Fitting In [tg, wg]

[Junketh71]

I hope that you get back on track soon. Good luck!

[Lamebrain]

“Of course” Taylor said, smiling to his new boss. He got up and took the clipboard, walking to the back store room. Of course it was filled to the brim with new stock, mostly t-shirts, hoodies that sort of thing. Taylor rested the clipboard on a shelf and took the ring out of his pocket. He kept it still on his palm and noticed it was vibrating, and slowly the vibrations were carrying it closer to one of his fingers.

“Taylor? I have some more stock for you to sort” Glen’s voice rang through the store room. Taylor ducked his head down and quickly shoved the ring onto his finger.

The change was instant; he immediately felt tightness in his midsection and his thighs. He looked down and saw that a soft pudgy belly had emerged from his shirt, resting comfortably above his belt. He reached down and saw his fingers had grown bigger and stubbier, the ring felt much tighter than it did before. His breasts were much larger now and he saw his shirt now struggled to accommodate them. The top buttons straining to keep them together.

The tightness was more severe in his legs. He felt a pain in his crotch, and his pants felt too tight. His shoes were far too large and he felt like they would now be impossible to lace. To top it all off his hair was now past his shoulders, and was unkempt and messy. Taylor realized far too late he should’ve changed into his girl clothes before putting the ring on, but now he felt like he had easily grown a size or two out of them.

How can this be happening? Panic set in throughout his mind. He poked his ballooned belly with his finger. It wasn’t too long ago he remembered asking a fat girl in the store if she considered “eating less”. However his eating hadn’t changed… had it? Taylor buried his face into his hands. Then he stood firm again. His eating couldn’t have changed. It had to be the ring; he didn’t gain any weight as a man. The ring was making him fatter it had to be.

It was also clearly making him more emotional. A single tear started to dribble down Taylor’s cheek. It felt so foreign to him to cry, he didn’t remember the last time he did.

“Ah there you are” Glen’s voice sounded. Taylor turned around and saw Glen there. However he looked different, now with a look of concern on his face. “I thought I told you that you should go home Taylor. I understand this being your first day you might be a little nervous“. Taylor wiped the tear from his face “Y-yes” He said, preferring to go along with this. At least now he might not need to take stock while also not able to bend his knees. Glen started to walk away.

“By the way Taylor” he said turning around to face him. “We do have a uniform standard to uphold. I’d suggest getting better fitting clothes.”

——

It wasn’t easy getting back to his car. Taylor’s clothes were so tight he had to walk stiffly, like Frankenstein’s monster. He got a lot of strange looks as he walked through the mall and blushed as he did.

Glen’s words hurt for some reason. He didn’t understand why. He wouldn’t normally care that much what another man thought of him. But in that moment there was a strange concern in his voice he wasn’t used to hearing. It almost made it worse than if he just yelled at him. Another tear had dribbled down his cheek, causing him to wipe it with his sleeve.

He opened the trunk of his car and grabbed his girl clothes. Consisting of a polo shirt, some shorts, a pair of panties and a bra. He looked around for a moment. He was parked in the bottom floor of a multi-story carpark. He was surrounded by cars and there was no-one around. And he really didn’t want to go back upstairs to the bathroom or awkwardly fumble with his clothes in his car.

Taylor looked around for a brief moment and started to strip. Figuring he could get his girl clothes on fast enough. He bent over to remove his shoes and immediately heard a loud ripping sound as the back of his pants tore. He blushed, as he reached underneath his belly and unbuttoned the dress pants he was wearing. He got his bra and panties on fairly quickly. Noticing his panties were now riding up his ass crack due to the tightness. He was just getting his shorts on when he heard a loud whistle sound in the carpark.

“Shit” he said out loud. He was now blushing profusely. He rushed as he hoisted his shorts up rapidly and put his shirt on. He noticed he was starting to have great difficulty buttoning his shorts before deciding it wasn’t worth the effort and throwing everything back into his trunk. Taylor got into his car and immediately jammed his key into the ignition before starting it and driving out of there. He didn't stop shaking until he was back on the expressway.

——

“Taylor!” a familiar voice said as he walked into the store. Jennifer beamed at him, putting the clothes she sorted down. She embraced him immediately. “Shouldn’t you be at your new store?” She asked smiling at him.

“I-I need some new clothes” he said, blushing. He saw Jennifer’s eyes dart downwards toward his abdomen. She blushed and he felt even more awkward.

“O-oh I see. Do you want to measure? I figure it would be better if I do it.” He knew she was talking about Cynthia. Taylor nodded and walked with Jennifer towards the back room. It seemed so much more pleasant to him now than he was used to. He still remembered the disdain he felt for the whole place not too long ago.

Jennifer proceeded to measure his bust slowly, before selecting from a few sizes from the 12 rack. Taylor groaned in protest. “You should relax Taylor. You’re... an average sized girl.” She said sweetly to him. He knew she was trying, but it wasn’t really helping. “You should consider wearing more dresses too. You can hide more of your… you know” He knew what she was referring to. By this point he had already worn a dress, and the idea seemed to relax in his head since the last time he thought about it.

“Fine. But I’ll pick the color” he said sternly. He didn’t want to wear pink.

[pinkhippo99]

Almost anti-climatic, how quickly he used the ring. Given how much he had complained about the changes, you would think he would have held out just a little longer. Either the ring is influencing his subconscious mind or else he actually likes being female Taylor more than he admits.

[Lamebrain]

Reading break was fast approaching and Taylor was still miserable. His grades were rock solid so far, and at the rate things were going he fully expected the final to be a breeze. But he felt more and more depressed as days went by. He was taking off the ring less and less as time went on. It seemed to reduce his anxiety in general to keep it on, but it meant wearing panties, a dress and doing his hair in the morning. He even occasionally forgot he was still wearing it. Waking up with his long hair in his face and only reminding himself it wasn't who he was. Staring at his chubby face in the mirror made him feel more and more depressed.

The day classes ended Taylor sat down at the cafeteria one morning when he recognized someone in line. He squinted for a second as he wasn’t entirely sure, before getting a clearer look. It was Emily, only she looked very different now.

Emily had gained a considerable amount of weight, mostly deposited towards her stomach. Taylor knew her for wearing very extravagant clothes, but now she wore big stretchy sweatpants and a t-shirt desperately trying to cover her flesh. Her hair was much messier and she wasn’t wearing makeup. Her arms had inflated like balloons. Taylor estimated she must’ve gained at least 100 pounds since he last saw her.

“Jesus Emily” He said out loud. Emily turned around and saw him seated at his table. Taylor waved her over. She smiled as she walked towards him, her walk now more of a waddle. She sat down opposite him carrying a tray of health food.

“I haven’t seen you in calculus. Where have you been?” He asked. He was genuinely surprised, he completely forgot about her.

“Oh Taylor…” She said slowly. Her voice sounded much quieter and soft spoken. She didn’t look him in the eye as she spoke. “I’ve been missing classes left and right as of late. I just… haven’t felt like getting out of bed.” She poked her carrots with a fork but didn’t eat anything.

“Is there anything wrong Emily? What’s happened?” Taylor asked. Emily’s chair creaked under her weight.

“It’s a bunch of things… I guess it started with this pen.” She pulled out a pen from her bag. It was an older style fountain pen, the kind that was prone to smudging. It had a shiny gold tip that eerily reminded him of the ring. “Some strange man gave it to me at the mall. Said it would help me with my school work. And it was weird; every time I used it I had this strange form of confidence. Like I could answer every question correctly, and for a time I did. But I started to gain weight and now…” she buried her hands in her face and started to sob. Taylor reached over and picked up the pen, rotating it in his hand slowly.

A strange man? Could it be…? Taylor thought to himself. “Emily” he said sharply to her. “You wouldn’t happen to have any plans today would you? I’m curious, where was this old man who gave you this pen?”

Emily’s face seemed to light up, Taylor seemed to be the only one she told this story to who seemed to believe her. “At the mall, some strange store.”

“Show me”

---

Taylor drove Emily to the mall. Noticing she now had to move the passenger seat of his Civic back all the way in order to fit. He still remembered fantasizing about her figure when he sat behind her. It seemed like a lifetime ago now. Then again it seemed like a lifetime ago that he wore pants. He parked the car and walked with Emily to the store. Shuddering as he saw her thunder thighs bounce in her sweat pants. That won’t be me. That won’t be me. He repeated in his head.

“This is the place” she said as they turned a corner. Taylor recognized it as the Spells Us store he got the ring from. Only it was strange, the gate had been lowered and the lights were off. The sign was also no longer there. “They seem to be closed now.” She said disappointed.

Taylor looked around and saw a security guard talking into a radio. He walked over to him and asked “Excuse me?”

“Yes miss?” The security guard said curtly, looking down at him. Taylor felt intimidated by how tall he was.

“W-well. My friend and I saw a store around here called “Spells Us. Do you know of a place like that?” He said, glancing towards the closed store.

“Spells Us?” He scratched his head, and reached for his radio. “Marty, do you know of a “Spells Us” store on this floor? Some kind of magic or joke shop maybe?” He said. Taylor noticed he was eying him up a little, causing him to feel a little uncomfortable. Is this what girls go through?

“No, only place near you is the closed hardware store.” The radio chattered.

“That’s what I thought”. He buckled his radio and responded “sorry miss. Nothing like that here.” He smiled, and walked away. A bunch of thoughts swam through Taylor’s head. Closed hardware store? Where had that old man come from? Where did the store go? He walked back to Emily and told her about it.

“Well that’s it then” She said hysterically. “I can’t find that man and he can’t change me back”. Taylor felt sorry for her now. He figured she must’ve been as desperate as he was when he put on the ring. She must’ve just lost complete control of her impulses. Taylor hugged her and whispered into her ear. “It’s going to be fine, don’t worry”. He didn’t even know where that came from.

Emily wiped her tears and smiled at him. Taylor smiled back awkwardly and offered to drive her back to campus. “I still have some free time, would you like to go shopping Taylor?” He still felt sorry for her, and reluctantly nodded. Figuring maybe she would believe him about the ring if he told her.

[gibob]

Wow, thanks so much for continuing this great story, you really matched the style of the original author well. I had imagined a bunch of a different endings to it was always wondering what would happen with the cursed pen. Looking forward to more!

[Lamebrain]

Wow, thanks so much for continuing this great story, you really matched the style of the original author well. I had imagined a bunch of a different endings to it was always wondering what would happen with the cursed pen. Looking forward to more!

I'm glad people like it. I just always wanted to see this story continued and finished since so many TF stories start out really strong but don't have endings.

[tb303b]

Gotta tell you, this is a story I check in on every few days. Just by way of encouragement, thank you for continuing it! We look forward to more.

[Lamebrain]

I've been admittedly finding it challenging to come up with a proper end to the story that satisfies everyone. I don't want to lead the story in a direction that displeases anyone, especially since my first instinct in these sorts of circumstances is to introduce more reality change elements, slob elements or sexual undertones. I'd like some advice from the readers as to what they're in favor of so I don't tread on any toes going forwards.

[pinkhippo99]

The way I understand how the ring works, is that it creates a glamor around the user so that anything they say or do becomes acceptable. You can behave as rude as you want and people will still behave as if you are the most lovable person they have ever met. But the way it does this seems to be not to change your behavior, or even make people hear what you say different. Instead, it recontextualizes your behavior. It takes the idea of "fitting in" to mean molding you into someone who could get away with more in the same circumstances. This is why all of Taylor's coworkers behaved as if he were already a large girl even before he started physically changing. It was because now when he makes a rude joke about large girls, its not a sexist comment from a skinny man, but self deprecating humor from one of their peers. Also, it seems to never compel you to do anything. It slowly changes your body and behavior to fit the perception that it is already laying onto people, but it cannot force you to change how you dress or behave. Instead, it compels those around you to "suggest" these changes, while at the same time reducing the glamor so that you have to do as the ring wants to get the same instantly popular effect.

One thing I'd like to see more of that your haven't addressed very well so far is why Taylor is still using the ring even after he changed locations. I'd imagine it would be because he has become addicted its power. Using the ring for so long has probably made his already problematic lack of tact even worse from having to go months without any filter, to the point where he regularly says things which would likely get him fired without the ring. I'd like to see him struggle a bit more with wanting to not use the ring, especially now that his larger fingers are making it harder to take off and he has probably considered that it will soon reach the point where he can no longer change back.

Also, I'd like to see how the ring's power changes based on his new job. The ring seemed to make him a fat women because it was the easiest way to get his old coworkers to like him and overlook his flaws. How would that work now that he is in an environment with mostly men? Maybe the reason his new boss is letting him get away with the same behavior is because the ring is turning him into an object of sexual desire. It could start to compel him to dress in more revealing women's clothing, wear heavier makeup, and start adopting feminine grooming habits like shaving. This could in tern lead to his coworkers openly flirting with him, making suggestive comments or accentually touching him in inappropriate ways. Given how his female form is starting to make him more emotional, I could see this behavior leading him to go back to Torrid, even if it means giving up the job he worked so hard for.

The addition of Emily and the pen creates a lot of opportunities. Taylor could have a confidant now, someone whom he could share his experience with and talk about his problems. Maybe the ring will compel Taylor to try and date her, with her friends from work suggesting that she just come out and "admit being gay" the way they suggested wearing makeup and such. You could even have Taylor use the pen at some point. Maybe he forgets to fill out an important stack of paperwork and needs to have it done in less time than it would actually take to finish or he forgets to study for a test. He could use the pen Emily shows him and instead of adding to his weight, it gives him a larger appetite and eating problems like Cynthia so that fat Taylor stays fat.

One idea for an ending could be that Emily and Taylor keep looking for the shop owner to change her back. Meanwhile, Taylor is finding it harder and harder to take off the ring. One day, it takes him so long to change back that he realizes he has maybe one or two uses out of it before he is stuck as a girl. However, that day he encounters the old man from the store, but the man is somewhere where Taylor can only get to by wearing the ring. He manages to convince him to change Emily back, but the old man reveals that Taylor has worn the ring long enough that the power has completely transferred from it to him. Even when he takes it off, the effects, for good and for bad, stay with him and Taylor has to get used to the fact that he is stuck as a very well liked fat girl.

[Lamebrain]

I do like the suggestions, thank you. The analysis on the ring is close but there are a few details I'll get more into when I eventually post the next few chapters.

I've been putting feelers out throughout my chapters of the story towards potential endings (Emily, the photograph, a bunch more). I've been wondering how receptive people are towards personality change elements so it's good to read fan suggestions like yours.

In terms of addressing why Taylor is still using the ring I do plan to give a more thorough explanation of the reasons, and the specifics as to how the ring works in future chapters. There is a plan, don't worry. It's more so just a general desire to gauge where you as fans hope the story goes and seeing if anything I am planning might annoy you.