Popularity and the Geek Subculture.

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As of late, the geek subculture has gotten really popular. Whether it's sci fi and superhero movies, or anime, it seems like everyone's on the action. This is especially true for those of us in our teens and 20s, even late 20s in the 'hipster' phase of life at least for me. When I was at university, a lot of people were heavily into, D&D, sci fi, anime and parties.

Sure I liked those things a little. But it seemed those people were all part of some sort of pre-existent clique that I would never fit into, because they knew each other since high school, yadda yadda. It was hard for a n00b to be let in. They were also from suburban high schools. I was in self-contained, inner city special ed where I didn't really get on with my colleagues.

My current 'loose friends' are people I met in my finance program at college, and work people, and to be honest, we have some diverging interests - like I'm not into sports, brand names or celebrities. I feel it's like a seriously waste of time irrational... I mean we get drinks together but that's it. Hell I can barely deal with being in those bars, so it's just for a short while.

Also I live a frugal lifestyle. I've been just busting my b@lls for a couple of years making a living. And now I'm at this plateau point where I can take a breath, torrent Avengers and Star Trek from time to time, but I don't want to be pushed out as a n00b. The only geek I'm really close with is my boyfriend, and he's kind of antisocial. I mean he's a socially astute NonAutie but he thinks most people are "knuckleheads"... gatherings with his musician friends are also loud and contain a lot of irrational behavior that I do not find useful, actually wish I had a smart phone to pass the time at those things.

Now I really wished I had that geeky college clique to explore my artistic side so as to chat about I don't know, Pikachu or Luke Skywalker or some other social glue, which I had not been into since age 11 when my friends swapped Hello Kitty for Biggie Smalls. I tried the social elements of Wicca but it became too much like a religion and a bit divergent from my interests. Don't get me wrong. I'm not a pure poser. I like some stuff that could be considered geek, like library books I read on the bus to work - I like Phil Dick but that doesn't count, it's more hipster than geek. You know what I mean... kinda?

So what's an intermediate step for a mid-20s person - mental developmentally around 15/16, to do, that is affordable and doesn't involve an expensive night out on the town, that's an intermediate step between n00b and going full out with a weekend pass to Comic Con and the afterparty? (remember I'm frugal so this would be a big purchase for me) Actually how do I meet people who would be into going to Comic Con?

When I don't even know about this subculture and part of my motivation is probably just to be popular... same reason I got into rap and heavy metal? I mean I enjoyed Star Wars and Trek, but I can't name everyone in the Justice League or Yu-gi-oh for example. It's just beyond my capability as a person with a fulltime job. I just want a social group that is tight like a Jedi mind meld or something where omg best friends and that is tight knit where we are like brothers and sisters, a proxy family because my real family kinda sucks.

1. Where do these folks get the *time* and *energy* and *money* for all this shizz... the anime tapes etc and are they all NT or something to be part of a group and have best friends for life! that write fanfic together? Hell I wrote 1 fan fic in my life and it didn't work nobody read it.

2. How do they balance this and an adult job, nurse, teacher or accountant and dealing with a disability, plus family, kids and other obligations? If they are disabled I mean.

3. I'm seriously not trolling even if I sound like an internet troll. These are just curious questions that I have.

4. You know, I am a 20 something adult who just wants to "fit in" as silly as it may sound.

5. I'm leaving the fold of my initiatory, occult community, that is kinda far from my house and stuff plus tired of the religious tone, for a new one. So there's bound to be some trepidation.

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Being a geek wasn't cool when I was in school. Many of the cool kids at uni still don't get it. The perceived increased popularity of geeks is marketing-based -- Hollywood et al. have realised that geeks (not pre-schoolers, not casual movie goers) are the ones who will, if their special interest is met, invest in that special edition DVD, buy that behind-the-scenes book, collect those trading cards, in short -- buy ALL THE MERCHANDISE. And that matters. So it's good for them to support people who do that. And if geeks get some positive publicity that way, it's a win-win thing.

The second you're cool, your 15 minutes is at 14.

I only stopped for directions out.

A lot of tight knit geek groups form through gaming. It's a structured way to engage in face time with your friends and a lot of people really enjoy it. Your local game store should have times where folks get together to play different games, and because it creates business for the store it is usually free. Your boyfriend might even be interested in going with you!

Thanks, Arielhawksquill and Geechonychus. I should definitely get into that. Gonna see if there's a place near me for those activities.