Is it just me or do fandoms get stupid when ...

[Ascended Mermaid]

Not to worry! I'm pretty sure we're all well-prepared enough to handle whatever comes our way. We won't need the law offices of Joe Bornstein or Michael Gopin to tell them "We mean business!". (Robert Vaughn advertisements, anyone? There's got to be at least 50 of them -- one for every state! Who's your law office?)

[schlagwerk]

Jun 18, 2010 1:17:14 GMT -5 Incog Neato said:

So now that Ys SEVEN is coming out, do you think we'll get the influx of those fans we so fear? XD

l.ol, no. I figure Ys will remain pretty obscure

[Lunar]

Jun 18, 2010 1:35:35 GMT -5 Wyrdwad said:

Jun 18, 2010 1:17:14 GMT -5 Incog Neato said:

So now that Ys SEVEN is coming out, do you think we'll get the influx of those fans we so fear? XD

On this board, you mean? ... It's possible, yeah, but I think we'll frighten off the riffraff pretty nicely. ;)

Also, I can only hope we get some good Ys Seven cosplayers! I mean, a Mishera or Aisha cosplayer could potentially be quite the vixen. ;)

-Tom

I cosplayed Adol last year at AWA

But don't hit on me you silly boys ;)

[AllenSmithee]

Between me and Mutagene, we've got enough stupid kids.

No offense Muta, but you gotta admit, we're a handful (or two).

This was an interesting thread to read, almost like a psychic. So much stuff came true, that we'd doubted... Ys Seven, Sora no Kiseki... its weird.

__

I do, yes, tend to go for lesser known stuff, but that's simply because I like a lot of it better. But I listen to Metallica, and Rush, and Dream Theater and even Lady Gaga and Ke$ha, so it isn't like I don't go into better known territory.

Sometimes, I will admit, I will try and stay away from something until after all the hype dies down: Like Scott Pilgrim. For some reason, I wanted to read it even before I knew about a movie, but now that a movie is coming out, everyone will be and I don't know if I want to be part of that with them. For one thing, there are plenty of references they might not get, and it also will sort of justify that sorta "half-geek" thing that the media is saying is cool.

"Yeah, I'm hip, I played Mario and I have a Tri-Force on my shirt" but really he's just a guy without much cred. And he can enjoy that (or not, he might be a poseur, who knows) and people can like that, but you know, you've got me and I'm like "Yeah, I've got good friends, but I don't generally flaunt my geekiness. I've got a few posters in my room?"

I mean, I'd love to get some shirts with video game branding; certainly I would. But there's a certain amount of room between being cool about it, which, yes, I want to be, and being a weird loser (in the eyes of most). And yes, I want to be "cool". I like my friends, I like the people that I hang out with, and there is only a certain amount of room that I can be a geek.

And I'm not lying to myself, I am also interested in non-geeky stuff, and if I talk about anything I'm still saying what I think about this obscure that or that obscure this, sure.

Someday, I'd like to have my own style. You know? Like, I want to make my own t-shirts, really be myself. And I actually mean it, not just "myself" as in I buy stuff from a store to seem different, I want to achieve a level of self-awareness. I want to know my body, become fit, know my tastes, know my mind, know my friends, and from there I can know other people.

An expert in Smithee-ism if you will.

And in doing that, I'd reveal to people who I am. Beyond the ADHD, and beyond the hidden geekiness.

And that's a good type of fandom I think. The fandom of enjoying what you like, without being overbearing. The thing with these people, is that a lot of them just "find each other" and don't work hard to fit in with them. For me, I work hard to fit in and then I reveal who I am. And I've got damned good friends.

But they find each other and don't need to impress one another, and maybe it'd be less stressful at times, but there's nothing stopping them from appearing obscene to others...

So they forget that the respect of others is important, and although they might be happy, they're not exactly - - I don't really know the word. I'd use normal, but that's a debate.

I don't know what they are, but it is certainly bothersome.


OH and another thing: Sometimes a fandom will reveal what you dislike about something. I like Haruhi until I got into what really fell into my tastes, if that makes sense. Haruhi is enjoyable, but I feel like it just isn't my sort of thing and I realized that from talking to people about it and thinking about it. The only "new anime" that I really like are Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and Clannad... Maybe there's other stuff, we'll see.

The trouble with me is that sometimes I get too judgmental in defense of my own feelings. I got called a weeaboo at school today and instead of trying to correct the guy who said so (because he really wouldn't understand the difference between a fan of animation, that's me, and a weeaboo, that being the people I tend to dislike) and I get mad at those people. Some of them are unbearable at my school, but others are even cool guys. So what's the problem? I don't like being grouped with them because I am NOT like them. I don't like being called something I'm not.

Case in point, being called gay. I've got nothing against homosexuals, or people of any other sexual preferences besides straight, unless if you like animals or animal people (yeah, I dislike furries, its something that I try not to do, but it is hard to help myself; so I try to ignore it, live and let live, turning the other cheek, et cetera). So yes, I am straight. Which is exactly why I dislike being called gay, because it is something I am not. The other reason is that people shouldn't really use the word as an insult, perhaps, but that's another issue.

So yes, the guy calls me a weeaboo and assumes I only like "shit from Japan" and stuff. And, you know, I love Batman, I love Superman, I like Metalocalypse, I like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rocky movies, I don't tend to like Japanese music that isn't a soundtrack of some kind... So it is basically like, there isn't really a pattern here. I like what I like, because I like it. And if it is Japanese that's cool. And then, when it is Japanese I might find another Japanese thing from looking for info on that, and then another thing.

But I LOVE Avatar The Last Airbender, and I love Scooby Doo, and Animaniacs. And these guys just don't get it.

So I take out my rage on the weeaboos at my school, thinking of them as subhuman pieces of shit, I'll be honest the thought has crossed my mind, and yeah, that thought is terrible. They're people, they just want to enjoy what they like, just like me, and even though I shouldn't be labeled like them, we're all just people. Like, I actually thought of them as subhuman. That's disgusting... And they're not. They might be weird, some of them might be greasy, some of them might be loud or ugly, and yeah, I don't particularly like ugly, greasy or loud people (unless they're loud and funny), but I don't actually hold anything against them.

So here I am, basically thinking like a Nazi, like these guys are wasting space for me, and they're disgusting and subhuman and I was like "HOLD ON A SECOND"

And I couldn't think like that anymore because that isn't my feelings. There's a difference between what I think, feel, and say. There is. And I knew, I KNEW I had to start feeling what I feel. And in this time, I found Jesus, like I talked about in the other thread. So, now I know to love people, and I know I can remind myself of that. And I knew I had to find my philosophies in life and stick to those, because I have philosophies and ways and reasons, but I don't know how to live by them.

And that's what I need to learn.

I need to mature and become great and strong and like what I like while still appearing well in the eyes of others and not be judgemental and loving people and be the best man I can be and be nice to women even though they might be feminists who say I'm chauvenistic for that I still need to be nice to them because that is what I believe and what I believe is what I should live by as long as it is what I feel and what I feel is love of all things and trying to be happy and good and nice even if it is hard and to be the best friend I can be and do things for people even if I favour women in doing things for them still doing things for guys and ugly girls too because I can't be a sexist man or at least not too sexist and I must turn down sex if it isn't mutual and I should try my hardest to be with the people I love the most as long as I can and I must study and learn and live and do things for myself as well as other people and stop this scary run on sentence because right now I am sort of an emotional wreck and I don't know what is up with that and I am sorry goodnight goodbye peace out

[schlagwerk]

Funny bringing up Scott Pilgrim. I didn't really know much about it until the movie was announced. I still haven't read any of the GNs. The movie looks fun. I like the director, I hate the guy playing Scott. I wanna see it. The game looks fun. The sprite art looks like it was from the guys who did Pirate Battles Street Fight Cabana or whatever and I like that. I wanna play it.. but the whole thing seems aimed at the hipsters who think, oh it's from the 80's, that's cool.. or oh, it's got some Asian feel to it, that's cool.. without actually putting any more thought into it. And I guess that puts me on par with any movie/art/music snob who thinks that because they've invested so much of their time into a subject, everyone else should have or should get the fuck out.

Then there's the bitterness that I was born 5 years too early or 5 years too late. If I was 5 years older I probably wouldn't have gotten into video games and cartoons as much and found better hobbies that I can justify as having enriched me as a person and would be useful as an adult. If I was 5 years younger, I would've been right in the middle of video games and anime being cool and would've been among more like-minded peers.
Instead I was born when I was, where I was, and went through my childhood being constantly ridiculed for playing video games. Now I'm older and alone, left having to be ashamed of my hobbies around other people my age, too old to feel comfortable pursuing anyone who would still have the same interests, and anyone my age who was rare enough to have experienced a similar thing to me has been snatched up...