Category Archives: My Life
6 Pop Culture Resolutions for 2015
Welp, 2015 is here and I’m still fat and broke. Guess my resolutions for 2014 didn’t pan out…again! I did a little bit better with my pop culture resolutions last year, some of which actually came true. So I thought I’d go ahead and make this a new, annual tradition!
Plus this is definitely the year I get in shape and get rich!
I swear by all that is honest and true!
There’s a lot in store for us in 2015, one of the biggest pop culture years in a long time. Not only is Avengers 2 hitting the big screen in the spring, but the year’s going to end with the Star Wars relaunch. How cool is that? We’ve got great TV shows, great video games, great comics, and great everything else. But how great can they be? What do I hope to see in 2015? Join me after the jump to find out!
I’m Making a Comic – Gamer Girl & Vixen
Today is a momentous day, dear readers! It’s time to share with you something I’ve been working on for the past several months, something I’m rather proud of and excited about! Something to finally make me put my money where my mouth is!
I’m making my own comic book!
For three years, I’ve slaved away on this geeky comic book blog, talking about comics, reviewing comics, poking fun at comics; well now it’s time to throw my hat in the ring. I’ve teamed up with my friend and fellow writer Kristi McDowell to publish our own independent comic book.
We’re calling it Gamer Girl & Vixen!
The cover of the dazzling first issue!
Now, I know what you’re thinking. It looks like we’re just going to pump out another superhero comic in a world over-stuffed with superhero comics, professional, independent or otherwise. But I’d like to think you guys and gals know me better than that. And I hope you remember my #1 rule about writing comics: people first, superheroes second.
Gamer Girl & Vixen is a supervillain lesbian love story. My friends and I are not just churning out another boring superhero book. We want to be different. We want to be unique. Gamer Girl & Vixen is a mature love story for modern audiences, where two potential lovers realize they can only be themselves in the capes and costumes world of heroes and villains.
With some trouble along the way, of course!
Gamer Girl & Vixen is a fun, exciting and hopefully adorable comic that will touch upon issues of acceptance, friendship, love, shenanigans, and the complexity of relationships. It’s also going to feature some awesome superhero action and more than a little felony burglary.
This is a project that is very near and dear to my heart. I’ve always wanted to write comic books, and now I’m finally getting off my butt and making my own. Maybe publishers will notice it and maybe they won’t. All I know for sure is that it’s been a lot of fun so far, and I’m bursting with joy to finally share this with you.
Please join me after the jump if you’d like to find out more!
6 Geeky Things I’m Thankful For
Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and the whole Mills clan is gathering at my parents’ house for a big meal, good times and probably some television. We don’t have any real traditions for the holiday. It’s just a big, fun get together, where my father, brother and I chat about all the movies and TV shows we’ve seen, the comics we’ve read and the video games we play.
Though there may be a few comments about when grandchildren might show up to share in those same activities.
This takes me back
Whenever my family gets together, we invariably talk about all the geeky things we love to do. We never discuss politics, religion, world events or anything of the like. Why bother? All politicians are shifty and corrupt. All organized religions are shifty and corrupt. And world events aren’t nearly as interesting as Big Hero 6. So for the holiday this year, I’ve decided to share with you all the 6 geeky, pop culturey things I’m thankful for this season!
Join me after the jump! And please share your own in the comments!
Sean’s Guide to Wedding Gifts
I attended the wedding of an old family friend over the weekend and I’ve come away with a rather fun anecdote I thought I’d share with everyone. I can’t be talking about comics all the time, right? Sometimes I might actually have some interesting advice to dish out! And I definitely do when it comes to wedding gifts.
Neither my sister or my brother has gotten married yet, so for the past several weddings I’ve attended, I’ve pretty much just been a cousin or a random friend who got invited. They’ve been some great ceremonies, and I love all these people dearly, but in the grand scheme of things, I was pretty low on the totem of important people – and therein lies the genius of what I’m about to tell you. I’m sure we’ve all been in this situation, where we’re just not that important of a person at a wedding. There are tons of aunts, uncles, parents, siblings, best friends and more who can do all of the important wedding stuff, like stick to the gift registry or support the bride and groom. For those of us on the fringes, I recommend having some fun with that position.
Here’s a picture I took of the bride – let’s call her ‘Mel’ – and her son ‘James’ admiring the gift I bought.
Note the Star Wars bag in which it was delivered.
During the wedding reception, James happened to notice the bag, which was entirely the point. I knew the kid would love it. What I didn’t expect was that James hunted down his mother, pulled her away from the festivities and asked her if they could open the present. Fortunately, my table happened to be right next to the gift table, and I was able to witness this glorious exchange. And of course I told them they could open it. It was their present.
Inside was three things: an air-popping popcorn maker, the necessary popcorn, and a Halloween card in which I had written ‘Happy Wedding’.
It’s OK, I’ll wait until your laughter dies down.
This was definitely a ‘you had to be there’ moment. But from it I hope to impart a kernel of an idea: if you’re a low on the totem-pole wedding guest, then have some fun with your gift! I once got my friend Shannon a toaster that burned the Spider-Man symbol into the bread, because he’s such a Spider-Man fan! (I’m not sure what his wife thought of the gift) And this was the second air-popping popcorn maker I’ve given out as a wedding gift. They’re just fun, and I think a wedding is a great place to have some fun.
So my advice to you is that next time you attend a wedding, put your gift in a Star Wars bag…but only if the bride and groom have a good sense of humor. Don’t go getting your head bitten off by angry relatives.
Also, James was really, really disappointed that there weren’t Star Wars toys in the bag…So plan accordingly.
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6 of My Fictional Mary Sues
I make no bones about my life as a young fan fiction writer. I am actually quite proud of the work that Young Sean churned out at such a young age – even if I can rarely bring myself to go back and read the stories I wrote. You can check them out at FanFiction.net. Those stories laid the groundwork for the Sean you know today.
And one of the things I loved more than anything else was creating my own Mary Sue characters in popular fiction. Though back then, I had no idea what a ‘Mary Sue’ even was.
Nope, that’s Mary Jane
According to TVtropes.com, Mary Sue is the derogative term for an original fan fiction character inserted by the author into an already popular series, usually to serve as some kind of wish fulfillment. Mary Sues typically have dramatic backstories, awesome names, unique looks, and more often than not, upstage the main characters. For example, say you wrote a Harry Potter fan fic and inserted your own original Hufflepuff wizard, and the story was all about how your wizard fell in love with Draco Malfoy and turned him into a good guy with the power of love. It’s that sort of idealized character inserted into pre-existing stories.
I don’t think I was ever that bad, but I loved creating my own original characters for all my favorite cartoons and movies. Join me after the jump to take a look at just a few of them, and feel free to share some of your own in the comments! No judgement.
Also, as Google has revealed, I was not the only person in the world to come up with these exact same ideas. But I was young, and the Internet wasn’t a thing yet, so forgive me if some of these ideas aren’t 100% unique or original. They were to me at the time.
Henchman-4-Hire 