Superfans

Larpers, Gothic Lolitas, Star Wars freaks, and Nintendo game devotees lurk among us.

A A A Comments (15) By C. Stiles and John Linn Thursday, Feb 19 2009

C. Stiles

Ricky Torres, executive officer of the 501st Legion of stormtroopers, poses as Jango Fett. Torres has also constructed a clone soldier, a blue variant, a tie pilot, and Darth Vader.

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They serve your food. They sort your mail. They man the ladder trucks.

They are your accountants. Your nurses. Your personal trainers. But when they are finished cooking your food and bagging your groceries and driving your children home from school, they become something bigger: a heavily armored stormtrooper, battle rifle in tow. A demure Gothic Lolita, smiling shyly behind linen and lace. A short, sword-wielding night elf, enacting a living role-playing game. Super Mario himself.

What drives these otherwise ordinary people, these superfans, to cast off their mortal lives and slip into the realm of fantasy? For some, like Denise Ritenour, who has spent the past ten years playing powerful vampires, fandom is escapism. "You can become anyone or anything when you larp," says Ritenour, who participates in "larps," or live-action role-playing games. "I have the ability to check reality at the door."

For others, it's about developing bonds that are greater than this world. That's how it's described by Ricky Torres, executive officer of Vader's Fist, the 501st Legion of Florida stormtroopers. "I could call anyone in Pensacola, Jacksonville, Tampa, or Orlando," Torres says, "and my brothers would drop anything to help me if I was in trouble."

Mostly, fandom means dedication to a cause. It means falling asleep humming "The Imperial March," dreaming of elaborate designs and Victorian gowns. It means working tirelessly on your next costume or staying up all night painting and gluing and honing your broadsword. It means the only way the real world of doctors and lawyers and tax attorneys will ever take that Nintendo controller from you is if they pry it out of your cold, dead hands.

It's the fans' world. You're just living in it.

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Angie 02/21/2009 9:35:00 PM

Did you even research AT ALL??? Holy crap, you must've written this article in 5 mins, cause its terribly written, very condescending, and has no factual information. Why the hell is it so hard for you people to even use Wikipedia, and just the google around geez.
Yuuka 02/20/2009 3:59:00 PM

So much for "insightful coverage."
Kri 02/20/2009 2:29:00 PM

I really hope this article was written by an intern. The lack of understanding is astounding.
Amanda 02/20/2009 12:45:00 PM

Lolita Fashion =/= cosplay Please do not lump us in with cosplayers or larpers. this is a fashion to us, it is our normal clothes. We are not doing this as an escape for anything. You know our community site existed, and you failed to talk to any of us. Learn to do a little more background work before writing somthing.
Celticfreefall 02/20/2009 12:17:00 PM

Not that I expect you to cram a coherent explanation of what lolita is into such a short article, but I'd rather you'd left it out of the article entirely instead of lumping it in with "fan based" activities like LARPing and Cosplay. Especially since lolita isn't fanbased at all, and lolita is a fashion not cosplay. There really isn't any connection. I find the linkage with all of theses activities with low pay based jobs offensive as well. You really couldn't be bothered to throw in "Lawyer" or something? And when you do mention such professions it's to say that they'd have to pry a game console controller from our dead hands. How in the world do you think lolitas afford their $1,000 outfits? Not all of us are pizza delivery guys.
Erika 02/20/2009 3:41:00 AM

wow...it must have taken you all but 5 min to write this article. did you even bother to interview or speak to these people? I can't help but feel that you just wanted to showcase the photographers pictures? (because otherwise this whole thing just doesnt make sense at all) that could have been done without the crappy article.
Betsy 02/19/2009 11:56:00 PM

The person who wrote this article has no idea almost every young woman in Harajuku, Japan wears or knows someone who wears gothic lolita style fashion. I think the author thought they were wearing costumes because they don't have stores like these in America and maybe "normal" means wearing t-shirts and shorts and plain clothing. Women who wear gothic lolita and men who wear Edwardian Victorian style gothic aristocrat fashion are just reacting to the poorly made clothes that you'd find at Wal Mart. I personally would rather get my clothes from Japan where one can still look feminine woman in a frilly dress with bows rather than dress like a boy in pants, or a slut with a V neck exposing her cleavage, or like a pregnant '60s hippie in a lame peasant top which seems to be the stupid look designers are putting in American stores these days.
Betsy 02/19/2009 11:54:00 PM

The person who wrote this article has no idea almost every young woman in Harajuku, Japan wears or knows someone who wears gothic lolita style fashion. I think the author thought they were wearing costumes because they don't have stores like these in America and maybe "normal" means wearing t-shirts and shorts and plain clothing. Women who wear gothic lolita and men who wear Edwardian Victorian style gothic aristocrat fashion are just reacting to the poorly made clothes that you'd find at Wal Mart. I personally would rather get my clothes from Japan where one can still look feminine woman in a frilly dress with bows rather than dress like a boy in pants, or a slut with a V neck exposing her cleavage, or like a pregnant '60s hippie in a lame peasant top which seems to be the stupid look designers are putting in American stores these days.
Courtney 02/19/2009 10:21:00 PM

How are you failing to grasp that lolita is a fashion? Cosplayers and LARPs act like something they arn't for fun (totally understandable) But lolitas get dressed and act how they would any other day. The difference between a costume and an outfit is how you act in it. In lolita, I am Courtney. In costume I am *generic cosplay character*. Did you even interview these lovely ladies?
Trish 02/19/2009 8:49:00 PM

I would just like to clarify that Gothic Lolita and Larping are two very different things that has absolutely nothing to do with each other. Lolita is a street fashion and some of us wear it on a daily basis. We wear it coz it's pretty and cute, they same way any other person wears a dress from an ordinary store . We do not wear it for 'escapisim'.
Chandra 02/19/2009 8:34:00 PM

I must agree with the previous comments. As one who was photographed in this "article" I was not made aware that lolita fashion was going to be grouped with cosplay and larping.One has absolutley nothing to do with the other. Lolita is simply a sub-fashion. It is not an attempt to escape reality.
Lily 02/19/2009 7:12:00 PM

I agree with the above commenters - this article is incredibly condescending, and is once again evidence of a reporter writing about something they've done precious little research into. The link between LARPing and lolita is all but nonexistent - lolita is not fanbased in the manner you suggest, but a fashion subculture.
H 02/19/2009 7:11:00 PM

Lolita is a fashion and it is not related to LARP'ing in any way. It's not role playing, it's just a style of clothing.
Sara Barnett 02/19/2009 6:44:00 PM

I'm a bit confused how you can include us (Gothic lolita) into an article about Live Action Role Play. Lolita has little to nothing to do with LARP'ing. We dress this as a fashion. Some of us just for special events, and some for every day wear, but we aren't LARPers.
Stacie 02/19/2009 1:24:00 PM

This article is badly written and it hardly qualifies as news. I find the condescending nature of the article offensive and contains no factual information. Did the writer even bother to research on wikipedia before writing this?