What to do When You're Crushing HARD on Fictional Characters
On Fangirling, Fandoms and FanFICTION
You were warned. It's in the description, after all. Fangirling. Oh yeah. Hard. Core. Fan. Girling. I didn't even know that was a THING until about, oh, ten years ago. It sounds kind of strange, right? Like there's something *wrong with those of us who consider ourselves fangirls [or guys...I know you're out there ;)] It was a term that was first introduced to me in the anime community but has since bled over into the book lovers realm. Because, I mean, why not? There are plenty of swoon-worth fictional characters out there.
“But Jen,” you ask. “Why? They don't exist. They are made up of black ink on white pages. They were born in the dark recesses of an author's mind. No matter how hard you pine, you'll never ever meet them.”
Yeah, yeah. I hear you. I do!
And let me state right now – FULL DISCLAIMER – I am a very happily married woman.
(love ya, Handsome!)
Fangirling (or guying...boying??? Somebody of the male species who crushes hard on fictional characters stand up and be counted! Come on!) basically means that you are a HUGE FAN of a particular thing. A lot of times, it does suggest that the FanPerson (?) in question has a crush on one or more of the characters in the book. It can also mean that you have a crush on the idea of characters in said book to be crushing on each other.
And, yeah, it can also mean that you go a little wacky over ANYTHING to do with the fandom of said book (movie, comic, person, whatever).
Sound crazy? Well...you just may be right.
But lemme tell ya : it's a whole lotta fun!
(literally everything you need to know about this glorious book is displayed in this practically perfect cover)
My very first fictional crush was discovered waaaaaaaay back in 1996. I'd just broken up from a serious relationship and was looking for something to drown my, not really sorrow, but my confusion as to my next steps in life. I ended up wandering to the library and into the children's section. It was there that I stumbled across a book from my childhood : Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. I'd remembered liking it (vaguely) so I checked it out And I fell in love!
With the author's voice, the characters, the main character especially who was confused and angry and uncomfortable in her own skin.
But I fell in LOVE-love with Calvin O'Keefe.
Tall.
Red Headed.
Kind.
Intelligent.
Sarcastic.
* swoon *
Sounds pretty good to me. Oh, and to everyone out there who's only ever seen the, ah, “film versions” of Wrinkle (of which there are two), now you know the reason why I'll never, ever watch a film version again until SOMEONE out there can A) Actually read the book and B) Actually realize that there are RED HEADED ACTORS in the world they can cast.
Ahem.
Sorry.
Bit of a soap box for me.
Anywho, I took my first steps into the realm of fangirling. Of course, back then, we didn't have terms for things like that. We just said, “Hey, I like this book and I love this character. He sounds lovely. Do they make 'em like that in real life?”
(PS: I can tell you now that they DO. I married him. No, really. Tall. Red Headed. Kind. Intelligent. Sarcastic. Seriously. He exists, ladies, and he's TAKEN!)
Now then, back to the subject.
Several years later, I got into a very small (tiny) fandom in the anime community and I learned a whole new type of Fangirling. It was rather obsessive and – to be honest – kinda scary at times. But, in moderation and with careful (very, very careful) filtering, it was a LOT of fun!
And of COURSE no post on Fangirling would be complete without the one, the ONLY : Harry Potter Fandom. If you don't have at least a mild crush on at least one Weasley, well, something might be wrong with you.
- I'm kidding. Don't unsubscribe and report me. It's just a joke...mostly -_-
(this perfect fanart can be found on PINTEREST - I mean….WHAAAAAAATTTT?!?! *sniffle*)
Just about everyone has a HP character that they love to LOVE and love to HATE (more on THAT in a later post). There are SO MANY characters to adore and almost as many to despise. I attempted a re-read of the HP books several months ago via Instagram but it kinda fell flat. HOWEVER, I plan to do a multipart post regarding thoughts and opinions on HP the story and the characters at a later date. For right now, without thinking too hard or getting into any deep, serious (snort), psychological debates, we're gonna talk about characters we LOVE.
Or rather, I love :)
And if we're talking Harry Potter, I'm going to have to say my heart belongs to Charlie Weasley. Yep. The soft spoken, dragon-handling, stereotypical middle child.
Red headed.
Intelligent.
Kind.
Sarcastic.
Stereotypical Middle Child.
Hmm...I think I have a type.
It's a tragedy in my humble opinion that Molly and Arthur's second born got exactly zero screen time in the films. However, that has turned out to be a blessing because I don't have to share my vision of Charles with the rest of the world. Only the very small fandom. And funny story : we all kind of envision him the same way.
That's something else that happens with fandoms. You meet people with similar thoughts and tastes. Not everyone, mind you, but more often than not, people will begin talking about certain characters and you discover that you all have roughly the same mental image. It's both weird and oddly comforting.
(image found on PINTEREST)
Now then. I'm going to venture into some uncharted territory for some of you. The title of this post is “What to do when you're Crushing Hard on Fictional Character” after all. So I'm going to give you a couple of tips. Literally. Two. The first one, not so strange and unusual.
Re-read your favorites.
I know, I know. I talk about re-reading a LOT but it has helped me through some pretty rough patches in my life. A favorite story becomes like a friend. A well-thumbed tome is akin to a security blanket, a warm cup of tea, cocoa with whipped cream, sprinkles and a marshmallow Peep preferably in the shape of a ghost.
And you're probably all OK with that, right? Re-reading. Ah yes, Mr. Darcy. Right where I left him. Brooding. Handsome. In possession of incredible wealth and in want of a wife.
But what if I told you there was ANOTHER way to feed your fiction addiction?
Are you ready?
Fanfiction.
Yep.
Fan. Fiction.
It's exactly what it sounds like. Fiction created by fans. There are entire sites devoted to the sharing of Fanfiction. I've been a member of the fanfiction community for over twenty five years. It's fun. It's wacky. It can be disturbing. And the beauty of it is you can (and are encouraged to) remain completely and totally anonymous.
What? Why? You ask.
Well...I'm not exactly sure? I think it has something to do with the predominate form of fanfiction which is – ahem – erotica. Yeah. Seriously. It is. BUT don't let that deter you because that's not all that's out there. Not by a long shot. While there are some pretty awful stories posted, there are a lot of really, really and I mean REALLY good works. Like publishable worthy. Like “oh my heck why aren't your stories in the bookstores” good. And yes, that goes for the erotica, too.
Then again, maybe they are but no one knows because, hey, they use a different name on the site like pigeontoed_mooneyedgirl or wolfstarforlifewithtoast.
Go on and laugh. I'm not joking.
There are literally MILLIONS of fan created stories out there for everything from TV shows to books to movies to song lyrics. It's pretty amazing how creative some folks can be. I have read stories that made me gasp, cry, laugh out loud and wish more than anything that I'd thought of it first. There are more than a few I wish were movies! People write novels. Short stories. Collections. One shots. Series. Poems. If it can be written, it has been. All you have to do is search for your preferred fandom and you'll be suffocated in suggestions.
And that brings me to the most important public service announcement that I will EVER post:
PLEASE READ THE TAGS FOR ANY FANFICTION THAT YOU WANT TO READ. Most if not all stories have some type of summary. They will list the characters that are featured in the story. They will also tell you, in a way, what to expect in the story. If there's violence, romance, humor, murder and even more unsavory things. And I'll admit : there are a LOT of unsavory happenings in fanfiction world. If you're careful, if you read the tags and know what to expect, if you keep an open mind AND don't mind a bit of PG-13, you'll find a fair share of interesting stories to entertain you.
“Yeah. Well. Still. What IS it?”
Simply put, fanfiction is a made up story written by a fan using the characters of anything from pop culture in a plot of their own making. You can bring people back from the dead. You can kill off anyone you wish. You can give the character of your choice the romantic relationship they want. You can save Regulus Black from drowning, Sirius Black from prison and even make it to where the Potters never died at all but lived to a ripe old age and raised their son the way they SHOULD have. You can have Frodo lose the Ring and move in with Tom Bombadil and tell Gandalf he'd rather not get involved thank you very much. You could make it to where Sauron never made the Ring in the first place or write yourself in as a part of the Fellowship. Anything, and I mean ANYTHING goes in fanfiction land.
And yes, Friend, YOU can write it! I do it all the time for two reasons. 1) It helps me flesh out plots that I have for original stories that I don't want to bother with scene and character development quite yet. I can write a story, see how the idea works out and then post it for the community to get feedback. Then I take my original idea, add my original characters, setting, etc. and BOOM! Instant story submission. 2) It's a whole lotta fun.
“Ooooh, JEN! Tell us what you've written.”
Nope.
“Just give us your name on the site?”
Forget about it.
That's one thing even my husband doesn't know.
(love ya, Handsome!)
So there you have it! Ways to feed your fictional crush addiction and get your creative juices flowing. Or, a way to enjoy the imaginations of others while also enjoying the worlds you've read and watched and can't get enough of.
What are your thoughts, Friends? Do you ever “crush” on a fictional character? Have you ever read yourself into a story? Do you have favorite books that you re-read over and over again so that you can spend more time with your character of choice? Which Weasley do you prefer? Are you Team Harry or Team Draco? Team Edward or Team Jacob? Do you swoon over Wolfstar? Have I lost you yet?
Read any fanfiction? Written any? If you're interested, I'm more than happy to help you tiptoe into that realm. Just ask in the comments or respond to the original email you got in your inbox for this post. Or feel free to DM me on Instagram. I'm always up for a rousing good fanfiction discussion.
I might even explain the Wolfstar comment.
But I'll never, ever tell you my handle ;)
NEXT WEEK : Please come back next Thursday!
I'll be discussing the novel “The Snow Child” by Eowyn Ivey