So I saw the flyer on instagram ages ago (before it got taken down bc people are ~snowflakes~ lmao) and I went after work today. I was on the bus and walked from River Road towards the event when someone saw my rainbow butterfly wing cape and was like "Man we could use a cape like that down by those protesters haha". So the spiteful little goblin I am, I kept walking straight, and didnt turn into the parking lot towards where Pride was being held. Because I literally cannot help myself. Someone told me they could use me down by the protesters, what was I gonna do, walk away like a rational person? Absolutely not. I'm a Eugenian, I don't do rational.
Low and behold about an hour and a half later I'm still there dancing in front of protesters with my umbrella. I know these protesters. They know me. I think one of them actually said "nice to see you again!" jokingly when I came up. It's always the same bunch, I've seen them at the Saturday Market and at the UO, obviously you're gonna get recognized if you see them a bunch. My motto with them has always been "do no harm but take no shit". I'll never initiate or start anything with them, but if they start something with me I'm ready to finish it. I had my umbrella up and one of them snapped at me about "blocking his freedom of speech, with is illegal!!! >:((((" because my umbrella "accidentally" got in between him and a teenager he was trying to get to talk to him. I know better than the kids do. Don't engage. They're trained to talk to you in a very specific way to make you angry, and so that you flounder your responses so they can humiliate you. They are taught to do these things. Just don't engage. And I pointed to the cops about 50 feet away from us and said "If it's illegal, go talk to them. The cops are here for a reason." And he didn't talk to me again. I'm autistic and my ability to mask my emotions from years of trauma pays off when dealing with protesters. My adrenaline levels can be enough to stop a horse's heart and I'll still be smiling and vibing calmly. The midwest small-town brat in me was ready to get into a fistfight with men twice my size but the rational adult in me was thankfully holding the leash. If you've ever dealt with someone that's persistent in all the things that make you mad (like screaming to teenagers that their parents are pedophiles that are grooming them for bringing them to an event that's giving out colorful flags and button pins) you'll know the feeling.
But in spite of all of that hate. Mostly from the one dude with the speaker the rest of them were kinda just standing around looking bored as hell this was not a lively bunch today- I wanna extend my gratitude to all the students, staff, and community members that pulled up by the curb to talk to me today. They always asked me how I was doing. "Do you need water? Do you have snacks? Are you doing alright here honey?" I would hold up my water bottle and assure them I was staying hydrated. Someone gave me an orange (which was delicious btw) and when my water bottle ran empty, I was told by someone who came out to greet me that they'd hold my place until I got back if I wanted to go find somewhere to refill it. I stayed out there for an hour and a half, from 3 to 4:30. I was only intending on being there for a few minutes, but it was honestly so much fun greeting people and welcoming them in (even with someone screaming the word of someone who only sounded vaugely similar to Jesus in my ear the entire time). A former teacher of mine ran through the parking lot when she saw me to hug me. Practically tackled me and squeezed the life out of me. I had teachers come from inside the event to come and ask me how I was doing. One of them said "Thank you for being the barrier." to me and one of the students who was out there with me with their flag, and it made me really happy. I was one of the first people out there. I know interaction fuels their obsessive ideology but they were harassing people that were coming in and out of the event on foot, calling them out specifically, and telling children that came by that their parents were pedophiles for taking them to a pride event. Someone needed to be a tension breaker and that was my goofy ass for a minute before reinforcements came. People were dancing with their pride flags and singing lady gaga and waving to people as they came in.
And then I headed inside. After an hour and a half I realized "Oh shit I'm gonna miss the whole thing if I'm out here much longer" and I waved goodbye to the protesters. I ate my amazing donated orange outside the gate. Headed on in. It was wonderful. I helped set up during the first NEHS pride last year when I was a senior. So I know just how much it's grown in just ONE YEAR. I watched friends who were still students get access to gender-affirming items (donated binders were a big one. I got my first binder at NEHS pride last year, so to see they still had that available this year? Along with gender-affirming mtf items like bras available for those who may have been mtf? Which was NOT there last year? It was wonderful to see.) I had multiple people stop me and ask if they could pet/take pictures of my pride axolotl (from build a bear, it's pink and has rainbow gills), I had people compliment my outfit, I had people compliment my wings, it was wonderful. There were games and outdoor stuff set up for the kids (which was a bit lacking last year) and there were some small artists there as well. I got a little acrylic pin that has a picture of a peach on it that says "I'm a little fruity!" for 5 bucks and its honestly my favorite thing from today. From the same place I got an "emotional support waterbottle sticker" for 2 bucks that's getting put on my favorite water bottle.
I had a long chat with someone while in line for the spin-the-wheel game. They were clearly nervous, I think they were there by themselves, so I hung out and talked to them while we were in line. I made button pins at two different booths. I collected an ungodly amount of stickers like the little sticker gremlin I am.
And I had. An awesome time. I'm home now. I have a massive headache (probably from being in the sun so long today). But otherwise I'm pretty happy :) I used to be afraid of wearing my pride stuff out in public. People on the bus have given me shifty looks like they want to talk to me in a negative way (but my headphones usually save me from any real confrontation because it's awkward to make someone take off their headphones to tell them you hate their pride flag skirt.) But I walked to the bus stop today, sore and tired, and I felt free.
For as much vocal negativity as there is in this world right now. There's a lot of silent hope, love, and community. I didn't know most of the people who stopped to talk to me today. But they saw me out there and they stopped to make sure I had water. To make sure I had food if I was hungry. To make sure I felt safe during the few times I was up there by myself. Which tbh was not often at all. They didn't know me. And I didn't know them. But we were a part of the same community. And they were there for me. I only hope they believe I was there for them, too. People are kinder than the world has taught us to believe. Don't let the vocal minority prevent you from believing in the good that there is in this world. Stay safe out there, folks! I look forward to seeing yall at Eugene Pride in August! And probably the same protesters too lmao.

This is going to be a long one, but I (24) have been trying to move out since I was 18. Every time I’ve tried to leave, my parents have interrogated me for hours, degraded me, and told me I’ve been brainwashed and they need to fix me.
They constantly tell me I’m unable to take care of myself and can’t leave. My dad has threatened to do anything to keep me from leaving them, including calling the cops on anyone who tries to come near the house and pick me up. Unfortunately, no one in my life will help me leave anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Uber and lyft also won’t come out where I live, since there’s no drivers in the area. We live about an hour from any cities or towns in the middle of nowhere. He claims that this is what any good parent would do and if anyone does try to help me, I’m a horrible person for pushing him to do something he’ll regret later. He growls at me during these interrogations and lowers his voice until it sounds almost like something completely inhuman. He just stands over me or puts his hand on my thigh. I know he wants to hit me, but he knows I’ll call the cops. It’s the only thing stopping him at this point.
My car is also in my dad’s name. It was given to me when I started college, but he refuses to sign it over to me, because if I leave with it he can report it stolen and have me forcibly brought back. The car is practically its own story, since I wasn’t allowed to drive until I was 21. I wasn’t allowed to get my learner permit until I was around 18, and I was only allowed to get it because he charter school I was attending needed it to verify my ID before I took my SAT. It’s important to mention that I was put into an online school when I turned 11 and kept locked in a house until I was 18. That’s a very big part of the story that I’m going to glance over now. Any time I would try to drive, my mom would start screaming and lock herself in rooms or give me the silent treatment for months or call me screaming that I hate her and don’t understand what it’s like to have a child or get my dad to stop me. She had a habit of saying things like “Why do you like hurting me? Why do you like doing this to me? Why do you like worrying me and making me sick?” during these episodes. She still says these exact same things, but about me living in an apartment or moving out. When I was finally allowed to drive, they used a tracking device (really) to keep up with where I was. However, my mom would get in the car with me for the first year, and only stopped because of a massive fight we had after she grabbed the steering wheel and almost made me crash the car. When I started driving alone, my mom would accuse me of being at people’s houses because the tracker would glitch often (it wasn’t very high quality), and send me screenshots of it accusing me of trying to leave them. My dad would step in and threaten to cancel my insurance and report the car stolen, even though I honestly hadn’t done anything.
I was recently awarded an opportunity for an art residency where I would have been allowed to live in a gallery and focus solely on creating for 3 months without needing to get a job. My housing would have been paid for. I had been planning to leave since last year, but every time I tried to leave the house to get to the airport and fly down to the location, my parents would interrogate me and physically stop me from leaving. I would try to reschedule my leave, and they would just keep doing it each time. Both of them are at home most of the time, so I couldn’t really sneak out, though I wish I had tried to looking back on it. My biggest fear was they would destroy or burn my belongings that I couldn’t take with me and legal documents I couldn’t get to. (They burned my brother’s belongings once and saw it as a great parenting moment. Essentially, they burned everything that was most important to him while my mom prayed in tongues over the fire. He was 18.) The strain from trying to leave and failing each time eventually blew through my savings, and I had to contact the gallery and cancel the trip. The gallery hasn’t spoken to me since, so there’s probably not a chance they’ll let me try again later. I was looking forward to it because I thought since it was states away from where I am that I could finally get out, or that someone would finally help me leave, but that obviously wasn’t the case.
I had been working at my university as a graduate assistant, but I had to cut back my hours. I was making $200 every 2 weeks, but when I had a job in retail that paid more, I was treated kind of terribly by the university and told to quit my job if I wanted my degree. There were no accommodations made for graduate students in my field who had jobs. Most of the other grads either had someone supporting them or were married, but I didn’t have that. No one could understand why I couldn’t just quit, even after I tried explaining my financial situation to them, and eventually I caved and took on a GA position. I regret it, because I had nothing left by the end of things. I was also having to commute because of the issues with my parents not letting me move out, and my route was a 2 hour round trip. Most of my paycheck went to just paying my gas millage. Another student at the university needed a place to stay temporarily (they’re rich) and someone gave them a place to stay without a second thought. I had been begging for help and telling people about what was happening to me, but no one wanted to give me a play to stay, even people I was close to who were looking for roommates. If anything, it made them feel uncomfortable that I was dealing with the situation and they didn’t want to be part of it. Most of the people I went to school with, including professors, know this is happening. I tried to seek out housing on my own, but even though my credit score was high enough, none of the jobs I worked paid the amount they wanted. Most if not all of the places within a 50 mile radius of me want 2x to 3x the rent price per month as income. I’ve never been able to make that between balancing work and school. My only option was to find a co-signer. No one will co-sign for me. All my mom’s family believes she’s a saint and I’m abusing her, and all my dad’s family hates anyone associated with my dad, including me. My brother wouldn’t help either, even though he’s in his 30s and dealt with the same treatment from our parents. He’s extremely religious and believes he would be disrespecting them and offending god if he helped me.
I’ve dealt with it for so long, I try to keep up hope that I’ll get out soon but I know that’s not true. I wanted to get out before I was 25, hoping I could at least enjoy my mid twenties, but it’s just not going to happen. The nearest shelter is extremely unsafe, but I know I’m probably going to end up homeless and lose everything at this point if I want to leave. I’ve just lost all hope.

I am looking for any helpful legal advice. I'm a university student, renting a room in a university apartment. The rent is per room, but the apartment is shared between me and three others. Utilities are separate from rent, and are stated in the rental agreement and handbook to be handled by the occupants through a separate service provider. Utilities were handled by one of my other roommates. The account was made in their name alone.
I rented this room from July of 2021 to May of 2023. I did not occupy the room or apartment in any capacity from February 2022 to May of 2023. My room was essentially a personal storage unit. Breaking lease was far too expensive. I resided instead with my partner (and have been since February of 2022). It was very clear to my roommates that I was living entirely with my partner; I had stated this verbally on multiple occasions and even had one of my roommates check in with me, which is when I confirmed in writing that I do not stay in the apartment. My roommates were well aware of my absence in the period of February 2022 to June 2022 (essentially the spring semester).
Despite being entirely absent from the unit, I continued to pay a portion of the utilities through December of 2022. This is due in part to me being non-confrontational, and also a clause in the rental handbook and agreement that states heat must be on in winter months due to pipe maintenance (meaning heat would be on in my room, counting as usage on my part). To my knowledge, no lights or heat were used in my room outside of this period.
Given that I had indicated to my roommates that I was living entirely with my partner, I made no payment towards utilities after December. Heat was not needed at this point, meaning I made no contributions to utility usage. I only saw that payment requests were being made through a group chat, where the person managing the utilities would state a cost to be paid. I had communicated with this person on other matters outside of utilities. I was never once asked about missing payments. To me, it was clear that because I was not using utilities and that I would not be paying. The lack of follow up or even addressing it seemed to confirm this.
After everyone had moved out (with utilities having been paid in full and the account closed), the roommate managing the utility account messaged me privately and demanded payment, in full, for the months I was absent. I stated I would not be paying for the reasons above. She sent this conversation to the group chat, demanding payment from the other two roommates because I was “flaking” and if it was an issue they could take me to small claims.
They tried to claim that there's no way to know if I was residing in the residence or not. Both my partner and I have location storing on our devices, proving residence of a different property. I am in the process of getting that data downloaded. They then claimed they haven't stayed much there but they are paying, so I should as well. One roommate stated they were absent for the entirety of the fall semester, just like I was. I pointed out that I had remained absent, still making zero contributions to utility usage but paying for that period. Another tried to say that they often stay with friends, meaning they should only be liable for half of what they pay based on my argument. Again, they are still the ones using the utilities. I couldn't because I was never present.
My partner and I have done some research. In our area, average usage per month is roughly 970 KwH for a 2000 sq. ft. home in 2023. The apartment we lived in was 1000 sq. ft. After requesting billing statements, they somehow, with only 2 to 3 of them present, averaged 1200 KwH monthly. Either they were all constantly there, or decided to constantly leave utilities active, regardless of if they were present.
They also keep trying to say it was my responsibility to indicate my absence to ALL of them, not just the one managing funds. I had indicated that I was moving out with my partner when the lease ended. I also had told all of them I reside entirely with my partner. Again, this was evident given that I had already been absent and residing with my partner from February 2022. I had indicated I do not live at this apartment. They knew my room was used entirely for storage, as my bed wasn't even in the room. You could barely get past the door. They were saying I was responsible for telling them they needed to pay more, not the person managing the funds.
They then said I was responsible for paying regardless because there is a flat rate for access to utilities from the service provider, and then an additional monthly charge for usage. The flat rate is $9 a month in totality, not per person.
In my absence following December 2022, the utility bill spiked from roughly $10 a month per person to nearly (and sometimes over) $50 a month per person. Again, this is without me ever being on the property and them claiming to never be there too. They tried to cite an 8% increase in rates on the service provider's end, but that doesn't make any sense.
Their final arguments to me were about verbal agreements. They stated the agreement was for the four of us to split the payment. I stated that I did not ever agree to anything written first of all, and second, the verbal agreement could not count as I had indicated multiple times I was no longer living at that apartment. Nonpayment on my end was clear as well. It was the responsibility of the person managing the funds to follow up on nonpayment, and also to make appropriate adjustments.
Sorry for the long post. Am I liable for any payments? Would my roommates have a case against me in court? What I'm counting on is my location data to show that I was genuinely absent, texts showing that I had made my absence clear and photos showing that I could not reside in my room even if I wanted, extended gaps and redundancies in their arguments, and transactions showing I did pay for any utility usage that I was aware of and liable for.
If they take the case to court, I will be missing multiple flights home, and will be out several hundreds of dollars used towards being able to take my pet home (meaning vet bills, plane and airport fees, etc.). Would I be able to seek damages for this?
TLDR; I wasn't making utility payments because I wasn't using my apartment (rent and utilities are separate). My roommates knew this, didn't acknowledge the nonpayment on my end for months, suddenly decided to threaten court unless I paid for everything I missed in full immediately after moving out. I did not sign anything, my name is not on any account. Not sure if they even have a case, but am I liable for anything here? Would I be able to seek damages?

When have they not created controversy?
The language debate has been going on for centuries, and yet, it still manages to garner a lot of attention even today. Whether the attention is positive (rarely) or negative (mostly), it’s there, and I think we need to slow down a little and look at everything we’ve got before giving an opinion.
Many of the complaints are about the fact that anglophones are being refused certain rights or are outright being discriminated against when it comes to receiving provincial services in Quebec. I can’t speak about individuals (because we all know there are some assholes out there, no matter who we’re speaking about), but I can explain the law. And that’s what this post is going to be about.
This series of posts will contain:
- An explanation of the language law (Bill 101 and its recent update, Bill 96), as well as what it means for anglophones, allophones and francophones. (this post)
- An explanation of the OQLF (Office Quebecois de la langue française) as well as what it can do and cannot do. (this post)
- A review of the different language laws of the past (ever wondered what Law 17 was about? Or about what happened in Manitoba during its creation, and after? And what about those laws that Prince Edward Island passed, but of which we don’t have any physical evidence?)
- A little look at Quebec’s position in the past (not a history lesson of course, but I think it can help people understand the province’s position today)
- A link to the different resources I used, if you’d like to read them yourself (a warning however: many will be in French. You can always use Google translate, but please be aware that it may not convey the original meaning)
Moreover, a disclaimer: I am NOT a lawyer or a political analyst, or anything; I’m merely a random person who decided to do some research. I do think my research is accurate, although it is most likely not complete and superficial. I wish I could dig deeper and give you all an amazing analysis, but that’s simply impossible with my current skills. However, I do hope you learn more from this, just like I did, and that it pushes you to investigate further! Don’t hesitate to comment and ask questions, though I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to answer them all.
I’d like to add that this text is greatly influenced by Wikipédia, so I won’t claim to be the only author of it. However, any translations are my own. In relations to that, please forgive any mistakes that may appear in this text; English isn’t my first language, and though I do claim to be bilingual and to have a general great understanding of the language, I do sometimes forget certain terms, unfortunately.
With that said, let’s jump in!

The controversial Bill 101 and the even-more controversial Bill 96

The first ‘ancestor’ of Bill 101 is Bill 63 which was passed at the of the 1960s in an attempt to solve a conflict opposing French Canadians and Italian immigrants in St-Leonard, or at least, that’s where it started; the conflict then became a provincial-wide issue, and the government was pressured to react to it. While it was supposed to promote the use French, it mostly let allophones have access to English schools, which, considering the time…they took advantage of. Can’t blame them, but it did kind of ruin the purpose of the law.
In the 1970s, the Union nationale (who had passed the law) lost to the Liberals of Robert Bourassa, who then decided to attempt to create a new law in 1974: Bill 22 (again, ‘ancestor’ of Bill 101). They somehow managed to make everyone angry. People who supported the use of only French were mad that English could still be used at work without any limits, and people who supported the right to choose were mad that children needed to pass an English knowledge test before being able to be admitted in an English school. It did, however, make French the official language in the province. But the Liberals were hit hard and lost the elections in 1976.
The winners of the election of 1976 were the Parti Quebecois, the creators of Bill 101. The law is passed in 1977, and while a majority of francophones are happy (an approval rate of 80,6%), anglophones are not. That’s because, by making French the reference language in Quebec, English loses its status of sometimes-dominating language in some neighborhoods, and messes with the linguistic balance (mostly in Montreal). Thus, we have the exodus of anglophones; around 83 000 anglophones choose to leave the province during the mandate of the Parti Quebecois. Many left due to fear and frustration, although it’s worth noting that that’s the sort of speech many anglophone newspapers used at the time.
But was the law really that bad? Did it justify so many people being scared and leaving? Well, we have to look a bit more at Bill 101 to understand. Let’s look at it title by title:
Title 1: Has 9 chapters that say that French is the official language of legislation, justice, administration, parapublic organisms, work, trade & affairs and finally, teaching.
Title 2: Defines 5 fundamentals rights that all Quebecers have, namely.
- Everyone has a right to receive communication in French from all governmental branches, professional orders, employees associations and enterprises established in Québec.
- Everyone has a right to speak in French during deliberative assemblies.
- Everyone has a right to work in French.
- Everyone has a right to be served in French and to be informed in French.
- Everyone admissible to studying in Quebec has a right to receive their education in French.
Title 3: About the linguistic officialization, toponomy and francization of civil administration and enterprises
Title 4: It establishes the Conseil supérieur de la langue française.
Title 5 & 6: Defines the provisions and penal sanctions, as well as various transitional provisions.
Now that we’ve established the different titles, let’s take a look at the different provisions:
Langue de la législation et de la justice (Language of legislation and justice) :
Bills and regulations within the National Assembly, the tribunals and the Quebecois judicial system need to be printed, adopted, and sanctioned in BOTH FRENCH AND ENGLISH. Both versions have the same judicial value. State regulations need to be in both languages, but those from municipalities and school service centers don’t necessarily have to be.
Moreover, in a judicial context, it is a person’s right to express themselves in either French or English, orally or on paper.
Langue de l’administration (Language of the administration):
The government, the ministries and other organisms of public administration need to be designated by the French denomination, and their publications, communications, contracts and display also need to be in French. Moreover, administration employees need to have an appropriate knowledge of French.
Langue des organismes parapublics (Language of parapublic organisms) :
Enterprises of public utility, professional orders and their members need to offer their services and the texts destined to the public in French. They must also freely provide a translation of texts that concern them. Communications with the State, moral people and their members is also in French unless there’s an exception. If you want to be a member of a professional order, you must have an appropriate understanding of French.
Langue du travail (Language of work) :
French is the usual and normal language of work. Employers and unions need to communicate with the employees in French and write their collective conventions in French. Promotions and work offers must also be written in French. An employee cannot be penalized because they don’t have sufficient understanding of a language other than French or require the knowledge of a language other than French to get a job (unless, of course, knowledge of this language is necessary for the job).
Langue du commerce et des affaires (Language of trade and affairs) :
French is mandatory for; containers of a product, wrappings, documents, inscriptions, catalogues, brochures, leaflets, commercial directories, softwares, games, toys, adhesion contracts, contracts and documents attached to them, job application forms, purchase orders, bills, receipts, public displays, commercial publicity and names of businesses (for the last 3, there are some exceptions; for example, certain businesses that have already registered their name with the Canadian government don’t have to add French to their name. Some still choose to).
Langue de l’enseignement maternel, primaire et secondaire (Language of maternal, primary and secondary education) :
French is the language of all three of those. However, children who have at least one Canadian parent who received most of their schooling (primary or secondary) in English in Canada can have access to English schools (Canada clause). For higher education, cegeps and universities need to have a usage and quality policy on the French language.
Various provisions:
French and another language can be used side by side if a certain law doesn’t require the exclusive use of French. This affects the redaction of texts or documents, where French can be used with either one or multiple languages. However, French needs to be at least as EQUALLY visible as the other language(s).
Linguistic officialization:
Ministries and organisms related to the public administration can create committees to evaluate shortcomings when it comes to the use of certain terms. They can suggest the use of more appropriate terms or expressions, who then need to be suggested or normalized by the OQLF. Once that last part is done, those terms/expressions then become mandatory in the public administration.
(Skipping toponymy because this is getting long, but there’s basically a Commission that takes care of all the names of places and the Charter defines their competencies)
(Same for the francization of the administration and enterprises)
Conseil supérieur de la langue française (Superior Council of the French Language) :
The Charter defines their role and their composition. Their role is to advise the minister responsible for the French Language (it’s currently Jean-Francois Roberge, the previous minister of Education).
For sanctions, to quickly go over it: 600$ to 6000$ for physical people and between 1500$ and 20 000$ for moral people (double if they do it again).
And we’re done with the most technical part of this post! We still haven’t gone over Bill 96, but believe me, it’ll be way shorter than that. But we’re still not done with Bill 101, so let’s keep going.
Anglophone and Indigenous minorities have, of course, certain rights that are recognized by the Constitution. Therefore, those rights must be respected and that’s what the Charter does. For example:
- When laws are published in both French and English, both versions are equally valid.
- People can speak to the tribunal in English.
- Judgements can be made available in either French or English, if someone asks for a translation (depends on if the judgment was first released in French or English)
- The law doesn’t apply to Indigenous reserves, but to the local Indigenous language outside of it. That means that outside of the reserve, local Indigenous languages are submitted to the legislation, same as English or any language other than French.
Of course, ever since its adoption, the law was the subject of many controversies and invalidations by the Supreme Court of Canada. Therefore, the Quebec government was forced to change the law accordingly. Other times, the provincial government chose to change without being forced to (like with Bill 96). To go over them quickly:
Law 178: Superior Court of Quebec invalidates dispositions that mandates French as the sole language that can be used on displays. The decision is confirmed in 1988 by the Superior Court of Canada. Robert Bourassa (Quebec Liberal Party) is therefore forced to act and chooses to change the law so that French is still mandatory outside, but can be used alongside other languages inside, as long as it is predominant. He uses the derogation clause. Nobody is happy once again, for completely different reasons, and 3 ministers decide to resign a few days later.
Invalidation of article 73: Now, children from anywhere in Canada can now have access to English schools (before, it was only if their education had been mostly in English in Quebec). The Constitution of 1982 now made it a right for any Canadian to receive education in the minority language of the province. The requirements of the Charter still apply, but now, to a Canada-wide scale. That right is then added to the Charter with Law 86.
Law 86: Without being forced to, the government passes a law that ends the mandatory use of only French in commercial displays. Bilingual displays are authorized if French is visibly dominant. The law also makes sure that judicial services are offered in both French and English, which wasn’t the case before.
- Why it wasn’t the case: When the law was first adopted, it made it so that bills tabled at the National Assembly had to be written in French and trials had to be conducted in French, unless both parties agreed for it to be done in English. Camille Laurin (the father of the law), and the council of ministers knew that those provisions would go against the Constitution (the British North America Act), but that they wanted t o protest against the fact that only Quebec had to provide those services in both languages, as all the other provinces in English Canada were exempted (therefore, only English was fine, no French version was mandatory). The Supreme Court invalidated these articles, and thus, the law was changed.
The next important change is with Bill 96, but before we get to that, we`ve just got a few parts parts left.
Other Countries
Did you know? Other countries were inspired by Quebec’s language policy:
The Baltic countries; to protect their respective languages against Russian. Some complained about a one-way bilingualism, in which, for example, Lithuanians learnt Russian and Lithuanian, but Russians only learnt Russian because there wasn’t a need for them to learn Lithuanian. Mart Rannut, vice-doyen of research at the department of psychology at Tallinn University, in Estonia, has even said (about Bill 101), that it has << touched 1/6 of the planet >>.
Catalonia: The legislation in Quebec had a big impact during the sociopolitical debate about the protection of Catalan against castellan in Spain. Catalan was made mandatory in public function because of a law inspired by Law 101.
China: The country was inspired by the law when they wrote one of their decisions, whose goal was to promote standard mandarin.
Israel: English is perceived as a threat against Hebrew, although for now, the Quebec law has only influenced linguists and a few politicians.
Wales: Law 101 had a big impact in Wales too, but unfortunately, couldn’t be implemented the same way it was in Baltic countries, as Gaelic speakers are a minority in the UK. Colin H. Williams, a professor and researcher at the Gaelic department at Cardiff University, said that many lessons can be learnt from Quebec’s experience.
Porto Rico: A law adopted in 1991 made Spanish the only official language of this place. It was inspired by Law 101. It was repealed in 1993.
Did you expect China to be there? Me neither honestly. According to the same Tallinn researcher, many Soviet countries were inspired by Quebec’s law. However, I haven’t done much research about this, so I won’t go deeper into this (although it’s very interesting to learn about).
Before going further, I’d like to explain the role of an organization that is often mentioned in the media. The so-called ‘language police’, whose role I’ll explain. I’ll also talk about some of the limits they have, as well as a particular incident that many people keep bringing up.
The OQLF (Office québécois de la langue française) :
The OQLF was created in 1961, although it didn’t have as many responsibilities as it does now. Those were expanded in 1977, with the adoption of the Charter of the French language. Because, yes; the OQLF was there way before Law 101.
The organization has many responsibilities, including:
- Making sure the Charter of the French language is respected.
- Keeping an eye on the evolution of French in Quebec and giving a rapport to the minister at least every 5 years.
- Making sure that French is the language used at work, during communications, for trade and affairs. Taking the measures they deem necessary to make sure French is promoted.
- Must help define and elaborate francization programs as is foreseen in the law.
- Can assist and inform compagnies, organisms, and more about better words/terms they can use to make sure they stay up to date with the development of French in Québec.
- Can receive observations and suggestions about what could be done better to develop French and apply the law. Those can then be taken to the minster.
- Must establish the necessary research programs to the application of the law. Can conduct studies they deem necessary for those programs.
- Can conclude agreements and participate in projects with any person or organism.
- Can conclude agreements with a different government than the one in Québec, one of its ministries, and international organization or an organism that is linked to that government. That is possible as long as it follows the law in place in Québec.
While the OQLF’s more ‘active’ role is often the most highlighted, it’s far from the only one they have. And they don’t spend all of their time treating complaints either; finding more appropriate French words, following the evolution of French in the province, assisting compagnies and answering their questions and cooperating with different organizations is what they do the most often.
But since receiving, treating, and acting upon complaints is what they’re most known for, let’s address that.
Most years, the OQLF receives a few thousand complaints. Those complaints are sent by Quebecers who feel like their right to be served in French in Québec is affected. However, the OQLF doesn’t act upon all of these, and even then, most of the complaints they act upon are solved rather quickly. Most don’t make the news.
Many complaints are ignored and considered to be invalid. Others were already solved by the time the OQLF could intervene. Sometimes, the products were immediately taken off the shelf. Finally, sometimes, the complaints were made too late, and could not be treated.
For the fines, those don’t happen too often. For example, in 2006, they were only 127 fines that were given, between 250$ and 5000$.
All in all, there’s not really much ‘police’ in that. And that’s mostly the reality.
Some incidents did get out of hands of course (like the famous Pastagate incident, for which the OQLF admitted having been ‘overzealous’ and for which the head of the organization at the time, Louise Marchand, resigned), but it’s really not common. For most cases in which the complaint was appropriate, compagnies or people simply correct the mistake.
Now, for the part many were probably waiting for, the very, very controversial bill adopted in 2021…

Bill 96

I’m sure everyone (or at least, those who follow the news) remember the multiple debates that happened (and are still happening) about this law adopted around 2 years ago. Articles were written, protests were organized, Indigenous people weren’t happy; it was messy. Some misinformation was even spread around, like the idea that anglophones wouldn’t be able to receive medical services in English anymore (which, to be clear, isn’t true).
What is the truth? What are the lies? What should you be angry at? All the answers you might be seeking are here.
A mini disclaimer before we start this section: I am merely human, and therefore, have an opinion on this subject which I’ve researched as much as I could. Of course, I’ll give you all the facts so that you can then make a decision yourself, but there are some things I personally disagree with (or agree with) that might be more obvious than others. Anyway, let’s start.
What did Bill 96 include?
When it was first introduced, the bill provided for the creation of a French language commissioner (whose designation would have to be approved by 2/3 of the National Assembly) as well as for the creation of a ministry of the French language.
It amended the Charter to change and include certain things:
- Laws can still be adopted in both languages, but when there is a misunderstanding between both versions, the French version will prevail.
- All judgements given in English will have to be translated in French.
- The knowledge of a language other than French cannot be required during the nomination of a provincial judge, unless the justice minister deems it necessary.
- Regulations don’t have to be written in English anymore, because the requirement of bilingualism (of the British North America Act of 1897) didn’t include regulations.
- For schools, English cegeps now have a limit, and can only accept 17,5% of the entire Québécois student population. Non-anglophones students will also have to complete the French exam (mandatory in French cegeps) to receive their diplomas. The student quota doesn’t apply to universities.
- Enterprises that have between 25 and 49 employees will need to obtain a francization certificate, just like enterprises with more than 50 employees. Law 101 will also apply to federal enterprises.
- Bilingual municipalities have their bilingual status removed if their population isn’t mostly anglophone anymore. However, they can ask to maintain that status with a resolution. As of today, all 48 municipalities concerned with this part of the law have adopted such a resolution to keep their status.
- Civil status documents obtained in English in a different Canadian province must be translated. Before, only documents written in a language other than French and English were concerned (so, mostly documents from other countries)
- The preliminary of the Quebec Civil Code is modified to say that it is now interpreted in harmony with the Charter of the French language, and not only with the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
- Modifies the Profession Code to say that an inability to maintain an appropriate knowledge of French constitutes a derogatory act to the dignity of someone’s profession.
- Modifies the Constitution of 1867 to add the recognition of the Québécois nation and French as its sole official language. Uses the derogatory clause.
- Makes it so that after 6 months, an immigrant will have to communicate with the government in French.
- Gives the power to inspectors in charge of the application of the law to penetrate, at any reasonable hour, in any place aside from a house, where an activity concerned by the law is happening.
Those are most of the changes included in Bill 96. However, the law still has some limits. For example:
- Article 133 of the Constitution of 1867 (concerning the bilingualism of Quebec and the Canadian parliament) cannot be modified without the authorization of the Canadian parliament. Therefore, the part that was added (French is the sole official language of Quebec), is technically not valid. However, I don’t think the federal government intervened as of now (or plans to), so it’s there.
- For article 530 of the criminal code, the protected right to be heard in common law doesn’t actually say that the judge must speak English or even just understand it (the stoppage Société des Acadien c. Association of Parents). However, later, with a different stoppage (R. c. Beaulac), it was declared that the tribunals have to be institutionally bilingual to make sure both official languages can be used. Since criminal law is under federal jurisdiction, Quebec’s attempt to create a unilingual judicial system could meet some obstacles. However, the use of the derogatory clause by the province complicates things.
- It is still a right to receive medical services in English. While Quebec could have attempted to eliminate that right, it didn’t. Same goes for 9-1-1 (fun fact: only Quebec and New-Brunswick are forced to give 9-1-1 services in the minority language of their province. None of the others do), even though Indigenous people and anglophones were worried about that.
​
Bill 96 certainly goes further than the previous version of Bill 101 did, and that has many people worried. I myself don’t completely agree with some of the changes here. But let’s not fall into misinformation, because that helps absolutely no one. Fear and panic are also emotions we should avoid acting upon, no matter if we agree or disagree with the law. And please, no Nazi comparisons; they did much, much worse and I think it’s clear to all (or at least, I hope it is) that the Quebec government is absolutely not on the verge of committing a mass genocide. Accusations like that will only make people go on the defensive and are an obstacle to dialogue. We’ll get nowhere, still be mad and frustrated, and continue the cycle for even longer.
It may sometimes look like this debate will never end, like francophones and anglophones are destined to forever disagree when it comes to language, but in the end, nothing is eternal. I’m sure we’ll get somewhere one day, even if that day is years away.
Anyway, that’ll be it for part 1! Stay tuned for part 2, where we’ll take a look at the different language laws that were once in place in other provinces: Ontario, Manitoba, British-Columbia, even the territories had some! I’ll also do my best to write about the current language laws in the other provinces and compare the situation of Franco-Albertans and Fransaskois (for example) with the situation of anglophones in Québec.
​
​
Sources:
- Wikipédia (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charte_de_la_langue_fran%C3%A7aise) for most of my information (the site is well-organized and I mostly followed their organization)
- OQLF website (https://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/charte/changementslegislatifs/?gclid=CjwKCAjwrpOiBhBVEiwA_473dKae6mSlJbQPGLgRox_ACQLIs3VDA263wB5RiIMCgE4ubyVlAUOTchoCnZUQAvD_BwE) mostly concerns labour laws
- The Canadian Encyclopedia (https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/farticle/loi-101) bit of history and legal obstacles

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Hi,
This is about Armodafinil 150mg. I'm scared to take it. I took 1/4th of a 150mg (about 40mg) to test out how my body was to react. Thankfully nothing really happened, maybe I got a slight headache. What were your symptoms (if you have Narcolepsy type 2 without cataplexy)? How many hours would you sleep? How did it affect your day? Your studies? Your job? Does my story below resonate with you at all? How did you approach taking these medications that don't come without risks? Without meds, what "percentage" of awakeness and alertness do you feel? How does it manifest for you? I want to hear ALL about it!
My story:
27/F with comorbid anxiety, history of depression and CPTSD.
For the 1.5 years I have been following with a psychiatrist with my main symptoms being concentration issues, and just am yearning for more days with 100% alertness and mental clarity. I've always required at least 10 hours of sleep a day. He is incredible at what he does and I am so lucky to have him as my doctor. Over a span of 4 years, I ruled out I have tried antidepressants first. Those were Lexapro, Bupropion, Strattera, Viibryd, and small adjunct dose of Abilify. I am only on Viibryd now and it's good. I truly believe that those antidepressants helped in my success vocationally. Though I was successful at work, while others had hobbies mine was to sleep. I never really thought of my sleep being abnormal until I got married. My husband just is able to get up and go and not need one nap the whole day! He asks me to promise him that I'll go to the gym, and guys... I have yet to go. I keep waiting for energy and the focus to do that. It makes me look like I'm a lazy bum. But I'M NOT. The kitchen is a mess because I'm physically too tired to focus on putting things away.
My labwork is normal. But the symptoms persist.
He has woken me up almost every single day the last 4 years, and by that I mean by grabbing me by my legs and dragging me out of the bed while I fight it. It would be after 9-10 hours of sleep. I just feel like I need to sleep more and THEN I'll be awake. Then I would find that I don't have the time in the day that I need to manage a healthy life. Husband would say, "WELL IF YOU WOKE UP EARLIER YOU WOULD HAVE TIME". Ok so the sleeping is a problem. I have a record of sleeping 26 hours straight. Most days its at least 9-10 hours, with a probable nap and feeling about 70-80% awake, never truly FULLY awake.
A repeated thing I would do when my concentration is really poor to where I cannot function in my own kitchen, is to take a "30 minute nap". "That should help" I would think to myself. Well, it would turn into 3 hours. In the end am frustrated at myself for needing this much sleep.
Worse days are when it's 12+. I had plenty of 16-20 hour sleeps too but those are not as common. (Those days were only possible when I would travel for work and husband was not around) Moral of the story is: I sleep more than half of my life and just want to feel 100% AWAKE and ALERT and not at 70-80%. I don't believe I have full on narcolepsy and I have brought up "fatigue" to multiple providers since I was 14. My mother said I always slept very good.
In elementary school, my mom would wake me up. Once I got on the bus, I'd sleep while I can. In middle schoold, I was always be the last one entering the bus as the doors were closing each and every day at 08:00am and it was even worse at 6:57am in high school. Everyone was waiting on me all the time. Every minute of sleep was precious. I'd quickly brush teeth and put on clothes, quickly eat something in 10 minutes as I was fighting through the sleep inertia that would last all day. I ran to bus stop with the grogginess on autopilot and would run even with my eyes closed at times. I would definitely be exhausted in all my classes and for sure napped during them, but who hasn't? My friend on the other hand, would get up early, put thought into her outfit, do her hair and makeup. I just could never be one of those people. In college it became worse. I would definitely skip classes that I could to study them on my own time - but still would get that A in Chemistry. I would still be running to class at the last minute and I lived ON CAMPUS!!! It's not like I lived far away and had an excuse!!!
With the concentration that I have, it greatly affects my recall, processing speed, executive functioning, time management, memory and learning ability. So much so that I knew something was wrong with me when I studied for an extremely important exam for 3 WEEKS only to get a 52%. Guys I was DEVASTATED and cried for the first time. Normally I was an A-B student. This was when I was not on any kind of medication but I was truly always tired. I would read and reread, write and rewrite notes and they would just not stick in my brain. Have any of you experienced this?
Doc heard me out, and agreed that the recurring theme here is excessive daytime sleepiness with concentration issues with or without all the meds I've tried. He ordered Armadafinil for me to try . To take 1/2 a pill once a day to see if it works. If it doesn't, then to take the full tablet. Having never done stimulants, and reading all the possible side effects, I am terrified of it. Ofcourse Inattentive ADHD was a discussion of ours but it didn't feel right for both of us since I do have moments of full focus and clarity. Sadly it's not long-lasting and depends on the % of awakeness that I would rate my self at.
If you have come this far in my story, I applaud you for reading it all the way through. I know it was quite long and truly appreciate it.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated in this journey and please don't judge me for not yet having done the sleep study. I will do it. I have a feeling that I am not fully narcoleptic like many of you. I will know for sure once the test is completed. This is not to say that Armodafinil may not be helpful for someone like me.
Thank you for sticking through this extremely long post and I'm excited to hear what you have to share!

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Hello, my name is Jason, an accomplished writer offering quality services at an affordable rate. I am an expert in APA 6th/7th edition, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE, Vancouver, and many other writing styles.
TIP: If you are looking to outsource writing services, you should at least hire the best :)
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• Tips on how to manage you course work better.

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Hi! Just want to share my experience in REO since nakikita ko dito mayroon mga hindi alam kung anong RC ang papasukan. Hope this helps din para doon sa cinoconsider mag REO 😊
If you're considering REO, let me warn you na agad na marami ang pre recorded videos. They were true to their words naman when they said na zero-based and discussion kasi talagang from scratch ang ginawang discussion. Marami akong mga topics na first view ko pa lang or if hindi naman first view, self study lang during undergrad pero para sa akin sobrang solide mag discuss ng mga reviewers kasi kahit isang beses ko lang napanood mga videos nila (without recalling pa ito ha), nagets ko agad mga topics. For context din pala, pure online reviewee ako kaya REO din talaga cinonsider ko kasi ang ganda ng app nila, available pre recorded videos, assessments, quizzers, concepts summary, and you can ask questions din sa mga reviewers sa app. Anyway, ito ang mga experience ko per reviewer sa REO.
Atty. Nicko (RFBT) - siya inunan ko kasi RFBT ang pinaka una kong pinanood na pre rec vid haha. Well... I think he's okay naman. If you want to have a full grasp of the overall provisions of the certain law, good siya. Pero most of the time, I opt to read na lang ng handouts and make my own summary kasi I feel like he's reading lang naman mga nasa powerpoint and hindi rin gaano comprehensive mga examples niya. Pero like I said, ito ay opinion ko lang ah, what works best for you might be different sa what works best for me. Also, if meron kabg RFBT reviewer book ni sir, enough na yun basahin tapos panoorin mo na lang ng 2x speed si atty nicko haha.
Atty. Diane (RFBT) - ito lodi talaga. Good siya isunod after mo magbasa ng provisions ng law or after mo mapanood si atty. Nicko kasi grabe ang galing mag summarize ni atty. Diane ng bawat topics. Sa app during batch namin, parang ang meron lang siya na pre rec vids ay contracts, sales, partnerhship and corporation. Pero since siya rin nagtuturo during weekend or live discussions, sobrang na appreciate ko ang law kahit pa hirap na hirap ako. Ang ganda rin ng mga examples ni atty. Diane and yung mga mnemonics niya. Imagine yung corporation na pagkahaba haba aralin, nai discuss niya in 5hours. Amazed talaga ako doon kasi parang ang dali dali intindihin ng law sa kanya hehe.
Sir Ngina (AFAR) - ito solid din para sa akin pero alam ko hati ang opinion ng mga reviewees sa teaching style ni sir. Pero dahil sa kanya, highest ko ang AFAR (90 ako doon hehe flex ko lang). Noong mag answer ako afar during boards, feeling ko nagsasagot lang ako ng monthly assessments and handouts na provided ni sir, legit ito. As for why nasabi ko na hati ang opinion ng reviewers is because, more focused sa standards si sir. Hindi siya yung step by step tinuturo yung way ng pagsolve ng problems. More on application talaga siya ng concepts or standards. Pero if maintindihan mo naman mga concepts na dinidiscuss niya, sobrang dali naman na i apply sa problem solving. Overall, gusto ko siya. Very helpful siya talaga, galing niya mag discuss ng concepts. Ang masasabi ko lang dito is sana iimprove pa yung handouts na provided kasi kulang yung concepts na discussed doon sa handouts.
Atty. Bagayao (AFAR) - Waaaaa isa pa itong lodi ko. Advertise ko na agad yung quicknotes niya na libro kahit wala ako noon hahahaha. Pero yung way niya ng pagtuturo during live discussion grabe sobrang galing. Good siya after mapanood concepts duscussion ni sir ngina. Kasi if si sir ngina focused sa concepts tapos hindi mo mai apply sa problem solving, si atty. Bagayao naman ay sobrang galing naman sa pag solve ng mga problems. Napapadali niya talaga ang pagsosolve haha. sobrang helpful niya talaga sa pagsolve especially for me. Bili kayo quicknotes niya sa afar hahaha
Sir Karim (FAR) - noong sinabi niyang no brainer ang far, legit na no brainer talaga. Hirap ako sa far during undergrad, mabilis ako ma overwhelm sa mga problems especially if mahaba na. Pero dahil kay sir karim talaga, isa yung far sa lagi ko nilu look forward aralin. Ang ganda rin ng handouts niya and ang galing ng way niya ng pagdidiscuss ng concepts. Alam niyo ba, during undergrad, hindi ko maiintindihan ang isang topic kapag di ako nag solve pero kay sir kar talaga, dumating yung point na kinulang ako sa time kaya ang pinanood ko na lang is yung concept discussion niya. Hindi ako nanood ng problem solving discussions niya and hindi ako nag solve pero grabe during preboards, alam ko pa rin paano iso solve yung problem. So ayun, magaling talaga si sir karim, legit na no brainer ang FAR 🥹
Sir Vhinson (FAR) - Si sir ang live lecturer sa FAR namin, just like atty. Bagayao, ang galing mag summarize ni sir ng mga topics and sobrang lambing ng boses niya haha. Kahit nakaka ilang problems na kayo na sinosolve, hindi nakaka overwhelm. Ewan ko ba sa kanila ni sir karim kung paano nila napapa feel na sobrang dali lang ng far. Pero ayun true naman, i think na reflect naman sa score ko during boards na nadalian ako sa far becaus of them (86 ako hehe).
Sir Rex (Tax) - dami issue ni sir rex noh? Hahahahaha pero dahil yan sa mga jokes niya hahaha pero for me, di ko na lang pinapansin talaga 🥲 pero syempre iba iba naman tayo ng level of sensitivity kaya understandable na ayaw ng iba. Pero during live lectures naman, okay naman siya. Hindi naman siya nagjojoke ng mga ganun haha siguro nababasa rin nila mga feedback. Anywayyyyy, magaling si sir sa tax. Totoo yun. Ang isa sa nagustuhan ko kay sir rex ay binibigyan niya ng explanation as to bakit tinatax ito, bakit ganito ang way ng pag tax, bakit exempted, bakit hindi exempted, etc. Gusto ko rin yung dinidiscuss niya yung differences ng application ng tax sa academe and in actual practice. Very helpful siya especially for those who plan to enter the tax practice. May nababasa ako na outdated daa vids ni sir rex. Pero para sa akin parang minimal lang naman. Like yung RCIT rate na 30% pa sa vid niya. Pero parang yun lang naman? Or mga amount sa de minimis pero kaunti lang din. Pwede naman ma check sa handouts kung ano ang iba tsaka may video naman sa umpisa si sir rex ng summary ng mga naiba ng rates or tax provisions. Pero like i said nga, okay siya sa akin pero it might not be okay for you :)
Sir Darell (Aud. Prob.) - if gusto mo ng mga practice sa FAR or further discussions sa auditing, watch sir darell. Guilty akk kasi kaunting vids lang napanood ko sa kanya kasi syempre limited na rin naman time and para sa akin kasi if okay na sa FAR and AT, okay ka na rin sa AP haha. Pero solid yung pre week niya tapos dami ko nakikita na comments during pre week na "yung mga tanong ni sir, palagi lumalabas yan sa boards" and true enough naman, lumabas talaga hahahaha.
Sir Monterola (AP) - Siya lecturer namin sa live discussion. Funny ni sir kaya kahit after luncha ng schedule namin jan di ka aantukin 😆 pero wala naman, kasi nga maganda na foundation ko sa far and AT kaya for confirmation na lang sa akin itong live discussion sa AP.
Sir Escala (AT) - If plan mo mag enroll sa REO, dapat si sir escala dahilan mo. Charot ! Hahhaha pero bias ko talaga tong sir kasi sobrang galing mag discuss ng AT. Tinutulugan ko lang to noon kasi di ko maintindihan tapos nagkakabisado lang ako mga answers sa test banks para makapasa sa exams pero dahil kay sir escala, maning mani yang AT na yan kahit pagbali baligtarin niyo pa questions hahaha
Sir Ngina (AT) - Sita live lecturer namin sa AT and nagulat ako hahahaha ang galing din pala ni sir sa AT 😆 akala ko afar lover lang siya eh. Pero ayun na amaze ako na very flexible itong mga reviewers ng reo sa pagtuturo, akala ko kasi kung ano lang ang tinuturo nila sa pre rec, yun lang din tuturo nila during live. Pero ang galing ni sir Ngina, helfpful mga summaries and mnemonics niya.
Sir Rhad (MS) - Unahan ko na hahaha concept based si sir rhad. Intindihin mo ang concepts if gusto mo makasagot sa problems. If visual learner ka at gusto mo sa problem solving lang mag focus, di ko recommended si sir kasi bihira siya magsulat sa board pag problem solving, turuan ka na lang niya pano mag solve mabilis sa calculator haha. Works best siya sa akin kasi concept based talaga gusto ko. Kaya kahit di ako palasagot ng mga problems, basta napanood ko na concept discussion ni sir and alam ko na formulas and reasoning bakit ganoon yung formula, ang dali na rin i apply.
Ma'am Seanne (MS) - Ito si Ma'am grabe eh. Ang ganda na tapos ang galing pa magturo. Good siya for concepts and problem solving sa MS. Yung mga hindi nanonood kay sir rhad, sabi nila sapat na raw live discussion ni ma'am seanne kasi siksik talaga sa concepts and problem solving hehe
Nag reflect naman sa grades ko yung mga sinasabi ko na tinulungan talaga ako ng REO na makapasa. 85.50 ang overall average ko kahit pa during undergrad below average student ako at inulan ng tres during integ review 🤣
Ayun lang. Wala naman ako nalimot na subjects noh? Haha pero feel free to ask naman sa commenrs regarding REO pa especially if planning kayo mag pure online. Basta ang dapat tandaan lang if you're considering REO at need niyo ng zero based discussion, be disciplined enough na tapusin yung mga pre recorded videos. Mahaba man pero sulit naman para sa tatlong letra sa dulo ng pangalan natin. Alam ko sa sarili ko na REO ang mas suited sa akin na RC kasi napapanood ko naman mga free webinars nila and gusto ko teaching style ng mga reviewers tapos ayun since pure online ako, helpful itong app nila talaga.
Goodluck Future CPAs!

Hello, my name is Jason, an accomplished writer offering quality services at an affordable rate. I am an expert in APA 6th/7th edition, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE, Vancouver, and many other writing styles.
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Hello, my name is Jason, an accomplished writer offering quality services at an affordable rate. I am an expert in APA 6th/7th edition, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE, Vancouver, and many other writing styles.
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Hello, my name is Jason, an accomplished writer offering quality services at an affordable rate. I am an expert in APA 6th/7th edition, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE, Vancouver, and many other writing styles.
TIP: If you are looking to outsource writing services, you should at least hire the best :)
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Hello, my name is Jason, an accomplished writer offering quality services at an affordable rate. I am an expert in APA 6th/7th edition, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE, Vancouver, and many other writing styles.
TIP: If you are looking to outsource writing services, you should at least hire the best :)
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I'm a first year PhD student and I told my supervisor that I wanted to participate in a communication but she said that's only for 2nd years since I'm not ready, however my lab members advised me to participate because that'll help me not only with certificates but also with getting tips from other researchers so I have three questions: 1) do you think I should do it regardless? (That means I won't include my supervisor in authors since I'll be going behind her back) 2) I don't even know what to participate with in a communication, I have the research problem, so will that be enough or should I write a full literature review? 3) where do you find communications and calls for paper?(mostly online because I can't leave the country due to my job).
Thank you for taking the time to read this!

Hello, my name is Jason, an accomplished writer offering quality services at an affordable rate. I am an expert in APA 6th/7th edition, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE, Vancouver, and many other writing styles.
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Rate: $15 per page (275 words)
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• Timely Delivery
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Looking forward to hearing from you
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Hello, my name is Jason, an accomplished writer offering quality services at an affordable rate. I am an expert in APA 6th/7th edition, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE, Vancouver, and many other writing styles.
TIP: If you are looking to outsource writing services, you should at least hire the best :)
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Rate: $15 per page (275 words)
Why Work with Me.
Timely Delivery
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Discounted Rates on the First Few Orders
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Tips on how to manage you course work better.
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This is my first time on Reddit so I am nervous about how this is gonna go. I’ll start by just spilling the beans and telling you guys the story. I met my now boyfriend 4 years ago when we were both at rock bottom of our lives. He was, and still is, my best friend and we kept each other happy and going when we didn’t have much to our names. Our relationship was solid and we worked as a team to take care of both of our needs by paying bills and figuring out what we wanted to do with our lives. He moved in with me shortly after we established that our relationship was serious. I am happy to say life picked up about two years ago and it became much easier to survive. I made great progress on my education, which came with a nice upgrade to my pay. I am still progressing to continue my education until I finish my degree. While I had all of this going on my boyfriend jumped around from job to job and tried his best to keep making money. He landed on taxi driving as being his main gig because he said it made the most money. After experiencing some car problems he began having difficulty keeping up with paying for repairs and continuing to make an income. At one point I had offered to buy him a car and he refused saying it was too much and he didn’t need it. Fast forward to a year ago and he lost his car after non payments and looked into getting a rental. I had seen how many hours he was working and the effort he was putting in so when he asked if he could put some weekly rental car charges on my credit card I didn’t mind helping. This turned into months of payments totaling $6,000+ I have asked to be repaid more times then I can count but he never has the money. Out of fear of damaging my credit I went ahead and made all monthly payments in full. This required me to pull money from my saving account designated for school. I started getting resentful of him because I pay all our monthly bills make less money then he claims he makes ( 2,000 weekly compared to my 1,500 bi weekly) but somehow I am always the only one that has money. It feels like the more successful and imbedded I have become in my life the less and less he does. I have asked for effort and support in our relationship in other ways likes helping around the house but his effort fizzles out a couple days after the conversations. Aside from the financial problems I have an issue with him making promises left and right but never following through on things, I am not sure if this is because he doesn’t actually give a shit or because he makes an effort to fulfill these promises but falls short. An example of this was when I had a appointment to get my car looked at and he became upset with me that I was gonna pay another man to help with something he was more then capable of doing, I was great full because this would save me so much money but here we are 7 months later and my car hasn’t been touched. I stopped asking about the repairs after I felt like a nagging bitch and he just kept saying “ ya I’ll take care of it this weekend”. From the smallest to the biggest things I feel like I can’t take his word at face value because I know I will either end up waiting or just having to do it myself if something had a deadline. These problem created distance between us, I went head first on working, picking up extra shifts and making money because this was causing me anxiety. I grew up poor and will claw my way out before ever letting myself go hungry again, so watching him make inconsiderate financial decisions has been driving me crazy. I found out that he was on dating apps talking to other women because I had been so busy and focused on our bare minimum needs for living, I wasn’t giving him enough attention. I know I am partially to blame for that but I don’t know how to get over the anxiety I get every time his phone buzzes. Now I am at a point where I am burnt out giving 90% and only reviewing 10% back. Reading back what I just wrote feels stupid because if I was an outsider looking in I would just say “girl kick that bum out” but I am in it and it feels very real. He would be homeless and wouldn’t be able to provide for himself without me. I have never given birth so I don’t know how I got guilted into taking care of a man whose in his mid twenties. I am really just trying to understand how all the effort got shifted on me. Emotionally it feels like I have been living life under a weighted blanket, in that I just feel heavy all the time. When I am home alone I feel like I can breathe and noticed that I tense up when I hear him unlocking the door, I just don’t know how to act when all these issues are on my mind 24/7 and he just cares about what tv show I wanna watch that night. He didn’t have an easy childhood growing up and I can see him putting in effort to get himself out of poverty but it’s like watching someone trying to bike a mile on an exercise bike that isn’t going anywhere, no matter how hard he tries to peddle he doesn’t move. I feel like I would be abandoning him but at the same time I don’t want to be dragged down with him. I just wanted some outside perspective on what I should do because I have no one else to talk to, I question myself all the time if I should stick it out and wait for his potential to blossom or realize it won’t and just take care of myself. I have tried to introduce the conversation of breaking up and him leaving and moving out many times but I swallow my words every time I realize he would be screwed over.
How do I rid myself of someone that feels like a leach without completely destroying any grounding they have under their feet?
Thank you to the internet strangers who took the time to read about my mess of a life.

About Me
Hey there, my name is Shelbion and I've been an avid League of Legends player for over a decade. In Season 4, I reached Challenger for the first time and even considered pursuing a professional career. However, after much reflection, I decided to pursue other challenges within the game itself.
Some of my notable achievements as a player include:

• Reaching Challenger on multiple positions.
• Participating and winning in numerous SR and 1v1 tournaments.
• Playing for various teams(Amateur and Semi-Professional).

Community
In addition to my experience as a Player, I am also the Founder of Noxus Coaching - a rapidly growing, educational community on Discord. Our community is a great place to find new friends to play with, have a good time, and most importantly, improve your skills.
We hold various events on a weekly basis, including 1v1 & 5v5 tournaments, meme contests, and more. There are plenty of rewards to be won, including free coaching sessions with me. To join our community, visit https://discord.gg/TuTZAeRbx5 and message me upon joining to receive your role.
Coaching
As a coach with over 6.500 hours of experience, I have a passion for helping others improve and reach their goals. By studying the techniques of renowned coaches such as LS and MagiFelix, I have developed my own unique coaching approach that has helped countless individuals and over 20 teams advance their competitive play across 5 different continents, including members of various College and University E-Sports Teams.
Some of my notable achievements include:

• Assisting a Diamond 2 player reach Challenger in just five weeks.
• Helping a Silver 2 player climb to Platinum in three weeks.
• Guiding a Diamond 3 player to Grandmaster in six weeks.

I am dedicated to continuously honing my skills and providing the best coaching experience possible to all of my clients, regardless of their rank or location.
How Does it Work?
We will schedule an initial Interview during which we can discuss your goals and I can provide a more detailed explanation of my coaching services. This interview will typically last for 3-5 minutes.
The First Session is designed to assess your current level of gameplay and identify areas for improvement. After conducting an analysis, I will create a Personalized Coaching Plan tailored to your specific needs. This plan will outline a series of sessions designed to maximize your improvement.
The Coaching Plan may include various session types, such as:

• Theory sessions: These sessions will cover key concepts such as wave management, vision, decision making, and more.
• Practical sessions: These sessions will either be VOD reviews or live games, and will be used to put theoretical knowledge into practice and analyze gameplay.
• Reviews: These sessions will occur periodically and will be used as checkpoints to track your progress and identify any additional areas for improvement.

All sessions will be personalized and created specifically for each student's needs. By following this plan, you can feel confident that you are taking the most effective steps to achieve your goals.
Personalized Support (Available 24/7)
In addition to the structured coaching sessions, I offer personalized support to my clients on a 24/7 basis. Whether you have a specific question or just want to debrief after a tough game, I am always available to help. Simply message me and I will respond as quickly as possible.
AvailabilityPricesPayments
I am able to cover any server and any timezone! Rates for both Private and Team coaching are negotiable. We will easily get the sessions to fit your budget and your needs. Payments are usually done through PayPal, however other forms of Payment such as Direct Transfer can be discussed.
Contact?
Main form of contact is Discord on which you can find me at Shelbion#8832
Feel free to message me either on Discord or through a Direct Message on Reddit and I will come back to you as quickly as possible.

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 15 minutes — it's around 6k words of text, including references to the lyrics. So for the best experience, listen to the album beforehand to understand what the hell I was thinking when I wrote this review 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, in the cases of full-length albums, not even a scribble. 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 on the album.
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 along with brief lyrical analyses, followed by a conclusion and a rating. Also, mild swearing warning, I like implementing a touch of "French" when I'm very excited about something because feeling things is what I feel music and art should do. Anyway, onto the review!
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Between 1&2 💞

Album Review
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​
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TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT
TELL ME WHAT YOU NEED
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​

Talk that Talk 🎙

Lead producer: collapsdone
​
One of the most perfect TWICE songs.
I think this is one of TWICE’s best-sounding title tracks. 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 verse 1, 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,
​

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~

​
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 solo choreography stretching 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 borderline 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 out loud 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,
​

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

​
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. Nayeon outright shouts “Tell me what you need,” Jeongyeon sings this line,
​

han beon deo~ haejweo
geurae banggeum geu mal~

​
In such an ethereal, warm way where 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.
​
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

​
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.
This song feels like that bubbly, excited feeling right before, or during, a party, or any event that you really wanted to go to. It simply feels like unadulterated, pure, unbridled joy and elation and escapism. The synths and instrumentation really have to be commended alongside TWICE’s vocals. There’s just a warmth and happiness to this gosh darn song that feels so very TWICE.
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: they’ve done a Bildungsroman, a coming-of-age story.
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 song’s 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
​
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,
​

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~

​
Cymbals crashing, drums booming, and 3MIX belting all just so sound so equally good.
​

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

​
These looong, 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." Mina and Chaeyoung show more sides of it in the second verse, especially with Mina’s phrase
​

And now that I’m surrounded by all my girls
We be shining bright like diamonds and pearls

​
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
​

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]

​
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.
​

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

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

​
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, which 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
​
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.
​

dareun aedeulgwaneun dalla
Ain’t beggin’ for love
nappeun geon anijana ige naraseo
eodiro twilji molla
Like rainbow bubble gum
geureoni nal kkwak butjabadweo

​
Syllables are pronounced in a relaxed nature, lines 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.
​

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

​
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 sounds like 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
I - I - I I - I - I
Cannot miss this, such a bliss
I - I - I - I I - I - I
Ima put it down down
I - I - I - I I - I
Oh yeah, better kiss kiss
I - I I - I - I - I

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The lines below the lyrics are the notes/syllables of her 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 other members 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 — for all the ranting I wrote on how much 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 — its a bit out of place

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.
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 evolves from a song with good vibes to a song to dance to while crying in the club. And that’s without even delving into the lyrics.
The song describes a situation where the singer is in a darker place in life:
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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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It isn’t until another person gives them hope by calling them brave that they find the drive to keep on going, to keep on reaching higher highs, and to try to be their truest self. Where has this theme been done before? Uhm…
THIS SONG IS FEEL SPECIAL AS A B-SIDE ‼️
Notable lyrics include:
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A voice was heard makes me alive again
I was an endless maze, you became my sign
I’m never alone, so I’m never alone
My only believer
A dreamer that made me run further

​
This is such an emo song, oh my god. What makes it hurt even more is that apparently, like how Feel Special can be interpreted, this song is centred around ONCE, which, again, is the TWICEiest shit ever. This group is so sappy and full of love, they deserve the whole world.
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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 read 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

​
I’m actually spoiled with the TWICE members’ easy-to-understand songwriting that 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 forget about it 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.
With that anecdote out of the way, this song is just such a vibe, man. I know that sounds incredibly 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.
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 218 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 convention 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 has to bear fruit 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, and 2022’s That’s all I’m saying — 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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My limit, can’t stand it anymore
My patience, invisible
It’s lost, can’t find it, oh, it’s all gone
Even if I try to turn back, it’s too late
There’s no use for you anymore
All free, no tears, none left, it’s long Gone
Followed by Momo and Dahyun holding down the bridge
With your flipping mind, you’re on the way out
I know that you know what I’m talking ‘bout
Nothing you could say
That could turn this ‘round
I’m Gone

English translation adjusted to fit the cadence of the Korean syllables.
​
Continuing the disrespected theme of the song, Dahyun notes that she’s finally had enough; instead of reasoning and pondering to herself the mistake that this relationship was, she concludes that it’s time to pack her bags and go. 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 but there is nary a weak vocal performance in this album.
To close the song off, a wash of synths get to have their shine in the spotlight, showered with Nayeon’s belting, signifying the dramatic and drawn out conclusion of this partnership. As an aside, I think this outro sounds like a GOT7 song.
​
THE GOOD
- They’ve still got a few surprises left
- Thundering chorus
- 2nd rap and bridge combo
- Bitter, crumbling relationship theme
Needs Work

• I’m not a huge fan of Momo’s delivery in the 1st rap — she may have the best tone of the rap line but she has less experience

- The post-chorus in general, specifically the first one, can be a bit tiring on repeat listens
Life Highlight
- Actually, I think this song sounds like a mix between a GOT7 song, BLACKPINK’s Love To Hate Me, and Dahyun’s Bring It Back. I don’t know where I got this thought synthesized from, but it stuck
​
Going back to that point about the first rap, or, more accurately, that 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. And with a chorus as powerful as this, I’m expecting what follows to either contrast or “snap” into place right after the chorus. The post-chorus going into the bridge contrasts Dahyun’s light tone with the hard-hitting production, continuing the energy until it slowly fades into silence at the end of the bridge.
I guess how I view the first post-chorus is that it’s somewhere in the middle. Momo’s rap is trying to match the intensity of the production while Chaeyoung slows it down to lead into verse 2, but Momo’s delivery isn’t as clean as Dahyun’s. That could be attributed in part to the amount of lyrics, the vocal director, the melody constructed for that specific part, or just how loud the production is compared to the vocal mix — it could be any one of those factors because Momo, as proven by Hello, is capable of an insane flow.
Either or, as much as TWICE have 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 in the first time in a while elevates it to a 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 lead 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 they can get, 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.
​
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

Life Moment

• 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

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 sheer 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, hell, even what my next Instagram post should be, 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 marketing message was originally to resonate with people through their senses and their hearts. That was during their debut, and I think it still holds up today. Touching people through their emotions is what TWICE, in my opinion, does best and is what 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'll 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

I truly love this album. It got me through some important parts of my life, both the good and the bad, and it is just a pleasant listen throughout. Getting to re-listen and 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 like to view Between 1&2 as a tasting platter of pop music — there's such an eclectic mix of pop, house, and dance in this album that there are bound to be songs that someone will love, like, and dislike while listening to it.
That's enough rambling. Ready To Be was also a stunning album and Eyes wide open frankly also deserved the spotlight that Formula of Love: O+T=<3 received so I might tackle those next but no promises; this album took long enough in the oven.
Feel free to comment away any thoughts regarding the album, other TWICE albums, and any suggestions for my writing in general. Congrats again on making it this far!
God, I love this album.

I am a first year student coming to Brock and will be living on res! I’m looking for ways that I would be able to commute via bus, train during the weekends to Brampton but I’m bit confused. I would appreciate if previous Brock students who know a route to Brampton from Brock via bus or train would let me know, thanks!

Greetings! I hope you enjoy this new tale I've spun up! Trying a different POV this time around. Let me know what you think.
Next
Markus gazed once more at the package. It was tubular in shape, about ten inches in length, and rattled slightly when he shook it. There was no return address, and the delivery label was obviously hand-written in a gorgeous calligraphic font. Someone definitely took their time and care in creating this.
However, he didn’t recall ordering anything, nor did he have any friends or family with a looming marriage, so this arrival warranted some concern. It smelled somewhat of a campfire, but was otherwise a normal, nondescript cardboard tube with plastic caps.
As he inhaled the scent surrounding the tube, his mind was cast back to the few camping trips he had taken with his father, and of the many blóts he had performed with his old Kindred before they disbanded. Good memories, all. With a smile on his face, he gently uncapped the tube and emptied the contents out into his heavy palm.
As he had been expecting a letter, he wasn’t disappointed. What was interesting was the fact that said letter was made of honest-to-goodness vellum. A rolled piece of vellum, kept tight by a heavy signet ring.
Markus took the vellum to the kitchen table, and gently slid the ring off of it, laying it down, ignored for now.
Whomever had sent this to him had some serious skills. He was looking at what appeared to be an illuminated invitation. The handwriting was as exquisite as the lettering on the delivery label, and was a veritable joy to read.
Dearest Markus,
I am cordially inviting you to tea.
Please meet me at Kitcho Arashiyama – Kyoto, Japan.
Enclosed, please find your ticket to Japan.
I expect to see you there in three month’s time, at four PM local time on February 14th, 2023.
Yours,
Lucifer
Markus sat the letter down beside the seal, dumbfounded. Lucifer? Either someone was attempting to draw him into another LARP, or they must have sent the message to the wrong guy. Curious, he inspected the ring.
It was a heavy ring, with a curious, angular symbol embossed on it, surrounded by an almost hypnotic pattern of lines. The same symbol was also on either side of the ring. Smirking, he took a snapshot of it with his phone and did an image search.
It was, indeed, the sigil of Lucifer. Someone must have gone to some expense for this. Remembering that the message had said something about a plane ticket, Markus snatched up the tube and shook it some more. Out floated a second item. Picking it up off the floor, Markus saw that it looked curiously like a ticket of some sort. Round-trip from Louisville to Kyoto, open-ended. Nonstop, first class. Holy shit.
In disbelief, Markus checked the ticket online. It was booked through Quantas, and was, indeed, legitimate. Sitting back in the chair, he realized that he would be going to Japan in three months.
Three months was hardly enough time to get his passport in order. Still, if someone spent this much on a flight for him, he owed it to them to do his utmost to be there on time, and at his best.
The next day, he called in to work and went to a post office in Louisville to apply for a passport. Figuring the expense would be worth it, he went ahead and got it expedited. No sense in it arriving the day after his flight. This way, he would have it around the third week of January, leaving him enough time to not panic about having everything ready.
The second most important task done, he went home and perused the web for a nice outfit to wear to his tea meeting with “Lucifer”. A new kilt, belt and boots would do the trick. He would go to a nicer store for a dress shirt once he had the items.
Markus felt invigorated for the first time in several years once he had made the purchases. His life had been fraught with one setback or disaster after another for quite some time. He and his girlfriend of five years had split up last month, both of his grandfathers had passed while they were together, and his mother, the only family he had left, had developed Alzheimer’s and had already forgotten who he was. Markus couldn’t afford to take care of her on his own, and had been forced to place her in a home. A change would be welcome.
So, he started on the hardest and most important task: learning Japanese. He had three months to get fluent enough to get by without being seen as disrespectful. He had been an avid fan of most anime and manga for nearly thirty years, and hopefully watching the subtitled anime would come in handy in this endeavor. Thinking about his upcoming trip, Markus realized he’d need somewhere to stay. He scoured the internet, looking at reviews and ads for various hotels in the area of the restaurant he’d be dining at. After several hours of searching, he selected a place called Rikyuan Kyoto Nishikyogoku. He sent them an email detailing his trip and his needs, and got a reply with the costs. He put it on a credit card, and felt one more piece of the puzzle slip into place.
Markus made the necessary arrangements at work the next day, “planning” on two full weeks of being gone. Thankfully, his company was extremely flexible, and allowed him to take the required days off, no questions asked. When not working, Markus was deep in his Japanese lessons, cross-referencing what he heard in his anime with what he was learning. It took almost the entire three months, but by the end of it, he was watching entire episodes of “One-Punch Man” without subtitles and understanding about eighty percent of it.
Reading the katakana and hiragana, however, was proving to be a little more difficult. He could recognize the symbols for the various shops and restaurants, but was far from reading a newspaper.
On February tenth, he checked that the ticket was still valid, and packed enough for a month away. It was a depressingly small, single bag that he wound up having. Since a kilt was easy to care for, and he would be wearing a second one anyway, all he really had to pack were a few shirts, socks and underwear for the trip alongside his small bag of toiletries.
Once he was fully packed, he went about his life as usual. Work, eat, video games, sleep, and repeat. There was little in the way of friends, and no family left to visit besides his mother, who sadly never recognized him.
The day before his flight left, he decided to visit his mother one last time. He drove himself to the retirement home, and signed himself in to see her. It was a bright, if cold, afternoon.
Knocking on her door, he called out, “Hello? Mom? It’s me, Markus. May I come in?”
“Markus? Markus, Markus…. Now where have I heard that name before? Oh! Yes, please come in!” she replied.
Opening the door, he was surprised to see his mother in a bathrobe with a broad smile and outstretched arms. “My son! I’ve missed you. Your father is at work, but he should be home in an hour or so. I have some tea in the fridge. Would you like some?” she asked, her soft voice as pleasant as it ever was in his childhood. She wrapped him up in a warm, if weak, hug in her fragile arms.
“No thanks, Mom. I’ll get some water, instead. Can I get you a glass, too?” he replied.
“Oh, please. I’d appreciate that. I’ll just have a seat, then,” she said, taking a seat on the small chair at the writing desk.
Markus got two glasses of water from the tap, handed one to his mother and sat in a chair. “Mom? I’ve got something to tell you. Promise you won’t get mad?”
“I promise, son. Now, what is it?”
“I’m going on a trip tomorrow. To Kyoto for a business meeting. I don’t know when I’ll return,” he said softly.
“Oh! My boy is finally getting to travel. Your father will be so proud of you. He should be home soon, you know,” she said, taking a sip of her water.
Markus’ breath hitched at the second mention of his father, who had been dead and gone these past seventeen years. Forcing a smile, he said, “Yeah, Mom. You know how dad is, though. He works so much to make sure we have what we need.”
“He sure does, Markus. I do hope you get to see him before you leave. It’d mean the world to him. So! What’s this business meeting about?” she asked happily.
“Well, I’m not sure, if I’m honest. I just got a letter to meet someone in Kyoto. They included an open-ended plane ticket and everything. I checked everything out, and it’s all legitimate. It’s probably something pretty important. I just wish I knew why they chose a relative nobody like me,” he replied, deep in thought.
“It’s because my son is an amazing person. That’s why. I just know it,” she said, setting down her mostly untouched water on the writing desk. “I’m getting tired, now. Come see me again soon? I miss you so much,” she pleaded.
“Okay, Mom. As soon as I can. Let me help you to bed, okay? I know you’re tired,” Markus said, offering an arm to his mother.
“You’re such a sweet boy. You got that from your father, you know.”
His mother grunted softly as she climbed into bed, pulling the covers over her shoulders.
“I love you, Mom. Get some rest, and I’ll come see you as soon as I can, okay?”
“Okay, sweetheart. He’ll take care of you, you know.”
“Who will, Mom?”
“The man you’re going to meet for tea. He’ll take care of you. I’m sure of it,” she said sleepily.
“...meet for tea? What? I never…”
But Markus’ mother was already fast asleep, snoring softly. Markus looked at his mother in wonder. Shaking his head, he kissed her forehead and walked out of her room, shutting the door as quietly as he could manage.
He walked to the front desk and informed the receptionist that his mother was asleep, and that he would be leaving in the morning for Japan, in case she asked about him.
“Oh, that sounds wonderful, sir! I hope you enjoy your trip. I’ll make sure the aides know that she is asleep. Thank you for visiting her. I know it’s hard, but it does help them. Even when they don’t recognize you, connecting to their past is always helpful. Please be safe,” he said.
“Thank you. I will be. Take care of her, okay?” Markus asked softly, swallowing past the tight lump in his throat.
The receptionist nodded with a smile, and Markus went home, crying silently.
Obscenely early the next morning, Markus tossed his travel bag into his car and drove off to the airport. The drive was thankfully smooth and without any serious traffic. He got a decent spot in the long term parking lot, and went to check in to his flight.
Surprisingly enough, the wait for check-in was short and quick, allowing him to get to his gate with over an hour to spare. With such ample time, Markus got breakfast, and was able to savor the mostly bland fare. The boarding process was quick and efficient, and the other passengers were mostly quiet and tired. This allowed them to be able to leave a full fifteen minutes early, and Markus was soon on his way to Kyoto.
He found himself the only resident of first class, oddly enough. He and the flight attendant spoke cordially a few times, and he busied himself on his phone for most of the trip, napping occasionally for the nearly fourteen hour flight.
He was gently awoken by his flight attendant. “Markus? We will be landing soon. I need you to sit up and get your seatbelt on, okay?” she said softly.
“Hrmm? Oh. Okay, Sophia. I’m up. Thank you,” he replied with a smile. Sophia nodded and went to buckle herself in as well.
Safely buckled, Markus awaited the plane’s touchdown.
The plane landed, and all passengers disembarked just as orderly and quietly as they boarded. Once his bag had been claimed, Markus left the airport, and took his first breath of the air in Kyoto.
The air was cold, clean and crisp, with a promise of snow in the future. Markus had been busy during his flight, checking on the best ways to get to his destination. He settled on taking a bus, and then a train, as that was an experience he’d never had. Markus oriented himself, finding the correct stop, and sat down on a nearby bench to wait.
His adventure in Japan had just begun.
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