Fan Is Short For Fanatic

Once again we are reminded that the word “fan” is an abbreviation of the word “fanatic”.

I refer to the blogger who posted images of baseball bats wrapped in barbed wire online and made death threats against Amanda Abbington and Martin Freeman.

The fan blogger in question is, allegedly, a fan of Benedict Cumberbatch’s.  I say allegedly.  Because, frankly, in my opinion, such behaviour shows that the person has no real love or respect for him, because if she did, then she would not threaten his friends and co-workers!

One of the things that really pisses me off about incidents like this is that all of Benedict’s fans get painted with the same brush of lunacy.  This is one of the reasons I refuse to be drawn too deeply into Sherlock fandom, and why I refuse to accept the label of “fangirl”.  I barely survived the NCIS fandom, and frankly, the TIVA fanatics have nothing on the lunatic fringe of the Sherlock fandom.

Thankfully, the majority of Sherlock fans are intelligent, sensible, lovely people, a number of whom I have met and like enormously.  There is, however, the very small minority, to which this person obviously belongs, that has me shrieking and looking for a very tall tree to climb!

Actors and other public figures have to put up with a lot of shit.  They tend to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune more than the average person in the street.  What they should NOT have to suffer is the baseball bats and barbed wire of outrageous fruitbats!

It’s A Small World

I was looking at my blog statistics this morning and my attention was drawn to the fact that someone from Tunisia has been reading my blog today.  Hello to my Tunisian reader.  I hope you enjoyed what you read and will return again. 🙂

I was inspired to go and look at the statistical breakdown of where my readers come from.  I was blown away by what I read.

Seeing as WordPress is an American site, it is no surprise that my largest readership of 2,223 views is from the United States.  My next four: United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand also make sense, as they are also countries where English is the principle language.  Yes, I realise Canada is officially bilingual.  Don’t be picky.

It was after this that I got truly mind blown.  It is humbling to think that people in countries like Kazakhstan, Nepal, Honduras, Moldova, and Iceland are reading my blog and enjoying it.  Mind you, maybe not enjoying it so much, as many of them have only visited once.  However, thank you all for coming, even the once.  It is a pleasure and an honour to get to talk to you from Australia.

I do wonder why people read my blog sometimes.  I know I have a lot of readership from Sherlock fans, and Sherlock fans are damn near a universal constant these days.  Not to mention Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman fans.  Oh, and Graham Norton fans, because not a day goes past when someone doesn’t arrive at my blog whilst searching for the elusive Graham.

But a lot of my blogs are on books I’ve read, typically Aussie things, and thoughts I’ve had.  It really does amaze me that people seem to find the meanderings of my mind both interesting and entertaining.

What I am trying to say is, thank you for reading, and for letting me reach out to you from my small part of the world to yours.

Poking the Fans With Sticks

I signed in to a certain social media site yesterday to discover that a dear friend of mine, who knows and enables my Benedict Cumberbatch addiction, had posted the above photo for me.  Along with the information that said photo had originally been posted on Twitter by Mark Gatiss.

I have to tell you, it’s a heck of a way to start a Sunday!  Gazing at that gorgeous white throat sliding down to the open shirt and tantalizing glimpse of chest. 

That photo is possibly the most erotic thing I have EVER seen.   After 3 minutes of concentrated viewing, my ovaries were hiding in a corner of my abdomen whimpering, and my uterus was attempting to turn itself inside out!

Once I was able to think again, ie, after I’d closed down my browser and got to hell off my computer, I started to think about the reasons for posting the photo.  Apart from the obvious fact that Mark Gatiss is a closet sadist!

Of all the fandoms out there, the Sherlock one is the only one where cast and crew actively tease the fans.  Others interact with their fans to a degree, but the guys and gals on Sherlock take this to new levels.

This isn’t like the usual behind the scenes shots and promo photos gently leaked out, like a carrot being dangled in front of a recalcitrant donkey.  No, this is taking a very long pole and prodding a caged tiger in the arse with it!  We throw ourselves at the bars howling and snarling with every photo and tweet.

Mark Gatiss is particularly good at this.  In fact, I would say he is the master of it.  But here is the scary thought.  Mark probably wouldn’t have posted that photo on Twitter without discussing it with Benedict first.  After all, the image is of Benedict.  You see what this means?

Benedict Cumberbatch has started poking the fans with sticks as well!

My sanity won’t stand it….let alone my ovaries.

But then, do I want to be a part of a sane, staid, boring fandom that is happy with posed photos and the occasional retweet from one of the stars?

After much consideration of this (abetted by frequent viewings of the photo), I came to the conclusion that the answer is no.

I’d rather be a part of a wild, crazy fandom that ships otters and hedgehogs, obsesses on umbrellas and violins, and frequently needs to be straightjacketed for its own safety.

Now, if you will excuse me, I’ll be in my cage, looking at my photos and waiting the the stick to come sliding through the bars yet again.