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Sunday, November 16, 2014

The Scary Place: The Art of Binging and Total Fictional Obsession




Guys. I have officially gone to the scary place.

So a couple of days ago, I was trying to find something to watch on Netflix while I baked a pie, because that's the kind of action-packed lifestyle I lead. Netflix told me that the TV show The 100, based on the book by Kass Morgan which I read and was exceptionally "meh" on, was very popular. And because I am very open to persuasion, I decided to stream a few episodes while I pied.

Fast forward to 4 am the next morning, when I'm still watching.

http://38.media.tumblr.com/2bd0e918619550698dca629b2f2ce0e6/tumblr_n7v3lcrTsq1ttxj6go2_250.gif
Why yes Bellamy thank you for asking you wonderful thing you

This TV show TOOK OVER MY LIFE THIS WEEKEND. I wish I could say I was exaggerating, but... this TV show took over my life. (Seriously. Watch it. Give it a couple episodes and then just WATCHWATCHWATCHWATCH AND SHIP AND SHIP AND WATCH SOME MORE. It has really great writing, complex characters, a SHIP OF LIFE, BLOODY AWESOME female characters and relationships, and Bellamy bloody Blake). But I got to this point in maybe episode 3 or 4 where I just couldn't stop. I'd reach the end of the episode, and I'd just let it roll into the next, because I didn't want to be away from these fictional people. I needed to know what happened to them. I was utterly and totally obsessed.

http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/37100000/Bellamy-and-Clarke-1x08-bellamy-and-clarke-the-100-37147652-245-225.gif
Me, to The 100. Also me to Bellamy.

(This, by the way, is Bellamy. My husband. Flowers spontaneously blossom when he smiles, and angels weep when he cries.


https://31.media.tumblr.com/84770df7f25b7e49574613b957289df3/tumblr_inline_ndv4b4CjR01rqi7sn.gif
http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/37000000/Bellamy-bellamy-and-clarke-the-100-37003283-245-245.gif
They need to make out really badly fyi

 He's important. Like, monumentally important to society and the future and my life, so you should watch The 100 and learn why. Okay? Okay.)

Binging isn't just a series thing, of course. I've certainly done the read-until-4am-do-not-stop-do-not-pass-go thing with a single book book, where you sit down in a chair and then you don't move until your brain is mush and the book is over and your butt has actually become the chair. But I'm talking about when you have total world blinders on and you jump into a series or books or TV show, and you STAY THERE until the real world CEASES TO EXIST and ALL YOU ARE IS THAT FICTIONAL WORLD AND YOUR BRAIN IS ON PERMANENT CAPSLOCK AND BY THE END YOU CAN ONLY EXPRESS YOURSELF IN EMOJIS AND !!!! AND ??? AND THE REALLY WEIRD THINGS ON YOUR KEYBOARD LIKE ~ ^ $ `

Okay, so I realize to the non-fandom-oriented, this might seem a little... excessive. Like, maybe you haven't spent an entire day all caps freaking out with your friends about made up hot teenagers blowin' shit up and takin' names and whatever.

But they're just made up people, Gillian!

http://38.media.tumblr.com/ee7e1af0f21aafda3cf4dcfd016e77ea/tumblr_nez38xSdq01s5qyv7o1_500.gif

That's the awesome thing about binging, though. These made up people become extremely real to you, even more so than usual while reading. Reality never intrudes on the story. It's you, and them, and their world. And Bellamy's face. His abs, if you're lucky.

Related: How to Go on a Book Binge

I LOVE binge-watching and binge-reading series. It's my favorite way to do them, which kinda sucks when you're a blogger and you're reading mostly new releases and you usually have some kind of schedule to stick to. I frequently screw my schedule over and following the reading muses. It leads to a lot of trouble later, but I love that binging-mad-obsessed-no-time-for-air feeling enough to hang the consequences. If I get hooked on the first book in a series, and that series is fully or nearly all released, then by Bellamy, I will read it. I will dive headlong into that series and bathe in it and let it soak into my skin until I'm one with the book, yo.

I have an obsessive kind of brain (obviously). When I ship something, I ship it. When I love something, I love it, to the point where I actually have physical fluttery achey symptoms whenever I think about Bellarke it. I love being fully immersed in a fictional world and not coming up to breathe until I've experienced every drop of story available to me. It means I'm always fresh on the details--no memory loss, no "What, who was he again? What, what happened to her mother tragically ten years ago?". It means I get the whole roller coaster experience in one go, just like the characters.

I guess the only downside are the side effects, but I happen to love them. You get immersed in this world for so long that when you try to come out of it, you go into a little bit of shock. Like, you're woozy and disoriented and hungover. You feel strangely lost, and drunk, and jetlagged. You are abruptly without purpose, because your whole life was just turning pages or clicking "YES NEXT EPISODE NETFLIX OF COURSE I'M STILL HERE STOP JUDGING ME".

http://24.media.tumblr.com/9677b048aef43d545b86d12d9df5aee8/tumblr_n5ygj8RKjX1rtvheio1_250.gif
I AM INDEED THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONCERN OR CONSCIENTIOUS BELLAMY

Like, once I caught up to The 100 (AIRING WEDNESDAYS AT 9 ON THE CW PLEASE WATCH IT IF IT GETS CANCELLED I WILLLLL I DON'T WANT TO FINISH THIS SENTENCE *KNOCKS ON WOOD* *KNOCKS ON TREES*), I didn't know what to DO. I needed more. I wanted more. This story and these characters are all I want right now, and it's done. TO THE TUMBLRS! I shall collect as Bellamy gifs as possible and read as many Bellarke eye contact analyses as I can find! Time to convert all my friends so I can talk about nothing but Bellarke for 24 hours straight! (Sorry not sorry, Meg.)

http://38.media.tumblr.com/8797c70715297b1b0528f63c62bb39f2/tumblr_n7v3lcrTsq1ttxj6go5_250.gif
I couldn't find a place for this gif but it had to be in here (pretend he's talking to you, Meg!)

This, by the way, is what we call the scary place, aka the inability to pull yourself OUT of the fictional world and resume rationality. This is the place where you're so far down into your ship tag on Tumblr that you can't remember ever not Tumblring and the world has a blue background DOESN'T IT?? This is finishing a show or book and then immediately rewatching or rereading all your favorite parts, because you just can't get enough, and then dissecting them with Meg to glean every drop of meaning from them. Ummmmmm... theoretically.

I really like it in the scary place. We are very passionate here. I intend to stay for a long time.

http://33.media.tumblr.com/99616837e731ea5144d65547084e8f68/tumblr_n7v3lcrTsq1ttxj6go7_250.gif
Thank you for the compliment my love it means a lot to me it really does

Book series I've binged:
Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan--this one was a real doozy
Vampire Academy--lost my damn mind
Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima --SKFAHLSKFHSD
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi--here's how I read this series in three days, novellas, included
The Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce (at age ten or so. It was the first time I remember staying up WAY past my bedtime to finish a series)

TV shows I've binged:
INCALCULABLE
NUMBER TOO HIGH TO BE MATHED
404 ERROR

Do you like to binge-read or -watch? What was the last thing you binged? DO YOU WATCH THE 100 AND CAN WE TALK ABOUT IT?

http://38.media.tumblr.com/7c575008a05eefde46dc96908494097e/tumblr_nf2x1hSaed1rldxlno2_400.gif
hmmmm yes what

16 comments:

  1. I'm all for the binge! I binge-watched The Lizzie Bennet Diaries when I was home sick from work - I started at 4:30pm and didn't go to bed until I'd finished it, which was after midnight. Nevermind that I was so sick I took a week off work and should've been in bed at 8pm. NOPE, I had to finish it! I've done it with The Big Bang Theory (5 seasons to catch up, this was a couple of years ago) and more recently NCIS: Los Angeles and Full House. I don't just limit it to the new stuff! As for books, I binge-read The Hunger Games trilogy in the days after Christmas last year, only stopping to sleep and work. No need to stop for food because you can eat while you read! I love it, and I lose my mind over it. I go to that scary place, and there's no telling how long I'll stay there for. Some call it a sickness, I call it LIFE.
    As for Bellamy, I loved him when he was known as Drew on Home and Away :D It's a show here in Australia where he got his 'big break' - he was a cutie then but he's looking pretty good now! I may have to check out The 100... I'm about due for my next binge...

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  2. He calls her princess.

    Hmm.

    Maybe I should watch this show.

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  3. YESSSSSSSSSS THE 100 IS AWESOME!!! I started watching while I was cooking too (making pizza yay) and after episode 4 I just couldn't stop, only went to sleep after I finished season one. HAVE YOU STARTED WATCHING SEASON TWO?? I'm loving the episodes (except for the part that THE SHIP isn't reunited yet *sad times*)

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    Replies
    1. Have you seen the preview pictures for the next episode yet?!?

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  4. WHAT IS REALITY WHAT IS LIFE WHAT IS NOT CAPSLOCK GILLIAN WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME I DONT CARE I LOVE IT I WONDER IF ILL EVER BE ABLE TO STOP SHOUTING OR USE PUNCTUATION EVER AGAIN

    SERIOUSLY THOUGH I CANT BELIEVE YOU WERE ABLE TO WRITE A POST IM SITTING HERE ON MY COUCH WITHOUT THE FOGGIEST IDEA OF WHAT TO DO WITH MY LIFE NOW THAT IM CAUGHT UP (LUKE: SERIOUSLY WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU ME: SHUT UP YOU KNOW NOTHING MY SHIIIIIIIIIIIP)

    NEVER BE SORRY THIS WAS THE BEST WEEKEND

    HAHAHAHAHA REMEMBER WHEN TUMBLR WENT DOWN FOR LIKE 30 SECONDS AND TUMBLR DONT DO THAT HOW DARE YOU LEAVE IN OUR TIME OF NEED

    THESE GIFS ARE KILLING ME LIKE WHUT I CANT STOP DONT STOP NEVER STOP SHIP FACE SHIP SHIP SHIP

    (GREETINGS FROM THE SCARY PLACE)

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  5. I mean, how else can you watch The 100? There is just no other way than to binge, binge, binge, and become obsessed with these characters and this show. And I just need Bellamy/Bellarke in my life. That's all I want. GILLIAN HAVE YOU STARTED THE SECOND SEASON YET? IT'S SO GOOD!!!

    PS: That was not enough Bellamy gifs.

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  6. Binge-watching TV shows is the best thing in the world. Amber persuaded me to give it a shot and I've only seen the pilot, but it looks very promising. I feel an addiction coming up.

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  7. Binge watching TV is the best way to watch TV in my opinion. I get IMMERSED and OBSESSED and I don't sleep and everything is amazing. And then the characters seem real and you start to become irrationally sad and depressed when you realize it's NOT real. That's me.. binging TV... haha. I binged 6 seasons of 24 a few years ago and it got so bad that I started being jumpy rounding corners bc OMG TERRORISTS. haha. I also binged 3 seasons of TVD and didn't sleep and shipped so hard that my friends thought i was nuts. I think my favorite binge was supernatural, my fave show ever... ANYWAY all that to say, I love binging shows. Also -- I watched the pilot of the 100 and got really annoyed at everyone. Whcih is why I decided not to watch more. Should I reconsider this??

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  8. The 100 is amazing! I ship Bellarke (Clarke and Bellamy so badly!)
    Another reason I love the show is many of the female characters are so awesome!

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  9. I CAME BACK TO REMIND YOU THAT I LOVE YOU AND THIS POST AND THAT SHOW AND THIS SHIP AND I WANT TO PRINT THESE WORDS OUT AND ROLL AROUND IN THEM AND MAKE OUT WITH THEM AND OKAY MAYBE I'M NOT READY FOR PUBLIC YET

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  10. I love the 100! I binge-watched it, too, earlier this year! I see season 2 is on Hulu Plus but, alas, *I* am not longer on Hulu Plus. No Bellamy for me. *weeps*

    I used to binge role play (Amber, the dices role-playing game based on the Amber book series by Roger Zelazny), and on Monday I'd be sitting in class taking notes IN CHARACTER. Definitely a scary thing, but also kinda delicious. It's fun in a dark way to just know that reality is malleable in that way. Just a bit. Just a smidgen. And that you can slide back into full immersion when you want to, because that's the day and age we live in. Yay!

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  11. BELLARKE! *traps the two of them into a room together until they cooperate and get kissy*

    Most of my life tends to be binge cycles. *nervous laughter* When I find something I really, truly love (books, movies, tv, games, etc.) I will binge read/watch/play/etc everything in that world until a new fandom comes to steal me away.

    Dreams @ Once Upon A Dream Books

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  12. Ugh! So I had this whole thing written out where I gushed about how you also got me to binge watch The 100 for two nights straight but I lost the comment somehow... (Comment please come back!!!) Anyways, I read your review of the book and wanted to ask you what are the major differences between the book and the tv show? From your review it seems the book is very "meh" and I am curious to see how they improved it so much from the book. Also, I gushed to you about Jane the Virgin, also on the CW, which you should try out! My life has now been consumed by the CW (part of their diabolical plan for world domination perhaps?) Their shows are just so shipalicious though!!

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  13. OMG THIS IS LITERALLY MY LIFE YES!! I BASICALLY LIVE IN A CONSTANT STATE OF FEELS AND I HAVE HAD TO TRY SOOO HARD RECENTLY TO STAY AWAY AND ACTUALLY STUDY FOR EXAMS!!!
    and I have been feels-deprived
    which is actually not a good feeling.
    I feel empty and boring actually
    but now... he he he >:D
    TIME!!!!!
    I binge read all the time! Series binge reads especially, like Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices, Percy Jackson, The Iron Fey...
    Thanks for the post! Glad to know I am not alone in all this!!
    xx

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  14. I just started watching the 100 as well! I really like it so far :)

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  15. I am a serial binge reader. I'm obsessed with binge reading series, which is why it is only for certain books (*coughs* Throne of Glass *coughs* A Court of Thorns and Roses *coughs* The Raven Cycle *coughs*) that I really do read each installment as it comes out. Binge reading, to me, is just so damn fun. You get the full effects of the world, the story, the characters - and it's the most beautiful, wonderful, magical experience if you're totally head over heels in love (which you should be because why the hell else would you be binge reading?).

    Alas, I'm not much of a binge TV show watcher. I've done it a few times, but I actually don't watch a lot of TV shows. Been sticking to my regulars, but I'm admittedly curious about The 100 - especially after this post ;)

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