Hey folks,
I've been driving my trusty 2018 Nissan Xtrail for six years now and, well, we've reached that stage in our relationship where it's starting to feel like we need a trial separation. Here are the deets on my soon-to-be ex-ride:

• 103,000 kms: Think of it as a well-traveled companion, not unlike that friend who’s always jet-setting but never seems to age.
• Always serviced at Nissan: Because this car is like that kid who only eats organic.
• One minor accident: Some careless driver decided to give it a little love tap from the back. It got one panel repainted, but trust me, it's still in better shape than me after leg day.
• Never taken offroad: This baby has seen more pavement than a marathon runner.
• Polished annually: This car is shinier than any silverware.
• Always parked in the shade: Like a vampire, it avoids the sun at all costs.

Extras I’ve added:

• Roof rails: For the adventurous type who might actually use them.
• 10-inch screen with Apple CarPlay: Because who doesn’t want their car to be smarter than they are?
• Fog lights: For those dramatic entrances.
• Seat covers: So you can pretend it's a whole new car. But the covers are old now and the seat inside is still as good as new.
• Dash camera: To catch all those unexpected moments.
• Tint: Because mystery is alluring.

I'm planning to sell because, honestly, driving the same car for six years feels like eating the same cereal every morning—time for a change! So, how much should I ask for this polished, pampered, and partially-repainted beauty?
Thanks for the help!

After a few frustrating weeks of trying to upgrade my Creative Zen Micro to 128gb, I finally succeeded on upgrading it. Here is a step by step.

With a Virtual Machine

Given that the software part can get very frustrating, I suggest that you first focus on creating a working environment based on your stock mp3 player. This will limit the number of things that can go wrong.
This was tested on a Windows 11 machine (called Host from now on).
Download Virtualbox. Use your own Windows XP SP2 image or find one (google: archive + WinXPProSP2ENG). Download the Windows Media Player 10 updater from here Download the Creative Zen Micro drivers and upgraders from here
Install Virtualbox. Install Windows XP on Virtualbox - this can be a big step if you don't have much experience in this field, but there are plenty of tutorials on how to do it - check the references below.
Now that you have your Windows XP VM (called Guest from now on) up and running, go to the Devices tab on the top of your screen and click on "Insert guest additions CD...". This will insert a virtual CD containing some Virtualbox drivers and you'll get a pop up on your Guest machine. Install them and reboot your machine.
Turn off your Guest machine.
Connect the Zen Micro to your Host machine. Your Host machine should recognize the player with no trouble.
In Virtualbox, click on your VM machine and go to settings > USB > USB2.0 > click on the 'plus' sign and add your device there. The name should be "Creative...".
Now, in the same settings menu, go to the tab "shared folders" and click on "add". Now, choose the folder you want to share between the Host and the Guest machines. Give it a name and a mount point. I picked "sharewithxp" for all the fields, including the name of the directory on Host. Check 'auto-mount' and 'make permanent' (if it exists).
On your Host machine, copy the files MP10Setup.exe, ZenMicroPDE_PCFW_LB_1_11_01.exe and JB3MV2_PCWDRV_US_2_01_00.EXE to the shared directory you just created. Also copy MP10Setup.exe.
Turn on your Guest machine and go to "My Computer". You should see your shared folder in there. Copy all the files from there to your Guest's desktop.
Install MP10Setup.exe - this upgrades the Windows Media Player from 9 to 10. By experience, Windows Media Player 11 was problematic and apparently 9 isn't ok either. Stick to WMP 10. This was key for me. It really didn't work without WMP10.
Install JB3MV2_PCWDRV_US_2_01_00.EXE - these are the drivers for the Zen Micro.
Disconnect your Zen Micro from your computer. Connect it again. Go to devices > usb on the top menu and make sure your device is selected.
Execute ZenMicroPDE_PCFW_LB_1_11_01.exe If everything went according to plan you should now see an "Upgrade" button. If you see said button - congratulations because this was the most painful part of the process. I realized that when the device is correctly loaded, the executable won't open right away - It takes a few seconds. If the device wasn't fully recognized, you'll see a message saying "Your player is not connected, please connect your player".
(If you got the dreadful second message and no "upgrade" button, try to reboot your Guest machine. Disconnect and connect your player again. Make sure it appears on the devices menu.)
Now that you have a working environment, let's move to the fun part.
Format your micro sd card (fat32 if I'm not mistaken) - I used a Sandisk Extreme 128gb (the golden ones) and it worked fine. Insert the micro sd on your CF-to-SD adapter. I got the the only adapter I could find (red one).
Disassemble your Zen Micro - there are tutorials and videos around that show you how to do it better than I possible could - check the references below.
Remove the CF card from the mp3 player and insert the adapter. Pay attention to the position of the old CF card. CF cards don’t have a big distinguishable difference on one side like sd cards do. It's really easy to get mistaken and connect it on the wrong side. The only differences are the slots/openings on both sides of the CF card/adapter - one is larger than the other. When the adapter is connected and in place, its label should be visible (pointing upwards). Take a picture of the original CF card if needed or check the video in the references below.
Assemble everything back but do not insert the battery right away.
Toggle the power button to the left and hold it that position. Insert the battery. You should now be in recovery mode. Navigate to "format all" and click ok. Navigate to "reboot" and click ok.
Connect your player to the computer and, in the Guest machine, make sure it is selected on the devices > usb menu.
Open ZenMicroPDE_PCFW_LB_1_11_01.exe If everything went according to plan, the upgrade button should now be visible. Click. Wait. Enjoy.
[I also tried upgrading to ZenMicroP4S_PCFW_L16_2_21_02.exe and it worked just fine. However, I realized the player needs to reboot 2-3 times and when it did, it lost connection with the machine, so I had to disconnect the cable and connect it back again and it was picked up. If it doesn't, check if it is still selected on the devices>usb menu and try again.]
PS: Inside the Creative Zen Micro link, there are also 2 older drivers in there - I didn't test them.
References: https://www.reddit.com/ipod/comments/18e1698/creative_zen_micro_upgraded_from_5gb_hdd_to_a/ https://www.instructables.com/Upgrade-the-Zen-Micro-5gb-to-8gb-on-the-Cheap/ www.youtube.com/watch?v=VERkcCTJFyI https://www.intowindows.com/how-to-boot-and-install-from-iso-in-virtualbox/

Without a VM (native Windows XP running on a modern computer)

^Soon.

I realized yt-dlp was usually picking 720 resolution so I added -f "bv+ba/b" to the command so it picks a much higher resolution video. Now it picks a 1080 or 1440p video, but I am having trouble with the audio.
FFMPEG gives an error:

* "[tls @ 0764f900] Unable to read from socket2126.6kbits/s speed=1.03x * Last message repeated 2 times * [in#1/matroska,webm @ 07694340] Error during demuxing: Error number -10054 occurred" 

Then a few seconds later the audio cuts out. I tried this on 2 separate videos, both videos the audio cute out consistently at the same place.

[debug] Command-line config: ['--ffmpeg-location', 'C:\\Users\\kyjb7\\Downloads\\FFMPEG-YT-DLP\\ffmpeg.exe', '--cookies', 'C:\\Users\\kyjb7\\Desktop\\cookies.txt', '-o', '-', '--extractor-args', 'youtube:player_client=ios,web', '-R', 'infinite', '-f', 'bv+ba/b', '--exec', 'C:\\Users\\kyjb7\\Downloads\\FFMPEG-YT-DLP\\ffmpeg.exe -reconnect 1 -reconnect_streamed 1 -reconnect_delay_max 5', '-vU', 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D-6qcmH1zM'] [debug] Encodings: locale cp1252, fs utf-8, pref cp1252, out utf-8, error utf-8, screen utf-8 [debug] yt-dlp version nightly@2024.05.13.232704 from yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds [351dc0bc3] (win_exe) [debug] Python 3.8.10 (CPython AMD64 64bit) - Windows-10-10.0.22631-SP0 (OpenSSL 1.1.1k 25 Mar 2021) [debug] exe versions: ffmpeg N-115233-g8670615743-20240515 (setts), ffprobe N-115233-g8670615743-20240515 [debug] Optional libraries: Cryptodome-3.20.0, brotli-1.1.0, certifi-2024.02.02, curl_cffi-0.5.10, mutagen-1.47.0, requests-2.31.0, sqlite3-3.35.5, urllib3-2.2.1, websockets-12.0 [debug] Proxy map: {} [debug] Request Handlers: urllib, requests, websockets, curl_cffi [debug] Loaded 1803 extractors [debug] Fetching release info: https://api.github.com/repos/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/latest Latest version: nightly@2024.05.13.232704 from yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds yt-dlp is up to date (nightly@2024.05.13.232704 from yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds) [youtube] Extracting URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D-6qcmH1zM [youtube] 8D-6qcmH1zM: Downloading webpage [debug] [youtube] Extracted SAPISID cookie [debug] [youtube] Copying __Secure-3PAPISID cookie to SAPISID cookie [youtube] 8D-6qcmH1zM: Downloading ios player API JSON [debug] Loading youtube-nsig.74a3a562 from cache [debug] [youtube] Decrypted nsig mq3JFzsmhOpCiwsIRRt => 9YLFKPlVAVhyGA [debug] Loading youtube-nsig.74a3a562 from cache [debug] [youtube] Decrypted nsig UFSGaSK7ReqQT3Vhaq1 => oz_AIlirbxfIrw [youtube] 8D-6qcmH1zM: Downloading m3u8 information [debug] Sort order given by extractor: quality, res, fps, hdr:12, source, vcodec:vp9.2, channels, acodec, lang, proto [debug] Formats sorted by: hasvid, ie_pref, quality, res, fps, hdr:12(7), source, vcodec:vp9.2(10), channels, acodec, lang, proto, size, br, asr, vext, aext, hasaud, id [info] 8D-6qcmH1zM: Downloading 1 format(s): 308+251 [debug] Invoking ffmpeg downloader on [download] Destination: - [debug] ffmpeg.exe command line: C:\Users\kyjb7\Downloads\FFMPEG-YT-DLP\ffmpeg.exe -y -loglevel verbose -headers "User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/93.0.4577.15 Safari/537.36 Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8 Accept-Language: en-us,en;q=0.5 Sec-Fetch-Mode: navigate " -i -headers "User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/93.0.4577.15 Safari/537.36 Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8 Accept-Language: en-us,en;q=0.5 Sec-Fetch-Mode: navigate " -i -c copy -map 0:0 -map 1:0 -f webm - ffmpeg version N-115233-g8670615743-20240515 Copyright (c) 2000-2024 the FFmpeg developers built with gcc 13.2.0 (crosstool-NG 1.26.0.65_ecc5e41) configuration: --prefix=/ffbuild/prefix --pkg-config-flags=--static --pkg-config=pkg-config --cross-prefix=i686-w64-mingw32- --arch=i686 --target-os=mingw32 --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --disable-debug --disable-w32threads --enable-pthreads --enable-iconv --enable-libxml2 --enable-zlib --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-gmp --enable-fontconfig --enable-libharfbuzz --enable-libvorbis --enable-opencl --disable-libpulse --enable-libvmaf --disable-libxcb --disable-xlib --enable-amf --enable-libaom --enable-libaribb24 --enable-avisynth --enable-chromaprint --enable-libdav1d --disable-libdavs2 --enable-libdvdread --enable-libdvdnav --disable-libfdk-aac --enable-ffnvcodec --enable-cuda-llvm --enable-frei0r --enable-libgme --enable-libkvazaar --enable-libaribcaption --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libjxl --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopus --enable-librist --enable-libssh --enable-libtheora --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-lv2 --enable-libvpl --enable-openal --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libopenh264 --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --disable-librav1e --enable-librubberband --enable-schannel --enable-sdl2 --enable-libsoxr --enable-libsrt --disable-libsvtav1 --enable-libtwolame --disable-libuavs3d --disable-libdrm --enable-vaapi --enable-libvidstab --enable-vulkan --enable-libshaderc --enable-libplacebo --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --disable-libxavs2 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzimg --enable-libzvbi --extra-cflags=-DLIBTWOLAME_STATIC --extra-cxxflags= --extra-libs=-lgomp --extra-ldflags=-pthread --extra-ldexeflags= --cc=i686-w64-mingw32-gcc --cxx=i686-w64-mingw32-g++ --ar=i686-w64-mingw32-gcc-ar --ranlib=i686-w64-mingw32-gcc-ranlib --nm=i686-w64-mingw32-gcc-nm --extra-version=20240515 libavutil 59. 17.100 / 59. 17.100 libavcodec 61. 5.103 / 61. 5.103 libavformat 61. 3.103 / 61. 3.103 libavdevice 61. 2.100 / 61. 2.100 libavfilter 10. 2.101 / 10. 2.101 libswscale 8. 2.100 / 8. 2.100 libswresample 5. 2.100 / 5. 2.100 libpostproc 58. 2.100 / 58. 2.100 [tcp @ 0764f3c0] Starting connection attempt to 2620:11a:a02a:5::12 port 443 [tcp @ 0764f3c0] Successfully connected to 2620:11a:a02a:5::12 port 443 Input #0, matroska,webm, from Metadata: encoder : google/video-file Duration: 00:09:14.88, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 11726 kb/s Stream #0:0(eng): Video: vp9 (Profile 0), 1 reference frame, yuv420p(tv, bt709), 2560x1440, SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9, 60 fps, 60 tbr, 1k tbn (default) [tcp @ 0764f180] Starting connection attempt to 2620:11a:a02a:5::12 port 443 [tcp @ 0764f180] Successfully connected to 2620:11a:a02a:5::12 port 443 Input #1, matroska,webm, from Metadata: encoder : google/video-file Duration: 00:09:14.90, start: -0.007000, bitrate: 131 kb/s Stream #1:0(eng): Audio: opus, 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, delay 312 (default) [out#0/webm @ 07670400] Adding streams from explicit maps... [vost#0:0/copy @ 0773df80] Created video stream from input stream 0:0 [aost#0:1/copy @ 0773e4c0] Created audio stream from input stream 1:0 Stream mapping: Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (copy) Stream #1:0 -> #0:1 (copy) Output #0, webm, to 'pipe:': Metadata: encoder : Lavf61.3.103 Stream #0:0(eng): Video: vp9 (Profile 0), 1 reference frame, yuv420p(tv, bt709), 2560x1440 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], q=2-31, 60 fps, 60 tbr, 1k tbn (default) Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: opus, 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, delay 312 (default) [out#0/webm @ 07670400] Starting thread... [in#0/matroska,webm @ 07675800] Starting thread... [in#1/matroska,webm @ 07694340] Starting thread... Press [q] to stop, [?] for help Automatically inserted bitstream filter 'vp9_superframe'; args='' [tls @ 0764f900] Unable to read from socket2126.6kbits/s speed=1.03x Last message repeated 2 times [in#1/matroska,webm @ 07694340] Error during demuxing: Error number -10054 occurred [in#1/matroska,webm @ 07694340] Terminating thread with return code 0 (success) [in#0/matroska,webm @ 07675800] EOF while reading inputs speed=1.05x [in#0/matroska,webm @ 07675800] Terminating thread with return code 0 (success) [out#0/webm @ 07670400] All streams finished [out#0/webm @ 07670400] Terminating thread with return code 0 (success) [AVIOContext @ 0773e840] Statistics: 820580941 bytes written, 0 seeks, 33429 writeouts [out#0/webm @ 07670400] Output file #0 (pipe:): [out#0/webm @ 07670400] Output stream #0:0 (video): 33293 packets muxed (813119915 bytes); [out#0/webm @ 07670400] Output stream #0:1 (audio): 21217 packets muxed (6911019 bytes); [out#0/webm @ 07670400] Total: 54510 packets (820030934 bytes) muxed [out#0/webm @ 07670400] video:794062KiB audio:6749KiB subtitle:0KiB other streams:0KiB global headers:0KiB muxing overhead: 0.067071% size= 801349KiB time=00:07:04.34 bitrate=15470.2kbits/s speed=0.796x [in#0/matroska,webm @ 07675800] Input file #0 [in#0/matroska,webm @ 07675800] Input stream #0:0 (video): 33293 packets read (813119915 bytes); [in#0/matroska,webm @ 07675800] Total: 33293 packets (813119915 bytes) demuxed [AVIOContext @ 076946c0] Statistics: 813374149 bytes read, 0 seeks [in#1/matroska,webm @ 07694340] Input file #1 [in#1/matroska,webm @ 07694340] Input stream #1:0 (audio): 21217 packets read (6911019 bytes); [in#1/matroska,webm @ 07694340] Total: 21217 packets (6911019 bytes) demuxed [AVIOContext @ 0768fa40] Statistics: 7061456 bytes read, 0 seeks [tls @ 0764f900] Failed to send close message [download] 100% in 00:08:53 

Thanks for helping!

hello guys i currently live on my own and i’m figuring out what adulthood is. December of last year, i was in an accident (not at fault) i suffered from injuries and from doctors orders missed a huge chunk of time. That caused me to get strained big time financial. I was able to start working again about a month or so, and present day i have a huge choice i need to make. I currently drove for uber and make money from youtube, with uber i can make as much money as i want (that’s what it feels like lol), i’m letting you guys know this bc my car went into the shop yesterday, and i was quoted 1300-1900, and i don’t have that just laying around. what i want to do is just say screw it and get a nicer used car from around 2012-2013, something reliable so that i can still work for uber. my current car is a 2011 nissan altima, 173000+ miles and the back end is smashed in, i personally don’t think it’s worth the repairs under the hood. with used car market i probably won’t have enough to buy off the lot, and id have to get a payment plan. should i repair the vehicle or get a newer (used) one?

I’ve had this car for a few years now and this has never happened. I was driving fine for an hour and suddenly when I was at a red light, the car started choking and wanting to give out.
Replaced my car battery recently and now my fob keeps coming undetected but thinking maybe that has to be changed too. Have always put premium, been a few occasions throughout the years someone else has put regular gas. No codes shooting out.
185k mileage.
Hoping it’s spark plugs or cleaning the maf sensor? I haven’t had them changed out in a very long time, found some on Amazon with coil packs that was fairly priced. Thoughts?
IgnitionDoctor Iridium Spark Plugs and Coil Packs of 6 Combo Compatible with 2007-2020 Select Infiniti EX35, FX35, Q50, QX60 & Nissan Altima, Maxima, Murano V6 2.5L 3.5L UF550 5C1727 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08YYRH3DB?psc=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_ud_ct_E18KN6VGDER4CNXP4B31&language=en_US
If no to the spark plug coil pack, there’s also this but I’m not sure if I need to change the coil packs as well https://www.ebay.com/itm/315182443285?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=ma_4lntjrq-&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=QVOfMmc3Q9O&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I know this is an iPod subreddit, but it's the most active subreddit dedicated to mp3 players (I think). I know there are some fans of these players around here but let me know if you want this gone though.
After a few frustrating weeks of trying to upgrade my Creative Zen Micro to 128gb, I finally succeeded on upgrading it. Here is a step by step.

With a Virtual Machine

Given that the software part can get very frustrating, I suggest that you first focus on creating a working environment based on your stock mp3 player. This will limit the number of things that can go wrong.
This was tested on a Windows 11 machine (called Host from now on).
Download Virtualbox. Use your own Windows XP SP2 image or find one (google: archive + WinXPProSP2ENG). Download the Windows Media Player 10 updater from here Download the Creative Zen Micro drivers and upgraders from here
Install Virtualbox. Install Windows XP on Virtualbox - this can be a big step if you don't have much experience in this field, but there are plenty of tutorials on how to do it - check the references below.
Now that you have your Windows XP VM (called Guest from now on) up and running, go to the Devices tab on the top of your screen and click on "Insert guest additions CD...". This will insert a virtual CD containing some Virtualbox drivers and you'll get a pop up on your Guest machine. Install them and reboot your machine.
Turn off your Guest machine.
Connect the Zen Micro to your Host machine. Your Host machine should recognize the player with no trouble.
In Virtualbox, click on your VM machine and go to settings > USB > USB2.0 > click on the 'plus' sign and add your device there. The name should be "Creative...".
Now, in the same settings menu, go to the tab "shared folders" and click on "add". Now, choose the folder you want to share between the Host and the Guest machines. Give it a name and a mount point. I picked "sharewithxp" for all the fields, including the name of the directory on Host. Check 'auto-mount' and 'make permanent' (if it exists).
On your Host machine, copy the files MP10Setup.exe, ZenMicroPDE_PCFW_LB_1_11_01.exe and JB3MV2_PCWDRV_US_2_01_00.EXE to the shared directory you just created. Also copy MP10Setup.exe.
Turn on your Guest machine and go to "My Computer". You should see your shared folder in there. Copy all the files from there to your Guest's desktop.
Install MP10Setup.exe - this upgrades the Windows Media Player from 9 to 10. By experience, Windows Media Player 11 was problematic and apparently 9 isn't ok either. Stick to WMP 10. This was key for me. It really didn't work without WMP10.
Install JB3MV2_PCWDRV_US_2_01_00.EXE - these are the drivers for the Zen Micro.
Disconnect your Zen Micro from your computer. Connect it again. Go to devices > usb on the top menu and make sure your device is selected.
Execute ZenMicroPDE_PCFW_LB_1_11_01.exe If everything went according to plan you should now see an "Upgrade" button. If you see said button - congratulations because this was the most painful part of the process. I realized that when the device is correctly loaded, the executable won't open right away - It takes a few seconds. If the device wasn't fully recognized, you'll see a message saying "Your player is not connected, please connect your player".
(If you got the dreadful second message and no "upgrade" button, try to reboot your Guest machine. Disconnect and connect your player again. Make sure it appears on the devices menu.)
Now that you have a working environment, let's move to the fun part.
Format your micro sd card (fat32 if I'm not mistaken) - I used a Sandisk Extreme 128gb (the golden ones) and it worked fine. Insert the micro sd on your CF-to-SD adapter. I got the the only adapter I could find (red one).
Disassemble your Zen Micro - there are tutorials and videos around that show you how to do it better than I possible could - check the references below.
Remove the CF card from the mp3 player and insert the adapter. Pay attention to the position of the old CF card. CF cards don’t have a big distinguishable difference on one side like sd cards do. It's really easy to get mistaken and connect it on the wrong side. The only differences are the slots/openings on both sides of the CF card/adapter - one is larger than the other. When the adapter is connected and in place, its label should be visible (pointing upwards). Take a picture of the original CF card if needed or check the video in the references below.
Assemble everything back but do not insert the battery right away.
Toggle the power button to the left and hold it that position. Insert the battery. You should now be in recovery mode. Navigate to "format all" and click ok. Navigate to "reboot" and click ok.
Connect your player to the computer and, in the Guest machine, make sure it is selected on the devices > usb menu.
Open ZenMicroPDE_PCFW_LB_1_11_01.exe If everything went according to plan, the upgrade button should now be visible. Click. Wait. Enjoy.
[I also tried upgrading to ZenMicroP4S_PCFW_L16_2_21_02.exe and it worked just fine. However, I realized the player needs to reboot 2-3 times and when it did, it lost connection with the machine, so I had to disconnect the cable and connect it back again and it was picked up. If it doesn't, check if it is still selected on the devices>usb menu and try again.]
PS: Inside the Creative Zen Micro link, there are also 2 older drivers in there - I didn't test them.
References: https://www.reddit.com/ipod/comments/18e1698/creative_zen_micro_upgraded_from_5gb_hdd_to_a/ https://www.instructables.com/Upgrade-the-Zen-Micro-5gb-to-8gb-on-the-Cheap/ www.youtube.com/watch?v=VERkcCTJFyI https://www.intowindows.com/how-to-boot-and-install-from-iso-in-virtualbox/

Without a VM (native Windows XP running on a modern computer)

^Soon.

Brought my car in for service last week and got 90k maintenance and two batteries replaced. The main battery and aux battery had been very low for a while and I was getting low battery warnings on my dash for over a year, figured now was the time to finally fix it.
Got my car back and only made a couple small trips with it and yesterday afternoon it wouldn't start (I drove it twice earlier in the day). Let it sit for a while and tried again, nothing. Tried to jump, nothing. The car asks me to hold down the ignition button and the dash gives me a message about "start in progress". I can head clicking from the engine but nothing turns. Now I see low battery warnings again.
Had it towed to the dealer and they say it's a bad starter and they want $1300 to replace it. I just paid $1200 for service last week so not thrilled to pay the same again so soon. I also don't entirely trust that this is just coincidence. Some quick searching says it could be a short somewhere or something else electrical related, and not the starter. Any thoughts?
Details:

• 2015 S60 T6 Plat - 84k miles
• Ran fine with the low batteries for over a year. Auto stop/start didn't work anymore, but I never liked that anyway so it was fine by me.
• New batteries were installed, I drove for a few days and now I get low battery warning again and the ignition just makes a small hum and clicks until I let go of the button.
• Interior lights and dash all seem to work, so there is at least some power
• Tried to jump the car and that didn't work.
• Auto start/stop did not work at first, but yesterday morning it started working again. The issue started yesterday afternoon.
• I noticed that when I try to start the car that the vent fans stop blowing and the navigation screen goes black. Don't recall if that usually happens, I never think about it if so.

Questions:

• Assuming it is the starter, $1300 seems like a stupid amount of money. I think the part is around $200-500? What would a decent price be to replace it?
• I'm not great with DIY, but would I be able to replace the starter at home? (I can do tires and brakes).
• Any tests I should ask the dealer to perform or guide their troubleshooting based on the above?
• Any other guidance is appreciated, thanks!
• Oh, and if anyone can recommend a independent shop in southern NH, that'd be great!

I’ve been driving a rental Nissan Altima since my car was wrecked and I’m starting to fall in love with it.
I’ve always leaned Toyota or Honda but the Altima seems to have a positive safety and reliability track record so I’m starting to shift to looking at Nissans. It’s a good size and it handles well and is comfortable.
The Nissan kicks is compact and cute (and comes in fun colors) but it hasn’t been around long and I’m worried, specifically, about the Nissan CVT transmission they come with. Altimas also come with this but they at least have a history to look at.
Nissan feels more budget friendly as compared to Toyota. I’m being indecisive and I’m a little stuck. I don’t know specifically what I’m asking here.
I’m looking for any and all opinions regarding Nissan Altimas, kicks, Corolla cross over, and Camry.

I’ve had this car for a few years now and this has never happened. I was driving fine for an hour and suddenly when I was at a red light, the car started choking and wanting to give out.
Replaced my car battery recently and now my fob keeps coming undetected but thinking maybe that has to be changed too. Have always put premium, been a few occasions throughout the years someone else has put regular gas. No codes shooting out.
185k mileage.
Hoping it’s spark plugs or cleaning the maf sensor? I haven’t had them changed out in a very long time, found some on Amazon with coil packs that was fairly priced. Thoughts?
IgnitionDoctor Iridium Spark Plugs and Coil Packs of 6 Combo Compatible with 2007-2020 Select Infiniti EX35, FX35, Q50, QX60 & Nissan Altima, Maxima, Murano V6 2.5L 3.5L UF550 5C1727 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08YYRH3DB?psc=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_ud_ct_E18KN6VGDER4CNXP4B31&language=en_US

I have a 2013 Nissan Altima Coupe with 135k miles on it. I just upgraded to a 2024 CCH and I need to sell the Altima because the dealership only offered me $100 for the trade in and said they could only scrap it.
I plan on being 100% transparent. The title itself is clear, but it was considered totaled by the first owners insurance company. I have the Carfax to post with it. It had 29k miles at the time it was totaled. There was no front end damage (it was T-Boned).
I have not had to do anything other than routine maintenance since I bought the car.
It has an exhaust leak that seems to be a bad gasket under the hood based on sound alone. There are no codes or engine lights on. There are a good bit of cosmetic issues.
KBB is $1,500-$3,000 for my car in poor condition.
With the salvaged hit on the carfax I’m not sure what I should try and get for it.
I’d love to hear opinions or tips for selling!

I gave it the prompt: "write a super long essay on why the lobotomy trend is the funniest thing to happen in the Geometry Dash community (lobotomy in this case mostly consists of people using the Geometry Dash level editor to make distorted versions of Geometry Dash levels, and having the difficulty face icons yell short sentences like "fire in the hole", "water on the hill", "shadows from the grave", "rock on the ground", "air detected", "area confirmed" etc. With "fire in the hole" being the most popular one. This happened after RobTop Games taking 7 years to release the long awaited 2.2 update for Geometry Dash.)"
It responded with this nonsense: "Title: The Hilarity of Lobotomy: A Humorous Analysis of the Geometry Dash Community's Response to the Long-Awaited 2.2 Update
Introduction:
In the dynamic and ever-evolving world of gaming, communities often find unique and unexpected ways to express their excitement, frustration, and creativity. The Geometry Dash community, renowned for its passionate and inventive player base, experienced a particularly amusing phenomenon following the release of the long-awaited 2.2 update by RobTop Games. This phenomenon, dubbed "lobotomy," involves players utilizing the game's level editor to create distorted versions of Geometry Dash levels, accompanied by hilariously absurd difficulty face icons uttering short, nonsensical phrases. This essay aims to delve into why the lobotomy trend became one of the funniest occurrences in the Geometry Dash community, examining its origins, characteristics, and the underlying humor that captivated players worldwide.
Origins of Lobotomy:
The genesis of the lobotomy trend can be traced back to the anticipation and subsequent release of the 2.2 update for Geometry Dash. RobTop Games, the developer behind the wildly popular rhythm-based platformer, kept fans waiting for seven long years before unveiling the much-awaited update. As excitement reached a fever pitch within the community, players eagerly anticipated new features, levels, and enhancements promised by the developer.
However, the prolonged wait and heightened expectations inevitably led to a mix of emotions among players upon the update's release. While many were thrilled with the new content and improvements, others found themselves grappling with a sense of surrealism and absurdity surrounding the update's delayed arrival. It was within this climate of anticipation and catharsis that the lobotomy trend emerged as a humorous outlet for expressing both jubilation and bemusement.
Characteristics of Lobotomy:
Lobotomy levels within Geometry Dash exhibit distinct characteristics that set them apart from traditional gameplay experiences. These levels are characterized by their distorted layouts, unconventional design elements, and, most notably, the inclusion of difficulty face icons that emit short, nonsensical phrases. The phrases, ranging from the absurdly comical ("fire in the hole") to the downright bizarre ("shadows from the grave"), serve as a whimsical commentary on the heightened emotions and anticipation surrounding the 2.2 update.
Furthermore, lobotomy levels often incorporate elements of surrealism and randomness, challenging players' expectations and subverting traditional gameplay conventions. This departure from the norm contributes to the overall humor and absurdity of the lobotomy trend, as players navigate through levels filled with unexpected obstacles and nonsensical audio cues.
Humor in Lobotomy:
The humor inherent in lobotomy levels stems from a combination of factors, including their absurdity, unpredictability, and satirical commentary on the gaming community's collective experience. By juxtaposing familiar gameplay mechanics with nonsensical phrases and distorted visuals, lobotomy levels subvert players' expectations and invite them to embrace the absurdity of the gaming experience.
Moreover, the widespread popularity of the lobotomy trend within the Geometry Dash community speaks to the universal appeal of humor as a means of coping with anticipation, disappointment, and frustration. In a gaming landscape often characterized by intense competition and high stakes, lobotomy levels offer players a lighthearted respite from the pressures of achieving high scores and completing challenging levels.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the lobotomy trend represents a humorous and inventive response to the long-awaited 2.2 update for Geometry Dash. By distorting traditional gameplay elements and incorporating nonsensical phrases, lobotomy levels capture the absurdity and excitement surrounding the gaming community's collective experience. Through their surrealism and unpredictability, lobotomy levels invite players to embrace the humor inherent in the gaming experience and find joy in the unexpected. As players continue to create and share lobotomy levels within the Geometry Dash community, the legacy of this hilarious phenomenon is sure to endure, serving as a testament to the creativity and camaraderie that define the world of gaming."
God it's so terrible. I'm sorry.

https://minimalfreaks.co/2024/05/techno-raw-deep-hypnotic-top-100-may-2024/

1. Bailey Ibbs – Manic Room (Original Mix) 05:24 142bpm 6A
2. Hurdslenk – Futures (Original Mix) 05:20 138bpm 8B
3. Marcal – Steady (Original Mix) 04:48 140bpm 11B
4. Len Faki – Sexuality (My Reality) (Hardspace Mix) 06:26 140bpm 6B
5. Vinicius Honorio, Theo Nasa – Endless Love (Original Mix) 05:10 140bpm 12B
6. Avision – Hold No Groove (Original Mix) 05:56 128bpm 10B
7. Altinbas – Tide (Original Mix) 05:00 142bpm 11B
8. Hertz – Timballe (Original Mix) 06:04 138bpm 4A
9. OFF / GRID – Step Back (Original Mix) 04:57 143bpm 11B
10. Mark Reeve, KLØSET – Floor Filler (Original Mix) 05:42 140bpm 10A
11. Uncertain – Maniac (Vocal) 05:04 141bpm 7A
12. Robert Hood – Alpha Key (Original Mix) 06:07 137bpm 12A
13. Woo York – Atlantis (Original Mix) 06:12 126bpm 8B
14. Dustin Zahn – Temporary Vandalism (Original Mix) 06:12 137bpm 2A
15. Rene Wise – Caging Green (Original Mix) 05:43 135bpm 1A
16. Rene Wise – Escaping Siro (Original Mix) 06:22 135bpm 8B
17. Hemka – Fragrance (Original Mix) 05:01 141bpm 3B
18. Axel Karakasis – Enchanted (Original Mix) 06:25 141bpm 7A
19. Rene Wise – Dry Beetle (Original Mix) 06:02 134bpm 4A
20. Hertz – Go Back (Original Mix) 06:08 138bpm 8A
21. MarAxe – Feels Like (Original Mix) 05:45 141bpm 9A
22. Chlär – Dopamine Rush (Original Mix) 05:39 144bpm 2B
23. Gary Beck – Fold (Original Mix) 05:02 140bpm 3A
24. Axel Karakasis – Wave Cruising (Original Mix) 05:54 142bpm 6A
25. Flug – Hypenorance (Original Mix) 07:14 137bpm 12B
26. Shlomi Aber – Saver (Original Mix) 05:00 142bpm 9A
27. Sonic Propaganda – Native (Original Mix) 05:23 144bpm 11B
28. Len Faki – Make Me Scream (Amotik Remix) 05:51 137bpm 1A
29. Altinbas – Rivers (Original Mix) 05:47 138bpm 7B
30. Ned Bennett – Carnival Revival (Original Mix) 04:43 145bpm 9A
31. NØRBAK – Teste (Original Mix) 05:22 137bpm 11B
32. Ned Bennett – Navigation (Original Mix) 04:53 146bpm 4B
33. Mark Broom, Gene Richards Jr – Elephant Bones (Original Mix) 04:34 140bpm 4A
34. Hurdslenk – Jugular (Original Mix) 04:52 138bpm 5A
35. Exos – Ds4br (Original Mix) 05:32 145bpm 4A
36. Absolet – Close Encounter (Original Mix) 05:41 144bpm 11B
37. Shlomi Aber – The Untold (Original Mix) 05:32 139bpm 3A
38. Axel Karakasis – Wiring Harness (Original Mix) 05:57 106bpm 8B
39. Filterheadz – Seatle (Original Mix) 06:20 138bpm 12A
40. Vinicius Honorio – Stabbed In The Heart (Original Mix) 05:13 137bpm 10A
41. DJ Dextro – Idade das Perguntas (Original Mix) 05:19 145bpm 6A
42. Amotik, Tina Ramamurthy – Chauhattar feat. Tina Ramamurthy (Original Mix) 08:06 136bpm 3A
43. The Southern – Particle (Original Mix) 05:58 142bpm 11B
44. Phara – High Lows (Original Mix) 05:42 140bpm 8A
45. Phara – Rhythm Sticks (Original Mix) 05:56 140bpm 8A
46. Axel Karakasis – Good Move (Original Mix) 05:36 139bpm 5A
47. Gustavo Bassani – Liquid Cave (Original Mix) 05:09 145bpm 1B
48. Slam – Exhibit 1 (BØHM & The Unborn Child Remix) 06:45 138bpm 9A
49. Harvey McKay – Hypnotics (Original Mix) 05:14 138bpm 7A
50. Regent – Occult (Original Mix) 06:24 72bpm 11B
51. Ramon Tapia – Saturated Mind (Original Mix) 06:11 136bpm 6A
52. PAGANO – Zelig (Original Mix) 06:15 135bpm 4A
53. Red Rooms – Cypher (Original Mix) 05:00 142bpm 12B
54. Vinicius Honorio, Theo Nasa – Endless Love (Hardspace, Len Faki Remix) 05:22 140bpm 8A
55. Shabaam, Aladarus – Colossal (Original Mix) 05:50 136bpm 6B
56. Christian Smith – Right Now! (Original Mix) 04:31 139bpm 10A
57. Adoo – After Six Years (Original Mix) 06:22 138bpm 5A
58. Pfirter – Access (Original Mix) 05:44 140bpm 11A
59. Mark Broom, Gene Richards Jr – Average (Original Mix) 04:02 141bpm 5A
60. ANNĒ – Moon Lander (Original Mix) 05:00 109bpm 7A
61. DJ Dextro – Eon (Original Mix) 05:26 142bpm 9A
62. Jonas Kopp, Staffan Linzatti – 1.CO.LAB 009 A (Original Mix) 04:19 137bpm 12B
63. Deas – Flux (Original Mix) 05:40 137bpm 3A
64. Flug – Against The Limits (Rave Mix) 06:28 141bpm 7B
65. Len Faki – Shri Yantra (Luke Slater Deep Heat Remix) 06:54 138bpm 6A
66. Keith Carnal – Altruism (Original Mix) 06:16 140bpm 2B
67. EFESIAN – The Smoke (Extended Mix) 05:05 145bpm 3A
68. DJ Dextro – Mind Changes (Original Mix) 05:23 143bpm 12B
69. Axel Karakasis – Plaster (Original Mix) 05:32 140bpm 7A
70. Mark Broom, Gene Richards Jr – Track 1 (Original Mix) 04:28 89bpm 9A
71. Red Rooms – Konichiwa (Original Mix) 05:20 145bpm 5B
72. Stef Mendesidis – Kraken (Original Mix) 06:00 145bpm 5B
73. Drunken Kong – Bliss (Original Mix) 05:01 134bpm 8B
74. Len Faki – Astra (Len Faki Beat Room Mix) 05:16 68bpm 8A
75. Hertz – Go Back (Raw Mix) 05:26 138bpm 8A
76. Hertz – Loop Me (Original Mix) 05:20 104bpm 7A
77. Hertz – Baby (Original Mix) 05:20 138bpm 6B
78. ERR0 – Dicotomia (Original Mix) 05:30 144bpm 9A
79. Ned Bennett – B-Side Loops (Original Mix) 04:37 140bpm 11B
80. Jancen – Vertex (Original Mix) 06:25 142bpm 12B
81. Levzon – Intense (Original Mix) 05:20 144bpm 9B
82. Drumcell, Luis Flores – Stuck In My Mind (Truncate Remix) 05:15 89bpm 1B
83. NØRBAK – Sopro (Original Mix) 05:43 137bpm 8A
84. Jay York – Agresiva (Original Mix) 05:49 142bpm 8A
85. Elyas, Anta – Real 13130 G’s (Ben Sims Remix) 05:32 141bpm 9A
86. ANNĒ – Rootstock (Original Mix) 04:59 142bpm 6A
87. Temudo – The Ecosystem Track (Original Mix) 05:51 138bpm 11A
88. The Southern – Memories (Original Mix) 05:22 144bpm 11B
89. Louisahhh, Man Power – We Trawl The Hurts (Deetron Drum and Bass) 04:52 67bpm 1B
90. Keith Carnal – Cynicism (Original Mix) 06:10 140bpm 11A
91. OFF / GRID – For the Mind (Original Mix) 05:11 142bpm 1A
92. Maccari – Speeding (Original Mix) 05:07 144bpm 1A
93. Inox Traxx – In My Darkness (Original Mix) 05:13 138bpm 7A
94. Philippe Petit – Compatibility (Original Mix) 06:07 138bpm 12A
95. Funk Assault – That’s the Funk Assault (Original Mix) 04:01 144bpm 9A
96. Dax J – Ares (Original Mix) 05:10 144bpm 2B
97. Rene Wise – Lonely Singing (Original Mix) 06:30 133bpm 11B
98. ASEC – Equus (Original Mix) 05:35 143bpm 10B
99. Coyu – Lights Out (Original Mix) 06:21 142bpm 2A
100. Kr!z – Surge (Original Mix) 04:36 140bpm 6B

https://minimalfreaks.co/2024/05/trance-raw-deep-hypnotic-top-100-may-2024/

1. Luke Alessi, Chloé Caillet – 12 Inch Acid (Original Mix) 06:34 132bpm 10B
2. Demi Riquísimo – Windows 95 Anthem (Chloé Caillet Remix) 06:54 135bpm 3B
3. Protoculture – States Of Flux (Extended Mix) 07:38 126bpm 8A
4. Sasha – Fleuron Drift (Theo Kottis Remix) 06:49 130bpm 7B
5. Estiva – Via Infinita (Marsh Extended Remix) 06:34 128bpm 11A
6. Pico Boulevard – Oblivion (Enlusion Remix) 10:18 128bpm 4A
7. Duderstadt – Muhanjala (Dylhen Extended Remix) 07:00 124bpm 5A
8. Ruben Karapetyan – Meteorite (Jerome Isma-Ae Remix) 06:29 124bpm 10B
9. Dj Rafis – X Ponential Life (Original Mix) 08:12 132bpm 11A
10. Nomas, Deestopia – Avantgarde (Extended Mix) 07:03 127bpm 8A
11. Breeder – Tyrantanic (Freedo Mosho & Maze 28 Remix) 07:50 122bpm 8B
12. Airwave – Alexanderplatz (Extended Mix) 07:57 132bpm 8B
13. Airod – Meet Me In The Club (Original Mix) 05:27 145bpm 6A
14. X-Coast – Marathon Man (Extended) 04:42 138bpm 9B
15. Airwave – The Principles of Forgiveness (Extended Mix) 07:36 128bpm 12A
16. Fuenka – Foundation (Basil O’Glue & Nomas Extended Remix) 07:58 126bpm 6A
17. Protoculture – Starfield (Extended Mix) 06:50 126bpm 9B
18. Solee – On the Other Side (Original Mix) 06:43 124bpm 4A
19. Aldonna – The Empress’ Acid Line (Alex Kassian Remix) 07:58 133bpm 5B
20. Der Dritte Raum – Trommelmaschine (2024 Remastered Version) 06:40 135bpm 10B
21. Spray (IE) – Ceathair (Original) 05:29 135bpm 1B
22. Airwave – Asteroids (Extended Mix) 06:31 128bpm 9B
23. Stu McNally – Innerversions (Extended Mix) 08:09 124bpm 5A
24. Pico Boulevard – Oblivion (Original Mix) 12:27 127bpm 7B
25. Maruwa – Need It (Original Mix) 05:02 135bpm 7B
26. Airwave – I’m Not Rank 1 (Extended Mix) 07:37 128bpm 2A
27. Baldo, Third Son – This Is Your Brain on Music (Original Mix) 05:06 132bpm 12B
28. Catz ‘n Dogz – Rave History (Maruwa Remix) 06:34 137bpm 6B
29. Clint – Exosphere (Dance Mix) 07:32 132bpm 6B
30. Clint – Exosphere (Main Mix) 09:05 135bpm 6A
31. Ormus – Nahual (Extended Mix) 07:13 125bpm 6B
32. Elfenberg – Cosmic Debris (Original Mix) 08:00 114bpm 11B
33. Airwave – The World vs Spotify (Extended Mix) 05:26 132bpm 9A
34. Regent – Aphid Riot (Original Mix) 05:50 144bpm 7A
35. Vladimir Dubyshkin – glucose guardian (Original Mix) 05:10 140bpm 7A
36. Indira Paganotto – Requiem (Extended Mix) 06:10 145bpm 6B
37. Spray (IE) – Ratenplan (Original Mix) 06:10 136bpm 7A
38. Alpha Tracks, KI/KI – To Nights (KI/KI Remix) 06:03 148bpm 7A
39. Suki, Sniper1 – Purple Haze (Original Mix) 07:17 136bpm 5B
40. Blanca Ross – Interfered AI (Original Mix) 06:13 135bpm 11B
41. Lena Storm – Affection (Original Mix) 06:55 128bpm 1B
42. Fuenka – Sirius (Anunnakis Extended Remix) 07:02 125bpm 9A
43. YU-1 – Black Sky (Extended Mix) 06:44 124bpm 2B
44. IZRAELL – Tornado of Soul (Fher Vizzuett Remix) 06:44 124bpm 12B
45. Elfenberg – Horses for Courses (Original Mix) 05:36 132bpm 7B
46. Spray (IE) – OT Rails (Original) 06:15 134bpm 3A
47. Sekta – Sequence Start (Extended Mix) 04:37 145bpm 9A
48. Abdul Raeva – Navigator 3000 (Original Mix) 06:48 130bpm 11B
49. Cosmic Gate – Mirador (Extended Mix) 07:24 126bpm 5A
50. Wilt, Jeff The Fool – Jericho (Original Mix) 04:45 133bpm 5B
51. Clint – Alpine Breaks (Alex Kassian Remix) 07:49 131bpm 2B
52. Viper (Trance) – Simulation (Original Mix) 06:30 70bpm 11B
53. Elfenberg – Without Further A Dude (Original Mix) 06:04 136bpm 10A
54. Wolk – Strong Enough (Extended Mix) 07:22 150bpm 6A
55. F-Act, Allan McLoud – Another Day (Original Mix) 06:51 127bpm 11A
56. Macker – Arrakis (Original Mix) 09:06 130bpm 5A
57. Baldo – Ride the Night (Alex Neri Remix) 06:43 130bpm 9B
58. Pico Boulevard – The Moon and Back (Extended Mix) 07:50 128bpm 4A
59. Pablo Gargano – The Breeze (Original Mix) 06:52 124bpm 8A
60. Christian Nielsen – Let Me Go (Luke Alessi Remix) 06:17 130bpm 7B
61. Neither Nor – Immaterial (Original Mix) 04:43 152bpm 7A
62. Sashtek – Hidden Pyramids (Extended Mix) 05:22 134bpm 7B
63. Santiago Luna – Combustion (Extended Mix) 05:20 128bpm 11B
64. Demi Riquísimo – The Force (Original Mix) 04:36 130bpm 5A
65. TODDZ – Move Your Body (Original Mix) 05:43 130bpm 8A
66. Introspecto – Fragments (Original Mix) 07:39 128bpm 5B
67. Anetha – Terraphoria (Original Mix) 05:35 147bpm 10A
68. Joel Bird – Existentialism (Extended Mix) 08:55 149bpm 4A
69. Peppe Amore – Cassa Dritta (Original Mix) 05:47 150bpm 5B
70. Alex Neri, Mennie – Rockets (Original Mix) 05:58 128bpm 8A
71. Basil O’Glue, Nomas, Calantha – Edgerunners (Extended Mix) 06:20 128bpm 4A
72. Daniel Lesden, Enlusion – Dark Entity (Hypnotic Mix) 07:57 130bpm 12A
73. Partiboi69 – Playin’ (Original Mix) 05:24 134bpm 6A
74. B FROM E – Amnesia (Original Mix) 06:15 132bpm 1B
75. Ovnimoon – Feel on Me (Original Mix) 10:33 133bpm 5B
76. Fuenka – Synnax (Extended Mix) 06:58 125bpm 8B
77. Pig&Dan – Fusion (Original Mix) 07:29 133bpm 6A
78. Bliss Inc – Higher, Vision (Original Mix) 07:30 67bpm 4B
79. KI/KI – To the vibe (rework) (Original Mix) 07:36 148bpm 3B
80. KI/KI – Leave it to the vibe (Original Mix) 06:58 145bpm 3B
81. Mac Declos – Trust Your Eyes (Original Mix) 05:34 152bpm 8B
82. Nordic Echoes – Ice Giant (Original Mix) 07:13 142bpm 7B
83. Intuition – Arcana 17 (Original Mix) 06:04 150bpm 5A
84. Ormus – Ometeotl (Original Mix) 07:00 125bpm 11B
85. Obie Fernandez, KNBI – Concentration (Extended Mix) 06:56 125bpm 6B
86. Demi Riquísimo – The Force (Spray Remix) 05:25 138bpm 12A
87. YU-1 – Transformer (Extended Mix) 07:17 124bpm 3A
88. Ayu, Alfred Czital – Body High (Original) 05:48 140bpm 8B
89. Olsvangèr – Bubble Toy (Original Mix) 06:30 136bpm 6A
90. Olsvangèr – Grand Slammin’ (Original Mix) 07:38 87bpm 7B
91. NairLess – Dazzling Fantasy (Jex Opolis Remix) (Jex Opolis Remix) 06:11 67bpm 12B
92. Freedom Fighters, Modus (ISR), Uncharted Territory – Odyssey (Original Mix) 05:01 140bpm 12B
93. Rosa Red – Rhapsody (Known Artist Remix) 05:11 132bpm 8B
94. Ben Prophet – Siberia (Extended Mix) 04:52 145bpm 12A
95. Basil O’Glue – Affinity Space (Original Mix) 06:25 126bpm 5B
96. UCast, Kamelon, CLAVIR – Escape (Extended Mix) 07:12 124bpm 8A
97. Baraka, Spray (IE) – Think of Me (Original) 06:28 140bpm 8B
98. Cosmic Gate – am2pm (Anunnakis Extended Remix) 06:19 124bpm 4B
99. Match Box – Midnight (Bliss Inc. Remix) 07:00 138bpm 11B
100. Chris Flannigan – First To Say Goodbye (Original Mix) 04:24 145bpm 12A

My wife and I are road tripping on a budget this summer through the US (NC, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Florida) for 10+ days. We’ll be wild camping a couple nights in national parks but should stay on well-made roads. Whilst looking at cars to rent over that period, all the cars below are relatively the same price:
Toyota Camry Toyota Corolla Hyundai Elantra Nissan Altima Volkswagen Jetta Chevy Malibu Ford F-150 - 2 doors
Which one should I rent ? The most important aspect for us is MPG and road/seat comfort. We’re travelling relatively light so boot size is not a problem. As we’re going up a couple hills, off-road ability is a plus but not essential.
Thank you for your answer!!!

FIRST CHAPTER
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
This product is a fanfic of the Sexy Space Babes/Between Worlds product of u/Bluefishcake and one I highly suggest you read. It was created with permission, but give the OG works some love.
Imgr gallery of Comissioned and Fan Artworks
I'm Back Bitches! Again!
//////////
Junior Systems Engineer First Class Che’keero knelt before a semi-sparking control panel and sighed. She, and a large band of her fellow Engineers with Marine support, had boarded the pirate frigate with the singular goal of ensuring that the pirates didn’t scuttle their floating hulk and doom the slaves aboard to a, if they were lucky, a swift death in space.
The problem, of course, came with the pirate’s maintenance schedules and decisions to forgo certain… safety measures when it came to repair.
Like the panel before her. Usually a perfectly functional control system for the reverse-magnetic bulkhead doors that ensured void seals in power outages, some pirate at some point in their dumb, dumb life decided to fix the panel blowing a fuse… by ripping the fuse out and replacing it with a high density power cable. Which meant the entire thing was one massive shock hazard and actively sparking as the reactors deep in the ship flickered and surged due to damage.
Che’keero swore as an arc of electricity flashed towards her face after a tool that was not supposed to be magnetized, cheap dick WaDepth requisitions, caught a magnetic field, fusing the entire system shut and turning the formerly barely functional control system into nothing but pretty, decorative wiring and cheap solder. She punched the now utterly unfunctional control box and toggled on her radio. “Three-Two to Three-Lead, this door’s fried. You’ll need to bring in the cutters if we want to get to the rest of the ship. Might as well also bring in an inflatable airlock, I’m not liking how some of the metal strain sensors are flashing at me.”
A semi-synthetic voice replied back to Che’keero, “Three-Lead copies. I’ll be over there shortly with the stuff. Double check those sensors, I’m not getting the same readings, so let’s make sure something isn’t blocking errors from reaching me.”
“Copy that Three-Lead, Three-Two ou-” Something tapped against the back of her helmet and Junior Systems Engineer First Class Che’keero mentally swore.
“Now, now, lassie, how about you sit right there and don’t move.” A nasally, unfamiliar voice called out to her while tapping what a camera she set up to watch her back revealed to be a laser pistol to Che’keero’s helmet. “I think that you’re going to be our new best friend and way off this dead end ship.”
Che’keero paused, letting the situation settle in her mind, “Wait, what? Are… are you taking me hostage?”
“Yes!” The pirate replied.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why are you taking me hostage? This won’t work, none of the shuttles are jump capable and if you try anything, you’ll just end up jumped by marines. They specifically train to deal with pirates taking their engineers hostage. If you want to survive, you should just surrender and take the penal colony when it’s offered.” Che’keero mentioned, shrugging and continuing her inspection of the door.
The pirate seemed baffled at the sheer nonchalance of this response, the pistol slowly falling to merely point at her upper back instead of her head, “You… you really aren’t taking this seriously. I’m a pirate! I’ve killed people! I’ve killed boys, and you’re just sitting there like this doesn’t mean anything!”
“I mean… I wouldn’t say that.” Che’keero replied.
“THEN WHAT DO YOU MEAN!” The pirate screamed, the pistol moving away from Che’keero’s body by a fraction of an inch during an angry gesture.
It was at that point, a ceramic alloyed, carbon steel blade punched clean through the back of the pirate’s suit, slicing through their central nervous system and striking with enough force to shatter the faceplate of said pirate’s helmet on the way out. Muscles twitching, the laser pistol fired off randomly, missing Che’keero and slagging a chunk of bulkhead.
“I’m just buying time,” Che’keero replied cheekily.
“You really need to remember to check your cameras,” The semi-synthetic voice of Ventures Forth Bravely Into Great Unknowns commented as the ex-pirate fell to the ground and blue blood dripped from the long blade sprouting from her right arm and a toolbox hanging from her left hand. “This isn’t the first time you have been flanked, and this one wasn’t during training.”
“Look, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” Che’keero replied a bit testily.
“I’m sorry…” Ventures Forth prodded.
“I’m sorry, Ma’am.”
“Much better. Right, now what do we see in this- yeah you were right on it being fried.” Ventures Forth gently shoved the Junior Systems Engineer aside and took her place at the control panel. “Do a sweep of the strain systems. I don’t want this section of the ship breaking apart. Feel free to call up our hull patches. We’ve got plenty to share and this might have to be a lifeboat.”
“Aye, ma’am aye,” Che’keero replied with a crisp salute before rushing off to her duty.
Deeper inside the ship, Ventures Forth could hear laser fire, clashing of metal on metal, and cries for help.
The pirate ship was doomed, it was shattered and broken, but it was not destroyed. Not yet. \
And if she had her way, Ventures Forth Bravely Into Great Unknowns would keep it that way.
//////////
Roshal stood still as her steward continued to clean the dark blue and rapidly congealing blood off her armored form. “Comms,” She called out, “Do we have any contact with the shuttle we sent to the station?”
“Negative, ma’am.” The comm officer replied. She wasn’t the same one that was present when Roshal left to fend off the boarders. At the unspoken question, the woman continued “Communication’s Mate Second Class Lev’tal, ma’am. My superior got a concussion when the pirate ship rocked our ship during boarding. Strap snapped, prior damage. I took over.”
Roshal nodded approvingly, “Good initiative. Send a message to the station, see if we can’t rai-”
“Ma’am! Contact!” One of her sensor techs called out, “Belay that, two contacts. First contact, nav point 782 spinward, possible bogey, cruiser weight. Unknown movements. Second contact, nav point 102 coreward, aerospace assets inbound. Small flight. Hard to determine numbers due to damage. No less than two, no more than five.”
“Focus on getting a hard contact on that possible cruiser. Weapons, what is the status of our anti-aerospace.” Roshal demanded, holding her sword arm out for the steward to scrub at a particularly clotted chunk of blood splattered over her wrist.
The weapons officer shook her head, “If we’re lucky, then we’ve got 20% coverage on half our sides. If we’re very lucky, I might be able to bump that number up to 35%. Not going to quote doctrine, but that’s not nearly enough to fend off a flight of Aerospace assets on a strike run, and that’s assuming they don’t hit us on an unprotected flank.”
Roshal nodded once more, “Sound general quarters and get weapons and tactical back online. Tell the damage control parties to not be distracted and focus on critical systems first. Engine room, report. Can you give me maneuvering thrust?”
The nearby ship phone chimed in with a staticy hiss, “Negative, ma’am. The shot we made with the spinal mount tripped breakers up and down the reactor room. This isn’t an engine problem, we need to make sure our reactor doesn’t blow up when we siphon power. Before you ask, emergency power is still flowing and none of their circuits tripped, but that means we’re down to life support, basic systems, and dockyard thrusters. It will take at least 20 to get the reactor in a safe state. If you want 10, send the chaplain down so we have someone praying for good luck. The fact most of our structural engineers are doing an EVA boarding to ensure the pirate ship next to us doesn’t go critical and render the entire exercise moot isn’t helping matters at all.” The engine room replied Roshal bit down a bit of annoyance at the snark, but engineers were always a finicky sort with authority. They were the first to remind uptight officers that while the Captain’s word may be iron law, it was their work that truly moved the ship.
“Confirmed, engine room.” Roshal instead replied. “Chaplains will be arriving shortly. Do what you can and inform me when you’re three minutes out from full power.”
The engine room didn’t even bother replying, just sending over the affirmative light as they got to work. Roshal approved of that. Sometimes, you just had to insult someone in order to get it working right.
“Captain, we have confirmation on contact. He’s an Alliance Karcharidon class Heavy Cruiser on intercept course. Energy readings are spiking… they’re charging their guns, ma’am!”
“Issue a hostile challenge and give me a firing solution with any gun still functional.”
“No response, ma’am. Hostile Karcharidon is increasing speed. Hard contact in 15 minutes.”
Roshal snarled, emotion breaking through her mask. “Of course, the pirates had one more vessel. Helm, fire our maneuvering thrusters, use the pirate hulk as cover. Weapons, get whoever’s left of our Interceptor flight to engage the enemy. Comms, get me in contact with the merchant fleet, tell them to evacuate. We’ll provide cover.”
“Aye ma’am.” The Communications Mate Second Class said with a shiver in her voice. “Sending-”
“Update on Aerospace assets!” Her sensor tech called out.
“Deliver!” Roshal demanded, cutting off the comms officer with a slice of her hand.
“Weapons fire. Definitely less than four contacts. Seems to be two grou- negative, only two contacts remaining- weaponsfire- one contac- IFF received, oh goddesses, IT’S RUNOFF THREE! FRIENDLY AEROSPACE INBOUND!”
//////////
Milk gripped her crash harness hard as Cookie slammed the Interceptor’s fusion torch clean past its safe thrust marker and into the red as g forces crushed her chest. “Last target down.” She reported after Cookie’s final laser burst hit something critical inside the final Aerospace fighter’s frame. “That’s 20 for 20. All enemy bogeys down. All standard munitions are in the black. Static drive is 48%, dump core ejected. All we’ve got left is our ASM and front laser.”
Cookie flashed back an affirmative signal.
“We going for that cruiser?”
Another affirmative.
“Well, I’m braced and ready on the release. Ready.”
“Ready.” Cookie spoke, his voice horse.
It’s funny what people think when their lives are on the line. Because charging towards a fresh enemy Heavy Cruiser, nothing but a single anti-shipping missile worth a damn, no allied support but the faint glimmer in IFF screens of their fellow flight doing the same… all Aoibhinn McDermott could think of was a poem she had read at least a decade ago or more at the Naval Academy.
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the Valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
//////////
Ventures Forth Bravely Into Great Unknowns could do nothing but furiously swear as the basic sensor system her engineering team had restored on the thoroughly ventilated secondary command bridge of the pirate hulk revealed an enemy Heavy Cruiser bearing down upon their homeship.
“Weapons are trashed. We cored their reactor, anyway.” One of the tangential engineers reported, “Other teams are calling in. Things are worse where they are. We’ve found the slaves, though, luckily it was one of the few airtight bays. Also, have some more captives, but that really doesn’t matter right now.”
“No shit.” Ventures Forth replied, “Can we do anything?”
The engineer looked back to her, visor depolarizing so the Gearschilde can look into the black and yellow eyes of her Shil coworker.
“Pray.” The woman replied simply.
Ventures Forth Bravely Into Great Unknowns did just that.
//////////
Low chanting filled the engine bay as a small group of priests stood around the engine praying to whichever god that would listen to allow them one more shot. One more fight.
Around them, black handed engineers scurried, ripping out blown fuses and replacing them with soldered in high strength wire. A final measure of desperation. Sparks flew as engineers swore and chaplains prayed, power still remaining in circuits needing to be bled out before bypasses could be installed, turning every bit of solder and every ripped out fuse into a deadly gamble.
Already, someone was lying on the ground, no longer twitching.
They didn’t have time to check on their fallen comrade, the work was too important.
A clock ticked down. Four minutes elapsed.
//////////
Lieutenant Commander Cenywyn swore as she watched Runoff 2 die.
Their single Interceptor had mistimed a maneuver and had been caught dead in the middle of an Anti-Aerospace array, shredded in an instant. The only consolation she could take was that, seeing as the first shot went clean through the cockpit, they didn’t even notice they died.
“Runoff 4, stay in formation.” She ordered over the radio, “We’ll lead you in for the run.”
“Yes ma’am.” The hesitant voice of Junior Flight Lieutenant Griogill replied. She swallowed, “We’re- we’re ready when you are.”
“No fear, Lieutenant,” Cenywyn called back to the child she was leading to her death. “We’re pilots in the Imperial Patrol. We do our duty. No fear.”
A clock ticked down. Six minutes elapsed.
//////////
“Talk to me!” The last remaining senior engineer in the reactor bay called out to anyone who was able to reply.
Someone, she didn’t even bother looking to see who, called back “We’ve bypassed 60% of the fuses. Should be able to give ourselves a burst of combat power. No more than 10 minutes of it before the entire system overheats and we either die, or the reactor shuts off.”
“Any chance we can get more than 10 minutes?”
“Not before that Heavy Cruiser delivers us straight to the stars.”
“Fuck it, good enough.” She slammed her fist on the ship phone’s dialing button resting near the console the engineer had just ripped the last safety override out of. “Captain. We’ve got your power. You give us the word, and we’ll give you ten minutes.”
//////////
Roshal breathed in, breathed out, and nodded. 10 minutes of combat power before the entire ship shut down into uselessness. She’d done more with less. She couldn’t remember when, but she had. Luckily, this was a Patrol Carrier instead of a standard ship, so it was more than capable of combat maneuvers with nothing but RCS thrusters. That should give her some time.
Movement, movement was going to be the key.
“Comms, tell the engineering crews on the hulk that they are ordered to figure out anything that could draw the attention of the Heavy Cruiser,” She began, “Systems, break our mooring lines. We’re going to have to split from the hulk. Helm, prepare for maneuvers. RCS only. We are going to have to do this carefully. Engineroom, prepare for power activation, but hold until my command.”
This needs to be perfect, Roshal thought, A single mistimed action ruins it all.
A clock ticked down. Ten minutes elapsed. The Karcharidon had entered maximum weapon’s range.
//////////
He of Slender Tail shivered where he stood. The secondary command bridge was silent as Roshal began giving orders to fight. This was… this was insane.
They were in a ruined ship with nothing but a merchant fleet beginning to flee and a three thirds dead pirate hulk on their side against a fresh Karcharidon class Heavy Cruiser.
They couldn’t win.
This was suicide.
They would die here.
\ So why didn’t He of Slender Tail feel afraid?
He stood at his post, a secondary bridge console where he would relay orders to other departments, freeing up the other Watchkeeper to collate those orders, there was nothing he could do to help win this impossible battle, and yet…
And yet he felt heat blossoming inside his chest with every single order delivered.
“Mooring teamsss, you are to cut your linesss immediately.” He relayed to a crew of Shil scurrying around the ruined bulkheads, “Damage control, prepare for electrical firesss and arcsss.” He commanded, switching between teams instantly.
He didn’t feel fear. He could see his Watchkeeper shiver every time the sensors reported the enemy contact was still closing, but he didn’t feel the same.
What he felt… was indignation.
How dare this pirate scum threaten his vessel, his crew. How dare they ambush this valiant ship after they had fought so hard to win. How dare they.
He let his fangs fold out as he spat the next order, “Anti-Aerossspace teamsss, prepare your batteriesss for grouped fire. Gunnery calculationsss are on their way.”
How dare they stand up to him.
A clock ticked down. 12 minutes elapsed. Weapons fire.
//////////
Roshal swayed slightly as she could feel the ship beneath her feet move. Movement is life in naval warfare, movement is death. “Right RCS fire, bring us clear of the hulk. Bow thrusters, up twenty.”
“Aye, ma’am, aye, right standard and bow up twenty.” The Helmswoman replied.
“Confirmed. Next maneuver, give us rear thrust-”
“Torpedo!” The sensor operator called out in a shrill voice, “Two marks on intercept course! Range, twelve K and closing fast!”
“Decorum!” Roshal snapped at the panicking sensor technician. “Comms, order Runoff flight to divert and intercept those torpedoes. Rear RCS to full, give us momentum.”
Roshal turned away from the bridge as affirmations were shouted, and the ship began to move, “Engineering, prepare to activate combat power on my mark and prepare for hard maneuvers. Mark in five.”
//////////
Griogill swallowed bile and tried not to feel too thankful that the enemy vessel had fired torpedoes at their home ship. Being diverted from an attack run had a much higher chance of survival than striking through an AA bubble.
“Runoff 4 engaging far torpedo. Moving in for intercept. Bre’kas, give me lock.”
Griogill’s backseater muttered something, and a target lock appeared on the far torpedo as Runoff 1, their previous Drill Sergeants, dashed by in a hard burn and blazed away at their own target.
“Right. We can do this. We can do this. No fear.” The rookie muttered as the sight of her friends in Runoff 3 being turned to vapor echoed in her mind. “I can do this.”
The target locked. She fired. The torpedo detonated.
A clock ticked down.
//////////
“Mark in four.”
//////////
The Heavy Cruiser loomed closer as the comparatively tiny Patrol Carrier spat its defiance in the form of two Interceptors dancing between the stars.
As a pair of torpedoes detonated, four more were launched, the anti-shipping weapons built for this specific purpose. Destroying disabled vessels.
And so the last two remaining Interceptors on CAP dove into the fray, risking themselves against an ever approaching AA bubble in order to save their ship.
A clock ticked down.
//////////
“Mark in three.”
//////////
All Cookie could do was stare and push his meager aerospace fighter further on its nuclear thrusters as shimmering dots of torpedoes lanced out from the Heavy Cruiser attacking his new home.
He pushed his hand forward and felt the throttle once more push back against him, the lever pushed all the way past safe thrust and into the further setting on his console.
The Interceptor was fast. It didn’t feel fast enough.
And so he spoke the words he spoke once before, back when he’d had to listen to his backseater’s screams of pain and the rush of wind after shrapnel pierced his fuselage, and the hospital was so, so far away.
Father, I pray that you will not hide your face from me. Whenever I pray, Lord please hear me and answer me speedily in Jesus' name. God, I pray that you will grant me speed through your help.
A clock ticked down.
//////////
“Mark in two.”
//////////
The Heavy Cruiser shifted, engine flaring and it began to close the range. A single disabled ship on emergency RCS thrusters and a pair of Aerospace fighters was nothing it would have to deal with.
It fired a third spread of torpedoes.
A clock ticked down.
//////////
They took the bait. Roshal thought with a vicious grin.
“Mark in one.” She paused, “Execute.”
In an instant, power flowed through the ship, emergency lights flickered off as the burning red boarding lights returned their fiery glow. The entire ship shook as the main thruster came back online, and capacitors began to charge for maneuvers.
“Hard burn, full thrusters, right, on my mark.” Roshal watched as the Heavy Cruiser began to react to her movements, the enemy ship was alive, you needed to roll to broadsides to begin bombardment, come on come on…
Roshal watched as a torpedo flickered out of existence, Runoff 4 gaining another kill.
Come on, dammit, you don’t get put in charge of a Heavy Cruiser without- THERE!
The Heavy Cruiser flinched, turning her bow away from the no longer stricken vessel, preparing for broadside.
The Captain’s grin showed more teeth than smile. “Execute! Full right thrust!”
“Full right thrust! Aye ma’am aye!” Her helmswoman called out as maneuvering thrusters dead cold roared to life and physically threw the vessel to the side, causing everyone not strapped in on the bridge to rock as a barrage of fire flew past their former location, manual targeting systems in play since the automatic systems would still be getting warmed up.
“Full thrust forward, prepare to divert all power to secondary weapons. Weapons, give me a firing solution.” Roshal commanded, hand raised and pointed at the enemy’s display as if she were commanding from a tall ship.
A chant of “Aye ma’am aye” flowed out across the bridge as the weaponsmistress was silent before calling out. “Port side is up to 45% secondary fires and 32% point defense. That’ll be our best bet.”
Roshal nodded. “Make it so. Target their main weapons. Helm, get us that facing.”
“Ma’am. We’re getting a call from Runoff 3. They are entering the AO and are asking for a target.”
Roshal smiled, “Weapons, shift target. Aim for the anti-aerospace systems. Let’s give Runoff 3 the opening they need.”
A clock ticked down.
//////////
“Cookie, we’ve got a targeting path.” Milk called forward. “Putting it up on your HUD.”
“One second… I’ve got it. Moving to comply. Did the Captain give us a plan?” her front seater replied, causing her stomach to do funny things as the Aerospace Fighter maneuvered while under high thrust.
“Something like that. She asked for a munitions report and specifically about our anti-shipping weapon.”
Cookie paused.
“Ah.” He finally said.
“Yeah.” She replied.
“Well, let’s hope they’re able to open us up to a window of opportunity. Or this will be a short charge.”
“Not our place to question why.”
“Just our place to do and die.”
Time to target… three minutes.
Into the valley of Death, rode the six hundred.
A clock ticked down.
//////////
Two vessels, three Aerospace fighters, one chance.
Six minutes of power remained. All actors took their places on the stage.
One hundred kilometers, close enough to check the weld quality of hull seams, the two ships danced across from each other. Maneuvering.
Five minutes of power remained.
The Karcharidon Heavy Cruiser rolled itself trying to keep the vulnerable top deck away from the Patrol Carrier’s presumably still working main gun as Roshal’s vessel jumped to the side. Thrusters roared.
Four minutes of power remained.
Runoff 1 and 4 shot towards their formerly separated comrade, forming up behind them in a wedge. The trio climbed towards the sun as their captain continued to chase and harass the Karcharidon.
Three minutes of power remained.
Roshal spoke. The lances of her vessel fired. Laser blasts carved across the hull of the enemy ship as it rolled.
The rolling ceased. A helmswoman swore as a full broadside caught the Patrol Carrier in the flank. The port hangar pod was ruined, armor shattered and all inside exposed to hard vacuum. Those who could scream died the fastest. The Interceptors had their opening.
Two minutes of power remained.
Silent wings swept through vacuum as three Interceptors began their dive, their formerly speedy arrowhead shape giving way to an inverted t as their wings swept out for stability, the ASF dove and dove and dove.
Five Kilometers away.
The range was too wide. They had one shot. It had to be perfect.
One minute of power remained.
The Into Harm’s Way spat its defiance into the world, limited power drained to give her pilots a seconds more of time.
30 seconds of power remained.
Three Kilometers.
Hard Lock! Milk shouted from the back seat of Runoff 3. Cookie was silent. The range was still too wide.
15 seconds of power remained.
Two Kilometers.
The Karcharidon seemingly began to roll before the Patrol Carrier once more fired, its last remaining weapons spouting their defiance against the world. Deep in engineering, systems began to blow, wires that replaced fuses sparked power and delicate circuit boards shorted out into useless scrap.
The lights went out.
No power remained.
Roshal, in her head, began to count down as lances of light began to sweep across her ship. Damage control did what they could, but the beams began to cut like an overly enthusiastic shipbreaker.
Five.
One Kilometer.
Four.
Cookie’s thumb depressed the firing stud as the Interceptor screamed at him.
Three.
The ASF launched its deadly payload.
Two.
Three Interceptors pulled back hard on their sticks to avoid colliding with the deck.
One.
The thruster of the anti-shipping missile roared as it rocketed the point blank aerospace distance to target.
Impact.
The armor piercing tip of the missile punched into the upper deck plating of the Heavy Cruiser, classified alloys allowing it to pierce into the armored plating just enough to allow the shaped charge to open up a hole as momentum kept the weapon moving.
Within the frame of a single second, the warhead of the missile had entered the ship and, before the alarms even had time to sound, detonated.
A new sun appeared in the void for a split second as a plasma-fusion warhead detonated inside the Karcharidon heavy cruiser’s hull.
//////////
Roshal allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief inside her head as the emergency power lights flickered overhead and the gravity ever so slightly lightened. What was left of their sensor arrays showed the enemy vessel powering down. “Engineering. Good work, your 10 minutes were just what she needed.” She called out, picking up the ship phone.
There was no answer from engineering.
She signed externally before pointing at one of the marines guarding the bridge, “Find a crewmate in a void suit. I have need of runners.” The marine clasped a fist to her chest before leaving to execute her captain’s commands. “Comms, do we have any contact with the engineering teams on the pirate hulk?”
The Comms officer held up a hand, Roshal waited, “No, ma’am. We aren’t getting- wait. We’ve got visual on flashing lights from the hull. Apparently, something shorted, so they’re having to rebuild broadcast arrays. They can receive just fine, though.”
“Good, once we can maneuver, bring us broadside of them. What’s the status of the merchant fleet?”
Navigation spoke up now, “Still heading for the Jump Point. Should we send the recall order?”
“Not yet, we are still unsure if the area is safe. If we have any sensors remaining, begin sca-”
The mentioned sensor technician interrupted Captain Roshal, “Ma’am, new contact, signature unknown. Just jumped in from outside the starlane!”
“Give me details. Course, range, and speed?” She demanded.
“Signal confused, can’t get a lock!” Navigation called out, “Can’t tell if confusion’s from them or us.”
Not another one… Roshal sighed, “All forces prepa-”
“Ma’am, we’re being hailed.” Communications called out.
“On squawk.”
“This is Captain Al’yosha Cal’rada of Her Imperial Majesty’s Ship Spear of the Knyaginya, responding to Merchant vessel distress calls. Imperial Patrol Carrier, are you in need of assistance at this time?”
Roshal recognized the voice. A junior officer from her days in the Navy and a fellow Sevastutavan. The memory of the fresh faced girl when she’d joined her as an Ensign straight of the Naval Academy flashed before her eyes. “Captain Cal’rada. Your timing is impeccable as always.”
“Admiral?” Roshal could hear the shock in her old protege’s voice.
“That’s Captain, now, Al’yosha. I require your aid in ensuring the disabled vessel still glowing from an ASM strike remains disabled along with Search and Rescue teams for our sister Carrier.
“Whatever you want, you’ll have it, Admiral_… Helm! All ahead flank and plot course to intercept. Launch gunships and prepare to deploy Bluejackets. We’ll test our _Orcas’ teeth today!”
The line cut out a moment later than it should have, and Roshal nodded in approval.
“Captain, I still don’t have a read on new contact. What is it?” Sensors asked.
“A Drep’na inspired vision, come to life.” Roshal watched, feeling an odd sort of parental pride as Al’yosha’s experimental warship began closing the distance towards the Karcharidon at breakneck speeds. “A swift sailing vessel and ten carriage guns…” Roshal murmured the line from an old Vaasconian poem from the ancient Age of Sail. She had heard Cal’rada had succeeded in petitioning the Navy to build her dream-ship, burning every favor and passing out favors to any and everyone to see the program through. Now, there she was, standing on the bridge bearing down on a ship twice her size, but if the rumors were true, only half her guns.
“Ma’am, contact is still not resolving, but IFF confirms Imperial Navy designation. An Akula Class Attack Transport. I’ve… I’ve never even heard of this class.”
“Perhaps we shall hear of them more in the future. Fortune favors the active.”
“Contact is disgorging multiple signals, moving at speeds consistent with aerospace assets.”
“That is our signal we may disengage. Comms, inform the merchant fleet that the area is secure and to begin refueling procedures. Helm, get us alongside the pirate hulk, we have people to recover. Marine, get me a runner to the MP’s, we shall need the port hangar prepared for an old tradition the Navy has regarding pirate prisoners…” Roshal commanded. The fight was over, it was time to begin the cleanup.
//////////
So… that took a while. Sorry about that.
Turns out when a combination of writer’s block, decision paralysis and LIFE hits you over the head, it becomes a touch difficult to get your shit together long enough to write something down.
On the plus side, we are out of the “unplanned bits” and right back into the parts I have brainstormed, so I won’t be staring at a screen trying to think how to make things connect as much anymore. On the other hand, that means we are now entering the epilogue of book 1 of Top Lasgun.
Don’t worry, the story isn’t ending, I’ve got “three” books plotted out in my head, so we’ll see how that shakes out, but for the most part, this is where I start wrapping up plot threads, laying down threads for what comes next, and all that other good stuff.
So yeah, next chapter is going to involve everyone wrapping up what happened here, some fun little Military Justice, and potentially a bunch of plot. Also, I’m planning on starting a “rewrite”/edited version of this to go up on AO3, so keep an eye out for that. Early installment weirdness is a bitch and I’m not proud of what the older stuff looked like.
Well, I hope you have a wonderful morning, afternoon or evening whenever you read this and I will see you next chapter.
[NEXT CHAPTER]

Hey everyone,
I've got a 2011 Scirocco R 2.0TFSI Ea113 with around 90k miles on it (not kilometers), and I've been the proud owner for a solid decade. It's been running like a dream, until recently.
Here's the issue: About nine months back, my car unexpectedly conked out, with the battery light flashing. No matter how much I tried, it just wouldn't start, though it cranked up without firing. After that incident, I went ahead and swapped out the alternator (went for a genuine OEM Bosch), replaced the serpentine belt, pulleys were ok. Two months ago, I even replaced the battery with the factory equivalent, thinking that would sort it.
Just when I thought all was well, the problem reared its head again yesterday. This time, I was approaching a junction behind another vehicle, and bam, the car stalled - same old battery light, and zero crank. I called in the RAC (Roadside Assistance), they ran diagnostics, but couldn't pinpoint any issues. After giving it a jump, it reluctantly started, only to refuse to crank again once turned off. We did get it going and I drove it 2 miles home with them closely following, it drove fine.
Whilst I was broken down, I checked the earth, terminals etc, all seemed fine. All electrics inside the car worked fine.
I've got a few theories on what might be causing this, but I'd love to hear your thoughts before I dive into any fixes. I've reached out to a few garages, but for some reason, they're not exactly jumping at the chance to lend a hand.
Here's what I'm considering:
Crank Shaft Sensor Cam Sensor Fueling issues like HPFP / LPFP / Fuel Rails or Fuel Line / Filter (replaced the filter a couple of months ago)
I'll be running a full scan with my VCDS once I'm off work. If anyone could offer some insight or assistance, I'd be immensely grateful! Will share the auto-scan results once I've got them.
Cheers
***EDIT - I've now included the VCDS Auto-Scan***
Thursday,16,May,2024,16:22:45:00009
VCDS -- Windows Based VAG/VAS Emulator Running on Windows 7 x64
VCDS Version: 23.3.0.0
Data version: 20230228 DS346.1
www.Ross-Tech.com
VIN: WVWZZZ13ZCV005173 License Plate:
Mileage: 144890km-90030mi Repair Order:
Chassis Type: 13-VW36 (7N0)
Scan: 01 03 08 09 14 15 16 17 19 25 2E 37 42 44 46 52 55 56 77
VIN: WVWZZZ13ZCV005173 Mileage: 144890km-90030miles
01-Engine -- Status: Malfunction 0010
03-ABS Brakes -- Status: OK 0000
04-Steering Angle -- Status: OK 0000
08-Auto HVAC -- Status: OK 0000
09-Cent. Elect. -- Status: Malfunction 0010
14-Susp. Elect. -- Status: Malfunction 0010
15-Airbags -- Status: OK 0000
16-Steering wheel -- Status: OK 0000
17-Instruments -- Status: OK 0000
19-CAN Gateway -- Status: OK 0000
25-Immobilizer -- Status: OK 0000
2E-Media Player 3 -- Status: OK 0000
37-Navigation -- Status: Malfunction 0010
42-Door Elect, Driver -- Status: OK 0000
44-Steering Assist -- Status: OK 0000
46-Central Conv. -- Status: OK 0000
52-Door Elect, Pass. -- Status: OK 0000
55-Headlight Range -- Status: OK 0000
56-Radio -- Status: Malfunction 0010
77-Telephone -- Status: OK 0000
Address 01: Engine (CDL) Labels:. 06F-907-115-CDL.clb
Part No SW: 1K8 907 115 B HW: 8P0 907 115 B
Component: 2.0l R4/4V TFSI 0030
Revision: 5BH20--- Serial number:
Coding: 0403000C18070060
Shop #: WSC 66565 257 00032
VCID: 2D51BCB3B41137FB58-8078
VINID: 9E69EAAAA043A939800050470CBEA06003
3 Faults Found:
001681 - Fan 1 Control Circuit
P0691 - 002 - Short to GND - Intermittent
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00100010
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 14
Reset counter: 255
Mileage: 143990 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2018.10.07
Time: 15:47:49
Freeze Frame:
RPM: 1590 /min
Load: 11.0 %
Speed: 12.0 km/h
Temperature: 54.0 C
Temperature: 33.0 C
Absolute Pres.: 1010.0 mbar
Voltage: 14.224 V
001152 - Coolant Fan Control Circuit 1
P0480 - 008 - Electrical Malfunction - Intermittent
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00101000
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 28
Reset counter: 255
Mileage: 143990 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2018.10.07
Time: 15:48:51
Freeze Frame:
RPM: 749 /min
Load: 22.0 %
Speed: 0.0 km/h
Temperature: 69.0 C
Temperature: 31.0 C
Absolute Pres.: 990.0 mbar
Voltage: 14.224 V
000017 - Bank 1: Camshaft A (Intake)
P0011 - 004 - Retard Setpoint not Reached (Over-Advanced)
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 01100100
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 1
Reset counter: 255
Mileage: 144895 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2018.10.07
Time: 01:23:12
Freeze Frame:
RPM: 1265 /min
Load: 14.5 %
Speed: 0.0 km/h
Temperature: 94.0 C
Temperature: 39.0 C
Absolute Pres.: 990.0 mbar
Voltage: 14.224 V
Readiness: 0000 0001
Address 03: ABS Brakes (J104) Labels:. 1K0-907-379-60EC1F.clb
Part No SW: 1K0 907 379 BJ HW: 1K0 907 379 BJ
Component: ESP MK60EC1 H31 0121
Revision: 00H31001
Coding: 763B80F5492280FF6E0C01EB921C0181350800
Shop #: WSC 00020 790 00000
VCID: 7BF542EBFAE5694B96-802E
No fault code found.
Address 08: Auto HVAC (J255) Labels: 5K0-907-044.clb
Part No SW: 5K0 907 044 EA HW: 5K0 907 044 EA
Component: Climatronic H17 1010
Revision: 00001003
Coding: 0000000002
Shop #: WSC 00020 999 00000
ASAM Dataset: EV_Climatronic A01010
ROD: EV_ClimaAutoBasis_VW36.rod
VCID: 6ED37BBFB1970CE321-803A
No fault code found.
Address 09: Cent. Elect. (J519) Labels:. 1K0-937-08x-09.clb
Part No SW: 5K0 937 087 M HW: 5K0 937 087 M
Component: BCM PQ35 H 011 0048
Revision: BE011001
Coding: 49180A388027E100400800C0340048E44B558388736D8D20E48000000040
Shop #: WSC 00020 790 12345
VCID: 3F8DF6FBAE7DB56BFA-806A
Subsystem 1 - Part No SW: 1K8 955 119 G HW: 1K8 955 119 G Labels: 1KX-955-119.CLB
Component: Wischer 23031 10 0603
Coding: 009795
Subsystem 2 - Part No: 1K0 955 559 AH Labels: 1K0-955-559-AG.CLB
Component: RLS 250611 05 54 0403
Coding: 0230ED
Subsystem 3 - Part No: 1K8 951 171
Component: DWA-Sensor 00 001 0104
Coding: 000000
1 Fault Found:
01134 - Alarm Horn (H12)
004 - No Signal/Communication
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 01100100
Fault Priority: 4
Fault Frequency: 1
Reset counter: 1
Mileage: 143987 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2018.10.07
Time: 16:13:47
Freeze Frame:
Term 15 On
Voltage: 11.40 V
ON
ON
OFF
OFF
OFF
Address 14: Susp. Elect. (J250) Labels:. 3C0-907-376.clb
Part No SW: 3C0 907 376 A HW: 3C0 907 376
Component: DAEMPFUNGS-SG H07 0071
Revision: 00000000 Serial number: 22061101400002
Coding: 000180
Shop #: WSC 00020 790 00000
VCID: 275D4E9B56ED1DABA2-8072
3 Faults Found:
03262 - Comfort Restriction
000 - -
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 01100000
Fault Priority: 6
Fault Frequency: 191
Reset counter: 97
Mileage: 143987 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2018.10.07
Time: 19:20:03
Freeze Frame:
Error Code: 2
Bin. Bits: 00000000
00141 - Rear Body Acceleration Sensor (G343)
003 - Mechanical Failure
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 01100011
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 191
Reset counter: 97
Mileage: 143987 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2018.10.07
Time: 19:20:03
Freeze Frame:
Bin. Bits: 00000000 00000010
Bin. Bits: 00000000 00000000
00141 - Rear Body Acceleration Sensor (G343)
006 - Short to Plus - Intermittent
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00100110
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 203
Reset counter: 137
Mileage: 143987 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2018.10.07
Time: 15:29:35
Freeze Frame:
Address 15: Airbags Labels: 1K0-909-605.lbl
Part No SW: 1K0 909 605 AE HW: 1K0 909 605 AE
Component: 0H AIRBAG VW8 020 2300
Revision: 05020000 Serial number: 003D1D03V9H4
Coding: 0012360
Shop #: WSC 00020 790 00000
VCID: 6FED66BB7E9D05EB2A-803A
Subsystem 1 - Serial number: 6332MSME60134E717
Subsystem 2 - Serial number: 6342MSME6004412E3
Subsystem 3 - Serial number: 6352QSME3D1E3274O
Subsystem 4 - Serial number: 6362QSME0B0C0672G
No fault code found.
Address 16: Steering wheel (J527) Labels: 5K0-953-569.clb
Part No SW: 5K0 953 521 BM HW: 5K0 953 569 D
Component: LENKS.MODUL 014 0140
Revision: FF010040 Serial number: 20110616200784
Coding: 1082040000
Shop #: WSC 00020 999 00000
ASAM Dataset: EV_SMLSNGVOLWSXS A01004
ROD: EV_SMLSNGVOLWS.rod
VCID: 78FF5DE7C3D34253FB-802C
Multifunction steering wheel control module:
Subsystem 1 - Part No SW: 5K0 959 542 A HW: 5K0 959 542 A Labels: 3C8-959-537.CLB
Component: E221__MFL-TAS H07 0013
Coding: 820000
No fault code found.
Address 17: Instruments (J285) Labels: 5K0-920-xxx-17.clb-SRI1
Part No SW: 1K8 920 973 B HW: 1K8 920 973 B
Component: KOMBI H03 0607
Serial number: 00000000000000
Coding: 170F01
Shop #: WSC 00020 999 12345
ASAM Dataset: EV_Kombi_UDS_VDD_RM09 A04114
ROD: EV_Kombi_UDS_VDD_RM09_004_VW32.rod
VCID: 3467A9D79F3B663317-8060
No fault code found.
Address 19: CAN Gateway (J533) Labels:. 7N0-907-530-V2.clb
Part No SW: 7N0 907 530 H HW: 1K0 907 951
Component: J533 Gateway H42 1620
Revision: H42 Serial number: 170611F1000061
Coding: 354001
Shop #: WSC 00020 790 12345
VCID: 356194D39C417F3B20-8060
No fault code found.
Address 25: Immobilizer (J334) Labels: 5K0-920-xxx-25.clb
Part No SW: 5K0 953 234 HW: 5K0 953 234
Component: IMMO H03 0607
Serial number:
Coding: 000000
Shop #: WSC 00000 000 00000
ASAM Dataset: EV_Immo_UDS_VDD_RM09 A03009
ROD: EV_Immo_UDS_VDD_RM09_VW21.rod
VCID: 6ADB77AF8D7FE0C37D-803E
No fault code found.
Address 2E: Media Player 3 (J650) Labels:. 5N0-035-342.lbl
Part No SW: 5N0 035 342 E HW: 5N0 035 342 E
Component: SG EXT.PLAYER H13 0240
Revision: A1001003 Serial number: 7660255100
Coding: 010000
Shop #: WSC 00020 790 00000
VCID: 295948A340F92BDBB4-807C
No fault code found.
Address 37: Navigation (J0506) Labels:. 1T0-035-680.clb
Part No SW: 1T0 035 680 P HW: 1T0 035 680 P
Component: RNS-MID H10 5270
Revision: AB001001 Serial number: VWZ6Z7K5046078
Coding: 04000400040000900004
Shop #: WSC 12345 123 12345
VCID: 3B7582EBBA65A94BD6-806E
Subsystem 1 - Part No: 1T0 919 859 B
Component: EU West V11 8117
1 Fault Found:
00862 - Antenna for GPS Navigation (R50/R52)
011 - Open Circuit - Intermittent
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00101011
Fault Priority: 5
Fault Frequency: 27
Reset counter: 137
Mileage: 144395 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2018.10.07
Time: 00:00:16
Address 42: Door Elect, Driver Labels:. 1K0-959-701-MAX3.clb
Part No SW: 1Q0 959 701 H HW: 1Q0 959 701 H
Component: Tuer-SG 009 2130
Coding: 0016949
Shop #: WSC 00020 790 00000
VCID: 397998E370599B5BC4-806C
No fault code found.
Address 44: Steering Assist Labels: 1K0-909-14x-GEN3.clb
Part No: 1K0 909 144 M
Component: EPS_ZFLS Kl. 250 3201
Revision: 00H20000
Shop #: WSC 00020 790 00000
VCID: 3467A9D7573B663317-8060
No fault code found.
Address 52: Door Elect, Pass. Labels:. 1K0-959-702-MAX3.clb
Part No SW: 1Q0 959 702 H HW: 1Q0 959 702 H
Component: Tuer-SG 009 2130
Coding: 0016948
Shop #: WSC 00020 790 00000
VCID: 3A7B87EF755F9043CD-806E
No fault code found.
Address 55: Headlight Range Labels: 8P0-907-357.lbl
Part No: 8P0 907 357 K
Component: Dynamische LWR H01 0010
Revision: 00000001 Serial number:
Coding: 0000016
Shop #: WSC 00020 790 00000
VCID: 428BFF0F1D8FD88395-8016
No fault code found.
Address 56: Radio (J0506) Labels:. 1T0-035-680.clb
Part No SW: 1T0 035 680 P HW: 1T0 035 680 P
Component: RNS-MID H10 5270
Revision: AB001001 Serial number: VWZ6Z7K5046078
Coding: 04000400040000900004
Shop #: WSC 12345 123 12345
VCID: 3B7582EBBA65A94BD6-806E
Subsystem 1 - Part No: 1T0 919 859 B
Component: EU West V11 8117
1 Fault Found:
00862 - Antenna for GPS Navigation (R50/R52)
011 - Open Circuit - Intermittent
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00101011
Fault Priority: 5
Fault Frequency: 27
Reset counter: 137
Mileage: 144395 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2018.10.07
Time: 00:00:16
Address 77: Telephone (J412) Labels: 7P6-035-730.clb
Part No SW: 7P6 035 730 E HW: 7P6 035 730 E
Component: TELEFON H09 2730
Revision: 1B001001 Serial number: 00007660233684 Dataset Number: 7P6035730E 0001
Coding: 0A01000000010101
Shop #: WSC 00020 999 00000
ASAM Dataset: EV_UHVNA A01015
ROD: UHVNA.rod
VCID: 3467A9D79F3B663317-8060
2 Faults Found:
13635840 - Supply voltage
U1011 00 [000] - Voltage too Low
[New feature! Extended UDS fault detail is only supported by current gen. interfaces]
Intermittent - Not Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
13893632 - Function Restricted due to Insufficient Voltage
U1400 00 [000] - -
Intermittent - Not Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
End-------------------------(Elapsed Time: 02:50)--------------------------

Any idea why it fails on every youtube video? Using v3.9 with pip install yt_dlp -U
the error is

[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs utf-8, pref UTF-8, out UTF-8 (No ANSI), error UTF-8 (No ANSI), screen UTF-8 (No ANSI) [debug] yt-dlp version stable@2024.04.09 from yt-dlp/yt-dlp [ff0779267] (pip) API [debug] params: {'verbose': True, 'compat_opts': set(), 'http_headers': {'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/90.0.4430.24 Safari/537.36', 'Accept': 'text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8', 'Accept-Language': 'en-us,en;q=0.5', 'Sec-Fetch-Mode': 'navigate'}} [debug] Python 3.9.19 (CPython x86_64 64bit) - macOS-10.15.7-x86_64-i386-64bit (OpenSSL 3.0.13 30 Jan 2024) [debug] exe versions: none [debug] Optional libraries: Cryptodome-3.20.0, brotli-1.1.0, certifi-2024.02.02, mutagen-1.47.0, requests-2.31.0, sqlite3-3.45.3, urllib3-2.2.1, websockets-12.0 [debug] Proxy map: {} [debug] Request Handlers: urllib, requests, websockets [debug] Loaded 1810 extractors [youtube] Extracting URL: [youtube] ZrQJaLemaoE: Downloading webpage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrQJaLemaoE WARNING: [youtube] unable to extract initial player response; please report this issue on , filling out the appropriate issue template. Confirm you are on the latest version using yt-dlp -U https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues?q= [youtube] ZrQJaLemaoE: Downloading ios player API JSON WARNING: [youtube] ZrQJaLemaoE: Failed to parse JSON (caused by JSONDecodeError("Expecting value in '': line 1 column 1 (char 0)")); please report this issue on , filling out the appropriate issue template. Confirm you are on the latest version using yt-dlp -U https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues?q= [youtube] ZrQJaLemaoE: Downloading android player API JSON WARNING: [youtube] ZrQJaLemaoE: Failed to parse JSON (caused by JSONDecodeError("Expecting value in '': line 1 column 1 (char 0)")); please report this issue on , filling out the appropriate issue template. Confirm you are on the latest version using yt-dlp -U https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues?q= [youtube] ZrQJaLemaoE: Downloading iframe API JS WARNING: [youtube] unable to extract player version; please report this issue on , filling out the appropriate issue template. Confirm you are on the latest version using yt-dlp -U https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues?q= [youtube] ZrQJaLemaoE: Downloading web player API JSON WARNING: [youtube] ZrQJaLemaoE: Failed to parse JSON (caused by JSONDecodeError("Expecting value in '': line 1 column 1 (char 0)")); please report this issue on , filling out the appropriate issue template. Confirm you are on the latest version using yt-dlp -U ERROR: [youtube] ZrQJaLemaoE: Failed to extract any player response; please report this issue on , filling out the appropriate issue template. Confirm you are on the latest version using yt-dlp -U File "/uslocal/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/yt_dlp/extractocommon.py", line 734, in extract ie_result = self._real_extract(url) File "/uslocal/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/yt_dlp/extractoyoutube.py", line 4079, in _real_extract webpage, master_ytcfg, player_responses, player_url = self._download_player_responses(url, smuggled_data, video_id, webpage_url) File "/uslocal/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/yt_dlp/extractoyoutube.py", line 4043, in _download_player_responses player_responses, player_url = self._extract_player_responses( File "/uslocal/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/yt_dlp/extractoyoutube.py", line 3733, in _extract_player_responses raise ExtractorError('Failed to extract any player response') https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues?q=https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues?q= --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ExtractorError Traceback (most recent call last) File /uslocal/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py:1606, in YoutubeDL._handle_extraction_exceptions..wrapper(self, *args, **kwargs) 1605 try: -> 1606 return func(self, *args, **kwargs) 1607 except (DownloadCancelled, LazyList.IndexError, PagedList.IndexError): File /uslocal/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py:1741, in YoutubeDL.__extract_info(self, url, ie, download, extra_info, process) 1740 try: -> 1741 ie_result = ie.extract(url) 1742 except UserNotLive as e: File /uslocal/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/yt_dlp/extractocommon.py:734, in InfoExtractor.extract(self, url) 732 self.to_screen('Extracting URL: %s' % ( 733 url if self.get_param('verbose') else truncate_string(url, 100, 20))) 734 ie_result = self._real_extract(url) 735 if ie_result is None: File /uslocal/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/yt_dlp/extractoyoutube.py:4079, in YoutubeIE._real_extract(self, url) 4077 webpage_url = base_url + 'watch?v=' + video_id -> 4079 webpage, master_ytcfg, player_responses, player_url = self._download_player_responses(url, smuggled_data, video_id, webpage_url) 4081 playability_statuses = traverse_obj( 4082 player_responses, (..., 'playabilityStatus'), expected_type=dict) File /uslocal/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/yt_dlp/extractoyoutube.py:4043, in YoutubeIE._download_player_responses(self, url, smuggled_data, video_id, webpage_url) 4041 master_ytcfg = self.extract_ytcfg(video_id, webpage) or self._get_default_ytcfg() -> 4043 player_responses, player_url = self._extract_player_responses( 4044 self._get_requested_clients(url, smuggled_data), 4045 video_id, webpage, master_ytcfg, smuggled_data) 4047 return webpage, master_ytcfg, player_responses, player_url File /uslocal/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/yt_dlp/extractoyoutube.py:3733, in YoutubeIE._extract_player_responses(self, clients, video_id, webpage, master_ytcfg, smuggled_data) 3732 elif not prs: -> 3733 raise ExtractorError('Failed to extract any player response') 3734 return prs, player_url ExtractorError: [youtube] ZrQJaLemaoE: Failed to extract any player response; please report this issue on , filling out the appropriate issue template. Confirm you are on the latest version using yt-dlp -U During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred: DownloadError Traceback (most recent call last) Cell In[14], line 11 3 ydl_opts = { 4 'verbose': True, 5 #"write_auto_sub":True, (...) 8 #"output":'/tmp/sub.txt', 9 } 10 with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl: - 11 ydl.download(url) File /uslocal/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py:3572, in YoutubeDL.download(self, url_list) 3569 raise SameFileError(outtmpl) 3571 for url in url_list: -> 3572 self.__download_wrapper(self.extract_info)( 3573 url, force_generic_extractor=self.params.get('force_generic_extractor', False)) 3575 return self._download_retcode File /uslocal/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py:3547, in YoutubeDL.__download_wrapper..wrapper(*args, **kwargs) 3544 @functools.wraps(func) 3545 def wrapper(*args, **kwargs): 3546 try: -> 3547 res = func(*args, **kwargs) 3548 except UnavailableVideoError as e: 3549 self.report_error(e) File /uslocal/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py:1595, in YoutubeDL.extract_info(self, url, download, ie_key, extra_info, process, force_generic_extractor) 1593 raise ExistingVideoReached() 1594 break -> 1595 return self.__extract_info(url, self.get_info_extractor(key), download, extra_info, process) 1596 else: 1597 extractors_restricted = self.params.get('allowed_extractors') not in (None, ['default']) File /uslocal/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py:1624, in YoutubeDL._handle_extraction_exceptions..wrapper(self, *args, **kwargs) 1622 self.report_error(msg) 1623 except ExtractorError as e: # An error we somewhat expected -> 1624 self.report_error(str(e), e.format_traceback()) 1625 except Exception as e: 1626 if self.params.get('ignoreerrors'): File /uslocal/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py:1073, in YoutubeDL.report_error(self, message, *args, **kwargs) 1068 def report_error(self, message, *args, **kwargs): 1069 ''' 1070 Do the same as trouble, but prefixes the message with 'ERROR:', colored 1071 in red if stderr is a tty file. 1072 ''' -> 1073 self.trouble(f'{self._format_err("ERROR:", self.Styles.ERROR)} {message}', *args, **kwargs) File /uslocal/anaconda3/envs/py39/lib/python3.9/site-packages/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py:1012, in YoutubeDL.trouble(self, message, tb, is_error) 1010 else: 1011 exc_info = sys.exc_info() -> 1012 raise DownloadError(message, exc_info) 1013 self._download_retcode = 1 DownloadError: ERROR: [youtube] ZrQJaLemaoE: Failed to extract any player response; please report this issue on , filling out the appropriate issue template. Confirm you are on the latest version using yt-dlp -Uhttps://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues?q=https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues?q= 

hi, im pretty new to the whole reddit scene and felt like i didnt have much to post about, but man, i need to talk about this situation im in. any and all advice is welcomed and greatly appreciated. this is not a request for money!
im currently 32 weeks pregnant (was not planned.) just over a month ago, my boyfriend and i were homeless, like sleeping on benches kinda homeless. im 19 and he is 21. he comes from pretty broken home, and i was kicked out when i told my mom about my pregnancy. being thrown out into the real world so young has really not worked out so well for either of us, but recently things were starting to look up. i was able to make amends with my family to move back in & he was able to secure a construction job by sleeping nearby so he was able to walk to the site. on his first paycheck he bought a cash car to sleep in and get him to safer areas at night time. here and there he would let me use the car to doordash for some extra money. all was well for about 2 weeks until we hit a pothole that blew out one of our tires, and when we took it in to have it replaced, we also had to pay to fix the alignment and a leak in the coolant tank. $800 gone just like that. we actually had to get some assistance in paying for that from a couple friends because we didn’t have the full amount that was sprung on us. that was 2 DAYS AGO. so, here we are today, enjoying having the car back running “smoothly” until randomly, no more than 20 minutes after he picks me up, the car starts literally vibrating and jolting while we are driving. he calls up a friend who is supposedly pretty good with cars, and uses a code reader to tell us we need a new battery. we are dead broke after getting this car out of the shop, so after a while we eventually called up our church to see if this was something they could help with, and they actually did. we had to catch a ride there with a friend, but they gave us a brand new battery. we get it hooked up in the car, and nothing changed. so he uses the code reader again, now its saying the spark plugs are misfiring. thankfully our friends were willing to help us out with another $40 on those, and he got to changing them. on the 3rd plug, when he pulled it out, it was covered in black oil. we dried it up, put the new one in, and just by leaving the car idling for a couple minutes, it pooled up again. the car is not safe to drive and we have no means of income without it considering that he is stranded about 30 miles from his job. he is having to sleep in the autozone parking lot tonight. thankfully, yet AGAIN, i got help from my friend to get me an uber home because i have an OB appointment tomorrow, which i also will have to pay back the copay for at some point lol. so now we are a few hundred in debt to our friends with no means of income and it was all for nothing. we literally wasted everyones day away and now im literally drowning in stress because it will more than likely need to be towed. and even if it can be worked on at autozone we are completely out of options to continue trying to fix it. we spent EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS that we did not have only for this to happen 2 days later.
i guess thats it, lol. once again i would like to reiterate that this is not a post to ask for financial assistance, but this car is our lifeline and we have put every dollar we can into it. are there any other things we can do at this point? neither of us have credit so we cant take out a loan through the bank. this is the first car either of us have ever owned. if its useful info, the car is a 2015 nissan altima.
sorry for the long post. i just had an exhausting night and wanted to yap a little about it. thanks for reading and again any advice would be helpful . :)
edit: my boyfriend was able to catch a ride to work this morning, and then to autozone where the car was parked to try and get a different diagnosis. luckily, it is not an alternator issue and the only thing we need to do is replace 2 of the ignition coils, one more urgent than the other. while we dont exactly have the means for it in this moment, its not wildly expensive and i expect we’ll be able to get it fixed before too long. thank you to everyone who commented with some things to take a look at, it definitely helped him out at autozone this morning. God bless :)

(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!
Onion Knight 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)

** BOTH FRI 5/17 AND SAT 5/18 *\*
Motorcycle Safety Foundation Ride Day New Mexico Motorcycle Safety Program, 3401 Pan American Fwy Take Your First Ride: Ride a motorcycle in 30 min or less for free. MOTO Intro provides the motorcycle, helmet, gloves, and coaching. Free Riding Skills Test: Take the challenge of an advanced MSF course! SKILL Check participants, bring your motorcycle and gear! Please wear over-the-ankle footwear, long pants and long sleeves

• Fri: 2 - 4 PM Skills Check, 4 - 6 PM Moto Intro
• Sat: 2 - 4:30 PM Moto Intro, 4:30 - 6:30 PM Skills Check

Niños and Teeños: Flamenco para todos Carlisle Gymnasium (Elizabeth Waters Center for Dance), UNM, 301 Yale Blvd. NE National Institute of Flamenco presents Niños y Teeños Flamencos in FUTUROS FLAMENCOS. Come see the high-energy flamenco of the National Institute of Flamenco's Student Companies. Don't miss this special showcase by talented youth in our community! (tickets)

• Fri: 7 PM
• Sat: 4 PM

** Fri 5/17 *\*
Fri 4:30 PM Bike to Wherever Day Canteen Brewhouse, 2381 Aztec Rd. NE Learn about exciting bike routes in Albuquerque and grab some cool giveaways to kickstart your cycling adventures. Whether you’re a seasoned cyclist or just starting out, there’s something for EVERYONE at our pop-up table! We'll have Canteen will be volunteering at a table from 6:30-9am and then again at 4:30-6:30am. Receive $1 off your beer if you arrive on your bike
Fri 5 PM Pistachio Cream Ale Release Tractor Brewing, ALL locations We're bringing back this seasonal favorite for American Craft Beer Week! Inspired by pistachios produced right here in New Mexico this brew is as smooth as silk and as tasty and a fresh roasted pistachio. This is a very limited one off for us, so come and get you a pint or growler while supplies last
Fri 5 – 7 PM May Babies Birthday Celebration Rio Bravo Brewing, 1912 2nd St. NW Starting at 5pm, the first 25 people with May birthdays to show Ryan proof of their birthday month will score a $5 Rio Bravo Brewing Gift Card...oh, and Beers are on special for birthday kids for just $5! But you spend your gift card however you want! Thanks to Cake Fetish...we'll have cupcakes for the May Birthday Kids (while supplies last) We'll have prizes JUST for the May Babies! We'll also have drawings for all you non-birthday folks too If you want to get their before us...All drinks are $1 Off for May Birthdays the whole day!
Fri 5:45 – 7:15 PM 22 Veterans Suicide Awareness WOD BFit505, 11500 Menaul Blvd. NE Each month, Team Bravo & Bfit505 team up to bring awareness to veteran suicide. Before our events, we will take a moment and talk about the issue. Then we will begin with our 22 reps WOD followed by a 2.2 mile ruck/walk/run. Afterwards, we will be going out to eat for social time with friends and family. This event is for all levels
Fri 6 PM Sandia Social - May Hangout Dawn Patrol Coffee Shop, 3619 Copper Ave NE We will be hanging out around the patio and inside starting at 6pm! Bring your friends and come hang out!
Fri 6 PM Pink Therapy, A Latin Dance Fundraiser for Breast Cancer Sobremesa, 3421 Coors Blvd. NW On The One and Pachanga Productions' "Salsa Therapy" night has made its mark in the Latin Dance community, now we are using the symbolism of "Therapy" under "Pink Therapy" but this time it is to fundraise in partnership with the Pink Warrior House Foundation in order to provide outreach and increase resources for those warriors battling against breast cancer. On The One and Pachanga productions will be involved in community outreach and utilizing our resources to help those in need. Cover charge is a SUGGESTED $20 donation (ALL PROCEEDS GO TO Pink Warrior House Foundation). Cocktail hour from 6-7 PM (purchases go to PWH on selected drinks). Dance lesson from 7-8 PM. Open dance floor 8-12 AM. Be aware of Media/News coverage. We need everyone's assistance with this, PLEASE SHARE FAR AND WIDE, those warriors battling breast cancer need our help. Let's do our part. We are asking for the entire Latin dance community to come out and support. This will be one of many fundraisers that we do for organizations like PWH. Lets use our dance skills to help those in need!
Fri 6 – 8 PM May Flowers Stampin' Bingo (in person) Hip Stitch, 2320 Wisconsin St. NE Cost is $35 for 6 rounds of bingo, prizes, and make n' takes! Message for more info or to register
Fri 6 – 8:30 PM Los Domingueros Live El Vado, 2500 Central Ave SW Prepare for an unforgettable fusion of Latin dance beats and rock energy as Friday Night Live at El Vado proudly presents New Mexico's premier menudo-based band, Los Domingueros! Few bands can match the infectious joy and vibrant rhythms that they bring to the stage. A multi-talented group of musicians, they take listeners on a musical journey like no other. From the pulsating rhythms of salsa, bachata, and cumbia to the high-energy vibes of ska and reggae, sprinkled with a dash of punk and thrash, their eclectic repertoire promises an exhilarating experience for all. As always, treat your taste buds to a delightful selection of culinary delights from our diverse food pods. From savory stir-fries to tantalizing Latin flavors and heavenly desserts, there's something to satisfy every craving. And don't overlook the opportunity to quench your thirst with a crisp craft beer from Ponderosa Brewing Company, conveniently available at the El Vado Tap Room
Fri 6 – 10 PM Fork Cancer Gala FUSION ABQ, 700-708 1st St. NW The American Cancer Society is hosting Albuquerque's second #ForkCancerAbq fundraising event. VIP 6pm - 7pm. Gala 7pm - 10pm. Dress Code: Gala Attire. #ForkCancerNM is a foodie's dream, with local restaurants and bars bringing out their best to truly showcase the Taste of Albuquerque while raising money for the American Cancer Society's life-saving mission in New Mexico supporting Access to Care like patient transportation, patient lodging and 24/7 support. Along with life saving research and grants. With great opportunities to raise money, we will also have live entertainment! (tickets)
Fri 6:30 – 10 PM Community Movie Night South Valley Multipurpose Center, 2008 Larrazolo Rd. SW Feature of the night: In The Heights. Bring your dinner, blankets and chairs. Please no glass containers
Fri 7 PM Movie In The Park ABQ Food Park, 6901-B San Antonio Dr. NE ABQ Food Park is bringing back Movies In The Park, starting off the summer with a screening of The Sandlot. Arrive early to get your face painted by Local Locas Facepainting before settling in with your blankets, chairs, and appetite for a delightful evening at the park with loved ones. Indulge in delicious fare from our food trucks while enjoying this timeless film under the stars. Please do not bring outside food as we have a variety of food options at the park. Please support our local food vendors. Entry is free! Reserve your tickets
Fri 7 – 10 PM Emerald Ball Holiday Dance Studio, 5200 Eubank Blvd. NE, Ste D Celebrate the enchanting month of May by donning your finest emerald attire. Bring in the vibrant spring season by joining us in elegant semi-formal wear of rich verdant colors and dance the night away! A Foxtrot lesson will begin the evening at 7pm followed by open dancing. Call 505-508-4020 for more information. $30 non-members
Fri 8 PM – 2 AM Sucia EDC Gogo Takeover Sidewinders Bar and Grill, 4200 Central Ave SE Sucia Productions is bringing the Electric Sky to Sidewinders! No need to have EDC FOMO because Papa Sucia is ready to bring the party to you! Come join your Sucia Family for a Night of PLUR! Featuring the Sucia Gogos on multiple boxes and individual dances available in the Cabaret Room! Hosted by Papa Sucia and Sucia Gogo Madam Sativa Rico-Stratton. DJ Unzipped will be bringing the you the best EDM set for you to dance the night away!
Fri 9 PM – 1:30 AM Callaita Fridays Salt Yard West, 3700 Ellison Rd. NW DJ Soiree will be spinning under the stars in the Salt Yard, promising a night of electrifying Latin music. This 21+ event guarantees an atmosphere where you can fully embrace the rhythm without inhibition. Whether you're a die-hard fan of Reggaeton or simply seeking a night of unparalleled fun, "Callaita Fridays" is the place to be
Fri 10:30 PM – 12:15 AM FACELESS AFTER DARK - new meta horror starring Jenna Kanell of "Terrifier"! The Guild Cinema, 3405 Central Ave NE All Seats $8. Check out the trailer. Dir. Raymond Wood - 2023 - 82m. Following her breakout success as the star of a killer clown horror flick, Bowie (Jenna Kanell, TERRIFIER) now finds herself struggling to capitalize on its success. But when she is suddenly held hostage by an unhinged fan posing as that same killer clown, horror becomes her reality as she fights to survive the night and escape before he completes his sinister plan to recreate the film's fatal plot (tickets)
** Sat 5/18 *\*
Sat 8 – 10 AM Planting Corn Seeds Lynn Garden, 176 Manierre Rd., Corrales We will be planting corn seeds; a new crop for Seed2Need this year!
Sat 8 – 10 AM Run for Mercy 5K Sagebrush Community Church, 6440 Coors Blvd. NW Join our team to run with us to support Mercy Multiplied, which exists to provide opportunities for all to experience God's unconditional love, forgiveness, and life-transforming power. Mercy offers free-of-charge Residential and Outpatient Counseling Programs, as well as Outreach Services that include workshops and trainings, our Keys to Freedom discipleship study, and Keys to Freedom Retreat (register)
Sat 8 AM – 12 PM Downtown Growers' Market Robinson Park, 810 Copper Ave NW Every Saturday from 8 am - NOON! This vibrant community event connects local farmers, growers, artisans, wellness makers, and hot food vendors with the local community from mid-April to early-November. Bring friends / family or come solo to enjoy fresh food made on sight, a variety of seasonal produce, unique arts and crafts, live music, and special programming all in the heart of downtown
Sat 8 AM – 2 PM Rio Rancho's Biggest Yard Sale Cabezon Park and Community Center, 2307 Cabezon Blvd. SE, Rio Rancho FREE Admission! Clean out your garage, spare bedroom, attic and shed. Come join us to sell all of those items that were collecting dust, find a treasure that you didn’t know you needed, and enjoy a day in the park! Vendor space $35 for a 15’ x 15’ space (Tables and chairs are not provided) Must register online, NO Drop-Ins Accepted. Please call the Cabezon Community Center at 505-892-4499 for more info
Sat 9 AM Send Haley to Spain Sand Volleyball Tournament Charlie’s Sandbox, 4335 Paseo del Norte NE All proceeds go to Haley and her trip to Spain in July! $20/per player. All Skill levels! Prizes for 1st & 2nd place. 4-6 players Coed with 1 female on team. Check in @ 8:30am. More info: Jillian (505) 322-7228, Haley (505) 331-4788, Charlie (505) 239-2461
Sat 9 AM Invisible Heroes Run Believers Center of Albuquerque, 320 Waterfall Dr. SE Join Runfit and the American Society of Radiologic Technologists for the inaugural Invisible Heroes 5K Run/Walk. It is a community event being held to recognize the vital role that medical imaging professionals and radiation therapists play on the health care team and to introduce the public to these vital health care professionals. You are invited to run and walk to celebrate the important work done by invisible heroes. At packet pick-up, you will have an opportunity to tour the ASRT Museum and Archives. Age group, overall, and team awards, including a great t-shirt and finisher medals for all participants (register)
Sat 9 AM - 4 PM 16th Annual CTC Vintage Tractor & Car Show Corrales Recreation Center, 500 Jones Rd., Corrales Join us for a fun day in the Corrales Park. There will be music, food, hot rods, tractor, stationary engines and more. Proceeds Raised will benefit Corrales 4H and Historical Society. Free admission. $10 for show participants
Sat 10 AM – 12 PM Foraging for Fun(ds) Los Poblanos Open Space, 1800 Tierra Viva Pl. NW Join Rev. Ryan Tate on a foraging excursion! Rev. Tate, of the African American spiritual tradition and an IPL board member, wants to bring their loving knowledge of NM edibles and herbs to you. Discover the food right under your nose and how easy it is to enjoy! We’ll meet to explore and harvest native and edible plants. Enter the Open Space area from west bound Montano Boulevard. After foraging, we’ll gather to taste our harvest and other locally sourced treats. Sign up today to participate - space is limited. This is a fundraiser for our work for climate justice: Please give generously (Suggested minimum donation $10)
Sat 10 AM – 3 PM Homebrewer's Happy Hour Southwest Grape & Grain, 3401 Candelaria Blvd. NE Homebrewer's Happy Hour is the perfect chance for all homebrewers, wine makers, distillers, or anyone interested in learning, to connect with others, share a drink, and learn about a new subject each month! $1 off beers from 10am to 3pm. Presentation on monthly subject at 1pm with open forum to discuss after. Food truck on site for lunch! May 18th - Barley
Sat 10:30 – 11:30 AM Animal Tales with the ABQ BioPark Ernie Pyle Library, 900 Girard Blvd. SE Dive into the captivating world of animals with "Animal Tales" presented by the ABQ BioPark! Join us for a delightful reading session featuring an animal-themed book. Experience the magic as the BioPark brings along real animals and biofacts that connect to the story, giving kids an exciting opportunity to meet these creatures up close! Don't miss this engaging and educational adventure for young animal enthusiasts!
Sat 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM FolkMADS Third Saturday Family Dance Albuquerque Square Dance Center, 4915 Hawkins St. NE Dancing, song, and live music for kids of all ages. No experience needed to have fun! Children must be accompanied by an adult. Children dance free, Adults $10
Sat 11 AM – 1 PM Annual Summer Kick-Off Event! Matheson Park Elementary, 10809 Lexington Ave NE Join us as we kick off the summer with fun, a food truck, face painting, dunk tank, and more! Bring your family and your pets for a Blessing of the Pets. There is no cost to attend and all are welcome!
Sat 11 AM – 3 PM Wine + Art Afternoons Gruet Winery, 8400 Pan American East Fwy NE Prism Arts presents a new public art and social series with a special one-day multi-artist event. Join us inside the Gruet Winery with a selection of fine art, prints, paintings, jewelry, and ceramics from local artists Vanessa Alvarado, Eric Romero, Margarita Paz-Pedro, & Aaron Richardson. Enjoy unique art, amazing fine, food, and a social environment with the artists and the public. *All art purchases receive a complimentary bottle of Gruet Wine*
Sat 11 AM – 3 PM Bernalillo Family Fun Festival! Calvary Church, 4001 Osuna Rd. NE Get connected to community and enjoy a Fun Family Day!
Sat 11:30 AM – 4 PM Imaginary Friends Fest Flix Brewhouse, 3200 La Orilla Rd. NW Let your imagination run wild! Join us in the lobby to celebrate the opening of IF! Enjoy photo ops, freebies, an in-theater giveaway, and activities for the whole family. All ages are welcome!
Sat 12 PM BBQ n' Crawl Supper Rock Park, 598 Monte Alto Pl. NE Mini Crawlers 505 and Duke City RC are throwing a BBQ and crawl sesh! All rigs welcome! Please mark going if you are, so we can get enough food!
Sat 12 PM May Brew Tour - Farewell Tour Rio Bravo Brewing, 1912 2nd St. NW This is the last NM Brew Ha-Ha Beer tour for the season. The 24-25 season will start in June 2025 so stay tuned for the season lineup release. Rio Bravo Brewing, Ponderosa Brewing, Bow & Arrow Brewing, Juno Brewery. At Rio Bravo, a DD will be selected, then we’ll head to the other breweries in the order listed. T-shirts, if ordered will be delivered. For safety, a breathalyzer is available, a DD will be established and a liability waiver will be signed by all participants. Safety is of utmost importance. We want everyone to enjoy their tour and arrive home safely
Sat 12 PM Drag Bingo & Brunch! All Ages Welcome! Sidewinders Bar and Grill, 4200 Central Ave SE Join us for a Drag Queen Bingo and Brunch benefitting The Albuquerque Roadrunner Tournament 2024 (coming up in September). Hosted by Priscilla Bouvier. Doors 12pm. Show 1pm. Bingo, Prizes, Giveaways, Raffles, Cocktails, Mocktails and Fun!
Sat 12 PM Empire's 9th Anniversary - FREE PLAY ALL DAY Empire Board Game Library, 3503 Central Ave NE It's Empire's 9th Anniversary celebration and you're invited! We've been here 9 years and it's all thanks to the support we get from you, so to show our appreciation, this Saturday's celebration is our gift to you: Come in and play for free all day! Every game is on sale all weekend! We're holding raffles over the course of the day to give away some great games! So come on down and let us thank you!
Sat 12 – 3 PM STOODIS!: An AIDS/LifeCycle Fundraising Event Soo Bak Seoul Bowl, 111 Hermosa Dr. SE Help Vanessa Bowen cross the finish line – the fundraising finish line, that is! Vanessa is on a mission to raise $3,500 to participate in the 2024 AIDS/LifeCycle, a 545-mile charity bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles from June 2nd to 8th, 2024. Join this special fundraising event and send-off party for an afternoon of entertainment, vendors, bike tune-ups, raffle, and food and drink specials. Come prepared to support our local vendors and find out how you can win our selected giveaways. AIDS/LifeCycle benefits, and is jointly produced by, San Francisco AIDS Foundation (Tax ID # 94-2927405) and Los Angeles LGBT Center (Tax ID # 95-3567895), each of which is a nonprofit, public benefit corporation recognized as tax exempt under IRS Code Section 501(c)(3). Donations to AIDS/LifeCycle are deductible for income tax purposes, to the extent permitted by law. Vanessa Bowen (They/Them) is a Diné (Navajo) product designer and cyclist. Their work gravitates toward the intersection of design and social equity. Bowen is a former Outride Ambassador, current Chamois Butt’r and Kuat Racks Ambassador, founder of Get Native Kids on Bikes, and a supporter of AIDS/LifeCycle. If not creating in their studio in Albuquerque, they are training for a cycling event or community building for a just, equitable future (more info)
Sat 12 – 5 PM Day Camp - A Festival for Families Tin Can Alley, 6013 Signal Ave NE Day Camp is where adventure meets education, creativity, and community in a fair-like environment where a variety of youth development organizations are excited to share their programs. In partnership with Warehouse 505, and featuring organizations such as Explora, there will be workshops ands expos for kids to discover new passions across music, art, science, and more. Supporting Youth Security & Education, all dedicated funds raised will be going to New Mexico non-profit organizations
Sat 12 – 5 PM Monthly Pinball Tournament Sister, 407 Central Ave NW All skill levels and players welcome! 21+ Sign up starts at 12 pm; tournament play starts at 1 p.m. Entry fee is $5 + coin drop
Sat 1 – 5 PM United in Beer Collaboration Festival Ex Novo Brewing, 4895 Corrales Rd., Corrales United in Beer is a New Mexico statewide collaborative beer festival that benefits the Somos Unidos Foundation with 26 participating breweries, which were randomly partnered through a live draft and then together selected the beer style they would collaborate on. All beers will be showcased at the festival. Tickets are limited. Portions of ticket sales will donated to Somos Unidos Foundation, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to creating positive outcomes for New Mexicans through art, sport, community, and unity. This will be a 21+ Event. Food trucks will be on site. Included with ticket purchase is: Festival access, 8 drink tokens, and a United In Beer glass! We recommend bringing: Sunscreen, your friends, and good vibes
Sat 1 – 10 PM Boots In The Park Presents Thomas Rhett, Chris Young & Friends! Balloon Fiesta Park, 5000 Balloon Fiesta Pkwy Dust off your boots and get ready to holler, because Boots In The Park is making it's way to Albuquerque, y'all! Join us for a rootin', tootin', two-steppin' good time with none other than Thomas Rhett, Chris Young, Chris Janson, Kameron Marlowe, Dylan Schneider, Leaving Austin and beats by Luwiss Lux. We're talking about an evening filled to the brim with live tunes, finger-lickin' craft food, and the smoothest cocktails. We'll be kicking up dust with some good ol' line dancing and a whole heap more, as Balloon Fiesta Park is transformed into Albuquerque's best country music party! Past folks to grace the Boots In The Park stage are Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Tim McGraw, Cody Johnson, Jon Pardi and a bunch of other country legends. But this day is gonna be one for the record books, a show that will leave y'all talking for years to come (tickets)
Sat 2 PM Annual Castro Concerto Competition Albuquerque Youth Symphony, 4407 Menaul Blvd. NE Join us to hear talented high school juniors compete for the privilege of performing with the Youth Symphony during the Albuquerque Youth Symphony Program's 2024-2025 concert season! This event is free and open to the public. We also plan to stream this event live on Facebook for anyone not able to attend in person
Sat 2 PM "Greatest Moments" - a fundraising concert for Opera On Tap New Mexico Central United Methodist Church, 201 University Blvd. NE Join us for an afternoon of music to help raise money for Opera on Tap - New Mexico! Featuring some faculty and students of University of New Mexico, along with other local professionals, we have put a program together highlighting some of the show-stopping, beautiful moments of opera and musical theater! Suggested donation $10
Sat 2 – 7 PM Rawking: An Afternoon Metal + Art + Comedy Extravaganza Juno, 1501 1st St. NW Featured performers include Light Thief, Destroy to Recreate, Guvtika, Abandoned Saviors. outdoors on the patio with Four Bands, Comedians, Artists, Vendors. Produced by Metal World Radio. 21+. $10 at the door or presales online
Sat 3 – 8 PM Albuquerque Roller Derby presents: Sandia Slammers vs. Bosque Bruisers! Expo New Mexico - Manuel Lujan Jr Exhibit Complex, 300 San Pedro Dr. NE Albuquerque Roller Derby has gotten SO big we’ve split into two teams! Sandia Slammers & Bosque Bruisers! Get your tickets for our first Home Game of the 2024 season
Sat 3:45 – 5:45 PM AND 7 - 9 PM The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 Flix Brewhouse, 3236 La Orilla Rd. NW Experience the Twilight saga's epic romance and thrilling fantasy BREAKING DAWN - PART 1 on the big screen! Bella and Edward, plus those they love, must deal with the chain of consequences brought on by a marriage, honeymoon, and the tumultuous birth of a child, which brings about unforeseen and shocking developments for Jacob Black (tickets)
Sat 4 – 8 PM Drink Local Downtown ABQ - May Step into the heart of Albuquerque with our thrilling, free monthly bar crawl event! Immerse yourself in the local charm as we celebrate community, culture, and creativity right in the heart of ABQ. In partnership with ABQCore Neighborhood Association, a locally organized and hosted event, we're bringing you a bar crawl experience like no other. This isn't just a crawl; it's a vibrant celebration of local businesses, a showcase of community talent, and a monthly escape into the unique flavors that make ABQ special
Sat 4 – 9 PM Summer Market ABQ Food Park, 6951 San Antonio Dr. NE Dive into the magic of summer evenings at ABQ Food Park with our captivating Summer Market! Join us for a delightful evening, where you can browse an enchanting array of offerings from local artisans and support our vibrant community businesses. Discover unique treasures crafted with love and passion by talented artisans, from handcrafted jewelry to exquisite home decor. Every purchase you make supports local creators and contributes to the thriving arts scene in our city
Sat 5 – 8 PM National Astronomy Day! Rainbow Park Observatory, 301 Southern Blvd SE, Rio Rancho The Rio Rancho Astronomical Society will host National Astronomy Day at Rainbow Park Observatory. There will be food for a donation, family activities and safe solar viewing. Dr. Tony Hull will appeal at 7 pm about his work on the James Webb Space Telescope. He will also have some info on light pollution
Sat 5 – 11 PM Beer & Jazz on the Hill Tractor Brewing, 122 Tulane Dr. SE We're bringing you a full night of brews and Jazz with the very talented Rona & Meli opening things up at 5pm and our house Jazz band Basilaris Trio closing things down at 8!
Sat 6 PM Bear Affair 4: Spanish Tapas Beer Pairing Dinner Boxing Bear Brewing, 8420 Firestone Ln. NE Join us on our patio for an ALMOST summer night paired with a variety of our seasonal beers, chef-crafted Spanish tapas, and flamenco. Featuring chef Christopher Midyette And the artist dance group Spanish Broom. Tickets are $65 per person and include a welcome beer, three course tapas style meal with beer pairings and entertainment for the evening
Sat 6 PM One Year Anniversary Celebration Urbanmama505 Kombucha, 1014 Central Ave SW, Ste A Celebrating one year of love, abundance, and sharing wellness. Right after Open Mic 4-6pm, we will be graced with a jazz concert by Davis Nelson-Hooker, an amazing local musician. Elixirs and small plates for purchase
Sat 6 – 9 PM Gone Country Saturdays with DJ Soiree Ponderosa Brewing, 1761 Bellamah Ave NW It's Gone Country Saturdays featuring the amazing DJ Soiree! Start your evening with free dance lessons at 5 pm, followed by family-friendly entertainment
Sat 7:30 – 9 PM Saturday Night Stand-Up Bosque Brewing Co - Nob Hill, 106 Girard Blvd. SE Live from ABQ, it’s… Saturday Night Stand-Up Hosted by Nax Davis! Every third Saturday of the month! Seating at 7:30 - Comedy at 8. Featured line-up of local comics includes: MEG FINN, BRYAN LAMBE, SARINA OCHOA, MARY BYRD, ROBERT EYSTER
Sat 8 PM – 1:15 AM Apparition Goth Night Historic El Rey Theater, 622 Central Ave SW A hauntingly dark, classic goth night featuring the Apparition team: DJ Ren, DJ Batboy, DJ Moonside. Doors at 8. $10 all night. 21+ Tickets at the door. Expect goth, darkwave, death rock, synthpop, dark post punk, ebm, dark dance, industrial, witch house, horror punk and more
Sat 8:30 PM – 1 AM SABOR Latin Night - SATURDAYS Bama's 1865, 6007 Osuna Rd. NE May 11th - SPECIAL GUEST DJ ITALIA! DJ Gabriel Goza & DJ Pedro will be serving you the saucy Salsa, Bachata, Cumbia, Merengue y Mas! Ample Parking, Safe Environment, Beautiful Venue, Good Food, Good Music, Good Vibes. 21+ / $10 cover
Sat 9 PM – 1 AM Cumbia + Rock en Espanol Juno, 1501 1st St. NW Grupo Super Verza with Ave. 69 and Lot Beat and DJ Tony. Baila! 21+, $15 at the door or online
** Sun 5/19 *\*
Sun 9 – 11 AM Elevated Roller Derby May Training Scrimmage Heights Community Center, 823 Buena Vista Dr. SE Officials' huddle 9:00AM. Captains' meeting at 9:20AM. First whistle 9:30AM. This is simply a black/white scrimmage. It will be used as an educational opportunity. NSO paperwork will be used as appropriate. You are encouraged to stretch your skills. Hospitality: This is a low/no production scrimmage, bring beverages and snacks for your own use. Bathrooms: The community center may not be open during the scrimmage. (That's the trade-off for a free space). You can stop at the nearby Starbucks before the event. Expectations: Skaters and Skating and Non-skating Officials are expected to follow all WFTDA Risk Management Guidelines. The venue is a designated alcohol, drug, and smoke-free space by the city of Albuquerque (sign up)
Sun 10 AM – 2 PM The Great Burque Bake On Rail Yards Market, 777 1st St. SW Get ready to whisk it all at the "Great Burque Bake-on," a special fundraiser for the non-profit Rail Yards Market: One dozen of Albuquerque's most talented bakers will dough head-to-head in a crusty competition for the ultimate bakery glory! Bakers brawl... You vote for the winners! This sugar-dusted showdown promises a blend of flour-fueled drama and buttery bravado, making it the yeast you can do to support your local confectionery champions. As these culinary wizards knead their way to the top, we guarantee you'll find their efforts both batter and sweeter than anything you've tasted before. Join us for a day of laughter, pastry, and a chance to see who rises as the crème de la crème of Burque's baking scene! 1) ORDER > Claim your Bake-on Box & exclusive market swag by ordering online May 10-16th, 2024. 2) LEARN > Follow our social media to learn about each contestant & their offering. 3) PICKUP > Grab your box of baked goodies & swag at the info booth Sunday May 19th. 4) ENJOY > Eat all the delectable goodies, savor the flavor, and read about all the contestants 5) VOTE >> Submit your votes online to choose the winners! (tickets) The Farmers' Market event is going down simultaneously with 175+ local vendors to explore, and is still FREE to enter and welcome to all. This funky fundraiser is going down during the FREE Rail Yards Farmers' Market. So you can peruse 150+ small businesses and enjoy the historic architecture while you enjoy your Great Burque Bake-on Box of goodies! All proceeds will benefit the Rail Yards Market. The Rail Yards market of Albuquerque is a certified 501(c)3 non-profit focused on building a resilient, sustainable, local economy where the surrounding historic communities thrive, all can participate, and everyone is enriched and inspired. Through food, art, education, and music, we invite the community together in an inclusive and festive atmosphere
Sun 11:30 AM The Addams Family Historic Lobo Theater, 3013 Central Ave NE THE HISTORIC LOBO THEATER is excited to bring The Addams Family to the big screen! Showing Starts at 11:30 am Tickets are ONLY $10 for General Admission $25 Brunch and a Movie Ticket $21 Brunch Only ticket
Sun 12:30 PM Annual Spring Tea Asbury UMC, 10000 Candelaria Rd. NE All are welcome to attend our Annual Spring Tea! This year's theme is "The Tapestries of Our Lives." Life can be like a tapestry; our quilt, with events, feelings, accomplishments, and even disappointments "stitched" in. Join us, for tea, while Cindy Kurey, AQS-certified quilted textiles appraiser, shares how quilting and her faith have helped her navigate life. She will also show her collection of antique, vintage, and modern quilts! There is no cost to attend, though RSVPs are required. Please call the church office 505-299-0643 or message us on Facebook to RSVP