a ramble about fandoms

The lovely Daniel J Layton did this video as part of VEDA and it got me thinking a little bit. Complete side-note if you watch YouTubers of any kind please subscribe to Dan as he is an absolute gem and he deserves all the love.

I am a person who has very much been a 'fangirl' especially between the ages of 14-16 ...in fairness I'm still a fangirl now really but I keep it mostly internal now rather than tweeting embarrassing things to said people I fangirl over. Yet I never felt a part of any fandom. My twitter account was never dedicated to specifically one thing nor was my tumblr.
I was known amongst my friends as a definite fangirl of many things - Glee, Harry Potter, Starkid, Youtubers, Doctor Who....the list is rather endless. I'm basically just very passionate about things I enjoy...in fact one of my friends recently told me that was one of her favourite things about me; that I do enjoy things so unashamedly.

Yet when I think about it, was I or have I ever really been part of a 'fandom'? I was definitely active within certain fandoms on tumblr/twitter and I made internet friends because of it, some of whom I've had the pleasure to meet which is just wonderful. I always felt like an outsider however because I never actively looked into fan theories, analysed every moment or even felt as a strongly towards it as others do. There is almost a high-schoolesque clique within fandoms which is ironic as you'd think this would be a place a nerd felt comfortable. (I use nerd as a term of endearment and I am basically referring to myself here). But because I didn't necessarily get totally and completely involved with something I'm passionate about does that make my feelings towards it any less redundant?

I would say no. Despite the fact I am definitely a fan of certain things, I never really got into the whole idea of online fandom as to be honest, it's a scary place to be sometimes (cough phandom cough). Yet I know what I enjoy and I will be vocal about it when I want to be. My friends know I'm one of the biggest Harry Potter nerds around....and all you need to do is look at my tumblr to know I adore certain shows, actors/actresses and youtubers. Just because the people in a fandom may not know me nor I them, what I do know is what makes me happy. So I guess what I'm trying to say is it doesn't matter...if you identify as a fan of something or someone, that's great and I'm glad you've found something that makes you happy. If you're actively involved and your twitter is entirely dedicated to a fandom that's also great. I know I will likely always have a place somewhere in a fandom as a passive role (mainly because I'm old now ...I don't need to fit in on the internet to feed validation....sorta....that's a whole other ball park lol) ...I'm in the clique just because I feel things towards that show or person.

Does this make any sense?

I said the word fandom too much here and for that I apologise. Anyway that was a ramble on being a fan of stuff ....I may write more about this because boy did I learn things about the internet from being a 14 year 'gleek' (even the word gives me horrible flashbacks now) (that show will always have a place in my heart I mean but wow we needed a better collective term).
thanks for reading! Laura x

Fangirl Challenge (kinda)

Hello lovely people of the internet!
Basically, I saw this going around tumblr (you can follow me here if you like) and I am awful at gifsets or anything technical so I thought I would edit it down so I could do it on my blog! This way, you all get to see the fangirl that I really am, get to know me a bit better and hopefully join in my nerdiness.
(PSA: I do not know who originally created this tag but all credit goes to them, I am just editing and using it for here. I do not take credit for making it)

• [10] movies - //Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban// Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat//Jurassic Park//Struck by Lightning//Bend it like Beckham//How to train your Dragon//Aladdin//Monty Python and the Holy Grail//Miss Congeniality//Bridesmaids
• [10] tv shows- //Game of Thrones//Agents of SHIELD//Orphan Black//Doctor Who//Sherlock//Elementary//Modern Family//The Big Bang Theory//FRIENDS//Scrubs
• [7] actors- Chris Colfer//Russell Tovey//Matt Smith//Robert Downey Jr//Daniel Radcliffe//Peter Dinklage//Zachary Quinto
• [7] actresses- Emma Watson//Jennifer Lawrence//Emma Thompson//Helena Bonham Carter//Rosario Dawson//Zoe Saldana//Natalie Dormer

Read into this what you will about the things I am a fan of. 
Soon enough, I think I will do a follow up post using other things from the full fangirl challenge such as favourite characters but include why etc. Those listed above are fairly self-explanatory I should think!

I have written myself a list of blog posts to do now so hopefully I should have more of structure soon enough!
Thanks for reading and let me know your favourites of the categories above!
Love Laura x