Growing up, I’m sure we all heard about “gateway drugs.” Our teachers warned us about them, our parents warned us about them, all those after school specials warned us about them. A gateway drug would lead you to other drugs and other drugs and before long, you’d be living in a ran down by the river. Luckily, a gateway fandom is not as dangerous — unless you foolishly spend all your rent money on convention swag.
As part of The Nerdy Girlie and Super Space Chick‘s new community building project, 5 Fandom Friday, here are my 5 Gateway Fandoms That Made Me the Geek I Am Today!
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1. Star Wars
Some of my earliest memories involve watching the original Star Wars trilogy. My parents took me to see the re-release of the trilogy in theaters in the 90s and we owned Empire Strikes Back on VHS (yes, a VHS!). I watched Empire an imaginable amount of times, and only partly because I was madly in love with Harrison Ford as Han Solo. Star Wars ignited in me a yearning to learn more about astronomy, flight, and, by extension, filmmaking — things I’m still interested in today. It also led me to the Indiana Jones trilogy, because, as I mentioned, Harrison Ford.
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2. Harry Potter
I’ve talked a lot about how much Harry Potter means to me, and how much Harry Potter has effected my life. Harry Potter was a major gateway fandom for me because it inspired my lifelong love of writing and also reading. After starting to read Harry Potter at 8 years old, I went looking for other books that were as stimulating. I read all of the Magic Tree House books, the entire Royal Diaries series, the Chronicles of Narnia, and so many more. It was actually the Narnia books that led me to pick up The Lord of the Rings after reading about C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien’s friendship. I’ve come to love so many fandoms simply because Harry Potter inspired me to seek them out.
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3. Dragon Age
I’d been playing video games for 15 years before Peter introduced me to Dragon Age: Origins. I’d played a lot of games that I loved — Spyro, Harry Potter Quidditch World Cup, Sim City, Sonic the Hedgehog, just to name a few — but there was just something about Dragon Age that got me obsessed. I was really hesitant as first, in fact, I only played an hour before deciding it maybe wash;t for me. But for days after that, I kept thinking about it and thinking about it, and finally came back to play it. I’m so thankful I did. To date, I’ve played through Dragon Age 10 times and I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of it. And since I’d liked Dragon Age so much, Peter introduced me to Mass Effect too, and it’s become one of my favorite series of all time. From playing both DA and ME, I became a more confident and adventurous gamer, trying out games I never thought I’d like or be good at. I CANNOT wait for Inquisition to come out so I can continue my love for the series!
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4. Doctor Who
For years, people told us, “You’ll love Doctor Who, you should get into Doctor Who.” And for a while, we resisted. I still can’t believe why we would do such a thing now that we’ve watched it. Doctor Who has given me all the feels and I’ve laughed and cried countless times through the last 7 seasons. But once I was all caught up and before the next season, I needed my British TV fix. Doctor Who turned me on to Torchwood since the Season 2 finale featuring Jack Harkness and Torchwood was so exciting and I also started watching Sherlock and Broadchurch, too. I’m sure I’ll start watching Orphan Black any day now.
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5. Naruto
Before a few years ago, the only anime I watched was Sailor Moon and Spirited Away. I had a friend in middle school who was into Cowboy Bebop and Inuyasha, but it wasn’t what I was into at the time. Peter and his brother had been watching Naruto and Naruto Shippuden from the beginning, and when Peter started trying to catch up on episodes he’d missed, I got interested. Then I became obsessed. Seriously, seriously obsessed. I started reading the manga, collecting figures and plushies, and even cosplayed at Hinata Hyuga. But my love of Naruto also led me to try and watch more anime. I started watching Bleach, tried watching Death Note and One Piece (neither were for me), and we’re planning on rewatching Sailor Moon and starting a few other series in the future.
What were your gateway fandoms?
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