5 Fandom Friday | Five Geeky Tattoos I Have Or Want

I was really excited to see this prompt on the list of upcoming posts. I love geeky tattoos, and I'm excited to see what people share, and I have geeky tattoos that I love to share.

Some of these are not exactly geeky, but I put them in order from least geeky to most.

Five (Mostly) Geeky Tattoos I Have Or Want

5 | My first tattoo

I got my first tattoo not long after Colt and I moved in together. We went out for dinner, and had a super uncomfortable time (not with each other, with the atmosphere in the restaurant). When we left, we decided to make the night better by getting tattoos. (I'm really not sure why this is where our thought processes led.)

We chose a nearby tattoo shop that got decent reviews online, and walked right in. When I told the artist I wanted a star, he pulled out a stencil, but I stopped him. When I doodle, I draw stars, so I wanted to draw this one for myself.

I tend to forget that I even have this one, so the next few I got in places that I could actually see. (Also, this photo shows me how much I really need to re-dye my hair!)

4 | My little reminders

These were my second and third tattoos. I wanted to give myself some permanent positive reinforcement. These phrases are snippets of quotes that I love, from two extraordinary women:

"Do one thing each day that scares you."—Eleanor Roosevelt

"It's never too late to be what you might have been."–George Eliot

I used a favorite font for the one on the right wrist, but the left is my mom's handwriting—yet another extraordinary woman. Sadly, I'll likely have to cover these up at some point in the future. When I got them, I didn't really think about the fact that tattoo ink spreads, nor that it spreads more when in a location that moves around a lot.

3 | My Avengers mashup

I wrote about this tattoo, which is my latest, back in October. The Avengers made a big impact on my (pop culture) life, and I wanted something to memorialize my love of the movie. It took me a while to figure out how to fit all of these iconic images/logos together into a cohesive whole, but when I finally worked this design out, I knew it was "the one."

This was my third time working with Megan at Bijou Studio here in Austin—the first two being the tattoo in No. 2—and I'm so very glad I found her! She does amazing work.

Click the image below for a larger look at the full piece.

2 | My three-quarter scifi sleeve

My three-quarter sleeve is certainly my largest and most colorful piece, and I think it's amusing that I went from a small star and tiny wrist tattoos to, well, this beast.

I actually got this piece done in two halves—what's above the elbow came two years prior to the bottom part. My idea with the top half was that I was sharing three very important parts of my nerddom from different points in my life: The U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D is from Star Trek: The Next Generation, which I watched when I was pretty young. The Millennium Falcon is from Star Wars, which I really started to love in high school. And the TARDIS is from Doctor Who, which I didn't start watching until I was in my 20s.

I soon found myself wanting to add more spaceships from other fandoms, however, and a Vincent Van Gogh quote that I'd wanted to somehow fit into a tattoo for ages. So I went back to my amazing tattoo artist and asked her to extend it. I added the Stargate, from Stargate; Firefly from Firefly and Serenity; the Normandy from Mass Effect; and Moya from Farscape. The quote reads:

"I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream."

I thought it was quite fitting for this fantastical space piece.

Click the image below for a larger look at the full piece. And apologies for the awkward photos—it's really hard to get good shots of an entire arm.

1 | Future ink

Since I started getting tattoos, I've gotten a new one or expanded an old one about every two years. I just got my latest one last year, so I still have a bit of time before the itch again needs to be scratched. And I'm not sure what I want to add to my collection next; I actually have no ideas at this moment. But I'm sure inspiration will strike soon!

Learn more about 5 Fandom Friday and check out the prompts for March.

5 Fandom Friday | Five Comfort Films

Today's 5FF prompt was actually to pick any of the previous ones that you didn't do, and wanted to. Scrolling through the list of past prompts, I immediately took a shine to this one.

I think about comfort movies in two ways:  There are some movies that I will watch when I see that they're on TV, regardless of the fact that I've seen them already—possibly a ridiculous amount of times—or that I actually own physical copies of them. They're like old friends, we just pick up where we left off the last time, and carry on like no time has passed. On the other hand, there are movies that I watch on occasion because they make me smile.

(I'm cheating a little by lumping some sequels/franchises together below. #shrug)

Five Comfort Films

5 | The Proposal

Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are two amazing actors, particularly when it comes to comedy. Sometimes, putting two big presences such as them together in one movie can backfire, but, thankfully, their crazy chemistry trumped all in this movie. It both makes me laugh and makes me swoon, which is exactly what I want from a rom-com.

4 | Any of the Underworld movies

There are currently four movies in this series, with another slated to release later this year. I remember seeing the first one in theaters, but the rest kind of came and went without much fanfare. But they're on Syfy often, and I watch them every time. I love the relationship between Selene and Michael, and the ridiculousness of the politics between vampires, werewolves and humans.

3 | The Avengers

This should come as no surprise. I will watch the crap out of this movie until the end of time.

2 | Lara Craft: Tomb Raider and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life

I love Angelina the Action Star, and the mix of reality and fantasy in these movies. I slightly prefer the second of the two films, if only because of the seriously sexy chemistry between Lara and Terry. But either one will do in a pinch. (Side note: My love for these movies also made me want to play the new Lara Croft video games, which are two of my faves.)

1 | National Treasure and National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Nicolas Cage + conspiracy theories and faux history (+ adorable Justin Bartha). What's not to love about these movies? Not a darn thing. I've seen both of the movies in this franchise at least 10 times each, and various parts of both that probably add up to a couple more watches. I really, really hope they make the third one they've been teasing for years now so I can have another one to add to the rotation.

Learn more about 5 Fandom Friday and check out the prompts for February.

5 Fandom Friday | Five Favorite OTPs

For those who aren't familiar with the lingo—OTP stands for "one true pairing." The phrase means your favorite couple—be them an actual couple or people you just wish would be together—from a TV show, movie, book, etc.

What's great about the abbreviation, however, is that even while it implies there can be only one, you can actually have as many OTPs as you'd like. And trust me when I say that I certainly do. (So many that I've included some honorable mentions at the end of the post.)

Five Favorite OTPs

5 | Alice and Hatter, Alice

If you've never seen the SyFy miniseries Alice—I highly recommend it. It's a spin on the traditional Alice in Wonderland tale, and features a fantastic cast of strange and wonderful characters and a story that makes you want to watch all 8 hours of the series in one sitting. But what really makes it special is the relationship between Alice and Hatter. It's one that starts out full of enemistry*, but soon evolves into something much more.

4 | Celaena and Chaol, Throne of Glass

I'm a book behind in reading Sarah J. Maas' Throne of Glass series, and I know some shakeups happen in the fourth book, but I'm totally dead-set on Celaena Sardothian** and Chaol Westfall ending up together. Their relationship starts out as a soldier/prisoner relationship, but quickly evolves into a mutual admiration, then friendship—then more. (Then more more, I hope.)

3 | Max and Liz, Roswell

Max Evans was pretty much my first pop culture crush (that counted) and the belief I had in his relationship with Liz Parker on Roswell was a full-blown OTP situation before I knew what OTPs were. I was so invested in the two of them being together that I actually still can't stand Emilie de Ravin—thanks completely to the fact that she played Tess, a character who attempted to drive Max and Liz apart.

2 | Clarke and Bellamy, The 100

I am totally head-over-heels in love with the idea of Clarke Griffin and Bellamy Blake, Princess and Rebel King of The 100, being together, regardless of the fact that it'll supposedly never happen (according to the show's creator). The two share far too many charged moments for their relationship to be purely platonic/one that co-leaders who had shared romantic feelings would have. (Thankfully, many people on the Internet agree with me, and create fanvids and fanfic to tide us all over.)

1 | Han and Leia, Star Wars

When I was younger, after watching the original Star Wars trilogy and quickly coming to adore the relationship between Han Solo and Leia Organa, I devoured the extended universe books, in which the two eventually get married and have kids. I knew, going into The Force Awakens, that things were going to be different, but I still held out hope that two would have had at least some sort of relationship between the movies. And although it wasn't exactly the happily ever after I'd wanted, it felt honest and real. Han <3 Leia, forever.

Honorable mentions: Ned and Chuck from Pushing Daisies, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy from basically any Pride & Prejudice adaptation, Rachel Watts and James Mycroft from Ellie Marney's Every series, Aeryn Sun and John Crichton from Farscape, Steve Rogers and Tony Stark from The Avengers (mostly kidding on this one) ...

Learn more about 5 Fandom Friday and check out the prompts for February.

*Enemistry = "chemistry between enemies." A.k.a. the kind of relationship that starts out completely antagonistic, but eventually the two people realize they're totally head over heels for each other. Also, pretty much my favorite kind of relationship, as proven by the choices on this list.
**I'm using this name on purpose here because spoilers.

5 Fandom Friday | Five Favorite Late To The Game TV Discoveries

Back again with another 5FF—this time to talk TV, one of my favorite things. The shows on the list below maybe aren't my favorite shows ever, but they certainly made an impact. (I thought about including Doctor Who, but figured it was sort of cheating since I'd jumped on with the Ninth Doctor, and that was, basically, a restart of the show.)

Be sure to let me know if you've watched any of these, if you have some of your own to share, or if you have any shows that you think I should check out based on this list—I'm always open to recommendations!

Five Favorite Late To The Game TV Discoveries

5 | American Horror Story

An anthology series that centers on different characters and locations, including a house with a murderous past, an insane asylum, a witch coven, a freak show, and an enigmatic hotel.

Out of curiosity—and the OCD-ish need to watch all of the seasons prior to Freak Show, regardless of the fact that they're not traditional seasons in that they don't really flow together chronologically or story-wise—I binged on the first season of American Horror Story (Murder House) in a matter of a couple of weeks. Mostly late at night, by myself, after Colt had already gone to bed. (I don't know what I was thinking.) I'm not typically a fan of this kind of horror, but I was pretty invested. And I actually really liked it, until about halfway through the season when things went from creepy to uncomfortably weird (and creepy, in a different sense). I started season 2 (Asylum), but only got about two episodes in before I needed to move on to something else. I'd definitely like to go back and watch it all at some point, mostly so I can get around to Freak Show, but it's low on the list of TBW (to-be-watched) shows.

4 | Misfits

A group of young offenders doing community service get struck by lightning during a storm, and begin to develop superpowers.

I'm not entirely sure this counts as a late to the game discovery, since I think I started watching it while it was still in early seasons (in the UK). However, I was one of the only people I knew (in the US) that watched this show, at all. I liked it so much, I "found" the episodes online and made a custom DVD set of the first two seasons.

3 | Merlin

The adventures of the legendary sorcerer as a young man.

I watched Merlin's first season as it aired, but then lost track of the show thanks to the writer's strike, the fact that it moved channels, etc. But I was persuaded by my sister-in-law to give it another go, and push past some of the more ridiculous plot lines (like the one with the alien) to get to the third season+. I'm very glad I took her advice; otherwise I would have never "met" Sir Gwaine!

2 | Supernatural

Two brothers follow their father's footsteps as "hunters" fighting evil supernatural beings of many kinds including monsters, demons, and gods that roam the earth.

Looking back, it's hard for me to believe that I didn't watch Supernatural from the start. I mean, the show is practically perfect for me: it has elements of fantasy, silliness mixed in with seriousness, and hot menfolk. I didn't jump on board the SPN train until around season 6 or 7, but I caught up in the span of a few months. Unfortunately, due to DVR issues, then time issues (then, to be totally honest, interest issues), we're about a season behind. But I've heard good things about this latest season, and definitely mean to catch up soon.

1 | Parks and Recreation

The absurd antics of an Indiana town's public officials as they pursue sundry projects to make their city a better place.

It wasn't until this past October that Colt and I started watching Parks and Rec, after the series finale had aired. We'd been told by numerous people how amazing the show was, and that we'd really like it, but just never got around to watching as it aired. I'm honestly glad about this, since we were able to binge like we'd never binged before on episodes, rather than having to wait. This is definitely one of my favorite shows, ever, and I'm excited to keep watching. (We have three more seasons to go.)

Learn more about 5 Fandom Friday and check out the prompts for January.

5 Fandom Friday | Five Areas In Which I'm Going To Challenge Myself In 2016

It's been a rough week, guys, as I'm sure you all know. But I'm taking today's 5FF post as opportunity to look ahead, rather than dwell. I've changed the prompt slightly—the official one was "5 Ways I'm Going To Take Chances In 2016"—but the gist is still the same.

Five Areas In Which I'm Going To Challenge Myself In 2016

5 | Community

The friends I've made through online communities, blogging, and writing for FYA/being a part of my local FYA Book Club are some of the most genuinely wonderful people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. I want to put forth even more effort into being a part of these various communities, and giving back to them, too.

4 | Creativity

I consider myself a creative person, and I love to DIY and craft. But I haven't really made the time recently to play, and my list of "someday" projects (and my Pinterest ideas boards) just keeps getting bigger. I received a hand lettering book for Christmas, and a chalk lettering book for my birthday, so I have a place to start.

3 | Health

Real talk: I'm comfortable in my own skin ... until I see myself in a mirror or in a photograph. But I hate working out. I strongly believe that people can be fit and beautiful at any size, but I'm currently not as fit or healthy as I could be. I want to push myself to find some sort of exercise that I enjoy, eat better, sleep better, but worry less about the number on the scale or on a clothes tag.

2 | Love

I want to talk more about this one in-depth in a separate blog post (love is my word for 2016), but basically: I want to love more, and love better. I want to show the important people in my life just how much they mean to me, from my friends and family to my husband. But I also want to make an effort to better love myself, as I'm the absolute worst at self-love.

1 | Time-Management

This is something I've struggled with my entire life, and my issues with time-management are compounded by the fact that I'm both a procrastinator and tend to take on numerous projects at once. I want—nay, need—to make an effort to better balance all parts of my life. I put this at number one on this list, because it's the biggest hindrance to all of the other equally important areas I want to work on.

Learn more about 5 Fandom Friday and check out the prompts for January.

5 Fandom Friday | Five Fandoms I'm Thankful For

It's back! I haven't participated in 5FF since September (whoops!), but I couldn't pass this prompt up. I am all about my fandoms, guys. And there are so many more that I could have included in this list, but I'm nothing if not a sticker for the "rules."

Five Fandoms I'm Thankful For

5 | Doctor Who

Although seven different fandoms are represented in my sci-fi tattoo, none of the ships has caused as many comments as the TARDIS. Perhaps it's the placement, but I like to think that it's because Doctor Who fans are some of the nicest, most open fans out there. Even when I disagree with people about the best Doctor (Ten) or the worst companion (Clara), I've never had a conversation with a fellow Whovian that felt like the other person was completely dismissing what I had to say.

4 | The 100

When I get obsessed with something, I get really obsessed. Like stalking Tumblr, watching fanvids, reading fanfic, writing fanfic, obsessed. It's a fact of my personality that I've come to terms with, and something about me that my friends and family recognize and tolerate. (And maybe even love a little?) Most recently, this happened with The 100, post-season two finale. I've talked about this before, but I feel like this little show that could is amazing and not enough people know that. So the the fact that others got as much into it as I did made me feel less alone in those beliefs. Also, I do so appreciate enablers.

3 | Marvel Cinematic Universe

It's pretty obvious that I'm a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe—ahem—but this is a fandom through which I've made some great friends both online and off, and it's one that I can get excited about so easily. It's nice to be able to get silly over something you love even when you don't love everything about it, especially when you're in your early 30s (like I am) and have to act like an adult most of the time.

5 | YA Literature/Pop Culture

Speaking of not acting like an adult ... having YA lit/pop culture on this list is stretching the prompt a little, since it encompasses books, movies, TV shows, etc., but it's another fandom that I have met so many amazing people through. I love being able to read YA books and discuss them, quite intelligently, with my book club friends. I love being able to write about YA TV shows for Forever Young Adult and have people from all over the world want to chat about them with me. I love making connections with people of all ages at the opening nights of YA movie adaptations. There's nothing better than feeling like you've found "your people," and the YA-loving crowd are definitely mine. Related:

1 | Twilight

As much as I have to roll my eyes at how ridiculous my involvement in this fandom got—and it got really ridiculous, y'all—I am super thankful for the doors said involvement opened. I met some amazing friends through Twilight, and reading the book rekindled my love of the YA genre, which led to meeting more friends (see No. 4), and so many unexpected opportunities. Although I'm not as much into these books (or the terrible movies, haha) any longer, the franchise will always have a special place in my heart.

Learn more about 5 Fandom Friday and check out the prompts for November.

5 Fandom Friday | Five Favorite Things About Autumn

Autumn/fall is my favorite season of the year. Sadly, because I live in Texas, I don't really get to experience much of what I love about the season. But having lived in Oregon and the Northeast, I have plenty of great memories about the things I've listed below.

Five Favorite Things About Autumn

5 | Apples

Although pumpkin spice is the reigning monarch of fall scents/tastes, I prefer apples—apple cider, apple cinnamon, caramel apple. There's an area of northern California called Apple Hill, which is populated by amazing apple orchards. They have a big celebration each autumn that revolves around (you guessed it) apples, and we went frequently when I was growing up.

4 | Back to school

I am a huge nerd (as if you hadn't already picked up on that), and I absolutely loved going back to school each year. Back to school meant new clothes, new school supplies—which I totally still buy, regardless of the fact that I've been out of school for a long while—and new things to learn.

3 | Changing leaves

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I thought I knew what people were talking about when they gushed over the changing of the leaves. Boy, was I wrong. And it wasn't until I was in college at UMass Amherst that I realized the true glory of the trees in autumn.

2 | New and returning TV

I love TV. And I watch far too much of it. But I keep adding new shows to my list anyway. I'm very much looking forward to both my returning favorites and (some of) the new shows premiering this season.

1 | Cooler weather

I much prefer being cold to being hot. I love layers, and sweaters, boots, and scarves are a few of my most favorite things. Like I lamented about above, living in Texas makes it hard to really experience fall weather, but eventually it will get a little cooler and, even if it doesn't, I'll just have to pretend.

Learn more about 5 Fandom Friday and check out the prompts for September.