Noble Works read:

I finally finished the Maya route, and with it the entirety of Noble Works, and with it the entirety of all English-translated Yuzusoft published visual novels.  Thank goodness.  I've been struggling with this subpar visual novel and the subpar video game Phantom Brave Lost Hero for months.  I respect Marona and Shizuru so I couldn't give up on either work -- I can't praise a character as part of my wonderful characters hall of fame and at the same time diss it by not finishing the works wherein those characters appear.  Instead I just chiseled away at them bit by bit until finally I reached the finish line.

Noble Works is better than Hatsuyuki Sakura, but the Maya route in particular was worse.  This last route was torture.  Now I can put it all behind me and think happy thoughts.

I still have so many things left to do -- Lunar Remastered, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Fantasian, Sea of Stars, Happiness Sakura Celebration, Akai Hitomi, Mega Man 11. . .  Index GT volume 13 is being translated as we speak.  With Noble Works done I can finally start something else.  Perhaps my highest priority should be rereading '100 Waifus' for the 50th time to make sure there are no further errors in need of redress.  That could put a bow on that project once and for all.  I at least want to say I finished my book this year, since last year fell through.

My new Magic cards arrived, so I also look forward to playtesting my corrected deck designs and finding out if the synergies I was excited about on paper actually translate to the real world.  I believe FF cards won't lose to anybody, but they're currently only being tested against the weakest of my older decks.  They have to prevail here before there's any use in fighting tougher foes.

Putin and Trump said their summit was a success, so we'll see what happens in the weeks to come.  I'm hopeful a reasonable peace deal can be made swiftly.  This war, with the risk of nuclear annihilation, has already dragged on too long.  Mostly because Putin tried to win it on the cheap, but also because drones are the great equalizer (as America learned when fighting the Houthis).  There's no fast and easy way to defeat an enemy armed with millions of drones.