5 Fandom Friday - Gateway Fandoms That Made Me Who I Am Today

(Republished from 8/11/2017.)

I haven't done these in a long time, but I know the ladies who were running them became a bit busy. Look and my blog and tell me I don't understand that.

Essentially 5 Fandom Friday was a day to celebrate 5 things about being a fan! This was originally done by The Nerdy Girl blog. Since it took me so long to get into them, I figured I'd start from the very beginning and try to keep up on Fridays.

So let's get things started!

Gateway Fandoms That Made Me Who I Am Today

1. The X-Files
I was that kid who snuck into their basement on Sunday night to watch The X-Files or hide in my room. I "wasn't supposed to" watch stuff like that. Finally my dad watched some with me and that was really cool, but I loved The X-Files. I even got to comics and I hid them in the draw next to my bed. It fed all my needs and love of Sci-Fi/Supernatural/Paranormal. You could even credit this for helping to formulate my love of ghosts and zombies and whatnot! Amazing! I want to believe.... and I do.

2. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
I read this as a Sophmore in High School and it blew my mind! I think it was, honestly, my first real exposure to Sci-Fi reading! I had already read Fantasy and Fantasy is cool, but there is just something about Sci-Fi that I love without question. So much so that I've created a Sci-Fi reading unit for my sixth graders. It makes me the happiest when I'm reading Sci-Fi. I even have "Ender" engraved on the inside of my class ring.


3. Settlers of Catan
Our friend Jim brought this game out one day and I was completely hooked. So much so that I think I bugged him and my husband with how much I wanted to play it. It was just the coolest thing ever! The new got into Pandemic and Hero Quest and now my husband and I are gamers and we own over 300 games. Thanks Settlers!

4. Star Wars

You know this is where it all started! One of the first geeky movies I remember watching as a kid and I was from the 80s! We had the toys and everything! Star Wars permeated my life and kept me open to that type of sci-fi/fantasy and really created my love of geekdom. Moving forward I was addicted to Labyrinth and Adventures in Babysitting and Indiana Jones and other Spielberg awesomeness. I had so much to geek for!I could probably even credit it with keeping me open to amazing things like Mystery Science Theater 3000 when I was a kid! I loved it and it still permeates my adulthood today! Shockingly, I'd say Star Trek, but I wasn't really allowed to watch Star Trek and/or I didn't understand what it was as a kid. I remember one of the times I sat down to watch it at my parent's friend's house, my parents made fun of it and said to turn it off. I dunno. But for some reason Star Wars as alright and I am thankful for that!

5. Super Mario Bros
My brother and I each got $50 for Christmas. We pooled our money to buy a Nintendo Game System. Now, my brother had a tendency to take it over more than I did, but I loved my time on it and I loved playing Super Mario Bros. I've played almost all the games, but not things like Mario Cart. SMB was honestly my gateway to gaming and now we've introduced it to my daughter, but she prefers the Lego games more than SMB. Sad, but true... but she's REALLY good at gaming. I'm working on all the convoluted new expectations of using a controller. Man oh man.