...I thought that, just for fun, I would compile a brief list of when (and when not) to fangirl. I find it a tricky business myself, but I hope this helps.
When to Fangirl...
~~at home during the day when you see something exciting. Tom Hiddleston is coming to Shreveport? *cue squeals* Your wonderful Australian friend is coming to visit? *cue squeals*
exception: when an important family member is napping or suffering from a headache. The high-frequency noises can cause significant irriatation and/or pain. In this case it is wise to place a cushion, a hand, or some other muffling device over the mouth to prevent sound escaping. If this course of action is ignored, a sibling may volunteer to oblige you.
~~when with friends
Fangirling, like any other sport, is more fun in a group. If the area permits, fangirl away.
exception: when the majority of the group in no way share the fandom being fangirled over--especially if they're not fans because of family or conscience-related restrictions. That's just rude.
~~Online
Obviously, it's all right, or I wouldn't be here.
or something like that...
seriously though, you can't exactly smash your face on the keyboard in 'real' life. And sometimes that's the only way to express yourself adequately.
I especially condone the tactful taking over of Tumblr posts...
'just Sherly things' are a particular favorite.
~~When you meet Charles Dickens
~~In public
You love your fandoms; why be ashamed of them?
exception: in very tight spaces, such as automobiles. Or anywhere your screaming might carry, really.
exception 2: when your social skills have not developed past the point of creepiness (this mainly applies to attempts to make contact with a fellow fan).
exception 3: when mental fangirling causes awkward facial expressions.
When it's NOT okay...
~At Random Moments when Someone is Speaking to You:
I know, I know--it's hard. I personally have a sort of mental pinterest board that I scroll through when I'm bored (no pun intended--just this once). I'll suddenly come across something funny and fandom-related, and just burst out laughing, no matter the time, the place, or who I'm supposed to be listening to.
did I also mention it is okay to use as many Sherlock gifs on your own blog post as you want? 'cause it is.
...it can get awkward. If anyone has a remedy for this (besides actually listening), I'd be grateful.
~Weddings and funerals. Just don't.
~In the theatre.
Unless you do it very quietly. This is another hard one.
~When you see a favorite character's look-alike in public. This is the most difficult. Once in Destin we saw--and were forced to interact with--someone who looked EXACTLY LIKE MR. TILNEY.
A very tricky situation to keep under control--we nearly lost it when he did the smirk. Keep calm and carry on, I suppose...
Well, there you have it--a quick guide to the appropriate place to express your appreciation for your fandoms. This is by no means exhaustive, so if you have any more, let me know.
This also applies to fanboys, just to clear up any confusion.
Do you have any tips on controlling fandom-related outbursts when forced from your lair?
...that's what happened when I started this post, and it's also the reason you didn't get any post today. Or yesterday. Whatever.
Time and timing aside, here is the next in the Four Fandoms in Progress. Your clues were, Musical. Girl. Misunderstood.
a random picture of Eponine to prevent spoilers in people's feeds
...which totally doesn't cover every hit musical ever.
All right, here's a better clue: it rhymes with Cricket. Kind of.
Guessing game's over!
When I first heard of Wicked, I must confess I rolled my eyes, as I usually do with misunderstood villain-type plots. I just don't care for them, and they're usually quite far-fetched, if not just wrong. I've never been a huge fan of The Wizard of Oz, to my knowledge (though I read a few of the sequels and enjoyed them), and a musical spin-off explaining why Dorothy was really the villain seemed a bit unnecessary.
Ha. hahaha.
I'm still no expert on Wicked--I've never seen it live, I don't own anything related to it, and I don't really have an extensive knowledge of every Elphaba ever. But I have watched the entire play, thanks to a bootleg video on Youtube, and my fellow family members keep singing some of the songs ceaselessly. That's a good sign, right?
I was concerned about the magic at first (see my concerns about HP) but 1. Elphie obviously has a natural talent for magic, which I'm fine with, and 2. This is Oz, not Earth. So, with my conscience satisfied, and with the recommendation of several of my closest friends, and my math teacher, of all people, I set about checking it out (la! A rhyme!).
Let me say this: my mother will probably never like this musical. Here's why--there's no movie or concert recording that she can watch. There's no way for her to see/understand the whole thing (I think we all agree that needs to be fixed ASAP). The other reason is the style of the music--it's that Broadway belting style that grates on her nerves so badly. It does take some getting used to, and Idina does make my spine do a weird little dance (and not in a good way) with some of her vocal manipulations. Oh, and did I mention that it's Popu-lar (see previous post about my family's attitude towards hype)?But I can live with that. However, mother dear, if you can't, I completely understand. And I apologize for all those times you have awakened from slumber with "I'm flying HIGH, DEFYYYYING GRAVITY!" already. Those times are probably not over, alas.
So, some random bits...
~~like I said, I haven't seen clips of every cast ever (yet), but my favorites right now (and possibly forever) are these gals:
~~I also like Alli Mauzey's Galinda, even though she is frighteningly giddy sometimes...
~~speaking of Galindas, I also like what I've heard of Annalene Beechey
~~I adore the costumes in this musical, particularly--you guessed it--G(a)linda's. Here is a couple of lovely posts about the costumes. The Popular gown and the Bubble gown are particularly lovely.
I even attempted to replicate the spirit of the "Popular" gown for Halloween. It was all very last-minute and the sweater, alas, was necessary because of the chill in the air. And my curls are unfortunately not visible.
with my dear friend Gabbi, who used to have a lovely Elphie braid but chopped it off before I was interested in this crazy thing. *sigh*
And what is this strange thing I find on the internet?
...could this possibly be a BLUE 'Popular' gown? I need one.
~~I love that it's a musical about two girls. Not two boys and a girl, not two girls and a boy*, not two girls and two boys, two girls. And they sing together. It is ridiculously hard to find fun duets for female voices! Usually one of the singers is forced into playing tenor or baritone, which can be mighty straining and unfit for public performance. I had such high hopes for Frozen, but it did kind of let me down in that regard. Wicked, on the other hand, has "What is This Feeling?" and "For Good," one funny, the other serious. I LOVE IT.
*I know, I know, there's Fiyero. But frankly I found him to be the weak spot in the whole thing (unless played by Aaron Tveit). Please don't shoot me.
~~I just really like the story--it's a great look at everything from the power of the media to loyalty and hypocrisy to how (not) to deal with roommates.
And with that, I am (hopefully) off to watch an installment of the next featured fandom. Here's a hint: unlike the previous one, it doesn't rhyme with Cricket. Happy guessing!
Have any of you lucky ducks seen Wicked? How did you meet this musical? Are you a fan of Fiyero?
I thought it was high time I gave a brief overview to some fandoms I've been 'working on.' By working on I mean checking out, watching, reading, listening to, etc.--as opposed to have watched, have listened to, have seen live, have gotten the tee shirt,* etc. This post has turned out to be much longer than I anticipated, and so I am stretching it into multiple posting opportunities. Yippee.
So, without further fuss...
1. Harry Potter
Ah, yes, the controversial one. Woo-hoo. As I was (well, am) growing up I rarely heard this series spoken of in anything more flattering than sarcasm, a metaphor for going with the flow and doing stupid things. Part of this is my family's general aversion to anything with a lot of hype (Mum's INTP and Dad's ENFJ with a very slight feeling preference. We tend to view humanity as a whole as being less-than-bright, and ergo anything that humanity in general likes must not be terribly intelligent. Faultless reasoning, no?). Of course, I have inherited a lot of this contrariness, and when you're contrary to what's contrary to most people, you get a double negative, ~~, which means you get a positive. Thank you, logic.
So, one day, I decided I would give HP a shot. It helped that our goodwill has a neat policy on paperback purchases--buy one for $.25, or buy five for a dollar. Dear Harry's first volume helped my miserly little self avoid paying five cents more per book. I've gotten much worse books to make that noble 5 before...
The proverbial elephant (not Gavroche's, alas) in the room with Harry Potter, at least in my circles, is the 'witchcraft.' I don't have time or inclination to go into my justifications here, but let me say that I don't think what Hogwarts teaches in any way resembles what twisted man might try to do to gain demonic power. It's an inherent, inherited ability.Witchcraft is a bit of a misnomer here. I'm not saying I'm completely fine with all of it, or that I want my younger siblings running around waving wands and screaming spells (since when do I like it if they're running around, screaming, or waving anything?); I'm just saying that thus far, I see nothing shocking or 'polluting' going on thus far.
And if I read one more 'Christian' article on why Harry Potter is demonic and is going to eat the children who read it, I may just explode.
^ and if you want something amusing, watch this. ^
Now that the elephant has been shot, let's talk about the fun bits in no particular order!
~~I love J.K. Rowling's writing style--it reminds me of Roald Dahl and Rick Riordan (I'm aware that she came first, blah blah blah, but I read Percy Jackson years before I read HP.). She has all the charm** of the former, the engaging tone of the latter, and the hilarity of both. Very nice indeed.
~~And may I add that I had no idea the whole thing would be so very...British. I knew it was British, of course, but not that British. I love it. Most of that sort of fiction that I read is very, very American.
~~The Weasleys--I love them. I have had it from multiple sources that our house is somehow reminiscent of the Weasleys' home. I can't quite figure it out--we only have two redheads (quite enough if you ask me) and we certainly don't have troublemakers. Ahem. Maybe it's the gnome problem. Pesky creatures. But seriously, what's not to love about a family of redheads with lots of chickens and no money?
~~Hermione--I feel for that poor girl. During the first part of Prisoner of Azkaban she reminded me of the year I tried to take VPSA classes and CC at the same time. It was an amazing but incredibly exhausting term and I don't recommend it to anyone without a Time Lord or equivalent.
I think Hermione had been my favorite character so far--perhaps she ties with Ron?
~~Hogwarts. I told Mom, 'It's like VPSA for wizards!' Except...you actually get to *meet* people. But now is not the time to start pouting about the EOTYG again.
It can't get more fun (?) than a giant old school in a giant old castle filled with giant old secrets and lots of curious young wizards. Unless there were a library. Oh wait. There is. :D
~~In general, this whole experimental exploration has just been loads of fun, and I am excited to continue. Alas, I only grabbed through book three from my dear uncle's collection, and the library doesn't have book four. So here I am, just (oh so calmly) twiddling my thumbs and waiting around for a random trip to Mississippi or the library to actually get the book I want. I'm thinking the former is more likely. I NEED ME BOOK, PEOPLES!
Let's just hope I survive to finish it. And who knows? Someday I may even watch a movie adaptation. Or eight. You might actually get some pictures someday. But right now, I'm just lurking around the Internet avoiding spoilers. Or trying to.
And I haven't even put a toe into the real fandom yet. It's so big, it's kind of intimidating--this thing is only a few months younger than I am. My sister and I have already had one public fan sighting. She was wearing a Gryffindor shirt, but we were too timid to speak to her. I feel like I'm on the brink of something huge, something exciting.
I need that fourth book.
So, what's your opinion on the popular wizard? Is it worth the price of obsession?
And if any of you experienced fans are reading, what do you call yourselves? Potterheads?
And has anyone run across a MBTI chart for HP that they think is accurate? Or do you just happen to have an opinion on the types of the characters? I'd love to hear it.
*actually not entirely true because I don't wear T-shirts. Oh well.
**charm...I think it's charm. Not sure what else to call it.
And be sure to stick around for part 2! In the style of Gatiss and Moffat, here's three one-word clues: Musical. Girl. Misunderstood.
..ha. I bet you all thought I had given up on this crazy thing, didn't you?
Well, it never said there had to be 30 posts for 30 days in a row!*
*
because in fact it was supposed to be 31 posts 30 days in a row. Details.
Anyway, I decided that I would simply divide my 30-ish posts into the first week of each month (it took me about three weeks into October to decide this). So, this week, expect your feed to be graced with a post each day (hopefully) and then you have to wait three weeks.
Or what if I turned the three weeks into years and ended with a cliffhanger? That might be fun.
Thankfully I'm not Moffat.
So, since I don't actually have a topic for this post other than to announce my return (Shut up, John! I don't want everyone to know I'm still alive! Promise you won't tell anyone?"), I need your help. Is there anything/anyone/anyfandom in particular you would like me to write about? I can't guarantee your wish will be granted, but I can try if you will! After all...
exception: in very tight spaces, such as automobiles. Or anywhere your screaming might carry, really.
When it's NOT okay...
