florence466696b

[tsukinomask]

ITS THE "SAY IT AGAIN" SCENE!!!!! IM GOING INSANEEE IM A MESS NOBODY TALK TO ME

[sailorsenshigifs]

[master-ray5]

The King's (Chibi) Crisis

While I plan on posting something bigger tomorrow for Usamamo Week 2024 (run by @random-mailbox and @lilliebellfanfics), I decided to use the prompt for "Free Day" to finally post something I have had in mind for a while. I'm putting in my "Innocent Royal Affairs" series but the prompt helped me finally get it down on paper. Links first but then I'll post the whole fic underneath:

     “ACHOO!” 

     Mamoru’s eyes went wide and he jumped out of bed as the sound came over the baby monitor. He glanced back over his shoulder to make sure his wife was safe before he ran out the room, across the hall, and into the nursery. Mamoru was by the crib of Princess Chiba-Usa in record time. He opened a drawer, pulled out digital medical gloves, and ran a complete diagnosis by scanning his daughter. 

HR: Normal

BP: 95/58

Temp: 100.1

    “Dear lord,” Mamoru gasped as he read the results. “Computer, open a channel to the family of wisdom.” 

     “Boss,” Zoisite grumbled as he answered the call, slowly rousing. “It’s late. What’s wrong?” 

     “Chibi-Usa is ill,” Mamoru reported firmly. 

     “What’s her symptoms,” Ami asked, as she sat up in bed next to Zoisite when she heard Mamoru’s words. “What’s wrong with the little princess?” 

     “She has a 100.1 fever and is sniffling,” Mamoru explained, his eyes darting from the results to his daughter and back multiple times. “She’s sleeping peacefully now.” 

     “So let me get this straight?” Zoisite groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “She has her first cold?”

     “Yes! I want a full workout to make sure it's not magic related,” Mamoru ordered, a plan forming in his head. “I want you to run a comparison on the database of all known youmas, droids, and known monster types. I need to make sure she hasn’t been poisoned in someway” 

     Zoisite exchanged a look with his wife before he responded. “I’m hanging up now.” 

     “What?” Mamoru grunted, his body becoming tense at his friend’s response. “My daughter is sick. She needs a complete diagnosis.” 

     “Mamoru,” Ami sighed as she laid her head down on her pillow. “You are a former doctor, so you are blessed with an abundance of information. You need to get a handle on it or it will consume you.” 

     “That being said my wife needs her own sleep for the baby she’s carrying,” Zoisite sighed as his hand reached out and caressed Ami’s stomach. “Just get a washcloth, dab her head, and try to get some rest.”

     “What about,” Mamoru countered but the line went dead. “Hello? Damn it! Computer, dial the family of strength.” 

     “Mmmhuhm,” Nephrite grumbled as the call connected. “Wuh, wuzzup?” 

     “My daughter is displaying a low grade fever,” Mamoru reported, his eyes locked on Chibi-Usa’s vitals. “Have there been any anomalies sighted in the area in the last few days?” 

     “Numh, Mumuh,” Makoto replied in something between a snort, yawn, and a groan. “Mmm.” 

     “I want you to get to the control room and do a full city wide search to make sure there are no disturbances,” Mamoru commanded. “If you run every scan possible it should only take like…5 hours.” 

     A loud crunching sound came through the speaker which Mamoru could only assume was Nephrite destroying his communicator again. The replacement he received would be the 4th one this year alone. Mamoru intended on making sure they came out of his paycheck. 

     Chibi-usa grumbled and began to roll in her sleep causing Mamoru’s heart to clench. She was uncomfortable he could tell and he wanted to make sure everything was fine with her. He immediately dialed the next group in his contact. 

     "Jadeite,” Mamoru called when his general picked up. “I need you to hit the library. I want you to look through all the research materials and see if a minor fever may be related to any known curse."

     “I’ve got a curse I can show him,” Rei hissed before turning over and pulling a pillow over her head. 

     “Boss, you need to calm down,” Jadeite insisted, picking up his communicator to talk into it properly. His other hand reached over and stroked his wife’s back affectionately. “Zoisite already messaged everyone and let us know you are freaking out and overreacting. I’m going to turn off my communicator now and nothing short of a Class Five, world ending disaster is going to turn it back on.” 

     “I am not freaking out or overreacting,” Mamoru stated firmly. “Now come make sure my baby hasn’t been cursed by a demon or I will banish you to the frigid depths of space.” 

     “Good night Mamoru,” Jadeite replied before ending the call. Mamoru felt his entire body tense from the lack of respect he was receiving. 

     "What the hell? Call the family of leaders,” Mamoru ordered the computer. “Kunzite I want…"

    “Damn it Mamoru!” Minako roared. Not through the communicator but instead her voice carried from her and Kunzite’s wing of the castle. “It’s three in the morning! Some of us are trying to have sex!” 

     “Blast it all,” Mamoru roared as he turned towards the door and began to head towards pulling all of his generals out of bed by their hair. “I swear when I get a hold of them….” 

     Mamoru stopped as the door to the nursery opened and his wife came in with a sleepy look in her eyes. 

     “I can hear you through the baby monitor.” Usagi yawned as she moved past her husband and towards the cradle. “You‘re freaking everyone out.”

     “But Usa…,” Mamoru stumbled, his mind still going a mile a minute. “Chibi-Usa could have been poisoned by a demon, cursed by a youma, or…” 

     “Or maybe she caught a cold when we took her out for a ride in the stroller,” Usagi suggested as she placed the washcloth she had brought in against her daughter’s warm head. She picked up her tiny daughter and sat in the rocking chair close by. “She’s going to be fine Mamo. Calm down.” 

     “But…,,” Mamoru struggled, his mind overwhelmed with all the possibilities of everything terrible fate which could befall his baby. “She’s…”

     “It’s okay little one,” Usagi sang to her daughter as she began rocking her. With her hair down nursing their daughter back to health and wearing her white nightgown, Mamoru thought his wife looked like an angel. He often thought of her as such but moments like this made it even harder for him to think she was absolutely sent from heaven. “Daddy is just being silly.”

     “I’m just…,” Mamoru stopped as he watched how Chibi-Usa stopped fusing as she was rocked back to sleep. His gaze dropped to the med gloves he was still wearing and a smile formed on his face as he realized just how foolish he had been acting. “You’re right…daddy is just being silly.”

O.O.O

Come back tomorrow when my first Non-Senshi AU story finally drops. It's a nice light read clocking in at...11k!!

[sillyfairygarden]

fic writer interview

tem so lovingly tagged me in this and i am eager to procrastinate... okayyy fic time

How many works do you have on AO3?

12 beautiful sweet angels living on a cloud. cloud is called ao3 island. (yes this number is one higher than you will find on my page...) that number saddens me a bit because if i went through old pseuds/deleted fics, and other platforms it's probably closer to 40! but alas. many such cases of deleting my digital footprint U_U

What's your total AO3 word count?

good god i have 145k words of minecraft fanfiction out there. that is so scary.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

at the invitation of any desire: (this one just kind of. blows my mind away that it's in this position because this fic felt like a fever dream)

the first disciple: this is just. AUUUGHH

but oh, the bloom: my sweet sugarplum daughter with many illnesses

4 and 5 are a faint slash of tenderness and you are here to risk your heart, which makes me so happy to see these sister stories together.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

stares at the (184) next to my inbox. blinks. well here's the thing. i LOVE the ecosystem of comments on ao3 and i've always been a big believer in comment writing. however 😭 sometimes i don't know what to say! i feel blown away that people take the time to leave such long, detailed comments for some of my works (you know who you are) and those really are long term fuel for my heart.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

of my currently published fics, no number exists for griefs like these. i'm not a common purveyor of the major character death tag, but it was a little fun and silly.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

oh god. i've written a lot of bittersweet endings recently, as i'm going through my own works and going sad--bittersweet--sad--bad--bittersweet as i work my way down the lines so... i suppose the happiest "ending" to a fic would be a single pale rose. where it's really just a story of early beginnings (without an ending of its own stamped on)

Do you write crossovers?

i'll admit. a crossover is a hard-sell for me mostly because i have to feel invested enough in BOTH fields of media to really Get invested. unforties i know like 0.6 media so that's a pretty limited genre for me. i've read a smattering of good crossover fics across my years but i'll tentatively leave that in the hands of writers who have that genre of brainrot.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

when i think of like, old-school style fic trashing, nah not really. i've gotten a handful of oddball comments with varying degrees of dismissal, distaste, or hilarious confusion towards the story over the years, but genuinely they're truly drops in the ocean.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

yes i looooove writing smut and raunchy times. i just think explorations of intimacy and trust and bodies through sex in stories is so cool. vulnerability and shame are these topics i feel endlessly, constantly inspired and impassioned by.

there's this incredibly niche range of erotic and emotionally sensual that i love to read/write within. unforties this means i have to write most of the smut i want to read... SAD!

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

NO....

Have you ever had a fic translated?

my own attempts to poorly practice translations on my own fics have gone. badly. and also no.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

definitely no <3 i've dabbled in the idea but i'm very individualistic and a bit prideful when it comes to autonomy in my work. i don't think co-writing stories is something i enjoy, but i love playing-off other people with ideas, characters, etc.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

okay, backing up from the mcyt bubble (where SORRY none of these ships really hold weight) all time favourite ships of mine are fakiru, chrobin, bubbline, utenthy, catradora, usamamo, many such yuries. if you squint you will see the shadow of these ships in everything i create forever and ever <3

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

oh man. i've posted two of those unfinished fragment-fics (where, they were intended to be much longer but never took off) in to be wild and the champion's banquet. ultimately there's many more, stories i started in old fandoms that lost their spark, ideas that once tied me to certain creators i no longer support, concepts and outlines that will never get the dedicated time they deserve to bloom.

in total i probably have an extra ~100k of unpublished writing between different unfinished stories, drafts, wips, and ideas (and that's a modest guess, as the last time i counted was early 2023).

What are your writing strengths?

i loooove personification and descriptions and metaphors. i think it's so fun to join words and sentences together via descriptions, flow, and imagery that's different than you might expect. i think i write emotional messiness relatively well (as i looove a little hypocrisy and unreliable narration) and overall i just like writing about people and love and the human condition. PEACE AND LOVE ON PLANET EARTH!

What are your writing weaknesses?

sometimes i do, in fact, get lost in the sauce. i think i've over-corrected for a slow pacing issue by now rushing through scenes, and it kills tension. it makes action/suspenseful writing REALLY hard. you guys have no idea how much i struggled on there's a room where the light won't find you, my action-filled piece for hgcz.

also i HATE titles oh my god. titles we're meeting in the back of a dark room and i've got a weapon

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

so i've kind of flip-flopped here. i was in the camp of "cringe" on this for awhile, and then i wrote light is burning as i am yearning where i used galactic in-line with the dialogue and sort of loved it. the main reason it felt so cohesive was i wanted the reader to sort of lose understanding of what was happening alongside the character. in that aspect, i think the galactic

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

h. hetalia (my ffnet account is backdated to 2010 <3)

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

ohhhh within this fandom, i'm really keen to write gempearl at some point or convex. from outside the mcyt sphere, i have a really soft spot for some older series i loved but didn't have the confidence/prowess to explore ideas about that i'd love to go back and write for. so like personal passion projects i suppose

What's your favorite fic you've written?

god i oscillate on this question so much. right now it's the first disciple simply by merit of recency bias. sometimes i think a story or idea comes into my life to challenge me, and to provide me a mountain to overcome in myself, and i'm finding this story to be an example.

i love writing and talking about stories. my art feels like an endless way to tell stories about ideas, characters, bodies, and humanity: through writing and artwork i hope to continue to be a storyteller.

and now to tag people <3 i'm calling upon the hgcz writer's guild! if you've already done this, please feel free to ignore the tag @mochiwrites @boonbeenblade @theminecraftbee @droidofmay @alicenotalice @kayawolfhorse

[random-mailbox]

UsaMamo Week Day 2 - Second Chances

For this prompt for @usamamoweek I read it as missed connections at first. So that's what images below show. @caelenath also mentioned that it could be "second try" for something I have done before, which is where last year's UsaMamoWeek2023 post from Free Day - Hands Touching comes in.

Taking direct inspiration from my old university newspaper - Classifieds was another way to show missed connections. Yes - @caelenath helped with wording on one of them. Yes - they are all adjusted to fit the SM universe. Yes - I got it mocked up and printed. And if you would like to read the full article that's on the left hand side - here is the link to Vogue.

Here is the text written out on the next one:

ごめんなさい

私は間違っていた

ひどい間違いをしてしまいました

もう一度試していただけますか

"I am sorry" "I was wrong" "I made a terrible mistake" "Can we please try again". The one above the "rose" is Mamoru

Train picture is directly inspired by The Head and the Heart - "Missed Connection song" (link to YouTube)

[caelenath]

UsaMamo Week 2024 Day 3 - Inspired by a Song

My contribution for Day 3 of @usamamoweek is late, but it's the one I'm most excited about because I love the song that inspired it, "Take Your Time" by Sam Hunt. It's a heartfelt ballad full of pining, and if you watch the music video, there's a poignant twist to the trope that makes me emotional every time I watch it.

My fic does not contain such heavy themes, but other parallels to the song are deliberate. For the full effect, I suggest listening to the song before or while reading. 🎵

This is an un-edited draft being released in the spirit of the event. 🌙🎩

~ * ~

Summary: Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?

They said everyone was beautiful in the dark. If that was true, then the young woman behind the bar must have been an absolute goddess in the light.

The smoky and moodily lit bar was not his natural habitat, nor alcohol his natural drink, but he had begun frequenting this place in plain hope of seeing her. His schedule, though less hellish than it had been during medical school, was unpredictable, and many nights he made this detour after work only to go home disappointed.

But other nights, like this one, he was rewarded for his persistence. There she was, gracing customers with her bright beauty, her twin streamers of hair the envy of gold, her glowing skin like backlit silk. It conjured images of expensive sheets, the richest cream.

He tried to be covert with his admiration. He didn’t want to be that guy, the creep harassing her even if it was just with wordless stares. Her job obligated her to be attentive and courteous whether or not she wanted to be, whether or not someone deserved it. He was determined not to add to the burden.

But he sure wished he knew what color her eyes were. Whenever she was close, or when she brought him his drink, he’d been too afraid to look, not just because he was shy, but because the longing he felt for her was so intense sometimes, he was sure it would show nakedly on his face no matter how polite he was or how little he said. It'd be like a fever, burning bright in his eyes and spoiling the air between them. He didn't want to scare her away with it, because frankly it scared him sometimes.

Still.

He wished it wasn't so painful trying to connect with others. He wished he were better at knowing what to say. He wished he were braver. And he had never wished for those things as hard as he had when he first laid eyes on her.

She was laughing with another customer four seats over as she refilled their beer, and he dropped his gaze straight down into his glass, trying to smother his envy and the ache in his heart. He tried to make himself smile, in case she came closer, and sit as if he were actually comfortable here, nursing drinks he didn't want while appearing to ignore the thing he did want.

A flash of gold made him look up slightly, and his heart immediately sped up. She was only one customer away now, her prodigiously long pigtails swinging as she prepared their drink. He took a swig of his whisky to cure his suddenly dry mouth, and then the smell of strawberries cut through the alcohol-laden air. Surely he had imagined that?

Movement in front of him now. She would notice his drink was almost empty and inquire about it. It would be rude to ignore her. He drained the glass in one final swallow—he'd yet to experience the supposed liquid courage effect, that was how bad his innate reticence was—and cautiously raised his gaze.

Her eyes were blue. Not just blue. Summer sky blue. Forget-me-not blue.

His heart beat even faster, he stopped breathing, and his skin tingled all over—yet at the same time, he felt removed from his body entirely. His medical training hadn't covered this at all. He wondered, not so unseriously, if he had died. Like, just for a moment.

"You look very far away," the hostess remarked.

"I…"

Here it was, that inevitable moment when he had to speak before he had something to say. Scrabbling for words felt like clawing at the edge of a cliff he was destined to fall from anyway, so he ended up blurting out the only thing he was thinking.

"You're beautiful."

Her face fell, and with it, his heart. So this was how it would end then. He wasn't surprised that it was his mouth that had gone and ruined things, but he was disappointed by how soon it had happened. Already he was envisioning himself crawling back to his dark apartment, where he could console his pining heart privately, never to return to this place again. He refused to trouble her even the slightest, and besides, he was the stranger here, the one who didn't belong. Someone else who actually enjoyed the atmosphere and knew how to converse like a normal person could warm the seat he was taking up.

At least he would have his memory of her, this angel in the Ebisuminami district. It would hurt for some time to come, but he knew how to carry such heavy aches. He had done it his whole life.

"I'm sorry," he said, quickly glancing back down at his empty glass. His face was warm with embarrassment.  "I didn't mean to…to be weird. Please forgive me."

He started to inch his chair back, face still firmly pointed at the bar top. Mentally he was already halfway to the exit when she stopped him.

"Wait."

He stilled, made himself take a slow, deep breath in. In his haste to not offend her, he might have inadvertently been doing it anyway. He should at least let her reply. He owed her that dignity.

"I forgive you," she said, not without reservation. "I'm sure you just meant to be kind."

His head snapped up. She was smiling, but it didn't quite reach her eyes, which he understood completely. She was a bartender in a room full of sodden men whose motives rightly should be suspect. He was no exception.

"Yes, but…I meant it also. I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable."

She nodded, and he was glad to see her shoulders—those tantalizing slopes—relax a little.

"It's okay." Her smile finally reached her eyes, and it made her more radiant than ever before. "You're beautiful too."

His face went from warm to burning, and he seemed to lose control of every muscle in it. Luckily, his involuntary impression of a deer caught in headlights just made her giggle, and he thought, well, at least his reaction was doing the talking for him. It was almost worth being flustered if it didn't drive her away like using actual words might have.

She gestured at his empty glass, likely about to ask if he wanted another, when someone at the other end of the bar called for her attention. She acknowledged them with an easy reply over her shoulder, then, in a move that surprised him, she took his glass unprompted, refilled it, and set it back down in front of him with another smile.

Then she was gone, off to attend to the other customer. He regarded his new drink, unable to decipher it. Was it a gift? A consolation? A thank you?

He lifted it to his lips and decided she was just doing her job. To try to read anything more in it was a road he was not equipped for.

Her musical laugher floated over the din of the crowd to torment him, and his sip turned into a long swallow. There was no point in it, he would find neither courage nor eloquence at the bottom of a glass, but at the least he wouldn't be wasting her efforts.

If she did return, if she gave him the time of day he so deeply yearned for, she would find out he had the conversational skills of a houseplant, and that was unbearable. He would rather remain her shy admirer than become a letdown she wished would leave.

This time when he moved his chair back, he didn't stop.

He wouldn't see the disappointment on her face when she came back to find him gone, replaced by a carefully folded napkin beneath his glass, on which a single heart had been drawn, rotund and earnest and as childish as the hope he tried so hard to kill.

[magicalgirlagency]

What's your honest opinion on Usagi and Mamoru as a couple?

As cute as they are, they are clearly a product of its time, to say the least.

However, they still have a place inside my heart, as they were my very first ship. I like how they complement eachother personality-wise, though even so, Mamoru himself isn't immune to shenanigans (i.e.: Rehearsing his cheesy romantic speeches as Tuxedo Mask, or even faking a sickness to avoid dealing with royal duties as Endymion).

I also like how they subvert fairy tale tropes. At first glance, you assume that Tuxedo Mask is the one who saves Sailor Moon from danger, but as you go deep into the story, you learn it's the opposite (who gets brainwashed? Who gets gravely injured? Who gets inflicted with a mysterious illness? Certainly not the heroine).

Oh, and I also have this headcanon that Mamoru is a he/him lesbian, thanks to SeraMyu (he's played by a woman in the musicals). Really, no one in Sailor Moon is straight/cis.

I prefer UsaMamo more than SeiUsa, because Usagi and Mamoru have a history together; they're literally star-crossed lovers, will eventually have Chibiusa in the future, their love acts as a power-up (i.e.: The Cutie Moon Rod in the manga), and have at least promised to wait (Mamoru gives a promise ring to Usagi before he leaving Japan in the final arc/season).

Take this with a grain of salt, but I am inclined to believe that Seiya and Usagi were shipteased back in the 90's anime because Kunihiko Ikuhara was on the staff, and as we all know, hated Mamoru's guts, and not only he would attempt to kill him off, he would try to replace him with Seiya instead.

You see, the thing with Seiya falling in love with Usagi, is that this is a trauma response; they're grieving for their Princess Kakyuu, who has gone missing, and they've latched onto Usagi's infectious kindness and charisma in desperation. At least, is how I see it.

Anyways, that's how I feel about Usagi and Mamoru as a couple. Maybe it's nostalgia filter in my brain, but I do find them adorable.

[usamamoweek]

UsaMamo Week 2020 Works

To give some inspiration and give readers some additional stories to check out before official entries for UsaMamoWeek 2023 start to get posted, we thought we would do a few posts highlighting some stories and works from prior years.

Stories:

5 Years - @tinacentury

"A yearly glimpse into Serenity and Endymion's relationship over the course of 5 years. An experimental Silver Millennium AU."

UsaMamo Week 2020 - @allyunabridged

Stories collections based on daily prompts - (special callout for Something Old, Something New - one of @random-mailbox 's favorite stories that will hopefully get completed at some point because it's awesome)

Memories - @floraone

"A series of snippety ficlets exploring Mamoru's very own Usamamo-memories throughout time. From Silver Millennium to Crystal Tokyo. Written for Usamamo Week 2020 on Tumblr."

UsaMamoWeek2020 - @over-roaming-waves

Stories Collection based on daily prompts

Save me - @ellephedre

"What if, after Mamoru broke up with her, Usagi decided to make him jealous? Would it break his heart too? Would Usagi have the strenght to go through with her plot? Happy ending guaranteed, after a lot of angst."

Obligation & Desire - @uglygreenjacket

"Set in the Silver Millennium, this story aims to be the ultimate SilMil soap opera, with all the period intrigue, drama, fluff, politics and sexiness you could imagine."

If only I belonged to you - Beej88

"What if the Senshi defeated the Dark Kingdom without triggering the reveal of the Silver crystal and Serenity and Endymion's memories? My fic for Usa/Mamo week 2020! Aged up, AU/Canon-divergent with tons of reveals and a-probably-going-to-be angsty-because-I'm-incapable-of-pure-fluff Mamo-Usa fic."

Truth Serum - @idesofnovember

"Just once Sailor Moon wanted to be on a rooftop alone with Tuxedo Mask when neither of them were injured, panicked, or needed back in the battle. This time was at least two for three."

Art:

@nari20 - Day 2 Sairlor Moon + Tuxedo Mask, Day 4 Crystal Tokyo, Day 3 Usagi and Mamoru , Day 1 Silver Millennium

@hellomomo - Day 4

Moodboards:

@flourishfox - Day 6 Free Day ,

@koheiri-neko - Day 4 Crystal Tokyo , Day 7 Mix and Match

Playlists:

@hellomomo - UsaMamo Playlist

@nopenname22 - SM + TM The Mixtape, UsaMamo - The Mixtape, Crystal Tokyo The Mixtape, AUs The Mixtape

[sailorshadzter]

3, 5 and 15 for the otp ask 💖

thank you my love!! <3

send me otp asks

3. What is something you look for in an otp? oooh, i look for opposites attract. i love a dark, brooding boy paired with a sunny girl. i love height difference. i love let me protect you (especially from the weaker of the duo). i want trust & love & i want to see their romance unfold. it can be slow burn or fast, i dont care. i just want to FEEL what they feel for each other.

5. Why do you ship the otps that you do? because they offer me all of those above things and usually more. zutara gave me enemies to friends to lovers. they built an unshakable bond / trust in one another to the point that it was katara that zuko wanted by his side to finally face his sister once and for all. usamamo gives me the 'i wanna protect the person i love' from both sides- usagi being the powerhouse she is constantly is saving and bringing those she loves back from death. it kills mamoru that he can't be that person for he, but it doesn't stop him from trying. also their love transcends time itself??? jonsa gives me ultimate trust between two people- sansa finds jon after the worst period in her life, a period that has opened her eyes to being a new person, a BETTER person. jon has just come back to life and has something new to live for that he didnt have before. MAN I COULD GO ON AND ONNNNNNN

15. What do you think their favorite things are to do together? Ex watch movies, shopping, ect. Ooh okay well usamamo LOVE to go on shopping / lunch dates. then spend the evening curled up on the couch together. zutara loves to spar together, followed up by a different sort of sparring session in their bedroom. jonsa loves to take long walks now that spring has come, watching as the North comes back to life from the long winter. they take Ghost with them and watch him run, hear him howl, and spend long hours in each other's arms beneath the heart tree. Sansa will sometimes read to him, his head in her lap, one hand in his hair.

[stedesbonnets]

i finished the first season of sailor moon

and i also read the manga, so let's compare:

things the 90's did better:

i loved the slow burn and the banter between usagi and mamo, having him stoic and serious was a good contrast to her bubbly personality. loved the iconic elevator scene, it's always such a rush to see them being nice to each other for the first time

eps 33-34; the minako/usamamo/serenity reveal, mamo getting stabbed to protect usagi, everything! it hits so much harder than in the manga

i actually love the filler episodes and some focus on the girls

the mini nephrite act, oh my god. i did find it a bit creepy at some times, but his death was devastating

things that absolutely SUCKED:

having the girls be guys obsessed. "boyfriend" was mentioned almost every episode for like, the first 15. it undercuts the feminist meaning of the show so much

the weight loss episode should be scrapped forever

rei and mamo's dating. yikes!! no!! why!!

things the manga did better:

i liked having mamo being more emotionally open about his crush on usagi, it was cute seeing him blush

letting the girls other than usagi have the final blow

usagi taking's mamo's brainwashing more seriously. in the 90s she's acting like normal. but i'm also not a big fan of how depressed she gets after the past life reveal

i'm ok with the rainbow crystals, but usagi's tears transforming into the silver crystal highlights that it stems from her pure heart better

things i didn't like:

while understandable, the reveal of the girls happens very fast

what i have a gripe with is the usamamo identites reveal. way too fast and anti-climatic. usagi recognizes mamo by..... putting tuxedo mask' mask on his face. as opposed to after nearly getting burned alive by him

the final battle. esp the senshi's death, i don't think the girls who kill themselves to "revive" usagi

things that sucked:

USAGI KILLING HERSELF. also undercutting the feminist ideas of the manga. even that aside, why does she have to repeat her past life? it would've been so much better if she actually had agency over her faith and lived. i'm also not a big fan of her calling mamo endymion all the time, it's like they're only together bc of their past lives

overall, i prefer the 90s, the characters are more fleshed out, the romance is better, it's more climatic. i'm baised towards it because it's a big part of my childhood, but watching it as an adult was just as good. 10/10, probably my favorite season!

[gffa]

Oh no.  So, because I’ve been bouncing from hyperfixation to hyperfixation, I’ve been trying to keep half of them quiet, but it’s literally about six or seven different fandoms that I’ve been reading fic for--and the thing you have to understand is that for about the last five years, I haven’t read any fic other than just the one fandom.  I kept collecting fic for later, but I only ever just kept reading Star Wars fic, that’s all my heart wanted. I’m still kind of marveling that I’m reading non-SW fic again, much less in the quantities I’ve been going through, much less in literally half a dozen fandoms at once.  Batfam, Trigun, Kuroko no Basuke, One Piece, Genshin Impact, Raven Cycle, Haikyuu... and then I picked up a few FF7 fics, though, I haven’t had time to start them.  It’s been kind of A Lot. But then one post from the Cosmos movie and I’m like OH SHIT I NEED SOME POST-STARS USAMAMO FIC RIGHT NOW and I am currently about eight tabs deep into looking for fic and, like, this is my very longest running fandom, I have stuck with Sailor Moon longer than anything else, in that I have never left it even for a day, but I don’t read much fic and now I DESPERATELY NEED POST-STARS FIC, this can’t be good for me.

[spei-sidus]

Forgiven

Rating: Mature

No Archive Warnings

Written for UsaMamo Week 2023, Day 2

Sailor Moon is forgiven by Tuxedo Kamen for Serenity's final actions.

Usagi startled awake, an event that had been happening far too frequently as of late. Luckily Luna was out checking in with headquarters, leaving Usagi blissfully alone. The images in her head haunted her; she could focus on nothing else. Sometimes she awoke screaming, to the grumblings of her family; it’s happened so often now, that they didn’t even get up to check on her anymore. 

She rubbed her temples, groaning. There was no helping it; she wasn’t getting back to sleep. She knew if she did, the dreams would come again. She needed to get out of there - and there was no Luna to scold her.

“Moon Prism Power, Make Up!”

The power embracing her comforted only a little. So she slid stealthily outside her windowsill, her silhouette sweeping over the landscape. She flew from rooftop to rooftop, trying to burn away the anguish, to replace that choking anguish with large breaths that she felt strangely robbed of whenever she had these dreams. Her stomach was coiled tightly, too; Usagi felt like she couldn’t even eat at times like this, and that truly terrified her, that something could take her away from her beloved food. She willed her body to unwind, but it couldn’t escape the adrenaline that had wound its way like a vise around her heart.

She stopped at one rooftop, noting the light just barely peeking over the horizon. Soon it’d be time to go to school and pretend like she was an ordinary, carefree girl. But until then, this was her moment, her time alone. She started crying, hard and fast; ugly sobs that penetrated the otherwise peaceful atmosphere. She didn’t know and she didn’t understand. She couldn’t take this relentless onslaught on her senses. She was the epitome of effervescence. True, she faced youma, often in the dead of night, but dealing with that was nothing compared to the horrors of her nightmares.

“Sailor Moon?”

She jumped. “Tuxedo Kamen-sama.”

“Are you alright?”

She gulped, trying to get herself under control. “Sorry. Just bad dreams.”

“Oh?” He drew a little closer. “Do you want to talk about them?”

She turned fully towards him. She decided to confide in him; at least he wouldn’t judge her. “A lot of it is just jumbled scenes - destruction, pain, screams. In particular, there’s a sword, gleaming with the blood of the man next to it. I pick it up, every time, my hands shaking. And then I don’t see anything anymore. I just feel…pain.” She drew a tortured breath. “But the pain isn’t from holding the sword, it’s from seeing the man…gone.” She swallowed as something struck her. “I don’t know if you believe in past lives, Tuxedo Kamen-sama-”

“-I do.”

“I fear very much that I loved someone so much, enough to - enough to -” His arms wrapped around her, grounding her with his embrace, as once again she began to cry. “I couldn’t live without him,” she wept. “He would’ve wanted me to, but I-”

“It wouldn’t have been fair to you,” Tuxedo Kamen murmured, “to ask you to live when he didn’t.”

She hiccupped, taking that in. “I feel so guilty,” she breathed. “I don’t even know who he is and if it really matters-”

“Then let me speak for him,” Tuxedo Kamen said softly, cupping her face. “I love you - and there’s nothing to forgive.”

She shuddered under his declaration, reminding herself firmly that he was only pretending. Then she pressed on, “Would you, Tuxedo Kamen, really forgive me if you had saved me, getting killed in the process, and then I, Sailor Moon, turned around, and - and -”

“Yes. I would always choose to save you, and it’s your life to do with as you choose. Not that I want you to choose that, but I won’t judge you for it.”

The tears began again, as she let go of all of the ugly pain and guilt wrapped up in a past she barely understood, all while wrapped in the arms of her hero, whom, while an enigma, nonetheless seemed achingly familiar. “Thank you,” she breathed.

“Better?” 

She nodded. 

“That’s the beauty of reincarnation,” he said quietly after a moment. “We get to live again, so even if we die, we have a chance of finding each other again.”

“I’m very much grateful to be alive,” she said. “Just look at this sunrise, for example. There’s so much beauty in the world, even with all the darkness.”

“Especially the kind we see nightly.” 

A few minutes pass.

“Do you have dreams like mine?”

“I have dreams, but they aren’t as gory. Still, they make me believe in past lives.”

“I hope your past was a good one,” she murmured. “Unlike mine.”

He shrugged. “Maybe the past is overrated.”

She smiled at that, and then she frowned. “I better go,” she said reluctantly. “I have to get ready for school.”

“I do, too. I’ll see you at the next battle.” He gave a salute and leapt away.

Sailor Moon smiled as she headed home. Not even being bowled over by Mamoru-baka was going to spoil her mood today!

The End

[staarry-skies]

gonna be insane abt usamamo for a second im so sorry esp to my moots who do not care about sailor moon my heart goes out to you

read more bc this is so much longer than was intended

i see a lot of the same "theyre only in love because of fate/their superhero alter egos/their past" takes A Lot (to be fair its usually directed at the 90s anime, to which i do agree n understand, however ive also seen it directed at the manga which is why im talking abt it) and i just Do Not Agree, so im gonna talk abt it in a twt thread bc im insane and twt is my outlet for my insanity. (this was originally written for twt but got too long oops.)

starting with the whole "theyre only dating because of past lives" because its the easiest to debunk, its just flat out not true. mamoru n usagi never really got the chance to officially get to together pre-past lives reveal in the manga but its pretty damn clear they were going to, probably the next time they met as civilians and swapped their different keepsakes that they have from each other.

theres also the whole "oh well their feelings are remnants of silmil" which i think takes away a lot of their agency as characters and also just isnt true and is also pretty easily disprovable, usagi likes mamoru for being there for her and supporting her when she needs it, and mamoru likes usagi for being this incredibly strong heroine but also being a normal cheery girl all at the same time.

which leads me to the next point! "they only like each other because of their alter egos", two rebuttals here, they dont exactly stop being tuxedo mask/sailor moon just because theyre out of costume that is still them but i do see why this is a popular criticism. my other thing is that its definitely not true for mamoru, whos usually the one criticized for not truly liking the Real Usagi™️ and only liking her for sailor moon (or serenity but we just went over that and funnily enough this criticism should be directed more to usagi but we'll get into that later).

for this lets go back to why mamoru loves usagi, according to earlier in this post i claimed it was because of the dichotomy between her and sailor moon, the crime fighting warrior, and usagi the happy-go-lucky school girl who always brings a smile to everyones face, thus showing that he loves /all/ of her not just one side over the other.

but me saying so isnt really enough so lets hear it from the boy in question: "its true... for a long time the crystal was the only thing i wanted... but now when i see her... angry one moment then laughing the next... the crystal? no thats not what i really want... usako youre what i want" - (crystal ep 7) so... yeah thats pretty cut and dry, oh yeah nows also a good time to mention that ill be pulling stuff from crystal too because of the nature of crystal having been more closely supervised by naoko and being a stricter manga adaptation, any scenes it adds are retroactively canon to the mangaverse (at least to me, but if youre looking for a similar line from the manga: "youre strong today sailor moon, everyday i feel like im seeing a different side to you, is there other versions of you ive yet to meet? i want to know everything, who are you really?" - (chapter 8) same idea as the crystal quote just a lot more vague lol)

also this is reflected in more than just words, its actions too, tuxedo mask is a lot more closed off towards sailor moon earlier on and its not until chapter 4 that he starts being a lot more openly caring and affectionate, and you wanna know what happens in chapter 4? he finds out sailor moon is usagi, and it doesnt take a lot of media literacy to put two and two together to figure out why that shift happens there.

now for usagi, remember when i said the whole "liking the alter-egos" criticism applies to her more but is never directed at her? well heres why, we never really see her civilian relationship with mamoru develop much on her end before the reveal, she is of course attracted to mamoru but on a way more superficial level (usagis pretty notorious for her immediate, but ultimately kinda surface level crushes on people: see rei).

she denies her crush but its pretty obvious she has one, for example when mako points out that usagis blushing after one of their interactions and asks about it and she insists pretty loudly that she "doesnt like him!" but never really explains the blush (earlier in the same scene when she sees mamoru she blushes and b-dmp! is written in the bg, keep in mind he hasnt done or said anything yet so its not embarrassment) and then theres chapter 3 where she recognizes that his profile sorta looks like tuxedo mask which she'd actively try to deny if she didnt like him like she says she does, so its pretty obvious she has a crush on mamoru.

but her relationship with tuxedo mask is what gets more development, she goes from that superficial crush she has on mamoru to liking him for deeper reasons than just: pretty guy! i.e. helping her, being there for her, and grounding her when she needs it. also in the same vein as her recognizing him in chapter 3 the reveal is her just recognizing him as tuxedo mask, which obviously she has to like mamoru quite a bit to do (even if the evidence was quite literally all around her) (in saying all of this i do think pgsm does a much better job at showing her genuinely falling for all of him but pgsm also skews more towards the 90s anime in terms of characterization so i wont be using that).

and finally "usamamo are only together/feel pressured to be together because of fate/chibiusa" short answer: no. long answer: noooooooooo. no but in all seriousness this flat out isnt true, if you'll remember the first 14 chapters of the manga are kinda. yk. dedicated to this. their fate isnt to "be together" their fate is to literally DIE if they dare attempt to be together again, they are together DESPITE fate, like i dont even know how else to put it because multiple characters comment on fate repeating itself when it comes to dooming usamamo, they werent reincarnated to be together they were reincarnated to be happy and live normal peaceful lives.

as for fate as in the future, thats pretty easily disprovable because its ALSO something the manga goes over, during the dream arc when mamorus suffering from nehelennias curse he starts feeling guilty and selfish for constantly being a burden on usagi to the point he asks her if she really does want a future with him, even saying that he feels horrible for potentially tying her down to a future she might not want, which yk would kinda not be a concern he would have if he was only with her for the creation of crystal tokyo (side note: nowhere does it say usamamo NEED to be together for crystal tokyo to exist, usagi could very well rule alone like queen serenity or with any other partner, its just that the current timeline has them together in ct) as for usagis response, mamoru falls asleep before he can hear it, but she says point blank that she can change the future if she wants. So. Yeah. dont really think i need to say much more than that on that front.

And the last part of the "fate saga", "theyre only together to have chibiusa" which is such a crazy and lowkey highkey misogynistic sentiment, but for arguments sake lets take a look at why its completely wrong, first off, again. "i can change the future as much as i want" - (chapter 40) she could have chibiusa by other means (for example the way queen serenity had serenity) but also, the reason they care so much about chibiusa is because she's a product of their love, they obviouly care about her as a person but they wouldnt just force themselves to be together just to have her and her alone (if that makes sense i have no idea how to phrase what im trying to say) in any case its a really gross thing to say because it insinuates a lot of really weird things!

if you made it through all that you deserve like a medal or something but thanks for listening to my silly little thoughts about my favorite couple right now

[angrykittykrys]

❝ it’s a beautiful night. ❞

for any of our matching otps <3

For my bestie! I was torn between UsaMamo and KazuFumi, but another friend said to go with the student/teacher, so I did!! I hope you enjoy it, my love!

"It's a beautiful night."

Fumino was standing out on the balcony, a blanket wrapped around her body as she watched the snow drift down from the iron gray sky. In just two days she and Teppei would be leaving Sensei's home to stay with Tomo-kun. It was impossible to believe that the life they had shared with Sensei was being put to a stop this way, but it was, and there was nothing any of them could do to change it.

At the sound of her husband's voice, Fumino turned slightly. Just enough to let him know that she had heard him, but not enough for him to see the tears staining her cheeks. It wasn't as though showing him the pain she was feeling would let them stay together. It would only serve to hurt him as much as she was hurting.

"I wanted to watch the snow from our balcony one last time," she said quietly, pulling the blanket tighter around her. "It won't be the same at Tomo-kun's place."

She heard the sliding glass door shut, and suddenly he was beside her, grabbing at the blanket so he could slide in next to her in the gentle warmth. Once they were cuddled close and she could feel his muscled chest pressed tight against her back, he nuzzled his face into her hair. It was his small way of letting her know that even wrapped up together, he still wanted to be closer.

"You're coming back home to me," he promised, squeezing his arms that were wrapped tight around her waist. "This isn't a goodbye, just a see you later."

"Because... I'm your wife?" The words came out in a broken whisper as the tears began running down her cheeks in earnest.

His lips brushed against her collar bone, neck, chin, cheek, ear and forehead, a promise in each press of his lips to her skin. His tongue darted out to clear the tears from her cheeks and he kissed the corner of her eye. "You are my wife and... I love you."

He said it so rarely, not nearly enough to fill up the empty spaces she was going to have without him. But even so, she clung to the words and buried them deep in her heart. The reminder that it wasn't just her that clung to him, that wanted to come back to this apartment after their forced separation was over, would carry her through the difficult time ahead.

"It really is a beautiful night," she agreed finally, leaning back into his arms. "Should we stay out and enjoy it a little longer?"

He kissed her forehead once more, rubbing his cheek against her skin. "As long as you want, Fumino-san. I'm in no hurry to go anywhere."

[random-mailbox]

UsaMamo Week Day 3 - Love Letter (Poem)

For this prompt for @usamamoweek2023 I wrote a poem inspired by the Stars arc in the Anime:

I write to you in hope you hear, 

I wish with all my heart that you were here. 

My helping hand, my rock, my love,

My guardian angel in the dark. 

Although I know that time has come

For you to spread your wings and have some fun,

Your laugh and wisdom sorely missed

Alas, I will still exist.

And think of kisses at midnight,

And fireworks while being held tight,

Of our adventures and our talks,

How our whole life felt unorthodox. 

Beach days spent lounging in the sun…

I know our story has just begun,

But it is hard to let you go,

I’m feeling caught in the undertow. 

Without you near I feel alone,

Unsure for which misteps I must atone. 

How to pretend that I am fine,

Without crying all the time.

I have not heard from you quite yet,

I know that I shouldn't fret,

And show patience, show growth,

But that's the part I really loathe…

In closing, I hope you are doing well,

And in your studies you excel. 

Think of me now and again,

I'll make do with my paper and pen.

[real-life-senshi]

The suspenseful bgm continuing to play as people filed into the church is a nice touch, but the fact no one was talking at all and then Hina opened her mouth with a really perky voice was such a weird dissonance for me. I just have to laugh imagining her voice echoing off the walls given the acoustics in the hall, and everyone turning their head and trying to shush her. lol

Nice segue though from MamoHina to the UsaMamo plot:

USAGI, PLE--ASE LMAO

This transition scene is out of this world! Absolutely bonkers! They REALLY decided it's time to insert some Usagi-style humour into this scene to liven things up in this episode and remind the audience Usagi is still Usagi even when she's lovesick!

Usagi was so deep in thought she thought the phone vibration was her heart pounding too loudly in her chest! HAHAHAHA And the melancholic bgm abruptly stopped when she thought "あ! 携帯か!"? The semantics of this phrase suggests her attributing her Teletia S. to the sensation she was thinking about, I cannot with this silly rabbit. The editing and scriptwriting really hit me in my sense of humor lol