"Why I Love Fandoms: Part 1" or "The night my life turned into a musical"

Welcome to the first part of a series of blogs that, as the title might suggest, will be examining the myriad reasons that I absolutely love fandoms (and perhaps more importantly, fans themselves).

I have heard so many true stories about the kind and inclusive nature of the nerd community - tales told that suggest we really are all friends, despite the number of expletives blurted out on Star Wars vs. Star Trek forums (Star Wars FTW, by the way).

To me, though, all of these stories really were nothing more than stories. It’s not that I didn’t believe in the basic goodness of my fellow human beings, I just considered the concept to be a distant and abstract one. It never occurred to me that I would be witness to an inspiring act of spontaneous kindness, much less find myself in the large group of people who participate in it. Which is exactly what happened on my first day of Emerald City Comic-Con in 2012.

It happened at a karaoke party. There was a large stage on which everyone performed, and some of these people were nothing short of fantastic. In particular, there was a man cosplaying the Green Goblin who brought the house down like a rock star. I’m serious, he was nothing short of incredible.

Some of my friends went up on stage, announced their engagement to the world, and sang some pretty excellent songs! One of them even convinced a lot of people in attendance that she was British, with an excellent fake accent while she sang.

However, at the halfway point of the evening, a girl went up on stage. Through a mix-up, the wrong song was programmed in for her. The song playing was… mildly sexually suggestive. She was obviously shy at first, and then when she saw the lyrics she became embarrassed. The girl ran off the stage and out of the room, on the verge of tears. Everyone was surprised. A lot of people commented with things like “I hope she’s okay”. I felt particularly bad, even contemplating trying to find the total stranger in the hopes of helping, not that there was anything I could do.

The evening went on, eventually we were all able to move past the incident, and we went back to having fun. A guy dressed as Duke Nukem did “I’m Sexy and I Know It”, a true highlight of the evening, and Captain America performed “Baby Got Back” (with a ton of the women at the party proceeding to dance suggestively in front of the stage). Basically, it was one hell of a party.

Towards the end of the evening, the embarrassed girl returned to the stage. She was still shy, but she came back, which I felt to be an amazingly brave gesture.

When the girl took to the stage, the entire crowd went absolutely crazy. I mean that in the most wonderful sense I ever could. There was applause, cheering, whistling, and so on - easily the most enthusiastic welcome that the (admittedly exhausted and smaller) crowd could put forth. This shy girl smiled, and suddenly found her voice. She began to sing, and for the entire song we all encouraged her.

Then, almost all of us ran on stage with her, singing along and dancing. Even my two friends, who had said earlier in the night that they would *never* be on that stage, went up. The girl wound up so happy, so encouraged, and it was clear that she felt a love and acceptance that many people spend years looking for.

I can honestly say that I was proud to be able to give someone else such a moment in the spotlight. I was proud to go up on stage with everyone and make a stranger feel like family.

I was, quite sincerely, proud to be a member of the community.

That sense of pride, and that sense of unanimous friendship and love among strangers, is why this is a memory I will happily carry with me. And it’s a memory I proudly wish to share with anyone who can read these words.

Spiderman: Revenge - Chapter 1

 This is the first  piece of fan fiction that the site will be showing you, Spider-Man: Revenge.

As the title implies, it’s about Spider-Man, and revenge!

This is a story I’ve wanted to tell for quite a while. It re-imagines the world of Spider-Man in a new way, with a continuity that’s separate from any of the comics or movies. This is it’s own universe, and it’s important to know that going in, otherwise some of the differences may be a little jarring. An example? Gwen Stacey is very much alive in this continuity. Don’t worry, any and all relevant information will be included sooner or later. Some of it is meant to be mysterious at first.

So what is Spider-Man: Revenge about?

Peter Parker is in his mid-twenties, and his career as Spider-Man is already in full swing. When someone begins targeting Oscorp, with deadly results, it’s up to Peter to find out why. What he uncovers leads to a conspiracy that not only affects Oscorp itself, but also leads back to one of Spider-Man’s greatest failures as a hero, an incident from Peter’s past that he still regrets.

Without any further delay, here is the first chapter! I hope you enjoy it!

Just follow the link! And don't forget to leave comments and thoughts. Also, seeing as this is my first time uploading a story, let me know if any of the links or downloads are broken. Thank you!

Spiderman: Revenge Chapter 1 - http://www.mediafire.com/view/?0i7za6cldbsfo8l

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Cover Art by Sean Anders
http://www.skyscraper48.com/

Avengers Giveaway!

“I love fantasy. I love horror. I love musicals. Whatever doesn't really happen in life is what I'm interested in. As a way of commenting on everything that does happen in life, because ultimately the only thing I'm really interested in is people.”

Joss Whedon is one of my favorite creative minds of our current generation. He’s the man behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and the driving force that made The Avengers into the phenomenon it has become. That’s not even mentioning his fantastic thriller, Cabin in the Woods, or his mind-bending idea for Dollhouse. Simply put, Joss Whedon is a talent the likes of which I aim to become someday.

For my first ever contest, I wanted to pay homage to this marvelous man, and so I am announcing the Avengers Giveaway!

What are the prizes?

* The Avengers Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack

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* A Loki pendant/necklace created by the amazing Megan (be sure to check out her Etsy shop at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/oxyx2001)



















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* An Avengers poster created by William Henry Design (here’s the link to his Etsy shop as well! http://www.etsy.com/shop/WilliamHenryDesign)



















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How do you enter? It’s really quite simple. Go to your friends list on Facebook, and get as many of them to subscribe to my page as you can.

For those of you reading this off of Blogspot, here is a link to my page so you can enter!

http://www.facebook.com/julliangmortimer 

The person who gets me the most new subscribers before the deadline is over will win. The contest officially starts today, Wednesday October 3rd, and will end on midnight of October 14th!

Just send me a message listing the names of your friends who have signed up, so I can know which ones you’re responsible for. Or alternatively, get them to message me (via the official page) saying who referred them. This part is obviously vital, because otherwise I won’t know who gets credit!

Now to close, some more inspirational words from this visionary hero:

“I also don't trust Caribou anymore. They're out there, on the tundra, waiting... Something's going down. I'm right about this.”

"Regeneration!" or "How I returned to blog about all things nerdy."

Well, this is rather embarrassing, now isn’t it? I’ve left this blog to collect dust, when I very well should have been updating regularly.

So where have I been? All kinds of places! I’ve explored my first several comic book conventions (experiences which in themselves warrant a separate post), gone on a number of vacations, found and lost love, discovered the majestic fandom surrounding Doctor Who, and of course I’ve also done a fair bit of writing.

The good news is that I’m back, and not going anywhere anytime soon! In fact, there are a lot of exciting things on the horizon that I am eager to share with anyone who is interested in reading.

What can you expect on here? Here’s a handy list!

1. Updates on my writing projects, both original and fan fiction.
2. Announcements regarding my soon-to-be published first novel, look forward to this soon!
3. Rants about fandoms.
4. Reviews of movies, videogames, books, comics, or anything else that piques my interest.
5. Links to other like-minded nerds, talented artists, and other fun things!
6. The occasional random cute picture.
7. Likely many more things that aren’t dancing to the top of my mind now.

I hope you’re as excited as I am. Keep your eyes peeled, several updates will be coming very soon! In fact, I’ll be attempting to make at least one or two posts every week, hopefully even more.

As such, stay tuned! More is on the way! And thank you for reading. Don’t forget to refer your friends!