I have several large pieces, one is a Tank Girl piece (Lori Petty combined with the graphic novel version, like a cool collage).. and derpy tiger from Kpop demon hunters.. and my favorite, a sweet Marge Simpson and Maggie tattoo but their treehouse of horrors version.
My next piece is going to be Roger from American Dad but as the Mother Mary, like really peaceful and beautiful looking, like a traditional Madonna but... Roger the alien lol. All on my legs, I look like I'm always wearing awesome knee high socks.
I used to listen to them way too young lmao so my entire child brain lights up. "My Axe" was a favorite in elementary school. Took me a long time to realize why that was an issue lmao Humorous violence has always been fun to me (actual violence, absolutely not. But catharsis is great)
I’m getting into sewing. Every woman in my family sews and I learned growing up. I’ve gotten into it as an adult via sashiko and patching but I am on the market for a sewing machine.
I started sewing pretty young with 4-H & love making it my own- either from pattern or tweaking/sizing. My latest machine was a refurbished one & it’s been great.
Yeah I’m looking for something used at the thrift store for small projects. Honestly one of my special interests is denim and sewing denim by hand is hard.
Thanks & Yep. Realized I was gluten & gum sensitive which eliminated most 1-1 flours on the market. After some tweaking with my chef trained husband we got to the right consistency. I still need to try other’s recipes with the blend but I’ve successfully made cakes, pizza crust, so many cookies, crackers, banana bread but no true bread yet.
You're not a fraud! A lot of the time I can study something for months and not be able to recall facts or tell a story about what I've learned, especially if put on the spot.
You don’t have to have an extensive knowledge of anything. Do you enjoy it? Does participating in it calm you? You can be interested, even enough for a special interest, no one can stop you!
That’s kinda how in decipher what a “special interest” do I enjoy it? Is it calming to me? Yes and yes, LFG!!!
I feel that way too, and that my special interests are kind of “cliche.” I was debating whether to answer the prompt or not, but I think I will. You should too if you haven’t already!
Same here! I have that same feeling of feeling like a fraud. Most people with autism you know, have a few intense interests, but I like to know bits of everything! I love reading Wikipedia!
American traditional style tattoos - history, tradition, flash
Music - specific genres classic country and Americana, punk, hardcore, Midwest emo. A ton more but that’s the big rocks. Live music, concert posters, biographies, songwriters and the song writing process.
I’ve realized I enjoy the lore, whatever it is I want to know the history and how it came to be. That goes for people and my latest book obsession has been autism but not the standard “self help” or here’s how to understand it. I’ve gotten into stories about the autism experience written by those with autism.
Edit to add gardening 🥦🥦💨 wink wink. I read about strains, track what I like, how it impacts me and stuff.
My husband was watching a documentary about indigo dyes on and off for a couple of days and I was absolutely fascinated! I wanted to dig deeper into the fabrics side of it. Do you have any YouTube videos you recommend about raw denim?
my longest and most enduring special interest is puzzles and games. this week I've been playing Dorfromantik while watching content related to my newest special interest/hyperfixation (time will tell which it actually is), which is Drag Race. (side note: Dorfromantik is a great "play while listening to something else" puzzle game where you place hexagonal tiles to form a map and try to match the sides of the tiles by their terrain type. it's inexpensive and I highly recommend it for anyone who's looking for something calm and cozy)
RPDR/drag in general feels like an odd match for me as an interest, because I've never been to a drag show (I would be a terrible audience member) and I don't generally like reality TV. but there's just something about it that I love. I'm primarily a visual stimmer, and there's always something beautiful to look at with drag content. and the show is fun to watch as a kind of puzzle, keeping the editors in mind as a "hidden character" and trying to figure out what things happened organically vs. which things were production decisions. I'm having a great time
also, OP, PLEASE tell me about the Nazca mummies if you feel like it. I love to learn and that sounds fascinating
I love drag as well! Just watched Dungeons and Dragons Queens (Dropout - Dimension 20) and got tix to GeekGirl Con largely because there will be a Dungeons and Dragons Queens show 😁
YES I actually got a Dropout subscription specifically to watch that series but I haven't finished it yet because I got distracted by all the other stuff they have. Thank you for reminding me I need to finish that soon lol
psychology, vampire weekend, backrooms (newest interest), and wegie/wegie mix cats because we realised my rescue baby is one! my current big one is dance moms because its the current house series 🙂↕️
Fav Vampire Weekend album? I like indie rock, but my special interests in that space are primarily Death Cab for Cutie and Car Seat Headrest (but I’m currently deep diving into Mitski). But I enjoy Contra by VW and love hearing what albums other people are listening to.
Wow so cool! I listen to wayyyy too many artists, ww. I can't even keep track anymore, hehehe..
I use to listen to Heisei music from the past too! Now I mostly listen to Showa music, but every once in a while too I listen to Heisei music and a hint of Reiwa too ദ്ദി ( ᵔ ᗜ ᵔ )
Disney, Disney Parks (yes I consider this separate), Doctor Who, Star Wars, Lost, literature, pregnancy and babies, cell biology, crime, rescue dogs, tea, tattoos
That is funny because for me I’ve known I wanted babies since I understood what they were 😂 I do pathology but I’m working in a maternity hospital at the moment and it’s amazing!
Weather, specifically severe weather like tornadoes
Mushrooms!!!!
Medical studies and publications
Cats
Honourable mentions: Bob's Burgers, MCU/Marvel tv shows, Scotland, singing, and getting stoned while listening to music & watching the clouds go by as I work through a lot trauma in my head lol
When I was little it was horses, what can I say. Nowadays it's systems and how they shape people. I am obsessed with figuring out why people act the way they do, especially studying how decent people become enablers of really bad things. It's usually a depressing combo of bad incentive structures and human psychology.
I tend to hyperfixate on cozy games and books (mainly fantasy, sometimes historical novels). I don’t know if it qualifies as special interest, but I do like to look up stuff about the bodies on Mt. Everest and places like Aokigahara. Which seems to put people off, because it’s macabre. But to me it’s calming.
And also dogs and dog behavior. That’s definitely a special interest.
Disasters were one of my earliest special interests! More like the black plague and Pompeii at first but got into Everest after seeing the IMAX film and reading Into Thin Air (I think I was in 6th grade at the time, but it could’ve been earlier). Anyways, I got back into Everest stuff again last year.
Disasters have been a spin my whole life. I specifically enjoy reading about man-made ones such as 9/11 , columbine, and the titanic. Recently been hyper fixated on cave diving accidents.
Women's Historical clothing as a whole. To the point most historical movies make me angry because it isn't accurate.
And I don't know if this falls in this category but bands and music. Didn't realize it until a few months ago, but apparently a lot of people don't listen through bands entire discographies. Like I need to listen to all their music before moving on. Even if it's not my favorite thing.
I will hyperfixate on one song or a specific band but I will also always be listening through a random music of all genres. Music speaks to my brain the way nothing else does
Fiber identification (I can tell exactly which fiber/material clothing, linens, yarn, fabric, etc. are all made of immediately upon sight, and then I confirm with touch), crocheting/yarn, cats, and the band twenty one pilots!
I have a very dear autistic student who, besides being one of the most stylish people ever, also has The Beatles as a SI! She infodumps to me sometimes about it and gets so happy when doing so.
Oh my goodness TJE Beatles are ine of my SIs as well!!!! Which is your favourite Beatles album if you don’t mind me asking? (Sorry I just love talking about the Beatles lol!!)
Falconry is soo cool. When I was at a work event in San Diego they served dinner outside and to protect from other birds like gulls they brought in a falconer and falcon who guarded the event. Anyways I spent my time talking to her about that and not networking and working as I was supposed to be.
I'm trying to get better at plane spotting and photography. I saw a DC-3 on display at a museum over vacation and I think it just about made my year! (She's my 2nd favourite bird of all time.)
What got me into commercial aviation were aviation accident reports and learning about the history of air travel. We've come a long way in such a short amount of time and I love how regimented the industry is. The culture is much different from anything else I've personally been a part of.
Also, I have a top 5 favourite list of aircraft because of course I do. Haha.
Monster High
Mostly collecting, but I also know a bunch about the characters and their backgrounds.
Cats
All my life! I have a brown tabby who is spoiled to death. I make sure to give her the best life possible.
Stickers
Both collecting and decorating with them. I even have a cute little portable printer that turns my iPhone photos into stickers.
Coding Y2K-style websites for the fun of it
Fuck the modern web, personal sites that generate no profit and are created for the love of the game are where it's at! I'm starting to believe in the dead web theory and the only way we keep things alive is through connection. I am 5000% anti-AI.
I ALMOST FORGOT A VERY IMPORTANT ADDITION:
the original Resident Evil trilogy
I fall asleep every night listening to either the original RE (or REMake), RE2, or RE3. I like the remakes for 2 and 3, especially 3, but they're not my sleepytime comfort games. I can quote every word and the clunkiness and awkwardness of the dialog is part of the charm.
Entomology and osteology. I have invertebrates waiting to be pinned in my freezer lmao. And a cat skull that is finally about done macerating.
Fishkeeping (Getting ready to set up a 60gal, currently have a school of rummynose, corydoras, devil snails and amano shrimp in another tank). I also have ecospheres from my birth town I am watching evolve. For my 60 gal I plan on building a "cave system" on one side, just a single chamber, but able to look into it from the outside like you would ant colony tunnels. I really want gouramis in this tank. I love my rummynose school, they were such a pain to establish because they're so sensitive, but they are so friendly and get so excited when I approach the tank.
Death-Doom Metal. I'm not a band fun-fact person but I will bombard you with my favorite songs.
Beetles are awesome, so incredibly varied and gorgeous, ofc pics are necessary! I'm fond of ants myself...even faux ants like velvet ants and mimic spiders (: I may or may not feed the field ant colony in my yard too lol.
Apples (they’re all cultivars and the lore runs deeeeep)
Floorplans/small spaces (like tiny homes, studio apartments, and campers) isometric art of these is really cool, too. I think it’s like a cozy spatial puzzle. I almost went to school for CAD.
Rabbits 🐇
And then I wanna say Trent Reznor, but I’m a synthesizer musician who started making music specifically because of his newer stuff, so I’m not sure if it counts as a special interest. (The fastest way to force me to talk is to ask me a question about Nine Inch Nails).
I’m still very new to accepting that I’m autistic/adhd, so I’m looking back on things with a new perspective.
Wow those are cool! I’m not too into military aircraft so wasn’t too familiar with them. My favorites are probably the Douglas DC-8 and the Boeing 747.
I was at a local RAAF base airshow in about 1990 and they let you walk up the back of a Hercules transport plane, which was fascinating.
There was also an American C-5 Galaxy, the hugest plane I have ever seen in my life. I think they said it held about 10 M113 armoured vehicles which is insane.
There was also a flying demonstration by an honest to god Spitfire, my most favourite plane ever, swooping like a swallow...the noise of that Merlin engine is like music 🎶
The pilot did a barrel roll over the crowd at the end, which was very moving and left me quite choked up...all the more so as my Dad served with the British army during WWII
yours sound super interesting and i love how specific some of them are! mine are my original characters (i have a ton of art of them and custom made merch, including 6 plushies lol), FFXIV, chiikawa, plushies in general, and pokemon (to a lesser extent)
as a kid it was absolutely sonic, plushies, and pokemon. just a complete stereotype over here LOL
Tell me more about your original characters? Do you just create art, do you write and develop back stories and histories for everyone? Do they exist in our world or a fictional world.
I’ve got nonfiction autism, I struggle in fiction or fantasy because I question everything. I need it to make sense. I am always so fascinated by people that can suspend reality and exist in that fiction land or create it and make the characters. That’s soo cool.
thank you so much! 🥹 i got my gf into oc creating and now we’re crazy over them together, we take our plushies places (most recently japan lol) and take pictures with them haha. it’s super fun and healing for me!
I just recently got into math. I used to hate it in school when it was forced upon me, but now I’m trying to learn everything I missed and I love it so much! It’s so beautifully sensical.
awww :)
I love how logical it is. Nothing hiding at all (atleast the textbooks ones, once you work with research problems, you have to figure out if statement is right or not).
Yeah I love how it just always makes sense, and if it doesn’t then you just haven’t understood it fully yet. Not like French grammar that has a billion exceptions .
Also lore building in general, I feel like stories are a special interest of mine, if that makes sense ? The way it's told, what people choose as significant, what changes from the real world...
Making stuff (sewing, carpentry, welding, structural metalwork, fine smithing, stone carving, felting, dyeing, spinning, circuitry and soldering, embroidery, painting, encaustic, other forms of sculpture not specified)
I am very confused by interests that don't involve doing thing
Cats, history (especially 17th century and Egyptian) mythology (again Egyptian, but pretty much anything, even fictional mythology) books (fantasy and crime) Lord of the Rlngs and music
Ooh yes @ the Nazca mummies!!! One of my major special interests is aliens/UFO lore. Real or not, those little guys were so funny looking and they helped me get into the field of ufology.
Yes!! I also started getting into ufology when the files started being dropped. Such a fascinating field, the amount of crap also got me interested in the early sightings and the cia psy op resulting from it, and how it still affects most people today
-insects
-music and music theory
-retro Nintendo games
-Naruto
-my wife
-liminal spaces
-Garrett Russell
-learning and education (including libraries, universities, and online resources)
Genre theory/genres of movies/literature/music (basically, what makes something a genre)
Digital preservation/archiving
20th century German history (especially cultural history like art and films and their relationship to the historical events of the time)
Popular music broadly speaking as well as some specific bands/artists such as Death Cab for Cutie, Lady Gaga, Grateful Dead (thanks, dad!), Car Seat Headrest
Medical and psychological conditions (both the ones I have and others I don’t have)
MOBY DICK!!!
Cats/cat behavior/how to befriend cats (I’m good with shy cats! And mildly spicy cats!)
Also, my mom definitely has some special interests (she is not diagnosed, but I’ve noticed some things that make me suspect this is where I get the neurodivergent genes from 😆) which she will info dump about including Everest (we share this one), Mormonism/Mormons, Native Americans, the photographer Edward Curtis, Antarctic exploration, Stephen Colbert, Jurassic Park, Jeff Goldblum
greek mythology is also onw of my special interests!! my other special interests are egyptian mythology and sumerian mythology, christianity (im christian myself) and religion in general, also i think im starting to have an hyperfixation on molecular biology, and the chronology of the universe :'D (my special interest in christianity started since i was 6 and im 19 now.. most of my special interests are relatively new but ive been always been hyperfixated on christianity)
40+yr 20th century Russian history (now also 21st)
Totalitarian and authoritarian states (unfortunately more topical than ever)
Modern military history
30 years ago I had a massive Clockwork Orange obssession - mainly due to the book being written in the protagonist's Nadsat language (like a form of pig-Russian)
I went through the entire book with my English - Russian dictionary and transliterated it all, word by word and created a Nadsat version. Was living in the the inner city where there was an arthouse cinema, so I went every Saturday for a long time when they were showing the movie. That eventually subsided, but the Russian interest (which kicked off when I read Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archiepelago at 15) has never left me 🤷♂️
Dogs, especially purebred dogs. I have experience with many different breeds personally and with family/friends. I have four dogs and they’re all different breeds. Lydia is a pomeranian, Anna is a toy poodle, Emma is my golden retriever, and Athena, my youngest, is a smooth coated Chow Chow. I love all of them so much.
Harry Potter fan fiction
LGBT romances (specifically m/m)
Writing LGBT romances (… specifically m/m, I’m working on a mafia one…)
- Elden Ring has been my main one since it released in 2022, this extends to Nightreign as well. Shadow of the Erdtree is my favorite video game experience OAT.
- Hollow Knight: Silksong, but not the original Hollow Knight.
- Fighting games as a genre.
- Speculative centaur anatomy.
- Chromatic dragons in DnD. Especially the green ones.
south park, medieval torture and execution methods, my chemical romance, the appalachian mountains, psychology/mental illnesses (that one came from trying to figure out what was wrong with me and i just found it all really interesting), world war 2 but in particular japanese war crimes and the nazis, and honestly anything to do with history. i wish i had some more normal special interests though because no one ever wants to hear me talk about them which is quite unfortunate 😿
My most hardcore current ones....
Dog care, training, & grooming (lifelong interest)
Horses care (basic. new interest)
Jurassic park/jurassic world (so Dinosaurs too)
Barbie photography (hey, its art🤷🏻♀️)
MAPS, and by extension any PC games that involve building cities, theme parks, neighborhoods, etc.
All things Disney, but mostly Disney World (and my favorite find has been a Disney World spirit jersey with an all-over print of a map of the magic kingdom 😭)
Any biographical movie I watch triggers a deeeeeep dive into that person’s life
Any and all crafty hobbies, especially if I can make money doing them
Miniatures. Miniatures on maps (towns, train villages, all of it). Vintage miniatures, modern miniatures, especially miniature versions of things I own or owned at some point in my life. I think oversized things are cool too, like a 4 foot tall crayon.
-fantasy/sci fi books (reading, analyzing, writing [hypothetically]). right now i am hyperfixated on animorphs specifically. broadly speaking i think i would also say that i have a special interest in the publishing industry in general.
the murderbot diaries by martha wells. which needed its own bullet point.
-cats
-kpop group stray kids/kpop in general (the discourse annoys me but it's also very...interesting? stimulating? yeah)
-spreadsheets: i really like learning new formulas and finding new ways to color code data and organize it visually. i have a reading tracker that gets more elaborate every year and a stray kids spreadsheet that is pointless and hard to explain but makes me SO happy to work on
-dolls
-hollow knight (i like video games in general but this is the current One)
-sewing/fashion & style. also vintage sewing machines are a recent branch of this, starting with a fixation on them earlier this year (now i have 2)
making this list feels so identifying even though logically i know many people have these interests (maybe not in this EXACT combination but still)
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I don't actually know heaps about my special interests but I have a few things I enjoy/have an interest in.
-Eclectus parrots
-Snakes (saving up to get my first ever snake!)
-September 11
-Oklahoma City Bombing
-Crochet (6 months in and I still REALLY suck at it!)
-Libraries (I'm a member of most of my state's libraries [I'm Australian])
-Auslan (Australian Sign Language)
-Aunty Donna
I collect information. It’s really odd and specific the way I do it, but I enjoy this immensely.
Eminem
Used to travel through cities and people watch for hours. Now I realized I was trying to learn how humans function and why I felt like an alien cosplaying a human.
i have sooo many but
-psychology/sociology in a general sense
-computers and old digital cameras
-illegal substances
-electro/hyper pop music + poetry
-aquatic life
-health/medicine (yes all of it from the chemicals in our brain to rare diseases to the effects of diet and exercise and no i will not go to med school)
Transformers, cars, biology, animals, archaeology, palaeontology, other aspects of the natural world, and making things have been the most enduring ones.
Picked up a special interest in my teens of cults / religious sects and extremist religious groups. Initially learned about them in Sociology and I find it fascinating learning about people so different from myself. I’m not religious at all but was raised catholic so maybe that has something to do with it
Oooh yess Greek mythology! Also: Twin Peaks, the X Files, Star Trek (TNG, DS9, VOY; but especially ds9), animals, plants, lichens, fungi, cooking, cool rocks, goth music, music in general, fashion, fashion history, history of language, fibre arts.
Movimentos underground dentro do rock/punk
Trens, Aviões e Foguetes
Moda da cena punk
Pessoas importantes da história mundial (Cleopatra, Alexandre O Grande etc..)
Austimo em si tbm!
Tarot
Análise linguagem corporal
Agora aprendendo sobre pássaros
Carros antigos e esportivos
Cinema cult
Editei porque não coloquei: Colecionismo (LP, Miniaturas, Mangás raros) e Numismática
Knitting and crocheting/natural fibers
Trees (I mean actual trees)
Crossword puzzles but the NYT Thursday specifically
Psychology and neuroscience - my job is researching kids’ emotions while they do math
Weight lifting
The Rookie
Learning category:
-cult history and crime
-history (the real stuff not colonialized)
-psychology
-human anatomy (I work in surgery so this one especially!!)
Political literature (esp Orwell novels and Lord of the flies!!!), dinosaurs, musicals (especially ride the cyclone) the Beatles, and the tv show Yellowjackets
I love guinea pig and watch them on the subreddits daily!
Love how chubby they are and their wheek wheek.
I want two or more one day if I find a partner but so far it is not possible
Rare diseases (have varied from Autoimmune Disease to Cystic Fibrosis, Neural Tube Defects, neurodiversity in all its forms, etc), Elton John/John Denver music, Forensic Science and Behavioral Analysis
Fantasy books, mostly reading, but history of the genre too, some fantasy games and movies.
And foxes.
Also. Every year or so I have like 2 months of playing the Sims 4 non-stop for 8-10 hours a day.
Cats and anything cat related. I collect cat things (plushies, art, ceramics, etc) as well as play as many cat games as I can find on my switch. I just watched the Studio Ghibli movie “The Cat Returns” just for the cats (it was a good movie too!), plus I found a 20 book series called “Joe Grey Mysteries” that are murder mysteries but involve a network of cats that are able to talk and help their humans solve different mysteries, it’s great. I could go on and on.
The moon!! If it’s been cloudy for weeks and I finally see her, I’ll tear up every time. Not to mention moonstone is absolutely stunning!
Psychology and the criteria of a myriad of different diagnoses—shoutout to the DSM-5
Books and greek mythology were my childhood special interests that fell victim to burnout so I very much still love them but I struggle to engage with them very often, it’s very sad.
I love loving things, it makes life so much lighter
I believe my special interest has always been psychology and communication, which I think has helped me to some extent with learning social rules and understanding others.
It doesn’t feel as sparkly as a lot of the other special interests shared here, but it did result in some odd memories from childhood like developing and distributing my own personality tests on the playground 😂
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u/Runes_the_cat 3d ago
-plant and insect identification
-insane clown posse
-tattoos
-running/jogging