Former American President, Woodrow T. Wilson, once said that: “Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together.” This quote does well in successfully capturing and highlighting the importance of friendship as a concept. which exists both in reality and in the fictional worlds which are created.

Within the world of fiction, the theme of friendship is perhaps just as crucial as the plot of the story is in the telling of the tales which we are told. The characters who we are introduced to in the stories we read, face not only the trials of the journey ahead but the joys and difficulties that come with interacting with other characters who they are introduced to, as well as the impact which these interactions have upon the evolution of their characters in turn.

Just as they do in reality, friendships in fiction spark and evolve in a variety of ways and this makes for an intriguing sight to bear witness to whether it’s on page or on screen. Some friendships are already or easily established between characters, whilst others take some time for the bond between the characters to form. No matter how the friendship came about, the trials which the friends face over the course of their journey acts not only as an obstacle to the individual(s), but to the friendships made between them. These challenges which the friends face are much like the challenges faced by friends in real life in that they – no matter how fantastical they are – help to either strengthen the bonds between them or, unfortunately, succeed in driving or tearing them apart… And so, from the undying loyalty shown by Samwise Gamgee to Frodo Baggins in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series to the deterioration of the friendship between Guinevere and Morgana in the BBC TV show Merlin, this exploration of a few popular fictional friendships sets to highlight just why they are in fact the most memorable.

Much like Frodo and Sam’s friendship, another dynamic duo which exists in fiction is none other than Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski from MTV’s Teen Wolf, these two partners-in-crime are inseparable for the most part of the six seasons of the show.

Throughout the show, Scott and Stiles experience various trials and tribulations which lead to disputes of varied consequences. However, these two may not be brothers in blood but they have a connection that is impossible to miss throughout the show as they continuously resolve their differences and manage to come together again to prove that the power which the bond of friendship holds is strong enough to overcome the deadliest of obstacles.

Indeed one of the most memorable friendships from fiction known for their undying loyalty to one another during times of hardship is the friendship which exists between three iconic characters: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley.

Known as the ‘Golden Trio’, what makes this friendship work – oddly enough – is not the similarities between these three friends, but the differences. They balance one another perfectly and are the ‘ultimate friendship goals’ both for readers of the series and even the characters, as shown in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child when Draco Malfoy, Harry’s very own school nemesis, recalls how he felt about the trio’s friendship:

Of course, when it comes to friendship, if you think three is a crowd then what about the groups who share that friendly bond in fiction? Whilst it is often portrayed on page and screen, one would think that the clash of so many personalities coming together to form a group of friends may make the strength of the bond between them weaker… how wrong that belief would be.

Take for example the Losers Club – the given name which this band of misfits adopted as their own in Stephen King’s novel IT.

If you’ve read Stephen King’s IT then you’ll know that whilst it is a horror novel telling the events surrounding the killer supernatural being known as IT, it is also a tale of friendship and strength, which bonds the characters and allows for them to overcome the most deadly of adversaries. The seven of them create a force to be reckoned with and even in adulthood, it is their friendship which shines through most of all as they return to their childhood town to battle their foe once more together.

And it’s not just the Losers Club who recognise the power which their friendship holds…

From the duo friendship of Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes to the unbreakable bonds formed between each of the Avengers’, Marvel is a fandom which explores a variety of friendships in many forms! The comic books and movies alike explore the individual characters flaws and strengths and how this in turn reflects on their interaction with those around them – particularly how friendships are formed, challenged, and even broken… One thing that Marvel does well at is also showing how those broken friendships can also be mended.

After all, friendships are no fragile thing and more often than not the people who come into the lives of the characters we read about in books and watch on screen often do for a reason and are most likely there to stay, much like the friendships formed in our reality.

Do you have a favourite fictional friendship? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Friendship In Fiction appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Young Merlin is far from ordinary. Possessing the power of magic, Merlin longs for someone to teach him how to hone his skills and give him purpose. Arriving in Camelot, the young Sorcerer learns that his destiny is much greater than he could have perceived: to protect the Prince, Arthur Pendragon, so that he can – one day – become the King of Camelot and unite the lands. However, Merlin must be careful as both friend and foe alike pose threat and he must protect Arthur whilst also hiding the fact that he has magic – for in Camelot magic is outlawed and being exposed could just mean that Merlin is put to death…

If, after reading that, you are still uncertain as to whether or not you should put aside some of your time and dedicate it to watching (or rewatching) the show, then here are a few reasons as to why that is exactly what you should do!

Complete Series

Having aired from 2008-2012, Merlin is a completed series, which can be watched at the viewer’s own leisure. No need to suffer through hiatus, it is the perfect opportunity for you to binge-watch the entire show at the click of a button! What’s even better is that this fantasy-adventure series is packed with five epic seasons filled with magical action which all the family can enjoy.

Story Arc

One aspect of the show which makes it exciting to watch is that the action is spread evenly throughout each of the five seasons, meaning that there is no season which feels less important than the others. Each season, whilst action packed, is not too overwhelming in terms of the events which occur and each one—in fact each episode—will undoubtedly leave the viewer craving more.

Theme

Now, much like the issue some have with the Harry Potter series, some of you may be thinking that you won’t find Merlin enjoyable because what with all that magic and those mythical creatures… it’s just ‘completely unrealistic’ and a waste of time, right? Wrong! The story features some very significant and prominent themes which do in fact feature in the reality of our everyday lives. From friendship to betrayal, the exploration of life and death, Merlin is a show which takes these concepts and holds the potential to teach the viewers about them within a fictional setting.

Why not allow your children to understand the values of friendship by watching the bond between Merlin and Arthur grow throughout the course of the show? Allow Morgana to show you what it means to be independent and brave enough to stand up for yourself and what you believe in. More importantly, allow the show to assist you in believing that it is always okay to be your true self!

Relationships

This alone is a reason in itself as to why you should watch Merlin. If not for the individual characters and their own storylines and impressive development, the way in which they interact with the other characters made for compelling watch. From the humour-filled bromance between Arthur and Merlin, the strange bond between Morgana and Mordred, and the tragic love story of Arthur, Lancelot, and Guinevere, the relationships of the characters allows for the fans to dive into the shipping realm of the fandom just as any other good drama does. These relationships, with the additional bonus of many others, not only proves to be entertaining drama, but in fact goes to show how people can enter our lives for a mere moment yet hold influence over us in a much greater way and how some relationships are just meant to be.

To conclude, those are only a few of the reasons in existence as to why you should watch Merlin. So, what are you waiting for? Go forth and enjoy the five season series filled with warlocks, witches, all kinds of magical creatures, knights in shining armour, and a story which “will live long in the hearts of men”.

Have you watched Merlin? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Reasons To Watch The ‘Merlin’ TV Series appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

What is a “fandom”? Of course, if you’re interested in discovering the definition then you could just use Google to search for and find your answer. Google defines the word fandom as “the state or condition of being a fan of someone or something” and “the fans of a particular person, team, fictional series, etc. regarded collectively as a community or subculture”. In regard to this examination of fandoms within the society of us readers, TV show lovers, and movie fanatics, neither definition is wrong.

However, neither definition succeeds in doing anything beyond scratching the surface as to what fandoms truly are. The term ‘community’ used in the definition provided by Google is fitting yet doesn’t quite express the strength and power to which being a part of a fandom holds. ‘Community’ portrays this idealistic, yet untrue, image of a large collection of individuals living and expressing their mutual love for said thing in harmony. However, there are times in which being a part of a fandom, or indeed multiple fandoms, is anything but harmonious… Therefore, it could be more fitting to use a different term to describe what fandoms are: fandoms are families. Those a part of a fandom can most likely agree to this use of terminology.

Fandoms are filled with people worldwide who come together to participate in the discussion of their favourite TV shows, books, movies, etc. Those individuals participate in a wide variety of activities which play a part in the ‘fandom life’ such as fanfiction writing, drawing fanart, and roleplaying etc.

There are many fandoms which exist today, some more popular than others and each with their own delights and disasters. Examples of the more popular fandoms today are as follows:

• Potterheads – fans of the Harry Potter book/movie series
• Whovians – Doctor Who fanatics
• Thronies – Game of Thrones fans
• Sherlockians – Sherlock fans, mostly those who are fans of the BBC TV series although it does extend to those who are fans solely of the movie adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes tales starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law
• Merlinians – Fans of the beloved show Merlin which featured also on the BBC channel

Other fandoms which exist revolve around a mixture of TV shows, movies, books and even just individual actors, such as Shadowhunters, Supernatural, Teen Wolf, The Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Lord of the Rings, Twilight and more…

But whilst all these fandom ‘families’ may dwell within their own fictional worlds, sometimes two separate fandoms, or even three, may co-join with one another. This occurrence is known as a crossover and is often seen in fanfiction or even encountered during roleplaying, examples of this include:

• PotterLock – In which the Sherlock characters are enrolled or have been at Hogwarts much like the characters of Harry Potter themselves.
• SuperWhoLock – A mix of Supernatural, Doctor Who, and Sherlock characters merged together to create an even wider universe for fanfiction writing and roleplaying prompts.

The fandoms mentioned and the others which exist are able to merge so easily now with the help that the Internet provides and sites like Twitter, Tumblr, ArchiveOfOurOwn, Fanfiction.net, and those used for roleplaying help to further expand the material surrounding a fandom by use of the fans’ imagination. One of the advantages which the Internet has with providing fans with the opportunity to interact with one another and create even their own material is that it allows—more often than not—for fans to keep the show alive even after it is over. For example, the BBC TV Show Merlin which ended in 2014 and MTV’s Teen Wolf has long been kept alive with the help of fans sharing their own AU fan fictions and fan art via sites such as Tumblr and even groups which can be found on Facebook. However, it’s not just the internet which allows for fans to interact with each other and even with their favourite actors and authors alike, but events held like Comic-Con allow for fans to gather, cosplay (dress up as their favourite characters), and meet those whom they admire!

Of course, as stated earlier in this article, not everything about being a part of a fandom is smiles, laughter, and fans coming together without complaint or disagreement… Fandoms are like families, after all, and families have their rocky patches. A big issue with the fandom life is the controversy which comes with being an individual fan in a sea of them, each with their own beliefs surrounding the material which canon provides. One of the biggest controversies within a fandom comes with the idea of shipping.

More often than not, fans are happy with the final relationships which come out of the works produced by their beloved authors and directors. However, this isn’t always the case and even if it is, where is the fun in refusing to explore the various outcomes of a product. Various ships which exist out with canon are:

Dramione – Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series
Jalec – Jace Herondale and Alec Lightwood from The Mortal Instruments series
Newtmas – Newt and Thomas from The Maze Runner series
Sterek – Stiles Stilinski and Derek Hale from the Teen Wolf series
Cherik – Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr from the X-Men series
JohnLock – John Watson and Sherlock Holmes from the Sherlock series
Merthur – Merlin and Arthur Pendragon from the Merlin series

All these ships allow for individual fans to explore the “what if’s” of their favourite movies, TV shows, and romance storylines. However, not everyone is a fan of a particular ship or in agreement of two characters being anything more than what they are in canon or even just friends and so the controversy starts. Shipping is not the only thing within a fandom which causes controversy either, more often than not fans headbutt each other when it comes to the many theories which each of them create; theories such as “How Did Sherlock Holmes survive? Is Jim Moriarty truly dead? Is the new Doctor being a woman a good thing? What if Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter had become friends in Year 1? What if Arthur had known about Merlin’s magic all along?” All of these theories can be found somewhere online with a great number of people arguing their own case, agreeing, disagreeing, and providing evidence to back up their points, the entire experience of joining in or even just observing is highly intriguing.

As stated, all these fan interactions allow for a fandom to remain alive through the fans themselves but just how far are fans willing to go to save what they love? One fandom, in particular, is the perfect example to use when exploring this question.

With the cancellation of the Shadowhunters series being announced on June 5th 2018, the fans of the beloved show were sent into a frenzy and it’s clear that Freeform picked the wrong fandom to mess with… The below image provides merely a few stories as to what lengths the fans have gone to in their attempts to save the show from creating the trending tweets #saveshadowhunters, #savetheshadowworld and sharing multiple images throughout the internet to hiring a plane to fly over the Netflix HQ carrying the banner #saveshadowhunters and more!

With campaigns being held over the social media and petitions going around via Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, countless fans doing their part in helping to save the shadow world which we have come to love from the moment it hit our screens, there is no doubt that proof exists as to how important fandoms can be to us fangirl and fanboys. And whilst the fate of the show can not yet be determined, it’s clear that the dedication shown by fans allow for everyone to see how much of a family the fans truly are. They may be at war with one another at times regarding various aspects of the show, but mess with the show itself and the fans will stand together to fight side by side to save what has allowed for them to create such a family in the first place.

If that’s not family, then what is?

What fandoms do you belong to? Tell us in the comments below!

The post The Family We Call Fandoms appeared first on The Nerd Daily.