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The Notorious Big / Biggie Smalls

2015.09.23 07:57 c4rlos4lv4rez The Notorious Big / Biggie Smalls

The UnOfficial Subreddit of Christopher Wallace AKA The Notorious BIG, Biggie Smalls
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2024.05.16 12:42 Responsible-North234 A Big Change From The Novels

The show kind of made the Starks more rustic than they where in the books. House Stark in the novels where not as wealthy as the Lannister's but they where a lot wealthier than the show.
First lets look at what they wear in the books which is nothing like there costumes in the show.
Side note Lord Rickard owned Steel armour and gold spurs.
When Arya is packing to go to Kings Landing she files where chest with silk and Sansa is fond of blue silk.
In Kings Landing Eddard looked nothing like what he did in the show, he always wore what he called his council silk. Ned also commissions a new uniform for his guards. Long cloaks of heavy grey wool decorated with white satin borders. Their cloaks are pinned with hands of beaten silver representing there Lords office as hand of the King. When he was on the Iron Throne Ned wore a white double embosomed with a grey dire wolf.
In Winterfell at the feast welcoming the King and Royal Family they all dressed grandly, including Benjen Stark. There are high born brothers in the Nights Witch from the north and south and I have never seen one dressed as well as Benjen at that feast, not even Lord Commander Mormont himself. He wears rich black velvet high black leather boots. His wide belt has a silver buckle and very heavy silver chain.
When Bran is attacked by Wildlings he is attacked for what he is wearing and he is second legitimate son and he is wearing a wolfs head broch of silver and jet. Jet is a gemstone and this is not a formal event this is just outriding in the woods.
Jon wears fine blacks and mole skin gloves which would not be cheap. At Winterfell harvest feast Bran is dressed quote, as befits a Prince and Robb wears a bronze crown and Catelyn describes her sons royal Kingly attire as quote magnificent.
Also Theon Greyjoy dressed very well when he was living with Stark in silk and Gold and Balon fears the Starks have made him soft. I doubt Greyjoy money was funding Theon's extravagant lifestyle. When he takes Winterfell he crowns himself Prince of Winterfell and orders and orders a new crown forged with black diamonds and chunks of gold. Where did he get the gold and diamonds if not from Winterfell's plundered treasury. And before Winterfell Bran and Luwin gave the Manderley's gold and build a royal fleet and mint coins.
At the Winterfell harvest feast
Now lets look at Winterfell it is much bigger and much grander than in the show this is a Castle built of granite which is an opulent martial.
Winterfell is a huge castle complex spanning several acres and encircled by two massive granite walls.
Remember the Castle is built over natural hot springs and as the wiki explains.
The water is piped through walls and chambers to heat them, making Winterfell more comfortable than other castles during the harsh northern winters.
Also from the wiki
Inside the walls, the complex is composed of dozens of courtyards and small open spaces. Weapons training and practice take place in those yards. The inner ward is a second, much older open space in the castle where archery practice takes place. It is located next to the broken tower. Inside Winterfell stands the inner castle, which contains the Great Keep and the Great Hall. Winterfell's towers and halls have diamond-shaped window panes.[6]
Inner Castle
The Great Keep is the innermost castle and stronghold of the castle complex. It was built over natural hot springs to keep it warm.[5] The Great Keep contains bedchambers for House Stark[5] as well as the solar of Lord Eddard Stark.[7] The building is connected to the armory by a covered bridge.[8] From a window on the covered bridge, one can see the entire yard.[9] Beneath the Great Keep are cellars with narrow windows.[10]
The Great Hall is used for receiving guests and the place where the household dines together, including the Lord of Winterfell. It is made of grey stone[11] and has wide doors made of oak and iron,[12] which opens to the castle yard, and a rear exit leads to a dimly-lit gallery.[12] Inside it can hold eight long rows of trestle tables, four to each side of the central aisle,[12] and the hall can seat five hundred people.[13] There is a raised platform for noble guests, and the walls are covered with banners.[11] The hall contains the high seat of the old Kings in the North. The seat's cold stone has been polished by the many lords who have sat upon it, and its massive arms are decorated with the carved heads of snarling direwolves.[14][15]
The small sept was built for Lady Catelyn Tully, a southron, by her husband, Lord Eddard.[16]
Courtyard and Other Buildings
The First Keep, a squat and round drum tower, is the oldest surviving part of the castle but is no longer in use. Around it lies a lichyard where the Kings of Winter would bury their loyal servants. The keep has gargoyles atop it.[17][6] Maester Kennet determined it was built after the Andals arrived.[18]
The broken tower, also known as the Burned Tower, was once the tallest watchtower in Winterfell. Over 140 years ago a lightning strike set it afire and the top third collapsed inward, but no one rebuilt it.[19][20] It stands behind the old inner ward. Crows nest atop the broken tower.[19]
The ancient godswood of Winterfell has stood untouched for ten thousand years, with three acres of old packed earth and close-together trees creating a dense canopy, which the castle was built around. At the center of the grove stands an ancient weirwood with a face carved into it, standing over a pool of black water.[16] Across the godswood from the heart tree, beneath the windows of the Guest House, an underground hot spring feeds three small pools, with a moss-covered wall looming above them. The godswood is enclosed by walls, and is accessed by a main iron gate, or smaller wooden ones.
The Glass Gardens[21] is a greenhouse heated by the hot springs, which turn it into a place of moist warmth.[5] It is used to grow fruits, vegetables, and flowers.[9][22] The garden has green and yellow glass panes[10] locked in frames.[8]
The crypt of Winterfell, located near the First Keep, is where members of House Stark are buried. The underground crypts are long and narrow, with pillars moving two by two along its length. Between pillars stand the sepulchers of the Starks of Winterfell, the likenesses of the dead seated on thrones, with iron swords set before them to keep the restless spirits from wandering, and snarling direwolves at their feet. The crypts are deep under the earth, cavernous and bigger than the complex above ground. They are accessed by a twisting stone stair and a huge ironwood door that lies at a slant to the floor. The stair continues below to older levels where the most ancient Kings in the North are entombed.[23][17][10]
The Bell Tower is connected to the rookery by a bridge. The bridge is covered and runs from the fourth floor of the tower to the second floor of the rookery.[6][8]
The maester's turret is below the rookery.[24]
The Library Tower houses the library at Winterfell. A stonework staircase winds about its exterior.[8]
The Guards Hall is in line with the Bell Tower, and further back, the First Keep.[6]
Winterfell has undercrofts and cellars.[25] The castle also has dungeons,[25] including tower cells.[26]
Walls
Winterfell is a huge castle complex spanning several acres, defended by two massive walls of grey granite with a wide moat between them.[4] The outer wall is eighty feet high, while the inner is one hundred feet high.[4] There are guard turrets on the outer wall and more than thirty watch turrets on the crenelated inner walls.
The great main gates[7] have a gatehouse made of two huge crenelated bulwarks which flank the arched gate[8] and a drawbridge that opens into the market square of the winter town.[27][28]
There is a narrow tunnel inside of the inner wall stretching halfway around the castle, allowing travel from the south gate all the way to the north gate without interruption.[19]
When Jon Snow becomes Lord Commander of the Nights Watch he considers building a glass building but thinks it will be costly and for such fine glass he would need to look Myr and by the freedom of a few glass makers.
We know Sansa loves lemon cakes and lemon trees do not grow naturally in the north importing lemon seeds to Winterfell from the reach or Doren would not be cheap. My guess would be the seeds came form Doren as one need only sail up the narrow sea than the up the White Knife.
Finally Maester Luwin has his own turret and mentions having servents of his own. The Starks top servants have servants
Not as wealthy as the Lannister but it clear Ned and Robb after him where unlike in the show 2 of the wealthiest man in the world.
submitted by Responsible-North234 to gameofthrones [link] [comments]


2024.05.16 12:37 shrugir Travel Agency CRM

What Is Travel Agency CRM?

A travel agency CRM is customer relationship management software that helps travel companies or tour operators improve their lead management and conversion processes, increase sales efficiency, streamline follow-ups, and rapidly expand their customer base. Software is particularly designed for both TMCs and DMCS.

Travel Agency CRM is an all-in-one CRM solution for travel agencies and tour operators built on award-winning travel CRM. Created specifically for the needs of travel agencies using award-winning travel CRM, Travel Agency CRM delivers outstanding value with an astounding array of features for a fraction of the cost of any comparable industry system.

In fact, CRMs can be used for and customized to a number of different industries! When it comes to the travel industry, a CRM can help guide prospective clients through the sales process and give them access to important, relevant data.

What Is the Purpose Of A CRM For Travel Agencies?

Travel agency CRM platforms help agencies manage their online presence, schedule meetings, and even automate their usual tasks. They offer a comprehensive view of sales pipelines and customer relationships, making them an invaluable tool for any travel agency.

Teams can use travel agency CRMs to assign leads to agents, track performance, and manage transaction processes. Features such as drip campaigns and marketing automation tools enable agencies to maintain a consistent client experience and build stronger relationships.

A travel CRM will assist you in:

· Track travel inquiries from start to finish, ensuring a flawless sales process.

· Auto-send WhatsApp, email, and SMS to the client on each status change.


· Deliver exceptional, tailored service according to each traveler's requirements.

· Gain a comprehensive view of customer interactions, packages, and sales from analytics.

· Automate repetitive tasks to increase productivity, boost sales, and generate revenue.

Why Is Travel Agency CRM Important in The Travel Industry?

To run sales and stay competitive, businesses in the travel industry must meet and manage their customers' needs across the entire inquiry, booking and follow-up journey. Because a travel agency CRM lets you focus on traveler profiles and expectations more accurately, it helps you deliver an exceptional user experience that's more likely to bring in repeat bookings.

Customer Information: Travel agents deal with various customers, each with unique preferences and travel histories. A CRM system helps agents keep track of all this profitable data.

They can record details such as travel dates, destinations, preferred airlines, and hotel choices. This enables agents to provide an extremely personalized service, recommending suitable options and making the booking process smoother for customers.

Organization and Efficiency: Travel agents juggle a multitude of tasks, from booking flights and hotels to arranging tours and transfers. A travel CRM solution acts as a digital assistant, helping agents stay organized. It can handle bookings, set reminders for essential tasks, and even automate routine processes. This efficiency means agents can serve more customers beneficially without compromising on service quality.

Communication: Good communication is the backbone of the travel industry. A CRM system helps travel agents keep customers informed. It can send automatic email confirmations, flight updates, and travel tips. This not only ensures that customers have all the essential information but also reassures them, building trust and enhancing their travel experience.

Customer Loyalty: Establishing long-term relationships with customers is crucial. Best Travel CRM helps agents create and manage loyalty programs. It can track user points, offer rewards, and send personalized discounts or special offers. This inspires customers to return for future bookings and refer friends and family, which is vital for a travel agent's success.

Competitive Edge: In today's digital age, travelers have access to a huge amount of information online. To compete effectively, travel agents must come up with added value and exceptional service. A well-implemented CRM system enables agents to stand out by delivering personalized, efficient, and convenient services that customers appreciate. This can be the difference between travelers selecting a travel agent's services over booking independently online.

Who Can Use Travel Agency CRM?

Travelopro is the best travel CRM software specifically designed for travel agents, tour operators, and DMCs, which can easily streamline and automate your travel business. It caters to individuals at various levels within the organization, including business owners, operational staff, transfer drivers, tour guides, and the sales team.

· Hospitality businesses are striving to boost guest engagement, drive direct bookings, and generate loyalty.

· Tour operators focus on optimizing itineraries, automating tasks, and providing personalized recommendations to travelers.

· Travel agencies seeking to simplify bookings, manage customer relationships, and enhance the overall travel experience.

· Travel startups seeking to gain a competitive edge by leveraging technology to boost the travel experience.

· Travel management companies: help corporate customers with travel arrangements and expense management.

· DMCS (Destination Management Companies): DMCs benefit from advanced destination management systems that help them coordinate every part of a visitor's vacation.

· Corporate travel managers seeking to optimize travel spend, handle compliance, and improve traveler safety.

How Travel Agency CRM Can Transform Your Travel Business?

In the travel and tourism industry, CRMs are used to track customer bookings, itineraries, and preferences. This data can be used to upsell customers on extra travel products and services or to simply provide better customer service.

A CRM becomes useful when it is completely integrated operationally and strategically into the travel business. Once integrated, the CRM can help save time, increase the team's efficiency, establish better customer relationships, enhance team collaboration, and boost overall business performance.

Whether you need to manage multiple bookings, track customer preferences, or communicate with your partners, this CRM offers a comprehensive solution tailored to the unique needs of travel agencies. By using this CRM, you can streamline your operations and improve the overall efficiency of your travel agency business while also providing a better experience for your customers.

The best travel agency CRM systems have additional features necessary for running a travel agency smoothly and effectively. Besides, this is also useful in examining all the vital information, such as company performance, sales, and stock, and makes the whole process easier.

It enables you to serve your customers better with a simple user interface and hassle-free management. Maintain coordination among your team and avoid repetition of work. It empowers you to have a better lead management system. It is designed so that all your leads land in CRM from your website or social media ads.

Travel agency CRM helps in focusing your services, business processes, and employees on the acquisition and retention of faithful customers by answering their personal needs and values in the travel and hospitality business.

Companies may be effectively streamlined through the automated processes of activities like marketing, advertising, and customer support. The program assists in managing B2C and corporate clients with individualized trip schedules and fee sheets.

Currently, this software provides an advantage for the travel industry and also leads to a better customer experience. It also enables you to analyze customers more accurately, convert more leads, and produce references from happy customers.

In fact, Travel CRM authorizes you to keep an eye on booking management, user management, payment collection, alerts and notifications, email management, and so on. Thus, make sure to select the robust Travel CRM software that matches and fulfils your business requirements.

Want to Take Your Travel Business to Next Big Level? If Yes Then Travelopro Is Here

In a competitive industry, travel agents want to get travel software that manages each and every aspect of a project, streamlines workflow, and improves business efficiency. There are numerous travel CRM software programs available, each with several features, so it is important to choose the right software that is the perfect match for your business.

Choose the right cloud-based CRM for your business that is able to satisfy your needs. Here at Travelopro Travel CRM software, we provide the best travel CRM, which comes with incredible features and functionalities that enhance your work productivity and also help in the growth of your business.

We are the best travel CRM provider that helps various travel companies cope with challenges including inquiries, itineraries, payment schedules, and lead management. Our travel agency CRM solution enables simple connection and communication with branch visitors, customers, agents, and suppliers with both automated and account-specific communication.

Our CRM solution is designed to simplify your operations, automate processes, and enhance customer satisfaction. From managing itineraries to tracking user preferences, our CRM system provides a comprehensive platform to centralize your data and optimize your workflows.

Our CRM provides you with up-to-the-minute data on bookings, customer preferences, and market trends, allowing you to make informed decisions and seize opportunities in the dynamic online travel landscape.

We develop travel agency client management software so you can maintain information about your customers, their preferences, purchase capabilities, and buying behavior. This makes it easier for your agents to present the best deal to your customers and complete the sales easily.

Travelopro's smart software spells impeccable business benefits through its CRM for travel agencies. With a comprehensive package, Travelopro easily boosts operations for tour companies of all sizes, from lead management to customer relationships and massive calculations to time management.

Travelopro's Travel CRM Software also equips businesses with robust features to build a high-performing sales funnel. Owners and managers could track the status of each sale in real-time, map the customer journey, and visualize sales performance based on several metrics.

We contain powerful features such as itinerary management, quotes, proposals, forms, tasks, lead management, etc., which can help travel advisors expand their business and provide extensive experience to their customers. It is an all-in-one solution for the travel business to manage qualified customers, quotes, and itineraries through simple CRM and forms.

We developed a travel website, and for the travel agency, we provide travel agency software that is sophisticated and automated for the travel work. By using the travel CRM tool, travel agents can collect all data regarding other travel agents, staff members, and travel itineraries.

We have a dedicated team of the best travel agency CRM software providers that offers you the best and most reasonable travel CRM software, which is exclusively made for small businesses to handle their workflow.

At Travelopro, we offer a ready-made CRM solution designed exclusively for tour operators and travel agencies. Our CRM comes equipped with features, capabilities, metrics, and reporting that are specifically customized to meet your unique needs and completely customized for your branding.

Travelopro is an expert in this field, having helped many travel agencies and tour operators find the right travel CRM solutions to meet their needs and budget. We understand this and have over 10 years' experience in helping travel businesses find the right solution.

When Selecting A Travel Agency CRM, Which Factors Should We Consider?

· Features: Make sure that the CRM has features suitable to your travel business, such as booking management, lead tracking, communication tools, and reporting.

· Scalability: Choose a CRM that can amplify with your business as it expands.

· Integration: Check if the CRM integrates with other software you use, such as booking engines, marketing tools, and accounting systems.

· User Interface: The CRM should be user-friendly and smooth for your team to learn and use.

· Support: Look for a CRM provider that offers superior customer support and resources for training and troubleshooting.

· Cost: Consider your budget and whether the CRM's pricing structure corresponds with your financial plans.

Why Should You Choose Travelopro Travel Agency CRM?

· Travelopro is the leading provider of CRM for travel agencies and tour operators to let them work efficiently.

· Our travel agency CRM provides tailored solutions such as travel CRM software, holiday CRM, etc.

· Our cloud-based travel agency CRM tool offers apps that make the services one step away from the customers.

· Our travel agency CRM software helps businesses build robust customer relationships, generate revenue, and increase conversion rates.

· Our travel agency CRM helps travel businesses focus on their core tasks and any specific strategy.

· Our travel agency CRM helps retain existing customers by automating the travel process and employees in the organization. Further, it ensures flawless business administration.

· Through our years of expertise, we are in the best position to deliver the travel agency CRM solution that matches your business.

· We understand the market and, correspondingly, develop travel agency CRM software for the travel industry. It supports our clients in serving their customers better.

What Kind of Benefits Can A CRM Built Specifically for The Travel Agency Give to Your Business?

Improved Customer Retention: Retaining customers is vital to your business. Using a CRM allows you to better track your customers and instantly address their questions and concerns.

Centralized Database of Information: A CRM creates a centralized database of your customers' data, so anyone who may need it can access it. Travel agents can then see what types of trips customers may be interested in based on their past interactions with your company. As a result, your customers will have a more positive experience, and your employees will save time.

Increased Sales: By using a CRM program, you can design a particular sales plan, automate key parts of your sales process, and help you analyze the data being collected about your sales. All of this can help you improve both your sales and productivity. Furthermore, you can create a process for your employees that is easy to follow and can be effortlessly adjusted when necessary.

Higher Productivity: CRM systems use automation technology, which speeds up non-priority work. It also authorizes employees to focus on work that cannot be automated, such as creating content. This automation also ensures that no work is missed, and it even helps you enhance your workflow.

Better Customer Service: CRMs store information such as demographics, purchase history, and past communications in a single location. Storing all necessary data in a single place makes it easy for anyone in your company to find it. Observing customer information becomes much easier with all of your data in a single location.

Personalized Traveler Experience: Every person who travels is different, with their own preferences and interests. Some people prefer to go to the beach, while others stick to the mountains. Some people want to visit a big city, while others would rather go to a secluded cabin in the wilderness. With travelers who are so diverse, the way you interact with them should be as well. You can better understand the preferences of your audience with a CRM. You and your travel agents better tailor the experience you are offering them.

What Major Features Does CRM For Travel Agencies Have?

Travel agencies can utilize the CRM to manage their contact information, log communications via multiple channels, and automate endless tasks

· Attract and convert leads into recurring travelers.

· With custom fields, create traveler characters.

· Book your appointment at any channel or touchpoint.

· Securely store valuable data in the cloud.

· Get detailed analytics for sales reports.

· Monitor conversion rates and track lead conversations.

· Reporting data can help you make the necessary decisions.

· Personalized messaging sent to users based on their segments

· Automate invoicing and accounting with seamless workflows.

· Build pipelines to support all your communications, outreach, and workflow efforts.

Wrapping Up:

In the evolving landscape of the travel industry, travel agency CRM is a game-changer. It empowers travel agencies to harness the power of data for efficient retailing and personalization for success in the modern travel market.

Convert your travel agency into an easy-to-use and cost-effective CRM solution. Contact us today to schedule a demo and unlock the complete potential of CRM for your travel agency.

For more details, Pls visit our Website:
https://www.travelopro.com/travel-agency-crm.php
submitted by shrugir to u/shrugir [link] [comments]


2024.05.16 12:11 Beginning_Story1811 Organizations and corporation in the universe Gorebox and yeah GreenX ..I just like your nickname and this is an idea for you more, just.

Organizations and corporation in the universe Gorebox and yeah GreenX ..I just like your nickname and this is an idea for you more, just.
(The city of Taikon city is in the background.) Taikon City its American City - Honkong + New York Population: 3-4 million Main colors: red, dark pink
  • Steele Leaf: German-Canadian Research organization. (1) Engaged in biology, virology, and research,Business, security and PMC services.
Main Headquarters: Canada Vancouver University "true memory", and Germany Munich "Headquarters named after Edward Baz"
  • Has a lot of resources and connections. Maybe Steele Leaf From Germany she organized a foundation, allocated a detachment to fight Uncoha.
  • In fact Steele Leaf Can be considered positive and bad at the same time. Gray morality, sometimes they do terrible things (Like: This is Umbrella, only much kinder, but still not flowers or ponies) While fighting with Uncoha They sometimes made mistakes or hid something.
  • Atom Foundation (2)
American organization But perhaps has roots in Norway and New Zealand. Clothes color: Light blue, dark blue, birch, black and blue or birch. Emblem: Atom and space with stars
  • Atom Fund is a more positive organization than Steele Leaf.
  • Main activity: physics, chemistry, development of weapons and things, maintenance and engineering. Usually Atom and Steele Leaf Working together: Steele Leaf Study and find, Atom Fund Contain or destroy.
  • Atom fond. its like: SCP + Abstergo has something in its structure. The atom is also studied by the anomaly and is contained or destroyed. Among the employees there is a secret clan, a society similar to the Templars only after being destroyed by an anomaly.
  • Atom works in the USA and Canada, England because there is a lot of funding there.
  • The Atom Foundation is famous for its “laboratory cities” - these are large, mobile complexes where laboratories, facilities and people live. They are located throughout the US and Canada. Like: Highway, houses only everything is a little compressed and perhaps in one or two buildings. Buildings: laboratory, testing ground, residential floors, warehouses and most importantly the building is a tower, like an office building with 59 floors. Usually they are outside civilization or near a small town, city
  • Atom is more technologically advanced but has less finance And resources Than Steele Leaf
-GreenX Association, GreenX Corp:
Australian-Canadian Corporation. But based mainly in the USA.
I don’t know what to write like this: Space X or LexCorp universe Gorebox.
Green X has a subsidiary company: Tech Michael/Michael Introduction
submitted by Beginning_Story1811 to GoreBox_F2Games [link] [comments]


2024.05.16 11:55 zotandbag Coward Howard's Corruption, Incompetence, and Callous

No matter your opinion on what is happening in Israel, what happened today transcends that conflict and shows us the deadly combination of corruption, incompetence, and callous rife in UC Irvine's administration.
At 4:55pm UC Irvine Twitter Tweeted:
Campus update: At approximately 2:30 p.m. a group of several hundred protestors entered the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall on the UC Irvine campus and began surrounding the building
This report that "several hundred protestors entered the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall on the UC Irvine campus" was used as justification for deploying an overwhelming police force. However, as seen in the tweet linked below (including live video footage published by Fox News), when the police entered the lecture hall, they found it empty and clean. There was no evidence of individuals present in the building, much less blockading themselves inside.
https://x.com/KManleySci/status/1790958003979743738
At 10:57 PM, Fraudman Gillman graced us with one of his long-ass letters in which he claimed:
"The protesters orchestrated a swift departure from their encampment. In a coordinated fashion they moved out of the encampment to the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall, where a small group barricaded themselves in, supported by a large group of community members who had gathered for a scheduled rally.
In doing so, he is again attempting to justify the disproportionate deployment of police force that we, as Americans, have deluded ourselves into believing is only characteristic of authoritarian and fascist governments abroad.
Finally, at 11:19 PM, UC Irvine tweeted (in response to the previously mentioned tweet):
* Correction: At approximately 2:30 p.m. several protestors surrounded the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall on the UC Irvine campus.
This verifies that the protesters did not enter the building.
Chomsky wrote "Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the U.S. media." and Coward Howard understands this. By swiftly pushing a false narrative, before the truth is allowed to settle, he has effectively manipulated public perception and steered the narrative to align with his agenda. This tactic, known as "manufacturing consent," ensures that dissenting voices are drowned out and critical thinking is suppressed. The immediate bombardment of misleading information creates a reality where questioning the official story becomes not only difficult but also socially and politically costly.
*Edit the original quote formatting was messed up
submitted by zotandbag to UCI [link] [comments]


2024.05.16 10:51 AnybodyAlert3403 Spotify Premium v8.9.40.509 MOD APK (Final, Unlocked, Amoled)

Spotify Premium v8.9.40.509 MOD APK (Final, Unlocked, Amoled)
https://preview.redd.it/elhrz74e5r0d1.png?width=200&format=png&auto=webp&s=1249d09ec23730327865e0b1b90606f06bfa7cbf
Name Spotify: Music and Podcasts
Publisher Spotify AB
Genre Music & Audio
Size 75 MB
Version 8.9.40.509
MOD Premiun Unlocked
https://modyolo.co.in/spotify/
👆👆👆👆Download Link👆👆👆👆
Also Join us on telegram
https://t.me/official_modyolo
Spotify is almost the most famous online music platform in the world today. It provides almost all music released by all quality singers around the world. Of course, the quality of this platform’s music is absolutely good. Few competitors can match this application in this regard. That’s why the number of people using it is countless. Not to mention that user experience is also emphasized. They are making it to win the hearts of a huge fan base. Almost everyone passionate about music cannot do it without it on their smartphone.

MASSIVE MUSIC LIBRARY

As everyone knows, Spotify has a very large listenership thanks to its diverse music. It has millions of songs in every language worldwide, and the number of users has increased yearly. Furthermore, all genres appear in their rankings. The app also has a strong staff specializing in uploading the latest music.
  • Endless Discovery: This platform contains over 80 million songs for users to enjoy. This gives them endless comfort. The application immediately responds whenever they need a new song to listen to.
  • All Genres Covered: From mainstream pop songs that are hot worldwide to niche indie songs that are less listened to, all exist here. It serves almost all listeners.
  • Constantly Updated: Because the number of listeners is so large, the application must also be agile in creating new enjoyment spaces. Every time there is new music, the app will quickly update it immediately. Never let users down.
  • High-Quality Classics: Old music is also worth exploring here. Users of all ages are catered for. Even a song from 50 years ago can be found, and it is all played in the highest quality.

PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATIONS

The huge amount of music also serves an equally large number of listeners. Therefore, this app also needs to optimize many things to bring the best relaxing experience for listeners. First, it must optimize the music list based on the preferences of many different audiences. The experience personalization formula has been updated regularly, allowing users to freely recommend music that brings the same feeling of listening to music as what they like, that they listen to repeatedly within a certain period.
  • Personalized Mixtape: During a certain period, people will listen to a few songs over and over again. Therefore, Discover Weekly mode is a lifesaver for those wanting to discover new music. This list is only visible to you, as it is personalized for each person.
  • Favorites Meet Fresh Picks: Every day, the list you listen to frequently will be shuffled to create a different listening order. The experience will be different with familiar songs. If you don’t pick new music, you can still relax without getting bored. New songs of the same style will occasionally be added in the middle. If you like it, that’s great.
  • Suggestions You’ll Love: The Made for You hub is the key to this personalization. It will track your music listening habits to provide the best-quality recommendations, including podcasts and albums by artists you’ve never heard of.
  • Smarter Over Time: The more you listen and use this application, the more positive results it will produce. You will never worry about running out of music to listen to again.

SHARE AND COLLABORATE PLAYLISTS

Once you hear a good song, everyone wants to share it for their friends to enjoy. Listening to music without a community of similar interests would be sad, especially for music groups and genres few people listen to. Currently, the app provides them with powerful sharing features to create small communities, enhancing the music-listening experience.
  • See Friends’ Activity: First, users can easily keep track of the music their friends are listening to. They can then share the music they enjoy to enhance the listening experience.
  • Shared Events Playlists: Listeners also collaborate on playlists used on many occasions, such as events, parties, or groups.
  • Share Discovery on Social Media: Furthermore, share what you’re listening to on social networks to expand the influence of your music.
  • Bond Over Music: After enjoying the recommendation function, many have a good experience and get more idols. New artists also have the opportunity to reach their audience.
submitted by AnybodyAlert3403 to Modifiedmods [link] [comments]


2024.05.16 10:41 HughMann334 Tale of Grimm: The Hero... and the Emperor [DO NOT SUGGEST]

Tale of Grimm: The Hero... and the Emperor [DO NOT SUGGEST]
Huff… huff… I’m g-gonna… huff… be late!!
I told you not to be prepared for this day, you dolt!!
Oh, shove a sock in it, Faye!
The magical girl dashed through the capital city as her sprite companion trailed behind her. She lept over buildings, zipped past traffic, and zoomed through marketplaces, desperate to make it on time. She had never been a very punctual person.
Finally, after what seemed like an endless amount of running, the magical girl and her floating companion had finally reached the grand castle of Midgard. While she would’ve taken the opportunity to bask in its glory… she was currently crumpled up in a tired heap on the hallway floor, her sprite sidekick trying to get her up.
Hrrrgghh!! Get… UP! C’mon, you stupid-
hrhrrhrrhhrridwnnagtuphrhrhrhrhr
We… did… NOT come all the way… to the capital… just so I… could carry you around!
Suddenly, the two heard footsteps from down the hall. The girl, now untransformed and in her civilian attire, popped back on her feet, afraid of embarassing herself in front of any great warriors. Instead, she saw a girl the same age as her, her body covered by a hooded, red cloak. The two locked eyes for a moment.
I didn’t know there was someone else my age around here,” they both said in unison.
OMG, jinx!!” The girl dressed in blue tried to make banter, but the dark haired girl in red didn’t respond to her comment. “…So uh, you must be one of the champions, huh?
Yeah. I suppose you’re one of them as well?” The dark haired girl kept a monotone voice, seemingly unenthused by the airhead in front of her.
Uh, yeah? I thought most people knew what I looked like as a civilian by now. Oh well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to transform now…” The red girl raised her eyebrow.
FAYE, LET’S MAKE DREAMS COME TRUE!!
Light enveloped the blue girl’s body as she activated her transformation sequence. Her hair lengthened and styled itself as her clothes changed into a beautiful, frilly gown. A magical weapon formed in her hand as her shoes morphed into her iconic glass slippers. At the end of the sequence, she struck her famous pose.
BY MIDNIGHT’S MOON, I AM… CENDRILLION!!!

Who?
The magical girl and her sprite companion were dumbfounded at the red girl’s lack of knowledge.
C-Cendrillion? Hero of the royal ball? Midgard’s magical girl? No?
Nnnnno. I don’t keep up with the news.
Oh…” The girl’s companion turned to her and whispered in her ear.
I have a bad feeling about this girl…
Look, it’s weird that she doesn’t know me, but that doesn’t mean she’s bad news!” Suddenly, the hooded girl let out a chuckle, a sinister, sharp-toothed grin spreading across her face.
You should listen to your fairy friend…” A dark aura emanated from her, making the magical girl worry, before a large, clawed hand revealed itself from her cloak. The magical girl gulped.
Oh crap…

Elsewhere, a the emperor was preparing. Within his own personal chambers, he had gathered a small audience of guards to witness what he called ‘an important event’. In front of the emperor and his audience, two small men stood. They were armourers, reportedly the best in Midgard, and were requested to build an incredible suit of armour for the king. They stood before a large suit of armour covered with a cloth. The emperor finally spoke.
Reveal the armour to us, great armourers.
As you command,” they said in unison. At once, the duo ripped off the cover, revealing…
Nothing. Absolutely nothing was underneath that cover. The soldiers were confused.
Is this some kind of joke?
Where is the armour?
How dare you make a fool of the king!
But before anyone could raise their voices or weapons any higher, the king stopped them. The king, his face covered in shadow, walked up to the armourers… and right past them, face to face with the “armour”. With tears in his eyes, he spoke.
It’s… beautiful. I-I never thought it could be done… thank you.
Thank you, your majesty. It is an honour to have our life’s greatest work be worn by the emperor of Midgard himself.” The guards looked on in befuddlement.
Er… sir, what are you talking about…?” The emperor wiped away his tears, turning to his men.
Right, I shouldn’t have expected you to be so excited. After all…” A manic grin spread across his face.
Only the enlightened are worthy of witnessing its greatness!
Cinderella, the alter ego of Cendrillion, is the final champion of Midgard! Thank you for choosing Midgard's fighters, we'll see how Avalon fares soon enough!
submitted by HughMann334 to ShuumatsuNoValkyrie [link] [comments]


2024.05.16 09:22 ShamPig1 I think I've made a mistake with my maiden built!

Hi all, small bit of background.
Fairly computer illiterate so decided to build a gaming PC for the learning exercise as well to have a new toy at the end of it, not a big gamer but enjoy strategy games. Seeing Manor Lords teasers last year peaked my interest.
So last August I started to read up and started buying components with the idea of having it ready by winter this year (Southern Hemisphere)
I have got everything together and the but of knowledge I did pick up has made me realise I have fallen into some of the traps such as not spending big on the GPU and overspending on others that were cheaper, with the attitude of "Ah it's only an extra few bucks for 4 TB SSD" - actual quote.
Long story longer, my list is:
CPU - i5 13600k GPU - ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 Dial MB - MSI PRO Z790-P WiFi DDR4 PS - Thermaltake GF A3 850W SSD -MSI Spatium M461 RAM - CORSAIR Vengeance DDR5 32GB CF - DeepCool AK620
Pretty sure the MB supports DDR 5 and I have a case also.
The GPU is the only thing I can basically return as I only purchased it last week. Should I go for a 4070 Ti or will it be okay?
Also if someone could suggest some good YouTube channels for what one needs to do when you have it built and turn it on, that's the bit I'm worried about.
Summary, I've drip fed my purchases and made a errors along the way or maybe everything will be okay? I'll probably mostly be playing older games but who knows. Would love to try racing games in time.
Any tips or pointers appreciated.
submitted by ShamPig1 to buildapc [link] [comments]


2024.05.16 09:00 Iceicedaddy [WTS] Platinum, Gold, Palladium Big & Small

Album / Proof
For your consideration an assortment of premium wares. Only the finest metals on the market. There's gold & silver big and small, even one with all of the above! Shiny things in exchange for coin of the realm, or crypto #debanked.
Details: Located in Socal area, feedback available on other seller platforms; will verify IRL ID. Like something; PM me. Prices in USD accurate for 48 hrs. Item available until [SOLD]. May meet in person. Ask for photos/information. Prices compared to sold listings, do let me know if you have better information.
Shipping: Shipping and insurance at buyers cost, I will will get you a quote for UPS or USPS through Pirateship. First class mail and padded flat rate envelope would be most inexpensive $5-$10. One business day for shipping, I will get your package out as soon as possible contingent on payment method used. I assume responsibility for item until handed to shipper. Shipping options arrangements dependent on feedback. Tracking only provided for conflict resolution or at delivery; do message me if you'd like a shipping update.
Payment: (No notes / or comments) Zelle, Paypal FF, Wire, ACH, Check, Money Order, Cashiers Check, Crypto from CEX. Open to using middleman at buyers expense.
submitted by Iceicedaddy to Pmsforsale [link] [comments]


2024.05.16 08:37 baller_78 I think something is attached to my family.

I am a 19 yr old female and I have always had a fear of the dark. It’s ridiculous i know but when the lights are off the mind wanders. And mine often makes me see things that freak me out. When i was younger it was small things like seeing a face on a chair, and when the lights turned on it was just a pile of clothes. Over active imagination, i know. But we recently moved out of an old house and there a lot of things happened. My first time ever experiencing sleep paralysis when i was 14. I was laying in bed and i was at the end of the hall. We all know how sleep paralysis works but as i couldn’t move my body, my eyes wandered, and in the side of my view, i thought i saw someone in my closet. I could hear creaking and noises but it broke when i blinked. That was the first time i’ve ever felt that true fear of the super natural.
Around a year ago, we moved into a new house. A cute place but the neighborhood is terrifying. In the past year there were 3 murders just blocks from my home. It’s not a good area. Whole living in this house, I’ve been things move from my peripheral vision and at night i hear foot steps in my room, when i know everyone is asleep and no one else sleeps in here with me. I’ll hear whispers in my ear that will cause me to wake up and i have been experiencing nightmares that wake me up in a sweat. Nightmares are common for me but these ones have become more gruesome.
The other day I was talking to my mother about my feelings of this house and she said she also experienced something. She had woken up in the middle of the night to use the restroom. when she got out of bed, she said and i quote, “A tall black figure hovering over my father.” She said she turned on her lamp and it was immediately gone. When she told me this the lights above the kitchen bar flickered. It was chilling but we shrugged it off.
There are also some times when i feel like i see someone looking like a member in my family and I’ll follow calling their name but when i turn the corner they are gone.
Is this just my imagination? Please give input on what I should do.
submitted by baller_78 to Ghoststories [link] [comments]


2024.05.16 08:36 SellaPipeYO Best Portable Speaker for SP404 Use On the Go

Hey SP users who make beats/rap/sing on the go, what are your portable speaker recommendations? I would like something that is small enough to put in a backpack but that gets loud enough to use outdoors, has good quality sound with sufficient bass, and most importantly has no (or negligible) latency via line in connection so that finger drumming and rapping are not drastically affected.
I have tried a few speakers including the Minirig 4, Sony SRS-XB43, and OB-4, and for varying reasons they all do not suit me. I want to hear from people who actually use a speaker on the go (outside, in the park, busking, etc.) and stand by their experience. Let’s say that budget is under $600.
Thanks for any input!
submitted by SellaPipeYO to SP404 [link] [comments]


2024.05.16 08:23 johnruby Meursault - Character Speculation & Analysis (based on the source literature)

Meursault - Character Speculation & Analysis (based on the source literature)
I feel embarrassed that I've been playing Limbus Company for 2~ weeks and only now I found that he's based on Albert Camus' L'Etranger, one of my favorite novels of all time (I'm native Taiwanese and more familiar with the Chinese translation, therefore I forgot how to spell Meursault in English/French smh).
I know LCB Sinners are only loosely based on the source literature, but I really like both Meursault's characters in the game and in the source, and through this post I want to provide my preliminary speculations of Meursault's in-game story from a more source material oriented perspective.
____

Plot Summary

If you're interested in the novel's plot, here's a previous post summarizing the general storyline. But in short, the novel is entirely narrated from the main character Meursault's perspective, who only speaks in an extremely descriptive and indifferent manner (just like LCB Meursault). His mother passed away at the begining of the story and he couldn't even confidently specify the date of her mother's death, hence the world-famous opening line "Mom died today. Or perhaps yesterday, I do not know."
Later in the story, under the overwhelming heat from the sun, Meursault ── quite inexplainably ── shot an Arab to death on the beach with a revolver, and got incarcerated for a year prior to trial. His seemingly indifferent and atheistic attitude towards his crime and defense infuriated the prosecutor, and ended up causing him to be sentenced to death. Before execution, a chaplain visited his cell and asked him to abandon atheism and apathy, to which Meursault furiously refuted that people are all condemned to die one day, so nothing ultimately matters, which is the first time (iirc) Meursault displays any significant amount of human emotion. The novel ends with Meursault alone in his cell, contemplating his imminent death and opening his heart "to the benign indifference of the universe".
visibly confused
So, that's the gist of the novel. "What a weird and somewhat perplexing story" you might say. It's natural for you to want to follow up with the question: "What is the story truly about?"
____

Philosophical Context

L'Etranger is a very philosophy-oriented story, which means it's more intended to assert a philosophical standpoint or raise a philosophical question rather than trying to be intriguing, entertaining, or straightforward. I'd say Meursault's character is key to understand the novel. He seems weird because the author is not trying to make him realistic or relatable (which doesn't mean he's impossible to relate to, though; I find myself often agreeing with his reasoning throughout the story). He is basically a tool or device, embodying and presenting Camus' absurdism philosophy.
So, what is absurdism? It's a school of thought orignated from existentialism. Existentialism is a broad term used to describe various philosophies that explore the issues caused by human's existence in the universe, such as meaning, purpose, value, free will, and the ramifications of their absence, while absurdism is more laser focusing on the issues dervied from "absurd".
"Absurd" refers to the uncomfortable situation in which humans try to find (often futilely) meaning in a meaningless world, reason with an irrational world, plead against an indifferent word, etc. Due to the conflicting nature of the relationship between humans and the external world, absurdism claims that the entirety of human existence is "absurd" ── It makes no sense and feels hopeless and paralyzing. Absurdism is essentially people trying to figure out how to deal with such an awkward situation. At one point, Camus even seriously discussed if suicide is a legitimate solution for the absurdity of human life (tldr: it's NOT. Don't try it at home.) in his othoer book Le Mythe de Sisyphe, and Sysyphis futilely rolling a boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down in eternilty subsequently becomes the most well-known symbol for absurdism.
sorry for the lengthy explanations
Back to Meursault. He is basically a thought experiment by Camus, attempting to answer the question: "What if a person is fully aware of the absurdity of human existence? What kind of person he/she will become?" The result is a man who seems apathetic towards human emotion and societal rules, who feels like a stranger (hence the title) in the world. However, deep down he is brutally honest to both himself and others, is perceptive and even somewhat passionate about nature, and is constantly suffering from his acute awareness of absurdity, but will never cover up or trade away this suffering with a lie.
It's worth noting that, from Camus' perspective, Meursault is not the only possible result of a man directly staring into the abyss of absurdity. In his other fantastic work Caligula (minor spoiler ahead!), the main character Caligula is fully committed to fighting aganist the absurdity, and ends up spiraling into madness. Meursault is way more passive and submissive than Caligula, but the starting points of their reasoning are surprisingly similiar: the conlict between humans and the inhuman universe is irreconcilable, and the most important thing in our life is how to continue living happily and fulfilling despite the paradoxical nature of human existence. Also btw, both stories start with (or are triggered by) the death of a close family member: Meursault's mother, and Caligula's sister and lover.
If you're interested in further exploring the concept of absurdity, I'd highly recommend giving Jean-Paul Satre's novel La Nausée a read. This existentialist philosophical novel also presents its main character more as a presentation device than a conventionally engaging protagonist. It's bascially the main character's diary and random thoughts and can hardly be described as a well-structured story. But that's the point: humans crave to be a story character in a world deprived of any storyline. Every time the main character is struck by the feeling of absurdity, he often feels irresistible nausea (hence the title).
Chains of Others
Interestingly, Satre's philosophy may also be relevant in terms of in-game Meursault. Meursault's basic EGO is called "Chains of Others", and its passive is called "Refusal to Judge", which is likely a reference to Satre's world-famous quote from his play Huis clos: "Hell is other people." To be clear, Satre is not saying that other people are always adversaries or hellish. Instead he meant that people become frozen after death, unable any longer to fend off other people's interpretation and judgement. In life, we can still do something to manage the impression we make; but in death, we're left entombed in other people's memories and perceptions. This may imply that Meursault feels powerless against the gaze and judgements of others, which could be his main obstacle to overcome during his future Canto before moving forward.
____

Speculations

So, that's all the literary context I'd like to provide here. What can we speculate about in-game Meursault from these source materials?
Tbh, I don't think PM will incorporate many philosophical elements into Meursault's backstory, becasue it'd be difficult to make him engaging and accessible to a broader audience. Here's the list of speculations I made based on (very loosely) the source literature mentioned above:
  1. Despite the indifferent and monotonous manner, Meursault probably craves (or used to crave) for purpose, for serving a higher and meaningful cause. This could be the reason why he initially joined N Corp, to find meaning via the religious fanatism.
  2. In his promo trailer, Meursault said "Today, I killed mother. Or maybe it was yesterday." which is quite different from the original quote "Today mother died. Or maybe it was yesterday." Assuming Meursault indeed intentionally kiiled his mother, it could be because his mother disobeyed the religious rules set by N Corp or defied their authority, or something horrible happened to his mother and he had no choice but to end her life (e.g. his mother turned into a Distortion. He did mention he's dealt with Distortions in the past). His cold description of his mother's death could be due to his apathy or nihilist worldview in general, or due to him strictly following N Corp's rules and trying to suppress his normal human emotions.
  3. Meursault mentioned (in Intervallo III) that his mom used to reprimand him the same way Outis does. His mom could've been very strict in raising Meursault, which may contribute to Meursault's monotonous demeanor. Their relationship could've been quite intense before she was killed by Meursault. This may also contribute to Meursault's reticency (children often criticized tend to become less likely to speak up) and efficiency (children often punished tend to do things more efficiently in self-preservation), both traits are more prominent than in-novel Meursault.
  4. In his promo trailer, Meursault said "They are difficult to understand... Nevermind. That was a pointless anecdote. It was a waste of my energy." It seems that he's genuinely perplexed and has difficulty understanding normal human emotion. This line gives me a strong neurodivergent vibe. Therefore I think in-game Meursault genuinely doesn't (fully) understand how human emotion works, while in-novel Meursault intentionally chooses to be apathetic due to his philosophical stance.
  5. In his promo trailer and in the picture of "Chains of Others", it seems that Meursault was on trial in front of a crowd. It could be a reference to the trial scene in the novel. I think in-game Meursault was being tried for his murder (potentially of his mother), similar to in-novel Meursault being tried for murdering the Arab. Her mother could be an important figure within N Corp or the community, hence the dramatic reactions from the crowd.
  6. I think Meursault was genuinely feeling pain and all sorts of negative emotions during the trial. The EGO "Chains of Others" and the passive "Refusal to Judge" may imply that deep down he's trying hard to resist the negative judgement by others or by the crowd shouting in the court, or by his mom, or by his other comrades in the past. But his neurodivergent personality prevented him from wailing or shouting back or seeking help in a conventional manner. Instead, he can only describe the pain in a very objective and detached monologue: "Questions shaped from various emotions smothered my breath slowly."
  7. At the end of his promo trailer, Meursault said "... the sunlight was just overwhelming, that's all.", which is a reference to the novel scene in which Meursault killed an Arab on the beach and attributed such murder to the sweltering sunlight (which I believe is symbolizing the absurdity). I think maybe in-game Meursault killed his mother under a similar circumstance (in an outdoor sunlit environment), but for a different reason. This line could be that he's merely tired of the roaring crowd, and instead of wasting his breath explaining his motivation, he used this random sunlight as an excuse instead. Tbh, I'm not sure what's the meaning behind the "sun" or "sunlight" in terms of Meursault's in-game story. It seems very important to him, but there're too few pieces for me to speculate further.
Meursault's in-game icon
____
Overall, I feel that in-game Meursault has less autonomy than the novel version, and was definitely way more traumatized by certain undisclosed events in his past (which seems like the common trait of all Sinners). But both of their worldviews in general could be similar. They both seem aware of the dread of the inescapable silence and indiffernece inherent in the outside universe. But in-novel Meursault had already disenchanted all the illusions of meaning at the begining of the novel, while in-game Meursault seems to still be struggling to find something to grasp onto, to anchor his purposeless and directionless life.
____
Thank you for the patience reading this long post!
Lastly, I'm no expert in philosophy or literature in general. I'm also very new to the PM universe and unfamiliar with previous games and stories. So if any of the above is laughably misguided for you, feel free to corret me.
https://preview.redd.it/xq7qhvo9nr0d1.png?width=461&format=png&auto=webp&s=003274b8feabf19d4697bd06d3acd255e92692df
submitted by johnruby to limbuscompany [link] [comments]


2024.05.16 08:21 Yurii_S_Kh How the Mercy of God, Not the Mongolian Mountains, Helped a Couple Become Parents After Twenty Years of Childless Marriage

How the Mercy of God, Not the Mongolian Mountains, Helped a Couple Become Parents After Twenty Years of Childless Marriage
https://preview.redd.it/csbwskojeq0d1.png?width=400&format=png&auto=webp&s=ce0f712f424b4ca1fa27a330b8963ae615654808
It is not uncommon for people to come to the faith through sorrow or joy. I would like to share with readers a vivid story from my childhood, which made a strong impression on me and afterwards helped me come to the faith, get baptized and become a church-goer.
Our family was on a business trip to Mongolia in the 1980s. It was in the small town of Erdenet. We had a lot of friends there who we would visit regularly.
Among my parents’ acquaintances there was a married couple, both pediatricians—Mikhail and Lyudmila. They were a beautiful and interesting couple, but childless.
One day Mikhail and Lyudmila invited some close friends to their home; they said they would reveal a secret to all of them… Everyone was intrigued. They imagined various things, but no one hit the nail on the head.
Mikhail, an adult man who went in for sports, laughed and cried like a child. He now stood up, now sat down while sharing the secret with us:
“Lyudmila and I have been married for over twenty years now. We got married in our first year at university. We have always dreamed of a big, closely-knit family, with both daughters and sons, with a lot of noise and fun at home. We so wanted to hear children's laughter! But the doctors diagnosed infertility. We went to various sanitariums, underwent mud therapy and all kinds of other procedures. We saw the most famous doctors, and my wife courageously did various tests, some of which were painful—but it was all in vain.
“Three years ago we moved to Mongolia. Before that, there had been business trips to Latin America and Africa. And now Lyuda1 is in her first trimester. We didn’t tell anyone earlier because we couldn't believe it and were afraid it was a mistake. The first months of pregnancy are very sensitive and complicated. The gynecologist said that if we managed to get through the first three months, then we wouldn't have to worry anymore.”
Silence began to reign after such a speech. Even we, the children, stopped joking and laughing, somehow feeling the importance of what had been said, intuitively realizing that we had come into contact with a miracle.
After a few minutes the hospitable hosts were bombarded with questions.
Lyudmila was shining with happiness:
“I had never thought that I, a physician and the author of several scientific articles, would utter the word ‘miracle’. But I can't call it otherwise! I have a grandmother who is a long-liver. Twenty years ago she said that she would pray for me in front of an icon of the Most Holy Mother of God. She believed in the mercy of the Lord and His Most Pure Mother. I showed understanding, thinking that she was an elderly woman and these were remnants of the past…
“But what has happened to us demonstrates that my religious grandmother was right: the mercy and love of the Lord are always with us. So many years of treatment and hope... Now we are both almost forty years old, and in six months we will become the happiest mother and father.”
Everyone congratulated the couple, saying kind and beautiful words. Then the guests tried to “figure out” what exactly had helped Lyudmila get pregnant. They suggested many different explanations: One of them assumed that a change of climate had had a wholesome effect on the woman's body, another one supposed that the presence of mountains and a slightly high radioactivity level had played a role, while others believed that the treatment, albeit belatedly, had borne fruit at last.
Lyudmila put a crystal glass of homemade fruit drink on the table and said seriously:
“I see only one explanation: It’s neither the mountains, nor the climate, nor the Gobi Desert. It’s a miracle. My grandmother turned out to be much smarter than me. She always said that we would have a child, because the Lord and His Most Pure Mother are merciful. But until recently I stubbornly believed that since the doctors had diagnosed infertility, no prayers could help. Foolishly, I equated my grandmother’s earnest prayers with the spells of various psychics who ‘cure’ childlessness with a decoction of a cat’s tail or by sprinkling ashes on the bed! As soon as my pregnancy was confirmed, we immediately called my grandmother. I cried with joy and then, of course, I apologized for being skeptical about her words about God and faith. I thanked her.
“But, nevertheless, my Komsomol upbringing affected me. At the end of the conversation, I asked my grandmother why the Lord had sent us a baby only twenty years later, if she had started praying earlier. My wise grandmother replied that I would understand it myself. Now I know that getting ready to become a mother at my age (over thirty-five), when all attempts to cure infertility did not help; when, according to all biological laws, the chances of getting pregnant even for a very healthy woman decline, is a miracle of God. This is the power and mercy of the Lord. I recall how my grandmother once told me a chapter from the Gospel about how the elderly holy Prophet Zachariah and the holy Righteous Elizabeth became the parents of the holy Prophet John the Baptist, and how the Archangel Gabriel announced the Good News to the Virgin Mary… Before confirming my pregnancy, the doctors had ruled out uterine fibroids and cancer, re-examining everything and repeating tests many times, and only then did they tell me the good news: ‘Believe it or not, but marvel—you will be a mother.’ When I asked them how it was possible, they smiled and said that such a phenomenon could only be called a miracle, as they could not explain it from a scientific point of view.”
The whole town of Erdenet followed the events in their family. Everyone offered their help, gave children’s clothes and toys. Lyudmila’s husband walked with her before going to bed, bought groceries himself and cooked only healthy food intended for expectant mothers.
After a while, the couple went to Moscow for the birth. In due time, a beautiful, healthy boy was born.
Later, the happy parents sent us a long letter: after a month and a half, the baby was baptized with the name Zakhary (Zachariah).
At that time, the authorities began to return monasteries and churches to the Russian Orthodox Church, and many people began to go to church for confession and Communion. Mikhail and Lyudmila converted to the faith as well.
Alexandra Gripas
submitted by Yurii_S_Kh to SophiaWisdomOfGod [link] [comments]


2024.05.16 08:18 haygurlhay123 “This Time, I Will Never Let You Go”: Cloud’s Mission and the Hidden Purpose of the Remake Trilogy - Literary and Musical Analysis of FFVII - Part 2

(continuation of part 1)

III. Searching for Aerith Beyond FFVII

There were absolutely no answers in Remake or OG (at this point in my research, Rebirth wasn’t released yet), no matter how much I looked; nothing at all hinted at how Cloud could’ve obtained the memories of OG that emerge in Remake as MOTFs. I knew I had to look elsewhere to search for more clues, so I decided to check every piece of media ever released by SE with a mention of Cloud or Aerith in it, digging for hints in the compilation and beyond.
And boy, did I find them.
III. a) Core Worlds and Suspension Worlds
There are a couple of general FF rules that we need to establish before going forward.
It’s important to note that there are multiple realms in which the FF stories take place, each with a different name, history and society. This ensures that all FF stories occur separately, never intercepting or interacting— though they do have creatures like moogles and chocobos in common, as well as concepts like airships, gil, magic and some form of crystal. For simplicity, I will refer to these separate worlds in which the numbered FF games (FFI, FFII, FFIII, etc) occur as “core worlds”.
Characters from different core worlds may appear together in non-numbered FF games, the events of which have no impact on the core world at all: it seems that sometime after a FF character has reached the end of their core world’s plot-line, they may somehow be summoned to far-removed realms where they will face new adventures. I call these far-removed realms “suspension worlds”. One example of a FF game that takes place in a suspension world is Dissidia Final Fantasy, wherein characters from multiple core worlds unite to accomplish a mission as a team.
III. b) Final Fantasy Tactics
First on our list of non-compilation SE games to explore is 1997’s Final Fantasy Tactics (FFT), a game whose plot takes place in the suspension world of Ivalice. Let’s plot out the relevant events, and then analyze!
III. b) i. Fact-Finding
The main character of FFT, Ramza, encounters a brunette flower peddler with Aerith’s iconic, gravity-defying bangs:
\"Aeris\" in FFT's Ivalice
If you choose to buy a flower from her, she express her relief: apparently, business isn’t going well because no one is interested in flowers. The girl wistfully dreams aloud:
“When is my knight in shining armor going to take me away from here...?”
Later, Ramza and his companions encounter a mysterious machine that can summon people from across universes. The machine is activated, and a rather rude young man with spiky blonde hair appears. Cloud claims he used to be in SOLDIER, and says the last thing he remembers is “getting stuck in the current”. He looks to be disoriented and lost, and suffers from piercing headaches. Mere moments after being summoned to Ivalice, Cloud rambles:
“What’s this? My fingers are tingling… My eyes… they’re burning… Stop… stop it [Se]phiroth…”
He dashes out of the room, but not without announcing:
“I must go… must go to that place…”
Outside, Cloud encounters the brunette flower girl Ramza met earlier. She offers Cloud a flower, but he only stares at her wordlessly:
“Flower girl: Buy a flower? Only 1 gil.
Cloud: …
Flower girl: Something wrong? Do I resemble someone?”
Cloud: No… it’s nothing.”
As soon as Cloud leaves, a gang of ruffians surround the flower girl and start harassing her, demanding payment that’s apparently overdue. One of them finally calls her by her name: “Aeris”. He grabs her, insinuating that he might sexually assault her in lieu of payment. Aeris is not strong enough to push him away. That’s when Cloud returns:
“Cloud: Get your hand off her!
Thug: What did you say!?
Cloud: Didn't you hear me? Get your dirty hand off her!
[…]
Cloud, to Aeris: Go… now.”
Aeris heeds Cloud’s advice, fleeing the scene before a fight between Cloud and the thug can break out. After Cloud scares the ruffians off with the help of Ramza and his companions, he speaks once more:
“I lost… something very important… Ever since, I’ve been lost […]. What should I do? What about this pain [?] Must go… to the Promised Land.”
III. b) ii. Fact Analysis
There’s a lot to unpack here, all of which you probably clocked in your head upon reading, but let’s put it down in writing.
While FFT Cloud’s memory is far from perfect, the Aeris he encounters in Ivalice doesn’t recognize him at all. FFVII Ultimania Omega addresses this question without answering it:
“[The flower seller’s] name is Aeris, and she has the same appearance and tone of voice as the Aeris of FFVII. However, when she comes across Cloud, she does not recognize him. Could she really be the same Aerith who appears in FFVII but with memory loss, or is she a completely different character?” (“#4 Proof of Omega”, “FFVII in Other Games”, “Final Fantasy Tactics”, page 560).
Regardless of her unknown identity and inability to recognize Cloud, FFT Aeris’ fantasy of a “knight in shining armor” is quite reminiscent of the flower girl/bodyguard dynamic we’ve come to know and love. Cloud’s armor doesn’t shine, but in my opinion, if you’re looking for the dystopian, corporatocratic equivalent of a knight, you can’t get much closer than a supposed-former-SOLDIER-turned-bodyguard. Additionally, despite his rude and cold attitude toward Ramza’s gang, the urgency with which Cloud swoops in to save the flower girl from the ruffians betrays a softer, warmer side to him: the flower girl/bodyguard dynamic strikes again!
FFT Cloud’s dialogue borrows two lines from the speech OG Cloud makes as Aerith lies dead in his arms (disk 1, chapter 28): “My fingers are tingling. My mouth is dry. My eyes are burning!” and “What are we supposed to do? What about my pain?” You might’ve noticed that this glimpse of grief Cloud experiences in FFT bears a resemblance to the fourth MOTF 4 experienced by Remake Cloud (see section “II. a)”). Could it be that FFT Cloud and Remake Cloud have something in common?
Shortly after being summoned to Ivalice, FFT Cloud declares that he must go to “that place”, a mysterious line that is later elucidated when he tells Ramza that he must go to the Promised Land and find the “very important” thing he’s lost. The Promised Land is the Cetra culture’s afterlife, meaning FFT Cloud is looking for someone who’s died, someone “very important” to him. OG suggests this is none other than Aerith:
“Cait Sith, reading Cloud’s fortune: You will find [what] you pursue. However, you will lose the most precious thing” (disk 1, chapter 16, English translation by Kotaku’s “Let’s Mosey: A Slow Translation of Final Fantasy Seven: Part Eight” by Tim Rogers, 9:42-9:52).
&
“Cloud, after seeing Aerith’s hand reach for him through the Lifestream: … I think I'm beginning to understand.
Tifa: What?
Cloud: An answer from the Planet… the Promised Land... I think I can meet her... there” (disk 3, chapter 3).
Finally, let’s try to understand where on the OG timeline Cloud was summoned to this suspension world from and what he remembers. His comment about getting stuck in a current has to be about the Lifestream; apparently, on top of its atemporal nature, it can act as a conduit to other worlds. One only enters the Lifestream if they’ve somehow fallen into the core of the planet or once they’ve passed away and returned to the planet. Both scenarios merit consideration.
On the one hand, it’s possible that Cloud was summoned to Ivalice after he and Tifa fall into the core of the planet: this point in the FFVII OG timeline occurs after Aerith’s death and shortly before Cloud finds out he was never SOLDIER, which matches the gaps in FFT Cloud’s memory quite well. However, this scenario does not account for the vagueness with which FFT Cloud remembers Aerith and her death. Most importantly, Cloud’s realization that he can find Aerith in the Promised Land occurs much later in the game (FFVII OG, disk 3, chapter 3) than when he falls into the Lifestream with Tifa (FFVII OG, disk 2, chapter 8).
On the other hand, FFT Cloud’s vague yet persistent memories of Aerith suggest that he’s been summoned to Ivalice after his eventual death post-OG, but also that he’s lost quite a large portion of his memories. His incomplete memory loss is likely the result of Cloud’s individuality’s erosion by the Lifestream after death, which we discussed in section “II. a) ii.”. We can therefore surmise that by the time he is summoned to Ivalice from the Lifestream, Cloud has been dead for long enough that the Lifestream eroded a large portion of the memories of his lifetime. This post-death scenario is likelier than the first. The memory of Cloud’s realization that he was never SOLDIER must be gone, which explains why he claims otherwise upon being summoned to Ivalice. Contrastingly, vestiges of Cloud’s OG memories of Aerith cling to his soul, even after others have been wiped clean. Could this be a consequence of their soulmate bond? Could the strength of Cloud’s love and grief for Aerith have made his memories of her stronger and more difficult for the Lifestream to erode? Could it be both?
One thing is clear: Aerith is of fundamental importance to Cloud, even when he can’t quite remember her. In fact, the only other character he remembers and/or mentions in FFT is Sephiroth. It does make sense that the memories of those who have marked one’s soul forevermore would be the most difficult for the Lifestream to erode.
III. c) Dissidia Final Fantasy
The next stop on our travels through suspension worlds is 2008’s Dissidia Final Fantasy! Now strap in, because here’s where things get really serious.
III. c) i. Fact Finding
In the suspension world of Dissidia Final Fantasy (DFF), the goddess of harmony Cosmos and the god of discord Chaos are engaged in a never-ending cycle of conflict. Both deities need warriors to fight on their behalf, so they recruit core world characters into their respective teams by summoning them to DFF. Some of these summoned characters are FFIV’s Cecil, FFVI’s Terra, FFVII’s Sephiroth, FFX’s Tidus, and of course, FFVII’s Cloud. The warriors find themselves in the suspension world of DFF with no memories of their core worlds’ plotlines. However, as the DFF adventure progresses, they are able to recover pieces of their memories here and there. It isn’t clear how much they come to remember. Ultimately, the warriors hope to return home to their core worlds by fighting in this war and seeing to its end.
Cloud is summoned to DFF as a warrior on the side of Chaos, who seeks to destroy all existence. Sephiroth is also on Chaos’ side, meaning the two are teammates despite being enemies in their core world of FFVII. It just so happens that Tifa is a summoned warrior in DFF too, though she’s fighting on Cosmos’ side. Intrigued by her vague familiarity, Sephiroth hypothesizes that killing Tifa will bring back his memories of OG’s plot line: before long, the masamune wielder finds Tifa alone and corners her into a one-on-one fight. Thankfully, Cloud swoops in and saves her before Sephiroth can do any harm. Tifa is thankful for Cloud’s help, though confused that Cloud would elect to assist her and turn against a fellow warrior of Chaos; she doesn’t remember what Sephiroth and Cloud mean to each other in OG. In fact, Tifa doesn’t even remember Cloud’s name or that they share a core world, though Cloud feels somewhat familiar to her. For his part, Cloud at least remembers that Tifa is someone he cares about from his core world. As Tifa thanks Cloud for saving her from Sephiroth, something she says elicits an odd reaction from the warrior of Chaos:
“Tifa: The way you showed up and fought that guy off. It was a pretty cool thing to watch. You were like a hero, charging in to save the girl.
Cloud gasps at her words. She doesn’t notice” (Dissidia 012: Treachery of the Gods, report 5: “Unexpected Fulfillment 2”).
On another note, Cloud knows he will have to fight Tifa once the Cosmos-Chaos conflict comes to a head, as they are on opposing teams. He thinks to himself:
“Once [her] memories return, [she]’ll lose the will to fight just like I have. So... Before that can happen, I have to act...” (Dissidia 012: Treachery of the Gods, report 5: “Unexpected Fulfillment 2”).
In order to end the cycle of the conflict and to avoid fighting Tifa, Cloud decides to try and defeat Chaos himself. Predictably, Cloud is no match for the deity. As he dies, Cloud pleads the following to the goddess Cosmos:
“Cosmos, goddess of harmony. If you can hear me, listen to my plea. I beg you. Save her. Save my friend… Tifa.”
Cosmos hears him and responds immediately:
“Cosmos: An end to this conflict, and a life spared? This is your heart's desire? If your will remains unchanged, I shall bring you here when the battle draws to a close. Cloud. My chosen" (Dissidia 0.13: Treachery of the Gods, report 7: “Unexpected Fulfillment 3”).
Cloud’s wish is granted by Cosmos: the first phase of the conflict ends without Tifa getting hurt, and she is sent away from the suspension world of DFF before the second phase begins. Cloud is saved from death, and Cosmos enlists him into her team of warriors for phase two: this time, Cloud is fighting on the good side.
Now we enter phase two of the war. Cosmos tells her team of ten core world warriors that in order to save the world from Chaos’ destruction, they must collect what she describes as crystals containing the power to persist through darkness. I call these the “DFF crystals”. There are ten DFF crystals in total: one for every warrior in Cosmos’ group to find. To obtain their crystal, each hero must overcome a trial that will confront them with whatever personal struggle they faced in their core world; if they prove themselves worthy, their DFF crystal will appear to them. On one hand, some warriors’ DFF crystals simply take the form of the crystals found in their core world. For example, Onion Knight’s DFF crystal looks to be nothing more than one of FFIII’s elemental crystals, which hold little to no personal significance to him. On the other hand, some warriors’ DFF crystals symbolize something more personal to their respective warriors. For instance, Cecil’s DFF crystal looks to be one of FFIV’s dark crystals, which specifically represent the dichotomy of light and darkness he struggles with in his core world’s plot line. Cosmos describes the quest for the DFF crystals as follows:
“Cosmos: The crystals embody the strength to face despair. With ten gathered, there is hope yet to save the world. The path to your crystal will be perilous... and different for each and every one of you. But you must believe in and follow your own path. Even if you know not where that path leads" (Dissidia 013: Light to All, prologue: “A Final Hope”).
From this exposition, simply keep in mind that: Cloud must find his crystal by overcoming a personal trial, and his crystal may have the appearance of an object in OG that’s important to him.
Once the team is debriefed on their mission, Cloud remains reticent to fight; he doesn’t much like the mysterious nature of this conflict. Not knowing exactly what they’re all fighting for is clearly bothersome to the swordsman, and the idea of thoughtlessly engaging in battles leaves a bad taste in his mouth. Fellow warrior Firion understands that without a reason to fight, Cloud’s heart just isn’t in it. He imparts upon Cloud that he must have a dream he’s fighting to protect, something he wants to see come true, to motivate him to stop Chaos from destroying all existence. Unfortunately, Cloud doesn’t have a dream to preserve, or can’t find one for himself:
“Cloud: I've looked, but I'm still empty-handed. And without a dream, what do you suppose I should do? […] Maybe what I'm looking for... isn't here” (Dissidia 0.13: Light to All, chapter 1: “Beyond Doubt”, “Gateway of Good and Evil”).
Another fellow warrior, Cecil, expresses worry for Cloud, whose response evokes the main theme of FFVII OG:
“Cecil: Everyone's worried, Cloud. But... Do you shoulder a larger concern?
Cloud: Concern... Maybe a sense of loss" (Dissidia 0.13: Light to All, chapter 1: “Beyond Doubt”, “Beyond the Continent”).
Whatever Cloud is looking for “isn’t [there]”, and he feels “a sense of loss”: Cloud’s motivating dream has been lost to him. This is later reasserted in a conversation with Terra, another warrior of Cosmos:
“Terra: And you, Cloud... What's your dream?
Cloud: I've lost mine" (Dissidia 0.13: Light to All, chapter 3: “The Chosen Battle”, “Gateway of True Intent”).
Later, Cloud encounters and fights Sephiroth, who is still a part of Chaos’ team. Sephiroth is defeated, but not before he’s taunted Cloud with his habitual puppet talk. However, Cloud remains strong and refutes Sephiroth’s manipulation, asserting that only he can determine his own path. This must’ve been Cloud’s personal trial, because his crystal appears at that very moment: it is a small, light green orb that looks like materia from his core world. Having pocketed his crystal, Cloud decides he must find his own reason to fight. Interestingly, his search is depicted as intertwined with Fate:
“Cloud: Even if I have my doubts... I have to find my own answer […] Until then, I'll keep fighting.
Narration: The warrior has vowed to keep fighting— and keep fighting he will […]. Etched in destiny, his quest for answers continues on” (Dissidia 0.13: Light to All, chapter 1: “Beyond Doubt”, “Gulg Gateway”).
Later, the nemeses meet again in a segment called “Recurring Tragedy”. Their interactions here are particularly interesting. Sephiroth speaks of making Cloud suffer through despair and pain as though referencing their history together:
"Sephiroth: This disease called hope is eating you alive. The world of suffering was born out of such half-baked ideals.
Cloud: If that's the case, I have to endure the suffering. There's no moving on if I run from it.
Sephiroth: If that is what you wish for, you shall drown in the pain. I'll lead you to true despair. [My] shadow is burned into your heart. We'll meet again, Cloud. I'll keep coming back— as long as you are who you are."
Sephiroth disappears. Cloud looks out into the distance before the scene ends.
“Cloud: No thanks. The one I really want to meet is…” (Dissidia 013: Light to All, epilogue: “Conclusion of a Cycle”, “Recurring Tragedy”).
This final line suggests Cloud has finally found a reason to fight: he wants to meet someone unspecified.
Finally, after the war has ended, we arrive at the final cutscene of DFF. I will let you read the full script, with notes added by me in bold behind the spoiler censors. Please do not read my notes if you do not wish to encounter spoilers for FFI, FFII, FFIII, FFIV, FFV, FFVI, FFVIII, FFIX or FFX:
“[The] heroes are all standing together in a grassy field with a forest behind them. Birds are chirping, the sun is shining brightly, and the wind is blowing gently. The heroes look around them in awe. They're all holding their crystals.
WoL: The battle has come to an end...
Tidus notices that his crystal has begun to emanate a blue glow.>! His crystal is a movie sphere from his core world of FFX: a capsule containing sounds and images that people record for later viewing. Tidus’ crystal likely represents the specific movie sphere recorded by his love interest Yuna, which revealed that she’d loved him from the beginning.!<
Tidus: Gotta go, huh...
The blue glow transfers to him as well. He turns to look at the others
[…] Tidus grins at the others, then turns and runs toward a nearby lake. He leaps into it in a manner reminiscent of [the events] of FFX. He vanishes as he descends toward the lake.
Zidane: We're not vanishing. We're returning—
Zidane is sitting on a tree limb as he says this. His crystal begins to glow gold, as does he. His crystal is shaped like a highly important ‘progenitor of all life’ crystal from his core world of FFIX.
Zidane: — to where we're supposed to be.
Zidane spins around the tree limb with the use of his tail and launches toward the sun. He's lost to view.
A white feather then drifts down from that direction and Squall catches it. The feather is reminiscent of his love Rinoa Heartilly, whose character symbol is a white feather. In fact, Squall’s crystal looks like a mix of his revolver gunblade from FFVIII and Rinoa’s feather motif. [Squall glows blue.]
Squall: Perhaps we can go on a mission together again.
Squall vanishes.
Cloud is then visible, standing in [a] flower field. The flowers are white and yellow. Cloud has his crystal, a light green materia from his core world of FFVII, in hand.
Cloud: [(Chuckles shortly, like a scoff)] Not interested.
Cloud walks off into the flower field, gaining a green glow. He vanishes.
A snowflake then falls into Terra's right hand as her crystal begins to glow pink. The flames drawn on her crystal represent her power, which is connected to the element of fire: her character arc in FFVI.
Terra: I think I've learned how to keep going. Thank you— and take care.
Terra glows pink and then vanishes. Bartz throws a stick. He's glowing pink as well.
Bartz: When you're having the most fun, that's when time always flies. His crystal is the Adamantite from his core world of FFV.
Bartz vanishes.
Cecil: It's mine to pass on—
A moon appears behind Cecil and goes through its phases as he begins to glow blue. His crystal has shadowed and illuminated parts, representing the duality of his character, which is central to his personal arc in his core world of FFIV. It also represents his brother Golbez, who has chosen the darkness. Cecil considers his familial bond with Golbez his guiding light and hopes to be with him someday.
Cecil: — this strength I've gained from everyone.
Cecil vanishes.
Onion Knight hugs his crystal and looks up toward the sky. His crystal is shaped like those found in his core world of FFIII**.**
Onion Knight: Everyone... thank you!
OK briefly glows blue and then vanishes.
There are wild roses at Firion's feet. He and WoL are looking toward the sky. WoL suddenly begins walking away while Firion looks down and sees the roses.
Firion: This isn't the end. Another dream is waiting to begin.
His crystal is the color of the wild roses that were at the center of his dream and of his motivation to fight Chaos. The roses are also the emblem of the Rebel Army he was a part of in his core world of FFII. His crystal is shaped like Pandaemonium, the final dungeon of his core world story. Firion gains a violet glow and then vanishes.
WoL is walking through the field and then comes to a stop. He's looking at something.
WoL: May the light forever shine upon us.”
As you can see, everyone’s crystal is very important to the story of their core world, and in the cases of at least Tidus, Squall, Terra and Cecil, the crystals represent something very personal. What about Cloud and his crystal, then? What about the dream he lost and the person he wants to meet? Let’s begin analyzing to answer these questions.
III. c) ii. Fact Analysis
Firstly, it’s clear to me that the Cloud that appears in DFF is a post-OG Cloud, given how many plot points from OG he interacts with. I’m reticent to say whether or not this post-OG Cloud is dead like in FFT, as he recovers many of his memories of OG during DFF and there is no evidence of him having passed away and joined the Lifestream.
The second thing I’d like to point out is Cloud’s strange reaction when Tifa compares him to a hero who swoops in and saves the girl from the bad guy. Cloud gasps, indicating that her words mean something to him; the trope Tifa references must therefore be included somewhere in the FFVII OG plot-line. Some of you are surely ahead of me by now, having realized that only the tragic antithesis of this trope appears in OG: Cloud is unable to save Aerith from Sephiroth (disk 1, chapter 28). Whether or not DFF Cloud remembers Aerith herself at this point, it’s clear he recalls the pain and guilt of losing Aerith to Sephiroth.
Next, let’s address Cloud’s lost dream: to meet an unspecified person. It seems Cloud is aware at this point that in OG, he was eternally separated from the person he dreams of meeting. So, who was he separated from in his core world? Who can he never meet again, even if his team of warriors defeats Chaos and Cloud returns to the realm of FFVII? There are a few options —his mother, his father, Zack, Jessie, Biggs, Wedge, and any other person he knew who died—, but the sheer narrative weight that Aerith’s untimely death carries makes it clear who he truly wants to meet. This is corroborated by Cloud’s “I think I can meet her… there” line in OG (disk 3 chapter 3), by FFT Cloud’s search for Aerith during his appearance in Ivalice, and by Cloud’s strange reaction to Tifa’s comparing him to a hero who swoops in and saves the girl from the bad guy. All the available evidence suggests that Cloud’s dream is indeed to reunite with Aerith, and that this dream is “lost” to him because she was killed by Sephiroth (disk 1, chapter 28). This would also explain the title of the DFF segment “Recurring Tragedy”, since as we all know, the ultimate tragedy of FFVII OG is Aerith’s death. Considering Sephiroth was the one to take Aerith away from Cloud, Sephiroth’s threats of drowning him in despair in “Recurring Tragedy” only solidify this interpretation of Cloud’s lost dream.
Finally, we arrive at the ending cutscene. Cosmos’ warriors return to where they belong to try and accomplish whatever dream they held as motivation during the Cosmos-Chaos conflict, each carrying their DFF crystal. Cloud is shown standing in a field of white and yellow flowers and walking deeper into it with a light green materia in hand. Why was a white and yellow flower field chosen to represent DFF Cloud’s dream? The answer is obvious. White and yellow flowers symbolize Aerith: she sold Cloud a yellow blossom upon first meeting him in OG (disk 1, chapter 1), and her yellow and white flowerbed cushioned Cloud’s fall when the two reunited in the Sector 5 church (disk 1, chapter 4). What’s more, we have the iconic credits video of the original cut of Advent Children to refer to, wherein Cloud is seen driving near flower fields. Aerith stands there (3:20), seemingly waiting for him. Here’s what Nomura had to say about this credits scene:
"[...] we filmed the video for the ending credits in Hawaii. There are fields of flowers on both sides of the road, and the colors —yellow and white— are the same as the flowers in Aerith's church […]. With Aerith, 'flowers' have been her image throughout the series” (FFVII Reunion Files, “Countdown to Reunion”, “Stories from CG Production”, page 87).
Even in the Advent Children Complete cut of the film, where Aerith is not shown standing in the field, the flowers and their symbolism of Aerith remain. That being so, it’s more than fair to say that the white and yellow flowers in DFF’s ending cutscene serve as yet another confirmation that Cloud’s dream is to be with Aerith.
With all of this established, we can address the nature of Cloud’s DFF crystal. As we established, every core world has its own version of a crystal, each possessing a distinct appearance, function and meaning. Materia are the crystals of FFVII, so one could be satisfied by the proposition that Cloud’s DFF crystal is simply meant to represent a random materia. However, I think Cloud’s crystal is specifically the White Materia, as it represents Aerith’s sacrifice, her importance to the plot and what she died fighting for. If any one object symbolizes her death, it’s the White Materia; it’s even given closeups during the event (2:33-3:02). Besides, unlike any other materia in FFVII, the White Materia is known to glow a light green when Holy has been activated:
“Bugenhagen: If [the prayer] reaches the planet, the White Materia will begin to glow a pale green” (FFVII OG, disk 2, chapter 15).
Here are pictures of the White Materia in OG and Advent Children, and two pictures of Cloud's DFF crystal (in order) so you can compare for yourself:
https://preview.redd.it/0qtumfeyfq0d1.jpg?width=386&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3995f010738c83fca0c5842a0564d0a9ad206dfd
https://preview.redd.it/0kj525tzfq0d1.jpg?width=1144&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=575573ef1d2c937635cf569d4a376886a24b384c
Cloud's DFF Crystal
Cloud’s DFF crystal
So far, in both suspension world games we’ve examined (FFT and DFF), Cloud is searching for Aerith. As a final note on DFF, it may interest you to know that codirector of the Remake trilogy Toriyama was actually a writer for DFF: he may have carried some themes from DFF to Remake
III. d) Detour: The Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Farewell Exposition
Before we hop onto the next suspension world, let’s return to ours for a quick detour: the 2018 Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Expo. Themed with farewells and tragedy, this expo showcased the heartbreaking goodbyes featured in different FF games. Artwork, clips, quotes and images aplenty here! As the highly anticipated Remake was going to be coming out approximately a year and a half later, the FFVII section of the expo featured a few sneak peek Remake designs. This means the expo was at least partly curated with the Remake trilogy in mind; there could be interesting material in the FFVII section of the expo related to Remake. Let’s dive in!
Unsurprisingly, the focus of the FFVII section is Cloud and Aerith, since she is the loved one he lost in OG. Zack is also given a mention, however Aerith was the glaringly central star of the show. To showcase how important Aerith’s farewell in particular was to the expo, the FFVII portion was introduced by a photo of Cloud lowering Aerith into her watery grave and a video of her tragic death:
Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Farewell Exposition, FFVII Introduction
The description under the video screen reads:
“She was gone in the blink of an eye. But the pain never went away.
Aerith awoke the ultimate magic to protect the planet and the people she loved. Yet her life came to a sudden end at the hands of Sephiroth, a man bent on seeing the world destroyed. Even the usually stoic Cloud couldn’t hide his grief at the unexpected death of an irreplaceable companion. ‘My fingers are tingling. My mouth is dry. My eyes are burning.’ True words, revealing Cloud’s deep sorrow” (Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Exposition).
Conveniently enough for us, the expo’s tagline is “Who is the person you want to meet again?” Given that Aerith holds the spotlight in the FFVII section of the expo, it’s clear who SE is telling us Cloud wants to reunite with. Recall Cloud’s unfinished line in DFF: “The one I really want to meet is..." (Dissidia 013: Light to All, epilogue: “Conclusion of a Cycle”, “Recurring Tragedy”). We theorized that he must be referring to Aerith, and now, we are certain.
The expo also had pamphlet descriptions of the farewells depicted. Here is the general summary of FFVII‘s farewell story according to that pamphlet:
“The story follows the lead character Cloud, but it is the heroine, Aerith, who opens Cloud’s eyes and helps bring him closer to understanding the mystery that is his past. Through her, we draw closer to the truth of the story.
This scene, in which the heroine Aerith is lost, is easily the most shocking and tragic in the story. No one expected to say goodbye to such a major character 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).
It’s interesting that SE would mention the rumors of Aerith’s revival circulated by players back in 1997, especially as fans were awaiting Remake’s release…
In light of everything we’ve analyzed so far, it can be said that between FFT (1997) and this farewell expo (2018), SE has consistently demonstrated that reuniting with Aerith is post-OG Cloud’s goal. That’s a period of over two decades— two decades of wishing, seeking, longing in real-world time for this character. This is a huge long-term commitment for SE to make, and you can bet the devs don’t take it lightly. Again and again, once the events of the OG game have ended, Cloud is shown to desire a reunion with Aerith. This ever-present and ever-insistent theme will become very important to us later in this analysis.
(continued in part 3)
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2024.05.16 08:14 External-Passage-127 “.dll Disabled: Only compatible with versions earlier than 1.6.629”

What is going onnnn? Not sure how many mods this is happening too.
Keep in mind, the mods have been double checked for being in the correct version, compatible with 1.6xxx or 1.6.1170
Went backwards a version on 3 of the mods stating this error previously to see if the versions were the issue. One of them disappeared from the list, 2 of the original still remain; and now theres 2 more on the list… huh
Runtime 1.6.1170.0 (AE) * SKSE64 - Compatible version (And works) (Files all in correct places) * SKSE Engine fixes for 1.6.1170 and newer * All in one Address Library (Anniversary edition) for 1.6.x
Direct quote: SKSE Plugin Loader (2.2.6) A DLL plugin has failed to load correctly. If a new version of Skyrim was just released, the plugin needs to be updated. Please check the mods webpage for updates.
ImmersiveEquipmentDisplays.dll: disabled, only compatible with versions earlier than 1.6.629 SimpleDualSheath.dll: (and so on) SimpleActivate.dll: (and so on)
(And so on for who knows how many more mods, i suspect this small error window can only show so many options, meaning there may be more errors not shown in the window.)
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2024.05.16 08:10 Sad-Pop6649 Lunetten, Utrecht, Netherlands, a higher density green suburb?

Lunetten, Utrecht, Netherlands, a higher density green suburb?
https://preview.redd.it/8yds0x4mdq0d1.png?width=1482&format=png&auto=webp&s=92f6de754e519475997b6af36b838a95b80ae404
This might end up as a bit of a weird post. But mostly a very long one. I don’t think this place I’m presenting here is heaven, but without Suburbs Heaven Thursday this subreddit may give viewers the idea that we’re all just hating, and this case study may help illustrate some of the alternatives and what one could like and dislike about them. I know that yelling “the Netherlands!” on any urbanist platform is overdone and so 2 years ago, but I also feel like the available “Netherlands!” content is giving people an incomplete picture. So I’m going to discuss a suburban neighborhood, Lunetten, in Utrecht, where I’ve lived for about a year now. It’s a place built in the 70’s and 80’s, housing about 11,000 people in 5,500ish homes, for a density of just over 4,000 people/km2, 10,000 per square mile.
Obviously that’s pretty dense. In a North American context Lunetten may count more as an example of the “missing middle” than a true suburb, but I feel it still works as a comparison because it is situated at the edge of a city* and it offers features people often look to the suburbs for, like a low noise environment, plenty of green and child oriented features. So, what can we find in this example that people may like or dislike in their suburban areas?
If you want to look along on your favorite online map: 52° 3'53 N, 5° 8'13 E.
Traffic and transit
Lunetten has a clear main road (middle left image, bright pink line on the map) that serves as the main way of getting around by car. It is the only road where the limit is 50 km/h (30 mph), not 30 km/h. The main road has priority over all side roads, indicated by the exits of all side streets being raised a bit. The speed bump automatically makes one slow down to yield to the traffic on the main road. In the places where people’s front doors open towards this main ring there are service roads for them to do their parking and loading and such on. In the busiest part of the ring the road was raised a few meters so pedestrians and cyclists can pass underneath through tunnels. So while the maximum speed cars can go on most of the roads in this place is quite low, the time to destination is pretty good, because a lot was done to ensure a good flow of traffic.
A more debatable feature is the lack of through-traffic options. If you want to leave Lunetten by car there are two roads leading West, connecting to the rest of the city and to the 70km/h raised road that serves as the exit from the city. There is also one small road going South-East along the train line, and that’s it. Despite being next to two highways Lunetten has no direct on- and off-ramp accessing it, and even no direct way across the highways for cars. Cyclists and pedestrians do have options leading in basically all directions. On the one hand this does wonders for how quiet the neighborhood is, but on the other hand that one road taking people in and out of the city is still more prone to blocking than a direct ramp to the highway, so car owners will experience some travel delays because of this.
Lunetten is no public transit hotspot, but there are like two bus lines both going to more connected places including the city’s central hub, and the train station is two stops from said hub as well, which happens to be the biggest train station in the Netherlands.
Public Spaces
Even by Dutch standards Lunetten has a pretty urban-ish density. There’s a mix of mostly rowhouses and midrise apartment buildings, mostly gallery flats up to 5 stories tall, including the ground floor. To give you an idea of Dutch standards for density: I grew up in a commuter town of about the same size as Lunetten, housing 1,000 less people (present day numbers) on roughly 1.25 times the surface**. But what I find interesting is what that space is used for. In Lunetten, on the outer ring of the neighborhood, adjacent to the two highways, busy raised road and train line that surround the neighborhood, there are quite sizable parks (bottom right picture). There’s plenty of space for dogs to run off their leash, there are football/play fields, there are two skate parks, two ponds for amphibians to spend the winter in (granted: that’s an amenity most people could live without) and an entire petting zoo, in case you had doubts this was a suburb. Together with a football/soccer club, a tennis club, some allotment gardens and a small business park near the train station these parks take up most of the space where traffic noise is an issue. There is room for recreation and other daytime activities in the noisy bits (there are sound screens, but that’s not blocking all of the noise) so that peoples’ homes can mostly be in the quiet parts, shielded from noise by trees and stuff. And then there’s the neighborhood interior. You’ll see on the map a few yellow locations marked as “playground/square”, but in reality many, probably most, of the dark green “courtyards” contain a little playground too. All of the courtyards have grass, most if not all of them have trees, many of those trees being taller than the midrises. Some of the courtyards feature parking space as well***. The middle right image is far from the greenest example. The combination of the parks and the courtyards make Lunetten much greener than the actual smallish town I lived in mentioned previously. Plenty of birds live here too, including a bunch of water birds who enjoy the ditches and canals. In the smallish town much more of the space was simply used for row houses with pretty large gardens, and in the newer parts a bunch of four home and two home units and free standing homes as well****.
Which brings me to the reality check. With all these pedestrianized public spaces around and loads of playgrounds, is Lunetten actually a good neighborhood to raise kids? From what I can tell, opinions are mixed. Because one thing that does tend to come with density of people is density of crime. In my year here I have personally witnessed a man snorting coke off his bicycle saddle, in broad daylight, in the middle of a bike lane near a skatepark with playing children in it*****. There is also the occasional lost shopping cart dumped in a canal and apparently there was a pretty shocking supermarket robbery just before I moved in. Especially if your budget only allows for an apartment and not a house I could imagine feeling a little scared to let young children wander around near the house on their own, also maybe because of the canals and ditches they might fall into. The sweet spot age for children in Lunetten is probably around 9-12, old enough to be trusted with their own safety around water and some minor drug use and vandalism, yet young enough to fully enjoy all the outdoor play space.
The blame for the crime is often put on the street pattern that is said to attract drug dealers and the like who love having good get away options, and the many green public spaces and nice dry apartment building entrances are certainly not the worst place a homeless person could go to for another night of hopefully not being bothered by the police. More recently developed neighborhoods have tried to avoid these effects by using a “cauliflower pattern” for their streets, branched streets ending in a bunch of (at least to cars) dead ends. The downside of that pattern seems to be less sense of community. The more direct neighbors you have, the more interaction. That’s why cul-de-sacs can be so isolating after all. Lunetten is not the worst crimey part of its parent city by a long shot, but it’s noticeable enough to be worth mentioning.
A planned neighborhood
The big advantage I think Lunetten has over a lot of other places is that it was designed in one go. The land it was built on was part of the Dutch Water Line******, and had to stay free of buildings and obstructions that would block the firing lines of defending artillery. (That’s what the two weird shapes in the northern park are: old fortifications, called Lunette 3 and 4. Hence the suburb’s name.) When the line was legally disbanded in 1963 Utrecht started planning to build a new neighborhood here. Because of the highways (current configuration built at the same time as the suburb) and the train line that surround the place it was very clear to where the neighborhood would stretch. And it shows. The suburb is designed as a cohesive whole. There’s a neighborhood shopping center (bottom left image and the main soft pink blob on the map) at the heart of the neighborhood. It has two supermarkets, some small other shops, several small fast food/lunch places in different styles, two bicycle shops and repair places (it’s the Netherlands), a restaurant (there’s another one on one of the forts in the park, which doubles as a sort of social work place), a community center which houses some clubs and such (not the scouts, those have a place in one of the parks) as well as a library. There’s even a bar (I think, I should maybe go there ones), and some space where small neighborhood markets and events turn up with some regularity. The other main soft pink and yellow blob in a convenient central location on the map is two elementary schools*******. In many more organically grown neighborhoods or places the amenities wouldn’t be so conveniently centralized or would eventually be “centralized” on the outskirt of town.
The Bijlmer comparison, what not to do
Another interesting point of comparison I think is the Bijlmer (Bijlmermeer officially) in Amsterdam, another green neighborhood designed as one big plan outside of its parent city’s core, yet quite different. The Bijlmer is nationally famous as a bit of a ghetto, a place where you don’t want to live. (To be fair: the plane falling down on it didn’t help its case.) A lot of work has been done to improve the place, but its initial “ghettoization” was surprising because the Bijlmer was never intended to even be particularly affordable, but more of a vertical suburb, spacious family apartments (around 120 m2) for 100,000 people or more in large highrise buildings with between them plenty of green. A quiet place, with quick access to the city, using density to save on land use and travel time. There are three main differences I see between the struggling Bijlmer and “doing pretty well” Lunetten: 1 The Bijlmer has a higher density through the use of massive apartment buildings, literally and figuratively increasing the distance between people’s homes and the public space. 2 The Bijlmer is a much bigger place, I’m not sure they ever got to those 100,000 inhabitants, but it certainly loses that towny vibe. 3 They’ve been correcting this in the rebabilitation, but as designed the Bijlmer had basically no amenities. It wasn’t a town or city, it was people storage, housing for people who mentally lived several kilometers away but couldn’t afford it there. See the rest of this subreddit for why that doesn’t work for many people.
Interdependency with other suburbs
Looking back on growing up in that smallish town I notice that there really isn’t that much of a difference in amenities. The town offered much of the same things Lunetten does. But Lunetten’s status as a suburb gives it a big advantage over that town. Because while suburbs mostly serve themselves, they also serve each other. Take sports: there’s a football and tennis club and two indoor sports halls in Lunetten, but what if I want to swim or throw spears instead? Well, there’s a pool in a suburb to the North, as well as an athletics stadium. After elementary school there’s no middle/high school in Lunetten, but there are in nearby neighborhoods, and there are even college options******** spread throughout different suburbs and neighborhoods. These things are closer than they are in a small town not because the suburb is associated with a city center, but because it is associated with other suburbs. There are things I liked about the commuter town, but having to take either an honestly too long bike trip or a bus ride that only went whenever it was not convenient for me whenever I wanted to do something my town didn’t provide, like going to school, wasn’t one of them. And I say that even as a spoiled person whose commuter town at least had buses and bicycle paths.
Conclusion
And that is I think the main takeaway from this absolute wall of text: suburbs don’t have to be places where there’s nothing to do and you feel disconnected from the world. That’s the entire point of living in a suburb instead of in a town: there are other places nearby. There is a balance to be found between private space, public space and connectivity. Essentially, in a neighborhood of 10,000 people, for every 100x100 meters of public space or amenities either every person gets 1 square meter less private space or everybody gets maybe a few meters of extra travel distance on the average trip. Lunetten probably provides too little private space for the taste of many North American suburbanites, but it does show I think that there is quite a bit of room on those sliders. A green place with amenities sort of near other places can still be built with more spacious houses. (Just maybe go easy on the sea of lawns?) And that’s when all the separated bike lanes and other urbanist talking points really start making sense: when you found the balance between having your own place, having local places worth going to and being close enough to other places worth going to, then you want a good way to get there.
The other takeaway I feel is that it pays to design neighborhoods as a unit. And that’s another reason why suburbs can be better than towns. A town of 10,000 residents can’t plan ahead for the next 10,000, but a city of several hundred thousand people can. And it pays off. Don’t lose track of the human scale though, planning 10,000 residents ahead might actually be better than planning 100,000 or 1,000,000 residents ahead when it comes to suburbs. It is still supposed to feel like a quiet little place with maybe a bit of its own identity.
* On the other side of one of the highways there’s a bit of forest tied to several historic estates that’s very nice for walking in as well as a golf course half as big as this entire neighborhood, this really is the edge of town and will be for the foreseeable future.
** I’ve also lived in several other cities since then, near the city center, further out and on the far edge in a highrise neighborhood. Honestly I might still prefer the smaller cities I’ve lived in, being near everything the city offers and even to some of the stuff outside of it. But work took me back to a larger city (pretend I said “less tiny” if you’re from Mexico City or something), and I could honestly have landed in a much worse place than this particular suburb.
*** Fun fact: this is one of the very few neighborhoods of Utrecht where parking is currently still free, because of enough parking space and enough distance to the city center. It really is a suburb.
**** In the 90’s a style of more expensive neighborhoods called “Vinex” set standards for the ratio of more expensive to cheaper houses in those neighborhoods, and ever since both contractors and local politicians refuse to let go of those ratios everywhere. A newer, competing vision is that we shouldn’t be building new neighborhoods at all, just filling in the gaps in our cities. So now we mostly build quite large houses, but only in very small spaces. We’re still not sure where that massive housing shortage came from, somehow.
***** I stopped and addressed him because I thought he was having bicycle trouble, chain ran off or something. Quite a chill dude, very apologetic, but still maybe not exactly what the average parent is looking for in a neighbor.
****** More accurately: Holland Waterline, because it wasn’t the only Dutch waterline, but it was the main one defending the part called Holland. But that sounds a bit off in English.
******* We have a bit of a weird school system, for every public elementary school there is at least one other founded on religious grounds or based on some specific didactic theory. That’s why there are two schools in the same central location instead of just one bigger school or two in separate locations.
******** If I start going into the differences in advanced education systems we’ll be here all day, but there are options within cycling distance ranging from trade school to university, depending on the field you actually want to study *********.
********* I could start using other symbols instead of these confusingly long rows of asterisks, but where would be the fun in that?
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2024.05.16 08:08 Big_Speakerr Fanned Out

Dick ridin to be accepted should never be accepted just because “you’re in a small city”. Especially if they are individuals that did you dirty. Idc if you’re a street nigga or not in a small city. These men aren’t Jesus they bleed just like how you bleed. Anybody can spill but not too many can move their dukes out the trenches. You don’t need Toronto to get money there’s a whole world out there. Hop on some planes, stay in 5 star hotels, eat at boujie restaurants and shop at world famous malls. This inner city clout is a facade and these same yutes mans be dick ridin knows that. Focus on peace, profits and purpose not another man’s validation. I promise you these D List rappers ain’t shit outside of Canada. They dick ride out the city too.
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2024.05.16 08:03 Mindless-Society_ Neighbours want to remove dead trees instead of replanting it

I moved recently to a new development that was build 2 years ago. We bought the house from a previous owner, who had bought it from the developer. When I saw the house I was very excited that there were 4 trees planted in front of the development/house, at that point it was winter and I thought the trees were naked because of it. Recently I found out that they are actually dead 💔
I found a gardener and got a quote to replace the trees and let the neighbours know to see if they’d agree with the quote, for my surprise, majority wants the trees removed, apart from another house. This is a small development with only 8 houses. The thing is, on the contract it says that the front area can’t be touched for 5 years and that the trees must be replaced if dead. Neighbours want to break contract by leaving the dead trees for 5 years there and then remove them.
I plan to make this house my home for many years and the trees are really important to me, as I would love to be able to look outside and see them. I want to reason with the neighbours to convince them not to break the contract, saying the consequences and also that I don’t feel comfortable doing it.
Would you be able to help me with this, please 🙏 What could be the legal consequences for everyone if we break the contract? I didn’t buy the house from the developer, does this contract applies to me? Can they remove the trees after 5 years or would they need planning permission? Would the developer be liable to pay for new trees, as the ones dead died in the first year during their care?
Sorry for all of the questions, but I really don’t know what to do. I want to keep a good relationship with the neighbours, but I also want to make sure the house I bought is like it should be.
Thank you in advance!
EDIT: the trees are located in the common area of the development, where all the houses share the ownership.
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2024.05.16 07:56 Harrycognito My Humble Addition To The 'I was harassed in public transport' Series

It was 2008 and I was a sleepy teenager on a PRTC bus in Punjab, feeling like I'd won the lottery by snagging the coveted window seat. A plump man in his mid-30s to early 40s sat next to me, and we exchanged polite smiles and then minded our own business- the universal "let's pretend we're not stuck together for the next few hours in this sweaty indian summer" look. He had a huge desi homemade bag on his lap that could've fit a small elephant, which he kept precariously balanced on his lap.
As I dozed off with my head on the next seat, I was suddenly awoken by an unusual sensation on my thighs. Glancing down, I saw the man's right hand casually resting on my leg like it belonged there. "Weird," I thought, but maybe he just fell asleep and his hand slipped? No biggie, right? I didn't even lift my head... until his hand started a slow, deliberate journey towards my private area. I froze, my mind racing with thoughts of "What in the world is this guy doing?! And was 6'3" even back then, not exactly inconspicuous!"
This was pre-internet for me, so I wasn't clued in on the nuances of unwanted advances. For a minute or two, I just sat there, paralyzed, as his hand inched closer to my pant's zip. It was a weird mixture of numbness, confusion, surreality etc. Then, out of nowhere, my inner Hulk emerged (or maybe it was just pure adrenaline). "Do something before he has your sausage in his hand!!" I lifted my head, and in a fit of sheer rage grabbed his throat, specifically his Adam's apple, like I was plucking a ripe fruit. I squeezed hard - so hard that his eyeballs practically popped out like a cartoon character.
People started to notice as the man struggled to squeak out a scream for help. Bus passengers stepped in and pulled us apart. I explained what he'd been up to, and they were understandably outraged. Some of them laughed. Their reactions were least of my concerns though.
He boarded off the bus at the very next stop. As he was leaving, he had the audacity to look bakc and blow me a flying kiss.
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2024.05.16 07:54 ReflectionDear1803 Advice for Potential Problem Player?

So I’ve been running a campaign now for around 4ish months. The party is composed of two veteran players of around 5 years each, and 3 brand new players. As such, there are a lot of debates and moments where we have to slow the game down to explain what each player can do, which I’m all for. I’ve been itching to play DnD for a while, and I love helping people get into fantasy in general.
One of my players in particular, though, has been making a ruckus, for lack of a better term. He’s one of the newer players, so there’s been plenty of moments he wants to do something and I have to explain situations in which he can or can’t do something. Again, that’s no problem. The problem stems more from his innate chaotic nature, especially as it relates to other characters. I’m going to give a few situations that I found weird, and I want to know if I’m being an AH in this situation or if this really does sound crazy. I’ll refer to problem player as J for now.
The players are playing in a world in which humans are a primarily dominant race, and not many other races other than elves or dwarves have even been heard of. He’s playing a gnome, and so there’s been multiple NPCs who have talked to his character like he’s a child, or referred to him as such. Another party member (also a gnome) finds this funny, and has played into it a few times to get more info on things the party has done, such as acting like a child to get info from strangers or discounts for things in shops. All fine and dandy, the party plays into it. J, however, finds this incredibly irritating, and oftentimes starts arguments or physical altercations with NPCs who do this. One time, he started a fight to the death with a group of NPCs, and found that to be okay. Since the rest of the party barring one other person didn’t find it frustrating, I let it slide.
Another situation, one of the other party members finds a secret room in which he finds a pretty valuable gem (around 100gp in value). J hears this out of character, and when the party member finds his way back to the group, he starts interrogating him, and asks to make an insight check. I ask why J wants to do this, and he says “I don’t trust him”. I ask him what he’s done to betray his trust, and he says nothing, so I bring up the concept of metagaming. J’s primary out of character reason for interrogating the guy was because he knew about the gem, and he couldn’t separate that from his character. I say, no harm no foul, I’ll just tell people individually if they find things of value from here on, but he should be mindful of what his character knows. In character, J uses the spell “Locate Object” to find objects near him worth more than 50gp. I tell him that the character who reunited with the party has an item worth more than 50gp, and now he begins to interrogate him. This frustrates me, because there’s no reason that I could think of that doesn’t involve his out of game knowledge of the gem, and I’m still a bit frustrated about it because J holds this grudge over the other character 5 sessions later.
Another situation, J and the party are nearing the end of their first dungeon. As magic isn’t common in the world I’ve made, I wanted to include a decent amount of magical items for them to find near the end. The party works together and finds these magic items, which include 1 magical ring, 2 magical amulets, 2 magical cloaks, and 3 +1 magical weapons (I know it’s a lot, but this dungeon also took 3 sessions to complete). Upon my announcing of these items, J’s character grabs every single item, stuffs them into his Sack of Holding, and says “We’ll talk about trading later.” I ask him why he doesn’t want to give anything to any of the other players, and he just says that he got to them first. Keep in mind, his character is a bard, so while he could use them, I find that some of the items were tailored more towards the barbarian, rogue, and warlock of the party. He has yet to give any of these items up, and has “Raised the price” of the items due to some statements other characters have made about the incident.
This is all in game, of course, but there have been multiple statements and attempted actions that he wants to take where he has, and I quote, “Tried to make you miserable as a DM”. These includes but are not limited to:
I’ve chalked a lot of this up to him being a new player, and have had conversations with him about keeping the game entertaining for all of the party members, which is where I became super conflicted. Most of the party seems to find it fine, which is why I’m conflicted on if I’m right to feel frustrated. On one hand, if the party is okay with this course of action, I’m cool with it. On the other, this seems like it’s quickly becoming a murder- hobo party, which I’m not sure that I want to DM for. I’ve spent 2 years writing and creating this world, its inhabitants, its NPCs, and to see it approached in this way frustrates me. Which is another reason why I think I may just be overreacting, as I’m very attached to what I’ve created.
Is this something I’m overreacting to? Or is this a genuine problem, and what can I do to fix it? I’ve spoken to them a few times, but it only seems to work for a session. If I was to ask him to leave, then every other player would probably also leave, which makes me even more hesitant to do anything.
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2024.05.16 07:31 RationalSchizo812020 Kanye and Kendrick vs Drake and The Diddler: A Conspiracy

Written 5/8/2024- updates attached below

I tried posting this on kendrick almost a week ago and it got no response, I messaged the mods to ask about Karma restrictions or account age requirements and they never replied. I made a new account and it was the same issue, but I found out last night I wasn’t fully banned, so I figured I’d throw it up and see if anyone finds it valuable. It’s written for people who have no prior knowledge of the rap game/music business. I don’t have to go as hard on obscuring names this time. One of the influencers I mentioned in my last post is known for doxxing and threatening violence against people who mention the many contradictions in their stories. (Sorry for any typos/mistakes I want to go to bed.)
Origins
I believe the current Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef is either completely or partially fabricated by certain industry leaders or the parties involved in an effort to distract from something bigger going down behind the scenes. If you were an influential label owner facing major accusations, and you needed to deflect media attention from yourself, recreating one of the most defining moments in rap history during the social media era would be a way to do it. It also wouldn’t hurt that two of the biggest rappers in the world were already sending shots at each other in their music for years prior. The public consensus is they are simply two famous rappers who hate each other and fighting over the spot for the top like in the 90’s. Only people who were directly involved could paint a more cohesive picture of the whole story. Even when all the cards drop, there is a good chance the average person won’t be able to find direct sources on their own and will continue to support their favorite artists and dismiss any evidence of their crimes like the drizzy subreddit or Ak fans.

As I said the beef between Kendrick and Drake has been brewing in the background for years, with both rappers sending shots and sneak dissing each other over the course of at least 8 years. The most agreed upon origin story is the first diss was the 2016 Big Sean and Kendrick collaboration, “Control,” and Drake responded with, “The Language”. Things stayed relatively lighthearted for a while and both were intentionally vague for many years. Before I go deep into the Kendrick and Drake stuff, it’s really important to examine some of Drake’s prior beefs because they add a ton of context to my theory. In my opinion Kendrick and Co. started scheming all of this some time around Mid 2020-Mid 2022, well after the whole Pusha T beef had transitioned into the Kanye beef.

What exactly started the beef is debatable, but at the time many attributed it to rumors of Drake pursuing Ye’s ex Amber Rose. Unfortunately the timeline isn’t 100 percent clear, and if I included every detail this would be at least 200+ pages so I’ll stick with the important stuff. The ultimate outcome of the Pusha T battle in 2018 was the revelation of Drake’s son Adidon that he had previously been hiding from the world along with getting Ye directly involved in the beef.

Here are some more examples of Drake antagonizing Ye and of him trying to use women as pawns to get material for his diss tracks. The Drake line, “Yeah, I probably go link to Yeezy, I need me some Jesus, but as soon as I start confessin' my sins, he wouldn't believe us," could be a reference to sleeping with Kim Kardashian, trying to double down on his threats to harm him or his family, or it could be a double entendre. Another example is using the name Kiki in another song, which was apparently one of Kim’s nicknames. Some other possible examples include the theories he may have tried the same thing with Kendrick’s wife Whitney around 2020-2021 in an attempt to use as ammo against Kendrick, which I’ll go into later. I don’t listen to much of either artist's music, but there are probably many of other examples in Drake’s catalogue that I’m leaving out. There is also his song Omerta released in 2019, which I'll go into below.

“Your baby mother call me when she lonely My tailor see me twice a week, he like my homie Forever grateful, forever thankful Diamond necklace, but she wears it on her ankle”

(Probably referring to Kim Kardashian since she had a few pictures with her wearing diamond ankle bracelets and was trying to make it into a trend.

“I plan to buy your most personal belongings when they up for auction”

(There were various rumors floating around for a while that Drake was blackmailing Ye with something and he was fighting to keep it from the public. I thought about it and this line might be referencing a sex tape with Kim or her little sister who me was very touch before she turned 18. In 2022 there was a whole storyline on Kim’s show where Ye flies to LA to prevent her second sex tape from being released.)

West Hollywood, know my presence is menacing
Cosa Nostra, shady dealings
Racketeering, the syndicate got they hand in plenty things The things that we've done to protect the name are unsettling But no regrets, though, the name'll echo Years later, none greater
Death to a coward and a traitor, that's just in my nature, yeah
(Drake and Ye both frequented the Delilah Nightclub located in West Hollywood and lived closeby on the same street for a while.)
"I don't carry cash 'cause the money is digital
It's the American Expresser, the debt collector"

(Sounds a lot more like it could be crypto to launder or send large amounts of ill gotten gains. It started becoming mainstream around them)

"Last year, niggas really feel like they rode on me
Last year, niggas got hot 'cause they told on me
I'm 'bout to call the bluff of anybody the fold on me"

These lines stood out because they could be referring to Ye telling the public about Drake's alleged threats a couple months before the songs release. This happened not long after the release of Sicko mode which was towards the end of 2018 as well. Ye was discussing the incident on Twitter and reached out to Drake and Travis to talk to him in private. In the next set of tweets Kanye publicly accused Drake of threatening him and his family in a major way. Surprisingly Ye seemed genuinely scared and amongst his, “crazy rants,” some of the stuff he said makes a ton of sense in hindsight. This also the beginning of his second serious public struggles with Bipolar disorder after being committed in 2016 shortly after an on stage rant where he calls out Jay Z for selling out and says he's afraid he might kill him.. As someone who shares the same diagnosis, I have a pretty good understanding of mania and psychosis and firmly believe that it's important not to write people off right away due to their mental illness. Some of my most thoughtful, creative, and productive periods were inspired by mania. Industry bigwigs have also been using mental illness to discredit influential black celebrities and visionaries going back decades, but it really picked up in the 80’s.

Dave Chappelle has gone into this a lot in the past and claims he experienced something similar before he quit show business and dipped to Africa. Their stories have a lot of interesting parallels if you’re familiar or curious. I remember he actually visited Ye at his house in Wyoming after he was reported to have had a, "mental breakdown," during his presidential run in 2020 thus marking his third breakown in six years.. The reason I put it in quotes is because it happened right after he publicly accused Kim of cheating and delivered his legendary speech on abortion. Dave went as far as going on live tv and telling the public he wasn’t crazy, he was just really struggling because he was the only one at the time fighting against the narrative, which can often be a suicide mission or a ticket to obscurity. These are three examples of someone speaking up and being deemed crazy, two years later came the nazi stuff and I'm sure we'll have plenty in store for 2024.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the very common pattern of artists dying or having their careers destroyed either after they try to leave their label or threaten to reveal industry secrets. A few more interesting industry connections I made in my research include the connections between:

T.U.G. records and J Cole's independent label Dreamville are both managed by Interscope Records, whose parent company is Universal Music Group.

Universal Music Group also hac Drake's label OvO label as well as Ye and Kendrick's old labels on their roster before they left to form their own independent labels in 2022 (around the same time the disses between Kendrick and Drake started escalating). Finally Bad Boy Records, which is owned by Diddy, and Motown Records who own Diddy's other R&B label Love Records, are also both owned by Universal. This means every label I mention is currently or was previously owned by Universal Music Group.

Ye tried for years to get out of his contract with Defjam, which happens to be ran by Jay Z who is known to be a close associate of Diddy. Jay would always used his money and power to fight against it. Ye even spoke out publicly on a few occasions, including when he said Jay Z was trying to kill him during one of his concerts. My theory is after years of getting nowhere and having his reputation skewered, in 2022 Ye finally said, "Fuck it," and dropped all the anti- Semetic stuff intentionally in a successful attempt to force his label to into using their morality clause, which requires labels to drop an artist if they're accused of any major controversy that could hurt the label’s profits. For the fourth time in four years the media reported he was having a breakdown. Even though they tried to punish him by cutting off all of his sources of income and freezing his accounts he still managed to bounce back pretty quickly. It was often reported how much he was losing, but it rarely discussed how he still was filthy rich in spite of the retrictions. His label wanted to discourage other artists from trying the same thing. My theory is he might have bought Kim or Kylie's alleged sex tape and used it for his own leverage. For Kendrick, his transition to his independent label ApLang went a lot smoother, but he had to split ownership of his new label with the previous manager owner Dave Free. Sadly it's still difficult for new or more niche artists to establish themselves without the some help.

He may be a lot of things but Ye isn’t dumb just because he has a mood disorder and the guys at the top know this, which is why I think he has really played up his diagnosis when it benefitted him. He’s still one of the most talented musicians in the game and I really think he sees his bipolar like a superpower as he says. It’s like his own invisibility cloak. He can go off his meds for a little, make an album after staying up for 72 hours, go on a “psychotic” twitter rant dropping facts throughout, then start up again once he makes enough news headlines. I think it’s worth noting the first divorce rumors in 2020 coincided with Ye’s abortion speech during his presidential run and the cheating accusations. that led to him dropping out and moving to Wyoming, and a couple months ago in February 2024 he was committed again.

The point I’m making is bipolar is complex, but pretty manageable especially if you have a ton of money to find meds that work for you and a good doctor and can keep substance abuse and stress at a manageable level. I think Ye is smart enough to know this, but it’s just safer for him to really play up the mental issues in the media. He’s proven he can literally say whatever he wants after getting cancelled and the average person is just going to write it off as psycho babble. While bias in health care is a sad fact of society, if you can use it to your advantage I say go for it. It might’ve just kept the microscope off of him long enough to plan his attack.

Ye v. Drake: Quotes of 2018
(Start of the beef, drake threats, and suspicion towards Kardashian family. )

“ It’s not about rap. It’s about family. We have to be close as a family and never let these people infiltrate just for radio spins”

“We need to show the world that people can talk without people ending up dead or in jail.”

”This is a man speaking to a man that has been placed in the program to fuck with Kanye West head and set me up“

”See when you care about your family you don’t let no man push you to do nothing that could risk your freedom“

These first four tweets by Ye were all in reference to perceived threats made by Drake after their beef escalated circa 2018. He began speaking on the industry and talking more about his psych hospital commitment two years prior and how he thought they were going to kill him. It's pretty obvious how the whole thing was planned by the sketchy doctor who called it in and his physical trainer who has a ton of connections to weird shit involving his celebrity clients.

I found interesting that Ye might not have been the first major league rapper whose life Drake threatened. During a similar period of mental illness the up and coming rapper XXXtentacion accused Drake of stealing his flow and dissed him a few times. Not long after he made a post online saying if he dies, it was Drake who did it. There are tons of conspiracies online, but none of the evidence is strong enough to draw a definitive connection. Also while it maybe be coincidental, Kendrick’s latest album Mr Morale also painted the picture that Kendrick was dealing with some serious personal issues. Some lines throughout the album may have been used to bait Drake into escalating, but it wasn’t until The Weekend, Future, and Metro Booming dropped, “We Don’t Trust You,” then Drake and J. Cole dropped, “First Person Shooter,” which was followed a couple days later with, “Like That,” where Kendrick started the chain of events that has led us to today.

Kanye vs. Drake: Quotes of 2020

Summary: Ye runs for president and gets suppressed for saying what very well could be the truth and was immediately deemed insane by the media. Kim did a couple interviews and everything he said was immediatly false. There is almost guarenteed to be some sketchy shit going down revolving her and her family. Ye was absolutely terrified of her keeping the kids away from him and it seems like there are still efforts being made to this day to paint a certain image of him for ulterior motives.

Below are six more quotes from a fan taking a deep dive into his 2020 tweets courtesy of u/ thehatstore42069 on Yeezy
”NORTHY I AM GOING TO WAR AND PUTTING MY LIFE ON THE LINE AND IF I AM MURDERED DON’T EVER LET WHITE MEDIA TELL YOU I WASNT A GOOD MAN,” West, 43, wrote in the tweet, adding, “WHEN PEOPLE THREATEN TO TAKE YOU OUT OF MY LIFE JUST KNOW I LOVE YOU”

"I need a public apology from J Cole and Drake to start with immediately... I'm Nat Turner... I'm fighting for us."

"the utmost respect for all brothers" and said "we need to link and respect each other... no more dissing each other on labels we don't own"

"Ye is constantly trying to tell people that his family does not have his or his kids best interests at heart. He goes on to list others, linking them together with the thinking emoji. These people include rap artist Drake and Larsa Pippen, wife of Scottie Pippe. Kim K is goddaughter to Pippen's daughter, showing how close the families actually are. All of these families that associate with Ye through Kardashian connections, as well as Drake, have been accused of the same thing Kris has. EVERY SINGLE ONE of these people have mixed race children that are groomed from a young age to fuck around with celebrities so the parents can remain famous. Drake on numerous occasions has been accused of grooming girls and then getting handsy on their 18th birthday.”

“These labels want their artists to make them money and they dont care about anything else. When Kanye says things like this in an attempt to expose him, the first thing they wanna do is drug him up and put him back in the studio.”
“Righteous indignation is typically a reactive emotion of anger over mistreatment, insult, or malice of another. It is akin to what is called the sense of injustice. This is how they keep the black man down. Keep people outraged about trivial things and distract them from the real issues in the world. The real problems in the industry. If you tell people enough times that they are unequal or discriminated against they start to believe it. Drug them when they step out of line and toss them aside when the checks run out. Ye is realizing he is pawn in a bigger game, and now that he has all these roots in the game such as Yeezy or the Gap or his music, too many people cant risk (Afford) a Ye who speaks his mind.”
(End of quotes)

Amongst the twitter rant, Ye warned about the predatory nature of record deals and discussed trying to get out of his own deal, and said again how his life may be in danger if it wasn’t already and was doing anything he could to protect his kids. The most fascinating part to me though is the public call to arms he made to Drake, J Cole, and Kendrick on twitter. After inviting them to all link up, he said, “It’s time to get free, we will not argue amongst each other while some guy we don’t know in Europe is getting paid and putting that money in a hedge fund.” I believe if Ye was able to pull off this meeting, there is an ever so slight chance that all four artists might be working together to take down a greater enemy. Weirdly there have been times throughout the last couple years where these supposed enemies were photographed together being friendly or praise each other in interviews, then out of no where the disses would start flying again.

To wrap things up I want to share my a few of my theories about the Drake/Kanye beef

A. Everything is exactly as it seems and the beef is over. Ye let his mental illness ruin his life and career so Drake simply picked another target after Ye stopped putting out disses. All of these connections are just a coincidence and all of this was choreographed to boost Drake and Kendrick’s music sales and possibly distract people from the Diddy trial and possibly the complicated geopolitical issues currently facing the U.S.

C. There is also the possibility that all four rappers are in cahoots and Drake’s dirt isn’t as extreme as people are theorizing, at least in comparison to the rest of the business. This could explain why everything has played out like a movie and how they were able to predict each other’s moves so well. This could either mean they’re all just trying to boost their sales or they’re all trying to take down the “slave masters,” as Ye calls them, and change the dynamic of the music industry in favor of the artist.

D. They may be trying to help their friends in the industry who are being abused or in shitty contracts. I know a lot of famous rappers have done a lot of collaborations with Jhene Aiko and Anderson Paak, who were both signed to T.U.G. records which I mentioned above in the connections to Universal Music Group. Considering they are both frequent collaborators with all of the artists involved on both sides, it’s not unlikely they may have played some part in influencing the takedown.

T.U.G was started by Chris Stokes with his partner Ketrina Askew. Back in the early to mid 90’s were gaining popularity attracting lots of young up and coming talent. They often collaborated with Diddy and his associates. In the 2000’s Raz B from the boy band B2K claimed he was molested by Stokes and his friend Marques Houston, then quickly retracted his claims. Years later he came forward again and said we was bribed into silence and that the rest of the victims were bribed with hush money and had another singer corroborate his story and they came forward together to level the accusations. After some of his former B2K members made fun of him for his claims and accused it of being a shakedown, Raz B revealed Stokes and Houston had preyed a lot of the children associated with the label including at least one of the former bandmates and paid them off.

I thought it was worth noting that the second whistleblower named Quindon Tarver died young in a car crash after mentioning his abuse again a few years prior. He seems to have left the industry not long after the incidents occurred and has few credits to his name. To this day Raz B is still trying to get his justice, while Stokes and his partner Askew, who was also involved in the abuse are still running the label to this day. Askew also has a ton of lawsuits, accusing her of using shady tactics to try to foreclose on houses. (Don’t quote me if a lawyer wants to take a look just google her full name), and has been tied to a ton of LLCs, similar to Drake. This is a good example of a shitty record deal, but I'm sure they have countless other friends in the industry who have even worse. While they were never convicted even Chris Stokes' wife confirmed it to be true.

E. The theory I personally think fits the narrative best and is the most realistic conspiracy is that Kendrick and possibly J. Cole went to the meeting, but not Drake due to his close relationship with Lucian Grange, the president of Drake’s label. Silence often speaks louder than words and this could explain why Kendrick was so ruthless and put so much effort into finding dirt on Drake. Ye, Cole, and Kendrick co-writing would be like the rap allstar team and if J. Cole wasn’t involved, it would also answer the question of whether or not he baited Drake into the battle by asking him to feature. I don’t think Drake is really their primary target though, which would explain letting him off easy. Compared to his bosses and their bosses he’s a small fish. If you take the big guys down you stand a better chance of landing a bigger blow on their operation.

Another really interesting connection is Kendrick and Ye were both signed under Universal Music Group and they both got out of their deals around couple months apart in 2022. As we speak U.M.G’s CEO Lucian Grange, who is often acccused of giving Drake special treatment, is facing charges related to sex trafficking by no other than P Diddy. This could very well explain the timing of it all. The craziest timeline would be Diddy masterminding all of this and using his connections to get it done and all the allegations are bullshit. The guy does seem pretty confident all things considered and constantly posts himself in his Batman costume which could mean he’s a vigilante.

It seems like there's a slight religious angle as well. (Ye and Diddy are both very vocal advocates of Christianity and Drake and Lucian Grange are both Jewish.) Obviously this is a reach, but they’ve been saying rap music was specifically promoted by mostly white label owners in the 80’s to help in the ongoing effort to expedite the systematic oppression of those living in black neighborhoods and the destruction of their family systems. Apparently it was an intentional decision to heavily promote rappers that promoted the very things that were destroying their neighborhoods. (So people know I'm and atheist and have zero agenda, I just thought it was interesting, please stay away from anything antisemitic. War is wrong on both sides.)

*** If my favorite theory is true, there is a possibility the Kendrick and Ye are going after Drake due to their mutual disdain for him and because he’s got a ton of power to dominate the charts and hog the radio airtime like Meek Mill and OG Maco claimed years ago. Even him dropping a record the same day as you could really fuck your album sales up. I’m also sure some of the many rumors throughout the years have had a least some truth and he will most likely snitch to avoid cell block one. I think that Drake could have been instructed to instigate this whole mess in order to draw attention away from the UMG charges brought about by Diddy. Or on the other hand it could be that Kendrick, Ye, and possibly Cole, may have had intel that Drake was going to be involved in the Diddy trial and are just gonna let the receipts show themselves. It might not have been the original plan, but they’ve already accomplished their mission of humiliating him, assuring he couldn’t use his influence to slide through the cracks, and taking over the throne.

Please take everything I say with a grain of salt I have no connection to this world or lifestyle. Regardless I believe all of the knowledge above does a pretty solid job at painting a picture of what may have let up to this and what may have been the source.
——————————-
More details found the last couple days…

Drake and Diddy Connections+Coincidences

Drake- In the P Diddy wig video from 2016 he talks about going to party with Drake, Cash, and The Weeknd in Toronto. Drake is also one of Birdman’s protégées who is known for being a predator and is rumored to have used label artists to lure young women.

Travis Scott- Interview where he comes out and says Diddy tried to lure him. Still has a long history of associating with him, video of him running from Diddy, his connection to Ruby Rose while underage.

Tim Westwood- Diddy had connections with sex offender Tim Westwood who also inspired the Drake song, “Westwood”. They also both were victims of drive by shootings along with The Weekend and they were all facing some type of allegations.

T.I.- Also has been associate with Diddy through the years, in 2021 his kid died and 11 women can forward at the same time to accuse him and his wife of drugging and assaulting them. Clearly someone wanted to fuck his life up. Possibly due to him getting arrested so many times for wild shit and people wondering how he continued to get away with it shining a light on how powerful industry lawyers are. He also had recently talked about having a gynecologist check to see if his daughter is still a Virgin, which sounds like it could have been an industrty secret. Could have been because he worried about someone trying to take advantage of her to get to him? Regardless that shit is fucking insane.

50 Cent- Has been saying pretty much the same thing as Travis Scott and has trolled Diddy for most of his career. It came out that his wife was a sex worker who was possibly recruited Diddy to help ruin his career. It sort of worked, which raises the question if 50 Cent is the only victim.

Ray J- Him and his sister worked with T.U.G. records when they were very young. Chris Stokes in the nineties who had connections with Diddy. He has been involved in a lot of sex scandals and allegedly may have played a part in Whitney Houston's death. (Which is also allegedly connected to Michael Jackson's death and both were deemed suspicious and happened during their final tours when their masters (song rights), became more valuable than their lives. Sony Records and Tommy Motolla, who also abused Mariah Carey when she was trying to start her career. These are just a few of the alleged examples of labels taking out musicians when they were worth more dead, another is the signing of high risk artists and requiring them to get life insurance so they can profit beyond releasing all their posthumous records. Also the ever so common story of the rising star artist that die at 21 after their first album or two.

He also partied with Diddy in Vegas with along Floyd Mayweather and a bunch of other famous industry people and athletes.

Tory Lanez- Tons of blackmail, also was signed by Interscope under UMG. got sent to prison for ten years after trying to leave his label. Also history of SA and and other allegations of violence towards women.

French Montana- On Diddy's label, close with Rick and Khaled, tons of drug and sexual assault allegations, also dated a Kardashian. Generally grimy.

DJ Khaled- Diddy said he could get anything in Miami, either referring to drugs or women, could explain his connections and lack of any notable talent. (New update, he was one of the first to promote Chris Alvarez’s instagram not long after he turned 18).

Rick Ross- Diddy said some weird shit about him and licked his lips and kissed him at a show. Ross is also signed to Bad Boy under Diddy. He ended up getting involved in the current feud and spamming social media nonstop dissing and threatening Drake.

A lot of the back and forth was both of them threatening to release dirt on each other. One strange coincidence I found was Drake recently trolled Ross about the 20 million dollar renovation to his home on Star island, where Diddy is currently residing. It’s rumored back in the day that P Diddy was caught in a room full of rich guys on ecstasy possibly at the beginning stages of a gay orgy. Drake also mentioned in the same tweets about Rick Ross that Birdman owned a house on the island and asked Rick Ross why he didn’t help him out.

Considering Ross is so sketchy and Drake claims the house isn’t that big, that’s a ridiculous amount of money. He may be covering up evidence, or creating tunnels in his house to escape if shit pops off and Drake might know what’s good. Interestingly enough Ross is very close with French Montana and also signed to Bad. He said his beef was related to something involving French, and Drake’s tweet popped up the same day the info came out concerning the Chris Alvarez stuff.

The famous line from U.O.E.N.O.

Meek Mill- “OG Maco called himself defending his friend Quentin Miller by substantiating the ghostwriting claims and agreeing with Meek. He hit up Twitter saying, "Some of us been knew. Meek just put it in the air. Sucks to have to compete with 6 n****s and get compared to”

Meek mill also had a short beef with Drake, some disses included lines referring to TI’s homie pissing on Drake at the movie theater, which is also interesting considering the current case against him. He also dropped a line saying Diddy almost got a domestic charge when he smacked Drake, which could either be saying that Drake is like a woman, or saying he was Drake’s boyfriend/sugar daddy.
( If you made it to the end comment with the number 8)
I thought it was interesting how the beef just kind of disappeared and even Meek said it didn’t seem genuine. Considering the allegations against Meek in the Diddy trial, and his rumored affair with Kim contributing to ending Kanye’s marriage, Meek Mill definitely did some dirt on him.

“Niggas frauds I told the truth, don't ask me shit
All this industry fake enemy and rap shit”

“Money make a sucker that told look trill again”

One of the many chapters in Drake's history in which he is seen paying his way out of trouble and starting beefs randomly.
“Now when that shit went down with Chris, you wrote a check”
This line is referring to Chris brown beef, another beef that was lost to time. All I can remember off the top was someone throwing a champagne bottle at the other’s entourage.

Ty Dolla $ign- Huge feature artist, close with Ye. Grew up in the industry and talks about growing up on the road and being in the studio with his dad and Rick James who was should have already been in prison for life for dragging, torturing, and S assaulting multiple women and children throughout his career and was himself a victim of the industry. May be part of Ye's motivation, considering their recent close working relationship.
The end.
Courtesy of,
The Randomest Moniker
submitted by RationalSchizo812020 to DarkKenny [link] [comments]


2024.05.16 07:28 katiewind110 Single Zone mini-split - is commercial install really that much more expensive than residential?

I have a small business - 2 person, never going to make me rich, but I get to do the work in a way that is meaningful to me - that I need a cooling solution for. Second story of a mixed use commercial complex with a sloped roof. I was just given a quote for $34k to install a single zone mini split AC. I was expecting more of the $13-17k range. This is in the California Bay Area, near but not in silicon valley
Inclusions: Provide and install (1) 3 ton mini split system, Including :
Wall Mounted Fan Coil
Roof Mounted Condenser and support pad.
DX Refrigerant Piping
Wall Mounted programmable thermostat.
• Condensate pump and piping to closest drain.
• Electrical circuit from existing panel to equipment. Budget, a sight visit will be required to
confirm capacity.
• Rigging
• Start and test system.
And exclusions:
Overtime.
• Fire life safety system, fire life safety wire, Fire dampers and sprinklers.
• Permit and plan check fees.
• Structural engineering, Structural calculations and permit set drawings for
Owner and city review.
• Structural support or modifications.
• Line Voltage Electrical.
• Plumbing / condensate piping.
• DDC controls.
• Roof Screen.
• Architectural and wall work.
Cutting, patching or painting.
• Ceiling repair.
• Duct pressure or leak testing, Duct cleaning and Sound Testing.
• Performance of existing equipment andsystems.
• Warranty, repair or replacement of existing equipment.
• Decontamination and disposal or handling of hazardous materials or wastes.
• LEED or Third party commissioning and or documentation.
• Any work not mentioned above.
It also mentions that the project will require a roofing contractor, whose costs aren't included in this bid.
I've asked around, and the residential version of this install seems to have cost about $7-10k within the last 2-3 years.
Why is this bid so much higher? Is this a brush-off "happy price" bid or is this realistic? The person who I asked to review it (used to work in real estate so knows what bids are supposed to look like) said this was vague, had a longer list of exclusions than inclusions, some of which should have been included, and missing a bunch of details. Are commercial installs really 3-4x more expensive than residential? The leasing agent and/or property manager is the one who solicited this bid for me, so I'm wondering if that may have made a difference and they thought deeper pockets could afford it. Or, I could be just totally out of touch.
Thoughts from people who know how much this stuff actually costs would be much appreciated.
And yes, as a service providing business owner, I know that things cost what they cost, and good work doesn't come cheap, and I respect that the HVAC employees are skilled tradesmen and I value their expertise. This is just out of my wheelhouse and I want to know if that's a "go away" bid or a real one.
submitted by katiewind110 to hvacadvice [link] [comments]


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