I'm a Trans Girl Reincarnated in Another World??

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TangledLion said:
This is a quote I think I need to bring up in my next therapy session. Thanks, I think I needed to see something like this.
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Yeah. You see this mindset a lot in fiction, and I've seen it bleed into real life, that suffering makes you stronger, or it ennobles you, or it makes you a better person. That's not true. It's just something you survive, sometimes with a lot of damage.

Now, it's possible to recover. And that recovery can involve getting stronger, or becoming more empathetic, or growing as a person. But that's all in the recovery. That sort of self-actualization isn't a reward for suffering, if anything the damage inflicted just makes that development all the harder.

...

Iris has been through a lot - abuse, isolation, physical and emotional stress. It's left her one big raw emotional wound of self-loathing and trust issues. I feel like her experiences are relatable to a lot of trans girls, at least in generalities if not specifics.

I'm really glad if people can get something out of her story.
 
That's one of the things that makes Tolkien so enduring I think, that Frodo doesn't really get the traditional happily ever after as a reward for suffering the good fight and winning the day, Frodo becomes ultimately so wearied and pained by the wounds inflicted by the world and its war that he can no longer bear to live in the Shire he no longer knows and can only recover and find peace in sailing away to the gentle grey shores of the Undying Lands, never to return.
 
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2.3
  • Threadmarks
    • Having a lot of fun getting into the meat of the worldbuilding here.

    Iris opened her eyes to see sunlight slanting through the windows of the barn, dust motes and bits of hay floating in it. She stared at the rafters while listening to the sounds of the party waking up around her. She heard horses and the clink of gear being loaded.

    "Ah, Lady Iris, you're awake," Alessa said. Iris sat up; the lady knight was already in her armor. "We're preparing to depart. Quickly now, before the sun is up." Iris nodded and reached into her pack for her mirror and knife. She was getting pretty good at shaving, and Alessa only had to wait a few moments before helping Iris into her armor.

    "So, where are we heading, anyways?" Iris asked as Alessa fastened the buckles. Iris was getting so used to wearing armor that she barely noticed its weight anymore, and saw changing out of it every day as just another chore she could do automatically. She did wonder why Alessa always helped her instead of getting one of the squires to do it, though.

    "We're going back to Doncaster, my home," Alessa said, "But it's far to the south of here. We'll need to travel a fair bit, so just enjoy the journey."

    "I can do that," Iris said, feeling a smile spread across her face. With such good company, the journey was quite enjoyable.

    They joined the rest of the party outside. Zeke was standing outside the door of his cabin, a woman at his shoulder – his wife? Iris glanced between the woodsman and Charles, and when neither showed any reaction, she shrugged and resolved to mind her own business.

    "Thank you for your service, my good man," Alessa said as she mounted her courser.

    Zeke pressed his fist to his forehead in some kind of salute.

    "Please t'cross paths with ya, m'ladies," Zeke said. The woodsman had been a competent guide, and patient and kind to Iris, and she felt that she should say something as well.

    "In the fullness of time, they may cross again," Iris said. She wasn't sure why she said it, but it had the feel of a formulaic response. Zeke nodded in understanding.

    Zeke's village – named something like "Hard Luck" in his backwater dialect – was an island, a last outpost of civilization before the wilderness began. The party passed through more forest, but compared to the tangled thicket or even the open prairie, the cultivated woodlands and well-marked roads didn't seem like much. They passed signs of human travel and habitation – lumber camps, lone cabins, a wooden bridge, even a wooden fort flying the banner of the Kingdom, an eagle surrounded by a ring of silver stars.

    "The King's personal sigil," Alessa explained.

    If all this land had been depopulated during the Great Plague, then this was it being reclaimed.

    From there they passed into cultivated lands. It was late spring, and the peasants were in the fields sowing the crops and pulling weeds, and sheep and cattle were grazing on the new grass. The roads were well-maintained, and Alessa's party passed merchants, and peasants, and men with the King's badge on their tabards. The King's men were often ahorse, as were some of the merchants, but just as many rode in carts. From the frontier came lumber and furs for the market towns and crops to feed them, while towards the lumber camps and hunting lodges went finished goods like tools, clothes, and medicine.

    The commoners gave deference to Alessa and her party as they passed, but the lady knight did not stay in any village. Instead, they camped on the commons, or in the shelter of roadside hedges, and they even passed by a towerhouse, the home of one of the knights who held this land in fief.

    "These are other lords' lands," Alessa said, "And while any of them would give me and my retainers hospitality as a noble lady, I would rather not risk any of them discovering the nature of our errand. Some of them may have designs of their own, or loyalties that would cause them to hinder us."

    "And some knights may challenge Madame Alessa to a duel just to have a chance at glory, the swinging dicks," Bors added.

    "That as well," Alessa said, trying not to smile.

    "…am I your retainer?" Iris asked after thinking that over for a bit.

    Alessa turned in the saddle to look at her, furrowing her brows.

    "I hope you should be my friend," she said, "But for the time being you are a lady under my protection, until my family can decide how to provide for you."

    "Oh. Thank you. I would…also like to be friends?"

    The smile Alessa wore made her look so pretty. It was the way her eyes shone, Iris thought.

    Then, at long last, they reached their first true town.

    Darford was a market town overlooking a river crossing, although the Darken River had been bridged by a wide stone span when the King had extended the road system. The town was surrounded by farms and stands of coppiced trees, and there was a line of villagers taking their produce into town. Darford was ringed by a curtain wall, the two gates manned by King's Men with eagle badges on their breasts. The town looked like it was home to a couple thousand people, which made it the same size as the small town in Iowa that Iris had grown up in.

    "Charles, find somewhere to pasture the horses. There isn't a stable in there that could handle all ours. I'll send one of the squires to fetch you when we find lodging."

    The groom nodded and held the reins of Alessa's courser while she dismounted. Iris, Bors, and the squires followed suit, and they entered the city on foot. The King's Men at the gate only asked that Alessa identify herself, which she did.

    "Madame Alessa Harcourt, of Doncaster."

    "You're permitted to keep your weapons," the gate officer said, "but don't draw them within city limits. If we catch you doing so, you'll be called before the judge to answer for it."

    Inside, the streets were packed. There were merchants in bright clothes, and tradesmen, and farmers all hawking their wares; bulk lumber, beer and cheese, fresh-picked produce, even baskets of squealing piglets. There were King's Men with badges policing the market square, and a guild-hall of carpenters made all out of intricately worked and cunningly fitted timber, and Iris saw a church with beautiful stained-glass windows. There was less deference to Alessa; nobody stepped aside to let the knight pass with a bowed head or a doffed cap. Instead, most people seemed to be trying to sell her something.

    The town was diverse too. Not just in skin tones, although one in every four people had skin that was either black or reddish-brown. She saw people in severe black and gray, and others in bright clothing trimmed with lace, and many in roughspun dyed green and yellow. Black-skinned merchant women with gold rings on their arms, practically wearing their whole wealth on their bodies, haggled with a group of fur trappers wearing tanned leather sewn with brilliant patterns of colored thread.

    "This town is…clean," Iris said. There was a smell to it, of many people and animals crammed together along with woodsmoke and cooking fires and other odors Iris could not place, but it didn't have the reek of open sewers that she expected. The streets were paved and regularly swept clean, and there were carts carrying human and animal refuse out of the city gates.

    "That would be the Great Plague," Bors said, "Most cities and towns adopted cleanliness laws to try and fight outbreaks. The Church incorporated many of them into its doctrine, and the King has only redoubled enforcement."

    "I can't wait to sleep in a proper bed again," Alessa said. "Let's find an inn already."

    The Duck and Heron was a sprawling three-story building. The common room alone was huge, running the whole length of the first floor. There were several fireplaces, and the room stretched out into several shadowy corners. It was crowded, and woodsmoke and pipe smoke curled around the rafters. Iris smelled fresh bread and something savory, and recalled that she'd mostly been eating hardtack and salted meat since she'd been reincarnated.

    "Right, that's three rooms," Alessa said after a brief conversation with the bartender.

    "Can we get some food, too?" Iris asked. Alessa nodded and turned back to the bartender while Iris and the others found a table.

    A barmaid served them hot, fresh bread and bowls of a thick, savory stew. It was full of barley, diced vegetables, and chunks of what was probably chicken. It tasted amazing, and Iris might have cried if she wasn't busy tearing off steaming chunks of bread to dip into it. After weeks of bland food that made eating feel like work, the stew was rich, flavorful, and best of all, hot.

    "So," Iris said as she cleaned her bowl with a hunk of bread, "What about those rooms?"

    "You'll bunk with me," Alessa said as she pushed her chair away from the table.

    "Madame Alessa, can Alexa and I explore the town?" Robert asked.

    Alexa nodded. "Yeah, can we?"

    Alessa hesitated a moment before nodding.

    "Very well, but stay out of trouble. If you don't, I won't let you out of my sight until we're back at Doncaster."

    "Yes!" Alexa said, pumping her fist and scrambling away.

    "We'll be good, Madame Alessa!" Robert called back as he followed after her.

    "I'm going to drink and wait for Charles," Bors said.

    "Right," Alessa said, "Iris, with me?"

    The room Alessa had rented out had two beds, fortunately. The room got natural light through a large window with panes of thick, frosted glass, but there were also candles on the dresser and mounted on the walls. Iris helped Alessa remove her armor; Alessa immediately scratched at the back of her neck, sighing.

    "There's this spot on the back of my neck that I can never reach when I'm wearing armor," Alessa explained, "It drives me crazy."

    Iris smiled as Alessa stepped closer, starting to unfasten the buckles on her armor. They were close, face-to-face; Iris could smell Alessa's sweat from here and feel her warm breath.

    "What's a girl gotta do to get a bath?" Iris asked, her gaze sliding away to avoid making eye contact.

    "There's a tub over there," Alessa said with a nod of her head, "I'll ask the staff to bring up some hot water."

    Iris turned around and saw a copper tub in the corner, half-hidden behind a curtain.

    "Oh."

    "Of course, I shall give you some privacy," Alessa added quickly. She removed Iris' breastplate and placed it with the rest of their armor.

    "That sounds nice, but right now, I just want a bed."

    Iris took two steps towards the bed and collapsed in it. It was soft, and between that and a belly full of warm food, Iris felt like she was in heaven. She squirmed around pleasurably until she was perfectly comfortable and closed her eyes.

    After a minute they shot open.

    "Should I be worried about fleas?"

    She turned her head; Alessa was lying in her own bed. The lady knight rolled onto her side and smiled at Iris.

    "I should think not! A place like this would keep clean, and they'll have charms against pests."

    "Right, charms," Iris echoed. She still wasn't sure how this world's magic system worked. The thought pulled at something… "Hey, uh, Alessa? Didn't you promise to help me find a wizard or something? To uh, help me with my transition?"

    "I did indeed. There should be one in a town of this size, an alchemist or magician. You're free to look for one. I also thought…" Alessa blushed. "I also thought we might go clothes shopping while we were here. Get you some proper clothes."

    Iris looked down at her ratty, soiled hoodie, pinching the fabric between thumb and forefinger and holding it away from her body.

    "Good idea."

    She stared at the ceiling for a moment. It didn't feel real. She knew that, somehow, back on Earth other trans women had transitioned, but she didn't really feel like that would ever happen to her. The idea that she could just walk into a magician's shop and get, what, magical HRT? There was definitely some sort of catch.

    Still. If she didn't try, she'd never make any progress, and they wouldn't be in town for long. And Alessa had sworn to fight anyone who got in the way of her transition, which was reassuring.

    "You know, I think I want to do that now," Iris said.

    "Do you want some company?" Alessa asked. Iris rolled out of bed and stretched.

    "No…no, I think I can handle this on my own."

    Alessa just nodded and sat up as well.

    "In that case, feel free. I'll take a bath while you're gone. And I have to get a message off to my parents, to let them know we're on our way home."

    "Will I need money?"

    "Check my boot," Alessa said as she let her hair down.

    "Your boot…?"

    Iris picked up Alessa's boot and turned it over; a bag of coins fell out and landed in the palm of her hand. She hefted it; it felt pretty full.

    "Old soldier's trick," Alessa said with a smile, "I learned it from Bors. Those are our emergency funds, so bring them back?"

    "Uh. Yes, definitely." Iris realized that she didn't know the value of money in this world very well, and that Alessa was probably trusting her a lot. "Thank you, Alessa."

    "You're very much welcome, Iris. Just tell the staff to send up some hot water."
     
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    • I'm a bit worried about Iris going alone in the city

    Also really love how supportive Alessa is

    Thank you for the chapter
     
    Wonder which ways dogmatic cleanliness and sanitation gets things right and gets things wrong or just does things differently from before the Great Plague.

    Like, are there public bathhouses, or have they been abandoned as centers of lascivious infection? And what's the alternative, have people taken up like spas with hot springs and waterfalls as regular pilgrimages, has the church established it's own fountains for the daily ablutions of the poor, and/or have everyone developed more private personal bathing with their own household lavatories?
     
    "You'll bunk with me," Alessa said as she pushed her chair away from the table.
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    Sly, very sly.

    Iris smiled as Alessa stepped closer, starting to unfasten the buckles on her armor. They were close, face-to-face; Iris could smell Alessa's sweat from here and feel her warm breath.
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    I was half convinced one or the other was about to make a move at this point, but you've got a good slow burn going.
     
    bookwyrm said:
    Wonder which ways dogmatic cleanliness and sanitation gets things right and gets things wrong or just does things differently from before the Great Plague.

    Like, are there public bathhouses, or have they been abandoned as centers of lascivious infection? And what's the alternative, have people taken up like spas with hot springs and waterfalls as regular pilgrimages, has the church established it's own fountains for the daily ablutions of the poor, and/or have everyone developed more private personal bathing with their own household lavatories?
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    It's certainly something that varies from place to place - the wealthy have private baths, some cities have public baths, some have public baths managed by the Church, some cities and market towns (like Darford) maintain extensive and elaborate waterworks, and so on.

    EBR said:
    I was half convinced one or the other was about to make a move at this point, but you've got a good slow burn going.
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    Alas, I must keep you in suspense for a while yet.
     
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    2.4
  • Threadmarks
    • In which Iris experiences the unrealistic fantasy wish fulfillment of getting quick and effective gender-affirming medicine from a compassionate and understanding healthcare provider.

    Darford wasn't like any town Iris had set foot in back on Earth. It was compact, and almost everyone walked everywhere save a few people in carts, though those were usually laden with goods. It was bright and noisy, but in a pleasant way, a constant background noise of people going about their lives. The King's Men loitered on street corners and directed traffic. One doffed his cap to her politely, but most of them ignored her.

    This close to the frontier, the main industry of the town seemed to be woodworking. Iris saw carpenter's shops, menial laborers sweeping up piles of sawdust, shops selling furniture and wooden ornaments, blacksmiths making carpentry tools, painters and varnishers. Iris saw apprentice carpenters learning their trade, lumberjacks coming back from the camps looking to spend their pay, and merchant's establishments advertising bulk lumber shipped to Lantilla, Cimmaron, and Endisburg. All the buildings had intricate carvings on their eaves and doorways, and Iris felt that they had some sort of significance she didn't understand. It made the houses feel real and cared for in a way her cheap apartment complex wasn't.

    For such a small town, the tight, winding streets were easy to get lost on. Iris realized that she'd been wandering in a daze – albeit while keeping a tight grip on the coin purse, tucked in the pocket of her hoodie. When she looked up, she found herself looking at the sign for a magician's shop – at least, that's what she guessed. A brightly-painted sign over a doorway showed a black cat in a witch's hat and a cauldron.

    "Just as planned," Iris muttered, and walked inside.

    The bell over the doorway rang as Iris stepped into what was definitely a magic shop. The whole thing was lit up with lightstones held in spheres of frosted glass, some of them in bright colors. Cases lined the walls, their cubbyholes and shelves stuffed with jars, bundled herbs, baskets and boxes – Iris saw polished stones and pickled frogs and hundreds of candles in different shapes and sizes. There was a counter dividing the shop into a front and back – behind it, Iris saw a stairwell and several doorways leading deeper into the building. The counter itself was covered in books and ledgers, clusters of lit candles, even more jars and boxes, and a multitude of glass beakers, vials, small cauldrons, and even a miniature furnace with something bubbling on top of it. The entire wall behind the counter was made up of an overflowing bookshelf. There was a stuffed alligator hanging from the ceiling. The whole place had a chemical smell that at once reminded Iris of a doctor's office, but at the same time had a distinctly floral aroma.

    Oh, and a catgirl stood behind the counter.

    Not a human girl with cat ears, but a cat girl. She had fine black fur over her whole body and pointed ears that stuck out from holes in her pointy black witch's hat. The plunging neckline of her lacy black and brown dress showed not just the swell of her breasts but a white diamond right in the center of her chest. Her eyes were yellow and slitted, her pupils narrowing as she turned to face Iris. She couldn't have been over five feet tall, and the curve of her hips and waist was evident thanks to her corset. She had a long tail that curled out from under her skirts, black and fluffy.

    "Hiya! Welcome to Tabbakin's, what can I do for you?"

    "Um. Sorry I-"

    The catgirl's ears flattened, and Iris saw a tightening around her jaw. She suddenly felt like she'd said something wrong.

    "What, you never seen a catfolk before?"

    "Uh, no, actually. I'm not…from here."

    The tension instantly dissipated, and Chiri made a trilling noise in the back of her throat.

    "Oh! Well, my name is Chiri Three Tabbakin!"

    "Chiri. Nice. Sorry, is your middle name Three?"

    Chiri nodded.

    "Yep. That's because I was the third in my litter."

    "Interesting. I'm Iris…Iris Penny."

    "And what can I do for you, Iris?"

    Iris suddenly felt like turning and walking back out the door. What if Chiri refused to sell to her? What if there was some complication or barrier that would stop her from getting treatment? What if she somehow fucked everything up?

    What if she spent the rest of her life like this?

    "I am…I'm not sure how to say this. I guess I…want a different body. Like, a woman's body. Because the one I was born in…isn't."

    She wasn't sure what language to use. From what Alessa had said, trans people were not unknown in this world, so maybe Chiri knew what she was talking about. Maybe Chiri had something that could help.

    "Hmm, yep, I can help you with that. C'mere and we'll see what we can do for you, Iris!"

    Iris felt like laughing. She walked shakily around the back of the counter, mostly nerves. Chiri cleared off a chair, and Iris sat down in it heavily. The catgirl immediately started moving around, grabbing jars and ingredients, and preparing a mortar and pestle.

    "Th-thanks, um, this is…a lot."

    The catgirl took her hand and patted it sympathetically. Her fur was soft, and her palms and fingers had pads on them.

    "Hm. Well, Iris, there's a standard medicine you can start taking that should start changing your body."

    So, it was magic HRT.

    "I guess there's no one-shot transformation magic?"

    Chiri gave her an expression Iris couldn't place.

    "Not anymore, no. The books say that the ancients could shapechange like that – well, that's where the catfolk came from! But so much knowledge was lost during the Great Plague." She glanced at the bookshelf wistfully and sighed. "Even all this is just a fragment of what we used to know."

    "Oh," Iris said. She hadn't actually been expecting an explanation, and now that she got one, she was turning over the implications. Chiri glanced back at her and smiled.

    "Apologies, I just get so excited about magic! Now, let's go through some of the typical side effects. You may have trouble getting or maintaining an erection, are you okay with that?"

    Iris blinked. The way Chiri flitted from one thought to the next was as bewildering as the way she rushed around the magic shop, her tail twitching behind her.

    She thought it over for a minute. She'd never really had bottom dysphoria, but then, it seemed like bottom surgery wasn't going to be in her near future either way. And if she was going to keep the damn thing, she didn't want it to be a hassle...

    "I'm not sure? I don't…think so. I think I'd prefer everything to uh, work the way it's supposed to down there."

    Chiri nodded, glancing imperceptibly down at her crotch before looking back up at her face. She blinked, her pupils dilating.

    "I see. You may also find yourself losing muscle mass. Judging by your hands you're a swordswoman, so I'm guessing you don't want that either?"

    Iris imagined herself with toned muscles and felt a flush of - something. Euphoria? Is that what it was supposed to feel like?

    "Definitely not."

    Chiri asked her a few more questions, but everything else sounded fine to Iris. Her head was still spinning as she tried to process the idea of actually getting the body she really wanted.

    "Well! Not really my usual order but I think I can handle that. Stand by!"

    "How long will it take to start seeing results?"

    "A few months? At most a year, though you'll need to keep taking it," Chiri said, holding up two vials of some fluid to inspect them. She swirled one, nodded, then placed the other back down. She started doing something complicated with beakers before disappearing into the back.

    Iris kicked her feet and waited for a few minutes. She realized she had a huge smile on her face, and felt like for once in her life everything was going right, she had something to look forward to. She was excited about something.

    "Right! That's reducing. Anything else you need?"

    Iris thought for a moment.

    "…got anything for body hair? Shaving in the woods sucks."

    "Wait right there!" Chiri said, vanishing into the shelves. She returned with an earthenware jar. "Rub this on your skin and give it a couple minutes to set in, then wash it off with hot water." She pulled it away from Iris' grasp at the last moment. "Do not let it get on your head or your eyebrows. Your hair will fall out. I am not responsible for any misapplications or misuse of this material."

    Iris took the jar gingerly.

    "Uh, thank you, Chiri. You're…very professional."

    Chiri made a cute trilling noise in the back of her throat again.

    "And you're – an adventurer! Tell me about that!"

    She sat back against the counter, the tip of her tail flicking back and forth. Her pupils dilated again and her ears flicked forward in excitement. Iris felt herself taking in the catgirl's petite, curvy form.

    "Yeah, uh – I'm actually not sure? I'm with this knight and we're heading back to her home. We met at the bottom of a dungeon, it's a long story."

    "We've got time," Chiri purred.

    Iris sketched out her adventure so far – the dungeon, Alessa, the wolf monster. She even told Chiri that she was originally from another world. It was easy; the catgirl was a professional, and she'd been very courteous and helpful, and Iris had already gotten…personal with her.

    "You're an Outworlder! That's not unusual, though they're getting rarer."

    "It is? We are?"

    "Mhm! Used to be whole groups of people came here from other worlds! I think that's how most worlds are inhabited, which makes you wonder where we all came from originally. But the last time a big Incursion happened was hundreds of years ago. Now it's usually individuals, but you can always bet that they're going to be a big deal! Like…like the King!"

    "Right, I'd heard about the King. What's he like?"

    Chiri seemed strained.

    "He's supposed to be the greatest swordsman in the realm, and he slew the Demon King and married the Princess – that was four or five years ago now. Since then, things have been changing."

    Before Chiri could elaborate, her ears perked up, and she excused herself to check on whatever was brewing in the back. Iris turned over the new information, and suddenly felt a shock go through her as the implications sank in.

    "What language are we speaking?" she asked Chiri as soon as the catgirl returned.

    "I'm…sorry?"

    "What language is this? What do you call it?" she asked, feeling like she was losing her grip.

    "It's Common…why, what do you call it?"

    "English. Everyone's been speaking English this whole time," Iris said, almost in a daze. Chiri took Iris' head in her hands and looked into her eyes.

    "Are you okay?"

    Iris giggled.

    "No, no I'm fine, it's just…we speak Common where I'm from, too."

    "I see," Chiri said in a tone that suggested she absolutely didn't see. "Anglish. Hm, that does sound familiar…"

    "S-so uh," Iris said, trying to change the subject, "Do you own this place?"

    "It's a family establishment. I'm just the one watching the store today!"

    "Well, lucky me," Iris said. Chiri made a purring noise.

    Finally, Chiri disappeared in the back for a few minutes, and when she returned, she handed Iris a glass vial full of little red pills.

    "Take one a day. That should last for a couple weeks, so after that come back and I'll refill them!"

    Iris immediately popped one in her mouth and let it dissolve on her tongue. It tasted the way freshly-mown grass smelled.

    "Um. That might be kind of difficult, since I'm…leaving soon. Like I said, I have a quest. Not sure when I'll be back."

    She shrugged apologetically. Chiri made a chirping noise.

    "Oh. I understand. Hmm, in that case…I'll write you a prescription, and you can take it to other alchemists!"

    If Chiri was disappointed, she hid it well. Iris stood up and shuffled her feet awkwardly as Chiri put her things in a cloth bag.

    "I uh. How much is it?"

    "For you? One silver."

    Iris didn't know if that was a lot, but she decided against asking. Instead, she fished out a single silver coin and dropped it into Chiri's paw.

    "Sorry I have to leave," she said, and meant it sincerely, "You seem…interesting. And nice!"

    "And you as well, Iris Penny," she purred.

    ***

    When Iris returned to the inn, the sun was going down. Bors was still drinking at the bar, and Charles was next to him, chatting up a tall, rugged man with long dark hair. Iris nodded at them – Bors raised his mug in reply – and she headed up the stairs to her room.

    Alessa was sitting in her bed, having changed into a fresh set of clothes. She was combing out her hair, still damp from her bath.

    "Iris, you've returned!" she said. "Would you like the room? I was going to head down for dinner."

    Iris looked down at her bag and nodded.

    "That'd be nice, thanks."

    She waited while some maidservants were summoned, carrying cauldrons of steaming hot water. As soon as they were alone, Iris opened the jar Chiri had given her. It was full of a white oily substance, and it smelled awful.

    "Ugh, nothing for it," Iris said, and she stripped down, tied her hair up, and slathered the stuff all over her body. She was careful not to get it on her head, although she did smear some across the lower half of her face. She almost gagged at the smell.

    After a couple minutes standing there looking and feeling stupid and gross, she felt a pricking sensation all over her body.

    "Holy shit, it's working," she muttered. When the feeling subsided, she stepped into the tub. "Oh. Oh yeah," she sighed as she sank into the hot water. After a couple weeks of living in the woods, she felt disgusting, and finally getting to scrub herself clean with almost scalding hot water felt heavenly. The fact that she was also scrubbing away all her body hair felt even more amazing. Her skin felt silky smooth in a way she'd never experienced before. "Chiri, you beautiful catgirl," she sighed wistfully as she sank into the hot water up to her chin and luxuriated in it.

    If the Duck and Heron had been on Yelp, she would have given it five stars.
     
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    • Love the like Witcher Conjunction of the Spheres stuff as something that used to semi-regularly happen, really fits with travel between worlds just being a phenomena of the cosmos, and leaves room for reintegrating all kinds of cool shit from prior forgotten ages of titans and Tuatha into the at least surface level generic fantasy.

    Also, seems like it wasn't our Isekai "uplift" antagonist-king who got the ball rolling, but it sure seems like someone introduced modern English after the massive linguistic winnowing of the Great Plague, either as prior attempts at increasingly standardizing everything as more and more legible to the central apparatus of state giving learned trades like Chirri's apothecary family last names and such, or just as possibly divinely-influenced happenstance and transmission from many different world cultures.
     
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    Omg I really like Chirri, I also apreciate a lot the choice of Magic HRT over an instant transformation :3

    Thank you for the chapter
     
    bookwyrm said:
    Love the like Witcher Conjunction of the Spheres stuff as something that used to semi-regularly happen, really fits with travel between worlds just being a phenomena of the cosmos, and leaves room for reintegrated all kinds of cool shit from prior forgotten ages of titans and Tuatha into the at least surface level generic fantasy.

    Also, seems like it wasn't our Isekai "uplift" antagonist-king who got the ball rolling, but it sure seems like someone introduced modern English after the massive linguistic winnowing of the Great Plague, either as prior attempts at increasingly standardizing everything as more and more legible to the central apparatus of state giving learned trades like Chirri's apothecary family last names and such, or just as possibly divinely-influenced happenstance and transmission from many different world cultures.
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    I also realized that some of cities names are very similar to ours
     
    Chiri is so much fun, I love her.

    Also that tidbit that she vaguely recognizes English as a word might indicate that the King or an earlier Outworlder was from the Anglosphere (possibly American) too.

    Also I am jealous of that magic Nair and HRT.
     
    I've really enjoyed this so far. It's lovely to see something in the genre that's not so dull and painfully derivative, and has actual world building beyond generic fantasy tropes, and also isn't uncomfortably fetishistic.

    ScottishMongol said:
    Chiri seemed strained.

    "He's supposed to be the greatest swordsman in the realm, and he slew the Demon King and married the Princess – that was four or five years ago now. Since then, things have been changing."
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    Not for the better? Hopefully the guy isn't some chud…
     
    ScottishMongol said:
    "Hm. Well, Iris, there's a standard medicine you can start taking that should start changing your body."

    So, it was magic HRT.
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    I should've known it's not gonna be that easy.

    Imagine waking up in medieval fantasy only to discover it's actually postscarcity transhumanist society, where people just largely continue the aesthetics of their old way of life if only for the sake of familiarity, while truly pressing needs and unnecessary suffering was removed. And maybe few places jumped into stratosphere, but basically stopped caring about the rest of the world...
     
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