Special Interests thread

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Don't know if this has been proposed before (I bet it has), but I've noticed a couple of threads regarding special interests in a more "narrow" sense, and I wanted to start a thread where we can just talk about our special interests. Some may think it a bad idea because they think most of us would just write about what we want to write about and not look at what others have written, but I'm genuinely interested in seeing the "special interests" of others, as well as sharing about mine, and I think that some other people might be interested, too.

Might sink to the bottom of the page or something, but at least it's a try.

I'll post if someone else does; I feel like I've written too much of an intro.

Are we talking about the topic 'special interests' or are we talking about our own specific special interests?

Can be both.

I know someone whose special interest is Palestine. He is not a Jew, he is anti-Zionist. Some of his friends were Jews and he has alienated them, but also his non Jewish friends have beeen annoyed by his monothematic conversation. Some AS I know are immersed in Math. One of them teaches algebra at a university. I think math is very widespread as a special interest. See Paul Collins Not even Wrong for the relationship between math and AS.

Might this be because math is consistent? Today 1+1=2. Tomorrow, 1+1=2. Forever 1+1=2.

People? Today, they mean what they said if what they said means something more than what words they actually used. Tomorrow, they mean what they said yesterday as long as what they are saying today doesn't necessarily use the same words but they meant to say the same thing and I should just know that. Forever, one confused aspie.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND. <3<3<3<3

You talk about this and you'll be wishing you never even discussed it. XD I absolutely ADORE Alice in Wonderland. I love all the characters, all adaptions of it, everything. I also love anime as well but I have too many animes to name.

My biggest Alice in Wonderland obsession is the Cheshire Cat. ^______^

FREAKING APES DUUUUDE!

AHHHH!! !! !! !! !! !! ME TO!! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!

I used to be into Alice in Wonderland last year. I was especially obsessed with the Tim Burton adaptation, along with a couple of other Tim Burton/Johnny Depp movies (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissorhands and Sweeney Todd). I had even built an entire imaginary world around those movies. I really wish that I hadn't gotten burned out on it; it was one of the most enjoyable obsessions I've ever had.

I have a strong fascination for certain surrealist films and film makers especially David Lynch, David Cronenberg, and Terry Gilliam.

In particular the movie Videodrome which I've taken my screen name from.

My latest special interests are Doctor Who and Red Dwarf. I discovered them both on Netflix and fell in love with them.

I discovered Doctor Who first, in November of last year, though I didn't allow myself to become truly obsessed with it until recently. I decided to watch it because I had heard good things about it here on Wrong Planet. My first ever episode was a 4th Doctor/Tom Baker one called The Leisure Hive. For some reason I was expecting to not like Doctor Who, but to my pleasant surprise, I fell in love with it instantly.

I then watched a couple of the 10th Doctor/David Tennant episodes and was instantly drawn to him. For some reason that I can't quite figure out or explain, he reminds me a lot of the first imaginary friend I had when I was a child. He has perfect imaginary friend qualities about him: he's sensitive, witty, energetic, goofy, talkative, friendly, and he is viciously protective of his loved ones. I have also watched a couple of 11th Doctor/Matt Smith episodes, but I am not quite as drawn to him as I am to the 10th Doctor. Everybody in Doctor Who fandom seems to have a personal favorite Doctor; one they call "their" doctor. I think I have seen enough episodes of the series now that I can safely say that the 10th Doctor/David Tennant is "my" doctor.

I discovered Red Dwarf only several days ago. I admit that I didn't know quite what to make of the first episode, but something about it made me keep going back for more. Before I knew it, I was hooked. Now I'm already on the 2nd episode of Season 3. Whereas the episodes of Doctor Who tend to cause a rollercoaster of emotions in me (mainly excitement, fear, happiness and sadness), Red Dwarf always makes me feel strangely relaxed.

My favorite characters are Lister and Rimmer. I like them and identify with them both as individuals, and I also enjoy the dynamics of their relationship with each other. I identify with Lister because like him, I am slob, I stay up late, and I am fixated on a girl from my past who didn't have the same feelings for me. I identify with Rimmer because like him, I take myself too seriously, I am quick to anger, and I let things that happened in the past continue to bother me in the present.

I like the other guys who inhabit the Red Dwarf (Kryten, Cat and Holly [though Holly is female during some seasons]) a lot as well, but my personal favorites will always be Lister and Rimmer.

I 've always liked Abba since I was 12 years old and I have all their records and cds I have photo albums full of pictures of them and some pictures in picture frames.

Another interest is the Big Cats they are beautiful and have books about them but I love all animals I'm a member of the world wide fund for nature because I wanted to do something for animals.

Another is crosswords, cooking and gardening I like getting plants and have 4 camelia bushes, Azaleas and 6 rose bushes some of them are carpet roses.
I also have seedlings in pots on my fence.

MONKEY those pictures of the great apes are lovely.

Games, specifically PC games. Definitely fascinated with the role play (as in RPG) aspects of games. Interested in the design and aesthetics of design. What makes a game good. The idea of story and how it relates to the game. Also how a game's story can define the gameplay, or impose limits/restrictions which gives the distinction between story based games and action ones. Going on from that how the story and world setting work, that not all of the story needs to be given to players but that consistency in the world, based on the story, and how that affects immersion. How aesthetics affect immersion, things like ambience and scenery which are much more important than they get made out to be.

The things that drive the player to keep playing. This can be community, the challenge, min/maxing and the creation of a "perfect" character. How Blizzard's MMO World of Warcraft has shaped the gaming industry, particularly MMOs. I dislike how they have the major driving force as "loot" and getting the best gear, with almost no goal beyond getting better loot. I like the idea of things besides items being considered something to work towards, particularly intangible goals, goals that don't have obvious immediate or tangible effects on gameplay.

I also have the roleplay setting that I work on every now and then, specifically for the PC environment. I could talk your ears off about game design!

I also have an interest in human nature, why drug prohibition is still done when it provably does not work and astronomy, though more on being amazed at how big and interesting it is.

Harry Potter

My current interest is in the exploitation of some of our most common fears (e.g. darkness, certain animals) within works of horror.

For example, in the 18th and 19th centuries, there was a very common fear of premature burial. Edgar Allan Poe incorporated this fear (which he himself shared) in some of his works, such as "The Cask of Amontillado."

I'm also interested in other tropes of horror that don't involve gratuitous violence. Some of these involve being stalked, or the ironic feeling of uneasiness in one's own home because of someone who wishes to harm you being within close proximity or even underneath the very same roof as you. Darkness - another common phobia - is one of the most exploited tropes of horror there is, simply because you never know what might be lurking nearby when you can't even see anything in front of you.