”

“Have to admit. I enjoyed my part in that.”

“Of course, you did. They have a certain intensity. Just look at them dancing. They’re trying to outdo one another and ignoring your friends.”

“I should confess. I agreed to be here originally because I figured you’d be an easy lay.”

“And you’re admitting this?”

“Knowing you now, I’m willing to work for it. You deserve no less.”

“Cocky bastard, aren’t you?”

“Just laying my cards on the table.”

“I’m at least a three of a kind.”

“And I’m straight.”

She laughed. “Well played.”

“Frankly, winning or losing isn’t the point. The point is to play the game with you.”

“So, you’ve already won?”

“Just getting started,” he said, finishing his drink. “Shall we dance?”

She downed her drink. “Let’s.”

* * *

Jo and Beth were in the bathroom. “How’s it going with Alejandro?”

“He’s very sweet. If I didn’t know better, I’d believe he was a virgin,” Jo said.

“He might be.”

“Oh?”

“Renaldo was saying he isn’t as experienced as the other guys.”

“I did have to ask him last night if he wanted a blow job.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it was kind of weird. He’s been going to the club with these guys for a couple years.”

“Well, be gentle if you take his cherry.”

“Guys have cherries?”

“It’s an expression,” Beth said, putting her lip gloss away. “I’m going to convince Renaldo it’s time to leave. Don’t take too long with Alejandro.”

“We’ve only been here – oh,” Jo said, looking at her phone. “It’s been over four hours. I suppose we should get going too.”

When they returned to the booth, the three men and Amanda were laughing. Alejandro and Renaldo quickly stood up when they saw Jo and Beth heading their way.

“Slide on in, ladies,” Renaldo said.

“Actually, we were thinking about finding someplace quieter to talk,” Beth said.

“And other things,” Jo said, hooking Alejandro’s arm with her own.

“You are so easy,” her roommate said. “Is it okay if we leave you here, Amanda?”

“She’ll be fine,” Ruiz said.

“It’s okay, girls,” Amanda said.

The four of them left.

“Actually finding some place quieter sounds like a good idea,” she added.

“You don’t mean your place or mine.”

“No.”

“I know a coffee house not far from here if you’re willing to walk a few blocks.”

“Coffee house?”

“Grinds its own beans and everything. Not a chain store.”

“Open now? Sure. Let’s go.”

The cafe was on the second floor of a building with a nationwide chain tax preparation store below it. After walking up the narrow staircase, they arrived in what could have been a large living room with various sofas, chairs, and secluded nooks.

“Ruiz, mi hermoso sobrino, who is this lovely lady?” Said a woman in her late fifties.

“Tia, this is Amanda. Amanda, this is my Aunt Duena.”

“Pleasure to meet you.”

“Please sit, sit. I’ll get you a cup of my finest blend.”

“Just her?”

“You get the regular pot.” She said as she disappeared through a doorway.

“You brought me to see your aunt?”

“It is the best coffee house in the city. You’ll see. She just happens to own it.”

“I feel overdressed. This place is so cozy.”

“It’s fine.”

“Here you go,” Duena said, placing a cup and saucer in front of Amanda. “What’s a nice girl like you doing with this reprobate?”

“Fair,” he said.

“That’s a long story,” Amanda said.

“She will enjoy all aspects of the story as I understand it,” he said. Amanda raised an eyebrow and Ruiz just nodded, “All aspects.”

Amanda told her how she met the BJ Bros and how she ended up on a date with them and ultimately Ruiz.

* * *

Upon arriving at Beth’s and Jo’s apartment, Beth dragged Renaldo into her bedroom without saying a word.

“Lovely place you have here,” he said.

“I have a lovely place I’d like you take more than a look at.” She took off her top.

“I can do that.” She tried to pull him onto the bed but he spun her around and pushed her against the wall with a thump.

Their mouths met; their tongues explored. She tried to push him back toward the bed. He stood firm, “We have all night. I want to explore every part of you before I go back for seconds.”

“Oh, when you put it like that...”

* * *

Alejandro and Jo gawked a moment at how fast Beth and Renaldo disappeared into Beth’s room.

“I thought we’d all talk on the sofa for a few minutes first,” Jo said. “You want to go into my room?”

“I’m fine with just sitting down and talking,” Alejandro said.

“Um, sure, talking it is. But, we should do that in my room as I suspect they might be a distraction in there.” To emphasize her point, the wall shook as a loud bump was heard from it.

“I see your point.” As they entered Jo’s room, he said. “It’s neater than I expected.”

“Brett, I mean, Beth is the slob,” she sat down on the bed and crossed her legs. She patted the bed next to her and he took a seat there. “So, talk?”

“Yes, what do you do for a living that you can spend time like... this?”

“Did my mother send you?”

“I don’t believe I’ve met your mother.”

“No, I suppose you haven’t. She’s always complaining I should do something with my life. I have a trust fund that vests when I turn thirty. I’ve been doing odd jobs here and there and living off her kindness until that day arrives.”

“Then I guess you’re between jobs?”

“Well, we were planning to quit out current jobs. Warehouse work. It was decent money but far too backbreaking. I suppose we should have quit formally. We just didn’t show up to work this morning. I knew I was forgetting something.”

“You mentioned your mother. Does she know how you look now?”

“No. She would die. Oh, man, I have to go visit her. Maybe Thursday. I think her Thursday schedule is the most open. I’ll probably forget. Remind me I need to see my mother.”

“I wouldn’t want to cause a rift between you and your mother.”

“There’s a gaping chasm between us. It’s fine. Frankly, if I brought you and looked like this, she might start wedding preparations.”

“Wedding?”

“No, no. We aren’t getting married. As much fun as that might be, I don’t think I’m ready to settle down. I do want kids. Not sure I want to be their mother, though. What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a driver, limos, buses, occasionally a taxi. I have to work tomorrow... Wait, it’s after midnight. I have to work tonight. I’m taking a couple to a political rally in a stretch limo. I’ve never understood why you need a huge limo to go to a political anything. But, the money’s always good.”

“I bet you have to dress up nice for that. I’d love to see you dressed up.”

“Really?”

“Sure. You’re very handsome and handsome men is suits or uniforms are even more attractive.”

“Aren’t you a guy?”

“Yes. And as Joe, I wouldn’t give you a second glance. But, right here, right now. You are hot.”

“I’m sure I’d find this presentation of you far more attractive than how you look as Joe.”

“I am a babe. Joe’s a stud, too. Maybe if we hit it off, we turn you into Alejandra and go on a date.”

“You would have to convince me that you really like me.”

She loosened his tie and pulled it off him. She handed it to him. “I’ve always wanted to have my hands tied behind me with a man’s tie as he ravished me.”

“Always?”

“Well, since Saturday night at least.”

“I’ve had a related desire where I’m the ravisher,” he said as he pressed his lips against hers while pulling her arms behind her. “Hey, are those handcuffs on the headboard?”

“I suppose the tie itself isn’t as important as the ravishing in my dream. Keys are in the top drawer to my right.”

* * *

Stacy was disappointed when the ladies stopped dancing. Still, they had done as they promised. If Stacy were human, she would have sighed as she felt a part of her that was warm – warm because they were being worn – fluttering to the floor. That always felt nice, kind of breezy. She could tell whoever had been wearing that part of her was about to have sex. Shortly, another warm part of her was torn apart and dropped to the floor. This caused her to shudder, as much as clothing can shudder. She wondered which of the three women were getting their clothes torn off. Some of the clothing still clung to the woman and she could feel the woman getting warmer.

* * *

“You’ll have to have Alejandro bring the other ladies here, Ruiz.”

“I’d love for you to meet Beth and Jo,” he said.

Amanda gave him a curious glance.

He said, “If anyone can keep up with their wordplay, it’s my Tia.”

“Now, I want to meet them even more.”

“Imagine there were two Tia Che Ches.”

“Oh, my. You must be joking.”

“Not this time.”

“Well, then I really want to meet them. Should I feel sorry for Alejandro? I can’t imagine him on a date with someone like Mercedes.”

“I think Jo likes that he’s shy.”

“You remembered which of them liked Alejandro?”

“The three of you may be venned as identical. But, you all stand and move differently. Jo is probably a bit more reserved than Beth. Frankly, if you told me Jo only pretends to be so stupid, I could believe that.”

“I’ll take your word on that.”

“And of the three of you, you move like a woman. Although the other two are doing a better job of that today than they did during the contest.”

“When I was of dating age, I always loved when a man told me I move like a woman,” Aunt Duena joked.

“Fair,” laughed Ruiz. “And you could still be dating. You probably have to fend guys off with a stick.”

“Bah, guys my age want a servant, not a lover.”

“Young men are no different now,” Amanda said.

“I resemble that remark,” Ruiz said. “The trick is finding the woman who finds me worth serving.”

“Any luck with that?” his aunt said.

“I’ll let you know if Amanda wants to see me again.”

“Your overconfidence is astounding.”

“And sexy?”

“That remains to be seen.”

“I need to close up,” Duena said. She switched off an ‘open’ sign in the window. “You two were the only traffic tonight. And I need to get to bed.”

She and Ruiz hugged. “You could come by when you aren’t trying to impress a date.”

“And listen to you telling me how my love life is in the toilet? Fat chance of that.”

She and Amanda hugged. She whispered, “Beware. He’s a charmer. I can see he’s already got a hook or two into you.”

Amanda whispered back, “I know. I have a few hooks in him, too.”

“I can hear both of you.”

“By design,” Amanda said. “Are you going to walk me home?”

“I’d love to.”

Duena locked the door and turned off the lights.

In her bedroom, the man lying on her bed said, “You could have introduced me.”

“And have Ruiz tell his mother? No, I’m not ready for that.”

“I was going to give you a foot massage. But I’ve recently learned you should be serving me.”

“Rub my feet or get out.”

“I just said I love rubbing your feet, didn’t I?”

* * *

Drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, Beth and Renaldo lay side by side in her bed.

“You were awesome,” she said.

“You were better.” They kissed. A soft kiss. The prior kisses and making had been hard, fast, and pedal to the metal reckless.

Moments later, he said, “I could kiss you like that forever.”

“I might hold you to that.”

They lay there for awhile, only the sound of them breathing in the room.

“I need a shower,” she said. “Join me?”

“Just a shower?”

“We’ll see.”

She got up and grabbed a couple towels from a laundry basket with folded clothes in it.

“I’m surprised these aren’t put away,” he said.

“They’re all guy clothes. I don’t have room for them with the dresses and stuff we got from the venn shop.”

“Your clothes are venned, too?”

“Who could afford a month worth of clothes for a blow job contest?”

“Now, I have to admit, I’m not really up to date on all the ins and outs of a blow job contest.”

She giggled, “Ins and outs.”

“Heh, yeah. But, most folks, I would hazard a guess, would only venn for a day or so for such a contest. Why’d you two venn for a month?”

They scooted through the living room in the buff and went into the bathroom.

“It was the same cost for a one day venn and a thirty day venn. Since we could always end the venn early, the thirty day venn was more flexible and practical.” She started the shower and got in.

“I suppose that makes sense. What will you do when the thirty days are up?” He stepped next to her, closer to the showerhead so it wasn’t over her head.

“No idea. I’m not really planning to stay a woman. I’m not against the idea though either. For the right reason.”

“Am I the right reason?” He picked up a buff and put soap in it.

“It’s a bit soon to say. Give me more data.”

“Like this?” He used his hands and the buff to soap up her chest.

“That feels nice. Do my back?” She turned around.

“This soap smells nice. Did you use it as a guy?”

“No, we bought girly stuff after we left the venn machine,” she said. “I like how it makes my skin feel. I might keep using it.”

“Rub it on me so I can see for myself.”

She took the buff and slowly soaped up his chest.

“Do you know when you bite your lip like that it looks so adorable?”

“Oh, stop.”

“No, seriously. You were so into soaping me up, you turned three times cuter.”

“You just want to get into my pants again.”

“I don’t see any pants at the moment.”

“Oops.”

They did manage to continue washing for another few minutes before the inevitable happened.

* * *

Alejandro lay down beside Jo, whose arms were spread out across the headboard from the handcuffs. “I’ll get your arms in moment.”

“Mmphf-ay.”

“Oh, I can get the gag first.”

He undid the cinch on the gag’s belt and pulled the rubber ball out of Jo’s mouth.

Jo spit the soaked tie out of her mouth. “That was hot. I’ve never been the bottom before.”

“I never would have pegged you for being this kinky. Even after the blow job contest.”

“I don’t get to use this stuff often. I’m not sure why. I should have tried bottoming as a guy. You were so attentive to my pleasure. I still have goosebumps.”

He traced a finger around her nipple. “I like pleasing women.”

“Know what would please me?”

“Handcuffs?”

“Penetration.”

“I don’t do that on a first date.”

“Never?”

“Generally not. No. I prefer getting to know someone on a first and even on a second date. There’s no rush to have sex.”

“He says to the woman handcuffed to the bed.”

“You wanted it. And I like to please.”

“Fair enough. My arms are getting a little stiff.”

“Right.” He uncuffed her wrists.

Jo rubbed her wrists before lying down with her head on his shoulder. “Are you tired?”

“Yeah.”

“You can sleep here if you like.”

“Okay.”

A few moments passed. She said sleepily, “I can hear your heartbeat like this.”

“No one’s ever said that to me.”

“I’ve never said it either. Never occurred to me a woman could listen to my heartbeat when she lay on my chest. It’s soothing.”

“I like soothing people too.”

She giggled. “Good night.”

“Good night.”

* * *

Stacy didn’t know what time it was. Most of her was in darkness. Some light was hitting parts of her. All she was sure of was no part of her was warm any more. The former warm parts she thought all might be on a floor somewhere. That was cool. And to be expected with these two gals. Oh, well. Parts of her would warm again in the morning. Hopefully they’ll go dancing again.

* * *

“This is it,” Amanda said as they arrived at her apartment building. “I actually enjoyed our evening.”

“Actually? I’m hurt,” Ruiz said.

“No, you aren’t.”

“Let me have a moment.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Curse my poor reputation,” he spoke in a stage voice, his voice carrying in the quiet nighttime air. He dropped to one knee. “Will I forever be known for being demanding or will my true self shine through and thaw her icy heart?”

“I don’t think my heart is icy. Just a bit cool.”

“And warm her wonderful heart?”

“Smooth. Get up, Romeo.”

“A kiss, perchance….”

“Shut up,” she said as she planted a kiss on his lips.

He pulled her closer, though his hands roamed no lower than the small of her back and no higher than between her shoulder blades. His kiss wasn’t aggressive, but still passionate.

“Will we meet again?”

“Call me.”

“I don’t have your number.”

“Get creative.”

“I know where you work.”

“Exactly. Good night, good prince.”

“A bid adieu, fair maiden.”

She tossed her head to the side and entered the building.

He watched as the door closed and her silhouette disappeared into the stairwell. “I bet those two put out for Renaldo and Alejandro,” he thought as he walked away. “Good things come to, and hopefully for, those who wait.”

RENDER - The Animator Matter #1 & #2 (NSFW)

There will be more of these. At a minimum two more since two more are finished. Just felt like doing an homage to old school animation where the toon get messed with by the "evil" animator. I couldn't decide if I should name the individual pages. If I ever make more of these, I'll decide then.

This toon is named Lila. I really should change her outfit at some point. Maybe let her hair down. She's been seen with her legs hanging out of a car window among other places in the past.

I realized later I could have named her Annie. I could have named this The Animator Annie Matter. But, if I do make more of these, they might feature characters other than "Annie" so dodged a bullet there, right?

Transcript

PAGE 1 – Introduction

Panel – various shots of Lila standing on a blank gray background.

• Posing, legs apart, right hand on head

• Looking at her hand to the right

• Looking behind her to the left

• Stepping forward waving

• Tapping the “camera”

• Arms up in a what’s happening pose

Lila: Hey!

Lila (bigger): Hey!

FX: tap tap

Animator: What?

Lila: Did you forget something?

PAGE 2 – Parts Removed

Top Panel – Sequence of images, no panel separations

Standing demurely

Lila: What am I floating in a gray void?

Lila: Where’s the set?

Animator: This is just a character study. Not a scene.

Checking her face in a makeup compact

Lila: Oh, can I get a makeover? I don’t even have makeup on.

Animator: You want me to move some sliders?

Lila: Yeah, wait. What?

Nose is missing

Lila: My nose! Where’s my nose?

Animator: I bet you’d sound funny if you could be heard.

Lila: Ha ha. Put it back! You can’t just take my nose away.

Animator: True. Why stop there?

She has no face.

Lila: Wh--?

Bottom Panel

Animator: ha ha ha ha ha….ha ha ha

Head and hands disappear. (Bracelet is falling.)

Legs gone, torso falling. Shoes empty on “floor”.

Just an upper torso is left, a basket swings in and scoops up remains of Lila.

Talk - Six Months!!

Note: A schedule is after all the nostalgia.

It's only been six months since I started fooling with Daz Studio. I downloaded version 4.22 of the product, for free, on 2024 August 21. On the 24th, I paid for my first set of assets from the Daz Shop. (I'm ignoring the various freebies I downloaded during that three day period.) The paid products were:

I use the Essential Shapes Bundle's Essential Expressions all the time. Travel Baggage is featured in the render included with I Want My Dolly. The Crystal Heels? Well, I don't remember really using them. Also on that day I download EG Kin. So for nostalgia, here's a low effort new render including everything from the purchase that day:

For comparison, below is one of the first renders I made. Ugh. This was rendered on August 31st, a week later. Similar pose. The base was constructed with primitives in Daz.

 And finally, the new render could be made of marble.

Scheduling

At one point I said I'd be pulling back from doing Tuesday updates. Well.... Tuesdays and Saturdays are booked solid through end of May at the moment. Dates, of course, always subject to change.

BTS: The Music Box

This is all the component renders for the teaser image posted on Monday. And there are a few surprises down below.

I wrote conceived and wrote this in less than an hour. It was about 1500 words and I thought it’d nailed it. The version available here is over 2800 words. Sometimes you need to add some screws. In the original version, Edward tells Rachel about Mary’s mother problems. Getting Mary to actually appear in the story, to tell her story, and having a second appearance of the proprietor might be bloat or it might have been just what the story needed.

That extra scene and a some support stuff were finished within twelve hours of the original conception of the story. And I thought… I should make a render for the story.

First problem: I don’t have a small wooden hinged box asset. In fact, I only had one hinged box asset at all.

Second problem: I don’t have a spring asset. Little dancing figurines are held in place by a spring in my – likely 50 years out of date – experience.

The two blue squares are one meter long on each side.

The pizza storage box has bolts in it so it attaches to a scooter. Some kitbashing took place to turn it into the music box

The barstool, which has red leather seat and black coils by default, had to be shrunk down to 1.2% of its normal size and turned upside down. If you look closely, the “spring” is outside the box to the left of the music box.

I spent most of two days creating the renders for the story. I really wanted to make the music box better. I never did add the key. And while there a rubber rod toward the right side of the box to “stop the music when the lid closes”, it’s just a cylinder. I’d thought about putting a rub mark on the lid. Never did it.

The other thing added after the first run was Edward getting to be the dancer. When I thought of it I chastised myself for not thinking of it the first time.

Magic Shoppe - The Music Box

Link to teaser image. Link to bonus content & renders for Full Access members.

“Welcome to the Magic Shoppe,” the tall, thin man behind the counter announced. “What can I do for you today?”

The man entered and placed a small jewelry box on the counter. He opened the lid and soft music played. It was a music box with a tiny ballerina on a spring inside. The figure stood en pointe, wearing a pink, halter top bodysuit and matching tutu. White stockings seemed painted to its legs, which ended in pink ballet slippers. Its hair was in a bun at the top of its head. A smile broke out across its face as it noticed where it was.

“I haven’t seen that in years, Edward,” the proprietor of the shop said. He leaned forward and looked closely at the figurine turning clockwise in front of the open lid.

“Mary bought it from you over seven years ago,” the man said.

The dancer had an amazing range of motion for a four inch tall, plastic figurine. Only its right leg was fixed in place: straight up and down, ending in the pointed foot of a ballerina. There was no fixed pattern to the motion of its arms, spine, or the left leg. She could dance however she desired. She waved at the proprietor as she turned toward him.

They watched the ballerina slow to a stop as the music ground to a halt.

“Oh, dear,” the wizard said, genuinely surprised to see the figurine was still in the box. “How long has she been resisting the restoration spell?”

“A few years now. The spell, as you told her, is supposed to end when the spring in the music box fully unwinds, as it is now. She has unwound fully countless times the past few years without becoming human again.”

“When I told her it wasn’t permanent she seemed disappointed at the time.” He picked up the box and gave the key on the bottom a quarter turn. The dancer danced for a moment before slowing to stop. The dancer faced the wizard, a broad smile on its face. “The spell was cast. She’s learned to resist the magic that’s supposed to restore her when the music stops.”

“It wasn’t always this way. There were many times in our marriage when I would hear the music playing. When it slowed, I would go to our bedroom and watch as she sprung to life as it ended.

“A few years ago, she asked me to bring her to work so she could dance for me all day. She said I could just close the lid if I needed to talk with someone. One day I forgot to wind the key sufficiently. The music stopped and she remained as she is now. She stayed that way until I wound the key. She would only come to life when we were at home.

“She told me she didn’t want me to bring her home any more. She just wanted to dance on my desk forever. When I said no, she was sullen. Sullen turned into despondency and depression I would guess. She wasn’t eating. She’d insist on sleeping in the box, preferably with the lid closed. I had to bring her to work to placate her.”

“Are you saying she’d been the ballerina continuously for years?”

“At least three years,” he said. “I was debating coming here for a while to see if you could do anything.”

“I could. But, I don’t think that would make her happy. Does she know about…?”

“Oh, I’m positive she does. She’s indicated approval,” Edward said.

“She did?”

Edward explained...

* * *

It was a typical day at work. Edward hung his jacket on the hook behind the door to his office. As he stepped around his desk, he picked up the music box and gave it a few turns before putting it down and lifting the lid. The soft plinking of metal tines plucked out a soothing melody as the tiny figure inside turned on its toe.

The figure seemed to watch itself turning as it rotated past the mirror inside the lid of the box. As the figure turned the other half of the circle, it seemed to look directly at Edward. He sat down and switched on his computer.

“Good morning, Mary,” he said.

The figure nodded twice as it danced. The nods didn’t fit the music so he knew they were in response to his greeting.

Edward went about his work, rarely looking at the adoring figure. When the music would slow down, he would pick up the box without looking at it until it was upside down in front of him. After giving the key a few turns, he’d set the box down and let it play on.

One day, Rachel entered just as he’d finished giving the key several full revolutions. He set the box down in its normal spot on the corner of the desk with the lid down. “I love hearing the box play,” she said.

“I’ve suspected for a while now that you only come in here to listen to the music box.”

“Sometimes,” she laughed.

The conversation turned into a business one. When they were done, she reached over and opened the music box. “See you later, Miss.”

Edward wasn’t sure but he thought the ballerina had waved at Rachel.

Rachel’s visits became more frequent and more casual. They might talk for twenty or thirty minutes about inconsequential things as the music box played. The figurine was always smiling as it rotated past Rachel.

“I don’t believe you,” she said when he told her the origin of the music box ten months later. It was after their sixth outside of the office date. “That really is a wedding ring?”

“It is. Watch.” He held his hand up where the ballerina could see it. He removed the ring and the ballerina frowned. He put it back on and then pointed at Rachel. The ballerina looked conflicted.

“I always thought the figurine could understand us. What’s that look on Mary’s face?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t think Mary knows either.”

The figurine wasn’t really dancing so much as it was thinking. After a couple turns, she pointed at his hand. He pointed at the ring and she nodded. He removed the ring and she made a faint smile. When he pointed at Rachel, the smile broadened.

* * *

Ultimately, Edward and the wizard decided to let Mary be the music box dancer she had always wanted to be. Years later, the man stood at the threshold to a bedroom. Soft music, plucked from metal tines, drifted to his ears. Gray hairs licked at his temples. An arm pressed against his back. Its slender hand reached up under his right arm and rested on his shoulder.

He looked to his left into the loving eyes of his second wife. He gave Rachel a soft lingering kiss.

“She really loves the music box,” Rachel said.

She was referring to their five year old daughter wearing a ballerina outfit dancing along with the figurine in the music box. She loved to dance with the music box figure, even forgetting to wind her sometimes, continuing her dance while the figuring watched her motionlessly.

“Do you know why?”

“Why what?”

“Why she resists being restored by the box?”

“Not really. I only have a theory,” he said. He told Rachel a story...

* * *

“Welcome to the Magic Shoppe,” the tall, thin man behind the counter announced. “What can I do for you today?”

The young woman approached the proprietor of the shoppe anxiously. “I’m not sure why I’m here. I’m hoping you can fulfill both my nostalgia and an idea that’s haunted me all my life.”

“I hope I’m up to such a task,” he said with a grin.

“When I was young, my grandmother came to visit for my birthday. I was so happy to see her. She lived far away. I suspect it was because my mother wanted to get away from her. I had no idea why at the time. But, that’s not important. Grandma Mary gave me a wrapped gift the night before I turned five. When I opened it, I was introduced to the world of music boxes. This was a small, unpainted wooden jewelry box, which, when you opened the lid, a tiny ballerina spun around on her toes to music. It was an antique style music box, the kind with the little metal tines that plink out the melody.

“The five years old version of me fell instantly in love. I demanded my own tutu and eventually ballet lessons. The box was constantly playing the only tune it knew and I would watch the little, entirely immobile dancer ‘dance’ for hours.

“My mother loathed that music box. Not because it played the same fifty seconds of melody over and over again. Not because I was obsessed with it. No, my mother was mad at her mother, Grandma Mary, for captivating me with a toy not given to me by my mother.

“Grandma died when I was sixteen. Even at that age, I would wind the music box up every day for a little while. I was less mesmerized by the poorly painted ballerina inside. But, I still adored that music box. When we got home from the funeral, the box was missing. I turned my room upside down several times searching. It was two weeks later when she admitted she’d thrown out ‘that old thing.’ I have not spoken to my mother since that day. I haven’t seen her since I moved out at midnight on my eighteenth birthday.”

“That’s awful. I feel so bad for you, though, you seem to have thrived since. What can I do for you?”

“I would like a magic music box.”

“Magic how?”

“Well, when I would watch the little figurine spin, I’d imagine it was me dancing my heart out for hours at a time. I want some kind of magic music box that when I open it, I become the dancer. And while I would also just spin in place, I could move the rest of my body and truly dance to the music. Oh, and the music would be far more varied.”

“Like real music?”

“No, it should still be the little metal tines making plinking noises. But, just lots and lots of different melodies.”

“When do you stop being a ballerina?”

“I really wouldn’t want it to stop. But, I suppose I would turn back into my normal self when the windup part fully unwound.”

“What about when the box is closed?”

“Oh, that’s very important. I want to be shut inside like my old ballerina was. The unwinding would be paused until the lid opened again.”

“You could get trapped inside.”

“Yes, I could.”

“I see.” He walked out into the shoppe and found a small wooden box. He showed it to her. “How does this look?”

“Perfect.” She opened it but it was empty inside, no ballerina. A divided velvet tray where jewelry could be stored sat at the bottom of the box. She looked at him, disappointed.

“Come back tomorrow and I’ll have your music box ready for you. I don’t have what you want already made.”

Her face lit up with happiness. “Oh, okay. At twelve?”

“After four o’clock.”

“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Don’t you want to know what it will cost?”

“Unless it costs as much as a car, I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

* * *

“Her mother threw out a gift from her daughter’s grandmother on the day she died.”

“Yes, Mary believed she waited until her death so Mary wouldn’t have anyone to complain to about it.”

“That’s more than jealousy.”

“Probably.”

Rachel had a mischievous look. “I seem to recall asking you this before and you didn’t think it was your story to tell. After I pestered you for a week, you said that someday you would tell the story if we became serious enough. And that when you did tell the story, you would also tell a bonus story. I’m collecting my bonus story.”

“You remember that? I did promise, didn’t I? Okay. Mary and I had been married for a couple year when this happened. She didn’t tell me she had commissioned a magic music box.”

* * *

Edward got home from work at the usual time. Mary was making dinner. He kissed her and asked, “Isn’t it early for dinner?”

“I have a surprise and I can’t wait to show it to you.”

“Okay. Do I have time to shower?”

She looked at the clock. “Yes. Just don’t dawdle.”

He went to the bedroom and showered in the adjoining bath. As he was toweling off in the bedroom he noticed a wooden box sitting on her vanity. Normally he didn’t pay much attention to the vanity as it was always covered with makeup, jewelry, and other beauty aids and accessories. This small wooden box was new.

He lifted the lid. He was flying through the air as the world expanded all around him. He was standing on one foot. Something was holding his leg and he couldn’t bend it. He was turning slowly around on that leg. His arms and legs were held aloft in an odd position.

He could see he was still in the bedroom. But it looked immense. As he was turning toward the wall, the open lid of the box came into view. There was a mirror inside. He saw a woman in a pink ballet leotard and matching crinoline lined skirt turning in the opposite direction not far from him.

After a few seconds, he realized he was the woman in the mirror standing on her tiptoes. Her other leg was stretched out behind her gracefully. She was leaning forward, her arms raised out to the side to form a semi-circle. Her face looked a lot like the face of his sister Darla.

Music played. The tinny, plucky music heard in old time music boxes. Why did Mary have this trapped box?

A few moments later, he heard laughter behind him. “Aw, you ruined the surprise,” she said, her voice booming. “I thought it would take me a while to get you to try this.”

He turned a bit and was facing her direction. He tried to speak but his mouth wouldn’t move.

“Try dancing. You should be able to move except for the leg holding you up. Then when you come around again, give me a wave.”

He did as asked and she gave him a round of excited T-Rex applause.

“Did you do any additional winding of the music player? I turned it two full turns. You’ve been there for only a few minutes. I’m curious how long a full turn of the key lasts.”

It was about an hour for each turn of the key. When he finally was released from the music box, he quickly checked his chest and crotch to make sure he wasn’t still in a woman’s body.

“Is that what you want to happen to you?”

“Let’s go eat dinner. Though I’ll have to warm it up.”

During dinner, she showed him a video of him as the ballerina she had filmed while waiting for the coil in the box to fully unwind.

After dinner, she dragged him to the bedroom. At first, there was dragging. When he realized she wanted sex, he was far more willing to get there.

Afterward, she said, “To answer your question about the music box, all day, all night, all year. Being named after Grandma Mary, we had an extra special connection. When I was twelve, we were talking and she saw the music box sitting on my bedside table. She asked if I ever imagined I was the ballerina and I couldn’t hold back my excitement. Any of my friends I had mentioned that thought to had laughed at me. She understood. She said she used to do that when was my age at the time.”

“And now you can be the ballerina.”

“No,” she said, picking up the box. She wound the key nearly a dozen rotations. “I will be the ballerina, now.” She put the box down and flipped open the lid.

* * *

“She replaced her childhood toy with herself,” Rachel surmised.

“She did. I don’t know if I’m right or how she thought this would work. But, I think she commissioned the magic item for this.”

“You think she knew you would give her to your daughter?”

“Maybe not at first. But, once she realized you and I were dating, she didn’t get mad. She could have put a stop to it. Do you remember how happy she was when you told her you were pregnant with a girl?”

“I really believed she would spring to life just to give me a hug.”

“I don’t know if she can any more. I’ve visited the Magic Shoppe a few times since she stopped being restored. The man who runs the shop said even he didn’t know if she could given how long she’s resisted the reversal spell.”

The sound of a winding key distracted them. Their daughter put the music box down. The music resumed playing at the proper speed. The dancer danced. Their daughter rushed over to them. “I didn’t see you there until I heard smooching,” she said.

“We were just watching you dance.”

“And Mary. You were watching her, too. Weren’t you?”

“Of course.”

“She’s so pretty I want to grow up to be a dancer just like she is.”

“Just like?”

“Well. I don’t think I want to be closed in a box as much as she is.”

“That’s sensible.”

“I have a question.”

“Hmm?”

“Is she alive?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I’ve never seen any toy that can move in so many ways. And she seems to like it when I talk to her. Sometimes she waves at me. She works it into her dance… um… sneaky like. But, I notice her moving her hand differently than I’ve seen her move before.”

“Do you think she’s alive?”

“I think you aren’t telling me everything you know.”

Edward shrugged.

“You will eventually?”

“Eventually.”

“When you gave me the box, you told me the ballerina’s name was Mary. I have one more question. Am I named after the ballerina?”

“Yes. You are, Mary.”