Challenge #1: The Icebreaker Challenge: Introduce yourself. Tell us why you’re doing the challenge, and what you hope to gain from it.#

Hi I’m Navi! I was inspired to do this challenge by Spill whom I follow on mastodon.

I really love anime, manga, light novels, and games, and spend the majority of my free time immersed in those worlds. It’s hard to quantify exactly why I’m into certain fandoms, but I generally love series with big casts, interesting character dynamics, and of course, shippable couples! I’m also mainly into BL, but I do have some het and GL ships that I love. If a series makes it onto my fandoms list, it’s either because 1) that series emotionally moving/personally affecting for me in particular or 2) there’s a ship that I’m a diehard fan of. And if it’s both, I worship the author for their godly abilities.

Should I list some of my all-time favorite ships? I feel like it’s not a proper introduction without it lol. Here’s a roundup in no particular order! Generally these are right-fixed for me unless otherwise stated.

1. Edgeworth/Phoenix - Ace Attorney (Unnecessary feelings, am I right?)
2. Ronaldo/Draluc, Kantarou/Nagiri - Kyuushi/94/VampDies (they’re so cute, I love how RonaDora argue all the time hahaha)
3. Isami/Lewis - Bang Brave Bang Bravern (the rest of the fandom is mostly LewSami and I suffer for it)
4. Luffy/Zoro/Luffy, Sanji/Usopp, Cavendish/Bartolomeo - One Piece (I’m sure I have way more, these are just the ones I can think of. OP is a treasure trove, truly).
5. Randel/Alice, Oreldo/Marches - Pumpkin Scissors (This series has so much going for it, I NEED people to know how much I have brainworms for this series. It’s a crime that the anime never got a further adaptation. The manga is SO GOOD)
6. Klaus/Leo/Klaus - Kekkai Sensen (I love KKSS for many personal reasons, but kuraleo is so adorable)
7. Everyone/Ippo - Hajime no Ippo (my fav is usually Miyata, Sendo, or Volg here lmao, this series is a true shipper’s paradise)
8. Fushiguro/Itadori, Maki/Nobara, Anyone/Nanami (Usually Gojo or Higuruma) - Jujutsu Kaisen
9. Anyone/Yang, Reuenthal/Mittermeyer, Bittenfeld/Oberstein - Legend of Galactic Heroes (this is usually Reinhard or Schenkopf in the left position with Yang, but I did read an excellent longfic with Reuenthal).
10. Leonard/Klein - Lord of Mysteries (this is new for me, but I love LOM so far!)
11. Sanzo/Goku, Hakkai/Gojyo - Saiyuki (the OG shippable series, any ships between these four is a banger honestly)
12. Spock/McCoy - Star Trek (yes, not everything is animanga or games related. I love OG Star Trek)

That’s enough about me for now, I think.

Challenge #2: Pets of Fandom - Loosely defined! Post about your pets, pets from your canon, anything you want!#

I don’t have any pets myself, but I just want to say if you’re looking for something really cute to watch, I highly recommend Miira no Kaikata (How to Keep a Mummy) which is about a teenager who ends up adopting a small mummy as his pet. It’s the cutest freaking thing in the world, and my heart just melted watching it!

Challenge #3: Write a love letter to fandom. It might be to fandom in general, to a particular fandom, favourite character, anything at all.#

This isn’t a love letter so much as a thank you note to one particular series. There was a period of my life when I was so utterly depressed and lost faith and confidence in my ability to do anything at all. I had failed at something important in a spectacular manner, something that would have life-changing consequences. I was filled with self-loathing. I didn’t have the strength to pick myself up and move forward.

During that time, I discovered Kekkai Sensen. If you don’t know, the main character, Leonardo Watch, makes a terrible mistake at the start of the series that ends with his little sister losing her sight, in exchange for him receiving the “All-Seeing Eyes of God”. As you can imagine, this affects him heavily. He feels like such a failure, being unable to protect his sister and do the right thing when it mattered most.

But through the course of the series, despite being unable to fix the situation, he atones for his mistake by trying to save others, and making the best of the situation. And there is one person, Klaus von Reinherz, who constantly believes in him, in his ability to do good for others and himself.

The series itself is about how the characters are fighting an impossible fight, but are striving to protect humanity with everything they have. Other than Klaus, they are not exactly paragons of society. These are flawed people who are living their lives, doing their jobs, and helping others when they can.

During that time when I was particularly weak, Klaus and Leo showed me how to survive. And the series is damn funny too, which cheered me up immensely.

Thank you Kekkai Sensen, for giving me the strength to keep moving forward.