{"id":9955,"date":"2014-08-16T07:04:26","date_gmt":"2014-08-16T14:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/?p=9955"},"modified":"2014-08-16T07:04:26","modified_gmt":"2014-08-16T14:04:26","slug":"the-other-n-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/the-other-n-word\/","title":{"rendered":"The Other N-Word"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When I was young, my friends and I would spend lunch break in the library. Why the library? Because it was the safest place in the school. The one place we knew we wouldn\u2019t encounter \u2018Them\u2019. In the library we could discuss role playing games or look at comics or discuss sci-fi movies \/ books \/ TV shows without fear of judgment, harassment or even abuse.<\/p>\n<p>See, it wasn&#8217;t uncommon for any of us to be physically assaulted, have our very expensive books or treasured comics taken away, thrown around and belittled in public while we futilely pleaded for mercy or assistance. While different bullies may have different styles or different motivations for bullying, the one thing they shared back then was a socially accepted segregation against those who participated in \u2018bookish\u2019 hobbies and were so preoccupied by these hobbies that they suffered at other endeavors, like sports, fashion or dating. Society was against us. We were outcasts who didn&#8217;t fit in and those who did had no interest in understanding our point of view, or finding out why we loved these hobbies so much. This obsession became a self-perpetuating cycle after a while as the shunning would push us farther away and deeper into the fantasy worlds we created on Saturday nights around the dinner table, or the heroic action world between the covers of our favorite comic books.<br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eA4FxBQ020k\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Complaints only led to further humiliation as this was long before the \u2018war on bullying\u2019 so we were more often than not told we should &#8220;try harder to fit in&#8221;. Usually we found little solace even at home where we would be encouraged to go outside and play or told the games and comics were bad for us. But we endured, like everyone else. School can be a tough time and kids can be cruel, but we grow up, we forgive and we try to move on.<\/p>\n<p>These days I have school age kids of my own, and our home is\u00a0an environment where fantasy, science-fiction and super hero worlds collide and are common conversation. I&#8217;ve noticed that the idea of being a nerd is no longer a shameful thing. The word isn\u2019t being thrown around the schoolyard as an insult, it\u2019s a compliment. Our hobbies that once banished us to the library are now multi-million dollar industries and everyone enjoys them without shame.<\/p>\n<p>Today, nerd culture is everywhere, with celebrities coming out as being D&amp;D players and comic book fans and million dollar reboots of classic sci-fi titles. This next generation will grow up knowing what a d20 is for and that it was totally Peter Parker&#8217;s fault that his uncle Ben died. They will drop Tolkien and Star Wars quotes in the same conversation without fear of it going over anyone\u2019s heads. With a heavy rotation of Conan the Barbarian and Blade Runner in the background, these kids are poised to make the nerds into the cool kids on campus and the whole world is turning into\u00a0that Saturday night dining room table.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JO6eydRPpyU\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When I was young, my friends and I would spend lunch break in the library. Why the library? Because it was the safest place in the school. The one place we knew we wouldn\u2019t encounter \u2018Them\u2019. In the library we could discuss role playing games or look at comics or discuss sci-fi movies \/ books [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":279,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[164],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lamentations-of-the-grognard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1opIU-2Az","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2618,"url":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/this-week-in-comics-972011\/","url_meta":{"origin":9955,"position":0},"title":"This Week in Comics &#8211; 9\/7\/2011","author":"Martin Bright","date":"September 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I walked the racks at two different stores this New Comic Wednesday and was able to find two non-DC books that piqued my interest. I also grabbed the thirteen (yes, 13!) DC Comics titles released this week and will be posting about some of them over the next week. In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories","link":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/blog-and-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3081,"url":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/top-shelf-goes-digital\/","url_meta":{"origin":9955,"position":1},"title":"Top Shelf goes digital!","author":"AJ","date":"November 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Top Shelf dives into digital comics: Two apps, books on every platform, and one incredible sale! Some of the bestselling graphic novels of recent years now fit in your pocket -- for just a few dollars each. The comic book industry takes another significant step into the future today, as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i1.createsend2.com\/ei\/y\/E6\/95C\/2AD\/csimport\/DigitalPRImage.062609.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3140,"url":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/idw-and-barnes-noble-partner-to-bring-graphic-novels-to-nook\/","url_meta":{"origin":9955,"position":2},"title":"IDW and Barnes &#038; Noble Partner to Bring Graphic Novels to NOOK\u00ae","author":"AJ","date":"December 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Major comics publisher launches graphic novel catalog on new NOOK Tablet San Diego, CA (December 1, 2011)\u2014Continuing to lead the charge of digital comics, IDW Publishing proudly debuted a collection of graphic novels for the new Barnes & Noble NOOK Tablet, the company\u2019s fastest and lightest tablet with the best\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12677,"url":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/inland-empire-comic-book-club-meeting-may-sushi-and-comics\/","url_meta":{"origin":9955,"position":3},"title":"Inland Empire Comic Book Club Meeting: May- SUSHI AND COMICS!\u00a0","author":"Forbidden Panel","date":"April 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"We meet once a month to discuss comic books past, present, and future. Come with your ideas and geekieness. Feel free to bring snacks or drinks. EVERYONE IS WELCOME. This is the perfect opportunity to learn about comics and discover something new. You don\u2019t have to be a comic book\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Events&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"TokyoGhost_01-1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/TokyoGhost_01-1-1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14173,"url":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/inland-empire-comic-book-club-meeting-december-sushi-n-comics\/","url_meta":{"origin":9955,"position":4},"title":"Inland Empire Comic Book Club Meeting: December (Sushi n Comics)","author":"Forbidden Panel","date":"November 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"We meet once a month to discuss comic books past, present, and future. Come with your ideas and geekieness. Feel free to bring snacks or drinks. EVERYONE IS WELCOME. This is the perfect opportunity to learn about comics and discover something new. You don\u2019t have to be a comic book\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Events&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"timthumb","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/timthumb-300x137.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13571,"url":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/sony-moves-up-plans-for-harbinger-as-1st-movie-in-valiant-comics-cinematic-universe\/","url_meta":{"origin":9955,"position":5},"title":"Sony Moves Up Plans for \u2018Harbinger\u2019 as 1st Movie in Valiant Comics Cinematic Universe","author":"Forbidden Panel","date":"September 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Sony is moving forward on its five-film plan for joint film franchises based on the Valiant comic books \u201cHarbinger\u201d and \u201cBloodshot,\u201d which are then set to culminate in a \u201cHarbinger Wars\u201d crossover event film. Within the last month, Sony has preemptively renewed its option on \u201cHarbinger\u201d \u2014 a comic following\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/HARB_header-crop.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/279"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9955"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9961,"href":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9955\/revisions\/9961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}