Tag Archives: fandom

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Buffy Summers is my Spirit Animal

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Spoiler Alert! (But honestly this show ended over eleven years ago and I don’t know what you’ve been doing with your life since then.)

One time, a really long time ago—I must have been in high school—I was flipping through the channels when there she was, like she’d just stepped out of Bloomingdale’s, backflipping through a cemetery with a wooden stake. “Something quippy about heartburn,” she said, and jabbed the stake through a monstery-looking monster’s chest before he burst into a cloud of dust.

And I was like, (eyeroll) anyways… and changed the channel.

This memory was called to mind when years (oh my god, over ten of them) later a close friend suggested—nay—insisted that I watch the series. She said it would be life changing. Mind blowing. Wildly entertaining. But I could only think, “Something quippy about heartburn.” I promised I’d give it a chance anyway and agreed that if I made it past a certain point and wasn’t absolutely invested, we would move on and never mention this again.

So in I went, with a little bit of Daria on my face, not quite sure what I was in for. And though I wasn’t completely sold on season one’s monster-of-the-week arc, I was drawn in immediately by the glorious oozing 90’s nostalgia. What were those outfits. And those shoes. Yes, all the details harkened back to the days when slap bracelets and Clinton were both very in, when I was ten and life was swell. Am I saying that the butterfly clips, MC Hammer pants and the perfectly symmetrical face of David Boreanaz carried the first season? Maybe, yes, I am saying that. That, and the promise that it gets better.

And oh does it get better.

So there I was, week two, season two and Buffy Summers is all a-lust over Angel, her perfectly attractive, emotional vampire boyfriend made of equal parts brooding and brawn, who is also, in case this hasn’t come up, just very good looking with a nice face. Body, too. Anyways. Together, they were all the things that Ross and Rachel, Luke and Lorelai, Corey and Topanga would never be. She’s a complicated woman with a dirty job that no one wants and that bleeds into her personal life. He’s a reformed villain seeking redemption for his rotten ways. But, as The Slayer, she is his sworn enemy and, as a vampire, he is her next target. Romanciers, eat your hearts out ‘cause it gets worse. As passions of the heart became passions of the flesh, we learn that the spell that gave Angel his “soul”—the thing that keeps away his villainous ways—would break if he experienced one moment of  true happiness. What would cause said moment? Think about it… think about… yeah, worst one night stand ever. Angel reverts to his old evil ways, and Buffy discovers that, shocker, the love of her life might not be who she thought he was.

And just like that Joss Whedon had me. He had me at Hellmouth. The classic “my boyfriend said he loved me until I slept with him and he dropped me like a hot potato” metaphor was alive and well in season two of Buffy. What could I say: this show not only had heart, it was a lot of pun. See what I did there?

Whedon let our little slayer slay on for five more seasons. And I fell straight down the demonic portal rabbit hole. He took every challenge life has to offer and put the face of a monster on it—school bullies, mom’s weird boyfriend, addiction, depression, and death—and then he sent Buffy and her gang of Scoobies in to duke it out with whatever happened to be handy. Thus, the joy of Buffy, I think, comes from the power that so many works of fiction wield: they provide a world parallel to the viewers’ own where many of the same struggles exist and the same feelings are felt. It does not condescend or trivialize but validates the experience when all the while a tiny blonde woman beats the hell out of really, really big dudes for just the right touch of empowering escapism.

Which leads me into next portion of my ode to Buffy. Buffy and her best bestie, Willow, are wicked badass. They don’t even fall into the common strong-female-lead-trap of being wholly one-dimensional, emotionally unavailable warriors of the cause who martyr-on in the wake of everyone else’s incompetence. That’s how badass they are. Sure, Buffy has her martyr season, but if you jumped through a demonic portal to save the world, you might find yourself a tad resentful, as well—just a guess. They have feelings about what’s going on and sometimes those feelings are less than positive. Buffy often resented her responsibility, lamented her works’ impact on her love life, made poor decisions, felt overwhelmed, insecure, weak. And she still managed to save the world. A lot.

So much more can be said on this topic. Whole canons of text have been scribed on the subtext of feminism, sexuality, religious implications, and the social and cultural influences of Whedon’s series.

But I’m not here to break down the semiotic significance of “Hush”, the only Emmy-nominated episode (wherein a spell befalls Sunnydale that causes everyone to fall silent).

I’m not going dissect the power dichotomy in the scene where Spike tries to rape Buffy or examine the paternal role of Giles, the Watcher.

I will say this, though: Buffy The Vampire Slayer is a true coming-of-age story that makes no false pretenses or even offers any answers on what it’s like to grow up or on what being grown up looks like. There’s no neat package. No bows. There is, however, the promise that life is messy, unpredictable, complicated and full of as much beauty as there is ugliness.  That these experiences are universal and also survivable is probably Whedon’s most important message of all. Because with the right friends by your side and a well-timed zinger, there’s no challenge that can’t be overcome. Even the apocalypse.

Photo by Sara Slattery

Photo by Sara Slattery

Geekery

Why Everyone Should Be a Radio Nerd

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I am a self-professed and proud radio nerd. As I start this article, I am waiting for a podcast to finish because I don’t want to stop listening.

I’m one of those people who listens to the end of the credits for NPR shows so that I can say out loud “This is NPR” with the host. When I drove up to Portland to see Radiolab Live and missed the first 5 minutes because of a ticketing fiasco, I exclaimed “Do they know how big of a fan I am!?” because clearly they did not understand how much this meant to me. And maybe you also don’t understand why someone would be so obsessed with radio.

Well, let me tell you why and hopefully convince you to join me.

1) You will learn more than you ever thought possible

Over just the past few weeks, I have learned how big companies like Hulu or Netflix come up with their brand names from 99% Invisible, how to carry a Trapper Keeper so that I look cool from How to Do Everything, the story of a photographer who takes incredible pictures of people who die from loneliness in the supposedly happy state of Denmark from Benjamin Walker’s Theory of Everything, what a re-branding of marijuana would look like for the new age of legalization from Studio 360, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg! Every time I put on my headphones, I expect to hear something new and interesting, and probably something I never would have learned on my own.

I am not one of those people who spend hours scrolling though Wikipedia articles absorbing facts, but I do love to learn and I find that I do that best through stories. If I read a textbook about one of the scientific concepts presented by Radiolab or an economic theory described on Planet Money, chances are I would neither understand them nor remember them. But if I listen to Radiolab explain how water can have difficulty forming ice through a story about a fleet of horses flash freezing in a pond, I will never forget it. To me, listening to radio is like the best possible education: lectures full of vivid, engrossing stories that expand my knowledge without having to do any homework.

2) You will have so many stories to tell

One big perk of listening to radio is that you will always have something to talk about. I often start many of my conversations with “So I was listening to this radio show, and I heard this great story….”

While I understand the concern that this might come off as annoying, believe me when I say these stories spark intense conversations. Many radio shows specialize in the stories you don’t hear on mainstream media. Radio producers often spend years doing intensive investigative journalism to present stories that don’t get covered by broadcast news or made into movies. Take, for example, This American Life’s award winning two hour Harper High School series, which covers gang culture and violence in Chicago like you will never hear anywhere else.

If you walk away from listening to that story without wanting to talk to someone about it, I would be shocked.

3) You can listen wherever you go for FREE!

People often ask me “When would I listen to radio?” and I respond “When do you listen to music?” Anytime you want to listen to something while doing a mindless task is a perfect time for radio.

Obviously, driving is the best option and, believe me, nothing keeps you safe and awake while driving a 15-hour road trip by yourself than listening to podcasts. I also like to listen while walking to school, or cleaning, or exercising. I heard, probably from some radio show, that you actually shouldn’t listen to fast-paced music while exercising because it heightens the stress. I say: what could be a better solution than listening to conversational stories that distract you from (if you’re anything like me) how much you hate running?

And if you have a smartphone or MP3 player, it’s really easy to download podcasts for free. You can subscribe to shows using a mobile app, iTunes, or podcast feed program, and they will automatically download to your device, giving you tons of continual entertainment. Lots of podcasts even have their full archives available, so you could become obsessed with say Stuff You Miss in History Class and spend a whole year listening to it.

If you don’t have an iPhone or iTunes, there are many other ways to listen to free podcasts, so you have no excuses!

4) There is a radio show for everyone

I am not exaggerating when I say that there is a radio show for everyone! There are literally millions of podcasts just waiting for you to download them. I guarantee you will find one that is tailored to your interests, because Rule 43 is true: You can find anything on the Internet if you are willing to look for it long enough. Podcasts are so easy to make that anyone with a niche interest has already found a way to talk about it (though, admittedly, not all of them are fantastic quality).

Let me give you some suggestions to start you off:

There is so much great radio to explore. I challenge you to start listening and not become a radio nerd.

Photo by Gali Levi-McClure

Photo by Gali Levi-McClure

Geekery

Finding my Fandom

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I like to think of myself as a professional Internet user. Though I’ve never seen a dime for all the hours I’ve put in online, I reap the riches of the content I read, watch, and listen to. By seeking out cool new things on the internet, I not only get to appreciate the creative content, but also a community of fans all over the world—which, I would argue, is half the experience.

Most people have a “thing” that they find joy in participating in and talking about, such as exercising, movies, gardening, bagpipe-playing or One Direction. There are some who believe that if fewer people know about their “thing,” whether it’s a show, a band, or a super new and awesome gardening technique, the “thing” is inevitably cooler. We all know these people: “Do you have their concert shirt from their 1998 secret show in Chicago? ‘Cause if not, we can’t be friends.”

Though I do agree that a smaller number of super devoted fans is better than a larger number of casual fans, in general, if more people know about the “thing,” more knowledge, and art, and community can be shared across the internet. And more people who are interested in the “thing” will be able to find one another.

My “thing” is Doctor Who. I was just finishing up middle school when Russell T. Davies rebooted the classic British sci-fi dramedy, and it wasn’t until much later that I discovered the show and immersed myself in its fandom. I had heard about Doctor Who from a number of the Internet personalities I followed, and in my first year of college, I began actively seeking out the show, its surrounding culture, and its fandom. Back then, these episodes weren’t easy to find for free but I had a lot of gift card money to spend, so I splurged and guaranteed myself a high-def experience by buying all the seasons on iTunes.

I zipped through those episodes—meaning I watched five seasons of television in about two months. Doctor Who was, and is, a show about how big the universe is and yet, despite its vastness, there are shared experiences to which we can all relate. The big giant blockbuster storylines usually have smaller messages about what love and hope can do, and the supernatural aspects of the show help to highlight real-world experiences. As Ben Wyatt from Parks and Rec would say, “They’re telling human stories in a fantasy world!”

I became obsessed, very fast. But no one I knew watched Doctor Who and I am not one to seek out other people to talk to online, simply because a lot of my experiences with books or TV shows become very personal and I find it hard to express my feelings to other people. I started following blogs and found the website Tumblr, which helped me find other projects the actors and creators were working on. I found people online who loved it just as much as I did and they introduced me to other awesome things like fan art and fanfics, neither of which I had ever really encountered in such massive quantities before. I had, of course, encountered both of these things with Harry Potter, but I thought that was the only fandom where people were as passionate about something as I was.

By discovering that other fandoms also expressed their love for a show or a book through art and writing, I discovered a whole new world (Aladdin reference for you, there). It is a world where enthusiastic people come together to express their love for their passion, and a place where I can openly indulge in my enthusiasm as well. I was a much quieter, much more timid person before I found my tribe, but afterwards I found the confidence to become much more dynamic, both on the Internet and in real life.

Getting into Doctor Who started a chain reaction that eventually led me to the nerd life that I embrace today. I encouraged many of my friends to watch Doctor Who and I found other shows like Merlin, Supernatural, and others—all of which have been fantastic new experiences and new fandoms. The small network of Who fans (known as “Whovians”) whom I followed eventually expanded and led me to binge-watching a whole host of other shows, as well as discovering all sorts of new bands, books, and podcasts.

I became immersed for the first time in something solely because of the recommendations of Internet personalities, not because I had found it and loved it first. It was a whole new and wonderful experience that spoke to the power of online sharing. It might be nice to be an “original” or early fan of something, but I’m so glad other people spread the word about Doctor Who and recommended it to me. If they hadn’t, I may never have experienced it or the various other new works that it introduced me to. Doctor Who opened up an entirely new network to me that I had only really experienced once before, and because of that it will always hold a special place in my heart.

My favorite quote is when the Doctor tells Amy Pond about why companions come with him on the TARDIS. He says, “You make all of time and space your backyard, and what do you have? A backyard! But you, you can see it. And when you see it, I see it.” By showing your passion for something, it can make other people see that same passion and appreciate it all the more.

Photo by Rob Adams

Photo by Rob Adams

Geekery

Nerd Knows No Age

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Full disclosure: I am a full-blown adult nerd.

Nerd is a pretty broad term—sometimes it’s science nerds, or book nerds, or fandom nerds. But really it just means that you’re extremely passionate about something and you like to show it. You exhibit your emotions and feelings about what you love and that’s okay.

For me, being an adult nerd has been a great way to relieve stress and have fun. I’m a pretty enormous Harry Potter nerd, as well as a social media nerd (do I have fellow Tumblr friends out there?), a young adult novel nerd, not to mention the dozens of other fandoms (fan communities) I dabble in. I love getting into passionate discussions with my friends about the intricacies of the house system at Hogwarts or the latest Vlogbrothers video on YouTube. It’s a hobby that’s not only fun for me, but also engaging and empowering.

When I was 22, I jumped head first into the world of fandoms. Through a few chance encounters, my need to have something to do outside of work, a roommate with a common love of Harry Potter, and a desire to not hide my own nerdy obsessions any longer, I quickly found myself knee-deep in fandom. I started volunteering for The Harry Potter Alliance, an organization that engages youth and fandom communities in social justice through parallels from the Harry Potter books and other novels, TV shows, and movies. What I found within that organization was not only a cause I could believe in and enjoy simultaneously, but also a group of friends and colleagues who helped me realize how indulging in our passions improves our daily lives. This encouragement has pushed me to find my other passions, and more than three years later I am heavily involved in many communities.

Through things such as The Harry Potter Alliance, Nerdfighteria, Tumblr communities, LeakyCon, and so much more, I have come to find networks of friends that I would have never been exposed to otherwise. They are friends I would have never been exposed to just through college and work—friends who make YouTube videos for a living, who work for entirely online non-profits, who go to conventions all over the country and get paid to do it. We live all over the world and yet we are able to form true, close friendships based entirely off of our shared enthusiasm. I never thought I’d meet some of my best friends online but it only makes sense now considering how much we have in common.

As an adult, however, I can often see the more difficult sides of nerd communities. Sexism, ableism, and racism are not uncommon, especially in communities heavily dominated by a specific group—cosplayers constantly face discrimination based on body type, gamers are often pegged as mysognyistic for how they treat women who try to join the traditionally all male community, and comic fans are defensive of anyone who claims to be a true fan but doesn’t know every single detail of a story. Every community has them, even the most inclusive and welcoming of them. Assimilating into the cultures we love can take a lot of conviction, especially when we don’t always fit the mold. Not to mention that the social aspect of these communities can be difficult to break into, especially if you don’t know what to expect. But the more atypical members who join these communities, the more changes will permeate them.

To me, being an adult nerd is about not allowing ourselves to hide from who we are. For those who have been nerds all our lives: our passions as teenagers are still part of our passions as adults and it’s okay to keep those interests alive even as we age. At twenty-five I’m more enthusiastic than ever about my nerdy passions and I don’t see that going away anytime soon. I look forward to the day I get to pass those passions on to my own children and share in them as they too learn the world of fandom, stories, and nerdy obsessions. For those who are just now discovering geekdom, don’t be pressured away from finding new interests and new ways to express yourself—it only goes up from here!

Photo by Meaghan Morrison

Photo by Meaghan Morrison

Geekery

An Introduction to Cosplaying

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Costume play, more widely known as cosplay, is the hobby of dressing up as characters from various fandoms such as anime, video games, TV, movies or comics. Cosplaying has been gaining popularity since the 90s, but it has been around much longer (Trekkies of the 1960s, anyone?).

Photo by Meaghan Morrison

Because cosplaying has been gaining pop culture’s attention so rapidly, there are many misconceptions about what the cosplay community is. We’re not all antisocial, Japanese-obsessed, overly sexualized, master seamstresses!  The community is made up of all different types of people—people with different body types, different fandoms, and different levels of craftsmanship.

All bodies welcome

Many people in the community (or outside the community) think that, in order to cosplay, the cosplayer must have a body type that exactly matches the character. While I don’t support this idea, I know there are many bigger women out there who work hard to cosplay to fit their body type, simply because they prefer to cosplay that way.

Several of my friends will take an existing character’s costume and make small adjustments in order to make themselves feel more comfortable in the costume. I’ve seen girls take a nearly thong bottom of a character such as Kitana from Mortal Kombat and change it into shorts: this method maintains the idea of the character while allowing the cosplayer to stay in their own personal comfort zone.

Clever craftsmanship

Craftsmanship is also a big area of discussion in the cosplay community. Not everyone has the skills or resources to make everything from scratch, but thankfully China exists. There are many websites that sell a variety of premade costumes from popular series for a relatively low cost, such as EZCosplay or Hello Cosplay. But, be aware: it is a cheaper costume, so it isn’t always the best quality—less money spent usually means cheaper fabric and shoddy stitching! If you are willing to spend more than $150, there are many people who do costume commissions. Commissions can be perfect for your body and style, but can easily skyrocket in price because you are paying for a person’s time and energy on top of the materials that go into making the costume.  If you’re interested in commissioning a costume, try finding a costume artist on Etsy, Storenvy, or Cosplay.com.

Those who are able to make their own costumes are able to make costumes for a lot less than even pre-bought costumes in most cases. Making your own costume doesn’t necessarily mean buying the fabric and making all the pieces from that. Depending on the costume and the complexity, it is really easy to go to a local Goodwill, Salvation Army, or any other second hand store to find pieces that will work for your specific costume. I know I’ve even pulled some random clothes out of my closet, put on a wig, and called it a Mary Jane Watson cosplay.

Photo by Meaghan Morrison

There are many things that can be done to make an affordable costume depending on the series. Granted, if you are trying to make full body armor, it probably won’t be inexpensive. Several of my friends make full body armor or chainmail costumes that easily take up to several months to complete. I haven’t had the opportunity to make such a complicated costume yet, but with all the sewing I do for my costumes, I put in twenty to fifty hours of work start-to-finish per costume.

When I look to make a new cosplay, I start by choosing a series I really enjoy and then pick which character I want to make. I tend to pick characters based on my opinion of the character, as well as the character’s design—I don’t want to make anything that isn’t visually appealing! From there, it’s all about gaining as much reference material as possible: the more angles I can get of the character, the better off I am for my fabric decisions and overall construction.

The pros of cons

Cosplaying is an easy way to make friends through various events and conventions. Events and cons can range from several hundred people, such as hyper-con, to tens of thousands of people (such as San Diego Comic-Con or WonderCon). There are many events going on—it’s just a matter of finding them near you!

Events and cons are easy to find via Google or even just by talking to other people in the community. The cosplay community is a very tight-knit and strives to help one another to be successful in the hobby. To start a discussion online, try visiting Cosplay.com for tips on building your cosplay, or share pictures of your art with other cosplayers on DeviantArt.

Geekery

A Fanfiction Primer: What is This Nonsense, Anyway?

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Fanfiction. So maybe you’ve heard of it? You might have read this article. You certainly know that 50 Shades of Gray came from a Twilight fanfic. But for all it’s been talked about in the media lately, you may not be exactly sure what it is. A dark hole in the Internet? A lightly disturbing and invasive hobby? An odd, obsessive escapism for people who watch too much TV?

All of these things are true. And not. Much like the rest of the Internet, fanfiction is an outlet for expression, a tool that can be used in many, many different ways. And much like the rest of the Internet, some of those things can be very creepy. But some of them, if you know what you’re looking for, can be absolutely inspiring.

Fanfiction, or stories written by fans featuring characters and universes that have already been published or produced, has actually been around longer than the Internet. In the ancient days of woolly mammoths and communication via the postal service, fanfiction was limited to newsletters sent to fans of certain content. However, with the invention and popularization of the Internet, fanfiction has become a well-known phenomenon.

There’s an art to communicating the essence of a character, relationship or a story, manipulating an existing canon to create a new outcome, and telling the future of a story in such a way that it is of the source-content but also separate from it. Like all things on the Internet, some of it is terrible, and some of it is mediocre and forgettable. But some of it, like all literature, will make you want to live your life differently and see something in a new light. And, in much the way all good writing does, it can make your heart hurt.

Fanfiction is also a great way to be exposed to ideas and concepts that don’t often make an appearance in mainstream media. Because fanfiction is so popular, free, and accessible, it includes many facets of society that suffer from underrepresentation and erasure in mainstream media. Sexuality, gender, race, disability, prejudice, and so many other things that are part and parcel of the human experience but are poorly represented in mainstream media can be found in abundance in the world of fanfiction.

Many authors, however, particularly older ones, are not okay with fanfiction. They think it’s invasive and an assault against their brand, their creation, and their intellectual property. And there are some hairy ethical lines when you consider the sheer number of novels coming out at the moment that used to be fanfiction of a sort. Some authors are fine with it as long as you don’t make any money off of their work. At the end of the day, it depends on why you’re reading fanfiction. A number of authors, such as John Green, have admitted to writing fanfiction of their own. It’s up to you how you deal with the opinion of the creator of your source content, but whatever you decide it is something to be aware of.

Whatever the authors may think, one thing is certainly true: fanfiction readers and writers love the content from which their stories derive. Some of them are looking for closure on a plot arch they disagree with. Some are looking to see their favorite characters embark on a beautiful, romantic relationship. Some are looking to get some fulfillment and closure on abruptly canceled shows, or cliff hanger novels. If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you remember the years and years and years and years (okay, maybe just three, but if felt like forever, alright?) between Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. What else was there to do during that period but think about what might happen?

However, it would be wrong for me to let you go wandering around out there without giving you this warning. Beware the porn. Yes, the purple prose, the wide variety of kinks, the characters that you never, ever, ever thought should ever engage in sexual activity. It’s all out there. If you aren’t into it, beware anything tagged Explicit, Mature, NSFW (Not Suitable for Work), or PWP (Porn Without Plot, or Plot, What Plot?). If you are into it, well…enjoy!

So you’re looking to read (or write!) some fanfiction now? Maybe we’ve got you thinking about a conversation you wish two characters would have on your favorite show. Maybe you’re thinking about that last book you read. An event was mentioned and never shown, but you’ve got an idea how it happened. So what are your next steps?

Head to the Internet, of course! Fanfiction.net is a good place to start. It’s been around forever, so what you’re looking for is likely on it in some capacity. It’s a pretty solid place to get your introduction to fanfiction. Another great place is Archive of Our Own, which is, as they say on their home page, “a fan-created, fan-run, nonprofit, noncommercial archive for transformative fanworks, like fanfiction, fanart, fanvids, and podfic.” The site is still in beta testing, but there are hundreds of thousands of works from all kinds of source content. If you’re familiar with Livejournal, there are plenty of fanfiction communities that use that site for hosting as well, and can be found with a simple Google search.

Whatever you’re looking for, you’ll probably find it. From AUs (Alternative Universes, which feature your favorite characters in a new plot, universe, or setting), to novel-length prequels and sequels, to resurrections of your favorite characters, it’s all out there on the Internet, waiting for you to read it. And if it isn’t, well, you can always write your own!

fanficsquare

Photo by Anastasia Heuer