Not, like, politics or racism or anything like that, but everyone should have some weird or obscure thing they like that is definitely not something everyone likes. There is some kind of weird, obscure, maybe hard to find thing that speaks to you on a specific level that only a certain amount of people also like. I think it’s an important part of finding yourself.

For instance, my favorite book series is John Dies At The End, not just because it’s the most fun you can have reading a book, but because it introduced me to gonzo lovecraftian as a genre. I try to get everyone I know to read those books. A lot of people just don’t get it. Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place might have been the most formative experience in my life. A lot of people just don’t get it. (I’m from the states, I understand a lot of folks from the UK understand how great it is. Even better than quantum leap.) Tetsuo: The Iron Man is probably my favorite movie of all time. My brother loved it, it has made some people stop talking with me. I like weird shit, I could go on. I raced home from school to watch Beetleborgs.

What weird, obscure, specific thing have you fallen in love with that it seems like nobody else is aware of?

Also, Phantom Crash is the best game there ever was. I will fight you.

(This was an actual thought I had in the shower. I take long showers.)

  • Pat_Riot@lemmy.today
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    6 hours ago

    I’m sorry, but the most fun you can have reading a book is Robert Asprin’s M.Y.T.H. series.

    Also I feel you should know that the banjo is a far more versatile instrument than it is given credit for. In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins is a favorite of mine to play.

  • lonefighter@sh.itjust.works
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    8 hours ago

    You know how when someone asks you to tell them about yourself and suddenly you can’t remember a single trait you have? That’s this question for me. I have trouble talking to other people because the stuff I’m into is so weird and obscure and I’ve definitely been like “well most people don’t like this but I really love…” , so I started to get really excited reading this question because finally one for me! except now I can’t think of a single obscure thing I’m into :)

  • fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works
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    7 hours ago

    I like sex. Not just doing it, but talking about it, thinking about it, studies about it, philosophies around it, who different cultures view it, etc.

    It’s largely taboo where I live, but my girl friend get it and my best friends are chill about it, but I’d love to be able to talk about the interplay between taboos and gratification in the grocery store with the clerk instead of the weather. You know?

  • farting_gorilla@lemmy.world
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    9 hours ago

    For instance, my favorite book series is John Dies At The End

    Love that book!

    I will die on the hills that:

    1. Conan the Barbarian is a philosophical movie asking deep questions about family and identity…a true masterpiece.
    2. Darth Jar-Jar is 100% true and I wish wish wish Lucas had had the guts to actually follow that storyline.
  • 1800doctorb@lemmy.world
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    9 hours ago

    I’ve gotten into pro cycling in the last few years. But living in the US, I haven’t met anyone in person who has any idea what I’m talking about when I go on about Tadej Pogacar.

    In fact, I’ve met a few people visiting from Europe this year (Netherlands and France) and they didn’t seem to follow cycling that much either.

    • SEND_BUTTPLUG_PICS@lemmy.zip
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      4 hours ago

      I follow cycling in the US. Crazy year for both Tadej and Jonas though. WVA and Visma are crushing La Vuelta which is fun to see.

    • SamsquanchOfficial@discuss.online
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      5 hours ago

      As someone who grew up in italy you only heard about cycling during the Pantani times and generally around tour de france and other major events. Otherwise basically nothing but there is a lot of people who cycle themselves and take it religiously when it comes to fitness, equipment and doing it regularly

    • Cheesus@lemmy.ca
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      8 hours ago

      Most people know who Pogacar is in France, because anyone who has cable likely watches the Tour de France. It’s kinda like the Super Bowl, even people who don’t care about cycling tend to have it on at least in the background.

      • 1800doctorb@lemmy.world
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        6 hours ago

        The Pogi reference was more for the American friends, but I did ask a French cab driver about the tour (late June this year) and he was more interested in talking about indoor soccer/football than cycling.

  • daggermoon@piefed.world
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    9 hours ago

    everyone should have some weird or obscure thing they like that is definitely not something everyone likes.

    I like sucking toes.

  • Mikina@programming.dev
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    9 hours ago

    I’m really a fan of the dogmatized occultisms. The orders like Illuminates of Thanateros, Golden Dawn, John Dee’s books, even Wicca, Discordians.

    It’s really interesting rabbit hole that’s a nice open-mindness exercise, plus it’s fascinating to experiment with.

    Almost everyone I’ve met who showed any interrest in occultism was always taking it too seriously, to the point of sounding unhealthy. They either knew and read the actual sources, and were too much into it, or they had some kind of random vibes-based new-age approach (and also were too much into it to the point of sounding insane).

    I never really understood that. Maintaining an open mind while still keeping a little bit of dostance from it, taking it more like a research into history with a bit of curious practice (basically LARPing would be a perfect analogy), is fun and what I did, but people usually just let it take over their lifes in very unhealthy fashion.

    I’ve tried out several of the orders/practices, and each one was fascinating to get into, I would say had overall positive effect on my life, even if it was just having fun larping/method acting and exploring what effects it has on my mental state.

    I never interacted with the community, though. I’ve only met one other person who has similar aproach, and a lot of people who you’d consider insane upon hearing how they talk about it.

    I highly recommend giving it a try with open mind. I work in IT, never really was into spiritualism or religion, but getting through i.e this book on Wicca, with an open mind, without prejudice and giving it a honest try, was really an eye openning experience. I didn’t stick with it for long, but the few months I tried were suprisingly fun. It’s basically solo LARPing.

    Also, the whole history around that and other cults is really fascinating read, but trying out the practice is where most of the controversal (for some) fun is. But again - it’s like with religion - you have to be careful not to let it take over your life, annoy others with it, or use it as an excuse for anything, from why your life sucks or why you can be a dick.

    • MrOtingocni@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      Ah, finally, a kindred soul. Not only do I enjoy occultism, as in a subject to study (and I am familiar with all those you mentioned) with a bit of amusement sprinkled in, rather than practice, but also conspiracies. Truth be told, I don’t think I believe hardly any conspiracies at face value. Though plenty hold a lot of weight when you consider the evidence, not many feel like they’re 100% correct. But I sure like to read about them.

  • printf("%s", name);@piefed.blahaj.zone
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    10 hours ago

    Thanks for saying this! I wouldn’t go as far as to say that everybody should have something like that. Rather, I think it’s important that if you happen to have something that you like and people question it, that you give zero fucks. 😊❤️

      • printf("%s", name);@piefed.blahaj.zone
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        6 hours ago

        Basically all my interests are frowned upon. Or maybe rather my enthusiasm? I make “exaggerated” facial expressions out of joy, which people either laugh at or “alienates” them. I am interested in so many things - and actually study them whenever I get the chance - and I feel like a freak whenever I try to share my joy about it with people.

        I can’t really think of anything polarizing or having shock value at the moment, other than being ideologically a revolutionary who hates revisionism, but that’s a political topic, which you wanted to avoid.

        If I lower the bar quite a bit, maybe yuri? Yuri is one of the few things that make me feel relaxed. It’s like when I’m showering: shielded from the pains of the world. Yuri specifically also helps somewhat with my gender dysphoria - until I stop reading, that is.

        I’ll update the comment if I think of anything more polarizing.

  • CerebralHawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    8 hours ago

    I like the idea but not so much the title. I think everybody should have something they like that not everyone else does, but not for a goal. But just to have something unique about them.

    My favourite singer is Enya, which is hardly unpopular given that she is the best-selling solo artist out of Ireland (she’s behind U2, which is a band, so they aren’t counted against one another). I don’t just like her music, I know some trivial information, like how she lives in a castle, doesn’t tour, and with her songwriter, invented a language (Loxian) after opting to sing the song from The Fellowship of the Ring in freakin’ Elvish, though nobody asked her to do that. It just made sense to her that part of the song should be in that language that Tolkien invented about a century ago. Following that, she not only made her own language, but wrote this whole sci-fi manifesto behind it, most of which I believe is unpublished, it’s just a guide they use for the language. In summary, the descendants of the Irish go to Mars, discover something between a Stargate and a Mass Effect relay that sends them to a faraway galaxy. Yeah, Enya, of all people, came up with that. Why? Who knows. It’s just background for her whopping five songs in Loxian. And it may not be any more since it’s been 11 years since her last album, her longtime/exclusive producer passed away last year, and she and her songwriter (who is also the producer’s wife) are getting up there in years.

    I’d say most people who have heard Orinoco Flow don’t know all that (and most of them call that song “Sail Away”).

    My second favourite singer is ReoNa, from Japan, and way fewer people know about her. She’s licensed some of her songs to anime, such as Shadows House and Sword Art Online. She played the singing voice of one of the main characters in the SAO spinoff in the gun world. Her character was batshit crazy, she wanted a true life-or-death stakes VR game like the first season of SAO, and she was secretly everyone’s favourite rock star. Anyway, she’s done a lot of music that isn’t in anime, and her range goes from folksy pop music to hard rock, with a lot of in-between. She also has a “private” YouTube channel where she plays English covers of western songs (I mean, as a Japanese person, she isn’t singing them in Japanese, she’s singing them in English). And by private, I mean it’s her personal channel. Anyone can view it. It’s just what she does on the side. She also cosplays the Vocaloid character, Hatsune Miku (skinny girl with aqua twin tails and “01” tattooed on one shoulder — even if you’re not into anime, you’ve probably seen Miku before). I’ve actually never seen her cosplay. I’m really just here for the music.

  • TheYellowFrog@piefed.social
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    8 hours ago

    I don’t know if it’s really relevant to the post, but I strongly prefer my salad without any oil or salt at all. I haven’t met anyone yet who prefers it that way

  • Tanis Nikana@lemmy.world
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    10 hours ago

    I keep coming back to this ambient/instrumental track called “Blooming Scape” by Ryo Yamazaki, for at least the last decade and a half. It rests my heart and raises my spirit and I’m almost entirely positive I’m the one who’s listened to it the most.

    • NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.worldOP
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      10 hours ago

      I fucking get it. Gunship sent me a personal message on spotify for listening to them as much as I did the first year I found them. I know they make shit per play, but I probably paid for a car.

      (My sister pays for spotify and I got a free thing from her family plan because she owes me favors. Feel free to crucify me.)

      • autriyo@feddit.org
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        9 hours ago

        I don’t think a lifetime of listening would pay for a car via Spotify.

        I still use it for convenience sake, but if I wanna support artists I’ll go see a show or buy a record…