I don’t like fan bases at all. They always manage to make things weird that doesn’t need to be weird. Fan fiction is culprit number one. Make your own thing, instead of making someone else’s thing, but worse.
I can enjoy the things i like without needing to flaunt it obnoxiously.
Guitar/Metal, spider-man and Donald Duck comics, Harry potter-books, sports(just sports in general, exceptional achievements are exiting to watch).
Rick and Morty.
Fallout.
Star Wars.
Magic (except my friends).
Absolutely every single anime I ever watched.
Terraria has a unusually thirsty fanbase that never fails to disgust me.
Did I mention Fallout?
It was so weird to study in STEM and meet other Star Trek fans in the cantina. Now there is something wrong with Wesley Crusher and I’m supposed to hate him and project that on the child actor, too? And when Jeri Ryan is nice enough to come all the way to a European convention, they yell “strip”? (At least they were disgusted as well about the latter, just reported others doing it.)
No thanks, I’ll hang out with decent people.
Honestly, linux for me (yes I know where I am). Love the software and options, but holy shit is the fanbase incredibly opinionated and full of condescension about it. Also they don’t know how to shut the fuck up about it, and constantly bring it up where it doesn’t belong. Like its a personality trait to them or something.
For many, it is. Autism, hyperfixation, and passion are needed to do something like create an OS from scratch, pick and choose any of the 3 to then use it in an incomplete state.
Id argue we’re finally at the point where you actually dont need any of those, just a willingness to learn and adapt
MMA. I’ve been training for 4 years and I really enjoy it. But I’ve only ever watched 2 UFC fights on TV and never really interacted with the fans.
You’re smart. Dont join the ufc fan base you’ll lose so many braincells.
Sims2 in the late 2000s. Absolute drama fest, the popcorn didn’t stop flowing.
Being fan of the thing, not the fanbase.
RuPaul’s Drag Race for me… For a show about dudes with fake boobies in dresses, people sure love to send death threats over the tiniest most imagined slights. P.s. I am talking about the fans, not homophobes on the outside.
This likely applies to 99 out of everything 100 subjects/hobbies.
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.
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.
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).
Tfw you realise the country you’re living in has its own fandom for something and they’re ridiculously welcoming
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.
Im not sure about that as i havent interacted with that side of gaming. Strategy game fans are pretty chill though.
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.
