If you like us, you’ll love these…

I bet a lot of you are like me, and read more blogs than just this one. In fact, if you’re anything like me, you probably spend a lot of time on the internet. I thought I would take some time today, then, to go ahead and share with you guys some of the things that take up a lot of my free time on the internet. Mainly, the various blogs and webcomics I like to read when I have the time to. You should totally check them out. (In other words, this is the shameless plug article for other people’s stuff!)

1. GameRx Clinic
This blog comes to you from RSC’s own Doc Watson. If you love his articles, you’ll love his blog. It’s basically his articles from the Red Shirt Crew, with significantly more articles.

2.Nerdy Girls Diaries

This blog was recently started by two very good friends of mine. They’re each working on different weight loss goals, and they decided to write about it. It hasn’t been updated very much, but I do know that they’re working on getting more posts up. It’s got some good life choices, and will eventually have some more things about their various journeys as they work towards meeting their goals. I know they’d love having some readers, and just knowing that people are there supporting them and reading through things. Plus, they both enjoy cooking and baking, so, chances are you’ll get some awesome recipes every now and again. 

3. Questionable Content

This is basically one of my favorite webcomics. Jeph Jacques is rather fabulous. Questionable Content tells the story of Marten Reed and his friends, a group of 20-somethings up in Northampton, MA. There’s lots of fun hijinks, absurdity, and robots, balanced well with some slight drama and hilarity as they go through their daily life. It updates Monday through Friday, in case you were wondering. 

4. The Dreamer

This is a webcomic that I recently found and got into. I absolutely love it. Bea Whaley is a modern high school girl, but she starts having dreams about being in the American Revolution. And they’re very real. If you’re a bit of a history nerd, like I can be at points, it’s definitely a good webcomic. The artwork is very pretty, and the story is well thought out and presented. It updates twice a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays. 

5. Girls With Slingshots

This is also a wonderful webcomic. It’s kind of similar to Questionable Content in some ways, in that it just covers daily trials and tribulations of a group of 20 somethings, with a slight focus on the main character, Hazel. Like QC, this comic updates 5 days a week. 

6. That Deaf Guy

This is an adorable little comic, about a family with a deaf father, and a mother and son who can hear. It’s really cute. It’s more of a one-strip thing than an overarching plot type of comic like the others, but, they’re still incredibly cute and adorable, and it updates on Thursdays. 

7. Doctor Cat

This comic is the pinnacle of adorableness. It’s a comic. About a cat. Who is also a doctor. It’s rather self-explanatory really. Sarah finally started updating again, after taking a hiatus due to medical issues. 

There are other comics I read, but I can’t think of them at the moment. Just thought I’d share these few precious gems with you. You should totally check them out if you haven’t already. 

If you’ve got any questions, comments, concerns, or web comics you want to share with me that I haven’t listed, as always, please do so in the comment section. 

Until next time, 

Angel out!

Raccoon Thieves, Obnoxious Turtles, and Bouncing Clue Bottles, aka the wonder that is the Sly Cooper Series

So, in just a few days, the Sly Cooper Series will be 10 years old. What is the Sly Cooper series, you ask?

Well, I’m glad you ask. The Sly Cooper games are probably one of my favorite game series ever. They’re not the most complex of games, story wise, but they’re amazing for what they are.

<——–See this guy? That's Sly. He's a raccoon. And a thief. He comes from a family of thieves. Master Raccoon thieves to be exact. They steal from criminals, because, after all, there's "no honor or glory in stealing from regular people." With his friends, Bentley the turtle (who's mildly obnoxious in the first game but gets better) and Murray the hippo (who is….adorable but slightly useless, but then he gets better….I promise)
You see that book, down there? That’s the Thievius Raccoonus….the book that contains all the secrets of the Master Raccoon Thieves of the Cooper Clan throughout time. Yeah. That’s actually the name.

Okay, so there are 3 games in the series, and the 4th is coming out next Februrary for the PS3. The first game, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, tells the story of Sly trying to avenge his family and get back the Thievius Raccoonus from the Fiendish Five, who stole it when he was 8 (and killing his father in the process). The second game, Sly 2 Band of Thieves, shows the Cooper Gang trying to steal the Clockwerk parts back from the Klaww Gang (I promise that will make sense if you play the first game.) And the third game, Sly 3 Honor Among Thieves, shows Sly expanding the Cooper Gang to get his family’s vault back from the terrible, horrible Dr. M, and get the fortune that is rightfully his.

So, the reason I like these games is pretty much this: they tell great stories, without getting horribly complex. The game play is very simple, and it’s easy, without being too easy to get boring. I personally don’t like games that are horrendously complex. While I like Dragon Age, where your choices impact the results of the game, I like that Sly Cooper has a straightforward plot. You progress from level to level, and plot happens. The plot is very well done, without taking itself too seriously. They break the 4th wall so many times, it’s great. I love it.

So, if you have a PS2 that still works, I recommend these 3 games quite highly. They were apparently rereleased for the PS3, so, if you have one of those, play these games. They’re easy games to play: I beat the first one in about 10 hours. So. It’s fun to play, and won’t take up too much of your time.

Until next time, then,
Angel out!

The Unsung Heroes of The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games was just released on DVD, and after purchasing it and watching it with a few friends (one who had read the books but never seen the movie), I thought a little bit more about some of the tributes than I had previously. There are a couple of tributes who, in the games, are glossed over and not really talked about. However, they each played a very vital role in the outcome of the games. The Tributes I’m talking about are so overlooked, one of them never is even given a name, only a nickname: Foxface, from District 5, and Thresh, the male tribute from District 11.

Before I get into any further details: I am warning you now. THIS POST WILL CONTAIN PLOT SPOILERS FOR THE HUNGER GAMES MOVIE AS WELL AS BOOK. 

There. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way. I’m going to assume that if you’re still reading you either are familiar enough with the series to not have pesky spoilers bother you, or you just don’t care how the plot falls out. 

We first get a description of the female tribute from District 5 in the books as a “fox-faced girl.”Right from the beginning she is set up as a sly, elusive and tricky tribute. We see this as well throughout the games, whenever Katniss encounters her. She’s smart, clever, and difficult to catch, preferring to stay out of combat, winning by surviving the longest, rather than by killing everyone else. She’s fast too, and has excellent timing-getting in and out of the cornucopia at the feast before anyone else shows up to try and challenge her. Her death is completely accidental, and actually served, in a way, to help keep Peeta alive. If she hadn’t stolen and eaten those berries, he would have had no way of knowing that they were poisonous, and he would have died from them as well.

In the end, had she lived, I still don’t think she would have won (assuming this was a universe that wasn’t set up for Katniss to win), because she would have eventually been forced into a direct confrontation. We don’t necessarily know anything about her fighting skills, but the descriptions given of her seem to indicate that she would not have done as well as many of the other tributes in close fighting. And certainly Katniss probably could have taken her down with an arrow. 

Thresh, on the other hand, probably could have stood a decent chance of winning. And I would have wanted him to win, if Katniss and Peeta hadn’t. He’s a very large guy, very imposing, scored a 10 from the Gamemakers, and, most importantly, he refused to join the Careers group during the training. So, he’s a big threat, and prefers to be solitary. Other than that, we don’t know all that much about him. We only see him at one point during the games-at the feast, when he saves Katniss from Clove, killing her in the process, and sparing Katniss’ life because of what she did for Rue. If you ask me, that moment right there sealed Katniss’ victory in the games. We don’t know if Thresh fell to Cato’s hands or to the hands of the muttations at the end, but he made it to the top 4, and he probably could have won, if things had fallen out a little differently.

The reason I call Thresh and Foxface the ‘Unsung Heroes’ of the Hunger Games, though, is not because of the respective roles they played in keeping Katniss and Peeta alive, but rather the fact that, to me, they represent the small bits of humanity still left in the arena. Thresh, rather than kill someone he knows will have to die anyway in order for him to win, chooses instead to give Katniss a one-time pass, essentially to even a score. She took care of Rue, the little 12 year old girl from his district, so he took care of her, the only way he could-by leaving her alive, for just a little longer. Foxface is the prime example of survival instincts in action. She plays to her strengths: she’s sneaky, so she skirts around edges, picking at leftovers, stealing, never directly facing anyone. She’s playing the games her way, not the brutal, bloodthirsty way the Capitol wants.

Thoughts? Comments? I’d love to hear them.

Until next time,
Angel out! 

Even more dragons…Dragonvale, a pretty awesome app.

As we may have previously established, I absolutely love dragons. That’s why, when I saw this app for free on my iPad, I just had to have it. Dragonvale’s a pretty awesome app that’s got quite a lot of different things for different people. Plus, while in-app purchases can be made, they aren’t necessary to still enjoy the app and get the full enjoyment out of it.

Dragonvale works on a pretty simple premise: you own a theme park or, I guess, more of a zoo. And you have different dragons that you can raise. There are the basic element dragons: fire, plant, cold, water, lightning, air, earth, metal. There are also hybrid dragons, containing multiple elements (such as the mountain dragon, which is a earth and cold type). There are also some special types of dragons: the rare dragons (sun, moon, solstice, rainbow), the treasure dragons (which they just introduced, and at the moment includes the gold dragon) and the gemstone dragons (which are based on the birthstones of the present month) You can buy the basic dragons with simple money (called dragoncash, because you collect it from your dragons, who hoard money like no one’s business) and then you can buy the hybrid dragons with things called gems (the gemstone dragons actually hoard gems instead of dragoncash, it’s pretty useful). Gems are a bit rarer, and while there are a few ways to earn them in the game, mostly you can buy them in an in game purchase.

Now, before you look at me funny, because I did say that you don’t need to make in-app purchases to enjoy the game, let me explain. While you can buy the hybrid dragons with gems, once you reach a certain level in the game, you can breed dragons. For me, that’s the more fun element of the game. You take some combinations of dragons, trying to breed others. Each single element dragon has an opposite type, that they can’t breed with. Fire can’t directly breed with cold; water can’t directly breed with lightning; plant can’t directly breed with metal; air can’t directly breed with earth. This creates an additional level of challenge when trying to breed a dragon that is a dual type of opposite elements.

The other main element to the game is decorating and designing your park. They offer all kinds of buildings and other cute little things you can use to make your park look pretty. Some of the buildings include Treat Farms, where you can buy food to feed your dragons, the Coliseum, that has a daily event your dragons can compete in for prizes. You also can connect with friends in the game, and visit their parks, give them gifts, and get gifts from them.

I included this picture of the Copper Dragon, because I personally really like it. There are a wide variety of dragons available in the game, and new ones are introduced on a semi-regular basis. There are also a fair amount of limited edition dragons, that are only available for a certain amount of time before they go away.

I should also mentioning the leveling up system a bit. Like most games, you earn XP. for various things, like hatching a dragon, or building a building, so on and so forth. Once you reach a certain amount of XP, you level up. Different options unlock once you hit certain levels. For example, the metal dragon isn’t available until you get to level 14.

A recent addition to the game is the Dragon Track, where you can actually race your dragons, and you can spin on a prize wheel afterwards, with different wheels for gold, silver, and bronze.

The biggest problem with this app, for me, is the amount of habitats you’re allowed to have. You have to build habitats for your dragons to live in, obviously, but you can only have a set amount per level. The amount increases when you level up, but, not at a fast enough rate, for my tastes. You end up being stuck with more dragons than you have space to put them sometimes, and you have to get creative, or sell the dragons. But that’s a small problem, honestly. And can be circumvented easily enough.

Unfortunately, Dragonvale is only available on the Apple OS, for the iPad, or the iPhone. I haven’t yet heard about it being released for the Android, but I know that there’s a huge demand for it. Perhaps it will be soon?

That’s all I got for you today.

Until next time,
Angel out!

New Friends vs. Old Friends..A comparison of 2 iconic sitcoms

Friends is possibly one of the most well known sitcoms of the late 90s to early 2000s. Almost anyone who grew up then has seen at least one episode. It is without a doubt, in my opinion, one of the greatest sitcoms I have ever seen, and when it ended in 2004, it was the end of an era. Most sitcoms since haven’t been the same. How I Met Your Mother, on the other hand, is an amazing example of a brilliant current sitcom. Critics have referred to it (in its earlier years) as “The New Friends,” probably because of the large amounts of similarities between the two shows. Since I’ve been currently watching both series in a bit of a marathoning spree, I thought I’d take a few moments to sit and compare the two shows.

Both How I Met Your Mother and Friends center around a group of adults in their late twenties/early thirties living in New York City. They all go through various trials and tribulations, experiencing difficulties with love, life, relationships, work, and everything else. At the end of the day, they’re such a tight knit group that they’re really family. Hilarity usually ensues as a result of the various antics.

Comparing How I Met Your Mother to Friends is, in a lot of ways, a very valid comparison. They both tackle some very serious issues in lighthearted ways that keep things interesting, and they are two of the highest quality sitcoms I have ever seen. But let’s take a closer look at the series specifics, shall we? (And warning: possible SPOILERS ahead)

I already mentioned the general setting of New York City and general life experiences, but there are some general set ups and character ideas that are similar between the series. Some of these are pretty much tropes, but it still merits mentioning. For example, Barney and Joey are similar in a lot of ways. They’re each the playboys of their respective shows, with Barney being a little more intense about getting laid than Joey is. Ross and Ted are also similar in a few ways. You see them deal with relationships that happen and fall apart. They’re both the mildly obnoxious academic type, spouting random useless facts that the rest of the characters don’t really care about. They even both eventually become professors in their respective fields. Monica and Chandler eventually fall in love with each other and get married like Lily and Marshall do (though they admittedly were together before the series began). Chandler and Ross are the college roommates turned best friends, much in the same way Marshall and Ted are.

As similar as the series are though, How I Met Your Mother, in my opinion, in many ways is ultimately a better show than Friends. And here’s why: the premise of the show. How I Met Your Mother is literally about what the title says. Older Ted is telling his children the story of how he met their mother. This allows a lot more freedom and playfulness in the show. Since everything is a flashback, different scenes show up multiple times, and you learn a little bit more about what’s going on each time you see that scene. For example, in the beginning of season 6 you see Ted and Marshall at a wedding, and you learn that wedding is where he met the mother. You see different references to that wedding again throughout seasons 6 and 7, learning more about who’s wedding it is. (I won’t tell you, because, I don’t want to spoil that for any and all who want to see it.) How I Met Your Mother is amazing for it’s ability to take a joke and keep it alive across multiple seasons. You see a bit of a flash forward in season 4 that you don’t get the full story of until the end of season 6. I highly applaud their writers for that ability.
How I Met Your Mother is also pretty good at not taking itself too completely seriously, and responding to things that go on in the world around it. For example: How I Met Your Mother is aware of the comparisons made between it and Friends and makes fun of it, putting itself clearly on top.

The other major reason I like How I Met Your Mother more than Friends (even though I love both series) is the clear character growth that happens over the series. While Chandler, Joey, Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, and Ross do go through at least a little bit of growth over the 10 years of the series (particularly Chandler), they just don’t grow enough for my personal tastes. Barney Stinson, however, is one of my favorite characters in television ever, and not just because he’s played by Neil Patrick Harris. The character is so much more than he appears to be, and you see a lot of that unfold as the series goes on. Ted, Marshall, Lily, and even Robin each experience growth in their own ways over the seasons, and the drama never overpowers the comedy.

However, it should be said that in many ways Friends made shows like How I Met Your Mother or even The Big Bang Theory possible. From the beginning, Friends was always about the ensemble, never the individual. The cast worked together, never letting one member make more than the others, and always being nominated for awards as a ‘supporting’ role, never a lead role. They made it very clear that their success was because they were together. No one member of the cast was better or more important than the other. Lots of other sitcoms of their time, like Seinfeld, or Everybody Loves Raymond, or Fraser, lacked this ensemble orientation. Sure the cast worked well together, but not in the same way that Friends did. The ensemble focus definitely set the stage for future sitcoms.

Even if you’re not the greatest fan of sitcoms in general, I still highly recommend How I Met Your Mother. It uses a great type of humor, and appeals to audiences far beyond the typical sitcom viewer. Plus, it’s got Neil Patrick Harris AND Alyson Hannigan!

Comments? Thoughts? I’d love to hear them.

Until next time,
Angel Out!

Don’t Let This Be You: The Top 9 Most Annoying Types of Behaviors at Cons

So, this past weekend I was at Otakon up in Baltimore. As always, I had lots of fun, and it was my third year going. I’ve been to a couple of other cons as well, and I couldn’t help but notice that there are certain types of people who show up at every con, and they make the con less pleasant and less enjoyable for everyone. I decided, then, to make a list of the most annoying types of con behaviors, and give some helpful hints to all my readers, so that you, too, can avoid acting this way.

Here’s how this is going to work. I’m going to list the behavior, give a general description of what I mean, and what this behavior is like. Then I’ll list some warning factors that ‘This might be you’ as well as some tips on how to avoid this behavior. Just a note, and I’m saying this right off the bat: I am talking about BEHAVIORS here, not specific people. Sometimes I might slip and insinuate that the fault is with the person here, because it was easier to phrase that way, but I am NOT TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE. The fault will always be in the behavior itself, not the person exhibiting it.

I hope you enjoy!

9. Unwanted Tagalongs
Description: Now, I make the distinction of UNWANTED in this form of tagalong. One of the purposes of a con is to meet people who appreciate your similar interests. People make friends at cons, and that’s perfectly fine. Joining up with another group is all well and good-as long as that group wants you there with them. An unwanted tagalong attaches himself (or herself, but I’m going to use himself for ease of typing. I am by no means suggesting it is only guys that do this) to a group that clearly doesn’t want him there. Unwanted tagalongs just make everyone unhappy, because the group doesn’t want the tagalong there, and the tagalong won’t have fun as a result.
Signs this may be you: If you’re chatting with a group of people, and join with them, there are always some subtle clues that they don’t really want you there. Usually they’ll be a little more quiet, and body language can be a big indicator. Sometimes, but not usually, they’ll even be blunt and be rude, or frankly tell you to go away.
How to avoid this: If you’re talking to people, pay attention for all those clues I just mentioned. And my rule is, if they invite you to join them, you’re fine. If you invite yourself to join them, be sure to do so in a courteous way, and if they seem hesitant or unsure, don’t push it. Kindly excuse yourself, and go somewhere else. No one wants to hang out with people who don’t want them. Chances are you’ll find some people at the con who you’ll click with. On the converse of this circumstance, if you’re in a group that has somehow gotten an unwanted tagalong, be nice to him or her. Don’t be rude and impolite and tell them to just go away. If you can, find an excuse for the group to naturally split away from the tagalong. I understand that it can be frustrating having someone who around you really would rather not (and I’ll admit that I can be a little rude when someone is around me that I don’t want there), but as always, remember that they’re a person, and whatever you do, be respectful.

8. The “WHY AREN’T YOU IN CHARACTER?”
Description: We all love seeing our favorite characters cosplayed at a con. But some people take it a little too far. They start talking with the person, treating them like they are that character instead of a person in a costume. Now, calling someone by the character name to get their attention is one thing: you don’t always know a person’s name, and if you want to take a picture, there’s not another good way to get their attention. But this type of congoer expects the cosplayer to be in character, all the time, and that’s not always going to be the case.
Signs this may be you: If you’re expecting a cosplayer to be in character……
How to avoid this: Remember, the cosplayer is a person in a costume. Not the character from the anime. On a similar vein, voice actors are actors. They are not their characters, and are usually nothing like their characters. Just remember that. And try not to have any expectations or be disappointed if they’re not in character.

7. People who Don’t Shut Up
Description: So, we all are guilty of talking to random people at cons. And we’re all a little guilty of being excitable about a series that we like. And we like to talk about that. But this type of congoer goes beyond the normal type of talking about your favorite series, and does so incessantly. Whether it’s in line for a panel, at the panel itself, in the dealer’s room, or just randomly in the con, this is the type of person who you just want to yell at, saying “PLEASE STOP TALKING!”
Signs this may be you: Are you dominating a conversation? Are you still talking? Has the other person said anything since you first started talking to them? If you said yes to the first two and no to the third…….chances are…..
How to avoid this: Stop talking. It’s really easy. Just. Stop. Talking.

6. The Surprise Flashers (aka the Inconsiderate Cameraman)
Description: There are always people who cosplay. As such, there are always people who take pictures of cosplayers they like. This is all normal for a con. The Surprise Flasher, however, is rather inconsiderate or rude about it. They take pictures of someone without asking, or, when they’re not ready for a picture, or they ask for a picture at very inappropriate times. (Seriously, I don’t care if you love Modoka or not. If she’s in the bathroom, it’s not a good time for a picture.)
Signs this may be you: If you’re being obnoxious, and the cosplayers look exasperated with you, you should probably reexamine your photograph strategy.
How to avoid this: Just be polite. Remember that cosplayers are people too, and give them the respect they deserve. If you don’t want to be photographed at awkward times, chances are someone else doesn’t either.

5. The Accidental Flashers
Description: This category I find particularly irksome. There are always those few people whose cosplays don’t quite fit properly. These people usually are about 1 sneeze away from a major wardrobe malfunction.
Signs this may be you: Are your shorts so short that you have to keep pulling out of your ass? Are your breasts pouring over the top of your top? Are you wearing spandex that are incredibly tight and leaving nothing to the imagination? If you answered yes to any of these questions……this may be you…..
How to avoid this: I’ll say it for the record: please make sure your costume fits you properly. Ladies, if you’re about to fall out of the top or bottom of your bra, that’s easy to fix. Buy a bra that fits. Falling out of the bottom means that you don’t have the proper support, and that’s not going to be good for you in the long run. It’s also just plain uncomfortable. Similarly, please remember that the magic of anime makes certain characters stay in their costumes, and adapt yours to cover you properly and completely (this also holds true for reasons explained in number 4.) Your cosplay should not be dangerously close to an Indecent Exposure charge. Gents, your…….unmentionables…should stay covered at all times as well. And I can’t imagine anything else would be comfortable, just saying (He-Man cosplayers, I’m talking to you.)

4. “Rated R for Language (and Sexuality)”
Description: This section requires a bit of explanation. Cons are, for the most part, generally advertised as family friendly affairs. At least during the day. As such, there are a lot of kids around. The “Rated R” congoer frequently either fails to take this into consideration or just doesn’t care. The two things I’m focusing on specifically are excessive swearing and excessively slutty/revealing cosplays. First off, swearing. Don’t get me wrong; I swear like a sailor sometimes, and I’ll be one of the first to admit it. But there are children around at a con, and they don’t need to be hearing that type of language. So really, just watch your mouth when children are present. That is all. Now, onto the revealing cosplays. There are 2 ways this can happen. The first, cosplaying a character with a more revealing outfit, like Yoko from Gurren Lagann, is slightly more forgivable. The second is taking a cosplay that shouldn’t be revealing and making it revealing (Pokewhores, I’m talking about you….). If you’re comfortable enough with your body to feel like doing that type of cosplay, that’s fine, and I applaud you for. But try not to be showing so much skin around small children. They don’t need to see that. After hours is fine: the kids are usually gone by then, and it’s blatantly listed as 18+. But during the day? Be considerate of the children.
(Not going to include the tips and warning signs: I think I’ve already covered them here).

3. Generally Rude/Inconsiderate People
Description: I feel like this section doesn’t need much of a description. Rude and inconsiderate people are just that. I’m not talking about the people who are occasionally rude. That happens sometimes. I’m talking about the people who are rude or inconsiderate most of the time, ESPECIALLY with props. If you’re carrying a large prop, make sure you aren’t hitting people with it. Or at least apologize if you do. Also, line cutters. NOT COOL. I’m also not going to include signs it may be you or tips on how to avoid it, because I feel like both of those are common sense things. Just be polite, people.

2. Debbie Downers
Description: A Debbie Downer is well known for complaining, and loudly voicing the fact that they are not having fun. At a con, a Debbie Downer can be one of the most draining types of people to be around. They constantly talk about how they’re miserable, or not having fun, they complain about having to wait in lines, and so on and so forth. It’s almost like they want everyone to be as miserable as they are, or find a magically way to make them have fun again. Eventually, everyone in their group becomes almost as miserable as they are. If things get bad enough, the rest of the group may snap at the Debbie Downer, and tensions just get higher.
Signs this may be you: If the people in your group consistently seem unhappy with you, and you find yourself not having a good time at the con, you might be a bit of a Debbie Downer.
Tips to avoid this: Try to remember that you’re here to have fun. Lines are a part of any con, and you should bring things to keep yourself busy during the long waits. If you’re not having fun with your group, find something that you want to do. If no one in your group wants to join you, go on your own. Or try to find some people to hang out with (but don’t become an unwanted tagalong). If you’re truly having a miserable time and can’t seem to cheer yourself up, no one is forcing you to stay at the con-you can always go back your hotel, or somewhere else.

1. The Accuracy Snob
Description: Cosplay is a huge part of any con; that’s fairly common knowledge. Some cosplays are also more involved or more well done than others. The Accuracy Snob harps on every little detail of a cosplay, and gets cranky if something isn’t done absolutely correctly. Sometimes, they even voice their opinions loudly enough for the person they’re criticizing to hear, and that’s just rude and disheartening. So what if Cloud’s hair isn’t the right shade of blonde or spiked in the right way? There’s only one place where complete accuracy matters in cosplay: the costume contest.
There’s an alternate form of the Accuracy Snob, who gets cranky seeing cosplays that don’t fit the theme of the con. For example, this second type of Accuracy Snob gets unhappy seeing Jack Sparrow at an Anime con. Again, I say: SO WHAT? Cosplay is about whatever the person cosplaying decides. People have different levels of skill and ability, and that is reflected in their cosplay. They shouldn’t be judged because they didn’t get every single detail right, but rather they should be applauded for having the drive to create a cosplay in the first place.
Signs this might be you: If you see yourself walking by people, thinking ‘oh that’s not right’ in reference to their cosplays, or ‘what’s he doing here, this is an anime con…’ you might be falling into the trap of being an accuracy snob.
How to avoid this: Keep an open mind when you’re walking through the con. Remember that people are here to have fun. I’m not saying you can’t talk to people about their cosplays–if you want to compliment them, or find out more about their methods and the work they did, that’s perfectly fine and acceptable. If you don’t particularly like someone’s cosplay, talk to them.  Ask them about the choices they made, in a calm and polite manner, and learn more about their thought process behind the cosplay and their goals for it. Just don’t insult them for making mistakes, or judge them because “they did it wrong.” If you would have done the cosplay differently, it’s okay to tell them that, as long as you do it respectfully. You might even learn or be able to teach them about something either of you didn’t know before. If you still feel that you absolutely must insult, criticize, or judge someone else’s cosplay, follow what I like to call “The Three Mile Rule.” Wait until you’re at least 3 miles away from the convention center. You don’t want to make someone feel bad about a cosplay they put a lot of time and effort to. (As someone who’s had that happen, believe me, it sucks.)

So there’s my list. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you need to be a perfectly perfect and wonderful and amazing person on their absolute best behavior. Cons are places where you can let your hair down a little bit, and be the anime/sci-fi nerd you are but can’t be in your everyday life. And that’s great. I completely believe that you should be able to do what you want and express yourself at a con. My issue, and the reason I wrote this post, is that there are times where doing what you want can cross a line and infringe on other people’s good times. That’s not fair to anyone. One of the most wonderful things about this community, the sci-fi, fantasy, and anime community that is, is the degree to which we are accepting and welcoming of others. We need to make sure we keep it that way.

On that note, I want to make the disclaimer that I am NOT trying to say that you are a bad person if you do any of these things, or that you shouldn’t go to the con. You have a right to have a good time at a con. But so does everyone else there. All of the things I have mentioned here are types of behaviors that I have personally run into at cons, and I have had my con experience be significantly less enjoyable because of some of them. Please don’t mistake me for being judgmental, or intolerant of different types of people. I am simply responding to BEHAVIORS I have seen that violate one of my most fundamental beliefs: that everyone deserves to be treated in a respectful, civil manner.

As always, I welcome comments, reactions, and thoughts about my article. I ask simply that you keep it civil. If I’ve offended anyone, I’m truly sorry. Bring it up in a comment, and I’ll do my best to figure out where the offense came in, and try to rectify the situation. But be polite about it. If you come at me, yelling and swearing and telling me off, that’s not productive or helpful. We’re all thoughtful, intelligent, and rational people, there’s no reason that we can’t be that way in a comment thread.

Until next time,
Angel out!

Coming full Circle: Magic in History vs Magic in Modern Pop Culture

I’ve discussed three major popular series that heavily portray magic in their universes, and I’ve given a brief overview of magic in history. It’s time to finally finish out this series (I do apologize for taking so long with it) and do a sort of compare & contrast and discuss the evolution magic has undertaken throughout the centuries. I promise, it’ll be interesting!

So, in case any of you missed the first few posts, or, want to go through them again, here are some handy dandy links for you to use.

Intro
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3


To recap a bit, in case you don’t want to go through my links again: there are two pretty popular depictions of magic in modern pop culture: more of a religion, or more of a science. Coincidentally enough, magic use in history started as more of a religious activity, then shifted to a more scientific one (though even after it became scientific, it still had heavily religious undertones). So, in some ways, pop culture depictions of magic do reflect some of the ways magic was actually used in history. 


The other unfortunate similarity between history and fiction is the concept of the ‘evil’ or ‘wicked’ witch.  The idea of magic being evil, particularly in a universe where magic use is less common, is one that is familiar to pretty much all of us. I’m pretty sure this is one of the quintessential examples of a “Wicked Witch.” But, the Wizard of Oz aside, even universes with more streamlined magic use have evil witches or wizards or warlocks. 


A key distinction should be made, however, between the portrayal of the evil witch in less magical or more magical universes. Take, for example, Voldemort. We’d all agree that he’s pretty evil, right? Well, compare him to someone like Circe, who is also portrayed very negatively. There’s a key difference here. In Circe’s case (the less magical universe), her magic is what makes her evil, whereas Voldemort (the more magical universe) is described as being evil and using dark magic because he’s evil. In other words, in the universes where magic use is not the most popular or prevalent past time, there’s a lot of skepticism and mistrust of those who do use it. And if someone happens to be evil, it tends to be because they’re a magic user. (I will admit in a lot of those stories, the witch does happen to be using some sort of evil magic, like the movie Hocus Pocus, where they’re sucking the lives out of children,  but even then, there is still a lot of prejudice against magic users.)Though in the sake of fairness, I should mention that this is is not always the case, and there are some universes with the distinction made between good magic users and evil magic users (Lord of the Rings and Gandalf and Saruman comes to mind). 

Two major differences between pop culture and history do need to be pointed out, and I’ll go ahead and discuss them in detail here. It should be noted that neither of these differences are universal: each pop culture universe with magic treats magic differently. I’m pointing out two differences that commonly occur in fictional portrayals of magic.

The first is the introduction of magic use as a genetic trait. We’ve seen this in universes such as Harry Potter or Harry Dresden’s world, but there are others as well. This concept is pretty much unique to the world of fiction. Historically, being able to use magic was difficult, yes, originally. It took much study and years of learning. But that was actually the case more in the earlier days, when magic was more of a religious role. As time evolved, people used little spells and charms more frequently. And those were your everyday, average peasant. Because around the time of the Middle Ages, magic use shifted from an activity of the elite (the magi) to an activity of the commoners.

The dichotomy between magic as an elite ability and a common ability is portrayed in fiction two different ways. When magic is more of an elite ability, there are significantly fewer magic users, and they’re generally well respected, again, Gandalf comes to mind. When magic is a more common ability, pretty much anyone can do it, even to a small degree.

That second portrayal of magic in fiction leads me to the second major difference: taking magic for granted. Historically, even when magic was used by commoners, it was still done relatively infrequently, at least, in comparison to some of the fictional universes. People in the Middle Ages used magic when they really needed help-when they had a problem and had no other way to solve it. Popular charms included spells to help crops grow, or to end a drought–things that were incredibly important to their livelihood. In fictional universes with very heavy magic, they use spells to do anything and everything. Molly Weasley uses spells to help do the dishes. While that does make her life more convenient, its use pales in comparison.

Granted, the idea of having magic to solve anything and everything is a pretty cool notion, and I can see why it would be a popular one in fictional universes. But at the same time, in my personal opinion, having magic for the more mundane tasks kind of lessens the coolness factor when it’s used for something awesome. But that could just be me.

Well….I think I’ve covered pretty much everything I wanted to. I could always talk about more, but at the risk of dragging this post on and on forever, I think I’ll just call it a day for now. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments on magic, and magic uses, and your favorite series that involve magic. I admit to not being as well versed with magical literature as much as I could be (it’s something that I’m working on), and I’d love to hear about things that I haven’t otherwise.

Thanks again for sticking with me, and reading my posts.

Until next time,
Angel out!

Survey of Magical Worlds Day 3: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

It’s time for me to finally get back to this series of posts, and it’s almost at the end. This is the last world I’m going to look at before I do a final post comparing magic uses in the past and present. My first article mentioned Harry Potter, so, for my final magical world, I thought I’d cover one of the most well known current magical universes: The Harry Potter Universe.

In case you missed any of my other links, here are the first few parts of this series.
Intro
Part 1
Part 2

Harry Potter is probably one of the better known magical worlds. The majority of my childhood was dominated by Harry Potter: first the books, then the movies. Because the series is so well known, I feel a little silly going this in depth. But, it makes  a fairly good comparison across the other series.

As most of you reading this probably know, the Harry Potter books follow the main character, Harry Potter, as he grows up, learns magic, and uses it to accomplish various important tasks. Harry is a pretty spectacular person, even if he isn’t technically the most skilled at magic.

As far of the specifics that I’m going to go into, Harry Potter could probably be considered a blend of the two series I have previously discussed, Buffy and the Dresden Files.

1. The role/function of magic
Like the Buffy universe, magic is more academic, and kind of scientific in nature. Wizards and witches use magic every day, pretty much to make their lives easier in various ways. JK Rowling doesn’t go into a lot of depth about the philosophical side of magic in this universe–readers are kind of expected to take it as it is. Magic exists. Those who use it, use it. It makes things easier. Doing something without magic is sometimes referred to as doing it ‘the Muggle way,’ and on multiple occasions throughout the series different characters comment that they don’t understand how Muggles get by without magic. To wizards, magic is just a typical part of every day life.

2. Who can use magic?
Like the Harry Dresden universe, people are born with or without the ability to use magic. Usually, it’s genetic, and magical families produce offspring capable of doing magic. Magic is the dominant gene as well–it only takes a single parent with magical ability to have a child who can use magic. Muggle-born witches and wizards, that is to say, children with muggle parents who can still use magic, do happen. There’s a big deal in the series about blood and genetics and magical ability.

3. Mechanics of magic
Younger witches and wizards have little control over their magical abilities. In fact, they usually have to learn to control their magic and to do the more complex spells. Hence the need for Hogwarts, and other schools like it in other parts of the country. For the most part, magic works pretty simply: say a quick spell (either verbally or nonverbally), make a motion with the wand, and magic happens. Literally. Spells are typically short, sweet, and to the point–they’re quick little one to two word phrases. I feel like there should be more to say about this….but it’s pretty straightforward, honestly.

4. Relationship between magic users and non-magic users
For the most part, wizards and Muggles co-exist pretty well. Wizards try to keep Muggles unaware of their presence. But some wizards think that Muggles are inherently inferior because they can’t use magic. That’s the minority opinion, but it becomes an issue in the later books. I personally find the more interesting relationships between the wizards and the magic-using non-humans. Wizards have this nasty opinion that they’re the superior magic users, because they’re, well, human. They put all kinds of restrictions on the magical capabilities of non-humans. And some of the other species don’t take it all that well. There’s a lot of interesting debate in the magical community regarding blood status. That is to say, lots of wizards think being from a pure-blooded wizarding family is much better than being from a family that has married into Muggles somehow or some way. It’s all rather silly if you ask me, but, it’s a very heated conflict that fuels the main antagonist of the series.

5. Types of magic
There are quite a few different types of magic. The easiest way to look at them are by the divisions of the subjects taught in the classes at Hogwarts. I’ll just go over some of the major ones.
Transfiguration: In this type of magic, objects are changed from one thing, to something else. One of the most difficult examples would be becoming an Animagus. That is to say, you can turn yourself into an animal.
Charms: This involves enchantments that change the nature of a person or object, from tickling someone to making something fly.
Divination: An interesting branch of magic that involves telling the future.
Potions: an often neglected branch of magic. People tend to not really classify it as magic, in different fandoms. But potion-making involves some magic, at least a little.

Well, that’s it for my brief comparison of a few different magical series. I apologize for perhaps elaborating on this series as much as the others. There’s kind of not a lot to look at; everything is really straightforward. Tune in next time for my conclusion, comparing magic as it was used in human history to magic as it’s portrayed in popular fiction.

Until then,
Angel out!

Olympic Fantasy Sports

With the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England, I thought I’d take a few minutes to discuss some “sports” that I thought would be pretty cool to see actually happen, but that would probably not make it into the Olympics for various reasons.

(And in case you’re wondering, that is the official Countdown Clock, in Trafalgar Square. I took that picture myself on my recent UK vacation.)

Everyone loves the Olympics (or, at least, I know I do, so I assume everyone else does as well). It’s pretty awesome to see the different countries competing at all the different sports. But, unfortunately, there are some sports that we will probably never see in the Olympics, mostly because they live in the realms of Science Fiction and Fantasy stories.

1. Quidditch

This sport comes to us from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, created by J.K. Rowling. For those who don’t know, it features teams of 7, playing on broomsticks. Three Chasers try to score points with the Quaffle; the Keeper protects the goal posts; 2 Beaters hit these other balls called the Bludgers around, trying to knock other players off their brooms; and the Seeker tries to catch the Golden Snitch, a little ball that moves incredibly quickly. Catching the Snitch ends the game, and scores 150 points for the team who’s Seeker caught it.

While this has been made into a real sport, and is incredibly popular on college campuses (I’m sure some of the other writers in this blog could tell you a bit about how it works), it’s still probably not one likely to ever be seen in the Olympic Games. For one, there’s no consistent way to handle the Golden Snitch. I know I have seen at least two different ways of playing that ball (either by having the Seekers chase a cross country runner, or by hiding a tennis ball and having the Seekers look for it). Even if it did make it into the Olympics, until we discover the ability to actually fly on broomsticks, Olympic Quidditch would never look as cool as the way it was portrayed in the Harry Potter movies. I mean really, it’s pretty awesome.

2. Pro-Bending

Anyone who’s been watching The Legend of Korra on Nick this summer is familiar with pro-bending. For those of you who aren’t, here’s a short clip showing it. Basically, a team of 3: a water bender, a fire bender, and an earth bender (benders being people who can manipulate that specific element) battles against the other team of three, trying to knock them out of the ring. There’s three rounds, and the best of three rounds wins. Essentially. It’s pretty awesome to watch, and would make an awesome addition to any Olympic games. Unfortunately, it’s never going to happen. Unless we suddenly develop the ability to manipulate the elements, which really, isn’t likely. Unlike Quidditch, there really isn’t a way to make Pro-Bending happen in real life.

3. Dragon racing

While this isn’t (to my knowledge) a specific sport from any series, it would still be pretty awesome to see Olympic Dragon Racing. Dragons are pretty dang cool, and rather impressive to see fly. (For more about my thoughts regarding dragons, click here.)Well, they would be if they existed. I know this is a slightly weak discussion of this particular sport, but, I can’t think of much else to say on it.

So, dear readers, I’m going to poll you. What are some sports you’d like to see in the Olympics that most likely never will be for some reason or other? Go ahead and leave comments, letting me know.

Until next time, then,

Angel out!

Ninja Warriors Invade the US

Do you enjoy watching amazing feats of strength, agility, and willpower?
Do you enjoy watching people fail in incredibly hilarious ways?
Do you enjoy listening to Japanese commentators?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then I have the perfect show for you: Ninja Warrior. And I’m not talking about the NBC version American Ninja Warrior that’s hit prime time recently (though that is a pretty good adaptation, if I must say so.) I’m talking about the original Ninja Warrior challenge straight from Japan.

Ninja Warrior is broadcast in several countries across the world, including the US. It films the twice annual Sasuke tournament in Japan, which is widely regarding as one of the most difficult obstacle courses in the world, if not the most difficult. It’s also one of the most amazing things I have ever watched on television.

Every challenge (and there have been 27 now, I believe) consists of four intense stages. 100 challengers start at stage one. So, that’s 2700 challengers total. Of those 2700; only three have ever beaten all four stages. Generally, 85% or more of the challengers fail at the first stage. Some in truly spectacular ways.

For a pretty decent overview of the first stage (as of tournament 20) and some legos click here

Here’s a sample of just how difficult it is to win this tournament.

I personally have been watching Ninja Warrior for about 7 years, as periodically as I can. It is a difficult show to find. So far in the US I’ve only seen it broadcast on G4 and the internet. As it’s grown in popularity in the US, G4 started doing the American Ninja Warrior challenge. Initially, they held trials and sent the winners to the tournament in Japan. Now it’s an NBC prime time show, and the winner gets $500,000.

If you can only watch the NBC show, you definitely should. It’s pretty amazing. But if you get a chance, look up the Japanese version too. You won’t regret that you did.

Until next time,
Angel out!