Orchid!5tTWT1eydY 2015/08/22(Sat)14:48 No. 664502 ID: 3bc92d
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You head back downstairs.

Lily immediately rushes over to Raven and Veronica. “Ronnie, are you okay? What happened?”

At the sight of Lily, Ronnie looks like she’s going to start crying again. “Your parents… your parents are really nice, Lily.” She keeps wiping her eyes, and she’s so choked up that she can barely speak. “I wish -“ She cuts herself off, slapping a hand to her mouth. “I mean… if I still had a family, I would want it to be like yours.”

Lily hugs Veronica. Veronica cries. You sigh and wait for the waterworks to pass. Once Veronica’s calmed down a bit, you clap your hands once to get the swap-ees’ attention. ”Okay. Let’s do this.”

You pull Veronica and Lily forwards. Mom and Dad look completely nonplussed. They look at Lily. “Who is this? Girls, what’s going on?”

You search for words, not quite sure what you should say. How exactly are you supposed to explain this?

>>664502
Introduce lily to them, then reintroduce Veronica.

Say this is why Lily was screaming in class. Just gloss over exactly why it happened, go "I dunno, maybe a wizard did it." I'm not sure how to prove it. Veronica has the proper memories, but Lily doesn't, aside from the past few days.

...maybe Lily can use those recent memories?

>How exactly are you supposed to explain this?
Half formal introductions, half silly beauty show.

Mom, Dad, may I introduce to you to your daughter, Lily Wilton. Tonight she's wearing Veronica Diez. And over here, we have Veronica Diez, wearing Lily. Lilly, Mom Dad. Ronnie, my parents.

(And obviously you have to gesture to whoever you're introducing at the time).

So yeah. Inexplicable freaky friday shit happened and Lily caused freakouts. That's why we pulled them the hell out of school.

Then kick back and watch the disbelief and chaos. (When your parents disbelieve, your response should be: "try 'em").

This is going to get weird fast.

Just tell them about Veronica's addiction and how she was kicked out of her own house. eL... had her own issues recently and decided to make friends. She'd like to stay.

As family.

The good news is, she's willing to take up a contract, do some work, act as a dependent.

The bad news is that her asshole ex-boyfriend (Silvio) is stalking everyone around her. It won't stop even if they kick her out, he's fixated on ruining random people for fun.

Orchid!5tTWT1eydY 2015/08/23(Sun)21:40 No. 664739 ID: 3bc92d
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“Okay, Mom, Dad, this is going to sound a little nuts, but you have to promise to take it seriously, okay?” You wait. “Okay?” You repeat.

Dad nods, then prods Mom. After a beat, Mom nods too.

“Alright, then!” You gently push Veronica aside, then flourish at Lily. “Allow me to introduce your daughter, Lily Wilton. She’s wearing the body of Veronica Diez. Speaking of Veronica Diez…” You gesture at Veronica. “Veronica is over there, in the body of Lily Wilton. Veronica, meet Mom and Dad, Mom and Dad, meet Veronica.”

“Hi.” Veronica waves weakly. “Pleased to meet you. I’m really sorry that I’m in your daughter’s body.”

Lily sighs. “You don’t have to apologize, Ronnie. It’s not your fault.”

“But Lily-!”

“Wait.” Mom blinks. “I don’t understand.”

“Me neither.” Dad looks between Lily and Veronica. “What are you talking about?”

You shrug. “You were wondering why Lily broke out screaming in class? Turns out that wasn’t Lily. Ron realized she was in the wrong body, and she freaked.”

“Wrong body?” Dad looks bewildered. “What do you mean, ‘wrong body’?”

“It’s me, Dad.” Lily says, quiet. “I’m in Ronnie’s body, but it’s me. I’m Lily.”

“Excuse me?” Mom mumbles.

“That’s not possible.” Dad shakes his head, his face pale.

“You’re a scientist, Dad. A mathematician. You can’t just say that things are impossible. You have to prove it.” Lily walks right up to Dad, a serious look on her face. “I’ll give you proof. Ask me anything. Do whatever you need to do. I’m your daughter, on the inside. I’m Lily.”

“And I’m not.” Veronica adds. “I don’t know how I can prove it, but… my name is Veronica Diez, I’m eighteen years old, and I’m a friend of your daughter.” She fiddles with her clothes, looking very anxious. “We switched bodies.”

Orchid!5tTWT1eydY 2015/08/23(Sun)21:41 No. 664740 ID: 3bc92d
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“Wait.” Dad puts a hand to his head. “Slow down. You’re saying that you’re Lily?” He points to Lily.

“Yeah, Dad. It’s me.” Lily is practically pleading. “Please believe me.”

“If that’s true…” He looks like he’s utterly lost. “This is so strange. I don’t understand.”

“Ask me a question that only I would know the answer to, Dad.”

Lily’s clear command pulls Dad out of his stupor. He thinks for a moment. “I bought Lily a stuffed monkey when she was nine. What color was it?”

“Mr. Jummytum? He’s purple. I still have him somewhere.”

Dad’s eyes go wide. He’s silent for a while, thinking up another question. “What was the first book Lily and I read together after she turned thirteen?”

“Um… Oh! ’A Short History of Nearly Everything’.” Lily dutifully recites. “We kept switching off on who was reading aloud. I got every other chapter.”

“Oh my god.” Dad stumbles over to the couch and collapses, face blank. “Oh my god.” He repeats dumbly. “It’s really her, Acacia. I don’t know how, but it’s her.”

Mom strides over and stands in front of Lily. Mom stares at her, as if sizing her up. “Haash yinilyé?” You recognize it as diné bizaad - Navajo. Mom tried to teach it to you and Lily when you were younger. You never really got the hang of it, but Lily had managed to learn a few phrases.

“Shí éí Lily yinishyé.” Lily stumbles over the words a bit, and she seems unsure of herself as she says them. After a moment, she continues, smiling softly. “Ayóó ánííníshí, Mom.”

Mom stares at Lily for a full minute. Lily bites her lip, obviously nervous. Then Mom slowly reaches her arms around Lily and holds her close. “I love you too.”

Lily hugs back, relief washing over her face. “Thank you for believing me.”

“Are you okay? You’re not in pain or anything like that, are you?” Mom’s tone is concerned, even gentle, for once. If she was like this all of the time, you think you’d like Mom a lot more. “God, Lily, what happened to you?”

“We don’t know. It just did. My stomach and my head hurt, then everything felt like it was shaking, then it was like I was blind and flying through darkness at a thousand miles per hour, but then it all stopped, I looked down, and I was Veronica. Sorry for skipping school, by the way, but we didn’t know what else to do. We were all freaked out by the switch, and Ronnie is really, really sick - I’m sick, now - so we came home right away.”

“Sick? How sick?” Mom’s voice is worried. “Should we take you to the hospital?”

Lily glances back at you and Veronica, as if she’s not sure how to respond. Veronica looks to you, equally unsure of what she should or shouldn't say.

>>664740
It's um, a private issue. It should be fixed in a couple days, don't worry about it. (WISH IT AWAY)

>>664740

Wait, is Lily mentioning the eventual heroin crash that she's going to have in Ronnie's body? Saying that's she on drugs is probably hospital worthy. I mean, Veronica could have had enough of that drug that her body might just give up soon. Shooting up again is not an option. It's not viable and it's life threatening.

Switching back quickly or not, if her body can't take it anymore or dies, that's it. Game over and someone will have to spend a wish to revive you. It's better to be safe than sorry, no matter the repercussions of more people finding out. Veronica's parents finding out her daughter's in the hospital, possibly having to tell them about the body swap if they come, which I'm against, and further spreading the word of Metamyriad than it already is when we probably shouldn't be getting the attention of it. We want to help Veronica because she's messed up and got nowhere to go to, right?

Though, I don't know how everyone feels about using a wish to remove such an addiction, and fix the damage to the body. Either way, it should be discussed sooner rather than later with any party really.

This isn't the full truth, of course. Tell them that. Tell them that they need to get used to crazy, not just to mitigate the frustration, but because the level of insanity this reaches would break their minds.

Like Veronica's parents.

What they need to know is that the person responsible for this is a stalker. You've got another friend, Pendel (don't say his full name yet), who is your main contact to the world of weird. Unfortunately, he has an ex-boyfriend Silvio who is powerful and sadistic. He can hire anyone, go anywhere, and he's fixated on beating his personal best for wanton chaos and destruction - starting with anyone Pendel has been in contact with. Obviously he had something to do with all this.

Explain as little as you can about how because you don't want your parents caught up in the fight between Silvio and Pendel. It isn't even lying to say we don't know how Pendel or Silvio make these things happen, so we can truthfully say, "Regarding how, well, we don't really know. The last thing Veronica remembers before this happened was wishing she weren't herself, so for all we know it's some crazy fantasy nonsense like evil genies."
Also, because the parents are scared, worried, and won't let up until they know what 'sick' means we have to tell them. They want something to do about their daughter being in trouble, and this will give them something they can do.
"Her creepy uncle got her addicted to heroin so now I'm currently high. We've been confused about what to do about this because neither of us are properly ourself. Her parents couldn't afford rehab and just kicked her out so she's homeless right now too."

>“Sick? How sick?” Mom’s voice is worried. “Should we take you to the hospital?”
Uh, shit. I think we have to be honest, again. We're not gonna be able to hide that effectively (sans wishes), they're really going to be paying attention to her, and if they catch us in an obvious lie we loose all credibility.

*Sigh* She's not sick. She's high. Ronnie's life is kind of fucked up now. Dad, she flinched away from the nice guy routine because her parents are jerks who kicked her out instead of frigging trying to help her.

(Refuge in Orcid-bluntness)!

>>664794
Nope. No mentioning anyone being responsible. Just don't address the magic, Pendel or Silvio ot all.

Yes a hospital would be appropriate. Veronica, please explain the basics about your family.

Orchid!5tTWT1eydY 2015/08/27(Thu)11:10 No. 665298 ID: 3bc92d
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You sigh. “She’s not sick, mom. She’s high.”

Mom and Dad both turn with a start. “Excuse me?!”

“I’m sorry!” Squeaks Veronica. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt anybody else.” She shivers and cries a bit more. “It’s heroin. Lily’s high on heroin. I’m - I’m addicted to heroin, and now Lily’s addicted instead.”

“No…” Mom’s face is transfixed with shock. “No!”

“This has to be a nightmare.” Dad mutters, pale. “This doesn’t make any sense. None of this makes any sense.”

“It’s not that bad.” Lily speaks up. “I’m okay, really. I think the high has almost passed, too.”

“Lily, stop saying that. You haven’t crashed yet.” Raven puts her hand on Lily’s shoulder. “You do know how serious this is, right?”

“Yeah, I… I guess so.” Lily shakes her head. “But, honestly, you don’t have to worry about me so much.”

“That’s it.” Mom walks to the door and opens it, standing aside. “We’re going to the hospital, now. Basil, you have the keys. Get up.”

Dad stands up silently.

“Lily, Orchid, Raven, and…” Mom hesitates. “Veronica. All of you, into the car. Let’s go.”

You glance at the stairs. Ikram and Pendel are still up in your room.

Yeah. Great. Let's just make a big deal out of something that would take 5 minutes to wish away. Now either Lily/Veronica has to sit in rehab for the next few months or we wind up doing a retroactive wish to eliminate the fact that we said anything about it. There's no in between here! Even if we wish away the long-term effects of the drug while she's in rehab, they will still keep her there until they're sure she's better! REHAB IS NOT A SHORT TERM SOLUTION.

Also who's going to pay for it after we get their minds swapped back? Are lily's parents rich enough and generous enough to just pay for Ronnie's rehabilitation?

Anyway tell them you gotta go get something from your room first, so you can talk to Ikram and get his wish fucking decided on so he doesn't do it on his own and potentially fuck everything up by wiping everyone's memories.

>>665298
Okay, your parents seem to be capable of taking insanity in small doses. Don't tell them everything at once, but you can give further hints over a long-term period.

Addiction is a complex matter, made of moving parts across multiple fields that the human imagination can't target and wish away, so the hospital is probably a good idea. But if anyone says ANYTHING about body-swapping please punch them in the face before this gets out of hand.

Be on the watch for Silvio. If you detect him, find a weapon and use non-lethal attacks.

>>665298
Um. Wait. Lily's in Ronnie. Ronnie's a minor, and you're not her parents. So the hospital is going to call Ronnie's parents when you bring her in.

I'm all for making sure Lily doesn't die, but how do we stop them from taking Lily from us and handing her over to Ronnie's terrible parents who threw her out on the street instead of making sure she got treatment?

>Ikram and Pendel are still up in your room
Great. I really hope Pendel is right and he doesn't change his mind and make a wish while he's all alone. That's all we need- for this to get messier.

>Even if we wish away the long-term effects of the drug while she's in rehab, they will still keep her there until they're sure she's better!
Well, not if you cure her retroactively, so she never would have gone to rehab. Course, as we're well aware, that has it's own consequences.

Notify Ikram and Pendel of the developments by text message. Ask Pendel if abnormally-but-not-supernaturally quick, easy, complication-free rehab is an acceptable 1-point wish and what other effects such a wish might have.

>>665367
Uhh, from memory, those two don't have phones at all.

>>665320
I agree, there's nothing much you can do sadly, you could probably plead to the hospital that the family committing child neglect and that they're a threat to Veronica but mandatory reporting laws are a thing in Washington.

As for Ikram and Pendel, I'm more for at least notifying them that we're going to the hospital. Make some excuse up that you need to quickly go to your room if you have to, Orchid.

Orchid!5tTWT1eydY 2015/08/29(Sat)05:19 No. 665540 ID: 3bc92d
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“Mom, Dad, I’ve gotta go get…” You hesitate, thinking fast. “…my phone. It’s still up in the room.”

After a brief moment, Mom nods her assent. “Okay. Go run and get it, fast as you can. The rest of you, into the car. Go.”

You run up the stairs, throwing the door open. Ikram jumps at the suddenness, but Pendel only smiles expectantly. “Hello, Orchid.”

“Yeah, yeah, hi, whatever. Ikram, the rest of us are going to the hospital. Please don’t make any wishes while we’re gone, okay? We really don’t need any memory-wipes to make this situation any weirder.”

“Uh, what?” Ikram glowers. “I’ve been waiting for over an hour as it is. How long do you expect me to just chill out with the genie while you deal with all of this bullshit?”

“Dude, come on, our parents are freaking the fuck out.”

“Yeah, and my sister’s dead.” Ikram sighs through his teeth. “Look, I know you’ve got problems too, but… I don’t know where all of this is going, or how long we’ll have this guy around.” He points at Pendel. “Every minute I wait could be the minute that I lose this chance. I just want my sister back, okay? I can deal with any crazy shit that happens to me, but I want Ayame to be alive and healthy when this is all said and done.”

“If either of you would like to do so, this would be a prime moment to make any wishes, including the ones you’ve been considering. Or not.” Pendel shrugs. “Orchid, I do know you’ve been thinking of turning back the clock, wiping your parents’ memories. For two credits, I can do that. Then again, you have three credits to spare, so you also could go for superpowers, or practically anything else that crosses your mind.”

“Orchid!” You hear Mom calling you from the bottom of the stairs. “Hurry it up!”

Not a good idea. Until Silvio is dealt with and his trap network is disabled, every wish you make has the potential to kill you.

Hope nothing goes wrong with the drive tho.

Actually, I think we might want to consider it, or at least try and work out what can go wrong so we don't get unintended side-effects...
I'm thinking wish Ayame is alive, and if needed, for memories of her being around so we know what's the changes will be.
Orc can wish to be slightly taller if only for wish-shielding, and so it's not a big change that throws everything off.

>I don’t know where all of this is going, or how long we’ll have this guy around
You could ask him, maybe. He's a person, not just a magic force that fucks up lives, though he seems to do that too.

Pendel, you gonna leave him high and dry if he delays not to fuck us over, or can you make some kind of promise he'll get to spend his wish dosh so he'll stop freaking out.

>would you like to make a wish, Orcid?
Well, to do that, I'd first have to go through this whole song and dance to make sure you didn't really teleport off somewhere with Ikram when I was out of the room, and that I'm not talking to Silvio and a magic imposter right now.

Also even without evil genies, poorly thought out wishes are bad. I need more than the spur of the moment while my mother shouts to think. So unless you've got a complimentary wish-discussion time-stop up your sleeve...?

Honestly, the one big fucking wish we have right now is to switch those two back. But you can't / won't do that. Everything else we're even considering is a hack solution to deal with that (and really, per customer service, those coping fixes should be complimentary until he resolves the problem. Heck, even switching them back should be free, since the switch bypassed the regular rules, and Ronnie was tricked into it, and no credits were spent on it).

...we wouldn't be rushing off to the hospital and worried about drugs if we just fixed Ronnie's habit. But then we're burning Orcid's points on her problem, and since she's not in the loop, we'd be permanently messing with Ronnie's head.

>>665540
Orchid needs to make a wish to preserve her memories. So let's get some superpowers. Hmm. Should be something that can be used without people freaking out about it, or something that can't be blamed on her. How about... the ability to remember things perfectly on command? That would help a lot with studying, and is really useful in many lines of work.

I'm in favor of turning back time so Lily doesn't have to go to rehab, but... then we have to wish away the addiction, and Raven is refusing to wish for anything, so someone else is gonna have to use wish credits.

>>665556
Ronnie made a wish (the body swap), her head is safe.

>>665558
Not if we're wishing to cure her addiction, since her addiction is part of her head. Ronnie was already concerned about what curing herself meant, and it'll only be worse if she's not even involved in the decision, or how it works.

You could wish for the superpower to cure any and all organic poisons with a touch and a silent act of will, including long-term effects thereof such as opiate addiction. Greatly simplifies the immediate crisis, and it's likely to have long-term utility. Dispensing miracle cures might be a great way to rack up wish credits. Shouldn't change history if you've never used it before.

New plan: bellydance your problems away

Orchid!5tTWT1eydY 2015/09/11(Fri)22:35 No. 669139 ID: 3bc92d
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“How do I know that you’re not that evil zombie genie or whatever?”

“I’ve done all I can do to prove myself to you.” Pendel gestures at himself. “If this isn’t enough, nothing ever will be. Silvio can read minds, and apparently he can shift his shape. This being the case, I honestly don’t see any way that I could completely prove my identity to you.”

“I guess so. Fuck it, I might as well believe you. Can you put Ikram’s fears to rest? You’re not going to leave him high and dry, are you?”

Pendel shrugs.

“You sketchy alien fuck!”

“I’m still not an alien, and I’m also not in the habit of making promises like that. Sorry.”

“Fucking great. Thanks a lot for that.” You groan irritably. “Well, I need to make a wish before Ikram changes the past, right? Otherwise I’ll get mind-wiped or whatever. So, superpowers-“

“The ability to remove organic poisons from the human body or the power to remember things perfectly at will? A bit lower-key than I was expecting. You do understand you could wish for the ability to fly, or to change your shape, or-”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. What did you expect? These wishes seem to have a habit of fucking people over. Low-key seems safer to me.”

“The wishes work perfectly. People just don’t think them through.” Pendel sighs.

“Yeah, well, I can think of one wish we’ve thought through. Put my sister back in her body.” You cross your arms. “Seriously, why haven’t you granted that wish already?”

“Because I don’t know what it could do to Lily. Trust me when I say that Silvio is a lying, manipulative, murderous, amoral son of a bitch who doesn’t take any action without planning ahead on multiple levels of complexity. I am absolutely sure that whatever trap he’s prepared will be triggered by our trying to fix it. But…” He goes still for a moment, like he’s thinking something over. “…beyond that, there’s another reason why I’m hesitant to return them to their original bodies.”

You wait for a few seconds. “…so? What is it? I don’t have a lot of time, here.”

“Sorry, dealing with the eternal plight of being a mindreader: debating whether I should violate other people's privacy or not.” He taps his head, continues to think for a moment, then shrugs. “Oh, it’ll probably come up on its own, eventually, so I might as well tell you now: neither of them wants to switch back.”

That will change, I can see why in both cases: In one case someone is seriously creeped out by being a twin of Orchid and their bizarro family life that's just similar enough to be creepy--mostly stupid reasons. In the other we have the somewhat more reasonable desire to avoid the mess of dealing with family that burned their bridges and treated her like shit over a mental health issue, and then the mental health issue and its secondary problems on top. Eventually they'll each realize that this isn't a vacation in someone else's body from their problems with self-alienation because no matter where you go, there you are.

Also, why would there be a time-limit on redeeming wish credits--is it just to be a jerk or what? It seems like by threatening to run out on Ikram with an unfulfilled wish and credit towards obtaining it you're trying to rush him into something here. Is that the case, and if so why?

>>669139
Why the hell does Lily want to stay in that body?

Also for higher key powers how about... the ability to tell if someone's lying or not. Yes, even Pendel and Silvio.

Oh...
Cripes, it makes sense.
'lily' is not lily but Wistera, a boy who wished to be a girl all his life but now is thrust into a life he never lived, and feels like he stole someone else's life. So, getting to fix up a druggie's life by being the daughter that family wanted, without the baggage of suddenly being in a life he doesn't know? Awesome.
And Veronica...Well, her life was sucking but now she has a warm loving family. Why give that up?
Basically...I'm thinking instead of wishing Lily into another body, wish that Lily had the MEMORIES of the lily she became first. THEN, she won't feel like a stranger in her skin, but will truly be at home in her skin...And more importantly, want it back.
As for Veronica...That's the hard part. That's the part we were trying to work on before Silvo screwed everything to high heaven....
Actually...
Why not let her have this family? Why not wish your mother had a third daughter, that was Veronica?
And since memoeries will get messed up from that, wish beforehand that we have the memories of that, so there's no confusion. Also throw in that you met with Mercy and did that thing with her you did, because that actually went well in all this mess.
And if possible, in the making veronica your sister thing? Get Ayame back in with that wish.
Flip all the tables now since we're doing that instead of having to stop and think and get scared and not go.

>The wishes work perfectly. People just don’t think them through.
You say as you set the situation to pressure me to make a wish while my mother is shouting for me to hurry up, and the deadline of mopey boy mind-wiping me, loom. I'm not a mind reader, but I do understand what playing someone is. Circumstances aren't giving us the chance to think them through long enough.

>the ability to fly
We live in a future with flying camera drones and radar and gun nuts and who knows what else. Flight isn't practical unless it comes with a whole big superhero package to keep me safe when doing it.

>to change your shape
That just looked creepy. And unlike you, or evil genie, or my sister, or Ronnie, I never wanted to be anyone else. I'm awesome. Respect the Orc, bro.

>The ability to remove organic poisons from the human body or the power to remember things perfectly at will?
What if we made the first one more broad? Like, manipulate chemistry. We could negate poisons / drugs, but we could do a hell of a lot more than that.

Memory power isn't anything to sneeze at either, (especially if it goes past wish revisions). I would mean you'd never have to study again, learning anything would be super easy, you could solve crimes by getting witnesses to actually remember things...

>I might as well tell you now: neither of them wants to switch back.
Thank you very much for giving two messed up people the chance to run away from their lives and problems. I'm sure that isn't going to blow up terribly, eventually.

Fiiiiine. That's a real reason, I guess. *Grumble* Gotta help them both through their frigging self blame complexes or whatever so they stop feeling guilty about being themselves.

...hey, here's one promise you are getting stuck with. If you bug out on us before we get them fixed, I will make you regret it, magic wish powers or not.

Orchid, wish for the ability to heal all the adverse effects of poison, not just remove it. Addiction is complicated. Magically extracting opiate molecules from somebody's bloodstream isn't the same as recalibrating burned-out nerves. Heroin withdrawal can be fatal to somebody who goes super-cold turkey like that.

Ikram, wish for Ayame to have never actually died, but rather faked her death in some way that's functionally indistinguishable from the perspective of everyone you know personally, just like Racer X, such that she is now hiding in the trunk of Orchid's parents' car for some perfectly logical reason.

Orchid!5tTWT1eydY 2015/09/15(Tue)14:31 No. 669773 ID: 3bc92d
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“What? Why the fuck would Lily want to stay in that body?!”

“Something tells me you already know.”

“Like hell I…” You hesitate, thinking it over. Lily did break down in tears a bunch of times yesterday and today, and she has a confusing new life she doesn’t really remember. Meanwhile, Veronica is a drug addict with a family that abandoned her. Two messed-up people who would probably jump at the opportunity to have a vacation from themselves. “Okay, maybe I sort of get it. But it’s still completely fucking stupid.”

“Take it up with them, then. Now, about your wish - ooh, those are nice ideas.”

“Would you quit that?! Get out of my head, you dick!”

“And here I thought you were worried about being rushed. This will go a lot more quickly if we don’t pretend that I don’t know what you’re thinking of asking.”

“It’s still annoying. At least let me think over what I actually want. I’ll say it when I’m sure.”

“Very well.” He pauses. “Since you’re convinced of my identity, by the way, I think I’ll just…” With a flourish, he returns to his normal, creepy-looking self. You blink, surprised at the speed of it. He smiles. “Ah, there we are! Much more comfortable, as well as dashing and handsome. Oh, don’t bother contradicting me. Your attraction is written all over your thoughts.” He laughs.

“I think I liked you better when you were uncomfortable.” You grumble. “How about the ability to tell if someone’s lying? And have it work on, like, anyone, even you and the evil genie.”

“Solid idea, but tricky to execute, since truth is a very subjective concept. I could almost certainly get around any sort of lie detection in a minute or two, and Silvio is even more adept at deceit.”

“Fine. How about the ability to manipulate chemistry, then? Like, all of it. That should let me do all sorts of things, right? Like, clean up heroin addiction and stuff?”

“It’s a bit vague, but it would certainly work. Is that your wish?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. I feel a bit rushed with all of this, which doesn’t exactly lend itself well to ‘thinking things through’. Seriously, why can’t you just promise to stick around?”

“I dislike promises. They make me feel… trapped.” Pendel’s expression flickers into one of worry for a moment, but his smile quickly returns. “I suppose I could make a minor exception and promise to stick around for an hour or so, though, if it really means that much to you.”

>Why not let her have this family? Why not wish your mother had a third daughter, that was Veronica?

Look, uh, Veronica seems nice and all, but you’re not exactly sure you want a retroactive sister who happens to be a heroin junkie. You don’t even know her all that well.

>Oh, don’t bother contradicting me. Your attraction is written all over your thoughts.
Keep it up and I'll wish for a creepy you-fuckdoll just to spite you.

>chemistry manipulation
The biggest potential complications are (a) if it's a skill and therefore has a learning curve and/or requires knowledge or practice to use properly (meaning it'll be initially useless, and worse, dangerous to learn how to affect people with) and (b) the mechanism by which it operates. If there's a range, if it works by touch, if you're actually managing a chemical reaction that technically follows the rules or if you're just willing something different.

>I suppose I could make a minor exception and promise to stick around for an hour or so, though, if it really means that much to you.
I thought you'd be at least sticking around until you understood what Sil-butt did to my sister and Ronnie, so they'd have the chance to switch back, even if they're being stupid about it right at this minute. Doesn't have to be a promise if those weird you out, but you owe them that much.

>you’re not exactly sure you want a retroactive sister who happens to be a heroin junkie. You don’t even know her all that well.
Yeah it takes longer than you've know her to be cool with effectively adopting someone, retroactive magic or not.

If Pendel's not comfortable with promises, maybe the appropriate compromise would be a simple statement of intent. How long is he intending to stick around, if nothing especially unexpected happens?

I think we may be overlooking the obvious, here. How about a superpower for thinking things through? Sort of a package of related powers, but if "manipulate chemicals" is okay it shouldn't be too much. Basically, the ability to put the world on pause at will and analyze everything you already know or can currently perceive in meticulous detail, as if you'd studied that millisecond for a full day, taken comprehensive notes, and then gotten a good night's sleep while some magical ubercomputer crunched it's way through any relevant numbers.

And the power to unpause the world after you're done, of course. Don't forget that bit.

Orchid!5tTWT1eydY 2015/10/09(Fri)10:58 No. 675610 ID: 3bc92d
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“I thought you’d at least stick around until you figured out what’s going on with whatshisface.”

“That is a mystery I would like to solve, true.” He shrugs. “Fine. I promise I won’t leave until I understand how Silvio is here, and what his intentions are.”

“Yeah, okay. So, um, for wishes, I was thinking the power to think things through would be-“ You blink. Pendel and Ikram have vanished. “…what the hell?”

The door opens behind you. “Ahem.” Mom clears her throat. “Orchid Wilton! Can you please explain to me why you are wasting time while your sister’s life is on the line?!”

“Hey, I wasn’t wasting time!”

“Really? You could have fooled me! What exactly was taking you so long?”

“I…” You struggle to find an excuse for a moment, then, out of the corner of your eye, you see the edge of a shirt sticking out of your wardrobe. You grab it and pull it out. “I wanted a warmer shirt, ‘cause, like, I don’t know how long we’ll be at the hospital. I’m ready now.”

“Good. Come down to the car. Everyone’s waiting.” Mom turns and walks back down the stairs.

You grab your phone, quickly change shirts, then rush downstairs and hop in the car.

Orchid!5tTWT1eydY 2015/10/09(Fri)11:01 No. 675613 ID: 3bc92d
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You end up crammed in the back seat with Lily, Ronnie, and Raven. It’s not exactly comfortable, but at least you managed to get a window seat. As soon as you close the car door and buckle your seatbelt, Dad revs up the engine and pulls the car out of the driveway.

Everyone’s very quiet, and the atmosphere is tense. Raven cuddles Lily a bit, but they both look worried. You occasionally throw annoyed glances at Ronnie and Lily. Why the fuck would they want to stay this way? You’re pretty sure that if you were in an addict’s body, the only thing you’d want would be to get back to normal. What are these idiots thinking? Are they even thinking at all?

After a little while spent stewing in your own irritation, you try to take your mind off of it. You spend a short time absently staring out of the window at the passing scenery.

Eventually, you feel something tug at your shirt. You turn to see Ronnie. She looks absolutely miserable, with tears in her eyes. She glances at Mom and Dad, then leans in and whispers in your ear. “What do you think is going to happen when we get to the hospital?”

You shrug.

“Yeah, I don't know either.” Ronnie hesitates, then starts whispering again. “Hey, um… we haven’t really had a chance to talk, but I was wondering about something, and I figured I’d ask: Do you dislike me, Orchid?”

>You’re pretty sure that if you were in an addict’s body, the only thing you’d want would be to get back to normal.
Lily doesn't have a normal. She wished her whole life different already. At least this weird new body didn't come with expectations.

>Do you dislike me, Orchid?
I barely know you. And... not in the best of circumstances.

I kind of resent this whole mess, but it's not like you did it on purpose. And... you could have been a lot worse. Not exactly what I expected from a drug addict body snatched, honestly.

When your girlfriend asks you a question, the answer is always Yes.

>>675629
Ronnie isn't Mercy. (Unless there's been more body swapping).

Orchid!5tTWT1eydY 2015/10/09(Fri)17:01 No. 675668 ID: 3bc92d
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“No offense, Ron, but I barely know you. The only reason we met in the first place is because you got stuck in my sister’s body. I am pissed off that you switched places with Lily, but you had no way to know that it would happen.” You sigh. “You’ve been pretty good about stuff so far. Way better than I would have expected, honestly. I thought you would get high in Lily’s body the first chance you got.”

“I would never do that to her.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t know you. I still don’t, really.” You glance at her. “Why do you care what I think of you, anyway? I’m a stranger to you, too.”

“Are you? I mean, if you look at it a certain way, we’re family right now.” Ronnie smiles very slightly. “Genetically, physically… I’m technically your sister, right?”

“Technically.” You feel your eye twitch. “But you’re not my sister. Don’t forget that.”

Ronnie looks crestfallen. “I wasn’t being serious.”

“I was.” You turn away. “Besides, that’s not the real reason why you asked me, is it?”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Then what is?”

Orchid!5tTWT1eydY 2015/10/09(Fri)17:02 No. 675670 ID: 3bc92d
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“I’m just trying to figure out why I’m like this.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Huh? Like what?”

“Like I am. All fucked up.” She bites her lip. “Just… why do I always make all the wrong decisions? Why did I start shooting up with my uncle? Why did I push Lily away when she was just trying to help? Why am I in her body? Why did I break down in tears just because I was hugged by a stranger? Why - why did my parents throw me out? Why didn’t they even try to take me to the hospital?”

“I, uh…” You shuffle around in your seat, feeling uncomfortable. “I don’t know if I’m really qualified to help you figure that stuff out, Ron.”

“But you always look at me in the same sort of way that mom and dad did. I thought you might know why they… I don’t know. I don’t really know what I thought. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, does it? S-sorry. Forget that I said anything.” Veronica starts to cry, but she keeps mumbling through the tears. “Sorry. Don’t worry about me, it’s nothing. I just… I don’t feel great right now.” She sobs.

Yikes.

This is so, so awkward. What the fuck are you supposed to do here?

>Ronnie looks crestfallen
Her own family cast her out, and she blamed herself. She's pretty clearly desperate for some kind of connection, here.

>This is so, so awkward. What the fuck are you supposed to do here?
Hugs? Go "there there"? There's not much to do with someone crying but try to comfort them.

Trying to answer her questions:

>Why - why did my parents throw me out? Why didn’t they even try to take me to the hospital?
I would guess they simply have no idea how addiction works, if they thought throwing you out might scare you strait.

>Why did I break down in tears just because I was hugged by a stranger?
That's easy. As was already said, she's desperate for a connection and unguarded kindness totally caught her off guard.

>Why am I in her body?
Because Idiom. But that's a meta-reason. :v

>Why did I push Lily away when she was just trying to help?
People in bad places don't always react rationally. You're not necessarily in a position to see help as what it is, or accept it.

>Just… why do I always make all the wrong decisions? Why did I start shooting up with my uncle?
Well, there's a pretty general "people are stupid". I would guess something was bothering her in the first place if she was willing to try it. Or maybe some part of her thought she'd have to be okay if he could do it?

"People make bad decisions when they don't understand the whole situation, or are under stress, or... all kinds of reasons. It's just a fact of life."
Tap side of your head with one finger, as if to indicate the contents.
"The human brain is such a fragile, glitchy piece of meat, it's some kind of a miracle we can think at all. That's why five minutes ago I stacked another miracle onto mine just to make it work better, when I could've gotten flight or x-ray vision or bloodbending or whatever instead. I've made bad decisions too, you know? But I always got back up and moved forward. I'll help you find a real professional counselor once we get to the hospital. Pretty much everything you've been through, they will have seen somebody who's had worse, and they know how to help. For anything modern medicine and psychiatry can't cope with, well, miracles and magic are real. We'll find a way."

Then call Ikram, find out where he got retcon-teleported to.

Orchid!5tTWT1eydY 2015/11/18(Wed)09:35 No. 684712 ID: 3bc92d
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>five minutes ago I stacked another miracle onto mine just to make it work better, when I could've gotten flight or x-ray vision or bloodbending or whatever instead.

You’re not entirely sure that your wish was granted. You don’t feel any different, at least.

>call Ikram, find out where he got retcon-teleported to.

You would, but that dumbass doesn’t even have a phone. Seriously, what a luddite.

>She's pretty clearly desperate for some kind of connection, here.

Sighing quietly, you reluctantly hug Ronnie, bringing her close. “There, there.“ You pat her head. “People in bad places don’t always think rationally, Ron, but you’re getting better, no matter what happens. Tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, someday soon, you’ll be fine. You’ll be happy. The trick is dealing with all of the bullshit while you’re working on getting there.”

“But…” Ronnie glances at her body, with Lily inside it. “I only know one way of dealing with stuff.”

“Well, you can’t do that anymore. We won’t let you. Look, Ron, I’m not - I mean, I know I’m kind of a - a harsh person, but if you really do want my opinion, I’ll tell you what I think, and I’ll be honest. Is that what you want?”

“Y-yeah. It could help me figure things out.” Ronnie sniffles, and you suddenly feel an odd sense of responsibility. Maybe it’s just because she looks like Lily.

“Right, then. Let’s see… about the whole ‘shooting up’ thing, don’t worry about it. It’s your uncle who fucked up, not you. He should never have let you join in. As for Lily… god, it feels weird to talk to Lily about Lily, but… sometimes, when we’re desperate, we don’t always make the best decisions. It’s hard to see help for what it is, or to accept it. It’s not your fault.”

“But it’s still me making all of these stupid decisions.” Ronnie sniffles. “I should be a better person than this.”

“Ha. That’s not… Huh. Okay, Ron, I’m going to tell you something, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else, okay?”

“Huh? Okay. I promise.”

“Then here goes.” You lean in a bit closer, and whisper more quietly. “I’m the dumb kid in my family. I’ve got bad grades, I’m bad with people, and I’m scared of a lot of stupid shit. I don’t have any real friends besides Lily and Raven. Everyone around me knows what they’re good at: Dad’s a mathematician, Lily’s got straight-As and is an actress, and Mom is a wonderful dancer. Me, though? I can’t do anything, and most people think I’m a bitch, anyway.”

“I, um… I don’t think that.”

“Really?”

Veronica hesitates.

“Don’t worry about it.” You shrug. “It’s okay. I know I’m a jerk a lot of the time. It’s just who I am, I guess. I mean, when I try to let that anger go, all that’s left is a scared, weak little girl.”

“I don’t think that you’re weak.”

“Thanks.” You sigh. “I’m sorry. There was a point to this whole speech, back when I started it, but I guess it kind of turned into me whining about my problems, huh?”

“I don’t mind.” Ronnie hugs you tightly. “Thank you for trusting me.”

You pause, looking at her. You realize that you’ve never really thought about her feelings in all of this. You’ve been more concerned with the prospect of losing Lily. Looking at Ronnie, sitting there, you begin to wonder how scared you would be in her position, to be wearing another girl’s face. After a moment, you hug her back. “Hey, um… I take back what I said earlier.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“You…” You stop mid-sentence and take a long breath, still unsure. “You can be my sister for a while, if you want.”

“Really?” Her eyes widen, surprised.

“Yeah.” You smile softly. “I don’t mind.”

Lily!5tTWT1eydY 2015/11/18(Wed)09:37 No. 684714 ID: 3bc92d
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“Oh, wow. Look.” Raven whispers, gently tilting her head towards Orchid and Ronnie.

You turn to look. Ronnie is resting her head on Orchid’s shoulder, and the two of them are hugging. It sort of feels like you’re looking at two Orchids. You’re still finding it hard to believe that that’s what ‘you’ look like, now.

“Mm.” You mumble, feeling nervous. You’ve been kissing Raven a lot, but you’re beginning to wonder if maybe you shouldn’t be so cavalier with somebody else’s body.

“Are you feeling okay, honey?” Dad calls back to you.

“I’m okay, Dad.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Honest. Besides… this, I’m okay.”

“Alright, sweet pea.” Dad sighs. “God, this is just so bizarre.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

“What do you feel? I mean, you must feel different, right?”

“Well, I’m taller. My arms are longer. My, uh, my boobs are bigger. The texture of my skin feels a bit coarser, too.” You gently stretch your arm, experiencing the smooth way that this body moves.

“I feel the opposite of that stuff.” Ronnie adds. Even her voice is just like Orchid’s voice. “Shorter, smaller. Tiny boobs. Smooth skin.”

Everything is different, and you’re somebody else. But that’s not much of a change from yesterday, is it? You’re not quite ‘Lily’, and you never really were. In a way, it’s comforting to have everyone notice that you’re not who you’re supposed to be. You don’t have to keep up with the pretense anymore.

Being Veronica feels more normal than you’ve felt in days. You’re tall again! You didn’t think that you’d feel nostalgic about your height, or anything about your old body, in fact, but being a copy of Orchid for a few days has made you start missing a lot of the things that made the old you… you.

“Are you falling asleep, sweet pea?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, no, my mind was just wandering.”

“I’ll say. It wandered off into another body.”

You can’t help but laugh. “Wow, Dad.”

Dad smiles weakly. “Sorry. Couldn’t pass that one up.”

Raven pulls you close, kissing you on the cheek. You think you’re blushing, but it’s hard to tell what sensations are what in this body. Raven’s been way more physical with you since you switched bodies. Something about that feels both wrong and right, but you’re not entirely sure why that is, on either count.

“I love you.” She whispers in your ear.

You bite your lip. You’re doing your best to go along with what she wants, but this is getting to be a bit much. Even when you were together, you were never this, uh, active with Raven. You honestly aren’t sure how you feel about her at all. You’ve been trying to be the girlfriend she expects you to be, but you’re beginning to wonder if you’ll have to keep this up forever.

Should you talk to her about it, or just let things stay as they are?

littlebeast 2015/11/18(Wed)12:03 No. 684727 ID: ca183f

>>684714
It... might not be the best idea to talk about that her and now. What with your parents in earshot and all.

But, uh, you almost certainly should talk about this at some point. Just not here.

At this point it's worth reflecting upon the fact that you've been rescued by magic, twice now, from having to accept things about yourself that most people wouldn't bother challenging in the way and degree that you did. You've gone from one case of 'impostor syndrome' thinking that you weren't really a teenage boy, into another case thinking you shouldn't be specifically *this* teenage girl, to here yet another thinking you aren't who this young woman thinks is her girlfriend. You know what? Everybody has disagreements about, and distance between, what their circumstances dictate and other people think of them versus what they want to be, try to be or privately think they are.
Before you invoke the potential of breakup drama, which is sometimes lethal I may add, I have to ask you one important question: How close is the relationship this young woman thinks she has with you to what you'd actually want, and can you change it, learn to like it, or in some other way compromise? Nothing in life is ever perfect, and a large part of growing up is to accept the things we cannot change--or which would take too much effort to change--while concentrating on the things we can change that are worth changing. How much is this worth changing to you, and to her, and to everyone else involved?

>Should you talk to her about it, or just let things stay as they are?
I think you kind of have to talk to her. You can't have a relationship based on not talking. That will go terribly. You're clinging to you being someone you're not, exactly. Any relationship that has even a chance of success has to be based on honestly.

Granted, trapped in a car with your family listening isn't an ideal location, especially if this gets messy and emotional, but we could start, at least.

>I love you
Raven, you've been kinder and better to me since all this happened than maybe anyone else. And... that's really not fair because I think I hurt you most of all, just by being here. I want so bad to be good back to you, and make it right...

Is this working or are we just hiding it? I don't know what you're thinking, and I barely know what I am. I just, I don't want to hurt you any more.

>>684712
>You’re not entirely sure that your wish was granted. You don’t feel any different, at least.

You're not supposed to feel different. It's an active ability. Try thinking about some math problem or something and see if you're better at it than normal.