Pillows are cheap.

Yeah I spent years going out to bars and clubs just cos it was what guys my age were supposed to do, and which was hell for me as an Autistic who hates loud noise and crowds. Took me til my late 20s to figure out it just wasn't worth forcing myself to do all these things I didn't like just to appear "normal".

Geez you put more effort in than me haha. Congrats for trying so hard.

I just looked outside the club scene as women there are more approachable in a quieter environment

Thanks man. What kind of environments would you recommend? I really struggle to find just the opportunities to talk to women as just walking up to them in public is super awkward and I feel comes across as creepy/rude. I often hear women complain about "omg this guy just started talking to me on the train today wtf fuck off".

I don't know. I been out of the game for 13 years lol. It was just easier when younger. I also didn't mind failing and trying my luck randomly, but that was before the #metoo movement, where a stranger walks up and its suddenly bad. Supposedly guys are now filming consent videos before and after sex, to cover themselves from a rape charge

These days mostly be I reckon through work, school, uni, and mutual friends via social gatherings (i.e. like a bbq or bowling).

Online ain't bad but there are many fakes there as you already discovered, lots of work and time. Paid sites are better as it gets the more serious people looking for relationships.

EBGames midnight launch lol? Mybe spark a common conversation in line.

It is not worth trying and getting beaten up by random cowardly thugs that may jump you in the club or pub toilets or glass you for accidentally spilling their drink or smash you with a pool cue. It is better to admit you do not have a chance and do not bother trying. When success is not guaranteed it is better to not bother trying and walk away. Online dating is a waste of time because anyone can put up fake photos and claim anything on fake profiles and hide under the anonymity of being online.

Yeah of the two partners I have had I met one at Uni and the other at work. Never gone beyond a single first date with anyone I met online. 

And as someone with severe anxiety, the idea of being accused just terrifies me, like I literally have daily anxiety episodes thinking that if they wanted, both my exes could decide oneday to accuse me. Then again, I also worry daily that a headache or a new freckle means I'm dying. Anxiety sucks.

Go to the gym get jacked, get fake tan and get tattoos to look cooler. Adopt a fake personality and act cool!

Same for me,acting as if i was like the others while it just made me unhappy.

Yes i understand what you are saying and i agree and i can also relate to him because i could think just the same like he does if people did not force me into a lot of social situations since i was a kid and while that gave me understanding and know how about these things ultimately it made me a very depressed kid for almost the enterity of my childhood and also a good way into adulthood till i accepted what i was.

And thats the thing, i do not think he has accepted what he is and that his own fear for the social structures of the masses is what is keeping him back. That fear does not go away, it is how a lot of autists their brain is wired and that cannot be changed but we can change our hope for humanity and see that theres good in the world even when we do not always belong in it.

I agree with the distance he has made from others but disagree with how he thinks about them.