Your special interests

[Pomorek]

Or maybe "autistic interests" but I don't want anyone to be upset with the wording, please take the term as innocently as possible. Anyway, things that you find really interesting but bringing them up with others is probably not a good idea as they will be like, "u wot m8?".

I'll start.
1) Lamps and light sources. I have an odd fascination with those and I enjoy finding out about the different types (they're much more numerous than one might think) and the technical and physical aspects behind their operation.

2) Modern military jets. I know some people can recognize the type of a car by just seeing a small portion of one in a picture. I'm like that with planes.

3) Cosmology. Sure thing, Steven Hawking did a lot for popularizing the subject. But I feel I'm much deeper down this rabbit wormhole than most folks.

 

[Kellan Meig'h]

1) Luthiery - I love to build guitars and repair/setup guitars in need. I particularly like the ones not mainstream, such as octave mandolins, tenors, baritones, super short scale bass guitars, etc.

2) 'Nam era military jets, particularly those flown by the USAF. Former Phantom Phixer.

3) High performance low profile "pleasure" boats. I do like to build boats, jet drive and v-drives powered by V8 automotive conversions.

4) Slot cars, all scales. I particularly collect vintage HO Aurora Thunderjet slot cars.

5) Competitive target shooting, all calibers, all distances.

 

[Judge Spear]

I'm super interested in modern military vehicles.
I hate our military spending and how the US is just a big fat bully. But HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE LOCKHEED MARTIN U-2 DRAGON LADY SPY PLANE????? :0

 

[Frank Gulotta]

Napoleonic uniforms

 

[Guifrog]

Numbers, statistics, specs. It just feels great to stare at demographic data, currency rates, climate tables, price tags, country reports, computer hardware details and things of the sort

 

[MaplePurrys]

I enjoy lost media! Stuff like cartoons, games, and other weird stuff that's been lost to time. I also enjoy vintage items like vintage cartoons, toys, and household neccesities, kids toys back then were so much cooler than the ones we have now, just saying. ^^;

 

[KresiekTheFurry]

My only "special interest" would be collecting wood pencils (specifically old pencils). In my opinion, vintage pencils work better then your modern cheap garbage that has uncentered graphite cores and wood that is difficult to sharpen (sorry for that small rant). I myself find it odd but I guess it's just the way I am.

 

[Baud]

1) World War 1: I filled several shelves with books on the subject and I keep buying new ones impulsively, I also keep a collection of authentic items from the war such as gas masks, helmets, bayonets, propaganda material, shell pieces, and so on
2) Lockpicking: I'm not good at it but it's a fun little hobby, I enjoy puzzles in general and at the end of the day a lock is nothing but a mechanical puzzle, and finding unintended solutions to puzzles is always satisfying
3) Offensive cybersecurity: a nice way of saying hacking, which doesn't mean I'm a criminal, I only practice on systems I set up myself or ones specifically designed to be broken into, I am a junior penetration tester and I've had this passion since I was 12
4) ROM hacking: taking an existing game and modifying it to add your own features, I was pretty good at working with Pokemon Red and Blue on the original Game Boy, I made my own little project in assembly which was never released and wrote a lot of documentation as I studied the game's code on my own

 

[Rayd]

1 - vintage arcade cabinets and arcade-era video games | from collection, restoration, modding and history; i have always found myself completely enamored with vintage arcade aesthetic despite myself being born on the cusp of the zoomer era. ever since i picked up and played my first arcade collection port on the gamecube, i've had this affinity with old arcade games, which eventually evolved into an interest for arcade aesthetic and arcade cabinets. i regularly fantasize about one day being able to dedicate a large room in a house to a home arcade of my own, designed as closely to a real vintage arcade as possible, with all of my favorites games, as well as learning how to restore them and create some customs of my own - that way i could preserve these relics for the next generation!

2 - bushcraft camping, fishing, and general survival skills | growing up, probably one of my favorite family vacations were the camping trips we had. they were unfortunately the "RV parked in a rented spot" sort of camping trips, but nonetheless this sparked my adoration for the thought of roughing it in true wilderness; building your own shelter, making your own fire, fishing your meal and other miscellaneous skills to make your time more enjoyable for the hell of it. i even had a brief stint in the boy scouts when i was younger, thinking it was all about that sort of thing, and i was pretty sorely mistaken. if you were to ever look at my youtube history in full, chances are it's loaded with thousands of camping, fishing and survival videos.

3 - pirate history, media and aesthetic | i blame my arts-and-crafts mom for throwing the most impressively large scale pirate themed birthday party for me when i was seven. i've loved pirate related content ever since. i even considered making my sona a pirate in canon before i decided he'd be something more traditional. regardless i've honestly wanted pirate themed art ever since i created my sona. maybe one day!

4 - old west history, media and aesthetic | basically the same thing as above, but on a slightly lesser scale! love me some rootin tootin cowboys!

5 - professional wrestling | this may not be the strangest thing ever, but i think pro-wrestling has fallen so far out of mainstream popularity that it can be considered pretty odd and niche nowadays. i've been watching WWE ever since i was 5 years old, and for the past like 5 years i've only continued to watch it solely because it's been apart of my life for so long and i can't just not keep up with it

6 - van life builds and tours | this is kind of a nonsensical obsession since i don't think i would personally ever live this kind of life (im a super fidgety person so living in such a tiny space would drive me insane) but i can't help but be super impressed with how people can fit just about anything they need in a camper van.. or an RV.. or a mailtruck.. or a schoolbus.. it's pretty crazy!

7 - collecting (ambiguous) | most people who are into collecting usually only collect one or two varieties of things, but i myself can honestly say i may be one of the most hyperactive collectors in the world. if i listed all the things i've collected over my entire life, along with the things i WANT to collect later on, i think i would reach the character limit. i just think buying and preserving historically valued things is just so cool.

8 - literally everything else | adding on to how hyperactive i am, i could probably list dozens of other niche interests or hobbies here since i get infatuated with new things on the daily, so i guess this is my honorable mention for them

 

[Kellan Meig'h]

My only "special interest" would be collecting wood pencils (specifically old pencils). In my opinion, vintage pencils work better then your modern cheap garbage that has uncentered graphite cores and wood that is difficult to sharpen (sorry for that small rant). I myself find it odd but I guess it's just the way I am.

Papermate MIrado Black Warrior are the best on the current market, unless you buy artist grade HB pencils. It's not so much the pencil, it's the crappy pencil sharpeners. I use artist grade sharpeners, have no problems, even with cheap pencils like Ticonderoga or Sanford "Mirado" yellow shaft pencils.

 

[Baron Tredegar]

7 - collecting (ambiguous) | most people who are into collecting usually only collect one or two varieties of things, but i myself can honestly say i may be one of the most hyperactive collectors in the world. if i listed all the things i've collected over my entire life, along with the things i WANT to collect later on, i think i would reach the character limit. i just think buying and preserving historically valued things is just so cool.

I too collect multiple things as well.

 

[Minerva_Minx]

I'm super interested in modern military vehicles.
I hate our military spending and how the US is just a big fat bully. But HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE LOCKHEED MARTIN U-2 DRAGON LADY SPY PLANE????? :0

That's Barksdale. I prefer the U2-S for the odd look about it. It's a good shot of the astronaut suit as well.

 

[Khafra]

I don't think I can beat an interest in lamps, nor can most people. But I'll drop some of mine, seems a few here even share them.

Age of Sail - Pirates, but also Great Discoveries, colonialism, the entire period in general, with an emphasis on anything naval. I just love sailing ships, and I'm a sailor myself when I have the time to go on longer trips.

Swamps and forests at night - I live in a swampy, forested area and one of my favourite things to do is hop into my car, drive as far away as possible, and take a long nightwalk through the woods. It's a good way to relax and forget about everyday troubles.

Stargazing and Astronomy - I used to mostly be a physics guy before getting into computer science and security, and astronomy was my favourite part of that. Stargazing goes nicely with the other two, since I can bring my telescope with me to a remote field at night, and you'll never see as many stars in your life as when you're in a pitch black boat in the middle of the ocean.

Writing - I write things. Most are only seen by a few of my friends that I share them with for D&D purposes, some are forever locked up on my hard drive. Never really felt like they were interesting enough to share.

Mountaineering - kinda strange for someone who likes sailing, but I can't resist the adrenaline rush of climbing a tough mountain. Rock climbing as well when I have the chance, but the fact that it has to be done in pairs is usually a dealbreaker. I like doing things alone.

 

[KresiekTheFurry]

Papermate MIrado Black Warrior are the best on the current market, unless you buy artist grade HB pencils. It's not so much the pencil, it's the crappy pencil sharpeners. I use artist grade sharpeners, have no problems, even with cheap pencils like Ticonderoga or Sanford "Mirado" yellow shaft pencils.

Eberhard Faber pencils seem to work pretty good too, but since that company isn't a company anymore I mostly use General's Semi-Hex pencils for writing and stuff.

 

[Kellan Meig'h]

Eberhard Faber pencils seem to work pretty good too, but since that company isn't a company anymore I mostly use General's Semi-Hex pencils for writing and stuff.

I use General's sketching pencils, really good value with a good lead composition. Do not care for their sharpeners, though.

 

[KresiekTheFurry]

I use General's sketching pencils, really good value with a good lead composition. Do not care for their sharpeners, though.

I have a few General's drawing pencils somewhere, but if I want to draw (which is mostly never, although I'm starting to draw more) I usually use vintage pencils since in my opinion they work better then the modern stuff.

 

[aomagrat]

I collect old gas station road maps that were handed out for free last century. My collection spans from the 1920's to the 1980's, when the practice died out.

I also collect old theatrical cartoons, especially Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. I have over 700 of them on VHS, DVD and Blu-ray from the 1930's to 1980's, including all of the infamous "Censored Eleven".

I also collect history books, especially naval history, automotive history, and disaster history.

Finally, I have recently been collecting books I fondly remember from my childhood. Rereading them as an adult is very interesting as I understand things that I missed as a child.

 

[Baron Tredegar]

I collect old gas station road maps that were handed out for free last century. My collection spans from the 1920's to the 1980's, when the practice died out.

I also collect old theatrical cartoons, especially Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. I have over 700 of them on VHS, DVD and Blu-ray from the 1930's to 1980's, including all of the infamous "Censored Eleven".

I also collect history books, especially naval history, automotive history, and disaster history.

Finally, I have recently been collecting books I fondly remember from my childhood. Rereading them as an adult is very interesting as I understand things that I missed as a child.

I have a story you might be interested in.

My older brother told me the first time he watched Song of the South was on a bootleg VHS tape with Chinese subtitles. He later found a official European VHS release of Song of the South at his bases thrift store. It was still in mint condition too.

 

[aomagrat]

I have a story you might be interested in.

My older brother told me the first time he watched Song of the South was on a bootleg VHS tape with Chinese subtitles. He later found a official European VHS release of Song of the South at his bases thrift store. It was still in mint condition too.

That is cool!

 

[Baron Tredegar]

That is cool!

I also collect books too, my house is full of them.

 

[aomagrat]

I also collect books too, my house is full of them.

Collecting old books can be interesting. One of my old disaster books has a signature of Johnny Vander Meer inside the front cover. I bought it for the subject matter. Finding the signature was an unexpected bonus. In a book on the history of nuclear weapons I found some hand written and typed notes of the author stuffed in the pages.

 

[Baron Tredegar]

Collecting old books can be interesting. One of my old disaster books has a signature of Johnny Vander Meer inside the front cover. I bought it for the subject matter. Finding the signature was an unexpected bonus. In a book on the history of nuclear weapons I found some hand written and typed notes of the author stuffed in the pages.

I got a set of old travel books from the 50s from right when everything was starting to get decolonized. I also have a set of childrens encyclopedias from the 50s that caused deadly riots due to it having a depiction of the Prophet Mohammad in it.

 

[Woozle]

My hyperfocus is pet and companion animals. I love reading pet care and training books.

That's what I call my main focus. I also have secondary obsessions connected works of fiction. (Fandom, basically.) I latch onto a fictional character and learn everything I can about them. And yes, I'm one of those freaks who occasionally falls in love with fictional characters and pretends they're my friend/lover. I'm like that guy who married Twilight Sparkle. Don't judge me, I'm comfortable with myself.

 

[Deleted member 160939]

Anything military related particularly WWII

Can memorize numbers and dates yet was never good at math.

Anything to do with cars and trucks.

 

[Kain]

In a way, I think anything is a topic that at least someone will question you on.

Furry is definitely not something I will talk to just anyone about, though.