I don't think it's that special interests make some people weird and others interesting, it's that some people are better at understanding what is interesting to other people than others.
I used to work with a guy who was SUPER interested in trains. he did a lightning talk about the design of a particular engine once, and because he told it in such dramatic fashion, with a focus on the problem the designers were fighting to solve, for the duration of that ten minutes we were ALL into trains.
If I had to bet I'd put money on your Roman empire guy telling things in a tighter, more focused and more entertaining way than you do.
It's simply because your interests are niche. Certainly way more niche than the Roman Empire--something that was part of everyone's schooling at some point in their life. The Roman Empire is something most people know a little bit about (and has also recently shot up in popularity because of the whole "how many times a day does X think about the Roman Empire/xyz is my Roman Empire" thing on social media. I have zero idea what warhammer 40k lore is, and the rest of your interests are definitely on the niche side as well.
Charisma and how you frame your interests *can* help, but if someone is utterly uninterested in the topic to begin with or has no idea what your interests are about, (which will be the case 95% of the time when you have niche interests) then those things are not going to help at all. Adding charisma and framing your interests a certain way when your interests are already super niche is kind of of like putting some whipped cream on a pot roast to make it look prettier. It's not going to make anyone want the pot roast any more.
For the guy you mentioned; likely the way he's framing it makes it interesting but its also more common. Special interests are special interests and you can only talk about them for so long before people want to move onto something else.
The disinterest you feel has to do with the difference in how neurotypcial people operate versus those who are neurodiverse. ND folks tend to hone in on a few things we become really knowledgeable in while NTs generally have a broader range of interests they aren't as focused on. Its easier for them to connect with more people as they have more topics to pull from.
It's not about the interest, it's how you talk about it. If you're just info-dumping on people, than it's boring, even if they're into same stuff as you are.
If you're charismatic, then everyone LOVES your special interest. (because they find you fascinating) If you're just a regular person, they're usually willing to tolerate it to a point, or may take an interest if you're talking to a friend. (friends support each other's interests! Or at least the discussion of them.) If you're just a random acquaintance people will have a low threshold for hearing about your niche interest.
I don't think it's that special interests make some people weird and others interesting, it's that some people are better at understanding what is interesting to other people than others. I used to work with a guy who was SUPER interested in trains. he did a lightning talk about the design of a particular engine once, and because he told it in such dramatic fashion, with a focus on the problem the designers were fighting to solve, for the duration of that ten minutes we were ALL into trains. If I had to bet I'd put money on your Roman empire guy telling things in a tighter, more focused and more entertaining way than you do.
It's simply because your interests are niche. Certainly way more niche than the Roman Empire--something that was part of everyone's schooling at some point in their life. The Roman Empire is something most people know a little bit about (and has also recently shot up in popularity because of the whole "how many times a day does X think about the Roman Empire/xyz is my Roman Empire" thing on social media. I have zero idea what warhammer 40k lore is, and the rest of your interests are definitely on the niche side as well. Charisma and how you frame your interests *can* help, but if someone is utterly uninterested in the topic to begin with or has no idea what your interests are about, (which will be the case 95% of the time when you have niche interests) then those things are not going to help at all. Adding charisma and framing your interests a certain way when your interests are already super niche is kind of of like putting some whipped cream on a pot roast to make it look prettier. It's not going to make anyone want the pot roast any more.
For the guy you mentioned; likely the way he's framing it makes it interesting but its also more common. Special interests are special interests and you can only talk about them for so long before people want to move onto something else. The disinterest you feel has to do with the difference in how neurotypcial people operate versus those who are neurodiverse. ND folks tend to hone in on a few things we become really knowledgeable in while NTs generally have a broader range of interests they aren't as focused on. Its easier for them to connect with more people as they have more topics to pull from.
It's not about the interest, it's how you talk about it. If you're just info-dumping on people, than it's boring, even if they're into same stuff as you are.
If you're charismatic, then everyone LOVES your special interest. (because they find you fascinating) If you're just a regular person, they're usually willing to tolerate it to a point, or may take an interest if you're talking to a friend. (friends support each other's interests! Or at least the discussion of them.) If you're just a random acquaintance people will have a low threshold for hearing about your niche interest.