Vic Mignogna

[Planetnamek]

Oh boy you're one of THOSE types of people?

Yes, I'm one of "those people," if you're referring to people who think we should all treat racism, sexism, etc equally regardless of who the purportator or victim is, or in the case of dead people, was.

Making a minority character white on the other hand is a massive problem as that basically tells minorities who liked that character "hey we don't care about you, we're only trying to appeal to white people since they're a much bigger chunk of the population!".

If people are getting that message out of it, it's solely because they're extrapolating that meaning out of it. All changing a character's identifying features means is those characteristics were fluid and not integral to the character's identity. Example, there's no reason Superman can't be black any more than there's no reason Spawn has to be black.

let me guess, you're one of those people that wants to pretend like institutional racism isn't really a thing right?

And there you go making personality calls on people based on them presenting a differing opinion than your's. Of course institutional racism exist.

Also women are sexualized WAY more in media then men, give me a fucking break with that bullshit argument

Neato, the idea that women are more sexualized than men isn't under debate here though, the idea that any standards placed on sexualizing women should also apply to men is. Basically, if sexualization of women in media has to go, then so does sexualization of men to the same extent. That's the fundamental type of equality seeking femanism was founded on and is supposed to preach.

You're sounding like those Comicsgate trolls online that are still butthurt about Captain Marvel being a Muslim or Iron Man being a black woman. Get over it.

Except Carol Danvers and Tony Stark aren't Mulsim or a black woman respectively, their previous hero persons were taken up by wholly new characters and that's absolutely something I applaud. Don't race/gender/sexuality swap, just make new fucking characters with those "ideal" characteristics. Also, it's Ms. Marvel and Riri Williams wasn't a "woman" when she first appeared, she was a teenage girl. I don't know if they recently aged her up, but she's also not Iron Man anymore, she's her own hero named Ironheart.

It's real easy for a straight guy like you to totally dismiss making a gay character suddenly not gay anymore,

You realize we're talking about this in the context of FANFICTION, right? Not the offical canons swapping out race or gender or whatever, but someone's personal fan comic they made to appease their own personal fantasies.

I'm so goddamn sick of straight white people like you speaking for marginalized individuals and telling them what they can and cannot be offended by.

I didn't say a damn thing about no one being allowed to be offended. It's not a fucking competition to see who has it worse, invalidating any offense or suffering that's deemed "less than" your's or your group's history.

Queer erasure is a real thing, accept it:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queer_erasure

Did you actually read what was on that page, or did you just hear the term somewhere attributed your own definition like you did with Fair Use?

"Historian Gregory Rosenthal refers to queer erasure in describing the exclusion of LGBTQ histories from public history that can occur in urban contexts via gentrification."

A fanfiction that reworks the characters' sexuality and race may be disrespectful to the intent of the author, but it is in no way trying to erase LGBTQ+ "histories from public history." Hell, regular comics can't be accused of that because they have literally no bearing on historical record or the selectivism therein.

Men ARE NOT sexualized in media though, that's utter crap and you know it.

Yes fictional media can very much be accused of that.

You seem to be determined to make it a competition with your pathetic whining about how "wah men are oversexualized in media!" spare me the hysterics.

Also don't try to feed me the bullshit "make new characters" excuse, Riri and Kamala Khan mean a lot to minorities despite not being "new" characters and there is ZERO reason why they shouldn't be updated to better reflect the 21st century. The reason you don't see many "new" characters in DC or Marvel these days is because artists are concerned they will lose rights to any characters they create as that's historically what happened with famous artists like Jack Kirby, therefore artists save their new characters for other comics publishers like Image that are better at protecting creators rights.

This last asinine post has solidified that you are a bigot and that absolutely nothing you say is worth listening to.

So you think "reverse racism" is a thing? Well no it isn't, making fun of white people is not remotely the same thing as making racist remarks about minorities.

Oh I can't wait for Kunzait to systematically tear apart your entire bullshit argument, he eats trolls like you for breakfast.

[Zeon_Grunt]

Men ARE NOT sexualized in media though, that's utter crap and you know it.

Because this is anything except sexualization: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE

Why do you honestly think we're seeing so many men showing off their ripped bods in gratuitous topless shots. Do you honestly think watching Chris Hemsworth pat himself down with a wet washcloth in Thor 2 was "male power fantasy" as pretty much any display of overly idealized topless men get accused of being. This whole notion that men aren't sexualized ignores how often men are expected to get into unrealistic shape to prance around on screen topless and oiled up as well as the fact that women are attracted to topless men just as much as men are attracted to topless women.

Yes fictional media can very much be accused of that.

You seem to be determined to make it a competition with your pathetic whining about how "wah men are oversexualized in media!" spare me the hysterics.

Acknowledging that everyone suffers at the hands of others and group is discriminated against to some degree by some group or another isn't the same thing as trying to make it a pissing match. If anything, it's trying to take the pissing match out of the conversation and stop people from saying shit like "yeah, you got called a racial slur today, but my great-great-grandfather was a slave, so your discrimination is less than mine and therefore invalid and not worth discussing."

Also don't try to feed me the bullshit "make new characters" excuse, Riri and Kamala Khan mean a lot to minorities despite not being "new" characters and there is ZERO reason why they shouldn't be updated to better reflect the 21st century.

Right, because my personal preference that characters shouldn't be rebooted or reworked to appeal to a different crowd rather than simply making new characters that would defacto is a "bullshit excuse." It's starting to read

The reason you don't see many "new" characters in DC or Marvel these days is because artists are concerned they will lose rights to any characters they create as that's historically what happened with famous artists like Jack Kirby, therefore artists save their new characters for other comics publishers like Image that are better at protecting creators rights.

Neato, that's neither here nor there on the topic.

So you think "reverse racism" is a thing? Well no it isn't, making fun of white people is not remotely the same thing as making racist remarks about minorities.

And there it is "white people can't be discriminated against," should have seen that coming a mile away.

[ABED]

Why do you honestly think we're seeing so many men showing off their ripped bods in gratuitous topless shots. Do you honestly think watching Chris Hemsworth pat himself down with a wet washcloth in Thor 2 was "male power fantasy" as pretty much any display of overly idealized topless men get accused of being. This whole notion that men aren't sexualized ignores how often men are expected to get into unrealistic shape to prance around on screen topless and oiled up as well as the fact that women are attracted to topless men just as much as men are attracted to topless women.

If I'm being honest, yes there is a male power fantasy aspect to showing someone as ripped as Hemsworth. It's partly as female eyecandy but part of it is putting forth the idea of "if you look like this, you could get a girl as hot as Natalie Portman as well." Admittedly this is all beside the point but I was just putting in my 2 cents.

[Planetnamek]

Men ARE NOT sexualized in media though, that's utter crap and you know it.

Because this is anything except sexualization: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE

Why do you honestly think we're seeing so many men showing off their ripped bods in gratuitous topless shots. Do you honestly think watching Chris Hemsworth pat himself down with a wet washcloth in Thor 2 was "male power fantasy" as pretty much any display of overly idealized topless men get accused of being. This whole notion that men aren't sexualized ignores how often men are expected to get into unrealistic shape to prance around on screen topless and oiled up as well as the fact that women are attracted to topless men just as much as men are attracted to topless women.

Yes fictional media can very much be accused of that.

You seem to be determined to make it a competition with your pathetic whining about how "wah men are oversexualized in media!" spare me the hysterics.

Acknowledging that everyone suffers at the hands of others and group is discriminated against to some degree by some group or another isn't the same thing as trying to make it a pissing match. If anything, it's trying to take the pissing match out of the conversation and stop people from saying shit like "yeah, you got called a racial slur today, but my great-great-grandfather was a slave, so your discrimination is less than mine and therefore invalid and not worth discussing."

Also don't try to feed me the bullshit "make new characters" excuse, Riri and Kamala Khan mean a lot to minorities despite not being "new" characters and there is ZERO reason why they shouldn't be updated to better reflect the 21st century.

Right, because my personal preference that characters shouldn't be rebooted or reworked to appeal to a different crowd rather than simply making new characters that would defacto is a "bullshit excuse." It's starting to read

The reason you don't see many "new" characters in DC or Marvel these days is because artists are concerned they will lose rights to any characters they create as that's historically what happened with famous artists like Jack Kirby, therefore artists save their new characters for other comics publishers like Image that are better at protecting creators rights.

Neato, that's neither here nor there on the topic.

So you think "reverse racism" is a thing? Well no it isn't, making fun of white people is not remotely the same thing as making racist remarks about minorities.

And there it is "white people can't be discriminated against," should have seen that coming a mile away.

Jim Sterling awhile back did an excellent video that perfectly summed up why this insane troll logic is utter nonsense:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR9UMgOFeLw

No white people really can't be discriminated against, or at the very least it happens SO rarely that it's not worth mentioning. Let me guess, you're against Affirmative Action right?

Yes it is both here and there on the topic, you wondered why Marvel and DC didn't just create new characters, well that's why.

Sounds like you to start following some black activists like Michael Harriot on The Root, because oh boy are you incredibly ignorant on the subject of race.

[Polyphase Avatron]

As far as I'm concerned, fans can do anything they want with characters in fan works, as long as they're not claiming it's official or making money off of it. But on the other hand, no one is obligated to like what they do either.

[JulieYBM]

No one said it had to be offensive to object to it. If I write my characters one way, I want them to always be portrayed in ways that align with how I wrote them. If they're straight, they're straight. If they're gay, they're gay. If they're xenosexual, then they're xenosexuals. I don't give two shits about the concept of "punching up" or "punching down" to apply double standards to situations ("it's ok to do it this way because we were oppressed before, but if you do it the other way, it's inherently oppressive regardless of intent").


Maybe your phrasing is just wrong, but this reads as though the entire point of characters in Japan is to remix them with doujinshi

Since at least the 1970s Otaku (what were then known as 'male shoujo fans' and 'male bishoujo fans' before Nakamori Akio coined his homophobic 'Otaku' in 1983) have taken the characters they liked and 'remixed' them through parody comics and magazines at events like the Comic Market. Otaku culture is the culture of taking characters and making them into one's own, either through fan comics, illustrations, performance or simple shrine-erecting or data collection. Some fans even marry their favorite character!

In the series Shirobako Director Kinoshita is otherwise presented as being heterosexual but because of his friendship with Production Desk Honda the two have been remixed in doujinshi and fan illustrations as a gay couple. The style of character creation in Japan directly leads to fans being so thrilled to remix them.

Where in the world is this narrative coming from?

As a queer woman, I'm very familiar with the strawmen that bigots use to paint GSRM folks as evil. I'm getting ahead of the cart to prevent any issues here.

If that's the case, then fine. I've never come across video of the incident and people I see discussing it online generally just say "he refused to sign Yaoi" and using that as the sole signified that he's a homophobe.

I don't have a problem with them at all. I have a problem with double standards of any kind. Like it's ok to gender/race/sexuality swap a cis white male character, everything is A-OK, but if you change any one of those aspects to be cis, white, or male, then it's incredibly offensive. Likewise with sexualization double standards. Like, it's ok for men to be sexualized in media all the time, but when women are sexualized, it's a huge issue that needs to be discussed up to and even to the point of derailing any potential discussion about possibly also applying the same new standards applied to men's appearances in media as well.

I also take offense to people just saying stupid shit like this unprovoked:
"Heterosexuals aren't 'erased' and never will be--the entire idea that they might be is just homophobic and transphobic propaganda."

Like, sexuality swapping fanfiction has no more a danger of "erasing" LGBTQ+ people or characters than it does having the reverse. Like, fiction has no bearings on reality and no amount of "this gay character was drawn kissing a hetero partner" can change that LGBTQ+ people exist nor what their sexual orientation in the official canon is.

Cishet white men aren't afraid to leave their houses for fear of being beaten to death. They don't have to travel the country incognito if they don't pass for cisgender. Making a 'straight' character fuck their best friend in a fan fic is not cishet erasure because cishet people do not have to struggle for representation in media. The one trans character in the DCTVU is barely involved with the story and will go entire episodes without being seen. Her superpowers are chalked up to her being an alien. She's basically an after-thought. Worse yet, she's still one of only two or three half-way decent representations of who trans people are in US media. Minority representation in media is important because it normalizes us and helps fight bigotry. How many children of bigots grew up at odds with their parents because media taught them that all sorts of minorities are no different from them?

It's perfectly fine for fictional characters to be sexualized in media but it can still be criticized. For example, I (a woman-loving-woman) don't find the 'sexy' scenes in Marvel films to be actually 'sexy'. Scarlett Johansson in a tight dress for a scene in The Avengers? I sleep. Boring as hell. Surface-layer gawking from cishet men with poor taste and no sense of eroticism.

[Planetnamek]

Well said Julie, could not have put it any better myself.

I think ScarJo is sexy pretty much no matter what, but i'm 100% for more non-straight and non-white characters in fictional media. Even speaking as somewhat cis white guy(I say somewhat because according to the Kinsey scale i'm certainly not 100% straight)i'm getting a bit bored with straight white male characters in fiction(which is one of the reasons i'm so pumped for Last of Us 2 and why I was so happy Kait become the main focus in Gears 5)and i'm always excited to see things get shook up, and you know anything that pisses off bigoted incel creeps like "Diversity in Comics" has got to be good.

Plus with my autism, I can't really identify with most of these cis-white male characters anyways. Us Aspies haven't had a whole lot in terms of representation but that is changing thankfully.

The fact that Zeno totally dismissed the notion of "punching down" sadly does not surprise me at all, that right there tells me he has absolutely nothing worthwhile to contribute and is not worth listening to on anything in the least. Responding to him i've come to realize is clearly a waste of time as he just wants everyone else to mindlessly agree with his own misguided views. So i'm not going to take his bait anymore, i've got far better things to do with my time than to respond to his easily debunked dime-a-dozen Jordan Peterson-esque posts.

[JulieYBM]

Well said Julie, could not have put it any better myself.

I think ScarJo is sexy pretty much no matter what, but i'm 100% for more non-straight and non-white characters in fictional media. Even speaking as somewhat cis white guy(I say somewhat because according to the Kinsey scale i'm certainly not 100% straight)i'm getting a bit bored with straight white male characters in fiction(which is one of the reasons i'm so pumped for Last of Us 2 and why I was so happy Kait become the main focus in Gears 5)and i'm always excited to see things get shook up, and you know anything that pisses off bigoted incel creeps like "Diversity in Comics" has got to be good.

Plus with my autism, I can't really identify with most of these cis-white male characters anyways. Us Aspies haven't had a whole lot in terms of representation but that is changing thankfully.

To be fair, I am partially demisexual--meaning I don't get attracted to people without a close personal relationship--but I just find Hollywood people to be so...lifeless and unsexy. Chris Hemsworth in the trailer for Men in Black: International was super hawwwwtttttttt as hell, though. >_> I find any of the GSRM folks I follow on social media to be much more attractive but again, that could be a mix of my demisexuality and pansexuality just leading me to finding them attractive in general.

One of these days I need to get checked for autism myself. I've always found a lot of what I've read about it and other nuero-divergent people to be really relatable.

[Planetnamek]

Well said Julie, could not have put it any better myself.

I think ScarJo is sexy pretty much no matter what, but i'm 100% for more non-straight and non-white characters in fictional media. Even speaking as somewhat cis white guy(I say somewhat because according to the Kinsey scale i'm certainly not 100% straight)i'm getting a bit bored with straight white male characters in fiction(which is one of the reasons i'm so pumped for Last of Us 2 and why I was so happy Kait become the main focus in Gears 5)and i'm always excited to see things get shook up, and you know anything that pisses off bigoted incel creeps like "Diversity in Comics" has got to be good.

Plus with my autism, I can't really identify with most of these cis-white male characters anyways. Us Aspies haven't had a whole lot in terms of representation but that is changing thankfully.

To be fair, I am partially demisexual--meaning I don't get attracted to people without a close personal relationship--but I just find Hollywood people to be so...lifeless and unsexy. Chris Hemsworth in the trailer for Men in Black: International was super hawwwwtttttttt as hell, though. >_> I find any of the GSRM folks I follow on social media to be much more attractive but again, that could be a mix of my demisexuality and pansexuality just leading me to finding them attractive in general.

One of these days I need to get checked for autism myself. I've always found a lot of what I've read about it and other nuero-divergent people to be really relatable.

Demisexual eh? Interesting, first time I ever heard that term was on that Netflix animated series Big Mouth(speaking of which, that right there is a great show for representation)

BTW what does GSRM stand for? That's one term i'm not quite familiar with.

I'd highly recommend reading this excellent book by Laura Kate Dale-an autistic trans games journalist:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NVWY894/re ... TF8&btkr=1

I find some Hollywood types attractive, though not quite as much as some internet celebs.

[JulieYBM]

Well said Julie, could not have put it any better myself.

I think ScarJo is sexy pretty much no matter what, but i'm 100% for more non-straight and non-white characters in fictional media. Even speaking as somewhat cis white guy(I say somewhat because according to the Kinsey scale i'm certainly not 100% straight)i'm getting a bit bored with straight white male characters in fiction(which is one of the reasons i'm so pumped for Last of Us 2 and why I was so happy Kait become the main focus in Gears 5)and i'm always excited to see things get shook up, and you know anything that pisses off bigoted incel creeps like "Diversity in Comics" has got to be good.

Plus with my autism, I can't really identify with most of these cis-white male characters anyways. Us Aspies haven't had a whole lot in terms of representation but that is changing thankfully.

To be fair, I am partially demisexual--meaning I don't get attracted to people without a close personal relationship--but I just find Hollywood people to be so...lifeless and unsexy. Chris Hemsworth in the trailer for Men in Black: International was super hawwwwtttttttt as hell, though. >_> I find any of the GSRM folks I follow on social media to be much more attractive but again, that could be a mix of my demisexuality and pansexuality just leading me to finding them attractive in general.

One of these days I need to get checked for autism myself. I've always found a lot of what I've read about it and other nuero-divergent people to be really relatable.

Demisexual eh? Interesting, first time I ever heard that term was on that Netflix animated series Big Mouth(speaking of which, that right there is a great show for representation)

BTW what does GSRM stand for? That's one term i'm not quite familiar with.

I'd highly recommend reading this excellent book by Laura Kate Dale-an autistic trans games journalist:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NVWY894/re ... TF8&btkr=1

I find some Hollywood types attractive, though not quite as much as some internet celebs.

Gender
Sexuality
Romance
Minorities

The term is a more terse and all-inclusive version of LGBTQIA+ that doesn't leave our aromantic and asexual folks. I really wish it would pick up steam but it took just this long for mainstream media to pick up LGBT+. I learned 'demisexual' from my therapist so I employ it sometimes since my sexuality is a bit of a mix. I'm attracted to every gender (bisexual) and even have a preference but my attraction to individuals operates as pansexuality (hearts before parts). I only just got my hormones in a good place so I wonder how my sexuality will change in a year after my brain has had time to be soaked in the proper amount of estrogen for once.

[Scsigs]

From what I've seen, Vic's official reason for not signing the yaoi fanart is because it's not official stuff, but let me know if that explanation doesn't hold water.

[Planetnamek]

Ah OK, i'll try and start using that term more, it's easier to type out anyways.

Good luck with your hormones, I wish you the best

From what I've seen, Vic's official reason for not signing the yaoi fanart is because it's not official stuff, but let me know if that explanation doesn't hold water.

I definitely don't buy that, it reminds me of when Butch Hartman spoke out against gay fanart of his animated shows(Fairly Oddparents, Danny Phantom) and then of course he outed himself as incredibly narrow-minded in a number of ways that made it very clear his opposition to that type of fan-art had nothing to do with it not being "official".

[miguelnuva1]

A

I definitely don't buy that, it reminds me of when Butch Hartman spoke out against gay fanart of his animated shows(Fairly Oddparents, Danny Phantom) and then of course he outed himself as incredibly narrow-minded in a number of ways that made it very clear his opposition to that type of fan-art had nothing to do with it not being "official".

Wait what did Butch Hartman do to out himself?

[Tian]

Us Aspies haven't had a whole lot in terms of representation but that is changing thankfully.

As an Aspie, I can agree that I like we are getting more representation in media.

Although... I don't feel the writers are doing it accurately. I mean, I have seen some scripted Aspies on TV and man, I can barely or can't relate to them at all. They write us as walking encyclopedias, people who live in "their own worlds" or in the worst of the cases, as if we were infected by some kind of lethal disease.

[JulieYBM]

Us Aspies haven't had a whole lot in terms of representation but that is changing thankfully.

As an Aspie, I can agree that I like we are getting more representation in media.

Although... I don't feel the writers are doing it accurately. I mean, I have seen some scripted Aspies on TV and man, I can barely or can't relate to them at all. They write us as walking encyclopedias, people who live in "their own worlds" or in the worst of the cases, as if we were infected by some kind of lethal disease.

Yeah, I've noticed that a lot of Aspie folks are written as being 'weird', rather than being stuck in a deeply ableist society. A lot of queer folks are on the spectrum so when I see how autism is portrayed poorly in media it affects them, too, and I hate seeing that.

[Planetnamek]

Us Aspies haven't had a whole lot in terms of representation but that is changing thankfully.

As an Aspie, I can agree that I like we are getting more representation in media.

Although... I don't feel the writers are doing it accurately. I mean, I have seen some scripted Aspies on TV and man, I can barely or can't relate to them at all. They write us as walking encyclopedias, people who live in "their own worlds" or in the worst of the cases, as if we were infected by some kind of lethal disease.

That's true, I do get tired of people in real life assuming i'm a math whiz when i've always been a C student at best in that area. I blame the organization Autism Speaks for the "disease" stereotype, I remember going to Gamestop and the clerk asked me if I wanted to donate to AS and I felt sick to my stomach. They truly are a terrible organization and I lost all respect for Sesame Street when I heard they promoted that horrible organization using their new autistic character Julie, like what a betrayal to the kids on the spectrum that were happy to see a positive portrayal of themselves on screen.

I also truly despise assholes like Alex St John that think Aspies are just mindless robots who never feel emotions.

For those who don't know Autism Speaks is or why they are so bad, Mr Enter sums it up better then I can here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMPNvcJtIR8

Basically imagine if a chapter of the NAACP was run by David Duke or if GLAAD was run by Stephen Miller, that's the reality those of us with autism find ourselves-an organization that claims to "help" us only hurts us with terrible ads that make as out to be freaks of nature.

A

I definitely don't buy that, it reminds me of when Butch Hartman spoke out against gay fanart of his animated shows(Fairly Oddparents, Danny Phantom) and then of course he outed himself as incredibly narrow-minded in a number of ways that made it very clear his opposition to that type of fan-art had nothing to do with it not being "official".

Wait what did Butch Hartman do to out himself?

This is the best summary I could find that describes how he went off the deep end:https://board.sonicstadium.org/topic/23 ... ntroversy/

It always sucks to see talented creators go insane, Hartman may not be as bad as say Doug Tenapel(of Earthworm Jim fame) and Scott Adams(of Dilbert fame) but he's getting there.

[Polyphase Avatron]

Some fans even marry their favorite character!

I'm not going to lie - I find this creepy as all get out, even if they're not fully serious about it.

[JulieYBM]

Some fans even marry their favorite character!

I'm not going to lie - I find this creepy as all get out, even if they're not fully serious about it.

I try not to tell others how to operate their sexuality. Otaku are humans with feelings, too, after all, and their trademark attribute is just how passionately they express their love of their hobby. The massive population of Otaku that was born in the 1970s and 1980s can't just be a coincidence, they could easily be a new way of understanding how humans operate and cooperate with one another.

[Polyphase Avatron]

Some fans even marry their favorite character!

I'm not going to lie - I find this creepy as all get out, even if they're not fully serious about it.

I try not to tell others how to operate their sexuality. Otaku are humans with feelings, too, after all, and their trademark attribute is just how passionately they express their love of their hobby. The massive population of Otaku that was born in the 1970s and 1980s can't just be a coincidence, they could easily be a new way of understanding how humans operate and cooperate with one another.

But the idea of 'marrying' a fictional character - something that doesn't exist in reality? It comes off as delusional. There was a news story about a Japanese guy who 'married' a character from his Nintendo DS dating sim, and had a ceremony and everything. It was incredibly disturbing.

[JulieYBM]

I'm not going to lie - I find this creepy as all get out, even if they're not fully serious about it.

I try not to tell others how to operate their sexuality. Otaku are humans with feelings, too, after all, and their trademark attribute is just how passionately they express their love of their hobby. The massive population of Otaku that was born in the 1970s and 1980s can't just be a coincidence, they could easily be a new way of understanding how humans operate and cooperate with one another.

But the idea of 'marrying' a fictional character - something that doesn't exist in reality? It comes off as delusional. There was a news story about a Japanese guy who 'married' a character from his Nintendo DS dating sim, and had a ceremony and everything. It was incredibly disturbing.

That's what Otaku do, they perform their passion. Some marry a character they love, others create doujinshi, print them and then sell them at events for other fans.

What do you actually know about this Otaku other than they jack it to a cartoon character?