I quickly got into the rhythm of pying the game. I finished quest after quest after quest. Before I knew it, it was three A.M. and my eyes were sore. Unfortunately, when I noticed that, I happened to be in the middle of a quest and couldn’t save the game. I still figured it would be a good idea to pause, get up, and stretch a bit.

  I only closed my eyes for a second.

  Or, it felt like a second, anyway.

  When I woke up again, I was sprawled on the floor by my desk, my chair having gotten shoved out of the way. I struggled to my feet, my back aching.

  The game was still paused, just as I left it. I could complete the quest…

  Or not. My back really did hurt. I took a moment to stretch.

  As I sat down, I instinctively reached for my phone to check notifications. A bunch from Twitter that I immediately swiped away, a Reddit notification I figured I’d check ter, and wayyyy too many Discord notifications, mainly from servers I was barely active in. I swiped the vast majority away, leaving only one that I actually cared about: a DM from Harry. I tapped on it, typing out my pin.

  XxChained_RebelxX: Dude, this game is woke plot! It fukkin changing me!

  I stared in confusion at the message. What the heck was he on about? ‘Changing’? Changing how?

  Lord.L: dude wtf

  Lord.L: you sound like a crazy person

  I rolled my eyes, putting my phone down. His status indicated he was offline (or invisible), so he probably wouldn’t be responding right away.

  I unpaused my game and was quickly lost in gamepy once again.

  Lilith sliced her katana through the air, striking down yet another faceless goon. Her dress fred out around her as she twirled, striking another goon, responding perfectly to my button presses.

  This particur mission was specifically important for Lillith. It was another hostage rescue and, among the hostages, was a close friend of hers named Amethyst.

  As Lillith, under my command, cut down the final enemy between us and the hostages, a cutscene initiated.

  Oh…

  Well, looks like Amethyst and Lillith were, as the historians would say, the best of “friends”.

  As I watched my pyer character and this NPC swap spit on the screen, I started feeling this weird feeling deep inside my gut. My chest felt a little tight, and I found myself biting my lip.

  I was probably hungry! After all, it was nearly time for breakfast. After the cutscene finished, I saved before exiting out of the game. I stood up from my chair, letting out a quiet groan.

  Hang on, was something up with my voice?

  Nah, I was probably just really tired.

  I left my cramped bedroom, taking the three steps total to the tiny kitchen in my apartment. I grabbed the half finished loaf of bread out of the cupboard, popping a couple slices in the toaster. I grabbed some pocky as well to snack on while I waited for my toast to… uh… toast.

  I reached into my pocket for my phone before remembering that I had actually left it on my desk. I went back to my bedroom to go get it. I entered my pin as I returned to the kitchen, looking down at my phone. I winced as my hip bumped against the doorframe, but didn’t look up from my phone as I swiped away notifications I didn’t care about.

  I had a DM from a girl in my css. She wasn’t really my friend, we were just partnered on a group project, but we got along great. Actually, she kind of looked like Amethyst, with her vibrant purple hair, cute brown eyes, and a sprinkling of freckles over her face. The big difference was in how they dressed, with Amethyst dressing tough with leather jackets and combat boots and whatnot, while my cssmate — whose name is Olivia — typically wore jeans and a t-shirt, with hoodies added in now that the weather was getting colder.

  0livia_090722: Hey, I finished working on the slides for our presentation. I also looked over the bits you wrote for our paper and made a few corrections to grammar and spelling. It would be nice if you could look over the presentation when you get a chance this weekend?

  I sighed. Well, guess my weekend wasn’t going to be all gaming. At least we’d already finished everything, and looking over the presentation shouldn’t take very long. I sent Olivia a reply.

  Lord.L: I can check it out right now

  My toast popped out of the… uh… toaster (lol), and I grabbed the two slices and tossed them on a ceramic pte and started buttering them up. I pulled out a can of Coke from the fridge. I then headed back to my room to eat while I looked over the presentation.

  Ok! Presentation: looked at. Time for more gaming!

  BA-DOOP

  Right after I check if that was Olivia or Harry.

  It was Harry.

  XxChained_RebelxX: I’m NOT crazy! I look completely different!

  I rolled my eyes. He was probably freaking out over nothing… again. Just like the time he was convinced all the drinking fountains were full of estrogen from a liberal plot to turn all the guys at our college gay. Or into women. Or both. Into gay women! Lesbians, even!

  Lord.L: if you say so dude

  I started booting up the game again, waited around a minute for it to load and go through the studio's logo sequence, then selected ‘load’ on the main menu and loaded up my save.

  Welcome back, Lillith

  Even though it was only my character’s name and not my own, I still felt kind of… seen by this message. It was weird. There was this odd fluttering sensation in my chest.

  Gonna be honest, I was really rooting for Lillith and Amethyst. It seemed like Amethyst was made with the intention of the pyer being a guy, but… well, my character was a woman! Checkmate, devs, I made it gay! Lesbian, specifically. Which was much better than being gay as a guy. Being gay as a guy was… well, I wasn’t into guys, so it honestly sounded kinda gross to me. Being gay as a girl, though? Well, that would be great, actually! Dating a girl… as a girl! No icky guys (like myself, unfortunately) in sight!

  On the subject of lesbians, one of the game’s missions involved going to meet with a mafia boss… at a lesbian bar… and the mafia boss was a lesbian! The mission also happened to double as a date between Lillith and Amethyst.

  Of course, things went south when the meeting was interrupted by the mafia boss’s rival sending some armed men, and I was thrown into combat.

  But before that…

  My gaming session needed to be put on hold for a very pressing issue: my bdder. As, it could not be helped. Having a full bdder makes for a rather unpleasant experience, and I knew that if I got sucked into this combat now, I would end up doing several more missions, all the while needing to pee and wallowing in my discomfort (please ignore that I could go piss whenever I wanted by just pausing the game).

  As I was washing my hands, I caught a look at my reflection. I really disliked my reflection, I really should get around to taking down this mirror.

  Except.

  Hold on.

  I did not dislike my reflection nearly as much this time around.

  And I had no clue why.

  Something was different, more different than the night before. Like st night, I couldn't quite figure out what exactly was different.

  Perhaps I was still tired? But, after what Harry had said…

  No. That was silly. I was just being paranoid. The game wasn’t actually changing how I looked. Harry was being paranoid, and, in my fatigue, a small trick of the light had me examining the underside of my jaw, trying to work out what exactly was different about my face.

  Out of habit, I spshed some hot water onto my face, then reached into the cabinet for my razor, preparing to shave. I was pressing it to my face, preparing for the first stroke, when I froze, staring perplexed at my reflection, a baffled look on my face.

  I guess I’d already shaved and, somehow, had entirely forgotten.

  Man, I really was tired. Guess I should get more sleep… Right after some more gaming, that is!

  gayannabeth