Tag: long post

Love me harumichi (all the FLUFF)

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

Fluff, huh? 😉 

Edit: I MEANT TO QUEUE THIS SO IT’S NOT UP WITH THE DAWN, BUT IT TURNS OUT HITTING ENTER ON TAGS WILL PUBLISH AN ASK. WHOOPS.
______

A hundred eyes watched her. Claws. Fangs. Their voices combining to an unrecognizable din. Louder and louder. Were they calling out to her or screaming in fear? Michiru should not have come. Her own fear tore at her, rough as all their claws. She should go, run–

“What can I help you with today?”a woman asked. She wore a big smile and an apron with the shelter logo on it.

Michiru fought to compose herself. “My wife and I have been talking about getting a cat. I would like to surprise her, but I’ve never…”

“Adopted a cat?”

“Had any sort of pet at all.” Michiru pressed her lips together. “I worry this might be a mistake.”

The worker nodded. “If you’re not ready, that’s okay. But why don’t we look at a few cats I’d recommend for first time owners, and discuss possible problems.” She grabbed a clipboard and led Michiru closer to the cages. “Now, do you own or rent your home?”

“I own it.”

“That’s good, we get a lot of animals coming back because of rental policies.” She checked something off. “What is your yearly income?”

“It is a bit gauche to discuss, is it not?”

The woman’s face went stern. “We like to ensure that you can cover vet bills. All our cats have had initial visits, shots, and are spayed or neutered, but it’s important to take them twice a year for check ups.”

“I see.” Michiru paused. “You have not asked my name.”

“I was getting there. Name and address are…” She paused, perhaps realizing Michiru bore a familiar face. “What is your name?”

“Michiru Kaioh.”

“Michiru Kai… oh.” She scribbled quickly. “Income won’t be an issue then, will it?” She set her clipboard aside. “Why don’t we move on? For you I’d recommend a cat between two and five, mild mannered and well trained. Are you more interested in long or short haired?”

“Either is fine.”

The woman showed her several cats, all with inane names like Mittens or Socks or, she swore upon her name, Kitty. They were all fine, perhaps too playful for Michiru’s taste, but that would please Haruka. She’d always wanted a cat, she’d said, ever since she was a little girl. Michiru could imagine tiny Haruka sitting alone in her room on bad nights, feeling things would be better if she only had a little friend. Michiru wanted to give her one now.

Yet she hesitated. These were creatures with raw and open needs, who would come into her home and claw up her curtains. And all she could think of was that they were fine.

The woman chattered away as she led Michiru to, she promised, better cats. One caught Michiru’s eye that she didn’t point out. It had long hair, brown peppered with grey, cut short and missing in a few places. It barely turned towards her as she looked, blue eyes pearlescent and unseeing.

“What about this one?”

The woman looked alarmed. “Oh, she’s a difficult one, older and very antisocial. She was found in the woods, we don’t know–”

“What risk is there of disease?”

“We’ve tested, and she’s clean, but–”

“I would like to hold her.”

The woman looked as though she might roll her eyes, but thought better of it. She opened the cage door.

Michiru reached in slowly. The cat gave a little start at her touch, but then turned its head to sniff her. “Hello,” Michiru said, refusing to do any infantile voices but feeling the drive to speak anyway. “I would like to meet you.”

The cat’s tail twitched as though to say Of course you would, but why should I meet you?

Michiru reached further and stroked its head between its ears, and when it stuck out its chin she moved down to it. It began to purr. She carefully scooped it into her arms.

“You’re a natural, it seems.”

“We just understand each other.” Two wild things, hurt by the world, waiting for something worthwhile to come along. Michiru had gotten hers in Haruka, and maybe this cat could get hers in…

Michiru was surprised to think of herself, rather than Haruka. “I would like to take her.”

*****

The sat at home together, Michiru on the couch and the cat on her lap. She had not yet thought of a name. Mittens and Socks and even Kitty did not seem so absurd now that the task was up to her.

She heard Haruka come in. “I’m in the living room,” she called. “With sort of a surprise.”

“I like surprises,” Haruka called back. Her feet pounded against the hardwood as she approached.

“The problem, love, is I went to get something for you and wound up with something for me.” She turned her head to look at Haruka. “Though I need you help naming her.”

Haruka laughed. “You got us a cat? Oh Michi–”

“I got me a cat. You just get to enjoy her company sometimes.”

The cat turned her head away from Haruka and twitched her tail. We’ll see about that.

Haruka sat down. The cat turned away again. Haruka laughed. “She’s particular, isn’t she?”

“She’ll come around, maybe.” Michiru petted along her back. The cat butted into her hand with her head. “She likes me, though.”

“You’re lucky.” Haruka kissed her cheek. “She reminds me of you, with me.”

Michiru chuckled. “I’m not sure that’s a compliment.”

Haruka shrugged. “We should name her Neptune.”

“We can’t name her after me.”

“Why not? Usagi named her human daughter after herself. And no one but the other senshi would know.”

“Yes, and it’s a good thing our closest friends aren’t fellow senshi.”

“Hey, she likes it, don’t you, Neptune.”

To Michiru’s great annoyance, the cat meowed. “Traitor,” she said.

“Welcome to the family, Neptune.” Haruka looped an arm around Michiru. Neptune began to purr. “I hope you like it here.”

looking at your fandom tags there, I’ll go for an AU we’ve all seen a bunch of times, but that I always want more takes on– Sailor Moon in the Madoka-world

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

paksenarrionreader:

ah, a classic.

more AU-prone people than me had tackled that one with the Outers in mind, so I’m gonna do this about the Inners, because it’s gotten ridiculously long anyway.

1. tbh you don’t even have to mix up SM classic Luna’s behaviour all that much to sell her as Kyubei. I don’t want to tarnish Artemis, so he’s not a thing here.

2. Minako wished to be a star. Lunabei probably thought it was borderline hilarious to make that as literal as possible. She generates energy, now, as in light and heat and when she gets serious enough, a shockwave. The others can always tell which battlefields were hers, judging from the collateral damage. In time she does learn to channel that through a sword-blade wreathed in light, but sometimes it’s just faster, and, in extreme cases, cheaper exhaustion-wise to just go nuclear fusion on a witch.

3.
Minako’s Meguca uniform is a long-sleeved leather jacket, thick studded trousers, and horse-riding boots sans spurs, and her soul gem rests against her forehead, embedded in a circlet.

4. Minako does not deny anything of what she is, good or bad, likeable or deplorable, and she yolos it through life like nobody’s business. After all, it takes a VERY long time for a star to burn out, and humanity may well be gone by the time she goes nova.

5. Her burden is that she has to remember.

6. Rei is the archer to Minako’s fencer, and prone to roaring the many variations of “be more careful” and “I almost shot you” several times a week. They team up sometimes, but if asked, neither of them would call that anything more than a convenience arrangement. It’s just good business, they can cover more ground before someone else drops their prey, one of them is short-range and the other is long-range, they form a unit with enough strength and flexibility to take on any single witch. Except that they’re not a unit. Not partners, even. They just HAPPEN to CONTINUOUSLY run into each other, WITHOUT actively looking, of course not, they JUST fight together sometimes, BUT ONLY SOMETIMES, and if they go home together sometimes it’s just to either blow off some steam no strings attached (Minako) or to make sure that idiot lays down instead of partying like an animal (Rei). Of course. It’s only prudent. Nothing more to it than that. Nope. No sir.

7. Rei wished to see her parents again one more time, and Lunabei showed her an illusion of just as much. She can see through every barrier and veil, now, and walks through every witch’s labyrinth like she knows a map of it by heart. Her Meguca uniform is a traditional archery attire, and her soul gem is embedded in the wristband of the glove.

8. There was a plane crash, some years ago, and three neighbouring city wards are the territory of a lightning-fast lancer with a sidesword. Does she believe in what she’s doing? Not like she had used to, that’s for sure. Does she keep hunting for more reasons than just keeping herself going? Definitely. The lance is her primary weapon. The sidesword is for delivering a coup de grace. She generally saves it for Megucas who are about to turn, shatters the soul gem with the kashira, and slits the throat to cover the magic up.

9. Makoto wished to be strong enough to survive anything. No matter what
she’s hit with, she just. Keeps. Getting. Up. Despair? Who’s she? Makoto’s Meguca uniform is a black-belted karate gi, optionally with straw
sandals, and her soul gem hangs from her neck on a chain that doesn’t exaclty appear ornamental once you get a good look.

10. “What is wrong with you, you’re like the fucking Terminator,” Minako had screamed at her during the turf war that ended in the current truce, and a soot-covered, flash-burned, still standing Makoto couldn’t help but snort a laugh. They aren’t friends. People like them don’t have friends. But they don’t actively try to kill each other anymore. Sometimes they trespass on each other’s territory to pass a warning about a particularly hot-headed newbie. Sometimes they trespass on each other’s territory to ask a favour and get a Grief Seed, if there’s a lean year of a sort going on their own turf.

11. Whenever they do meet, Rei vehemently insists she and Minako work separately as a primary mode of operation. Makoto rolls her eyes and doesn’t even bother arguing.

12. Ami moves between city wards like she has Rei’s sight, doesn’t trespass unless to speak with the others (which always includes an explicit verbal information that she has no wish to fight but will defend herself if attacked), and operates in precision strikes and immediate withdrawal. Lunabei has a bit of trouble tracking her anymore. Her Meguca uniform is a simple yet expensive-looking streetwear outfit, and her soul gem sits in the centre of a fancy watch on her wrist.

13. Ami wished to know everything. Ami regrets making that wish every day.

14. Ami is also the only one who sat Lunabei down, and got full disclosure because she asked. She went along with the whole deal anyway, because she’s exactly the kind of moron to go to the chopping block with a song on her lips if it means making the universe a little better. She’s also just about intelligent enough to know that she can cheat/endure her way through the “paying through despair” part with therapy and anti-depressant medication.

15. Ami is the one who gets all four of them together, once or twice,
always by a hand-written invitation dropped into three different
mailboxes, and whichever space set up by her like so is regarded as
neutral ground by all other three.

16. One of the meetings she calls deals with the general fuckery food chain entropy For The Greater Good of Madoverse. Another deals with the subject of Walpurgisnacht. She calls yet another one specifically to tell the others where witches tend to congregate, or which areas attract them the most often. Minako is suspicious about her reasons to give up so much knowledge, that is, power, without any apparent reason. Rei maintains a frown, but she can tell little blue is being 100% truthful and sincere. Makoto takes it at face value, which surprises everyone else.

17. On the subject of Walpurgisnacht, that’s what little is left of Queen Serenity, and the Silver Crystal is now a supermassive Grief Seed at her centre. She exists to draw ever more Megucas into herself and turn them into shades of herself. Bad shit. Do not sign me up.

18. In a one-on-one duel, Ami says calmly, all of them will die and become another shadow cast by that thing. Four of them together? They have a shot.

19. Today is the day of blood and glory, let it be the day of resurrection, la di dah, let’s fight this binch.

20. Rei falls first, screaming swearwords and threats all the way down. Makoto unsheaths her sidesword. Ami grabs her sword-arm and tells her to wait. Rei turns, and the moment she does is the moment Minako and Makoto learn that Ami’s power is based around absorption and redirection.

21. The energy released by Rei’s turning blasts down three layers of Walpurgisnacht’s barrier. The other three pass her Grief Seed, and fight in her name.

22. Makoto drops to her knees, and a disbelieving laugh pours out of her mouth along with the blood. “It lied,” she says more calmly than she has any right to feel. “That little fucker told me I could survive anything.”

23. Praise the courage and pass the Grief.

24. Minako and Ami shatter their way to the blindingly bright crystal at the centre. Minako’s sword shatters on the crystal.

25. “I’m really sorry,” Ami says, and it’s the first time she sounds insincere. Her soul gem cracks, not collapsing on itself like Rei’s and Makoto’s and everyone else’s they’ve put to rest, but bursting outside, and Minako has a split second to surround herself with the brightness and heat of a star to protect her from the explosion Ami had spent almost her entire existence as a Meguca building up, preparing, the greatest bomb the wisest mind could ever build compressed at the core of her very being, and guided into the core of the only thing that could swallow the planet whole – guided with the hands of three warriors she had fed enough knowledge, that is, power, to be sure they could carry her this far.

26. Minako sits down on the highest point of the ruins, the lotus-shaped Grief Seed crumbling to fine ash in her hands.

27. Minako’s burden is that she has to remember.

HI EVERYONE

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

docholligay:

docholligay:

As some of you know, I am leading a fanfiction seminar sort of thing at the Sailor Moon convention 

What would you like to learn about, if your were taking such a seminar from me? What kind of things do you think I should talk about? What would be helpful for me in explaining how I do what I do, or what questions I should answer/talk about? 

Anyone who submits me a 100 word plus answer to these quandary is going to be entered to win a free quick ficlet of your choice! I’ll draw the winner(s) on the 6th. 

save me

I’M LATE GETTING TO THIS BECAUSE OF LIFE BUT I WANTED TO BE SURE TO RESPOND.

The biggest things that I’d love to see you talk about, were I attending, are the things that are more on the artful side. Specifically, I’d say language and theme are big ones. I think (though this is only my opinion) plot and structure talks are a dime a dozen, and while there are cool ways to do it, I think ultimately the take aways are the same no matter who gives the talk. You have more unique strong points, and that’s why I love your fic to pieces and what I would want to hear you talk about.

For language, I’d love to hear about how you develop character voices, and how even for character voices that are less inherently artful on their own (say, Haruka or Tracer as compared to Michiru or even Angela, from what I’ve read), you keep a flow and you find ways to express things beautifully while maintaining their style. Similarly, I’d want to hear about your process for working out phrasing, whether beautiful lines come to you as you write or if they’re part of editing, or if they take time to tease out, etc.

Theme is a HUGE thing I’d love to hear about, because it’s something I don’t see as strongly in fanfic most of the time. I’m always impressed by your titles, and I know that comes down to the fact that you have such stunning themes and motifs that lend themselves to title choices. I think people think of theme as something that’s only applicable for sweeping epics or philosophical novels, but you manage to work it in even your shorter pieces, and I think it would be amazing to hear about how that happens. Does it rise out of your original idea naturally? When you start writing, do you pick out certain motifs you want to work in? Are your themes or motifs what drives the rest of the idea?

I don’t know if this is helpful, but I hope it is!

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

sittingoverheredreaming:

Quick light HaruMichi fluff piece, 700 words

———————————-

Michiru’s mother had always been a hard woman, and over the years Michiru had watched that stiffness become literal. The slow progression of stony maintenance, chiseling away each flaw as it manifested so that she might become a statue of the woman Michiru saw in her parent’s wedding photos. When she had last seen her mother, she could not raise her eyebrows again yet, and she asked if Michiru had considered starting ‘getting work.’

She’d been appalled at the suggestion, she’d always promised herself she would be different from her parents in so many ways, bult as she leaned into the mirror now…

Michiru had thought it would happen so much later. But the lines around her eyes extended like a dozen little liner wings, and creases on her forehead would not dissipate no matter how she relaxed the muscles beneath them. The bones of her shoulders, elbows, knees, the lines of her neck, they had all grown more pronounced, seemingly overnight.

She opened her phone to look through pictures. When had it began? Wasn’t she still so young? Her mother hadn’t… but how was she to know when things began for her mother? She was nearing sixty, and Michiru had never seen as much as a gray hair appear unchecked. Perhaps she had the right of it. It was the only way, surely, turn to stone to bear the weight of age. Michiru would have to make some calls, and then—

“Michi?”

She straightened, smoothed her dress, fixed her hair. “Yes?”

“You’re taking awhile, the show…”

“Oh, yes.” Michiru looked in the mirror again. She had not even begun her makeup, and she needed it now more than ever. “Perhaps you could go ahead of me, I’m going a bit slow today.”

“I’m not going without you.” Haruka cracked the bathroom door. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, love.” She grabbed her foundation and unscrewed the cap in a hurry. “I merely got distracted.”

“Michiru.” She opened the door further and stepped inside. “I know you. You can talk to me.”

It wasn’t fair—Haruka was every bit as handsome as the day they’d met, while she… while she…

Michiru faced her reflection. “I’m old.”

Haruka’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“I’m old.”

Haruka laughed, though not unkindly.  “If we’re old now, we’re gonna be ancient in a few years.”

“I will. You’ll be fine.”

“What?” Another laugh, this time with the slightest edge. “I look older than you.”

Michiru could not find the words respond. Haruka stuck her face in the mirror beside her.

“Soon I won’t even be able to call myself blonde.” She gave her hair a good-natured shake. “And Mina likes to say I’ve begun the slow morph from butch noodle to ravioli.”

Michiru met her eyes in the mirror. It was all true, in a strict sense, and yet…

“But it’s handsome on you. You look just as good, better even, than before. And I…”

“You’re beautiful, Michu.” Haruka took her gently by the shoulders and turned her so they faced each other. “You’re the most beautiful woman to ever live.” She smiled sheepishly. “I kinda like see you get older. For a long time I thought I wouldn’t get to.”

“Oh, Haruka.”

“I know, I know, but really.” She stroked her face with her thumb. “I wouldn’t want you looking younger. This is where we are now, and I like it.”

“You don’t think…” Michiru glanced back to the mirror. “You wouldn’t have me get anything?”

“God no.” Haruka kissed her on the forehead. “You’re perfect, Michu. And you won’t ever not be.”

“You’re very sweet,” she said, but she felt her spirits lift. “I’m sorry I’ve made us so late.”

“It’s okay, I was gonna sleep through most the show anyway. I’m so old, you know, I can’t stay awake anymore.”

Michiru laughed. “You’ve been old a very long time then.”

“I suppose I have.” Haruka grinned. “Though you know, if you’re worried about being late, we could go now. You’re more than beautiful enough already…”

“I’m going to put on my makeup, Haruka.”

“I figured as much, but it was worth a try. Someday you’ll believe me on that front, too.”

She kissed Michiru’s cheek and let her be. Michiru selected a lipstick with a lightness in her heart, a feeling that could never turn to stone.

This is my first birthday where I feel like I’m… not old, but so firmly into adulthood that I can feel I will get old, so it seems appropriate to reblog this

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

OH MAN OH MAN OKAY LET’S LOOK AT OUR SOL SENSHI OH MY GOD

First, we get this:

An unavoidable destiny, protecting Usagi.

And then we have the interlude where the Inners sing standard Sailor War stuff, and the outers introduce their specific duties.

BUT THEN. We have the Outers together, singing different lines than the Inners.

The Inners are still singing about protecting Usagi:

The Outers, however, are singing about protecting *Earth*:

And then

They know that their time together is temporary, none of them were meant for the life they’re living. Pluto must return to the time door, Saturn must once again turn to destruction, Uranus and Neptune must guard the far reaches of the system. But they have loved. They have loved each other, they have loved others, and they have loved this planet where they got to have these loves. They fight for that, much more than they fight for the princess.

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

Quick light HaruMichi fluff piece, 700 words

———————————-

Michiru’s mother had always been a hard woman, and over the years Michiru had watched that stiffness become literal. The slow progression of stony maintenance, chiseling away each flaw as it manifested so that she might become a statue of the woman Michiru saw in her parent’s wedding photos. When she had last seen her mother, she could not raise her eyebrows again yet, and she asked if Michiru had considered starting ‘getting work.’

She’d been appalled at the suggestion, she’d always promised herself she would be different from her parents in so many ways, bult as she leaned into the mirror now…

Michiru had thought it would happen so much later. But the lines around her eyes extended like a dozen little liner wings, and creases on her forehead would not dissipate no matter how she relaxed the muscles beneath them. The bones of her shoulders, elbows, knees, the lines of her neck, they had all grown more pronounced, seemingly overnight.

She opened her phone to look through pictures. When had it began? Wasn’t she still so young? Her mother hadn’t… but how was she to know when things began for her mother? She was nearing sixty, and Michiru had never seen as much as a gray hair appear unchecked. Perhaps she had the right of it. It was the only way, surely, turn to stone to bear the weight of age. Michiru would have to make some calls, and then—

“Michi?”

She straightened, smoothed her dress, fixed her hair. “Yes?”

“You’re taking awhile, the show…”

“Oh, yes.” Michiru looked in the mirror again. She had not even begun her makeup, and she needed it now more than ever. “Perhaps you could go ahead of me, I’m going a bit slow today.”

“I’m not going without you.” Haruka cracked the bathroom door. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, love.” She grabbed her foundation and unscrewed the cap in a hurry. “I merely got distracted.”

“Michiru.” She opened the door further and stepped inside. “I know you. You can talk to me.”

It wasn’t fair—Haruka was every bit as handsome as the day they’d met, while she… while she…

Michiru faced her reflection. “I’m old.”

Haruka’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“I’m old.”

Haruka laughed, though not unkindly.  “If we’re old now, we’re gonna be ancient in a few years.”

“I will. You’ll be fine.”

“What?” Another laugh, this time with the slightest edge. “I look older than you.”

Michiru could not find the words respond. Haruka stuck her face in the mirror beside her.

“Soon I won’t even be able to call myself blonde.” She gave her hair a good-natured shake. “And Mina likes to say I’ve begun the slow morph from butch noodle to ravioli.”

Michiru met her eyes in the mirror. It was all true, in a strict sense, and yet…

“But it’s handsome on you. You look just as good, better even, than before. And I…”

“You’re beautiful, Michu.” Haruka took her gently by the shoulders and turned her so they faced each other. “You’re the most beautiful woman to ever live.” She smiled sheepishly. “I kinda like see you get older. For a long time I thought I wouldn’t get to.”

“Oh, Haruka.”

“I know, I know, but really.” She stroked her face with her thumb. “I wouldn’t want you looking younger. This is where we are now, and I like it.”

“You don’t think…” Michiru glanced back to the mirror. “You wouldn’t have me get anything?”

“God no.” Haruka kissed her on the forehead. “You’re perfect, Michu. And you won’t ever not be.”

“You’re very sweet,” she said, but she felt her spirits lift. “I’m sorry I’ve made us so late.”

“It’s okay, I was gonna sleep through most the show anyway. I’m so old, you know, I can’t stay awake anymore.”

Michiru laughed. “You’ve been old a very long time then.”

“I suppose I have.” Haruka grinned. “Though you know, if you’re worried about being late, we could go now. You’re more than beautiful enough already…”

“I’m going to put on my makeup, Haruka.”

“I figured as much, but it was worth a try. Someday you’ll believe me on that front, too.”

She kissed Michiru’s cheek and let her be. Michiru selected a lipstick with a lightness in her heart, a feeling that could never turn to stone.

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

This is a little something that stuck in my head after @rhiorhino‘s ask about Pluto and this post in @keyofjetwolf‘s PE liveblog. It’s different from my usual stuff, so take it as you will.

Being Human
~750 words, Minako & Setsuna

Setsuna is surprised when there’s a knock at the door. She’s
still getting used to surprise, that particular human reaction, beyond the mere
unexpected. There were never any true surprises at the door. She spent to long
examining what could come to be for that.

She moves to the door. There is a peep hole, but she chooses
not to look. She savors the surprise while she can have it, Time only knows how
long she’ll get this form. She turns the knob, and out in the hall is someone
she’d never have guessed would be there.

“Can I come in?” Minako asks. A plastic convenience store
bag hangs in the crook of her elbow, hiding a small box. Setsuna nods and moves
aside.

Minako sets her bag down on the little kitchen table and surveys
the walls and shelves. “You’ve made it nice here.”

“Thank you.”

“I probably shouldn’t say so, but I half expect it to be
totally blank. Bare, I mean, besides necessities.”

Setsuna smiled. She had jumped at the opportunity to have a
home rather than just an inhabitance. It may have been frivolous, but she’d scouted
thrift stores and flea markets for bright rugs and paintings and knick-knacks, filling
every corner of her little apartment with color and warmth and reminders of all
life could be. “Have I given you that impression of who I am?”

“No.” Minako runs her fingers around the edge of a red
placemat. “And I’m glad for it.” She looks up through her bangs, a gesture
Setsuna knows is uncharacteristically shy. “We’re not so different, you and I.”

It is not a comparison she would have made on her own, but
Setsuna sees it. They remember, the two of them, and they are bound by the
past. “I suppose that’s true.”

“I’m happy you’re here,” Minako says, and Setsuna understand
she does not mean in the apartment. “And I thought it might be nice for you to
have something.” She reaches into the plastic bag and pulls out a tin of tea. “I
wasn’t sure what you would like, but this seemed right.”

Setsuna takes it from her to examine. The tin bears a simple
design, all rich shades of burnt orange save for white letters—Hot Cinnamon
Spice. She opens the top and breathes in the sharp scent of the tea. Something rolls
over in her chest, or so it feels. She realizes she’s never been given a gift
before.

“Would you like to have some with me?”

“If you’ll have me.”

Setsuna finds her eyes tearing as she retrieves her newly
bought tea set from her cabinet. “I didn’t think I’d actually be using this,”
she admits.

Minako smiles. “Use everything at least once. Break some of
it.” She takes a seat and tilts her chair back on two legs. “This isn’t like
then. Nothing’s pristine or royal, except technically Usagi. And even then, she
doesn’t need the same sort of coddling.”

“Queen Serenity would be appalled to hear that.”

“Queen Serenity would be appalled about a lot of things. But
hey, she’s the one who made us human.” She frowns, looking Setsuna over. “Or
most of us, anyway.”

“I’m not sure how it works either, before you ask,” Setsuna
says, pouring water into two porcelain cups. “This may well be a hiccup in her
parting wish.”

“Whatever it is, you deserve the break.” Minako takes a
small sip of the tea. “We all deserve to be a little something more than what
she made us.”

It is hard sometimes, even from afar at her door, to see
both the soldier and the child in any of the girls. Sometimes they are so much
the Silver Millenuim warriors, living and fighting and dying for their cause,
but sometimes they are children, true children the way none of them had ever
gotten to be in that life. Now, here at this little kitchen table, Setsuna sees
both in Minako, feels something like both in herself, though she is by no
standard a child. She reaches for Mianko’s hand before she can think herself
out of it. “It’s strange to be so human.”

“It’s strange to be so alien. But you’ll get used to it.”

The tea is warm, both in temperature and the way it makes
Setsuna’s chest feel, the way the flavor seems to curl into her soul.  “Tell me about it. Tell be about being human.”

Minako smiles. They talk until the tea is long gone.

Do u have any tips for coming out?

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

I am probably the worst at coming out, honestly. I mostly occupy super safe spaces (I am among the luckiest in the world, I know, because while my orientation is not always well received, I have never been in danger for it and I’ve gotten more acceptance than anything else), but coming out to people still terrifies me sometimes. 

Really the advice I have is that coming out is about you. People LOVE to make it about them, but your safety and comfort is what matters. It’s easy to feel guilty about not telling people– they may feel like you didn’t trust them if you wait to tell them, or like you lied, or any number of things– but mostly people will come to understand that coming out has to do with so much more than your relationship with them. I made quite a few people upset when I came out on Facebook, because I didn’t tell them directly (I… told my father by telling him I came out on Facebook), but it was what I needed to do, it was the way that felt safe and comfortable for me. The people I did tell one on one, I tended to just jump to saying I had a crush on a girl, and leaving it at that (I don’t really recommend that, I’m pretty sure the reason my high school best friend and I fell out of touch is I just dropped “yeah the person I like is a girl” on her and gave her no room to react). 

It’s… hard. I wish I could give tips for coming out to family especially, but my experience was weird. (Aside from my ridiculous way of telling my father, when I told my mom and sister (separately) that I probably liked girls, they didn’t really take me seriously UNTIL I went public with it). And I came out when I was already living away from home– I got to avoid a lot of the fallout from it. A lot of people don’t have that luxury. I know my oldest friend didn’t, he started coming out when he was 15/16, and his parents took it pretty badly (even four  years later, they didn’t go to his wedding). They’re starting to come around now, and he got through it, but it was hard (sadly at that point in our lives we lived in different states, so I don’t have a lot of information on how he did it).

It’s different for everyone, and while “do what feels right” is the worst and most vague advice in the world, it’s what I have. And ALWAYS remember you have the right to not come out to people, you’re not lying or hiding or cowardly or anything if you chose not to tell someone. It’s great an freeing if you can get there, but it’s okay to not be there yet. And it’s okay to never get there in some instances (I, for example, never plan on letting one of my grandfathers know I’m gay unless I get into a super serious relationship. I love him, but I don’t know that our relationship would withstand me coming out.) And know that even people who seem super confident in who they are can struggle with this too, and you’re never, ever alone.

Rei and Mina, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

This one is on AO3 too, since it’s over 1K

—

“So then she leaned over, and said—“

“Mina, I really don’t have time to listen to this.”

But Mina would not be deterred form her plan so easily. “Aw,
come on, Rei, you’re great at listening while you work. And this girl is so perfect,
I—“

“I don’t think she sounds that great.” Rei grabbed a broom
and headed out to the front of the shrine. Mina followed with a huff.

“Well you wouldn’t, no one’s good enough for the almighty
Rei Hino.” Rei swept faster. Mina trotted along. “But for me, she’s wonderful, an
absolute ten.” She extended her arm in an arc for emphasis, like this girl had
all the goodness in the whole world.

Rei merely flicked her eyes over. There were days when her
fire burned close to the surface, threatening to consume everything, and other
when she buried it deep under an affected coldness. Mina was unsure if it was
lucky she’d caught her in the latter or not. “So what you’re saying is you’re
settling.”

“That is the opposite of what I’m saying, actually.” Mina
grabbed the broom from Rei and spun it around in a dance. “I’m saying I like
her a lot. More than I’ve liked anyone before.”

“Oh please.” Rei snatched the broom back. “You’re not going
to stay this happy with her. She’s flawed like everyone else.”

“Well, Rei, the thing is, it’s actually possible to see
someone’s flaws and like them anyway. We do it all the time. Look at Usagi, we
love her to pieces, and she’s got flaws the size of an ice cream truck.”

“That’s different. Usagi is good.”

“And my animal-shelter volunteer hottie isn’t?”

Rei made a non-comital noise and moved to the stairs. Mina
followed, her own temper starting to flair. “Nuh-uh, don’t just walk away. I
want an answer. I want to know what your problem is with someone you’ve never
met and who you literally only know good things about.”

Sweeping the steps apparently took all of Rei’s focus.

“While we’re at it, let’s also throw in your problems with Yomi
and Torako and Mik—actually, I’ll give you a pass on him, being a man and all.
But everyone else.” Mina slid down the rail a little ways to land in front of
Rei. “I want to know.”

“I actually liked Miki best,” Rei said, with all the disinterest
of someone considering different toothpaste brands. “He just wasn’t right for
you, like all the others.” She skirted around Mina to get to lower steps. “And
you can’t disagree with me, because you
broke up with them all in the end.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Like a preschooler, Mina was
overcome with the urge to yank Rei’s long black hair. If they hadn’t been so
precariously arranged on the stairs, she might have done it. “You know why I broke up with them. I was stupid
enough to think you had a reason to dislike me dating. But you kept proving me
wrong.” She wanted Rei to turn around so badly, to take this face to face. “So
today I thought maybe you really were holding my partners to high standards, and
I made a girl up. A lovely, perfect girl. But you couldn’t be happy for me
then, either.”

“So you’re mad your lie didn’t work.” As she spoke her voice
lowered to a growl, anger breaking through her cool act.

“I’m mad because I can’t do it anymore. Either give me a
reason, or stop fucking doing this.”

Rei paused, but still did not turn. “Fuck you or fuck off,
then?”

There had, of course, been times in Mina’s life when she’d
felt this angry. She’d faced true evil with all the hatred Usagi could never
muster. But this was worse, somehow, in that she’d expected something else. “That’s
all you see in me then. Fine.” She would not let Rei invoke her inner demons. Mina
ran down the stairs without care, the childish thought that if she did fall,
Rei would feel as bad as she deserved to, occasionally running through her mind.
Fortunately, perhaps, she was too sure-footed for that. She arrived at the
bottom upright and out of breath. Part of her wanted to look back, the rest of
her urged her to keep going.

But something clattered down the stairs behind her. Rei’s
broom rolled to a stop against her heels.

Mina took a breath and waited. The sound of Rei’s footsteps
soon drew near, uncharacteristically hesitant. She stopped short of picking up
the broom.

“You and I also have truck sized flaws.” Rei paused, but
Mina wasn’t ready to give her anything, not even acknowledgement. “It’s easy
for me to focus on that. You’re loud, and ridiculous, and sometimes you test
people in stupid ways, because you can. And…”

She went quiet for a long while. Mina waited. Rei’s softer
feelings were like a deer hiding amongst barrels of gunpowder, a wrong move could
do much worse than scare them off for a bit.

“And worst of all, you know all my flaws better than anyone.
And maybe they’re more of a semi than an ice cream truck, and if you’re
standing so close it must be impossible for you to see anything else.”

Mina felt the real crux of the matter still coming.

“Maybe I don’t want you to see anything else,” Rei said, her
voice barely above a whisper. “Isn’t it easier if we don’t?”

“I don’t quite have your talent for that.” She tried to
judge if now was the time to turn around, but decided not to risk it. “I don’t
think it’s easy at all.” Mina could feel how close Rei was. The distance
between them felt electric, though if it was a current drawing them together or
a fence keeping them apart she couldn’t tell.

“Maybe I can work on it.” Rei picked up the broom. “Maybe I
will.”

Mina finally turned to look back as Rei started up the
stairs. In spite of everything, she found herself smiling.

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

docholligay replied to your post “Michiru and Seiya, “That;s a good look for you"”

OH MY GOD SAM WHERE DO I BEGIN
That whole opening part with Michiru thinking about being lower class and having a flask was so perfect and I love the flow of it, it’s musical
AND SEIYA’S SHIRT AMAZE, their whole conversation the bathroom is incredible    
And i of course adore how Michiru ends up with the upper hand in literally every possibel way, and then get s the double joy of seeing haruka flip out ahahaha I LOVE YOU

I CAN’T THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR ASKING THIS ONE DOC. IT WAS A JOY. Ahaha I’m glad you like the flask bit, it popped in my head as I contemplated Michiru’s great suffering and I just ran with it. 

And ahaha yes, Michiru having the upper hand always is one of my favorite things.

dreamshapers-universe replied to your post “Michiru and Seiya, "That;s a good look for you"”

LOL at Michiru’s flask thoughts and then she’s like "Oh but the flask would ruin the wine anyway” and just proceeds to verbally destroy Seiya instead. I love it 😀

Thank you! I have my roommate to thank for my tiny bit of wine knowledge, she worked in a wine shop last year and has told me things so that now I can PRETEND to have a little of Michiru’s class. 

captainsnumple replied to your post “Michiru and Seiya, “That;s a good look for you"”

 AHAH SAM THIS IS BEAUTIFUL

I love how Michiru marked Usagi by Seiya’s outfit

And their conversation, i’m dying

I love that Seiya doesn’t buy Michiru’s accurate insults and like politely teases back

She has no chances to win but I really like that she doesn’t take Michiru’s insults to her heart
 I REALLY LOVE HOW THEY INTERACT AHAH

I’M REALLY GLAD YOU LIKED IT. I was worried as I wrote it that it was too genuinely flirty? But I see them as sort of verbal sparring partners, because with Seiya vs. Haruka (and to a lesser extent, Michiru vs. Yaten) in the background, they naturally fall towards antagonism, but they also genuinely like each other (not in a close friends way, but I think they enjoy interacting a lot more than they’d ever admit). So I see them essentially playing with each other, and Michiru will always win because she’s Michiru, but Seiya’s good humored about it. And I think her good humor brings out a little lightness in Michiru. SO BASICALLY WHAT I’M SAYING IS IT WAS REALLY FUN TO WRITE