That's Wierd

I knew I would love Adventure Time because the first episode had me leaning on the kitchen table, mouth agape, and chuckling to myself. This is a normal occurrence in my house and everyone else is used to a sudden, maniacal cackle erupting from a different room as they go about their business. They have become accustomed to me watching "weird" things that they think make little to no sense.

I floop the pig! (It makes sense, I swear.) source.

Being in a fandom or a geek means you get to go do things that others in the "normal world" find odd or outright strange. Dressing up for cosplay, shrieking at the television when your favorite character dies (again), and fawning over movie posters are just some of the things that get me sideways looks. One of my favorite quotes comes from one of the best geeks of them all--John Green. (He's also a really good writer, but he's mostly a geek.)

Image source

I remember the first time I saw Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. It was one of those movies that changed my life because it was beautiful in it's strangeness, and I am still surprised to this day that others find it too weird or even ugly. I mean, I guess I understand that people find the artistic style of the film ugly, but to me that's what makes it the MOST beautiful.

I'm confused when people don't find this gorgeous.

Everyone should have that one thing others find a little strange, and I hope you lovingly embrace the weird part of yourself and shrug off the naysayers. They don't get it, and that's their loss.

Friendship means NO

I vividly remember reading the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It wasn't like anything else I had read before and I spent the next year reading, and then re-reading the first three books. (This was before Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was released.) I was one of those kids that didn't really like reading, but now it's hard for me to remember a time before words and worlds other than my own. J. K. Rowling was key player in changing my childhood self from finding reading tedious and a chore, to making books a second home.

There is a lot that I remember and would love to talk about from the Sorcerer's Stone--and subsequently the entire series--but I want to focus on a very specific character, Neville Longbottom. Long before finding out Neville's almost-destiny with Voldermort, Neville reminded me very much of a boy that I had gone to school with in third grade, named John. Both John and Neville were a bit clumsy, had unfortunate last names, and were made fun of. I didn't know John very well or for very long, his family moved away and I never saw him again, but I think I was primed to like Neville not only because of Rowling's masterful writing but because I had identified him with the recollection of my old school mate.

There are a lot of great moments in Sorcerer's Stone, and it would be easier to say the "whole book" instead of picking just one favorite scene. But, if pressed, I always chose when Neville stays up to stop Harry, Ron, and Hermione from leaving the Gryffindor dormitory. The poor boy ends up petrified on the common room floor for the rest of the night, but he did the one thing that many of us cannot do: He stuck up to the coolest kids in school for what he believed was right, all on his own.

Look at wittle Matt!

I was so thrilled to see that Dumbledore saw the courage in Neville and used his actions for the last winning points of the House Cup. I remember reading those lines and grinning like an idiot.

"It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends," --Albus Dumbledore, film adaptation

I was strongly reminded of our friend Neville in the most recent episode of Supernatural (9.22 Stairway to Heaven). Being the episode before a supposedly fan-spasming season finale, there was very little that didn't happen, but my favorite part was this:

Misha is mesmerizing

Castiel is a character that has grown from a bumbling toddler with a machine gun to a semifunctional human being (also with a machine gun, but he's more careful now) in the course of the Supernatural series. It was a beautiful moment for me to see him finally stand up to his idol and best friend, Dean Winchester, with a blatant "NO."

*befuddlement*

 As we know from the season 9 arc, telling Dean 'no' at this point is just a tad bit dangerous. But that's what makes Castiel a great friend--that he's willing to set his friend straight when he's wrong. It's not easy to see our heroes make mistakes, and they often need a friend willing to tell them the reality of a situation. As Dumbledore said, it's even harder to be the one that stands up to our own friends, and we must take courage from the best examples. After all, Neville turned out to be quiet the hero in his own right. :)

Fighting Voldermort in a cardigan. Level: BAMF

*Neville gif from glooriavictis.tumblr.com/
Cas and Dean gifs from http://callsigntheslayer.tumblr.com/
Neville image from aintitcool.com

Alone with my Secrets

I thought I'd start with two of the largest fandoms out there, the two shinning stars of English TV, BBC's Sherlock and Doctor Who.

Both shows have a high level of attention from Steven Moffat, co-creator of Sherlock and Doctor Who's lead writer after Russell T. Davies, whom many fans love to hate.

I find it supremely satisfying when I find parallels between the two shows about breaking down misconceptions--specifically about secrets and isolation.

Images from Fanpop, edited by moi.

Sherlock Holmes is the quintessential Autistic man. Though he would tell you he's a sociopath (antisocial personality disorder in the states), it doesn't rule out his often extreme behavior that is associated with Autism and/or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. But we could quibble all day about diagnosis,  I'd like to focus on a more common misconception of many people that experience suffering (i.e. the universal hardship of living). This misconception is the idea that isolation is some how protective, that being alone is safer than having connections.

"Alone is what I have. Alone protects me." 

I know that I have felt that way at times--that alone is better than trying to explain the painful process of what I am going through. But then there's John; and he says the thing we all need to hear at times-- "No. Friends protect people."

The second part of this we find on Doctor Who, with the 11th incarnation of the amazing Time Lord and his traveling companion in time and space, Clara. The Doctor has a long history, and not every companion ends up delving into his shrouded past and the doctor would have us believe that there is a good reason for this.

Images from screencapped.net, edited by moi.

Clara Oswin Oswald is one of those rare companions that, for the most part, does what the Doctor tells her. (Honestly, who does what they're doctor tells them? Really?) And when she stumbles upon one of the Doctor's most well kept, closely held secrets, he insists she forget that information. Even in the midst of being fried by the TARDiS, he desperately holds onto Clara, straining, "Secrets protect us. Secrets make us safe." To which Clara replies, gesturing to their impending demise, "We're NOT safe!"

I find the combination of these two scenes from Sherlock and Doctor Who to be beautiful, telling us two important things. The secrets that we lock away from the world, and ourselves, or when we lock ourselves away from connections with others, we think we are protecting ourselves and loved ones. But we are not.

It's not easy, it might even be emotionally painful, but those feelings and secrets only heal when we share them with others. I hope you have the courage to share your thoughts with someone. Maybe you won't bring that important secret up yet, but share something of yourself and find that others are happy to know you a little better.