This weekend I had the opportunity to go to Columbus and hang out with my college friends/former roommates. Originally when I was thinking ahead to writing this, our original plan involved heading to Ohayocon in Columbus and checking out all the nerdy panels, cool cosplays, the merchandise booths, and the Japanese Videogames. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. Plans change. Not a big deal. I still had a ton of fun with my college friends and it was awesome. But this did leave me with a problem. My original plan for this week’s blog was to write about nerd culture, anime, and my overall experience with Ohayocon.
So instead of changing this week’s topic to something else, I’m going to go for it anyway and talk about those things. I did end up missing this year’s Ohayocon but I have been there in the past. I’ve dressed up as Ash Ketchum from the Pokémon series, I’ve attended anime panels discussing Waifus (a Waifu is basically when you pick one girl from the many anime you watch and decide that they are your 2D wife; a “Husbando” is the male equivalent… yeah nerds are weird sometimes…), and I’ve checked out all the amazing cosplays at Ohayocon even though 90% were of characters from shows or movies I’ve never watched! I’ve participated in Ohayocon and I loved it! I think nerdy conventions like Ohayocon or Comic Con in San Diego are super cool and if I had the money, I’d totally go to Comic Con.
Now when talking about “nerd culture” or things that nerdy people might like, I think we are on the forefront of nerd culture bubbling up and becoming part of the mainstream/cool culture. Every 6 months or so till the dawn of time Disney is going to pump out a Marvel movie and every Christmas till the dawn of time there is going to be a new Star Wars film coming to the cinemas. Partner this with DC movies building a cinematic universe, Netflix hosting Marvel TV shows, and so much more. The internet has done a lot of good with bringing people together and connecting them with the nerdy stuff they love. We have Pottermore quizzes that let us be sorted into our Hogwarts House, we have places like Reddit, Tumblr, and even Deviantart where artists, writers, and fans can get together and discuss the most recent superhero movie or Supernatural episode, and we have tons of streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Crunchyroll that brings nerdy content to the viewer with just one click. It’s amazing! Now I’ll admit sometimes these things can be off-putting to newcomers who are trying to get into anime or a movie/book/TV show universe (example: see “Waifu” or “Husbando”) but most the time I’ve found that you can kind of pick and choose your level of involvement in these things and nerds are ok with that. If you want to learn how to speak Elvish or Klingon, go ahead and do that! Or if you just want to put your toe in the water of anime by watching the English versions of the Studio Ghibli films, you can do that too (although you might be forced into the war zone of “subs not dubs”). It’s just like sports in a way. You can be that casual fan who roots for a team or you can be the person who knows all the stats, knows all the players on the team, and can recall every championship they’ve ever played in. There are levels to it.
Personally, I’ve always been a nerdy guy who loves nerdy things. I read a lot of books, most of which are teen fiction (Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, The Hunger Games, etc.). I also play a lot of video games and I’m super excited for the Nintendo Switch. I also watch movies like Star Wars, Star Trek, and all the Marvel Movies. I’m a huge fan of Captain America and I’m excited about new marvel characters like Spider Gwen. I consider myself a member of all those fandoms and I’m on a lot of different layers when it comes to each of these nerdy things. When it comes to anime, I’ve only taken baby steps into that medium. I’ve watched a lot of Studio Ghibli movies that have been translated into English (although I did watch them in Japanese with English subtitles) and I’ve seen three different Anime. I really want to get more into Anime but I’m also reluctant at times because Anime can get weird. If you’re familiar with Anime tropes, you know what I’m talking about and if you don’t know what I’m talking about… I refuse to explain anything to you. Just know that I like Anime that ins’t big on “fan service” (again if you know Anime, you know what I’m talking about). So I’m looking forward to watching more Anime, catching up on Netflix shows, and reading the next Rick Riordan book.
Overall I did miss going to Ohayocon, but I had an amazing time with my college friends! I love nerdy things and nerdy culture and I look forward to going to Ohayocon in the future.
Anyway I’m glad you stayed with me through all of that rambling about the nerdy stuff I love. I hope you go and check out the rest of my stuff!!
I hope you have a wonderful week!
-Allen_The_Writer
Allen The Writer 
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