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Chapter 11.

Why it wasn’t weird for me to say that.

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Strangeness is a quality that often goes unappreciated. When someone calls one abnormal, the irony of the situation is that there is no such thing as normality. The characteristics of a person are shared between others, so there will always only be the popular and unpopular traits. For a genre to exist, there must be more than one example to base the specific genre on. While some forms of existence may have more examples to cite, understand that those that call out the strange or the abnormal only draw more attention to the situation (Usually in a negative form, much to their dismay).

I celebrate the odd and bizarre. Life is often boring if nothing unexpected or peculiar occurs. There is always creativity that can be seen in the unusual, and this creativity fascinates me to no end. The subgroups and factions that grow out of this shared obsession tend to serve a unique purpose all while being an extreme amount of fun. Perhaps the best example that I could provide is in the form of the role playing game Dungeons and Dragons.

While I was in my final years of High School I was invited to play this game by my Art teacher. He offered to teach me and a few others how to play, giving us character sheets and multi-sided dice. Through the use of imagination and a wonderful sense of immersion, we all conquered campaigns that spanned countless hours of our free time. I played the role of the Mage, providing support in the form of spells, magic, and potions. It was the greatest experience of my youth that I cherish fondly. The memories of that small art room and the friendships that were created spawned my love of the fantasy genre and led to me becoming an author.

These memories came with a cost though. When I ever tried to convince my friends to try playing the game, I was met with criticism and confusion. The existence of role playing video games were considered to be superior, and my love of a game that used imagination and paperwork was considered to be bizarre and strange. The argument that I’m attempting to make is that there will always be the ones who will share your interests (like my Art teacher and my tabletop friends) and the ones who will quickly call out your passions as strange or unusual. Enjoy your hobbies without the fear of dismissal. You get one life to enjoy, so have as much fun as you possibly can, even if it’s a bit weird.

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