I'm looking for a bit of advice.
I'm developing an app (actually there are 2, a client and a master) The App is to display clickable (to open google maps) Longitude and latitude coordinates for locations for up to a 14 day rally. The 'Master' App is for the orginisers of the rallies, and will set up all the locaitons, saving all the variables (there will be over 2000 variables) To a local Hive Database, and then to Firestore.
The Client app's will then download the data from firestore before the rally starts and populate the Hive DB on their app.
This all needs doing this way as there would be many places on the rally that the internet is not available, so everything needs saving locally.
Here's my question.
I also want the 'Master' App to be able to add images from their gallery, or other location and upload them to firestore. These would also need to be downloaded to the 'Client' apps to be saved locally to be used in their App. (background pictures, pictures of locations, logos etc..)
What is the best way to achieve this?
thanks in advance.

*** Comments mentioning anything related to treatment, trying to conceive, or family building measures in this thread will be removed via our OFF TOPIC rule. Consider if you were taking a break from treatment because you were exhausted and sad - treatment (yes anything related to it) goes in treatment **\*
Coping with infertility is complex, and it is our imperative to create places where we can honor the distinctly unique needs created by infertility. Sit beside us and share what’s on your mind and going on in your life. This is a great place to get to know your fellow members outside the gravity of treatment. Discussion here includes, but is not limited to:

• Venting about the impact of infertility on our lives/relationships/careers
• Non-IF Rants of all kind – marriage, career, societal, social media, friendships, mental health, and yes… politics too. It doesn’t need to be infertility related!
• Discussions around dealing with the influence of infertility – therapy, coping methods, finding supportive friends, getting lapped by a friend, dealing with pregnancy announcements, pushy parents, people that don’t understand, etc. The big picture stuff.
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Comments for the Treatment Thread

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  • I'm in the TWW, and I'm glad I scheduled a vacation as a distraction!
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  • There's this donut place next to my work that sells donuts for $5 each, but the WILD thing is that they're worth it!
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Last reminder - this is the CHAT thread. Not the place to discuss anything focused on treatment, TTC, or family building measures.

A few months ago, my son (24 now, was 13 when he created his FB) had his FB account hacked and subsequently banned, as the hacker posted a lot of hate-filled posts, etc that FB naturally saw as offensive and took action. Some time later, they unbanned the account, but the email address, and phone number were changed. So thinking all was lost, my son made a completely brand new FB, but used his same email and phone number since that's all he had at the time, but made sure to use 2FA this time.
So after reading here as well as other sites, I decided to give it one last go and help him try to recover the original account for all the pictures, memories, etc. It of course picked up on his phone number and kept looping back to the new acct, so we removed both and created a new email and a "dummy" google voice number for the new account, and tried again. No luck. I did email a few FB addresses I had found across the web, and no response.
Oddly enough, whoever took over his original account, never blocked me or unfriended me or anything. So I noticed the other day that the account just seemed to have vanished. I went over to his account "anonymously" thinking maybe whoever it was had finally blocked me. Nope, the account seems well and truly deleted. Or at the very least, deactivated. So, is it finally over? Are we out of any more options? Nobody at all that we can email? I know that FB has no phone option of course, or anything like that. Trying to recover that account, using the original phone numbeemail now brings up "no account found" which makes sense if the account has either been deleted or deactivated.
Kinda feeling like the end of an era, and we're both pretty sad about this. Thanks for any help or ideas anyone might can come up with.

I have always wanted more kids. That being said,
I experienced high risk pregnancies, very traumatic births, and NICU stays, with both of my children. With my condition likely to recur (and even worse with a subsequent pregnancy), and the potential for it to create worse health issues for me down the road, my logical brain is saying we should count ourselves lucky with the family we have and be done.
I feel guilty and selfish for even considering having another child, after everything I, my partner, my family, and the baby, may go through.
I am however, struck by so much grief when I consider being done for real. My emotional side is feeling unwilling to accept this reality. I keep thinking, "How can this be happening!?" I've always envisioned a big family and at the moment I'm scared that every time I picture our family unit, I'll be reminded of what my condition took from us.
I know that having negative feelings about the decision doesn't make it the wrong one, but I would love to feel more at peace with the smart decision, if possible, because I really do think it's the best one for my family's wellbeing.
I'm scared that by not making a decision soon, or by trying to "give myself time" to accept it, I'm going to be hyperfocused on the decision until then. Furthermore, I'm scared that if I hold out hope we will have another one, and we decide not to, that I'll have missed acknowledging milestones for what they are (ex. the last time we taught our baby how to walk).
If you've had a similar dilemma, what advice would you give? What helped you decide? Did you regret your decision? What helped you feel better or more confident about your decision? Open to any feedback or ideas from your perspective.
Thanks everyone 😔💘

Hi everyone! I'm currently trying to create a mould from a hand model that will be 3d printed later on. This is the model:
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/16834-hand-v1-new-3a16c65e081542dda0577b883c1ec31b
For now, I have transformed the model into a solid body, created an object surrounding the hand and applied a cavity to remove the geometry of the hand from the surrounding object. (Later on added cutting planes, fastening mechanisms etc..)
This worked but led to a very chunky mould. Do you have any other ideas how I could have a slimmer version, that is created a little more elegant? I thought about shelling it afterwards but somehow the hand geometries are ignored and intersected by that. I tried to work with an offset surface feature as well as some mold features but I wasn't very successful.
I don't have much experience on cases like this so I wanted to ask if anyone has some ideas on how I could create a mould with relatively low (but kinda constant) wall thickness.
Any kind of advice appreciated! Thank you! :)

Raksha Bandhan, a festival that celebrates the sacred bond between brothers and sisters, is a day filled with love, joy, and heartfelt emotions. While the Rakhi itself is a significant part of the celebration, adding a personalized card can make the occasion even more special. Let’s explore the beauty of celebrating Raksha Bandhan with a Rakhi and a card, and how this combination can add a personal touch to the festivities.

The Significance of Rakhi

Rakhi, the sacred thread tied by a sister on her brother’s wrist, symbolizes her love, prayers, and wishes for his well-being. In return, the brother vows to protect and cherish his sister. This simple thread carries deep emotional and cultural significance, making it a central part of Raksha Bandhan.

Adding a Personal Touch with a Card

Including a card with the Rakhi adds an extra layer of sentiment and personalization. Here’s why combining a Rakhi with a card is a beautiful idea:

1. Expression of Emotions: While the Rakhi signifies the bond, a card allows you to express your feelings in words. Writing a heartfelt message can convey your love, gratitude, and the special memories you share with your brother or sister.
2. Personalization: A personalized card can reflect your unique relationship. You can include inside jokes, shared memories, and specific sentiments that only you and your sibling understand, making the card a cherished keepsake.
3. Keepsake Value: Unlike the Rakhi, which might eventually be taken off, a card can be kept and cherished for years. It becomes a lasting memento of the love and bond you share.
4. Creativity: Cards offer a canvas for creativity. From handmade designs to digital art, you can create a card that is as unique and special as your relationship with your sibling.

Tips for Choosing the Perfect Rakhi and Card

1. Select a Meaningful Rakhi: Choose a Rakhi that resonates with your brother’s style and preferences. Whether it’s a traditional Rakhi, a beaded one, or a Rakhi with precious stones, select one that he will love and appreciate.
2. Personalize the Card:
   • Message: Write a heartfelt message that conveys your love and appreciation. Share a favorite memory, express your gratitude, or simply tell your sibling how much they mean to you.
   • Design: Opt for designs that reflect your sibling’s personality. You can choose from elegant, quirky, traditional, or modern designs based on their taste.
3. Handmade Touch: If you’re crafty, consider making the card yourself. Handmade cards have a personal touch that store-bought cards can’t match. Use colorful papers, stickers, stamps, or even photos to make it unique.
4. Digital Cards: If you’re apart from your sibling, a digital card can be a great alternative. Many online platforms offer customizable templates where you can add your message and images. You can email it or share it via social media.

How to Pair Rakhi with a Card

1. Coordinated Themes: Choose a card and Rakhi that complement each other in terms of color and theme. This creates a harmonious and visually appealing gift.
2. Thoughtful Presentation:
   • Gift Box: Place the Rakhi and card in a beautiful gift box. Add a few chocolates or a small gift to make it even more special.
   • Envelope: If you prefer simplicity, pair the Rakhi with a card in a matching envelope. Decorate the envelope with stickers or ribbons for a festive touch.
3. Surprise Element: Add a little surprise to your card, like a small photo, a piece of jewelry, or a handwritten note. These small additions can make your gift even more memorable.

Conclusion

Celebrating Raksha Bandhan with a Rakhi and a personalized card brings an extra dimension of love and thoughtfulness to the occasion. It allows you to express your emotions, create lasting memories, and show your sibling how much they mean to you.
This Raksha Bandhan, take a step beyond the traditional and add a personal touch with a heartfelt card. Let the combination of Rakhi and card symbolize not only the sacred bond you share but also the unique and cherished relationship that will last a lifetime. Happy Raksha Bandhan!
Raksha Bandhan, a festival that celebrates the sacred bond between brothers and sisters, is a day filled with love, joy, and heartfelt emotions. While the Rakhi itself is a significant part of the celebration, adding a personalized card can make the occasion even more special. Let’s explore the beauty of celebrating Raksha Bandhan with a Rakhi and a card, and how this combination can add a personal touch to the festivities.

The Significance of Rakhi

Rakhi, the sacred thread tied by a sister on her brother’s wrist, symbolizes her love, prayers, and wishes for his well-being. In return, the brother vows to protect and cherish his sister. This simple thread carries deep emotional and cultural significance, making it a central part of Raksha Bandhan.

Adding a Personal Touch with a Card

Including a card with the Rakhi adds an extra layer of sentiment and personalization. Here’s why combining a Rakhi with a card is a beautiful idea:

1. Expression of Emotions: While the Rakhi signifies the bond, a card allows you to express your feelings in words. Writing a heartfelt message can convey your love, gratitude, and the special memories you share with your brother or sister.
2. Personalization: A personalized card can reflect your unique relationship. You can include inside jokes, shared memories, and specific sentiments that only you and your sibling understand, making the card a cherished keepsake.
3. Keepsake Value: Unlike the Rakhi, which might eventually be taken off, a card can be kept and cherished for years. It becomes a lasting memento of the love and bond you share.
4. Creativity: Cards offer a canvas for creativity. From handmade designs to digital art, you can create a card that is as unique and special as your relationship with your sibling.

Tips for Choosing the Perfect Rakhi and Card

1. Select a Meaningful Rakhi: Choose a Rakhi that resonates with your brother’s style and preferences. Whether it’s a traditional Rakhi, a beaded one, or a Rakhi with precious stones, select one that he will love and appreciate.
2. Personalize the Card:
   • Message: Write a heartfelt message that conveys your love and appreciation. Share a favorite memory, express your gratitude, or simply tell your sibling how much they mean to you.
   • Design: Opt for designs that reflect your sibling’s personality. You can choose from elegant, quirky, traditional, or modern designs based on their taste.
3. Handmade Touch: If you’re crafty, consider making the card yourself. Handmade cards have a personal touch that store-bought cards can’t match. Use colorful papers, stickers, stamps, or even photos to make it unique.
4. Digital Cards: If you’re apart from your sibling, a digital card can be a great alternative. Many online platforms offer customizable templates where you can add your message and images. You can email it or share it via social media.

How to Pair Rakhi with a Card

1. Coordinated Themes: Choose a card and Rakhi that complement each other in terms of color and theme. This creates a harmonious and visually appealing gift.
2. Thoughtful Presentation:
   • Gift Box: Place the Rakhi and card in a beautiful gift box. Add a few chocolates or a small gift to make it even more special.
   • Envelope: If you prefer simplicity, pair the Rakhi with a card in a matching envelope. Decorate the envelope with stickers or ribbons for a festive touch.
3. Surprise Element: Add a little surprise to your card, like a small photo, a piece of jewelry, or a handwritten note. These small additions can make your gift even more memorable.

Celebrating Raksha Bandhan with a Rakhi and a personalized card brings an extra dimension of love and thoughtfulness to the occasion. It allows you to express your emotions, create lasting memories, and show your sibling how much they mean to you.
This Raksha Bandhan, take a step beyond the traditional and add a personal touch with a heartfelt card. Let the combination of Rakhi and card from Rakhi.com symbolize not only the sacred bond you share but also the unique and cherished relationship that will last a lifetime. Happy Raksha Bandhan!

(continuation of part 2)
III. e) The Mobius FF x FFVII collaboration
Alright, back to our suspension world-hopping! Let’s visit the realm of Mobius FF, —more specifically, the collaboration between Mobius FF and FFVII—, where I found the most substantial evidence for my theory.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the Mobius FF (MFF) world and games, let’s begin with a bit of a summary of the parts relevant to us. The story takes place in a world called Palamecia, to which people from other worlds are inexplicably summoned. The vast majority of those who are brought there don’t remember anything from their worlds of origin or their lives before Palamecia except their names: these amnesiac people are called Blanks. The main character is Wol, accompanied by a guiding fairy of Palamecia named Echo. Echo knows a lot about the mechanisms of Palamecia, as she’s tied to the realm. The leader of this world is Vox, a being who manifests only as a voice. The first thing all Blanks remember before they wake in Palamecia is Vox telling them the rules of the realm. Incidentally, the crystals of the MFF world are teleportation crystals.
III. e) i. Devs’ Statements
Let’s review some of the MFF x FFVII Remake collaboration devs’ statements before diving into its story.
For both the MFF x FFVII Remake collaboration and the Remake project, Kitase took on the role of producer while Nojima supervised the screenplay and wrote the scenario. The project leader was none other than the Remake trilogy’s Hamaguchi, who told a SE interviewer the following:

“We would love for you to play the [MFF x FFVII] collaboration event as you look forward to [Remake’s] release” (“Celebration of the Overseas Release of the Steam Version and FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE Collaboration Event”, Square Enix).

He later hints at the collaboration’s storyline:

“This collaboration is focused on Cloud, so the other characters will not make an appearance. Players will join Cloud, who has gone astray in Palamecia, on his adventures and see how the story unfolds based on his decisions. Content-wise, FINAL FANTASY VII fans will surely become fraught with emotion as events unfold in-game (laughs).”

Kitase concurs on the emotional aspect of the collaboration in the same interview:

“When it comes to the story, I seek two things– ‘mystery’ and ‘[…] emotional impact’.”

Clearly, fans of FFVII are supposed to react emotionally to the events of the collaboration. With these statements in mind to give us perspective, we can get into the plot points relevant to our analysis. MFF x FFVII Remake comes in two parts, the relevant plot points of which I will describe and analyze one at a time.
III. e) ii. Eclipse Contact
1) Fact-Finding
Part one of the MFF x FFVII Remake collaboration event is called Eclipse Contact. It came out in 2017 on Aerith’s birthday, February 7th, and its release campaign ran until March. In Eclipse Contact, Palamecia welcomes someone new: Cloud Strife appears in the realm with very little recollection of his core world of FFVII.
Cloud isn’t a Blank, since he recalls the mako reactors in Midgar upon his arrival in Palamecia, and also remembers that he was hired by Avalanche to blow them up:

“Echo: How did you end up in Palamecia?

Cloud: I… That day... I remember now. A job. I had taken a job. I was hired muscle protecting clients. They wanted to stop the reactor... We used a train to get past security... Was it at night? Something happened... Next thing I knew, I was floating through darkness. Then [I woke up here]”.

This piece of dialogue reveals that Eclipse Contact Cloud’s memories end at the very moment when Avalanche arrives at reactor 1 in OG (disk 1, chapter 1): the very beginning of the game. Consequently, Cloud does not remember anything that happened from the beginning of the OG timeline onwards.
Wol and Echo are intrigued by Cloud’s strange case: non-Blanks rarely arrive in Palamecia. The following text appears on the screen shortly after they meet:

“Perhaps he is not truly who he thinks he is.
Perhaps everything is illusory, a dream.
Only one thing is certain, that he must press on, one step at a time, toward the light that shines from the promised land.”

Just like he did in FFT’s Ivalice, Cloud feels the need to find the Promised Land in MFF x FFVII, despite the fact that he lacks memories of the OG timeline. Though Cloud doesn’t remember anything beyond the train ride to reactor 1, he does remember the Promised Land (at least somewhat). This is odd, given that in OG, Cloud didn’t learn about the Promised Land until several chapters into the game.
Wol and Echo agree to help Cloud figure out why he’s here, since there’s clearly something strange going on with his presence in Palamecia. In fact, Cloud brought Midgar’s mako reactors with him somehow, transplanting them onto the landscape of Palamecia. The group decides to bomb these reactors, following Cloud’s instincts in the hopes that it will jog his memory.
Now for my favorite part. After blowing up another reactor, the group is surprised by the appearance of a crystal. A piano rendition of Aerith’s theme begins. When Wol tries to touch the crystal, something akin to a force field rejects him. When Cloud approaches it, however, the crystal responds to his hand by flashing with light. As it begins to glow, Wol concludes that the crystal is linked to Cloud and Cloud alone. Let’s examine the resulting dialogue:

“Echo: This is the light in your memories. The light of home.

Cloud: Home? But I don’t—

Echo: If you don't remember… then your home is lost to you.

Cloud: Then my memories are gone.

Wol: Do you want to reclaim your past?

Cloud: Not interested... I am what I am now. Not what I was.

Wol: Then tell me… This light. If you can’t remember it, what does it mean to you?

Cloud: It's a warm light... I feel at peace. If this place —home— is as warm and peaceful as this light, then I want to go there.

Echo: You can't go there... Not back to the past.

Cloud: I see.

Echo: But even if you can't go back to the past, you can go forward. If you wish for it strongly enough, the crystal will show you the way. The way to a new world. The way to your Promised Land. […]

Cloud: So... Should [I] take [my] chances and make a wish to this crystal?

Wol: Go ahead. It’s your crystal.

Echo: I should warn you that once you start on this journey, there's no coming back.

Cloud: The past is the past. I want to go to a place where everything is new. I’m ready.“

What follows is a moment I call the wishing scene (13:43-14:34). Cloud closes his eyes and wishes on the crystal. It flashes, and suddenly, rainbow-colored ripples of light appear around it. Aerith’s theme is replaced by a slightly modified version of “Midgar, City of Mako”, the track that plays during the opening cutscene of Remake. You can recreate the modification by listening to “Midgar, City of Mako” from 2:00 to 2:23, then skipping to 3:00 and listening until 3:18. You may recognize the musical motif that kicks off the wishing scene as the Lifestream motif, which has become symbolic of the mysteries of the Remake trilogy, as it often plays during scenes where unexplainable plot deviations from OG occur— more specifically, deviations involving multiverse shenanigans. For instance, it plays during MOTF 4. It also plays in Rebirth after Cloud blocks masamune as Aerith is shown dying anyway.
Cloud disappears with his crystal, after which Echo speaks to Wol about Cloud’s journey:

“Echo: Each person gets the Promised Land they justly deserve, not the one they really need. If you’re a bad person, you go to a bad place. If you expect nothing, you get nothing. Even the journey there makes you look deep within yourself to find out who you really are. Cloud should be facing his own past as we speak. It’s cruel, but necessary. That battle was a long time coming”.

Apparently, at least in the context of this collaboration event, the Promised Land can be a reward or a punishment, depending on which you deserve. Echo explains that Cloud will have to face himself and his past on his way to his Promised Land. This means that the Cloud that appears in Eclipse Contact must next embark on a journey that will confront him with his past, test his mettle, and ultimately lead him to the Promised Land he justly deserves.
III. e) ii. 2) Fact Analysis
There’s a lot of vital information to dig into here, mostly provided by Echo. She claims that the crystal’s light is linked to Cloud’s memories of home; Cloud has to have known this home in the past, as it could not otherwise exist in his memories. MFF Cloud must be a post-OG Cloud. Unfortunately, Echo indicates that whatever Cloud’s home is, he’s lost both it and his memories of it. Despite this, Cloud describes his home as warm and peaceful, concluding that he wishes to find it. Though Cloud can’t return to the past, Echo tells him that if he wishes it strongly enough, the crystal can guide him toward a new world, where his home and his Promised Land exist in the future. The fact that Aerith’s theme is playing all throughout these descriptions of Cloud’s lost home, his Promised Land and the past that he can’t return to makes it extremely obvious that these concepts all point to Aerith. Aerith is Cloud’s lost home. Wherever Aerith is, that’s his Promised Land. The time spent with Aerith before her loss is the past he tragically can’t return to. You might have clocked the similarities between Eclipse Contact’s mention of Cloud’s lost home and DFF’s mention of Cloud’s lost dream: in both these titles, Cloud’s home and dream are equivalent to his Promised Land. It’s confirmed yet again that Aerith is the one Cloud hopes to return to, just like every soul returns to the Lifestream. At this juncture of my research, I was curious as to why the last thing Cloud remembers before waking in Palamecia is the run-up to the Reactor 1 bombing mission in OG (disk 1, chapter 1). This mystery will have to persist for a while longer.
The alarm bells in your head might’ve been triggered by the mention of the wishing scene’s rainbow ripple effects— and rightfully so. This visual cue has sparked passionate debate in the fandom since its appearances in Rebirth, as seen in these pictures:
Zack Choosing To Get A Cure For Cloud, Rebirth Chapter 14; Creating a New World/Timeline
Aerith Pushing Cloud Out of that World/Timeline, Remake Chapter 14
Cloud Blocking Masamune, Rebirth Chapter 14; Creating New World/Timeline
You might have read or heard that this rainbow effect signifies that a character has entered another timeline, created a portal to another timeline, created a new timeline or is being shown different timelines. Indeed, whenever the OG timeline is deviated from in a significant way, this effect appears. The pictures above present multiple examples of these shifting realities.
One might propose that the rainbow ripples in Eclipse Contact and Rebirth are unrelated because of the long period between their respective release dates. This long in-between period indeed makes it likelier that the effect was used without forethought in Eclipse Contact, forgotten over the years, and incidentally reused in Rebirth as a plot-important visual cue with no connection to Eclipse Contact. I’m inclined to disagree since the crystal is specifically described as a vessel that can take Cloud “to a new world” by Echo, which is a bit on the nose. Regardless, it’s plausible that there’s no connection. That is, it would be, if the rainbow effect didn’t show up in Remake too.
When the Whispers are finally defeated in chapter 18 of Remake, a burst of the rainbow ripple effects indicate the emergence of multiple worlds, newly freed from the restrictive clutches of fate (1:16:36-1:16:47). Shortly thereafter, Sephiroth takes Cloud to the Edge of Creation and invites him to join forces with him. Cloud refuses, and Sephiroth says the following:

“Seven seconds till the end. Time enough for you. Perhaps. But what will you do with it? Let's see.”

The question “What will you do with it?” implies that the answer is unknown, meaning Cloud is no longer bound to the OG timeline by fate: many alternate futures lay ahead. Sephiroth is telling Cloud and the audience that now, the mystery of the Remake trilogy has become “Which future will Cloud bring into existence? Which among the infinite possible timelines will his choices result in?” After pondering this aloud, Sephiroth leaves Cloud alone to consider the rainbow effects in the sky (1:19:23-1:19:36). Because they generally represent alternate or changing timelines, it’s safe to assume that the rainbow ripples here represent the myriad of possible worlds that Cloud’s actions in those seven seconds could generate. After all, Sephiroth was just talking about them, and chapter 18’s description in Remake reads as follows:

“In a world beyond, Sephiroth shows Cloud a vision of the planet seven seconds before its demise. Having strayed from the course destiny set for them, they strike out on a path towards an unknown future."

This explains why the player is shown Cloud staring at those colors in the apocalyptic sky at world’s end, directly after hearing Sephiroth’s cryptic words: those are all the alternate “unknown future” timelines ahead of him, now unravelled from fate. Amongst those rainbow ripples lies the answer to the question “What will you do with [the seven seconds]?”
Given that Remake was released in 2020 and Eclipse Contact came out in 2017, the major story elements of the Remake trilogy —including the eventuality of alternate timelines— had to have been planned out at the time of Eclipse Contact’s release: while the MFF x FFVII Remake collaboration was being made, Remake was also in production. Also recall that the collaboration event and the Remake trilogy share a codirector in Hamaguchi, a writer in Nojima and a producer in Kitase. Based on all this, it’s more than likely that the rainbow ripples in the Remake trilogy and inEclipse Contact represent the very same thing: alternate worlds and timelines. All this to say that when the rainbow effect appears around the crystal in the Eclipse Contact, it means the crystal is acting as a vessel to another world, just like Echo said.
But that’s not all Echo said: she also mentioned that this other world would take Cloud to his home, to his Promised Land. We’ve already established what that means for Cloud, what it’s meant since two whole decades at the time of Eclipse Contact’s release: this crystal will take Cloud to Aerith. So, where exactly did the crystal take Cloud? In what world can he meet Aerith again?
The music that plays during the wishing scene gives us a huge hint. As I noted before, the track playing in the background is a slightly modified version of Remake’s “Midgar, City of Mako”, which plays in the introduction cutscene of Remake. This is a musical cue that the ending of Cloud’s journey in Eclipse Contact and the very beginning of the Remake trilogy are closely related. Add the fact that the devs wanted players to experience this collaboration event before playing Remake, and it becomes undeniable: the crystal that appeared to Cloud in Palamecia —which offers to lead him to his home and Promised Land, meaning to Aerith—, took him to the world of the Remaketrilogy.
Eclipse Contact is huge. The whole crux of my theory lives and dies right here. However, we still have part two of the MFF x FFVII Remake collaboration event to analyze as well as its promotions to look into before I can drop the thesis on you, so bear with me in order to receive the most thorough analysis of all this possible! I want to give you every drop of proof I can!
III. e) ii. MFF x FFVII Remake Fatal Calling
1) Fact-Finding
Fatal Calling came out February 1 of 2018, and its release campaign ended in March. The game opens with a cutscene: Cloud is floating, seemingly unconscious, through a sparkling, green current of light. The current flows into a circle of bright, white light, surrounded by rainbow ripple effects as Cloud is driven toward and into it. An orb floats along with him. The Advent Children theme “The Promised Land” plays, a choir of mournful, aching, mutedly desperate souls engaged in a lamenting prayer. Sephiroth’s voice echoes:

“Sephiroth: It’s time. You may turn your back on the past, lock your memories away. Hide reality beneath a layer of illusion. But destiny will not die so easily. Yes. At memory’s end you may plead for it all to go away. But the past is a curse, binding your soul. It’s time. Wake to your fate. Rise to your destiny.

Cloud: (In a half-conscious grunt) Reunion…

Sephiroth: The light will lead you. Wake to your fate. Rise!”

Sephiroth’s mentions of Cloud hiding under an illusion and repressing his memories are no doubt allusions to Cloud’s past, which was complicated and darkened by Hojo’s experiments. It makes sense, then, that Cloud responds with “Reunion”. Fatal Calling indeed focuses on Cloud’s relationship to his past, his identity and Sephiroth. Everything involving Nibelheim —where everything started—, Sephiroth’s manipulation, and Hojo’s experiments are on the table. Also noteworthy if not out of place is Sephiroth’s evocation of fate.
Cloud enters a battle with Sephiroth with the help of Wol and Echo, who are surprised to see him back in Palamecia. Cloud tells them about the orb seen floating along with him in the opening cutscene: though he calls it a materia, he doesn’t know how or when he acquired it. Based on his behavior, it appears that Cloud remembers just as little about the events of OG as he did by the end of Eclipse Contact. Wol informs Cloud that whoever he heard speaking to him on his way here was probably Vox pretending to be Sephiroth.
As the group advances, Cloud recalls Midgar and decides they should go there next. At one of Midgar’s mako reactors, the group encounters Sephiroth, who speaks to himself:

“It's still not enough. This... this is but a pale imitation of the power I desire.”

Once Sephiroth has disappeared, Cloud explains what he remembers: Sephiroth was the greatest SOLDIER of all and a hero to Cloud, though Cloud can’t remember what exactly ended this admiration. As players of FFVII OG, we know the event in question is the Nibelheim incident, wherein Sephiroth slaughtered the town’s residents, including Cloud’s mother, after learning of his past. The former war hero also severely injured Tifa, whom Cloud presumed dead when he found her in the old mako reactor with a vicious slash on her chest. Cloud is agitated by the gaps in his memory, so the group resolves to follow Sephiroth for answers. When they find him again, Sephiroth causes Cloud to experience a piercing headache with the mere mention of the Reunion. They fight, but Sephiroth is too powerful— he skewers Cloud with the masamune and taunts his unconscious body:

“Sephiroth: A puppet. I won’t kill you. Not yet. Not until you know true despair.
Wol: If you want despair, we got plenty to go around. Palamecia’s full of it.
Sephiroth: Yes, this planet knows suffering. But it is not the world that was promised to me. I must go home. Tell Cloud, if he wants to see me again, he should face his memories. I will await him there, in the land of memory, where it all began. In Nibelheim.”

Sephiroth darkens Cloud’s materia, turning it black. Later, Wol explains to Cloud that Sephiroth stole the light from his materia, taking Cloud’s strength along with it.
Once Cloud has woken up, the group travels to Nibelheim to uncover the truth about Cloud’s memories. Cloud slowly gathers pieces of his past, shown to the player as titled, diary-like text written from various perspectives. Cloud learns the truth about SOLDIER, Jenova cells, Sephiroth, and what happened in Nibelheim. Let’s examine a few of these diary entries:

“A Warrior’s Tale: There's a girl in Nibelheim I think about. Warm. Cheerful. More grown-up than a child. Haven't talked to her much, but she seems nice. She's going to be leading the SOLDIERs to the mountain reactor. Maybe if I get into the survey team I'll get a chance to talk to her? Nah. She's out of my league.”

Young Cloud’s crush on Tifa is on full display! This must be a memory from his time as an infantryman accompanying Zack and Sephiroth to Nibelheim.

“Tale of the Nameless: I drift along in the mako, asleep. Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Give me a number. I… I… I am… The Reunion. The Reunion must happen.”

This entry could be taken from any one of the Nibelheim survivors’ perspectives, as they were all bathed in mako and turned into Sephiroth clones. I would venture to say this is Cloud’s perspective though, given the reference to this iconic line from OG:

“Cloud: Professor... please give me a number. Please, Professor...
Hojo: Shut up, miserable failure.” (disk 2, chapter 2).

The trio encounters Sephiroth near the old Mt. Nibel mako reactor. Because Sephiroth stole the light from his materia earlier, Cloud goes into the confrontation already drained of his strength. However, when Cloud lifts the materia in his hand, it lights up and creates rainbow ripples in the air around him, similar to those seen in Eclipse Contact and Rebirth. Cloud is healed of his injuries: he closes his eyes for a moment, wearing a peaceful expression. Sephiroth is displeased, but recovers quickly:

“Sephiroth: The guiding light… it healed you.

Wol: […] here, near the mako reactor, the materia regained its light. And your strength returned […]. [Sephiroth]’s here so he can steal the power you've stored inside that materia.

Sephiroth, with a short laugh: I have all the power I need. Cloud. What strength you’ve regained is yours. Use it to fight me. It’s time. Let’s decide this, in this land lost to despair. The prize is home. The Promised Land. There to answer the call of destiny.”

With this second evocation of fate, Sephiroth disappears.
Cloud, Wol and Echo find Sephiroth at the Northern Crater. He mocks Cloud for believing the orb in his possession is materia. Sephiroth waves a hand and his signature black and purple fog surrounds Cloud, immobilizing him. Sephiroth claims that the power Cloud regained at the Mt. Nibel reactor was Sephiroth’s all along. Now that it courses through Cloud’s veins, Sephiroth controls him. He calls Cloud his puppet and finishes with the following before the two vanish, leaving Wol and Echo alone:

“Now, let us return. Back to the Promised Land. The time of the Reunion has come.”

After Cloud finally breaks free and defeats Sephiroth with the help of Wol and Echo, the villain makes a final threat:

“Very good, Cloud. You’ve destroyed an illusion. But the time will come to abandon your illusions and face reality. Then, you will know true pain.”

Sephiroth disappears for the last time, his body surrounded by his signature dark fog and the rainbow ripples. A piano rendition of Tifa’s theme begins. Cloud’s orb rises into the air and becomes a crystal, with the same shape and glow as the one we see in Eclipse Contact. The following dialogue is illuminating:

“Cloud: I will fight. The light will lead me where I need to go.

Wol: You sure? Wasn’t that [crystal] Sephiroth’s?

Cloud: I heard Sephiroth's voice, at the end. Inside me. Whatever he put in me, it’s still in there. Someday I’ll settle that score. If I can't avoid destiny, I might as well face it head-on.

Wol: Yeah. That was quite a speech, Cloud. Surprised you made it through without laughing.

Cloud: Yeah, forget I said it. I will too.

Echo: Forgetting won’t make it go away. Even if the words fade from memory, your dream will never disappear. Not until it becomes real.“

The crystal shines as though in response.

“Echo: See? See, that's how the light of hope works. Hope can turn your dreams into reality.

Cloud: Yeah. I guess so. I might forget this world, but I won’t forget hope. And my reality, that’s for me to live.”

Tifa’s theme ends. Cloud approaches the crystal, and disappears in a beam of blinding light. Once Cloud has vanished with the crystal, Aerith’s theme begins playing. A few pale feathers with a slight orange tint (the color of MFF) float down onto the floor where he stood seconds before. The image fades to black. The credits roll, and Aerith’s theme continues all the way through.
Once both the final name in the credits and Aerith’s theme fade, we’re surprised by a sudden, troubling image: Sephiroth appears in a frightening flash, standing amidst the flames of Nibelheim. When his image fades to black, the collaboration title *“Final Fantasy VII x Mobius Final Fantasy”*appears on the screen. The FFVII title is surrounded by the 1997 meteor logo. Then, a flash of light: the titles reappear, except this time, they read “Final Fantasy VII REMAKE x Mobius Final Fantasy”. The new Remake Meteor logo replaces the 1997 version. As soon as these changes to the FFVIItitle and meteor logo occur, Aerith’s theme returns. It plays on until the game ends a few seconds later, the screen fading to black.
III. e) ii. 2) Fact Analysis
The introduction cutscene shows that MFF Cloud travelled from Eclipse Contact to Fatal Calling via Lifestream. It’s unclear how much time has passed in between, but the atemporal nature of the Lifestream makes the question irrelevant. My theory that MFF Cloud has died is corroborated by the way he’s depicted in the opening cutscene: his eyes are closed and his body is limp as the Lifestream carries him.
Eclipse Contact ended with Echo’s claim that Cloud will face his true self and confront his past while he journeys to his Promised Land. This description resembles what Cloud experienced in the OG Lifestream sequence (disk 2, chapter 8). Indeed, Fatal Calling revolves around the same topics the Lifestream sequence addresses: the truth about the Nibelheim incident, Hojo’s experiments, young Cloud’s crush on Tifa, etc. The opening cutscene shows Cloud being transported to his Promised Land and facing his past on the way there, just like Echo said he would.
Let’s now take a long detour to examine the song that plays during the opening cutscene of Fatal Calling: “The Promised Land” theme from Advent Children. The title and general subject of this song are obviously relevant to the cutscene, but there must be more to its inclusion than that. Perhaps the lyrics can help us understand its appearance in the opening cutscene of Fatal Calling. Here are the unofficial English lyrics (translated from the original Japanese lyrics by an anonymous fan and verified by me via DeepL):

“Why do we cling together?
Why do we give punishment to lesser hearts?
The planet did not forgive us
Did not forgive us
The planet did not forgive us
Did not forgive us
The pulse of veins flows through the earth
A faint, faint pulse
Of a heart drawn to death
A gentle life returns to the planet
Is it necessary to sacrifice souls?
Why do we cling together?
Why do we beg for forgiveness
In the Promised Land?” (“‘The Promised Land’ (theme)” by Final Fantasy Wiki).

The song appears to be a regretful lament of human behavior, expressed by the repetition of “Why do we […]?” questions. The behaviors listed are all typically human ones: the terms “[clinging] together” and “[giving] punishment to [the] lesser” express the uniquely human nature of tribalism and the consequences of the fear and hatred it can generate, and “[begging] for forgiveness in the Promised Land” is likely a reference to the human hypocrisy of only feeling sorry for one’s crimes when judgement day arrives. This last line describes a scenario where someone remains passive or ignorant in the face of something important, only to realize its essentiality once it’s too late. The repeated“The planet did not forgive us” lines reflect the fear of being condemned forever because of one’s mistakes, as though the planet is a deity one has sinned against. The lyric describing a pulse in the earth is obviously about the planet being alive— a reference to the Lifestream. But the pulse is faint and weak and the planet is dying, perishing because of mankind’s greed. This is an indictment of mako energy. The line “A gentle life returns to the planet” refers to an innocent’s soul returning to the Lifestream after death, while the next lyric “Is it necessary to sacrifice souls?” protests the “sacrifice” of the planet’s soul energy for mako production. In all this darkness, this song’s mention of “forgiveness in the Promised Land” leaves a modicum of hope for a better place, however meek, even though mankind might not deserve it. The song “The Promised Land” is both a lament of mankind’s ways and a plea for mercy, with religious and/or spiritual undertones. The song’s themes seem to be: the Promised Land itself, regret and shame, the sins and foolishness of mankind, the death of innocents, grief, Cetra spirituality, and a meek, quiet hope despite it all. The most interesting aspect of the song is its antithetical portrayal of death as a thing of both despair and hope, condemnation and salvation, cruelty and mercy, suffering and relief. Maybe we can glean more information about this theme’s significance in the world of FFVII if we examine the contexts in which it appears.
Importantly, the song plays in Marlene’s introductory narration of Advent Children, meaning its themes are related or similar to the film’s. I highly recommend listening and watching it again, even if you remember this iconic segment. Marlene references Aerith’s sacrifice as the image of Cloud lowering her into the water is shown. Note that Marlene says “Sadness was the price to see it end” (2:36) after we are shown Aerith’s death and her subsequent unleashing of the Lifestream (1:49-2:24): Aerith’s innocent life was sacrificed for the planet’s survival. The lyrics “A gentle life returns to the planet” and “Is it necessary to sacrifice souls?” suit Aerith’s situation quite well.
The theme also plays in Advent Children as Kadaj dies in Cloud’s arms (1:45:00-1:47:55), hearing Aerith’s gentle voice and reaching up to take her invisible hand. Here is what Aerith says to him in his dying moments as “The Promised Land” plays:

“Aerith’s voice: Kadaj?
Kadaj: Huh?
The dark sky has gone with Sephiroth. Healing rain starts falling from bright clouds. The rain no longer hurts Kadaj.
Aerith’s voice: You don’t have to hang on any longer.
Kadaj: Mother! Is that…?
Aerith’s voice: Everyone’s waiting, if you’re ready.
Kadaj nods his head slightly in acceptance. He holds out his hand, and slowly evaporates into the Lifestream. Cloud watches […]” (Advent Children).

Kadaj is brought into the Lifestream by Aerith as she provides rain from the Lifestream. All those with geostigma are healed by the rain, and Tifa feels Aerith’s presence as the party celebrates:

“Tifa, looking out at the falling rain […]: Somehow, I knew you were there. Thank you” (Advent Children).

Cloud stands in the rain with a smile —his first in the whole film—, closes his eyes and basks in Aerith’s healing with his face upturned. He is finally at peace:

“Cloud’s expression is one of peace as the [Lifestream] rain patters against him” (Final Fantasy VII Advent Children English script, “[83] Atop the Shinra Building”).

One thing is clear: the track “The Promised Land” accompanies Aerith. It only makes sense, since we’ve seen overwhelming evidence that she is Cloud’s Promised Land, and since she occupies the Lifestream —which some consider the Promised Land as it is where souls go after death— during the events of Advent Children. Note that when the piece plays, Cloud is shown either mourning Aerith and releasing her into the river at the Cetra capital, or basking in her presence, smiling with relief at the peaceful feeling that she’s somewhere near: these two opposing scenes reflect the song’s antithetical portrayal of death.
Additionally, the song’s themes of regret, shame concerning one’s sins and a small hope perfectly describe Cloud’s character arc and feelings in Advent Children. Cloud regrets his inability to save Aerith, which he considers a sin. Further, he only realized how important she is to him once it was too late to tell her. And of course, he harbors a fragile yet important hope that he’ll be reunited with her in the Promised Land:

“‘Can sins ever be forgiven?’ — Cloud asks this to Vincent, who mutters a brief answer. For both of them, ‘I couldn't protect my loved one’ is the sense of guilt that they carry, so their words resonate with weight” (FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania Revised Edition, “Chapter 2: Character in FFVIIWorld”, “Vincent Valentine”, “In Advent Children”, page 72).

&

"’It is my sin that I couldn't protect my loved one’ — under this assumption, Cloud closes off his heart. What will the reunion with Aerith bring him? ‘I... think I want to be forgiven. Yeah, I just want to be forgiven’” (FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania Revised Edition, “Chapter 2: Character in FFVIIWorld”, “Cloud Strife”, “In Advent Children”, page 40).

&

“Cloud, after seeing Aerith’s hand reach for him through the Lifestream: … I think I'm beginning to understand.
Tifa: What?

Cloud: An answer from the Planet… the Promised Land... I think I can meet her... there” (disk 3, chapter 3).

Just as the song and Marlene express in the introduction of the film, Aerith was innocent, and her sacrifice generated great grief. Cloud finally experiences peace when he feels her presence in the healing rain, and he smiles: he’s glad to be with her again, even if it’s only for a brief moment of tangential respite.
The scene depicts Aerith guiding Kadaj into the Lifestream as the song plays, tying her to the concept and theme song of the Promised Land once more. This connection is later solidified by Tifa’s thanks to the late flower girl. All of this evidence shows us that this musical theme is intimately linked to Aerith, as it never plays in her absence. After all, the song speaks of sins, the death of innocents, forgiveness, grief, a small sense of hope, regret and the afterlife: all themes relevant to Cloud’s feelings surrounding Aerith’s death in and outside of Advent Children.
The Remake OST also includes a version of this piece called “The Promised Land - Cycle of Life”. This iteration of the theme begins playing in the wake of the first bombing mission, right after Sephiroth taunts Cloud with his mother’s dying words in Sector 8 (chapter 2). Sephiroth appears to Cloud surrounded by flames, evoking the Nibelheim massacre, and the theme begins playing in the background once he disappears, continuing (13:17-15:30) as Cloud walks through the sector, encountering fires and destruction all around him. This version of the Promised Land theme is meant to emphasize the deaths of the innocent Nibelheim townsfolk and the innocents in Sector 8. This dreadful atmosphere is amplified by the cries of despair that ring all around as Cloud passes by NPC Sector 8 residents. Perhaps the themes of tribalism and mankind’s sin are relevant to this scene as well, since Shinra and Avalanche are two distinct and warring groups whose quarrels, regardless of their necessity, result in the deaths of innocents. The theme of guilt also emerges, reflecting the Avalanche members’ feelings upon seeing the unintended collateral damage of the explosion. “The Promised Land - Cycle of Life” plays until Cloud encounters Aerith on Loveless. So it seems in this scenario, the heavy weight of death and despair is lifted when Cloud meets the lively, cheery Aerith. Once more, Aerith is central to the musical theme of the Promised Land, as well as to the concept itself.
I also noticed that a version of the song plays as Cloud and the party ready to enter the Forgotten Capital to save Aerith in Rebirth’s chapter 14: it truly adds the weight of her upcoming death to the scene.
Back to Fatal Calling, the scene where Cloud regains his strength is quite mysterious. Wol says Cloud’s orb regained its “guiding light” light because of its proximity to the mako reactor. In the moment his strength is replenished, Cloud is shown tilting his head back and closing his eyes: this is reminiscent of the scene in Advent Children when he stands under Aerith’s healing Lifestream rain, feeling at peace. The rainbow ripples shining from the orb indicate that something is crossing the boundaries of worlds. Since the mako reactor pumps up the Lifestream, being near a reactor also means being physically near the Lifestream. This means Aerith’s spirit is within proximity. In my opinion, Aerith was able to heal Cloud from the Lifestream, just like in Advent Children. However, Aerith is not in Palamecia with him: her healing had to travel there through the Lifestream, transcending the boundaries of worlds, hence the rainbow ripples.
Let’s now address the appearance of Tifa’s character theme in Fatal Calling. Since Fatal Calling is all about discovering Cloud’s past in Nibelheim and then in Hojo’s lab, it makes lots of sense for Tifa’s theme to play as the crystal appears. In OG’s Lifestream sequence (disk 2 chapter 8), she’s the one there helping Cloud sort through his past instead of Wol and Echo. Cloud even picks up a piece of his childhood crush on Tifa in Fatal Calling as a shard of his memory. After all, this crush was the catalyst for him joining SOLDIER, and everything that transpired in consequence:

“Cloud: That was the first time I heard about Sephiroth. If I got strong like Sephiroth, then everyone might... If I could just get stronger... Then even Tifa would have to notice me” (FFVII OG, disk 2, chapter 8).

Additionally, it’s fitting that her theme should begin right after Sephiroth speaks of “[abandoning] your illusions and [facing] reality”, considering that Cloud’s false persona was concocted by Jenova using Tifa’s mistaken impressions of Cloud:

“While being tended to by a station worker in the Sector 7 Slum train station, [Cloud] was reunited with Tifa, and using the abilities of Jenova’s cells, formed a new personality” (FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania Revised Edition, “Chapter 2: Character in FFVII World, “Cloud Strife”, “Cloud Behavior Record, Compilation of FFVII”, page 40).

&

“(Image caption:) A new personality takes shape the moment he sees Tifa” (FFVII Story Playback, “Story Check: Tifa’s Flashback”).

&

“Tifa (to Cloud): Deep down, you're a pretty nice guy. Didn't see it when we were kids, but...” (Remake, chapter 14).

Hey there! Hope you’re having a great day. I’m 24, based in London, and I’m looking for someone interesting! I used to be pretty prescriptive in terms of what I was looking for, but I’ve found that the most interesting experiences I’ve had have been when I’ve just been open to being surprised and delighted. So this is my attempt at going with the flow and letting things develop organically. I will say, however, that I am looking for non-platonic connections. I am also looking for something irl, so please be based in the UK (or nearby, like the US / continental Europe).
Some of my hobbies and interests include:

• Playing music on my saxophone
• Looking at stars, galaxies and nebulae through my telescope
• Playing chess
• Photography (mostly landscapes and astrophotography, with a little bit of portraiture too)
• Writing (mostly prose)
• Creating beautiful things using code
• Traveling (spent a month in 2022 backpacking around Europe and another month in the US; visited 12 countries in 2023 of which 10 were new)
• Going on walks and hikes
• Meeting and spending time with people
• Learning languages
• Scuba diving
• Exploring philosophy and spirituality
• Reading (about life, the universe, and everything)

If you’ve read this far, then congratulations! Let’s see where the conversation takes us Pictures available on dm :)

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Girl! ✨ I wanted to take a moment to share something straight from my heart ❤️. Today, I want to dedicate this post to an incredible woman who has captured my attention, even during tough times. Please lend me your ears as I try to convince you to give our love a chance.
Jennifer, I hope this email finds you well amidst the whirlwind of emotions you may be experiencing during this challenging period. First and foremost, I want you to know that I'm here for you, offering a shoulder to lean on and a listening ear whenever you need it. 💕
I've watched you grow stronger day by day, and your resilience has inspired me beyond words. 💪 Your beautiful smile, even when times are tough, is a testament to the amazing person you are. And it's exactly that person I'm deeply drawn to.
⭐️ You see, my heart has been speaking volumes, and I feel a connection that goes beyond the surface. You deserve to be cherished, adored, and appreciated for the incredible soul you possess. While we may have been strangers until now, I sincerely want to ask: Would you give us a chance at something more?
💑 Together, we could create a love story that transcends all the difficulties life throws our way. I believe in us, in the chemistry that dances between us whenever we're together. Our shared laughter, our genuine conversations, they all paint a picture of a beautiful future we could craft side by side.
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With that said, I understand that healing takes time, and I respect where you are in your journey. But please know that I'm here, patiently waiting, ready to embrace you whenever you're ready.
🌹Girl, just remember, you're worth every bit of love and happiness this world has to offer. Take your time, but know that my heart awaits you with open arms.
Sending you all my love and positive energy. Keep shining bright, always. ✨💞
Peace ✌️
Eric

Hello everyone, I am a beginner in Midjourney.
I don't have an art background, I've learned photography for a while but didn't stick with it, I have a certain IT and data background, and I like beautiful image works.
Midjourney is a very good product, especially the V6 version, the images it generates have shocked me aesthetically, so I decided to learn to create with it.
I have some insights during the learning process of Midjourney, and I have also built some tools to help me understand it and speed up creation. I want to share the process with everyone here, hoping to discuss together how to better and more efficiently play with Midjourney.

My Journey of Learning Midjourney

1. Looking at others' works and prompts
others' works
Seeing others' beautiful digital works on Midjourney online is also a reason for me to seriously learn it. There are many places to learn, such as the Midjourney official website, Facebook interest groups, PromptHero, etc. There are thousands of beautiful pictures, and problems come with them: the prompts behind them are endless, and I don't know where to start learning. At first, I copied these prompts into discord and reproduced them myself, but this method made me feel like I didn't gain anything.
2. Learning keywords
Luckily, I found that keywords are the key. Smart people have summarized many types of keywords, such as artists, artistic styles, camera perspectives, shooting distances, Texure, light, color, etc. This has opened the door to a new world for someone like me who doesn't have much experience in photography and painting. I started to search for related information on Google: who are the artists? What is their style of work? What is the camera perspective? What types are there? etc. Through this path, I learned a lot of photography and painting related knowledge, and of course I am also very grateful to Midjourney, it has inspired my interest in learning this aspect - once I took a SLR camera to learn, the poor early composition plus a pile of boring parameters made me give up quickly. Midjourney also has a bunch of boring parameters, but its composition is stable, which can ensure that I can draw passable pictures even if I don't understand these parameters.
In the process of understanding keywords, I found that even so classified, there are still too many of them. For example, artists, globally and from ancient times to the present, there are so many artists, how can I remember everyone's name and quickly make up their style of work? So I started to think about whether there is any tool that can allow me to select keywords based on representative works or effect pictures. During this period, I found a keyword visualization library with 11.7K stars on GitHub, and some prompt generator websites that can select keywords based on effect pictures. They are really great, and they sort out keyword types more systematically and comprehensively than I do. This is a good place for beginners to start. But I still can't use them very well, for the following reasons:

1. Some trendy keywords may not be included
   
2. Each website cannot exhaust all types of keywords, and some types of keywords are of interest to me, such as decorations.
   

So I started thinking about building my own library. DIY a Studio that meets my personalized needs. I built my idea with Notion.
my KeyWords Visual DataBase
I first built a visual database for keywords, stored keywords by tags and categories, tested the effects of each keyword in Midjourney V6, and imported the most representative photos into the library. Then use Gallery mode to display keyword and corresponding effect pictures. The keyword visualization database can remind me of the effects of each keyword and provide me with inspiration; and I can also continuously add my keyword.
3. Treat learning as a game challenge: find excellent works, try to assemble prompts to reproduce them
After building the keyword visualization database, I feel much more at ease when creating prompts. The new creative process is like this: when I have determined the Subject I want to express, I choose the visible keyword in the keywords library to enhance the artistic effect.
Now start challenging the new goal: find excellent works, guess its prompt, and reproduce it. This is a very interesting learning method, like a game, it can keep my passion for learning.
I found such a reproduction target online:
Target(Other's work)
The Subject of the picture is easy to determine: "Film Venom, a sexy beautiful woman". But its subtlety lies in the fact that the woman painted is sexy but not vulgar, the color is bright, there is a sense of line, and the whole work is very high-end. If there is no blessing of keywords, just enter the Subject into Midjourney, the effect is like this:
prompt：“Film Venom, a sexy beautiful woman”
These photos are more like taking photos of porn stars and lack a sense of high-end. Therefore, I need to try a lot of keywords to enhance the beauty, such as finding some artists and art styles whose works are similar to the target works, then finding color and line description words close to the target, MidJourney allows various art styles to be mixed together, so my keywords There will also be a lot of permutations and combinations, which is a bit like doing an experiment, trying all possibilities.
The difficulties I encountered here are:

1.I have to manually put together each permutation and combination
2.Manual work takes a long time, but inspiration is fleeting
3.I can't remember what combinations I have made, and I may repeat the same combination

So I built a [prompt lab] (because it's too much like an experiment), which includes a prompt generator and a keywords visualization database. The generator uses the key types of keywords as options, selects while referring to the keyword effect pictures, and the function automatically assembles into a complete prompt. Just click the "copy" button and paste it into discord, which is much faster than I slowly put together in discord. It can also record the prompt combinations that I think are more critical according to my own ideas, which is convenient for me to review and summarize.
prompt creation process
Of course, due to the architecture, Notion also has some shortcomings: it cannot make pictures into options. I can only put the keywords library in the sidebar, and use it as a dictionary to flip through when assembling prompts.
Tried 200+ times quickly with prompt LAB
In addition, I also established a visual view, when I passed the more satisfactory effect picture back to the laboratory, I could compare the effect difference of the prompt anytime.
Visual Gallery
Finally, after countless attempts, if there are very satisfactory works, I will want to collect them. And the remaining unsatisfactory ones can be deleted to keep the number of records in the laboratory at a processing level that my brain capacity can accept.
4. Put good works into the collection library
I added a collection library to the lab, classifying and managing my own satisfactory works and other people's excellent works, which is convenient for reference and inspiration.
Collections Database
5. To be continued
In fact, although I have done so much work and tried, I’m still at the beginner stage. Digital art creation is endless. Perhaps with the deepening of cognition, my tools will also evolve.

THE END

Thank you for reading to the end. Here I share my unique learning process, hoping to help some people, and also hope to get everyone's guidance.

I've never before been able to call someone attractive based on their face. All faces seem like "just faces" to me. Ever since I found out about this condition, I've been attributing my lack of facial attraction to my inability to create a mind database of faces and compare them to figure out which ones look more aesthetically pleasing.
Now I've entered my first relationship a month ago, but we didn't really take pictures together until recently. And suddenly as I keep looking at the picture we took together, I'm finding that my boyfriend is the only person whose face I've ever found attractive. It suddenly feels unique, completely different from everyone else. I think it could be because I saw his face on a display instead of in real life for the first time and my brain might have been able to process that more easily.
However, I'm not sure if this is a common proso experience or rather something linked to the way I feel attraction in general. So I'm quite curious if anyone here has had a similar experience.

I'm reaching out here because a friend of mine, who happens to be a public figure, is dealing with a situation involving harassment from a mentally ill woman he doesn't know at all.
This woman has created multiple accounts with similar names, she also posts pictures of herself in all accounts so we think it's the same person running the accounts. She posts comments claiming she and my friend had a sexual relationship and accuses him of abandoning her. She even uses his pictures as profile pictures, alleging abandonment and making many false claims.
Recently, she has begun harassing people who follow my friend's page, reaching out to them directly. In response, he has kept his followers list hidden, but he cannot make his account private since he promotes his business and educational events with the account. People have tried reporting and taking down her accounts but she would not stop at all, and continues to open new ones to harass him with.
It's evident from her posts that she talks to herself (commenting on her own posts and having an actual conversation), makes very inappropriate (sexual) claims about my friend's body, and expresses delusional beliefs. We noticed that she also talks about her mental health treatment, and based on her content, we're guessing she's mentally ill. Despite my friend's attempts to offer mental health resources and request for her to stop harassing him, she refuses help.
My friend often promotes his talks and events with specific details, which raises concerns that this woman might attend and potentially harm him.
Given the state of mental health care in our area, we fear that legal actions like filing for a restraining order could exacerbate the situation and potentially lead to violence.
So, my questions are:
What steps can my friend take to protect himself and his loved ones from potential harm, especially considering the public nature of his work? Are there any legal avenues he can explore that would effectively address the harassment without escalating the situation further?

Hey folks! I've been hearing a lot about how AI, like ChatGPT, is supposedly killing our creativity and making us lazy. Sound familiar? It's basically the same scare boomers had when the internet started getting big. Everyone thought it wouldn't be as accurate or reliable like libraries and end traditional research. Well, we all know that didn't happen.
Here's the deal: AI isn't going anywhere—it’s the new normal, just like the internet became for the generations before us. When everyone has access to AI, it’s not about what it does, but how creatively you can use it. It’s like having a powerful new tool in your kit. It takes care of the tedious stuff so we can focus on the bigger picture and deeper ideas.
Think about it—people once freaked out that calculators would end math as we knew it. Instead, we just ended up tackling more complex problems. AI’s the same. It doesn't replace our creativity; it amplifies it. It gives us a base to build on and push our ideas in ways we couldn’t before.
So, what’s your take? Are we ready to work with AI and push the limits of what we can create and discover?

Apologies for the long post in advance.
I (25M) have been dating my girlfriend (25F) for 2.5 years now. Our physical life has been rocky since the start, with her being hesitant about moving forward in terms of physical intimacy (It took 6 months into dating to kiss). It was very hard for me to adjust to, but I tried understanding as it is her first relationship.
However, as our relationship progressed, things progressively got worse and more unclear as to what our sexual/physical compatibility is. Before we made our relationship official, I asked her if she is okay with pre-marital sex and I got a yes from her, but 1.5 years into the relationship when I brought up the topic, she suddenly changed her mind saying she only wants to have sex after marriage.
I understanding having the freedom to change your mind in a relationship, especially about something as important as this, but the two issues I have a problem with are that 1. I would not have gone ahead with this relationship if she was clear about this from the start, and it would have saved us both a lot of compatibility issues. 2. Her reason for changing her mind is that she feels guilty about betraying her parents by doing this.
We spoke it out and set a pace we believed would be comfortable for her, as well as progress the relationship physically. I wanted my relationship to have a lot of physical intimacy so we can understand our needs and spend time as a couple before we get married/ pressures of marriage/kids come in to the picture.
The problem is that when I'm in the mood every now and then and I text her saying "I wanna have sex with you", I get a response on the lines of "I wanna make out with you" or something that doesn't match the intensity. When I brought this up and mentioned it to her saying I want her to show some enthusiasm or interest towards sex and that it doesn't matter if it happens a while from now, but it's nice to at least see the enthusiasm and interest for it, at least text it even if you don't really mean it, as that would keep me happy, it was met with "I don’t want to stress about whether he expecting sex every time we meet" and this really hurt me, as I'm not expecting it to happen immediately but it wouldn't hurt to just say it over text. I have tried my best to create a safe space for her to feel comfortable enough to initiate things and I want my physical needs to be satisfied, but nothing seems to work.
It happened again yesterday and I am now tired and annoyed at the lack of trust and interest in this. I have started being distant in my responses to her and am genuinely fried in the head. I have no idea how to proceed with this and seriously believe that she has trust issues or some problem with me/men. How should I tackle this? I appreciate any advice on how to proceed with this situation or improve it.
TL;DR - Girlfriend of 2.5 years seems disinterested in sex, which we have not had before, and is an important aspect of a relationship for me and I'm struggling to get her to involve herself more and open up to it. Looking for advice on improving the situation or if ending things is the only way to improve it.

Hi Everyone! I have been recently trying to setup a experimental self-managed kubernetes cluster on AWS to meet the following goals!

1. Use minimum AWS resources.
2. Understand how VPC works.

This cluster running on EC2 instances which are spread across multiple availability zones and different subnets but confined to a single region. Here are my AWS configurations and then the problem in detail.

VPC Configuration

• VPC CIDR: 10.0.0.0/16
• Region 1: 10.0.0.0/24 (public), 10.0.64.0/24 (private)
• Region 2: 10.0.16.0/24 (public), 10.0.80.0/24 (private)
• Region 3: 10.0.32.0/24 (public), 10.0.96.0/24 (private)

EC2 Configuration & Instance Purpose

• Instance A: Deployed on private subnet 10.0.64.0/24 in Region 1. Acts as the control-plane node in my kubernetes cluster.
• Instance B: Deployed on private subnet 10.0.96.0/24 in Region 3. Acts as the worker node in my kubernetes cluster.
• Instance C: Deployed on public subnet 10.0.16.0/24 in Region 2. Acts as the worker node in my kubernetes cluster.
• Instance D: Deployed on public subnet 10.0.0.0/24 in Region 1. Acts as the test machine.

Kubernetes Setup

The kubernetes cluster consists of Instance A as the master node, Instance B as the private worker node and Instance C as the public worker node. I'm using Cilium CNI with VXLAN routing and I've enabled Cilium's L2Annoucements feature. I've deployed a nginx deployement with an nginx service called nginx-svc of type LoadBalancer. I've also created a CiliumLoadBalancerIPPool resource in my cluster that will grant any services an External IP from subnet 10.0.128.0/24 to services of type LoadBalancer.

I chose 10.0.128.0/24 because it was unused and wouldn't conflict with my existing VPC subnets.

Behaviour

As expected, my nginx-svc received an External IP from the virtual subnet 10.0.128.0/24. Let's say this External IP was 10.0.128.1. When I do a curl http://10.0.128.1 from Instance A, Instance B and Instance C, I'm able to access my nginx-svc. However, when I do curl http://10.0.128.1 on Instance D that isn't joined to my kubernetes cluster I'm unable to access the service and the request times out. This is the problem. This exact same cluster setup works locally when I run it on QEMU and I'm able to access 10.0.128.1 even from virtual machines that are not joined into the cluster but this fails when running on AWS VPC. I've read into how the L2Annoucement feature works and it does so by sending an ARP reply to the router responsible for LAN CIDR (such as 10.0.0.0/16 in AWS case) to make it aware of the usage of virtual IP 10.0.128.1 such that ARP requests from other instances (Instance A,B,C,D) within the same LAN (10.0.0.0/16) are forwarded to the MAC address of instance running the service. This works locally when using a virtual network via QEMU because I guess it updates its ARP tables when it sees the reply from my kubernetes virtual machine that send ARP reply out for the allocated external virtual IP. I know VPC doesn't act entirely like a LAN so it might not work but I'm not exactly sure why it fails. Are there any workarounds to achieve what I want?

Expectation

The virtual IP 10.0.128.1 should be accessible from Instance D which isn't joined to the cluster but it isn't for now. If it was, I would create a DNAT/SNAT rule on Instance D via iptables and have it forward traffic from/to it's public IPv4 address to/from the private service address 10.0.128.1 accessible via LAN/VPC thereby simulating a public facing service similar to a LoadBalanceGateway. This would fulfil by goal of using minimal AWS resources while still being fully functional.