Michiru, 16

There are many creatures that only grow to be as big as their cage, and the heart is no different. Walls went up in Michiru’s childhood, steely bars of propriety, of superiority, of talent and of class. Her heart stayed small and safe in their confines.

That is, until someone dared reach in.

Michiru took Haruka’s hand and expanded her walls little by little, until her heart had not a cage but a home. Warmer, more vulnerable, but still safe, still confined. She had one person to love, to protect, to give everything for. Her heart grew, but only within its borders.

And then, the first time she sees Haruka pick up their newborn, those borders shatter. Michiru’s heart cannot stay small, cannot stay safe, cannot be confined by anything. She is raw and wild and pulsing. She looks upon her wife and daughter, and there is no going back. No cage could hold a beast this size. No walls could stand between her and all the barbs love bears. She is free. She is loose. She is lost.

@rhiorhino I can’t format an answer the way I want on mobile, so I’m doing it like this!

Okay so, it depends! BUT the good news is I do it myself, so I know the numbers really well, but do ask your stylist to double check, some gradients are numbered differently on different brands/places/moon phases

I usually have fluff on top, which I do with scissors. I like having several inches up there, but if you’re looking for shorter, I recommend one (razor number 8, for me) or two inches (less common, but some stylists will have razors for 2 inches, otherwise they can use scissors). The key is to be able to go shorter on the sides, unless you really want to go for full shave.

For the back and sides, I have two styles I go between. Right now (though I haven’t posted recent enough photos, so it’s probably not what you mean) I have 1/8 inch (razor 1) all over. It’s a full undercut look, pardon the wet hair in the pic:

The other look I go for is tapered sides, usually starting at ½ inch (4) fading to 1/8 or ¼ (1 or 2) at the bottom. The taper both looks good to me and helps my hair not look like a mullet so fast (I swear the bottom grows faster than the rest). I don’t have a great photo to show just how it looks, this is the closest:

That’s probably grown out a bit from the ½ inch (and it’s messy, but ah well), but that’s around what it looks like. You can always ask for ¾ inch (6) to start to test it out if you’re worried about going too short too quick (if the stylist is unwilling to work with you, they are a bad stylist. Same with if they give you grief over going short.

Happy anniversary Sam!!! I hope y’all have a lovely day together!♡

Thank you Rhio!!! I had to work (I hope to be in a position to take off for it in years to come) but we went to a fancy restaurant for dinner! There’s a fondue place around here that we tried once thinking it would be overpriced and gimmicky, but is actually amazing and they do a four course dinner (cheese fondue, salad, entrees (you pick three small ones) with vegetables, and chocolate fondue. And it was extra sweet because the staff all signed a card for us, AND my wife’s grandparents called in to take the bill.

AND THIS WEEKEND WE’RE CHECKING OUT A LOCAL AMUSEMENT PARK TO CELEBRATE MORE

docholligay replied to your post “So we like HaruMichi BatB, huh? Here’s part two! Part one is here…”

(not that the last one was Not Good, it was, but this one has a much more polished gleam)

Oh I’m glad, I wrote this one with SO MUCH more care. Part one was 100% your prompt making me think of it again and wanting to run with it and not overthink it, and this one I slowed down and though about things. I had the thought WHILE WRITING part one that if I continued, I was going to want to rewrite part one, but I knew that without getting the first part out, I’d never continue.

docholligay replied to your post “So we like HaruMichi BatB, huh? Here’s part two! Part one is here…”

I NEED you to know that “time no longer tethered the shades” is a fucking KILLER line, Sam

actually the writing and turn of phrase in this WHOLE THING is fucking brilliant

It takes a fairy tale quality on through the flow itself, this entry is really well integrated into the idea

THANK YOU. I’ve been working on language and flow lately, and I love using Michiru as a vehicle for it.

rhiorhino replied to your post “So we like HaruMichi BatB, huh? Here’s part two! Part one is here…”

Nooooooo ������

CUE MY EVIL LAUGHTER

(thank you for all your tags too Rhio!! I’m so gad you like it!)

rhiorhino replied to your post “I wish you would write a fic where Haruka gets lost”

Also I love Michiru being all “uh no sorry, I’m not new money” lmao

Ahaha I’m glad you liked that line, it was born out of my attempt to not overthink the situation (since that’s why I didn’t write this when I first had the idea) and then a lot of Michiru’s backstory came to me from it. And also it’s one of those lines I write that I hope people find funny because they amuse ME.

rhiorhino replied to your post “I wish you would write a fic where Haruka gets lost”

I LOVE B&B SO MUCH this is great, I love how you changed the story to fit around them and make it work and make sense

I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! B&B is really fun to play with, and it works really well for HaruMichi, I think, despite the ways in which they’re very different from most portrayals of Belle/Beauty and the Beast, respectively.

Also I just really like thinking about how fairytales can interact with the modern world. I remember some author saying once that no one can get lost anymore unless you write their cell phone dying, and so I laughed writing the first bit. Once upon a time, a cell phone died.

rhiorhino replied to your post “Harumichi flower shop AU”

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH SAM ♡♡♡

Thanks Rhio! It was so fun to think about!

Also I’m a sucker for pretty much any Mako friendship stuff, and I never bring her into my stuff enough. SHE’S MY FAVORITE. (My wife exclusively knows her as “my girl” because she’s the not-HaruMichi one I have merch for, but because they get most of their Sailor Moon knowledge from my fic, they can’t remember her name or planet lol).

rhiorhino replied to your post “Coworker: your new job sounds boring Me: yeah but it also sounds like…”

I’m so happy for you getting sleep and your weekends back! Hell yeah that’s the good shit

People often didn’t believe me when I said this as all I wanted from a job, but it’s really what’s important to me. I’M NOT GONNA HAVE TO LEAVE WORK AT 10:30PM AND BE BACK AT 8:30AM AND RANDOMLY WORK 10 DAYS IN A ROW EVER AGAIN.

Also I’m going to get to have consistent meal times, which I never really thought about but it going to be so nice. And I won’t be on my feet all day. And I’ll get to plan ahead because my schedule will be the same every week. Like. If I want to have dinner with friends or see a movie or go somewhere for a weekend I DON’T HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL MY SCHEDULE IS POSTED I CAN JUST DO IT.