Please let me know if I should post this elsewhere!!
My husband is thinking about moving to Alaska for a year or two once he's no longer incarcerated. Like immediately after, like the day he's released kind of thing. He comes back soon next year. He's hoping to find a job there, save up some money, and then leave Alaska and eventually start his own trucking/moving business. He doesn't have experience in high-paying industries like oil extraction or commercial fishing, but he's worked in some construction temporarily and metalwork before. However, being a felon makes the job search more complicated.
I'm currently researching potential job opportunities in Alaska, but it's tough to find direct contacts in industries like oil, gas, and fishing which is what my husband wants me to look up. He wants to write them letters, like the mangers or bosses of these companies and I guess build a connection that way. While Alaska is known for its stunning scenery and unique experiences, that I’d love for him and I to experience, I'm uncertain about the feasibility of our plan and its financial implications, especially with conflicting information about the cost of living there. Every post I’ve read its been “the cost of living is high” OR “the cost of living isn't too bad, its low actually”.
He said that he’ll find a good job, save money, regardless of the cost of living, and then pursue his business dream. I love his idea of the business, and I told him that maybe we should just stick to our original plan of me saving up money and then once he's released, we move to a big city in our state. Or we just move to a different state like Arizona or something, but my husband is set on Alaska at the moment. I feel like I'm being negative when bring up certain things because I know he's genuine and very passionate about this. I definitely believe we could make a life there, but just not in this way. But also at that rate, why even go? It’s not like the plan is to live there forever. He wants to leave after awhile. What's in Alaska that he cant find or do anywhere else? Other than the beauty and life experience, why start out there? It just seems harder. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!

I met this guy in January through common friends, we are from the same town (1 hour away from each other) but live on the other side of the world. We had a great few days together, I really liked him and developed an interest to get to know him more, while acknowledging the difficulties of developing an actual relationship long distance.
Before we parted, we told each other to keep in touch, and that we would meet again in May when we both were planning to visit home. We talked sporadically over three months, but he actually made plans to meet in May (he confirmed with me twice).
When the time came, I didn’t hear from him at all. To stop myself waiting for him to write, and ruining my time home with my family, I wrote to him first a very casual text about meeting up if he was available. He said that his scheduled changed and he only had a couple of days at home, then asked me if I was staying with my parents. I said yes, to which he replied that he was going to be in another place the next day (1 hour away from both of us) if I was going to be “in the area”. I honestly felt that this was a way to avoid meeting, while treating me unkindly.
I told him that I would not be “in the area” casually, and that I understood if his situation changed over the last few months, and he could communicate with me openly. He said “sorry I haven’t been in touch due to work etc.. etc..” (most common and predictable excuse ever) then that he wanted to maintain a relationship with me “at least as friends”. I didn’t reply to this, because I was honestly disappointed and would have appreciated more the honest truth. After a week he wrote me again saying sorry and asking to “clarify” the situation instead of having misunderstandings.
I frankly don’t know what to tell him. Some friends advised to take the “high road” and just tell him it’s ok and we can keep our friendship. But honestly I felt treated disrespectfully. I am upset about the situation, although I didn’t necessarily expect this to blossom into anything serious given the distance I felt like we could have a honest and open relationship as people who are getting to know each other. I don’t feel like answering him at all, am I exaggerating ? Could this really be a misunderstanding ? Should I write to him to keep an harmonious friendship, at least on the surface ?

Professor Woodrow Wilson once said that every man sent out from a university should be a man of his nation as well as a man of his time, and I am confident that the men and women who carry the honor of graduating from this institution will continue to give from their lives, from their talents, a high measure of public service and public support.
"There are few earthly things more beautiful than a university," wrote John Masefield in his tribute to English universities--and his words are equally true today. He did not refer to spires and towers, to campus greens and ivied walls. He admired the splendid beauty of the university, he said, because it was "a place where those who hate ignorance may strive to know, where those who perceive truth may strive to make others see."
I have, therefore, chosen this time and this place to discuss a topic on which ignorance too often abounds and the truth is too rarely perceived--yet it is the most important topic on earth: world peace.
What kind of peace do I mean? What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children--not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women--not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.
I speak of peace because of the new face of war. Total war makes no sense in an age when great powers can maintain large and relatively invulnerable nuclear forces and refuse to surrender without resort to those forces. It makes no sense in an age when a single nuclear weapon contains almost ten times the explosive force delivered by all the allied air forces in the Second World War. It makes no sense in an age when the deadly poisons produced by a nuclear exchange would be carried by wind and water and soil and seed to the far corners of the globe and to generations yet unborn.
Today the expenditure of billions of dollars every year on weapons acquired for the purpose of making sure we never need to use them is essential to keeping the peace. But surely the acquisition of such idle stockpiles--which can only destroy and never create--is not the only, much less the most efficient, means of assuring peace.
I speak of peace, therefore, as the necessary rational end of rational men. I realize that the pursuit of peace is not as dramatic as the pursuit of war--and frequently the words of the pursuer fall on deaf ears. But we have no more urgent task.
Some say that it is useless to speak of world peace or world law or world disarmament--and that it will be useless until the leaders of the Soviet Union adopt a more enlightened attitude. I hope they do. I believe we can help them do it. But I also believe that we must reexamine our own attitude--as individuals and as a Nation--for our attitude is as essential as theirs. And every graduate of this school, every thoughtful citizen who despairs of war and wishes to bring peace, should begin by looking inward--by examining his own attitude toward the possibilities of peace, toward the Soviet Union, toward the course of the cold war and toward freedom and peace here at home.
First: Let us examine our attitude toward peace itself. Too many of us think it is impossible. Too many think it unreal. But that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that war is inevitable--that mankind is doomed--that we are gripped by forces we cannot control.
We need not accept that view. Our problems are manmade--therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man's reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable--and we believe they can do it again.
I am not referring to the absolute, infinite concept of peace and good will of which some fantasies and fanatics dream. I do not deny the value of hopes and dreams but we merely invite discouragement and incredulity by making that our only and immediate goal.
Let us focus instead on a more practical, more attainable peace-- based not on a sudden revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution in human institutions--on a series of concrete actions and effective agreements which are in the interest of all concerned. There is no single, simple key to this peace--no grand or magic formula to be adopted by one or two powers. Genuine peace must be the product of many nations, the sum of many acts. It must be dynamic, not static, changing to meet the challenge of each new generation. For peace is a process--a way of solving problems.
With such a peace, there will still be quarrels and conflicting interests, as there are within families and nations. World peace, like community peace, does not require that each man love his neighbor--it requires only that they live together in mutual tolerance, submitting their disputes to a just and peaceful settlement. And history teaches us that enmities between nations, as between individuals, do not last forever. However fixed our likes and dislikes may seem, the tide of time and events will often bring surprising changes in the relations between nations and neighbors.
So let us persevere. Peace need not be impracticable, and war need not be inevitable. By defining our goal more clearly, by making it seem more manageable and less remote, we can help all peoples to see it, to draw hope from it, and to move irresistibly toward it.
Second: Let us reexamine our attitude toward the Soviet Union. It is discouraging to think that their leaders may actually believe what their propagandists write. It is discouraging to read a recent authoritative Soviet text on Military Strategy and find, on page after page, wholly baseless and incredible claims--such as the allegation that "American imperialist circles are preparing to unleash different types of wars . . . that there is a very real threat of a preventive war being unleashed by American imperialists against the Soviet Union . . . [and that] the political aims of the American imperialists are to enslave economically and politically the European and other capitalist countries . . . [and] to achieve world domination . . . by means of aggressive wars."
Truly, as it was written long ago: "The wicked flee when no man pursueth." Yet it is sad to read these Soviet statements--to realize the extent of the gulf between us. But it is also a warning--a warning to the American people not to fall into the same trap as the Soviets, not to see only a distorted and desperate view of the other side, not to see conflict as inevitable, accommodation as impossible, and communication as nothing more than an exchange of threats.
No government or social system is so evil that its people must be considered as lacking in virtue. As Americans, we find communism profoundly repugnant as a negation of personal freedom and dignity. But we can still hail the Russian people for their many achievements--in science and space, in economic and industrial growth, in culture and in acts of courage.
Among the many traits the peoples of our two countries have in common, none is stronger than our mutual abhorrence of war. Almost unique among the major world powers, we have never been at war with each other. And no nation in the history of battle ever suffered more than the Soviet Union suffered in the course of the Second World War. At least 20 million lost their lives. Countless millions of homes and farms were burned or sacked. A third of the nation's territory, including nearly two thirds of its industrial base, was turned into a wasteland--a loss equivalent to the devastation of this country east of Chicago.
Today, should total war ever break out again--no matter how--our two countries would become the primary targets. It is an ironic but accurate fact that the two strongest powers are the two in the most danger of devastation. All we have built, all we have worked for, would be destroyed in the first 24 hours. And even in the cold war, which brings burdens and dangers to so many nations, including this Nation's closest allies--our two countries bear the heaviest burdens. For we are both devoting massive sums of money to weapons that could be better devoted to combating ignorance, poverty, and disease. We are both caught up in a vicious and dangerous cycle in which suspicion on one side breeds suspicion on the other, and new weapons beget counterweapons.
In short, both the United States and its allies, and the Soviet Union and its allies, have a mutually deep interest in a just and genuine peace and in halting the arms race. Agreements to this end are in the interests of the Soviet Union as well as ours--and even the most hostile nations can be relied upon to accept and keep those treaty obligations, and only those treaty obligations, which are in their own interest.
So, let us not be blind to our differences--but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.
Third: Let us reexamine our attitude toward the cold war, remembering that we are not engaged in a debate, seeking to pile up debating points. We are not here distributing blame or pointing the finger of judgment. We must deal with the world as it is, and not as it might have been had the history of the last 18 years been different.
We must, therefore, persevere in the search for peace in the hope that constructive changes within the Communist bloc might bring within reach solutions which now seem beyond us. We must conduct our affairs in such a way that it becomes in the Communists' interest to agree on a genuine peace. Above all, while defending our own vital interests, nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war. To adopt that kind of course in the nuclear age would be evidence only of the bankruptcy of our policy--or of a collective death-wish for the world.
To secure these ends, America's weapons are nonprovocative, carefully controlled, designed to deter, and capable of selective use. Our military forces are committed to peace and disciplined in self- restraint. Our diplomats are instructed to avoid unnecessary irritants and purely rhetorical hostility.
For we can seek a relaxation of tension without relaxing our guard. And, for our part, we do not need to use threats to prove that we are resolute. We do not need to jam foreign broadcasts out of fear our faith will be eroded. We are unwilling to impose our system on any unwilling people--but we are willing and able to engage in peaceful competition with any people on earth.
Meanwhile, we seek to strengthen the United Nations, to help solve its financial problems, to make it a more effective instrument for peace, to develop it into a genuine world security system--a system capable of resolving disputes on the basis of law, of insuring the security of the large and the small, and of creating conditions under which arms can finally be abolished.
At the same time we seek to keep peace inside the non-Communist world, where many nations, all of them our friends, are divided over issues which weaken Western unity, which invite Communist intervention or which threaten to erupt into war. Our efforts in West New Guinea, in the Congo, in the Middle East, and in the Indian subcontinent, have been persistent and patient despite criticism from both sides. We have also tried to set an example for others--by seeking to adjust small but significant differences with our own closest neighbors in Mexico and in Canada.
Speaking of other nations, I wish to make one point clear. We are bound to many nations by alliances. Those alliances exist because our concern and theirs substantially overlap. Our commitment to defend Western Europe and West Berlin, for example, stands undiminished because of the identity of our vital interests. The United States will make no deal with the Soviet Union at the expense of other nations and other peoples, not merely because they are our partners, but also because their interests and ours converge.
Our interests converge, however, not only in defending the frontiers of freedom, but in pursuing the paths of peace. It is our hope-- and the purpose of allied policies--to convince the Soviet Union that she, too, should let each nation choose its own future, so long as that choice does not interfere with the choices of others. The Communist drive to impose their political and economic system on others is the primary cause of world tension today. For there can be no doubt that, if all nations could refrain from interfering in the self-determination of others, the peace would be much more assured.
This will require a new effort to achieve world law--a new context for world discussions. It will require increased understanding between the Soviets and ourselves. And increased understanding will require increased contact and communication. One step in this direction is the proposed arrangement for a direct line between Moscow and Washington, to avoid on each side the dangerous delays, misunderstandings, and misreadings of the other's actions which might occur at a time of crisis.
We have also been talking in Geneva about the other first-step measures of arms control designed to limit the intensity of the arms race and to reduce the risks of accidental war. Our primary long range interest in Geneva, however, is general and complete disarmament-- designed to take place by stages, permitting parallel political developments to build the new institutions of peace which would take the place of arms. The pursuit of disarmament has been an effort of this Government since the 1920's. It has been urgently sought by the past three administrations. And however dim the prospects may be today, we intend to continue this effort--to continue it in order that all countries, including our own, can better grasp what the problems and possibilities of disarmament are.
The one major area of these negotiations where the end is in sight, yet where a fresh start is badly needed, is in a treaty to outlaw nuclear tests. The conclusion of such a treaty, so near and yet so far, would check the spiraling arms race in one of its most dangerous areas. It would place the nuclear powers in a position to deal more effectively with one of the greatest hazards which man faces in 1963, the further spread of nuclear arms. It would increase our security--it would decrease the prospects of war. Surely this goal is sufficiently important to require our steady pursuit, yielding neither to the temptation to give up the whole effort nor the temptation to give up our insistence on vital and responsible safeguards.
I am taking this opportunity, therefore, to announce two important decisions in this regard.
First: Chairman Khrushchev, Prime Minister Macmillan, and I have agreed that high-level discussions will shortly begin in Moscow looking toward early agreement on a comprehensive test ban treaty. Our hopes must be tempered with the caution of history--but with our hopes go the hopes of all mankind.
Second: To make clear our good faith and solemn convictions on the matter, I now declare that the United States does not propose to conduct nuclear tests in the atmosphere so long as other states do not do so. We will not be the first to resume. Such a declaration is no substitute for a formal binding treaty, but I hope it will help us achieve one. Nor would such a treaty be a substitute for disarmament, but I hope it will help us achieve it.
Finally, my fellow Americans, let us examine our attitude toward peace and freedom here at home. The quality and spirit of our own society must justify and support our efforts abroad. We must show it in the dedication of our own lives--as many of you who are graduating today will have a unique opportunity to do, by serving without pay in the Peace Corps abroad or in the proposed National Service Corps here at home.
But wherever we are, we must all, in our daily lives, live up to the age-old faith that peace and freedom walk together. In too many of our cities today, the peace is not secure because the freedom is incomplete.
It is the responsibility of the executive branch at all levels of government--local, State, and National--to provide and protect that freedom for all of our citizens by all means within their authority. It is the responsibility of the legislative branch at all levels, wherever that authority is not now adequate, to make it adequate. And it is the responsibility of all citizens in all sections of this country to respect the rights of all others and to respect the law of the land.
All this is not unrelated to world peace. "When a man's ways please the Lord," the Scriptures tell us, "he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." And is not peace, in the last analysis, basically a matter of human rights--the right to live out our lives without fear of devastation--the right to breathe air as nature provided it--the right of future generations to a healthy existence?
While we proceed to safeguard our national interests, let us also safeguard human interests. And the elimination of war and arms is clearly in the interest of both. No treaty, however much it may be to the advantage of all, however tightly it may be worded, can provide absolute security against the risks of deception and evasion. But it can--if it is sufficiently effective in its enforcement and if it is sufficiently in the interests of its signers--offer far more security and far fewer risks than an unabated, uncontrolled, unpredictable arms race.
The United States, as the world knows, will never start a war. We do not want a war. We do not now expect a war. This generation of Americans has already had enough--more than enough--of war and hate and oppression. We shall be prepared if others wish it. We shall be alert to try to stop it. But we shall also do our part to build a world of peace where the weak are safe and the strong are just. We are not helpless before that task or hopeless of its success. Confident and unafraid, we labor on--not toward a strategy of annihilation but toward a strategy of peace.

After my high school graduation, my father made me start studying for the LSAT. I would just do practice problems, untimed, and take full-length tests, untimed, to just strive for accuracy. I think the peak I hit was 160, but this was five years ago. I took an online course with videos, etc. for it but I never could get the pattern for the LSAT logic (not logic games, just how the logic is used overall).
I continued to study in bits and pieces through my first year of college (UC Berkeley) until I decided late into my first year I'll double-major in Economics, and potentially triple-major in Chinese (which I was on the track to do until I was going to get a B in a ridiculous Mongolian class; after that point I could no longer triple-major because I had to drop the class and downgraded Chinese to a minor). I ended up having to take several 20+ units, including 16 unit semesters. I think if it wasn't for COVID-19, that would've been physically impossible. Hence, I stopped studying for the LSAT.
I wanted to work full-time to stand out more than the extracurriculars I already had. Frankly, I did very little in anything legal. Then I heard about the GRE, and how many law schools are now taking the GRE in lieu of an LSAT score if you so chose. I thought if I could ace the GRE (I would have to get near-perfect, probably around a 335 to even consider not taking the LSAT), then it would be over. I also was interested in potentially joining my JD with an MPP or MBA, which is why I chose the GRE route.
However, my GRE results have been far from ideal. There's absolutely no way I'm going to get a 335+. My test is in two weeks, it's my second exam, and while I probably will improve from my first sitting, I probably won't be improving to even the level of the MPP or MBA averages I need to be hitting. I would be BARELY at an "maybe competitive" score.
The reason I'm posting about this here is because: if I can't even excel on the GRE, how can I even expect to have a shot at the LSAT? All the GRE is supposed to be is a slightly harder version of the SAT. If my score was low because of the GRE's Quantitative score, that's one issue. But it's because of Verbal, which is more reflective of the LSAT compared to Quantitative. The Verbal section, apart from Vocab, is like traces of the LSAT (there's reading comprehension similar to the LSAT and even arguments/logical reasoning).
I think with the addition of my work experience, everything else about my application components gives me a chance (LSAC GPA: 3.935). It's the test, and unfortunately, the most important factor (with very few exceptions, but even then, a significant factor). I am considering giving up on my dream of going to law school and becoming a lawyer — perhaps my test-taking skills, or the lack thereof, is the sign that maybe law wasn't meant for me, and I wasn't meant for law. I've joined this subreddit a few weeks ago, and I'm seeing the general consensus that if you're not even hitting 170, honestly don't even bother applying until you do (unless you're a URM, which I'm not -- I'm an ORM with a URM parent, though). Even schools we never saw coming rising fast up in the ranks (like Minnesota) or even low T-50's (UC Irvine) are seeing at or near 170-averages, which means I'll need to be above that to really be competitive or at least around there (maybe -1 point at max) to be even moderately competitive.
I grew up in Korea until the first grade when my mother got sick and sent me to live in America while she was dealt with health issues. I know some people may say where you go to law school doesn't matter as much as we think it does, but the reality is that's just not true. Opportunities are SEALED SHUT if you don't go to a reputable enough school in many cases, and that will be indicative based on my admissions, which is indicative on my test scores. Moreover, my mother literally sent me away and gave up custody so I could have a better life than she could give me. It would literally be dishonoring that sacrifice if I just go to some rink-a-dink school --- mind as well just not apply at all.
I guess I'm writing to a) vent; b) trying to get some encouragement or reassurance from ppl who have been through the process or going through it; c) legitimately consider if law school is something that's viable for me -- and not just any law school -- a good one (goal is minimum T-14 or higher). I'd rather just save myself the trouble if I'm not and just turn my attention to a different direction.
Thanks.

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

Here are the choruses, which usually contain the thesis main message of a song:

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

&

“Hear me once more
Show me your smile
This time for sure
I'll see the truth hidden inside your tears

But I, I know
That you're long gone
But I, I will
Go on, howling and hollow”

In these choruses, Cloud asserts that he will get it right this time (“this time” referring to the second chance that is the Remake trilogy). He will make sure he saves Aerith and never lets her go. He knows she’s gone, but he will fight against time to get her back. He longs for her smile and her light again, and he cannot bear the guilt: so he doesn’t. Post-OG Cloud embarks on a new adventure: ”I want to go to a place where everything is new,” said Cloud to Wol and Echo in Eclipse Contact before facing his past and being launched into Remake. “Hollow” makes far more sense now, doesn’t it? It’s a song not only about Cloud’s loss, but also about his determination to save Aerith this time. Given that it’s the theme song of Remake, the fact that “Hollow” fits with our theory perfectly is a very good sign: a theme song is meant to reflect the main plot of a story, indicating as our theory states that Remake is principally, albeit secretly, about Cloud saving Aerith. Because of this hope being set up, I’m confident that they will be together in the end, reunited for good. My dear Clerith friends, this is the hidden purpose of the Remake trilogy. Cloud and Aerith will be reunited.

VI. e) ii. “No Promises to Keep” Lyrics

This is quite obvious. Aerith is resigned to her fate, but still harbors hope that she will meet Cloud again in a permanent reunion:

“Till the day that we meet again
Where or when?
I wish I could say
But believe, know that you'll find me

[…]

Till the day that we meet again
On our street, I want to believe

[…]

Till the day that we meet again
At our place, just let me believe
In the chance that you'll come
Take my hand and never let me go
Take my hand
And believe
We can be
Together evermore

[…]

Still I hope someday you'll come and find me
Still I know someday you'll come and find me”.

VI. f) The Theme of Reunion Explained?

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

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

In addition, we’ve already talked about how part 5 of “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” from the Remake OST tells the story of Cloud and Aerith’s reunion (see section “V. b) ii. 2)”).

Many moments exclusive to the Remake trilogy serve the same purpose: linking the theme of reunion to Aerith. This expansion of the theme is highly significant. Our theory is that the Remake trilogy exists to reunite Cloud and Aerith, so the fact that the trilogy would implement so many Clerith-centric references to reunion is great support for our theory.

VI. g) i. The Leslie-Cloud Parallel

Let’s consider another instance involving the reunion flower in Remake, more precisely, the chapter 14 subplot surrounding Leslie’s lost lover. In case you need a refresher, Leslie is one of Corneo’s lackeys, although he secretly plans to betray him. He once had a fiancée and things were looking up until she was selected as one of Corneo’s brides. The day before she disappeared (presumably taken by Corneo), his fiancée broke up with him with no explanation. It was confusing and left Leslie perplex. As she broke up with him, she returned a necklace to him, one with a flower pendant. Of course, that flower is the very same reunion flower Aerith gives Cloud in chapter 2.

Evidently, Leslie and Cloud are going through parallel situations. At this point in time, Aerith was just kidnapped by Shinra, and Cloud is on his way to get her back. Both their loved ones have been taken by tyrant rulers, one being slumlord Corneo and the other being the Shinra government. In fact, even Leslie and Cloud’s attitudes share similar disillusioned, cold and stoic qualities. Leslie’s fiancée would evidently be paralleled by Aerith.

The most obvious proof of the Leslie-Cloud parallel is written plainly on the list of Remake’s chapter 14 main scenario objectives. Objective 7, called “For the Reunion”, consists of receiving the grappling guns needed to reach topside and save Aerith. The description of the objective reads as follows:

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

The grappling guns are “For the Reunion”, because evidently, the loved one Cloud wants to reunite with is Aerith.

All this is simple and apparent enough. Just the fact that the theme of reunion is linked to Clerith in this way is proof enough, but there’s another layer to the Leslie-Cloud parallel. Not only does Leslie’s situation reinforce the concept of a Clerith reunion, it also mirrors the specifics of our theory: namely that Cloud will save Aerith from specifically Sephiroth (represented in Leslie’s scenario by Corneo) and that Cloud will take the initiative to accomplish this reunion. These two specific aspects of our theory are reflected by Leslie’s circumstances, meaning the Leslie-Cloud parallel not only pushes the theme of reunion, but also supports our specific theory.

VI. g) i. 1) The Separators: Corneo and Sephiroth

I’ll first prove that Leslie’s scenario is not meant to echo Cloud’s separation from Aerith at the hands of Shinra —or at least not exclusively—, but rather Cloud’s separation from Aerith at the hands of Sephiroth. Corneo would therefore be paralleled by Sephiroth rather than the tyrannical Shinra government.

The first piece of proof for the Corneo-Seohiroth parallel lies within the way in which Leslie’s fiancée broke things off: by lying. Aerith also lies to Cloud to create distance between them, but not pertaining to her kidnapping— rather, pertaining to her fated death. Since Sephiroth is Aerith’s killer and not Shinra, Corneo’s role in the Leslie-Cloud parallel is analogous to Sephiroth’s rather than Shinra’s.

There are two pieces of evidence that the Corneo-Sephiroth comparison makes more sense than the Corneo-Shinra one. The first lies in the fact that Leslie’s breakup resembles Cloud’s resolution scene: the topic of Cloud’s resolution scene is Aerith’s fate at the hands of Sephiroth rather than her kidnapping by Shinra, meaning Corneo and Sephiroth are the antagonists of both heartbreaks.

Let’s examine Leslie’s breakup. Here is how his fiancée broke things off, taken from the English script of Remake’s chapter 14, with tone indicators added by me in bold:

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

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

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

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

If you’re finding this familiar, then you might be ahead of me. Let’s take a look at what Aerith says to Cloud in his resolution scene, also in the English script of Remake’s chapter 14, with tone indicators added by me in bold:

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

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

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

Just like Leslie’s fiancée, Aerith is rejecting or denying Cloud’s love for her in order to spare him from the pain of not having been able to be with her before her death, as she believes it is inevitable. Just like the fiancée, Aerith also tells Cloud two things. One: their love is imaginary or isn’t real. Two: it’s morning, and she has to go (she says this right before Cloud wakes from the pseudo-dream).

In both cases, the women know something about their fate that the men don’t and are hiding this impending tragedy from them. Just like Leslie’s fiancée, Aerith uses well-intentioned deception to protect her loved one from the pain that will come from her fate— the lie, of course, is that their love isn’t real. Both women are hopeless, and both men are initially clueless. Aerith’s resolution can’t be about her kidnapping, because Aerith thinks her rescue is anything but hopeless— she’s sure Cloud will come save her from Shinra. She says so herself in OG’s disk 1 chapter 8:

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

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

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

Here is co-director Toriyama had to say on Aerith’s words:

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

These two quotes by the devs show that Aerith is trying to protect Cloud from her death. Therefore, the Corneo-Sephiroth parallel is far more apt than the Corneo-Shinra parallel.

The second piece of evidence supporting my belief that Corneo mirrors Sephiroth and not Shinra in the Leslie-Cloud parallel is the inclusion of the theme of revenge that crops up in the following piece of dialogue:

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

Leslie’s sentiment toward Corneo resembles Cloud’s feelings toward Sephiroth after Aerith’s death. Revenge links Cloud to Sephiroth, not to Shinra. Corneo and Sephiroth reflect each other in that, as a consequence of their actions toward a woman, the man who loves her desires revenge.

Additionally, it looks like Leslie’s obsession with revenge as a means to closure is the reason he didn’t bother trying to understand the message his fiancée left him with: he’s focused on his hate rather than his love, and it’s hindering him. He doesn’t succeed in killing Corneo either: his focus and energy are misplaced. Cloud’s desire for vengeance against Sephiroth is also depicted as an obstacle to accomplishing his goals (see how in section “III. c)” of my previous literary analysis). Once more, the Corneo-Sephiroth parallel fits far better than a Corneo-Shinra perspective.

VI. g) i. 2) The Reunion Seekers: Leslie and Cloud

The other aspect of the Leslie-Cloud parallel that supports our theory is that in both scenarios, they both take charge of the situation and decide to actively seek reunion with their respective lovers. The following dialogue excerpt, supplemented by the VA script notes, shows Leslie’s initiative:

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

Take note of Leslie’s final response and the determination with which he speaks: “Then I guess I’ll just have to find her first”. Remember that we’re searching for evidence that Cloud is going to be the one reaching out to Aerith in the Remake trilogy, and that it’s his turn to take his future into his hands. He must be more attentive, more active this time. And Leslie’s words of determination reflect this perfectly. Leslie must find his fiancée first, just like Cloud has to be the one to offer his hand to Aerith in the Remake trilogy and fight for her. This is exactly what our theory is all about.

VI. g) i. 3) Delayed Realizations

Interestingly, not only does Leslie’s determination mirror Cloud’s, but both men are depicted as realizing the truth too late. Just like Leslie only began searching for his fiancée six months after her disappearance, Cloud only realizes he loves Aerith in OG once she’s died. It took him this long to actually get somewhere in his mission to reunite with her— “somewhere” being the Remake trilogy.

Even Barret’s words highlight the lovers’ delay: “Can never be sure how much someone means to ya till they're gone”. Barret would know: he lost his wife Myrna, who he loved dearly. The devs have Barret comment on the situation as a man whose lover died, mirroring Cloud’s situation in OG. Just as Barret says, Cloud only truly realized the strength of how he felt for Aerith in OG once she was gone. The gunman’s words apply to both Leslie and Cloud’s tardy initiatives. Regardless of this delay, both men are now determined to see their respective reunions through.

The degree to which the Leslie-Cloud parallel fits our theory is a great sign of its validity: even the details are lining up!

VI. g) ii. Reunion in the Theme Songs

Too easy: in our analysis of the lyrics of the theme songs, we covered how both texts include the theme of reunion. “No Promises to Keep” is especially relevant (see section “VI. e) ii.”), as the entire song is Aerith hoping against fate for a reunion with Cloud (even if you believe the song is about all her companions, that still includes Cloud).

On top of these reunion-themed lyrics, during Aerith’s in-game performance of “No Promises to Keep” at the Gold Saucer production of Loveless, her yellow blossoms signifying reunion bloom all around her as Cloud watches her, captivated.

Another great sign for our theory: the highly significant theme songs are on our side!

VI. g) iii. Waking Up Reunited

The thing I want to juxtapose to our theory is a small yet special moment in chapter 2 of Rebirth that stuck out to me like a sore thumb and got me really excited about sharing it with you. This moment occurs after the battle against the Midgardsormr. We’ll be comparing it to two other clips, describing all three in chronological order, and making deductions based on their similarities.

The first clip I want to address occurs in chapter 8 of Remake (1:32-2:12). There are a couple of things I want to point out in this scene. First, Aerith wakes Cloud from unconsciousness with a cute call of “Hello~?”. Second, despite pretending that he doesn’t, he immediately recognizes her. The VA script notes prove it:

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

So: she wakes him with a cute call, and he recognizes her. Also note that these two elements also apply to the OG church reunion scene.

Now onto the Rebirth chapter 2 scene that stuck out to me. After Cloud is saved from the Midgardsormr by Sephiroth, Cloud wakes up from unconsciousness spell with Aerith calling for him (7:20-7:34).

Once more, Aerith wakes him with a cute call (this time, it’s “Wakey, wakey!”), and Cloud recognizes her. In this Midgardsormr clip, unlike their reunion in the church, Cloud verbalizes that he remembers her. This time, there’s more: next, Aerith tells Cloud “おかえり, クラウド”, or “okaeri, Cloud”, which translates to “welcome back, Cloud”. “Okaeri” is what you say in Japanese when someone has returned home. In the third clip we will analyze, Aerith says “okaeri” to Cloud once more. But first, let’s break down this second clip.

I don’t know about you, but this cutscene felt extremely weird to me when I first encountered it. That is, it would have been, if not for the theory I’d begun formulating at that time.

You see, the devs could have chosen for Aerith to ask Cloud if he remembers his own name or where they are, if he’s okay, or check if he responds to his own name. In fact, asking someone who’s been hit on the head to say their own name is a much more common a reaction to them finally waking up than asking them if they remember you. Even stranger is Cloud’s reaction: he could have answered “Yeah, you’re Aerith,” or “I remember everything, I’m fine”. Instead, he says her name with this airy and wonderstruck tone. He sounds like he’s opening his eyes to something mystic rather than his comrade leaning over him, like he’s seeing someone unexpectedly for the first time in a while… or rather like he’s waking from a trance of some kind— a trance in which he did not remember Aerith, and now he does. You may see where I’m going with this.

Let’s examine the third clip, wherein Aerith tells Cloud “okaeri” again. More specifically, in chapter 14, Aerith welcomes Cloud back when he snaps out of his zombified, Sephiroth-controlled state and runs toward her. Of course, it’s the sight of her and his memories of meeting her in chapter 2 of Remake that shake him awake (2:17:43-2:18:02).

For a third time, Aerith wakes Cloud. This time, she’s pulling him out of a trance and back to himself. And for a third time, Cloud remembers her. In fact, it’s remembering her that wakes him up. Cloud calls her name and Aerith says “okaeri” in both the post-Midgardsormr cutscene and this third clip. And in both scenes, not only does Cloud return to himself the way someone returns home (recall that “okaeri” is used to welcome someone back home), but he’s also returning to her, recognizing her as his home.

Now we’ve got three scenes lined up: the church reunion scene (both in OG and Remake), the Midgardsormr scene and the hand-reach scene. All three of these recognition scenes feature Cloud being woken up by Aerith and remembering who she is. The main difference is that, in the scenes among these three that are exclusive to Rebirth, Cloud’s return to Aerith is far more meaningful, as he already knows her name, and knows more about who she is to him. Evidently, in the OG church reunion scene, Cloud only remembers being sold a flower by this girl. In the Remake version, he remembers the same thing, plus the attack of the whispers. So there’s something much more weighty about the Rebirth recognition scenes: he remembers more, and he remembers deeper. These aren’t just recognition scenes, they’re also mini-reunions. Of course, as we’ve already analyzed pertaining to the hand-reaching scene, Cloud remembering Aerith is followed by him being the one to take action and run toward her, eager to save her, because she means the world to him. When you place the Midgardsormr scene between the church reunion scene and the hand-reach scene, an evolution of Cloud waking up and remembering Aerith is formed. Each mini-reunion scene adds a piece to the story: the church scene informs us that Cloud and Aerith are meeting again, the Midgardsormr scene tips us off that something mystic is going on from Cloud’s tone when he says Aerith’s name, and the hand reach scene tells us that as a consequence of remembering who Aerith is, Cloud saves her from falling to her death and saving her. “Meeting again”, “mystic”, and “saving Aerith”: these are the keywords of the mini-reunion scenes. They are also the keywords of our theory on Cloud’s mission to save Aerith. This time around Cloud knows more and is more conscious about how he feels for Aerith, just like he feels more when in the hand-reach scene in Rebirth compared to the church reunion scene in Remake. From the latter scene to the former, Cloud gradually wakes up and remembers his love for and loss of Aerith in the OG more and more. Each mini-reunion brings him closer to saving her when he blocks the masamune. This is why I am certain that in part 3, whether Cloud comes to his full senses or not, whether he remembers the events of OG or not, he will save Aerith this time. The Remake trilogy is centered around Aerith, after all. In fact, don’t take it from me, take it from Nojima:

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

I have full confidence in this fact: one way or another, these two will have a happy ending. This is Cloud’s second chance, and as he swore in “Hollow”, he is not losing her again. That is why I don’t think you should fret, and that our Clerith hearts will be very happy to see these two together again for good in part 3.

VI. h) Zooming In

In fact, this zooming-in method of directing players’ attention to important narrative beats is far from new.

VI. h) i. Changing Fate

Let’s divert our attention to Nanaki’s Skywheel date (2:28-3:30). The dialogue goes like this: Nanaki brings us the Whispers and suggests the party might eventually forget about their existence, and Cloud says that frankly, if it’s impossible for them to change fate either way, then it would be better for them to forget to Whispers altogether.

This is a very clear message from the devs: “there would be no point in including the Whispers in the Remaketrilogy if we did not make use of their defeat”. They’re telling us through Cloud’s dialogue that they know it would be foul play and bad writing to introduce the theme of defying fate if it didn’t eventually pay off.

As if it weren’t clear enough what the devs are referring to, Nanaki brings up Aerith’s death directly after Cloud delivers the devs’ message to us. He actually makes Cloud promise to save her. This is pretty on the nose. By promising Nanaki he will protect Aerith, the devs are promising us the same. I’m certain that part 3 will deliver on this promise.

If you still aren’t sold, I’d like to direct your attention to the framing of the shot where Cloud says “if we can’t change [fate]” (2:49-2:51). There’s a zoom-in on his mouth, which is a visual cue that translates to “what this character is saying right now is important to the plot”. It’s very indiscrete in theory: the camera literally hones in on the invisible words as though the script has them highlighted, italicized triple-underlined and in bold.

VI. h) ii. Aerith’s Knowledge

We’ve seen the Remake trilogy use this camera framing at least twice so far. The first time occurs in Remake’s chapter 8, before it becomes clear that Aerith knows things from the OG game that she wouldn’t normally know if this were just a remastered version of the same 1997 plot. I’ll let Remake Ultimania‘s description of this moment speak for itself:

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

Aerith’s “vague reply” is accentuated by a very deliberate zoom-in on her mouth (1:18:05-1:18:09), and therefore her words.

The framing of this shot indicates to us that what Aerith says provides an important hint as to the plot’s direction. Sure enough, with hindsight, it’s easy to see that’s true.

VI. h) iii. Tifa’s Question

Another time this framing is used is in chapter 1 of Rebirth, after Cloud recounts the Nibelheim incident. Tifa asks the group why Sephiroth is choosing to come back now, after five years (37:55-37:58).

Once more, we are being signaled that the reason Sephiroth chose to return at the moment he did is significant to the plot, but cannot be revealed explicitly yet. The reason why Sephiroth took five years to return is because that’s how long it took for Cloud to get back on his feet after the Nibelheim incident: Sephiroth wants and/or needs to manipulate Cloud in particular rather than all the other people with Jenova cells in them. It took five years for Cloud to not only go through Hojo’s experiments but also escape Shinra and make his way to Seventh Heaven, where Tifa nursed him back to health— therefore, it took five years until Sephiroth’s favorite pawn was available to be used. There are a few reasons why Cloud is the one Sephiroth wants to use, and all of them would be spoilers at this point in Rebirth to players who don’t know the OG plot. The devs can’t reveal any of them yet, but they do indicate via a close-up shot of Tifa’s mouth that her question is important.

VI. h) iv. The Takeaway

As you can see, this framing of characters’ mouths when they speak signals a plot-significant piece of dialogue. This means Cloud’s words on his gondola date with Nanaki can’t be brushed off as a red herring or an unimportant or throwaway line: it has narrative weight.

VII. The Devs

I think it’s important to remember the devs and their commitment to the world of FFVII. They know best for this story, and they’ve proven it to be true many times over. There are many things about the devs’ intentions that the fandom don’t seem to know that I think would give you confidence to find out.

VII. a) Shifting Themes

Good storytellers don’t introduce themes as a way to pull the rug from under audiences’ feet by later rendering them completely irrelevant to the plot.

In other words, the devs would not have introduced the notion of fate as an antagonistic force in Remake, nor allowed the players to defeat it in chapter 18, had they planned for these themes not to pay off at all. Think of how good FFVII OG and FF stories in general are, how strong the writing is from a narrative point of view. Nothing is included for no reason or for a cheap reaction— especially not a central theme of a story. Fate and defeating it is a huge point of Remake, and not for no reason.

I mean, think about a storyline all about defying fate ending with a shrug and a “Oh well, we tried.” It would be ridiculous! The devs are better than that.

VII. b) What the Devs Want

The devs are well-aware that fans of FFVII have been begging for Aerith’s resurrection since 1997. All those petitions, all those myths of a revival hack… SE knows about them all too well. They were even referenced by FF’s 30th anniversary expo, which partly promoted Remake:

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

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

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

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

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

The devs know how well-loved both Clerith and Aerith are. And in fact, they love Aerith at least as much as we do:

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

&

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

&

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

The devs care about Aerith, and they’re fully aware we do too.

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

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

Codirector Nomura said the following:

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

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

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

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

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

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

The odds get more and more slim with each passing day.
My hope tank is on empty and I need a win.
On the outside, I carry on each day. On the inside the little boy loses hope, one day it will run out.
I don't know how much longer I can endure NC from you.
I am expecting some kind of response, even if you text me and tell me to forget about you - it would hurt, but if you're happier without me, then I would have no choice...at least then I would have some kind of information from you. To take a more positive direction in my love life than waiting for my lost love to utter any words to my anxious ears.
My confidence in you has been shaken and the thoughts of future us hang by a thread of hope.
My rational side is telling me I have no time to sit and be sad, no time to wait for some contact from you. No time to wait for eternity for your returned love because that's what I am willing to do.
I don't want to isolate your voice to the smallest part of my heart again because I know how much damage it did to you the first time...I'm not willing to put anyone I love through pain like that ever again..such a shifty way to learn the hardest lesson of love.......loss.
In order for me to succeed in my studies, I cannot have distractions of this magnitude...though, once I am finished. I will return to the place I left you, chances are you won't be there - that's so long from now.
I want to buy a plane ticket today and see you, befriend you again, court you in the proper fashion because it's what we chose to skip in the last life we shared. We didn't get to have the small moments in person that build the trust, that allow us to get to know each other's mannerisms and love styles. We didn't really have that option because we were separated by such large distances...besides, we were in love. We overcame for a while, but I messed it up from the start...and I know that. I'm not willing to do it that way again.
I want to do it the right way, so you can see the effort...so you can begin to trust me again as you once did. We may have been naive, for sure, but it felt so good and so right once we were together.
If I have the opportunity, if I see you in town somewhere...I will start from scratch, like we've never met before...like we've never been one before...it would be beautiful.
I know I still have a ton to learn about myself, about love, about relationships, about you. The time that has elapsed has made us strangers and that does hurt, but it would be such a great way for us to get to know each other before diving into a life of commitment we thought we wanted.
This time I want to be sure that's what we want. I want you to see that I haven't stopped loving you for one second while we've been apart. I loved you with all my heart but I wasn't able to express it in a way that made you feel my love for you.
It may have been my job...it may have been the alcoholic traits I carry...
This time there will be no excuses as I will learn the new you inside and out..
I need to make this happen...maybe I'm going to school in the wrong state. Maybe I need to show some monumental effort that will let you know without one ounce of doubt that I mean every single word I write to you in this space.
I have research to do..it hasn't occurred to me that I don't have to go to school in this godforsaken state..fml!
If you utter one thing to me...tell me you are still living where I think you are. If you are, you should have received my written words by now.
I won't stand by and let you go again, I can't...and if I think about it...I left you and I should be the one to seek you out. I think my intuition is correct about where you are.
I don't want to make you promises I cannot keep, but know this, I will give this the energy it requires.
I've never taken any risk...you took all the risk the first time....and now it's my turn.
I love you will all my heart - you will know very soon what I have decided.
I already feel like I'm leaning that way...I only need information, that's the easy part.
I will come back to you and if we meet, I will make sure that you are the most loved woman on this fucking planet!
Always,
T

What is the goal of Zen practice/study?

The Four Statements are explicit: see self nature, become a Buddha.
Huangbo talks about the futility of seeking Buddha outside of mind:

Therefore, if you students of the Way seek to progress through seeing, hearing, feeling and knowing, when you are deprived of your perceptions, your way to Mind will be cut off and you will find nowhere to enter. Only realize that, though real Mind is expressed in these perceptions, it neither forms part of them nor is separate from them. You should not start REASONING from these perceptions, nor allow them to give rise to conceptual thought; yet nor should you seek the One Mind apart from them or abandon them in your pursuit of the Dharma. Do not keep them nor abandon them nor dwell in them nor cleave to them. Above, below and around you, all is spontaneously existing, for there is nowhere which is outside the Buddha-Mind.

Not apart from, not abandoning the senses.
Yet meditation is an attempt to abandon reality, seeking abandonment of senses, isolation from them, to seek a "realer" experience.

Mediation is just prayer: seeking mind with mind

Foyan warns against seeking mind with mind explicitly:

Now if I say this to people, they think I am criticizing every­one else, but if I do not talk about it, it will be hard to elucidate. Zen teachers of a certain type say to people, “ Fools! Why don’t you understand this thing?” First they make a cliche of “your own mind,” then try to use the mind to realize it. This is called driving a spike into a stump and then running and round the the stump. They pass it on this way, and it is taken up this way, knocking on their chairs and holding up their whisks. This is called trying to use the mind by means of the mind.

Of course Huangbo is going to eviscerate all seeking of any kind:

When the people of the world hear it said that the Buddhas transmit the Doctrine of the Mind, they suppose that there is something to be attained or realized apart from Mind, and thereupon they use Mind to seek the Dharma, not knowing that Mind and the object of their search are one. Mind cannot be used to seek something from Mind; for then, after the passing of millions of aeons, the day of success will still not have dawned. Such a method is not to be compared with suddenly eliminating conceptual thought, which is the fundamental Dharma. Suppose a warrior, forgetting that he was already wearing his pearl on his forehead, were to seek for it elsewhere, he could travel the whole world without finding it. But if someone who knew what was wrong were to point it out to him, the warrior would immediately realize that the pearl had been there all the time. So, if you students of the Way are mistaken about your own real Mind, not recognizing that it is the Buddha, you will consequently look for him elsewhere, indulging in various achievements and practices and expecting to attain realization by such graduated practices.

Meditation and prayer: distinguishing self/other, mind/body, practice/life

It's easy to get lost in the texts when you don't take the time to understand them, carefully testing.

The most completely successful form of zealous application is the absence from your minds of all such distinctions as 'my body', 'my mind'. As soon as you begin to seek for something outside your own Mind, you are like [a butcher trying to find the organ where the soul resides].

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Welcome! ewk comment: People get really angry that this forum isn't about meditation... but they don't get angry about their ignorance of 1,000 years of Zen historical records, not prayer manuals, not mythological sutra fables. Why is that?

My lecture notes may not be the best because I'm still figuring out the best way to write down the information (currently its really just the lecture notes but dumbed down), but feel free to use it if you missed the class or as a last resort.
Lecture notes: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DcwUc0hhFLs3QMXRUPrUeYQOPP-zmmlr?usp=sharing
Textbook notes: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LMhZQ_IRpRdv5_EY-HwKnqMFk7sj7RxJ?usp=sharing Definitions and people highlighted in green and red respectively.
**Please don't repost these on any websites! Even though I asked the prof for permission to post my notes, i'm still a bit nervous about it. Thank you :)

DISCLAIMER: I did not transcribe this myself, though I could. I had a machine do it, and then the machine threw up afterwards -- but I did go through and add some bullety points while Jamie shot off her mouth. It's a total word salad, but one has only to skim through and see the number of ways she yawns and yawps and contradicts herself ... and does not take a breath, so there is very little punctuation. Again it's a run-on slog and the AI program chose to only use periods to end 70-some sentences because of all the run-on "like ... you know ... and ... but" instances as she ran with it -- with NO BOUNDARIES WHATSOVER. I did take out the kids' names, and I did search-and-replace all instances of "to" with "tuh" because that IS how they talk!
ENJOY -- and I use that word lightly:
AND SO IT BEGINS WITH Doug wishing Happy Mother's Day … and immediately Jamie corrects him, "Well, not really Mother's Day …" since they are recording after Mother's Day. Got get those Doug corrections in toot sweet, lest he thinks he has a mind of his own.
They note they tend to be "a little late on things," but they are "trying to get better about that." Doug says they had a fantastic Mother's Day, and he asked her if she had a good time. She said she had a great time. Doug wrote Happy Mother's Day on some cards and the kids drew on them. He gave her an eyelash waxing and noted probably a bad idea. She said it wasn't that she wasn't thrilled as she did mention that pregnancy makes her eyebrows bushy, but she was scared, maybe just mentioned she'd need to tweeze, but oh, well, yes, she likes his gift.
Jamie noted that it was "just the four of us" and of course, the babies in her belly, and that was fine with her – until her son's birthday of course, when she noted that their entire families suck!
So onto her son's birthdays and THESE GEMS AND THOUGHTS: I think it's just pregnancy hormones, but honestly, like, I just, I just can't, like, I don't know why, like, I guess, like, you know, ever since I was little, I've always really, really wanted family, like, so badly, like, I wanted just, like, deep connections with people who truly love me, and I truly love them, and we just really, truly support each other, and just, I don't know, I think, like, just pregnancy hormones made me think about it, but, like, yesterday for Son's birthday, and just family members who just completely forgot, and they just don't care, and I'm like, is it me? Is it him?
Like, and I don't want my son tuh grow, like, he doesn't know, and he'll never know, because I'll make sure, I mean, I spent every second, that boy had no second tuh think yesterday, like, I picked him up from school, and I took him tuh the library, because that's where he wanted tuh go, and then we, like, you know, we really love surprises in this family, if that's not clear by now, and so Daughter and I surprised him with a splash pad, like, we went tuh the splash pad for the first time, and we never do things like that on a school night, and so, and then he got tuh go pick out a cake that he wanted, and then Doug had dinner already at home, and then also we had decorations in his bedroom, which I was, like, hoping tuh have for the morning, but then Doug was, like, at, like, midnight, when we're, like, thinking about starting tuh blow up the balloons, Doug is like, Jamie, let's just surprise him tomorrow after school.

(Notice she takes no breath … and also they were super-last minute when it came tuh getting ready for his birthday, versus, what we have all mentioned, that isn't so when it's a gender reveal or a party or pickleball or something FOR HER.)
HERE, DOUG ASKS … "WHY, ARE WE GONNA DO THIS NOW?" AND THIS WAS PRETTY MUCH THE LAST EFFORT HE MADE tuh STOP HER BECAUSE SHE WENT ON WITH: Yeah, because it was so late, but I was like, I just have, like, this vision that I just wanted for him, because, you know, I'm just trying tuh give them the childhood that, like, I would have wanted, that any little kid would want, and really all that involves is truly just two loving parents who are there, and, like, that's really all that really involves, but if I can go a little extra, you know, and surprise him, and I, then I want to, you know, and so, you know.
DOUG NOTES THAT HE DOESN'T THINK THEY KNOW ANY DIFFERENT, AND HE CONTINUES WITH: I don't think they really know any different, you know, and I know, I know it's, it's tough, and I think, especially with, like, little kids, you know, they, they won't necessarily feel the impact and that want, you know, and, and I know that you do, and it, it hurts me that, you know, you would, you would want people tuh care enough to, tuh reach out, and I think, you know, for, for me, I, that's, I don't really set my expectations or, or give those expectations tuh son and daughter.
JAMIE BLASTS BACK, SUPER-DEFENSIVELY: Oh, I do not either, though. I do not at all. I don't say a thing tuh them about anything, because, you know, sometimes people miss their – you know, and that happens sometimes, but when it's, like, over, and over, and over again, and, like, it's just so obvious, and, and people ask us why we moved tuh Florida, and don't we want tuh be near family, and, you know, tuh be very honest, this is why.
Like, we, you know, I, we would fly up there tuh try tuh prove, like, hey, listen, we're not just trying tuh leave, though. Like, we, we, I want that family connection so badly with your family, with my family, and it's just, you know, unfortunately, it's, people are in different stages of life. I try tuh make excuses, like, for them, and, you know, for us, and it's probably not personal, but the point of the matter is, is that whether it's not personal, and people are busy, and whatever the case may be, we don't have that family connection.
We just don't, and I'm, I try tuh nurture it, and, um, you know, and we do with some family members, and then just others, you know, you just, it's just. Well, you can't help but be disappointed. Yeah, and, like, I guess my heart hurts, because I want our son, and our daughter, and our children tuh have just so many people who love them, and want tuh be around them, and who will encourage them, and support them, and.
DOUG NOTES THAT HE THINKS FAMILY KNOW ALL OF THIS AND THAT THEY, THE KIDS KNOW HOW MUCH LOVE THEY HAVE FOR THEM, AND ALL THE EFFORTS THEY PUT FORTH, AND HERE HE SAYS, "Especially you," AND THAT ALL OF THIS IS WHAT MATTERS MOST.
JAMIE'S REBUTTAL: Yeah, I know, but Doug, what I'm trying tuh say is that, like, what I would want for them is them tuh have many people who love them, and, like, you know, like, I always wanted, you know, it's not even a secret, like, way back, I'm married at first, like, the one thing I wanted was tuh marry into a family, like, a big loving family that would welcome me as their own, and, and I'm really thankful for your family, and, yeah, but, like, I just feel like, like, I want that for our kids. Like, I wanted them tuh have people who loved them, who wanted tuh come around them.
Like, my, my siblings and I really didn't have many aunts or uncles or grandparents who, I mean, you know, it's kind of, it's so long, because, like, there are some people who were there, but it was, like, toxic, and aye, aye, aye, it's just, you know, it's just, at the end of the day, I'm pregnant, and it's just hormones, and I know our kids feel nothing but loved, but it's just really evident, like, on a birthday or holidays, like, people who, who actually, like, family who actually truly cares for us, and, like, all I've ever wanted was just our, like, I, I don't know why I care about these people caring about me, when, like, they don't care, and it's okay, and that's, that's, it's okay.
Like, it, I'm trying so hard tuh just be, like, accept it, girl. Like, you know, you can't force family tuh love you.
JAMIE TRIES TO DIFFUSE THE TIMEBOMB SITUATION THAT IS HIS WIFE, CLEARLY GOING OFF ON EVERYBODY BY SAYING HE KNOWS THAT SHE DOESN'T WANT THIS FOR THEM BUT THAT THEY, THE KIDS, DON'T EVEN NOW ABOUT ALL OF THIS RIGHT NOW.
JAMIE'S REBUTTAL: Well, I know they don't, and so, at the end of the day, I was, like, sitting in bed crying earlier, and I was, like, what is wrong with me, because I know my son had a great birthday yesterday. Like, I made sure of it.
DOUG NOTES SHE "KILLED IT, YESTERDAY."
JAMIE BLASTS ON: At the end of the day, I think, like, it's a personal thing, because it's, like, they don't care about me, and therefore, they don't care about my son, and that hurts, you know? Like, it's just hurtful, and not, because I care about them, and I love them, and I've tried so hard tuh be part of them, and, and try to, like, I've tried changing my ways. I've tried tuh adapt tuh be more like them.
I've tried all these different things. At the end of the day, nothing I do, like, I may as well just be myself, and, and, because if I have tried tuh be like them, they don't like me. If I try tuh be myself, they don't like me.
Like, no matter what, like, I don't feel like, I feel like they're, I'm just kind of judged by them in the way that I live my life, and anyways, it's fine, but.
DOUG COUNTERS IT WITH THE FACT THAT JAMIE GOES "ABOVE AND BEYOND FOR EVERYBODY," AND THAT IT'S TOUGH THAT SHE "WANTS OR EXPECTS THAT IN RETURN," BUT NOTES THAT THIS IS ALSO MAYBE WHERE THE "BOUNDARIES" LIE … cool, they now have a title for the podcast!
JAMIE CONTINUES tuh BLAST: Well, no, of course, and this is exactly why I'm also crying happy tears, because for so long, I just really tried tuh nurture, like, a true, like, true family, and deep connection, and like, try tuh be, like, really close, and, and it's like, well, if you're the only person nurturing that, you're bound tuh get hurt. It's bound, it's not going tuh happen ever, because it has tuh be a two-way street, and so, unfortunately, like, I started putting up boundaries, and I knew it was going tuh hurt, and like, here it is. It's, it's hurting, you know, like, and then inevitably, they'll be like, you know, you moved tuh Florida, but even when we didn't live in Florida, let's be honest, like, we didn't see family very often, unless, like, it was, it just, unless it was us going places, and then even when we moved here, I would fly up there.
I flew up, we were flying up there, like, once a month. It was so expensive. It was so taxing, but I just wanted to, tuh kind of prove, hey, listen, like, but, you know, I'm so glad we moved here, because at the end of the day, you know, even if we never even find our own people, like, our focus is on our core family, like, we had zero distractions for Son yesterday, like, his birthday was the hundred, like, and it's just, that feels good, because normally, we wouldn't have that. Yeah, normally, I would be cleaning the house, trying tuh prep for people tuh come over, who I would have called 10 times, make sure they remember that he's coming, and it's like, or that his birthday is coming, and it's like, it's just, you know, this is such a vulnerable, I don't even know if I want tuh share any of this, because it's just so personal, but.
DOUG NOTES THAT ALL REFLECTS MORE ABOUT OTHERS AND NOT AN ATTACK ON JAMIE.
AND YET JAMIE CONTINUES TO DEFLECT AND ATTACK: No, I don't think it is either, but it's just very evident where people, like, if people care about us and our family, I don't think they actually, that's the thing, is they don't, like, and so, they're not thinking about it one way or the other, it doesn't even matter tuh them, and that's what hurts, because I wish that they cared about us the way that we cared about them, but they don't, and so, that's why I'm trying tuh have the boundaries tuh be like, find people who will care about you then, or just focus on your own family, and if people wonder why I want so many kids, well, there you go. People constantly say, why don't you love the two you have?
Oh, of course I do, and I'll tell you what, I want tuh have 10 more, because I want tuh raise them in a way where we love each other, we're always there for each other, we don't forget. It's just silly little milestones, it's not about presents, it's not about anything other than just love, and remembrance, and just, like, celebrating each other, and I am going tuh raise my kids tuh just really love each other, and tuh know that their parents love them, but God forbid, one of us are taken, and then, then it's like, I think about things like that, and I'm like, who do they have if they don't have us? Like, seriously, and that scares the crap out of me, because there are very few people who even remember, like, and tuh me, it's just a birthday, I know, it doesn't really matter, but like, that's of significance tuh that child, and people just don't care, like, they just, our fam, so many of our family members just don't care. Well, we make, we make it, and then I'm like, am I making a mountain out of a molehill, but like, and am I?
DOUG ALSO THINKS ABOUT THEM "DEPARTING EARLY" AND WHAT HAPPENS tuh THEM.
JAMIE BUSTS BACK IN, AND STARTS tuh TALK ABOUT "ESTATE PLANNING," WHICH SORT OF MADE ME SIDEYE BECAUSE SHE GOES ON tuh TALK ABOUT THE KIDS AND WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO THEM, AS IF THEY WERE PART OF THE "ESTATE," BUT I GUESS SINCE THEY ARE THE MONEYMAKERS SHE THINKS OF IT MORE IN THAT WAY THAN GUARDIANSHIP PAPERWORK … AND SO SHE CONTINUES: Well, when you think about estate planning, and then who you're leaving your kids to, and I'm like, who can I leave my kids to, who are really going tuh love them, and the people right now didn't even call tuh wish him happy birthday, they didn't even call tuh wish him a happy birthday, they didn't send a gift, and it's not even about the gift, but it's about the thought, who do we have in our life, Doug? I don't think it's, you know, I ask if I think I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, but then I, like, I almost, like, talk, like, convince myself that, no, I'm not, like, I'm really trying tuh make sure that our kids are taken, like, loved and taken care of, and sure, we've got it out, down pat, but what happens, like, then what?
And like, I'm not gonna go down that rabbit hole, and I'm sure this is all pregnancy hormones, and I'm just exhausted and tired, so, but I just think about these things, and then, and then people wonder why I am so thankful for our followers, for those of you listening tuh the podcast, and those of you who follow us on Instagram and YouTube, and who are just excited for us, because a lot of our own family members aren't, like, it's just wild, and so, yeah, and so thank you for those of you listening, and for those of you who comment, and just, you know, just are excited to, like, like, tuh be part of our family, like, because we have forever been looking for that, and, like, our family's just not that interested, and we could try, and try, and try.
DOUG: Out of sight, out of mind.
JAMIE BINGOS!!!!! THAT THOUGHT AND CONTINUES: Yeah, it's, and it's fine, but I'll tell you what, I genuinely do appreciate every single five-star review, every single, like, nudge that you just, every single moment that you take out of your life just tuh be like, hey, what's up with Jamie, you know, and that's why I try tuh do giveaways, and I try to, you know, like, read your five-star reviews, and I try tuh show you that I genuinely care about you, too, because I really think that it is a two-way street with everything in life, like, so whether it's, you know, family, it's friends, it's working, it's, we're colleagues, like, if someone is showing you a lot of, you know, any support, or encouragement, or care, like, then that's the person that you should then go show love, support, and encouragement, and care to, whether they're family or not, and unfortunately, if family doesn't seem tuh show you that, well, then you do have tuh set up boundaries, and it hurts, like, h-e-l-l, because then you'll start to, when you stop reaching out as much, well, then you'll start seeing that your relationship becomes even more distant, but you can't constantly break your back tuh try tuh make relationships.
DOUG NOTES THAT THEY EITHER STEP UP OR DON'T, AND THAT’S WHERE IT LANDS.
JAMIE CONTINUES: Yeah, but from what, from my experience, from what we've experienced, you know, no one really steps up, and it's pretty evident when you start, when you realize you have tuh make a boundary with a person, like, just know in your heart that it's gonna hurt, like, you know, and I'm sure that we're, I'm not the only person going through this, and that's, I think, why it's important tuh share, is that, you know, because it's hard tuh share these things.
It's embarrassing. It's, I feel, it's almost, like, belittling. It's like, like, you know, it's like you're, you're sharing that you're rejected, essentially.
Who wants tuh share that? Like, who wants tuh admit that? But the truth is, is that we all have been there, and so I think that the biggest way tuh heal, and what I've learned is, of course, tuh find, to, like, lean in on the people who don't, like, desert you, betray you, talk behind your back.
I mean, that's the thing, is people who also, who are there, but they're really, like, kind of a snake in disguise, and, like, it's, like, like, they, it seems like they're there for you, but then behind, but you're walking on eggshells around them, because you know that they're saying things behind your back, and that's not, that's not healthy either, and so what I've really tried tuh do is really just focus on people that have really just been loving and nurturing, and the more people are loving and nurturing tuh me, whether they're family or not, the more I will lead, like, reach into them, and...
DOUG BUSTS IN TO TAKE A "QUICK PAUSE" FOR AN AD, IRONICALLY ABOUT INVESTING AND GOOD FINANCIAL HYGEINE.
JAMIE GETS RIGHT BACK TO IT: Of course, holidays and birthdays are tough because like you want like my mom like I mean forget it but like I love her and she's doing the best she can but like you know it's like I don't know I guess it's because I'm pregnant and then like when you become a mom and you just think about this relationship and it's like I just have always wanted that relationship with my mom and of course I know real like logically it's not gonna happen but anyways it's um it's just hard but anyways what I was trying tuh say tuh you though listening is like if you're going through this type of situation like just know that you're doing the right thing by kind of putting the boundaries up and then kind of you know you got tuh focus on gratitude more than anything else and so I consistently try tuh remind myself tuh be thankful that I am alive I'm able tuh be there for my kids my son has no idea who remembered and who forgot his birthday but of course he knows who he talked tuh but like you know I, I know that he had the most spectacular day yesterday and I made darn well sure of it and it literally cost me like zero dollars tuh it's not like it has tuh be expensive it wasn't extravagant we went tuh the library which is free and then we went tuh a free splash pad that's in our city and slash playground yeah, yeah and he had a great time so it's like people it's because the other thing people say well if you can afford tuh give them that it's like it doesn't you can find ways tuh live tuh like really bless your family and your kids without having tuh spend boatloads of money um but the biggest message and takeaway of this all and I guess of like I we never planned on sharing any of this we were planning on sharing about mother's day and
DOUG DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT tuh SAY, BUT SHE NEEDS tuh KNOW HOW PROUD HE IS OF HER, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH …
SHE THANKS HIM QUICKLY AND THEN GETS ON WITH HIS always getting by my side and like when I'm thankful for you when I started you know going tuh therapy and, and I mean forever ago I'm telling you forever ago when we were first married and I first started going tuh a therapist outside of married at first sight she told me she looked me in the eyes and she said Jamie like they might be family but they're not your people and you gotta go find your people and I didn't want tuh believe her I didn't want I literally just said you know thanks but no thanks essentially and I'm gonna try my best tuh turn this family into mine because I want this connection and I want this and I wish I could have saved myself all those years by just listening tuh her and you know finding my own people who, who do love and support me for who I am who I don't have tuh like I can just don't have tuh walk on eggshells I don't have tuh try tuh be anybody else I can just be myself and they'll see like the good in that and they'll like it you know and, and not everyone's for everyone and that's okay and I just try tuh remind myself that but anyways um yeah you've always stood by my side so thank you I see you I'll always be by your side I just like sometimes doubt like if like you know like, like, like what have I done like am I a bad person like did I like what have I done this has nothing
DOUG NOTES THAT THEY'D FIND PEOPLE "DOWN HERE" IN FLORIDA, AND THAT THEY BOTH KNEW IT WOULD NOT HAPPEN OVERNIGHT, THAT REALLY MEANINGFUL BONDS TAKE TIME, BUT THEY ARE IN THE BEST POSSIBLE POSITION TO BUILD A COMMUNITY AND MAKE STRONG FRIENDS THEY CONSIDER TO BE FAMILY, AMAZING PEOPLE, AND THERE ARE KIDS TOO, AND THEY CAN WATCH EVERYONE GROW UP TOGETHER … AND HE THINKS, "That's kind of the point of, of moving tuh Florida find community find our people and also find out you know who would be there with us and for us and …"
JAMIE BLASTS BACK: It has nothing tuh do with you or who you are well the truth is, is obviously it does because these people don't enjoy being around me so then therefore they don't enjoy remembering our kids and or me whatever I guess I think I'm just really hormonal and emotional but I guess I just feel incredibly rejected and like I've done something wrong but I also know at the same exact breath that this has been happening for years and years and years where I've really
DOUG NOTES JAMIE HAS "TRIED SO HARD" AND THAT IT'S NOTHING THAT SHE DID.
JAMIE BLATHERS BACK THAT IT'S NOT REALLY THAT THEY'VE DONE ANYTHING WRONG, BUT … we just don't jive and I guess you know we have different we're different people and we can't force it yeah and so there's very little control that we have over it other than us being us yeah and so but you know but I guess this is like the healing part that everyone talks about with boundaries that's so painful like it's so painful because when you want something so bad and like I think it's like wired in me because it's family and like I really want tuh support family and love family and be there for them and but then it's like but it's just not there in return and you could just spend your whole life searching for it and or you could kind of put up a boundary and, and stop allowing that tuh continue tuh hurt you and find people who are genuinely happy tuh be around you and so needless tuh say for those of you listening if - if you're in this boat with someone whether it's parents siblings aunts uncles cousins I don't know or even long-time friends who you think are quote-unquote friends but you know things change or who knows I mean it's so darn hurtful but I really believe at the end of the day that I mean I was I spent years and years and years trying my darnedest and now I'm like if I, If I could give like an inkling of that effort tuh someone who gives an inkling of the effort back tuh me like the just the joy and happiness that could come from that or just like the stability and also like I did try changing myself tuh kind of be more like them tuh have more in common with them and it just I can tell you right now if you're trying tuh do that that's not gonna work either like it's hard unfortunately you just gotta be yourself in this world you gotta love with your whole heart and, and be selfless you know you can't expect people tuh just care about you if you don't care about them of course you gotta show up for people you gotta really like put yourself out there for them but if you consistently do that and you're not getting any of it in return you gotta change your path and it's the hardest thing in the world tuh do but you know tuh be very, very honest like going tuh bed with Doug last night after Son's birthday and like just everything that went down and whatnot I was just like and this is why we live in Florida this is why we moved here because this this served our core family more so than trying tuh fit a round peg into a square everyone else's schedule and everybody else's lives it's just you know and it's and I'm incredibly thankful tuh your sister and tuh your mom and your dad of course because they did reach out and that's just really, really kind like they called and they just show that they really care and that really means the whole wide world tuh me and like regardless of what they think of me like they love our kids and that's really all that
DOUG NOTES WHAT MATTERS IS-AND MAYBE THEY NEED TO BELIEVE IN SOME KIND OF "HIGHER PURPOSE," BUT HE DOESN'T CONSIDER IT ALL "WASTED TIME OR ENERGY," AND THAT IT MAYBE HAPPENED THE WAY IT'S SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN AND FOR JAMIE TO GIVE …
AND SHE CUTS HIM OFF TO SAY THAT THIS MESSAGE CAN help others. I've really kind of like avoided being this vulnerable lately because I feel like there are some people who just really don't like me and it's been brought tuh my attention and just no matter what I do they really don't like me and I guess like everybody has quote-unquote haters but it hurts my heart a little bit and I don't know but, but the truth is, is like just like I said before what I learned in this the certain boundaries that I've talked about before is that you really can't change who you are in the hopes that people will start tuh approve of you because they're never like the people who just choose that they don't like you and they just choose tuh find your faults will always like they will always see your faults and they will always yeah there's no convincing them otherwise and that's and if you're listening tuh this like this is the truth for all of us is that when you're looking for the good in life you're gonna find the good and you can focus on that and try tuh get like more of that and garner more of that but if you're focused on the negative whether it's in life or with your spouse or with a friend or at the workplace you're gonna find that and so if so sometimes if you've you know if you see that you're consistently feeling like you have quote-unquote bad luck or that this person's being wrong tuh you or they're not caring about you will try tuh think about the good that they do and, and, and so truly like for me with these whole boundary things like I've tried just I tried tuh kind of I've already tried that with some of these family members that just don't seem tuh care and um and, and so that's and then that's when the hurt comes is you know when you realize oh yeah you're actually all right and you are onto something and for whatever reason their life isn't aligning with yours and it's and that's okay but it doesn't mean it's not gonna hurt a little bit for the person who like wants it tuh be there but that's when you go out and find someone who wants tuh align their life with you or maybe their life already aligns and they just and you can serve each other you can love each other you can be there for each other and whether it's blood related or not like that will serve you better in life and so that's kind of where I think Doug and I are right now um but also for, for you listening if, if you're just finding yourself in this situation too just try tuh make sure you're not just trying tuh find the fault in someone because you don't want tuh get caught in that rabbit hole and there are people out there who just want tuh find the negative and then there are people out there who cut that down like don't allow that tuh happen tuh yourself because you will be miserable your whole life hating on someone else and just constantly finding their faults and constantly complaining about them is never going tuh bring you true happiness it really isn't and so think about you know yourself and like what you can do differently and try tuh bring the positive and so yeah I haven't been as vulnerable lately because it's been hard tuh be very honest tuh just share like my heart and then people are just going tuh attack me for it you know I'm sure but um but my goal in sharing this if we end up sharing this is that it helps the one person out there or I'm sure several really who are in the same exact boat who are you know trying tuh keep a friend that they've had forever but that friend's just not there or trying tuh maintain a relationship with one of your parents or your siblings or it shouldn't be hard it shouldn't be and you shouldn't have tuh change who you are and if you do then that's really just not the right person for you and, and you can talk tuh them about it of course and then if they're just combative, at the end of the day, I just say the best advice is find a therapist, and this book called Boundaries, and it's a little religious, and also a little kind of like, whoa, but I'm telling you, Chapter One, just give it – if you don’t' like it after that, don't even try, but like Chapter One, I was like, wow, I can see so much of myself in this, and I can see how could change, and I've got tuh promise you that it's been hurt along the way, but I have – we have, and our family has more positive days now than stressful, trying tuh like pull people in who don't really want tuh be there, trying tuh help them remember because they're gonna forget, like it's just – like yesterday was like the least stressful day ever, and we didn't have one person coming tuh our – or even Mother's Day, it was just us four, and you know, before I had kids, and I think – I saw someone else write this, but like before I had kids, I looked at the world as like everyone I encountered, and how can I be helpful tuh them, and that – like, but now it's like my world is my husband and my children. My world is within my four walls, and how do I love them and support them the best that I possible can, tuh help them become good – eventually like good husbands, a good wife, good mothers, good fathers, and good, good family members, and so …
DOUG IS SO PROUD OF HER AND THINKS SHE SHOULD ALSO BE PROUD OF HERSELF BECAUSE OF "HOW MUCH YOU HAVE GROWN FROM PEOPLE STARTING TO COMMENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA, AND YOU TRYING TO BRING THEM BACK OVER TO YOUR SIDE TO RECOGNIZING THE TOXICITY OF IT, AND SETTING BOUNDARIES." HE HAS TO TELL HER THAT IN THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS, SHE HAS "SPREAD MORE POSITIVITY, IN MY MIND, THAN ANYBODY, FOCUSING ON BEING THANKFUL AND GRATEFUL," AND A MESSAGE SHE IS PASSING ONTO THE KIDS WHO ARE REALLY STARTING tuh THINK ABOUT IT AND FOCUS ON IT, AND IT'S "DRIVEN BY YOU."
MORE RASPY WHINY TEARY VOICE: Oh, Gosh, Doug's that's the nicest comment that I could have ever received because I really want that for them … yeah, because I – because we could all fall into that where you see the negative and you just kind of focus on that, and I'm trying so hard not to, and tuh just – you know, pray more, and even meditate, and that has nothing tuh do with prayer, but like just rewire my brain tuh like the positive things and finding the positive and helping others, also because – honestly, and I want tuh raise my kid where they are not seeing the negative, they're seeing the positive in situations because life, regardless of who loves you, how much money you have, what home you live in, what car you drive, life is so much better when you're able tuh see the positive and you're able to, like lean into that more, and you're able tuh then attract people who are like that, and the Negative Nellies are just going tuh always be there talking their smack about you, and that's fine, but like, if you can find the positive, you can focus on that, and you're going tuh have such a happier life, and the Negative Nellies, unfortunately, like I still pray for them, I still hope for them, because it's sad – like they're not living a happy life. You can't be a hater tuh all these people and be happy. It's sad.
DOUG THINKS THEY ARE "living proof of it, because once we started tuh focus on happy, once we started focusing on being thankful and grateful, the people that we attracted are the people that we would want tuh be with … didn't happen overnight, but as soon as we started tuh rethink that, and really try tuh be positive and do positive things, and our prayers and with the kids and being thankful and finding good, and gratitude, you know, we attracted people into our lives that, you know, are going tuh be there – I mean, I feel these are now lifelong friends, and you know, all of that was attracted, and there has got tuh be something tuh that."
THE END, THEY MUST GO PICK UP THEIR DAUGHTER BUT ONLY AFTER THE FIVE-STAR REVIEW AND THEN "SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!"
DELUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSIONAL – THE BOTH OF THEM! And according to the AI program Jamie talks more than 90 percent of the time, and Dud, hardly ever.

I live in NW Philly and work in Newark NJ 3x a week. Most days on the way to work I take SEPTA’s Chestnut Hill West line, transfer to Amtrak at Billy Gray and double-back up the NEC. While it would be great to save an hour of my time by getting off at North Philly and catching the Keystone from here, CHW gets in just a couple minutes later so I’d miss the connection, but that’s not really why I’m writing this post.
The real reason is the way back. With dynamic Amtrak ticket prices I use a combination of both Amtrak and SEPTA depending on how flexible I need the times to be. On the days I can’t afford Amtrak home (because I haven’t planned well enough ahead), I take SEPTA train 722 southbound from Trenton. If I were to transfer at 30th when everything is running on time I would miss my connection to Chestnut Hill West by 1 minute; so, to avoid waiting at 30th for yet another hour, I get off at North Philly as I have done a handful of times since starting this role.
Here’s a rundown of my experience last week: After exiting the train, I walk down the steps with the other passengers exiting the train before turning left and hustling out of the tunnel to the barren CHW platform, being sure to dodge the couple of people in the corner injecting their legs. Thus begins the longest and scariest 15 minutes of my day, waiting for the train at the top of the hill that is the CHW North Philly platform. Another passenger arrives, seemingly an EMS worker from Temple Hospital and it’s nice to have some company up there just in case shit hits the fan. Soon, an Amtrak police cruiser turns into the parking lot and drives to the edge of the parking lot next to the hill and rolls down her window. She asks “Are you ok? You’re not getting too close to the tracks, are you?” I explain I’m fine and well behind the yellow line and that I am expecting my CHW train to be arriving in 5 minutes. She had no idea was Chestnut Hill West even was and proceeded to remain parked until the train arrived. While it was comforting to have the police nearby, I can’t help but feel that I am not doing the right thing by using this train station and that I’m out of place by attempting to use it.
If Amtrak and SEPTA are citing low ridership as a reason for not investing in North Philly station, please know it’s not because of lack of interest: it’s because anyone who attempts to use it for its designated purpose of a quick transfer from the Northwest to the Northeast needs to complete an entire risk management assessment before even considering to use the station. That, in my view, is unacceptable. (Side note, similarly I’ve completely ruled out ever transferring to the 23 bus from Wayne Junction again–I tried it and it was terrifying).
In researching this topic, I have also learned there is an unofficial pathway from the south end of the Amtrak platform that lets you cross directly over to the CHW side but it seems to be grade level and possibly even more dangerous than the creepy tunnel and crossing the parking lot.
Amtrak owns this station so I assume SEPTA’s hands are tied in the same way that they can’t complete the pedestrian tunnel under 30th street, but if Amtrak doesn’t even know what CHW is, how are we ever going to have a safe and usable North Philly station?
Can anyone else relate? I’ll continue to make this transfer any day that CHW is running on time on which I would miss the connection at 30th, anytime I can’t afford Amtrak because it literally saves me an hour of my life after a 3 hour commute. Am I taking my life into my own hands?

Sorry for the very long delay. Life has been hectic and I haven't always been in the mood to write and when I do, I want to make sure the analysis is op to snuff. So here's our continuation on card discussions -

Card of the Week: Cyclops

Card stats and text
Name: Cyclops

• Energy: 3
• Power: 4
• No ability

When powered up by High Evolutionary –
Name: (HE) Cyclops

• Energy: 3
• Power: 4
• Passive: Whenever you end a turn with at least 1 unspent Energy, apply -1 Power to a maximum of two of your opponent’s cards in this lane.

Card of the Week has analyzed 3 of the ’97 X-Men up to this point. So following the same trajectory, a long awaited update and analysis this time on the beloved field commander of the team – Cyclops. Cyclops is a bit different than the other cards we’ve previously looked at because he actually has two forms – an abilitless form and a powered up form that he only receives when High Evolutionary is added to your deck. This is a trait he shares with 6 other cards in the game, but Cyke is the first one we are taking a look at. How does Scott fare compare to his other colleagues?

Mechanically speaking, what are the card's distinctive strengths and weaknesses?

It probably isn’t even worth much of a discussion as you would think to talk about basic Cyclops. He’s a vanilla 3-4 and sets the base line of what you’d expect for a 3 cost card to perform. It is worth pointing out that of all the cost to expected power ratios, 3 costs have the worst at just x1.33 times versus every other cost. So on an energy efficiency basis, 3 cost par value cards are pretty terrible to begin with. Nowadays, it’s probably even more underpowered as there is a growing trend of “3-5 is the new 3-4”. There is definitely some element of truth to that given most of the new 3-5s, even if they are specific to one particular archetype (such as Black Swan), often times don’t have an ability that actively hurts you. So base Cyclops still being 3-4 makes him more or less unplayable as there is always a better option. Surprisingly, this wasn’t always the case. I definitely remember roughly a year ago when people were still using basic Cyclops in decks such as Patriot where he represented an ability to go tall. You definitely don’t see that in modern SNAP; partially due to power creep and partially due to new cards introducing new abilities that change the base line.
HE Cyke though is where we can actually have some discussion regarding strengths and weaknesses. Because instead of it being all bad, HE Cyke is actually largely good. In fact, of the 7 HE modified cards, Cyke is probably amongst the strongest, in the running for probably THE best HE card. Some basics first to get out of the way. To use this version of Cyclops, you must dedicate one of your card slots to adding High Evolutionary to your deck. Hence why this version is often denoted with HE in the front. Once you do so, Cyclops will change to this modified version (or “evolved”), where he gains a new, power passive ability.
HE Cyke’s strength is two-fold. The first is his theoretical stat line. Yes, his base is still the crummy 3-4. But assuming you can proc his ability every turn and you play him as soon as possible, HE Cyke is a 3-10. That’s obviously very good. Remember how Bishop last week required a ton of cards to be played AND needing to be played early to get there? Cyke does that relatively effortlessly. You just need to play him, then float at least 1 Energy a turn to benefit. His second strength is how he is able to synergize with a lot of cards that share similar archetypes. There is the HE toxic line of course, where you play a lot of negative debuffs to cheat out a cheap Abomination while nerfing the power of your opponent’s field, but likewise, Scott is excellent with cards that want to float since you can then make 1 point of energy do a ton of work. If you play Sunspot, HE Misty Knight and have HE Hulk, that 1 point of unspent energy adds an additional 4 power on top of Cyclops’ own -2 debuff. So in contrast to his abilitless form, HE Cyke actually feels like a team leader in that he is able to slot into and work with a lot of cards. Due to his continuing threat of slapping -1s once he is played, he’s also ends up working great in lane control decks as he actively discourages your opponent from competing with his theoretical power.
As far as weaknesses go, HE Cyclops has a few. The first being one that he shares with all HE cards, which is the need to slot HE into the deck. HE is what veteran card players refer to as “a garnet”. In simple terms, this means he is a card you include due to a combo or enabling some sort of play but feels terrible when you actually draw him. You never want to draw HE because HE himself is an ability-less 4-4. Yes, he doesn’t even hit par. His “ability” is powering up the other cards, so as such when draw, he does nothing. Losing one of your deck slots to put in a card that does zilch when you pick it up is obviously terrible. To mitigate, you might consider playing multiple HE powered cards so that he feels less egregious. And to his credit as noted, Cyclops works with a good number them, so it doesn’t always feel as oppressive as you’re making HE enhance multiple cards usually alongside Scott himself.
HE Cyke’s second weakness is that he is limited by his window and loses effectiveness if he is the only card that takes advantage of float. If you play Cyke late (like Turn 5), that diminishes the amount damage he is able to do. So in that regard, he wants to come on to the field ASAP. But worse yet, like other cards that operate with float, the later you draw and play him, the worse it feels to actively have float. Imagine a scenario, where the only card that can take advantage of float you end up playing is Scott. In this scenario, Cyke may “feel” like a 3-10. But if you are actively sacrificing 1 energy for him, is he really? It would probably be more accurate to say in this case, he is a 6-10. That doesn’t seem so impressive anymore now, does it? The reason why we usually discount this is because you often have many of the other play makers already on field (or in HE Hulk’s case, in hand). When your 1 point of float is adding to 4-5 different cards, the float doesn’t feel bad. But when your float is only powering up 1 card, then it feels grossly inefficient and Scott is unfortunately a victim of this. In short, Scott’s effectiveness also depends on your other float absorbers. You should not expect him to perform any last minute miracle turnarounds.

Where does the card fit in the metagame (past or present)? What archetypes should it work with?

Cyclops has had a pretty interesting run within the game’s meta. Before HE came around, his ability-less form was still used in certain decks (Patriot / Surfer) as a means to build tall in one lane. He was, at the time, pretty much the only 3 cost that could put out decent power with little set up. Even though there were other options within that field, power creep was lower a year ago so base Cyke still saw some use in selective cases.
HE’s release was great for Scott in general. Sure, it basically killed off his base form, but his evolved form is very strong and possibly the strongest HE card in the game. It turned him from a card that was going to die eventually to power creeping to a very often picked inclusion in certain achetypes – sometimes Best-in-Slot (BiS) for your deck if you’re playing something like She-naut or Toxic HE. You still see him today hanging out with other folks that make up those decks – Sunspot, Magik, HE Hulk – and he’s gained some new friends as he remains a staple on those lists. And while these decks are not currently being on top of the meta-lists, it’s always something to keep in mind as you play.

Which cards have noteworthy interactions with it?

Cyclops has a decent number of cards that he can combo off of, which has helped Scott stay relevant even in today’s landscape:

• High-Evolutionary: He’s useless in game but his inclusion is what gives Scott his evolved form. So if you plan on using that, you literally have no choice but to add him.
• HE Abomination / She-Hulk: Both cards are often cost-discounted with Cyclops. Float reduces She-Hulk’s cost, then Cyke’s -1 Power x 2 helps reduce HE Abom’s Cost by 2 if he hits 2 cards.
• Sunspot / HE Misty Knight: As with above, Cyke synergies with other cards that like float and Sunspot / HE Misty Knight do exactly that. Extra float gets converted straight to power for Sunspot while HE MK provides +1 power to a random card as long as you have float.
• Nebula: Often times when you place HE Cyke down in a lane, opponent’s will focus on the other lanes unless they have a good counter play since Cyke can be a big threat on his own. Adding Nebula to the same lane asks your opponent to pick their poison. Either give Nebula free boosts, or force them into the lane to be blasted.
• Storm: Not only does Storm lock the lane down, meaning any future cards played into her lane become Scott’s targets, but the added urgency she creates means an opponent will feel pressured to put something there or be forced to give up the lane for cheap.
• Jean Grey: Jean is an awkward card, but she combos well with HE Cyke. She holds an opponent’s play into the lane and he shoots them. I like how 2 of Cyke’s better partners are other classic ‘97ers.
• Silver Surfer: The OG but not really relevant anymore. Back then Surfer + Cyke was a way to build a lane tall in Surfer decks. But things have changed quite a bit so this combination has lost a lot of luster. Still if you are early in SNAP, it’s something that you can play around with.

What cards or strategies counter it? Are there other downsides to keep in mind?

Ability-less Cyclops doesn’t need much of a counter because he’s typically out-stated and power crept in today’s landscape. If your opponent plays ability-less Cyclops, you know he/she is probably early in their SNAP career and are probably running some old Patriot or Surfer variant. In which case, counters to those decks typically work.
HE Cyke is another story and the main meat of this section for obvious reasons. Unlike his base version, here, there’s an actual ability with actual threat behind it. So if you don’t check it, it typically means giving up the lane since Scott can just stack a bunch of -1 Power effects onto your board. The key to dealing with HE Cyke if you don’t carry the typical tech cards is to keep in mind his float efficiency. Decks with HE will typically want float and play other float synergistic cards such as Sunspot. If you can eliminate those cards from play or use, then that will weaken HE Cyke as well. Having 1 float power up HE Cyke, HE MK and Sunspot means your opponent gets a lot of mileage by being energy efficient. It is a completely different story if he’s giving up 1 energy just to add 2x -1 Power. For this reason, some more unusual counters include stuff like Elektra and Killmonger who can snipe out HE Cyke’s early supports.
Another tactic you can try is to forcing your opponent into not having any float at all. This is typically harder to do because there aren’t many ways to mess with your opponent’s costs. You might be tempted to play Mobius but most HE Cyclops’ decks won’t run stuff like Sera. And now that Zabu has basically been neutered, there’s even less reason for them to carry cost discounters. Iceman can work but is typically too random and you have no way of knowing what it hit. The Bounce variants that can replay him are going to be best for this since you can then slap a bunch of +1 cost modifiers, forcing the HE Cyke player into position where he is less likely to have float.
You can also choose to avoid playing in HE Cyke’s lane entirely. Indeed, HE Cyke’s ability only works if there are other cards in the lane. Specifically – he only gets full value if you have TWO cards on YOUR side of the lane. If you don’t have other cards there, then he’s fundamentally no different than his vanilla form. For this reason, the Goblins, White Widow and Viper can be good soft counters. Viper especially can be mean since you end up throwing back a debuffed card back to your opponent’s board. This isn’t always an option though due to the location effects but something to keep in mind.
If you do have his checks, then you’re in a good position. HE Cyke gets dumpstered pretty hard by certain tech cards – most notably Luke Cage. Now that Cage is back in his old form (albeit +1 cost, +2 power), he’s the premier choice for countering toxic debuff strategies. HE Cyke is of course no exception to this rule. Simply play him on a late turn and undo a bunch of your opponent’s work. If they are floating on 5 in preparation of playing a big boi like HE Hulk or Infinaut and She-Hulk, slapping Luke down undoes the previous 2 turns of work and puts you into position of nailing their big boi too. Otherwise, both Shadow King and Valkyrie deserve honorable mentions but are not as good as Luke. SK resets all the previous’ turns power debuffs, which can be big but you’ll still be at the mercy of the current round’s effect. Valkyrie is similar except she will set everything to 3 power. If you have a way to break parity with at least +3 power, then you’re in a good position to take the lane.
Being 3 cost means Cyke is also vulnerable to Magneto. But Magneto doesn’t really counter Scott because by the time old Magnetman hits the field, Cyke’s effect would have already proc’d twice. Sure, you can then move him to another location but by then the damage is done. There are times when Magneto can be the game winner (such as an opponent having a weak lane and another lane that has been Flooded and they are using Cyke + Storm to hold it), but like the locations, he’s definitely more situational.

What other cards may serve a similar role, for either replacement or redundancy?

From the HE family, HE Cyke’s closest comparison is his 4 cost companion HE Thing. Both cards slam -1 power effects to different cards in the lane. However, in Ben’s case, he’s an On Reveal and thus only triggers once and doesn’t scale with float. Otherwise, HE Misty Knight is also similar AND synergistic. In this case, you add +1 power for every additional point of float, just like how HE Cyke adds 2x -1 Power debuffs. This +1 is random though so care must be placed into deciding what you’re playing since the more cards there are, the extra float can hit cards you don’t really want.
Apart from the HE family of cards, HE Cyke shares similar abilities as Man-Thing. Both cards represent an establisher that aims to hold the lane by applying debuffs to other cards in the lane. Both cards aim to hit your opponent’s cards with a max of -8 power. The main difference here is that Man-Thing only hits cards that cost 1-3, whereas Scott can hit any card as long as you give him float. Man-Thing is also Ongoing so certain soft counters that work against Scott don’t work on Man-Thing.

Conclusion

Cyclops has come a long way. He went from being an ability-less, identity-less generic 3 cost to now a staple consideration in one of the game’s more competitive archetypes. Not bad for the field commander.
What are your best Cyclops plays?
What has been Cyclops’ best deck?
Did I miss anything in my assessment?
Let's discuss in the comments.

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Writing on behalf of my husband who doesn't have reddit. We are in England.
Husband was pulled over by the police on his way to work today and told he is being issued a penalty for using his phone while driving. His phone was in a cradle, as it always is, and he was not touching it. He never uses it while driving. He doesn't know what the police saw him do, he thinks he may have been adjusting the AC. His phone screen wasn't even lit up when he was stopped. He has been told he can appeal, which I understand means he will have to go to court. Can anyone please point us in the direction of what he needs to do? He has never been in a situation like this. The police officer who issued the penalty was not the one who claims to have seen him, and he was told he wasn't allowed to speak to that officer. All he can do is appeal. But will it just be his word against a police officers word? He was also breathalysed at the time, which was clear as he had not been drinking. Thank you for any advice you can give us.

So our company is going to be breaking up a big monolithic service into microservices and I think this is a perfect time to start implementing API testing on these microservices as they are broken up. I'll preface that I am a new Automation Architect to the company and the company didn't really have much automation to begin with (so pretend im starting sort of at square 1).
I've used Playwright in the past for API testing and it worked well (even if it's probably heavier than whats needed). I created client classes to match microservices to make testing easier. However there is no sort of schema validation on these tests.
With these new microservices it'll give the development team time to define what the schema is going to be (Since a lot of these request/response body schemas haven't been defined due to the code being very old and not well documented).
Anyways, I thought this is maybe the time to start implementing some sort of schema validation with the tests we will write. This is in TypeScript (at least Playwright is) so keeping that in mind I see a few options out there (And would also love advice). The backend services are a mixture of C# and C++ I believe but most of the QA engineers use JS/TS.

1. Use some sort of Schema generatoparser and validator. Something like https://ajv.js.org/ but im not sure on a generator and honestly im not an expert on TypeScript specifically (More used to JS) so im a little lost as to whats out there.
2. Use something like Pact.js or some sort of Pact testing. I've only ever heard of PactJS but i've not done Pact testing before. Seems like maybe a heavy lift but i've not heard one way or the other.
3. Just don't bother with it (I've heard people suggest that maintaining the schemas is really time consuming if there is a lot of flux) so maybe it's not "really" worth it.
4. Other ideas??

I'm writing a Web API. One of the inputs is an array. The array stores objects which model real-life widgets. In real life, the widgets are named "widget 1", "widget 2", etc. However, people familiar with widgets refer to them in descending order: "widget 7", "widget 6", "widget 5", etc. This makes more sense. The real issue is that widgets are numbered backwards from what would be logical, but this cannot be changed. (The numbering scheme has existed for centuries.)
My dilemma is this:

1. Expect the highest number widget in array element 0. From a processing standpoint, the code will be cleaner and simpler this way. Also, it makes the most sense for people familiar with widgets, but makes the documentation convoluted. I would have to say something like, "The highest number widget should be stored in array element 0."). If a programmer unfamiliar with widgets reads this, they will be confused and ask why they need to load the array backwards. Without reading the doc, they may also make the assumption that widget 1 should come first, which is not unreasonable, but this will lead to unexpected and invalid results.
2. Expect the lowest number widget in element 0. This makes more sense generally, but programmers familiar with widgets will wonder why it was done this way. They will likely load it with the high widget in element 0 and then reverse the array before calling my endpoint. (That's what I would do.) My API code would then reverse the array again or iterate backwards.

I realize it is trivial to reverse an array. Which will cause the least confusion? Which way would you do it?

My HD599s are getting a bit tatty and I fancy some new headphones to use at home with my PC. I listen almost exclusively to metal in terms of music, but also use them for gaming. I found them... decent? I liked their sound for metal in general but wasn't that impressed with them for picking out sound detail like footsteps in games.
Setting myself a maximum budget of £250, and ideally avoiding the need for an Amp/DAC the two that jump out at me from googling are the HD560S and the DT 900 Pro X.
In terms of sound I like, when I got my WH1000XM5s for my phone I found the default sound way, way too muddy, but to my ears for metal they sound pretty great with the autoeq for them through wavelet (the bright preset in the headphones app is a little too aggressive for my taste). So relatively bright, but not overly so because some stuff just becomes a bit much if the master is quite compressed dynamics wise with loud cymbals. I listen to a pretty broad range of metal though the majority probably falls into the death/prog/doom genres.
So: * Max £250 * Good sound for metal * Good for picking out detail in games

I’m sorry for invading with brainrot, but WIBTAH for looking out for my e-homies?
I (13F) have been playing zombie apocalypse RP games on Roblox for the past few months. Over the past several weeks, this has developed into something else entirely. I met a few different people on the servers, and we are now definitely friends- some of us, anyway. Our franchise consists of Ian(13M), Demo(13M), Maggie(9F), Lance(13M), and Katana(18F). We have taken the RP a step further and I have now been selected by common opinion to roughly script the plot. Not very detailed- I just plan the vague events to come, write the faction lore, etc.
We have all noticed that Katana hasn’t been online for a while. By that, I mean she hasn’t read a single DM, group chat message, or other attempt to contact her. This makes sense in a way, since she’s much older than the rest of us. She also mentioned the possibility of a hiatus earlier in the year, so we assumed it was that.
Well, some of us did. Maggie and I have each other’s discord users, and mostly use that for DM since it’s more convenient. According to her, she was in a different game (still on Roblox) and Demo happened to be in the same server. She went over to say hi. Demo had other plans. He told her in private chat that he wasn’t going to RP with her anymore, and that she (Maggie) was the reason why Katana wasn’t online. So I confronted Demo about this. His view is that Maggie has been harassing Katana, and he mentioned some other stuff that I didn’t really understand.
My conversation with him is shown above.
I have sent this screenshot to Maggie and asked her about this. She has not responded yet.
I should mention that while I was talking with her(before Demo texted me) she repeatedly told me not to get involved with her problems. I’m not sure if this was just for privacy, or something more.
I feel like I should do something about this. I myself own a hangout server, and I feel like we need to talk about this while everyone is there. And I have a feeling that Demo may be right. If he is, the group may want to exclude Maggie from any further plot development.
The group feels really important to me- they’re my closest friends, even though we’ve never seen each other irl.
WIBTAH if I took action?

(Throwaway account, because I mostly use reddit for work-related topics).
Me (37M) and my wife (35F) have been married for 14 years. We met when we were both in college, she studied literature, I studied engineering and was getting into tech. We were dating for two years when she got pregnant and we decided to get married and start a family. We decided together that I would work and she would be a SAHM because it would be difficult for her to find a well-paying job with her major, and I was already starting to earn quite well. I've also always had a fairly conservative approach to family life and I was happy to be a sole provider. She always wanted to be a mom and was looking forward to being a SAHM.
Right now our children are 14 and 12 years old, I have a good job and my wife stays home taking care of the house. This arrangement has always suited her, but recently she has begun to mention that she feels a bit lonely and lacks friends, especially now that the children are older and she has more time to herself. Indeed, our social life mostly consisted of meetings with my work colleagues and their wives whom my wife can hardly call "friends." That's why I was happy at first when my wife ran into her best friend from college, let’s call her Anna. According to my wife they got along so well as if they didn’t have an almost 14-year old break in contact (when my wife got pregnant she drifted apart from her college friends). They started meeting for coffee quite often. When my wife returned from these meetings she was overjoyed and excited and told me a lot about Anna. It was then that I began to worry.
During the time my wife had no contact with her, Anna got her PhD in literature, started teaching at the university, and became the editor of one of the most important cultural magazines in our country. Her husband is an award-winning writer, apparently very well recognized (it's hard for me to say anything about this, as I have no idea about literature). They earn well, do not have and do not want children, and basically lead a carefree lifestyle completely different from ours: they have lots of friends from their literary-academic circle, consider these friends "family" and go several times a week to various author meetings, galas, gallery openings, and god knows what else. From what I've gathered, they are also much more progressive and liberal than I am, for example, they divide all their chores and bills 50/50 and they have a mixed-gender group of friends - Anna is friends with men and her husband with women, which I always considered inappropriate in a serious relationship.
My wife invited Anna and her husband for dinner because she really wanted me to meet them - she hoped we would both start going to all these cultural events with them. They were very polite and respectful, and didn't comment in any way on the differences in our lifestyles, but dinner was nevertheless quite tiresome for me, as I didn't have any common topics with them. My wife knows that I don't share her passion for literature (just as she doesn't share my interest in technology), but this has never been an issue in our marriage - we traveled together, went on bike trips, went to our favorite restaurants and movies, etc. I didn't understand why she suddenly wants this to change.
Anna started taking my wife to some of the literary events organized by her magazine and also invited her to write a couple of reviews for a column she is running (she apparently sees great potential in my wife and appreciates her insight) - which my wife accepted with great joy. I was torn: on the one hand, I was happy that my wife didn't feel alone and that she had something to do when the kids are at school or with their friends. On the other hand, I was afraid that I was losing my wife - that she would turn into someone else under Anna's influence. I was also afraid that other men will hit on her at the events Anna invites her to (even though my wife repeats that all of Anna's friends know that she is married and a mother, they never cross any boundaries and always speak of her family with respect).
I finally told my wife that I was uncomfortable with her friendship with Anna, that I was afraid this relationship would change her for the worse and that she would no longer care about our marriage and children. I said that I can’t forbid her to do antyhing, but that I would feel much better if she didn't go to all these events with Anna and if she didn't accept an offer to write reviews for her magazine. My wife said that the friendship with Anna is very important to her, that she had been feeling depressed lately spending most of the day at home all alone, and that contact with people with whom she can talk about things she’s passionate about has made her feel significantly better. I promised to her that I will work less and that I will spend more time with her. I also repeated that I cannot forbid her to see Anna and her friends but that this friendship really makes me uncomfortable. She was sad but understood me and said that she will stop spending time with Anna.
Yesterday, I talked to my older brother (whose advice I always appreciate) about this situation. He said that me and my wife married really young and that it’s understandable that she might feel like she’s missing out on things outside family life. He also said that the only way to make sure that my wife is with me because she really loves me and not because she’s just stuck with me and has no other options, is to give her freedom to spend time with other people, even though it makes me uncomfortable. It really made me think and question my own behavior. I really don’t want to be a person who limits my wife’s freedom, but I also don’t want to be tempting fate in order to see if she really loves me. It would break my heart to lose her and maybe deep inside I feel like she would leave me if she had any other options, so I don’t want her to have these options. I feel like shit. AITAH?

Hi! I look at very large excel sheets and I’m looking for a way to automate a process. Basically the sheet is a before and after for code locations. I will link an example image of the sheet. I’m looking for a way to identify lines in red that do not have a corresponding green line (the code was removed but not added anywhere). Is there a macro that I could write to help me identify that? It’s not the same as a de-dup because there will be codes that are green with no red counterpart and that is fine.
Thanks in advance!

Hello ppl, this is my first time writing here. 20M Currently living with my father we're not that close because he left my mom when I was 8, (anw sorry for my grammar I only know basic and still learning.)when I was a toddler they sent me to my aunt, there, I experienced my first trauma, SA and abuse. I remember my cousin jerking inside his room, door is partially open he saw me and he grab me inside and push me to suck him, and he came inside my mouth taste was awful I spit it inside the laundry basket Idk why I didn't resist when he asked me to do it. can't remember his face anymore fast forward when my parents decides to get me back, SA didn't stop there. Our neighbor who is teen at that time also did it and some part of me lowkey enjoyed giving head to the point Im asking my friend to do the same thing. now I'm having crisis it became my sexual desire and it's making me like guys. There are times that I think I'm kind of crushing in kids/teen that looks good I'm afraid that the cycle is cycling, cycling? haha please help, I don't wanna be the monster who made me feel this way. 😔

My gf and I have been together for 3 years. We were extremely close and shared so many passions, ambitions and goals in life. We did many long holidays together and were generally very happy. The only caveat is that she at times wanted more from the relationship than I felt I naturally gave at the time. We always worked through it and we were genuinely very happy. Towards the end of our relationship we had agreed to move in together which was something she always wanted.

Where it went wrong: In September 2023 my career which had been successful up to that point, turned toxic and it took its toll on me (although hard to realise at the time). I probably neglected our relationship a bit as I stopped planning as many dates. I also stopped doing this due to the super high cost of buying a flat in London I wanted to save money(our next step). In February I moved out of my flat and stayed with family while we started looking for our flat and I noticed my gf became distant and was hiding something. I tried to ask her a few times if everything was ok but she isn’t very confrontational and we never got to the bottom of it. I became a bit frustrated with her at times and this was probably the worst part our relationship had ever been.

In march she slightly out of the blue told me she was having some doubts. I immediately realised what I’d done wrong and tried to make a huge effort. I sent her flowers, wrote her letters and much more. It seemed to work for a few weeks but she was under a lot of stress due to her grandma dying (who she was very close with). She eventually ended it as she felt too many little things had been brushed aside by me. She cited how although I had made a huge effort recently, she felt the effort was one way before and it shouldn’t have been.

She is kind of right, but there were factors that explained some of my behaviour, such as my work and the stress of moving flats. I tried to explain all of these little things but it didn’t work.

I find it so frustrating as she is judging me on past memories and not the person in front of her who is so desperate to give her everything she ever wanted. She loved me so much. This has obviously changed, but how can I prove this to her or should I just accept defeat?

I was considering writing her another letter owning how I wasn’t ready for the commitment early in our relationship and it’s taken losing her and a few months apart to effectively grow up and really realise where I went wrong. I don’t want to seem desperate but I am out of ideas?

I have summarised parts of this post to keep it brief.

I made mistakes but what should I do?