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i usually just walk around and Look at people and if someone looks cool than i put them in the Potential Friend Box in my brain. and then i continue to walk around and do stuff. then i just kinda wait for a potential friend to talk to me or some opportunity to talk to them!

i wear kandi and have pink hair and look like a very brightly colored lgbtq alt kid, so other alt kids/lgbtq kids also put me in their Potential Friend Boxes. Visible commonalities usually provide a basis for connection. It doesn't even have to be like elaborate outfits and stuff, could just be some pins and a few kandi bracelets or some anime or band merch and i will go Aha! i share some traits with that person.

I've made like 3 friends where we both noticed each other from afar and went Ah, Yes. A Freind Perhaps. and then eventually (could be months later) we talk to each other and become friends! the initial conversation can be hard to start but all you really have to do is get up, walk over, say 'hi you look cool' and see how it goes! if it goes well and they seem like a nice person, than you can ask if they want to be friends or ask if they have a social media.

i have also made friend more gradually! for example this one guy in my Spanish class last year sat with me at a table in the back and we just gradually started talking more and more as the class went on. It was a bit easier for me because he is more socially adept than i am and knows how to Ask Questions about a person which is something i do not know how to do.

Something that greatly contributes to my friend making strategies is my vibe sensing or i guess intuition about people. I'm never able to describe someone's personality in words but i have a sense of who they are as a person more abstractly in my brain even if I've just met them. A lot of the time i do Vibe Checks by asking people nonsensical questions like 'have you ever seen a rock before' to see how they respond. Will they play into the joke and say 'no i have never seen a rock before in my life?' Will they get confused or weirded out and go 'what?' Or will they respond with the logical answer, 'Yes we are standing on concrete which is made out of rocks'? The way a person responds to my very dumb and odd humor is integral to see if they are a viable friend option (this step would happen after the initial introduction in the first conversation if it hasn't gone anywhere else).

i know i have overthought this process but that's just how my brain works so

i dont, i cant seem to find anyone who likes the music and games i like in the wild