NYCC: Be Careful

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

In a few weeks I’ll be going to NYCC and I’m filled with excitement and anxiety. I’m excited because I finally get to go to NYCC after all these years and anxiety because of any possible attacks.

Three pipe bombs were found near a train station in Elizabeth, NJ, there was an explosive set off at a Marine charity race in Sea Isle City, and a dumpster in the Chelsea block of Manhattan housed a pressure cooker explosion. Another homemade explosive was found two blocks away from the Chelsea neighborhood, but did not go off. Twenty nine people were injured in these attacks, but thankfully no one was killed. The attacks were formulated by Ahmad Khan Rahami who was captured by the police in a chase that ended in Linden, NJ. Rahami was shot in the leg and taken into custody while an officer he had shot sustained a mere chest injury.

New York has been home to various bombings, most notably 9/11, the Boston Marathon, and other attackss in between with pressure cookers and makeshift bombs galore.

New York is a wonderful city and a large pot of America’s melting pot culture. NYCC in particular is an example of this concept. As a cosplayer I love seeing people from all of the world cosplaying characters everyone knows and loves. I also love meeting other cosplayers and conversing with them.

To attend this annual New York based convention after a few bombings shakes my spirits some. It’s a scary notion of going to a city after it was bombed because no one knows when another assailant may appear. No one can predict a bomber’s next action or who is a bomber. Albeit, NYCC’s security appears to be tight which is a mild relief. Yet the idea still persists.

In the past year I’ve ventured to at least six cons in areas both pleasant and putrid. Through these experiences, the con life has taught me something. It’s that you can’t always be scared nor can you predict what will unravel.  This not only applies to cons, but just travelling in general, and I obtain some peace with this advice. At best all I can do is be careful, be cognitive, and be close to my friends at NYCC. It’s all anyone can do honestly other than to avoid the con itself, but why would I avoid something I’ve already paid for and been looking forward to for so long?  

To those attending NYCC like me: be safe, be aware, be with your friends, and be sure to have a great time.

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

So tell me, are you going to NYCC?

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?

Farewell From the World of Tomorrow

This week was a very important in geek entertainment. One of the most prominent events to occur was the ending of Futurama. Futurama is what happens when Philip J. Fry, a lonely pizza delivery boy, falls into a frozen cryogenic tube and winds up in the distant future. 

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In the future, everyone hails the hypnotoad.

This series has been running for thirteen years. I remember seeing it during my high school days and watched it religiously. Since then I've seen the television specials, viewed the holiday episodes, and even have my eye on a few figures.

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Itty bitty Futurama cuties. 

This final episode has pleased many but left others empty. As for myself, I’m at a crossroads with how I feel about this episode. Below are my pros and cons of the final episode of Futurama.

WARNING, THE FOLLOWING IS SPOILERS. SPOILERS, PEOPLE. IF YOU HAVE NOT SEE THE ENDING OF FUTURAMA DO NOT READ THIS. THANK YOU.

Pros:

-We see how Fry and Leela wind up : this was the moment everyone has anticipated. It was sudden, funny, and beautiful to see these two come together. After finalizing their decision, we see how they cope with a drastic change in the universe by making it into one long, glorious honeymoon. It is a romantic notion, to travel the world and literally do anything. Plus there were no travel bills to pay, no airfare, nothing of that nature. It was just the two newlyweds, their feet, and the backpacks clinging to them.

-It poses an important question: if we had the chance, would we do it all over again? Knowing how beautiful or terrible our lives were, would we go back and do it again? The Professor offers this question to Fry and Leela after they've trekked the globe and explored every wonder. The only downside to this is that if they choose to do it all over again, they would forget everything. They wouldn't remember the beauty of the rain forest, the captured untamed mannerisms of a waterfall, or the ability to walk on water.

-Open ending: due to its sudden ending of reverting the universe back to normal, we are given the freedom to imagine everyone’s lives. We find ourselves conflicted if Fry and Leela will trek across the planet again as their honeymoon. We question if Zoidberg will face more challenges with Marilyn (maybe she’s got a strange fear of a foreign alien race and they abduct her?).  We wonder if Bender and the tap dancing girl will continue to pickpocket those who pass them by. The ideas are infinite, just like space.

Cons:

-Unanswered questions: while this episode was mainly focused on Fry and Leela, it left out the other great characters such as Zoidberg, Bender, Amy, Hermes, and the Professor. What happened to them when time continued, especially with Zoidberg? Did he pursue his relationship with Marilyn? We obviously see he does so in the episode prior to this one but where do they go? And what kind of crazy money stealing scheme would Bender get into, especially with his new assistant?

-It only lasted for a half hour: this was the one thing that shocked me about the final episode. I thought it would be extended to at least an hour because it was the last show. Clearly, I was mistaken.  However, we see other shows like Friends, The Nanny, and other popular programs receive a whole hour for their finale. Futurama is the king of popularity when it comes to animated shows alongside Adventure Time and Family Guy. I question why such a fantastic hit of a show would only have a half hour devoted to its finale.

-It technically never existed: at the very end of the episode, the Professor says that he’d set everything right. By doing this, he would be able to set time back to ten seconds before he created the time device which is about four minutes into the episode. If we followed him through the readjustment we would be left with Fry coming to terms about nearly losing Leela and making the decision to propose. But what would happen afterwards? Would the episode still play out just as it did before? We don’t know because it never existed after four minutes. 

Overall, it was a good episode. It could have been improved in some ways but it was a good end. What are your thoughts on the finale of Futurama? Feel free to leave comments below about why you loved or hated it and what could have been done to improve it.