Mainstream is the new "nerd"

Being a nerd nowadays is surely the new mainstream. Is there anyone that's a "regular jock" nowadays? If it's not that they play pretend-LOTR during weekends they obsess over fixed gear bikes or analyze the football scores. In a real nerdy way.

So I saw this over at Total Fan Girl and kinda fell in love. Mostly because it was -ages- since I played a proper hack-n-slash dungeon crawl. Or any roleplaying game at all tbh.

Vampire kinda stole the crown of my gaming group when I was into RPGs. With it's more theatrical way of roleplaying (some might say it was finally roleplaying and not rolling dice and looking at tables). After that came the (european style) LARP-ing and one thing led to another and suddenly re-enacting was what I did. And all I wanted to be was in that forgotten land, hacking stuff in the head with my broadsword (1D8+1) and getting the loot and a bunch of XP in the end.

Will it go full circle? Just after I stopped playing RPGs for real I went into table top games. Will I, in a few years be a neckbearded dungeonmaster again? (Not that I had any sort of resemblance to bear when I was fifteen-ish)

So, to recap to the "everyone's a nerd" thing I started with.

I studied advertising school during 2008-2010. Some might say "The leading advertising school in Sweden". Hard to get in, hard to finish. There was a ton of A-type personalities there. And sometimes pretty hostile in a very intellectual way. Pretty high percentage of hipster/jocks there.

So one day, I walked into the school studio (where we did all our projects) with a newly bought AOBR-set, a battleboard and god knows what else I bought that day. The GW store was then just a couple of blocks from school.

And not -one- -single- -person- said something disparaging about the "toy soldiers" I bought. Some asked, and I told them the basic premises and they lightened up and said "My brother did that when he was young. How cool that it's still alive." or "Yeah, I had a Tau-army back in the days!".

Some dudes, with a little less points on their geek-card, asked if it was kinda like World of Warcraft, but in space, and with plastic dudes. And I told them the differences, the history et al. While realizing that these people are ALSO nerds since they immediately jumped to the WoW-connection. Some of them were level 80 wizards already. With robes.

So tell me, do you know anyone, in your age span. Say from 20-40 who has not played some sort of "adventure game" (I clump every dungeoncrawl -> D&D game into that phrase).  Do not play "computer games" and talk about it not-hushed tones? Or hasn't gotten any form of nerd-cred? It might be just a simple thing as knowing/nurturing an interest that's work related. One girl I know, she collects viruses. (She's a virologist, so she's excused from the label "Weirdo!")

I think you will find it hard to find anyone around you that's not a nerd in some way. Hell, even a fashionista-girl I knew collected hard to find Chanel-handbags. She knew everything about those goddang bags. Just like a military modeller would know everything about the colors DAK used during the desert wars...

Food for thought...?


In other news. Those of you over the pond that's interested in the paint storage racks I got, can now order them from Warpath. The offial post over at TTG is:

ESLO Terrain products will now be available in North American from WarPath Games.

From their announcement:

We are happy to write that we have an exclusive distributor for the U.S.A. and Canada.
Now all resellers can contact WarPath Games. They have a large stock (become in next time a restock) and will be attending several shows. We think this is the perfect solution, and will provide better communications for all resellers.

Quick Review:Autumn leaves...

Put that one on play, then read the rest. Don't put it on play if you really really dislike jazz. If you really dislike jazz, please go here and reconsider your taste in music. After that's done, please report to inquisitor Franz Carl over at the counter. Thank you.

So, let's get it on then...

Earlier I bought the Mig Jemenez DVD in which he paints a tank with just acrylics. In it, he finished off the weathering by adding some small laser-cut leaves on the tank. Something that really added life to the tank, and another little piece of detail to put your eyes on. So I started looking on the net for some leaves. Ultimately I decided on some of the Plus Model leaves in fall colours.

Birch! I got some linden too... they're different. :)

Now I had no idea on how small they were until I got them. And if the pictures don't tell you enough, let me just emphasise... they're REALLY REALLY small. But the're also very well detailed.

As you can see from the close-up below they actually have a "middle part" on them. Some are even a bit chewed on, due to design or just a mishap I don't know. But it sure adds to the feeling of them.

So I put 'em on a speed-painted nob (awesome tut here) and took some photos, just for you (And you, and you. Not that guy over there though).

I'd say they're kinda worth it. The price might seem steep at first. €5 + shipping for some lasercut leaves? But I really can't see a good way to DIY these and still get the small (and important) detail.

To affix the leaves to the base I just added a drop of matte varnish and put a leaf on it with the help of a tweezer.

Now listen to the end of that song before you close the browser, thank you! :)