NY Super Week 2015

I hope everyone is getting ready for the New Year. I don't know have any resolutions this year other than trying to maintain the ones I've set for myself awhile ago. I hope you all get to spend it with the your family or loved ones!

This year I was lucky enough to grab myself and Boba 4 Day tickets to NYCC. Believe me I was super shocked it happened. I am used to only being able to grab tickets for a single day. I knew that when you bought a 4 Day you were given a NY Super Week card for free which gave you access to events the week of NYCC. You still had to pay for the tickets to the individual tickets, but many of them were under 10 bucks. This year NYCC was October 8th-11th with the NY Super Week events starting the Monday before on the 5th.

I used the NY Super Week app to take a look at events and settled on two: Black Girl Nerds vs. FanBros Live Podcast on the 6th and the Crossplay Cosplay Contest hosed by FanBros on the 7th. They both sounded super interested and you know I gotta support my geeks of color and blerds. I let Tiff know about the crossplay event since it she also cosplays male characters. I may get into more crossplaying as I pick more cosplay. There are a bunch of male characters I want to cosplay and many of them I don't want to be genderbent. Also it highlighted POCs cosplaying non-black characters.

Black Girl Nerds vs. FanBros Live Podcast

I have been getting more into podcasts and I thought what better way to experience one than live. Especially when it can be hard to pull out a book on a crowded subway. I was already a huge fan of Black Girl Nerds prior to attending this live podcast.

The goodies in each chair

Before the podcast started there were some bomb ass mixes being played. I think they were made by BenHaMeen. I remember there was a dope mix that had the Rugrats theme, a mash up of Stronger Than You from Steven Universe and Just the Two of Us, and an amazing Mario mix. I really need to see if he has a mixtape because those songs were lit.

The podcast was broken up into 5 segments that centered around pop culture, geeky news, and current events. The first segment was "This Week in the N Word" which really addressed racism, anti-blackness, and pain ol tomfoolery that was currently happening. Rihanna, Kanye West, and Pokemon were discussed.

After this they followed up with Geekquently asked questions where the audience could them ask FanBros and Black Girl Nerds questions. They even took some questions from twitter. One question that came up is if not Harriet Tubman on the the 20 dollar who should it be. Feminista Jones commented on that question and she was extremely eloquent and brilliant on the subject. I really need to follow her on twitter and check out more of work. There actually a few other famous people there like author of Shadowshaper, Daniel Jose Older, and a gentleman that worked for DC Comics, Joseph P. Illidge.

Waku Waku +NYC Day 2 [Pic Heavy]

Hey y'all, I hope that had a wonderful Christmas or holiday if you don't celebrate it^^ I had a relaxing day with my friend at his apartment in Queens with his two cats Ali and Boom. I'm back to finish my adventures at Waku Waku +NYC.

Day 2
On Sunday, the first thing on our list was to attend a panel called Introduction to Manga and Anime Studies and it was really interesting. We both are writers (Tiff more so than me), so we figured it would be cool to go to a panel for a career or hobby we are interested in doing. Since I'm a big fan of the humanities (particularly literature) I spent a lot of my time reading in school and analyzing texts. I haven't analyzed manga or anime yet, but I think it would be something I could be potentially interested in doing. The panelists talked about looking at anime and manga under the same lens as film and other contemporary media. They discussed why such a field should exist and one of the reasons being that mainstream American pop culture has been influenced by anime and manga. You can see its influences in shows like Steven Universe and Adventure Time to name a few. Putting these texts and films into context is a great way to explore why these influences exist. I wonder if one day the US will be like how it was in Blade Runner.

It's interesting that for manga and anime to be such a huge influence on American pop culture that there is no such thing in schools as an anime/manga studies major or minor. There are a few schools that has Comic studies as a minor. But students that want to examine Anime and Manga are usually studying it under a Japanese literature or film studies major.

The also pondered what is categorized as manga and anime citing for an example that Miyazaki does not like his work to be called anime. I had no idea he felt this way because he is often heralded as a major front runner to the popularity of anime in the West. His work is usually synonymous with the word anime. They also brought up shows like Avatar the Last Airbender and RWBY and how there are debates about whether or not shows like this can be considered anime. It was a really informative panel^^

After the panel we headed back to the Brooklyn Expo center to grab something quick before lining up for the Baby the Stars Shine Bright fashion show. We remembered how long the line was the day before for the PUTUMAYO fashion show and figured it would be even longer for Baby whose show we did not want to miss. What I grabbed to eat was so scrumdiddilyumptious like oh my word! I got a chicken katsu sandwhich from Katsu-Hama and my life was changed.

Waku Waku +NYC Convention: Japanese Pop Culture Festival Day 1 (pic heavy)

Hey everyone! I hope the weather hasn't been too harsh for ya. NYC hasn't been told cold which is a relief and kinda worrisome at the same time. Fingers crossed for a mild winter! I've attended quite a few events and I'm behind on writing about them. Ah the convention season lol

Back in August Tiff and I attended Waku Waku +NYC and it was amazing! It was the first time that this convention had been held, but it didn't feel like it. It was ran very well except for a few minor snags here and there. Waku Waku +NYC is a two day Japanese pop culture festival that launched this past summer in Brooklyn. The festival consisted of many aspects of Japanese pop culture like anime, manga, music, food, film and fashion. There was a dealer's room, exhibits, panels, screenings and fashion shows.

We learned beforehand from the schedule that the event would be spread out over five locations in Greenpoint and Williamsburg (Brooklyn Expo Center, Transmitter Park, Wythe Hotel, Brooklyn Bowl, and the Verboten). They were also kind enough to have shuttles that went between each location and would also pick you up from the Greenpoint subway station. The first day I cosplayed as Kagome and Tiff wore her young Eren cosplay from Attack on Titan. 

The pre reg line was great which was a welcome change from what happened at AnimeNEXT. They were kind enough to direct everyone to stand in the shade. The line was slightly wrapped around the block but it went very fast to our relief.

6% Doki Doki booth

We headed straight to the dealer's room the place where your hard earned coins go to die lol I lied to myself sayin I was only gonna spend $50 haha Yeah right! I went in the first day and spent way more than I originally wanted. I don't feel like anything I bought was a waste :)

Mi spoils lol

Butler Until Midnight: Prologue Review

Hi everyone, I decided to play Voltage's latest released before work kicked my butt tomorrow. I can only imagine what my inbox will look like after four days -_- Welp, I'll deal with that tomorrow on to the prologue review!

November 2nd

The MC is in the middle of relocating for a job in Tokyo and is searching for an apartment. She finds an apartment that sounds too good to be true. She immediately signs without fully reading over the lease agreement. The prologue fast forwards to a month later on the day the MC is moving into her new place. She discovers that she missed a pretty big feature that comes with her apartment on the lease agreement, a personal butler?!

The Guys of Butler Until Midnight

• Yuma Akagi: Charming
• Aoi Shirafuji: Cool
• Tomoki Matsuba: Strict
• Kyo Aizawa: Aloof
• Itsuki Matsuba: Mischievous

My Trip to Istanbul

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with their loved ones^^ I was fortunate enough to celebrate twice with a Friendsgiving that was too lit last weekend and with Joe at his apartment yesterday. I ate real good both times and have a blast.

Earlier this month I had my first work trip abroad to Istanbul. I didn't really get to see to much until the last morning before my flight. Each night I would try to go out and see a little bit near my hotel. A lot of the modern building construction reminded me on China and the driving oh lord that sure did remind me of China haha

There was a street near my hotel that was like 5th avenue in NYC. I also got to go to a really cool street near Taksim Square. It was a really long street that had different shops and restaurants along side.

On the last day I woke up early and headed to Hagia Sophia; it was so beautiful! I originally wanted to go to the Blue Mosque, but it opened later due to the prayer schedule on Friday. I'm really happy that I took the time to go see it rather than sleeping in.

You also had the option to walk up to the next floor above the main area. What was really interesting is the walkway was so old that it wasn't stairs. It was like walking on cobblestones that gradually got steeper and steeper as you made your way up.

 Once you get to the top you're greeting by this beautiful ceiling.

I actually took the metro to get to Hagia Sophia and it was very easy to navigate. Apparently if you take a taxi you can end up getting stuck on the bridge that takes you from the Europe side to the Asia side for hours.

I made my back to the hotel to pick up my bags and headed to my first flight back from Istabul to Paris. Traveling back was a little scary because I was in Paris during the attacks at the airport but I didn't know what had occurred until I landed back in NYC after my second flight from Paris to NYC. I remember feeling really shocked when I saw what was happening on social media being that I had just been there. I always take the time to be thankful and cherish the people in my life and being that close to a tragedy that has affected a lot of people has only reinforced that for me. I hope you all stay blessed and safe.

Language Learning Update

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you all get lots of candy and have fun with your friends. I'll be taking it easy today since I'm feeling a little tired. Also, I cosplayed all four days at NYCC earlier this month so I don't feel too bad sitting today out^^

I decided yesterday to find some useful language apps on my new iPhone, so I figured I'd also update y'all on my language learning goals. I haven't done much since my previous post (which was a loooonnng time ago) and have been super lazy in figuring out what I want to study. I just had a conversation with my friend about putting more energy into learning a language and remarked how I wanted to step up my personal goals game which I feel like I've sort of fallen off on. I think winter is the perfect time to work on aspirations for me because I tend to hibernate lol I barely want to go anywhere and just want to stay away from the cold. So, I'ma try to have some idea of what I want to study so I can start puttin in work in winter which will be here before we know it.

I received an email shortly after having this talk from a language center advertising an open house. I figured I might as well check it out. They offer Japanese, Mandarin, and Spanish so if I like them I could start studying there. Unfortunately, they don't offer group classes for Korean. So if I decide to take it I'll have to look elsewhere. I'm hoping by spending a few hours with each language with the apps and the open house, I'll have an idea of which language I'm having the most fun learning. I'll keep you updated on how it goes. Have a great rest of your Halloween!

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao: Book Review

Hey y'all! I hope fall is treating you well. Things are starting to settle for me after attending so many events. I just found out today that I may be heading to Istanbul early November for a business trip. I'm super excited because I've only been to China^^

I've been trying to stay on my reading game as well as reading books with POC in them and/or written by POC authors. I heard great things about Junot Diaz and I really love magical realism. So, I decided to read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and enjoyed it. Ugh the way that man writes slang is amazing! The book follows Oscar de Leon and his family's history with a curse known as fuku. Oscar is a huge nerd and wants to be a sci-fi/fantasy writer.

The book is broken up into three parts and jumps around chronologically and follows different characters in the Wao family or close to one of its members. While in some books this may be confusing, I feel the author does this skillfully and uses it to enhance the story. And for me it makes since because of how complicated family dynamics and past history can be. It helps capture the intricacy of how family does not operate on a linear timeline. Our present day family life is affected by decisions our ancestors have made often without our knowledge because those that carry those memories are no longer with us.

Switching to other characters' point of view helped the reader understand their actions and motivations. I personally did not care for Oscar's mother, but when you learn about her past you understand why she is who she is in present day. I wish we would have received more information on Lola and Oscar's father because I wonder how a woman so spurned by love fell in love again.

The novel covers a lot of themes and it really leaves you thinking even after it's over. It also gave me more insight into the Dominican Republic's history. A few things the novel illustrated that stuck with me was being othered by your own race for your interests. Growing up I was called white by my some of my peers or told that black guys wouldn't like me because I was weird and not a typical black girl. This came from some people thinking that if you were black and liked things that weren't considered "black interests" then you were strange and didn't fit in. Oscar's Dominican heritage is often called into question because of his geeky pursuits.

I def want to read more of Junot's work because this book was wonderful and took me on an emotional rollercoaster. If you decide to pick this book up please let me know what you think of it. I hope you enjoy it^^

Shea Moisture Superfruit Complex: 10-In-1 Renewal System review

Hey everyone, I wanted to take a quick second and tell you about a product that has been making my hair sing to the mountains in joy. As a few of you may know, I am a huge fan of the Shea Moisture hair line. I started off my natural hair journey using their products and have always had amazing results. I used to use their Raw Shea butter line a lot, but even though it's amazing for my hair I got tired of the smell. Back then they didn't have as many lines as they do know. One day I saw a line called Superfruit Complex: 10-In-1 Renewal System and decided to give it a try.

First off let me say that I love the smell which is something that is super important that I didn't consider before. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it has Biotin in it. I've always heard about women taking it to help promote hair growth, so I thought it was great that they added it in.

It lathers really well; you don't have to use much to get your whole head saturated. Also, the shampoo doesn't have any build up so it rinses out pretty easily. Despite this it still gets your hair really clean. Another pro with this shampoo is that it works well even if you aren't using it with the rest of the line. Some natural hair products are notorious for only working if you are using it with everything from the same line or brand. The only other Shea Moisture product I am currently using is the Curl Enhancing Smoothie. I went to BeautyCon NYC this weekend with my homie Alex and visited Shea Moistures booth. I decided to pick up another one of their products since they were having a sale. I was also excited to learn that they had a cosmetics line and picked up one of their lip crayons. I'll fill you in more on Beauty Con in another blog post.

I would def recommend this product. Shea Moisture is known for working on most natural hair types. If you decide to try it, please let me know how it works for you. On a geeky note, if you haven't had the chance to watch the new Star Wars trailer go check it out! I really loved it and thought it was amazing. Boba was able to snag tickets for us and while I was already super excited the trailer has me ridiculously pumped to see it. Good night!

AnimeNEXT 2015: My First Anime Convention

Hey everyone! I hope y'all are enjoying the start of Fall. I'm happy things are coolin off a bit, but it's a little too chilly for me in the morning. Anywho, I realized that I still hadn't wrote about my time at AnimeNEXT! The time has really flown by. I can't believe we are almost done with September. Watch winter feel super long lol It was my first time attending an anime convention and it was a good experience. The con consisted of three hotels that were in close proximity to each other. There were a few things that I wished staff had done differently, but I'll get to later in this post.

Friday
Tiff and I made it to pick up our badges at around 10:30. Traveling in wasn't so bad. We took a train from Penn Station and then took a taxi to our hotel. We were excited to find out that our hotel had the gaming room! We weren't pumped to stand in a line in the heat for an hour and a half waiting to get our badges -_- It was hot as a mug!

Don't ask me where I'm looking lol

Pic from when I tried my wig on the night before.  I was feeling myself haha

We headed straight to our hotel across the street from the convention center. As soon as we get in our room we start hearing these porno sounds, and we're like tf?! Is someone just watching porn really loudly, but then it kept going so we decided to be rude and make noises back lol I tried on my maid outfit that I had to fight tooth and nail to get from Bodyline (long story short they're customer service sucks). It was my first time trying it on; it was too big and there were stains on it -_- Tiff helped me salvage what I could of it and headed over to grab food before losing ourselves in the dealer's room. The food at the convention center was okay and nicely priced.

Maid outfit looks

The dealer's room was really nice and there were so many things that I wanted to buy. I decided to fully look around before dropping any cash. The artist alley was pretty sweet and Lolita fashion accessories, art, and other accessories. After exploring artist alley and the dealer's room, we headed back to the game room in our hotel because we wanted to kill a little time before heading to the Flow concert. . They had some consoles, DDR, Taiko Drum Master, and a few other Japanese arcade games. I was so happy that they had the taiko drumming game. I had seen people play it online and thought that it looked like a blast. The line to play a round was super long but worth the wait. And you know I had to hit up DDR!

Uh huh this my sh**

My Last First Kiss Prologue Review

Hello homies, Voltage released their latest app earlier this month. I had a chance to sit down and play the prologue. And as always you'll find a detailed review below the cut. Here's my review! Hope you enjoy it!

September 1, 2015

The prologue opens with the MC dreaming of when she confessed her feelings to her first love only to be rejected. The MC runs into him again on her way to work the night day. To her surprise she finds out that he know works at the same company; they'll also be working on the same project! She wonders if the dream the night before was fate's way of telling her to try again. She returns home to the cafe in her apartment building and learns that her five childhood friends have returned for various reasons. They now reside in the same apartment complex again. Seeing them brings back memories of the fun filled moments of your childhood. She decided to confess to her first love again only to receive more heartbreak. Her childhood friends rally around you to cheer up; one of the guys does something unexpected. Maybe there is someone else out there for her after all.

The Guys of My Last First Kiss

• Ichiya: CEO
• Takamune: Soccer player
• Ayato: Actor
• Riku: Photographer
• Makoto: Grad student
• Hiro: Assistant director

DETAILED REVIEW

Plot: I really loved the prologue of this game! I love the idea of falling in love with a best friend. It really felt well written and was able to build a believable world through its characters. The flow felt realistic even though a lot happened in a short amount of time. 

This is one of Voltage's most realistic plot lines in my opinion. Who hasn't thought back to their first major crush or first love especially when things didn't work out. Sometimes you may wonder what they would think of you if they could see you in present day. I know when I was single I would sometimes think back and wonder about stuff like that. The game also has one of my favorite Voltage elements which is seeing the characters grow up!

The MC: She's like your normal MC. I would say she's a little less annoying when it comes to work. Her emotions made since and she seemed a little more mature than some of Voltage's previous MCs. She was a little dense, but that can be a common Voltage MC trait.

Design: This app is beautiful!!! The color scheme is A+. Voltage really knows how to catch your eye with their apps' designs.

They also brought back the whole profile that additional information and images. They also help give you more insight into each character.

The Guys: The designs! *clutches chest* The guys look amazing! They are all well written too. Typically I cannot stand tsunderes, but even Ichiya was interesting to me. This may be one of those games were I have to buy all of the routes. 

It's interesting that Hiro is still an option considering what he said to the MC. I wonder what his route will be like.

Ugh can we talk about how cute they all are as kids!!!!

Routes I Want to Purchase: All

That's it for my review! I highly suggest you give the prologue a try. Voltage is really trying to take all my money, but I ain't mad at em. I woulda cracked and bought some routes today, but I'll be getting my first iphone soon and the purchases won't be able to go over. So, I'll just have to wait >_< I'm heading to Houston for a work trip tomorrow and then I'll be spending a day with my friend in Austin. I've never been to Texas before, so I'm excited. Have a goodnight!