#it's fine…. i ended up with this akoya though ;;

[restinpeacesensei]

[goldenslowpoke]

Uncracked - Tales of the Pink Court Pt. 1 - Successor

It’s finally here! After a lot of false starts, waffling over how to do it, and a lot of drawing it’s finally come together! My first piece of writing for the Uncracked AU.

As I’m sure you’ve all noticed by now, I’ve been very intentionally avoiding using the phrase “Chapters” for this AU. And that’s because I’m very specifically not writing a 50 chapter fanfic in linear order my enjoyment be damned. Instead I’m just writing smaller self-contained works like Tales of the Pink Court here. It’s a three-parter that basically lays the foundations to this AU. Well, Steven’s foundations.

And so we set our scene. Homeworld, Pink Diamond’s Chambers....

Before we begin, there is one thing that must be eminently understood. Pink Diamond had spent 8000 years trying desperately to change, to atone for an act she had very nearly committed. This must be understood, or nothing that follows will seem marvelous. Though this tale may not be her’s, it remains the tale of her desire to change. A desire that led her to have a son, Steven Universe, who today was waking up in the private chambers of Pink Diamond.

This is, of course, because Steven Universe is Pink Diamond. The role he inherited from his Mother, the aforementioned Pink Diamond. Confusing? Even worse for the Gems of Homeworld. But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. Let us begin by discussing the matter of Steven’s birth.

For you see, Gems do not normally have children. In fact, Pink Diamond was the first, for having Steven carried a terrible cost for her. Pink Diamond had to pass on her gem to Steven, the very core of a Gem’s being. Pink Diamond was gone now, and now Steven was Pink Diamond. I told you it was even more confusing for the Gems of Homeworld. Some of them still struggled with the idea that Steven was Pink Diamond, but not Pink Diamond.

It didn’t bother Steven that much, though. Steven didn't live on Homeworld,  he lived on Earth. In a nice beach house by an old Gem temple, or sometimes in the Moon Base his mother used to watch over the Earth from when it was still an ordinary Colony. Back before the great Gem War, but that’s also getting ahead of ourselves. There will be a time to talk about the Gem War, but now is the time to talk about Steven.

Steven very rarely came to Homeworld, and today’s reason was to attend a ball of all things. His first, and his first official presentation to Gems as a whole. And… he hated it. For a number of reasons, but top on his mind this… morning were the dreams. He only had the dreams when he stayed on Homeworld, and they were terrible dreams.  Locked in dark places, attacked by his aunts, the Diamonds White, Yellow, and Blue, or dreams of himself nearly hurting Peep, one of the Gems that took care of him since he was just a little kid.

And speaking of Peep, the pink-hued Pearl had been waiting by the chamber’s window, a window that stared out at the giant torso and head where White Diamond resided. Peep was still dressed the same as always, something Steven was sure to hear no end to. It was a bold and large outfit, that would look more befitting a Garnet than it would a Pearl. A dark pink skirt, stretching down to the Pearl’s ankles. Its sole redeeming features, for a Pearl anyway, were a sheer layer over top of it, and the fact it was open in the front to reveal similarly-colored leggings and brighter pink ballet slippers that one would have expected on any Pearl, along with the pink stars marking her court that dotted the inside of it. On top she looked much more like a normal Pearl, diamond cutout for her navel-set Pearl, the only flaw was the large puffy shoulders she sported.

Steven then turned his attention to the actual exit, where another Pearl stood watch. Unlike the Pink, and more Pink, Peep, this Pearl was like a black and white picture were it not for her side-swept peach hair. This was Akoya Pearl, and she made sure everyone knew she didn’t do cute nicknames like Peep had. She also was dressed uncommonly for a Pearl, wearing a black suit top with sheer white trim around the wrists and flaring out from the bottom, and a white ruffled shirt underneath. Her tights were black, and so were her shoes.

The two Pearls were the only ones that were with Steven right now, no matter how much he wanted other Gems there too. On Earth, nobody cared who lived with Steven, but on Homeworld? Here there were norms, here there were protocols. Peep was here because, in the eyes of Homeworld, she was still just “Pink Diamond’s Pearl,” and Steven was Pink Diamond, so she had to stay with him. A rogue Pearl was in serious danger on Homeworld still. Akoya, though? That he wasn't quite as sure of, his Mother for sure never owned Akoya, actually Steven didn’t know if anyone did. Even when he asked, Akoya never revealed anything about where she came from before his Mother. Still, Steven was glad to have her here.

Akoya had always been like a mother, or perhaps a nanny, to Steven. Other Gems came and went as they pleased, doing their part to keep Steven’s “colony” running, but Akoya had always been there. She taught  him “what a Diamond needed to know,” as she would always put it, even when most definitely not teaching him anything relevant to Diamond-hood, or instead just mothering the hybrid.

“Steven, you’re awake!” Akoya had been the first one to notice, too. It made sense, though, since Peep was staring out at the bright lights of Homeworld. Steven was probably the only thing on the planet that slept, so of course the walkways and geometrical buildings outside were always brightly lit and bustling.

“Oh! Steven! Thank goodness, White Diamond’s been asking for us for the last six hours now!” Peep finally realized he was awake, turning toward the simple square bed produced by the room for its owner. The exact length of time Peep mentioned was lost on Steven, given he’d just woken up and wanted little more than a little bathroom, but it wasn’t lost on Akoya.

“Six hours!? And why was I not informed of this?” She was practically ranting already, “I’m the one making out Steven’s schedule here.”

“You may be the one making his schedule, but I’m still ‘his Pearl,’” Peep almost sounded like she was taking pride in bringing it up, in twisting some kind of knife between the two of them, “Besides she just wanted to move up the Ball. You would have said no to her, too.”

“Move it up!? The Ball isn’t even supposed to start for another three hours. When did she want it to be?”

“Lets see, if I’m doing this right…. Right about now,” Peep started, before immediately adding on “Don’t worry, don't worry, I told her no. Besides, looking out there guests are only just now arriving, we’ll have a few hours before Steven is anything more than fashionably late” after seeing Akoya looking like she was about to go off on her.

“Now!?” Well, Akoya still went off, but she was too busy racing to Steven’s bag of clothes to do anything more than yell. Clothes sent flying as Akoya looked for the one specific outfit she had set aside for this exact moment, “We need to get Steven ready! We can't keep the other Diamonds waiting.”

“Come on Akoya, what’s the harm in letting White Diamond sit a while? You need to learn how to live a little rebelliously,” Peep teased, as a red shirt with a yellow star on it was throwing at her face. Truth be told, for how motherly Akoya was, Peep was quite the opposite. She was like… Steven’s cool aunt or something. The most rebellious Pearl Steven had ever met. And Steven liked that about her.

“You know what she could do, now why don’t you head down to the ballroom and make sure the other Diamonds know we’re coming?” Akoya asked, holding up a pair of pants while looking at Steven. Without even listening for a response, Akoya started to dig in the bag again.

“Yeah, fine, if it gets us back to the Earth faster. Hey Steven, when we get back do you want to take a trip to Funland?”

Steven wanted to say yes, well he actually wanted to say “boy would I” but Akoya was now throwing clothes at him. Incredibly soft, probably wool, they were something fancy that Akoya had prepared for events like this that much was for sure. He thought he heard Peep saying something, but by the time the clothes were all removed from his head, the pink Pearl was gone.

-

Once Steven was dressed, he and Akoya set off after Peep. Steven dressed in the clothes that Akoya had packed specially for him. Fancy black pants, tight shoes, light pink shirt with a darker pink cardigan over the top of it. His top cut perfectly to expose the Pink Diamond sitting in his gut.

And he did not like it, “Do I really need to wear this? Can’t I just wear my red shirt?”

“Absolutely not, Steven. At this ball you are Pink Diamond. And that means you need to wear Pink, the same way your court does,” Akoya explained, pointing down a number of branching paths in the complex that served as both a sort of castle, and as a large dock for Pink Diamond’s personal ship. Various Gems were shuffling around all of them wearing some sort of Pink, and all of them sporting a Pink Star on their outfit.

“Well maybe I don’t like everyone wearing pink here. They should be wearing whatever they want, like everyone does on Earth.”

“Steven, you know it doesn’t work like that. Earth and Homeworld are different. White, Yellow and Blue have different rules than—”

“Than Mom, I know,” Steven suddenly cut Akoya off as they passed by a large mural. A mural of his mother, sharp and blocky, every point from her dress to her hair was emphasized. And the gem was wrong, cut like Blue or Yellow’s Gem instead of her… his actual Gem. And cradled in her hands, being held up to the sky, was a single planet and moon, representing the Earth.

The Gem everyone on Homeworld thought Steven was, and everyone on Earth wanted Steven to be. It wasn't like he could just forget how different she was when it was shoved in his face constantly. The only Diamond to have a “Free Colony.” The only Diamond not to shatter her defective Gems. The only Diamond to take defects from other Courts. The perfect story for a perfect Diamond.

And Steven was expected to live up to all of that, just because he had his mother’s Gem.

“Exactly,” Steven was snapped out of his thoughts by Akoya continuing, “Don't worry this Ball won't take long. And if we take the Galaxy Warp instead of your ship we can be back on Earth before bed.”

“I hope so,” Steven muttered as the hallway shifted from Pink hues to yellows and browns.

“Now what happened to Peep? I swear I sent her ahead of us,” Akoya asked herself as the duo came up to a large doorway blocked by layers of curtains. Steven could hear the distant grinding of what passed for ballroom music on Homeworld.

“I sent her off for a bit,” another Gem’s voice said from behind Steven. He spun around to look at whoever was talking to him, but no one was there. Then Steven felt a tap on his shoulder, and heard Pearl yelp and jump. Spinning around again, he finally saw the culprit.

Two star-shaped pink pigtails was all Steven needed to see to know who it was. “Spinel!” he called out, hugging the Gem only about his size. Careful around her pointed shoulderpads, and of the heart-shaped gem on her chest.

After recovering from her scare, Akoya wasted no time inserting her arms between the two, pushing them apart, “Spinel are you saying you sent Peep away? I specifically sent her here to get ready for Steven’s entrance.”

“It’ll be fine,” Spinel stressed, stretching an arm around Akoya, “I just sent her to go check with Jasper and her security. Besides I didn't want her overhearing our little chat here.”

“Our chat? Spinel we’re on a very strict timetable here, and we’re already late,” Akoya snapped. “Then I’ll be even quicker about it. You both know Peep well, and you're a Pearl too, Akoya, so I need your opinion on this,” Spinel motored her way through, before pulling something out of her gem. A small, multicolored flower, made of crystal. Pinks, Reds, and Blues reflecting across the flower, that had a similarity to the hair buns on a certain Pink Pearl…

“You sent Peep away over a rose?” Akoya asked, a growing anger behind her voice. Thankfully, Steven butt in before she could get into any more arguments, “Oh wow that looks so beautiful. You got it for Peep?”

“A-huh,” Spinel proudly replied, flatly ignoring Akoya, “I’m gonna give it to Peep during the ball.”

“That sounds wonderful!” Steven had missed the point of Spinel’s gesture, but it still made her smile wide to hear.

“See No-Fun? Steven thinks it’s a good idea.”

“Yes well your good idea has one rather large flaw. None of us are to be part of this Ball. Peep and I will introduce Steven, and then we will wait for the Ball to end and him to join us,” Akoya pinched the bridge of her long nose, glancing past Spinel and silently hoping Peep would turn the corner and put an end to this.

“Well that’s fine, then. We’ll just hold our own Ball out here instead. And you won’t be invited to it, you can just stand over there like a ‘good Pearl’ should,” Spinel crossed her arms and stared Akoya down. Akoya wasn’t angered this time, just smiling wider until someone tapped Spinel on the shoulder.

And that Gem was Peep, startling Spinel so badly she almost dropped her crystal flower before scrambling to hide it back in her Gem. “Oh good, Steven you’re here too, I just got back from talking with Jasper. Security is as pointless on Homeworld as ever. But she did get Akoya’s orders about screening out Gems.”

“Screening Gems?” Steven asked, turning his head back toward Akoya, who he was fairly sure still hadn’t moved an inch since she first noticed Peep walking up. “Oh yes, about that. Do you remember how this Ball is going to work?

Steven sighed, this wasn’t the first time since they left Earth that Akoya had stressed this to him, “Yes. I’ll sit on Mom’s seat and Gems will come up to present themselves to me, or to request things of me, and you want me to just nod and wave them along.”

“Exactly. And so to go with that I made sure to tell Jasper to make sure that the only Gems that ask you for things are things we’re comfortable with just saying yes to. A pre-screening, if you will,” Akoya explained before the music coming from the ballroom stopped. Suddenly she straightened up, “Oh no, White knows we’re here. Okay ready everyone. Steven you’ll do fine, just smile and wave. Peep are you ready?”

“Yeah yeah I’m ready. Now Steven when you start getting bored, and trust me you will, just start yawning… or some other human thing. Pink would do that all the time when she was tired of Balls. The Diamonds will end things so fast if they think you’re going to break that perfect facade a diamond should have.”

Peep and Akoya then took up positions on each side of the curtain, leaving Steven to try and commit all the instructions to memory as it slowly was opened from within.

“Presenting the newest Diamond, lord of the Pink Court, Steven, Pink Diamond!”

[boueibu-valentines]

The one time Yufuin made an effort with his uniform

Creator: @mystofthestars Recipient: @pyrachan Title: The one time Yufuin made an effort with his uniform. Characters/Pairings: En/Akoya Summary: En has never really cared about his school uniform, so why is it so important now to find the button of his jacket, which has suddenly gone lost after the graduation ceremony? Comment: After crying over the OVA, I didn’t want anything to do with the graduation ceremony anymore. But then my recipient wanted some EnAkoya, and I am always complaining that there is basically no EnAkoya in this fandom, and all I came up with was a graduation-related idea… Pyrachan wanted something awkward but cute. This is definitely awkward, I hope it’s also cute! Happy Valentine’s day! :D

____________

There had never been much of a relationship between En and Akoya.

Akoya seemed to get on well enough with Io, Ryuu and the Beppu brothers and, in his own way, he even got along with Yumoto—although the interactions with all of them were mostly bickering, it was that kind of friendly, cozy bickering, which made the Kurotama lively and the club room warmer that it had ever been.

Toward his Student Council senpai, of course, Akoya showed nothing but respect and affection.

Out of the whole group, En and Atsushi were the ones who could claim less familiarity with the beautiful, long-haired Akoya, and between the two of them, En was the one who never thought the second year would ever take him into consideration.

Atsushi was the ever gentle, sweet yet authoritative senpai, no one could ever not get along with. And he was Kinshiro’s lost and found again best friend, a fact that alone had to gain Akoya’s respect, if not true sympathy. 

En, on the other hand, was the lazy, listless boy, who was essentially everything the old Caerula Adamas had fought against. 

It was all in the past, now, but En had never thought that the well-educated Akoya would ever show him anything behind the respect and politeness due to an older student.

The idea that he and Akoya would never be anything more than schoolmates had, in a sense, been comforting. En had already enough kouhai to take care of.

As the graduation ceremony came closer, he grew more and more convinced that he was happy with the thought of retiring from his duties as a high school senpai (duties which he mostly neglected anyway). 

It was much to his surprise, then, that, on the day of their graduation, Akoya bumped against him when they all were converging to the big room of the ceremony.

It was unexpected enough that Akoya would walk into someone when he usually moved with grace and kept a fair distance from everyone else, but En didn’t have neither the time or energy to give it much thought.

The fight against the buttons monster had just ended, and all of them had their minds still struggling to focus on what laid ahead, behind the doors of the hall.

Akoya himself seemed caught off guard by his close encounter with En, but he effortlessly regained his composure. He shot the taller boy a disdainful glance.

“You could have worn your tie, even if just for today’s ceremony, Yufuin-san,” he reproached him, eyes fixed on the undone collar of En’s shirt.

The older boy shrugged. That kind of remark, at least, was not unusual.

“One should live their last day as a high school student the same way he’s lived the rest of his high school life. I’m a huge fan of coherence.”

 Akoya turned his head away, as if annoyed, but En didn’t miss his snort.

“As you say. Still, I’d button up this jacket at least,” the younger said, and then proceeded to do it for him.

Akoya’s hands were fine and swift, and En ended up with his jacket done before he could even begin to protest. After that, Akoya turned and preceded him inside and En lost him in the crowd.

The rest of the day proceeded quickly, and En lost track of time after Kinshiro’s speech, Wombat’s sudden disappearance, and what followed after.

It was only later that night—after they had tried to figure out where Wombat was, bought the curry for him, gathered at Kurotama to wash away the sweat and the sadness of the day—that he came home and discovered that one of the buttons of his jacket had gone lost.

How ironical, he thought, losing a button after the monster they had just fought that day. He looked at the floor in his room, down the stairs and then in the entrance, but there was no sign of the small object. 

For a moment, he even wondered if it was the monster that had stolen it instead.

Ah well, he told himself, it’s really just a button. Starting from tomorrow, I won’t even need this jacket anymore.

He draped it carefully on the hanger and then tugged at one of the sleeves. Still, it was a pity to lose it after three years of faithful company.

It was En’ first day out of high school and his original plan had involved sleeping until past noon and then perhaps meeting up with Atsushi for a walk downtown. 

Instead, he found himself pacing carefully through Binan High’s garden and yard, retracing his movements from the day before.

 As he walked in front of the entrance, where they had fought the monster, he recalled Akoya fixing his jacket before the ceremony began. Fastidious as he was, the younger boy would have surely noticed a missing button and let him know—probably even scolded him for being so careless to lose it.

To think I wouldn’t have given a single thought about a missing button until twenty-four hours ago, he told himself sourly. Yet, he kept searching.

It was around noon when Akoya found him, lying down on the grass. At first, he thought En was asleep.

A cherry blossom slowly floated down and landed on his nose, and En sneezed himself awake.

Akoya graciously covered his mouth as to not openly laugh at him.

“Of all the third years I know, I thought you were the most unlikely to return here out of nostalgia. Right on the day after your graduation, nonetheless.”

En looked up at Akoya from his supine position. The early spring sun shone through his long, silky hair, and his face was shadowed by his soft locks. Despite that, he could see the hint of a smirk on the boy’s fine features.

“Or perhaps you were too tired to return home last night, and decided this patch of grass would be just as good as your bed.”

En sat up and shook his head, then ran a hand through his hair, disentangling a few petals from the strands.

“You give me too much credit if you think I could really spend the night here. I love sleeping comfortably.”

Akoya knelt down beside him. “I bet you could still manage.”

En shrugged, and the other boy tilted his head on one side.

“So? Don’t tell me you really are too nostalgic to just stay home.”

“I’m just taking a break from what I was doing. Elderly people need to rest often,” he replied stretching his back and arms with a grimace.

“Elderly people should not rest on wet grass, it’s bad for their bones,” Akoya objected, eyebrows raised.

En massaged the low part of his back, then cautiously proceeded to stand.

“Well, perhaps a young man like you would like to help an oldie in his search, then.”

Akoya looked up. “Search?” 

Suddenly, En felt kind of stupid. “Yes, well, I lost one of my jacket’s buttons yesterday. Remember how you fixed it right before the ceremony? It must have fallen off after that, but I can’t seem to find it anymore.”

Akoya’s head lowered as if he was already looking through the grass.

“It might have fallen inside the building, or on the way to Kurotama’s. I already texted Yumoto but he hasn’t found it while cleaning, so I wonder…”

“Of course, you’re aware of the fact that—”

That I won’t wear my Binan High uniform ever again in my life? I’m quite aware of that, yes, En phrased for him in his own mind.

“—it is going to be difficult to find it, after yesterday’s ceremony. The whole school was gathered here.”

“I know. I have time to spare for the task, though.”

Akoya raised an eyebrow at him. It was probably the first time he had heard En speak like that.

In fact, En himself was surprised at his own words.

He expected some kind of sharp remark from the younger student. Instead, Akoya stood up. 

“Let’s keep searching then. Two pairs of eyes are better than one.”

Together, they kept scanning the yard all the way to the stairs that led downward to Kurotama’s. 

Despite his earlier resolution to find the lost button, En’s attention was divided between the ground and his unexpected adjuvant.

Akoya’s eyes carefully scanned the path as they went on. Engrossed as he was in his task, he kept curling a strand of his hair around his index finger, absentmindedly.

He looked like he was taking it more seriously than En.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Yufuin-san,” Akoya turned to catch En as he was staring at him. Akoya swirled away quickly, pretending to check the steps that led down from the school. “Why are you so concerned about your button? I can’t recall you caring about them before. In fact, your uniform could as well be buttonless for all the use you made of them.”

En looked down the staircase. The spring breeze felt fresh against his skin. It brought promises of new beginnings, and also of a very pleasant nap under a tree. Yet he could not give up his search.

“I still had it with me though. It’s simply disappointing that it didn’t make it out of school together with me, I guess.” 

He shrugged, eyes still set to the stairs. It went straight down, among shops and cherry trees. Somewhere below was the entrance to Kurotama’s. 

He stepped down.

“When I’ll look at my uniform in ten years or so, it will still be missing a button, and it won’t be because it was given to a younger student, but simply because it fell down. It’s a waste.”

Under his feet, the stones were already paved with pink petals. If his button was anywhere around there, it was probably covered with them now. 

“You know, it probably has something do to with—” ah, it was awkward to say that out loud “—with not wanting to let go of my uniform just yet. Not that the uniform in itself is important, just, you know.” 

It wasn’t about the uniform, it was about napping in the club room, and scolding Yumoto over eating too much at lunch, and reading manga while Atsushi read books, and hearing Io and Ryuu bickering from above the screens of their phones.

It was about the new friendships they’d made. 

It was about the friends he hadn’t made yet.

Akoya was silent behind him, but En could hear the soft steps as he moved, still searching.

There was a particularly thick pile of petals close to the tips of En’s right shoe, so he knelt down next to it to disperse it with his fingers. A couple of cherry flowers were still whole, and he picked one up.

“Would that be better if one of your younger club-mates were to have it instead?”

En stood up and turned.

Akoya was holding out one hand toward him, the white button resting on his palm.

En blinked. He was positive he had checked that bit of stairs just now. 

“You found it.”

Akoya smirked, looking down at him from above.

In a flash, En replayed the moments before the ceremony in his mind. The crowd of students converging into the room, Akoya walking into him, his quick hands buttoning up his jacket. Could it be….?

“Of course I did. I have an eye for details.” Akoya shrugged and threw his hair back. “So?” He huffed impatiently. 

It was unfair and even a bit presumptuous for En to think a Student Council member would steal a button from his jacket. Even now, the boy was most likely helping him just so he didn’t have someone uselessly lazying around the schoolyard. 

En looked at him. Akoya was glancing sideways as if trying to ignore him. En walked up the steps and suddenly it was him who was looking at Akoya from above. The latter’s eyes darted up and his hand forward, as to prevent En from coming closer.

“I assume you won’t be sewing this back on your uniform, but I believe one of your club-mates would be happy to keep it.”

En picked it up and weighed it up in the palm of his hand, then carefully intertwined the fallen cherry blossom’s stem into the small holes of the button.

“Yumoto, Ryuu, or Io don’t really need this,” he decided. Not after a whole year of fighting weird monsters and green pet aliens. Not after all the afternoons spent in the club room and the evenings at the Kurotama’s. Besides, he had no intention of giving the latter up in the near future.

“But,” he added as he held the intertwined button and flower against Akoya’s hair. The soft pink of the petals really matched the color of his locks. En was certain that they must share the same consistency. “You can keep it as a token of the one time Yufuin made an effort with his uniform, if you please.”

He parodied a small curtsy, raising his hand to offer the gift.

Moments passed, long enough to make En realize he was acting like a complete fool.

Then, with an ill-concealed snort, fresh fingers brushed against his palm and the button was gone. 

He expected to hear it roll down the stairs. Instead, he rose his head in time to see Akoya patting his pocket. The same pink of the petals had appeared on his cheeks now, too.

“It will be duly noted in the annals of the school. The one time Yufuin spent a day looking for a button he would never use, only to give it away to the first person he encountered.”

En combed his hair back and sighed.

“It wasn’t how it went. Yufuin gave it to whom he wanted. There’s a difference.”

As if mirroring him, Akoya curled one strand of hair around his finger.

“Perhaps.”

They stood there in silence for a few more moments. The breeze grew chiller.

En glanced down the stairs, then gestured at Akoya.

“Kurotama’s?”

The boy turned to look at the school as if considering whether his duties there could be postponed until later that evening or not. Eventually, he turned to En with a curt nod of approval, locks of hair half hiding the blooming redness on his cheeks.

“Not a bad proposal.” He brought a hand to caress his face with a dramatic grimace. “My skin is getting all dry in this wind.” And he walked down without waiting for En.

It was not only the first time En and Akoya went to the Kurotama’s on their own but the first time they did something alone together at all.

In fact, En wouldn’t have minded spending some more time outside with him, letting the spring breeze play with their hair, and renewing its promises of new beginnings. 

And if the breeze made pink petals bloom on his warm cheeks as well, it didn’t matter at all. 

[silvormoon]

Buttons

After the graduation ceremony, so many of the third-year Apes flock to give their buttons to the Beppu twins that they’re nearly stampeded. They have to run and take shelter behind Gora, who shouts and waves his axe until everyone agrees to form up into two orderly lines, one for each twin. Once everyone has settled down, the twins are happy to graciously accept their admirers’ gifts, and offer words of hard-earned advice: Don’t worry if you hit a roadblock in your chosen path - sometimes what you think you want isn’t what’s best for you. Don’t be jealous of someone else’s success - learn from their example and let them inspire you. When you go out into the world and find yourself surrounded by strangers, it can be scary to try to make friends, but don’t let that stop you - maybe the person you’re longing to be friends with needs a friend, too.

Kinshiro makes his way through to Akoya and solemnly twists the button off his jacket.

“I’m leaving it all to you,” he says. “You’ll be president of the Student Council now, so please take good care of my beloved Binan High for me. Try to learn from my mistakes and be a better president than I was.”

“I’ll do my best,” Akoya promises. Then he surprises Kinshiro by putting his arms around him and hugging him tightly.

“You and Arima were the first real friends I ever had,” he whispers. “Take care of yourselves out there, and come visit me again soon.”

For a moment, Kinshiro has no idea what to do. Then he closes his arms around his friend and returns the embrace. They stand like that for a long time.

En ambles his way over to stand with Io.

“Well, I guess that’s it,” he says. He offers a button to Io, who eyes it with some curiosity. Usually he’s the first to take free things, but he’s not sure if this can really be meant for him.

“What’s this for?” he asked.

“I’d like you to have it,” says En. “And maybe, once in a while, look at it and remember that it’s okay to slow down and take it easy once in a while. You only get but so much life to live. I don’t want to see you get to the end and realize you spent the whole thing saving up for a future that you aren’t going to get.”

“I’ll take it under advisement,” says Io. He flashes a smile. “And, Sempai... I hope, wherever you’re going, you’ll find something you love doing as much as I love what I do. You know, a wise man once said, ‘Find a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.’”

En grins. “Well, I don’t know about that!” and they both laugh.

Ryuu stands amid a crowd of admirers - he can’t match the Beppus for sheer popularity, but he has his share of admiration even from the older students. It takes him a while to realize that Arima isn’t just drifting aimlessly, but charting a course through the crowd towards him.

“What’s up?” he says. He knows Arima is a friend, a part of the team, but they’ve barely exchanged more than a handful of words in all the time they’ve known each other.

“I’ve decided to give this to you,” says Arima, offering him a button.

“Why me?” Ryuu asks.

“Who knows? It seemed like a good idea,” says Arima, with his usual vague smile, but there’s a twinkle in his eye that suggests he thinks a great deal more than he’s saying. “And perhaps, also, as a reminder.”

“Of what?” Ryuu asks. “It’s not like I’m ever going to forget any of this.”

“Nothing like that,” says Arima. “Only... I know you’re the sort who loves variety. You have a lot of love to give, and you like to share it around to everyone, and that’s fine. But I thought it wouldn’t hurt to remind you that there’s something to be said for the idea of devotion.” He smiles fondly in the direction of Kinshiro, who is still trying awkwardly to escape Akoya’s embrace without hurting his feelings. “When you find one person whose happiness matters to you, when you get the chance to stand beside them for the long haul, to watch them struggle and grow stronger, to share in their happiness... I think there can be no greater joy in life than that. I hope you won’t miss out on it.”

Thoughtfully, Ryuu takes the button from Arima’s fingers. His gaze strays to where Io and En are still laughing and joking together.

“You know,” he says, “you might just be on to something, there.”

“Here,” says Atsushi, pressing a button into Yumoto’s hand. “This is for you.”

“For me?” Yumoto looks down at the tiny thing in his hands as though he had never imagined such a thing could exist, or could happen to him.

“That’s right,” says Atsushi. “I think we’d all give you ours if we could, but there’s only but so many second buttons to go around, so I hope you’ll think of this as being from all of us.”

“Thank you,” says Yumoto, with that sincerity that only he can muster. “I’ll treasure it.”

Atsushi smiles. “I know you will. You know, I’m counting on you. It’s up to you to keep the Earth Defense Club going once we’re gone.”

Yumoto looks downcast. “I don’t know if I can.”

“Sure you can.” Atsushi puts a reassuring hand on his friend’s shoulder. “En and I might have started it, and I might have been the one to put my name on all the paperwork, but you’ve always been the heart of the team. More than anyone else, you’re the one best qualified to keep the spirit of the club alive.”

“What should I do?” Yumoto asks.

“What you’ve always done,” said Atsushi. “I think... from now on... you should try to find the ones who would have been monsters, before they can become one. Find the ones who are all eaten up with anger, or loneliness, or jealousy, or despair, and show them what love is all about, in that way that comes naturally to you.”

“I don’t know if I can do it without you,” says Yumoto. “It just won’t be the same.”

“Of course you can,” Atsushi says. “Think about it. When the club started, it was just En-chan and me. Then Io and Ryuu joined, and then you, and then we got to be friends with Kin-chan and Ibu-chan and Akoya and the Beppu brothers. The club is always changing, but the heart of it stays the same. When school starts again, you’ll be the sempai, and you’ll find the ones who need the Earth Defense Club and bring them into it. You’ll teach them all about love, and friendship, and about baths and goofing off and having fun. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?” His eyes brighten a bit, and he smiles. “It really is. It doesn’t matter where we go, or how far apart we are, we’ll still have the spirit of the club with us. As long as we remember that, there will always be an Earth Defense Club.”

[crazy-grrrl-on-the-computer]

Another Boueibu Dragon AU preview

So... I may have mentioned a few times already that I started plotting and outlining a Boueibu Flight Rising AU since last year. I’ve started writing some scenes for it and it will most likely end up being a collection of short stories rather than one complete text, but I haven’t finished most of what I started yet and I figured some previews were in order... since some people expressed interested in it.

This preview is part of the arc detailing the backstory for Ibushi, Kinshiro, and Akoya. For the sake of providing accurate visuals, here is Ibushi as a hatchling and Kinshiro as a hatchling as they appear at this point in time.

Ibushi has been taken in by their adoptive mother, Rosette, not long ago when she found him on her travels and they are on their way home when they come across Kinshiro in a bit of a predicament.

They had just reached the outskirts of the Mirrorlight Promenade when they heard a pitiful cry from somewhere nearby. The sound was small and scared, and choked as though whoever was making it was trying to hold it back. Rosette listened carefully only for a moment before following the sound to a large crack in the foundation. Approaching with the gentle ease befitting a mother who had seen this situation often in her time, she peeked inside and found a small Wildclaw hatchling curled up on himself, shaking and sobbing in terror.

"Oh, baby," she spoke softly, petting him gently with her voice so as to reassure him that she meant no harm, "what happened?" The hatchling flinched away and quickly tried to hide his tears. "There's no shame in being lost. We all get that way from time to time."

"I'm not lost!" he interjected in a way that was supposed to sound confident but was muddied a bit by fear.

“It's okay.” Ibushi hopped forward to get a better look at the Wildclaw, poking his head inside with a smile. “I got lost, too, but Rosette said she'll let me go home with her."

"I said I'm not lost!" the Wildclaw insisted more forcefully this time, pushing the Tundra away, and Ibushi took a step back in confusion at the outburst. "I left on my own to show everyone I can take care of myself, so don't tell me to go back there because I won't!"

Rosette nodded in understanding. She had thought he looked smaller than the average hatchling of his breed. "There's more than one way to be lost, baby," she told him sympathetically, sitting down to make him feel less threatened. "It's possible to know where you are without knowing where you're going or who you are or what you are inside. And, for a lot of us, that kind of lost is far worse than not knowing where you are. If you don't know where you are, you can easily find out by looking around some. Not always so if you're looking for who you are."

The tiny Wildclaw held back a sniffle.

"What's your name, baby?"

"Kinshiro," he answered quietly.

"Kinshiro sounds like a strong name." She beamed at him. "This here is Ibushi and you can call me Rosette. Would you like to come out and say hello?"

Kinshiro hesitated as if thinking about it, but slowly emerged once he had dried his tears so that they almost weren’t noticeable.

"Aaw, look at you~" Rosette beamed encouragingly at his effort. He was a cute little thing, she thought.

Ibushi immediately wandered closer to him a second time, pressing his nose up against the Wildclaw's breast and inhaling deeply.

"G-get off me!" Kinshiro hastily tried to shove him, but Ibushi pulled back on his own before he could react.

"You smell good!" the Tundra declared proudly.

Kinshiro felt himself flush in embarrassment. "S-smell good?"

Rosette held back a low chuckle. It was a little different than the usual Tundra greeting she knew of, but she thought it to be immeasurably endearing that he was already developing one of his own without much regard for how it might be taken by those he tested it on.

Ibushi nodded as if the statement needed no explanation because, to him, it was already as clear as he could possibly make it. "You should come with us! Rosette's really nice, too, and she showed me a lot of cool plants and stuff on the way here."

Kinshiro's watery eyes darted between them for a moment before looking away again. "I already told you," he muttered, "I'm not lost."

"I bet it took a heap of courage for you to leave your home, but you must be awfully tired by now and sitting in a hole in the wall never did anyone much good." Rosette stood, surveying her surroundings once more for the clearest path home, and smiled reassuringly at him. "If you're looking for a place to settle down, you're more than welcome to come along with us. Ibushi and I have a long way to go yet, but best we should all go together, don't you think?"

Ibushi bounced excitedly on his toes in anticipation. "Come on, Kinshiro, it'll be fun!"

Kinshiro seemed to think about it, hesitating for longer than necessary, and when he finally spoke he sounded more confident than before. "Well, I guess I can walk with you for a little while," he replied as though he was doing them a favor, "but only until I find a place to live."

Rosette nodded. "That sounds just fine," she said warmly. She could tell he wanted to stay, but his pride was hurt, so he wasn't going to admit it easily. At least with this, she had bought him enough time to warm up to the idea a little more.

[unfortunatelycake]

Boueibu ship headcanons (pt1)

Was waffling over boueibu ship headcanons with @sothisiswhyiamhere a while back. Typed them up whilst procrastinating over Other Things today.

It got long, so I split it up, and I tried to do it in a vaguely logical order (by ship-name, kinda) so this first part is quite En-centric. Also just s1 main 8...

Also, I massively headcanon Yumoto as being an adorable fluffy ball of asexual awesomeness, which totally colours these shipping HCs!

(part 2 is here)

EnAtsu

The mom and dad duo. They love each other despite their faults; En is the laid back influence that Atsushi needs, whilst Atsushi is the reason En gets out of bed in the morning.

Problems arise when: En is a little too lazy and Atsushi internalises all the little annoyances without saying anything about them, and eventually explodes over something stupid.

EnIo

Polar opposites when it comes to working, but Io appreciates En's smarts. En likes to chill out at Io's place because Io doesn't expect anything of him: Io can get on with his stock trading whilst En naps, and they have their Private Time together once the markets have closed for the evening.

Problems arise when: En wants snacks and is too lazy to get them, but like hell is Io gonna be his butler, and when Io is too busy with trading to pay En any attention

EnRyuu

If Bill and Ted were gay, they would be these two. They'd probably live together, their apartment would be trendy (Ryuu's influence) but also a mess (partly En, partly because they can't be assed with tidying). They'd probably eat out a lot, so technically would go on lots of dates, but wouldn't really specifically go on dates.

Problems arise when: Ryuu wants some kind of high-octane excitement when En would rather just loaf around, and they'd likely end up arguing over Who Puts More Into The Relationship (Ryuu. The answer is Ryuu.)

EnYu

This would be a relationship filled with cuddles, and food, and not much else. If not for Gora popping by with home-cooked dishes, they'd probably live off sweets and convenience store snacks. There wouldn't be much in the way of physical intimacy because Yumoto just likes to cuddle (5ever headcanon for ace Yumoto) which is fine with En, who likes to sleep.

Problems arise when: En is too lethargic to put up with Yumoto's energy levels and Yumoto is too cheerfully oblivious and ends up being snapped at.

EnKin

Kinshiro is a man who likes peace and quiet, which suits En's desire for naptime. En would tease Kinshiro a lot, though not unkindly, which would gradually pry open the closed box that is Kinshiro. Kinshiro in turn would encourage more of the responsibility that he knows En is capable of.

Problems arise when: Kinshirou gets too uptight and internalises everything that annoys him, but (unlike Atsushi, who would eventually explode) doesn't say anything. Just keeps internalising. Also when En pushes the teasing too far.

EnIbu

A lazy dude and his polite and well-bred butler, who is used to being around livelier guys and therefore glad of the rest, thank you very much. En would enjoy being fussed over because Ibushi fixes refreshments pretty much automatically, and Ibushi totally enjoys sitting around grumbling about things with En. Their sex life is pretty satisfying, though there are the occasional noise complaints from the neighbours.

Problems arise when: En gets into one of his 100% Lethargic moods and doesn't even want to move. Also when Ibushi gets snarky over people En cares about. It's funny, and it's true, but they're En's buddies, so back off.

EnAko

Less of a relationship and more a fling based on little more than physical pleasure. Akoya is a total power bottom, and En likes it when he isn't expected to know what to do. At the same time, they both get a kick out of it on the rare occasion that En takes charge, at which point Akoya meekly plays along.

Problems arise when: En proves himself incapable of staying tidy for more than five minutes. They try to date, and Akoya knows damn well that En could look hot if he made the effort, but En is too set in his ways. Likewise, En doesn't know why Akoya is so obsessed with looking 'perfect' all the time, and thinks he looks great when he's all red-faced and dishevelled. Ultimately they drive each other insane and end up unable to stay in the same room without snarking at each other (which sometimes leads to an impromptu fumble in the nearest closet).

AtsuIo

A pair of serious guys who are low-key bitchy, they have a bit of a mom-and-rich-toyboy kind of rapport. Atsushi makes sure Io eats lots of tasty things, and Io manages to budget their groceries in a way that gives Atsushi leeway to do a lot of experimentation in the kitchen. Probably one of the most normal relationships ever.

Problems arise when: they both fail at communicating their needs, Atsushi being too considerate and Io being too introverted to do that Talking Thing.  

AtsuRyuu

Ryuu would take the lead despite being the younger of the pair, and would spend a lot of time flirting because he loves seeing Atsushi blush. He'd encourage Atsushi to throw caution to the wind every so often, whilst Atsushi would be the one to show Ryuu that it's important to knuckle down and do some serious work from time to time. Ryuu would rather have fun, but Atsushi knows exactly how to bend Ryuu to his will and therefore offers 'rewards' if Ryuu gets on with the boring stuff like chores and paying bills. They go on lots of little dates, though would go on lots more of Atsushi wasn't so worried about his everyday responsibilities.

Problems arise when: Ryuu can't curb his habit of flirting with everyone. It makes Atsushi insecure, and nothing Ryuu says can entirely reassure him that Ryuu won't cheat.

AtsuYu

More cuddling! Yumoto would be crazy for Atsushi's food, and Atsushi would love cooking it for him, happy that it was so well appreciated. Though Atsushi is a serious soul, Yumoto would encourage him to be more spontaneous and chill out a bit.

Problems arise when: They realise that beyond cuddles and a few sloppy kisses, their relationship isn't going to progress into anything deeper. Yumoto wants Atsushi to be happy, but won't compromise the ace wonder that he is in order to do that, especially after they make a half-hearted try that just...doesn't go anywhere. They decide that they're better off as friends, but are a lot closer than before.

AtsuIbu

These two would probably get together due to their mutual protectiveness of Kinshiro. They're a real pair of sinnamon rolls: an outwardly polite yet snarky couple who are absolutely savage in their judgements. They bring out the best and the worst in each other; Ibushi encourages Atsushi's snarkiness and fully enjoys being treated as an equal (for a change). Atsushi meanwhile dotes on Ibushi and likes how much Ibushi appreciates being spoilt. Though Atsushi is normally in charge of food, Ibushi likes to bring him tea and treats, and they sometimes cook together. In bed, Atsushi finally finds his chill and lets Ibushi take control.

Problems arise when: They both have a 'tired-of-waiting-on-people' day on the same day. Also when their affectionate snark at each other cuts a little too deep.

AtsuAko

A total will-they-won't-they affair that takes a while to get off the ground. After some rather passive flirting, they'd get together after Akoya gets tired of The Chase, and questions (whilst draping himself over Atsushi's desk) "So are you going to ask me out or not?" Atsushi would be too surprised to have a comeback, and his stuttered 'Yes' would lead to them going on a date, probably in an uncomfortably expensive restaurant because Akoya would expect no less.

Problems arise when: they go on their first date, because Atsushi spends an entire month's allowance on one course, and Akoya isn't amenable to any of his suggestions that cost nothing. Also when Akoya Wants Attention but Atsushi is spending time with his friends.

IoRyuu

Romantic, adventurous, stylish, attractive, rich and stable: Io and Ryuu are two complimentary halves of the Ideal Boyfriend. Ryuu's energy is just at the right level for Io: enough to excite and motivate him into being spontaneous, but not so much that Ryuu becomes overbearing. Io meanwhile gives Ryuu the stability he craves: a constant boyfriend who cares about him for his playfulness and his personality, not just his looks. They joke about Io being Ryuu's sugar daddy, but Ryuu doesn't care about Io's money, he cares about Io himself. They both admire and respect each other a lot for their opposing skills, and over time learn a little of them from each other.

Problems arise when: They argue over who is more awesome. It's one point they can never agree on, and it takes the combined efforts of the Defence Club and the Student Council (who will have peace in their school kthx) to get them to make up.

IoYu

Yumoto would get Io to take a break from his trading now and then, whilst Io would probably get tired of Yumoto having no money, and do something to turn his 500 yen pocket money into 500,000 yen in a Cayman Islands bank account, purely because he's concerned about Yumoto is going to do in future if he has no money behind him. Yumoto would thank him with a million cuddles, though would likely not understand half of what Io had just told him, only the fact that he has more money now. Somewhere.

Problems arise when: Yumoto becomes too overbearing with his cuddling when Io is trying to work, and Io is too cold towards Yumoto because he's waiting for the perfect moment to snap up some bargain price shares.

IoKin

A relationship that seems like an arranged marriage at first--beginning as a mere business alliance formed for mutual profit (Kinshiro's contacts and Io's financial savviness equal one hell of a profit). But their respect of each other's work ethic goes deeper, and through working side by side they find they actually like each other. They're a quiet couple and fairly inactive on the dating front, as they both work hard, but they're also both competitive so their sundays (when the offices and FX are closed) usually begin with an intense game of squash, or a jog around a park that becomes more like a race. This lifestyle suits them both, as they can stay fit and healthy whilst keeping up with work. Affection and intimacy tend to happen as a second thought; neither are particularly displeased by it, but their emotional distance does make the occasional moment of romance feel extra special

Problems arise when: they're both too busy working to actually pay attention to each other, and when they clash over decisions--both want to be in control.

IoIbu

A rich man and his eye-candy butler. Ibushi is eager to please the people he cares for, and Io takes as much advantage of that as possible. However, Ibushi knows where to draw the line, and will make Io work for his favours (be they sexual or otherwise) if he feels Io isn't giving back as much as he's taking. In general, Ibushi is content to leave Io to his stocks, but is capable of peeling him away from the screen now and again for some aforementioned 'favours'. Io has lost a few good deals that way, but Ibushi has always made it more than worth it.

Problems arise when: Ibushi walks around shirtless and distracts Io, leading to Io missing out on some trading. This usually happens with Io has been too sidetracked to pay Ibushi much attention, and has been treating him more like a butler than a boyfriend.

[1 / 2]

[nardaviel]

For the meme, Boueibu but also Death Note. (Or just choose one, as you wish)

Myst!!! thank u!!! I’ll do both!

Boueibu

I’m gonna experiment with not keeping all my negative opinions to myself :O Also since this is my current fandom I’ll have a lot more to say than I will with DN…

The first character I first fell in love with:

…I don’t know. I’m not sure there was one. I think I fell in love with the show because it made me laugh so much, but the characters didn’t really impress me until later. It might actually have been Io or Ryuu because I definitely remember that Ioryuu was my favorite ship at first. They got outpaced real fast though as;ljkf

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now:

En, Atsushi, and Arima. So three of my four faves…:C

En because I had expectations of him just from seeing screenshots and official art. Because of his eyes, I thought he was a cold, aloof sort of dude. Like Kinshirou, basically. I was excited because I like those characters, so he was kind of a disappointment as;ljkd I’m sorry En-chan I know better now.

Whereas with Atsushi, back before I was thinking about the characters in any depth, Atsushi seemed like the most boring of all. I thought all the characters individually were a little boring and one-note, except Atsushi, who couldn’t even be one-note because he had no personality at all. To be honest, I was sure pretty early on that he and Kinshirou had a thing that would be important at the end of the season, so I thought that was his… note. He would be completely boring and pointless UNTIL it was revealed that he was the link between the two groups. … … … This question is making me sad. I was SO WRONG ABOUT EVERYONE

As for Arima, he was just the last season 1 character whose name I learned. It might have helped if he had any screentime. B| So I guess I just didn’t notice him at first. :C

The character everyone else loves that I don’t:

Akoya. :\ I want to love him. The pretty, clever, scheming, snobby, selfish character who actually does care about his small circle of friends should be exactly the kind of character I go for. And I did like him at first, but various trends and events occurred in fandom, and over time those things completely ruined him for me, probably forever.

Also, I hate his hairstyle. THERE, I SAID IT. Don’t get me started on it because I will go on and on. It’s another thing I should be able to love but can’t. Sometimes it’s hard to look at him.

The character I love that everyone else hates:

Who does everyone hate?? The Beppus? I like them fine, but I wouldn’t say I love them. The aliens?? I hate the aliens too. I’m not sure there’s an answer to this question.

The character I used to love but don’t any longer:

I don’t know? I never really loved Akoya. I’ve largely lost interest in Io and Ryuu, but I still like them, so they don’t fit either. This question might not have an answer either.

The character I would totally smooch:

En. Later, once he’s out of college maybe.

The character I’d want to be like:

If there’s some way to squish Atsushi and Arima into one person, I want to be that person.

The character I’d slap:

Zundar. I’ll wear heavy gloves. Wombat too.

A pairing that I love:

KINATSUEN, and with it, Enatsu, Kinatsu, and Enkin. Also, Ibuatsu. Y’all knew this already.

A pairing that I despise:

Kinmoto and Ibuyu. Like… I never knew what it was like to truly have a noTP before I heard of these ships. Also any other Yumoto ship, to a lesser extent. There are some others that I don’t like, but… honestly… those are the big ones.

Death Note

The first character I first fell in love with:

L. Like 90% of people, it seems like. I never really bought into the whole cute justice panda aesthetic but I had some ideas about him that I really side-eye now.

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now:

Light!! My murderous son.

The character everyone else loves that I don’t:

??? I don’t know. There isn’t a character in DN that everyone loves. The only two I dislike are Near and Takada and uh I wouldn’t exactly call them fan favorites. I can’t even say Matt like all the people who want to be cool and intellectual, because I kind of like Matt.

The character I love that everyone else hates:

The answer to this used to be Misa, but Misa is more popular than she was so I don’t know the answer to this one either.

The character I used to love but don’t any longer:

…idk? Light has overtaken L as my fave but I still love L a lot. I think I might have thought Watari was a better person in the past, but I still like him.

The character I would totally smooch:

Second arc Sayu.

The character I’d want to be like:

…second arc Sayu.

The character I’d slap:

99% of them tbh but especially Light. Then I would hug him and cry.

A pairing that I love:

Lawlight. Still. I definitely had a much different image of this ship in my head when I was seventeen than I do now almost ten years(!!!!) later. I didn’t really understand how deeply messed up it is, and how doomed to tragedy. But I still love it. I love my fucked-up relationship between my fucked-up boys. And I definitely think that if you AU them so they’re closer in age and meet under better circumstances, they can have a really lovely relationship where no one kills each other.

…yeah. I really like Lawlight.

A pairing that I despise:

Matsuda/Sayu, I guess? I’m pretty apathetic about most other DN pairings.

[cupkayke]

Cupkayke Rewatches/Liveblogs Boueibu!

Season 1, Episode 4

I channeled En for about a week and was too lazy to quit playing Resident Evil and finish this liveblog buuuut better late than never, right?! I may only manage one of these a week but I just had a bunch of fanfic ideas (unrelated to watching the episode) so I figured I’d press onward and finish these. Mostly cuz I’m really interested in getting to season 2 because the Beppus are my favorite. But for now- IT’S THE EPISODE WHERE THEY GET BABYFIED! OMG CUTENESS ABOUND.

PS- I love the discussion that happened from my previous liveblog! Thank you @nardaviel, @angry-jewish-magical-girl (whom I cannot tag for some reason), @magiccatprincess and everyone else who contributed :3 ( @thatlittledandere I absolutely loved your flailing in your tags lol <3) Reactions make this a whole lot more fun for me- especially because the screencapping and formatting is so tedious. But anyway! ONWARD! I doubt this episode I’ll get that deep but WHO KNOWS.

OH HERE WE GO FEELS AND BACKSTORY

LOOK AT THE BABIES

Although why are they unsupervised in a field all alone as like elementary schoolers WTF WHERE ARE THEIR PARENTS?

Cliche wish upon a star!

Srz tho their voices are SO CUTE- who did they get for the baby voices??? 

Look at how cute blushy baby Atchan is!

BUT I AM A CHILD ATCHAN SO LOGICAL YET SO MUCH SHADE

CUTE BABY KINCHAN AND HIS ‘JUST IN CASE’ WISH AND HIS BLUSHING

Seriously look at this smol child. I think when I first watched the series this was the scene where I was first like “AWWW” at any of the SC.

-aaaaaand cut off

“Don’t mind me I’m just being broody and emo in the office with the lights out looking at the stars while I reminisce about my first love childhood friend who ditched me to go eat fucking curry with a pleb NBD I’M FINE”

That Arima Sass(tm) I didn’t remember him being so... memorable with his lines until this rewatch lol (oops I feel bad for ignoring him the first time around he’s so cute)

"Arima I s2g if you say one more word I will put snails on everything you own”

I didn’t cap this but in hindsight of the end of the season, his wish going from friendship to world domination is a perfect place for the “well that escalated quickly” meme…

Tickling Wombat looks so fun lol

I think I had a point about the ‘stink’ debate but I have since forgotten it so here have some silly screencaps of Wombat freaking out and Yumoto being adorable

QUICK SOMEONE WHO’S NEVER WATCHED BOUEIBU EXPLAIN WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE.

I mostly just love their faces lololololol I laughed for like 5 minutes after taking this

Side note- Poor Wombat- he’s a sentient creature that gets treated like a pet/plaything/child- no wonder he runs away from Yumoto every chance he gets

THE BIRTH OF WOM-SAN

More screencaps with no explanation other than I laughed harder than I should at them. THE EYES KIND OF REMIND ME OF HAYAO MIYAZAKI WHY?

Dads that are 12,000% done with this shit

En’s views on childishness/high school students in this scene is kind of telling- he seems overly image-conscious, yet he doesn’t want to be seen as old. Maybe Atsushi’s worrying is rubbing off on him?

Yumoto did you forget that you fight monsters on a weekly basis??? What ELSE is the definition of Superhero???

I wonder how they feel looking at basically a NAKED DEAD BODY all the time. It’s probably not fu- WAIT.

THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING

BUT WHEN I TOOK THIS SCREENCAP I CAME TO THE HORRIFYING REALIZATION THAT TAWARAYAMA-SENSI LOOKS JUST LIKE MY DAD

MY DAD USED TO BE A MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER AND HAS GRAY POOFY HAIR AND A MUSTACHE AND NOW I CANNOT UNSEE IT

Cupkayke.exe has stopped working

anyway

WHAT IS IT WITH THE SIDE CHARACTERS AND FREAKY EYES IN THIS SHOW

Io all about that money. Why do I find this exchange hilarious?

WAS THAT TEASING

OMG YUMOTO AND HIS SENPAIS THIS IS ADORABLE

SHOT THROUGH THE HEART

Also I JUST NOTICED that Ryuu and Io’s washing supplies are color coded by their hair/battle lover outfits omg

Who was it who had that headcanon that their battle lover outfits were chosen because of their favorite colors?

Lololol well Ryuu is the youngest other than Yumoto, isn’t he?

En does have a point

But Ryuu’s views on his looks here are interesting- he knows he’s stereotypically ‘young’ looking, so he makes do with what he has and turns up the charm to 100

I mean... he’s good at it, too. Look at that last screencap.

Also Yumoto in that screencap is splashing water through his hands LOL EVEN IN THE BACKGROUND HE’S ENFORCING THE CHILDISH NARRATIVE

…what was the point of Yumoto interrupting there?

Did I miss a joke?

More on En’s view of age/maturity and Yumoto blowing bubbles like a child in the background

I can definitely see where Yumoto would rub some people the wrong way here- his childishness is being played too heavy-handedly to just be for laughs

But it’s necessary Boueibu format foreshadowing

Ryuu looking so cool, so casual washing his feet

HOW CHILD HOW

Also I definitely noticed the pink bath supplies in this screencap

Senior must not be a common term for students in Japanese

Lololol Ryuu so cheeky

I feel like this line would get localized into something really cheesy or lame like “old man” when dubbed into English

There we have it.

ALSO BUTTS

En’s age crisis- again, he has a desire not to be seen as immature and is quick to call out childish behavior in others, but the moment his attention is brought to how he might be percieved as ‘old’, he obsesses on the negative aspects of it instead of the positive- which he was stressing as the better option only moments before.

This is really interesting but I don’t quite know what to make of it. If he doesn’t want to be seen as childish, but doesn’t want to be seen as old, what does he want to be seen as? Simply exactly his age? Boy, En, I have news for you... unless you’re a genetic miracle, no one looks exactly their age.

Seriously I’m twenty-fucking-five and I STILL get carded everywhere because I look 18 T_____T

YUMOTO YOU DON’T NEED TO BE BALD

GLAMOR SHOTS TIME

STARTING WITH RYUU’S ASS

I KNOW EVERYBODY AND THEIR BROTHER HAS TAKEN THIS SCREENCAP BUT DAMMIT JUST LET ME-

...bubble butt, bubble bubble bubble butt~

Yumoto your laugh is creepy

Again Io being sexy

En you aren’t fooling anyone, Atsushi’s using his glamor shot to worry about you- even tho my screencap apparently missed the caption

And then they keep splashing like kids lol

What a nickname

I’ve noticed the SC almost always speaks in a certain order- Arima, Akoya, Kinshirou

Is this on purpose or just arbitrary?

…morning cuddles…

Gora: “...dafuq kind of club is this defense club???”

AND DIRECTLY CONTRADICTING THE LAST EPISODE YUMOTO IS NOT INTERESTED IN PICKING UP GIRLS

This definitely supports the ‘cumpulsory heterosexuality’ theory, however; Yumoto last episode was talking about girls in a polite, “this is what I’m supposed to do” kind of way. This episode, he must feel freer with his feelings that he can admit that he’s not interested to his senpais.

Or maybe cuddling Wombat is just WAY more fun than all of those things lol

EN STOP IT YOU ARE NOT OLD-

OH. It’s a vanity thing, is it?

Wow Atsushi talk about throwing shade

Srz is that any way to talk to your boyfriend???

I wish I knew what animes they were referencing - I took a bunch of caps here but they’re not really relevant I guess unless someone wants to tell me what they’re talking about

En basically called Atsushi an otaku ffft

WHY ARE YOU PETTING EN YUMOTO

HIS HAIR IS NOWHERE NEAR AS FLUFFY AS YOURS

Though En definitely looks cute when he’s being tickled... ok Yumoto carry on

….Ryuu what are you talking about approximately no one is fooled by your indifference

TICKLE FIGHT

This scene is adorable - THE BLUSHES

So many laughs

YUMOTO NOTICING THAT AND NOT HAVING ANY REACTION

Aww they’re all so smol

Also the rest of them, their eyes were kept proportionate to their bodies but LOOK AT EN

His eyes are like waaaaay bigger and innocent

Double AWWW

The nodding at Yumoto’s stupidity lolol

Tho Yumoto still manages to be adorable wtf look at his happy face

Your hair is VERY pink like why

BABY TRANSFORMATIONS AWWW

But seriously the ‘love making’ thing sounds SOOOO inappropriate coming out of smol Yumoto

Like when Wombat said it I cringed

If it weren’t for the gutter my mind would be homeless

THE BAGGY CLOTHES

Hi there, fourth wall

Omg Ryuu why are you so cute

SMOL POWERS

Tripping on the clothes or perhaps because of little legs

NOW IO IS TOO ADORABLE FOR WORDS STAHHHHHHP

No seriously look at his face!

Though his pupils are two different sizes in this screencap lol

CHILD ENDANGERMENT DUDE

Atchan with more fourth wall breaking

And they figured out the enemy very quickly! They seem more observant as children than they are regularly

Okay, they say kindergarteners but they look like 3 year olds or babies

I CANNOT at Ryuu’s hair spikes getting smaller and less detailed

Also his face reminds me that his voice in this scene is hysterical

THE MODESTY LEAVES

ATSUSHI WHY IS YOUR BUTT IN THE AIR STOP THAT

En and the fourth wall for the third time

RYUU WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT YOUR PENIS

And you’d think image-conscious Atsushi would be the one most embarrassed about being naked babies in public but NO APPARENTLY IO IS SUPER SHY

Sad baby Io sounds so pathetic

And Ryuu hardly seems worried

Yumoto rolled a perception check and got a 20 like whoah

RYUU AND EN ARE SAVAGE AF 

SMOL NAKED BABIES ATTEMPTING TO LOOK BADASS- all except Io who just wants the fuck out of here lol

How are they even still able to fight?? Their powers were diminished earlier??? Is it because they realized it was an illusion?

CHUBBEH BABY BUTT

AAAAND NAKED IN PUBLIC

Did their clothes just vanish???

And Io’s STILL embarrassed.

Meanwhile Yumoto has his priorities straight I guess

Also WHY IS IT SUDDENLY NIGHTTIME WASN’T IT JUST MORNING CUDDLES TIME???

YOU’RE JUST WORRIED ABOUT THEM BEATING YOU I MEAN C’MON AT LEAST LAUGH AT THEIR NUDITY

OH IT’S NIGHT SO HE CAN LOOK AT THE STARS AND REMEMBER THINGS AGAIN THAT’S WHY IT ALL HAS TO COME FULL CIRCLE BECAUSE PLOT

Ryuu you have no tact sheesh

Atsushi is STILL throwing shade like a pro. He must take lessons from Arima the sass master.

And we end on Atsushi reminiscing about Kinshirou and their stargazing adventures but THIS BOTHERS ME BECAUSE OF COURSE YOU FUCKING KNOW WHAT HE WISHED FOR YOU DIP. Context wise, it’s obvious Kinshirou told him. I mean, he might be meaning he’s since forgotten the wish (which would explain his falling out with Kinshirou in another dimension other than the curry thing) but showing that flashback in such detail and then having Atsushi remember it (or hinted that he remembers it) but without hinting that he knows what Kinshirou wished for is just kind of.... idk it bothers me. That line wasn’t 100% necessary, or perhaps it could have been something like “I don’t remember what he wished for”. Of course, for all I know he could have said that but crunchyroll could have translated it poorly idk.

Buuuut that’s the end! That was mostly just an enjoyable “aww” episode with not a lot of substance other than we discover that Kinshirou is dramatic AF, En is self conscious (perhaps even moreso than Atsushi, or possibly just vain) and Io is definitely embarrassed by public nudity. Hm. Maybe you guys have some more intelligent commentary.

I’m gonna shoot to get Ep 5 done in the next couple days (maybe hours... but this shit takes forever) because I want to finish compiling all this stuff so I can get to writing these plot bunnies that just bit me in the ass... buuuut I need research. Man... En the lazy is definitely my spirit animal OTL

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

ACCA 2 | Nanbaka 16 | SGRS 16 | Marginal #4 2 | Classicaloid 15 | Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga 2 - 3 | D Gray Man Hallow 1 | ReLIFE 2 - 6

The idea for D Gray Man Hallow from now on: Once all 2016 shows are done (rewatches or not), expect the 2016 ranking.

(ACCA 2)

What in Dante’s Inferno? I’m properly listening to the OP as it was intended in the anime…and it doesn’t quite look like what I expected.

I don’t like tomatoes, so no bread for me.

This is a cute…albeit unconventional way to introduce the series’ core concepts. Also, acorn berets.

Kabocha = pumpkin, while murasaki = purple. That’s made from purple lettuce, so I don’t blame ‘em for calling it that.

Mushroomhead = Rail.

I thought ACCA paid really high if he got cigarettes for free.

Oh no, is Nino going to go against Jean?

Bihinshitsu = equipment room.

2m 22 cm is over 6 foot…wow.

Walnut-topped cake filled with nuts.

The systems managers seem really incompetent…I suspect something’s up.

The guys all deilberately seem to have the same face.

A-hah. As I thought. (Dang you, title spoiler.)

If this ED were to evolve, it would be even better than Yuri on Ice’s OP. (That’s saying something.) Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be happening…

Doesn’t seem like there’ll be any title spoilers next time either.

(Nanbaka 16)

I’m less likely to skip Rin! Rin! Hi! Hi! than some of the other Ops when I’m watching. That does make it slightly unwieldy as a rewatching show, though.

“Wow, he’s trash.” – Dat me.

Samon has a brother?

In a world full of filial piety, the worst one can do is to insult someone else’s family.

I’m not very good with “kept secret” stories, which is why I’m trying to do “Next to Me” well enough…at least to my standards, anyway. My standards are very high, you know.

They must’ve done something to the snacks…

(Showa Genroku: Sukeroku Futatabi-hen 3)

The fireworks are so lifelike in this ep!

Daiku Shirabe…I found out about the story from an ANN article, so I should’ve seen its appearance coming…“Tamaya” is something you yell during fireworks displays. Apparently it was the name of a fireworks company somewhere along the line.

The flattening refers to how Yota had to bow for forgiveness, but I think I kinda explained that already.

“Shinuchissei”…Yota seems to slur the end of his sentences.

I actually went “WHAT?!” at Yota not being fazed by the big daddy boss.

Note for later: The baby (I heard his name was Shinnosuke) was born November 23rd.

The jazz soundtrack really sells this show.

...so this is the rant from Daiku Shirabe. It’s fast (compared to even the usual), but it has lots of heart. Plus the showcasing of the tattoo really did its significance justice.

I think the bridge is called Matsubashi (Pine Bridge).

Yota could’ve fabricated the shaking of his hands.…wow. Yota has such yaoi hands. Just what you’d expect from a former BL artist.

I thought Yakumo was more of a cat person. Whose dog is Hanako?

Aw. I felt sorry for Matsuda, even if I have a suspicion he feigned those tears. Well, regardless, now I know Matsuda has grandkids anyway…so win win.

I knew he was either summoning the master Sukeroku II pissed off or Sukeroku himself.

“Tou-chan” was an unexpected nickname I didn’t think Konatsu would use.

Update: I thought about it, and even Shinnosuke’s name takes after the legacy. Remember? Sukeroku used to be called Shin! 

(Marginal #4 2)

One of the things that makes this show stand out is the space-styled episode titles.

Ooh. Pretty cherry blossoms.

Pan shots. Of course.

I know this isn’t the sort of show that gets too much coverage, and I even think it looks a bit ugly at times (not to mention a bit weird) but when you’re not caught up on most of the other big idol shows, this is the best you can do.

I think game boy (orange twin…er, aka R)’s trying too hard with his terms.

Now that Atom is talking about heart, it really does look like he’s a Toshiki Masuda character through and through, although he doesn’t look very angry when he sounds angry. I’ll chalk that up to the art department.

“Don’t think, feel” seems to be attributed to lots of places, so I don’t know the original source. However, since game boy (um, aka R) cites a movie star, it’s apparently Bruce Lee (if my Google-fu serves me right).

L makes stuff sound deeeeep.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! Rui wasn’t surprised by the juice.

Atom is such a Ryuu sometimes...

…okay, enough with the underwear jokes…The twin jokes are a bit weird. Plus the ships can be smelt from a mile away…but that’s not enough to save a show.

“Ore-sama”? I only just realised Atom uses such a term.

Enough about the lucky underwear! *flips table*

Oh, I saw Ayanokouji in the background at one point.

I’m with Rui most times, including the need for deduction.

I’m still questioning the sanity of someone who wrote an entire episode plot about lucky underwear.

Alright, since I feel brain dead after that, I’m going to drop it, meaning ACCA is the show that forges ahead. Well, I’m lucky I was hoping to watch FLCL to fill in the gap once I’m done with my 3 remaining rewatches at this point in time (ReLIFE, D Gray Man, Morose Mononokean). The latter two will have, from ep 7, fresh impressions, so hopefully you can look forward to them.  

(Classicaloid 15)

Selfies: a worldwide phenomenon…I never got into that stuff, but if I were to analyse ‘em, I’d say they tap into the human need to be self centred.

There’s something sad about seeing someone rejected, eve if that someone is a piece of trash like Sousuke…

The game the Classicaloids are playing appears to be a game of Life.

Unfortunately, Kanae’s right…again. Sad life for you, Sousuke.

Motz literally became a flippin’ Akoya, right down to wearing a dress. Plus, the Amazon brigade came back.

Aw, I really felt for the glasses guy, even if briefly.

“Basics of Programming”? Don’t need that for Garage Band, Sousuke.

Hanted house and cosplay café...

…eh? Tchaiko still calls herself a former member of Cla:Kla?

Oh. I never realised until now, but Hamamatsu + festival (matsuri) = Hamamatsuri.

With that song (Sousuke’s song), it’s a sad blooper reel.

(Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga ep 2)

I got a wallpaper of Shima trying not to laugh (it was from the official Blue Exorcist anime page, but only for a period around Shima’s b’day). So this ep is where it comes from.

“Bon” means “young master” anyway, so it doesn’t matter.

“…a herbal tea antidote…”

Kyoto is meant to be the imperial capital…at least around the 1700s, it was the imperial capital.

Mamushi means “pit viper”. She’s not one to mess with.

He’s got some reflexes, that Ryuji.

Uwabami is also a type of snake…I forgot which one though.

Wait, Uwabami’s the man?! Uwabami was a woman in Oumagadoki Zoo…

Seriously, are they all getting drunk on juice…? Oh, okay. So that’s what happened.

(ep 3)

Rin’s shirt says “Sankyu” in goroawase and English, LOL.

Even if you love weeds, please don’t smoke ‘em, kids.

I thought Rin was going to pull a Shaft head tilt out of nowhere when he looked back at Konekomaru.

Update: For efficiency, the tag for this one is “Chesarka watches AoEx”. However, I don’t normally refer to it as such. I’d probably refer to it as “Ao Eku” if I wee speaking (due to the season 1 DVD extras), but “Blue Exorcist” is the shortest mode of the name I’d use in typing format.

(D Gray Man Hallow ep 1)

I am familiar with this source material, so do be aware of that. However, I didn’t finish the anime the first time around, so do be aware of that too.

Sometimes the art style for this anime can be a little off. The noses can be a little too pointy and too close to the eyes, so on and so forth.Allen doesn’t even look like he’s blushing with this art style too…that’s a bit of a disappointment.

Even the golems have it in for each other…LOL.

Johnny has apparently been stealing the spotlight for quite some time, but I haven’t noticed it all that much. Probably because I read volumes 21 – 24 in one go…

I think.Cross Marian looks more like Grelle (Black Butler) than ever in colour.

Why does Lenalee have such a short skirt?

When even the masked guy has a sweatdrop, you know there’s trouble.

(ReLIFE ep 2)

Unfortunately for Kariu, I understand there is no “next time”…

I’ve found out even at 18, people don’t judge two people of different gender sitting together eating lunch…of course, cultural standards notwithstanding.

Stud earrings are fine if you play sports, I think.

According to Google-sensei, it’s only about $11, my country’s money. It’s not that much if you work…but knowing Japanese standards (which say you should focus on getting into uni before getting a job), it does seem a bit much for someone who doesn’t work and doesn’t get any allowance. So in a weird way, it does make sense to me.

...but you took Kariu’s hand when she offered you the rubber, Arata?

Hey, that joke was in Erased too.

Kazu-kun = Karamatsu…kinda. LOL.

I always seemed to understand Hishiron, and yet also understand Arata to some extent too. Maybe I’m the perfect in-between for these two. Probably because I tend to break off friendships as soon as the year ends, and yet prior friendships are a core part to my social strategy.

Unfortuately, the downside to “minimalistic” is that it’s obvious when it goes off model.

LINE sticker…LOL. LINE’s very popular in Japan.

(ep 3)

I’ve wondered whether Yayoi Sou is a lady or not. Considering the circumstances, it probably is that Sensei is a female.

Hideyo is the dude on the 1000 note, obviously.

Ah…fitness tests. The bane of youth. No one says “stupid loud” though.

Oh. Tamarai’s there around the time of Asaji’s throw.

Lookit that rabbit on Usa-sensei’s shirt. No one says “crazy athletic” either…you outdated subbers.

Akira (Inukai) is kinda like Yurio, come to think of it, eh?

Didn’t you just say it yourself (about you being old) though, Arata?

Yoake literally had a blank face there, LOL.

There appears to be a Sato GP on the way to Aoba. Huh.

Ah…a show’s a real classic if it makes you laugh every time…

(ep 4)

Where’s the guy who does sad interpretations of OPs and EDs? (This guy.)

I know your feels, Kariu. (see the Tumblr debacle for an instance of this)

There appears to be something about whales near the fishtank.

The cityscapes in this are so nice.

There’s a map of Japan on one wall of Kaizaki’s place.

Go forth, young Kariu! Pick up your fallen balls! (teehee)

CGI balls, LOL.

It’s creepy (but also dramatic) when the lights of the eyes are the last to move.

(ep 5)

Sumire! Her name means “violet” (the flower).

There are some nuances lost in translation, like yappari and the levels of formality…but those are typically lost.

This “lecture” is probably the highest point you can get in the show (so far). It’s times like this you can really see an author’s strengths in storytelling.

The piano really sells the Hishiro/Kaizaki meeting.

What a strange angle that “lean to the left” shot is.

I’ve found out swear words have a lot of leeway when it comes to levels of “oh no”. These swar words include yabai and temee. Due to the context of Wan! and the fact it was Chuuya who kept using them, I went with the nastier variants [in my scanlating days] but sometimes a non-swearing variant is enough. However, kirai (to dislike) is pretty nasty if you use it in Japanese.

Kaizaki’s delivery of these lines really sells their comedic effect. The electronic keyboard makes it sound like night, but also makes it sound 1) like night and 2) creepy, for some reason.

Freeter is almost as bad as NEET, Kaizaki.

There appears to be a 100 man (10 thousand) coin bank behind Yoake, which makes that...1000000 yen. (chorus in back: One million yen?!)

(ep 6)

Apparently someone tried to type the same Japanese words into Google and didn’t get the same results, LOL.

Hishiron uses a Mac, LOL.

“Thanks for having us” probably isn’t the right words for it. Ojamashimasu means “sorry for intruding”, but it sounds heavily formal when translated, so I can see why the subbers did what they did though.

*laughs* MDs (minidiscs)? I know what they are, even though they’re meant to be completely dead by now. Apparently they’re a product of the 90s that never caught on..although I admit I’ve never used an MD in my life, let alone held one. It does kinda look like a floppy disc, though. (chorus in back: You poke through old stuff too much, don’t you?)

Those fadeout cups are so cool! I want one.

Ah, maths. The sad thing about my life is that up until a certain point I was good at maths. Then the hard stuff came up and I started to fail.

I thought it was Third Street Oga was talking about, but it’s 3rd chome, sort of like a suburb.

Knowing An, she may have deliberately put Oga out of the way for her own purposes…if you know what I mean.

CGI car just ruined the suspenseful mood, dangit.

Sometimes I just turn off my volume and turn on some music on Spotify. That way, you can make your own soundtrack.

Why did Arata have such a dumb face in the thought bubble?

Wow, she’s a real fujoshi, that one [An].

“Dude”? I cringe so much at her use of it, despite the fact I use it myself. 

You liar, Onoya. Knowing who subject 1 was means that I know they couldn’t have even thought about that part…

[cafeplr]

Building a Jewelry Wardrobe: A Woman’s Guide to Seven Jewelry Must-Haves

Just as every woman needs a pair—or twenty—of jeans, a few pairs of black shoes (at the very least: ballet flats, thongs, kitten heels and stilettos), a cocktail dress, a few basic skirts, a chic business suit, a cardigan sweater…I could go on but you get my point. Just as every woman needs these fashion staples, she needs a few jewelry basics—seven actually—with which to accessorize her outfits.

Like a custom paint job on a sleek Harley, accessories personalize your style and tell the world that you care enough to go the extra mile for appearance’s sake. And we all know that appearance counts. Within the first three seconds of taking you in, people make judgments about you that you usually cannot reverse. So why not make a good first impression with a look that is polished, put together, and says that you pay attention to style and detail? Still with me? Good. Here are seven jewelry staples no well-dressed woman should be without. Choose any one of them to accessorize in a snap, and to ensure that snap judgments made about you reflect who you really are.

Diamond studs Anyone can pull off this classic accessory. Diamond studs are elegant, timeless and simple enough to be worn with other jewelry and any style of hair or dress. Look for clear, sparkling gems with at least ½ carat total weight, set in white gold or platinum (not yellow gold) to show off their colorlessness. As for shape, round studs will always be in style, but princess cut styles are popular—and classic too. Look for screw backs to help ensure that you won’t lose your investment, and make sure the setting is secure (I prefer four prongs to three).

Be warned that quality diamond studs can be pricey. Blue Nile.com has a beautiful pair of ½ carat tw diamond studs with screw backs for $600; Tiffany & Co. sells a beautiful pair of .22 total carat weight diamonds set it platinum for $875. Can’t afford these beauties? My sparkly CZ look-alikes get the job done, and cost under $40. And I don’t have to worry about losing—or insuring them.

Pearl studs Like diamond studs, pearl studs can be worn with every style of dress, and with all types of jewelry. Unlike diamond studs, pearl studs are surprisingly affordable, especially when you choose freshwater pearls, which today can rival the beauty of their saltwater cousins. Look for round white gems that are well-matched; these are classics and won’t go out of style. Beware of purchasing button-shaped (flattened) pearls when you think you’re getting round. Choose a back that is comfortable, secure and comprised of a metal your skin can tolerate, such as white gold, yellow gold or platinum.

When wearing pearls, keep in mind that the gems are typically associated with a demure, ladylike reputation, so they’re perfect for a job interview, wedding or other formal setting. Of course, classic pearls are perfect for daytime and casual events as well, and give the wearer a timeless, feminine look that is very polished.

When buying pearl studs, choose akoya cultured pearls or their far more affordable freshwater counterparts, which are just as beautiful. For the best look, choose pearls that are 6mm or greater in size. JR Dunn sells Mikimoto akoya cultured pearls in 6mm round white for $340; MoonRiverPearls.com sells round white freshwater cultured pearls in 7mm for $38.

Dangle earrings I love dangles for their drama, and because their typical hook backs make them easy to get on and off. But many dangles aren’t for everyday; they’ll look out of place with shorts and a tank, for example. If you’re going a bit more formal, though, you have many options with this earring style. Keep in mind that if you want your dangle earrings to become a jewelry staple, look for a classic, elegant design in a neutral color, such as an all metal style or one that ends in a cultured pearl, for example. For your staple piece, don’t choose anything trendy or cute; steer clear of hearts, stars, zodiac signs and skulls. (If you want to go trendy that’s fine, just buy something inexpensive.) As for what to choose, I prefer a dangle that hangs an inch or two below the earlobe to really make a statement. White gold and yellow gold bars, chains or chandeliers are timeless favorites. Of course, hairstyle and wardrobe will play a role here too. If your hair is very long you can get away with more dramatic—and longer—styles. Remember, though, if you wear a dramatic earring it’s best to skip the necklace and let the earrings speak for themselves.

Silver or gold hoop earrings Several styles of hoop earrings can be considered jewelry staples, from small diamond-encrusted loops to gargantuan, J.Lo-style hoops. It all depends on what you like, so choose hoops that fit your personality. Keep in mind, though, that oversize hoops can overpower short hair, an updo, or a face with small features, so take in the overall picture before you step out. Small gold, silver, diamond, pearl or CZ hoops go with everything and are always in style. Look for hoop earrings with a back that’s easy to fasten and won’t readily bend or fall out. And don’t wear gigantic hoops to a job interview or other professional setting, unless you work at Vogue.

Diamond solitaire pendant There’s not enough room here to write about the five Cs of diamond quality, but, if you’re interested, there are a ton of sites out there where you can read about how to choose a diamond. As for the pendant, a single bezel set diamond on a white gold chain looks amazing, crisp and classic. Choose an 18-inch length with a secure clasp (I prefer lobster claw here) and make sure the chain is sturdy, yet thin and unobtrusive. It’s the diamond that you want to showcase here, not the chain. As with studs, you can get a gorgeous solitaire pendant made with a CZ, or, for a twist, try a pearl.

Pearl strand When choosing a classic pearl strand, look for an 18-inch princess length in a classic creamy white. This length is very versatile, and the color is timeless. Both akoya cultured pearls and freshwater cultured pearls fit the bill, although akoyas will be more expensive. Other factors to keep in mind: pearl size counts. After the 7.5-8.0 mm mark, prices rise dramatically, but a 6.5mm strand is lovely and affordable. Look at luster and surface. Pearls should have a high luster, or surface sheen, meaning they reflect light well. They should also be free from obvious blemishes. Pay attention to uniformity. Make sure the pearls are the same size, the same color and have a uniform luster—the warm glow that appears to come from within the pearl. To check that the pearls are uniformly round, roll the strand on a table. Matched pearls will roll smoothly.

So you think pearl strands are too Barbara Bush? A Tin Cup necklace, where the pearls are evenly spaced on a chain, is a gorgeous alternative.

A Classic Timepiece Lots of options here, but if you’re going to choose just one watch it has to be classic, functional and stylish. I like a water-resistant oversize sterling silver watch or a classic tank watch, both of which will look good with everything except formal wear (then you can tuck it in your clutch). A stainless steel band will wear better than leather, and is usually water-resistant, but try it on in case it feels too heavy or overwhelms your wrist. Stick with a classic white or muted watch face with numbers that are easy to read. (Bold colors are pretty, but distracting.) A glow-in-the-dark face is a plus. As for brands, Swiss Army has some great styles that wear well and don’t break the bank. If you have the means, a Tag Heuer or Rolex is always nice too.

When you have your seven basic jewelry staples, it’s time to play. There are so many other classics you can add to your jewelry box if you’re so inclined. A diamond tennis bracelet, a beautiful Tahitian pearl bracelet, an oversize pearl cocktail ring, or a signature piece in your birthstone all look terrific. Depending on your style personality and budget, you can choose plenty of other extras to keep up with fashion trends, but keep these on the inexpensive side as they likely won’t stand the test of time. For a statement-making piece, choose an oversize cocktail ring in a bold color. Or, if you like today’s layered look, pick several chain necklaces in your favorite metal in varying lengths, and layer them with pearl strands or oversized turquoise, wood or mother-of-pearl beaded necklaces. Wide wood, mother-of-pearl or metal cuffs always look terrific, and stackable bangles, especially personalized charm bracelets, are always fun. (Do spend more on charm bracelets, as you’ll probably hang on to these.)

Still stuck on what to wear? You can always go with my favorite and most valued piece of jewelry: a handcrafted, hand painted macaroni necklace made for me by my four-year-old son.

See Full PLR Article Here: Building a Jewelry Wardrobe: A Woman’s Guide to Seven Jewelry Must-Haves

[luxrestate60518]

HUFFPOST HILL - Better Angels Of Our Nature Totally Cuck House GOP

Joe Biden reminded everyone why he might be the closest thing humanity has to a walking, talking “tfw” joke. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are moving two blocks from the Obamas’ future home, though nobody is discussing their proximity to a nearby Islamic center for some reason. And a bunch of Hillary Clinton staffers have been recruited to run rapid response at the DNC, because what the opposition really needs are more black-and-white videos of Jonah Hill in a heather gray sweater solemnly telling us how much we need the individual mandate. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Tuesday, January 3rd, 2017:

GOP IN GISARRAY - The real loser in all of this is Rep. Blake Farenthold, who will now have that picture of himself dressed in duckling PJs re-broadcast to the world (see below!). Matt Fuller and Paige Lavender: “After a torrent of bad headlines, countless phone calls to member offices, and two tweets from President-elect Donald Trump, House Republicans dropped their plans to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics Tuesday, just minutes before the House was set to gavel in for the 115th Congress and adopt their rules package for the next two years. The amendment ― authored by Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) ― would have placed the independent congressional ethics office under the oversight of the House Ethics Committee, changed the OCE’s name and barred the office from releasing reports to the public. In effect, it would have neutered Congress’ most aggressive watchdog. The decision to strip the Goodlatte amendment came just before noon on Tuesday as Republicans planned to begin the 115th Congress. Earlier in the day, responding to numerous news reports about Republicans gutting the OCE, Trump asked in a tweet whether Republicans really had to make the ‘weakening’ of the ethics office their first order of business, though he also didn’t necessarily come out against the idea of eventually overhauling the OCE.” [HuffPost]

Read HuffPost’s Ryan Grim on what made this whole snafu truly important: It proved that Congress will still react to public outrage.

We just want to see Sandy Levin in Snapchat Spectacles: “Several Democrats took pictures on the House floor as the chamber held a quorum call to kick off the 115th Congress — a violation of House rules that Republicans want to start punishing with a fine of up to $2,500…. Taking photos or recording video on the House floor has been a longstanding violation of House rules, but the fine is something new Republicans are proposing this year as a delayed reaction to Democrats’ June sit-in on the House floor protesting gun violence. During the sit-in, Democrats used their cell phones to record video of their speeches and chants and took photos of themselves and their colleagues after Republicans turned off the CSPAN cameras that provide live access to the floor.” [Roll Call’s Lindsey McPherson]

Watch this video of our HuffPost DC colleagues reading mean tweets.

HERE’S SOME SWEET, SWEET CUD FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES DEMOCRATS TO CHEW ON - Ben Carson’s confirmation hearing before Senate Banking is quickly becoming our second-most anticipated confirmation hearing. David Dayen: “OneWest Bank, which Donald Trump’s treasury secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin ran from 2009 to 2015, repeatedly broke California’s foreclosure laws during that period, according to a previously undisclosed 2013 memo from top prosecutors in the state attorney general’s office. The memo obtained by The Intercept alleges that OneWest rushed delinquent homeowners out of their homes by violating notice and waiting period statutes, illegally backdated key documents, and effectively gamed foreclosure auctions. In the memo, the leaders of the state attorney general’s Consumer Law Section said they had ‘uncovered evidence suggestive of widespread misconduct’ in a yearlong investigation. In a detailed 22-page request, they identified over a thousand legal violations in the small subsection of OneWest loans they were able to examine, and they recommended that Attorney General Kamala Harris file a civil enforcement action against the Pasadena-based bank. They even wrote up a sample legal complaint, seeking injunctive relief and millions of dollars in penalties.” [The Intercept]

BLACK PEOPLE WORRIED ABOUT JEFF SESSIONS FOR SOME REASON - But some of his best friends are ― oh, they aren’t? Lilly Workneh: “The NAACP is staging a sit-in protest at the office of U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions in Mobile, Alabama to speak out against his nomination by President-elect Donald Trump for attorney general. Several leaders of the civil rights organization have thus far participated in the protest, which kicked off Tuesday morning, including NAACP President Cornell William Brooks, and Alabama state NAACP President Benard Simelton. Brooks posted a tweet Tuesday morning declaring that he will continue to occupy the office until the protest results in either Sessions’ withdrawal or their arrest.” [HuffPost]

Like HuffPost Hill? Then order Eliot’s new book, The Beltway Bible: A Totally Serious A-Z Guide To Our No-Good, Corrupt, Incompetent, Terrible, Depressing, and Sometimes Hilarious Government

Does somebody keep forwarding you this newsletter? Get your own copy. It’s free! Sign up here. Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to eliot@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill

THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU ‘DANGEROUS DONALD’ SOMEHOW GIVEN JOB - Listen closely to the wind and you can hear the anguished typing of a million Bernie Bros. Philip Rucker: “The Democratic National Committee is building a ‘war room’ to battle President-elect Donald Trump, pressure the new Republican administration on a variety of policy matters and train a spotlight on Russia’s alleged cyberattacks to influence the 2016 election…. The DNC’s new communications and research operation, to be staffed by former aides to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, will be one of several efforts from across the Democratic firmament to take on Trump, including the office of Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), the Center for American Progress and American Bridge.” [WaPo]

TRUMP DUBAI HOTEL OPENING TO PROVIDE FRESH CONFLICT OF INTEREST - It’s been a whole five minutes since the last ethical challenge. Jon Gambrell: “The Trump International Golf Club in Dubai — the sheikhdom in the United Arab Emirates home to a futuristic skyline crowned by the world’s tallest building — is due to open in February and be managed by Trump Organization employees. It is set inside Akoya, a massive housing development of 2,600 villas and 7,000 apartments developed by Dubai-based luxury real estate DAMAC Properties. Another Trump-managed golf course is planned for another even larger DAMAC project under development further down the road. Billionaire Hussain Sajwani, who founded DAMAC Properties in 2002, met Trump some 10 years ago and the two men hit it off over their real estate experiences, said Niall McLoughlin, a senior vice president for communications and marketing at the firm…. Sajwani and his family also attended a New Year’s Eve party at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, with the incoming president describing them from on stage as ‘the most beautiful people from Dubai.’” [AP]

‘JOEY NO SOCKS’ - Such good swamp-draining news today. Chris Sommerfeldt: “President-elect Donald Trump rang in the new year together with Joseph ‘Joey No Socks’ Cinque — a convicted felon with ties to notorious Gambino crime family boss John Gotti, a recently released video has revealed. Cinque can be seen in a video obtained by the Palm Beach Daily News, cheering loudly as a tuxedo-clad Trump runs through a number of campaign promises before the hundreds of guests attending the New Year’s Eve bash the President-elect threw at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Saturday. ‘The taxes are coming down, regulations are coming off, we’re going to get rid of Obamacare,’ Trump can be heard saying as an exuberant Cinque stands next to him, pumping his fists into the air.” [Daily News]

‘WHAT ABOUT CHICAGO?’ TROLLING NOW FEDERAL POLICY - “President-elect Donald Trump said Monday that if Mayor Rahm Emanuel can’t turn the tide on Chicago’s soaring murder rate, Washington may need to step in. Trump, who frequently cited Chicago’s violence during the presidential campaign, tweeted about The Windy City a day after the Chicago Police Department released year-end crime stats showing homicide numbers that dwarfed those of New York and Los Angeles combined. “Chicago murder rate is record setting - 4,331 shooting victims with 762 murders in 2016. If Mayor can’t do it he must ask for Federal help!” Trump tweeted.” [Fox News]

MEGYN KELLY HEADING TO NBC NEWS - We suppose it would be too much to ask for Shep Smith to get Kelly’s spot…. Michael Calderone: “Fox News host Megyn Kelly is leaving the cable news network for NBC News, the network announced Tuesday. Kelly will take on multiple roles at NBC. She’ll host a one-hour daytime talk show airing Monday through Friday and a Sunday evening news magazine show, and will contribute on breaking news stories and NBC’s coverage of major political and special events. ‘Megyn is an exceptional journalist and news anchor, who has had an extraordinary career,’ Andrew Lack, chairman of the NBCUniversal News Group, said in a release. ‘She’s demonstrated tremendous skill and poise, and we’re lucky to have her.’ The departure is a major blow to Fox News, where Kelly hosted a top-rated 9 p.m. show and was considered a key part of the network’s future. In a Facebook post, Kelly said she was ‘incredibly enriched for the experiences’ she had in a dozen years at Fox News.” [HuffPost]

Can you even begin to imagine this neighborhood listserv: “[M]ultiple real-estate sources say [Ivanka] Trump and husband Jared Kushner will move into 2449 Tracy Pl. NW, in Kalorama. That will put the couple less than two blocks from the Obamas, who will reportedly move here post-White House.” [Washingtonian’s Marisa Kashino]

THINGS STAY THE SAME - Once again, Heath Shuler was denied his place in history. John Bresnahan and Kyle Cheney: “House Republicans overwhelmingly reelected Paul Ryan on Tuesday to another term as speaker of the House. Only one — Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — voted against him…. On the other side of the aisle, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi saw four defections in her own caucus: Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) voted for fellow Ohio Democrat Tim Ryan, and Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wisc.) voted for Cooper. Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-New York) also voted for Tim Ryan, and Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) voted for Rep. John Lewis.” [Politico]

*Insert Illuminati joke here* “Former President Bill Clinton and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month, aides to both Clintons told CNN on Tuesday. Former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush will also attend, the 43rd president’s office said in a statement Tuesday.” [CNN’S Dan Merica and Theodore Schleifer]

THE GOP’S OBAMACARE CLOWN SHOW HAS BEGUN - Congress officially took the first procedural step Tuesday to unravel the health law, and Republicans still have no clue what the final step will be. Noam Levey: “Congressional Republicans, despite pledging to quickly repeal the Affordable Care Act, are struggling with what parts of the law to roll back and how to lock up the votes they will need, particularly in the Senate, to push their ambitious plans. Settling these questions may delay any major repeal vote for months. Just as importantly, a protracted debate could force President-elect Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers to preserve parts of the healthcare law they once swore to eliminate. And this all must be resolved before they even turn to the question of how to replace the law.” [LA Times]

TRUMP CAMP PROMISES PRESS CONFERENCE FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME - He totally won’t back out again, you guys. Callum Borchers: “Donald Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway told CNN on Monday that the president-elect will probably hold a news conference Jan. 11. ‘I know that’s the current plan,’ Conway said, sounding less than certain. Let’s not forget that a September event originally billed as a news conference turned out to be an infomercial for Trump’s new D.C. hotel — capped by a brief concession that President Obama was, in fact, born in the United States. And last month’s long-planned news conference was scrapped just days beforehand. So plans can change. Assuming Trump does follow through next week, his news conference drought will end at 168 days — a staggeringly long stretch for a man who once constantly held court with reporters and seemed to view the interactions as a kind of sport.” [WaPo]

CONGRESS LOVES JESUS MORE THAN AMERICA DOES - Science says so. Eliza Collins: “Lawmakers in Congress are overwhelmingly Christian, more even than the America they represent. Nine out of 10 members the new House and Senate (91%) sworn in Tuesday describe themselves as members of the Christian faith, according to a survey released by Pew Research Center Tuesday. The number of Christians in Congress is higher than the number of Americans who identify as Christian. That number has been declining in recent decades. Between the early 1970s and 90s the number hovered around 90% but by early 2000 it had dropped to around 80%. According to a spokeswoman from Pew, that number continues to decrease.” [USA Today]

BECAUSE YOU’VE READ THIS FAR - Here is a dog being shamed about its snoring.

BREAKING RICHARD NIXON NEWS - Peter Baker: “Richard M. Nixon told an aide that they should find a way to secretly ‘monkey wrench’ peace talks in Vietnam in the waning days of the 1968 campaign for fear that progress toward ending the war would hurt his chances for the presidency, according to newly discovered notes. In a telephone conversation with H. R. Haldeman, who would go on to become White House chief of staff, Nixon gave instructions that a friendly intermediary should keep ‘working on’ South Vietnamese leaders to persuade them not to agree to a deal before the election, according to the notes, taken by Mr. Haldeman.” [NYT]

COMFORT FOOD

- Auctioneers set over rap beats.

- Tsunamis are terrifying.

-  The worst (best?) moments of the English-to-Mandarin-to-English translation of “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith”

TWITTERAMA

@mattyglesias: Web traffic is back! Vacation and family togetherness are fine, but clicks are what matters most.

@MEPFuller: Hey but remember when House Republicans were all Let’s-make-sure-the-public-has-a-chance-to-read-and-weigh-in-on-congressional-action?

lol

@jonlovett: Maybe a moratorium

A moratorium

On videos of celebrities with serious faces

Serious faces

Not saying forever

But

But just for now

For now

Got something to add? Send tips/quotes/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to Eliot Nelson (eliot@huffingtonpost.com)

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2i7BZVA

[realestate63141]

HUFFPOST HILL - Better Angels Of Our Nature Totally Cuck House GOP

Joe Biden reminded everyone why he might be the closest thing humanity has to a walking, talking “tfw” joke. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are moving two blocks from the Obamas’ future home, though nobody is discussing their proximity to a nearby Islamic center for some reason. And a bunch of Hillary Clinton staffers have been recruited to run rapid response at the DNC, because what the opposition really needs are more black-and-white videos of Jonah Hill in a heather gray sweater solemnly telling us how much we need the individual mandate. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Tuesday, January 3rd, 2017:

GOP IN GISARRAY - The real loser in all of this is Rep. Blake Farenthold, who will now have that picture of himself dressed in duckling PJs re-broadcast to the world (see below!). Matt Fuller and Paige Lavender: “After a torrent of bad headlines, countless phone calls to member offices, and two tweets from President-elect Donald Trump, House Republicans dropped their plans to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics Tuesday, just minutes before the House was set to gavel in for the 115th Congress and adopt their rules package for the next two years. The amendment ― authored by Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) ― would have placed the independent congressional ethics office under the oversight of the House Ethics Committee, changed the OCE’s name and barred the office from releasing reports to the public. In effect, it would have neutered Congress’ most aggressive watchdog. The decision to strip the Goodlatte amendment came just before noon on Tuesday as Republicans planned to begin the 115th Congress. Earlier in the day, responding to numerous news reports about Republicans gutting the OCE, Trump asked in a tweet whether Republicans really had to make the ‘weakening’ of the ethics office their first order of business, though he also didn’t necessarily come out against the idea of eventually overhauling the OCE.” [HuffPost]

Read HuffPost’s Ryan Grim on what made this whole snafu truly important: It proved that Congress will still react to public outrage.

We just want to see Sandy Levin in Snapchat Spectacles: “Several Democrats took pictures on the House floor as the chamber held a quorum call to kick off the 115th Congress — a violation of House rules that Republicans want to start punishing with a fine of up to $2,500…. Taking photos or recording video on the House floor has been a longstanding violation of House rules, but the fine is something new Republicans are proposing this year as a delayed reaction to Democrats’ June sit-in on the House floor protesting gun violence. During the sit-in, Democrats used their cell phones to record video of their speeches and chants and took photos of themselves and their colleagues after Republicans turned off the CSPAN cameras that provide live access to the floor.” [Roll Call’s Lindsey McPherson]

Watch this video of our HuffPost DC colleagues reading mean tweets.

HERE’S SOME SWEET, SWEET CUD FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES DEMOCRATS TO CHEW ON - Ben Carson’s confirmation hearing before Senate Banking is quickly becoming our second-most anticipated confirmation hearing. David Dayen: “OneWest Bank, which Donald Trump’s treasury secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin ran from 2009 to 2015, repeatedly broke California’s foreclosure laws during that period, according to a previously undisclosed 2013 memo from top prosecutors in the state attorney general’s office. The memo obtained by The Intercept alleges that OneWest rushed delinquent homeowners out of their homes by violating notice and waiting period statutes, illegally backdated key documents, and effectively gamed foreclosure auctions. In the memo, the leaders of the state attorney general’s Consumer Law Section said they had ‘uncovered evidence suggestive of widespread misconduct’ in a yearlong investigation. In a detailed 22-page request, they identified over a thousand legal violations in the small subsection of OneWest loans they were able to examine, and they recommended that Attorney General Kamala Harris file a civil enforcement action against the Pasadena-based bank. They even wrote up a sample legal complaint, seeking injunctive relief and millions of dollars in penalties.” [The Intercept]

BLACK PEOPLE WORRIED ABOUT JEFF SESSIONS FOR SOME REASON - But some of his best friends are ― oh, they aren’t? Lilly Workneh: “The NAACP is staging a sit-in protest at the office of U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions in Mobile, Alabama to speak out against his nomination by President-elect Donald Trump for attorney general. Several leaders of the civil rights organization have thus far participated in the protest, which kicked off Tuesday morning, including NAACP President Cornell William Brooks, and Alabama state NAACP President Benard Simelton. Brooks posted a tweet Tuesday morning declaring that he will continue to occupy the office until the protest results in either Sessions’ withdrawal or their arrest.” [HuffPost]

Like HuffPost Hill? Then order Eliot’s new book, The Beltway Bible: A Totally Serious A-Z Guide To Our No-Good, Corrupt, Incompetent, Terrible, Depressing, and Sometimes Hilarious Government

Does somebody keep forwarding you this newsletter? Get your own copy. It’s free! Sign up here. Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to eliot@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill

THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU ‘DANGEROUS DONALD’ SOMEHOW GIVEN JOB - Listen closely to the wind and you can hear the anguished typing of a million Bernie Bros. Philip Rucker: “The Democratic National Committee is building a ‘war room’ to battle President-elect Donald Trump, pressure the new Republican administration on a variety of policy matters and train a spotlight on Russia’s alleged cyberattacks to influence the 2016 election…. The DNC’s new communications and research operation, to be staffed by former aides to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, will be one of several efforts from across the Democratic firmament to take on Trump, including the office of Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), the Center for American Progress and American Bridge.” [WaPo]

TRUMP DUBAI HOTEL OPENING TO PROVIDE FRESH CONFLICT OF INTEREST - It’s been a whole five minutes since the last ethical challenge. Jon Gambrell: “The Trump International Golf Club in Dubai — the sheikhdom in the United Arab Emirates home to a futuristic skyline crowned by the world’s tallest building — is due to open in February and be managed by Trump Organization employees. It is set inside Akoya, a massive housing development of 2,600 villas and 7,000 apartments developed by Dubai-based luxury real estate DAMAC Properties. Another Trump-managed golf course is planned for another even larger DAMAC project under development further down the road. Billionaire Hussain Sajwani, who founded DAMAC Properties in 2002, met Trump some 10 years ago and the two men hit it off over their real estate experiences, said Niall McLoughlin, a senior vice president for communications and marketing at the firm…. Sajwani and his family also attended a New Year’s Eve party at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, with the incoming president describing them from on stage as ‘the most beautiful people from Dubai.’” [AP]

‘JOEY NO SOCKS’ - Such good swamp-draining news today. Chris Sommerfeldt: “President-elect Donald Trump rang in the new year together with Joseph ‘Joey No Socks’ Cinque — a convicted felon with ties to notorious Gambino crime family boss John Gotti, a recently released video has revealed. Cinque can be seen in a video obtained by the Palm Beach Daily News, cheering loudly as a tuxedo-clad Trump runs through a number of campaign promises before the hundreds of guests attending the New Year’s Eve bash the President-elect threw at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Saturday. ‘The taxes are coming down, regulations are coming off, we’re going to get rid of Obamacare,’ Trump can be heard saying as an exuberant Cinque stands next to him, pumping his fists into the air.” [Daily News]

‘WHAT ABOUT CHICAGO?’ TROLLING NOW FEDERAL POLICY - “President-elect Donald Trump said Monday that if Mayor Rahm Emanuel can’t turn the tide on Chicago’s soaring murder rate, Washington may need to step in. Trump, who frequently cited Chicago’s violence during the presidential campaign, tweeted about The Windy City a day after the Chicago Police Department released year-end crime stats showing homicide numbers that dwarfed those of New York and Los Angeles combined. “Chicago murder rate is record setting - 4,331 shooting victims with 762 murders in 2016. If Mayor can’t do it he must ask for Federal help!” Trump tweeted.” [Fox News]

MEGYN KELLY HEADING TO NBC NEWS - We suppose it would be too much to ask for Shep Smith to get Kelly’s spot…. Michael Calderone: “Fox News host Megyn Kelly is leaving the cable news network for NBC News, the network announced Tuesday. Kelly will take on multiple roles at NBC. She’ll host a one-hour daytime talk show airing Monday through Friday and a Sunday evening news magazine show, and will contribute on breaking news stories and NBC’s coverage of major political and special events. ‘Megyn is an exceptional journalist and news anchor, who has had an extraordinary career,’ Andrew Lack, chairman of the NBCUniversal News Group, said in a release. ‘She’s demonstrated tremendous skill and poise, and we’re lucky to have her.’ The departure is a major blow to Fox News, where Kelly hosted a top-rated 9 p.m. show and was considered a key part of the network’s future. In a Facebook post, Kelly said she was ‘incredibly enriched for the experiences’ she had in a dozen years at Fox News.” [HuffPost]

Can you even begin to imagine this neighborhood listserv: “[M]ultiple real-estate sources say [Ivanka] Trump and husband Jared Kushner will move into 2449 Tracy Pl. NW, in Kalorama. That will put the couple less than two blocks from the Obamas, who will reportedly move here post-White House.” [Washingtonian’s Marisa Kashino]

THINGS STAY THE SAME - Once again, Heath Shuler was denied his place in history. John Bresnahan and Kyle Cheney: “House Republicans overwhelmingly reelected Paul Ryan on Tuesday to another term as speaker of the House. Only one — Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — voted against him…. On the other side of the aisle, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi saw four defections in her own caucus: Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) voted for fellow Ohio Democrat Tim Ryan, and Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wisc.) voted for Cooper. Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-New York) also voted for Tim Ryan, and Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) voted for Rep. John Lewis.” [Politico]

*Insert Illuminati joke here* “Former President Bill Clinton and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month, aides to both Clintons told CNN on Tuesday. Former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush will also attend, the 43rd president’s office said in a statement Tuesday.” [CNN’S Dan Merica and Theodore Schleifer]

THE GOP’S OBAMACARE CLOWN SHOW HAS BEGUN - Congress officially took the first procedural step Tuesday to unravel the health law, and Republicans still have no clue what the final step will be. Noam Levey: “Congressional Republicans, despite pledging to quickly repeal the Affordable Care Act, are struggling with what parts of the law to roll back and how to lock up the votes they will need, particularly in the Senate, to push their ambitious plans. Settling these questions may delay any major repeal vote for months. Just as importantly, a protracted debate could force President-elect Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers to preserve parts of the healthcare law they once swore to eliminate. And this all must be resolved before they even turn to the question of how to replace the law.” [LA Times]

TRUMP CAMP PROMISES PRESS CONFERENCE FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME - He totally won’t back out again, you guys. Callum Borchers: “Donald Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway told CNN on Monday that the president-elect will probably hold a news conference Jan. 11. ‘I know that’s the current plan,’ Conway said, sounding less than certain. Let’s not forget that a September event originally billed as a news conference turned out to be an infomercial for Trump’s new D.C. hotel — capped by a brief concession that President Obama was, in fact, born in the United States. And last month’s long-planned news conference was scrapped just days beforehand. So plans can change. Assuming Trump does follow through next week, his news conference drought will end at 168 days — a staggeringly long stretch for a man who once constantly held court with reporters and seemed to view the interactions as a kind of sport.” [WaPo]

CONGRESS LOVES JESUS MORE THAN AMERICA DOES - Science says so. Eliza Collins: “Lawmakers in Congress are overwhelmingly Christian, more even than the America they represent. Nine out of 10 members the new House and Senate (91%) sworn in Tuesday describe themselves as members of the Christian faith, according to a survey released by Pew Research Center Tuesday. The number of Christians in Congress is higher than the number of Americans who identify as Christian. That number has been declining in recent decades. Between the early 1970s and 90s the number hovered around 90% but by early 2000 it had dropped to around 80%. According to a spokeswoman from Pew, that number continues to decrease.” [USA Today]

BECAUSE YOU’VE READ THIS FAR - Here is a dog being shamed about its snoring.

BREAKING RICHARD NIXON NEWS - Peter Baker: “Richard M. Nixon told an aide that they should find a way to secretly ‘monkey wrench’ peace talks in Vietnam in the waning days of the 1968 campaign for fear that progress toward ending the war would hurt his chances for the presidency, according to newly discovered notes. In a telephone conversation with H. R. Haldeman, who would go on to become White House chief of staff, Nixon gave instructions that a friendly intermediary should keep ‘working on’ South Vietnamese leaders to persuade them not to agree to a deal before the election, according to the notes, taken by Mr. Haldeman.” [NYT]

COMFORT FOOD

- Auctioneers set over rap beats.

- Tsunamis are terrifying.

-  The worst (best?) moments of the English-to-Mandarin-to-English translation of “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith”

TWITTERAMA

@mattyglesias: Web traffic is back! Vacation and family togetherness are fine, but clicks are what matters most.

@MEPFuller: Hey but remember when House Republicans were all Let’s-make-sure-the-public-has-a-chance-to-read-and-weigh-in-on-congressional-action?

lol

@jonlovett: Maybe a moratorium

A moratorium

On videos of celebrities with serious faces

Serious faces

Not saying forever

But

But just for now

For now

Got something to add? Send tips/quotes/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to Eliot Nelson (eliot@huffingtonpost.com)

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2i7BZVA

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Grimoire of Zero 1 | The Royal Tutor 2 | SukaSuka 1 | Tsukigakirei 2 | Kado 2 | Twin Angel Break 2 | Boku no Hero Academia 16

Grimoire of Zero 1

I mistook this as Re:Zero at one point (because of the Zero Kara Hajimeru… start of the title). However, despite my having never seen Re:Zero, I’m always open for a good fantasy title.

At least this show is funny, that’s for sure.

Eh, this plot seems like Bungou’s a tad – if you think about why Atsushi was hunted down and such – but then who’s going to be Zero in a Bungou Stray Dogs x Grimoire of Zero AU?

This seems a little cliché in how it handles its humour, but I have a feeling it’ll go above and beyond.

What struck me was that they chose the name Plasta as the capital’s name. A capital city called “Plaster”, pretty much, LOL.

The ED reminds me of Flip Flappers and the book motif reminds me of Deltora Quest, so it’s quite the nostalgic feeling. It’s a keeper, although if it becomes an endless bore of a quest then it may hold less potential than I think it does.

The Royal Tutor 2

It seems Bruno is one prince everyone with a strict study regimen’ll relate to. (Or at least, those who’ve had a strict study regimen at least once in their life.) Even if this is an exercise in drawing out humour to the fullest, it’s relatable and that’s part of what gives this show its personality.

I haven’t seen anyone this enthusiastic to have a master since Yotaro (SGRS)! LOL.

Heine used watakushi. He’s very polite.

Yeahhhhhhh…this, as you may know from how I treated Love Tyrant and Armed Girls, is not going to go down well. Just when the show had gained my favour, too…

I think the girls might’ve referred to Heine as Heinecchi. Update: My mistake, it was Heine-chan.

Behoove? Welp, I learnt a new English word from the subs. It’s not every day that happens, although I tend to pick up cultural things a lot from subs (hence these notes).

Creepy CGI door is not to be taken lightly too. The camera angle was a bit weird there, to boot.

Eeeeeeee! Kai is the one I want to know about the most! (Not just ‘cos he’s handsome, mind you. It’s because he doesn’t talk.)

Shadow? A name for a white dog? Doesn’t make much sense, but it makes me laugh, so okay, I’ll take it. *beams*

Just antisocial, eh? All the more reason to like ‘im.

SukaSuka 1

There aren’t too many promising debuts this season (I only really have my eyes on BnHA, Kado and The Royal Tutor at the moment) because “shows potential” is very different to “I want to keep watching!” for me, but maybe SukaSuka will do the trick.

Why does every fantasy world these days involve animal people? Who knows?

Intereting to note there was Scarborough Fair in English (yes, I had the volume on this time). As a side note, the song was sung by a Tamaru Yamada. (Around when the juggling Pac-Man appears, there’s credits for it.)

I would’ve asked where she was going if she said she had to go, mate. Ask her!

Ny…troll girl is pretty typical for this kind of anime, but Willem seems like he could be a spanner in the works.

Butt shot no. 1.

That oddly placed camera angle (the one where you see into the room from the window) was weird. Seriously though, how does Willem know Nyllathgo (or whatever troll girl’s name is)? Update: her name is Nygglatho. It was close, but not quite it…

Reptrace appears to be a made up cuisine.

I can only see the kids as shippers in the making, but I guess that’s YoI’s fault…?

I remember from pre-show material her katakana name is Kutori, so I’m gonna go with that spelling.

Lemme guess: it’s because the weapons are the kids?(!)

Well that was new: I can normally guess a new point for a show that plays it safe like this, but Kutori is a weapon too? That I didn’t guess. That automatically means I keep it on, at least for another week.

Tsukigakirei 2

Tsukigakirei is sitting somewhere pretty high on the list of “shows to go on hold this season”, so it’ll have to perform well to not have to get that treatment. Considering I can be fairly strict with my 5 show quota, I need to put 2 shows on hold (since out of 8 shows, the third is Kenka Bancho Otome, which automatically goes out of the running), 1 if I use a space I just freed up.

Was the live action OP really necessary? Considering this is anime, it is a bit odd. (Then again, didn’t I raise that gripe with Kado too?)

I don’t normally think about staff much unless they’re familiar names, but Seiji Kishi is a name that’s come up before – with Rampo Kitan.

It just so happens the girly boy is the one with the horns on his headband…for some reason, I find it suits him, since he’s the devil’s advocate to Kotaro. Also, why isn’t Kotaro wearing his headband?

Hey, this feeling. I’ve never really participated in these sport days (if I was forced to do stuff, I’d shotgun shotput since no one really took it), but I know the feelings around them real well. Once again, Tsukigakirei excels in recreating a teenage experience…

I has a small sneaking suspicion Akane’s toy would have gotten lost, and it seems like that’s coming true.

I laughed a really derpy laugh at devil’s advocate boy liking the teacher. Even though I had a small squick moment that it may have been romantic, suki is quite the broad term compared to how Akane and Kotaro’s romance is laid out so…it can’t be said for sure that the boy’s “like” is romantic, too.

That pink thing is a potato mascot?! I’m not angry, just hella surprised – that pink thing is so not a potato.

I gave a little “aw!” at when Kotaro told Akane she was fine the way she was. Now there’s a sentiment I can get behind.

Why does he box the light string? I don’t get it…but at least it makes him more dynamic than, say, Haruki (Sagrada Reset).

Haneteru-kun? So that’s how you say it in Japanese?

The style of the ED is unique, that’s for sure.

I think Tsukigakirei just proved itself. Sure, it’s not a complete “turn genres on its head” sort of thing, but it’s competent at what it does, and that’s all it needs right now. That’s all it’ll ever need. Then again, that does beggar the question: what goes on hold instead? There’s only one way to find out…

Kado 2

I was surprised to find out Shunina was voiced by none other than Akoya (Takuma Terashima)!

The OP is a rather odd choice (in regards to the music), but it does at least set the atmosphere well.

WPAN? I know of LANs and WANs, so WLAN makes sense (kind of), but not that…Okay, I learnt something.

“…we’re touching the ground…”

When the plane looks better than the characters…you know you’re doing CG wrong.

I want the OST of this, that song when Shindo touches the bottom of the cube really creates the feeling of a “foreign space”.

Erm, while Shindo and Shunina are negotiating, Shunina seems to have forgotten he’s buck naked…? Not that I mind, and it completely makes sense for an alien like him, but…yeah. He’s naked.

Base 10 = decimal, base 16 = hexadecimal, base 2 = binary. Shunina seems to be expressing the time in binary, but time is in base 60 (because 60 seconds = 1 minute and so on, so forth).

That bread doesn’t look too appetising, LOL.

I know Kado is much prettier flat, but when it’s just slow pans…you can tell they skimped on the budget. CGI is costly, sure, but…make sure you have proper budget before you make an anime, people, please. (On the other hand, I like 2D!Shunina.)

Is there any significance as to what order people appear in the ED?

Kado’s been my top contender ever since episode 0. While it does have its visual flaws, it’s an intelligent anime that takes its time to explain things and build suspense.

Twin Angel Break 2

I ended up keeping this on because I have no access to Twin Angel: Twinkle Paradise…

I never knew Sumire was such a sucker for her brother…I’ve never seen such a trope in magical girl shows before, and normally when you see it in anime, it’s a dude lusting after his younger sister, not the other way around. Just another sign this is aimed at pachinko-playing guys…

Gah! Fanservice shots! In my magical girl anime! *points* Another sign this is for dudes. By the way, ari can mean ant.

People don’t move like conveyer belts when solving maths problems.

Welp, such is the mark of a society that wants extroverts…

Meguru appears to have a red bean bun, although I’m not sure of its name aside from “red bean bun”.

Wait, where’s the ball?!

I always thought “Pochi” was a common name for a dog in Japan, kinda like the Western world’s “Spot”. Or “Hachi”, if you want your dog to be like Hachiko.

An event about animals at Tokyo Big Sight? Well, I’ll be. Wonders never cease in this show.

During the pan, the screen seems to jolt a bit. It’s kinda awkward for a show that is otherwise good visually.

Who has a porcupine as a pet? Sometimes I can’t tell if this show’s for little girls or older men…Well, Google says it’s possible to have a porcupine as a pet, but still I bet a pachislot-playing man wouldn’t know you can have a pet porcupine.

I was most displeased when I realised Sumire has a Gainax moment in her transformation sequence. Yet another fanservice spot to add to the growing list of annoyances in this show…

Geddit? It’s Me-ari?

It’s the ol’ duplication trick. Saw it in Smile Precure, so I guess I’m kinda numb to it already.

I was not expecting that for the ED. I really didn’t.

Well, I’ve had enough gripes about this show. It’s going on hold so I can figure out my feelings about it. That being said, there’s a lot of “middle ground” anime this time - if SukaSuka or Grimoire of Zero don’t get the boot from their next ep, I’ll have to deal with 6 simulcasting anime and leave the space open. (Luckily, there have been so many full seasons that I have a little too much bingewatching material available, regardless of whether I have the space open or not.)

Boku no Hero Academia 16

Not sure if chicken race means this or actual chicken racing, since Google tells me actual chicken racing exists.

I’ve wanted to know more about Tokoyami for a while, so here’s hoping for character development!

A-ha! Exploiting landmines’ propulsion – not many would think of that, but Midoriya certainly would.

All Might, Thirteen and Present Mic ganging up like that looks ridiculous, but it’s hilarious and helps to break up the suspense. *thumbs up*

*laughs* Oh man, this is what makes this show so good. It manages to strike hard and well with both its humour, strategy and action – it never misses one beat. That’s the spirit, Boku no Hero Academia! Keep going just like this!