Korean Drama Talk Time Pt. 2

In a not-really-continuation of part 1, here are my comments and recommendations about dramas that have caught my attention since last year. :> It's not very current as I've been too busy to diligently keep up in the past few months, but I'm hoping to gain drama-watching (or reading) momentum again soon!

Somebody please talk to me about Korean dramas. ;A;

(I watch on Dramafever and Viki, and read recaps on Dramabeans~)
* means it's a standout imo

• Reply 1988 *

• Comment: So so so so so good!!! Each episode is long, but this piece of thoughtful, well-written, fun, heartwarming, deliciously nostalgic treasure is worth your time, I promise! It's about 5 families who live on the same street in 1988, and as you grow up with them, you can't help but care about all of their wellbeings and relationships—whether it's the core friend group of the kids who are figuring out life and love, or the friend group of the parents who are also still figuring out life and love.
• Progress: I pretty much always watched each episode as soon as it came out LMAO Sometimes even snuck peaks on recaps before subs came out..
• Recommendation: Yess, recommended so much! If you love friends or love families, you'll probably love this?! (do it.) I would suggest reading Dramabeans' recap either after or during the episode so that you don't miss the references and to have more cultural context. :>

• Cheer Up (aka Sassy Go Go) *

• Comment: A high school's ragtag dance team has to work with the academic elite to form a cheerleading club. It sounds dumb. It is dumb. I FUCKING LOVED IT. I have so much endearment for the entire cast ㅠㅠ! Eunji from Apink is always such a joy to behold in any form!! Main man (boy) Lee Wongeun was out to kill us all with his A+ smile and surprisingly charismatic charm, jfc. Chae Soobin played an annoyingly written character with sympathetic complexity and I can't help but love her! N from Vixx was a cute puppy. And Jisoo is the perfect angsty puppy boy—I hope he becomes a huge star because he's such young acting potential~
• Progress: This drama was crack for me from beginning to end. I watched each episode the day subs came out, during my lunch break.
• Recommendation: If you can put aside the ridiculousness and frustrating conflicts, this is really cute and enjoyable! You know what, fuck it—I recommend this. You'll see why I was addicted.

Memebox Haul / I'm Tint Balm (Lovely Coral) Review

:'D Due to KCON's influence and my growing obsession with Korean skincare, I got my first order from Memebox (sadly pronounced me-me-box and not meme-box) this week~
Until the end of August, the code KCONXMEMEBOX will get you a 20% discount kekekeke

My new skincare goods are SO MUCH AESTHETIC.
So far I like them? I must say though that all three of these products feel thick on my face—which could be good or uncomfortable. I don't know to what exactly I can attribute it, but my skin has been a lot better this week! Yay! It could be a specific product(s), or the fact that I've added a few steps to my nightly skin routine. :D

SCINIC Pig Collagen Jelly Cream: Such an interesting texture, but I guess you should expect that from a product of..pig parts.... It reminds me of jello (makes sense 'cause gelatin), in that it's almost a semisolid when it sets... It's fascinating and I don't mind it. ^^ I'm using it as a sleeping pack.

SCINIC Hyaluronic Acid Ampoule 95: My first ampoule! And first time trying hyaluronic acid which is supposedly great for dry skin. Oh please oh please save my dry ass skin. I love that it comes with a dropper.

GOODAL Firming Camellia Water Oil: YOOOOOOOO THIS PACKAGING! The bottle is frosted glass, which makes it a pleasure to behold and touch. And it's a pump! I don't know how to categorize a "water oil" (it's neither watery nor oily; it's like a gel) so I treat it as essence. There's another GOODAL product I love, so I trust this.. Oh please oh please save my premature wrinkles.

I also bought this blackhead remover because...:'D isn't everyone curious as to how many blackheads they'll pull off their nose? It'll be interesting to try.

Lastly, I got the I'M MEME I'm Tint Balm (Lovely Coral) since I've been looking for more lip products that are moisturizing and have lasting color. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good!

It feels like lip balm, looks like lip gloss, and lasts like lip tint. ^^
That's.... 2 out of 3 of what I want LOL.

Magic

For a dumb otome game, once in a while there are shining nuggets of inspiration or wisdom. I can't believe I'm playing my first otome game (Mystic Messenger).

But I liked this part a lot ^^ One day I'll be a magician too. Do pixies count as magicians?

Take Off

I'm not always proud of who I am or what I do, but today this made me feel really proud ^__^


The current at my video production job has been slower than usual the past couple months—which apparently is a normal trend because summer vacations mean less demand??—and I started wondering if it's linked to my recent slump. I mean it's one thing that I'm busy and tired, but everyday started feeling routine and unrewarding to me aside from getting Gemini's stuff done.. Probably because my job's been slightly stagnant, less challenging, and not as stimulating for me. Hopefully it picks up from here on since we do have big things keeping us busy year end, plus I'll have a business trip to Washington DC in October, which, yayyy I think I kind of missed business trips after how many I had in May-June. And I think I would really like the chance to be the editor on this airship story video project, so that's potentially something cool! And it's educational and might help a cause!

Sunflower

I have basically been in a state of shock for 3 days because......... not only did Gemini pass into round 3 of LSO among 13 groups out of 36........ we somehow came in 2nd place. It just blows my mind. It's like..... you have all of these super talented people, a lot of whom are pretty well known, who make crazy awesome untouchable things...and somehow my skills were deemed comparable to theirs and can compete with theirs? ;A; Because of the roles I played in the mix, I couldn't help but feel a lot of pressure and responsibility for the impression of our entry as a whole ;w; There's such a big difference between a polished mix and less than polished mix, and a polished sound was something I always struggled with so I was kinda worried I wouldn't do the vocals justice. And of course, I'm really happy my teammates' hard work got recognized and all of the last minute masoing they were forced to do because of circumstances paid off. ;A; This is so insane!!!! 2nd place!

So we've already been hard back at work for our 3rd round entry, even before results were announced because we wanted to have viable song options and story and art ideas at our arsenal in the case that we pass, so that everyone will have more working time.. @_@ So busyyyy and I'm taking forever to recover from my cold uhuuu



On a very late note, I wanted to share this adorable art Hinoe drew of me~ It was a commission for her AX funds (she was in my hotel room so she's fam <3) and I basically told her she could draw anything, and she came up with this super cute design! I find it so mesmerizingly precious/// It's perf.

I don't think I've ever been portrayed as this sunny before, and tbh I almost feel like I don't deserve it...;; I'm having a hard time staying positive and I get pretty stressed and unmotivated.. But I would like to become a brighter, cheerier, more optimistic person like this drawing! Sometimes I think I'm making really good progress and then I hit slumps ><)9 fightinggg

【LSO-R2】 Blue World 【Gemini】

(Beautiful art by chienu, with assistance by AMJUPY <3)

YE!! I'm really proud of Gemini's LSO team for pushing through and getting our round 2 entry done! A lot of things happened.... from communication issues, to TWO members dealing with hospital visits, to a broken computer, to traveling.... There were a few instances of somebody not being able to do something, and then someone else jumping in to fill in—and I'm thankful for that ;u;

So we did a Super Junior song, which is really freaking cool. First of all saying that because I'm an ELF (was not even the one to suggest the song). And secondly because K-pop is rarely used in chorus battles and it's one of Gemini's signature qualities, so I think it turned out pretty unique ^^ And all of the vocalists sounded great! The art and animation are all fittingly cool, and it's crazy thinking about how those were pulled off in the little amount of time our artists and animators had to work. ;A;

There was a looot of maso this round..... tbh I'm still trying to recover from my masoing too LOL. Somehow just from working nonstop until morning, I'm guessing without drinking enough water, for a few days....or maybe I caught a cold....maybe stress...I don't even really know....it's still a mystery......anyway, afterwards, I lost my voice!!! HAHA. I was the final mixer and also animation support~ Did all the video rendering, edited all the pieces together, added chorus subs, and we uploaded AT 5:30 AM. 8D HOPEFULLY NEVER AGAIN ahaha. (but #worth because I love our entry and members)

So please enjoy because this song was fun to work on and our staff worked very hard!


【LSO-R2】 Blue World 【Gemini】

It’s time for our summer masquerade party! Six students have hatched a plan to bring back the school’s gaming spirit, and secrets are being uncovered on the student council president’s blog… http://goo.gl/uwFZZD

【Vocals】
✩Jeffrey (https://www.youtube.com/jevacado) 
✩小さな (chiisana) (http://www.youtube.com/ChiisanaChanx3) 
✩Ryan (http://www.youtube.com/RyanEatPho)
✩Eva (http://www.youtube.com/waterpixieva) 
✩Jay (https://www.youtube.com/jaysingyou)
✩Mimi (http://www.youtube.com/mimimoiselle) 

【Animation】
✩*curry (https://www.youtube.com/SachiiKou)
✩Mari (http://www.youtube.com/ruukai)
✩小さな (chiisana) (http://www.youtube.com/ChiisanaChanx3) 

【Art】
✩chienu (http://chienu.deviantart.com)
✩AMJUPY (http://miekiyo.deviantart.com)

【Mix】
✩Tuning - Ryan (http://www.youtube.com/RyanEatPho)
✩Timing - LIA (http://www.youtube.com/angelofthewings) 
✩EQ - 小さな (chiisana) (http://www.youtube.com/ChiisanaChanx3) 
✩Timing, Effects, Volumes, Master - Eva (http://www.youtube.com/waterpixieva) 

la la la la~ Leia's world♥ (R2)

[This is a fictional blog for Gemini's Lyrica System Online round 2 entry,

and a continuation of this blog.]

Monday, July 4th, 2016

I knew Jeffrey couldn't run forever!!!
Chiisana and I found him eating 5 avocados for lunch! He confessed right away to being our gaming friend xoxoAvacadoxoxo. With his face overflowing with avocado. （・□・；）It was...a sight.....

I hope that when I find the rest of the Gemini members at school, they're not as weird as this one.

Still a little traumatized,
- "Leia" ♡

Wednesday, July 13th, 2016

Hi everyone! ´͈ ᵕ `͈  A-and Mimi....
Mimi, you're reading this, aren't you?!

So it turns out that she's been following my blog for a while now.（//･_･//) Mimi...... How could you not say anything like this?! In the end, I couldn't figure out that she was Gemini's shrine maiden FaunaHime before she finished having her fun and just told me. And you know what's the first thing she messaged me?!

Eva [4:20:00]: Hello, this is the student council president! You're from the Animal Lovers' Club, right? Is there an issue I can help you or your club with? ^ ^

Mimi [4:20:13]: (∩╹□╹∩) hands up waterpixie, you’re busted!

(((╹д╹;))) I know this is a public blog, but I still didn't think chances were high enough that anyone from my school would read it!!!!

Now I understand why Mimi's username is FaunaHime though hehe. She's part of the Animal Lovers' Club! Her friends are really into volunteering to help animals and for animals' rights, but they're also really against gaming because they say that it promotes violence against creatures. If only they could watch Mimi's PvP skills in action—then they could see that you don't have to hurt animals to play games; you can be violent against other people instead! Ah.. no, that may not be the point we want to make, huh...

With Mimi's help, we've also found out who our last two members, assassin RoyalTea and sorcerer AcuteMage, are~

Mimi [4:20:29]: I can’t believe you didn’t figure it out ( ≧Д≦)

Eva [4:20:37]: I-I'm sorry, I don't know if I understand.....

Mimi [4:21:04]: I’ve been following your blog this whole time, kukuku. FaunaHime at your service <3 We wanted to see if you could put the pieces together~ It’s so hard to act clueless, you know :c Ryan and I can’t hold out any longer

Eva [4:21:32]: Eeeeehhhh?!? what!!!! oh my... what !!! so you're FaunaHime O A O wait..... Ryan???

Mimi [4:21:50]: Oh, Royaltea! That’s Ryan from the tea club (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o))) he didn’t really want to play along, but I whined and whined until he agreed to humor me ୧༼✿ ͡◕ д ◕͡ ༽୨

Eva [4:22:23]: I...I should have known!!!! asdlfkdsjf so there's one more Gemini member left that I don't know of.. I don't even have any clues of who AcuteMage could be since he doesn't even talk much ⌣_⌣

Mimi [4:22:48]: oh! that’s Jay from the math club ٩(๑❛ワ❛๑)و he comes to the tea room to study all the time~ Ryan looked over his shoulder the other day and saw that he was strategizing for our boss fight. it was sooo cool! he mapped it out on pen and paper and everything! we haven’t told him yet, though. He’s pretty shy :c might scare him away, ya know? Eva [4:23:01]: ..... that easy?! °Д° I hope no one else at school knows about this too.. that'd be so embarrassing (￣ ￣|||) Mimi [4:23:22]: chienu and amjupy follow your blog too! you know~ the girls from the art club? you're a local celebrity, ufufufu. Eva [4:23:33]: W H A T I N T H E

And with that, we've somehow been able to find all 6 of the Gemini members!
We still haven't all gathered in one place in person yet, but it will be all kinds of awkward and fun when we do ^ ^

Until next time, enjoy your summer!
- "Leia" ♡

Sunday, August 7th, 2016

Hello! ´͈ ᵕ `͈

Tonight, something very exciting is happening!! It's my school's annual summer masquerade party ✧◡✧ But hopefully, it'll become something more than that..!

What all of Gemini has in common is that we like to play games, but we're scared to show others that side to ourselves, especially since gaming has such a bad reputation at school now ; ; But when we found each other and became friends, we realized that it helped us be more honest when we no longer felt alone. Now all 6 of us hang out a lot and we're not embarrassed anymore!! So we've been thinking about how we can help other students who might have these same feelings come out of their shells and see that we're all here together~ ; ◡ ;

The other day, a few of us visited Lia at the Korean Dance Club, and saw her choreography for a song called "Blue World" by... um.. Super.. Drawer? ;￣▽￣ I don't remember heh

Anyway, we were inspired!! To try to create a comforting sort of blue world that means freedom and unity!

So we posted this message on the school's anonymous forum where we first met:
"The masquerade is coming!
If your charade is untrue, let blue shine through.
For gaming to renew, wear sapphire blue."

There haven't been any replies on the post so far.. But I hope that tonight at least a few people will join us. ; ◡ ;)9

Until next time, let's fill the world with sapphire blue!
- "Leia" ♡

♪Now listening to: Yoona - Blossom

Yoona of SNSD released a 3-track mini composed of remakes of Mandarin songs that she's been singing at her Chinese fanmeetings, and I really fucking love it. ;^;

An unpopular opinion, but I've really liked the tone of Yoona's singing voice for a while and always thought she was plenty capable behind the pretty-face reputation. I still find her CF song for Innisfree to be an adorable bop, and her somewhat recent duet with 10cm is pretty.

And for these sentimental Chinese ballads, her soft, smooth, sweet voice is completely perfect. ;;;; It's incredibly comforting and calming to listen to, and makes me feel like everything will be okay. Really hits the spot aaaaah.

When I first saw that Yoona sang Moon Represents My Heart (track 3), I freaked out because....this was literally the song of my toddlerhood. It's probably mostly because I was already in an unstable mood, but listening to it for the first time just moments ago, I got kind of overwhelmed and teared up.. ;_; It sounds uplifting but also melancholic, and nostalgic as fuck. When I was 3 or 4 years old, this was the first song that my mom taught me how to sing in Mandarin, which isn't the language of my household. I learned it pretty easily and adults complimented my pronunciation ;u;)9 It's probably because of having learned this song back then that as I grew up, I was never intimidated by learning songs in foreign languages and developed an interest in it. Fast forward to now, I'm always singing in Japanese and Korean, I know some Mandarin songs, and I've even sung in French. ^^

But I'm nowhere near the level of Yoona—her Mandarin pronunciation is shockingly naturally good, what the heck!! So much better than mine tbh. This goddess ♥



0:00 Red Bean
4:10 A Little Happiness
7:17 The Moon Represents My Heart

It's almost 4 AM

The neighbors are playing loud mariacchi music.

I'm burnt out from mixing....... and I really miss this ice cream I got in Santa Cruz with burnt marshmallow fluff on it. ;A; Mmmmmm life would be so much better with s'mores right now LOL.

This beauty!

(feat. Myst~)

KCON LA 2016

Oh my god KCON this year was such a mess. I loved it soooo much last year that I pledged to try to go again in all coming years even if it was expensive, and THIS YEAR LET ME DOWN SO HARD. From as early as the stupid unfair ticket sale process (only a few of the sections were available to buy from?? AND they put you in a random place in line, not first-come-first serve), it was mostly stupid all the way through. Stupid needlessly long lines in which I spent most of my KCON waiting. Stupid things that were not clear or written wrongly or not written at all or not well thought-through or "I can't help you; go wait in that line instead," "I can't help you; you'll have to wait for my supervisor." So! many! things! went wrong! STUPID AS FUCK lack of screens during the concerts so unless you spent a shitload of money and were lucky enough to get the good tickets, you couldn't see anything! I've never been to a concert before that didn't have big screens so that people in the back could see. Who does that?! Fucking KCON!

Yo look at this panorama from the night I had better seats and see if you can spot the only screens.

But positive points!
I continue to adore all of the K-beauty access and information at the convention. Last year, Charlotte Cho (Sokoglam) and beautifymeeh's panel basically changed my life forever!!!! It taught me most of the things I know about skincare! I've been hooked on Korean skincare since, dedicated myself to a nightly skin routine, and it smoothed out my skin. *___* Plus all the products are well packaged and there's such a variety and it's pretty fun to be into LOL.

This year, my favorite panel was Aritaum's—I learned a lot about how to apply different products and the research behind the products, and the reps were so sweet! ;v; Chiisana and I visited their booth and one of the reps offered to give Chiisa a mini-makeover to test which BB cushion is her color. They used the same products demonstrated at the panel, and her skin looked better than ever, so I was persuaded to buy the Iope Bio Hydro Cream since I have dry skin ehe.. (And it came with nice free samples for expensive things *A*) So far, it's made my face look pretty moisturized!

I actually really liked how my skin looked on this day! I used the tips I learned from the panel kekeke

My favorite Aritaum product continues to be the Water Sliding Lip Tint though. It's the only Aritaum product Chiisa and I owned before this week, but it's both of our current favorite lip products, something we literally use everyday, and the only reason we decided to attend the panel LOL. It's seriously an awesome lip tint and it puzzles me as to why I never hear about it!!! We learned about and bought them for the first time in a store that was having a BOGO deal, so they were like $4.50 each or something. And this year we went back to that store just to get them again (although ours from last year haven't run out yet still!).

Anyway, all of the cosmetics promoters at the con were so very generous! Chiisa and I spent most of our [limited] convention time in the "Beauty Block" section of the expo hall. Most of the booths had giveaways so we participated in a handful of them, and sometimes the sponsors would go through everyone in line and give a free mask as a thank you for waiting!! Even with how little time we got to spend at the convention and not in lines, we've accumulated a good amount of free Korean skincare products LMAO.

ALL THE AWESOME FREE K-BEAUTY PRODUCTS I GOT WAAAAA

Another positive point was the cool concert line-up. I think the performances overall were pretty good but it was damn hard to tell when I couldn't see much. The energy was there though! It was still fun even though I was annoyed.