Sci-Fi Geek?

Venusatellite	You enter my orbit, round and round you go

About this Entry
Posted by: venusatellite Original: 3/24/2009 2:29 PM Views: 18 Comments: 6 eProps: 6 Read Comments Post a Comment Back to Your Xanga Site

Who gave the eProps?
2 eProps from: d_art deathtothenewworldorder LoveNRage

Read or Post Comments

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

What does it mean to be a sci-fi geek?

I recently found out my cousin plays Magic: The Gathering. After my initial reaction (of abject horror), I began to ask her questions. Do you throw the cards at one another? No. Do you flick the cards, carefully aimed, at an object? No. Do you use the cards as a backstory for a boardgame? No. Do you wear capes and call each other Ragnok the Rock Monster and Druidian the Troll King and Bubu the Evil Hobbit? No. Then what the HECK do you do with these flippin' cards??!?!?!

So began my foray into a world of absolute confusion, chaos, and geekdom. And I began to wonder... how deep can you fall before you're labeled a sci-fi geek?

I read Ender's Game...watch Bladerunner...discuss Doctor Who over dinner...listen to EscapePod on a daily basis... But I don't know a thing about Ursula K. Le Guin or the secret goings-on of a D&D game. I don't understand their secret language, and am a bit afraid of their passion for all things Star Trek. I don't know the difference between a button of a Star Fleet Commander and a lesser officer. I don't know what the inseam looks like on a Klingon's jacket, coat, thing.

I do know that...if it's a person's passion, and it's something he/she enjoys without harming others...then it's something that should escape our judgment. Everyone's a geek in some way or another. Fashion geek. iPhone geek. Celebrity geek. Poetry geek.

If reading Ray Bradbury and watching Tron makes me a sci-fi geek, then so be it. It'll just be an augmentation of my Geeks List, of which I am very proud.

Still, the question remains... What makes a sci-fi geek...and what the HECK do you do with those flippin' Magic cards???

Posted 3/24/2009 2:29 PM - 18 Views - 6 eProps - 6 comments

recommend
recs0
share
email
sent0

Give eProps or Post a Comment

6 Comments

I don't play magic either.

But, I dunno if Magic and D&D is considered real sci-fi. Ha!

I wonder if that makes me a sci-fi-snob.

Then again, technically Star Wars aren't considered sci-fi by the more hardlined sci-fi snobs.

And, I consider Twilight Zone to be sci-fi, while others even call it horror or fantasy, or something else. I generally say, whatever the genre, if it makes you think, it's closer to sci-fi.

Posted 3/24/2009 2:51 PM by d_art

- reply

@d_art - yeah, my bad. i guess sci-fi and fantasy are completely different genres that are often married together by non-hardcore folks. however, i went to the sci-fi museum in seattle this past weekend (they actually had a "doooo doooo doooo" weird science space music playing in the background), and one of the prolific sci-fi writers was quoted to say (approximately): "if you can define sci-fi, i'd like to hear it." also, the EscapePod host said something to the effect of, "really, all fiction is science fiction." so...maybe all of us who enjoy anything fictional is a sci-fi geek...it's just that many of us are in denial? who knows! seriously dude. how in the world do people play magic cards? i'm confused.

Posted 3/24/2009 2:57 PM by venusatellite - reply

Visit deathtothenewworldorder's Xanga Site!

Magic Cards...I have never used them or played any card game closely resembling it. How is all fiction science fiction? What, does it have to contain a scientific overlay along with a highly developed sci-fi story line with twists and turns and imressive technology that dosen't exist...yet, to be considered science fiction?

Posted 3/24/2009 5:12 PM by deathtothenewworldorder - reply

@deathtothenewworldorder - i dunno. that's what the podcaster (podcastor?) said. perhaps they're defining sci-fi very broadly, to basically say that sci-fi isn't just a matter of scientific manipulation in a fictional setting...sci-fi is more than that. sci-fi is imagination personified in a story. thus, since all fiction is the expression of imagination, all fiction is sci-fi. huh. who knows.

Posted 3/24/2009 5:19 PM by venusatellite - reply

*holds up hand* Magic the Gathering geek here.

Essentially, a game of MTG is a duel between opponents (or "planeswalkers", dimension-hopping magicians). There are five "colours" that represent different types of magic (order, chaos, death, puppies and rainbows). Players put down "land" cards and turn them sideways to show they are using the colour the land represents (plains = white, swamps = black) in order to play spells or summon creatures/other spellcasters.

Each players starts off with 20 lifepoints, and a typical duel ends when one player runs out of lifepoints or cards to draw.

Though the more complicated things get, the more it ends up being about successful arguing skills ("I do this and this and this, and you lose! Har Har!")

Posted 3/25/2009 5:31 AM by LoveNRage - reply

@LoveNRage - i guess i have to see it in action. some of those cards look hella scary, though.

Posted 3/25/2009 2:06 PM by venusatellite - reply

Choose Identity

Xanga Network

Anonymous (Sign up for free!)