Goodbye 2015

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

With a new year ringing in tonight, everyone is making their resolutions. Everyone’s resolutions are for different reasons, but most are usually for self-improvement. Below are my resolutions for 2016.

1. Get Cooking

The one thing I learned about myself this year is that I really enjoy cooking. Albeit, I’ve only made cakes and dirt cups (with chocolate zombies coated in hot sauce) for my game night and work, but still I had fun with it. What I’ve done has pushed me into actually wanting to cook more. I already know how to craft simple foods, but I want to try more complex dishes like Thai Coconut Curry and the perfect quesadilla. I have my eye on what I need – now it’s just a matter of getting it.

2. Do More Cons

This might be my last year for attending conventions because of life and wanting to move forward with it. So far I have a few local ones I want to do and some out of state for a total of seven events (five cons, two Renaissance faires). Since this may be my very last year to do these things, I want to have a little fun with them and do cosplays I have had my heart set on.

3. Write More

This will always be a New Year’s resolution for me because I feel as though the older I get, the more time I lose. If I want to accomplish my dreams, then I really need to hustle it out. This will not stop me from writing my blog entries or fanfiction for all you lovely followers and readers. When I write what I do it gives me experience that I use towards my original works. These entries and fics serve as writing exercises for me to better myself and my craft and I couldn’t be happier to do them.

Thanks for reading tonight’s entry. If you enjoyed it, feel free to comment, critique, share, and subscribe.

Happy New Year! What are your New Year’s resolutions?

Pokemon Go: Gotta Go Global

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Pokemon Go has people everywhere more excited than an Electabuzz using Thunder Punch. Last night we received some incredible news about this up and coming game for our phones.

Pokemon Go will feature Pokemon Gyms that you can use to level up your Pokemon. Players are encouraged to take advantage of gyms whenever they encounter one because they will be a scarce commodity.  Gamers can also join with other teams to fight in the style of double or triple battles.

The Pokemon will be obtainable no sooner you leave your house. Within five minutes from your home you will encounter a Pokemon – it may not be a legendary, but it will be a Pokemon nonetheless. There will be a population of Pokemon living near every player. Pokemon will also be available in specific areas based on their typing. For example, Staryu may be found at a beach, Weedles may be found in a forest, and Pidoves may be found on statues. Legendary Pokemon will be much more difficult to find based on their status in the Pokemon world and location in our world. To catch em all, players are encouraged to trade with friends or travel extensively (though the prior option would be easier).

The Pokemon Go Plus (the watch like device that will be worn for this venture) will vibrate when a Pokemon is nearby. After entering a certain button sequence, the Pokemon will be captured and can later be viewed on the Pokemon Go app.

Pokemon Go will be played everywhere from the Alpines to Zimbabwe and everywhere in between. This venture will literally unite the world in Pokemon, friendships, combat, and a lifetime of memories to come. To be honest, I never thought I’d see anything like this in my life, but I am more than excited to embrace this new world of Pokemon.

Thank you for reading tonight’s entry. If you enjoyed it, feel free to comment, critique, share, and subscribe.

So tell me, what gym leader would you like to fight?

Bayonetta and Corrin Are Ready to Smash

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Folks, I’m going to try and do my best to keep myself at a calm composure for today’s entry. Currently, I am sitting in my office at work, typing this entry, and bouncing like a kid who just chugged a Mt. Dew Code Red spiked with Pixie Stix. Why am I so ungodly hyper you wonder?

BAYONETTA IS GOING TO BE IN SUPER SMASH BROS BRAWL 4.

Bayonetta is by far one of my favorite Nintendo characters. She takes no bull from anyone and is a playful, clever, sexy witch who knows when to be serious and has some amazing skills to boot. These skills (witch time, Infernal Demon summoning, and even her butterfly wings) will be implemented into SSBB4. Alongside her abilities, we also get the Umbra Clock Tower platform from the first Bayonetta game. Bayonetta and her level will be available as SSBB 4’s final DLC in February 2016 ($6.00 for Wii U or DS, $7.00 for both).

I’m sure most of you were also excited about finally receiving some word about Cloud Strife. Cloud Strife, new costumes for our Miis, and the Midgar arena are currently available for download ($6.00 for Wii or DS, $7.00 for both). Every time Cloud attacks, he increases his Limit Break mode which enables him to unleash a special attack and more powerful moves.

The Midgar arena has practically sent everyone over the moon with its new summon features. These summon features will only be compatible with the Midgar level wherein materia containing classic Final Fantasy creatures will bounce around. Each materia contains one of the five different summons: Bahamut Zero (who fires a flare at the stage), Ifrit (who moves the stage and sets it ablaze), Ramuh (who manipulates and electrifies the stage), Odin (who splits the stage), and Leviathan (who floods the stage).

We also received word of another challenger coming to SSBB4: Corrin from Fire Emblem Fates. Corrin is another swordsperson and can be male or female. However, what makes Corrin different from the other Fire Emblem characters in SSBB4 is the ability to transform into a dragon. Corrin can enter full dragon mode or change certain parts of them into a dragonesque part. Corrin will be available for download in February 2016; $6.00 for Wii or DS, $7.00 for both.

Lastly we are finally receiving the Fire/Water type Pokemon Volcanion next year. Volcanion will be available for Pokemon X, Y, Omega Ruby, and Alpha Sapphire, and will be the last new downloadable Pokemon we’ll be receiving for a while. It will be featured in a Pokemon XY & Z movie debuting in Japan next summer and will be distributed around the time of the movie’s release.

Thank you for reading tonight’s entry. If you enjoyed it, feel free to share, comment, critique, and subscribe.

So tell me, who are you excited for: Bayonetta, Cloud, Corrin, or Volcanion?

Christmas Traditions Get Better With Age

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Christmas is usually a time for children, but who’s to say it isn’t for the young at heart? I’m a child at heart especially when those jingle bells start jingling and trees are beautifully adorned with decor. Even so, my inner child still doesn’t derive from the fact that I am an adult now and that some Christmas traditions have fallen to the way side due to time. Yet there are some holiday related events that still are just as wonderful to me as an adults as when I was a child.

Here are some Christmas traditions that get better with age:

5. Christmas Apparel

Don we now our gay apparel – especially for the holiday season. Since I was a  child I have had Christmas outfits: Christmas dresses when I was a baby and from childhood onward, Christmas pajamas that could only be worn on Christmas Eve and into Christmas Day. New pajamas are a treat because they’re warm and hopefully adorned with some awesome design (like Darth Vader), but Christmas pajamas are special. They’re pajamas ringing in yet another Christmas, a Christmas full of merriment, wonder, and elation.

4. Holiday Baking

Most children helped their parents bake during the holidays for some party or for leaving cookies out for Santa. In teen years and onward, holiday baking falls onto our shoulders by means of tradition or merely wanting to whip up a batch of cookies. I find that I love holiday baking because it allows me to further my creativity and I get to give people I care for something sweet just in time for Christmas.

3. Advent Calendars

Advent calendars are little sneak peeks of what’s to come for the big day. Days marked from December 1^st to the 25^th (24^th for some advent calendars), hide little gifts beneath their numbers. There are even different types of advent calendars from beard conditioning to tea. These calendars in particular get better with every year because our interests tend to change overtime and variety should always be welcomed. One year someone may get a chocolate themed advent calendar, another year they may get an anime themed calendar – the possibilities are endless. 


2. Giving

Speaking of giving, as children we often receive presents from everyone. Albeit, we do give whatever gifts we can to others as children, but we do more receiving. As an adult, the role is most often reversed. We give now to children, to close friends, to coworkers, to parents, to relatives, and even to charity. This year I feel as though I’ll be giving more which is wonderful. Tis the season to be jolly and giving, so why embrace it? Besides, there’s just some wonderful feeling that comes from giving a gift to someone. It’s that warm feeling like popcorn is being made in your stomach and explodes into thousands of fuzzy warm puffs. I’ll be gift giving not only to my family, friends, and coworkers, but also to Toys for Tots –a personal tradition I’ve performed every year at every possible chance I can.

1. The Lights

As kids our eyes widen at the glimmer and glow of Christmas trees and shimmering houses. The amazement still strikes us as adults, but only now we can create that magic. We can deck our halls, doll up our trees, and adorn our lawns and homes with enough lights to be seen from the Curiosity rover. We are now the providers of those smiles, those widened eyes, those slacked jaws; we are doing what we only dreamed we could as kids. With the use of technology and lights we can create the magic of those wondrous decorations we saw many years ago as children.

Thanks for reading tonight’s entry. If you enjoyed it, feel free to share, subscribe, comment, and critique.

So tell me, what are some of your Christmas traditions?

Minecraft and Cloud Strife: What You've Been Waiting For

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

This previous weekend, Nintendo claimed that it would have something for us Monday. This news would be completely and ridiculously Earth-shattering, something to boggle our minds, information to break the fabrication of time as we know it. When Monday approached, we were greeted with the news that Minecraft would be available for purchase in the Nintendo Eshop for the Wii U on December 17^th, 2015.

At $30, gamers can play the iconic game on the gamepad and eliminate the use of the television while receiving the Battle & Beasts Skin pack, Battle & Beasts 2 Skin pack, Natural Texture pack, City Texture pack, Fantasy Texture pack, and Festive Mash-up pack along with their purchase. Following the game’s initial launch, players can buy other packs with “Doctor Who”, “Star Wars”, steampunk, Greek mythology, Halloween, Mass Effect, Skyrim, cartoon, pattern, and candy themes.

The news was received with mixed reviews – most people were expecting the date to download Cloud Strife for Super Smash Bros Brawl or any word on Pokemon Z. After all, Corocoro (a Pokemon magazine in Japan) mentioned teasing us with some rather large news regarding Pokemon in December. What this is, one can speculate that it pertains to Pokemon Z. The only Pokemon news we have received was for today in that Sceptile has been confirmed for Pokken Tournament with Electrode and Farfetch’d as supporting characters.

However, something much more exciting than Minecraft has flooded the Internet. On December 15^th at 2 PM, Masahiro Sakurai (a major artist who works on Super Smash Bros series) will be informing us more about Cloud Strife and the future of Super Smash Bros Brawl 4 for both the Wii U and 3DS. Nintendo is also deeming this event as the final presentation regarding Super Smash Bros Brawl.

What could this mean? Obviously, the information regarding Cloud will probably be the date when he is available for the game. But what about the fan Brawl ballot? It seems likely that Cloud has won the ballot, but no one is for certain.

For now, we wait with bated breath for possibly the greatest thing to happen to Super Smash Bros Brawl since its very creation.

Thank you for reading tonight’s entry. If you enjoyed it, feel fre to comment, critique, share, and subscribe.

So tell me, what would you like to see Nintendo announce or discuss?

It's Time for Hanukkah!

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

On December 6^th, we began the celebration of Hanukkah. Hanukkah is an eight day holiday often celebrated by Jewish people who give gifts and light the menorah. The menorah is an eight pronged candelabra – each candle is lit for every night of Hanukkah. Now granted, while I’m not Jewish I do respect other people’s holidays and customs because everyone celebrates the holidays in accordance with their cultures, religions, and beliefs.  But I will say in the past years of surfing the web, I have found some excellent menorah designs.

5.The Blown Menorah

This glass blown menorah has blown my mind with how the glass details seemingly hang in the air. Each intricate circle supports the eight prongs that hold candles for those long eight nights. This menorah appears as though it’s transparent and floating, but speckled with beautiful shades like ghosts of many Hanukkahs past and many Hanukkahs to come.

4. The Wooden Menorah

The modern menorah where you can shift the tiles into any shape you want like a camel, a bird, a person, or whatever your mind decides.  This menorah is suitable for anyone of any age because it reminds them of this special holiday and the wonder it invokes from childhood to adulthood. 

3. Menorahsaurus Rex

The menorahsaurus rex is the most fearsome of menorahs with its gaping jaws and golden frame. This menorah rises above other animal based menorahs, knowing it could easily tear them apart. Each flame added to this menorah will not only make it appear fierce, but also remind you of the endless flames that live on just like the fossils of dinosaurs. 

2. Steam-menorah Punk

Steampunk is a style crafted from the Victorian days where steam was used to power everything from carriages to lights. It is design featuring gears, varying shades of brown, brass, and gold, and can be found almost everywhere in our modern culture. A steampunk menorah is no exception. Designed in the industrial iconic steampunk style, this menorah uses little base lights to ignite for each night of Hanukkah.

1. To Boldly Go Where no Menorah Has Gone Before

Every season is the season for “Star Trek” especially winter. Why winter? Because you get to use this “Star Trek” menorah of course! Unlike other menorahs it’s sparked with miniature lights attached to the heads of some of your favorite characters. Not only do you get to celebrate this joyous holiday, you get to do it in an interstellar Trekkie fashion.


Thank you for reading tonight’s entry. If you enjoyed it, feel free to share, subscribe, comment, and critique.

So tell me, how do you celebrate Hanukkah?