#fandom wanderers

Originally written for the (then) upcoming 40th anniversary of the first book, here is a collection of articles that look over every incarnation of The Worst Witch that had been aired to the current date. Interesting if only for the look back at how Mildred Hubble has developed on our screens.

Yeah, we’ve got a bit of a theme going with the tips the past couple of weeks. Blame it being convention season, Wanderers, there’s a lot of things that can be needed to be reminded of. Also as for the title of this thing…. I like Phantom of the Opera, and it had a song that fit. Now, as I probably don’t need to remind you, we’ve had an entire article on the nature of cosplay before so you may be wondering why we’re doing tips on the very same subject. Well, cosplay can be a tricky thing, especially if its your first time. Even seasoned pros can find themselves stuck at the last moment and running around like a headless chicken. … Has anyone actually seen that, by the way? Always been curious as to how the saying started. Not the point, I’m allowing myself to get distracted again. I always do that. I see something shiny and that’s me entertained for ten minutes. But, no, yes, today we are looking at tips for cosplayers. Some will be obvious, of course, some will be there to remind people to calm down, and some will just be… there. On with the show!

This, of course, is tremendously encouraging, and it’s very flattering to think that someone can’t contain their excitement at the prospect of another creation of yours. You might create more, and get similarly enthusiastic replies. Perhaps you branch out into another fandom, or another medium. Now you write fanfiction for both Supernatural and The Avengers, or draw and make videos about Young Dracula. Perhaps you made a one-off post about how Hermione Granger was a strong female character and were swamped with requests to write meta about every girl in the Harry Potter series – “…and then can you do The Hunger Games next please?”. It’s still good, and encouraging, and immensely flattering… but you’re beginning to wonder how on earth you’re going to find time to do all that. After all, you’ve also got three pages of quadratic equations and the answer to world hunger to sort out by next Thursday, and the cat needs a bath…

Wanderers, we were all new to fandom once. Perhaps some of you still are (in which case, welcome!), perhaps some of you can hardly remember not being involved in at least one fandom, even if it wasn’t one you’re in now. But no matter how long you’ve been involved in fandom or at what level, the chances are you’ve needed help or advice at some point. No, this isn’t just a lengthly plug for our very own FW Tips – sometimes, after all, the one-to-one approach is the only way to go. So where do you find that support?

Graceland stars Aaron Tveit (whose credits include the recent Les Miserables film and too many Broadway shows to mention, given that we don’t have all week) as Mike Warren, a newly-graduated agent with the FBI. Mike is sent off to the glamorous beachfront property in Southern California that lends the show its name, ostensibly to train under the legendary Paul Briggs (Daniel Sunjata) – but not all is as it seems, and Mike may have more to learn than he thinks.

“Quick!” cried the Editor. “I need another review! Three days ago!” “Bother.” I sighed. “I haven’t watched or read anything new recently.” So, with the air of scraping the bottom of the barrel, I dived (dove?) into my DVD pile and managed to extract a slightly worn copy of Robin Hood.

So this next installment is the final – apart from the new book – piece of The Worst Witch tapest… No, second thoughts I don’t like that word. Final piece of the picture, we’ll say instead. I am, of course, talking about The New Worst Witch and if you just groaned on hearing that, I can’t say I blame you. Of course, if you cheered on hearing it, then well done to you, childhood nostalgia winning out!

In a world that’s always changing, though, it’s sometimes nice to have something solid and unchanging to cling to. For me – and probably others – that’s fandom, at the moment. The thing about being a fan of something is that while it may evolve through various stages – see our Lifecycle of a Fandom series – your favourite series, film or book is likely to continue to exist, and even if you’re a fan of something that does disappear one day, your fandom is unlikely to do the same thing.