An Outbreak of Perseids : 2016

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

With the end of summer just around the corner, now is the perfect time to enjoy the Perseid meteor shower. The Perseids will be hailing the Northern Hemisphere skies tomorrow between midnight and dawn into August 12^th. However, you can still sneak a peek at the meteor shower in the evening.

This Perseid meteor shower won’t just be any meteor shower though. This Perseid performance is expected to be a Perseid outburst. Meaning that the amount of meteors we’ll see will be doubled. This means there will be double the chance to wish on shooting stars, snap some pictures, and have an excellent Perseids viewing party.  The last time a Perseid outburst erupted was only in 2009.

Be sure to go where there’s little to no moonlight in the northeast. There you will see the sky be dazzled with meteors from the depths of the cosmos.

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

So tell me, do you have celestial viewing parties?

Handling Abusive Relationships in Steven Universe

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

“Steven Universe” is an animated series that shatters other television shows. It covers relationships, coping, homosexuality, and now how to handle an abusive relationship.

In the recent episode, “Alone at Sea” Lapis Lazuli is trying to come to terms with herself when she fused with Jasper. Fusion is a process where two gems come together to form one person. Fusion is often viewed as a relationship especially by Garnet who is always in her fusion state – when separated, Garnet becomes two individuals: Ruby and Sapphire.

Lapis discussed her feelings with Steven and is then confronted by Jasper. Both characters share signs of abuse throughout the episode that can be applied to abuse victims in real life.

Lapis believes she doesn’t deserve something as nice as a surprise boat trip, keeps her abuse a secret (until venting about it to Steven), blames everything on herself, doesn’t think she can handle being in charge of anything, believes she is a terrible person (especially for her time as Malachite), and has incredibly low self-esteem which in turn has hindered her growth and actions.

Jasper on the other hand wants to return to that toxic relationship. Jasper wants to exploit the fusion for its power and will do anything to be Malachite again. She begs despite knowing how damaging her time as Malachite was (which could allude to Stockholm syndrome), she stalks Lapis, she feeds Lapis’ self-degradation by calling her a brute, and is willing to annihilate those who oppose the Malachite fusion.

Yet despite Jasper’s pleas, Lapis stands up to her abusive partner. We see Lapis struggle to make the choice to fuse or not and ultimately, she declines. She doesn’t want to feel the same way she did when she was Malachite, she doesn’t want to be with Jasper. She makes herself clear and firm in her decision and even defends Steven when Jasper attempts to de-gem him for convincing Lapis not to fuse.

Lapis is an example of an abuse victim who handles the situation properly with clarity and resistance. Lapis is a beacon for victims to reflect upon: they should tell people about their abuse, they should not let their abuser do as they please, they should not give into their abuser, and they should stand up to them. Albeit, these are complicated concepts for victims to achieve let alone perform, but they must be done in order to progress their growth. Lapis has stood up to Jasper and with it, she is beginning to grow. So many can do the same thing when they take their first steps in confronting their abuser just as Lapis did.

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

So tell me, what are your thoughts on “Steven Universe”?

Alola: Trials, PokeRiding, and Adventure!

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Every week we seem to receive more information regarding Pokemon Sun and Moon. Needless to say this makes me thrilled for the new game. Here’s what we have this week:

New Pokemon:

                -Gumshoos – Normal type. The evolution to Yungoos, ability: Strong Jaw (or) Stakeout. A stakeout Pokemon with a tenacious personality that waits for prey to approach without wavering.

                -Mudbray – Ground type. The pre-evolution to Mudsdale, ability: Own Tempo (or) Stamina. A donkey Pokemon that loves playing in the mud and has a small body that bears super strength.

                -Minior – Rock/Flying type. Ability: Shields Down (which gives way to its true form). A meteor Pokemon whose core is based on what debris it has absorbed in the stratosphere.

                -Fomantis – Grass type. The pre-evolution to Lurantis; ability: Leaf Guard. A sickle grass Pokemon who will fight anyone in its path to retrieve its dire needed photosynthesis.

                -Lurantis – Grass type. The evolution of Fomantis; ability: Leaf Guard. A sickle grass Pokemon who lures opponents to them with its sweet smell before taking them down.

                -Oricorio – Fire/Fying (Baile Style), Electric/Flying (Pom-Pom Style), Psychic/Flying (Pau’u Style), Ghost/Flying (Ghost Style). Ability: Dancer. The different styles reflect the typing of this dancing Pokemon whose style changes from island to island.

Alolan Pokemon: classic Pokemon from the original 150 that adapted to Alola’s vast and different environments.

                - Alolan Vulpix – Ice type. The pre-evolution to Alolan Ninetails; ability: Snow Cloak. Avoiding the normal habitats of other Pokemon, Alolan Vulpix took their place in the snowy mountain packs. It came to the region with humans.

               

 -Alolan Ninetails – Ice/Fairy type. The evolution to Alolan Vulpix; ability: Snow Cloak. Regarded as emissaries who live on the snowy mountain peaks, this Pokemon can be a blessing to those in need or a curse to those who wish to destroy.

               

 -Alolan Sandshrew – Ice/Steel type. The pre-evolution to Alolan Sandslash; ability: Snow Cloak. Frequent volcanic eruptions caused this once considered desert Pokemon to move into the snowy peaks where it adopted its new appearance. Albeit, its new form has made it sluggish, but it can slide on the ice using its stomach.

               

                -Alolan Sandslash – Ice/Steel type. The evolution to Alolan Sandshrew; ability: Snow Cloak. The spikes on its back cause it to be slower, but they are not to be messed with.

-Alolan Exeggcutor – Grass/Dragon type. Ability: Frisk. The strong sunlight has changed Exeggcutor’s normal form into what the Alolans call the true form of Exeggcutor. It has a fourth face on its tail.

Z Dance: Z Moves need a Z Crystal to help your Pokemon unleash a powerful move once per battle.  For special Z Crystals, some Pokemon may need to learn a move correlating with the Z Crystal’s type. Ex.: If Pikachu wanted to use Bloom Doom (a grass Z Crystal move) it would need to know Grass Knot. Some of the Z Moves are: Bloom Doom (Grass), Inferno Overdrive (Fire), Hydro Vortex (Water), and Gigavolt Havoc (Electric). Nintendo will be selling a Z Ring to players, when the Z Ring is activated in the game it will vibrate, light up, and play sounds.

Island Trials: These are small quests given by Trial Leaders of each island. There are four Trial Leaders: Lana, Mallow, Sophocles, Kiawe. After each trial is complete, trainers will fight against Totem Pokemon that can call upon other Pokemon to help them fight you. The only Totem Pokemon that we know is Tapu-Koko (Mele Mele Island), Lurantis (Akala Island), and Gumshoo – though their island hasn’t been specified. Lastly, there’s the Grand Trials wherein you fight against the Kahuna of the island which will grant you access to the next island. Hala is the only Kahuna that we know thus far.

-PokeRiding: Finally we can ride Pokemon – but it’s the ones that Nintendo has presented to us, which is still cool. These Pokemon can be summoned at any time for our aid and I strongly believe they may replace the HMs. We have Charizard for flying, Lapras for surfing, Sharpedo for surfing/breaking water based obstacles like rocks, Mudsdale for walking on rocky terrain, Stoutland for finding hidden objects, and Tauros for running through and breaking blocks.

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

So tell me, what Pokemon Sun/Moon information do you like the best?

Crossplaying and Cosplaying

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Some cosplayers may dress as characters that do not fit their gender. A girl may cosplay the masculine Vegeta while a boy might dress as the frilly, feminine Madoka. In these instances, the cosplayers are entitled ‘crossplayers’ because they’re cosplaying a character that isn’t their gender.

Here’s some advice when interacting with a crossplayer:

-Do not automatically believe they’re homosexual: when I cosplayed a male character people thought I was a homosexual. This doesn’t sound terrible at all, but being verbally and mentally harassed for supposedly being one is. While I do support homosexuals and whatnot, I’m a heterosexual woman who’s incredibly confident with her orientation. I know who and what I am. I felt comfortable with cosplaying the character (Jack Skellington) because I love the outfit and I can relate to the character. Speaking of which…

-Do not stop them from cosplaying the character: that character could have important meaning to them.  For me, cosplaying Jack Skellington was crafted from relating to the character (being bored of a routine life and finding something new and heavily embracing it), my overall admiration for “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and Tim Burton, and how that movie has shaped me into the creative individual I am today.

-Never humiliate them: or any cosplayer or anyone for that matter.  This includes trying to convert their sexuality into something or someone they’re not, publicly shaming them, sexual assault, and generally making them uncomfortable. No one likes experiencing those things regardless of their cosplay or sexual orientation.

-Treat them as a human being: because that’s what they are! Crossplayers (regardless of orientation) are just like you and me. There’s no need to mock them, degrade them or bring any harm to. Make friends with them, talk about how much your fandoms are fantastic, and just generally be good person.

Cosplaying is about having fun regardless of who you dress as or what that character’s gender is. Everyone cosplays characters for their own reasons, so let them express their love for their character.

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

So tell me, have you ever crossplayed?

Let's Theorize: Pokemon Sun and Moon

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Where….do I even begin with this new Pokemon information? We’ve already seen the newly released Pokemon, but let’s examine a few things shall we?

-Riding Pokemon: in a recent trailer, we’ve seen a trainer riding Pokemon. Each Pokemon was equipped with a saddle of some sort and the trainer was in a special suit. Hawaii is a tourist destination wherein people can partake in water and land based activities like biking and jet skiing. This makes me wonder if riding the Pokemon is embodying a tourism atmosphere. How the trainer rides Sharpedo is akin to jet skiing and riding Lapras is like steering a boat.  In XY we had to ride a Pokemon to get through the snow, but in Sun/Moon the land looks smooth when riding the Tauros and Stoutland. These two Pokemon are so random for a smooth terrain which makes me wonder, can we ride any Pokemon on land?

-Dancing: in the same trailer we saw our trainer dance to activate some ability that strengthens a Pokemon and causes them to unleash a special move. This dancing could be akin to what is performed at luaus. The abilities of this dance could most likely be strengthen through Pokemon Amie or encounters with an NPC like Mr.Bonding from XY.

-Mega Evolution: we have a new ability to bond with our Pokemon to unleash a powerful move in combat based on the new bracelet our trainer has. On the one half of the bracelet we see the stone used to unlock this new feature. On the other side of the bracelet, we see a little circular slot – this must be where the mega stones must go. Yet so far, we have no new announced Mega Evolutions, but then again, why would they include this circular spot?

-Pokemon Amie: in Pokemon Amie we see a new icon wherein we can groom our Pokemon. This makes me wonder if we can groom our Pokemon not only to increase their bond with their trainers, but also for contests as well. Also, if we can groom them does this mean we can dress them up? #princessgyarados 

I feel like Nintendo is slowly bringing our dream of riding Pokemon to reality through Sun and Moon. I also feel that they’re not only enhancing the experience for those who always play these games, but newcomers as well. Nintendo is guiding us into a new world with a story we’ve always adored and welcoming those to something classic and wonderful.

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

So tell me, what are your thoughts on Sun and Moon?

Animal Crossing: New Leaf, New Update

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Nintendo has announced that in November 2016, Animal Crossing: New Leaf (ACNL) will receive a free update. Now this isn’t any old update. No, no, this is something rather grand scale that will be beneficial to our towns.

In the near future, we will be able to integrate our amiibos and amiibo cards into ACNL gameplay. The Animal Crossing amiibos cards will allow citizens to camp in your town and may even move in after their visit. This way you can modify your town with who you want to live there. 

The amiibos are not only Animal Crossing amiibos, but also Splatoon, Mario, Legend of Zelda, and many others. These amiibos will unlock exclusive content. In a recent image, we’ve seen Callie and Marie outfits and furniture. These features were most likely unlocked by the Callie amiibo and the Marie amiibo.

I’m excited to see what we will gain from using these amiibos and amiibo cards on such a fun, creative game. I already love Animal Crossing: New Leaf, but to see it be filled with special content that allows me to be more imaginative is fantastic.

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

So tell me, what content would you like to see in Animal Crossing: New Leaf?

Pokemon Go: Coming Full Circle

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Good God on a roller coaster, so much has happened in this past week.

For starters, Pokemon Go has launched in the USA and with it came glitches, strange locations, and some rather hilarious findings. Pokemon Go has motivated people to explore unknown areas, exercise, and befriend others who want to be the very best.

This game has caused the franchise to come full circle and it’s absolutely wonderful.

When Pokemon first appeared in my childhood, everyone befriended each other over these creatures. The playground was filled with children trading cards, kids battling or trading over the cable link, and others gushing about how Mewtwo was better than Mew based on the first movie. I was one of those children; my first holographic card was a Mewtwo and my first card ever was a Ponyta given to me by a dear friend who moved away. I chose Squirtle because I loved the Water type, clung to streetlights’ glow for driving in the dark and past my bedtime, and hated Lance’s Dragonites terribly. The graphics didn’t matter to me as long as my Blastoise won the battles.

My childhood gave way to my teen years where my love for Pokemon waivered. I was an adolescent “too old” for Pokemon, but still had the guilty pleasure of whipping out the DS and training my Totodile to be a mighty Feraligator. The very few geeks I knew still clung to this game and we fought over a strange new feature called wireless combat. The cable links were tossed into the basement, no longer needed and the cards were stored away in the attic. The last card I ever collected was a promotional card of Entei from “Pokemon: Secret of the Unown”.

For the longest time I stayed away from Pokemon, keeping true to my attitude of being “too old” for the franchise. When I entered college my mind was absolutely blown at people my age (18 (if not older)) playing a game that was originally designed for children. I was unsure of how to respond to this, but I knew that I couldn’t keep away from the nostalgic franchise. I started to bring my DS more and learned about IV/EV teams and crafted my dream team that would have made my younger self awe at its power.

I’m now an adult. I have XY, Pokemon Go, and ORAS and plan on purchasing Pokemon Moon when it releases. On those games I have more shinys than my younger self could have ever dreamed of, a wonderful team, and the fantastic ability to play with Pokemon as those they were pets in real life. I treat them well and in turn, they help me bring my opponents ‘ HP to 0.

Other adults like me were introduced to Pokemon at a young age and I’m sure the majority of them have Pokemon Go. Because of this app, they can explore the world they never knew and make friends along the way. Some people have eliminated their depression, anxiety, or even learned to cope with their lives because of this app. It’s such a simple, wondrous thing that’s helping so many while broadening the virtual/augmented reality world.

Thank you, Pokemon for coming full circle from my childhood into my current adulthood and exposing me to this world we live in, the friendships I’ve culminated with people and Pokemon alike, and for crafting me into the woman I am today.

Thanks for reading tonight’s entry. Feel free to comment, critique, share, and subscribe.

So tell me, what do you think of Pokemon Go?