#caffeineivore

[caffeineivore]

One Heart, One Mind - Chapter 1 - caffeineivore - Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon [Archive of Our Own]

I wrote a thing while I was on vacation. Prequel/sequel/companion piece of the R/J I did for one of the bangs. M/K tropey trash.

[imjustheretoseetheprivateblogs]

@dovelylittlebird here ya go

Blood on her Hands is a really well written AU by @adriannasharp. Great pining, character insight, and writing all around.

There's the Trivial Efforts series by @apsaraqueen

The Bells of Hikawa Shrine by @vifetoile is also really good

So is Captured Spy by @master-ray5

Unmasked and Spirits by @caffeineivore

A Jar of Blue by @ellorgast

Strawberries and Strangers by @venuscrescent

i'll tell you my sins (and you can sharpen your knife) by winterbones is incredible!

@verfound has some excellent drabbles and writings.

And of course there's my own offerings to consider.

Love Lost by @shnuggletea is excellent

And of course there's my own offerings.

I hope these are to your liking. Happy reading

I'm watching Sailor Moon Crystal and I really hope I'm not the only person who was pissed that the Four Kings died. I'm a fucking sucker for reincarnated lovers and they just ripped 4 potentially really cute ships away from me 😭😭😭

[versailles-fairytale]

My collab art for @caffeineivore ‘s fic for 2018′s Senshi x Shitennou Mini-Bang Challenge! It's my first time to join and I am amazed and glad that I did with all of these talented and dedicated folks. Thank you, @ssminibang mods and @caffeineivore for having me and being so awesome and patient with me.

http://caffeineivore.tumblr.com/post/179828709477/starbucks-chapter-1-caffeineivore-bishoujo

Author:  caffeineivore

Title: Starbucks

Characters/ships: Aino Minako, Kunzite, Mizuno Ami, Zoisite, Kino Makoto, Nephrite, Hino Rei, Jadeite, Tenoh Haruka, Kaiou Michiru

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Summary: The Starbucks on the university campus is a crowded hub of activity and is open 24 hours, and fall semester just began. A series of interconnected stories and interactions set at Starbucks: Love Actually meets Senshi/Shitennou meets college-town cafe AU. The season's inaugural pumpkin spice latte has nothing on the heart-pounding sweetness of first love.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16263650/chapters/38028488

[antivanruffles]

Hello! This is some original fic for @caffeineivore, since she donated as part of my fic drive. This is a snippet out of a whole big world of mine that we just affectionately refer to as ‘Highlanders.’ If she ever mentions “h6″ this is that.

When Liam had been given the opportunity to travel to Spain, his head had been full of grand ideas. He imagined immersing himself in the culture, learning all that he could while abroad. He had dreamt of seeing how the fine rapiers were made, perhaps even get a taste of Spanish fencing. The food, the people, the history!

Instead he was a glorified nanny to his two idiot friends.

Muttering a few choice curses he had picked up from Lachlan, Liam sighed and scrubbed at his face with both hands. Wondering how in the name of God he had lost both of them. At the same time. Or rather, how they had both managed to get lost at the same time?

“They’re both grown,” he said to himself. “Is it really my fault if they get lost in the Spanish countryside for the rest of their lives?”

Although he doubted it would be a very warm welcome back home if he returned without the laird to be. No matter how much of a fool he was. And there was no doubt in his mind that Marianne would murder him if he forget to bring Finn home. Leaving them to their own devices was not the answer, however tempting it may be. Unfortunately.

Liam sighed to himself and started to retrace his path through the streets of Santander in hopes of finding Eamon and Finn, since he had little hope either of them would manage to find their way back to La Casa de Maria on their own. Liam made his way through the market, assuming he would find Finn gorging himself on chocolate confections and attempting to count out the correct currency, but surprisingly Finn was nowhere in sight.

With a careful eye, Liam did his best to try to spot his friend, but the odds of hiding a giant blond highlander that more closely resembled a norse viking were slim to none. This obviously meant Liam’s search would not be an easy one.

As the cries from the hockers in the market grew fainter, the brightly colored booths and myriad of trinkets a dim memory, Liam found himself near where the established shops were. Laundresses, seamstresses, lacemakers, and every other textile one could imagine. Here is where he found Finn, set upon by a gaggle of young women who seemed to work for one of the lacemakers as he could hear the bobbins clacking inside the building behind them.

Finn appeared to be a little overwhelmed by the attention, stuttering through his replies in a mixture of English and Spanish. That, however, didn’t seem to deter the young ladies, all of whom appeared to be quite taken with the idea of a strapping young Scotsman.

Wide grey-blue eyes met Liam’s over the dark heads of hair. Finn grasped his moment for escape with both hands, and he started to brush passed the young ladies, still using a mixture of Spanish and English.

“My friend, uh, mi amigo? We… vamos? Adiós!” He made leap toward Liam, grabbed his shoulder and all but ran from the gaggle of now sad young women.

“What happened?” Liam asked once they were far enough away.

“I don’t know.” Finn shrugged. “I was trying to get back to the market, so I asked one of those lasses. Then she waved over her friend, who waved over another friend. I don’t think they’d ever seen a Scotsman before.”

“Aye, you’re such a novelty.” Liam rolled his eyes. Of course Finn missed all the doe eyes and swooning.

“Where’s Eamon?”

“I was hoping you knew?”

“No, I thought he was with you!”

Liam sighed, shoulders sagging. “Back to my search. Come on, Finn. At least you’re another set of eyes.”

Surprisingly, it didn’t take them all that long to find Eamon. They traveled up a few of the side streets and stumbled across him quite by accident. In fact they likely would have passed him by if not for his loud, and rather pathetic, hollar in their direction.

Turning as one, Liam and Finn came upon the sight of their friend and future laird, soaking wet and sprawled in a rather gangly fashion in a large wash tub. It obviously belonged to one of the laundresses, judging by the washboard and laundry hanging beyond it. Although no one else was in sight save Eamon.

Small mercies, Liam thought.

“Should I ask what happened?”

“I’d rather you didn’t,” Eamon moaned. He attempted to get up only to slip back into the tub, sloshing water all over the cobblestones. It was all Liam could do not to laugh. Finn, however, was not to tactful, letting out a loud bark of laughter at his friend’s plight.

“Stop laughing and help me out, you mithering bawbag!”

“Since you asked so nicely….” Finn was still giggling as he helped pull Eamon from his watery prison.

Sopping wet, Eamon much resembled a drowned rat as he attempted to shake out of the water from his boots and wring out the ends of his shirt. He seemed to be trying hard not to pout, although when he was upset it just seemed to be what his face did. For better or worse.

Liam was still struggling not to laugh.

“Can we go now?” Eamon asked miserably, brushing back his wet hair from his face only to have it fall back into his eyes.

“I’d like to know how you got in this predicament. Usually you save your baths for private.” Liam tilted his head.

“It’s a long story.” Eamon sniffed, a little haughty.

“Can’t be that long, you’ve not been out of my sight for more than an hour.”

“I’ll tell you once I’m dry. Now, let’s go so that I may change.” Eamon was trying for politeness, most likely because he knew the more he pushed the more resistance he would meet, however the pinpricks of pink starting in the center of his cheeks gave away his annoyance. And embarrassment.

Liam decided to take pity on his friend, and nodded. “Fine, I’ll lead the way back to Maria’s. Come along you numpties.”

He visibly relaxed at that, falling in line with Finn as Liam started steering them up the street.

“Eamon? Doesn’t Emilia work around here?”

“Does she?” Eamon’s voice hitched up.

“Aye, I think so.”

“I didn’t know.” Eamon’s voice was still unusually high, and casting wary glances over his shoulder.

“It wasn’t another ‘misunderstanding’ was it?” Liam cocked an eyebrow.

“Was what?” Eamon’s eyes were wide, dark brows inching up his forehead.

Looking back down the street, Liam just happened to catch a glimpse of a brightly colored skirt and a long braid of dark hair. Emilia wasn’t actively watching them leave, but she was certainly aware of it.

“Never mind,” Liam said with a shake of his head. He couldn’t imagine how horribly Eamon had mangled his Spanish in order to earn being shoved into a tub of dirty laundry water, but at this point he wasn’t shocked by it.

One day Emilia was probably going to kill Eamon, and Liam wasn’t entirely sure he would stop her.

[smokingbomber]

one-liners

1. Sunrise: Her fingers curled, intertwined with his, and as the chilly wind came up from the city she huddled closer into his side and admired the strength in those hands, the gentleness -- a more perfect counterpart to her own virtues, she couldn't even imagine... but then he belched, and Makoto buried her face in Neph's shoulder to muffle the giggles: she was stuck with the vices, too.  

2. Rivalry: Minako honestly couldn't think of it as anything but a long-running competition: which of them would he find prettier, which would he find more clever, which would he find more appealing to cuddle into the wee small hours or fuck silly in the back of a cab, whether golden-blonde hair or strawberry blond was better.  

3. Quip: Bon mots and one-liners were all well and good, but Jadeite was so assured of his superiority in wars of wit with Nephrite, or with Zoisite -- I mean who would try to dig Kunzite with a little shiv-joke but Endy, and he just made dad jokes -- that he never saw it coming when Rei dropped her tac nuke of a quip in response to his bitching about court: "I'm surprised you find it boring when all you ever do is watch decolletage."  

4. Steadfast: Water was her element, fluid and changing and endlessly flexible, and counterintuitively, that was exactly what she needed to match his flickering transformative fire-- nothing else would allow Ami to remain rock-solid and steady, as frustrated by his impulse and vacillation as she was, in her patient love for the intelligence and care  -- the mind and soul and... okay, OKAY the BODY -- of that green-eyed jackass.  

5. Hypothetical: "Yes but /even in theory/," Mamoru insisted, splaying his fingertips across the tabletop as he leaned over it, looking like he was about to shoot a laser cannon of nerdrage at Neil, "given a hypothetical reincarnation where she doesn't even MEET him, OR Usa, and an actively implausible situation -- I mean what the fuck 'stuck in an elevator at the end of the world with her and not wearing any clothes' is not a me thing it's a you thing -- you're /still/ completely and profoundly wrong, because I would /still not fuck her/, that would be like Usako and Kazuo... /spooning/!"  

[ssminibang]

Suggested "The Sea" prompts for your convenience!

Not sure what to draw for the Senshi & Shitennou Reverse Mini Bang 2019? Well, lucky for you we have a heck of a lot of prompts!

By the way, sign ups for Artists and Authors will remain open until Sunday 31 March 2019! Just go to our blog and click on the useful links in the description for more information! (We’re not using links here because Tumblr won’t let the post appear in searches if we do 😭)

Beach volleyball

She sells seashells by the sea shore

"The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea." - Isak Dinesen

Sandcastles

Shipwreck, alternatively “Ship To Wreck” - Florence + The Machine

Lighthouse

Siren song

"But let there be spaces in your togetherness and let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls." - Kahlil Gibran

Pirates, Buccaneers and Privateers, alternatively, Ching Shih (aka Cheng I Sao) 

(S)he's a shark!

Canon ball

“That figurehead on the prow is beautiful!”

Sports Illustrated, Swimsuit Edition

Unleash the Kraken!, alteratively, Legendary sea creatures/sea monsters

"A woman knows the face of the man she loves as a sailor knows the open sea." - Honore De Balzac

Moonlight skinny-dipping

Swimming with the dolphins

“Some people long for a life that is simple and planned / Tied with a ribbon / Some people won't sail the sea 'cause they're safer on land / To follow what's written / But I'd follow you to the great unknown / Off to a world we call our own.” - The Greatest Showman

Tropical vacation getaway

"A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Marooned

"I slathered on SPF 75 every hour, faithfully, and still cooked like an oversized fucking lobster."

Surfing

Palm trees

“A frog in a well does not know the great sea.” - Zhuangzi

The Spanish Armada

Message in a bottle

Thalassophobia

"Just keep swimming" - Finding Nemo

“Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” - Brian Hyland 

“Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures glide under water, unapparent for the most part, and treacherously hidden beneath the loveliest tints of azure. Consider also the devilish brilliance and beauty of many of its most remorseless tribes, as the dainty embellished shape of many species of sharks. Consider, once more, the universal cannibalism of the sea; all whose creatures prey upon each other, carrying on eternal war since the world began. Consider all this; and then turn to the green, gentle, and most docile earth; consider them both, the sea and the land; and do you not find a strange analogy to something in yourself? For as this appalling ocean surrounds the verdant land, so in the soul of man there lies one insular Tahiti, full of peace and joy, but encompassed by all the horrors of the half-known life. God keep thee! Push not off from that isle, thou canst never return!” - Herman Melville

"Only An Ocean Away” - Celtic Garden cover of Sarah Brightman

Sex On The Beach

Sea shanty, alternatively, “Cardiff Rose” - Roger McGuinn

The Age of Exploration

Tantallon Castle

Merpeople

Saint Emlo’s Fire

“Plenty more fish in the sea”

Namma, Mesopotamian goddess of the Cosmic Ocean.

Pearls

Stowaway

The long journey home

“A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope” - Epictetus

Tying knots

"Time and tide wait for no man.” - Geoffrey Chaucer

"The whole business of love is to drown in the sea." - Rumi

Smuggling/trafficking

Beach glass and driftwood

“Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?" - Shakespeare

"His blue eyes were seas where sorrow sailed." - Dean Koontz

"Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink.” - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Washed up ashore

“I need you like water in my lungs.”

Go with the flow

Creatures of the deep, alternatively, “With its untold depths, couldn't the sea keep alive such huge specimens of life from another age, this sea that never changes while the land masses undergo almost continuous alteration? Couldn't the heart of the ocean hide the last–remaining varieties of these titanic species, for whom years are centuries and centuries millennia?” - Jules Verne

You are my true north

With only the stars to guide us

The mournful cry of seagulls

“Yea, and if some god shall wreck me in the wine-dark deep, / even so I will endure… / For already have I suffered full much, / and much have I toiled in perils of waves and war. / Let this be added to the tale of those.” - Homer

Cruise ship shenanigans

“Well, someone's feeling salty about something, hmm?”

“Join the navy, see the world!”

“In a sea of faces, I always look for yours."

"Missing you comes in waves, and tonight, I'm drowning."

Hidden depths

“It’s called ‘wayfinding’, Princess. It’s not just sails and knots, it’s seeing where you’re going in your mind. Knowing where you are by knowing where you’ve been.” - Moana

"I followed the waves to you." - Melissa Auf Der Maur

If you put a conch shell up to your ear, you can hear the sound of the ocean.

Drifting away

Interesting/creepy discoveries while scuba diving

"The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its close, soft embrace." - Kate Chopin

"The sea is as close as we come to another world." - Anne Stevenson

Storming the beach at Normandy

As faithful as the tides, alternatively, "Because there's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's sent away." - Sarah Kay

Feast of the Seven Fishes

“Heart of the Ocean" - Gaelic Storm

"This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign, / Sails the unshadowed main,— / The venturous bark that flings / On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings / In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings, / And coral reefs lie bare, / Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming hair." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Sand between your toes, alternatively, Sitting under a big umbrella with sand between your toes and a trashy romance novel 

"Go jump off a cliff, preferably into shark-infested waters, asshole!"

“Uh, who is the ship named after, Captain?”

The palaces and treasures of the Dragon Kings (Chinese mythology see Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en)

The Bermuda Triangle

The Four Winds and the Seven Seas

Between Scylla and Charybdis

"It was many and many a year ago /I n a kingdom by the sea..." - Edgar Allan Poe

Starfish and Sea Horses

Steampunk ocean travel

"Red Sky at night, Sailors delight; Red Sky in the morning, Sailors take warning."

Ship's cat

A hasty shipboard marriage, alternatively, "(S)he has a girl/guy in every port."

Ghost Ship

Shore Leave antics, alternatively, Yacht party

Quaint coastal towns

Ship in a bottle

The Lost City of Atlantis

View through the spyglass

"Come unto these yellow sands, / And then take hands / Curtsied when you have and kissed" - Shakespeare

Sea Noir: “There's not much to do on the open sea. Play cards and bet away your last dollar, the shirt off your back. Pray for good weather. Work, day in, day out. Sing it again, Sailor. Maybe this time, the gods will take mercy on us. Maybe someday, we'll make it home.”

May Day! May Day!

[adriannasharp]

The Shitennou as The Try Guys

I’m bored because I’m currently isolating so have this thought that periodically pops into my head. Because there are four Try Guys and four Shitennou, my brain started drawing parallels a while back and now I need to share them with the void. 

I should say that these parallels are based mostly on fan depictions of the boys through fanfiction and general fanon. And, of course, I don’t know the Try Guys and am going off of how they portray themselves in their videos. 

We’ll start with the easiest, in my opinion. Nephrite and Keith. Both are tall guys who love to eat, are super dramatic, and hate to lose at the stupidest things. They also give the best hugs because they are so big and squeeze you in super tight.

Next up, what is likely to be a controversial choice, Kunzite and Eugene. I know most people would probably put Eugene and Zoisite together but, hear me out. Both Kunzite and Eugene look amazing at all times and are effortlessly good at things they have not done before. They are also the silent type and not big into PDA.

Jadeite and Zach. Admittedly, this is my weakest one but I think it still sort of works. Both give me young energy and, have a lot of patience. Though Zach has much less patience than I headcanon Jadeite to have. But they both have a lot of kindness love to give and need the right person to show it to. They don’t date often but willing to give it all for the right person. 

And finally, another potentially odd choice but Zoisite as Ned! Both are incredibly book smart and very intelligent but kind of clueless in other regards. Aka, very book smart, less street smart. Also, just madly in love with their wives (yes, in this case, it’s a Zoi x Ami situation) and talk about them constantly.  

So yeah, those are my thoughts. If you want to know where I get some of my fanon of the shitennou from, check out these amazing authors.

Caffeineivore

Ellorgast

CopperCrane2

VenusUnchained

Check them all out, they’re amazing!! I’m sure there are other authors I’m forgetting off the top of my head but definitely show them all the love. 

[scgdoeswhat]

Seconds later, she feels a warm, solid back against hers, and she knows without even looking that Jin has joined her.

Here’s some last minute, pinch hit art by yours truly, inspired by “Of Mountains and Seas,” from the tremendously talented @caffeineivore! 

Done for the 2020 Senshi & Shitennou Mini Bang @ssminibang, “Of Mountains and Seas” is set in a fictional Dynastic China and features an AU Rei and Jadeite.

It was my pleasure to collab with her on this and you should totally head over to AO3 and read this wonderful story!! 

Read “Of Mountains and Seas” on AO3. 

[Click pic for HQ or visit the work on AO3]

Ko-Fi & Commissions Open; link in bio.

[bowldeepfannish]

4 fanarts as my first of two planned collabs for this year’s Senshi x Shitennou Sailor Moon @ssminibang  with the lovely badass @caffeineivore as writer & fab @messysketchpad who painted the Jake & Zephar art for chapter 13 (check her account for more of her goodness!)

The story + all the artworks are complete and posted at AO3 HERE :D.

It’s a supernatural noir-ish detective & crime AU with both friendship and romance and banter and it’s really really entertaining >D. Mind the tags&rating :>  Happy reading!

Twitter thread

[scgdoeswhat]

Excuse me while I sit in the corner squeeing :333

Thanks @caffeineivore and this was decidedly better than a Black Friday M/K prompt 😆😆😆

Ficcing

Prompter: SCGDoesWhat

Prompt: R/J, Christmas Carols (sort of). 

Spiritverse! Mentions of death. 

**

It’s out of nothing more than curiosity that draws Jareth into the same path that she takes. Ember, the wise woman, walks slowly and deliberately into the church, white snowflakes stark against her jet black hair before they melt into nothing more than glossy water drops. There is a choir singing at the front of the church, though no pastor seems to be present. Soft, harmonizing voices singing the familiar words of “Silent Night”. 

She lights a candle and seats herself in a pew, and doesn’t spare him more than a passing glance when he joins her. The candle is plain white and unscented, the type issued by the church for various services, and she bows her head over its tiny flame as the song draws to a close.

“You followed me in here.” She doesn’t mince words, but at least she does not seem angry. 

“I was curious, I suppose. Though this is a beautiful building.” The stonework on the outside is an exhibition of the finest work of the high Gothic style, with its elaborate carvings and soaring turrets. The stained glass windows glimmer with almost an inner light. The worn carpeting muffles the sound of footsteps, but the acoustics of the soaring ceilings brings the carol-singers’ voices to the forefront. 

“It is,” she agrees. “Of course, some would call it ironic, considering the source and intention of this building. It was commissioned by certain descendants of various historical figures who were magistrates during the Salem Witch Trials– sort of a penance, as it were. It’s not exactly Puritanical in style, wouldn’t you say?”

“Perhaps not, but I can appreciate beauty when I see it. I own an architectural firm these days, hereabouts.” The latter is said with just a note of gentle self-mockery. “So, I enjoy beautiful buildings.”

“The Ælf-kine do enjoy their graceful palaces and perfectly-balanced fountains.” She doesn’t quite smile, but there’s a hint of it in her voice. “I’m an archivist for the Brooklyn library.”

“And the wise women enjoy their runes and their lore.” He returns, with a definite smile. “Do you enjoy the music, then? I daresay you don’t particularly enjoy the Puritanical history.”

“I come here for the Puritanical history, actually. It’s a promise to keep, of a fashion.” Ember falls silent as the choir starts on another song, the hushed and pensive notes of “O Holy Night” filling the air in lieu of her words. Jareth leaves her to her thoughts, her slim fingers cupped around wavering candleflame, and it’s only after the song draws to an end that she stands, walks up to the front of the church, and sets the candle– almost glutted out now, in a pool of quickly-melting wax– into a holder. “My mother’s wishes. I barely remember her, of course. I was just a baby when she died.”

Jareth raises a blond eyebrow with a bit of surprise. While wise women weren’t completely immortal, they were a long-lived lot nonetheless. There was a healer who lived on the outskirts of the wilds of his realm who’d been making tisanes and poultices for the mortals, generation after generation, for a good two hundred years. The mortals, in their typically oblivious sort of way, hadn’t seemed to notice that the woman did not seem to age. It did not, therefore, stand to reason that Ember would have had to experience the loss of her mother so young.

“My father was a respected man in the village, with some authority. He had a great deal of land and a well-run house, but my mother had seen the terror that was to come. There was no changing its course.”

Those fabulous violet eyes are sad as they stare into his own blue ones. “You know, some scholars theorize that an impetus for the Salem Witch Trials was a land dispute between the Putnams and some of their neighbours. My mother knew it would be only a matter of time, after they had started, before they would come for all of us. She loved my father, and made him promise to send me away, to my grandfather’s home. A servant snuck me out of the house in the middle of the night, and she was arrested the next day. And though he tried, in the ways he could understand– with money, and with threats and begging– to save her, my father couldn’t spare her from the hangman’s noose. He left town after and never came back, dying a few years later. My grandfather says his heart was broken, and he’d lost the will to live. He raised me, after. There are a few places, such as this church, built to commemorate that time. I’ve visited most.”

They step out of the church into the cold, the soft swell of song echoing behind their backs, and Ember shoots him an ironic smile. “Your curiosity is sated now, I hope. I suppose this could be considered an odd first date of sorts. Considering all the run-ins we’ve had up til now, it would almost have to be, wouldn’t it?” 

“Oh, but if it were so, I’d have to…” In a fluid motion, he shrugs out of his coat, wraps it around her shoulders. It’s pale golden-brown and light as linen, but the elven tailoring makes its fabric warmer than cashmere fleece. A smile crosses his features as his fingers linger by her shoulders, in comfort as much as anything else. “To be a gentleman, you know?”

She clasps her hand over his wrist, then leans up, close enough that her breath fans over his lips, a whispered spell. The illusion doesn’t jar its way into their reality harshly; he simply has the odd sensation of blinking and wandering into a different world– one in which the sun shines hotly overhead and the sky is a hard tile blue and his ears echo with the sound of warm seas lapping sandy shores and the caws of tropical birds. The warmth and magic fades after a moment, after she steps back again, no longer so close that they could almost be kissing, but there’s a mischievous smile on her face rather than that sad gaze, and that’s almost better than a kiss. 

“Well, since you’re showing off on our date, I suppose I must do the same.”

[cursedwithgloriouspurpose]

Aw man, I haven’t been tagged in one of these in forever! TY, @star-gal​ :D

Top Three Ships: Rei/Jadeite is the easy one. I’ve had a lot of ships come and go over the years, but that’s the one I always come back to. Other than that...  Duo/Wufei (Gundam Wing) is also a big one I tend to circle back around to a lot. And while it’s fairly new, I feel like Killua/Gon is going to stick just as hard.

Last Song: ahaha, the All Stars orchestral mock up someone did on soundcloud.

Last Movie: I genuinely don’t remember. I know the last movie I saw in a theater was Harley Quinn, which I don’t regret in the slightest.

Currently Reading: WAY too many things! My goodreads account probably lists twenty books as “currently reading.” But I suppose I’m most actively reading Guards, Guards by Terry Pratchett, and re-reading Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (which if you have somehow not heard of this by now, PLEASE pick this up. Lesbian necromancer sci-fi. That really just says it all.)

Food Cravings: tacos. But not like, any tacos. I specifically want the deep-fried shitty jack-in-the-crack tacos that no one should eat, ever.

LET’S TAAAAGGGGG @antivanruffles @coppercrane2 @caffeineivore @reeing-across-the-universe

[antivanruffles]

caffeineivore replied to your post “I think the problem with me writing original novels is that it’s very...”

I will validate you. MOAR MOAR MOAR MOAR

You get me. :’)

(also istg I’m running to the PO today >.>)

[smokingbomber]

prompt 9: bell

She didn't even have toast in her mouth.

Mamoru's classes had been cancelled for the day because there'd been some kind of gas leak in his high school's basement, discovered early in the morning, and everyone had gotten a call or text and been told their assignments would be up on Google Classroom. Naturally, he was up and out early anyway, intent on getting his classwork done for the day before his third cup of coffee at Crown.

He shouldn't linger, he thought to himself, he should go and get it done and then see what he could do for the rest of the day. Alone at home doing his work and then just reading-- not even reading outside on a park bench, where there was visible and audible proof of other people existing in the world-- was appealing sometimes, but it'd lost some of its shine. He used to live for the times he'd have quiet, with no one even near him, but since he'd been living on his own he actually treasured school as a wall between himself and solipsistic dissociation.

He shouldn't linger, he should go to the Crown and talk to Motoki and get coffee and listen to the happy buzz of voices in the background, feel the warmth of other people's affection toward each other, filling the air with something other than hostility or misery or loneliness.

But, he'd grown willing to admit, there was a particular warmth he craved, loud and fleeting as it might be.

She hadn't been on the bus, so she was bound to be on foot, careering around corners and bolting down the sidewalks like a bat out of hell. He shouldn't linger, but he knew it was a matter of time. He heard her feet against the pavement before he saw her, and then he saw her and she looked tired and panicked and she didn't even have toast in her mouth, and her cat was running behind her with her lunch bag in its mouth, and he stepped around a corner so she wouldn't see him and swerve--

--and then he checked his pocketwatch and felt guilty. She was already going to be late. He'd make her later. He shouldn't interfere. But-- he didn't have to be at school; if he accompanied her and went to her teacher and explained it was his fault, maybe she wouldn't get detention, and he'd be able to see her after school... and she was going to be late anyway, so maybe this was good, maybe--

Mamoru opened a book and stepped out from around the corner, his timing so perfect that she slammed into him instantly, dropping her bookbag; her cat did an impossible backflip and landed behind them, and Mamoru dropped his book and his padded laptop bag and backpedaled a couple of paces to soak her momentum and prevent the two of them from landing hard on the concrete.

Warm. She was flailing and apologising and stepping back and bending to pick everything up, but he reached to lightly put his hands on her shoulders, steadying and solid, and he couldn't help laughing. They were a block from Juuban Middle School, so the bell was clearly audible, and she heard it and actually processed who she'd run into and lit up with rage. "JERK! Don't laugh at me! And don't try and tell me it was my fault even if I was apologising, you were READING while you were WALKING!"

"It was definitely my fault," Mamoru said when she paused to take a breath, and she stopped abruptly, derailed.

"What?"

"It was my fault," Mamoru repeated, studying her face up close. "I stepped in your path and I obviously wasn't looking. And then you helped me collect my papers because I was upset, and then you heard the bell and said you were going to be late, so I offered to come with you to class and explain to your teacher, so you wouldn't get in trouble."

"But-- we didn't do any of those things--" Usagi protested, bewildered, tugging on one of her pigtails while Luna dropped the lunchbag and sized up Mamoru's ankles and their likelihood of possessing some kind of anti-cat-bite armor.

"But if I'd been upset and dropped all my papers, you would have stopped to help me even if it made you late, wouldn't you?" Mamoru asked quietly, a raw kind of intense honesty in his face that set Usagi even further off balance.

"Y-yes," she stammered, eyeing him, trying to read what was going on behind his face and starting to blush.

"So let me take care of this for you, since I'm the one who's inconvenienced you this morning," Mamoru said, almost-- *almost*-- pleading.

"Um. Okay," said Usagi, looking at him sidelong as he stepped back to bend and pick all of their things up. He handed her her case, then stood, and smiled at her, and for a second she forgot how to breathe.

She remembered when Luna jumped up on her shoulder and licked her ear with a scratchy tongue, then whispered as soon as Mamoru turned away, "Don't be like this, Usagi! You can't trust him!"

Without looking, Mamoru said, "It's rude to whisper behind my back, Miss Cat."

Luna's ears went flat back and her tail curled around the back of Usagi's neck, and she crouched in irritation and uneasiness.

Usagi knew she'd get an earful later, but she was willing to bet yen to yogurt parfaits that watching Mamoru charm Miss Haruna would be worth the price of admission.

She just wasn't prepared for how jealous it made her.

[ssminibang]

The Senshi & Shitennou Mini Bang 2020 is here!

Artist and Author Sign Ups are OPEN until Tuesday 31 March 2020!

Welcome one and all to Senshi & Shitennou Mini Bang 2020! We’re so glad you’re here and we hope you’re as eager to get started as we are because we’ve got so many cool things going on!

As is tradition, we’re alternating in between Mini Bangs and Reverse Mini Bangs. The 2019 ReverseMini Bang produced some amazing art (which kinda still has us gaping in awe, to be honest) and the fics! (Incidentally, if you would like to see/read them, the master list is available here).

This year we’re running the Mini Bang again, so Authors will be the ones to create work which will inspire Artists. We had some great collaboration between our Artists and Authors previously and we’re hoping to not only replicate, but increase that this year, too!

To start with, let’s reveal our theme for the SSMB 2020:

“Red”

Sounds broad and super open to interpretation? Well, it is. Just like last year’s theme, you can be as literal or as metaphorical with it as you’d like. Wanna write a Sailor Mars-centric fic? How about one which focusses on Nephrite (his artbook and PGSM uniforms had red in them, after all...)? Like the idea of Tuxedo Kamen throwing roses left, right and centre while the Senshi and Shitennou watch in awe? Do it! What about red being the colour of war? All of the end-of-the-Sil-Mil fics!!!! Valentine’s Day fics? Christmas fics? Samurai AUs? Cold War spy AU fics? Yes yes yes yes! How about a Romeo & Juliet AU set in two opposing vineyards? Or a Crystal Tokyo fic where red haired Zoisite makes a impassioned speech to Ami about fate? Ooooh! What about a noir AU filled with... red herrings! XD XD XD  

Red is for Love! Wine! Rust! Energy! Telephones! Lust (a-wink, a-wink)! Vampires! Poppies! Lipstick! Strength! War! Mars! Passion! Carpets... for famous people XD ! Strawberries! Fire! Firemen! Romance! Happiness! Luck! Anger! Adventure! Weddings! Christmas! Valentine’s Day! Dragons! The Tango! Cherry pie! Lumberjacks! Tartan! Roses! Circus tents! Red Riding Hood! Envelopes! Tomatoes and Chilies (and thus many delicious dishes)! Life! Rubies! Celebration! Drama! Red Dawns!

The possibilities are endless!

New features for 2020!

Last year we piloted our free e-zine (where the art from the Bang was collated) and we’re happy to announce we’re doing it in this one, too! (incidentally, here’s the e-zine and the bonus e-zine). 

This year we’re also introducing achievement badges! (See the FAQ for more details).

So welcome all!

Sign Ups are here for Authors. (Closing date: Tuesday 31 March 2020)

Sign Ups are here for Artists. (Closing date: Sunday 05 April 2020)

Sign Ups for Betas are here. (No closing date)

Sign Ups for Pinch Hitters are here. (No closing date)

FAQ is here (and you can always shoot us an email or message if you need to at ssrevmb @ gmail dot com) and here (for the Beta FAQ - ok, yes it’s from 2019, but it still applies, lol).

Schedule is here

Theme Prompts (for your convenience only! - thank you @caffeineivore!)

[coppercrane2]

2, 11, and 19 for the ask game!

2. Do you participate in any writing events or challenges throughout the year? If so, what do you like about them?

I’m SO glad you asked! Because I help organise (and sometimes participate) in the @ssminibang Senshi & Shitennou Mini Bang & Reverse Mini Bang! We’re currently on our 4th year, and the participants are super kind, talented, wonderful people. They make me so happy! I also participated in @mygeekycorner‘s exchange a little while back, and then there’s @caffeineivore‘s cheerupemofic which is a weekly event.  I suppose what I love most is the community spirit, the fact that these guys are always there to encourage and support - and there’s also the fun in actually writing, of course! 

11. If you could only write angst, fluff, or smut for the rest of your life, which would it be?

Can I cheat and say slice of life hilarity? Because as much as I would like to say ‘angst’ I feel that’s where my strength is... oh, who am I kidding... ANGST! 

19. Who is the easiest/hardest character for you to write about? Why?

Easiest is Nephrite, just because he’s so easily your everyday, relatable dude. And Mina, because she’s just a natural born leader disguised as a hilarious, bubbly blonde. 

The hardest is actually Rei, because I love her too much and I don’t have the talent to showcase all her nuances. I leave that to the far more talented writers...

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

[adriannasharp]

For the emoji ask game: ⛔, 🎃 , and 😬!

Thank you for the ask!

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

Hahaha. I have several.

1. The story of how Venus and Kunzite and fell in love back in their past lives during Silver Millennium. I got about 40 pages in and then accidentally deleted the whole thing (long story, and yes I tried to get it back to no avail). Honestly, it's probably for the best since I inevitably would have gotten very stuck and never finished it. I had only done one shots until that point and was not skilled enough to craft a big epic. I also didn't have my amazing writing group at that point to help me get unstuck. It very well might have frustrated me enough to stop writing altogether (or at least never plan a big epic again). But there were some ideas in there that I still like and might revisit at some point.

2. A post Galaxia fic that involved the shitennou being reborn and returning to Tokyo. It was going to be a decent amount of sen/shi content but mostly focused on Minako and Kunzite (big surprise there). Mainly, that Kunzite would have all of his memories EXCEPT for his relationship with Venus. I ended up scrapping it because I couldn't figure out a way for the boys to be all together and for Kunzite to NOT catch on about some history with him and Minako/Venus. Admittedly, I do want to come back to this fic because I think it would work better as two separate fics. Just remove the forgetting of their relationship and make them bang instead of actually talk like adults (may be inspired by I'll Tell You my Sins (and you can Sharpen your Knife) by winterbones, which, if you haven't read it, READ IT). For the 'forgetting their relationship' part, I plan to put that into a whole separate fic that involves Minako traveling before the rise of Crystal Tokyo and staying for several months in another country, where Kunz is her neighbour. But he has absolutely no memories of his past life. Minako is trying to figure out if it's actually him and wanting to spend more time with him but also falling down a pit of self loathing because if he's not Kunz, it will hurt more. Meanwhile, he feels drawn to her and he can't explain why. It's a fic I really want to write but probably won't get written for at least a year.

I'm pretty sure I have more scrapped fics but I've probably gone on enough. And those are the main ones that I've scrapped. 🎃 Do you write fics for certain holidays? Which is your favorite holiday inspired fic?

I would love to write more holiday fics. I've had ideas for a few before but I was always busy finishing up other projects around those so I didn't get much of a chance to write them. With the exception of Breaking Expectations, part 2 of my Minako/Kunzite fake dating AU. It was a fun Valentines fic set after they got together.

For my favourite one, I gotta say Starbucks by @caffeineivore. Technically it's autumn themed rather than holiday themed but it has a few holidays wrapped in there so it counts. I just adore it and I read it at least once a year. It's just so light and fun and wonderful and so expertly crafted. I am ALWAYS in awe of her talent.

😬 Which of your fics would you be most horrified for friends, family, or coworkers to stumble upon?

Hahaha. The smut. If I had to pick one, Experimentation. 31 days of kinky prompts and I think people outside of my fandom life would be VERY shocked to read it. In real life (and in a professional atmosphere), I give off a very straight laced impression. But the people who know me, know that I am full of smut.

Thank you again! I love getting asks and I'm doing better to actually respond to them.