Universe Log 2: We Don't Gatekeep

   You get into the machine expecting your guide to show up at any moment. You wait a little bit, but he's nowhere to be found. You see a note on the dash that features his scrawls, saying, "I will be out for this trip. Press these (accompanied by a few doodles) buttons. Then you remember his little AI companion, that Collins guy. You press the few buttons, and out projects Collins. However, his dress is very different. He's wearing a Blink-182 shirt and an Assassin's Creed hat. He turns his hat backwards and suddenly he materializes as a person, next to you in the driver's seat. 

   He hands you a package (where did he even get that out from?) and tells you to leave the machine briefly and change into it. You come back wearing a Green Lantern t-shirt.

   "Collins, why are we in merch?" You ask.

   "You'll find out soon enough, you see."

  You and Collins spend the whole day in a different universe, just out on the town. Collins takes you through a record store, an arcade, a video game store, and a bookstore. You have fun, but at the end of the day you're wondering what the point was besides the fact that all the people were blue and the birds made oddly human-like sounds. You ask Collins what this whole trip was for.

   "Didn't you notice no one judged you or I for what we're wearing? I took us to places crawling with people who would gatekeep our interests, and no one did. In your universe, people want you to answer for yourself to prove you're not a fake fan of your interests. Here, either no one cares or they're just happy you like something you do. No one saw my band shirt and told me to name three songs that aren't hits. No one asked me if I've played every Assassin's Creed game. No one asked you what your favorite Green Lantern story arc is, or which particular Green Lantern is your favorite."

   It bugs me as your guide that so many people gatekeep their hobbies and interests. To them, you're a fake fan if your knowledge of the subject doesn't exactly meet or surpass their own. 

  And I feel bad for women who can't show interest in comic books or video games without weird men being suspicious. Girls can't reveal that they're a woman on Reddit without getting DM's from weirdos. And girls can't show men they're interested in video games without weird men getting excited and jumping at the chance that maybe they'll get a gamer girl.

   Just enjoy what you like and be happy when you meet someone else who does. Don't be creepy or try to mandate what makes someone a real fan.