Fandom

Here I will babble on about various fandoms I've somewhat participated in throughout the years.

Bomberman

I was never good at the games, but I've always liked Bomberman; it was the ultimate party game! My very first website about ten years ago (on Angelfire, no less) was a Bomberman site. Unfortunately, the community sucked butt, so... While I may not exactly emphasize the fact that I used to be part of such a community, I still enjoy the game series on an off-and-on basis.

Sailormoon

... yes, I admit it. I was a Sailormoon geek. I remember memorizing all of the series' attacks, Japanese names and their meanings, buying the tankouban (despite not knowing a word of Japanese), and eventually starting my interest in online RPing by making various Sailormoon RPs. While I've forgotten most of what I once knew (it's actually kinda depressing, since even back then I knew that one day I'd forget), I'll still admit to being a fan. My favorite character was Rei Hino, a.k.a. Sailormars.

Final Fantasy

The first RPG I ever played was Super Mario RPG. The second RPG I ever played was Final Fantasy VII. Ever since then I've been a fan of the Final Fantasy series and its various spinoffs, with VII always being my personal favorite due to nostalgic influences... unfortunately, since everybody else I know online either hates VII or is way too fanwanky about it, I don't talk about it too much. Other titles in the series which stand out to me are IV, X, and X-2. My favorite characters from this series includes Tifa Lockhart, Yuna, Lenne, Mustadio, and Balthier.

Xenogears/Xenosaga

Xenogears is probably my favorite RPG of all time. Yes, it has its flaws, but overall it has been the biggest influence on me personally with my writing style and incorporation of symbolism. The complex storyline, awesome battle system, art style, music... everything about it sucked me in. My favorite characters from Xenogears are Emeralda Kasim and Miang Hawwa, of course.

It took me a while to get a PS2, much less Xenosaga Episode 1, and it wasn't until about six months before the release of Xenosaga Episode III's Japanese release in which I got involved with the Xenosaga fandom. Honestly, I'm not a fan of Xenosaga, and its fandom which adores MOMO panty shots and pedo fantasies just disturbs me on many, many levels. However, the story does not disappoint, as a whole.

Ah! My Goddess

My cousin first got me into this manga series, and I remember that the first book I bought was the Ninja Master volume. Since then over the years I've collected all of the old-school Dark Horse editions and when we finally got a DVD player, the movie was the very first DVD I bought. Shortly afterwards I bought the OVA series, and when the anime was announced I eagerly torrented the fansubs that were available and preordered all of the DVDs I could.

This series holds a special place in my heart because it's been there since I've been very young, and continues to pump out new material for me to get into. Sure, the story's old fashioned and the quality of the series has diminished recently, but I've already decided to be a steady fan. My favorite characters from this series are Sayoko Mishima and Urd.