[M]/Doing retro just in case, coz it took me much longer to lay this out lol/[M]

Canadian Federal Elections 101

Canada has inherited its political system from the United Kingdom, sticking to Westminster parliamentary system ever since. This means, that unlike in the United States, the outcome of Canadian elections are won by whichever party manages to elect the greatest number on Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of Canada, allowing the leader of this party to assume the office of Prime Minister.

The Senate of Canada provides for a stark contrast, since despite being originally designed to ensure provincial representation, the upper house remains unelected and is largely subjected to the politics in the House of Commons.

When no party is able to secure more than 50 per cent of seats in the House, a leader of a political party that is able to command more than 50 per cent of MPs, for example through singing supply and confidence or coalition agreements with other parties, becomes Prime Minister instead. Historically, however, the largest party in the House of Commons tends to form a monitory government, when it commands a plurality of MPs, rather than an outright majority. This allows the largest party to remain in power, but it has to rely on MPs from other political factions to pass crucial pieces of legislation, especially when it comes to votes that indicate parliamentary confidence, such as federal budgets. Losing those votes, would effectively mean that the current government has to either be completely re-staffed with new Cabinet Ministers, or call a snap election.
However, minority governments remained fairly uncommon in Canada, since the current voting system, called First-Past-the-Post (FPTP), allows for individual MPs to win their respective ridings - also known as constituencies - to be elected into the House of Commons with a simple plurality of votes. Thus, a political party can win most seats in the House of Commons through strategically placing their bets on ridings with very tight margins, where just one extra vote may allow their nominee to win a permanently seat, effectively making all votes for the opposition candidate in that riding meaningless.

General Backgrounder

For example, the Liberal Party of Canada has won the last two federal elections with a plurality of seats in the House of Commons, despite coming only 2nd to the Conservative Party of Canada during popular vote. The Liberals, despite becoming the largest party in the House still fell short of winning the majority of seats, being forced to rely on the New Democratic Party, that represented are more progressive social democratic part of the electorate, for crucial votes. Later, the Government has called a snap election aiming to get their desired majority, but failed, and had to sign a formal Supply and Confidence Agreement with the NDP, that included a massive package of social programmes, such as the recently implemented national dental care and prescription drug insurance.
However, while enjoying a steady lead in polls vis-a-vis, the federal Conservatives during the pandemic, the Liberals had experienced persistent slump as post-pandemic recovered coupled with sticky inflation and rapidly deteriorating housing crisis. As the Federal Conservatives have moved to the right following the election of a new leader, they have utilised concurrent economic challenges and liberal economic policy, blaming the current government's pandemic related emergency spending coupled with expansion of social programs as the root cause for inflation into collapsing housing affordability. As Canada had to respond to America's Inflation Reduction Act with a new public investment into green transition, conservative criticism of the Trudeau government has become ever more vocal, with fiscal deficits presumably exacerbating, concurrent inflationary pressures.
Liberal policies, especially introducing the federal backstop mechanism for carbon pricing, has also spurred, vicious opposition, among Conservatives, especially those living in the Western Canada, that culminated in the razor-thin re-election of the United Conservatives in the oil-producing province of Alberta. The federal response to the freedom, convoy protest, as well as the general push, forever wider collective community during the pandemic, has created some fertile soil for the opposition, Conservatives to capitalise on, especially as the more moderate leader of the party had been ousted shortly after the convoy protest.
After more than eight years in government, the liberal party has also been embroiled in several corruption and ethics candles, including the SNC-Lavallin affair, the pandemic-era ArriveCan App scandal, and, most recently, the accusations of Chinese electoral interference, and Chinese police stations operating in Canada.
In fact, the situation for the current government has become so dire. It's a point, but more than 80% of forecasters projected a Conservative minority government has the most probable outcome for the next election. According to some polls, the Liberals would be unable to form a government, even with the support of the New Democratic Party. The liberal convention in late spring 2023, didn't provide much of a relief either, how's the party continued to lack a comprehensive platform to combat the issue of housing and affordability - something that steadily climbed the rate of priorities for many Canadians, to become the most pressing issue, when deciding who to vote for. If anything, the Conservative party has become the most popular political force, among younger Canadians, with their laser, sharp focus on the issue of inflation and housing affordability.
The issue of housing affordability has become central to the Conservative Convention, where the Party has committed to "restoring" home ownership across the country, through planning laws deregulation and "removing resections on the supply of housing". This would see the federal government to tie federal spending on housing to municipalities shortening approval times, waive HST/GST for housing, as well as allow landlords to re-invest their profits into new housing tax-free. The Conservative convention also proposed federal infrastructure funding to be linked to higher-density housing construction.
What did, however, play in favour of the current government, what is the time. Within Canadian Parliamentary system, the Prime Minister can call an election effectively anytime, so long their term doesn't exceed the four year threshold, that was approaching at Fall 2025, supported by the Supply and Confidence Agreement with New Democrats. As inflation in North America has started slowly subsiding to return to the 2% target in early fall 2024, Trudeau has managed to re-gain some the economic credibility his government has seemingly lost. The Liberals have also continued their tilt to make some inroads into the NDP camp, with the Federal Budget 2024 going heavily on Net Zero and Green Transition.
However, the Liberals also had to deal with a political deadline, whether to call and election before or after the Budget 2025 would've been published. The former might allow the LPC to avoid the criticism of "buying up votes" that the party received after calling the snap election shortly after introducing their Federal Budget in 2021. However, Trudeau also had a stake at deferring the election for long as possible, hoping that waiving inflationary pressure might open up more space for the Liberals to re-gain the economic ground over the Conservatives.

Federal Election 2025

After long deliberation, the federal Cabinet has opened to hold an election in late March 2025, right at the time when a government would have normally tabled their budget. The election that both the Liberals and the Conservatives have approached after almost a year or neck-and-neck perforce in the polls, with Trudeau having a minuscule advantage in personal ratings.
The economy, especially housing affordability, have become two main issues during this election, closely followed by healthcare - namely access to family physicians and waiting times for selected procedures - and the issue of inflation still lingering at the back of the public debate.
Trudeau himself because a matter for the debate, with the Liberals banking on his personal likability, while Federal Conservatives continuously pressed with corruption and ethical scandals and corruption allegations, combined with the Liberal campaign continuously bringing up the "electability issue" of their opponents.

Housing

With the Tories enjoying slight lead on the matter of economic competence, the Liberals opted to treat the housing crisis as a matter of social policy, while banking heavily on personal popularity of Trudeau himself. From the policy-standpoint, LPC Election Platform has effectively copied the proposal originally voiced during the Conservative Convention. Namely, waiving GST/HST for housing construction, allowing landlords to re-invest their profits into constructing more units tax-free, as well as linking federal spending to new housing development and liberalising permitting process. The difference with the Conservatives was the focusing on new federal spending to combat housing affordability.
Liberal election promises involved the commitment for new federal housing construction to exceed population growth by the end of the first term, through the government directly contracting private developers to build more affordable housing, and task the Canada Infrastructure Development Corporation to provide funding to non-market housing in numbers meeting or exceeding population growth in larger metropolitan areas on Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, and across Atlantic Canada.
Unlike the Tories, Trudeau also went further, promising the government would cover development charges for projects that included affordable housing. The Liberals have also committed to conducting of affordable rental housing, aimed at younger Canadians and those who are yet to start cloning the property ladder. Conservatives on the other hand emphasised Trudeau's poor track on housing affordability, combined focusing on making home ownership more affable through market-driven construction of new units for sale.
Both Team Blue and Team Red have committed to expediting the arrival of new skilled trades professionals, especially those working in the housing sector, including interest-free loans to have their qualifications recognised or to up-skill their existing credentials. Liberals however, took a step further, promising automatic Permanent Residency who has worked in residential construction after 1 year, as well issuing Open Work Permits - exempt from the Labour Market Impact Assessment - to anyone with construction work experience willing to come to Canada, so long they continue working in the construction sector for the majority of their time before obtaining permanent residency. The Tories on their part suggested granting PR automatically after they've worked in construction for at least 5 years.
On the matter of banning foreign buyers, both parties have committed to banning home purchases in Canada for those who do not hold Canadian citizenship or are not Permanent Residents of Canada, with Liberals maintaining existing exemptions, so long the person buying has invested an equivalent amount in affordable housing construction.
Rhetorically, the Liberals have echoed the National Housing Act 1938, suggesting their government would run fiscal deficits to finance nation-wide home construction, especially affordable rental units. CPC has openly accused Trudeau of "policy stealing" choosing to emphasis permitting deregulation, subsidies for new units, and investing more construction professionals.

Healthcare & Social Care

Federal Conservatives have focused their attack in increasing waiting times, as well as increasing shortage of medical professionals across the country. Liberals, however, aimed to conservative proposals to introduce more private providers into the system, while emphasising their expansion of public health insurance that now covers both dental care and prescription drugs. Both parties suggested increasing the immigration intake for doctors, nurses, medical researches, providing financial support to have their credentials recognised in Canada as well as to update their skills.
The Liberals have however suggested lowering tuition rates international students who come to study health, social care, and eduction, granted them access to domestic rates of tuition, as well as a designated pathway to Permanent Residency for health, eduction, and social care who have obtained at least 1560 hours of Canadian work experience, and received at least part of their eduction in Canada. This would come as a supplementary measure, with domestic students becoming eligible for federal student loan write off if they have accumulated at least 1 year of post-graduation work experience in health, social care, or education - so long their degree is in the same field.
The Liberals have also committed to covering a Royal Commission to introduce a national social care insurance programme for seniors and people with disabilities.

The Economy

The Conservatives suggest introducing "full expensing" allowing companies to deduct up 120 per cent of their expenses on machinery, equipment, and non-residential property, akin to UK's Super Deduction, to combat Canada's low investment levels. They also propose to introduce tax credits for Canadian companies to up-skill their workers, as well as increased federal funding to provinces to support job training and second career programmes and labour market integration.
The Liberals suggest increasing the minimum wage in federally-regulated institutions, linking as a proportion of executive pay. LPC also pledged to introduce at least 4 weeks of paid vacation after 1 year on employment, with additional increases in line with employee tenure, as outlined in their Convention 2023, while brining paid leave of up to 6 weeks a year, allowing recipients to tradition onto disability payments after that.
Both parties have committed to supporting Employee Ownership Trusts, as well as introduction of worker representation on corporate boards in federally-regulated industries. Team Red however to it a step further, suggesting they will employee ownership mandatory for large corporations , with the only exemption provided for profit-sharing schemes.
Both parties have also supported reforming Canada's Employment Insurance Program:
The Conservatives suggest introducing Individual EI Savings Accounts that any Canadian can access whenever they are let go of their job or decide to quit. The proposed accounts would be funded through mandatory employer and employee contributions and could also be used to pay for labour training and re-skilling, with means-tested federal assistance available for those who's exhausted their accounts. Tories also suggest expanding current marginal earnings projection to apply to both individual and household income. The party also suggests waiving EI Premiums and provide rebates for C/QPP Contribution rebates to those not paying federal income tax, to guarantee every Canadian can earn at least $1000 a month free of payroll deductions.
Trudeau on the other hand suggested making EI coverage universal, and providing up to 90 per cent wage replacement in the first month of claim, while also introducing EI Benefit Floor, where every Canadian would be entitled to a minimum benefit equal to federal minimum wage regardless of their original earnings, for as long as they have enough insurable hours. The Liberal plan also introduces expands "working while on claim" provision, allowing people collecting EI benefits to have their wages supplemented through the program so their total paycheque reaches at least 90 per cent of their average 5-year earnings at all times, regardless whether the claimant is eligible for EI Regular Benefits. EI Parental Benefits are set to be fixed at at least 60 per cent of the family's income, subject o the benefit floor. Liberals suggest paying for the programme through waiving maximum insurable earnings to levy EI Premiums on all income of an individual, while introducing cap on benefits linked to median regional wages. However, the basic exemption shall be aligned to the federal income tax minimum threshold. Surpluses generated should be used to pay for expanded WWoC provisions and putting EI Operating Account back into surplus.
Both parties also committed to brining in a Canada Savers' Credit that mirrors both the amounts and eligibly criteria of the GST/HST tax credit, but is instead deposited in people's Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) and automatically invested into corporate equity. Tories and Liberals also support introducing automatic enrolment for Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs), Registered Eduction Savings Plans (RESPs), Registered Disability Savings Plans (RDSP), First Homebuyer Savings Accounts (FHSAs) and TFSAs upon either birth of obtaining Canadian tax residency for eligible non-Canadians. While the Conservative proposal would new accounts automatically linked to existing financial institutions the individual already has an account in, the Liberals instant new accounts should be automatically assigned to a new independent crown corporation, so long the primary account holder haven't decided to the move their registered accounts to an eligible financial institution.
Both parties pitch the policy as a potential interim solution to address Canada's sky-high household debt, through increased asset ownership and participation in stock markets.
When it comes to fiscal policy, the Liberal Government suggests they'll keep their "structural deficit" - as defined by tax revenues versus programme expedites - bellow the rate of economic growth over the 10 year period. LPC however is open they'll not restrain their spending on new housing construction, Ottawa set to absorb almost all the costs of housing under the liberal plan. The Conservatives on the other hand suggest introducing the $1 for $1 rule for federal expenditure, where every dollar of new spending has to be offset by a dollar in spending cuts or increased taxes, suggesting to balance the budget in their first 5 years in the office.
Somewhat comically, the Liberals seem to be attacking Conservative proposals on the grounds it may bring back the pain on the nighties - referring to the Chretien austerity era - especially in Atlantic Canada and the Regions of Quebec where benefit dependency ratios have traditionally been elevated.
The Liberals have also committed to expand existing childcare agreements, to make childcare services and spare available to anyone, and drastically reduce wait times for subsidised spots.

Energy & Environment

The issue has surprisingly played a somewhat muted role during this election, as CPC has contained to opposed federal price on carbon, pressuring the idea of turning Canada into a "natural resource superpower". Liberals on the other hand boasted about their massive investment into Net Zero Transition, while also attacking the Tories one potential fiscal penalties that the government would assume after cancelling the carbon tax. Team Red had also opened to cling to previous commitments of the Conserve Leader to ban overseas oil, which Ontario, and Quebec, as well as Atlantic Canada remain fairly dependent on, due to lack of oil transportation infrastructure from western oil production facilities. Considering the fact Quebec has remained one of Liberal strongholds even at the lowest, as well as the party's perceived electability in the province, CPC would've had even harder to fight for the votes in Quebec.

Tipping the Scales

However, what truly decided this election, was something that may in the future divide the country even more, namely the issue of the French language. Something that has been present in Canadian politics for generations, but something that this time brought a party over the finish line, while completely tanking their opponents.
While both leaders fluent in French, having French Canadian roots, combined with an almost unchallenged dominance of the local Bloc Québécois, it seemed quite unlikely either party would be able to gain any meaningful advantage in Quebec, until both parties have revealed their election manifestos.
Here was the moment the Liberals played their cards best. Namely, the party has committed to supplying French language both within and outside Quebec, through drastically bolstering access to Francophone eduction across the country. The Liberals has committed to introducing a brand-new federal agency tasked with facilitating access to French eduction and integration services - Francisation Canada.
The agency was set to provide free-at-use eduction in French, while also providing up to $1000 a month in finical assistance to immigrants who were willing to learn French. On top of that, the Liberals have committed to make existing Explore and Odyssey Programme universal, integrating them into school curriculums across the country. The Party has also committed to negotiating bilateral agreements with all provinces to provide additional funding and guarantee access to services, including eduction in French across Canada, while making French a mandatory subject for Early Learning & Childcare, as well as in secondary education. LPC would also waive tuition fees for post-secondary eduction in French, and negotiate agreements with other francophone countries, to facilitate French-speaking immigration into Canada and Quebec.

Conclusion

Thus, on the night of the election, the sudden realisation waived through the country. The Liberal Party managed to protect their urban ridings, even in West, as their pledge to "spend whether it takes to make houses and rents affordable for everyone" managed to persuade swing urban voters across the country, combined with their massive investment in green transition. The Tories has also lost their lead in Atlantic Canada, where an idea of a massive EI expansion has resonated with voters much more than the concept of individual accounts. Massive subsidies in battery production have also helped the Liberals to protect their seats across Ontario, especially in former industrial towns. However, what actually brought Trudeau over the finish line, was Quebec. The Combination of absolutely massive investments into green tech, coupled with new social programs, and proposed childcare expansion, on top of the Liberal pledge to "protect and promote the French language from Coast to Coast to Coast" allowed the party to make some significant inroads across the province, despite loosing some suburban ridings, Central Canada gave Trudeau yet another chance to form yet another minority Liberal government.
​

Party Name	Popular Vote	Seats in the House of Commons of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada (LPC)	33.8%	158
Conservative Party of Canada (CPC)	35.8%	140
New Democratic Party (NDP)	19%	20
Bloc Québécois (BQ)	6.2%	21
People's Party of Canada	1,5%	0

​

Acknowledgements

• https://energynow.ca/2022/04/energy-east-will-not-live-again-heres-why-jean-francois-thibault/
• https://2023.liberal.ca/policy/
• https://macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/erin-otoole-socialist-crusade
• https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/grenier-election-results-1.5330105
• https://tnc.news/2022/03/25/pierre-poilievre-proposes-ban-on-foreign-oil-within-five-years/
• https://nationalpost.com/news/why-does-pierre-poilievre-appeal-to-young-canadians-its-all-about-economics-2
• https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-conservatives-more-trusted-than-liberals-to-manage-federal-finances/
• https://centre.irpp.org/research-studies/amending-the-official-languages-act-a-new-vision-of-bilingualism/
• https://energynow.ca/2022/04/energy-east-will-not-live-again-heres-why-jean-francois-thibault/
• https://tnc.news/2022/06/22/poilievre-pay-as-you-go/
• https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/where-the-six-conservative-leadership-candidates-stand-on-key-policy-issues-1.5888530
• https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/elections/federal/2021/party-platforms/
• https://338canada.com/sim.htm

Hi,
I've been using Asahi for a while now, and everything works fine. I switch between GNOME and Hyprland, and I've not had problems until recently with GNOME. When I login into GNOME, my cursor snaps to the right and the whole thing freezes. I can't seem to do anything. I've tried changing the tty but that also doesn't seem to work. Here are the gnome-shell logs:
​
```
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Running GNOME Shell (using mutter 44.1) as a Wayland display server
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Failed to open gpu '/dev/dri/card1': No suitable mode setting backend found
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Added device '/dev/dri/card2' (apple) using atomic mode setting.
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Failed to initialize accelerated iGPU/dGPU framebuffer sharing: No matching EGL configs
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Created gbm renderer for '/dev/dri/card2'
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Integrated GPU /dev/dri/card2 selected as primary
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Using public X11 display :1024, (using :1025 for managed services)
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Using Wayland display name 'wayland-0'
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Unset XDG_SESSION_ID, getCurrentSessionProxy() called outside a user session. Asking logind directly.
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Will monitor session 5
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Extension [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) already installed in /usshare/gnome-shell/extensions/a>
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Extension [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) already installed in /usshare/gnome-shell/exte>
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Extension [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) already installed in /usshare/gnome-shell/extensions/>
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Extension [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) already installed in /usshare/gnome-shell/ex>
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Extension [n[email protected]](mailto:n[email protected]) already installed in /usshare/gnome-shel>
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Extension [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) already installed in /usshare/gnome-shell/extensions>
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Extension [s[email protected]](mailto:s[email protected]) already installed in /usshare/gnome-shel>
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Extension [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) already installed in /usshare/gnome-shell/extensions/>
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Extension [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) already installed in /usshare/gnome-shell/extensions>
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Extension [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) already installed in /usshare/gnome-shell/exten>
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Extension [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) already installed in /usshare/gnome-shell/ex>
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare org.gnome.Shell.desktop[5816]: Window manager warning: Failed to parse saved session file: Failed to open file <80><9C>/valib/gdm/.>
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Failed to launch ibus-daemon: Failed to execute child process <80><9C>ibus-daemon<80><9D> (No such file or dir>
Jun 04 21:45:13 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Error looking up permission: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.portal.Error.NotFound: No entry for geolocation
Jun 04 21:45:14 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Failed to launch ibus-daemon: Failed to execute child process <80><9C>ibus-daemon<80><9D> (No such file or dir>
Jun 04 21:45:14 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Registering session with GDM
Jun 04 21:45:38 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Error connecting to the screencast service
Jun 04 21:45:47 flare gnome-shell[5816]: Shutting down GNOME Shell
```
​
Not really sure what the issue is. Any ideas?

My car was involved in a bad hail storm about 10 months ago. There was substantial body panel damage (hood and roof need to be entirely replaced) without any glass breaking. I took my car to a State Farm estimator that said my car was one of the worst he had seen but the damage was at around 50% of my car's value ($17,500, was given a check). The repair shops in my area were backed up, so it took me a few weeks to get it reviewed. When I to take it in, the shop estimator felt the prior quote was low and requested a supplement ($2,500, was given another check). The repair shop was hard to work with and said they wouldn't be able to start the repair for months. Because of this, I took the car to a different shop that felt that prior quote with supplement was exaggerated and agreed to move forward. As the second repair shop had a long wait as well, I took the car in last week to start the repair. While scheduling my rental, State Farm informed me that the car could still be deemed a total loss. Low and behold, I received a call Friday telling me that this had actually happened as the loss was 71% of the total value. I just looked into the most recent quote provided by the repair shop and it seems that they came back at $50 CHEAPER than that of the 1st supplement. I did a calculation on the loss ratio and came up with 69.7%.
Now, I have been given two options as the car is still safe to drive.

1. Accept the total loss and receive an additional $10,000 to what I already was given.
   
2. Keep the car and pay State Farm $3,500 as they feel that they have overpaid me because of the difference between the car's replacement value and salvage value (replacement car is valued at $30,500, salvage value is $15,000).
   

Early on, I had a Carvana offer for around $25,000 after accounting for the damage. In hindsight, I should have accepted this immediately and moved on. I instead chose to move forward with the repair. I realize that car values have fluctuated greatly during the past few years but am suspicious about the numbers I have posted above. Does anyone have any advice in terms of how to move forward wit the repair as I initially intended?

Hey all, M19 British Columbia Canada, basically got hit with a bit of a reality check over the past few months. I am currently in a program for a BFA in Creative Writing with a minor in business. I know this sounds stupid but I assumed that I would be able to find a job easier in something like administration with a year of uni under my belt but I am now up to 80 job applications, with around 25-40% being more normal minimum wage sort of jobs but still haven't recieved any job offer.
​
This all lead me to a realization that I do not want to be one of the many people with a BFA who finds themselves as a barista at 35 still saying they will make it one day. As such, I am trying to find skills or a certification etc that I can pursue while still in school for a BFA, since it is ultimately the thing that interests me the most and I would like to see it through and improve my craft.
​
Ultimately remote work is something I will ideally have to do, I don't live in a large population city and so job oppurtunities are limited. Whatever job I end up having as a backup/secondary to the arts I would ideally like to pay 60K~ with ideally oppurtunites to up around 100-120K, higher than that is useless for me.
​
One of the things that is making it hard for me to find another path to pursue is that I do not want to go back to school. This is a line in the sand for me, I do not want to get a BFA only to go right back into school for another degree. Another problem I had was that I could find interest in a lot of jobs, from watch repair to lighthouse keeper to finance, programming and electrician. I spent some time though and took an extensive career aptitude test which told me the following jobs (I've omitted anything that is in the arts): security engineer, budget analyst, cybercrime investigator, information security, data analyst and a few programming jobs like security software developer, javascript developer and full stack developer. Overall I would say finance and programming are the two most interesting sectors.
​
I've thought about being an electrician in the past, but have heard that it is the easiest trade and as such is oversaturated so:
​

1. Anyone have any experience with any of the above jobs that can shed some light?
2. What certifications, skills or courses should I be looking at?

Hey all, M19 British Columbia Canada, basically got hit with a bit of a reality check over the past few months. I am currently in a program for a BFA in Creative Writing with a minor in business. I know this sounds stupid but I assumed that I would be able to find a job easier in something like administration with a year of uni under my belt but I am now up to 80 job applications, with around 25-40% being more normal minimum wage sort of jobs but still haven't recieved any job offer.
​
This all lead me to a realization that I do not want to be one of the many people with a BFA who finds themselves as a barista at 35 still saying they will make it one day. As such, I am trying to find skills or a certification etc that I can pursue while still in school for a BFA, since it is ultimately the thing that interests me the most and I would like to see it through and improve my craft.
​
Ultimately remote work is something I will ideally have to do, I don't live in a large population city and so job oppurtunities are limited. Whatever job I end up having as a backup/secondary to the arts I would ideally like to pay 60K~ with ideally oppurtunites to up around 100-120K, higher than that is useless for me.
​
One of the things that is making it hard for me to find another path to pursue is that I do not want to go back to school. This is a line in the sand for me, I do not want to get a BFA only to go right back into school for another degree. Another problem I had was that I could find interest in a lot of jobs, from watch repair to lighthouse keeper to finance, programming and electrician. I spent some time though and took an extensive career aptitude test which told me the following jobs (I've omitted anything that is in the arts): security engineer, budget analyst, cybercrime investigator, information security, data analyst and a few programming jobs like security software developer, javascript developer and full stack developer. Overall I would say finance and programming are the two most interesting sectors.
​
I've thought about being an electrician in the past, but have heard that it is the easiest trade and as such is oversaturated so:
​

1. Anyone have any experience with any of the above jobs that can shed some light?
2. What certifications, skills or courses should I be looking at?

Hey all, basically got hit with a bit of a reality check over the past few months. I am currently in a program for a BFA in Creative Writing with a minor in business. I know this sounds stupid but I assumed that I would be able to find a job easier in something like administration with a year of uni under my belt but I am now up to 80 job applications, with around 25-40% being more normal minimum wage sort of jobs but still haven't recieved any job offer.
​
This all lead me to a realization that I do not want to be one of the many people with a BFA who finds themselves as a barista at 35 still saying they will make it one day. As such, I am trying to find skills or a certification etc that I can pursue while still in school for a BFA, since it is ultimately the thing that interests me the most and I would like to see it through and improve my craft.
​
Ultimately remote work is something I will ideally have to do, I don't live in a large population city and so job oppurtunities are limited. Whatever job I end up having as a backup/secondary to the arts I would ideally like to pay 60K~ with ideally oppurtunites to up around 100-120K, higher than that is useless for me.
​
One of the things that is making it hard for me to find another path to pursue is that I do not want to go back to school. This is a line in the sand for me, I do not want to get a BFA only to go right back into school for another degree. Another problem I had was that I could find interest in a lot of jobs, from watch repair to lighthouse keeper to finance, programming and electrician. I spent some time though and took an extensive career aptitude test which told me the following jobs (I've omitted anything that is in the arts): security engineer, budget analyst, cybercrime investigator, information security, data analyst and a few programming jobs like security software developer, javascript developer and full stack developer. Overall I would say finance and programming are the two most interesting sectors.
​
I've thought about being an electrician in the past, but have heard that it is the easiest trade and as such is oversaturated so:
​

1. Anyone have any experience with any of the above jobs that can shed some light?
2. What certifications, skills or courses should I be looking at?

Hello, kpopthoughts! Originally this was posted in twice but one of my friends said I should crosspost it here — so here this album review is.
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Intro

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

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

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

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

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The word “love” is said for the first time in the song. There’s a funky keyboard 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 chimes in with her fluttery Talk that Talk, Momo comes out of nowhere with oh yeah it sounds so good! — you’re damn right it does, and this is where the song SOARS.
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han beon deo~ haejweo
geurae banggeum geu mal~

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

• The synths of all time
• The chimes during Talk-that-talk~
• Jeongyeon’s pre-chorus going into Nayeon’s chorus
• Rich harmonies and fun ad-libs
• The entirety of that magical final chorus and outro

Needs Work

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

Core Memory

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

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Lyrics and theme-wise, if this were to have been TWICE’s last comeback, they’ve once again built upon the theme they've been doing since debut: a Bildungsroman, a coming-of-age story.
This song’s chorus is honest yet simple; it asks the listener, in this case, the other half of the relationship, to be more upfront and open with their love (never be scared of love), that before the relationship can continue and flourish, there has to be a foundation and commitment of love between each other.
TWICE debuted with a song about making your crush go ooh ahh. Years later, they started pondering What is Love? and 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 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 👑

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Adorable fucking lyrics
• Unrelenting, roaring chorus
• English and vocal flex
• Intoxicating 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

Core Memory

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

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I love these types of rock songs with how grunge and head-bang-able they are, there is just a certain nostalgic and cheesy quality to them that feels so 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 a guitar solo to rock out to, or an accompaniment(!) of ad-libs from 3MIX to support Jihyo’s final chorus? A ONCE can dream of a truly bombastic rock song from TWICE. But then again that distracts from the core of what this song is: a fan song disguised 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 — 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 🌈

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

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

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That chorus is pure pop with a Miami bass backing; you better be bopping your head to the melody, if not booty poppin' to the bassline. Chaeyoung loves rhyming in the first half of the chorus to enhance its catchiness and it's damn incredible: wanna, weonhae, and ppeonhae all 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 spittin' 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. 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 into the final chorus, the raps of the song make it feel a bit front-loaded. And in an album stacked with awesome finishers, it feels more apparent.
With that said, it’s an 8/10 bop for me. This song is so 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, and the production playful but not too bombastic — it'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 💃

Lyrics, vocal direction, and background vocals by Jihyo
Produced by Jihyo and earattack
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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 contrasting with Jeongyeon's staccato flow, the wobbly synth beat mixed with a sprinkle of house piano, Sana dramatically slowing down the song 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 growling pronunciation of the word Trouble
• 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, ANOTHER KILLING PART: this rap fucking slaps.
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gamchweo bwatja geugeon Fake
ppajin hamjeongeun Sweet cake

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

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

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Now, 25/5 = 5 syllables per second isn’t groundbreaking, but goddamn it these 2 bars sound so nice — if there is one part in this album that I always repeat, it’s this. The addition of that first quadruplet for cannot miss this in the midst of the triplets sticks out and accelerates the flow of the rap while the following doublets and quadruplets 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, when that member knows the others so well that when they write a song they know how to make the group exceed. This is what you get when the artists you stan love doing artist shit.
And. AND. That's not all — with how much I mentioned I love a 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
Woo wee woo wee woo
I like this Trouble bay-be
Woo wee woo wee woo
I like this Trouble bay-beh
Woo wee woo wee woo
I like this Trou-ble

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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
• Whole neighbourhoods full of house
• You cannot resist this, cannot miss this, such a bliss
• Wees and woos

Needs Work

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

Core Memory

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

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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 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 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 💖

Produced by Slow Rabbit
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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 a glockenspiel, the melodic oohs from the members — this song is PRETTY.
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The night that was unusually dark
Above this terrifying world, felt so lonely
The world has grown in the time of wandering
So hard to breathe

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

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Momo, Sana, and Tzuyu form this beautiful, surprisingly catchy, second half of the chorus accompanied by a guitar drop. It should not turn out this well with how conflicting the "na"s are with the guitar melody but it creates this gentle bopping ebb and flow that feels so lush and mellow.
Diving into the bridge reveals that the listener of the song is revealed not only capable of supporting the singer through direct words but also through their thoughts and dreams. As can be discerned, this can be a song interpreted to be about ONCEs, about how they push TWICE to be their best selves despite the breathless hardships they face. It's a very sweet and touching song.
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THE GOOD

• Special lyrics
• Pleasant sound to vibe out to
• That gentle break after the first chorus
• 3MIX poppin' off at the end
• Just very pretty vocals throughout

Needs Work

• Potentially hard to comprehend without translating the Korean lyrics

Core Memory

• Form of Therapy’s life motto revolves around the word “brave” — I don’t know where I got that from, but I remembered it right before watching his album reaction (yes, this is very random)

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

• 7/10s are songs are ones that are simply good throughout or great songs with apparent flaws
• 8/10s are great songs with distinct killing parts
• 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 💨

Lyrics by Dahyun
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Who the fuck pissed off Dubu this time??
It’s getting quite rare to see TWICE pull off brand new sounds because, with now 190 original songs under their belt as of this review, 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 see they’ve still got tricks up their sleeves and Gone is one of them.
The song starts with strings swinging back and forth and vocal chops dancing from ear to ear, teasing what’s yet to come. Jihyo enters the song with a whisper and the song sets its pace. A stagnant drum pad moves the song along and typical song progression would have Mina continue the build, but — it doesn’t. The song simmers, adding a hint of high hat to the pot. And then Sana and Tzuyu come on and surely the buildup must boil over right?
Silence, until…
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I see the LIES on the top of your tongue

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The strings emerge again on full blast, the simmer rolls to a 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 that they’ve just about had enough of the relationship altogether.
This has been Dahyun’s thing since 2020’s Bring It Back, 2021’s Cruel, 2022’s That’s all I’m saying, and even 2023's Don't Blame It On Me — emotionally charged breakup songs that make you feel as if she’s survived through a dozen bad relationships. Dispatch, do try to do your job better.
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 along with a consistent synth filling out the soundscape. But this time, it’s Dahyun and Chaeyoung on the rap:
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I can’t stand it anymore
My patience, invisible
I can’t find it, it’s all Gone
Even if I try to turn back, it’s too late
There’s no use anymore
It has left, it’s long Gone
You, with flipping mind, you are out
I know that you know what I’m talking about
Nothing you could say that could turn this around
I’m Gone

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Building upon the disrespected theme of the song, Dahyun notes that she’s finally had enough with Chaeyoung adding that there’s no point salvaging what love was once there. 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's a bit of a shame that Chaeyoung’s rapping popped off in this album while 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 transitioning into her singing. She even holds the Gone in a little crescendo for some added pizzazz.
And, there’s no way I’m not going to talk about Momo’s vocals in this bridge. Damned if she only got 1 line to use it in, her lower register is incredible. She sounds so smooth singing in this tone. All of TWICE do in particular and there is nary a weak vocal performance in this album.
To close the song off, a wash of synths gets to have their shine in the spotlight, showered with Nayeon’s belting, signifying the dramatic and drawn-out conclusion of this partnership.
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THE GOOD

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

Needs Work

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

Core Memory

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

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

Lyrics by 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 the harmonies pour 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 returning to 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 I'll just take this time to appreciate the amount and range of Jeongyeon vocals in this album. Her voice is so textured, stable, and projected — but also more tender and soft compared to the more pronounced tones of Nayeon and Jihyo.
The bridge comes in, repeating the phrase:
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I wish that I could meet
Could meet the younger me

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Giving the song time to rest, before building back up to the last chorus — this time led by Jihyo, 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 on blast, the background 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 end, and When We Were Kids being the album closer very much indulges in that feeling.
After a brief refrain, accented by Nayeon’s high note with a touch of vibrato, the song almost dives back into a fourth chorus. Nayeon and Jeongyeon harmonize — a rare and heavenly moment. And the song repeats the bridge, reiterating that they want to meet their younger selves, this time with the lush chorus production before closing with silence, a few piano notes, and Tzuyu singing the last line of the song:
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Oh, we were kids

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

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

Needs Work

• Refrain after the last chorus, Back When We Were Kids, could’ve been executed better

Core Memory

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

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I wrote the first part of this review in November 2022. Then university, life, and other things got in the way of my headspace for me to feel confident about wrapping all of this up. In a way, I felt like I just didn’t want this review to end because of the joy that writing gives me — I didn’t want the happiness to end. And then it hit me, after watching a YouTuber rank animated movies and them placing Spirited Away at the top and explaining 'why' reminded me of just how important growing up is, and by extension this song.
This theme is important for both the rookie TWICE members in 2015 and the teenagers who would follow their journey and grow up with them, facing life’s obstacles along the way. Hardships that used to only involve family, crushes, and social media, evolve into work, commitments and all the struggles that adult life brings. Being a kid and enjoying the simple things in life is one of the most sought-after moments we want to relive because we took growing up for granted. The only thing we can do now is look back on ourselves with fondness and rose-tinted lenses.
TWICE’s original meaning was to resonate with people through their senses and their hearts. That was during their debut, and I think it still holds up today. In my opinion, touching people through their emotions is what TWICE does best and makes them one of K-pop’s all-time greats. It was never about having the best numbers — it was 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 would 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 pick between TTT and WWWK, I'd give it to the one's that's more repeatable — Talk that Talk just has this electric energy about it.
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Epilogue

And finally here is the end. If you made it in one sitting then I commend you, because I could not write this mess in one sitting. As alluded to, I started writing this album review sometime in October, after a series of edits the first draft was finished in March, and now here's the final draft in June.
I love this album. It got me through some important parts of my life, both good and bad, and it's just a wonderful listen throughout. Reliving this album again 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 WWWK finally got me to tear up and not just be emotionally satisfied.
I feel like there's something for everyone on this album. From the exhilarating thrills of TTT to the anthemic euphoria of QoH, the clubbing dichotomy of Trouble and Brave to the blissful glee of Basics, and the sweet reminiscence of WWWK to the thundering anger that is Gone. Like Eyes wide open, I liken Between 1&2 to a pop music taste platter — there's such an eclectic mix of pop music in this album that there's bound to be a song that someone will love, like, and dislike.
Is this album perfect? I don't think so, but it's close — it was certainly my 2022 AOTY. Was this review biased? Absolutely. I've been a fan since 2019 and with the themes in this album, I also feel like it was biased towards me as a ONCE. And how would I rank the album in TWICE's catalogue? It's honestly at the top, at least with EPs — I also felt that way towards Feel Special but then this album was birthed so I'm excited for TWICE's future.
Ready To Be was also a stunning album and Eyes wide open frankly also deserved the spotlight that Formula of Love received so I might hit those next but no promises; this album took long enough to bake.
As for the performances, I've only seen Twitter clips (no fancams to not spoil myself) and I am SO EXCITED to finally see them in July. QoH was as glorious as expected, Brave was a delightful surprise, and WWWK, while not being the concert closer everyone expected it to be, paired up nicely with Crazy Stupid Love. And of course the bombastic addition of the dance break to TTT. But, this is not a concert review, and here is where this album review ends.
Feel free to comment with 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'm 40, married, 2 kids (11 & 10), single-income household. The economy the last couple years has made our finances pretty tight, and we've had a couple big expenses in the last year (heat pump needed replaced in my house, vehicle repairs, etc). I've already reduced my 401k contributions from 10% of my paycheck down to 5%, but I'm considering taking it to 0% and letting the balance just ride the markets for a while. This would free up enough money per month to more quickly pay off the loan I took out for the heat pump and would also help ease my stress of trying to figure out how to cover all of my family's expenses month to month. We've already cut out all of the unnecessary expenses that we can. My thought would be to start contributing when I can afford to contribute again.
I'm just wondering if this is an okay short-term strategy... maybe for a couple years. I'd rather not share my salary nor my 401k balance, but I will say that I make enough to support a 4-person household and I've been contributing 10% of my salary to a 401k for the last 18 years. My employer does match a portion of 401k contributions, so I realize I would be missing out on that free money.

I need some advice on a mobile home issue. My wife and I bought a mobile home in March 2021 and sold it in February 2023 through different mom and pop agents when buying and selling. The seller financed us when we bought it. On June 1st, the agent who helped us sell it called us and said that the new owners received a delinquency notice for $755 in taxes. He insisted that we should pay it right away. I was confused and decided to check with the county. It turned out that the taxes were for 2020, 2021 and 2022, but we didn't own the mobile home in 2020. Moreover, the county never had our names as the owners. We only got some tax bills in the previous owner's name for a few months then they stopped. We thought since it was seller financed it was like rent to own so didnt worry about taxes. I will go to county tax office to confurm this before any panyments are made.
We are willing to pay for 2021 and 2022, but we don't think we should pay for 2020. Also, the county won't accept partial payments, dont want to send the new onwer the money as well. Any ideas What should we do?

Wife and I are pretty deep in mostly unsecured debt, CCs and a CC refi loan, and four car loans. I was running a contracting business since 2019 and it has been incredibly slow since late 2022. I let my employees go, and am no longer needing two of the extra vehicles. We have four kids, one is about to be 18 and heading to university in the fall on grants. The other three are between four and 14 years of age.
She has been a government employee our whole adult lives and has a decent retirement. I recently became a government employee myself, but my whole monthly income after deductions is a bit more than $2k short of meeting our current monthly expenses without any extra spending. We will also have an additional $800+ in student loan payments starting again soon.
We rent from my parents and have fallen behind there also as they have been trying to help us avoid losing the vehicles that I have been using to operate my business. My only assets are some tools and a cargo trailer that I still use for small jobs, the vehicles are pretty much financed at the loan to value dollar for dollar. I am also on my teenage daughter’s car title as a requirement for the DMV and insurance, but she turns 18 this month and my plan was to take myself off the title and get her own insurance policy. We also have a timeshare that we bought 20 years ago and is paid off.
I have tried unloading a couple of the financed vehicles with no success, and we have over $80k in student loans about to resume that will cost us an additional $800+ each month. We also haven’t been able to afford to have our taxes completed for 2021 or 2022, we have until October for 2022 because we are in a natural disaster area and the whole area has been given the extension.
My questions are around the equipment and vehicles mostly. Can we each keep one financed vehicle as we both need transportation? What happens with my daughter’s car? Will they take the trailer and tools if I am still running a very scaled back business? What about our retirement accounts? We also bank at a local credit union, I assume they will close our accounts as we owe them nearly $50k in total, including the van she drives. Final question is how might this affect our daughter and her college financial aid?
I went through chapter 7 in 2003 for medical bills and loss of income after injury, things were much more cut and dry and laws have changed significantly since. Just not sure where to start and having major anxiety. She refuses to accept that we are sinking further even though we make CC payments every month and have to use the open credit to survive leaving us maxed out at the end of the cycle. We went through major relationship problems when we lost our home in 2009 because I was not working due to recession, not looking forward to the fallout of this. To date we have been paying most of our bills, sometimes barely before hitting 30 days late, except for the rent.
Thanks for the help in advance.

So i was getting ready for my first day at my new school. i came in from a small north Carolina town called laurinburg from Leland. Leland is a town that has more than what laurinburg had but i really missed my friends from there. anyways i walked into my class and i was greeted as normal. everything went ok for the first 2 weeks until my "bully" came back from covid. he didnt realize there was a new student so he said he was gonna make me feel "real welcome here". I didnt think much of it at first until he continusly called me all sorts of bad names and even racial slurs even though im white. i just ignored him for my first couple of weeks. until he actually started to harass me even more. one day i came from my math class and i went back to homeroom so i was pretty much ready to go home. until he started to kick the back of my knees and kicking really sensitive spots. i had enough, i smash his face up against the wall with my chrome book. his head hit the wall with a very loud thud. He was going to hit me until my math teacher came out and asked me what was going on. i explained the full story and the kid got sent to the office. the next day when i came back home from school my mom was crying. i asked her why she was crying and she said the parents of the dude were going to press battery charges on me. i said they cant because I already told my math teacher about what happened. But 1 hour later my mom got a email saying that my math teacher told me hitting people with chrome books was not acceptable even though she never told me any of that bullshit. apparently i told the principal to check the cameras before the case started, just a week before it did. he checked the cameras and said i did the right thing and i and the other guy would only receive 2 1/2 days of ISS. i didnt have a problem with that and after that he didnt bully me for a while. But then came the last day of school. we had some kickball to play on the last day of school in the softball field. So I was standing in the dugout waiting for my turn until i didnt realize he was right beside me. i just ignored him at first and hoping he didnt notice me because i didnt want to get in trouble on the last day of school. He started to talk massive shit but then i grabbed him by his collar and pushed him up against the fence. here is what i said: "Bitch i swear to god its the last day of school motherfucker. im telling you i am not in the fucking mood right now. Im tired as shit and i just want to go home. say 1 more god damn word and ill fucking donkey kick your teeth in." he then started to talk even more shit and said ill beat your ass first. So i pushed him 3 times lightly on the shoulder until he got pissed off and pushed me. i then snapped. I punched him in the face and push him into the ground and started to beat the hell out of him. by the way there was not a teacher in sight. i continued to beat the shit out of him until 30 seconds later. i got up from him and then the dugout started cheering for me since i was beefing with this guy for a long time. one of his friends came over to me and said hit him again and ill beat your ass. i didnt really care at all because i wasnt really scared of both of them considering the bully was like 5'1 and his friend was 5'6. his friend was about a inch taller than me so i just decided not to be scared. But then when i went to lunch i had to go to the bathroom. they both noticed me and followed me into the bathroom. but they were to late when i came out of the bathroom. they really didnt see me leaving, but they both kinda fucked with me the entire day. the end.

Good day!
(I started this ramble as a feedback e-mail, but before finishing it found this sub-reddit where I heard the devs are active? Current game version as of writing: 1.5.4.)
A big thank you to everyone involved in developing and delivering Pickle Pete! It is easily in my top 10 most fun mobile games and I very nearly consider it a masterpiece of the genre. I've put in dozens of hours of playtime at the least.
I'll lead with critical bullet points, follow them up with elaboration and my experience, then end with praise bullet points for those that care to read it.
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Opportunities for Improvement:

1. There is no in-game method to replay the intro sequence.
2. Each playable character should have their own, even if very short, intro animation.
3. Intro animations / bestiary for enemies.
4. Add more bang for more bucks.
5. Honor those that spent gems on chests before additional rewards for cumulative openings was added.
6. No in game text tips.
7. Narrow preferable choices for mutations and equip-able active skill.
8. Weapon attachments
9. Farming the last available boss could be more rewarding.
10. "Blessings" is an awesome system, but isn't congruent with the game thematically.
11. Long animation delay on skill selection cards. Not an issue for new players.
12. Add weapon trade-in vendor.
13. Possible bug: when swapping apps and returning to Pickle Pete while playing Endless game play will continue, but pickles will refrain from dropping making points no longer acquirable until the run is terminated. Possibly intentional to reduce cheating.

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I've been playing Pickle Pete over the last few weeks and it's clearly a step above most mobile games on the market now. I had completed all main campaign levels and additional game modes just before the level twelve update. This was of course followed closely by multiple other updates which kept resetting my endless rank. ::MadNotMad:: After 3 committed attempts I've broken into the top one-hundred twice and top ten once. I did all of this without purchasing anything...yet, nearly acquiring all of the bonus blessing stats, and working up to a purple SMG for a starter weapon. I still have no legendary gear...yet.
I've loved video games since my grandparents let me load up games I can't completely recall on their MS-DOS computer. I don't always have as much time as I'd like to game, but I have been mashing buttons for nearly three decades. I believe there is some overlap between what makes a game fun and what makes a game well designed. What people find fun will vary, but I see good design as a more objective truth. Even though I'm no professional it's clear to me that Pickle Pete had/has at least a rock star or two infusing good design principles.
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1. First things first. The intro animation may have been added after I started playing for a bit. I can't recollect. In any event I skipped some of it. Sure I can and have viewed it on youtube, but it's still taking up space on my phone right? Can we get an in-game button to replay it?
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2. Speaking of intro animations.. each character should get one! Even if just a short one that plays when acquiring one. (And maybe also a replay button.) It could highlight or hint at the different bonuses that apply at the end of their roll moves.
**Mr. Peely** \- Running, slips into a back flip, beginning of slip flip face is surprised/worried, midway through flip face is determined/smug, animation becomes a blur, lands while doing a split and swinging upward with an axe cleaving an enemy in two.
**Corny McCob** \- A yellow cylinder is rapidly spinning on two squares of butter, butter drops are being flung away at various directions, the cylinder launches away, three point hero landing, camera panning up from feet reveals a maniacal cob of corn holding a pipe bomb, glancing left and right, I don't like that look in his eyes or that blinking red light.
**Willy the Wiener** \- Is that a rapidly disassembled picnic table riddled with bullet holes flying through the air? Camera pans down to a beach front while cinders and charcoal pieces are jettisoned from a barbecue grill. Willy is tanning hides with a quickness holding dual uzis. Arms and uzis are a blur until they snap into clarity between each volley.
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3. It's only fair that the enemies of the game get a little love. They're getting slaughtered out there! Something has to raise morale. Why not a little intro sequence highlighting their attack? And/or a bestiary somewhere in the menus. Descriptions with similar tone to what is found in the game Plants vs. Zombies would be fitting.
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4. I find the current monetization models most prevalent, specifically in the mobile market, shameful. If I could go back in time and kill baby Hitler - I wouldn't. I'd smoke the mofo that thought it was a good idea to make Candy Crush monstrously profitable. Just kidding. Ninety-Nine dollars is a big chunk towards the latest gen console or a kick ass graphics card. Or... a pile of in game currency that shaves off some time and possibly puts you ahead of fellow gamers... I know it's just the way of things currently, but the cliche gem crates for various prices including one for ninety-nine dollars is personally a huge annoyance. It is one of the first things I look for in a game and determines along with the obvious passion that was put into the games creation that determines whether I will spend any money within it.
Money is part of what makes life unfun for many, and now more than ever it's detracting from a core reason gaming is fun. In my opinion games should be as level as a playing field as they can be outside of 'real life'. Paying to win robs fledgling gamers of skill ceiling, feelings of accomplishment, and the bragging rights that come with leveling up without swiping a credit card.
So dump the uninspired gem boxes for money or at least throw in some extra cosmetics, alternate soundtracks, or the option for players to add their own content. Something to move the needle in the other direction and show appreciation to those who help fund access and development for those that can't. The move would ideally garner more appreciation and wind up netting more money anyway. Or I might need to see an optimismoptomitrist about adjusting the shade of my glasses.
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5. I haven't yet, but I will be spending some money on this game. It's too good not to. I'd like to at least craft a legendary starter weapon beforehand though. Just so I can say I did. It makes me wince a little inside knowing that if I had saved my marshmallows I would have spent enough gems on large chests by now to acquire a guaranteed legendary item. I opened three before the update was released that added the cumulative reward. Any chance a catch-up / credit can be implemented for all in the same boat?
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6. I must have missed the message that explains the way the uncollected pickles and the pickle jar interacts. It took me longer than I'd like to admit to figure out what the jar was all about. Could we get this and other such game tips added? Maybe incoming update teaser message as well. They could be auto-cycling fade in/out text messages in the empty space underneath the boss picture on the stage selection screen.
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7. I've read some google reviews of the game suggesting that melee weapons need adjusting. I think they're just fine. They receive strong bonuses from the viking four-set. They're best used to supplement range damage as the timing of damage between melee and low fire rate range is staggered. If you want to up the difficulty of the game, try going for full melee builds. It's like a hidden difficulty slider. An active skill equip could be added to enable the player to throw their melee weapons for a duration, turning such builds into a challenging wave clearer, but a monstrous boss killer. If nothing else throw in some Lightsab...I mean... Laser Swords.
What I find simultaneously the most easily fixed and largest flaw of the game is the narrow preferable choice in mutations and equip-able active skills. Similar to my perspective concerning melee weapons this system could be viewed as a difficulty slider. I think it would instead be more fun to modify them to make them more compelling. The damage bonus to enemies on fire would be more viable if the active skill that set the enemies on screen on fire was on a shorter cooldown. Now that I'm thinking about it though this combo may be just fine if you want to build up larger health enemies first or do more damage to bosses. The cooldown and fire duration still seem kind of dissatisfying. Maybe add hidden bonuses that increase the draw rate of things like the fire mace while either or both are equipped.
The knock back skill is more underwhelming than the fire. The most viable use I can think of for this one is securing supply crates. The cd could be shortened on the skill or turn the skill into a time warping bubble that begins with a knock back. While the bubble is active increase player attack speed and damage taken, but any enemies or projectiles entering the bubble will have drastically reduced movement speed.
Maybe more diverse enemies could then be added so that occasionally what once was an optional item is near mandatory for a time. Urging players to try out new builds for success while making more items feel like they've earned their place in the game.
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8. One last item modification idea. Weapon attachments! Scopes, Stocks, Barrels, Carbon Fiber Axe Handles, stuff like that to modify 'Own' weapon stats. Maybe you have to collect pieces for them from specific bosses. Late game players would have a reason to return to earlier levels and in turn see the progress they've made as they rack up way more pickles than their first time through. This would also give a bit of a push/pull mechanic to the energy system. The energy system I suspect is just there to prevent supply crate farming abuse. I've rarely run out of energy while still wanting to play which I like. All attachments could be lost upon upgrading or resetting the weapon to keep the hamster wheel spinning, make the efforts toward building them more meaningful, and delay the realization of weapons full capabilities.
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9. The above change would make farming the last available boss more rewarding as well. The latest boss being the most difficult to kill and dropping the latest released weapons attachments would give successive runs more meaning.
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10. Another change that I feel should be done quickly is 86ing the blessing system. Not entirely. It is a win-win addition that makes watching nearly pointless ads more satisfying. But it just doesn't mesh with the Pickle Pete theme. Idea: 'Condiments' may not make sense for all of the characters, but thinking 'Hot Sauce' for the +25% damage boost. Visual effects for each can be added to the character to cement the system in the player's mind. "Aww crap my character isn't throwing off glitter sparks. I forgot to grab the the gold gain bonus."
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11. This change suggestion is more for experienced players that have earned their stripes. When doing long endless runs especially the animation delay after picking skill cards is slightly annoying. It's not major, but I wanna go fast! Make this delay toggleable after the player has cleared all the extra game mode levels or killed the final available boss or meeting both requirements. Let's gooooo!
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12. A change that would be good for players of all experience levels would be a weapon trader. Maybe you can set up a trade-in shop preference before level select. Should you find the merc vendor in a level you can trade one of your currently equipped weapons for an equal grade preferred weapon. Even if at an additional cost...gotta make pickles somehow.
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13. Possible bug: when swapping apps and returning to Pickle Pete while playing Endless game play will continue, but pickles will refrain from dropping making points no longer acquirable until the run is terminated. Possibly intentional to reduce cheating.
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Things that make you go 'Awesome!':

• Pickle Pete! is not another copy and paste code cash grab. ...I'm imagining a darty eyed programmer hesitantly grinning 'right' while slowly nodding. :D
• Viability of numerous gear and skill selections.
• Excellent sound design. I especially love the long battle track that only reveals itself as you progress to long lasting waves.
• Animations and weapon targeting is on point.
• UI and loading screen design.
• Creative additional game modes.
• Competitive Endless!?! This is a massive boon to replay-ability, keeps the game off the 'eh I may as well uninstall' list, and takes me back to playing Diablo 2. Yeah you beat the game, but how many people have you beaten that have beat the game? I love it. The only improvement I would consider for endless is implementation of a wave skip feature. You'll get more points faster, but only be able to skip as far as progress you've earned minus X amount. Skip too much and you might not be able to crush the wave with your relatively diminished gear. Maybe wave skip is only available once a day too.
• I'm Pickle Pete!

I had a post about my split personality and how I almost let them take control at school, but I never told you how I got it.
(I won't go into detail on what happened to us it's too much to handle but I can say that my mum was one of them.)
It started to develop a couple of years ago when people started to abuse us, then we started hearing voices in my head which grew into 13 voices in the later years, I learned to hide it well in public but at home we have freewill to talk to each other.
Now into the present day, we are 14 years old and I didn't feel well today we talked to each other trying to decide if we should Go to school even though we vomited about three times, I was in our room changing and talking to each other when I heard my door opened up wide and in came my mum.
My Mum never respected privacy and will grab me and check everything on me to see if I'm wearing the right clothes, I do fight back when she tries and take my clothes off to check if I'm wearing what she wants me to wear but she would say "we're family you do what I say" to me to the point I just listening to what she says. I think her own parents did that to her when she was my age, but she would never tell me about what happened to her.
(Please Note she is on medication, and I do love her but It's just hard to live with her)
I screamed at her "Mum! I'm half changed please get out!"
"SO? you should stop talking like that people are going to think you're crazy!"
I felt one of us take control and snap at her "I don't do it in public you know I hide it well!"
"AH I TOLD YOU I hated that personality CHANGE IT"
"I've changed for you a lot and you still don't love us!"
"I DO LOVE YOU but if this keeps happening the government will put you in an insane asylum" she said using the words 'insane asylum' to freak me out.
(She uses 'insane asylum' to get me to give me stress before and to make me quiet for the rest of the day but ever since I told my therapist what my mother has been saying to me, I learned that my mum was just trying too scary me)
"So, you're saying that you hate us?" I said blankly "without us I would be unstable"
"THAT not what I'm saying-" she tried to say
"You made us, it's your fault we are here, we won't go away until you stop"
"FINE you've always been a disgrace to me" she slammed my room door and left to drop off my brother to school leaving me alone in our houses.
I broke down as soon as she left, I left such a jerk saying all those things to her I wished she would just accept that we were like this. now I am in my room typing this while sneezing and coughing thinking that I am sane, and I deserve to be in an Insane asylum.
what should I do? was I overreacting? is she right?

Hello! I’m looking for advice on how I can fix my laptop. It was acting fine for days and I didn’t even notice there was a problem until the right side snapped and this happened to it. The left side of my computer is fine. It’s just the right side that’s messed up and now my monitor is acting up and I don’t know what to do. Should I take it in to get it repaired or is there away to fix it on my own?

Long story short, picked up an auto 2008 e92 335i about a week ago with 75,000~ on it. Of course no lights when I bought it, and now it’s been nothing but problems, I’m lit up like a Christmas tree. I’ve been reading a lot on this forum (thanks everyone) and learning as much as I can. My experience is with Japanese imports, so this is my first BMW experience… learning the nuances 😂
It’s got a rough idle, and will stall out if I don’t give it some gas on a cold start. When warm, it’ll crank up and idle but still rough. It actually feels like it’s got okay power when driving it, and there are no major hiccups or jolts under load. I’d say it runs smoother in boost at 45mph than it does just sitting idle. There was one instance where I got a little higher into boost and it threw it into limp mode. After sitting for a day and cranking back up, limp was gone.
I did find a vacuum leak on the nipple of one of the vacuum tanks, so that’s at least one problem identified, but it’s definitely a minor leak and I don’t imagine it’s causing all of the codes below.
Anyways, I hooked up Carly to get a diag and here are the codes:
0029DC - cyl injection cutout
0029E1 - mixture control 2
002AAF - fuel pump plausibility
002DED - closed-circuit current violation
BMW, naturally, wants a kidney to diag and repair the problems, so I guess I’m getting my hands dirty with a German car after growing up on Mazda 😂🤣
They mentioned to start with the high/low fuel pressure sensors, repair the vacuum leak at the tank, and reassess, so that’s my current plan. Carly is saying that code 0029DC is a Charge Air Temp sensor, but I am not seeing one on the car. Does it mean a MAP sensor?
Any input, ideas, etc., very much appreciated.
Thanks in advance, and even though this has been a shaky intro to BMW ownership, I’m having fun with it.
Update: threw some Techron in today to see if maybe it’s a stuck injector or some other grimy part of the fuel system. Drove it around a bit more while monitoring MHD for rail pressure. It went back into limp mode after driving around a bit mostly out of boost. When it went into limp mode I got a new code: 29F2, fuel high pressure system, and the rail pressure reading dropped to 50 and stuck there (unsure yet if this is just by design of limp mode or because my hpfp or rail sensor is bad).
Any thoughts on where I should start on the replacing? Sensors first?
Cheers

My husband "Allen" and I have been together over three years now. Both divorced, me with minor children at home, he with adult children at college/graduated from college. I don't make a ton of money as a public servant (50k), but I'm careful with money, own my home (I have a mortgage and tons of equity), own my car outright and have stocks/ investments for retirement of about 50k. Allen makes a similar amount in the same field and has no savings.
His last marriage ended years ago due to financial issues (that he hid from his wife), and that discovery was the main catalyst that ended them. He took on all of the marital debt and left his part of the retirement (150k+) voluntarily, as penance. Now that we are married, he has moved into my house, and we have combined finances and shouldered the debt (40k) together. We'll be paying off the debt for probably five more years. I don't love it, but I don't want to watch him work himself to death struggling, and he really is the love of my life.
Due to some issues outside of our control, money has been very tight lately, paycheck to paycheck tight, our account was literally in the negative last month. Allen knows this has been weighing heavily on me, especially with my kids, one of whom will need a phone and car soon. The older two of Allen's adult children are self-sufficient, have jobs, and are independent. However, the third is a senior in college and just got their first job in years part-time at a clothing store. They live off student loans and get lots of help from Mom (very well off). We are already paying for their car, insurance, and up until recently, their phone. Every few months there's an 'emergency' (car issue, rent, etc) and they ask us for the money. Allen's first inclination is to say yes, and then we argue and reach a compromise where we help how we can.
I recently found out that he's been sending money for the latest emergency without telling me, even though things have never been tighter, I'm behind on my credit cards (never happened to me before) and we can't pay our mortgage on time this month (also never happened). I'm livid and literally don't understand why he would do this to me. He's extremely apologetic, but I feel like I can't depend on him.
He's insisting it was a mistake and he didn't realize that we couldn't afford it. He's agreed to stop sending extra money, but I don't know how to move forward from here.
Also, when we started dating, he was working two jobs, killing himself with no sleep and living very, very frugally. He had a very tight budget he stuck to. I happily helped him and pushed him to accept my help because it really seemed like he'd learned from his mistakes and he deserved a break. He still carries a lot of guilt and remorse from the whole issue with his ex, even though it wasn't caused solely by him.
Should I split our finances to ensure my own financial safety??

I am a student from Chile. Currently studying a degree called "ingeniería comercial", or business administration, at Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, a top engineering university in Chile.
I am proficient in math, I have the C2 english level, and my degree covered up until intermediate micro/macroeconomics and modern portfolio theory, for which I also programmed a bit.
I didn't do too well at the start of my degree due to lazyness but got up to speed and I still can recover some of it. I think I can end with the equivalent of a 3.1 GPA. I am currently voluntarily taking multivariable calculus and will take classes up to real analysis and differential equations.
I have two professors that will give me their recommendations, one is a PhD in finance from purdue university and the other has a PhD in economics from cambridge university. This is the last one's website : https://www.marcelovillena.com/
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I have been researching everything I can regarding quantitative finance but I still have many questions. The most important one is what can I do to get accepted at a master's program either in the US or England. At this point I think I am capable of putting the effort to learning anything, but how can I prove I am a suitable candidate for a program?
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Thank you for reading.

Here are the results of last week's Stand contest:
In third place we have MCJ97 with 「RING A RING O ROSES」. They earn the bronze flair.
In second place is gaypril99 with 「TWINKLE, TWINKLE, LITTLE STAR」! They earn the silver flair!
And finally, in first place, we have GravityGraveyGuy with 「THE MUFFIN MAN」! They earn the gold flair, and get to pick this week's contest theme! Their choice is:
Space-themed Stands
You are free to interpret this theme in any way you wish.
This week's contest will last until midnight of June 11, Eastern Time. To enter, submit a Stand related to the theme, and give it the "Contest entry" flair by clicking the "Flair" option under your post after submitting it. If you can't add a flair (due to being on mobile for example), add the words "Contest entry" to your post's title and AutoModerator will flair it for you. Contest entries will not be accepted during the time between the contest closing and the results being announced, even if the sticky post is still up.
You are allowed to reuse a previously-submitted Stand to the contest, if it fits the theme. It is recommended, but not required, that you improve upon the old Stand (such as by giving it new abilities, ACT evolutions, or going more in-depth in the description such as by describing the user). When reusing a Stand, please repost it with the "Contest entry" flair, instead of simply changing the flair on your old post, so I will be able to see it when filtering by posts made this week.
Your post must include the theme you would want to see for the next contest if your entry wins. If you have previously won a contest and have a flair, you should also mention whether you'd rather take the new flair or keep your current one.
Each user may only submit one entry per week.
Contest entries must be presented in the form of text, not artwork. This is in order to keep things fair for users who can't draw, since artistic talent has been shown to give an unfair advantage to some users in the contest. If you want to make artwork for your contest entry, it should be submitted in a separate post after the contest ends.
At the end of the contest, whichever entry has the most upvotes will be the winner! The theme specified in the winning post will be used for next week's contest. In case of a tie, I will personally decide who comes out on top.
On top of this, the three top upvoted participants will be granted a special flair of their contest entry Stand's name in bronze, silver, or gold depending on their placement. It is possible to decline a flair, or choose to take it only if it wins a certain ranking (in case you prefer keeping a higher ranked flair).

You know that feeling of self-loathing where you're in bed at night, disappointed that you let things get so bad? You promise that tomorrow, you'll get serious. You'll start dieting and working out; it's a new week to start fresh and this time you'll do it! Well, this was me for the last two years. I would promise myself every Sunday, only to fail.
April 1st, I lay there and made the same old promise, only this time, I finally decided that if I wasn't going to do this, then I just needed to accept this was my life now. This meant:

• start buying clothes in a bigger size. Stop holding onto everything that was too small and wearing the same old three elastic waistband outfits because they're all that fit.
• get my wedding ring resized. I hadn't been able to wear it for so long because I kept saying I'd lose the weight.
• active vacations were no longer an option. Walking more than a few blocks hurt so unless it involved lounging on the beach, say goodbye to sightseeing and discovering a new city.
• having no libido. This one hurt because my husband is in excellent shape (he does triathlons) and has never stopped desiring me. He loves me regardless, but I was disgusted with my body and didn't want him to see how fat I had gotten.
• being in constant pain from the weight gain. From lower back pain to knee pain, everything just hurt. Sitting hurt, sleeping hurt, standing hurt. The pain was constant.

Once I listed these things out, something snapped in me. I decided I'm much too young to give up, which is essentially what I would be doing if I didn't get serious. It was only going to get worse and that's when I made up my mind that enough was enough. It's been two months since I started CICO, working out and changing my habits. I'm down 10 lbs and though I still have a long way to go, I can honestly say every day has gotten easier.
If you're where I was, I promise you that staying where you're at is way harder than starting on your weight loss journey. The first day/week back is the hardest, but keep at it and don't give up. I just ran a 5k last Friday in 45 minutes. Wasn't my best time ever, but knowing every step that got me here, it's a victory.