The Witcher

Superman is a nerd

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If you haven’t lived under a rock for the past decade, you probably know who Henry Cavill is.

In case you seriously don’t know, he’s an English actor mainly known for his role as Superman in Man of Steel, Geral in The Witcher TV series, his depiction of Sherlock Holmes in the Enolma Holmes TV series, and many more.

Something else entirely Henry Cavill is known for is his immense love and passion for gaming and nerd culture as a whole.

Cavill reportedly missed the call telling him he got the part of Superman because he was busy raiding in World of Warcraft. He was referred to as “a living encyclopedia” on the set of The Witcher, built (and games on) his own custom-built gaming computer—he even live-streamed the whole thing. As well as he regularly talks and nerds out about everything that has to do with Warhammer 40k.

And, not unsurprising, many of his fans love him for it.

So much so that people in the gaming and nerd culture communities are proud and excited to call Cavill “one of us”.

Now, this information might not seem all that useful to you, but it is.

Because think about it: How would Cavill being so open about his passions and his interests (including his appeal to the gaming and nerd-culture communities) impact his work as an actor?

Would the movies and series he stars in get more or less recognition (especially from said communities)? Would those people enjoy those same movies and series the same amount (assuming the stays the same if it were played by a different actor)?

The truth is, none of us know.

This is only a thought experiment and there’s no way to get a defining answer. But I would bet all of my life-savings on the fact the movies he stars in get way better results from audiences alike just because he’s in it as opposed to someone else, who might very well be a better actor, yet isn’t as beloved in the same circles.

Which, once again, brings us to one of the most important lessons in all of business and marketing alike, regardless what you do, what you sell, or what market you operate in: You’re always, first and foremost, selling yourself before anything else.

So now that you know the power of selling yourself first, why don’t you check out my flagship course Email Valhalla that’ll help better sell your personality through entertaining emails that get you paid and keep your readers coming back for more.

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Why are all dwarves Scottish?

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So here’s a question for you.

If you’re anything like me—an avid enjoyer of fantasy—you might have noticed how almost all dwarves in popular media nowadays get portrayed as Scottish.

(Something that’s, as I’ve recently learned, not unique to just dwarves, Vikings often get the same treatment in modern media—just look at How To Train Your Dragon).

But why?

I thought about this just a few days ago when, for both educational and inspirational reasons, I started playing The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt for the first time ever (yes I know, shame on me, should’ve played it already a long time ago).

In the game, you’ll come across many species, including dwarves, which are all portrayed as Scots.

This isn’t the only case, far from it.

At first, you might rightly want to point fingers at Tolkien’s Lord of The Rings—like almost every fantasy trope out there.

Simply watch the films and you’ll confirm that idea.

Except, Dwarves were never mentioned or hinted to be Scottish in Tolkien’s original books. If anything, they appeared to be Jewish more than anything else.

So where do you go looking for historical fantasy influences if not for Tolkien’s works?

That’s right, Gary Gygax’s Dungeons & Dragons.

And you’d be mostly correct.

It so turns out that the Scottish Dwarf can be traced back to early D&D novels. Some sources say Gary Gygax was influenced by yet another work of fiction a few decades before there was any mention of Dungeon & Dragons at all.

But that’s truly the end of our little rabbit hole.

Either way.

If someone mentions Dwarves in today’s day and age, chances are you’ll think of a short, red-headed, somewhat chubby, little fellow, going around, throwing out insults with his Scottish accent while wielding either an axe or a pickaxe in his hand.

Because as everyone knows…

If a dwarf ain’t a blacksmith or a miner, he ain’t no dwarf.

And that’s all because of one man who knew what he wanted to do, was passionate about his work, didn’t let anyone else tell them what he could or couldn’t do, and wouldn’t shut up about it until he was sure everyone knew what he was working on—and even then he’d keep on talking about it day after day, because that’s how much he enjoyed it.

Goes to show you the power of persistently sharing your work and talking about your interests.

As far as that goes nowadays, there’s simply no better way to do so than through daily email.

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