Discussion Other Hobbies

[Zefgahld Qojex]

Hello everybody.

Just like it says in the title: what other fandoms have you been a part of over the years and how has your relation to them changed over the years, if at all? For example, my earliest discovery and love of Star Wars began at the age of five and has continued on and off over the years until the present, and I'll most likely keep on enjoying the old EU and its lore unless some sort of traumatic brain injury takes it all away in the future.

Other fandoms I've been a part of over the years are the Star Trek fandom since the late nineties, various forms of TTRPG gaming, both sci-fi and fantasy, and they were extremely helpful for learning how the processes of lore and worldbuilding worked and how to approach such topics (healthy pseudoscience, in essence, barely rooted in real-world science). I'd be very, very content as a Science Officer in Star Trek, if I ever had the chance to jump into that particular future. A smattering of many and varied TTRPG-oriented, sword-and-sorcery and sci-fi anthologies has also proven fundamental to my moral development, my love of philosophy and science and has most certainly carried on to this day.

Lastly, I got involved with the Furry fandom in my teen years - enough said about that. Let me say that all of the negative press is completely, 100% true - parents, keep your kids away from that. I still like anthropomorphicism and the the ability to use it in fiction, but the fandom that has hijacked and perverted it has done a very, very good job of dumbing down its subject matter, at the same time. In short, you'll be hard-pressed to find more then a few furries who have any interest in animal science.

What sorts of other hobbies do you guys enjoy? Have your interests changed over the years?

 

[Lief]

I'm a classic ADHD Jack-of-all, Master-of-none Crafter. Lately I've been messing around with bookbinding, tablet weaving, handsewn historically accurate clothing, etc. I joined the SCA (Society of Creative Anachronism) and it's been a great way for me to dabble in a little bit of everything! I also love to bake when I have the energy for it, and garden in the warmer months. Summer keeps me busy, the rest of the year less so.​

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I've loved Star Wars for as long as I can remember, also Harry Potter (though I don't support She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named), Dr Who, and other classic British fandoms. Music is also a huge passion of mine, I wish I was better at singing/playing guitar but even just listening to it can completely shape my mood and my day. I used to read a lot but my ADHD brain has worsened over the years so now I can't focus long enough for it, too many other things to do.​

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Oh. And video games... But, let's be real, who doesn't love those?​

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Deep down though, it really is the creative/crafty stuff I'd say I'm most drawn to. I want to learn ALL the things!​

 

[Tefka]

DnD, Magic: TCG, vidya games, website design and software development. I'm an internet junkie, gasp, I have my own locally hosted MUD that I work on because I'm part-boomer.

 

[Aeshi Tillian]

Okay Tefka

Spill the deets on the MUD. I’ve dabbled with them now and then, and sometimes get the itch to try a Star Wars one.

 

[Tefka]

Okay Tefka

Spill the deets on the MUD. I’ve dabbled with them now and then, and sometimes get the itch to try a Star Wars one.

No u people don’t deserve me

 

[Kitter Bitters]

Sketching, comic book collecting, reading, some video games but I wouldn’t say I’m a true gamer.

 

[Alex StormWolf]

I have quite a few different hobbies and interests. Besides Star Wars, I'm a huge Star Trek fan and overall Sci-Fi fanatic. A friend in grade school turned me on to classic Dr. Who, of which the Tom Baker era is my absolute favorite. (There are many Doctors, but he is THE Doctor to me.) The X-Files was my guilty pleasure during the 90s when it was on the air. (Anyone else remember the short lived spin off called Millennium, about the spooky secret society that was trying to hasten the end of the world?)

I've been an avid bowhunter and firearms enthusiast for quite a few years now. Recently, I assembled an AR platform rifle chambered in 40 S&W because #1 it's what I shoot the most of currently, and #2 pistol caliber carbines rock!

Been a scale model builder since my teens, with my focus mainly on military aircraft, cars, and the occasional sci-fi build.

Got into the Rens Faire scene in 2014 after researching my family tree and discovering that on my mother's side of the family, I can trace my ancestry back to Clan MacDonald in a little town called Lairg Parish, Sutherland Scotland, around the late 1700s and early 1800s before they fled for the New World and settled in what is now Ingersoll Canada, eventually making their way to the United States. And for the record....in answer to the age old question 'What's worn under the kilt?"....nothing is worn under the kilt, everything is in perfect working order.

Took up the hobby of homebrewing in the early 2000s after my youngest sister came home from college with a sample of homebrewed beer she made in an extra credit course she took at Central Michigan University, sparking my interest. With the astronomically high price of everything these days, I've had to scale way back, and usually only brew one or two batches per year now.

For as long as I can remember, I've had an interest in the unexplained. I enjoy reading about things like Bigfoot, UFO encounters (I've actually seen the infamous 'Black Triangle' UFOs a few times myself over the years, and I'm absolutely certain they're some sort of black budget US military project), cryptid sightings, and hauntings. On top of all that, I'm a bit of a conspiracy buff. (Yeah, I know..I'm totally WEIRD.)

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Trying...stress on the word TRYING....to teach myself how to paint landscapes. Doesn't seem to matter what medium I use...acrylic, oil paints, watercolor....it just isn't working for me so far. You lied to me Bob Ross...YOU LIED! They're not happy accidents at all!

After the show Forged In Fire came out on History Channel, I found myself wanting to try and make knives. Currently, I haven't finished any blades, but I'm looking to correct that situation after it starts warming up this spring and I can get the workbench in my shed better organized. Hand filing blades to shape is an absolute pain in the a$$ because it is so slow, so another project I'm contemplating at some point is building my own belt grinder.

I've been a video game fanatic as long as I can remember. Hell, I still have the old SEGA Genesis system and my copy of Sonic The Hedgehog that I bought with some money from one of the first good paychecks I earned when I started working after graduating high school! Lately, I've been playing a game on Steam called RUST, which is hands down THE MOST TOXIC PvP survival game ever created. No joke, the entire community revolving around the game is absolute cancer and cringe. Play at your own risk.

As far as Furries....the only thing I can really remember about them is logging into a Yahoo Chat room that had been overrun by members of some Furry fandom late one night back in the late 90s or early 2000s (Ah, the days when the world wide web still had that 'brand new car' feeling. 56K dial-up modem connection was considered the fast lane, and it STILL took you half the day to load a webpage! Good times!) and nearly falling out of my chair laughing after watching how badly they were being trolled by some group calling itself 'The Holy Anti-Fur Crusaders Of Yahoo'. It was bizarre beyond words to say the least, and was the first real exposure I had to the so called 'dark side' of the internet back in the day.

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[Junko Ike]

too many things but well when it comes to star wars, I think my collection is larger but more focused, little to no toys but the books, comics, games and anything like the essential guides or some of the fun one they put out like Star Wars odyssey. I showed John Locke a picture of my wall with all of the books alone long ago (it is larger now and have space for all of the comics)

video games, comic books while marvel, dynamite and dc are important also go for image, top cow and some of the slightly obscure one (tarot and bomb queen or hack/slash, empowered), manga, anime, D&D tabletop from time to time sure some other tabletops but finding people locally feels next to impossible, massive book collector and I try to go into every genre including some of the older ones and newer ones now that I can buy them. K, J and C drama's also big plus as hard to turn away from some of them, massive Last Airbender fan and some good western cartoons like Gargoyles, Ducktales and even early Faust MLP... I don't judge and quality is quality even when it degrades over time. Those who know me know I will fully admit to also just loving shlock and cheese, Xena/Hercules, Baywatch, Power Rangers, massive berserk fan, all of the paperbacks, deluxe hardcovers and essays that have been printed for it,... and yes thing like Game of thrones, Throne of glass, far kingdoms are always fun

 

[Aeshi Tillian]

No u people don’t deserve me

Well, I’m sad, but that’s fair. Do you have any you’d recommend?

 

[Tefka]

uh not really no

I hear LOTJ is good and there's Luminari, which is Forgotten Realms-esque

 

[Arlo Renard]

I don't consider my hobbies all that interesting compared to others who have posted, but here goes lol.

I've loved to read ever since I was a kid. I've read books in pretty much every genre, but my favorites are probably historical fiction/non-fiction, gothic horror, and the classics. Also have a soft spot for mysteries and true crime. Favorite book ever is The Brothers Karamazov. I also love Jane Eyre and Gone With the Wind. The rate at which I tear through books has slowed down as I've gotten older and had less time, although audiobooks have helped.

I started writing my own stories at around the age of 9, first on paper then typing. The first fanfiction I ever wrote was for Danny Phantom; it never went beyond the first chapter, but I've written in a lot of other fandoms since then. I always treated fanfiction like a stepping stone on the way to writing original work, and more or less gave it up a few years ago. I wrote a manuscript which was supposed to be my first novel, but it was terrible and not long enough to count as a novel. After spending a couple of years kicking it around and trying to rework it with little success, I finally shelved it and started working on something new.

In my early teens I got really into movies. I wanted to watch all the greatest films from all the different eras and I wanted to know how they were made. Despite my love of movies, I don't really like TV shows. I think it's harder for me to maintain interest in something that goes on for multiple seasons, especially if the quality of the writing starts to decline as with most series.

Oh, and I also love music, although I never had any desire to compose or play an instrument.

This is getting long, so essentially: outside of writing, I don't really do anything productive as a hobby. I don't like the idea of just being a consumer, I wanna make stuff. I think it's healthier and a better way to spend one's time (also less expensive). There are a few reasons why I haven't found any other niches, some of which are outside of my control, but I am hoping that I will find something else that I can enjoy doing eventually. If not, at least I still have this passion for writing.

 

[Revna]

I would say that writing, reading, gaming (video and tabletop), hunting/shooting, studying geology for fun, stormchasing, and collecting rocks, bones, skulls and antlers (actually I have an obsession for deer antlers and its hard for me to not buy any I see at antique shops. My most expensive antler set was $94...my husband was not happy with me) are my current most active hobbies.

I used to draw a LOT, mostly in traditional styles and mostly horses, but I stopped drawing around 5 years ago. I occasionally will draw an odd image here and there but it doesn't excite me anymore so I don't bother.