there's a genre of post I see sometimes that's like "do people just like [thing] because of [reason]?" and it's like, yeah, probably some of them. and some of them probably like the thing for other reasons. sometimes the reasons are very specific and very intense, sometimes they're not. there are as many ways to like a thing as there are people who like that thing.
sometimes I stumble into a reductive idea of liking something: that someone likes something because they like all of it, or that everyone who likes something likes it for the same reason. but you can, and should, love something because of a single, small piece of it that evoked a special joy in you. you, specifically. there are books I've loved because of how hard an individual page or paragraph hit me. there are games I love because a single mechanic or interaction feels that good when I push the button, or because of a 10-minute stretch of playtime I had that I know I'll never be able to replicate. you should love things that way, too. and preferably, you should tell me about it.
I spend a lot of time reading reviews and listening to podcast opinions about media. it's not because I'm checking off a mental checklist so that I can safely like a thing once it gets a passing grade. sure, sometimes it'll sound like a piece of that game/show/whatever resonated with a critic in a way that it might resonate with me, and that's great. but mostly, I'm there because I think one of the most fundamental, beautiful things in life is hearing people describe how a particular part of something they played—or watched, or read, or heard—unlocked a particular little door in their brains for joy to enter.
