#that was the standard back then too but it was harder to achieve /know how to do it cos there werent tutorials the same way now

[toytulini]

i feel like the makeup standards are not necessarily going to get Worse, just. stay the Same. "raised by sephora and ulta" christ alive yall act like this shit is new. as if this hasnt been the standard to blast young girls with makeup ads and shit via magazine and tv and imposed beauty standards anyway. the only real difference is like, idk, accessibility of tutorials for how to apply it well

[tarotwithavi]

A life lesson I want to share with you

When I was a child, I often felt neglected. Both my mother and father were busy with their jobs and lives, and it felt like they didn’t have time for me. I always wanted their attention and love, but I didn’t know how to ask for it. The only time I felt appreciated by them was when I did something they could be proud of. If I won a competition, got the highest grades, or acted like the perfect "golden child," then they noticed me.

Because of this, I started to believe that in order to be loved by my parents, I had to be the best at everything. I pushed myself harder and harder, trying to meet these high standards. I thought that if I was the smartest, the most successful, and the perfect child, my parents would love me more. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I had created these expectations for myself. My parents never demanded I be the best, and they never told me I had to be perfect. But I convinced myself that I needed to.

Over time, I started to feel more and more pressure. I was so focused on being the best that I never stopped to think about how it was affecting me. I was always worried about failing or not being good enough. The need for recognition and appreciation from my parents was slowly eating me up inside. I didn’t feel free to just be myself; instead, I felt like I always had to perform.

But one day, I had a realization. I began to understand that my parents had always loved me just as I was. They didn’t love me more when I got good grades or won awards. Their love for me was unconditional. I realized that my parents weren’t working hard because they didn’t care about me; they were working hard because they loved me. They were trying to give me the life they never had. They wanted to provide me with opportunities and luxuries that they had never experienced growing up.

This realization changed the way I saw things. I finally understood that I didn’t need to be perfect to earn their love. My parents were doing everything for me because they loved me from the start, not because of my achievements. It wasn’t about what I could do; it was about who I was, their child.

Looking back, I learned a big lesson from this experience. Sometimes, we put too much pressure on ourselves, thinking we need to be perfect or the best to be loved or appreciated. But the truth is, real love doesn’t come from our successes or achievements. It comes from who we are. And most importantly, the people who truly love us ,like our parents ,will always love us for who we are, not for what we do.

Now, I try to remind myself that I don’t need to prove my worth to anyone. I don’t need to keep pushing myself to the point of stress and exhaustion. I can just be me, and that is enough. My parents love me, not for my grades or awards, but because I am their child. And that is a lesson I hope everyone can learn: You are worthy of love just as you are. You don’t have to earn it; you just have to accept it.

[diminuel]

As Croc and Dragon get older — Dragon just finds he admires his Wani more and more. He feels like in all that time he’s certainly mellowed out (more of an internal change. He eventually and slowly learns to relax again. That he has unlearned a LOT of negative reactive behaviors and can trust his emotions and reactions to line up more with his own standards) but ~*Wani*~?

Questionable morals aside — his Wani has done ~*so*~ much all on his own, whilst also keeping a handle on their children. Cross Guild takes his breath away. Dragon is truly appreciative of all his generals and commanders and all the talent that keep the RA afloat. But Wani is different, a loner, so everything he does is that much more impressive to Dragon. And now he’s putting bounties on the heads of marines? And going after the one piece??? Oh be still heart be still!!!

I love your "questionable morals aside" comment X'D Crocodile is clearly the one of the two who's a "ends justify the means" kind of person who thinks that if you want to achieve things it's inevitable that people who don't deserve it will be harmed. It's just how it is. And you can't expect too much from a pirate anyway, so keep your moralizing to yourself, Dragon.

Dragon on the other hand has a moral code that is a bit harder to really understand, because he hates war, we've heard that, but he understands that it's necessary. But that doesn't mean he wants innocent people to be harmed, that's the last thing he wants. However. *holds up finger* However. His exception are the Celestial Dragons. And he knows that not only Celestial Dragons will be harmed by his desire to destroy them. There's an entire infrastructure built around this institution, there are people who don't deserve it that the Celestial Dragons will take their ire out on. And he has to accept that, he will accept that. There are sacrifices he's willing to make.

Sure, not on the scale Crocodile is (see Alabasta, though - as I argued - that wasn't all him, but he chose going along with this plan to protect his own interests.)

That said, I support Crocodile fanboy Dragon~ Dragon definitely would like Cross Guild's bounty system. Maybe he's a bit sore about Crocodile also placing a bounty on Garp's head but well... such is life.

But yes, Crocodile is impressive. He always gets back up (though it might have taken him a while to get over his bitterness and the change in plans due to the kids.) And maybe Dragon would have struggled a lot more to just stubbornly move forward with his plan to change the world, even if it took his entire life, if he didn't have Crocodile to back him up. And I'm not just talking moral support, but also very practical help. The Freedom Fighters had no money, but then the RA could actually become an army with real firepower? Hm hm hm, I wonder where that money and those weapons might have come from. And of course I also think that Crocodile might be the one to swoop in and do some dirty work that needs to be done. Revolution isn't moving swiftly enough by just motivating the people? Here's the king's head on a platter. What? He's a pirate. The WG will have to clean up after him but they will, because he's giving them a generous cut of the riches he procured for them. Dragon and his army can then figure out the rest. *lol*

Sorry, I rambled.

[inchandescence]

Chanbaek Tarot Reading 2024

Chanbaek Tarot Reading 240320

I read 3 parts: current, 2nd half 2024 until the end of the year, and 1-2 years in the future.

Before reading please know:

If you don't believe in tarot then you don't have to and please never mock people who loves reading tarot predictions, we all have rights and our own free will, and it's not a crime.

Tarot readings are not facts, they are predictions or you can also say a glimpse of what is happening and what would happen.

How detail the reading is influenced by the reader, for myself I can't give a very detailed reading yet, so this is how I far I could do it.

Also I've read tarot for chanbaek many times since 2021 and this reading... I could say it's the most positive out of all readings I've done.

---

Current situation with chanbaek:

Keywords: healing, finding peace, contentment, seeing positives, growing to stability, steady loving relationship, privileged, new perspective, take action

Before this current time (1st half of 2024) chanbaek had a series of hard time in their relationship, doesn't have to be because of themselves, could be bcs of many other factors, but bcs of those issues they experienced some kind of slow down BUT now at this time they finally healed and able to make peace, so I think the issues are more to last year (2023) cus I read them too last year and yes they were having issues here and there, with external people too. Now they finally felt content of the resolution and they can see the positive outcomes. Because of them finally moving on to a better time for their relationship, at the same time their relationship is growing to stability and is going to be steady. FYI, in the past years when people read tarot for chanbaek, it's already predicted that they are going to reach a stable and steady period of their relationship SOMEDAY when they are both ready. And I believe... this current time is going to be that beginning. Additionally, they will be able to see their past mistakes, reflect, and learn, and be open to new perspectives, they both know what they want and what each other want, and they will no longer beat around the bush, they will immediately take action now, all for their relationship.

---

The rest of 2024 (the 2nd half until the end of the year):

Keywords: party, celebration, gathering, family, stability, caring, home, but also business, domestic comfort, support, helping each other, openness (discussion, sharing)

Okay... like kinda crazy bcs I feel like we have been given a glimpse of chanbaek's stable and steady and very domestic life as a couple (finally) and it also begins with some kind of a party, celebration, gathering with family. What im getting is!! This year baekhyun will finish kyoongcon and chanyeol will finally either release PCY1 or reveal the first official hint for PCY1 and like both of them worked so hard for all of their individual projects 1-3rd quarter and they finish them well! So at the end of 2024 they will be having holiday and party and celebrate with family hehe and also after this celebration I think chanbaek won't like rest assured, both of them will go back to work right away and they might think its gonna be a little harder bcs they both alr achieved many great things in 2024 and 2025 the standard will be even higher but both of them will have this kind of worry and they will be open to each other about this! They will share and discuss their plans, whats next, whats good, they will always be there for each other no matter what.Oh adding to this!! I think both will be living that double income couple life so well you know.. like they go to work, do business, they go home, sleep tgt, eat tgt, really happy workaholic couple 😂

---

Chanbaek Future!! 1-2 years later

Keywords:

"quality time with people you cherish in your life"

"turning romantic wishes into reality"

connection and commitment

Okay I feel like the result isnt as detailed as the first 2 questions' results BUT still this is a glimpse of what the future holds for their relationship and the answer indicates they will spend more time tgt compared to this year or previous year, they will have more quality time with each other and people around them, and they will build that connection as a commited couple who will walk to their future together. Also a card describes chanbaek's commited relationship as an air sign, I'm an air sign myself and I feel like this is really really good, being an air sign is wonderful and just the best because like air sign is a sign of freedom and humanity, air sign likes to fly away yet at the same time, they know when to stop flying and rest for a bit and look what is happening under the sky. This is a healthy relationship, both chanbaek will get the freedom they want as both are very independent, but also when they need each other and care about each other, they will be together. Like their relationship has this good set of boundaries but also uncountable empathy.

---

P.S.: While wedding/engagement is possible but what I feel is more to celebrating their achievements in 2024 hehe BUT WHO KNOWS

I suddenly have the urge to read tarot bcs of the penshoppe x bench thingy haha i feel like it gives more hm how do i say it, it adds one more "red string" to chanbaek, what i mean is now theres another thing that connects both of them so their energy tgt will become stronger

[sleepy-aletheas]

Alhaitham and the eternal misconception of his relationship to knowledge (and life)

This truly is gonna be the hill I'll die on, huh. Long post incoming I guess.

Listening to Alhaitham's voice lines, it's fascinating how he manages being perceived as callous and seeing everyone else beneath himself for not being smart enough or being overly emotional to his standards, when that's not even his view of others or what he values.

Sure, he's blunt, he doesn't enjoy engaging with others, he wants to solve problems in the most efficient way so that he can go and live his life in peace, even if it comes off as him being lazy.

Of course, this type of approach on life makes many people uncomfortable. Be it for being raised to toe unsaid lines for the sake of politeness; feeling it as a personal dig at themselves for being someone that tries to go out of their way to help others; or just working oneself to the bone to achieve their goals and then seeing someone do everything with minimal effort just to "laze around".

From an outside perspective, the misunderstanding of such a character makes sense. When others exchange pleasantries and ask if they should help, and always smile and have a more friendlier approach, anyone not doing that seems rude, cold, sometimes even hostile.

And Alhaitham uses this misconception to his own benefit, to be left alone and avoid unnecessary social interactions. But that's besides the point.

It's hard to get past his walls of privacy, but we can know more about Alhaitham from the crumbs left around. Sure, there is more in the quests (be it the main archon quest, his own, Cyno's second story, Kaveh's hangout) or events (Parade of Providence, or the latest An Odd Textual Mystery), but even if we only get little tidbits we're allowed to find out through the voice lines, it's still enough to disprove this mischaracterization.

It's easy to take his dismissal of others and having his nose eternally buried in books as a superiority complex, where he holds his vast knowledge above the heads of others, and views them as lesser. But it's a combination of a few things that make this misconception (and by an unfortunate result, mischaracterization) possible.

A big part is The Project he had with Kaveh and some other students during their Akademiya days, where he didn't go out of his way to help or do the workload of others, and instead let them drop out of the project to do their own thing. It was one of the reasons they fought so much - the perception that Alhaitham didn't want to help anyone, because they were lesser in intellect than him, so they weren't even worth helping. It didn't help, that he made a distinction between him, Kaveh, and the others - he and Kaveh were geniuses, and the others couldn't naturally keep up. Nothing more, nothing less. Is it a harsh thing to point out? Yes. It makes people feel self-conscious, dumb, undervalued, and Akademiya students would absolutely feel it hit their pride.

But if we take a step back, and look at what he says, it's clear he didn't think lesser of them as individuals, because it didn't make sense to him that they would drag themselves through this exhausting process they didn't have the will to follow through, the stamina to keep up and not make it a harder ordeal than necessary, or even having any enjoyment out of it. The only positive thing this project could give the other students was a good collaboration that helped with their grades and graduation, but the toll it would take on them could burn them out for years if not turn them off from seeking knowledge altogether, because they exhausted themselves, when there were other (and better) ways they could reach satisfaction and not hurt themselves. In his selfish little way of wanting to work in peace and not shoulder the responsibilities and faults of others, he might have been the thing that saved some academic enjoyment for them before it was too late.

And this line of thinking goes into the present as the Akademiya's scribe. Is he harsh with the applications? Sure, he doesn't let anything subpar slip through the cracks if he can help it, because that's his job. If the scholars don't even try to make a decent request with no spelling errors or other faults, why would he bother with it? They can do better, even for something as little as this (of course, we get to know from NPCs how stressful the whole academic process is, how much it can burden someone, and how it can feel unfair that their hard work can be rejected just like that; but Alhaitam pretty much just refuses the poorly written applications, so it's all about rewriting the request, not the work itself).

Which just winds back into the belief that he sees himself on a pedestal above everyone else. And it's funny, because he does think a lot of the scholars are dumb, but not because they're lacking or not deserving education, but because a lot of them see themselves as superior to others (mostly to those who don't go to the Akademiya or who are artists), and the ones that are lazy and rely purely on book smarts they most likely won't even understand if it had to be applied irl. He's pretty much laughing at the ones that talk big game and then fall on their faces, not at the ones that try their hardest, or are average, or who don't care for academics and live their lives out of that sphere at all.

If anything, he values when people know their strengths and weaknesses, and don't try to make their lives harder by being someone they're not (we can see it in his voice lines about Dehya and Nilou, where he holds respect for them and their ways of living). And in his voice like "Something to Share", he himself doesn't think knowledge is a 'be all, end all' of humanity, and that there are other ways to be fulfilled in life (the voice line is: "Truth serves no master. Humankind is not a vehicle for knowledge, nor is knowledge the aim of humankind." and I guess that's why Nahida doesn't think he's wise, because she views knowledge/wisdom and the relationship of humanity to it differently than he does).

And that just brings us back to the beginning, where people see him as rude and self-centered...which yeah, he is the later. But that's not an inherently bad thing. He doesn't see the point of being needlessly friendly or lie to be perceived that way, so he doesn't do that. He doesn't seek the company of others, because it's not his core need, so he doesn't do that. He doesn't like to use rhetoric, because the truth is important to him, so he doesn't do that. He just wants to live a peaceful life with the least amount of conflict, and in his voice line 'Alhaitham's Troubles' he explains: "Based on my observations, many people inflict trouble upon themselves. Life already has enough hardships — no need to add to them." so of course he will try to avoid unnecessary strife when he can, and so he doesn't do that.

He is steadfast in his beliefs, and respects others who do the same, because in his voice line 'More about Alhaitham III: "Every person should have something that they believe in and hold on to from beginning to end. Otherwise, it's easy to succumb to the vicissitudes of life and find yourself being led astray.", so him asking Kaveh "How has realizing your ideals gone for you?" wasn't a dig, it was him trying to see if his best friend changed because of his hardships. And when he saw he didn't, it must have been such a relief to know that his mirror in the world was still there, altruistic and passionate, even with more emotional bruises than before.

Alhaitham is so many things, but someone who inherently doesn't understand emotions (his and other people's) or disregards everything that isn't pure knowledge or utilitarian way of living, are not some of them.

[theambitiouswoman]

How do you feel good enough when society is always trying to make you feel otherwise?

Not good enough for dating

Not good enough looks wise

Not good enough intelligence wise etc

The best way for me to answer this is to recommend you reframe your mindset. Society is full of people who are not happy and projecting their issues on to everyone else. They set high and sometimes unrealistic standards that people can not measure up to. Even themselves.

It's perfectly normal for anyone to feel like they are not good enough at some point and in some way. That reality of society being judgmental will unfortunately always exist. So we need to focus on what we need to do so it does not affect us. And that starts with figuring out why it does.

When someone hurts or upsets us, it often ties back to ingrained negative beliefs we have about ourselves. We could be to focused on comparing ourself to others, or gaining approval, maybe even fulfillment. By doing that, we are opening ourselves to judgement and criticism.

When we are completely focused and in love with our lives, what other people think means nothing to us. Start treating yourself with kindness and love. If others opinions affect you, figure out if that is something you want to work on. I know it isn't and easy process. But whats harder? The pain from the judgement or the pain from the growth into no more pain?

Start by rewiring your mind. Remind yourself of your worth, your amazing qualities, your achievements. Avoid environments and people that trigger you. It is not always avoidable, but we can drastically curve this by not putting ourselves in environments with people who do not share the same mindset, thoughts, habits, beliefs etc.

Sometimes we are in the wrong room. Other times we are in the right room looking at things the wrong way. Remember this is your life and you not only have control of who is in it, but the person you choose to be. Unapologetically.

ps. I am sure you are good enough and the people around you just suck <3 If you want to work on YOU for YOU then thats amazing. We should always be improving as individuals. Please do not tie your worth to other people's opinions. You are too valuable.

[streets-in-paradise]

Their Princess - Andy Barclay x Reader

Requested by @tealady556

" Hey can you write one where Andy and reader having a kid thanks!"

Sure, and sorry it took me so long. Andy being a dad is such a lovely concept i love to be writing this. Hope the fluff will compensate for the delay :)

Warnings: Dad Andy fluff 💕 I decided the kid will be a little girl just because I love too much the idea.

Summary: As your child grows up it is your challenge as parents to find a way of combining the developmental freedoom she needs with all the safety precautions against Chucky. Andy is very concerned about it, but her peculiar understandment of the situation will surprise him.

Tags: @barclaysangel

Looking back, the life Andy managed to build with you seemed like the most improbable dream. He turned his prison into a home, changing loneliness for a wonderful family. Everything Chucky said he would never achieve, he had it. Mortified by his lies, he once got to believe he was too undesirable to find a partner, or just too broken to be around anyone else but him. Breaking the isolation brought him amazing news: he could be wanted, loved and even cherished beyond his romantic relationship with you. Unlike Chucky, he didn’t have a magic wand to make all his problems disappear, but having all of that made a huge difference. 

Becoming a father was the biggest challenge he had ever faced. To the standard fears of any parent, he had to add the never resting threat of the killer doll with a preference for being an intergenerational curse for his most hated families. However, the bliss was stronger than the doubts and he would see it with each day of watching your little one grow.

Finding the balance between his justified hypervigilance and the freedoom her development required was getting harder once she stopped being a baby, but there was no doubt he was an amazing dad who adored his child. The love you felt for him kept growing more and more since she came to your lives, watching them play was your happy place. Even when you would join the games, you were always finding yourself in awe observing him challenging himself to make her happy.

Andy Barclay, the man who lost his childhood to an abuser hidding inside his toy, could be found happyly playing with your daughter and the toys you got her. Sometimes it would give you the impression of some compensation going on in their playtime, her dad and his inner child both participating of it.

Living in contact with nature made her adquire a fascination for the wildlife of the woods and a preferrence for the Disney Princesses associated with that enviroment. Her favorite was Aurora, from The Sleeping Beauty. The three of you cassually watched the old film once on a rainy day and she never let it go.

It probably didn't help that the princess hidding in a small cottage to escape the rage of a witch who hated her parents lived as a peasant under a different name that resembled hers. She would play pretend to be Briar Rose so often that you ended up getting her a costume she could put on to improve the experience.

Through her playing you also got to understand that Rose wasn't completely blind to the reason for her father's worry. She got a chance to completely expose it to both of you during the discussion of a big milestone. She was invited for a sleepover at a friend's house, something normal to most children, but Andy was too preoccupied to let her go.

" I don't know the family enough and I haven't been in their house … How many toys she has? Have you seen them all? What if she has friends, siblings or cousins bringing their own toys and Chucky shows up in the hands of one of them? What if he sneaks inside the house in the middle of the night knowing I will not be there to protect her? "

You held his hand and began to play with his hair trying to calm him down while translating his speculations to your girl.

" What dad means is that we are not sure if you sleeping so far away from us is a good idea. "

She was a bit dissapointed, but that didn't mean she didn't understand it. Andy hated to see the evident letdown and couldn't help wondering if that was how his mother felt trying to make him understand why she couldn't buy him a Good Guy during the morning of his sixth birthday.

However, his little one did provide him bits of her own reasoning.

" I know, I know. If I leave the woods the witch doll will find me and put me to sleep. "

Her father looked at her in disbelief, then redirected his attention to you as if he seeked for an answer to what he just heard, but you were as clueless as him.

You both have told her about Chucky, but didn't expect she would be bringing it up in her own terms.

" Is that how you see him, Rosie? " Andy wondered out loud, encouraging her to keep talking. " Like the curse of the Sleeping Beauty? "

" Maleficent. " She corrected him, starting a childish ramble. " She cursed her to hurt her family, she wanted her gone but Merrywheater changed the curse so she would be just sleeping. That's why Aurora lived in the woods, so she won't find her, but then Maleficent saw her in the castle and put her to sleep on her birthday just like the curse said ... Isn't that what Chucky does? He tried to make you sleep on your birthday."

He couldn't believe the innocent brillance of what he was hearing from her. It showed perfect understandment of the situation wrapped in the fantasy of a fairytale.

" So you understand that Chucky uses dolls the same way Maleficent cursing the spinning wheel, ríght? " He tried to follow her, presenting his point from another angle. " I'm nervous about the dolls other people have the same way Aurora's dad was about the spinning wheels on his kingdom. "

" Dad acts like that because he wants to protect you from the curse of Chucky. " You added, providing the conclussion. " He is not a King, so he can't get the Good Guy dolls banned from the country like King Stephan did forbidding his subjects from having spinning wheels. "

The sweet little girl seemed genuinely concerned for him, as if putting things on the language of the story would make her see it clearer.

" Don't worry, daddy! I have my good fairy aunts . "

" We live here with you and I don't see any fairies. " Andy recalled. " Since i'm not a real king, I never needed to leave you under the care of a fairy."

The refutation didn't seem to worry her at all.

" Aunt Kyle and Aunt Nica come to visit me. "

It was a heartwarming occurence, but he didn't want to encourage it. Touched as you both were, you still had to explain her the bad concecuencies it could have if she would say it during one of their visits.

" You should never call Nica your aunt. " Andy cutted her off. " It can upset her. "

The warning made her a little sad.

" … Maybe she doesn't want to be my aunt."

Her sudden sadness fearing herself unwanted by a loved one was breaking your heart.

" It's not that, she loves you. " You tried to explain her because you knew it was too much for him. " … But once upon a time, she was the fairy aunt of another princess Chucky wanted to curse. Her parents weren't as carefull as we are, they didn't know about it and they weren't paying attention. Her aunt tried to save her, but she couldn't revert it the way Merrywheater did. He did put her to sleep, but that princess never woke up and her castle is empty. Now Nica feels too sad to be called aunt again, even if she feels like your aunt. "

The fate of Alice was the combination of all his worst fears. As a father he began to feel haunted by her suffering more than ever. Andy would tell himself over and over that he taught his girl well, that Rose was better prepared and had loving parents that knew better and won't let Chucky rope her. Still, he himself had a wonderfull mother and that wasn't enough to stop it.

She needed to form friendships, the only constant on every tale was a lonely kid surrounded of grown ups.

" Tell you what, sweetheart? We can offer your friend to make the sleepover here. " He proposed out of sudden. " I can take the deer off the wall and hide anything else she may find weird. She can stay for the whole weekend and we will take you for a walk so you can show her all the cute animals you love to salute. "

The illusion transformed her expression, she was all smiles for him again.

" Really?"

He tried to act cassually, but the difference meant the world to him.

" Sure, clever girl. Problem solved."

She hugged him, excitement making her cling tíght.

" THANK YOU, DADDY!! YOU ARE THE BEST!! "

Andy picked her up and kissed her forehead.

" You are welcome, honey. " He lovefully replied. " Just give me some time to fix the place because i want to impress our guest. You know? Not many people think i'm as great as you see me. Many get scared of me because they don't know of everything I told you or they don't believe it. "

She surprised him once more with a lovely comeback.

" I love you, dad. You scare the monsters away."

You could tell he was holding back tears of joy, but you were already crying. Once you found a while to speak about it you were all over him, fulling him of congratulations, but he wasn't convinced of deserving those.

" Mom always says she is a lot like me, and she is ríght. i don't want her to grow up alone and in fear. " He confessed himself with you. " She sees herself as a lonely girl hidding from the curse of a witch by living in a cottage, who later falls for the very first guy she sees. Maybe my obsession for protecting her makes her vulnerable, maybe i'm doing everything wrong."

You chuckled with skepticism, then replied.

" You are forgetting our Rosie is not some common bitch. She is the daughter of Andy Barclay: original victim, long lasting Chucky hunter and professional cult deprogrammer. You have been talking kids out of it since at least your late teens and that experience is reflected in your parenting. She has just proven you that she bewares of Chucky even if she has never meet him yet and that is a world of difference. To get inside, kids have to open the door for him and hers is very closed. "

" Let's make the common agreement of never showing her the Maleficent movie. " He joked, following you. " She is so clever, it never stops amazing me. "

The pridefull smile on his face was making you melt with tenderness.

" Got it from her dad … "

" With your imagínation. " He corrected you. " I don't recall to have ever been so creative."

" Your self implemented security systems say otherwise, love. " You insisted, seeking to make him feel as good as you felt with him. " … And remind me what was the last thing our girl asked we should get her for her birthday?"

" A bow, she saw it in Brave.We had to talk her out of it because she is still too little and she kept saying that princesses shoot with bows. She could have asked for a Merida doll, but preferred the bow. "

You shared a few chuckles and he was back at looking at you with that sweet, lost expression that could have made you die for him.

" Am I doing it ríght?"

You pulled him closer to you and stamped a kiss on his lips, then whispered.

" Amazing."

[vynnytypesstuff]

hiya~! hope you’re doing good~!

may i request a scenario with Vil Schoenheit with a female S/O(or non-bi if you prefer) who has that…pain when they’re told by a scout that they’re not fit enough—particularly a bit under 5’9”—to be a model with Vil. perhaps it was always their dream to be a model, but ever since dating Vil, they wanted to do it more and more, yet once a chance came…it was completely shot down by a scout-; it would be his reaction to the S/O’s breakdown…only if you’d wanna! (*´꒳`*)

sorry that was super long LOL

꒰୨୧﹒Twisted Wonderland - Hcs for Vil with a Female S/O Who is Told They Aren't Fit to be a Model

Sorry for the wait! School's been busy + personal stuff but I finally got back to writing woohoo

As always thanks for the request and enjoy

Warnings: None

There wasn't a soul in Night Raven College who didn't know of Vil Schoenheit and his fame. His striking beauty, along with his confident, regal-like mannerisms and persistent determination, has gained him a "cult-following. His modeling and acting career grew in success, and he has reached over five million followers on Magicam and earning him his status as a prominent influencer

Vil was an inspiration to many, yourself included. Even before you were aware of your wish to become a model, Vil's fresh takes on the importance of hard-work and self-care captivated you to your core. His words motivated you to be the best version of yourself, and eventually, your underlying dream of becoming a model had begun to blossom

You were sorted into Pomefiore, the same dorm as Vil. Shockingly, you didn't let Vil's presence cause your path to modeling to falter. In fact, his presence encouraged you to work even harder to achieve your dream. You took every opportunity to show off your talent, a notion that didn't slip past Vil's watchful gaze

Vil took interest in you. He admired your determination in developing your skills and saw potential in you. As time went on, you began to speak with him more and more until you were interacting on a daily basis. Eventually you would become close with him, and your relationship status would take a shift from "friendship" to "dating" (I'm not being lazy here I swear)

If joining Pomefiore drove you further into the modelling path, then dating Vil skyrocketed that notion. Getting familiar with Vil's life, both personal and career, left a burning desire in you. Now more than ever, you wanted to be a model

For females, modeling gigs typically have a standard height requirement between 5'9" and 6'0" ft. You were below 5'9" ft, but you had still believed you had just as fair of a shot as anyone else, right?

You had encountered a scout when you were looking at a flier for a modelling gig. Nothing too grand, but it would be enough to help you get a jump start on your career. While you were preoccupied with thoughts on how this could be your chance, you hadn't noticed the scout looming behind you until you turned around

Long story short, the scout didn’t seem to share the same sentiment as you. They didn’t believe you were cut out for modeling, claiming you were too amateurish to make it big, not to mention your height gave you a significant disadvantage (or at least so they claimed)

It was a bit devastating to hear a scout shoot you down in minutes. This was a dream you had been clinging onto for your whole life, even when you weren’t fully aware of it, and you’d been prepared to bring it into fruition. Your confidence began to waver, and you wondered if you should give up

That night in the dorms, Vil noticed you seemed… off. You were unusually quiet, and even if it was getting late you hadn't started your nightly routine yet. It was as if something was weighing you down

There was no way Vil was going to leave you there looking miserable, so he decided to check up on you. No use lying about it because he'd find out eventually. You told Vil about what happened, what the scout had said about you not being fit enough to be a model, and how you weren't sure if you were as cut out for the modelling industry as you thought you were

You were prepared for Vil to agree with the scout, but to your shock he had the exact opposite reaction from what you envisioned. Though he maintained his composure, you could clearly see that he was upset that you told you weren't fit to be a model

Vil firmly denied those words. Sure, you were shorter than today's big models, but that doesn't mean you didn't have a chance. In his opinion, the world needed models of all shapes and sizes. In addition to that, physical attributes have nothing to do with talent, even if one were to meet every little absurd physical standard. Appearances alone isn't enough to determine a person's skill-level or success

After giving you his input, he reaffirmed that you did the potential and drive to be a model and said that you were going to take that modelling gig (because like hell he's going to let you give up that easily

He did give you a biiiit of a scolding for taking what that scout said to heart, but it's only because he cares. Realistically, no matter what your qualities were, you would likely get a number of un-constructive critics who will pick out your "weak points" and use those to push you down. It's even been done to him before. He wants to prepare you for the worst and help build your self-confidence so that you don't get discouraged again

In short, Vil is very supportive of your goal, giving you a mix of praise and construction criticism. If anyone comes for you because of your height, well, let's just say they better hope Vil isn't in the room

[mayasaura]

what if john didn't actually wipe the pre-ressurection memories of his friends, and he just made them inaccessible, and through lyctor shenanigans, pyrha was somehow able to find gi1deons?

this is brought on by me seeing a post a while back about how childhood amnesia is kind of like ur brain updating and then the childhood memory files not updating with it, so the brain computer can't use them.

but the pre-ressurection memories are adult memories, so a human brain, a.k.a g1deon's, would have to be damaged in a particular way to be unable to access the entirety of his life.

fast forward to his ascension. pyrrha, as his cav, is going to have her muscle memories superimposed over his, and so she is effectively going 'where remembrance lives in the brain'. the superhealing granted by lyctorhood mingles with the incoming pyrrha™️ juice and either that's what disrupts some of whatever work john did, and the botched process gives pyrrha access to gi1deon's pre-res memories, or the botched process specifically that does it. either way, pyrrha now knows Some Things. Some Things she'll sit on for a while, but Things none the less.

this brings me to cassy. she was working on the grand lysis with anastasia originally, something pal and cam perfected centuries later. consequently, paul tells us two very important things:

1) when you combine two souls, the resultant souls have both the memories, but may find it hard to sort through and distinguish memories of the same event

2) it is possible to reach grand lysis after a standard lysis.

could it be, then, that cassy was privately trying to achieve grand lysis too? if she was, it's obvious she didn't succeed/fully follow through, as the og lyctor gang don't mention any change in her behaviour. but i like to think that she tried, and just like gi1deon unintentionally undid some of John's work. but what Cass-and-Nigella (Nancy?) saw and remembered caused them to panic and 'look back', which could have permanently stopped Cass from trying to undergo grand lysis again (there's not enough evidence for that, it's just the only reason i can think of why she wouldn't dive deeper; truth over solace in lies and all that)

whatever happened, it's some extra sauce on for the cass betrayal <3

So true, you make some great points about Pyrrha and GtF. If John wiped them by suppressing that memory in her brain, well, once she was a soul without her own brain..... all bets are off.

I'm not sure how you're drawing the conclusion for the second point, about grand lysis being possible after completing standard lysis. If Paul is the result of Cassiopeia and Anastasia's joint research, or at least if Cassie and Anastasia were driving toward the same goal, I'm not sure it follows that Cassie thought she could still achieve grand lysis with Nigella. Sixth is for truth over solace in lies, right? Could be the truth Cassie was seeking wasn't that she could still be reborn with Nigella, but rather the much harder truth of finding out for sure that Nigella's death was unnecessary.

I think you're right, tho. It is very suggestive that Cassiopeia and Anastasia's research was in composite and melange souls. And that is some delicious sauce to stir into the theories about Cassiopeia's betrayal.

[happiestplacehq]

HANS SØR is twenty-nine years old. He is an employee at the Arendelle Amphitheatre. He is the incarnation of Hans from the Disney film Frozen.

+ Charismatic, Ambitious, Observant - Deceitful, Sly, Manipulative

ABOUT HANS

No matter how hard Hans Sør worked, there was always another brother who had worked harder or faster (or simply first). Hans may have been offered every opportunity, handed the finest education, won accolade after accolade but it was never enough. Never good enough. The standards for everyone else- for normal people- did not apply to the Sør family and that was a lesson Hans learned the hard way.The only way to gain any recognition, to gain even a scrap of praise or love for that matter, was to earn it. Even now, Hans is still trying to figure out how to do just that. He told himself that moving to Redwood was a way of getting out from under the crushing shadow of his family. He told himself he didn’t need their approval anymore. The truth of the matter? He moved to Redwood to be a big fish in a small pond. It was good too, you know? Freeing. Every opportunity to chase success, every person to charm or manipulate, were his to choose. No competition, no sharing. Hans is selfish and will always look out for number one (who else will?). He can talk a good game, play along and pretend like a pro but does he really give a damn about anyone else? That’s one secret he’ll never tell (XOXO). Hans has expensive tastes and impossibly high standards, living off his trust fund and credit cards in between projects (which includes the current ruse of employment). What? You can want to break free from your family and still spend their money. Hans likes to think that when he puts his mind to it, he can achieve absolutely anything he wants. Spin the right story, whisper a few sweet nothings… The world isn’t so difficult to take advantage of.  He’s never really seen the value in being a “good” person especially when you could be a powerful person, an influential person, a person who matters. That was one of the many things that he could never quite wrap his head around about Anna Arendelle: how good she was for seemingly no reason. The mind does baffle. It still does in fact. Normally Hans wouldn’t have given Anna and her family business another thought after the whole Kristoff of it all but things have changed. After being called back by his father for a serious discussion about Hans’ future, well. There’s less and less he won’t do now to make sure he gets a win under his belt.

CONNECTIONS

Anna Arendelle - His now ex “girlfriend”. He isn’t all that interested in her and is using her to get a foot in the door of her family’s business. Elsabeth Arendelle - His boss. He doesn’t think she is fit to run the rink, but won’t show it. Kristoff Eismann - A fellow employee turned rival.

Hans is currently unavailable. His faceclaim is Daniel Sharman.

[luminous-letters]

Hi can you please do the roller skating thing but with Kalim Ace and vil .

"Do a flip!"

You had to explain to him more than once that you weren't on that level in skating.

"I'm still working on some tricks. I'm not sure if I can manage..."

"You can do it. I'm sure! Just believe in yourself and everything's gonna turn out fine," he assured with sparkling eyes.

You had to tell him that's not how it works and that you need more practice. But you didn't have the heart.

"I know. I'll teach you! Right, right. It's not that hard, everyone can do it," he patted you on the back.

If only Kalim was as good a teacher as he was a learner. You had trouble catching up to his pace. Unlike others who would start out slow before spiraling into a harder difficulty, Kalim immediately started on the more advanced parts.

"We can do this, I believe in you."

You never ran short of morale with him. Maybe it was his out-of-place sunny disposition.

You need at least some sunshine in your life.

You tripped and fell, and scraped your leg. Sometimes it was your arm. But you kept on trying to achieve that flip.

"Let's try doing it again," you tapped him on the back.

He offered a blinding smile. "That's great to hear! But I think we should rest first, I'm beat," he laughed.

"Coconut juice?," he asked you.

"I'd appreciate that, thank you."

He came back with a whole crate.

And a first aid kit.

"This should ease the pain from the bruises you got earlier, I brought some for occasions like this. It doesn't hurt too much does it?"

"It's manageable."

Maybe it was a way to say sorry? You weren't sure. But you were thankful for the gesture nonetheless.

"Well, life's all about learning right?"

It was a sight to behold. You and Ace were scrambling like a couple of waddling penguins.

Very clumsy penguins.

Though, it didn't take him too long to learn the basics. Soon enough, he was gliding with a better form than earlier.

Improvements, bit by bit.

"It must hurt falling on your ass all the time. Can't relate."

As if he didn't land face-first onto the concrete three minutes ago.

"You see, you gotta leave these things to the pros! Don't need a bunch of pipsqeaks," he joked.

You caught him by surprise when you were rushing towards him.

"Hey...hey! Slow down!"

All-fast and all-powerful.

Like a fucking truck.

You both crashed with a resounding thud. Thankfully you didn't sustain too many injuries, the protective gear was doing its job.

"Were you trying to get us killed?! Ah— oh shit, that hurts."

But that didn't mean your bodies weren't going to be sore for the next two weeks.

"Poise and form, darling. Poise and form."

Vil was a demanding instructor, that came without a doubt. For someone whose aim was perfect beauty, it's no surprise that Vil extends his standards to the people that walk beside him.

But that didn't make his training any less effective.

It didn't make his training any less easier either.

"Keep that book on top of your head. If you wish to glide with elegance, you need to first learn how to balance your weight."

Training, as Vil put it, lasted for weeks on end. With each session more difficult than the last.

Wasn't this supposed to be a fun bonding time?

At the end of the month, you could launch yourself with a twirl mid-air. The crowds applauded your little trick.

You searched for his face in the crowd. And you did. It made your heart flutter to see him with a proud expression on his face.

"Care for a dance?" You extended your arm towards him.

"Can you keep up, is the question," he flashed a smirk.

Only one way to find out.

[genderqueerdykes]

oh my gosh the way you draw anatomy is so splendid. i have a tummy similar to the one in your artwork and it made me so happy. you are an amazing being, thank you 🙏

hehehe!!!!!! thank you that means so much to hear, truly, and if i'm brutally honest that's why i decided to finally draw an accurate self portrait. i've been an artist since i was a kid, i started drawing as a toddler and never stopped and it's one of the talents everyone encouraged in me.

i actually lived off commissions somewhat in the past. but i realized i started feeling more and more alienated from the greater art communities i was a part of because i just wasn't seeing art that made me feel at home or like i was being represented. i felt like all the art i was seeing was to escape or create an "idealized" version of one's self. i was seeing art that was being used to cover up insecurities. i have no qualms with people who do this, because for many, their art is their shield

but for me i was tired of being held back. i was tired of having to give into the expectation that all of my characters would have to be either thin or hyper muscular, 1 fat character at best, that they would have to be majority cishet, able bodied, and so on. i just got so tired of it i went. well sometimes you have to go back to basics. and i just literally stood in front of the mirror for a rly long time and looked at my body and actually observed it and for the first time in my life i didn't hate it because i was looking at it from a realistic perspective

i see soooo many people with bodies like mine every day! and i want people who look like me to feel seen. people treat fat bodies like they are inherently ugly, and they're not! my body is beautiful, it has so many unique curves and shapes i've not seen on another person. my body is also not inherently harder to draw! that is the biggest lie anyone has ever told you- i do not have to try to achieve for some supernatural inhuman standard when i'm drawing my own body- it's a real thing i can reference and look at. it's not harder to draw a body i have a reference for

i am naturally androgynous to the point of looking like a hermaphrodite (please note that only intersex people should reclaim this term) and i think there are other people in the world who look similar to me who want to felt seen, too. i think other chubby, fat, plus size, crippled, and queer people are tired of not being represented as who we are. we don't have to pretend like our bodies look a different way. let us be who we are as we are and let our art reflect that

i think we're all a little tired of the airbrushed people we see on TV. i think art should reflect beauty, not "perfection". my body is beautiful, and so is yours. i will say it has helped me that i've had very fat positive partners in the past to the point of almost being "worshipped" (not in an uncomfortable way, in a very flattering way), and it's been healing. it's actually very good to surround yourself with people who just like fat people, like fat bodies, and are okay with them.. it's good actually lol

sorry i rambled like a mf but chubby/fat liberation is also important to me bcus we're treated like we have to get skinny or pretend like we don't exist and i say fuck! that! i've actually tried to lose weight and i've had so little food and have been so fatigued over the past 3 years of my life that i have been eating 1 meal a day at best many days. modern medicine says i should lose weight, but i never do! over the past 3 years despite decreasing my intake and changing to a vegetarian diet, i'm still 300+ lbs. and you know what, that's fine by me. it turns out human bodies have a weight they naturally try to attain and it is beyond our control. you cannot control how your body wants to be- at the end of the day it still does what it wants. we are beautiful and we deserve to take up all the space we need as we are, right now. take care of yourself!

[universestreasures]

@shacchou (Plotted Starter)

Reiji is calm as he follows the attendant through the many hallways and rooms of the large corporate building, a place that might be enemy territory depending on how things go. Considering what he's observed since being in this dimension that he's calling 'Domino' for now, it was only a matter of time before his presence got noticed. After all, this city and his own had some similarities, such as the various amount of security cameras and advertisements for a single dueling-related company that had a huge influence.

They are tactics he's used to enact a level of authority over Maiami City. Though, not for the purpose of controlling others. Rather, his own methods were for the purpose of protecting and preparing his homeworld from the invaders he knew would come one day, invaders his own flesh and blood would send.

Reiji wonders if the head of this company, this 'Seto Kaiba', had a similar rationale for his methods? Perhaps he may find out through their inevitable encounter that approached faster with each step he took.

So far, the duelist does not sense Academia's presence in this dimension, despite Fusion Summoning being used by some duelists. No, this 'Domino Dimension' seems to be its own beast, separate from the four worlds he is familiar with. That means they could be a powerful ally in a war that Reiji believes might expand beyond his father's current scope and make its way here.

The ambition of Leo Akaba had no bounds and no regard for the lives of the innocent...

If the damage he's done to the XYZ Dimension was any indication...

At long last, he steps into the office of the famous duelist of this world, thanking the attendant for guiding him before she walked away. Upon first glance, Reiji can tell Seto Kaiba seems to be not too much older than himself. Not only that, he can sense an air of power that reminds him of his own, a power that would send a chill down even the most intimidating duelist's spine.

Luckily for the CEO, considering his past experiences, he is able to remain calm in this situation. He just needs to play his cards right. Even if something does go wrong, he can always use his dimension transporter card in combination with his duel disk to go back to his home base in the Standard Dimension. He'd like to gain an ally out of this situation, but if worst came to worst, he had an effective means of escape. Being prepared for anything was what he prided himself on, after all.

"I appreciate the...warm welcome and private audience, Mr. Kaiba." Reiji speaks, a click of his glasses to his face in sync with his words. "It took you a rather short time period to notice my presence here, but for that, I am grateful. This saved me the trouble of having to wait to converse with the person I am certain I need to in order to achieve my objective."

A few steps are then takes a few more steps into the room, knowing it was rude to hang in the doorway. He is sure not to get too close, though. If he was to sit in one of the chairs in this room, then he would need to be invited. Those many formality and business lessons his mother made him do were certainly aiding him now.

"My name is Reiji Akaba, president of the Leo Corporation located in Maiami City. Though, I am certain you have not heard of me, my company, or...where I am from."

This point right here would be a true test if this 'Domino Dimension' really was not connected to Academia. Anyone who worked in a position of power under his father would surely know this information, the information regarding the thorn in their side. Even if they were trying to fake shock, Reiji was very perceptive and could see right through them.

"Let us hope for the sake of your world and my own, you are not an enemy...Seto Kaiba." He keeps these thoughts to himself, thoughts he hopes will become true. The fight against his father was already an uphill battle, and adding more enemies on top of that would make it even harder. Nonetheless, it is a battle Reiji has sworn to fight till the end, a fight to stop his father's madness and restore order.

Now the question was...will Seto Kaiba join his fight, or become someone he will have to fight against?

[nwtdwy]

A (biased and largely anecdotal) PSA for anybody (mostly young people) considering menial/unskilled work in the U.S.:

Never take a job if the description for it states that it's a good way to get or stay in shape, or requires that you be in good shape to do it, or the list of responsibilities follows the form "requires frequent [insert activity]". This job will destroy you. The company is a meat grinder. You will be worked harder than any professional athlete, for garbage pay, and will begin accruing permanent musculoskeletal damage almost immediately that will become more pronounced after a few years, by which time it will be too late to prevent chronic pain, suffering, and disability that will worsen with age, even after you quit. You may be so impressed by your immense strength and stamina that you overlook the twinges of pain that crop up every now and then. After all, "no pain, no gain," right? This is unfortunately false, and an easy way to end up ignoring symptoms to which you should attend.

If you report your injuries to the company, you will most likely be blamed for it for not following "safe lifting technique" or some other nonsense that, at best, will destroy your knees before your back, and which is also practically impossible to achieve while attempting to satisfy the company's performance standards. The purpose of safety culture in business is to protect business reputation, minimize profit loss due to worker's comp claims, and prevent OSHA inspections. The safety specialists (if the business even has them) are either deluded marks who don't know they're being played or the scummiest bullshitter yes-men management can find who have no compunction about lying their asses off all day. They do not care about you. Do not believe any explanations or justifications they give.

No human body can do a thousand weighted squats (or any repetitive motion saving maybe strides) a day, eight hours a day, five days a week, without permanent injury. You may understand that physical jobs take their toll, but you likely cannot imagine (or I do not believe I can adequately describe) what it is like to go from being athletically fit to partially disabled, to not be able to do the things you used to do, to run, or lift anything moderately heavy, without agony that lasts for days or weeks. You likely do not know how it feels to physically hurt all the time. When you are sedentary, you hurt more. You stiffen up such that when you do anything physical, you feel worse than if you had never rested at all. But if you are too physically active, you aggravate your existing injuries and hurt more anyway. So you must walk a fine line and are always stumbling. And even when you seem to do everything right, an injury will flare up for no cause that you can determine, so you are still hurting all the time. Your life is like a minefield of pain.

Some of this happens anyway with age. I know people who have crap joints and the like who have never had physical jobs, but it tends to happen more quickly and with more severe consequences when you push your body this way.

Please do not do this to yourself.

[mktgluna]

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[wizard-of-interesting-failure]

One thing most people don't understand about aging and death is that the processes affect the soul as much as the body. This is why anti-aging and resurrection magic are so infamously difficult; modifying both at once is almost impossible due to having to cast multiple lifetime-of-study tier spells simultaneously, and if you only change one then the incompatibilities will tend to wreak havoc on the poor person in question. You might think having two casters would solve the issue, but I really do mean "simultaneously"; the slightest gap in the spell weave leads to desynchrony and somehow even worse outcomes.

The counterpoint to this is that a child's soul is still growing and changing rapidly alongside their body, and sometimes that capacity for adaptation lets you skirt the rules, just a little.

Like most wizards, I live a solitary life in a tower in the wilderness, providing for myself with magic and rarely needing to set foot outside for anything. Rarely isn't never, though; some reagents explicitly can't be mage-touched prior to their use, and I'm quite partial to honey but have no interest in becoming a magical apiarist. As such, I have something of a ritual: twice yearly, around the spring and autumnal equinoxes (not for magical reasons; the weather just tends to be nicer then), I'll head to a relatively nearby village to pick up supplies in bulk before retreating back to my demesne for the next six months.

Well, on one of these trips the local beekeepers were celebrating the birth of a daughter. I don't generally pay that much attention to local affairs, but I cast a few appropriate wards and left them with some charms in exchange for a little extra royal jelly. She grew slowly over the next few years, seeming sickly in spite of every effort (my own included) to improve her condition, and in a twist of irony worthy of a faerie curse turned out to be deathly allergic to bees. Not even just the stings; they discovered this when one flew into her room as she slept, and even that level of contact sent her into a convulsive fit.

This was...disheartening, to say the least. This family of beekeepers had kept me well supplied for generations, and she was an innocent girl besides. But I knew little biomancy, certainly not enough to do anything safely to a human. I pondered the problem for a few more years, not knowing how much time she had, and eventually decided that it would have to be soul magic first and foremost if I didn't want to leave her to her apparent fate.

What I came up with first, as quickly as I could since time seemed to be of the essence, was a simple necklace. Most of the design had been borrowed from my earlier phylactery studies, lichdom being one of the few reliable ways to truly cheat death, though of course there was no way to achieve it without the lich-to-be casting a litany of complex incantations themselves. No, all the necklace did was disguise itself as a part of her body such that the soul would passively grow into it. Not an area of particular interest to the aspiring lich, as they were generally too old to grow into anything like that, but a passable first step while I tried to think of what else I could possibly do. I gave it to her parents and told them to have her keep it on her person at all times, then set off to figure out what the hell my options were from here.

Six months later, she was dead.

It was too early. She'd seemed to deteriorate after my last visit, they said. I was certain the necklace wasn't at fault (it was scarcely more than having an extra finger in terms of soul strain), but the villagers mostly blamed me and I mostly let them. It seemed to help them feel better, and I certainly blamed myself. The girl's family, bless their hearts, thanked me for doing everything I could. I took my standard shipment, overpaid for it as much as I could spare, and slipped out in the night, head hung.

I resolved to visit a different village from then on. It was further away, harder to get to, and there were no local beekeepers, but I didn't want to keep reminding them (and myself) of my failure. I'd keep working on the problem, if only out of a sense of guilt-based obligation. Maybe next time I could do a little better, even if I didn't really believe it.

Only when I got there six months later, they had some very strange stories to tell about the merchant caravan that had sold them their honey. Sightings of a stuffed bear...not walking around, exactly, but scooting along while sitting with no apparent means of propulsion. I'd written it off as a curiosity at best, more likely someone making up stories or not noticing one of the merchant children kicking the toy from just out of sight. But then one of them mentioned that it had been wearing (or possibly carrying) a necklace whose description I recognised immediately.

I had very little idea what that could mean, but what idea I DID have suggested that I should drop everything, cast Alacritous Celerity until my nose bled, and then sprint 60 miles down a woodland road, robes flapping every which way as I did. Must've been a funny sight, in retrospect.

You'd think I'd arrive at the apiary and immediately collapse, but I was still hopped up on hyper-haste when I got there. I figured out a few things in short order: The girl's family had been taking the bear and the necklace with them on the caravan because they reminded them of her. The two mementos were sitting on the girl's bed; they still hadn't been able to bring themselves to clear out her old room. Most importantly, they were shifting around on top of the covers. Slowly, haltingly, almost as though they were practising.

I grabbed the necklace right away, intent on running diagnostics, but was immediately assaulted by an overwhelming sense of panic and a force wave of surprising power. I dropped it on the bed and stumbled back, watching as it propelled itself in fits and starts until it had landed back on the bear again.

It was at this point that the rest of the family caught up with me. I snapped out of my reverie long enough to gesture frantically at the bear and the necklace, speaking way too fast to be understood (and probably incoherently even if I hadn't been), notice the smashed doors I'd left in my wake, apologise weakly, then pass out.

When I came to, there was a bottle of honeyed milk in an ice bucket next to me...along with the bear and necklace (next to the bucket, not in it, mind you). I moved to grab the bottle gratefully, but the bear jumped with seeming excitement as soon as I stirred. I reached out towards it gingerly, taking care not to separate it from the necklace this time, and tried tapping into the jewel set into the pendant with object telepathy, half-convinced I'd just gone mad until a voice spoke out in my mind, bright, young, and achingly familiar.

She spoke about her past six months quickly and incoherently, as only a child can, words spilling out in a torrent I could barely swim against long enough to comprehend. I eventually pieced together most of the story: she'd woken up in a formless void with no sensory input to speak of, save for a sense that there was an immense quantity of something nearby, not oppressive particularly, just...there, in a pile, and very noticeable. She had assumed she was dead, until she decided to try grabbing a bit of the pile and throwing it. It didn't move in her perception, only diminished almost imperceptibly in size, but there was a flash of something else. Something shaped like an object she recognised. The face of her stuffed bear.

From there, she was possessed of a single-minded determination to live. Every feeling of helplessness she'd had lying in bed and staring at the ceiling, every lament at her lot in life that no child should ever have needed to feel, every regret born from dreams that should not have been impossible, and yet still were; she poured them all into doing something, anything, to keep going. She figured out how to use the pile (the magic reserve that had been powering the necklace, I realised) to move herself and the bear around, and to better map her surroundings. She tried alerting her family, but couldn't open the door and they never seemed to react to finding her in different positions or to the slight movements she could manage while being carried and without a proper reference frame. She tried getting their attention on the road, but they assumed it was the jostling of the wagon, and she had to be much more careful after almost falling out on one trip. She had resolved to keep working on her movement ability until she could either write a note or fly out the window when I showed up.

I downed the milk, slowly despite my racing mind, and we went to explain the situation to her family. Their reactions were a mix of disbelief, horror, and cautious optimism; eventually they agreed to let me take her back with me to my tower so we could figure out what to do next. That ended up being the easy part. Her control had gotten remarkable, and we ended up designing a golem of sorts for her to pilot with little miniaturised switches. She insisted on making it black, yellow, and bee-shaped; in spite of everything, she still loved bees, she said. We headed back into town a week later, her walking alongside me with confident strides (I hadn't figured out getting the thing to fly yet, much to her disappointment) and her voice carrying excitedly from a standard-built modulator usually used for communicating with magical beings that couldn't speak for themselves.

We kept working on improvements over the next few years; better integration for improved control, mostly, though we did eventually get the flight working and she had a few other requests that were...interesting, to say the least. Once her dexterity improved she made a fantastic beekeeper; she couldn't be stung, after all, and never had to worry about tiring. Eventually she had a fully integrated sensorium and multiple different "carapaces" (her word for them, not mine!) to switch between for different tasks, all in her favoured black-and-yellow style, of course. One she affectionately nicknamed "bumblebee" was even capable of transforming between a self-propelling wagon and a more humanoid form, ostensibly to minimise carapace-switching, but I think she just thought it was cool.

She ended up becoming something of a local legend; we've kept in contact and she visits her family often (especially around harvest season), but ultimately her spirit couldn't be contained to a life as small in scale as the one she'd been born into, as much as she loved and respected the village that had raised her. She even ended up fighting off a dragon for them...but that's another story.

Living a secluded life off the grid was also something you wanted to do and have been doing for the past 20 years, only heading to the nearest town 20miles away to get some odd supplies every 6 months. On your latest visit, you are greeted by the dead roaming the streets.