>>22037
10 years ago I used to enjoy a weird habit of scaring myself with Internet creepypastas until the point I was afraid to leave the room to take a piss. They had quite an effect on me until I discovered something else.

Occasionally I like to get high and log on to the Internets to look for YouTube channels and Facebook pages of guys who took escapism way too far. I look for retro gamers, bronies and comic reviewers. Grown-up men excitedly talking about their experiences of kid entertainment while sitting in their rooms stuffed with their collections of movies, video games and action figures.

I scroll through gigabytes of media they generate looking for something very specific. It’s very rare, but if you’re patient enough, you’ll be able to find it. On most of their photos, these guys smile and goof around while recording themselves reading about another crazy thing Superman did in that one rare comic issue from the 70s. But if you look long enough, you will eventually find it, a look of sudden realization on their faces. Sometimes it’s when they abruptly get silent on their streams and their faces get too serious as they start thinking some deep thoughts, sometimes it can be read in their eyes with lack of life and saggy skin below them: a clear realization of the fact that there they are, sitting in their retro game rooms in their mid-30s, surrounded by hoards of toys meant for 8-year olds, avoiding reality as hard as they can by submerging back to their childish state and denying the need to ever deal with the real world, while knowing their peers are out there dating girlfriends, growing businesses, raising families, buying their own apartments and pursuing something meaningful with their careers. What’s even worse is that they are fully aware of the fact that in case they decide to make a change in their life and go out there, they’re going to get smashed by the competition, because while they spent years repeatedly watching their favorite family movies from the 90s, everyone else were busy adapting and growing their skills.

This is the part where I experience pure terror induced by my primal fear of social rejection. I imagine myself in this situation, suddenly finding myself in the same state I was at two decades ago while the world was moving on. And who knows, maybe my best option is to mindlessly continue doing what I was doing, because it’s easier to keep avoiding stress when I spent my entire life not learning how to deal with it.

Wyoming incident? Slenderman? Leave that stuff for the teens, YouTube menchildren is the shit for any conscious adult. What weird or usual stuff gives you the goose bumps? Also, maybe you know of some basement dwellers I should check out? Or in case you are one yourself, care to share some thoughts on the subject? How do you deal with it?

P.S.: on the picture is a guy who recreated 80s’ TMNT intro in Mario Paint which took him half a year and which he calls “his most ambitious project”.