What I Love About the Geek Community

Last Updated on September 3, 2023 by Jenn | The Nerd Mom

Megan over at A Geeky Gal blog created this challenge for fellow geeks to share all about what makes them nerdy. You can see her completed challenge post here.

Something you love about the geek community?

I’ve been part of the geek community for a long time and have participated on a few different platforms. I’ve had my own group of nerdy friends from high school. I’ve been all across the internet from Facebook groups and Twitter threads to DeviantArt and Archive of Our Own.

Something you find everywhere in the geek community is creativity. And that’s what I love.

Geeks tend to come together over a shared love of someone else’s art, but they are eager to explore, build upon, and create anew based on that art.

One of my best friends from high school was a talented seamstress and a huge history geek. She was my go-to for dresses to wear to medieval faires. She made me a few unique gowns that I treasured, as I treasured our friendship. We wore them together to faires and geeked out about our shared crush on Legolas from Lord of the Rings.

In the geek community, you find online groups that produce some deep, thoughtful discussions of stories and characters. There are fan theories, and though some are whackier than others, all are interesting to read.

I’ve discovered things about my favorite fandoms from online fan groups that I would not have discovered on my own. I love to analyze my favorite books, movies, and video games, but some people really have an eye for details and can point out connections and easter eggs that are fascinating to ponder.

There are blogs dedicated to providing analysis and discussion of fandoms. One of my favorite examples is the blog Dumped, Drunk and Dalish by Angela Mitchell. Angela writes about the characters and relationships from the Dragon Age universe. It’s some of the most well-written fanwork I’ve ever read. She has enriched my own enjoyment of the video games through her clever and accessible writing.

There are also works of fanart and fanfiction, produced by fellow geeks, that are equally valuable to my own enjoyment of fandoms. Fanfiction and fanart can explore relationships, locations, or plot points that are either non-existent or minimally explored in the original work. Pieces of fanfiction and fanart can shed new light on character motivations and perspectives. Sometimes, they can just be downright indulgent and fun.

My favorite fanfiction of all time is Apotheosis by KeeperLavellan on AO3. It’s an in-depth retelling of the Solas and Lavellan romance from Dragon Age: Inquisition. It is some of the best writing I have ever enjoyed, and not just from fanfiction.

The game does not have time to capture the more intimate and subtle moments that define the development and unraveling of the relationship, but KeeperLavellan embodied those moments with her writing. It is so good, it has become my headcanon. You can read more about what was great about Dragon Age from my Day 12 post.

My favorite fan artists include kittrose, who makes gorgeous illustrations from many fandoms, including Star Wars, Game of Thrones, and Marvel, and nipuni, who blows me away with her Solavellan art.

I also love cosplay, and how people can recreate or reinvent characters through detailed costume creation. (Check out my feature post about badass moms who cosplay!)

I love how I can get on Etsy and find Lord of the Rings themed wedding decorations and a deck of Sabaac cards. Because geeks made them.

There are so many outlets for geeks to express their own creative talents, and that’s what they are doing, unabashedly and intensely.

I can honestly say I wouldn’t enjoy my fandoms as much without the genius of other geeks. They make my favorite worlds even easier to get lost in.

Tell me about your favorite thing about the geek community!