#bonus points if they act butthurt about it?????

[thehotteststar]

love when someone casually drops a microagression into conversation and then i have to decide if i'm going to be complicit in my own dehumanisation or go through an uneccesarily long conversation that could have been fixed with just a little bit of common sense

[zorya-reads]

Prologue.

The Lost Princess

Context: We're meeting Emilia on the first page—the other lucky person who got kidnapped alongside Percy. Turns out, their dads are basically tied for the Worst-Parent-of-the-Year award, with a bonus round for creating parallel levels of trauma. 

fancy fancy interior design. Who designed this place? I want that sofa. (and badly enough, I imagine them to be giving Ancient Roman vibes. Expect someone to come in with grapes and a fan, and then the actual gladiators to start fighting in the background … Yeah… in Japan.)

Not the father refusing to look up from his book. I mean yeah, Relatable, ok. Let’s totally look over that he’s ignoring and disregarding the daughter. He and Percy’s dad could be friends.

Nvm. They must 10000% be besties. And have a „best-dad-of-the-year“ club. And they definitely golf together on the weekends. —I’m talking joined at the hip levels of inseparable.

Leviathan erasing Emilia’s memory, thinking that’s gonna help with the trauma discovery? Bless your hearts, guys, but... I’m not sure that’s how this works. But, bonus points for effort. 

WAIT, THINKING BACK TO EMOTIONALLY AWKWARD INGRID AND JULIUS; WHATEVER THEY DID MUST HAVE BEEN SO EMBARASSING THAT THEY REMOVED HER MEMORY OUT OF SHAME. /j

His daughter Emilia made it back in one piece, cramming a thousand new hobbies like she's some kind of human swiss army knife to win his approval, and yet he's still the fucking butthurt asshole. Best-Dad-in-whole-Japan.

See, this is exactly what I feared the athletes were gonna be like when I mentioned them during the Tompkins mansion arc. Poor teens.

REPRESENTATIONNNN. 

Honestly, I’m just so unsure how to feel about a character we literally know nothing about shaving their head for symbolism. -- Don't get me wrong, I appreciate it for her character, but this makes me so scared for the pacing.

Lolo's/Rosewoodconch's mentioned in their Readathon chapter notes on Tumblr that Emelia's head covering (likely resembling a Hijab) suggests she is Muslim. Her act of cutting her hair, therefore, is not just rebellion against her father but potentially Haram in Islamic belief, as some scholars view shaving one's head as impermissible, especially in rebellion. I found this incredibly insightful and wanted to share!

✧ Read All Chapter Reactions

Premise: I’m rereading the Rosewood Chronicles Series for the first time after years, so take my chaotic commentary with a grain of salt (or a whole salt shaker). Open to spoilers.

[weaselbeaselpants]

The Eight Rings of Bad Internet Reviewer Hell

-Ring One: Listicle-Fever-

A source that’s better at cataloging content worth the viewer’s interest gets it into their head that they are a decent source of information and critical opinion. Bonus points: +the source is user generated and voted for without moderation, so it’s really no one’s actual opinion +article sites quote each other as a source

Examples: WatchMojo, Cracked.com, Listverse

Exceptions: PanPizza and CR

-Ring 2: Funnyman thinks he’s a Reviewer "oh god"-

While everyone's a critic, not everyone is a reviewer. This bad faith + bad take combo comes from a person who’s better at making observational jokes (riffs) at something, but then thinks said jokes are meaningful analysis simply because they occasionally point out actual problems in the material. Bonus points: +jokes are offensive and not funny +they’re actively ignoring the actual text to make jokes +deflects their own critics by calling everyone who doesn’t buy into their jokes “butthurt fans”

Examples: CinemaSins, Cracked.com, post Demo-Reel Doug Walker, ScreenJunkies

Exceptions: Rifftrax/MST3K, Retsupurae (rip), ABrandontoThePast, penguinz0 

-Ring 3: “Let’s go through the movie together :D”-

A standard retrospective-based review format; best used on contained 3-act structures. The reviewer obviously has the foresight of having watched something before they discuss it to the audience. At their best, these kinds of reviews are fun. At their worst, these videos are just validation farms designed to rip on something sillystupid. Bonus points: +performatively angry and over the top +reviewer takes the subject too seriously in a way that feels unpleasant or a chore to sit through as an audience +alternatively, they have the same trouble as the ‘Funnyman’ and holds no interest in what they’re talking about

Examples: Irate Gamer, MysteriousMr.Enter, ConfusedMathew, Doug Walker again

Exceptions: PeanutButterGamer, Jenny Nicholson, Phelous and Allison Pregler, Bad Princess Movie Podcast, Double Toasted, YourMovieSucks, ToddintheShadows

-Ring 4: Super-Fan-Fail-Theorist-

Bi-monthly theorizing about what a new plot development for a show is, or after-the-fact musing on a what ‘something’ nebulously ‘means’. Very often transforms into fan theorizing and analyzing media for conclusion’s sake. Prone to A LOT of bias of the fan reviewer’s absolutist-take. Obsessed with a product’s fringe and ultimately deeply invested in what is a shallow-insight. Bonus points: +reviewer won't parse the difference between their theory and the text +reviewer is defensive and won’t share the fandom with people who don’t share their take

Examples: Game Theory, Wisecrack

Exceptions: CinemaCartography, Jacob Geller, Sarah Zed and Lady Emily

-Ring 5: Wannabe Breadtube Retrospecterer-

Reviewer wants to be a researched, respected, ‘enlightened’ 2-hour vid maker but is really just an annoyed fan who’s lengthy reviews aren’t structured. Criticism might be valid, but is usually more about what the reviewer doesn't ‘like’ than what's actually wrong with something. Feels more like a lecture and a take-down than it is an enlightening hot take, at best. Also, it's your fault if you disagree with them and they live rent free in their critics heads- totally not the other way around! Bonus points: +incorrect, ludicrous, needless accusations tossed around at ppl they dislike +sounds like they're telling the audience how to feel, not why they feel think something is "awful and here’s why” +reviewer refuses to apologize or correct themselves if they get their facts wrong

Examples: Lily Orchard, Mysterious Mr. Enter again, half of the alt-light douchbags with hour long rants about Star Wars who ironically are all out to counter leftBreadtubers

Exceptions: Accented Cinema, Shaun, Folding Ideas, Xiran Jay Zhao, Princess Weekes, Lindsay Ellis, Lady Emily again, BenettetheSage's newest vids, Cheyenne Lin, and Sideways

-Ring 6: DNI-Danny -

Otherwise known as the “Anti". Jaded by years of abusive standom, they cling to good takes and criticism when it’s convenient for them but otherwise see fandom and critical analysis as a battlefield THEY MUST win. Very judgemental of people who don’t share their (sometimes exact) opinions; quick to gaslight/block/smear people just for association. Absolutist as a means of keeping oneself ‘safe’. Bonus points: +apologizing is NEVER AN OPTION +genuinely treats fandom takes as tho they’re comparable to politics and real morality +DNI list consists of MAPS, bigots, republicans and ppl who ship that toxic ship they don’t like +"no I didn't even watch the video, I don't have to!!" +"cancel culture doesn't exist"

Examples: Lily Orchard again and also prolly some tumblr user you know

-Ring 7: Choked on the Reddit-Pill-

Caught in a toxic dance of death with the DNI-Danny. May be the reason the former exists, but absolutely exists to counter the DNI-Danny at their bs by functioning more bs. So obsessed with being a counter argument and fighting for “actual social justice” (whatever that means) that they don’t recognize their own absolutism, centricism, or selfishness for what it is. Where the Anti counters with “think of the marginalized” the Reddit-Pill is obsessed with “well I’m not [worst case scenario] so why it is my problem that [worst case scenario] exists, HMMM???!” Bonus points if: +really love the term ‘moral guardians’ unironically +“fiction never reflects reality” +"cancel culture doesn't exist" +"some of us can tell the difference between fiction and reality"

Examples: Bad Webcomics Wiki, 4chan, half of the complacent "not me"-base that is KiwiFarms

-Ring 8: Actual Moral Guardians-

Not a jaded or concerned fan fighting for the rights of the marginalized, or for other people, at all. Not even a critic. Legit cult member working in ACTUAL bad faith. 100% unironically believes that liking (or even watching) something means you are being brainwashed/going to hell. Ostensibly has a skewed understanding of how media actually affects people (because they legit think it happens thru mind control and not emotional connections.

Never have good takes or good faith-basis of their own. They can only ever parrot criticisms from other people to fit their usually conservative-minded beliefs. Legit witchhunt. 

Examples: Jordan Peterson, The Satanic Panic, Ben Shapiro, QAnon, Breitbart

inb4: "DID YOU KNOW that the reviewer you rec actually did-"/"they don't like that other reviewer you rec"/"they won't fuck you stop promoing them"

>I'm not here to tell you the ppl I recommended in the links are saints, good people, or even the best reviewers with the one take to rule them all. I don't know them. I'm recommending them on the basis of how to see this kind of reviewing done right.

>I'm not these reviewer's moms. I don't know them. I'm pretty sure some of these people dislike some of these other people- I don't even watch every person I recommended here- but why or how is none of my business. I'm recommending ppl as a viewer.

>I'm aroace and a lot of these people are married or taken. I HOPE they won't fuck me, tbh.

If your favoritist reviewer-person ever is on the example list, barring the final rings, it's none of my business Jan. I still like ScreenJunkies tbh.

[writertitan]

Yes, hi, hello again sweet cherub author (lol see what I did there?)

After seeing your post about your tarot deck reading i had a thought XD

Now, I know basically nothing about tarot reading BUT imagine its a thing in an AoT universe, canon or AU, and Y/N has asked (bullied) Levi into allowing them to give him a reading and its just that worst, sassiest (is that a thing?) Reading ever lol like with yours, and he trues to act like he doesn't care, "this is stupid i don't care about what a stupid card is telling me about my life" but he so very clearly is butthurt about it and Y/N is DYING 😂

And from then on, anytime Y/N gets their deck out Levi just glares at it and Y/N thinks it's the funniest shit ever

(Bonus, for his birthday y/n gets him his own tarot deck lol the extra cleaning chores were totally worth his response 👌)

First of all, I am rarely called a sweet cherub so I’m so happy. Second, I’m fucking screaaaming about this 😭😭😭

Levi would absolutely get the WOORST readings every time to the point where you’d be borderline concerned about it and he’s just silently seething but also thinking “fuckfuckfuckfuck”

He hates the damn cards in general but he hates them even more when he gets an accurate reading 💀 it’s the only thing he says are “of the goddamn devil”

[sugasugawarau]

(Hi bb ahh again I’m. SO sorry this is late but ty for sending in a matchup request and I hope you’ve been well and taking care!)

I match you with….

。While Kenma isn’t super big on skinship/PDA, he will offer you his hands to hold whenever you start to feel overwhelmed to remind you that he’s right there for you. Alternatively, if you aren’t in class, he’ll entrust you with his Gameboy or DS to play games or just mash the buttons to help ground you as well

。Especially likes to hold hands when you’re both wearing hoodies and you both have sweater paws because it allows for optimal warmth and comfort and comes with the bonus of being more discreet

。He’s known for being an attentive person so he will always keep an eye out for people nearby who may make you uncomfortable and making sure you both keep a distance away from said people

。Kenma imo has a really calming presence on top of being really observant?? Like just being around him would be super soothing and you never have to worry about what to say or if you say anything at all

。That being said though, convos between the two of you would be so refreshing!! You share a lot of inside jokes (Kuroo will act butthurt whenever they’re brought up and the both of you are laughing while he’s just standing there LMAO) and know not to push when the other person seems to be out of it while still showing support by buying each other snacks or writing little sticky notes of encouragement

。On occasions where you do feel like venting, he’ll always be there to listen and gives the best advice because he knows you deserve the same kindness you continuously give to others

。 His top love languages are quality time and acts of service - to him, spending time with each other is the best way to pass time, and he loves to help you out as much as you’ll let him without you asking to make sure you aren’t overworking yourself

。I feel like Kenma is also the type to be able to vibe with punk rock one moment and soft music the next bc he kinda emulates those vibes as a person so you share an earphone while listening to songs as you rest your head against his shoulder ;; pls that’s so cute

。If you are willing/not allergic to them, Kenma would at some point bring up the topic of raising a cat together and you would spoil them endlessly

[organabanana]

Here are the eight things that seemed most important when I decided to put together an ~aesthetic~:

Bonus ninth thing: I am long-winded so I had to put this under a read more to save your dashes. I apologize in advance for the rambling stream of consciousness under the cut.

One. I need coffee: I like tea, too, but I need coffee. There’s nothing snobby or pinterest-worthy about my relationship with the stuff, either. I drink it nearly black, instant (I KNOW, I KNOW BUT I DON’T HAVE THE COUNTER SPACE FOR A COFFEE MAKER), and in ridiculous quantities. I go through two 100-cup tubs a month, though I put in more spoonfuls than they recommend so I guess the number is more likely 150ish cups a month. Which is still frankly appalling, but you know. My excuse is I work full time as a teacher and also full time as a writer which means waking up at 4AM seven days a week and going to bed at around 11PM if I’m lucky so what I lack in sleep I make up for in caffeine.

Two. I hand write a lot: I’ve been journaling since I was around 7 or 8. It’s gone from your basic ‘today the teacher was super unfair and I had orange juice at recess’ kind of journaling to a beautiful mess that’s a mix of journal, sketch book (I’m terrible at visual arts, but dammit, I love it), wish list, scrapbook, and obsessive record-keeping. Though I’ve gone full digital for all my actual writing, my journal will always remain handwritten. A blog just isn’t the same.

Three. I belong near the sea: I was born, raised, and have always lived in a small coastal town. I was landlocked for two different periods of my life (college first, and then a couple of years abroad) and I missed the sea more than anything else in the world. I always hear people say not seeing the sea makes them feel claustrophobic, but for me it’s the opposite feeling. My town is a peninsula so I’ve always thought of the sea as a sort of barrier between ‘home’ and ‘the outside’. Land locked places make me feel like I’m out in an open space with nothing to keep me safe.

Three and a half. My dog also belongs near the sea: I was going to use a picture of him, too, but I didn’t have any in my computer and using a random dog seemed weird. He’s a black lab I rescued when he was three. He’s now six and has some white hairs on his chin which make him look very distinguished. He leads a very pampered life in many ways, but I think his favorite thing is the same as mine: we live fifty steps away from the beach, where he can run off-leash and swim every single morning and night. I like to say I’m his service human because he has epilepsy which means I’ve gotten really good at sensing seizures and making sure he doesn’t hurt himself when they hit. In exchange, he keeps me warm in bed and makes me feel like the most important person in the world.

Four. I’m a woman and I love women (a ton): I fall in love at least twice a week on average, and three times if I happen to visit our vet who is an actual angel. I also have the flirting skills of a sea cucumber, but I make up for it by coming up with the smoothest lines for my characters because I am a benevolent overlady and they deserve better. I extremely rarely, if ever, spend my time consuming media with no women in it. Bonus points if they’re queer, but passing the Bechdel test is usually enough (notable exception: I will love Star Wars until my very last day on this Earth, Bechdel be damned). 99% of my characters are also women, and generally of the woman-loving disposition, and I think that’s okay.

Five. I’m a teacher and I love teaching (also a ton): I’m a special education teacher, and I love (nearly) every second of it. I get to work in small groups, sometimes even one-on-one, with kids and teens and adults who need some extra help. I often say my endgame goal is to transition to writing as my ‘main’ career, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop teaching because I love it far too much. I’d love to reach the point where I can make my own hours and not feel overworked and underpaid while struggling to make ends meet, but a teacher is what I am, not just what I do.

Six. In a different life, I was a stage actress: I even looked into drama schools for years. I think a part of me will always wonder if I could’ve made it, but I’m very happy with the small-scale classroom version of acting I get to do every single day instead. The theater is one of the things I love the most in the world, both musicals and straight plays. I watch nearly everything that comes through my town, and I save up and spend a week in London getting my West End fix as often as I can possibly afford. If I had to go without all other media in exchange for keeping live theater, I would (though it’d make me very sad).

Seven. I read as much as I write: I read, and I read, and I read. And then I read some more. I devour novels, but also long form articles, short stories, plays, COMIC BOOKS OH MY WORD, and even the back of the cereal box if I’m desperate enough. I’ve been living in my apartment for nearly two years, and I still have several boxes of books and comics in storage waiting to be unpacked. I will never not be amazed that comic books are suddenly cool after so many years of being for nerds, and I’m loving every second of it (though as a big time DC fan, I am somewhat butthurt about the current state of affairs in the DC/Marvel competition). My biggest book weakness are old timey nonfiction books for women and/or educators. The more problematic, the better. The crown jewel of my collection is a book written in the 60s for pubescent girls in which the author (a priest) attempts to tackle sex ed. Beautiful disaster. It includes the ‘true story’ of a woman who used lipstick as a teen and that set off a chain of events which ended with her grandchildren blaming her for their syphillis. Living in a country which was under ultra-Catholic fascist rule until 1975, my collection of problematic books is pretty impressive, I must say.

Eight (FINALLY I’M SO SORRY I TOLD YOU I WAS LONG-WINDED). I watch a ton of movies: Old timey, new timey, it’s all good with me. Because I don’t have a lot of time, I’m trying to make a conscious effort to be a bit more selective with what I watch and explore new things instead of rewatching Moulin Rouge for the millionth time. Letterboxd has been a godsend and I spend waaaay too much time fiddling around with it. But no matter how many new (to me!) masterpieces I discover, I reserve the right to watch Imagine Me & You at least three times a year. 

[angieschiffahoi]

Reasons why Terminator Dark Fate is a worthy sequel of T2

It wrapped up a stale story and respected its predecessor’s finale

Skynet is dead, long live Skynet. Yes, there is no fate and Sarah was able to kill Skynet, but Skynet wasn’t a product of only its time nor an incident made by rogues: Skynet was a warning of what would become of people if they were too arrogant. It’s a tale of hybris. Men get too self-reliant and create something that will bring about their downfall: they become God, but by becoming God they commit a sin so big, they will need Jesus Christ (John Connor or James Cameron, if you will) to save themselves. I mean, if you don’t see the correlation between the Virgin Mary and Sarah Connor (Sarah is also the wife of Abraham, the quintessential mother in the Bible), y’all are blind (she gets inseminated by an “angel” sent to protect her, by her own son, ergo God). Terminator Dark Fate didn’t become woke, it did what T2 started to do, it de-christianized its message for a wider audience (Hollywood doesn’t pander to white christian americans anymore in 2019, go figure). In both movies, Sarah isn’t the Virgin Mary anymore, she’s the mentor, she takes action and she changes her own future and that of billions of people: she becomes the saviour. In the sequel to TDF she obviously was supposed to be the mentor to the new saviour. By killing John, it gave the story back to Sarah and a new hope for the future, taking out some of those harmful tropes where women are only good to “birth” the father of the resistance and not be them. John Connor was never a character you were going to be satisfied with, because he’s an ideal. You liked the teen version, because he was a rebel-ish punk who did everything he wanted, had a motorcycle and a pet robot. You were never going to like the gritty future version of a man destroyed by everything and also he was never supposed to become that. All of Sarah’s struggles the moment she found out she was pregnant were to protect her son from that future. Hadn’t they killed him off in 1999, he would’ve just been a 45 year old drunk - that’s where his character was going after defeating Skynet. 

It isn’t contraddictory to have another AI replace Skynet. 

Skynet and Legion are a cautionary tale, they are false gods, Frankenstein’s creature and the devil. It’s not repetitive, it’s not something that can be prevented in full, because humanity IS on that path. Humanity wants to play God and Sarah and John’s effort to stop Skynet was silent, it was secret (despite Sarah’s efforts to have people believe her, nobody did). Do you really think it would be so difficult to imagine another company, working on a similar project, at the same time in the late 90s - early 2000s? The only weak point is the implication that Legion would occupy terminators and the same tactics as Skynet, but I’m guessing if Sarah has been killing Terminators in the past for 30 years, Legion could’ve “read” something about it and developed itself to fit the past or got inspired, I don’t know. It’s not that far-fetched to have another AI use the same tactics. 

It introduced a new scary terminator, who is perfect for 2020

The Rev-9, like its predecessors, is an inflitration model (and that’s the only reason they cast a latin actor) who is built to hunt the same way the first two were, but it does it better: because 2020 is a scary time. The T-800 had to look on a phone book and kill three Sarah Connor before getting to the right one. This one? It needs a working internet connection. 

Also, to all of you saying that politics should stay out of movies, 

- the T-800 was an intimidating male hunting a defenseless woman

- the T-1000 was a cop hunting a supposed “crazy woman and criminal” 

- the Rev-9 is an immigration officer hunting a defenseless immigrant. 

not that hard to spot the similarities. 

It answered the question “what happens to terminators when they fulfill their purpose?” 

Arnie is old and that’s what made it so much more believable for me. 

People keep using this quote from The Terminator to say how terrible writing and what a huge plot hole it was to make the T-800 a dad:  “That Terminator is out there. It can't be reasoned with, it can't be bargained with...it doesn't feel pity of remorse or fear...and it absolutely will not stop.Ever. Until you are dead.”

Here’s a few reasons why their reasoning is biased:

First, off screen reason: this is the first movie, Cameron had no idea what would become of its own sequels. He hadn’t predicted Arnold would have such a following and I’m sure a re-programmed Terminator wasn’t in its plans. The first movie was about the horror of the terminator, we weren’t supposed to feel anything for it but fear, because its purpose was to scare us and nothing else. 

Second, in-character reason: Kyle Reese is a soldier in the future. He has only seen these machines kill and maim and knows that, just because this one has skin and hair and muscle on its endo-skeleton, it isn’t less machine than the ones he has been fighting all of his life. He only knows this one’s worse: because he has a single purpose. 

Third, non canon reason: Cameron from TSCC. Nobody was offended when she started to develop feelings for John in that series, why is everyone so offended by Carl now? Yeah. But it’s not canon, so let’s go to the last reason. 

Fourth, canon, on-screen, in-character reason: THE WHOLE EFFING MOVIE YOU LOVE SO MUCH. Terminator 2 is all about the differences between the T-1000 and the T-800. Yes, it was re-programmed, but it wasn’t programmed to get attached to John, to learn from him, to almost act as a surrogate father, to give him a sign of their relationship as he was lowered to his death. It has been established machines can feel. Even the Rev-9, who’s still fully on mission, has a personality, the same way Patrick’s was. They exist, therfore they are. They have their own thoughts, their own doubts and that means they can develop a conscience and get attached. Carl says he doesn’t love his family the way a human would and it shows, the same way the T-800 from T2 didn’t love John like a Kyle Reese would have. 

It gave us a new found family dynamic and used old tropes to tell new stories

Dani, Grace and Sarah have an amazing dynamic. Adding Carl to the mix was a bonus, because it created tension, but at the same time it gave us back that soft T-800 everyone of us fell in love with at 10-13 years old.

It did what TFA tried to do but better, imho. Star Wars fans were starved and when Disney made that movie, it still was considered a good producer of excellent content (now, not so much). TDF was produced by a variety of studios, because nobody wanted to take full responsibility after the disaster that was Genysis (and who could blame them?). Nobody praised TFA for its attempt to start a new saga, re-using ANH’s storyline with new characters and then build from there a new story, but it’s because they didn’t do it right. TFA doesn’t give you time to care about the characters, it’s a messy introduction of what could’ve been a very good trilogy if only they tried harder. 

TDF, in my opinion, did try harder. It gave us a simple hunter-hunted storyline, where all of the cast is in the same place at the same time. This way, you can care about the development of their relationships. You care about Grace and Dani, not because the movie told you to, but because you can see Grace’s affection and ammiration from the very first scenes and, by the end, you see the affection Dani has for this stranger who’s sole purpose it taking care of her, when she’s so used to be the one to take care of others (see the first few scenes with her brother and father). You care about Dani and Sarah, because the whole movie builds up to the mentor storyline without telling you. You care about Carl and Sarah, because of all the build up from past movies, but also because of the little things (”I’m never f* calling you Carl” to calling him just that a few scenes later or Sarah calling out the Rev-9 by telling it, “we’re not machines”). Everything it did, it did without telling us what to feel and that’s rare in a world where franchises are constantly telling you who you should like and why, instead of writing a good story and letting you figure it out by yourself. 

-----

It is not by far a perfect movie. Having 3 producing companies and six writers didn’t help, the same way it didn’t help that Tim Miller was basically ghost-directing for the ever-too-busy James Cameron. 

It could have been better in many ways: firstly, by using smaller scenes and a smaller budget and maybe a little less CGI and a little more practical effects. It was too ambitous and fans hadn’t yet forgiven this franchise for Genysis, because fans are butthurt babies who only want things to be they way they want them (I hated Genysis, don’t get me wrong, but I decided if this movie was going to be worth it once they said it wouldn’t be a sequel and watched a couple of trailers, it isn’t that hard). Another reason it bombed, beside the active boycotting, was the close to absent promotion except for a couple of lines. 

Anyway, this messy post is just to explain the reasoning why I believe it is a worthy sequel and, in my opinion, without the nostalgia goggles on and taking out of the equation the “originality” factor, I dare say it’s perfectly on par with The Terminator. 

[doctortwhohiddles]

Hello doctorwhohiddles, this is Mom Anon. I’ve decided to cut out the middle man like you suggested. I trust you won’t doxx me, I’ve seen you protesting against it. I’ll answer your questions. I’ll repeat them in bold, so you know which one I’m talking about. It will be a long submission but you have a lot of questions and I have long answers. My answers are in bold.

I will start this letter with one of my favorite quote from Ben. “There are people who believe that my wife is a P.R. stunt and my child is a P.R. stunt,” he says, unsure if he should even be bringing this up—he knows that there’s no arguing with conspiracy theorists. “I think really it’s to do with the idea that the ‘Internet’s boyfriend’ can’t actually belong to anyone else but the Internet. It’s impossible he belongs to anyone but me. And that’s what stalking is. That’s what obsessive, deluded, really scary behavior is.” Yes I know this quote. I’ve always thought (and said) that I think Ben thinks that the most ardent fans, that showed up everywhere, sent gifts and stalk his neighbourhood, are now the skeptics. But even then, what else Could he say? No one (not even skeptics) could expect him to say “yeah it is all a PR-stunt but hey, whatever keeps your name in the papers!” He was going to be asked about it sooner or later and this is the answer I would expect him to give. For someone who says she reads a lot, your reading comprehension seems lacking. From my perspective (and that of 99.9% of the fandom), he was denouncing the so called “skeptics”. He wasn’t ask directly if his family was a PR stunt, he was discussing toxic fans. And you guys definitely are.

Because a normal person knows that faking 3 kids in this day and age is impossible. Specially if you’re in the public eye. I think that especially in this day and age it is possibke to fake a pregnancy with the modern prosthetics and make up techniques. Yeah, but what about after? You can’t fake kids for this long without anyone getting suspicious. So far, the only people who are is a small bunch of bitter women on Tumblr. You know the signer Adele? She forgot to register the birth of her son and it made the news. There is no way Ben could get away with faking kids.

Now think about it for a second, how could someone wear a fake baby bump to numerous public events with a ton of journalists attending and no one notices? How is that even possible? You have kids, you know very well that pregnancies vary from woman to woman. And yet here you are, denying that Sophie was ever pregnant. Why? Honestly, I really want to know. What could possibly drive an adult woman, a mother of three at that, to start denying reality that bad? Is it because you can’t accept that Ben doesn’t belong to you? Is it because you need to pass your unhappiness unto him? I really would like an answer. And no, your skeptical archives don’t count. In fact all they do is prove my point.

I doubt our archive proves your point however, I’ll keep it to pics etc that the nonskeptics have also seen and posted. There is a pic of the second pregnancy where you can actually see the straps of the prosthetic. Then: journalists only see them for like two minutes and then they walk on. The journo’s are snapping away hoping for a good picture so they probably don’t even look closely at them. As for pregnancies: yes they differ per woman and even per pregnancy but it is just not possible for a woman to get on a plan looking seven months pregnant and get off the plane looking two months pregnant. It has been put down to dehydration but that is nonsense, the baby would have died if that had happened in such an amount. She has a low belly on her honeymoon and two months later it is really high? Not possible. The moving and even doubling belly button in the Oscar pics? Not possible. And there are many more examples that have convinced me she was never pregnant. I know you look upon it differently but that is how I feel. As for Ben, I never felt he belonged to me and I am perfectly happy thank you so if I could transfer that to him, he wouldn’t have looked so miserable in so many pictures. But that is another discussion altogether.

It seems we’re going to have to explain the concept of perspective to you guys again. The pap picture of Sophie in a bikini was taken with a telescopic lens and from profile. The one in at the airport are taken from up close, from the front, with Sophie wearing a loose skirt. That’s why her bump looks smaller. Again, the tabloids would have picked up on it if there was something wrong. Also, there are numerous pictures of the both of them looking happy and in love. You just chose to ignore those pictures and concentrate only on the ones you think fits your narrative. As for the belly button, it changes with the bump and the baby’s position. My cousin’s belly button went all over the place during her pregnancy.

Now, why I am spending time reading haters blog, there’s three reasons. The first one is that your lack of logic and butthurt makes me laugh. Lord knows people need to laugh now days. The second of all is fascination. You see, I can’t for the life of me understand why grown women act the way you do. I really can’t. As for the third reason, it’s because I was raised to denounce bullies, not be one. I sincerely hope you are raising your kids to do the same. But judging by your behavior, I can see it’s probably not the case. If anyone were making fun of your children the way you make fun of Ben’s, you’d rip their throats off, with good reason. And yet, you act like a bully towards three young children simply because you’re mad their dad got married without asking you first. Your first reason is also why I read your blogs: trying to find out what you see that I obviously don’t and for a laugh: you are as good at predicting what we are going to say as we know what you are going to say and I don’t mind a laugh at my own expense. Happy to make you laugh. The fact that we can predict exactly what you’re going to say isn’t looking good for you. After 4 years, you guys could at least make the effort to come up with something remotely credible. That also covers the second reason. As for your third reason: I raise my kids not to be bullies but to use their own minds and have their own opinions. And allow others the same without getting mad or insulting about it. What you guys are doing is not having an opinion. Calling someone a whore, a criminal and a fraud is bullying. So is referring to young children as “pillows”. Saying you don’t like what Sophie is wearing is an opinion. Refusing to even call her by her name is also bullying. You’re an adult, how can you not see the difference?  And if someone thinks my kids are not real and refers to them as pillows, that is their business, I would shrug my shoulders. Really? I find this hard to believe. And if it makes anyone happy: the kids I have seen with Ben have always been cuties and looked sweet. I’ve always said so. That doesn’t change the fact that I don’t think they are his. Have you seen the same pictures as me? Because they both look exactly like him. But then again, I don’t wear hate goggles. As soon as anything happens that convinced me that the kids are real, I’ll start calling them by their names. At this point, I’m fairly certain you’ll never admit you were wrong. Ben could come to your house with family in tow, and you’d still deny they’re real. As for Ben getting married without my permission, no one needs my permission to get married so there is no need to ask. Feel free to do so but there is no need. And yet somehow, you fell the need to deny the existence of the family he wanted for so long. If you decided that something was wrong because of red lines painted on pictures, then you’re either incredibly gullible or jealous.

I know you’re going to say it doesn’t count because there is no children, but answer me this: why do fake children have birth certificates? Because faking them is damn near impossible. Some say there are certificates, some say there aren’t. I haven’t checked myself. I don’t know how hard it is to report a birth when there hasn’t been one or if that even happened. I’ll leave that to the wilder theorists out there. There are people who live in England who describe what it takes to register the birth of your child. People, who unlike Gator and Anna, knows what they’re talking about. Apparently, you’d need to bribe at least 70 persons to fake a birth certificate. Imagine doing this 3 times over. Gator has seen the certificate for Kit. Of course, she declared it fake and made up sources to confirm her lies.

So to resume this letter, if you want me to stop calling out your shitty behavior, then stop acting like a bitch towards complete strangers who have never done anything to you. It will also have the added bonus of making your life better. Thanks for the advice. But then, why are you so fanatical about strangers you have never met? Not to mention the things you call the skeptics whom you have also never met and who discuss people you have never met. The difference is that I call out people based of actual evidence, not based on jealousy or entitlement. As I said, bullies need to be called out, and you are one.

I’ll relay your message to Anna. I hope I have answered all your questions. I think we have to agree to disagree. I think it’s very clear that you’ve chosen to keep denying the facts. Honestly, have you ever wondered how a story like the one you’ve made up could be kept out of the news? One the septics sent their “evidence” to the National Enquirer and was turned down. Given how many people you’d have to involve in a conspiracy like this, it’s impossible no one would have talked by now. Your narrative has plot holes the size of a dinosaur, but somehow, you seem to ignore them completely.

Sincerely,

Mom Anon Thank you for answering me and not be mean or insulting. I wish I could say that all of your fellow haters were the same. I hope that one day you’ll come to your senses.

[amitds]

YIN SEAL SAKURA = EMS SASUKE= KCM NARUTO

People in this fandom love to deny foreshadowing, panel placement and authorial intent so even when Sakura was presented as on the boys’ level and then when she even stated that she caught up to them everyone acted like she was lying and being pompous.

A New Three-Way Deadlock (新たなる三竦み, Aratanaru Sansukumi) , Volume 66 cover:

She clearly says that she caught up to them, is presented as such, the 3 of them are paralleled to the legendary three and bonus, the author himself states in DATABOOK 4 that Sakura finally reached Naruto and Sasuke’s level after all of her training. 

It is also shown here i.e. the manga further supports that she caught up to them then their final power ups pushed them ahead of her once more when we see her remembering the moment she reached their level and being disappointed about them being ahead in their God forms once more

We know from the manga that she was a supped up version of Tsunade so her being beyond MS Sasuke and Naruto in the Pein Arc (he is stronger than Jiraiya in sage mode but since his sage mode required prep time etc and lasted a few seconds it wasn’t as stable as his later power up) isn’t crazy to claim than someone stronger than a sannin is generally more powerful.

Sakura in the war was more powerful than a sannin and as far as I know EMS Sasuke was a more powerful version of MS Sasuke (no strain or vision loss from using the sharingan along with amaterasu control). MS Sasuke was kage leveled as shown when he invaded the kage meeting and the kage could each stand up to him, if not overwhelm him. Therefore, saying that Yin Seal Sakura who was stronger than a sannin was on the same level as EMS Sasuke ridiculous. The fact that Kishi had Sakura state this and stated it himself in databook 4 supports this notion.

Sasuke’s largest and best techniques when he got his EMS were amaterasu, incomplete susanoo and his summoning jutsu. Sakura in the war had access to more chakra than Tsunade (comparable to Hashirama’s; around Ai’s- see db 4), strength beyond Tsunade and Ai’s and the summoning jutsu (slug) as well so even if Sasuke has more ‘badass’ techniques it’s all more or less on the same level. 

Naruto at that time could either use Sage Mode or his Kurama Chakra Mode. As we know his perfect sage mode allowed him to surpass Jiraiya along with his rasenshuriken. Then he gained his Kurama Chakra Mode which allowed him to gain vast reserves of chakra to boost his speed and power up his moves. Kishi indicated that when Naruto gets a power up then so does Sasuke to keep a balance and as we saw Naruto got Perfect Sage Mode then Sasuke got his MS. Then Sasuke got EMS when Naruto got BM/KCM.

Now I feel like BM Naruto had better feats than EMS Sasuke but if we are considering them equals as Kishi did then Sage Mode Naruto and KCM Naruto in the war were not far off, akin to MS and EMS Sasuke. The issue with Sage Mode is that Naruto couldn’t use it all the time and needed prep time while MS weakened and strained Sasuke and his vision was deteriorating the more he used it. 

 KCM and EMS removed these types of flaws and allowed Naruto to use large amounts of chakra and great speed to boost his power all the time and in the case of Sasuke, the EMS allowed Sasuke to avoid blindness, strain and gain control over his amaterasu. 

Therefore it isn’t odd to state that Sakura with the Yin Seal (which has no drawbacks), who is physically stronger than Tsunade and Ai (Sakura’s full strength with a released seal was never shown in canon) and who has more chakra to use than Tsunade along with her summoning would be on the same level as a ninja as EMS Sasuke who is MS Sasuke with no drawbacks and BM Naruto, his rival. She has regeneration, greater medical prowess than Tsunade and could heal more people in addition to her strength which adds to her being on par with the boys as a ninja. 

Kishi treated her like shit and neglected to make this as concrete as it should have been and he failed to give her a unique ability/power however even in this case and even if one believes it’s a case of telling and not showing, which is false since it is showed to an extent, we cannot deny authorial intent and pretend that we don’t know how Kishi treated her generally. We know him neglecting her but still delivering on the ‘surpassing a sannin/ catching up to the boys at some point’ shit was going to happen in some way. He just writes Sakura differently from how he writes the boys and how someone usually writes a main character/main female. Don’t get me started on this shit.

Another indicator is how butthurt people were, not only because she said that she caught up to them, but because “Kishi was making them look equal”. I legit saw people, including people I know IRL saying that they didn’t like how Kishi was making them look equal in those chapters when Sakura just got her seal. This alone supports what Kishi himself promoted and stated, he just did it shitty and people hate her so much that it makes it even harder to accept. 

CONCLUSION: YIN SEAL SAKURA WAS ON PAR WITH KCM NARUTO AND EMS SASUKE WHEN SHE SAID AS SUCH IN TERMS OF GENERAL POWER AND SKILL AS NINJA. 

[themikewheelers]

tfw you see a mileven is toxic post and you just WILD bc N O

Every single Mileven is toxic post:

• Offensive false information about mental illness and abuse• A+ in erasing the context of situations• Is coming from someone who’s butthurt that their ship(s) are never gonna be canon• Calls them unhealthy for acting dramatic in literal life or death situations• Entire argument is based off of assumptions of what they think Mike and El are gonna be like, not based off what they actually are like on the show• Infantilizing El • Even more offensive false information about mental illness and abuse because this one’s always about 90% of the post• (Bonus points if they demonize Mike)• (Double bonus points if they demonize Mike but then ship him with another character)• (Triple bonus points if their entire argument comes down them saying El shouldn’t be in a relationship but then ships her with another character)

[crystalelemental]

Atelier Totori Plus Opinions

Those who paid attention to my rankings are already aware that, at the end of the day, this is my least-favorite Atelier game in the series.  Which is something that really bothers me, because there are a lot of great elements to this game. The game has a strong alchemy and combat system, and introduces a serious storyline that spans the whole game (sort of).  Totori herself also winds up being my favorite of the Arland alchemists, and characters as a whole are fairly strong, barring a few exceptions.  There are just a lot of things that, I feel, hold it back. The game is still fantastic, and even the lowest-ranked Atelier game is more enjoyable to me than most other games out there, but, well, someone had to be at the bottom of a list.  And unfortunately, that's Totori.

CHARACTERS As a whole, characters are fairly solid, with a few that stand out as among my least-favorites in the entire series.  Those who are good are fantastic, and those who are bad are intolerable.  Thankfully, the good outweighs the bad.

Totori - Totori is adorable.  She's the most serious of the Arland alchemists, and shows a level of competence that we didn't get too often with Rorona, who was portrayed in a more joking fashion despite her talents.  Yes, a lot of characters talk down to her about her abilities, but I think what she accomplishes ultimately shines past Gino being an insufferable little shit all the time.  Totori is incredibly precious and enjoyable, and is a great mix of serious and studious with goofy and somewhat awkward.  I love her to pieces.

Gino - We begin with the bad. Gino is insufferable.  He's just obnoxious.  He is hyper to a fault, and is direct to a very dire fault.  Instead of a fairly endearing portrayal, they went for the option where he has zero social skills, is constantly a rude little shit, and does nothing of value but be a putz and whine about when Totori starts out-performing him.  His entire character story is him being a butthurt baby over Totori being stronger than him now.  Gino is awful.

Melvia - but he was not the worst.  Melvia gets that spot.  She would be generally fine.  She's portrayed as the strongest of the group, and is very direct in her interactions with others.  However, she loses massive points for the same reason that, say, Nozomi from Love Live loses points: the groping other people gag.  I think it only happens with Rorona when you have them explore together, but trust me, once is enough.  In fact, most of her initial interactions with characters when you go exploring are unpleasant.  Melvia is basically just a sexual deviant, and quite frankly, that's an automatic failure in my book.

Mimi - The best girl of this game.  Mimi is basically Cordelia 2.0, but with a bit more of a history.  Mimi's mother died of illness, and she's very focused on making her family name famous.  She's abrasive toward Totori, while at the same time being very clearly attached to her.  It's really cute, to the point it’s honestly one of the few ships I have attachment to at all.  Mimi tries her best, but has the same issues as Cordelia of being unable to honestly express her feelings toward others.  Unless that feeling is anger.  Then she's fine.  Like I said with Cordelia, struggling with their own emotions is a character trait I adore in all its facets, so surprise that I like Mimi best.

Marc - Marc is hysterical.  He's all about robotics, and is a man of science.  Of course, that comes with not always understanding the intricacies of social etiquette (”What, you didn’t know I was joking about using a live cat’s skin to cover the cat robot?”).  He just winds up being funny and engaging, and I generally appreciate his presence.

Rorona - Rorona returns, and she's fantastic.  Seeing Rorona in a teaching role really is something else.  She's still her air-headed self.  Very competent and skilled, but cannot teach for the life of her.  But, she's trying her best, and really wants to be a good teacher. It's sweet to see her interactions with Totori, literally the only one who understands her inane directions.

Cordelia - YEAH, CORDELIA!  Cordelia returns, as head of the adventurer's guild.  She's just as forceful as always, but has calmed down a bit since Rorona. She's more in control of her anger, and seems a bit more honest with herself, which is great.  I love to see that kind of development.

Iksel - Iksel came back!  I'm sure all five of his fans are very happy.

Sterk - The final returning character, and possibly the most involved?   Arland is a republic now, and thus Sterk has lost his standing as a knight.  Sterk is less than thrilled about it, and continues to insist he is a knight and acts accordingly, while hunting down Gio to establish the old monarchy once again.  Sterk's character is one burdened by regrets and the loss of his only perceived calling in life, and this really shines with his interactions with Gino.  While Gino winds up being obnoxious because he's just sad Totori beat him, Sterk presents as someone who is understanding of his position, having lost to Rorona and felt the blow to his pride as a knight who is weaker than the one he's protecting, but also forceful in how to overcome it.  It's a good balance, I feel.

Ceci - Totori's sister can be precious, though she doesn't have a lot of presence, I feel, until you start getting into her own history as an adventurer and why she stepped down. She's good, just not super interesting to me.

Guid - Can I just remark how much his recurring gag of being invisible irks me?   Because it does.  Still, he's alright.  Like Ceci, nothing interesting about him until he starts building the ship and re-kindles that passion he once had.

Gerhard - or whatever his name was.  Bartender man.  He’s okay.

Pamela - the ghost girl returns, but alive this time?  Or something?  We’re not too sure.  She sure continues to be a great source of entertainment though.

Peter - So my housemate Pat has this really hilarious nerd voice he does for characters like Peter, and I wish I could project it through text, but instead, here’s a link to Peter’s actual english voice.  They’re almost the same tone anyway.  Peter’s a nerd loser, and thankfully the game treats him as such.

Tiffani - She’s back.  Same issue as before.  I really don’t care for the drunk Tiffani trophies...

Hagel - Hagel has been promoted to the best shopkeeper of all time for commenting that if Totori is feeling embarrassed about the clothes she wears that she should maybe put on a pair of tights.  While part of me is definitely just happy that someone suggested a more conservative look (which I always appreciate), the specific suggestion for tights is an immediate bonus.  Hagel knows what’s good.

Filly - Esty’s younger sister.  She’s an oddball.  Nothing against her at all, but she doesn’t really stand out beyond the super relatable characteristic of hating her job.

STORY Totori has a real story!  Totori's mother was an adventurer who once went exploring across the ocean, and never returned.  Totori is sure that her mother is alive out there somewhere, and is determined to become an adventurer to search for her mother.  The people in her home village of Alanya are worried, but ultimately Totori persists and becomes an adventurer and begins her search.  It's easy to get sidetracked from this, but after three years and renewing your license, the search begins in earnest as you construct a ship and start to re-trace your mother's footsteps, straight into a village designed to be sacrificed to a demon within the tower nearby.  Your goal then is to fulfill the mission your mother could not and defeat the demon within.  Your path winds up encompassing both your quest to become a proper adventurer, but also to succeed your mother.  It's honestly a really strong element to the game.  I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: you don’t need a super complex plot to be a successful one, and Totori is a good example of that. 

SETTING It's still Arland, only expanded to include Alanya as well.  Both locations do feel highly distinct, with Arland being a clear city compared to the small town of Alanya.  What really makes this world feel open is that you stop at several points along the way, and it has a much more significant feel of adventure.  When the ocean opens up, it really feels like there's a ton of extra metaphorical ground to cover, and seeing only a piece of the other continent opens up the potential for the Totori and Mimi Adventures ending, where they seek to travel beyond the areas already known.  The only drawback is that there still isn't much that's been dug into.  Arland is a republic now.  Nothing has changed.   Gio commented that it wouldn't, but it's still obnoxious to see how literally nothing about this dramatic shift in government structure had an impact on the region.  It's just those kinds of things that could be explored to some degree that would make for interesting story points that just...are never addressed.

SYNTHESIS SYSTEM Unlike Rorona Plus, Totori Plus has a very simple synthesis system, in that there's no combining of traits.  This allows for the perfect traits to show up way earlier than usual, and require little to no chaining of items to obtain what is needed.  In a way, this is kinda nice.  It simplifies the system considerably, and removes unneeded anxiety around getting just the right skills.  On the other, it takes away some of the engagement of trying to find the optimal assortment, and chaining items to achieve a goal.  The Cost system returns, but with no traits to increase cost, so it's all just a matter of having the better ingredients, which is how they get you to chain traits to other items.   It's not bad, necessarily, but it does feel much more simplified and bare-bones than the other games.

BATTLE SYSTEM Totori is like an inverse Rorona.  Equipment matters, but nowhere near as much as items.  In early-game, you are going to use items constantly, because they are hyper-vital.  In late-game, equipment and skills can account for a lot, but ultimately your items are going to determine what's best. A good N/A and Himmelstern combined with a good Dimension Egg is how you beat virtually every major boss, with everything outside of Orthogalaxen going down to this combo without even getting a turn.   When you use Rorona to double up on the fun, basically nothing in the game stands a chance.  This is an element I adore. I really feel like it's appropriate for the items you craft to be the thing that leads to victory.  It just feels right, you know?

OTHER MECHANICS Unfortunately, wholesale will not retain the best traits, which means you cannot register your ultimate bombs and buy them back infinitely.  Instead, you need the Chims!  Rorona creates her own versions of Hom called Chims, and you can get up to five if you find the Water of Lifes. Waters of Life? The Chim-Maker items. Each Chim can then duplicate ingredients or items you have in your inventory. Unlike Hom, Chims are best used to duplicate synthesized items, as they make exact copies without having to use ingredients.  As a result, you can make a few good N/A, and have Chims copy them to maintain your stock.  The only downside is that they're fairly slow.  It can take a tremendous amount of time to copy the good bombs and Elixers, which means your stock is never too high.   So resources need to be used conservatively and only as needed.  Which isn't too tough, considering how quickly you run train on the post-game superbosses with the right trait setup.

There's also the license points.  License points are used...primarily just to increase rank.  Rank increases will open up new areas and new explicit tasks to complete.  Sometimes, this involves making stronger boss enemies appear in previous locations, and other times it's opening up new large areas. It's basically how you determine where you can and cannot go, one step at a time, without opening up the entire map at once.  I really don't know how I feel about it.  It's a little...arbitrary?  But I can't complain.  I do think Meruru had the more interesting way to open up a world map, though.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS I mentioned in Rorona that the Arland trilogy is the trilogy with a few more uncomfortable fan-service moments than I would like.  None are as bad as Totori.  Comments on "sex appeal" are more frequent than I'd like (read: above 0), Melvia is the way she is in most interactions with new female characters, the swimsuit contest is a thing that happens, and oh god the Guardian hunt...  The raw number of times this game made me wish it would stop is unfortunate.

There's also a bigger issue in the events.   Like Rorona, character events occur when they reach certain friendship levels.  Unlike Rorona, Totori has two central areas, and events are exclusive to each location.  Often without any indication that they're happening, and frequently with time-specific activation periods.  So you can miss entire events just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The conditions are also super obtuse. At one point in my playthrough, I tried setting up for the Spring Cup trick, only to realize I didn't have the recipe for the Spring Cup.  Rorona was supposed to give it to me, but hadn't.  Why?  Because I had to synthesize a specific item in the OTHER atelier, to activate a scene with Ceci, before Rorona's scenes would miraculously start occurring.   Then there's the time I completely lost access to Pamela's shop for the rest of the game because I went to one place first before going to her shop, and the scenes played out of order and locked me out of her return.  It's that level of obtuse nonsense that drove me up a wall while playing, and it's honestly this piece that causes it to rank at the bottom.  I can tolerate a lot.  But I cannot tolerate being constantly frustrated by not knowing where or when things will happen. Just a simple indication through an exclamation point over the town things are happening in would ease problems a lot.

There's also no development items, which I guess is fine, but I love those things and think it's nonsense that they didn't add them in the Plus version.  At least let me travel faster on the map, you butts!

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS Atelier Totori Plus is still a fun game, but it is, bar none, the most obtuse and frustrating of the games.  There are pieces that I enjoy tremendously, but there are also pieces that are just incredibly irritating to experience.  I still love the game, and I'm at a point where I think I've figured out the obtuse portions of the game and how to get events to activate.  But wow, it's such a frustrating learning curve at times.  Definitely worth playing, but also definitely worthy of the least-favorite spot in the series.

If you enjoyed this (for some reason), consider checking out the write-ups for the other games in the series as well!

Atelier Rorona Plus Atelier Totori Plus Atelier Meruru Plus Atelier Ayesha Plus Atelier Escha and Logy Plus Atelier Shallie Plus Atelier Sophie Atelier Firis

[doctortwhohiddles]

Letter to Mom Anon

Dear Mom Anon,

I see you’re talking about me to Anna again. If you want to cut the middle man, my submit is open. You don’t have to use a real email address, and if you chose to use your real one, I swear on my father’s grave that I’ll never share it with anyone.

I will start this letter with one of my favorite quote from Ben. One that Anna seems to hate a lot. I think you know which one I mean. But if you don’t, here it is: “There are people who believe that my wife is a P.R. stunt and my child is a P.R. stunt,” he says, unsure if he should even be bringing this up—he knows that there’s no arguing with conspiracy theorists. “I think really it’s to do with the idea that the ‘Internet’s boyfriend’ can’t actually belong to anyone else but the Internet. It’s impossible he belongs to anyone but me. And that’s what stalking is. That’s what obsessive, deluded, really scary behavior is.”

I highlighted the important parts for you. See this is what Ben thinks of people like you and Anna. Not me, not the people who go to cons to meet him, not the people who send him gifts, people who think that his marriage and kids are fake. Now, a smart, well adjusted person would have taken the hint and dropped the matter. But you’re not well adjusted are you? Because a normal person knows that faking 3 kids in this day and age is impossible. Specially if you’re in the public eye.

Now think about it for a second, how could someone wear a fake baby bump to numerous public events with a ton of journalists attending and no one notices? How is that even possible? You have kids, you know very well that pregnancies vary from woman to woman. And yet here you are, denying that Sophie was ever pregnant. Why? Honestly, I really want to know. What could possibly drive an adult woman, a mother of three at that, to start denying reality that bad? Is it because you can’t accept that Ben doesn’t belong to you? Is it because you need to pass your unhappiness unto him? I really would like an answer. And no, your skeptical archives don’t count. In fact all they do is prove my point.

Now, why I am spending time reading haters blog, there’s three reasons. The first one is that your lack of logic and butthurt makes me laugh. Lord knows people need to laugh now days. The second of all is fascination. You see, I can’t for the life of me understand why grown women act the way you do. I really can’t. As for the third reason, it’s because I was raised to denounce bullies, not be one. I sincerely hope you are raising your kids to do the same. But judging by your behavior, I can see it’s probably not the case. If anyone were making fun of your children the way you make fun of Ben’s, you’d rip their throats off, with good reason. And yet, you act like a bully towards three young children simply because you’re mad their dad got married without asking you first.

I know you’re going to say it doesn’t count because there is no children, but answer me this: why do fake children have birth certificates? Because faking them is damn near impossible. I have a feeling you’re going to do what your pal Anna does when reminded of that fact: ignore it completely.

So to resume this letter, if you want me to stop calling out your shitty behavior, then stop acting like a bitch towards complete strangers who have never done anything to you. It will also have the added bonus of making your life better.

Sincerely,

Doctortwhohiddles

p.s. Tell your friend Anna that she can mock me all she wants, I don’t have the need to make fun of other people to make me feel better. A good book, chocolate and a cup of tea do the job just great.