Sparks and Special Interests

Hello everyone old and new, welcome back if you’re a regular, welcome in if you’re new. For them who don’t know; I’m Jack and I’m an illustrator who’s queer and has plans to write things one day. Until the day I get my hands on paper and pens I am writing a blog on being nuerodiverse and a sparks fan. Sharing my love and other people’s love of sparks, and combining it with nuerodiverse traits. I didn’t study psychology so all my views are just watching and reading into people. I am currently (still) on the autism waiting list, this series has helped me open up about my passions and stories from past and present. So come along for today’s ride, bring your favourite snacks or drinks. Because today I’m discussing special interests.

Before I delve deep I will explain to you what a special interest is. A special interest is something you’ve fallen love with for years, you collect the items around it,  maybe develop your personality or style around it and you get happy and excited when you see it out in the wild. Over the years I’ve had many special interests which have came and gone. So I thought I’d share some and at the end discuss the relation to sparks. 

1. Music

(This is a pic of my cd player, an xtc cd and my headphones)

I have always loved music. As a small child my mum would use her cd player while cooking dinner, she used to play 60s music or Bryan Adams or Bon Jovi or Queen. I remember loving whatever she played, I famously tried to cover a Simon and Garfunkel song for my schools talent show once. I also collect music items, especially CDs. I began with those as they’re a lot cheaper and portable and my dad used to have a car with a disc player. I also collect records which I often try and buy in charity shops or markets or convince family to get. My CD collection has been my longest running at 6 years and I began with my favourite band at that time; Arctic Monkeys and then began stealing my mums 80s compilation albums as I grew up hearing this amazing era through the CDs. I often get friends asking for album recommendations because I’m constantly looking for new things. Music really helps me see the world and communicate with it as I’m select mute so I tend to socialise if I know a band you listen to or you’re interested in learning about my favourite bands. 

2. Pokemon

(This is a pic or some Pokémon posters and a pikachu plush) 

I began liking Pokémon by accident. I watched it at 9 years old as a kid I’d routinely watch kids morning television and my favourite channel was CITV. Sadly, CITV as a channel doesn’t exist but the spirit and memories live with me forever. I loved Pokémon from 9-15 and recently fell in love with it more as I’m getting mor into the figures and cards (I use the figures to decorate my desk) For anyone who is a massive Pokémon fan, my favourite series is diamond and pearl and favourite Pokémon is Buneary. I have a talking buneary plush and a mini felt buneary my best friend made me. 

3. Squishmallows

(This is noodle in real life with some of their squishmallows)

I recently fell in love with squishmallows, I don’t want to admit how much I’m spending on these soft creatures but I love the designs so much I’ve incorporated their style into a uni project. I began getting into them as I noticed during Covid them being super popular and one day I got one and was impressed. I’ve lost count how many I have and even my pencil case is squishmallow themed and I have a squishmallow blanket. 

4. Frogs

(Two of my frog plushies in my bed, the pink one is Flora and the green one is Forest) 

One of my first major interests that helped me realise I am probably autistic was frogs. I love the buildabear frog especially as it’s reminding me of happier times. I also take them on adventures with me or to my monthly art shop. I also love buying them clothes and making sure they look nice. Asides buildabears, I have other frog items like several crocheted frogs, frog ornaments and miscellaneous frog plushies. A random fact about frogs, their ears are under their mouths. I got into frogs through my Nana as she herself loves frogs and donated most of my ornaments to me which she had in her office but it made her sad they were gathering dust so I sit with them now. 

5. 80s Movies 

 

(Above: 2 of my favourite 80s films currently) 

I was born in the early 2000s, however, my parents helped me learn about the time they grew up. I fell in love with 80s films growing up as they felt so nostalgic and true stories. They also inspire my characters and stories I tell with them. I collect DVDs of these movies too as I want to enjoy extras with them as well. I also hunt down soundtracks as me and my dad both love movie soundtracks. My favourite currently is Labyrinth as it works perfectly, plus it’s the perfect thing to listen to when drawing with a snoozing dog. One thing I recently learnt was some 80s soundtracks have lost songs as in, they’re featured in the film but aren’t publicly available. 

That was a look at some of my special interests as of late 2023. I decided to share those as I notice a connection to sparks and special interests as they have their own interests and like nuerodiverse people they are very passionate about them. An example I thought of straight away was Ron and his snow globes. 

(Ron and some of his snow globes) 

This example has been brought up many times between sparks fans and I and even my best friend and who isn’t a hardcore sparks fan like me. We notice how he began this obsession purely to remember places the maels went but got more and more as he got more passionate. There’s a post on their Twitter page discussing how he owns over 12,000 snow globes and I told my dad this due to him aware of my skills of collecting things and he sat in silence until he said “how does he have so many?” So Ron’s passion seems to shock all kinds of people. 

Another example of the maels and their intense passion for something is Russell and his love of anime. This can be seen in numerous photos fans have analysed and screenshots from zoom interviews the band participated in. I myself collect cartoon/anime figures so I can see why Russell would do this as they’re colourful and full of life; like Russell I also put them on my desk or in a box as I have not a lot of space. Unfortunately, I can’t find any pictures to show our wonderful Russell’s figures, but if you watch any interviews from 2020-2021 that occurred on zoom you may see them if you look closely. 

Thanks again everyone for reading, this one took a while due to me being pretty exhausted and busy due to festive break. My sensory issues around food also played up but I managed to dodge any questions on it as I rarely eat meats due to texture and so many get mad at me for it. But I’m back in a tidy room I call the studio with plenty chocolate and cream soda. I was intending a completely different episode to this but I felt too much for me as it would’ve been a very deep and way too personal episode. Anyways it’s goodbye from me and my dog. We will see you next year with a bottle of Buck’s Fizz and a disco ball. Until then, here’s one of my latest drawings of the maels.