#i hate the internet a lot of the time but honestly it's quite breathtaking that i can find with a few clicks people who are passionate about

[rebornofstars]

sometimes i scroll thru my tumblr dash & think to myself with a bit of awe how lucky i am to be surrounded by a world full of beautiful ppl doing beautiful things. & yeah no there's no punchline to this one actually. i just love u

[fantasyresident]

The Complaints About Pokemon Sword and Shield Are Getting Ridiculous

For a while after the release of the first trailer introducing these new games, fans were actually pretty hyped and excited for the game’s release. Then we had the reveal of the Wild Area around the time of E3, which for whatever reason pissed some people off?? But then when it was announced that not every Pokemon would be in the game, that’s when the chaos began. Whiny fans who wanted all 1000-something Pokemon shoved compactly into this already busy and ambitious game took to the internet and created a storm of negativity about these games that in the eyes of a level-headed person are looking pretty damn promising and stunning. Sure, there are small things you can pick and choose to say “hey, that could be better”, but these so-called “fans” are completely destroying the once positive energy surrounding this game. They are misconstruing FACTS and spreading false information and in turn are spreading doubt among fans who would otherwise really like the games. What they don’t realize is (or maybe they do) that this is actually damaging the fanbase of Pokemon. When you spread false fears and get people to not buy these games for reasons that go beyond normal stupidity, you are being destructive. And yes, if you’re one of those over-the-top “fans” who says there’s nothing promising about these upcoming games, you are not only fooling yourself, but you’re being a fool. If you have criticisms, be fair and kind about them. When people work this damn hard on a game and they show that they are actually listening to the fans in many senses, you shouldn’t NITPICK small little things like the EXP. Share situation (if you’re not familiar with this, go look it up) or the National Dex “crisis”.

Game Freak has been super transparent when it comes to their reasons for doing these things and fans shouldn’t be this disrespectful towards them. They nearly doubled their original team size for a reason, and this shouldn’t go unnoticed. For those of you not buying the game because you can’t turn EXP Share off, or because you can’t have 1000 newly textured, newly animated, creatures that would have to be balanced with all the other ones they’re putting in the game, then go ahead, be my guest, miss out on the experience of a lifetime and bull about things they’ll likely fix in the future. When you finally have your way like you must always want, you’ll look like a total fool for sitting out Sword and Shield for these small little reasons. Now this isn’t to say that anyone with any form of complaints or grievances about the game are spoiled pests to the community. Not at all. If you have respectful criticisms for the game that are positive and if you’re providing other methods that they could use to fix a problem, then GOOD FOR YOU! Seriously, constructive criticism is welcome in any situation. But if you bomb a game before all the details even come out about it and not provide any better solution in a kind, understanding way, then the shame falls on you, not what you’re complaining about. You know who you are.

The truth is, this game already has many great features that improves upon past elements. While not much is known about the story, what we do know is sparking quite a lot of speculation and interest, and I believe that the story will not disappoint, because for me it never has thus far. The story has been constantly evolving with the gameplay. Sure, it’s been small steps sometimes, but Game Freak should be given credit for never going backwards like so many other games are doing these days. Game Freak understands the importance of multiple elements being good in a game, not just the graphics. So all of you griping about that infamous tree, you can calm down. It’s not final game footage and its not like that tree is going to be the center point of the game. I can’t believe I have to say that. When so many good advancements are being made to Pokemon like having the camping feature, advanced online cooperation between other players, far better customization of your character, 18 gyms (1 for each type), a huge cultural world, and yes, the graphics are  the best they’ve been in my opinion (ASIDE from the goddamn tree. -_-) then fans shouldn’t be nitpicking and basing whether or not they’re going to buy the game off of those things they nitpick about. If you’re going to complain about something the game has to offer (which is an increasing amount of things), then offer solutions, offer constructive criticism to Game Freak. A company working that honestly hard on something doesn’t need to come out of their sweat shop just to hear unruly fans whining about how they don’t like the way a tree looks out in the wild or how they don’t want multiple Pokemon getting experience (Oh no, the end of the world), or how they think they’re stupid for not including every Pokemon in the game. The game will likely not be perfect, but it sure as hell is looking really great to say the least and many aspects of it are breathtaking. From the good world building and cultural themes, to the changing weather patterns in the wild area, to the diversity of areas to explore, it all looks so damn promising. Like it or hate it, its an ambitious project that Game Freak is serious about making the best they can make it.

[meiilan]

“Why don’t you continue story XYZ anymore, I really liked it?” - “Did you? Well I didn’t know that.”

Because recently I had this conversation again, I wanted to address it, because honestly it’s quite frustrating for both sides. For those, who don’t know, I do write fanfiction as well, as drawing fanarts. And while I tend to stick more to one shots, I occasionally start writing a series of one-shots, that are related, follow a certain timeline, but could also be read as stand-alones.

The thing is, how many parts for a series there will be rises and falls 100% with my motivation to continue. Even if I don’t haven an inspiration right away, if I feel motivated to continue, I will continue. I have enough experiences in writing regularly, that I can in tight moments, pull inspiration right out of my bum, if necessary. But motivation is not something, I have limitless.

My motivation stems completely from how the audience interacts with my work. And that’s why so many of my series discontinued. I just couldn’t see any interaction between my works and my readers.

“But I left kudos!”

That’s nice, but it’s akin to getting a badge of recognition. The first few feel nice, from then on they kinda loose their worth exponentially, if that is all the author gets. If you only get a badge of recognition, but nobody tells yo, what your being recognized for, it kinda starts feeling hollow, performative even. I’m not saying, stop giving kudos, if that’s what you do. But I’m saying, of you want to get me motivated to continue - and I’m sure this is a feeling shared by many other authors - let me know what you felt, when you read my story.

A kudo in the skala of reader-feelings barely registers as “oh that was nice”.

But, even at the risk of sounding too prideful, I don’t write stories for them to be just “nice” for readers. I want them to be breathtaking, exciting, heart-crushing, exhilarating, hilarious, beautiful! I want my readers to either fall in love with my stories, or hate them with a burning passion and still continuing in hope, the story apologies eventually for crushing their heart so cruelly.

And that’s where comments come in play. Comments are often the only way, an author on the internet truly sees their audience interacting with their works. There are other ways too - fanarts made for fanfics, cosplay even made from fanfics - but they are even rarer and harder to come by. So many authors, me included, thrive on comments. Crave them even, as the only way they can truly experience the feeling of seeing a reader hold your book, and laugh in glee, while reading it.

And it doesn’t even have to be a long comment, either!

Look at this! This is one of the comments, I got on a series, I’m still motivated to write. That smile alone tells me already, that my intention of crushing my readers heart in a good way, succeeded. I saw my reader cry over my work, even if only in a very small way. This is often enough.

Just two sentences, one not even finished and still I fell 100% validated with my work.

It doesn’t need much, really. Not that I don’t appreciate the long comments, either. I do. A lot actually. But it’s just the fact, that I get comments, that I’m striving for. Because a kudo - at the end of the day - is just an emotionally impartial number. But each comment I get, contains the feelings of my readers. And whenever I feel stuck, whenever I struggle and wonder ‘should I stop working on this’, I can go back on the comments and experience the joy of seeing all these emotions again. And that gives me enough of a motivation boost to push through the hard times and carry on.

And to put this into some better perspective, so you don’t think, I expect unfathomable numbers:

This is one of the my stories with the most kudos in total. It was written for a new fandom, I delved in. I had some more story-ideas, but I never felt motivated enough to write for this fandom again.

This is the average kudo-count, I work with. So really, I’m not even a big writer around here. I know exactly, how I planned to continue the story. But this story I last updated on September 2005. Guess why.

These are two stories in an on-going series, that I’m still writing on. And I’M currently working on the third part. Only a 6th of the people, leaving kudos, left me a comment, but that alone is enough to keep me motivated, just for their sake.

So please, if you want your author to continue a series, you really love

Let them know, you do!

[misterstarkidontfeeltoogood-blog]

My Top Movies of 2018

Honorable mentions- Wreck it Ralph 2; Ralph Breaks the internet, Solo, Mamma Mia Here We Go Again.

It’s also important to note a few movies I didn’t see this year that could very well be on this list- Hereditary, Bohemian Rhapsody, Grinch, The Hate u Give, MI: Fallout.

20. The Spy Who Dumped Me (directed by Susanna Fogel)- Honestly, this movie was fucking hilarious. Probably my top true comedy of the year. The plot was nothing special but it was exciting and funny from start to finish.

19. Adrift (directed by Baltasar Kormákur)- I feel like this movie was really overlooked! It was a beautiful story of love and survival and the cast was brilliant (and attractive). Very aesthetically pleasing as well. 

18. Fantastic Beasts; The Crimes of Grindelwald (directed by David Yates)- This movie got a lot of backlash from critics, but I personally really enjoyed it. I loved the characters, and the plot was very intriguing to me! Great plot twist at the end. I enjoyed this much more than the original Fantastic Beasts. I also got a lot of nostalgia from this movie, with the Hogwarts scenes.

17. Venom (directed by Ruben Fleischer)- Although only Aquaman (yikes) is below this on my list of superhero movies this year, I still really enjoyed Venom! 2018 DELIVERED with superhero movies. Tom Hardy was incredible and so hot like wow.. Good ratio of humor to action.

16. Crazy Rich Asians (directed by Jon Chu)- Okay I typically HATE rom-coms, but this was sooo good! The cast was INCREDIBLE, and the story wasn’t too predictable. It was also so aesthetically pleasing and discussed a lot about Asian culture which is awesome!

15. Christopher Robin (directed by Marc Forster)- So much nostalgia oh my god. I cried in the theater lol. So cute and such a good message. The cast was great (LOVED Hayley Atwell).

14. A Simple Favor (directed by Paul Feig)- This was so underrated. Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively were fucking amazing, and the story was so unpredictable! This reminded me of Gone Girl, but funnier and not quite as dark. Definitely kept me entertained the whole time.

13. Black Panther (directed by Ryan Coogler)- One of the best MCU movies. The cast was amazing and it introduced some of my favorite characters in the MCU. Honestly, MCU blessed us this year.

12. Incredibles 2 (directed by Brad Bird)- One of the few sequels that I liked better than the original. So funny and entertaining. Pixar could shit out anything and I would love it, but this was one of my favorites in recent years.

11. Ant Man and the Wasp (directed by Peyton Reed)- Probably the most slept on MCU film. Paul Rudd is gold and Evangeline Lilly worked perfectly with them. Fucking hilarious and so pure. Also, the post credit scene gave me chills. 

10. Love, Simon (directed by Greg Berlanti)- I cried a lot in this one too. So important for LGBT youth for them to get a teenage love story that received mainstream media attention. The cast was great and it was so cheesy and I loved it. This book is fabulous too! 

9. Deadpool 2 (directed by David Leitch)- This was just as good as the first one. Ryan Reynolds is perfect as Deadpool and all of the meta references were amazing. Full of so many good cameos. 

8. Boy Erased (directed by Joel Edgerton)- One of the most (if not the most) important films of the year. I shamelessly cried in the theater. Helped me see the horrors of conversion therapy. As a gay christian, this movie hit home and was executed perfectly. Lucas Hedges and Nicole Kidman were especially amazing. I hope this one wins some awards.

7. Eighth Grade (directed by Bo Burnham)- Another one deserving of awards, and another one that made me cry in the theater. Elsie Fisher was just breathtaking. An important movie for anyone who has ever felt alienated or different growing up. 

6. Spider Man: Into the Spiderverse (directed by Peter Ramsey, Robert Persichetti Jr., Rodney Rothman)- This movie was such a pleasant surprise. The animation was simply phenomenal. I think it will really change the future of animated movies. Miles Morales is such a good Spider Man. I can’t say enough good things about this movie. 

5. A Quiet Place (directed by John Krasinski)- This was really groundbreaking for the horror genre. Soooo damn suspenseful and exciting. The lack of sound is really something that can’t be done again, and it’s something that you have to experience in the theater. John Krasinski and Emily Blunt were breathtaking. 

4. Mary Poppins Returns (directed by Rob Marshall)- So much nostalgia and sentiments in this movie. Disney really killed it with this one. Again, Emily Blunt was amazing, and Lin-Manuel Miranda was fantastic. Lots of good cameos, and the music was just incredible. So visually appealing. Made me cry in theaters. 

3. A Star is Born (directed by Bradley Cooper)- Lady Gaga was fucking incredible in this. Her voice, her acting, her everything. I will be pissed if she doesn’t get best actress. So tragic yet beautiful. The music was breathtaking, and it reflected the story so beautifully. 

2. Bad Times at the El Royale (directed by Drew Goddard)- Hands down, the most underrated film of the year. The story was so unique and intriguing. The characters were amazing and portrayed by incredible actors. The music and cinematography complimented the story line so well. I could honestly go on and on about this movie. It’s a shame that it probably won’t receive any awards.

1. Infinity War (directed by the Russo brothers)- Definitely the movie I’ve seen the most in 2018. Getting to see all my favorite characters come together (and most of them die lol) was like nothing I’ve seen before in a movie. I was not expecting to leave the theater on probably the biggest cliffhanger in cinematic history. This culmination of 18 (I think) movies was damn good. Also, probably the best and most exciting post-credit scene in history. 

[allthefilmsiveseenforfree]

Call Me By Your Name

I can’t remember the last time I have had so many ~feelings~ during a movie. Because listen, I am all about this queer shit right here (^see above^) but I was almost crushed by the amount of Oscar buzz, internet-based expectations, and sheer anticipation around this movie. And watching this movie was a WILD RIDE - through no fault of the filmmakers, I watched this film in a half-full theater of the most uncomfortable people in the metro area, apparently. Did you know this movie was a comedy? Me neither! But according to the two guys sitting in the row behind us, who gave a chuckle after 80% of the spoken lines (and sometimes to still shots of hilarious things like an open window; a lighted menorah; A FUCKING MOUNTAIN), this film is a goddamn laugh riot. Also, shout out to the throat-clearers, who, as Fiancee pointed out, were in fine voice the moment a pair of boobs appeared on the screen. What even was this cinematic experience? Was it possible to enjoy this critically beloved movie at all? Well...

I am kind of sad that I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would, overall. However, I did love some things more than I ever expected, which somewhat balances out my disappointment. Mostly I just had so. many. thoughts.

Some thoughts:

First of all, the film looks beautiful because it’s set in northern Italy. I feel like you could point a camera at a clump of dirt in northern Italy and it would still look beautiful. But the direction was definitely purposeful at all times, so much so that I was distracted by it. I can’t decide if being an excellent director means making the way the movie was shot look effortless or it it means what happened here, which was me thinking in every scene, “Huh. That’s interesting he chose to shoot it like that.” Luca Guadagnino might be a genius, or he might just be kind of pretentious. I honestly have no idea.

I didn’t think I would be so uncomfortable with the age difference between Elio and Oliver, but the fact that Armie Hammer looks like he is a HARD 31 (Fiancee thought he was a hot 40 the whole time), and Timothee Chalamet actually looks 17 made some scenes feel surprisingly predatory to me. 

Speaking of, maybe it was just me, but I’m honestly unsure why Oliver was interested in Elio in the first place. It’s obviously super easy to see why Elio was into Oliver (1. look at him. 2. etymology talks with dad get any young man’s pulse racing. 3. he’s honestly just really cool, he’s a cool guy who exudes coolness. 4. tiny shorts.) I felt like the romantic tension was incredibly one-sided until well into the movie, and I was surprised by that. Of course Elio is brilliant and plays piano, but I just didn’t feel like they had many interactions in which Elio did something interesting or charming unknowingly while Oliver’s interest ratcheted up another notch. In fact, Oliver cites the volleyball game as when he first tried to show interest in Elio, which was about 2 days after he arrived at the house - was he just that instantly attracted to a 17-year-old boy? Are we expected to be as well, as audience members? It honestly felt like the same type of relationship buildup as in any teen comedy - after the main characters kiss, the focus turns for a minute to the sidekicks, who share a witty line or two and then kiss as well, even though they have been in no scenes together and have nothing in common. It felt like compulsory straightness, only...gay. We know these characters are going to be together, so you don’t have to do a lot of work showing us why.

Also, why DOES anyone like 17-year-old boys? Why did *I* like 17-year-old boys? Because when you’re 17, you don’t know any better. Oliver is supposed to be, what, 24? I get that Elio is a piano prodigy, and he’s clearly very, very smart, but I just don’t understand the appeal. They’re just a MESS.

Exhibit A: Boys are disgusting. I wasn’t even that turned off by the infamous peach scene - my main issue is that BEFORE the moment of fruition, as it were, he pulls out the peach pit and just throws it across his room to land on the floor - not once, but twice! What are you, a fucking animal? I KNOW there’s a trash can in that house. Find it.

This sounds like I hated everything, but I didn’t - once they finally do acknowledge their feelings, the story of their relationship is treated quite delicately and beautifully. Knowing they have so little time before Oliver leaves makes every moment especially poignant, and that did hit me hard. Anyone who’s ever been in a long-distance relationship or had a relationship that you knew was going to end on a specific day can understand that mixed joy and dread of every moment passing.

The way they physically moved around each other once they decided to give in to their attraction was so real it was almost shocking. I think I’m so used to fictional sexual encounters in movies, tv, and even books, to be treated with more polish and finesse, so it was honestly refreshing to see these uncoordinated men just filled with a desire to touch and fumbling every second.

I may not understand Oliver’s attraction to Elio, but TIMOTHEE CHALAMET is a completely different thing - it’s not that I found him desirable so much as I could not keep my eyes off him. Every minute he is onscreen, I was just pulled to him - his performance is the reason this film has even half the accolades it does, and I desperately hope he wins Best Actor for this work. The final shot of his face, held for about 2 minutes, is just breathtaking. I was so, so impressed by him.

The dad’s final speech is the only part of the film that made me cry, and should be taught in schools as the blueprint for how to talk to kids about their sexuality (any sexuality).

My own personal soapbox - I’ve only heard this film talked about in terms of its gay love story, its gay protagonists, etc. I had no idea going in that Elio had a girlfriend, Marzia, who would actually be a pretty large role in the movie, and who he seemed to genuinely care for and be attracted to. Its the 80s, everything is cloaked in metaphor and innuendo, I get it - I don’t expect Elio to claim he’s bisexual when he can’t even come out and say that he’s attracted to Oliver (”Is there anything you don’t know about?” “Not about things that matter.” “What things are those?” “You know what things.” OH MY GOD, this scene annoyed me so much, but again, I get it, I get it). However, could the people reporting ABOUT the movie maybe remember that bisexuality exists? Or that this could just be a queer love story? Words mean things, people. I know it’s easier, but gay is not the default setting if you really mean queer.

TL;DR this movie is beautiful, but feels surprisingly off in some fundamental ways. I loved parts of it, but was disappointed by others. Marzia deserved better. Definitely won’t eat a peach for awhile. Probably gonna read the book.