Creatively double-Liebsterized

I've been creatively double-Liebsterized! What, you have no idea what I'm talking about? You say I've already been Liebsterized before? Alright, you've asked for it now, here we go. It involves dinosaurs, though, I've warned you!

Back in March, Pasduil nominated me for a Liebster award on his second blog, Planet Pasduil. Because I primarily read his other blog, Thinking Play, I missed this completely until I saw that he nominated me for the Creative Blogger Award on that blog (the one I do read, if you're still following). Unaware of this, De Pepi of De Pepi Geek Anthropology nominated me for another Liebster award. So now I'm creatively double (or triple, depends how you look at it) Liebsterized!

 

All three awards need me to start off with a bunch of random facts about me, so I'm going to be lazy and do them all together in one go. If you're unsatisfied with the amount of random facts, you can read 11 more in my previous Liebster post.

Gathering node on my balcony: mint

Random facts

• I love 'gathering' on my balcony!
• I dislike the colour orange. Probably because my parents made me drink orange juice every morning (and I hated it).
• I used to think I was dreadful at dancing, until I discovered balfolk dancing when I was 17. Now I love going to balfolk parties and dance with random strangers all night.
• Guilty confession: I own a working Furby. It was nice knowing you, too.
• I'm looking for a place in Lund, Sweden, to stay during the fall. I'll feature you on my blog if you can find me an address! That won't work, will it...
• Hopefully I'll get to dig up Vikings in Sweden! I'm not even joking.
• I have a harvest mouse as pet. 
• The mouse is called Merry. I used to have a Pippin too, but he died earlier this year.
• My top 3 dinosaurs consists of ankylosaurus, plesiosaurus and stegosaurus.
• My love for plesiosaurus probably emerged because of having a placemat with one on it, making me associate the dinosaur with positive experiences (such as yummy food).
• I would love to ride an ankylosaurus! (Yes, I did get the memo that they're extinct. *sobs*)

Well, I'm really out of random facts now. On to the questions!

Harvest mice love to climb, so I made the den as stimulating as possible.

Pasduil's questions

Do you watch or play any sports? Which?

I prefer playing to watching. Did gymnastics and medieval sword fighting in the past; now I'm just dancing every week (that counts right?).

Are you a morning person, night owl or neither?
Used to be a night owl, but nowadays I can be a wreck at 4 pm on bad days. So I guess it's neither at the moment.

Strangest phobia you have personally come across?

Fear of water. My mother tells me that when I was a baby, I somehow became so afraid of water that I didn't want to drink anymore. I ended up being hospitalized with nurses force-feeding me. It's okay now, but I still hate taking a shower and need to go through a psychological barrier before going under water.

What little known book, show or film do you love?

If you would've asked for music, this would've been so easy! For books I can call out two of my favourite Dutch writers from my childhood: Tonke Dragt and Evert Hartman. They were masters of fantasy and sci-fi while addressing complicated social issues.

What historical era would you live in, if not the present? Why?

As a woman, the future probably is a better place to live in than the past. But if I would have to choose, the early medieval period because it would answer many questions I come across as its my chosen field of archaeological interest.

What advice would you give your younger self?

The only thing I would tell my younger self is to tell my parents about that awful first schoolday I had after moving towns. It probably wouldn't have helped apart from if I would've changed schools, but it may just have done a bit.

What’s something you’ve always wanted to do, but not done yet?
Write a great story.

How would you do in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse?

Probably crappy, like everyone suffering from a chronic illness. It would be fun if I'd make it to northern Sweden to wait until all the zombies die from starvation. Also, Conrad would have to hunt moose and finally work on that six pack!

Another gathering node: strawberries.

What’s your ideal place to work?
Alone at home, or in the library.

What fictional character has influenced you the most?

Perhaps Belle from Beauty and the Beast when I was a little girl. It was the first movie I saw in the cinema and I was so impressed by it. My mother tells me that me and my friend couldn't stop crying afterwards because we thought it was so beautiful. I could identify with Belle because she was a bookwurm, just like me.

What’s the best thing about your life right now?
I just heard I get to study in Lund, Sweden, for my master! I literally heard today. Now I just need to find a place to stay...

De Pepi's questions

We aren't there just yet. I was double-Liebsterized, remember? More questions need to be answered, this time from De Pepi:

Which is your childhood favorite sweet?

Fire balls. I'd go to the gas station around the corner once a week together with a neighbourhood friend to spend a portion of our pocket money on them and then laugh at how they put our mouths on fire. 

What Superhero are you? (Or would like to be?)
I have discussed this extensively with Conrad, and we came to two options.

The first is Scarlet Witch. Conrad said it had to be a not-very violent hero, as I feel horrible when playing shooters or watching violent TV series or movies. Scarlet Witch can do some creepy things (I guess all heroes have to), but her power is psychological rather than physical. Also, I think she looks awesome in the Age of Ultron! 

The second is a Violet Lantern, because I love friendly hugs, so gaining power through love makes sense. Conrad always says I have an addiction to oxytocin. But this is all from what he tells me, because I haven't read the comics myself and hadn't heard of Violet Lanterns before.

My in-game characters should count as superheroes as well. They fight dragons, after all!

Do you collect anything geeky? What?

I try not to collect things: I'm bad enough at managing stuff as it is. I guess I do collect screenshots I take in games. I do sort them neatly so I can always find them back if I need to use them for a blog post. Screenshots are perfect because they don't take up any physical space!

Which Potter character do you think defines you the most?

It will have to be a crossover between Hermione and Luna. Hermione because I'm a bookwurm and have always been eager to learn, Luna because people have repeatedly told me that I'm weird. I don't mind; I prefer weird to ordinary.

What is your favorite Superhero movie quote?
I like this one from Guardians of the Galaxy:

- Hey! If it isn't Star-Prince.
- Sighs. Star-Lord.
- Oh, sorry. "Lord."
I picked this guy up a while back for petty theft. He's got a code name.
- Come on, man. It's a... It's an outlaw name.
- Just relax, pal. It's cool to have a code name. It's not that weird. 

―Rhomann Dey and Star-Lord

[spoiler alert] And then that moment you find out he calls himself that because of the only thing he has left of his parents: a letter from his mum calling him "her little Star-lord". Awwww. [/spoiler]

Which is your favorite comic/manga? Why?
Asterix & Obelix, because it is funny, original and amazingly historically correct.

That time when you where the only geek in the room. How did you notice it?

That would've been pretty much my whole high school time. The girls would go "Last weekend we went out and thingy got drunk! And OMG there were boys, hihi!" and I would be "Last weekend I went camping and I found Geum rivale for the first time. It was such a score!" My universal translator must've been malfunctioning permanently.

What book can describe best your childhood?
I have no clue. I spent my childhood reading fantastic stories, basically everything as far as possible from life in reality.

In-game I do love cocktails!

Which is your favorite cocktail? (You can add the recipe).

I can't remember the last time I drank a cocktail, but you can have my favorite kokosbollar recipe instead. I hope you've been working on your Swedish!

Ingredienser:
100 g margarin
1½ dl socker  I usually just do a bit less, ~1 dl
3 dl havregryn
1 msk vaniljsocker
2 msk kakao  I usually do a little bit more, for a more pure chocolate effect
1-2 msk kaffe  Just add until the substance becomes easily malleable

Gör såhär:
Vispa först margarin och socker pösigt, helst med elvisp eller assistent. Tillsätt sedan resten av ingredienserna och rör en stund. Rulla sedan bollar av smeten (valfri storlek) och rulla dem sedan i kokos eller pärlsocker.

Which is your favorite Middle Earth folk?
The Elves.

How many geek tees do you own? Which is your favorite one?

None (gasp). I don't wear tees that often and I don't like brands and letters on clothes all that much - which they often have. I did just order these leggings, though, if that counts.

I forgot to take a picture myself so these kokosbollar are by Martina of foodblog Mat och Odla

The questions

Here are the 11 questions I could come up with. You've been warned, they're all super serious.

1) Name one thing that would make your current favourite game better. Why?

2) How much time do you spend in MMOs standing around, not actively steering your character (for instance because you are chatting to friends) instead of doing actual gameplay?

3) If you would get to pick a lightsaber, what colour crystal would be in it?  

4) In games, do you have a preference for creating a character of a specific gender?
5) In games, do you have a preference for creating a character of a specific race (dwarf, elf, asura, human etc.)? If you check your characters, which race is in the majority?
6) In games, do you have a preference for creating characters of a certain body type or height?
7) Outside the realm of games: does everyone know that you game? Or do you keep it a secret for certain people?
8) What is your favourite in-game consumable and why?
9) Do you prepare that consumable in the offline world as well?
10) What is your top 3 favourite dinosaurs?
11) And, last but not least: I'm an iguanodon. What dinosaur are you?

That was it. Be happy I stopped before they got any weirder! Read further to see if you've been targeted by the Spanish inquisition selected to answer them. But first, you'll have to endure this brilliant picture featuring an iguanodon!

Iguanodon versus megalosaurus drawn by Édouard Riou (1863).

My victims honoured individuals

I'd love it if the following bloggers would take it upon themselves to answer my questionnaire and proudly show off their Liebster award. Feel free to post a link to your answers in the comments!

The Iron Dagger: Syrmaticus writes thoughtful posts about gaming. I'm guilty of not commenting enough on this blog! They also do a lot of LOTRO nostalgia posts that make me feel, well, nostalgic. *pinks away tear*

Tyrannodorkus: Roger writes about about everything gaming related. He also has the most epic blogger name. Of course it made me wonder about his favourite dinosaurs (apart from the obvious), so Roger, you've called this upon yourself!

Pleasant Gamer: Zyngor writes about LOTRO from time to time, which I love! It's been a bit quiet on the blog since the NBI, so hopefully this award will serve as some fuel.

Oh Sweet Samsara: Ashlee started blogging recently and her blog already looks amazing! She plays World of Warcraft (no longer SWTOR *sobs*) but does still love Star Wars, so here's me hoping that some lightsabers will pop up every now and then.

Imperial Intelligence: Targeter writes about anything SWTOR. And his baby being Dark Side II. What's more, reading his blog instantly applies a 12x XP buff. Better start right away!

Zerneblog: Edit: I meant to include Zernebog, who's back from the void. I've been following his blog since it was just around and it's lovely to see it grow. Zerne is one of the most enthusiastic members of the SWTOR community!

Help, I've been Liebsterized! What now?

It's simple: post 11 facts about yourself, answer my 11 questions, make up 11 questions of your own and select a bunch of victims. You can pick up your badge here.

Here's a pro-tip for selecting people for you own Liebster award: check with the search option if they have already been Liebsterized before. Of course there's no rule against Liebsterizing people twice, but I personally enjoy finding new victims nominees (totally nominees)!

Liebster search positive. This blogger has already been Liebsterized before.

Do you feel too serious for posting this award? No worries, we can't all be perfect! Seriously, though, this is all in good fun, so if there are any questions you feel uncomfortable answering, skip them. Who cares about the rules, anyway!

If you don't own your own blog and thus will never be Liebsterized (you poor thing), or if you just love answering lists of questions, you can also answer (your selection of) my questions in the comments below. I'd love to get to know you better (yes, YOU, lurking reader).

I'm looking forward to see your answers!

Edit: here they are:
The Iron Dagger: What's a Liebster? Can it be eaten? (17 July 2015)
Oh Sweet Samsara: Blogger Recognition & Liebster Award! (18 July 2015)
Zerneblog: I've been Liebsterized!!!!! (22 July 2015)
Tyrannodorkus: I've been Liebsterized (29 July 2015)
Imperial Intelligence: Liebsterized! (4 August 2015)