I have been in many situations where I have had a friend talk to me differently or stop hanging out with me because I got comfortable and started being more myself. All because of some things I enjoy that are always considered “nerdy” or “weird”, but it honestly made me stronger. Like I really enjoy anime, manga, My little pony, and so much more!

I think the reason these things can be considered weird is because a lot of people associate anime and manga with the inappropriate parts of the genre, and will think you're a “Weeb”. And with my little pony, it's a show for kids, and the fandom has had a lot of inappropriate phases and times, where now if you mention you enjoy it, people will think it's weird if they have only heard the bad side of the show, and only know the people that shouldn’t be represented in the fandom.

Really none of these things should be considered weird, because these interests are just perfectly normal things people enjoy. I don’t think any fun interests where you did nothing wrong should be considered “weird”.

And I was thinking about it, and I thought that there are probably so many more people that have experienced similar things and enjoy similar things. Things that make them feel “weird”. When really liking “weirder” stuff should be more normalized. In my opinion I'd actually much rather hang out with someone with a weird and funny personality than someone with a boring “normal” boring personality.

Maybe someone says you're weird, or something similar to that. Even though when you say it the impact doesn’t feel big, you don't know how it will affect that person, even from something someone would think is “small” or "inconvenient". And yes! I do think I'm nerdy sometimes! I do think I'm weird sometimes! But there is a good-weird, and a bad-weird. And I would consider myself the good-weird!

But the thing is, everyone is weird if you think about it. What would the world be like if there was no weirdness? That would be so boring. Think about it. No more random funny jokes because that is apparently “weird” and so much other stuff would have no joy in it anymore either. The world would feel grey. It would lack feeling. It really makes you think about it.
Everyday small things happen that are weird but also really put a smile on your face. If the world was more free with people being themselves the world would glow so much brighter.

My main point is, you have to let people be their authentic self. Everyone should feel safe acting weird sometimes. That's what makes life fun! To be weird is to be free, and you shouldn’t have to hide yourself to fit into boring “norms” that people made up. Don’t be scared to break those “norms”. Do what makes you happy. Not what fake expectations expect from you.