I'm Erika! I stumbled upon this forum a few days ago while reminiscing about the time I used to spend on a different, no longer operational Sailor Moon themed forum in high school. I was hoping to find something similar because while social media is great in its own way, it just doesn't have the same vibe or fulfillment for me on the day to day. I loved sharing not just my love of Sailor Moon, but other interests and pieces of ourselves in a place away from the stresses of our offline lives. I was excited to find this place!

A little about me...I'm proudly autistic, married, currently living in Japan temporarily due to my husband's job, homeschooling our three kids, and in graduate school for English & Creative Writing. I'm a big literature nerd, dabble in graphic design from time to time, and love to express myself through art and writing. Sailor Moon is my favorite anime, but I'll be honest that I've only really watched a few regularly when I was younger. I'm into all kinds of movies, television, and books, including sci-fi, fantasy, etc. I sometimes like to game, but I'm not that good at it; just for fun! I love languages, studying cultures and history, and dissecting the nuances behind literature and other forms of creative writing-based entertainment. I also have an undergraduate degree in both English and East Asian Studies, spurred by my love of Japan which was all originally fueled by an interest in Sailor Moon way back when.

I found that I spent a lot of my life suppressing interests deemed "childish" in order to fit in with my peers; turns out that was an impossible and mentally draining task, so I've begun the healing process of re-embracing my interests and talents as an autistic woman who was never made to fit the mold. It's been very freeing to let myself be fully myself, and a long time coming after years of faking it and being miserable. I'm so excited to be getting back into all of these things on a level I felt held back from for most of my adult life. It's also fun getting my kids involved. They are all either autistic or ADHD themselves, and I'm really enjoying helping them embrace what they love and turning their interests into passions. We have a lot of love, laughter, music, dancing, and storytelling in our home, and it's all I've ever wanted.

I'm looking forward to getting to know others around here. It's nice to meet you.

Awwww. *hugs*

Welcome to GC, you'll find everyone here very friendly and supportive. :3 I had a similar history myself and I'm also working through stuff like that, if you need to talk to anyone I'm happy to listen. In the meantime, check out some of the activity links and threads and make yourself at home.

Hello! Welcome to the forums!

Hello and welcome to GC!!

I am Sportsnutd/sports/Stephen/Isabellefan/fluffyteddybear/PunKing and overall nice guy

Hello, and welcome to GC!  I'm Arkas, and I am thrilled to have another lit nerd running around, lol.  You said you doubled up English and East Asian studies, so now I am curious: what is some of your favorite stuff you've read, for school or for fun?  

It's nice to meet you, and I hope you have a wonderful time here!

Hello, Welcome here Erika !

Ouaaa... you are just a little model for me when i read your text. I am autistic too but it's difficult and i have many problems with that again and again. I am just happy to meet you. Another sailor moon Fan ! 
Oh I am french so sorry for my English. 

Do you like Japan ? And who is your favourite character in sailor moon  ?

Have good tome here !

Welcome! Glad that you're letting your inner child shine through. Call me crude but generally if someone poked fun at my interests they got a rude gesture in return. XD I hope you enjoy GC and look forward to seeing you around the forums!

Sailor Arkas wrote:

Hello, and welcome to GC!  I'm Arkas, and I am thrilled to have another lit nerd running around, lol.  You said you doubled up English and East Asian studies, so now I am curious: what is some of your favorite stuff you've read, for school or for fun?  

It's nice to meet you, and I hope you have a wonderful time here!

I love to read a lot of different things. I'm a huge Shakespeare nerd, love just about anything dystopian, sci-fi, or fantasy, though my favorites are anything by Orwell, the Hunger Games series, Harry Potter of course, and a two-part series I read in high school called Fires of the Faithful that I really loved. I have a harder time getting into most modern best sellers; the language, character depth, and plots just pale in comparison to classic literature, for me. I recently picked up a few things by Octavia Butler that I can't wait to dig into.

emrys wrote:

Hello, Welcome here Erika !

Ouaaa... you are just a little model for me when i read your text. I am autistic too but it's difficult and i have many problems with that again and again. I am just happy to meet you. Another sailor moon Fan ! 
Oh I am french so sorry for my English. 

Do you like Japan ? And who is your favourite character in sailor moon  ?

Have good tome here !

I love Japan, but I don't like living here permanently as much as I thought I would as a teenager. I need my comforts a bit too much, which makes more sense now that I know I'm autistic. I also have two autistic children, one ADHD child, and all of them have Celiac Disease which means they have to avoid gluten - that's about impossible in Japan. They can't eat out anywhere, and it really takes a lot of the fun out of it. But the culture and people are fascinating, and I'll always look back fondly on our time spent here.

I like Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, and all of the Outer Senshi. As a teenager, I loved Sailor Uranus.

Brit-chan wrote:

Welcome! Glad that you're letting your inner child shine through. Call me crude but generally if someone poked fun at my interests they got a rude gesture in return. XD I hope you enjoy GC and look forward to seeing you around the forums!

I'm getting better at advocating for myself and not letting others get to me. It just took 30 years! 

Hello and Welcome to GC!

Hello Erika, nice to meet you    And welcome to GC!

Hello!

Spoiler:

nm___i3bfc wrote:

Hello!

Spoiler:

No, I haven't! But I've picked up fun little goodies here and there. I have been to the Hello Kitty theme park twice, which was a lot of fun! My daughter was 4 or 5 at the time and loved it.

Welcome to the forums! And you're not the only one re-discovering things that she's passionate about. I've recently been reclaming things that I used to enjoy as well-even interests that I thought I've long since lost. The way I see it, is that there's nothing wrong with liking things that others deem childish or unoteworthy-if it's something harmless and keeps you moving, there's never any shame to be had. 

Everyone here is very friendly and understanding...as well as a bunch of dorks over one thing or another. Especially over Sailor Moon XD

I'm sure you'll have a great time here!

Hello Erika, welcome to Galaxy Cauldron.

Ohh...a literature nerd! What's your favorite book?

A little late to the party but a very warm welcome here from a fellow "Moonie Mama" ^_~.