Erika's New Perfume

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She's number one! And she kind of acts one too.

"I am merely offering to put an end to your loneliness as an outcast." That's what the man promised. One little spray was all it took and then it happened. That was just the beginning. Now my big sister is my little sister. My little sister is my big sister. Mom told me that change would be hard... She was right. —Erika

Speaking of change... —Marie

Erika's New Perfume began as a short story written by Deviant ARTist/Troper Adam Cowie (aka Lance the Young) and inspired by a storyline on a Choose Your Own Adventure page and has since evolved considerably, spanning one comic series written and drawn by the author himself (with adaptations into text of most comics in this series), a Web Comic adaptation written and drawn by a fan of the original story, one crossover sequel and another crossover outside of continuity, and some individual art drawn by the author. Fanart has also arisen, and the author has stated that he is considering a spinoff sequel.

The plot might qualify as totally insane to some, but it has a following for its charm and the unique humor the concept revives. Things start out simply enough, when eleven-year-old Erika Swanson is called into an alley by an unknown being and given a bottle of perfume that she's told will put an end to her loneliness. Upon using it on herself when she gets home...

She needs diapers. Yeah. From there things get more complicated as the perfume turns her little sister Sarah into a sixteen-year-old, and her big sister Marie into a three-year-old. With no one but Erika and Marie remembering how things were, Erika finds herself adjusting to a new life stuck somewhere between her preteen years and babyhood. It's Better Than It Sounds.

It's worth noting that, while the writing in the first story is solid, the author's ability improved drastically in the two years after its posting. Erika's situation has also been expanded on in many of the spinoff-related materials.

A sequel was written entitled Erika's Old Big Sister or Marie's New Perspective, which centers primarily around closing some remaining plot threads involving Marie.

The webcomic adaptation can be found here. The entire list of Erika works (excluding most Crossovers and Fan Works) is here.

Tropes used in Erika's New Perfume include:

• Alpha Bitch: Heather Jones is (or was) a prime example.
• Animesque: Looking at Adam's Gallery, you'll see that Anime has as much of an influence on his drawing style as diapers.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: A weird application of this, as Marie fits this while at the same time looking at Erika as such.
• Art Evolution: Adam's drawing skills have grown incredibly since he began drawing, leaving him quite embarrassed of his earlier work. Compare this to this.
• Author Appeal: The author does mainly davel in vaguely similar ideas, though Erika is still pretty unique among his work.
• Blush Sticker: Whenever anyone blushes in Adam's drawings, there are three small Blush Stickers below each eye, oddly enough.
• Brand X: Originally Averted, with Erika using Pampers kid-line, but later Played Straight with her using Squeezies, a fictional diaper brand created by Kiwi the Fruit that provides diapers for older kids. Adam often laments that he hadn't come with the idea.
• Bratty Half-Pint: If ever there were a better description of Marie...
• Bratty Teenage Daughter: Pretty heavily implied Marie was one of these. We got to see her in action in Old Big Sister.
• Cheerful Child: Erika, when she's not embarrassed.
• Children Are Innocent: Erika, at times.
• Cool Big Sis: Sarah
• Creator Thumbprint: Adam has a habit of putting some but not all of the characters in his works, original or otherwise, in diapers. The vast majority of them qualify under Better Than It Sounds.
• Kiddie Kid: Guess who?
• Little Miss Snarker: Marie post-regression.
• Misapplied Phlebotinum: The perfume could have many, many other uses besides just being dropped in Erika's bedroom once its part in the story's done.
• Nobody Poops: Averted.
• Off-Model: Despite Adam's Art Evolution, there are still noticeable goofs from time to time.
• One of Us: The creator, Adam Cowie, knows about troping sites and has had to refrain from editing the original and now-purged version of this very page on TV Tropes. He is also a brony.
• Potty Failure: Second Duh.
• Shrinking Violet: Erika. Lance the Young has even said (in his profile's Q&A) that Erika has the same voice as Fluttershy.
• Sibling Rivalry: Erika and Marie in spades.
• Speech Impediment: Erika slips into a small stutter whenever she gets nervous, which is often. Marie also has Elmuh Fudd Syndwome and a small lisp as a toddler.
• Sweet Dreams Fuel: Often, though this comic is nothing but cuteness. YMMV, of course.
• Transformation Ray: The perfume.

The first story provides examples of:

• Aliens Speaking English: Apparently, English is the alien language, and the only places that don't speak it are foreign countries on Earth. "Don't tell anyone."
• Art Shift: The comic adaptation of the original story was drawn by a friend of Adam known as Abe Sedecim, resulting in a very different look for the characters. Another of Adam's works, Chrissy and Minerva, is also getting this treatment.
• Captain Ersatz: The figure in the alley originally was envisioned as Darkseid.
• Equivalent Exchange: The perfume seems to work vaguely like this.
• Fake Memories: Everyone but Erika to some degree, but Sarah most of all.
• Fountain of Youth: Marie and Heather.
• Imported Alien Phlebotinum: The perfume.
• Love Potion: Though not directly, the perfume seems to ultimately have this effect too.
• Magic Pants: A weird example, but both averted and played straight. Just because Erika's particular needs in underwear changes the ones she's wearing don't; this happens straight for Heather.
• Plot-Relevant Age-Up: Sarah, though she remembers it differently.
• Potty Emergency: Marie, post-transformation.

The comics provide examples of:

• All There in the Manual: The list of the perfume's effects by area.
• Creator Cameo: Adam has appeared in these three comics, all of which take place at the carnival.
• Disappeared Dad: The author says there was an ugly divorce, which is why he isn't around. However, he still loves his kids and comes to visit them, as seen in his recent appearance in the Halloween 2009 four-part comic.
• Expanded Universe: Not quite Star Wars, but the series spans across written work and two webcomics.
• Fun with Flushing: Apparently, the perfume robbed Erika of her knowledge of the toilet. When Tim tried to give her an idea of how it works...
• Halloween Episode: These four strips about Erika, Tim and Marie preparing to go Trick-or-Treating.
• Informed Ability: Erika's singing, though that is kind of hard to express in text or comics.
• Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Sarah's friend Joyce, to Erika's chagrin.
  • Man, whatever nightmares Erika had that night must have been of the high octane variety.
• Odd Friendship: In the crossovers, Erika's struck some up.
• Pride Before a Fall: See Yank the Dog's Chain.
• Schedule Slip: The webcomic adaptation just sort of updates when it will, though it doesn't usually go too long between them.
• Shout-Out: When Marie got her mouth washed out with soap for calling Erika a "fuckbend", Sarah remarked, "That's our cute little sister who said that."
• Throw the Dog a Bone: When Erika learns to tie her shoes.
  • Yank the Dog's Chain: Erika cannot help but gloat to Marie about her new shoe-tying ability, who responds by dumping Kool-Aid on them.
• Toilet Humour: Well, the main character is in diapers...
• Transformation Comic: The webcomic spinoffs are vaguely this.
• Visit by Divorced Dad: In the Halloween four-parter.
  • Lampshade Hanging: Upon meeting Erika's until-recently Disappeared Dad, Tim remarks "I'm not sure I knew she had a father."
• Wild Mass Guessing: In-Universe: Sarah's friend Joyce has a rather disturbing one related to The Teletubbies.
  • According to Word of God, it came from the The Teletubbies Wild Mass Guessing page!

Erika's Old Big Sister Provides examples of:

• Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other: After all of the bullying Marie piles onto poor Erika in Old Big Sister, their display of sisterly love in the end is an incredibly Heartwarming Moment.
  • This comic also counts.
• Beware the Nice Ones: See Crowning Moment of Awesome.

It was like the world was backwards, she thought, sobbing into her knees. Sarah was supposed to be three, but she was such a cool grown-up. And Erika... Erika had actually reduced her to tears. The eleven-year-old in a wet diaper had just totally blown her away into dust when finally pushed too far.

• Big Sister Bully: Teenage Marie, especially in Old Big Sister.
• Break the Haughty: Marie, big time, in the turns-16-again story arc.
• Bring My Brown Pants: Erika frequently gets scared into needing a diaper change.
• The Diaper Change: While Sarah and their mom, Veronica, are used to changing Erika (after all, from their perspective they've been doing it for 11 years), recently un-regressed Marie got stuck with the duty in Old Big Sister. Neither Marie nor Erika were happy about it.

Marie: Did it have to be number two?

• Getting Crap Past the Radar: At one point in Old Big Sister, Sarah had to explain to a once-again-teenage Marie that she caught Mark cheating on her with Erika present:

"Uh... You know how Mark was on the baseball team?" Sarah petted Erika's hair, trying to think of a good way to phrase this without damaging a certain someone's virgin ears. "Well, he was holding safe at first base when he tried to make a sudden break for a home run. I called foul and he got sent to the showers. The very cold showers."

• Not Afraid of You Anymore: See Beware the Nice Ones.
• Not So Different: In Old Big Sister, Sarah points out to teenage Marie that she and Erika are a lot alike:

"Hm." After only the briefest moment, Sarah's frown became a smirk, "Heheh. It's weird you don't get along with her better. I always thought you two were a lot alike." "WHAT?!" Eyes widening, the younger sister present shrieked, "I am NOTHING like that dumb baby!" "You sure?" Snickering at the reaction, Sarah explained, "You're both kinda on the short side, you've both got that same light build... Heheh." After a little chuckle she announced, "And when you're scared, you both make that squeaky little "eep" noise." Growling in bitterness, Marie announced, "Yeah, well I don't crap in my pants all day, so I think your argument falls apart. W-We're different in all the important stuff!" With that rebuttal, Sarah frowned again, pulling into the mall's parking lot. "Hm. Yeah, I guess that's true. In the important ways, you're very different from Erika." Kindness, empathy, generosity, loyalty...

• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Erika gives an epic one to Marie in the recent story arc.
• This Is Sparta: NO! I! WON'T!
• World of Cardboard Speech: The aforementioned "The Reason You Suck" Speech counts.