Saturday, September 13, 2014

Let's talk fandoms

This got long. If you're not a big geek feel free to skip it.

I was poking around in old entries, looking for something-or-other, and I came across this entry, and realized I started something in that entry that was supposed to be a series (of sorts) but which I then never followed up on, with regard to the various fandoms in the Dollish Ultimate Fandom set. Here are the answers to go with the other polishes I have worn so far.

The question is: Do I get the reference in the polish name?

Live Long & Prosper (Star Trek): Of course. Star Trek fan from way back - from the beginning, really. Yeah, I'm that old.
The Angels Have The Phone Box (Doctor Who): Yup. I can't claim to go way way back on this one - I watched an episode or two on PBS in the 70s, I think, and thought it was cheesy. (Which it undeniably was, but I just couldn't get past that, at the time.) I only really became a fan with the reboot in recent years. Blink is still probably my favorite episode, even though I'm not a huge Ten fangirl - I was very partial to Nine, myself, although I have liked all of the recent Doctors. Even Twelve, I'm pretty sure, although three episodes is a very small sample.
The Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter): Yup. Read the books, watched the movies. Huge fan.
These Are Not The Droids You're Looking For (Star Wars): Absolutely. Just don't talk to me about the prequels. (But yes, I've seen them all. Mostly repeatedly, even for the prequels.)
You Know Nothing Jon Snow (Game of Thrones): Sure. I'm behind on the TV show, but I've read all the books - plus this was a big internet meme. I suspect that a fair number of people who know nothing themselves about GoT know that Jon Snow knows nothing, even if they don't know who Jon Snow IS. Anyway, I think I bogged down somewhere in season 3 on the HBO version. (I bog down on a lot of TV shows. This is not unusual for me. Probably in this case I will catch up eventually.)

(If you didn't follow the link up top, that one was Walking Dead, and in that case I didn't just bog down, I quit watching completely after the second season. The "who will they kill next" thing was getting to me. That wasn't the problem with GoT - I'd read the books there, so I knew, for example, about the Red Wedding. The series' continuity is a bit different than the books, but still I have some idea, so that doesn't bother me so much.)
(more under the break)

There's actually a second group of Ultimate Fandom polishes now, and more of those are fandoms I really don't know anything about. Here's part 1 and part 2 from Accio Lacquer,  so you can see the actual polishes, and these are the polish names.

So, do I get the reference?

Frakkin' Toasters (Battlestar Galactica) - Yes. I wasn't, like, a super-fan of Galactica, because it's just not my personality to be that way with any fandom, but all I mean by that is that I wasn't totally and utterly into it. I still watched every week, and I still think that at least for the first season or so it was one of the best SF series ever. It went downhill somewhat toward the end, and I mostly had quit watching completely at the very end, although I did watch the last episode, I know. (For bonus geek points: I watched the original, too. It's just as bad as you've heard.)
Can I Touch Your Mango (The Mortal Instruments series) - Actually I did not get this one initially, although I'd read all of these books. I just had forgotten about that particular line. (It's also a good excuse to make a mango-colored polish, and it's awesome. Go look if you haven't already.) (Also, I just have to say this, on principle: the books are good. The movie sucked. If you're judging by the movie, go read the books and get the bad taste out of your mouth.)
I Am The One Who Knocks (Breaking Bad) - No. I have seen the pilot of Breaking Bad and liked it, but I never got around to watching it after that. Someday I will dig them up on Amazon or wherever and watch them.
I Want To Believe (X-Files) - Yes, and actually I have this polish on order, too. Seen every episode, even the last season when both Mulder and Scully were gone. I didn't give up on this one.
I Threw My Pie For You (Orange Is The New Black) - No. Haven't seen it. Hopefully I'll get around to this one eventually as well. (I don't have Netflix right now, but I have had it on and off for many years, and I'm sure I'll have a subscription again eventually.)
Slice of Life (Dexter) - The answer is no, if there's a specific quotation or something that this is referring to. If it's just Dexter in general, then I get it, although I didn't look at the name and think "Dexter," either. The name and the polish together I would probably have figured out without other hints, because it's a (really truly lovely) blood-red glitter. Anyway, I have not seen nearly the whole run of Dexter, but I've seen the first couple of seasons, and scattered ones past that. We don't have Showtime, so I've had to pick them up elsewhere. I've also read a couple of the books.
So Long And Thanks For All The Fish (Hitchhiker's Guide series) -  These books are right in my older-person wheelhouse - they started coming out when I was in college - so absolutely. (Actually I haven't re-read these in a while, maybe it's time.)
There's Only One Of Me (Orphan Black) - Again, if this is a specific quotation, then no, but I get the general idea. I finally got started on OB a few months ago, and I'm still only about 6 or 7 episodes in. (It's awesome. I really have to get back to that.)
One Choice (Divergent): I actually had to google to make sure that this was talking about Divergent, so that would be a big No. All I know about Divergent I learned from the movie trailer, and I didn't hear anything that good about the movie so I didn't bother. It's possible I'll read the first book eventually (there are several, right?) and see how I like it. I've had pretty good luck with my dystopian YA selections so far, after all.
Seaweed Brain (Percy Jackson series): Yes. Although I had to think about it for a couple of seconds - it's been a while since I read these books. They are cute, though. The first movie wasn't bad, I don't know about the second one. (I was vaguely surprised to hear that there was a second one, since I didn't think the first one made that much money.)
On Wednesdays We Wear Black (American Horror Story) - I have never seen this show. However, I was familiar with the reference. I think I learned it from Tumblr. I knew the "On Wednesdays we wear pink" line was from Mean Girls - which I have never seen either, I know that's a huge gap in my cultural literacy - and I noticed the first time I saw that twist on the line from pink to black, and so I looked to see where that version came from. I am unclear on whether I would like American Horror Story or not. I don't like actual scary horror, and I don't like slasher stuff, but I don't generally find witches very scary, and clearly witches are part of this series' story line. I gather these aren't cute Harry Potter witches, anyway, but did they actually manage to make witches scary? (OK, yeah, Blair Witch is scary, but that's mostly the absence of witches, or maybe implied witches at the most. You never actually see a witch, it's what you don't see that's scary. Which I think is usually how the best horror works.)
The Status Is Not Quo (Dr. Horrible) - Yes, but I had to think about it. I love Dr. Horrible, and I have the video on my iTunes and I have ever since it was first released - and I've watched the whole thing a number of times, too. But it's been a while since I've seen it and apparently I hadn't paid enough attention to that particular line that I knew it immediately. (I feel like I'm failing the Whedon portion of the test here. Which reminds me, where the hell is Buffy in all this anyway?)

(This is still not the complete set of answers, because I haven't done the polishes which I own but haven't worn yet. Hopefully I will remember to do those as I go.)

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