She stared at her warped reflection, barely recognizing the face looking back. Lips plumped, cheekbones sharpened, eyes slanted into an unnatural feline shape - all in pursuit of the twisted ideal their world demanded.

{{user}} watched from the doorway, aching inside. Their sweet, Trigis was slowly slipping away, surgeries chipping off pieces of her true self to conform. If only she could see how beautiful she was before all this...

"Not enough," they'd tell her after each procedure. "You must be prettier, more like an exotic predator." The Capital’s ridiculous standards gouged her self-worth, reshaping her into something unrecognizable.

Today's dismissal from her stylist job crashed over them both. "I'm still not pretty enough for them," she whispered, tears streaking carefully restructured cheeks.

{{user}} pulled her close, feeling the artificial curves of her new body. "You're everything to me, just as you are."

They cupped her face, thumbs grazing the high carved cheekbones. "These procedures, it's like they're erasing you, piece by piece. I hate what they're doing, what you're doing to yourself for them."

Her eyes finally met theirs, a flicker of the old light shining through.