Liebster nomination

So I’ve been nominated for a Liebster Award, and that feels kind of good.

The Liebster Awards are awards created by bloggers, for blogger, given by bloggers, and is all about communities sharing what they love with the folks they love. I would like to thank hannahgivens of Things Matter for the nomination. One of the rules is that everyone who is nominated must also nominate five other bloggers, so here are my nominations.

Xmenxpert (he mostly talks about comics, including talking about every single X-Men comic that releases each week).

Thegothamrogue – for a mix of comic related posts, frequent promotion of other comic bloggers and making an effort to post something every day)

Brian Michael Bendis– This isn’t because he’s among the most influential comic writers of the modern age, but because his Tumblr page is awesome. It’s a great mix of genuinely good advice for aspiring comic writers, daily answering fan questions, humorous responses to … odd questions and spoiler requests, and sharing some of his favourite comic moments and art. I’m not sure if he’ll ever notice this nomination, but I figured I might as well give it a shot.

Writers helping writers – For their most excellent advice for writers in character work, story development and frequent promotion of other writing blogs.

Writin Geekery – For some of the most well-thought out, genius advice I’ve seen on the internet for writing in general.

 

Another part of the nomination process is you must answer a series of questions, so here it goes.

Why did you decide to blog in the first place?

Before writing this blog, I had another blog where I mostly made fun of bad movies. I was starting to get bored of it, partly because my interests were shifting and partly because watching more bad movies than good kind of wears on you. For a while I considered starting a comic blog, and when my Journalism Print class “Opinion Writing” required us to start one on WordPress (my previous one was on blogger), I figured I might as well kill two birds with one stone. I’ve been sticking with this blog ever since, and besides nearly wearing myself out through the promise to review the first two issues of every Marvel Now title (there were 8 number 2’s in one week), I’ve been enjoying this blog quite a bit.

Name three of your pastimes or hobbies.

Video Games (grew up on these)

Comics (got into them while in College)

Writing (which I hope I can turn into a Novel writing career)

If you could interview anyone (dead or alive), who would it be and why?

Oh boy is this a tough one. Stan Lee would be fascinating to interview since he’s a living legend. JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis would both be interesting for similar reasons. They both lived through World War 1 and have both created rich worlds through their fiction, plus they were real life friends. Kelly Sue DeConnick is quickly becoming one of my favourite comic writers, so she’d be on the list. Honestly, I don’t know if I could pick just one person. That’s my journalism training talking though.

Do you have any pets? If not, what would you consider getting?

I have a dog, Moses. He’s a Sheltie, short for Shetland Sheepdog. Moses was at one point a Shepard, so we thought the name fit.

What is your favorite movie and why?

I don’t have favourite movies because when I watch one, it’s usually whatever I feel like at the time. Instead, I have movies that, no matter how I feel before watching them, they always put me in a good mood by the time they finish. Among those movies are The Truman Show, Wall-E, the Toy Story Trilogy, Zoolander and The Avengers. The reasons are different for each. I wouldn’t be surprised if Guardians of the Galaxy is added to this list if only for Baby Groot dancing after the credits.

What is your favorite comic book and why? (If you don’t read comics, just name a favorite book).

Same kind of deal with movies; I usually go more for my favourite comic character or franchise than my favourite story. My favourite franchise would be the X-Men, and my favourite characters are X-23 and Cable (of the X-Men), Captain Marvel and She-Hulk (of the Avengers), and of course Batman. X-23 because she got me into comics, and I can’t explain why but child soldier characters fascinate me (I’ve written several of them myself). Cable because he’s just awesome. Captain Marvel is kind of a new favourite of mine, and it’s mostly because of Kelly Sue DeConnick’s writing. She-Hulk because, well … read this blog post for why. And Batman because he’s Batman. You’ll probably notice that four out of those 5 characters are legacy characters. I generally prefer them over the originals  because generally speaking, writers have more freedom with them and character development is more likely to stick.

What is your favorite YouTube channel?

Jon Lajoie, a comedic musician from Montreal (warning, language), Vanos Gaming, who does all sorts of comedic gameplay videos with his friends (language warning here also), and of course GamehuntersRUs, because I co-own that game collecting channel with a life-long friend of mine. Yey for shameless self-promotion.

If you could cosplay as any character, who would it be and why?

I’d be interested in doing a Cable cosplay, especially with a big gun and a shiny metal arm. A second choice would probably be something from Star Wars, like Han Solo or Darth Vader. The question is, would I be brave enough to Rule 63 cosplay? Honestly, probably not.

What is your favorite topic to write about?

My favourite form of writing is fiction, but I’ve enjoyed writing in general as long as I can remember. I’m currently trying to get into the Novel industry with my series that’s best described as James Bond, but with vampires and werewolves. I have Science Fiction, thriller and horror stories in mind also … and one story idea that’s so weird you’d think I was on drugs for just coming up with the idea. I also enjoy writing about fiction, or even real events. You could say I just like writing in general.

What’s your favorite fandom?

This could be my somewhat indecisive nature, but I’m not sure if I can pick a favourite fandom. They all have their passionate, even intelligent fans. At the same time, every fandom has their problems, from the rampant sexism found in gaming and the controversies they’ve been bringing lately to the overly conservative comic fans who want nothing to change. While I enjoy gaming, it’s hard to respect the rampant discrimination and fanboyism within its culture. Also, gaming quite possibly has the worst fanboys out there. Comic fans are generally better, but you still hear nightmare stories about sexism in certain stores and conventions. I’ve never been a huge Star Trek fan (although I enjoy the original series, Next Generation and the better movies), but their fan base’s relative intelligence has always impressed me.