Power coalesces around me, a terrifying showing of might that, back on Verdantop, I would have assumed was a potentially lethal attack. Not here, though. This is just… fun. A game. It's such a fucking wild concept, I don't know how to handle it.
As usual, it's all familiar yet surreal. My Vita side has not only never played hoopball, but I've never played any sport, ever. The closest I've come to this situation is mock combat training, and in many ways I struggle to ...
2022-05-12 05:56:13 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Hey everyone! Thundamoo here! A ha
2022-05-11 21:09:56 +0000 UTC
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A comforting pressure surrounds me as I wake, though I'm immediately aware I am no longer in my bed. Yesterday went… pretty well. After getting home from Brendan's house I just streamed most of the day, which helped take my mind off of things. Brendan even found a set of foam blocks that I can stick on my claws to prevent me from ripping up my bedsheets any more when I sleep, and they also give that pleasantly tingly feeling of stabbing something, which helped a lot with my anxiety...
2022-05-10 04:57:03 +0000 UTC
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"So there I am, trying to fight this giant, four-armed monster with nothing but a pointy stick while my teammate figures out how to give it an ulcer or whatever," I ramble, stuffing more delicious food into my mouth. Athanatos can eat and talk at the same time without issue and it's awesome.
"You said this thing was twice your size?" Tala gapes disbelievingly, her mandibles loose and slightly hanging.
"At least," I confirm.
"There's no way you beat that thi...
2022-05-07 05:59:42 +0000 UTC
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Once again, I find myself walking the halls of the Progenitor's mansion, staring at the ceiling and trying to piece together the image despite the many memories I've lost. Destroying Malrosa's memory core didn't just remove most of the memories from her previous bodies, but it also means that the memories of my current body, while far clearer and more detailed than any memories I've ever had as a human, aren't quite flawless. Even if I managed to walk through every room and hallway in the mas...
2022-05-05 04:28:20 +0000 UTC
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My pillow-muffled screams eventually die down as the anxiety of staying in bed for too long starts to catch up to me. My mom is going to pop her head in my room to make sure I'm not oversleeping any minute now, and I just can't deal with that so I guess it's time to get up.
I turn over and start dragging myself out of bed, causing my brand new claws to rip up the bedsheets with a loud, horrible tearing noise. I pull my pillow back over my face and start screaming again. If I'm ...
2022-05-03 01:44:16 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Bonus chapter! I still intend to write one for Monday as well, though forgive me if I die again. Don't ask me why I took two days off and then worked on my actual, scheduled day off. I don't know either. My brain just does things sometimes. Anyway, enjoy!
Are you sure you're human? I grumble indignantly, swallowing some jerky the trio of terrors offered me. The bread didn't go so well. I'm apparently carnivorous.
I certainly was the las...
2022-05-01 01:24:17 +0000 UTC
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Hello everyone. Another unexpected break, but sometimes the author just becomes a bundle of depression, terror, and stress. You'd think this would be conducive to writing considering my usual subject matter, but nope! It just sucks.
Apologies for being so terrible at planning these breaks. The short notice makes me feel bad more than anything. Rest assured though that this is just a short delay; expect Bioshifter on Monday and the next VM chap on Wednesday as normal.
Than...
2022-04-29 17:27:21 +0000 UTC
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"Really?" Talanika asks with surprise. "You're full?"
"I am so terribly sorry, Princesses," the restaurant's greeter says, meaning every word of it. "I believe the recent play is to blame for the abnormally high traffic."
"Oh, that makes sense," Tala mutters. "All the Queens must have gotten the same idea we had. Well, shoot."
"We can just come back later," I point out.
"I-if it would please you, Princesses," one of the men behind us stutters. "We would be honored to g...
2022-04-28 07:17:45 +0000 UTC
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They're friendly, my mind insists. Just go to them.
Even in the chill of the barren zone, my body feels like it's burning from my recent death-defying sprint. I need water, food, and rest, but even though I'm hiding somewhere safe I don't think I'll be able to get any of them.
You're safe. They're friends.
…Because the longer I stay here, the more insistent those voices become. The three horrific monsters know where I am. They've been stalking ar...
2022-04-25 23:59:00 +0000 UTC
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I must admit, the black mana writes to me, I'm particularly surprised that you even exist. I'm quite sure you weren't self-aware just a few decades ago.
I squirm with embarrassment, though I'm not sure why that should be embarrassing.
I guess I wasn't? I admit. But I still existed, right? Just as like… a mindless mass.
Precisely, the black mana responds. I...
2022-04-23 03:47:15 +0000 UTC
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I wake up in my bed with the horrid, foreboding feeling that I am dead. I almost feel like the experience chills me to my core, but then I recall I do not have one.
Right, I remember. I am Vita now.
It's quite an odd feeling, to suddenly be someone else. My pleasant life knew nothing of struggle, poverty, need, oppression, hunger, or danger. Up until my very last moments I had been pampered and, in my eyes, functionally invincible. I would have told any asker that I knew I had wea...
2022-04-21 04:39:39 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Content warning for a detailed description of a panic attack.
A frustrated pounding on the outside of the bathroom door startles me so hard I nearly fall into the toilet.
"Hurry up, Hannah!" my brother shouts at me. "I have to shower, too!"
"S-sorry!" I call back. "I'll be out in a minute!"
Annoyingly, I don't think I've even spent as long as I usually do in the bathroom today. My shower is already done, and I'm currently busy bandaging my feet u...
2022-04-19 05:40:31 +0000 UTC
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My body twitches and everything is wrong. What happened? I feel like a stranger in my own body. Is this my body!? Of course it is. Of course. What else would it be? This must be a nightmare.
"She's coming to!" my sister whom I've never met declares in my birth language that I've never heard before.
…What? Oh, it's this again, but weirder. Wait, what again? I open my eyes, sitting up as fear starts to take me. Except I am a princess, so I hold it inside as I have been ta...
2022-04-16 06:25:33 +0000 UTC
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I haven't felt this lost since August died.
It's not as bad now as it was then, I callously note. I don't really have the option of not recognizing that; time doesn't dull my wounds the way it supposedly does for humans. A simple look backwards is all I need to know that, yes, the death of my father was much more distressing than my current situation. Of course, this doesn't exactly make me feel better.
I am too cowardly to talk to Galdra on the way up. Just piggybacking ...
2022-04-15 03:28:48 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Welcome, everyone, to the first chapter of my new story. It is named Bioshifter. I hope you all enjoy.
Once again, I wake up trying to figure out which of my limbs are actually real.
It's my own special little form of sleep paralysis, and the fact that it occurs nearly every single morning has not made it any less terrifying over the years. I dream every night, though I don't usually remember it beyond a few vague feelings. When I do remember, though, I know...
2022-04-12 01:57:34 +0000 UTC
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"Murderer!" the young little vrothizo roars at me, launching herself through the air towards me in a manner I note is not dissimilar to how Vita nearly killed herself by leaping at Galdra. Loyal to a fault, the both of them.
Loyalty is a virtue, not a fault.
Of course, loyalty is a virtue and not a fault. It is observably beneficial to all parties, and not deserving of mockery. No, the flaws in this situation come from other factors. Lark is arguably not incorrect in her ...
2022-04-09 23:43:05 +0000 UTC
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"So… so you're sure this is safe?" Lark presses, clutching one of my soul-infused meat rations like it's a dying child. "It's not made out of a person and it's not hurting anyone?"
"Well it's made out of me," I say defensively. "But no, I'm not being harmed by this at all. Anima is just a substance, like meat. Some of it is people, but most of it isn't. This is made out of the same stuff I use to make mindless undead. The shambly kind that don't have any feelings at ...
2022-04-07 08:27:58 +0000 UTC
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A/N: This is a Penelope chapter. If you struggled with the last Penelope chapter, read this one with caution.
Waiting for Galdra to come back quickly becomes more painful than the knowledge that I have been violated on a fundamental level, though at least half of that is probably the boredom. Being stuck alone and unable to even cast spells means I'm forced to wile away my time doing nothing at all. I don't even have paper to try and record theories, perform calculati...
2022-03-31 06:24:31 +0000 UTC
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My claw comes down, and I become a murderer.
My Evelyn Terrestrial's size, weight, and frighteningly optimized muscular system make the task trivial. I simply run up to my target and bring one of my arms down on the front of its body, crushing through the protective chitin with a wet crunch. A single strike to the head, and it's over. This is a moment I will never be able to take away. I'm a murderer.
Technically just a killer, I remind myself, since murder is a legal...
2022-03-28 23:57:06 +0000 UTC
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Somewhat disappointingly, the rest of my squad declines to take the much faster and more efficient travel method of simply riding on top of Ketevan the Worldshaker's back, and we end up trudging through the forest muck like plebeians that don't have tree-felling giants as subjects. I could ride alone, I suppose, but I'm trying to be 'one of the squad' to encourage them not to betray me, and all things considered I don't really mind the walk. I am not and never will be above getting dirty.
...
2022-03-26 07:28:17 +0000 UTC
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Hey everyone! I'm not feeling well and as a result I'll be taking a couple days of break. Next chapter will probably be Friday for VM and Monday for HMGGH.
Sorry!
2022-03-23 00:50:17 +0000 UTC
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I'm already moving and casting before the attack comes, and it's a good thing I am because otherwise we would have all died.
I tackle Xavier and Jelisa as my tendrils weave a repulsion spell to blast the rest of the team out of the way. An instant later, Ketevan's hoof comes crashing down where we had gathered together, Keero having teleported her right above us. Because of course that arrogant dick isn't just able to teleport himself, but also his ten-thousand-ton girlfriend. ...
2022-03-19 18:08:12 +0000 UTC
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I feel the tears falling down my face and I just let them. I'd thought I could at least feel good about having kept my entire squad alive, but it turns out I can't even do that.
Melik is dead.
He wasn't a friend, not really. He was grumpy, mean, and rude, at least around me. But he was getting better over time, and he was still my squadmate. He worked with me even without liking me, and I worked with him. We helped each other. We trained together. We grew stronger as a te...
2022-03-17 03:16:50 +0000 UTC
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"I wish everyone could at least agree on the definition of abuse," Tara muses softly, her breath warm on the back of my head.
"Hmm?" I prompt.
We're cuddling together on my bed, and I'm quite enjoying being a happy little spoon. The fact that my girlfriend is the ruler of a country now (and rapidly preparing to rule more) has not been great for my anxiety, on a number of levels. She simply has so many more important things in her life than me, and I'm such a ...
2022-03-15 05:00:42 +0000 UTC
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"You might need to let me handle it," I whisper regretfully.
I've thought about it a lot as we slowly approach, and so far as I can tell we have no better option. That Wight is packing the sort of power that could end civilizations if unleashed, which means the first and most important element is to not aggravate it. We need to be stealthy and we need to kill it instantly, before it can react. I have pretty decent stealth spells, and if I can lay my hands on it, I can rip its mess of a ...
2022-03-12 10:24:33 +0000 UTC
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Walking through the forest with a team is both pleasantly nostalgic and exceptionally frustrating, considering that I have the benefit of good company but the downside of having to be led around by blind people. I used to take pride in how damn good a scout I was, back when I was a hunter. I suppose I didn't realize exactly how much I enjoyed being in charge, choosing routes, and deciding where to go. Jelisaveta does a passable job of it, but I find myself judging her the whole damn ...
2022-03-10 04:28:33 +0000 UTC
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"The tumultuous situation in Myanmar took another strange turn this morning as a group of armed women stormed and captured the capitol building, which they are now holding against the Myanmar military," the news declares, causing me to drop my spoon into my cereal. "News out of the country is sparse, but the following images and video were captured just this morning as the battle broke out."
"Tara!" I yelp, elbowing her in the ribs as she dozes with her head on my lap. "Is ...
2022-03-08 06:21:11 +0000 UTC
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I practice sword and shield drills in the barracks yard, frustrated with how my body wars against two sets of competing instincts. Melik knows how this body is supposed to work, but his movements and instincts are struggling to hold their head above water as I fall back into my own habits, designed for a body stronger, tougher, smaller, and thinner than this one. I expect less weight, more force, more speed to everything I do. My perceptions haven't slowed down in the transfer between bodies,...
2022-03-04 22:43:31 +0000 UTC
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My fight-or-flight instinct is still screaming at me to kill as Cassia walks in, my whole body tense with the need for movement, for preemptive action. This is the woman that actually caught me two years ago, after all. The most direct and immediate reason I got locked away in Site 4 and ended up as public enemy number two. So there is an element of anger to my reaction, certainly. An instinctive desire for revenge. But more than that, I'm just terrified.
She captured me effortlessly th...
2022-03-03 08:39:55 +0000 UTC
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