Mark Wesley Pritchard
Bio
You can call me Wesley. Former cosplayer, retro gaming fanatic, die-hard Texas Rangers fan, and nostalgic freak. Need I say more?
Threads: @misterwesleysworld
Instagram: @misterwesleysworld
Stories (395)
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Geek Spotlight: Gay Geeks After Hours
As millions of people are at home due to the coronavirus outbreak, I wanted to take this time highlight a group who is dedicated of including geeks who identify as LGBTQ+. That group is Gay Geeks After Hours. Their mission is to make gaymers feel welcome and let them talk about the things that they’re passionate about: from comics to cosplay. So what is a gaymer, you ask? It’s someone who is LGBTQ+ and has interests in video games, tabletop games, and so on. The founder of GGAH is Adam and he’s also one of the administrators of the group. He and the rest of his team has done an exceptional job of featuring people like myself who has their own interests. According to their website, they have the latest news on the stuff we love, list of events, and they’ll have merchandise for sale soon. I’ll be sure to purchase some as a way to support them. As of this article, Gay Geeks After Hours Instagram page has nearly 1,300 followers while their Facebook group has about 8,000 members. I’ll have a link to their website at the end of this article, which they have links to their Facebook group, Instagram page, and other pages.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 6 years ago in Geeks
National Superhero Day 2020
Happy National Superhero Day, everyone. This day occurs every year on April 28. Here’s one fun fact about it: employees at Marvel Comics founded this day back in 1995. The purpose of it was for people to come together and celebrate their fictional or real life heroes. This is the 25th anniversary of the event and I have three superheroes I want to showcase. Whenever I put on a costume, I always feel like saving the world and people. You’re never too old or too young to dress up as your favorite superhero. Currently, we’re going through a health crisis, but this is a perfect day to remind ourselves that there’s always hope and can get through anything.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 6 years ago in Geeks
Texxx-Man Cosplay’s Quarantine Playlist
Are you bored and have nothing to do? Are you feeling lonely, depressed, and unable to hang out with your friends? If you have answered yes to both of these questions, I have the perfect solution to ease your loneliness. As you have already noticed, the coronavirus pandemic has already taken a toll on millions of people who have lost their jobs, being separated from the people that they love, not working at the moment, or all of the above. There has been a dramatic spike in calls to mental health and suicide prevention hotlines since this outbreak began. Believe me. I’m currently going through the same issues as those suffering from mental illness. The nonstop news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on me mentally and probably for others as well.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 6 years ago in Beat
Favorite Shows to Binge Watch on Netflix
During times of uncertainty and despair, we all want to do something to ease and relax our minds. Whether it’s getting some fresh air while practicing social distancing or keeping in touch with friends online, I pass up the time by watching Netflix. I rarely watch Netflix, but since I’m temporarily out of work at the moment, I needed to laugh and be entertained. A majority of cons everywhere have either been postponed for a few months or until next year, so watching some of my favorite is like therapy. I came up with a list of shows on Netflix that I’ve been binge watching lately. There’s one on this list that I started watching for the first time, so just a heads up. Now let’s get started.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 6 years ago in Geeks
World Autism Awareness Day 2020
The month of April has arrived and there are two reasons why this month is personal to me: it’s Autism Awareness Month and today is World Autism Awareness Day. Autism Awareness Month was first recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in 2007. Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, affects 1 in 59 children. Boys are four times affected as girls. For those who aren’t familiar with who I am, I’m on the autism spectrum. I was interviewed by Vocal for their Creator Spotlight feature about two weeks ago. They were asking about things such as cosplay and why I’m passionate about different causes. Autism awareness is one of those causes. Here’s a little bit about myself and why this month is so important to me.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 6 years ago in Longevity
An Honest Conversation About Bullying
Let’s admit: bullying is one of the biggest problems happening in schools. Whether it’s via online or in person, bullies will find ways to crush one’s self-esteem and making them feel less than what they are. They put their own insecurities onto others to make themselves feel better, thinking that they’re so tough. One in four kids at school reported that they were bullied. I was a victim of bullying for a number of reasons.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 6 years ago in Education
Texxx-Man Cosplay’s Favorite People
The one thing that’s currently on everyone’s mind is the Coronavirus outbreak. While the number of cases and deaths are steadily increasing, people, businesses, restaurants, and even movie theaters are taking precautions of minimizing large crowds. Besides me being a content creator for Vocal, I have a regular eight to five job. I’m going to be taking time off from there for the next couple of weeks. I’m also temporarily putting cosplayer interviews on hold, out of consideration for those who might be feeling ill from COVID-19. I’m still going to write articles, but not doing cosplayer interviews at this time.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 6 years ago in Geeks
Loving My Dark Skin
“You’re ugly.” That’s the main thing that most people would say about me for absolutely no reason. In fact, I’ve been hearing that for almost all my life. It’s sad that the ones who despise dark skinned people is other dark skinned people. It’s like black people like myself are always the butt of all jokes when it comes to our skin tone. That we’re unattractive and aren’t able to find someone to love us. I never understood the whole light skin versus dark skin debate. It’s ridiculous and dumb, in my opinion. Rappers tend to talk down to dark skinned women and it’s sad. Last month, black cosplayers celebrated 29 Days of Black Cosplay. It’s where they share a pic of their cosplay for each day of that month. I’m going to share some experiences of the colorism I’ve dealt with so far in life.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 6 years ago in Humans
Fayetteville Comic Show Review
Sci-fi and pop culture fans descended at the Fayetteville Town Center for the Fayetteville Comuc Show. It took place on February 29 and March 1 and it was the town’s first ever convention. This was my first con of the year and I had a wonderful time with my friends. Guests such as C. Thomas Howell and John Wesley Shipp were in attendance for the two day family-friendly event. I’ll be sharing some of my favorite parts from the con and what I thought about it in general.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 6 years ago in Geeks
Linkin Park Songs That I Can Relate To
Linkin Park Songs That I Can Relate To The songs that got me through my darkest times Greetings, Vocal readers. I decided to take a break from talking about cosplay and instead, talk about one of my other favorite hobbies. This is my first article about music and I’m going to talk about a band that I grew up listening to. That band is none other than Linkin Park. I’m a huge fan of theirs and I first started listening to them, dating back to middle school. It was around 2001, almost a year after their debut album, Hybrid Theory, was released. I was 13 years old about to start the 7th grade. In fact, in October, it’ll be 20 years since that album first came out. Yes, time sure flies. When the news broke back in 2017 that Chester Bennington died, I was in shock and in tears. It was like my heart came out of my chest and cracked in two. His loss hit me so hard and millions of LP fans everywhere. Even though he’s no longer with us, he’s spiritually here in our hearts. Whenever I listen to a specific Linkin Park song, I get emotional, because it’s something that I can relate to. Below are some songs from them that got me through life, in no specific order.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 6 years ago in Beat
Schools That Are Obsessed with Hair
What grinds my gears, you ask? There's a lot of things that most people do that annoy me, but I'll be talking about the one thing that I've been curious about for so long: some of these school districts who are so concerned about how students, even people of color, choose to wear their hair. Over the last few years, I've seen and read stories about students being suspended for wearing, dying, and having them in cornrows and braids. People being fired from their jobs or not getting a job because of their hair. As a person of color, I take offense to what these schools are doing to children and lowering their self-esteem. Our hairstyles are part of our self-identities. It's part of who we are. Just like what we like to wear: it's part of our own individual personal style. In July 2019, California became the first state to ban discrimination against black students and employees over their natural hairstyles. I believe that more states will follow suit and adopted in all states. Last month, I ran into an article that not only upset me, but was angered. It took place in my home state and I have a lot to say about it.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 6 years ago in Blush
Favorite Easter Eggs in ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’
While almost everyone was giving their significant others flowers and candy on Valentine’s Day, yours truly saw an amazing movie. A movie that I and everyone else have been talking about for months. That movie was Sonic the Hedgehog. As of this article, it topped the box office and made $57 million dollars and $100 million worldwide, marking the largest showing for a video game adaption and surpassing Detective Pikachu, which grossed $54.3 million last year. It's expected to earn between $68-$70 million through President's Day. Movies based of off video games tend to be epic fails or flops, but Sonic proved critics wrong and if it weren't for the redesign of the titular character, the movie would have not had earnings like these.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 6 years ago in Geeks
