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Thursday, July 2, 2015

Friends Are People You Dress Up With, Apparently

Day 2 of the July Everyday Geek Challenge! Today's prompt is Geeky Friendship Memories. Don't forget to check out Dia's blog!

Growing up part of a pretty geeky community, it's not surprising that some of my favorite memories with friends have had plenty of geeky connections.  Lord of the Rings was my first fandom love, and for years that meant AJ and I played 'ongoing games' where we created characters and had to act like them every. Single. Day. 

I was always a hobbit named Rosie (who eventually grew up to marry Sam. Duh), who worked at The Green Dragon (the kitchen) and occasionally went on adventures with Legolas (my brother) through the woods. Proudly sporting our polyester capes, we would go on adventures (walks with Grandma) while dodging black riders (any car), and coming home with a large collection of walking sticks.

We had similar games on rotation through most of our under-10 years, with some variations but generally the same. For a very brief time we switched over to Narnia, and then had a phase of pretending the house was Hogwarts. Our bath 'robes' become our school uniforms, and doing science meant doing 'potions class', while history was usually 'muggle studies'. 

In the end, though, we always went back to our familiar and beloved Middle Earth. AJ and I even went as Legolas and Gimli for Halloween once.

And the dressing up didn't stop as we got older. When the first Hobbit movie came out, we pulled together a huge group of friends and went to the movies all dressed up.

A Hobbit's Take (movie review)
 And then there was the time we wore our Harry Potter uniforms to a 4H Awards Night.


Or when Dia and I bough coordinating purple superhero t-shirts at Walmart and insisted on everything them almost every time we went out together (until Dia lost hers, that is).


And then there's this past season, when my team and I had 'superhero day' at practice.



Especially when Dia and I hang out, we usually turn to something geeky. This past spring when she was making my prom dress, we watched Firefly episodes while she sewed (and I helpfully watched TV, obviously). 

And this Christmas, she gave me the most amazing hobbit-door necklace, which I've worn pretty much every day since. Such a fun way to honor my fandom and my friend!

For me, true friendship has always been when we can unapologetically obsess over something. I'm so grateful for all my friends, and the fact that we always get each other's references. Most of our conversations start with 'oh my gosh, you need to watch this show'.  While we don't always share the same level of fandom-love across the board, we do share the fun of expressing that love. 

Thanks so much for reading! Want to share your take on this prompt? Chime in on your blog, tumblr, instagram or twitter and don't forget to use the hashtag #everydaygeekjuly. Can't wait to hear your stories! Just a heads up, tomorrow (Day 3) the prompt will be phases of life through books.

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