8 Queer Nerd Hobbies and The way to Get Into Them
There’s by no means been a greater time to embrace all of the nerdery that lives in your coronary heart, particularly if you happen to’re a sapphic nerd! Our time has really come! Sadly, a number of geeky actions can really feel overwhelming or inaccessible if you happen to’re simply beginning out. I do know as a result of I’ve felt it, and since it’s the primary factor folks ask me: “How do I get into comics/D&D/video video games? I don’t know the place to start out!” So I believed, right here close to the start of the 12 months, what a few primer for among the hottest queer nerd hobbies? The fantastic thing about most homosexual geeks — not like most cis straight boy geeks — is that we WANT everybody to like what we love, and are more than pleased to carry your hand and wax poetic about it, whereas guiding you into the depths of obsession! The truth is, I guess when you have any questions on any nerds hobbies, and also you ask them in these very feedback, somebody will swoop in and be thrilled to reply you! Listed below are eight queer nerd hobbies, and the right way to get into them!
1. Sci-Fi Sequence With a Billion Episodes
Crucial factor that you must find out about ALL nerdy tales — fantasy TV, sci-fi motion pictures, comedian books, video video games, graphic novels — is that each single timeline is wibbly wobbly. Fantasy’s cousin is cleaning soap operas. (Star Wars is actually referred to as an area opera.) It’s simply that each one the shenanigans and tomfoolery are defined by magic or cool tech! And the hijinks, they’re infinite! So infinite, in actual fact, that there’s no strong continuity in any of those tales, regardless of how a lot hand-waving super-fans do.
Which means you completely would not have to start out within the Sixties if you wish to watch Jodie Whittaker’s Physician Who, or watch all 178 episodes of Star Trek: The Subsequent Era if you happen to suppose Star Trek: Picard seems cool and homosexual, or sit via a single second of Jar Jar Binks if you wish to test the hype on Child Yoda in The Mandalorian. And anybody who tells in any other case is fallacious! If you happen to like Willow the TV present, and also you wish to return and watch Willow the film, superb! Benefit from the graphics! Will it provide you with a deeper understanding of the collection? Positive, and a few inside jokes too. However the present remains to be imminently pleasant — and comprehensible! — with out all that background. Plus, when you have a query concerning the older stuff, I assure you could find it on a fan wiki.
2. Cartoons
The tough factor about stepping into cartoons is absolutely simply the web dialogue. If you happen to’ve been into cartoons for some time, and I say “The Owl Home” to you, you’ll be capable of draw a line to She-Ra then Steven Universe then Journey Time then The Legend of Korra. However you don’t NEED to have the ability to try this. You may simply get pleasure from animated TV. I personally suppose these collection I simply named have accomplished queer rep nearly as good as any live-action present for “grown-ups” within the final decade. And the nice information is that ALL the very best cartoons are streaming (for now). It may possibly appear overwhelming, I do know. There’s a billion episodes of Journey Time, for instance. And the outdated ones are on Cartoon Community whereas the brand new ones are on HBO Max. However simply click on on a pilot, give it a number of episodes, and take it from there. In order for you extra grownup cartoons (by which I imply each sexier and grownup characters), strive Harley Quinn or Star Trek: Decrease Decks. You don’t must know a dang factor about Batman or Star Trek to get pleasure from them.
3. Watching D&D
There are such a lot of cool D&D campaigns you may watch and stream today! Which could not sound like enjoyable to you, however in all probability since you haven’t tried it. I believed my pals have been having some form of collective hallucination of pleasure after they all began watching Important Position 5 hours per week, a number of years in the past, after which I began, and now I’m as hooked as they’re. (You must learn Valerie Anne’s essay on how queer D&D modified her life, if you happen to haven’t already.)
Critical Role is probably the most well-known D&D sport on the planet, and there’s loads of queer characters to root for. High Rollers is a UK-based marketing campaign. Dimension 20 has gotten an increasing number of widespread over the previous couple of years. The Black Dice Society is tremendous beloved. Rivals of Winterdeep is a hidden gem. You can too, after all, watch the Important Position animated collection, The Legend of Vox Machina. I’d suggest beginning with a one-shot or mini-series, to get a really feel for the gamers and their model, and if you happen to like that, there’s an entire world of creativeness ready for you!
4. Enjoying D&D
I didn’t begin taking part in D&D till I used to be 40! I actually had no thought to play when A.E. Osworth invited me over to do a one-shot with some queer pals a number of years in the past. I used to be nervous! I didn’t even personal any cube; I needed to run out and purchase some the day of the sport! However that sport was among the best nights of my life, and it result in a marketing campaign with pricey pals. We needed to halt it when the pandemic began, and it’s, by far, the factor I’ve had the toughest time letting go of due to Covid. I’m not good at D&D, actually, however it’s so a lot enjoyable!
Like most issues, you may go as deep as you need with D&D, studying all of the guidebooks and studying all of the magic programs and spells and lore — or! You will get your pals that can assist you construct a personality and be taught as you go, simply having fun with making up tales with folks you like, and typically touchdown the deadly blow on a demi-lich. One of the simplest ways I can consider to get entangled with a D&D group is to hang around in queer areas the place folks play D&D — like Autostraddle! — and make pals. Each time we do an A+ Discord occasion, new tabletop sport teams pop up! Persons are all the time in search of teams in our feedback! Fortunately, there’s a great deal of methods to play on-line today, so you may construct a bunch from everywhere in the world.
5. Comedian Books
I feel the rationale comedian books are so intimidating is as a result of the characters are always altering. Not simply the costumes, however the individual inside them, and even when their title stays the identical, they might be an entire totally different character. Most main superheroes — even Batman — have been via a zillion adjustments over time. It’s not all the time Bruce Wayne inside there! After which there’s the added complication of what’s on TV, or what’s in a film, these may not be the identical as what’s within the comedian ebook. After which, at any given time, there could be seven comedian ebook titles about one character all going down in numerous worlds on totally different timelines. Once more, the important thing to your happiness is figuring out you don’t have to start out at “the start” and also you don’t must be a completionist.
My recommendation is to choose a personality you like after which learn a present collection about that character. Virtually all main comedian books are collected into commerce paperbacks. Which means you should purchase like ten comedian books all bundled collectively in a single ebook, so that you’re not chasing particular person points round. Additionally, Comixology makes it tremendous simple to get your arms on any single subject you’re in search of, if you happen to don’t thoughts studying digitally. When you determine if you happen to like a sure ebook — the character, the writing, the artwork — then you may work out if you wish to learn extra books about that hero. Or extra books by that artist, or author. You may dig down so far as you wish to go, and it’ll get simpler and simpler as you go alongside. Additionally don’t overlook to discover indie titles like Carly Usdin’s beloved collection, The Avant-Guards or Heavy Vinyl, or the all-time queer fave Lumberjanes.
6. The Sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe
Autostraddle EIC Carmen Phillips goes to fall over when she reads this, however: You would not have to look at all of the Marvel motion pictures and all of the Marvel TV reveals to get pleasure from Marvel characters! The tough factor about Marvel motion pictures is the order they have been made in just isn’t the order of the MCU’s timeline. The primary MCU film was Iron Man, launched in 2008, however the first MCU film when it comes to the Marvel timeline is Captain America: The First Avenger, which takes place in 1941 and was made in 2011. The subsequent spot on the timeline is Captain Marvel, which takes place within the Nineties, however was made in 2019, and is the twenty second Marvel film. So! I perceive your confusion!
You may merely select a personality you want and watch via their motion pictures, and that’s simply advantageous! Captain Marvel is a superb alternative. Black Panther is one other nice alternative. I’ve a comfortable spot for Thor, himbo long-haired comfortable butch that he’s. Plus you’re getting Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie in these motion pictures.
If you wish to watch Marvel motion pictures the order they have been made, or the order of the timeline, Rotten Tomatoes has you covered. I’ll say that I watched all of the Marvel motion pictures as they got here out, as a result of I’ve all the time beloved superheroes, however a number of years in the past, my spouse and I rewatched all of them in timeline order. Each have been very enjoyable. It’s a great way to spend TV time with somebody you like!
Observe: The Spider-Man motion pictures match into the MCU in a really bizarre method that I’ll clarify within the feedback if you need. The primary factor to know is that the Tom Holland/Zendaya Spider-Mans are those which are necessary on this world. He’s the Spider-Man of our identified Avengers..
7. Fantasy Books
I feel fantasy books can appear intimidating as a result of so lots of them are trilogies and so lots of them are 1000’s of pages lengthy. I feel they’ll additionally appear boring if the one fantasy books you realize about are Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. However oh, there are SO many LGBTQ fantasy books today, and they’re completely not all going down in Center Earth. N.Ok. Jemisin, probably the most celebrated fashionable fantasy writer, is a Black girl who refuses to jot down on this white supremacist middle-ages fantasy land we’ve been inundated with our entire lives. All of her books are a revelation, and in contrast to something you’ve ever learn. The Damaged Earth trilogy gained THREE Hugo Awards. Tasha Suri’s The Jasmine Throne is queer and impressed by Hindu epics. Final 12 months’s extensively beloved The Daughter of the Moon Goddess, by Sue Lynn Tan, is impressed by Chinese language legend. Sangu Mandanna’s The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, one other breakout hit from final 12 months, is fashionable fantasy with 4 witches of coloration as protagonists, the primary character is an Indian witch dwelling in Britain. Travis Baldree’s Legends and Lattes is a lesbian rom-com set on the planet of Dungeons & Dragons. Samatha Shannon’s The Prioriy of the Orange Tree, my favourite ebook, has an epic lesbian romance and a prequel is popping out on the finish of the month. And earlier than Malinda Lo was profitable Nationwide E book Awards, she was kicking off the queer YA revolution with books like Ash, Huntress, and Adaptation (fantasy, fantasy, sci-fi). There has by no means been a greater time to be a queer girl who loves tales about girls who wield magic and swords.
8. Video Video games
Video video games are extra widespread than ever, with infinite platforms to play on, together with your very personal telephone! The tough factor about stepping into gaming is that the upfront price may be fairly steep. Even the most affordable Nintendo Change + a sport will run you $250. However! Gaming consoles and video games are an funding in enjoyable that all the time pay dividends. You can be shocked by how a lot time you’ll spend shedding your self in cozy worlds like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley, or sneaky heartbreaking queer worlds like The Final of Us or Life Is Unusual, or heroic open-world video games like Horizon Zero Daybreak or Murderer’s Creed. You’ll even be shocked, I guess, by how a lot self-discovery you do whereas roaming round these digital lands.
Step one is to determine what sort of video games you wish to play. Brighter, cozier, cute critter video games? In all probability a Nintendo is greatest for you. Wish to dive into main studio action-adventure and role-playing video games? You may decide up a used PS4 and even PS3 to check out the mechanics and see if you wish to spring for a more moderen XBox or Ps. There are additionally LOADS of playthroughs on YouTube, so you will get a really feel for the video games before you purchase them. ALB in Whisperland is a queer creator and one in all my favourite cozy sport gamers. The ASMR Nerd is a really cool man from Canada who performs plenty of RPGs (on a PC, however the vibe is similar). I like ASMR players as a result of they don’t yell and aren’t jerks.
In case you have any suggestions or questions on nerding out, I’d love to listen to them within the feedback!
