This character... took a lot out of me. Not because it was hard to write-- it's a great idea from a great commissioner-- but because of some turbulence in my life that made it hard to do anything. I know I've promised at least three different dates for when this character would be finished, and once I'd finally written it, I... didn't really wanna see it again. Which is a shame, because again, the character itself is great!

Since this character isn't my usual identity death fare (if I wasn't on a list before now...), I decided to reeeeally focus on Pete's resistance to the changes. He's one of the characters that doesn't understand the game, so I had fun with him overlooking or ignoring changes at the beginning: I think I even interwove that with the gameplay, since there's a couple changes that don't really alter the descriptions. Then the host (more on that little pest later) reveals what's going on, and he's thrust into a gender crisis... and maybe an existential one, too? A lot of him questioning why he's so adamant that he's a guy, even when being a girl feels so much better. All my characters have some trans symbolism, by the nature of being TF/TG stories, but I think this one is a bit more acute in those themes, while still keeping it ambiguous: was the gameshow more extreme in its mental changes than Peter thought, or did the game just help crack her egg? And should I really keep broaching this subject when I'm woefully ill-equipped to tackle it? ...I know the answer to that one, at least. Let's move on to the other changes.

This is my second reality change character! I wanted to make it very different from my last one: Stanley Simms was more personal, its reality change focused on Kendra's family and friends. With Peter, the focus is more on the world. It also gave me an excuse to put in some other mental changes! I even had the explanation pretty secure before I even started writing; I was finishing up the epilogue for Samantha Brody as I was discussing Peter, so it was easy to put in some little hints to the next character, with good ol' Volpes...

My original outline put a lot of emphasis on the host. Too much; I ended up dialing back their presence, because it felt weird inserting what's basically an OC into someone else's commission. But I still wanted them to be a character in the story, someone to react to Peter's changes, since the rest of the world cannot. I still probably put too much focus on them, but I really like what I've created! This snarky slick brat who's gender is “nuisance”, too slimy to trust but too charismatic to hate. With a fair amount of self-insertion: we're both people who present and enjoy transformations. There's also some other things we share (short bushy hair, high alcohol tolerance, annoying), but I hope I'm not as much of a dick.

There's something else with this new furry world that I'm a little pleased with: unlike the last reality change I did, Transformania Time! still exists in this dimension, which means some characters can be written in this universe... or retconned into it. Whenever there's a character that off-handedly mentions furries in the crowd (I can think of at least two), I can now say that it's in the furry universe, so everyone's used to seeing furries! And I can also claim that other characters are in the human universe, which explains why people might react differently!

...I'm getting very close to “A wizard did it” levels of retconning for my dumb TF game. Though I guess this time, that's literally what happened...

Before I spew out some trivia, I wanna talk about uploading the characters themselves. When I started writing these characters, I'd have to upload them as a file, and then get you to download and upload the files yourself. I don't like that, because it feels like I'm putting busywork on people who've already done enough for me by checking my work. Then, when I got control of TTGS, I could send off the files and upload the “file” on FA while the character is online; then all you needed to do was choose them from the site! Unfortunately, it's taking a while for the characters to be uploaded, so in the interest of time (I wanted to upload this at the start of the month...), I might revert to posting the characters as soon as they're finished. It'll mean more work to play them, but it'll also mean characters will be released quicker.
And now, trivia: Not much this time around.

- For the first time, I don't have any name trivia for you! Both names were requested by my commissioner. Volpes the fox-eared host, however, is mine (you can tell because it lacks subtlety!), and I'm a little proud that I revealed it in the last character!
- My commissioner called it the Yoshielder Cinematic Universe, which is very kind, and also clued me in that I should maybe pull back on my own creations, lol
- Coincidentally, after my last journal about the host becoming too much of a self-insert, I almost caved and made them ace with hooves. Thankfully, I grew a brain and cut that out, though I did leave little hints. In the end, I think their orientation and gender are “whatever benefits them at the moment, or at least annoys others”.
- Second creepy coincidence? My commissioner requested a scene where a TGing deer is comforted by her TFing wolf girlfriend. As it turns out, that's exactly what my favourite punching bags, Clarke and Claire, were gonna turn into before it was abandoned! I swear, if I actually finish Clarke and Claire one of these days, I'll have a lot of retconning to do...
- And yes, the two contestants Peter fills in for are Clarke and Claire.
- Music choices started off regular, but became more unhinged the more I became unhinged. Started with study music and post rock, then it gradually curdled until they were a mess. I wrote the last stages to Astronaut in the Ocean, so I know I'd have regressed to straight up circus music if the character was any longer.
- Malypsis used “Aura of Purity” as her spell, which is (from my very basic research) only self-inflicted, and therefore (I assume) easy to mess up as an AoE. Unrelated, but I've gotten into watching DnD campaigns! It's enjoyable, but very intimidating.

My question: ...uhh... i forgor 💀 Sorry for not responding to all your comments, and thank you for posting them!
- yoshielder