As a young nerd I had crushes on pretty girls who were always a few rungs above me on the social ladder. Unfortunately I didn’t have a lawn mowing business and I wasn’t able to pull a Patrick Dempsey and go all Can’t Buy Me Love.
I wasn’t without hope, though. I had crushes on fictional characters; my nerdy heart had nerdy objects for its affections. These weren’t like David and Bathsheba crushes, they were more innocent like Isaac and Rachel crushes.
Here are a few of my nerd crushes.
Jean Grey
Jean Grey was always my favorite X-Woman. In my nerdy tribe we each picked our favorite X-Woman and were committed to her forever. We never performed a ceremony between us and their trading cards but we might as well have – we were very serious. I liked Jean Grey because she always chose Cyclops over Wolverine. I was definitely more Cyclops than Wolverine, all straight-laced and committed to the rules. In my young mind Wolverine was like the jocks, all loose and fancy-free. All the real girls on whom I had crushes went for the jocks like Wolverine, but Jean Grey went for guys like Cyclops and me. I could have also liked Jean Grey because she dies and comes back to life much like my favorite Lord and Savior.
Jadzia Dax
I actually had the above poster hanging in my room when I was younger. My crush on Jadzia Dax really sprung from necessity more than anything. I had been watching Star Trek: The Next Generation for three years before Star Trek: Deep Space Nine premiered. There were no suitable crushes on The Next Generation: Counselor Troi was annoying and Dr. Crusher was a mom. When Dax first walked on screen in Deep Space Nine I was like Cupid laying eyes on Psyche. Finally there was a woman in the Star Trek universe who could be the object of my nerdy affections. I slowly stopped watching Deep Space Nine as I got older but I never forgot my first Star Trek love, even when she (spoiler alert) married Worf and died at the end of season six.
Mary Poppins
Whenever I tell people that I had a crush on Mary Poppins they say, “Oh yes, Julie Andrews is lovely.” I am then forced to correct them and say that I don’t have a crush on Julie Andrews; I have a crush on Mary Poppins. To me, Julie Andrews will always be the nun with the little boy’s haircut from The Sound of Music. Mary Poppins, on the other hand, is something quite different – something quite remarkable. I would watch Mary Poppins on TV every year and dream about what it would be like if the wind changed direction and she blew into my life. To this day I still have a crush on Mary Poppins. It’s hard to move on from someone when she’s practically perfect in every way.
I hope most people have had crushes on fictional characters. If they haven’t, then this post might raise a lot of eyebrows and lead to my being diagnosed with some strange condition. It never hurts to have a crush or two; it’s definitely a part of growing up. Hopefully at some point, though, those crushes fall upon real people which lead to actual relationships.
What were your fictional character crushes?
(Not Fictional But my celeb crushes haha) Zooey Deschanel, Rashida Jones, Rachel McAdams, Avril Lavigne, Taylor Swift
I’m sorry, I think you mean Emily Deschanel, she’s the pretty one.
Just to start with, Ambassador Delenn of B5 -she can go through a space battle without disturbing her gloriously proper Minbari robes one bit.
Especially when she got some hair to cover up that dome of hers.
Nah, she’s prettier with the hair.
Oh, scuse me, that’s what you said.
I thought Troi was pretty hot. She had really bouncy hair and nice curves too.