Disney meets Horror in Dark Ride

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It’s been a hot minute since I last went to my local comic book store. I try to get there every other week if possible. I think it’s been a few months since my last trip. Since it’s been a while, I ended up purchasing quite a bit to read. One series that stood out to me on the shelf was Dark Ride. The image for the first cover is this red, menacing, devil mascot with a roller coaster in the background. Based on that, I gathered that this is a horror series that takes place at a theme park, which piqued my interest. Dark Ride was so interesting and kept me on my toes with what would happen next.

Dark Ride takes place at Devil Land, a horror theme park. The theme park was created by Arthur Dante with the idea of creating an adult theme park experience. Arthur’s current whereabouts remain unknown, which has caused fans to speculate. There’s also something sinister with Arthur as one of his wives mysteriously disappeared. The first issue follows Owen Seasons, a new employee at Devil Land. He’s in training and meets Sam, Arthur’s son, who is trying to keep the park afloat even though it’s losing money. From there, Sam’s sister, Halloween, shows up at the park, which angers Sam. The issue takes an even darker turn towards the end when it’s clear that none of the characters are safe from the secrets at Devil Land.

I loved reading this series. One of the other reasons I picked up Dark Ride was because it was written by Joshua Williamson. If that name rings a bell, Joshua Williamson wrote Nail Biter, which is another series I enjoy. Without spoilers, this series went in a completely different direction than I anticipated it would. I thought I knew who the main character was and how they would interact with the characters in future issues, and then this series did the exact opposite. From a story perspective, I’m curious to see what happens in future issues.

Besides the story, I liked the art. I think the art fits in well with the series. The covers are beautifully designed and clearly captured my eye when I saw the series on the shelf. I liked how, at the end of the first issue, there was a map of Devil Land that broke down all of the attractions at the park. It helped me feel more in tune with the story.

Dark Ride might be one of my favorite comic series that I discovered this year. Usually, when I see a new comic series, I don’t buy more than two issues in case I don’t like the series. I wish I had bought all the Dark Ride issues because I think there were at least the first five consecutive available. With that being said, I plan on visiting my local comic book store again because I want to find out what happens in Dark Ride.

Characters I Want to Cosplay As

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As 2023 comes to a close, I am looking ahead to 2024. There are a few trips that I want to plan, goals I want to accomplish, and new conventions that I want to attend. I had this post pre-written for a while, as I wanted to start a few cosplays for next year. I wanted to come up with a list of characters I want to cosplay as. I split this up into various categories, so I could keep this organized.

Image is a photo of me dressed as Kylo Ren. I have a red scar on my face. I'm holding a lightsaber next to R2D2
Photo taken by someone at the convention on my phone.

Gaming

Liliana Vess – Magic: The Gathering

Image is a Magic the Gathering card. It says at the top "Liliana, Death's Majesty" It shows a woman in a purple dress, she has a black fan nearby her. It seems like there are servants nearby her. It says below the art "Planeswalker - Liliana".
Photo taken by me.

In Magic: The Gathering, there are certain characters known as Planeswalkers. Planeswalkers are creatures that can walk between planes or walk in between worlds. Liliana is the necromancer, meaning her abilities often involve raising the dead or a player’s graveyard. I like Liliana’s look. She has this purple lace dress, a gold headband that holds her hair back, and purple arm bands that help summon her undead powers. I love her whole aesthetic.

Meren of Clan Nel Toth – Magic: The Gathering

Image is of a Magic the Gathering card. It says at the top Meren of Clan Nel Toth. It shows a woman with a glowing black skull and her hand on black dragon. It says below the image, Legendary Creature - Human Shaman.
Photo taken by me.

Meren is based on a Legendary Creature card in Magic: The Gathering. Meren, similar to Liliana, has abilities that revolve around a player’s graveyard. Meren is a card that has a special place in my heart because Meren was one of the first Commander decks that I played when I was starting to get back into the game. I think what would be cool about cosplaying as her is that there are a lot of different ways to complete the cosplay. I like being able to have my own spin on a cosplay, and I think with Meren, there would be a lot of different ways to put the cosplay together.

Keyleth – Critical Role

When I first watched Critical Role, I felt myself drawn to Keyleth. She’s awkward, wants to do the right thing, and at times doesn’t make the best decisions. I’d highly recommend looking up “Keyleth Goldfish” as it’s one of the most hilarious moments in Critical Role. It’s funny, I have an orange wig in my closet that I haven’t figured out what to do with, and Keyleth is a character where I could put the wig to good use.

Imogen Temult – Critical Role

Imogen is a sorcerer in the third campaign of Critical Role. I’m playing a sorcerer in my Dungeons & Dragons game right now, and it might be my all-time favorite class that I have ever played. I like her look with her purple hair contrasted with the pale blue dress.

Comics

Scarlet Witch

Image is a comic book cover of Scarlet Witch The Last Door. It shows Scarlet Witch with both her hands pointing at red circles which represent her powers.
Photo taken by me.

Scarlet Witch was the first character I thought of when I decided to put this list together. I love her. I’m reading the current Scarlet Witch comic run right now, and I am really enjoying it. I think the Scarlet Witch look I love the most is Elizabeth Olsen’s look in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Another look I like is Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Endgame when she flies down to fight Thanos in the final battle. Similar to what I said about Meren, there would be a variety of different ways to cosplay as her.

Kraven

Since playing Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, I’m obsessed with Kraven’s look. The shark tooth necklace, the skull on the shoulder, and the fur vest. I think it would be neat to take that look and make it my own. I could see finding a brown body suit, brown khakis, brown combat boots, adding the shark tooth necklace, the fur vest, etc. I think this would be fun to do. I’m not sure if anyone would recognize it as Kraven, but I think it would be a blast to do it.

Doctor Aphra – Star Wars

Doctor Aphra would be one of the easier characters to cosplay as. It would feel more like taking my regular clothing and adding a few things to it. Sometimes it’s nice to have an easier cosplay in between the cosplays that are a bit more complicated to put together. I could see Doctor Aphra being an easier, casual cosplay.

Film / TV

Padme

Padme (besides Scarlet Witch) is the second character I thought of when I put this list together. As a fan of the prequels, I loved Padme. I think my favorite Padme look is from Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones when she’s in the arena on Geonosis. It’s a classic look. The white crop top that’s torn in the back, the white pants, and her blaster on her hip. Another nice thing about cosplaying as Padme is that I wouldn’t have to wear a wig, which would be a nice break.

Nightsister – Star Wars

I have been adding images to my Cosplay board on Pinterest. I found the coolest Nightsister cosplay that I pinned to my board. The one concern I have with cosplaying as a Nightsister is working with body paint. The nice thing with cosplay becoming more popular is that there are tutorials everywhere! I’m also in a local Minnesota cosplay group, so I think I could find some resources there.

There are so many characters and so little time. Knowing me, I will probably end up cosplaying something that’s not even on this list, but I’d love to start challenging myself to cosplay as these characters that I have listed. I can’t wait to attend my next convention in 2024.

Hawkeye (2021)

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by
Image is a poster from the TV show, Hawkeye. It shows Clint and Kate as front and center. To the left is Yelena. Underneath is the track suit gang who wears red track suits. There's Echo in the center below Kate and Clint. There's Kate's mom and finally Lucky, the golden retriever wearing a Christmas hat.

In my Freshman Year of college, I had two posters in my dorm room. One was a movie poster of The Bourne Legacy, and the other was of Hawkeye from The Avengers. If you couldn’t tell, I had a crush on Jeremy Renner at the time. Hawkeye was one of the Marvel characters in the film franchise, where he was forgotten about at times. He appeared in the various Avengers films, but didn’t get the same spinoff treatment as the other characters did. It’s a shame because I felt there was a lot more to explore with his character. It’s a surprise to me that it’s taken me this long to watch Hawkeye, considering how big a fan I am of Hawkeye as a character. Watching Hawkeye was the perfect way to kick off the holiday season.

Kate Bishop (played by Hailee Steinfeld) witnesses the attack on New York, which puts The Avengers on the map. She sees Clint Barton (played by Jeremy Renner) falling off a building and grappling himself to safety. Since then, Kate has been determined to never feel helpless again and has decided to take archery lessons. Flash forward to the present, Kate is in college and gets in trouble after destroying a clock tower. She comes home for the holiday break and is forced by her mother to attend a charity event. Kate investigates a secret auction that puts her in a perilous position. She’s saved by Clint, who has taken his kids to New York for the holiday. Clint realizes that Kate is in way over her head and agrees to help her investigate further.

As someone who read Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye comic run, it’s clear this series takes inspiration from the comics. There’s the appearance of Lucky, the dog Kate Bishop runs into, who becomes a close companion throughout the episodes. The way that Hawkeye and Kate Bishop’s costumes look, which were designed by LARPers. As a comics fan, I love how this felt like an adaptation of Matt Fraction’s series.

I thought Kate and Clint had a good working partnership together. Kate is similar to Kamala as she’s been a big Hawkeye fan. Clint, from his experience with S.H.I.E.L.D., is professional and wants to wrap this up as quickly as possible, so he can spend the holidays with his kids. For only six episodes, I thought Kate developed a lot as a character. In the first episode, she’s naive, immature, and spoiled. She doesn’t realize that Clint is giving up the potential to see his kids on Christmas to help her. I think Kate comes around and is grateful for Clint’s help, along with taking her role more seriously.

Can we also talk about the LARPing? I loved how Clint and Kate ended up teaming up with the local LARPing group and how they ended up designing their costumes. Also, when Clint needs to retrieve his suit, he shows up to claim the suit at a LARPing event. How fun! I thought it was cool to see them team up together in the final episode.

If all of that wasn’t enough, the guest appearances were top-notch. For not watching Hawkeye for two years, it was not spoiled that Wilson Fisk (played by Vincent D’Onofrio) would make an appearance. I was shocked in the best possible way. I am a big fan of the Marvel Netflix shows, and Wilson Fisk was a standout. I liked how this was tied to Kate’s mom. Besides Fisk, I liked Kate’s banter with Yelena Belova (played by Florence Pugh). I knew that Yelena would appear in Hawkeye, which I thought tied into Clint’s backstory. With Yelena discovering the death of Natasha and how she blames Clint for it. Clint accepts Natasha’s death and how he couldn’t have prevented it. I thought it all came together nicely in the end, with both Yelena and Clint accepting Natasha’s death and learning to let it all go.

Hawkeye, in my opinion, did justice to Clint Barton, along with tying up various story elements from the other films. I would love to see more of Yelena, Kate, and Clint working together. I hope this isn’t Jeremy Renner’s last portrayal of the character.

Spooky Ghosts on a Train – Vagrant Song

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At Gen Con, I stopped by the Wyrd Games’ booth. As I walked around their booth, I kept looking at a game they had on display called Vagrant Song. The art on the board game instantly reminded me of BioShock, one of my all-time favorite video games. I contemplated purchasing Vagrant Song solely based on the art. One of the people working at the booth approached me and gave me a quick speech about what Vagrant Song was about. I bought the game shortly thereafter. Vagrant Song is a spooky, cooperative game I’m glad to have in my board game collection.

Image is a bird's eye view of a board from the board game Vagrant Song. There is a Humanity track at the top with numbered hearts from 0 - 25. In the middle of the board are different panels or train carts that serve as spaces for the characters to move. At the bottom it says "Vagrant Song" with a musical note in the middle of the O.
Photo taken by me.

Vagrant Song is a cooperative game, meaning players work together to achieve an objective. Each character is a vagrant on a train called the Silver Ferryman. Vagrants will partner together to set ghosts free (called Haints). Once a Haint gains enough humanity, the Haint will be free to go into the afterlife. Each Haint has special abilities that impact how Vagrants can interact with it. Vagrants can gather items, use their skills, and gain material to aid them in their quest to stop the Haint. If the Vagrants are Westbound (meaning the Vagrants are killed by the Haint), they lose the game.

The art was what drew me to Vagrant Song in the first place. The rulebook and the scenario book are beautifully illustrated. There are pictures of a gritty brown train car with the bright blue ethereal Haints flying out and about. The game board has this old-fashioned feeling to it with the way the train cars are designed. When I play board games, I don’t pay much attention to the art, but Vagrant Song was clearly an exception. The art is exquisite.

Image is a character sheet from Vagrant Song. It shows a character board. There's a cartoon like woman looking angry. She's drawing what appears to be a sword from her hip. It says at the top "Empress the Driven" with a star to the left. On the right, there are 8 hearts which indicate her health. There's some writing below that. At the bottom, it shows five skills: boot, sack, punch, investigate, and patch up. There are three mini cards next to her. There are two skills with two stars on them. There's also a Makeshift Radio below.
Photo taken by me.

Another highlight for me was the characters. Each Vagrant has their own style, which still falls into this old-fashioned cartoon look. For my first few playthroughs, I played as Empress The Driven, who is supposed to be an army general of sorts. She is skilled in “busting” a ghost, aka giving it a good punch. Another character one of my family members played included a dog that had humanity benefits to help defeat the Haint. I’m curious to play as the other characters, so I can fully decide on which character I like the best.

The final thing I wanted to touch on with Vagrant Song is replayability. With some board games, there aren’t a lot of different gameplay options. If I play the same game over and over again, it might feel repetitive, and I might need to take a break from that game. With Vagrant Song, there are a lot of options. This is partly due to the scenario book. The scenario book is separate from the rulebook, but it lists all the different Haints that players can go up against. I love this! It creates a different gameplay experience every time. If I were to somehow defeat all the Haints as one Vagrant, I could do it again with a different Vagrant, and that would change my gameplay experience. I’m not exactly sure how many scenarios there are, but the book is thick, so there have got to be more than thirty at least.

Vagrant Song is the first board game that I have reviewed using my new rating system. I would rate Vagrant Song 5/5. I would always be in the mood to break out this game, and I love the aesthetic of the game itself. Wyrd Games is a board game company on my radar now, and I would play another one of their games in the future.

Reading Goals – 2024

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Image is a selfie of me smiling at the camera. Behind me is a huge dark academia type library. Photo was taken at Trinity College in Dublin.

I can’t believe 2023 is already almost over. There were so many memorable moments from this year. The one thing I will say about 2023 is that it wasn’t the best reading year for me. I mentioned this before, how I started 2023 in a reading slump. I somewhat overcame that halfway through the year, but it felt like I lost my drive to read. I started so many books that I later ended up putting them down to read something else. With 2023 wrapping up, I wanted to come into 2024 with a reading plan. I wanted to share a few goals that I have for next year.

Going Back to TBRs

In previous reading years, I used to plan out my TBR (to be read) books far in advance. This way, I knew what I would be reading ahead of time, which helped me stay organized. This year, I found myself picking up whatever book I was in the mood for. That may work for some readers, but I don’t think it works for me. I like having a plan because it’s easier for me to stick to it.

Additionally, I am going to aim to read three books a month. I think that’s doable. I read before I go to bed, and I tend to do most of my reading on weekends. On top of the three books I pick, I will be reading graphic novels, manga, and single-issue comics as well.

One Book on my TBR has to come from the Library

This is the goal I am looking forward to the most. I started using my local library this year, and it’s been a game-changer. I can request holds from the app on my phone, which I think is the coolest thing. This way, when I go to the library, I can quickly get my books and walk back to my car to run my next errand. There have been several books that I rented from the library and read this year, where I am glad I didn’t purchase the books for my own collection.

Speaking of which, I have been noticing a pattern in myself when I buy books. I tend to buy books, read them, and then, when I’m done, I donate them. While this isn’t a bad thing, it’s something I want to cut back on. I want to stick to a budget, and I have to be honest with myself that buying books is where I tend to spend a portion of my disposable income.

Using my local library will help save money, but if I end up really loving a book I read, I can always buy it for my bookshelf at home.

Completing Reading Challenges

To help keep myself engaged, I want to set a few reading challenges to complete throughout the year. I already have one reading challenge planned. I want to pick the ten books that have been on my Goodreads TBR shelf the longest and read them next year. I think most of them are graphic novels, which is something I could easily do next year.

Reading challenges can keep some spontaneity in reading, which I think will help me to read more than I did in 2023.

Reviewing My Bookshelves

When we moved into our house in 2022, I packed away my books, but I didn’t end up going through them like I wanted to. There are several books on my bookshelf that I haven’t read in a few years, and I never continued the series. I either want to pull them off my shelf and re-read them, or I want to donate them to make space for other books I want to collect. I want to make sure that the books on my shelves are books that mean a lot to me, and if they don’t, this will help free up precious bookshelf space.

These goals are ambitious, but I think they will help get me back on track. I love to read, and I want to make reading more of a priority in 2024.

The Marvels (2023)

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by
Image is a movie poster for The Marvels. It shows the three main stars (from left to right) Monica Rambeau, Carol Danvers, and Kamala Khan.

I have talked about how excited I am about The Marvels. This is one of the few Marvel movies I was really looking forward to. When The Marvels was released in theaters, it wasn’t a surprise to anyone that the movie was getting negative criticism. This wasn’t necessarily from movie reviewers, but from other fans. I was able to see The Marvels before the Thanksgiving holiday, and I loved it. The Marvels was such a fun film to see in theaters.

Carol Danvers (played by Brie Larson) is roaming space with her alien cat sidekick, Goose. She’s notified by Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) about an anomaly created when Dar-Benn (played by Zawe Ashton) recovers a magical band that looks similar to Kamala’s. Meanwhile, Monica Rambeau (played by Teyonah Parris) also investigates, and when she touches the anomaly, all three of the Marvels switch places when they use their powers simultaneously. The trio is forced to work together to prevent Dar-Benn from creating jump points that could destroy the barriers that protect multiple realities.

I loved how Monica, Carol, and Kamala have to work together. Kamala finally gets to meet her hero, and Monica, who hasn’t seen Carol since she was little, has to work through the feelings of abandonment she feels from Carol. Carol misses Monica and reckons with the consequences of being gone from Earth for so long. All of these dynamics interweave throughout the story, and I find it really interesting to see how the three work together. As always, I loved Kamala. Iman Vellani is too precious, and I hope to see more of her in future Marvel adaptations.

There were so many great scenes throughout The Marvels. The beginning battle, where the enemies appear at Kamala’s house, and all three are rotated in throughout the fight, was so entertaining. I loved Kamala’s parents and brother attacking one of the guys with a mop and a broom. Another fun scene involves Flerkens and multiple of them. I won’t say too much more than that.

Another thing that I liked was how this was a shorter Marvel film. Most films these days are 2 1/2 hours, which is time-consuming to watch. The Marvels is at 105 minutes, which isn’t even two hours. My attention span is short at times, and I liked how this was a shorter film.

While I loved The Marvels, I understand that not everyone did. There is nothing wrong with differing opinions in fandom. If someone comments on this and says they didn’t like the film, that’s fine! We are all allowed to like different things. With that being said, I find that some negative critiques from this film include insulting Brie Larson or Iman Vellani, or throwing in the word “woke” or talking about how diversity is ruining comics or Marvel. These are the types of opinions that go beyond having a respectful opinion. I don’t stand for insulting others or trying to debate the importance of representation and telling stories from all backgrounds. If you don’t like the film, that’s fine, but don’t use that as a shoe in for being a jerk.

The Marvels was so fun, and I want to see it again in theaters. With the after-credits scenes, I feel hopeful of seeing more of Kamala in the near future.

My Roommate Is a Vampire by Jenna Levine

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I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday! I always look forward to the holidays because even though I’m busy, I tend to find enough downtime to catch up on reading. This holiday was no different as I brought two books to read while staying with my in-laws. One of the books I read was My Roommate Is a Vampire by Jenna Levine. My Roommate Is a Vampire was a paranormal romance that hit my expectations.

Cassie Greenberg is an aspiring artist who is currently juggling multiple part-time jobs. Living in Chicago has proven difficult as she’s been incapable of paying her rent on time. As a result, she’s evicted and needs to find a new place to live. She answers an ad in the paper for $200 rent on a beautiful home near Lake Michigan. She is introduced to Frederick J. Fitzwilliam, who appears to be friendly and not a serial killer. As Cassie moves in, she realizes some quirks that Frederick has. Cassie quickly realizes that Frederick is a vampire who has been asleep for a century. Living with a super-hot vampire doesn’t at all get complicated for Cassie.

Starting with the characters, Cassie wasn’t my favorite to read about. She’s passionate about her art, but that’s all I know about her. Cassie is written as being in her early 30s, but I felt that her demeanor aligned with someone in their early 20s. Frederick was definitely the highlight of the book. He has his awkward moments, which I think helped to bond Cassie and Frederick together as a couple.

With that being said, I don’t think Cassie and Frederick would be a good couple long-term. There were a few comments that Frederick made towards Cassie that didn’t sit right with me. For example, Frederick goes through Cassie’s Instagram and sees a picture of her in a bikini. He makes a comment, something along the lines of how she’s showing off a lot of her body. I get that Frederick was asleep for a century, but I felt there were better ways to demonstrate that than having him make comments towards Cassie’s body. I don’t feel that Frederick supports Cassie like I’m made to believe by the end of the book.

My Roommate Is a Vampire takes place in Chicago, which I loved. Chicago is one of my favorite cities to visit, and I liked being able to picture where Cassie and Frederick were at any given moment. I thought it made the book more enjoyable to read since it isn’t often that I can picture the setting as I read the book.

My Roommate Is a Vampire met all of my expectations. I wanted a paranormal romance that was easy to read, and that’s what this book was. While I don’t fully ship Cassie and Frederick together, I enjoyed reading their story. I rated My Roommate Is a Vampire three stars on Goodreads.

The Success of Twin Cities Con and Minnesota’s Convention History

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Minnesota has a huge geek community. As a writer for Twin Cities Geek, I have been fortunate to write about various conventions throughout the state. At the beginning of November, I attended Twin Cities Con at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Twin Cities Con is similar to C2E2 or Planet Comic Con except that I don’t have to travel far to attend. It has been notoriously difficult for Minnesota to host a bigger convention, and there are many reasons for that. If you’re interested in “the tea”, trust me, I have it.

The first bigger convention I remember was Wizard World, which apparently rebranded to Fan Expo. Wizard World was held in the 2010s at the Minneapolis Convention Center. This is the convention I know the least about on this list. I don’t know the exact reason why this convention didn’t stick around, so if you have anything to add, I’d love to hear it in the comments.

After Wizard World was Fan Fest and/or Fan Fusion. This is a convention hosted in Phoenix, but the company wanted to host a convention in Minnesota. Fan Fest / Fan Fusion hosted two conventions, one in 2017 (branded as Fan Fest) and in 2018 (branded as Fan Fusion). It seemed like both conventions struggled with attendance. I don’t have exact numbers to back this as a fact; this was more of an observation I made when I attended the convention. Additionally, I had conversations with others who attended that made me come to this conclusion. There were many reasons for this. First of all, the conventions were held at the Saint Paul RiverCentre. For those who have never been to Minnesota, Saint Paul is the slower city. Don’t get me wrong, Saint Paul is a beautiful city, but if I were planning an event, I wouldn’t have picked a venue in Saint Paul. The second issue with Fan Fest / Fan Fusion was the cosplay policy. The cosplay policy was one of the strictest cosplay policies that I have ever seen. The way the cosplay policy was written was targeted towards women and went into detail about how women’s bodies needed to be covered up. Many thought that it was sexist because it focused so heavily on women specifically. Additionally, many props were banned. For example, I couldn’t bring the bright orange plastic toy guns I use in my Lara Croft cosplay because they resemble guns even though they are very clearly toys. To Fan Fusion’s credit, there was an incident at their Phoenix event where someone did bring a gun into the building to try to kill Jason David Frank. It’s completely valid to feel protective of your event and want to keep people safe; however, it wasn’t communicated in their cosplay policy. If it were, I don’t think it would have been an issue. Finally, if that wasn’t enough, the event was scheduled for August. No one in Minnesota will want to attend an indoor event in August. Our Summers are so pretty, and everyone is outside, soaking up the sun or going to a cabin up north. It showed that the company planning Fan Fest / Fan Fusion didn’t know anything about Minnesota.

After Fan Fest / Fan Fusion, GalaxyCon took a chance to plan a convention in Minnesota. However, they ended up getting the short end of the stick because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on a conversation I had, there was some contention with the city of Minneapolis. I don’t know if this convention made their money back, but I heard that could have been a contributing factor as to why they didn’t return.

This brings us to Twin Cities Con. Twin Cities Con and the organizers were smart. They took feedback from the local community and figured out which local conventions were being held on what dates. This way, they could plan Twin Cities Con on a weekend without any other competing events happening. Twin Cities Con is held in November, which is perfect! The weather is colder, and more people are trying to find indoor events to attend. It’s before the holidays, but not too close to the holidays. I consider Twin Cities Con the con to end the year, since there are no other conventions I attend after it. Additionally, this gave Twin Cities Con time to market their event at local conventions earlier in the year.

I’m so glad that Twin Cities Con has found success in Minnesota. It’s nice to have a bigger convention here because traveling to cons out of state can be taxing. Twin Cities Con was a blast this year, and I can’t wait for next year.

Scarlet Witch – The Last Door

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Image is a comic book cover. It says "Scarlet Witch The Last Door" It shows a woman casting a spell and looking straight ahead.
Photo taken by me.

Scarlet Witch is quickly becoming one of my favorite Marvel characters to read about. I loved Elizabeth Olsen’s take on the character despite Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness erasing Wanda’s growth in WandaVision. I picked up issue one of Steve Orlando’s Scarlet Witch comic run, and I enjoyed reading it. Unfortunately, I fell behind, so I wasn’t able to keep reading the series. I found the first volume while comic shopping and decided to read the full arc. Scarlet Witch – The Last Door is a fun, low-stakes comic series.

In Scarlet Witch – The Last Door, Wanda opens a witchy shop with Darcy. This is the same Darcy from Thor and WandaVision. As a side note, I appreciate that these two are friends. I feel like that was a missed opportunity in WandaVision, especially since Darcy was brought back. Anyway, Wanda has a door towards the back of her shop, and if someone walks through the door, it means that they feel they have nowhere to go. Each issue focuses on Wanda going off on an adventure to help someone in need.

I liked this series! I liked Wanda and Darcy’s banter. Each issue was easy to read, and I ended up finishing this volume rather quickly. I liked Wanda’s look. She has this scarlet red and burgundy body suit. It’s not overtly sexualized, and it’s functional when Wanda needs to fight or cast her way out of trouble. I loved the art style, along with the different cover art that was featured throughout.

Scarlet Witch – The Last Door is a low-stakes series. In previous Scarlet Witch comic book stories, there would be a consequence for Wanda if she used her powers. I believe in one comic book story, any time that Wanda used her powers, it would age her. This element does add depth to Wanda’s character, and I think it forces Wanda to be more careful when using her abilities. With that being said, I liked how this wasn’t featured in this story. Why can’t Wanda use her abilities for whatever she wants? Does there always need to be a drawback every time? In comics, I don’t think every comic needs a world-ending type of story. Wanda has been through so much as a character that it’s nice to have her just live her life normally.

I’d recommend Scarlet Witch – The Last Door to any new comic book fans who want to learn more about Scarlet Witch as a character. I think this felt like a cozy series, and it was really easy to read. I rated Scarlet Witch – The Last Door four stars on Goodreads.

How I Cosplayed Kylo Ren

Posted in Cosplay, Life Lately by

As Halloween approached, I was running out of time to put together a costume. As I was scrolling through Pinterest, I found a Kylo Ren cosplayer. I liked the way that her cosplay turned out and how she made the character her own. I pinned it to my cosplay board and used that as inspiration to put together my own take on the character. I’m proud of myself as I really liked how the costume came together, and I wanted to share how it all came to be.

Image is a selfie of a woman. She has a painted red scar on her face. She's wearing red lips as she looks at the camera.
Selfie taken by me.

Once I decided to put together a Kylo cosplay, I went to Amazon. While I don’t love the idea of supporting Amazon, it’s so convenient to order everything in one spot. I bought a black body suit, a black faux leather belt, a black drapey skirt, a red light sword (due to copyright), and a Kylo Ren mask. The black body suit was okay. It looked the way that I wanted it to, but the fit was a little odd. It’s not something that I would wear outside of wearing it as Kylo. The faux leather belt was top-notch, and I could see it lasting for a long time. The black drapey skirt added to the look, though the slits on the skirt are high. There isn’t a way that I can wear the skirt on its own without leggings underneath. The “light sword” I bought was a happy surprise. I figured it would be cheaply made, but it was actually decent. The Kylo Ren mask wasn’t a hard helmet like I had originally thought. Instead, it was a floppy mask. It wasn’t the end of the world; it just wasn’t what I was anticipating.

One thing that’s important with Kylo is the scar on his face. I was mulling this over for a long time. I’m not a makeup expert, so I rely on makeup tutorials to help me out. I ended up putting my own spin on how I wanted the scar to be. In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Kylo’s scar is there, but it’s faded. I wanted the scar to look fresh, like Kylo just got hit with the lightsaber before putting on the Halloween costume.

Image is a picture of me holding a red light saber as Kylo. I'm dressed in all black. R2D2 is right next to me.
Photo taken on my phone by another person at Twin Cities Con.

To accomplish this, I used: red lip liner, black eyeliner, brown eye shadow, and Vaseline. The red lip liner helped lay out the foundation of the scar. I ran the scar from my eyebrow, all the way down to my neck. The black eyeliner added a charred look. The brown eye shadow was how I tried to blend everything together, so it would appear more blended with my natural skin tone. Finally, the Vaseline was something I used to help give off that shiny coating. I got a lot of compliments on it, but whether that means the makeup was good or not is to be determined.

As I look back on the photos, I’m thrilled with how everything turned out. I think it was an accurate Kylo Ren cosplay, yet I was able to put my spin on the character. I think that’s what makes costuming and cosplay so fun for me. There’s a baseline of what the character looks like, but everyone can interpret that in their own way. I’m looking forward to cosplaying as Kylo Ren in the future, as this is one of my favorite cosplays that I have done.