Have You Ever Had A “Normie Arc”

[Draconian Alone]

When I was in sophomore year in high school I tried really hard to get back on the normie wavelength, so I could have more friends. I wore different clothes, I ate different foods, I watched brain-numbing reality shows, I was extremely talkative, I got into therapy.
And none of it worked. People never got any friendlier towards me, I wasted all that time and energy when I could never connect with almost anyone. I just had to realize I was coded differently, there was almost nothing I could do.

So did any of you have an experience near this?

 

[3/4Dead]

Not for me, nah. I was homeschooled for a long time, and in highschool I was already always considered a weird guy but people found it charming ig so I never saw any reason to change.

 

[Uninfluential_Karma]

I also tried to be as normal as I could around my sophomore year, but I had very similar results. People just always keep me at arm's distance I guess. I've more or less come to terms with it.

 

[fleetingnight]

I've tried a lot of times, but never succeeded

 

[banger12]

Ig it depends how you define a "normie arc". I've gone through different phases of trying to be more or less normal and phases where my abnormality really bothered me. Ofc the isolation has always bothered me. But I've never tried to make myself be a normie or like what they like. Honestly, in high school when I was starting to form my own identity as a person I also realized that I was never going to be like them the distinction became evident. Also in high school it was at the peak of my anti-social and consciously anti-social tendencies so I grew to deeply resent normies to an extent so I didn't want to be like them, which is shitty but yeah. I found them to be vain, vapid, nihilistic etc, which sounds arrogant but thats how I felt and tbh its been very difficult to shake those attitudes completely even today. I did get close to being someone accepted by the normies and carving out a social situation and functional lifestyle later last year but health stuff blew that up. Sorry for the long response I have a bad habit of being long winded.

 

[kinderbueno]

The only time I was "normal" was when I was in a relationship for 8 months, and I genuinely started feeling better too. I was way more talkative and confident than I am now, I started to go out and socialise more, and I felt like life was actually getting better

 

[Forever Sleep]

I've tried doing the more 'normie' things- a 9-5. A Head of Department job. Trying to make a home. Trying to focus on health and appearance. Probably haven't tried hard enough with the social side of things. I very rarely felt happy though. Mostly just stressed and tired.

There was this one time where I went out to dinner with my God Parents and I just felt at ease and hopeful about the future. That was pretty amazing. Weird though. But yeah- it made we wonder- is this how most people feel most of the time? It's only happened a handful of times though and, very fleetingly.

I think it's good to at least try different things to know whether they can make a difference but, I don't feel like they did for me really. Plus, when I have felt happier. When I've worked for companies that had more of a family atmosphere, something would happen to make me realise that you can't rely on the good things remaining. People you love to spend time with die or move away. Companies are ultimately driven by money. They won't keep you on out of kindness if they can't afford to. So many good things in life are fickle and fleeting. I find it hard to trust anything or anyone now. So, it's like you never relax long enough to feel happy and content.

 

[ijustwishtodie]

I had some normie traits before I joined this site and learnt about what life is truly like. Before I joined SS, I was partially normie and partially blackpilled. Now I'm fully blackpilled and not a normie at all

 

[derpyderpins]

I am king Normie, apparently. I have a job, house, and romantic partner, so my understanding of the term "Normie" is that I'm the most braindead NPC imaginable, right?

The truth is I'm high-masking and neurodiverse. Realized that recently and hopefully will have an official autism screening in the coming months. It took a long time but I figured out how to satisfy people that can't understand my weird way of thinking, and I found a lover and some close friends, so if I keep them that's all I need. Most importantly, I learned to appreciate neurotypicals and realize that while we're different, we all have similarities and go through the same human experience in our own way.

 

[etherealspring]

never had a normie arc bc i never rlly figured out how to act "normal" even after trying to observe other ppl and copy their habits. the closest i got was appearing like the weird quiet kid who wasnt sociable enough, but polite / "nice" so ppl tolerated me ig. even now im still way too socially awkward no matter what i do

 

[sserafim]

I was never a normie because I've never wanted to be one. I did conform to the system though, for as long as it benefitted me

"Some ir*a* individuals with high intellectual levels may be fairly effective in the sense that they conform to the requirements of any group that provides them security. However, once they meet the qualifications of the group, they have little need to be productive in order to maintain themselves. They are perfectly capable of thinking that since they have earned security (labor union status, a college education, a medical degree, tenure, etc.), the world owes them a living."

 

[Imagined_Euphoria]

No. I was always at the edge of society since I'm 14, thats where it really started to go all wrong. Even before that I was the nerd and it didnt help me, I got good grades but no friends.

 

[WhiteRabbit]

I've lost my normie status in the last decade. I have a partner and a house, but I've had to forfeit my career and most of my friends abandoned me. I rarely leave the house. I'm guess I'm more of a hermit now.

 

[LaVieEnRose]

The closest I had to a normie arc only lasted for 2 years. God I wish it had been able to sustain itself. In all likelihood the weight of everything still would have driven me to CTB eventually before I got too old.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

No. Even when I have jobs or went to school people still thought I was weird.

 

[kyhoti]

After a decade of addiction, I met someone right after 9/11, got married, had a kid, got my degree. Had a 15 year career where I was respected as a content-matter expert, was married for 18 years when COVID hit. The previous decade had been a slide from normal straight back to my true monstrosity, to divorce and 50/50 custody of my children. Two years of unbridled hedonism during lockdown, followed by a brief stint of recovery, then complete destruction, locked up and everything lost. I'm now alone in a motel, with no visitation or contact with my children, no job and rapidly failing physical and mental health. My CTB date is rapidly approaching. From beauty to ugliness.

 

[Arachno]

Nope, I never put much thought to trying to be "normal". It would too exhausting for me anyway. I was always odd.

 

[Eternal Eyes]

I'm currently stuck in it, volunteering at an awful project that's slowly driving me insane where I constantly lie about who I am and how I feel. As a kid I used to watch anime and play video games, I feel like I got bullied out of it. Well, I've decided when I quit my volunteering gig I'm going back to been a homebody otaku and never leaving the house. The outside world is overrated.

 

[Ashu]

After a decade of addiction, I met someone right after 9/11, got married, had a kid, got my degree. Had a 15 year career where I was respected as a content-matter expert, was married for 18 years when COVID hit. The previous decade had been a slide from normal straight back to my true monstrosity, to divorce and 50/50 custody of my children. Two years of unbridled hedonism during lockdown, followed by a brief stint of recovery, then complete destruction, locked up and everything lost. I'm now alone in a motel, with no visitation or contact with my children, no job and rapidly failing physical and mental health. My CTB date is rapidly approaching. From beauty to ugliness.

"Unbridled hedonism during lockdown"? That's surprising. Was it hedonism of the solitary variety?

 

[kyhoti]

"Unbridled hedonism during lockdown"? That's surprising. Was it hedonism of the solitary variety?

Yes, alcohol/drugs, coupled with unrestricted eating. Very self-destructive.

 

[pilotviolin]

im trying rn. eating healthier, saving to do things to myself to not look like shit. trying to get medical weed as current things have fucked my liver to bond with people on (idk why but it works) and not lose my shit, only time i feel normal is on drugs. i have a 9-5. i dont know how people find community if they havent already grown up where they live but ill force it to happen, im considering yoga if isnt too expensive for classes, im looking around online... its frustratingly desolate but i dont care i want connection i want to be normal i want to live.

 

[noname37]

Yeah, just made me more miserable working a job and whatnot

 

[Plentiful_Despair]

No. I was never considered "normal".

 

[wCvML2]

had a similar normie phase. at the beginning of 10th grade after having no friends for years I decided to socialize with as many people as possible and got small glimpses of a few social circles though I eventually only had 1-2 friends and then I ruined those friendships after high school ended because of shit mental health. My social skills are now degenerated to a rotten level because I never got to have friends as an adult and don't know how to talk with people anymore when I'm a failure and have nothing to talk about.

 

[Rust]

It's crazy how quickly people can identify you as odd. It's like a hive mind that communicates without words and figures out that you don't belong.

My efforts have mostly been to try and mask myself, but eventually someone sees through the cracks. People haven't really been hostile towards me, but they will sometimes treat me as an experiment, or a foreign, but lesser creature.

I've had most success with just being blunt and not hiding anything, though in a job setting, that's a little more difficult to do.

 

[pyx]

i'm trying to at the moment. theorycrafting interpersonal relationships, minimaxing in order to be consistent with my habits (appearance), etc

 

[Eternal Pessimist]

I guess I was pretty normal during my teens. I was behind my peers in terms of emotional maturity and life experiences, but I still had hopes of catching up. I figured I would just be a late bloomer, but things obviously didn't work out that way.

 

[Privateer2368]

Never been normal, but never been unable to function in society.

 

[TheSoulless]

When I was in sophomore year in high school I tried really hard to get back on the normie wavelength, so I could have more friends. I wore different clothes, I ate different foods, I watched brain-numbing reality shows, I was extremely talkative, I got into therapy.
And none of it worked. People never got any friendlier towards me, I wasted all that time and energy when I could never connect with almost anyone. I just had to realize I was coded differently, there was almost nothing I could do.

So did any of you have an experience near this?

Kind of. I never felt like I belonged, and in high school I had a class clown arc, which didn't do wonders for me. I used to be the smart kid before, so everyone did think of me as a clown, just not a funny one.

 

[Davey40210]

After a terrible childhood I learned how to mask fully, I think. I'm pretty sure that most people think I'm just a little weird but otherwise normal. It helps that I'm living in another country so I can play my behavior off as "foreign".

So I'm in the middle (or rather, at the end) of a very long normie arc at the moment.

I do wish I knew more neurodivergent people though. I never really talked much to any, or at least if they were then they were also masked or unaware themselves.

I went to like an event some time back and then I met someone who said she had ADHD and had mostly neurotypical friends. I was super interested in talking to her because I was really curious how she experienced life. But I think she got scared of me being so interested. I also feel like people use the "I have ADHD" to indicate they don't have a long attention span or just to be interesting or something.

I met one other guy who is autistic (his gf told me after he had a bit of a fit) and he actually did remind me a bit of myself. But I couldn't really connect with him, I suspected he thinks I don't like him or he thinks I'm stupid, he just gave me vibes like he doesn't like me. In hindsight that may actually be just me misinterpreting him.

I did meet like a super autistic person before that but she was like mentally handicapped autistic, where I didn't feel very similar/connected. She kept repeating the same things and had a number of tics and stuff.

But I've always felt very different from other people and had a hard time intuitively understanding them. I usually do or say the wrong things if I have to "think quick" but after pondering a situation I can usually come up with the socially "normal" thing to do. And then I just do it like a good normie.