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?

7 More Pokemon to Catch

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Oh look, even more new Pokemon for Pokemon Sun and Moon. Let’s take a look at them, shall we?

knowyourmeme.com

 -Charjabug: the Electric/Bug type that knows Spark and is the evolution of Grubbin. Is Japan boasting its mech mania in making this Pokemon? With its geometric design, I swear this thing looks like a minimalist version of Wormamon or a miniature Transformer. #robotsindisguise

games.mxdwn.com

-Vikavolt: another Electric/Bug type, but this one knows Zap Cannon. I’ll admit this one is a nifty design and reminds me of a stag beetle. Vikavolt is the evolution of Charjabug, disproving my theory of Charjabug being a Transformer. Dangit. 

 

ign.com

-Drampa: the Normal/Dragon type that knows Dragon Breath and the ability Frenzy. Drampa looks like an aquatic version of Falkor from “The Neverending Story” with banana eyebrows which means I definitely want it.

polygon.com

 -Cutiefly: a Bug/Fairy type that knows Fairy Wind. Based on this Pokemon’s design, it looks like it was crafted after a beefly. Who knew a little bug like this could be so cute? I wish the name was a little better, but I think the finished result makes up for it.

eurogamer.net

 -Togedemaru: an Electric/ Steel type with the move Discharge and the ability Lightning Rod. Ladies and gentleman, this Pokemon is the Pikachu of Sun and Moon. It’s small like Dedenne, round like a Spheal, and even sports those chubby cheeks (and chubby classic body) of Pikachu. It has triangles that pop out and is modeled after a hedgehog – an illegal pet in Hawaii.

polygon.com

 -Tapu Koko: an Electric/ Fairy type of Pokemon with the ability Elekimaker. For starters, we have a ton of electric Pokemon so far which is cool. Second, this is the guardian Hala was referring to! This is the guardian of Melemele and it actually looks rather nifty. It appears to know the move Electric Terrain (based on its battle with Slowbro) which enhances electric moves and is owned by Hala. 

gamezone.com

-Bruxish: a Water/Psychic type that knows Psywave and the ability Dazzle (give ‘em the old razzle dazzle). What the Houndoom am I looking at? There’s a flower on its head and it looks like you really don’t want to mess with it because of how crazy it is. Its body appears to be a tropical (albeit fitting), but Lisa Frank fever dream.

Thank you 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 the leaked Pokemon?

Sleeping With the Stars: Anton Yelchin

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

This year is incredibly bizarre so far. No, not for personal reasons, but more so the fact that fantastic celebrities keep dying. So far we’ve lost David Bowie, Muhammad Ali, Doris Roberts, Prince, and so many other people that I’m uncertain how much more our hearts can bear.

Sadly, we’ve lost yet another celebrity: Anton Yelchin. Anton Yelchin is also known as the young Chekov in J.J. Abrams’ rebooted Star Trek movies.

Yelchin was fatally pinned by his car against his brick mailbox pillar and the gate of his home. No one had tampered with the vehicle; officials found the car in the neutral gear. What many believe occurred was that the car rolled down the steep drive way and fatally collided with the young actor. The trauma from the incident led to his demise. His body was found by his friends who were concerned as to why he hadn’t appeared for an 11 pm rehearsal.

Yelchin drove a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee which had been recalled earlier this year due to rollbacks. Fiat Chrysler believes it was the car’s shifter behind the rollback which possibly caused 41 injuries. Fiat Chrysler claims it will aid in Yelchin's investigation.

Yelchin was twenty seven years old and originally from St. Petersburg, Russia. His parents were two iconic professional ice skaters who fled to America as political refugees. During their escape, Yelchin was still a child and raised in Los Angeles. After hitting his head as a kid, Yelchin didn’t want to become an ice skater. Instead he preferred reading, chess, and acting. His first professional role was Augie in A Man is Mostly Water. From there onward, he starred in other movies and series such as From Up on Poppy Hill, Only Lovers Left Alive, Huff, and The Practice. Yelchin just finished starring in the movies Thoroughbred and Star Trek: Beyond.

I’m not sure how many more wondrous people we’ll lose this year, especially one as young and as tragic as Anton Yelchin. Rest in peace, Yelchin – may you go boldly where no man as gone before.

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

So tell me, what will you remember Anton Yelchin most for?

Let's Get WICKED

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

This week has been depressing, so I think I might have something to lift everyone’s spirits. You could say this news will make you defy gravity.

Universal has just announced December 20^th, 2019 as the official release date for the “WICKED” movie adaptation. Over a decade ago, Universal claimed it would be converting one of Broadway’s biggest plays into a movie. Years passed with barely any news regarding this adaptation until today.

“WICKED” tells the story before “The Wizard of Oz” and the origins of Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.  It was turned to a Broadway show based on Gregory Maguire’s hit novel “The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West”.

“WICKED”’s movie adaptation will be directed by Stephen Daldry and Marc Platt, the producers of this ten year running Broadway play. Stephen Schwartz (the original writer) and Winnie Holzman (the original lyricist) for the musical will be reuniting to bring “WICKED” to the big screen. The movie will draw inspiration from the Broadway play and the novel it was based on.

In the past, Chenoweth had expressed interest in playing Madam Morrible, the Headmistress of Shiz University where the Wicked Witch (Elphaba) and Glinda meet.

Honestly, I hope the original cast reunites for making a long awaited movie. They could also possibly do a mix of the original cast and some of the other casts throughout the years to make this production absolutely wicked.

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 a “WICKED” movie?