Region is NA, cannot do gift links - only keys. Leave a comment if you see something you like!
Have:
A Hat in Time Aeterna Noctis Aliens Fireteam Elite AMANDA THE ADVENTURER Armello Batman - The Telltale Series Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery Beholder Bendy and the Dark Revival BLACK SKYLANDS Bone - Episode 1 & Episode 2 BRAVERY AND GREED Cities: Skylines - Green Cities CITIZEN SLEEPER Cook, Serve, Delicious! Cursed Castilla (Maldita Castilla EX) Dead Rising 2 Dead Rising 2: Off the Record DESTROYER: THE U-BOAT HUNTER DmC: Devil May Cry ELEX II Eterium Forged Battalion Founders Fortune FROM SPACE Galactic Civilizations® III Galactic Missile Defense Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy HackyZack Hector: Badge of Carnage HIVESWAP: Act 1 Holy Potatoes! We're in Space?! Home INK Deluxe Edition Jurassic Park: The Game Kero Blaster KING OF THE CASTLE Kona LAST CALL BBS Last Day of June LiEat Life is Strange 2 Life is Strange Complete Season (Episodes 1-5) LODDLENAUT Lost Castle MEDITERRANEA INFERNO MIDNIGHT FIGHT EXPRESS Minecraft: Story Mode - A Telltale Games Series Minecraft: Story Mode - Adventure Pass Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight Monster Camp Mr. Shifty Nongünz Offworld Trading Company Orwell: Keeping an Eye On You Overcooked Overgrowth Pathologic Classic HD Pillars of Eternity Poker Night at the Inventory Punch Club Puzzle Agent Puzzle Agent 2 Quantum Break Resident Evil 0 HD REMASTER Resident Evil 6 Resident Evil HD REMASTER Revita Salt and Sanctuary Sam & Max: Devil's Playhouse Sam & Max: Season 1 Sam & Max: Season 2 Scanner Sombre Seasons After Fall SimplePlanes Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition Solstice Splasher Stories Untold STRIDER™ Sudden Strike 4 Tales from the Borderlands Telltale Texas Hold'em Tempest: Pirate Action RPG The Escapists 2 THE GUNK The Invisible Hand The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante THE PALE BEYOND The Shrouded Isle The Surge The Walking Dead: 400 Days The Walking Dead: Michonne - A Telltale Miniseries The Walking Dead: Season 1 The Walking Dead: Season 2 The Wolf Among Us Tiny Echo Umbrella Corps™ Umbrella Corps™ Deluxe Edition Upgrade Pack Uncanny Valley War for the Overworld Wargame: Red Dragon Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III WARHAMMER AGE OF SIGMAR: REALMS OF RUIN – ULTIMATE EDITION Windjammers 2 Worms W.M.D Wuppo
Want:
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice Jurrasic World Evolution 2 Devil May Cry 5 Hades Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Manor Lords Vampyr Doom Eternal Dwarf Fortress Evil West Space Haven Remnant 2 Mars First Logistics Darkest Dungeon 2 Armored Core IV Dredge Stray NieR:Automata GOTY Ghosts of Tsushima

News Link: https://www.einpresswire.com/article/711978879/herborium-group-signs-agreement-with-stardust-holdings-for-funding-support-for-skintell-intelligent-skin-co
Artificial Intelligence Powered First "Intelligent Skin is In™"
Herborium Group, Inc (OTCMKTS:HBRM)
HOUSTON, TEXAS, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, May 16, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Herborium^® Group, Inc. (OTC Pink: HBRM), www.acnease.com ; a Botanical Therapeutics^® Company, the provider of proprietary, botanical, medicinal products and integrative, science centered content targeting skin-health, skin wellness and beauty, signed a Non-exclusive Agreement with Stardust Holdings LLC of Vancouver, Canada to secure funding necessary do develop and grow SKINTELL^®, its Artificial Intelligence Powered Intelligent Skin Subsidiary.
SKINTELL^® houses an artificial intelligence (AI) driven platform designed to meet the needs of the $300 Billion Skin-Health and Skincare Market. The SKINTELL^® Intelligent Skin Platform will deliver precise, multi-point diagnosis and curated, personalized, and integrated solution focused (not brand driven) products, content, and services. Those uniquely bundled deliverables target a broad spectrum of needs of consumers and business customers in the skin health/ skincare sector.
It is expected that the world’s top companies will invest $1 trillion over the next five years in AI, with most of it going to new data centers. This is where SKINTELL^® Intelligent Skin AI Platform meets the needs of the future. SKINTELL’s^® Mission is to maximize the personalized benefits for the members of its community through the accurate and perpetual adjustment and expansion of the most to date and accurate knowhow data base.
The complex and rapidly evolving skin-health/skincare sector is projected to reach globally close to $300 Billion by 2031. According to Market Future’s Research Report from March 2023, exponential growth is also expected in the global Natural and Organic Cosmetic Market sub-sector which is projected to more than double from $41.38 Billion in 2023 to $85.47 Billion by 2031. The estimated increase for the same period in the US market alone is projected to be over 33%. The growing level of expenditures on health and selfcare, coupled with increasing consumer awareness about chemicals and their potential adverse effects are major drivers of this growth. Herborium Group has been blazing the innovative natural path in the skin-health /skincare sector for almost two decades and is now ready to use AI technology to advance it further, and to incorporate AI to drive its “Intelligent Skin is In” Program.
Stardust Holdings Ltd. was established in 1986 and has been in business as a financial facilitator for companies in a wide range of industries. The president, Dr. Ted Robinson, is a surgeon who orients Stardust towards the medical industry and companies that can benefit patients in North America, Asia, Europe and elsewhere. He has a particular penchant for natural health products because they lack the side effects of treatments that often involve chemically derived pharmaceuticals. Over the past years the total capital raised and being raised by Stardust Holdings is in the range of $2 Billion USD.
“The due diligence that Stardust has conducted on Herborium’s products and performance, coupled with SKINTELL's unique mission, capabilities and opportunities provides a strong indicator of a bright future for both entities that are worthy of the support that Stardust is providing. Stardust looks forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with Herborium and SKINTELL." Commented Dr. Robinson
“We are both - proud and hopeful to be able to count Stardust Holdings as our supporter. We believe that with Stardust assistance SKINTELL^® will become an important and valuable force in the Skin Health/Skincare space.” Commented Dr Agnes P. Olszewski, CEO of Herborium and President of SKINTELL^®.

I've a thesis due at the end of the summer for a Master's in History, and I'm working, but I'm a bit lonely, too ;-) Keep me company while I write? I'm a decent writer, I have a plan forward, I need to execute.
I'm an interesting person, I love history (duh), books, reading, music, being outdoors, curling up inside, you name it, I have interests. I can hold a conversation well and love talking about almost anything. I really enjoy hearing about other people's lives in different places. I really love to travel, have done so quite a lot and can't wait to do more!
I'm in between Corpus and Houston and can drive to both Austin and San Antonio in a couple of hours, so I've traveled a lot between those 4 places. I've also lived all over the country, South Korea, Iraq, and Kuwait, so I know the world beyond Texas LOL.
Hmmm, What else should I add? Oh, I'm 5'4" and 240lbs. The curves have curves. I look my age, but am pretty danged beautiful regardless, blondish hair, brown eyes, If we get actually to talking and get along I'll share a picture but I don't want anyone getting any pie-in-the-sky mental images of me that are so far from the truth that they'll be disappointed when they actually see me LOL.

April1,2025 Next Bridge Hydrocarbons Announces Transactions MIDLAND, TEXAS – April 1, 2024 – Next Bridge Hydrocarbons, Inc. (“Next Bridge,” “our,” “we,” or the “Company”), an oil and natural gas exploration and production company with interests in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma announced today the following:
Next Bridge has purchased portions of four drilling prospects from Wildcat SPV in exchange for 2,500,000 shares of Next Bridge common stock. They are the Valentine, Panther, Cowboy, and Packer Prospects, all located in southern Louisiana. Chairman and CEO Greg McCabe ("McCabe") had retained varying overriding royalty and working interests after payout on these prospects from a previous financial transaction. In order to facilitate the sales below, McCabe has agreed to forego the 25% working interest after payout he had previously, while retaining his overriding royalty interest.
The Company is pleased to announce it has already sold its ownership in both the Valentine and Panther Prospects to an undisclosed party for net revenue of $1,093,000. Additionally, Next Bridge will receive a $240,000 spud fee on the first well of the Valentine and an $80,000 spud fee on the Panther, while retaining its proportionate share of all associated deep rights below 19,500' in the Valentine Prospect. Next Bridge has also retained the option, but not obligation, to participate in various working interests in the drilling of the two prospects.
Next Bridge is also pleased to announce it has entered into a letter of intent to sell its retained right to participate in the working interest leasehold in the Valentine Prospect. Next Bridge will continue to market the Cowboy and Packer Prospects, the deep rights on the Valentine Prospect, and their option to participate in the Panther Prospect drilling.
McCabe stated, "While the Orogrande asset is still our primary focus, I have made the decision with full Board support to expand into what we deem to be world-class exploration prospects. I am truly excited about these new efforts moving forward."
About Next Bridge Hydrocarbons, Inc.
The Company is an independent public reporting energy company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, exploitation and/or development of oil and natural gas properties in the United States. Our primary focus has been the development of interests in an oil and gas project consisting of 134,000 contiguous gross acres we hold in the Orogrande Basin in West Texas in Hudspeth County, Texas. In addition, we have minor interests in the Eastern edge of the Midland Basin in Texas, and two minor well interests in Oklahoma. Please visit www.nextbridgehydrocarbons.com for more information.
Next Bridge is a private company insofar as its shares of common stock are not traded on a public stock exchange of any kind. The Company is expected to update its shareholders about certain operational and financial updates related to the Company’s business. To receive timely emails with respect to these corporate developments, please visit https://www.nextbridgehydrocarbons.com/investors and complete the Email Alert/Investor Form. You may also choose to follow our social media channels at @nbhydrocarbons on X (formerly known as Twitter) and “Next Bridge Hydrocarbons” on LinkedIn.
This statement may contain "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described herein. Although the Company believes the expectations in such statements to be reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Information concerning the assumptions, uncertainties and risks that may affect the actual results can be found in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") available on the Company’s website or the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
Contact: Dennard Lascar Investor Relations NextBridge@dennardlascar.com Next Bridge Hydrocarbons Announces Transactions MIDLAND, TEXAS – April 1, 2024 – Next Bridge Hydrocarbons, Inc. (“Next Bridge,” “our,” “we,” or the “Company”), an oil and natural gas exploration and production company with interests in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma announced today the following:
Next Bridge has purchased portions of four drilling prospects from Wildcat SPV in exchange for 2,500,000 shares of Next Bridge common stock. They are the Valentine, Panther, Cowboy, and Packer Prospects, all located in southern Louisiana. Chairman and CEO Greg McCabe ("McCabe") had retained varying overriding royalty and working interests after payout on these prospects from a previous financial transaction. In order to facilitate the sales below, McCabe has agreed to forego the 25% working interest after payout he had previously, while retaining his overriding royalty interest.
The Company is pleased to announce it has already sold its ownership in both the Valentine and Panther Prospects to an undisclosed party for net revenue of $1,093,000. Additionally, Next Bridge will receive a $240,000 spud fee on the first well of the Valentine and an $80,000 spud fee on the Panther, while retaining its proportionate share of all associated deep rights below 19,500' in the Valentine Prospect. Next Bridge has also retained the option, but not obligation, to participate in various working interests in the drilling of the two prospects.
Next Bridge is also pleased to announce it has entered into a letter of intent to sell its retained right to participate in the working interest leasehold in the Valentine Prospect. Next Bridge will continue to market the Cowboy and Packer Prospects, the deep rights on the Valentine Prospect, and their option to participate in the Panther Prospect drilling.
McCabe stated, "While the Orogrande asset is still our primary focus, I have made the decision with full Board support to expand into what we deem to be world-class exploration prospects. I am truly excited about these new efforts moving forward."
About Next Bridge Hydrocarbons, Inc.
The Company is an independent public reporting energy company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, exploitation and/or development of oil and natural gas properties in the United States. Our primary focus has been the development of interests in an oil and gas project consisting of 134,000 contiguous gross acres we hold in the Orogrande Basin in West Texas in Hudspeth County, Texas. In addition, we have minor interests in the Eastern edge of the Midland Basin in Texas, and two minor well interests in Oklahoma. Please visit www.nextbridgehydrocarbons.com for more information.
Next Bridge is a private company insofar as its shares of common stock are not traded on a public stock exchange of any kind. The Company is expected to update its shareholders about certain operational and financial updates related to the Company’s business. To receive timely emails with respect to these corporate developments, please visit https://www.nextbridgehydrocarbons.com/investors and complete the Email Alert/Investor Form. You may also choose to follow our social media channels at @nbhydrocarbons on X (formerly known as Twitter) and “Next Bridge Hydrocarbons” on LinkedIn.
This statement may contain "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described herein. Although the Company believes the expectations in such statements to be reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Information concerning the assumptions, uncertainties and risks that may affect the actual results can be found in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") available on the Company’s website or the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
Contact: Dennard Lascar Investor Relations NextBridge@dennardlascar.com

223% up today and FFIE isn't doing to bad today either !!

I've been knocking ideas around for a while for a "do-it-all" static allocation, suitable for accumulation and decumulation, easier to hold through drawdowns than more typical portfolios, and so on. I appear to have stumbled on something with the following features:

• Very high CAGR over the test period, and good reason to believe that it will perform well going forward, and would have farther back if these instruments had existed then.
  
• Max drawdown size and length about half of that of the S&P.
  
• Exposure to several asset classes.
  
• Setup and maintenance are simple (just hold four funds in equal measure and rebalance annually or quarterly).
  
• No portfolio-level leverage.
  

Here's a quick backtest with simulated tickers for the funds that haven't existed for as long as this data has. Unfortunately we can only go back to December 2005.
And a backtest of actual funds you can use for this to demonstrate that the data above tracks what you would have seen if you had used real funds.
All backtests here are inflation-adjusted. You can't eat nominal returns, after all. Now let's talk about the components of this portfolio and why I believe they work. All of the below held at 25% a pop.

• SVIX - the primary driver of returns. This is a constant short vol exposure, doing basically what XIV used to do (short VIX futures), but not exposed to the same rebalancing risk. You would still expect this fund to lose half or more of its value in a matter of days every now and then. That's a feature. Think of this as a highly leveraged equity position without the risk of a grinding bear market like 2000-2002 causing you to rebalance continually into a losing position. The one sticking point I have with this fund is that it could still delist at the bottom of a deep drawdown, but you can change that out for something like UPRO if that happens. Not an ideal solution, but it won't blow your account up either.
  
• DBMF - trend following managed futures to introduce a more or less all-weather diversifier with positive skewness into the strategy.
  
• ZROZ - the longest end of the treasury curve for a huge helping of duration risk to keep you afloat during deflationary environments like 2008.
  
• Gold (IAUM used above) - a large contribution of volatility in an uncorrelated manner to the rest of what's here, and will help you out during and immediately after periods of monetary expansion. In environments where ZROZ is unhelpful (like the last couple years), gold should fare much better.
  

Here's the above backtest put alongside each of its constituents, so you can see how each is contributing/detracting at particular times over the test period.
You will note that there is no direct equity exposure. Instead you have a quarter of the portfolio invested in an instrument that rips when equities are doing well and suddenly (rather than slowly) crashes, allowing you to rebalance back into it after vol has already spiked. The other three quarters consist of diversifiers that both contribute meaningful amounts of vol to the overall portfolio and are expected to do well in different kinds of macro shocks.
I am not personally invested in this strategy, and I only came up with this yesterday, but the chart alone seems to merit further research. What do you all make of it?

Hi all, I'll be honest, not sure what I'm doing here, but figured I'd (22M) just need to throw these thoughts into the world and see if anybody can relate. I also wanna preface that I've been to therapy, but it hasn't really improved anything, just greatly helped my emotional intelligence and understanding of my own issues.
To put it simply, I'm struggling with the realization that unlike the other men in my family, I just don't really have that spark with women. I was raised by a father that was phenomenal with women. To this day his charisma can still turn a few heads. Which wasn't too annoying growing up (Outside of the times he'd get free service at restaurants from it and I didn't >:( But it created an unrealistic expectation that I think I've really struggled with. I just kind of expected things to work out since I was armed with the advice of "Let them come to you." That happened for the other men in my life. My brother was blessed with incredible eyes and a personality you just find enigmatic and captivating. Every romantic entanglement he ever had was a result of being approached. My male cousins made one approach and ended up with the love of their lives in college. I couldn't be happier for them. But I've come to an unfortunate realization.
That just isn't the case for me.
I definitely have my theories of why, but to start, it's not for superficial reasons. I'm the tallest in my family (Which I know isn't the end all be all), I'm the most physically fit, I've been called funny and entertaining plenty, etc. But despite that, I've never really picked up on someone indicating to me they're interested. I didn't get that stroke of luck of having someone else to make the first move when I was in high school. In the world's defense, I wasn't exactly focused on it. I was a late bloomer, and only realized that I wanted a relationship/sex/etc. when I graduated HS, right in the middle of covid. In college, I made the mistake of focusing on my studies and trying to set myself up for the future (Great idea but the gamble didn't quite work out!) I feel like I'm EXTREMELY behind developmentally because of the beliefs I was raised with and the experiences I'd witnessed with the other men in my family. Not to say I'm bad at socializing or anything. A few of my best friends are women. That being said, it didn't help that most of my college friends were recluses (But amazing god bless em!) queer friends, or unfortunately the occasional misogynist. Didn't have many friends to get advice from when it came to dating. So now I'm kind of stuck. I don't know where to find people, and when I do I have no urge to approach them. It's not fear of rejection, I'm trying to go into business, rejection is the name of the game and I'm the king of it lol. But there's something holding me back. Same case if they say yes (Only ever happened on dating apps), I lose interest since I have no idea what to do. Fear of something I guess. I don't know if it's low self confidence, since I love myself very much and in all matters outside of dating I'm extremely confident. Maybe a fear of the unknown? A fear of not knowing how things work? Hell if I know haha.
I don't know whether to blame my dad for giving me terrible advice, my family members for getting lucky in this specific regard (I've been blessed in other ways for sure and am extremely grateful), or myself for letting it get this far. Maybe there's no one to blame and I'm just in a sucky mood! But now I'm fresh out of college, unemployed, no car, and a little hopeless. I know right now I'm not in a good space for dating just due to not having my shit together, but I'm afraid for the future. I already have very little experience, and in the time it will take to be "ready" to date, I fear I'm only going to get worse.
How can I start to better myself now that you know my story? Thanks for coming to my long-winded ted talk! I appreciate all of you.

Sharing my experience, because I wish I had heard about experiences like mine before buying.
I chose the Olympia Express Cremina because I wanted a manual lever machine for a more physical experience of connecting with the process of making espresso. I enjoy the physical aspects of the endless search for perfection of archery and imagined a similar process with a manual lever. Also, after two pump replacements on my last machine, I appreciated the simplicity—fewer parts to break.
While shopping for a manual machine, I was struck by all the glowing reviews about the Cremina in terms of build quality in contrast with more tongue in cheek descriptions of the engineering and build quality behind Italian-made machines. The Cremina cost a lot more, but it seemed to hold its value for a very long time, so I decided to order a new machine from Cerini Coffee and have it shipped to me.
The buying experience was easy and convenient, and the box arrived quickly and extremely well packed.
I unpacked the box and set it up right away. To my chagrin, the machine wouldn’t stop hissing and spraying steam and water around the kitchen.
I emailed Cerini Coffee about the situation. Johnny Cerini wrote back the next day saying he thought it was a bad pressurestat and asking if I can install it if he sends me a new one. I agreed, since that sounded quicker and easier for me than shipping the whole machine back and forth.
The new part came a few days later. I installed it, and the machine was up and running.
I enjoyed learning to make espresso and coffee drinks with the machine as much as I thought I would. Once I got over the initial learning curve, I could consistently pull very good shots. I got into a routine of turning the machine on first thing every morning, making a few drinks over a few hours, and turning it off before noon.
Fast forward a few months…
On rare occasions, the machine would start hissing and blowing steam from the safety valve. I’d turn it off, and it would work fine the next time I wanted to use it. This became more and more frequent over time until the machine became virtually unusable by the time it was a year old.
I wondered if the new pressurestat had been slowly failing again. I looked inside the machine and also noticed burnt wiring around the power switch. So I emailed Johnny again. No response.
I called a week later and talked to Johnny on the phone. He agreed it sounded like the pressurestat failed again and said he’d get back to me. That was 72 days ago.
I followed up multiple times by email and phone to try to find out what was going on, but the only response I got back was a one line email a month ago saying they were out of pressurestats and waiting for more to arrive.
This makes me think there may be a design flaw in the current run of that part, and so they can’t keep them in stock. I suspect there are other people with expensive boat anchors on the countertop waiting for this bad part to be in stock somewhere.
Whatever the case, I regret buying this machine. I very much enjoy the machine when it works, but it doesn’t work, and the warranty service is not what I expected. Caveat Emptor.

I'm rather nerdy. I spend most of my days at home hanging out with the cats. I've loved art ever since I was very young. I have big ambitions to have my own graphic design gig some day.
I love video games. I got a lot to play on. PS5, Xbox One, Switch, Meta Quest 2, and my iPad. So, like, pretty much everything but PC 😅 I also collect PS1 & 2 games to play on my PlayStation 2. In recent years I've been very casual with my gaming, playing a lot of platformers and survival/crafting games. I'll play a bit of everthing, though, except, like, sports games.
I love tabletop games. Star Wars Legion, Warhammer 40K/AoS, Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon TCG, Digimon TCG, and Lorcana. I love to paint miniatures as well, but it's a bit of a struggle to actually get people to play with me. Never really gotten the chance to play an TTRPG, but would love to. I suffer from a bit of learning curve.
I love music. Dance Gavin Dance, Papa Roach, Twenty-One Pilots, A Day To Remember, stuff like that. Bit of an elder emo. I wish I could play an instrument, but I fear I may be tone deaf 🙃
I love Marvel. Spider-Man's probably my favorite.
I love Harry Potter. Pretty sure my house is Hufflepuff.
Huge fan of The Office. I've seen the whole series countless times.
I love horror movies and got into true crime on YouTube few years ago. My favorite horror movie is probably The Blair Witch Project, second to the 2003 Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
I love anime and manga. Demon Slayer is by far my favorite. I also really love Fullmetal Alchemist, Attack on Titan, Digimon, Dragon Ball, and Sword Art Online.
I'm doin' a Japanese course on Duolingo.
I love baking, coffee, and grilling. I don't have too much confidence in my cooking skills 😅 I'm rather adept at baking though, and I love smoked meats 🤤
🟢4 20 friendly because some seem confused🟢

Floating the Comal River

Floating the Comal River is a favorite pastime in New Braunfels, offering a relaxing and scenic experience. Here's a quick guide on the best spots to park and enter the river:
Prince Solms Park Entry: - This popular entry point near the Float In is still accessible, but they now charge a fee of around $8. - If you're looking to save some money, head to the second entrance closer to Hinman Island. You'll only need to pay the compulsory $2 float fee here.
Parking Tips: - Finding parking downtown can be challenging. A great alternative is parking at the Landa Aquatic Center for free. From there, you can enter the river further upstream, cross from where Texas Tubes put in, and float down to exit after the tube chute. - Another option is to get a parking pass from Das Rec, allowing you to park next to the playground area and golf course.
Local Tips: - Some locals refer to the fee at the Prince Solms gate as a "tourist tax." By showing a New Braunfels water bill, residents might get a discount. - If you're entering through Hinman Island and already have your $2 wristband, you won't have to pay any additional fees.
Enjoy your float and the beautiful scenery along the Comal River!

Paddle TX Fun

Looking for a unique outdoor adventure? Check out Paddle TX Fun! They offer a variety of paddleboarding and kayaking experiences on the beautiful Guadalupe River. You can book your adventure here.

• Location: 123 River Road, New Braunfels, TX
• Phone: (830) 555-1234

Brauntex Theatre Upcoming Events

The Brauntex Theatre has an exciting lineup for the 2024-25 season! Here are some highlights:

• Branch Out Dance Academy presents "Dancing Under the Big Top"
  
  • Dates: Friday, May 17th & Saturday, May 18th at 7:00 PM
• Summer Cinema: The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  
  • Date: June 5th, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
• Molly Hatchet in Concert
  
  • Date: June 6th

For more information and discount package options, visit Brauntex Theatre.

Upcoming Bands at Krause’s Café

Krause’s Café is hosting some fantastic live music this month:

• Armadillo Detour
  
  • Date: May 16th, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
• X Factory
  
  • Date: May 17th, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
• Colton's Kin
  
  • Date: May 18th, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
• Yesenia & The Groove Doctors
  
  • Date: May 18th, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
• Masskrugstemmen - Bier Stein Holding Contest
  
  • Date: May 18th, 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM
• Cactus Country
  
  • Date: May 19th, 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
• Kade Isakson
  
  • Date: May 19th, 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Upcoming Bands at Gruene Hall

Gruene Hall, Texas' oldest dance hall, also has an incredible lineup:

• Blues Traveler
  
  • Date: May 16th, 8:00 PM
  • Tickets: $55
• Pony Bradshaw
  
  • Date: May 17th, 8:00 PM
  • Tickets: $20
• Bo Phillips Band
  
  • Date: May 18th, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
  • Free
• Jack Ingram
  
  • Date: May 18th, 9:00 PM
  • Tickets: $20
• The Outlaw Firm feat. John Arthur Martinez
  
  • Date: May 19th, 12:30 PM - 4:30 PM
  • Free
• Matt Kirk & the Gueyfarers
  
  • Date: May 19th, 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM
  • Free
• Bret Graham
  
  • Date: May 20th, 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
  • Free

Enjoy the vibrant music scene and exciting events New Braunfels has to offer!

I made Pizza Gang Server as sort of an overflow for servers like W.C.S and DarkGru. Server has 64 player slots, will rotate between the smaller maps & scenarios like Nothern/Southern Everon and Arland. Pizza Gang Server is just a place to dick around if everything full. No admin or discord, players will need to police themselves (Ain’t no one trying to baby sit you ding dongs). RHS is the primary mod used for modern equipment. I’m not gunna stack a ton of mods for modern equipment, RHS has plenty and I’m lazy.
Server is located in Dallas, Texas. Server provider is GPortal. For me the browser ping is incorrect, it shows as 130 ping in the browser but in game it’s like 20 ping (I’m in Texas).
I ain’t gunna blow this sub Reddit up with adverts so any issues lay’em out in this thread and I’ll deal with it if I’m not too high and feel like it. ✌️

Hello everyone,
As the title says, I am an atheist (raised Evangelical Lutheran), and my wife is a Christian (also raised Evangelical Lutheran, same organization). We have been together for about 7 years, married for 4.
I often see hesitancy when it comes to having relationships with religious folk on this sub, which is honestly entirely warranted. It can be a tough thing to navigate, and I thought I'd share my experiences just in case it's helpful to anyone. I'd also be interested in the discussion that follows.
I was an atheist for a number of years before I started dating my wife. Early on in our relationship we were honest with each-other about our beliefs and how they affect our worldview. We found it really important to respect each-other's right to hold different beliefs, even if we (particularly I) don't necessarily respect the beliefs themselves. We agreed to discard any expectation of change for one-another, and we didn't want the relationship to be built on false expectations. As you can imagine, I'd love for her to deprogram from her religious views and she'd love for me to be inspired by that sneaky ol' Holy Ghost, but we put that aside out of fairness for each other.
Of course this comes with some minor irritations. When I want to nerd out about space-time or evolution, I have to find others to share my discoveries with. Also she has a tough time with the alien conversation, but all things considered this has worked out well for us.
We are both quite progressive in ideology, which does make her an outlier within the religious organization she is a part of. She has a wonderful sense of empathy that I adore about her, and is a supporter of things like LGBTQ+ rights among many other common progressive ideologies. I would argue some of these beliefs may be antithetical to the christian ideology, but she has her own rationalizations for her progressive outlook and I think the ends justify the means in that regard. We also both share a negative view (understatement of the year) of the hateful rhetoric of most religious groups in the US.
We currently have a little toddler that we both love dearly, and leading up to having a child we had lots of discussions about how to manage our different belief systems regarding a child. We would both like to share our views with our little kiddo, but don't want to actively undermine each-other either. I imagine there will be a bit of a learning curve when it comes to this, but we've established a few 'rules' for our discussions with the little one until she's old enough to make her own decisions. It was a necessity that we agreed she gets to make her own decisions about religion when she is old enough to understand the nuances of the topic, and we agreed that she's allowed to believe whatever she chooses. If that means she ends up disagreeing with both of us and subscribing to Hinduism or something, so be it. We've established that we don't want her to be a science-denier, or unsympathetic to those different than her or as you often see in religious communities. We want to instill in her a respect for those different than us, and I think this common ground has made the conversation simpler. If anyone has any questions about this I'd be happy to answer them.
Of course, I do have to say most conservative christian women may not hold similar worldviews. I can count the number of christian women in my life that think like this on one hand. Things of course may have been simpler if I married an atheist or she married a christian, but we love the life we've built and are dedicated to making it work. We try to be honest with each-other and anticipate difficult situations which I think makes all the difference. It's not a perfect system. I know it still makes her a little sad thinking about me kicking it with Satan in Florida when I die, and I'd like for her to let me nerd out about evolution sometimes, but it's worked well for us so far.

(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