A Preview Of The Real Great Shift? - (Stewart, VOTGS #1)

Despite all the time that had passed since The Great Shift had occurred, there were only two things everyone was certain of: that The Great Shift was a world-wide phenomenon that swapped millions of people with each other, and that people's minds were affected in various ways.

Abstracting from the shock, dysphoria, or exhilaration that many people experienced after they found themselves in bodies that weren't their own, researchers all around the world had found that a person's mind could be affected by the hormonal and neurological chemistry of their new bodies. Given the unknown mechanisms that could be behind The Great Shift, this meant that in theory, someone affected by it could completely change into somebody else in both mind and body, thus making this still poorly understood phenomenon into a possible identity killer. In practice though, the scientific community had unanimously concluded that the effects were very small and nothing to worry about. Some individuals might find themselves feeling attracted to a new gender or adopting new physical and mental tics, but that was it.

In other words, although The Great Shift could cause people's minds to change as a consequence of swapping them into a new body, The Great Shift itself seemed to play no significant role in those changes. The Great Shift swapped people, and that was all there was to it. 

Or at least that how it seemed unless one knew the case of Stewart.

Before The Great Shift, Stewart had been a 44-year old man known in his town for being a law-abiding, judgmental individual who went to church every Sunday, expected men and women to keep themselves in their supposed gender roles, and believed that the so-called "city folk" were sinful and depraved because of their so-called "progressive" ideas.

In other words, he was the textbook example of a religious, conservative man.

Given this background, it was then truly an irony when The Great Shift ended up swapping him with none other than the antithesis of his world-view: a young, goth 'e-girl' from the city with piercings and tattoos all over her body, a wardrobe full of scandalous outfits, and a very open attitude to sex and non-conventional lifestyles. 

Now, if Stewart's case had been like everybody else's, then the expectation would have been that either he would have done everything in his power to turn himself back into the sort of person he had formerly been, or consciously come to a realization about the error of his ways and embrace a new life thanks to his new body.

But that is not what happened.

Just a few days after The Great Shift had happened, he suddenly found himself having very vivid daydreams of things that a man like him would have only described as sinful: getting more tattoos on his porcelain skin, wearing skimpy outfits that showed off his massive breasts and curvaceous hips, and trying out sex toys that the former host of his new body had in her wardrobe. Stewart was appalled by such thoughts, but given that The Great Shift was still a very recent event, he didn't think there was anything wrong with him besides the unholy forces that had caused this. In his eyes, this was just a test for him, and so it was his job to resist the reprehensible daydreams that his new body was now forced upon him.

Unfortunately for him, his situation was unlike any other case of someone swapped by The Great Shift, but instead of letting anyone know what was happening to him, he simply powered through.

And soon enough, things only got worse.

A lot, lot worse.

Not only did the vivid daydreams continue, but his behavior started to slowly change without him having any power over it. To his growing frustration, words like fuck, bitch, titties, and thirst trap began to slowly but surely become a part of his usual vocabulary, masculine clothes started to look too boring and proper for his taste, and even meat began to be distasteful for him, slowly pushing him into adopting a vegetarian diet.

Likewise, he started to put on a lot more makeup and jewelry - specially if it make him look like a goth 'e-girl' - he began to have an urge to suggestively caress his curvy body and showing it off whenever he could, and heck, he started to actually feel proud about his massive breasts and the pussy he now had, not the flimsy cock and petite balls he had before.

This would have already been more than enough reason for immediate concern if it hadn't been for the fact that even his own opinions were beginning to change, making him slowly become more and more unaware of how much he was changing.

Go to church? Like, why?

Men should be men and women should be women? Who gives a fuck!

"City-folk" are sinful and depraved? Like, dude, we just don't live in the middle of nowhere like you.

The Great Shift was caused by the devil? Idk, I think it's pretty cool if you ask me.

In the end, just as the weeks kept passing and all of these changes became more and more cemented in his mind, something gradually began to grow smaller and less prevalent in his newly developing psyche: his very own name.

Stewart?

Who the fuck was Stewart?

Stewart is like such a boomer name.

Now Skylar...

Skylar is such a fucking sexy name if you ask me. Way better than that boomer name of Stewart.

Yeah, fuck Stewart! (Whoever he was supposed to be)

But not in that way. I already have enough toys to help me with that.

And just like that, Stewart simply ceased to be.

In his place, it was now Skylar, a young, goth 'e-girl' from the city with piercings and tattoos all over her body, a wardrobe full of scandalous outfits, and a very open attitude to sex and non-conventional lifestyles. Definitely not a copy of the woman he had swapped bodies with.

Unfortunately, since the former Stewart never told anyone about this, his case never caught the attention of the scientific community and thus they were not able to assess why The Great Shift had acted in such a strange manner with him.

Nevertheless, the troubling question now had to be asked:

Was Stewart's case just a fluke, The Great Shift just affecting him in a completely spurious manner, or was The Great Shift as we know it just the first stage, and Stewart's case was instead an ominous preview of it?

Only time could tell.