30 Day Geek Out Challenge – Day 30 and Recap

Last Updated on September 3, 2023 by Jenn | The Nerd Mom

Megan over at A Geeky Gal blog created this challenge for fellow geeks to share all about what makes them nerdy. You can see her completed challenge post here.

Most obsessed-over fandom?

Well, in case you couldn’t tell from Days 2, 11, 18, 22, and 24, Star Wars is a pretty big deal for me.

A Star Wars Childhood

I’ve been a Star Wars fan since I saw the original trilogy as a young kid. I’m not old enough to have seen them during their original theater release, but I did see them before the prequels were released. I loved Han, Luke, and Leia instantly, and lightsaber fights became a regular thing for my brother and I.

The prequel trilogy really made me start geeking out. I was around 12 when The Phantom Menace came out, so I was right in the target audience. I thought Jar Jar was hilarious and played the pod racing video game; these “faults” didn’t bother my kid self at all.

I had a huge crush on young Obi-Wan Kenobi and wrote some of my earliest fanfiction about him. I dreamed of having Jedi powers and fighting Sith.

And despite the fact that the dialogue is a bit cringey at times, I still think the scenes depicting Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side are some of the most heartbreaking moments in cinema history.

After the prequel hype died down, I didn’t revisit the saga too often, but it remained important to me.

With the announcement of the sequel trilogy, my fanhood was reinvigorated.

Star Wars Fangirl

I went into The Force Awakens skeptical about Disney’s ability to deliver. To say I was pleasantly surprised was an understatement. As much as I adored the other movies, I walked out of the theater in awe. This was somehow even better than the prequels or the originals. I was ready to full-on fangirl.

The female heroine was so cool, the villain was complex, and there was a good mix of new and old. A more modern feeling to the storytelling, with plenty of throwback nostalgia.

I was an early Reylo. The chemistry between Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley as Kylo Ren and Rey was intoxicating to me. I couldn’t wait to see how they ended up together. Cue the fanfiction again.

The Last Jedi wasn’t what I expected and I left my first viewing with mixed feelings. I immediately loved many things, but wasn’t sure how I felt about the major plot twists.

But then I did what a lot of Star Wars fans weren’t able to do: I let go of my fan theories that didn’t come to fruition and embraced my subverted expectations. The more I engaged with other fans, the more I “got” it. It became my favorite Star Wars movie of all time. It still is.

If there was anything that The Last Jedi didn’t flesh out, I had full faith that Episode IX would clear everything up. After all, Disney had delivered two great movies. How could IX not be good?

I defended the trilogy from haters who thought Disney was ruining Star Wars. I defended The Last Jedi from those who thought it subverted expectations too much. I defended Reylo from both those who didn’t think it existed and from those who thought it was toxic.

As the excitement for The Rise of Skywalker grew, my fangirling reached it’s peak. I bought the merch. I read the fan theories and came up with my own.

There was a lot of division in the fandom over The Last Jedi, and I honestly thought The Rise of Skywalker could fix it. At the very least, I thought it could shut out the toxic fanboys and Fandom Menace for good. They don’t like Star Wars anymore? Well, good riddance. The rest of us will enjoy this fresh take and new direction.

Perhaps I let my expectations get to high. Maybe I obsessed over this fandom a little too much.

The Rise of Skywalker felt like an implosion to me.

A Fallen Fandom

It actually started a few weeks before the movie was released. I read some leaks online that I thought surely must be fake. They were so stupid, I thought they just had to be made up by some butt-hurt ex-fan. I didn’t think it was possible for the real plot to get leaked anyways.

Those leaks turned out to be the full plot of the movie. Not only had I had everything spoiled for me weeks before, but it was so bad.

The plot was inconsistent and rushed, and the big reveals were SO DUMB. You can read my full review (includes spoilers) of The Rise of Skywalker here. Suffice it to say, I disliked way more than I liked.

I was down in the dumps for a couple weeks after seeing the movie. Maybe if I had not built it up so much in my head, it wouldn’t have been such a disappointment.

But it felt like the movie undid so much of what I loved about the previous two. I found it hard to enjoy them like I did before. Knowing where the story and characters are going to end up, the journey isn’t as exciting.

Jenny Nicholson reviewed the movie on her YouTube channel and it is really well-argued. One thing she said really hit home for me: “I think the worst thing a franchise ending could do is make you feel kinda stupid and embarrassed for being excited about it in the first place.”

Well, that’s exactly how I feel, damn it.

On top of my disappointment, the movie ended up further dividing fans. Yes, it currently has an 86% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, but the negativity, bullying, and arguing online have reached a peak.

From Kelly Marie Tran’s character, Rose, being completely erased from the story to John Boyega’s New Year’s Eve tirade, everyone is up in arms about something. The whole fandom feels like an angry mess right now.

Everything has become so negative that I’ve decided to take a step back from the fandom for a while.

I’m tired of feeling like I have to defend the things I love about the movies from the type of people who hate it so much they are willing to harass others with death threats. I’ve never been the target of bullying personally, but I’ve seen instances where people who share my views were bullied.

Star Wars will always be my most obsessed-over fandom. But after four years of obsession followed by a plummet into disillusionment, I think my inner fan-girl needs a break.

Here’s to my other beloved fandoms in 2020!

Recap

I finally made it to the end of the challenge!

Since I started the challenge, our family packed up and moved to a new state for my husband’s work. Between packing, unpacking, moving, house hunting, and adjusting to new life in a new state with two little ones, I had a LOT of interruptions to the challenge.

But I am finally on Day 30!

For your reading convenience, here are all of the posts in the challenge:

Day 1 – What was your first fandom?
Day 2 – What is your most recent fandom?
Days 3 and 4 – What was your favorite/worst convention experience?
Day 5 – What is the geekiest thing you’ve ever done?
Day 6 – What real life geek inspires you?
Day 7 – What fandom do you love that you didn’t think you would?
Day 8 – What geeky hobby do you have?
Day 9 – Favorite anime (or anime series)?
Day 10 – Favorite movie (or movie series)?
Day 11 – Favorite manga or comic book series?
Day 12 – Favorite video game (or video game series)?
Day 13 – Favorite book series?
Day 14 – What super power would you like to have?
Day 15 – What Hogwarts house are you in?
Day 16 – What crossover would you like to see?
Day 17 – Favorite video game soundtrack?
Day 18 – What character would you like to meet in real life?
Day 19 – What series is underrated?
Day 20 – What series would you recommend to anyone?
Day 21 – How did fandoms influence you and your life?
Day 22 – Favorite fandom quote?
Day 23 – Something you love about the geek community?
Day 24 – Something you want to improve about the geek community?
Day 25 – Favorite geeky YouTuber?
Day 26 – Favorite Disney movie?
Day 27 – Favorite superpower?
Day 28 – Favorite movie soundtrack?
Day 29 – You’re an anime/cartoon character now? What outfit are you always wearing?
Day 30 – Most obsessed-over fandom?

I hope you enjoyed the 30 Day Geek Out Challenge! If you would like to participate yourself, let me know, so I can follow your posts!