"WHO AM I? I'm relatively normal; I keep to myself, kind of boring, a total nerd, sometimes confused, but prone to unexpected moments of awesome." - soloshotfirst
General Questions
WHERE DO YOU LIVE AND HAVE YOU ALWAYS LIVED THERE? LIKE IT? I live in Connecticut, in a small town called Bethel. Lived here all my life - it's quaint, but it's one of those "blink and you miss it" type of towns. It's kind of boring really, but I have some awesome friends who keep things interesting.
WHAT DO YOU DO FOR A LIVING? I do Inventory at the Microsoft Store. It's pretty neat. I went to school for audio engineering and eventually, I'd really like to get into recording/mixing audio for video games. (Pew pew and stuff like that.)
WHAT WOULD I FIND IN YOUR REFRIGERATOR RIGHT NOW?
Ummmm … a jar of pickles, leftovers, a couple hardboiled eggs, lots of juice, strawberries and half a bottle of diet ginger ale that I refuse to drink because diet ginger ale is gross.
WHAT IS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? I could say "Oh, I just finished 'Coalition's End' or 'The Slab' or one of the Halo books," or something else gamer-related, but in reality, I totally just read "The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs" by Gregory S. Paul, because I like dinosaurs. A lot.
YOU HAVE SEWN CLIFF AND I ADORABLE TICKER PLUSHIES. THANK YOU! WHEN DID YOU START SEWING? YOU HAVE SOME MAD SKILLS IN THAT DEPARTMENT. I sewed the original Ticker Bunny costume's plush arms and legs, and after seeing what a horrific job I did with that, I used fabric glue for the plush tickers! I didn't actually teach myself to sew until I made "Ticker 2.0", which I sent to my friend Dale (the Cole Train/Gears cosplayer) and the "Epic Gamer" wild tickers. I'm still pretty shaky with a sewing machine, but I'm getting better with hand sewing, so hopefully I can do more rad plushies soon! I'll probably do "Wretch 2.0" next, but I REALLY want to try making a Brumak or a Leviathan!
OTHER THAN SEWING, WHAT OTHER HOBBIES DO YOU LIKE TO DO? I game a lot, but aside from that, I like to draw - cutesy stuff and dinosaurs, mostly, nothing really gaming related, just doodles, but I'm getting into different mediums and getting advice from an artist friend of mine. I also like film photography. I don't go out and take pictures as much anymore, but I used to go out a lot with my old Polaroid and a 35mm film camera that my dad gave me. But I'm pretty sure my cat and rabbit are thankful I'm not chasing them around the house taking pictures of them.
HOW IS YOUR PET TICKER BUNNY DOING? ^.^ Blossom the ticker bunny is awesome! She's the best bunny ever, super chill and INCREDIBLY tolerant of all the ridiculous things I do to her, like chase her around with a camera and put her in funny costumes. I still can't believe she was so cool with me putting her in the Ticker costume. I was working at GameStop on Gears 3 launch day and brought her with me and put her in the Ticker costume. She was a huge hit, but she was shedding EVERYWHERE! There were little white tumbleweeds all over the store - but she definitely helped sell Gears!
DO YOU LIKE TO SING? In the car, mostly. My friends and I like to go on random road adventures and blast ridiculous songs and sing along until we lose our voices. It's also not uncommon for me to randomly burst out with the theme song to the old Gummi Bears cartoon. That song's been stuck in my head on and off for YEARS! Dashing and daring, courageous and caring …. dammit.
WHAT IS THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU EVER GOT?
A friend of mine once told me back when I was a senior in high school - "I don't have time for things that don't make me happy." She was right - there's way too many amazing things I can do instead of stick with something that doesn't constantly keep me upbeat and smiling.
WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE DO YOU DISLIKE AND WHAT IS IT THAT THEY DO TO REALLY GET ON YOUR NERVES?
I'm not a huge fan of those "bro" types who assume that just because you're a girl, you don't know anything about games. One day when I was working at GameStop, a guy came in and I asked if I could help him, he said to me "No, but THIS GUY looks like he knows about video games" and proceeds to ask one of my male co-workers about Gears of War. My co-worker just looked at him and said, "I don't play Gears, but SHE DOES." and points to me. The guy looks at me and says "Alright thanks" and left. That kind of thing really bothers me.
video game questions
I HAVE SEEN YOU AT PAX BEFORE. HOW MANY CONVENTIONS HAVE YOU BEEN TO SO FAR? HOW DID YOU LIKE IT? ANY YOU'D WISH TO VISIT IN THE FUTURE?
PAX East is absurdly amazing and it keeps getting better every year! PAX East 2010 was kind of overwhelming, because it was really my first large-scale con, but 2011 was awesome, especially because I got to meet so many rad folks (like you and Cliff!) as well as see some really amazing panels and try out some games I wasn't even considering playing. Before I started going to PAX East, I really had only been to SuperMegaFest in Framingham, MA and ConnectiCon in Hartford. Wasn't a huge fan of ConnectiCon because the year I went, it was super focused on anime and that's not really my scene. I hear it's gotten less anime-centered, though. Last year, I went to NY Comic Con for the first time and that was pretty fun. I'm definitely going to try to go again this year!
As for cons I'd like to check out - probably San Diego Comic Con, PAX Prime and maybe DragonCon in Atlanta.
HOW DID YOU GET YOUR ALIAS? Honestly? Because I'm a giant nerd and I like Star Wars. And the whole "Greedo was always supposed to shoot first" thing is stupid. Han Solo is supposed to be a badass!
HAVE YOU EVER COSPLAYED? IF NO, WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO COSPLAY AS IF YOU COULD? I'm actually a member of the 501st Legion of Stormtroopers, a Star Wars costuming group and I have my own Stormtrooper costume. I also have a Little Sister costume from Bioshock that I made a couple years ago, but I haven't worn that out in public. I would totally love to make some COG armor eventually, though!
IF YOU HAD 1 BILLION DOLLARS TO SOMEHOW MERGE 2 GAMES INTO ONE, WHICH 2 WOULD YOU CHOOSE? That's a tough one! I'm not really sure … a lot of the games I've played are great as they are! A silly one would maybe be Gears and Fruit Ninja - franticly flailing to slice up locust heads!
WHO WOULD YOU MARRY FROM STAR WARS? WHERE WOULD Y’ALL HONEYMOON? (I’M GUESSING HAN SOLO SINCE IT’S IN YOUR GAMERTAG.. YES.. NO? HEHE) Well, Han Solo, yeah! He's a badass! But if he's always hanging around Chewbacca, there'd be hair all over the place, and that's a lot more clean up than I really want to do ...
IF YOU COULD BE A SUPERHERO, WHAT KIND OF POWERS WOULD YOU WANT? WOULD YOU BE GOOD OR EVIL? WOULD YOU HAVE A CAPE? I'd like to be able to fly and manipulate things with my mind - (haha, that makes me sound like I hate waiting in traffic and am too lazy to get up to get something out of the fridge,) but I'd probably use my powers for good. Saving kittens out of trees and making angry people not so angry; stuff like that.
WHAT “VIDEO GAME LEGEND” WOULD YOU LOVE TO MEET? WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAY TO HIM/HER? Well, I already met Cliff so that's done! But in all honesty, I've always been interested in the audio side of gaming - voice actors, sound design, foley and composition, so probably Marty O'Donnell from the Halo series, any foley recorders for Gears/Halo/CoD and John DiMaggio (if only to ask him to say "Bite my shiny metal ass" as Marcus). I'd probably ask them what their process and inspiration was for certain music/voices or what they did to find the perfect sound effect. I'd probably also geek out on what equipment they use and all that.
HOW DO YOU REACT TO A BAD VIDEO GAME REVIEW ON A GAME YOU WERE LOOKING FORWARD TO PLAYING? If I'm really dead set on a game, I'll play it regardless of reviews, because sometimes, even if a game gets a bad review, I still love it! I don't really read reviews anymore just because there have been a few times that a game has gotten amazing reviews and I absolutely hated it, so I'd rather be my own judge.
IF BLOOD WAS DISABLED IN LET’S SAY MORTAL KOMBAT, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE REPLACE IT? I THINK SKITTLES WOULD BE INTERESTING AND A YUMMY CHANGE. Skittles would be awesome!! Also, Sheeva's skin ripping fatality would reveal instead of a skeleton, a unicorn or maybe a fluffy bunny!
WHAT MOBILE GAMES HAVE YOU BEEN PLAYING THIS PAST YEAR? LOTS! I've played LOADS of Infinity Blade 1 & 2, but lately, I've been totally obsessed with Bust-A-Move HD. I am ALL about Bust-A-Move! I've also been playing Dark Meadow, Jetpack Joyride, Fruit Ninja, Angry Birds, Peggle and Gemibears. I also LOVE Draw Something!
soloshotfirst's favorites
WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE GEARS OF WAR CHARACTER? Man, it's a total toss up between the Carmine brothers and Bernie. My only issue with Gears 3 is that Clay and Bernie didn't have bigger parts! But I loved Bernie in the books because she gave back as much as she got from Baird.
TYPE OF DONUT? Chocolate cream filled!
QUOTE? "There is always more than one right choice. If you look too long at the closed door, you may not see the one which has opened for you."
VOICE ACTOR AND ACTRESS? John DiMaggio and Jennifer Hale
THING TO EAT FOR BREAKFAST? Plain (or egg) bagel with veggie cream cheese!
HIGH SCHOOL SUBJECT? Photography and Graphic Design
TV SHOW? Sooo many! Futurama, Dexter, Big Bang Theory and The League (even though I know NOTHING about football)
MULTIPLAYER MODE IN THE HALO FRANCHISE? Matchmaking - Team Doubles! Back when I used to play Halo in public matchmaking (I only really do private matches now, if I play,) my co-op buddy and I would do pretty well in Team Doubles. We weren't very good, by any stretch of the imagination, but we were pretty decent. It's all about how well you work with your co-op buddy!
TYPE OF SHOES? Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars, but I'll always have a soft spot for my knee-high girly boots!
DEAD OR ALIVE CHARACTER? Never played Dead or Alive! I suck as a gamer. :(
Contact soloshotfirst: http://www.twitter.com/soloshotfirst
Extra link of awesomeness: http://epicgames.com/community/2012/02/epic-gamers-dot-stasny-and-tickerbun/