Lost in Translation: May 2014

Ever since fandoms became a thing in the Netherlands, I’ve been trying to grasp the rules of these over-the-top groups of fans. Because there are certain rules, unwritten laws, that you have to stick to. If you don’t, you’re just a regular pathetic nerd.

Since quitting the fandom nonsense, I’ve observed that small fangirl population at my high school. It made me realize that the rules are… complicated. Unfair is also a great word to describe them. Based on my observations and experiences, I can now introduce you to the Four Fandom Rules.

#1: Be picky

First of all you have to choose the right fandom. Yes, you can choose a wrong fandom, in which case you’ll get the label of pathetic nerd again.

Accepted fandoms in the Netherlands are: Doctor Who, Supernatural, Harry Potter and the Fault in our Stars.

NOT accepted are: Batman, anything and everything from Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek, everything else with the word ‘star’ in its name, the Hunger Games, Under the Dome, Game of Thrones and so on…

(Sorry for the bad quality, scanner broke down...)

Fangirling over an unaccepted fandom will result in frowns, scowls and even insults. The general rule for Dutch fandoms is that there has to be a gigantic American fanbase and the fandom must be discovered by surfing the web, not by watching or reading the original material. You can not, never, ever fangirl over something unknown like a Stephen King book such as Cell.

#2: Don’t forget to fangirl

Fangirling is very important. No idea how you’re supposed to do it if you’re a dude, but if you don’t fangirl, you’re not part of the fandom and the pathetic nerd label awaits you once again.

Fangirling includes a lot of inarticulate screaming (‘Ohmahgahd sofrikkinasum!’), jumping up and down with excitement (faked excitement for the more experienced fangirls out there, ‘cause being excited all the time is a strain on those fixated brains) and forcing everyone within a two mile radius to like your fandom, even though they actually hate it because of your own moronic behaviour.

WARNING: you can not fangirl over an unaccepted fandom. Trying to convert innocent bystanders to your fandom with prove of its awesomeness or actual arguments is also a no-go.

#3: Don’t give a thing about the original material

Also very important (at least in the Netherlands): you don’t care about the storyline, the characters or the original books/comics when you fangirl over a movie or tv-series. You fangirl over the actors.

Quick example: according to the Fandom Philosophy, I should have gone to the new Captain America movie because of Chris Evans’ abs. Not because of the plot, not because I wanted to know who the Winter Soldier is, not because I’m into the Marvel universe, hell no. Fandom Philosophy dictates that I should have gone just because Chris Evans looks good with his shirt off. Okay, I admit it, I even said on this blog that I would’ve liked to see him shirtless in the movie, but that wasn’t the most important thing to me. I like the concept of Captain America, the idea behind this dude. And with that being said, I’m not welcome in the Dutch Department of the Marvel Fandom anymore.

#4: Tell, don’t show

For some reason it’s the worst thing you can do: wearing a shirt or necklace that shows to which fandom you belong. A small accesoire from an accepted fandom, like a keychain, is okay. More or less. It won’t be widely appreciated, but your life won’t get any worse.

Batman sweaters, Mockinjay necklaces and Captain America shirts are about the worst things you can wear. It’s better to fangirl all day long with a Harry Potter keychain on your backpack that you’ve carefully hidden under the table, than wearing a Batman sweater in public without fangirling at day.

The fangirl community is a weird place in the Netherlands. It’s almost impossible not to offend anyone with a set of rules like these. I’ve never been good at following social rules, though I always tried. But I draw a line here. If the Fandom Philosophy doesn’t allow me to like Captain America, I’m out.

I’ll make up my own rules.

5 Fellow Ramblers

The Liebster award has come to my little corner of the internet again! I was awarded by Riley from Smiles No Matter, which was a real surprise, because I didn’t even know she was reading my posts!

And as usual, I have to start with 11 facts about myself.
#1: Watching shows such as Wicked Tuna is my guilty pleasure.

#2: My Dad and I sometimes quote entire scenes from Family Guy.

#3: I hate my country’s national color: orange. It’s such an overexcited bright shade of orange that it hurts my eyes.

#4: It took me 17 years to discover that ‘lederhosen’ literally is German for ‘leather pants’.

#5: I can be extremely superstitious: I have a lucky pen, pencil, shoes, shirt and necklace.

#6: I don’t like Chris Hemsworth as Thor. To me, he’s not Thor, just Chris Hemsworth with a hammer.

#7: When there’s no one home, I secretly watch Star Trek: the next generation on Belgian television.

#8: I’ve got a series op pigment spots on my leg that looks like a barcode. My Dad says it actually is a barcode, because he bought me as a present for my Mom at Ikea.

#9: My favourite word in the English language is ‘pope’. It’s so much fun to say, just like my favourite Dutch word ‘dompelpomp’.

#10: My fingers are disproportionally long for my hands, but I see that as some kind of superpower: it enables me to type superfast.

#11: I once had a carnivorous plant called Rufus. I fed it a ton of flies, but it died because I forgot to give it water…

And now the answers to Riley’s eleven questions!

#1: What’s your favourite song and why?

I watched the Eurovision Song Contest last week. Norway’s song made such a big impression on me that I promoted it from ‘nice song’ to favourite song. The lyrics mean a lot to me, because I want to find someone who tells me I belong too. It hit home and almost made me cry.

#2: How do you show love to the people you love?

I don’t. Or so I’ve been told. But if I really care, I write my feelings down in a letter or poem and give that to the person I love.

#3: Is there something in your life that can make you smile no matter what?

G.’s terrible jokes. E.’s face. Good memories. There’s actually quite a lot J

#4:Name an accomplishment that you’re proud of.

Becoming head editor of the school paper with Roos and S.. We couldn’t help it from failing, since we ended up making the entire paper with just the three of us, but for a while it felt really great to be the head editor.

#5: What’s your favourite article of clothing?

The Batman sweater I recently bought. It’s exactly warm enough for cold days, yet also perfect for a late summer night.

#6: Do you think of graffiti as vandalism or art?

Mostly vandalism. Writing your name on the wall of someone else’s house is pure vandalism. But if it’s a beautiful mural on one of those assigned graffiti walls, then it’s art.

#7: What is your favourite genre of music?

I like everything country, folk or indie, but no techno or dance.

#8:Describe the best dream you’ve ever had!

One time I dreamt I was back in Novato, the place I spend all my summers as a child, playing quidditch! It was great, until I did a looping (not on purpose) and flew into a fence…

#9: What’s one thing you do for self-care (what is one way you recharge)?

I go for a run. Whenever I’m tired or depressed or stressed, I go running for about 30 minutes. By the time I get back home, I always feel a lot better, a lot more alive.

#10: You just won a free vacation to anywhere in the world! Where are you headed?

Japan

. I’m curious about the place where the Otaku culture and Godzilla originate from.

#11: Why do you blog?

I needed a place where I could speak freely without anyone judging me. But the posts I wrote in those days annoy me now. I’m slowly taking my blog in another direction. I like to see it turn into a place where I can talk about my ideas and opinions in a creative way.

And the last part: nominating people and asking them 11 questions (why 11? Why always 11?!). I usually cheat a bit when it comes to this, because if I were to award 11 people, the award would get kind of stuck in the same corner of the blogosphere for a while.

Anyway, I want to award Tigi and Karissa, two girls who work with me on the Senior Year guest posts at Teenage Blogger Central!

The 11 (slightly odd) questions for them:

#1: If you were a superhero, what would be your superpower?

#2: Do you have a childhood dream that you’re still hanging on to?

#3: Have you ever secretly planned a ‘perfect murder’ with your friends?

#4: What’s your favourite tv-series and why?

#5: What’s the first thing you would do in case of a zombie apocalypse?

#6: What was your biggest (irrational) fear when you were a kid? (for example: I was afraid there was a shark living in my bed...)

#7: What’s your least favourite color and why?

#8: Do you think humans will colonize Mars some day?

#9: Do you believe in paranormal activity, like poltergeist stuff?

#10: What’s your favourite thing about blogging?

#11: Why do you think that everything comes down to the number 11 with this whole Liebster award thing?

And that concludes my award post. Thanks again, Riley, for nominating me!

4 Fellow Ramblers

8 Fellow Ramblers

I still remember the good old days of early 2012. I was an overexcited fifteen-year-old, waiting for the Hunger Games movie to be released. I reread the book a dozen times, hummed songs from the soundtrack during class and wore a Mockingjay necklace at all times. My friends called all this an 'unhealthy obsession'.
These days everyone has an obsession. The cashier at the local supermarket speaks High Valyrian, the jocks discuss which one of them would win the Hunger Games and the popular girls no longer only judge by appearance, but also by which Hogwarts house you'd be in.
The big difference between then and now? In 2012 it was called an 'unhealthy obsession'. These days, we call it a 'fandom'.

What is a fandom? I can't properly explain, but Urban Dictionary knows how to express my feelings about fandoms perfectly:

fandom

1. The most disturbing phenomenon of our generation.

2. A group of people all obsessed with the same thing. Usually a work of fiction being either a movie, book, TV show, anime, comic, video game, etc...

3. A way for lonely people to feel a part of something larger than themselves.

4. A collective of creepy obsessive type people that only serves to feed and encourages each other in unhealthy obsessions and exaggerated exultation of non-existent people, creatures, places and objects.

"Oh my god, I wanted to search for pictures of that actor from that movie we saw last night but I was inundated with terrible text posts and reaction gifs from a fandom I didn't even know existed! Ugh!"

At first I was pleased with the whole fandom thing coming to the Netherlands. I imagined hating on Twihards with my fellow Potterheads, or discussing dystopian fiction with people who love it just as much as I do. Seemed a little like my personal heaven. Things I liked became a little less taboo and people started wearing superhero shirts in public. I was living the dream in those days.
But then, as usual, reality came along and smacked me in the face. The people wearing superhero shirts? They didn't really know who the green dude on their shirts was. Potterheads vs Twihards? More like a I'm-a-bigger-Potterhead-than-you debate... Fandoms didn't turn out to be fun, fandoms turned out to be ferocious, an all-out war on anyone who dared to disagree with your view on a book, movie or tv-series.

Life became very confusing when M. was converted to the Fandom Philosophy. Everyone was cool with it. M. started to behave like... like... well, like me, actually. She was obsessing over the Fault on our Stars 24/7. Everyone thought this was totally acceptable. So I thought fangirling had become acceptable too. Oh gosh, I was so, so naive. I only had to say 'I liked the Fault in our Stars, but the Hunger Games is still my favorite book', and by doing so, I ruined everything. The general response after that on any remark I made: 'Oh my God, Envy, could you please, please, give it a rest?!'
Apparently there are rules for when and where to fangirl and about which fandom to fangirl. I was totally done with it. So it's okay for my History teacher to make Star Trek references, but not for me to say I liked one book better than another? Well, at least I was a fangirl before it was cool! (Did I really just write that? What if I'm becoming a hipster? Please tell me I'm not...)

A few weeks after all that, I quit the whole fandom stuff. I stopped drooling over my mint condition Batman mug, started drinking tea out of it. Traded my Mockingjay necklace in for an ankh on a piece of shoelace. Quit watching the Big Bang Theory and became a geek myself. Without the judgemental Fake Fangirls (the ones who think it's not acceptabel to talk about Captain America for a week, but talking about the Fault in our Stars for over a year is perfectly fine, the ones who think superhero fandoms aren't good enough), life became much more fun.
Though I rebelled a little on the last day of my junior year in my own way. I wore my Batman shirt to school, which was after the arrival of fandoms still not-done. My Fake Fangirl friends didn't like it. The aversion on S.'s face was almost lethal to those around her, like radiation. I'm pretty sure she would have killed me with her looks if she could.
But then something beautiful happened. An emo girl in a Pikachu shirt came up to me and said: 'Awesome shirt, Envy.'
'Like yours too,' I replied. And in that instant, we had one of those instant bonds that the so-called fangirls want us to believe you can only have if you're in one of their approved fandoms. We don't need fandoms to like things. We don't need fandoms to be friends. We don't need to be in a certain fandom because it's 'better' than another fandom, just because the fangirls from the first group yell louder. All we need is genuine fondness of things and kindness towards eachother.

Don't be a fangirl. Be yourself.

5 Fellow Ramblers

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