#threw in sailor Venus just because

[piecrust432]

🌻🌻Some gifs that could be used as headers 🌻🌻

✨Sources from Pinterest✨

I wanna redraw my profile picture one of these days. Idk it just seems pretty old but it's still a goodie so yeah

Take a Flower babes you deserve it

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[real-life-senshi]

PGSM Reinako things I want to yell about, in no particular order (7/∞)

This is actually THE ONE THING that made me start this series of gif set, but it took me forever to put my thoughts into words. But it's finally here and I'm SO EXCITED to talk about it!

Fair warning - this is an essay.

Across the years I've seen many Reinako shippers used Rei following Minako around in Act 19/20 and Act 23 in the live action as proof that Rei has feelings for Minako. While I don't disagree, I do feel Rei being the one to seek Minako out was circumstantial and justifiable because Rei was literally the only Senshi then that knew Minako was Venus. Instead, there was something else both Rei and Minako consistently do to each other for the entirety of the series that I felt had more impact to the narrative of their story, but often get overlooked and not talked about enough, and that’s Minako's act of walking away and Rei's act of staying behind.

The significance of Minako walking away: Walking away or pulling a disappearing act is one of the most common thing we see Minako do, not only to Rei, but with everyone else. (E.g. Such as V walking out on Moon in Act 7, Minako disappearing on Saitou for Senshi business.) It's a recurring theme to help build the impression of elusiveness and secrecy that surrounds Minako's character. But more deeply, the act of walking away is also a device to represent the main issue Minako needed to overcome in her character arc - in prioritizing the past life mission, she was running away from what's most important, herself as Aino Minako. Her Senshi power literally woke after she accepted herself and chose to face the challenge Aino Minako faces, instead of only focusing on the challenges of Sailor Venus.

Now this in itself seems like it's really just a Minako thing, right? Where does Rei fit in?

The significance of Rei's act of staying: PGSM Minako is the the queen of the hot-and-cold behaviour, especially when she's with Rei. And her signature "cold" gesture is walking out on Rei. In fact, as you can see from this gif set, I've counted 14 times where Minako had walked out on Rei on screen in the series, and 4 other times she attempted to walk away but was stopped. Even for the normal person, you'd think when someone keeps pissing you off and runs out on you, your patience would be spent and just give up on them, right?

Now, PGSM Rei is written as the awkward, stubborn and easy to anger teenager. And don't forget, with Rei's backstory fleshed out as much as it did in PGSM, it's basically confirmed that Rei suffered badly from parental abandonment, so it's not much of a reach to interpret Rei's trust issue to be born from acts of someone she cares leaving her behind or showing rejection. And so it should reason that Rei would be doubly pissed off at Minako's seemingly flippant and callous behaviour, and couldn't wait to pass Minako off to Makoto and Ami to deal with once they know Minako is Venus, right?

But no, Rei stayed, every single time.

Despite all the crap Minako threw at Rei and repeatedly rejected Rei's support, Rei didn't react with her usual knee-jerk reactions. This, more than anything else, proves to me that Rei sees Minako as someone special - someone she could not and would not turn away from, even when Minako keeps pushing her away.

These actions forms a very beautiful, and dare I say, romantic narrative to their shared story. Here's why.

PGSM has established that all along Minako had made the conscious decision to not get deeply involved with her teammates for fear she'll end up hurting them when her illness inevitably takes her. In doing so, she boxed herself into a self-imposed isolation as her health worsens and things get tougher.

And yet in Act 11 and Act 17 when Minako met Usagi and then Rei, the narrative revealed to us that loneliness does unsurprisingly overwhelm Minako from time to time. This changed partially though when she accidentally revealed her identity to Rei. In doing so, she gave herself the choice and space to be outspoken with someone who is (at least partially) in-the-know besides Artemis. The fact Minako repeatedly approached Rei in Act 18 was evidence she actually craved the contact when she lets her guard down, to the point even Artemis had to call her out on it. And so, in moments of clarity, we see Minako try to backtrack by pushing Rei away, ie walking out on Rei. The cycle persists, where Minako's behaviour fluctuates depending on her state of mind, her backstory sadly but logically explains Minako's sometimes seemingly-random hot and cold attitude towards Rei.

In contrast to Minako's unreliable and mixed signals, Rei was the definition of stability and certainty in this relationship. Yes, Rei had indeed followed Minako around a few times, but more than that, Rei stayed and was consistently there, waiting to be available for Minako even when Minako didn't want Rei to be. Rei knows when to initiate contact (chase after Minako), but also knows to not push Minako too much too soon, choosing to stay put when Minako is actively pulling back. She lets Minako go most times when Minako walks away, as if patiently waiting to try again another day, hoping the next time will be enough to fully bring Minako's walls down. Rei knew she was in it for the long haul, not for momentary wins.

This back and forth dynamic is a persistent theme in their relationship. It can be perceived that Rei's tenacity and relentless efforts had managed to wore Minako's guard down slowly but surely throughout the series.

Act 20: Minako finally shared Rei was meant to be leader, hinting Rei needs to step in when she’s gone.

Act 36: Minako chose to disclosed the truth about her terminal illness to Rei.

It was only after Act 36, we see Rei being even more persistent and takes drastic measures in attempt to get through to Minako, because Rei realized they were out of time. But even then, their dynamic didn’t really change - Minako being the runner and Rei being the person left waiting, until…

The times their role reversed, the other AMAZING thing about all of this!

Minako walking away and Rei staying is THEIR thing. But has Rei ever walked out on Minako? The answer is yes. But only 2 times! And both times it had significant impact on Minako.

The first time was when Rei ran out to fight the Youma, and that led to Minako being overly worried and end up accidentally revealing her Senshi identity to Rei.

The second time was when Minako finally pushed Rei so much in front of the team, Rei pulled back and walked out in Act 44, reversing their usual roles. And you can tell from Minako's reaction she looked lost and conflicted as she watched Rei leave. Here was someone who had been a rock and pillar of care and support to her, now seemingly giving up on her because she finally shoved too hard. Between Makoto's near miss in Act 45 and the fact that Rei actually walked out on Minako in Act 44, Minako was shocked enough for her to finally listen and process what Rei's been telling her all this time. This ultimately lead to the resolution of Minako's character arc in Act 46.

In conclusion, their action forms a pattern to their story and deepens the meaning behind their choice to follow, stay or walk away from each other. When the pattern is disrupted it adds complexity of their story! Seriously, it feels like Rei's actions was catalyst of Minako's major character story development! Just as many of Minako's story influenced Rei's outlook on their mission and the past life (another post to come!), Rei's action had just as much influence on Minako's eventual character growth. If that doesn't prove these two are special to each other, I don't know what else to say!

Now - you'd think I'm done with my soapbox, right? NOPE. I've only finished talking about how these actions form patterns and the significance in their story. But the visual and filming appraoch of each of these scenes are also very telling. VERY.

Each time Minako walked away, it is intentional that Rei's reaction get highlighted on camera, even in group scenes. As well, we also get really telling reactions from Minako when Rei walks out on her. And that's regardless of which director led the filming.

Sato Takemitsu - Act 17, 18, 23

Takamaru Masataka - Act 20, 26

Maihara Kenzo - Act 40

Suzumura Nobuhiro - Act 43, 44, 47

It suggests either the script writer Kobayashi Yasuko intentionally scripted for Rei and Minako to have the spotlight for reacting to each other's action so all the directors received the same fucking memo about them. OR, even better, it wasn't part of the camera/filming direction, but all the directors have arrived to the same conclusion after reading the script and decided to put the spotlight on these two no matter which episodes they worked on, because the unresolved sexual tension was clear as day for them to see.

And especially Keiko did amazingly on her part portraying Rei’s attraction towards Minako. Regardless if it's a group scene or not, Rei/Mars always had the most expressive and meaningful look on her face when Minako/Venus walks out. Even in Act 22 when Mars was just in the background with Jupiter, you can tell Mars’s eyes and body following Venus’s direction while Jupiter just stands flatly.

Rei/Mars' reaction to Minako/Venus leaving also changes across the series. From frustration/irritation, to hopeful yearning, ending with worried yearning. A reflection of Rei's feelings for Minako, from seeing her an annoying brat of a Princess, to respecting Minako as a mentor, to caring for her as a friend (and maybe more).

And look at this shit!!!!!!!!

Act 20 and 26 were done by the same director. The two scenes are basically parallel to each other visually and artistically, which is also so layered when juxtaposed to the plot point:

Act 20: Minako tells Rei that Rei's meant to be leader, and Rei follows Minako wanting to learn more while expressing concern for her Princess's well being and safety.

Act 26: Mars grown enough to start taking on the leadership, and follows Venus in attempt to invite Venus to integrate with the team now Venus no longer need to play decoy, only for Venus to turn around and claims she's actually the leader and Mars is the substitute.

Lastly, the most beautiful yet absolute worst visual the PGSM directors gave us:

Even the imagery of Minako's passing just as Mars breaks down was of Minako walking away, leaving Rei behind. That shit can't be made up. If the imagery was coincidental, well, that's one hell of a coincidence.

These factors all lead to me concluding PGSM had very intentionally used the acts of walking away and staying behind as recurring theme in Reinako's relationship. The length they went to do this and the tragically beautiful story it gave us forms a much more compelling reason for audience to ship Reinako. In fact, this is the very primary reason why I fell in love shipping them in PGSM.

[pocketramblr]

another week, another sailor moon au episode:

Weeks passed, and En fell into his new routine.

Midnight would wake him earlier so he could train before class, and it almost worked at making sure he was only late about half the amount he used to be. It also almost worked in that Midnight was a cat, and so it wasn't like she could really show En how to fight.

Mostly he ran, watched free running videos and tried to emulate them, and practiced throwing his tiara at Midnight as she dodged.

He complained often. Midnight ignored it better than Nana did.

Every now and then, while they trained in the morning or after dinner, someone's cry for help would echo from his earrings. They'd find a monster there, sucking out people's energy and leaving them limp on the ground. Or, sometimes, the monster would claim to have stolen the humans' individualities instead and send them after En like a hoard of zombies.

Midnight gave him a pen once as well that let him transform and disguise himself, which was good because that attack had been at his university. The monster was hiding behind a pop-up store that sold textbooks for so cheap no student could resist the offer. More than one of En's classmates could have recognized him if it weren't for his paramedic disguise.

"You know, between the smokescreen of your shroud and my disguise pen, I'm really starting to feel like I'm supposed to mostly be running and hiding instead of fighting on the front line." He said one day, picking the tiara back up from the top of the parking lot where they'd picked to train.

"You do all three, what makes you think like that?" Midnight asked, tilting her head.

"I'm not sure I do." He admitted. "But Tuxedo Mask sure seems to think it's not enough..."

The man had appeared several other times, stepping in to protect En when needed in a fight. Sometimes his compliments made En wish his gakuran had a higher collar to hide his warm face in, like his red coat did. And sometimes his comments made En want to Moon Tiara Action at him.

"Oooh, and you want to impress him, do you?" Midnight cooed. En glared at her, and she just laughed. "I can see why you would, but remember... he talks a lot for someone who's never fought a monster directly."

It was true, and he also never seemed to rescue other people while En fought. But still, the Moon Scout didn't think it was all talk. Not with how sharp those roses seemed to be.

"Do you think he's all hot air?" He asked.

"Only a little. But you seem to forget air and breathing at all when you see him~"

En threw the tiara at her again. She jumped out of the way, flipping as she did. "Oh, nice one! But I'm just teasing, En."

"Where does he even come from?" He asked. "How does he know about every fight?

Midnight turned a little slower. "I'm not sure. He must have some way of sensing yours or the monsters' energy, but it's like I can't sense his at all."

"So he's not one of the other Scouts we're looking for." En stared at the tiara on the cement. "Do you know what they will be like?"

"I know they're tied to the planets, and that Stellaris found the Venus Scout. I know the scouts are supposed to be looking for the lost royalty of the moon, and I know how to activate the scouts' powers when we find them... But not what they look like. My memories are fuzzy, I told you."

She had. Midnight said whoever had sent her from the kingdom on the moon had messed with her memories, and while she had seen other scouts before that, she wasn't sure exactly how many there were. Maybe four, maybe nine. Maybe more.

Definitely more than two, though.

"And where is the Venus Scout?" He asked, picking up the tiara again. "Why aren't they helping us look, or fight monsters, or anything?"

"They are. There was a monster in Otheon last week they took down."

"In Europe?"

"The scouts could be anywhere, and so could the monsters, it's better to divide and conquer." Midnight couldn't exactly shrug, but he got the gist.

"Yeah..." he didn't throw the tiara, instead sliding it back onto his head and pulling his hair back over it. "Speaking of, I think I know where one might be."

"Oh?" All hint of Midnight's teasing sass vanished as she looked at him now, waiting.

"Mhm. The game center in town has gotten a bunch of new games based on the Deku Scout, and people are apparently obsessed with them. I heard some classmates complaining about how crowded it was and how long to wait for it."

At mention of the game, some of the tension in Midnight's legs and tail fell. "Why do you think that's a monster?"

En stared at her.

"It's like this every time. The monster shows up with something new to draw people in, like the student bookstore, or that crystal cram school, or the free pets from the store, or the jewelry sale, or that flashy fortune telling place, or that fancy radio station-" he waved his hand. "A ton of people get drawn in, the monster feeds off them and then shows itself. So, let's find the monster before it can attack anyone else."

Midnight hummed, tail flicking. "Well, it's good to see you taking initiative."

"Hey."

"You don't get out of bed unless I jump on your face, En. Don't 'hey' me. But I suppose we should investigate it or keep an ear out for anything else with that pattern."

"Cool, we can go to the game center tonight to scope it out." He decided. "which means I should try to grab a nap first. C'mon, let's go home."

But it seemed fate- and his sister- had other plans.

"Enkun, Toshinori-kun and I are going to the game center today since the dojo is closed, you should come with us! I’m buying lunch on the way.”

“Uh,” He glanced down at Midnight, who nodded. “Sure. I was thinking about going over there anyway. When are you leaving?”

“In about fifteen minutes, I’m hungry.”

En changed quickly- training made him hungry too- and snuck Midnight into a bag so Nana didn’t question taking the pet cat with them.

He’d heard a bit about Yagi Toshinori, a high schooler who worked as an assistant at the dojo Nana taught at. Apparently she was impressed with the boy’s spirit and strength, and she’d taken him under her wing a bit the last couple of years.

He had not been expecting a familiar looking kid, taller than him and nearly as broad as Sorahiko, with bright yellow hair and an even brighter voice when he saw them. “Shishou!”

“Toshinori-kun.” Nana smiled, while En blinked. ‘Master’, really? He elbowed his sister, who shrugged. “That’s all him, not my idea.”

“Is this your brother, then?” Yagi asked as he drew closer like an eager golden retriever.

“Yep, En, this is Yagi Toshinori, Toshi-kun, this is En.”

“I recognize you, we’re in the same math class with Kazoe-sensei.” Yagi said, then at the blank look on En’s face, continued. “But you usually come in late and sit in the back, so we haven’t officially met. Nice to meet you, Hirochika-san, please take care of me.”

En felt a little like he should be saying that with the side look Nana was giving him now, but unfortunately Yagi looked too sincere to have meant anything by saying that.

“Nice to meet you. But I thought you said he was in high school.” En said, looking to his older sister.

“Oh, I am.” Yagi rubbed the back of his neck. “I take a couple of college classes too though- when I graduate in March I’ll have a year of credit done already.”

“Nice.” En said. “So you’re studying even more than other high school seniors. And working at the dojo?”

“Yep!” Yagi was happy enough to explain that’s why he suggested the fun afternoon today when they couldn’t work, as he’d heard good things about the Deku Scout arcade game but hadn’t had any time to go. En slowly edged back to be behind him and Nana, following them to the restaurants opposite the game center.

En felt a nudge to his side, and looked to see Midnight peaking out of the bag.

“What is it?” He asked.

Midnight looked at Yagi. “Have you met him before?”

“No. Why, what’s up?”

“I don’t trust him. Something about his energy, it’s wrong. Not standard human, more like yours or a monster.”

“A monster?” He paused, looking at the kid beaming up at his sister as she messed up his hair. En remembered when she’d do that to him, and how he’d get annoyed and push her away. Yagi didn’t push her away, just laughed harder. Ok, weird, and definitely an only child. But a monster?

“Nana’s known him a long time, though. I don’t think she’d put up with him if he were acting monstrous.” En looked back at Midnight. “What does his energy feel like?”

“Wrong, like it shouldn’t be on this planet.” Midnight sounded sure of it.

“Well, I guess we were keeping an eye out anyway… let’s just see.”

Nana told him to hurry up, opening a door to a restaurant, and En quickly shifted the bag to hide the cat and walked inside without another word.

The game center was not as crowded as En had expected, honestly, though there was a line around the Deku Scout game.

He followed Nana and Toshi, watching the girl at the game control a little doll with a cute green uniform and bunny mask as it hopped around a level, avoiding bad guys or hitting them on the head. She took the Deku Scout up to a hidden block, which unlocked… a gun.

With that, she began to mow down bad guys with ease. It honestly looked a little silly on the screen, but there were level puzzles and fun enemy designs so En got it’s popularity, if not it’s subject matter.

“You guys can wait to play this one if you want, I’m going to the dancing games.” Nana waved, and then En left with an excuse about going to the bathroom in order to scope out the whole place.

No one seemed particularly tired around the Deku Scout game, but sometimes it would take hours or days for the effects- and the monsters- to reveal themselves.

He kept looking around.

The only one who seemed off was a game center manager, who was staring at the door and frowning.

“Um, hey,” En asked, not sure how to ask if the guy was a monster trying to feed on the energy of more customers. “Is everything alright, sir?”

The man looked him over, and shrugged. “Just that entertainment center that opened across the block. It’s been stealing my customers with every flashy thing. Heard some kids say they got a roller coaster inside, which can’t be right.” He sighed. “Only thing I’ve got they don’t is the new Deku Scout games. I’d have prepared more if I knew competition was opening, but they just popped up out of nowhere. Not right, but everyone I ask says they’re legitimate…”

“There’s another entertainment center?” En asked.

“Ha, you didn’t see the line outside? The big flashy new signs?”

“I have a one-track mind?” En tried to justify, but the man was already shaking his head with a smile and turning away to take a kid’s tickets.

It was really empty, for an afternoon like today…

“You think we should check out this other one?” He opened the bag again.

“Sounds like a monster, like what you were saying.” Midnight agreed, and En closed the bag, turning to the exit- he should be able to be back before Yagi and Nana noticed. As he left, he saw the manager watching him with a pinched look.

“Of course you’re going over there too now.” He grumbled, and En walked faster.

He tried to look nonchalant as he entered, and- oh yeah wow, it was crowded in here.

Flashing lights threatened to give him an immediate headache, games roared all around as people rushed between them, and there was actually a coaster ride, and a water fountain, and two full restaurants, and-

“Welcome to EletriCity!” an employee said, wearing a bright vest. “Would you like a token bracelet for our opening week? Free games all night long, and half off at the restaurant!”

En wanted to know where monsters got all the money from to throw down the drain in ploys like this, and how he could get a part of it.

He shook his head.

“Sorry, I’m waiting for a couple of friends. We’ll grab some when they get here though!”

“Oh, awesome! Well, you can just take these and give them to your friends when they get here.” they dropped three in his hand. “Let me know if you need more, and invite as many friends as you want!”

Then they left as another customer entered, chatting and smiling and lopping a token bracelet around their wrist in seconds.

En quickly moved away, holding the bracelets down to the bag.

“Monster?” He asked.

Midnight stuck out her head, and sniffed.

“Monster, energy draining. Throw those away.”

He nodded, moving to a fake, glowing tree and dumping the bracelets in its pot.

“We’ll definitely be back here tonight then. I guess I should do a loop, check for entrances… or exits.”

“See if you could spot the monster, or any hint of what they’re like too.” Midnight advised.

He did, wandering the isles to see where windows and doors were, restrooms, places to hide or to watch for an ambush from. It was difficult to focus or see clearly with the lights, but he felt confident. They were ahead of the monsters for the first time, he was figuring this Moon Scout thing out.

And then a girl passed out on a dance game.

He turned to see her shoved off for the next person to take her spot.

“Hey!” En was hardly audible above the noise. He moved towards them, but an employee got to her first.

“Poor thing must have had too much fun!” they said, lifting her up. “Don’t worry, we’ll bring her to the powder room until she wakes or her party can collect her.”

Then they rushed her away.

En stared, and looked around.

Did anyone else really not…

“Guess we weren’t that much ahead of the monsters.” He told Midnight, lifting her out of the bag.

No one noticed.

He hid the bag behind an arcade game, and then transformed.

“Moon Prism Power, One for All!”

No one noticed until he lifted his disguise pen, and then jammed it into the screen of a game four kids were around.

“Everyone out!” He shouted. “It’s a monster attack!”

The kids stared at him.

“Wait, where?”

“Really? I saw those on the TV, where is this one?”

“Can we watch it here?”

“Wait, are you the Moon Scout?”

“Deku Scout is cooler.”

“Will we get to see Deku Scout fight the monster?”

En stared at the kids.

The kids stared back at him.

En looked over to Midnight, who was focused on everyone else, eyes narrowed for sign of a monster. Wouldn’t take long, now, and he needed to get as many people away from the fight as he could.

So, he nodded. “Yep! You guys can watch the fight on the TVs from the other game center, and they’ve got the Deku Scout game over there to play while you watch.” He lied. “Go on, go!”

They ran to left, and a few others did, though a couple turned back to their own games.

At the end of the row, another player fell to the ground by a crane game, though remained upright enough to slump by the game, not fully passed out.

An employee turned the corner to pick them up, then stopped at the sight of En.

“Moon Scout!” He shouted, and suddenly the lights all shut off.

“Damn, I didn’t even get to use Midnight Shroud.” He muttered.

“Moon Scout, duck!” Midnight yelled, and he did, feeling something whiz over his head and crash into a game a moment later.

The lights came back up, and the employee was no longer a technicolor vest wearing fashion victim. The vest turned into armor, the energy draining bracelets into scales along their arms and down their back into a metallic tail.

Their eyes glowed.

Finally, other people started to run, screaming.

The lights fell, and En rolled out of the way, then climbed over a game into the next row with less grace than a shaken chicken.

More crashing sounds, before the lights returned.

“Running and hiding already, little Moon Scout?”

“I really prefer the monsters that just say their name over and over again.” En muttered to Midnight as she slipped between games, looking him over. “They feel less personal.”

“You complained that radio station monster only said “Fear-Me-Mix” and made the fight boring.” Midnight stepped around him as he stood and grabbed a water bottle sitting forgotten on a racing game.

“And you shouldn’t take my complaints seriously. Hey monster!” He threw the bottle at it over the games, then threw himself forward and low to avoid the hits as the lights fell again and something smashed the racing game.

Midnight hummed something and En ignored her, focusing on the fight.

The lights came back up, and he shouted, “Midnight Shroud!” before running towards the fake tree to grab the bracelets.

He nailed the monster in the head with one bracelet before the darkness of the shroud began to dissipate, not helped by the open center doors.

Which someone was running into, not out, the wrong way.

“En? Are you in here?”

Nana’s voice.

The second bracelet he threw missed his target.

“Is everyone ok? Hirochika-san?”

Yagi’s.

En threw himself back into the aisles of games to avoid both their eyes and the monster’s tail.

He ignored the jeers of ‘coward’ and ‘fool’ and demands to give his energy up to the League of Darkness.

“What is that thing?” Nana asked.

“I’ll distract it, you look for your brother and get these people out of here!”

What?

“What- Toshinori-kun, no!”

En dragged two fallen people out of the way to where a game could give them a bit of cover, and turned down the next aisle, running back up to the monster.

Before he could toss the last draining bracelet at it, Yagi appeared behind it, swinging a metal plate taken from the side of an arcade game.

What the hell was he doing?

“What the hell are you doing?” En couldn’t keep from asking, and the monster turned to him just as Yagi swung the metal at its shoulders.

It stumbled a little, and the metal bent plate bent from the force of it, which didn’t stop Yagi from swinging it again.

The monster grabbing him by the throat did, though.

It held him up as he kicked in futile effort.

“Oh, aren’t you full of such energy, and so strong too! You’ll be an excellent source of power for our great leader.” With that, the power bracelets along the monster’s arms began to glow. Yagi squirmed more, prying at the monster’s hands but only managing to move one finger.

A mark lit up on Yagi’s forehead, like a number 4.

Midnight gasped.

The light from the brackets faded, and so did the mark.

“What? Why can’t I take your energy? What are you doing?” the monster dropped Yagi, and raised a clawed arm.

En threw the third bracelet.

“Hey, monsters fight me, not random kids. Picking on them in a place like this, where they’re supposed to have fun? Just makes you worse.”

The monster tilted its head at him. “Aren’t you even younger than him?”

“No.” En said like he wasn’t embarrassed to still be mistaken for a high schooler. “I am not. But I am going to punish you, in the name of the moon. Moon Tia-“

The monster lashed its tail at him, and while En had practiced aiming and throwing at a target that moved, he hadn’t practiced while he himself was the one moving and dodging. He got out of the way without more than a bruised leg, but without managing the attack either.

Midnight ran past, something golden in her mouth. It looked a little like his disguise pen. He’d stopped asking her where she got these things from, or kept them on her bare body.

“Is that another weapon for me you won’t say where you got?” he asked, panting.

He needed to end this soon. But Yagi was closer to the monster than any other civilian had been when he’d dared to throw his tiara any other time. And where was Nana?

Midnight ignored him, and dropped the pen near Yagi’s face.

“Quick! Take this and say ‘Jupiter Power, One For All!’”

Wait, what?

“Wait, what?”

“Jupiter Power, One For All!”

In a flash of light, Yagi was in a different outfit. It looked like a school uniform too, with a white shirt with a yellow and red sailor bandana collar, and blue pants tucked into red and yellow boots. On his head, a tiara like En’s, except something sticking straight up between his long bangs, like an alien antenna.

“Woah!” Yagi said, jaw dropped and eyes wide, much like En’s must be.

“Another Scout?” the monster laughed. “Earth can only send children to protect it, ha.”

With that, it swiped with its tail and knocked Yagi and Midnight aside.

“No!” En threw himself forward as the monster turned towards him, claws raised.

A rose landed between them.

“Hardly the best place for a fight, is it, Moon Scout?” Tuxedo Mask asked, standing by a window.

“Well, I didn’t get to pick it.” En said.

“True, but that means all the more reason to pay attention. Is that a second Planetary Scout?”

Yagi stepped back from the arcade games, holding Midnight in his arms.

“I think he’s the third one, technically.” En shrugged. “But yeah, what happened to you, Yagi-kun?”

“How do you know my name?” he asked, setting Midnight down carefully.

Oh, right.

“Oh, right. Talking magic cat. Anyway… Jupiter Scout?”

“Yep!”

“Enough yammering! A third scout you say, Moon Brat? Then there will soon be four dead fools.” The monster roared, but Yagi started yelling louder.

“Jupiter Thunder Clash!”

Gold lightning flickered around him and up to his tiara, then shot from the antenna in a fury, crashing directly into the monster’s chest.

It toppled onto a dance game, smoking slightly.

En didn’t let it get back up.

“Moon Tiara Action!”

The monster shuddered at the burst of light, and fell to nothingness.

So did the arcade around them, games and lights vanishing as the entertainment center reverted to a blank grey space. Cement floors, whitewashed walls. The people slumped on the floor began to blink, stirring, though some seemed in better shape than others.

In the now empty rental space, everything echoed.

“Not bad, remember to use that tiara sooner, Moon Scout.” Tuxedo Mask nodded. “And Jupiter Scout, that lightning could be just as dangerous to allies as it is enemies.”

“Who are you?” Yagi asked, looking between Tuxedo Mask and En. “Who is he?”

“Tuxedo Mask.” En shrugged, then lifted a hand to the other man, who nodded.

“My work here is done.”

“But you didn’t do anything.” Yagi said, even more confused.

Tuxedo Mask turned and left.

En elbowed Yagi.

“What?”

“Don’t say that, ‘you didn’t do anything’.”

“But he didn’t!”

“Yeah, but we don’t say it.”

“So he really just, shows up, does that, leaves?”

En nodded. “Usually with commentary, yeah.”

Yagi’s brows furrowed. “So, is his work to… push us, in some way? Critique, advice?”

En hoped not.

“I hope not, no. Why?”

Yagi actually took a step back.

“What do you mean, why- is it, like- would it be better if he wasn’t doing anything, than if that was on purpose?”

“Yes.” En said, and then caught sight of Nana, walking someone who leaned on her shoulder closer to them. “Ah, shit. Ya- Jupiter Scout, your six.”

“My- oh,” Yagi turned, and jumped at seeing Nana.

“Moon Scout!” Nana said as she caught their eyes, “and, um, who are you?”

Yagi stared at her.

“He’s Jupiter Scout.” En said quickly. Was she unable to recognize them? That was great, why hadn’t Midnight told him that was a feature?

Well, she didn’t know everything, blamed memory holes sometimes. Bitten En when he’d looked up signs of alzheimer's in cats.

“Great, have you seen my brother? My student? We heard my brother had come here when people started screaming about the monster attack, and my student ran at the thing and I don’t see either of them at all.” Her eyes darted around to the people still on the ground.

“Um,” Yagi said, eloquently.

“They’re fine.” En said quickly. “But I know the monster was keeping some people in what they called a ‘powder room’, and the basic facilities of this place, restrooms, seem to still be set up over there, you can look if you’d like. We’re going to get everyone else out of here, we’ll call you over if we see either of them.”

With that, he grabbed Yagi and tugged him away.

“Um, shouldn’t we be helping them over-“ He started to point to a couple helping each other to stand, shakily.

“No, we need to leave out this way so no one sees you transform back, and you can go reassure her that her student did not die stupidly charging a literal monster with a bit of scrap metal.”

“Ah.”

Yagi let himself be tugged to the side exit without further complaint, though he did ask more questions.

“How do I transform back?”

“I’ll show you.” En said, then realized what that meant. Well, if the kid was a Planetary Scout he was probably trustworthy anyway. Could keep a secret.

That didn’t stop him from being so surprised at seeing En after the change that he honestly felt a little offended, though.

“Woah, I never would have guessed.”

En blinked.

“I mean, Shishou complains about how you never train with her, she was worried you’d be crushed in that monster attack, but turns out you’ve just been keeping your skill secret! But why?”

“What, are you going to shout to the world that you’re Jupiter Scout now?” En asked.

“No…”

“Yep.”

“But not telling your family?”

“She’d be more worried, not less, and it wouldn’t matter anyway because I’d still have a job to do fighting these monsters and watching Tuxedo Mask spin around with his cape.” En shrugged.

“How thoughtful of you.” Nana said, and her voice froze En’s spine.

Yagi stiffened too, eyes wide.

Slowly, the both looked to the side, where Nana was standing, En’s bag over one shoulder and arms crossed.

“How long have you been standing there?” En asked.

“Long enough.” Nana strode closer. “Hirochika Engetsu, what were you-“

“Don’t full name me, you aren’t our mother,” En held up his arm, “And-“

“I’m not your mother when it comes to being late to class or what you eat, but you could have died-“

“And that doesn’t change that, plus, look me in the eye and say you’d do differently in my place.”

“I would-“

“Liar, I saw the police had to hold you back from the jewelry store,”

“I would have done more even if I couldn’t have told you, En, and I’m older anyway-“

“Like that matters when I’m an adult now-“

“You can’t even drink-“

“Um, Shishou?” Yagi broke in, hesitantly. “In my defense, I didn’t know I could turn into a magical lightning rod, so I wasn’t keeping that secret from you on purpose?”

Nana whirled on him in a moment. “You didn’t know you had that power, so when you charged in you could have died-“ But her hand was shaking now, her voice not as harsh.

“It’s ok. We’re all alright now.” Yagi slowly took her hand in his. “See? We’re all here.”

Tears began to leak from her eyes, and she tugged her hand away to wipe at them. “You both could have died, that day Shimura-kun could have died, and-“

“Oh, does she know now?” Midnight asked, stepping between the humans and looking up at them.

Nana stopped, then looked down.

“Holy shit, our cat Midnight talks.” She said, voice still shaken but tears gone.

En whacked her shoulder. “Watch your fucking language in front of the kid.” He gestured to Yagi. “I thought you were all ‘the responsible adult’ or whatever.”

Nana started to laugh, and soon enough, they all were.

Wiping happier tears from her face, Nana took a breath. “Speaking of responsible adults, though. Toshinori-kun… Your uncle needs to know. I mean, I can’t take you to another dojo for a tournament without his permission, let alone you fighting magical monsters.”

Several very different kinds of panic flashed across the kid’s face, before it settled on general fear, and he nodded slowly. “I know, yeah, I will- just let me tell him, Shishou, not you, it needs to come from me.”

Nana nodded. “Alright, thank you Toshinori-kun.”

“Well, Midnight, that arcade monster is gone, and at least twelve hours before I expected to get to it.” En said, taking his bag and stepping away from the group. “So I think that means you can’t say I don’t take initiative.”

Midnight was not impressed.

“You were wrong about the Deku Scout game and lucked into another arcade monster.”

“And you were wrong about Yagi-kun being an evil monster too, so at least my guess was closer.”

“Um, what?” Yagi asked, as Nana did the same.

“Don’t worry about it, let’s go home before we have to give a statement to the cops or something about getting knocked out and totally not being magical space people.”

“Well at least I wouldn’t have to lie.” Nana sighed, but nodded and tugged on Yagi’s shoulder. “Let’s get going.”

En let them take the lead and trailed behind them with Midnight.

Yeah, not a bad day, all things considered.

On the way home, the train station was having a special sale on train bentos, each sold with a Deku Scout sticker. En squinted at the sign.

“You don’t think that’s a monster plot too, do you?” Yagi asked.

“That depends. Midnight, do you smell anything?”

“Just get four of them, let’s go.”

“Ok, only a thirty percent chance of monster involvement. Let’s get four.”

[scary-ivy]

Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band at the San Jose Civic 6/17/23 concert notes

I don't even know what to say except for simply that was great, but I'll try to put it into words

It was awesome to have floor seats for once, and in such a small venue, it felt very close and intimate. I swear Ringo pointed directly at us or looked right out way several times.

His singing voice sounded great tonight, I always think he somehow sounds better live than he does on his recent albums (less autotune?), and just as clear and strong as on any of the Beatle records. I think he might have actually gotten better at singing over the years.

If you've never seen Ringo Starr live, he continues to have an insane amount of energy for his age, dancing along to every song he sings, running and jumping around. He acts borderline hyperactive.

I think we missed Matchbox, we came in right as It Don't Come Easy started. Ringo threw in a little "hare krishna" into the song, which got applause and peace signs from the audience. So many peace signs.

Edgar Winter kept giving everyone in the band these big alliterative introductions

Steve Lukather was great on all the Toto songs, and I was really impressed with his guitar playing, he's like the lead guitarist of this version of the band. Everyone stands up for the Toto songs

Edgar Winter was soo good, he played keyboards, sax, and drums and sang. His keytar solos on Frankenstein were amazing. He wasn't part of the band the last time I saw them, but he's a great addition and elevated the whole show. He claimed to have invented the idea of the keytar, and his keytar was super cool it was more like a normal keyboard but with a strap and the note bending patch on the lower side of the instrument, which was a unique way to playing it.

Colin Hay was still my favorite though because I just love Men At Work so much, he sings so powerfully and I loved hearing his distinctive voice on the Toto songs. I almost started crying during Overkill because seeing Ringo Starr playing along with this song brought me back to my childhood.

The other members of the band were superb I just wanted to shout out my favorites

I loved watching Ringo play along with the songs, he really does have the exact same mannerisms and style of drumming as when he was in the Beatles, crossing his arms over each other and bobbing along. The only time I saw him go faster was their cover of Johnny B. Goode, I guess that's just a really fast drums song.

I need to talk about Ringo's outfit, he was wearing this black shirt with shinny metallic chevrons on it, very flashy, and flattering black pants. When he went away for the "magical musical moment" (which I think is just his way of distracting the audience from him leaving briefly) my mom said "I bet he'll come back in an outfit change", and somehow she was right because he came out wearing this black denim jacket with dark blue stars on it. Loved that flashy fit. And everyone in the band was wearing some type of flashy, dorky "rock & roll" outfit, I loved it.

I also love the set design Ringo Starr & the band have, it's a airbrushed psychedelic forrest scene on a screen, with big glowing stars having in front of it, and then they project even more stars on it. They also had screens this time, which was nice

Ringo told us that this was the only song attributed to Lennon-McCartney-Starkey, and then joked about asking them to change the order. What Goes On. Loved it.

Before "I'm the Greatest" Ringo said John wrote this song for him, and said the was only one John. Man I loved hearing him do I'm The Greatest, such a good song and such a uniquely Ringo song, like a statement piece for the whole show. He kept singing "what will you do with a drunker sailor" quickly during the little turnaround in the song, which was fun.

A moment I will describe later, but it ended with Ringo saying Love Is Love.

Their was a moment where he teased several different Beatles songs and then the band started playing them, but then he stopped them every time. Extremely funny.

He did Boys while playing the drums, and said he had been doing this song long before he joined the Beatles.

I loved hearing the rest of the band add extra solos to What Goes On, Boys, and especially I Wanna Be Your Man, which ruled especially on the verses

Yellow Submarine, I think I might prefer live to the Beatles version, everyone in the audience sings along. He did funny adlibs during the "boat straight ahead" part

'I took you on a Yellow Submarine, now I'll show you an Octopus' garden" loved this, just lovely to hear him sing it

Back Off Boogaloo had some type of funny intro.

"This song is about something I'm trying to do more and more everyday, which is Act Naturally" insanely cryptic thing to say. He literally started jumping up and down near the end of this song.

Ringo held up and read a sign from the audience that said "you're our favorite Beatle, please don't tell Paul"

""If you don't know this song, you're probably in the wrong venue. waiting for Led Zeppelin" band launches into Zeppelin song for a surprisingly long bit. And then he said just start it lads" or something like that and they did With a Little Help From My Friends, with the band perfectly singing the Billy Sheers intro and a nice Beatlesesque outro. He hit the long note at the end and everyone in the audience hit it with him.

Give Peace a Chance as sort of an encoure, love that.

Fucking superb.

[abarbaricyalp]

A Time For Dancing

Rated T // 19k words // AO3 // Prompt: Based on a movie

This was written for one of the days of the Sambucky AU Week but clearly it was late

Sam Wilson has lived in the same hometown all his life. A hometown that outlaws public dancing. When Bucky Barnes moves from New York, with unstoppable feet and a charming smile, Sam accepts the things he wants to change and examines his own desires. They plan a high school dance (Footloose AU)

The thing was, Sam had a rebellious streak in him a mile wide. But, after watching his brother implode and disappear when Sam was 13, he was finding it difficult to ever act on any of his be-a-pain-in-the-ass urges in any meaningful way. Their small coastal town was strict and religious in a way that Sam sometimes couldn’t believe existed in a world with rock and roll music and big-budget hollywood movies. He supposed it helped that there the local theater was carefully vetted and there were no music venues of any kind in the town. No dancing at all, in fact.

Gideon and his friends were the last good push for rebellion. They threw dances in fields just outside of the city limits and pilfered alcohol from friends already in college. In the half decade since, the only rebellious spirits weren’t actually rebellious, they were just assholes. The kind of guys who jacked up their trucks and put foghorns on them and ran people off the road into ditches just because they could. The kind that started fights if someone’s voice or style wasn’t right. The kind who’d trip a quiet kid with bags of groceries. 

Sam couldn’t get behind that kind of bullshit. Gideon, he’d follow all over town, taking detailed mental notes as they went along, but everything Gideon did needed a crowd with him. If Sam posted up in a field with a boombox and David Bowie, he’d just be a weirdo. Steve Rogers might appear anywhere there was a righteous fight to be had. But he wasn’t a sure bet. Every change in weather down here seemed to try to kill him and the harried, upset looks his mother could send him would otherwise do the rest. Sam had been in the office after some fight of Steve’s and had seen the way his mother had come in, all concern and disappointment and no anger. Anger, Sam could work with, push back against. Disappointment? That was the killer.

But Bucky Barnes had appeared, with his loud bike and blaise attitude and ready fists and endless questions. God, the kid had so many questions. “Everyone down here’s Baptist? Even the Catholics?” “What do you mean the theater isn’t gonna show the new Farrah Fawcett movie?” “A dry country? Are you kidding? This ain’t the wild west.” “How do you live without dancing?” “It’s a law? It’s a law from when?” “Don’t you guys ever have fun?”

He was the antithesis to everything the town had built itself up to be without even trying. He carried a leather coat everywhere, even though the thermometers were still tipping 100. He cursed like a sailor. He played the loudest music Sam had ever heard. He pushed back on every rule he came up against. Sam knew he still hadn’t cut his hair. He just kept it pinned up enough to be within dress code standards. He knew because he’d put his hands through all of that hair, leaned up against that terrible bike of his.

He drove Sam nuts. He really did. Sam hated the way he always walked into service late. He hated the roar of his bike–honest, you could tell when he was still five minutes off ‘cause you could hear it. He hated the c**ky grin he wore all the time because it was infuriating and unearned. He was everything Sam wanted to be and was still too scared to reach for. Which meant Sam really liked him too. They could butt heads all day, but he was so down for whatever terrible idea came out of Bucky’s mouth when he grabbed Sam’s wrist and hauled him away from a diner booth or school desk or church pew.

[polyghostfacehours]

Back to bother you BUT how about some nsfw and sfw hc’s for my little meow meow randy 👀👀 the tatum one was <33

HAHA OH YES. For you? I will always indulge in Randy stuff! NGL, he's not on my writing list but I had SO much fun with these, especially the SFW ones!

General Randy Headcanons:

SFW:

Randy is a huge Star Wars fan and goes to conventions. He doesn't cosplay, but he brings his camera and camcorder.

Speaking of which, Randy has a passion for photography. He loves taking pictures around campus, and will literally spend half an hour trying to get the perfect angle with the perfect lighting. People on campus just keep seeing this guy laying on his stomach, then, crouching, then standing then kneeling on a bench and when they come out of class this motherfucker is still doing it.

His favorite things to take pictures of are cool buildings or structures.

He's been in love with Sidney since they met in 6th grade. When he met Billy in 8th grade along with Sidney, he immediately didn't like him. But also he still hung out with Billy sometimes? It was weird, because they were so similar but so different at the same time.

They were basically frenemies. Up until mid junior year, when Billy got weirdly antagonistic towards him, even more so than usual.

He almost threw himself off the second story window when he heard that Billy and Sidney were dating now.

Like fuuuuck, when will the nerd win.

NGL, but it's the 90's. Randy definitely had a bit of some Nice Guy Syndrome lol. It wasnt like, too bad, and not to the extent of most guys, but he did find himself hetting a bit bitter when he, the nice nerd guy, didnt get the girl.

OKAY OKAY super hot take lol, but I see Randy as heterosexual. However, I also like Pan!Randy a lot.

OKAY I know I said it for Sidney, but I genuinely think Randy would also identify with being non-binary. Or at the very least, not minding any pronouns.

Randy does not smell, ever. Like he just doesn't have any BO. He has that gene that makes body odor non-existent. He always smells fresh or like nothing, even when he sweats.

Randy has a matching shoes and shirt combo for every color.

SO Randy's fashion sense actually comes from Tatum. Once he got to high school, Randy was looking forward to a new beginning - a new him! He wanted to to get rid of his glasses and start caring more about how he looked! SO he asked Tate for advice, and she helped him pick out a wardrobe the summer before Freshman year began.

Speaking of Tatum: her, Sidney, and Randy are the best of friends. He used to be embarrassed by having girls as his best friends, but he quickly got over that because those two are his ride or die.

He and Stu actually hung out a good amount alone. I base this on their banter and how casually they interacted at the video store in the movie. It just seems like they were genuine friends. Maybe not super close, but generally liked one another.

Honestly, Stu's betrayal genuinely hurt. Like Billy's? Yeah nah, fuck that guy. You can tell by how he badmouthed Billy in 2 that he really hated him by that point, but the way he badmouthed Stu was far less vitriolic.

Randy internally is just like: Maaaan. How could he? I knew he was Billy's lapdog but murder??? JFC.

He thinks middle parts look stupid.

As much of a movie buff that he is, he gets celeb names mixed up all the time. Like he'll mix up their first and last names.

His favorite Final Girl is Nancy Thompson. He loves Laurie Strode too, she's played by the Scream Queen after all, but Nancy is his favorite by far.

Randy likes anime. He's watched all of Evangelion, can recite all the lore of Trigun, and don't even get him started on how great Yu Yu Hakusho is.

He also likes Sailor Moon and his favorite is Venus because she remind him of Tatum!

He has a crush on Mars and Neptune tho.

Randy's room is actually very neat. He makes sure to organize everything well, and is very meticulous. He has a certain place for everything in his room, and he doesn't like it messed with.

He and Martha get along well, but weren't like super close siblings. He loved her a lot, and was protective of her, but their interests differed a lot, so they tended to do their own things.

Randy argues with customers at the video store about movies and movie opinions, and that's why he kept getting fired lol.

Wanted to be a Horror Film Director when he grew up :(

He watched all the behind the scenes stuff as a kid, and that's what got him interested in video production in the first place.

He built forts out of cardboards in his backyard and you cant tell me otherwise.

he was also the kid in the park who tried to get all the other kids in the park into a group to play pretend, usually something fantasy or sci fi inspired.

Randy loves Halloween. Like the holiday. It's his favorite time of the year, and it's one of the few things he shared with Billy and Stu. They'd grab a couple of beers and go scaring little kids for funsies, though Randy would always stop Stu or Billy from going too far, it was always just in good fun for him.

NSFW:

Total Switch. Subs at first, but as the relationship progresses he can dom just as easily.

His fingers are magic. I don't know what it is, but they're just very deft.

Could be because Randy is a quick learner in the bedroom. Like he genuinely listens to his partner and asks things like "That feel good?" or "This angle alright?"

Very communicative in bed after the initial first time together. During the first time, he's far too flustered.

Is super into body worship. Like he loves worshipping his partner's body like the holy grail.

He moans a lot in bed. Not as loudly as Stu does, but he gets pretty vocal.

He's an ass man, through and through. Boobs are nice, but the way a butt curves so perfectly? Nut.

he prefers more romanic and inimate positions, but he'll never say no to doggy style for...obvious reasons 👀

[lucyintheskywithxanax]

But Tonight - We Were The Lucky Ones

Pairing: Wilhemina Venable x Fem Reader

Requested by @lntlmate : “Wilhemina x Reader with “Why are you wearing my sweater?” “Because it smells like you.” “

A/N: don’t ask me what happened to your request. I don’t know. This is set in the world in which the Apocalypse never happened. x

Word count: ≈ 3 000

Most nights she dreamt of you. She hated it at first, how you had found your way into her sleep, how her mind seemed to need you even when it was resting. But then she grew to love it. It meant she could be in your company always.

Some nights she didn’t remember what she dreamt of.

Some nights she dreamt of things that did not make sense, things that were built of little bits and pieces of her past or the last movie she saw.

Some nights she dreamt of another life in which she had been given the keys to a kingdom and she had sat on the throne and she had given up and made herself unlovable.

Some nights she dreamt she was alone again.

The light from the candles was flickering on the man’s eyes and turning his hair to gold like Midas’ touch. Wilhemina didn’t know who he was or what he was doing here, but she knew she hated him. She felt it – the hatred. The fear, also – but why was she afraid?

Ms Mead, she heard herself repeat – repeat? It seemed to her she had already said it. It seemed to her the woman was taking entirely too long. To do what? She couldn’t remember. Had she ever known? Probably.

The man’s face looked peaceful and confident. Ms Mead’s hand was trembling and her eyes were turning shiny, and when Wilhemina turned to look at her, really look at her, she saw the gun in her hand that was trembling and she saw that the gun was pointed at her.

She glanced down at the gun. Back up to lock eyes with Ms Mead. She was vaguely aware that something terribly wrong was going on. She was vaguely aware that Ms Mead was - but she didn’t have time to finish this thought, for then there was a gunshot and radiating pain in her chest.

She brought one hand to where it hurt, eyes opening wide as she let out a gasp. Ms Mead’s face – tears rolling down her cheeks in the flickering candle light. Wilhemina felt something like anger and like fear and like betrayal – betrayal? She vaguely remembered that she had offered her trust to this woman. That this woman had been meant to obey and love her unconditionally. A deal had been made, the pain in her chest, it was hard to breathe now.  

She tried to inhale, but as if she were under water liquid instead of air seeped into her lungs. Wrong, she thought. She tried to reach out – she was lying on the ground, now - for someone, for the love adults had promised would find her. The healing? Love would heal her, adults had promised. Love would make her love herself. She was still waiting for the love that would turn all the lonely mornings into memories.

She tried to inhale again. Her lungs were filling up with blood and she couldn’t breathe. And why, she thought, as her fingers curled around nothing, had Ms Mead betrayed her?

Breathing was hurting too much. She would take one last breath, and then give up.

Reaching out, one last time. Just in case.

Not yet, she begged. I haven’t been found yet.

One breath.

Wilhemina gasped for air and shot up on the bed.

The darkness jumped on her and clutched at her chest. She tried to pry it away, clawing at her skin, gasping for air, but she was choking on the darkness and on the tears that were running down her cheeks for she was so afraid – fear, faceless and nameless, gripped her stomach.  

“Mina?”

Your voice was soft, and yet it made her jump. Dear God, she couldn’t breathe. She clawed at her chest, wheezing, her mouth opening on a silent cry for help but no sound came out.

“Mina? Baby, what’s wrong, what – “

She felt the mattress move. And then all of a sudden there was light, flooding the room and crashing against the walls and blinding her.

“Mina! Mina, stop it, stop – what are you doing?”

Fingers, wrapping around hers, trying to pull her hand away. “Don’t,” she whimpered, “don’t – ”

“Mina, sweetheart. Mina, you’re safe. Look at me, baby, look at me.”

As her eyes scanned the room, looking for monsters and golden hair and trembling hands pointing a gun to her chest, as the light revealed to her the details of the chest of drawers, the white of the ceiling, the shadows the bed threw on the floor, she felt a hand rest tentatively on her drenched cheek, her burning forehead, wiping the sweat and brushing her hair back from her eyes.

“It’s fine, Mina, it’s all fine. You’re safe.”

“But I –“

She extended her hand, looked at her palm. No blood. She looked down at her chest but there was no wound, only the angry red marks she had clawed on her skin.

“But I –“ she repeated.

A kiss, on her temple. She scanned the room again, just in case. Just to make sure there was no gun and no golden head of hair.

You had fallen silent beside her, peering worriedly at her and rubbing circles on her back. You knew she had had nightmares before – except before, she had awoken silently and you had found her sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee or reading a book, her face only slightly paler than usual.

She had never told you what those dreams were about, and you had stopped asking after the third or fourth time. She wasn’t used to opening up and to sharing what bothered her. So what you would do instead was offer comfort. Genuine, nonjudgmental, undemanding. She wasn’t used to that, either. Didn’t know how to ask for it when she needed it.

Now you watched her as she tried to regain control of her breathing, one of her hands still clutching her chest, chin trembling in an effort not to break down.

You pressed another kiss to her temple, her skin sticky and hot, then to her cheekbone, avoiding her mouth to let her breathe.

“Mina?” you called.

Her eyes were glassy, haunted. You weren’t sure she was seeing the real world right now. You kept rubbing circles on her back, kept calling her name gently and quietly, until her eyes suddenly flicked to your face.

You tried to give her a smile. She scanned your face, touched a finger to your cheek as if to make sure you were real. You tilted your head and kissed the tip of her finger.

Her brow pushed up slightly in confusion. Her mouth opened, lips moving to form silent words you didn’t understand – and then her hand fell on the bed and lay between you two, palm facing the ceiling.

She reached out, just in case.

You looked down at her hand, uncomprehendingly at first. Her fingers twitched. So with a soft hum you took her hand, laced your fingers together and gently ran your thumb over hers.

One breath.

Wilhemina’s body sagged against yours as if all the strength had left her. Worriedly you wrapped one arm around her waist to support her and to pull her closer in.

You held her, whispering sweet nothings into her ear, pressing comfort in the form of kisses wherever you could reach; trying to make the best of this unguarded moment, because you knew it wouldn’t last. And as you had expected, soon enough she pulled away and straightened up. And her eyes glazed over again, but for a different reason this time.

“Stay here,” you sighed. “I’ll go make breakfast.”

“Go back to sleep,” she retorted, voice toneless, gaze avoiding yours.

“It’s 6am, Mina. I don’t think I’ll go back to sleep now. ”

You paused, studying her face as you waited for a reproof. It didn’t come. Somehow, that made your heart sink. Tonight’s dream must have been particularly bad.

With another sigh, you got up and crossed to the window. You opened it, opened the shutters, your eyes fluttering closed briefly as the cold night air tickled your face. There was a thin strip of light blue above the horizon. Right in front of you hung Venus, twinkling and glittering a welcome to the sun, shaking with anticipation.

“Mina,” you called over your shoulder, “come look at the sunrise.”

On any other night, she would have said no. Maybe she would even have added a snarky comment to let you know she refused to stoop to doing such useless things. Wilhemina Venable didn’t look at the sunrise to soothe the fear in her guts. She snapped at other people and took it out on them. It was still rather early in your relationship, and she was still learning to be kind.

But tonight – tonight, either she was badly shaken up, or she agreed to knock down yet another wall; in any case, you heard some rustling, soft footsteps, the clink of her cane. She didn’t press herself against you, didn’t reach for you, but stood close enough for her warmth to wrap around you and fight off the chill from outside.  

You watched in silence as the lighter blue slowly marked a bigger portion of the sky, like blood seeping from a wound, like a bruise spreading under the skin. After a reasonable amount of time had passed, you leaned back, to press your shoulders against Wilhemina’s.

Wilhemina stiffened. You waited, eyes riveted on Venus which was coughing and choking on the light blue blood. You waited, until your lower back started to hurt from your posture – and you were about to straighten up to relieve it, when two arms slipped around your waist and Wilhemina pressed you close against her chest.

You hummed happily as she rested her chin on your shoulder. Took one of her hands and gave it a squeeze – a “thank you”. A “I’m proud of you”.

You often thought of your relationship with Wilhemina as she being a stormy ocean and you an unskilled sailor, alone on your tiny boat. She never opened up to you if you didn’t ask her first, but then again, you couldn’t ask her at any random time. There were days when pushing her only made her close up. But tonight it seemed to you the ocean was quiet, barely a few ripples under a clear, star-studded sky. It seemed to you you could relax and stare at the reflection of the moon in the dark waters, and dip your fingers into it and listen to the ocean’s song.

You looked down at Wilhemina’s arms around your waist and smiled.

“Did you put on my sweater?” you asked in a whisper.

She nudged your neck. “It smells like you.”

“You’re getting soft,” you teased.

She didn’t reply.

For a moment you both stayed silent, staring at the slowly reddening sky. Then you gave Wilhemina’s hand a squeeze and whispered, “It was a bad one, wasn’t it.”

It wasn’t a question. You might not get a reply, but it didn’t matter. You only wanted her to know that you knew. That you were at arm’s reach if she needed you.

“I keep having those dreams,” Wilhemina whispered, surprising you. “Of me, in a dark place, subterranean maybe? I don’t know. It’s lit up by many candles and I seem to be in charge of everything. You aren’t there with me,” she added after a short pause.

This last confession was uttered so sadly, so hopelessly, you felt your chest tighten. You gave her hand another squeeze.

“In those dreams I –“She winced, cut herself short. You hummed in encouragement. “I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“Because then you won’t love me anymore.”

You shook your head. “They are just dreams, baby.”

“They feel so real,” she breathed.

“But they’re not. This,” you squeezed her hand again, “is real. This is the real world.” A pause. “And in the real world, you are getting so much better at treating people right,” you teased.

Wilhemina didn’t react. You had expected a snort, a sigh, maybe a nip. You frowned, and turned in her arms to take a look at her face.

She was looking at the sky, her eyes dark and sad and tired. She met your gaze, didn’t even bother to return your smile.

“Was you being in charge of that place what tonight’s dream was about?” you asked softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“No, it was a different one.”

“Tell me?”

Her eyes were brimming with that sadness which used to inhabit them for days on end and which you had fought so hard to chase away. It told of years spent waking up to a quiet, empty house, setting the table for one, clearing her throat just to break the silence and reassure herself she was real. You would catch a glimpse of it still, once in a while, in moments of silence as well as of joy. It would always be here, you knew that – it would always be a part of her.  

“It was nothing,” Wilhemina whispered after a moment.

“It obviously wasn’t nothing,” you tried.

Her gaze hardened a little at that.

“I murdered a whole group of people,” she said in a suddenly firm, angry voice. “And before that, I fed them human meat.” She frowned, eyes glazing over again. “I was given power and I made everything I could to make their lives like hell and I enjoyed it.”

“Those are just dreams, Mina,” you replied, trying to hide the concern in your voice.

“But they feel so real,” Wilhemina breathed.

“But they are just dreams,” you repeated, firmer. “In this life, the only thing you murdered is my begonia.”

Wilhemina’s gaze focused on you again. “I did not mean to murder your begonia,” she said defensively.

“I know,” you chuckled, with a poke on her nose.”I would have left you if you had. Just kidding,” you added quickly when you saw the flash of alarm in her eyes.

Silence settled back between you two. Wilhemina looked at the sunrise, and you looked at Wilhemina as the light slowly painted details on her face.

Her eyes flicked back to you, now darker than the sky. She looked through you and frowned. “In this dream, a man and the only other person who mattered watched me die. I’m not afraid of death,” she added fiercely. “Or of the pain. But all the wasted –“She swallowed, frown deepening in thought. “All the wasted – not meeting you. Not getting to – not knowing how to –“

She huffed in frustration, tears pooling in her eyes.

“It’s okay,” you cooed, laying one hand on her cheek. “I think I know what you mean.”

“They just stood there watching me,” Wilhemina went on. She still wasn’t seeing you – and to the sadness in her eyes was now added a kind of desperate, hateful fury that grew and grew with every second ticking by. “And I died not knowing you and after I gave up on myself to –“

She swallowed back the last few words with a shaky breath.

“It was just a dream, Mina,” you said urgently, catching with your thumb the tears that were now rolling down her cheeks. “Look at me. You didn’t give up on yourself. Look at me,” you repeated, because you could see her drifting further and further away from you and you didn’t want her to sink where you could no longer reach her. “Look at me, baby.”

She blinked in an effort to. It seemed to you you could feel the panic thrumming right under her skin, clouding her brain, and you pressed her closer against you as if that could help her somehow, as if touch could help her share some of her burden with you – let it pass from her skin to yours.

“It was just a dream,” you said, your voice strained from the thickness in your throat. “You didn’t die. You found me, and I found you, and you didn’t give up on yourself.”

She blinked again, and this time her gaze cleared a little. You gave her a smile, holding her face in your hands and running your thumbs over her cheekbones.

“Look at me,” you breathed – and your mouth curled up again when she finally, finally met your eyes. You both drew in a breath at the same time. “There you go,” you beamed, a bit tearily.

She let out a chuckle wrapped in a breath, and shivered. You leaned in, pressed a soft kiss to her mouth; she eagerly kissed you back, and traced your lower lip with her tongue.

When she pulled away, she took a sniff of your sweater she was wearing, then buried her nose in your shoulder and breathed you in, as if to make sure of your scent and existence. Then she met your eyes again, and her brow tightened sadly, and her chin trembled.

Tough day ahead, you thought with a sigh. You slipped your arms around her shoulders and wrapped her up in a tight hug.

The sky was slowly turning the colour of ripe peaches, the colour of the blush that would bloom in Wilhemina’s cheeks when you praised her or called her beautiful.

Wilhemina synchronized her breathing with yours. There were thoughts in her head she did not know how to express without betraying everything she had ever believed in, logic, order, rationality, such as: Do you believe in past lives? or Do you believe in the universe throwing dice? and Do you believe in angels peering down at the world and deciding to be kind?

She couldn’t tell you that now. Maybe later, though, in a few months, when the dream would feel less real and she would be able to laugh about it with you.

But tonight, what she said instead simply was, “Breakfast?”

You nodded.

When you turned to face the sky again, Venus had disappeared. It had choked to death on its own blood. But the sun was peeking above the horizon, painting the world in colours, and it was shining brighter than Venus ever did.

Tag list: @sapphicsarahpaulson @mssallymckenna @supremeinlilac @pluied-ete @rainbow-hedgehog @pearplate @angelxsarahp @paulawand @asktammyr @peggycarter-steverogers   @coconutlipss ​ @saucy-sapphic @thesupremewife @paulsonpills

[rinharu-purple]

EVOLx LOVE: What a disappointing ending

Koi to Producer season one has just ended and I am just like...”That was it? Meh, I’ll rather read some fanfics with better plot than this”

Spoiler alert!!!

- There were absolutely no emotions whatsoever! Haven’t felt anything at any point of this episode. Bonds? What bonds?! With four extremely emotionally (and physically) distanced guys?

- Because they’ve tried to give each guy the same amount of screen time, all of their storylines were messed up.

- They just threw black queen out there and left it at that.

- Not to mention that pointless Shaw appearance in episode 6

- She had no encounter with Lucien, they did not have a single scene together!

- We all now that her relationship with Gavin changes radically but him ignoring her altogether and brushing her off that coldly?

- Victor’s main strength lies in his analytic intelligence and yet we just saw him swinging a gun around like a mob boss.

- Kiro/Helios scenes were the only interesting ones, since they’ve spent time into explaining his motives and the switch from Kiro to Helios was done ok. His scenes were at least more amusing to watch than the rest.

- What was with that Sailor moonish awakening anyways? Where were the Sailor senshis? Then I guess Victor was Sailor Mars, Lucien Sailor Mercury, Kiro Sailor Venus and Gavin Sailor Jupiter? And that leaves us with Mamoru: Black Queen?! 

- I don’t think that we will get a second season...maaybe in 2023 but I strongly doubt that.

[magic713m]

Before The Sun Sets

It was a beautiful day for the celebration in the Moon Kingdom. A wonderful event was occurring, celebrating the birth of the next heir to the throne, Princess Serenity. Everyone from the system was invited, including the King, Queen, and Prince of Earth. Among the other guests were the princess’s guardians Sailor Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. It was an amazing event, filled with music, dancing, and a wonderful feast.

Finally began the presenting of the gifts. Queen Serenity sat on her throne, with her most loyal advisor Luna standing beside her. Luna, wearing a beautiful yellow dress for the occasion, was also the princess’s nanny. She stood near the cradle as the event took place. The representatives for the other planets presented their gifts for the sweet princess. Some material, others had gifts that were not physical, but more mystical to bestow on the fair maiden. When the royal family of Earth was called, Queen Gaia picked up her three-year-old son and walked beside her husband as they presented their gifts to the princess. The Earth prince, Endymion, looked at his betrothed and the second their eyes made contact, the infant princess smiled and laughed, causing little Endymion to giggle as well. Finally, it was the Inner Senshi’s turn to present their gifts. Each Sailor Senshi represented their planets and were currently only children, around the Earth age of five. They swore eternal loyalty and friendship to the princess.

However, a blast of thunder roared through the halls. A black wind swept through the room as it dimmed. As light began to return, the guests stared at a figure in the center space of the room. The figure was a woman with long black hair, tied in a pair of buns. Her skin was pale and she wore a long dress and wore crescent-shaped earrings on her pointed ears. She stared at Queen Serenity with her blue slit eyes and gave a wicked smile.

“I see so many faces, filled with such joy.”

“Queen Nehellenia, what are you doing here?” Sailor Jupiter demanded.

“I wished to see what could be such a joyous occasion. More importantly, what possible event could not possibly warrant the invitation of a queen.”

Princess Serenity’s cries began to fill the quiet room and Nehellenia looked towards the cradle.

“Ah, the birth of the heir of the Silver Millennium. You did not wish for me to know, dear Serenity.”

“Queen Nehellenia,” Queen Serenity said regally, “You were not invited because of my fear that you would wish ill on my subjects. If you come here with peaceful intentions, you may stay. But if your purpose is to inflict harm, I will ask you to leave. You are welcomed, but your darkness is not.”

Nehellenia gave a loud and wicked cackle, “Serenity, the darkness is as much a part of me as the light is for you. Yet I am resigned to the corner of the moon hidden from the light. You should know the light will always attract the darkness.”

As she spoke, the dark aura around her spread, and gusts of wind were unleashed. The people fell to their knees as the Senshi prepared to fight the wicked ruler.

The four Senshi unleashed their attacks on the evil queen, but they failed to make contact with the evil queen, as she casually walked past the attacks, unable to even touch her, and threw the Senshi aside, approaching Queen Serenity. Luna placed herself between the princess and the wicked queen. Queen Serenity summoned a wand with a crescent moon, holding the Silver Crystal.

“Begone uninvited guest,” she said as she unleashed a blast of light from the crystal. The evil queen fought back, trying to use the darkness to suppress the light. She then looked at the infant princess as she dissolved into the darkness. The darkness filled the room but Queen Serenity was shielded by the light of the Crystal as she began expelling it.

“Queen Serenity, I will take away the most precious thing you cherish. I still have not provided my gift for the blessed occasion. My gift for the princess is this prophecy. The princess shall die before she will rule your kingdom. A prick from the spindle of a spinning wheel shall end her life. This I swear. ”

As the last word filled the room, the darkness retreated from the palace.

As the darkness faded away, people started to gather themselves, now with a feeling of tension. The princess was crying, and the queen picked up her daughter, comforting her, as Luna began to stand, to catch her breath from the attack.

“Your highness,” the queen’s advisor, Luna said.

“There is still a chance to save the princess. I have not yet provided her gift. At this moment in such a celebration of joy, there is a chance we could save her.”

“Luna, even with such a gift, altering Nehellenia’s curse will come at a cost. Are you sure?”

“She is our kingdom’s hope. We will do what we must to ensure it.”

Queen Serenity watched as Luna walked to the cradle and Luna placed a hand on the baby’s forehead.

“Beloved Princess Serenity: should the worst come to pass, and your finger pricked by a spindle, my gift to you is hope. The terrible prophecy shall not bring death, but vast slumber. And through true love’s kiss, this curse shall break. This I promise.”

At her last words, a bright light filled the hall.  Luna was gone, replaced by a black cat, looking over the child.

===========

However, even with Luna’s sacrifice to save the princess, it was clear the princess was not safe in her home on the Moon. After the celebration ended, the four guardians met to discuss how they could continue to protect their charge. While these girls may be children, they were trained on their home planet, preparing for any challenge they must face.

The four decided that it was best to take Princess Serenity away from her home and hide her away on another world until she came of age to inherit the kingdom and the Silver Crystal. They spoke with the Queen, who agreed and that night, the Senshi spirited her out of the castle, to the least likely place anyone would expect: Earth.

===========

“Usagi, get up!” the blonde-haired girl heard her friend shout, breaking her from her peaceful slumber.

“Why do you have to be so mean, Rei,” Usagi asked, hiding under her blanket.

“Ami tried to wake you, and you didn’t listen. So, now it’s my turn. Now get up. Breakfast is ready.”

Usagi sat up and stretched, letting out a loud yawn. The sun was shining into her small room. She washed herself, applying an elixir to her hair, unknowing that it was hiding her silver locks. After she finished washing, she put on her dress. Today was her birthday and she knew her friends had something planned for her. She wondered what it was. They were more guarded around her whenever the subject was brought up. But she had other things on mind.

===========

Makoto was preparing breakfast for the family. It had been sixteen years since the curse was placed on Serenity and the Senshi quietly spirited the dear princess from the Moon. They knew that Earth would be the last place the Queen of the Dark Moon and her ilk would expect to look when the princess had vanished.

Keeping their promise, the Senshi swore off their magic when raising Serenity. The last bit of magic they used was to create a cottage for them and the princess, along with furnishings.

They began calling the princess Usagi, and she grew up in a very happy home. They taught her about the planets and their kingdom and kept her educated on life in the kingdoms, though they had yet to tell her of her royalty. While they were protective of her, they gave her some space and freedom. Every morning, she’d go out to collect fruits and plants for their meals, as long as she promised to come back before dark. And occasionally, on days they needed materials, they would go into town and sometimes take Usagi with them.

They did, however, begin to notice that when Usagi went out to collect, she seemed to return a little later than she had in the past.

“Hm, that smells good,” Usagi said, coming downstairs, sitting in her seat as Makoto poured her some soup.

“So, do you have any plans,” Usagi asked.

“For what,” Rei answered, nonchalantly.

“Well, it is a special day,” Usagi said, waiting for someone to say something, “You know, like a special day for a certain girl…”

“Oh, right,” Ami said, looking up from her book, “It’s your birthday.”

“Happy birthday,” Makoto said, kissing her on the head.

“Wow, sixteen years, I can’t believe it. We should celebrate,” Minako said.

“Yeah, I’ll make you a special meal. We’ll celebrate when you get back,” Makoto said, handing Usagi the berry basket.

Usagi grabbed the basket. After she was gone, the four girls gathered.

“Is it just me or did she seem a little…eager to leave,” Rei asked.

“Maybe she wants to get back to catch us before her present is ready,” Minako said.

“Well, if she wants to spoil her party, then that is her fault, but right now we need to prepare,” Makoto said, gathering up supplies from the kitchen, “I’m going to make the best cake that the Usagi has ever had in her sixteen years.”

“I’ll set up the decorations,” Ami volunteered.

“I’ll make the dress,” Rei said, pulling out the fabrics and sewing supplies.

“And I’ll get the Sailor Wands,” Minako said, heading for the stairs.

Everyone immediately stopped and looked at her.

“What?” she asked, “It’s been sixteen years. We are just doing some quick chores for this one day.”

“Minako,” Ami said, “We can’t. We promised.”

“We can’t take that chance,” Makoto said.

“Minako stop this nonsense and come over here,” Rei said, “I need someone to be the dummy, and you and Usagi share a similar build.”

Disappointed, Minako walked back and stood near the sewing station.

“Since when can you sew,” Minako said, getting into position, as Rei began measuring.

“How hard can it really be?” Rei answered.

===========

Usagi strolled through the forest, humming. She grabbed a few berries and plants to bring back to the cottage. But she was searching for something else.

Suddenly, two hands covered her eyes.

“Got you, my lady,” the supposed assailant said. Once Usagi heard his voice she immediately relaxed. He let go, allowing her to turn around to a man dressed in servant’s attire for the royal family.

“Hello, Mamo-chan,” Usagi said sweetly.

“Usako,” he answered, using his special name for her, before giving her a sweet kiss.

Usagi had met the man, Mamoru, in the market several months ago. He was dressed in his filthy work attire, with his face dotted with dirt and grime, after having tripped in the street.

When their eyes had met, Usagi had known that she just had to talk to him. She was able to slip away from her guardians and the two had spent the day around the square. But as the day had ended, Usagi had known that her friends would be worried, so she had told the man that they could meet the following day, somewhere in the woods, near the creek. She had worried about how her friends might react if they saw someone knocking on their door, and she had been taught to be wary of telling someone where she lived, so she had figured that somewhere close to home would do.

They had begun meeting each other every few days. She had learned so much of him, and about life in the royal court of Earth. Their relationship had started off innocently, just simply talk or play. Learning about themselves, and their dreams. But it soon began to change into something more. A few weeks ago, they shared a first kiss, and their friendship changed forever.

She told him about her morning.

“Happy birthday, then,” he said.

“Thanks, it is a special one. My friends are planning something. I just know it.”

“I wish I could be there.”

“As do I. I know they would love you if they had the chance to get to know you. I wish they weren’t so overprotective.”

“It’s alright. I enjoy our time here.”

They strolled through the forest and talked about their day. Apparently, the Earth court was busy lately. The royal family was planning for a huge trip to the Moon. Soon, the teleporter to the Moon would be set and the family would be on their way.

Finally, the two reached an overlook on top of a hill and enjoyed the scenery of the kingdom.

It was too soon, as Usagi had to return home before her friends worried. She reached her meeting spot, where she’d part with her beloved. But Usagi didn’t want it to end yet.

“Mamo-chan,” Usagi said, stopping him in his tracks as he was heading in the other direction, “I would really love it if you could visit me tonight. At the cottage.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I’m tired of hiding you. I want you to meet them tonight.”

“I’ll come with you right now, if you want.”

“No. It’s better to wait until tonight. If they see you with me, they’ll panic and I do not want to know what they might do. I’ll tell them about us when I get home. It will give them some time to cool.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I love you and I want you in my life.”

“I love you too, Usako. I can’t wait,” he said, smiling.

“Remember, tonight. Right after sunset.”

“I look forward to it.”

They shared one more kiss, before heading in their respective directions.

===========

Makoto was finishing her four layer cake, and Ami was trying to hang the last of the decorations. As Rei tried sewing in the final stitches, Minako continued looking in the mirror with disgust. The fabric colors were clashing, the seams were hanging loose, barely holding the dress together, and Minako knew the dress was only one wrong step from falling apart.

“Perfect,” Makoto said, finishing icing the pastry, “Just need to add some candles.”

“Wow, Ami, the decorations…” Makoto began, finally noticing Ami’s work. Honestly, Makoto thought, while the decorations were nice, Ami covered most of the ceiling and the wall with them. And some of them were hanging, obtrusively, at neck level.

“Well, if Usagi didn’t know it was her birthday, she will certainly know when she walks through the door,” Makoto finished.

“And finished,” Rei announced, sewing in the last stitch. Ami and Makoto turned to see the dress Minako was begrudgingly modeling.

“Wow,” Ami said, “It’s certainly not the way it looked in the book.”

“I can honestly say you’ve added your own style to it,” Makoto said, trying to stifle a laugh.

“Really? Thanks,” Rei said, looking at the dress, “Hm, I think perhaps it might need a few more ruffles. What do you think, Minako?”

“What do I think,” Minako echoed, bitterly, “Well I-”

Minako turned and tripped on the long skirt, ripping the dress, as the seams began to unravel. She quickly grabbed one of the hanging paper-chain-ring decorations and it ripped off the ceiling, taking down the long line of rings, with one of the chains getting tangled around the cake As the girls went to help Minako up, Rei tripped over the fallen decoration and the cake was dragged off the table, onto the ground.

As Minako began to get up, she slipped on some icing and got covered in some cake. Everyone was silent, seeing all their hard work undone.

“That’s IT!” Minako shouted.

“Now, please be reasonable,” Ami said, trying to calm her fellow Senshi.

“Reasonable? I’m covered in cake and in a dress that was a mess before it trashed the house. And Usagi will be home within the hour.”

She stood up, and marched upstairs, with the dress pieces just falling off her in her path.

“Desperate times, desperate measures. I’m getting the wands!”

Rei picked up some of the pieces of cloth from the ruined dress, “Hate to say it, but I think she’s right.”

“Here we go,” Minako said, happily, showing their wands, which glowed.

“Careful,” Rei immediately said, “If we’re doing this, we have to do this right.”

Ami nodded, “We can’t let anyone know of this.”

“Alright,” Minako agreed, “Doors, windows, cracks, nothing gets a peek inside this house.”

The girls darkened the cottage, cutting off any natural light from getting in. But soon as the girls grabbed their wands, the place began to light up as the wands began brightening the room.

“Okay, so since we are pressed on time, we all do the same tasks as before,” Rei said, “I’ll make the dress, Ami will decorate the cottage, and Makoto makes the cake.”

“Hey, this was my idea,” Minako pointed out.

“Which is why you have the task of making this place spotless before Usagi gets home.”

“Fine,” Minako said, begrudgingly.

The girls went to their individual tasks:

Minako animated the cleaning utensils such as the broom and dust pan and other supplies, and began cleaning up the mess. She had the floor mopped and she was able to dry it quickly before anyone could slip on it.

Ami commanded the decorations to rise up and place themselves on the walls and ceiling, though this time higher, no longer a hazard to anyone passing by it. They looked more organized and less cluttered.

Rei waved her wand and the unused cloth pulled out. With cloth and scissors, and sewing material in motion, a beautiful dress was formed, not a stitch out of place. Something that was more suitable for a princess to wear.

Makoto was now in the kitchen, commanding the ingredients to go into motion to form her cake. While she preferred the satisfaction of cooking the mortal way, there was no getting around the speed needed that only magic could provide. The cake took shape and she waved her wand to cook the dough, ready within minutes, and she put the candles and icing in place.

The girls were finishing their tasks when they heard the gate outside open.

“Usagi’s back!” Makoto said, hearing Usagi humming. The girls quickly cleaned up their work spaces, and hid just as soon as Usagi opened the door.

“I’m home-” Usagi gasped, seeing the place decorated along with a lovely dress and a delicious cake.

“Surprise!” the girls shouted in joy.

“Oh this is so lovely,” Usagi said, looking at the room, “I can’t believe you all did this for me.”

“It’s a special day,” Minako answered, “and we have another surprise for you too.”

“Actually,” Usagi began, “I actually have a surprise for you, as well.”

Usagi cleared her throat.

“Well, um, for the past few months now, I have been meeting with someone, and invited him-”

“Wait, you met some stranger and he’s coming here?!” Rei interrupted. The girls bombarded her with questions.

“Who is he!?”

“What did he say to you?”

“Please, he is not dangerous,” Usagi answered, “We have been meeting for a while now.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Because you have always been so overprotective. I wanted to meet him without having to worry he would be scared off by my sisters.”

Usagi continued, “Anyways, we have kinda been...courting.”

“Usagi!”

“He was a perfect gentleman,” she continued, “I invited him over to meet you all tonight. He is a wonderful man and he is kind and-”

“Oh no, she’s in love,” Makoto interrupted.

Usagi said nothing but blushed in response.

“Usagi, I’m sorry to say this, but that is not going to work out. You’re going to have to stop seeing him,” Ami sympathized.

“What, why?! Why can’t I be in love? You haven’t even met him, so I don’t see why you are suddenly forbiddening me to see him.”

“Because you are already betrothed,” Minako blurted out.

“What?” Usagi was stunned. Rei glared at Minako, but looked back to Usagi.

“You are betrothed to the heir apparent of the Golden Kingdom of Earth. Prince Endymion.”

“That’s not possible. I can’t be betrothed. I’m just a peasant.”

“No, you are not. You are royalty. You are Princess Serenity, the long lost daughter of the Silver Millennium.”

Usagi’s eyes widened. She had no idea how she could possibly believe such news.

“That’s not possible,” she said, trying to form a coherent thought.

“It’s true,” Ami said, “We’ve been keeping you safe all these years, and tonight you will be revealed to the court, safe and sound.”

“And I have to marry a stranger? You can’t do this. I never asked for much, but this I know I want. Please don’t take him from me.”

“I’m sorry Serenity-”

“Don’t call me that! It’s not fair. I can’t-”

The princess began to breathe heavily and she fell to the ground. The girls ran to help her, but she screamed. She grabbed her head and suddenly the crescent moon symbol appeared on her forehead. As she screamed, a bright light shot up from the spot where she collapsed, into the sky. It lasted for a few seconds, but soon the light faded, and she was there, still displaying the crescent moon mark, and her hair turned silver.

“Your coming into your powers,” Ami said, “You are becoming the true princess of the Moon”

“We have to pack, right now,” Minako said, “I’m sorry we can’t ease you into this, but anyone might have seen that light. We have to move, get her to the Moon before sundown.”

Usagi looked up, her face still covered in tears, “But I promised Mamoru I’d be here. He’s expecting me to be here.”

“I’m sorry princess, but we have to go. I know this is harsh, but it is best you put him out of your mind,” Rei concluded

As they all hurried to pack, they failed to see a winged fiery eyeball watching them, hearing everything they say, before flying back to its wicked queen.

===========

Before the final day was over, the Senshi returned to the Moon, with their princess. They did not inform anyone of their arrival, just in case Nehellenia had spies planted in court. They didn’t even tell Queen Serenity, so that she would act normally, until the prophecy was defeated by sundown.

They finally made it to Princess Serenity’s intended room. The bed was all made up for her, and the place was decorated in the moon culture fashion. They helped her prepare for the ceremony and got her dressed into the gown Rei had made for her birthday.

“Princess,” Sailor Jupiter said, looking at the dresser mirror, “You look so beautiful.”

Serenity held back her tears, trying not to ruin the work her friends had done with her make up.

“I promise, princess, you will be happy,” Sailor Venus said, and quietly talked to the others in a whispered voice, “I just heard. The prince is running late. He did not arrive with the rest of Earth’s royal family.”

“Do we know when he will arrive?” Sailor Mercury asked.

“No. Hopefully soon.”

“Please,” Serenity began, “Can I please just...”

“C’mon,” Sailor Mars said, herding the others out, “She needs a few minutes.”

“We will be right outside, if you need us” said Sailor Jupiter, closing the door behind them, leaving the princess with her thoughts.

Serenity could not hold back her tears.

“Mamo-chan,” she whispered to herself.

“Usako“

Serenity turned around and saw a passageway she did not notice before. She got up and heard an echo through it. She got closer and closer to the passage, but felt a force, resisting her attempt to walk through.

“Mamo-chan?!” she shouted down the corridor.

“Usako”, Mamoru’s voice shouted back from a distance.

With more force, Serenity pushed through, into the passage. Unbeknownst to the princess, her Senshi arrived just in time to see her push her way through a big mirror.

Serenity climbed the stairs. The corridors made no sense, and she was surely going to be lost for days, but she continued to follow her love’s voice, calling to her. She finally reached a tower, and as she opened the door, she lost her breath. Standing in the room was Mamoru, still in the same outfit as he was wearing earlier that day.

“Mamo-chan,” Serenity said, about to cry. “What?”

“I saw you leaving and I had to find you. I am so glad you’re here.”

“Is this...” Serenity started, “Is this real?”

Mamoru extended his hand, offering it “Let me prove it.”

She hesitated, but she looked into his beautiful eyes, and unconsciously reached out for him, accepting his hand. But instead of the comforting warmth she was expecting, she felt a pinch on her forefinger. She looked at her hand and saw in front of her a spinning wheel, with a sharpened spindle, which she scratched her finger on. She looked back up and in place of her love stood a tall scary woman. Before the princess could say anything, she felt her eyelids getting heavy and she started to get dizzy, and soon everything went black.

===========

“I feel so bad for her,” Venus said, “She meets the love of her life, and we just took it from her.”

“Our duty is to the princess. She might not like all our decisions, but we are doing this for her,” Mars responded.

“And this is better for both kingdoms,” Jupiter added, “After years, we are so close to peace.”

“It still sucks.”

“Wait, do you feel that,” Mercury interrupted them. The girls stopped and felt a dark chill down their spines. They felt it coming from Serenity’s room.

“Nehellenia!”

They swiftly opened the door, and saw Serenity entering a mirror that was not there before.

“USAGI!” they cried.

They ran for her, but before they could grab her, she passed through the glass and the mirror was dark, sending no reflection.

“Out of the way, Mars Flame Sniper!”

“Jupiter Oak Evolution!”

Lightning and fire struck the mirror but it remained undamaged.

“It’s no use!”

Venus stepped forward, “Come on. Let’s combine our powers.”

Using their abilities, they directed it at the mirror and opened a way for them to slip in through.

“Usagi!” They shouted, their voices echoing through the various corridors. They heard nothing back. They split up and went through various corridors, but they continued running into dead ends or being drawn back to the same passages. The place was a big complicated maze, and they soon found themselves right back at the entrance.

“Nehellenia’s making us run in circles,” Jupiter said.

“Wait, the princess’s powers were unlocked. We should focus on that and follow it,” Mercury said.

“Worth a shot,” said Mars.

They closed their eyes and focused. They felt an intense cold in the world they were in. But soon, they felt a warm pull. They opened their eyes and followed the warm light in the distance.

They finally saw their princess in the distance, entering a doorway and the door closed behind her. They rushed forward, but it felt like the door was getting further away. But soon they reached it and pulled it open with such force.

“Usagi,” they shouted as they saw the poor girl collapsed on the ground, in front of a spinning wheel. Eyes shut, not moving. She looked uninjured, except a cut on her finger, her blood on the spindle.

===========

The Earth prince, Endymion, rode through the forest, following the path his love, Usagi, had given him, before she left. He decided that tonight, he would tell her everything. That he was a prince and heir of the planet, and he loved her dearly. And if Usagi could look past his deception, he was going to ask her to marry him. He did not care that he was betrothed to some stranger from another kingdom. He wanted to see his love everyday, in public, no longer as a secret in the forest.

When he had first met her, it had been a day filled with stress caused by his royal obligations. He had needed to get away, so he had disguised himself as a servant, as he had done on more than one occasion, and went into town, exploring the marketplace. It had been there where he met his angel.

He had not wanted her to treat him differently, so he had continued the ruse as a servant, and had continued their meetings in the woods. It had been a wonderful few months, being with her, getting to know her, as a wonderful person, with a beauty to match her soul. He needed her in his life.

He finally reached the cottage, where Usagi had said it would be, and got off his horse. He took a deep breath and knocked, but the door slowly opened, left ajar, revealing to a dark living room, illuminated by only the moonlight.

“Come in,” he heard a voice say. It wasn’t Usagi’s voice, but maybe it was one of her friends….maybe one with a sore throat.

He walked in, and as he moved further into the room, the door slammed closed and he found himself overwhelmed by what looked like small balls of darkness. He fought them off but he felt them draining him of his energy, collapsing to the ground. He tried to access the power of the royal Golden Crystal, but he lost too much energy to be able to use it. He looked up from the ground, too weak to grip his sword, and saw an old grey woman-like creature. She had blue robes and had a staff that had a flaming eyeball at the top.

“This is quite a development. A princess of one kingdom cursed, and a prince of another kingdom a prisoner of the Dead Moon.”

Mamoru remembered hearing stories of the Dead Moon. The very name stirred up dormant and vague memories of a terrifying experience he had as a child, when he visited the Moon Kingdom.

“My queen will love such a prize,” he heard the woman say as his vision went dark.

===========

The Senshi were devastated, their friend in a death-like slumber. By the time they found her, they were out of Nehellenia’s mirror dimension and they were in the tower of the castle. They arrived, in horror, to find Serenity lying on the ground, eyes closed, with a small scratch on her finger. Nehellenia stood before them, cackling as she vanished back into her mirror, as it disappeared. The Senshi knew the curse was fulfilled. They couldn’t leave their princess lying in the tower, so they carried her back to her room. The stairway back down was more direct, now that they were no longer travelling through Nehellenia’s mirror realm. It wasn’t until they were near her room, where they saw the full impact of the curse.

They soon discovered guards and castle staff having collapsed, in a similar deep slumber. They realized the curse was feeding off of Serenity’s power, strengthening itself to spread far and wide, putting the whole kingdom into a deep sleep with their princess. It was by good fortune that, being Senshi, they were able to resist the curse. They knew to end the curse, they needed Serenity’s love, Mamoru. If he loved her as much as she had claimed to love him, he could end the nightmare.

After placing their princess into bed, they took the teleporter back to Earth. They found that Earth was suffering from the curse as well; nobles passed out in the streets, knights fallen off their horses unconscious, peasants slumbering in the fields. The Senshi rushed back to the cottage, in hopes that Serenity’s true love would be there, as she said, and hoped he did not fall victim as well.

They arrived at the cottage and saw the door left open. They cautiously walked in and saw the place was a mess, showing clear signs of a struggle.

“What happened?” Mars said, looking around with worry.

“Hold on,” Mercury said, pulling out her computer and activating her goggles, and began scanning the room. She looked around and was directed to a small dark corner of the blackened room. “Over there,” she pointed.

Jupiter and Venus walked slowly and cautiously to the corner. Suddenly, something jumped out: a small dark black circular creature. It shot past the two Senshi and bounced around before escaping the cottage.

“Was that...” Jupiter began.

“It was a Lemure. One of Nehellenia’s,” Venus finished her sentence, “The Dead Moon Circus. They were here.”

“It looks like there was a fight,” Mars said, “Mamoru must have been attacked by them.”

“But I don’t see a body. So they either killed him, or he escaped.”

“That was just one Lemure. They travel in packs. If they caught him off guard, they could have overwhelmed him.”

“Which begs the question, why not kill him?”

“I don’t know. But if he’s not here, there’s only one place he could be.”

“Nehellenia’s castle.”

“We have no choice. We have to save him.”

===========

Getting to the evil queen’s castle was quite the feat, but together, the four combined their power to teleport into the castle. A trying task, which they wouldn’t be able to do again within the castle walls. The Senshi quietly snuck around the castle, finding a lack of security, only needing to avoid a couple guards.

They soon found themselves overlooking the throne room and found out why the security was so lax. There was a dark, twisted feast occurring in the large room. A celebration of sorts with vile monsters partying.

The Senshi looked disgusted by the event, but Jupiter looked on, “Over there.” She pointed and saw Zirconia, Nehellenia’s most loyal servant observing events. But the hag began to walk away from the room, and the Senshi quietly tailed her. They followed her to the castle dungeons, and they heard screaming, as Zirconia opened one of the cell doors.

“You choose when you want this pain to end, dear prince,” the Senshi heard inside, from a familiar voice.

“Mistress,” they heard Zirconia, “Your desires are almost achieved. The princess is gone, both great kingdoms are cursed, and the crystal is almost within your grasp. If you don’t mind my saying, you’ve had a long, productive day. Perhaps some rest can do some good.”

“Yes, perhaps I am pushing myself. Thank you.”

The Senshi took cover as they heard footsteps leaving the cell. They looked behind and watched, as Nehellenia and Zirconia left the small cell. Zirconia tapped her staff on the ground and the cell door closed behind her. She turned her head towards the Senshi and they ducked behind the corner, unsure if they were seen. They waited for a few moments before looking to see the hag leave the dungeon, behind her mistress.

They quickly moved to the cell, and Jupiter kicked the door open, with full force, breaking it off the locks.

There, they found someone they had not expected

“Prince Endymion,” Venus said. The prince raised his head, staring wide-eyed at his visitors.

“You-you’re the Sailor Senshi,” he answered, questioningly, not quite sure if they were real.

“What are you doing here?” Mars asked, as she, Mercury and Venus approached him and Jupiter stood watch. He was wearing his armor, but they could see burned marks and other injuries on the prince.

“They want the Golden Crystal.” he answered.

“How’d they catch you? Shouldn’t you have been protected?”

“They caught me off guard. One minute, I was going to meet someone at their residence in a woodland cottage, the next thing I know, I am being attacked and found myself in a dungeon.”

“Who were you supposed to meet?”

Endymion suddenly stopped talking, and looked away from them.

“Wait a minute,” Venus said, “Who was it exactly you were planning to see?”

He did not answer, still avoiding her gaze.

“Usagi?” Venus said. He slightly flinched, and she had her answer.

“You,” Venus said, “It is you? You’re Usagi’s Mamoru?”

“How do you know her?” he asked, as the last of his restraints were broken.

The Senshi’s eyes lit up to this revelation.

“We need to hurry, but there is something you must know, prince” Mars said, “We need to tell you the truth about your maiden.”

===========

Endymion could not believe it. The very news just sent shocks throughout his body. Usagi, the peasant girl he had met so many times in the woods, was the lost Princess Serenity, his betrothed. And was trapped in a horrible curse.

“You love Usagi, right?” Venus asked.

“Yes,” he said, quickly, without hesitation.

“Then there is hope. True love can break the curse. You can save her.”

“We need to go,” Jupiter said to the group.

Endymion closed his eyes, and used the power of the Golden Crystal to summon his damaged armor to repair and called on his sword to appear in his hand. The group of five made their way out of the cell, and proceeded out of the dungeon, when they heard a commotion. Noises of monsters getting closer to them, forcing them to run faster down to the corridor.

They travelled down the passage ways, until they made it to the courtyard. However, the yard was now filled with monsters, with Zirconia standing at the forefront.

“Senshi,” Zirconia said, “I have to say, it is a surprise to see you up and about. But I am afraid this is as far as you go. Our guest still needs to surrender the crystal.”

The five fighters stood back to back, surrounded by the forces of the Dead Moon.

“Kill them,” Zirconia commanded.

The creatures rushed forward, attacking. The fight expanded around the courtyard. At first, the group stayed together, but soon were forced to split off and fight the monsters with their powers. Mars used her fire attacks as she thinned the number of her attackers. Mercury used her water, sweeping away her foes, freezing them, and even misting the air to blind them. Jupiter used her lightning, taking out many foes caught in the lightning chains. Venus blasted her foes with raining light beams from the sky. And Endymion used a combination, blasting his enemies with his powers and swiping his sword at those who got too close.

The battle went well, until Endymion was blasted from a dark power, coming from the sky. He fell, and soon Zirconia was right in front of him, with Zircon on her staff.

Zircon flew from the staff, floating over the group, as Zircon levitated. A cone of shadow was released from the eye, and the group collapsed from it, as if being weighed down. As they were pinned, Zirconia unleashed powerful blasts, each hitting one of the Senshi.

Zircon returned to the staff as Zirconia laughed.

But Endymion defiantly stood up, and he felt the energy of the Golden Crystal flow through him. He pointed his palm at the hag and a shot of golden energy was released at her. She screeched as she tried to endure the attack. The Senshi stood, regaining their composure. They focused on pooling their power together. Endymion could hold his attack no longer and he had to stop, with Zirconia exhausted but still alive.

However, she looked at the Senshi. Eyes widened, knowing her fate.

“Sailor Planet Attack!”

Together, the Senshi used their power, striking Zirconia, and she and Zircon dissolved into ashes.

With their foe destroyed, the group made their way out of the castle walls.

===========

They made their way to the Golden Kingdom’s castle. All they had to do was get Endymion to the teleporter, to the Moon Kingdom, and he could free Serenity from the curse.

However, as they got closer, suddenly the road was bombarded by strikes of dark lightning.

They turned around and saw a figure from a distance, standing at the tower of the dark castle: Nehellenia.

She extended her hand again and from the tips of her fingers unleashed a chain of black lightning. The group scattered, dodging the attack.

Knowing how close they were to the castle, they made a run to the fortress. Lightning from the sky continued to crash down as they swayed back and forth from it.

With the castle in sight, the Senshi led Endymion, but they tripped. Looking down, the warriors found they had stepped in a field of webs. They looked ahead and saw the whole castle and the surrounding area encased in webbing.

The Senshi struggled to no avail. However, Endymion was fortunate to avoid the trap. He took out his sword, and channeling the power of the Golden Crystal, swiped the webbing, freeing the Senshi. They moved forward as he continued swiping at the threads. He was close, reaching the gates, but suddenly, in front of the gates stood a mirror, with no reflection but a dark void.

“You will not stop me, dear prince,” a voice said.

He saw before them Queen Nehellenia in the mirror as the object began to levitate. It ascended higher, and soon the queen’s silhouette formed around the mirror. As it reached high, it had vanished within the chest of the gigantic queen.

The Senshi and Endymion prepared for the last push to save their princess.

===========

Meanwhile, in the Moon Kingdom, the princess remained in slumber. Yet somehow, she felt something troubling her soul. That her loved ones were in grave danger. Not knowing how, she knew she needed to help and reached out to them. Her body began to glow and a bright beam of light was released from her body, heading to Earth.

===========

Endymion and the Senshi were now on the ground, Injured, failing to defeat the giant as she continued bombarding the field with lightning. She raised her hand, as it glowed with dark power.

Suddenly, a bright light from the moon created a shield around the group, and Nehellenia’s power failed to penetrate it.

“Usako,” Endymion said, knowing, somehow, that it was her power that saved them. He felt renewed strength as he stood, along with the Senshi.

“Let’s end this,” Venus said. The Senshi charged at the queen and used their powers, causing her to flinch and push backward.

Endymion picked up his sword, and saw it begin to glow with Serenity’s power. He focused his own power within it and it shined brightly. He charged at Nehellenia and threw the blade, embedding the blade into her chest.

She screamed, as an echoing, cracking, sound was heard. The Senshi stopped their attack, as the queen looked at the sword, not embedded in her chest, but in the mirror now floating outside her form, as more fractures began appearing. The whole mirror shattered into dust, and the queen screeched, as she, too, dissolved into the darkness. With all traces of her gone, the only thing left behind was the glowing sword, as it lost its shine.

Endymion exhaled, finally taking a rest, but suddenly, Mars and Jupiter helped him to his legs.

“Don’t rest now, prince,” Mars said, smiling, “You only have a little further to go. Someone needs to wake up our lazy princess.”

They let Endymion go, as he was able to balance himself on his feet, and led them to the planetary teleporter. Soon he was on the Moon, and the Senshi led him to the princess’s room.

And there he saw her, now in her princess gown, but his Usako, no doubt. He approached her bed and she looked so peaceful. He cupped her cheek and leaned in, placing his lips softly on her’s. He drew his head back and looked at her as she slowly opened her eyes.

Serenity’s eyes took a moment to adjust. Her vision was blurry, but soon her vision cleared and she was staring into those midnight blue eyes, of the man she loved.

“Mamo-chan,” she whispered.

He cupped her cheek, lovingly, “Usako.”

The two kissed deeply, and just as they separated, the Senshi burst into the room.

“Usagi,” they shouted. Endymion backed away as the four jumped onto the big bed, where each of the Senshi got a chance to give Serenity a big hug, as they all laughed, playfully.

Moments after Serenity awoke, the curse that had spread across both kingdoms had lifted and everyone slowly woke from their slumber. The Senshi were very quick to inform the royal parents of the events and the celebration was put back on track within hours.

Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion entered the grand room, arms linked, and the moment they were standing before the royals, Queen Serenity quickly got up from her throne and embraced her daughter, not having held her since she gave her to her guardians sixteen years ago.

The prince and princess were wedded, and they began the celebration by sharing their first dance.

“It’s funny,” the prince whispered.

“What is,” she asked her now husband.

“Yesterday, I was prepared to give up everything, to marry some beautiful peasant girl I met in the market.”

“What a coincidence. When I heard I was betrothed to a prince, I did not know how I could ever be happy with him, after courting a handsome stranger.”

They looked at each other, and smiled, sharing another kiss.

And They Lived Happily Ever After

[rythasbrenelle]

Prompt #19 - Where the Heart Is

(Note: I don’t have any great group screenshots, and I certainly don’t have any with everyone mentioned, unfortunately. Most of this is adapted from scenes written alongside some fine people, and the characters appear in the order of @savothesewercat​, @bellsandspells​, @mugishalffull​, @wineandcookies​, @erahsae-ffxiv​, @straycatte​, and @fheylahaken​.) Belmion, ages 7-18; the Duskwight, ages 18-23; Rythas, ages 23-24 “Home, little bat, is where the heart is,” Erelle said. Belmion lifted his head to find her staring down at him. Lit by the crackling fire nearby, her eyes twinkled every bit as brightly as the ten silver studs lining her long ears. She wrapped her arms around Belmion, holding the boy tight in her lap. “It’s with the gang, it’s with your parents, it’s with me. No matter where we go, you’ll have a home with all of us.”

Home was never a single place. It was caves or tunnels, narrow or sprawling, cold or comfortable. It was thickets of trees and bedrolls beneath brambles. It was an abandoned cottage in the woods, dilapidated and one good gust of wind away from collapse. They drifted from hideout to hideout, playing a lifelong game of cat and mouse. But they did it together. If Belmion’s aim was true and his ears were sharp, then he had the Butchers. Murder for love. He was happy to make the trade. “They’re family,” Belmion told himself, years after Erelle taught him about home. He secured his mask in place to stifle what he could of the bitter stench of death as he picked through the campsite, retrieving his arrows and stripping corpses of their possessions. “I do this for them because they’re family.” He was a Duskwight. A Grey. Cave dweller, thief, brigand, murderer. All any of them had to their name was a ruined city nobody on the surface gave enough of a shit about to rebuild or even preserve. The Gridanians would share, but he’d never be seen as an equal. The Keepers would shoot him if he dared walk their lands. Home was something to carve out from the world and take by force. “Bel. Have you ever been outside the Shroud?” Arlianne asked. Her crooked fingers made their way through his long hair, weaving a snowy lock of it into a braid. She sighed and lightly slapped his back as he pulled his hair out of her hand with a shake of his head. “You can use your words, you know. But alright. We should see the rest of the world sometime, yeah? There’s a lot more out there than this forest and the underground.” Belmion hummed. “What about Auntie and everyone else?” “They could come with us, if they wanted. But I don’t think they would.” Belmion tilted his head back, this time spilling more hair across Arlianne’s fingers and earning him a glare as the beginnings of the new braid were made to mingle with hair she hadn’t wanted. “I don’t think so either. But I kind of want to go anyway.” Home was with loved ones. But they weren’t always gathered in one place. That was okay though. If Belmion could stay with Arlianne, anything was okay. The Duskwight lost track of the days. He sat with his back to the wall of the cave. His bloody fingers toyed with the bones of his most recent meal. They were too small to twirl properly, nothing like his lost stilettos. He settled for turning them over and over in his hand. Anything to occupy his mind. He’d spent a third of his life taking everything from the people of the Shroud. They’d finally responded in kind. Home was a makeshift tomb, a secret cave full of bones and dripping water, twelve steps wide. The Duskwight found Limsa Lominsa a poor fit for him. It was loud with the sound of bartering, gulls squawking, sailors coming and going at the docks. He passed his days learning arcanima out of a stolen grimoire. He passed his nights with his back to a wall and a dull knife in his bandaged hand. Home was somewhere far behind him, lost to time and hubris. Home was nowhere, but that was okay. He’d be gone soon. A home would be wasted on him. He kept his head down and his eyes lowered and marched forward. He had no reason to look. Home crept up on him and spoke with an accent that made her sound a little bit stupid. “Hey, sharp.” The words freed him from his reverie not because they meant anything, but because they were said right in front of him. He blinked, bringing the book in his lap back into focus, and lifted his eyes to find a woman staring at him. Her body was all straight lines and sharp angles, not a curve in sight. She blinked large eyes at him, the picture of innocence. “You look like you just walked through a desert.” “Ah. Hi.” His voice matched hers: unremarkable, without power or presence. “I, ah, suppose I did just walk through a desert, yeah. Haven’t been here long.” The waif gestured toward the bench he was sitting on with a wave of her claws. “Mind if I sit?” “Oh.” His eyes cut across the street, taking note of the empty benches across from them. He looked back to the Miqo’te. She wasn’t moving. “Uh, yeah. Sure. Go ahead.” The woman hopped up and perched herself on the stone bench before tucking her spindly legs beneath herself. She’d elected to sit sideways on the bench and face him, fixing her attention on him in a way that felt foreign. He was used to people’s eyes skating over him, hardly registering his existence before moving on. He preferred that. He usually disliked the attention. Not this time. And like that, home had him and wouldn’t let go. “Rythas is good family,” Mahteki murmured, resting his head on Rythas’ shoulder. The smell of buttercream vaguely registered in Rythas’ brain, something he catalogued and tucked away in his head even as his body froze at the sudden contact. His scars were on fire, his hands itched. He felt warmth tinge his ears and cheeks, and it didn’t abate even as Mahteki added, “Zanin still wins though. Sorry.” “Rythas is the best Rythas,” Zanin interjected. He offered a small smile toward the Duskwight. Home became quiet moments between the jobs where he threw himself into the blender and wove magic that threatened to crack his bones and ignite his skin. It was time spent nibbling on cookies and drinking tea and clinging to sanity. Rythas’ stomach twisted into knots. He bit the inside of his cheek and tried to pry off whatever was squeezing down on his heart and making his chest tighten. He kept his eyes down, staring at the bandages wrapped around his hands, following the way they slithered over themselves before disappearing around the contours of his palms. Someone nudged him. He lifted his head to find Lionnellais’ sympathetic smile and a silver flask extended toward him. Rythas barely managed to say his thanks before grabbing the container away from the Elezen. Sometimes, home was a cocoon of noise and body heat, inescapable within the confines of whatever concert venue he’d drifted toward. But it was something meant to be fun. He’d been fortunate enough to find people that made sure of that. Rythas tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling. The chime of a bell was normal. The sound of it being placed onto a pedestal, clicking into place, was not. And he’d grown too used to the rustling of Savo’s satchel and the clunk of a bell being dropped into it to mistake a different sound for it. He climbed the stairs and found Erah’sae waiting by the door. The Keeper blinked his mismatched eyes toward Rythas. “Mornin’, Rythas. I’m not catchin’ you at a bad time or anything, given it’s this early?” Erah’sae paused, then tilted his head. “Or late, ‘pending on your viewpoint?” “Nah. I was planning on being up for a while still.” Erah’sae nodded before taking his hat off and hanging it from the nearby stand. “So, you’ll be up for a bit … mind if I bend your ear?” Home was different than what he’d known. It was giving and taking and not minding whether he was being asked to help or asking for help himself. Building a home took a little bit of effort, but it was worth the trouble. Rythas watched the tuna flopping on the wooden deck, his ears full of the sound of it slapping and struggling. With a word, he lulled it to sleep, then lifted his eyes to look toward the mooncat nearby. Lolette looked remarkably like Savo, though the differences were clear to him at a glance. Still small and delicate, but not starved. Pale hair, but in loose curls. Red lenses, but remarkably bright green eyes behind them. A long tail, but fuzzy rather than rat-like. And perhaps most notable, a huskier voice, barely accented. But her smile was similarly warm and set him at ease. “Oh, I don’t think there’s ever really an end, just a road. When you’re dead then I suppose your journey to redemption is over, but I think it’s something that once you’re already doing, you’re kind of on the right path and, in a way, already there unless you slip up again. We’re stained. But we’re not evil nor irredeemable. Just tainted.” Rythas wasn’t sure he believed her. But he liked that she said it. Home was a place of comfort. Somewhere to limp back to and lick his wounds when they grew too painful to ignore. Rythas motioned for Fheyla to join him, patting the spot beside him. Instead, she plopped herself down onto his leg, balanced on his knee. Ordinarily, he was the warm one. It had come with his time in the cave-turned-tomb and existed as a fire that lingered beneath his skin. But the mooncat felt feverish, her body heat bleeding through the cloth separating them. “As long as you’re trying to be better, it’s okay to me,” she said, nodding her head. Her pigtails, resembling nothing so much as blue and white tassels speckled with dander, bounced. “Thanks. Appreciate your graciousness,” he said dryly. Despite his comment, he rubbed her head. She grinned and swiped the corner of her mouth across his palm, leaving his bandages a little wet. He ignored it and continued, “I’m trying. Really. Doesn’t always feel like anyone sees it. But I am.” “But seriously, why is you having so much trouble learning? I mean, I know you’re only male, but … c’mon?” She paused a moment, then fixed her eyes on him, blue eyes oddly focused behind the red lenses perched on her nose. “Rythas?” “Yeah?” “Has it ever occurred to you to stop resisting and just join my camp? Hitch your wagon to my train? ‘Cause … you may have noticed, I’m always right. Every time you ignore me, doesn’t it end up badly?” “It doesn’t, actually.” “I’m just trying to help you be happy,” Fheyla insisted, leaning close enough that Rythas could catch the scent of old laundry clinging to her. “You seem so sad and I’ve noticed that you never take my advice. Seems like there might be a correlation there.” Home was sometimes full of verbal jabs and groans and frustration. But when the lights grew dim and they were left on their own, it was a place to unmask their vulnerabilities and find comfort. Savo slunk to the couch and curled up as best she could with the space available, resting her head in Rythas’ lap and blinking her glowing eyes in a wordless, tired response as he asked if he’d woken her up when he came through the door. He draped an arm over her, a canvas of scars on blue skin covering bruises and pale skin stretched taut over the bones beneath. Her clawed fingers kneaded his legs like he was a pillow, and once she was satisfied, she rolled over to look up at him. A smile curled her mouth, and she leaned over to kiss his stomach through his shirt. One of his hands fell over hers, and he knit their fingers together. Home wasn’t what he’d known before, when he was never without a chaperone or a crew or a partner. It was sometimes distant and elusive as people came and went, his lives intersecting with theirs however briefly fortune permitted it. It didn’t go with him everywhere. Sometimes it disappeared from behind a bar without warning, sometimes it crawled into a wine cask to sleep, sometimes it skipped off without a care in the world while a million words were left yet unsaid. But he loved it all the same. (Prompt #18: Panglossian) (Prompt #20: Holy Water)

[redsunns]

💢 (gun picking up hyo pls i need to see it)

❥   𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍     [   𝐀   𝐒𝐘𝐌𝐁𝐎𝐋   𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐄   ]  .

status: accepting!

💢  :    your  muse  picks  mine  up   &   carries  them  over  their  shoulder .

                it started with, “what the fuck did you say?”

                actually, it started when hyo entered the bar. she came knowing gunwoo had a show tonight, and she came knowing she wasn’t in any mood to be around people. but she showed up anyway with the hope that the noise of the crowd and the loud music would help calm the nerves that buzz beneath her skin. and it did for a little bit. she stood among strangers and let herself just exist among them--- preferring to not make small talk as she normally would. she didn’t even let gunwoo know she was coming, and preferred he not find out because she was selfish tonight. she came for herself. being able to support her friend was just an added bonus.

                so when a man beside her started speaking, she knew it wasn’t going to go smoothly. it might’ve been the stench of alcohol on him, the way she stepped steadily further and further away because i came with my boyfriend, haha and he’s just getting us drinks so he’ll be back soon, or that she was already on edge with the moon absent from the sky. but she had been steadfast in holding her ground in staying for gunwoo’s show while also carefully inching away, and she thought for a moment that she’d be able to escape without a hitch.

                but then he kept fucking talking. and it wasn’t even about her anymore. she might’ve behaved differently if it was-- thinking so little of yourself did wonders when dealing with hateful people-- but when he began insulting gunwoo’s work to try and get her out of the bar and in his bed, something just... shifted. so: “what the fuck did you say?” was spat at him, her eyes spiteful and hard and daring him to continue. if he stopped, maybe she’d be able to overlook it. but he kept going--- kept rattling off insults as her friend pours his heart and soul out to the crowd, only to have this drunk nobody be this disrespectful about someone she cares for? how could she let that pass?

                so when her fist meets his jaw with a satisfying crack, she finds it’s exactly what she needs. not violence per se--- just a moment to stop thinking, to be a brain and body and not a person. she doesn’t, however, expect him to hit back. it’s pure frenzy after that--- her lip is cracked, but she’s not sure if the blood is coming from the open wound or from her aching nose. her scalp hurts from her hair being pulled and her knuckles pulse to match the pain in her wrist from throwing an improper punch. (that’s the only wound she’ll take accountability for. just to set the record straight.) and all the while, she’s cursing like a sailor, all, don’t open your whore mouth again and you punch like the worthless shit you are and don’t fucking say that about him ringing through her ears. she thinks she might be the only one hearing it, honestly--- until a pair of arms wrap around her and pull her back. it could be anyone with half a mind and a fourth of courage, but when her feet are lifted off the ground she knows it can’t be just anybody, especially with the way they say her name with urgency (and perhaps disappointment? worry? anger?) the way they do.

                it’s not until she’s met with cool night air that she starts fighting again. “let me down! let me fuckin---” she’s dropped, or it feels like she is with how sudden her feet hit concrete, and she stumbles to regain her balance. “shit,” is all she says when her assumptions are confirmed. there gunwoo is-- still beading sweat as if he was just under stage lights and performing to his heart’s content--- as if he might’ve pressed pause just to toss her out himself. it might’ve been the end of his set too (time passes so quickly when beating up a man), but seeing him here on the sidewalk with her makes shame dump on her like ice water. her wrist holds a stabbing pain now, and she wonders how long it’ll take for it to heal enough to play again--- if she’ll exacerbate the injury by trying to sit at a piano again--- and, she guesses, this is what she gets for being selfish tonight. but gunwoo doesn’t deserve consequences for what she’s done. they’ve been seen together now--- they’re connected now--- and she might have ruined an important connection between him and the venue. shit, shit, shit.

                she wipes at the blood dripping from her chin, wincing when her wrist pulses again-- just to buy some time to figure out how to fix it, how to make it better, how to not be so fucking useless--- “go back inside,” she tells him urgently, stepping closer and reaching up to muss up his hair and grimacing when that causes pain too. she wipes her blood on the collar of his shirt, taking note of the style so that she can hunt down another when she goes home, and does the same with the front of it. “go inside and tell people that that crazy bitch put up a good fight but you took care of it--- sorted it out and threw her in a cab home.” she pinches one of his cheeks to make it flush, and steps back hurriedly. “just--- just go back and make connections and pretend i don’t exist and you don’t know me, okay? i’m sorry. just---” she shakes her head and snaps her mouth shut, thinking it might be best for her to just stop talking. but she hopes he knows she means it. “sorry.”

[thetokenmuggle]

From First To Last

The Prologue Included : M, Jane, Sungjae,Minah, Daniel, Tyler, Emily, Lucas

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ The Beginnings ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

“And these are your quarters.” Prince Endymion, more commonly referred to as M by his inner circle lead the Moon Princess and her royal party to the left-wing of the castle. “All the rooms are fully furnished and the staff we will be more than happy to help with any of your needs,” he said. One of the maids scoffed glaring at the interstellar royals, M shook his head not understanding why his people were suddenly so against the treaty between Elysion and the Moon Kingdom. It was a step towards the future, a golden age for their people. “Ah,” he scratched the back of his neck. “I should let you all rest, you have all had a long trip,” he said. “There is a lot planned for tomorrow,” he said nodding awkwardly. “Goodnight,” he said bowing to the Moon Princess, “Ah should i -” he said looking at her royal guard who are also the Princes and Princesses of their respective planets. “No, I’ll just go,” he said with an awkward wave before turning on his heels and speeding away, hoping to get that tragic interaction out of his head.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

“.... Not that i think you aren’t pretty, because you are, not that you are just pretty - i mean … ” Daehyung mocked as Eunha fell into a fit of giggles beside him. The two of them were putting acting training to good use and doing a dramatized version of M’s rather tragic interaction with Princess Serenity.

“So the Prince, is he, you know, an idiot,” Mars commented with a snigger. “Do earthlings not know how to form a sentence?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I think he was just nervous,” Jupiter responded. “It’s the first time Elysian has interacted with the Moon Kingdom in a century, he has a lot riding on this,” he pointed out.

“Your majesty,” Enzo said, cutting off Eunha and Daehyung. “Do you perhaps need some tips on how to talk to a girl?” he said. M looked up, eyes narrowed, Enzo was known around the kingdom as a bit of a ladies men. “I am sure Eunha can pretend to be a lady for five minutes for you to practice,” he teased as Eunha growled at Enzo.

“Daehyung should play the princess, his blonde and we all know how much he loves the attention,” Eunha said as Daehyung ran a hand through his blonde locks.

“Oh Prince Endymion.” Daehyung teased fluttering his eyelashes before puckering his lips and blowing a kiss to M. “I better stop, I don’t want our dear prince to fall in love with little old me, it would just make things too awkward,” Daehyung grinned.

“That and he was blown away by Serenity’s beauty,” Mercury said. “I think it’s sweet,” she said with a soft smile. “Someone is just being mean because his longest relationship is the one he has with his own right hand,” she teased her brother who threw one of the many, many cushions that littered Serenity's bed, at her head.

“I am not being mean,” Mars huffed. “I am just pointing out that this Endymion is hardly princely, if acted like that Father would have Phobos and Deimos on my back like that,” he said with a click of his fingers. “And please we all know i have the most suitors apart from Venus,” he boasted, Venus looked up from brushing Serenity’s hair rolling her eyes at Mars and his antics.

“But you reject them all because you know your true love is out there, you’ve seen it in one of your premonitions,” Jupiter teased. “Could you imagine if people knew the Prince of Mars was a romantic,” he said with a whistle.

“Sungjae you are on my side right?” M said looking at his most trusted knight and oldest friend. “I wasn’t that obvious right?” he asked hopefully. Sungjae looked at him, a small smile on his face before shaking his head.

“Honestly M it was pretty bad,” he said with a frown. “But perhaps it's better this way, this is already a fragile treaty, we don’t want things to get more complicated,” he said seriously. Eunha and Daehyung booed from their spots.

“Don’t listen to Mr Moody pants over there,” Daehyung said. “Treaty Smchetty you should give the princess your meaty,” he giggled. His innuendo caused several reactions from the other shitennou, Enzo chuckled with a shake of his head, Sungjae looked disgusted and Eunha swiftly smacked across the back of the head.

“You are so lucky you prefer the company of other knights,” she said shaking her head. “M please for the love of Gaia do not take relationship advice from him,” she said rolling her eyes at her cousin. “If you really did like this Princess i suggest you be yourself, even if that does lead to some awkwardness - honestly is the best policy,” she said sincerely. Sungjae nodded in agreement but didn’t comment, not wanting to make anyone think he approved of this potential pursuit of the Moon Kingdom.

“Didn’t being yourself get you dumped by Lord Gideon,” Enzo questioned as both Eunha and Daehyung glared at him. “Okay shutting up now,”

“Min- I mean Venus,” Serenity said softly while the rest of her royal guard bickered amongst themselves. “What do you think of Prince Endymion?” she asked. When it came to opinions there was no one Serenity valued more than Venus, well apart from her mother ofcourse.

“I think he is a good man who wants what is best for his planet,” Venus said, placing the brush down on Serenity’s bed. “He is a little awkward but he has the whole planet's fate in his hands, its alot of responsibility to handle on your own,” she said. Serenity hummed, the death of the former King and his wife was a tragedy to say the least, she could only imagine what Endymion was going through.

“It must be hard,” Serenity said softly. “He seems so sweet,” she commented, a warm welcoming dimpled smile coming to mind as she spoke, her cheeks heating up as she smiled softly.

“ I am sure he is but did you forget about the rumours that Lord Jaehyun is going to start courting you when we arrive back on the moon,” Minah said softly but the warning was in her tone, don’t get too fond. “Let’s just focus on improving relations between our Kingdoms,” she said.

‘Do my ears deceive me or is the Princess of Venus telling someone to think with their brains and not with their hearts?” Mars commented in a sing-song voice. “The same Princess who was caught canoodling with several misters at her Debutante ball,” he asked, teasing.

“Your just jealous you weren’t one of them,” Jupiter laughed. “And shush you know Venus takes her position as leader of the Sailor Senshi very seriously,” he said.

“And she wishes you two would start taking it more seriously,” Venus commented. “Now off to bed you three, I will take tonight’s guard shift,” she commented getting up off Serenity's bed.

“What? Why? Venus you should rest as well,” Serenity said with a frown.

“Your highness, as much as Prince Endymion is trying not everyone else on Elysion shares the same good will,” Venus said softly, not wanting to upset her friend.

“As fun as teasing M is we have a big day tomorrow,” Sungjae commented, “We should let his highness get some rest,” he said seriously. The other Shitennou knew when he used that tone that the fun was over. “I’ll do a quick round on the Lunarian parties wing the rest of you should all go to bed, who knows who these talks will play out,” he said with a frown.

The other three stood up gathering their things and heading towards their respective rooms, not without a few quick jabs at M, Daniel telling him to dream off him before sending him another flying kiss. “M everything will be fine,” Sungjae said softly once they were alone. “You are a good ruler and everyone will see that,” he said with a quick nod before leaving to do his rounds.

M flopped back onto his bed, eyes closing as soon as his head hit the pillow, one single thought on his mind.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

“Good morning your majesty,” Prince Endymion greeted Princess Serenity with bow as they walked into the dinning room“I hope you found the room to your satisfaction,” he said politely. Venus heard Mars snigger beside her muttering about how the prince learned to speak over night. Venus rolled her eyes knowing this wouldn’t last, as soon as the Earth Prince looked up and saw what Serenity was wearing or not wearing for that matter it would be back to mumbled words if they were lucky.

“Give her your jacket,” Venus said through gritted teeth as Mars rolled his eyes handing Serenity his jacket.

“Your highness.” Venus said carefully. “Forgive me if i am wrong but i believe Princess Serenity did not have anything planned for this morning so her attire isn’t exactly proper,” she commented stopping herself from snapping at him. Yes he was a Prince but he still had to follow protocol.

“Huh?” Prince Endymion looked up before quickly looking down, face bright red. “Oh uhm, I was just going to offer you all join us for breakfast,” he muttered.

“Why is there something wrong with the one your staff -” Mars started to speak before Princess Serenity spoke.

  “We’d love to,” Serenity said quickly, “Just give me a moment to get changed into something more appropriate,” she said looking down at her nightgown, sheer and shimmering in the Earth’s sunlight.

“Right of course, Sungjae,” he said, turning to one of his Knight’s. “Would you stay here and show them to the formal dining area,” he asked. The Knight looked between the Prince and their royal party, nodding with a frown. “Okay i’ll see you then,” Prince Endymion said with a huge smile, a huge smile that Serenity seemed to bloom under. Well this was tooth rottingly sweet, Venus knew this was going to be trouble.

“Your majesty shall we?” Venus commented as Serenity nodded turning away from Prince Endymion, a soft smile on her face. Venus and Mars moved to her sides as they made their way back to their quarters, the Prince’s Knight stood a few steps away from that all times but he was a looming figure, the sniggering staff all backed away at the sight. Something Venus appreciated because threatening to kill them in her native tongue just didn’t have the same effect.

“I’ll be right back,” Princess Serenity said to the three mostly to Endymion’s guard. “Mars, would you be able to wake Mercury and Jupiter up,” she said sweetly as Mars nodded stepping past the Elysion guard with a scowl. Venus rolled her eyes, Mars had a tough time believing that Elysian and it’s people truly wanted peace, especially after his father had filled his head with stories of the Solar wars.

Silence had fallen over the hallway, Venus standing inside of a slightly ajar door frame as to keep an on Princess Serenity. “I don’t doubt your Prince wants people but from how the staff is reacting to us i don’t your people do,” Venus said to the Guard who looked up brow cocked.

“It has admittedly been harder to convince some people that this is the best step for our future as a nation,” The guard spoke, his tone steady conveying no hint of emotion. “It has seemed to get worse of late,” he admitted. “The Prince is trying so hard to quell the situation,” he said, Venus noted their was a crack in his armor, one that mirrored her own, her Princess was always number one and she had a feeling that it was the same for this guard and Prince Endymion. With a nod silence fell over the two as they waited for the rest of the royal party to come back out. The other guards returned, Mars resuming his one sided glare off with the guard while Mercury and Jupiter looked over at him curiously.

“Mi-Venus,” The Princess shrieked, causing the four of them to rush towards the door.Only to find the Princess standing there holding up two pieces of jewellery.

“Sorry guys,” Princess Serenity said sheepishly, “I’ll be out in a minute,” she said shutting the door once Venus was in the room.

15 minutes later Princess Serenity walked back out fully dressed. “Uhm, Sungjae was it?” she asked as she stood in the hallway, her guards flanking her side. “Is this … I tried to replicate Elysian’s style,” she said smoothing down her gown. Sungjae looked her over, her outfit while a perfect replicate of an Elysian gown but the fabrics and intricate patterns was far more over the top then what an Earth girl would wear, especially not a breakfast, Sungjae knew better than to point that out.

“It’s a lovely gown your majesty, your dressmakers are very skilled,” he said softly as the younger girl smiled widely, “But please don’t feel obligated change your style to match ours, you are an esteemed guest you should be able to dress however you please,” he said politely. “Now if we are all ready,” Sungjae said ready to lead the party to breakfast. “Prince Endymion has planned a busy day for you, he is quite excited to show you all our humble palace,” he said looking at the Lunarians curiously. Today was going to be interesting.

➤ proceed to the library

➤ proceed to the gym

➤ proceed to the astronomy tower

➤proceed to the kitchen

➤proceed to the garden

[treasure-my-aurora]

One More Night. Pt 5

Pairing: Kim Hongjoong / fem!Reader

Chapter: 5/14

Genre: Mutual pining, canon compliant, fluffy af, angsty af, suggestive, teasing and filled with that good shit that everyone loves

Words in this chapter: 6045

Lisbon and Hongjoong looked at me from underneath long lashes, whispered an apology about acting like an ass two days ago under his breath as I fixed the collar on his jacket. I gave him a look, my fingers lingered on the skin on his throat a bit longer than necessary and I could feel him gulping under my fingertips. “I want you, only you. Never make me regret the fact that I took your side” I whispered as I combed my fingers through the long hair in his neck and he bit his lip, and gave me a nod, a breathless gasp leaving his lips. - Paris and we were fighting our way forward through the crazy traffic to the venue. People drove like they wanted to crash, and I choked on a gasp when a driver in front of us took a beeline to the left, his car barely graced us. My hand found Hongjoong’s and he gave me a smile, fright in his eyes but there was something comforting in his smile and I took a deep breath with him to calm my racing heart. “Sorry about that” Our driver apologized and cursed like a sailor when another driver made a risky move. Hongjoong’s hand was warm in mine and I swallowed as he gave it a small squeeze. - Berlin and the weather was cold. I shivered, wearing a shirt less than I probably should have as we jumped into the cars that were going to take us to the hotel. We got checked in and I longed for a good nap while I unloaded the luggage and Hongjoong’s wardrobe. He gave me a mixed look of longing and apology as if he was sorry that I couldn’t join him when they followed their managers towards the escalator. I shrugged and gave him a smile back, already in the zone to get everything unpacked and to the venue as soon as I could. Four hours later and I closed the door to the big dressing room marked with ‘ATEEZ’ in the same moment as my phone rang and I chuckled lightly when I answered. “Do you have a small camera strapped on me or something?” I asked and Hongjoong laughed and my heart jumped happily when the sound of it filled my chest with warmth. “No, but I have timed you several times and know that you’re usually done by now..." He said and I bit my lip to suppress another laugh as he trailed off, realizing that even though it was a cute thing to do, it was a bit weird as well, “Anyway… come to my room, I fixed you breakfast” My stomach growled happily at the thought of food, only filled with a kimbap and a cup of coffee that I basically poured into me as soon as we arrived. I walked with hurried steps and took a company car with some tech guys that’d just finished setting up the equipment as well. They wished me a good day and I gave them a big smile, feeling for the first time in a long time that this might actually be a good day. One without mishaps, wardrobe malfunctions and endless teasing from Hongjoong, and though the first two seemed to be right, the last one was as far from right as it could be… “Nooonaaaa. I missed youuu” Hongjoong whined and threw his arms around me as soon as he opened the door, barely giving me time to knock, as if he’d been camping next to it and waited for me to walk down the corridor. I squinted my eyes at him and took a deep inhale through my nose. “Why are you so weird? You weren’t like this when I talked to you fifteen minutes ago… Have you been drinking?” I asked, even though I couldn’t smell any alcohol on him, and he shook his head, his hair whipping the sides of his face and I suppress a laugh at his bewildered expression. I closed the door behind me, still with him in my arms and my stomach growled again when the smell of toast, eggs and bacon surrounded my senses. “Nooo, I just haven’t slept yet and I accidentally drank some coffee and the jet lag is making me whooozy and I missed youuuu” He continued, a pout on his lips and I looked at him in my arms with a puzzled look, time seemed to pause for a few seconds as something shadowed his eyes when he gazed into mine “I… I really am sorry about the other day” He gulped, voice serious all of a sudden and I clenched my jaw, knowing that he talked about London and the altercation between San and him, “I don’t know what happened, don’t know why I said the things I did. I just get so… jealous when it comes to you. I know I stepped over the line and I need you to understand that it’s not who I am…” I looked away, the memories of the way he acted, the three of us in that dressing room. My fury when he doubted me, still unsure if I wanted him as much as he wanted me. He licked his lips nervously and watched me with eyes that spoke of his sincerity, “I know you’re sorry Joong. I know you, and I know that those actions aren't you. I understand the jealousy you feel, but I don’t want you to ever speak to me like that again. It’s not ok” “I won’t” He shook his head, almost violently and tried to give me a small hopeful smile, “Can you forgive me?” He asked, still concerned and swallowed hard, I sighed. There wasn’t really a reason for me to hold a grudge. I knew that he cared for me and that he was genuinely sorry, the breakfast was most likely a peace offering, and I chewed on the inside of my cheek. He was hot-headed, and even though I was still a bit hurt that he still thought that his feelings for me wasn’t completely reciprocated, I guess that I sometimes felt the same. It was a trait grounded in self-doubt and unfortunately a trait that we both shared. “Of course, I forgive you, Joongie” He gave me a bright smile and closed his arms around me tighter and I hugged him back for a few seconds, thinking that he’d let me go but it didn’t seem to be the case. There was a pause that almost lasted half a minute as I looked longingly at the food and Hongjoong looked longingly at me, but I quickly grew tired of this one-sided threesome. “Let me go, Joongie” I asked and pulled on his arms where he held onto my clothes in a death grip. “What would you do if I kissed you right now?” He asked, voice deep and even more serious than before and I met his eyes, his gaze flicked between them and my lips and I opened my mouth to answer him something clever, but my sustenance deprived mind couldn’t form a word and Hongjoong pouted. “I try not to think about it, because it hurts too much… but the fact that San got to taste your lips before I could, drives me crazy” I sighed and looked away as I felt my heart beat hard against his and I shrugged, “After your first win” “What?” He looked at me again, pupils dilated, and I repeated myself, “When you win your first award, I’ll give you a kiss. I promise” “But that could take months” He pouted again, and I shrugged, “Guess you gotta work hard then” “... Guess I will” His smile was brighter than the sun and my heart ached when he gave me a final tight squeeze. - Amsterdam and I woke up when the sun’s beams shone through the window, blinded me slightly when I sleepily opened my eyes. I turned around, and a disgruntled groan left my lips. A soft hush answered my noise and I paused for a second, opened my eyes slightly again. Hongjoong was sleeping next to me, and I melted at the sight of him as I remembered last night. Him coming to my room after midnight, a pillow in his arms that he’d brought from his room across mine, eyes heavy. Complaining that he was cold, that Yunho didn’t want to cuddle and that he missed me, and I was too tired to argue and just let him join me underneath the covers. Sleep had ruffled his hair and he wore a pout on his lips, his hand softly stroked my side as if he thought my groan of discomfort was out of distress and was now reassuring me, still unconscious to the world. I wondered how many times he’d let the other members climb into his bed if he was so used to being there for the person that needed comforting that he did so in his sleep. I frowned and felt a sudden sorrow I’d never felt before when I imagined how tough every day must’ve been for them, for him, while they still were trainees. Not knowing whether or not they would be able to debut. All of them just kids with a big dream and Hongjoong, being the leader of the group and one of the oldest, took most responsibility, from being the spokesman to be the person the members could go to when things became too much to handle on their own. My eyes soften when his movements stilled, and he began snoring softly again. I looked over my shoulder and glanced at the bedside clock I always carried with me, knowing that I had to get up soon or I wouldn’t be able to get any breakfast before my day started. I moved as carefully as I could but Hongjoong still felt me leaving and he clenched his arm around my waist, his eyebrows furrowed, “Don’t go” He whispered, voice hoarse and whiny and I licked my dry lips, my heart aching, “I have to Joongie. I can’t be in bed all day” He groaned, and pushed me closer, flushed my body against his as he stretched, his nose nuzzled into the crook of my neck and it would've been sweet if my breath wouldn’t hitch when a very apparent boner pressed against my thigh. It wasn’t the first time we slept like this, it occurred more often than I wanted to admit to my colleagues, but this…the boner and the fact that he didn’t wake up as I flinched from surprise, had never happened before and I bit my lower lip to suppress a gasp when his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth fell open slightly. Another groan escaped his lips as he rubbed himself unconsciously on me and I inhaled sharply, feeling arousal pool from my core, the burn made me clench my legs shut. “Noona” He whined out a breathy moan and the hand that's been on my waist moved over my hip and I gulped as he grabbed it hard, his thumb possessively pushed on the hipbone as he moved my body against his. I could feel how he twitched through the pyjama pants, a small wet spot on the front of them already and I had to manually take a deep breath before I tore myself away from him and rolled down onto the floor. A gasp left his lips again as he opened his eyes from my sudden motion, his sleepy eyes half open as the sun shone into them. He looked up to see me, a blush covered my cheeks and I breathed heavily. “Noona?” He asked confused and I blushed even harder, feeling the flush covering me from my head to my toes when I realized that he’d been totally unconscious of the fact that he’d just humped my leg like a dog in heat, probably too deep into a wet dream. “I gotta go, make sure that you leave within the hour. The cars are leaving for the airport in two” I said and pulled up my hair in a bun. “But…” He started and sat up slightly, giving me a perfect view of his cock outlined in his pants and I slumped slightly, very unattractively and much like a deflated balloon. I looked away, and swallowed hard before I grabbed the bag with clothes and hygiene articles, I always had prepared, “I gotta go” I said again and gave him another involuntarily glance before I put on my shoes. He looked down then and a noise of embarrassment left his mouth as he quickly covered himself with the blanket again. “I’m sorry” He shouted after me, but I didn’t hear. My heart pounded too loud in my ears. - Milan and I laid on my bed. It was late, my eyes were closed and a soft breeze from the open balcony door made the baby hairs in my forehead flicker. I’d just taken a deep breath and closed my eyes, winching from the ache in my back when there was a knock on the door. I groaned loudly to myself and placed my long and index fingers over my eyes, rubbing them slightly before I heaved myself off the bed. “What?” I said while opening the door, my voice annoyed as I made eye contact with the person who’d knocked. “Just a question” Hongjoong asked, dressed in black slacks and a white turtleneck, his fringe parted, a black big sweatshirt in his arms and I fought off the feeling of just closing the door again because he looked so wonderfully amazing, having spent the whole day outside with the members, filming and having a good time and I looked like something that’d just been chewed up and spit out by a killer whale, my almost non-existential make-up smeared. Hair dirty, face puffy and eyes shadowed with bags under them since I’d been sleeping bad the last few days. “Yes?” I gave him a tired look. “I happen to have this extra movie ticket and I have no one to give it to. Mind taking it so you can go with me?” He smirked and I rolled my eyes. He was smooth, I could give him that. “But what about Yunho or Seonghwa or any other member? Maybe they want to go with you?” I asked, an innocent smile on my lips as I leaned against the door and Hongjoong’s brows furrowed, and I had to tense my jaw to stop a giggle to escape. “Because I want to go with you” He said and gave me a look that begged me not to be difficult. “... So, you’re asking me out?” I asked and Hongjoong sighed. I was enjoying myself too much with this. “No, I’m giving you a free opportunity to go to the movies with me” He said, a pout on his lips and he looked away. I nodded slightly and felt how my serious face broke as the smile I tried to fight off tugged at my lips. “So, it’s a date?” “Just go with me, please?” Hongjoong said, frustrated now and with an impatient wrinkle in his forehead and I shrugged. “I don’t know… I don’t really do dates”. “Aah, noona, stop it” Hongjoong whined loudly and I giggled when he realized I’d played with him, his lip curled up and he scrunched his nose, eyes squinting. “Give me twenty? I just need to rinse off” I said and turned around, fully expecting him to just say ‘ok’ and do the same but he followed me into the room, the door automatically slammed shut behind him. “What are you doing?” I asked and gave him a look of disapproval when he sat cross legged down on my bed. “I’m finished, why should I go back if you only need twenty minutes?” I scoffed and collected some clothes, not in the mood to argue because it would just take time that I needed to make me feel like myself again and it would most likely not lead anywhere anyway. Hongjoong smiled a victory smile and pulled out his phone from his pocket and I locked the bathroom door behind me. I rinsed off quickly, blow dried my hair and put on clothes fitting for the still quite cold south European weather. I skipped the make-up. It was too late anyway, and I was certain that I'd crash in my bed as soon as we'd get back. I went out again, and Hongjoong was lying on the bed now, legs lazily resting on the edge of it, his shirt slightly rid up to show the honeyed skin of his lower stomach and his fingertips lazily ran over it, mindlessly caressing the spot. Phone in his other hand and hair sprawled out like a blonde halo around his head and I inhaled sharply before my tongue flicked out to wet my lips. “Fucking tease” I cursed low under my breath, but apparently not low enough because Hongjoong chuckled softly, “You love it” and I shook my head as I collected my walled, phone and key-card, “In your dreams” “Well, you certainly know that now, don’t you?” He winked at me and I felt my cheeks flush when the memories of him rubbing his hard cock on my thigh flashed in my mind. I stuck out my tongue at him and he only smiled as he put on the big sweatshirt, pulled the hood over his head to cover his hair and fished out a black face mask out of one of the pockets so that only his eyes were shown and my heart sank when I saw him disguising his appearance. The remembrance of the fact that we never could go on a real date hit hard and I looked away again, pain in my heart when his warm hand found mine. - Budapest and the weather was sunny on my skin when I walked to the venue. My steps quick and hands in my pockets to protect them from the biting wind. I wore headphones, deep into a conversation about a sudden wardrobe malfunction, hence me rushing over to fix it. “Could you get a Frappuccino for me on your way back?” Hongjoong asked at the other end of the line and I scoffed out a small laugh. “Maybe. If I have time” I respond and he answered with a small ‘Yay’ before he got quiet again, embarrassed that he’d ripped the fabric on one of the main costumes. “I don’t know how you’ve put up with me for this long, but I love you for it” He said softly to break the small pause and I froze in the middle of a step, gave an apologizing smile to the person who walked behind me on the sidewalk when I forced them to step around me as I collected myself for a second. “Don’t say things like that,” I said between clenched teeth and looked at both sides of the road before I skipped over, angry with his reckless words as my heart flipped like crazy in my chest. “What, I can’t say that I appreciate what you do for me? I know that I should say it more often” He said, a mix of confidence and apology in his voice, like it was the most obvious thing in the world and I couldn’t answer him without revealing just how much it really meant that he choose the word ‘love’ out of every word he could’ve chosen. “I mean it though, the appreciating part I mean” He hurried to correct himself and I gulped, my mouth dry, “Every little thing you do makes me want to hold onto you forever and never let you go” - Stockholm and the city lights reflected on the water that ran through the city a few hundred meters from my balcony. It was cold outside; the clock had passed midnight and I wrapped my duvet tighter around my body before I took another sip of my hot tea. Soft piano music played on low volume from my phone’s speakers and Hongjoong was beside me, curled up with his head in my lap, softly humming along with the song. The light from his phone’s screen illuminated his features as he scrolled down twitter, looking through the tags from tonight's show. My fingers in his hair, softly combing through it while I looked up at the clear night sky, stars twinkling, and a big full moon was our only company and I felt a strange calmness in my soul. A feeling that I wanted to save in a treasure chest and cherish forever. - Warsaw and I stood with the other styling noonas in the corridor below the stage, the next clothes change already prepared on racks beside us, ready to work fast in the top five minutes it had to take before they needed to go back out on stage. The song ended and I braced myself when Hongjoong came strutting crotch first down the stairs, walking like he usually did after being on stage for an hour, adrenaline in his bloodstream, pumped up from the audience, fringe combed back, sweat dripping down his template, collected on his brows, and cupids bow and I swallowed hard when his black eyes met mine. An almost diabolical fire burning in them and the feeling of being approached by one of Lucifer’s demons made me take a step back and he grabbed my wrist to stop me from bumping into a colleague. My breath hitched when he pulled me back towards him sharply and he wasted no time to start to undress himself with one brow raised, “I really have to do it myself, huh?” He said and I broke out of the trance I was in and swatted away his hand that’d already undone the first two buttons on his jacket, “You know I’d give anything for you to repeat this action after the show is done and we’re alone, right?” He whispered, loud enough for only me to hear and I gave him a look of warning from underneath my eyelashes, “Don’t” I whispered back but couldn’t help but swallow hard as my imagination ran wild. “I know that you know how bad I want it. I can see that you’re thinking about it right now. Fuck, I could eat you out for hours if you’d only let me feel how good you’d clench around my cock” He smirked now and I pressed my lips into a thin line, his back was turned to the rest of the people in the room and the result of his dirty talk and vivid imagination showed up as a bulge in his underwear and I couldn’t help but glance, hoping that no one saw me do so. He sighed, eyes searched for mine and I held out the clothes for him to take. “There’s no time to mess around, Joong” I whispered back at him, annoyed as his eyelids fell when he indulged in the feeling of my body nearly flushing against him, curling a lock of my hair around his finger and I swallowed when I met his eyes. “I know, I know. It’s the energy I get from the show and you here, looking like a dream… I-” “Really need to put on these clothes now, please” I interrupted and held up the striped woollen shirt and black pants higher. He wet his lips, took the pants and I looked away, chewed frustratedly on my cheek as he winced when he pulled up the zipper, trapping his half hard cock in the uncomfortable tightness of them. “You really only have yourself to blame” I said, arms crossed, and he gave me a smug look underneath his eyelashes, “It’s worth it though. I’m not the only one who just got horny, am I?” I didn’t answer him and he gave me another look, a cocky smile on his lips as his eyes flicked over my body and I clenched my legs involuntarily, feeling the heat there pulsating happily from the teasing and he just tilted his head, one eyebrow raised saying ‘I told you so’ without using any words. - Moscow and the boys had been gone all day. They wrapped up the shooting of their little series, finished the performance video for ‘Promise’ and then had a final dinner together to celebrate part one of their first world tour. I’d been busy myself, finishing up with packing everything back into their bags and made sure that nothing was left forgotten. It was late when I got back at the hotel, my body hurt from standing up for fourteen hours straight and I stumbled into my room, ready to go to bed. We had to be up early tomorrow, the flight left at 09:00 and I had to take another walk around the venue before leaving, mainly because I just wanted to make sure that I had everything. I opened the door, and almost took a leap back out when I saw that the bed was already occupied. “What are you doing here?” I asked and Hongjoong looked up from his phone, gave me an uninterested look and then focused back on the screen. “I was bored so I wanted to visit but you weren’t here, so I decided to wait” He said without looking at me and I gave him a surprised look, a wrinkle between my brows. Maybe I got a little insulted from his apathetic reaction to me because I couldn’t help myself from smacking his leg, a bit irritated, not hard to hurt, but hard enough to earn a reaction from him as he winched and looked at me with offended eyes. “I’m tired, go away” I complained but he shook his head, “Don’t wanna. Why’d you hit me?” He said, pouted slightly and my head cocked to the side. “How did you even get in here?” I avoided his question completely and he chuckled lightly, combed his fingers through his hair, locked his phone and placed it on the bed beside him. “I convinced a staff member that you’d be sleeping at the venue and I wanted a room for myself” He smiled proudly, and I scoffed out a small laugh. “So, do you want to spend the night or what is just something you wanted to say?” I asked and covered my mouth as I yawned and Hongjoong’s eyes twinkled dangerously, “Depends…" He said and I placed my hands on my waist, not up for any teasing, “I need to be up early tomorrow” I said, and he nodded, “I know, I know” He said and sat up from the bed, threw his legs over the edge and was just about to stand up when he stumbled, and I rushed forward to grab his shirt and pushed him back onto the bed to stop him from hitting his head into the bedside table. I frowned and leaned over him, inhaled sharply near his face and he giggled, “Have you been drinking?” I asked and he gave me a secretive smile, “Not a lot, just a glass of dessert wine they served after they wrapped up the recording” He shrugged, and I gave him a look that spoke of how much I didn’t believe him, and he rolled his eyes, “Ok, three glasses but that was only because Mingi didn't want his and they accidently served Jongho. He can legally drink here, isn’t that crazy? I mean, he’s just a baaaabyyy” he dragged out the last word longer than necessary and I sighed. I really just wanted to go to bed. A sober Hongjoong was a pain in the ass to get rid of and I could only imagine how hard it would be now when he was tipsy. The alcohol seemed to have hit him like a train the same second he’d tried to stand up and forced the intoxicated blood to run properly through his body. “Come, let’s get you back to your room” I said and held out my hand for him to take. But he clenched his hands close to his body, a frown on his face as he said a short and very determined “No” much like a defiant toddler. I sighed, rolled my eyes and shook my head, “You’re not gonna sleep here in the state you’re in” “Why not?” He pouted and threw his arms above his head in protest, his shirt rode up slightly and my eyes flicked to the exposed skin before my eyes met his again and I bit on my tongue. “Because I’d bet both my kidneys that you’re a horny drunk and that in combination with whatever we have between us will not end good” I said and felt a blush flush my cheeks pink when he smirked, his tongue flicked out to lick his lower lip and he looked at me from hooded eyes. “Define good, darling. Because I’d make you feel good in an instant” He said and I shook my head at his words, “Don’t call me darling, come on, let’s go” I said and held out my hand again. His brows rose, a smirk on his lips and he sat up slightly, leaned back on his elbows as he took my words as a challenge. “Do you prefer me to be even more formal? I can call you noonim?” His head cocked to the side and he bit his lip, eyes glossy as he undressed me with his eyes and I sighed at his determination to earn a reaction from me, “No? How about something cuter, then… Sweetheart? Baby? Baby girl?” I looked away and felt a blush flush my cheeks pink and he chuckled under his breath, “Wow, I never would’ve guessed that you enjoyed being called something like that. You always need to be so much in control. So calm and collected all the time and all you want is someone to absolutely dominate you, huh?” I bit my lower lip, my breath hitched in my throat and his fingers came down to stroke the small exposed skin of his stomach, his shirt raised as his fingers travelled up, and I swallowed as I watched. His pants low enough to expose the soft dark hair that trailed under his belly button and I bit my lip to repress a small groan, tried to stop myself from squirming at the sight of him. I’d seen him without a shirt countless times by now, but this was so much different than any other time. His fingers traced the soft skin of his toned frame and I gave him a pained expression, my mind told me that I should stop him, but I knew in my heart that I couldn’t. He pulled his shirt over his head, tossed it at the side of the bed and I cursed under my breath, my mouth went dry and I wanted to close my eyes, like I didn’t deserve to see him like this. “Fuck, baby. I’d ask you to touch me but I don’t know if I’d be able to stop myself from holding my part of our deal if you did” He moaned and I chewed anxiously on my cheek as arousal burned between my legs when he touched himself, fingers slipped into the edge of his pants and his already half hard cock dented against the zipper from my admiration of his body. “I want to touch you too…” I gasped and he looked at me, lips parted, and gulped at my words. “Then do it, please” He whined, and I shook my head, “You know that I can’t. I… I want you to come without my touch” I moaned out and he melted into the mattress, eyes rolled back as he submitted to his own lust and placed a cupped hand over his clothed cock, and he immediately bucked into his own hand. I felt my eyes tear up slightly from wanton lust as he stroked down his length through his pants, thrusting hard into his hand and I had to brace myself from swatting away his hand and replace it with my own. He locked his eyes with me, and I clenched around nothing as I felt my wetness soak my panties. This new side of him, seeing him lose control in front of me, his lust for me so big that he got hard with me still fully dressed and without my touch, made me breathless. I swallowed hard, walked around the bed, and laid down next to him. He gave me a confused look over his shoulder and I shuddered under his gaze. “Lay like me and don’t look anywhere else than my face” I said, and a groan left his lips when I unbuttoned my pants and pulled them down to my ankles. He copied what I did, and I kept eye contact with him as he plunged his hand into his underwear, threw his head back into the pillow as his hand closed around his cock and I heard how he pulled on his length, already slick from pre-cum. I did the same and placed two fingers on my clit, lazily rubbing myself as he locked his gaze with me again, breath coming out in short pants, eyes black and glossy and I moaned as he thrusted hard into his hand. I imagined how it would’ve felt if those hard thrusts were to move my body in that same rhythmic dance he created. I cursed under my breath and tried to focus on getting to the finish line with him, fighting off the need to just scream fuck it and straddle his hips, impale myself on his cock and ride him until we’d forget our names. “Fuck, babe. I bet your dripping. I, ah…” He clenched his eyes shut, paused to flick his wrist a certain way and I forced myself not to look down to see what he was doing, “I bet you’d taste so good, I could drink you for hours. Not stopping until you’re begging me to do so, overstimulated and writhing under my touch. Can you imagine that for me, baby? Imagine my fingers in your sweet tight cunt and my tongue licking you up” He cursed again, and I sobbed out a moan. “Tell me what you’d do to me” He groaned, and I sighed, “I’d let you fuck my throat so hard I wouldn’t be able to talk the next day” I exaggerated slightly but it did the trick because the image of it made him moan, deep and guttural, and his head fell back against the pillow again and I swallowed hard, “I’d let you fuck me raw, no condom to keep you from feeling every part of me, taking me however you want, my cunt would swallow you down so good, warm and wet and you’d never want to finish because the feeling of me tight around you would be so good you’d see stars. I’d let you cum in me, filling me up to the brink” My breath hitched as I imagined everything I just said and I stood on the edge, ready to fall over and Hongjoong moaned again, his breathing laboured. “I’m coming babe… Look at me” He ordered, and I complied, met his brown eyes and I choked on my breath as I finally saw what I’d only had been imagining so far. Gasping as he groaned softly, a wrinkle between his brows and his body tensed up, face contorted as he shuddered, and I heard the soft splattered as his cum cover his lower stomach. I fell shortly after, twitching and pulsating as the electric feeling spread through my body and he smiled at the sight of me, eyes so filled with warmth and affection that I had to look away. A shaky breath leaving his lips and I bit my lip and looked up at the ceiling. Content but knowing in the back of my mind how amazing it would’ve felt if we laid skin against skin.

[docholligay]

Unfortunately, because I’m working from home today for Annoying Reasons, I don’t have God’s most graceful cap setup, so it’s taking me a little longer to grab them.

BUT LET’S TALK ABOUT MINAKO AINO. (You thought you could escape in the first four muahahaha)

Mina isn’t in these first four episodes, not really. We don’t meet her, we don’t see what she’s doing behind the scenes, we only see her as Sailor V in small doses, which mostly involve her ruining Mamoru’s day as is right and proper.

And yet, she is a central feature of these first four episodes. There’s no denying her presence, her power, and the push within the very idea of her that motivates and moves them forward, even without knowing that she is Sailor Venus.

The first thing we see when we open the show itself is Sailor V, fighting Mamoru on a rooftop. We don’t start with the standard, “I’m Usagi Tsukino,I’m 14 years old and blah blah kill me.”  and then finding out about Sailor V as an afterthought, something that Usagi thinks is cool (Though most certainly that also). The show immediately tells us that although Usagi is Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon is important, that shouldn’t suggest that the story began when Luna threw herself at Usagi on a bridge Because Special Recruitment Reasons, but that the story has been ongoing, and we are only watching Usagi’s ENTRY into the story. It’s such a subtle change, but for me it makes a huge difference in the focus of the show, immediately telling you that although this show is Sailor Moon, it really is more of an ensemble than previous versions.

Usagi wakes up to the sounds of C’est La Vie repeating, and a Minako poster on her wall. On one hand, this is just fun, it’s an easter egg for the 99% of us seeing the story for the millionth time, knowing what she means and what’s to come within this story. But on the other, Usagi AWAKENS to the sounds of Sailor V, being literally as unsubtle as possible. Mina has decided to find the princess by showing her ass to Tokyo and seeing who recognizes its magical qualities. Usagi doesn’t enter our story until she’s prompted by Mina’s presence and vibe. Luna may be the one who tells her that she’s Sailor Moon, but the show is, from the beginning, suggesting that it is Mina herself who is assembling her soldiers, in her own way.

This only continues with Ami’s episode, where Usagi is delighted to find out that Ami is also a fan of Minako. In fairness, Usagi is delighted with everything, but Mina’s music not only forms a bond between Usagi and Ami while Usagi is tailing Ami around Tokyo trying to pressure her into magical friendship, but PROTECTS Ami when the youma attacks. Mina is nowhere to be seen, but still the things she would be doing if she were there pervade. None of this would have happened and been possible if not for her and specifically the medium by which she’s choosing to search for her princess. It’s like they took the whole Starlights thing from Stars and were like “What if we made this like 86% more plot relevant?”

And Rei, oh Rei. I genuinely enjoy that they have her straight up state that she hates karaoke and she’s not interested in being friends. I don’t get Michiru in this continuity, which is a huge bummer, but they way they make Rei more of a burning white ember in this version rather than a firework REALLY works for me, and it gives me some of that disconnected level of grump that never goes all the way to hyperdramatic tsun tsun, which I crave. But whether Rei does or doesn’t like Mina’s hot tunes is ultimately irrelevant. The point isn’t necessarily “All the senshi have to like this” but “All the senshi are drawn together by this.” Even not being present, Mina works in her capacity as commander, giving her team the direction they need to coordinate their attacks and defeat the enemy. It’s giving her a sense of command without having to be present (And Rei ends up mumbling her song at the end, oh Rei you will come to hate so much of what you love about Mina)

It’s that last bit that I particularly love, though I love all of it, because it’s a tip of the hat to Mina being leader. Something the anime took away from her in a way that has always bothered me is Mina’s level of seriousness and command, which she had for the first few episodes and then was allowed to fade away. This adaptation never does that. I remember the criticisms of this that revolved a lot around Mina being too serious, too strategic, too pragmatic, and while my own special blend of her has a little more goofiness, if I have to pick a side I will always side with PGSM’s idea of her power and command over the anime’s idea, especially by the time we reach Stars, of her being Usagi Lite™ In this version, she has a leaderly bearing and command, and she isn’t afraid to tell anyone, including Sailor Moon, what to do.

And for all this, it makes it obvious why people might consider her to be the princess. Despite the fact that all of us watching know that Usagi must be, the show does enough with Mina’s draw and sense of omnipresence in the girls’ lives that you are almost tempted to think it for yourself. It seems natural that the girls would assume that Mina is the princess and they the soldiers, because that’s how the natural flow seems to have come.

It’s a lot to start introducing into an adaptation with a simple and everpresent pop song. But it’s one of our first signs that PGSM is a show that takes full advantage of the fact that the general endings are known, that there’s no getting trapped or contradicted by something that will come in the manga later, so they have more freedom to show foreshadowing and to build characters in creative ways. It’s so delightful to see it here, and so frustrating that Crystal couldn’t do the same.  

[friendshipstates]

Storm Surge (Fanfic)

Nobody could match her in raw power. The Senshi of Jupiter was life, love, and lightning forged into a feminine frame. She had weathered apocalypses, stood in the gap against destroyers and shielded the weak with her might. Nobody could defeat her in a fair fight. That’s why the remnants of Jark Matter decided they would not fight her fairly.

Using all their cunning built up from millenia of controlling their own reality, the servants of Don Armage came up with a strategy to defeat Sailor Jupiter. They would not silence the thunder, but rather they would amplify it. They would take the storm, and make it their own.

They waited until Sailor Jupiter had already called down the lightning to destroy one of their planet-eating ships. A worthwhile sacrifice, if it meant removing one of this Earth’s strongest protectors.

They had counted on one other thing from their study of Sailor Jupiter. She was a self-sacrificing sort. So, as the dust cleared an orb of dark energy flew from the wreckage not at her, but at the body of Sailor Moon, who was currently distracted by trying to lift some rubble off a bystander. Sailor Jupiter saw the orb coming and immediately moved to block it.

For a few brief seconds, nothing seemed to happen. The magic that empowered the Senshi shielded her from the pain such an attack would cause. But as Sailor Moon stood up to check on her savior, a massive bolt of lightning jumped across the space between her and Sailor Jupiter, driving Sailor Moon back ten feet.

“Jupiter, why did you do that?” Sailor Moon shook out the numbness from her hand. She was confused and feeling betrayed. But she knew Jupiter would never hurt her intentionally.

“I don’t know it, just happened.” As Jupiter pulled her hand back, the same lightning started spreading across her body. As the lightning jumped from her fingertips, it created an electromagnetic pulse, shorting out all the electric devices for a hundred feet. After that first expulsion, more and more lightning leapt from her body, causing her to cry out in pain. Every shock was stronger than the last and each one caused her more pain.

Sailor Mars tried to get close enough to cast a healing charm upon her comrade, only to have the paper burned away by a surge of lightning.

Sailor Venus wrapped her Venus Love Me Chain around Sailor Jupiter to keep the lightning contained, but it only served to ground through her, driving her to the pavement.

Sailor Mercury attempted to scan the surging shockwaves, but couldn’t get close enough for a definitive reading.

It was Sailor Moon who came up with a desperate tactic. Somewhere else in the city, someone was helping with the fight against Jark Matter. With tears in her eyes, Sailor Moon stepped backwards from Sailor Jupiter. “Jupiter, I’m not leaving you! I’m going to go get help! I promise!” And off she ran, to find the one person she was sure could contain all that lightning.

There he was, down by the arcade, using the Winch attachment on his armor to help pull people out of the second floor of an apartment building. As the last victim slid down to the ground, Sailor Moon caught up with Kamen Rider Fourze.

“Gentaro! Something’s wrong with Sailor Jupiter! Her lightning is going out of control!” Sailor Moon eventually managed to get out between gasps for air. “Please, you’ve got to help!”

Gentaro couldn’t believe that Sailor Jupiter would ever lose control of her element, but he also knew that Sailor Moon would never lie to him. “Grab hold!” He activated his Board Switch, creating a hoverboard under his feet. Lifting Sailor Moon onto the board, he used the boosters in his armor to get them down the street faster.

Once he was close enough to return Sailor Moon to the other Senshi, he stopped cold. Sailor Jupiter’s body seemed to be more energy than woman at this point, and every second caused millions of volts to pour off her body causing her obvious pain.

Every impulse in his body told him to get in there, to do something reckless and save the woman he considered a big sister. But fortunately, cooler heads prevailed.

“Kisaragi! Turn on the Camera Switch.” The voice of his supergenius friend, Kengo Utahoshi, said over the communicator in his helmet. “I’ll study the energy and come up with a solution.”

The other Senshi watched as Fourze summoned a video camera on his arm and held perfectly still for what felt like an eternity, though it was only ten seconds.

“All right. I’ve got a plan, Kisaragi! Do exactly as I say.” Kengo said and Gentaro nodded under his helmet.

“Wouldn’t dream of doing anything else.” He responded, putting absolute faith in Kengo’s ability.

ELEK ON! With a much smaller surge of lightning, Gentaro transformed into his golden armor state, and marched towards Sailor Jupiter. The first bolt struck by his feet, grounded out by the asphalt. But the second one went right from her to him as she held up a hand to warn him off.

Millions of volts and almost a dozen amps flowed through Gentaro’s armor, channeling down into the Driver on his waist. There was a brief glow, but as it subsided, everyone could see that the Elek Switch was doing its job. It was absorbing all that electricity into itself, much like the Fire Switch had done against the Altar Zodiarts many years before.

Another blast of lightning rushed at him, and again, it only stopped him for a moment before the Driver absorbed it. By this point, the HUD inside his armor was showing a reading of “Power Levels at 1100%” But even with the armor nearing overload, he had to get closer. Step after painful step as his pace slowed to a crawl. But finally, he closed the gap between them and wrapped his big sister in a warm embrace.

“Makoto! I’m here for you! Give me all your lightning! I can take it!” But absorbing the lightning was only half the battle. He had to take a step that he would regret. “I hope you can forgive me!”

“Forgive you? For what?” Sailor Jupiter answered through gritted teeth, and then she saw the extent of his plan.

HAND ON! MEDICAL ON! With his own arms fully embracing his big sister, Gentaro had deployed a mechanical hand on one leg, and a first aid kit on the other. The hand opened the kit, drawing out a gleaming syringe.

Gentaro took one hand off Sailor Jupiter’s waist, and rested it on the lever on his belt. “Please don’t be mad at me, Makoto. It’s the only way.” That hand threw the lever forward then went right back to hugging her as the belt spoke “ELEK! HAND! MEDICAL! LIMIT BREAK!”

No normal syringe could pierce Sailor Jupiter’s skin. But this one had a surge of cosmic energy behind it. Gentaro let the mechanical hand find a vein, and soon the needle plunged into her body. The powerful sedatives inside soon took effect, and Sailor Jupiter fell into a deep slumber.

When she awoke, it was in a place she had been with Gentaro a few times. The Rabbit Hutch Lunar Base. There, her fellow Senshi were on hand to wake her up, to give her liquids and cold cloths for the headache she’d soon have.

“Is it over?” She asked, afraid for a moment that she’d cause the whole moonbase to erupt in sparks.

“Yeah!” Sailor Moon pounced on her to show that Jupiter is once again in control of her power.

Sailor Jupiter glanced around the room and sees her little brother leaning against the far wall, trying to make himself look small. “Hey, get over here!” She waved him over. “There’s more than enough room in this hug for you.”

“You’re not mad at me for knocking you out?” Gentaro approached carefully. Not carefully enough as she threw an arm around him, dragging him in closer for a tight squeeze.

“Of course not! You did what had to be done, Gentaro. You saved me, after all.” Then she leaned in close and whispered. “Of course, you’d never be able to knock me out in a fair fight, and you know it.”

“Oh yeah, I know that, Makoto. Trust me, I know.” He whispered back. Then at his normal volume, he said “Rest up. Moon, Mars, Meteor and I are going to track down the rest of those Jark Matter guys before they can hurt anyone else.”

Sailor Jupiter leans back into the pillow, releasing her little brother and her best friend. “OK. But if they send another one of those ships, you’d better call me in so we can destroy it together.”

“Will do, Makoto.” He gives her a winning smile and heads back through the gate to Earth.

---

Elsewhere, the Jark Matter commanders watch the results of the battle.

“Who is this human who took this victory from us?” One alien with ram’s horns says to the one with the unicorn themed armor.

There’s a ringing of metal against metal and both turn to see an interloper arrive. This one looks like he might be based on the Cancer constellation, but he has none of the markings that identify him as a Jark Matter commander.

“That human is Kamen Rider Fourze, and you don’t stand a chance against him because…” The Cancer Horoscopes holds up a hand. A glowing stream of energy flows from the Unicorn commander to the crab’s claw. There’s a sudden snap as the claw comes down on the energy, and the Unicorn commander falls lifeless to the ground. “Because your soul just isn’t in it. Heh. Don’t say I never did anything for you, Gentaro.” With that, the Cancer Horoscopes creates a portal and returns to Earth, leaving behind a terrified Jark Matter commander and a power vacuum in the evil organization.

[sittingoverheredreaming]

Okay, now that I’m home and have gotten some sleep, I want to share my thoughts on The Super Live. It’s super spoilery, so it’s going under a cut. 

First, I want to say the Play Station theater has some really bad seating arrangements? The section we were in was flat, so it was very hard to see a lot of the stage (esp being that we were behind some tall people, and we are pretty short) I SAT ON MY FEET THE WHOLE TIME WHICH HURT BUT WAS DEFINITELY WORTH IT BECAUSE THIS SHOW IS SO VISUAL

Also I finally understand what people meant when they said it wasn’t a musical! I think it’s closer to a musical than anything else, though my wife brought up the point that a lot of it is similar to a ballet, in that a lot of things are conveyed through dance (and effects) with little talking or singing. We both agree though, that overall it felt more like a highlight reel than a full story. I’d put it as it showed a lot, but explained nothing. 

It’s definitely more a celebration of Sailor Moon using the first arc than a retelling of it. It’s not there to give you a story to dig into, it’s there to make you swoon over Tux and scream when your favorite character shows up, and it did that and it did that AMAZINGLY

Like listen, I am too gay for miracle romance most of the time but at the beginning, when Mamoru’s teasing Usagi and they accidentally touch and they freeze and then moonlight densetsu starts playing and they show a bunch of images of them from manga art? that hit me oh my god

AND THEN WHEN THEY WENT THROUGH ALL THE CHARACTERS IN THE SLIDESHOW. WE ALL JUST SCREAMED SO MUCH. EVERYONE SCREAMED FOR THEIR FAV

It was kind of funny, Ami got the shaft being first, not too many people cheered when she popped up, but then they showed Rei and Rei fans weren’t gonna NOT CHEER FOR REI, and then MAKO FANS HAVE TO REPRESENT BECAUSE IT’S MAKO AND WE LOVE HER, and then I think everyone screamed for Mina because if you do not get excited for Minako Aino you are wrong

WHEN THE ACTUALLY ACTRESSES HAD THEIR FIRST SCENE I WAS SO HAPPY

I’d worried about this cast, but they’re amazing and in character and it’s GREAT

The Best Friends song is SO CHEESY I LOVE IT

Comment from my wife: it was always easy for them to follow who spoke, even when they all just said “Hi” they all had distinct voices they could place, which is a problem they sometimes have in this stuff, especially while trying to read the subtitles

(I think the parts where the subtitles were done in comic voice bubbles were BRILLIANT, but the ones that were only on the screens to the sides(mostly the songs) were difficult to see while still watching the stage from where we sat)

WHEN THE SENSHI APPEARED FOR THE FIGHT IN THE AUDIENCE I LOST MY SHIT AND JUPITER WAS RIGHT BY US AND I CRIED

my wife has not really experienced how much I love Makoto because I don’t write about her and it was kind of hilarious before the show I got a mystery bookmark with one of my merch purchases, and when I opened it and saw I’d got Mako I teared up because I LOVE HER

AND THEN SHE CAME INTO THE FIGHT RIGHT BY OUR SEATS IT WAS AMAZING I LOVE HER SO MUCH

I love their fight song, I love all the songs where each senshi gets their little introductions, whether it’s just inners or everyone, SUPER LIVE SOUNDTRACK WHEN??

This one might be a particular favorite, because I think it captures that they’re fighting for Usagi, their sweet flawed friend Usagi, and that’s just really sweet

also not to beat a dead horse but every time Mako says “I’ll make you numb with regret” in anything it adds three years to my lifespan it’s so great I love Makoto Kino

ALSO I WANT TO GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO THIS MINA??? SHE’S DAMN GOOD

I’d love to see this cast in a more substantial show, they were so amazing in this and I fully believe they could rip my heart apart in something that was more character-focused

on a similar note why didn’t they let Beryl sing more

I love when they cast Beryl with a strong, operatic-style voice and they did that and then she barely sang

Everyone was underused, basically

Or maybe everyone was over-cast? The casting here is SO GOOD and I just want to see more of them

The part where they went to Harujuku was SO CUTE and also felt a little like they were trying to teach Americans a little about Japan/Tokyo, it made me wonder if it was always in there

Also the part where they were in what I think were kimonos (I don’t know how to spot the different types of clothing) was so amazing? They tied them in perfect sync? It felt like fan service, but not gross male-gazey fan service, like whoever wrote that moment was just like “girls want to see their favorite character in a new pretty outfit” AND THEY WERE RIGHT

MOON SWORD

but also I pay my taxes when do I get to see Mina stab Beryl

The Venus/Kunzite moment didn’t bother me too much, it’s the one SenShi pairing that I think brings something interesting to the table, though I would have loved if it happened after she ran him through

or if she just ran him through anyway

Listen I just wanna see Mina stab someone

everyone died really quickly and it didn’t emotionally hit but I feel like that was okay for this version. I don’t think they were really trying to bring the waterworks

That said though I again would love to see this Usagi do a Sorezore no Elegy moment, when she was screaming and crying I was like man if this was given the space, it would have so much power

OH BACKING UP A LITTLE, I loved the use of Otome no Policy, I wasn’t expecting it and it took me a second to recognize it. I thought it was really smart to have the senshi sing it to keep Usagi going, it was sweet and cute and played on nostalgia in a great way

I HAVE KEPT MYSELF FROM TALKING ABOUT TUX BECAUSE RIONA WAS JUST TOO MUCH

she’s so hot but also just. the way she played Mamoru was so good because she had a great balance of jerk and dork and dreamboat

THE WOMAN KNOWS HOW TO HANDLE A ROSE

Usagi and her heart eyes? same

Beryl rubbing all over tux? S A M E

during the curtain call when the cast came into the audience I embarrassed my wife by shouting RIONA as she passed

(also I told my wife I was glad we didn’t do the VIP experience because I figure they’d be mad when I threw myself at Riona. But actually it amuses them because I don’t get celebrity crushes much)

The game center scene was really cute? It’s a situation where I really bought Mamoru’s teasing as an expression of his crush, which most versions don’t do for me

please let Riona play tux again in something where she has more lines

AND TO CAP IT THE ENDING “CONCERT” PART WAS SO FUN

when they did La Soldier I ascended to a higher plan of existence. the dance was different but still reminiscent of the original. AND EVERYONE SANG ALONG. IT WAS AMAZING.

La Soldier you guys.

LA SOLDIER

Also they did Moonlight Densetsu as an encore and it was so funny because everyone was just like, WE KNOW YOU’RE COMING BACK OUT YOU HAVEN’T DONE THE SONG

BUT THEN WE ALL STILL LOST OUR SHIT WHEN THE MUSIC STARTED

I love how they split up the lines to different characters

BERYL’S LINES WERE SO FUCKING GOOD OH MY GODDDDDDDDD

and everyone came into the audience and it was great

everyone had so much love for the characters and it was so great to see

at the end of the show Usagi’s actress said a little speech in English, and struggled with it a little, and it was so cute and it made me cry and she said something about it being the last show in America and I feel so lucky to have gotten to see it

I really, really loved it

I hope they do more of these shows, I think it’s a style that’s really cool and even though I’d love more substantive musicals, this sort of thing makes sense to put on internationally, and it would be amazing to see S or Stars done in this style

I LOVE SAILOR MOON A LOT YOU GUYS

this is a show that made me feel that love. it wasn’t perfect but it was just really about loving sailor moon and playing on the history and legacy of the story, and it’s a joy