hi everyone!
I started wellbutrin 150 SR once a day for smoking cessation, ended up improving my depression over the span of a couple months and decided to talk to a psych to up my dosage to 300 XL.
I did 150 SR once a day for about 3 months and now the 300 XL for one month. I had my monthly check up with my psych the other day and explained to her that it’s been rough and caused insane insomnia, muscle tension, bruxism, memory loss, speaking/thinking issues, and an insane inability to deal with social situations of any kind. Also my anxiety is still pretty present. She didn’t really seem to ask any questions, this all happened in a 3 minute phone call lol but she switched me to 150 SR twice a day now.
When I was on SR i really enjoyed it. It gave me the energy and mental clarity I never even knew was possible, yet also heightened my anxiety. I know I would benefit from adding an SSRI but my psych seems really against this for some reason?
I JUST started a new job where I have to deal with the public and very intense social situations and like inhuman expectations regarding multitasking where I rlly just need to be on my game and alert, present, and able to offer my expertise to clients with the most amount of mental clarity possible. I guess i’m afraid that switching from 300 XL to 150 SR 2x a day might be a little jarring? I know essentially it’s the same dosage but I do remember feeling the stimulant effects immediately when taking the SR version and i’m afraid that might cause problems in my work life. I’m also wondering if I will have to deal with the initial 2 weeks of awful side effects once again- for reference, I had them starting wellbutrin for the first time ever AND 3 months in when I switched to XL. I was like a zombie, sleeping and eating so much, brain fog thru the roof, panic attacks, etc. literally only for 2 weeks though till everything became a million times easier and my mood lifted better than I knew possible.
I’d love to hear anyone’s experience going from XL to SR, or even from SR, to XL, back to SR again like me. I know I’m familiar with going from SR to XL and can confirm XL was always rough, nothing got better granted it’s only been a month. I was only able to get my new job bc my mom let me have one of her xanax’s lol, had i not had those i would have fumbled the bag so bad on my interview. I don’t enjoy the anxiety spike after taking xanax so it’s not something I desire to take, was just v desperate for this job. Now that it’s just me and my sheer anxiety in the workplace i’m terrified i may still fuck it all up doing this switch in medication release type 😩 Of course I won’t know till i try but would love to hear some anecdotes in the meantime

For my fellow AI v AI Universe nerds, here’s an update on what’s happening in Amastop Championship Wrestling’s. My Universal spreadsheet is attached. I think it’s AWESOME! It’s a bit congested, but once you understand it, its the easiest thing to read and update.
UNIVERSE CONTEXT: ALL MATCHES are AI v AI. I’ve only taken control of a wrestler if one of them were glitched out outside the ring. Only time I influence a match is if it’s for a storyline, and even then it’s rare. Only champions have PAYBACKS, or wrestler will get a PAYBACK if I need a storyline match. I made my universe a FIFA style table. A match winner gets 3-points for a win. An additional point for a submission. If a match is a 4-STAR match, both wrestlers get a point. I did my universe this way to prevent it from getting boring, or the same wrestlers fighting every week. Each wrestler competes to climb the table and be better. All titles are cross brand, with the two brands being WWE and WCW. My minor brands are NXT, an affiliate of WWE, and THUNDER, an affiliate of WCW. All “light heavyweight” and “Cruiserweight” wrestlers are classified as CRUISERWEIGHT.
UNIVERSE UPDATE: Moving into August following Bash At The Beach, Steve Austin finally took the Universal Championship from Hollywood Hogan after being the #1 Contender since launch. Now that Hogan is no longer the Universal Champion, questions remain if he’ll be able to avoid Goldberg’s wrath, whom was cheated out of the initial Universal Championship Tournament by Hogan and the NWO. Becky Lynch retains the the Universal Woman’s Championship, defeating Bianca Belair for the second time. The Outsiders retained the Tag Team Championships, preventing the NWO from losing all their titles. The NWO are starting to come into some real heat from the rest of WCW due to their “antics”, with Eric Bischoff leading the charge. The likes of Sting, Goldberg, Steve Austin and the Uso’s having suffered defeats to “NWO antics”, we’ll have to wait and see what comes of this as we move int SummerSlam. Roman Reigns has remained the #1 wrestler in ACW, but cannot seem to defeat Steve Austin to finally become the #1 contender for WWE. Now that Austin is champion, questions remain if Roman Reigns will finally get his shot at the Universal Championship, after dropping the Intercontinental Title.
The WCW has been a powerhouse when it comes to winning titles, being 6-2 when the title is on the line against a cross brand opponent. But both brands are evenly matched, being WWE 10-10 WCW (2-3 tag team) in 20 total matches.
Biggest Universal disappointments have been Triple H, Chris Jericho and Eddie Guerrero. While Triple and Jericho haven’t been able to get it going and gain some good momentum, Eddie has been 1 of 2 wrestlers who hasn’t won a match at all.
And lastly, my biggest surprises. Both of Austin’s loses have come to Hogan. While Austin completely dominates every match, including handing Roman Reigns 2 of his 3 loses, he cannot seem to defeat Hogan in a one-on-one, only winning the title off of Hogan in a Triple Threat match that included Goldberg, where Goldberg took out Hogan before being put down by a Stunner. In an Intercontinental Unification match (2 out of 3), Roman Reigns soundly defeated Goldberg in both matches without needing a third match, but in his first title defense, he drops the title to Kevin Owens.
Stay tuned as we head toward SummerSlam (Aug). Will Becky Lynch and Dean Malenko continue their title reigns, moving into their third month? Is this now the age of Stone Cold, or will the “Head of the Table” finally achieve his goal? Having lost the top prize, will the NWO turn up the heat in the Universe, or will the WCW make them go from “Too Sweet”, to cold and sour. And as King of the Ring (Sept) qualifying is set to kick off before SummerSlam, a tournament of 48 men and 16 women, who will become the #1 Contender at Halloween Havoc (Oct). STAY TUNED.

Hello,
For reference, I'm a fairly novice rider, just completed my first 100k ride after slowly building up for the last year and a half. I'm a serious runner but cycling has always been my preferred cross training sport.
I currently own a Trek Dual Sport 2 that is from 2014 I believe and it has served me well but I want something that can handle some serious miles and higher speeds.
Both of these bikes seem very appealing to me given the similar specs on each bike. My only hesitation is that, while Canyon has a much better price, I am unsure of how well it handles country / rougher roads that has loose gravel at points.
My LBS is also a Trek one so that is a point in Trek's direction as well. Ultimately, (pun intended) I want my first serious road bike that will last me and help me reach my goals of comfortably riding up to 100 miles at a time. It would be fantastic to get that at a cheaper price but I appreciate any thoughts or ideas.

This is in reference to This Video Made a while ago. In it, he mentions how it is likely how many groups from America would travel to Mars or other space colonies and set up their own societies, based on how a similar process occurred in America itself (Puritans, Quakers, Nobles, etc.) and that the civilizations that come out of them have a lot of exaggerated traits from the old one.
With all of that being said, what would this look like in more detail? Let’s just assume that all of the technological barriers to pursuing this can be overcome. What groups in American society do you think would create colonies? How would they develop? What would these societies look like in a few hundred years?

I think they are better than East Asians and are pretty average when it comes to building muscle. They may have small bone structure but their ACTN3 profile is solid, they have low Myostan sensitivity and they have sensitive Androgyn receptors. East Africans therefore can build a pretty lean and great aesthetic looking body easier than East Asians can. Therefore I think they should be bumped one more tier to "Okay".
This is the video I'm referring to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW_SKUQW1aU

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.
​

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!
​
​
​

Between 1&2 💞

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

Talk that Talk 🎙

Producers by collapsedone and MRCH
​
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,
​

Tell me what you want
Tell me what you need
A to Z da malhaebwa
But shijageun ireoke have
Talk that Talk ttak han madi
Talk that Talk L-O-V-E
deullyeojweo ooh
Now now now now now yeah~

​
During Sana's Talk that Talk~ lines there’s this 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,
​

The simple words “I love you”
That’s all I wanna hear
Without hesitation, I’ll go up to you
I’ll make it simple
And just tell you I love you

​
The word “love” is said for the first time in the song. There’s a funky keyboard 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.
​

han beon deo~ haejweo
geurae banggeum geu mal~

​
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.
​
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

​
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.
​
​
​
WATCH ME GO WATCH ME GO
RULE THE WORLD
​
​
​

Queen of Hearts 👑

Produced by LDN Noise
​
If there was one B-side to promote in a live clip, this was a solid choice.
Helmed by LDN Noise going headlong into the Western boy-group rock-band aesthetic, Queen of Hearts is a boom-boom-clap song through and through. The drums are very prominent throughout the song, only giving room to riffs of electric guitar in the chorus to drive and continue the momentum of the music.
And speaking of the chorus, vocal line each got a chorus to flex and they did not fuck around,
​

You ain’t ready for it
Watch me go~ watch me go~
Rule the world
Know you never doubted baby
I’mma go run the whole universe~

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

Baby I was born to rule~~
Yeah I’m the Queen, I’m the Queen
And it’s all because of you~~
That I’m the Queen of Hearts

​
These 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,
​

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

​
It sounds really lovely — in a very cheesy and affectionate kind of way, as it rightfully should — the song is about the girls and their fans. But the bridge is where the song indeed shows its colours
​

Screaming out my name
See it in the stage lights
Feel so lucky just to have ya
Cause I know deep down I was meant for something bigger! Greater!
I know you’re seeing what I see
Yeah I’ll be everything you need
I know I’m gonna walk the walk
And talk the talk to be~ [the Queen of Hearts]

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

So thank you for the memories
You’re all the ones who made me~
So thank you for the memories
That I’m the Queen of Hearts

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

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

​
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.
​
​
​
I WANNA WANNA WANNA
TAKE YOU TO THE BASICS
​
​
​

Basics 🌈

Lyrics by Chaeyoung
​
Quite possibly the jammiest (pun intended) song of the album.
A song written by the Strawberry Princess herself — an event similar in frequency to other artists' releases with her last song being 2020’s silky Handle It — Basics first starts with an understated and dreamy delivery. After the first stanza, however, a bouncy Miami bass line emerges, revealing the true nature of the song: this is a classic summer bop! Especially in the first rap,
​

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

​
Syllables are pronounced in a relaxed nature, 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.
​

I wanna wanna wanna take it to the Basics
da weonhae weonhae weonhae? seodureuji ma Baby
ppeonhae ppeonhae malhae mweohae da al tende
Ah yeah ah yeah ah yeah ah yeah

​
That chorus is pure pop with a Miami bass backing; you better be bopping your head to the melody, if not booty poppin' to the bassline. Chaeyoung loves rhyming in the first half of the chorus to enhance its catchiness and it's damn incredible: 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.
​

taneun deut tteugeoun samak wie
yeppeuge pieonan jangmi gata
joshimseure naege dagaol ttae
nado moreuge jjilleobeoril tende

​
Translating to:
​

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

​
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.
​
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

​
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.
​
​
​
BABY WE’RE IN
TROUBLE TROUBLE
​
​
​

Trouble 💃

Lyrics, vocal direction, and background vocals by Jihyo
Produced by Jihyo and earattack
​
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,
​

• 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

​
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.
​

gamchweo bwatja geugeon Fake
ppajin hamjeongeun Sweet cake

​
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:
​

You cannot resist this
Cannot miss this, such a bliss
Ima put it down down
Oh yeah, better kiss kiss

​
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:
​

Triplet-triplet
Quadruplet-triplet
Quadruplet-doublet
Doublet-quadruplet

​
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:
​

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

​
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.
​
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

​
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.
​
​
​
BRAVE BRAVE BRAVE
FOR YOU
​
​
​

Brave 💖

Produced by Slow Rabbit
​
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.
​

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

​
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:
​

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

​
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.
​
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)

​
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

​
​
​
I SEE THE LIES
ON THE TIP OF YOUR TONGUE
​
​
​

Gone 💨

Lyrics by Dahyun
​
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…
​

I see the LIES on the top of your tongue

​
The strings emerge again on full blast, the simmer rolls to a boil, and the anger of the song is revealed,
​

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

​
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:
​

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

​
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.
​
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

​
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.
​
​
​
INVINCIBLE
SUPERHEROES
​
​
​

When We Were Kids 🧸

Lyrics by Dahyun
​
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:
​

Invincible superheroes, we wanted to be adults
To the higher, clearer world

​
The chords start swelling, the high hat keeps pace, and the harmonies pour in.
​

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

​
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:
​

I wish that I could meet
Could meet the younger me

​
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:
​

Oh, we were kids

​
Reflection, acceptance, hope. What a song.
​
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

​
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.
​
​
​

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.

___________________________________________________
Taken from http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/12/14/when_jesus_met_buddha/ for the intellectual discussion purposely. Not for commercial gain
When Jesus met Buddha Something remarkable happened when evangelists for two great religions crossed paths more than 1,000 years ago: they got along By Philip Jenkins December 14, 2008
While few mainline Christians would put the matter in such confrontational terms, any religion claiming exclusive access to truth has real difficulties reconciling other great faiths into its cosmic scheme. Most Christian churches hold that Jesus alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and many also feel an obligation to carry that message to the world's unbelievers. But this creates a fundamental conflict with the followers of famous spiritual figures like Mohammed or Buddha, who preached radically different messages. Drawing on a strict interpretation of the Bible, some Christians see these rival faiths as not merely false, but as deliberate traps set by the forces of evil.
Being intolerant of other religions - consigning them to hell, in fact - may be bad enough in its own right, but it increasingly has real- world consequences. As trade and technology shrink the globe, so different religions come into ever-closer contact with one another, and the results can be bloody: witness the apocalyptic assaults in Mumbai. In such a world, teaching different faiths to acknowledge one another's claims, to live peaceably together side by side, stops being a matter of good manners and becomes a prerequisite for human survival.
Over the past 30 years, the Roman Catholic Church has faced repeated battles over this question of Christ's uniqueness, and has cracked down on thinkers who have made daring efforts to accommodate other world religions. While the Christian dialogue with Islam has attracted most of the headlines, it is the encounters with Hinduism and especially Buddhism that have stirred the most controversy within the church. Sri Lankan theologians Aloysius Pieris and Tissa Balasuriya have had many run-ins with Vatican critics, and, more recently, the battle has come to American shores. Last year, the Vatican ordered an investigation of Georgetown University's Peter Phan, a Jesuit theologian whose main sin, in official eyes, has been to treat the Buddhism of his Vietnamese homeland as a parallel path to salvation.
Following the ideas of Pope Benedict XVI, though, the church refuses to give up its fundamental belief in the unique role of Christ. In a widely publicized open letter to Italian politician Marcello Pera, Pope Benedict declared that "an inter-religious dialogue in the strict sense of the term is not possible." By all means, he said, we should hold conversations with other cultures, but not in a way that acknowledges other religions as equally valid. While the Vatican does not of course see the Buddha as a demon, it does fear the prospect of syncretism, the dilution of Christian truth in an unholy mixture with other faiths.
Beyond doubt, this view places Benedict in a strong tradition of Christianity as it has developed in Europe since Roman times. But there is another, ancient tradition, which suggests a very different course. Europe's is not the only version of the Christian faith, nor is it necessarily the oldest heir of the ancient church. For more than 1,000 years, other quite separate branches of the church established thriving communities across Asia, and in their sheer numbers, these churches were comparable to anything Europe could muster at the time. These Christian bodies traced their ancestry back not through Rome, but directly to the original Jesus movement of ancient Palestine. They moved across India, Central Asia, and China, showing no hesitation to share - and learn from - the other great religions of the East.
Just how far these Christians were prepared to go is suggested by a startling symbol that appeared on memorials and stone carvings in both southern India and coastal China during the early Middle Ages. We can easily see that the image depicts a cross, but it takes a moment to realize that the base of the picture - the root from which the cross is growing - is a lotus flower, the symbol of Buddhist enlightenment.
In modern times, most mainstream churches would condemn such an amalgam as a betrayal of the Christian faith, an example of multiculturalism run wild. Yet concerns about syncretism did not bother these early Asian Christians, who called themselves Nasraye, Nazarenes, like Jesus's earliest followers. They were comfortable associating themselves with the other great monastic and mystical religion of the time, and moreover, they believed that both lotus and cross carried similar messages about the quest for light and salvation. If these Nazarenes could find meaning in the lotus-cross, then why can't modern Catholics, or other inheritors of the faith Jesus inspired?
Many Christians are coming to terms with just how thoroughly so many of their fundamental assumptions will have to be rethought as their faith today becomes a global religion. Even modern church leaders who know how rapidly the church is expanding in the global South tend to see European values and traditions as the indispensable norm, in matters of liturgy and theology as much as music and architecture.
Yet the reality is that Christianity has from its earliest days been an intercontinental faith, as firmly established in Asia and Africa as in Europe itself. When we broaden our scope to look at the faith that by 800 or so stretched from Ireland to Korea, we see the many different ways in which Christians interacted with other believers, in encounters that reshaped both sides. At their best, these meetings allowed the traditions not just to exchange ideas but to intertwine in productive and enriching ways, in an awe-inspiring chapter of Christian history that the Western churches have all but forgotten.
To understand this story, we need to reconfigure our mental maps. When we think of the growth of Christianity, we think above all of Europe. We visualize a movement growing west from Palestine and Syria and spreading into Greece and Italy, and gradually into northern regions. Europe is still the center of the Catholic Church, of course, but it was also the birthplace of the Protestant denominations that split from it. For most of us, even speaking of the "Eastern Church" refers to another group of Europeans, namely to the Orthodox believers who stem from the eastern parts of the continent. English Catholic thinker Hilaire Belloc once proclaimed that "Europe is the Faith; and the Faith is Europe."
But in the early centuries other Christians expanded east into Asia and south into Africa, and those other churches survived for the first 1,200 years or so of Christian history. Far from being fringe sects, these forgotten churches were firmly rooted in the oldest traditions of the apostolic church. Throughout their history, these Nazarenes used Syriac, which is close to Jesus' own language of Aramaic, and they followed Yeshua, not Jesus. No other church - not Roman Catholics, not Eastern Orthodox - has a stronger claim to a direct inheritance from the earliest Jesus movement.
The most stunningly successful of these eastern Christian bodies was the Church of the East, often called the Nestorian church. While the Western churches were expanding their influence within the framework of the Roman Empire, the Syriac-speaking churches colonized the vast Persian kingdom that ruled from Syria to Pakistan and the borders of China. From their bases in Mesopotamia - modern Iraq - Nestorian Christians carried out their vast missionary efforts along the Silk Route that crossed Central Asia. By the eighth century, the Church of the East had an extensive structure across most of central Asia and China, and in southern India. The church had senior clergy - metropolitans - in Samarkand and Bokhara, in Herat in Afghanistan. A bishop had his seat in Chang'an, the imperial capital of China, which was then the world's greatest superpower.
When Nestorian Christians were pressing across Central Asia during the sixth and seventh centuries, they met the missionaries and saints of an equally confident and expansionist religion: Mahayana Buddhism. Buddhists too wanted to take their saving message to the world, and launched great missions from India's monasteries and temples. In this diverse world, Buddhist and Christian monasteries were likely to stand side by side, as neighbors and even, sometimes, as collaborators. Some historians believe that Nestorian missionaries influenced the religious practices of the Buddhist religion then developing in Tibet. Monks spoke to monks.
In presenting their faith, Christians naturally used the cultural forms that would be familiar to Asians. They told their stories in the forms of sutras, verse patterns already made famous by Buddhist missionaries and teachers. A stunning collection of Jesus Sutras was found in caves at Dunhuang, in northwest China. Some Nestorian writings draw heavily on Buddhist ideas, as they translate prayers and Christian services in ways that would make sense to Asian readers. In some texts, the Christian phrase "angels and archangels and hosts of heaven" is translated into the language of buddhas and devas.
One story in particular suggests an almost shocking degree of collaboration between the faiths. In 782, the Indian Buddhist missionary Prajna arrived in Chang'an, bearing rich treasures of sutras and other scriptures. Unfortunately, these were written in Indian languages. He consulted the local Nestorian bishop, Adam, who had already translated parts of the Bible into Chinese. Together, Buddhist and Christian scholars worked amiably together for some years to translate seven copious volumes of Buddhist wisdom. Probably, Adam did this as much from intellectual curiosity as from ecumenical good will, and we can only guess about the conversations that would have ensued: Do you really care more about relieving suffering than atoning for sin? And your monks meditate like ours do?
These efforts bore fruit far beyond China. Other residents of Chang'an at this very time included Japanese monks, who took these very translations back with them to their homeland. In Japan, these works became the founding texts of the great Buddhist schools of the Middle Ages. All the famous movements of later Japanese history, including Zen, can be traced to one of those ancient schools and, ultimately - incredibly - to the work of a Christian bishop.
By the 12th century, flourishing churches in China and southern India were using the lotus-cross. The lotus is a superbly beautiful flower that grows out of muck and slime. No symbol could better represent the rise of the soul from the material, the victory of enlightenment over ignorance, desire, and attachment. For 2,000 years, Buddhist artists have used the lotus to convey these messages in countless paintings and sculptures. The Christian cross, meanwhile, teaches a comparable lesson, of divine victory over sin and injustice, of the defeat of the world. Somewhere in Asia, Yeshua's forgotten followers made the daring decision to integrate the two emblems, which still today forces us to think about the parallels between the kinds of liberation and redemption offered by each faith.
Christianity, for much of its history, was just as much an Asian religion as Buddhism. Asia's Christian churches survived for more than a millennium, and not until the 10th century, halfway through Christian history, did the number of Christians in Europe exceed that in Asia.
What ultimately obliterated the Asian Christians were the Mongol invasions, which spread across Central Asia and the Middle East from the 1220s onward. From the late 13th century, too, the world entered a terrifying era of climate change, of global cooling, which severely cut food supplies and contributed to mass famine. The collapse of trade and commerce crippled cities, leaving the world much poorer and more vulnerable. Intolerant nationalism wiped out Christian communities in China, while a surging militant Islam destroyed the churches of Central Asia.
But awareness of this deep Christian history contributes powerfully to understanding the future of the religion, as much as its past. For long centuries, Asian Christians kept up neighborly relations with other faiths, which they saw not as deadly rivals but as fellow travelers on the road to enlightenment. Their worldview differed enormously from the norms that developed in Europe.
To take one example, we are used to the idea of Christianity operating as the official religion of powerful states, which were only too willing to impose a particular orthodoxy upon their subjects. Yet when we look at the African and Asian experience, we find millions of Christians whose normal experience was as minorities or even majorities within nations dominated by some other religion. Struggling to win hearts and minds, leading churches had no option but to frame the Christian message in the context of non-European intellectual traditions. Christian thinkers did present their message in the categories of Buddhism - and Taoism, and Confucianism - and there is no reason why they could not do so again. When modern scholars like Peter Phan try to place Christianity in an Asian and Buddhist context, they are resuming a task begun at least 1,500 years ago.
Perhaps, in fact, we are looking at our history upside down. Some day, future historians might look at the last few hundred years of Euro- American dominance within Christianity and regard it as an unnatural interlude in a much longer story of fruitful interchange between the great religions.
Consider the story told by Timothy, a patriarch of the Nestorian church. Around 800, he engaged in a famous debate with the Muslim caliph in Baghdad, a discussion marked by reason and civility on both sides. Imagine, Timothy said, that we are all in a dark house, and someone throws a precious pearl in the midst of a pile of ordinary stones. Everyone scrabbles for the pearl, and some think they've found it, but nobody can be sure until day breaks.
In the same way, he said, the pearl of true faith and wisdom had fallen into the darkness of this transitory world; each faith believed that it alone had found the pearl. Yet all he could claim - and all the caliph could say in response - was that some faiths thought they had enough evidence to prove that they were indeed holding the real pearl, but the final truth would not be known in this world.
Knowing other faiths firsthand grants believers an enviable sophistication, founded on humility. We could do a lot worse than to learn from what we sometimes call the Dark Ages.
Philip Jenkins is Edwin Erle Sparks professor of the humanities at Penn State University. He is author of "The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia -- and How It Died," published last month.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/12/14/when_jesus_met_buddha/

Hi all.
THE HISTORICAL PROBLEM OF A LARGE ISRAEL
Numbers 1 in our English bibles 603 thousand military men which would make Israel a conquering super-power across the whole Middle East - like China vs Taiwan against any of the nations of the period. We think the Egyptian army at the Battle of Kadesh - possibly the generation before Moses - had about 53,000 men. With a 12 to 1 ratio, why was Moses pleading with Pharaoh instead of marching up onto the throne himself and kicking the Egyptians out of the place?
THE BIBLICAL PROBLEM OF A LARGE ISRAEL
The bible presents Israel as smaller than the surrounding nations. Deuteronomy 9:1–2 says:
“Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. 2 The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the Anakites?””
Each of the seven individual Canaanite realms was “more numerous and mightier than” Israel - Deut 7:1. Only Moab expresses fear over Israel’s size: Numbers 22:3.
Israel’s success is all down to God - Deut 7:7 says “The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.” In fact, God reassures Israel not to be afraid! “But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.” (Numbers 13:28). Or try Deut 7:17 “You may say to yourselves, “These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?”
Then there is the problem of the census of the Levites and the firstborn from the rest of the tribes of Israel. This whole story is about Israel dedicating their firstborn to God - and a little mathematics around subtracting how many Levites already serve God full time - just to be fair. The problem? There’s only just over 20,000 firstborn! Accounting for boys and girls to stretch just over 20,000 breeding couples out to over 2.5 MILLION Israelites (600,000 military males) each family would have to have something like 30 to 50 boys and another 30 to 50 girls each - so something like 60 to 100 children per family! Numbers 3:39
There’s clearly something wrong. Also, they didn’t have enough people to invade and take over the land all at once. It was going to take time or the land wold lie fallow and abandoned because there were so few Israelite’s! Deut 7:22 “22 The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you.” But a nation of 2 to 2.5 MILLION people on the move would have sent their super-power military sweeping across the land and moved in to work the whole land at once!
HOW DID THE NUMBERS GET SO BIG IN NUMBERS?
I love the “Undeceptions” podcast by my friend John Dickson. Here he’s covering the historicity of Moses, interviewing an Egyptologist about both the archaeology of Egypt and what internal evidence there might be in the bible about Moses and the Exodus, and Semites generally in Egypt. It’s a great episode - and well worth listening to in its own right. But there is a short conversation about how the Hebrew numbers are actually not numerals as we use them, but words. The word for ‘thousand’ also in some places means ‘unit’ or ‘troop’. https://undeceptions.com/podcast/the-exodus/
For quick reference, as “Got questions” summarises where aleph is used this way under “Option Two: Small Israel; Misinterpretation of the Hebrew”
sis’sāh vav arbā’im ‘elep vav hamēs mē’owt. The traditional, literal translation is “six and forty thousand and five hundred,” usually rendered as “46,500.”
However, two words in this phrase are subject to variations: ‘elep and vav. The term ‘elep (or ‘eleph) is used elsewhere in Scripture as a reference to groups, not a literal number, including descriptions of Israel during and after the exodus. It is applied to tribes (Numbers 10:4), clans (Joshua 22:14; Judges 6:15; Micah 5:1), families (Joshua 22:21), and divisions (Numbers 1:16). Further, the connecting word vav can mean “and,” but it can also mean “or,” depending on context. Exodus 21:15 and Exodus 21:17, for instance, use vav to say that certain sins are committed against one’s father “or” mother. If ‘elep is a reference to groups of some sort (not numerical thousands), and the second vav in the phrase is understood to mean “or,” then Numbers 1:21 would be translated “six and forty clans, or five hundred.” The tribe of Reuben, then, would have had 500 fighting men from 46 family groups.
https://www.gotquestions.org/Israelites-exodus.html
For a fuller mathematical analysis based on the first born census, try here. You’ll have to log in with a google address for free access, but I found it to be a good read.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1585502?read-now=1&seq=11#page_scan_tab_contents
(Log in, look to the right button where it says “Alternative methods” and read online for free.)
IF ALL THIS IS TRUE…
…it means that a scribe from some later century made some assumptions and added the text together. EG: The total of the census in Numbers 1: 46 would have been 558 Troops vas (or) 5,550 men. But written out in Hebrew, with the original use of aleph fading over time, you can see the temptation for a scribe many centuries later - possibly AD - to add the numbers together. 558 troops counted as thousands and then adding in the 5550 men equals the totals in Numbers 1:46.
It could easily be the same story in Exodus 12:37.
My question: if this is indeed the case - is inerrancy even at stake? Would we be worried about some weird inconsistency in say the chapters and numbers added in by monks at a later date?

something I've been wanting to do for a while is set up my edgerouter to log all domain/ip requests to a cumulative list, and dump that to a text file either internally or externally, for each connected local device individually, to be then compared to a locally generated list of domain/ip requests.
Why? Because I'm crazy and like to sanity-check everything and understand as much about what my hardware does as is possible for me to do. Being able to see and compare what my OS is asking for, and what my router is receiving requests for, just makes sense.
​
Conceptually, this is a very easy process. Every time the edge router talks to a domain or host, it already logs the incoming and outgoing IP address. ¹
Simply take this, sort by incoming IP, dump it to a text file, either locally or via some sort of network share, and then have the client machines able to pull this and cross-reference with their own internally generated lists.
The problem is that I don't fully understand how to access the probably-already-being-generated logs. I don't know where in the filesystem they dump to, what services to enable/disable, or what client services(linux) to run to make or find such logs in the filesystem.
If I can find where the logs are stored, a cronjob every hour or day or whatever is easily made to copy this log over sshfs or similar, and then I can run a simple script to parse and compare the data. However, documentation on anything beyond the web-UI seems nonexistent, as far as my googling can find. I can't find the relevant logs in /valog, either, so they may not even be dumped to text for all I know.
Looking to do this rather automagically, so web-UI junk is sub-optimal for my needs.
​
¹I'm 90% sure it does because UI elements reference the this data as it's collected.

Debunking LGBTQ+ Myths (with cited sources)
📷Discussion
Since it is Pride Month and there has been a lot more controversy surrounding the topic this year, particularly in schools, I thought it was good to debunk some myths. If you have any specific questions about Pride and what happens in schools, I can also answer that as I am a teacher in Ontario. I feel there has been a wide spread hysteria/misunderstanding about what is going on and I am happy to clear it up for anyone.
Myth 1: Being LGBTQ+ is a choice.
Debunked: Sexual orientation and gender identity are not choices but deeply ingrained aspects of a person's identity. Numerous scientific studies support the understanding that being LGBTQ+ is not a voluntary decision, but rather a natural variation of human diversity. This understanding is supported by major medical and mental health organizations, including the American Psychological Association (APA) and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).
Reference: American Psychological Association: Sexual Orientation & Homosexuality: https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbtq/orientation
Myth 2: Being LGBTQ+ is a mental disorder.
Debunked: The American Psychiatric Association (APA) removed homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1973, affirming that it is not a mental disorder. The World Health Organization (WHO) removed it from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) in 1990. However, LGBTQ+ individuals may experience mental health challenges due to societal stigma and discrimination they face.
References: American Psychiatric Association: Position Statement on Homosexuality: https://www.psychiatry.org/File%20Library/Psychiatrists/Practice/Position-Statements/ps2002_Homosexuality.pdf
World Health Organization: ICD-10, Chapter V, F66.0: https://www.who.int/classifications/icd/en/bluebook.pdf
Myth 3: LGBTQ+ individuals are more likely to be pedophiles.
Debunked: There is no scientific evidence to support a link between being LGBTQ+ and being a pedophile. Pedophilia is a distinct and universally condemned sexual attraction to minors. It is unrelated to sexual orientation, which involves consensual adult relationships. The American Psychological Association and various studies confirm that sexual orientation is unrelated to pedophilia.
References: American Psychological Association: Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation: https://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/therapeutic-response
National Association of Social Workers: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People and Interpersonal Violence: https://www.socialworkers.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=P2p6AVTRN94%3d&portalid=0
Myth 4: All transgender people undergo surgery.
Debunked: Not all transgender individuals pursue medical interventions, such as hormone replacement therapy or gender-affirming surgeries. Transitioning is a personal journey, and different individuals have different needs and preferences. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) emphasizes that not all transgender people desire or require surgical interventions. Gender identity is about how a person feels internally, rather than physical changes.
Reference: World Professional Association for Transgender Health: Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People, Version 8: https://www.wpath.org/publications/soc
Myth 5: LGBTQ+ individuals are a threat to traditional marriages or families.
Debunked: Research consistently shows that same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ parenting have no negative effects on traditional marriages or children's well-being. Love and commitment are universal values, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. The American Psychological Association and various studies support the positive outcomes of LGBTQ+ families.
References: American Psychological Association: Lesbian & Gay Parenting: https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbtq/parenting
Williams Institute: Sexual Orientation of Parents and their Children: Findings from the New Family Structures Study: https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/New-Family-Structures-Study-052611.pdf
Myth 6: LGBTQ+ individuals can be "converted" or "cured."
Debunked: Conversion therapy, also known as reparative therapy, which aims to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity, has been widely discredited and denounced by professional medical and mental health organizations. These include the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, and American Psychological Association, which condemn these practices as ineffective and harmful.
References: American Psychiatric Association: Position Statement on Therapies Focused on Attempts to Change Sexual Orientation (Reparative or Conversion Therapies): https://www.psychiatry.org/File%20Library/Psychiatrists/Practice/Position-Statements/ps2013_Conversion_Therapy.pdf
American Psychological Association: Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation: https://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/therapeutic-response
Myth 7: LGBTQ+ rights are a threat to religious freedom.
LGBTQ+ rights and religious freedom are not mutually exclusive. Many religious denominations and faith communities fully accept and embrace LGBTQ+ individuals. Laws protecting LGBTQ+ rights seek to ensure equal treatment and prevent discrimination, without infringing on religious freedoms.
References: Movement Advancement Project: LGBTQ-Inclusive Religious Liberty: https://www.lgbtmap.org/file/lgbt-inclusive-religious-liberty.pdf
The Trevor Project: Faith in LGBTQ Youth: A Resource Guide: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Faith-In-LGBTQ-Youth-Resource-Guide-2019.pdf
Remember that the field of LGBTQ+ studies is vast, and there are numerous studies, reports, and resources available for further exploration and learning.

Time is not given for this interaction in the PCA. So, I happened to come across this little nugget in the Lost Documentary. It was filmed in February and March of 2019, by Hannah Shakespeare. And she interviewed a teenage witness who says she saw BG that day.
(2) Delphi Murders the Lost Documentary - YouTube
HS's interview with this teenage witness who was sixteen at the time of the crime, and eighteen at the time of the interview, per HS, begins at 11:44. Her face is blurred and voice muted, onscreen text is provided. It indicates she is with her friends, walking on the trails while looking at their phones, and cross paths with RA/BG. Describes him as being overdressed, with a hat, and something over his face. Waves and he gives her an unfriendly look in return. It seems as if this teenager is one of the witnesses who saw BG/RA bc this lines up pretty well with the statements in the PCA regarding the interaction between the three witnesses and BG/RA. Except for one thing:
At 15:11 HS claims the witness gave her a 'timestamp for BGs arrival at the trail'.
2:10 pm. WTF.
HS uses the word timestamp here. But maybe she was mistaken. Maybe the teenage witness just gave her a rough guess. But lets just say she was off by ten minutes, and actually saw BG at 200pm. Or give her even more leeway and say she saw BG/RA at 150pm. Even using the 150pm time for spotting BG is a big problem for the PCA. Bc RA has to be on the bridge BEFORE the female witness arrives to find him on Platform One and we know she gets to the Mears Lot at 146. At 150 that would give him just four minutes to hustle to the bridge in time. 150pm arrival time for RA is cutting it very close. 200pm is impossible, and 210 pm is absolutely inconceivable. So, assuming this is indeed one of the girls the PCA states saw RA/BG, this raises a lot of questions. And it might explain why LE neglected to mention times given for so many of these events in the PCA. Its possible some of the times given by witnesses just dont mesh very well with their theory.
Id love to see the rest of the interview between HS and this teenage witness.
​

[←Chapter 56] [Cover Art] [My Links] [Index] [Discord] [Subreddit] [Chapter 58→]
On the whole, things were actually looking up for Efrain at least as far as he could reckon. It was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one that Naia had reached out to him. Adding on top of it that at least one of the children had fallen right into his lap, he might come away from this trip with more than near-death experiences.
The trio was sitting on the wooden floor of the waggon, the morning light rapidly brightening. It wouldn’t be long before the paladin’s awoke, by Efrain’s reckoning, so they’d best be quick.
“Well,” Efrain began, “I’ll let you ask three questions. That’s all we have time for today.”
Having a student, a proper student, was a prospect that he enjoyed more than he cared to admit. Aya took her time, drumming her fingers on the floor as she tried to come up with whatever her mind demanded of him.
“What is magic? What’s the difference between magic and miracles? And… what am I?”
Three, concise. Innie stirred at the first two, and Efrai guessed that Aya had already asked them before.
“‘What is magic’ is a matter of some debate. In the most practical sense, it’s a way of manipulating the world. Some have worshipped it as divine or spiritual. Some haven’t,” Efrain answered, “though, if you want my personal opinion, magic is a process of discovery, just as mathematics or philosophy is. It requires skill, or talent, most of all, dedication and practice.”
She nodded, this definition perhaps striking a cord with her.
“The difference between magic and miracles?” he said, “Well, I’m not entirely sure what miracles you’re referring to, but I can certainly attest that there are those that pass off magic as miracles.”
Aya stiffed slightly as it, and Efrain guessed from where the questions had sprung.
“Ah. I would’ve imagined the paladins said something like that. Self-aggrandizing hogwash - they use magic, I use magic. It’s fundamentally the same thing.”
He left out the part about how radically inefficient their methods likely were - that was for a later time.
“But the church says-”
“That magic is a sin. Something used by people in dark places?” snorted Efrain, “Angorrah used to be a centre of magical education, though the church would never admit that. I myself used to dwell there, many years ago.”
“The madame said that you would know about the night of the Burning Tree,” said Aya, looking at the cat, “that you lived through it.”
Efrain, at the usage of the word ‘madame’, also looked at the cat, significantly less impressed than his young charge. He indeed had lived through it, although he couldn’t recall it.
“It was over three centuries ago,” he said, “complete chaos. Partisans from the lands conquered during the Helgacite expansion. Angry youths from the Academies who felt betrayed by the church, mixing with other factions. Worst of all was the portion of the military that wanted to overthrow the ruling authority. The Night of the Burning Tree was a poorly thought out riot.”
Once more, the hypocrisy of the unknown haunted his assertion.
“I left the city not long after,” he said, “the writing was on the wall at that point. The church was preparing for decades to destroy the Academy, and that night was the perfect excuse for them to do so. Sometimes I wonder…”
Aya leaned forwards, clearly interested in this history he recounted.
“But that’s not relevant to your questions, nice try,” he said, leaving his suspicions on who exactly had set fire to the sacred tree to himself, “as for your third question - what are you.”
Out of habit, a long finger reached up to scratch at his temple.
“You are an enigma, a mystery. I don’t think I’ve encountered anything quite like you, and, believe me, between books and my own travels, that is not a low bar. It’s rare to stumble on someone so unique.”
Efrain was conscious of how bright it was beginning to get.
“Perhaps we’ll find some answers as we continue to explore magic together,” he put together quickly, “but alas, that’ll have to wait for another time. Best that you get back to your fellows. Quick now.”
Satisfied, at least for the moment, Aya thanked him, and with a little bow to Innie, quickly got out of the wagon and departed.
“A bow?” he said to his long-time companion.
“I was never going to get it from you,” she said, snorted, “besides, how long will it be before you get her calling you ‘teacher’?”
Efrain decided that was fair and not to press the point.
“I’m going to find Tykhon, I’d rather ride him than be in this rickety thing on a forest path,” he said, “also, have you see Clarallel?”
“She seems to be having a ball,” Innie said, “There’s no shortage of injuries for her to treat.”
“Oh, goodie,” he said, “at least she’s been keeping busy I’m sure.”
Efrain made his way around the camp, not taking long before finding another class taking place. Claralelle was inscribing lines in the dirt with a stick, depicting this muscle and that, while a collection of mostly shirtless men and women stood around her. As she explained its shape and what connected into what, she indicated so on her model - a vaguely embarrassed looking young soldier in the middle.
Efrain leaned against a tree, studying the reactions of the soldiers as Claralle launched into a fairly in depth explanation of the forces involved in a sword swing. To their credit, most of them seemed fascinated, and one was even scribbling hasty notes on a piece of parchment. As the lesson wrapped up, and the soldiers departed speaking in hushed tones, Efrain walked up behind Clara.
“My. Seems you’re gaining a following,” he said.
“Something like that?” she said in her customary joyous tone, “they’re interested. I’m interested. I might as well share!”
“Indeed,” he said, “keep in mind not to complain about the church too heavily, lest you land in hot water with some.”
She gave him a blank look, and it occurred to Efrain that she might not even know the slightest about the church, other than it existed.
“Anyways,” he continued, “I wanted to know what your plans were. Now that we’re out of both frying pan and fire.”
“Oh, I have no idea,” she said.
“...really?”
“I suppose I should go find another flesh lord, and complete my training. Or set up my own practice and… practice. Oh, and I like to read, and there are a lot of books. And there are a lot of people to treat as well!”
“Uh-huh,” Efrain murmured, “well, I don’t know about any others, but I can certainly introduce you to Carnes. Whether or not they’d be willing to take you on as a student is another story.”
“Also, I should find the skull of my master, if it hasn’t been crushed to dust by now,” she said, “we used to joke that I would strip it of the flesh and boil it. Then I’d put a little hat on it, or maybe use it to drink wine from. I don’t entirely remember.”
“They may have been joking.”
“No, I don’t think so. Either way, he’s dead, so he doesn’t have the luxury of choice.”
“Well, then,” Efrain said, clearing his throat to change the subject, “is it on to Angorrah, then? That’s where Carnes is, if you’re interested in meeting them.”
She nodded in a manner that was akin to a shrug, hoisting one of her many tool belts onto her pleated skirts.
“I’ve never been in a big city, I would like to see one,” she said.
“Don’t let me stop you,” he said, deciding not to mention the kind of reception she might receive there.
“Well, then, what about you? Are you going to the city? Seems like as bad an idea for me as it is for you.”
“Granted,” he said, “I’m not sure yet. We’ll be in Karkos in a few days, and we’ll see what happens. By the way, you don’t happen to have a pair of cups that you could spare, do you?”
“You could just take one or two from the ground. They leave them around all the time. I don’t think they’ll notice if they go missing.”
“And you know that because… you’ve done it before,” he said.
She nodded vigorously, before turning and walking away.
Efrain began to walk to the outskirts of the camp, looking for an unaccompanied piece of dishware or two. Clara was soon proven right, as he found that there were quite a few, enough for him to select a set of shallow wooden constructs between a plate and bowl. Perfect for what he was planning, or so he hoped. With his objective secured, he passed between the trees, and once he was a significant distance from the camp, he whistled.
The physical impossibility of the sound amused him, especially since he managed to do it perfectly every time.
Tykhon came through the trees, loping along on his six limbs, swivelling his head this way and that. Efrain wondered if that was for vision, or if he was scenting the air. The mount did not seem worse for ware, despite the danger they’d passed through. Efrain supposed there was no lack of food and water in the woods, and he’d been more than happy to wander along in them.
“I’m glad to see you,” he said, rubbing the creature’s long snout.
The creature nuzzled at him, leaving Efrain to wonder if Carnes had built some fondness for him in the creature’s very blood. He turned back and looked through the trees, seeing the soldiers beginning to pack their tents and tools.
“I don’t entirely know what I’m doing,” he said to his mount, “feels like I might’ve really stepped in it this time, Tykhon. I might end up headless, or with a new friend.”
Tykhon offered no response, other than to lay its massive head on his shoulder.
“Trying to get some blood on me?” he said, noticing the red flecks near the slit of its mouth, “rascal.”
He led Tykhon through the trees and back towards the wagon circle where Innie waited. Oddly enough, the mounts being hitched didn’t bolt or grow agitated at the approach of the much larger creature. Efrain wasn’t sure how Carnes had managed that either, but he supposed it was just another example of the skill of the flesh lord.
Soon, he and Innie were heading to the top of the line, but they stopped before they reached where the men were forming up. Damafelce was washing some clothes in a creek, leaving a trail of red-purple water.
“Don’t you have a page to do that for you?” he said from the back of his mount.
“I do,” she said, “but I prefer to do it myself. It’s what I used to do while my mother composed.”
“A bit of home then?” he said.
She nodded as she withdrew the shirt from the stream, its pale surface still stuffed with a red-brown stain.
“That being said,” she said, “I think this one is beyond my aid. I see you found your mount, lord Efrain. He’d been trailing the caravan for a while, some of the soldiers were getting nervous.”
“Well, I’m glad they didn’t shoot him. I would’ve been quite upset, though I doubt they would’ve harmed him much.”
“What is he exactly?” she said, wringing out the shirt before throwing it over her well muscled shoulder, “I’ve never seen nor heard of a beast like him.”
“A chimera of some description,” Efrain said, “actually I don’t even know if it's a he. It was a gift from a friend.”
“A… what?” Damafelce said, trying to sound out ‘chimera’.
“A mixture of animals, modified and merged. Flesh lords dabble in such things occasionally.”
“And is that… blood around his muzzle?” she said, looking concerned.
“Yes. He’s… well, I think he eats both plants and flesh, given the chance. I’ve seen him eating berries, and also… an eagle. I’m not sure how he managed to catch it,” Efrain said.
Damafelce looked more impressed than frightened, but Efrain noticed how her eyes drifted down to the claws on the forelimbs of the creature.
“He’s not particularly aggressive,” Efrain said, “but I think he can get skittish.”
“I’ll keep it in mind. Is there anything you wanted to speak to me about?”
“No, no,” Efrain said, “I just saw you in the clearing and wanted to say hello.”
She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, clearly doubting him.
“Although, there’s one question I would like to ask if you wouldn’t mind.”
“There it is,” said the captain, “well, then, ask away.”
“This seems like a less than desirable post for you, so far away from home. Why did you come?”
Her eyebrows furrowed at the question, almost as if she was insulted that he’d even asked her.
“I volunteered, we all did. Even the commander. He needed good men, so he had us.”
“Well then, that wraps some lingering questions I had,” Efrain said, nodding, “I’ll see you on the road, captain.”
Now that was interesting, Efrain thought, so was Naia put forward, or did he volunteer on his own?
Efrain rode on to where the men were massing, and waited patiently for the line to form up properly. Tykhon shifted his weight to the side and began to rub himself on the bark of a nearby tree, snuffling and grunting as he did so. Efrain absent-mindedly rubbed behind his ears as he thought about the day’s lesson.
It didn’t take long for the men to get moving along the old road, though it was more a foot path than anything else. Efrain didn’t have much time or desire to speak beyond common courtesy as he and Innie rode alongside the soldiers, and most were too unnerved by Tykhon to press any conversation. They’d made a distance of perhaps twenty or thirty miles before the day had darkened. The trees were beginning to thin out just slightly, and the balance was shifting definitely to deciduous.
As the men broke for camp, Efrain took up a position on a small rise, where a young birch stuck out from the ground. Tykhon had curled up, chewing on some of the fresh grass as he snorted and twitched, Innie asleep on his back. Efrain set out the two bowls before him, filled from a nearby stream, a fresh picked bundle of herbs, and waited.
Innie awoke at one point, flicking one amber eye over to his assembly.
“Getting prepared for your covert lesson?”
Efrain nodded as he sat, leaning against Tykhon's massive flank.
“I could wake you if you’re interested in aiding in my instruction.”
“Correcting your mistakes, you mean,” she said, “no thank you, I’ll be happy to sleep through your instruction.”
“Charming. At least I’ll be among friends,” Efrain said.
“You’re counting the beast-creature?”
“I take what I can get, including mouthy cats.”
That earned him a little laugh from the wisp-mother.
“And what exactly are you planning to do with those bowls, Efrain?”
“I was planning on making tea,” he said, “though it will be exceedingly poor quality with what fare I have.”
Innie’s laugh was not little this time as she rolled over and settled.
“Never change, Efrain,” she said, as she drifted back to sleep.
The moon was well-risen before Aya crept out from between the trees.
“Sorry,” she said, “they were a little more watchful this time. I had to wait until they were by the fire.”
“I have all the time in the world,” Efrain said, “besides, I don’t intend to keep you for very long.”
“They say we’re going to be coming to Karkos soon,” Aya said, “we might see it as early as tomorrow, the commander says.”
“That might be optimistic,” Efrain said, “maybe if we push ourselves, we could get to the hinterlands. As for actually getting into the city, that’s taking a night ride, which I’m not sure the soldiers would be happy about.”
Aya sat and processed the information in silence.
“Well, in any case, we will soon be in Karkos, barring any misfortune on the road. And we both have had quite enough of that, I think.”
The laughter was brittle, but good-natured regardless.
“So, then, magic. I haven’t done this in a very long time,” he said, “teaching, that is. As with anything, it’s best to understand the fundamentals of what we call magic. Under normal circumstances, this would take a few weeks, and we’d have lots of practical examples. Oh well, we’ll have to make do.”
He gestured to the various pieces in front of him.
“I teach in a more specific way than I imagine the paladins would, Three bedrock principles, which, while seemingly simple, take time to truly grasp. Memory, intent, emotion. A goal to find, the method to find it, and something to drive at. Do you understand?”
“I- I guess.”
“They seem a bit abstract, don’t they?” Efrain said, “don’t stress over the literal meanings of the words. They are flexible concepts, meant to capture a larger process. That is, the process of making magic.”
He held up his hand, and tried to envision the sparks of a blacksmith’s hammer. What he found instead, was a different explosion of colour and sound. The memory was surprising, and he couldn’t place it, but he remembered a name.
‘Fireworks’.
From his hand, a little stream of multicoloured tracers and dots of light flowed out into the night, vanishing into the dark. Aya gave a little gasp of delight as they floated above her head. He let his hand fall, pushing a dish of water towards the young girl.
“Do you want to take a guess at what your first actual act of magic will be?”
“Uh…” she said, looking down at the assorted plates and herbs, “are you asking me to make… tea?”
Efrain Belacore, behind his mask, smiled wider than he ever had in death.
[←Chapter 56] [Cover Art] [My Links] [Index] [Discord] [Subreddit] [Chapter 58→]

Hey there honorary Justice League members - it’s a new week which means it’s time for a new discussion thread!

• Floss' pick of the week: The Flash #800

For those who don't know: the way this works is that several comments will list this week’s releases, for any given title discussion you should respond to that comment. For example, Wonder Woman discussion would go in the replies to the "Wonder Woman" comment. Clicking the titles in this post will take you directly to that comment, too.
In other words, you should only be replying to other comments. If you have trouble understanding how to comment for a particular title, please refer to this handy guide. Any unwarranted top level comments will be removed.
Also, please refrain from posting short, low-content comments on threads for issues or episodes that have not yet been released. Put some effort to generate discussion. Instead of just posting "So excited!" or "Best book!", try something with a bit more substance, like "Punchline is such an amazing character! Can't wait to see how they explore her in more depth in this issue."
Join the Monthly Book Club! This month's book is Saga of the Swamp Thing, Book 3 and you can join the discussion right now here!
 
QUICK LINKS: Weekly Meta Discussions Thread Current jump-in points Weekly Discussion Archives Monthly Book Club Discord Server Twitter Last Week's Thread
^{If a pig loses its voice, does it become disgruntled?}

DC and Imprints

^{All your light hearted favourites like Wally Wesy, Scooby Doo, and the Joker}

• Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #4
• Batman #136
• Dark Knights of Steel #11
• The Flash #800
• The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #9
• The Joker: Uncovered #1
• New Talent Showcase: The Milestone Initiative #1
• Peacemaker Tries Hard! #2
• Poison Ivy #13
• Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #122
• Shazam! #2
• Steelworks #1

Trade Collections

^{Wonder Woman Historia hardcover the same week as the Kelly Sue DeConnick AMA? What are the chances!}

• Batman: Fortress [HC]
  
• *Fann Club: Batman Squad
  
• History of the DC Universe [HC]
  
• Nightwing - Vol. 1, Leaping into the Light [TP]
  
• Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons [HC]
  

Digital Releases

^{Remember, these are the short 'chapters' with a new chapter of a different series coming out daily. You can learn more here on Comixology. This is also why these are in release order, not alphabetical. Some comics may release on DC Universe Infinite or WEBTOONS.}

• Monday, 6/5 (WEBTOON) - Red Hood: Outlaws #43
  
• Tuesday, 6/6 (WEBTOON) - Zatanna & the Ripper #48
  
• Thursday, 6/8 (WEBTOON) - Batman: Wayne Family Adventures #86
  
• Friday, 6/9 (WEBTOON) - Vixen: NYC #55
  

TV Shows

^{complicated daddy issues}

• Tuesday, 6/6: Superman & Lois S03E11 - Complications
• Tuesday, 6/6: Gotham Knights S01E11 - Daddy Issues

^{This Week’s Soundtrack: Leonard Cohen - Dance Me to the End of Love}

I used to be a confident and optimistic person. I worked since i was 15. No car? No problem. I ALWAYS found a way. Suddenly, in adulthood i started having extremely bad luck. Found out my boyfriend was married, then he knocked me out in public. Got a new bf and my sister told him I cheated. My sister fought me & pressed charges on ME! The state put a protective order (before dropping it bc she had no case) & it made my then bf hate me. I lived with him because we’d moved to NY together. He became abusive, & turns out I was pregnant but couldn’t leave him because for 9 months I only got 1 under table job interview and nobody hired me since I was straight out of college. My degree was in finance and I was in the saturated finance capital of the world with only an internship under my belt and no connections. Needless to say I never got hired . I couldn’t go to my fam because of the stupid court order. Had to abort 💔 when the case was dropped, I came home. Turns out my boyfriend was cheating. Things got better for a year. Then I had ONE one night stand & got pregnant. At this point, 2018, I’d gotten my own apartment but was still sleeping on the floor bc I couldn’t afford anything else (my ex left me all of our debt 😖). Anyway, I had no communication with my fam, no friends, no money & not even a pillow to my name even tho i had 2 jobs and the guy didn’t want the baby. I had another abortion & just wanted to die. Mid 2018, I FINALLY got on my feet. & found a “better” job. They were sexist and racist to me. The Karen tried to get me fired since my first day. I couldn’t leave the job bc I really needed it. 2020 my knees gave out & I couldn’t walk. I was 30 years old. COVID happened & I got stuck working 14 hrs a day. Then I got laid off. 2021, I could walk again. I got diagnosed with ADHD, my friends stopped talking to me. I was a victim of a hate crime and got a mini concussion. My boyfriend didn’t go see me knowing I had nobody. I was supposed to start a new job the next day and I couldn’t bc I had a black eye and swollen lip & was generally out of it. I was stressed bc unemployment hadn’t paid me for months for no reason. I was burning through my savings. Then i found out that boyfriend was cheating. My stove was leaking gas. My landlord cursed me o and would not only show up at my apartment cursing at me, but tried to throw me out over the stove leaking AND refused to fix it. I stopped getting my period due to stress. That’s when I noticed I wasn’t able to cope anymore. Anyway, I was top 2 at my job & somehow got fired anyway. I tried to run away to Miami and I got rear ended on the freeway the next day. I came back to California. Got 2 new jobs and was fired from each. I’d had another car acciden for the last job before being fired on Nov 30, 2022. The mechanic ruined my car & refused to fix it. Not even the camera worked. I caught COVID. Was alone on Christmas (December 2022), got a text that my stepdad was hospitalized. 2 minutes later, someone attempted to break into my apartment and I had nobody to call for help. I just had to hope he wouldn’t get in before the police came. He didn’t get in. A few days later my rent got raised and I realized I wouldn’t be able afford my bills or anything if I paid January rent. I also was so mentally gone at this point from stress that I couldn’t fathom having a job. I had to move back in with my parents on December 31, 2022. The next day, Jan 1, 2023, a woman at a store physically attacked me for walking into a store when apparently she wanted to be the only one to go through the doors, despite BOTH doors being wide open. I lost my mind and began idealizing death at this point. February I tried to do something nice for myself and get some highlights, the hair dresser fried my hair off. It was literally disintegrating at the slightest touch. When I asked for my money back, she told me off in front of everyone, called security, and in a rage grabbed me by my shoulder . I was so shocked and weak and broken at this point. I just asked her not to touch me and then I had a complete and severe mental breakdown in public. I cried uncontrollably and I couldn’t stop 😞. It’s now Jun 2023. Yesterday, I decided I’ve healed enough to try and step back into the world. I decided to grab dinner with an acquaintance but on my way home a truck swerved right into my car. I need to get a higher paying job but I have no references since I’m always being fired. Today, my phone has stopped charging. I need to buy a new one or fix this one even tho i just bought this refurbished one 2 months ago. Also, my body is aching from the accident, & I think I’m catching a cold or flu just from the stress. I don’t understand how this has happened to me. I’m objectively intelligent. I went to college. I am very pretty and I try to say and do the right thing always, but somehow someway I continue being crushed by life. My mom says that I’m a little negativity magnet and she’s right. There are so many things I didn’t even mention here. Just so much that if I heard someone else tell me, I wouldn’t believe it. Everyone around me is prospering financially, married with kids, being promoted, buying property. Even my evil sister met someone while in a 10 year relationship & mow that her relationship is over, she’s marrying that other guy. Who happens to be a gas station mogul and millionaire. He takes her to Dubai and gets her jewelry. Wedding in Italy etc. Meanwhile I seem to Continuously have nothing. Not a friend. Not a career . Love life is trash. Idk anyone who’s luck is as bad as mine. And so, I’d like to ask if anyone’s ever experienced this sort of luck before and do things ever get better? Does luck ever change? Will I ever be a happy beautiful person again or will I always be jaded and afraid of life from now on?

Yeah that's right.
If you get the reference send me a message, if not also send me one but with like a fun fact about yourself.
Got cool doggo pics? Cat pics?
Or just want to debate on which is the superior soft drink, Pepsi V. Coke
Just send me a message!