Streamlined

TW: Assault

“Have I tried Drakeston101?” Noob_Killa_XX (actual name, Kristen) announced as he stared out over his chat. While the latest MMO he was checking out - Challenge of Mythologies was fun, it definitely was not the sort of game that actually interested him here. No, all the fights were against the same three enemies in the same forest setting. Supposedly, things got ‘better’ once you got out of the tutorial, but that wasn’t enough. “Not yet. I’ve heard the reviews have been quite good. Odd, for something that feels like it’s being aimed at girls.”

Closing out the window, he pulled up a browser window. Fingers whizzing across the keyboard, he breathed a sigh. Temporarily disabling the stream to prevent anything compromising from being shown, he got to the page. Switching the feed back on, he took in the web page. Done up in a shade of pastel pink that sites dedicated to games for girls, Lace lined the edges. Yet, there was a professional quality to it. Not that Kristen would let it blind him. Especially as his gaze turned to that of the screenshots. Currently dressed in gorgeous ballroom gowns, a group of dragons of all shades were dancing about. The next picture shows said drakes in some kind of dungeon. Dressed in a cross between gowns and proper armor, it looked kind of silly… up until one realized that the place that they were in was sized appropriately for their size. The last shot was that of a dragoness gardening. Dressed in a cross between farmer attire and the dress

"They're quite high quality models. What's the catch?" Kristen announced and looked over to his stream chat for any criticism. Finding none, his gaze flicked over to the sidebar. Finding the usual options, he eventually settled on ‘Register’. That was always a good place to start. Had the streamer been paying more attention, perhaps he would’ve noticed the patches of ‘fuzz’ that appeared on his skin. Even if the streamer had, it was likely to be chalked up too a glitch with their camera and nothing more.

Watching the screen transition from the welcome page to the registration page, a feeling of warmth came over Kristen. Taking a moment to fill in the information in such a way that he didn’t accidentally dox himself, the warmth disappeared. Yes, there were enough problems in the world without having SWAT called on him. Definitely for the best. In retrospect, perhaps it would’ve been best to do some research on this game. Oh well. Nothing bad was likely too happen. Unless one counted the splotches growing in size. Which Kristen very much didn’t here.

“Okay, we’re in.” Kristen announced, temporarily cutting the stream in order to switch tabs to get to his email. Looking through the list, it was quite easy to find. Mostly because the subject line had managed to be made pink and glittery as well. Double-clicking, the streamer navigated down to the download link.

Drakeston101 Terms of Service

We, Dragon Castle Games and Magia Enterprises are not responsible for any transformation Drakeston101 may cause its users.

1. Ensure that you are playing in an environment that is not conducive of creating massive spikes of magical energy and/or activity.
2. If you start noticing signs of being transformed, quit immediately and seek out your nearest healer.
3. Call friends and/or family for moral support. There is no going back. Make amends to the best of your abilities.

“It’s all bunk anyway. Probably just to cover their asses on the freak chance to ” Kristen announced and scrolled all the way down to where one could confirm they very much read through all of that and did not scroll all the way down in the hopes that none of it actually mattered. In truth, it probably did. Not that dear old Noob_Killa_XX would know that. Even if he did, the streamer probably saw them as more of a precaution than an actual warning. One would think the supposed kill count of Magia Park would raise alarm bells, but it sadly didn’t. If anything, it only served to give more reason for him to enter.

“And we’re ready to download. Thank fuck.” Kristen announced, absolutely proud of his ability to scroll through legal text. Yes, that is totally something… most users of the internet could do. Not really something one can be proud of. Especially when you’re dealing with terms of services like that. Thankfully, clicking through all of that led to the download. Done much the same as all the other pages, a pink button with a ‘glitter’ overlay invited users in to download the game. The word ‘download’ sat in the middle of said button. Done up in white and with a girly font, no less, it was almost mocking Kristen. Yet, that didn’t stop the streamer from clicking it. Waiting a moment, the installer downloaded. Relatively small filewise, it was a welcome change in the face of massive bloated behemoths of games. Graphic fidelity was nice. But if your game ran like a slideshow, then it simply wasn’t worth it. “So chat, how have you been?”

Shifting his focus to the display, Kristen watched the chat whiz by. It was honestly quite comforting. Especially as it took his mind off of the download in the background. And/or noticing the patches of pastel silver scales on his body. Especially that last one. Wouldn’t want transformation-based health issues to get in the way of what you love to do, after al-

PRINCESSILA DONATED 20 BLOCKS AND SAYS ‘Are you okay? It might be best to go take a break. Especially with what’s happening. If not, I’m willing to be your guide in-game.

Kristen raised an eyebrow as his attention shifted to the notification. Held within a skull, it almost sounded like a trap. This was clearly not one of his usual donors. Yet, there was a sort of… friendliness to it. Like the person behind this message had some idea of what they were doing and wanted too extend some help.

“I’ll keep it in mind. No promises, okay?” Kristen announced and shifted his focus to his screen. The download had finally finished. Clicking the next button, the setup closed and the launcher program loaded in its place. Done up in a mix of pastel pink and creamy white, care had been taken to make it accessible for all users. Quite worthy to strive for, Kristen would have to remember that when the time came to review it. If he did actually get around to the review. With the amount of MMOs coming out, it was becoming harder and harder to reach a point where one could even get to a point. Perhaps this game would make it far easier than normal. Shoving that thought away for now, the streamer clicked the play button. Watching the screen turn dark, he could’ve taken the time to notice his longer nails. Hardening into claws, they were cut back in such a way to prevent anything from accidentally scratching something important. “So chat, what is my character’s name going to be?”

Watching the chat messages whizz on by, Kristen scanned them all for any suggestions. While quite a number of names were the same, one in particular stood out to him - Cupcake. He couldn’t say for certain why exactly it stood out to him, but it did. The only thing that mattered here. “Cupcake it is!”

Watching the chat grumble, Kristen held in his laughter. Of course they would disagree here. They likely wanted a scary name. Well, they could choose that as their name when they played. Simple as that.

Thankfully, the screen changed to that of the title. Not even taking the time to look over the various options, Kristen immediately clicked play. The start screen flipped off to the left, revealing what looked to be a ballroom of sorts. Eight seats await filling, likely representing the various characters one could have at one time. The walls had been done up in a fancy wallpaper

Clicking the nearest seat, a pop-up appeared.

Word of Warning!

It is recommended that you take a moment to remember where you were thirteen years ago. If you find your memories cloudy and/or remember reports of a cult of clown attacking people, our legal department (and Magia Enterprise’s) has suggested you not play this game. At the same time, you are your own person. A person who can make their own decisions and can live with the consequences. Just don’t try to sue us.

Sincerely,

The devs of Drakeston101

Kristen raised an eyebrow. What did that even mean? Closing his eyes, the streamer took a moment to try and remember. But all that reflected back was the face of a mime attempting to kill him. Why that of all things was the first thing to come to mind here, but it was.

Opening his eyes back up, Kristen failed to notice the start of horns forming on the top of his head. Curving in such a way befitting of a dragon, they would look quite cute once they were fully grown. Add in the growing number of scales, one would think that Kristen would have noticed. But he didn’t. Even as the urge to scratch his head echoed about. Thankfully, the character creation menu popped up to prevent our streamer from acting on that urge and finding out the truth. A variety of buttons and sliders stared back, awaiting use for making characters. More specifically, dragons/dragonesses. Even with a name decided, there were still so many things that needed to be decided. Once they got through that, a class could be decided upon and they could all be off.

“Hmm…” Kristen whispered, looking over the options. While he was expecting genders here, the general terms for describing dragons worked just as well. Perhaps the game practiced gender nonconformity? Yeah. He could see that. “Dragon or Dragoness?”

Once more, the streamer turned to his chat to decide. Amid the claims of seeing scales, far more of the chat wanted the dragoness over the dragon. Figures. Absolutely predictable and almost expected. Yet, it made logical sense.

“Okay, dragoness it is.” Kristen added, unaware his voice had taken on a softer, more feminine tone as he clicked ‘dragoness’ and then the confirmation. Getting a nod from this featureless dragon, the options shifted into a new set of options - what kind of drake they were. While having nothing to do with gameplay, it was just more flavor. “Metallic, Colored or Gem. Wait. Gem Dragons are an option?”

Ignoring the chat for now, Kristen picked that option. Almost in response to that choice, the scales took on a reflective quality. Almost like they were shined gems. And then proceeded to rapidly consume a good chunk. That did get Kristen’s attention, but only in the form of scratching his neck as he waited for the color palette to come up and actually mess around with the sliders. Covering the full spectrum of colors, it was a far cry from the limited color range other MMOs provided. Likely the result of system limitations and/or spaghetti code said MMOs were built on. Of course, that just meant he would judge it all the harder when it came time to judge further customization options. How exactly did the dye process work on gear? Would making a gear piece white make it cheaper? Was it a flat fee? Was it restrictive?

Shoving those thoughts away for now, Kristen got to shifting the sliders about. While nothing on the level of an MMO toeing the line of being ecchi and/or erotic. The result was a relatively plain ruby dragoness adorned in a plain gown. Done up in a mix of green and red reminiscent of that of some kind of healer, they were perfect for the adventurers ahead.

“What do you think of Cupcake, chat?” Kristen cooed, somehow unaware of his face growing out ever so slightly. Flicking ‘his’ gaze back over to chat, a mix of ‘cute’ and heart emojis flooded his chat. For once, they were all in agreement. How long that would actually last, remained to be seen. Probably not long as he clicked confirm for the umpteenth time here. In place of the character creation menu was a place to enter your character's name and select their pronouns. For the former, he inputted ‘Cupcake’. Then came the hard part - the pronouns. While Kristen expected to be met with a dropdown menu, the streamer was instead met with two boxes to fill out. A tiny part of ‘him’ wanted to maliciously comply and type in something stupid, but he decided against it.

Pronouns: [xhe] | [xer]

Yes, that felt right to xer. Even if why exactly escaped Kristen’s mind here. Moving the mouse down, a double click is all it takes to make the confirmation.

Welcome Cupcake, to the world of Drakeston101. We do hope you enjoy your stay!

Kristen chuckled. Such a cute introduction message. Of course xer’s chat wasn’t thinking the same. No, they were attempting to clown on the message. Honestly, xer hoard was so cute when they were attempting to be mean. But Cupcake knew the truth. As long xhe took care to keep them in check, they were always fine. Though, their head was hurting a bit and things seemed blurry for just a moment. Thankfully, that blurry vision disappeared as xer’s character loaded in. Standing in a field of flowers, a plainly dressed purple dragoness waited patiently.

“Hello there.” the dragoness called and Cupcake looked in that direction. In-game of course. Would be quite funny if xhe had tried to do that in real life. Shoving that thought away, Cupcake made their way over, taking the time to look for a curtsey or similar greeting emote to kick off the conversation.

“Uh… hi? Are you Princessila by any chance?” Cupcake inquired and watched the dragoness nod. Following it up with a curtsey, she looked so cute. A far cry from xer.

“It’s /curtsey.” Princessila explained and looked in Cupcake’s direction. Though, it almost looked like this particular avatar was looking through the stream and over to her. “Uh… you look quite pale. And all that fuzz. Uh… you might want to end your stream early. Transforming into a familiar yet unfamiliar form is one, no joke. Two, it’s best to do it before you cr-”

Cupcake didn’t get to hear the end of that sentence, xer body blacking out and darkness took hold. At that moment, the memory xer was trying to recall came rushing back.

Gone was their streaming setup, a park comfortably taking its place. Blue skies hung overheard, a grainy filter layered on top of it to make it harder to discern the details. Of what details Cupcake could make out here, there appeared to be a playground. Yeah. That’s right. Xhe had come here to swing. While the other playgrounds in the general area where Cupcake lived were nice, they had nothing on this place.

Weird. I thought I would see some people here.” Cupcake announced as xer gaze flicked about the area. Normally, children and their parents would be playing on the structures and/or walking about the track. Today though, there was no one. Had one of those big mean cultists scare them off? Those shits were always the worst.

Heading for the swings, Cupcake did xer best to calm xer nerves. By no means the biggest dragoness around, xhe liked to think that xhe could take down at least one cultist. Yeah. Xer tail and claws should be more than en-

Right as Cupcake thought that, a mime walked up. Attempting to do its show, Cupcake attempted to walk around them. Paying them little mind, xhe continued for the swings. Or at least tried, too.

“Where do you think you’re going?” the mime announced, defeating the whole purpose of their disguise. Pulling a knife out, they wasted little time in cutting into Cupcake’s side. Trying to get away, all that accomplished was tripping over xer own feet. Falling to the ground, that only served to make xer an even bigger target. Because of course it did. But, Cupcake wouldn't let that get xer down.

Standing up, Cupcake swung an arm into the mime. Knocking xer opponent back, xhe stood up. Getting a tail swing in, that seemed to be all the mime had in them. At least until the dragoness's vision was flooded with searing light.

“Just my crappy luck…” Cupcake thought as xer thoughts turned to nothingness and xer eyelids sliding shut.

.

When Cupcake’s eyelids finally decided to cooperate once more, xhe found herself in a hospital room. Absolutely sterile, what looked to be a stuffed bear had been placed on xer nightstand. Likely the result of Princessila. Yeah. That sounded like the exact thing someone like her wo-

“Good afternoon, Cupcake.” a voice called out, bringing with it a tall purple dragoness. Dressed in a rather plain light lavender traveling gown with lilac pumps, what looked to be a luminous wedding crystal was just visible on her tail, held on with a fancy lilac bow. Short lace gloves cover her claws, adding to the set of bluish purple eyes staring down at xer.

"Are you by any chance, Princessila?" Cupcake inquired and watched the dragoness nod. Taking a seat by Cupcake’s bed, that didn’t stop the patient from reaching out.

"Yes, but just call me Priscilla. That's my actual name." Priscilla cooed as a second woman walked into xer room. A drow, she was adorned in a burgundy top and pants. For some reason, Cupcake was reminded of those performers in those suits. Yeah, Cupcake could see that. Nothing in the way of a wedding crystal, but that could be just chalked up too just coming off of work or just her lunch break. "And this is my wife."

The drow woman gave a wave and took a seat in Priscilla's lap. Getting comfortable, that prompted Cupcake to look down at xerself. Sitting up, xhe was met with dragon scales. Done up in pastel silver, they looked super pretty. Right next to xer’s bust, of course.

"Lila." the drow woman greeted and watched Cupcake play with xer breasts. Holding her laughter in, that was enough to get the dragoness's attention.

"Would it be wrong of me to assume that you were the ones to contact medical services?" Cupcake inquired and Priscilla nodded. Cheeks going light purple, she squeezed Lila's hand.

"Yeah. Not the way I expected us to meet. Maybe once you're feeling better, perhaps we could… collab?"

Cupcake froze, the words not quite coming to xer mouth. Yet, something about it sounded nice. With nothing to lose, why not collab with the dragoness?

"Deal." Cupcake answered and scooped up the bear on xer nightstand. Holding them close, a smile formed on xer face. While definitely a rough spot, this could become a high point of xer life.