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Fangirls/Fanboys - Fandoms in General.

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I believe otaku is used pretty widely in Japan as an insult referring to people who are obsessed with manga and anime. Even though Japan is famous for all the weird stuff happening there, there's actually a huge stigma against being abnormal. You know when people are all like "omg I want to move to Japan and learn the language and watch all the animes"? Yeah that's not going to work out for them.

Oh is it? I thought that was wiabu, which is weeaboo, but okay. o3o I was thinking it's more like calling someone a geek/nerd or something like that. Not a big insult, if one at all.

 

I find it funny when people say "animes" or "mangas" since they're both singular and plural words from what I know. Especially those who are obsessed with them.

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Oh yeah totally, weeaboo is full-on insult. Just like "Wapanese".

 

But otaku itself isn't an insult. I think that's mainly because 1) there was something about a murder case in the 1980's or whatever that talked about the murder being an otaku and 2) people confuse it with Wapanese/weeaboo.

 

Urban Dictionary has some reliable definitions, but I wouldn't use it to find actual meanings of any word, slang or otherwise.

I cannot tell if you're being sarcastic or not at the start

The "definition" of weeaboo without all the opinionated statements is:

"Someone who is obsessed with Japan/Japanese Culture/Anime, etc. and attempts to act as if they were Japanese, even though they're far from it."

Basically it means, if you're not Japanese, you like their culture, and you want to become one, you're a weeaboo. AKA, if you call yourself an Otaku, and you're not Japanese in any way, you're actually a weeaboo

 

And just because something used to mean something else, doesn't mean it has to keep that same definition (Good example is the word Gay)

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Nah, I wasn't being sarcastic. c: I was agreeing with you.

 

And no, unless you're an "otaku" in the sense that you're obsessed with the culture, then you wouldn't be weeaboo or wapanese. Otaku's meaning here refers to being a big fan of anime and manga, and possibly some of the culture. I wouldn't really call that a weeaboo unless it gets extreme.

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Nah, I wasn't being sarcastic. c: I was agreeing with you.

Oh, alrighty

I had to clarify because sarcasm on forums can be HAAAAARD

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It doesn't help that I said "totally" >w<

 

All this stuff being said though, I usually don't particularly mind otakus, weeaboos, or Wapanese. They can be a bit annoying, but hey, I do like anime and manga, too, so it's not that bad. I think it's usually those that aren't too into it that are annoyed the most. I think the most annoying part is when someone starts adding certain Japanese words/phrases to their vocabulary. Not in a cutesie way or anything, but like they constantly use -chan, -kun, -sama, etc when saying others' names or saying "nyan", "desu", "kon'nichi wa (or the other ways I see it spelled)", etc all the time. Like literally all the time, not figuratively-literally.

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Fun fact: "weaboo" actually originated in this one comic (The Perry Bible Fellowship I believe? A lot of it's pretty NSFW, as a warning, if you want to check it out). In it, a guy in a meeting room yells "weaboo?" and everyone else starts chanting it as well and they all go outside and beat up this other guy while still chanting it. As for how it got applied to anime/manga fans...4chan. That's all.

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Frankly, 4chan is a chaotic mess of horribleness and insanity. I would approach ANYONE who frequents 4chan with caution. Now, that being said, my own husband goes on there because he likes to laugh at the people being insane, so obviously, I know to take things with a grain of salt. He's clearly not a bad guy, or I would not be married to him. wink.gif

 

The entire internet is a big ball of drama, really. I agree that it is a good idea to approach anyone online with some amount of caution. However, I do also believe in giving people chances. I used to avoid watching Naturo because I assumed anything that could produce the crazy people I would refer to as 'Narutards' had to be awful. Later, I found that it's actually a pretty fun anime to watch. Sure it gets a bit repetitive at times, but overall, I enjoy it.

 

Any time you have something that is wildly popular, you are going to get the real insane people in the fandom. It's a matter of numbers; the more people like a fandom, the more likely you are to find some of the crazy ones. Beliebers automatically make me eye them with caution. Some of them are every bit as dangerous as what people are claiming Bronies are. I know I should not react that way. There are plenty of really nice people who just happen to like Beiber. I might not agree with their taste in music, but that is part of the awesome thing about being human: we get to choose what we like and don't like.

 

At the very least, it is good to have respect for others. It is one thing to personally have caution when approaching a certain group, but it is entirely another to belittle or otherwise make someone uncomfortable for liking something that is perfectly normal to like. Liking a show or a singer is hardly the same as, say, being a murderer. You can be a murderer AND like said show or singer, of course. You can also be a murderer and an otherwise perfectly normal part of society with nothing at all 'odd' about you from the outside.

 

Personally, I've met several extremely nice bronies, and I have a good outlook on the fandom, in general. Yes, there are the perverted ones. There are in every fandom, and the more popular the fandom, the more likely there is to be a massive amount of rule 34 stuff associated with it. It all comes down to popularity. On the same note, there is a lot more GOOD stuff coming out of the fandom than in many other fandoms, again, because of the popularity. There are some really creative people who do awesome original character drawings, fan music, etc.

 

As far as the term 'brony', I honestly don't see anything misogynistic about it. Most of the bronies I have met are fine with calling females 'pegasisters' if they so desire. Brony is just a lot easier to say. Even though the term might have come from a particular source, that does not mean that the fans have not embraced it and made it their own.

 

When you consider that the MLP fandom got together and raised a bunch of money to help pay for the treatment of a young fan (a child) with cancer, that really says something. There are entire websites dedicated to bronies raising funds for charity. Brony artists donate their work in order to have the money raised from their art go to helping others in need. The basic theme of the fandom (once you ignore the psychos that are in EVERY fandom) is love, tolerance, and helping others. A simple google search can easily bring up several such examples:

http://broniesforgood.org/

http://www.bronythankyoufund.org/

 

And when a little boy tried to commit suicide due to being bullied about the show? Well, apparently bronies--those "terrible, horrible menaces to society"--got together and sent him a ton of support and even money to help pay for his medical expenses: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20783199,00.html

 

The usually spirited child is now lying in a local hospital with a breathing machine and potentially lifelong brain damage. Fellow bronies have already created online tributes, provided donations and sent plush versions of his favorite characters.

 

Holy cow! According to one list, bronies have raised nearly $600,000 for charity and donated 1000 litres of milk (for a homeless shelter) and 59.5 litres of blood. That list was posted in 2012, so I'm sure it's gone up a lot since then.

 

I didn't even know all of these things before Googling them, and I like the show. Admittedly, I am not a hardcore brony. I like MLP, and I have since I was a kid in the 80s (whoops, just dated myself). I'm not obsessed. I've never been to a MLP convention, I don't hang out on MLP forums, and I haven't seen the latest season yet (because I don't have cable and have to wait for it to be on Netflix). That is probably why I don't know about all these awesome things. Just doing this little bit of research has given me a whole new level of respect for bronies. You guys and gals really rock! That's one fandom I could be proud to be a bigger part of if I wasn't so busy with my career.

 

As far as the things on the internet that children can find, that is what safe search is for. Also, children really should NOT be allowed to use the internet on their own. People often blame the internet for having images children should not see, but that is like blaming cable for having R rated movies. Parents should be monitoring the media their children view, no matter what media it is.

Edited by harlequinraven

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Just so long as you or anyone else isn't trying to automatically assume that all the 4chan goers and Beliebers are bad in some way.

 

It's one thing to be careful and another to think all of them are bad.

 

And besides, when it comes to 4chan...it's an interesting place. There are actually some really good areas in there. Due to everyone's anonymity, however, lots of things can happen with little repercussions to those who caused problems. I think the only thing that can be done is IP bans. Yes, the Internet as a whole has a bit more anonymity, but places like 4chan have absolutely no way of identifying anyone unless some people actually give themselves a nickname.

 

As far as Beliebers, I believe most are younger females anyway. Most aren't out to cause trouble, but if Bieber is brought up, more often than not most Beliebers will definitely talk your ear off about him. I've never had any problems with any, though. I do know that there are some very extreme Beliebers. I think some tried to cut themselves because JB was doing drugs or something and they wanted him to stop? Uhhh, I think that's going a little too far.

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I generally find that people that choose the word otaku for themselves are the kind of people I don't like. Considering it's a misappropriation of a Japanese word and most of the people who call themselves "otaku" don't seem to know that, it just sort of reinforces it. It's not a positive meaning in Japan. Feeling the need to take a Japanese word that doesn't even mean what you think it means is kind of indicative of a larger problem, and fits right in with how half of them feel the need to chatter in broken, incorrect Japanese as well.

 

Don't even get me started on people who say "desu."

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Just so long as you or anyone else isn't trying to automatically assume that all the 4chan goers and Beliebers are bad in some way.

 

It's one thing to be careful and another to think all of them are bad.

As I said in my post,

 

Now, that being said, my own husband goes on there because he likes to laugh at the people being insane, so obviously, I know to take things with a grain of salt. He's clearly not a bad guy, or I would not be married to him. wink.gif

 

smile.gif

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I wasn't specifically meaning you. I do include you, but I can tell you weren't meaning that.

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Ah, it sounded as though it was directed at me. smile.gif

 

Anyway, the whole point of my post was that it's not good to lump everyone together. I mean, sure, if someone says he or she is a murderer or an animal abuser in a non-joking manner, there is simply no other way to take that than that it is a bad thing. However, since we are talking about fandoms, not crimes, there is room for interpretation. That being said, it is good to give people the benefit of the doubt. As long as they are not acting crazy, don't assume they are. If, upon meeting someone, their first sentence is, "I like (insert whatever fandom), and if you don't, you suck!", fine, they are crazy. If their first sentence is, "Hi, I am (insert name) and I like (insert whatever fandom)," that is someone just trying to get to know another person and tell that person a bit about themselves in hopes that s/he might share a bit about his/herself.

 

** The English language REALLY needs gender-neutral terminology! It gets rather tiresome to post 'his/herself', and I can't bring myself to resort to improper grammar and use 'themselves' when referring to a singular hypothetical person.

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4chan is where you end up having to go if you want translations and/or spoilers of anime >_<

 

Oh, oh! 4chan's VP are also working on a Pokemon fangame and the artwork is so beautiful @_@ http://capx.wikia.com/wiki/Pok%C3%A9dex

Edited by DarkEternity

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** The English language REALLY needs gender-neutral terminology! It gets rather tiresome to post 'his/herself', and I can't bring myself to resort to improper grammar and use 'themselves' when referring to a singular hypothetical person.

I use themself or oneself. c:

 

But yes, 4chan is a very interesting place that can be a good source for finding certain things and a bad source for others. I guess it's like everywhere else, only cranked up to an absurd degree. :V

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** The English language REALLY needs gender-neutral terminology! It gets rather tiresome to post 'his/herself', and I can't bring myself to resort to improper grammar and use 'themselves' when referring to a singular hypothetical person.

"They" as a singular gender neutral pronoun has been acceptable grammar for hundreds of years. You probably use it a lot unconsciously too, eg. "Last person please close the door on their way out".

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I would be really interested to see some serious research done on the sociology and psychology of fandoms. In their current form, they're a relatively recent phenomenon. I mean, there's certainly instances of large groups of rabid fans dating back to Roman gladiators (see Pompeii graffiti), and in the past couple generations with the advent of Elvis and then subsequent Beatle mania. But the idea of a fandom as a large number of people unified into a distinguishable group or subculture by their passionate love for a particular band, show, or literary work seems new. It also seems to lead to interesting attitudes and relationships. Why is it that enjoying similar TV shows or books can be so tremendously unifying over and above all other aspects of someone's beliefs, tastes, and personality? Anyways. That would be an interesting topic for a research paper or broader study.

Edited by philpot123

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@Phil: I'd attribute the modern prevalence of fandoms to one very simple thing - namely, the existence of fast, reliable, and relatively cheap communication (and, to a slightly lesser extent, transport).

 

Else, we're dealing with perfectly natural phenomena you see in humans and other animals alike.

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Yeah, crazy fans of literature were always a thing. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle received death threats after he got tired of Holmes and killed him off. I'm sure there were conventions for this kind of thing long ago too, just in a much smaller scale due to difficulties in communication/transportation.

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Hmm... Im definatly a fangirl for sure... I'm in many fandoms: Doctor Who fandom, Book fandom, Movie fandom and Music fandom... And it is qutie obsessive. I even have a fandom account on instagram instagram.com/fandomsagram and have just started a tumblr blog little-miss-delphox.tumblr.com. i have no idea why they can be really obsessive though... Fandoms are just things that people (mainly teens) like and enjoy

 

In book fandom:

The Hunger Games Trilogy

PJO/HoO series

HP series

Divergent Trilogy

TFiOS and other John Green books

 

Movie fandom:

 

The Avengers

X-Men

 

Music fandom:

 

The Vamps

Ellie Goulding

Jessie J

 

^my fandoms smile.gif

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Yeah, crazy fans of literature were always a thing. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle received death threats after he got tired of Holmes and killed him off. I'm sure there were conventions for this kind of thing long ago too, just in a much smaller scale due to difficulties in communication/transportation.

Perhaps, but the need to identify one's self as part of a distinct group called a "fandom" is still relatively new. Obviously there have been fans of particular authors or works of literature since literature has existed, but it seems there's a clear difference between "I enjoy/like/am a fan of X" and "I'm part of the X fandom." One is a statement of taste, the other a statement of membership and inclusion.

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As far as the things on the internet that children can find, that is what safe search is for. Also, children really should NOT be allowed to use the internet on their own. People often blame the internet for having images children should not see, but that is like blaming cable for having R rated movies. Parents should be monitoring the media their children view, no matter what media it is.

Sadly, her mother doesn't seem to think she needs to put up safety nets on her internet. I don't let my niece use the internet when she's at my house to avoid any possible conflicts between my sister and myself. We're almost a decade apart in age and don't see eye-to-eye. dry.gif

 

As far as Bronies go, that's just amazing. I knew that they had set up several charities, but to go to all those lengths and help so many. Even donating blood and helping someone who was teetering on the edge? That is awesome.

 

And about what I said about JB fans, not all of them are bad. I have a few good friends who are JB fans and we get along just fine. I've just had a lot of bad experiences with the overly-obsessive ones.

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I'm sure the internet and global economy were huge impetuses for fandoms as we know it today. It makes it easy to find both the media and other fans. With forums and websites able to dedicate themselves to a specific fandom, it really helps to bring people together and incite excitement among the fans.

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Perhaps, but the need to identify one's self as part of a distinct group called a "fandom" is still relatively new. Obviously there have been fans of particular authors or works of literature since literature has existed, but it seems there's a clear difference between "I enjoy/like/am a fan of X" and "I'm part of the X fandom." One is a statement of taste, the other a statement of membership and inclusion.
The need to belong to a group/pack/herd (and also conformity in general) have always been things. How you decide to call said group is of moderate importance, but groups tend to usually form based on something in common.

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The need to belong to a group/pack/herd (and also conformity in general) have always been things. How you decide to call said group is of moderate importance, but groups tend to usually form based on something in common.

Well yes, but groups tend to form on the basis of large commonalities like ethnic/cultural heritage or a common faith background. The relative triviality of "I like the BBC show Dr. Who" (for example) as a unifying piece of information between people across ethnonational/religious lines is pretty astounding in historical context.

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Perhaps, but the need to identify one's self as part of a distinct group called a "fandom" is still relatively new. Obviously there have been fans of particular authors or works of literature since literature has existed, but it seems there's a clear difference between "I enjoy/like/am a fan of X" and "I'm part of the X fandom." One is a statement of taste, the other a statement of membership and inclusion.

Replace fandom with:

-club

-religion (they share similar beliefs of a sort)

-group

-pack

-band

-faction

-clique

-(political) party

 

...or any other type of group you can think of, particularly ones that share similar beliefs. The need to belong is a very basic thing that has lasted an incredibly long time, just like Shienvien said.

 

The only think "different" about fandom is that it's a relatively new word. It's also a much larger group, due to many different aspects of technology and communication.

 

The reason why they're so unifying is because they all like the same stuff. They share a similar belief that the media is good. It's no different from anything else.

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