Protective of Special Interests
nick007
Veteran
Joined: 4 May 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 27,597
Location: was Louisiana but now Vermont in capitalistic police state called USA
I'm very used to others not listening, not caring, &/or not understanding me when I do talk. I was bullied a lot when I was little. I also never had a close relationship with anyone in my family or anyone else offline except for my current girlfriend. I've been a loner my whole life & always had few friends. I've had some interests that were common & OK to talk about, some that were common but considered inappropriate to talk about outside of select company like porn I watch, some interests that were uncommon, & some interests that were uncommon that others would find distrusting. As a general rule I only talk about my interests offline with others who are into it & like talking about em. I talk about my interests a lot more online like on this forum than offline.
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"I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem!"
"Hear all, trust nothing"
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Ru ... cquisition
I'm particularly secretive of my special interest by default.
I don't have the same impulse to info dump unless prompted, or is at least necessary in attempt to inform someone by that sort of depth and detail and I had enjoyed doing so.
And my own experiences of (any attempts of) sharing special interest so far had been mostly positive.
I'm either just selfish about it or deem it as a guilty pleasure and deny a sign of interest out of pride.
My main negative experiences about special interests, other than a potential distraction at work, is either inaccessibility or expensiveness.
Almost never about over sharing, potential legal or social troubles, nor had made other people overwhelmed, bored or uncomfortable with it.
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KaleidoscopicMagpie
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: 3 Oct 2021
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 55
Location: UK
As I got into my 20s, I got better but still had some cringy moments. By the time I got in my 30s I started to realize, maybe it's best I keep my special interests to myself and/or only talk about it online in certain places. If asked, I keep it to the point but mostly I don't bring it up.
With my interests anymore, I find not talking about them with others(outside of the internet) is really for the best. It's like I don't want them insulted or being told there a waste of time.
Do you enjoy talking about your special interests or are you secretive about them?
I would love to talk about my special interests with people who didn't get bored after about a minute. I know most think Arthur the TV show in not age appropriate, so I don't tallk about that. I would really love to find an adult who loves Arthur as much as I do. People don't understand when I talk about Sherlock Holmes, they don't know enough about him so they get bored. I like it when people ask me what are the capitals of different countries, or other information I know, but this rarely happens and most people don't know the more obscure countries, which are the ones I like best. I get to talk about Harry Potter with a few people, which is nice, although my enthusiasm always outruns theirs.
I also quite like talking about my job, but usually I am speaking to people who don't work at my school. That means I have to give a lot of context, which means I have to talk a lot, which I think people get bored of...
It would be nice if people made a bit more of an effort to summon up some interest. I always listen and respond appropriately when my mother complains about all the things she likes to complain about, or when my dad talks about rugby or football, or when my friends talk about their relationships. But they have not be trained to listen and respond appropriately to me.
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Officially diagnosed with ASD Oct. 2013
Interests: Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, Arthur, education, names, geography, detective fiction, animals, especially dogs.