Stan Culture in VK

[psychonnect_rozen 585]

We all know Visual Kei is home to some of the most humble fans ever. However, if you look on Twitter or Tumblr, you get a shitload of fuck.

 

It's no secret that many forms of entertainment, from K-Pop to Classic Rock, have it's fair share of obsessive fans, or "Stan's". This can range from band wars (Diru vs Gazette) to spreading false and hurtful rumors about bandmen. Most of these, and I'm not saying all of them are, are mostly younger fans, mainly teenage girls. I won't lie and say that I know a lot of these fans on Instagram and most of them are pretty nice and chill. What I am talking about is the ones who take things WAYYYYY too far. 

 

From what I gathered, many of these fans seem to treat bandmen as god's, for example the infamous Kareki user . Also, many fans will go as far as to save their V-Card (like THAT will ever happen) for a specific musician. Now, it's totally fine to have a crush or be attracted to a musician (I mean, doesn't everybody), but there is a fine line between having a crush and just being borderline weird. The band's that have the most stan fans are Diru and The Gazette (which sucks because I like both and I have to deal with a bunch of crazies) and X Japan, although this applies mostly to fans in Japan. 

 

Question Time!:

1. Worst experience with a Stan?

2. Is the word "Stan" okay to use as a positive word? Ex: I STAN THE GAZETTE!

3. Where do you draw the line when it comes to liking a band?

4. Does the existence of Stan's in your band fandom ruin your experience within the fandom? If so, why?

 

DISCLAIMER: Remember, keep discussion respectful. No rude or insulting behaviour 

Edited June 18, 2019 by psychonnect_rozen

[Triangle 345]

Tbh the 2019 ver of a stan is very different than Eminem’s song XD. 

I haven’t seen that many people claiming that their bandomen are gods (although let’s face it, Tatsuro can pretty much be one for all I know hahaha). 

I like calling myself a stan, even though I stan a bunch of bands and idols and whatever 😂. I don’t seriously think that my faves are the best and yours suck, in fact I’m open to love and stan  more bands. In my opinion, the term “stan” is used for when you love a band so much that their music makes you happy, even if you’re going to their lives or not. I think it has lost its original negative meaning long time ago. 

[suji 8317]

40 minutes ago, psychonnect_rozen said:

a shitload of fuck

basically me stanning merry and marco, cuz i'm the only one LOL

[JRD 5156]

I feel like I'm being called out by this thread. Stanning a band is basically you devoting yourself to them(in my case) supporting the fuck out of them because you love their work and what they do. 

 

I basically have a shit ton of Panic Channel chekis, FULL EFFECT' chekis, and DragonWAPPPPPPER. I have every single アー写 Panic Channel has every put out and every releases sans 3 VHS tapes that are like impossible to get. I have アー写 from FULL EFFECT' that hasn't even hit the light of the internet because they're so indie. I bought 6 copies have each of their last two albums. I bought DragonWAPPPPPPER's limited 20 remix CD for almost $300. I have goods like towels, shirts, and hoodies I don't wear because I don't want to lose any of them. I own all their releases including a few live limited goods that are near impossible to find. 

 

That's what I think of stanning. Like if you are basically stalking the band like demachi or irimachi, then you're on another level that's not stanning.

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

just read @cvltic's twitter feed while going to see the gazette 

[Komorebi 2193]

1 hour ago, Triangle said:

I haven’t seen that many people claiming that their bandomen are gods (although let’s face it, Tatsuro can pretty much be one for all I know hahaha). 

I like calling myself a stan, even though I stan a bunch of bands and idols and whatever 😂. I don’t seriously think that my faves are the best and yours suck, in fact I’m open to love and stan  more bands. In my opinion, the term “stan” is used for when you love a band so much that their music makes you happy, even if you’re going to their lives or not. I think it has lost its original negative meaning long time ago. 

I second this.

1 hour ago, JRD said:

I feel like I'm being called out by this thread. Stanning a band is basically you devoting yourself to them(in my case) supporting the fuck out of them because you love their work and what they do. 

I feel so called out too :C

1 hour ago, JRD said:

Like if you are basically stalking the band like demachi or irimachi, then you're on another level that's not stanning. 

I've heard some bands don't mind much, I guess it depends on the band and the type of event.  I did demachi once with friends in Japan for a band they knew well and the vocal approached us and asked us to buy him an energy drink .____. I felt used lol
I also ran into my faves at a conbini after a live and I felt awful, even though it was an accident 😕

Edit: Hyde stans are WILD in Latin America, go say he looks old on his latest selfie and they'll insult you, your mother, your dog and even your coworkers.
Also; troll gazette stans who are a weird breed who will also insult you to no end if you suggest harrassing their accounts with gross troll-like questions is wrong, and god forbid you aren't meming the shit out of them 24/7.

Edited June 18, 2019 by Komorebi

[Duwang 676]

7 hours ago, JRD said:

Like if you are basically stalking the band like demachi or irimachi, then you're on another level that's not stanning.

Demachi is NOT straight up stalking if the band is okay with it. Some bands actually have/had a well established tradition of doing demachi after lives, although it's not that common anymore.

LuLu always does it. 3/4 of them chill by the venue for an hour or so talking to fans. Since they haven't done instores in years you can ask them to sign shit for you and if they're in a good mood they will even let you take selfies with them.

Gallo also did it for 5-6 years, but I don't think they do it anymore (I stopped following them after Hikaru left). I have a lot of good demachi memories with them.

Basically, if other fans are doing it, it's probably ok, but if everyone fucks off right after the live it's most likely not a good idea.

Irimachi, however, can be seen as an annoyance by many bands because they're trying to get their shit into the venue and get ready for the live so I don't recommend it.

 

6 hours ago, Komorebi said:

I also ran into my faves at a conbini after a live and I felt awful, even though it was an accident 😕

This happens to me quite often. I don't think they care as long as you don't bother them.

Edited June 19, 2019 by Duwang

[God 264]

tbh i haven’t encountered any vk extremists.  i have encountered vk fans that were off-putting for other reasons?  but most of them seem to be p chill in my experiences.  i’ve encountered the most extremists through kpop.  those kids are wild.

Edited June 19, 2019 by God
typo

[cvltic 1482]

7 hours ago, Peace Heavy mk II said:

just read @cvltic's twitter feed while going to see the gazette 

u get horny for muscles one time and then ppl come running to do a smear campaign on u SMH

i probably have more involvement on stan vk twitter than the average poster here. overall i don't really mind intense fandom stuff, it's nice to see people care so much about what they love.

but the described phenomenon of fans falling in love with their favs ("gachikoi" fans) is kind of the crux of bad fan behavior in vk in general, to me. people are simultaneously super judgmental (towards themselves and others) and super defensive about the potential that they might have actual feelings for their favorites. i feel like the advent of fanfiction, roleplay, etc. in the western fandom is probably sometimes related to young girls needing some outlet for these feelings (and sexuality in general but that's a whole nother can of worms). it's also i think what motivates some women to pull the "i'm a better fan" or "___ is a bad fan" thing -- they want to believe that they're worthy and others are not. stan culture is only fun when it's not competitive like that tbh.

[saishuu 3220]

42 minutes ago, cvltic said:

u get horny for muscles one time and then ppl come running to do a smear campaign on u SMH

it's been weeks x

[Triangle 345]

8 hours ago, Komorebi said:

Edit: Hyde stans are WILD in Latin America, go say he looks old on his latest selfie and they'll insult you, your mother, your dog and even your coworkers.

Hyde fans are wild in general, man. I was with a friend in Japan and she wanted to do irimachi for Vamps because Hyde is sooo good at fanservice and there was this girl omg, when Hyde's car came by she literally took off her clothes and was running along with the car wearing a bikini.

I was standing there like o.o and everyone else around was acting like it was an everyday thing XD. 

[Doesn'tEvenGoHere 121]

Pretty much agree with everything that's been said here. The word stan really has become detached from the original meaning in Eminem's song and now I take it as meaning more "super devoted fan" than "stalker fan." I think so long as you're stanning a band for innocent fun, it's okay. It turns not okay when you start directly bringing other people into your obsession with methods such as cyber bullying or straight up stalking the artist, etc. But yeah, I use the word stan on myself all the time and I think it's okay for others to use it too. It's cute to see how much we get into our fandom. 

 

I also don't think I have any first-hand experiences with aggressively obsessive fans. I've seen screenshots of some pretty delusional shit, but never anything I was personally involved with. And even then, the behavior we see as psycho in the foreign base is mostly something minor like somebody getting mad at others for being mean to Ruki on twitter or writing poems to Kyo or some shit. Very meaningless, petty stuff. But maybe I've just been very lucky and haven't been exposed to the right levels of crazy. 

 

And no, I don't let stan behavior or fandom wars get in my way of enjoying VK. I just don't care enough to let it. I personally love our fandom, even with the crazy it comes with. It's much better than having no fandom at all. My main VK fandom has always been Nightmare and we're currently almost next to dead. I envy the lively fuckery other band fandoms have. 

Edited June 19, 2019 by Doesn'tEvenGoHere

[Doesn'tEvenGoHere 121]

9 hours ago, Komorebi said:

Edit: Hyde stans are WILD in Latin America, go say he looks old on his latest selfie and they'll insult you

And what's up with their obsession with Atsushi Sakurai? Nothing against Buck Tick, but Latin American fans seem to think he's god's gift to women. 

[Masato 365]

I once remotely stalked a bandmen on pokemon go, by looking up the locations of the pokestop gifts he would send me. I am so proud of myself! 😂 

After a while it got boring though when i had figured out his hood. I did nothing with the info, just knew he was living on campus at his university. Lol

[JRD 5156]

6 hours ago, Duwang said:

Demachi is NOT straight up stalking if the band is okay with it. Some bands actually have/had a well established tradition of doing demachi after lives, although it's not that common anymore.

 

Sorz I found it weird to wait for bands. Maybe that's the introvert side of me, since I'm super shy at first. Sorry if I offended you.

[hotcocoa 36]

From time to time I have problems with fans who see other fans of the same member as 'rivals' and are interested romantically as in 'he feel notice how devoted I am and there will be happy ever after'. The mild form would be people badmouthing me or fans who were friendly before stopping to talk to me. The harsher form is being shoved or pushed during shows. Apparently it's easier for members to spot my white face and that's threatening.

 

This kind of obsessive behavior can drive away new fans. I haven't stopped  following any artists because of that, but it definitely changes how I feel about going to lives or events. 

 

I think it's great when fans are passionate, but they need to stay in touch with reality - we are all just fans and musicians are just normal guys who play music. 

 

[Komorebi 2193]

9 hours ago, Doesn'tEvenGoHere said:

And what's up with their obsession with Atsushi Sakurai? Nothing against Buck Tick, but Latin American fans seem to think he's god's gift to women. 

I have NO idea why they worship him so much. Fans here are way more into the old school popular bands and diss post-2010 vk a lot. There's a 2000+ people group for Jrock fans in Chile and 80% of the posts are about Hyde, B-T, Gackt and popular Jrock stuff. The people really into obscure old VK bands or the newer scene are a niche within a niche.

5 hours ago, hotcocoa said:

From time to time I have problems with fans who see other fans of the same member as 'rivals' and are interested romantically

A gya I get along with goes with me to lives and events of two different bands and for one band we have the same favorite member and for the other one we don't. She asked me once if she was ok with us liking the same member for band A and seemed surprised when I said I was, and then said "if you liked my honmei (her fave from band B ) we wouldn't be friends". They are super intense, but I've never had a real problem with a fan, probably because I only go occasionally on vacation.

14 hours ago, Duwang said:

This happens to me quite often. I don't think they care as long as you don't bother them.

It felt stalkerish since it was after the live. They seemed more surprised than annoyed, but I'm not great at reading people so idk.

 

I'm generally get along really well with girls who are into the bands I like, no matter where they are, I don't see them as competition, what is there to compete for? Giving a band their well deserved support?
What I hate and don't even try to hide is girls being way into the members of the bands I like and not even liking the music (like when I tried discussing a Morrigan album with some friends and they kept going back to Aryu's look). Or girls who get creepy/disrespectful on IG comments and claim it's ok because they don't understand the language. I don't see as much toxicity on Twitter as I see on FB and IG tbh, or maybe I just follow less VK fans on Twitter.

[Masato 365]

Especially if your band is small, you should promote them rather than be protective.... it might help to keep them going longer

[Doesn'tEvenGoHere 121]

3 hours ago, Masato said:

Especially if your band is small, you should promote them rather than be protective.... it might help to keep them going longer

I figure the goal for protective fans is to have their band have a following that's just large enough to keep activities going without having them become too popular. 

[Komorebi 2193]

39 minutes ago, Doesn'tEvenGoHere said:

I figure the goal for protective fans is to have their band have a following that's just large enough to keep activities going without having them become too popular. 

Can't blame those intentions, I'd hate to have to enter a lottery to even see if there's room for me at the damn venue.