#jia cheap plan

[rangpurcity]

Jio Plan: This great plan of Jio comes in less than 100 rupees, you get a lot of data

Jio Plan: This great plan of Jio comes in less than 100 rupees, you get a lot of data

highlights A plan priced at Rs 75 is offered to JioPhone users. For Rs 75, customers can use only 2.5GB of data for the entire 23 days. In the company’s Rs 91 plan, customers are given a total of 3GB of data. New Delhi. Reliance Jio offers more than one plan for its customers. According to the convenience of the customers, the company also offers plans of thousand rupees, and also offers very…

[mystacoceti]

“Xiao Mei! Xiao Mei! Why are you on the floor like that? Gào su wŏ.” The voice startles her awake. This is not part of the plan. Mei was supposed to get drunk, stop being a wimp about things, take all of the Valium she’d bought ages ago, all of the Tylenol 3s she’d taken from Sandy’s place over the years, and be done with this.

Sandy’s been dead a week. She has not gone to pick up the keys to his house in Herbertsville, but she has managed to get Hazel, the dog, down to her place in the city. She is tired—no, exhausted. By what, she can’t remember anymore. Getting attacked last summer. Sandy dying this summer. Sandy being dead. The constant search for community or retreat from it. What seems like a never-ending run of “almosts” or “not-at-alls.” That, and being lonely and broke. But she isn’t supposed to be running through lists of reasons why she is lying here—one more “almost” to add to the list.

She is however, all the way lying in her own vomit. Nothing almost about this situation. She pulls her face away from the acrid smell, nauseated. She hasn’t cleaned the bathroom in years. She is sprawled out on the pleasantly cool tiles, head pounding the voice of her dead Nai Nai echoing around her. The tiles are white and set in a black grout, which she notices for the first time. The contrast is stark and gives her the impression she is somehow represented on a graph. Her dizzy mind flashes back to two awful semesters at the University of Dundurn. First year general sciences, her mother had insisted. What is the line of best fit for a puddle of vomit? What axis is she even working with? Mei can’t remember; she had only stayed until the end of that first year—almost to the end of that first year. The only class she had liked was meteorology, but mostly she liked to drink coffee and listen to the professor. Unfortunately she was not tested on his use of metaphor.

Nai Nai’s voice comes again, interrupting her remembrance, grating in her ears. Nai Nai is actually speaking quite gently, but the cheap whiskey she’d been drinking makes sure she hears every tone very clearly. Too clearly. She moves her head quickly, looking to see where the voice is coming from, and sends the room spinning. She cannot place what is happening. She could be hallucinating. It’s not likely. She has not taken the right combination of things for that. Maybe she is dreaming. Whatever is swirling around in her system could give lucid dreams. She wonders, assuming she survives the night, if she could market this new lucid dreaming skill she’s found. She is thinking about where she will fly in this dream when Nai Nai sucks her teeth. It sounds like someone ripping the wings off a starling. Mei winces.

“Aiya! Xiao Mei! Get off the floor.”

from Small Beauty, Jia Qing Wilson-Yang

[quyennie]

VAV Jacob

*Jia’s POV*

Jacob and Ziu were in my dance class. Baron was our instructor. He was a great dancer, but my eyes could only focus on Jacob. I started going because this class sounded like a fun way to get exercise and my friend told me about how cute the instructor was, but now I come only for Jacob. I need to introduce myself to him, but he’s so gorgeous and I’m so not. 

“Hi, um I was wondering if you could help me with this move,” I say. Yeah, that sounded smooth enough. Totally not awkward or dorky. I show him the move.

“Oh yeah, I can help. Just roll your hips. Here, let me show you.” He grabs my waist and moves my hips so perfectly. “Like that. Now you try it.”

I try and he looks impressed. “Thanks so much. I’m Jia, by the way.”

“Jacob.”

“Nice to meet you.” He doesn’t need to know I already know his name and wish he would completely jump my bones in front of everyone in that room.

“You too. Hey would you like to maybe grab a coffee after this?”

Hell yeah. “Um yeah that would be nice.”

“Cool I’ll meet you out front when we’re done.”

“Okay.”

Time for class. I stand behind Jacob (don’t worry, I can still see just fine not that I’m actually paying attention to anything except the way his ass moves and how sexy he looks and what I’d love to go down after class).

Class is over now. Let me take a quick shower and meet him out front. I change into some jeans and a t-shirt and head out front. Damn he looks so good standing there in his jeans and white t-shirt. He smiles when he sees me.

“Hey,” he says.

“Hey,” I reply.

We head off to the nearest cafe.

“So class was fun today.” “Yeah, I wasn’t very good though, but you were.” “Aww well thanks. You were pretty good.” “Nah, I wouldn’t have even been this good if you hadn’t helped me before class.”

“If you want, I can help you practice when we don’t have class.”

“Um yeah that would be amazing. Thanks so much.”

“No problem.”

We get to the cafe and order then sit down. I tried to buy my drink, but he refused to let me even get my wallet out. He’s such a gentleman. We talk and get to know each other. He’s 22; I’m older.

“Nuna, is it okay if I call you that?”

“Of course, that’s fine.”

“Nuna, can I tell you something?”

“Yeah what’s up?”

“I think you’re cute. Would you like to go out with me?”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Do you not like me?”

Why does he seem so insecure right now. This boy is so confident and sexy when he dances, but he just seems so adorably cute right now.

“You’re the whole reason I come to class. I’ve had the biggest crush on you since I first saw you. Hell yeah, I’ll go out with you.”

He smiles so huge I think his face might break. It’s so cute.

From that day on, we’ve been inseparable. It’s been about two months now, and yet we’ve never stayed at each others places or even had sex. I swear I think about how much I want to fuck him every time I see him, how much I want him to bend me over and have his way with me. I swear I make all sorts of moves but it’s like he’s oblivious.

*Jacob’s POV*

So it’s been about two months since Jia and I started dating. She’s so beautiful. I know she keeps making moves to get me to fuck her and trust me I want to, you have no idea how much I want to, but I want it to be perfect for her. I don’t want her running off to any other guy because she thinks I’m only in it for the sex. I’m planning something big for us this weekend, and I’m finally going to fuck her brains out. I know she thinks I’m so innocent but I’m not. I wanna ravage her whole body, leave her completely marked and make everyone know she’s mine. I can tell she’s more than willing but I just need to make it special (and consensual).

*Jia’s POV*

“Hey babe, are you busy this weekend?” Jacob asked while we were hanging out watching movies.

“No thought we were just gonna hang out.” “Yeah. Hey do you wanna go on a mini vacation this weekend?”

“That sounds like fun. Where were you thinking about going?” Um.. does this mean what I think it means? Are we finally going to have sex? I hope so because I’m going crazy but I don’t want him to think I’m just in it for sex.

“I was thinking maybe to Busan and go to the beach and just relax.”

“Hell yeah babe that sounds awesome.”

“Cool. Make sure you bring a pretty dress because I wanna take you out for a nice dinner.”

“Okay, I guess I should go shopping then.”

“Alright go hang out with Michelle and pick out something nice.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you tomorrow after work then.”

Time to go shopping with my best friend Michelle. I’ve known her since we were kids. She’s actually the one who talked me into taking the dance class where I met Jacob. We go to a couple stores and I find this perfect black skin tight dress that comes down mid thigh with long sleeves and a plunging neckline. I’m going to make sure he rips this dress off me (luckily it was cheap so I don’t even mind). She helps me pick out some sexy lingerie and then we grab dinner and head home so I can pack.

The next day comes and I make it through work without letting anyone get to me. I’m just so ready to go to Busan and show Jacob everything I bought yesterday.

*After work*

I run home, take a quick shower, put on a t-shirt and shorts, and make sure I have everything packed before I sit down to wait for Jacob.

Hey babe I’m on my way over. Are you ready?

Yep I’m all ready. Just waiting on you. Hurry up

On my way!

I’m so nervous. It’s the first time I’ve ever spent the night with him since we started dating.

He pulls up and puts my bag in the car while I get in the passengers seat. 

“Well don’t you look cute,” he says.

“Not any different than usual then.”

“Nope, you’re always cute.”

Aww he knows how to make me blush. After some more talking, singing, and driving for a couple hours we finally make it to place we’re staying at in Busan. He rented an entire house! What?! I was just expecting a hotel room.

We walk inside.  “This place is beautiful.”

“Not as beautiful as you,” he says before he gives me the sweetest kiss. How can one kiss make me wet? I have to fuck him tonight no matter what.

“We have a couple hours before our dinner reservations. What would you like to do until then?”

I have quite a few things but we’re going to need more than a couple hours for that. Luckily we have all weekend. “Um, a couple hours isn’t that long. I want to look gorgeous for you tonight so I guess we can just chill while I do my hair and makeup.”

“Oh ok, that works. Not like you need any makeup and your hair is perfect already.” He’s so smooth. How can he always know the right things to say?

*Jacob’s POV*

She wants to look nice for me. She’s beautiful already. Tonight though I’m going to make her makeup run and ruin her hair that’s she’s going to take so long to do. I hope she doesn’t mind it. 

She goes to the bathroom and I decide to just watch tv for an hour until I have to get changed. I’m mindlessly flipping through the channels, but I can really think about is what I want to do to her after dinner. My thoughts are far from the innocent look I normally have.

*1 hour later*

Time to go get dressed. I put on a black suit with a white shirt and a skinny black tie. I put a little gel in my hair and some cologne on then head downstairs. A few minutes later, she makes it downstairs. Holy shit! Do we even need to go to dinner? Can’t I just make her my dinner? She has on a short black long sleeve dress with black high heels. I can see the perfect amount of cleavage. I swear I’m getting hard already. Her hair is down in curls and she has eyeliner that accentuates the blue color of her eyes perfectly. 

“Holy hell babe you look stunning.”

Jia’s POV*

I look amazing. His jaw dropped when I came down the stairs. “Holy hell babe, you look stunning.”

I laugh. “If I didn’t know better I’d think you were contemplating skipping dinner and just have me instead.” Yeah, that was bold. I just can’t wait until we get back here tonight. He looks so sexy in his white shirt and black tie. 

We head out to dinner and it’s lovely. We go to this nice Italian restaurant and we just have the greatest time. The way he looks at me with that smolder in his eyes, I’m so wet.

We leave the restaurant and walk back to the car. He kisses me so hard with my body against the car before he whispers in my ear, “Tonight you’re mine,” then he opens my door and I get in.

All the way back to the house his hand is rubbing circles on my thigh. I swear he knows what he’s doing to me and he’s enjoying it. I look over at him and he’s smirking. I haven’t seen this side of him, but I am absolutely loving it.

*Jacob’s POV*

Why does she look so damn good and her lips taste even better. I know I should hold back but I think she can handle it. I have my hand on her thigh right now and I would love to slide it up even further but I’m trying to keep things reserved until we make it back to the house. I glance over at her and I can see the lust in her eyes. She’s dying for me to fuck her.

*Jia’s POV*

Finally we’re back to the house. He comes around and opens the door for me. I’m trying to hold myself back so I just grab his hand and look up at him and smile. That’s all he needed. Once we’re inside he’s got me up against the wall kissing me passionately.

“Do you know how fucking sexy you look tonight? I almost couldn’t keep my hands off you in that restaurant.” He’s leaving trails of kisses down my neck now.

“You didn’t have to keep your hands off me. I’ve wanted this forever.” I can barely muster enough breath to tell him. He’s sucking bruises on my neck and I’m barely holding back my moans. “Please fuck me Jacob.” “Tonight I want you to call me Daddy. Is that okay baby girl?”

“Fuck yes, Daddy.”

He picks me up and brings me upstairs. Once we make it to the bedroom he strips me before pushing me down on the bed and stripping himself. 

“Baby girl, you’re so damn sexy. I can’t wait to get inside you, but first I wanna taste you.” He spreads my legs apart before kissing trails up and down my thighs. I can feel his breath on my pussy. He’s just teasing me now. “Please Daddy, I need you.”

With that, he kisses my heat then pulls my panties down and licks up my entire core. “Mmm” I can’t stop the moan that leaves my mouth.

“You like that baby girl?”

“Yes Daddy.” He continues teasing me licking up and down my slit before spreading my lips apart and slowly circling his tongue around my clit. Fuck it’s so good. He slowly inserts one finger while still sucking on my clit. He begins pumping it back and forth before adding another. He curls his fingers up to hit my gspot. “Right there, Daddy. Don’t stop. I’m gonna cum.”

“Cum for me baby girl. Let me taste your juices.” With that, I cum all over his lips. He comes up for air, face still glistening with my cum. “Damn baby girl, that was amazing.” He leans up to kiss me and I can still taste myself on his lips. 

“Daddy, please fuck me.” What is this? I’m begging? Hell yeah, I’m begging. If this man can do this shit with his mouth what can he do with his dick.

He slowly slides in allowing me time to adjust before he starts a slow steady rhythm. I’m a moaning mess right now. It’s amazing. He starts to go faster hitting my g spot over and over again. “I’m gonna cum again Daddy.”

“Go ahead baby girl. You’re gonna cum for Daddy so many times tonight like a good little girl okay?”

I love his dirty talk. I’m cumming so hard. The sounds of his dick mixed with my juices is so sensual. I love it. He flips me over now he’s going hard from the back.

“Pull my hair Daddy.” He grabs a fist full of hair at the nape of my neck and pulls, “Fuck yes Daddy.” “You’re a nasty baby girl, aren’t you?” He smacks my ass. “You love having my dick inside you don’t you?”

Where did he learn to talk like this from. I’m in love. “Yes Daddy, I fucking love it.”

“What do you love baby girl?”

“I love having your dick in me Daddy.”

“That’s it baby girl. I’m the only dick you’re ever gonna fuck. This pussy belongs to me now. Say it baby girl.” “This pussy belongs to you Daddy.” “Good girl. Now cum for Daddy one more time so I can cum too.” A few more thrusts and I cum so hard. The aftershocks lasted for minutes. He rode them all out as he came deep inside me, the feeling of his hot cum inside me was amazing. He slowly slipped out and lay beside me on the bed taking me in his arms.

“Was that okay baby?”

“Daddy that was the best sex I’ve ever had in my entire life.”

“You know you don’t have to call me Daddy if you don’t want to, and I know it wasn’t that great.” “I love calling you daddy. You’ll always be my daddy. I love you Daddy.” I smile up at him.

“I love you too, baby girl.”

From that night on we had the most amazing sex ever almost everyday.

[scifigeneration]

How science fiction and fantasy can help us make sense of the world

by Gwen Ansell

Costumes from the dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale. Jim Lo Scalzo

The world’s a mess. How do thoughtful people make sense of it all? In this series we’ve asked a number of our authors to suggest a book, philosopher, work of art – or anything else, for that matter – that will help to make sense of it all.

Back in the 1990s, some speculative fiction bookshops sold a T-shirt with the slogan, “Reality is for people who can’t cope with fantasy”. Today, bookshops are almost extinct, while fantasy geeks can link to 3-D printers to fabricate their T-shirts.

Speculative fiction consists of multiple varieties, with fantasy and science fiction the two major streams. It has often anticipated new technologies – but that may be the least important reason why reading speculative fiction helps us make sense of the world.

Some writers deny their work belongs in either fantasy or science fiction. Among them, ironically, Margaret Attwood, whose own 1985 “Handmaid’s Tale” time-travelled to the site of some of its own dystopian speculations when Donald Trump became US President in 2017.

While science fiction and fantasy ask that most powerful question “What if?” – they also deal with “This, now”: reflecting it, interrogating it and satirising it.

Global warming

Speculative writers flesh out our passing thoughts into complete, functioning societies and explore how they might unfold. For example Kim Stanley Robinson looked in “New York 2140” at what if global warming flooded Manhattan.

Or, what if a world without gender shaped a language to match, as in Ann Leckie’s award winning “Ancillary Justice”? Leckie, considering her linguistic experiment – all her characters take “she” – notes how this writing tactic affects not only on imagination, but also on the experience of readers in the here and now:

… because it doesn’t use the default gender pronouns, a lot of readers found themselves very aware of the fact that a default was being used, and it wasn’t the normal one… a really interesting experience.

Linked to this, speculative fiction is free to unleash the full power of metaphor. Richard Morgan in “Market Forces”, for example, makes literal the rhetorical assertion that global investment bankers have blood on their hands.

Commenting on NK Jemisin’s Hugo-winning Broken Earth trilogy, The Guardian says:

It is the particular gift of genre fiction to assume a different background to the mainstream and so delineate character from a different angle. Science fiction carries this change of perspectives to extremes. By changing what counts as figure and what as background, the characters can be seen in ways otherwise impossible – and so, ultimately, we can understand ourselves in ways that would otherwise be impossible.

And the borders of “understanding ourselves” are widening. Nnedi Okorafor, Tade Thompson, Jemisin and many others provide examples of Afro-futurism freed from the ethnographic distorting mirror of Black Panther. They follow on from predecessors like Octavia Butler, Samuel R. Delany and Sun Ra.

Just as Okorafor in “Lagoon” and Thompson in “Rosewater” take us to Nigeria to illuminate the “what-ifs” of that society for Nigerians themselves, so the works of Liu Cixin, Xia Jia and multiple other Chinese speculative writers unfold Chinese concerns.

Translator Ken Liu frequently warns against crude interpretations of Chinese speculative fiction as simply veiled criticism of current regimes. He cites Xia’s short story “Tongtong’s Summer”:

It’s not about better plans from the government or magical fairies coming down to save us. Change comes from (…) trying to convert the tools of cold, impersonal technology, of globalised capitalism, into our own freedoms.

Eurocentric massacres

Sometimes, critics reduce speculative fiction to the dystopian visions of past and future presented in the macho and often Eurocentric massacres and rapes of Grimdark military fantasy. Or, they conflate the genre with the thinly disguised right-wing survivalism of much post-apocalyptic SF. But that isn’t all there is.

Advocates of both sub-genres employ defences citing “realism”: war really is hell; people really are engaged in a Darwinian struggle for survival; white men really always rule.

Yet fiction writers make conscious choices about what elements they abstract from the real – and how to use them. There are multiple scholarly explorations of these arguments. Let’s just say here that engaging in fabrication and simultaneously arguing that what has been fabricated is “real” rests on very shaky terrain.

Further, as science fiction author Kameron Hurley argues in her riposte to the tropes of military fantasy sometimes the veracity of the elements writers select is itself shaky. Sometimes they represent arbitrarily Eurocentric picks from a near-infinite landscape.

For a writer such as Aliette de Bodard, of Vietnamese heritage, it’s Annamese dragons that pervade her steampunk, fin de siecle Paris. It’s emblematic of the corrupting history of French colonialism. Introducing such new tropes challenges conservative myth-making. She says:

Because we only talk about heroes, we like to think that, back then, we would be among them. And the truth is – most of us wouldn’t. Actually, most of us aren’t, today (…) we buy cheap clothes, cheap electronics made with labour in horrific conditions.

Get together

The potential to contest is even more striking for those supremacist extrapolations from present to future. Much research suggests that after disasters, people actually get together to help one another.

Speculative writers such as Cory Doctorow react against the way this is under-reported. What if, Doctorow asks, post-apocalypse,

instead of your neighbour coming over with a shotgun, they come over with a covered dish?

His novel “Walkaway” (and Robinson’s “New York 2140”) look forward to just such futures.

Speculative fiction provides vivid cases to provoke debate about such issues and thus helps us “make sense”. Maybe it’s time to wear the T-shirt again, but with a new slogan:

Reality isn’t what you think it is.

About The Author:

Gwen Ansell is an Associate of the Gordon Institute for Business Science at the University of Pretoria

This article is republished from our content partners at The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

[damiencordle]

I Found This Interesting. Joshua Damien Cordle

Scientists create entangled photons 100 times more efficiently than previously possible

Super-fast quantum computers and communication devices could revolutionize countless aspects of our lives -- but first, researchers need a fast, efficient source of the entangled pairs of photons such systems use to transmit and manipulate information. Researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology have done just that, not only creating a chip-based photon source 100 times more efficient that previously possible, but bringing massive quantum device integration within reach.

"It's long been suspected that this was possible in theory, but we're the first to show it in practice," said Yuping Huang, Gallagher associate professor of physics and director of the Center for Quantum Science and Engineering.

To create photon pairs, researchers trap light in carefully sculpted nanoscale microcavities; as light circulates in the cavity, its photons resonate and split into entangled pairs. But there's a catch: at present, such systems are extremely inefficient, requiring a torrent of incoming laser light comprising hundreds of millions of photons before a single entangled photon pair will grudgingly drip out at the other end.

Huang and colleagues at Stevens have now developed a new chip-based photon source that's 100 times more efficient than any previous device, allowing the creation of tens of millions of entangled photon pairs per second from a single microwatt-powered laser beam.

"This is a huge milestone for quantum communications," said Huang, whose work will appear in the Dec. 17 issue of Physical Review Letters.

Working with Stevens graduate students Zhaohui Ma and Jiayang Chen, Huang built on his laboratory's previous research to carve extremely high-quality microcavities into flakes of lithium niobate crystal. The racetrack-shaped cavities internally reflect photons with very little loss of energy, enabling light to circulate longer and interact with greater efficiency.

By fine-tuning additional factors such as temperature, the team was able to create an unprecedentedly bright source of entangled photon pairs. In practice, that allows photon pairs to be produced in far greater quantities for a given amount of incoming light, dramatically reducing the energy needed to power quantum components.

The team is already working on ways to further refine their process, and say they expect to soon attain the true Holy Grail of quantum optics: a system with that can turn a single incoming photon into an entangled pair of outgoing photons, with virtually no waste energy along the way. "It's definitely achievable," said Chen. "At this point we just need incremental improvements."

Until then, the team plans to continue refining their technology, and seeking ways to use their photon source to drive logic gates and other quantum computing or communication components. "Because this technology is already chip-based, we're ready to start scaling up by integrating other passive or active optical components," explained Huang.

The ultimate goal, Huang said, is to make quantum devices so efficient and cheap to operate that they can be integrated into mainstream electronic devices. "We want to bring quantum technology out of the lab, so that it can benefit every single one of us," he explained. "Someday soon we want kids to have quantum laptops in their backpacks, and we're pushing hard to make that a reality."

Story Source:

Materials provided by Stevens Institute of Technology. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference:

Zhaohui Ma, Jia-Yang Chen, Zhan Li, Chao Tang, Yong Meng Sua, Heng Fan, and Yu-Ping Huang. Ultrabright quantum photon sources on chip. Phys. Rev. Lett. (accepted), 2020 [abstract]

[yeonchi]

2019 In Review

This year marked the start (or rather, a continuation) of my transition into society. It kind of sounds weird when I put it that way, but the truth is that I have much to learn about how society works and that despite all my time on the Internet, I’m gonna have to face up to reality sooner or later. I’ve never really created a name for myself outside of my anime posts, English dub rants, or even my work on preserving the Sea Princesses series, but I still hope to continue posting online at times.

Where previous reviews were released on New Year’s Eve, this year’s review will be released a bit earlier for reasons that I’ll elaborate on in this post. Let’s begin after the break.

Sea Princesses

2019 has been a big year for Sea Princesses. During the first half of the year, I worked on transcribing the episodes and writing plot details for the wiki, since not a lot of work was put into them since the other admin, Liggliluff, joined the wiki in 2015 and gave provision for them. In the second half of the year, I renovated the character pages, adding infoboxes and story involvement (highlights for the major characters) to them. I also created pages for the (named) animals that appeared in the series. Since the wiki is pretty much complete at this point with the addition of transcripts and episode plots, any further work on the wiki from me (in regards to the animated series) is up to whether I feel like doing any.

After six months of seeing no further uploads on the Mr Bean and Friends channel, I caved and decided to shell out some money on a premium account to download the Amazon Prime episodes someone had uploaded to a website. Six months after that, I found that someone had downloaded the episodes themselves and uploaded them to KimCartoon. I know this was way after everything I had done, but better late than never, I suppose. The sad thing was that a few weeks after that, someone reached out to me on the Lost Media Archive saying that they had ripped some of the episodes from ABC iView and put a link to their MEGA folder on 4chan /trash/ and not /co/, which led to me not realising it until he told me about it. Regardless, the split English episodes and Spanish Disney Channel raws are still in my cloud drive folder.

While working on the transcripts for the wiki, I also wrote a review of the series. After watching it, I found that there were quite a few disappointments here and there, but the series wasn’t as bad as I had remembered it. Also, from July to October this year, artist Princess Rainbow Channel did some amazing fanart of each character in the series (including background characters) that trumps everything I had seen before and possibly after. Feel free to check it out here along with my reaction and her response.

Public opinion of the series depends on where you are; in Brazil, people are still bringing it up in their childhood memories on Twitter (usually in response to the question “what were some cartoons you remember from when you were young”), while in Australia, you barely get anyone talking about the series and even if you did, quite a few of them would be people trashing it. I’d seen a couple of Americans who had apparently seen the series as well; aside from the Latin American Spanish version, I have no idea which channel the English version was broadcast or where, otherwise I’d have known by now.

So like I said, the wiki is pretty much complete in terms of the TV series. As for the Princesas do Mar books, I am hoping to cover them in the long term when I have the money and capacity to do so. If you want information about them now, then I’m hoping that someone (mostly from Brazil) will be kind enough to provide transcripts and/or snapshots of them. There won’t be anything about the books on the wiki (with the exception of Marcela and the titles of the books) until I get that information, whether it be from a kind volunteer or by myself, so the entire thing’s pretty much on hold until then.

One thing I realised - the author, Fabio Yabu, recently published the first volume of the Combo Rangers graphic novel for free on WEBTOON. No doubt about it, Sea Princesses would have been more popular if it had received as much love as Combo Rangers. Maybe it’s time that Yabu showed some love to the series after nearly a decade since the last Princesas do Mar book published by Panda Books - I wouldn’t mind seeing rereleases, a graphic novel, ebooks or a compendium of the ten books published by Panda Books (those are the titles that I’m hoping to focus on for the wiki, everything else is irrelevant). With my current situation right now, if I can’t get transcripts or screenshots, then I’d be more happy to spend my money buying ebooks than printed books from Brazil.

Doctor Who

Right at the start of the month, the release date for Doctor Who Series 12 was announced to be on New Year’s Day with subsequent episodes to air on Sundays. Like with Series 11, I’ll be continuing the Thirteenth Doctor reviews after the episode airs. The prelude post will come out later with more details. In fact, it’s because of this that I decided to release this post earlier instead of on New Year’s Eve. That’s pretty much the only reason.

English Dubbed Game News and English dub rants

In case you guys missed it, I’m fully moving on from talking about English dubbed games. I don’t know if anyone ever saw this coming since the end of the feud a couple of years back, but I guess my promise to stand tall back at the end of 2017 must sound ironic now.

As I explained back in September, I’ve lost interest in video games altogether and had conflicting thoughts on how to deal with the occasional toxic comments on my pages. I didn’t mention this back then, but in case you were wondering, no, all the Vic Mignogna stuff did not play a factor in my decision. I’ve never been a fan of him so I don’t care and to be fair, innocent or guilty, he is really only one voice actor. In terms of Koei Tecmo games, he only voiced two characters in Dynasty Warriors 7 and 8 (Jia Xu/Xiahou Ba) along with two characters in Samurai Warriors 3 (Mitsuhide Akechi/Yoshimoto Imagawa), which, I should remind you, never made it onto a Warriors Orochi game. If Koei Tecmo wanted to replace him when the allegations came out, they would have done it already. Ironically however, they did just that with Dynasty Warriors 9, but with the whole cast because of the voice actor strike.

Speaking of the voice actor strike, I’ve noticed something that I never did back when I was writing the rants; a lot of voice actors are part of SAG-AFTRA and I’ve deduced that Japanese game companies are being cheap and cutting corners in localisation (specifically, dubbing) because they don’t want to hire union actors because of the cost (presumably). Additionally, I’ve also read that union actors can’t openly do non-union work, which leads to them being uncredited officially. I know I’ve supported the union during the voice actor strike, but I can’t help but think that I should have criticised them at some point during my rants because their rules for union actors kind of play a factor in this whole debacle of video game dubbing.

I’ve suggested crowdfunding as a way to raise funds to hire (union) voice actors, but in recent years, I’ve seen them go the way of Western game companies and put out season passes and neverending DLC packs. Anyone who defends game companies for being cheap and not dubbing their games has no right to complain about them being greedy in other areas. I kind of saw it coming myself, which didn’t come as a surprise to me. As far as I’ve heard, there aren’t any loot boxes or pay-to-win gimmicks in Japanese games, so I guess I’m still relieved.

As for my opinion on all of this or Japanese game companies, including Koei Tecmo, they haven’t changed much, although I’ve become more and more apathetic towards them given my declining interest in video games. Much as I hate to admit, I’ve gotten back into playing older Warriors games I still have for nostalgia and because I was bored and wanted to procrastinate. This shows that regardless of my thoughts, I’m still grateful towards Koei Tecmo for the games that inspired me in certain aspects of my life.

I’m going to burn a few bridges here and say some fuck yous to a few groups. First of all is a big fuck you to the haters, namely the dub haters, sub purists and opinion-neutrals (that much is obvious). Next up is a fuck you to Japanese game companies for being cheap in localisation (and by extension, even cheaper in DLCs), then a smaller, belated and ironic fuck you to voice actor unions like SAG-AFTRA for making the rules that lead to Japanese game companies being cheap in the first place and enabling them to keep doing it. Finally, a really ironic fuck you goes to my fans and all other fans of English dubbing - the fact that nobody else had made something like EDGN by this point, let alone before I found and joined the page, is really telling of what little you do to promote dub advocacy, let alone not being aware that things like said page or #NoDubNoBuy exist or supporting them by liking or sharing my posts.

Anyway, the current plan is to finish posting whatever games I’ve got in the backlog before New Year’s Eve and then unpublish the page sometime after. I’m not going to delete the page out of respect to its creator, who despite still being an admin on the page, has never posted anything since I joined it. The games list will be kept up through this link for reference. Despite the fuck you I just gave my fans (particularly the 230-so followers on EDGN), I want to thank everyone for the support you gave over the years and invite you to continue following me on my Facebook and Tumblr pages.

The state of social media

I felt that I should address something given YouTube’s new measures regarding COPPA, not forgetting that they literally said that they have no obligation to host content. At the start of last year’s review, I stated that there was always something that managed to affect my Internet life in stupid ways. I haven’t been affected directly this year, but YouTube’s measures have led me to think about what would happen if Facebook were to follow suit, particularly because Tumblr already banned NSFW content at the end of last year and Twitter looks like it’s about to follow suit themselves.

Sure enough, YouTube suddenly updated their harassment policy, which resulted in the Leafy Content Cop being removed as a result of retroactive enforcement. I’ve got nothing much to say about this except that it just proves what we’ve been suspecting all along. To be honest, around the time of the NSFW ban on Tumblr, I was kind of expecting that the parody I did would get flagged ironically, but I guess it never got near the radar, not that there would be any justifiable grounds for it.

Anyone who celebrates censorship or deplatforming with the same argument that “private companies can do whatever they want” should really look at themselves in the mirror because if any of this has proved anything, it’s that anyone can be censored or deplatformed with or without reason whether they’re following the rules or not. You’re all just sitting ducks and you don’t even know it even though you play by their rules in the hope that you won’t be next.

On a more lighter note, I wonder if I should use paragraph gaps instead of horizontal rules in future posts, given that Tumblr removed functionality for the latter in the rich text editor. Sure, I could manually add them in the HTML editor, but it would mean that they would disappear when I switched back to the rich text editor, regardless of whether I saved or not, and it would absolutely kill me to put them back in the exact same spots when I’ve changed something there.

In regards to Hong Kong

Back in August, I made a post about how I nearly got deplatformed from Facebook by the guy behind the feud because of what I said in my repostings of Hong Kong news. I really want to look back and laugh at it now not only because him doing so made him look like a pro-Beijing supporter, but because a pro-Beijing politician he scapegoated as a dub hater in a parody post to evade my criticism of him as such lost his seat in the district council to a pro-democracy newcomer.

In that post, I admitted that I did use some racial slurs in some of my repostings. Given the escalating violence (on both sides, police and protesters) since the start of the protests in June, I’m just gonna come right out and say it - if I could use one word to describe it and the negative reaction from those against the protesters (around the world), it would be the hard-r n-word. I used that word against said pro-Beijing politician because like many other people, I don’t think he’s a good person in any way. He’s advocated violence against pro-democracy supporters, has suspected links to the triads and commended old men in white shirts attacking people in black shirts at a train station following a protest some distance away. If that third thing doesn’t remind you of white (shirt) supremacy, then I don’t know what will. Let’s not forget that at the time, I reposted some news about him not being admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales, making him a “fake lawyer n-word”.

In case there are people who disagree with my (former) use of the slur, I want to acknowledge something here. I know I’m using the slur towards Chinese people instead of its historical target, namely people of African origin, but if it helps move the focus away from the latter, then so be it. If I could find another (preferably stronger) word to describe it, then I would, but at this point, I should be lucky that I’m able to control my anger and not use the actual word itself. If you don’t like how I used the n-word at all, then fuck you, you missed the point, but of course, you’re free to leave.

I don’t want to talk about the finer details or criticisms of any party involved in the protests, but I’m quite amazed with the pro-democracy protesters’ motto of not splitting their movement, not condemning the violence from the radical side and not ratting anyone out. In my interpretation, the radical protesters know that their so-called “violence” is illegal, but the other protesters can’t condemn them because words have barely had any effect on the government and they know that the radical protesters are the only people who have a chance of making the government cave into their demands or expose the true sides of Hong Kong and China’s governments to the international community, because their failure to do so five years ago was because they failed to keep their movement together. I probably don’t know as much about this compared to Hong Kong locals or immigrants, but I wager that at least some of my interpretation is spot on.

Two years ago, I said on my personal Facebook page, “I hope that the future of Hong Kong and its politics will improve for the benefit of the people, especially the younger generations, given everything that has happened up to now”. I know it may seem ironic right now, but I believe that the future will continue to improve for the better, but if it turns to the worst, then I hope that due justice may be served.

At the start of this post, I said that I was undergoing a transition into society. I’ll be finishing my university course and graduating at the end of next year, so at this point, I’m currently out looking for work. A lot of people make it look easy, but in truth, it’s been quite excruciating for me; because of some government benefit thing I signed up for, I have a quota of job applications that I need to send per month. It sounds easy, but after a while, it becomes so hard when you look at a job you think you’ll like and realise that you don’t have the necessary skills or experience for it. All I can say for myself is that I’ll keep praying for guidance and hope that I can find something that fits with my timetable, at least until I graduate.

See you all on the other side in 2020.

[daydreamindollie]

Lucky | k.th x f.r

Genre: So much FLUFF!!!

Length: 6.8k

Quick Summary: Being naturally sexy with voluptuous curves and a mature air, you tend to turn heads rather than hearts. You want your Mr Perfect to walk by and sweep you off your feet soon but are patient enough to wait for him to make you feel like the luckiest girl alive. All he had to do was make you laugh.

"Hey, girls," you called, approaching two conversing females, who were sat at a rectangular table that they had all to themselves. The two were your best friends and you loved them dearly; they were like sisters to you. Their names are Jue Seoyun (a cutie pie; the youngest) and Lee Jia (a beauty; the eldest). Amongst the three of you, you were the middle-aged one.

"Hey sexy!" they chorused in a teasing manner, eliciting a half-hearted groan from the back of your throat, only because you knew that they were just poking fun at your allocated title.

"Do you really have to call me that? It's bad enough that I'm always turning boys' heads, and getting evil looks from girls when I walk by." it was a weird complaint but for someone like you, it was the norm. Your male schoolmates (even complete strangers on the streets) never failed to ogle your physique, whilst the female population stared on longingly, eyes colouring themselves green with envy. If only you could go up and tell them that there was no point in being jealous of your body because, simply having an erotic frame of voluptuous curves, and lacking any excess fat, didn't necessarily mean that your life was suddenly so much better than theirs.

"Let them stare, who cares?" Jia, your pleasantly beautiful and mature upperclassman shrugged, sipping at the straw of her beloved apple juice box.

"I just don't like the fact that the girls wish they were someone else when they're perfectly fine and beautiful being themselves." the two smiled as a frown stretched across your features, staring down at the polished surface of the table.

"That's so nice of you Unnie!" your cute dongsaeng chirped, handing over a small piece of candy, wrapped in a pastel plastic cover. "Here's a sweetie just for you." smiling apathetically, you reached out and grabbed at the offering but looked up when she pulled it back at the snap of your fingers, "but only if you smile!" she bargained as you chuckled before flashing a genuine smile. Satisfied, she handed over the candy and allowed you to happily go about unwrapping and consuming the sweet.

"You complained about the girls, what about the guys?" Jia queered, leaning in with interest. Although the three of you had spent a majority of your high school years together, you still had quite a bit to learn of each other's traits and such.

"That's not important..."

"If it's not important than you can tell us," she smirked, sipping up the last few drops of her beverage.

There was no way you could surpass her questioning, you've tried to do so in the past but her persistence was uncanny. Sighing, you forced out your honest answer, "I turn heads only...not hearts." Although blessed with the body of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty and sexual rapture, you didn't exploit it in any unnecessary or inappropriate ways (unlike some girls), but just like the Greek goddess, you had a connection with love by being a hopeless romantic, and outright refused cheap affections.

"We're sorry (Y/N)..." the frowns that controlled the brows and lips of your dearest friends made your heart clench with guilt, it was never your intention to make them feel culpable because they truly weren't. You'd rather have a plain body and find true love than have an hourglass figure and only be able to afford substandard compassions.

"Don't worry about it!" you laughed a weak attempt of reassurance despite your willingness to secure their conscience.

"You're the sexiest person out of the three of us, and yet you're the only one that's single." Jia stated in thought, "I just don't get it..." she sighed in defeat as if she was trying to solve an impossible puzzle. Indeed, your trio was a group of visual and internal attractiveness, Seoyun being the cute one, you the sexiest and Jia, the mature beauty. Your two friends are also in genuine relationships, leaving you on your own when they go on double dates. It doesn't make you feel depressed (surprisingly) just disappointed that you haven't found the 'one' yet - they clearly have, isn't it your turn?

"But aren't you tired of waiting?" Seoyun pressed as you continued to smile, one that almost entailed sadness rather than joy. It broke their hearts.

"Yeah...but I know it'll be worth it in the end." the positivity you issued was contagious and the two awed before engulfing you in a hug. You were sexy but you were so much like a marshmallow, always equipped with just the right amount of comfort to consistently repair their aching and broken hearts.

"Woah, are we interrupting something? Do you girls want some girl time?" facing the voice, you smiled up at two male figures.

"They're always so considerate, your boys." you giggled before assuring the two that it was alright for them to join your trio for lunch, "Being together is how we always have lunch, and besides the girls and I get plenty of time with each other already." you further assured as the separate couples comfortably cuddled into each other's sides. They were so sweet and the stories of their meetings were even sweeter, you always end up smiling like a ray of the sun whenever you thought over their personal love stories.

Seoyun was dating someone your age, but it was nothing to fret about as their age gap stretched for only a year. His name was Baik Heonwoo and being a cutie himself, the two made such a darling couple. They met through a class project (typical) but it didn't turn out like the classic scenarios. Seoyun and Heonwoo were both too concerned over making the grade (as they weren't always up there in terms of intelligence - it was a charming, shared trait between them, though) that they didn't fall in love during the process of their project making. It wasn't until they were seated together in class that they began to fall for one another. In due time, they, yet again, had another partner project, which they ended up failing as they preferred to focus on each other rather than centring their concentration onto the given task. The confession consisted of a misunderstanding, spluttered words and a quick, shy, first kiss.

In school, they were labelled as the 'Cutie Couple'.

Jia, on the other hand, met her lover (Na Dongsun) when she was looking for a model to sketch the expressions of. You and Seoyun were both busy at the time, and so, you two weren't able to help her out yourselves, Jia had been procrastinating the assignment as well, so she was desperate. Her circumstances only led her to spend time with Dongsun. The male was usually the emotionless type, but after a mere hour and a half with Jia, he had expressed more emotions than he ever had his entire life. Their confession was a silent one, fitting for a couple that valued actions over words.

The two kept the label of the 'Charming Couple', their charm was certainly a unique one, but it was favoured by many.

That left you on your own, with no one significant at your side.

It wasn't all that bad. At times, the weight of it all decided to be more unanimous and slumped your shoulders drastically, but you always had your girls to help cheer you up and made everything better. Most of the time, you were immersed in many other distractions to be worrying too much over your pitiful love life.

"So, how are we?" Heonwoo asked happily. He was mostly staring at his lover, hypnotised, but you knew his enquiry was directed to all of you.

"Fine." the couple of charm mused together before digging into their school meals - their love for food was a parallel attribute that they adored about each other. Jia loves to keep herself full of good tasting stuff whilst Dongsun loves all types of meat, albeit needing to eat consistently anyway because of his high metabolism.

"I'm fine too..." was your simple reply as you began to munch at your packed bento, having already consumed your offered sweet.

But were you really?

Staring at the couples before you, you forced your smile to be more dominant than your sullen state of mind. You envied them. Their interactions made you crave for someone; someone who was willing to hold you and protect you from the cold; someone to share your most memorable memories with; someone who isn't afraid to be himself around you; someone that's only with you for the physical and mental benefits at being beside each other; someone to bring joy to your dismal world; someone who could make you laugh.

If you could have someone like that enter your life, you'd be willing to wait. Sighing dreamily at the idea, you casually indulged yourself the conversations amongst your friends. Just another day of waiting...

"I can't believe you actually pulled it off!" Jimin laughed, running alongside his brunette best friend.

"What do you mean?! I got caught!" Taehyung laughed, despite his grave situation. After being punished with biased reasoning, the teen had planned sweet, sweet revenge. Simply put, the plan consisted of water, a bucket, a door kept a jar with the blackboard messily scribbled with the words 'People who are too quick to judge deserve what's coming to them.'

Jimin laughed, "Only because you wrote that message on the blackboard!"

"If he figured out it was me from that innocuous message then he knows that he's guilty of being biased!"

"Or, that he knew you were the type of student to pull something like this on him!"

"Aha! Everyone's basically handling the honours to me! They have no guts!"

"Hey!"

"Except you, Jiminnie!"

They chuckled but quickly began screaming when the booming voice of their infuriated teacher rang hauntingly into the shell of their ears. Although it would've made other students shake to their skeletal structures, the two odd males only laughed louder, relishing in the adrenaline that pumped red-hot blood through their convulsing veins. Amidst their getaway, they eventually reached an intersection of the hallway, causing the laboured teens to connect gazes as if to telepathically come to an agreement in their next course of actions, where they instantly parted ways.

"I'll see you in English Literature!" Jimin struggled to shout through his snickers and dog-like breaths.

"Don't get caught!" Taehyung cheered with a grin.

"You don't get caught!" Jimin jeered right back. Taehyung was just about to break into boisterous hoots of laughter when he found the world suddenly overturning itself around him, either that or he was falling over. Only just registering the solid weight, that was the culprit of his downfall, Taehyung pieced every element of his outcome together before his cheek slammed into the cold corridor floors. It took a moment. Maybe two. For him to get his vision back as it was blurred from the impact made against his temple. Quickly blinking the obscured picture of his surroundings away, regaining his perfect quality of sight, much like the focusing of a camera lens, Taehyung lifted his head to be greeted by the face of an angel.

This wasn't the first time he had seen her; she was an icon in their school, and although that could've led some people to become big headed and suddenly authoritative in mannerisms, she had always remained unpretentious. She was respectful and polite to others but, somewhat, headstrong and carefree in her own way. Her perfect personality was sublimely reflected in her sensually sculpted body. It wasn't a lie that he had had his fair share of fantasies based on her, but he had always felt so guilty about it straight after. The reasons why was unknown, but maybe it had something to do with him having no claim over her; his uncontrolled fantasies surely made her a victim of some form of attack, right? To combat that guilt, however, he had harvested and grown a seed of interest about her. To get to know her better. To become her friend. In his years as a high schooler, he had been lucky enough to meet eyes with her several times, one of those moments was when he was fooling around with his friends, pulling funny faces and such, upon his most riotous expression yet, he had turned around just in time to lock gazes with her. It was very embarrassing on his part. Even more so when he had seen her giggling, but he was content deep down. It brought such joy to him when he was able to make others smile and it was made especially special because it was her that had been laughing. (Y/N) (Y/L/N).

"S-sorry about that!"

"I-It's oka-"

Taehyung quickly scrambled to his feet and was about to help her up with an outstretched hand, when the shouts of his vexed professor shrilled to the high heavens behind him. Not. Good. Without another word, he sped off, arms flailing about as his mouth released screams of amusement and dread.

He hadn't helped her up.

That was sure to leave a bad impression.

"Oh God Damnit!"

His professor, he supposes, will just have to suffer more at this rate.

"His face was really cute and funny at the same time." you flushed cutely, looking at the lunch table's surface. It had been several days since you had been run into by that gorgeous male. It wasn't his attractive features that had caught your eye though, it was his personality. You had seen him several times around school and he was always having fun, which was the aspect you envied most about him, but maybe that had you also subconsciously blossoming a liking to him. His rectangular smile was refreshing and the air he emitted was very comfortable. You had seen him making others laugh and, in his attempts, had been successful in making you giggle as well.

"What's his name?!" your best friends quickly pressed with glittering eyes.

"Oh, I don't know." you bit your lip and giggled, "But I bet it'll be a very fitting name for someone as wonderful as him."

"You've changed completely (Y/N). I'm getting worried..." Jia voiced in concern but Seoyun could only snicker.

"Oh shush! She's caught under the love spell, she can't help it!" Seoyun leaned over to whisper, "Let's enjoy her cuteness for a while. It's like a breath of fresh air from her usually sexy vibes."

Jia shrugged and sighed, "I suppose."

After finishing your lunch, your two best friends then pressed for you to recollect your meeting with him, exactly as it was, to the finest and most explicit detail, which you were more than happy to gush forever on. Explaining to them about how sudden the circumstance was, how breathtaking he had been but also how comfortable he had made you feel, just with his quirky smile of nerves and apologies, your graphic description had you thinking, however: why am I so suddenly in love? Is this normal? I don't feel like myself...but it's such a blissful and addictive feeling. What should I do? I feel so strange.

"He didn't help you up?" Seoyun practically screeched in disbelief as you simply brushed the connotations of his actions off your shoulder.

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, it does. Who wouldn't help you up after being the reason for making you crash to the floor?" she reasoned.

"He was being chased by a teacher, I'm sure he didn't want to get caught," you recalled the fear in his eyes, and pale colour of his face, forcing you to suppress a snippet of laughter just to contain yourself.

"That just shows that he's a troublemaker. I didn't know that those were your type (Y/N)." Jia added, sipping at her much-beloved apple juice box.

"Oh shush. Why can't you guys be supportive?" you turned your gaze down at your twiddling fingers, "This is the first time I've ever been this in love with someone. It's scary and I don't know what to do." they awed at your sudden cute vulnerability. It was so endearing because you'd usually be so sure of yourself, but now you weren't, and it was simply delightful to them.

"Awe~ We're sorry. Of course, we'll be supportive, but we have to know his name first."

Looking up at them, you tried to voice your gratitude but your airways suddenly clogged up. There he is. Just a few tables away, there he sat, with his friends, chatting away the lunch hour, making his silly faces again, introducing laughable comments that had his companions barrel in laughter and was practically glowing with a golden shine that had you melting into your seat.

"You look like a lovesick puppy."

"That's because she is and it's so adorable!" Seoyun gushed before taking your hands into her own, successfully drawing your attention away from your captivating crush at the action, "We'll help you out with your crush (Y/N)!"

"And we'll start it off by giving you his name," Jia added as your blush intensified. Were you ready to know his name? In your head you've always, only called him your cute alien; he was so foreign in antics but so lovable at the same time - you deemed it only fitting.

"He's called Kim Taehyung. He's practically the class clown of every lesson."

"Kim... Taehyung.." you uttered in a trance, staring off at him. What an appropriate name for your cute alien.

"I've been in some of his classes so I can tell you a few things about him if you want." you shook your head at the suggestion.

"Thank you Seoyun but I think I'd like to find that out for myself." they giggled at your brave declaration.

"Hopefully you don't become a stuttering mess like most girls."

Were they challenging you? "Do you want to test that?" you raised a questioning brow.

"If you're up to it..."

"Bring it on."

"I can't believe you would blow away such a perfect chance in getting the ideal girl of every guy!" Jimin almost fell off his seat laughing as he patted his best friend's back.

"Oh shut up..." Taehyung grumbled, sinking further into his seat. The conversation was going along well, that is until the subject of you suddenly slipped past his lips when he harked back to the incident, in the attempt to satisfy the curious minds of his friends.

"Don't feel too bad, at least you were able to have some physical contact with her." Hoseok optimised, like the ray of sunshine that he was.

"Yeah, we know you've been crushing on her for a while too."

"Wait- what?!" Taehyung wanted to deny their proclamations but they were quicker than him in explaining themselves, or rather, his behaviour over the topic.

"You keep staring at her and it's pretty obvious Hyung." Jungkook voiced as he bit into an egg roll.

"Sometimes you start zoning us out; you're so infatuated by her." Namjoon teased.

"Yeah, it's fucking annoying." Yoongi grumbled, "It's like talking to a fucking brick wall. Try it out and you'll see how goddamn annoying it really is."

"Anyway, if you feel so bad about it, why not apologise now?" Jin suggested helpfully, "It's better late than never." Taehyung would have to think about it carefully, he doesn't want to mess up twice in a row, "Now is actually perfect timing because she's heading right this way."

Taehyung choked and coughed in shock, "Wh-what?!" he frantically swivelled his head, never keeping his gaze on one thing for too long.

"Turn around you idiot." Hoseok laughed, physically turning him by the shoulders.

They weren't lying, you were walking right up to him, right in his direction - there was no mistaking it - you're getting close, closer...and closer!

What should he do?

As you approached his table, you started having second thoughts. Maybe you weren't ready to confront him yet...You don't even know what to say!

It's never too late to turn back now, right?...

All it took for you to dismiss the consequence of your previous bet was discerning the currents of uncertainty in his warm, chocolate pools. You were just a step away from him and as you moved to turn the opposite direction, he had scrambled out of his chair to bow in apology but, in doing so, collided with your form - another perfect recipe for an avalanche of bodies, much like your previous encounter.

Groaning at the numbing sensation targeting your backside, you forced your eyes to flutter open, whereupon they instantly locked with his. As if by instinct, you were hooked in a trance whilst the flourishing of heat made your cheeks glow pink. This was an entirely new sensation for you. So addictive. So pure. It was all because of him, and you didn't know whether or not you should be frightened or elated. It was frightening in the sense that he seemed to have more control over your body than your own mind did, but, also thrilling as this was a much-anticipated scenario for you, leading your imagination to conjure up all the events that could potentially occur after this meeting.

Some moments leisurely sauntered by, whereupon you were able to determine that he was just as entranced as you were, and although that made another wave of heat coat your sculpted cheeks, you couldn't help giggling at his adorable expression. He looked so innocent, much like a child experiencing a hair-raising but otherwise delightful circumstance.

"We have to stop meeting like this." you smiled, eyes crinkling with sincerity. He nodded. And whilst still in the midst of his stupor, you giggled up at him once more, "Do you mind getting off of me? The floor is pretty cold."

"O-Oh Yeah!" clambering to his feet, he actually offered a hand of aid this time, which you were quick to tease him for.

"So you've learned some manners I see."

"I was going to help you last time too! I promise... I was just, um.." he took a second to look at the floor before meeting your gaze again with a clearing of his throat, "a bit preoccupied."

"I thought as much," you smiled in understanding, "I'm (Y/N) by the way."

"I know." with a quirk of your brow, he hastily stuttered to correct his odd phrase. "I-I mean-"

You simply laughed at his attempts and carried on,"You're funny. I like that." your eyes seemed to suddenly darken for a moment and that made him gulp with the weight of anxiety, "May I know your name?" although you already knew that fact through your friends, there was a want within you of hearing it from him personally.

"It's Kim Taehyung." he smiled, outstretching a hand in greeting, taking the offer, the two of you shook hands with lasting eye contact and genuine smiles. Upon pulling away, you located a lollipop tucked snuggly into your palm. "It's a peace offering. No hard feelings?" his smile was nervous but your reassuring words set his conscience at ease.

"Of course not. It's a pleasure meeting you Taehyung." the way you had said his name sent a shiver down his spine. It was said so perfectly coming from you. Similarly, you felt as though it rolled off your tongue as smoothly as melted chocolate coated fresh strawberries.

"Nice meeting you too (Y/N)!" his smile grew into a large rectangle - a cute feature that you grew quick to admire.

Unwrapping the lollipop he had given you, you didn't hesitate in plopping it into your mouth with an appreciative hum. "Thanks for this."

"No prob." pulling the lollipop out, you gave it an innocent lick as it was your favourite flavour, but smirked when you caught him gawking. You had never been so fond over a male gaping at you in astonishment before. It seems that only he was capable of such a feeling.

"Well, my friends and I better get going. See you." upon sucking the candy back into your mouth, you flashed a toothy grin before turning to leave with a natural swish of your accentuated hips.

"You handled that better than I thought you would." Jia praised as you flushed pink.

"I think his own anxiety calmed me down."

"You two already look like a cute couple!" Seoyun squealed, making you burn hot red.

"Oh stop!" you whined with a smile, walking out of the lunch hall, trying to ignore their teasing from beside you.

"Woah..." Taehyung breathed, staring off at you with a noticeable blush. You were as sexy as everyone claimed you to be, not just in looks but personality-wise as well. There was a mature but somewhat childish charm about you, and although he found your maturity attractive, he wanted to bring out more of your childish side. It would certainly be an escapade worthy of his efforts.

You had hinted at liking his comical personality, maybe the challenge of testing your amusement wouldn't be so hard...

" 'Woah' is right!" Jimin awed, somewhat breathless in amazement "I can't believe she was so cool with you."

"Yeah; she usually keeps an interaction with all guys brief," Hoseok added, which made Taehyung's heart flutter after suddenly sprouting wings of adoration, the idea of the connotations were deeply gratifying.

"That means your special." Jin grinned.

"Can't wait to see how this works out." Yoongi hummed in his husky voice.

"Me too..." Taehyung muttered, excitement already filling his stomach, purging him of hunger. The mere thought of you was filling enough for him.

After the first formal encounter, both you and Taehyung had grown closer.

Due to his natural jokester nature, you had been able to laugh more for the past month, than you have ever had during your high school years. You appreciated him so much for that because your days seemed so much brighter with him constantly being in the picture, you also found it entertaining how he made it appear like second nature to make you laugh so rightfully.

There was a time where you were both engaging in P.E. The boys were taking up the basketball court whilst the girls played tennis. During your break in drinking water, you had looked over at the boys and - like magnets - your eyes secured a connection with Taehyung's own orbs. He smiled his signature, rectangular smile and waved at you happily, a gesture you returned with pleasure, but as you were about to verbally greet him, he was hit at the back of the head by a basketball. His face, his shocked cry, his shout of hurt and follow up actions of chasing his attacker had you in stitches. To comfort him during your pause of physical education, you had offered his favourite flavoured lollipop. This was a ritual that developed between the two of you, whenever the other needed comfort, a lollipop would be offered, a practice that has you maintaining a disposable supply of lollipops.

Addicted to your exuberance, Taehyung had developed a fixation on making you laugh. It was always a new but comparatively equivalent melody to the last, it was as if he was creating music through your tuneful laughter, and although he enjoyed that very much, he also acknowledged and valued your look of joy. It was a sight only for his eyes alone because you didn't laugh as hard or as legitimately with many others.

That sheer factor made him feel amazing.

He shouldn't just make you laugh though; he needs to show that he was compatible with you; proficient in being romantic; better than every other guy you've encountered; different but in a good way, and a perfect match for you. His pitiful crush had turned to love and he had never anticipated it to be so. His new familiarity with your character and charm, however, was the reason for that development. Now, he's more than determined to convince you of his worth. He'll do anything to be of more importance to you.

He's intent on making you his sooner rather than later; he loathes the males that always undress you with their sinful eyes. They don't deserve you because they didn't know you, unlike him, they weren't close friends with you either, unlike him, and so, it only made sense that he would be the one to most suited for you.

To have him call you his, and have you call him yours would be a dream come true.

It was the school festival and you were relieved of your duties within your class' event for an hour. Originally, your class had wanted to host a kissing booth for you to star in, but you had right out refused and now they were running a haunted house, which was deemed more appropriate as it was nearing Halloween.

"Taehyung's class is holding a butler and maid cafe so I'll be over there if you guys need me," you announced, already heading to Taehyung's class.

"Are you sure you want us disturbing your date with your little TaeTae?" Seoyun teased bounding up beside you to hug your arm, her feet locking into step with yours. It had been a few weeks ago when she had (unfortunately) discovered the nickname Taehyung had been begging you to call him, and now she was using it against you. (You honestly love Seoyun but she could be such a pest sometimes). A flush of red painted your cheeks at her teasing but you did well in hiding it.

"Oh shush. It isn't a date." was your inadequate objection.

"Really?" Jia inquired with a silent smirk.

"Yeah, he just invited me over so that we would have the chance to see each other since we'd both be busy today..." just registering the meaning behind your words - more like, his - the redness of your cheeks grew and migrated to the tips of your ears as your heart fluttered in frantic rapture.

Did he intend on this being a date?

"How romantic! A cafe date sounds so adorable!" Seoyun gushed at your side during the time that you attempted to break free of her hold.

"Pl-please stop Seoyun and let go of my arm."

Continuing her teasing, she pouted, "See, this is why you should tell us that it's a date so we can provide you with privacy."

"B-but it isn't!"

"Then there's no reason for us to leave you two alone!" the two of them chimed together. You wanted to protest but only kept silent for the rest of the way there; it was no use trying to reason with them.

"So..are you going to admit it or not?" Jia pressed upon reaching the door to the cafe. It took a moment but you ultimately sighed with a frown and gave in.

In a meek voice, you uttered, "fine...please leave me alone for my..d-date..."

"What was that?" they urged once more.

"Pl-please leave me alone for my date-"

"A date? What date?" Taehyung had magically appeared at the door and you wanted to curse the living daylight out of the magician responsible for his appearance. There was an unknown darkness lurking beneath the usual warmth of his eyes and it got you quite fearful, but you did your best to dismiss it.

"(Y/N) has a date. Here - In your class' cafe." Jia announced. Taehyung's gaze grew colder and became narrow with suspicion, which you couldn't help but question, despite your present fear. You had never before seen this look dominating the consoling expression your had grown accustomed to - why is it only appearing now?

"With who?" it didn't sound like it was truly him speaking. Yes, it was his voice..but the solicitous ambience that usually accompanied his deep vocals had disappeared, and was replaced by something much more sinister.

"With you!" Seoyun chirped in authoritative command and pushed you into his chest, eliciting an adorable squeak from your pink lips, as the two abandoned ship and rushed off laughing.

"...You're calling this a date?" Taehyung voiced, stupefied by the announcement as he stared down at you, the temporal shadow cast over his eyes replaced by hope, his arms locking you in place as they rested at the small of your back.

"A-a date between friends...?" it was more of a question than a statement. The two of you were in a well-established friendship, but your hopefulness and preference in considering this to be a date between lovers had you unsure of yourself. There was a lustreless glow of disappointment in his eyes; maybe he was hoping for this to be...

Maybe. Just maybe...

But, perhaps you were just imagining it.

Dismissing the awkwardness, Taehyung swiftly leads you to an available table for two. He had been expeditious to acknowledge that there was a vase, but no flower (had the previous customer been so starved that they had eaten it?). Just as you thanked him for being a gentleman and pulling the chair out for you, he moved to retrieve a floweret for your table.

He quickly brought back a rose, which you smiled at as he placed it in the slim, glass vase. "Thank you Taehyung." Sending you a look, you corrected yourself for him, "Excuse me. I mean, TaeTae." you giggled and rest a chin in your palm as you looked up at him. With a loving gaze, he stared back and you took the moment to fully appreciate his appearance, where you find yourself biting at your lip. He looks so desirable in a suit. Distinctly handsome and crisp, but you know all too well that this was just a facade for his true self, which you - admittedly - adored more than his outward appearance.

"May I take your order ma'am?"

At the title, you had to restrain another giggle, "I'd like some ice tea please."

"Ice?"

"Ice."

"Anything else?"

"Nothing else, thank you." you leaned back, sitting poised in your seat as you gave a soft smile.

"Are you sure m'lady?" he rested a hand on your table and leaned down.

"Yes."

"Really?" he leaned closer.

You hummed in confirmation, "Yes, really."

"I don't think you're sure of yourself there, ma'am." he leaned closer and your noses touched, making you giggle.

"Is there something that you think I'd like?" you enquired, doing your best to keep from kissing him.

"Red velvet cupcake?" he wriggled his brows in suggestion.

"You know me too well." leaning back in your chair, you suppressed a laugh and crossed your legs under the table, "Yes please." you ended with a toothy smile that you had to subdue by biting your lip. He loved that trait of yours - whenever you felt that you were smiling too big, you would bite your bottom lip and it only made those soft pink petals look all the more desirable to touch with his own. Staring up at him with such rounded eyes, you were basically begging to be kissed, but he knew that he had no right to do that so he forced himself to step away, placing your order accordingly as he asked for his saved break time.

"Can I have my break now guys?"

"Sure. You have an hour, got it?"

"I've got it." he grinned.

"Do you mind taking back your order first though?"

"Sure, it's cool."

"Thanks!"

With your order and a little something special in hand, Taehyung approached your table once more. "I'm on my break now," he announces upon setting your order down, where he then took the time to seat himself in the unoccupied seat across from you.

"Oh! Were you saving it for when I got here?" your eyes were wide and sparkled somewhat, which he found absolutely adorable.

"What if I said yes?"

"Then I'd say that's really adorable." shying away, behind loose strands of hair, you moved your gaze down, only to spot a lollipop beside your red velvet cupcake. "Tae.."

"It's on the house." he winked once you lifted your chin to look at him.

"You're so sweet." you cooed, lifting the candy by its plastic stick, "Oh! It's one of those new, combined flavours!"

"Yup! It's strawberry and cream." he confirmed as you 'oo'ed, proceeding to peel away the covering, which revealed a swirling pattern of white alongside a glossy pink. Plopping the treat into your mouth you moaned at the new taste. "This is yummy!" pulling it out, you gave its rounded face a peck before pulling back to lick your lips. Opposite you, Taehyung simply stared in adoration. You liked savouring the things you enjoyed and your content expression was everything he lived for. In spite of that, the effects of your naive but sensual actions still gave him that odd sensation and he's been meaning to pay you back for so long.

He knows full well that you don't mean to be sultry but everything you do just exuded an air of seduction. You would push draws closed with a provocative snap of your hips; sit whilst displaying your flirtatiously smooth, long, crossed legs; nibble ever so seductively on a pencil when in deep thought and would look up in a fierce but taunting manner when only meaning to insinuate childishly mischief. There was still a yearning for revenge in spite of that excuse, however, as the image of your rubicund countenance coaxed him into his retribution.

"Let me try!" reaching out, he took the lollipop from you, where he then took it into his own mouth, his eyes fully trained on yours, never glancing away and simply reeled you in. "Mmm~ You're right, this really is yummy." taking a peek at you, he smirked at your rubescent face.

An indirect kiss.

He was determined to make it a proper kiss next time.

Time ticked by, your lollipop was gone, so was your cupcake and you were on your last few sips of ice tea.

For the past fifty-five minutes, Taehyung had been amusing you with funny stories, hilarious jokes and comical facial expressions. The jubilant atmosphere, however, only made the hour you were limited to feel like a measly 15 minutes, an insatiable crumb of cake when hungry, and a prodigious hint of light in the dark.

3 minutes left.

Against time, Taehyung used the courage he had built to prompt his established motives.

"Wanna hear a funny pick up line this time?"

"Sure!" he stood from his chair, stepped up to your side and bent down while you leaned your ear up at him, preparing yourself for a line so cheesy and laughable, that you'd be forced to pull an expression between a cringe and a grin.

Instead, he does something else. Something better.

Gently taking your chin into the tips of his thumb, middle and forefinger, he turned your face, angled your lips upwards where he closed the claustrophobic gap in between and placed his lips atop yours in a loving embrace. The hand he had left, gripping the top of your chair's back trapped you in a capsule of bliss and pleasure as you returned the affection with a pucker of your lips. Golden but fading sun vibrantly tinting chocolate irises, hooded by a soft pair of lashes was the last image you saw before your eyes slipped closed and you took the time to savour another thing you liked. You liked it very much. So much, that you were humming to the fast pace of your heart and the colony of butterflies dancing within the pits of your stomach.

"You're so lucky Taehyung!" boys would constantly remind him after your relationship was esteemed. In response, all Taehyung could ever do was agree because he was, indeed, very lucky to have you, but not for the typical reason they would put forward.

"She has the body of a goddess and you have that all to yourself! How greedy." he would nod but that wasn't what he thought of it at all.

Even without the looks, he knew that he wouldn't be able to live without you being there beside him. You truly cared for his well being, only looked at him, acted cute just for him alone, and accepted his weird behaviour with a better embrace than most people. He couldn't ask for a better angel and blessing to his life.

"You're honestly so lucky!" his classmate groaned as he laughed.

"I'd have to stop you there because I'm the lucky one," you announced, suddenly appearing to go up and wrap your arms around your lover, nuzzling into his chest as he chuckled and pulled you closer.

"But why?" the male asked as Taehyung pouted. He knew that he'd have to get used to that offensive question, but he can never seem to grasp any calm over it.

"Because he loves me for my personality; doesn't take me for granted; would do anything to understand me, and he makes me laugh." you smiled and leaned up to peck Taehyung's jaw, "Surely that's enough to determine how lucky I am."

[terminaent]

WELCOMING: OH “LIENA” NANA

CAREER INFORMATION: ━✧ SIGNED: March 12th, 2007 ━✧ DEBUT: June 14th, 2014 ( solo ), January 19th, 2010 ( CREEP ) ━✧ GROUP: CREEP ━✧ POSITION: Lead Dancer, Sub Vocalist, Center of Group  ━✧ VOICE CLAIMS: Park Hyomin, Lee Nana, Yoona ━✧RAP VOICE CLAIMS: Hyohyeon, Meng Jia

SOLO DESCRIPTION

Oh Nana, known professionally as Liena Glamour, or mononymously known as Liena, is a South-Korean singer, songwriter, record producer, poet, philanthropist. She is first known as Creep’s ninth member. Taking the position of Treachery: Lead Dancer, Sub Vocalist, Center of Group. Her solo music has been noted by critics for its stylized cinematic quality, its preoccupation with themes of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, and its references to pop culture, particularly 1950s and 1960s Americana. 

 Born and raised in poverty, she had no foundations of basic vocal training, and dance lessons until she was scouted by Termina Entertainment, working in a flea market in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. From then on, she juggle in both working for a living, and training to be an idol. Her vocal coach admires her raw, unpolished vocals, and praised her for the good quality of her voice, despite not being the vocally strongest in the pool of trainees. Her weapon was her vocal technique. It is something that the coaches don’t want her to lose.   

She was put under Creep, who at that time was only a project group. She became the center of the group due to her outstanding visuals. She was mostly recognized by her face, and not her vocals which was very upsetting for her. She knows she’s not vocally strong as the others at that time, but she at least wanted to be acknowledged by the fans for her voice. There are times where she would ask the other members to train with her  in order to improved. It was until Creep officially became a permanent group in Termina, where she found new hope that there will be years to show her improvement and growth to the fans. 

 Four years after Creep’s debut, Liena made her solo debut. It was self-produced, self-directed as the company wanted her to have freedom to express her music, and tell her story with no one’s help. The goal is for it to be raw, and real. Liena's musical sound has been dubbed "Retro sadcore" by music critics. She elaborated on this in an interview, saying "I wasn't even born in the '50s but I feel like I was there. I write my songs based on my past, and my family’s past, whilst setting it way way back." 

Associated with several styles, Liena's music has been tagged broadly as dream pop or baroque pop, linked to various forms of rock, indie music, and trip hop, and often touching on styles such as hip hop, and psychedelic rock on particular releases. Liena's subsequent releases would introduce variant styles, which employed a guitar-based sound akin to psychedelic and desert rock. She sings about old cars, money, and the bad boys she's always falling for, and while there remains a sepia-toned mid-century flavor to many of these songs. Upon the release of her comeback album, one reviewer characterized Liena's body of work as being "about music as a time warp, with her languorous croons over molasses-like arrangements meant to make clock hands seem to move so slowly that it feels possible, at times, they might go backwards." 

 Liena has been described as a "self-styled gangsta Nancy Sinatra,” “Lolita lost in the hood,” or a “Young stepford housewife who’s heartbroken and ready to murder his cheating husband.” And although it wasn’t well received in mainstream K-pop in Korea for not having an edm, tropical house, or hip hop sound, her music had crossed over internationally, specially in the west. 

BIOGRAPHY

Oh Nana wasn’t born with a silver spoon on her mouth. She lived in poverty with parents who have no stable jobs and more inclined with drug use, and criminal activity. She wasn’t even a planned child. She was the fruit of a one night stand hookup between a reckless hooker and a drunkard, drug addict who works for one of Seoul’s biggest drug lords. Her parents only got married because of her unexpected entry to their directionless lives and unstable relationship. Growing up, she was always the one to blame by both of her parents. Words like ‘Why did I even gave birth to you?” or “Because of you, our lives became worse!” had been heard by her at a young age. For a young age, she had to learn how to grow up and adapt to everyone and everything around her. She learned new things everyday, from good to bad things, just by listening to how her parents argue and talk. 

The good thing that came out of it is that despite all those bad things, is that she has a good heart and soul. Her home life was less than pleasant. Subjected to abuse from both of her parents for most of her life both physical and emotional. Nana tried everything she could to gain the approval of her abusive parents but nothing she ever seemed to do worked. She was only used by her parents to work at a very young age, with no support from both. They only care about the money she’s getting, just so they can use it for their drugs, alcohol and illegal gambling. 

Nana finally gave up trying to please her abusive parents and ran away from home at the age of fourteen. She found somewhat of a home in an abandoned house that was home to squatters and drug addicts and sure it wasn’t pretty, there was no running water, no electricity, and the floor was always covered in broken needles, but this house had something that her abusive home didn’t have. Friends. 

Jinhee and Seokwoo were both were around the same age and who were all going through the same things as Liena and they became close friends. Extremely close friends. It wasn’t normal to see one without the other. Seokwoo was like the little brother that Nana never had and she became very attached to the sweet young kid, where as Jinhee was just like her. She felt an immediate connection to Jinhee. Jinhee became the only person Nana felt she could really trust. Although he could trust Seokwoo too, there were just some things Nana couldn’t tell Seokwoo to spare what little innocence he had left in him. Jinhee and Nana were always getting up to odd jobs together, until their money is enough for the three of them to have a decent apartment together. 

Unlike Jinhee who was always engrossed in her studies trying to get good grades to make a better life for herself and her brother, Nana was only there to get away from her parents, and to pursue a career in music. Something about writing songs and singing just clicked with her. It was relaxing, and  it helped her get out most of her anger whenever  she was frustrated. It became her passion. 

However one day, January 13th to be exact she woke to find Seokwoo and Jinhee gone from her life. Run off in the middle of the night as Jinhee so often said she was going to do. Nana had always thought she’d be going with them to god knows where having a better life is easy to get. Feeling betrayed that the only two people in her life that she trusted had upped and left her without even saying goodbye, she became depressed. She was about to give up, but she already went too far in life with all the struggles she had before just to give up easily. Nana is a fighter. 

One day, whilst working on a flea market selling cheap ice-cold juice drinks, a scouting agent from Termina Entertainment captured her attention after hearing her sing while selling the drinks. She was then approached and as soon as she saw the business card, she saw a light of hope that there is an escape to the hard life that she has. She have nothing to lose so she took the courage and auditioned in Termina. She started training and learned new things. She was diligent and hardworking during her trainee years, despite struggling to be on the same level as the other trainees who had trained before her. 

She trained for over a year and a half before being placed in Creep. She debuted in Creep with the stage name of Liena, which means “a woman as beautiful as a lotus flower” which fits perfectly with her background and life struggles. She is a beautiful lotus flower that always looks so clean and pure against the background of the dirty muddy pond. She became a household name when she debuted as a soloist in 2014, and was known for her pure and beautiful heart through her philanthropy. She knows the struggle and she wanted to help others who are in the same position as she was back then. 

Liena  launched the Lotus Flower foundation in 2014, a non-profit organization that focuses on youth empowerment. The foundation had allowed her to tour in schools over South Korea to speak against bullying. In 2015, Liena joined 200 high school students, policy makers, and academic officials, to discuss ways to recognize and channel emotions for positive outcomes and fight online harassment. Her second solo album’s proceeds were donated to  foundation that helps bring food and relief to the homeless. Her foundation also aims to help children with respiratory diseases. Her foundation has been active since its inception andhas helped thousands of children with special needs. Liena is also an LGBT icon, being a strong supporter for the passage of Korea Equality Foundation, which provides protections on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression. 

With all her success in both as soloist and as a Creep member, she remained thankful and humble. She also went to visit her parents again and forgave them. She encouraged and helped her parents to stay away from their vices and provided them a new home and built a restaurant for them to work and manage, whilst helping with her foundations as well.

While being in Creep and a soloist, Liena was placed in a sub unit called Pastel Goth where she can showcase her talents in a whole new image, giving her the nickname of "Creep's Chameleon." In the unit, her image was drastically changed into a more cutesy vibe. She was the center, Vocalist, and Lead dancer for the sub unit. Pastel Goth released two singles throughut their career, namely Magic Girl and Aing! before they got discontinued by Termina due to the members' schedule conflicts.

[opepin]

january: week one

02: i woke up late and waited for hillary to pick me up. i decided to go to gyu-kaku with everyone today but aimed to not get the all-you-can-eat. my stomach was feeling weird from the 3 arts club cafe burger. hillary picked me up and we drove to gyu-kaku. we found parking right in front of the place and then we went in and found out that the wait time was 1 hour and 30 minutes. we called up everyone and everyone said they were fine with it. so we met up with mindy and garrick and they got some coffee and we walked over to water tower. it was garrick’s first time there too! we ended up in “the limited” and i was so amazed by the fixtures and stuff. i would have bought some of it but i don’t think i needed anything. mindy, hillary, and ashley got things for real cheap because they were closing out. it was about time to head back and we got a call from them saying that our table was ready. we rushed back and sat down and everyone got $45 ayce because everyone wanted to sit together and just eat. we went for 3-4 rounds. i was the first one to tag out LOL. it was so salty and i just wanted dessert :( hahah. we managed to eat everything plus a lady m green tea cake. we were all dead after.

hillary drove home, mindy and garrick took a lyft, and then ashley and i walked to a starbucks near the red line so i could get on that and she could wait for her ride. hehe, thanks for guiding me, ashley! i got off diversey brown line and walked over to firecakes, where hen was working. i should have gotten off fullerton...because it was closer than diversey, but oh well, it was really nice to walk off some of the food. the clark st. firecakes’ location is so cute <333 hen threw out the garbage, i met her co-worker, and then we commuted home together because we were going the same way. we realized that everywhere was closed because new year is observed today so we just caught up on our ride back home. i’ve missed hen <33333 i love hanging out with her because i feel like she brings out something in me in a way she only can. we’re silly together. cluck cluck cluck. 

hen gave me one of her beautifully crafted milk bottles and a beautiful notebook and a very touching card. i love this girl so much and only wish the best for her <3 so happy that she was one of the few friends i made while at SAIC. i ended the night by exercising because i felt like poop and then talking to kevin because he’s coming back tomorrow~~ tomorrow is a jam-packed day. i can’t wait.

03: i managed to get up at 6:20 am and tom actually picked me up at 6:40 am! go us! the only thing is that it was extremely foggy outside. it was so foggy that i could see it in my neighborhood LOL. we drove out to foster beach and then talked and waited to see the sunrise. we talked about how we’ve been doing and etc and it was really nice. i feel like tom expressed feelings that i’ve been feeling but haven’t really said it out loud. it’s nice knowing that a friend is going through the same thing as you. it hit 7:19 am and it was brighter, but there was no sun to be seen LOL. i think we stayed there a bit longer and then tom drove us to yellow rose cafe in jeff park. this diner is great! our waitress/maybe owner greeted us and took our orders. she gave tom the homemade hot sauce and his reaction was lulz. she made fun of him for a bit. tom and i ate and continued talking. it was one of those deep conversations that i haven’t had in a long time so it was something i realized i needed. the conversations continued in the car on the way back to my house and then he dropped me off. thank you for spending quality 1-on-1 time with me, tom! ((:

it was around 10:30 am when i got back and i ended up napping for an hour. then i put my jacket back on and brought my book bag and stuff and commuted to SAIC to meet up with chewy! we got into the office and talked with kate and nancy! they were the only ones we knew there and apparently, it was their first day back in the office from break. it was nice talking to them and updating them on our lives. i love them so! i’m said vicki and theresa were still on break and i missed them. chewy and i went to russian tea time and got afternoon tea. we got the savory items, tea, and chocolate lava cake (as usual). he caught up, talked, and etc. I’VE MISSED THIS GIRL SO MUCH! she’s been out in LA doing her thing for so long ): it was really great seeing her again. i walked her to the train and then waited for my mom to pick me up. it was like i was in school again lol. we stopped by hong kong market (for an hour, wut) and then drove back home. my mom made dinner, i fell asleep again, woke up and ate, and then we drove to union station to pick up kevin!!! <3333

we talked about his vacation and then kevin gave my family some holiday chocolates, unpacked-ish, and ate dinner. i missed this bear! hehe. we spent the night catching up and making sure that he wouldn’t get sicker haha. we went to sleep pretty late either at 1 or 2 am, but i can’t wait to spend time with kevin again in chicago (((((:

04: kevin and i met up with nluu in ford for lunch. we got lunch at tomate and walked over. i got my chicken quinoa salad with a chicken tamale. kevin got a gordita and a burrito? or a taco? i forget. it was yummy though. we caught up and talked. ryan came by after his class and we talked. they made plans to go climbing every day LOL. we walked with ryan back to tomate and then drove him to tech. then we drove back home and chilled until kevin went climbing. i stayed home and worked out. then i showered and ryan picked me up to go to dice dojo! ryan also was the mvp for ordering and getting our dinner from 527 cafe. we found parking, walked over, and went inside. omg, it’s such a cool place! it’s also much more spacious than i thought it would be. everyone was down in the basement. kevin, ryan, and i ate while watching them play a code/picture game. my popcorn chicken salad was bomb af. i would definitely get this again. i was on a salad streak because i wasn’t eating enough greens x_x i was trying to make up for it LOL.

i played fluxx with winson, ryan, and kevin. michelle came through! then me and the guys headed to a viet restaurant so winston could fill his belly. he got pho, ryan got some spring rolls (he gave me half of one), and kevin got a chicken banh mi with taro bubble tea, which i ate 1/3 and drank some. i got a thai iced tea. ryan’s hate for new york is amazing LOL. i love how he puts it into words. i agree with him but it seems like he was scarred from a past event (he wasn’t), but he is so particular about his reasons for disliking new york. it’s great. winston is planning to get a new job and move out there so that’s what sparked the conversation. i missed everyone <3 we all ran to walgreens and got a pack of water bottles and ran back to dice dojo. ryan ran like he stole it from there or something LOL. winston got hiccups from running with us. it was great lololol.

we passed out the water and then i got strung into playing avalon, which i was confused by and really didn’t like. i effed it up for our team because i didn’t see that kevin was on my team. i thought there were only 3 spies?! so i passed it on accident...sorta, but my team guessed winston was merlin and they were right! yeah, never playing that game. then we paired up and played dix it. jia and i were in last place but oh well haha. peter and nluu were killing it for some reason, ahah. then everyone left at 12 am? i think that was closing time and we said our goodbyes. i was nice seeing matthew and winston again! hehe. kevin drove us home and then we showered and went to sleep. zzz. it’s been an eventful week so far.

05: kevin and i woke up late and then ate some congee. then we drove out to cafe orient 33 to pick up food and eat it while watching pokemon sun and moon episodes. we were going to watch ‘la la land’ but i decided against it because it was kind of cold and i don’t know if kevin would like it. so we ate (i have missed this food -- still so good) and then chilled until i needed to meet hen for dinner and kevin had to meet up with everyone to go climbing. i met up with hen at sabri nihari and the service was great. our servers were so funny. i got to spend more time with hen talking about food and life. the chicken biryani was huge and i sacrificed my stomach for mango lassi. the samosas were so good! the vegetarian one is still my favorite. everything was delicious. we ate wayy too much though. we decided to walk back home in the freezing cold. we walked together until devon and california. hen actually moved closer to me T__T we are so close but yet so far away now! then i toughed it out and walked the rest of the way home. hen had a bit less to walk but we both made it!

kevin was still out so i did an intense af workout. i mixed up videos and did 20 minutes of hiit, 10 min of intense abs, 10 min of blogilate abs, and 20 minutes of hip hop cardio. it felt good but my body feels so weak now. i took a quick shower and then opened the door for kevin. he drank all of the mango lassi i got him when he came back. he ate a lot today .__. he also ate spicy rice cake at joong boo market before climbing. lolool. did he even climb? idk. :P jk haaha. o we digested and then went to sleep after a long day of activity out in the cold haha.

06: kevin dropped me off at cupitol so that i could meet up with michelle and nluu. i got there first so i ordered tea and the gravlax and eggs plate with gluten free bread except that the cashier kept putting in the bagel and i didn’t want the bagel because it had cream cheese and he was confused whether or not i wanted gluten free bread or not. x__x another person helped us out and then i grabbed a seat at the only empty large table so i could save michelle and nluu a seat. my food was disappointing because the smoked salmon was cut so freaking thick and i only got one slice of bread LOL. then a large group of people came and they kicked me out of my seat and then they changed their mind about dining here. .___. finally, michelle and nluu came. i pretty much was anxious the entire time at cupitol. i do not recommend this place. i feel like they are also a bit on the pricey side. so yeah. omg, too many things happening in the morning for me.

we ate lunch together and chilled until nluu had to go back to research. michelle dropped him off and then we drove to ikea. i listened to the moana soundtrack and also showed michelle jay park’s album LOL. i love it so much but i hate the lyrics T_T we talked and stuff and i realized that i was being real oversensitive about things and maybe other things were contributing to how i was feeling about being back in chicago and seeing people. michelle was supposed to figure out what bed frame and sofa she wanted. we did that but also focused on buying kitchen stuff and smaller apartment things. we got matching funnels, ayyy! i also finally got tape measure for my apartment lol. i learned that other ikeas are set up with show rooms first then items unlike this one near chicago. it kind of blew my mind because this ikea is all i know.

we ended the trip with a soft serve and a freshly baked cinnamon rolll. mmm. we also got everyone else a six pack of cinnamon rolls. michelle drove us back and we talked about life lol. it sucks to be in your early 20′s. we stopped by ryan’s and then drove out from there. i didn’t know how long the ikea trip was going to be so i had the house keys so when kevin was done visiting his lab at nu, he couldn’t get his climbing stuff to go with ryan T__T i felt so bad. but he chilled at lab for a bit longer and then met up with ryan at his apartment after. also, sorry ryan! lol he ended up climbing alone. poop. anyway, we all drove to dengeo’s (after getting ashley and winston) where we met up with tom, peter, and honglin. we ate and then michelle went to get terence. then we all drove to the escape room in morton grove. the location is shady af LOLOL.

we had orientation and then we basically pushed into the room and locked in. it was terrifying. there was a butler to help give us hints (helpful or not) and he gave us the backstory. i hear chains in the background so kevin and i move behind some people. then the lights flicker and the zombie actress pops out of nowhere and screams OMG OMG OMG LOLOLOL. kevin and i jumped in the opposite direction HAHAHA. she couldn’t get anywhere though because her chain wasn’t long enough yet... we were all shitting our pants trying to find clues and kevin and winston volunteered as tribute to go into the bathroom area (where the zombie was chained). there were a few seconds of feeding time when the zombie was eating, but that time ended and they were locked in the stall LOLOLOLOL. they “died” (zombie taps you, you’re out but the butler revives you after you do something silly for him) and it’s safe to say that they were scared shitless. kevin was the martyr of the group and he kept dying. i would like to think that she aimed for him because he was the funniest to scare (kevin would literally run backwards to the furthest wall). she also liked scaring peter. POOR PETER! haha.

i don’t think i helped much other than doing the final step of getting the keys. i got a key out with my fingers but the butler didn’t accept it because we were supposed to get the tools hung on the bathroom stall to open the vent where it was stuck...i also got the key from a painting’s eyeball too after helping figure out the morse code via the top planks of wood. we only got 3 out of the 4 keys and then we all died hahaha. it was a pretty great experience tbh. the zombie actress was soooo good! she like threw things (kind of at us but not really) and acted her part real well. she wasn’t so scary after the game ended. we all drove to ford to play telestrations and it was great. sarah can draw so well!!! terence is also a pretty great illustrator. we munched on the cinnamon rolls from ikea and candy that ryan bought. we played until 12 am and then we all drove home. kevin and i hugged everyone goodbye. it was a great end to our trip back home. the escape room and telestrations seemed like they happened on two different days though haha. kevin and i drove back and showered and went to sleep. zzz.

07: you guessed it! our flight got cancelled. that was the first thing i saw when i woke up in the morning. kevin had the option of switching his flight online but for some reason, i didn’t. so i called and waited. luckily, there was a 4:40 pm flight tomorrow so we both signed up for that. kevin went climbing with ryan and i just stayed in bed. i eventually got up and ate leftover chicken biryani for breakfast. then i snuggled with my mom on the couch. she fell asleep and kevin came back. then she went to sleep upstairs because she felt like she was getting sick D: kevin and i just chilled in the bedroom the entire day. my body felt blech too. i ended up dosing in and out multiple times during the day. we did manage to make reservations at sumi robata for dinner so that we would get some outside time lol. i got my mom water from downstairs and my brother was hanging out with his friend in the living room. when it was about time to go, we changed and headed out. i dropped off victoria’s gift at her apartment and then got her delicious peppermint mocha cookies. OMG I’M IN LOVE. THEY’RE SO DELICIOUS. my throat hurt but i kept eating them anyway.

we got a super close spot near sumi and then got seated. it was way busier than the last two times we went. there were some seating issues with another group and service seemed sloppier? we also had to wait for our tea for a while and had to ask for plates. they also no longer have the chopsticks and chopstick holders that we liked x__X idk. haha. overall, the food was great though. the chicken thigh and beef tsukune slider were still bomb af and their kakigori flavor was soo good. it was an orange creamsicle flavor. we also got baked scallops and the sweet potato fries, which were new to us but SO GOOD. we would eat that all day any day. after a day of staying in and eating, we settled back into bed and kevin tried watching a dota game but we both ended up falling asleep at like 1 am, ahahha.

08: we woke up later than i told my parents, but they weren’t really bothered by it. i think they were expecting it LOL. we finished packing and headed out. we went to cai to get dim sum and it was packed af! my mom managed to get us a table quickly :P she has real good bargaining skills. then kevin and i checked off things that we wanted and everyone ate pretty quickly. i obviously ordered the mango tapioca pudding with condensed milk <333 then i struggled to eat everything else we ordered. the mango mochi had a ton of cream inside, but it had chunks of mango in it too, which made me sad because i couldn’t eat all of it. the crab xiao long bao were disappointing...but everything else was fine. my parents drove us to midway and then we said goodbye. we got on the standby list for the 2:25 pm flight straight to boston. i realized that the 7 people in front of us were from the same family so i was hopeful that we’d get seats. gg us because they decided to take all 3 empty seats and split as a family -___-” wtf. we should have called earlier and asked to be put on standby :/

we waited until 4:40 pm to get on our original flight to kansas city. before we boarded, we were told our flight to boston would be delayed about 2 hours...we played pokemon on the flight and experienced some pretty bad turbulence before landing. we were then notified that our flight to boston would be delayed another 30 minutes. so kevin and i went to the nearest restaurant, which was a bbq place and got dinner. i got this less than avarage salmon salad for $17...and kevin got their beef brisket, which only tasted good dipped in bbq sauce. sigh. there was a lady in the same boat as us and she was so nice. we connected through this tragic flying situation and she offered us half of her fries LOL. we went down to wait and i tried walking around but there was pretty much nowhere to walk to because the airport was so small.

we played pokemon to pass the time. they also had boomerang and cartoon network playing on the screens, which was nice. we finally boarded at 9:30 pm and in the air at 9:50 pm. it was a long 4 hour flight (including the time difference). i played more pokemon, we tried napping, etc. we got wheat thins on this flight, which was nice. i sent an email to southwest complaining about my terrible experience all around and i hope they answer me. it’s fucking ridiculous tbh. anyway, we landed at like 2 am and got our bags. then we took an uber back and decided to stay up until 5 am unpacking, opening packages, reading mail, and making ourselves back at home. tomorrow is going to suck for kevin because he wants to go to work but we went to sleep at 5 am. this is my worst experience traveling so far. it was literally an entire day plus some of traveling.

[tastydregs]

Russia and China are making true high speed cargo trains for 2 day transport instead of 2 weeks between Asia and Europe around 2030

China's One Belt One Road has proved to be a boon for trans-Eurasian rail transport, as these new rail lines would become its vanguard, establishing physical links between many of the key countries and a platform of cooperation from which to drive closer diplomatic and economic ties.

What started out as two regular routes emerging from booming high-tech zones in Chongqing and Chengdu rapidly grew into a 39 route network linking together dozens of cities in China and Europe.

However, the divided nature of the trans-Eurasian rail routes were reducing the potential of the network as a whole. Cities were setting themselves up as competitors as they vied for cargo and “Silk Road” status, and it was becoming clear that a better organizational structure was needed .It was formally announced in October, 2016 by the NDRC that this melee of trans-Eurasian trains will be streamlined down to just three routes as part of a new five-year plan to improve the European service of China Railway Express and the China-Europe rail network as a whole.

Transport of high-value goods have driven the proliferation of the growing network of China-Europe cargo trains.

For most types of products, slow and cheap sea transport is more than adequate, but for expensive types of merchandise that need to be delivered fast, trans-Eurasian rail is becoming a real alternative to expensive air freight.

Russia’s proposed high-speed cargo rail line would be packaged with the much-discussed Moscow-Kazan high-speed passenger train, that will extend for 770 kilometers between the two cities, allowing people to get back and forth in as little as three hours. Construction is set to begin on this line later this year, with $6.5 billion of loans and $1.6 billion of FDI coming from China, while a German consortium led by Siemens, Deutsche Bank, and Deutsche Bahn promising to invest over $2.8 billion into its construction. This new HSR line is tentatively expected to open around 2023.

The broader plan is to extend the Moscow-Kazan high-speed rail line through Kazakhstan and all the way to Beijing, 7,769 kilometers away, feeding into China’s existing 19,000+ kilometer HSR system. This project would tie into China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and will in large part supplant Russia’s iconic, though aging, Trans-Siberian rail line. If this high-speed line is actually built, the total end to end commute time would be more than quartered, dropping to just under 33 hours.

China is designing its next generation of trains that can carry passengers at a top speed of 500 kilometers (310 miles) an hour and cargo at 250km / h,

with wheels that can adjust to fit different track gauges used around the world.

Under an ambitious government plan starting this year, the country is developing trains that can run on a hybrid-propulsion system that allows higher speeds, said Jia Limin, a professor at Beijing Jiaotong University.

There is video of a european system for variable gauge rail.

China's high-speed rail network is designed to operate in harsh winters in the northeastern provinces, where winter temperatures can plummet to 40 degrees Celsius below freezing, to the world's highest altitudes in the Tibet autonomous region, to deserts on its western frontiers.

The country is using high-speed rail as the next spearhead to gain a technological edge over the United States, Japan and Europe.

The domestic high-speed tracks already cover 20,000km, or 60 per cent of the world's installed network. That will expand to 30,000km by 2020 and 45,000km by 2030, said Jia, who heads the Chinese program to develop fast trains.

[nextstepelectric]

home electrician near me Wellington Ontario

Contents

37 traveler reviews

Home improvement company

Duct cleaning services

air duct cleaning

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Wellington countythe primary communities

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[bharatiyamedia-blog]

Faces for cookware: knowledge assortment business thrives as China pursues AI ambitions

http://tinyurl.com/y58usz4s PINGDINGSHAN, China (Reuters) – In a village in central China’s Henan province, amid barking canine and wandering chickens, villagers collect alongside a mud highway to commerce pictures of their faces for kettles, pots and tea cups. On the entrance of the road, a lady stands in entrance of a digicam zip-tied to a tripod. She holds {a photograph} of her head with the eyes and the nostril lower out in entrance of her face and slowly rotates aspect to aspect. Villagers ready their flip take a numbered ticket. A few of them say it’s the third or fourth time they’ve come to do that kind of work. The undertaking, run out of a sleepy courtyard village home adorned with posters of former China chief Mao Zedong, is accumulating materials that might practice AI software program to tell apart between actual facial options and nonetheless pictures. “The biggest tasks have tens of hundreds of individuals, all of whom stay on this space.” stated Liu Yangfeng, CEO at Qianji Knowledge Co Ltd, which collects and labels knowledge for a number of of China’s largest tech corporations and is predicated within the close by metropolis of Pingdingshan. “We’re creating extra knowledge units to serve extra AI algorithm corporations, to allow them to serve the event of synthetic intelligence in China,” stated Liu, declining to reveal his shoppers. The increase in demand for knowledge to coach AI algorithms is feeding a brand new international business that gathers data reminiscent of pictures and movies, that are then labelled to inform the machines what they’re seeing. Corporations concerned in knowledge labelling or knowledge annotation as it’s also referred to as embody crowdsourcing platforms reminiscent of Amazon.com’s (AMZN.O) Mechanical Turk which supply customers small quantities of cash in return for easy duties, outsourcing corporations reminiscent of India’s Wipro Ltd (WIPR.NS) in addition to skilled labellers like Qianji. Cognilytica, a U.S. analysis agency specialising in AI, estimates the worldwide marketplace for machine-learning associated knowledge annotation grew 66% to $500 million in 2018 and is about to greater than double by 2023. Some business insiders say, nevertheless, that a lot of the work completed is just not disclosed, making correct estimates troublesome. WEAK PRIVACY LAWS, CHEAP LABOUR China has emerged as a key hub for knowledge assortment and labelling due to insatiable demand from a burgeoning synthetic intelligence sector backed by the ruling Communist Get together, which sees AI as an engine of financial progress and a software for social management. A plethora of corporations have invested closely in an space of AI generally known as machine studying, which is on the core of facial recognition expertise and different methods primarily based on discovering patterns in knowledge. These embody tech giants Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N), Tencent Holding Ltd (0700.HK), Baidu Inc (BIDU.O) in addition to youthful corporations reminiscent of AI specialist SenseTime Group Ltd and speech recognition agency Iflytek Co Ltd (002230.SZ). The end result has been a proliferation of AI services and products in China, from facial recognition-based fee methods to automated surveillance and even AI-animated state media information anchors. Chinese language shoppers principally see these applied sciences as novel and futuristic, regardless of considerations raised by some over extra invasive purposes. Villagers wait in line as they attend a facial knowledge assortment undertaking run by Qian Ji Knowledge Co, which might serve for creating synthetic intelligence (AI) and machine studying expertise, in Jia county, Henan province, China March 20, 2019. Image taken March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Cate Cadell u000d Weak knowledge privateness legal guidelines and low cost labour have additionally been a aggressive benefit for China because it races to turn out to be a worldwide chief in AI. The Henan villagers have been pleased to commerce a number of classes in entrance of a digicam for a tea cup, or a number of hours for a stove-top pot. OVERSEAS CUSTOMERS Beijing-based BasicFinder, a number one knowledge labelling agency with areas throughout Hebei, Shandong and Shanxi provinces, boasts a sturdy mixture of home and abroad shoppers. At a latest go to to its Beijing places of work, some workers have been labelling pictures of sleepy folks that can be utilized by an autonomous driving undertaking to establish drivers who could be falling asleep on the wheel. Others have been labelling British paperwork from the 1800s for a Western on-line ancestry service, marking fields for dates, names and genders on delivery and dying certificates. In line with BasicFinder Chief Government Du Lin, hiring skilled labellers in China is cheaper than utilizing Western crowdsourcing marketplaces. A Princeton College undertaking associated to autonomous driving initially put a process on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk however as the duty grew to become extra sophisticated, individuals started making errors and BasicFinder was introduced in to assist right the outcomes, stated Du. In that undertaking, one skilled BasicFinder labeller was in a position to do the work of three crowdsourced labellers, he added. “Regularly they noticed they have been paying much less for labelling from us, so that they employed us to label all of the works from the very starting,” stated Du. Princeton declined to remark. For labelling staff, the explanations for becoming a member of China’s knowledge business are easy. The work, although generally tedious, is an improve on different jobs obtainable to younger staff who wish to return dwelling to small Chinese language cities and villages. Labellers at Qianji make roughly 100 yuan ($14.50) a day marking knowledge factors on images of individuals, surveillance footage and road pictures. The work is often easy, in keeping with the workers, although some abroad content material poses a problem. “One time we thought we have been classifying Europe-style cooker machines which have a washer connected,” stated Jia Yahui, a labeller at Qianji. “Later we have been advised it’s truly two separate issues, a range and a dishwasher.” Slideshow (four Photographs) The labelling work brings among the employment advantages of the tech sector to rural areas, however these advantages might show short-lived if AI improves sufficient to carry out lots of the duties labellers do. “We expect this business will nonetheless exist in three to 5 years. It will not be a long-term profession – we are able to solely consider the five-year plan for now,” stated Qianji CEO Liu. Reporting by Cate Cadell; Enhancing by Jonathan Weber and Edwina Gibbs Our Requirements:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Source link

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With Sunday Setup, we are preparing our week for work and school. We had hair spa day, picked out clothes, did laundry, meal planning, and cooked dinner. As a working mom, having a routine helps our week go by smoother and helps us with frugal living. Enjoy this day in the life! Thanks for watching!

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[topsolarpanels]

95% of China’s Electric Vehicle Startups Face Wipeout

Chinas electric-vehicle industry, with 200 -plus companies backed by a raft of billionaires, verges on a massive shakeout as the government enforces stricter technology criteria on fledgling manufacturers and considers limiting their number to merely 10.

Any kerbs would be aimed at weeding out the weak, said a senior executive with the state-backed auto producers association, and they may pushing as many as 90 percent of EV startups toward extinction, a government-linked newspaper said. So far, only two ventures have obtained acceptance to construct automobiles, based on a review of National Development and Reform Commission documents. Three others say they plan to apply for permits.

Jack Ma, Terry Gou, Li Ka-shing and Jia Yueting are among the investors whove poured at the least$ 2 billion into building alternative-energy vehicles as China tries to combat the smog choking its cities. Generous subsidies helped cultivate a gold-rush mentality, prompting concerns the industry is plagued by too many companies lacking the technical know-how to stimulate electric or hybrid automobiles that measure up to those from Tesla Motors Inc. or General Motor Co.

The eCOOL electric car by Changjiang Passenger Vehicle Co .

Photographer: Greg Baker/ AFP via Getty Images

There are too many entrants in key sectors, and some of them are just speculators, said Yin Chengliang, a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong Universitys Institute of Automotive Engineering. The government has to raise the threshold. Its bad to see irrational investments in projects with low technology levels.

Overcapacity Concerns

The potential cap on EV startups goes as the worlds biggest auto industry grapples with overcapacity and high inventories. Carmakers are find pressure on their profit margins with the spread of cheap models, while stringent fuel-economy and emissions targets are set to raise costs.

China outdid the U.S. last year to become the worlds biggest market for new-energy vehicles — comprising electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and fuel-cell automobiles. Domestic automakers sold 331,092 units in 2015, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The governments marketings target is 3 million units a year by 2025 — a 10 -fold increase — and its offering subsidies that can total 60 percent of an electric-cars sticker price. There currently are about 4,000 new-energy vehicle, or NEV, models in development.

Its true were underscoring support to develop new-energy vehicles, but should we let everyone to go ahead? said Dong Yang, executive vice chairman of vehicle manufacturers association.

10 Permits

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is considering curtailing the number of startup EV makers to a maximum of 10, said Dong, who are regularly with its officials. That count wont include traditional carmakers such as SAIC Motor Corp. and BYD Co. that are developing NEVs.

The MIIT didnt respond to a faxed request for comment.

Yet even those startups getting permits have more mandates to meet before switching on their assembly lines, as the government introduces stricter quality-control measures.

In a draft policy document posted for public feedback this month, the MIIT listed 17 technologies that companies intending to sell electric cars must possess in order to secure healthy development of the industry. Those include a control system that determines the performance and stability of the NEV, an information system that tracks the sources and conditions of key proportions, and a process for recycling or reusing batteries.

Meeting Standards

The Economic Daily, an official newspaper run by the State Council, said 90 percent of the companies currently developing EV platforms still wont meet the standards in two years. The report quoth unnamed industry analysts.

One successful applicant is Beijing Electric Vehicle Co ., which is controlled by BAIC Group, the state-owned producer for Hyundai Motor Co. and Daimler AGs Mercedes-Benz. It will build a factory in the capital city thats capable of building 70,000 EVs a year.

The other is Hangzhou Changjiang Passenger Vehicle Co ., which counts Hong Kong-traded FDG Electric Vehicles Ltd. as a major shareholder.

Once on the verge of elimination, the former state-owned bus maker was resurrected by an infusion from FDG, which counts Lis foundation as a minority investor. Li has an estimated net worth of $31.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Huge Problem

The speed at which theyre granting permission is worry, said Zhang Zhiyong, a Beijing-based independent auto analyst. Many companies are constructing their manufacturing facilities, but theyre blocked at the door from getting the licenses. This is a huge problem.

The NDRC didnt respond to a faxed request for comment.

The startups intending to apply for manufacturing permits include Wanxiang Group Corp ., owner of Karma Automotive LLC, which announced a hybrid that uses solar power and costs more than $115,000. Its $375 million mill is planned for Hangzhou.

The LeSee concept car by LeEco .

Photographer: Qilai Shen/ Bloomberg

Another is Jias LeEco, said Huang Hao, a Beijing-based spokesman. LeEco will invest 6 billion yuan in a factory with initial capability for 200,000 automobiles a year, the company said Aug. 10.

The third is WM Motor, which said Aug. 17 it raised$ 1 billion in an initial fundraising round with plans to introduce its first model in 2018. The company was founded last year by Freeman Shen, a former executive at Volvo Cars owner Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co.

Chaotic Situation

Its right for MIIT to send out the signal that not everyone can get the permit, Shen said. The current situation is a little bit chaotic with too many unqualified companies, such as low-speed EV makers and auto-parts companies, joining in the competition.

The government also plans to phase out subsidies after 2020, removing an incentive for startups depending on them to attain profitability. Last year, the average EV maker rendered about 3,000 automobiles, far below the scale required to ensure returns on investment, said Wang Cheng, an official at the China Automotive Technology and Research Center.

Some companies and local authorities invested in building NEVs and batteries even though they lack the necessary technology, and that worsened overcapacity, Wang said last month.

Theres definitely a bubble, said Yale Zhang, a managing director at researcher Autoforesight Shanghai Co. If you dont own the core technology and cant build up the brand, its game over very quickly once you burn through the cash.

With assistance by Yan Zhang

Read more: www.bloomberg.com

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[festivalists]

The Chinese dream

Still from Have a Nice Day's press conference in Berlin; credit: Berlinale

We cannot wrap this year's Berlinale coverage without looking into on one of the most epic happenings in the festival history – the inclusion of a Chinese title in the Main Competition section, and an animation one. Our insider Jia Xu talks to the person behind the industry success of HAVE A NICE DAY / HAO JI LE (2017) plus this year's Panorama gem GHOST IN THE MOUNTAINS / KONG SHAN YI KE (2017) – the young and aspiring producer / cinephile Yang Cheng!

I first met Yang Cheng at the 5th China Independent Film Festival in Nanjing, where we both were volunteers. It was the age of MSN, Olympics, and global financial crisis. Over the years, Yang wrote film reviews, organized screenings, took film projects to pitches like HAF and Golden Horse, and then attended a train of festivals with his steady productions. This time, he brought to Berlinale the animation feature HAVE A NICE DAY / HAO JI LE (2017) directed by Liu Jian. This film won appreciation from critics and programmers, and ranked #2 on the Screen jury grid, next to Aki Kaurismäki's THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE / TOIVON TUOLLA PUOLEN (2017).

In this interview, Yang expresses his profound affection with the Berlinale and his opinion about filmmaking, about the Chinese society, as well as an ambitious plan for his newly founded production company NeZha Bros. Pictures. I believe he is one of the young filmmakers who are reshaping the Chinese film industry.

Jia Xu: What is your impression from Berlinale?

Yang Cheng: I like Berlinale quite a lot, and it is my third time here. I first came to Berlinale in 2013 as the producer of DON’T EXPECT PRAISES (2012). In 2014, I came to watch films as a guest reporter of a Chinese film magazine. This year, I am back with director Liu Jian’s film HAVE A NICE DAY. The festival is special. First, because the city of Berlin has both a rich history and young vibe, it is not so crowded, and there is a lot to explore. The festival’s wide selection of programmes and films means you have plenty options. And the cinemas are generally huge, so seeing a movie here is like attending a ritual, especially in the Berlinale Palast. Watching films like PARADISE: HOPE / PARADIES: HOFFNUNG (2013), NYMPHOMANIAC (2013), and BOYHOOD (2013) at the Berlinale is really unforgettable. To sit in the Palast and hear the audience’s laughter and applause when watching HAVE A NICE DAY feels special.

JX: What is your take about the Chinese society?

YC: It is chaotic but vigorous. A lot is going on.

JX: So will you emigrate?

YC: At the moment, no. I don’t have such a plan, but I would love to go exploring another culture, for example, to live in New York for half a year. There are cultural exchange programs that offer such opportunities. My friends like Pema Tseden and Liu Jian have taken the offer and went there, but at the present it is a pity that I don’t have that much free time to go. Back to the society question, China still has social mobility. It is still possible to change one’s social status.

JX: What would you say to younger filmmakers in such an environment?

YC: Try your best. Try your best till the end. But I think one has to be able to change his tracks at any time and don’t be exhausted by filmmaking, because filmmaking itself is not important. I think watching films is important, but making them is not. Many people say that the reason they make films is because they love films, but why? If you love movies, you go and watch it. I mean, you don’t have to make a film just because of that. What a joy to watch films! If you love movies, you can keep watching them, unless you find a direct and genuine connection between your life and moviemaking. When I first fell for film, I decided that I would like to be a director, so I wanted to make it to the Beijing Film Academy. I chose to apply for the Screenwriting Department instead of the Directing Department, because I thought that was a more approachable goal, but of course there are a number of directors who read Screenwriting at the BFA. When I arrived at BFA, I found people around me were merely talking about films and felt good about themselves just because they were BFA students. I didn’t want to be like them, and I thought to myself “Did I want to make movies out of my heartfelt passion, or out of blindness and vanity?” I also thought about whether I had something to say. And whether I needed to express what I wanted to say via filmmaking, a long and arduous process. What if I just write an article to express myself, or use Weibo. These are all ways of expression. Why make films when you can use other, much easier ways to express yourself? So I thought about what I could do with film, and what I wanted to do. I then met a few directors and found film production is what I am capable of and interested in, since I love films. More importantly, I thought to be a producer could help my character building, because at the time I was quite introverted and a bit depressed, to be honest. I found a need to open up and interact with people, and that is what requires of a producer. This would be difficult to me, but it shall be helpful for my personality. This decision was based on “a more genuine connection between life and film,” not vanity, so I think it is grounded and generates determination. All in all, I don’t think one needs to make a movie just because he likes watching movies. I detest the slogan hanging on BFA during freshmen recruitment: “This is where your dream begins.” I think, as an education institution, BFA should encourage people to lead a true life with reason. Filmmaking is just a job, a thing. Don’t glorify it so much. To younger filmmakers I’d say “Beware of those who always talk about dreams: they probably just want you to be a cheap labor, so they glorify a distant business plan.” I’ve seen too many big bosses in this business who would sugarcoat their manipulation and exploitation with so-called dreams: “Don’t only think about your salary. We are fighting for our dreams, and you are the future of the Chinese cinema.”

JX: So, do you have a dream?

YC: Sure. My dream is that everybody can live a happy life.

JX: You sound like Jesus Christ!

YC: [chuckles] The word “dream” is so grand that it should be something much bigger than daily pursuits. It should not be so trivial like to make more money or to make a better movie – these are just too small undertakings. It doesn’t have to be filmmaking or watching films. Besides film, there are so many beautiful and touching things to appreciate. You can always go back to reading.

JX: Could you talk about the directors that you are working with?

YC: I am open to any possible collaboration, and I don’t sign directors. I think lasting cooperation is based on similar ideals and beliefs, agreeable profit sharing and complementary proficiency. My current collaborators like director Liu Jian – he is quite a pure creator with one goal only: to make quality films. Also, his films always have originality. His films are not only special in China, but also look special in a global context. His film amazed festival audiences: “Oh, it is from China!” So different from regular festival movies from China. A director’s originality is what I value the most. I say to my collaborators that we have to make artistic contribution to China’s cinema, find new possibilities in the art form and style of cinema. Originality is quite high standard. Director Yang Heng’s films [GHOST IN THE MOUNTAINS / KONG SHAN YI KE (2017)] are also original both in terms of storytelling and art form. On one hand, his films are about the reality; on the other hand, they have surreal moments and very stylistic, too. He finds a good proportion between reality and what is beyond. So what I find most valuable in a director is not his / her theme or genre but originality. Also, continuous creativity is vital.

JX: Do you watch lots of movies nowadays?

YC: Not so much. I now actually watch much more bad movies than good ones, you know, the commercial films at the cinema. I have not found time to watch the much talked-about films like MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (2016) and MOONLIGHT (2016) yet. I will watch them for sure. But I have always had this idea that one does not have to watch too many movies, because the depth and the perspective of thinking about a movie matters more. If a movie evokes a resonance in you, it is much better than you watch 100 movies without feeling anything.

JX: So what are the movies you enjoy watching?

YC: I actually love COMRADES: ALMOST A LOVE STORY / TIAN MI MI (1996) and those made by Stephen Chow. In daily life, I often unconsciously think of PARADISE: HOPE. Films made by Michael Haneke. HOOLY BIBLE II (2016) made by Li Hongqi. ARRIVAL (2016), not a sci-fi film routine, I think it feels like THE BOURNE IDENTITY’s innovation in spy/agent movies. Larry Charles’s films never fail to make me laugh.

JX: And what is your plan for your company NeZha Bros?

YC: I plan to make small-budget films based on fun, original scripts in the next two or three years. After all, a company needs to make profit to ensure the creative flow.

If you are a film industry professional, you can watch titles from Berlinale Panorama, Berlinale Generation, Berlinale Forum & the previous work of directors selected at Berlinale Co-Production Market on Festival Scope