Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20080104105659/http://www.goddess-project.net/index.php?pid=52
I am not the original creator. Posted on the old GoddessProject fansite
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Sora Unchained Examined to Unconsciable levels.
Part one of an as yet unknown number of posts listing assorted triva, observations, and other neat stuff from the Sora Unchained arc. I've been going back over my old posts on this series and collecting whatever I'd said about the stories while waiting for others to get their copies. Now I'm going to post them in chapter order along with whatever else I might have on that chapter. If anyone else wants to contribute, feel free. Afterwards I'm going to consolidate these posts into one article and post it for general information. If this works out well maybe I'll go back and do this for some of the other arcs.
Sora Unchained arc - Dark Horse Trade Paperback number 19/20 Issued Jan. 2005, To be Reissued Feb. 2012 Kodansha Tankouban Vol. 19 and 20
Part 1 - I Choose You, Sora. Dark Horse issue 105, Feb. 2004 release Let's Decide The New Chief Kodansha chapt. 119, July 1998 release Tankouban Vol. 19
Sora Hasegawa, closet debutant.
The cover illustration shows Sora wearing a "Lolita, Clash, Lolita Lempic... , Paris" shirt. While I'm still looking for details (My daughter seems to recall a punk/SKA group called Lolita Clash) it seems more likely this is a reference to a fancy french perfume label "Lolita Lempicka". It seems to be a fairly high end brand of fragrences with VERY fancy bottles. Further information is desired.
The idea of cheating when drawing lots is a common theme in manga and anime. It's been pointed out on other sites that Tamiya and Otaki are shown setting up poor clueless Keiichi to win the drawing for who gets to be the driver in the OAV's motorcycle contest, and cheating on such selection processes has been used in story plots in Sailormoon and Maison Ikkoku.
There are several ways this supposedly random drawing can be rigged, mostly by whoever sets up the lots in the first place. Hence the comments by the club members about irregularities by Sora's promoters and Keiichi's comeback line of "is this the face of a cheater?!" (Belldandy wouldn't cheat if life itself depended on it. She'd just be sure the right decision would come about.)
The untranslated names of the club members on the bottom of the Choosing Maze are Mitsuwa, Ishii, Hasegawa, Chikafuji, and Kawada. Exactly which name goes with which member other than Sora hasn't been firmly established, but I believe the one with the mustach is Kawada (kon) Suzuki (dou) and the large gentleman is Watanabe (based on wild speculation using information from the Hill Climb Motorcycle and Singing Contest stories). Exactly how this maze game works to select someone is something I'd love to learn, anyone know?
(Addendum - see next post)
Part 2 - The Shortcut To Winning. Dark Horse issue 106, Mar. 2004 release The Way Of Competition Kodansha chapt. 120, Aug. 1998 release Tankouban Vol. 19
The Racing Board shown is a real item. I found an advertisment and website for a Tanaka Paveracer, 40cc power cart that looks remarkably like the ones in the story.
The little creature Belldandy is using is called an Airbug Spiralee. It will be appearing in later chapters. Why Dark Horse felt the need to put an "and" in the name here is unknown.
A most important developement in this story is how a running theme that has existed throughout the series is made absolutely clear here. It wasn't really obvious at first, but a character trait BOTH Belldandy and Keiichi share is that they are gung-ho competitors and nothing makes them happier than squaring off against a new opponent. In the past, their pleasure in such competitions has been clouded by outside circumstances or unhappy results if they lose, but both Bell and Keiichi love a pure challenge they can devote themselves to totally. (This is first mentioned by Bell in the Anime Otoku story.)
This wasn't very clearly shown earlier in the manga, and many stories even made it seem as if Belldandy was rather timid about taking risks. (I know I thought that at first, and from the older posts on the subject I wasn't the only one.) That's why her occasional outbursts of excessive force or effort seemed so out of character. Actually, she's an all or nothing sort of competitor, who is just very choosy about what she decides to get involved in. Normally she tries not to upset things or push herself into situations, but when she decides to go for it (or she feels she's forced to), look out! This aspect of Bell's personality will become more noticable in the manga stories from here on, and if you go back and review the older stories I think you'll see what I mean.
Part 3 - The Director's Curse. Dark Horse issue 107, April 2004 release The Cursed Chief Kodansha chapt. 121, Sept. 1998 release Tankouban Vol. 19
If you didn't notice, Sora is still steering the racing board while riding tandem with Belldandy.
Belldandy HAS driven a go-cart before. She learned by copying Diana Lockheed's moves while racing her back in Winner Take All. However, this race WAS before Chihiro and the other current club members had joined the story.
This is also one of the story arcs where her competitive nature starts showing. (Observe her efforts to win in the races, fight off the sleep demon, and how she can ignore K-1's behavior without embarassment in order to get back on track.)
And for those of you following the TV anime, the next part of the arc (What A Miracle) is where we first see Tamiya in his cheerleader outfit.
It's interesting how Sora never questions just how Belldandy has such an accurate inventory of the interesting wildlife in the area in her head. (Especially as the animals in question would be in motion and not likely to be in the same places day after day. Well maybe the owl would, but otherwise how could a normal person know all those detail with such certainty?) Of course it is Bell saying it, and Sora was distracted.
Still its fun noticing how people just accept what Belldandy tells them without worrying about how she might know such things. (P. S. The Japanese text is just slightly less specific as to the racoons and owls locations, but more specific as to where the starlings are.)
Part 4 - Special Training Dark Horse issue 108, May 2004 release Crash Course Continues Kodansha chapt. 122, Oct. 1998 release Tankouban Vol. 19
The most fascinating aspect of this story is that it shows a 180 turnabout on the part of Bell's sisters. Skuld is going off on a rant about how Belldandy and Keiichi should always be together (at least as far as racing's concerned) , while Urd is saying (at least publically) that it's okay for them to do things apart.
We also haven't seen Skuld do the "PBTTT!" bit for awhile.
I try to not take sides in translation conflicts. I cannot speak or read any Japanese so I don't feel qualified to judge who's version is correct. (I do feel qualified to compare different versions however.) In this story however there are two places where the Dark Horse and independent translations differ in ways that I felt should be pointed out.
In the Japanese version, Keiichi is commenting on how Skuld and Urd are such sisters rather than Belldandy and Skuld.
More importantly, there's a joke in the sequence where the club members are preparing for Sora's next attempt to drive through them that Dark Horse left out. In the panel where the club member in the bandana is standing in front of the really large member, in the English version the smaller member is thinking, "Am I fast enough to dive for cover?" The Japanese version goes more like, "If I have to, I'll hide behind him... " That's what the arrow that Dark Horse left between them is refering to, and if they decided to remove the joke they should have removed the arrow.
Part 5 - Drive Dark Horse issue 109, June 2004 release Everybody Races Kodansha chapt. 123, Nov. 1998 release Tankouban Vol. 19
Not much trivia to report in this story.
The biggest discussion point here is how Dark Horse reinterpreted Keiichi's comments while he's practicing with Sora and what he and Belldandy say to each other that night in the temple garden. The Japanese text doesn't have him actually challanging Sora to follow him or making statements to Belldandy later that he thought he might have been considered as helping Sora. However, the drawings do seem to be depicting him doing just that, so in this case I think the Dark Horse/Studio Proteus version is closer to what Mr. Fujishima intended.
Part 6 - Miles and Miles Dark Horse issue 110, July 2004 release Keiichi's Distance, Hasegawa's Distance Kodansha chapt. 124, Dec. 1998 release Tankouban Vol. 20
Those stamps Tamiya, Otaki, and later Chihiro, are using at their check points are their signature stamps. The letters printed by them are their names.
Keiichi DOES have a Check Point list, his senpais are just choosing to stamp his face to aggravate him.
As a bit of speculation on my part, I'm sure you've noticed how Tamiya and Otaki put on hapi coats with the Whirlwind logos on them after they've stamped both Keiichi and Sora (so Sora and K-1 won't see them wearing them). Such coats are a form of advertising used by shops and worn by people employed by the shop to do things in public places. One of these things is handing out flyers and brochures at special events, which is what I think Chihiro is having them do for her after the racers have passed. More on this in the last story.
Part 7 - The Race Gets Hot, A Goddess Gets Hotter! Dark Horse issue 111, Aug. 2004 release The Race Begins! Goddess Acts Too! Kodansha chapt. 125, Jan. 1999 release Kodansha chapt. 126, Feb. 1999 release Tankouban Vol. 20
One can only wonder how Keiichi heard them tell Sora she might have to pay a toll.
As has been pointed out by many sources, the poster next to the locker room door for the sea slug society is the same poster found on the bulletin board next to the NIT-MCC recruiting poster put up by Keiichi in the movie. I believe this is the first example of a movie reference in the manga.
Urd and Skuld's assistance to Keiichi is interesting for a number of points, not the least of which is that it shows Skuld as probably being able to teleport and levitate the same as Urd. (She seems to have gotten there on her own, and later disappears behind her smoke cloud cover. It doesn't seem like she just ran away and does wind up in the tree with Urd. Now Urd may have been providing transport for both of them, but judging from their conversation I can't see them cooperating to that degree.
They both seem to feel they have a duty to help Keiichi, like he was family. Or to score points with Belldandy. Either way, Keiichi is now an insider in their world view.
The Freaky Potion - Stupid New Machine rivalry is finally firmly established.
Urd establishes the use of a kiss (first seen in the movie) as a method of passing on a spell to someone.
The car next to Belldandy in the parking lot where she's waiting for the race to end is a Caterham Super 7, the same car driven by Sena Wakabayyashi, Ken Nakajima's stepmother in You're Under Arrest. This is the first guest crossover between the two series that I'm aware of.
The conversation between Belldandy and the club members actual marks the end of Kodansha's chapter 125. Chapter 126 starts with the aftermath of Urd's kiss and Skuld's indignation at it. Chapter 126 is then split between Dark Horse issue 111 and 112.
For those (very) few readers who didn't get it, Keiichi is making steam train sounds (chuffa-chuffa! Whoo-woo!)
The trash stalls Keiichi lands in (marked flammable and non-flammable) is a recyling station. Wood and paper goes in the flammable side, plastics and metals are in the non-flammable side. Keiichi crashed in the side with the harder, sharper objects.
911 is not an emergency number in Japan. What Sora is refering to in the Japanese text are emergency procedure numbers in the community disaster response handbook. (There are guideline procedures for fires, floods, earthquakes, car crashes, injuries, heart attacks, etc.)
When Keiichi drives off the ledge and crashes into the recycling bin, he's saved from serious injury by Holy Bell spinning an air cushion for him to land on. But why was she there to save him in the first place? Belldandy is at the finish line in the parking lot, talking to the other club members and waiting for the race to finish, and Holy Bell should be with her. Unless . . .
Maybe Belldandy had already split off a copy of herself at the start of the race and had been keeping an eye on Keiichi, just in case. (The rules of competition are sacred, but she also has a prior commitment to take care of Keiichi.) Which is why she was in a position to dispatch Holy Bell just in time to save him. And also how she knew instantly that Urd had put a spell on Keiichi.
Which would mean she might also have known about Urd kissing Keiichi, but had dismissed it as just the method Urd used to get the spell into him. (So it was probably a good thing K-1 didn't finish saying "incredible kiss". Bell might have reconsidered just how harmless it was and gotten a little jealous.)
As an additional observation, I don't think that angels can be multipled, only the goddesses. As a seperate entity the angel would need to copied seperately and giving each mini-goddess their own angel would be just a bit too much power out there. Rather, I think its more likely that the angel can manifest itself through any one of the copies as needed. Thus, if mini-Bell needs Holy Bell to save Keiichi, she can summon her, but then Bell back at the parking lot cannot while mini-Bell is using her at the recycling center.
Part 8 - The Best Magic Dark Horse issue 112, Sept. 2004 release Aberrant Kiss The Strongest Magic Kodansha chapt. 126, Feb. 1999 release Kodansha chapt. 127, Mar. 1999 release Tankouban Vol. 20
Dark Horse issue 112 contains both Kodansha chapter 126 and 127 Chapter 126 is split between Dark Horse issue 111 and 112. Chapter 126 ends after Belldandy leaves Keiichi to fix his racing board and continue the race.
It was fitting that Dark Horse would celebrate its long established habit of recombining Kodansha manga chapters with its last two comic book issue releases.
When Belldandy and Holy Bell leave Keiichi after he wakes up, they transport themselves through a piece of chromed metal (a mirrored surface).
So Keiichi re-invents the motorized skate board with just the items in his pockets. Now that's a mechanic! I wonder if Mr. Fujishima wanted a chance to do a skateboard montage without making it look like that was what he wanted to do.
It's interesting to note that since the sign says "NO BIKES OR CYCLES" Keiichi is not actually breaking any rules since what he's riding doesn't fit either of those catagories.
As is revealed at the end of this story, a hidden sub-plot of this arc was how mercantile Chihiro can be. Her plot to use the Motor Club's race as an advertising stunt to sell the racing boards is foreshadowed by the scene in the first part of the story where we see how fast Chihiro can put on her "Salesperson Face" and Keiichi's comments on how she can "Turn It On." Later there are hints that she's doing something on her own behind the scenes, then we see she's got Tamiya and Otaki in Whirlwind coats at the check points, but doesn't want Keiichi or Sora to see the coats. Finally, at the end we discover they've been handing out sales brochures, that the race had been advertised as a sales stunt, and that Chihiro has already made a sign exploiting Keiichi's emergency conversion to a motorized skateboard as a sales feature.
This doesn't mean she wasn't honestly trying to help Sora and the NIT-MCC resolve their leadership crisis. It's quite obvious she was. It's just that its also being shown that she's not above using this as an opportunity to further her own mercantile efforts as well.
Kurthy133 Question and Answer
Tim, since you had some speculations about the cover illustration involving Sora's shirt in Part One of the Sora Unchained arc, I was wondering if you had any ideas about Bell's shirt in the cover illustartion of Part Two (39 hat and all.) It is much harder to read, but I figured that if anyone might know, it would be you!
While there might be some significance to the 39, I'm not aware of any. In general what she's wearing seems to be a fairly typical example of race crew wear.
In almost any motorized vehicle race (and many others as well) in Japan where there's enough money available for such things, the support team for a racer is dressed in similar, stylized, color coordinated, semi-casual clothes, often with the name of the sport, the racer's name or number, and the event or team's sponsers on them. (This is common for most professional sports around the world.)
What Belldandy is wearing seems pretty close to what other manga and anime characters I've seen wear at such events (including in the earlier AMG manga and OAV stories.) The board is a lap board where the driver's time is recorded for each lap and held up so the drivers can see how they're doing, Whatever that logo on the shoes is, it's probably a parody of some real sneaker label. And the visible lettering on her sleeve starts with a "G" and ends with "RT", the rest being to my eyes unreadable. While in no way defendable, I'd guess it reads "Go-Cart".
Now, did you notice that Belldandy seems to be wearing the same shirt while sitting on the motorcycle two stories later? The printing on the sleeve is either missing or not visible, but the shirt back has what appears to be "Team Hasagawa" printed on it.

Created this alt account just to post this.. It's gonna be very long and with many grammar mistakes.. I have been in a long distance relationship with my boyfriend for more than 2 years now. It's been hard but we usually make it work and would spend a lot of time almost every evening playing video games and watching shows. I have always felt a bit more needy in the relationship.. Like I will miss him more, will be the one initiating calls more, text first most often, be the one pushing for the next meeting. Usually we meet every 2-3 months for a week, sometimes just for a weekend, usually in my country, because his family is here and I have my own flat. Meanwhile the whole relationship he was renting a room from his friends and was very against us meeting there, which was always upsetting for me because that meant that we could meet a lot less often. He has a lot of money and could have easily afforded to move out sooner, but honestly.. he was just lazy and didn't want to and would spend most of his free time playing video games.. he would talk how hard finding a place is and how hard it is to move all your things.. he would complain all the time how he didn't like living at that place, but wouldn't do anything about it.. at one point we almost broke up because I told him that I can't handle him living there and barely seeing him anymore, I told him I don't even think he will ever move out at this point..
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But now he has finally moved to his new place and has been moving his stuff, unpacking, etc. for the last few weeks and finally finished everything today (friday).. Obviously this whole time he was quite busy with his job and moving so we weren't spending any time in the evenings, maybe at most watch one episode of some show together and go to sleep immediately after. He wasn't really texting first or calling these weeks too and I was understanding of course that he was busy and tried to not bother him too much, but I really missed him these past couple of weeks, but can't say I felt the same from him.. He did actually have a lot of free time, but besides the whole moving in, he started working out a loooot every day and also just going out in the city, going on walks, runs etc. I was actually happy and proud that he was being active, going outside and not just playing video games all day (he is actually addicted to it and that's a whole other story..), but still feeling quite lonely and hoping he will have some time to spend with me once he's finished moving in.
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And I'm about to graduate university and have been quite busy myself these past months and actually finished my thesis recently and absolutely nailed my thesis defense (is that what's it's called in english?) this friday! Which I consider quite a big milestone for me because these past 6 years in medical school were really challening... And I was really hoping to spend some time today with my boyfriend, celebrate a bit, you know? But honestly I have been feeling like he's not even that interested in my life, like he barely asks any questions about what's going on in my life.. He was actually the only close person of mine that didn't know about this whole thesis defense.. I would mention I have a big thing coming up this friday and he wouldn't ask anything about it, didn't wish me luck, didn't ask me how it went last night, etc.. Anyway, I called him during the day on friday, asked about his plans for the day, he told me he's actually about to finish moving in and talked about some exciting new show he wants to watch with me and got me all hyped up like we are going to watch it today.. I told him I'm gonna be free today and just be resting after my thesis defense and once he's free and want to do something together to let me know..
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Well I haven't heard from him the rest of the day and at about 11 in the evening I got a text from him that an aquantaince is coming over and they are going to go to the city, which is really unusual for him.. I call and ask him what's going on. He told me he's been texting with this aquantaince all day and he (the friend) just got back from a fishing trip and is very tired, but is still coming over?? I asked if they're going to go to a bar or club and he said something about not being in a party mood and they are probably going to just walk/sit in some park/forest.. at 11 in the evening? I actually got a bit upset and cried.. I told him how he didn't find any time for me these past couple weeks and didn't even text or call me, but found time to do this and text his friend all day and I said I was waiting for him to watch that show and I missed him so much.. but we quickly talked it out and I wished him a fun time. At first I didn't question this whole thing, but then I started thinking this whole meeting with the friend in the middle of the night didn't make any sense.. and frankly can't imagine him just meeting a friend for a stroll in a park.. I didn't even sleep today because I felt like he was lying to me.. My gut was screaming that he's probably just going to a club and going to be doing drugs and drinking alcohol till the morning... but he actually didn't seem active on any social media during the whole night so I started thinking maybe he actually just met his friend briefly and went to sleep, but then he reacted to some meems I sent earlier at like 5 in the morning.. and that meant he was out this whole time.. I immediately asked what's he up to, but he just left me on read.. which happens often when he's really drunk..
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I'm just feeling sick.. He actually (in my opinion) has a big drinking problem.. not that he drinks every day, but that once he starts drinking he can't stop.. and he becomes a very mean selfish asshole when he's drunk and just completely can't control his behavior or the things he says.. and he usually doesn't even remember the awful things he says and does to me when he gets like that.. He hurt me a looooot about half a year ago when he was high and drunk and we almost broke up then, at first I forgave him but after some months I realised that I couldn't be with a 30 yo man that can't control his drinking and I don't want to see him do drugs or drink in front of me ever again.. I was actually preparing myself to break up with him till he completely out of nowhere told me that he realised that nothing good comes out of drinking and he wants to at the very least to completely stop drinking beer.. And I gave him a chance and looked at it almost like a new beggining.. And he did really good for like half a year and our relationship got a lot better and healthier, but a few months ago someone got him some beer for his birthday and he kind of started slowly drinking again - occasionally going to bars..
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And I'm just over it.. I don't want him to start doing drugs and drinking again.. I'm terrified of him when he's drunk (not physically, but emotionally..) and maybe that's just me, but it's a huge turn of that a man in his 30s is still spending all night in some club together with his buddy.. and a lot of his buddies are quite scummy people that cheat on their girlfriends.. and while I completely trust him sober, I don't trust him to control himself from doing something while he's super drunk.. Honestly all my family and my friends that have met him and seen how he acts while drunk hate him and want me to break up with him and I was really hyping up the fact that he stopped drinking and hoping to repair his reputation with them.. And I really love him, as stupid as that sounds, and was really hoping he could change and stop drinking.. when he's sober and we spend time together it's so so good.. I know I wrote a lot of negative things but there are lots of very good things too, but it would be too long to write everything.. I was supposed to move to him this summer after graduating and now I'm just so scared and nervous about that and don't know if I should.. I know I have to ask what happened last night, but it will end up with him being upset and angry and starting a fight and gaslighting me.. I have my final exam next week and hate that it all happened now when I really need to focus on studying.. What do I even do in this situation?

New Music Friday is the weekly thread dedicated to cataloging all the Album/EP releases that came out this week, including non-subreddit relevant releases. This is also a great place to discuss these albums, or bring to attention other albums released this week.

❓ "this seems intriguing after a cursory look"
⭐ "im interested in this for one reason or another"
❤️ "ive been waiting for weeks, months/i'm absolutely in love with this"

June 2nd

⭐ Protomartyr - Formal Growth in the Desert
Label: Domino
Genre: Post-Punk, Art Punk, Gothic Rock
Beach Fossils - Bunny
Label: Bayonet
Genre: Indie Pop, Jangle Pop, Dream Pop
❓ Bully - Lucky for You
Label: Sub Pop
Genre: Indie Rock, Noise Pop, Post-Grunge
⭐ Pupil Slicer - Blossom
Label: Prosthetic
Genre: Mathcore, Post-Hardcore, Blackgaze
Body Type - Expired Candy
Label: n/a
Genre: Indie Rock, Post-Punk
❓ KNOWER - KNOWER FOREVER
Label: n/a
Genre: Jazz-Funk, Synth Funk, Art Pop
RVG - Brain Worms
Label: Fire
Genre: Indie Rock, Jangle Pop
Baxter Dury - I Thought I Was Better Than You
Label: Heavenly
Genre: Art Pop, Indie Pop, UK Hip Hop
Ben Folds - What Matters Most
Label: New West
Genre: Piano Rock, Pop Rock, Singer-songwriter
Jake Shears (ex-Scissor Sisters) - Last Man Dancing
Label: Mute
Genre: Pop, Pop Rock
Lanterns On The Lake - Versions Of Us
Label: Bella Union
Genre: Dream Pop, Chamber Pop, Indie Pop
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Council Skies
Label: n/a
Genre: Post-Britpop, Chamber Pop, Post-Punk Revival
FRANKIIE - Between Dreams
Label: Paper Bag
Genre: Indie Pop
Generationals - Heatherhead
Label: Polyvinyl
Genre: Indie Pop, Bedroom Pop, Electropop
Anthony Naples - orbs
Label: ANS
Genre: Ambient Techno, Downtempo, Neo-Psychedelia
Purr - Who Is Afraid Of Blue?
Label: ANTI-
Genre: Psychedelic Pop, Indie Pop
❓ Half Moon Run - Salt
Label: BMG
Genre: Indie Rock, Indie Folk, Folk Rock
Sam Blasucci - Off My Stars
Label: Innovative Leisure
Genre: Indie Pop, Singer-songwriter
❓ Gorgeous - Sapsucker
Label: n/a
Genre: Experimental Rock
Vulfmon - Vulfnik
Label: Vulf
Genre: Pop Soul, Jazz-Funk
Gula Blend - Allt har hänt
Label: Rama Lama
Genre: Surf Rock, Garage Punk
Gal Pal - This and Other Gestures
Label: Youth Riot
Genre: Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
❓ Lost Under Heaven - Something is Announced By Your Life!
Label: n/a
Genre: Art Pop, Indietronica
De Staat - Red / Yellow / Blue
Label: n/a
Genre: Alternative Rock, Dance-Punk
The Aquadolls - Charmed
Label: Enci
Genre: Surf Rock, Indie Surf, Indie Rock
Rancid - Tomorrow Never Comes
Label: Epitaph
Genre: Punk Rock
**Kildas - No Harmony
Label: n/a
Genre: Progressive Rock, Jazz-Rock
WITCH - Zango
Label: Partisan
Genre: Zamrock, Acid Rock
Louise Post - Sleepwalker
Label: n/a
Genre: Indie Rock, Indie Pop
⭐ Tigercub - The Perfume of Decay
Label: Loosegroove
Genre: Alternative Rock, Stoner Rock, Garage Rock
Sorry Girls - Bravo!
Label: Arbutus
Genre: Pop Rock
McKinley Dixon - Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?
Label: City Slang
Genre: Jazz Rap, Conscious Hip Hop, Neo-Soul
❓ DZ Deathrays - R.I.F.F.
Label: n/a
Genre: Alternative Rock, Garage Rock Revival
Ben Harper - WIDE OPEN LIGHT
Label: Chrysalis
Genre: Singer-songwriter, Folk Rock
OLTH - every day is sOmeOne's speciaL day
Label: n/a
Genre: Screamo, Metalcore, Emoviolence
MILLY - The Freed Milly (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Shoegaze, Indie Rock, Noise Pop
❓ Public Phone School - Public Phone School
Label: n/a
Genre: Noise Rock, Powerviolence, Synth Punk
Kiltro - Underbelly
Label: n/a
Genre: Psychedelic Folk, Indie Folk, Latin Alternative
Speakers Corner Quartet - Further Out Than The Edge
Label: n/a
Genre: Jazz
Brandt Brauer Frick - Multi Faith Prayer Room
Label: Because
Genre: Minimal Techno, IDM, Electroacoustic, Nu Jazz
The Stools - R U Saved?
Label: Feel It
Genre: Punk Rock, Garage Rock
❓ Levyosn - Levyosn's Lullaby
Label: Borscht Beat
Genre: Folksong, Acoustic, Klezmer
Wire Crimes - The Impermanence of Things (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Indie
Jelly Kelly - Warm Water (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Pop Punk, Indie Rock
Monika Linkyte - HEALING
Label: n/a
Genre: Pop Soul, Adult Contemporary
Trixie Mattel - Looking Good, Feeling Gorgeous (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Dance-Pop, Nu-Disco
Stray Kids - 5-STAR
Label: JYP
Genre: K-Pop, Trap, Pop Rap
CIL - Tears Dry On Their Own (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Pop
Big Time Rush - Another Life
Label: n/a
Genre: Pop, Dance-Pop
Elettra Lamborghini - Elettraton
Label: Island
Genre: Reggaetón
Sophie Ellis-Bextor - HANA
Label: Douglas Valentine
Genre: Pop Rock, Synthpop, Alternative Rock
The Aces - I've Loved You For So Long
Label: Red Bull
Genre: Pop Rock, New Wave
Dj Smokey - Nuked Out Dance Party
Label: n/a
Genre: Instrumental Hip Hop, Trap, Experimental Hip Hop
DaBoii & The Mekanix - Soakin Game
Label: n/a
Genre: West Coast Hip Hop, Gangsta Rap, Detroit Trap
J Billz & Pi'erre Bourne - Streetz Hottest Young'n
Label: n/a
Genre: Trap
Moneybagg Yo - Hard to Love
Label: Cocaine
Genre: Southern Hip Hop, Trap, Pop Rap
Metro Boomin - METRO BOOMIN PRESENTS SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (SOUNDTRACK FROM AND INSPIRED BY THE MOTION PICTURE)
Label: n/a
Genre: Film Soundtrack, Trap, Pop Rap
❓ Ghais Guevara - Goyard Comin': Exordium
Label: n/a
Genre: Hardcore Hip Hop, East Coast Hip Hop, Experimental Hip Hop
⭐ Avenged Sevenfold - Life is But A Dream...
Label: Warner
Genre: Avant-Garde Metal, Progressive Metal, Metal Metal Metal Metal
Bongzilla - Dab City
Label: Heavy Psych
Genre: Stoner Doom Jams
❓ Girls Under Glass - Backdraft
Label: n/a
Genre: Gothic Rock, Industrial Rock, EBM
Omnium Gatherum - Slasher (EP)
Label: Century Media
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
⭐ Rival Sons - DARKFIGHTER
Label: Atlantic
Genre: Hard Rock, Blues Rock
BURNT SKULL - Daylight Mutilation
Label: n/a
Genre: Noise Rock
❓ IUSA - ABANDON
Label: n/a
Genre: Blackened Sludge, Post-Metal
Einar Solberg - 16
Label: InsideOut
Genre: Symphonic Rock, Progressive Rock, Art Pop
Foo Fighters - But Here We Are
Label: Roswell
Genre: Alternative Rock, Power Pop, Shoegaze
❓ Messiahvore - TRANSVERSE
Label: n/a
Genre: Stoner Metal
Red Cain - Nae'Bliss
Label: n/a
Genre: Progressive Metal, Alternative Metal
Risin Sabotage - MACABRE
Label: Interstellar Space
Genre: Psychedelic Rock
Saint Karloff - Paleolithic War Crimes
Label: n/a
Genre: Stoner Metal
To Descend - Mindless Birth (EP)
Label: HPGD
Genre: Horror Pain Gore Death Metal
⭐ Unfurl - Ascension
Label: n/a
Genre: Sludge Metal, Mathcore, Dissonant Hell
Wytch Hazel - IV: Sacrament
Label: n/a
Genre: Heavy Metal, Hard Rock

May 26th

Sparks - The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte
Label: Island
Genre: Art Pop, Synthpop, Progressive Pop
Miya Folick - ROACH
Label: Nettwerk
Genre: Indie Pop, Alt-Pop
❓ Water From Your Eyes - Everyone's Crushed
Label: Matador
Genre: Experimental Rock, Art Pop, Post-Industrial, Dance-Punk
Kevin Morby - More Photographs (A Continuum)
Label: Dead Oceans
Genre: Folk Rock, Singer-songwriter, Indie Folk
Arlo Parks - My Soft Machine
Label: Transgressive
Genre: Bedroom Pop, Alt-Pop
Saya Gray - QWERTY (EP)
Label: Dirty Hit
Genre: Psychedelic Folk, Indie Folk
Bayonne - Temporary Time
Label: Rough Trade
Genre: Indietronica, Indie Pop, Ambient Pop
Gia Margaret - Romantic Piano
Label: Jagjaguwar
Genre: Ambient, Field Recordings
Shirley Collins - Archangel Hill
Label: Domino
Genre: English Folk Music, Traditional Folk Music
Boy & Bear - Boy & Bear
Label: n/a
Genre: Folk Rock, Indie Rock, Indie Folk
❤️ Phoxjaw - notverynicecream
Label: Hassle
Genre: Alternative Rock, Post-Hardcore, Noise Rock, Alternative Metal
❓ Stuck - Freak Frequency
Label: Born Yesterday
Genre: Post-Punk, Art Punk, Post-Hardcore
The Orielles - The Goyt Method (EP)
Label: Heavenly
Genre: Space Age Pop Drones
AJJ - Disposable Everything
Label: Hopeless
Genre: Indie Rock, Indie Folk, Chamber Pop, Anti-Folk
⭐ Clark - Sus Dog
Label: Throttle
Genre: Art Pop, Electronic, Ambient Pop, Progressive Electronic
Demob Happy - Divine Machines
Label: Liberator
Genre: Alternative Rock, Indie Rock
Panic Pocket - Mad Half Hour
Label: Skep Wax
Genre: Indie Rock, Power Pop
❓ Stimmerman - Undertaking
Label: n/a
Genre: Art Rock, Noise Grunge
❓ Miranda and the Beat - Miranda and the Beat
Label: Ernest Jenning Record Co.
Genre: 60's garage rock/soul
Yuksek - Dance'O'Drome
Label: Partyfine
Genre: Nu-Disco, Balearic Beat, Dance-Pop
Miss España - Niebla Mental
Label: n/a
Genre: new-nowave, punky synthwave, riot grrrl
⭐ Victory Over The Sun - Dance You Monster To My Soft Song!
Label: n/a
Genre: Black Metal, Avant-Garde Metal, Progressive Metal
Jacuzzi Boys - Glue (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Garage Rock, Indie Rock
❓ Twin Princess - Blood Moon
Label: n/a
Genre: Alternative Pop, Doom Country, Indie Rock
Moon Blue - The Moonlight Disco (EP)
Label: 777
Genre: Indie Pop, Lo-Fi Indie
The Dandy Warhols - The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Neo-Psychedelia, Post-Rock, Ambient Pop
Radiator Hospital - Can't Make Any Promises
Label: n/a
Genre: Indie Rock, Power Pop
quickly, quickly - Easy Listening (EP)
Label: Ghostly
Genre: Jazz Fusion, Neo-Soul
Nate Schieble - plume
Label: n/a
Genre: Ambient
M. Sage - Paradise Crick
Label: Rvng
Genre: Ambient, ECM Style Jazz, Progressive Electronic
Divine Sweater - Down Deep (A Nautical Apocalypse)
Label: Better Company
Genre: Indie Pop, Sophisti-Pop, Chamber Pop
Chris Staples - Cloud Souvenirs
Label: n/a
Genre: Indie Folk, Singer-songwriter
Kassi Valazza - Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing
Label: Fluff & Gravy
Genre: Americana, Singer-songwriter, Progressive Country
RF Shannon - Red Swan in Palmetto
Label: Keeled Scales
Genre: Neo-Psychedelia, Americana
sophie meiers - shine__space
Label: Epitaph
Genre: Bedroom Pop, Alternative R&B
Crucchi Gang - Fellini
Label: Universal
Genre: Indie Pop
The Dirty Nil - Free Rein To Passions
Label: Dine Alone
Genre: Pop Punk, Garage Punk
Daniel Blumberg - GUT
Label: Mute
Genre: Singer-songwriter, Experimental, Art Rock
Daði Freyr - I'm Still Making An Album 2/3
Label: AWAL
Genre: Funktronica, Dance-Pop, Synthpop
Dev Lemons - Delusional (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Alt-Pop, Indietronica, Bedroom Pop
⭐ JAAW - SUPERCLUSTER
Label: Svart
Genre: Industrial Metal, Noise Rock, Psychedelic Rock
Westelaken - I am Steaming Mushrooms
Label: n/a
Genre: Indie Rock, Alt-Country
Marco Mengoni - MATERIA (PRISMA)
Label: Epic
Genre: Pop, Adult Contemporary, Pop Rock
Matchbox Twenty - Where The Light Goes
Label: Atlantic
Genre: Pop Rock
Tia Kofi - Pride. Power. Pop. (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Dance-Pop
PRETTYMUCH - This Thing Called Love
Label: n/a
Genre: Boy Band, Electropop, Contemporary R&B
Lauren Jauregui - In Between (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Pop Soul, Contemporary R&B
Kari Faux - REAL B*TCHES DON'T DIE!
Label: drink sum wtr
Genre: West Coast Hip Hop, Trap, Alternative R&B, Neo-Soul
Monaleo - Where The Flowers Don't Die
Label: n/a
Genre: Southern Hip Hop, Contemporary R&B, Trap
Loïc Nottet - Addictocrate
Label: Sony
Genre: French Pop
Ethereal - Heat Death 4
Label: n/a
Genre: Atmospheric Drum and Bass, Downtempo
Manu Manzo - Luna En Geminis
Label: n/a
Genre: Pop, R&B
Cruz Cafuné - Me Muevo Con Dios
Label: n/a
Genre: Trap, Contemporary R&B
Hunxho - 4 Days in LA
Label: 300
Genre: Trap
Portraits of Tracy - Drive Home
Label: n/a
Genre: Pop Rap, Alternative R&B, Art Pop
Khamari - A Brief Nirvana
Label: n/a
Genre: Pop
Dom Corleo - On My Own
Label: n/a
Genre: Trap, West Coast Hip Hop, Rage
Lil’ Keke - 25 Summers
Label: n/a
Genre: Southern Hip Hop, Gangsta Rap
Cochise - NO ONE'S NICE TO ME (EP)
Label: Columbia
Genre: Trap, Southern Hip Hop
Jay Worthy & Roc Marciano - Nothing Bigger Than The Program
Label: Marci
Genre: Jazz Rap, Gangsta Rap
Lil Durk - Almost Healed
Label: Alamo
Genre: Trap, Gangsta Rap, Pop Rap
$uicideboy$ - YIN YANG TAPES: Winter Season (1989-1990) (EP)
Label: G*59
Genre: Southern Hip Hop, Memphis Rap
❓ Heart Attack Man - Freak of Nature
Label: n/a
Genre: Alternative Rock, Pop Punk
Immortal - War Against All
Label: Nuclear Blast
Genre: Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal
Kostnatění - Úpal
Label: Willowtip
Genre: Black Metal, Avant-Garde Metal, Anatolian Rock
Metal Church - Congregation of Annihilation
Label: Rat Pak
Genre: US Power Metal, Thrash Metal
Vomitory - All Heads Are Gonna Roll
Label: Metal Blade
Genre: Death Metal
Cenobite - Torment Your Flesh and Explore the Limits of Experience
Label: n/a
Genre: Death Metal
The Foreshadowing - Forsaken Songs (EP)
Label: n/a
Genre: Doom Metal, Gothic Metal
In Tears - Stars Caught Tonight
Label: n/a
Genre: Blackgaze, Depressive Black Metal
⭐ Teitan - In Oculus Abyss
Label: Void Wanderer
Genre: Black Metal, Avant-Garde Metal, Psychedelic Rock
Mesarthim - Arrival
Label: n/a
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal, Space Ambient
❓ The Mon - EYE
Label: n/a
Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Drone
Oceanlord - Kingdom Cold
Label: n/a
Genre: Stoner Rock, Doom Metal
❓ Ockra - Gratitude
Label: Argonauta
Genre: Doom Metal
Speedwhore - Visions of a Parallel World
Label: Dying Victims
Genre: Thrash Metal, Speed Metal
❓ Seven Impale - SUMMIT
Label: Karisma
Genre: Progressive Rock, Avant-Prog

In an episode of a Québécois comedy TV show (called "Les Parent"), a character says the following to his friend Ben:

Tu te l'es fait dire pas à peu près, mon Ben!

DeepL translates this into the following suggestions:

You've heard it all before, Ben!
You've been told, my Ben!

I can't figure out how I could arrive at either translation myself.
Questions:
1a. What does "Tu te l'es fait dire pas à peu près" mean?
1b. Can you show me how to group the parts of the sentence, to arrive at understanding how you translated the meaning in your answer to Question 1a ?
`2. Below, I show my attempts at translating the sentence. If you are willing to do the extra work, can you tell me which attempts are correct or partially correct; or if i have any wrong ideas about how how French grammar works?
Here's my best attempt at translating "Tu te l'es fait dire pas à peu près, mon Ben"

1. Translating "Tu te l'est fait dire".

I recognize "causative se faire" being used here. I also see the direct object pronoun "le". My guess is that the reflexive pronoun "se" (which is "te" here) is the receiver of the verb. So, my best guess of translating this sentence is "You caused 'someone' to tell it to you", or in more natural English, "You got told it".

1. "Tu te l'est fait dire pas à peu près".

I can't tell if the "pas" is grouped with "à peu près", to make "Tu te l'est fait dire [pas à peu près]", or if it's somehow grouped with a verb (negating "dire" ("Tu te l'est fait [ne pas dire]"), or negating "faire" ("Tu [ne te l'est fait pas] dire")) .
2a) "Tu te l'est fait dire [pas à peu près]"
According to WR, "à peu près" is an adverb that means "around" or "more or less".
So my attempt translation here would be "You caused 'someone' to tell it to you, not more or less". This doesn't make sense in English, so I don't know what "pas à peu près" could mean!
2b) "Tu te l'est fait [ne pas dire]"
would mean "You caused 'someone' to not tell it to you".
2c) "Tu [ne te l'est fait pas] dire"
would mean "You didn't cause 'someone' to tell it to you". Which in more natural English, might be "You caused nobody to tell it to you", or "You got nobody to tell it to you" or even "You didn't make anybody tell it to you". ("You caused nobody to tell it to you" and "You didn't make anybody tell it to you" have different meanings in English, too, which also adds to my confusion about how I should translate "Tu [ne te l'est fait pas] dire" )
I don't know which of my attempts of 2a, 2b, 2c is correct, or even if the foundational attempt in 1 was correct! And none of my attempts of 2a, 2b, or 2c comes close to either of DeepL's translation of "You've heard it all before!" or "You've been told!".

So I watched some of GX as a kid, mainly just parts of Season 1 and 2 (dubbed version that is). After seeing the dub was on Hulu, I decided to finally watch the series all the way through.
I'm over halfway through Season 2 and I'm now learning there is a season 4 but only subbed because it never got dubbed.
I've also been reading the characterizations and character arcs differ wildly between the dubs and subs. I really don't want to start back at the beginning with the sub so soon after having watched the dub version.
So would I be fine for the most part with watching the first three seasons dubbed and the last one subbed? Should I possibly switch to the subbed version in Season 3 after I finish Season 2 dubbed (only have about 18 more episodes left of 2 so don't really want to switch to subbed so late in the season if everything is different).
Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated!

I’m on episode 9 and am only watching the sub because that’s what was available on Netflix for me. But I was recently suggested watching the English dub on Zoro.to. I don’t mind the sub too much but is the dub worth switching to?

Heart Signal 4 (하트시그널4) is finally here after 3 years.
Episode 3 Discussion for Heart Signal 4 over in /koreanvariety subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/koreanvariety/comments/13y551s/heart_signal_4_episode_3_230602/
Synopsis:

Cupid returns for a fresh assault on the hearts of a new group of romance-ready singletons. The group has never met before, but must live together in Signal House. The house rules encourage flirty behavior, but forbid housemates from directly telling anyone that they like them. Instead, they must express their feelings via text message. But there’s a twist: All texts to housemates are anonymous – meaning recipients have to guess who is trying to make a love connection with them.
Watching events unfurl in the house is a celebrity panel of love experts. These include returning romance fans Yoon Jong Shin, Kim Ea Na, and Lee Sang Min, all veterans of previous “Heart Signal” seasons. And joining this trio this time around is a fresh crop of star pundits, including OH MY GIRL member Mimi, Kang Seung Yoon of WINNER, and leading psychiatrist Kim Chong Gi.
This variety TV show series is the follow-up to 2017’s “Heart Signal.” A second series was released in 2018. And this was followed up with Season 3 in 2020.
“Heart Signal 4” is a 2023 South Korean reality TV/variety show that was produced by Park Cheol Hwan.

Cast

Lee Jumi (이 주미)
Kim Jiyoung (김 지영)
Kim Jimin (김 지민)
-
Shin Mingyu (신 민규)
Han Gyeore (한 겨레)
Yoo Jiwon (유 지원)
Lee Hushin (이 후신)

Panelists

Kim Eana
Lee Sangmin
Yoon Jongshin
Kang Seungyoon (from WINNER group)
Kim Mihyun or Mimi/미미 (from OMG group)
Kim Chonggi (psychiatrist)

Subtitles

Subtitles
Stream	Viki
Stream	KOCOWA
Stream	VIU Singapore
Stream	VIU Hong Kong

English subtitles are available on Viki now.
Around 9PM for English subs on Viki could be the consistent release schedule, so wait ~10-12 hours after the episode premieres (converting from Korean Standard Time, it's like 9:50AM every Friday, New York Time/Eastern Daylight Time), then the Viki volunteers should have the English/etc. subtitles available maybe before midnight or usually it's available the next day anyway, just like with other Viki shows.
Remember VIU (and KOCOWA/etc.) also has Heart Signal 4 but it seems sometimes they're delayed with the English subs or episode release.
For VIU access, you'll probably have to use VPNs set to Singapore/Southeast Asia to view their catalog.
Oh and Heart Signal 4 (and earlier seasons) is also apparently available on Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus, et cetera, but as usual there's some region restrictions.
Accessing Kdramas, Korean variety shows, and so on (basically Viki, VIU, Disney+, Netflix, etc.): https://www.reddit.com/koreanvariety/comments/10fpzhx/overall_thoughts_on_love_catcher_in_bali/j5cmhaw/ and https://www.reddit.com/koreanvariety/comments/13bmtin/anyone_know_where_can_i_watch_the_below_korean/jjbtnuz/

Past Threads

Episode	Subreddit Thread
Episode 1	koreanvariety, heartsignal
Episode 2	koreanvariety, heartsignal
Episode 3	koreanvariety, heartsignal

Heart Signal Youtube channel or 하트시그널 라비티비 channel: https://www.youtube.com/@channelA-heartsignal/videos
Heart Signal 4 teasers and clips playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFIYUdSkjiCAuWe006VqSTFfaE7rgIHNy
Heart Signal 4 production stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46UmvFNwi9Q
Heart Signal 4 Episode 1 commentary with Heart Signal 2 Jaeho and some other people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRuQmQUKLvQ
Heart Signal 4 Episode 2 commentary with Heart Signal 2 Youngjoo and Jaeho, and some other people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAFSWmQJkhk
Heart Signal 4 Episode 3 commentary with Heart Signal 2 Youngjoo and Jaeho, and some other people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU511y8l3uw
Gaheun (Heart Signal 3 and Friends) and Jaeho with the Heart Signal 4 house: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86F9hZ-7nxc
Jangmi (Heart Signal 2 and Friends) and Jaeho with the Heart Signal 4 house: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAcupLirqOk
Heart Signal 4 Official BGM Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8djlZk6ZeM0
Heart Signal 4 Official BGM Playlist 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avMPSuhEqak
The Chinese version of Heart Signal (心动的信号) has an engaged couple now, don't click this link unless you finished Heart Signal 2 (心动的信号第二季), oh and it also talks about Terrace House marriages too: https://www.reddit.com/heartsignal/comments/13p3qqheart_signal_2_心动的信号,_Chinese/중국_version_couple/
Terrace House: Aloha State marriage now has pictures: https://www.reddit.com/terracehouse/comments/13sz4qe/the_aloha_state_ogs/
For Heart Signal, the original Korean version and some seasons of the Chinese version should be on Viki.
Season 2 of both the Korean and Chinese versions are considered the best, and now some people also really like the 5th season of the Chinese version. The upcoming 6th season of the Chinese version is being prepared at the moment, it might be out later this 2023 year or so.
Heart Signal 1 (Korean Version): https://www.viki.com/tv/35675c-heart-signal
Heart Signal 2 (Korean Version): https://www.viki.com/tv/36949c-heart-signal-2
Heart Signal 3 (Korean Version): https://www.viki.com/tv/36950c-heart-signal-3
-
Heart Signal 1 (Chinese Version): https://www.viki.com/tv/36228c-heart-signal-chinese-version
Heart Signal 2 (Chinese Version): https://www.viki.com/tv/36654c-heart-signal-2-chinese-version
Heart Signal 5 (Chinese Version): https://www.viki.com/tv/38812c-heart-signal-5-chinese-version
With the Chinese version of Heart Signal, it's available on the WeTV/Tencent Video website (has English subs), and also their WeTV/Tencent Video channels on Youtube for free but without proper English subs.
Through the Tencent Video Youtube channel you'll have to use auto-translate from Chinese/Mandarin or maybe say Thai, Vietnamese, etc. So for English subs you have to check their own WeTV/Tencent Video/etc. website.
Viki has the 1st, 2nd, and 5th seasons of the Chinese version of Heart Signal, so you'll have to look for the 3rd (心动的信号S3) and 4th season (心动的信号S4) elsewhere. Like use auto-translate/etc. with the Youtube episodes, or check their actual WeTV/Tencent Video website.
Heart Signal 3 (Chinese Version), Episode 1 and playlist (has Thai and Vietnamese subtitles, use auto-translate to English/any desired language): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywBixGNlkYs&list=PLMX26aiIvX5reBhNMq0rNZHoDa_aGblAs
Heart Signal 4 (Chinese Version), Episode 1 and playlist (these episodes on Youtube for the 4th season don't even have automatic captions/subtitles (no Thai/Vietnamese/Chinese/etc. subs either), so go on WeTV/Tencent Video's website or some places (like Bilibili, etc.) for other subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWNF5cxAap0&list=PLb8w8KsDSK1wtxaCeyEAMXCHxsCYJLK4A
Expect English subtitles on Viki/etc. to appear after 10/12/etc. hours have passed since Heart Signal 4's initial release on the Korean TV/streaming services.
Episode 3 of Heart Signal 4 got moved to Friday (today), and it seems to be a similar schedule of being available around 11 hours later, 9PM New York Time/Eastern Daylight Time. Future episodes will probably be on Friday too unless they change it again (due to low ratings and so on), as such expect subs to be out during the weekend as IIRC it was rare for shows (on Viki) to have subs on Monday instead of Saturday or Sunday.
But actually that did happen for a while with the earlier seasons of the Chinese version of Heart Signal, as in it would be stuck at about 95% completed subtitles for a good day, like some parts or dialogue were missing subtitles. Still watchable but sometimes key/etc. parts were glossed over. Viki subtitling teams are still composed of volunteer members, so keep that in mind if the subs are delayed for a while.
For the KOCOWA and VIU subs, expect them to be earlier than Viki but right now it seems that they may be delayed or after Viki, so who knows how it'll be for the next 10 episodes or so.
If you don't want to wait for Viki/VIU/KOCOWA/etc. subtitles (and to get ahead of spoilers), you guys can watch the raw Episode 3 on this Channel A (채널에이방송영상) channel (appears like an hour or so later): https://www.youtube.com/@user-sh4gc2fu9i/videos
Wait, wtf they just regionally restricted it this past week, lol, so a VPN set to Korea will probably unlock it. This was the link to Episode 2 of Heart Signal 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0IHJ44sQdg
That video for Episode 2 (from the Channel A (채널에이방송영상) channel) has no English/etc. subtitles, but with auto-generated Korean, you can use auto-translate to English/any desired language (it worked last week): https://www.reddit.com/koreanvariety/comments/13q991t/heart_signal_4_episode_2_230524/jlgihm0/
This is the link to Episode 3 of Heart Signal 4 from the Channel A (채널에이방송영상) channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSS5o-ExEA8
Oh and if you want to watch it live (there's advertisements and other shows around the Heart Signal 4 episode stream), then you can also visit the Channel A website: https://www.ichannela.com/com/cmm/onair.do
Note the release schedule in Korea: like UTC+9, Korean Standard Time, 10:50PM every Friday. That just translates to around 9:50AM New York Time/Eastern Daylight Time. So make sure to tune in around that specific time as otherwise you'll miss the episode release and get like a different thing, lol.
New Japanese dating show called "Is She the Wolf" on Netflix, kinda like Love Catcher: https://www.reddit.com/terracehouse/comments/13y0vbp/new_netflix_series_is_she_the_wolf_looks_like_it/jmkhyea/

Sooooo I'm about to finish my undergrad (English and Honours History) in Montreal. Originally I was thinking to go the masters route, be a historian, xyz. And who knows, maybe I will. But when I think about my passion it continues to come back to teaching, specifically elementary level.
I'm wondering how I would go about completing the math and science requirements after graduating. Would it be possible to apply to SFU and JUST take literally 2 courses before applying for the PDP? Could i take them online or at Douglas? Anyone been in this situation before? Thought i would ask here since the sub seems quite active.
Thanks y'all! :)

Hey there,
After going through the Wiki and some research within the sub and outside, I think I ended up with more questions then I started. I'll try to sumarize it here, but if necessary I break it down into other posts.
My goal is: to understand what license I can get and to decide for a bike for commuting, from home to work, for 2 people, me and my wife. I'm taller(185 and 150cm) than her and also I'm on the heavy weight side (110kg). Distance is about 10km (20km round trip) every workday. I have the chance to pass through the A12 (highway?), to arrive faster at home. I'm opting for a smalleweaker bike just for the commute and maybe ocasional drive though the country/areas close by Antwerp, performance and reparability are top priority. Longest trip might be to the coast. I have a B license since 2012. I haven't done any course here in Belgium, just exchanged the license from my country to here.
I learned how to ride many years ago(on a motocross bike, I don't remember the model). I don't have that much knowledge about the topic (maintenance, how to investigate issues on the bike, etc) but I'm also not completely ignorant to it. I like to dive into this area (my father was also a mechanic).
Questions about the license are:

• According to this site here, with my B license, I can start riding a bike after 4 hours of training. Which category that would be in the license? AM? A1? A2? This was not clear for me.
• After this 4hour training, do I need to talk to the stadshius to review my license?
• What is the name of this 4 hours couse?
• Is there a test for this case like in the other categories?
• I found out that I can have a translator for my exam, but I could not find if the study material is only available in Dutch, or there is a school or book in English? (I'm still learning Dutch)
• Usually how long are the lessons (for both theoretical and practical)?
• Is it possible to complete several lessons in the same week? or it is limited to 2 or days per week max? I want to take some days off work so I can finish this quickly if possible.
• Looking on the VAB site, I see that for a category A license I'll spend around €1500 only on the school, is there any other surprise cost involved?

​
General questions about motorcycling.

• What is a average cost with fuel you have? (I'm used to get public transport since always and I get the anual ticket, so for me is less than a euro a day).
• What is the advised budget for the extra costs? (Gear + insurance + other docs & plate)
• In the end, how much you spent with "transport" related costs per month?
• Where can I do the other steps after the purchase (insurance and the other), on the dealership or in the bank/insurance company?
• On my street I don't see many motorcycles, how does it work to "park" you bike on the side walk? I don't have a garage for the moment.
• Work colleagues said to be cautious because there is a lot of stealing of bike in the city center where I live. Also, which kind of devices do you use? Alarm + chain + disk break lock?
• What is the lifespan of a bike with this light use that I proposed? I imagine I won't change to a highestronger bike anytime soon.

​
Suggestions for a first timer.

• Looking through other posts, I found as a suggestions in the low level of power (125 cc), the HONDA CBR 125R, this is looking like a race motorcycle for me (I really liked this one BTW).
• With a budget of about 2.5k€ (I can got up 3.5k, but I'm trying to focus just the commuting for now) what could be a good option that can carry 2 people securely? I don't mind 2nd hand options, but I'd need to learn what is a trap and what is a good deal.
• Is there any brand that is more "reparable" than others? I would prefer to try to do it myself for the simple things (I don't know any trustworthy mechanics here).

​
Apologies if the questions are silly or dumb, is just that I have no contacts or close friends to explain how things here in Belgium work, and the driving school I contacted is not getting back to me.
Thanks a lot in advance, your support is much appreciated.

Pls keep in mind that english is not my first language, i apologize for any mistakes i will make. Also this is kind of a rant, i don‘t think it‘ll come far but i hope i might get some emotional support. My (F18) boyfriend (M19) are 4 years together (1st year normal and since then distance). We had our ups and downs, even on and offs. But it‘s almost a year back since we last broke up. He was my first everything and I was his first real and serious relationship.
We got together when i was 13 or 14 and he 14 or 15, so we were both really immature. In the beginning until 1 and a half or 2 years we were both pretty toxic. But he and i really changed a lot. We also didnt see much because of the distance and my mom. Idk if it’s necessary but for context i will put both our past in here, so maybe you can better understand where we both are coming from.
To me: i was in asian. My mom got pregnant pretty young and my bio dad went to grab some milk. She then met my current dad and we moved to Europe when i was very little. I cant even speak my moms language anymore. The got divorced a few years ago and i now live with my mom and stepdad (they arent married) and i visit my dad every other week. I was an only child but now i have a half sister and some step siblings. My dad was always the chilled one and my mom is typical asian strict. She would verbally and emotionally abuse me and it sometimes got physical. Cps got called one time but after a half year they stopped visiting (i said so) it got better but since i turned 18 and also months before she kind of used me for many house chores. I could gell more about it but it’s a different story. Well because of that i‘m acting like a crybaby and have no self-esteem. I could cry over such small things and get hurt because of simple words. In my group of friends i have the reputation to be strong and having a dark humor. So lets say i have different faces around particular people. In the lasts years till now i have thoughts to end it. I almost cry every night because of various things. Be it school, friends, family or my relationship. I don‘t want to say anything further, i don‘t think someone around me has reddit and especially don‘t think someone follows this sub, but im paranoid and it kinda hurts talking out loud. So lets summarize: though childhood, my character got damaged, i have too many problems with my self but im still here :D
About him: he‘s from islam culture. he was born where we currently live. His childhood where way worst than mine. He really got abused. I'm not exaggerating. His childhood was really bad. He wasn’t even allowed to go outside and meet with his friends. I think you know what i mean. His parents were narcissist and they had ridiculous rules. As one of the oldest siblings he had to protect his younger siblings.before his teens started he already was rebellious. Provoking, getting in trouble… even outside of family. In school, streets, drinking, smoking weed. He even got quite well-known because of this. When he moved away it all went down after a year. His parents separated and his siblings had to go to orphanages (?) and he moved to an apartment and started working. He was still a minor back then so if he didn‘t started to work he had to follow his younger siblings which he didnt want to. It was pretty though for him and especially money was tight. No he‘s doing much better but i can see and sometimes he also talks about that he feels so bad. Also thoughts of ending it. Since he live‘s alone he does things he wasn’t allowed to do, like spending time with friends or going out late, drinking and more. Also his job is quite hard. Even there is a toxic atmosphere and it damages him really hard and drags him down even more. Short summary: Shitty parents, bad childhood, now he lives alone and is pretty lonely thats why he does what he does.
Now to our relationship: Our communicating is much better than in the past but since we have a distance relationship it‘s still rough sometimes. And the fact that we are both surrounded by toxic people doesn’t help. Since i turned 18 we see each other much more. We also call everyday, normal or face time. We also talked about marriage, it has been a topic for really long time
Finally to the problem. My bf is almost everyday away with his friends, smoking, drinking, idk. I met them, i don’t really like them but they aren‘t my friends and i don’t want to forbid him his friends. But i have many personal problems with them. One of them even knows i don’t like him. I have a list of things why i have a problem: 1. he is neglecting me when it comes to them. He makes plans with them while he‘s with me (mind that we dont see each other often, and his friends are always there. 2. he makes plans with them and meets them while i am with him. He makes plans with them everyday and still meet them when i am with him. Why would he do that when we only have a limited time for us? 3. he made plans with him for a whole international vacation without even considering me. I know that sounds controlling, but we also had plans to go on vacation in the next summer. And now we are going somewhere here pretty cheap. Its not like we wound spend much. It‘ll definitely cost much, but we could‘ve go somewhere really special. I was really looking forward to it and he knew that. But thats a minimal problem i guess 4. he would change plans for them even if he had plans with me. 5. we wanted to meet last time around noon. He had to drive two hours. And he just arrived at 5pm. 6. i am always waiting for him to get back from hang outs and he would get me wait for 1-2 hours. And sometimes wont even get on the phone when i call because its somehow uncomfortable? 7. he knows i have trouble socializing and i can understand its not really his problem. But he literally wanted me to go home at night alone because he wanted to drink more with his friends. 8. he would drink with them all. The. Time. When i want to drink with him he says „yeah next time“ „i dont like drinking but if you really want to we can“. While he makes some kind of competition who drinks more.
Those are problems which seem smaller than they are. I do not have the emotional strength to go through all that again and explaining it further. I will them soon again and he says he will go out the whole night. He said he will bring me home when i have enough and go back and let me alone there.
I am really upset. I am shaking and crying right now because of that. I really wished at least one person would prioritize me, but i am always second option. Also again. Its a rant. I am just talking about negative feelings. Don‘t see he bad, he‘s still wonderful. But i just had to talk about it.
Anyways, hope yall are good
with best regards Y

Seasons 1, 2 & 3's rewrite: https://www.reddit.com/EliteNetflix/comments/13yr0za/fixing_netflix_elite_season_13_english/
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S4. Attempted assassination of Rebeka Bermujo Ávalos: “A very strict principal and four new students arrive at Las Encinas who attack with love entanglements, serious rumors and a mystery that has just come out of the oven”.
Season 4 Characters List:

1. Samuel García Dominguez.
2. Guzmán Nunier Osuna.
3. Valerio Montesinos Rojas.
4. Rebeka Parilla.
5. Cayetana Grajera Pando.
6. Christian Varela Expósito (recurrent).
7. Nadia Shanaa (guest).
8. Felipe Rosón Caleruega.
9. Patrick Blanco Benavent.
10. Ariadna Blanco Benavent.
11. Mencía Blanco Benavent.
12. Benjamín Blanco.
13. Armando de la Ossa.

• This season is probably going to be another one of the longest in terms of changes, as I feel like it was the worst of the six we've had so far, which is a huge mistake given all the big departues we've had in S3. The success of this season was something important because it meant the interest of the old fans for future seasons.
• The mistake of this season, I feel, was using the arrival of the new cast to completely divert the focus of attention from what had been the plot of the story (Marina's murder, which led to Polo's murder). The story of this season should have followed the consequences of Polo's death for our characters, the weight of the pact of silence regarding Lu, and the non-hypersexualized harmony that the first three seasons had between his characters.
• In this sense, it would make both this season and T5 keep the same vibes that they presented to us for season 6, first of all, lowering the morbidity and unnecessary sex scenes that we had since this season, creating more cohesion in the "individuality ” of the student uniforms, and creating an environment of more togetherness between characters, rather than many separate stories coming together at the end.
• In addition, from this season several things about the school itself raised in previous seasons seem to have been forgotten just like that:

1. Las Encinas is a bilingual school, but we never see another teacher speaking English (French in the English dubbing) again.
2. The school competition with the Ivy League prize that Nadia and Lu compete for during the first three seasons is not mentioned again, when it is supposed to be something that is done every single year.
3. In addition, from this season almost all the scenes are located almost exclusively inside the school, and we see very little about outdoor scenes, or the private lives of the characters. This is also a serious mistake, since that was what best allowed us to know each other's backgrounds, and create empathy with them.

Season 4 Scoop:
Ari, Patrick and Mencía:

• We would find out that they are adopted children of Benjamin: they introduce us to their family in the midst of an experimentation of great anguish, why not add another factor? Also, I feel like it works because none of them look much alike physically, nor do they seem to fully connect with each other (we were led to believe that Patrick and Ari were twins, when their relationship is more toxic than many Elite romantic couples).
• The three of them would enter the third year, that is, a course below the one that Samuel & company are repeating (making Patrick and Ari two years younger than them, and Mencía three, since they originally tell us that she is one year ahead, together to his siblings).

Benjamín Blanco: The father of the new trio, and the new principal of Las Encinas, after Azucena's dismissal. In the middle of the season, we find out that he is actually Polo's uncle (his late wife was Begoña Benavent's sister). The compound last name of his children is Blanco Benavent, instead of Blanco Commerford.

• Benjamín would have come to Madrid to help his sister-in-law regarding her son's trial, and to try to obtain information about this, by infiltrating the school, since apparently, despite Christian's guilty plea, there does not seem to have been direct evidence implicating him as the killer, beyond the romantic bond the two shared, so police say it's quite possible he'll be released for lack of evidence.
• They tell us that Benjamin asked his three children for "help" to try to find out what really happened with Polo. However, Ari is the only one who accepted his request for help. Patrick and Mencía try to act as if that doesn't happen. Neither of the three mentions that Polo was their cousin.
• This means that Benjamin and Ari would act as the main antagonists of the season, with the other two siblings being indirect antagonists.

Felipe Rosón Caleruega:

• Felipe is Carla's (almost unknown) younger brother whom we would have finally met briefly during her graduation the previous season. Apparently, he had spent all those years attending a sister private school of Las Encinas located in Argentina, called Las Cumbres, and when we got to know him properly this season we would discover that it was not his idea to return to live in Madrid, but rather a decision made by his parents. We would later learn that he had actually been expelled from his last school, and that there is something about his past in England that he is trying to keep secret.
• Between the middle of the season it's revealed that Felipe's "dark past" is based on his having anger management problems: a video is revealed in which he is seen together with a group of students attacking another boy. They tell us that there is a heavy complaint against him, and the case is still on trial, and only thanks to the influence of his parents was he able to avoid being arrested.
• It's revealed that he's bisexual, and we're shown that he starts having some kind of secret crush on Patrick, both of them having this whole homoerotic friendship thing.
• This character would become related to the second main plot of this season, which in the future would become the main plot for later seasons:

⠀⠀⠀ → We know that his father, Teodoro Rosón, after the end of Season 3 became the sole owner of the old company that he co-directed with Ventura Nunier (Guzmán's father) who was arrested at the end of S1 for embezzlement towards the School of San Esteban (the school from which Samu, Nadia and Christian received scholarships at the beginning of S1, after its collapse).
⠀⠀⠀ → We now learn that Teodoro plans to rebuild a Public School again on top of the ruins of San Esteban, this time by "legal means" to avoid the same fate as Ventura, but still solely for the economic purposes that would result from such construction, and a new scholarship program that this new school would have with Las Encinas.
⠀⠀⠀ → During the next season, the construction of this new institution would have finished, and we would have new scholarship recipients in Las Encinas, coming from this new school. This would be part of the "reboot" that the next generation would mean for Elite.

• Felipe's character would be a direct reinvention of Philippe von Triesenberg's character, which would mean that said character is completely removed from the series script.
• The reason behind his origin as Carla's younger brother arises to create a kind of instant empathy with him, based on his connection with whom was one of our queens for three years.

Rebeka (not Ari) is the main victim of the season:

• One of the biggest misses of the season was making one of the new guys the victim; especially Ari, who among the three, was the one that generated the least empathy in the public. Without changing the original story too much, seeing from the first episode that Rebeka's life is in danger would have aroused much more interest among the entire audience.
• As originally, Rebeka would end up in the hospital because of Armando, after having found out what Mencía was going through all season, and having confronted him to defend her. It's the same story that Ari had, but in a much more interesting and functional way.

Love triangle Samuel/Ari/Guzmán: It never happens.

• It was a pretty dire plot that only increased the public's hatred towards Ari for having separated Nadia and Guzmán, and for being the reason for the loss of all the development that Guzmán and Samu's relationship had had for three seasons.
• Instead, only Samuel remains her love interest, setting up that possible future "fatheson" connection between him and Benjamin.
• Guzmán, for his side, would continue to have a long-distance love relationship with Nadia through video calls, and towards the end of the season, she surprises him with a visit to Madrid.

⠀⠀⠀ → Samuel and Ari's relationship would not be there just as one more of the season, but would serve as an element for the plot: Ari would have approached Samuel after learning that he was Christian's close friend (the accused in Polo's murder) to try to obtain information. However, her feelings towards him would become true over the course of the season, thus seeing a kind of development in her character, which would allow the public to empathize with her.
Guzmán & Mencía: Both become close friends, based on how much Guzmán would see Marina in Mencía [For those who didn't know, Mencía was written as a reformulation of Marina's character, adapted to the needs of the new environment with this "new gen"].
As mentioned before, Philippe's character is eliminated as a new character: his plot was something very delicate that I think was not handled well, and in the future it would be remedied with the entry and development of Isadora's story. With Philippe gone, Cayetana's as his love interest is eliminated.

• After everything that happened with Polo the previous season, Cayetana is at a point in her life where she is not capable of being in another relationship. Her plot remains only in the way that she wants to change her future and focus on her design career, perhaps having aftermath of everything that happened with Polo, making her start having anxiety attacks (but treating the subject delicately, with her beginning to see a specialist by Rebbe's obligation).
• We would see how Caye tries to seek support from Valerio, because of "Polo's issue" and the connection that Valerio also had with him, but she is frustrated when she realizes that Valerio seems to have coped with all this issue through the use of drugs. Another possible plot for her would be her attempt to help him (parallels to her original attempt to help Philippe).
• Cayetana would be an easy second target for Ari, in her attempt to find information about Polo for her father. However, she would not achieve much due to the gap between them throughout the season.

Patrick + Valerio:

• "Replacement" for Ander-Patrick-Omar's idea, without the drama and toxicity that this trio represented. Ander and Omar are gone. Valerio and Patrick? Both are wild partiers with drug-abusing tendencies. Let's match them up and watch them explode and burn, because that would be so much funny.
• Later it could be revealed (or not) that Patrick would have approached Valerio at Ari's request, to try to obtain some information regarding Polo's case, at the insistence of their father.

Christian subplot:

• Following the story line proposed at the end of T3, Christian would be in prison for a large part of this fourth season, whether it was due to a nefarious action by the justice system, or by his own plea to defend Lu and "pay" for his silence regarding Marina's death. The scenes with him are based on visits given to him by Samuel, or even perhaps Guzmán, in prison.
• His permanence this season would be used to generate tension for the public, especially since (as mentioned at the beginning), the police would end up releasing him, due to lack of evidence against him. Let's say they take his statement as a result of the alcohol he drank at the party.
• It is his potential (and definitive) release from prison, which causes the arrival of the Benjamins in Madrid, with Benjamin trying to seek justice for the family of his dead wife.

Valerio's possible death?:

• Yes, it would be something tragic. And I'm trying to avoid this whole "one character death per season" thing. But (in a way) it's something that might make sense: Valerio dies of an overdose, "completing circle" in his drug addiction plot, but not forcing murder into the season.
• Yet at the same time it might seem like too much for audiences (since, remember, we would have waited all season to see whether or not we would eventually lose Rebekah, and whether or not Christian would finally get out of prison. Keep them only to lose him, it could be a little too much).
• Whether or not he died, Valerio would leave the school at the end of this season (another viable option for his departure could be, perhaps, by Patrick's action after Valerio's possible overdose, using Benjamin's influence to get him help at a clinic, similar to Christian's original ending, but this time out of Patrick's honest concern for Valerio, and not out of wanting to "get him out of his way").

Armando's fate:

• HE IS NOT KILLED BY GUZMÁN. Seriously, how did the writers come up with the idea that the character we met SEEKING JUSTICE FOR THE CRIME AGAINST HIS SISTER would become the new criminal face, not facing the consequences and ending his story with him running away to avoid charges? Just... no!!
• Armando is imprisoned: During the last episode we see Mencía crying in the hospital, blaming herself for the possibility of losing Rebe because of her. She finally comes clean; Not with her father, not with Ari, not with Patrick... but with Guzmán. Guzmán is the only person she trusts enough to admit the truth about Armando. Just at that moment, Rebekah wakes up. The rest is simply a competent action on the part of justice.

Guzmán drops out of school: At the end of the season, we see how he decides to join Nadia in the US.

• It's reveal that he feels guilty for getting away from everyone, especially because of what he has just discovered about Mencía. Her “brotherly instinct” tells him that he must stay to protect her, but in the end they show us a scene of both saying goodbye to each other in peace, and Mencía crying, thanking him for having put Armando in jail.
• There would be a farewell scene between him and Samuel, closing their plot as "brothers".

Outcome of Ari-Samuel Subplot, linked to Polo:

• At some point near the season finale, Samuel would learn of Ari's and her family's connection to Polo's family, and the real reasons she had reached out to him. He would break up with her right then.
• Ari finally confesses the rest of the story, filling in the puzzle pieces that Samuel was missing. He claims that it hadn't all been fake, not for her: she had really fallen for him.
• As a possible redemption ending for the character, Ari vows not to tell her father about the truth after Polo's death, guided by the love she had come to feel for Samuel.

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T5. Murder of Samuel Garcia Dominguez: "Another semester begins in Las Encinas that brings new love triangles, new students, new rules... and a new crime that leaves everyone baffled".
Season 5 Characters List:

1. Samuel García Dominguez.
2. Rebeka Parilla.
3. Cayetana Grajera Pando.
4. Felipe Rosón Caleruega.
5. Patrick Blanco Benavent.
6. Ariadna Blanco Benavent.
7. Mencía Blanco Benavent.
8. Isadora Artiñán.
9. Iván Carvalho.
10. Cruz Carvalho.
11. Benjamín Blanco.

Isadora & Iván's arrival: Elite timeline is confusing because Season 1 is supposed to pertain to an individual school year. Seasons 2 and 3 belong to two semesters of the same year, just like seasons 4 and 5. This would mean that Isadora and Iván would be entering Las Encinas in the middle of the semester, without any explanation. We could remedy this by giving him a simple explanation that would, incidentally, unite the two of them like the best friends T6 would have us believe they are, when we've barely seen too many interactions between them:

• Isa and Iván are exchange students: they both already knew each other, since they came from the very same private school in Argentina as Felipe.
• They enter the same course as Patrick, Ari, Mencía and Felipe, that is: they are also two years younger than Samuel & Co.

Patrick/Ari/Ivan triangle: It never happens.

• Let's stop poisoning the Blancos so much. Enough with the whole Ivan/Patrick/Cruz thing.

Love triangle, Patrick-Felipe-Iván:

• Created to compensate for the cuts I made in season 4 with AndePatrick/Omar, with Samuel/Ari/Guzmán, and this season, with Patrick/Ari/Iván. The three of them would have a possible temporary dynamic, initiated by Patrick despite the fact that Ivan and Felipe were in the closet at the time.

We would be introduced, in a secondary way, to some of the new characters of season 6 (in a similar way to how S6 gave us a first introduction to Sonia, a character signed as main for T7). Among them:

• Bilal, a student belonging to the new public school built by Teo Rosón on the foundations of the old San Esteban.
• Dídac, being seen close to Javier, as one of the JavieHugo/Alex group. He does not participate in the attack on Isadora at the end of the season.
• Nico, having already transitioned, but still not getting the document from him officially identifying him as a man. It is said that his d-name is Nicole (although everyone already calls him Nico). We saw one or two scenes of him close to Isadora and Mencía, before his official presentation in T6.
• Rocío may be another of the people close to the girls, perhaps as a new waitress at the Club del Lago, where she would meet Bilal. In the following season it could be explained that the reason for having been working at the Club was that her father had canceled her credit cards.

Graduation: Samuel and Rebeka officially graduate from Las Encinas, similar to what we saw for the rest of the characters in S3 (but without Valerio and Guzmán, as both would have dropped out in S4).
Samuel death: It would still happen, and it would still be at the hands of Benjamin. However, the reasons could turn out to be different:

• Ari would have started to move away from her father this season, after the last scene we would have had of her and Samu at the end of S4. She would refuse to continue investigating her classmates and friends for him.
• She and Samu would have ended up the previous season, but they would still somehow not let go of each other. Benjamin realizes this, and begins to suspect that Samuel has something to do with Ari's refusal to want to continue helping him.
• Benjamin would begin to suspect that Samuel had "washed her mind" to Ari to leave the Polo case aside because he himself had been involved, in some way, following the fact of his closeness with Christian, and that he would discover that Samu had been visiting him in prison the previous semester. Benjamín would had been blackmailing Samu for the past few months to give him information about it. Samuel would not have opened his mouth (remember, in S3 a pact of silence was made to protect Lucrecia).
• In a final fit of rage trying to make him confess, Benjamin ends up pushing him into the pool, where Samu hits his head on the edge, bleeding to death.

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T6. Ivan's accident, and subsequent coma: “After the death of a student, Las Encinas faces a new school year trying to have an image wash by covering up past disasters. The students try to achieve their goals, but will they all reach their goal alive?
Season 6 Characters List:

1. Felipe Rosón Caleruega.
2. Patrick Blanco Benavent.
3. Ariadna Blanco Benavent.
4. Mencía Blanco Benavent.
5. Isadora Artiñán.
6. Iván Carvalho.
7. Nicolás “Nico” Fernandez.
8. Dídac.
9. Sara.
10. Rocío.
11. Raúl.
12. Cruz Carvalho.

The season begins three months after the murder of Samuel and the imprisonment of Benjamín Blanco.

• Rebeka graduated from Las Encinas and left Madrid. Also Caye is gone.
• The three Benjamins + Felipe, Isadora & Iván are beginning their last year at Las Encinas. Dídac and Sara are also in the same course as them.
• It would be implied that Nico and Rocío are a junior class.

The events of season 6 happen in a very similar way to what we originally saw, since that season was thought of as a reboot of the show, and it returned to recover all the vibes of the first generation. As I mentioned in the S4 section, at this point the sexual morbidity of the show was greatly reduced, and at all times there was a great feeling of togetherness, even with the new characters (something that, I dare say, we had never had before in Elite, not even with the original gen).
Isadora's plot:

• This story remains largely the same, finally getting the justice she had been seeking since the previous season.
• The only thing that would change in this plot is the part of "justice into one's own hand" (referring to the chemical sterilization of heraggressors). And let's see, I UNDERSTAND why, her context of "justice failed me", but I feel that at the script level, the message of the series of "an eye for an eye / fire with fire" is very wrong, ESPECIALLY if at the end she was going to have that closure of justice that the plot and the character deserve.

Cruz Calvalho's plot: the hate crime plot against Cruz is also removed…

• I understand that it's a key point in the Season, and honestly when I saw it I did "like it", although I felt a lot of helplessness and pity. But really, Cruz was a character who was SUPER promising for the future, a publicly gay professional footballer? Even today, with all the acceptance that exists, the number of players openly belonging to the LGBTIQ+ community can seriously be counted on the fingers of one hand.
• Cruz's public coming out could mean so many things publicly, and it was going to break an entire status quo… and they just made him die for a hate crime because he is who he is.
• I know that it tries to represent the reality in which we are living, BUT, in the show, the real reason for his death is based on causing a rupture between Patrick and Iván's relationship… so there THAT is my problem: Cruz exposes himself because he knew that Iván and Patrick had something special, that Patrick was important to his son. So simply killing him to make those characters break up? For what, what use would it all have been? Nope…just not.

Relationships of the season, without too many changes:

• Patrick and Iván (without the breakup or the toxicity that they originally carried this season): Let's say they had a fight at the end of S6 for x reasons, which did make Iván tell Patrick that he didn't want to see him again. This being Patrick's reason for leaving him while he was in the hospital.
• Isadora and Dídac: Without too many changes. Both belong to two families in charge of hotels, which are competitors in Spain. A possible Romeo & Juliet style posed for S7.
• Rocío and Bilal: Same plot, with him approaching her for the sole reason of getting a benefit from her (for her money).
• Ari and Nico. Same plot.
• Raul and Sara. Same plot.

We would still have the departure of the Blanco siblings for the end, but this time, it would NOT be having "reconciled" with their father.

• Ari would eventually testify AGAINST him, for Samuel's crime.
• They had come to Las Encinas in search of information about Polo, but only at the request of his father. It was not something that interested them, and they had nothing to continue doing there. In addition, there was the Mencía "thing" with Iván's accident…
• For the first time we would see Ari in the position of a true big sister, taking action to protect her family (as we originally saw). As a symbolic way of Ari's detachment from her father, we see her refusing to be called that way again, since "Ari" was her father's nickname for her. From that day on, she would be Ariadna… not Ariadna Blanco, but with her mother last name... Ariadna Benavent.

Knowing that Iván's character is still signed for S7 (unlike Patrick; this is confirmed by Manu's absence at the beginning of the season recordings), we could achieve a fitting ending for this couple by using a Short Story between Seasons 6 and 7.
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Anddddddd here it is! My take for a rewrite of this show, which I feel started at the top of everything and gradually went down in quality, although it still has a lot of potential. I'm proud of how all six seasons turned out as a whole, though I still feel like these last three seasons feel a bit incomplete compared to the first ones. So what do you guys think? Would you add or take away something that I added? Did you like the changes? I'm new here, and this is my first real post on reddit, so I'd really appreciate your feedback ^-^

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Intro

To preface this review, I just need to say that this is going to be a very, very long read. Going through it myself just for the fun of it takes around 30 minutes — it's almost 7k words of text, including lyric references. So for the best experience, listen to the album beforehand to understand what the hell I was thinking when I wrote this review, play the album while reading, and set a good amount of time aside.
Another thing to get out of the way: yes, this is 9 months late 😭 I'm not sorry — when I find an album review online it's always around a paragraph per song or even shorter. It makes sense from a journalistic perspective, but I want to do this album justice, hence taking 7 months to write out all my thoughts.
This shit is comprehensive, and possibly a bit too overanalyzed and wordy, especially in Talk that Talk and Trouble. Each song review will compose of my commentary going over the song, writing the details I noticed through months of listening, followed by a conclusion. Also, mild swearing warning, I like implementing a touch of "French" when I'm very emotional about something. Anyway, onto the review!
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Between 1&2 💞

Album Review
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TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT
TELL ME WHAT YOU NEED
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Talk that Talk 🎙

Lead producer: collapsedone
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One of the most perfect TWICE songs.
I think this is one of TWICE’s best-sounding title tracks. Warm modulated synths, a thrumming bass line, distant bells, shimmering synths — the purpose of this song is to be fun and my god is it excellent at it, like… Sana and Chaeyoung are saying knock-knock-knock and beep-beep-beep as if they’re some kind of car. So much fun.
Further along in the verse, Dahyun’s voice sounds so full and smooth with that harmony layered on top. Tzuyu coming in with the Yes or Yes, Push & Pull, and 1 to 10 references — these are 5 years of song references in one line. And Jeongyeon closes the pre-chorus accompanied by a rising synth to drop into chorus one. Jeongyeon slays pre-choruses.
The drums accelerate, the synths start blasting, and Jihyo opens to that party of a chorus with her godly vocals,
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Tell me what you want
Tell me what you need
A to Z da malhaebwa
But shijageun ireoke have
Talk that talk ttak han madi
Talk that talk L-O-V-E
deullyeojweo ooh
Now now now now now yeah~

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During Sana's Talk that Talk~ lines there’s this ascending synth bell that gently rings with the descending melody and it sounds absolutely gorgeous. And the choreography during that part of the chorus is so so so so fun: the talking hands bit, spelling L-O-V-E, concluding with the deullyeojweo ooh! Oh my god Jihyo the deullyeojweo ooh…
Have I mentioned this song is fun?
Speeding through verse 2; Chaeyoung’s little part with the cat ears popping in the music video is adorable; Momo’s part with her stretching her arms out looks so damn cool; and Dahyun with her replay part sounds so lovely — although I think it sonically sounds a touch random, it makes sense thematically.
And now for this pre-chorus. Mina and Jihyo leading into it sound great BUT JEONGYEON… Now, she is my ult bias, and this pre-chorus sounds almost identical to the first one, but the way she holds that final note, enunciating and holding that now~ for one more beat before the chorus drops sounds so goddamn perfect — the song teeters on a cliff edge. Jeongyeon slays pre-choruses.
Dropping into the second chorus and man, Jihyo powered through that first chorus, but the way Nayeon delivers it just hits different. She has this indescribable “pop” voice (I promise this wasn't on purpose) that stands out and shouts this is THE chorus. I think this is especially apparent in how both lead into their choruses where Jihyo starts the chorus at 120% power while Nayeon waits until [Tell me] WHAT YOU WANT to full-send it. Later in the chorus, she also highlights “malhaebwa” in a similar way.
Another deullyeojweo ooh! Nayeon travels to Narnia, and Mina the engineer strikes again in this heavenly, underwater-esque bridge,
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The simple words “I love you”
That’s all I wanna hear
Without hesitation, I’ll go up to you
I’ll make it simple
And just tell you I love you

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The word “love” is said for the first time in the song. There’s a funky keyboard-like instrument behind Chaeyoung’s part. Jihyo, Chaeyoung, and Nayeon take the initiative in their lyrics, professing their love before closing the bridge.
And now for the pièce-de-résistance: this final double chorus is exceptional — 40 seconds of crack-laced euphoria; Jihyo switches up the chorus and the choreo, Dahyun comes in with her airy and fluttery “Talk that Talk”, Momo comes out of nowhere with “oh yeah it sounds so good!” — you’re damn right it does, and this is where the song SOARS.
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han beon deo~ haejweo
geurae banggeum geu mal~

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Nayeon outright shouts “Tell me what you need” and then Jeongyeon sings the above lines in such an ethereal, warm way that the first line ascends while the second line descends, causing a lull in the song before the finale with Nayeon finishing off the song with the final deullyeojweo ooh! What a party. What a song.
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THE GOOD

• The synths of all time
• The chimes during Talk-that-talk~
• Jeongyeon’s pre-chorus going into Nayeon’s chorus
• The entirety of that magical, double-shot, final chorus and outro
• Solid line distribution

Needs Work

• The opening hook (Tell me what you want) and accompanying choreography could be “catchier”

Core Memory

• Singing (and dancing) my heart out when this song played at a K-pop club

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Lyrics and theme-wise, if this were to have been TWICE’s last comeback, they’ve once again built upon the theme they've been doing since debut: a Bildungsroman, a coming-of-age story.
This song’s chorus is so honest yet so simple; it asks the listener, in this case, the other half of the relationship, to be more upfront and open with their love (never be scared of love) that before the relationship can continue and flourish there has to be a foundation and commitment of love between each other.
TWICE debuted with a song about making your crush go ooh ahh. Years later, they started maturing after asking “What is love?” by imagining their crush responding with “yes” when asking them out — and now concluding with the phrase “Talk that talk, [talk that] L-O-V-E”, being upfront with the relationship, wishing their partner to also be happy, to commit to them, to feel the love that they want to impart on them. From gawking like ooh-ahh to talking out your shared love like real adults — to having a true relationship between (one and) two.
And can I just say before finishing off Talk that Talk's review that this is such a fun and repeatable song with many little intricacies hidden in the nonet’s vocals and the production. This is the third draft I’m writing about Talk that Talk and its original word count pretty much quadrupled.
Harkening back to TWICE’s roots by combining mature thinking with youthful character, an incredible ending to look forward to, and just simply being a club-banger that’s easy to listen to, TTT is an easy 10/10.
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WATCH ME GO WATCH ME GO
RULE THE WORLD
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Queen of Hearts 👑

Lead producer: LDN Noise of SM
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If there was one B-side to promote in a live clip, this was a solid choice.
Helmed by LDN Noise going headlong into the Western boy-group rock-band aesthetic, Queen of Hearts is a boom-boom-clap song through and through. The drums are very prominent throughout the song, only giving room to riffs of electric guitar in the chorus to drive and continue the momentum of the music.
And speaking of the chorus, vocal line each got a chorus to flex and they did not fuck around,
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You ain’t ready for it
Watch me go~ watch me go~
Rule the world
Know you never doubted baby
I’mma go run the whole universe~

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Cymbals crashing, drums booming, and 3MIX belting all just so sound so equally good.
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Baby I was born to rule~~
Yeah I’m the queen, I’m the queen
And it’s all because of you~~
That I’m the Queen of Hearts

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These long, held-out notes performed by Jihyo and Nayeon are simply exquisite. Along with the shredding guitar, the drum set coming in full, and the interludes by Dahyun, Momo, and Chaeyoung, this is the part of the song that always, always, gives me goosebumps — it sounds so visceral, so energetic, so fun, so triumphant. Boom-boom-clap songs can be hit or miss with people, but there is no denying that the payoff from the first part of the chorus to this second part is worth the wait.
The theme of the song so far has been kind of spread around the song. The chorus alludes to it with the line "And it’s all because of you." But Mina shows more sides of it in the second verse, especially with the phrase
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And now that I’m surrounded by all my girls
We be shining bright like diamonds and pearls

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It sounds really lovely — in a very cheesy and affectionate kind of way, as it rightfully should — the song is about the girls and their fans. But the bridge is where the song indeed shows its colours
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Screaming out my name
See it in the stage lights
Feel so lucky just to have ya
Cause I know deep down I was meant for something bigger! Greater!
I know you’re seeing what I see
Yeah I’ll be everything you need
I know I’m gonna walk the walk
And talk the talk to be~ [the Queen of Hearts]

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This is a song CONCEIVED TO BE PERFORMED FOR THE FANS. It’s meant to be loud. It’s meant to be unapologetic. It’s meant to be sappy. And it’s all the more wonderful for it.
This is the TWICEiest shit ever.
Like Talk that Talk, Queen of Hearts also has a killer closer. The production already started to grow from the bridge, but now the guitarist finally went Super Saiyan and instead of supporting the drums, they both take the centrepiece in tandem, ending the chorus with a little shred.
Then finally, the closing moments of the song even manage to squeeze in some more sappiness.
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So thank you for the memories
You’re all the ones who made me~
So thank you for the memories
That I’m the Queen of Hearts

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I still can’t believe that this banger is a FAN SONG out of all things. Truly, the TWICEiest shit ever.
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THE GOOD

• Adorable fucking lyrics
• Unrelenting, roaring chorus
• English and vocal flex
• Addicting guitar riffs

Needs Work

• Chaeyoung rapping in English in their Korean songs somehow slaps harder than her English rapping in their English songs, nonetheless, in QoH, it fits with the sound of the song

Life Highlight

• Walking home from a K-pop festival with this song playing, felt like a Queen of Hearts

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I love these types of rock songs with how grunge and head-bang-able they are, there is just a certain nostalgic and cheesy quality to them that feels so appropriate and cozy. I don’t love putting them on repeat, because in this case, I do believe there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Perhaps more shredding, maybe even a guitar solo to rock out to, or more gusto from the drums, cymbals, bass guitar, or an accompaniment(!) of ad-libs from 3MIX to support Jihyo’s final chorus? A ONCE can dream of a truly bombastic rock song from TWICE. But then again that distracts from the core of what this song is: a fan song undercover as a rock song.
Queen of Hearts has so much sweetness in its lyrics and message that it's overflowing. The drums, guitar, and vocals can be as loud and intricate as they can, but the theme of this song is what makes it special from TWICE’s other rock songs, especially for fans of this type of sound — it’s a 9/10 for me.
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I WANNA WANNA WANNA
TAKE YOU TO THE BASICS
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Basics 🌈

Sole lyricist credit: Chaeyoung
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Quite possibly the jammiest (pun intended) song of the album.
A song written by the Strawberry Princess herself — an event similar in frequency to other artists' releases with her last song being 2020’s silky Handle It — Basics first starts with an understated and dreamy delivery. After the first stanza, however, a bouncy Miami bass line emerges, revealing the true nature of the song: this is a classic summer bop!
This is especially apparent in the first rap.
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dareun aedeulgwaneun dalla
Ain’t beggin’ for love
nappeun geon anijana ige naraseo
eodiro twilji molla
Like rainbow bubble gum
geureoni nal kkwak butjabadweo

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Syllables are pronounced in a relaxed nature, bars often starting with an "ah" sound, flirty lines in English — this rap features a production full of pop with R&B flourishes and, in my opinion, this is Chaeyoung’s bag. Also, the line rainbow bubblegum is so adorable and so Chaeyoung.
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I wanna wanna wanna take it to the basics
da weonhae weonhae weonhae? seodureuji ma Baby
ppeonhae ppeonhae malhae mweohae da al tende
Ah yeah ah yeah ah yeah ah yeah

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That chorus is pure pop with a Miami bass backing; you better be bopping your head to the melody, if not booty poppin' to the bassline. Chaeyoung loves rhyming in the first half of the chorus to enhance its catchiness and it's damn incredible: the “wanna”, “weonhae”, and “ppeonhae” all combine to create these imperfect rhymes that continue momentum without feeling repetitive.
After the very Boy With Luv-sounding “ah yeah ah yeah, ah yeah ah yeah” comes an 8-bar split half and half between Chaeyoung and Momo. Coming from the chorus, the production completely cuts out for the first 2 bars. This adds tension; the song yearns to have that bass beat thumping again and all we have in the audio space in those 2 bars is Chaeyoung spitting and she delivered.
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taneun deut tteugeoun samak wie
yeppeuge pieonan jangmi gata
joshimseure naege dagaol ttae
nado moreuge jjilleobeoril tende

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Translating to:
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Above the hot, burning desert
It’s like a rose that bloomed beautifully
When you come to me slowly
I will prick you unconsciously

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The rap feels slick, effortless, and confident. Her diction remains sharp when enunciating each syllable but she doesn’t let the flow of her rap waver or build as her 4 bars go by, it’s just smooth consistency throughout. Even the lyrics possess an aura of laid-back collectedness that is just so her.
The things Chaeyoung can do when given her pen.
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THE GOOD

• That sweet summer vibe of a chorus
• The “spaceship” post-chorus is killer
• Chaeyoung devoured this song
• Sure-footed, confident lyrics

Needs Work

• Perhaps an alteration of that ah yeah ah yeah line
• The way Jihyo did her pre-chorus line is good, but Mina’s is great

Core Memory

• After donating my hair, walking down the rainbow-coloured areas of downtown Toronto with this song playing was very… fitting

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This song is summer bliss distilled into 2:56 of MP3. It’s dreamy, the raps are satisfying, and the ending is charming. I will say that although the second half of the song adds the stunning “spaceship” post-choruses and a floaty bridge with an incredible drumbeat-drop transition to the final chorus, the raps of the song make it feel a bit front-loaded. And in an album stacked with incredible finishers, it feels more apparent.
With that said, it’s an 8/10 bop for me. This song is so radio-friendly and easy to put on and it feels exactly what Chaeyoung would make if given the reins to produce a pop song all on her own. The lyrics are nonchalant but full of conviction, the wordplay is intricate, the production is playful, and it’s not too bombastic — the song's just a nice vibe. Songs like Basics are the standard for good, simple, repeatable pop music and I’m happy that Chaeyoung got to test her pen in this genre.
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BABY WE’RE IN
TROUBLE TROUBLE
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Trouble 💃

Sole lyricist credit: Jihyo
Background vocals: Jihyo
Lead composer credit: Jihyo
Vocal director credit: Jihyo (an assumption given her contributions in First Time)
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One of the most enjoyable songs I’ve heard in a while.
There is an underlying tension within the first 4 bars of the song, Jihyo and Nayeon confidently open it to a nondescript array of synths and then the stanza ends, Momo announces “Let’s go”, the beat drops and it hits you:
This is a club song.
Dahyun's relaxed delivery contrasted with Jeongyeon's staccato flow, the wobbly synth beat with the sprinkle of that house piano, Sana dramatically slowing the song down only for Tzuyu to build it back up until the chorus drops,
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• Nayeon opens it using a breathy tone, with vocal chops serving as harmonies
• The blooming of the house piano takes centre stage and the song ascends into euphoria
• A random drum roll capped off by a cymbal crash
• Jeongyeon’s pronunciation of the word “trouble” almost being a growl
• Chaeyoung slyly admitting “I like this trouble”
• The entirety of Tzuyu’s tro~oh~oh~ouble yeah~
• Sana using her deep voice for the na~na~na~na
• Jihyo leading the vocals during the synchronized T W I C E chant

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This chorus is perfect. Toronto’s residential market needs this song injected into its veins because god damn this song has SO much house in it.
And then. AND THEN. ANOTHER KILLING PART. This rap fucking slaps.
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gamchweo bwatja geugeon Fake
ppajin hamjeongeun Sweet cake

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During the first 2 bars, Chaeyoung is keeping it calm because that trip of a chorus just ended and the song needs a breather, but I don't think anyone expected her to SNAP this hard afterwards:
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You cannot resist this
Cannot miss this, such a bliss
Ima put it down down
Oh yeah, better kiss kiss

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Below is the structure of her this portion of the rap, I’m not that well versed in this technical aspect of music theory but I digress, this is all in the span of around 5 seconds where it’s:
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Triplet-triplet
Quadruplet-triplet
Quadruplet-doublet
Doublet-quadruplet

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Now, 25/5 = 5 syllables per second isn’t groundbreaking, but goddamn it these 2 bars sound so nice — if there is one part in this album that I always repeat, it’s these bars. The addition of that first quadruplet for “cannot miss this” in the midst of all the triplets sticks out and accelerates the flow of the rap while the following doublets and quadruplets help to destabilize and slow the rap down as the verse closes. And can I just point out:
THE MAIN VOCALIST WROTE, DIRECTED, AND COMPOSED THIS SONG ‼
Chaeyoung of course delivered the fuck out of her verse but THIS is what you get when you have a member not only write the words they’re saying but also the melody and flow with which they sing it. This is what you get when one member knows the others so well that when they write a song, they know how to make the group as a whole exceed. This is what you get when the artists you stan love doing artist shit.
And. AND. That's not all — with how much I mentioned I love a damn good outro to close a song, this outro slaps as well:
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Woo wee woo wee woo
I like this trouble be-be [Momo]
Woo wee woo wee woo
I like this trouble bay-be [Sana]
Woo wee woo wee woo
I like this trouble bay-beh [Chaeyoung]
Woo wee woo wee woo
I like this trou-ble [Jihyo]

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What an outro.
Like, come on, Nayeon’s imitating a police siren for crying out loud. And this is all after her ad-libs in the final post-chorus; after the pianist going full tilt and playing that piano as if it was their last chance to ever play; after that final T W I C E chant by all the members come these blissful 20 seconds at the very end.
What a song.
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THE GOOD

• The theme of relishing in an uncontrolled love
• Sana and Mina’s melody in the pre-chorus
• Chorus
• Post-chorus
• Rap
• Outro
• Wees and woos

Needs Work

• Mina’s line of “falling down, falling down, falling down low” in verse 2 feels a bit too abrupt of a change

Core Memory

• While writing Trouble's review I had this song on repeat for my whole subway commute and I must've been so distracting, just head-bopping and being so invested in enjoying a song

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Need I say more, easy 9/10. The only reason I place Talk that Talk above Trouble is because of what that song represents but besides that, this song is one of the best “international” sounds they’ve put out. Actually, I haven’t listened to Eyes wide open in a while but this song is up there with one of the most sonically pleasing pieces of work they’ve done.
Clubbing TWICE music has always been a thing since TT was birthed in 2016, and has been a staple of their discography since 2019’s Fancy You and Feel Special mini albums, but Trouble unapologetically dives into and fits the house genre so well you’d think that this is TWICE’s bread and butter sound.
Trouble is Jihyo’s magnum opus. What a song.
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BRAVE BRAVE BRAVE
FOR YOU
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Brave 💖

Main producer: Slow Rabbit of HYBE
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I first thought this was just a good song, then I read the lyrics.
Gentle guitar plucks, shimmering synths, a distant keyboard in the right ear, in the left an occasional glockenspiel, the melodic oohs from the members — this song is PRETTY.
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The night that was unusually dark
Above this terrifying world, felt so lonely
The world has grown in the time of wandering
So hard to breathe

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Mina and Chaeyoung open the song with how they feel lonely and that it's hard to breathe and now suddenly the song sounds bittersweet — I was not expecting the song to be more emotional. Brave describes a situation where the singer is in a darker place in life and it isn't until another person gives them hope by calling them 'brave' that they find the drive to keep on going.
Once the chorus hits, the melodies pick up, more guitars get added, and there’s even an electric guitar hidden in the mix somewhere, and the song drops the emotional front to reveal a mid-tempo pop song to dance to while crying in the club. The song as a whole still carries this melancholy feeling, but now with the added support of this chorus acting as a light amongst the gloom.
Continuing on in the second verse there's this gorgeous, well-placed break in the song that just lets it settle back into the gentle back and forth after that chorus. Only a seasoned producer would risk this much empty space in a song and Slow Rabbit went to fill those shoes.
Back onto the chorus, I'll take this moment to once again commend Slow Rabbit with the mixing of the song, because 4MIX will undoubtedly sound good in the chorus, and the interludes from Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Mina also sound really good, but undoubtedly the highlight of the choruses are these lines:
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Oh na na na neon nal naige hae [Momo, then Tzuyu, then Momo]
On and on and on
Brave brave brave for ya [Dahyun, then Chaeyoung, then Mina]
Oh na na na neon nal sum shwige hae [Sana, then Momo, then Sana]
On and on and on oh trust me babe

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Momo, Sana, and Tzuyu form this beautiful, surprisingly catchy, second half of the chorus accompanied by a guitar drop. It should not turn out this well with how conflicting the "na"s are with the guitar melody but it creates this gentle bopping ebb and flow that just feels so lush and mellow.
Diving into the bridge reveals that the listener of the song is revealed to not only be capable of supporting the singer through direct words but also through their thoughts and dreams; no matter how they convey their wishes to this person, they will always try to push themselves to be their truer, better selves for it. And, as can be discerned, this can be a song interpreted to be about ONCEs. About how they push TWICE to be their best selves despite the breathless hardships they face.
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THE GOOD

• Special lyrics
• Pleasant sound to vibe out to
• That gentle break after the first chorus
• Jihyo’s high note at the end
• A Nayeon Jeongyeon joint high note ⁉️
• Just pretty vocals throughout

Needs Work

• Potentially hard to comprehend without translating the Korean lyrics

Core Memory

• Form of Therapy’s life motto revolves around the word “brave”. I don’t know where I got that from, but I remembered it right before watching his album reaction

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I’m actually spoiled with the TWICE members’ easy-to-understand songwriting when a song like this pops up where it isn’t written by a member and the thematic bits are mostly in Korean I just tend to put it aside in favour of the other songs on the album. And, especially for a song focusing on a theme like this where the English phrases don’t do the Korean lyrics enough justice, it does place a barrier on the listening experience a bit, dropping it down to a 7/10 from an 8/10.
With that anecdote out of the way, this song is just such a vibe, man. I know that sounds super hippy to say but Brave is so mellow and smooth that I can’t help but sway a little when that chorus hits. And then I remember what the lyrics say and I stop and cry a bit on the inside. This song is so pure, raw, and full of heart — we need more songs like these where they just reminisce about life while putting up an upbeat front. Don't mind me just crying while dancing the night away.
This isn't the first time this theme has been sung by TWICE either, they've long trodden this path of supportive, confiding, up-lifting songs with Young & Wild, Rainbow, Queen, Go Hard, Depend on You, even this album's Queen of Hearts, and, of course, Feel Special. Brave just adds another on top of an already stacked lineup, unique with its mellow somberness.
Also now feels like a good time to get into my rating system:

• 7/10s are songs are ones that are simply good throughout or great songs with apparent flaws
• 8/10s are great songs with standout characteristics
• 9/10s are borderline perfect songs where I sometimes can't comprehend how great they are
• And 10/10s are the best of an artist's discography, songs that encapsulate their ethos perfectly or expand upon them in a meaningful way

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I SEE THE LIES
ON THE TIP OF YOUR TONGUE
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Gone 💨

Sole lyricist credit: Dahyun
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Who the fuck pissed off Dubu this time??
It’s getting quite rare to see TWICE pull off brand new sounds because, with now 190 original songs under their belt, they’ve done so many genres and sub-genres varying from hyper pop, to bossa nova, to whatever 2020’s Go Hard is. So it’s surprising to know they’ve still got tricks up their sleeves and Gone is one of them.
The song starts with strings swinging back and forth and vocal chops dancing from ear to ear, teasing what’s yet to come. Jihyo enters the song with a whisper and the song sets its pace. A stagnant drum pad moves the song along and typical song progression would have Mina continuing the build but — it doesn’t. The song continues to simmer, adding a hint of high hat to the pot. And then, Sana and Tzuyu come on and surely the buildup must boil over right?
Silence, until…
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I see the LIES on the top of your tongue

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The strings emerge again on full blast, the simmer turns into a rolling boil, and the anger of the song is revealed.
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All the fate I had towards you
Fades like a fog, gone, gone
Your flipping mind of doing this and that
I’m tired of it, it’s meaningless
In the beginning, it was hard to believe
With that, hatred increases

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The singer is so scorned and burned from this relationship that they reminisce about all the effort they’ve put in since the beginning, but their “partner” is so unconcerned and unfaithful that they’ve just about had enough of the relationship altogether.
This has been Dahyun’s thing coming from 2020’s Bring It Back, 2021’s Cruel, 2022’s That’s all I’m saying, and even 2023's Don't Blame It On Me — emotionally charged breakup songs that make you feel as if she’s gone through a dozen bad relationships. Dispatch, do your job better, or don’t, I don’t really know.
Another highlight of the song is the post-chorus going into the bridge. This segment reiterates the structure from the first post-chorus — a barrage of drums supported by the rhythmic strumming of a bass guitar in the back along with a consistent synth filling out the soundscape. But this time, it’s Dahyun and Chaeyoung on the rap:
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I can’t stand it anymore [Dahyun]
My patience, invisible
I can’t find it, it’s all gone
Even if I try to turn back, it’s too late [Chaeyoung]
There’s no use anymore
It has left, it’s long gone
You, with flipping mind, you are out [Momo]
I know that you know what I’m talking about [Dahyun]
Nothing you could say that could turn this around
I’m gone

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Continuing the disrespected theme of the song, Dahyun notes that she’s finally had enough and Chaeyoung adding on that there’s no point salvaging what was once there for all of it is long gone. Momo and Dahyun round it off by telling the listener that there’s no point trying to reason with them or playing naive, they fucked up and there’s no coming back.
Can I just say, it is a bit of a shame that Chaeyoung’s rapping popped off in this album whilst Dahyun only has this one verse that she shares with Chaeyoung, but it just sounds so good how Dahyun eases in after the chorus with her light rapping tone and transitioning into her singing. She even holds the “gone” in a little crescendo for some added pizzazz.
And, there’s no way I’m not going to talk about Momo’s vocals in this bridge. Damned if she only got 1 line to use it in, her lower register is incredible. She sounds so smooth singing in this tone. All of TWICE do in particular and there is nary a weak vocal performance in this album.
To close the song off, a wash of synths gets to have their shine in the spotlight, showered with Nayeon’s belting, signifying the dramatic and drawn-out conclusion of this partnership.
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THE GOOD

• They’ve still got a few surprises left
• Thundering chorus
• 2nd rap and bridge combo
• A bitter, crumbling relationship theme

Needs Work

• I’m not a huge fan of the mixing during the first post-chorus, where Momo's vocals were fighting with the production, which is disappointing because Momo is capable of an insane flow
• The post-chorus in general, specifically the first one, can be a bit tiring on repeat listens

Core Memory

• Actually, I think this song sounds like a mix between GOT7's Not By The Moon, BLACKPINK’s Love To Hate Me, and Dahyun’s Bring It Back. I don’t know where I got this thought came from, but it stuck

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Going back to that point about the first post-chorus as a whole; songs that have the production continue unchanged into the post-chorus/2nd verse are very hit or miss for me — see TWICE's Don't Call Me Again for an overbearing example. The first post-chorus could use some work because the post-chorus going into the bridge contrasts Dahyun’s light tone nicely with the hard-hitting production, continuing the energy until it slowly fades into silence at the end of the bridge.
Back to the song as a whole, as much as TWICE has been experimenting with their sound for the past 4 years now, I’m happy they’re still finding new ways to explore what they’re capable of. And for that alone, even though I’m not a big fan of songs like these where they rely on sounding “big”, Dahyun’s lyricism and the thrill I receive every time I indulge myself in this song when I listen to it for the first time in a while elevates it to an 8/10. Keep on breaking hearts, Dubu.
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INVINCIBLE
SUPERHEROES
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When We Were Kids 🧸

Sole lyricist credit: Dahyun
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Press play to reminisce, pull up lyrics to cry.
This song is so beautiful. I’m totally not writing this song review, crying on the bus, reminiscing about my childhood, while just having turned 21. I don’t know if these are happy or sad tears but this song is so beautiful either way.
Warm synths, muted piano, a gentle high hat, the younger members starting off the song — this has to be up there for one of the softest TWICE songs ever. And as it should, it’s one of the TWICEiest songs ever. And then Nayeon comes in,
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Invincible superheroes, we wanted to be adults
To the higher, clearer world

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The chords start swelling, the high hat keeps pace, and then the harmonies come in,
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Remember when we were kids
When we were kids, we didn’t know
If we could go back
I will love it even more
Remember when we were kids

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Jihyo takes up the second half of the chorus as it drops, trading the strings for an almost R&B synth production — if choir R&B takes off, this song started it. The song relishes in this cacophony of warm sounds until going back into its sparse and peaceful verses.
This time, the hints of piano are louder, little twinkling synths begin to shimmer, the drum buildup comes and Jeongyeon drives the song straight into the chorus. No time for the strings to build like in Nayeon’s — this song loves its chorus so much.
And can I just take this time to appreciate the amount of Jeongyeon vocals in this album. Her voice is so clean, stable, and projected — but also more tender and soft compared to the more pronounced tones of Nayeon and Jihyo.
The bridge comes in, repeating the phrase
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I wish that I could meet
Could meet the younger me

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Giving the song time to rest, before building back up to the last chorus — this time led by Jihyo, transitioning from the bridge with her own unique lead-in, completing the 3MIX trifecta. And interestingly enough, Chaeyoung follows up in the second half of the chorus, rather than another member of the vocal line. She really did pop off in this album.
As the last chorus begins to close, the percussion at its strongest, the harmonies as prolific as ever, the background choir vocals cranked up to their Sunday best, is the song going to end? Of course not! This is an album full of banger endings as if the songs don’t want to actually end, and When We Were Kids being the album closer very much indulges in that feeling.
After a brief refrain, supported by Nayeon’s high note with a touch of vibrato, the song almost dives back into a fourth chorus. Nayeon and Jeongyeon harmonize — an especially rare and heavenly moment. And the song repeats the bridge, reiterating that they want to meet their younger selves, this time with the more lush R&B production before closing with silence, a few piano notes, and Tzuyu singing the last line of the song
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Oh, we were kids

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Reflection, acceptance, hope. What a song.
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THE GOOD

• Heavenly vocals throughout
• Generous harmonies
• Relatable, heartfelt lyrics
• Euphoric chorus
• Great closer to the album

Needs Work

• Refrain after the last chorus, "Back when we were kids," could’ve been executed better

Core Memory

• For an album titled Between 1&2, I don’t think anything hits harder than finishing the song reviews, with this song in particular, during your 21st birthday

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I wrote the first part of this review at the beginning of November 2022. Then university, life, and other things got in the way of my headspace for me to feel confident about wrapping all of this up. In a way, I felt like I just didn’t want this review to end because of the joy that writing gives me. I didn’t want the happiness to end. And then it hit me, after watching a YouTuber rank animated movies and them placing Spirited Away at the top and explaining 'why' reminded me of just how important growing up is, and by extension this song.
This theme is important for both the rookie TWICE members in 2015 and the teenagers who would follow their journey and grow up with them, facing life’s obstacles along the way. Hardships that used to only involve family, crushes, and social media, evolve into working and commitments and all the struggles that adult life brings. Being a kid and enjoying the simple things in life is one of the most sought-after moments we want to relive because we took growing up for granted. The only thing we can do now is look back on ourselves with fondness and rose-tinted lenses.
TWICE’s original marketing was to resonate with people through their senses and their hearts. That was during their debut, and I think it still holds up today. In my opinion, touching people through their emotions is what TWICE does best and makes them one of K-pop’s all-time greats. It was never about having the best numbers — it was always about being the best idols. And to think that this journey of maturation and growth would occur from 2015 all the way to this song, being a fitting nod to TWICE’s 7th anniversary, I don’t think anyone at the company nor the group would ever imagine that they could get this far. It’s these nine women or none — 9/10.
This song honestly deserves a 10/10 with how much I noticed other people reminiscing their childhoods after I heard this song, it is such a widely-relatable message, but I am determined to limit myself to one 10/10 song per album and if I were to decide between TTT and WWWK, I'd give it to the one's that's more repeatable — Talk that Talk just has this electric energy about it.
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Epilogue

And finally here is the end. If you made it this far in one sitting then I commend you, because I could not write this whole word jumble in one sitting. As alluded to, I started writing this album review sometime in October, after a series of edits the first draft was finished in March, and now here's the final draft in June.
I truly love this album. It got me through some important parts of my life, both good and bad, and it is just a pleasant listen throughout. Getting to relive this album again this week before finally completing the review has been an exciting journey. Brave hit me harder this time, after being overshadowed by the other gems of this album, and When We Were Kids finally got me to tear up and not just be emotionally satisfied.
I feel like there's something for everyone on this album. From the exhilarating thrills of TTT to the anthemic euphoria of QoH, the clubbing dichotomy of Trouble and Brave to the blissful glee of Basics, and the sweet reminiscence of WWWK to the thundering anger that is Gone. Like Eyes wide open, I liken Between 1&2 as a pop music taste platter — there's such an eclectic mix of pop, house, and dance in this album that there's bound to be a song that someone will love, like, and dislike.

Hello everyone!
I'm back with another story about Last Hero (the previous part is this one). Recently, I stumbled upon a new interview with Yana Troyanova who hosted the last 3 seasons of Last Hero. In this one, she mentioned her hosting style was a product of both her own charachter and producer's ideas (they start discussing the show from this timestamp, it has ENG subs).
Inspired by this confession, I decided to give you a recap of the episode which was mentioned here many, many times on this sub - that one time when Yana used an idol on a voted out contestant. So, let's dive into Last Hero: Viewers vs Celebrities (also known as S8 overall or S9 including the Africa's Heart or S2 for TV-3 era), episode 8. I also put on the spoiler's tag because... Why not, maybe, someone would actually decide to sit through this season lol. Also, these Celebrities are like C-list at best.
We start this off with our final 8 represented by the following contestants (I'll list them off because all of them are important in this recap):

• Igor, an investor (who's also a poker player);
• David, also known as Ptakha, a rapper;
• Evgeny, a dancer famous for being in almost every season of DWTS Russia;
• Nadya, a singevariety show comedian;
• Natalia B., an actress;
• Natalia K., a taxi driver;
• Mikhail, a website owner;
• Dmitry, a milker.

So far, the season has been focused on Dmitry. If I remember correctly, he's had a rough life (recovering from an addiction, raising a child etc.) and dominates the confessionals because he gives a Just Like Us point-of-view. Trust me, I remember reading the comments from regular viewrs of LH and producers hit the nail by highlighting him, he was like S7 Rupert level of being a fan favourite.
In this season, the HII existed so, at the beginning of Ep. 8, some contestants decide to look for it but to no success.
The important events kick off with a Reward challenge where the contestants throw sand bags at the plates with the names, the last one standing wins. Randomly enough, Nadya (who is not the most physically fit, let's put it this way because the producers REALLY wanted to highlight that) wins the challenge and a luxury dinner with two people of her choice. She decides to pick both Natalias to have a girls night out.
At this dinner, the ladies can choose between three menu options. Each of them, besides food, has an ADVANTAGE as a dessert. Btw, Jeff and Co., just do this for once, it'll be chaos. The options were:

• To deprive someone of their vote at the upcoming TC;
• To increase the difficulty of the upcoming Immunity challenge for someone;
• To ban someone from taking part in the said Immunity challenge.

The ladies know damn well they are screwed because men consider them weak so the chances of making it to the finals are slim. After deliberation, they choose the 1st dessert and ban David from voting as he presents himself as the king of the jungle (who actually wants to push Dmitry to the win so that he'd be seen as a heromaker). Then, they have dinner and get wasted and are later brought to the tribe on the boat. Luckily, they do not spill this info to anyone else. This is great because during their absense, men think the ladies might make some sort of deal at the dinner.
Then, I'll speed up a little bit. The following day is a Gross Food Immunity challenge which is won by David (lol). After this, Nadya tells Mikhail it's important to vote Dmitry out because he's a phyical threat and was upset to lose the immunity. The convo is noticed by Igor who considers Mikhail a flipper (which is confirmed by the latter in the following confessional). Evgeny thinks he's in danger because 4 people voted for him last episode. David assures Dmitry he's safe and believes one of the girls will be out. Then, David approaches the girls on last episode's vote (he cannot find which one of Natalias voted in the minority and vote out the lying girl). Of course, they are irritated by this especially Natalia Kh. who did in fact vote against Evgeny. All of these events take SEVEN MINUTES in the third part of the challenge. Yes, we had almost 40 minutes of nothing and then ALL OF THAT in the next 7.
Now, we're at the TC! Yana reveals the ladies banned David from voting, men are shocked. Cut the bullcrap, straight to the voting!
Men decide to eliminate...one of themselves. Why, you might ask? I HAVE NO IDEA. Evgeny says that minutes before they went to TC, Igor changed his mind and that's the reason why he votes for Igor. Natalia Kh. writes Dmitry's name in order to give everyone else a chance to win.
The host reveals the votes: Evgeny voted for Igor, Igor and Dmitry voted for Evgeny and ladies+Mikhail voted for Dmitry. A blindside, a strategic move! FINALLY!
Except... The tribal continues. David calls out the BS because Dmitry deserves to stay (umm... okay), Igor points out he said that due to lost vote (David agrees). He later adds the well-known "the weaker players unite to take out the stronger players" thing. Yana says everyone can have their own strategy.
While Dmitry grabs his torch, Mikhail randomly reveals his vote and says his reasoning was his own and not influenced by anyone else (good for you, I guess). THEN Natalia Kh. says she voted Dmitry out because he's stronger than everyone else including her. Then she hugs him. David and Natalia Kh. get into a fight, again.
Dmitry thanks everyone and yadda-yadda-yadda. HOWEVER, the host out of nowhere has a Jeff moment and says she can see everyone inside want Dmitry to stay (what the...) and gives him a second chance.
So, yes. The entire thing was WASTED and it backfired on almost all the people behind this plan. If you'll be able to guess which one of these people won the whole thing, I'll be impressed.
Sorrry for a rather long recap but I just wanted to try to explain to you what was behind the moment from Last Hero which a lot of you knew beforehand. Any questions on this topic? Feel free to ask!

Hey,
So I’m a current sophomore who will be taking the SAT this summer. I turned down an internship bc I didn’t want to over book my summer and give myself less time to actually study for the SAT + it was kinda sketchy (Borgen Project). I’ve already done two internships and I’m doing a research internship which I’ll be credited in when it’s published in journals. However, I feel like aside from the research and possibly applying to some writing competitions and other minor competitions in my intended major, planning for the next school year by starting coursework, and starting some projects and creating detailed outlines for future projects I’ll start once I’m done with the SAT, I’m not doing enough. I was just wondering, am I doing enough to prepare for college apps or should I be doing more? For more context on me - Asian Male High income Intended Major: Poli Sci, IR, etc. All w/ intersectionality in Environmental Science and Econ. Sophomore w/ 3.97 W(3 APs this year, 5 next, not allowed any freshman), 3.875 UW
EC’s - - 2 internships (both at state wide firms) 1 (paid) with an environmental institute where I did research and presented my capstone project a conference full of lawmakers and experts. Another where I did policy, economics, and legal research at a well reputed advocacy organization. - Research at a t-100 university in labor Econ with 1 prof at R1 and another at R2. Published in IZA and credited. - Research at a t-5 in political economics. Not published or credited yet. Big data collection mostly. - Director of logistics & Co-Founder of a local public speaking organization for young kids. - Tutor for debate, public speaking, English, math, science, coding at a local tutoring firm. Paid. - Environmental Committee and Economic Development Committee for my County - Student Representative - FBLA Director of Events at my School - Swim Varsity 2 years - YT production channel with 100k+ views and 2k subs where I post my beats, edit the videos, market, and make the cover art (Do everything for it). Awards: - DECA ICDC 3x qualifier (EIB, BFS, PMCD) - 4 in state at SCDC (BFS) - FBLA Regional Econ Finalist - World Food Prize Youth Institute International Delegate and Borlaug Finalist (Presented at international conference w/profs at t-50 and t-20 uni’s + scientists from NASA Goddard institute, research published) - DECA SCDC instructional award
Any suggestions on what to do would really help and I’d really appreciate it if anyone could tell me what to work on!
Thanks so much!

Be passionate, my friends! And shine bright with the sun!

Hello everybody! Are you looking for the summer and can’t just wait for the summer to start already? Or are you from time to time reminiscing about your college life? Or do you want to watch an Anime about scuba diving?
No matter if your answers to those questions were YES or NO, I just believe that I picked a perfect anime capturing the feeling of summer together with the vast and breathtaking subaquatic world for you to dive in and the experiences of the college life, all of it happening in the coastal town of Izu where our main character Iori Kitahara moves for his freshman year at university as he takes residence in his uncle’s scuba diving shop named Grand Blue.
To be more specific about which part of college life is Grand Blue capturing - and I will be honest with you - it’s the one which I bet you aren’t particularly proud about, because let’s be real. What’s the college experience without drinking, chasing girls and acting stupid, right? Right? (Or atleast attending one or two mixers)
And Grand Blue Dreaming captures those experiences of scuba diving and parts of college life you aren’t proud about well and considering it’s comedy, it amps those aspects up to eleven.
INFORMATIONS - MAL Anilist Kitsu AniDB ANN
LEGAL STREAMING - AMAZON PRIME VIDEO
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Why I decided to pick this Anime?

Reason 1 (less important reason):
After finishing Gintama I was feeling empty and were looking for some comedy Anime which would fill the void which Gintama left behind and this one was most recommended one. For me it was a nice substitute and the Anime managed to make me genuinely laugh.
Reason 2 (more important reason):
I’ve became insane
The first episode of Grand Blue Dreaming aired back at 14th of July, 2018 and soon it will be 5 years since this anime officially aired and that makes a perfect occassion to experience Grand Blue Dreaming both for Rewatchers and for Tentative first timers.

Some miscellaneous info about Grand Blue:

It was made by studio Zero-G responsible for Isekai Nonbiri Nouka or English title Farming Life in Another World and Koori Zokusei Danshi to Cool na Douryou Joshi or English title The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague both premiering in season Winter 2023
Responsible for taking a mantle of Director was Shinji Takamatsu who has under his belt first 201 episodes of Gintama and Sakamoto desu ga? (Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto)
Original creators of Grand Blue manga are Kenji Inoue a person responsible for story who also written script for 9th episode of Grand Blue also known for his older work Baka to test and Kimitake Yoshioka responsible for the art of Grand Blue who also did art for Amagi Brilliant Park.

Spoilers Policy:

I believe that no one from us wants to ruin first timer experience, so for mentioning things, characters and scenes from episodes ahead of schedule just use spoiler tags in a correct form.
HOW CAN I TELL THAT I USED SPOILER TAG CORRECTLY?
By bot-chan not appearing to endlessly bully you with removing your comment and with this fella not appearing to peacefully manhandle you.

Schedule:

I’ve decided to start this Rewatch on 14th of July, exactly 5 years after it’s premiere with the discussions thread going up each day at 4PM EDT ^{until I will run out of pills} until we reach the end of the Anime.
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For those who are interested in this Rewatch, I’m looking forward 14th of July to Dive into the blue sky with you as we will open the door to Grand Blue to see what awaits us!

Dorood,
I hope you have been well-rested and have continued to hold your strength. Thank you for joining us on this mission to share knowledge about the rich history of Iran during this most turbulent time for every Iranian.
In case you have not noticed, the forum has gotten a radical yet benevolent update recently. Our wiki has been significantly overhauled to make the sub more user-friendly and its resources more informative. We've also addressed the risk of misinformation by strengthening rule 5; the full rules of the sub can now be found on the wiki's Regulation page. Likewise, the Important Reminder has been revised to express our natural and necessary deferral to experts like real historians.
Amid these changes, one, in particular, may pique the interest of many of you here, hence the reason why I am making this post. We are pleased to announce that we are dedicating, with your help, a whole wiki page to our OldIran community's new Reading List — a comprehensive (as possible as that is on a site like Reddit) Iranian history reading list. You can find the link for the currently unfinished Reading List (/books) page here. It can also be found under the "Wiki" tab in the top menu bar, as well as under the "External Resources" tab.
The reading list will consist of well-written books, academic papers and research, well-cited articles, and literal excerpts from history (for example, the transcript of a famous/infamous yet historically pivotal speech). These works may be in Persian or English, though if it is in Persian, an English-translated version in addition to the Persian one would be appreciated as Reddit has a largely English-speaking audience. Moreover, the reading list will not discriminate on the basis of perspective except in the case of upholding the sub's rules and also Reddit-wide rules. Thus, any historical analysis rooted in reason can be considered for placement on the reading list. Please, do not soapbox on this sub because one or another book was included on the list. The whole point of this sub is to entertain different perspectives so long as it is within social norms (we thus prohibit perspectives that are of political or state violence, or of the malicious suppression of opposing views). Works will be added on their academic merit and not their "slant" or personal position. Simply put, OldIran is a sub made for realistic people who want realistic and plausible explainers to Iran's nuances by discussing tangible history.
Anyone on the sub can contribute their wished additions to the reading list, and they'll get their username mentioned next to the submission. Take your time, there is no deadline. Please note that by simply suggesting a work, it is not guaranteed to be added to the reading list because it needs to first be reviewed by the mods and then be manually added. (Our mod team is hence purposefully diverse in leanings and backgrounds.) We go through this exhaustive process because, given we're such a young and small, niche sub, we do not have any other vetting system for individual Reddit users to distinguish the knowledgeable contributors from the lay. We therefore cannot promise every book suggested by every user will be added to the Reading List, but probably most will. It helps to have a "Professional" flair (see the Regulations page of our wiki to learn more about that). Please bear with us. The process is as follows:
1. A user suggests a written work (book, paper, research, article, or historical excerpt) for any branch of Iranian history by either leaving a comment on this post, OR privately messaging the mod team, OR joining the OldIran Discord server and reaching out to a moderator. You should where possible use the following tentative formula for each work (you can, in addition, leave a link to the work or its purchase page if you can find a solid one):

Title by author, year (IBSN *if it's a book). It would really help us to have a few detailed sentences (think around 3) here to describe the work and then, importantly, why you recommend it. your username here

2. The moderators review the submission and ensure adding the work to the Reading List will keep the list historically relevant, fair and reputable, and not overly prejudiced unless that specific work is historically pivotal (this is first and foremost a history sub, not a sole debate sub).
3. The work is categorized and added to the reading list in the aforementioned format.
To be clear, this is not a monetary campaign or an advertisement or what have you. This is a genuine volunteer effort. If you have any questions or comments, please as always voice them. Thank you for being here.
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We look forward to your contribution(s)!
u/roleester, writing on behalf of the OldIran moderation team
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P.S. Please thank u/Tempehridder for the idea!