The Sunshine Blogger Award, Take III~ In Which There Are Lots Of Jams And Gems

Greetings, my friends!

I have been tagged yet again for The Sunshine Blogger Award, this time by the fantastic CM @ Project Pursue Wisdom. Apparently I am just such a ray of sunshine that people can’t resist tagging me for this.

The Rules

• Thank the blogger who nominated you in the blog post and link back to their blog. 
• Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you. 
• Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions. 
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog.

Hopefully you know me well enough by now to know that I will only be following approximately two of the rules, so…let’s get to the tag!

Fantasy or sci-fi?

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*featuring actual footage of what happens in my brain when I am trying to decide between two things*

I can already tell I am going to have a tricky time trying to answer these questions. Can I just say “BOTH but never mind the bread” to most of these? No? Bother.

I find some of the concepts in sci-fi stories to be exceptionally intriguing (if often a bit disturbing and/or horribly depressing) and it has the propensity to explore certain moral dilemmas that you don’t always see in other kinds of stories. I appreciate much of the unique world building and thoughtfulness that is put into structuring many sci-fi worlds.

But ultimately I think I prefer fantasy. Magic and mystery and a more old-fashioned vibe are my jam. Though obviously this isn’t true across the board, fantasy tends to capture more of the wonder of life and have more redeeming themes, which I appreciate. The trope of good triumphing over evil is one that I honestly really like. Narnia, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter are high on my favorites list and I don’t think that’s changing any time soon.

Also, Avatar: The Last Airbender. We can’t not talk about that. IT IS A BEAUTIFUL SHOW.

Apparently on the inside I am an actual child, but okay.

Tragedy or comedy?

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Well, I don’t like it when things end tragically. So comedy, I guess? But a comedy with much tragedy stuck in the middle there. A tragedy sandwich made with comedy bread.

The thing is honestly I want to say neither because my favorite kinds of endings are neither sad nor happy, but a heartbreaking mixture of both. Bittersweet stories are MY JAM. (So BOTH but never mind the bread, please.)

Fiction or nonfiction?

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It has to be fiction for this one. I LOVE the truths that can be embedded in stories that are allegedly not true. While history documents the way the world has been and gives us insight into human nature and where we are going, mythology opens up people’s hearts and gives us a glimpse into pieces of culture that the practical elements can’t always tell us. In the end I feel like facts can only tell us so much about truth.

I am ALL HERE for the elusive, deeper truths that can only be caught in the fine mesh of a fictional story. There is a part of humanity that cannot be expressed in any other way than in fantasy. The way that fiction is involved in human experience is something that I will never get over.

All that being said, it’s partly just that I have very little experience with nonfiction. I read vastly more fiction, and I am much more drawn to it, though I have greatly enjoyed some autobiographies and essays that I have read. But if I had to choose…

Snow or rain?

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BOTH BUT NEVER MIND THE BREAD. (Please don’t think that I have anything against bread, I simply don’t want to appear greedy.)

Snow is magical. Sometimes. At others it can be a huge pain. Rain is also magical. Sometimes. At others it also can be a huge pain.

I kind of want to say rain though, just because I prefer writing about rain to snow. Which seems like kind of a trivial reason, but how else am I supposed to choose?

I also don’t know why I prefer writing about rain to snow. And I didn’t even realize it until just now.

Orange juice or apple juice?

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Orange juice. I think. Yes. Orange juice.

Though I won’t say no to apple juice.

Christmas or Easter?

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So the thing is I REALLY love what Sarah Seele had to say to this one. So just…read that.

Ultimately, yes, Christmas. Partly because my family tends to have more gatherings and there are longer breaks for people and therefore more time to hang out. And its just so cozy. I LOVE being cozy.

(Also last Christmas my younger sisters got The Temperamental Writer and me a stuffed animal of Appa, which is THE BEST THING EVER.)

Middle-earth or Narnia?

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BOTH BUT NEVER MIND THE-

Okay that is getting a bit old. And I am starting to want the bread as well, so.

(Please let me know if you understand this reference, it will make me so happy.)

I adore both of these worlds to death. I want to BE a hobbit and live in the Shire, and I have been trying to get to Narnia for as long as I can remember.

If I have to choose though, probably Narnia just because Aslan kind of makes the whole thing just that much better.

Marvel or DC?

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Um…not a huge fan of either? I haven’t read any of the comics at all. But let’s face it, if we’re talking about the MCU versus the DCEU, the Marvel movies are just done better. (I won’t fight you on that though.) I enjoy several of the Marvel movies, but there are kind of WAY too many of them and I get a little bit sick of it. As for DC, well…I guess they’re trying? I did really enjoy Shazam. Because Freddy. And Wonder Woman was good, but other than that…just no.

I think there are just too many superhero movies in general though- they’re not my favorite.

Star Wars or Star Trek?

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My family has always been more entrenched in Star Wars than Star Trek. I grew up watching the three original movies and the three prequels (yes, those ones), and I still like them well enough. I recently watched The Mandalorian and it was kind of great, even though it also wasn’t. Rogue One is kind of the best thing about Star Wars somehow. What a film.

So yeah, okay, I like Star Wars.

I don’t have any desire to watch the other shows though, and the three newest movies DO NOT EXIST.

As for Star Trek, I am actually quite a peasant. I watched the J.J. Abrams reboots first, and liked the first two (despite some Issues). Later I watched a few of the older movies with the original crew (I don’t remember which ones) and then the Next Generation movies, and none of them stuck with me (with the exception of the fact that I was thoroughly traumatized by First Contact).

I never watched any of the original show (hence my peasant status). I do love it when my dad is channel flipping and a random Star Trek episode comes on though. Star Trek out of context is somehow the best thing ever. It’s so dramatic and bizarre and HILARIOUS.

All that to say…Star Wars. For nostalgia more than anything.

Old movies or new movies?

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Um…can I just say GOOD movies? From wherever they hail???

Also what constitutes as “old” and “new”? Honestly I haven’t seen a plethora of films from before the 1980s (not counting Disney movies) but some of the ones I have seen from the olden days are absolute gems.

I prefer a lot of movies from the 1990s to the newest of the new movies coming out? I feel like the ’90s was a golden age for Disney movies, and there are some superb dramas from that decade. Then again, there are some gems from recent years as well…

Probably the bulk of my favorite movies came out between 1985 and 2005, with stragglers on either end.

So new movies, but not NEW movies.

I am thinking way too hard about this.

Old books or new books?

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Both again. And bring on the bread.

Okay, but depends again on what you mean by “old.” I might actually be okay with reading only books written before the year 2000.

Except of course that Kate DiCamillo and Gary D. Schmidt would be barred from me…so NEVER MIND.

In general I think there were some great books written in the 20th century. and the 19th century. Those are my two favorite centuries to read from. Not as big a fan of many books prior to that. Those start to get a bit tricky for me. As for modern days, we have our Schmidt and our DiCamillo, and everything else is kind of hit-and-miss, but “miss” more often than not.

Epilogue

What an ordeal. Choosing between two things is HARD. But at least I got a chance to quote one of my favorite literary characters to the point of it becoming obnoxious, so that was fun.

If you are wondering what all the anime GIFs have to do with most of the questions, they don’t.

Many thanks to CM for tagging me for this! It was great fun, despite the trial.

Do you prefer old or new movies? Any thoughts on fiction versus nonfiction? Star Wars or Star Trek? Do answer as many of these questions as your heart desires in the comments!