My Geek Thing Is Valuable! Your Geek Thing Is Stupid and Worthless!

I’m on vacation, which means that this letter was drafted up after lots of tropical drinks (but filled with lots of love) so I apologize for all the errors you might come across, if any! This is a reprint from LTT reader Marble from something she wrote for Twilighters.org. Enjoy!

Dear Twilight,

aDORKable

Recently I was discussing with another parent if it was time to show our young daughters Star Wars (Answer: YES). Also in question, and very brief debate: Episode IV first, right? (Answer: OBVIOUSLY). I share this to establish my minimal Geek Cred. I am not a huge nerd, but I had a hold at the comics store for Season 8 Buffy comics, I’ve seen the director’s cut of Blade Runner, I know that the even-numbered Star Trek movies are better. I love Simon Pegg, Kevin Smith, and David Tennant, and I quote the Holy Grail almost reflexively. So I submit to you this:

Twilight is, or can be, the Girl Version of geeking out.

Now, before everyone piles on here, No, not all girls like Twilight. Yes, lots of girls like shooty games and can fix your wi fi. I am not saying “Twilight is exactly like Star Wars let’s do a side by side comparison of the two”. Although I will say this: haters say Twilight is a terrible movie. We can debate the merits all day, but you know what? Star Wars, as a film, is crap. Seriously. And do you want to talk about Ewoks? No, you don’t. What it has is a great story. Millions of fans will tell you they both do.

Let the nerdrage begin.

What I am saying is that people geek out about Twilight, in a big way. Note the long lines at ComicCon this year, and every year there is Twilight stuff. It’s true some of those people just go to scream “I Love You, ROB!”, faint, and go home. But some of those people stay to see Peter Jackson and grab some new manga. At the start of ComicCon there were a few tweets going around from fanboys saying they are sick of TwiFans “ruining” the con, and why do they (we) get so hysterical. Listen, let’s talk about going overboard about something while you sew on a custom made cosplay outfit, shall we? For some people, shrieking like a lunatic or being on a “Team” is their version of spending valuable time and money learning the Star Spangled Banner in Klingon. Deal with it.
I am also saying this: every kind of pop culture that is geared towards girls is nearly always devalued and not considered serious work. I am not trying to out anybody as a misogynist; I am simply highlighting a subtle yet insidious worldview. Screaming teenagers are somehow not as authentic as the serious dudes who know all Nirvana’s deep cuts. As Chally Kacelnik said, in an article for Bitch Magazine, “Accusations of silliness and inconsequentiality are, of course, some of the most insidious tools in the patriarchy’s toolbox.”

Men historically have been the arbiters of what is “good” and “bad” in Western culture, yet women gain more control of finances every day. Is the vitriol a hidden fear reaction? Or some sort of neanderthal response to Edward Cullen as top competitor for female attention?

I will end by saying this: we’re all geeks. Anyone who is not a geek about something is probably not very interesting. Don’t devalue my obsession just because mine sparkles.

Love,
MarbleNutSlut

Our internet game is ridiculous: LTR, The Forum, Twitter, The Store

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We gon’ party like it’s Moon’s birthday

Dear LTTers,

Once upon a time, on May 9th, 1982 to be exact, Mama Moon went into labor. I’m not sure if that was a natural labor, one induced by drugs or if it was long, hard (ugh TWSS) easy or quick. But I know that the labor produced Moon. And life has never been the same.

Moon grew up in Arizona, mere minutes from where a young Stephenie Meyer was imagining the perfect mate who would turn into the fictional Edward Cullen. Coincidence that years later Moon would write about this Edward Cullen & obsess over the man who plays him on film? I think not.

A lot of “stuff” happened in the next few years. Ya know, normal stuff like growing up, learning how to read & write (things that would become very important for a future hobby) and being exposed to great music. Some of Moon’s favorites were: N’Sync, Jimmy Eat World & The Beatles. This love for music led her to a teeny, tiny college in Oklahoma that would surely not prepare her for a career in the music business. But young adulthood is for making silly decisions we don’t understand later in life. And thankfully the lack of provision the teeny, tiny school provided led Moon to look elsewhere to prepare her for her dream job. This led her straight into my arms. Well, sorta.

BFFs FOREVER (but not for like 5 years)

On September 7th, 2002, Moon landed on the tiny island of Martha’s Vineyard to join a group of 30 students for a music “colony” for one semester. Some were there to become better musicians, some were there to produce, some were there to make out with the guy who was assigned as her producer and others were there to manage the careers of the musicians. Moon was there on the management track. [I’ll let you guess who the one was who made out with the producer (and the name of that lucky producer*).] This little island was much like another small town we know. It was dead on the off season. There was a diner in town where everyone frequented. The winter was dark. Handsome vampires ran around wooing the objects of their affection. Okay, that didn’t happen but both Moon & I went on to not speak more than 2 sentences to each other the entire semester. But a few years into the future we became the dearest of friends & later started a popular Twilight blog. We have a dreary winter in West Tisbury, Massachusettes to thank!

The story goes that after Moon graduated & was “figuring things out” at her parents house back in Arizona & I was stuck at the world’s worst job scanning financial documents, we rekindled our acquaintanceship & started realizing how dumb we were for not becoming bff’s years before. We had the same taste in men (Adam Brody helllooo) an affinity for Pop Culture & bad/awesome Pop Music. And then one day, a day that will go down in the history books (that no one will read) we realized we both were obsessing a little too much over this Twilight thing & Robert Pattinson. You know the rest. But do you really KNOW Moon? Find out MORE & Celebrate with me, after the jump! Continue…

81 Commented

Psst…. we’re blogging over here today

Dear Twilight,

Psssttt… Today we’re breaking last week’s Biggest Loser episode DOWN over here. (Asking WHY in the world we’d do that? Because our darling Olivia aka Obird– friend through LTT first then real life friend- is ON the show & DOING AMAZING & RACKING UP IMMUNITY & MAKING US CRY and all that jazz. So read our break-down of last week’s episode. You know you want to)

Love,
UC & Moon

2 Commented

The Twi Lifestyle

Dear Twilight,

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I like where you & I are at (nice Philly slang for you there). We’re doing good- you & me. You have your life & I have mine. Yet we still love each other.

For example: I can go away for a few days to see some family in Florida, schedule a few letters in advance and everything is fine! You still go on, LTT runs fine & I return to a nice surprise I never saw before: A post on BreakingDawnMovie.org that includes one of those “You  Might like this” posts from SEPTEMBER of Jamie Cambell Brower NAKED:

How YOU doing?

And so you & I pick up where we left off. I check out some favorite Twilight sites to see what I missed. Without a doubt someone emailed us something funny I didn’t catch over the weekend away or posted something to our Facebook account (Click that and become a fan- do it now!)

Hosting Twilight Virgin week two weeks back & reading all the amazing stories that were submitted over that time really reminded me of my virginity loss and starting LTT as a result- and mostly how little sleep I got during those first few weeks/days/years (actually). First I couldn’t put down the Twilight books and it was all I could think about until I got my hands on the next book (thank GOD I found the saga the week Breaking Dawn came out- I don’t know what I would have done had I had to wait years between books) and then I had to wait days (or, if I’m honest, hours) between Twilight movie sittings. And then there was all the time I spent watching Rob Pattinson interviews and Vanity Fair behind-the-scenes videos and filling my hard-drive with his pictures… It’s no wonder I look back at pictures during that time in life & think I look thinner- I was! I had no time to eat!

And when LTT started, life as I knew it was over! There went time for real-life friends and Mr. Choice and cleaning. And remember when I posted about how I had that task to do at work that was 32 weeks over due? At the beginning of this year I just deleted it, called 2009 & 2010 lost years & started over at 2011. (And if you’re wondering, when I looked yesterday morning the same task was 5 weeks overdue. Sigh…) I stopped working for like a year and 1/2! (Kinda) AND I slept much, much less. I think we coined that phenomenon: Unmotivated by Twilight

Remember this?

You know when you first get a crush & he/she is all you think about? You can’t eat because of the butterflies. You doodle like you’re a 12 year old (even as an adult!) You imagine your future- all the things you could be! Has it been so long since you’ve had a crush that you forget what it’s like? I was reminded when perusing my Facebook wall & a family friend (who is 13) seems to have a new crush. Here are a few things she’s said (publically) in the last few days:

UGH. Stupid butterflies. Stupid crush. Stupid boys. Stupid love!!

♥ **”And I hate how much I love you, boy.
I can’t stand how much I need you.”** ♥

So I’m pretty much over this whole crush thing. These butterflies are annoying, I can’t concentrate on anything, my grades are gonna go down hill if he doesn’t get real ugly, real fast and if I think about his smile one more time I’m gonna blow something up! Ugh why does he have to be so loveable!!??

♥ “My heart stops when you look at me,” ♥

Pros and cons of this crush: Con: he’s a jerk sometimes. He’s a player. He’s annoying. He’s rude. He’s out of his mind and he gives me a head ache whenever I talk to him. Pro: I like him! < \3 Hmm…Not using very good logic right now….Stupid boys. They mess with my head!

Remember that NOW? It was so fun! Annoying! Frustrating! Worth it! Not worth it! Rewarding! Distracting! Worth it in the end! Especially when he/she likes you back!

That’s how I feel about this whole Twilight thing! You’ve been SO fun! (I made Jackson laugh) You’ve been SO annoying! (Can’t Krisbians find someone else to Twitter hate!?) You’ve frustrated the HELL out of me! (Remember when our blog got hacked?) But it’s been WORTH it! (Moon & I are the bestest buds as a result!) And sometimes (like when Mr. Choice gets mad because we haven’t talked in 3 days) NOT Worth it! It’s REWARDING (We leg hitched Stephenie Meyer– enough said!) and Distracting! (Didn’t work from 2009-2010!) It’s Worth it in the End (Look through my phone or all the Friends Named things like “Brooke/Real Name” or “Allison/Twifans.com” and “Jen/Met in LA!” ) Because I think you like me back, Twilight! And while we’re past the initial crush stage, thankfully, I like where we are now! We’re at a manageable place where I enjoy writing about what I want; I like to read fun, funny, hilarious (and sometimes disturbing) things about you!

We’ve matured passed the initial crush. We’ve gotten through those tough days when we started to see things we didn’t like about each other. We’ve pushed through & discovered how to have fun again, and now we’ve entered the stability stage. We’re like an old married couple, you & me, Twilight! And I feel very, very comfortable- in a good way. Let’s keep it this way!

Also, remember this motivational Photo? (Another thing I only did in the beginning: Fan Fic!)

Love your life partner,

UnintendedChoice

Where are you in your relationship with Twi? Still in the gooey, butterfly-filled beginning? Somewhere around the rocky middle? Have you settled into a nice relationship routine like I have? Don’t tell me you’re in the “We’ve been together too long & it’s getting dull” crisis!

Our internet game is ridiculous: LTR, The Forum, Twitter, The Store

81 Commented

MSN.com’s Obsessed: Harry Potter vs Twilight featuring yours truly!

Dear LTT-ers, and Twilight fans alike,

Last month I was asked to be interviewed as a Twilight “Expert” (ha!) in a web series called Obsessed by comedian Kevin Avery. The series was going to compare the Twilight and Harry Potter fandoms.  I’m sure you can guess that I thought it was going to be a Colbert Report type thing where Twilighters were made fun of they went for the easy jokes instead of really getting to know a bit more about the Twilight fandom. BUUUTTT that was not the case at all, Kevin was awesome and totally got the fun, the crazy and the deep stuff about Twilight. I had a blast letting him in on the inner workings of the Twidom and sharing a little bit of why we love Twilight so much even when it doesn’t make sense! The video also features our good pal AshleyFrag rocking it for all the fans out there against some crazy Harry Potter competition and the gals from the Twilight book club in LA! We both had a ton of fun I don’t know how they edited it all down to only 3 minutes! Let’s start a petition for an outtakes reel!

Enjoy!

Now embedded! They heard our cries! Or  watch HERE

Big thanks to Kevin Avery and Keri and also Will from NMM, EM, BDM. We love you!
XO,
Themoonisdown

Visit Kevin Avery and give him some love on Twitter

Our internet game is ridiculous: LTR, The Forum, Twitter, The Store

55 Commented