A thousand thank yous to the Well-Red Mage on their titular blog for nominating me for the Liebster Award!  I only recently started following them (how could I not with a name that not only pays homage to my favorite series, but also shoehorns in a clever pun/turn of phrase?), but our love our old school games is eternal.  I’ve met so many wonderful people in my year or so of blogging who focus on a variety of things, and I love perusing award posts even if I, myself, am not a recipient, as it still gives me the chance to scout out like minded folk.  Regardless, the Liebster Award is a great networking tool and a wonderful way to support other bloggers.  It works as follows:

1. Thank the person who nominated you (see above) and answer their 11 questions.
2. Nominate 11 other people and give them 11 questions to answer.

Here are the questions I was nominated to answer.  I have to tell you when I saw some of them, I squeed with joy, because not only would the answers be easy, but many also would allow me to gush about my favorite obsessions.  So without further ado!

1.DC or Marvel – This particular question is very important from what I’ve been told.  Hm, okay, well my second favorite villain is Loki as portrayed by my beloved Tom Hiddleston,

which pretty much makes me a Marvel girl, but while I do believe that Marvel has the monopoly on the movies, I’ve heard nothing but good things about DC’s shows.  Now since I haven’t read the comics, I have only the visual media to go off of.  There are number of DC shows on my to-watch list including, but not limited to The Flash, Supergirl, and Daredevil.  I have seen quite a bit of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and had some issues with it.  So long answer shorter, I’m more of a Marvel fan, but I don’t detest DC.  It’s kind of how I like both Algebra and Geometry, but I like Algebra a bit more since I’ve done more with it.

2. Favorite superhero – Keeping in the same vein as above, my favorite superhero is Captain America, and no, no, HELL TO THE NO am I even accepting the nonsense/bullshit/shenanigans that he’s been working for Hydra for the past 75 years.  I’ll let Director Fury handle this.

All that needs to be said. Cap is just an all around great guy.  He’s the only super soldier I know of (with my limited knowledge) who didn’t lose himself in corruption and/or insanity, and I even used him as an example of that, so I’m not changing this essay.  Also Steve is a precious cinnamon roll.

3. Favorite console – I am an old school gamer.  There are few new games that strike my fancy, and those that do have an old school heart.  I would have to say that the NES, my fledgling console, is my favorite one.  I started out on the Coleco/Atari, but NES was there for my formative years.  SNES is up there, too, as is the PlayStation which is dear to me for a specific reason (see next question).

4.  Favorite video game – Final Fantasy VII with out any hesitation or doubt.  There’s far too much to get into it here, but I explain a great deal in this post. I have an over abundance of emotions tangled up in this one game, sharing a shattering sorrow with its creator, something I didn’t find out until years later.  My life is inspired by FFVII as is all of my writing.  There are very few posts on this blog that don’t mention it in some way and even less where it’s not in the back of my mind.  I think about it constantly, and the more I do, the deeper I delve.  FFVII changed my life; I will love it until the day I die, and if something exists on the other side of darkness (as the game itself insists), I’ll love it beyond that, too.

5. Favorite video game character – Sephiroth from the prior lauded FFVII

Once again I have too many feels to manage.  I wrote a defense of him; I plan on cosplaying him; my last completed fanfiction is about him (and Aeris, leave me and my crack ship alone! There’s some sense in it); I even have a Facebook page devoted to him and Aeris where I RP my beloved Seph.  Yes…I am a ridiculous fangirl.

Why do I love him so much?  *sigh*  This is also expanded upon in the link included in question 4.  I’ll never forget the moment FFVII made me start caring about things again, and it was a line spoken by him.  The fact that what he was saying wasn’t accurate (though he didn’t know it…and never does), the words resonated with me.  Gah, I don’t want to take a ride on the feels train, but it’s hard not to with VII and Seph.  The game and character cut deep to the heart of my own anger and despair, and there are some things death cannot conquer..

6. Favorite film – So many.  For a while I claimed Constantine as my favorite movie.  Advent Children is definitely up there despite the fact I can’t watch the ending fight scene in the Complete version.  The impaling parts are so violent, and I can feel it (hooray for being empathetic).  There’s also Sweeney Todd, which is my favorite horror musical, and Pixar’s Ratatouille where Remy is almost literally my spirit animal.  He’s another character that I deeply relate to.  Frozen is another that has this paradigm with Elsa.  I can’t claim any of these is my ultimate favorite film, but they are some of my most lauded.

7.  Favorite book – Standalone I’d have to say John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, which I’ve reviewed here. But I’m a fantasy girl and fantasies (not only “final” ones) usually deal in series and that unequivocally goes to George R R Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. 

8. Favorite non-gaming past time – Writing.  I’m a writer.  Everything I do besides it fuels my writing as I take inspiration and musings from everywhere.  Once I finish this writing I’ll be doing more as I attempt to finish my WIP…which is another fanfiction *points to self holding up geek flag*

9.  Favorite thing about blogging and your blog goals – I love the interaction with like minded people.  I crave discourse, and I’ve found a nice amount of it here.  I love stories/narratives regardless of the media, and it irritates me that so many consider video games to be a bastard medium when some of the best stories I know come from there.  I also love having a place to air my ideas.  I don’t always receive a response, but if it’s there on my blog and in the zeitgeist, then I can always refer to it, and there’s always that chance that it will be discovered.  My blog goals were pretty much covered in this.  I just want to have intelligent conversation and have my voice heard.  If I’m “discovered” by doing this, all the better, but I’m more hoping eventually I’ll be legitimately published as a fantasy or paranormal romance author.

10. Favorite thing you find most inspirational in life – As mentioned above Final Fantasy VII would fit this bill.  I also draw a great deal from mythology and religious symbolism…like FFVII and the others in the series.  Norse mythology is among my favorites, and I’m also obsessed with angels.  I don’t think I answered this question properly.  Hopefully, I’ll do better with the last.

11.  Favorite thing about The Well-Red Mage – Tee hee nothing wrong with a little shameless plugging.  I mean I am The Shameful Narcissist after all.  Shame is a big part of my vocabulary.

I love the double entendre/pun in the name, which I’ve mentioned before, but we’re also a bit of kindred spirits when it comes to old school gaming.  I like how their assessments are thorough and fair.  They don’t just throw out hasty judgments in their reviews, but rather give reasonable explanations.  I absolutely abhor people who use the term “overrated” without explaining why something is overrated (I went off on a rant about this at one point) often just because something is popular and they want to hop on the hater bandwagon.  I’m much more receptive to legitimate reasons for dislike.  I’ve yet to see such poor behavior from the Mage.  This of course goes back to the intelligent discourse that I mentioned above. I’ve been very fortunate in being an FFVII fan meeting many FFVI fans where we both have mutual respect and appreciation for our babies (btw I love all Final Fantasies; FFVI was my first and I love it, but FFVII has my heart).  I even have an FFVI fanfiction writer friend whom I adore, and we read and praise each other’s stories.  Gah…I should call myself The Tangential Narcissist, geez.  TL;DR WRM takes the time to give good reviews and provides snobs like me with intelligent discourse.

Now my nominees (I’m going to steal the Mage’s idea and use Roman numerals, too).  No one is under any obligation to do this.  It is entirely for fun and I’m picking people I usually interact with, and I hope you’re not annoyed by my tagging *hides in a corner*

I. The Ink  Garden.
II. Just Keep BRAINS!
III.  By Hook or By Book
IV. inkbiotic
V. I Read Encyclopedias for Fun
VI. The Writing Hufflepuff
VII. Husband and Husband
VIII. Maneki Neko [The Nerd Lab]
IX. Fia Black
X. Katherine McIntyre
XI. I Can’t Possibly Be Wrong All the Time

Be sure to nominate another 11 bloggers if you decide to do this.  I’m going to try to cater the questions based on the types of blogs above.

1. If you could live in or visit any country what country would it be?
2. What’s your favorite book genre?  If you’re a writer, to which genre do you generally dip your pen?
3. What’s your favorite or most influential non-fiction book?
4. If you could dye your hair any color, what would that color be?
5. Who is your favorite villain?
6. Who is your favorite sidekick?
7. Who is your favorite composer?
8. What’s your favorite gem/jewel?
9. What’s your favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe movie?
10. Morning person or night owl?
11. Who is your favorite author?

Thanks for reading and participating, and thanks again to the Well-Red Mage for the nomination! ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥