As you have read from the title,

We all collectively have the feeling of being "dissapointed at ourselves" for joining a fandom late, why is that? 

((Warning: this blog is purely opinionated and is not meant to be taken as litteral fact, as you read this, this is all based on my opinions and thoughts about how that happens, take all of this with a grain of salt!))

In this blog mostly i will try and explain what my thoughts on this are or share an experience of this so that this reaches other people who experience the similar thing as me, comments and other discussions below are appreciated along with clarifications if i get things wrong!

Firstly, what makes someone feel like they've missed out? 

It is more or so caused because something isn't as popular anymore or topics about it seem to die down thus creating something similar to looking at someone do better than you and think "hey i should get onto that" and you see them slowly stop doing it and it makes you wonder "what did i miss? Why did they suddenly stop doing/engaging with X?"

The second thing is why we feel left out of these groups for joining late, 

I think the thing to partially blame is our thinking process and looking at over it, sure your brain thinks "oh my god i am so late to this theres probably not alot of people left i am so angry with myself without finding it sooner" or other variations, that make us feel isolated or castrated.

Secondly, how does one get out of this line of thinking of a fandom?

It more or less deals to finding a community still being active or keeping the spirit of the fandom you are in alive by doing creative work (i.e. making fanfiction, drawing, cosplaying, roleplaying). In my experience it has helped me get out of being upset at myself for joining late, not everyone can get into a fandom early and not everyone should get mad of a new generation that likes the media (i am talking about gatekeeping spesifically one that rejects a new notion) they want their share of the pie and making someone feel left out is a bummer.

If anyone at a fandom sees this and is generally rude about new people joining a fandom or anyone looking to join a fandom that has been long dusted by the internet, please treat eachother nicely, the internet can be a safe space if we all contribute to it 

— HZ,