Being a female sports fan

Why do guys seem to think females watch sports for attention or to “fit in?”

I don't know about you, but I would not watch my beloved team lose game 7 of the Western Conference Final just to impress a guy. I would not watch them miss playoffs by a single win just to fit in. I would not put my self through the heartbreak of a shootout loss just to stroke your ego. I could not stand watching them slip down in points to the point of never having a chance at playoffs just for the off chance you might be decent in bed.

Guys need to understand that sports were not created just for them.

Why men think they're the only person in this world who can sit on the internet all day and tweet about whatever game you're watching is beyond me. But oh no, god forbid a knowledgeable female sportsfan tweet about it. Obviously “they sound stupid and know nothing.” The only reason a woman would make any sort of post about a sport is to try to garner attention for our fake sports knowledge. Hate to break it to you guys, but we don't watch sports to impress you. We have much better things to do. Like watching sports. Because we love them. And not giving a fuck about what you think about it!

How dare you think I only watch things and find an interest in anything just for you? Do you really think I keep up with the Corsi and the Art Ross for your benefit? Does hockey honestly mean so little to you that it is nothing more than an easy way to get laid? Do you really think I keep tabs on these children in the AHL for your benefit? Would I keep a constant watch on teams I loathe and hope they win just for the slim chance my team could finally make playoffs just to impress you? Isn't it possible I follow offseason trades and free agency for my own enjoyment (also read, heartbreak)?

Are you planning on staying up and keeping tabs with the newest upcoming trends when New York Fashion Week rolls around? Do you plan on going through the latest Spring lines for Marc Jacobs and Jimmy Choo with me to make sure we're still classy and stylish? Does being with me mean that you're going to take up a keen interest in Ansel Adams? Have you suddenly developed a sudden desire to travel through time and space in THE blue box? Are we going to have heartfelt debates about the injustice towards Slytherins?

No? So what makes you think I'll rearrange my interests to cater to you? If I, the girl that honestly thought someone had scored a touchdown at a baseball game, am interested in a sport, could it possibly be because I'm actually interested in a sport? Maybe, just possibly, I actually do know just as much, or possibly, the horror, maybe more than you.

The number of times when I’ve surprised guys with my knowledge of sports is insane. Whether it’s hockey or soccer I’m perfectly capable of holding a conversation about my teams. I'm more than willing to even rip someone a new one when they dis my sport.

These men are always shocked that I, a girl, am so into hockey and actually knowledgeable about it. These men are just dumbfounded that I have no interest in them, Who knew,

And god save any person, woman or man, that feels they can insult my Stars.

What is Fandom?

Fandom is focus. Fandom is obsession. Fandom is insatiable consumption. Fandom is sitting for hours in front of a TV screen a movie screen a computer screen with a comic book or a novel in your lap. Fandom is eyestrain and carpal tunnel syndrome and not enough exercise and staying up way, way past your bedtime.

Fandom is people you don’t tell your mother you’re meeting. Fandom is people in the closet, people out and proud, people in costumes, people in T-shirts with slogans only fifty others would understand. Fandom is a loud dinner conversation scaring the waiter and every table nearby.

Fandom is you in Germany and me in the US and him in Australia and her in Japan. Fandom is a sofabed in New York, a roadtrip to Oxnard, a friend behind a face in London. Fandom talks past timezones and accents and backgrounds. Fandom is conversation. Communication. Contact.

Fandom is drama. Fandom is melodrama. Fandom is high school. Fandom is Snacky’s law and Godwin’s law and Murphy’s law. Fandom is smarter than you. Fandom is stupider than you. Fandom is five arguments over and over and over again. Fandom is the first time you’ve ever had them.

Fandom is female. Fandom is male. Fandom lets female play at being male. Fandom bends gender, straight, gay, prude, promiscuous. Fandom is fantasy. Fandom doesn’t care about norms or taboos or boundaries. Fandom cares too much about norms and taboos and boundaries. Fandom is not real life. Fandom is closer than real life. Fandom knows what you’re really like in the bedroom. Fandom is how you would never, could never, be in the bedroom.

Fandom is shipping, never shipping, het, slash, gen, none of the above, more than the above. Fandom is love for characters you didn’t create. Fandom is recreating the characters you didn’t create. Fandom is appropriation, subversion, dissention. Fandom is adoration, extrapolation, imitation. Fandom is dissection, criticism, interpretation. Fandom is changing, experimenting, attempting.

Fandom is creating. Fandom is drawing, painting, vidding: nine seasons in four minutes of love. Fandom is words, language, authoring. Fandom is essays, stories, betas, parodies, filks, zines, usenet posts, blog posts, message board posts, emails, chats, petitions, wank, concrit, feedback, recs. Fandom is writing for the first time since you were twelve. Fandom is finally calling yourself a writer.

Fandom is signal and response. Fandom is a stranger moving you to tears, anger, laughter. Fandom is you moving a stranger to speak.

Fandom is distraction. Fandom is endangering your job, your grades, your relationships, your bank account. Fandom gets no work done. Fandom is too much work. Fandom was/is just a phase. Fandom could never be just a phase. Fandom is where you found a friend, a sister, a kindred spirit. Fandom is where you found a talent, a love, a reason.

Fandom is where you found yourself.

Dallas Comic Con 2014

This weekend, I went to my first ever Comic Con with a good friend of mine. It was an absolutely amazing experience and I met some amazing people. Neither Matt nor I had ever been, so we weren't exactly sure what to expect. I think this will definitely be something that we return to in the future. Instead of boring you all with details, I'll just let the pictures speak for the weekend. 

Moffat is ruining Doctor Who

I love Doctor Who. It is one of those shows that I've grown up watching. As a kid, I would get to stay up late to watch the Classic Who on Friday nights. Even now, I plan my weekends around making sure that I can watch the new episode Saturday nights.

But I really feel like this new season, and Moffat especially, has really been butchering this new season. When the season premiered way back in September  I wrote a post about how disappointed I was with the season. But like any dedicated Whovian, I knew I would push past the episode and hope for better things to come. Especially as news of the 50th Anniversary special continues to trickle out, I kept hoping that this season would get better. And it hasn't . If anything, it is getting worse.

Let me preface this by saying if you haven't seen all of the episodes that have come out, I can tell you this will not be 100% spoiler free.

First, I hate Clara. I was interested when she was first introduced. Who was this mysterious, clever woman? Why was she trapped? Oh wait, she's a Dalek! That's amazing! And then we met her again in "The Snowmen" as a different character. We were interested. But then she died. Again. And then in "The Bells of Saint John" she came back as a different Clara. Just as it was with River, the question of who this impossible woman could be isn't dealt with in a subtle way, it isn't artfully crafted throughout the season. It is shoved down your face. She isn't even a unique character, I feel like she's a combination of Rose, Donna, and Amy. There isn't anything original about her.

Next, the writing relies completely on gimmicks  I thought "Journey to the Center of the TARDIS" would finally help us understand not only the relationship between Clara and the Doctor, but also between Clara and the TARDIS. It has been made clear that the TARDIS doesn't like Clara multiple times (probably because, just like Captain Jack, she's impossible). After you know, the entire TARDIS-is-exploding-we're-all-going-to-die, I thought that would bring mroe light on their relationships. But no, it was all erased from time and didn't happen at all. Yep. All those heartfelt moments didn't matter. Even the story about the Van Baalen brothers was shoddy writing at best. Yeah, two brothers are going to make their younger brother believe he's a fucking robot? And treat him like crap. And when the older brother dies it doesn't matter at all but the "robot" brother gets sympathy? And after it is all erased from time, the middle brother doesn't treat the not-robot brother better or tell him the truth, he just tells the older brother to lay off a little. And don't even get me started on the stupid monsters. Was there not enough tension by the ticking clock of the TARDIS that was supposed to explode? Did you really have to add a monster?

This week's episode "The Crimson Horror" was nothing but a disaster. There's a crazy mother trying to destroy the world and create a race of perfect people. And she treats her daughter, who she blinded by experimenting on her, like crap. The Doctor is utterly useless in this episode. He is rescued by Jenny (which, I am glad we are seeing a few old characters revisited). Then Jenny proves how awesome she is and takes down several men that are trying to attack. While the Doctor does nothing but flail about acting confused. He tries to reason with the crazy mother but that doesn't work. Clara is the one that destroys the machine by throwing a chair at it. Really? In the last moments trying to fight the crazy mother, the daughter is fooled yet again (oh you silly, ignorant blind girl) and held hostage. Strax is the one to eventually shoot her down (and she dies). The Doctor talks about maybe trying to take the parasite back to a time it belongs. But no, the daughter kills it. The Doctor doesn't explain anything about Clara to Jenny, Strax or Madame Vastra. He just leaves them. What good was the Doctor? All he did the entire episode was flail about pointlessly and get shown up by every other person on the show. He was outwitted by every one.

Finally, Moffat doesn't seem to care that the reason this show has lasted 50 years is because of the fans. He's told reporters that "It is important you don't turn it into a fanfest" in regards to the 5t0h Anniversary. He says that you "can't make it all about looking backwards." Excuse me? So you're only going to focus on the newest Doctor's? Apparently the entire show saying "Paradoxes are bad" is thrown out the window with Moffat. Remember how the universe was torn apart when the Master created a paradox? Apparently that doesn't matter when it comes to Moffat's writing.

I hate that Moffat keeps trying to say that Doctor Who is a fantasy show. It isn't. It is a science fiction show. Yes, there are some fantastic elements, but this is not a fantasy story. This is not a children's story. Doctor Who is a wonderful sci-fi show. Yes, the characters of the Doctor is going to evolve over time. Yes, his companions are going to change. Yes, as special effects evolve so to will the show. But that does not mean that doctor Who is a fantasy children's story. That does not mean that the show should completely rely on special effects on not delve into the characters.

Moffat is a lazy writer at best. As the head screen writer, he should be held accountable for the multiple failings that has happened since he replaced Russell T Davies. While Davies would also routinely rip out my heart at the end of the seasons, he at least managed to do it in a beautiful and mysterious way that I still will go back and watch those seasons and still get torn up.

It is far past the time that Moffat should leave. He's ruining this amazing show and will probably destroy the 50th Anniversary special.

The one good thing that has come from this season is the premiere of Orphan Black. It is amazingly written and compelling. I can't wait to see where this show goes and I'm thrilled to hear that it got renewed for a second season. At least there's something good to come from Doctor Who this season, even if it is me falling for another show that immediately follows.

The Doctor is back

Last night was the start of the newest season of Doctor who. And, honestly, I wasn't as impressed as I thought I was going to be.

I've been looking forward to the new season since BBC announced the newest companion in May and then when they released the teaser and promos in the last month. Watching "Living with the Ponds" definitely added to my excitement. BBC also had an all day marathon leading up to the premiere.

The episode started off really exciting, the Doctor and Amy and Rory were all abducted by Daleks. This is very, very bad as all Whovians know. Then the plot twist because the Daleks have captured the Doctor to save them. And the Doctor is sent to the place where the "ruined" Daleks are held because they can't destroy something they consider beautiful, pure hatred. All very exciting.

But then, things get kinda lame. Without sharing too much with those of you that haven't seen the episode, I felt the rest of the episode relied on the same gimmicks as the last two seasons. There was so much of the whole theme of forgetting that was throughout the previous seasons that I felt like we were just falling back on the same story. Season five was all about how the crack in the universe was causing Amy to forget things, people to be erased and forgotten, and eventually Amy remembered and brought them back. It was awesome! Season six was a bit more with the whole remember/forget theme. Amy wasn't real and forgot she was actually pregnant, had a baby, and didn't realize River was her daughter. Now, season seven is opening with the same theme. People forgot they were Daleks and forgot they were human. Sorry, Moffat, but I'm getting a bit tired of this theme. Isn't it time to start moving on?

The thing that really bothered me most of all about the season opener is (spoiler alert) the Daleks forgot about the Doctor. This bothers me not only because of the theme previously mentioned, but it also gets rid of one of the biggest villains in this 50 year old show. How can you make the Daleks forget about the Doctor?? I've been a little (read that VERY) annoyed that the writers have pretty much stopped including old characters. A slight remark here and there that alludes to the previous regenerations is nice, but why are old characters not included anymore? Angels have been erased from time so they're not happeneing, the story with the Master is finished, and now Daleks are gone. What about maybe including a previous companion or two? Maybe bring back Jack and the Face of Bo? K-9? Sarah Jane? SOMETHING!?!

I'm sorry Moffat, but I'm also tired of the same in-your-face writing that you're so fond of. All of season five, it was all about this crack. What is this crack? Guys, there's a crack here too! Guys, did you notice that Rory is erased from time by the crack?! Guys! The crack!! Season six he was all about River's story. Guys, don't you want to know who River is? What is River's story? Guys! Here's River's story! River is Melody! Bet you didn't see that coming! Oh! Doctor Who! What's the question? What's the answer?! AREN'T YOU GUYS EXCITED?!

Sorry, that writing is just really grating after a time. Remember season three? With the whole YANA thing? or season one with the entire Bad Wolf? What happened to that sort of subtle writing that would really drive, not only an episode, but the entire series? I'm far from giving up on a show I've been watching since I was six, but I am really tired of this gimmicky style of writing. Please, Moffat and fellow writers give me something more this season. Please bring back the Doctor Who I loved and still want to love the same way!

Wow... So this turned into more of a rant of Moffat's writing and stuff. Oh well. I feel like it needed to be said.