randy456
29709
786
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Long story short: As a kid I was treated very poorly by peers (and sometimes adults) for being "weird". I was a pretty unusual kid, I was really into anime , video games(especially cutesy/weird ones like Mario and Tomba!) and manga. Didn't help that I had odd mannerisms.
When my peers found out about my hobbies they made fun of me constantly, they would tell me to "get a life and stop playing/watching that weird shit" and bully me for being immature. I was even made fun of for the way I walked when Itried to make friends. As a result , for years I spent repressing this part of myself. I hid my hobbies and eventually stopped engaging with them.
As an adult I realized, no matter what I do , people like that would never truly like me so I decided I might as well as embrace my weirdness . Why should I change my self to please shallow assholes? It's not my job to cater to them.
Now if someone tells me to stop watching/playing/doing X, i do it even more out of spite. I'll play even more videogames whenever someone tells me to stop playing them. Tell me to get off the internet? I'll spend even more time on it.
Embrace your weirdness
hushpuppyextraordinaire
Don’t under any circumstances pay me $100
WolfandPals
I remember at school when I was 12, a kid in my class used to be really into trains as he was pretty autistic. People used to call him the fat controller (a reference to a British kids train show) he had his book out at lunch and an older kid who was THE fucking man at the school saw him and was like oh is that Brunel steam engine? Something they were learning about in history and the names just stopped for good. The kid now works as a train mechanical engineer.
nation543
My ex tries to put me down in court whenever she can for playing video games. I want to say that she's just jealous that I have an interesting hobby whereas hers is just sucking dick.
Samcharles77
I was pretty lucky in high school. Pretty much everyone got along. I've been very into video games most of my life. I hung out with people who also liked video games in high school but no one there criticized us for it.
As an adult I've dealt with some criticism about it but I always tell people why would I stop doing something I love to please other people?
If people can't accept you for who you are that's their issue. Be yourself.
zFUBARz
I'll just note. Maybe don't do stuff even more and even harder because people say not to.... Do it as much as you get enjoyment from it that's not based on spite. (Spite is ok sometimes)
CelestialSea
The more people tell you not to do something, the more you do it? Well then, absolutely don't, for any reason, EVER, start sending me $1,000 a month! That would be terrible!
knexusatx
This isn't a confession
Eddafred
It's wild how mainstream they've become in the last 20 years or so. Me and my friends would exchange fansubbed anime on CDs at high school like we were hustling drugs.
GreaseMonkeyOfLove
“Psst, hey! I got episode 26 of Exel Saga, DVD quality. Ya interested?”
ChronicEd
Yep! 80's and 90's were not fun years. No one liked that I liked sharks, ferns, carnivorous plants, etc. So I hid...Tried to study math in my 30's, but wife treated me like garbage and brain said enough fun. I still try every once in a while to study something, like Kotlin now, but body aches too damn much, and NSAIDs I took in 2021 have increase the mental difficulties by a hell of a lot. (Belly just below the rib cage hurts like hell at the moment).
iBoulderDash
I was the kid who continued to play Pokemon, even through high school. I was bullied, too, and was sometimes called "Nintendo." I was even questioned by adults sometimes on "Why don't you act like the other boys?" I replied "Why? They're all a bunch of jerks." But I never stopped enjoying my hobbies and I'm glad that you came full circle with enjoying yourself! I turn 37 next month, I'm loving Donkey Kong Bananza, and currently drawing a cartoon mouse. Fuck haters, I'm happy!
Cranbananarama
Another fan of Tomba!, nice.
Axiomatic13
Unapologetically, be yourself.
Tolocamp
I know how you feel. Back in my childhood roleplaying games where for weirdos. Today i cannot help but feel resentment when i see them being embraced by what would have been the "cool kids" back in my childhood.
It is like the "I liked it before it was cool" feeling on steroids and it is not really nice, because, damn, those kids these days put ressources into their games, we could not even imagine 35 years ago.
Zzap1
You should stop watching/playing/doing X! Also get off the internet.
(Boom reverse psychology. Now go enjoy what you enjoy even more you beautiful person)
ElbowDeepInAHorse
Fuck yeah, Randy.
InfamousTaters
I'm still trying to outgrow the "hobby hiding." I grew up religious(have since left that behind) and none of my interests were really "allowed," among peers or family. Even now as a grown almost 30 year old, I haven't even succeeded in decorating my living space or wearing clothes with designs on them.
J0k3rIX
The probable is, as a kid the school life is essentially your world. Recognition from peers plays a big role in your life. As an adult, the world is your world. You start to realize that nobody really cares what you do. If they do, then they have nothing much else to their life than making fun of you and your hobbies. With the internet, you find more like minded people and your hobbies aren't really that odd.
dudds6699
I'm out with weirdness and embrace the sometimes cringe, that may cause, but that pain is less than forcing yourself to not be you.
TheMightyMollusk
The world sucks, enjoy your hobbies before the rich finish burning it all down.
languex
Whenever I buy a really cool toy for my own amusement, I always buy a birthday card with it so I don't get weird questions from the cashier.
Lampmonster
I didn't hide most of mine, but I didn't have anyone to engage with them. I grew up in the middle of nowhere, and the few people I had for friends were not into the same things I was. Recently decided to give some things I never had a chance to get into a go, made some new friends, and am loving every minute of it. Went from always having wanted to play D&D to playing in two games and DMing my own homebrew. Never going back.
tartesk13
There is a song by The Cog is Dead called Weird. I recommend giving it a listen. :D
EmporerDragon
I will admit there's a part of me that's resentful of how mainstream anime, games, and all the other nerd stuff got in the years after I graduated. But on the flipside, it becoming mainstream when I became an adult meant that there was a lot more cool shit to buy and I had the money to do so. Like I've just about filled my 7th bookshelf of manga; being able to reach a library of that size would've been inconceivable 20 years ago.
shanefrost
Those who attempt to push you down or insult you for the small, innocent things that bring happiness in a life, have no true intent or care for said happiness and your growth. They're not owed consideration let alone validation for their own poor behavior that they need to improve.
Humans are odd creatures by nature, and we exist as no other of this world. Arbitrary lines in the sand and reductionist attitudes are the shadow of that, and make our existence all the less colorful and human.
ElbowDeepInUserSub
Ahhh, to live authentically, without shame. Always good to remember that the people who shame others were often shamed themselves. Oppression is a vicious cycle and the only cure is to be yourself, and embrace others. Oh no... we're doomed then.
bloobiebloob
wise words from a wise soul
earthlingextraordinaire
Ain't nobody got time for that
KatInTheCorner
I mean, as a kid who was also made fun of for shit like that, look around. It's literally all over the place. It's not weird to like anime or video games anymore. It's not weird to like comic books or superheroes anymore. There are huge conventions, million dollar franchises.
The people who still bully folks about that shit are people who haven't caught up and are still stuck on the things they found weird in the '90s.
We left those bitches behind.
emptyother
Reason is that we aren't stuck half a day in a classroom with people. The group dynamics and judgemental attitude quickly returned once I was forced to live with a bunch of random adult(-ish) people a year in conscription. Those "stuck in the past" people once again became the star by knowing which direction to spread negativity and misery. And pickup on anything that set anyone apart. It was never about the hobby itself.
bladderinfection
Don’t do butt stuff ;)
earthlingextraordinaire
Smashaga
I’m sorry you were made fun of. You didn’t deserve it. I’m glad you do your own thing and am inspired by your strength. Thank you.
JoeT85
when you're a kid, sometimes the lesson you learn, is that anything you say or do can and will be used against you, so never hand someone a weapon.
That's what I learned
Smashaga
Though many tried to teach me that lesson, I tried my hardest not to learn it. I’m so sorry that happened to you and hope you find those you can trust (even yourself).
redbear1999
The sooner you realize that 80% of people are not worth keeping, the sooner you become happy.
wobblecopterrrr
keep it weird! this is a pretty nice place for it, some people complain a bit, but you can always just mute em' if they make personal attacks etc..
earthlingextraordinaire
bloobiebloob
now you made me feel bad
bloobiebloob
I'm sorry I brought it up!
pelaaja0
Is liking video games/manga/anime even that weird even as an adult anymore though?
LittleAzie
I supposed it would really depend on the area and people group, but even in school it wasn't that weird once toonami started playing anime on a regular basis. Though I am concerned about all three industries at this time - there is a trend of copying successful products and just regurgitating a plot with the same stories under a different brand. This is most noticed with all the isekai anime/manga, but the model is also their with gaming.
mytruepersonality
not anymore really but it def was 25 years ago. It was simply not as wide spread.
emptyother
I thought judging others like that was something one grew out of. I eventually learned that it was just me that had found a huge nerd circle with diverse interests, which isolated me a bit from reality. When I was once again forced to live with random people, most of them were judgemental as eff. When I went to a class reunion, no-one there had changed either.
LurkerLad
Based on some people act around me.. yes. I'm like OP only I never learned to embrace it. I don't hide it persay but I don't talk about it ever. It's grreeaaattt.
GravyEducation
If you hang around with horrible people. Most people don't care
IndependenceHallPhiladelphiaPA
it is WAY more mainstream now than it was in the 90s. early 00s video games had gone main stream but anime was still somewhat niche and picking up momentum.
Shortndeadly
Depends on where you are and who you're around. I have certain friends that are very into anime, and certain friends that I typically wouldn't mention it around.
absolutelymad
You guys have multiple friends??!
modus0
Well, there's a BIG difference between mentioning that you like Naruto, Dragon ball, and Frieren; and mentioning that you like Bible Black, Urotsukidōji, and Princes Burst.
bloobiebloob
tell me more
villainousdescent
I definitely like Bible Black.
creativeBoner
Growing up it wasn’t popular back in the 90’s and 2000’s but since then it has become more mainstream
zFUBARz
Man where did you grow up the woods? I only knew a handful of people in school who didn't have at least an old SNES laying around if not a GameCube(rare) PlayStation or Gameboy (Xbox a bunch of my friends and I had, but less common of course till 360) now if you allowed anything but sports to be your whole personality then yeah people could be weird about it.
IrrelevantIrrelevant
It seriously depends on which ones.
Some people will get very weird about what media you interact with, because they have an assumption about what the name of the chosen media implies. Anime is a pretty big one because people will assume you mean Hentai instead, or borderline, because they saw a gif of a waifubait anime and assume that's what all anime is.
Manga is usually a bit easier to swallow, because it gets translated as "I read a lot of books" instead of "I'm here for perversion".
IrrelevantIrrelevant
Gaming is a case of where your chosen genre will decide whether they take you seriously or not.
Say you like MMO's? Now they are thinking of WoW players and basements. Say you like FPS? COD players screaming slurs in lobbies. Crafting/Survival? Oh gods you are another minecraft lover.
Anything more complicated than that usually gets put in the subsection of "Oh gods they are some sort of hipster" because if they don't know about it, its a niche title.
gaynorvader
Civ?
IrrelevantIrrelevant
"Who even has time for games that long? I'm too employed to care about that."
I wish I was joking.
gaynorvader
Lol, that's amazing! It is funny how some hobbies aren't allowed while others are. Watching TV for 8 hours a day is fine, tracking a sport in several spreadsheets somehow isn't nerdy. But gods forbid anyone play final fantasy 7 after work for a couple of hours a day!
IrrelevantIrrelevant
Overall, its perfectly normal, but if a person wants to judge you - of which many *do* - they will *find* whatever excuse they need. You can say you like eating porridge and they will mock you for your choice of oats.
emptyother
And tomorrow you might wake up and find everyone acting as if that choice is the only correct choice and they all been eating porridge like that for a year. And find something else to mock you for instead. Eff it all, I'm so done with such social games.
IrrelevantIrrelevant
One of the best decisions I ever made, in regards to a couple of games I play semi-religiously, was quitting the fandom but sticking to the game.
100% happier and more engaged with what I was experiencing, because I didn't have "Fans" screaming in my ear about how I was hitler for not agreeing that the game sucks, despite being in the *fandom* for the bloody thing.
Disengaging can have such a drastic effect on making you happier. Never discount it.
dreikommavierzehn
i definitely learned not to talk about games or even series/movies. AT. ALL.
My current therapist was the first exception because he's so much into games himself. Other than that, even around "friends" that were talking about games I was very careful how much I share about games. people are so difficult...
GroverKerr
You have an absolutely bizarre group of "friends" and should get new ones.
dreikommavierzehn
I summarised my collective experiences with others in varying degrees of famiiarity from age 18-30.
ihateimgurffs
Well it is hard to explain why you have 800 hours in "sex with hitler".
zFUBARz
Bet it's been delisted on itch and steam by now....
ChiLLeCheeze
You need to move on to "Sex with Hitler 2". He comes back as a zombie after the ending to the first one.