Things I Love

I just read this Tumblr post by Kiel Chenier and have become motivated to post a collection of things that I love lest I lose the path of an aspiring game designer to memes and social media.

I love anime

Yup even her

Ever since the Toonami era of Dragonball Z, Voltron, Robotech, Ronin Warriors, Gundam, Outlaw Star, Trigun, Zoids, Yu Yu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin, I have watched countless anime from Jojo's Bizzare Adventure to Steel Angel Kurumi. I freaking love anime. I love it more than movies. I love it more than books. I love it more than video games.

I'm not sure why I have such a strong love for anime. It could just be because I was exposed to it at a young age. Or it could be because it gave me an eye into a culture not my own; it taught me that there's more to the world than just what's around me; that there's adventure out there and things to be discovered. It could be that it was just available as the only source of entertainment for me during the late 90s and early 2000s. I grew up middle class but the crash of 08 really tossed my family in the pits. I didn't have the leisure of going out to the movies or buying the latest boxset; I didn't even have cable. All we had was an internet connection and anime was all over the net. So anime kept me entertained and emotionally safe during tough times and my love for it blossomed then.

I love rpgs

of the video game variety. I think I'm in a rare percentile of gamers because I didn't discover trpgs until I was at least 18 and even then my first experience wasn't that great. Ever since I had an on-and-off again relationship with trpgs until it cemented itself and my favorite hobby.

A majority of my childhood free time was taken up by video games, more specifically rpgs. I remember spending hours upon hours playing Final Fantasy VII, X, X-2, and even XII for a short stint. Next to that was Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, God of War, and probably countless others that I've forgotten since.

I've never really gone public with this information because its emotionally taxing. But a man's blog is a man's soul so if I can't put it here then I can't put it anywhere. OK. So I lose my mother at age 11 and it fucked me up pretty bad. I dropped out of school and society and my dad didn't really know what to do with me because he was about as fucked up from my mother's death as I was. I was essentially agoraphobic and, truth be told, video games kept my mind off the fucked up the intrusive shit brewing inside my skull. It sounds silly now but video games were my lifeline until I got the help that I needed and pulled myself together.

Now I don't even own a video game system and I'm not exactly happy with the state of the gaming market today. But chances are I can get one of those games on steam and relive those all too familiar moments that not only influenced my muse, but also kept me safe.

I love wrestling

Survivor Series 2003. Undertaker versus Vince McMahon in a Buried Alive match. No disqualification, no count out, no ring out, no submission; the only way to win is to bury your opponent six feet under—killing him.

Fucking wow. That was the first wrestling match that I watched that hooked me into the world of professional wrestling. The sight of Vince—the guy who runs the whole shebang—bleeding all over the place. The twist at the end where Kane, Taker's brother, buries him alive. Holy shit they just killed a dude! I was hooked.

And boy was it a great time to be into wrestling. I remember fondly Evolution and the build-up to Wrestlemania XX. There's probably countless other wrestling moments that I've since forgotten.

I love history

As a teen I read fiction constantly but as an adult I find that history is more interesting than fiction. I'm probably not the most literate history fan but I find my interest gravitating more towards the Age of Sail than anything else and my interest has only bee piqued since discovering Lamentations of the Flame Princess. And on that note....

I love D&D!

If that wasn't obvious....I love to run the game. It's an indescribable feeling and it gives me great joy to be behind the NPCs and monsters. I'd say it's my one true calling if I was to be so bold. I more so love the OSR and DIY communities and the great creators pushing their projects farther ahead than the corporate/modern games.

Alright! This has been a short list of things that I love and hopefully my future projects will be filled with a little bit of everything from this list. I'll have to wait and see.