I was one of the first <100 people to buy the i13900k and the Asus ProArt z790 Creator. I say that because I have been patient with all parties since this are new gen devices... but it's been a grueling ride thus far.
Anyway:
Asus ProArt z790 Creator
i13900k
2x Samsung 990 Pro nvme SSDs (in top slot (2_1 I believe?) and have moved other SSD around slots 2 3 and 4 with no luck)
GPU blocks 1 of the nvme ports so it's annoying to move these around.
Enabled RAID0 configs in bios (obviously upgraded bios to latest version). Do not have Legacy boot enabled. Have Windows UEFI enabled. VMD enabled for both pcie and SATA, tried disabling one another as well. Tried everything I could think of in BIOS.
Downloaded the VMD IRST driver from Asus website, specifically for this board.
I boot from either a Windows 10 or 11 USB installer. I finally make it to the pre-install phase. No storage listed. I think load the driver. Success! I see the RAID.
I format, it partitions, the pre-install gets all the way to the finish line and then fails with the error "windows could not prepare the computer to boot into the next phase of installation windows". I went into the command prompt and searched for logs but they really didn't have much in them that I could find.
I thought to myself, ok this now is a Windows or Intel Driver issue. I then tried to load Debian Linux installer. It found the RAID which was nice, said it was writing all 0s to erase it, but again, could not access it properly to write the install.
Thus... I am at a loss. I have seen other people successfully run RAID0 or RAID1 on this. And before the Reddit keyboard warriors derail this and ask why RAID, blah blah blah, it's because at 64 or 128 the RAID provides signif performance improvements when editing 4k video files, moving big files across my 10G LAN (10G NIC was why I got this mobo), etc.
Any help would be really great. Else, I'll wait another week for ASUS Tier 1 to ask me the same questions I've answered 4x already... over email. Troubleshooting over email, getting a different person each time, no phone or live sharescreens is just outrageous. So I've turned to the Reddit experts to help and also make fun of me I'm sure lol

Readers, subscribers, and friends of Xbox on Reddit:
Effective immediately, Xbox is implementing new subreddit rules. The new sub rules are essentially a revised version of the rules already in place in XboxSeriesX and XboxOne. The full rules text is shown at the bottom of this post, and can also be viewed at any time in mobile apps under "Learn more about this community / Community Info" and also in the sidebar for desktop web browser users.
The biggest rules changes that will affect everyone here are:

• No Tech Support posts, or 'What to buy?' or 'Help me decide' posts. These posts and questions will be removed and the poster referred to XboxSupport or the Microsoft official support channels.
  
• All posts must be properly flaired.
  
• Sundays are now open 'Community Days' for posting achievements, fan art, showing off your setups, collections, etc.
  

To enforce the new Xbox rules, we have added a number of experienced Reddit moderators who are also Xbox users themselves. Welcome aboard guys!
If you like helping other Xbox users with their support issues, then please consider joining XboxSupport as these types of posts will no longer show up here in Xbox.
That's all for now. Hopefully this all goes smoothly :) and leads to a better overall Reddit community.
THE NEW XBOX COMMUNITY RULES

1. Keep Discussion Civil

• Discuss the topic, not other users.
• Personal attacks of any kind are disallowed.
• Be respectful, even in disagreement.
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• Racism, bigotry, and other prejudice will result in immediate user removal.

2. No Console Wars/Trolling/Constant Negativity

This community has zero tolerance for obvious trolling or other disruptive behavior. Criticism is an important part of any healthy community, but constant negativity may be actioned based on user history and related context.

3. No Tech/Support/Help Topics

The following topics are disallowed.

• Tech and support - this includes account, setup, hardware, compatibility, and similar topics
  
• Requests for gameplay help
  
• 'What to buy?' or 'Help me decide" topics
  

4. Reposts and Frequently Posted Topics Will Be Removed

Please use the search feature before posting!

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This includes jailbreaking, account sharing, region switching (for price exploitation), homebrew/emulation and all similar not officially supported features.

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10. Sundays are 'Community Days'

On Sundays starting at 12:00 am ET users will be allowed to make posts showcasing achievements, setups, collections, controller mods, fan art, and similar content. Posts must be positively received and non-hostile in nature. This content will otherwise be removed.

Hi Everyone,
Our family is getting very close to buying a cargo E-Bike, but we are having a hard time choosing between the Benno Boost and the Benno Remi Demi.
We have one child, a five year old. Our hope is to haul her around on the bike to go school, go to get ice cream, visit friends, etc.. The rides will all be within 15 miles from home. However, we live in Vermont and the terrain is very hilly. I ride gravel on my acoustic bike and my average ride is about 1200ft of climbing for every 10 miles of distance, some of our hills are quite steep; the road we live on has a section that is 19%.
The bike, with myself and my kiddo, will have about 210 lbs of payload on it.
The two bikes that I listed as options are options because they are on Upway right now. Our budget makes Upway our only choice for buying an E-bike. Those bikes on Upway have the Bosch Performance Motor, with 65nm of torque. I can get a Boost that is class 3 for extra money, the Remi Demi only comes in Class 1.
Unfortunately, cause this is Vermont, there is no where to go try these bikes that isn’t 3 hours away. Nor would I want to go waste a LBS’s time when I don’t intend on buying the bike from them.
What do you guys think? Will either of these bikes have enough guts to climb our hills and not feel bogged down? Have your ridden both of these bikes, which did you prefer and why?
Thanks so much for any help in this decision!

Axiom Prep Center is a Custom Prep & Returns Management Solutions company for Amazon FBA, Ebay, Walmart, Shopify & Etsy
Axion helps you recoup every dollar possible on the returns you receive from FBA, WFS, and all other D2C commerce. Axion can handle all of your needs and work together to find a custom solution.
Check out Axiom Prep Center

📰 What you need to know

👉 I love Molson Hart. I do. The guy’s an icon to me so I consider myself part of the Molson Appreciation Society. He just stands up in front of Amazon EVERY SINGLE TIME.
He’s featured on the Amazon — Market. Power! Monopoly? How Amazon Hikes Prices & Copies Product documentary, where the story follows four sellers on Amazon, two in Europe, two in the US, and their journey to survive on the platform.
Even Tucker Carlson interviewed Molson about it. Molson is a legend and I will die on this hill.
Check it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L6MaNVNBuQ
👉 More on BuyBox and repricing: Jason Del Rey’s book sales tanked due to a 3P Seller vs Amazon 1P
👉 Amazon just launched South Africa and is set to launch Ireland in 2025
👉 Bethan Wallace, Founder of Mother Root explains how they pulled the plug on Amazon to drive more sales to their Shopify
👉 Which state has the most Amazon Sellers? Which State has the highest sales per seller? Which state has the most sellers per capita? Isaac Gross at IGPPC shares some stats
👉 More sellers hit $1 million milestone on Amazon in 2023
👉 New shoppable ads in Prime Video, while Ads on Amazon are replacing TV commercials

👀 Interesting reads

👉 One of China’s hottest toys sold millions. The inventor made $830
👉 Adding a Coupon to an ASIN Drives a 17.2% Increase in Search Visibility
👉 The History of Amazon FBA Fees
Axiom Prep Center is a Custom Prep & Returns Management Solutions company for Amazon FBA, Ebay, Walmart, Shopify & Etsy
Axion helps you recoup every dollar possible on the returns you receive from FBA, WFS, and all other D2C commerce. Axion can handle all of your needs and work together to find a custom solution.
Check out Axiom Prep Center

Axiom Prep Center is a Custom Prep & Returns Management Solutions company for Amazon FBA, Ebay, Walmart, Shopify & Etsy
Axion helps you recoup every dollar possible on the returns you receive from FBA, WFS, and all other D2C commerce. Axion can handle all of your needs and work together to find a custom solution.
Check out Axiom Prep Center

📰 What you need to know

👉 I love Molson Hart. I do. The guy’s an icon to me so I consider myself part of the Molson Appreciation Society. He just stands up in front of Amazon EVERY SINGLE TIME.
He’s featured on the Amazon — Market. Power! Monopoly? How Amazon Hikes Prices & Copies Product documentary, where the story follows four sellers on Amazon, two in Europe, two in the US, and their journey to survive on the platform.
Even Tucker Carlson interviewed Molson about it. Molson is a legend and I will die on this hill.
Check it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L6MaNVNBuQ
👉 More on BuyBox and repricing: Jason Del Rey’s book sales tanked due to a 3P Seller vs Amazon 1P
👉 Amazon just launched South Africa and is set to launch Ireland in 2025
👉 Bethan Wallace, Founder of Mother Root explains how they pulled the plug on Amazon to drive more sales to their Shopify
👉 Which state has the most Amazon Sellers? Which State has the highest sales per seller? Which state has the most sellers per capita? Isaac Gross at IGPPC shares some stats
👉 More sellers hit $1 million milestone on Amazon in 2023
👉 New shoppable ads in Prime Video, while Ads on Amazon are replacing TV commercials

👀 Interesting reads

👉 One of China’s hottest toys sold millions. The inventor made $830
👉 Adding a Coupon to an ASIN Drives a 17.2% Increase in Search Visibility
👉 The History of Amazon FBA Fees
Axiom Prep Center is a Custom Prep & Returns Management Solutions company for Amazon FBA, Ebay, Walmart, Shopify & Etsy
Axion helps you recoup every dollar possible on the returns you receive from FBA, WFS, and all other D2C commerce. Axion can handle all of your needs and work together to find a custom solution.
Check out Axiom Prep Center

Building Ledgerbrew to have account integration, I decided to use Plaid. I went through their documentation, followed through and got series of errors. I started looking for fixes - Stackoverflow, Reddit, Twitter etc. My code became a series of conjoined codes in a bid to fix the issue, I was getting so aggravated that I had to tell myself to go outside and touch grass.
When I came back from my little trip of touching grass, I reached out to my network and was able to get someone available and we started a Google Meet call to get it done. Both of us kept going through YouTube videos, links even used ChatGPT and Claude AI to find the solution.
We finally got it to work as intended and these are few observations I made. My tech stack is Typescript, NextJS and Tailwind CSS.
Observation 1:
You'll have to import their configuration, environment and API tools which the blogs and YouTube videos don't have/ never mentioned.
Observation 2:
You can no longer write the products you want to use and country like this - products: ["auth", "transactions"], country_codes: ["US", "CA"] respectively. You will have to write them like this products: [Products.Auth, Products.Transactions], country_codes: [CountryCode.Us, CountryCode.Ca]
Observation 3:
You need extra dependencies to make it work especially if you are using the same tech stack that I am using.
Observation 4:
Though obvious and common sense, you need to have unique user ID to map each account integration. If you are just testing it out without any user ID, you can use the UUID library.
I wrote an in-depth step-by-step walkthrough of how I got it integrated and working for my use case. You can read it here: Plaid Integration. Its lengthy.

I (28F) decided to speak up for myself in regards to an ongoing situation that came into the light after 6 months.
I was a nanny for this person for a little shy of 3 years. I took care of her children who were at the time 3 years old and 10 months old. One child was extremely expressive in terms of his anger. This became an everyday conversation with said parent. Many words were spoken and the child often hit, threw objects at, and punched me as well as his sister. I would remediate the problem to the best of my ability by putting him in time out, taking away screen time, or favorite toys (which was not working). Sadly this didn’t work because as soon as I would establish such boundaries and consequences the mom would come home and disregard anything I attempted to do to remediate the problem. I began expressing these concerns to his mom who said “he just misses me because I’m at work” and would not discuss the problem furthermore with a pediatrician or provider.
The younger child has developmental delays. The mom blamed this on her PPD. She does not pay attention with her children, often goes out to party on weekends, takes mini vacations without the kids, and would leave the children with either her in laws or myself.
The children continued said behavior but I stayed. I stayed so the kids had someone who they could come to when they needed help. The mom often came home late due to going out, cheating on her husband, etc.
The behavior worsened. I expressed concern as the child was smearing on the walls. The kids dad would not know as he would hide the smearing and I would find out when I came to work everyday. When I explained this to the parent she said this was normal behavior. She put a lock on the child’s door so they would not disturb their sleep. I cannot judge this but she didn’t want her children being near or around her so she could sleep. The child would excessively try to hurt his younger sibling in terms of putting his hands around her throat and holding it tight. When I explained this I was told “I couldn’t handle a four year old and I was overstimulated”.
She had a falling out with her family. She decided to no longer talk to her in laws or her own family. I was the only person who would take care of her children when asked. I was instructed to not reach out to her family members for any reason. I could only contact her and her now ex husband.
A few months later, she invited me to join her at her gym. I needed a new one to go to so I tried it out. I love the community and have been an avid member for now 6 months. I made a few new friends and secure relationships with them. Thinking I could trust her, I told her about a crush I had on a guy at the gym. She got thoroughly involved with his social circle. When I said why she said she was doing this to protect me. I said I don’t need protection and I can judge people’s character well. She decided to involve herself anyway. She became friends with an ex of his in attempt to find out info. She also yelled at her and called her childish for ghosting him.
I am friends with both this man and his ex. Both are decent people and I do not observe any red flags with either one.
It came out that she was telling other people I was autistic. There was a long history of her telling people both inside and outside of the gym. She also told people I was a genius with a high IQ and could not work which is why I was her nanny. She also told people I have schizophrenia which is also not true.
When I told her about such things, she said she never intended to hurt me but this was to protect me. She said she did this to defend me because she felt the need to. I never asked or implied for her to do so. I told her I felt misunderstood, hurt and confused.
She told me I ruined this friendship because I didn’t communicate. However I couldn’t communicate because I didn’t know. She blamed me for loosing her support system and blocked me from everything.
She is going through a divorce and told me extremely intimate details about this as well. I asked her to please refrain from this as I could not provide the advice she needed and I was becoming overwhelmed. She was a nurse and sleeping with relatives of her patients. She went back and forth about divorcing her husband, almost re proposed to him then did not and got divorce papers, she met someone on a solo trip and decided she liked this man she met better, told me she wants “freedom from her children and responsibilities”, accused several people about gossiping, told people they were bullies for ending a friendship.
She now denies all of this but somehow I am the blame. She told me she welcomed me into her second home (the gym) as well as her home and she had to leave the gym because she felt uncomfortable after protecting me.
After a lengthy discussion with my therapist yesterday, she is lead to believe that this woman at least demonstrates BPD traits as she cannot diagnose her. I also suspect she may have dissociative identity disorder.
I officially went no contact with this person as of yesterday. I am feeling good as of today and giving myself the grace to feel what may come up while still focusing on what I need to do and where I am happiest (secure relationships, support system, hobbies, proper nutrition).

Building Ledgerbrew to have account integration, I decided to use Plaid. I went through their documentation, followed through and got series of errors. I started looking for fixes - Stackoverflow, Reddit, Twitter etc. My code became a series of conjoined codes in a bid to fix the issue, I was getting so aggravated that I had to tell myself to go outside and touch grass.
When I came back from my little trip of touching grass, I reached out to my network and was able to get someone available and we started a Google Meet call to get it done. Both of us kept going through YouTube videos, links even used ChatGPT and Claude AI to find the solution.
We finally got it to work as intended and these are few observations I made. My tech stack is Typescript, NextJS and Tailwind CSS.
Observation 1:
You'll have to import their configuration, environment and API tools which the blogs and YouTube videos don't have/ never mentioned.
Observation 2:
You can no longer write the products you want to use and country like this - products: ["auth", "transactions"], country_codes: ["US", "CA"] respectively. You will have to write them like this products: [Products.Auth, Products.Transactions], country_codes: [CountryCode.Us, CountryCode.Ca]
Observation 3:
You need extra dependencies to make it work especially if you are using the same tech stack that I am using.
Observation 4:
Though obvious and common sense, you need to have unique user ID to map each account integration. If you are just testing it out without any user ID, you can use the UUID library.
I wrote an in-depth step-by-step walkthrough of how I got it integrated and working for my use case. You can read it here: Plaid Integration. Its lengthy.

I can’t do them. I found this thorough video on YouTube where to people explain how to train yourself to do it. Step one is a plank hold, which was already tough on my arms. He said do it 3 reps or sets whatever for as long as you can. His girlfriend did it for 30 seconds three times in a row. What the guy didn’t say is how often a day I should do this? The exercise doesn’t take that long. I could do it twice a day, or three times even. Will doing the plank hold multiple times a day give me somewhat faster results than if I were to do it only once a day?

Building Ledgerbrew to have account integration, I decided to use Plaid. I went through their documentation, followed through and got series of errors. I started looking for fixes - Stackoverflow, Reddit, Twitter etc. My code became a series of conjoined codes in a bid to fix the issue, I was getting so aggravated that I had to tell myself to go outside and touch grass.
When I came back from my little trip of touching grass, I reached out to my network and was able to get someone available and we started a Google Meet call to get it done. Both of us kept going through YouTube videos, links even used ChatGPT and Claude AI to find the solution.
We finally got it to work as intended and these are few observations I made. My tech stack is Typescript, NextJS and Tailwind CSS.
Observation 1:
You'll have to import their configuration, environment and API tools which the blogs and YouTube videos don't have/ never mentioned.
Observation 2:
You can no longer write the products you want to use and country like this - products: ["auth", "transactions"], country_codes: ["US", "CA"] respectively. You will have to write them like this products: [Products.Auth, Products.Transactions], country_codes: [CountryCode.Us, CountryCode.Ca]
Observation 3:
You need extra dependencies to make it work especially if you are using the same tech stack that I am using.
Observation 4:
Though obvious and common sense, you need to have unique user ID to map each account integration. If you are just testing it out without any user ID, you can use the UUID library.
I wrote an in-depth step-by-step walkthrough of how I got it integrated and working for my use case. You can read it here: Plaid Integration. Its lengthy.

Can we talk about how CHARLIE voted out ALL 4 PEOPLE WITH IDOLS + Tevin EV in this season.
Jem: Charlie Maria booted ben had no vote
Tevin: Charlie Maria and Ben booted
Hunter: Charlie and Maria and Ben booted
Tiffany: Charlie and Maria and Ben Booted
Venus: Charlie and Maria and Ben booted
Q: CHARLIE and Ben booted.
He was pivotal in Jems, he was the one who beat hunter the day he lost in immunity, he was the one who beat tiff the day she lost in immunity, he was the one who sniffed out Venus and had all the power the day she got booted and since Maria didnt do Q and Ben had no vote at Siga and Kenzie Liz werent at siga, hes the ONE whos booted all idols!
Idgaf if he wins or choked at the end or what, the guys played so good, hes in majority of every vote (liz lowkey has been too! But Ben was out of the Tim vote, kenzie was out on the Tiff one, maria was out on the Q one, everyone else was out on the ones they got booted)
Just think he needs to be celebrated similarly to the scale someone like jesse was.
If he does win, its the strongest new era game IMO
Love kenzies game too and honestly maria also has played awesome
One of those 3 better win. As muvh as i also still like liz and ben

Hello there, so I (21) play in a club in Germany since I was 16 years old. Now because of Corona we couldn’t play for 2-3 years and now we’re starting again. Now since then, a lot of guys from the youth team have joined the adult team and I hate it. They are super selfish and have no basketball IQ, they don’t find the open teammate and are just looking to score for themselves. One of them is the coaches son which makes the situation even worse, because the coach wants to put him on point guard (my position) and I have to play at Shooting guard now. The thing is, this dude isn’t a good PG, he just chucks up threes and takes floaters against 3 defenders who are a foot taller and a lot heavier then him. It frustrates me so much. I’ve been working my ass of for these 2 years, to help the club regain some momentum after this 3 year break and I want to say that I’m one of the best in the club, but these guys ruin the joy and it frustrates me so much. I don’t know what to do.

Happy every other Thursday!

^{This thread idea is in beta testing so hold tight while we test it out and see how it does.}
You can use this for finding a climbing partner, sharing your business (as long as it is climbing or tangentially related), and to show off those #gainz. There is also ClimbingPartners
​

To break things down more:

1. Please be careful meeting people from the internet. Climbing is inherently dangerous, meeting people on the internet can be inherently dangerous, both together can be inherently dangerous. This sub is not liable for whatever may happen, but so many subscribers have been making climbing partner posts that condensing them to one area sounded like the best solution.
2. Go ahead and share the link to your Etsy or Red Bubble shop or whatever. Specifically we get a lot of sticker design posts and in lieu of having a bunch of self promo posts on the feed, they should go here.
3. Finally- Physique posts! As we know, all shapes and sizes are welcome, valid, and appreciated in climbing, and especially in this sub! Some members found the posts to be a bit triggering though, so the goal was to put them in a place where they can avoid clicking the link and seeing that content.

TW talks Alcoholism and Verbal Abuse
My (27F) parents (53M & 53F) separated on Monday due to my father’s drinking. My dad has been an alcoholic since he was a teenager. Growing up, we left on 3 different occasions and stayed with my grandparents anywhere from 3 days to 3 months at a time. I was ages 12, 14, and 16. Each time, my mom went back because my dad stopped drinking. He said that he missed his family and he couldn’t stand his kids not talking to him.
This time around, I’m 27 with my own family (husband, 30M & daughter 7monthF). I am currently in school to be a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and have learned a lot about addiction through my years of schooling as well as experience in the field. I have gone through therapy myself to deal with the trauma of growing up with an alcoholic and what I now realize, narcissistic, father.
When my mom left on Monday, I told her I 100% support her and wish she had left him sooner. This time I hope she does divorce him because it’s the first time she has said she wants a divorce. Where the issue lies is that I reached out my father last night. I sent him a simple video of a fox in my yard that always visits. He finds it so cool that I have a fox around since I live in the suburbs outside of Philly and it’s the last place we expected to see foxes. I sent him that video for me to see if he would respond or if he’s so deep into drinking right now that he would ignore it. He responded this morning.
While on the phone with my mom this morning. I casually mentioned that I sent him that fox video and he didn’t respond till the morning, so I assumed he was drinking all night. She was immediately upset. She said my other two siblings (31M & 24F) are not talking to my dad because of how mean he is to my mom when he’s drinking. I told her I reached out for me and I was hoping that by one of the kids still talking to him normally that he would be less hostile towards her if they go through a divorce. I told her I plan to lay out boundaries like that he cannot speak poorly of my mother to me or my child, he will not be intoxicated around my child, and he will not be verbally abusive to me or to / around my child.
She said that by acting like everything is okay between him and I, that I am condoning his actions towards my mom. I told her that I’m sorry if me reaching out to him hurt her and that wasn’t my intention. I do not condone the way he treats my mom and I have stuck up for her many times when he has been verbally abusive to her when I am around.
I want to make this process easier for her by keeping peace with my dad. I also told her that every time she has left he got sober again for the kids because we wouldn’t speak to him, and that I want him to get sober for himself this time. That I also don’t want my mom to go back to him if he gets sober because his kids won’t speak to him.
Basically, I’m seeing the same cycle from my teen years playing out again as an adult and I do not want to react the same way my teenage self did. I do plan on cutting my dad off if he crosses my boundaries I plan to lay out when I see him next. But my mom thinks I’m taking his side now because I sent a video of a fox to him. Meanwhile I FaceTime my mom every day. Sometimes 2-3x a day since she left him. I live 4 hours away so I go visit about once a month.
I told her I am not picking sides and I intend on maintaining my relationships with both parents as long as each person respects my boundaries. I plan to support my mom financially through this and give her a place to stay with me whenever she wants. I told her there is only “one side” and that’s the side that my dad is an alcoholic who needs help and my mom is who he takes his anger out on and she needs to get out of that situation. Both parents need my help and I intend on helping both of them how they need me to unless one of them disrespect me or my family.
So AITA for wanting to maintain a relationship with both parents? Should I cut my dad off for his drinking and verbal abuse that has hurt us and my mom for so many years? Or should I maintain the Switzerland approach.
TLDR; My mom left my dad due to drinking and mental/verbal abuse and she believes I am in the wrong for wanting to still maintain a relationship with him.

Me, a 22F have known this guy.. lets call him Bob for 15 years (22M). We broke off contact when we went to two different schools for middle school. In college we reconnected again because our city is pretty small and everyone knows everyone here. It sucks. Once we reconnected, we started hanging out and he even introduced me to some of his mutuals. (I had grown from extrovert to introvert, so this helped me a lot) I became pretty close with one of his mutuals, but that's all it was,a friendship. We'll call him Max. When we all decided to hang out together, Bob started to act a bit.. different. He would make fun of mentally disabled kids/adults with their families, bully literally 13 year Olds, become a mean drunk.. after drinking half of a seagram.. 5 hrs beforehand. The list goes on and on but that's not what we're here for. When october came around, specifically the 1st, Bob wanted Max and I to go to Halloween Horror Nights in Universal with him. There's a couple of issues with that first, well for me at least. 1. I didn't have a job and the tickets he was looking for were around 375$ 2. I'm MORTIFIED of rollercoasters.. that's 80% of the park. And 3, I'm scared of professional haunted houses. I told these concerns to him over text on Instagram because I didn't want to wait till the last minute. Me: I know you and Max are planning to go to HHN on Saturday but because of the price, I don't think I'll be able to make it. I hope you and Max have fun though!
Bob: well if you don't go, then Max won't go. So I'll just pay for half of your ticket.
Me: you don't need to do that. I won't enjoy the haunted house nor will I go on the Rollercoasters. Please don't do that.
He left me on read for a while so I had gone to Max's job and ask him if it was true if he wouldn't go if I didn't. He agreed 😮‍💨. So from the 1st to the 15th I tried to ask left and right for people to go with him. No one wanted to, like at all. I should've seen that red flag. Max decided to tell him he wasn't going that last minute. Like the day before. Whose fault is it though? You guessed it. Mine. I would say that's what started the Crack in our friendship. He never ended up going and would lash out at me if he ever saw someone wearing that years hhn shirt. We did end up going to our local zoo's Halloween night, and at the food court/plaza, was a young man around our age wearing a jojo bizarro adventures shirt. The same shirt Max was wearing. Max loves talking about jjba to just about anyone. I pointed out the shirt to Max and he caught the young man's attention, talking about the show. It was obvious that the young man was disabled, but we didn't care. We just talked about characters and why I couldn't get into it, lol. After leaving the young man and going to our table where Bob was seating, no one said a word until Bob began to lift his arm up. "Hey Max, I like your shirt, der." And began to mimic the way the young man moved his arm against his chest. After not saying something the first time. I began to get fed up. "Why the hell would you do something like that? Bob. He's trying to have a nice time with his family here and I'm pretty sure he didn't come out of the house wanting to be made fun of." He just stopped talking and said "it's just a joke dude." And rolled his eyes. After that day, I started to call out everything Bob was saying that was just hurtful, you don't need to Bully someone everytime you walk out of your house. Later on, closer to new years, I wouldn't hear anything from him, no text messages, no calls to hang out, nothing. But Max and I would hang out without him, almost every sunday/Saturday. While this was going on, we would complain about Bob. One night, Max got a text from Bob saying they needed to have private phone call. This is where I might be the asshole. Me, being the nosey person I was, went and hung out with max and told him he should call him and i wont say a word. He agreed and started the phone call. The next 15 minutes was a tieraid of how much of a horrible person I was. How I was an asshole to him anytime we hung out, how no one liked me, but Max, and that I was a bitch. He also mentioned that he wasn't the first person he called for a warning about me. It honestly.. crushed me. He ended the call saying that Max could still hang out with me, but he didn't want anything to do with me. The next 3 months, Max only seemed to hang out with me and not Bob. So Bob invited a girl to hang out with him, that Max had a crush on. The last time I saw Max in public to hang out, he didn't look up at his phone once and that was in March. No gaming, hanging out at our usual spot, or talking to me in general.
So I guess my question is, am I in the wrong for speaking up for a stranger and not apologizing to Bob?

(continuation of part 3)
Since Fatal Calling is all about Cloud facing his past and his origins, Tifa’s musical theme is most appropriate for the ending cutscene. For all of these reasons, Tifa’s theme is absolutely appropriate for the conclusion of Fatal Calling. It makes a lot of sense then that once Cloud has finished revisiting the past and vanishes with the crystal to find his Promised Land, Tifa’s theme stops and Aerith’s theme begins.
There’s a lot to be said about Sephiroth in Fatal Calling. Sephiroth feeds off of despair, and deems Palamecia’s suffering inadequate: he seeks a much greater source of power than this realm. He states that Palamecia isn’t “the world that was promised to [him]”, referencing his desire to become the god of his core world of FFVII:

“Sephiroth: Melding with the planet, I will cease to exist as I am now only to be reborn as a ‘god’ to rule over every soul” (FFVII OG, disk 1, chapter 25).

Sephiroth’s line “Now, let us return [Cloud]. Back to the Promised Land” reveals he wants to return to their shared core world of FFVII, like we established in our review of the Remake timelines theory (see section “I. a) vii.”). Sephiroth wants to go back to FFVII and modify the OG timeline to achieve his evil goals. This is his ideal scenario, his place of complete happiness: his desired Promised Land. Fatal Calling is setting up Sephiroth’s plans for Remake. In fact, the after-credits scene wherein Sephiroth stands in Nibelheim as it burns confirms his return to the FFVII OG timeline.
However, he isn’t the only one returning. Now that Cloud has revisited his past in Fatal Calling, he’s ready to reach his Promised Land. After Sephiroth’s after-credits scene, the OG FFVII title and logo turn into the FFVII Remake title and logo, indicating a shift: we are now officially in the Remakeera or world. Cloud and Sephiroth disappeared at the end of Fatal Calling, and now the game is telling us where they’ve gone. Combined with Hamaguchi’s recommendation that players complete the collaboration event before playing Remake, I think this is a solid indication that the Cloud and Sephiroth we see in this collaboration event are those we encounter in the Remake world. Once the switch to Remake occurs, Aerith’s theme returns. This communicates that she is indeed —as we’ve proven countless times already— Cloud’s Promised Land. But it also conveys her importance to the story of Remake. Scenario writer Nojima confirmed this:

“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).

Aerith was already important to OG, so what could’ve motivated Nojima to state her importance to Remake? Could it be that she’s even more important in the latter than she was in the former? In what way?
That was the collaboration! Before we move on from MFF x FFVII Remake entirely though, let’s glean some more relevant information from some of the collaboration’s promotional material and special features.
~III. e) iii. Promotional Material and Special Features~
Two particular pieces of promotional material for this collaboration stick out to me as extremely relevant. The first is a promotion for a new summons batch in the Mobius FF game, created in honor of the collaboration.
MFF x FFVII Remake Summons Batch Cloud Promo
The summons batch contains three FFVII Remake-themed cards, including a Cloud card. As you can see, this promo reads “Who awaits in the Promised Land?” under Cloud’s picture.
The second is a promotion of an Aerith and summons and an Aerith Job Card (in MFF, Job Cards allow a character to embody an archetype or another character, giving them certain physical traits, clothing, weapons and abilities):
MFF x FFVII Remake Aerith Summons and Job Card Promo
I couldn’t find this picture in English, but the text relevant to us translates to:

“Midgar's Flower Vendor Summons
‘I'm searching for you. I want to meet… you.’
The witch protects the planet, imbues it with power, and leads to the Promised Land.”

A few things here. First, Aerith is referenced by name, and we see a picture of her in her famous praying pose. Secondly, both Cloud and Aerith’s images are attached to the notion of the Promised Land. Cloud’s card asks who awaits there, and Aerith’s evokes a guiding role, as though in response. Thirdly, both Cloud and Aerith are attached to the notion of searching: Cloud searches for the Promised Land and whomever awaits there, and Aerith searches for Cloud’s true self. Speaking of which, the promo also includes parts of Aerith’s famous gondola date quote from OG:

“Aeris: I'm searching for you.
Cloud: …?
Aeris: I want to meet you.
Cloud: But I'm right here.
Aeris: I know, I know... what I mean is... I want to meet... you” (disk 1 chapter 24).

In case you’re wondering about the lady in Aerith’s clothes on the left-hand side, that’s Meia, a character in MFF. She is the “witch” being referred to in the promotional material. She’s often called the Azure Witch. Meia is wearing Aerith’s clothes because a Meia-type Job Card called “Flower Girl of Midgar” was created in honor of the MFF x FFVII Remake collaboration:
MFF x FFVII Remake \"Flower Girl of Midgar\" Job Card
There’s even an Aerith outfit you can have Echo wear, and it appears with Wol’s Cloud outfit in the promotional picture:
MFF x FFVII Remake Echo's Aerith Outfit and Wol's Cloud Outfit
To be fair, Tifa also appears in one of these summons promos. However, unlike Aerith’s, her appearance doesn’t reference the Promised Land or her version of the gondola date. She is not presented in connection to Cloud at all. On top of that, while the Aerith and Cloud outfits are promoted together, Tifa is paired with Vincent in the promotional image:
MFF x FFVII Remake Summons Promo Tifa and Vincent
This is hardly indicative of Cloti content in the event collaboration or in Remake.
~III. e) iv. Cloud’s Promised Land~
All in all, the collaboration tells the story of Cloud searching for his Promised Land, just as post-OG Cloud has been shown doing for years and years of canon SE content. Cloud is searching for Aerith in the MFF x FFVII Remake collaboration, just like he was in FFT and DFF, and just like he was shown doing in the 30th FF Anniversary Exposition. This is nothing new. However, the collaboration informs us that this mission to be reunited with Aerith is what leads Cloud to enter the world of Remake.
Echo noted that people obtain the Promised Land they deserve rather than the one they want. What does Cloud deserve? I believe the answer is: another chance at saving Aerith.
Cloud needs to start over, from the top. He needs to go back to the very moment he and Avalanche arrived at mako reactor 1 to bomb it. He needs to return to the beginning of the OG game. He needs a redo, a fix-it, another shot at happiness; a remake.

IV. The Hidden Plot Point: Mission Theory

~a) Thesis~
Here lies the heart of my theory. My dear Cleriths, Sephiroth isn’t the only one who travelled back in time to undo destiny and create a reality where things go his way: Remake is also —I would even say primarily— Cloud’s chance to free Aerith from her fate, save her life and secure his shot at happiness with her. That’s why he experiences MOTFs in Remake: he’s done FFVII before and now he’s back, although with only fragments of his memories from OG, to save Aerith. That’s why his triggers all involve Aerith: he doesn’t consciously remember anything from OG, but his grief over Aerith is so strong that it rises from his subconsciousness at the slightest trigger.
In Remake, Cloud remembers some but not all elements of the OG timeline (MOTFs), and it appears he only remembers the most important things: all his MOTFs revolve around Aerith and her fate. Our theory explains why Aerith triggers Cloud’s MOTFs in Remake quite perfectly: he traveled back in time to prevent Aerith’s death from happening. Remake Cloud remembers Aerith because, well, he knows her from OG. Post-OG Cloud has returned to the past to save Aerith, resulting in Remake. This is why seeing her in Remake triggers visions and memories of things that haven’t happened yet in Remake, but have already happened to post-OG Cloud. He recognizes her face on Loveless in Remake because seeing her face again is the whole reason he entered Remake in the first place. His visions of her death when they meet once more at the church, the spike of anxiety and grief as he watches her walk away from him, the constriction in his chest when she talks about doing everything in her power to help the planet… all of it, it’s all his memories of OG being jogged by things related to her death. What he’s forgotten from the OG timeline emerges in flashes of pain, images, memory and emotion. Remember that the language the devs used to describe these instances where Cloud reacts to Aerith in this way is always about “remembering” or “recognizing”; Cloud has to have seen Aerith, known Aerith, loved Aerith, lost Aerith and felt the pain of living without Aerith before in order to recognize and remember these feelings. Think about it: this is the only thing that can explain Cloud’s extremely selective MOTFs and the fact that he has MOTFs at all.
The Remake trilogy is all about Cloud and Sephiroth stepping into the ring one more time, both ready to risk it all to get what they lost in the OG timeline. Sephiroth is hungry for destruction and godhood, while Cloud stands determined to save the love of his life. Fighting for their respective goals, the fated enemies enter a new battle in Remake, one to end the war, both needing to win this time after losing so horribly in OG. Now, it’s all or nothing. Sephiroth vying for the planet, and Cloud reaching out for Aerith.
Cloud’s back with a quest, one he can’t fail— it’s the most secret and important plot point of all. I call this the “Mission Theory”.
~IV. b) Mission Theory Logistics~
There are a few things that remain vague, so I’m going to use this section of the analysis to speculate on the logistics of my theory. We know very little about the hows of the timeline and multiverse shenanigans, so I’m going to hypothesize. However, this analysis is about the whys: so if you’re not interested in mechanical speculation on the logistics of time travel and multiverses, you can totally disregard this section and skip to section “V.”.
~IV. b) i. Cloud the Time-Traveler?~
It’s unclear whether Remake is the result of post-OG Cloud going back in time to try his hand at the OG timeline again, or the result of post-OG Cloud somehow informing OG Cloud that he must save Aerith this time around. It’s vague in the same way that we aren’t sure if Remake Aerith is post-OG Aerith or if she’s been informed by post-OG Aerith via her connection to the Lifestream as a Cetra. Though it doesn’t much matter how Cloud has memories of Aerith’s death in Remake, I personally think that Remake Cloud is a time-traveling post-OG Cloud. My explanation as to why might be a little confusing, so again, feel free to skip to section “V.”.
One must be able to communicate with the Lifestream in order to obtain knowledge of the future. This access can only be granted to the Cetra or to the souls of the deceased that compose the Lifestream itself. Since Cloud is not a Cetra, he cannot commune with the Lifestream while he is alive, meaning a deceased post-OG Cloud would not have been able to communicate his memories of the OG plot-line with a living OG Cloud. Therefore, the only way Remake Cloud could have knowledge of the future (manifested as MOTFs) would be that Remake Cloud is inhabited by his post-OG consciousness. Effectively, this is time-traveling.
Then comes the question of how Cloud was able to time-travel at all. I have what I consider a pretty solid hypothesis. The most interesting thing about the realm of Palamecia is that every FF character that’s ever appeared in the realm for a cameo died in their core world beforehand (spoilers for FFI, FFV, FFVI, FFX, FFXII, FFXIII, FFXV incoming). These characters include Tidus (FFX), Lightning (FFXIII), Garland (FFI), Sephiroth (FFVII), Gilgamesh (FFV), Vargas (FFVI), Gabranth (FFXII) and Ultros (FFXV). My interpretation of Palamecia serves at least partly as a directory for deceased souls that can’t simply fade. For instance, FFX’s Tidus actually came back to life to be with his love>! Yuna !! FFX!<. Of course, MFF x>! FFX !!FFX!< and FFX-2, just like MFF x FFVII Remake came out between FFVII OG and FFVII. And similarly to Fatal Calling, the ending cutscene of MFF x>! FFX !!Next thing you know, FFX-2 comes out and shows Tidus returning to Yuna and their core world in an optional cutscene.!< The MFF x>! FFX !! Tidus !Remake.
~IV. b) ii. Post-OG Cloud’s Amnesia~
If we consider that Remake Cloud is a time-travelling post-OG Cloud who’s returned to the start of the OG timeline, we encounter another logistical problem: why doesn’t Cloud remember everything or most things from the OG plot-line in Remake, like Sephiroth and Remake Aerith do? After all, aren’t the three of them in the same time-travelling boat? Why isn’t Cloud as lucid on the matter as the two others? Didn’t the post-OG Cloud in Fatal Calling face his past and origins? Shouldn’t that mean Cloud would remember all that stuff in Remake from the start?
In OG, the true Cloud’s memories are repressed by both his false persona and Jenova. The latter’s memetic abilities are able to block Cloud’s memories of the past from emerging and conflicting with his SOLDIER persona. For instance, in both OG and Remake, Cloud is unable to hear Aerith tell him Zack’s name in Evergreen Park: Jenova blocks it out. I think this is a similar situation: post-OG Cloud’s consciousness carries memories things that Jenova doesn’t want Cloud to know, so she pushes down on them. On top of that, after travelling through different worlds and back through the Lifestream for who knows how long, post-OG Cloud’s consciousness must be quite weak. We know how good Cloud is at repressing, so it makes total sense to me that post-OG Cloud’s consciousness would be trapped or suppressed somewhere deep in Remake Cloud’s subconsciousness. After all, it’s not like this whole time-travelling-consciousness thing is normal for a mind to experience. It’s no wonder Remake Cloud doesn’t consciously remember how things go in OG. However, post-OG Cloud’s love and grief for Aerith are so strong that memories related to her can occasionally pierce through to his Remake consciousness and Jenova’s barriers, resulting in his MOTFs. His pain and love for her are definitely permanent and strong enough:

“A young woman descended from the Ancients who will forever be engraved in [Cloud’s] heart” (Dirge of Cerberus, Japanese manual, Aerith’s character description).
“I believe for those who formerly traveled with her as comrades and for the viewers, each carries their own feelings and love for Aerith. In this story, Cloud also carries his own undying feelings for Aerith, even to this very day… Its relation with the church scene is… Yup. I’ll leave this part to your imagination. (laughs)” (Nomura interview on Advent Children “Designer’s Note” in Famitsu PS2!magazine, October 24th issue).

So you see, Remake Cloud’s mind is a little more complicated than OG Cloud’s mind. Everything is still the same in Remake as in OG, but with the added complication that his future self is hidden in his subconscious mind, probably trying to get out.
There is actually pretty good evidence of this. I’m sure you’re aware that whenever Jenova is trying to hide something from Cloud or altering his memory and/or perception, the screen glitches green with an audio cue (34:15-34:29, 1:15:30-1:15:41 and 1:17:14-1:17:29). Guess what? These Jenova audiovisual cues also occur during the MOTFs (ie: MOTF 3 2:58-3:07 and MOTF 4 0:29-0:42). Whenever post-OG Cloud’s consciousness encounters anything that reminds it of losing Aerith, the strength of its pain helps it push memories of Aerith to the surface so that RemakeCloud can consciously see them. Remake Cloud then experiences sensations and/or visions, all from his future self’s memories as they rise to the surface, propelled by grief. Jenova can’t allow Remake Cloud to fully recover his post-OG memory, so in order to shut down the process, its cells jump in to repress the MOTFs: this results in the classic Jenova audiovisual cues. The only time Jenova doesn’t bother to fight against a MOTF is the sixth, as it is quite weak: no visions occur, only a tight sensation in his chest.
~IV. b) iii.~ ~Eclipse Contact~ ~and Cloud’s Memories of Reactor 1~
There is one problem I have trouble decoding. In Eclipse Contact, Cloud tells Wol and Echo that the last thing he remembers is the run-up to his arrival at mako reactor 1 (FFVII OG, disk 1, chapter 1). Recall that usually, people summoned to Palamecia have no memories of their world of origin and lives before that point at all. So then why is it that upon being summoned to Palamecia, Cloud recalls the events that took place right before the start of the OG game? This strikes me as highly relevant since this is the exact point in time where post-OG Cloud’s consciousness needs to be transported to in order for Remake to begin, but I haven’t been able to figure out a solid hypothesis on what it could mean. My best guess is that this is the devs’ way of signalling to us that the events of the MFF x FFVII Remake collaboration occur before the very beginning of post-OG Cloud’s second try at the OG timeline (Remake).
Now that I’ve shown you how I’ve come to form my Mission Theory and we’ve done some pesky housekeeping, let’s connect some dots, shall we? It’s time to really get into it and see if any of my wild speculation tracks with content from the Remake trilogy so far.
~V. Musical Evidence~
What about the music of the game? Any hints there? Let’s try to see if we can find support for the Mission Theory in the music made for the Remake trilogy thus far!
As a preface to my musical evidence analysis, I want to insist on something: the story guys tell the soundtrack guys everything. In a high-quality production such as Remake, people who make music for audiovisual media are told everything in advance. They need to know the secrets of every little scene, because their job is to depict whatever is happening through music.
Therefore, if the Mission Theory is true, then there has to be musical evidence for it.
~V. a) Preface: The Basics of the~ ~FFVII~ ~OST~
There’s a lot of evidence in the music of the Remake trilogy that we have to address, but before we get into it, I do have to give you the basics of the FFVII soundscape! For the easiest experience, I suggest you keep a tab open for every link I provide for you until the music analysis is over, because we will be hopping from one musical theme to another and then back again.
~V. a) i. The World Theme: Cloud’s Troubled Identity~
The world theme of FFVII is a perfect example of how musicians working on an OST have to know the secrets of a story as they compose for it. On top of representing the FFVII world as a whole, it doubles as Cloud’s character theme… except that isn’t exactly right. You see, this piece does indeed contain Cloud’s true theme, but Sephiroth and Jenova’s musical motifs also contaminate it. This, of course, symbolizes how Cloud experiences identity sabotage because of these two antagonists. The result is that globally, the world theme does indeed represent Cloud’s character, but it isn’t exclusively Cloud’s in the same way that Cloud’s mind isn’t exclusively his. It’s brilliant storytelling through musical motifs, and evidently requires Uematsu to know in advance that Sephiroth manipulates Cloud’s identity in the story.
For future reference, let’s isolate Cloud’s true theme from Jenova and Sephiroth’s influence.
~V. a) i. 1) Sephiroth: Dissonance and Semi-Tone Motif~
I’m sure you know Sephiroth’s infamous theme: “One-Winged Angel”. The first motif we need to know is Sephiroth’s threatening, repetitive dissonance motif, which plays all throughout the piece (plays solo at 0:00 to 0:04). The second motif is what I call the semi-tone motif. “One-Winged Angel” has a ton of minor 2nd intervals, which is what we call the relationship between two notes that are only a semi-tone apart. You might recognize the minor 2nd interval in the foreboding Jaws theme. Just like in Jaws, the minor 2nd interval or semi-tone is commonly used to indicate an impending, life-threatening danger, a monster, predator, evil, or insanity; suits Sephiroth quite nicely!
~V. a) i. 2) Jenova: Parasite Motif~
The track “J-E-N-O-V-A” contains many competing melodies and has generated many variations of those melodies —almost like clones— that all represent aspects of the alien’s character. The main Jenova motif is simply a descending, two-octaves-long, arpeggiated mb6 chord (eight notes total). I’ve played it for you here. Sometimes, this motif is altered to form variations. For instance, in “Listen to the Cries of the Planet”, a variation of Jenova’s main motif is created by changing the order of the notes and reducing the number of notes to only six (0:00-0:03), however, it remains an arpeggiated mb6 chord. Regardless of the alteration, if you hear an arpeggiated mb6 chord, it means Jenova is creeping close by or that its influence is at work.
The variation of the mb6 arpeggiated chord that concerns us alters Jenova’s main theme so it ascends from the tonic to the b6 note and descends back to the tonic, then ending on the lower dominant for a total of eight notes. I’ve played it for you here. I call this variation the “parasite motif”, because it is often heard when Cloud is being controlled by Jenova. For instance, it plays when Cloud loses himself and becomes unusually violent in Rebirth’s chapter 13 (17:25-18:34), signalling to us that Jenova is in control. It is also the main motif of the track “Who… Am I?”, which evidently symbolizes Jenova’s fuelling of Cloud’s identity crisis— though here, the parasite motif is shortened to its six first notes.
~V. a) i. 3) Cloud’s True Self~
Now that we can recognize Sephiroth and Jenova’s motifs, let’s return to the world theme to isolate Cloud’s true self. Cloud’s true theme can be heard from 0:51 to 3:48. It consists of a section A (0:51-1:54), followed by a section B (1:54-2:41), and then returns to section A (2:41-3:48).
After Cloud’s true theme concludes however, it seems he experiences a psychic interference: doubt and confusion weave through the world theme (3:48-4:09), representing an instability in his identity. I call this interruption of Cloud’s true theme the “interference section”. It symbolizes a moment of psychic interference or weakness within Cloud that Sephiroth and Jenova take advantage of to take control of Cloud.
The end of the interference section introduces Jenova’s parasite motif. It slithers in (4:09), later joined by Sephiroth’s dissonance motif (4:16): Cloud’s mind and identity are being hijacked by the two antagonists in service of their evil plans.
They torment Cloud, dominating his mind until he manages to free himself: section A of Cloud’s true theme begins playing again (6:06), closing the loop of the theme.
Based on this musical storytelling, if you already knew the character motifs going into OG, you might’ve suspected something odd was going on with Cloud’s identity, and that Jenova and Sephiroth were involved. All this to say that whatever music is playing at any given time can give us hints as to what is going on. That’s the power and significance of a good soundtrack. Trust me when I say that with Uematsu and his team, we’re in excellent hands. And remember: the story guys tell the soundtrack guys everything.
~V. a) ii. Aerith’s Theme~
Another base we have to cover before checking out the Remake soundtrack is Aerith’s theme. I’m sure everyone here is familiar with it, but I insist that you refresh your memory. It consists of a section A (0:00-0:34), a section B (0:34-1:13) and a section C (1:13-2:00), concluding with a repeat of section A.
~V. a) iii. Motifs and Timing in~ ~FFVII~ ~OSTs~
I’m going to analyze pieces in great detail, which people who haven’t studied or paid attention to soundtracks may find strange. To prevent anyone from making the mistake of thinking that I’m reading too much into things, I want to emphasize that the music that plays during the Remaketrilogy’s cutscenes is carefully timed, composed and arranged to match the events in the cutscenes, as they are provided in advance to the musicians. Composers pay lots of attention to whatever is going on onscreen so they can include the corresponding musical motifs as accompaniment at the exact right moments, always striving to get the timing perfect. I’m not exaggerating the effort and minutia involved in soundtrack composition and arrangement. Here are just a few sound staff comments from the “Material 4: Soundtrack” section of the FFVII Remake Material Ultimania to prove it:

“[To] make sure players really feel the weight of the moment, we worked hard on getting the tempo and the entry timing of each instrument exactly right. In particular, that big ‘boom’ that sounds almost like a meteor crashing down was fine-tuned to match the timing of the logo's appearance. I remember this was a real sticking point for us, because if the boom's timing was even slightly off, the effect would be completely different. We […] had to sequence [each and every sound] to play at exactly the right moment” (Shotaro Shima on track “Midgar, City of Mako”, page 229).

&

“I was originally told to keep this piece to under two minutes, but it ended up being over six minutes long, in order to match the flow of the cutscene. I arranged the track while watching the latest CG visuals that had been rendered for the scene” (Naoyuki Honzawa on track “Smash ‘Em, Rip ‘Em”, page 309).

&

“This is the track that plays during the tour of Shinra’s different divisions. The movie shown in the Visual Entertainment Hall describes the history of the Ancients (0:25 onward in the soundtrack version), and I wanted to create a musical link to them as well, so I made use of the chord progression from ‘Aerith’s Theme’ [D(I)-Am(Vm)-D(I).] [This simple sequence of moving from major to minor and back again creates a really mysterious air. Then, during the section where the movie recounts the history of the construction of the Shinra Building (1:47 onward in the soundtrack version), I quoted a section of the Shinra theme” (Yasunori Nishiki on track “Stewards of the Planet”, page 313).

~V. b) The~ ~Remake~ ~OST~
Now that you’re ready, it’s time to verify the Mission Theory’s validity with Remake’s music.
~V. b) i. MOTF 6 Music~
We were able to explain Remake Cloud’s MOTFs with the Mission Theory, and it just so happens that the music that plays during the scene of MOTF 6 is unique to Remake. This gives us the perfect opportunity: we should analyze the piece that plays as it occurs to evaluate the legitimacy of our theory on the Remake trilogy, using all the motifs we uncovered in section “V. a)”.
First, a refresher on the scene and on our theory’s interpretation of it. The party is gathered in Aerith and Ifalna’s old room at Shinra HQ. Here is how the scene is described by the VA script notes:

“The Whispers once again close in [on Aerith], but Aerith refuses to stop speaking this time.
Aerith: Listen to me. […] Shinra isn’t the enemy. They were the ones who set things in motion, but our true foe is someone else.
At that moment, the spectacle of Meteor they saw in the Visual Entertainment Hall comes into Cloud and the others’ heads.
Aerith: Somehow, some way, I want to help— all of you… the planet…
For some reason, Cloud feels his chest constrict tightly” (FFVII Remake Material Ultimania Plus, VA script notes, “Aerith Speaks”).

Indeed, right after Aerith says she wants to help the planet any way she can, Cloud looks down at his chest with a frown and a quiet grunt (7:46-7:54). According to the Mission Theory, this tightness in Cloud’s chest can be explained as an emergence of post-OG Cloud’s grief, triggered by the slightest allusion to Aerith’s sacrifice.
The piece that plays during this scene is called “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra”. It is one of many variations of Aerith’s iconic theme arranged for Remake. However, Cloud’s theme is just as prominent in the piece— if not, more.
~V. b) i. 1) The Fate Motif~
Before we interpret “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra”, I need to introduce you to one more motif that crops up in the piece. There is a windy motif that appears (from 1:45 onwards) and it is unaccounted for, despite how it’s clearly meant to represent something. I’ve become certain that this wind noise symbolizes fate, and I’ll tell you why.
In the MOTF 6 scene, just after Nanaki explains how he gained knowledge of the Whispers via contact with Aerith (7:23), they emerge and begin swirling aggressively around Aerith (7:26). Her hair and dress blow and ripple in the resulting wind. From this very moment onward “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” (3:00), a string section (bowed instruments in the violin family) that deliberately emphasizes the airy sound of the bow crossing the strings enters, creating a windy effect that adds to the already present wind noise (that started at 1:45). As the Whispers progressively become even more aggressive onscreen, both the wind SFX of the cutscene and the wind noise in the piece get louder and louder. Because of the timing of its appearance and crescendo in the cutscene, I’m certain the wind noise is meant to represent the restrictive flow of fate; it only makes sense, given that destiny is a current —or a wind— that cannot be broken, and Aerith is like a helpless petal in fate’s carefully planned storm. Of course, it’s also quite significant that the Whispers make a windy noise as they fly. You can hear it every time they’re onscreen, like when they first appear to Cloud in chapter 2 of Remake (17:45-18:20), or when the White Whispers hold Cloud back from chasing after Aerith during Rebirth’s Sleeping Forest scene in chapter 14 (28:43-29:45). You can also hear the wind sounds in other Whisper-related tracks, such as “Whorl of Whispers” (clearly audible at 2:50-3:05), as well as “A Death Not Ordained by Fate” (clearly audible at 2:56-3:18). Therefore, I’ll call these wind noises the “fate motif”.
~V. b) ii. 2) Interpreting “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra”~
In part 1 of “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” (0:00-1:45), Aerith’s theme and Cloud’s true theme play simultaneously, their respective phrases fitting perfectly together, interweaving peacefully and softly. It sounds like the two of them are chatting, dancing bashfully yet contently and in perfect sync, glad to be exactly where they’re meant to be as their themes sing together in harmony (soft piano). Part 1 of this piece is about Cloud and Aerith becoming important to one another as they discover their soulmate bond.
Unfortunately that contentment doesn’t last. In part 2 (1:45-3:00), Cloud experiences a moment of psychic vulnerability (world theme’s interference section). Fate lurks (fate motif enters quietly). His instability forces our couple’s sweet dance to a halt, and Aerith’s theme must retreat as Cloud’s confusion takes center stage. Sephiroth torments and taunts him (semi-tone played by strings, 2:03-2:10), taking advantage of Cloud’s psychic interference to plunge him into darkness (world theme’s interference section ends, low cello enters, 2:18): Cloud temporarily becomes a darker version of himself as evil corrupts him (piano plays section A phrases 1 and 2 of Cloud’s true theme in minor, 2:18-2:53). Jenova finally reveals itself and promptly exits, releasing Cloud’s mind from its grasp (seven first notes of parasite motif played twice on piano 2:53-3:00). Cloud is free, but the damage has been done: his dance with Aerith has long been interrupted, and she is gone. Part 2 of “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” is about Cloud being manipulated in service of Sephiroth and Jenova’s evil plan, interrupting his interaction with Aerith.
Part 3 (3:00-3:33) kicks off the mechanisms of a tragic fate (strings section joins fate motif, 3:00). Both anxious that she’s disappeared from his side and terrified of the darkness he just discovered inside him (in part 2), Cloud fearfully calls out for Aerith (phrase 1 of Cloud’s true theme’s section A, timid and hesitant piano, 3:04-3:15). Before his psychic interference began (start of part 2), Cloud’s voice was accompanied by Aerith’s as they grew closer and closer (their character themes mingling in part 1)… but now, Aerith isn’t answering his call, and he cannot find her (Aerith’s theme doesn’t to join Cloud’s anymore).
Anxious, Cloud tries calling out for Aerith a second time (section A phrase 2 of Cloud’s true theme’s, 3:19-3:31), searching for her in the hopes that they can continue their dance, but even now, Aerith does not respond. She’s gone (Aerith’s theme remains absent). Destiny keeps Aerith away from Cloud (fate motif gently crescendos). Part 3 of “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” is about Cloud’s separation from Aerith, his search for her, and the fear and anxiousness he feels when he realizes he cannot find her.
And then, part 4 begins with a sweet, gentle voice, calling out from the blackened horizon: it’s Aerith (section B phrase 1 of Aerith’s theme, soft piano, 3:33-3:45). Cloud finally hears her respond to his pleas: he’s found her. Fate begins howling in protest, doubling its efforts to keep Cloud and Aerith apart (fate motif crescendos noticeably in reaction to Aerith’s theme, 3:45). You can just picture Cloud running toward Aerith, struggling against the current of destiny to try and close the distance between them. Aerith tries calling out for Cloud a second time, (section B phrase 2 of Aerith’s theme, 3:40-3:43), but the Whispers only swirl around her more ferociously, taking her away in the uncompromising current of fate (fate motif continues to crescendo). Aerith tries again (section B phrase 1 of Aerith’s theme, 3:47-3:49). It sounds like she’s saying “Cloud, I’m over here, come find me!”
Fate doesn’t take too kindly to her defying it. Cloud and Aerith are not supposed to be together; it can’t be, it won’t. She’s destined to die to save the planet, and he’s destined to remain hollow forevermore. I can picture Cloud breaking into a sprint at the sound of her voice, running countercurrent to the flow of destiny— but the winds are so loud, fate’s demands are so strong, and the Whispers are shrieking in defense of destiny now. Aerith’s voice emerges for the fourth time (first three notes of section B phrase 3 of Aerith’s theme, 3:54 to 3:56). Fate screams louder, louder (steep crescendo of fate motif, 3:59-4:02). In a desperate hail Mary, Aerith shouts out one more time, as though throwing her hand out toward Cloud’s extended fingers (section C phrase 1 of Aerith’s theme, louder and more insistent, cutting through the fate motif as it crescendos sharply, 4:00-4:06). Part 4 of “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” is about Cloud and Aerith desperately trying to defy fate in order to be together. And then, it all stops: fate has seemingly quieted Aerith (4:04-4:08)…
Part 5 (4:08-4:27) begins with Cloud jumping, launching himself off the ground with all his strength (Cloud’s true theme section A phrase 2, first 5 notes, melody starting on the note E5 and ascending) as Aerith plummets toward the ground in a fatal fall (Aerith’s theme section C phrase 1, melody starting on the note E6 and descending, the last note altered)— he successfully catches her in mid-air (both Cloud’s ascending melody and Aerith’s descending melody meet in the middle of the octave, first uniting on B5, and then ending on A5). I’ve recreated the melodies for you here so you can hear this reunion more clearly. If you consider that the airy strings in this piece represent fate, which I do, the fact that they follow Cloud and Aerith’s themes in part 5 signifies that they are now in control of their own destinies, and successfully making it their fate to reunite.
To be completely frank, I did not realize until right now writing this that Cloud unites with Aerith in part 5, even though his theme is right there. I’m so excited to share this part with you.
We hear Aerith once more, her voice quietly trailing off into the silence (phrase 4 of section C of Aerith’s theme) with no conclusion (phrase 5 normally follows phrase 4 to conclude Aerith’s theme, but is absent here). Part 5 of “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” suggests that Cloud will save Aerith and that the couple will change their fate, but also conveys an uncertain and open-ended quality.

First off, I'm asking out of curiosity and genuine desire to know more about this so please if this question sounds dumb to you guys who know a lot more on this, be easy on me.
I'll expound from my observations before I get to my questions since I'm trying to make sense of it.
I know of two methods to tell if a top is solid:
method 1. By looking at the edge of the soundhole to see if the grain continues to run down to the inside.
method 2. Looking inside to see if the grains inside and outside of the top match.
Now, I have multiple guitars both with a solid and laminated top. Some are obviously laminate by looking at the soundhole, not only because the grain ends but the layers of laminate and plywood inside are clearly visible.
But, I have this one guitar which I believed was solid without even checking closely just because of the way it sounds. It's a Thumb F-130 triple O body by Terada Music.. old vintage from Japan during the 70s
sound demo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz_FcjuN7mQ
But now I checked using method 1 above and for the life of me, I can't figure out if it's solid or laminate.. I dont see the grain running all the way through but I also don't see layers of wood and the cross-section of the wood being obviously a different wood from the color. It looks like one piece of wood.
So I did method 2 and found that the grains on the in and out are matching so I immediately thought it was solid.
Then I thought: what if it's laminate and the inside and outside of the top were just cut from the same piece of wood thus the matching grains?
Arriving to my questions:
-Is this possible? Is this even a known method to luthiers when making guitars?
-Is looking at the edge of the soundhole 100% foolproof? I've seen pieces of furniture or just plain old blocks of solid wood that have their grains on one side different from the others so I don't know.
-If the answer to the first question is yes, then what about back and sides? How could you tell?
pics of outside and inside of the top:
Thumb F-130 - https://ibb.co/FhZcN8r
laminated guitar (DAME Lilies70SP - https://ibb.co/Hg0yvgZ
video of soundhole:
Thumb F-130: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHYMhxGNF2E
I forgot to show the soundhole for the laminate guitar I used for this comparison but it doesn't matter.. it was obviously laminate, the layers were super clearly visible from a mile away.
Thank you.. would appreciate your knowledge on this. Really aching to know.

Hey guys so I e been driving a bout 2k miles in the highway, to get home on the weekends and back to work, and today I noticed my clutch pedal pops like it's not alignment right possibly. I'll about to be heading back. I'm not sure how much of an issue it'll be with the 300+ miles I drive one way. It appears it's near the top. I keep tools in my car when I travel. I tried to get a video but it quit making the noise while trying to isolate the section. Any previous experience on this would be useful. 15 GTI 6spd.
Edit. The clutch pedal doesn't always return to its normal position when pressed.

Long Post Warning:
My best friends are twins and we have been friends since we were 8. We are all 24 now. I love them with all of my heart. We were inseparable all throughout middle and high school. There was nothing I would do without them and vice versa. When we went to college, we split up. I decided to go to college near home and they went about 2-3 hours away. That didn't stop us from being best friends though. We would talk everyday freshman year. During the summer after freshman year, I went on an internship to Atlanta. They came and visited for a week and we had a blast. The following summer I went to Florida, again, they came down and we went to Disney together. After that summer, I fell hard for a guy who I worked with. I remember my friends and I went on a trip with the guy. I got us an airbnb to share, but instead of staying in the room with the girls, I slept in the room with him. I think this was a turning point in our relationship because I can see now that it bothered them. They weren't very fond of him and I understand why...now.
Eventually I realized that he wasn't going to be anything more than a friend, so I finally moved on. But I felt like our friendship had taken a toll because of it. Fast forward to about a year and a half later and I met my now husband. At this point, they were wrapping up college in the spring of 2021. Because of my internships, I was graduating a semester late, in the fall of 2021. Once my husband and I started dating, we obviously did everything together. At one point, we went on a group trip. It was me, my husband (boyfriend at the time), the twins, a boy who was (kinda) dating one of the twins, and another couple. I had a great time, but my husband didn't. He's never really been a fan of any of them. After that trip, the other couple ended up breaking up. The girl in the relationship was one of our other good friends from high school. It was kind of a messy breakup and she was, in my opinion, unfair to her boyfriend. I never loved the way she spoke to him disrespectfully. After they broke up, I didn't really want to hang out with her anymore. And the twins knew this. But they were still good friends with her, and that was fine. I told them they were obviously more than welcome to be her friend because she lived close to them, but I just would prefer to not do things with her there.
Anyways, I end up getting engaged right after I graduated. They were in on the surprise and the main distraction for me before he proposed. I love that they were so involved in this process because it made it extra special for me. They were both my maids of honor, they planned my bachelorette trip, helped me pick out my dress, everything. I am so grateful for them. After I got married about a year later, I fell into this HUGE depression. I was struggling with my job which left me with no real time off on the weekends to hang out with them. I had to say no to doing stuff constantly because of my job. I was miserable. I didn't want to do anything with anybody because I felt trapped by my job. I still saw them some, but not as much as I wanted.
I ended up leaving my job this past November. I have never been happier. I have weekends off and I am way more available to do things. But now I feel like I hardly talk to them. We snapchat everyday, but I probably have 1 real conversation with them a week. Today I saw that they are going on a girls trip. To be fair, the girl I don't like is on the trip, but I didn't even get a pity offer to go. They travel constantly with two other girls and I am always left out. I know before I left my job, I would have to say no over and over again, but now that I am in my new position I am free to hang out with them!
I feel like I've lost my best friends. I can't help but feel like they think I don't want to see them now that I'm married. For reference, we never had boyfriends growing up. My first serious relationship was with my husband and of course, I spent of a lot of time with him. The boy mentioned above who "kinda" dated one of the twins, is now fully dating her. It took them a while to be official, but they are so cute and I love that she has someone. I want them to be my best friends again. I want to come visit them and spend a weekend together. But after seeing them go on two trips back to back, I am scared to ask. I feel like they don't love me like they used to. I miss them. I know I haven't been a good friend, but I also think they are just mad that I got married young and maybe make them feel like I don't need them anymore. That couldn't be further from the truth. They will always be my sisters, I just want to go back to us being close like we were when we were young.
TLDR: My best friends from childhood live about 2 hours away from me now. I am married and was busy with work until about 6 months ago. During that time, I wasn't able to see them as much or do fun things. Now, I have more free time with my new job, but they won't ask me to go on trips. I think they think since I'm married, I don't need them anymore. Am I overreacting?

I (34 F) have been in lots of crappy relationships where I was constantly pursuing guys who weren't that interested in me.
So i decided I just want to have fun and have casual sex. A friend of a friend of mine (M29) I thought was the perfect friends with benefits. He's so damn attractive. I like him a lot but I know I can't be with him for reasons I won't mention here. But I've been very open and honest that I'm not looking for a relationship, and that I can't see myself being with him in the future because of stated reasons. He felt sad but he said he accepts it and still wants to be fwb. I'm not sure if it's part of an act, because my friend says he's a womanizer. Or he's developed actual feelings but won't say it. He told me he's been with over 70 women, and my friend has confirmed it, so I thought I was going to be having the time of my life. Instead, he turned pretty dramatic saying I didn't message him in a week, like I mean he went off , when in reality he barely messages me. So anyway I ended things and didn't see him for like 3 weeks.
But all I kept doing was fantasizing about him. Honestly, this has never happened to me before. I'm not really such a horny person, but every time I close my eyes I was just thinking about him and having sex with him in various ways even though we didn't really have that much sex.
So I messaged him and asked him if he wanted to come over. He came over. We had sex and now it's been like another week we haven't talked. I don't understand why he isn't wanting to see me more. He says he isn't having sex with anyone else, I guess he could be lying. Should I just move on to someone else?
This is hard for me because I've never been the one who desired sex in my relationships, and I've always been hard in love, to the point of clingy. It's the opposite here but it seems not any better because I'm always horny and not feeling satisfied due to the lack of time we spend together. I like the intimacy too, he kisses me a lot in bed. none of my ex's made me feel the way he does in bed. The intimacy is probably the part that's making me fantasize. Like I've been watching porn to compensate and I can only watch it if there's intimacy and kissing.
We told each other we missed each others bodys while we had sex, but I don't think I can handle being so intimate with someone and then not seeing each other for weeks. I also don't text him because I feel like I'm using him, and I've told him I don't want to use him. He said he didn't feel used but in the past lots of women used him for sex and it made him sad.
Any advice here, I'm not even sure what I'm asking I just know I feel unhappy and I also don't think I'll meet someone else who I feel the same passion with.
Edit: I don't think I explained myself clearly, I do not want a relationship with him. He wanted one with me but I told him no. We barely have sex, there's times we've hung out and he's rejected my advances so we didn't even do it.