I’m want to make something abundantly clear: most of the people in this Reddit are rational and clear headed when making statements or challenging other viewpoints so this post isn’t directed at or criticizing you. This post is meant for the types that have an attacking mindset when dealing with religious people; you know who you are. The number of these types of people are in the minority when it comes to comment sections, posts and even in real life but it’s very disturbing to see these people claim that they have a rational mindset and then berate and disrespect religious people. I agree that religious people need to start evaluating empirical evidence when making decisions and that a lot of their religious views are irrational but that does not mean you can just be disrespectful or rude towards them. I understand that you have a right to free speech and how you talk with people is your business, I’m not opposing that. But what I am saying is that most atheists and humanists like me want people to make rational decisions devoid of religious beliefs but when you act extremely mean towards the people we oppose while carrying the title of atheist, it makes it way more difficult for us to get through to them. I’m making this post as a form of constructive criticism to help these people I’m talking about choose a better way to deal with religious people so that we can move towards a society that values science, critical thinking and respectful discourse. Here’s a few ways why your attitude harms atheism and other related movements and what alternative way can work better:

1. Your form of debating religious people doesn’t work. Plain and simple. Most of the Reddit and rational human beings on this planet would agree with me that being disrespectful, rude and down bullying people who disagree with you is an extremely ineffective tactic that accomplishes nothing except making the opposition bolster their views since they now view you as nothing more than irrational and mean. A better to way would be to have a clear mind, respectful attitude while having the ability to listen to the other side so that they feel more comfortable conversing with you. Not to mention the fact that there very unique circumstances in each case that led to a person to hold those religious views, so it doesn’t make sense to act mean towards them. Here’s a video that gives an idea of what in talking about:

https://youtu.be/AvMNaDDfrN0?si=TqdifO9Otcu8XYaR

1. Your attitude acts as a tool for their religion to use for their influence. Christian’s, Islamists and many other religions use persecution and disrespect as fuel. They think of themselves as martyrs taking the beatings and insults in the name of their god which brings them sympathy. When you disrespect them, attack them or do anything to harm them, they subconsciously imagine themselves like Jesus or their hero being persecuted. Stop giving them that dynamic. Be kind, and have a loving attitude so that they will be much more likely to listen to and consider what you have to say.
   
2. You end up hurting the rest of atheists. This is pretty self explanatory. Every time you make a bad impression towards a religious person, you make the rest of us look bad and make it a lot harder to change their views since they will see us as mean or arrogant.
   

Ultimately how you conduct yourselves is up to you. But please think hard on what effect your actions have. There’s no need to hate the people we oppose. Like us they are human being as well. Treat people kindly, respect their views, listen to them and use rational arguments and empirical evidence to push them towards a better way of thinking. Thank you and have a wonderful day.

Hello, whoever you are on your side of this screen.
Predictability and ordinarity bores me. The idea of casual sex makes me more asleep than a Snorlax. I also don't want to be asked "How are you?" for the millionth time. And photos - well, one is always more than enough.
I'm sure I'm not everyone's cup of tea, but I don't seek anything ordinary, either. I'm just an author and researcher currently living in Portugal, and looking for someone new and truly unique to inspire me. We can talk about pretty much anything, plus you can learn a ton of super unusual but cool stuff if you're also into culture, literature, legends, stories, etc. What else can I tell you about me? Well, I'm often told I'm the most interesting person people have ever met, but let's go here for ten groups of facts about me and my life:
1- I've travelled to over 100 countries in search of knowledge, my favourite place being the streams of water and forests in the north of the Pyrenées, where I once placed my feet in the water and meditated for days.
2- I do not have a favourite book, but I do feel many marked my life. For example, Ovid's "Ars Amatoria" (as a teen), Cicero's "De Senectute" (as an adult), the "Ramayana" (as someone eager to explore other cultures), the "Nag Hammadi Library" (as a person deeply interested in lost religious texts), etc.
3- I once met a really amazing woman, we were together for 10+ years, we never married but we both knew neither of us was going anywhere else, I lost her in 2014 (and I don't want to talk about it), and I'm perfectly comfortable being single.
4- I've published over 80 books, between my real name and various pseudonyms, with the most sold having been top 100 on Amazon, and the least sold still stuck at under 10 copies (and it's intentionally supposed to sell very little).
5- In college I studied Computer Science, Psychology, French "LLCs" and Classical + Medieval Studies, but among my many passions you can also count Theology, Philosophy, Art, Mythology, Classical Music, Western Mysticism, Languages, etc.
6- I dislike social media and photos of people. I hardly ever take photos of myself or others, but I do have an enormous collection of photos I've taken around the globe, where I mostly tried to eternalize places and moments.
7- Apart from writing, I spend most of my free time as a volunteer for projects related to Culture, Children, and Mental Welfare. I also tend to donate to charity on a monthly basis, because I feel we should try to spread to others the good things we have in our lives.
8- Although I'm 39, I'm perfectly okay talking to much younger, or much older, people, because I feel they can also teach me a lot of things that I'm not necessarily familiarized with. And, in fact, one of my biggest pleasures in "real" life is talking to random people and learning new stuff from them.
9- I survived cancer and meningitis. I'm 99% okay, with the exception of a small physical problem most people never even notice.
10- I was recently "rejected" from a buddhist monastery for health reasons, since it seems my constant need for medication for an auto-immune disease would contrast with the simple life their monks need to have. So, yeah, that's mostly why I'm back online and posting this message.
So... if you are indeed tired of the usual messages and conversations, write me. Maybe you are indeed what I seek.

So theres a really cool interaction/glitch that the cheat machine can tell you about where if you use the death rays blink ability while jumping next to the claw machine you can get into it which I decided to test out earlier. Sure enough it works if you do it at the peak of your jump.
However the reason im heartbroken is that despite the fact you can get into the machine you cant actually pick up anything in there. I get why you cant do it due to how overpowered you would become however I feel like theres a missed oppertunity to do something here.
If they bring the claw machine and a weapon with blink into the sequel I would love for them to add some sort of interaction to it. Maybe you could get all of the items in there and become OP. Maybe you could get a unique item only found by doing this. Maybe you trigger a unique boss fight against the claw of the machine. Or maybe you just get a achievement/trophy for doing it.
I love games that acknowledge and adapt on bugs that werent intended to be there and they have already have once with the cheat machine mention but I really think they could do something with this

TL;DR I have several questions on FLG RNG in mGBA:

1. What does RAM address 0x040000A0 show?
2. If the above is not the location of the timer corresponding to the game's initial seed generation, how would I view the actual location of 0x04000104 in mGBA's memory viewer?
3. Why does Real96's script show negative advancements under certain conditions (e.g., loading to a state before initial seed generation)?
4. Can these glitched advancements be corrected without restarting the game?

Post
I've been trying to enter the FLG RNG manip scene. Something I've been in interested in is figuring out how to manipulate the initial seed. I use mGBA and Real96's FLG script, since I've learned that it's much more precise than my old tools of VBA-RR and the pokemonstatsdisplay Lua script (shoutout to u/xPorki btw).
After an entire day of trial-and-error and digging around old forums, GitHubs, and Reddit posts, I learned that FLG does not create initial seeds the same way it creates what the script calls the "Current Seed." The latter is really just the PID. Before setting the initial seed, the script assumes a starting current seed of 0 and modifies it according to the usual algorithm cited here. Of course, the current seeds generated here don't matter. Once the initial seed is set, the algorithm restarts, passing that seed as the first value and iterating it to produce the PIDs. Moreover, there appears to be no relationship between the current seeds before the initial seed and the initial seed. (I literally wrote the current seed at every frame before the initial seed was generated to check—if a relationship exists, it's not as simple as taking some combination of the last few frames' seeds).
I've learned that FLG stores the initial seed in RAM address 0x0202000. To generate it, the game apparently uses an incredibly fast timer (according to this post and Blisy's page, much faster than 60 fps because it runs on processor clock cycles, not frame rates). This timer supposedly exists in address 0x04000104. I tried to investigate this location and ran into some problems...
First, mGBA's memory viewer only shows locations that are multiples of 10. Thankfully, this limitation includes addresses like 0x0202000 and 0x3005000 (where the current seed is stored in USA versions of FLG, at least according to Real96's script), but 04000104 remains elusive. I presumed the memory viewer binned addresses, such that any fluctuations at 04000104 would be captured by 04000100 or 04000110. At least, the viewer implies that's how it works: if I try to inspect 04000104, the viewer takes me to 04000100. But this address doesn't change. You know what does change, though? 040000A0 fluctuates wildly as the intro cutscene plays, at least as fast as 60 fps.
That said, 040000A0 exhibits some unexpected quirks. First, that address remains strangely quiet during certain portions of FLGs intro cutscene. For example, I've noticed that it'll read 0000 0000 0000 0000 during moments when the screen is pitch black. Other times, the address will be oddly regular, with readings like FEFE FEFE FEFE FEFE or even FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF. Given the former observation, I suspect 040000A0 has some relationship with the game's graphics. It also stays at all zeroes during the "Previously on your quest" scenes. Second, the address continues fluctuating after these scenes end and you can move around. I thought the timer influencing the initial seed was unique to that seed; shouldn't it stop once the initial seed is set? Lastly, I was not able to find any relationship between the initial seed and 040000A0's readings. For example, I once got an initial seed of 1FF9 and kept careful track of 040000A0's readings up until that point. 1FF9 did not pop up anywhere. In fact, none of the RAM addresses in the viewer window (which ranged from 04000000 to 040002A0 for me) seemed to match. It's possible that, since the timer supposedly runs far beyond 60 fps, the initial seed simply showed up at a pace that did not correspond to a specific frame. Searching the memory for the initial seed also brought up no locations besides the expected 02020000.
Eventually (and somewhat anticlimatically), I learned that you can just modify the initial seed directly using the memory viewer. Simply go to the initial seed's location, type the one you want, and you're done! Real96's script correctly displays the new seed. There is one catch though: its advances counter appears to suffer from some kind of integer overflow. For example, advance 41000 can suddenly become negative 4294926295. As you might expect, this glitch makes calibration much more difficult, as I'd have to track what frame I was on before the overflow occurred and do some extra arithmetic to determine what negative advance corresponds to the positive target (the counter appears to still iterate at the correct rate).
I tried seeing if advances, like initial seeds and PIDs, have a distinct location in memory. The script appears to calculate advances using the LCRNGDistance function, which passes in two seeds as "states." Based on some comparisons of these states, the function operates with RAM addresses listed in the JUMP_DATA hash table, meaning I'm out of luck unless I'm willing to do some serious math or programming. (I suppose that, in retrospect, the current advance obviously couldn't be stored in a single location because so many things can influence it.)
Interestingly, directly changing the memory is not the only thing that causes the script to experience overflow (or whatever that error would be—I didn't study CS lol). Back when I first started hunting for specific seeds (i.e., yesterday), I realized that if I make a savestate during the intro cutscene and load back to it after the initial seed has been set, the script will also show negative advances. My guess is the glitch has to do with the getRngInfo function, which resets the advance counter whenever the initial seed is equal to the current seed (which occurs upon resetting/booting up the game since both seeds are 0 at frame 0) or the temporary initial seed (which the script initializes as 0) is not equal to the actual initial seed (which happens the moment the initial seed is set). Because the counter was reset between the two states I loaded, it might have expected a different value than the one it received. Or maybe going from a post-initial seed state to a pre one in mGBA alters the memory such that it affects the JUMP_DATA and messes with LCRNGDistance's value.
Overall, I hope this lengthy post meticulously explained my thought processes, so a kind soul can see where my head is and try to provide some insightful advice on the questions I posted above.

What is vim-cool?

vim-cool is a simple but very useful plugin, after a search is initiated (with /?*#, etc) it will detect when you're no longer in an active search and disable the match higlighting with :nohl (upon entering insert mode or if the cusror moved).
No more annoying mappings and ctrl-l presses.

Why?

Because the solution is fantastic (uses a unique approach with minimal caveats) but the pluing has some bloat, namely displaying "X match of Y" which is not necessary in neovim as this functionality is builtin (bottom right display [x/y] while in search).
The author's apparent disdain for neovim, from the project's README:

Vim-cool is intended to be used with Vim, and only Vim, 7.4.2008 or later. It may or may not work in other editors but they are not and will not be officially supported.

And the fact I prefer to have my config written in lua.

The Solution

Boils down to 2 autocmds on InsertEnter and CursorMove, the code is pretty self explanatory:

local aucmd = vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd local function augroup(name, fnc) fnc(vim.api.nvim_create_augroup(name, { clear = true })) end augroup("ibhagwan/ToggleSearchHL", function(g) aucmd("InsertEnter", { group = g, callback = function() vim.schedule(function() vim.cmd("nohlsearch") end) end }) aucmd("CursorMoved", { group = g, callback = function() -- No bloat lua adpatation of: https://github.com/romainl/vim-cool local view, rpos = vim.fn.winsaveview(), vim.fn.getpos(".") -- Move the cursor to a position where (whereas in active search) pressing `n` -- brings us to the original cursor position, in a forward search / that means -- one column before the match, in a backward search ? we move one col forward vim.cmd(string.format("silent! keepjumps go%s", (vim.fn.line2byte(view.lnum) + view.col + 1 - (vim.v.searchforward == 1 and 2 or 0)))) -- Attempt to goto next match, if we're in an active search cursor position -- should be equal to original cursor position local ok, _ = pcall(vim.cmd, "silent! keepjumps norm! n") local insearch = ok and (function() local npos = vim.fn.getpos(".") return npos[2] == rpos[2] and npos[3] == rpos[3] end)() -- restore original view and position vim.fn.winrestview(view) if not insearch then vim.schedule(function() vim.cmd("nohlsearch") end) end end }) end) 

Code is also on Github as part of my config
Edit: Forgot to mention the setup wouldn't be "complete" without these two amazing mappings that center the screen around the match when pressing n or N:

vim.keymap.set("n", "n", "nzzzv", { desc = "Fwd search '/' or '?'" }) vim.keymap.set("n", "N", "Nzzzv", { desc = "Back search '/' or '?'" }) 

My last post, where I really just wanted shed light on some details regarding Evolved Godzilla brought up some real toxic responses regarding Thermonuclear Godzilla vs Evolved Godzilla. So I wanted to make sure no one missed this because honestly every Godzilla is an amazing Godzilla but people need to accept reality.
This breakdown will go over TNG as he appears in KotM and EG as he appears in GxK using facts and feats from both.
Let me say this whole debate is ridiculous to begin with but regardless:
TNG's most present attribute is the extreme ambient heat he radiates and his nuclear pulse - lets address that first. TNG was able to withstand his own thermonuclear reaction so EG would be able to as well, even more so due to his vastly improved thermoregulation abilities.
Both TNG and EG would buff each other purely by proximity to each other considering that Godzilla absorbs and gains strength from radiation - However TNG releases much more ambient radiation in much greater amounts, in conjunction with the fact that EG has x20 times the energy capacity he would be able to store more energy than TNG - ie EG receives a far greater buff than TNG, 20 times greater in fact.
We also see that EG has vastly superior resistance if not immunity to temperature based attacks in general as we see in just before the end of the first big fight in hollow earth EG is completely covered in in the same ice attack that basically sent Kong running after getting hit once on the hand - and shake it off like shower water - light work no reaction. (Kong fans really like to forget this) so that extreme ambient heat is going to have very little to no affect on him.
So Nuclear Pulse? EG eats that and asks for seconds, Extreme Ambient Heat? EG enjoys the weather.
So we've addressed TNG's most most unique aspects and not only do they not bother EG, he actively benefits from 1 of the 2.
So what are we left with? Physical Prowess and Durabilty. EG is leaner, faster and more maneuverable all around we see this simply from the way Godzilla moves in both films. Strength EG can only be equal to or greater than TNG but there is not enough info so lets say they have equal strength.
Durability? Easy, we see EG's skin is confined to be much harder than ever before so point to EG.
SO LETS BE CLEAR, TNG maybe be able to shoot off a bigger boom, but if he cannot kill EG what the fuck is the point? Just ask Vegeta how his final flash has worked out for him.
TNG has no win condition against EG, who is faster, more durable and has more energy which means more ammo, more endurance. (Dont forget radiation is food to Godzilla it powers his body as much as his attacks.)
TL:DR - TNG has no shot against EG. His extreme ambient heat and nuclear pulse cant hurt EG in any significant way. He is slower, less maneuverable and has less stamina than EG and is far less durable. If they were to fight, there is no way for TNG to put EG down, and eventually TNG would be tired out by ENGs greater durability, speed and endurance and EG would take the win.
TL:DR EVOLVED GODZILLA > THERMONUCLEAR GODZILLA.

For context, I am a woman in my damn 30s. This shouldn't be a thing. I have a unique name I won't share here for obvious reasons. It's very easy to say and is two syllables. Sometimes, I get compliments on it. People sometimes assume its a foregein language-its not, it's 100% made up.
Whenever I introduce myself, there is a 90% chance the person will ask me to repeat myself and/or they will forget my name entirely OR they will call me something else.
Subsequently, I gave my own children run of the mill names.
I do like my name, but I'm in my 30s now, and every year goes by, and I get increasingly more anxious when it comes to introducing myself.
I was at a show the other day and it occurred to me that it might be one of those shows where they interact with the crowd ask for names, and it's my worst nightmare being teased for my name or the fact its made up, I thought I'm gonna pretend to be a Rachel, but I had my kids with me, imagine explaining that to the kids? Thankfully, it never happened.
Sometimes, I think about changing it or going by my middle name, but I don't want to hurt my parents' feelings, and I've gone this long living my whole life with my name.
On the surface, I love my name. But I hate struggling with my damn name. Parents everywhere, please give your kids normal names to spare them the pain.

Why did the farmer visit the pharmacy? To speak with the farm-assist.
Hi and welcome to my post! Wanted to start off with a funny to me dad joke.
Nice to meet you, I'm Dylan! To put it simple, I am a single 22 year old man who has been pretty lonely in life and lacking in female connection and interaction. And part of what comes with that is the desire to be intimate with a person. I am very mature for my age and will always be respectful of your boundaries and feelings, especially with anything sexual. Lately all I have is myself when it comes to sexual desires, so I would like to have someone to keep company with in that regard too.
I'm just relaxing at work since there's nothing really going on and thinking about going home tonight and burning a woodwick candle. Perfect for when there's a storm outside. I love candles! 🕯️ Sometimes a campfire outside on a fall night or a crackling WoodWick candle is a relaxing constant among our busy and hectic world. It's nice to just disconnect, feel grounded and happy in your own little cozy space. Feeling calm and collected and at peace. Something that fewer people take the time to do these days.
I am seeking a woman around my age or older to build a close connection with that could possibly lead to a relationship and something intimate which includes the possibility of teasing/sharing pics etc. but only when we were comfortable. Figured I would be open in my Intentions as that's the best way to be.
You:
Kind, respectful, and easy going.
Comfortable with the idea of eventually sharing intimate things together.
Willing to eventually move off of Reddit.
Want something genuine and fun!
Are honest in your intentions and a good person to be around!
That's about it, we will get along great I know it.
I've been feeling a little bummed out lately. I always try and stay happy and see the best in things. But.. I've just been so alone. Most of my whole childhood and adult years have been spent feeling lonely. I grew up surrounded by cornfields which was peaceful but also has a lonely aspect to it. My family never really were close and never did anything as a family really. And part of it too is the fact that I never had any neighbors my age to interact with. But aside from that, my adult life has been very lonely. I'm just always by myself. I barely have any meaningful adult relationships or experiences, or even any friends.
I work a 3-11 job in building maintenance at my company world headquarters building which I love, but again it's very lonely. I work the off shift so the building is always empty. I don't get normal social interaction with people my age or a chance to build relationships. I only have 3 older men as co-workers and we are mostly in the basement away from any people on the floors from knowing our existence. I always walk the floors and see office people laughing and chatting with their coworkers and I just don't have that kind of experience. And just.. no one knows I exist really. Everyone probably assumes I have a lot of friends, but I'm struggling inside with being so alone and trying to meet people and get past the "hi how are you?" "I'm good thanks" stage. Most people don't seem to want to talk beyond that. And most women are already in relationships and thus it would seem weird to approach them in an office setting trying to get to know them deeper. But man those "hi how are yous" are the only real interactions I get during my day.. so thus I decided to come here lol. Rant over, sorry! I promise I'm not a downer. 😅
Now for some things about me!
As you can tell, I am very mature for my age and am polite and have good grammar which unfortunately not everyone my age does anymore lol. I am not active at all on social media/internet culture really and don't know much about all the slang the younger people these days use. I feel like I'm 50. 🤣
I am left handed which is pretty cool. I'm not much of a party person or a drinker, I much prefer a quiet night at home and maybe a beer or two on a weekend but that's about it. I am simple and stay out of drama and trouble and don't get much into politics or other things that cause drama with people. I much prefer a relaxing campfire and a night at home and to just let the world keep on turning haha. I consider myself pretty intelligent and mature, especially for my age which is why I'm open to older ladies.
Physically I'm 180 pounds, have brown hair, green eyes, and a typical build. There's a few pictures on my profile.
Some of my hobbies are:
• Photography
I have a Nikon D200 and D5500 that I love to shoot with. I love nature scenes, abstract, black and white/goth kinda photography, sunsets, etc. it's so fun to just let your mind explore. It's not about what camera you have, but those who are behind the camera! I'm gonna try and photograph the northern lights tonight!
• Cooking and baking
I loveeee to cook and bake! I enjoy making various meals but also love to just have a frozen pizza once in awhile or something like that. I recently made homemade chili which turned out great. I love to bake, especially in the fall! I love pies, cakes, pastries, cookies, etc. I restored a vintage KitchenAid mixer that needed tbe gearbox rebuilt. Eventually I would love to practice home canning my own food.
• Music
Oh my gosh, I like so much!! Alternative rock, punk, post punk, electronic, synth pop, psychedelic rock, hard rock, etc. I am very non judgemental and open when it comes to music. My three current favorite bands are Type O Negative, Joy Division, and the Cure.
• Nature walks and camping
I really enjoy camping, making fires, and relaxing by a campfire. I love to take walks outside and just enjoy the beauty and simplicity of nature. It's wonderful, especially in a world so focused on everything digital.
• Repairing things
I'm a maintenance guy and one of my hobbies is electronics repair so I am good with my hands and just all around good at troubleshooting and fixing all sorts of things around the house. Last week I helped my elderly neighbor get his tractor started, it needed a new component in the starting circuit. So I'm pretty handy which... Comes in handy! 😂
• Autumn 🍁
This isn't a hobby per say, but man do I love the fall!!! It's my absolute favorite time of the year. Oh my gosh. The beautiful colors, crisp cool air, misty and foggy days, rain, lack of bugs, being cuddled up with a candle or by the fire drinking a tea, etc. I love it! There's only two seasons for me. Fall, and waiting for fall! Haha.
• Scented Candles and incense
Going along with my love for fall, I absolutely love candles! I have like 30 something lol. 😂 Currently my favorite are WoodWick, which are owned by Yankee candle. They have such a soothing crackle and the scents are great! I also love to burn incense from time to time as well. I have cottagecore hippie vibes.
• Old houses and architecture
I love old houses! Especially 1900s and Victorian era homes. Old homes have so much character to them and are just so beautiful from a time when people took pride in their craft. I strongly dislike the modern cookie cutter cheap construction of homes today. I would love to live in an old home one day. I also love their architecture and uniqueness, as well as architecture of old cathedrals and other buildings.
• Relaxing
Basic I know, but sometimes on the weekend I just love to get cozy in bed and relax and put on a YouTube video or an album! 😊
That's about it for me, I'm a pretty laid back and simple person. My ideal person is someone who is respectful and honest! I am very straightforward and open minded and would hope that you are as well.
If I seem interesting to you at all I would love to hear from you!
Thank you so much for reading.

Hi, my name is Zayn and I’m a 21 year old from California. I’d like to introduce myself through some of my interests. First off I really do enjoy music, it’s been a large part of my life since I was 11 or 12. I have been playing guitar and writing music for 7 years as well, though I feel as if I am currently in a lingering writers block. I think what is even more substantial to me than the music I make is the music that I listen to. I honestly just love sharing music with people, although I can be pretty picky with what I listen to. It’s very fulfilling for me and I’d love to share some songs with you if you are interested! Another one of my major interests is Socionics. It’s an old Russian system, meant to explore different types of human cognition. I have studied Socionics for years and have even written my own paper about certain aspects within the model! It’s a lovely framework in my opinion. Besides that I do enjoy hanging out with my cats, playing smash bros (which I was sponsored in at one point, though I no longer play as competitively as I once did), working out, and reading/learning about new subjects (I’m also a philosophy major in university and have been having a nice time with my courses!) I’d love to get to know anyone who shares or shows interest in these! It could be a great starting point for conversation.
I’d like to make my values very clear in order to support my intention of talking to like-minded people. In a relationship I would be searching for someone to share my life with, this is where I see the beauty in life. The fact that through a wealth of experience and alternate personal perspectives, someone had chosen me and I had chosen them, it’s very special to me. And of course this comes with compromise, it is a sacrifice to the overarching relational unity. It is a show of deep prioritization, which is something I heavily value in relationships. Ideally, I’d like to find someone who treats the relationship with the same respect as I would. I have always made them my first priority in life. Another aspect of great importance is emotional maturity. A facet of relationships I had always hoped for is mutual care. When the person I am with is struggling, even though it’ll hurt to know they are in a negative situation, it hurts more to know that I am unable to at least support them a little bit. I’d hope for support when I’m feeling bad as well. Though I understand people often feel vulnerable when it comes to expressing negative emotionality. I think it’s very special to have a dynamic with such honesty and care, it’s something rare. I hope I don’t scare too many people off with my idealized version of a relationship, though none of this vision is achievable without love itself, which is curated over time. This might be an ideal, but it is made naturally with the right person, it is made unique with them.
Lastly I’d like to include some pictures of myself
If you feel like we could make a connection please don’t hesitate to reach out!

My version of episode 8
The episode starts with a flashback of yue.. she is a child who's playing with other children and finds an injured baby sea lion. She tries to heal it but it doesn't seem to get better. She takes the baby sea lion to the oasis and puts it in the scared water and tries to pray to ocean and moon spirit to heal her.. she hears the whispers "heal" and follows the instruction and uses healing ability to heal the sea lion and it helps.. her friends witness this and they tell their elders about this. Everyone realizes that yue is blessed with special healing abilities, and only she can heal something serious in the scared oasis hence she is hailed as the priestess of the northern water tribe.
We cut to the present and we see her walking with sokka in the hallways of the town hall talking about stuff like how she feels connection to every waterbender and how the full moon makes her feel more alive than ever.. she talks about mystical stuff such as spirits and spirit world and how some spirits are dangerous while some are essential for life. Sokka compliments her and tells her her blue eyes feels so bright and entrapping. As both come closer to each other surt falls on them.. sokka recognises the danger and says ' they will be here soon'.
We cut to katara secretly training in a cave with some young waterbenders.. they taught her some drills which strengthened her basics and she developed new techniques while she teaches them the moves she created on her own. Aang is there but he's busy amusing some of the children student and he's not a great waterbender himself. Katara shows concern to aang telling him he needs to learn and show some progress. Aang shows a worried look and agrees with her as they position themselves to began the training the snow falling outside the cave turns dark. Confused everyone steps out and sees the surt. while most of them are unaware, just like sokka katara recognises the incoming danger and takes aang back to agne quela. The chief gather everyone in the hall and tells them about the imminent war and asks for volunteers to enlist. Sokka stands up fast and moves forward to receive the mark of soldier while aang, katara and yue look with concern. Sokka tells them he needs to prove himself to be a real warrior and that will happen only when he tests himself in the battlefield. Aang and katara assures sokka he doesn't need to prove anything but he insists.
Scene cuts to fire nation navy ship scouting for any incoming danger in the fog and spots appa incoming, alerting the ship but it's no use as the trio of aang, sokka and katara easily defeat everyone and disable the ship and it's weapon, as they ride Appa out of it and reach the clear sky, they get the view or the entire fleet that's heading to the city.. they quickly retreat to the city and inform them, aang hopelessly falling on his knees and starts to profuesly apologise that he's sorry he's not prepared for this. The chief assures him his spirit along with ocean and moon spirit will ensure the victory of the tribe, no matter the cost.
Scene cuts to the ships of fire nation where Zhao discusses the attack plan with iroh. He tells him that the geographical challenges in invading the north pole are immense but they can be bypassed by using different ways of travel. Iroh looks with confusing so Zhao shows him the air balloon being prepared to which Iroh questions his motive. Zhao tells him in order to win this war he needs to disarm the water tribe, completely and it's entirely possible because there's only one entity in the world that carries the power of bending for all waterbender and it's the moon spirit. Iroh questions feasibility of this plan and how Zhao plans to find the spirit and kill and how killing it is possible. To which Zhao replies that he came across some scrolls that he found in the library that he found during his serving in desert and the guardian spirit went to spirit world so he scoured entire library looking for ways to weaken other nations but only found fire nation and water tribe weakness. He dismisses the fire nation weakness saying that it's important that information dies with him for the safety of fire nation but every full moon, the spirits dance in the reflections of sacred places. He reveals a dagger, which he retrieved from roku's temple that Roku has collected over his life. The dagger belonged to avatar kuruk and has special abilities to bypass any spiritual barrier and kill any spirit because it is made from the bone of a lion turtle. Kuruk crafted this weapon in order to fight the dark spirits and he needed a weapon that could kill any spirit without resistance. This worries Iroh and questions zhao's motives and the implications that would arise with the death of moon spirit. Zhao dismisses it but Iroh doesn't push his luck so he can join him and act when he needs to. The scene cuts to iron explaining zhao's plan to a masked soldier who unmasks himself to reveal an injured zuko who survived zhao's assassination attempt. Zuko feels alarmed by zhao's progress and informs Iroh that he'll leave the ships immediately and go to north pole as the ships get near. Iroh asks him his plan to which zuko gives vague answers, worrying Iroh.
Scene cuts to the wall of northern water tribe where there's dead silence and gust of winds blowing... The silence is unnerving but suddenly a fire ball appears through the fog and strikes the wall. The soldiers scatter with the attack but gather and try to contain the rain if fireball that is being sent by the catapults of the uncountable fire nation ships. Katara helps anyone she can and approaches pakku. She tells him that there's need for every pair of hands in order for them to defend their home, he can carry on with his traditions later but now it is not the time to be stubborn. Yagoda agrees with and tells her while a fireball heads their way, katara, yagoda and bunch of female waterbenders stop it from impacting and freezing it in towering ice. Pakku realises their potential and positions them at exposed point in order for them to stop further damage from the fireballs. Aang also tries to stop the damage but it's too much yet he helps other soldiers retreive. The chief tells yue that there are soldiers that need immediate attention in the sacred pond and tasks sokka to guard her while she heals the gravely injured. They head to the pond and heal many of the soldiers who walk out of the oasis, as they leave and sokka and yue are about to head out they notice an air balloon descending towards the oasis. They hide in the bushes nearby and observe who is there and what they are trying to achieve. As aang is helping outside at the front, kuruk appears to him and informs him about the dagger presence, it's properties and how it can end the life of most powerful spirits and pleads him to go the sacred oasis where the most powerful spirits reside during events like full moon. Zhao looks around in the oasis reciting the words he read in the scroll about spirits. He sees two koi fishes circling each other, slightly glowing. He recognises the eternal dance and decides to kill the spirit. Iroh warns him that the spirits are something that should not be trifled with and threatens him force if he proceeds with his actions. While Aang heads for the oasis through kuruk's temple, zuko confronts him and asks him to surrender and come with him. Katara asks Aang to go ahead and stop Zhao while she takes on zuko. They both fight with their best but with katara sharpening her skills and catching zuko by surprises, she easily overpowers him after several bouts. Aang also arrives and tells Zhao how spirits are important for everyone, even fire nation. The spiritual balance needs to be maintained in order for life on earth to survive, without it everything will fall apart. Zhao steps back from the pond but at everyone's surprise jumps in with the dagger and stabs the moon spirit, turning everything grey and moonlight vanishing from sky. Yue faints and aang feels striking pain in his head as he senses the loss of balance. Iroh strikes Zhao several times but Zhao manages to escape. Iroh runs behind him while looking at yue and telling her you have unique life in you. Aang gets flashbacks of air temple, kyoshi's harsh words and kuruk's word about how he should walk alone on this path and there needs to be certain sacrifice in order to achieve the results. During all this, aang hears some somber chants. Those chants were something knew but very familiar to him. He senses the chants coming from the pond. The chant is "Na Mo A Mi Tuo Fo Shin Di" which translates to "I bow to infinite light". It's a chant that is used by spirits when they are in danger or need of help towards the avatar spirit. As aang moves closer to the pond the chant intensifies. Yue expresses her despair and how everything is destroyed and it's over, simultaneously aang enters avatar state and with thousands voices says "no, it's not over". Aang walks into the pond and stands near the ocean spirit which circles aang, starting a ritual of combining their power. Aang dips into the ocean and emerges as koizilla. This prompts the water tribe citizens to bow to their diety immediately and koi zilla recognises the fire nation forces and starts to wipe them out of the city.
As Zhao runs through the streets of ange quela, he is confronted by zuko who duels him in order to avenge assassination attempt. Zuko eventually overpowers Zhao and questions why he did it to which Zhao reveals he knows about his blue spirit identity thanks to his sister. He goes further and tells him that his father and sister think of you as a failure and your father used you to push your sister to new heights and now she's more powerful than ever. Zuko walks away in shame and sadness after hearing this. Seeing the opportunity Zhao tries to take a cheap shot at him but is immediately torched by Iroh and drops into the water channel that has glow of ocean spirit. Aang in koizilla wrecks havoc on fire nation fleet amid their constant attacks through the catalputs but he overpowers them and sends a wave huge enough to ruin the fleet. Katara tries to speak to aang and talk him out of this destruction but aang's sense of worldly concern is gone and he intends to help the spirit until they are at peace and balance.
We cut to oasis and sokka talks about the possibility of bringing back the moon spirit to which yue has flashbacks to how she was so extraordinary, and she finally accepts the fact that she needs to repay the debt. She gives sokka a kiss and while sokka is not looking she freezes his feet in order to immobilize him. She walks into the oasis pond and picks up the dead koi fish, while sokka pleads her not to and using her healing power with her spirit's concentration and disappears into the strong light, which after few seconds goes away and the moon spirit has returned in form of the koi fish. Sokka watches yue disappear like that and cries in loss. The moon appears back into the sky and grabs aang and the koizilla's attention. Katara tells aang how important he is to her and how aang is still needed by everyone. She tells him that he might have lost a family but also gained one in form of her and sokka. This convinces aang to stop his rampage as the balance has been restored and he is retreated back to the shore by the ocean spirit into katara's arms. The sun rises and everyone begins to face the aftermath of war by removing the debris, helping the injured and securing the corpses of the fallen. Aang looks at the mayhem and destruction and blames himself from not stopping it. Katara tries to comfort him by telling him the bad actions of other people is not your fault, but he tells her it's his job to stop them and flies away on his glider. later, a funeral ceremony is held. The chief thanks the Martrys and the injured for their courage and sacrifice and how their valiant effort stopped the fire nation. He pays respect to yue for restoring balance and speaks how proud he is of her sacrifice. Pakku also announces that some traditions are outdated, and they need to change like water. He announced that women will no longer be prohibited from learning waterbending combat and everyone is free to learn what they want to. Chief ends the speech with saying there have been losses but we always move forward from these because it's our nature to adapt and overcome difficulties and losses. Aang realizes that loss of life is part of the cycle of life and he cannot prevent everything but he can always try. He remembers gyatso's words about letting go. Sokka and the chief share the conversation of how yue was so courageous and how they feel after her leaving them in this world . Pakku tells katara how she reminded him of their core values and she's a commendable warrior and a bender. After the ceremony ends aang tells katara and sokka how he feels he needs to move forward and be the avatar the world needs. Katara expresses happiness while sokka shows sarcasm and tells him he's hungry and offers them to join in for the food and katara taunts his need to eat everytime.
We cut to omashu being heavily damaged and fire nation soldiers walking in. We see a shot of bumi being captured and trapped into metal casings to prevent him from bending. A warrior with face masks walks up to him and removes it.. revealing it was azula who has invaded omashu.
Episode ends with the fire nation sages revealing to Ozai model have developed to predict sozin's comet and informs him that it's arriving soon.

The following request for donations was at the bottom of a recent article published on The Guardian website. It’d be appreciated if some knowledgeable and informed people (moreso than myself) could fact check these statements. Here it is:
“I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask if you would consider supporting the Guardian’s journalism as we enter one of the most consequential news cycles of our lifetimes in 2024. With the potential of another Trump presidency looming, there are countless angles to cover around this year’s election – and we'll be there to shed light on each new development, with explainers, key takeaways and analysis of what it means for America, democracy and the world. From Elon Musk to the Murdochs, a small number of billionaire owners have a powerful hold on so much of the information that reaches the public about what’s happening in the world. The Guardian is different. We have no billionaire owner or shareholders to consider. Our journalism is produced to serve the public interest – not profit motives. And we avoid the trap that befalls much US media: the tendency, born of a desire to please all sides, to engage in false equivalence in the name of neutrality. We always strive to be fair. But sometimes that means calling out the lies of powerful people and institutions – and making clear how misinformation and demagoguery can damage democracy. From threats to election integrity, to the spiraling climate crisis, to complex foreign conflicts, our journalists contextualize, investigate and illuminate the critical stories of our time. As a global news organization with a robust US reporting staff, we’re able to provide a fresh, outsider perspective – one so often missing in the American media bubble. Around the world, readers can access the Guardian’s paywall-free journalism because of our unique reader-supported model. That’s because of people like you. Our readers keep us independent, beholden to no outside influence and accessible to everyone – whether they can afford to pay for news, or not.”
These claims sound great if true, but I have trouble loosening up to these statements at face value. I’m aware it’s likely thinly veiled advertising, but supporting news outlets that actually care about spreading correct information for the benefit of the people seems like a nice dream anyway. Would love some clarification. Cheers

The last relationship I was in was in 2018, I was seeing this woman (let's call her C) for about 4-5 months and I was falling in love. Like for real: i quit smoking pot (smoked for 20 years), and not because she didn't smoke or was against it or anything, I just felt like I didn't need to be high around her, and in fact I didn't want to be high around her. I started thinking about the future, which was something I had never done in a relationship before, just always flew by the seat of my pants. But being with her made me start thinking about my career, her career, saving up money, potentially starting a family (which up to that point I had no interest in), I even started thinking about how I would take care of her if she ever lost her eyesight because she dealt with a lot of ophthalmological issues that one day might leave her blind.
Now I've been in trouble before in relationships because of past insecurities. I do not take rejection well and sometimes find myself scrambling to find any kind of safety net in case something goes wrong. That often comes in the form of another girl, or maybe an ex that I keep on the line. I know this is bad and manipulative and it was something I told myself I wouldn't do to C, now that I've grown and changed.
Fast forward to Dec 2018, and things are going great with C, and I'm feeling good about everything, because I feel like I'm doing the right thing and treating her well and being a better boyfriend than I have been in the past, but meanwhile I was also keeping my ex on the line, telling her I loved her and that C didnt mean anything, and that I ultimately wanted to be with her. Doing the same exact shit that I had done in the past that wound up hurting others. Only this time, i wasn't aware of it cognizantly - like for real, I actually convinced myself, my brain that I was being honorable with C, while completely manipulating her and my ex for my own ends and my own security. I couldn't see it, and it was right in front of my eyes. Its like blocking out a traumatic event, only I was blocking out how I was being such a selfish asshole and justifying my behavior somehow.
It finally blew up in my face (what a surprise 🥴) when I finally did decided to cut off my ex, she freaked out cuz of my gaslighting and contacted C on social media and told her what was going on. C confronted me about it and I admitted it. Of course she stopped seeing me, and we haven't spoken in over 4 years now. Maybe the only person I ever truly loved, completely gone from my life, and way better for it. Since that happened it was like an epiphany: every single transgression, mistake, lie, act of unfaithfulness in all my past relationships flooded my brain. I have come to realize that I am the reason for all my relationships failing. I realized that....maybe I'm not a good person, or at the very least not a good partner.
So I decided as punishment for all my misgivings and to protect others from being manipulated and hurt by me in future relationships, that I would go voluntarily celibate and not date anyone. I get incredibly lonely, and terribly miss connecting with someone, but I am too afraid. I mean, even when I was head over heels in love, that didn't stop me from being manipulative, and selfish, and the fact that I didn't even realize I was doing it, scares me even more. I feel like the only way to keep myself accountable or honest, is to just be alone. And while I fallen out of shape and into a deep depression since that time, 5 years later and I still feel this is better than potentially hurting somebody else.
I don't want to pretend like any of my past partners were perfect, but they definitely didn't deserve to be treated the way I treated them. They were all good, unique, beautiful people and I was extremely lucky to have a chance to connect with them in some way.
Not really sure why I'm putting this out there, I don't really want sympathy, I don't feel like I deserve it, but I need to just say something, even if I'm just screaming out into the void. Has anyone else felt like this? Am I truly alone?

Once again, my next post concerning the localized script of Cold Steel III. With this, I'll tackle the first part of Chapter 3. The points shown here are based on my sensibilities as to what lines cause issues for the dialogue, from being outright wrong to being awkward. My previous posts are listed below:

• Prologue: https://www.reddit.com/Falcom/s/iU44PytvbN
  
• Chapter 1: https://www.reddit.com/Falcom/s/cTjkFwRsAM
  
• Chapter 2 (1/2): https://www.reddit.com/Falcom/s/973QP55DqX
  
• Chapter 2 (2/2): https://www.reddit.com/Falcom/s/XrHBTWb0hr
  

Chapter 3

• 1:「I take it this means House Hyarms will be the only one of the Four Great Houses in attendance?」 / 「“四大”から当主が出席するのはそちらの家だけになりそうだな？」

The localization has Jusis word this an absolute. "当主" should refer to the actual head of the house. Jusis could've said: [I take it this means House Hyarms will be the only one of the Four Great Houses in with it's head attendance?]

• 2:「Every bit as tasty as the pancakes Tilly and I had earlier.」 / 「この前アーちゃんと食べたパンケーキに負けてないかなぁ。」

The phrasing choice of "earlier" in the localization makes this reference to a moment in Chapter 1, pretty much two months ago, strange. It feels like way too much like a direct translation of "この前," without the context. Millium could've said: [Every bit as tasty as the pancakes Tilly and I had (anything that'd make more sense) before/in Leeves/a couple months ago.]

• 3:「I figured Nidhoggr would be good, but the other guys are no slouches themselves.」 / 「“竜”も“連中”も悪くない。」

Random moment in the localization where refering to the jaeger corp in question as just "the dragons"/"竜" is omitted. There were no issues in any other instance. Shirley could've said: [I figured the dragons would be good, but the other guys are no slouches themselves.]

• 4:「The dragon lost its head, and as for the other group, well...」 / 「“竜”は頭が変わり、“彼ら”の方といえば──」

The original has it as "changed"/"変わり," not outright lost. Gareth could've said: [The dragon changed its head, and as for the other group, well...]

• 5:「We've got two of the strongest jaeger corps--the dragons and these jaegers in purple--battling it out...」 / 「──最強の猟兵団２つに“竜”たち、そして紫の一団……」

The localization phrases this in a different way than it should. It's denoted that "the dragons and these jaegers in purple" are emphasized as the "two strongest jager corps"; however, the original is listing the four in the scene. Sara could've said: [We've got two of the strongest jaeger corps--Zephyr and the Red Constelation--the dragons and these jaegers in purple, battling it out.]

• 6:「What's this big conference thing about?」 / 「『領邦会議』って何なの？」

The localization changes the clear question about the actual term she read about, just to make it sillier. Besides the fact that it even chooses to swap "council" for "conference." Juna could've said: [What's this Provincial Council thing about?]

• 7:「One time, some bandits captured me and held me in a stone prison...」 / 「とある小国では、山賊に捕まり一週間も岩牢へぶち込まれた事があったのお……」

The localization omits the time held captive, "one week"/"一週間." Old Man Rod could've said: [One time, some bandits captured me and held me in a stone prison for a whole week...]

• 8:「Speaking of which, was the Azure Knight ever retrieved?」 / 「そういえば《蒼の騎神》は軍に回収されたのよね？」

「I heard that they sealed it up so that the Noble Alliance wouldn't get their hands on it.」 / 「貴族勢力に使われないよう厳重に封印したって聞いたけど……」
Very weird way to phrase this line by the localization. Especially considering that it is also said "they sealed it" in the next line. The original already mentions the "military"/"軍." Celine could've said: [Speaking of which, was/wasn't the Azure Knight ever retrieved by the military?]

• 9:「Mastering this form is more difficult than any other. I do not know if you are even capable of such a feat, yet...」 / 「その極みは他の型よりも遠く、おぬしが“理”に至れるかは分からぬが……」

The localization lumps the meaning of reaching the "pinnacle" or "heights"/"極み" and "enlightenment"/"理" to be the same thing as "mastering"/"奥伝" the 7th form. That's simply wrong. Yun Ka-Fai's letter could've said: [Reaching the pinnacle of this form is more difficult than any other. I do not know if you are even capable of attaining "enlightenment", yet...]

• 10:「Not to mention, I can't imagine you'd need a third. Not at this point in your relationship, anyway♡.」 / 「それにせっかくの２人きりの機会……水を差すのは野暮というものですし♡」

The localization adds what I assume is meant to be a "threesome" joke. Sharon could've said: [Not to mention, I can't imagine you'd like me to intrude on your private time♡]

• 11:「My school and the cathedral are in the same district, in case you were wondering.」 / 「何しろ、女学院と大聖堂は同じサンクト地区にありますしね。」

The localization saw fit to omit the specifications of the district. Elise could've said: [My school/St. Astraia/the Girl's School and the cathedral are both in the Sankt District, in case you were wondering.]

• 12:「(Yes, I have. When I was accompanying the inspection team in Crossbell, I did some studying there.)」 / 「（ええ、ですがクロスベルの視察団に同行するのにあたって一通り勉強しましたから。）」

Actually, it's completely wrong. When questioned, by Rean, that she's never been to Armorica Village before, she's not supposed to have "studied in the village." Elise should've said: [Yes, I haven't. However, when I was accompanying the inspection team in Crossbell, I did some studying/read all *about it.]

• 13:「We have the Goddess of the Sky, but they worship something else.」 / 「彼らは空の女神と同じくらい大切にしているものがあるんだ。」

「What is it that the Nord people worship?」 / 「ノルドの民が、空の女神と同じくらい大切にしているものは？」
There isn't supposed to be a comparison that reads as if the Nord people worship "something else" instead of Aidios. Rean could've said: [They also have the Goddess of the Sky, but they worship something else equally.]

• 14:「He knows a lot about cooking, and he tells me all about the academy. Teehee, he's so helpful.」 / 「お料理も詳しいし、学院の事情なんかも教えてくださるの。ふふ、助かっているわ。」

「With such an amazing faculty member, Thors must really be an excellent school.」 / 「あんなに優秀な職員さんが いるなんて、トールズってやっぱり名門校なのねぇ。」
「Hahaha...(That doesn't quite seem like Celestin, but...)」 / 「ははは……（セレスタンさんはちょっと特別な気もするが……）」
The localization got this one completely wrong. How is describing Celestin as "knowledgeable about cooking" and "helpful" not like him? That response makes no sense. First, the second line should read more generalizing the compliments to the whole staff; Cattleya could've said: [With such an amazing faculty member/members Thors must really be an excellent school.] Second, the meaning is that "Celestin is a unique case among the faculty" (in regards to being so amazing.) Rean could've said: [Hahaha... (That doesn't quite seem like anyone but Celestin...)]

• 15:「Huh...? (Wait, is someone outside...?)」 / 「ふむ……（そういえば部屋の外に……）」

The localization also got this one wrong. The Japanese don't come across as completely unaware. The assumption of this scene is that to Wayne is standing outside the training hall. Rean could've said: [Huh...? (Wait, the one outside would be...)]

• 16:「She also said she apprenticed under a female martial artist and traveled around Erebonia...」 / 「外国人の女性武術家に弟子入りして、半年も帝国を放浪していたなんて話も聞きましたが……」

The localization omits the time spent traveling, "半年." Rean could've said: [She also said she apprenticed under a female martial artist and traveled around Erebonia for six months...]

• 17:「Yeah, thanks to this pendant Emma made me.」 / 「ああ……エマの魔力が込められこのペンダントの力を借りてだが。」

The localization simplifies the explanation. Rean could've said: [Yeah, thanks to this pendant Emma imbued with her magic.)

• 18:「A monster? Wait, that's a cryptid!」 / 「魔獣──いや、魔物のたぐいか！？」

「What a nightmarish beast that cryptid was...」 / 「はぁ、まさかあんな恐ろしい魔物がいるなんて……」
The localization mistranslated "fiend"/"魔物" for "cryptid"/"幻獣." Kurt could've said: [A monster? Wait that's some kind of fiend!] Musse could've said: [What a nightmarish beast that fiend was...]

• 19:「After paying a visit to Professor Schmidt, Rean walked George to the station, where his train back to Roer was waiting.」 / 「シュミット博士に一言挨拶を済ませた後、北東のルーレに向かうジョルジュを駅まで見送ることにしたのだった。」

The localization removes the direction of the city. The narration could've said: [After paying a visit to Professor Schmidt, Rean walked George to the station, where his train back to Roer, in the northeast, was waiting.]

• 20:「I considered making a last stand there, but news of the Northern War reached me.」 / 「１年は抵抗してやろうと思ったがそこへ《北方戦役》の話が降ってきた。」

The localization removes the remark about the duration of the last stand. Aurelia could've said: [I considered making a last stand there for a year, but news of the Northern War reached me.]

• 21:「You'll be just fine, Towa. Now let's get this show on the road!」 / 「フフ、ハーシェル先輩ならきっと大丈夫ですよ。一緒に頑張りましょう！」

The localization changes, addressing Towa by her surname. Munk could've said: [You'll be just fine, Herschel. Now let's get this show on the road!]

• 22:「Not to mention, as the student council president, you were highly regarded by many of your fellow students.」 / 「もとより、士官学院の生徒会長として貴族・平民を問わず多くの学院生たちから高い信頼を受け──」

The localization omits taking social classes into account. Munk could've said: [Not to mention, as the student council president, you were highly regarded by many of your fellow students--nobles and commoners alike.]

• 23:「Heehee. No elegant young maiden can resist the call of beautiful lace.」 / 「ふふっ、淑女の嗜みと言えばやはりマリアージュ・クロスははずせないでしょうね。」

The localization omits the mention of the brand. Musse could've said: [Heehee. No elegant young maiden can resist the call of Mariage Cross beautiful lace/Mariage Cross' beautiful lace.]

• 24:「Nothing draws a man's eye like a bit of lace...in just the right spot.」 / 「姫様から色々とプレゼントされたと聞きましたけど？」

The localization completely changes, from specifically teasing Elise to just be more of a general tease. Musse could've said: [I've heard that the princess has gifted you many such lace.]

• 25:「Although, I was shocked when she tried to pay for it with gunpowder.」 / 「手持ちがないからって報酬を弾薬で払おうとした時は驚いたけどね。」

The localization chooses to translate the general term for "ammunition"/"弾薬" to be specifically gunpowder. Marcus could've said: [Although, I was shocked when she tried to pay for it with ammunition/ammo/(maybe) *bullets".]

• 26:「How about assorted Eastern sweets?」 / 「なら……『羊羹の詰め合わせ』はどうだ？」

The localization randomly chooses to translate "yokan"/"羊羹" as just generic "eastern sweets", after having no problem doing it correctly in all other instances. Rean could've said: [How about some assorted yokan?]

• 27:「Well, we've basically just been making whatever we want at the Cooking Club.」 / 「ま、具体的には料理研究会と女子の有志でメニュー追加ですね。」

The localization phrases the arrangement weirdly. Juna could've said: [Well, we've (Elise, Musse and Juna) basically just decided on the menu together with the Cooking Club.]

• 28:「The elder? Is she the one Emma and Vita call their grandmother?」 / 「“長”──エマが“お祖母ちゃん”、クロチルダさんが“婆様”と呼ぶ人だよな？」

「I'm also worried about the 'true story' that Vita mentioned.」 / 「クロチルダさんが言っていた“真なる物語”というのもあったな。」
Again, it's made to use "Vita" instead of "Clotilde." I've already explained in previous posts how these changes can affect the dynamics of characters negatively. Rean could've said: [I'm also worried about the 'true story' that Clotilde mentioned.]

• 29:「From that day, Emma began training and studying as hard as she could with one goal...」 / 「『あやつの事は忘れよ』という“長”の言葉にも納得せず、その日からひたすらに修行と勉学に励んでいったわ。」

The localization removes what Roselia told Emma. Celine could've said: [From the day the Elder said 'forget all about heVita', Emma began training and studying as hard as she could with one goal...)

• 30:「That's the golden Spiegel the principal mentioned!」 / 「分校長が使っていた黄金のシュピーゲル……！」

The localization swaps "used" or "piloted"/"使っていた" for "mentioned." Rean could've said: [That's the golden Spiegel the principal used!]

• 31:「And so, Aurelia finished training the members of Class VIII...」 / 「──こうしてオーレリアはⅧ組メンバーにも（優しく）稽古を付け……」

The localization omits the joke. The narration could've said: [And so, Aurelia finished (gently) training the members of Class VIII...]

• 32:「Do they really need to have the conference during the Summer Festival...?」 / 「……夏至祭の時期……領邦会議もあるんですよね……」

The localization chose to phrase this as there's supposed to be reservation against these events being held at the same time. That wasn't particularly present originally. Tatiana could've said: [The Summer Festival is going to be held at the same time as Pronvicial Council...]; or: [I hear that the Provincial Council will be held together with the Summer Festival...]

• 33:「From what I heard, Olivier liked to play his lute under it.」 / 「ちなみに、その大橋の下で オリビエさんがリュートの弾き語りを披露したことがあるらしいんです。」

The localization puts this as if it's a 'known regular hobby'. Tita could've said: [From what I heard, Olivier played his lute under it *once.]

• 34:「It reminds me of the fleet. I feel like I'm home.」 / 「まるで船団に戻って来た みたいというか……これだけで里心がついちまうよ。」

「I hope our boss is doing well.」 / 「それにしても──女将さん、元気だといいんだが。」
The localization creates an awkward confusion for these lines. What would be expected is that "boss" would be the fleet's boss, but it's actually talking about the owner of the sailor bar, Miranda, by using "owner" or "landlady"/"女将さん." Leonora could've said: [I hope Miranda/the owner is doing well.]

• 35「Well, thanks to my mom's job, I know all about the nightlife in Raquel. Lemme know if you need any recommendations.」 / 「ま、お袋の職場だったのもあるし、夜のラクウェルなら任せろや。」

「I think it'll be an eye-opening experience for everyone, yeah?」 / 「坊ちゃんやらジャジャ馬にだっていい社会勉強になるんじゃねえか？」
「Though I might consider doing something after we're done with the field exercises.」 / 「せめて演習が終わった最終日なら引率込みで考えなくもないが。」
「Huh...? Well, aren't you a stingy one?」 / 「ハァ……？チッ、ケチくせえ野郎だな。」
The point of the line doesn't really come across that well in the localization. It sounds like the punchline to responding to Ash's proposal to allow Class VII to go out in the nightlife of Raquel is that "I'll consider doing that by myself." That couldn't be more wrong. Rena could've said: [Though I might consider chaperoning you guys after we're done with the field exercises.]

• 36:「The former Duke Cayenne is still under arrest and no replacement has been named.」 / 「現カイエン公は逮捕されたままで地方統括者は不在ですよね。」

Literally mistranslates "current"/"現." Altina could've said: [The current Duke Cayenne is still under arrest and no replacement has been named.]

• 37:「Hmph, you talk a lot for a doll. Must have a really long string in the back.」 / 「ハッ、よく喋る人形だぜ。」

Ash's line originally ends at the first clause.

• 38:「I hear there are some snipers who chose the Hector... but I suppose it all comes down to feeling.」 / 「正規軍の中にはヘクトルを選ぶ狙撃手もいるそうですが……まあ、要は相性ですね。」

The localization omits tthe fact that the snipers are from the army. Maya could've said: [I hear there are some snipers in the Imperial Army who chose the Hector... but I suppose it all comes down to feeling.]

• 39:「We need to focus on getting to Ordis.」 / 「この先はラクウェル方面──まずはオルディスの依頼に集中しよう。」

The localization removes the previous remark. Rean could've said: [This way leads to Raquel--We need to focus on getting to Ordis.]

• 40:「Damn. So that monster used to cozy up in there with fifty-thousand soldiers.」 / 「クク、あんな場所にあの化物が５万の兵と立て籠もったワケだ。」

The choice of "used" makes the sentence read as a characteristic beyond the single event the Japanese refers to. Ash could've said: [Damn. So that monster locked herself/cozied up in there with fifty-thousand soldiers.]

• 41:「During the war, the Imperial Army was at a loss after multiple failed attempts to infiltrate.」 / 「当時、帝国正規軍も攻めあぐねて頭を抱えたそうです。」

「It's fully equipped with multiple Panzer Soldats, large-class airships, and enough supplies and anti-aircraft cannons to last three years.」/ 「多数の機甲兵に大型飛行艇、３年は継戦できるだけの物資、対空砲も完備していましたから。」
In the context of "the Noble Alliance forces, after the civil war ended, barricaded themselves in Juno Naval Fortress," the localization wrongly chooses to put it as "during the war." Much the same, the second line is supposed to be talking about that single past event. Altina could've said: [It was equiped with multiple Panzer Soldats, large-class airships, and enough supplies amd anti-aircraft cannons to last three years.]

• 42:「(And thus a deal was struck that shifted the Northern War.)」 / 「（そんな事態を打開するために北方戦役の話が持ち上がった……）」

The localization translated this line very wrongly. The situation being "shifted" isn't the Northern War. Rean could've said: [To resolve that situation (Aurelia's barricade in Juno), the deal to set out for the Northern War was struck.]

• 44:「I don't see any Goliath Soldats. Do you?」 / 「ああ、そういや主力戦車だの噂の巨人機(ゴライアス)だのは見当たらねぇな？」

The localization omits the mention of the Main Battle Tanks. Ash could've said: [I don't see any Main Battle Tanks/MBTs/Achtzenhs or Goliath Soldats. Do you?]

• 46:「But over the past six months, we've seen some suspicious activity from both jaeger corps.」 / 「だがここ半年、帝国各地で不可解な動きをしていた各猟兵団が半月くらい前から鳴りを潜めていてな。」

「Activity that's led us to believe they're planning something for the Imperial Provincial Council in Lamare.」 / 「ール州で開かれる領邦会議に合わ・せるように。」
「Over the past six months, there haven't been any confirmed reports of jaeger corps activity within the Empire.」 / 「──ここ半月、帝国各地で 活動していた複数の猟兵団の動きが確認できなくなっている模様。」
By virtue of omitting information, the localization causes this line to have the wrong information. In the first line. Wallace could've said: [But over the past half a month/two weeks, we've not seen activity from the multiple jaeger corps which, until then, had been moving suspiciously in the Empire starting six months ago.] Consequentially, it's the lack of movement so close to the Provincial Council that makes them wary. The third line straight up mistranslated "half a month"/"半月." Wallace could've said: [Over the past half a month/two weeks, there haven't been any confirmed reports of jaeger corps activity within the Empire.]

• 47:「Ordis has been holding the Imperial Provincial Council since yesterday. Immediately after that's done is the Summer Festival.」 / 「オルディスは明日より領邦会議、そして《夏至祭》という状況です。」

The localization outright mistranslates "tomorrow"/"明日." The Provincial Army Soldier could've said: [Ordis will hold the Imperial Provincial Council starting tomorrow. Immediately after that's done is the Summer Festival.]

• 49:「Looking at this view, I can see why Ordis is so famous.」 / 「さすがは《紺碧の海都》と称えられるだけはある街だな。」

「The Port City, Ordis.」 / 「《紺碧の海都》オルディスへ。」
The localization refuses to establish a term for this other name that Rean and Musse call Ordis. Given some uses of the Japanese term, it could be "Saphirl Port City"; given the name of a food item in the city, perhaps "Aquamarine Port City"; even if not the same kanji, maybe "Azure Port City." As long as it's not entirely omitted from the game.

• 50:「Yeah, but once we're done sightseein', we've got a monster to kill.」 / 「そんで一通り回ったら南の浜辺で手配された魔獣をブチ倒すわけか。」

The localization omits mentioning the location of the monster. Ash could've said: [Yeah, but once we're done sightseein', we've got a monster to kill on the beach to the south/southern beach/beach south of the city.]

• 51:「I hope Luna isn't too bored.」 / 「はっはっは、ルナたちが退屈していなければいいのだが。」

The localization singles out Luna. Lord Quinn could've said: [I hope Luna and Eclair aren't too bored.]

• 52:「You're in luck. With the Summer Festival going on, the town is really buzzing with activity.」 / 「夏至祭も近いので商業区は賑わっているようです。」

The localization messes up the timeframe a little. The Provincial Army Soldier could've said: [You're in luck. With the Summer Festival happening soon, the town is really buzzing with activity.]

• 53:「My husband doesn't like things that come from the capital.」 / 「うちは旦那様が帝都資本嫌いなんです。」

Just like in Chapter 2, a maid is made to call her "master"/"lord" her husband by virtue of the fact that the Japanese term can be used for both. Pamela could've said: [My Master/Lord doesn't like things that come from the capital.]

• 54:「In addition to the taverns, there's an orbment store, and a glass workshop that is popular with the duke households.」 / 「宿酒場の他に、導力器なども扱う、公爵家御用達の硝子工房などもあります。」

It's not meant to be "households "in plural; the context here is that the glass workshop is used by the Cayenne estate. Musse could've said: [In addition to the taverns, there's an orbment store, and a glass workshop that is popular with the duke household/Cayenne/duke's estate*.]

• 55:「Guess what! My big brother is coming back tomorrow!」 /「あのね！ 今日兄ちゃんが帰ってくるんだ～っ！」

「My big brother is coming back tomorrow!」 / 「今日は兄ちゃんが帰ってくるんだよ！」
Straight up mistranslating "today"/"今日" in the localization. Luka could've said: [Guess what! My big brother is coming back today!]; And: [My big brother is coming back today!]

• 56:「Gramps is the ultimate craftsman. He even received the Golden Emblem.」 / 「じいちゃんは陛下から《黄綬勲章》を賜った最高の職人ですからね。」

The localization omits the line also havimg mention of the fact that the emperor is the award giver. Luther could've said: [Gramps is the ultimate craftsman. He even received the Golden Emblem from His Majesty himself.]

• 57:「Though, all I do nowadays is drink here!」 / 「ま、今はこの店くらいにしか卸しておらんがなぁ！」

「We get all our seafood from Rossel.」 / 「ちなみに魚介はそこのロッセルさんが卸してくれるんだ。」
The localization got this line wrong. It's not about drinking a lot, even the owner of the inn says the same, "卸して." Just as mentioned in the second line, by the tavern owner, Edmond. Old Man Rossel should've said: [Though, all I do nowadays is sell my catches here!]

• 57:「I need to make sure it doesn't compromise the beauty of this.」 / 「《輝き号》の魅力を損ねないよう、極力目立たないようにしたいけど……」

The localization chose to have the guy who's emamored with his new boat, and gave it it's own name, ultimately call it a "this." The Cheerful Man could've said: [I need to make sure it doesn't compromise Radiance's beauty.]

• 58:「I had to rid myself of some of the merchant ships my grandfather passed down to me! Aside from that little head start, I'm a self-made man!」 / 「祖父の代からの商船すらただ同然で手放すことになるなど……！」

The original isn't really about being or not being "self-made." Lord Beckford could've said: [I had to rid myself of some of the merchant ships my grandfather passed down to me as if they were worthless!]

• 59:「I mean, will all four of the Great Houses even participate? This truly is mindboggling.」 / 「そもそも四大の足並みすら揃うかどうか。……やれやれ、悩ませてくれる。」

The localization makes up the logic that the count would somehow still be in doubt of the participation of Great Houses with one day to go. Count Florald should've said: [I mean, will all four of the Great Houses' thoughts even be in alignment? This truly is mindboggling.]

• 60:「So this is a jade shell...It'd make for quite the accessory.」 / 「これがヒスイ貝か……確かに飾りに相応しいな。」

The whole point of the quest is to make "decorations"/"飾り" for the Summer Festival, and the localization decides it should be "accessory." Kurt should've said: [So this is a jade shell...It'd make for quite the decorarion.]

• 61:「We've lost enough men for one day.」 / 「ここで戦力を減らす意味など皆無だからな。」

The original doesn't make it sound like the Purple Jaegers already lost men against Rean and Class VII. The Purple Jaeger should've said: [There's no point in us losing our forces here today.]

• 62:「It's vital that we confirm if there are jaeger corps roaming the area.」 / 「この地で猟兵団が動いているのを実際に捉えたのは大きいだろう。」

The localization mistranslated this line and also makes it sound silly. None of the characters put any doubt that there are jaegers around or that the Purple Jaegers are jaegers; needing to confirm that just comes across as awkward. Patrick should've said: [It would have been great if we had actually captured those jaegers roaming the area.]

• 62:「This is a travesty! Does Marquis Ballad truly intend to reform the government like this?!」 / 「……信じられるか！？バラッド侯はまだ政府の改革案を受け入れるつもりらしいぞ。」

The original is about "accepting the government's reform plan"/"政府の改革案を受け入れる. Lord Beckford should've said: [This is a travesty! Does Marquis Ballad truly intend to accept the reforms of the government like this?!]

• 63:「We'll both be in town while the council is underway.」 / 「毎年領邦会議の時期は二人とも同じ街にいるんです。」

The original is about the lovers being in Ordis "every year"/"毎年" during the Provincial Council. Hearhcliff could've said: [We both come to town every year while the council is underway.]

• 64:「The next Duke Cayenne is about to be decided.」 / 「そろそろ現カイエン公にも判決が出される頃だよなぁ。」

The localizations not only mistranslate "current"/"現" but also "sentenced"/"判決が出される." Reins should've said: [The current Duke Cayenne is about to be sentenced.]

• 65:「Our hotel offers a taxi service.」 / 「当ホテルではラクウェルヘの送迎サービスも行っております。」

「You can enjoy the night life without worrying about the time.」 / 「鉄道のお時間を気にせず歓楽街を楽しむ事ができますよ。」
The first localized line gives the wrong idea. That would cause the second line to likely be interpreted as "Ordis' night life" when it's actually about in "Raquel"/"ラクウェル". Receptionis Harold should've said: [Our hotel offers a taxi service jto and from Raquel*.]

• 66:「Juna, see you later.」 / 「ユウナちゃんたち、お疲れ様ー。」

The localization singles out Juna, when it's her and Class VII. Louise could've said: [Juna and everyone/Everyone/Class VII, see you later.]

• 67:「Haha. Well, the three girls were so cute that I nearly--ahem, excuse me.」 / 「フフ、女の子たち３人が可愛すぎて思わず鼻血が──おっと、失敬。」

The localization leaves to the imagination, for better or for worse to some, that she got a "nosebleed"/"鼻血." Angelica could've said: [Haha. Well, the three girls were so cute that I got a nosebleed--ahem, excuse me.]

• 68:「There was a shooting near a school the other day...」 / 「この前なんて町のすぐ近くで撃ち合いがあって。」

The localization mistranslated "町" as "school," which doesn't have anything to do with it. Sister Olfa should've said: [There was a shooting near the city the other day...]

With the top 10 songs this year containing two pretty avant-garde songs, I thought I'd ask people on this sub to share their favourites from past editions. By avant-garde, I don't mean wacky, I mean the kind of songs that make you think "what the hell was that?" the first time you hear them, or even "did that really happen at Eurovision?"
I will talk about my favourites, although I admit some recency bias. It would be good if people could point me to some older entries that fit the brief.
First, there's Lock Me In by Circus Mircus. It might not be the most shocking thing outside of a Eurovision context, but imo it is very different to any Eurovision song I can think of. It's fairly often brought up as a 'robbed' entry, but I've played it to people before and they've said "what the hell was that?" The band's manifesto includes the statement 'Genre is for the weak'. I think it counts as avant-garde.
Next, there's Finland's entry from 2015 Aina mun pitää by Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät. It's a hardcore punk song by a band who all have developmental disabilities protesting against the conditions of their residential care. I don't think I need to say any more to show that the song is avant-garde.
Then there's Let 3 from last year. The BBC commentary described it as 'Croatian Monty Python', which I don't think quite does it justice, but it is subversive in a similar way to Monty Python. I love it.
I will also count Sébastien Tellier's 2008 entry for France, Divine simply because it did stop people in their tracks at the time. I don't know if it still sounds as weird now, but it has that quality of being an enjoyable song to listen to, even if you don't know why. I think it might get nul points if it was done today, with the quality of entries and the polish that's expected, but oh well.
The most avant-garde (though I would never say it's the best) of the 4 songs Serge Gainsbourg wrote for Eurovision, is this one for Monaco in 1967. It's deliberately terrible. It's barely even a song, more like a racket. The lyrics seem to be about living it up before we all die in a nuclear war. It somehow managed to come in 5th place.
I wanted to include Hatari (Iceland 2019) because I think what they did was very avant-garde. I got downvoted to oblivion once when I said I loved the song but didn't especially care about their political opinions. I can't leave them out though because the whole thing was so clever as well as being great EBM.
Other songs that I think are pretty avant-garde are: Serbia from 2022, Portugal from 2019 and arguably Telex for Belgium in 1980. That last one wasn't really musically innovative despite what some people say, but that level of sarcasm and the fact that it's meta was unique at the time, I think?

After about 60 hours, I have finally put the XIII Trilogy to rest with Lightning Returns. I went into this game with only vague high school memories of a bad story, a boring world, and a mediocre combat system, so my expectations were low. But damn, was I entirely wrong. Let’s get into it!
The Story
The Good: I really enjoyed the main narrative here, Lightning’s journey to save her sister and, begrudgingly, as many people as she can slowly turning into a journey to save her own soul is great, and I felt it satisfyingly wrapped up the overarching narrative of the trilogy. I also enjoyed how the side quests expanded on the concepts and themes of the plot and helped undermine some of the facts stated at the start (like Lightning not being able to save the dead or only humans having souls).
The Neutral: I wish that the ending had been a bit more explicit in the fates of the party, because it was dissatisfying not knowing if Serah and Snow ended up together finally and if everyone stayed in touch. I also think the scenes before the final dungeon could have been fleshed out more, especially when Noel returns.
The Bad: they gave Noel Brynhildr and let him take Sazh’s place in the finale. I was very satisfied with Sazh’s story in the main game, but damn was he done dirty in the end. He should have been there while Noel searched for Serah’s soul. The dialogue writing was also quite messy, lots of repetition and “reveals” of things we’d already known for ages.
The Characters
The Good: I loved all of the original main party members in this game. Seeing them all reduced to their absolute worst, desperately needing someone to come and snap them out, was awesome, and I loved seeing them all come to their senses. I also really liked the role Lumina played, intentionally antagonizing each main character after Lightning beats some sense into them to light a fire in them and make them, in a way, save their own souls.
The Neutral: While it was awesome to have Fang as a party member, I wish she’d stayed with you even after the main quest, and that Noel, Snow, and Sazh had been party members after their quest lines as well.
The Bad: there’s not much else beyond Sazh’s sidelining in the finale.
The Music
The Good: the new compositions are generally very good, with the area and most of the battle themes in particular standing out.
The Neutral: I wish they’d used less music from previous entries, it made the soundtrack as a whole feel less fresh as I played through it.
The Bad: there are a few battle themes that are quite repetitive and mediocre, and the game runs into a common open world issue where there’s not enough variety, internal or external, to area themes to sustain large amount of playtime in a given area. Loading screens also cut off the soundtrack, even in continuous zones like the Ultimate Lair, which really ruins the vibe.
The World
The Good: exploring Luxerion, Yusnaan, and the Wildlands was a lot of fun, lots of books and crannies to find treasures and NPCs with quests or interesting dialogue. Having Odin/Angel in the Wildlands helped that zone feel more manageable as well.
The Neutral: The Dead Dunes were a bit too big to not have any real alternate mode of transport. The teleportation statues are a nice feature, but we definitely could have used something like Odin here. I also found Yusnaan confusing to navigate at times, though it got better as I went on.
The Bad: The Ultimate Lair and final dungeon were a bit of a letdown, very simple in their design and mostly just enemy gauntlets. I also found the Temple Ruins in the Dead Dunes tedious to navigate.
The Combat
The Good: Combat in this game feels amazing. Switching schema is a ton of fun and very fluid, and figuring out the optimal ways to stagger enemies is great. I like that the game encourages unique and personalized builds to tackle most challenges as well, and the multitude of healing options at your disposal keep things from feeling too bleak. I also like that you can permanently eliminate monster species with enough effort, it really makes the combat feel meaningful.
The Neutral: enemy variety could definitely have been better, even just having multiple enemies in a “family” like the Vali/Hanuman line. It certainly would have been less repetitive than skewering a Gremlin over and over. I also wish movement outside of attacking was faster.
The Bad: some encounters are incredibly annoying, especially large monsters before the last few days and Archangeli, which just suck to fight. I also strongly dislike the Stagger indicator, which doesn’t tell you anything and would have been better served being the gauge from XIII/XIII-2.
The Character Progression
The Good: having so many ways to customize Lightning is really cool. Between earning your stats from the different quest types, to choosing between specializing or generalizing your abilities, to the various ways garbs, accessories, weapons, and shields interact, to the upgrade systems for abilities and gear, it really feels like you can tailor Lightning to your playstyle. It’s cool that NG+ can be used to continue pushing your stats up to and even beyond their limits. I also loved the dress up aspect for the most part.
The Neutral: it’s unfortunate that equipment upgrading is NG+ only. It’s a system that would have been nice to have access to earlier, at least so you could start gathering the material. Upgrading abilities also takes a fair amount of resources to do, and the lack of input on auto-abilities for them is a bummer.
The Bad: the interface for ability upgrading is just bad, and makes an already tedious process even more so. There’s also a pretty large disparity in the usefulness of some garbs, and I have to say it: while the changes to appearance are cool, some of these costumes are ridiculous and wildly out of character for Lightning to even consider wearing.
The Content
The Good: I like that there are categories of quests. Some of them are passively ready to be completed as you kill enemies, some require much more interaction and may reveal some cool lore, and of course the main quests that can be picked up and dropped at any time are a solid feature for a game like this. I also like that some side quests are integrated into the story, not always necessarily needed to complete the game but certainly helpful. There’s also no minigames or puzzles, which is a huge win after XIII-2.
The Neutral: the quest board rewards feel a bit underwhelming, especially for the ones that functionally require the extinction of a species, and the stat drops in NG+ are a bit drastic.
The Bad: turning in quests at the board is a slog, another victim of the poor menuing in this game. Some quests feel half-baked, and cool concepts brought up (like robots having souls) aren’t elaborated on.
Conclusion
Overall, I absolutely adored this game. It’s got a lot of rough patches, but the good parts more than make up for them. This has rapidly become one of my favorite games in the series and one of my favorites overall. I give it a 9.5/10, second only to the original XIII in this review series.
Thanks for reading if you got through all that. There was a lot to talk about this time. I’m planning to wrap up some NG+ runs and then dive into Type-0 for the first time, though I may detour and try to finish Tactics A2 again. We’ll see, I suppose. Until next time!

After about 60 hours, I have finally put the XIII Trilogy to rest with Lightning Returns. I went into this game with only vague high school memories of a bad story, a boring world, and a mediocre combat system, so my expectations were low. But damn, was I entirely wrong. Let’s get into it!
The Story
The Good: I really enjoyed the main narrative here, Lightning’s journey to save her sister and, begrudgingly, as many people as she can slowly turning into a journey to save her own soul is great, and I felt it satisfyingly wrapped up the overarching narrative of the trilogy. I also enjoyed how the side quests expanded on the concepts and themes of the plot and helped undermine some of the facts stated at the start (like Lightning not being able to save the dead or only humans having souls).
The Neutral: I wish that the ending had been a bit more explicit in the fates of the party, because it was dissatisfying not knowing if Serah and Snow ended up together finally and if everyone stayed in touch. I also think the scenes before the final dungeon could have been fleshed out more, especially when Noel returns.
The Bad: they gave Noel Brynhildr and let him take Sazh’s place in the finale. I was very satisfied with Sazh’s story in the main game, but damn was he done dirty in the end. He should have been there while Noel searched for Serah’s soul. The dialogue writing was also quite messy, lots of repetition and “reveals” of things we’d already known for ages.
The Characters
The Good: I loved all of the original main party members in this game. Seeing them all reduced to their absolute worst, desperately needing someone to come and snap them out, was awesome, and I loved seeing them all come to their senses. I also really liked the role Lumina played, intentionally antagonizing each main character after Lightning beats some sense into them to light a fire in them and make them, in a way, save their own souls.
The Neutral: While it was awesome to have Fang as a party member, I wish she’d stayed with you even after the main quest, and that Noel, Snow, and Sazh had been party members after their quest lines as well.
The Bad: there’s not much else beyond Sazh’s sidelining in the finale.
The Music
The Good: the new compositions are generally very good, with the area and most of the battle themes in particular standing out.
The Neutral: I wish they’d used less music from previous entries, it made the soundtrack as a whole feel less fresh as I played through it.
The Bad: there are a few battle themes that are quite repetitive and mediocre, and the game runs into a common open world issue where there’s not enough variety, internal or external, to area themes to sustain large amount of playtime in a given area. Loading screens also cut off the soundtrack, even in continuous zones like the Ultimate Lair, which really ruins the vibe.
The World
The Good: exploring Luxerion, Yusnaan, and the Wildlands was a lot of fun, lots of books and crannies to find treasures and NPCs with quests or interesting dialogue. Having Odin/Angel in the Wildlands helped that zone feel more manageable as well.
The Neutral: The Dead Dunes were a bit too big to not have any real alternate mode of transport. The teleportation statues are a nice feature, but we definitely could have used something like Odin here. I also found Yusnaan confusing to navigate at times, though it got better as I went on.
The Bad: The Ultimate Lair and final dungeon were a bit of a letdown, very simple in their design and mostly just enemy gauntlets. I also found the Temple Ruins in the Dead Dunes tedious to navigate.
The Combat
The Good: Combat in this game feels amazing. Switching schema is a ton of fun and very fluid, and figuring out the optimal ways to stagger enemies is great. I like that the game encourages unique and personalized builds to tackle most challenges as well, and the multitude of healing options at your disposal keep things from feeling too bleak. I also like that you can permanently eliminate monster species with enough effort, it really makes the combat feel meaningful.
The Neutral: enemy variety could definitely have been better, even just having multiple enemies in a “family” like the Vali/Hanuman line. It certainly would have been less repetitive than skewering a Gremlin over and over. I also wish movement outside of attacking was faster.
The Bad: some encounters are incredibly annoying, especially large monsters before the last few days and Archangeli, which just suck to fight. I also strongly dislike the Stagger indicator, which doesn’t tell you anything and would have been better served being the gauge from XIII/XIII-2.
The Character Progression
The Good: having so many ways to customize Lightning is really cool. Between earning your stats from the different quest types, to choosing between specializing or generalizing your abilities, to the various ways garbs, accessories, weapons, and shields interact, to the upgrade systems for abilities and gear, it really feels like you can tailor Lightning to your playstyle. It’s cool that NG+ can be used to continue pushing your stats up to and even beyond their limits. I also loved the dress up aspect for the most part.
The Neutral: it’s unfortunate that equipment upgrading is NG+ only. It’s a system that would have been nice to have access to earlier, at least so you could start gathering the material. Upgrading abilities also takes a fair amount of resources to do, and the lack of input on auto-abilities for them is a bummer.
The Bad: the interface for ability upgrading is just bad, and makes an already tedious process even more so. There’s also a pretty large disparity in the usefulness of some garbs, and I have to say it: while the changes to appearance are cool, some of these costumes are ridiculous and wildly out of character for Lightning to even consider wearing.
The Content
The Good: I like that there are categories of quests. Some of them are passively ready to be completed as you kill enemies, some require much more interaction and may reveal some cool lore, and of course the main quests that can be picked up and dropped at any time are a solid feature for a game like this. I also like that some side quests are integrated into the story, not always necessarily needed to complete the game but certainly helpful. There’s also no minigames or puzzles, which is a huge win after XIII-2.
The Neutral: the quest board rewards feel a bit underwhelming, especially for the ones that functionally require the extinction of a species, and the stat drops in NG+ are a bit drastic.
The Bad: turning in quests at the board is a slog, another victim of the poor menuing in this game. Some quests feel half-baked, and cool concepts brought up (like robots having souls) aren’t elaborated on.
Conclusion
Overall, I absolutely adored this game. It’s got a lot of rough patches, but the good parts more than make up for them. This has rapidly become one of my favorite games in the series and one of my favorites overall. I give it a 9.5/10, second only to the original XIII in this review series.
Thanks for reading if you got through all that. There was a lot to talk about this time. I’m planning to wrap up some NG+ runs and then dive into Type-0 for the first time, though I may detour and try to finish Tactics A2 again. We’ll see, I suppose. Until next time!

After about 60 hours, I have finally put the XIII Trilogy to rest with Lightning Returns. I went into this game with only vague high school memories of a bad story, a boring world, and a mediocre combat system, so my expectations were low. But damn, was I entirely wrong. Let’s get into it!
The Story
The Good: I really enjoyed the main narrative here, Lightning’s journey to save her sister and, begrudgingly, as many people as she can slowly turning into a journey to save her own soul is great, and I felt it satisfyingly wrapped up the overarching narrative of the trilogy. I also enjoyed how the side quests expanded on the concepts and themes of the plot and helped undermine some of the facts stated at the start (like Lightning not being able to save the dead or only humans having souls).
The Neutral: I wish that the ending had been a bit more explicit in the fates of the party, because it was dissatisfying not knowing if Serah and Snow ended up together finally and if everyone stayed in touch. I also think the scenes before the final dungeon could have been fleshed out more, especially when Noel returns.
The Bad: they gave Noel Brynhildr and let him take Sazh’s place in the finale. I was very satisfied with Sazh’s story in the main game, but damn was he done dirty in the end. He should have been there while Noel searched for Serah’s soul. The dialogue writing was also quite messy, lots of repetition and “reveals” of things we’d already known for ages.
The Characters
The Good: I loved all of the original main party members in this game. Seeing them all reduced to their absolute worst, desperately needing someone to come and snap them out, was awesome, and I loved seeing them all come to their senses. I also really liked the role Lumina played, intentionally antagonizing each main character after Lightning beats some sense into them to light a fire in them and make them, in a way, save their own souls.
The Neutral: While it was awesome to have Fang as a party member, I wish she’d stayed with you even after the main quest, and that Noel, Snow, and Sazh had been party members after their quest lines as well.
The Bad: there’s not much else beyond Sazh’s sidelining in the finale.
The Music
The Good: the new compositions are generally very good, with the area and most of the battle themes in particular standing out.
The Neutral: I wish they’d used less music from previous entries, it made the soundtrack as a whole feel less fresh as I played through it.
The Bad: there are a few battle themes that are quite repetitive and mediocre, and the game runs into a common open world issue where there’s not enough variety, internal or external, to area themes to sustain large amount of playtime in a given area. Loading screens also cut off the soundtrack, even in continuous zones like the Ultimate Lair, which really ruins the vibe.
The World
The Good: exploring Luxerion, Yusnaan, and the Wildlands was a lot of fun, lots of books and crannies to find treasures and NPCs with quests or interesting dialogue. Having Odin/Angel in the Wildlands helped that zone feel more manageable as well.
The Neutral: The Dead Dunes were a bit too big to not have any real alternate mode of transport. The teleportation statues are a nice feature, but we definitely could have used something like Odin here. I also found Yusnaan confusing to navigate at times, though it got better as I went on.
The Bad: The Ultimate Lair and final dungeon were a bit of a letdown, very simple in their design and mostly just enemy gauntlets. I also found the Temple Ruins in the Dead Dunes tedious to navigate.
The Combat
The Good: Combat in this game feels amazing. Switching schema is a ton of fun and very fluid, and figuring out the optimal ways to stagger enemies is great. I like that the game encourages unique and personalized builds to tackle most challenges as well, and the multitude of healing options at your disposal keep things from feeling too bleak. I also like that you can permanently eliminate monster species with enough effort, it really makes the combat feel meaningful.
The Neutral: enemy variety could definitely have been better, even just having multiple enemies in a “family” like the Vali/Hanuman line. It certainly would have been less repetitive than skewering a Gremlin over and over. I also wish movement outside of attacking was faster.
The Bad: some encounters are incredibly annoying, especially large monsters before the last few days and Archangeli, which just suck to fight. I also strongly dislike the Stagger indicator, which doesn’t tell you anything and would have been better served being the gauge from XIII/XIII-2.
The Character Progression
The Good: having so many ways to customize Lightning is really cool. Between earning your stats from the different quest types, to choosing between specializing or generalizing your abilities, to the various ways garbs, accessories, weapons, and shields interact, to the upgrade systems for abilities and gear, it really feels like you can tailor Lightning to your playstyle. It’s cool that NG+ can be used to continue pushing your stats up to and even beyond their limits. I also loved the dress up aspect for the most part.
The Neutral: it’s unfortunate that equipment upgrading is NG+ only. It’s a system that would have been nice to have access to earlier, at least so you could start gathering the material. Upgrading abilities also takes a fair amount of resources to do, and the lack of input on auto-abilities for them is a bummer.
The Bad: the interface for ability upgrading is just bad, and makes an already tedious process even more so. There’s also a pretty large disparity in the usefulness of some garbs, and I have to say it: while the changes to appearance are cool, some of these costumes are ridiculous and wildly out of character for Lightning to even consider wearing.
The Content
The Good: I like that there are categories of quests. Some of them are passively ready to be completed as you kill enemies, some require much more interaction and may reveal some cool lore, and of course the main quests that can be picked up and dropped at any time are a solid feature for a game like this. I also like that some side quests are integrated into the story, not always necessarily needed to complete the game but certainly helpful. There’s also no minigames or puzzles, which is a huge win after XIII-2.
The Neutral: the quest board rewards feel a bit underwhelming, especially for the ones that functionally require the extinction of a species, and the stat drops in NG+ are a bit drastic.
The Bad: turning in quests at the board is a slog, another victim of the poor menuing in this game. Some quests feel half-baked, and cool concepts brought up (like robots having souls) aren’t elaborated on.
Conclusion
Overall, I absolutely adored this game. It’s got a lot of rough patches, but the good parts more than make up for them. This has rapidly become one of my favorite games in the series and one of my favorites overall. I give it a 9.5/10, second only to the original XIII in this review series.
Thanks for reading if you got through all that. There was a lot to talk about this time. I’m planning to wrap up some NG+ runs and then dive into Type-0 for the first time, though I may detour and try to finish Tactics A2 again. We’ll see, I suppose. Until next time!

Edit: i feel like i need to clarify. I dont lie about the symptoms im experiencing, i dont even actually really talk about them to anyone. It’s always been really difficult to me. I feel like i sound crazy. But my perception of them is probably inaccurate. If im jumping in thinking there’s something seriously wrong with me, i cant truly ever know for sure if there is because my perception isnt good enough to be accurate. Theres too much bias. I could honestly very well have schizophrenia or some other psychotic disorder. But i fucking i took it too far. Just believing that theres something potentially wrong with me is probably why theres so much shit wrong with me. I highly doubt i FOR REAL have anything, even though I truly think there PROBABLY is. Sounds contradictory i know, but just because i feel something doesn’t mean anything. Difficult truth to accept or whatever but this bout of word vomit is helping. Im trying to get back to not giving a fuck about whats actually wrong with me and back to just focusing on how its showing up. Neither of these approaches are giving me 100% success which sucks. But idk what an in between would be. All i know for sure is I seriously need psychiatric intervention, whether it’s to shame me into being a better person or to actually treat me.
I think im the worst kind of attention seeker. Because Im convinced I don’t actually do anything for attention and Im lying to myself to justify it so I don’t feel guilty. No not everything I do is for attention, but a good amount of it is. And lying to people close to me people on the internet probably is for attention. And you’ll read this and be like oh it’s just a cry for help, you’re still struggling!! Like fuck no it doesn’t matter if im struggling. If i wanted help id call for it. Im just a fucking bitch exploiting off the compassion in the world.
I don’t even fucking know if I genuinely have symptoms of a psychotic disorder or if ive been lying to myself so much that ive become a self fulfilling or if im interpreting normal shit as abnormal, if Ive been trying to convince myself that im having psychotic symptoms just to fit the criterias. It doesn’t matter if i primarily search for attention from myself, Im just fuckinh distracting myself from all the work i need to get done. At most i probably just have fucking adhd and depression.
I know im a terrible person i know deep down i have these stupid fucking compulsions and desire full of horrific shit. But i would never actually act on it. So instead im devoting my time on the internet to fucking lie about having a psychotic disorder. And i don’t even actually know if im fucking lying because I KNOW I ALWAYS FUCKING UNDERSTATE BUT I ALWAYS ALSO OVERSTATE SO I DONT KNOW WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME I JUST KNOW I CABT FUCKING DEAL WITH THIS STUPID BULLSHIT.
I DONT WANT TO BE SCARED ALL THE TIME. I DONT WANT THESE STUPID FUCKING MENTAL PROCESSES. I HATE THINKING I FUCKING NEED HELP WHEN I REALLY JUST NEED TO GET IT TOGETHER.
How I know im lying? The biggest fucking extent of my symptoms have been obsessing over someone, auditory hallucinations, talking to fake people in my head (probably just talking to myself and lying about it to myself), and some negative symptoms associated with schizophrenia. The most detrimental thing that has come out of this is losing desire to do anything in life, slowly losing my friends and any social compentency that I have, and not being able to sleep ever because im always paranoid and think everything is a sign that someone is breaking in. Which genuinely arent that unusual or uncommon. Tons of people experience paranoia. Tons go through cycles of life where they’re more or less present. Im not unique or special. There’s nothing important or significant to explore. I have to fucking do better. Be a better person that doesn’t lie all the time. That doesn’t base their whole existence around the fact that they’re ill when they’re ok. Im such a fucking pity seeker.
No one else has really even noticed this shit enough to be concerned. Im a fucking degenerate. I should be banned from this subreddit. Im a fucking hypocrite too because if i had any self respect i would leave instead of trying to manipulate you guys to tell me “oh it’s not for attention” “oh you really do belong here”. I have no diagnosis and the symptoms i experienced are being relayed by me, an unreliable perspective, no wonder i feel so fucking empty, im living a lie. No one can tell that i need help so i must actually not. I’m

For the first time since his incarceration, Bankman-Fried described his daily life in a detailed interview with journalist William D. Cohan of Puck:

On a recent Tuesday, I went to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn for an intimate chat with America’s most famous prisoner, Sam Bankman-Fried. During our 75-minute conversation, we discussed everything from Caroline Ellison and the travails of his new life, to his regrets about the demise of FTX and his forthcoming appeal.
I got the distinct impression that Sam still doesn’t believe he committed any crimes, only that he was the one responsible for putting FTX in a position where it was vulnerable to a bank run and the devious actions of its competitors

WILLIAM D. COHAN -- May 9, 2024
On Tuesday afternoon, I found myself in the most unusual circumstances—sitting on a small plastic chair at a cramped table in the Metropolitan Detention Center, the federal prison on 29th Street in Sunset Park, in Deep Brooklyn. Outside, it was a gorgeous day, the sort of picturesque and slightly humid one that inevitably reminds longtime New Yorkers of the weather on the morning of September 11th. Inside the prison’s visiting room, however, there was no natural light, no sunshine, only the Hitchcockian buzz of fluorescent bulbs and three vending machines standing in a corner. Posters on the wall attempted to compensate for the bleak atmosphere by buoyantly welcoming visiting families.
I first met Sam Bankman-Fried in December 2021, during the height of his power and influence, when he was the richest person in the world under 30. My friend Anthony Scaramucci, a.k.a. The Mooch, had connected us. On a cold winter night at the One Hotel, on Sixth Avenue, I interviewed him for a documentary I am part of making about Bitcoin and its developer, Satoshi Nakamato. Sam showed up an hour late, in a black t-shirt and cargo shorts, apparently having just flown in via private jet from the Bahamas. A month later, Sam’s cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, would raise its final $400 million round of financing from a group of highfalutin investors—led by Softbank, Temasek, and Paradigm—at a valuation of $32 billion, making the company one of the most valuable in the sector. At that moment, Sam was said to be worth $26 billion.
This week, we reconnected amid very different circumstances. Sam and I arranged for this visit through his Corrlinks email account, at the suggestion of his mother, Barbara Fried, and the family’s prison advisor. We met on Tuesday around 1 p.m. because that was the only day that visiting hours are permitted at MDC, a hangover from the Covid era. Prisoners can have visitors for one of two sessions, either starting at noon or at five in the afternoon.
We were meeting later than noon because of the staffing shortage at the facility. I was allowed to bring in $1 or $5 bills, up to a total of $30, in case I wanted to buy Sam some water, soda, or snacks from the humming vending machines. I was told to put my $20 bill as well as my wallet and iPhone into a locker. Sam was not permitted to buy anything himself.
Following about an hour of bureaucratic snafus (I went to the wrong building at first, and I wasn’t wearing dark pants—although an exception was made for me) and other forms of prison processing (shoes and belt off, metal detection, sticking my hand in a scanner) I was finally allowed inside the prison, without a phone, a watch, a recording device, or even a pad of paper and a pencil. (I knew this in advance, of course, and set about preserving my recollections of our conversation immediately after leaving the facility.)
After a few minutes of waiting, I looked up to see Sam Bankman-Fried, over in the corner, dressed head to toe in a chocolate-brown prison jumpsuit, along with the still-wild frizzy hair that has been his trademark. These days, Sam looks considerably thinner than the last time we met—it appeared he’d lost 25 pounds, at least. But he looked better and fitter than I thought he would, to be honest—less pudgy, less manic, less fidgety, no bags under his eyes.
He was sustaining himself on rice and beans, he said, because the prison food was unsurprisingly inedible, especially the vegan entrées he was served, which his fellow inmates thought literally smelled like shit. He wasn’t complaining, mind you; he noted that he was just trying to make the best of a bad situation. The rice he buys at the prison commissary has become one of the currencies of the realm inside MDC. We joked briefly about how the arbitrage opportunities in jail were better than anything he experienced trading crypto at Jane Street Capital or buying and selling assets at Alameda. He looked me in the eye pretty much the whole time, something he rarely did with people in the old days.
After we shook hands, he sat down in his own plastic chair as a camera watched us from the ceiling. We were surrounded by a couple of other inmates, dressed similarly, facing their visitors. Sam declined my initial offer to buy him some snacks but ultimately agreed to a $4 bottle of water and a small $2 package of Wheat Thins, which he eagerly consumed.
We talked for the next 75 minutes or so, the first in-person interview he has given to a journalist since he was locked up in the MDC last August and then subsequently convicted of two counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud, and money-laundering at his federal trial in November. In March, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Our chat, under these rather drastic circumstances, was a profoundly jarring and fascinating experience.

Prison Diaries

Sam began by answering my question about his life in prison. According to him, he lives in an area of the jail that was dedicated mostly to incarcerated women, save for the 35 men with whom he shares a dormitory-style existence in a big open room—bunk beds, no privacy, extreme boredom, and four television sets tuned to ESPN, Telemundo, BET, and a news channel. Sam said he could try to persuade his fellow inmates to change up the channel selection, but television bores him, so he has no interest in that challenge. He prefers watching a small selection of movies or playing some inferior video games on a tablet, without an internet connection, that the prison provides him and other inmates.
When I told him he seemed better than I had anticipated, he replied that he’d become good at faking it. So, yes, life inside the MDC is not the Bahamas. But, truly, I had expected to see him coping less well. At the MDC, Sam has mostly been permitted his prescription medications, and the cocktail he’s been allowed has him thinking clearly, he said, and energized for the legal battle he plans to wage soon against the verdict.
In the meantime, he told me, he doesn’t fear for his safety. He can use the bathroom and shower a couple of times a week in peace. He’s always been a light sleeper, and he’s still not sleeping soundly at the MDC, but mostly because people sometimes bug him during the night about those bags of rice, which they intend to use to barter. He has not been touched or abused, and he seemed notably thankful for that.
He acknowledged that he has a unique rap sheet at MDC, and his fellow prisoners indeed recognize him. He estimated that about half of the other 35 men in his unit were murderers who had been turned into cooperating witnesses for the prosecution in exchange for not serving a life sentence. In prison, many inmates consider cooperating witnesses the lowest form of vermin, lower even than child molesters. Sam also told me that some of the other prisoners tried to get close to him, thinking they would benefit financially from the proximity to a former billionaire. He doesn’t play along, he said.
We didn’t talk about his trial strategy or whether he intentionally siphoned off the $8 billion of FTX customer funds into Alameda. Both topics seemed moot at this point. We did discuss his onetime girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, whom he selected to run Alameda after lawyers kept hounding him about the inherent conflicts in him running both FTX and the hedge fund. (He chose to run FTX.) He acknowledged that he had asked a few other people if they would be interested in the role, but they turned him down. Ellison, he said, was a good manager of people and a good administrator but didn’t like making big investments and didn’t like taking risks. (Obviously, this seems like a bizarre aversion for a hedge fund manager, but I didn’t belabor the point.) In any event, Alameda ended up doing both.
He regretted that he had not tried harder to find another executive. He also said he should have ignored the lawyers and just kept running both FTX and Alameda, conflicts be damned, sort of like how Elon Musk oversees his various companies. Wishing he had ignored his lawyers’ advice emerged as a theme of Sam’s during our visit.

Legal Therapy

We did talk a fair amount about his appeal and about how he believed he was set up to be the fall guy—the victim of the old build-’em-up-only-to-tear-’em-down narrative arc. His theory of the case was that by the fall of 2022, it was every man for himself on a boat that looked to be sinking. By early November 2022, FTX was facing a liquidity crunch. Sam first sought a deal with Binance, which quickly fell apart or was never truly real, and was in the process of trying to raise billions in capital when his lawyers advised him to turn the keys of FTX over to John J. Ray III, which he did. Ray quickly filed FTX for bankruptcy and installed Sullivan & Cromwell, the company’s outside counsel, as counsel to the debtor.
Sam became the target of federal prosecutors, he told me, soon after FTX’s outside counsel at Sullivan & Cromwell made a presentation to them, on November 9, 2022, a day or so before the bankruptcy filing, about what they believed Sam may have engineered between FTX and Alameda, which has been described as the theft of $8 billion of customer money. In a sworn declaration about that meeting, S&C attorney Andrew Dietderich said he reported to the D.O.J. only what Ryne Miller, FTX’s U.S. general counsel, told him about a problem of “reconciling digital assets with entitlements” on FTX’s U.S. exchange, and nothing about Sam and his alleged transgressions.
Sam told me that had he not been persuaded by Sullivan & Cromwell and then by his personal attorneys to relinquish his job as C.E.O. to Ray, the company would not have filed for bankruptcy, and it would still be a thriving enterprise, worth $80 billion now. In this alternate reality, he would be worth $40 billion and he certainly wouldn’t be at the MDC. (S&C declined to comment on Sam’s theory of the case. It’s also fair to reiterate here that Sam was sentenced to 25 years in prison after a jury convicted him of the crimes described above.)
I got the distinct impression that Sam still doesn’t believe he committed any crimes, only that he was the one responsible for putting FTX in a position where it was vulnerable to a bank run and the devious actions of its competitors, not unlike how both Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers failed in 2008. Why, Sam wondered, was he prosecuted when no one at either Bear or Lehman faced criminal prosecution? During our chat, Sam was contrite and certainly chastened, but not exactly apologetic: He was adamant about his innocence, aside from a few degrees of negligence—punishable, in his view, perhaps by civil consequences, not criminal penalties and a quarter-century sentence.
According to Sam’s theory, he isn’t in prison for commingling assets of FTX and Alameda. Instead, he’s an innocent guy who didn’t get a chance to negotiate a deal with the federal prosecutors, and wonders why he was even prosecuted at all for what he believes was a form of a bank run. Instead, they just presented him with his indictment and told him he could eat it— accept it and plead guilty and then get sentenced, or go to trial and try to fight it. Since there was no plea bargain on the table, he said, he fought the charges at trial, and lost. Unlike his fellow inmates, he told me, Sam speaks to his new attorney nearly every weekday for an hour or so, as the focus of his appeal comes into view. He expects to file it this fall. Yes, he will appeal, but most people think he faces long odds of success.
On the day of my visit, Sullivan & Cromwell, still counsel to the debtor-in-possession in FTX’s bankruptcy case, filed a first draft of a plan of reorganization that appears to give its customers and creditors all of their money back, plus a little more—a return of $15 billion on $12 billion of claims—in large part because of the investments Sam made through Alameda. The plan, which still has a long way to go before being confirmed, also gives Sullivan & Cromwell, along with other FTX advisors, “exculpation” from future lawsuits related to its conduct in the matter. This is not unusual in a plan of reorganization. But Sam has exhaustive thoughts on this subject, which I may explore with him in a follow-up conversation.

Go West, Young Man

I’m not sure how much longer Sam will be at the MDC, and neither is he. He has asked to remain in Brooklyn at least until the fall, when his appellate brief will be filed. But that’s not up to him, of course. If he gets moved, which could come at any moment without warning or explanation, I’m told, it would probably be to California, closer to Palo Alto, where he grew up, the son of two Stanford Law professors. At that point, the question will be whether he gets to spend his incarcerated years in a federal penitentiary, which are mostly nasty places filled with hardened criminals, or in more of a minimum security prison, as Mike Milken once did.
If he does get moved out of Brooklyn, his family and legal team worry, he could spend as long as four months on a bus, handcuffed to the seat, making his way, slowly, across the country. Such prison buses make frequent stops—picking up new prisoners, dropping off others—which explains why they take so long to reach their final destinations. There’s also a remote possibility that he could be placed on one of the many planes operated by the U.S. Marshals Service, a.k.a. “Con Air.” But he’s more likely to get the infamous “diesel therapy,” they fear. Either way, during this hypothetical cross-country journey, Sam would be completely incommunicado with both his family and his lawyers until he reaches his new home in California, deprived of the minimal access to the internet and email he now enjoys in Brooklyn.
Just as we were getting ready to discuss some knotty issues, such as his choices during his trial or the fact that many of the people who once worked for him had turned against him to save themselves, our visiting time was up. It was non-negotiable. We quickly shook hands again. Then Sam went back to his dormitory and I went back outside into a glorious spring afternoon.
Credits/Via: https://puck.news/exclusive-prison-chat-with-sam-bankman-fried/

I wasn't planning on watching Thrice Upon A Time. I had not liked the previous films and they seemed like a very inferior product compared to the original anime. However, the good reviews and opinions I saw about it encouraged me to do so. I did it with as open and tolerant a mind as possible, knowing that there was a good chance I wouldn't like the film. "What's the worst that could happen? That I don't like it and continue to prefer the original series? At least I'll be entertained for two and a half hours," I thought. What I did not expect at all is the deep feeling of disgust and repulsion that this film provoked in me, in a way that no other film has provoked in years.
I hated the movie from start to finish. I could spend hours talking about the boring action sequences, about its ugly, excessive CGI that ruins the already ugly mecha, about its disgusting hypersexualization of fucking 14-year-old girls, about how Misato's plans don't make sense, about how Last Kiss almost made me tear my ears off, or its plot full of Deus Ex Machinas with concepts conveniently taken by Hideaki Anno from the place that his last name suggests; but the real reason I'm writing this is because I feel like these movies spit on everything the excellent original work represents.
Not only because as adaptations they fail miserably, but also because they retroactively damage the original work (we'll talk about that later).
Before I begin to explain why the rebuilds are bad adaptations, I want to warn that I am going to do a relatively exhaustive review of the 4 films, so this rant is going to be very long, like staying up late on a winter night with chronic insomnia. That said, let's start to see the reasons:
WHAT IS NEON GENESIS EVANGELION?:
To understand why rebuilds fail as remakes, I must first ask you, dear reader: What does Neon Genesis Evangelion mean to you? (it should at least be familiar to you, unless you've spent your life under a bridge) What do you think about when you read that title, apart from Shinji fucking in front of a comatose Asuka? What comes to mind when you hear the most famous opening in anime history, apart from Shinji strangling the otter against Happy Thursday's throat? (in more ways than one). If your answer is: "It's a mecha anime for emos with a coomer protagonist", that's fine, I respect that; but please press the red "X" in the top right corner of your screen, you can now leave.
Now, I'm going to get serious and explain my definition: Evangelion is a work about the hedgehog's dilemma and the difficulties of forming emotional bonds that human beings have, as well as the consequences of trying to separate from them for fear of rejection. It is not a story about heroes. It's not a story about saving the world. In Evangelion there are neither heroes nor villains, but rather a group of emotionally broken characters trying to be happy in a world just as broken as them. The real enemy of Evangelion is not the angels. It is the lack of communication and empathy.
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilema_del_erizo
It is that same lack of communication and empathy that progressively causes everything to go to hell to conclude with a cathartic and bleak ending, but consistent with the themes of the work. It is therefore an existentialist work about human relationships disguised as a mecha anime. This, added to a unique visual style, daring direction, and mechas like never before seen on television, made Evangelion one of the most influential anime in all of history, as well as a true commercial success for Gainax Studio. Success that encouraged other studios to carry out projects such as Cowboy Bebop or Serial Experiment Lain, taking anime towards a new golden age.
Even today you can hear the echoes of that Third Impact of End of Evangelion in 1997. The list of works influenced by Evangelion both inside and outside of Japan is endless. Of course, it is not a perfect work, nor extensive in errors: its target audience is ambiguous, many of the biblical references are more for decoration than anything else, and several aspects of the ending(s) could have been explained better. However, many of these errors can be attributed to a lack of time and budget during the production of the original anime (which was quite chaotic and improvised); therefore, they are understandable and forgivable.
In summary, we can conclude that Evangelion is a dark, introspective, provocative and unique work (at least at its time). This is also combined with a unique visual identity and complex characters whose relationships intertwine and interconnect throughout the work. The sum of all these factors is what led Evangelion to be such a critically acclaimed work that it transcended its own genre and became an icon of popular culture. And this in turn constitutes the biggest mistake of rebuilds; because they commit the biggest sin that an adaptation can commit: denying everything that made the original work great.
ADAPTING WITHOUT A CLEAR PURPOSE:
One of the biggest problems with these remakes (as well as a clear example of what I'm saying) is their total narrative inconsistency. Let me explain: the first rebuilds movie (1.11) is a literal copy-paste of the first 6 chapters of the original anime, with practically the same scenes, dialogues and even music. This makes the film completely redundant and unnecessary (and makes one wonder why it exists); But in any case, the message is being conveyed that the purpose of these remakes is to adapt the original series as faithfully as possible to the cinema with a current animation style.
However, the second movie (2.22) is a... something. A pastiche of new and old things where the plot broadly follows that of the original anime, but with many things changed (of course, for the worse) and a different ending. All this compressing no less than 14 chapters of the original anime into two and a half hours. Here the message that one can infer is that it seeks to adapt the original story (very briefly) by changing and rearranging certain elements, now more in line with what an adaptation is.
However, then we get to 3.33 and... well, after a 14-year because reasons timeskip, we're now in a post-post-apocalyptic world (repetition intended) where ex-Nerv members fight against Nerv itself. Nerv in giant spaceships, there are mechas everywhere, Misato is a sociopath, and Shinji and Asuka still look exactly the same because "DAMN JEBA." Here we can infer that what is sought is to create a totally new story and take it in different directions than the original. The following movie (3.0+1.01) is the only one that is consistent with this purpose.
Whether all these narrative pirouettes were planned in advance or not (clearly not), we can see that there is a clear incongruity between what is intended to be done and what is finally done. All of this generates a strong narrative chaos where the elements and themes of the original anime are mixed with the new ones, creating a total inconsistency. Since also in 3.0+1.01 it is revealed (unfortunately to me) that everything is part of the same universe and this is not really a remake, the excuse of "they are different universes, they don't have to be the same" doesn't work either.
In fact, one thing that you will see me comment a lot throughout this article is the lack of narrative consistency of these remakes, especially in comparison to the original work.
A HEDGEHOG WITHOUT TICKS:
No character in Evangelion better embodies the central theme of the work than Shinji Ikari, its own protagonist. Shinji is not a hero: he is not brave. He is not a genius. He is not charismatic. He is not selfless. He doesn't want to save the world. His reason for piloting the Eva is to gain recognition and appreciation from others; especially from his father, whom he hates, but at the same time admires; He feels that she despises him, but he also wants (and needs) that she loves him. Shinji spends the entire series in the dilemma between escaping from what hurts him (classic avoidance behavior) or accepting it and moving on, even at the risk of being hurt again.
This theme is rock solid throughout the entire original series: from the first to the last chapter of the anime, and from minute one to the very end of End of Evangelion. Even the opening itself makes several visual references to Shinji's hedgehog dilemma. This can make Shinji an infuriating character for audiences accustomed to typical anime protagonists; but it's those same things that make Shinji such a unique and special character. He deconstructs and subverts the hero's journey. And it's not as if this hinders the plot: Shinji is not proactive, but he also does not spend the series crying, as many often claim.
https://files.catbox.moe/eolho0.mp4
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomito
And as you may already be imagining, the Shinji of the rebuilds does not have a hedgehog's dilemma. Or rather, he has it, but only during the first movie (copy-paste of the original anime) and part of the second. This is a problem, because it creates a strong narrative inconsistency (again) where it seems that two Shinjis exist at the same time or that this one is bipolar. As of 3.33, Shinji's entire character arc is based on trying to redeem himself for his past mistakes first by unleashing "Almost Third Impact" (what a stupid name) and subsequently preventing Kaworu's death while trying to right said mistake.
Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. The problem is that I have already seen the arc of the hero who fails to eventually rise up and succeed in 100 trillion works, while the hedgehog's dilemma in none more than in Evangelion (at least in my case). Which makes Shinji a much less interesting character. Some might argue that in 3.0 + 1.01 Shinji does have such a dilemma because he spends half the movie crawling on the ground; but there is not a hedgehog's dilemma, but rather depression for having seen Kaworu's head go KAWOOM (I know, the joke was very bad, but if he didn't do it, I would explode too).
End of Evangelion's Shinji did have such a dilemma because the reason for his depression was having been manipulated and used by someone he had previously opened up to and then forced to kill him, not for failing in his mission (in fact, he was very efficient in her mission to separate Kaworu's head from her body), which in turn brings sexual (and later, deadly) results for Asuka. I insist: narrative consistency. But this is not the worst: the worst thing is that at certain moments in these films, Shinji becomes the typical shonen savior hero, betraying the central point of his character in the original series.
https://youtu.be/E-x-f2OrWeA
A perfect example of this is the ending of 2.22, where the fight in chapter 19 (COINCENTLY from where the original anime starts to get more introspective) is transformed into a ridiculous shipping attempt, with Rei turned into a damsel in distress and Shinji into a savior hero while spouting all the typical cliché lines, topped off with a disgustingly cheesy ending. But of course, how could it end otherwise? With Shinji's Eva practicing cannibalism on Zeruel's corpse (the original scene)? Too disturbing for current times. Shinji and Rei fighting as a team to defeat him? Yes of course. Rei has enough not being in the kitchen. Besides, Asuka already takes care of that, hoping to receive her alpha male's cock as a reward.
https://youtu.be/TPS0Uk0TkP0
Because, like any good modern anime protagonist, Shinji now has a harem.
FETISHING WITHOUT CONTROL:
Of all the characters who are now part of Shinji's harem, the one who is most harmed by this is Rei (Asuka's case is different, and the other character is an infernal creation from Anno's sick mind). Not only because acting like a bitch in heat goes totally against her personality and because of the murky situation, considering that she is a clone of Shinji's mother, but also because her character is reduced to a mere fetish object that does things cute to produce tenderness in the viewer and make coomers buy their figurines.
Rei is an interesting character because he raises numerous existential questions based on the ship of Theseus paradox: the concept of identity, to what extent we can consider ourselves still ourselves, the construction and definition of a "self", etc. But here, her screen time piloting her Unit 00 is minimal (COINCENTLY most of it in 1.11) and her exploits are practically irrelevant or non-existent, also being reduced to a mere damsel in distress at the end of 2.22, as I said before.
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradoja_de_Teseo
In 3.0+1.01 he doesn't even get to pilot an Eva. Her role in the film is to cause pity and produce tenderness with her total ignorance (I see that the idiot Anno forgot that all the Reis are born with basic knowledge) while she is seen with different hairstyles, different outfits, working as a farmer, taking care of a baby, etc. In short, a fetish object where she wants the public to value her for how "moe" she is instead of for her abilities or as a character. In Anno's mind, feminism advances in reverse. Ironic, considering that it was precisely Rei who unintentionally started the moe culture.
Of course, it goes without saying that Rei is not the only one who suffers from this extreme fetishization of her character in these films. Under the excuse of paying homage to End of Evangelion, Asuka now always wears an eye patch (needless to say it has nothing to do with having been injured there), a cap with cat ears, in addition to having a very convenient trend for the coomer public of walking naked and semi-naked through other people's houses. She sometimes puts on the plugsuit, but near the end of the movie, it is conveniently torn off, lest we forget that this is made by the Japanese.
One of the best examples of how this hareminication has destroyed the main female characters is in the elevator scene. In the original anime, Rei tries to advise Asuka in a time of particular vulnerability and depression. Rei's limited social skills, coupled with Asuka being Asuka, cause her to misinterpret the attempt to help as mockery and an act of condescension, triggering a slap from her towards Rei and a worsening of her already strained relationship and Asuka's mental state. Rei doesn't fight back because she knows that doing so would only make things even worse.
It is an excellent dramatic scene because it once again brings to the foreground the hedgehog's dilemma and the difficulties between human relationships, very much in line with what Evangelion is. In 2.22, this scene is gratuitously introduced and turned into two horny bitches fighting over which of the two will let their alpha male penetrate first, with a highly OC Rei stopping the assault attempt in a 100% gangsta way to make her see more "cool." The scene doesn't even make plot sense, because Asuka at that moment is not even depressed, and in the original anime this occurs at a much later time under a very different context.
and speaking of asuka...
SOMEONE CALLED ASUKA:
When I started watching these movies, I was afraid that Asuka's character had undergone modifications to make her more "palatable" to new audiences. What took me completely by surprise was how radically different this Asuka is from the original. So different that they can't even be considered the same character. To show it very clearly, we are going to review the personality of both:
Asuka from the original anime: An energetic and outgoing half-German, half-Japanese girl (actually it's 1/4, but who cares) who loves to be the center of attention and have everyone praise her due to the lack of parental love received during her childhood having been abandoned by her father and supplanted by her mother, who suffered from severe mental disorders. She is extremely proud and competitive because she feels that being Eva's pilot is the only thing that gives her an identity and purpose, which makes her tend to become quickly frustrated when things don't go her way and become defensive when she feels like she is being outmaneuvered. . He loves to make fun of others (especially Shinji), to the point of being cruel at times, but he does not do it out of malice, but rather to compensate for his enormous inferiority complex due to the rejection suffered by his mother and having witnessed her. committed suicide (and possibly even tried to kill her) the day she was chosen as Eva's pilot and came running to wish her a Happy Thursday. She admires Kaji and wants to fuck him because she hates her own adolescence, she needs to feel adult and independent due to suffering from a certain Electra complex for having lacked a true father figure during her childhood. She has a sweet and vulnerable nature, but she rarely expresses it to anyone except her best friend Hikari and I better stop this now because too much text.
Rebuild Asuka (hereinafter "Asuka"): A girl soldier created by Nerv as part of a series of clones who has always been alone and thinks she doesn't need anyone, although she secretly wishes to have a family. She hits and insults others for no reason, she yells a lot, never smiles or makes jokes, and hates socializing with others, which doesn't stop her from looking for Shinji's dick within 2 days of meeting him. She always plays video games while someone is talking to her and at night she talks to herself with a doll like an autistic person.
As we can see, these two characters not only look nothing alike: several of their traits directly contradict each other. Because they look alike, they are not even alike in aesthetics: the original Asuka had red hair and dressed in the traditional feminine way, while "Asuka" is light brown and dresses in a tomboy style (which I'm not saying is wrong, I'm just commenting to show the radical difference). It's not that they have changed Asuka: it's that they have directly murdered her to supplant her by someone with whom she only shares her first name (not even her last name). And needless to say, the change has been VERY for the worse.
To describe the first character, I had to spend 15 damn lines, and even then I had to leave out many important facets of his personality, his development in the original series and his entire character arc in EoE, because if I didn't have one endless bible For the second, 6 lines were enough for me, and I could have had more left over if I had been more concise. The first character is a complex and three-dimensional character, with multiple facets, edges and layers. She feels like a real person. The second character is a generic tsundere that you can find in any mecha anime of the week. She is not even comparable to the first; She's not even a good character.
We cannot speak of Flanderization because not even the most basic traits of the character have been respected. Nor can we speak of a deconstruction because that same absence of basic traits means that there is no character construction on which to stand in the first place. Obviously, this change greatly resents the interactions between characters: the original Asuka was a charismatic and fun character with the ability to drive the plot on her own (as soon as she appears in chapter 8 of the original anime she is already changing the entire dynamic between characters) , while "Asuka" is mostly only in the background or to fight; He doesn't even have a character arc as such. In fact, in 2.22 he has even less screen time than several supporting characters.
His chemistry with Shinji is also non-existent (and I'm not just referring to the romantic level) and they barely have any development together. They like each other here because... ehhhh... she likes how he cooks and he thinks she's hot? It's not that the AsuShinji (or ShinSuka, or whatever the hell it's called) here is forced: it's just that it doesn't even make sense. The only reason people still ship them together is because they did it in the 90s. Yūko Miyamura's performance also feels very lackadaisical and lacks passion, which is quite unlike her. Although perhaps this is intentional, since her character always talks as if she has the spear of Longinus permanently stuck up her rectum. In fact, the few times she says her iconic "Anta baka?" This one feels very forced, in addition to not having her characteristic high-pitched tone.
In short, the character has suffered the same fetishization as Rei (gamer girl, tomboy, one-eyed, etc.), but also with the aggravating factor that not even her basic characteristics have been respected here. This is especially disconcerting when we take into account that the rest of the characters have their original personalities more or less intact (albeit simplified). Even more disconcerting if we take into account that Asuka is possibly the most popular character in all of Evangelion, and even more so if we consider that she is Anno's favorite character (in fact, the initial idea was for Asuka to be the protagonist).
https://evaresources.wordpress.com/der-mond/
Given this, the inevitable question arises: "Why?" What was the point of turning Asuka into an inferior and tsundere copy of Rei, even more so when there are already three clones? It has always been rumored that Asuka is not popular in Japan, but that is completely false. The only semi-rational explanation I can think of is that they did it to please the haters. It's no secret that a portion within the Evangelion fandom (and outside of it) hates Asuka with a passion. They see her as someone toxic and cruel who dedicates herself to screwing others for no reason, without understanding that you don't have to like a well-written character.
https://imgur.com/a/KznXE1x
What these people fail to understand is that Asuka's verbal abuse is a defense mechanism to avoid opening up to others, since Asuka constantly says things that do not fit with what she really feels or thinks (clear proof is chapter 16 from the original series). It's not like it matters much, considering they were never more than an extremely vocal minority. That the character is so popular is proof of this. The great irony of all this is that the new "Asuka" is a much more unpleasant and detestable character than the original, since she lacks the redeemable qualities of the original and her moments of comic relief.
And if until now I have been more or less benevolent with this remake, this is something I cannot forgive: because changing a character just because a group of people doesn't like it is one of the most cowardly and pathetic acts in the world. that a writer can fall. The fact that this was also at the expense of one of the best female characters in the history of anime and with a wonderful story arc makes it even more bloody. Any other halfway competent writer would have responded with this.
https://youtu.be/5Js0ea6yPKM
...although if we go by Ockham's razor, the most likely explanation is simply that Hideaki Anno is mentally retarded.
A CHARACTER TO DESTROY A FRANCHISE AND BIND IT TO DARKNESS:
Mari Makinami Illustrious A.K.A María Iskariote (what an appropriate last name) is one of the worst creations ever made by humans. Not since the atomic bombs has humanity created something so horrible. Worse than the holocaust. Worse than fascism. Worse than Facebook memes. Worse than stepping on a lego. I would even dare to say that it is worse than pizza with pineapple. No character better reflects Anno's mental decline or better embodies all the problems of the current anime industry than this trash.
This character contributes absolutely nothing to the plot, he does not contribute at any time to its advancement, he lacks his own development or story, he does absolutely nothing relevant in the 3 films in which he appears, and he does not even have a defined personality. So much so, that all of her scenes could be eliminated or replaced by any other character and she would barely affect the plot, or not affect it at all.
The character is so frighteningly one-dimensional that she doesn't even show different emotions or moods during the three films in which she appears, always being perpetually happy and carefree even in tense situations for literally no reason. This leads to moments as surreal as her starting to sing and hum in scenes that are intended to be serious or dramatic (or so I think; perhaps what they wanted was to turn this into an unintentional comedy), again generating a gigantic narrative dissonance. The last third of 3.33 is the best example of this.
But that's not the worst: this character is clearly made for otaku coomers to masturbate to. She has almost every fetish possible: glasses/lenses (whatever they call it in your country), pigtails, miniskirt, schoolgirl, saying "nya", big tits, obsession with smell and tight outfits, etc. To make matters worse in 3.0 + 1.01 we discover that she is 48 years old, so we can also add the milf fetish. Evidently, her tits always bounce in her plugsuit (she would swear that never happened in the original series) and there are many close-ups of her ass. In addition to constantly making sexual advances towards Shinji, which also turns this piece of shit into a potential pedophile.
If the thing simply ended there, we could say that this character remains a mere annoying and unnecessary secondary character. Unfortunately, the character is also disruptive to the plot, occupying long filler scenes that do nothing more than waste time that is already scarce in a film, and that could have been used on something else more interesting; like Pen Pen watching TV, Pen Pen eating a sardine, etc. Without going any further, both 2.22, 3.33 and 3.0+1.01 begin with a long filler scene of her hitting on her. Well, to be honest, the 3.33 one is more Asuka, but this abortion is still out there fucking and singing.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that discussing why this character exists is much more interesting than any other debate that can be created about these films. I still think about it. However, the ending of 3.0+1.01 gives a good clue: the character was created solely and exclusively to stay with Shinji. I can only imagine that Anno made this tired of the fandom shipping and the arguments over who Shinji should stay with, so he decided to end the matter by creating his own ideal waifu with all the fetishes he likes in a woman to end it. with this. It's disgusting, but considering we're talking about a Japanese, totally possible.
It's surreal coming from the man who harshly criticized the use of anime as escapism and the excessive female objectification and sexualization in it, but it's the only semi-decent explanation I can think of. Basically, he is what is called a mascot character in literature. That would explain why this character never shows doubts, nor any kind of internal conflict, or why he is a better Eva pilot than Asuka and Rei themselves. It is also very revealing about the quality of the Rebuilds: creating a self-insert OC just to be the partner of the protagonist or another main character is the quintessential trait of all bad fanfiction.
However, among all this tsunami of disqualifications, I also have to say something positive: spending three movies giving hope to the shippers only to have Shinji be cuckolded simultaneously by Rei and Asuka in the last one and end up with a character with which had zero development (before 3.0+1.01 I didn't even know its name) is a true trolling masterclass, worthy of the best of ball pumpers. Only a true emperor of evil would have come up with such a twisted and at the same time perfect way to screw over a large part of the fandom. I give you my tens, Anno.
THE ANTI-UNIVERSE OF ANTI-NARRATIVE:
Of all the new concepts that Anno brings up at the last minute from the place named after his last name, none stands out more than the "anti-universe." Or, as I like to call it, the "anti-good writing." Basically because it perfectly represents all the problems of the rebuilds and their script. In the final stretch of 3.0+1.01 we have the last-minute revelation of a quantum plane of existence capable of turning imagined worlds into reality and changing this through Lilith, which cannot be understood by the human mind (wow, WHAT CONVENIENT!) and whose existence has never been mentioned or even hinted at in the entire franchise until CONCIDENTLY the aforementioned last third of the film.
In other words, a gigantic Deus Ex Machina created in an improvised way to avoid repeating End of Evangelion and forcing a happy ending where Shinji creates an ideal universe for each character (although that is questionable, as we will see later). And it is far from being the only one: the spear of Cassius, the Eva of Infinity, the key of Nebuchadnezzar, the Book of Life, and so on. None of these concepts are integrated into the plot in an organic and natural way, but rather they arise spontaneously at its convenience when it needs it. Except for the new "Super Berserker Mode" of the Evas, which is simply a power-up to sell figurines.
As I said before, if at least this were an alternate universe separate from the original anime, all this bombardment of concepts pulled out of the ass would be a little better justified. But the revelation that everything is a cycle and we are in the same universe as the original work only makes it even worse, generating countless inconsistencies about why they never mentioned this or never used that (what's the point of the seeds of life If you can create universes simply by imagining them?). Although without a doubt, the worst of all these new concepts is "the curse of Eve."
Here we have a new concept with very strong repercussions completely launched, which is not even an explanation in itself, it does not answer anything and to make matters worse, the same films contradict each other several times. Needless to say, this is a cheap excuse for the three main characters not to grow up and continue sexualizing 14-year-old girls after the most gratuitous timeskip ever seen. And speaking of timeskip, putting such a long one in the middle of the story is a first-time writing error. If you are writers, never do that: the bigger the time jump, the more things you will be forced to explain, since the less you do it, the more plot holes will form as a result.
And of course, here it explains little to nothing of what happened these 14 years. Like where Nerv got such a tremendous base from, if in 3.33 it seemed that together with Rei and Kaworu it was made up of four people. Or how they have gotten such an army of pseudo-Evas, especially when these are supposed to be extremely expensive (wow, and SEELE with all her unlimited resources was barely 9 in EoE). Or worse yet, how Kaji managed to stop Almost Third Impact (seriously, the name couldn't be stupider). None of these questions are answered at any time. Obviously because they can't do it.
Evangelion has always been characterized by leaving things up to the public's interpretation, but here I feel that they are vilely taking advantage of it so as not to have to give any kind of explanations. And in the case at hand, do not even pay attention to contradictions. Like Touji and Kensuke got on Unit 01 and that doesn't stop them from being 28 after the timeskip. Or that Mari appears to be 14 despite looking like an adult in Gendo's photos and flashbacks, plus the fact that Evas, by simple logic, could not exist back then.
The height of absurdity is when near the end of 3.0+1.01 the "unexpected" revelation occurs (actually we all saw it coming) that everything is a cycle and we are facing a reboot of the original timeline, of which only Kaworu seems to be conscious. He let them guess without giving them any clues how many times Kaworu mentioned or even hinted at such a thing in the original series. Needless to say, nothing is ever explained about it: Who created that cycle? (Adam? Lilith? The First Ancestral Race? Hideaki Anno's last name?) For what purpose? How does it work? How long does it last? Why is Kaworu the only one who remembers him? Do these remakes make sense?
THE DEATH OF A STYLE:
Fortress-cities folding in on themselves. Designs and constructions oscillating between the nineties, the utopian and the cyberpunk. Meshes of flesh and blood animated with the souls of the dead fighting with classical music in the background. A mysterious and ambiguous lore where aliens, technology and conspiracies mix with gnostic, cabalistic elements and the most esoteric aspects of Christianity (did the History Channel predict Evangelion?). Minimalist posters moving quickly between frames. Monochrome backgrounds flashing aggressively (bad luck if you were epileptic). So consistent with its themes that the A.T. fields themselves. They were an allegory of the hedgehog's dilemma (I'm not making this up, Kaworu himself says it in chapter 23).
https://imgur.com/a/2M0eDVK
The sum of all these factors is what allowed Evangelion to build an absolutely unique identity, the one that allowed people to say "hey, that's an Eva!". Starting in 3.33, all that is lost to disappear in 3.0+1.01 in favor of giant spaceships, mechanical mechas made of pure CGI, battles full of colored lights, multiverses and time loops. I'm not saying these elements are bad in and of themselves, but I've already seen a thousand mecha stories with these. For that, I start watching any of the versions of Gundam or Macross. I could also complain about the boring shots without audiovisual language and always using the same color palette, but to be fair, that is an endemic evil of current anime.
And like any bad remake, 3.0+1.01 can't help but pay homage to several scenes from the original work, completely failing to understand the point of said scenes. As an example, we have Ritsuko shooting Gendo for no reason other than to pay homage to End of Evangelion, ignoring that the context between both scenes is very different. Furthermore, here they never explain the relationship that exists between the two, so the scene makes no sense; especially for those who never saw the original series, who will also find mentions of facts that these films have never shown or bothered to explain.
Even worse is when they try to pay homage to the iconic battle between Asuka and the Eva Series. Not only because of the total absence of the graphic violence and choreography of the original, but because what makes that fight so remembered is its emotional component, since it is preceded by a narrative catharsis in which Asuka discovers that the Her mother's soul was always in Unit 02, in addition to being marked by the constant tension of knowing if she will be able to finish the fight before the Eva's energy supply runs out. Here the Evas never run out of energy (why do they need the power supply, then?), so there is no such tension.
In the original fight Asuka may not be shooting 1387945 Evas with a super cannon larger than her as she falls through an... interdimensional hole?; But there you feel every blow, you can appreciate every movement in detail, and the dramatic tension in crescendo only improves the result. If this were a shonen, the logical thing is that Asuka would win. After all, her character arc has been wrapped up in a climactic way. Unfortunately, this is Evangelion. When the Evas Series manage to cause a mortal wound with the pseudo-spear of Longinus and the energy counter reads zero, the outcome is already decided. What happens next is horrific (Asuka's enemies are cruel to her even after she is dead), and just as horrifying are Yūko Miyamura's screams and Miki Nagasawa's performance as Maya announcing that Asuka is dead. In the Rebuilds there are no performances anywhere near that level.
End of Evangelion will be as dark and uncomfortable to watch as you want, but it is a film where all those responsible put their souls into achieving the best possible result, both on a technical and artistic level.
and well, I think that for today I have already downloaded too much, an apology for the large amount of text, I will make a second part at another time because I have so many things to comment on... anyway, I hope you have a good day/afternoon/night or when you read this .

Former Colorado Buffaloes F Tristan Da Silva declared for the draft and is 100% committed: https://twitter.com/DraftExpress/status/1785032667370832128 It's his birthday today...he is 23 years old. Born in Germany to a Brazilian father and German mother, with a brother who also played in the States at Stanford (Oscar), Da Silva made the jump from Bayern Munich's youth academy to Colorado. He improved every season of his four year career and now is headed to the professional ranks.
Da Silva measured in at 6'8.25 w/out shoes and a 6'10.25 wingspan at the combine. 217 pounds. He's got the height/length you're looking for from a combo forward, although he's on the thinner side. He doesn't have the widest frame but I do think he can gain muscle from where he currently is. He already has year to year and it's something that'll be important for him to continue to add as strength concerns are one of his biggest question marks as a prospect.
Da Silva's athleticism is something that has been called into question. I've read the posts about him in recent days on here, which is somewhat why I saved him for last of the three Colorado guys. I wanted to cut to the chase and really see what people think and think he is someone that seems to elicit a lot of debate. I think he's a better athlete than some think he is, but obviously, he isn't a standout athlete either. His lateral quickness is viewed in a negative light by some but it really isn't bad. His lateral quickness is above average. He can hang with guards on switches. He can hang with most forwards in isolation. His length really aids him on switches against smaller players. He has the mobility to stay linked and will contest/block when they put a shot up.
Da Silva's issues athletically are that he doesn't have great balance and doesn't have great flexibility. On a straight line drive, Da Silva fares well laterally. He can handle a crossover, he can handle some counters and stick with guards/wings. But it's when he's really forced to make a quick change of direction and reaction where he has his struggles. His biggest issue athletically is that he's not the quickest twitch. He's mobile, he has good feet, he's coordinated, but he's not the most fluid and he's not the quickest twitch. His defensive footwork is very good when he's not being handsy, but unfortunately he does get handsy at times on the drive.
Defending quick rips closing out defensively for example is something he struggles with. He doesn't react consistently well to initial moves. He often does, but not consistently. You can get by him defensively with a quick initial move. His all around defensive awareness is worse than some people seem to think it is...ball watches a ton, back cut a ton, misses out on rebounds, misses out on rotations. When he's focused and dialed in, he's a fantastic rotater. He makes on time, sharp rotations. He helps the helper. He hustles and flies around defensively and is active shoring gaps. But he doesn't do that consistently. He loses focus way too much, for a guy who is billed as a 3/D player. His screen navigation is pretty substandard for a veteran. Just does not navigate traffic well enough and strength sees him bumped off spots when navigating screens. He doesn't get taken out of plays, but he does end up behind plays. He can recover with length and hustle at times, but not always.
His lack of strength hurts his ability to defend the post. He can be a little too upright defensively in general and while he will battle in the post at times, he can be pretty weak down there. Not being down in a stance possession to possession means you can drive into him from the post and the perimeter. Were a few possessions he actually fell down with drivers going into his chest, and he couldn't maintain his balance. He is generally good at closing out on balance and in a disciplined way but not always...he gets jumpy on defense. He overhelps a lot defensively, ends up in no man's land, and gives up open 3's or drives off closeouts...one of his biggest negatives on the defensive end.
He does use his length really well on contests when he stays in front of drivers, he defends PnR ballhandlers well, and he uses his length well in passing lanes. He isn't a major event maker defensively but will break up passes and generate steals with his length and activity off ball. When he's locked in, he's a very good team defender. He's simply not always locked in and he just does not have the physical tools to not be locked in every single possession, either on the perimeter or post. He's one of those guys who's versatile defensively but in a tweener way. He's not really an elite option on anyone, but he's capable. He doesn't have the instincts or the toughness to be a guy who can switch up the lineup, but he is capable against 2/3/4 positions.
Da Silva is a pretty mediocre rebounder for his size which is another red flag surrounding him as a prospect, he's not a bad one but also not someone who's necessarily pursuing balls aggressively by any means. He will be expected to be a contributor on the boards as a swing forward and not being able to do so will undercut his value.
Da Silva has a unique blend of skills on the offensive end. His jump shot is his best trait. He was awesome as a midrange shooter this year and he shot 39% from 3 on 5 attempts. 83.5% from the line, and has shot at least 37% on increasing numbers of attempts the last three seasons. His shot is for real...great mechanics. Great extension, great balance. No wasted motion. He makes shots off screens, and he's an elite C&S guy who does a good job creating space for himself off the catch when coming off screens and when relocating on the perimeter. He has some movement shooting ability, but for the most part he's someone who works his way off flare screens, out of DHO's, off-ball screens and leaking out to the perimeter, and catches and fires. He's a very good pull up shooter. He likes the pull up out of the PnR, off curls and off DHO's in the midrange. He will duck in and find himself open around the FT line and take the FT jumper; he's good at finding gaps for himself for jumpers all over the court. He has a little bit of PnP ability. He sets solid screens himself to open teammates for 3's. He does a very good job slipping screens and diving to the basket or leaking out to the perimeter and obtaining easy looks from the outside. He's always catch ready and he's quick into his motion as a shooter across the board which along with his size makes him hard to contest.
Da Silva will find rollers and cutters out of the PnR. He finds the dump off guy when cutting to the rim. He moves the ball and will make the right read within the flow of the offense. He will bring the ball up and can facilitate and get his team into offense. He's not really an advanced playmaker but has some drive and dish ability and can make solid reads as a live dribble passer, but he also overpenetrates and turns the ball over with bounce passes that don't hit the target. He turns the ball over a lot that way. Gets cut off on drives and attempts a dump off bounce pass to get himself out of trouble. Picks up his dribble at inopportune times. He's not an amazing ballhandler overall...he's a bit gumby like with his movements, he's a bit herky jerky, long strides, has a spin move he likes, and he has a good crossover that does gain him space, but he doesn't have incredible burst nor a special first step and he does not have a ton of advanced moves. He accelerates well and he will get to the rim off his own creation but he isn't always gonna create separation with his handle, and he can lose the ball while looking to create, he will have the ball stripped, and he's not always strong with the ball. He is good with the hostage dribble and keeping defenders on his back...he overall does a nice job with pace. He understands pace, he understands taking rhythm away from defenders, he does have an in-and-out move and he has pretty good control on these moves. He works his way to his spots both in the midrange and inside, in a somewhat deliberate way while still being decisive, but he will be stonewalled in the paint and on drives.
His cutting really is a special part of his game. He has awesome instincts as a cutter---he reads his defenders, and has great timing in concert with the offensive flow of the possession. He dives quickly to the basket. He's good for a few baskets a game as a cutter. He moves well off the ball in general and keeps the offense humming. Off ball screens, weaving through the defense, he stays active on the offensive end which helps keep defenses off balance.
Da Silva has an excellent ball fake. He draws fouls with it down low, and he freezes defenders with it on the perimeter which allows him to get past. He also has a jab step. He will change his stride length and draw contact on drives. He will change speeds and explode to the rim. He has a behind the back counter. He doesn't have a ton of dribble moves but does have a diversity of tools he will turn to, to get inside the paint. He overall has very good timing as a driver, which is what allows him to get inside. He uses the glass well and has opposite hand finishes in his disposal. He drives with both hands. Sometimes he'll try to bait a foul and throw up poor shots with no real chance of a finish. He will be swallowed up around the rim at times where his lack of elite athleticism/strength/ability to create space can come back to hurt him.
Da Silva really likes to use spinners, floaters and hooks around the rim. He gets good extension, has a lot of range as a finisher and will take shots from pretty far out and make them at a high rate. He has very nice touch on these shots. For a guy without tremendous halfcourt explosiveness, this is a very good skill for Da Silva to possess because it gives him an ability to beat contests and an ability to score at the rim even if he isn't able to get directly to it. He has a jump stop, eurostep at his disposal. He has a lot of craft as a creator and around the rim which allows him to be a solid overall finisher but not an elite one.
His comfort with the ball makes him a good transition player. He does well getting to and finishing against defenses that aren't set, at the rim. It also makes him good against closeouts. He can be a little passive at times, which is a drawback many have had of him over the years. When decisive, he does a good job taking advantage of scrambling defenses in both the halfcourt and in transition. The coordination with the ball and the fact he takes long strides allows him to get to the rim quickly in these possessions. It also aids him as a PnR ballhandler.
Da Silva will use his size to his advantage in the post. He turns some drives into post-ups. He will find cutters and shooters from the post as a passer. He'll hit turnarounds, he'll turn in and finish with layups, he'll turn to the middle and take hook shots and floaters. He has nice touch on these shots and has nice footwork in the post and doesn't get rushed. He's someone that can take advantage of switches down low which is an important wrinkle for a forward these days.
Tristan Da Silva has elicited a lot of conversation on this board the last several days. I see him as a guy who is underrated and overrated from person to person. The truth is usually somewhere in the middle. He's an interesting talent, and he's got the framework of a player who has the skills teams look for in a swing forward today, but not every dot connects. But with his shooting and all around versatile skill set on the offensive end and he having real switchability possibilities defensively, he's someone who is viewed by most as a guy with a pretty high floor.
I'm a little bit...I'm not sure what to think honestly. I'll leave it to y'all. Are you all Thumbs Up, Down, or Across on Tristan Da Silva?