I'm interested in creating a local union focused on hospitality workers. I live in a tourist town and a primary part of our economy is tourism that occurs during a very limited window of time in the summer months. This creates a huge demand for seasonal workers, but we live in a very rural county with a low population and we are not located on the path to anywhere. Basically if you aren't coming here for the tourist season, you aren't coming here at all. This leads to a lot of exploited workers, people who are often part of federally protected classes but still vulnerable to predatory employer practices. The season is short, as little as 13 weeks, and even at $20 hour that only comes out to $10,000 a year. That's not enough when rent here is $1,500-$2,000 a month. So the only people who can take these jobs are vulnerable employees; Highschool and College kids on summer break, disabled workers who receive disability payments and need a few more thousand dollars a year to survive, J-1 visa are also common employees here, they're students on break from university in their country and they come here for work. While it may be good money back home, they're still being exploited while they're here.
This over reliance on tourism also leads to a mindset that it needs to be protected, sometimes at an unreasonable cost. This manifests itself as insufficient government oversight and enforcement of safety and health codes. There's only a handful of people in the whole county that enforce codes, and there's thousands of businesses. The county cannot even fill empty positions in it's government services, close to half the positions that are required for a functional government remain unfilled, and the yearly turnover rate for the positions that do hire is about 125%. Ultimately what this leads to is public officials who are susceptible to bribes, and a big issue that I want to fight against.
Specifically, I want to target one employer and use his labor violations as reasons to persuade his employees to join the union. I was previously employed there and was fired for multiple reasons that can be summed up as me complaining about unsafe/illegal workplace practices and reporting them. I reported these violations to multiple local and state agencies who refuse to enforce labor laws or safety codes. Ultimately i made a complaint with the NLRB who brought a charge against my employer for violating me and my coworkers right for concerted workplace activity. So i have the support of the federal government already.
I intend on setting up an information booth about this union on public property near the business. I spoke with local government officials and police about this, and nobody there knows if I need a permit to do it. I told them I will be excercising my federal rights, and a lot of it will be protesting local government corruption, so I believe they cannot legally stop me, and I told them as much. The targeted business operates an underground kitchen that has not been approved or passed any application process. Basically they opened a restaurant 30 years ago, and then 10-15 year ago decided to expand into the basement. But the basement does not and never will meet codes, it's a colonial era building. So they openly bribe the inspector to allow them to operate.
My goal is to entice these employees to form/join a union and use their collective power to walkout until these safety issues are repaired. I've already complained to the officials who are tasked with enforcement and they won't do their job. I've talked to county code enforcement, State labor board, State Fire code enforcement, and my local representative in the state legislature. None of them will help or do their job. I have made complaints to OSHA and the NLRB, both agencies responded and subsequently enforced my workplace rights. But federal rights are limited and I need State and County enforcement. And until they step up and do their job I believe an employee union threatening to walkout in the middle of the limited tourist season is the only way to force the employer to follow the law.

In most relationships, the last thing a couple intends to do is part ways with their partner. After making an in-depth decision, taking numerous risks, and asking yourself tough questions about your feelings and how you two plan your future together, who would have wanted to break up? As most couples do, they've had highs and lows in their relationship. However, if the worst were to happen, their bond may shatter, and they would go completely separate ways. The most devastating period after a breakup is the morning after—well, given my experience. You can literally feel the emptiness in your soul, and as the day passes, you'll gradually feel the heaviness of the way the thought that it's over finally sinks in.
I have an ex-girlfriend whom I shouldn't name. We were blockmates, and she was the first friend I made before attending college. We shared comparable viewpoints and sentiments even before we developed a deeper connection. And I knew. When I first saw her, I knew she was going to be mine. I liked her the first time I saw her in person. I like how soft-spoken she is, how she listens to my stories, and everything she does has become special to me. To cut a long story short, months after college began, that little happy crush feeling grew deeper, to the point where I mustered the courage to take the biggest risk of my life. I confessed. Surprisingly, she confessed too, and it only took us a week to make it official. It wasn't the healthiest relationship in town, and I'm not sure whether it was genuine for both of us. But I knew I loved her more than anything. We never took the relationship thoroughly, given that it was both of our first relationships. By this, we only lasted three months. We started dating in the month of September, and she ended things with me shortly after the new year.
The first breakup aches like hell. Given that we were blockmates, I was able to survive months in a very suffocating environment. It hurts to see her invest energy in others that she hasn't given to me. It hurts to see how she treats her friends as opposed to how she treats me. We still talked at the time, but only when it was convenient for her. When it was months later and we still had a connection, things became complicated. Another girl entered the picture. The moment I found out about this, she and my ex-girlfriend had already separated. I attempted to distance myself after learning the information, but because I was a fool for her and couldn't say no when she suggested that we go out alone to complete our tasks on a specific subject, I agreed. This was the day I decided to take a chance again if she gave me signals. I tried to disregard what happened to the other factors that got involved in our complicated relationship.
We started dating again after nearly five months of being separated.
We were supposed to be in our eighth month when she broke up with me, and she merely gave me one reason: she got bored with our relationship. I asked her if there was anything wrong with me, and she responded no. During those months, I attempted to give my all without demanding anything in return, even though I believed I deserved more than she contributed to our relationship. I tried to be pleased as a low-maintenance girlfriend, but lowkey craved constant reassurance, "just because" presents, random compliments, and other things I do for her. And here I thought we were growing while pushing each other to be the best possible versions of ourselves. I noticed her improvement over the first few months of our relationship, but as we went on, she relapsed to her old nature, similar to my first ex-girlfriend, who broke up with me after a three-month relationship. At first, I felt I could still fix what we had, but when she begged me to let her go, it was a sign for me to stop.
And as I was writing this, it was only the morning after she broke up with me for the second time. I'm writing this to help me move ahead and to express the things that have been on my mind since the time I woke up. I'm trying to persuade myself that I did nothing wrong and that I wasn’t the one who ruined our relationship.
She never sincerely asked for forgiveness, but I knew that even before she could apologize, I had forgiven her. Perhaps it was because of love. We may never forget the pain that they caused, but love will be the reason we forgive them. However, I still wanted to thank her for loving me for an extended period of time. I will continue to cherish the time we spent together, and I will never regret that I once called you mine.
was written last february and finally decided to post it here now that I've moved on. :))

EXTENSIVE Rebirth, Remake, and OG FF7 spoilers in here.
This is a continuation of What's Actually Going On in FF7R (The White Materia) where I attempt to make sense of everything the Remake continuity added to the OG FF7 story. It really is best if you read the other thread first, just because this will be easier if i've already explained my theory on the White Materia and it's associated spell, Holy.
Another disclaimer : This is, still, just a theory, aGameTheory. Don't hate me (or square?) in the event it's completely wrong, which it has a decent chance of being.

There are only 2 things about FF7's Story that have fundamentally changed in Remake.
The White and Black Materia. Or more specifically, the Magic granted by them.

But what I want to discuss this time is (what I personally think, as of Rebirth) is one brilliant misdirection from Square Enix...in hindsight, anyway.

The Whispers

Oh no

"....What the hell was Square thinking?" -- You, probably, watching the ending to Rebirth and/or Remake

Well, they were thinking exactly what you were thinking. And they used it against you.
So getting right to it. TLDR;
The Whispers are exactly what they were said to be -- they protect fate by rejecting any changes to the Lifestream. The misdirection here is how YOU have been goaded into misinterpreting this information.
The White and Black Materia can fully explain their existence and purpose. And it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the OG FF7.
Let's start with what we learned from the previous thread about the White Materia:

So what does the White Materia ACTUALLY do in FF7R?
The White Materia (Holy) gives the user access to the Lifestream. Not just a piece of its knowledge, like regular materia....but the actual lifestream itself. In doing so, they gain knowledge, like all Materia allows them to do. Knowledge of the past, the future, and everything else in flux.
But this is NOT knowledge that you're not supposed to be able to actually do anything with, **because unlike casting Fire or Lightning....**knowing the future allows you to change fate.

Materia are orbs containing knowledge of the ancients. In effect, they contain information from the lifestream itself. The White Materia's magic (Holy) is special though. The magic it contains seems to allow the user to traverse the lifestream itself. This means, in effect, the ability to interact with (and take knowledge from) the actual memories of the Lifestream.
As we know, the Lifestream is everything, everywhere, and every time. All life comes from the lifestream, and when something dies, it returns there. And its memories stay there forever, as physical places within the lifestream.
This is something Tifa observed for herself in Rebirth. In her brief time floating with the WEAPON, she was reunited with her very own memories...in a very literal fashion.
Tifa, inside the Lifestream in the middle of the Gongaga Reactor
This is the Mako pool in the Lifestream underneath Gongaga. We literally watched Tifa fall in, and physically swim to this location........so why is Tifa's house here? Along with...the Nibelheim Mountians?
A Fragmented Nibelheim, including Mt Nibel and the Bridge that Tifa and Cloud almost died on in the past.
Tifa's memories are not only being played out here....they are physically real. This is because she's inside the Lifestream. She hasn't gone anywhere, she's still in Gongaga, but look at the extent to which this pool of Mako is able to interact with one person's memories.
And also....wait a second.
This space beneath the reactor is filled with White and Black Whispers.
...I thought we killed all the whispers? What are they doing here?
We'll come back to this later.
Lets back up a bit.

Why you [probably] hated the Whispers.

Hear me out.
The "OG Storyline" has never existed in Remake. It's not a thing. And the Whispers have nothing to do with it.
\"Oh, the Whispers came because Reno doesn't die in the original game\" -- You, probably

"The whispers were put into the game as a meta commentary on how the developers just want to create their own story, but the fans won't let us, so the party fucking KILLS FATE so that Nomura or Nojima or whomever is most annoying can write whatever they want." -- The Internet. Also you. Probably.

Everyone thinks the Whispers only existed in Remake in order to ensure that the story never deviates from the OG FF7 Storyline. Every time something important is about to happen that didn't happen in the original game, the whispers intervene and correct the timeline.
This is the typical, widely accepted "Meta Commentary" explanation of the Whispers.
But it's wrong.
No, not just because this theory says so. This interpretation was ALWAYS wrong.
So the whispers are canon police, but are just gonna IGNORE stuff like this?
FF7R's storyline is self-contained. If the whispers existed to "protect the old events", then why is even Remake chocked full of shit that never happened in the OG and would actively change the story if it did?
But don't be confused -- the writers ABSOLUTELY wanted you to think this way. It's what bothered me about Remake's ending. But they were actually clever about it, and Rebirth vindicates this decision.
"Changing the Future", "Defying Fate", and "The Future is Unwritten" has nothing to do the OG FF7.
Okay good we got this out of the way, I can stop talking about Meta Analysis and get to the actual good stuff.

What the whispers were ACTUALLY doing

Remake explained what the Whispers are verbatim.
They protect fate -- the Lifestream. From Aerith, and Jenova.
The Lifestream IS Fate.

Red -"Perhaps best described as arbiters of fate. They are drawn to those who attempt to alter destiny's course and ensure they do not."
Tifa - "And you're saying that flow is somehow...fixed?
Red - "Yes. For it is the will of the planet itself."

Barret then speaks about possible bad fates. And Red XIII says this:

Barret - "So if we're destined for a bleak future, these Whispers will try to keep us on that course?"

"....Now wait just a damn minute. How in the hell could you possibly know any of that? Spouting that cryptic stuff -- which could all be bullshit!"

Red - "When Aerith reached out to me...I found this knowledge of the Whispers."

In the previous thread, we explained how Aerith has been messing with the Lifestream by mistakenly using the White Materia to obtain information she has no business knowing. The Whispers are simply reacting to her blatant misuse of this, and act to correct it.
This is very consistent, even in Pt1. The Whispers in Remake ONLY appear when someone is either:

1. Using forbidden knowledge from the Lifestream
2. Manipulating events by sharing forbidden knowledge from the lifestream
3. When something foreign attempts to force its will on the lifestream

This is the only time they act. But the THIRD one is the most important. I'm going to go through a few examples in Remake and show exactly what's happening that is causing the Whispers to intervene, and explicitly why.
After I show you this, please go back and watch videos of all these sorts of events in Remake. You will see exactly what I mean.
Okay, buckle up kids!

Violation #1 Using forbidden knowledge from the Lifestream

Watching the first appearance of Aerith in Remake gives us full clarity of what's actually happening.
Aerith is attacked by an invisible force.
Aerith is being attacked by Whispers. This is because she possesses the White Materia, and has constant access to knowledge she isn't supposed to have. They are taking it from her.
Thing to note here. Cloud cannot see the whispers. This is because he is not violating any of the 3 rules.
Sephiroth makes an appearance here.
The appearance of the \"Mental Static\" used in both Remake and Rebirth
This is a Red Herring...in fact, this is THREE brilliantly placed Red Herrings. Because the "Memory Static" that appears here belongs to both Cloud AND Aerith, and serves to confuse you on what it actually means.

1. Aerith sees Cloud, and immediately gains knowledge about them both that she is not supposed to know. Also, if you pay attention, Aerith is NOT frozen during this sequence. This is her scene just as much as it is Cloud's.
2. Cloud has yet another vision of Sephiroth, caused by his Jenova cells. This is a huge misdirection, to eventually make you think Sephiroth is popping up in places he "shouldn't be."
3. This is where Remake starts to fuck with your head. They're using the same memory effect for two different characters, for two different reasons. But the result is essentially the same -- the characters involved are having their perception altered. Remake does NOT distinguish between static caused by Holy or static caused by Jenova. They are treated equally in Remake.

The biggest red herring here though is Sephiroth.
It SEEMS unnatural that Sephiroth is appearing here, this early in the game. But it isn't unnatural -- Cloud is plagued by these visions all the time in this continuity. This is why the game gave us a Sephiroth appearance immediately after the Bombing Mission.
Now. Notice how, despite being attacked by invisible whispers, Aerith mostly seems unbothered by this.
...Almost as if she's used to it. Similar to the way Cloud is equally used to visions of Sephiroth. They BOTH carry on with the conversation as though NOTHING has happened.
The game is explicitly showing you that both of these occurrences are seen as normal for these characters. Suggesting that they have actually been dealing with them for much longer than you would think.
Aerith has another Whisper attack. Cloud is once again very confused, until this happens:
Cloud's violation of #1 through contact with Aerith
Aerith touches Cloud.
We learn later that Aerith touching you gives you knowledge you're not supposed to have. Thus, Cloud is now in violation of Rule #1 -- Forbidden Knowledge. He can now observe whispers for the rest of the story.

Violation #2 Manipulating events by sharing forbidden knowledge from the lifestream

The Church Scene is a great example of this. In fact, most of the moments in Rebirth involve Aerith doing this to some degree.
The White Materia is explicitly the cause of the Whisper Attack in the church, and the game goes out of its way to make it very obvious.
Cloud Memory Static, this time it's Holy, not Jenova. (I don't have enough attachments to spell this out, so please go look at the scene after you read this.)
This is another VERY good example of Remake fucking with your head.

• Aerith brings up her White Materia in conversation
• Cloud looks at the back of Aerith's head. He has a memory static attack, and then immediately has a vision of the White Materia.
• Cloud ignores this phenoemon, because things fucking with his head is completely normal to him. He doesn't skip a beat, and suggests Aerith just doesn't know how to use it.
• Aerith playfully agrees.

The Red Herring here is obvious -- the vision of Aerith's Death. Yes, it was a vision of her death. But her death wasn't the important information the game was showing you in this scene. The White Materia was.
Regardless, the whispers did not intervene here, despite Cloud obviously glimpsing forbidden knowledge.
So why DID they intervene?
\"...Huh?\" - Cloud
Because Aerith couldn't keep her mouth shut.

1. She tells Reno that Cloud is her bodyguard. He isn't. Reno is.
2. She exposed that he was a Soldier. Reno explicitly does not like Soldiers.
3. She already knew that Cloud was doing mercenary work, and used this to persuade him.

Cloud told her none of this information. But it caught Reno's attention. And what was the result?

*Sizes Cloud up*

"Well, you're weird enough to be one."
\"What Class are you?\"
Reno doubts Cloud's Identity as a First Class Ex-Soldier. And Cloud violently reacts to protect it.
The whispers stopped Cloud from killing Reno, NOT because Reno survives in the OG game...but because Reno's life wouldn't even be at risk here if Aerith didn't instigate this fight.
And just like the Flower scene, Remake actually sets this one up with prior character information too. -- Cloud was shown from the beginning of the game to be prone to extreme violence. He would have also executed Johnny without Tifa's intervention. So we KNOW he would have killed Reno if the Whispers didn't intervene.
Hopefully you're beginning to see a pattern here.
Here is the most obvious example of this rule triggering the Whispers.
Aerith attempting to stop Barret from doing something....
In this scene, we see Aerith clearly knows something she isn't supposed to. She wants to share with Barret that killing the President isn't a good idea...And the whispers immediately appear, threatening her to stop. By this point, Aerith is beginning to become aware of why the whispers are harassing her so much.
I covered this scene in my last post, so I wont again...but this scene is crucial towards understanding what's happening in this game. Everyone should watch this scene again. Pay attention to what happens to Aerith the moment she says "Follow the Yellow Flowers". Aerith is clearly not herself as she says this. It's almost as if someone possessed her to say it. And the Whispers absolutely swarm her as a result.

Violation #3 -- When something foreign attempts to force its will on the lifestream

And here we go. The one that caused like 90% of the confusion in Remake. To be fair, this could only really be understood in hindsight after playing Rebirth.
There are many cases in Remake where the Whispers do something that seems...odd, given their explanations as arbiters of fate. Like attacking Sector 7, silencing Hojo, or literally helping Sephiroth at the end of the game. This is because although it's clearly whispers doing it...in Remake there is no visual indication of which Will any given Whispers serve -- The Planet, or Jenova's.
They all LOOK the same.
But they absolutely ARE NOT the same -- they are separate (black and white), just like in Rebirth.
But Remake included subtle clues as a nod to this reveal in Rebirth.
The Whisper Attack on Sector 7
This is another situation where you're expected to believe that the whispers are causing a ruckus because Cloud isn't going on the second bombing mission with Avalanche. Which is something we know he does in the OG game.
But that's just because we likely misinterpreted the clues that lead up to this moment that explain exactly why this is happening : The white whispers are attempting to correct the deliberate isolation of the main party by the black whispers.
A whisper is seen lurking around in Sector 7 the day before this happens. It's extremely easy to miss.
A whisper was present in Seventh Heaven. This was shown immediately after Barret told Cloud he wasn't on the next mission and has to leave.
See...if you're comparing Remake to the OG, then this whisper shown here is 100% going to force you to misinterpret what it's doing here.
In Seventh Heaven, multiple things happen that result in a break up of the entire main party.

1. Tifa is feeling anxious about the next mission. Jesse goes out of her way to voice concerns about her involvement, leading to her getting kicked off the team for the mission.
2. Jesse then tries to aim to get Cloud placed on the team instead. Barret refuses to do this because he "doesn't want the team leaning on him."
3. Barret pays Cloud, tells him he isn't wanted on the next mission, and kicks him out the bar.
4. A whisper will literally stop you from entering Seventh Heaven again after this happens to make sure you can't fix it.

The side mission with Jesse happens.....and then this.
A whisper with Sephiroth's voice trying to keep Cloud sleep
A Whisper with Sephiroth's voice approaches Cloud in the morning. He wants him to sleep through Barret, Jesse, and Biggs going on the mission. This would have likely isolated Barret, resulting in his death. Something Jenova tries again towards the end of the game.
She really does not want Barret to stay alive, because he is the glue of Avalanche, and the main reason the events of the story begin the way they do. Cloud also likely never would have met Aerith in the church.
Jenova's whispers are trying to prevent Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, and Barret from getting together. This event would have succeeded in separating all of them.
That's why the whispers are at war with one another.
The Black ones are trying to isolate you. The white ones are correcting their meddling.
The game even STOPS you mid-combat to bring attention to the fact that the Black Whispers are being exposed.
Black Whisper being made vulnerable by something external

• You don't have to do anything to these whispers for this to happen.
• The entire screen gains a Static Memory effect....as though Cloud is being shown the truth. He even comments on it.
• After they go vulnerable, they become Black/Purple until they die.

They stop attacking after a whisper manages to isolate and injure Jesse, at which point the battle is over and all whispers leave.
And of course....there's most obvious example of this kind of massive violation from Remake....The Infamous Chapter 18.
But that's gonna have to wait for another post.
I'm out of attachments again.

TL;DR : FF7R is messing with your head.

Aerith using the White Materia in Remake is literally going through the events of the story the exact same way the player did -- with "forbidden knowledge" about how things are "supposed to be".
In Rebirth, the White Materia is empty. She no longer has knowledge of what's "supposed to happen", and thus has to accept that whatever happens, happens. This is why the "The Journey is Unknown." Not because the party killed the whispers, therefore the writers can do whatever they want. But because Aerith hid her knowledge of the future (Holy) from herself. She used to be able to know what was going to happen. Now she can't. The real Meta thing is that FF7R only really starts to make sense when you willingly abandon what you thought you already knew about the story. Those who look with clouded eyes see nothing but shadows.
Now go back through Remake with the new perspective and tell me that everything doesn't make way more sense.
Also, please tell me im crazy so I can stop writing these.
Otherwise, stay tuned for pt3 -- The Black Materia.
....Oh. One final hilarious mindblowing. Remember this?

This is where Remake starts to fuck with your head. They're using the same memory effect for two different characters, for two different reasons. But the result is essentially the same -- the characters involved are having their perception altered.
Remake does NOT distinguish between static caused by Holy or static caused by Jenova. They are treated equally in Remake.

Rebirth DOES distinguish the visual effects of memory alteration.
But only for the player.
Cloud still can't tell the difference.

I’m a compulsive eater and your leader for this meeting.
Will those who wish, please join me in the Serenity Prayer: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.
Overeaters Anonymous is a Fellowship of individuals who, through shared experience, strength, and hope, are recovering from compulsive overeating. We welcome everyone who wants to stop eating compulsively. There are no dues or fees for members; we are self-supporting through our own contributions, neither soliciting nor accepting outside donations. OA is not affiliated with any public or private organization, political movement, ideology, or religious doctrine; we take no position on outside issues. Our primary purpose is to abstain from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors and to carry the message of recovery through the Twelve Steps of OA to those who still suffer.
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The OA tools of recovery help us work the Steps and refrain from compulsive overeating. The nine tools are: a plan of eating, sponsorship, meetings, telephone, writing, literature, an action plan, anonymity, and service. For more information, read The Tools of Recovery OA page.
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**This is a literature meeting. Today we are studying the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous Page 18 *
"Highly competent psychiatrists who have dealt with us have found it sometimes impossible to persuade an alcoholic to discuss his situation without reserve. Strangely enough, wives, parents and intimate friends usually find us even more unapproachable than do the psychiatrist and the doctor.
"But the ex-problem drinker who has found this solution, who is properly armed with facts about himself, can generally win the entire confidence of another alcoholic in a few hours. Until such an understanding is reached, little or nothing can be accomplished."
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Helpful Resources

• The CTAD Clinic: https://www.youtube.com/@thectadclinic
• HealthyGamerGG - Dr. K: https://www.youtube.com/c/HealthyGamerGG
  • (Not DID focused however has a lot of insightful advice, perspectives, and guides.)
• International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. https://www.isst-d.org/
  • https://www.isst-d.org/public-resources-home/
• Therapist Aid Articles: https://www.therapistaid.com/therapy-articles
• Therapist Aid Worksheets: https://www.therapistaid.com/therapy-worksheets/emotions/adults
• Worksheets continued - ➘

Grounding Techniques	What is Trauma	Urge Surfing: Distress Tolerance Skill
Relaxation Techniques	Fight-or-Flight Response Fact Sheet	Cognitive Distortions

Edited for a TLDR: I'm breaking up with my fiancée without notice and going to a mental health residential facility to heal because she'd bully my into not doing either if I told her ahead of time.
So, I (25) am non-binary and have followed a very ftm medical transition, and my fiancée (31) is mtf and from a "redneck military family" (her words when she tells people). I have a lot of mental health problems, but in the 2 years we've been together, I've also been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (my therapist specifically says CPTSD, but that's not in the DSM yet). This is all background information to help give context.
I love my fiancée, and she loves me, but we are not good together. I'm highly sensitive due to my autism and ptsd, and she has zero emotional intelligence due to being raised male in a family ripe with bigotry and toxic masculinity. This isn't her fault. But it is a problem. She's kind of bullied me into the relationship to begin with (we became engaged because she took me to a ring shop to get rings without telling me before hand), and every time I've tried to bring up problems in our relationship she either says she'll do bettefix the problem and doesn't, or tries to show me how my emotions are wrong. I don't think this is actually malicious, but it is very harmful to me.
Additional behavior she's shown that has caused harm and damaged our relationship are playful gaslighting (turning on a dog whistle app on her phone and then refusing to turn it off cuz "I don't hear anything, I don't know what your talking about"), refusing to stop "teasing" me (invasively touching my face, such as poking me, putting her finger up my nose or in my mouth, etc) even after I've told her to stop multiple times, continuously pressuring me to make more money despite the fact that I am working as much as my mental health will allow, causing me to go into a lot of financial debt because "we can pay it off once things get better", pressuring me to go out when I'm overwhelmed and exhausted, refusing to read what I've written down or learn sign language and insisting I speak when I'm having an autistic shutdown or meltdown and literally can't speak, making self sabotaging threat (anywhere from breaking her X-box because I asked her to be less reactive when I ask her to stop playing to help me with something to stepping in front of a train), and just general emotional neglect where I have to beg to get any sort of positive emotional attention from her.
I've tried to break up with her twice before, and she's persuaded me not to. And, at this point, I've developed trauma responses to her, and don't even want to be in the same room as her a lot of the time. It's gotten bad enough that my therapist wants me to go into residential mental health treatment because I can't take care of myself anymore. And I am going to, my admittance date is the day after tomorrow. And I'm going to tell her I'm going into residential and breaking up with her tomorrow, with the support of my mom.
I'm not giving her notice because she would try to talk me out of it, and knowing me, I'll let her bully me into not going in and not breaking up because confrontation hurts. The reason I feel shitty about this is she has no support people (her family threatened her life when she came out to them) and my mom has been paying her phone bill and our rent while we've been having financial issues. Granted, my mom is paying for this upcoming month's rent even though I'm not going to be there, and has offered to help my fiancée get on her feet over the next month, to make sure she's not totally screwed.
I also feel bad because my first relationship ended without warning and without explanation, and I still have no idea why because my ex cut me off and never communicated with me after saying we were done. And that really messed me up. I am going to tell her why I'm doing what I'm doing, so at least she'll get an explanation, but... it still feels bad.
Also, while she's never been violent towards me, I've seen her get violent towards others who have mad her angry, and I know she's been violent towards her past partner. So part of the "no notice" thing is so that I can spend the night at my mom's after the breakup and won't have any risk of bodily harm after.
So for the last two weeks I've been gathering my things discretely, and trying to make sure I can leave without much fuss. I have the information to pay bills (cuz that's been my responsibility) gathered up for her, and I'm planning on telling her something along the lines of "We love each other, but you deserve someone who isn't constantly trigged by your words and actions, and I deserve someone that can fully meet my emotional needs." I don't want her to have a bad life or suffer after this, but I don't want to get to a point where I hate her, and I'm getting dangerously close to that now.
I'm doing this opinions aside, so I might be posting for a little courage before I go through with things tomorrow.

I need a simple method to automatically update data in main worksheet to other worksheets on same Excel file while maintaining formatting.
​
example
From the example above, (using Office 365) I know how to copy the entire table =Table name[All#}] which works fine, but this method does not maintain formatting (colours etc) which is important in my case.
I want to be able to copy information for example Sheet 2 john doe jane doe plus date and time, sheet 3 Flower Bell, Lee (date and time) etc but want the information to be updated centrally from the main worksheet.
The information on the main worksheet will most likely be updated regularly so wanted a method of just removing sections into different sheets without having to individually link and copy data.
Any tips are welcome. No complex formulas please.

Hello, my cat just had two kittens only a week ago and my mom told her friend that they could have one in about a week since they're moving. I think this is a really bad idea because of how young it is but I'm not being given a choice in the matter. I'm really worried about what will happen to both the mother cat and the kitten, who will now grow up without it's sibling or mother. Any advice is greatly appreciated here.
Edit: Thank you guys for the informative replies. I'm going to try my best to persuade her but there's no guarantees.

The answer is always, "Whenever you feel ready", but when? Yeah, it's never too late but I don't want the dysphoria to worsen.
I really want to get some perspectives from trans-mascs and enbies on T. A way to finally persuade myself.
I've been thinking about going on T for so long and I almost made the choice when I learned about informed consent. But the more I think about my plans and the future, the more I go into a limbo of indecision.
It's going to be a big change. A commitment to a different lifestyle, and I'm not sure if I can keep up.
I backed off from my option of informed consent and thought about going to a mental health professional instead. Or maybe take both options at the same time. But then again, the first option would be better to sort out any issues and worries before setting things in stone.
Decisions, decisions…

All begins with the mind. The mind finds focus, focus finds love, love cannot help but to radiate itself in an outburst of light.
Power, in this simple equation, has a simple nature. It is a property of Love, as love is inherently radiant. Love is transformative. Love is what creates a change in the real space experience. Real space is the world of energy, frequency and vibration, and we know that out of phase waveforms experience destructive interference. If Love is never found through focus or free will, the energy contained within Love will never carry forth energy because it will always destructively interfere with out of phase waves from other sources of Love. Therefore, free will directly influences the creation of power, as it is capable of tuning that phase of Love/Light radiant form to control how strongly Light/Love becomes a part of real space. It is not power in the same sense that Love is, but more akin to a potentiometer or a phase tuner.
Here is where the misconception of the nature of power within real space resides: many believe that focus and desire are what create power. The power we tap into through control of others, whether by agreement or coercion, is not seen as real power, because it betrays this property of being born from focus. The other, as an equivalent being as the self, is able to shift focus into whatever it desires, potentially causing the phase we are tuning into to change and to create destructive interference. The only real power is then seen to be self-focus, or the self's capability of free will. All else is simply borrowed power, as easily lost as it is gained.
The fundamental mistake here is not identifying that it is Love that is the source of this power. Its expression is nearly fully controlled by one's will, but will is not its source. Power exists within the ephemeral realm and it is a gift given to all. Will is what enables one to tap into it, but power is given in equal measure for all that exists. To desire power is, in some sense, folly. All power one could ever imagine has already been given, but if one desires to experience power, then one might employ one of two strategies: one might attempt to remove interfering radiation from outside (either by changing the phase of local vibration or by isolating oneself from it), or one might attempt to tune one's desire to find a local maximum of what power is available.
If we put this into the context of what is known as manifesting in spirituality, this means that we are generally going to be successful when others are receptive to our desires, when our will is dominant over others, or when we change our will to be in-line with the desire of the universe. The greatest effects are likely encountered with the last option, but this paradoxically means ceding away one's own free will at least partly. If a "best" option exists within a plethora of different options and one gains awareness of the effects of all options, then all the others might as well not be there. The entity which is willing to cede away free will in exchange for the most powerful experience must have acquired sufficient awareness before that act of ceding one's will can become effective for them.
Thus, there are three pursuits for expressions of power: pursuing awareness, which leads to the greatest effects at the least control, pursuing "beauty" or "fortune/luck", which in this context means that one wishes to persuade the others in one's local vibrational area to tune their desires in-tune with yours at the cost of this being "borrowed power", or pursuing isolation, which limits the total amplitude possible, and places restrictions on what experiences are possible because of the likely mechanism of isolation. If only "the ultimate" is acceptable, then one must pursue awareness.
After all this incoherent rambling, the conclusion is that if one desires power within the world, then the greatest tool one has is awareness (both of others and the self) and the will to conform to that which one perceives as the desire of the universe (or the desire of the collection of all "others" or "other-selves"). Because our nature as humans is flawed and incapable of attaining the awareness of much that exists within our universe, we know that we cannot fulfill that desire fully, but whatever expression that we are capable of is greater than that of the other methods.
The real superpower is to have a malleable mind. Seek information. Deal with hypotheticals. Don't dismiss prematurely. Try to find the beauty in something that is popular, even when you have trouble. One does not need to shed their own personal identity in that pursuit and throw oneself fully into things one does not like, but rather one needs to not dismiss the sources of love in others' lives. If a million flies are infatuated with excrement, then perhaps even excrement is something one should be aware of every now and again, though it might smell bad.

Hey guys,
I have a landing page for my photography business that targets a city. It has a simple keyword im trying to rank it for (e.g Photographer in City)
For the life of me I can't get google to rank this page for the keyword, instead its ranking completely unrelated pages from my site (my 'about us' page, and an unrelated post we did years ago on wedding photography).
My landing page that I'm trying to rank has well written informative content, images that are relevant to that city, its also linked to the GMB profile listing and has some backlinks from citation sites etc (no spammy ones)
Now these other unrelated pages that are incorrectly ranking don't have any backlinks, are thin on content, are not relevant to the keyword, and don't contain many or hardly any references to the keyword (meaning it shouldn't be KW cannibalisation causing this I think?).
The about us page does have part of the keyword I'm targeting in one of the Alt image attributes - and I can see google is pulling the alt image attribute and putting it in the meta description in the serps.
My internal linking is good, I have an almost exact match anchor link on the about us page pointing to the city landing page to further try and persuade google to rank the correct page - doesn't seem to be doing anything apart from helping the about us page rank for it - having the opposite effect that it should have.
Should I just go ahead and deoptimize these two pages like crazy and see if that fixes it?
Please don't say google prefers the other pages or thinks they are more relevant because that is BS - they are unrelated pages with thin content, zero backlinks. Its a joke that google is showing them for the unrelated keyword.

Understanding Upselling and Cross-Selling

What is Upselling?

Upselling involves encouraging customers to purchase a more expensive version of the product they are considering. This could mean highlighting a premium model or suggesting additional features that come with a higher price tag. The goal is to enhance the customer's purchase with a superior product that meets their needs more effectively.

What is Cross-Selling?

Cross-selling is the practice of suggesting complementary products that go well with the item the customer is viewing. This technique helps in boosting the average order value by offering products that enhance or complete the original purchase, providing a more comprehensive solution to the customer's needs.

Key Strategies for Effective Upselling on Amazon FBA

1. Leverage Product Bundles

Product bundles are a powerful upselling strategy. By grouping related items together at a discounted price, you not only increase the average order value but also provide customers with a sense of receiving more value for their money. Ensure the bundled products complement each other and appeal to the buyer's needs.

2. Highlight Premium Versions

When listing a product, always showcase the premium versions alongside the standard ones. Use comparative charts to highlight the added benefits, features, and specifications of the higher-end models. This visual representation can effectively persuade customers to opt for the more expensive option.

3. Use Strategic Pricing

Implement strategic pricing to make the upsell more attractive. For instance, ensure the price difference between the basic and premium versions is perceived as reasonable. Offering a small discount on the premium version can also incentivize customers to upgrade.

4. Implement Personalized Recommendations

Utilize personalized recommendations based on the customer's browsing and purchase history. Amazon’s algorithm can suggest higher-end products that align with the customer's preferences, making the upsell feel more personalized and relevant.

5. Highlight Customer Reviews and Ratings

Showcase customer reviews and ratings for premium products prominently. Positive feedback from other buyers can significantly influence a customer's decision to opt for a more expensive item, as it builds trust and adds social proof.

Key Strategies for Effective Cross-Selling on Amazon FBA

1. Create Complementary Product Suggestions

Ensure that your product listings include complementary product suggestions. Use phrases like "Frequently bought together" or "Customers also bought" to introduce items that naturally pair with the main product. This method encourages buyers to add more items to their cart.

2. Use Amazon's 'Frequently Bought Together' Feature

Leverage Amazon’s 'Frequently Bought Together' feature by ensuring your products appear in these suggestions. Optimize your product descriptions and keywords to improve the chances of your items being recommended as complementary products.

3. Offer Limited-Time Discounts on Bundled Products

Create a sense of urgency by offering limited-time discounts on bundled products. This strategy not only incentivizes immediate purchases but also enhances the perceived value of buying complementary items together.

4. Optimize Product Pages with Cross-Selling Opportunities

Design your product pages to seamlessly integrate cross-selling opportunities. Include sections that highlight accessories, add-ons, or related products. Ensure these sections are visually appealing and easy to navigate.

5. Utilize Enhanced Brand Content

Use Enhanced Brand Content (EBC) to create rich, informative product listings that showcase how different products work together. Detailed descriptions, high-quality images, and instructional videos can effectively communicate the benefits of purchasing complementary items.

Advanced Techniques for Maximizing Upselling and Cross-Selling

1. Implement AI-Powered Recommendation Engines

Invest in AI-powered recommendation engines to provide highly personalized product suggestions. These advanced tools analyze customer behavior, purchase history, and preferences to deliver tailored upsell and cross-sell recommendations.

2. Use A/B Testing to Optimize Strategies

Regularly perform A/B testing on your upselling and cross-selling tactics. Test different product combinations, pricing strategies, and promotional messages to determine what resonates best with your audience. Use the insights gained to refine your approach continuously.

3. Analyze Customer Data for Insights

Leverage customer data analytics to gain insights into buying patterns and preferences. Identify trends and correlations that can inform your upselling and cross-selling strategies. For instance, if customers frequently buy a specific accessory with a main product, make sure this combination is prominently featured.

4. Train Customer Support Teams

Equip your customer support teams with the knowledge and tools to suggest upsells and cross-sells effectively. Train them to understand customer needs and preferences, enabling them to make relevant and persuasive recommendations during interactions.

5. Incorporate Social Proof in Marketing

Utilize social proof such as user-generated content, testimonials, and influencer endorsements in your marketing campaigns. Highlighting how others have benefited from purchasing premium or complementary products can drive more sales.
Utilizing Amazon Seller Tools
Maximizing the potential of your Amazon FBA business requires effective tools and strategies. Helium 10 is an all-in-one software suite designed to optimize various aspects of your Amazon operations, including upselling and cross-selling. This comprehensive tool helps improve your sales tactics by providing advanced product research, competitor analysis, and keyword optimization, ensuring you select and promote the most relevant products to increase revenue and customer satisfaction.
With robust listing optimization features, the software enables you to create compelling product descriptions and bullet points that enhance both primary and supplementary product visibility. Its PPC campaign management tools allow you to drive targeted traffic to your listings, while email follow-up automation helps you recommend higher-end products or complementary items based on customer purchase history. These features ensure that your upselling and cross-selling strategies are both effective and efficient.
The tool’s sales analytics and reporting capabilities provide valuable insights into the performance of your upselling and cross-selling efforts, helping you refine your approach continuously. Effective inventory management features ensure you always have sufficient stock of both primary and supplementary products, allowing you to capitalize on every sales opportunity. By leveraging these capabilities, you can create a more effective and profitable sales strategy on Amazon FBA.

Conclusion

Mastering the strategies of upselling and cross-selling on Amazon FBA can significantly enhance your sales and customer satisfaction. By leveraging product bundles, highlighting premium versions, using personalized recommendations, and employing advanced techniques like AI-powered engines and A/B testing, you can create a seamless and profitable shopping experience for your customers.
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While putting together my index of North Indian raga, I’ve inevitably collected plenty of fascinating myths and tales from raga history. Also, I’d love to hear your favourite versions (often, there are several variants of the story) - as well as personal reflections on the meaning of these tales in the modern age. Here are my retellings:
• Malkauns: “Hindu lore tells of how the raga was composed to soothe Lord Shiva’s rage. His mortal-born wife, Princess Sati, had renounced the trappings of the material world for Shiva’s love, displeasing her father, King Daksha – who eventually fell into a fit of fury, insulting his daughter and berating Shiva’s character (“a vagrant, who has neither commitments nor a sense of values in life…one who roams about in dreadful cemeteries, attended by hosts of ghosts and sprites; like a madman, naked, with dishevelled hair, wearing a garland of skulls and ornaments of bones…the lowest of the gods”).
Sati, in turn, became consumed by her own anger, taking on the form of the supreme goddess Adi Parashakti. Storms broke as her earthly body burst into flames, disintegrating under the weight of the deity’s infinite power. On learning of his wife’s death, Shiva was distraught, and flew into a wild rage – placing Sati’s charred corpse on his shoulders and throwing two locks of hair to the ground, which sprung up to form the Manibhadra: many-armed warrior spirits who wielded swords, tridents, and cleavers in their murderous quest. They became lost in an unending tandav (‘destruction dance’) – decapitating the king, slaughtering his entourage, and roaming the globe in search of further vengeance.
Shiva’s unrelenting fury disturbed his fellow gods, who implored Vishnu (the ‘preserver’) to help. Quickly persuaded by the unfolding destruction, Vishnu decided to send Sati’s spirit back to earth – reincarnating her as Parvati (Sanskrit: ‘Daughter of the Mountain’). She sought out Shiva, purifying her soul by chanting and meditating naked in the harsh outdoors – and eventually finding him in the depths of the forest. It is said that Parvati first unveiled the raga’s melodic turns as they wandered in the mountains, naming it Mal-Kaushik (‘he who wears serpents as garlands’: in reference to a notorious habit of Shiva’s). The music calmed his mind, succeeding where all else had failed – and soon after, the couple reinstated their eternal marital bonds. At the behest of his wife, Shiva took mercy on his vanquished foes, resurrecting those who he had slain and even reinstating the King to his throne (…albeit while replacing his de-severed head with that of a sacrificial goat)...”
• Lanka Dahan Sarang: “The name ‘Lanka Dahan’ refers to a famous tale from the Ramayana. As per Rajeev Taranath’s preface to a recital of the raga: “Ravana’s demonic horde set fire to Lord Hanuman’s tail; and the Monkey God sent the entire city of Lanka up in flames with it. But Rama’s consort Sita, an avatar of Lakshmi, was also being held captive there. Hanuman became worried about her safety, and in that poignant state of mind, the ‘Monkey Grammarian’ created a raga called Lanka Dahan [‘the burning of Lanka’] to console himself...” (depicted in this painting)...”
• Deepak/Megh: “Strictly speaking, Deepak is a ‘lost raga’, known to us through its status as Miyan Tansen’s fabled fire-bringing melody – said to have sparked uncontrollable blazes when he sung it at Emperor Akbar’s 16th-century royal palace (…and requiring a special rendition of Megh to extinguish it)...”
“Among the oldest surviving members of the Malhar family, Megh (literally: ‘Cloud’) is said to have saved the life of the great Miyan Tansen himself. Legend holds that Tansen’s performance of the fire-bringing Deepak caused all the oil lamps in Emperor Akbar’s 16th-century royal palace to ignite and burn uncontrollably – and, soon, all the rivers and streams around the durbar began to boil and spill over their banks. Tansen’s efforts to quench the unending firestorm came to nothing, until, eventually, he came across two sisters – Tana and Riri – who sung Megh with enough power to summon a great storm, finally extinguishing the blaze (n.b. some tellings instead describe ‘an unbearable, unrelenting burning sensation on Tansen’s skin’ as the cause of his post-Deepak quest, and other versions recount that it was his daughter who sung Megh to save him)...”
• Chandranandan [n.b. not really a myth, just a strange origin tale]: “Chandranandan (‘Moonstruck’) is a modern classic, created by Ali Akbar Khan in a spare studio moment, via spontaneously blending concepts from the Kaunsi family (“Three minutes and it was finished…They asked me for the name, but I never thought of the name, I never thought about the notes. I just thought of my father and played…”). The recording sold wildly – but, when audiences called out for the raga, he found he had forgotten how to play it (“I told them I’d forgotten which notes I used, and needed time…I had to buy the record and listen for six months”). The Ustad‘s paradox-laden path of rediscovery is a truly curious tale, shining light onto his nuanced, multifaceted view of raga itself – encompassing everything from mythological visions and ancient rasa theory to metaphors of chess [n.b. the full story is fascinating but very detailed: thankfully, Khansaab’s son Alam sent me a load of invaluable information from the family archives...]
• Bilaskhani Todi: “Bilas Khan, son of Tansen, the great musicologist and composer of Akbar’s royal court – is said to have first sung it at his father’s funeral wake, held in the late 16th century and attended by the Emperor himself. Inevitably, the details of the story vary depending on whom you ask. To collate a few common tellings: Bilas stepped forth from the hushed crowd of mourners, standing alone by the sarcophagus. Closing his eyes, he drew a slow breath, and began to sing Todi – a famous creation of his father’s – but found himself so grief-stricken that he mixed up the notes, coming out with a different melody by mistake.
At first he was mortified – such public incompetence, and on such an occasion too! Had he inherited nothing from the man they had gathered to honour – one of the Navarasa (‘nine jewels’) of Akbar’s Empire? However, on opening his eyes, Bilas mind was set to rest – as he and the gathered mourners witnessed Tansen’s corpse slowly raise up his right hand, signifying his approval of the new melody. This brief wave was to be the great guru’s final action in this earthly realm...
Further details are often included, variously fleshing out Bilas’ backstory. Some add a satisfyingly redemptive arc, recounting that Bilas had long been a disappointment to his famous father, who compared his talents unfavourably to those of his elder brothers – even disowning him for his inability to represent the essences of the family craft (or alternatively, because he had become a Sufi). In these tellings, the younger man’s dramatic graveside performance helped to unravel decades of darkness and personal shame, allowing him to prove his worth to the great patriarch, who finally heralded his accomplishments in the very last moments they shared together in this world (…in raga mythology, the sudden apparition of the living dead can be a reassuring, heartwarming narrative turn).
Some variants take a different tack, crediting Bilas with more deliberate modes of creative accomplishment. According to some, Tansen had not named a successor by the time of his death, instead issuing a challenge: the next Khalifa (leader) would be ‘whichever of his sons could blend the movements of Todi with the swaras of Bhairavi‘, creating a new hybrid raga that was distinct from both its parents. Bilas, long unfavoured by the critics, beat the odds, becoming the first to solve the puzzle. However, his breakthrough moments were soon followed by the arrival of a horseman from Gwalior, bearing news of his father’s sudden death. Heartbroken, he unveiled his creation at the wake anyway – never expecting to receive the acclaim of the dead as well as the living. Or, that of nature itself: some say he scorched the graveside earth with the swooping passion of his lamentations, calling on elemental forces to pay their respects to his father...”
See blue links for recordings of each raga - and let me know of any tales I’ve missed! Also any favourite retellings, alternate forms, personal reflections, etc...

While putting together my index of North Indian raga, I’ve inevitably collected plenty of fascinating myths and tales from raga history. A friend suggested that I share them in this sub, so here they are...hope you find joy from them
• Malkauns: “Hindu lore tells of how the raga was composed to soothe Lord Shiva’s rage. His mortal-born wife, Princess Sati, had renounced the trappings of the material world for Shiva’s love, displeasing her father, King Daksha – who eventually fell into a fit of fury, insulting his daughter and berating Shiva’s character (“a vagrant, who has neither commitments nor a sense of values in life…one who roams about in dreadful cemeteries, attended by hosts of ghosts and sprites; like a madman, naked, with dishevelled hair, wearing a garland of skulls and ornaments of bones…the lowest of the gods”).
Sati, in turn, became consumed by her own anger, taking on the form of the supreme goddess Adi Parashakti. Storms broke as her earthly body burst into flames, disintegrating under the weight of the deity’s infinite power. On learning of his wife’s death, Shiva was distraught, and flew into a wild rage – placing Sati’s charred corpse on his shoulders and throwing two locks of hair to the ground, which sprung up to form the Manibhadra: many-armed warrior spirits who wielded swords, tridents, and cleavers in their murderous quest. They became lost in an unending tandav (‘destruction dance’) – decapitating the king, slaughtering his entourage, and roaming the globe in search of further vengeance.
Shiva’s unrelenting fury disturbed his fellow gods, who implored Vishnu (the ‘preserver’) to help. Quickly persuaded by the unfolding destruction, Vishnu decided to send Sati’s spirit back to earth – reincarnating her as Parvati (Sanskrit: ‘Daughter of the Mountain’). She sought out Shiva, purifying her soul by chanting and meditating naked in the harsh outdoors – and eventually finding him in the depths of the forest. It is said that Parvati first unveiled the raga’s melodic turns as they wandered in the mountains, naming it Mal-Kaushik (‘he who wears serpents as garlands’: in reference to a notorious habit of Shiva’s). The music calmed his mind, succeeding where all else had failed – and soon after, the couple reinstated their eternal marital bonds. At the behest of his wife, Shiva took mercy on his vanquished foes, resurrecting those who he had slain and even reinstating the King to his throne (…albeit while replacing his de-severed head with that of a sacrificial goat)...”
• Lanka Dahan Sarang: “The name ‘Lanka Dahan’ refers to a famous tale from the Ramayana. As per Rajeev Taranath’s preface to a recital of the raga: “Ravana’s demonic horde set fire to Lord Hanuman’s tail; and the Monkey God sent the entire city of Lanka up in flames with it. But Rama’s consort Sita, an avatar of Lakshmi, was also being held captive there. Hanuman became worried about her safety, and in that poignant state of mind, the ‘Monkey Grammarian’ created a raga called Lanka Dahan [‘the burning of Lanka’] to console himself...” (depicted in this painting)...”
• Deepak/Megh: “Strictly speaking, Deepak is a ‘lost raga’, known to us through its status as Miyan Tansen’s fabled fire-bringing melody – said to have sparked uncontrollable blazes when he sung it at Emperor Akbar’s 16th-century royal palace (…and requiring a special rendition of Megh to extinguish it)...”
“Among the oldest surviving members of the Malhar family, Megh (literally: ‘Cloud’) is said to have saved the life of the great Miyan Tansen himself. Legend holds that Tansen’s performance of the fire-bringing Deepak caused all the oil lamps in Emperor Akbar’s 16th-century royal palace to ignite and burn uncontrollably – and, soon, all the rivers and streams around the durbar began to boil and spill over their banks. Tansen’s efforts to quench the unending firestorm came to nothing, until, eventually, he came across two sisters – Tana and Riri – who sung Megh with enough power to summon a great storm, finally extinguishing the blaze (n.b. some tellings instead describe ‘an unbearable, unrelenting burning sensation on Tansen’s skin’ as the cause of his post-Deepak quest, and other versions recount that it was his daughter who sung Megh to save him)...”
• Chandranandan [n.b. not really a myth, just a strange origin tale]: “Chandranandan (‘Moonstruck’) is a modern classic, created by Ali Akbar Khan in a spare studio moment, via spontaneously blending concepts from the Kaunsi family (“Three minutes and it was finished…They asked me for the name, but I never thought of the name, I never thought about the notes. I just thought of my father and played…”). The recording sold wildly – but, when audiences called out for the raga, he found he had forgotten how to play it (“I told them I’d forgotten which notes I used, and needed time…I had to buy the record and listen for six months”). The Ustad‘s paradox-laden path of rediscovery is a truly curious tale, shining light onto his nuanced, multifaceted view of raga itself – encompassing everything from mythological visions and ancient rasa theory to metaphors of chess [n.b. the full story is fascinating but very detailed: thankfully, Khansaab’s son Alam sent me a load of invaluable information from the family archives...]
• Bilaskhani Todi: “Bilas Khan, son of Tansen, the great musicologist and composer of Akbar’s royal court – is said to have first sung it at his father’s funeral wake, held in the late 16th century and attended by the Emperor himself. Inevitably, the details of the story vary depending on whom you ask. To collate a few common tellings: Bilas stepped forth from the hushed crowd of mourners, standing alone by the sarcophagus. Closing his eyes, he drew a slow breath, and began to sing Todi – a famous creation of his father’s – but found himself so grief-stricken that he mixed up the notes, coming out with a different melody by mistake.
At first he was mortified – such public incompetence, and on such an occasion too! Had he inherited nothing from the man they had gathered to honour – one of the Navarasa (‘nine jewels’) of Akbar’s Empire? However, on opening his eyes, Bilas mind was set to rest – as he and the gathered mourners witnessed Tansen’s corpse slowly raise up his right hand, signifying his approval of the new melody. This brief wave was to be the great guru’s final action in this earthly realm...
Further details are often included, variously fleshing out Bilas’ backstory. Some add a satisfyingly redemptive arc, recounting that Bilas had long been a disappointment to his famous father, who compared his talents unfavourably to those of his elder brothers – even disowning him for his inability to represent the essences of the family craft (or alternatively, because he had become a Sufi). In these tellings, the younger man’s dramatic graveside performance helped to unravel decades of darkness and personal shame, allowing him to prove his worth to the great patriarch, who finally heralded his accomplishments in the very last moments they shared together in this world (…in raga mythology, the sudden apparition of the living dead can be a reassuring, heartwarming narrative turn).
Some variants take a different tack, crediting Bilas with more deliberate modes of creative accomplishment. According to some, Tansen had not named a successor by the time of his death, instead issuing a challenge: the next Khalifa (leader) would be ‘whichever of his sons could blend the movements of Todi with the swaras of Bhairavi‘, creating a new hybrid raga that was distinct from both its parents. Bilas, long unfavoured by the critics, beat the odds, becoming the first to solve the puzzle. However, his breakthrough moments were soon followed by the arrival of a horseman from Gwalior, bearing news of his father’s sudden death. Heartbroken, he unveiled his creation at the wake anyway – never expecting to receive the acclaim of the dead as well as the living. Or, that of nature itself: some say he scorched the graveside earth with the swooping passion of his lamentations, calling on elemental forces to pay their respects to his father...”
Let me know of any tales I’ve missed! Also any favourite retellings, alternate forms, personal reflections, etc...

While putting together my raga index, I’ve collected plenty of myths and tales from raga history...so I thought I’d collate the best and share them here. Also, I’d love to hear your favourite versions of these tales (often, there are several variants of the story) - as well as personal reflections on the meaning of these tales in the modern era. Here are my retellings:
• Malkauns: “Hindu lore tells of how the raga was composed to soothe Lord Shiva’s rage. His mortal-born wife, Princess Sati, had renounced the trappings of the material world for Shiva’s love, displeasing her father, King Daksha – who eventually fell into a fit of fury, insulting his daughter and berating Shiva’s character (“a vagrant, who has neither commitments nor a sense of values in life…one who roams about in dreadful cemeteries, attended by hosts of ghosts and sprites; like a madman, naked, with dishevelled hair, wearing a garland of skulls and ornaments of bones…the lowest of the gods”).
Sati, in turn, became consumed by her own anger, taking on the form of the supreme goddess Adi Parashakti. Storms broke as her earthly body burst into flames, disintegrating under the weight of the deity’s infinite power. On learning of his wife’s death, Shiva was distraught, and flew into a wild rage – placing Sati’s charred corpse on his shoulders and throwing two locks of hair to the ground, which sprung up to form the Manibhadra: many-armed warrior spirits who wielded swords, tridents, and cleavers in their murderous quest. They became lost in an unending tandav (‘destruction dance’) – decapitating the king, slaughtering his entourage, and roaming the globe in search of further vengeance.
Shiva’s unrelenting fury disturbed his fellow gods, who implored Vishnu (the ‘preserver’) to help. Quickly persuaded by the unfolding destruction, Vishnu decided to send Sati’s spirit back to earth – reincarnating her as Parvati (Sanskrit: ‘Daughter of the Mountain’). She sought out Shiva, purifying her soul by chanting and meditating naked in the harsh outdoors – and eventually finding him in the depths of the forest. It is said that Parvati first unveiled the raga’s melodic turns as they wandered in the mountains, naming it Mal-Kaushik (‘he who wears serpents as garlands’: in reference to a notorious habit of Shiva’s). The music calmed his mind, succeeding where all else had failed – and soon after, the couple reinstated their eternal marital bonds. At the behest of his wife, Shiva took mercy on his vanquished foes, resurrecting those who he had slain and even reinstating the King to his throne (…albeit while replacing his de-severed head with that of a sacrificial goat)...”
• Lanka Dahan Sarang: “The name ‘Lanka Dahan’ refers to a famous tale from the Ramayana. As per Rajeev Taranath’s preface to a recital of the raga: “Ravana’s demonic horde set fire to Lord Hanuman’s tail; and the Monkey God sent the entire city of Lanka up in flames with it. But Rama’s consort Sita, an avatar of Lakshmi, was also being held captive there. Hanuman became worried about her safety, and in that poignant state of mind, the ‘Monkey Grammarian’ created a raga called Lanka Dahan [‘the burning of Lanka’] to console himself...” (depicted in this painting)...”
• Deepak/Megh: “Strictly speaking, Deepak is a ‘lost raga’, known to us through its status as Miyan Tansen’s fabled fire-bringing melody – said to have sparked uncontrollable blazes when he sung it at Emperor Akbar’s 16th-century royal palace (…and requiring a special rendition of Megh to extinguish it)...”
“Among the oldest surviving members of the Malhar family, Megh (literally: ‘Cloud’) is said to have saved the life of the great Miyan Tansen himself. Legend holds that Tansen’s performance of the fire-bringing Deepak caused all the oil lamps in Emperor Akbar’s 16th-century royal palace to ignite and burn uncontrollably – and, soon, all the rivers and streams around the durbar began to boil and spill over their banks. Tansen’s efforts to quench the unending firestorm came to nothing, until, eventually, he came across two sisters – Tana and Riri – who sung Megh with enough power to summon a great storm, finally extinguishing the blaze (n.b. some tellings instead describe ‘an unbearable, unrelenting burning sensation on Tansen’s skin’ as the cause of his post-Deepak quest, and other versions recount that it was his daughter who sung Megh to save him)...”
• Chandranandan: “Chandranandan (‘Moonstruck’) is a modern classic, created by Ali Akbar Khan in a spare studio moment, via spontaneously blending concepts from the Kaunsi family (“Three minutes and it was finished…They asked me for the name, but I never thought of the name, I never thought about the notes. I just thought of my father and played…”). The recording sold wildly – but, when audiences called out for the raga, he found he had forgotten how to play it (“I told them I’d forgotten which notes I used, and needed time…I had to buy the record and listen for six months”). The Ustad‘s paradox-laden path of rediscovery is a truly curious tale, shining light onto his nuanced, multifaceted view of raga itself – encompassing everything from mythological visions and ancient rasa theory to metaphors of chess [n.b. the full story is fascinating but very detailed: thankfully, Khansaab’s son Alam sent me a load of invaluable information from the family archives...]
• Bilaskhani Todi: “Bilas Khan, son of Tansen, the great musicologist and composer of Akbar’s royal court – is said to have first sung it at his father’s funeral wake, held in the late 16th century and attended by the Emperor himself. Inevitably, the details of the story vary depending on whom you ask. To collate a few common tellings: Bilas stepped forth from the hushed crowd of mourners, standing alone by the sarcophagus. Closing his eyes, he drew a slow breath, and began to sing Todi – a famous creation of his father’s – but found himself so grief-stricken that he mixed up the notes, coming out with a different melody by mistake. At first he was mortified – such public incompetence, and on such an occasion too! Had he inherited nothing from the man they had gathered to honour – one of the Navarasa (‘nine jewels’) of Akbar’s Empire? However, on opening his eyes, Bilas mind was set to rest – as he and the gathered mourners witnessed Tansen’s corpse slowly raise up his right hand, signifying his approval of the new melody. This brief wave was to be the great guru’s final action in this earthly realm...
Further details are often included, variously fleshing out Bilas’ backstory. Some add a satisfyingly redemptive arc, recounting that Bilas had long been a disappointment to his famous father, who compared his talents unfavourably to those of his elder brothers – even disowning him for his inability to represent the essences of the family craft (or alternatively, because he had become a Sufi). Again, evidence is elusive. In these tellings, the younger man’s dramatic graveside performance helped to unravel decades of darkness and personal shame, allowing him to prove his worth to the great patriarch, who finally heralded his accomplishments in the very last moments they shared together in this world (…in raga mythology, the sudden apparition of the living dead can be a reassuring, heartwarming narrative turn).
Some variants take a different tack, crediting Bilas with more deliberate modes of creative accomplishment. According to some, Tansen had not named a successor by the time of his death, instead issuing a challenge: the next Khalifa (leader) would be ‘whichever of his sons could blend the movements of Todi with the swaras of Bhairavi‘, creating a new hybrid raga that was distinct from both its parents. Bilas, long unfavoured by the critics, beat the odds, becoming the first to solve the puzzle. However, his breakthrough moments were soon followed by the arrival of a horseman from Gwalior, bearing news of his father’s sudden death. Heartbroken, he unveiled his creation at the wake anyway – never expecting to receive the acclaim of the dead as well as the living. Or, that of nature itself: some say he scorched the graveside earth with the swooping passion of his lamentations, calling on elemental forces to pay their respects to his father...”
Let me know which tales I’ve missed! Also any favourite retellings, alternate forms, personal reflections, etc...All contributions fully credited.

Using Office 16 Excel on Windows 11. Size of workbook is 431kb (Microsoft Excel Worksheet) and now 292kb (Microsoft Excel Binary Worksheet).
I'm looking for a way to make my Excel spreadsheet more manageable, as I keep having the "calculating (8 threads) x%" issue which creates a lot of lag, and often results in either Excel crashing or my computer requiring a restart. I suspect the issue is either the semi-large dataset or large number of calculations using processing intensive formulas which aren't optimised.
Other posts I've seen have asked for more information, so I'll give a bit of context. I work in finance for a large company with c200 divisions/sub-units. Each division has its own planned profit/loss for each month in the year, as well as its own planned cash for each month in the year.
I have two tabs in a spreadsheet . The first where I'm looking to centralise the information taken from an Excel extract of our ERP (with columns for division name, division code, month 1 through month 12 for planned profit/loss and month 1 through month 12 for cash). The second where I have the Excel extract from our ERP with c5600 lines of raw information that we are looking to summarise.
The formula I am using for the planned profit/loss is an embedded IF and XLOOKUP, the first part of which is =IF(XLOOKUP(B8&$G$7&$AN$6,'Data'!$D:$D&another column%another column...) The references will slightly change for each month because of the ERP codes, but they're essentially the same (i.e. looking up PLANM01 for month 1, PLANM02 for month 2, etc.).
The formula I am using for the planned cash is a SUMIFS statement, and again looking up to entire columns.
I've tried converting the Excel into a binary spreadsheet (which appeared to work for another Excel we have which has an even larger dataset with more calculations, and using pretty much the same formulas). I've read from Reddit and online that it may be to do with the entire column reference or that the formulas are intensive and there's a more efficient way to do it.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and similarly I can provide more information if helpful.

I’ve privately rented for decades. My credit is decent — no CCJs etc.
Last year my landlord said they wanted me to move out as they need to refurbish this entire block of flats. I’d been here 3 years with perfect payment history. I found a flat to move to, but the letting agent for the new flat outsourced tenant referencing to a 3rd party company. After weeks of faffing about, this company claimed they couldn’t “verify” my income. I was then told I’d list that flat.
A few weeks later two of my bank accounts were closed. I eventually spoke to CIFAS who confirmed there is a fraud marker against me for “tenancy application fraud.”
I tried to get it removed but to no avail. The information I submitted to the tenant referencing company was accurate and genuine.
Since then every flat I’ve tried to rent has rejected me, citing the CIFAS marker. I contacted a mortgage broker who said the CIFAS marker would make getting a mortgage impossible.
I persuaded my landlord to me stay on another 12 months, but that 12 months is almost up. I have 2 months left.
I have no family, and due to the CIFAS, no chance of passing tenancy referencing or getting a mortgage. What do I do?
I also have severe PTSD and am in a state of utter terror at being street homeless

I’ve privately rented for decades. My credit is decent — no CCJs etc.
Last year my landlord said they wanted me to move out as they need to refurbish this entire block of flats. I’d been here 3 years with perfect payment history. I found a flat to move to, but the letting agent for the new flat outsourced tenant referencing to a 3rd party company. After weeks of faffing about, this company claimed they couldn’t “verify” my income. I was then told I’d list that flat.
A few weeks later two of my bank accounts were closed. I eventually spoke to CIFAS who confirmed there is a fraud marker against me for “tenancy application fraud.”
I tried to get it removed but to no avail. The information I submitted to the tenant referencing company was accurate and genuine.
Since then every flat I’ve tried to rent has rejected me, citing the CIFAS marker. I contacted a mortgage broker who said the CIFAS marker would make getting a mortgage impossible.
I persuaded my landlord to me stay on another 12 months, but that 12 months is almost up. I have 2 months left.
I have no family, and due to the CIFAS, no chance of passing tenancy referencing or getting a mortgage. What do I do?
I also have severe PTSD and am in a state of utter terror at being street homeless

some details: I (16F) am the middle child, and I have 2 siblings, one 18M. I have 2 mental illnesses that do affect my ability to function. My older brother has a mild case of intellectual disability. We are all Asian and live in Asia.
So the last 5-6 years, my older brother (let's call him F) has been going to school in Canada. Initially it was face-to-face, but then he returned half a year after the pandemic started, and his schooling turned virtual. But ever since he came back, my dad has been attending his lessons for him, with my help because he kind of sucks at English. So I have been proofreading his work for years, and still continue to do so today.
My dad got a promotion 2-3 years ago, and he has been unable to attend the lessons, so F attends them, but I do all or most of the work. This year I had a 3 month long exam period, and my mom has been doing the homework, and I occasionally pitch in to help with the things she can't do, like analyzing poems.
F has been unable to do any assignment on his own, and I have to translate the instructions into our native language or tell him what to do, like what things to google. He can't even do a proper google search on his own. He will only type what he sees on the results page, and he won't even click into the page to find more information. I'm not sure if he even knows what copy and paste is. He is unable to do basic math, only addition and subtraction, and more complex numbers like 35 + 35, he can't handle. My parents say he is good at English, but the texts I send him (in english) he cannot comprehend what I write and will ask me to clarify what I mean multiple times. He is unable to read books above a third grader's level, and I don't think he has picked up a book that he is uninterested in ever since returning to our country 4-5 years ago. He is unable to accept that some people will never like you no matter what you do, and he thinks that he is somehow will never go to jail because of his special status even if he breaks the law. Some things are banned where I live, but he thinks he can bypass the laws because he is special.
My parents have found him a college in Canada where he can learn something related to fixing cars (I don't really know what because they don't discuss this with me), and they're planning to send him back over there during the summer. He'll be living with a host family, and they will take care of his every need.
F clearly cannot handle going to college. I don't think he could handle elementary school! I don't know what is in my parents' brains for them to make such a stupid and ignorant decision.
I have tried persuading my parents to send F to a special school where they can teach him basic life survival skills and provide him with a stable job, but they refused. My mom's argument is that it's bad for us to label him. That's it, that's the argument. My dad can't even justify his decision. A talk with my grandma (dad's mom) revealed that my mom was worried about what others might think of her having such a son, but then, she boasts about me and my illnesses to her coworkers.
I tried and raged for months, but they did not give in. The only thing I can do is help them, because they have a lot to do and I don't want to see them suffer.
I don't want him to go overseas. He will most definitely be ostracized or even bullied, and it's a tremendous waste of money. I'm even considering writing a letter to his college asking them to make him do a test before accepting him. He won't be able to survive over there. I can't just stand by and watch him make a mess of his life. He has a tendency to threaten physical violence or suicide when faced with things he is unable to overcome, and he cannot accept even the most minor of criticisms by most people. I'm worried about what he may do with nobody there to look after him, and if things go wrong, there will be nobody to stop him.
And what about when my parents die? He will be on his own, and I'm not sure I have the capability to help him as I am not sure how my future is going to turn out at the moment.
Is there truly nothing I can do to help him, to have a chance of letting him get his much-needed education and survival skills?

In modern advertising, capturing your audience's attention has become an art and science. That's why crafting compelling content for your mobile LED billboard is an important skill advertisers must consider. However, creating engaging content takes more than stringing words together. It combines design, psychology, and storytelling principles to create experiences that captivate and resonate with your audience. If you want to learn how to come up with enticing content for your billboards, read more below.
Understanding Audience Psychology
The first step to creating compelling mobile digital billboards in Atlanta is understanding your audience. People tend to focus on specific stimuli while filtering out irrelevant information, so your billboard must compete for their attention, especially since it is displayed outdoors. Hence, your goal is to grab your audience's attention within a few seconds.
One trick to capturing their attention is structuring your mobile billboard to guide your viewers' attention. You can apply the psychology of understanding your audience by utilizing elements such as size, color, and placement. Motion graphics and animations are also great ways to keep viewers engaged. When done right, narrative and storytelling techniques can evoke emotions and create memorable billboards.
Design Principles for Effective Content
The design of your mobile LED billboard is probably one of the first things your audience notices. Thus, it's important to establish a clear visual design to capture your audience's attention and communicate your message effectively. To do this, use the right size, color, contrast, and placement to emphasize your billboard's important elements, such as headlines, Calls-to-Actions (CTAs), and branding.
Choose fonts easily read from a design and maintain legibility even at high speeds. Utilize colors strategically to evoke emotions and create a visual impact. But, most of all, keep your ad's content concise to prevent overloading your audience with information. Use simple language to convey messages quickly and effectively.
Interactive and Engaging Experiences
Interactive elements can help create engaging mobile LED advertising. They encourage viewers to engage, creating memorable brand interactions. One great way to do this is to create interactive games and quizzes to encourage people to participate and interact with the billboard. Offer incentives like discounts, prizes, or exclusive content to increase excitement.
Integrating social media is also a great method for creating an interactive ad. You can display User-Generated Content (UGC), such as social media posts or hashtags, on the billboard to create a sense of community. Remember to include clear CTAs that prompt viewers to take action, such as visiting your website, purchasing your product, or participating in a survey.
Storytelling and Narrative Techniques
Storytelling and narrative techniques can be powerful tools for creating an engaging mobile LED billboard. Instead of displaying an ad, consider turning your message into a compelling story that resonates with your audience. You can use compelling visuals and animations to help your story unfold. Feel free to use iconic imagery, symbols, and metaphors to communicate complex ideas or emotions.
Consider incorporating relatable characters or situations that resonate with your audience. Align your story with your campaign's objectives and key selling points. You can also integrate your brand and product seamlessly into the narrative. Then, wrap it up with a clear message or your brand proposition. The idea here is to use your mobile billboard to educate, inspire, or persuade viewers to take action.
Ethical Considerations and Best Practices
Although your goal is to make the audience notice your content, remember to be mindful of ethical considerations and best practices for creating ads. Digital mobile billboards in Atlanta must follow standards to keep advertising responsible and respectful. Ensure that your content is appropriate for your intended audience and context. Avoid offensive, misleading, and inappropriate messages.
Since mobile billboards travel through the streets, ensure your ad won't distract drivers or pedestrians to prevent accidents. Refer to local outdoor advertising and traffic safety regulations to ensure you comply with the standards. People will also appreciate it if you design your content with accessibility in mind. This way, people with disabilities can also enjoy your ads. To do this, consider your billboard's readability, color contrast, and audio descriptions.
Craft Compelling Mobile LED Billboard Content Now!
Crafting compelling content for a mobile LED billboard is an art form that requires mastering audience psychology, design principles, and storytelling techniques. Using visual communication, interactivity, and narrative storytelling, you can create an impactful and memorable advertising campaign that captures your audience's attention, drives engagement, and leaves a lasting impression.
If you want to create a mobile LED billboard for your business, contact Advanced Mobile LED. We take great pride in creating impactful campaigns and providing our clients with the best service!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
If you're interested in hiring a mobile billboard in Atlanta for your business, here are the answers to your frequently asked questions to help you get started:
What is mobile billboard advertising?
Mobile billboard advertising uses trucks to advertise businesses or products. The great thing about them is that they travel through the streets of a designated location so that more people can see the mobile ad than static billboards.
How does a mobile billboard work?
Mobile LED billboards display advertisements on the side of trucks. These trucks then travel across specific locations to increase the visibility of the ads and entice customers to engage with the advertised business or product.
What size is a mobile billboard?
The size of a mobile billboard can vary, but the smallest trucks display screens about 7 feet high and 8 feet wide, while bigger trucks can reach up to 10 feet high and 22 feet wide. Your size will depend on the content you want to display and your budget.