I have my virtual and physical card locked for security reasons, but I know only recurring investments can come out of the "main" cash account and not the additional ones.
Is there any reason to have my direct deposit go into an additional cash account instead of the main one that is linked to the card? Other than someone getting access and making purchases to the main account if the card is compromised, does it matter if the direct deposit info goes into it too?
Sorry if this is a stupid question, just trying to protect myself as much as possible in the very unlikely event something happens. (Yes I have good security, auth app, 2FA).

In 2023 i made a post about pre-apocalypse factions and groups in AR2. Although the various groups and their goals were mostly cleared up the question of how the virus took over the islands. How did the United States military fail with the containment? Why are there Soviet armed forces soldiers and officers at the bunkers and the mansion? Why are there crashed black helicopters with unidentified personnel on Mackinaw?
When i asked other players about what they thought they gave a variety of theories on how the virus came to the islands and what all the different factions were trying to do.
Here are all the theories i have heard from players.
Mackinaw gem smugglers
Throughout a variety of locations including the prison's warden's office and party bus events you can find crates with gems. On Mackinaw, not far away from the airstrip, you can find a mine where gems can be found inside its tunnels and rocks. A theory came to mind that the virus originated from Mackinaw and that the smugglers either intentionally or unknowingly spread the virus to other parts of the archipelago. As their crates and gems were smuggled into the prison or to wealthy clients they became infected. This might also be a hint as to why the 'Rogues' can be found on Mackinaw, possibly trying to stop the smugglers or study the virus.
Controversies
The virus, being a virus, is organic meaning gems cant be infected with it. There are also no signs of the gems being cursed or having some form of anomaly. The airstrip shows no signs of an contamination or an experiment that went wrong and an pilot getting infected. Its posssible the 'Rogue's brought the virus to the smugglers but as long as their intentions or goals are unknown this can't be confirmed.
Campground's mad doctor
In a basement underneath one of the wooden buildings at the campground you can find surgical equipment and monitors. An infected doctor carrying an Walther P38 and a number of infected civilians can be found inside. This has led to the theory that the doctor was responsible for creating the virus through experimenting on humans. Its likely one of the patients broke free and infected the mad doctor and the campground residents.
Controversies
Due to the isolation of the campground it remains unexplained how the virus could have spread further from there to the other islands. Its possible one or more hikers got infected whilst visiting the camp and then infected the farmers at Salem or residents of Eden. However both infected hikers are located in the middle of Barkley's forests, away from houses.
Ashland hospital
Inside the hospital you can encounter yellow hazmat infected and a morgue. There are also signs of something going wrong at the hospital including turned over furniture and an malfunctioning lift. This led to the theory that the infection came from an experiment at the hospital or one of the bodies in the morgue had the virus. From there the virus infected Ashland, the biggest city in the archipelago, and then the farmlands.
Controversies
Outside the hospital in the middle of Ashland is a military camp and there are also military crates inside the hospital itself. This indicates that the soldiers who brought the equipment were well aware of the virus. This in turn means that Ashland hospital is not the origin of the virus as otherwise the military wouldn't have brought crates inside and set up an open camp in the middle of the city. All the hatches of the morgue are closed and no scientific equipment for experiments and tests can be found indicating that everything was well under control.
Regional airport
In many movies and games airports, train stations and harbors are locations of mass outbreaks and attacks. The Regional airport, being the biggest and only public airport in the archipelago, is major location when it comes to bringing visitors and goods from abroad. There exists the possibility that a plane might have brought the virus to the islands either one of its passengers or its cargo.
Controversies
The only planes at the airport are small civilian planes, private jets and military cargo planes. No actual commercial cargo planes are seen at the airport nor do any of its aircraft appear to be quarantined. There are police cruisers of the local sheriff's department at the main entrance but they appear to have been responding to a fanatic hostage crisis rather than an outbreak. There is also an fanatic inside the control tower with a revolver which might mean that the ATC communications were unattended when everyone became infected. There is also a well fortified military camp on the grass pad in front of the tower and military sleeping mats, crates and cans inside the terminal and tower which indicates the port was safe for the army to dig in at the time they arrived.
Beaufort and Salem cults
Beaufort: Underneath the Beaufort church there is a cave where an infected white plague doctor and his fanatic operatives can be found. There are several steel cages and an altar where prisoners were held and preachings were done respectively. It appears the cult was both fully aware of and prepared for the outbreak and tried to use mystical powers to protect its members. There is also a more darker side to the cult which is that they might have been doing experiments on their prisoners in order to bring armageddon to the world and cleanse the archipelago. In this way they could have brought the virus to the citizens of Halsey and caused further chaos by sending fanatics to the airport.
Salem: Inside the Salem church you can encounter a black plague doctor and a number of fanatics wearing vests and masks. The Salem fanatics tried to hide inside the church with the hope that they would be safe from the infection. There is a rumor that the Salem cult might have called upon dark powers to curse those not part of the group or engineered the virus biologically to gain more influence among paranoid and superstitious citizens.
Controversies
Beaufort: In one of the bigger buildings of Beaufort you can find olive/green sleeping mats and military equipment. Inside the sheriff's office infected SWAT operatives armed with assault rifles and shotguns can be encountered. This might indicate that soldiers arrived at Beaufort before it got infected and the police were preparing for action. Its also unknown how the infected could have left the cave through the heavy wooden hatch at the tunnel entrance.
Salem: Its unknown if the plague doctor had any connections to dark powers and there is no equipment that can be used for working with biological matter. There is also an well prepared police blockade next to the church on the bridge which might mean the virus was not active in Salem when it was set up.
The Soviets/militia
There is a significant presence of the militia and their Soviet allies throughout the entire archipelago. The game is set in the late 80's and early 90's during which time the Soviets and Americans were political and military rivals. On virtually every named island you can find a sign or equipment of the Militia and loosely affiliated smugglers. Meanwhile at the coastal bunkers, mansion, Lulu chapel and various camp and ATV events you can encounter well armed Soviet soldiers from both the army and the Spetsnaz. From any of these outposts and holdouts the communists could have easily spread the virus to sabotage American interests in the archipelago. Nuclear, chemical and biological warfare were used by both sblocks during the cold war.
Controversies
During the late 80's soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev ended the afghan war and cooled down tensions with the west. Its unlikely he would have authorized an biological attack on US soil. Militarily an attack on the archipelago wouldn't have been very profitable in terms of strategy as the virus knows no allegiance to anyone and is can easily infect any human not wearing a full body suit and a gasmask. Politically an attack against the USA with biological weapons would have been met with heavy reprisals and criticism by the international community if the truth were to be found out. There are also no signs of biological weapons usage at any militia or Soviet locations.
Volcano helicopter crash
The helicopter wreckage and infected soldiers and hazmat suit wearing responders raises questions what the helicopter could have been transporting. There is also no sign of the police or the military responding to the crash site as their vehicles are absent. There is the chance that the helicopter might have been transporting the virus and crashed at the volcano where its infected occupants attacked the responders and scientists at the geological research site.
Controversies
The isolated location of the crash site and research station raises questions on how the infection could have spread from the mountain to the surrounding towns and communities. There is also an fire watch tower with armed militia soldiers on the other side of the volcano whom might have been able to fight against the infected whilst also staying isolated and away from civilians. Its possible the virus could have infected hikers and some militia members who then spread it elsewhere (female hiker -> Salem farmers, male hiker -> campgrounds and surrounding houses, militia scout -> junkyard and mansion).
My opinion: I think the most believeable infection location from where the virus could have spread is the volcano's heli crash. This heli crash is the only crash confirmed to have happened at the start or before the outbreak as its location is permanent. There are also military police blockades on the bridges from the other islands to Barkley which look like they have been built to stop traffic from going to and from the island. Then we have also the lack of dedicated military camps and sites around Barkley. It appears the military primarily wanted to secure the power plant to maintain electricity for the archipelago. Compared to the other islands the civilians of Barkley seemed to be less well prepared for an conflict or any kind of attack as there are no gun shops at major locations like Lockport and Salem and there is also no police station, hospital or fire station. As to how the helicopter got the virus on board is unknown but many crates lay scattered around the crash site and vehicles with special equipment and hazmat infected are nearby.
What theory do you think is the most likely to have brought the virus to the islandsor do you have a theory of your own?
comment!

https://reddit.com/link/1ctg5xa/video/z77timxf8t0d1/player
[Personally recommended topics to search]

• Project Astra
• Starline

[Highlights]

1. Gemini is now supporting 2M tokens

• 2. Project Astra (cell phone real-time multimodal assistant)
• 3. Gemini Flash (cheaper and faster multimodal 1M)
• 4. Veo (video creation)
• 5. 6th generation TPU (Trillium)
• 6. PaliGemma
• 7. Gemma 2
• 8. NotebookLM (aka. Tailwind)
• 9. MusicFX, VideoFX

[Personal Thoughts]

1. Google mentioned "Gemini" more often than "AI" this time.(Sundar Pichai mentioned AI 121 times.)
2. Google is focusing on integrating Gemini Multimodality across all areas, covering both recognition and generation of video, audio, and text.
3. Increasing Gemini's token size seems aimed at detailed personalized info and integrated services. This was clear in Project Astra with real-time Gemini Pro integration and Context Caching, which saves costs and speeds up processing. - Comparing Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s GPT: - Both have significant multimodal achievements. OpenAI leads in generative capabilities, while Google excels in token range. OpenAI has better API integration, but Google is superior in on-device integration. - OpenAI's massive model has high reasoning abilities, but Google's strategy includes:

3-1. On-device capabilities (Nano in Android OS, circle image search on Samsung phones, PaliGemma). Google’s mobile OS and partnerships give it an edge.
3-2. Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Email, Photos). Examples include organizing receipts in Drive and Sheets or Google Photos creating albums based on specific moments, showing the large model’s business applications.
3-3. As a search engine company, Google is developing technology to verify data with search engine data to prevent hallucinations, giving it a competitive edge.

1. The realtime capability of the multimodal model was surprising. I used the Project Astra demo; multimodal audio recognition was accurate and real-time, with seamless interrupt handling. The process wasn’t in sync but handled with low latency, showing significant improvements in usability for voice interfaces and multimodal models.
   
2. The main takeaway from this I/O was that multimodal models can be responsive enough for actual products and are currently available.
   
3. Examples were provided of how Gemini can integrate into Chrome, Search, Android Mobile, and Google Workspace to enhance user convenience. ("Here's an example" was a common phrase.) Integrating these elements with multimodal capabilities could significantly change everyday life. I have a Gemini Office Hour with a Googler tomorrow, full of questions about Gemini’s multimodal latency. Until 2 PM during this event, I didn't hear keywords like TensorFlow/Jax, and there was little talk about the Cloud. Vertex AI was mentioned occasionally with Gemini, and the rest was about TPU 6th generation.
   
4. The core question was whether multimodal models could positively impact our lives. Even now, there are no significant use cases beyond chatbots. Who will make this a reality? This has been my interest, and at this I/O, I saw numerous examples. If Google had integrated chat and document apps, we’d spend most of our time with Gemini. For code, it seems to be entering with Project IDX, sharing portions of the IDE.
   

PC
Reddit Account: FromTheInkpot
Discord Tag: jayonline
Name and House: Tessario of Lys
Age: 28
Cultural Group: Valyrian
Appearance: Taller than the average man, with slender and effeminate features. His skin is pale, his hair consists of curled white locks and his eyes are a vivid lilac. He favours black leathers with silver accents, and often adds coloured silks as sashes, belts, or capes. On the middle finger of his left hand he wears a signet ring of black steel and gold, used to seal letters from the Pearl Bank.
Trait: Marketer
Skill(s): Avaricious (e), Merchantman (e), Broker
Talent(s): Linguistics, Arithmetic, Reading People
Negative Trait(s): Sociopath (non-mechanical)
Starting Title(s): Keyholder of the Pearl Bank, Heir to the blood of Altaerys (secret)
Starting Location: Opening Event
Alternate Characters: N/A
Bio:
Born in the year 4BC, Tessario was the son of a Lyseni courtesan and a nobleman of the Old Blood who had left for the Black Walls of Volantis before he even knew of the child.
Growing up in Lys, Tessario was raised by his mother in a small manse where she would teach him lessons learnt from the courts of the free city.
Since his mother first spoke to him tales of Valyria and dragon riders, Tessario was enthralled.
His bloodline was of the forty families, from one of the few dragonlords on Lys during the 'Night of Tears', when the dragonlords had been poisoned and their dragons slain by their very hosts - the magisters. That the dragon rider had been his ancestor was his family's deepest secret and one that could have seen them killed in generations past.
The knowledge that the dragon riders of old were his very ancestors was almost too much for the young boy to keep secret. Especially now, when dragons had waged conquest on Westeros' shores so recently. But while the Targaryen's were said to wed brother to sister to keep their bond with the dragons strong, his family had not had a dragon rider in five generations. Since then his family's bloodline - the house of Altaerys, thought lost in the Doom of Valyria and the Century of Blood since, had become clouded with the Old Blood of Volantis during their occupation of Lys. And before that, diluted among the courts of Lys the Lovely, where none truly knew or at least none spoke of how much dragon blood they had. It was clear most of Lys had some. The features of silver-blond or white hair and the eyes of pale blue or shades of purple were all too common. The city was truly Valyrian. Who knew how many dragonlords' legacies his blood carried now?
Tessario, with his pure Valyrian blood and features to match, had the fiery will of his ancestors but an uncommonly pragmatic mind. As he grew, so did his keen mind, picking up his numbers and letters faster than other boys his age.
Raised in the turbulence of a city still reeling from the uprising against Volantis, Tessario learnt how violent people could be at a young age. Surrounded by the cruelties of slavery, he grew up numbed to the hardships of others.
By nine name-days he would begin visiting the Temple of Trade where he and other boys would talk with the magisters and tradesmen who congregated there. From among these wealthy and noble men of the city, he and a lucky few others, would gain apprenticeships; a position that was highly coveted in the city of Lys, where trade was considered a profession more honorable than arms.
Tessario shadowed his sponsor for three years, learning the inner workings of trade negotiations, currency exchange, and contract creation. He met several other apprentices who like him hungered for more, as well as making friends among the less prominent families of Lys all too keen to climb the social ladder. So, when his apprenticeship was over they formed a merchantile group of ambitious youths. Tessario and the others began with insurance cons and profitable arbitrage that filled their pockets and funded bigger schemes.
The war in the Stepstones came as a wondrous opportunity for the newly founded group. The members invested heavily, with some overseeing the battles themselves. Luckily the Lysene forces met up with not only those of Tyrosh, but also ships from Dorne and the Stormlands. Tessario wore armour for the first time as he sailed sellswords to the fighting, though did no more than watch in actuality. War made them rich and for the first time in his life Tessario knew what it was to wield true power. The power to make others die for your ends.
The pirate threat crumbled easily, but the true prizes were had after the fighting. Contracts for trade opened up and new ports to invest in saw the merchantile group grow faster than ever before. They hired lingering hedge knights and sellswords to protect their assets and even convinced some of the former pirate vessels to become corsairs under them.
As the Stepstones begin to flourish, the group started to look further afield for other trade routes. In 18AC, just as Dorne began to invest heavily in Sunstone, Tessario sailed to Driftmark as one of three emissaries of their group tasked with finding new avenues for profit. It was while on this mission that Tessario first met Valarr Velaryon, Lord of the Tides. Seeking a base of operations outside of Lys, Tessario negotiated plans for a bank to be built in Spicetown, profiting from the flow of trade.
Tessario broached the concept to the group telling them of the pearls found by fishermen in the pools of the island's coves and a contract for the Pearl Bank was drawn up. Tessario, as one of the two-and-twenty key holders, was now responsible for much.
Construction began in late 19AC with a main building that was reinforced with strong stone and deep vaults. Pearl farms under the control of the bank were also created, with construction of the entire project finishing before the end of 24AC. During this time the bank engaged in numerous amounts of trade, amassing a full vault, as well as funding loans to the many growing businesses of Spicetown, merchants of the free cities, and other Houses of Westeros. This includes House Massey of Stonedance, House Celtigar of Claw Isle, and many other minor houses.
Timeline:

• 4BC - Tessario is born in a Lysene manse.
• 6AC - Begins a trade apprenticeship for three years.
• 9AC - Forms a merchantile group in Lys.
• 12AC - Funds the war in the Stepstones.
• 13AC - War in the Stepstones ends.
• 18AC - Visits Driftmark as an emissary, meeting Valarr Velaryon.
• 19AC - The Pearl Bank begins construction.
• 24AC - Construction is completed.
• 25AC - Current day.

Family tree:
https://familyecho.com/?p=START&c=izpgpsokcmwmhxa6&f=478495015333730745
AC
Name and House: Somovo Saan
Age: 21
Cultural Group: Valyrian
Appearance: Piercing blue eyes shine out from dark features. Somovo has a lean build and freckled face from years of sailing the Narrow and Summer Seas. Her skin is dark and her hair falls in long brown curls down past her shoulders, the occasional braid holding beads of copper. She often wears loose shirts and wide breeches that allow her skin to breathe the salty air of the sea, while sticking to practical leather boots for moving about the deck.
She has a slender black cat named Sȳndor 'shadow' that lives on deck and prowls the bank offices while on shore.
Trait: Reaver
Skill(s): Raider, Fence, Tactician
Talent(s): Winning at Tiles, Tying knots, Swimming
Negative Trait(s): N/A
Starting Title(s): Captain of the Spice Runner
Starting Location: Opening Event
Alternate Characters: N/A
Timeline:

• 4AC - Somovo Saan is born in Lys.
• 9AC - Somovo's father, Sarthos Saan, takes her on her first voyage to Tyrosh.
• 12AC - Her father leaves to fight for the pirates in the Stepstones war.
• 13AC - After the pirates defeat in the Steptones, her father is hired by a group of merchants from Lys. Somovo meets Tessario, one of the groups founders.
• 18AC - Meets the sellsail Captain Laurei of Myr who becomes an inspiration for her to become a Captain of her own ship.
• 19AC - When the Pearl Bank begins construction on Driftmark, Somovo is on deck with her father and they patrol the Narrow Sea together, guarding trading vessels and seeking opportunities for their new employer.
• 21AC - Somovo is given command of her own ship and crew, becoming Captain of The Spice Runner, named after Spicetown.
• 22AC - Her father's ship is lost at sea during a storm near Volantis. The corsairs previously under Sarthos turn to her for leadership by virtue of her blood.
• 24AC - Construction of The Pearl Bank is completed on Driftmark.
• 25AC - Current day.

NPCs
Morio (30) - Cutthroat
Every man of ambition needs a ruthless and silent right hand.
Ser Thomas Storm (27) - Warrior
Knighted by Ser Edwell Celtigar in the Stepstones and knowing he would gain no further gold or glory, he joined the merchantile group from Lys to train their retainers and act as Captain of the Guard to Tessario.
Since then he notably won the joust at the Tourney at Aegon's Rest in 21AC.

Protests have always been about disruption. Case in point: the pro-Palestine protestors blocking a road with their meeting yesterday, other protests that don’t allow people to walk through certain areas, UAW protests that made loud noises outside of classes and blocked cars on roads. When people sit on the road, smear paint on paintings, and events get canceled, this creates disruptions and draws attention. What am I missing?
Main question: how is a protest not about disruption if the meeting yesterday was held in the middle of a road https://www.reddit.com/UCSD/comments/1csymhi/nakba_protest/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Edit: maybe the title is phrased badly. What I mean is, the protest organizers were in favor of sungod getting canceled as it helped their image and brought attention to their cause.

Ted- smiling widely before waving. "Hey there! I'm Ted, the head of marketing and HR. I'm so glad to see all of you new recruits. Before we get to the important stuff, lets get into some of the boring important stuff."
Laura- "Hey there, I'm Laura. I am in charge of administration and propaganda suppression. Please wave at your instructor."
Pause
Ted- Enters shot and stands next to Laura. "Thank you for your cooperation. If you waved you will now be shot. Next, Laura will go over the basic rules."
Ted exits to the right of the screen.
Laura- Smiling warmly while talking. "Rule number one: You may not leave at any time. You will be executed and your internals will be repurposed into product flavouring.
Rule number two: Do not spread propaganda(e.g, us killing people, us using executed people as food, any other true, compromising information, ect...). You will be sued, robbed and executed.
Rule number three: Maintain a healthy environment. We pride ourselves on a healthy workspace. That concludes the general rules."
Ted- "Wow! Laura sure knows what she's doing! But lets get on to something more important." Ted smiles before walking off camera, the shot switches to Ted standing in front of a facility map.
Ted- "I always like to begin by describing what it's like to be selected for machine use for the first time. It's so thrilling! You'll feel nervous at first, but then once you get sent into the processing chamber you'll be buzzing with excitement. Some people even run away screaming because they're so excited. I remember my first time..." Ted gazes off to the side as if reminiscing. Screaming sound effects and mechanical whirrs begin to play. Run... run... Ted returns to talking and you return to safety. The noise stops.
Ted- "Let's head over to see what Eugene is doing. He is head of Agriculture and Heavy Machinery at Maelstrom."
Eugene- "H-hey there. I'm Eu-Eugene Thomas. If you get selected for the machine, stay c-calm. Nothin' good comes from havin' a-a panic... And if you can, RUN! RUN AWAY AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN AND HIDE OUTSIDE OF THE EMPIRE AND COMMONWEALTH! THEY HAVE AGENTS EVERYWHERE!" The video cuts.
Laura- Unfortunately Eugene was a problem, so we eliminated him. Expect to see this a lot at your new job. We will use an AI generated course that we used to use instead of Eugene.
HELLO AND WELCOME TO THE MACHINE USE MINI TRAINING COURSE.
TODAY YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO OPERATE THE BASIC NECESSITIES OF THE MACHINE SO THAT THE MACHINE MAY FUNCTION PROPERLY. FIRST I WILL TELL YOU ABOUT THE MACHINE.
THE MAELSTROM EHC DEVICE ALSO KNOWN AS THE MACHINE IS A DEVICE USED TO CREATE THE CHOCOLATE DELICIOUSNESS THAT IS SHAPED INTO MAELSTROM BARS AND VARIOUS MAELSTROM PRODUCTS. IT USES THREE MAIN INPUTS THAT IT MERGES INTO ONE DELICIOUS CHOCOLATY MIXTURE. THE MIXTURE IS COMPOSED OF A FEW THINGS.
FIRST OFF IS THE MECHANICAL INPUT. METALLIC AND MECHANICAL DEVICES ARE PLACED INTO THE MIXTURE OF CHOCOLATE SO THAT THE PROBLEM DISSASEMBLY SYSTEM MAY BE IMPLANTED INTO ALL THE CHOCOLATE BARS AND VARIOUS MAELSTROM PRODUCTS.
NEXT IS THE ORGANIC INPUT. A COMBINATION OF HUMAN AND ANIMAL FLESH IS GROUND UP INTO A TASTY SAVOURY CONCOTION ADDED TO ALL MAELSTROM BARS AND VARIOUS MAELSTROM PRODUCTS. SOME ORGANS ARE KEPT IN TACT BEFORE BEING PROCESSED BY THE MACHINE OPERATOR.
FINALLY THERE IS THE FLAVOURING INPUT. THIS INPUT CONSISTS OF SYNTHETIC FLAVOURERS AND SWEETENERS. THIS IS WHAT GIVES THE MAELSTROM BARS AND SOME VARIOUS MAELSTROM PRODUCTS ITS SIGNATURE FLAVOURING.
IF YOU ARE THE PROCESSOR YOU ARE IN THE MAIN EHC DEVICE CHAMBER IN THE CENTRE OF THE EHC DEVICE. YOU MUST CONTROL THE VARIOUS CONVEYORS AND PULLY SYSTEMS WHILE COMPLETING INCOMPLETE CODES THAT ARE OUTPUTTED BY THE STRING OUTPUT TERMINAL IN THE CHAMBER.
RULES:
ONCE THE MACHINE BEGINS TO PROCESS YOU WILL HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO COMPLETE. YOU MUST BE S.M.A.R.T.
Super vigilant
Maelstrom friendly
Active
Rigorous
Terrific worker
IF ANY MISTAKES OR BLEMISHES GET THROUGH THE BATCH WILL BE RUINED DUE TO EXCESS [REDACTED].
PROCESSING IS A DIFFICULT TASK FOR OUR MACHINE, SO YOU WILL HAVE TO REPAIR IT FREQUENTLY DURING THE SIX HOUR PROCESSING SEQUENCE. NOT DOING SO RISKS YOUR OWN BODILY HARM OR DEATH.
UNKNOWN PEOPLE WILL TRY TO ENTER THE CHAMBER YOU ARE IN AND STOP THE MACHINE. THEY SAY THEY WILL SAVE YOU BUT THEY WILL NOT. DO NOT LISTEN OR RISK BODILY HARM OR LETHAL EVENTS.
IF SOMETHING BAD IS ABOUT TO GET INTO THE BATCH, EXECUTE THE KILL CODE. THEN THE BATCH WILL NOT BE RUINED. HOWEVER YOU MUST NOW DO DOUBLE MACHINE DUTY AND WILL GET A STRIKE ON YOUR PERMANENT RECORD. FALIURE TO DO AS THIS RULE SPECIFIES WILL RESULT IN DESSASEMBLY OF YOUR MUSCULAR-SKELETAL PARTS.
REFRAIN FROM CONSUMING UNPROCESSED PRODUCT. HUMAN MEAT, TITANIUM ALLOY, ARSENIC, CYANIDE, BONES, HUMAN CRANIAL STRUCTURES, RAW FLESH, ASBESTOS, AND HAIR IS NOT SUITABLE FOR CONSUMSTION AND MUST BE SAVED TO CREATE DELICIOUS MAELSTROM BARS AND VARIOUS MAELSTROM PRODUCTS.
WHEN THE PROCESSING IS OVER YOU WILL BE RELEASED FROM THE CHAMBER. CRAWL BACK THROUGH THE MACHINE INTERIOR TO THE EXIT HATCH AND STATE YOUR FULL NAME, BIRTH DATE, PLACE OF BIRTH, AND EMPLOYEE NUMBER AND TITLE.
THAT CONCLUDES MACHINE TRAINING. THANK YOU FOR CO-OPERATING.
END PROGRAM(EHCDTRAINING)
EFFECTIVE IN_
3
2
1
PERMISSION FROM MealOS.
GRANTED_GRABSTATUS
STATUS == TRUE.
Ted- "Thanks for listening to us today!
Laura- "That concludes our lesson. Goodbye and:"
Ted and Laura- "Welcome to Maelstrom!"

Ever since I was 13, I had a moment in school where they said I was the student of the month. The thing is that I was running late so I didn't get to hear it in the comms. When I entered the building, one of the teachers told me to come to the office so that the principal can tell me something. I have really bad anxiety and I thought I might've done something wrong. As I went into the office, I started to cry out of fear that I might somehow get detention or a suspension. When the principal said I was student of the month, I was both relived and a bit upset. The main events happened when I went into the class. Before I say it, I just want to say that I have really bad low self-esteem, but I am not afraid of loud noises. Anyway, when I went in the classroom, the whole class applauded for me. It caught me off guard and it caused me to tear up uncontrollably. I walk out in the hall and asked the office if I can call my mom. They said yes and I asked her she can pick me up early, to which she said yes. When I got home, I just couldn't stop crying due to the amount of stress and pressure I had to endure. Today, I have started to improve my self-esteem, but I still can't handle large amounts of people congratulating me. I'm not saying that I don't like their compliments, and I can take them all day, but I just lack the feeling of being proud about myself for what I do.

Ted- smiling widely before waving. "Hey there! I'm Ted, the head of marketing and HR. I'm so glad to see all of you new recruits. Before we get to the important stuff, lets get into some of the boring important stuff."
Laura- "Hey there, I'm Laura. I am in charge of administration and propaganda suppression. Please wave at your instructor."
Pause
Ted- Enters shot and stands next to Laura. "Thank you for your cooperation. If you waved you will now be shot. Next, Laura will go over the basic rules."
Ted exits to the right of the screen.
Laura- Smiling warmly while talking. "Rule number one: You may not leave at any time. You will be executed and your internals will be repurposed into product flavouring.
Rule number two: Do not spread propaganda(e.g, us killing people, us using executed people as food, any other true, compromising information, ect...). You will be sued, robbed and executed.
Rule number three: Maintain a healthy environment. We pride ourselves on a healthy workspace. That concludes the general rules."
Ted- "Wow! Laura sure knows what she's doing! But lets get on to something more important." Ted smiles before walking off camera, the shot switches to Ted standing in front of a map showing a complex maze of narrow pipes, leading directly into a large chamber in the centre
Ted- "I always like to begin by describing what it's like to be selected for machine use for the first time. It's so thrilling! You'll feel nervous at first, but then once you get sent into the processing chamber you'll be buzzing with excitement. Some people even run away screaming because they're so excited. I remember my first time..." Ted gazes off to the side as if reminiscing. Screaming sound effects and mechanical whirrs begin to play. Run... run... Ted returns to talking and you return to safety. The noise stops.
Ted- "Let's head over to see what Eugene is doing. He is head of Agriculture and Heavy Machinery at Maelstrom."
Eugene- "H-hey there. I'm Eu-Eugene Thomas. If you get selected for the machine, stay c-calm. Nothin' good comes from havin' a-a panic... And if you can, RUN! RUN AWAY AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN AND HIDE OUTSIDE OF THE EMPIRE AND COMMONWEALTH! THEY HAVE AGENTS EVERYWHERE!" The video cuts.
Laura- Unfortunately Eugene was a problem, so we eliminated him. Expect to see this a lot at your new job. We will use an AI generated course that we used to use instead of Eugene.
HELLO AND WELCOME TO THE MACHINE USE MINI TRAINING COURSE.
TODAY YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO OPERATE THE BASIC NECESSITIES OF THE MACHINE SO THAT THE MACHINE MAY FUNCTION PROPERLY. FIRST I WILL TELL YOU ABOUT THE MACHINE.
THE MAELSTROM EHC DEVICE ALSO KNOWN AS THE MACHINE IS A DEVICE USED TO CREATE THE CHOCOLATE DELICIOUSNESS THAT IS SHAPED INTO MAELSTROM BARS AND VARIOUS MAELSTROM PRODUCTS. IT USES THREE MAIN INPUTS THAT IT MERGES INTO ONE DELICIOUS CHOCOLATY MIXTURE. THE MIXTURE IS COMPOSED OF A FEW THINGS.
FIRST OFF IS THE MECHANICAL INPUT. METALLIC AND MECHANICAL DEVICES ARE PLACED INTO THE MIXTURE OF CHOCOLATE SO THAT THE PROBLEM DISSASEMBLY SYSTEM MAY BE IMPLANTED INTO ALL THE CHOCOLATE BARS AND VARIOUS MAELSTROM PRODUCTS.
NEXT IS THE ORGANIC INPUT. A COMBINATION OF HUMAN AND ANIMAL FLESH IS GROUND UP INTO A TASTY SAVOURY CONCOTION ADDED TO ALL MAELSTROM BARS AND VARIOUS MAELSTROM PRODUCTS. SOME ORGANS ARE KEPT IN TACT BEFORE BEING PROCESSED BY THE MACHINE OPERATOR.
FINALLY THERE IS THE FLAVOURING INPUT. THIS INPUT CONSISTS OF SYNTHETIC FLAVOURERS AND SWEETENERS. THIS IS WHAT GIVES THE MAELSTROM BARS AND SOME VARIOUS MAELSTROM PRODUCTS ITS SIGNATURE FLAVOURING.
IF YOU ARE THE PROCESSOR YOU ARE IN THE MAIN EHC DEVICE CHAMBER IN THE CENTRE OF THE EHC DEVICE. YOU MUST CONTROL THE VARIOUS CONVEYORS AND PULLY SYSTEMS WHILE COMPLETING INCOMPLETE CODES THAT ARE OUTPUTTED BY THE STRING OUTPUT TERMINAL IN THE CHAMBER.
RULES:
ONCE THE MACHINE BEGINS TO PROCESS YOU WILL HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO COMPLETE. YOU MUST BE S.M.A.R.T.
Super vigilant
Maelstrom friendly
Active
Rigorous
Terrific worker
IF ANY MISTAKES OR BLEMISHES GET THROUGH THE BATCH WILL BE RUINED DUE TO EXCESS [REDACTED].
PROCESSING IS A DIFFICULT TASK FOR OUR MACHINE, SO YOU WILL HAVE TO REPAIR IT FREQUENTLY DURING THE SIX HOUR PROCESSING SEQUENCE. NOT DOING SO RISKS YOUR OWN BODILY HARM OR DEATH.
UNKNOWN PEOPLE WILL TRY TO ENTER THE CHAMBER YOU ARE IN AND STOP THE MACHINE. THEY SAY THEY WILL SAVE YOU BUT THEY WILL NOT. DO NOT LISTEN OR RISK BODILY HARM OR LETHAL EVENTS.
IF SOMETHING BAD IS ABOUT TO GET INTO THE BATCH, EXECUTE THE KILL CODE. THEN THE BATCH WILL NOT BE RUINED. HOWEVER YOU MUST NOW DO DOUBLE MACHINE DUTY AND WILL GET A STRIKE ON YOUR PERMANENT RECORD. FALIURE TO DO AS THIS RULE SPECIFIES WILL RESULT IN DESSASEMBLY OF YOUR MUSCULAR-SKELETAL PARTS.
REFRAIN FROM CONSUMING UNPROCESSED PRODUCT. HUMAN MEAT, TITANIUM ALLOY, ARSENIC, CYANIDE, BONES, HUMAN CRANIAL STRUCTURES, RAW FLESH, ASBESTOS, AND HAIR IS NOT SUITABLE FOR CONSUMSTION AND MUST BE SAVED TO CREATE DELICIOUS MAELSTROM BARS AND VARIOUS MAELSTROM PRODUCTS.
WHEN THE PROCESSING IS OVER YOU WILL BE RELEASED FROM THE CHAMBER. CRAWL BACK THROUGH THE MACHINE INTERIOR TO THE EXIT HATCH AND STATE YOUR FULL NAME, BIRTH DATE, PLACE OF BIRTH, AND EMPLOYEE NUMBER AND TITLE.
THAT CONCLUDES MACHINE TRAINING. THANK YOU FOR CO-OPERATING.
END PROGRAM(EHCDTRAINING)
EFFECTIVE IN_
3
2
1
PERMISSION FROM MealOS.
GRANTED_GRABSTATUS
STATUS == TRUE.
Ted- "Thanks for listening to us today!
Laura- "That concludes our lesson. Goodbye and:"
Ted and Laura- "Welcome to Maelstrom!"

https://minimalfreaks.co/2024/05/trance-raw-deep-hypnotic-top-100-may-2024/

1. Luke Alessi, Chloé Caillet – 12 Inch Acid (Original Mix) 06:34 132bpm 10B
2. Demi Riquísimo – Windows 95 Anthem (Chloé Caillet Remix) 06:54 135bpm 3B
3. Protoculture – States Of Flux (Extended Mix) 07:38 126bpm 8A
4. Sasha – Fleuron Drift (Theo Kottis Remix) 06:49 130bpm 7B
5. Estiva – Via Infinita (Marsh Extended Remix) 06:34 128bpm 11A
6. Pico Boulevard – Oblivion (Enlusion Remix) 10:18 128bpm 4A
7. Duderstadt – Muhanjala (Dylhen Extended Remix) 07:00 124bpm 5A
8. Ruben Karapetyan – Meteorite (Jerome Isma-Ae Remix) 06:29 124bpm 10B
9. Dj Rafis – X Ponential Life (Original Mix) 08:12 132bpm 11A
10. Nomas, Deestopia – Avantgarde (Extended Mix) 07:03 127bpm 8A
11. Breeder – Tyrantanic (Freedo Mosho & Maze 28 Remix) 07:50 122bpm 8B
12. Airwave – Alexanderplatz (Extended Mix) 07:57 132bpm 8B
13. Airod – Meet Me In The Club (Original Mix) 05:27 145bpm 6A
14. X-Coast – Marathon Man (Extended) 04:42 138bpm 9B
15. Airwave – The Principles of Forgiveness (Extended Mix) 07:36 128bpm 12A
16. Fuenka – Foundation (Basil O’Glue & Nomas Extended Remix) 07:58 126bpm 6A
17. Protoculture – Starfield (Extended Mix) 06:50 126bpm 9B
18. Solee – On the Other Side (Original Mix) 06:43 124bpm 4A
19. Aldonna – The Empress’ Acid Line (Alex Kassian Remix) 07:58 133bpm 5B
20. Der Dritte Raum – Trommelmaschine (2024 Remastered Version) 06:40 135bpm 10B
21. Spray (IE) – Ceathair (Original) 05:29 135bpm 1B
22. Airwave – Asteroids (Extended Mix) 06:31 128bpm 9B
23. Stu McNally – Innerversions (Extended Mix) 08:09 124bpm 5A
24. Pico Boulevard – Oblivion (Original Mix) 12:27 127bpm 7B
25. Maruwa – Need It (Original Mix) 05:02 135bpm 7B
26. Airwave – I’m Not Rank 1 (Extended Mix) 07:37 128bpm 2A
27. Baldo, Third Son – This Is Your Brain on Music (Original Mix) 05:06 132bpm 12B
28. Catz ‘n Dogz – Rave History (Maruwa Remix) 06:34 137bpm 6B
29. Clint – Exosphere (Dance Mix) 07:32 132bpm 6B
30. Clint – Exosphere (Main Mix) 09:05 135bpm 6A
31. Ormus – Nahual (Extended Mix) 07:13 125bpm 6B
32. Elfenberg – Cosmic Debris (Original Mix) 08:00 114bpm 11B
33. Airwave – The World vs Spotify (Extended Mix) 05:26 132bpm 9A
34. Regent – Aphid Riot (Original Mix) 05:50 144bpm 7A
35. Vladimir Dubyshkin – glucose guardian (Original Mix) 05:10 140bpm 7A
36. Indira Paganotto – Requiem (Extended Mix) 06:10 145bpm 6B
37. Spray (IE) – Ratenplan (Original Mix) 06:10 136bpm 7A
38. Alpha Tracks, KI/KI – To Nights (KI/KI Remix) 06:03 148bpm 7A
39. Suki, Sniper1 – Purple Haze (Original Mix) 07:17 136bpm 5B
40. Blanca Ross – Interfered AI (Original Mix) 06:13 135bpm 11B
41. Lena Storm – Affection (Original Mix) 06:55 128bpm 1B
42. Fuenka – Sirius (Anunnakis Extended Remix) 07:02 125bpm 9A
43. YU-1 – Black Sky (Extended Mix) 06:44 124bpm 2B
44. IZRAELL – Tornado of Soul (Fher Vizzuett Remix) 06:44 124bpm 12B
45. Elfenberg – Horses for Courses (Original Mix) 05:36 132bpm 7B
46. Spray (IE) – OT Rails (Original) 06:15 134bpm 3A
47. Sekta – Sequence Start (Extended Mix) 04:37 145bpm 9A
48. Abdul Raeva – Navigator 3000 (Original Mix) 06:48 130bpm 11B
49. Cosmic Gate – Mirador (Extended Mix) 07:24 126bpm 5A
50. Wilt, Jeff The Fool – Jericho (Original Mix) 04:45 133bpm 5B
51. Clint – Alpine Breaks (Alex Kassian Remix) 07:49 131bpm 2B
52. Viper (Trance) – Simulation (Original Mix) 06:30 70bpm 11B
53. Elfenberg – Without Further A Dude (Original Mix) 06:04 136bpm 10A
54. Wolk – Strong Enough (Extended Mix) 07:22 150bpm 6A
55. F-Act, Allan McLoud – Another Day (Original Mix) 06:51 127bpm 11A
56. Macker – Arrakis (Original Mix) 09:06 130bpm 5A
57. Baldo – Ride the Night (Alex Neri Remix) 06:43 130bpm 9B
58. Pico Boulevard – The Moon and Back (Extended Mix) 07:50 128bpm 4A
59. Pablo Gargano – The Breeze (Original Mix) 06:52 124bpm 8A
60. Christian Nielsen – Let Me Go (Luke Alessi Remix) 06:17 130bpm 7B
61. Neither Nor – Immaterial (Original Mix) 04:43 152bpm 7A
62. Sashtek – Hidden Pyramids (Extended Mix) 05:22 134bpm 7B
63. Santiago Luna – Combustion (Extended Mix) 05:20 128bpm 11B
64. Demi Riquísimo – The Force (Original Mix) 04:36 130bpm 5A
65. TODDZ – Move Your Body (Original Mix) 05:43 130bpm 8A
66. Introspecto – Fragments (Original Mix) 07:39 128bpm 5B
67. Anetha – Terraphoria (Original Mix) 05:35 147bpm 10A
68. Joel Bird – Existentialism (Extended Mix) 08:55 149bpm 4A
69. Peppe Amore – Cassa Dritta (Original Mix) 05:47 150bpm 5B
70. Alex Neri, Mennie – Rockets (Original Mix) 05:58 128bpm 8A
71. Basil O’Glue, Nomas, Calantha – Edgerunners (Extended Mix) 06:20 128bpm 4A
72. Daniel Lesden, Enlusion – Dark Entity (Hypnotic Mix) 07:57 130bpm 12A
73. Partiboi69 – Playin’ (Original Mix) 05:24 134bpm 6A
74. B FROM E – Amnesia (Original Mix) 06:15 132bpm 1B
75. Ovnimoon – Feel on Me (Original Mix) 10:33 133bpm 5B
76. Fuenka – Synnax (Extended Mix) 06:58 125bpm 8B
77. Pig&Dan – Fusion (Original Mix) 07:29 133bpm 6A
78. Bliss Inc – Higher, Vision (Original Mix) 07:30 67bpm 4B
79. KI/KI – To the vibe (rework) (Original Mix) 07:36 148bpm 3B
80. KI/KI – Leave it to the vibe (Original Mix) 06:58 145bpm 3B
81. Mac Declos – Trust Your Eyes (Original Mix) 05:34 152bpm 8B
82. Nordic Echoes – Ice Giant (Original Mix) 07:13 142bpm 7B
83. Intuition – Arcana 17 (Original Mix) 06:04 150bpm 5A
84. Ormus – Ometeotl (Original Mix) 07:00 125bpm 11B
85. Obie Fernandez, KNBI – Concentration (Extended Mix) 06:56 125bpm 6B
86. Demi Riquísimo – The Force (Spray Remix) 05:25 138bpm 12A
87. YU-1 – Transformer (Extended Mix) 07:17 124bpm 3A
88. Ayu, Alfred Czital – Body High (Original) 05:48 140bpm 8B
89. Olsvangèr – Bubble Toy (Original Mix) 06:30 136bpm 6A
90. Olsvangèr – Grand Slammin’ (Original Mix) 07:38 87bpm 7B
91. NairLess – Dazzling Fantasy (Jex Opolis Remix) (Jex Opolis Remix) 06:11 67bpm 12B
92. Freedom Fighters, Modus (ISR), Uncharted Territory – Odyssey (Original Mix) 05:01 140bpm 12B
93. Rosa Red – Rhapsody (Known Artist Remix) 05:11 132bpm 8B
94. Ben Prophet – Siberia (Extended Mix) 04:52 145bpm 12A
95. Basil O’Glue – Affinity Space (Original Mix) 06:25 126bpm 5B
96. UCast, Kamelon, CLAVIR – Escape (Extended Mix) 07:12 124bpm 8A
97. Baraka, Spray (IE) – Think of Me (Original) 06:28 140bpm 8B
98. Cosmic Gate – am2pm (Anunnakis Extended Remix) 06:19 124bpm 4B
99. Match Box – Midnight (Bliss Inc. Remix) 07:00 138bpm 11B
100. Chris Flannigan – First To Say Goodbye (Original Mix) 04:24 145bpm 12A

(continuation of part 5)
Post-OG Cloud ruminates on what he could have done to save Aerith. Had he not been so lost in his own mind —distracted by Sephiroth and Jenova, consumed by his need to fulfill the emptiness at the core of his identity—, would he have paid more attention to Aerith’s sadness and anticipated her plan to go to the Forgotten Capital alone? Could she have survived if not for his obsession with what tormented him at the time? Could he have figured it out and kept her by his side? He’s angry with himself in retrospect, drowning in guilt, just like in Advent Children.
Here are the choruses, which usually contain the thesis main message of a song:

“Shine bright once more
Guide me to you
Smile bright once more
This time I will never let you go”

&

“Hear me once more
Show me your smile
This time for sure
I'll see the truth hidden inside your tears
But I, I know
That you're long gone
But I, I will
Go on, howling and hollow”

In these choruses, Cloud asserts that he will get it right this time (“this time” referring to the second chance that is the Remake trilogy). He will make sure he saves Aerith and never lets her go. He knows she’s gone, but he will fight against time to get her back. He longs for her smile and her light again, and he cannot bear the guilt: so he doesn’t. Post-OG Cloud embarks on a new adventure: ”I want to go to a place where everything is new,” said Cloud to Wol and Echo in Eclipse Contact before facing his past and being launched into Remake. “Hollow” makes far more sense now, doesn’t it? It’s a song not only about Cloud’s loss, but also about his determination to save Aerith this time. Given that it’s the theme song of Remake, the fact that “Hollow” fits with our theory perfectly is a very good sign: a theme song is meant to reflect the main plot of a story, indicating as our theory states that Remake is principally, albeit secretly, about Cloud saving Aerith. Because of this hope being set up, I’m confident that they will be together in the end, reunited for good. My dear Clerith friends, this is the hidden purpose of the Remake trilogy. Cloud and Aerith will be reunited.
VI. e) ii. “No Promises to Keep” Lyrics
This is quite obvious. Aerith is resigned to her fate, but still harbors hope that she will meet Cloud again in a permanent reunion:

“Till the day that we meet again
Where or when?
I wish I could say
But believe, know that you'll find me
[…]
Till the day that we meet again
On our street, I want to believe
[…]
Till the day that we meet again
At our place, just let me believe
In the chance that you'll come
Take my hand and never let me go
Take my hand
And believe
We can be
Together evermore
[…]
Still I hope someday you'll come and find me
Still I know someday you'll come and find me”.

VI. f) The Theme of Reunion Explained?
The last point I want to hit on is the concept of reunion. In OG, this theme was pretty much dominated by the Jenova Reunion. To an OG fan back in 1997, “reunion” meant “Sephiroth and Jenova’s evil plan”. However, in the Remake trilogy, the theme is expanded into something more. The first time Cloud meets Aerith in Remake, she gives him a flower and tells him something she didn’t in OG:

“Lovers used to give these when they were reunited...”

In addition, we’ve already talked about how part 5 of “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” from the Remake OST tells the story of Cloud and Aerith’s reunion (see section “V. b) ii. 2)”).
Many moments exclusive to the Remake trilogy serve the same purpose: linking the theme of reunion to Aerith. This expansion of the theme is highly significant. Our theory is that the Remake trilogy exists to reunite Cloud and Aerith, so the fact that the trilogy would implement so many Clerith-centric references to reunion is great support for our theory.
VI. g) i. The Leslie-Cloud Parallel
Let’s consider another instance involving the reunion flower in Remake, more precisely, the chapter 14 subplot surrounding Leslie’s lost lover. In case you need a refresher, Leslie is one of Corneo’s lackeys, although he secretly plans to betray him. He once had a fiancée and things were looking up until she was selected as one of Corneo’s brides. The day before she disappeared (presumably taken by Corneo), his fiancée broke up with him with no explanation. It was confusing and left Leslie perplex. As she broke up with him, she returned a necklace to him, one with a flower pendant. Of course, that flower is the very same reunion flower Aerith gives Cloud in chapter 2.
Evidently, Leslie and Cloud are going through parallel situations. At this point in time, Aerith was just kidnapped by Shinra, and Cloud is on his way to get her back. Both their loved ones have been taken by tyrant rulers, one being slumlord Corneo and the other being the Shinra government. In fact, even Leslie and Cloud’s attitudes share similar disillusioned, cold and stoic qualities. Leslie’s fiancée would evidently be paralleled by Aerith.
The most obvious proof of the Leslie-Cloud parallel is written plainly on the list of Remake’s chapter 14 main scenario objectives. Objective 7, called “For the Reunion”, consists of receiving the grappling guns needed to reach topside and save Aerith. The description of the objective reads as follows:

“Leslie gives them grappling guns, and they wish each other luck in reuniting with their respective loved ones. Leslie walks off, and the three prepare to climb the wall.”

The grappling guns are “For the Reunion”, because evidently, the loved one Cloud wants to reunite with is Aerith.
All this is simple and apparent enough. Just the fact that the theme of reunion is linked to Clerith in this way is proof enough, but there’s another layer to the Leslie-Cloud parallel. Not only does Leslie’s situation reinforce the concept of a Clerith reunion, it also mirrors the specifics of our theory: namely that Cloud will save Aerith from specifically Sephiroth (represented in Leslie’s scenario by Corneo) and that Cloud will take the initiative to accomplish this reunion. These two specific aspects of our theory are reflected by Leslie’s circumstances, meaning the Leslie-Cloud parallel not only pushes the theme of reunion, but also supports our specific theory.
VI. g) i. 1) The Separators: Corneo and Sephiroth
I’ll first prove that Leslie’s scenario is not meant to echo Cloud’s separation from Aerith at the hands of Shinra —or at least not exclusively—, but rather Cloud’s separation from Aerith at the hands of Sephiroth. Corneo would therefore be paralleled by Sephiroth rather than the tyrannical Shinra government.
The first piece of proof for the Corneo-Seohiroth parallel lies within the way in which Leslie’s fiancée broke things off: by lying. Aerith also lies to Cloud to create distance between them, but not pertaining to her kidnapping— rather, pertaining to her fated death. Since Sephiroth is Aerith’s killer and not Shinra, Corneo’s role in the Leslie-Cloud parallel is analogous to Sephiroth’s rather than Shinra’s.
There are two pieces of evidence that the Corneo-Sephiroth comparison makes more sense than the Corneo-Shinra one. The first lies in the fact that Leslie’s breakup resembles Cloud’s resolution scene: the topic of Cloud’s resolution scene is Aerith’s fate at the hands of Sephiroth rather than her kidnapping by Shinra, meaning Corneo and Sephiroth are the antagonists of both heartbreaks.
Let’s examine Leslie’s breakup. Here is how his fiancée broke things off, taken from the English script of Remake’s chapter 14, with tone indicators added by me in bold:

“Fiancée: It was all just a dream, wasn't it[?]
Fiancée: (Hopefully) But one day…
(She trails off, then shakes her head and stops herself.)
Fiancée: (Sadly, hopelessly) — no. Time to wake up. And forget.
(She walks away.)”

Now, here is a more literal translation of this quote from the original Japanese (verified by me via DeepL), with tone indicators added by me in bold:

“Fiancée: It was only just a dream we had / We were only dreaming...
Fiancée: (Hopefully, as though as a hail Mary) In the language of the flowers...
(She trails off, then shakes her head and stops herself.)
Fiancée: (Sadly, hopelessly) — no. You should forget about me.
(She walks away.)”

Leslie’s fiancée is clearly breaking up with him to spare him the pain of blaming himself for not being able to protect her from Corneo, as she knows it’s too late for her to escape from the slumlord’s clutches. We know this because we understand that the pendant she gave back to him symbolizes a reunion (especially between lovers, as Aerith told Cloud in chapter 2). In fact, the Japanese version of the script reveals that the fiancée was about to reveal the meaning of the flower, perhaps in the hopes that they would find each other once more, but she lost her nerve at the last second. Notice that she tells Leslie two specific things. One: their love or their future together was only a dream, meaning that it wasn’t real. Two: he should forget about her, because the dream is over now and it’s time to wake up from it.
If you’re finding this familiar, then you might be ahead of me. Let’s take a look at what Aerith says to Cloud in his resolution scene, also in the English script of Remake’s chapter 14, with tone indicators added by me in bold:

“Aerith: […] you can’t fall in love with me. [It]’s not real […]. (With a sigh, as though from sadness or difficulty, but resolutely) It’s almost morning. Time to go.”

Now, here is a more literal translation of this quote from the original Japanese (verified by me via DeepL), with tone indicators added by me in bold:

“Aerith: You can’t let yourself fall in love with me. [It]’s only your imagination […]. (With a sigh, as though from sadness or difficulty, but resolutely) Looks like it’s already morning. Time for me to go.”

Just like Leslie’s fiancée, Aerith is rejecting or denying Cloud’s love for her in order to spare him from the pain of not having been able to be with her before her death, as she believes it is inevitable. Just like the fiancée, Aerith also tells Cloud two things. One: their love is imaginary or isn’t real. Two: it’s morning, and she has to go (she says this right before Cloud wakes from the pseudo-dream).
In both cases, the women know something about their fate that the men don’t and are hiding this impending tragedy from them. Just like Leslie’s fiancée, Aerith uses well-intentioned deception to protect her loved one from the pain that will come from her fate— the lie, of course, is that their love isn’t real. Both women are hopeless, and both men are initially clueless. Aerith’s resolution can’t be about her kidnapping, because Aerith thinks her rescue is anything but hopeless— she’s sure Cloud will come save her from Shinra. She says so herself in OG’s disk 1, chapter 8:

“Cloud: Aeris!? You safe?
Aeris: Yeah, I'm all right. I knew that [you] would come for me.”

What Aerith is so resigned about in Cloud’s resolution scene isn’t her kidnapping, but instead her fated death at the hands of Sephiroth. Nojima hints at this in FFVII Remake Ultimania:

“If you know Aerith’s fate, then this line would really pull at your heart strings […]” (section 08 “Secrets”, “Development Staff Interviews, Part 2: Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshinori Kitase, Yoshinori Kitase, Kazushige Nojima”, page 744).

Here is what codirector Toriyama had to say on Aerith’s words:

“[While] these words are intended for Cloud, I think Aerith is partly speaking them to herself. The contents of her request may be at odds with how she truly feels inside” (FFVII Remake Material Ultimania Plus, VA Script Notes, “A Dream Shown by Aerith”, “Scenario Staff Q&A - Answered by Motomu Toriyama”).

These two quotes by the devs show that Aerith is trying to protect Cloud from her death. Therefore, the Corneo-Sephiroth parallel is far more apt than the Corneo-Shinra parallel.
The second piece of evidence supporting my belief that Corneo mirrors Sephiroth and not Shinra in the Leslie-Cloud parallel is the inclusion of the theme of revenge that crops up in the following piece of dialogue:

“Tifa: Why did you wanna come down here?
Leslie: Revenge. I know I need to let go, but I can't. I need closure, 'cause without it... I'll never be able to move on” (Remake, chapter 14).

Leslie’s sentiment toward Corneo resembles Cloud’s feelings toward Sephiroth after Aerith’s death. Revenge links Cloud to Sephiroth, not to Shinra. Corneo and Sephiroth reflect each other in that, as a consequence of their actions toward a woman, the man who loves her desires revenge.
Additionally, it looks like Leslie’s obsession with revenge as a means to closure is the reason he didn’t bother trying to understand the message his fiancée left him with: he’s focused on his hate rather than his love, and it’s hindering him. He doesn’t succeed in killing Corneo either: his focus and energy are misplaced. Cloud’s desire for vengeance against Sephiroth is also depicted as an obstacle to accomplishing his goals (see how in section “III. c)” of my previous literary analysis). Once more, the Corneo-Sephiroth parallel fits far better than a Corneo-Shinra perspective.
VI. g) i. 2) The Reunion Seekers: Leslie and Cloud
The other aspect of the Leslie-Cloud parallel that supports our theory is that in both scenarios, they both take charge of the situation and decide to actively seek reunion with their respective lovers. The following dialogue excerpt, supplemented by the VA script notes, shows Leslie’s initiative:

“Tifa: [Your fiancée] could still be out there.
Barret: Can never be sure how much someone means to ya till they're gone. Don't give up on her yet.
Leslie: (Looks at the flower pendant, [recalling his lover’s words) A message in the language of flowers… I wonder what she meant by it.
[…]
Tifa: Reunion.
Leslie: Huh?
Tifa: In the language of flowers, it means ‘reunion.’
(Leslie shifts his gaze from Tifa to the pendant and stares at it for some time. At last he understands the words his lover left him. With that, as if his mind has been made up, he clutches the pendant and hangs it around his neck.)
Leslie: Then I guess I’ll just have to find her first” (FFVII Remake Material Ultimania Plus, VA Script Notes, “Other Notable Stage Directions - Chapters 14-16”).

Take note of Leslie’s final response and the determination with which he speaks: “Then I guess I’ll just have to find her first”. Remember that we’re searching for evidence that Cloud is going to be the one reaching out to Aerith in the Remake trilogy, and that it’s his turn to take his future into his hands. He must be more attentive, more active this time. And Leslie’s words of determination reflect this perfectly. Leslie must find his fiancée first, just like Cloud has to be the one to offer his hand to Aerith in the Remake trilogy and fight for her. This is exactly what our theory is all about.
VI. g) i. 3) Delayed Realizations
Interestingly, not only does Leslie’s determination mirror Cloud’s, but both men are depicted as realizing the truth too late. Just like Leslie only began searching for his fiancée six months after her disappearance, Cloud only realizes he loves Aerith in OG once she’s died. It took him this long to actually get somewhere in his mission to reunite with her— “somewhere” being the Remake trilogy.
Even Barret’s words highlight the lovers’ delay: “Can never be sure how much someone means to ya till they're gone”. Barret would know: he lost his wife Myrna, whom he loved dearly. The devs have Barret comment on the situation as a man whose lover died, mirroring Cloud’s situation in OG. Just as Barret says, Cloud only truly realized the strength of how he felt for Aerith in OG once she was gone. The gunman’s words apply to both Leslie and Cloud’s tardy initiatives. Regardless of this delay, both men are now determined to see their respective reunions through.
The degree to which the Leslie-Cloud parallel fits our theory is a great sign of its validity: even the details are lining up!
VI. g) ii. Reunion in the Theme Songs
Too easy: in our analysis of the lyrics of the theme songs, we covered how both texts include the theme of reunion. “No Promises to Keep” is especially relevant (see section “VI. e) ii.”), as the entire song is Aerith hoping against fate for a reunion with Cloud (even if you believe the song is about all her companions, that still includes Cloud).
On top of these reunion-themed lyrics, during Aerith’s in-game performance of “No Promises to Keep” at the Gold Saucer production of Loveless, her yellow blossoms signifying reunion bloom all around her as Cloud watches her, captivated.
Another great sign for our theory: the highly significant theme songs are on our side!
VI. g) iii. Waking Up Reunited
The thing I want to juxtapose to our theory is a small yet special moment in chapter 2 of Rebirth that stuck out to me like a sore thumb and got me really excited about sharing it with you. This moment occurs after the battle against the Midgardsormr. We’ll be comparing it to two other clips, describing all three in chronological order, and making deductions based on their similarities.
The first clip I want to address occurs in chapter 8 of Remake (1:32-2:12). There are a couple of things I want to point out in this scene. First, Aerith wakes Cloud from unconsciousness with a cute call of “Hello~?”. Second, despite pretending that he doesn’t, he immediately recognizes her. The VA script notes prove it:

“Aerith: Nice to meet you again.
Cloud actually remembers Aerith, but he pretends not to, perhaps wishing to make himself look cool.
Cloud: Again, huh?
Aerith: What? You don’t remember? How about…the flowers?
Cloud looks at the flowers at his feet and pretends as if he’s only just remembered.
Cloud: Oh, the flower seller” (FFVII Remake Material Ultimania Plus, VA script notes, “Reuniting with Aerith”).

So: she wakes him with a cute call, and he recognizes her. Also note that these two elements also apply to the OG church reunion scene.
Now onto the Rebirth chapter 2 scene that stuck out to me. After Cloud is saved from the Midgardsormr by Sephiroth, Cloud wakes from an unconsciousness spell with Aerith calling for him (7:20-7:34).
Once more, Aerith wakes him with a cute call (this time, it’s “Wakey, wakey!”), and Cloud recognizes her. In this Midgardsormr clip, unlike their reunion in the church, Cloud verbalizes that he remembers her. This time, there’s more: next, Aerith tells Cloud “おかえり, クラウド”, or “okaeri, Cloud”, which translates to “welcome back, Cloud”. “Okaeri” is what you say in Japanese when someone has returned home. In the third clip we will analyze, Aerith says “okaeri” to Cloud once more. But first, let’s break down this second clip.
I don’t know about you, but this cutscene felt extremely weird to me when I first encountered it. That is, it would have been, if not for the theory I’d begun formulating at that time.
You see, the devs could have chosen for Aerith to ask Cloud if he remembers his own name or where they are, if he’s okay, or check if he responds to his own name. In fact, asking someone who’s been hit on the head to say their own name is a much more common reaction to them finally waking up than asking them if they remember you. Even stranger is Cloud’s reaction: he could have answered “Yeah, you’re Aerith,” or “I remember everything, I’m fine”. Instead, he says her name with this airy and wonderstruck tone. He sounds like he’s opening his eyes to something mystic rather than his comrade leaning over him, like he’s seeing someone unexpectedly for the first time in a while… or rather like he’s waking from a trance of some kind— a trance in which he did not remember Aerith, and now he does. You may see where I’m going with this.
Let’s examine the third clip, wherein Aerith tells Cloud “okaeri” again. More specifically, in chapter 14, Aerith welcomes Cloud back when he snaps out of his zombified, Sephiroth-controlled state and runs toward her. Of course, it’s the sight of her and his memories of meeting her in chapter 2 of Remake that shake him awake (2:17:43-2:18:02).
For a third time, Aerith wakes Cloud. This time, she’s pulling him out of a trance and back to himself. And for a third time, Cloud remembers her. In fact, it’s remembering her that wakes him up. Cloud calls her name and Aerith says “okaeri” in both the post-Midgardsormr cutscene and this third clip. And in both scenes, not only does Cloud return to himself the way someone returns home (recall that “okaeri” is used to welcome someone back home), but he’s also returning to her, recognizing her as his home.
Now we’ve got three scenes lined up: the church reunion scene (both in OG and Remake), the Midgardsormr scene and the hand-reach scene. All three of these recognition scenes feature Cloud being woken up by Aerith and remembering who she is. The main difference is that, in the scenes among these three that are exclusive to Rebirth, Cloud’s return to Aerith is far more meaningful, as he already knows her name, and knows more about who she is to him. Evidently, in the OG church reunion scene, Cloud only remembers being sold a flower by this girl. In the Remake version, he remembers the same thing, plus the attack of the whispers. So there’s something much more weighty about the Rebirth recognition scenes: he remembers more, and he remembers deeper. These aren’t just recognition scenes, they’re also mini-reunions. Of course, as we’ve already analyzed pertaining to the hand-reaching scene, Cloud remembering Aerith is followed by him being the one to take action and run toward her, eager to save her, because she means the world to him. When you place the Midgardsormr scene between the church reunion scene and the hand-reach scene, an evolution of Cloud waking up and remembering Aerith is formed. Each mini-reunion scene adds a piece to the story: the church scene informs us that Cloud and Aerith are meeting again, the Midgardsormr scene tips us off that something mystic is going on from Cloud’s tone when he says Aerith’s name, and the hand reach scene tells us that as a consequence of remembering who Aerith is, Cloud saves her from falling to her death and saving her. “Meeting again”, “mystic”, and “saving Aerith”: these are the keywords of the mini-reunion scenes. They are also the keywords of our theory on Cloud’s mission to save Aerith. This time around Cloud knows more and is more conscious about how he feels for Aerith, just like he feels more when in the hand-reach scene in Rebirth compared to the church reunion scene in Remake. From the latter scene to the former, Cloud gradually wakes up and remembers his love for and loss of Aerith in the OG more and more. Each mini-reunion brings him closer to saving her when he blocks the masamune. This is why I am certain that in part 3, whether Cloud comes to his full senses or not, whether he remembers the events of OG or not, he will save Aerith this time. The Remake trilogy is centered around Aerith, after all. In fact, don’t take it from me, take it from Nojima:

“Aerith's the most important character in the remake so we paid special attention to her lines” (FFVII Remake Ultimania, section 08 “Secrets”, “Development Staff Interviews, Part 2: Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshinori Kitase, Kazushige Nojima”, page 744).

I have full confidence in this fact: one way or another, these two will have a happy ending. This is Cloud’s second chance, and as he swore in “Hollow”, he is not losing her again. That is why I don’t think you should fret, and that our Clerith hearts will be very happy to see these two together again for good in part 3.
VI. h) Zooming In
In fact, this zooming-in method of directing players’ attention to important narrative beats is far from new.
VI. h) i. Changing Fate
Let’s divert our attention to Nanaki’s Skywheel date (2:28-3:30). The dialogue goes like this: Nanaki brings us the Whispers and suggests the party might eventually forget about their existence, and Cloud says that frankly, if it’s impossible for them to change fate either way, then it would be better for them to forget to Whispers altogether.
This is a very clear message from the devs: “There would be no point in including the Whispers in the Remaketrilogy if we did not make use of their defeat”. They’re telling us through Cloud’s dialogue that they know it would be foul play and bad writing to introduce the theme of defying fate if it didn’t eventually pay off.
As if it weren’t clear enough what the devs are referring to, Nanaki brings up Aerith’s death directly after Cloud delivers the devs’ message to us. He actually makes Cloud promise to save her. This is pretty on the nose. By promising Nanaki he will protect Aerith, the devs are promising us the same. I’m certain that part 3 will deliver on this promise.
If you still aren’t sold, I’d like to direct your attention to the framing of the shot where Cloud says “If we can’t change [fate]” (2:49-2:51). There’s a zoom-in on his mouth, which is a visual cue that translates to “what this character is saying right now is important to the plot”. It’s very indiscreet in theory: the camera literally hones in on the invisible words as though the script has them highlighted, italicized triple-underlined and in bold.
VI. h) ii. Aerith’s Knowledge
We’ve seen the Remake trilogy use this camera framing at least twice so far. The first time occurs in Remake’s chapter 8, before it becomes clear that Aerith knows things from the OG game that she wouldn’t normally know if this were just a remastered version of the same 1997 plot. I’ll let Remake Ultimania‘s description of this moment speak for itself:

“When Cloud and Aerith return the rescued children to Oates, the man in the tattered black cloak shows up again at the hideout. The moment the man grasps Cloud’s arm, he’s overcome by another violent headache and sees a vision of Sephiroth. Cloud wonders if this man who supposedly died five years ago could possibly still be alive. When he says as much to Aerith, she gives him a vague reply” (FFVII Remake Ultimania, section 04: “Scenario”, “Chapter 8 Main Story Digest”, page 256).

Aerith’s “vague reply” is accentuated by a very deliberate zoom-in on her mouth (1:18:05-1:18:09), and therefore her words.
The framing of this shot indicates to us that what Aerith says provides an important hint as to the plot’s direction. Sure enough, with hindsight, it’s easy to see that’s true.
VI. h) iii. Tifa’s Question
Another time this framing is used is in chapter 1 of Rebirth, after Cloud recounts the Nibelheim incident. Tifa asks the group why Sephiroth is choosing to come back now, after five years (37:55-37:58).
Once more, we are being signaled that the reason Sephiroth chose to return at the moment he did is significant to the plot, but cannot be revealed explicitly yet. The reason why Sephiroth took five years to return is because that’s how long it took for Cloud to get back on his feet after the Nibelheim incident: Sephiroth wants and/or needs to manipulate Cloud in particular rather than all the other people with Jenova cells in them. It took five years for Cloud to not only go through Hojo’s experiments but also escape Shinra and make his way to Seventh Heaven, where Tifa nursed him back to health— therefore, it took five years until Sephiroth’s favorite pawn was available to be used. There are a few reasons why Cloud is the one Sephiroth wants to use, and all of them would be spoilers at this point in Rebirth to players who don’t know the OG plot. The devs can’t reveal any of them yet, but they do indicate via a close-up shot of Tifa’s mouth that her question is important.
VI. h) iv. The Takeaway
As you can see, this framing of characters’ mouths when they speak signals a plot-significant piece of dialogue. This means Cloud’s words on his gondola date with Nanaki can’t be brushed off as a red herring or an unimportant or throwaway line: it has narrative weight.

VII. The Devs

I think it’s important to remember the devs and their commitment to the world of FFVII. They know best for this story, and they’ve proven it to be true many times over. There are many things about the devs’ intentions that the fandom don’t seem to know that I think would give you confidence to find out.
VII. a) Shifting Themes
Good storytellers don’t introduce themes as a way to pull the rug from under audiences’ feet by later rendering them completely irrelevant to the plot.
In other words, the devs would not have introduced the notion of fate as an antagonistic force in Remake, nor allowed the players to defeat it in chapter 18, had they planned for these themes not to pay off at all. Think of how good FFVII OG and FF stories in general are, how strong the writing is from a narrative point of view. Nothing is included for no reason or for a cheap reaction— especially not a central theme of a story. Fate and defeating it is a huge point of Remake, and not for no reason.
I mean, think about a storyline all about defying fate ending with a shrug and a “Oh well, we tried.” It would be ridiculous! The devs are better than that.
VII. b) What the Devs Want
The devs are well aware that fans of FFVII have been begging for Aerith’s resurrection since 1997. All those petitions, all those myths of a revival hack… SE knows about them all too well. They were even referenced by FF’s 30th anniversary expo, which partly promoted Remake:

“No one expected [Aerith’s death] in the middle of the story. Rumors of a secret way to revive Aerith spread, and it was clear players were having a hard time saying goodbye to her too. Even now, twenty years later, it still feels like a shocking turn of events” (Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Exposition Pamphlet, page 36).

Hamaguchi, codirector of the Remake project, commented on these rumors:

“Interviewer: Do you have a favorite fake rumor about the original FFVII?

Hamaguchi: I hear a lot about Aerith coming back to life and that's something that's very interesting to hear” (Hamaguchi interview: “129 Rapid-Fire Questions Answered About Final Fantasy VII Rebirth”, by Game Informer).

The devs are also aware of how beloved Clerith is to the FFVII fandom, especially in Japan— in fact, the only FFVII ship name that is an official iOS search term on the Japanese Apple Store is Clerith’s (“クラエア” or “kuraea” in Japanese). Aerith herself is a widely beloved character, particularly, once more, in Japan. For instance, Famitsu and NHK’s recent polls on the best FF heroine and on the best FF character in general both resulted in Aerith ranking number 3, beaten only in the latter poll by Cloud at number 1 and FFX’s Yuna at number 2.
The devs know how well-loved both Clerith and Aerith are. And in fact, they love Aerith at least as much as we do:

“Cloud's feelings [of guilt] cannot be resolved by anyone other than Aerith. I tried to convey [that Aerith is saying to Cloud] ‘I'm still here for you’” (FFVII Reunion Files, Nojima’s note on Aerith’s character file, page 58).

&

“When I saw the finished product of [Aerith’s face in] CG, I thought, "Oh, isn’t she so cute?” (FFVII Reunion Files, Nomura’s note on Aerith’s character file, page 58).

&

"The idea of having Aeris die during the story had a great impact on all the dev staff," Toriyama explained, "and personally I decided to dedicate my efforts to depicting Aeris in as appealing a way as possible, so that she would become an irreplaceable character to the player in preparation for that moment" (Toriyama interview “Final Fantasy anniversary interview: Toriyama speaks” by VG247).

The devs care about Aerith, and they’re fully aware we do too.
I think a lot of people have it in their heads that the devs don’t want anything to change from the OG story, but there’s a lot of evidence that says otherwise. Codirector Toriyama spoke on this, stating the following about the production process of Remake:

“[…] there were times the original version became a hindrance. Specifically, staff members with a strong attachment to Final Fantasy VII would often hold themselves back for fear of deviating too much from the original. When we created the original game, we obviously didn’t feel bound in that way. We were passionate about creating a brand new Final Fantasy title, and so we dove in and embraced whatever seemed most interesting to us. We wanted to take that approach this time as well, so we made a special effort to liberate ourselves whenever we held back, remembering that it was okay to do the things we wanted to do” (FFVII Remake Ultimania, section 08 “Secrets”, “Development Staff Interviews, Part 1: Motomu Toriyama, Naoki Hamaguchi, Teruki Endo”, page 737).

Codirector Nomura said the following:

“When I asked Nojima if he’d write the scenario, I was clear about my demands up front. I said, ‘If we're going to remake Final Fantasy VII, I want it to be done like this.’ At that point, I was intent on making something more than just a remake. [Similarly to how] the battle system this time incorporates elements of the original game’s ATB mechanics [while] also been reborn using a real-time approach […], I wanted to make a story that players would feel is fundamentally Final Fantasy VII but also something new” (FFVII Remake Ultimania, section 08 “Secrets”, “Development Staff Interviews, Part 2: Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshinori Kitase, Kazushige Nojima”, page 745).

Clearly, the devs don’t want to be bogged down by the OG, and are making efforts to do things the way they want to rather than the way they were previously done. The newer generation of developers such as codirector Hamaguchi is also involved in these story changes:

“Interviewer: There are also drastically more scenes with Sephiroth than there were in the original game.
Nojima: We weren't planning on having him appear so much at first— the idea was only to hint at his presence. But we changed our approach partway through and became more proactive with having him appear, after which the number of scenes he features in rapidly increased.
Nomura: Hamaguchi [codirector Naoki Hamaguchi] came up to me one day and said in a mysterious tone, ‘I'd like to talk to you about something.’ He asked me about having there be a battle with Sephiroth in Midgar. In the original game, Sephiroth’s true body is located elsewhere, so he didn’t think I'd give in to the idea so easily. I think he even prepared materials to persuade me. But in the end I agreed readily [laughs]” (FFVII Remake Ultimania, section 08 “Secrets”, “Development Staff Interviews, Part 2: Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshinori Kitase, Kazushige Nojima”, page 746).

Kitase, the producer of the Remake trilogy, even says that after working on this project for so long, and after spending almost 30 years on the FFVII project and getting to know the characters, he has realized that:

“The more [he works] on it, the more [he wants] to make all these characters happy. [He wants] to give them a happy ending. The rest of the team’s opinions [obviously] also have to be taken into consideration, so it won't be all happiness and rainbows. But [he] just [wants] to make [the characters of FFVII] happy” (Kitase and Hamaguchi’s interview “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s Producer Just Wants 'the Characters to End Up Happy'”, by Vandal, translated by me).

Kitase is indeed only one developer, but he’s the producer of this project: that’s the very top position. He oversees everything and nothing goes without his approval. That counts for something. Of course, Kitase is fair and values the input of all the devs, so of course it won’t be “all happiness and rainbows”— but I sincerely believe there’s a big chance that Cloud and Aerith are heading toward their happy ending. Even if this theory is completely bogus, I want to have faith that the devs would not sacrifice good storytelling for nostalgia and a conservative attitude toward preserving the OG story, as that would be cheap of them, and we have not known them to be cheap. This game truly matters to them, so I think they deserve our faith.
(conclusion in

Ok, so we. . . have an extremely unconventional household. We are doing multigenerational living for neurodivergent white people, which means . . . Our household consists of me (ADHD), my husband (ADHD), our two daughters, and TWO roommates PLUS my grandmother in the inlaw suite. Also we have several cats and a small dog.
We also host a fair bit of events for friends and family, especially over the summer.
Roommate A travels for work, but he is coming back into home with his parents (staying elsewhere, obviously) and wants to throw them a hockey barbecue. I love Roommate A to bits, and he definitely contributes to our household, but he's a slob and honestly, clueless. His main contribution to our house is $$$, which is definitely nothing to sneeze at in this climate.
Unfortunately, we will be out of town that weekend camping, and unable to attend, let alone prepare and host this party.
In addition, we've had a rough week. Grandma fell and broke her arm at a store, we are renovating the kids room, I am desperately trying to accomplish "winter turnover" before . . . Summer. The house is not exactly to our usual standards ATM.
So my husband sent him an extremely detailed list of the tasks that we normally handle - INCLUDING EVERYTHING I DO in the the 6-12 HOURS that I usually spend preparing for an event! We divide tasks - I buy groceries and supplies and clean the house (I handle all indoor spaces except some kitchen tasks), while he preps food, does some kitchen tasks, mows the lawn, cleans the yard, (he preps all outdoor spaces) AND cooks.
I often feel like he has no idea just how much I do - but he got everything down to scooping the cat litter box 15 minutes before the first guest arrives!
CODA: We have arranged for the event to be hosted elsewhere.

Welcome back to my running series of WWF PPV Reviews from a ‘blind’ perspective (I have no idea what’s going to happen; the results, the feuds or how good any of the matches will be). I have always heard stories of the attitude era and golden age but never watched it myself so I set myself to watching every single PPV event chronologically. I am also watching Wrestling Bios ‘reliving the war’ series to keep me updated inbetween the events with the feuds, and to get excited about upcoming matches.
Before I review the matches, based on the past few episodes of raw and last PPVs I’ll let you know, going into the event, which match I’m most excited for and which feud I’m most excited to see.
The feud and match I’m most excited to see is stone cold vs undertaker. To be honest looking at the lineup this is pretty much the only feud I’m interested in for the entire event, and they don’t really even have one going on. But mankind vs Rocky and the gauntlet match should be interesting in terms of matches
WWF In Your House - Cold Day In Hell 1997 Match Ratings
Flash Funk vs HHH 1/5
Mankind vs Rocky Maivia 1.5/5
Nation of Domination vs Ahmed Johnson 1.75/5
Vader vs Ken Shamrock 2.25/5
Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Undertaker 3.75/5
Triple H has yet to really get going in the wwf, he hasn’t really had any great feuds but his matches are made at least a little more interesting with the accompaniment of Chyna. THE BEAST that is Chyna picks funk up and dumps him on his little funks just for the hell of it after the match which was pretty funny.
Feud wise it really shows in this match, with no buildup at all, the crowd was dead from pretty much the whole time. It was an obvious win for Hunter as he was the bigger name but yeah, nothing too special here apart from a pretty rough bump to funk on the outside on the steel ring ramp.
People just are not behind the rock at this point at all, his entrance music plays after mankind has made his way to the ring and there’s absolutely no pop from the crowd. During the match he’s actually getting booed when he emotes to the crowd. I’m wondering when he has his character change to become as big as he was and still is.
The match itself was pretty boring, not too much happened apart from a nice little assault on the outside on the steel entrance ramp by Rocky. The finish seemed really quick as well, Rocky showed no fight getting KOd in about 10 seconds after mankind applied that mandible claw. Knowing what these men can do I was surprised to see such a lackluster match as well. The last couple of minutes saved the match from being a complete disaster and foley as usual is taking his insane bumps. Foley was by far the best part of the match and the better wrestler, the rock still has a ways to go. The match gets a small bump in rating because of the rock bottom on the ramp which looked really good.
The next match I was pretty hyped to see, we hadn’t seen a gauntlet match up until this point so it was fresh and something unique to look forward to, and the character Ahmed portrays is perfectly suited to this type of match.
Ahmed got a great pop from the crowd for his entrance and to be fair he does make a pretty good baby face to get behind, I’m finding myself getting into this feud as it takes place.
Crush actually puts up more of a fight than I thought he would, it was a pretty slow start to the match though with nothing too noteworthy, but Johnson delivers a spinning kick that looked good to crush to knock him out of the match. Sadio vega comes in next and surprisingly proceeds to dominate Johnson for a while; Ahmed looks out on his feet for most of this bout. Side note my god Vega loves his nerve holds it’s the only hold I see him use pretty much. Whenever Ahmed begins to get back into the match he gets a great pop from the crowd which is nice to see and he’s actually performing pretty well here; definitely more exciting than the NOD members, which isn’t saying much but still. Sadio ends up getting DQd after he hits Ahmed with a chair and proceeds to beat the hell out of him with the same chair, setting up for the final member farooq to get into the ring and finish the job. The crowd is really behind Ahmed to win this match and so am I he’s showing great heart at this point in the match. Ahmed hits a massive power bomb finisher on farooq and he manages to somehow kick out, this is pretty exciting, but then farooq comes back with his own finisher to end Ahmed’s hopes and dreams.
This match got pretty good right at the end in all fairness, I felt myself getting pretty hyped and really routing for Ahmed. I understand why he had to lose but it was still a unique match to watch. Overall though this was pretty boring aside from the last like 2 minutes. Sadio and crush were super slow in the ring and very boring to watch. It was a cool idea with a kinda poor execution, had a couple moments that were interesting but it wasn’t more than that. It could’ve been good because the feud was kinda interesting with the stipulation of potentially having to disband the group if they lost, but it just wasn’t great.
And then the submission match between shamrock and Vader… this show just isn’t hitting right now is it 😂😂. I don’t really know what to say about this match I just didn’t enjoy it at all. Shamrock put in an okay show but it was so obvious where Vader was talking him through absolutely everything. Fair play to shamrock though he took a few decent bumps from Vader but the whole match didn’t work for me at all, it just wasn’t for me. (I’ve rewatched it after learning that Vader was pretty out on his feet because of shamrocks stiff shots and to be fair maybe I was just in a sour mood after the horrendous start, so I bumped up the rating a bit).
Stone cold finally gets some hype going with a nice intro promo, which is much needed in this event. It’s been abysmal so far not one match I’d even consider watching again. But stone cold has been blowing it out the park recently so I’ll wait and see what the main event delivers. Undertaker and stone cold can’t miss right?
Before I say this just know that I am a massive undertaker and Austin fan, but this match was nowhere near their best. The last 10 minutes were really good and 5* worthy action but the 10 or so minutes before that was pretty slow for an Austin match, he held a headlock for a very long time and the initially pumped crowd weren’t feeling it at all. Then another hold and another and for what the stakes were; one of austins first shots at the title, it didn’t feel like he was wrestling with that kind of tenacity he should have had.
Enough negativity though, there were some really high points during this match that the crowd popped for especially that triple counter tombstone pile driver ending. They had some really good brawling exchanges as well, undertaker especially really showing off and with his long hair it looks so good when he’s just teeing off on people. The hart foundation added a little more depth although I feel like it didn’t really do much for the match itself other than having Austin give them the finger and a couple of minor interruptions. All in all though this match felt like a building block for upcoming feuds and matches rather than a quality world title fight, but the ending really did seal it as something worth watching and saved the show, just a bit, from being a complete disaster.
Overall this event was very lackluster for me I really didn’t enjoy most of it. It had a few good physical moments in a few matches and the end of the main event was the highlight but you can definitely go without watching this ppv. I am excited to see what comes up as, like I said, this ppv felt like a building block for upcoming matches. It’s a bit like watching phantom menace, you watch it to get the build up to the main event, not for the actual movie… actually this really felt pretty much exactly like watching the phantom menace. A terrible sit through with something really worth seeing right at the end.
Overall rating 2.25/5

After a lot of marriage counseling my husband and I came to the decision to see his parents once a month when they’re in town, they’re snow birds so 7 or 8 months a year. We don’t allow them to babysit or be alone with the kids, which is something we are in strong agreement about.
My husband is not close to his parents and has never been, avoiding telling them he was back in town during college. I am very close to my parents and whenever we need a babysitter they’re it. I only work part time so spend a fair amount of time doing things with my parents and the children are close to them as well. My MIL is deeply jealous of this. She has chosen to take out her jealousy by giving my parents the silent treatment when she’s around them. They have not interacted much with her over the years and definitely haven’t done anything or said anything unkind to her. She just hates them because we spend more time with them and she’s losing the grandparents competition she made up in her head. We have gone to a couple events and she pretends she doesn’t know who they are and that they aren’t there right in front of her. She will look up at the ceiling and walk away rather than speak to them when they say hello. It’s embarrassing and rude and frankly, ticks me off. If you call her out on it she pretends she didn’t do it; I didn’t see them! I didn’t hear them! I didn’t do that!
So my question is: do I have to invite her to things my parents will be at? We’re inviting my parents to my son’s kindergarten graduation and I don’t wish to tell my IL’s because I know she’ll be rude.

So about a year ago, our whole extended basically split into two after a huge conflict, which is a whole other story, but ties in with this a bit. One of my aunts, who I'll call Sally, had a issue with another aunt, who I'll call Jane. Sally noticed that my aunt Jane, favoured her brothers over her cousins, and would basically do events and parties in secret with her brothers, hiding it from all her cousins. Personally I don't see much wrong with this, but the problem is, when her brothers came to our country all the way from europe, she and them would go to places all the time, and neglected visiting other family members, which included the cousins. So the cousins, including Sally, my dad, and a few other people, were pretty annoyed by this
This may seem trivial, but basically my aunt Janes pretty problematic in other ways, like talking about the cousins behind their back, trying to control everyone, etc. So the cousins group basically stopped inviting them to parties, and are slowly cutting them off. However, out of the cousins group, which is 5 people, 3 people still want to forgive Jane. The other 2 though, are stubborn on cutting them off, and have been basically trying to control the group to all cut Aunt Jane off. Of course, the other 3 cousins are unaware of the control, and have been trying to make all sides happy, which made things pretty messy.
Anyway, now that I gave a bunch of background info, I'll get to the main issue. My aunt Sally invited the cousins group to a meeting about a year ago, to talk about Aunt Jane. So we all went. However, basically, what happened was that instead Aunt Sally instead started attacking my dad and mom for a seperate issue.
Basically, she was mad at my dad and mom for not inviting her to our house over the past 3 years, or holding any events or parties, when everyone else in the cousins group is really involved and constantly does stuff like parties or family get togethers.
Now I need to give some more background info. 3 years ago, a lot of stuff happened that I won't get into, but my baby cousins on my moms side died. After this, my mom basically reeled into a depression, and didnt go outside to any parties or celebrations for a couple of years. In our house too, we didnt celebrate birthdays or anything. Also, during this time, my dad was having a hard time at work, and struggling with making enough money to support us all.
So my dads birthday came a year ago, and we all felt bad that my dad didnt celebrate his birthday, because of so much stress at work. My mom was also feeling better, so we cut a cake for my dad and decorated the house a bit.
However, Aunt Sally didnt know we did this, and so a week later, she surprised my dad with a cake during a family get together, and he was pretty happy. Eventually though, she found out that we cut a cake on our own.
So she was angry, and like i said earlier, she said during the family meeting that she was upset that we didnt invite her to our house for the past 3 years and stuff, so from now on, we were not invited in her home. But, she said, she felt bad for me and my younger sister, so we were invited to parties and stuff at her house, but not my parents.
As I'm typing this, I now realize I didnt have to go on that speel about the earlier extended family conflict, but basically I brought that up, because Aunt Sally has been slowly trying to gain control over the whole family, and weeding out people she doesnt like.
Anyway, Aunt Sally may have said that my sister and I can come to her house, but we refused to, and have missed out on parties at her house ever since.
Fast forward to a year later, which is today. Aunt sallys daughter, which is my cousin, is doing a party for a major milestone at Aunt sallys house, and I'm invited, but my parents are not. I'm hesitating on if I should go, because its really weird to not go without my parents, and I still am not very happy with Aunt Sally, but my cousin has never done anything wrong to me, and she always stops by at my house. She and I personally have no issues, and shes really nice to me, and I want to be there for her, but I'm just hesitant on what to do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Hey Pinball Fans, look at this note. Look at this work of art. (If art is about length and long lists for you) Our team went all out this time and it is our pleasure to present this list of fixes for you.
Tables added:
Pacific Rim Pinball
Super League Football (Free download on consoles for 7 days, on PC for 30 days. Get it now and keep it forever)
Universal Classics: TV Pinball:
Xena: Warrior Princess Pinball
Knight Rider Pinball
Battlestar Galactica Pinball
New Features on PlayStation, Xbox and PC:
UI overhaul and upgrades
XP system
Notification system
New optional Pinhall, New optional music
General fixes:

• Fixed an issue where "An error has occurred while publishing your scores" could pop up frequently
• Fixed an issue where a start of a new season would unlock all rewards

Fixes for PlayStation, Xbox and PC:

• Nudge button hints are now displayed properly
• Williams Pinball: Volume 1 Questline - Mission 9 - Double Score powerup timer set from 5 seconds to 20

Fixes for PC:

• Fixed an issue where camera controls were stuck to ‘C’ even after setting a different key
• Fixed an issue where the game crashed when players closed a 2-player-hotseat table in cabinet mode
• Fixed an issue in Cabinet Mode - where players had to Reload Configuration every time

Table Fixes:
A Charlie Brown Christmas™ Pinball

• Fixed an issue when the ball could stuck in the left kickback
• Reduced the time of the ball being held by the saucer during the Mystery Animation, added manual eject option as well
• The “Collect Bonus” award no longer resets the bonus multiplier
• Fixed the typo in the song credits
• Fixed the typo on the display
• Music for the Pigpen Snowman mode no longer replaces the main theme after the mode ends

Crypt of the NecroDancer Pinball

• Fixed an issue, where the boss music can play alongside other tracks
• Fixed an issue, where the ball can leave the miniplayfield
• Fixed a typo on the bottom right of the playfield
• Adjusted the German translations at the ball launch
• Adjusted the ball kickout system in the bonus room
• Fixed an issue, where the Bomb lamp could stay lit after usage
• Fixed an issue where the ball could go ballistic after a weak plunge

Terraforming Mars Pinball

• Added rollover switches above the bumpers
• Fixed an issue where the instructions overlapped on the display

Exploding Kittens®: A Pinball Cat-astrophe

• Fixed an issue where the Jackpot status didn’t reset
• The pop-up score at Super Skillshot will display the correct score

Homeworld®: Journey to Hiigara Pinball

• Fixed an issue where the spin disk could drop the ball between the flippers
• The video display no longer freezes after the Return to Kharak mode
• Increased the speed of the research toy by 30% for a more dynamic gameplay

Brothers in Arms®: Win the War Pinball

• Fixed an issue where the bonus screen could appear when the ball is in play
• Fixed an issue where the ball could get stuck in the bumpers

Borderlands®: Vault Hunter Pinball

• The ball can no longer get stuck behind the green box
• Fixed an issue where the instructions overlapped on the display

Grimm Tales

• Fixed a soft lock occurrence at the end of the Cinderella tale
• Fixed the appearance of the transparent ball curse so it won't be invisible
• Crystal Multiball will no longer end after locking a ball at the Castle Gate
• Fixed the “Book of Tales” end of bonus description
• Fixed an error where the Magic Mirror award prevented further progress at the final battle
• Fixed an issue, when hitting the wolf last during the Wolf & Seven Goats followed by an immediate drain will prevent further completion of the mode
• Scoring a Jackpot during Crystal Multiball will release the balls from the Tower Locks to prevent any exploits
• Fixed an issue where the localized "More hits for your Multiball bumper" text had an overlapping issue

Verne's Mysterious Island

• Fixed an issue where the could stay on the volcano
• Adjusted the power of the kickback and sinkhole kickout

Jurrasic Park Pinball

• Fixed an issue where the ball could get stuck in the perimeter fence
• Fixed an issue where the first left orbit shot phases through the diverter

Peanuts' Snoopy Pinball

• Fixed the position of the right outlane post
• Fixed the speech bubbles remaining in 0-degree orientation when the screen is rotated
• The table no longer awards extra balls in challenges

Star Trek™: The Next Generation

• Adjusted View 8 in portrait mode
• Fixed an issue where the ball could balance on the tip of the flipper
• Reduced the power of the auto-launch during challenges

Star Wars™ Pinball: Han Solo

• Fixed an issue when the table can softlock after draining the regular ball in the “He Certainly Has Courage” mode in challenges
• Fixed an issue when the screen turned black in the TIE Fighter Attack mode

Star Wars™ Pinball: Masters of the Force

• Fixed an issue where the HOLD BONUS X and EXTRABALL flashing lights were offset
• Fixed an issue where the ball locked without having to spell LOCK
• Fixed a view issue when a lock happened

Star Wars™ Pinball: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

• Fixed an R2-D2 magnet issue
• Fixed a malfunction on R2-D2 kickback
• Fixed an issue where the TIE Fighter could appear invisible
• Fixed an issue where the magnet wouldn’t work on one charge at R2-D2 Bumpers
• Adjusted combo timers on the table
• Adjusted mission goals on Scene 1, Part 2

Star Wars™ Pinball: Darth Vader

• Fixed an issue where the ball could bounce out of the table from the middle of the playfield

Star Wars™ Pinball: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

• Fixed an issue with the Hyperspace multiball
• Fixed camera handling and planet alignment in Hyperspace mode
• Adjusted lighting on the AT-AT, Luke and Darth Vader

Star Wars™ Pinball: The Clone Wars

• Fixed an issue where the Super Skill Shot could be hit by simply holding up the left flipper

Star Wars™ Pinball: Droids

• Fixed an issue where the left kickback returned the ball to the right outlane
• Fixed an issue where the left target lead the ball to the left outlane

Star Wars™ Pinball: Starfighter Assault

• Fixed an issue where the Solo Fighter mission (and achievement) was unwinnable

The Machine: Bride of Pin·bot:

• Fixed an issue where if a ball drained with 1 lock (Partial Optical Link) activated, the optical sequence reset without considering how many balls are locked physically
• Fixed an issue with ball locking during Metamorphosis

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial Pinball

• Fixed an issue where Levitation Save could fail to place the ball above the flippers.
• Fixed a Flips Challenge exploit: Ball could autoplunge directly into the bumpers.
• Fixed a physics issue with the ball travelling down towards the flippers

Williams™ Pinball: Medieval Madness™

• This crumbling brick effect is now present in all instances where needed

Williams™ Pinball: Black Rose™

• Davy Jones' Locker ramp texture is now moving with the rest of the ramp.

Williams™ Pinball: Champion Pub™

• Fixed an issue where the ball could get stuck on the elbows of the fighter during any match, Fisticuffs Multiball included.

Williams™ Pinball: Safecracker™

• The music and VO will now not be cut off by the end of game menu
• Tokens will now properly save between games
• Fixed an issue where an upwards nudge could stop the time if the player had a locked ball
• Fixed an issue where repeatedly nudging resulted in the clock stopping

Williams™ Pinball: White Water™

• Fixed an issue where Ball 1 lock on the table was showing as ball 3 locked

Williams™ Pinball: Red & Ted's Road Show

• Fixed a typo on the table
• Fixed an issue where the ball would be removed from the small flipper lane if 2 balls were stalled there
• Fixed an issue where the game could end with a ball stuck in Ted’s mouth in the 5 minute challenge

Williams™ Pinball: Hurricane™

• Fixed black textures on Carousel

Williams™ Pinball: No Good Gofers™

• Fixed an issue where the ball could hit a switch more than once
• Fixed autoplunger problems in challenges

Williams™ Pinball: Space Station™

• Plunger camera angle adjusted

Williams™ Pinball: FunHouse™

• Fixed an issue where the upper flipper rubber is interfering with the wall

Williams™ Pinball: Dr. Dude™

• Fixed a faulty effect on the backglass
• Fixed an issue where there weren’t any combos or ball saves in Arcade mode
• Backglass lighting will now be turned on properly

Williams™ Pinball: Twilight Zone

• Fixed an issue where the ball could fall under the right flipper after a drain and get stuck
• Left outlane adjusted
• Adjusted Skill Shot camera

Williams™ Pinball: World Cup Soccer

• Fixed the Williams logo shadow on the flippers
• Fixed an issue where the ball could stay behind the goal during multiball
• Fixed an issue where zhe upkick near the goal did not properly kicked out the ball
• Fixed a display issue in the Table Guide

World War Z Pinball

• Fixed an issue where the ball did not stay on the left ramp properly
• Fixed an issue where the ball could get stuck in the Loot sinkhole
• Fixed an issue where the ball could get stuck in the saucer during Flips Challenge
• Fixed an issue where the game could fail to exit out of the Skillshot phase
• Fixed an issue where the auto-plunge could hit the ball into the left outlane

Wrath of the Elder Gods

• Fixed an issue where the ball could exit at the middle of the ramp
• Fixed an issue where locking a ball while Mystery was lit at the right upper orbit denied a chance at a Skillshot
• Fixed an issue where tilting during Herald of its Word could result in the ball skin being applied for the next ball
• Fixed an issue in 5 minute challenge - The mystery extra ball award value could be multiplied by 4
• Fixed an issue where if Maw and Cult of its Arrival multiballs are started on top of each other the lane lamps could flash incorrectly
• Fixed resetting issues with the Skillshot if Skillshot power-up is used
• Fixed an issue where if Maw and Herald of its Word multiballs conflicting resulted in 2 balls on the playfield without any multiballs running
• Fixed an issue during multiball, where the Herald could keep the ball, juggling it indefinitely
• Fixed an issue where the Herald could be beaten in one shot, instead of several shots
• Fixed an issue where the Madness counter did not reset when winning a mode with ballout
• Fixed a display issue around Bumper Bonus
• Fixed several localization issues in Italian
• Fixed an issue where pictures did not appear properly on the right notepad
• Fixed an issue where the ball could fall off the rails if shot with the right power

(continuation of part 4)
I already considered this piece the second greatest musical evidence for Clerith after the London Symphony Orchestra’s Final Fantasy VII Symphony’s second movement “Words Drowned by Fireworks” and its guide, but now that I know about the Clerith reunion that was baked into the ending, the gap between the two is narrower. Each time I hear Cloud begin to call out for Aerith in part 3 (3:04), I immediately start crying. It sounds so much to me like Cloud’s voice in the dark saying “Aerith…?”, meek and scared. If you’ve read everything so far, you know how long Cloud has been looking for Aerith, lost without her, searching relentlessly for decades in real-life time. Through FFT, DFF, Advent Children, MFF x FFVII… all of it spent looking for his Promised Land. In OG, Cloud was so tormented by Jenova’s manipulation and so consumed by the chase for Sephiroth that he could not realize what or how much he felt for her until she was taken away forever. The piece we’ve just analyzed tells the story of Cloud and Aerith intertwining and separating against their will, and you can truly feel Cloud’s anxiety as he struggles to wrench Aerith out of fate’s cruel grasp. Perhaps it is because of Aerith’s ultimately fatal responsibility, inherited from her mother, that this iteration of her theme is called “The Cetra”.
Though in part 5, Cloud and Aerith reunite… could this reunion symbolize their meeting again in Remake, or something more permanent? I think it’s meant to leave us wondering.
I’m very sensitive to music, and as I’m typing this, I’m crying a bit. I wanted to share my interpretation of “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” with you very badly, because it makes me feel so much and really enhances Clerith’s story. I’m overjoyed to have found out about the reunion at the very end. And it’s all because you guys showed love for my last analysis! You guys are giving me gifts every day.
V. b) i. 3) Combined Analysis
Please listen to and watch the scene of Cloud’s MOTF 6 (4:21-8:46) again, and consider section “V. b) i. 2)”. What is Uematsu telling us? Similarly to how main world theme of FFVII informs us that Jenova is sabotaging Cloud’s identity far before it becomes a plot point in OG, “Aerith’s theme - The Cetra” is telling us what not even Remake Cloud consciously knows at this point: he’s been searching desperately for her, and fears losing her once more.
As if that wasn’t proof enough, the timing of the shots and musical phrases is absolutely damning. Recall that part 3 of “Aerith’s theme - The Cetra” specifically symbolizes Cloud’s anxiety surrounding Aerith’s safety. It is this particular part of the piece that plays for the entirety of Aerith’s allusions to her murderers and her death (7:25-7:54), including the very moment where “Cloud feels his chest constrict tightly” (7:51-7:54). What’s more, part 5 the piece, which specifically Cloud freeing Aerith from the restraints of fate, coincides with the moment Tifa grabs Aerith’s hand and pulls her out from the circle of Whispers closing in on her (8:42-8:45). This moment leads me to believe that the reunion in part 5 of the piece indeed symbolizes Cloud succeeding (perhaps with Tifa’s help) in saving Aerith from her tragic fate and reuniting with her for good.
It’s heart-wrenching and brilliant. Our theory stands strong.
V. b) ii. Credits: Piece Inclusion
I find it very telling that the character themes included in the credits of Remake are Cloud’s “Hollow” (0:00-5:24), an orchestral arrangement of Aerith’s theme (5:24-9:24), and an orchestral arrangement of the main world theme, (9:24-14:27) which of course includes Cloud’s true theme. No other character themes appear during the rest of the credits (14:27-18:09). This is telling: the credits are communicating to us that Remake is about Cloud and Aerith. Our Mission Theory only gets stronger.
V. b) iii. Showing Relationships Through Music: Intermingling Character Themes
This doesn’t have to do with the Mission, but here’s a pretty good anti-Cloti argument while we’re here.
As shown in section “V. a) i.” where we explored the roles of Cloud, Jenova and Sephiroth’s themes within the FFVII world theme, the way character themes interact in a piece can tell you a lot about those characters’ relationships. This is certainly the case in “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” as well (see section “V. b. ii. 2)”).
I’d like to mention that in all of my listening to the Remake OST and rewatching playthroughs of Remake, I’ve never encountered a single piece that united Cloud and Tifa’s themes. Not once. Let alone a piece that depicts them as intimately or emotionally as “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” depicts Cloud and Aerith. Even the most Cloti cutscenes in Remake aren’t supported by pieces mixing or even juxtaposing Cloud and Tifa’s themes. I can’t find any of Cloud’s motifs anywhere during the orchestral arrangement of Tifa’s theme that plays during her resolution scene in chapter 14. I can’t find either of their motifs in the track the plays when Cloud calls Tifa beautiful at Seventh Heaven in chapter 3. A motif from Tifa’s theme does appear in the track that plays during the childhood promise scene in chapter 4, (0:00-0:25), but it never plays at the same time as or even near Cloud’s motifs (1:23-1:47 and 2:03-2:29). They’re distant or otherwise unaffiliated.
The only exception is that an altered version of Cloud’s theme’s section A phrase 1 appears in the background of Tifa’s theme (1:17-1:23). This symbolizes her connection to Cloud and how much of her attention and worry revolve around him— a reference to how she cares so much that it borders on dependency. Of course, it doesn’t go both ways: Tifa isn’t in Cloud’s theme at all. To me, this lack of reciprocity concerning the inclusion of Cloud’s motif in Tifa’s theme signifies that the only time Cloud and Tifa are together is in her head. She does think about him a lot, which we witness in her chapter of Trace of Two Pasts. Tifa loses sleep over him even two years after he left Nibelheim, despite the fact that she barely knew him at all:

“The moment she heard the word “Soldier”, the few memories she had with Cloud Strife came flooding back. He never contacted her after they parted ways two years ago […]. She tossed and turned all night. When she counted them again, her memories with Cloud were so surprisingly few that others might find it hard to believe that they grew up as next-door neighbors” (Trace of Two Pasts, translated by pekotranslates on Tumblr).

FFVII Remake Ultimania also comments on the superficial nature of Cloud and Tifa’s water tower promise, and how regardless of its naïveté, it became fundamental to Tifa:

“Though rooted in a jejune heroine fantasy of being rescued in a pinch by her hero, this promise is clearly etched in Tifa’s memory” (Tifa’s profile in section 01 of “Character & World”, “An Enduring Childhood Promise” in “Topics of Tifa” page 20).

You could argue that “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” is only one song wherein Cloud and Aerith’s themes interweave, but you’d be proven wrong by the Rebirth OST…
V. c) The Rebirth OST
Unfortunately, the full Rebirth OST isn’t out and available where I can listen to it right now. However, based solely on the incomplete OST that’s available to me right now, I can tell you with certainty that the composers were told to incorporate Clerith into the musical storytelling: Cloud and Aerith’s themes intermingle in multiple pieces. I can’t imagine what else I’ll discover once I listen to the full OST. For now, I checked out what was available on YouTube and listened to cutscene audios. This section would be eternal if I included every time Cloud and Aerith’s motifs interact, especially in chapter 14. Trust me, I’d love to talk about every single one, but this thing is long enough already, so let’s just address what pertains to our Mission Theory specifically rather than stopping at every single Clerith reference in the OST.
V. c) i. Ending Cutscene Music
Ending cutscenes are often used to address the next step the characters will be taking as well as their emotional and mental state. They also open up new questions to make the player curious. Indeed, Rebirth’s ending cutscene (18:56-25:00) gives us an impression of how the party members feel by the end of the game: everyone misses Aerith. Barret looks upset and confused at the mention of her (19:35-19:45), the girls are crying and Nanaki is mourning (19:58-20:35). Additionally, we are shown the empty White Materia and Black Materia in Cloud’s possession (20:40-21:24), foreshadowing that they will come to be important in part 3. Cloud and Aerith share a warm goodbye, and exchange promises: Aerith will send smoke signals if something happens to her so a worried Cloud can remain updated on her well-being and she will stop Meteor, and Cloud will stop Sephiroth (23:00-25:00). The fact that this scene is animated in CGI is enough to tell us that the devs consider it narratively important, just like they do Bugenhagen’s observatory and the party’s advance into the Forgotten Capital CGI cutscenes. What did the composers decide to communicate with us about the end of Rebirth and the plot going forward?
Big surprise: Clerith.
During the entire cutscene, only two themes play: Cloud’s and Aerith’s. The cutscene’s music begins only when Cloud notices Aerith among the party members and begins watching her (19:21). She interacts with the rest of the party without their knowledge, different segments of her theme playing one after another. Her theme only stops when Cloud finally looks away from her and to the empty White Materia in his hand (20:45). The music focuses on the mystery and ominousness of these materia, only returning to Aerith once Cloud hears her voice and repeats her message to the party (21:30).
Cloud’s theme appears when he asserts that Barret needn’t worry about him (section A of Cloud’s true theme, 22:41), though soft and tentative, only swelling when Barret and Tifa climb aboard the Tiny Bronco and Cloud finds himself alone with Aerith again (22:57). As he asks Aerith if “[she’ll] be okay getting back” (23:08), the final phrase of section A of his theme plays, but without its concluding note, the tonic. He waits for her to answer him as his theme waits for hers to complete and answer it, that final note dragging long over the seconds (23:09-23:13). She answers with a teasing remark that references their unwillingness to part from each other back in Remake’s Evergreen Park:

“[Cloud has] a chat with Aerith, from whom he’s reluctant to part” (chapter 9 in section 04 “Scenario”, “Main Story Digest”, “4. Saying Goodbye”, page 275)”.

As soon as Aerith answers Cloud’s question with this romantic callback, her theme answers his too: section C of Aerith’s theme begins with the key’s tonic, resolving Cloud’s incomplete phrase (23:13): she gives him resolution. He chuckles, getting her reference, and the music swells (23:16). The music ebbs and flows thusly, following the rhythms and underlying emotions of their conversation. Finally, the piece ends with phrase 2 of of section A of Cloud’s true theme, following a strong repetition of the first half of Aerith’s theme’s section A. The two make their promises to each other, and “No Promises to Keep” begins, leading us to the credits. This is most definitely a Clerith song, but more on that later.
What this shows us is that Cloud and Aerith’s relationship is fundamental to the plot of Rebirth and will also be fundamental to the plot of part 3: they are isolated one one-on-one in this cutscene, and the music depicts their warm, sweet interaction as well as the strength of Aerith’s character to contrast with Cloud’s somewhat meek personality. The composers are telling us that these two, specifically, together alone, are hugely important to the plot here. This was already true in OG, but no such emphasis was ever placed on their interactions and relationship in its music. Something is different, deeper, more intense now. The Mission Theory explains why. It also suits our theory that the composers are emphasizing the centrality of Clerith in the plot of the Remake trilogy. Cloud’s love for Aerith is the reason for the trilogy’s existence, and it will be the greatest motivator for Cloud in part 3. It’s a grand announcement.
Just like in Remake, I could not find a single instance of Cloud and Tifa’s themes interacting in Rebirth, apart from at the end of the intimate Skywheel date— but every girl receives this treatment in their intimate dates, so each of these instances can be crossed out. Additionally, the Tifa date is not the canon one, but I digress…
V. c) iii. Credits

1. Piece Inclusion

Once more, I find it very telling that of all the pieces included in the credits of Rebirth, the only character themes are Cloud’s and Aerith’s. We start with a song about Aerith’s point of view to mirror *Remake’*s “Hollow”, “No Promises to Keep” (5:18-11:10), followed by the FFVII world theme (11:10-16:12) which of course contains Cloud’s true theme, then we move into a piece whose unofficially translated title is “Parade Battle Ceremony - The Dawn of a New World” as an arrangement of the parade ceremony theme from chapter 4 (16:12-19:03), followed by a theme for the Lifestream springs whose name I don’t have (19:03-21:38), “Junon - Fortified Metropolis” (21:38-24:28), and finally, a gorgeous arrangement of Aerith’s theme (24:28-28:47). No other character is referenced in the credits music: the credits are telling us Rebirth is about Clerith. Our Mission Theory explains why.
V. c) iii. 2) “No Promises to Keep”
At the very end of this song written and performed by Aerith, we’re treated with a sweet little piano conclusion (10:46-11:10): it begins with a variation on Aerith’s theme’s section A (10:46-11:01), and concludes with two ascending arpeggios, each four notes long (11:01-11:10). Each of these ascending arpeggios is a variation of the phrase 1 of Cloud’s true theme’s section A. The differences are minimal. The phrase is usually five notes long rather than four, the first arpeggio ends on the tonic rather than Cloud’s iconic subtonic, and the second arpeggio starts on the subtonic rather than the tonic. The song Aerith wrote concludes with Cloud’s most famous motif. This is also the case in her Gold Saucer performance (3:31-3:41).
V. c) iii. 3) Arrangement of Aerith’s Theme
The final piece in the credits is an arrangement of Aerith’s theme (24:28-28:47) which has noticeably similar elements to the version of her theme that plays during the Jenova Lifeclinger battle in chapter 14 (0:12-3:36), such as the female choirs. Since these female choirs are only heard in the Forgotten City version of Aerith’s theme, and since the credits arrangement of her theme plays at the same time as clips from her chapter 14 pseudo-death roll across the screen, I estimate that this credits arrangement specifically reflects the event of Aerith’s pseudo-death. Recall that composers had access to the credits video as they composed, meaning this piece is specifically written for Aerith’s pseudo-death in Rebirth.
What I find fascinating is that, just like the arrangements of her theme that play during Aerith’s pseudo-death and the Jenova Lifeclinger battle, this credits arrangement contains the sound of Cloud’s pain, rage and protest. Phrase 1 and the first three notes of phrase 2 of Cloud’s true theme section A play on the strings and brass quite loudly and insistently, just as Cloud blocking masamune appears on the credits screen (25:11-25:21). Sephiroth’s dissonant, high and screechy violins appear just as his face comes onto the screen (26:33), and almost as a protective response, phrases 1 and 2 of Cloud’s true theme’s section A return (26:47-27:00). Finally, similarly to what we hear in part 5 of “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra”, a slightly modified section A phrase 1 of Cloud’s true theme play along with section C phrase 3 of Aerith’s theme (oh wow section A and C section Aerith for Cloud’s theme and section Cloud for Aerith’s theme I just realized that’s such a cute coincidence), though unfortunately they do not meet in the middle like last time since they start two octaves apart (28:20-28:25). I’ve recreated it for you once more here so you can really appreciate it. The fact that their motifs don’t truly reunite like in “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” is sad, but the very last thing you see onscreen is Aerith’s goodbye to the Tiny Bronco (27:10-27:42), so it makes sense that this piano conclusion implies that Cloud and Aerith aligned, but not yet reunited for good. That’s exactly what you get from the ending cutscene. It does seem to imply that they will be reunited in part 3, as both the ending cutscene and this piano conclusion read as a “till we see each other again” rather than a “farewell”.

VI. Textual Evidence

Now that the musical evidence is done, let’s compile some textual story evidence that supports our theory!
VI. a) Remake Trilogy (Thus Far) Handholding Explained?
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, handholding is a motif in Cloud and Aerith’s relationship— and an extremely symbolic one at that! When researching for info to validate my theory, I found that this Clerith motif was extremely helpful! Its inclusion in the Remake trilogy, and especially in Rebirth, is hugely significant in my eyes.
VI. a) i. Pre-Remake Trilogy: Aerith’s Initiative
Before examining the significance of Clerith handholding in Remake and Rebirth, we should establish the meaning of this motif in OG and Advent Children.
Cloud and Aerith have reached out to take each other’s hands many times since 1997. Aerith used to literally drag him by the hand a lot, shocking the cold and distant merc, before she left. After her death in OG, Cloud surely longed to be able to feel her hand take his again, cursing himself for not enjoying it while she was alive, and for never being the one to grasp her hand first: he never got to tell her how he feels about her, or to save her. It was always her reaching out for him, saving him.
This is why the scene in OG when Aerith reaches for him from the Lifestream after Cloud defeats Sephiroth in chapter 3 of disk 3 is so touching: Cloud sees her hand and reaches out to take it, so close to finally establishing that mutual connection, but she soon fades, and replaced by Tifa’s hand in the tangible world. He doesn’t get to hold Aerith’s hand again.
That is, not until Advent Children, where near the end of his battle with Bahamut Sin, he sees Aerith reach out to him once again (1:08-1:30). Cloud finally gets to hold her hand for the first time in two years when he lost her. This moment was given extra importance by the devs. In fact, Nojima told us the following:

“The ending scene of the battle with Bahamut, the scene where Aerith reaches out her hand, is an homage to the last scene from a previous production. It was [Nomura]'s idea” (FFVII Reunion Files, “Story Digest”, “Summoned Beast”, page 113).

VI. a) ii. The Remake Trilogy (Thus Far): Cloud’s Initiative
As I’ve said before, if I’m right that Remake is all about Cloud stepping up to be more attentive and active in his relationship with Aerith in order to save her, there should be concrete evidence of this in the Remaketrilogy thus far. If OG Cloud’s memories of and love for Aerith exist somewhere within Remake Cloud’s subconsciousness, then Remake Cloud should be far more active in the Clerith dynamic than OG Cloud was— after all, he’s supposed to know better this time around. Thankfully, the motif of handholding can help us evaluate this. Since we know pre-Remake Cloud was quite passive when it comes to handholding, Cloud initiating handholding in the Remake trilogy would be a strong indication that our theory has validity. Keeping this in mind, let’s see what we can find thus far in the Remake trilogy in relation to handholding, and if Cloud is indeed more active than he was in OG.
VI. a) ii. 1) Hollow Hands
Remake’s theme song “Hollow” makes allusions to the handholding motif: “This time, I will never let you go” is pretty clear. And so is “No Promises to Keep”, wherein Aerith speaks of Cloud “[taking her] hand and never [letting her] go” multiple times. Interestingly, these theme song lyrics seem to suggest that Cloud will be much more active in the Remake trilogy than in OG. “Hollow” even promises that Cloud will come to his senses and take charge of the situation: “this time, [he] will” be the one to offer his hand to Aerith, unlike in OG and Advent Children. This makes a lot of sense with our theory: now that Cloud has lost Aerith once, “this time for sure, [he]’ll” be the one to reach for Aerith’s hand, take initiative and save her the way she saved him.
Even though theme songs are extremely telling of a game’s main themes and intentions, lyrics are still all talk and no proof. What about the game itself? Do Remake and Rebirth deliver on this promise? Let’s see!
VI. a) ii. 2) Resolution Hands
The only significant time Cloud initiates handholding in Remake is during Cloud’s resolution scene in chapter 14 (5:18-5:40), wherein he tries to grab Aerith’s hand but is unable to keep her with him. He fills with determination and tells her in no uncertain terms that he’s coming for her. Just as we predicted, Cloud is the active participant in this iteration of the Clerith handholding motif: he’s even explicitly insisting against Aerith’s wishes that he should “get a say in all this” and that he’s “coming for [her]”. Let’s not forget that Cloud’s resolution is meant to reflect not only Aerith’s kidnapping by Shinra, but also her fated death. Nojima implied this by commenting the following on Aerith’s “Even if you think you have, it’s not real” line:

“Those who know what befalls Aerith later on will find the line really heart-wrenching” (FFVII Remake Ultimania, section 08 “Secrets”, “Development Staff Interviews, Part 2: Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshinori Kitase, Kazushige Nojima”, page 744).

Given this note by Nojima, it looks like we’re supposed to watch Cloud’s resolution scene with Aerith’s fated death in mind. Considering this, Cloud’s “I’m coming for you” line sure seems like an subconscious promise that he will save Aerith from her tragic fate. This subconscious promise could be the result of post-OG Cloud’s feelings and intentions rising to the surface. Nevertheless, he’s absolutely determined and he’s staying true to the promise he made in “Hollow”. I think it’s fair to say that this instance of the handholding Clerith motif does indeed fit perfectly with our theory. This is only one strong example though, and we need a pattern in order to pat ourselves on the back on this. So, let’s keep looking! There isn’t any handholding initiated by Cloud beyond that point in Remake. At this point in my research, I moved on to Rebirth to go digging for handholding there.
Hoo boy. I was not disappointed.
VI. a) ii. 3) Golden Hands
Let’s begin with the obvious. In their high-affinity gondola date in chapter 12, Cloud bravely interlaces his fingers with Aerith’s: Cloud’s taken charge not only of handholding, but the most intimate kind of handholding. I’m sure you’ve encountered the phrase “こいびとつなぎ” or “koibito tsunagi by now (literally translates to “lovers’ tie” or “lovers’ connection”); this is the term used in Japanese to refer to the type of handholding Cloud initiates with Aerith on the Skywheel. It’s considered the most intimate form of handholding. In Japan, skinship is normally considered quite significant and indicative of the closeness between two people— you could say it’s a big deal. Cloud also offers Aerith his hand when they step off the Shywheel, once more making the first move. Though some might say that the Skywheel dates shouldn’t be counted as canon, I believe Aerith’s date is indeed canon (I have my reasons but this post is long enough). Even if we discount the Skywheel date however, Clerith's use of the koibito tsunagi returns in a non-optional scene we will touch on later.
For what it’s worth, Alfreid offers Rosa his hand in the Loveless play too. I can prove that Aerith is the canon Rosa too, but I’m going to save that for my next analysis! You can take my word for it now, or just wait for that analysis to drop. Take it or leave it!
VI. a) ii. 4) Meta Hands
However, the narrative weight of these Clerith handholding instances doesn’t even come close to my very favorite iteration of the handholding motif in Rebirth. I’m referring to what I consider a severely underrated Clerith moment in chapter 13. First, some context: Sephiroth manipulates Cloud into giving over the Black Materia. Cloud seems to be firmly under Sephiroth’s control. However, the sight of Aerith being swarmed by Black Whispers snaps Cloud back into the driver’s seat: he breaks out of Sephiroth’s grasp to run to her and save her. Aerith gets knocked off into a fatal free-fall by a Black Whisper before Cloud can reach her, but he won’t have it: he lunges forward, hand extended. What results is a beautiful shot of their outstretched hands (56:25-56:27).
Let’s analyze this great shot. Notice how the seconds where Cloud is reaching downwards to grasp Aerith’s hand are treated. This key moment is stretched longer by a slow-mo effect, building up the tension and drawing the audience’s focus to the distance between their hands before Cloud actually catches Aerith’s in his, fulfilling the promise he made in “Hollow”. Their hands take up the whole screen in a deliberate close-up shot. All the ambient noises of the scene go quiet: Aerith’s theme is all we hear as Cloud reaches desperately for her. These are blatant audiovisual cues, signalling to the audience that whatever is happening on screen is especially significant. We should therefore examine this specific instance of the Clerith handholding motif to see what the devs are trying to tell us, and maybe it will fit with our theory!
We should begin by comparing this Clerith hand-reach shot to previous ones. If you compare it to the Advent Children’s hand-reach that occurs during Cloud’s battle against Bahamut Sin, it’s evident that Cloud and Aerith’s roles are reversed: just as our theory states, Cloud gets out from inside his head and reaches for Aerith this time. She saved him and the world in OG, and now it’s his turn to save her. This change becomes especially evident when you juxtapose the two scenes and notice how their hands have switched places, reaching from above and below, from left and right. I think the Rebirth hand-reach was deliberately made to look like the Advent Children one —and even the OG one in disk 3, chapter 3—, just to highlight this role reversal.
This Rebirth hand-reach is my favorite out of all because it shows that Cloud is much more conscious and attentive toward Aerith in Rebirth than he was in OG. At this point in OG (disk 1, chapter 25), Cloud is meant to be beating Aerith up at Sephiroth’s command, to the horror of the rest of the party. In fact, a few minutes before Cloud rushes to save Aerith in Rebirth, he has absolutely no problem violently shoving Tifa to the ground when she gets in Sephiroth’s way (53:27-53:33). This shove and Cloud’s earlier attack on Tifa in Gongaga (Rebirth, chapter 9) proves that Sephiroth is just as capable of making Cloud hurt his party members as he was in OG… though Sephiroth can’t seem to make Cloud hurt Aerith. Why is this? Why is it that Cloud beats Aerith in OG, but doesn’t even lay a finger on her —and snaps out of Sephiroth’s control at the mere sight of her in trouble— in Rebirth?
Our theory provides the answer. In disk 1, chapter 25 of OG, Cloud had not yet realized he loved Aerith. Sephiroth was therefore able to make him hurt her. But things are different in Rebirth. The Cloud we see in the Remake trilogy has gone through the OG timeline and traveled back in time, kicking off Remake as his second try at the OG timeline— and he did this precisely because he loves Aerith. His love for her is clearer and stronger in the Remake trilogy than in OG because Remake Cloud is an amnesiac, post-OG, time-traveler Cloud. He’s been through the OG before, has fallen in love with Aerith and realized it before, so this time around, he can’t even lay a finger on her. This is made evident by how closely the moments where Cloud pushes Tifa and saves Aerith are juxtaposed, separated by mere seconds of gameplay. Merely seeing Aerith in trouble wrenched control from Sephiroth and put it in Cloud’s hands again— Sephiroth probably couldn’t have gotten Cloud to attack Aerith if he tried.
This isn’t the only time we get evidence of this though! As Cloud approaches Aerith’s praying form in the Forgotten City, Sephiroth’s Black Whispers swirl around the buster sword: Sephiroth is trying to kill Aerith with it, while Cloud’s struggle to wrench it away plays out visibly on his face. Interestingly, Cloud is not being controlled by Sephiroth here. We know this because we can quite literally see the Black Whispers trying to move his sword, but also because every time Cloud is being controlled by Sephiroth in Rebirth, he has an empty-eyed, zombie-Cloud look on his face. Either that or he laughs or smiles somewhat maniacally. There is never any resistance on his part. To see an example, simply pay attention to Cloud’s blank face as he attacks Tifa in Gongaga in chapter 9 (19:20-20:30). You’ll see the very same expression on his face if you watch this video of Cloud following Sephiroth’s orders in chapter 13 (53:36-54:15). Additionally, look at how strangely Cloud smiles (41:01) as he grasps the Black Materia. Cloud makes none of these faces as the Black Whispers try to take control of his sword: quite the opposite. Cloud looks like he’s trying his hardest to pull his weapon back down and away from Aerith, a horrified look on his face as he grunts from the effort. Once more, Sephiroth is unable to make Cloud hurt Aerith.
Back to my favorite handholding moment. Think about this devs intention for this shot for a minute. The devs have been teasing us as to whether or not Cloud will succeed in saving Aerith in the Remake trilogy since it was first announced, and this slow-mo shot of Cloud catching Aerith’s hand as she falls to her death is a reflection of this tension. The audience holds their breath during those slow-moed seconds, all that hope and fear hanging in the balance. This instance of the handholding motif is a meta way for the devs to reassure us that Cloud will indeed save Aerith. I firmly believe this.
VI. a) ii. 5) Self-Sacrificing Hands
Alright, alright, enough about my favorite! Let’s move to chapter 14 of Rebirth! There’s evidently a lot going on with Clerith in this chapter. Let’s address the Sector 5 date. The handholding is first initiated by Aerith as she tugs him toward the candy vendor and Cloud reacts with a quiet gasp (4:07-4:17). Soon, it becomes a reciprocal embrace: Cloud holds his hand out for Aerith’s and tightens his fingers around hers, smiling at her before they head to the photographer (7:07-7:17).
Then of course, when Aerith pushes Cloud into a portal in her church, you can see Cloud reach his hand up toward her desperately as he falls (17:38-17:58). What I find particularly emotional about this moment is that Aerith pushing Cloud away from her is kind of the opposite of reaching for his hand: it symbolizes Aerith accepting her fate and giving up on a life where she can be with him. This Aerith seems to be a post-OG Aerith who exists separately from the main world we experience in Rebirth, meaning she knows all too well that her fate is to die. In fact, it looks like she is the very same or a similar Aerith to the one who appeared to Cloud in his resolution scene in Remake. By literally pushing Cloud away, just like she figuratively did in Cloud’s resolution scene, she is sacrificing both herself and the happiness she could share with Cloud. She’s going against her heart’s wishes, just like she did in Cloud’s resolution scene when she would not let Cloud take her hand. Indeed, post-OG Aerith seems to be resigned to her fated death and completely devoid of hope: she only wants to ensure the planet’s survival, because she thinks she knows there is no way she can or should be with Cloud. In contrast, Cloud reaches his hand out toward Aerith as he falls into the portal, and even though he does not know that her push symbolizes her self-sacrifice, his outstretched hand represents his protest. So far, our theory is fitting beautifully.
VI. a) ii. 6) Grieving Hands
Later in chapter 14 of Rebirth, after Aerith’s death/non-death, there is more handholding. As Cloud cradles Aerith’s body close to him at the Forgotten Capital, Aerith places her hand on his cheek. Cloud covers it with his, curling his fingers around it (1:03:33-1:03:53). Before he leaves her lying down on her back to go fight Sephiroth, he squeezes her hand as he tells her “I got this”— or, per the Japanese version, “Wait for me”, meaning he’ll reunite with her once he’s done (1:04:56-1:05:10).
VI. a) ii. 7) Hero-Heroine Hands
Next, the koibito tsunagi returns as Cloud and Aerith interlace fingers back to back in a classic hero-heroine pose, right after their two-versus-one fight against Sephiroth. This time, they both reach for each other simultaneously (7:42-8:18), without even having to look down at their hands or talk to each other, as though perfectly in sync. As you can see, Aerith and Cloud are now on the same page. This is different from post-OG Aerith’s attitude in the Sector 5 church earlier in chapter 14, as well as in Cloud’s resolution scene in Remake— my interpretation of this mutual koibito tsunagi is that both of them are agreeing to hold onto each other now, with neither of them pulling back or being inattentive of the other: their priorities are now the same. It seems now they are aligned, and hopefully this means that Aerith will be working together with Cloud so they can reunite again in part 3. Even if she doesn’t prioritize her life and happiness though, we know for sure Cloud will.
VI. b) Blocking Masamune Explained?
Another piece of evidence that Cloud has been through the events of OG before is the fact that he is able to block masamune. Cloud looks up and sees Sephiroth descending with his blade poised to kill Aerith. Screaming, Cloud instantly rips the buster sword from the Black Whispers’ hold and successfully blocks masamune. Hatred and determination fill his eyes as he rallies his strength and successfully pushes Sephiroth away, saving Aerith’s life (6:00-7:26)— at least, in one reality.
Obviously, something about Cloud is different in Rebirth from in OG, otherwise, the events of Rebirth’s chapter 14 would be the same as the events of OG’s disk 1 chapter 28. In my opinion, what happened here is that upon seeing Sephiroth swoop down with masamune, Cloud remembered Aerith’s death in OG, and the post-OG Cloud’s determination to stop it came surging up from within him. This is frankly the very best proof there is that Cloud is far more ready, stable, determined, and clear-headed about Aerith in the Remake trilogy than in OG. Our theory explains why! In fact, this very moment is what our entire theory banks on: Cloud saves Aerith in one reality, as is shown by the rainbow effect produced by the event, and just like that, the promise made in “Hollow” has been fulfilled! However, now we face the question of how to make sure that Aerith is alive and by Cloud’s side when the multiverse converges again into one protected timeline. I’m sure it will be done; we will see how in part 3.
VI. c) Theme Song Lyrics
What the theme songs’ texts have to say about the trilogy so far is quite important, as they summarize the feelings of the characters they represent: Cloud and Aerith. We can glean a lot from their perspectives that could help support the Mission Theory.
VI. d) i. “Hollow” Lyrics
“Hollow”, Remake’s theme song, was written about Cloud’s feelings and rumination. Nojima confirmed that, when he was given directives for the lyric-writing, “Nomura just gave [Nojima] the keywords: ‘told from Cloud's point of view’ and ‘standing in the rain’. [Nojima] interpreted that as ‘a ballad for a man who lost something/someone important’” (Nojima and Uematsu interview “‘I wanted to put the word ‘empty’ in the theme song of Remake. That was how it started’ - Music-Related Interview Part 6: Kazunari Nojima”, by Famitsu). Our theory is about Cloud’s motivations and mission to save Aerith, so “Hollow” is especially relevant.
Let’s run through the lyrics and analyze, starting with the song’s first verse:

“I would be lost, drifting along
Floating up high, time after time
And there you'd be, shining brightly
Your smiling face to guide my way
Bloody and bruised, brought to my knees
When beaten down, when broken up
You would appear, reach out to me
Heal every wound and make me whole”

Makes sense with our theory in mind, doesn’t it? This is post-OG Cloud remembering Aerith and what she means to him. “Hollow” seems to be told from the perspective of the post-OG Cloud hidden somewhere in Remake Cloud: a suppressed or eroded part of him that remembers Aerith clearly. Or maybe it’s told by Cloud after the events of the MFF x FFVII Remake collaboration and before the start of Remake, asserting his mission to save Aerith.
Next, here are the pre-choruses:

“Was it all, a dream? Will I never know?
Foolish and blind to everything
Had I realized, had I thought it through
Would you be here in my embrace?”

&

“With your every smile, hiding something more
Dark mysteries lurking beneath
But I was consumed with this emptiness
This selfishness, this void to fill”

(continued in

I know I know... yet another Warcraft movie shill post, but hear me out:
Warcraft movies have long been a fan's daydream. As a long time fan and active player I'm no different. In fact I might have gone a bit overboard with fantasies about it, but I did some thinking and research and here's an outline of what I think can make the franchise a success and launch a potential WoW cinematic universe. I know most of this has already probably been said before, but I want to put it all in a single place where we can see if theres any way to push this to Blizzard/Microsoft and make it finally happen.
A three-part telling of the story of Arthas in streamable series format.
Part 1: The Fall of Lordaeron - We follow Arthas from his young Paladin days through the events of discovering the scourge and ending with the Purging of Stratholm. The ending with "This whole city must be purged" is an amazing finale foreshadowing the downfall of the main protagonist.
Part 2: Frostmourn Hungers - Arthas, now on a downwards spiral goes to Northrend and finds Frostmourn. This part would cover his Northrend campaign, slowly corrupting him into the Lich King's will. Includes the return to kill his father, the destruction of Quel'Thalas, resurrection of Kel'Thuzad and ultimately ends with Arthas putting on the Lich King armor and helm.
Part 3: The Lich King - Starting with the WotLK cinematic, it would follow the story of the WotLK expansion and shift focus slightly on the world banding together to defeat Arthas. The ending should be kept exactly the same - the champions of the Horde and Alliance together with Tirion defeat the Lich King exactly as it was told in the game.
Cast ideas:
It is important that the main cast and director crew are fans of WoW and its story, so they represent it well. I've picked a list of several casting choices that have either played WoW or would just fit too well with the character they portray in my opinion. The following list is more of a wish-list, but as with any production - known names bring audience.
Director - Sam Raimi. He is a WoW player and was allegedly "desperate" to direct the first Warcraft movie. Having a good director who is a fan of the lore and game is critical for the success of this (see Last of Us for example)
Arthas - Henry Cavill is the obvious, well-known, best choice. Apart from being so close to how Arthas looks, he would inevitably bring an enormous audience of non-WoW fans and almost guarantee success.
Jaina - Mila Kunis or Cameron Diaz. Both have played WoW and both can portray Jaina in a slightly different way but close to the depiction in the game. Even Ella Purnel (the Fallout role of Lucy) could do a great job here.
Tirion - Gary Oldman. He not only fits the visual representation of Tirion, but even his voice is similar. His previous roles have resemblance to the character arch of Tirion (e.g. Gordon in The Dark Knight)
Uther - Jeff Bridges. Requires no further explanation. He just is Uther.
Bolvar - Travis Fimmel. He did great as Lothar, but he would do even better as Bolvar in my opinion.
Kel'Thuzad - Ralph Fiennes. We dont have much to go off of for his visual depiction in his Human form, but Fiennes portrayal of Voldemort and Hades fits very well with this character.
Darion Mograine - Christian Bale. This is a an important character and Bale's representation of complex conflicting characters could be amazing for this.
Antonidas - Ian McKellen. Simple - nobody can portray an old wise archmage as good as him so far.
The list goes on and on and I wont try to be exhaustive here as the goal is to just give an idea of what it could look like with a star studded cast. Theres an infinite number of good choices, so theres no point in getting stuck on casting. Frankly the only choice that is non-negotiable is Cavill as Arthas in my opinion.
Main reasons why now is the time for it:
Creating a series, rather then movies, is quite crucial. If Last of Us showed us anything, it is that series allows you to tell peripheral stories really well in isolation, without distracting from the main narrative. I dont see a realistic way of telling all the different plots going into the Arthas story without butchering it. Things like The Wrathgate, The Ashbringer, Tirion's backstory, Illidan and his quest against Arthas, etc. would feel out of place in a movie, but quite natural in a series. There is no other way to tell WoW lore along the main story and open up the doors for cinematic universe of movies and series stemming from this main branch.
Streaming services have allowed series to evolve and tell stories in a way that movies never could. They have started a great trend of bringing games to the big screen. This trend seems to be getting stronger and stronger. Classic WoW showed that Warcraft fans are here and hungry for the epicness of the original games. The hype is there. WotLK just ended, so the nostalgia will start crippling in. We just defeated the Lich King, now its time to see the story told in its full potential.
Blizzard appears to be on a downward trend with WoW subs and are seemingly desperate for cash and ideas of bringing the playerbase back into the game in full swing. What better way then telling this story and potentially turning the whole world to fans who would at least want to try the game after watching a great series? Just think of Cavill as Arthas and the amount of wives/gfs who would suddenly find out that WoW might be cool :D
Microsoft taking ownership of Blizzard is another positive - Fallout is part of Microsoft and it is doing great as a series. This might suggest that Microsoft understands the potential of those franchises coming to the screen and being very successful on their own, while bringing lots of new players to the game, thus increasing profits in two separate streams.
If Last of Us, Witcher and Fallout are doing so well - think of the game that everyone and their mother knows. If there was ever a game that virtually everyone knows, has a story that is perfect to film and has great names in the industry passionate about - it is World of Warcraft. Jumping on this band wagon, WoW has a history of coming to the scene and becoming the king. It would be no different as series - the one that makes them all pale in comparison.
It is what WoW has been leading up to. It is what it was destined to become.
This wont be just a success. This would be a grand slam.
P.S. If you agree with me, help me get a petition or buzz going. I'm a noob at this, but classic wow happened with community effort. This can happen too if we will it into existance. If anyone knows how to do this - let me know.