How to Successfully LARP Your Way Into Anything

For those who aren’t aware, the term LARP is an acronym for “live-action role-play,” which refers not only to a genre of games in which players physically portray characters, but also to an extensive community that is different from, but not isolated from, cosplayers. LARPing, while previously a niche hobby and community, has skyrocketed in fame, but for all the wrong reasons, the kind that misconstrue its concept and those passionate about it. This is because the terms “LARP,” “LARPing,” and “LARPer” have evolved into slang used to call out people who pose as fans of a series, book, band, game, social movement, etc., that they have never or barely seen or participated in, yet label themselves as part of the community. In turn, it can be seen as a new form of insult similar to “poser” and “faker.” Given this and the number of variations of this kind of insult, it raises the question of our society’s obsession with craving a community and a niche while putting in the least amount of effort to actually belong, properly represent the people in the community, or understand and embody the ideologies they stand for.

What’s the Problem?

Besides the misrepresentation of the actual LARPing community, the widespread threat of this kind of parasitic relationship, in which people try to shallowly establish a niche or style within communities, especially alternative and marginalized ones, is more harmful than you would expect. One of the most recent and extreme examples of this involves the fetishization and misrepresentation of the goth subculture because of certain content creators, such as those who are part of the “Goth House.”

For example, they have been seen making blanket statements such as “f*ck the system.” While the goth subculture is, at its core, anti-establishment, this kind of messaging, if you are generally under the alternative umbrella, makes you wonder exactly which system we are talking about. This kind of shallow messaging indicates to the rest of the world that you probably subscribe to goth ideologies, but makes it glaringly clear to those who are actually part of the community how much you are posing. The damage inflicted on an already misunderstood group of people has resulted in the sexualization of the “goth aesthetic,” the watering down of what being goth means, and the erasure and general disregard of its history and culture.

This kind of damaging outcome is not exclusive to the goth subculture. It is something that almost every community, especially those prominent online, constantly fears. In turn, that is also why it seems that everyone hates a LARPer, poser, or faker, as exemplified through shaming and gatekeeping culture. We can see this in the shaming of people for being “performative.” However, this can also be a double-edged sword. Most of the time, rather than protecting a community from harmful individuals, it only dissuades genuinely passionate people from participating in and assimilating into a community.x

The “Aestheticification” of Everything

With everything evolving into an aesthetic you possess rather than a subculture, fandom, or community you are part of, the focus begins to revolve around the visual aspects that best signal to the rest of the world what kind of person you might be. No longer is it the punk movement, but the punk aesthetic. No longer is it the goth subculture, but the goth aesthetic. This can be attributed to the rise of “-core” trends on social media that minimize these comprehensive identities and ideologies into primarily fashion styles, as well as superficial interests, topics, and elements from specific cultures that have entered the mainstream.

While there is nothing necessarily wrong with relating to or being inspired by these “-core” trends, they should be viewed more as instruments for introducing people to communities, subcultures, fandoms, etc., and the aesthetics associated with them. Given this, we should not stop at appreciating the visual aspects and adopting those styles into our fashion sense. We must become more proactive in showing appreciation for their origins.

While it may seem that this is “not that deep,” frankly, this laziness and deliberate ignorance are what will eventually lead to further misconceptions and the erasure of the efforts that a group of people contributed to society. Despite this, it is still important to acknowledge that people should enjoy the things they love in the ways they want to, as long as they do so respectfully and sincerely.

I cannot deny that it can sometimes be intimidating to assimilate into a specific fandom despite loving the original text, or to proudly label myself as a participant in a social movement despite sharing the same ideologies. However, that self-consciousness is what drives me to be responsible and inform myself before claiming to be part of or represent a community.

Steps to LARP Effectively

Step 1: Find a community, subculture, movement, fandom, etc., that interests you or aligns with your passions.

Step 2: Listen to how other people experience it and what it means to them.

Step 3: Research its history and culture and, in general, educate yourself and construct your own view of it.

Step 4: Interact with members of the group or participate in discussions and conversations.

Step 5: Try to expand your interests and mindfully consume content and media surrounding it.

Step 6: Assimilate into the community and learn how to represent its people and principles.

Step 7: Form your own opinion based on your experiences and feelings rather than regurgitating the same sentiments.

At the end of the day, most communities will welcome people with open arms as long as they genuinely show passion and respect for what the community stands for. Similar to cultural appropriation, disrespecting a community by adopting its elements and ideologies without proper acknowledgment or understanding can and will be seen as exploitative. In turn, we cannot blame individuals from those communities for taking measures to protect what matters to them.

However, there is no doubt that this can and has become a form of elitism and exclusionary behavior. It has evolved into a frustrating cycle that does nothing but continue to promote an anti-intellectual agenda that discourages people from educating themselves about the communities they want to be part of, while maintaining a gatekeeping culture that prevents communities from evolving.