Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! [2009-10-16]
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3490 Location: Back stateside |
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And in terms of massive copyright infringement, don't they fall under the "fair use" category? I mean, so long as they're for free online. |
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prime_pm
 Posts: 2338 Location: Your Mother's Bedroom |
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We've had that discussion a number of times. Thus far, it's all concluded with "Keep your damn voice down." It's worked pretty well so far. And no more Creed songs! 
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3490 Location: Back stateside |
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Or Evanescence (thank God they gave a C&D) or Linkin Park, or basically anything that's been used to death. The only site I go to lets you give scores for originality, which is a place where 90% of AMVs FAIL. The same goes for Abridged series, unfortunately. Hence why being drunk helps. |
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infinitebeauty
Posts: 75 |
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I understand where letter-girl is coming from, as I have friends who seem to be veritable creeper-magnets. Striking up a conversation about common interests isn't the problem, it's when every single conversation is about the same thing (in this case, anime).
Um, no. While it might be meant as a compliment, it's still creepy. For example, I was recently at a con, and a random guy asked if he could take my picture. I wasn't cosplaying, I was in normal clothes. I know it was meant as a compliment, that he found me attractive, but it was still creepy. I don't go to cons to meet guys, I go to cons to be around people with common interests and to buy merchandise and see panels. I shouldn't have to worry about fending off advances just beause I'm a girl with nerdy interests, and she shouldn't have to deal with guys only talking about anime when her interest in Japanese culture is only one part of her personality. |
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MokonaModoki
 Posts: 437 Location: Austin, Texas |
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Regarding the girl who wrote in about "creepers", I'm a little surprised by some of the responses to what she said. Of course the way she phrased her concern was offensive, but I was sort of bothered by the people who dismissed her with "get over yourself". Of course she did say both "creeper" and "stalker" which makes it perfectly fair. Protip for women: using the word "creeper" in any context practically guarantees a negative penalty to your charisma stats, and makes you sound stupid and self-absorbed.
But among anime fandom, geek\nerd fandom, and the human species in general, there exist people so socially inept that they are utterly unable to pick up on any indicators that another person has completely lost interest in ongoing interaction with them. I see this sort of thing all the time, and no it doesn't just happen to girls. It happens to me at conventions a lot, and I'm an old guy, but it does happen to the girls I know much more often. These people exist, and they are annoying, and once they latch on to you they return to bug you again and again. There are many anime fans who do this. Many are guys, some are girls. It may be more prevalent when directed at the opposite sex, but it isn't a requirement. And it may not be inspired by any romantic intention, but really it often is. It isn't just anime fans that do it, but for some reason the anime fans who engage in this behavior are compelled to do it like moths flying into a flame. Here are some tips for anyone who really can't get what the girl was saying. Sometimes another human being appears to share an interest in a medium, genre, anime, manga, character, school, class, Pokemon or decomposing corpse laying in the curb that you happen to also have an interest in. That interest probably gives you an opening to attempt to start a conversation with that person. If they face you, maintain eye contact, and participate in the conversation in ways that incorporate more than the minimal socially acceptable response to what you are saying (I realize that part may be tricky for some to recognize), then it may be one of these "genuine connections" referred to in this thread. But if it gets to the point that you've proved yourself so uninteresting that the other person is constantly looking almost anywhere except your eyes, turning their body so that it doesn't face directly toward you, and responding to you with monosyllabic answers in a neutral tone, then they are trying to disengage from you. If someone successfully disengages from you without telling you to "buzz off" it isn't an invitation to start a conversation with them again every time you see them. If a hello wave when you see them again doesn't cause them to approach you or signalled invitation to approach them, then they probably aren't looking for that conversation with you, aren't looking for you to add them to your Facebook so that you can comment on every update to their status, and aren't hoping to see you loitering everywhere you might expect them to appear. Also, some need learn to read. At no point did this person say anything about everyone who watches anime (big clue: she's one of them), or even about "all male anime fans" (unless the words "some of your male audience" now mean something new). But for dizzywulf, re: "You make it sound here that unwanted advances are something that women should just get over because it's a fact of life. That doesn't make it okay." - yes, actually it does. Advances happen. There's no rule that says that only attractive and interesting people will make them. It is repeated unwanted advances from the same person that are far less acceptable. |
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prime_pm
Posts: 2338 Location: Your Mother's Bedroom |
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Frankly, I could settle for the occasional "fudge off!" once in a while.
I recall an incident about a year ago, it was a Business 101 class. One of the students was Eastern European girl around my age, and I thought she was interesting. Please note, this incident has nothing to do with anything remotely Asian. Anyway, after classes, I would get to talking with her, or well, listening to her try to speak english, but mostly trying to get to know her better. It was nice, friendly, I didn't make any mention of myself or my interest in her. I didn't even bother making a pass for awhile. Then, one night, after the Mid-term was over, I was able to walk with her to her car again, striking up another conversation. It was going well, I was listening, offering suggestions to anything she asked, same as before. Then, once we got to her car, I decided to take the plunge, so to speak, and ask her if she wanted to do anything sometime, eg. have some dinner or something. She mentioned that her boyfriend would not like the idea, so I said that I understood and bade her a good evening. I felt good, because she honestly rejected and I felt that we could settle being friends instead. The next class, immediately at the end, she left the room with her friend (okay, she's Asian) and went into the bathroom. While I was leaving behind them, I noticed the two were looking back at me for some reason, as though they were hoping I would go away. Needless to say, I felt offended. At first, I decided to brush it off as it were nothing, but then I noticed they would do this for the rest of the semester. No, I wasn't even following them. The damn stairs just happened to be where the restrooms were. Maybe I didn't get a signal, maybe I interpreted one of her weird words the wrong way. But to go out of your way for two months just to avoid me made me so mad I could scream. I imagined everybody was talking about me behind my back, like I was some kind of stalker or maniac. Living in this paranoia made me isolate myself further from everyone around me. It took me forever just to recover from that incident, and I haven't been able to come onto, or even befriend, anyone since. It took all the courage I had just to contact an old college friend from years back, during one massive nervous breakdown. Now, maybe I do fall under the category of someone that doesn't read signals regularly like others do. I mean, hell, with ADD, I could be daydreaming the whole time. But how in the hell am I supposed to help that? How am I supposed to carry a conversation with someone who will not give me the time of day? Where is the chance? In the end, there's neither fate nor some mystical coin that lands on heads or tails. Just what's in front of me. Which, unfortunately, happens to be nothing. |
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prime_pm
Posts: 2338 Location: Your Mother's Bedroom |
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Sorry for the double post, but this is essential.
There happens to be this other girl that I like who lives in the next city over. We've met each other on two occasions, at a convention nearby. We have the same interests as one another and I enjoy being around her. The only thing that has me held back from contacting her regularly is this fear of being labeled as a "creeper." I worry whether or not I would be interrupting her personal life by contacting her, and I feel bad about it so much that I'm unable to send any friendly emails to her. Now, I worry that contacting her now will make me even more creepier. I just don't know what to do about this. Where is the line drawn between persistence and stalking? Did I kill another thread? |
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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This is an attractive ideal. To be fair however, people who aren't tolerant of the fact that moe fanbases continue to exist seem themselves small in number, at least in well-meaning environments such as ANN. Letting people like what they wish, without speculating as to any sociological effects their interests may have, is seemingly more prominent.
A not-so-tacit Dad's Army reference, perchance? |
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Agent355
 Posts: 5113 Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready... |
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You dissed Abridged series! (Oh, no he didint!) Man! Weren't you the one who referenced the YGO: A quote "In America!" in a column right b4 the elections last year? That column inspired me to check out YGO: A! And, man, do I love it. Almost anything LittleKuriboh touches turns to gold, and he's the best voice actor on Youtube. (For the record, I have never seen Yu Gi Oh; doesn't matter; still funny). (as) has an Abridged series of their own: Perfect Hair Forever. Not as funny as it ought to be, but the phrase "Uncle-Grandfather" cracks me up.
Gintama would make an awesome movie, as long as the whole thing is based on that one episode in which the Shinsengumi tries to clean their bathroom. For the record, I think anime/manga adaptations of relationships are completely realistic. Now excuse me as I continue my search for 10 hot guys who all worship the ground I walk on... |
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SalarymanJoe
 Posts: 468 Location: Atlanta, GA, USA |
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@gintama-movie.com: One thing to add to Brian's answer is that domain registry itself is so cheap that movie companies will buy up domains for properties for two reasons - to potentially snipe the competition and to prevent themselves being sniped. This stemmed from the late nineties when net-savvy fans would get word of potential properties, buy up the ideal domain names for a couple of years, and then sell them back to studios for much more than they paid for them.
@"Abridged Series":
Yeah, guess what, all fan parodies are. All the way back to parodies like Dirty Pair Does Dishes and Beefaroni Yamato. And they've been around longer than just the recent YouTube boom. While I agree with your sentiments that fan parodies of any nature - the old VHS varieties or the YouTube generation - will never make it somewhere like [as], there are some gems amongst an otherwise sea of crap. I loved DPDD, Evangelion:Re|Death, Fanboy Bebop and a few others but I've seen plenty of other tragedies, such as an Evangelion parody of nothing but sheep-cloning joke or an Inu Yasha/Lord of the Rings parody.
The Abridged series would fall closer to fair use as they are a parody. The whole AMV thing has become a murky issue in that I believe rights-holders can sue/request injunction/etc. but many may not because of the tertiary benefits of infringement.
No, that's not Anime Hell. That's AMV Hell. Oh, you didn't know? Again, Anime Hell is not AMV Hell. @Shounen-series females:
While sheentaku continues with an excellent point, I simply have an additional comment to make concerning Miyazaki Hayao's films - they all have female leads because, well, Miyazaki is kind of a sexist. This is long enough... more to come after some other folks post. |
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pparker
 Posts: 1185 Location: Florida |
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I empathize with "last letter girl". But the sad truth is there is nothing Answerman can do about it. Being nice is good, but the ability to deliver a firm "Excuse me, but I have to go" while leaving no doubts as to why she's leaving is one road to contentment. It's worked on me before
 . That's when most well-meaning super nerds realize you've been waiting for a chance to say that for the last 5 minutes.
But better advice, depending on your relationship goals: Stop the guy mid-Bleach-dissertation and ask him what he thinks of Obamacare or [insert subject of choice]. You'll quickly learn whether he can talk about anything else (and whether or not he's an *asshole*). You might discover a nice guy with broader interests who just hasn't figured out when to shut up about his current hobby. If nothing else, you've just taken control of the conversation and can do with it whatever you want, including ending it to your satisfaction.
I don't know your age or situation, and I'm not being cynical, and am trying to not be pedantic. But you have to realize this is going to happen, like letter girl but on the reverse flow. Think about anyone in entertainment, or working in direct sales. These people are examined, evaluated and criticized repeatedly. They spend their careers wanting a "yes" and getting rejected or told "no" time after time. The ones that survive learn that a.) most people really aren't saying "I don't like you", and b.) the ones that don't like you can't be allowed to matter. I hate to sound cliche as well, but getting back on the horse is about the only way to effectively handle rejection. One or two not-nice people don't represent anything close to the majority of humanity. Most people want to meet and connect with others who share their interests, and you only lose the game if you let a bad experience influence you to stop trying. |
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RoverTX
 Posts: 424 |
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That kind of stuff is normal. Its the same as the stupid old joke about "how many days do I have to wait to call a girl after I get her number". Just trust your gut with this kind of stuff, and if it feels awkward just ask (with out acting pitiful), "Hey am I bothering you?" or something along those lines. If they say yes then just apologize and back off and leave it at that. Also if its not a very clear answer or seems fake, just back off. You can't really do any more or less then that. On a related note, I have male friends who just love to lead girls on for years sometimes who they have no real interests in and then complain about the attention and talk crap about the girls behind there back. I had one friend who got this one very nerdy girl, but well meaning and kind of cute in a very nerdy way, to do his Chem 101 homework and then broke the poor things heart by turning her down flat, and then talking crap about her. I also had a female friend who led this one guy one for two months while her car was broken down to get rides. One day I ran into them at the mall and struck up a conversation with them. It turned out that the guy was a big computer nerd and I ended up talking to him about some new computer model or something along those lines. The next when I saw her she told me "Rover thanks for talking to him so I didn't have to deal with him. He is such a looser." In brief trust your gut, don't get tunnel vision its ok to let that not so right fish go, there are plenty of other. Also some people (both male and female) are just jerks and will make a mountain out of a mole hill. Back on subject: The comment about Otaku not knowing when to stop. I know sports buff guys that if they found out a girl is a big sports fan wont shut up either. Its common to all types of people who are very invoked in their past times. |
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Cyberlink420
Posts: 8 |
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On the subject of Abridged Series, the problem I see with most of them is that they spend too much time just inserting random jokes instead of being what they should be: a shortened, different take on an existing concept (hence the term "abridged"). Too often will some of these sacrifice plot relevance to make an outdated pop culture reference or some manner of unfunny innuendo, and it starts to become less of a parody and more of a bad stand-up routine. Yu-Gi-Oh and DBZ, far as I've seen, are among the best at staying true to the story without sacrificing the humor.
This is something I've tried to address in the Sonic X parody I'm working on. While the jokes ARE there, I try to keep them actually relevant to what's going on in the series while not sacrificing the overall humor. For example, there's a joke where Eggman continually lists off potential ways to kill Sonic, like sending him to a parallel universe and racing on hoverboards, only to be told each time that he's done each one already, occasionally multiple times. People unfamiliar will find it funny because of Eggman's increasing aggravation, but those who follow Sonic X and/or the Sonic series as a whole will find it funny because they recognize all these schemes from the games, and thus, they appreciate the joke on a different level than someone who's not familiar with the series. Honestly, as long as the humor is strong and it stays true to the series, I see nothing wrong with Abridged stuff. |
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Showsni
 Posts: 641 |
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Not necessarily true; I've never seen an episode of Yu Gi Oh, yet I find the Abridged Series hilarious. Of course, I know the general gist of the show, so maybe that helps. (Though, being an avid MtG player most of my contact with Yu Gi Oh involves people on MtG forums insulting the card game.) And it seems to me that Abridged Serieses are usually clearly parodies of the original work, and thus would normally be fair use in America. AMVs are less often parodies of the anime and the song... |
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FaytLein
 Posts: 1260 Location: Williamsburg, VA |
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People that have social difficulties tend to be extra clingy when it comes to dealing with the opposite sex. They often cling to the singular aspect that connects you, in this case being anime fans. Since they can't really connect on any other level other than their fandom, it becomes the end all-be all of interpersonal relationships, which isn't very good for a well rounded relationship.
So, girls be more up front with your interests, and guys learn to be more well rounded, and treat your fandom as a hobby, not as an all consuming personal factor. And everyone will be a little happier for it. |
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