The second half of '100 Waifus' had plenty of necessary edits as well. World war 'even' continued, as I eliminated countless more of the unnecessary word polluting every other sentence. Some 'justs' were also killed, which was my previous war with this book. People who read this book won't believe me when I say 'even' and 'just' used to be much more common than they are now. People who read this book for the first time will think "by God, this book uses 'just' and 'even' more than any other writer I've ever read," never knowing how awful it used to be. Before I edited the book 35 times for better legibility.
I also flipped the order of two paragraphs in Chapter 52, rephrased a clunky sentence, turned a " into a ', changed the spacing and font size of Chapter 58 to match the rest of the book, and changed who had James and Harry, two English characters, to Christopher's English waifu Emily, since that seemed more fitting. All useful improvements to the book, none of which change any of the actual content of the story.
After 35 editions it would be weird if the content still needed to be changed. Minor improvements like these are what you'd expect. Actually after 35 editions a normal person would expect there were no more errors in need of fixing. If only. The fact that I still had Yoru and Asa's eye colors wrong after all this time proves the editing this time around was direly necessary. After all the edits I still had to do this time, obviously I'll have to re-read this book a 36th time to be sure I didn't miss something equally as gratuitous next time around. (Though not anytime soon. Only by giving the book time and space do I gain the new perspective necessary to fix problems I don't currently see.)
As for the name gallery, it's become truly outstanding. Of course some names are weaker than others, and it's imaginable that new great works of art will come out, and if they do, that it would make sense to replace the weakest names still on my list with those new honorees. But I'm content with the current slate. There are no actually bad names left in my fictional character hall of fame. All of them are wonderful, memorable people you'd want your children to emulate. I've reached a point where I could stop editing this portion of the book and it wouldn't noticeably suffer. This has been the focus of my edits for a long time now, but it needn't be any further. The name gallery is no longer this book's weak point.
It's actually pretty amazing that I've wrangled up 1111 heroic fictional characters worth remembering. That's a lifetime of work just to get to know that many people, much less keep them in mind forever after. This book is the culmination of my entire life and it's numbers like these that display that level of investment. I couldn't say I had 1111 decent characters even a month ago, but thanks to my beating Fire Emblem Engage I can finally proclaim victory.
The new Chapter 58 I wrote in January (and edited a few times afterwards) fits in perfectly with the rest of the novel, like it was meant to be there all along. What I love about this new chapter is how it tackles all new problems head on, not shying away from the scariest and most dangerous topics, but honestly trying to answer them and provide a solution. It's a courageous chapter, and also a sagacious one. It takes a lot of thought to come up with decent answers to hard questions. (Which is why it took years to write this addendum, even though it's such a small addendum to the rest.)
I don't think I can add anything more to the book until I learn more about Christopher's 100 waifus from their source works. 42 of the waifus in this book still have untranslated or uncreated portions of their story left to tell. Until I gain access to their stories at their root there's nothing more I can say about them. What a book I could write if I did have their full back stories, though. I could almost double my insight into the characters in the story! But there's no telling if that will ever happen. It's up to Japan, and fan translators, neither of whom historically have been as reliable as I'd like.
Overall, '100 Waifus' is still sexy, funny, touching, enlightening and gripping even the 35th time reading it. With the new edits it's yet more approachable and enjoyable than ever before. It was already the best book ever written, and now it's gotten a bit better. If anyone hasn't read this book yet, now is the time to dive in. Even if you have read the book before, if it was a dozen editions ago, the amount of edits that have occurred are sufficient reason to try it all out again, you might be pleasantly surprised:
All 100 waifus have a chance to shine and show why they're so lovable and beloved. Christopher explains why he likes all 100 of them, and all 100 of them express their feelings for Christopher, somewhere within the novel. Some of them get more of the limelight than others, but they all get their chance and their say. Right when you think you've found your favorite waifu of the 100, another steals your heart by being even cuter and cooler than the one before. Right when you think one of the waifus is the main character of the story, another one starts soaring through the night sky like a blazing comet, demanding your attention and adoration. The truth is there really are 100 waifus. That's why the book is '100 Waifus,' not '5 waifus and 95 extras.' It's 100. And all 100 are treated with the respect they deserve.
Not only are there 100 waifus (actually 101 but let's not get hung up on technicalities), but there are 100 different dynamics between said waifus and Christopher. The book could also be called '100 relationships,' because Christopher acts subtly different towards each and every one of them. They mesh and meld in different ways. They each change him into the person who's interfacing with them, not some other girl, and it's a wonder to behold how one soul can have so many facets.
There's never been so much romance piled into a single story. I've said before that this book radiates pink light. Partially because '100 Waifus' is super lewd, as befits a book about a harem, but I think even moreso it's the slow realization that Christopher genuinely loves these girls, each and every one of them, as much as the most loving couple in any story anywhere. That he isn't kidding, and he's thinking about them with all his heart and soul. That this really is a love that can stretch out, fruitfully, across millennia. That literally nothing can exhaust his feelings for them.
Meanwhile, the Super Bowl was a thrilling back and forth affair, with the red state Chiefs beating the blue state Eagles, a gratifying result. Both teams played at an extremely high level of skill, but the Chiefs had a bit better playcalling which carried the day.
Long ago I said Russia had taken Krasna Hora. It was premature then, but it's now true. They have taken the city which I knew they inevitably would take. I predicted that Bakhmut would fall long ago, and that hasn't happened, but like with Krasna Hora it too is inevitable. Everything takes longer than I expect, but it always goes as I say it will. I wish Putin would fight more decisively, use more resources, and speed things up. I've wished that from the very beginning, to the point that I wished Putin was deposed just so that someone else could hurry things along. But the result doesn't change, only the speed. Putin has decided to achieve in a decade what I could have achieved in a month. Heck, maybe he's right, and it's ultimately the cheaper and better way to go about things. So long as the end result is the same there's really not much room for complaint. The fact is, and this is unavoidable, Ukraine is running out of manpower and ammunition, and there's absolutely nothing anyone can do about this. NATO can't/won't produce the ammunition Ukraine needs to sustain the front, and Ukraine's recruiting base is ever-thinning. With so many refugees fled, with such a low birthrate, with 20% of the country defecting to Russia and fighting against Ukraine instead of for it, and such high casualties. . .all that's left is people who are old or unfit, physically or psychologically. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. You can't fight with what isn't there.
In the latest poll the majority of Americans are against sending any more funds or weapons to Ukraine. We're tired of the war and realize it's hopeless. It's a pointless charnel heap and all we're doing is adding more corpses to the funeral bier by prolonging this unwinnable conflict. When America, as thoroughly propagandized to favor Ukraine as it is, has given up, there really isn't any hope left. Not all the news stories in the world could stop the general realization that the jig is up.
Much like how the mainstream media is slowly noticing that masks don't work and tentatively publishing stories about how all that torturing of kids for the last two years maybe wasn't a good idea. Or that for some strange reason young people are having 30% more heart attacks than before.
Eventually reality asserts itself and catches up with what I've been saying all along. Eventually even the dumb and brainwashed American people can't help but see the reality in front of their eyes. Ukraine is losing. Masks don't work. Vaccines do more harm than good. Immigration is too high. Transgenders couldn't possibly all be 'born that way' given how numerous they've suddenly become. Slowly, slowly, Americans are noticing one thing after another. All the things I've been saying from the beginning. Sadly, this won't change who has power in this nation. The 'experts' and 'elites' will just drum up some new lie and rally everyone behind the next 'current thing.' No matter how often they were discredited about their previous lie, everyone will believe them when it comes to the next lie. That's how worthless and sheeplike the American public is. But at least their previous lies will in fact be discredited when all is said and done. At least I'll be proven right and everyone will admit I was right about all the lies that were spoken five years ago.
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