#beauty facial course singapore | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

saiangelo999 · 4 years

Text

2020 T.V Show Tracker

T.V. Shows

The Witcher

Started 2019 finished 2020. Click here for my thoughts.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Completed - I really enjoyed the episode with Pimento, that episode was just hilarious. I think that was one of my favourite episodes this season.

Self Made

It was very a enjoyable mini-series. Sarah's story is so fascinating and inspirational precisely because of how many hardships she had to deal with throughout her life. I enjoyed the show and learning more about Madam CJ Walker.

Interior Design Masters

This was a really fun show. I didn’t agree with everything that the judges said, but I definitely had fun watching the contestants renovate commercial and residential places. My favourite episode was when they worked on the stores (not restaurants). I really loved those transformations.

The Big Flower Fight

It was such a fun show! I really enjoyed watching how the contestants used plants to create beautiful and interesting topiaries/sculptures. I loved most of the contestants and was always looking forward to their take on each challenge!

Space Force

It was a fun show! Enjoyed watching it with my sister. :)

Hannibal

Re-visiting this show from the one or two episodes I watched back when I was in grade 12 and one of my teachers was promoting this show because her friend was an extra in it. But, I really am intrigued by the concept, the way the show is filmed is just so gorgeous for such a gory show and the plot is very fascinating. Anytime Hannibal feeds anyone I get a bit antsy. But Will Graham is just such an interesting character. I have high expectations of the show!

Update: Finished s1 and LOVED it! As I was binging s2 I started to get nightmares and also the plot started to move forward at a snail’s pace (imo) so I will put this show on hold for now.

The Umbrella Academy s2

So I really enjoyed this season of Umbrella Academy because I got to see more of Five kicking ass as a teenager, the character growth of BOTH Diego and Luther, seeing the entire family getting closer to Vanya and the general action sequences of the show. I enjoyed the new characters as well - Lila and The Swedes. I admit my memory of season 1 of this show is somewhat vague, but I found that the ending of the season (its climax to be precise in episode 10) to be somewhat lackluster considering the build-up.

I really enjoyed was seeing Klaus, Allison and Vanya deal with their respective subplots and that scene in the barbershop with the three of them bonding really was a highlight of the season. Also when (spoiler alert) Ben finally ‘died’ and went to the afterlife that scene was so well executed and emotional and has got to be one of my favorite moments of the season. It was nice to see him helping Vanya out.

The Haunting of Bly Manor

I loved this show! I grew to love these characters so much! I loved Hannah and Owen’s relationship so much.

The Haunting of Hill House

So, I read the book first and wanted to see what the hype was all about. I really enjoyed the little easter eggs to the book in the show, and that ONE SCENE with the ‘Bent-Neck lady’ gave me a nightmare... It was good, definitely an interesting take on the story.

Anime

The Disastrous Life of Saiki: Reawakened

I love how the show constantly shows us that Saiki will tolerate anyone for the sweet sweet coffee jelly. I need more of this show!! Please give me more episodes @Netflix.

Haikyuu!

I love it. I understand the hype now. I really enjoy how they show the lives of all the people in the show, the ‘extras’ on the team, the opponents and give us a glimpse into their lives and their stories. I finished season two and am looking forward to more! It’s honestly so hard to be rooting for just one person in this show and I love that. Finished 2 seasons so far. Will get back into it eventually. I’m honestly jealous that I can’t play volleyball rn.

Mob Psycho 100

This will probably take me a while to finish as I am planning to read it before watching it. It’s so so lovable. I love Mob and I would do anything to protect him. Also I really like Regen’s protectiveness and genuineness towards Shigeo. It’s just a great manga/anime. Finished season one. It is so addicting! I love Mob and Reigen so much! <3

Update: finished season two. Man watching this show makes my heart grow 5 x as big every time I watch it! It’s just so endearing, fun, comedic. I love how season two really just show’s Shigeo’s growth throughout the season. His speech to Shirazawa at the last episode and how it came full circle - loved it! I also was surprised by the red headed son (Ryu?) in the best way. I hope we see more of him in the next season. Can’t wait for more!

Fruits Basket season 2

Can’t wait for more crying. 🙃 I am really looking forward to seeing Yuki’s character development and his relationship with Machi and Kakeru developing. Also looking forward to seeing Momiji growing and more moments between Kyo and Tohru.

Update: Love seeing Yuki’s arc in the anime format. Seeing him reach out to his brother, Hatsuharu and the student council peeps and grow is so rewarding to watch. Looking forward to more and more Kyorhu. One wish is that, I wish with this season we could see Momiiji change physically a bit more but I’m holding onto hope for that near the end of the season.

March Comes in like a Lion/ 3-gatsu no Lion

It’s not my usual type of anime to watch as it is so slice-of-life, but in a weird way it really reminds me of My Roommate is a Cat except after I watch it I want to play chess or learn shogi. Of course, Rei has depression and a lot of issues he needs to work with, but the sisters are just so sweet and the moments that they show up to take care of him are so heartwarming. I love his self-proclaimed ‘best’ friend and rival - Nikaidou. I just really love how he’s drawn, his personality and when he shows up in the show it definitely perks me up. I really enjoy seeing him develop as a character and as a person. I am somewhat sympathetic to the plight of his foster sister but where I am in the show (finished s1) I absolutely loathe her. I really like seeing how many people are around Rei and watching him tackle life and grow. Looking forward to watching s2!

The animation is very interesting. One thing that I am not sure if it is deliberate or not is how the characters’ facial expressions (mostly the way the mouth is in close-ups) are drawn to me seems very ambiguous to me - I can’t quite understand what emotion is being conveyed.

Update: Started s2 and man the bullying storyline with Hina is so sad.

Teasing Master Takagi-san

DNF. Just started it randomly. It’s very cute.

The Great Pretender

I started it cuz it was short and seemed like fun. It has darker undertones than I expected going into it. On the Singapore storyline.

Wotaku

This was very short and binge-able. I liked it, it’s fun for what it is.

Dramas

Never Twice

So idk if I’ll actually keep up with this as it is a guilty pleasure atm. I just started it because I liked some of the tropes that the show had (found family, sweet male lead, baby being doted on etc.). I am enjoying the gifs of the show. The plot is very... boring and I do recognize that for the most part the female characters don’t have much intrinsic motivation or identity outside male characters...

05.2020 Update: DNF.

Crash Landing on You

I am really enjoying it so far. I really like that both the female leads are just very powerful and interesting on their own. Really like how the found family trope is being used. The romance is cute (a bit much at times imo). I still can’t get over how Captain Ri heard her suicide tape and just went ‘oh we are fated to be together’. That was... an interesting interpretation of the tape...

Also the whole thing with her being in N. Korea is hilarious and really the drama asks the viewer to really suspend disbelief to enjoy the show but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Update: Completed. Enjoyed it overall. Wasn’t the best drama I’ve ever seen but REALLY loved the female leads in the show. Seo Dan and her family are just SO adorable. Can’t believe Gu Suengjoon was killed just as his relationship with Dan became so cute. One qualm is that this show does the whole near death thing WAY too many times with the main couple for my taste.

365: Repeat the Year

Interesting premise and it has Nam Jihyun who I love. Looking forward to more and hoping it will keep my attention. I can’t believe that by episode 10 that the serial killer was revealed. I mean, I’m still invested in the show but that definitely caught me off-guard.

Finished it! I am really glad that they reduced the total amount of episodes because I felt that the ending was well done - not too rushed, not too out there (for the show). It was a very good ending for the show! I recommend it to anyone interested in a sci-fi/thriller. Overall, it was a fun time! Very engaging and would appeal to anyone interested in thrillers. I do have ONE gripe about the show which is a spoiler but it did not prevent me from enjoying the show.

Love with Flaws/ People with Flaws

Finished! I started it cuz of a random compilation I saw on Youtube with the show and the gifs of it here and there and it’s decent overall. I would say that out of the many kdramas I’ve seen in this genre, it does stand slightly apart from the rest because of how each character is portrayed. I feel like there were no overt archetypes for the characters and I especially liked how they portrayed characters relationships. I liked how the siblings’ relationships were portrayed, and I really ended up loving the female lead’s eldest brother. He’s just so sweet and kind and I love how he does his best to take care of their entire family. It was definitely sad to see at points knowing that Cha In Ha committed suicide, but his character in the show was just so well done and important! Also his boyfriend is literally so pure I love him. As usual Seulgi just makes me go 😍😍.

Nobody Knows 2020

It’s really good - very dark and bizarre. The shady foundation’s motivations are a mystery to me, but that hotel owner is a very interesting character. I will get back to it when I can handle more pain.

Update few months later: The twists and the turns though. Wow. I love all the children and how (so far) they are all portrayed as victims of circumstance. They are so sweet and I appreciate how Eun Ho, Dong Ryong and Min Sung’s relationships progress throughout the show. I’m also enjoying the character development of Sun Woo (the teacher/heir to the foundation). It’s also nice to see Cha Young-Jin begin to slowly open up. I’m enjoying the show a lot so far and am very intrigued by Baek Sang Ho’s group.

Final update: FINISHED it! Really loved this drama a lot. I love how all the characters are written so lovingly with so much depth to them. I liked the way the plot unraveled, I liked how all the relationships developed in the story, I loved the way forgiveness and morality were discussed. It was a really good drama and I am missing it already!

Chicago Typewriter

A re-watch. Man I love this drama. The three leads and their relationship is just adorable.

I hope that in Shin Yul’s world/afterlife or whatever they can be happy together. <3

Oh My Baby

I started this out because I was extremely bored and saw a few gifs of the show. It seems promising. Don’t have super high expectations of the show tbh. I do like the main couple though! They are adorable, nervously awaiting how it will conclude.

Update: Skipped a couple of episodes (4?) and went to the end. It ended up alright, very open ending and somewhat realistic. I’m glad the main characters were able to put their relationship above their disappointment in being infertile.

Strangers from Hell/ Hell is Other People

I really enjoyed it!! - If I were to recommend it to anyone I would recommend they go into it as blind as possible to enjoy it to the fullest.

So... I had no clue that this show was ONLY 10 episodes long, so imagine my surprise as the events that have been put to play begin to climax, I checked and was surprised that it wasn’t a 16 episode drama. Anyways, this drama had superb writing, directing, acting and fight scene choreography. Everything came together to really make this show have such a dark, creepy atmosphere that intensified as the episodes went on. I loved how the show portrayed how Yoon Joon Yoo/O’s mentality was tested to the breaking point. Tbh I thought he was slow in the beginning of the show (episode 1-2), but turned out that he did far better than his counterparts. I think that one thing that was a shame was they didn’t really show the strength of his relationship w his girlfriend too much before, and had they had more screen time as a couple I would have been even more invested in the story.

Mystic Pop-up Bar

Loved it! This was a really enjoyable show. The pacing was good, the story was interesting and I liked watching the characters relationships develop. It was heartwarming and a fun watch! I enjoyed the focus on various people’s stories showcasing all sorts of relationships.

It’s Okay Not to be Okay/ Psycho But It’s Okay

Put it on hold for now - watched up until episode 10-12ish.

Flower of Evil

The best kdrama of 2020 so far? Possibly. Love how it mixes being a thriller with the marital relationship aspect. One potential con is that it seems that the mystery aspect of the show for now seems fairly obvious but how the situations will be handled keeps me on the edge of my seat!! Also I totally did not expect such a strong marriage to be shown in a thriller drama! Also the way that Cha Ji Won is written is just chef’s kiss. I love how complex she is, how intelligent, kind, caring and so so good at putting things together. I love Hyun So’s family and I hope it ends with them staying together.

Update: Finished it! Not sure how I feel about the very last episode... but I can say I’m glad that Do Hae Su got some crumbs in terms of character development by the end. So glad she didn’t end up with Moo Jin and started a new life abroad. The amnesia plot was unnecessary imo, I would have rather seen more cute scenes of them together than angst in the last episode. But, it was interesting to see how the trial was revealed, and the Baek’s got way better than they deserved which is unfortunately realistic.

Lie after Lie

Plot sounded way more interesting in the synopsis vs the execution. Mediocre plot which I thought was easy to see through.

Eighteen Again

sort of dnf? I made it to epi 14 or so and just finished it in my head and through gifs. It had so much potential which I think it squandered... but there were some genuinely heart warming scenes from the show which I really enjoyed. (Siwoo and his dad bonding, all the scenes showing the mc as the nicest dude).

I don’t want to be friends with you

I really enjoyed the show. I liked how it portrayed the mother-daughter relationship, the differences in how they were raised and how Li Jing Bu was able to get the love she so craved through her dream?/journey. I liked how the romance was handled, how she gained such meaningful relationships during the show and how important it was to her that her mom was happy.

The Good Detective (2020)

I really enjoyed this show! It was really cool to see a show that critiques the corrupt systems they have in place and the unexpected consequences that it can have on people. I liked how it touched on themes of guilt, remorse, forgiveness and resilience. Also, it was interesting to see a guy who has all the money in the world choose to be a workaholic detective.

Part 2

1 note · View note

thisdiscontentedwinter · 6 years

Text

Submission: Is it selfish of me if I was slightly upset about the lead man of the movie Crazy Rich Asians? I was upset because he’s half Caucasian half Asian. While he’s not exactly “passing for White”, he still has that facial features that is Eurocentric standard of beauty. I just wished that in a rare Hollywood movie where most of the cast are Asians, they would use full-Asian stars to expose the various Asian beauty. I was just upset, since will people expect Asian guys to look like him? Because most of us don’t. Are pure Asian guys that ugly by Hollywood’s standard that they have to pick Half Caucasian one? Asian actress wouldn’t face this problem because their beauty is appreciated (even fetishized by some), but we, Asian men are always portrayed as unattractive. And here’s a chance to prove that Asian men are as beautiful, but they picked a Half Caucasian one. Am I selfish?

DW:

Disclaimer: I know very little about this movie except that it’s based on a book that was huge! So I don’t know the actor (or the character) you’re referring to.

But no, I don’t think you’re being selfish in wanting better representation–but I will say that anyone who has ever watched any Asian cinema knows that it’s absolute bullshit that Asian men aren’t attractive.

A cursory google search did tell me that the boyfriend character is from Singapore, so I would like to point out that a Eurasian background could absolutely work, but I don’t know if that’s canon in the book or not, of course.

It’s an important step forward in representation, but perhaps not as large as one as could be hoped for.

28 notes · View notes

pamy92 · 6 years

Text

KnB Stage Play 3: IGNITE-ZONE (Fan Report)

I attended the evening show on April 7th held at Sunshine Theatre Hall, Ikebukuro (Tokyo). Personal & official stage pictures and my report under the cut! And yes, that is my personalised KagaKuro Itabag!

FRONT OF HOUSE

I applied for the pre-sale lottery a few months back and scored a seat on Row 12 at the theatre. The hall itself is pretty small and cosy (about 850-ish seats in total) so I had a very good and close view of the cast on the stage!

At the lobby, we had the usual ticket checks and up ahead was a present box table for fans to leave letters and gifts to the cast.

I am a fan of Ono Kensho so I did write a fan letter to him! This is my 2nd letter to him since I have attended two of his live appearances - MBS Anime Fes 2017 and of course this stage play. He visited Singapore a few years back, so I decided to use one of my several Singapore postcards to write him an encouraging message! #singaporerepresent .

On the right was a pretty long queue for merch and the DVD/Blu-Ray preorders booth. I bought a t-shirt for myself since that is usually the only merch I buy at live shows/events!

STAGE SETTING & ZONE LIGHTING EFFECTS

Onwards into the hall and taking my seat, we can immediately see an outdoor basketball court setting with fences and four 3-metre high warped walls at all four corners of the stage.

Alas no rotating stage floor this time, but I promise you this set is probably one of the nicest sets out of the 3 stage plays!

The back half of the stage also has a slight incline to create the illusion of height. There are white lines running from the floor (basketball court markings), streaking across the warped walls and curving up towards the ceiling. And yes, they light up to create the effect of the ZONE!

(You can see all the white stripes lighting up and flashing around in red as Kagami entered the ZONE. It’s super cool!The same lights flash around as Kagami executed his Meteor Jam shot too!)

THE CAST

The cast was perfect and everybody really did their best to deliver their character roles in this super strenuous 2-hour play. I swear they have perfected the squat and have thighs & calves of steel from all that semi-squat poses they have to do!

In the first two plays, we had the stage-hands/back-up cast in those tacky black raincoats. In the 3rd play, these backup cast (called Igniters) were dressed in black pants and a black hoodie. I guess they have to be in athletic wear because they help the main cast with their stunts (lifting Kagami and Murasakibara, as well as using their bodies as launch-pad for Kuroko to jump off from).

I want to do a special shout-out to Riko (Asami Tano)! She has the BEST facial expression during the dance number, and she was super energetic! She really really shined on stage!

Other special mentions go to the three main boys - Ono Kensho (Kuroko), Asato Yuya (Kagami), Onuma Shouta (Aomine), they really breathed life into their characters.

If you watch each actor close enough, you can see the boys doing something special before every match.

Ono Kensho - He likes to wipe the palm of his hands on the soles of both shoes (i guess to wipe off any sweat from the ground), before a match.

Asato Yuya - He taps the front of his shoes (the toes) with two fingers to ready his feet (or maybe to check his shoelaces).

Kawai Ryunosuke (Kiyoshi) - He likes to hit the sides of his thighs with his fists to relief his thigh muscles before each match.

I am not sure if these are their personal stage rituals or something the real character does in the anime/manga, but it was pretty cool to notice!

THE PLAY

I won’t be going through the play scene by scene because I honestly cannot remember every single thing. Midori has written a very detailed review so you can check hers out. But I will pick out my favourite scenes from the entire play!

And yes, we had Tsuchida (Kajimoto Daiki) warn us not to throw the ball back on stage, a staff or himself will come and get it. This announcement did come pretty late because Himuro’s ball rebounded against the curved ceiling structures and flew towards the left of the audience before the warning. Thankfully no one was hurt!

~ KAGAMI MEETS HIMURO SCENE ~

The play opens with a KagaKuro scene where Kuroko (Ono Kensho) asks about Kagami’s (Asato Yuya) ring necklace, and Kiyoshi Teppei (Kawai Ryunosuke) interrupts the two lovers boys’ alone time. The three of them decided to play street basketball together.

Himuro enters the scene as the trio made their way to the ‘basketball court’, which then led to Kagami and Himuro’s beautiful English-only exchange!!!! Saito Hidenori (Himuro’s actor) pronunciation was super spot on! Asato/Kagami, you did your best too! Still a lovely treat to hear them speak English!

Himuro: Yo, Taiga.

Kagami: Tatsuya! It’s been a while...

Himuro: Why the poker face? Aren’t you glad to see me?

And of course Kiyoshi Teppei (Kawai Ryunosuke) interrupts their tense exchange, which led to this hilarious moment in that scene:

Kiyoshi: Er...Hello, my name is Kiyoshi Teppei. Nice to meet you. Kiyoshi means Iron..er..flat. Teppei means err, good!

Himuro: 日本語でいいよ。(You can use Japanese.)

Kagami then explained how he met Himuro in America and how they were like brothers. We also had Murasakibara enter the stage from the audience seats and eating a bag of chips (Ayukawa Taiyo really had actual chips that he was eating on stage!! And he is suuuuuuper tall gosh).

Kuroko and Murasakibara had a tense exchange, with Kuroko smacking off Murasakibara’s hand each time the giant tried to grab his head.

Kiyoshi went up to reintroduce himself to Murasakibara but the tall giant could not remember him.

Himuro then demonstrates his Mirage shot with Murasakibara (omiously) looking forward to seeing them at the Winter Cup as they left.

~ OPENING DANCE ~

The whole cast (save for Akashi because he is too cool to dance) danced to The Other Self by Granrodeo. Each school ( Seirin High, Touou Gakuen, Shuutoku High, Yosen High) had a few minutes of team dance in the song.

As the song enters the last chorus, the entire cast came back on stage to finish the dance.

Unfortunately, during my evening show, the huge cloth banner with the play title/logo did not fall properly, one end was still caught in the ceiling. It was left hanging there awkwardly for a few seconds before they blackout the stage, and the Igniters came rushing over, jumping and yanking the banner off from the ceiling.

The audience was super gracious and applauded really loudly to give the cast huge encouragement for the early mishap. I am a dancer and regularly perform on stage multiple times a year, and I know small things like these can really affect the cast. I was super touched that the audience was understanding and super encouraging with their loud applause.

~ ONSEN SCENE ~

Ahhh, the infamous onsen scene. IT WAS HILARIOUS!

So while the Igniters were jumping to tear the stuck banner off from the ceiling, the Seirin boys shuffled onto the stage and jokingly rambled...

“Ahhh, our bad　(悪いな）! Got stuck, hahaha, our bad”

... with only the blue cloth (onsen water) covering their lower half towards the middle of the stage. But the audience was understanding and applauded, and laughed even harder at their entrance and ad-libbed lines.

The scene began with them relaxing in the water ( we could hear the girls laughing and splashing water from a distance), and suddenly Kuroko pops up from under the cloth, all woozy from the heat. The senpais then told Kagami to take him out from the water to rest outside. And Kagami and Kuroko dived underwater (lmao) to exit the scene.

Izuki Shun (Matsui Yuuho) did a super lame pun which made everyone giggle in the audience.

Izuki: Ofuro, all for you.

There was one point in this scene where some boys purposely dropped the cloth which made the audience laugh so hard (we could see them wearing towels around their waist, don’t worry)

Hyuuga: OI! Misdirection up here, not down there!

Then the Touou rival team suddenly popped up like daisies from beneath the water (making the bath really crowded but super funny because everyone is all naked). And Sakurai pulled out the official match sheet from beneath the water. Seirin team was like wtf magic paper while Hyuuga teasingly reached over to touch the magic paper which did not disintegrate under the water (LMAO).

Everyone then ‘rolled’ their way inside, omg this is so hard to describe but you know how you roll a burrito? The boys rolled themselves inwards so all of them can peer at the match assignments. IT WAS SUPER FUNNY.

The onsen scene ends with us seeing Kagami slinging Kuroko over his shoulders, and helping him onto a bench to get a sports drink for his bae. Aomine then enters the scene, offering a Pocari Sweat to him. This scene is exactly like the anime/manga!

~ AKASHI SCISSORS SCENE ~

Kuroko goes off to meet Akashi and the GoM outside the stadium, and we had 5 banners fall from the ceiling with Midorima holding a pair of scissors, Kise holding his mobile phone, Aomine with his sneer and Murasakibara with a bar of chocolate. Of course the 4 GoM started arguing through voice-over playback and the middle banner suddenly lit up with Akashi’s silhouette.

Akashi: Sorry to keep you waiting.

And the banner dramatically falls to show Akashi standing behind it.

Kuroko and Akashi had some words of exchange, and of course, Kagami had to come barging in to rescue Kuroko.

Akashi borrowed Midorima’s lucky scissors to attack Kagami, and poor baby fell to the ground in shock. Akashi then started dramatically snipping his hair which was super cool but pretty scary to watch (he had an evil/maniac air to the way he delivered his lines and cut his hair).

It was a really good scene, pretty artistically done too!

~ TOUOU vs SEIRIN SCENE ~

O.M.G What a match! It was exhilarating to watch! SO much energy and sprinting around! It was really well choreographed!

Aomine & Kagami went into the ZONE and the white lines running through the floor to the warped walls and ceilings lit up in red and blue flowing lights! It was so beautiful to watch!

Of course, Touou lost the match and Aomine disappeared to sulk by himself while Momoi ran off to find him. We had the Touou captain Imayoshi (Hayashi Akihiro) make an encouraging speech to his team while many girls in the audience started sobbing.

The scene with Momoi and Aomine was pretty sad too because Aomine was really depressed after losing the match.

~ AOKURO TEIKOU FLASHBACK ~

I really love this scene of Aomine’s happier days in Teikou, when he genuinely still loved basketball. He (Onuma Shouta) was smiling so much!

Momoi said there is a ghost playing in the gym and this innocent baby went to check it out, not minding a match with the unseen entity.

Of course, when he opened the sliding doors to the gym, it was pitch black and there was no one there. The stage lighting effects was super good for this scene! OnoK/Kuroko then entered the stage and stood close behind Aomine, greeting him. Aomine freaked out and started praying on the ground. It was super cute!

Kuroko then demonstrated his shooting skills (because Aomine didn’t believe he was on the team) - missing entirely (the Igniter purposely shifted the hoop/board so the ball misses)

But when it came to Aomine’s turn, Onuma really missed the hoop and everyone started laughing so hard.

Kuroko: Aomine-kun is really good. Audience: *laughs harder* Aomine: *tries not to break character but he did and was biting back his laughter so hard*

We then had had the scene shift to Aomine and Kuroko being all happy practising basketball together until one day Kuroko confided that he wanted to quit and Aomine talked him out of it with some jokes:

Aomine: There is nothing bad about basketball....and (about) myself too.

The GoM and Akashi finally met Kuroko, saying that Kuroko is an interesting character to watch out for.

~ INTERMISSION BREAK ~

FAN-SERVICE TIME!! I read on Twitter that other people experienced different versions of the intermission ad-lib, but I am so glad mine is the best!!

Kagami: I want a break.

Kuroko: ...120minutes! *runs and falls flat on his face, continues lying on the ground^

Kagami: 20 minutes! *runs over and smacks Kuroko’s ass^ Oi, get up!

(Both runs off)

~ CROSS-DRESSING SCENE ~

So Midorima and Takao cross-dressed at Midorin and Takako joshikoseis lmao (High School girls). OMG IT WAS SO FUNNY I CANNOT!!!! The spoke in falsetto voices, which was super funny! AND THEY WERE BEAUTIFUL OKAY!!!

Midorin: Himuro-san? I am a big fan, can we take a picture together>

Himuro: Sure.

Midorin: Taka-chan~ Hurry~

Takako: Mi-chan, wait! (all 3 pose for photos together LMAO)

~ KAGAMI & HIMURO’S RING SCENE ~

The sound effect that plays each time they hold up their ring necklaces was super cool. A lot of Kagami x Himuro angst and pining in this play, but it was beautifully executed each time!

Kagami did give his ring necklace and told Kuroko to throw it away, but Kuroko kept it and returned it to him at the end of the match! It was beautiful to watch!

~ YOSEN vs SEIRIN SCENE ~

Again, another super intense match! I am so glad the boys managed to catch some rest during the 20-minute intermission because the 2nd match was the toughest (choreographically-speaking) with all the stunts. It was so intense that Izuki (Matsui Yuuho)’s shoe flew off his foot when the team surrounded Murasakibara to mark him. Poor boy had to run and grab his shoe, put it on and deliver his lines immediately without skipping a beat.

There were tons of jumps, sprinting up the warped walls, dashing from stage left to right! The boys were really sweating hard by then (ooo sparkly skin). This match was also emotionally hard with many intense scenes and all the actors delivered it very well.

Also...HELLO GORGEOUS BLACK SEIRIN UNIFORMS!!! <3

Kiyoshi and Murasakibara’s scene was very true to the manga/anime. Murasakibara did hold Kiyoshi up by one hand, and it was heartbreaking to watch! Kudos to both actors!

A couple of girls also started sobbing at Teppei’s speech - when he had to sit out of the game after injuring himself.

When Murasakibara entered the zone, he had purple lights swirling around him and the Igniters did a breakdance around him to create this swirling energy effect, it was really cool!

Asato/Kagami and Ayukawa/ Murasakibara were lifted by the Igniters to make it look like they have jumped really high in the air! The effect looked really good, and it made Murasakibara’s jumps and landing look even more monstrous!

OnoK/Kuroko also debuted his Misdirection Overflow with the help of the ZONE lights! But poor Kensho had to keep sprinting from stage left to right with the blue lights trailing after him to show his ‘powers’. I think he did it a couple of times, and each time I was praying he doesn’t trip and fall with that inhumanly-fast sprinting.

Murasakibara’s crying scene (with the towel over his head) was also really sad and many people in the audience cried. I was close enough to the stage to really see the actor crying! It was heartbreaking to watch!

This match was more intense than the Touou match in my opinion, and I found myself holding my breath in anticipation! It was so GOOD!

~ CURTAIN CALL ~

At the end of the play, the cast did the same opening dance but this time with Akashi finally joining in to dance!

During curtain call, the cast took their bows to Ono Kensho’s song ‘My Story’, and all of us in the audience clapped along to the beat!

Ono Kensho then made a speech on behalf of the cast/crew, thanking us for attending the play. He also apologised to the side of the audience where the ball was sent flying.

He told us that while the cast will do their best in the matches on the stage, he was glad that the audience did their best defence from the seats too (LOL).

So during their final bow, I decided to wave wildly at Ono Kensho (while everyone else was clapping to the beat of the song). He spotted my waving and actually locked eyes with me and nodded his head in acknowledgement with a smile, as he moved off the stage with the cast. OMG! I was fangirling so hard!!!

~ FINAL THOUGHTS ~

All in all, I have to say that the play really improved this year as compared to the previous two plays!

The choreography, stunts, costumes...everything was so beautiful! I really applaud the director for pushing the actors really hard in the 3rd play. It was like seeing the characters come to life on stage!

All the boys worked really hard during rehearsals and I read that they do have (very) minor accidents on stage on Twitter in every show.

If you do not know, the supporting cast and the crew in 2.5D stages DO NOT GET PAID during rehearsals.In fact, the entire cast and crew earn their income from ticket and DVD/Blu-Ray sales.

If you want to support them, please please PLEASE buy a copy of the DVD/Blu-Ray. Please stop pirating online. The boys really worked their butts off and they go home almost fainting from exhaustion at the end of each performance day. Asato mentioned he was so tired he fell asleep immediately when he got home.

I believe you can also watch the live-streams and/or download the play through DMM. They should be releasing information on the Grand Finale live-viewing soon! There are tons of ways to support the industry and the boys, so there is no excuse to pirate.

I will be watching their last third show in May again to support my boys since I will be in Tokyo that weekend.

I can’t wait to get my hands on the DVD as well. It will be released on September 26th.

Thanks for reading all the way to the end, I am happy to take any questions!

——-

Official pictures courtesy of Stage Natalie and Smart Boys

#Kuroko no Basuke #kurosute #knb stage play #kuroko no basket #Ono Kensho #asato yuya #pamyinjapan

89 notes · View notes

minstitute · 1 month

Text

Understanding the Fundamentals Taught in Beauty Facial Courses

Discover the essentials of skincare in beauty facial courses Singaporeoffers. Explore the core principles of cleansing, exfoliation, and hydration techniques. Dive into specialized treatments like anti-aging facials and acne management. With hands-on training and theoretical knowledge, you'll master the art of facial care, setting the foundation for a fulfilling career in the beauty industry.

Read more:- https://klighthouse.com/fundamentals-taught-in-beauty-facial-course/

#beauty facial course singapore #professional beauty courses #beautician course in singapore

0 notes

klphotoawards · 6 years

Text

A Personal Observation

How The Winning Portraits Were Selected for KLPA – Fly-on-the-wall Feedback

The Kuala Lumpur International Photoawards (KLPA) exhibition for 2018 is currently open from 8th to 17th September at White Box, Publika. For those of you who are going to visit the exhibition, you may be wondering how the winners and finalists portraits were chosen by the judges. You may be curious to know perhaps because you may find that some of the photos are not generally what would be considered ‘beautiful’. Or you may be interested in submitting your photos for next year’s contest (which is typically around February to April). Knowing something about the judging process and what the judges are looking for would be advantageous if you intend to join the contest.

A few months ago, I was fortunate to be chosen to be the only independent observer at the judging session for this year’s contest by being selected via a lucky draw. As a fly-on-the-wall attending the judging session held over two days over the weekend of 19-20 May, I had the opportunity to see how the judges came to their decision in selecting the finalists and winners that are now being exhibited.

This is the tenth year of the KLPA and every year there are five judges. These were Silke Schmickl from Germany who is a curator at the National Gallery Singapore; Julia Durkin who is a photo festival director for the Auckland Festival of Photography in New Zealand; Ihiro Hayami, director of Tokyo Institute of Photography in Japan; Gwen Lee, co-founder of the Singapore International Photography Festival, and Fadhil Kamarudin, a lecturer at the Faculty of Art & Design, UiTM Malaysia. As in past years, the judges were a mix of local and foreign nationals but all with strong credentials.

It was an enlightening experience to spend two full days at KL Journal Hotel listening to the discussions and sometimes enthusiastic exchanges as the judges defended their favorite photos. Apart from the five judges gathered around a table with a 27-inch iMac monitor in the darkened meeting room, there were also three KLPA organisers including founder Steven Lee and Nurul Munira ‘Moon’ Rohaizan who I must thank for giving me this unique opportunity.

For the KLPA contest submissions, in previous years there were occasionally theme-specific categories, such as Stillness and Distance for 2016 and Defining Family for 2017, together with an Open category but this being the tenth anniversary, there was no specific theme this year so the scope was wide open. There was no chief judge so every judge had equal say although of course as in any group discussion there were a few who are more vocal than others but ultimately consensus prevailed.

There were 925 single photo submissions. Initial judging was by a process of elimination with the photos being projected and tagged in Lightroom as Yes, No or Maybe. The single images were quite quickly reduced to around 100 images as the judges were unanimous in rejecting the obvious ones that did not make the grade. After that began the more serious discussions about the quality of the selected images to whittle it down to 30 images. The description of the images was also delved into if an image was interesting enough to warrant further study but the first impression of an image in terms of subject and technical quality was of paramount importance. There were times an image was interesting enough but the judges quickly lost interest if the image didn’t say anything beyond being a good portrait.

A similar process was conducted for judging the photo stories of which there were 120 submissions. A photo story for KLPA submission should be between 5 to 12 images. The difference in judging was that the titles and descriptions were much more critical compared to judging the single images. The stories behind the photos had to add real meaning to the photos. This was where a well-written description made a significant difference in getting the attention of the judges. Who, what, when, where, why and how should be sufficiently described the photo. A catchy or insightful title also helps instead of one that only describes what the viewer can already see. After the first round of elimination, about 40 photo stories made the cut.

Then on the second day, the finalists and winners were chosen. After deciding on the finalists, there were more heated debates as judges first came up with their own short list of at least 5 images. A few strong images readily stood out as contenders by being the common choice among many of the judges. Finally, the most difficult part was for the judges to defend their choices and find a common ground to arrive at the winners as well for the ranking for both the singles images and photo stories.

I understand that many photographers who have seen the photos of the KLPA finalists and winners over the years would immediately be struck by what seems like odd choices being selected and may be puzzled why some of the photos were chosen. I would say that this could be primarily due to the fact that salon photography, which has been widely practiced in Malaysia for a long time, tends to promote the beautiful as well as compositionally and technically excellent images as the main benchmark for what makes for a great image and the main criteria for selection for local contests and exhibitions. However, the photos selected for KLPA tends toward photography that is more representative of what is being exhibited in photo exhibitions in art galleries internationally. The background of the judges, who are familiar with curation for international exhibitions, is an indication of the type of images that they tend to favor. These are not photos that are merely eye candy, beautiful for the sake for showing beauty, but photos that represent something deeper, making a personal statement, highlight something newsworthy or depicting a different angle to a common subject.

In the first elimination round, images would be reviewed quickly so it is the impactful, unusual or quirky images that tended to attract attention but then again images that were too weird to the point of not making sense were also rejected. Striking the right balance means that images should be intriguing enough to pique the judges curiosity so that they want to know more about the subject.

Judges were also quick to discard images that were considered glamorous or too commercial, looking like fashion shots or staged purely for its aesthetics. Wedding photos and studio shots, especially with plain backgrounds, were also quickly out of contention. Of course, compositionally weak images, not correctly framed, with distracting backgrounds would be dismissed even if the actual portrait itself was good.

Processing of the images that was overdone was another feature that the judges were quite opposed to. However, it is not that post-processing was not allowed but it should suit the images and not be too obvious that it overshadows the subject. That being said, the judges can sometimes excuse a slight lack of technical quality in preferring a powerful and meaningful image over one that is purely technically excellent.

Photos that are too clichéd or have recurring themes also tend to be rejected as being too repetitive. An observation was made that there were many submissions of photos of hair as a prominent subject. Just because photos of people with unique hair featured in previous winners’ photos, submitting similar photos isn’t always the best strategy when others are thinking the same. Being unique stands a much better chance of being selected.

Lighting and posing the subject well is very important and slight nuances of facial expression conveying emotion can make or break an image. In terms of the presentation of the facial expression, the tendency has been toward the deadpan aesthetic which seems to be popular internationally. I suppose smiling for no apparent reason makes it look like a holiday shot. Staging is not frowned upon as long as there is a purpose to it and relates to the backstory of the photograph and not merely to compose a beautiful image purely for that in mind.

KLPA is a portraiture photo contest but the definition of portraiture accepted by the judges is quite wide and is open to interpretation so it is not just the classic close-up or three-quarter shot of a person facing the camera. More often it would be an environmental portrait shot which creates a story together with the accompanying title and description. In terms of definition, the images could overlap with what would be considered photojournalistic, travel, street, conceptual or even landscape photography as long as there is an element conveying a sense of people in the images with the environment playing a supporting role and does not overwhelm the portrait of the person depicted in the photo.

However, for the photo stories category, there is some liberty as to how the photos can qualify as a portraiture series since although not every single photo needs to have a prominent portrait of a person, the photos overall should give the viewer a deeper sense about the person, their situation and the place they inhabit. It’s a fine balance because including too few portraits in the series will also get the photo story rejected.

Submission for the photo stories is more difficult than the single images since it is not just the selection of photos that are important but sequencing of the images is key. A simple linear sequence would not usually be the best choice. A strong establishing image, pacing the sequence by giving the stronger images a break and a suitable concluding image makes for a more interesting story. Alternatively, a typological sequence, for example, something supposedly as simple as passport photographs, is another type of photo story that the judges liked but it must be accompanied with a really strong backstory.

Although the maximum number of photos for the photo story is 12, sometimes fewer images can make for a stronger story. A series sometimes failed to be selected just because it included photos which were not as compelling or did not tie in well with the overall story. Had the story been 7 images instead of 10, the judges would have liked it better. In this case, less is more.

Please note that the above comments are merely my personal observations and what I gathered as I witnessed the judging process this year with these particular judges. It obviously would be somewhat different from year to year with different judges but having followed KLPA since its inception 10 years ago and seen the photos of the finalists and winners over the years, I hope the points I have noted would be beneficially for all of us in seeking to tailor our photography towards the types of photos suitable for submission for KLPA. For those who are keen on submitting your photos next year, you would well be advised to download and study the past years’ exhibition catalogues which are all available online at https://www.klphotoawards.com/past-winners. Good luck!

Raja Indra Putra

7 September 2018

KLPA2018 WINNERS & FINALISTS EXHIBITION

8 to 17 September 2018, Whitebox @Publika Kuala Lumpur

Daily 10am - 7pm

#klpa #klpa2018 #photography #portraiture #kualalumpur #photocontests #judging #flyonthewall

1 note · View note

scottdonaldinfo · 3 years

Text

ISW Holdings Lands Significant Hosting/Mining Agreement with Global Leader Bitmain to Launch Phase One at New Georgia Cryptocurrency Mining Operation

LAS VEGAS, NV (July 27, 2021) - ISW Holdings, Inc. (OTC: ISWH) (“ISW Holdings” or the “Company”), a global brand management holdings company with commercial operations in Telehealth and Renewable Energy Cryptocurrency Mining, is excited to announce the signing of a cryptocurrency mining hosting agreement (the “Agreement”) with Bitmain Technologies (“Bitmain”), the world’s leading producer of cryptocurrency mining hardware and a leading global cryptocurrency mining firm.

The Agreement will form the backbone of the Company’s Phase One launch of its cryptocurrency hosting and mining operation in Georgia. Further details related to this Agreement will be discussed in the near future.

Irene Gao, Antminer BD Director NCSA Region, Bitmain, said, "We are excited to have signed this new pioneering project to begin cooperation with ISW Holdings, a new milestone for the industry for creating hosting facilities overseas. The 200 MW facility is the first phase of our long-term partnership, utilizing renewable energy as its source. We expect to further expand this project into the future to support the development of the industry."

“Bitmain is probably the most recognizable name in the mining space, and we are excited that they will be a major piece of our success in Georgia,” remarked Alonzo Pierce, ISW Holdings president and chairman. “Once our 200 MW power tranche is fully utilized, we anticipate annualized revenues of over $200 million, but that will only close the first phase of our vision. We look forward to discussing our next phases in due course. If we are able to execute according to our full vision, we have the potential to drive exponential revenue growth ahead.”

Management notes that a recent crackdown in China has taken roughly 54% of the global hashrate offline. This resulted in the largest ever single day easing of bitcoin mining difficulty (~28%) through the bitcoin algorithm adjustment that took place on Saturday, July 3, 2021.

It has also resulted in increased demand for cryptocurrency hosting services outside of China as mining operations seek to relocate geographically.

Pierce added, “We are grateful for the opportunity to work closely with some of the best in the business. Bitmain has solidified itself as a trailblazer in the cryptocurrency mining industry, and we look forward to a bright future together in Georgia.”

About Bitmain

Bitmain Technologies is a multinational semiconductor company with state-of-the-art IC design capabilities. Bitmain offers products, including chips, servers, and cloud solutions for blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Haidian District, Beijing, Bitmain has research and development centers in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States. According to Frost & Sullivan, Bitmain is among the world’s top 10 fabless IC designers and China’s second largest. Bitmain is focused on computing chips with a vision of realizing an even more beautiful digital world. It has design capabilities for different chip processes, including the state-of-the-art 5 nanometer process. In the blockchain mining area, Bitmain has shipped billions of ASICs, accounting for 75% of the global market. Being one of the world’s few companies with the capability to develop cloud-based AI chips, Bitmain has successfully released four generations of its AI chip. With advanced tensor acceleration for deep learning, Bitmain’s AI chips can be used for a wide range of applications such as facial recognition, automatic driving, smart cities, smart governance, smarter security, medical services and more.

About ISW Holdings

ISW Holdings, Inc. (ISWH), based in Nevada, is a diversified portfolio company comprised of essential business lines that serve consumer product demands. Our expertise lies in strategic brand development, early growth facilitation, as well as brand identity through our proprietary procurement process. Together, with our partners, we seek to provide a structure that meets large scalability demands, as well as anticipated marketplace needs. We are able to meet these needs through a variety of strategic innovative processes. ISWH is creating and managing brands across a spectrum of disruptive industries. It maneuvers its proprietary companies through critical stages of market development, which includes conceptualization, go-to-market strategies, engineering, product integration and distribution efficiency. The company has also partnered with a well-known software development and consulting company, Bengala Technologies LLC, which is developing significant enhancements in the supply chain management space; and the partnership has a vitally needed patent now pending.

The Company’s cryptocurrency mining segment, established in partnership with industry leader, Bit5ive LLC, is driven by a mission to mine cryptocurrency with a zero-carbon footprint.

For more information, visit www.iswholdings.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology including "could," "may," "will," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" and the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. While these forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business, actual results will almost always vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections, assumptions or other future performance suggested in this report. Except as required by applicable law, we do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements so as to conform these statements to actual results. Investors should refer to the risks disclosed in the Company's reports filed from time to time with OTC Markets (www.otcmarkets.com).

Company Contact:

[email protected]

Public Relations

EDM Media, LLC

https://edm.media

Corporate Communications:

InvestorBrandNetwork (IBN)

Los Angeles, California

www.InvestorBrandNetwork.com 310.299.1717 Office

[email protected]

###

0 notes

awesome-beautyrecipe-blog · 5 years

Link

Beauty Recipe Aesthetics brings the latest Keratin Lash Lift Enhancement Eyelash Treatment from Elleebana Australia voted the best & safest lash lift products that gives you that natural looking lift and protects your lashes from the root giving you an illusion of amazing length and volume.

#Eyebrow Embroidery supplies #Semi Permanent Makeup #Eyebrow Embroidery Singapore #Eyelash Extension Singapore #Eyelash Extension Supplies #Lash Lift #PDO Thread Lift #Beauty Courses #Facial Singapore #semi permanent foundation #Eyebrow Embroidery #Non laser tattoo removal

0 notes

globarblogs · 3 years

Text

Say Yes to Hair Free Body with DPL Hair Removal

Have you ever been in a situation where you are thinking about wearing a stunning dress for an event or occasion? You have brought the matching accessories and you have also purchased matching shoes. But at the last minute, you realized that your hairy legs would make you uncomfortable throughout the evening. So, you trade the dress for a pair of pants and a blouse because then no one would see your body hair. If your answer is yes, we feel you.

However, don’t you think that it should be our choice whether we want to wear a dress or something else? Of course, it should be! But it’s only possible when your body is free of hair. And it’s possible if you get hair removal Singapore treatment. This is such a nice and amazing way of getting freedom and doing whatever you like.

But if you have never heard of DPL hair removal treatment, we assume that you might not have any idea about it. Well, no worries because we have got your back. DPL hair removal stands for Dynamic Pulse Lighting and it targets the root of the hair. This means that after getting this treatment, you won’t have to worry about fuzzy body hair reappearing again.

Besides removing the hair from its roots, DPL also helps in reducing pigmentation and solving acne-related issues. This treatment is safe for both men and women. So, if you want to have a silky smooth, and soft body, you should start looking for beauty studios that offer this treatment. You can start your search by either asking for recommendations or taking the help of the Internet. But if it sounds like too much work, you can visit the website of glo bar.

It is a reputed beauty studio that was started a couple of years ago with an aim to offer the best kind of hair removal and facials Singapore. The team at glo bar uses the best range of high-quality machines that are brought from South Korea. The experts working with this beauty studio wants to make each of their clients feel beautiful. So, if you are interested in visiting glo bar, all you have to do is visit its website and read the COVID-19 policies.

About glo bar :

glo bar is a leading beauty studio that offers anti aging facials Singapore treatment.

For more details, visit https://www.globarco.com/

Original Reference: https://bit.ly/2SMPXTY

0 notes

cherrynika · 3 years

Text

It’s nice to see Alex again though he usually avoids former partners. It’s simply been long enough since their breakup that no trace of awkwardness is felt, simply a sense of familiarity. He’s more or less the same, having decided to keep the facial hair Jipyeong had always hated. It’s as sleazy-looking in real life as it is in the instagram photos he pretends he’s not scrolling through. That’s a pointless exercise that makes him wonder if he’d be more successful if he had chosen to stay in San Francisco, or if he’d still be the same person but with shittier fashion sense. It does, however, answer many questions that he’d like to ask (have you neutered Tim Tam yet, yes), prefer not to (are you married, 2 girlfriends and what was probably a sugar baby later, the answer is no), and never wondered (Crossfit is indeed life-changing; hot yoga gives you 10 more IQ points!).

Alex is cordial and professional at the Sandbox, offering Jipyeong nothing but a handshake before they sit down to grade the baby startups. But he lingers conspicuously in the meeting room after all the other judges leave. Jipyeong fingers a piece of his hair that’s come loose despite the pomade and waits.

“You look fluffier. Fatter.” Of course Alex’s first words are about his weight.

“I started eating rice again. I hated low-carb.”

“Rice or tteokbokki?” Alex smiles. “Anyway, it’s not a bad change. Let’s go to Gotgan. I have a reservation for 7pm.”

“You made a reservation for two?” Alex has always been overly confident, but that’s his charm.

“If you say no, I’ll ask Dongchun.”

Jipyeong considers him, looking almost exactly the way he did when Ms Yoon first introduced them 5 years ago. She’s always been able to look right into him and see what he wanted. As much as he respects her, he’s never wanted to tell her that her matchmaking attempt worked. Nothing he does today will have the tiniest effect on the future. All that’s in the past. All that’s waiting for him are Yeongsil and his big silent bed. So he gathers his notes into his satchel and fishes out the keys.

“Let’s take my car.”

“Let’s take the subway. It’s not far and we’ll probably get drunk.”

They stay sober. While getting drunk is fun, Jipyeong’s most regrettable moments (bar one that has surfaced intermittently for the last fifteen years) have all occurred when he was intoxicated (crying at a class KTV when Mrs Choi’s favourite song came on, dancing to Wonder Girls in front of a girlfriend’s parents). Staying sober is for the best.

Alex makes some noises about heading back to his hotel room. They both know he doesn’t mean it.

“I want to show you my new place,” Jipyeong says when they’re halfway there. He’s forgotten how private the sidewalks can be at night, cars on one side, the river on the other, blanketed in the dark. “It’s bigger than the one I had before I went to America.” Waves of headlights wash over them, illuminating Alex’s face before dipping them back into darkness. Everyone is rushing somewhere that only they think is important.

“I’d be surprised if apartments could be any smaller.”

“They’re always getting smaller.” Jipyeong jostles against him to avoid a woman on a bicycle. Alex puts his arm around him and doesn’t let go. In San Francisco this is what couples do. In Seoul they’re just old friends. Skinship, being a mentor, being a sunbae--these are all great excuses for what Jipyeong really wants to do. Even through two shirts and a lined blazer his body wants Alex’s body.

They walk in silence though the lobby, past the doorman whose chief qualification is knowing when not to look and float skywards in the lift.

“We have to take our shoes off, I just want you to know. You can leave them over there. Yeongsil, lights please.” The lights flicker on, Yeongsil is clearly having a good day.

“You know, I don’t let people wear shoes in my house either… That’s not Alexa.”

“It’s Yeongsil, it’s an AI speaker. It’s one of Ms Yoon’s more promising startups. It’s… more interesting than Alexa.” Jipyeong says, taking off his jacket and leaving it on the table. “It told me you were coming last week.”

“No, no, I told you that I was coming.”

“Yeah, but before I got your email. He tells fortunes too and he told me someone from my past was coming.”

“Everyday you meet someone from your past. And you shouldn’t let it listen to everything you do. It’s going to get hacked.”

“Astrology is in, everyone is going to love that feature,” Jipyeong shrugs. “Nothing I do here is worth any money, they can just hack my bank accounts.”

“You’re not paranoid enough for someone who works in tech.” Alex says, as he almost fondles Yeongsil.

“I’m actually trying to reduce my paranoia.” Jipyeong takes Yeongsil from Alex and stuffs him under the jacket. “Does that make you feel better?”

“No.” Alex continues to touch the other things in his apartment without permission. “Is every photo here of yourself? I know you don’t have family photos but that’s so vain. You should’ve kept some of the gang at 2STO or at least something to remind you of me.”

“The internet is filled with pictures of you. Anyway I still have the Grandpa Rudin you lent me, it’s more useful.”

“Did you really finish it?”

“I just wanted to know why everyone complains about it.”

“Well, now you know I guess. If you liked it don’t tell me.” Alex has moved on to the cardboard sign that proclaims Jipyeong the 2001 winner of the Inter High Schools Investment Competition brushing a finger over the scratch mark Tim Tam made on it before Jipyeong decided it would be safer in his closet. “I like the lamps. Are you into art now?”

“The seller had it staged, I just decided to buy it the way it was. I think it looks very cohesive.”

“So that’s why it looks like no one lives here. It’s like you don’t have any stuff.”

“No, I have the plants and I keep the EXO and Apink merch in the walk-in closet, it’s too personal to have it out here.”

“Red Velvet is better. I wish it weren’t so bloody creepy to be an uncle fan.”

Alex is still the only man with whom he can talk about Eunji and Kyungsoo and not feel dirty. He’s stumbled upon Dongchun’s Twitter (which is, in his own defense, a fascinating read) and knows too much about his deep love for TWICE. There is something a little unsettling about ajusshi fans, even if he is one himself.

“I think there’s something more interesting we can do here.” he takes the sign and puts it back on the top shelf. “I haven’t been laid in 6 months. I’m going to burst.”

“Couldn’t you have picked someone up at a nightclub?” Alex is smiling in such a familiar way; they both know this old dance.

“They’re full of university students.” Jipyeong says while helping Alex out of his jacket, which surprisingly, is only GAP. “You smell like metal.”

“It’s Sartorial, remember? From Penhaligon’s? It’s got that magnesium note.”

“You still haven’t finished it?” Jipyeong bought it as a gift while in London for him. It was so long ago, almost like a dream. He’s had dreams, whenever he’s been alone for too long, of undressing another person, but he can never remember what happens afterwards. The dream-person’s shirt has no smell, no trace of sweat. He slips Alex’s shirt off his shoulders. No undershirt as expected.

“Nope. I bought another bottle. It’s different from all the other man-perfumes. It doesn’t just smell like tonka bean.” He slips a finger over Jipyeong’s mouth, smearing his summer lip balm before dipping inside and scratching his gums lightly with a fingernail. “Your mouth is as lovely as you are horrible. Have you learned anything since we split up?”

“Test me,” Jipyeong says.

The only light in the bedroom is light pollution from the city below. It’s still more than enough to see by, despite the fact that Jipyeong’s night vision has gone to shit from more than a decade spent staring at a computer screen.

[this part not written yet]

He dozes off without meaning to and wakes up to the sound of engines. Alex is playing F1. He must have gone through his closet and found the playstation Jipyeong has been trying and failing to quit.

“You’ve got some very impressive beard burn on your jaw. ” Alex says as he overtakes Rosberg. He’s chosen the Singapore circuit. Onscreen the city is cloaked in darkness, the only thing that exists is a winding silver road and cars driving nowhere at 300 miles an hour.

He leans over and takes the controller from Alex, crashing into a Ferrari before spinning out into the barriers. “Are you bragging?”

“No, I’m just being honest.”

It’s a strange mirror of their early days when he would wake up to Alex on a coding binge, the clacking of the keyboard starting and stopping with his thoughts, the weak light of his laptop throwing huge shadows on the wall.

Jipyeong rolls forward on his belly; he wants to see Alex properly. “What do you like about Samsan Tech?”

“I like their engineering. Dosan’s incredibly talented. Their CODA algorithm builds on existing knowledge, and is an improvement on it.”

“And that’s your professional opinion?”

“What else would it be based on?” Alex fixes him with a look.

“Well. People say that you can’t be emotional as an investor. But how can it not be emotional?”

“Jipyeong. I’m excited in the way that I am when I see something beautiful. I wish you could see it too. I still can’t believe you’ve gotten so old without learning to read code.”

“I can code.”

“I don’t mean using OCaml to code a model.”

“There’s only so many hours in a day.” He rolls over and watches the dead light from the screen play across the ceiling. “I can always ask an expert.”

“I’m going back to America after Demo Day, you know. As fun as it would be to stay here and pretend we don’t know each other I have a job I have to get back to.”

“I meant other experts.”

“There are none like me.”

“Well. Talking to you is more fun.” He tangles his fingers with Alex.

“You’re not still posting loss porn on Wallstreetbets are you?”

“I just did. Lost fifty thousand on Apple puts.”

“You’re going to end up living in a corndog stand again.”

“Actually, I won’t. I didn’t tell you yet but I found her last month. She’s in a food truck now. So there’s nowhere I would go.”

“Can I meet her?” Alex perks up. He’s always loved a good story. “I want to know what you were like as a kid.”

#fic

0 notes