Torn from his own world and stuffed into the body of a villainess, facing the end of a doomed route he himself wrote, "Amelia" must navigate a world she really should know - too bad she was never great at worldbuilding.

Stuck in a world she (maybe) created, Amelia quickly finds that reality has filled in the details she failed to describe. The characters who were so flat when she wrote them now have nuance, and motives. The kingdom she wrote into existence is experiencing internal strife she never even thought about. And let's not even get into the complexities of the magic system, or the demon that forced her into this situation to begin with...

Oh, and then there's the fact that she's about to be arrested and executed... but surely she can come up with a way to write herself out of that, right?

...Right?

The Dead Pixel Society

© 2026 Zoe Taylor

Aria gets a temporary respite from having to return to her old dorm that might not actually be that temporary, after the storm left Clarity campus in shambles. By a vote of the floor majority, she's officially unofficially a refugee under Elaine and Kris' protections now

Chapter 20 - Undercover

A few minutes later I was shown into Midas’s office. His lair was a plush affair strewn with furnishings as soft as the lighting.

Too exhausted to actually plan out a dream, I ended up dreaming of Victoria being in the world of the Sea Men together with Nancy and Aries. The three of us were being completely flirty with the Sea Men, having sex with several, and each of us laying an egg before it was over. None of us implanted the eggs, though. Despite our tiredness, we were all aware of how realistic the dreams had become, and we were all afraid we would really produce children whose fathers would present them to us on a future visit.

Once back at Sam’s place Sam got out his Ipad and started browsing through it while I put away my things and changed out of my dress and underwear. I came out wearing a pair of shorts and a silk blouse along with fresh undies. I then sat down in the recliner next to Sam and watched him go through a few screens on his Ipad.

The apartment looked like it was judging me for leaving.

I wake before the alarm. The room is dark, January dark, the kind that hasn't lifted by the time I'm up and moving. Theo went down at two and woke at four-thirty and Emily took that one. I could hear her through the wall, the low murmur of her voice, the silence after he settled. She'll be under for another hour at least.

Chapter Two
The Awakening

Chapter 19 – Dressing the part

Gloria was all excitement. “Now let me see. Something formal. A little black dress will be the ideal” she decided, “and of course you must wear something elegant underneath. That will do wonders for your morale!”

Chapter Eleven — The Ledger

Gwen smoothed the front of her own dress in the mirror — deep green, worn exactly once before and never for a reason this good — and caught Sam's eyes finding her in the glass instead of her own reflection.

"You look incredible," Sam said, turning from her own mirror to actually look, unhurried, appreciative, the particular look she'd only started giving Gwen in the last few weeks, like she still couldn't quite believe she was allowed to.

Torn from his own world and stuffed into the body of a villainess, facing the end of a doomed route he himself wrote, "Amelia" must navigate a world she really should know - too bad she was never great at worldbuilding.

Stuck in a world she (maybe) created, Amelia quickly finds that reality has filled in the details she failed to describe. The characters who were so flat when she wrote them now have nuance, and motives. The kingdom she wrote into existence is experiencing internal strife she never even thought about. And let's not even get into the complexities of the magic system, or the demon that forced her into this situation to begin with...

Oh, and then there's the fact that she's about to be arrested and executed... but surely she can come up with a way to write herself out of that, right?

...Right?

Gary had never been hotter in his life.
Hey, that’s Africa for you, he thought to himself. It’s not like anyone ever said it wouldn’t be anything other than sweat-your-fucking-balls-off hot. And boy is it! If anything, they might have been underselling it!

It was a short drive from campus to the bar. As we drove up I saw a sign outside that said happy hour starting at this hour with all mixed drinks for the ladies half off. Seeing that it was open I was keen on going in but asked Sam if he was up to it. Seeing how this excited me he agreed for a short stop and said smiling that since it was ½ price drinks for the ladies it would be a cheap date.

Becoming Emily

Becoming Emily

Chapter Two: Learning to Stay (Part 1)

The first morning Emily signed her name instead of Aaron’s, she expected the pen to hesitate.

It didn’t.

The ink flowed across the page with quiet confidence, forming six familiar letters that had long since ceased to feel borrowed.

Emily.

She looked at the signature for several moments after the form had been handed back across the counter.

Nothing extraordinary happened.

The clerk smiled politely and moved to the next customer.

Chapter 17 – The Golden Touch

Wychwood Venice

After The Fitting

One

Torn from his own world and stuffed into the body of a villainess, facing the end of a doomed route he himself wrote, "Amelia" must navigate a world she really should know - too bad she was never great at worldbuilding.

Stuck in a world she (maybe) created, Amelia quickly finds that reality has filled in the details she failed to describe. The characters who were so flat when she wrote them now have nuance, and motives. The kingdom she wrote into existence is experiencing internal strife she never even thought about. And let's not even get into the complexities of the magic system, or the demon that forced her into this situation to begin with...

Oh, and then there's the fact that she's about to be arrested and executed... but surely she can come up with a way to write herself out of that, right?

...Right?

Torn from his own world and stuffed into the body of a villainess, facing the end of a doomed route he himself wrote, "Amelia" must navigate a world she really should know - too bad she was never great at worldbuilding.

Stuck in a world she (maybe) created, Amelia quickly finds that reality has filled in the details she failed to describe. The characters who were so flat when she wrote them now have nuance, and motives. The kingdom she wrote into existence is experiencing internal strife she never even thought about. And let's not even get into the complexities of the magic system, or the demon that forced her into this situation to begin with...

Oh, and then there's the fact that she's about to be arrested and executed... but surely she can come up with a way to write herself out of that, right?

...Right?

CHAPTER 8
In the way pf all holidays, of course, just as we had not just established a routine, but settled firmly into it, the clock ran out and we had to return to the UK. We saw Jenny and Lil off at the airport as we awaited our own flight, and I pondered the eternal Welsh question of how waterproof skin really was. Amina was quiet, which was always an unusual state for her, so I distracted her by dragging her off to grab something to eat, after the non-competition of choice between the tapas bar and a certain burger chain. Once we were settled on a couple of stools, I asked the usual penny-related question.

It starts small. That's the thing about it — small enough that the first few times I attribute it to tiredness, to the whiskey, to the body doing things bodies do.

I'm at my desk Friday morning reviewing the overnight logs when I reach for a word — a technical term, the name of the protein cascade inhibitor we'd been modeling — and the word arrives before I've finished reaching for it. Not like remembering. Like something slipping it to me. The word is correct. I use it.

Because of the reporting restrictions still being in place, the mainstream media was limited about what it could say until the jury had returned a verdict. It was as if the world had stopped while the jury deliberated.

I imagined that I could feel each thread passing over the sensitive flesh.

Another Country -19-
by Erin Halfelven