Derek Shepherd, Ben Higgins, Maxon Schreave, Oliver Thredson, Augustus Waters, Tobias Eaton, Damon Salvatore, Finnick Odair. Are you having heart palpitations yet? If you are a fangirl like me, you know the tumultuous life we live. You’ve gone through the tears when your favorite character dies. You know the desperation of having to wait all summer for a new season (or if you’re in the Sherlock fandom, you have to wait a few years in between seasons). But you also know the joy of gaining new friends because you all happen to obsess over the same series of books. You feel proud when someone comes up to you and tells you how much they love your Disney princess Vans. While being a fangirl is such a wonderful part of life, we are all familiar with just how hard it can be at times too.

1. Shipping people while you people watch at the mall.

We’ve all done it. You’ve maybe seen two people standing by each other in line shyly exchanging small talk and your brain throws up the “I ship it” scorecard.

2. Discovering a series on Netflix that has a healthy five seasons out.

God bless Netflix. Without Netflix, I wouldn’t have discovered many of fandoms. The process of starting a new series is like the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.

3. You have to control your squeals in public.

It’s frowned upon for teenage girls to make unintelligent sounds over a poster of an unfairly attractive actor from your favorite tv show. Don’t ask me why, it just is.

4. When someone ships your NOTP.

You can be one of two people. 1. You could be the person who inwardly cringes but outwardly smiles and says, “Really?” when someone tells you they ship your NOTP. Or, 2. , you could be the person who glares at said NOTP shipper and sits them down and gives them a lengthy discussion of why they should not ship the NOTP.

5. Debating whether to throw the book you just finished or hug it.

There are some evil authors in the world who love to end the last book in a series with a cliffhanger. Up until the ending, you loved the book. But as soon as you read that cliffhanger, you either want to chuck the book across the room or hug it close and wonder if there will be a follow up. You better pray you get a follow up.

6. To compliment or not to compliment?

If you see someone sporting merchandise from your fandom, you are faced with the choice of complimenting them on it or silently fangirling as they walk by. Solution: casually grab their attention, point to fandom merch, throw a thumbs up, and be on your way.

7. Curling into a fetal position on the kitchen floor and grossly sobbing because of what happened in the last episode/book.

Sometimes our brains like to dig up a buried memory of what happened in season 6 episode 12 of that one show. Thankfully, it usually happens when we are in our respective homes. We gently (or not so gently) put down whatever we’re holding, lower ourselves to the floor, and curl up knees to chest.

8. You probably don’t have a love life because you are too invested in your OTP’s relationship.

Let’s face it: we devote so much of our love to unreal characters that we don’t leave enough love for ourselves. While it’s great to love someone else’s love life, it’s also great to have love life of your own.

9. You lock yourself in your room for a week to binge watch your fav show and only emerge for food.

Depending on how strong your binge watching game is, you might only need to lock yourself in for two days. If you’re new to the game, it could take you as long as two weeks. Either way, once the binging begins there is no turning back.

10. You laugh hysterically when cute songs apply to your OTP.

This normally occurs with sweet, love songs. *Cough* Ed Sheeran *Cough*. Just make sure you aren’t listening to one of those cute songs in a quiet place with people around. That would be awkward.

If being a fangirl gets to be too much to take, always remember that there will be another fangirl who understands your pain. And, if you get lucky, a fanboy who will give you a shoulder to cry on.