That's when I realized mainstream media isn't just dying—it's been cremated, scattered at sea, and someone's selling bootleg videos of the funeral on Etsy.
But I was already doom-scrolling through genre news at 3am anyway, annotating Marvel movie rumors on my phone while my beta fish (his name is Fin Diesel, fight me) judged my life choices. So I thought, why not turn my unhealthy internet addiction into... a different kind of unhealthy internet addiction that occasionally pays for groceries?
I grew up in the Northeast, where we measure distance in Dunkin' Donuts locations and consider 40°F "shorts weather." My gateway drugs were Back to the Future, Terminator, and those Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies that made me believe anyone could be a hero, even weird newspaper photographers who can't talk to women. (This was a lie.)
Now I run The Nerdage from my home office, which is really just a corner of my apartment where I've strategically placed a houseplant to hide the water stain on the wall. The plant is dying. I've named it Gloria. We have a complicated relationship.
Marvel and DC comics that I'll "definitely organize someday"
Every single non-canon Star Trek novel (yes, even the ones where Spock has a secret twin)
Wrestling figures that cost more than my groceries
Grudges against people who spoil movies
Screenshots of bad CGI that I send to friends at inappropriate hours
Professional wrestling IS a valid storytelling medium and I'll die on this hill
Bad CGI adds character (looking at you, Spawn 1997)
You SHOULD be able to interact with your past self in time travel movies—the butterfly effect is for cowards
The best superhero movies are the ones that know they're ridiculous
Because somewhere out there is a community of beautiful weirdos who also think too hard about whether the Fast & Furious franchise counts as sci-fi (it does). People who understand why I'm still mad about that Firefly cancellation. People who've had their hearts broken by genre media more times than actual humans.
We're building something here. Not sure what yet, but it involves a lot of caps lock, questionable hot takes, and the shared understanding that caring too much about fictional characters is actually a personality.
Plus, I need to justify the amount of time I spend online to my therapist. This helps.
Once watched all of Lost in one week and only had two existential crises
Can quote Terminator 2 in its entirety (this has never been useful)
Successfully kept Fin Diesel alive for three years (my houseplants can't relate)
Convinced exactly one person that Spider-Man 3 is actually good
Started The Nerdage (jury's still out on whether this is an achievement or a cry for help)
Want to watch me slowly lose my mind over genre news in real-time? Subscribe to The Nerdage. It's like having a friend who texts you at weird hours about superhero casting news, except I'm technically a professional now.
My journalism professors would be so proud. Or concerned. Probably concerned.