I cannot describe the visceral level of aversion I have to mainstream shit. It doesn’t matter if the show is the best thing on earth, if the general public knows about it (And I don’t mean the internet I mean the general public) then I refuse to watch or partake in it. I have no idea why and it genuinely kills me to be like this and I have no idea why.
It prevents me from joining most fandoms nowadays unless the fandom is super niche. Things like Hotel Hazbin, Star Wars, The Office, K-pop (in general), Kpop Demon Hunters, most popular anime… WHY. WHY AM I LIKE THIS?? Is anyone else like this? Even people just mentioning “Oh yeah I love One Piece, you should watch it sometimes” makes me go “Oh fuck nah I’m good” as if the damn show was a personal insult. I feel like a stuck-up prick when I do this but I genuinely can’t control it, why???
I just get to things decades late lol
I think I have something similar but not quite the same, for me I think a lot of it is that it feels like there’s a lot of emotional potential in engaging with something everyone already has big feelings about. What if I have big feelings about it and then I have big feelings? What if I don’t, and then I’m just on the outside??
And I just find all that possibility a bit aversive so I just wait until everything dies down and then go try it after dragging my feet for 15 years :)