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So I was thinking. Is Mimicry the Highest Form of Flattery? Do you agree with that statement?

Please, anyone who has ever tried to imitate something they saw on TV, and YES, you know around this point I am going to mention anime, come defend yourself. This isn't a rant against people I claim are fluffy. This is trying to understand why this happens. And I'm not just talking about television, anything fictional. There have been a few topics around that are more along the lines of Chaos Magick; I remember that one about summoning fictional characters, for example. In Chaos Magick, there are no lines that are crossed, are there? But still, something tells me the people who are copying the aforementioned subject aren't actually practiced Chaos Magicians.

The first explanation someone could give, explaining any cases of fluff, that I'd expect someone to say who hates stuff like this [once again, that bane word around here], is that we have 12-year olds running around with no common sense. "Monkey See, Monkey Do." It makes sense, doesn't it?

So I was thinking about how we have these people trying to copy these "techniques", as they put it, around here. Myself, thinking of the phrase "mimicry is the highest form of flattery", tried to think of some fictional ability that I would desire. As in, something fictional assuming what most of the guild passes off as what may be real.

And I thought of something. Battle Meditation from Star Wars. The ability to coordinate strategy and inspire soldiers through the Force.
So I've now put myself on a somewhat similar level to the other, presumably younger imitators out there.
But WAIT A SECOND, so what if I actually worked hard on developing such a skill and now I can coordinate and inspire a whole army?
Where IS my army? I'm no general. I'm not even out of school.
So what is the point? Just to say I can do it? Just so I can brag about it on the internet forums, where everything is just so credible?
In that case, ******** it. No, I never did seriously dream of commanding an army through the Force. [Hmm...] I'm giving you all a good comparison.

And now a question for you, young ninja/demon-somethings. What is the point of imitation? Why do you do it? Why learn some strange combat technique if you're, say, actually 12 or 13? Do you actually fight people regularly? Do you want to learn this in order to show off in front of all your similarly-minded friends?

If you're not all that ignorant to what most of the guild actually stands for [and quite a few seem to be], please just come here and explain yourself. Realize that you are human, realize that you are young, do the right thing and try to understand what your life really means. Are you going to pursue the latest fad? Or are you going to be your own person?
I'm not trying to pick any fights. I just want to hear why you do it.

Understanding is Power.

I'm not sure he meant you, to be honest, Aegis-san. Everyone draws a little inspiration from things they see. It's a healthy level of adaptation. There are simply some people who take it to a ridiculous degree. Were you, let's say, trying to find a way to orb, we'd have to talk. stare

ill be quite honest; ive only imitated a few things from television, and fewer things from movies. i suppose the only things i realy tried were sword fighting (pretty good at it acctualywith bokens), and a few types of things like sending mental messages and training my bodys energy to regenerate quickly. realy the reason i tried them was becasue i enjoy violence, and because i hate being wounded becuase its a horrible feeling to be down and out... oh and once i tried to fly... but... yeah... broken arm.... sweatdrop

I'll admit I was taught wrong. I was taught that the ninja way is the only way to be alive. I learned martial arts, I concentrated and I did techniques that made me so weak I almost fainted on a bed of rocks and possibly die.
I love martial arts because it's an art. I like anime because it's an art and hobby. I liked energy practice because it was a science and hobby.
I learned those psychic self-defense things because I was taught that it would be the onyl way I could live from malevolent spirits and such.
Then once I thought that my teachers were wrong and stuff... I learned some anime techniques just to best my friends in astral combat. So recently I meditated learned my subconscious, learned to control energy properly and mastered and astral type Rasengan. I got bored and never used it...

So... now finding no practical use for psionics or magick or alchemy or any of this, I quit for about six months or so... Then JP101993 talked to me on aim and convinced me to try again. And then I re-learned how to control energy but still couldn't see it. So I've pretty much given up again. confused

Now I simply study and don't practice... That includes martial arts too.

Wow, I'm pretty suprised that nobody has mentioned Naruto. Until now. Sorry, but it's true. I've tried to copy moves from Naruto... XP But, yeah, I, like Lobo, was taught wrong. Lobo told me techniques over AIM from his past 'sensei,', so... yeah.

Lol, I love how someone mentioned Avatar. That bloody show really got me thinking about how you'd use elements in combat. The Firebenders of the show do some really neat stuff that honestly makes me want to blow something up. In any case, fiction does prove to aid in visualization. If the energy of your aura looks similar to that energy in that one anime, all the better. It means you can see it better and faster.

I did when I was little... all the guys used to play dragon ball Z and we used to do the whole "ka-me-ha-me-HA!!!!" thing and since I was also kinda girly we'd put on soap operas and funny junk, where we'd play and I was always the cheating boyfriend, or the angry father, or the naive son/daughter (I'm a guy tho').......... But yeah that sorta stuck with me....