I spent the last two weeks recovering from another bout of COVID. This time, I had to quarantine from the family in a hotel room. As a fan of heist movies, I have always wondered what it would be like to hide out in a crappy motel somewhere. Turns out that it’s pretty boring. I watched a lot of TV.

I finished season 4 of Stranger Things. For me, the story has taken on a life of its own. Whether this season is “good” or not is kind of immaterial. I just need to experience the story. The satisfaction part will come later when I re-watch it for the second or third time.

In many ways, the show is a stylized version of my own childhood. I grew up in a small town, and I went to a small high school. Like Mike, I got bullied for being a nerd. Like Lucas, I used sports (martial arts) to break out of that mold. This season also introduced Eddie, a metalhead who used drugs and music to define his identity as something more than a nerd. Instead of metal, I was into punk and industrial.

Of particular interest to me in this season is the association of Dungeons and Dragons with Satan worship. The fear of Satanic Cults was palpable when I was in middle school in the 80’s. My choices in music, games, and clothes lead to some real conflict with teachers and other kids. Especially those who were practicing evangelicals. This became known as the Satanic Panic, where religious people were terrified of a massive covert conspiracy to recruit and then sacrifice children to Satan. There are a number or parallels between QAnon today and the Satanic Panic from the 80’s. Being misunderstood and even bullied by evangelicals is why I hate religion of any kind. I have embraced some of the Taoist and Zen philosophy from my martial arts training, but by Western standards I am an Atheist.

As I spend more time in queer spaces, I realize that DnD was an outlet or an escape for a lot of gay and transgender people.

Fantasy stories like Lord or the Rings and Dragonlance, combined with my study of fighting arts helped me find my identity as a warrior. It’s why I went into the military, and it’s why I find myself out on the streets again, marching in protests and Pride parades.