Rule two: Always keep your guests entertained during gatherings.

The dance studio at Sterling Academy for Young Ladies was a realm of artistic refinement, meticulously designed to facilitate the cultivation of grace and poise among its students.

The studio boasts an expansive layout, allowing ample room for students to move freely and practice various dance forms. Mirrored walls on one side created the illusion of even greater space, reflecting the grace and precision of every movement.

The world awoke to a new reality, one marked by seismic shifts in power and authority. The destruction of the domed city and the subsequent demise of China's senior leadership at the hands of Lilith's army sent shockwaves rippling across the globe. For those who had opposed the magical community, it was a bitter pill to swallow; their hopes of eradicating what they saw as a threat dashed in an instant.

Allison now has two men in her life, sort of. She enjoyed some time with Robert, the foot freak who’s less freak and more friend. A new friend and also her first real kiss. And Adam, her friend from when she was Patryk—which was just that morning—has apologised to her, for leaving her all alone: at least until Angie sought her out and took her to the woman's doctor. He said it was shock, and she can understand that. She’s literally never heard of someone like her before. She’s a bit shocked too.

Everything was getting back on track, settling in, when One, the mysterious man who set her on this path, a satisfying if eventful one, called her, just after she and Adam reconciled. And it’s a private call? Which caused her conn to scream with noise. She has no choice but to answer. But what does he want? What more can he unleash on the very new woman, Allison?

The ongoing trials and tribulations of Ronin Kassius as he assumes the identity of Isabel val Sanreal and returns to Ar Telica City. Having survived the encounter with the Gun Queen of Ar Telica, Ronin returns to Ar Telica and begins his/her new dual life as Isabel val Sanreal, illegitimate daughter of the uber rich Sanreal Family, and as the Gun Princess, Mirai, an artificially created entity with preternatural abilities.

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Allison is a woman now, definitely legally, the court has ruled on that. And she’s been to see a woman’s doctor. An actually qualified, voter doctor, with all the education and training, who injected Allison with medication she could never have thought even existed; it’ll turn her into a woman. Or at least give her the physical appearance of a woman, within a few months. A second puberty. Then the doctor ‘prescribed’ Allison and her friend Angie a nice meal in a really lovely restaurant on the hospital level. This, according to Angie, is why everyone loves Doctor Grace.

The only other thing left on Allison’s agenda, which was written by Angie, is to get shoes. She can’t keep walking around barefoot and she can’t stand wearing boots in the lace-less female style; every time she stumbles from loose boots a man runs to her rescue. So shoes it is. And shoes are easy, right? There’s no surprises with shoes? Surely..?

Is Late Better than Never?
by Lily Rasputin

Chapter Two

Author’s Note: TW: Suicide

It took me a moment to recover from the shock created by the voicemail bombshell.

I pointed at the phone as I glared at Namira. “What the hell was that all about?” The pause button was pressed on my earlier trepidation about angering a powerful, otherworldly being.

“Nanny? Why am I … I mean, why is Maddie, my family’s new nanny? For that matter, why is Kelly even hiring a nanny in the first place?”

Minsha and I returned to the Queen’s Spire, leaving the fleet behind. The urgency of the battlefield was replaced by a different mission - a personal one. It was time for a crucial conversation with Maninor, the Tragnor leader. The Tragnor home world awaited a unique tradition, the hunt, which would symbolize not just our union but the unity between our peoples.

This story is set in the world of The First Mother and relies on that story for context. If you haven't, please read that one first. Click here.

It was quarter to three in the afternoon and my worst fears had just come true. I was sitting outside the pharmacy where Mr. Benson had just given me the bad news.

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Friday, August 4, 2006

It happened one morning. Like most mornings, I woke up and went to the bathroom to pee.

It started normally. I got a good stream going into the bowl as I stood in front of it.

But I was feeling drained. While a little residual tiredness in the morning was OK, this was more than that, and it was getting worse. And something weird was happening in the bowl. I leaned forward, one hand against the top of the toilet tank to support myself.

On the deep space welcoming station Patryk is now Allison, or so it seems. He’s never in his life heard of a man becoming a woman. No-one has. No-one even talked about the possibility of it happening. But it’s what’s happened to Patryk, after he met One, a mysterious man who gave him something to smoke that helped Patryk remember his dreams. One offered Patryk a job then brought Patryk to Patryk’s new apartment. The first time since Patryk’s first few months as an adult he has his own apartment.

But now Patryk is all alone in his new home. He has to begin living his, or her, new life. But is Patryk really Allison? Nothing can be this easy. Simply put on clothes, style your hair and walk into the midsts of the station? Can Patryk even walk into the station as Allison? Does he even have a choice?

Is Late Better than Never?
by Lily Rasputin

Chapter One

It was a bad time to be driving. Darkness, rain, despair, and self-loathing are a really bad combination on their own, but when being behind the wheel of a moving auto is thrown in, it’s downright dangerous. I knew it as surely as I knew my life had just taken two painful torpedoes to the starboard side and was sinking fast.

I knew … I just didn’t care.

“Are these supposed to be something I could wear?”

Other than the fact that I was really Ally Taylor, not Ellie Taylor, I told them about the years of mental abuse in my childhood, constantly being berated and humiliated by my father, and the physical and mental abuse my mother suffered at his hands, particularly when he was full of drink, which was quite often.

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Author's note: I finally finished up my next chapter of the Demon and I. I now have a better idea of where I am going to take this story.

As I gathered Kaen's hidden cash, the weight of our decision to leave weighed heavily on me. The condo, once a sanctuary, now felt like a trap. Adriana and I were now thrust into the middle of the war between heaven and hell. It was time to escape the grip of this war, where we were not enemies of both sides.