Content Warning: Verde’s Doohickey 2.0: Sensational Summer Romp contains content that some readers might find disturbing, triggering or uncomfortable. This includes sexually explicit activities, strong language, and hateful language and slurs. Reader discretion is advised.
Verde’s Doohickey 2.0: Sensational Summer Romp
June 25th: A World Where The Gamers Won
Part 1: The Gates of Hell
Date: Thursday, June 25, 2015
Time: 12:42
Location: Vivi’s House
While the bright summer sun and clear skies urged everybody to go outside and do a nebulous something, Vivi and Anita remained locked in an air-conditioned room, playing video games. Specifically, they were playing the critically acclaimed The Witcher III: The Wild Hunt, with Anita’s hands gripping onto the controller as she navigated around a quaint little town.
Anita: “Geez, there are a lot of things these people want me to do.”
Vivi: “It’s an RPG, that’s how things work. You talk to people, get quests, help them out, and get some goodies and hopefully a good story out of them.”
Anita: “Not all RPGs. I don’t remember anything like this in that Final Fantasy DS game you gave me. Or any Pokémon game. Those people just gave you stuff.”
Vivi: “An open world RPG.”
Anita: “Yeah, I don’t think you ever gave me one of those ‘open world’ games to play…”
Vivi: “We played Minecraft before, and that was open world.”
Anita: “I thought that was a crafty sandbox?”
Vivi: “The preferred term is crafting sandbox, and it can be both. Game genres are often arbitrary and there is a lot of useless discourse about whether the language should evolve. If something is broken, identify a solution or shut up!”
As their banter carried out, the sound of the doorbell called Vivi off of her sofa, away from the entertainment center in the living room. She was dressed plainly, wearing a striped green and purple hoodie and jeans. A bit warm for even a cool summer day, but Vivi was never fond of wearing short sleeves while in her girl form. Anita, however, was rather fond of going sleeveless, as she was wearing a plum-colored tank top along with a pair of blue three-quarter length leggings.
Vivi nonchalantly opened up the door and was greeted by the trifecta of Verde, Abigale, and… Maxxie, who quickly filtered into the entranceway. Verde was wearing a green tank top and a denim skirt, because this woman always wore green. Abigale was dressed in a red V-neck and black jeans, because this woman always wore red. While Maxxie was wearing a black T-shirt with the words ‘cement addiction’ written on it in bright purple lettering, its hem tied into a knot to expose her midriff, while a pair of white shorts hugged her ass.
Upon seeing this menagerie, Vivi paused to look at the clock next to the TV, reading 12:46 .
Vivi: “Aren’t you guys 15 minutes early?”
Verde: “Yeah! Better early than late! Plus, I figured you guys would be hungry!”
As Verde said that, she drew attention to a huge paper bag that Maxxie was carrying in her hands.
With a shrug of acceptance, Vivi invited them in, Anita saved her game, and the five ladies moseyed over to the kitchen, where Vivi set the table while Verde unloaded their lunch. A hodgepodge of items from a local Lebanese restaurant. Wraps, shawarmas, sandwiches, kabobs, baba ganoush, two dozen pieces of falafel, a single tahini salad, and what looked to be two liters of mujaddara.
Anita: “Uh… I hope you girls don’t expect us to eat all of this in one sitting.”
Vivi: “This would probably be enough to last me… ten days.”
Maxxie: “I’d call bullshit on that… but you are super skinny. You’d probably only eat one wrap and call that a meal, instead of three, like a real American!”
Verde: “Yeah, I know I went overboard. Think of anything you don’t eat as a bonus.”
Vivi: “Oh. Thanks, I guess. It’ll cut down on my food budget. …So, why are you here? You said you wanted to tell me about my ‘origins.'”
Anita: “Uh, like how you were born? Because I’ve seen your parents, and your brother, and the apple didn’t fall that far from the tree.”
Abigale: “It is a bit more complicated than that. Nothing personal, per se, though the details are rather… uncomfortable.”
Verde: “Lemme start things off with a re-explanation. So, you all know that Abigale and I, and Urabe of course, are all Gods, right?”
Maxxie: “That’s the sort of thing you can’t forget, no matter how hard you try!”
Verde: “And you know that this world, this entire universe, and everything within it, is bundled into what I call a Scenario.”
Vivi: “Right, and you created the ‘Scenario’ we live in.”
Anita: “Yeah, I was sorta confused on what that really meant. So, did you design everything, all of history, and every horrible thing that happened over the past… couple thousand years?”
Verde: “No, no, no. The majority of history is not something I created. The broad shape and structure of this Earth is merely a modified copy of the world I grew up in. And while I shaped much of the world over this past decade, I think you would thank me for all of my changes. I’m the reason college isn’t a financial burden that sticks with people for decades. And I’m the reason you two can legally get married in this country. …Though, this is the last day I can say that.”
Abigale: “Darling, I suggest trying to maintain focus, otherwise we’ll be here for hours.”
Verde: “Yeah, I know. How to keep things snappy… while I created your world, not every single part was designed by me— I have a powerful machine and robust software to create all of that. And while I had a hand in crafting this world, I did not have any say in crafting its people. Everyone on this earth is a sapient individual living their own life, of their own fruition, and all I do is offer them, as a group, a gentle nudge in the right direction.”
Anita: “…Except for what you’ve been doing this past month.”
Verde: “Uh, obviously! And even then, I’m not mind controlling you guys or anything.”
Vivi: “Considering how horny everyone is… I had my suspicions.”
Maxxie: “Eh, I thought that too, but then I realized that… being someone else, having all their parts, is inherently erotic. It’s just how the brain stuff meshes when put in a shape it wasn’t made for!”
Anita: “Unless you’re forced into it and think you’re stuck like that.”
Verde: “Didn’t I already apologize for that?”
Anita: “I forgive you, and the past two weeks definitely made up for it… but that was still immensely cruel.”
Abigale: “Hmm… Maybe we should have made this a one-on-one meeting instead…”
Verde: “Hopping back to the lore, while you are all your own person and have your own identities… those identities took some heavy inspiration from certain things.”
Maxxie: “…The hell does that mean?”
Verde: “Well, my freckle-faced friend, you are not the only Maxxie Flare across my Scenarios. In fact, there are many different permutations of you, all wafting about.”
Maxxie: “…Hold up, so we’re straight up in a multiverse? Is this like the Marvel multiverse, where there are thousands upon thousands of different universes? Or is it like DC where there are only 52… sometimes? Does that mean there’s alternate universes where I’m a different person but also sorta the same on a conceptual level?”
Abigale: “I never really thought about it in those terms but—”
Verde: “From the Scenarios I checked, there are…”
Verde then began counting on her fingers, reached past one hand, and promptly threw her hands up, dropping this matter.
Verde: “Too many Maxxies. But the point is that you are Maxxie Flare, and while there is overlap, you are the—”
Maxxie: “Am I the Ultimate universe Maxxie, the main universe one, the Raimi universe one, the 90s cartoon one or… shit, there are too many Spider-Men.”
Vivi: “I believe we’ve lost the point here, i.e., me. Are you saying that I have different ‘permutations’ across Scenarios you crafted? If so, I suppose I should take that as a compliment, so… thank you?”
Verde: “Eh… not quite. You see, I never made a Scenario where you originated, you just kinda… came into existence when I made the one for Verde’s Doohickey. You, Vivianne ‘Vivi’ Gaimz, are based on a character from my original world. A character by the name of Vivian James!”
As Verde paused for dramatic effect, the group of teens at the table took another bite of their meals, completely unphased and unimpressed by that name.
Vivi: “If my last name was James, it’d be a lot harder for people to misspell…”
Puffing her cheeks, Verde dug a hand into her shirt and produced a piece of paper, one featuring an drawing of a girl who… looked almost exactly like Vivi. A girl with unkempt and wavy red hair that went down to her elbows, dull green eyes accented with dark bags, a pale face full of freckles, dressed in a hoodie with horizontal green and purple stripes, and jeans. Vivi’s hair only went past her shoulders, but it was that length before she chopped off half of it during Spring Break, and she kept it that long for a significant part of her life. The only thing about this ‘Vivian James’ that didn’t match Vivi was the headband she wore. A black headband with a bright four-leaf clover.
Maxxie: “Hmm… Not a bad design, but I think it could use some extra something-something. She needs some sorta gimmick or angle beyond tired girl and—”
Anita: “I don’t think we’re here to critique the art, Maxxie.”
Maxxie: “Huh? I’m not critiquing it. It looks like it was whipped up in an hour or three, and looks pretty good at that!”
Vivi: “…Okay, so this drawing looks like me. …Why do I get the impression that you’re about to tell me something terrible?”
Abigale: “Because she is.”
Verde: “Because I am. You see, Vivian James is not just an OC created by someone for the sake of having an OC. No, no, no! You see, Vivian James is an icon, a symbol, a mascot. An avatar held up for a right-wing political movement that seized control of the United States of America, before utterly destroying the country.”
Vivi: “…What? There’s absolutely no way that can be—”
Verde slammed her hands on the table with enough force to send everything rattling. The girls flinched, Verde’s violet eyes went wide, and she uttered words with such malice that it made Abigale shiver.
Verde: “Let me tell you about GamerGate!”
Part 2: How Gamers Killed America
It all started in August 2014. And as it started, nobody quite knew what it was. Nobody knew what was going on. It was fragmented, volatile, and the truth was obscured in darkness. It was a movement spun by manipulators who saw the shifts of change wafting through the world, through society, and vehemently said no. They saw that the world was no longer catering to the ‘default’. That new voices were cropping up from the ether, that things were becoming broader, more inclusive. For some, this was the dawn of a bold new era. For others… it was the sign of their dominance crumbling.
GamerGate began with a rant from a disgruntled young man scorned by a lover. This rant, laced with obvious falsehood, gave birth to a controversy. A controversy that was morphed, expanded, and simplified into a campaign of hatred. It was manufactured by only a small group of people. People who claimed to care about ethics in the world of ‘games journalism.’ People who claimed themselves to be concerned with the way the industry and its reporting were heading, and had the initial visage of a legitimate movement. …Yet if one knew where to look, they could see what this truly was. The conversation logs and vicious behavior were damning enough, yet the most blatant example was the mascot of the movement.
Vivian James was created as the mascot of GamerGate. An icon that presented the extensively male-driven movement with a non-sexualized female face. Someone plain, almost cute, yet whose very design, whose purple and green color scheme, was itself derived from a rape joke. Of course, the actual origin of that was obscure, shrouded in a lineage of communal understanding, deliberately obfuscated and isolated only among a few. Those who understood the true intent of GamerGate. To breed distrust, to stir confusion, to shift the spectrum of acceptable thought, and most of all, to recruit.
The leaders of GamerGate targeted a generation of politically disengaged young men and spread their radical and hateful views through their ranks. They experimented with techniques to disarm arguments, avoid defensive positions, and make themselves seem correct when in a public forum. While the movement seemingly died only a few months after it began… it did not. It went into hiding, mutating and gestating into something more radical, more potent, and more powerful. Something with, despite claiming to be something bold and new… still clung to the same mascot .
From the ashes of GamerGate, the Alt-Right Movement was formed, and it aggressively usurped the political spectrum of acceptable thought. Gross displays of authoritarianism became permissible. What were once thought of as neutral positions suddenly became radical. Euphemisms died as politicians voiced their own thoughts with no filter. And come November 8, 2016, the Alt-Right succeeded in putting their candidate in the most powerful position in the world, with the election of the next United States president.
The winner was Johannes “Johnny” Krauser. A man who was none too subtle about his deeply held White Supremacist beliefs. One who made routine allusions to the fascist regimes which led to the mass destruction of World War II, and filled every position he could with like-minded individuals.
Krauser was not alone. He was helped by millions of people. Those who viewed his promises of a paleogenic rebirth to an ultranationalist time of yore to be both inscrutable and positive. Those who were discontent with the direction the world had gone in and wanted to simplify their reality. They latched onto binary ‘us versus them’ mindsets, conspiracies that demonized their enemies, and a culture of outrage. When faced with opposition, they did all they could to silence them. Through deplatforming, bans, threats, harassment, and murder.
Despite these clear allegiances, Krauser disavowed and distanced himself from his followers. He proclaimed that he was innocent, that these were not his people, while refraining from taking any meaningful action toward them. Some believed his words. After all, he was the president. While others saw this for what it was. They saw that their rights were crumbling.
Despite having been passed on June 26, 2015, homosexual marriage was Federally outlawed by a newly appointed Supreme Court. The Civil Rights bills were ‘amended’ into becoming pieces of powerless legislation, allowing ‘business owners’ to freely discriminate and dehumanize all. …Except for the Whites. Protections for disabled people were revoked, allowing hospitals to refuse to treat them for any reason. The recourse for one to legally transition to a new gender was disbanded by a Federal mandate. The very act of protest was deemed ‘unconstitutional.’ And the Mexico–United States border became home to a litany of labor camps, where those who crossed the border were made into slaves.
Come 2020, the nation had been thoroughly radicalized. Preaching for genocide and the return to a Christian State was common throughout the country. And those in power had more power than ever before. However, the supporters of Krauser’s fascist were themselves a minority within the country. A country that, operating under the guise of a democracy, held an election.
On November 3, 2020, Krauser had been elected out of office, in favor of a ‘radical left’ candidate. They were set to take the office in a matter of months, on January 20, 2021. That is how things were supposed to work in a democracy… but before the transfer of power could be completed, the resistance rose up. The GamerGaters, the Alt-Right, rose up, tore off their masks, and bore their fangs, sacrificing anything and everything in a vicious pursuit of power. …And they won.
On January 6, 2021, democracy died.
It did not die through reform, through calm measures, or through rigor and logic as a new, superior form of governance came into prominence.
It died like an animal.
Cornered.
Terrified.
Drenched in its own blood.
Krauser, with nothing more to lose, gave his followers an order. Over a million came to the Capitol. The guards, police, and soldiers Krauser had implemented cast their arms aside, permitting these mobbing masses to storm into the seats of government, locate their enemies, and end them. The revolution was publicized, streamed digitally to billions of eyes all around the globe. The proponents of justice, the most staunch and powerful defenders of liberty, human rights, and general decency, were silenced. Their bodies were desecrated, raped, and lynched until nothing but scattered bones and rotting meat remained.
By midnight, over 50,000 died in that city, and of them, over 90% were the targets of the million men who marched on Washington that day.
There was opposition, there was resistance… but they were outmatched. The members of this alt-right army, who dreamed of a great rebirth, had recruited nearly the entirety of the American military. They were promised power under this burgeoning regime, and they allied with it. Some defected, some stole and killed their former brothers in arms. But to say the two sides were on equal grounds was laughable. One side had access to the power of the most advanced and robust weaponry on the planet, and millions of trained soldiers, eager to throw their lives away in the pursuit of heroism. The other had righteous indignation and knowledge of myriad subjects.
There was much fighting, millions of deaths, and trillions of damages done to the nation as cities were torn to shrapnel. It would have ended sooner… but the opposing forces had to make their power known to the world. On July 4, 2021, the 245th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence, The American Empire was truly born. Their first goal was simple. To cleanse their nation of their nonbelievers and annex every scrap of value within reach.
By 2030, The American Holocaust had claimed the lives of over 100 million people. The nations of Canada and Mexico had been consumed in their entirety. The islands of the Caribbean Sea were barred from the outside world, forced to swear fealty and resume their status as slave colonies, or be decimated in hellfire. And despite vicious resistance and opposition from the nations of South America, plans had already been drafted to take them by any means necessary, even if it meant reducing these lands to little more than smoldering craters.
By 2040, the population of the Americans had been halved, and the totalitarian regime of The American Empire had contaminated the rest of the world. Fascism spiked in popularity. War had swept the entire planet. Hope of escape, of any peaceful resolution, had become an idea so laughable it was beyond imagination. The American Empire and the Fourth Reich it inspired across Europe soon joined forces, with plans to divvy up the entire planet once their conquest was complete. In turn, the nations of Asia, despite their shaky alliances, stood unified with a plan to destroy these vicious empires through any means necessary. Even if it meant mutual destruction.
On January 6, 2041, the skies across the world were filled with missiles, and by the end of the day, all had landed, striking their targets, or crashing the way. More than 500 million people died within a single day, and the world that was left… was beyond salvation. Centuries of knowledge had been lost. Proud cities were reduced to mere craters. And the body of every major government had been shattered. The planet was in tatters, humanity was at its lowest point in recorded history, and in the aftermath… the Earth fought back.
Every nation had not only failed to each their climate goals, the rampant war had caused carbon emissions to reach their highest point in human history. The once possible global warming goal of 1.5 degrees had been shattered and more than doubled. The actions of humanity had caused the temperature of the planet to rise more than 4 degrees, and the climate of Earth began to collapse.
Natural disasters grew more vicious and destructive, demolishing most coastal cities throughout the world. And following the complete deterioration of the global communication system, there was no way for humanity to come together and rebuild. If extreme weather didn’t destroy crops, the hurricanes, typhoons, tornadoes, and earthquakes would, and all who lied within their wake.
Humanity had declined.
It had fallen from the lofty heights of global connectivity and regressed centuries, returning to the era of kings, city states, and monarchies. Yet, rather than advance to its former glory, it merely declined further and further, throughout decades and centuries, until civilization became a memory lost to time. Relics of this bygone era could still be found by the scavengers, but humanity, as an institution, as the rulers of the planet… were no more. They had fallen far, and as centuries became millennia, as the climate of the planet continued to collapse, the human race vanished, along with millions of other species that once called the Earth home.
Part 3: Verde, The Fuck?
Date: Thursday, June 25, 2015
Time: 13:13
Location: Vivi’s House
Looks of shock and disgust were painted on the faces of the three humans in attendance as Verde and Abigale finished regaling them with this tale. They had long since stopped chipping away at their meals, and were left silent by the time the story ended. God just told them that the original reality, the one that their world was based on, was one where humanity was utterly destroyed and destroyed Earth in the process. It was hard to not be taken aback after hearing this!
When she finally finished this story, Vivi was the first to respond. She stood up, looked Verde right in the eye, and asked her a perfect yet blunt question.
Vivi: “Verde, the fuck? Why would you even tell me this?”
Verde: “‘Cos it’s better to tell people the truth, and you’re a toughie. I’m sure you can take it.”
Vivi: “Take the fact that my body and name are derived from a mascot who played a part in humanity’s downfall?”
Abigale: “As I said, Verde was being hyperbolic with the influence Vivian James had. She was little more than a propaganda character, plastered on posters and used to advertise a fascist ideology via memes.”
Verde: “There was some debate about it being that or that pee-pee frog, but they went with the waifu, because of course they did.”
Maxxie: “Hold up a minute. Do you mean they used her like a female icon, or for porn?”
Abigale: “Like I said, they used her for ‘anything and everything to bolster morale.’ Including some things that would make you squirm, Maxxie.”
Maxxie: “…I would take offense to that, but I’ve seen some of the shit they pull on 8chan, and I don’t want to imagine how fucked things must’ve gotten near the end.”
Anita: “…Sorry, you lost me… a lot during that. How are the colors ‘purple and green’ a rape joke?”
Verde: “It’s a reference to a shittily animated Dragon Ball gif. Hang on, I think I have it on my phone—”
Vivi: “Why do you have cartoon porn on your phone… from another universe… that was an in-joke for the worst people imaginable?
Abigale: “Verde has access to… numerous things she shouldn’t.”
Verde: “Found it!”
With her phone presented before the crowd, they looked on… and saw a low resolution gif featuring pixel art of the Dragon Ball character Piccolo, dressed in his signature purple garb. He was in the process of anally raping fellow Dragon Ball character, Vegeta, with his giant green penis as Vegeta laid on the ground. Vegeta’s ass was perked up and his body covered in yellow splotches, presumably urine. Conceptually, it was gross on at least six levels, yet it looked amateurish in many ways and, after hearing about this being the cornerstone of a prolific rape joke, the real thing was… underwhelming would be underselling it .
Maxxie: “…Oh, that’s it? It looks like it was drawn with a mouse in MS Paint, so I’m not going to be too harsh but… I could make a way better version of that in two hours, easily!”
Anita: “Uh… you’re not going to, are you?”
Maxxie: “Fuck no! I ain’t gonna honor the sorts of fuckwits who would want to kill me, my sister, my girlfriend, and basically everybody I love.”
Vivi: “…Verde, you didn’t do anything to manipulate or alter me, did you?”
Verde: “I already said I didn’t! The world I came from was a shit hole, and I don’t want to repeat mistakes. The fact that you look like Vivian James is a complete fluke as far as I’m aware. And before you go questioning if you’re a secret Nazi… look at your girlfriend.”
Verde pointed at Anita and, as prompted, Vivi looked at her, eyes fixated on her skin, lighter than most Black women, but still, distinctly, a light brown, before looking back at Verde.
Vivi: “I know that I’m not racist and that I’m not a fascist. I don’t even fuck around with 4chan. It was fun when I was 14 and stupider, but shit just keeps getting more and more radical there, and it’s sad, because you know half of those dudes are 35-year-olds who never learned how to grow up.”
Abigale: “It’s actually only 32%. Their demographics have been skewing younger as of late…”
Anita: “Hey, um, not to steal your spotlight, Vi, but I also want to ask a question about that… Anita Sharkleberry lady. Is there any sort of connection I have related to her or—”
Verde’s violet eyes went wide, as if she had just seen the light of the one true God shine before her… Or maybe she realized she left the stove on and her rental house might have exploded.
Verde: “FUCKING ASS BALLS!!! I didn’t even put three and six together there!”
Abigale: “In Verde’s defense, I just realized that too.”
Verde: “Actually, Anita, your name comes from the pseudonym of a voice actress for a character named Cha-Cha Akaza from Maken-ki! You look nothing like that Anita Neukar, by the way. But I think you’ll see a stunning similarity between yourself and Cha-Cha.”
With fervor, Verde shined her phone in front of Anita. It showed an image of an anime character with light brown skin, big boobs, silver hair tied up in a ponytail, and what looked to be gray eyes, all wrapped up in a sailor fuku. She didn’t look like Anita Neukar did right now… but she was the spitting image of her before she got a haircut with Vivi during Spring Break.
Vivi: “…And let me guess, you had nothing to do with this, right?”
Abigale: “She didn’t even know what Maken-ki! was until a few weeks ago.”
Verde: “Also, your personalities aren’t that similar.”
Anita: “W-Why does this similarity exist?”
Verde: “Because the universe generator works in mysterious ways. And that’s coming from the lady who built it!”
Maxxie: “Hey, what about me? Am I secretly based on an anime character? Because while that would be psychologically damaging, it would explain a lot of things.”
Abigale: “None of you were based on anime characters. Vivi and Anita just happen to kinda sorta have similar names and faces as two of them!”
Verde: “Maxxie is Maxxie and is her own person derived from other Maxxies, who has gone on to be derived by successive Maxxies.”
Maxxie: “Well, that certainly helps the existential dread go down…”
With the conversation getting heavy and confused, the five paused, looked over the table, waiting for someone to address the bizarre topics wafting through the air.
Abigale: “So, Vivi, how are you taking all of this?”
In response, Vivi merely shrugged.
Vivi: “How am I supposed to take this knowledge? Sure, I look like a figure used for heinous propaganda in another world, but I’m still me. I’m still my own person. And if you’re asking if I learned anything, I learned that I should try to be even less racist, less authoritarian, and that I probably shouldn’t ever grow my hair out like that again. It’s not a good look for me, even on a drawing.”
Verde: “Back up on that for a hot sec, Vivz.”
Vivi: “You do not have my permission to give me a nickname.”
Verde: “You said that you’re you… but who is that? You’ve been a lot of different people, so… do you have any preference? Because if you want to switch things up… I’m your gal.”
Vivi stared at Verde as she made that offer, bringing a hand to her small chin as she pontificated this concept.
Maxxie: “If you wanna arrange a long-term swap with someone to figure that out, you always can!”
Vivi did not answer Maxxie’s cheery offer with a response. Instead, she shut her eyes, took a deep breath and, after flashing her green eyes at the four again, she said her piece.
Vivi: “This is something I have thought about on and off, and while now is far from the best time to bring this up… there may be such a thing as a worse time. So, I’ll just say it. I’ve been spending a lot of time as my boy form, and I’ve liked it… more than I thought I would.”
Anita’s eyes went wide as Vivi said that, dropping the silverware from her hands.
Anita: “O-Oh.”
Vivi: “I feel like a lot of my reasons are trite. I was never girly. I’ve liked having shorter hair. I don’t like screwing around with makeup or see much point in looking pretty. I don’t really hate being a woman. But in hopping from body to body, seeing what it feels like to be someone else, to be a different sex, different age, and all that crap… I’ve been thinking about changing that part of me. I just feel like my life will be easier if I was a guy. I won’t have to do a lot of things I don’t want to do. While it was shocking to suddenly have bigger hands and my huge dick… I think I like them. I… I think I like being Vidkun more than being Vivi.”
While Vivi normally spoke with confidence and conviction, they carried themself with a level of unease as they ended that sentence, looking away from the table, but mostly Anita. Her gray eyes were as wide as they were a minute ago, and she continued to stare into Vivi’s face.
Vivi: “I’m sorry Anita. I’m just being honest. I know we have something special, something we built up over years, and I don’t want to destroy it. I’m not certain about anything and I just want—”
Anita haphazardly slammed a hand on the table, not in anger, but in a frantic display to draw attention.
Anita: “N-No, it’s just that… I mean, I just spent a week as Tony and… you know how I felt about that life… that body… And how it’s easier to run and swim without boobs or hair in my face. Besides, my parents are way more lax with me as a guy and… I… I… Oh, shit. I think I’m in the same boat.”
Maxxie: “Hold up a minute. Is this the elusive double coming out? Oh, hell to the yea— Wait, no, this is serious. Do you guys want me to leave or—”
Vivi: “Why bother? You’ve already seen us confess. I don’t know if I really want this…”
Anita: “But I want to try it out. I feel like I’m going through a withdrawal of something just being me after being a man for so long. I don’t want to rush into this. I don’t want to commit to anything or—”
As Anita inched toward a panicked state, Abigale reached forward and grabbed their hand, smiling at them with the gentleness of a mother reassuring her child.
Abigale: “Anita, you don’t need to decide anything now. You don’t need to permanently commit to anything. You’re from a world where this is something impossible, something fantastical, and it makes sense that you would be questioning things. I know our methods might seem eccentric, though we do truly care about you and want you, all of you, to be happy. You can bounce back and forth between what you want, and we won’t mind. So long as you are doing what makes you happy.”
Anita was at the cusp of tears as Abigale ended her little speech. They sniffled before offering a response.
Anita: “T-Thank you Abigale. I guess… I guess you guys aren’t so bad after all.”
Abigale: “Always remember, we’re only a phone call away if you need us. Okay?”
Anita: “…Okay.”
With this tender moment at its conclusion, Anita flinched as their body underwent a familiar transformation, their sex inverting and body shifting as they became Tony yet again. The same happened to Vivi, turning into Vidkun at the same moment. There was a brief moment where they wondered why this happened… before both targets remembered who they were sitting next to. Verde’s hands were under the table, though it was clear she was futzing with a VD 2.0, transforming them. They both shot her a glare for interrupting this moment, to which she threw her arms up, the VD 2.0 still in hand.
Verde: “Look, I can see where this is going. I’ve read between the lines in the Posse Logs you’ve given me. And I think this will help nudge you two in the right direction. Try it out a bit more, and if life’s better like this, I’ll switch up your default forms. It’s just changing one variable. Because I’m a good programmer!”
Maxxie: “Oh, really? If something like that is so easy, then how about upgrading my boy form? Maybe I’d like to be Max if I had a footlong dick!”
Verde: “No. You gotta work for it.”
Maxxie: “Work for it?“
Verde: “Wait until July. And you two, be gay and experiment the fuck out of things. I know you were primarily gay before, but now it’s boy gay!”
Vidkun: “Boy gay? I… Look, Verde, could you guys leave us alone for a bit?”
Tony: “Y-Yeah, we… have some shit to talk about.”
Abigale: “Of course we can. Now, come along, Darling.”
With a sudden jump from her seat, Abigale hooked herself around Verde’s arm and rushed her out of the house, muttering angry sounding words as they left. Maxxie then paused, realized that she was the odd person out, and followed Abigale out the door.
Maxxie: “Anyway, it was cool hanging out with you. I was hoping we could play some games or something but… you two seem like you have a lot of gender stuff to un-fuck, so I’m outta here. See ya!”
Scampering like a doe, Maxxie left the pair of Vivi and Anita at the kitchen table. The two looked at each other, scoping out their bodies up and down, and gave each other a knowing smile, for they both understood that… tonight would be a long night.
The Posse Logs: My Sensational Summer Vacation Diary
Jade(Maxxie): “It’s strange that I’ve gotten nostalgic about being in Maxxie’s body. I spent a week in it earlier this month. Though… it’s still my favorite body other than my own. Just seeing her cute face whenever I look into the mirror, hearing her voice ringing through my ears, feeling her comfortable weight shift as I move about, and feeling her energy flow through me. It all feels so… cozy. Though, I wouldn’t want to stay in her body— then it wouldn’t be a treat, it would just be normal. I wasn’t really sure why she decided to swap us this afternoon. She said it was ‘confidential’ but we managed to turn it into a pretty fun little date night. …At my house. Despite whatever she got up to last night, Maxxie’s still grounded— parent’s orders— so our options are limited.”
Maxxie(Jade): “Not sure why Verde even invited me to that little luncheon. Knowing her, she damn well knew that Vidkun and Tony were gonna come out. …Actually, I shouldn’t say that. You’re only trans when you say you are, even if you say some hella trans stuff. I didn’t have much else to do, and while drawing’s fun, it’s not when you’ve got a body swapper burning a hole in your desk. So I met up with the girlfriend, did a little swappy swap, goofed around, and then goofed around in bed. Nothing too unique, but anytime I get to spend time with Jade, it’s special.”
Zoe(Shiaka): “Shiaka was still shaken up by what happened at the museum the other day and asked to borrow my body. While she accepts that strength comes from within, she still enjoys being in my form when she wants to feel particularly strong. And after spending a week in her body earlier this month, I find it easy to slip back into the role, adjusting to its height, features, and the comforts it offers. Without much of a plan, we spent a good chunk of the day at the public pool, enjoying the slides and attractions, having the most one-sided race we realistically could, and overall relaxing. I had never been good at relaxing, yet today was different. Being in Shiaka’s smaller, softer form, feeling the warm sun beating down on me, it was calming in and of itself. While the anxieties that I carried with me for so much of my life… were simply gone. My father was alive. My mother has found happiness through means that I’m still reconciling with. And whatever financial insecurity I had about my future is… gone. Now, my only present worry is finding time to work on my research project.”
Shiaka(Zoe): “Something about spending a day as Terra screwed with my dreams last night, and I thought back to the incident. Back when I was weak and overpowered. After that and what happened at the museum, I needed a palate cleanser. So, I swapped with Zoe, went to the pool, and treated myself to the… power that comes with being a man like him. Being able to swim so many laps, easily outdoing my previous record. Holding my true body as we went down the slide. Just being able to be so seen in a place like that, without feeling the anxiety that would have crippled me years ago… always feels amazing. Heck, I even managed to be ‘the man’ when we went out for dinner, and, well, do I really need to mention that part at this point?”
Terra: “I was originally supposed to swap bodies with Haruki today and do ‘something’ with Maxxie. I told Mom about this over breakfast, but she asked me to stay in my body, saying she was worried how this constant would affect my development. I didn’t get why she was suddenly being so protective, and her telling me that while in the TranSex version of Dad’s body just felt… hypocritical. With my plans ruined, I just played with Evelyn and Nina again, met some kids who asked me about… baseball for some reason, and spent most of the day inside, at home, playing old games on my VD 2.0. It wasn’t a bad day by any means. Yet after everything I’ve been through… it just felt kind of empty.”
Vidkun: “After the others left, I sat down with Anita and we talked about what we wanted. Who we wanted to be. What we wanted from life. …And we were pretty much on the same page. We both took to our male forms well. We liked the changes that were made. And while we didn’t hate our female bodies, we didn’t feel as if we should stick with them just because they are what we started with. Life is all about growing, changing, and shifting things. From moving to getting new jobs to growing biologically as a person. And if we have the opportunity to move in a new direction, why shouldn’t we if we prefer it? It’s like changing careers or moving to another country. You might be doing different things and be seen as someone different by those around you, but… you’re still you. And you are the only one who can say who you are.”
Tony: “I couldn’t believe how much this surprised me. I never really thought about being a guy full-time like this. But after last week… the idea’s getting me pretty excited. I’m not sure why though. Yeah, being Tony’s been a lot of fun, and there are a lot of parts of my life that are just… better. Except I don’t think I ever seriously wanted to be a guy. I was pretty feminine throughout my life. I wore dresses and stuff, kept my hair long, I was comfortable with who I was, sociable with whoever, and took pride in being a lesbian with Vivi. Now… well, I definitely can’t say I’m a lesbian after everything I’ve done with a dick. And while I definitely don’t hate being a girl, or a guy, I… I just feel weird switching over to this. Though, if Vivi is willing to make the shift with me… I might just go for it.”
Gem(Dia): “After perusing some endearing images of Dia on Telegram, I simply had to get my hands on her body. Or mayhaps his body is still the preferential terminology… Regardless, I brokered a deal with Paz and Daisuke, permitting me to spend a day enjoying what this MILF-some body had to offer. I anticipated there being some deception around these forms, yet to my delight, Dia felt as good as she looked, and made for a very delight-rich afternoon. And evening as well! As a mature adult, and with expressed consent, I was determined to try going to a bar and ‘seeing what happens.’ I was issued an explicit warning to caution my consumption, as this body had the alcohol tolerance of a child. Boldly, I chose to underestimate it, and a single beer was all it took for me to evolve into a sophisticated cougar, who dug her claws into the first man she could throw herself at. Alas, my memories of the event are foggy. Though, I only remember good things!”
Caroline(Bern): “I was planning on just being myself today, until Babs asked me to go out to a bar with her, with both of us as men. I wasn’t sure why she wanted to do that, and I didn’t drink much, but… I just can’t say no to her after everything she has done for me and Jade. I thought she meant some night club. A place for people to chat, drink, and make connections. Instead… it was a bit too loud to do even that. There weren’t many women and people weren’t looking to hook up. There were these garish, massive TVs that discouraged any conversation. The patrons were rowdy and loud. I had never been to a bar before, and if this was what they were all like… I hated them.”
“Babs, or Bern, tried to explain the appeal, that this was a place where we could act like men. I saw her point… though if I was going to be a man, I would not want to act like that. Just chugging beer, eating food, while shouting about men playing sports on a TV. Even as a little girl, it struck me as kind of sad and after seeing him do that more times than I could count, I didn’t want any part in any culture where that behavior was encouraged. So, I left, returned home, and thought about calling up Raiyne for some of the… romance I was craving. I got so far as dialing her number… before turning my phone off and relieving my male urges another way.”
Raiyne: “After seeing what happened the past week, I just locked myself in my home. It was a foolish notion, I know. I could be swapped by anyone within a ten kilometer radius. And who knows what kind of situation they would throw me into? However… I needed to take a break, to spend a day without being consumed by fear and worry, to spend some time as me, not someone else… and not worry about having my foundational identity questioned. I managed to avoid that, and I went all day without encountering anyone. Abigale did not contact me. I was not propositioned for swapping or sex. I was able to be alone, to be myself, and do what I would normally do during the summer, getting things ready for my classes. It was so normal that… at the end of the day, I was left wondering if I had just imagined all of this.”
Babs(Cain): “Seeing as how I could be a guy whenever I wanted, I decided to hit up a typical guy bar tonight and brought along Caroline for good measure. To tell you the truth… I was hoping we could get another round of what we had going on last week, but this time with my dick in her ass. It was a simple plan… and it didn’t work. Guy bars are worse than I thought they could be, and I just wound up getting drunk, alone, until I saw Dia across the bar, laughing as she tried to put down a beer. I moseyed on over to her. One thing led to another. And we were back at my place, fucking. We were both pretty drunk, but even if you’re totally sloshed, it doesn’t take more than a couple of brain cells to figure out how to put a dick in a pussy. I just wish that I was sober so I could’ve enjoyed it a bit more, y’know?”
Ken(Elias): “Hmm… I think that I might just command more respect as Elias than I did as Ken. It makes sense. Elias is more like the sort of men these Asian businessmen see all day, and he is a far more disciplined man than I’ve ever been. Being him does make me feel like I’ve got a stick shoved up my ass sometimes with how proper I’m supposed to be, though that’s probably good for me. A man needs some discipline, and I’ve been avoiding it for a helluva long time! Like with being Elly, it feels good to need to be responsible. However, if I had to keep this up for two weeks straight, without getting to cut loose, I might just need to burn the whole damn building down to blow off some steam!”
Elly(Kathy): “As an Asian woman, I thought I understood the plight of women of color. I have been subjected to all manner of awful men over my years as a professional. Yet, walking around as Kathy a day really did show me the sort of… privilege that I have as an Asian woman. Or perhaps the anti-privilege possessed by Black women. As Kathy, I had to play along with people, act like how I expected Kathy to act, and despite still being one of the owners of the company, I sure as hell didn’t feel like it. I was able to brush this off while in Japan, as I had come to accept that there is a culture of unflinching prejudice of outsiders. Yet in America, it’s worse. It’s rarely something overt, yet their language levied toward me had this imperceptible, likely unconscious, slights. As if they did not trust my skills. I’ve had to deal with men underestimating me for my entire life… yet so much of the time, that was merely because I was a woman. Here, it’s because I was a Black woman. Well, technically half Black, but nobody truly cares about the technicalities of anyone’s race.”
Nazz: “Liang’s been really quick on the uptick, and training looks like it might only need to last a few more days at this rate. I’m not surprised. Liang has always been quick to adapt to new things, and what he’s doing now isn’t that different from what he was doing back in 2003. Just with faster PCs and less utilitarian UI. It’s a good thing… but it still kinda blows, ‘cos I like spending every day with him. I still love Liang. Though, I’m not sure what kind of love I have for him now. I don’t really get the appeal of men having sex with men, and I don’t think Liangs into that either. He might be down to fuck me in a different body, but I dunno. He’s always been such a straight shooter that I’d need to ask him before I assume he’s become a thriving pansexual like everybody else in this fuckin’ Posse. I’d be bold and ask him directly… but it hasn’t even been a week since he rose from the dead.”
Liang: “I’m pretty damn proud of how well I’ve adapted at work. I’ve had to look up a lot of things, both on and off the clock, but I’m doing pretty good for a guy who basically came out of a 13-year-long coma! …Though, I think I’m falling behind on the whole ‘family unit’ thing. Zoe calls me Dad, but I don’t know how to be the parent of an 18-year-old. And Nazz… Within him, I see the type of person Natasha always wanted to be. Strong, outspoken, bold, and with the competence to warrant an attitude. The problem is… he’s so independent that I don’t know how to help him. I don’t think I could really be his ‘stepdad’ or whatever.”
“I know I need to do something. I just don’t know what. The most obvious answer is to be his wife, except I already said I don’t want to live my life as a woman. If I had to, I’d find some way to enjoy it. …I guess I’ll just come out and ask him. It’s easier to be honest and upfront with those you love than guess what they want. And as for Zoe… I have a little something-something planned for tomorrow, and already worked it out with a cute young woman who was bizarrely interested in being a middle-aged man like me.”
Daisuke(Paz): “I thought I was going to get to be a young man again for a day but Paz had some other ideas. Even though she was in Gem’s body two weeks ago, she had wanted to ‘test out’ Gemma’s body. This meant going out for a full shopping trip where she posed as ‘my’ ‘niece.’ Clothes shopping, makeovers, manicure, pedicure, hair salon. Places that Paz had gone to before, often going with Shiaka or Haruki, meaning I had to pretend to be her around these… acquaintances. It was far from the most humiliating thing I had done, and I would not hesitate to admit that it was… nice getting pampered like that. Having someone shave the dead skin off my feet, give my face a deep cleansing, it was refreshing. I thought that would just be it for the day, yet Paz had… other plans. At this point, I shouldn’t be surprised. Paz wasn’t like this three weeks ago, but spending time as someone else can… change a person.”
Paz(Gemma): “I know I was being selfish today, but… when I saw Gemma, when I had her body just a few button presses away, I couldn’t resist. I had managed to avoid body issues for most of my life, trying to find pride in myself and love myself for what I was. …Except that is harder to do when you can feel what it’s like to be someone else. And after my time as Gem, I dearly wanted to try being in Gemma’s body, and when I was, I wanted to go out, be seen, and be pampered. She looks like the girls who I was jealous of back in high school. Tall, curvaceous, with great hair, and… I think I might have liked it a bit too much. Now I’m thinking over what Verde offered us before. Reshaping our bodies to better match our… preferences. I thought about doing it to make myself younger, just by a decade or so. I am comfortable with my normal body, but… is there anything wrong with wanting an upgrade?“
Haruki: “Ah balls. I forgot that I had some month-end deadlines to take care of, so I pulled another 12 hour day on that shit. I got it done but, still, kinda hate wasting a day of swapping fun on that. The good news is that… tomorrow I’m gonna fulfill one of my body swap dreams. I not only managed to schedule a swap with Zoe’s hot bod, but I’m meeting a friend of mine who’ll be in the city. I might only have a wee bit of experience as a dude, but I know I can get into her panty no problem. She’s a little skanky like that, and I know Zoe’s her type of man, so long as they have a sense of humor about things. …Wait. Is it breaking the code of consent if I fuck a friend of mine, who I’ve fucked before, like three times, in the body of a guy she’s never met, while keeping my identity a secret? …Eh. I’ll just fuck around and find out. Like a good scientist!”
Verde’s Doohickey 2.0 Main Page
Act 1: SwitchY Swap
May 16th: Prom Pomf Pomf Preview
May 29th: Enter Verde’s Doohickey 2.0
May 30th: Let’s Get Swappin’
May 31st: Flare Family Fiasco
June 1st: Graduation Day
June 2nd: The Kurokawa ‘Sisters’
June 3rd: My Day As Zoe Xing
June 4th: Love in Seoul
June 5th: Sister Mother and Sister Daughter
June 6th: Back 2.0 Basics
June 7th: Assembling the Posse
June 8th: Anita Neukar in… Vivi Gaimz
June 9th: Mother Daughter Heart-2.0-Heart
June 10th: Daisuke and Paz in… Wacked Up Wednesday
June 11th: VAG Swap
June 12th: Terra’s Tomorrow
June 13th: Haruki’s Birthday Bash
Act 2: CHAOTIC CHANGES
June 14th: Jade and the Kuro Abigale Quinlans
June 15th: Aku_Mako’s E3 2015 Rundown – Day Zero
June 16th: Transform Sex Power
June 17th: Erotic Blitz
June 18th: An Evening At The Local Water Park
June 19th: Date Night Cubed
June 20th: Chicago Diamond Symphonia
June 21st: The Father’s Day Resurrection Special
June 22nd: Nazz and Liang Do Flare Industries
June 23rd: The Kurokawa Family Visits the Museum of Science and Industry
June 24th: Whatever Happened to… Yuccot Kikansky?
June 25th: A World Where The Gamers Won
June 26th: Bond Xing
June 27th: SSS – Sizzling Sexual Summer
June 28th: Lesbians 2.0 Gay Boys
June 29th: Caroline and Raiyne’s Cabin Logs
ACT 3: WORLDLY WONDERS
July 1st: We Lost the Remote in Tokyo!
July 2nd: Maid Café Mishaps
July 3rd: Pier Parties and Peaceful Palavers
July 4th: The Freedom To Get High At Burger Queen!
July 5th: From Nippon With Love
July 6th: Let’s Go Mexico with Haruya ‘n’ Da Boyz! Episode 1
July 7th: Jade & Caroline’s Austrian Adventure Episode 1
July 8th: Max’s Buff Quest Episode 1
July 9th: Let’s Go Mexico with Haruya ‘n’ Da Boyz! Episode 2
July 10th: Jade & Caroline’s Austrian Adventure Episode 2
July 11th: Max’s Buff Quest Episode 2
July 12th: Let’s Go Mexico with Haruya ‘n’ Da Boyz! Episode 3
July 13th: Jade & Caroline’s Austrian Adventure Episode 3
July 14th: Max’s Buff Quest Episode 3
July 15th: Utage Three-Point-Oh!