Larper Culture Has Gone Too Far

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:00]So, what is this laring business we keep hearing about? If you're a fan of a genre, a band, a specific game, a movie, a TV show, and you aren't up to snuff in the eyes of the people in the fandom, you are considered a larer. And frankly, I think a lot of people, including myself, are tired of hearing this term.

[00:00:15]So, I wanted to talk about what it exactly means, where it came from, how we got here, and just everything in between. Everyone knows what the literal definition is. It's just role playing in real life. The term itself kind of originated on 4chan specifically and back in like the 4chan and Tumblr days when they were at their peak to sort of denote someone that was not necessarily involved in the fandom or was trying to pierce through without the sort of credibility they were stepping in and roleplaying liveaction role playing that specific scene in a way that they weren't actually a part of. And so people looked at them and castigated them as being lesser than. It was a different way of saying poser of sorts.

[00:00:53]So if you had the band shirt on but you couldn't name 50,000 songs from them. If you were watching a TV show and it came off as performative to people, you were seen as a larer. Mostly this was used towards music and specifically video games. And nowadays it's just kind of used for everything under the sun. And performative is a good way to word it because that's what it really boils down to most of the time is viewing someone as performatively getting into something that they aren't actually that interested in or cosplaying it in some way that shows that they do not have the respect for that specific scene that you think that they should. And the reason the term has kind of been reclaimed or whatever you want to call it is because in the 2020s you've seen a massive increase of people flooding into different spaces. Whether it's a video game or a specific genre or an aesthetic, whatever it may be, you're getting a massive influx of people because of the snowball momentum effect that scenes have nowadays. Virality has made it to where when something gets some sort of stride, it is very hard to stop that sheer momentum of thousands, tens of thousands, sometimes millions of people getting into something in a very quick fashion. And naturally, when something blows up a lot, it is going to attract a lot of people who aren't as into it as other people are. So when you have diehard fans who've been enjoying something for years if not decades on end and suddenly you have all of these people coming in that clearly don't know their head from their ass in terms of what they are talking about what it stands for and it doesn't mean the same to you. Your perspective is going to be they are coming in to ruin it. And you know what the funny thing about this is metal and rock fans really know about larpers don't we? or at least the concept because larping is very synonymous with poser culture and that has kind of been something that metal and rock has dealt with for a while.

[00:02:39]Whenever a band gets very popular, specifically a band that was maybe more underground previously and then blew up, they're going to garner a lot of [ __ ] And that kind of goes handinhand with the fact that when you were seen as a poser, you were kind of seen as a larer.

[00:02:54]Now, my issue with the term laring is the same reason that I have an issue with a lot of poser culture as a whole.

[00:02:59]It sort of imposes this toxic environment that doesn't let people get into your thing or have a different sort of perspective because people kind of have a group think mentality about any given media that they like. And so when they enjoy that within the confinements of their little fandom bubble, anything that tries to tamper with that or in your opinion gets it incredibly wrong is an enemy. Is something that is coming into your territory as a threat, something that needs to be exterminated or called out. And most of the time it just kind of feels like people are on a high horse and are taking it way too deep. A baby in your fandom or someone that, God forbid, has a different perspective than you about a specific media coming into the fold, it's not going to threaten your enjoyment of something. And if it does, you are kind of a little bit insecure. And laring is just a term you're seeing a lot on TikTok and it's a slang term that's being used on so many different social media sites. Grill the [ __ ] up. Suck it up. Why don't you explain why they're doing something wrong? Why don't you inform them of something? Why don't you try to have some sort of discussion or make some sort of counterargument in some way instead of bitching and moaning and complaining constantly that someone's into something that you're into, but they don't have the insane knowledge that you do? Do I sometimes hear some really dumb takes about things I enjoy? Yeah. Does it make me kind of myth? Does it seem a little bit disappointing? Does it seem silly? Yeah.

[00:04:17]But you know what I do when that happens? I either try to talk to the person, I make a video about it, or most of the time, vast majority of the time, I just shut my mouth because people are allowed to have different opinions about something. Now, what would I consider to be laring? Well, I actually think there's a pretty good definition in my eyes of what I would call a larer. It's someone that gets into a fandom and then tries to dictate and redefine what that fandom was or try to completely go against the norm in some way and in some form or fashion disrespect the niche that they are in. I think it's obvious when someone kind of comes in and acts like they know everything. And no one likes someone that thinks they know everything about something, especially when they are a newcomer. And people that do come into a fandom and act holier than thou or act like they have all of the knowledge in the world, but they clearly don't, and they're clearly uneducated and off base and just misinformed about the whole thing. Yeah, I think that's kind of a larer, especially if you're disrespecting the fandom. Every single fandom, no matter what it is, has some specific, not necessarily guidelines, but things that are notorious in that specific space.

[00:05:18]And if you are actively disrespecting that or constantly scapegoating it or acting like it's a bad thing or trying to change it constantly and complaining, yeah, you kind of do come off as a dick and a douchebag. And that's when I do think it kind of dabbles in larer territory. Or alternatively, people who profit off of making a specific scene their entire aesthetic, but they clearly don't have the knowledge of it. If your entire persona and personality is a specific space or community, but you clearly don't have that much knowledge about it, you don't care that much about it, and you're using it more as an aesthetic than anything else. I think you kind of need to learn a little bit more about it and get more into it before you start to do that. And that is something I kind of blame a lot of virality in social media on. And I think a point that a lot of people miss out on is that larpers just make more larpers.

[00:06:06]The people that are actually involved in the scene can usually clock when someone's genuinely trying to get into something versus when they're just doing it for the sake of clout or reputation or some sort of status symbol. It is abundantly obvious to anyone who takes that specific niche and community seriously that someone is just a poser.

[00:06:25]and the quote unquote larers that perpetuate the wrong opinions about that specific scene or just perpetuate weird stereotypes or act like they know how to define a specific community is just going to make more people that feel the same way as them. It's not going to poison the waters. It's not going to taint the people that actually know what they're talking about when it comes to that specific thing. And I truly think deep down most people understand when someone is just doing something performatively. It doesn't take long to read between the lines and see through it because oftentimes performiveness is a very thinly wrapped thing. And it doesn't take long of talking to someone or listening to what they have to say and just in general observing them in that specific scene to just kind of take a step back and be like, "Yeah, you probably are doing this for the wrong reasons." But that's the slippery slope.

[00:07:13]Who gets to define that? Who gets to define the hierarchy of how to enjoy something or how not to? Most of the time, the people I judge are the people that just make an entire aesthetic their identity when they clearly don't really know that much about it, don't care about the history, and don't seem to care to learn about the history. Those are the people I consider to be larpers.

[00:07:32]Those are the ones that are the most damaging and destructive to that specific scene. Not entry-level people who are just dipping their toes in the well and maybe don't have the same sort of infatuation with something as you do or have a different perspective than you do. your purest mentality is just harming the community and you're not putting your attention to the people that actually wear your specific scene as a costume. And that's what a lot of people nowadays are doing in the viral Tik Tok trends and all of these things you see online of people adopting a specific aesthetic and opinion and scene, but you can tell that they are so disconnected from it that they don't even know two things about it. People like TX2, who I make an entire video on eventually, they kind of profit off of making the scene their aesthetic and oftentimes creating this oraoros where the very people who get into it are people who don't know much about it and they start to think that that is the norm and that's how things are supposed to be. And it's a cycle that repeats itself as you cultivate a space of people that are so far removed and detached and disengaged entirely from the initial scene that that disconnect causes a mismatch in the whole community to where its identity gets called into question entirely. Ultimately, just be normal. Treat something normal. Show the scene respect. Whatever you're into. And for people that constantly overuse that term, you're annoying. Stop it. or at least stop overusing the term and use it when it is actually applicable in some form or fashion. Don't just be a douchebag about it cuz no one likes a douchebag at the end of the day. But what are your thoughts of this topic?

[00:09:03]You can let me know down in the comment section below. I can't wait to hear it.

[00:09:05]Agree or disagree, there is no wrong answer. Be sure to like this video if you enjoyed it. Subscribe to join the review family today and smash that notification bell to be notified of my future uploads. You know who it is. My name is Shane Morris and I'm signing off saying farewell.