As you say it’s subjective, but I don’t find Shinji that annoying for most of the series. And it’s not just a downwards spiral, he and the other characters have ups and downs.

Even the conclusion of the End Of Evangelion is that something is better than nothing. A big part of Shinji’s character is hesitation of what is or isn’t worth doing, and the big final choice he’s offered when he’s at his lowest possible point is basically end the existence of humans as individuals and all the pain that goes with it or let humanity be reborn. It’s a metaphor for being on the fence about suicide, and he choses life. Which is pretty strong knowing how Hideaki Anno was himself struggles with depression when he wrote this.

I know it’s a bit stupid, but this series kinda feels like a depression toggle switch for me: It makes me feel depressed if I watch it while not depressed, but had the opposite effect if I’m already feeling depressed.

I’m merroused.

If you’re wondering what narrative purpose this scene serves, you have to consider the whole series. It’s a mirror of a scene in episode one where Shinji also stands on top of a female character with a bodily fluid on his hand, but for a whole other reason: Shinji was told to pilote a giant robot he’d never seen before to fight a giant monster. He refused. The injured girl was brought on a strainer and he was told if he didn’t pilote the robot, she’d have to. The ground shook because of the robot, the girl (named Rei) fell from the strainer and Shinji rushed to see if she was okay. He looked at his hand and saw that he had her blood on it (obvious symbolism), then he accepts to pilote the robot.

That scene is what asserts Shinji as a protagonist. It’s the first showing him doing something for someone else, and he’s putting his life on the line to do so.

So mirroring this scene but having him do something cowardly and shameful, opposite of the bravery and kindness he showed in episode 1 makes him exit this role as a protagonist. And I don’t even think it’s necessary to understand it for it to work: For most of the movie after that, Shinji isn’t the protagonist, you follow other characters as they conclude their respective narrative arcs and without the hospital scene, I think many would feel frustrated and wait for Shinji to do something. Instead, we’re more prone to watch the other characters because we don’t really want to see Shinji anymore.

Another thing is, there characters have all been through a lot and been repeatedly traumatised. Not that it’s an excuse, but the series is also a bit original in the way it rejects the trope that hardship builds character and makes one better, without going in the reverse cliche of it making them a villain either. Trauma makes them mentally ill. Mental illness sometimes cause them to do bad things to other, which they then regret.

Won’t you please, please tell me what we’ve learned? I know, it sounds absurd; please tell me who I am!

For all intents and purpose, I am neurotypical. Now, listen as I rant about how The End Of Evangelion makes perfect sense when considered as a mirror of the first episode, and the hospital scene has the reverse role as the strainer scene, making it completely logical and effecient in conveying th-

With this many screens, I can watch all the Yu-Gi-Oh.

I second this.

Well, in IPA, the “sh” sound is spelt “ʃ”. But “x” isn’t pronounced like in English either (and it’s not like it’s that consistent in English, it like “ks” in “experience” but like “gz” in “exam”). Instead, “x” in IPA is like “j” in Spanish.

It’s the fedi here, why only link their bluesky when they have a Mastodon and a website?

He couldn’t taste the colour of the sounds with his fingers.

It looks like he just ate a baby.

This comment makes me realize I might’ve misunderstood the one I was replying too. I believed “going away in style” meant “going away in a stylish manner”. Like, it’s fading from use, but since a while and until it disappears it’s become a fancy phrase. Now I guess it just means it’s fading from use. But the point I was trying to make is that I believe that, because Nina Simone used it, it’s now a stylish phrase even if it wasn’t before.

I’m not a native English speaker, but I’ve heard this phrase ok once, from Nina Simone’s interpretation of Pirate Jenny and so I never questioned it. Just for being in that song, I’d concur that it’s definitely going away in style.

What ethnic cleansing? I’m asking this in good faith, I genuinely don’t know who Ukrainians were trying to eliminate. I’ve vaguely heard that many Cossaks in Eastern Ukraine were pro-Russia because they’d let them have more autonomy, is that what this is about?

Not today, CIA

Yep, postmarketOS uses systemd now, but in addition to OpenRC, it’s since march 5th 2024. Alpine itself didn’t switch to systemd. Also, thanks to your comment I noticed I actually got Artix and Alpine slightly mixed up when making this page, might edit later.

These terrible crooks, so different in looks

A smooth criminal!

… Having learned his lesson, Nasser would go on to strike a tough bargain on the rights to the Suez canal.