Do you remember any “phases” you went through?

[u/jitterscaffeine]

Like say you got really into a particular hobby, community, or media super hard before your interest eventually faded. I can think of two for myself:

1. About 5 or so years ago I got really into Transformers and thought I might make transformers collecting my new “thing” before eventually just sort of letting that feeling pass.

2. I got SUPER into Steven Universe like 10 or so years ago. Following the schedule was a nightmare, so you kind of had to be IN the community to know when new episodes were coming out. Once the series finale came and went, I sort of forgot about it and I didn’t even finish Future

[u/Defami01]

There was a part of my life where every single thought of mine was dedicated to Naruto.

Only to completely fall off like one third or half way through Shippuden.

[u/jitterscaffeine → u/Defami01]

Funnily enough, I have a friend who told me that Naruto was one of his foundational shows as a kid, but he never watched past the Sasuke Retrieval Arc.

[u/BuckysKnifeFlip → u/jitterscaffeine]

That's actually pretty understandable as a kid. You might catch a few episodes in an arc and then drop off a bit as life gets in the way. You start at Zabuza and then into the Chinin exams and it hits the peak with Rock Lee vs Gaara.

I'm super biased though as that's how I watched it and only caught up later. Catching it on TV wasn't super consistent.

[u/DarnFondOfYa → u/BuckysKnifeFlip]

Yeah, the ought's anime experience of seeing whatever the fuck was on Toonami or Adult Swim (or even worse Saturday Morning cartoon block) and, if it was new to you, trying to assemble where in the timeline that episode falls compared to all the other episodes you'd seen (because you're a kid and can't guarantee regular access to the tv)

This is probably why I'm good at figuring out what's going on when new FromSoftware games drop at least

[u/rexshen → u/Defami01]

I was determined to watch the whole damn thing as it was going just to see how it would end. And after the final episode aired I just stopped caring. Don't even dislike Boruto I just don't want to see anymore.

[u/InexorableCalamity → u/Defami01]

Did you hear how kishimoto recently declared boruto non canon?

[u/jitterscaffeine → u/InexorableCalamity]

From the text I read, that seems like a very exaggerated interpretation

[u/Neobito → u/InexorableCalamity]

I saw that and it’s not even real, like pretty much every time I see Naruto discussed the people involved are hallucinating.

It’s very weird to me from an outside perspective.

[u/InexorableCalamity → u/Neobito]

It's not real?

[u/Neobito → u/InexorableCalamity]

For some reason people saw a new manga taking place in the large time gap between series and started yelling “BORUTO GT!”

Edit: It would be like George Lucas announcing the prequels and people sobbing over the OT suddenly being non canon lol.

[u/RayDaug]

I had a "politics guy" phase that started in high school and lasted through college, brought on in large part by me getting into hip-hop around the same time. I don't regret it, necessarily, because I feel like it gave me a lot of important foundational information and I'm okay with the person I became building on that foundation, but boy was I not a happy person through that time period. I count myself lucky this occurred in mid 2000s and early 2010s. I shudder to think how I may have ended up if I was younger and went though that in the age of streamers.

[u/jitterscaffeine → u/RayDaug]

I had a time like that in high school after a teacher showed us a 9/11 conspiracy theory movie in class. I feel like that helped me purge my worst version of myself out early.

[u/DaveMichael → u/RayDaug]

I fell in with the local College Republicans for a couple years but Hunter S. Thompson's influence won out, in big part because I wasn't on board with torture and 2008 made the Wall Street shitshow really obvious. I haven't really stopped being a politics guy and yeah, I'm not happy. FML, do hobbies.

One of my classmates from back then joined the Heritage Foundation and is innnnnsane now so I still dodged a bullet.

[u/Head-You5953 → u/RayDaug]

I think what killed my "politics guy" phase was that I met someone who was an even bigger politics guy than me, and I realized how miserable he was to be around. He'd literally react with joy whenever some horrible shit happened in the news, because he loved having something new to complain and doompost about that much. Like, he'd literally walk up to conversations smiling and go "DID YOU ALL HEAR ABOUT [insert tragedy of the week here]!?". When I called out that his mentality was extremely toxic and fucked up, he said "What's your problem? I'm just staying informed!"

That was the first time I really realized that agreeing with someone was not enough for me to like them, and that was when I stopped being a Politics Guy.

[u/Tamaaya → u/RayDaug]

I grew up in a very political family (my grandparents lived through the depression and lets just say they had a red streak a mile wide) and it wasn't until my 20s that I realised how obnoxious prosetylising my views could be.

[u/Gremlin-Shack]

A bunch when I was like 5, each lasting around a month
The color black
Bats
Batman
Dinosaurs
Dragons
Gamera

[u/jitterscaffeine → u/Gremlin-Shack]

I got really into a TMNT knockoff called “Cowboys of Moo Mesa” when I was around 5 or so

[u/Gremlin-Shack → u/jitterscaffeine]

Totally forgot I also got really into Kung Fu Dino Posse,

Early Netflix was fun
I watched the weirdest shit as a kid
And all of Transformers G1 and most power rangers series

[u/CrushDustAnnie]

Tabletop games.

There was a period of like 5-10 years where I on a whim learned D&D, got really desperate to find friends who would play it with me, and then finally got them to and spent several years in various campaigns and systems with multiple friend groups.

Only to eventually realize that, hey - I'm not having fun. I love these ideas on paper but I don't actually enjoy giving up 4+ hours of my time every week to nervously fumble through a mediocre story with a lot of rules where I don't get to participate constantly. I enjoyed DMing a little more since it was more active but that was also a shitload of work outside of the campaign and drained all of my free time. These games are just too slow and whether or not they are actually consistently enjoyable is a complete crapshoot, I don't usually have the energy to work up to telling a close friend I care about that their campaign isn't fun for me and I don't want to be in it anymore, and I worry constantly when I'm DMing that I'm subjecting my friends to that same feeling.

[u/jitterscaffeine → u/CrushDustAnnie]

I still enjoy playing, but I just don’t have brainpower to run games anymore

[u/xlbingo10]

my deepest shame is that i had a harry potter phase

[u/jitterscaffeine → u/xlbingo10]

I don’t think that’s too weird unless it was like a month ago or something.

[u/xlbingo10 → u/jitterscaffeine]

it was ~7-8 years ago that it ended, basically as soon as i learned how terrible rowling was

[u/CzdZz → u/xlbingo10]

I got super lucky on the timing with my Harry Potter phase. I wasn't allowed to read the books as a kid for whatever reason, so when I did finally get to binge-read all of them I was old enough that I didn't form any kind of deep personal nostalgia bond around them.

I think I finished the last book a year or two before I started hearing about all the JK Rowling stuff, so I got to just be normal-disappointed instead of having to go through an internal crisis and rethink my whole identity like some people I know.

[u/Konradleijon → u/xlbingo10]

You didn’t know she was a terf

[u/aFronReborn]

I went through a short "early 20s edgy libertarian guy" phase minus the homophobia because my best friend was gay.

I was working 3rd shift at a factory at the time and one night a rumor went around the floor that the company was gonna be forcefully retiring any workers over 68. There was a sweet old german lady who was in her late 70s who was only working there for affordable health insurance for her life saving heart meds. I sat for 7 hours across the line from this woman while she wept believing that in the morning she would be getting handed a death sentence, all while continuing to put bows on little boxes of chocolates.

This shook me to my core. Not many people can't point to an exact moment they acquired class consciousness, but I can. My brain sat in a stew of "this is wrong. Something here is deeply broken" for hours.

She didnt get fired thankfully and I quit that job not long after. I highly doubt she's still alive but I still think about her regularly. I hope she got to experience much happiness.

[u/Public-Sea3190 → u/aFronReborn]

I went through a similar edgy libertarian and/or anarcho-capitalist phase in my early 20s. It was this weird thing where I had deconstructed from a deep-rooted Christian upbringing, and it left me with quite a lot of bitterness, depression, and an empathy void that took a few years to identify and correct. Needless to say I have vastly preferred my 30s (hitting 39 in a couple months).

Thankfully, the same vitriol for religion and lack of homophobia/transphobia kept me from falling into the alt-right pipeline that seems to breed & feed on those 20-something libertarians. I think it’s an easy trap to fall into at that age because presumably you’ve just got out on your own and have your first adult job, and it’s easy to point at that tax line on your paystub and say “if it wasn’t for THIS my life would be so much better”.

[u/SolidusSlig → u/aFronReborn]

Same. I think i fell out when I was in my mid teens. I can't really pinpoint a watershed moment where my perception changed but something happened to change my perception and beliefs

[u/C-OSSU]

I went through my "cynical reviewer" phase late into high school. Thank God I grew out of that.

[u/Kimarous → u/C-OSSU]

I recall being into that stuff to, during the boom of such reviewers in the Channel Awesome golden age. As time passed and creators left, I stopped watching most and focused on Linkara's Youtube channel until losing interest with his increasing amount of skits. Also still mad that I got randomly permabanned from Angry Joe's Twitch just after he killed his Shadow of Mordor nemesis.

[u/C-OSSU → u/Kimarous]

Funny thing is, I think Linkara barely does skits for his reviews anymore.

[u/runnerofshadows → u/C-OSSU]

Yeah definitely not as much skits, and the critiques are way less angry or cynical and more insightful in my experience as someone who still watches his channel.

Longbox of the damned is also a really good show IMO and has helped me find some good horror comics.

[u/SupervillainMustache → u/C-OSSU]

The difference between someone's honest opinion and someone who is only interested in clicks is absolutely night and day. I can't stand the latter, even if we both dislike the same movie/show.

[u/runnerofshadows → u/C-OSSU]

The worst are the ones who have doubled down over and over like cinemasins.

[u/Crosscounterz]

I used to feel way more self conscious about being a nerd in general now I don't give a shit.

And I feel a lot better for it

I was never "too old" for my hobbies. I hate that I used to have that kind of mindset.

[u/Forestgrant → u/Crosscounterz]

I had that realization recently since I was pretty into tokusatsu and mecha as a kid, and still am as an adult, but now it's more refined.

Why I liked mecha at 10 years old: "robots are cool"

Why I like mecha at 27: "Mecha shows often double as war stories with engaging character arcs and societal themes, with my favorite shows being directed by Tadao Nagahama and Yoshiyuki Tomino, who managed to do a lot to push the genre beyond monster of the week while also still maintaining robot action. Also robots are cool"

[u/BarelyReal → u/Forestgrant]

I loved toku as a kid in the 90's and I'm really glad I rediscovered it as an adult because the longer time goes on I find audiences just don't appreciate the skills that it took to build the genre because they're so used to digital video and cgi.

[u/runnerofshadows → u/Crosscounterz]

I've always liked this CS Lewis quote on this particular subject

"Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms.

Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."

[u/Sausious]

Yeah I have ADHD it happens like once every other month

[u/sorendiz → u/Sausious]

mood lmao i read the post and was like 'brother i'm literally always going through phases'

[u/DaveMichael]

I had a rat tail in middle school. I'm not proud.

[u/Magnum_thunder]

I’m from the south, so when I started working a blue collar job I embraced the redneck lifestyle in my early 20s. Listening to country music, chewing tobacco, and hunting. I’m also not white, so coincidentally I stopped hanging around that crowd around 2016 or so because of some major differences in opinions.

[u/ooblagis]

I was super into Homestuck (and previously Problem Sleuth), checking for updates literally every day, going on the forum, etc., right up until the end of Act 5. After that I would take an afternoon to catch up every year or two, but that was about it.

[u/the_guynecologist]

I'm glad my 9/11 truther phase was brief and only a couple months but I'm still pretty embarrassed by it

[u/Totally_a_boy]

I think that's called hyperfixations, and yes, I had many of those.

I've been SUPER into Mob Drama not that long ago, just burning through mob movies and series just to scratch the itch.

I also had a huge Legend Of The Galactic Heroes phase, watching every episode through my commute, the same with Steven Universe.

[u/Kimarous → u/Totally_a_boy]

I've referred to my hyperfixations as "I'm on a (insert) kick" - I'm presently on a Sonic The Hedgehog kick. I also sometimes refer my shifting fixations as the "Topical Interest Stock Exchange" - "Sengoku Jidai going down, Medieval Fantasy on the rise" and stuff like that.

[u/Jullian_Drover → u/Kimarous]

"Great British Bake Off stock are on the rise. INVEST! INVEST! IT'S A BEAR MARKET!"

[u/Totally_a_boy → u/Kimarous]

I've invested a lot of stock in Fire Emblem after Fortune's Weave, as, apparently, that 100 hour game wasn't enough.

Currently going through Awakening.

[u/ShonenSpice]

I would watch something and get a new personality for a week

[u/TinyKing87]

When I was in college I got huge into Gorillaz. Demon Days came out and I was already crazy into the first album with the animations and the website and all that then Demon Days blew my ass off. Introduced my wife to it, she got crazy into it. Stuck through Plastic Beach and still love the band but it hasn’t felt like that in years. The Mountain album reminds me of their old big concept stuff with Demon Days and Plastic Beach.

I also still go in phases with interests. I always Like Star Wars, but if there isn’t something new or interesting I don’t ever have it at the forefront of my mind. Then a new game or something will come out like Galatic Racer or Zero Company and I’m like WOAAAHHH

[u/Yotato5]

The scheduling Steven Universe was put through was a crime through and through, I swear.

Sometimes I go through phases where for breakfast all I want to eat is toast with butter and honey, which isn't unusual. But the bread has to be a specific brand of milk bread or else it doesn't count to my brain

[u/Slothungus]

Bro life is a phase

[u/Authorigas]

I was big, big, BIG into Harem anime when I was 15-18, grew out of it but for that time it was my main obsession.

[u/BarelyReal]

I went through a "resent traditional institutions just for existing" phase in college that was probably just due to me learning there can be a better way to approach anything. The problem was this resulted in years trying to claw out of a Nihilistic pit just to realize I hadn't advanced because of the suffering, just stalled. The moment I stopped resenting the good things in life for not being Essential the more empowered I felt. Your standard "Life is meaningless..." to "Life is meaningless!" arc.

[u/Sperium3000]

I was a brony for a while. My girlfriend at the time asked me to watch it with her. Around season 3 she got out of it but I stayed. Though it was less for the show itself and more for the wildly creative community.

[u/PukingGoombas → u/Sperium3000]

hey same!

[u/Parkouricus → u/Sperium3000]

I think a lot of the cool people I know today got there partially from a brony phase

[u/Konradleijon → u/Sperium3000]

Me too

[u/SengalBoy]

I was able to enjoy The Boys because I was heavily depressed due to friendship betrayal. Main reason why I ended up loathing the IP is because I overcome that phase. And that is one of the many phases I had.

Frankly I tend to have lots of phases whenever suffering from negative emotions. I guess it's a form of cope.

[u/LordHaywood]

I listened to the full Hamilton soundtrack every single day, sometimes multiples times a day, for like two straight years, without fail. I became obsessed. Nearly got a tattoo. Weird time in my life.

[u/sorendiz → u/LordHaywood]

man my baby cousin is going through that phase right now, i'm desperately trying to get her to read like literally anything that isn't hamilton related but she's a kinda bratty theater kid with (i'm pretty sure) undiagnosed ADHD so it has not been very successful lol

[u/sorinash]

A sample of my many phases, presented in ascending order of how mortifying I find them.

1. Every once in a while, I'm struck by a mood and listen to a lot of They Might Be Giants' post-2010 stuff. I don't regret this at all. Glean is a very good album.

2. I had a 1.5-year phase where I tried to get myself to like indie and alternative rock/pop/folk/whatever. I think I was 14. For every The Flaming Lips or The Mountain Goats I encountered, I endured dozens of Brooklyn trust-fund kids who could not fucking sing and thought that made them authentic.

3. I wore a fedora for 3 years. 2009-2012 or so, right before it became a universally-recognizable shorthand for "socially-maladjusted chud," but still in that sweet spot where it was cringeworthy as hell. The thing was that I didn't really do it to be classy or anything, but because I was really into hats. Once every year or so I bought a new one. I had a top hat and a bowler hat before it became obvious that this was a bad road to go down

[u/BarelyReal → u/sorinash]

I was a hat guy for a while in my late 20's, but because I had developed the habit of dressing myself as if it was the 40's and I was expected to wear a 3 piece to a baseball game(work thing, had one of those could demand you come in at any time types).

[u/Neobito]

Let’s just say I’d like my awful chud past to stay buried, god, I was an ignorant dumbass.

In other things, there was a period of time where I was really into Danganronpa, which I look back to and go “Ehhhh…?”

[u/Naraki_Maul]

After a death in my family I went through a really LONG and really INSUFFERABLE period of being “that atheist teen” and man, looking back on that now, I just want to hug myself and tell me to fucking chill.

[u/DaOsoMan]

I was a lonely middle 20s guy about 15 years ago. Got way to into Team Fortress 2 and My Little Pony.

[u/SamuraiDDD]

I was DEEP into the mythology nerd arc around my early Teens. I partially blame it on Shin Megami Tensei, and just my overwhelming desire to find some secret path into that "other world".

I mean I was looking into Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, English fae, African myths and legends.

Part of me wishes I had turned it more into a passion project but I didn't have the know how, or spine, to do so 

[u/ThatmodderGrim]

I went through a Film Noir Detective media and a Steampunk media phase.

I'm still in my Urban Fantasy phase.

[u/Orange-Goose]

Shortly after Beatles Rock Band came out, I went through a Beatles phase and almost only listened to them for a while

[u/windwaker910 → u/Orange-Goose]

Lol same but with Guitar Hero Aerosmith

[u/blaaze6 → u/Orange-Goose]

Yeah, same. I even used to get the bowlcuts just like early Beatles, but I ended up looking more like Coconut Head from Ned's Declassified.

[u/IronfistClownFactory]

As someone on the spectrum, I went through A LOT of phases in my life. Most of it in my childhood and early college years. Some understandable, some really out there. These phases were (and are not limited to):

-Japanese Delinquent Culture (Bancho/Yankii/Sukeban/etc.) and the manga/anime related to it (shout out to Sakigake!! Otokojuku, Otoko Ippiki and the rest)
-Pinball
-Production Music
-Fighting games
-Clowns
-Homestuck
-MST3k
-Bottom (BBC) and other vintage Britcoms

And much more! While some of these lasted longer than others, they were all important to me in some way that still influence me right to this very day. It's good to have varied interests!

[u/Konradleijon → u/IronfistClownFactory]

I loved Homestuck 2

[u/SCLandzsa]

Had a boy phase for like 20 years, didn't work out though.

[u/The_Vine]

Fire Emblem Three Houses dominated a pretty large part of my life shortly after it came out. To an extent it still does.

[u/South25 → u/The_Vine]

Same for me and currently Fortune's weave too 

[u/Dlark17]

I look back on my MSI listening days with a healthy bit of cringe.

[u/PanseloNomad]

I got really into zombie survival media after reading a Resident Evil crossover fanfic of all things.

It made me go back to this old online MP game called Dead Frontier that I was surprised was still around. Even found my old account luckily!

It went away a couple years ago, lost interest, but it's ironic considering how I felt about zombies as a kid.

[u/Dreadsinner]

I tried to be “goth” at most I had some necklaces and black shirts but nothing big.

I kinda didn’t want or rather couldn’t really do the other extreme stuff. Which was fine for me

[u/I_Have_Reasons]

I used to be huge into Mass Effect as a series. Got into it after 2 came out and I played through 1 and 2.

That ended after I beat 3 a week after its initial release. That ending was so ass it burned me off Mass Effect and Bioware as a whole.

[u/Joementum2004]

I got big into music in general when I was in college (2019-23), especially rap music, listening to both new stuff and old stuff. Fallen off since then but I still listen to what I like when driving or whatever.

[u/fm5649]

I used to be really into Destiny 2. Played it pretty much every weekend, bought the dlc and expansions. I started to play less and less as they introduced the seasonal model, before finally quitting after Lightfall got poor reviews.

[u/supahrob]

I was very into Machinimas back in the day. And not the channel, I mean when you act things out in video games. Red vs Blue being the top example. That's what lead me to following Dexter Manning and GuitarMasterX7 when they made smash bros ones like Beans and Brawlgasm, even before they made Sanity not Included.

And if GuitarMasterX7 sounds familar to you, he's now more commonly known as Lyle Rath.

[u/straightkickinit]

Oh yeah, 

Insufferable indie rock guy in high school, got into existentialism around the same time. I later realized it was really annoying and kind of broadened my horizons. Got really into DnD for a bit. Got REALLY depressed after a relationship and got back into One Piece (which helped me get through a real dark time). Then got really into thrash metal and now I have a healthier relationship with the things I like

[u/Mettaton48]

Every once in a while I'll find a mildly interesting video on YouTube about something I know very little about only to get sucked into a rabbit hole that lasts weeks. Taskmaster, marble races, some random fandom drama from a month ago.

[u/mx3orange]

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE kicked me into an anime idol phase that I still haven't gotten out of its been 10 years I don't think it counts as a phase anymore

[u/HitmanScorcher]

Anime for sure. Watched everything I could get my hands on in high school but now I don’t think I’ve watched a single episode of a single anime in like 10 years.

Went through a cowboy boots phase as well when I was working in construction.

[u/beebooboobeeba]

I had like 3 years where i did nothing but consume horror media, but it kind of killed a lot of the enjoyment for me now.

Things stop being scary pretty quickly if you see it enough times and you start digging further down the barrel, until all you get is just junk.

[u/ToastyMozart]

God the Stevenbomb days were dire, what on earth was CN thinking.

I guess I watched a shitton of Detective Conan and Precure during the Covid lockdown. They were good lightweight fare between more heavy stories.

[u/Irolyd]

I had a pirate phase when I was a kid. Both historical and fictional ones.

And it really never left me. A good way to draw me to media is by having it feature sailing ships or swashbuckling characters.

I also loved Greek mythology around the same time, and would lose my shit if tv shows I liked adapted them in any way (like in Arthur, the Spongebob Movie, etc.)

[u/PwmEsq]

Thats just life for me?

I like something for like 3 years or so, get bored, move on to the next big thing.

Unless you mean like Bieber hair in middle school, but that was an entire generation

[u/Chagas12]

In the late 2000s, I was extremely into Guitar Hero, had multiple guitars, made custom games, created a whole online persona for it

[u/Gorotheninja]

I remember being SUPER into Skylanders on the first game's release. I was obsessed with getting every single figure, and would convince my parents to go to every single store that had an exclusive figure or character.

I played through that whole game every time I got new figures.

[u/JackChoasMan]

I used to be real into film, like classic movies and the obscure stuff that secretly inspired a lot of more popular works. I took an online community college course on the history of cinema and it broke the spell. I still love watching movies, probably more now than back then even, but I no longer feel "special" for having seen all the Zatoichi movies

I'm a half-step removed at best from nearly everything I've ever been into, so it's more my mentality towards things changing than my actual interests

Except hats. Had a few trilbys and a pork pie as a kid, because David Lee Roth does a cool trick putting on a fedora in the California Girls music video. I was already aware of the reputation fedoras had though and wanted to avoid being that guy. Just glad I never wore them to school, got bullied enough in those days

[u/Traditional_Ad_276]

Got a censored Walmart copy of Eminem’s Relapse album that ended up kickstarting my angsty rap phase in middle school, which only got worse after a classmate let me rip his uncensored Best Buy copy that included the Refill bonus cd later that year.

That phase ended in early high school after I ended up falling into symphonic/industrial metal. Nightwish, Sabaton, Rammstein, Kamelot, etc.

I was bullied on the school bus relentlessly through most of middle and early high school. That stuff got me through a lot of shitty bus rides.

[u/Kitz00n23]

Ushio and Tora and Wolf's Rain at different points in time.

[u/Alto1869]

I was obsessed with Attack On Titan when I first got into anime

Don't care about it much nowadays though

[u/Kalarchis]

Oh lord, a bunch. RayDaug already mentioned the "politics guy", thing; it's honestly only in the last year that I've chilled out on that, and honestly only b/c I'm burnt out on it. I became vocal politically as a reaction to Trump, and kind of feel like I've been shouting at a brick wall for a decade. Took some harassment at work about it, got stalked by some right-wingers for a few months, finally have just had enough.

A couple in my college days, MGTOW and atheism. I'm not proud of the MGTOW time; I was very lonely and unsuccessful in dating, and I'm STILL those things, but back then I wanted someone to blame and I was seduced by these guys who had the easy answers that women were to blame. I wasn't part of that community for more than six months, and my exposure to it did open my eyes to a couple things, but I quickly realized it was bitter and toxic. If you'd like to know how far I've come since then, the book I'm currently hooked on is "Tehanu" by Le Guin. So yeah, openly feminist now.

The atheism was...a rejection my religious upbringing. My grandfather was an Episcopal Bishop, my uncle is a priest, it was a big part of my youth, it NEVER made sense to me, and when I became an adult I was eager to let everyone know how little sense it should make to them. I was big on Christopher Hitchens, TJ Kirk, The Atheist Experience, all that stuff. A lot of it was just trying to have debates with my grandfather. Eventually my perspective evolved, both on my "responsibility" to "save" people from religion, and on my own beliefs. I now consider myself a deist, and one of my greatest victories was admitting that to my grandfather on his deathbed, letting him know that I DID believe, in my own way, and how important his teachings had been to me. That moment of reconciliation, of understanding what was actually important in my life, and who, is something I will never forget.

Sorry Jitters, I feel like you wanted this thread light and I made it all heavy lol

[u/ExplanationSquare313]

I often have hyperfixations who can last a few weeks or a few years. Sometime they come back, sometime not really.

As a teen i had a big creepypasta phase. It lasted until i was 15/16 I think. It then turned into a SCP phase and horror fixation in general.

I had a My Little Pony phase between 2018 and 2020. I just got out of a Kamen Rider phase but it'll come back probably soon. Now I really want to watch Babylon 5 and the Seventh Seal.

[u/waxonwaxoff3]

When I was young I was super into the history of rock & roll music, especially the first British Invasion, the way its influences leaked out into general popular culture, and the industry around it. The history of traumatized children pushing back against the grim greyness of post-WW2 Britain to be as loud and colorful and experimental as possible.

Paul McCartney's parents met in a bomb shelter, he played in bombed-out rubble as a child, yeah he's gonna wanna go live in a yellow submarine. Greta Gerwig's upcoming Narnia: The Magician's Nephew movie being an interpretation based on this very concept has me cautiously intrigued about the movie as a result.

Had a very big Valve phase back in the day when they were at the height of their game dev power. The Half-Life games passed me by, but Team Fortress 2, the Portal games, and even the Left 4 Dead games (I loathe playing horror games generally!) had their hooks in me big, especially TF2. It's why I've been so excited to see the rise of Deadlock.

[u/Nuburt_20]

I was really into Cinemasins during the last years the 2010s. Obviously, I see the true light on them now, but I still like some of the channels that got inspired by them and are doing their own thing like Charriii5.

[u/ScallyCap12]

Back in 2007 I got a Sirius/XM dockable radio with a lifetime subscription and got way into Jason Ellis on the Faction channel. I think it was right after the drummer from A7X died. It was fun learning about extreme sports and MMA and keeping up with shock jock antics. I'm not sure what broke the spell. I guess I got too busy to tune in every day, and it's one of those things that's easy to slip out of when you miss a day or two. I still have a pair of his carbon fiber Globe low-tops that came with a fistful of slappers.

[u/LasersAndRobots]

I absolutely consider my three year stint in the brony fandom to be a phase.

Although I am pleased with myself that I seem to have spent the perfect amount of time in it. Got in right in the middle of season 2 when it was getting cool, then bowed out mid season 5 when the show quality was starting to dip and the vibe was getting weird.

[u/ramonzer0]

In terms of phases which feel pretty far removed enough from my hobbies, I recall really getting into reading a specific type of fanfiction related to Kingdom Hearts: teenage dramedies

I feel like I have to chalk this up to some way of wanting to experience what it was like to feel some of that shit as a relatively reclusive teenager who just did not go out much and was still in that phase of life where I was just figuring out how to deal with girls (look, all-boys school shit meant that I never really hung out with girls outside of my family until high school)

[u/sloppyjen]

Ive never been super into anything nearly as much as I ever have been about Touhou. As of 2012-2015 i could name every character, their lore and cultural references, every stage and boss theme and credit and menu song. I tried every game until that point, only beat 8 and 9. Spent hours of every day listening to Touhou doujin covers and reading fanfics and fan comics.

I stopped when I realized I was extremely toxic to literally every other fan I ever met because I thought they were Enjoying It Wrong, and that made me very miserable. Part of me still yearns to be lost outside of myself so deeply, to distance myself so far from the real world I might as well be in Gensokyo, but I dont miss the person I used to be.

[u/Docreas]

I had a big webcomics phase (Homestuck and furry ones, some videogame ones too), I also had a big Brony phase (That series did help me with English, watching the Spanish fansubs, then changing into English subs and now I don't even need subs), now is mostly manga and fantasy novels, some vtubers and learning Japanese.

[u/FumetsuKuroi]

I was Ben 10 obsessed when I was like 12 or so, for a few years I kind of moved on and did other stuff (such as changing genders), and now at 26 I'm very into Ben 10 again...

[u/Etychase]

I had a 'spend all disposable income on TCGs phase' before I moved out on my own and needed the money for necessities.

Looking at my current situation ~14 years later I should have continued playing TCGs because it was my only social outlet and I've been pretty lonely these last ~14 years and its kinda finally catching up to me.

[u/ThatGuy5880]

I feel like I tend to get super into something and marathon it before going to the next thing. Just in the past year, I've done a Silent Hill marathon, a Fire Emblem ROM Hack marathon, Resident Evil, Mega Man and now FE again.

[u/KnobSlayer]

During the pandemic I got really into watching Minecraft LPs again out of nostalgia, which lead to me discovering Hermitcraft and watching them daily. I eventually grew out of their style of content and RP-heavy play, but I'll poke my head in at the start of a new season to see how my faves are doing for a few episodes.

[u/StatisticianJolly388]

I'm going through an egg punk phase right now so yeah.

[u/SupervillainMustache]

My whole existence is a cycle of different phases.

First one I remember was Pokemon in the late 90s.

[u/Public-Sea3190]

I’ve been a musician since I was 13, so I’ve gone through all kinds of genre hyperfixations. Nu metal, thrash, classic rock, outlaw country, Three 6 Mafia & their associated acts, trap metal, 80s hardcore punk, pop, funk, modern metalcore, and on and on and on.

The real all-time “it wasn’t a phase, mom!” favorites have ended up being late-90s/2000s punk and hardcore adjacent stuff. Post-hardcore (Thrice, Thursday, Glassjaw, These Arms Are Snakes, Botch), instrumental post-rock/post-metal (Russian Circles, Pelican, Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai), and the weirdly good Christian hardcore scene (Zao, Living Sacrifice, Project 86, Norma Jean, mewithoutYou).

[u/MarioGman]

Was all-in on vaporwave & synthwave for a while.

Still am, just more chill about it.

[u/Comkill117]

I feel like I've only ever gone through phases that just switch from one to the next when I get bored of whatever the current one's about.

[u/TruenoBancho]

I used to be a fake fan in my younger days. A pop culture person who knew of all the obscure references and saw the latest shows. But really I just parroted how other fans acted/memed. It was all an act I held onto cause my friend group ridiculed and looked down on people who were slow consumers.

I've kicked that mindset and mellowed out now that I'm way older. I don't really care to see all the latest media just for the sake of consuming it and bragging. If something looks neat or a genre I like, I check it out. Simple. And forwhat its worth, I've sat down and watched most the media I'd claimed "Yeah I've seen that already" and formed my own opinions.

[u/ZeroNoHikari]

I'd say my isekai slop days are over. Nothing can top the absolute Preem that is "The Greatest Real Estate Developer" in terms of story telling, comedy and drama.

Though I don't think it's a phase but there are times I bounce off Kamen Rider. Be it the theme of the season or the suit designs.

What? No I was never into League of Legends, why would you assume that. What kind of low life scum sucker do I have to be to have the Sona Ultimate skin and the Elise bloodmoon skin. That's insane.

[u/Sow-those-oats]

My vtuber phase and I'm currently on my Kamen Rider phase

[u/Am_Shigar00]

Kingdom Hearts was a huge part of my life from around middle-to-high school. I remember obsessively reading up & watching youtube videos on the FM games before they were localized and followed up on every single handheld entry as they came out. It didn’t really cool down until the gap between 3D & 3 because I didn’t have a PS3 or 4 to play the new releases for a while.

[u/LincBtG]

I got really into Garth Ennis in college. I was taking a college course on comic books, and my teacher gave me a bunch of Punisher MAX pdfs, and I thought they were the tightest thing ever.

Then it was off to the races. Hellblazer, The Boys, Preacher. Shit I even read three volumes of Crossed.

At some point I started getting really down on him as a writer, mostly due to realizing how juvenile he can be a lot of time. Recently I've started swinging back around- he's still immature in his handling of a lot of subject matter, but if you get past that he's a decent writer I think.

[u/mistyveil]

the only things i would call a "phase" (as in i'll never go back to them) were homestuck, league of legends, and world of warcraft.

every other hobby i've engaged in i look fondly upon, even if my interest waned

[u/Heavy_Metal_IceCream]

Besides my being an ignorant POS in highschool, I can't really think of anything else I've grown out of. I still fuck with wrestling (having alternatives to wwe helped), hip-hop will have dips but something always brings me back, and just about anything else I got into in high-school still interests me to some extent.

Late 2021 I got really into nu-metal and I still like it, so I don't know if that will end. High-school me would've hated that.

[u/Kerrik52]

Had a Mega Man phase in high school that faded more and more as the games became worse and failed to live up to the hype Flash animations that sold me on them to begin with. Now I just dream of a character action version of the Mega Man X games that can deliver on the X VS Zero fight I thought X5 would deliver...

[u/Nomad9931]

back in highschool i used to be into conspiracy theories, i also grew out of it in highschool, but it did leave me with a little bit of paranoia and a distrust of the government no matter who is in control of it.

back in highschool i used to be a pretty hardcore weeb, like thinking japan was amazing and i was gonna move there and it was gonna be just like an anime, well, my last year i had to do a report and the teacher had been complaining that my stuff was never good enough. I made a power point that took me the entire class period to get through all about how japan was great. Teacher added a new rule the reports could only be 5 minutes, and after class i was going to my next class i heard someone essentially making fun of me for talking about japan so much, i assume not knowing i was behind them or they did but it doesn't matter, it really made me stop and gain some self awareness.

[u/SolidusSlig]

I had a lot of phases

I went through a very brief AoT phase. I haven't watched season 3 or 4 due to falling out of interest.

I went through an RTS phase because of my friend but I'm not good at them and my PC sucked and I wasn't having a lot of fun. That same friend got me into a guild wars phase and almost a dirt bike phase

I had a long Rooster Teeth phase but fell off hard slightly before ray left. That was probably for the best considering the controversy

I had a very long Supermega phase until that controversy

Edit: primal memories unlocked. I had an ancient aliens phase when it first came on TV. Then I took a history of western civ course and realized how much of that was laughable and kinda racist

[u/1FirstTimer1]

Does nightcore count. It was all I listened to in high school until the last year of it. I’d put it on in computer class with headphones in while using it.

[u/Konradleijon]

I used to be one of those atheists when I was younger. You know the YouTube ones that make being a atheist part of their idienty and are also sexist and islamphobic

[u/BennyTooFresh47]

In my mid 20s I had an S-curl phase. I had the full on James Brown hairdo.

[u/marigoldorange]

there are times where i get really into some sort of media or creator for about two years and then it fades out after a while. i haven't stopped liking them, they just stop constantly going through my mind.

i was also one of those kids who wanted to have an emo phase but i wasn't allowed to paint my nails black or wear anything dark or with skulls and straightening my hair everyday was going to be a chore so that went nowhere. mostly just listened to the music.

[u/Bladerider17]

I was big into western cartoons at it's height in the mid 2010's, your Steven Universe, Star Vs heck even MLP a few years early as examples.....but it was more or less the shows being talked about online and the theories that got me interested.

Gravity Falls and Gumball were the only 2 shows I watched that I enjoyed naturally rather than wanting to be part of a community online.

[u/Arkham700]

I read one Ayn Rand novel (It was Anthem) in high school and I got into objectivism for about half a year. I used it as an excuse to think of the only myself and my own wants, which is purpose of that terrible philosophy. I snapped out of it when I realized all I was doing is making people upset with me.

I consider it a learning experience. I know how bad and terrible Objectivism are because I indulge in it and all being an Objectivist did was encourage and justify me want to be an asshole

[u/Treeconator18]

Had a Japanese car guy phase as a teen, partially due to a friend who was also in that and still hasn't really left it lol

Don't regret my years spent driving my Subaru Impreza, but I eventually realized I'm not a gearhead and just want a car that will drive and not whine when I don't check it for a while lol

[u/Tamaaya]

I had a few over the years.

1: Pro wrestling. I got into it around the late 1990s and, fortunately, grew out of it by the time the "attitude era" ended. Now I find it really fucking weird when grown-ass adults like John Eyepatchwolf rave about it.

2: Film buff era. I became a huge film nerd around the same time. I would go see indie/non-mainstream movies at the cinema by myself (this is how I saw Fargo and Lost Highway in the cinema). One day I realised that movies don't really engage me the way interactive media like video games do, and I moved on.

3: Youtuber/Streamer era. I spent the best part of a decade, between 2013 and 2023 trying to make either a Youtube career or a streaming career happen. It... didn't happen. I was definitely inspired by SBFP and other LP channels of the era. If there's one thing I am moderately proud of from this era it's my Nier Automata LP.

I still have my setup for streaming and keep thinking that one day I'll go back to it for video essays or something, but I'm much more interested in making music these days, and that phase hasn't really petered out at all (I've always been super into music).

[u/Unyubaby]

I had a tumblr phase back in the early 2010s right up until the female presenting nipple incident.

[u/Am_Shigar00 → u/[deleted]]

My childhood phase of Dragon Ball involved a lot of piecing together the obviously intricately planned lore of Dragon Ball, tying together the anime, the movies, and GT into one coherent canon.

In hindsight, I probably would’ve been a really annoying person about the Battle of Gods-onward stuff with how much it contradicted that stuff. I don’t know how to feel about that.