Pros of LARPing

From LARPing to Loving

LYN QUINTANA

LARP has recently become synonymous with being performative or a poser. How many of you have been called a LARPer recently? Were you actually LARPing or were you genuinely trying something new or getting into a new community? Recently I was invited to a concert for a band I knew very little about. I went and ended up loving the music. I began listening to their songs daily and even interacting with fans online. However, when I told friends and siblings they all called me a LARPer! They jokingly said I was a poser, which of course I thought was funny, but it got me thinking: “What draws the line between LARPing and actually just becoming a fan?”

Calling out people for being a poser/performative has been a thing forever, but recently it feels more and more prominent. Every time you try to get into anything people will call you out because you aren’t a day one fan. But isn’t it good that the media is still gaining new fans? How much pretending actually just makes you a fan? Can’t I just listen to a few songs and just leave it at that? Why call someone a LARPer when maybe they don’t even want to be a fan and just want to enjoy the media broadly?

I went to the concert and tried to learn some songs beforehand, but I was mostly just vibing to the music, pretending to know. I kept getting posts about the band on socials, such as fanart and interviews; I began to send them to my friends that were fans. I bought their CDs, I bought posters, and learned all of their songs. I know that the lead has a vomit fetish; How deep into the niche am I supposed to go? Am I a fan now?