February is Fantasy Month: Questions + Fandom Tag!

The Fandom TagTime for some Fantasy Month tags! I decided to fill out Jenelle's questions and the Fantasy Month tag in the same post, because, why not. And it was very fun, except for the part where so many of the questions were ridiculously hard. Seriously, guys. 

Thanks to Jenelle for tagging me for the Fantasy Fandom Tag! 

Praecepta:
Include the graphic somewhere in your post!
Answer the questions!
Tag two fangirls (or boys, I suppose!)

(Quick disclaimer: Unless I'm talking about Marvel, when I'm talking about my favorite fandoms, I'm talking about the books, despite my use of movie gifs. Somehow, they haven't made gifs of how the books look in my head yet. I'm not sure why.)



(I loooooove this aesthetic, but I don't know whose it is...so, credit to the creator. I found it on Pinterest. XD)

What’s the first fandom you remember becoming a part of?
The really question is...what makes someone part of a fandom? Is it just being a fan? Do you have to have swag? Have one of the books memorized? Want to be the characters? Interact with other fans? *has existential crisis*
Seriously, though, I think the series that turned me into a rabid fangirl was the Ranger's Apprentice series, by John Flanagan. (I still love this series dearly, and am 100% due for a reread.) I still remember reading the first book six times in probably the first week after I discovered it. (And then bragging about it "by accident", but we're not going to dwell on that.) 

It was my first or second exposure to the coming-of-age story, and I...loved it. Halt was the perfect crusty mentor, and I loved him for it, Horace was delightfully irritating, and the peril at the end--I think it may have been one of my first exposures to Major Peril for the characters I loved, and it gave me so many feels! 

And then I realized that there were more! The second book was the first book I ever cried over. When I started reading the series, we had #1 and #5, and Dad bought me #6 as a random surprise so I wouldn't have to wait for it from the library. I read 5 & 6 more times than I can ever count. They were my comfort books for so many, many years. (And one of them still has hot chocolate all over it. Cuz that used to be my comfort beverage. XD) Dad and I were "racing" through the series, and I was thrilled because I finished first, but also really sad, since I wouldn't have any new adventures with alllll the characters I'd come to love. So I started rereading. 


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Probably how my dad feels. XD

What’s the newest fandom you’ve come to enjoy?

I'm guessing that all of you know the answer to this one already, but if you missed it: Marvel! I have jumped on the fandom train for this with such enthusiasm that I think my dad still has whiplash. 

It's funny, though--I realized that as of when I watched Avengers, I hadn't become part of a new fandom for about a year (yes, I'm a bit picky). And it just feels so good to have a new thing to enjoy and theorize about and rant about and worry about and be in suspense about! 


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What’s a fandom guaranteed to give you feels?
It's really, really hard to give me feels. Like, I-have-only-cried-about-four-books-in-my-life hard. But the book that had be literally sobbing through the denouement was...*trumpet fanfare* Lord of the Rings! My family was actually worried about me. XD I'm fine. Everything is fine, until I start thinking about Faramir and Eowyn, and wow, I'm tearing up again. This is kind of embarrassing, and it's making it hard to type. 



What’s a guilty pleasure fandom of yours?
I don't have any guilty pleasure fandoms, but I do occasionally enjoy reading objectively horrible YA dystopians. XD


Image credit: Pinterest, again.
What’s the weirdest fandom you’ve heard of/are a part of?
I don't know that I'm part of any totally weird fandoms...but does Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quintet count? I love those books with every fiber of my being, but they are a bit strange, to the uninitiated. 


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Quite possibly the best moment in the entire franchise.
Favorite popular/widely-known fandom?
Harry Potter! I read these in one summer when I was probably...fourteen? And despite the inconsistencies and not-always-amazing writing...I love them. I love the world, I love the characters, the plot is honestly excellent, and the Christian symbolism is the best! 


Image credit: Tor. com
Favorite bookish fandom?
Whhyyyyyy are these questions so mean? Um, well, given that LOTR is my favorite book of all time, I think it's technically that? But since answering multiple questions of LOTR gets boring, let's say...The Queen's Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (one of the very few series where every book is five stars). I've been minorly obsessed with these books for around three years now, and every reread, they just get better and better! They're probably the most complex books (in terms of emotion, plot, and characters) that I've ever read--and Turner makes them that way on purpose! There are so many twists and turns and little puzzle pieces that click into place that you never quite know exactly what's happening. And it appeals to my Ravenclaw-y-ness. Plus, the characters are some of the most realistic I've ever read. So. Yes. Much love. 



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How could I get tired of these precious spazzes?
What do you consider your ‘homebase’, a fandom you can always come back to?
Lord of the Rings. 100%. It just...feels like home. And I will never get tired of reading these books. Never. 


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Me when I see crazy Star Wars fans
What’s a fandom you know all about…but aren’t actually into it?
Star Wars. I mean, I don't know that I know all about it, but I do know a lot about it (due to having a brother who is completely obsessed--literally, ask Eomer any trivia question about Star Wars, and he will answer within ten seconds. It's insane). I've watched 4, 5, 6, 7, and the last 1/2 of 8. And I really don't have any major desire to watch the rest of 8 and 9. So...yeah. I like the original trilogy, but not enough to fangirl about it. :)


Which fandom has the best characters?
All of them? Seriously, who wrote these questions? Um. Dang. Seriously, Marvel, LOTR, and the Queen's Thief all have amazing characters, so I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to narrow it down any more for ya. Sorry.


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Name your all-time favorite ship.
Aaaaah help. How am I supposed to narrow it down to one? Okay, I'm going to cheat and give you three.
Faramir & Eowyn
Aragorn & Arwen
That super cute and spoilery one in The Queen of Attolia which continues through the rest of that series.


What’s a fandom you’re curious about joining?
Sherlock Holmes! Believe it or not, I've not read any SH books, or watching any movies, miniseries, or what have you. I mentioned the other day to Mom that I hadn't actually watched anything with Benedict Cumberbatch (or, as we always call him, Butternut Crinklefries), and she told me that I should read the SH books so that I could watch Sherlock. So...that's my plan!


So, now the question is, who do I want to inflict this on pass this on to? 

Well, I guess I tag:
Movie Critic
Sarah Rodecker


Alright, on to the official Fantasy Month Questions, asked by the lovely Jenelle


What was the first fandom you fell into? 
As I noted above, Ranger's Apprentice. :)



What is the most recent fandom you've become a part of? 
MARVEL! 



Star Wars or Star Trek?
I'm honestly ambivalent about both (although I've not watched much Star Trek AT ALL), but, I guess...Star Wars?



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Marvel or DC?
*delicate cough* MARVEL! But in this case as in the one above, I've not actually watched much DC (does the Lego Batman Movie count?). So I'm kind of biased. But from what I've heard of DC, it has a lot less of the things I love (flawed characters, nerdy heroes, found family, beautiful relationships, dysfunctional but loving teams) than Marvel does. So even if I do watch any DC (and I'm not planning t0, tbh), I think I'll still like Marvel better.


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What is a fandom you love enough to want to live in that world?
Um...all of my fandoms? But if I had to choose...Lord of the Rings. Middle Earth is just the BEST, and I could hang out in Gondor and Rohan and the Shire and visit Ithilien, and, and, and...guys, it would be amazing.


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If you could hang out with a character from one of your fandoms, who would it be, and why?
Have I commented on how hard these questions are? Yes? Okay, I'll stop now. (*whispers* But seriously, they're hard). After mature consideration thinking about it for a minute or two, I've come to the conclusion that I would totally want to hang out with Natasha Romanoff. We could go out for coffee and chat about various ways of taking people down in awesome ways, nerd out about Latin (seriously, how many characters do you know of that speak Latin? Hmm?), talk about the Avengers, discuss her dysfunctional love life *cough* no, OF COURSE I wouldn't bring that up (just watched Avengers: Age of Ultron, and am a weeeeee bit salty. And/or conflicted), and just generally chat about life. 
Of course, if this happened in reality, I would probably be too starstruck to say anything, or else would make a giant fool of myself, but we won't talk about that. 


Unknown fandom
Honestly, I like a lot of unknown fandoms. But ESPECIALLY Howl's Moving Castle. Everyone knows about the movie, almost no one knows about the book, and I just...don't understand, because the book is excellent (*cough* better than the movie *cough cough*), and the sequels are very fun, too. 


What Marvel character would you want to hang out with? Would you rather live in Gondor or Rohan? (I would probably choose Rohan, myself. Or maybe I'd have a house in both places.) Do you have a favorite ship of all time that you can think of without having to list three? XD

Comments

  1. Thanks for the tag! :D

    I've been hearing about The Ranger's Apprentice series for YEARS so I finally read the first one in November. I liked it a lot! More than I thought I would! When I have the chance I am definitely reading them all.

    I love how the answers to so many of these is LOTR. XD I really like Howl's Moving Castle, the book and movie! It's one of the few books I've reread, which is RARE for me, but I'm thinking about reading it a third time which has only happened once before in my whole life (with The Silver Chair). Also, I've never read the sequels...

    Wow, The Time Quintet. I was obsessed when I read the first and second books (but I was sick at the time so I don't really remember them. XD) but quit when I started the third. I have a pet peeve about series' having big time jumps between books and seeing everyone grown up was too weird for me. Do you think it's worth it to stick through to the end?

    *squeals* *tries to be calm and fails* I'm not going to say anything because I'll wait for your opinions in your monthly wrap-up, but YOU WATCHED AGE OF ULTRON!!!!

    Oh, yes, you should join the Sherlock Holmes fandom! Those books are the fastest that I've ever read in my life (which is probably slow compared to you. XD) as I read three of them (meaning three whole collections of short stories) in one day. I love the Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law movies!! My sister dragged me into watching the Benedict Cumberbatch (XD Your name for him is hilarious!) series and it took me a LONG time to get into it (I kind of hated it until the second season) but now I'm fully attached. I can't say much about the old Basil Rathbone series as I've only seen one of the fourteen movies. Spin offs and whatnot are super fun, too.

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    1. You're welcome! I'm looking forward to seeing your answers.

      I'm so glad you liked it! I honestly think that the entire series is worth reading, and I'm looking forward to hearing your continuing thoughts, as you get the chance to read more! (But DON'T read further than the 12th one. Even that one is a bit iffy. So. Be warned. John Flanagan doesn't really know where to stop. Oh, and whatever you do, don't read the prequels.)

      I mean, I just love LOTR a lot! XD Wow, that's a high compliment to HMC! You should definitely read the sequels, too. I have a feeling you'd like them. :)

      Honestly, I had the same thing about time jumps for YEARS, but I do really think that it's worth reading to the end. Many Waters is probably my favorite of the five, and Wind In The Door is amazing, albeit a bit confusing (as L'Engle's books do tend to be from time to time. :)).

      *squeals with you* *reminds self that she already wrote a tome on her thoughts for the wrap up and doesn't need to dump them on you* Yes! I WATCHED AGE OF ULTRON!!! (And loved it. So. Much.) I do have a literal tome written for the wrap-up, so...look forward to that. XD (But lemme just say--Hawkeye is the absolute best.)

      Wow, three collections of short stories in a day is Nothing To Sneeze At! I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on them! (After I finish Brothers Karamazov, and once we can get to Rivendell where we left the books...it's kind of snowy right now. XD) I don't know if I can watch RD Jr. in anything other than Marvel, though. So I may stick with the Butternut Crinklefries (glad you liked that XD) series. We'll see! I'm really looking forward to exploring the world.

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  2. This was so fun to read!
    My first book fandom (well, I was a huge fan but I didn't know about fandoms yet) was Sherlock Holmes. If you already love Sherlock Holmes I think you'll love the books/stories! I grew up watching old black and white Sherlock Holmes (then later I saw some of the other versions and honestly I love all the ones I've seen) was obsessed with The Great Mouse Detective cartoon, and one Christmas when I was 8 I got a big book of the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes which I completely devoured. The book ended with the 'death' of Sherlock Holmes over Reichenbach Falls and at the time I didn't know that Arthur Conan Doyle brought him back so I thought he was dead for years and he's the first fictional book character I remember crying over.
    Essentially this is a fandom that took over my life from a very young age and I've clearly never recovered. I'm not sure if it will be your type of thing or not, but if it ends up being you're kind of thing you're going to have a blast!

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    1. I'm so glad!
      Oh, it's really cool that Sherlock Holmes was your first book fandom! I actually know nothing about the fandom, like, at all, so I'm really looking forward to exploring the books and the series and all the spinoffs and stuff! It sounds like you had so much fun with it! (In the way that thinking a character you love is dead is always fun...XD)
      I really hope it is my thing! So many people I know love it so much that I think I will, too. We'll see!

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  3. It sounds like you'd have wonderful adventures living in Middle Earth, Sam! personally, being a not-so-adventurous person, you'd find me comfortably settled in Hobbiton...

    And Howl's Moving Castle is MUCH BETTER as a book!! The movie was fun, but the book is m o r e. And the ship is one of my favourites. <3

    Pepper Potts is pretty cool and I think I'd like to hang out with her and see how she's so competent, is she even human xD

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    1. I think it would be a lot of fun! I don't necessarily think of myself as an adventurous person, but...I guess I am? I feel like I'd get a bit bored in Hobbiton, knowing that there was so much more out there...but I would definitely come visit you. :)

      I KNOW!! The movie was fun (although it ruined some of my mental pictures, grr...), but the book is just...amazing. And there's depth. And subtlety. And foreshadowing. And subtle hints. And that shiiiippppp *all the hearts*

      Pepper Potts is amazing! I honestly have a recurring fantasy that I get to be her intern. XD

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    2. I would DEFINITELY intern with Pepper alongside you. All the heart eyes from me. xD

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    3. Yesssss! That would be so much fun! xD

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  4. I enjoyed this post very much! Before I discovered the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings, and Narnia, I was OBSESSED with Nancy Drew so I that was probably my first fandom. I only read the originals though and I'm planning to reread some of them soon. My favorite fandom right now is the Lord of the Rings and Middle Earth, followed by Narnia. Also, knowing about Star Wars is so true...I haven't seen single one, but I know a lot of the characters. And because of that I'm a Star Trek fan! (But only the originals, not the new ones)

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    1. I'm so glad! It was really fun to write. :)

      I was an early Nancy Drew fan, too! (I think it was after I discovered Narnia and Ranger's Apprentice, though. :)) I've handed down most of my Nancy Drews to siblings, but I still have two really old copies that belonged to my grandmother!

      Ahhh Lord of the Rings. The rightful favorite fandom of everyone. (Okay, that's not true. But...idk maybe it is. XD)

      Yeah, I haven't seen any of the prequels, and yet, I know a lot about them, because Eomer talks about them all. the. time. I honestly want to explore the Star Trek universe more! It seems like such a cool thing. :)

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  5. lol there better not be any requirements for fandom-membership besides being a fan because otherwise I'm in exactly one (1) fandom, because I used to have some Winnie-the-Pooh stuffed animals. And a random cup.

    "Cute" is not exactly how I'd describe that particular relationship in that particular book xD but...yes. Such goodness. <3

    Oh Sam you ought to watch some Star Trek! I don't usually recommend it to people because it definitely has flaws and isn't everybody's thing, but the fact that you like the Martian Chronicles and that kind of weird and idea-driven sci-fi really makes me think you'd appreciate it? I don't know about the new stuff, but I like what I've seen of Next Generation and I grew up on the original series (and the movies, at least The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home) and just...they're really cool??? Sometimes they're really cringy, also, but they're WEIRD and they dive into fun philosophical questions in the way only sci-fi can and the GROUP DYNAMICS and Spock. Spock is life. I just...feel like you'd like it. Maybe. lol idk

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    1. Haha, yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking. I mean...I have books from all my favorite fandoms? Would that count? But yeah, just being a fan is my favorite definition for being part of a fandom.

      Shush, Sarah, they're adorable. The cutest. (But then again, I have a slightly strange definition of cute. And have been known to talk about how cute my *adult* friends are with their significant others like I was a grandma. So take that with a grain of salt. XD)

      I did really enjoy the one episode I watched! (I don't know what series it was from...so...yes, I am a bad fan.) And you're totally right, I DO like the Martian Chronicles and scifi in general, so I think you're right, I would enjoy it! Right now, of course, my time is kinda devoted to Marvel movies (XD) but Legolas is giving up movies for Lent (*sad face*) so I may find some time to watch Star Trek stuff with Dad! You had me at "philosophical questions". Of course. The episode I watched didn't have much Spock in it, but from what I've heard...I think I'll like him. I guess we'll see! I'll let you know.

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  6. Marvel, yesss! And Natasha is just the best (I know, right? How many other characters even KNOW Latin?). Ahhh, living in Middle-Earth would be fun! And Harry Potter is so great! I'm in the middle of a family movie marathon, and, while the movies aren't nearly as good as the books, it's kind of re-awakened my love for the fandom.
    And, yes. Join the Sherlock Holmes fandom ASAP. You won't regret it (or maybe you will. Idk since I'm not you, but I definitely didn't regret it).

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    1. Woohoo! Natasha is amazing (and we definitely need more characters who know Latin!) Ooh, family movie marathons are the best! I know, the movies aren't as good, but they're still super fun! And the casting is fantastic.
      I'm planning on it! Just as soon as all this snow melts and we can get up into the mountains to the house where we *left* the Sherlock Holmes books. XD

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  7. I would definitely want to hang out with Hawkeye (maybe he could teach me archery, which I've always wanted to learn). I would also most definitely live in Rohan. Horses. It's not even a hard question.

    Loved reading your answers!!!

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    1. Oh, that would be so much fun, too! I love Hawkeye. <3 Rohan is awesome! But I love the whole aesthetic of Gondor, so I'm not sure if I could choose one over the other...

      Thank you!

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  8. Ooh! This one was fun! Thanks, Sam!

    I suggest with all my heart that you read the Trouble in Bugland and Double Trouble in Bugland especially if you want to get involved with SH. Just so dang good! It's like SH but with bugs. And it can even count as Children's fiction! You should suggest it to your fam...

    Could you like, give me a definition of ship? Because I know what it is... but not really, if you get what I mean.

    Middle Earth would be so fun to hang out in! Except the deserted Lothlorien and Rivendell, they would be mystic... But bring friends. ;)

    Faramir

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    1. I actually have read the Trouble in Bugland books! It's been a while, but Eomer has them, so I've read them, as is my wont when my siblings own books. ;)

      "Ship" is the verb of "relationship", and it means "to hope and wish that two people will get into a romantic relationship together."

      It would be so fun to hang out in, I agree!

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