#wandering through the day

[willowser]

sometimes i get the urge to write the biggest au's for no reason LOL

#wanna write post apocalyptic vampire au with touya #and it's you and him and keigo and rumi trying to live #wandering through the day #having to hide out at night #and then something happens and it's like #whatever this virus does to touya's brain it doesn’t remove you from his heart #and he's like FIGHTING tooth and nail to get to you #and everyone thinks he's just infected and bloodthirsty and keigo and rumi are trying to keep you safe but 🥺 #the truth is that you still live in his human bits 🥺 #it's hardwired into his every muscle to be with you 🥺 keep you safe 🥺 #I FOUGHT THEM ALL OFF JUST TO HOLD YOU CLOSE AND TIGHT #BUT WOULD ANYTHING MATTER IF YOU'RE ALREADY DEAD #AND IN SAYING YOU LOVED ME MADE THIS HARDER AT BEST #nothing like driving through houston going 90 while blasting i brought you my bullets to get the juices flowing LOOOOL #๑ there's a corpse in this bed: dabi ๑ #✿ willow writes #✿ shut up willow #✿ thoughts: dabi/touya

[harmonysanreads]

#SUFFERING THROUGH SCHOOL WAS WORTH IT #I'm not even a die-hard scara simp BUT I WAS COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS #man. #this gremlin knows his power #i mean look at that grin #harmonysan.txt #genshin impact #scaramouche #wanderer

[ruporas]

cheers to the future of humanity (and the future of us)

[ID: Digital illustration in color of Vash and Wolfwood from Trigun. The illustration takes place during the ship/home arc, specifically chapter 21. At the center, Vash is grabbing Wolfwood by the collar and pulls him into a kiss in the middle of a celebration. The pair is colored in vibrant warm hues while their surroundings are colored in cooler colors like green and teals. Luida, Brad, Meryl, and Milly are shown amongst the crowd, occupied in the celebrations as Vash and Wolfwood share a moment by themselves at the center. END ID]

#vashwood #trigun #trigun maximum #vash the stampede #nicholas d wolfwood #hospital yuri (explodeds) like any average vw enjoyer i will never get over that arc #specifically the scene where they heard the news of earth ships coming and did that little handshake they somehow conjured or #Had already. and then the entire ship had a party... meryl and milly started drinking immediately from joy and dragged vash and ww to get #wasted too and overall celebrate together. the chapter moves quickly just like how the hope was quickly withered out and died just hours #later when knives destroyed it. BUT IM JUST THINKING ABOUT IN THE MOMENT OF IT ALL bc in the same chapter #ww asks for a chance for tomorrow and then gets news of earth ships coming. in this same arc vash is thinking of all the things he needs to #resolve so his home doesn't get attacked so the people he love doesn't have to die and the humans he wants to protect gets to live. #i feel like deep down they both semi-recognize that it can't be this easy and regardless of earth ships coming- there's still a wait for #them to arrive and they have to hold out. and regardless ww still has a mission to follow through and vash knows knives would find out #but in that mood of celebration the entire ship brought in - they can at least let themselves relax for a moment and indulge #how they basically engaged with no violence for the few days they were on that ship coaxing them into domesticity... i feel like their #thoughts would wander to somewhere soft and all #allowing them to push aside the tiptoeing and tenseness and be sweet for a night #ruporas art

[chloecherrysip]

I don't know where I'm from. My earliest memory is arriving. I was so lucky they found me! They took me in, raised me like one of their own, and when I was ready, they made me their princess.

#mario movie #mario movie spoilers #super mario bros #princess peach #super mario bros movie #super mario bros movie spoilers #cherrysip edits #mario movie was like ' let me just drop some wild new lore in here and then not come back to it in any way' lolol #DOES PEACH HAVE PARENTS BACK IN THE REGULAR WORLD THAT MOURN HER TO THIS VERY DAY???? #i don't know how feasible this would be but it feels like you could do some research to look up reports of missing children matching her #description over the last couple of decades and see if anything intriguing comes up :O #but i do love how this makes the relationship between peach and the toads so much more emotional and meaningful #they're not just her subjects. they saved her and gave her a loving home!!! they are her family and she would do anything for them!!! #they cared for her and now she cares for them even if it requires self-sacrifice #(another intriguing detail: the castle already exists here. did the toads have another monarch before this???) #(have they just been making unsuspecting humans wandering through the pipe royalty for hundreds of years????? HMM)

[canisalbus]

What are these short and compact games that you have been playing?

Well, off the top of my head, shorter games (10 hours or less) that I've been really enamored by include Journey, Night In The Woods, Abzû, Sable, Limbo, Gris, Year Walk, Never Alone, The Mooseman, Samorost 3, Katamari Damacy and Firewatch. I'm not saying all of them are objectively great and everyone's cup of tea, but I personally vibed with them.

#I had a Great Big Journey Phase a few years ago I would play it through several times every day it was intense #Journey runs with an attentive and thoughtful companion are some of the most touching gaming experiences I've had #wandering around OOB with someone was my favorite thing #tried to learn the fancy flying techniques with mixed results #and in the beginning of this year I got really fixated with the idea of getting 100% on Limbo and would replay it obsessively #but in the end I didn't manage to get the last achievement where you need to finish with five deaths or less #¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #anonymous #answered

[mayasaura]

Actually. Looking at the chronology. The last time Gideon and Harrow talked alone before the pool scene, Gideon accused Harrow of being a jealous creep for telling her to stay away from Dulcinea.

A whole lot of stupifying things happened in between, but really, it wouldn't be surprising if her first panicked reaction to Harrow disrobing was to think Harrow was making a move on her. Relationship definitely hurtling toward something.

#the locked tomb #gideon the ninth #griddlehark #so much happened those last two days at Canaan House #I lost track of just how much relationship upgrade Gideon and Harrow went through #Gideon goes from insisting Harrow is jealous over her and not envious (guarding something that's hers and not coveting something that isn't) #to lashing out at Harrow in the worst way she can manage without physical violence (threatening to leave her) #to assuming Harrow is a murderer and resolving to kill her herself rather than let anyone else touch her #to finding out Harrow had a good reason for everything she'd done and just didn't trust or respect Gideon enough to tell her #to finding out Harrow's worst secrets and swearing herself to Harrow #....in the span of about. mmmm. three hours? ish? #probably less #depends on how long she was wandering around or with the Sixth really #I'd say someone give that girl a nap but for once she actually got one

[jnoll]

storm

#critical role #critical role art #critical role fanart #cr3 #imogen temult #mind wandered halfway through a portrait study and it became imogen #I’ll figure out hair one day #bells hells

[stardustdiiving]

How evil is arlecchino and what is she cooking

As of 4.2, I’m really curious what they’re planning with Arlecchino as a character, especially as a villain/antagonist/morally dubious character, and how far/which direction they may go with that

Intuitively my impression is we’ll see her do something way more “villainous” than she presents herself as being for majority of Fontaine’s AQ in front of us right—(which isn’t a surprise given that, you know, Arlecchino nor the House of Hearth have never been presented as 110% ethical LOL) but I find myself not being in complete agreement with most analysis or speculation threads I see about Arlecchino’s morality and the like, level of sinister people seem to ascribe to her.

Idk how to put it, especially in regards to her children I do agree they are not a wholesome found family, that Arlecchino is not above pulling strings or using them for her own ulterior motives, but I kind of hesitate on the idea she only cares about the Hearth children as a means to the end/things she can control and there’s nothing else going on with her characterization wise there. I’m not saying that impression seems remotely unreasonable or unfounded, but just that it feels there’s something intentionally missing in how we are supposed to conceptualize her as a person

My main reasoning for this hunch is the fact they have not elaborated on Arlecchino and the previous Knave—who Arlecchino is stated to have taken over the position from by force. The extra tidbits I think about are that 1) Arlecchino was previously an orphan in the Hearth 2) the previous Knave is described as way, way crueler to the children of than Heart than Arlecchino was from when she took control of the House

Often, people’s major indicators that the House of the Hearth is kind of super fucked up are the NPCs we meet in world quests who are part of it and clearly suffering. But one thing I haven’t ever seen people mention w this that i think is a very interesting detail is, in The Very Special Fortune Slip Inazuma worldquest, where we stop this House of Hearth guy (Efim Snezhevich) from manufacturing tension between Watasumi/the Shogunate to restart the war with his other Hearth subordinates, at the end of the quest we get this dialogue that reveals he had been acting under the previous Knave’s directives:

It’s also mentioned he’s employing this plan in an attempt to “rebuild the prestige of the Knave” following Signora’s death, iirc? Now, see, the dialogue itself says that this is “assuming our captive is telling the truth” so who knows what’s really going on, but I find this a really odd/interesting thing to highlight. I’m a bit fuzzy on other world quests with Hearth members, and am not saying none of them were acting and subsequently being treated poorly by our Arlecchino, but like, this gives me a lot of questions especially when paired with implications this previous Knave seemed to be way worse

Like, what drove Arlecchino to take over? How unexpected and controversial was this within the House? Assuming the above information is all true it definitely says something this guy went rogue and acted on what the previous Knave would want and didn’t think our Arlecchino would greenlight it, which does feel consistent with the previous Knave being described as basically worse & crueler than our Arlecchino. It also makes me question how much house of hearth things we’ve seen outside the main story are the work of our Arlecchino or if there’s a bigger divide of loyalty. Heck, I could be wrong but it doesn’t even seem like we know if the previous Knave is dead or not

This isn’t me saying Arlecchino couldn’t possibly be treating hearth children worse than she wants us to know, especially ones who aren’t her “favorites” the way the fontaine trio seem to be, but I really don’t feel sure about making a solid conclusion of her exact level of malice the way ppl r generally understanding it rn when it feels there’s going to be more about her. Just the idea of she, as a Hearth child, clashed with the previous leader who was known for being cruel, overtook their position and took on less harsh methods of leading that made at least some members with more power/possible closer proximity to the previous Knave go rogue and try to commit atrocities in the previous Knave’s name…I feel this leaves a lot of room to suggest there’s more going on with how Arlecchino is as a person

I don’t mind if she’s just very evil and deceptive bc if she totally had me fall for thinking she was less evil than she actually was that’s fun tbh. But I feel people suggest that’s all her character could be with no degree of like, “sympatheticness” or deep grey morality and that if her character did go there it would be automatically poor writing and genshin walking back on making a truly evil woman when IDK. I feel you can claim at this point they have left it open ended and it’s never been completely confirmed she’s pure evil. Also sometimes I just get a hunch and feel cautiously confident in Genshin executing certain characters well. Not all characters, just certain ones. Especially given Fontaine’s character writing being very good and a character like Lyney feeling very solid to me when any development with Arlecchino would likely involve him and his siblings as well, I honestly feel open to the idea of Arlecchino being satisfyingly written to be both villainous/morally dubious but “sympathetic/likable as a person” in ways outside of just her ruthlessness if that makes sense

If I’m wrong/they drop the ball with it more than I anticipate I’ll eat my hat but I am pretty excited about her character and which way they decide to go with it. I will say the only potential impression I have of where they’ll go with her has been wondering if it will go in a “cycles of abuse” direction—I’d be surprised if they ever elaborated on Arlecchino’s character especially in how she feels about things and her also growing up as an exploited child of the hearth wasn’t relevant

#arlecchino #see my track record with said hunch with when I feel I should let genshin cook has been #for months truthing my vision of xiao’s speififc brand of internalized dehumanization induced suicidal ideation #and how genshin will one day he will get another quest of sorts thst develops his character towards #the idea he’s allowed to live and enjoy people’s company and this will likely #also come with following through on yaksha lore and when they do this they will do him SO well and it will be peak genshin quest #all of this Months before the existence of perilous trails was even rumored #and then I was soo stubborn xiao would show up in 2023 lantern rite w more character introspection to follow up PT #and also from the first fontsine teaser I was in the trenches for furina bc I felt so confident #the main storyline would handle her very well & if genshin went anywhere near the direction of her #not being a ‘true archon’ & ppl were Wrong if they thought genshin woudlnt take her seriously #and HAHA. WWOOWOOWOWOEOEOOEOEE #I have also been sent into hysteria multiple times bc genshin keeps canonizing my exact ideas of my favorite character dynamics #and often exceeding my expectations that I thought were jsut wishful thinking #yes I predicted exactly how xiao would interact w Venti & zhongli on screen yes I predicted #the exact nature of hat radish friendship no I was wiped out on the floor #by nahida enrolling wanderer in college & calling him hat guy & zhongli saving xiao’s life #& xiao having hardcore social anxiety from zhongven flirting with each other st the dinner table #this sounds so conceited. see I often don’t know What genshin is cooking but k feel sure in knowing when soemthing is going to be #a shitshow or mediocre or when we need to let them cook. even if it takes 6+ months #TRUST ME <— guy who has been waiting on genshin to cook for several characters for multiple years and is still sure I will get my food #am I crazy. yes. am I also often right when I have hunches on when genshin is going to suck and when it’s going to be good esp character #writing wise. often yes #one day I will annihilate genshined impact with my bare hands #genshin #fern.txt #fandomferns

[mumblelard]

bea or builder's and also a brownie

last night i dreamt of a kitchen knife stabbed deep in the dirt of a forking forest trail, marking the path last taken

#battered wooden desks #bea #boba #brownies #from finn #she takes such good care of me #sunny mornings #the ancestors #the heavy waves are pushing the man of wars ashore #wandering through the ghosttown #the basements of the long lost #and otherwise #pieces of scalp #cast iron crows #cairns made of brightly colored lines #i drove out into the countryside to that configuration of abandoned silos that exists in both worlds #flat beneath the weight of next day next day next day next day next day #we can wade through the creek behind our house up to the back of this pasture #and finally be home #second blue moon epoch #first spring #waning

[miinteaa]

Inktober day 11- Wander

#my art #howls moving castle #howl jenkins pendragon #howell jenkins #forget the fact that I skipped inktober days one through 10 #also is it cheating if it’s not actually ink #also to slightly explain the prompt #in the book howl is some guy from wales who left to pursue magic so he’s kinda wandering away from his old home and life #technically it fits the prompt #so there.

[the-converse-high-top]

Would love to hear about potential parallel stories/lore in judaism 👁👁👁👁💞

i realized that i actually havent thought very in depth about parallels and themes in the bible in a LONG time but let me think...

one that jumped to the forefront of my mind is something that idk if its a theme/parallel or not, but it has to do with moses. in the torah (really in the talmud i think which is a bunch of rabbi's headcanons about the torah that were then accepted as canon later on), when moses was taken in by pharaoh a test was performed to see whether moses would overthrow him, and by extension whether he was safe to keep and raise. that test was to show baby moses two pots: one of gold and riches and one of hot coals, and whichever he grabbed would be indicative as to what kind of son he'd be. so obviously, being a baby, moses starts to go for the shiny stuff. but (so the story goes) since moses has plot armor an angel (of death [?]) reached out and moved his hand to the hot coals. this is important because not only did it secure his safety to grow up under pharaoh's watch, but it burned his hand, which he then put in his mouth which permanantly burned his tongue and gave him a lisp. now the lisp isnt really talked about much more until later on, and its kind of minor so i get why its often left out, but it changes the whole feeling of the story! because of the lisp, moses gets nervous to speak in front of pharaoh's mages, and so it's aaron who does the talking when they turn their staffs into snakes. it's aaron (iirc) who speaks to the hebrews and tells them the word of god. moses is the one who speaks directly to god and does his bidding in the stories, but aaron is the one who conveys the information. and AND i just remembered this continues!! it continues to be true that moses doesnt always tell his own story!! in the scientific world it is generally accepted that there are a few different authors/compilers of the torah, but in judaism there is one main accepted truth of how it was written with two endings: moses wrote the whole thing up until the last chapter when he was on mount sinai, writing down word for word what god told him to. the ending, though, changes because at the end of the bible moses dies there is a debate over whether moses wrote his own death before it happened (since god is omnipresent blah blah blah) or whether joshua took over for him after he died. if the latter is true, that would be the second time someone tells moses' story for him!! first aaron tells the mages and the hebrews who moses is and why he was sent to save them, and then joshua tells the story of his death and his exile from the holy land! there are THEMES and MOTIFS i can SEE THEM

i have no idea if this is what you were asking for but thank you for inviting me to infodump XD <3

#theres other stuff about moses too now that i think about it #i think this was just at the front of my mind since i just watched the prince of egypt last sunday lol #or whenever it was #i almost talked about something else and now i legitimately cant remember what it was #but if i flipped through im sure id remember more #oh i remember now it was how moses wasnt allowed to get into the holy land #even though he was the one chosen to deliver the hebrews #and even though the hebrews were forgiven time and time again #moses fucks up once when god was having a bad day or something #and boom exiled from the holy land #like my dude wanders the desert for 40 fucking years #cant you give him a break #themes and motifs my beloved <3 #im sorry this is so long this is kind of my word vomit #ty for asking <3 #id also love to talk on the server if thats easier just so you and me and jed can all talk at the same time lol (no pressure tho for real) #asks #alistair my beloved <3

[abtheb]

April 28, 2023

Despite everything, it's still you.

#me #ive cut back on lifting a lot due to injuries and struggles with my joints and instead picked up lane swimming in march #i had never used a public pool in my life and never swam with intent before #it was new and kind of terrifying but i needed to move my body again in a way that didnt cause pain #the first few times were pretty rough- i couldnt swim well or hold my breath and struggled with the repetitive motion and breathing #one day beams of sunlight shone through the airy space and large windows and cast shining watery reflections on the pool's bottom #i had been learning water caustics for 3d art and i loved to watch them #its gotten a lot easier now and i can let my mind wander and enjoy the sensations instead of worrying about drowning #the cool water on my skin #the muffled amniotic sounds of bubbling fluids #the mosaic tiles and patterns #the sunlight and caustics #every time i go its a social stress test- but I've gotten better at handling it and it helps me connect with other people in a tiny way #i dont know what the future of my body's training will look like as i plow into middle age #but im proud of myself for doing something totally new and finding joy in it

[nerosdayinanime]

giyuu doesnt realize hes doing it

(edit: reblogged w more stuff check it vv)

#tomioka giyuu #sabito #giyuu tomioka #kny sabito #giyuu #loserboy giyuu posting #fratboy sabito posting #kny x sdv au #neros art tag #giyuu moves in a little over a year after sab did #giyuu practically went his entire life without dating anyone bc he was fine with just his sister & best friend sabito by his side #he always greatly disliked whoever sabito was dating but that was easy to miss bc sabito has shit taste in partners and always got with ppl #who hurt him. his last devastating relationship was the final straw in his life & he packed his shit and left #giyuu was super supportive of it and him & tsutako even got him some stuff to get started but after he left giyuu realized he felt Extremel #Fucking Hollow all the sudden- pretty quickly realized he missed seeing sabito almost every day like he had most their lives #texting & calling him became the highlight of his day. he staked it out w/o him because he was scared of not having a stable life but after #a year sabito was pretty well off & he finally said bye to zuzu city and moved in w him #halfway through the year giyuu subconsciously starts acting really possessive while sabito's hopeless romantic bullshit is starting up agai #the older adults gossip abt it and sabito's friends kinda try to avoid ticking giyuu off too much. giyuu notices that they avoid sabito whe #hes with him so he tries to stop shadowing him like he always did as a kid. wanders around on his own. shinobu thinks hes a bit pathetic #and takes to playfully bullying him. they become friends after giyuu realizes shes not being malicious & now he has someone else to #awkwardly hover around. she loves having someone to always poke fun at and giyuu finds her insults creative & amusing #sabito however notices giyuu kinda avoiding hanging out with him around town & he thinks he fucked up again #anyways im not as active bc im playing stardew valley and thinking of Themb #edit: actually scrap all that sabitos a massive hopeless romantic & hes being protective over him bc he doesnt wanna see him get hurt again #he doesnt realize he looks like hes trying to kill them with his stare tho lmao #he thinks hes being subtle #he does notice how hes making ppl avoid sabito entirely and thats the Opposite of what he wants so he backs off #& then sabito starts to think he fucked up again

[magpie-trove]

🎪✨🙌.

#there were so many just small kind touches to this trip #and there was bleh stuff but the good overpowered it! #and there was times before this where I wondered how good *could* outweigh the bad #and it actually does! simply! #I saw animals I had good company!! there was Star Wars at the very bottom Star Wars conference? #I cried about that actually it was just an mc bit at the beginning of the day but I was not expecting it and I was like oh. is for me? 🥺 #I fed SEALS I fulfilled a life long regret I watched free guy and the people I was showing to burst into tears #because it was beautiful! and then we started talking about how Keys recognizes how cool the barista using her freedom and creativity to #make a new coffee was and they got chills and all night we were like do you think God thinks it’s awesome we are playing a board game? #what do you think God thinks is awesome about what I do? how you make jokes! chills! #we got soaked in October we saw silly little knife throwing we saw a meteor! #a very kind author saw I had her (very good) childrens book and signed it for me #and remembered my name later! I got to listen to people talk about movies and sit quietly when I needed! #I wandered through a spooky little harvest! #I got a giraffe stuffed animal and a Wonder Woman keychain and wandered around a breakfast table humming hymns #I got to ride a little shuttle bus and I got to hear about perpetua and Felicity in church!! #so many kind little touches! #I had to be brave and realized I could do that a lot easier now by the grace of God. I had so much practice now doing it scared #the weather was just right! we got to drive and talk about hidden ness! #yes there was bumps I was sick I was scared I was uncomfortable but it was just. A Real Good Time #a State Fair Good Time. it exists! occasionally!God just gives you a good time! I promise!! #because!! he is Kind!! in all the little ways!

[werenotacoupleyesyouare]

Do you think c!tnt duo sext through letters after the finale

#maybe this stays in the drafts #NO IT DOESNT (<- 3 months later) #im talking about in a 2014 roleplay way #*pushes u against the wall* rawr #sorta way #just pages and pages of this #tommy one day is wandering through q’s office and finds a bunch of letters from utah #going like Yo Big Q you didnt tell me wilbah wrote u letters as well! :D #and Quackity rushes in like NONONONO THOSE ARE PRIVATE #but tommy has already opened one and is just staring into the void with a thousand-yard stare #tnt duo #/rp /dsmp #dsmpshipping #tntduo #c!quackbur #quackbur

[softquietsteadylove]

Hi! Newbie here🙈 it took me months to send my first request. Can I request something like witch Thena randomly seeing Gilgamesh in the forest and playing with her magic so she randomly turned him into a baby bear. And of course she had to face the consequences of taking care of him because bear Gil doesn't leave her alone, he always finds his way to Thena. So Thena finally gave up and took care of him, she hated it at first but bear Gilgamesh is just so cute and is all clingy to her and would also throw cute tantrums. She had to endure how messy bear Gil eats and how he needs to be cuddled up to sleep. And each night Thena tries to put a spell or a potion on him and at one point there's this last potion she has left and it didn't work. Bear Gil was just teary when it didn't work on him and Thena just had to apologize because she turned a random person into a bear forever, she could only cuddle him to sleep. But when she woke up, she wasn't expecting that the small bear she was cuddling last night was back into its original form and still cuddling with her.

And thank you! I hope this is not a lot, bye😭🙈

Thena huffed as a nose nudged her elbow. "What?"

The bear whined/growled at her, her cloak between his teeth.

She sighed. There was once a time she would have given it her coldest glare and yelled at it to get away from her. But she accepted the cloak before pulling it around her shoulders, "thank you."

The bear moaned before lumbering across the fire from her. He sat patiently, knowing how this worked by now.

It was far from their first attempt to change him back into a human.

If she knew how she had turned him in the first place, she would undo it. But it had been reactive--instinctive! She had felt a presence in the precious isolation of her northern forest and responded by sending out a burst of magic as a hand grasped her shoulder. Then, the next thing she knew, there was a small bear lying in the snow.

He was all paws, at first. Clumsy, unused to this body. She reasoned that time as a bear would do him some good! Humans were such terrible creatures, no magic at all, unconnected from the elements and the world around them.

But the bear toddled after her, whining and growling in its frustration. She had slammed her door in its face at first. But when the chill of the night set in, as did her guilt. She had only intended to let it in to warm by her fire for the night. Then she would find it a new home.

But the bear made itself at home. He got into her honey, pawed at her spell books, even made his way to her bed to snuggle up to her! She had half a mind to turn it into a mealyworm for that, but maybe its pitiful little face had gotten to her. She said just that night!

Now it was later, a number of new moons past. She couldn't undo it--she couldn't even figure out what exactly she had done to cause it! And the creature once a human trapped as a bear cub was now a midsize bear. He had acclimated to his new form, and cooperated as she tried to find ways to undo her magic.

It wasn't a spell, because spells wore off, or changed with the condition of the subject. It wasn't a hex, that couldn't be completed by reflex alone. And it wasn't a curse, because nothing had happened to her in the process. Nothing tethered her life to his.

But she had a duty to him, nonetheless. He had gotten too big for her bed, but he still slept by her hearth every night, she still shared her meals and they tried spells and potions every night together.

"This might be it," she dared to speak aloud as the steam from the potion receded. Its colour turned, and she could practically see her face in the surface of the viscous matter. She picked up a ladle of it and offered the bowl.

The bear sniffed it and recoiled, sticking out its tongue.

"Oh, stop," she chided him, still holding it out.

He puffed through his nose before accepting it in his paws. They were twice the size of her hands, now. He sniffed at it a little more before taking a lick.

She smiled as he flinched. "It's steaming hot, you."

He made a variety of sounds, and she wondered if she would ever know what he sounded like as a human. He set the bowl down and took a mouthful of snow before eating the potion with his grotesque teeth.

Thena held her breath, gripping the edges of her cloak as they waited for a reaction. The wind even this far up the mountain was chilly, but he was now to the size where they didn't really want to experiment with spells inside the cottage. The last one had doubled the volume of his fur, creating a mess that took her a week to clean in total.

He looked around him for a few moments, then at his paws, before slumping down in the snow again. It didn't work.

Thena looked down at her feet in the snow as well. Yet another failure. It wasn't just the potion, it was how truly saddened he seemed. Perhaps he was yearning for home. Perhaps it was nearing a time in his human life of significant importance. She hadn't exactly gotten around to asking if he had a family waiting for him.

The bear sat up again, although his ears had a heavy droop to them. He moaned faintly, his breath showing in the cold air from his muzzle.

Thena's throat clenched. For every time that didn't work, this was the worst. Their hopes had been high, and after more than half a year, she really did think she had found the right mix.

She had even gotten his hopes up about it. They had read the spell book together, gathered the ingredients. She had told him that perhaps this would do it--a potion to revert the development of cells. Technically it was for unpickling a vegetable, but she had done her research, and she was confident she could use it on a living subject.

She had practised on fish! All of which went to him as a meal to reward him for his help. But she had successfully used it.

"I'm so sorry."

The bear lifted its head, and even seated, he could see eye to eye with her. Even the breath from his wet black nose was visible in the air.

"I thought-" she pressed her lips shut as her throat squeezed again. She had no right to cry. It was his life which had been changed irreparably. She moved her hand to his head, rubbing the soft black fur there and around his much softer ears. When he would sneak into her bed for warmth, she would play with them while he slept. "I thought this would be the one."

The bear bellowed gently, moving his snout to brush his nose against her cheek before resting his head on her shoulder. His arm tucked her closer to him, his paw hanging loosely so he wouldn't claw her by accident. Bears had amazingly warm bodies.

Thena sighed against his neck. He smelled much better now than he did when he was small, always getting his food everywhere and needing to be brushed. She patted his shoulder, "come on."

He followed her silently, kicking snow up with his paws behind him to douse their fire. It was a sombre occasion; they could come back for her cauldron in the morning.

Thena tried to keep her tears at bay as they walked back into the cottage. She hung up her cloak while her companion lumbered right over to the fire. He dropped down on the rug she had woven for him more heavily than ever. Her heart twisted again.

He stirred as he felt her against his back.

"I'm sorry," she whispered again, pressing the tears she couldn't contain into his fur. He huffed and she nuzzled into him until it rustled her hair, "I'm sorry I have altered your life so. It was never my intention."

He didn't exactly have a reply for her.

"I won't stop," she promised, leaning more heavily against his shoulder. She was exhausted. "I won't stop until I change you back."

Even if he was a human. Even if he hated her. Even if he yelled and screamed at her as soon as he was back to being a man. She couldn't blame him for it, now could she? Even if he returned with a pitchfork to burn their cottage to the ground.

No: her cottage.

She had brought him into her home. But for him, this was just a shelter from the cold, after she had turned him into a beast. Surely he was yearning for his own home. Was he missing a wife who would say soft things to him at night? Did he have children who asked every night where their father had gone? Did their mother tell them stories of wicked witches who snapped away handsome men to be their familiar servants for all their lives?

She would try the potion again. She would test it more. She would test it on more species, larger and more varied. If a witch's life was devoted to magic and the pursuit of its endless knowledge, then she had a new mission. Her only reason for all her days forward was helping this bear become a man again. A man who would hate her and curse her name for generations to come.

She had no idea how she could sleep at all with thoughts like that in her head. But she had indeed slept, her face buried in the bear's soft fur, smelling of the smoke from the fire. But he was just so warm. She nuzzled her face against it again, even coming her fingers through it.

It didn't feel the same, though. And he wasn't as soft as he had felt the night before, either. She winced as she tried to drag herself awake. Potions still required magic, and creating a new potion or casting a new spell every night had her at her limit.

"You okay?"

"Hm," she sighed, blinking as the sun hit her eyes. She was still on the floor, she realised as she looked up at the hearth, eating up the smoke from the fire that had gone out in the night. She should have been freezing, though, if that were the case. Why wasn't she in her bed? She was on the floor. She was on...a chest.

Her head shot up. It wasn't her bear, with his massive black eyes and cold, wet nose. It was a human. A human man with a face, and a smile. It was a nice smile. He had a soft voice.

"Hey."

#Thenamesh AU #thank you for the ask sweetheart! #and thank you for your patience #I hope you like it!!!!! #I love the idea of witch Thena #she lives in solitude in the ice forests #and one day this dude just...wanders into her front yard #and bam!!!!! #a bear #I did change it just a little #because I think for him to keep his memories he couldn't be a cub for long #Gil is himself #just as a bear #He looks through her spell books #he tries to communicate #but she's just like quiet down I'm trying to work #but he grows fond of this...woman #he knows that witches can be merciless on humans #so the fact that she's taken him in #he thinks he can see a soft side in this frosty witch #and he likes cuddling at night #he misses it when he gets bigger and can't fit in bed with her anymore #but she would say goodnight by ruffling the fur between his ears #and he doesn't admit that he was awake on the odd occasion she would kiss the top of his head #also the potion got watered down by the snow so it took a little longer #just by the way y'know