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Fact of the Day - LABRADOR VS GOLDEN RETRIEVER Did you know... Labradors and golden retrievers are enough alike to get mistaken for each other fairly often, but they’re not impossible to tell apart once you know what to look for. Here’s a guide to the similarities and differences between these dogs—and how other retriever breeds fit in. Labradors and Goldens: Similarities Labrador retrievers and golden retrievers are both, well, retrievers. Historically, they were hunting dogs that located fallen game and brought it to the hunters. (Some still do.) Both breeds are known for being friendly, gentle, trainable, and sociable with humans and other dogs—which makes them a popular pet for families. They also both shed quite a lot, and their size and lifespan ranges are almost identical. Breed: Labrador retrievers Height: 21.5 to 24.5 inches Weight: 55 to 80 pounds Life Expectancy: 11 to 13 years Breed: Golden retrievers Height: 21.5 to 24 inches Weight: 55 to 75 pounds Life Expectancy: 10 to 12 years Yellow Labrador vs. Golden Retriever There is some overlap in the coat colors of Labradors and golden retrievers. Labs, as breeder Dr. Frances Smith told the American Kennel Club (AKC), “can shed hair in three colors—yellow (ranging from pale cream to fox red), black, and chocolate.” Goldens’ coats, meanwhile, can only be “from very pale cream to nearly fox red.” So you can’t always be sure you’re looking at a yellow Labrador or a golden retriever based on color alone. But coat length can help: Labs’ hair is typically shorter, while the hair on goldens is often longer and feathered along the edges. Their faces and body shapes are a little different, too—Labrador retrievers have shorter muzzles and ears than their golden counterparts, and their build is a little stockier. Breed: Labrador retrievers Coat Colors: Yellow (cream to copper), black, or chocolate Coat Length: On the shorter side Facial Traits: Shorter muzzle and ears Body Type: Stockier with a rounder rib cage Breed: Golden retrievers Coat Colors: Pale cream to light copper Coat Length: Longer with some feathering along the edges Facial Traits: Longer muzzle and ears Body Type: On the slimmer side Golden Labrador vs. Golden Retriever Though people sometimes use the term golden Labrador to describe a lab with a relatively dark yellow coat, that’s not technically correct. And it can even make it unclear what kind of dog you’re talking about, because golden Labrador is also used to describe a mix between a Labrador and a golden. The best way to mitigate confusion is probably just to call those dogs “goldadors.” As labs and goldens are so similar to begin with, it’s unsurprising that their crossbreed is pretty close to each purebreed. But that’s not to say all goldadors are gold: They can have any combination of their parents’ visual characteristics, so some goldadors end up with chocolate or black coats. In short, if you see a dog with the face of a golden retriever but the dark chocolate coloring of a lab, there’s a fairly good chance that it’s a goldador. The Chesapeake Bay Retriever and Other Retriever Breeds Labs and goldens aren’t the only two types of retrievers: The AKC recognizes six breeds in total. The Chesapeake Bay retriever, known for its wavy brown, waterproof coat and stellar swimming skills, has a particularly interesting origin story. In 1807, a ship en route from Newfoundland to England wrecked off the Maryland coast, and the two St. John’s water dogs (a now extinct breed) aboard were rescued and sold separately to two families in the Chesapeake Bay region. Each was bred with various other dogs in the area to create the “Chessie.” There’s also the curly-coated retriever, which may include Newfoundlands, poodles, and Irish water spaniels in its breeding history; the flat-coated retriever, whose flat coat and long head helps distinguish it from other retrievers; and the Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever, or “toller,” a smaller retriever whose playful behavior helps attract ducks to the shoreline (where hunters can more easily target them). Toll in the Middle Ages meant “to attract, entice,” per the Oxford English Dictionary, and by the 19th century people had started using it specifically to describe attracting wild animals for capture. Curly-coated and flat-coated retrievers both have black or liver coats, while tollers are reddish or copper-colored. (Left to right) Curly-coated, flat-coated, toller. Source: Labrador vs. Golden Retriever: What’s the Difference?

What's the Word: REJOINDER pronunciation: [rə-JOIN-dər] Part of speech: noun Origin: Late Middle English, late 15th century Meaning: 1. A reply, especially a sharp or witty one. 2. (Law, dated) A defendant's answer to the plaintiff's reply or replication. Examples: "I always think up the perfect rejoinder hours later, long after the chance for a retort is gone." "The court fell silent, waiting for the defendant's rejoinder." About Rejoinder This word developed in Late Middle English by way of the Anglo-Norman French word "rejoindre" ("to reunite something again"). Did you Know? Do you continually find yourself practicing comebacks hours later? If so, it's time to work on your rejoinder skills. According to the BBC, one of the ways to craft a witty comeback is to work on your listening skills. Listening precisely and actively to conversations — as well as taking advantage of humans' ability to think faster than they speak — can make it easier to quickly form a well-timed, snappy reply the next time you need a rejoinder.

Olivier Mira Armstrong (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Picture says it all!

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Welp, I defeated the final boss, and though I'm currently taking a break, I am in the process of viewing the ending. When I hop back on within the hour, I should have this all wrapped up. Two minutes before 6PMCST, I decided to call it quits in the Abyss....though, I made use of the Zemurian Ore and I acquired way back from those boss fights. Apparently it was a total of four that I had (not two). I think I used them for Father Kevin's weapon, Estelle's weapon, and Sister Ries's weapon....but, right now, I forget what I used the fourth one for. Probably Joshua. Curiously, it was possible to earn those weapons from some enemies in Phantasmagoria, as well as the Jormungandr & Quinty Ribbon+1, but I never got those nor the two items listed. Earlier today when I started up Trails 3rd, I backtracked a little bit to see if I could get either the Jormungandr or the Quinty Ribbon+1, but I didn't, so I just stepped through the gate to confront Anima. Then the boss fights started, and the rest is history. I hope the next Trails games feature a "Luck" stat, or something that can help denote the likelihood of acquiring rarer items from enemies. For this game, you needed that Luck quartz, but it helped to have Josette as auxiliary, and if the person using Luck was wearing Phantom Thief's Cape, it would've increased your chances (though it didn't specify a percentage)....but even so, that shit was time-consuming, and in some ways, not worth the effort. I should've focused more on acquiring those armor items, which I kind of did, but it was getting to the point where I should just wrap the game up. 2017? I'd say that was about one year before the parasitization of Japanese games. The end of 2018 was when the agenda was being revealed....or was it the second half of 2018? Either way, 2018 was when woketards would gain a prominence in the English dubbing of Japanese games, at least for lesser titles (compared to, say, Capcom's games, specifically RE2 Remake & DMC5). Speculative history lesson aside, I'd hate to see how NisA (or whoever) translates the OG TitS trilogy, but I really shouldn't care so much, because I already experienced the OG trilogy, and that's about all I can do. Like I said, if people want the original experience, they'll have to make do with the PC versions, because as convenient as a remake of the OG trilogy would be, there are likely to be changes that could be detrimental to the experience. God damn. Well, like I said, for Trails 3rd, I blame the Abyss. If not for me submitting to the temptation of grinding for fancy weapons and armor, my total hours into Trails 3rd would've been double-digit.

Speaking of playtimes... my time for the entire Sky trilogy was only about 120 hours or so. So you spent nearly as much on 3rd alone as I did the whole trilogy.

Ahh, okay I thought it may be something like that. I actually didn't like Kevin in SC, but I grew pretty attached in the 3rd. It just goes to show that the games have effective character building/development to change my opinion on them. It's not often that I change my opinions, for better or worse. Cold Steel 3 is next up for me! It bodes well that your favorite 2 games are yet to come (for me)...it's uphill from here, I suppose. Yeah, skip that Abyss stuff it it's adding dozens of hours of grinding. You won't use most of those characters in the end anyway (and they won't carry forward to the next game). I won't spoil anything about the next game or its cast, but nothing carries forward. It's a fresh start. If you've done all the doors & grinded (probably way too much) just kill that final boss and you're all done. Grail Sphere is so frickin' good. They would probably change Star Door 15 in a full-blown remake, which would somewhat break that character's backstory. No idea how they'll handle it. Even if it's just a remaster of sorts for consoles, I can't imagine that they'd leave it as-is....but then again.....the 3rd was only released in English as recently as 2017. Perhaps it would be left in? I wonder if it would be Xseed or NisA. I assume NisA would change it, I recently watched a stream NisA did about how they want to update their localizations for "Westen values" and it's once again causing me worry about the future of their translation/localization efforts with all that's going on in the industry these days. I think we all had a similar conversation back on the FC or SC thread, so I don't mean to re-open a can of worms here. I appreciate that translations aren't 1:1 and I also grasp the need for concepts to be localized somewhat because Japanese idioms or puns may not make sense (among other things). I've been involved in both in the past. There is no need to edit/remove scenarios, however. Changing the substance of what's actually happening in the scene is what I fear from NisA. The guy on the stream seemed giddy about the opportunity to bend things to his viewpoint, it was a bit nauseating. You always manage to double or triple my playtimes, it's like your special superpower. My playtime for the 3rd was 54 hours. I didn't grind for those drops. I consider "completion" to be main story + sidequests (BP or with an item reward) + recipes + Zemurian Ore books. I don't think I've ever scanned 100% of enemies with the Battle Scope or collected 100% of items/drops. I don't care about 'chievos so as long as I experience all the story content I'm happy.

https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/industria Industria is currently free on Epic Games Store. https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/bundles/lisa-the-definitive-edition Lisa: The Definitive Edition is currently free on Epic Games Store.

Fact of the Day - TRAINS Did you know.... There’s something magical about train travel for just about everybody, whether you’re an engineering nerd, a hopeless romantic, a world traveler, or an easily excitable 8-year-old. Trains have gone through a lot of changes in the last few centuries, but they remain one of the most common modes of transportation throughout the world. How did trains work before steam power? Who managed to crash more than 140 trains in his lifetime? Which trains are creating homes for marine life off the coast of Delaware? All aboard for these nine facts about trains. 1. You Can Thank Trains for Time Zones Before 1833, local time was all over the place; communities set their clocks to noon when the sun was highest in the sky, which led to at least 144 different local times in North America. This wasn’t a huge deal when people were traveling slowly by foot and horseback, but with trains, people could suddenly travel across wider distances more quickly — and train operators needed consistent schedules to coordinate. Even small miscommunications about time could lead to missed connections and accidents. Railroads established a four-time-zone system in 1833, and used it for decades before the U.S. government officially established time zones in 1918. 2. The Fastest Public Train Can Travel 286 MPH Japan’s bullet trains are known for their lightning speed, but a handful of trains have eclipsed them — one of them being Shanghai’s maglev train, which uses magnetic levitation instead of wheels on conventional tracks. Its entire 19-mile run takes just seven and a half minutes, reaching top speeds of 286 miles per hour. That’s just the tip of the iceberg for maglev trains. The fastest recorded train speed is nearly 375 miles per hour, clocked during a test run of a maglev train in Japan. 3. Railroads Used to Be Powered by Horses The earliest railroad tracks were for horse-drawn trains, not locomotives. The tracks provided extra support and guidance, which meant that horses could carry greater loads. After the Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened with a steam-powered locomotive in 1830, jokes and cartoons about unemployed horses abounded, although horses were still used for shunting — moving trains from one line to another. Horses continued to haul streetcars into the 20th century. 4. America’s First Locomotive Reportedly Lost a Race to a Horse When the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad — you might know it as the B&O Railroad — began operations in May 1830, it used only horse-drawn carriages. Steam locomotives were in use in Britain already, but because the planned system in America had steep hills and sharp curves, some engineers doubted that the machines could handle the route. This concerned B&O directors, so they turned to an inventor named Peter Cooper to see if he could create an engine that was up to the task. He cobbled one together out of scraps, including an old brass engine, discarded wheels, and musket barrels. Later dubbed “Tom Thumb,” it performed beautifully along a 7-mile test run, then again on a 13-mile test, reaching a then-impressive 18 miles per hour. According to an 1868 lecture at the Maryland Institute by B&O lawyer John H.B. Latrobe, who was present on the 13-mile test, Tom Thumb also took part in a bit of a race. The owners of a stagecoach company saw the engine running along the track and challenged Cooper to a race along double tracks. The engine got an early lead, but a part slipped off, causing it to come to a halt. It was a quick fix, but by the time Cooper got going again, the horse was too far ahead. Losing the race didn’t have any effect on Tom Thumb’s future, though — he’d already impressed the B&O directors, who were determined to make the locomotive the way of the future. 5. In Victorian Times, Trains Were Considered Hazardous to Your Health As train travel was starting to get popular in the mid-19th century, rumors spread — among doctors and nondoctors alike — that trains were dangerous, and not because of crash risks. All sorts of woes were attributed to the speed and roughness of locomotive travel. Some believed it could trigger insanity and create “railway madmen.” Others claimed it could cause miscarriages or upset women’s delicate constitutions. One doctor said that a train trip made a patient’s “brain congestion” worse, even though he’d been feeling better after treatment with leeches. 6. New York’s MTA Turned Decommissioned Trains Into Artificial Reefs When trains in New York City’s subway system get decommissioned, they can be sold, scrapped, or repurposed. Many of them can then be found on the ocean floor, providing homes for marine life as artificial reefs. Some car models work better than others; the Redbird cars, made of carbon steel, worked so well that states started competing for them. Redbird Reef in Delaware is home to around 700 such decommissioned cars, and they created a thriving ecosystem in an area that used to be barren. The stainless steel Brightliner cars, on the other hand, disintegrated almost immediately underwater — the material was vulnerable to corrosion, and their corrugated texture made it easy for currents to rip them apart. 7. The Longest Freight Train Was 4.57 Miles Long It’s no fun getting caught at a railroad crossing and waiting for a long freight train to pass. But next time it happens, you can thank your lucky stars it’s not 4.57 miles long, like one train that ran in Western Australia in 2001. It was both the longest and heaviest train recorded. Pulled by eight locomotives, the 682 ore cars made a 171-mile journey transporting iron ore from a couple of mines run by mining company BHP to Port Hedlund. 8. Americans Used to Love Crashing Trains on Purpose Before there was demolition derby, there were staged, head-on train collisions. From the 1890s through the 1930s, train crashes were a popular attraction at fairs and festivals, drawing tens of thousands of spectators. One of the biggest wrecks was an 1896 publicity stunt in Waco, Texas, for a struggling railroad line known as the Katy Railroad. The company offered rides to the crash site for $2 from anywhere in Texas, and built a temporary town around the viewing area, complete with a restaurant and jail. The crash itself created a massive explosion, which sadly killed two people in the crowd. This is just one of the most famous out of hundreds of on-purpose train collisions. The most prolific train-wrecker was Joe Connolly, otherwise known as “head-on Joe.” Between 1896 and 1932, Connolly staged 70 wrecks and destroyed 146 locomotives — at least. He became an engineer of chaos, coming up with extra stunts such as strapping dynamite to the trains. The practice, which came to be viewed as wasteful, fell out of favor during the Great Depression. 9. It Takes Almost a Week to Ride the Full Trans-Siberian Railroad The longest single-train ride in the world is the Trans-Siberian Railroad. The main track starts in Moscow and travels 5,772 miles through diverse Russian landscapes before arriving in Vladivostok, a large port city on the sea of Japan. The full journey takes more than six days. Other routes on the network are the Trans-Mongolian Railroad, which heads through Mongolia to Beijing, China, and the Trans-Manchurian Railroad, which dips down into northeastern China before meeting the main line back in Vladivostok. Source: Powerful Facts About Trains

What's the Word: REFECTION pronunciation: [rə-FEK-shun] Part of speech: noun Origin: Middle English, early 14th century Meaning: 1. (Literary) Refreshment by food or drink. 2. A meal, especially a light one. Examples: "After a brief stop for refection, the Johnsons continued their drive home." "The backpackers made sure to pack a refection for later in the hike." About Refection While the word "refection" found prominence in Middle English, its origins lie in Old French. Old French borrowed the term from the Latin word "reficere," meaning "renew." Did you Know? While 24-hour diners seem like pure Americana, they weren't always there to provide refection to passing travelers. One of the earliest examples of the diner can be found in 1872, when Rhode Island entrepreneur Walter Scott sold refreshments out of a horse-pulled cart to workers. Diners with fixed locations took off in the 1940s and ’50s and quickly became a staple of American culture.

The Elder Stars continue wreaking havoc, Luffy briefly loses steam till he’s fed fermented shark then gets back in the fight, and the Transponder Snail broadcasting Vegapunk’s transmission seems to have been found.

Spy x Family: Code White (2023) Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)

My game purchases this year (omitting Custom Mech Wars because I already mentioned it on January 12) are as follows (in order): Trails from Zero (PS4) Trails to Azure (PS4) Trails of Cold Steel (PS4) Trails of Cold Steel II (PS4) Trails from Zero (Switch) Trails to Azure (Switch) Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (PS5) I still need to get Trails of Cold Steel III & IV. I was told that they're both available in one disc (or package?) for the PS5, and that GameStop had it listed on their website. Unfortunately, my local GameStop could only place an order on Cold Steel III for the PS4. Maybe I could just order the game from GameStop's website, but I don't know if they'll ship the game to my local GameStop. If worse comes to worst, I'll just go to Play-Asia. Also, Zero & Azure for the PS4 were something I ordered earlier this year, but after being told that the Switch versions were better, I was going through the process of seeing how to return them....but, then, suddenly, I wasn't able to access my E-mail account due to (from what it said) someone else having accessed it. After about a month, I was able to regain access to my E-mail account, but it's too late to get a refund for Zero & Azure. Worth mentioning, also, is that my nearest UPS place won't ship to certain locations, such as Mexico, and apparently Hong Kong (because China)....and, if I want something shipped to Hong Kong, they require some pre-paid printed label (I forget what it's called now). During this time, I placed an order on Zero & Azure for Switch, and received them on March 17th. TL;DR version is that the white text signifies games that I will play....or already have played, which would be the case for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Fact of the Day - FLASH IN THE PAN Did you know... “Many thought Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill was just a flash-in-the-pan after it entered [the] Southern California pop chart at No. 10 last week,” wrote the Los Angeles Times in 1995. “But the young Canadian singer’s album is gathering steam, jumping to No. 5.” That was putting it mildly. Jagged Little Pill not only took off—it sold more than 10 million copies in 1996 and another 20 million in the decades that followed. It was the antithesis of flash in the pan, an idiom that’s come to be associated with some sort of fleeting fad, trend, or momentary excitement. Beanie Babies were a flash in the pan; so was Vanilla Ice. If you thought the term came from cooking terminology, it’s a good guess—but that’s not quite it. The Origins of “Flash in the Pan” According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the literal meaning of flash in the pan dates to the late 1600s and refers to a misfiring weapon. When the gunpowder of a firearm was ignited without resulting in a discharge, it was said to be a flash in the pan. Early guns dating to the 1300s had to be manually ignited by holding a flame to the powder in the barrel. Matchlock guns, which came later, could be fired mechanically. Then, in the improved flintlock design for muskets and other weapons, the pan was where the powder would be primed, with a lid that would be moved only when it was time to fire. These early firearms had their priming powder on the outside of the barrel; firing would result in sparks that would ignite the powder. This worked in theory. Sometimes, the fire wouldn’t carry on to the powder in the barrel, and a “flash” in the gun’s pan had no effect. Therefore, a flash in the pan with no projectile was much ado about nothing. The OED notes that the phrase took on a figurative meaning by the 1800s to describe a situation in which something big was expected, only to have it fail to go off (or ignite). And Green’s Dictionary of Slang states that flash in the pan had other meanings in the 1700s: an “incompetent, useless person” and an “abortive effort or outburst,” among others. The Flash That Didn’t Pan Out While the phrase originates with firearms, there have been some alternative explanations over the years. One theory was that gold prospectors searching in streams might have grown excited over seeing a shiny object in a pan and believed it was gold, only to be disappointed—it was merely a you-know-what. After language columnist William Morris proffered the firearm explanation in 1959, a reader chided him to “do better than that” and proceeded to offer the gold rush origin. Morris replied that the flintlock pre-dated the 1800s gold rush, and the explanation therefore made little sense. But the phrase it didn’t pan out probably came from those entrepreneurial souls. Gunpowder also birthed another phrase: keep your powder dry, or keep a cool head. It was sage advice for soldiers who carried combustible materials with them and needed to be sure it didn’t get wet. Lord Protector of England Oliver Cromwell may have coined the phrase by admonishing his men to “Put your trust in God, my boys, but mind to keep your powder dry.” Cromwell himself was no flash in the pan. After a posthumous hanging by his political rivals, he was beheaded and his cranium was displayed for over 30 years. It was the whole resting in peace portion that didn’t quite pan out. Source: Why Do We Call Something a “Flash in the Pan”?

Today, I'm just going to say "Fuck it," to the Abyss and just travel into the Phantasmagoria. After all these days, I wasn't able to get Hotarukiri+1, Jormungandr, Snow & Rain+1, Aster+2, Zigeuner+1, Merciless Rocket+2, Quinty Ribbon+1, nor Iron Arms+1.....I feel like I'm going to regret this, but I'll just have to cut my losses. Everybody is past Lv.130, so even though I should expect a rude awakening that has me thinking "Damn; I should've grinded more," I think I should be okay for the most part. This walkthrough has been most useful. Usually I'm stubborn about this shit, but Friday (April 26th) is around the corner, and I had planned to have this game beaten by then. If Stellar Blade were coming out next week, I'd probably be grinding in the Abyss for another week....but, then again, I've already got over 100+ hours of play-time, which is pretty close to my Trails SC play-time; I guess the extra 20-30 hours was because of me grinding in the Abyss, but still. I guess I was hoping my play-time would be far less than Trails SC, too....but, for this, I blame the Abyss. Trails 3rd has certainly made me appreciate Father Kevin much more. Though, to be fair, I had him with me in my final battle with Weissmann in Trails SC. In Trails SC, Father Kevin wasn't very strong, but his Craft would prove to be invaluable now and then. Mad props to Sacred Breath.....oh, and Grail Sphere, too.

What's the Word: ABSTRUSE pronunciation: [əb-STROOS] Part of speech: adjective Origin: Latin, mid-16th century Meaning: 1. Difficult to understand; obscure. Examples: "The single was critically acclaimed despite its abstruse lyrics." "The movie’s ending was far too abstruse to be popular with the general public." About Abstruse Abstruse comes from the Latin word "abstrusus" ("put away, hidden"). The Latin developed in turn from the word "abstrudere" ("conceal"), a combination of "ab" ("from") and "trudere" ("to push"). Did you Know? Although this word sounds similar to "obtuse" ("slow or difficult to understand") and the meanings are similar, "abstruse" has a different root. "Abstruse" is derived from the Latin word "abstrusus" ("hidden, put away"), while "obtuse" is derived from the Latin word "obtustus" ("to beat against"). "Abstruse" references something that has been obscured or is difficult to understand, while "obtuse" describes a person who has difficulty understanding a situation.

My favorite of the Sky trilogy, but not the whole series. My favorite two games in the whole series thus far would be Cold Steel 3 and Reverie. I liked Kevin.

Well, it sure seems that way, but I think it's more a case of these private corporations (CNN, other MSM outlets, etc) being in bed with the government, or at least under Hillary's payroll. There might be a bit of exceptionalism with how to describe our media, but they have certainly been noticed to present headlines that are similar to another MSM outlet's. Needless to say, but there's definitely some incestuous shit. I'm just nit-picky with how I define "state-run", and here in America, while our media certainly feels state-run, there's explanations and legalese details and what-not in order to define it as otherwise. Exactly. People think Russia is evil because of what the media tells them; it's all "Russia bad," "Russia bad," "Russia bad," as well as "the Russian orcs," and other stuff. Lots of it is emotional bias, but speaking from some experience, there is certainly some fanaticism. The fact is that we don't know everything about that region of the world; Russia and its southern region (Ukraine) share a history spanning over a millennium. Perhaps my bias towards Ukraine being its own country would be because I was born into a time when Ukraine was its own country, and since it was 6 years before the end of the Cold War, there's been some Ukrainian nationalism going on (supposedly decades longer before I was born).....but I think, also, American political figureheads and families (Clintons, Bidens) were nestling into Ukraine for business-relations and other political activities, and so that's partly why the situation between Ukraine & Russia is something that matters over here in America. Getting both sides of the story is important, because as you said, it helps you to come up with your own conclusions about these things. Listening to the Russian perspective, whether it be Tucker's interview with Putin, or (better yet) even talking to Russian people on social media, can be helpful, especially if you're trying to be neutral about these things. But as for how America operates in this conflict, well, it is what it is. I'd rather it all just be black operations instead of us printing out money to send to Ukraine, but whatever.

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My man/gal! That sounds about right. Haven't ate Flamin' Fries in a hot minute, not fond of it as well. As for the Buffalo, never tried it. Buffalo in general, I'm not too crazy about it. They mostly salty I think. I might be sort of fond from the Costco one, a Foster Farm brand. I like eating with rice and mix veggie (typical peas and carrots.) Going a bit off topic and all. The seasoning is what's up. The original Hot Cheetos, I'm thinking it's always the same taste since day 1, when it introduced me, in my experience.

That's pretty much my go-to party, now that I got everybody else above Lv.130. I agree. I think you said one time that people actually skip Trails 3rd, which to me is kind of mind-blowing, because I'd think that you'd have to play Trails 3rd if you want to stay up-to-date with the complete story. However, Trails 3rd sure feels like a far-cry from Trails FC & Trails SC, and I think you're spot-on when you say that Trails 3rd being exactly like FC & SC would feel like a "burn-out". As such, Trails 3rd has some change of pace about it. As for it being much darker, that it something I can appreciate....and there is some dark shit, especially Star Door 15, which I had hoped to save for last, but I couldn't as Star Door 14 could only be accessed after seeing Star Door 15 (assuming the previous Star Doors were completed). I suppose that story about the Salt Pale, via Star Door 2 (I think), could count as "dark shit", especially considering how one of the Anguis described it, which really makes you think....or maybe it just makes me think. Speaking of Star Door 15, I remember hearing that Nihon Falcom was planning to release the OG TitS trilogy to consoles. However, after experiencing Star Door 15, I have a feeling that they're "going to have to make compromises". Star Door 15 wasn't as explicit as I had anticipated, but I think it would be too much for this generation of gamers. For me, it was certainly disturbing; there were some parts when I said "Oh, God," in response to what I perceived (like what they called "work"...oh, and that "water of life").....but, if it's disturbing, isn't that the point? Like, welcome to reality; the world isn't all rivers of chocolate and full of unicorns and rainbows like you were brought up to believe. Oh but people can just say "tEh PoEpLe WhO mAdE tIhS aRe CwEePy PrEvErTs!1!1!" and I think that's why the entertainment industry is so fucked now, because people want to control what can & can't be created. But, I digress. I don't know how they're going to resolve the Star Door 15 issue. They shouldn't get rid of it, nor should they have to get rid of it, because it's an important detail about a specific character. If they decide to omit Star Door 15 altogether, that would be stupid on their part. Maybe I shouldn't be caring so much, because I experienced this trilogy on PC, not a re-release....but, the best I can do is suggest that people play the OG TitS trilogy on PC (via GOG, if I may).

No problem, we can treat it like the past 2 threads. No 3rd spoilers, but everything from previous entries (FC & SC in this case) is fair-game. We can also make use of spoiler tags. It can be a bit tough to discuss the game without mentioning anything about it, after all. What is your current favorite party? I already mentioned this to you outside of Kametsu, but my party of choice was: I think @Koby mentioned that this was his favorite in the series? Or one of them, at least. He might have a lot to add perhaps. I'm glad you have been enjoying the series so far & still have the motivation to 'complete' them rather than just bashing your way through. I had a bit of a strange introduction to the series and did things out of order originally. My first title was Trails in the Sky...no issues there, but I had it on PSP way back in the day & only got halfway through. Years later, I got Cold Steel I for my birthday when it released & played through that in its entirety without realizing that there were games that came before! Whoops! I played Cold Steel II without looking anything up either. I hadn't connected in my head that the "Trails" in the Sky & "Trails" of Cold Steel would be related. I have to stress that these games look very different considering the hardware for which they were released. I found out the error of my ways shortly after finishing Cold Steel II. Even if I HAD played the TitS trilogy, Zero & Azure weren't available in English yet. So much happens in Cold Steel II that remained baffling to me for years. Back to the 3rd, since that's what this thread is about...I actually enjoyed it. Maybe not as much as Koby, but I have a lot of respect for what this entry tried to do. If it had been too similar to FC & SC, I think burn-out would have set in earlier. The dungeon-crawler nature of the 3rd & darker tone were welcome shake-ups. It feels a bit like the Majora's Mask of Kiseki. I also appreciated the nudge upwards in battle difficulty. I didn't love all the minigame doors, but the story ones (usually) added a lot. We get to meet Lechter, which is pretty cool. There's also the infamous Star Door 15 + whichever door had the info about the Salt Pale. The Salt Pale is my favorite thing about Trails 3rd...the supernatural tinge to the Salt Pale is fascinating.