There actually were some more important edits to make. I replaced the recently downrated song 'Ren'ai Circulation' with 'Yuki no Saku Hana' which is still 5-star and thus deserving of mention in '100 Waifus.' I also replaced two underperforming names, Kazumi and Michiru, with better and more unique names -- Run and Kate.
Kazumi from Gokukoku is sort of a homewrecker and has short hair. She also isn't related to anyone in '100 Waifus' and shares a name with the Kazumi from Shakugan no Shana. There was absolutely no reason for her to exist.
Meanwhile Run from To Love ru is an idol, a princess, has beautiful long green hair, and is in true love with Rito and ready to act upon it whenever Rito has the guts to do so. She beats Kazumi in every category. Oh, and she's the first of her name.
Likewise, Michiru is an odd girl from Koichoco who acts friendly with you in order to spy on you for the sake of her true friend, another girl. She's very pretty but that's all that can be said in her favor. And, again, her name overlaps with the Michiru from Grisaia who is a much better, more interesting character.
Replacing her is Kate, the shadow from Shadows House. She's the only shadow with her own backstory and history, unlike the others she's not a morph. With her red dress and black body she's a distinct beauty that can't be found anywhere else in anime. She's clever, courageous and kind. The way she treats Emilico is splendid. And once again, Kate is a unique name unlike Michiru. So Kate it was.
I also added an eighth anniversary gem bracelet, topaz, to Christopher's Oprah-like bonanza giveaway to his wives. At this time Christopher has a perfect memory, and one of Riko's Precure transformed states is her topaz dress, so there's no way he would have forgotten to include a topaz gem among the rest. With this the girls also get to wear an even number of bracelets on each arm, 4 a piece, and everyone prefers symmetry.
The remaining changes are too minor to recall, but all in all the 32nd edition of the story is a pretty impressive upgrade from the 31st. Taken altogether the edits meant re-reading the story was well worth it. If I can continue to improve my magnum opus I should always do so.
The story still has two flaws -- the word 'even' comes up too often, and there are still names I'd like to change out for someone better. Mostly male names, and mostly because I haven't had the chance to play Tales of Arise yet. The problem with 'even' is it isn't easy to replace. There's no other word in the English language which shares the same meaning. I could replace 'even' with a long five word winding version that gets across the same meaning, but obviously that's not acceptable either. So even though I know 'even' is appearing too frequently, there's nothing I can do about it. Which is why nothing has been done about it even after all this time.
Other than that the book is perfect. Though this is my 32nd readthrough, I still thought the sexy scenes were sexy, the romantic speeches were romantic, the humor was humorous and the arguments were persuasive. No matter what the characters were doing or saying, it felt important, informative, and interesting. It was a page turner I couldn't put down. The Kindle I was reading it from kept running out of battery power before I was ready to stop reading. It was the only thing slowing me down.
The long lists of child names may seem bizarre and a waste of time, but they serve multiple important purposes -- the type of kid a girl has characterizes the mother herself, it keeps the names of all 100 waifus prominent throughout the novel so nobody disappears or can be forgotten, it honors all the best characters in fiction, it serves as a fun mini-game for people to try to remember and place who each kid is and what franchise they come from (there's an index in the back you can check your answers with), and it shows the sincere affection, devotion and appreciation Christopher has for each and every child. They aren't a number to him, each of them is an irreplaceable individual. No other book has bothered to name 1,000 children before, but that doesn't mean '100 Waifus' is wrong -- it means '100 Waifus' is groundbreaking.
Some waifus only get a few lines here and there across the entire book. But what that means is they end up saying the one thing most important in their entire lives. As the reader, this is like getting to eat shark fin or buffalo tongue. You only eat the absolutely most delicious segment of that waifu's entire soul, and then move on to other fine cuisines and never look back. It's a luxury that only this book can enjoy because only this book dared to reach 100. If every character is unforgettable, the length of time you knew them doesn't matter. If they're unforgettable lines, essentially that means you're spending infinite time with them. Quality is a quantity all its own.
When I think back fondly on this story, short scenes with Iris, Lisanna, Aisia, Elize or Mikan come to the fore just as easily as the long and involved conversations with Cute, Wendy or Haruka Haruno. Of course the waifus with more lines carry most of the book's weight, but think of it this way -- the night sky is beautiful because it's full of stars, each of which aren't very bright at all. Sure the moon dominates, but what is the moon without the stars?
I wouldn't mind reading this book a 33rd time, hopefully after some more improvements in the naming department are made to it (A new Star Ocean, Xenoblade Chronicles, and Final Fantasy game are coming out soon, all of which might have some cool new male leads I could adopt). I don't think anyone else could say the same about any other book. Only the Bible or Koran can compare, and most religious people don't actually read their religious texts once, much less 32 times. '100 Waifus' is now in a league of its own.
For those who haven't tried out this unparalleled masterpiece, or haven't read it in a long time and want to see how all the edits have improved it since last time, the whole story can be found in the links below:
Now that I've improved my own book I can go back to reading other people's books. Today the new SAO volume 24 came out, which I'm eager to dive into.
I have mixed feelings about abortion law. Minorities, especially lower class minorities, are the most likely to abort their children, which is always a plus. But abortion is also toxic to the male-female bonding process. In the past if a woman got pregnant she demanded the man marry her, and the man was honor bound to do so because the child could not be aborted. Almost half of all marriages came about in this manner. They were called shotgun weddings and it meant white women were getting hitched on average by the age of 20. Yes. This really happened. This was reality not so long ago. Once a couple is married and has a child their bond becomes much stronger than what they were before, a couple of pleasure seeking rompers or what have you. They grow into their new role and become adults. You are permanently infantilizing the population by giving them a 'get out of marriage and parenthood' free ticket. In the end it's the parents who suffer most. They had a chance to become adults and now it's lost to them. It passes them by. Neither the child nor the adult is created.
I think, all in all, I want to live in a society where abortion doesn't exist. Where everyone takes their responsibilities as lifegivers seriously and move on with their lives to the appropriate next stage when the opportunity presents itself. If this means the country becomes more black or hispanic or low IQ or whatever, so be it. If it means crime goes up so be it. If it means more birth defects so be it. An uptick in the marriage and fertility rate is worth it.
But of course, repealing Roe v. Wade doesn't actually ban abortion. All it does is leave it up to the state legislatures to decide, most of whom will continue allowing abortion as normal. This is a brouhaha over nothing. The judges reasoned, correctly, that nowhere in the constitution does it say there's a right to abort your child. Therefore the courts should stay out of a matter that is meant for the legislative branch to determine. That's what should have happened 50 years ago when Roe v. Wade initially occurred. I thank the Supreme Court for doing their job and interpreting the law as written. Whether I wanted abortion to be legal or not, I would still want Roe v. Wade overturned. It's a horrible ruling that makes no sense and makes a mockery of our constitutional framework. It had to go no matter how you feel about the issue.
Also, how hard is it to use birth control? Come on, folks. Abortion is gruesome. You're doing horrible things, slicing apart babies and vacuuming out their brains and shit, that you would never allow be done to animals. There is a humane way to not get pregnant. It's cheap and effective. There's no excuse for these Satanic torture chambers and murder factories. Saying 'oh but I was careless' or whatever -- so that gives you the right to torture and murder somebody? Maybe don't be so careless! Maybe, just maybe, if people know they have to be careful because there are real consequences, they won't be so careless to begin with. I have no patience with these murderers. They can't be bothered to swallow a pill so instead we need to drive spikes into babies' brains? Come on. No. A civilized society would not do such things.
Humorously enough, the Constitution does say something about 'cruel and unusual' punishments. Namely, they're banned.
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