A lot of it is either power scaling or gooning for stories. For tech it’s a lot of gatekeeping and trolls. Not worth it most of the time.
Most ‘nerd’ stuff. Comic book movie discussion has gone to shit because people have become weird about it. When it’s not manosphere bullshit, it’s people expecting Endgame level quality and stakes for every single movie now, who would’ve shat on Iron Man if it came out today, and who need to be reminded of the absolute horse shit that we used to get. They’re starting to rival the Star Wars fans in terms of being insufferable.
Outside of the cosy games spaces that I’ve been hanging around, all I ever hear from Gamers™ is some controversy about a female character being a game. Or gasp a black character. They’re happy with the main protagonist being a woman if the jiggle psychics are set to max though.
And online at least, the alternative scene has gone to shit. People from the anti jock subcultures started listening to jocks with microphones on podcasts. People who grew up listening to Jonathan Davis singing about being called a “faget”, went on to become people who call others “betas”. Metal went from representing rebellion to representing people who go “stop making it political”.
And so many ‘punks’ seem to have become Joe Rogan fans too. I’ve even had to argue with people calling me a “woke lefty” in fan spaces for The Clash. We all laughed when Joe Rogan said “conservative is the new punk” but it’s an even bigger joke because half the people that took his word for it were punks.
Tfw you realise the country you’re living in has its own fandom for something and they’re ridiculously welcoming
Warhammer/Warhammer 40k
Love the games an the lore but I wouldn’t touch the fandom with a 10 foot pole. Some of the absolute worst degenerates in there…
My experience is 50/50. Half the fandom are smart enough to see the lore is mostly satire meant to be silly exaggeration, the other half has a power fantasy from different, but overlapping backgrounds (misogynist, racist, homophobic, etc).
Gaming fandoms. I personally love gaming but avoid fandoms associated with it like the plague.
Same. The cosy games fandom tends to be alright though. Less neckbeards and people that hammer their own faces.
The older I get the better I am at finding groups of people and fanbases where this doesn’t apply. I’m in a spot with music, cooking, visual arts, science and more both IRL and online that are just nice. And it’s not about lack of different opinions and being in a bubble, I just focus on and stay with people and groups who are nice about it.
Pipe tobacco.
Love the hobby, rusticness of it, ‘the art’, if you will, but man is the entire community full of grumpy old incensitive conservatives. There are exceptions to the rule like a few dudes at my local shop, but for the most part, I keep to myself about it.
Hey I’m really interested in getting into pipe tobacco.
Alas I already smoke, but what would be the best way to start off? Find a good local shop and get lucky or is there a better way?
My first suggestion is to head to youtube. Pipe knowledge is rather universal. Hobbiton Piper is a great person to start with, as is Timberdrifter and Muttonchop Piper.
There are many different pipe blends and types, but primarily they’re split between Aromatics, English and Virginias or Virginia blends. Oriental and Balkan blends I’d consider more niche. Personally, I like Virginias and the blends therof, VA/Perique and Burley is my jam, but I’d suggest starting with Aromatics.
As for types of pipes, stick to Corncobs starting out, they’re not only my personal favorite to smoke, but they’re cheap and you can have one for every day of the week for not much dough. Grab a nice briar once you’re sure you’re into the hobby.
Then all you have to do is find a calm spot and a good book, and away you go.
Undertale.
lemmy.world/c/formula1 is small enough that we occasionally acknowledge a race happened.
Rick and Morty
Definitely this! I lost my love of the show after the 4th season due to the fans.
What happened? I only lightly watched the show.
They turned into a pickle, funniest shit I ever seen.
That’s when I stopped watching. It was so stupid that it just turned me off.
The joke was that there was no joke, Rick is just being an asshole and disappointing everyone around him. But between that and the shezuan sauce incident, I realized the fandom has literally zero media literacy, they’re just clapping at shapes and colors.
Star Wars. It’s not perfect, and sometimes bad, but avoiding the fanbase gives me peace.
No one hates star wars / Trek like star wars / Trek fans.
It’s not easy, but you can like them both and still dislike the fans.
I find it extremely easy to like both and dislike the fans!
It’s the rule of 3! For both Star Wars / Trek, I only like 3 movies / series!
The Last of Us 2. There were some obviously heavy parts but I thought it was still good. Then I found the subreddit of people losing their shit over it and quickly left 😅
For sure the last of us 2 the fans of the 2nd game were absolutely awful. When the TV show did the second season seeing the fans of the game going online and harassing fans of the TV show and going after the actress who played Ellie absolutely disgusted me.
I’ve been enjoying staying away from fandoms. It’s funny when I really get into a series/franchise then like several months later I’ll watch a video from a YouTuber I like and they’ll just casually throw out how the fanbase for that thing is ultra toxic/annoying and/or filled with the biggest creeps imaginable.
Sonic the Hedgehog for me. I love the franchise, but I stay clear of the fandom. So many weird people latch onto Sonic stuff and make it all icky and creepy. I guess that’s what happens when a company like SEGA claims “Everything is canon.”
Also perverts. I was absolutely obsessed with Sonic Archie comics and finding forums as a kid was how I learned about furry porn. Scarred and older, a decade later, saw how cool Sonic Mania was and wanted to interact with others. And there it was again… Pervert shit.
I at least like that a few pieces of Sonic media lampshade this.
In one episode of Sonic Boom (a show designed to be watched high by adults) he’s kidnapped by an aardvark that’s a rabid fan.
“Oh! N-no, I wasn’t trying to escape, I was just…reading some of this fanfiction! Ooh. Sonamy, spicy!”
“Oh. Yeah, I don’t really even care for it, but it seems requisite for the readers.”
This was Homestuck for me. I liked the fanart and whatnot but I’d never actually interact with anyone
I feel that the 2 things that will always ruin something is the fans and cost of merch.
I didn’t even know that people discussed Homestuck, therefore I loved it! 🤪
