The first RPG I've ever played was Phantasy Star IV. It came, along with a used Sega Genesis and several other games, from my half-brother who gave it to my family for a reason that I currently can't remember. I remember playing it longer than any other game, and even when I recieved a Sega Saturn, I still found myself pulling out the aging cartridges once in a while. In '99, I get my first computer, and I rapidly find the open environment of it's interface a sophisticated playground for my still developing mind. I now have a large degree of proficiency with computers, and have at least a working knowledge of almost every aspect except for programming. This scientific environment has allowed me to become quite adept at mathematics now, but one portion of my development has always lagged behind: my communicative abilities. I few years after I got my computer (I can't remember the exact year, but I speculate around 2001, because I remember asking for a CD burner for christmas), I was diagnosed with Autism, specifically Asperger's Syndrome (Be careful with pronunciation when you speak that aloud, It's given me dirty looks before.) Essentially, I am an encyclopedia and calculator rolled together, but my printer's always out of ink and my volume is turned way down.

Fast forward 8-12 years. Graduated High School by acing tests and flunking homework. Got a 32 out of possible 36 on the ACT. Got into a college for a 2 year degree. One day, I stumble across a site offering old ROM files. I link to a site offering a large selection of emulators. I download Fusion, and after tuning it to my computer, I go back to the ROM site to shop around for something to play. I don't recognize very many of the titles (I only had about 7 cartridges in the day), so I bounce back to the emulator's website. Somehow, I wind up on Phantasy-Star.net, then pscave.com. Ooh! PSIV! Download now! The smoldering remains of my child self rises from the grave, and I spend the entire night playing through the memories.

My love for Phantasy Star, once nearly extinguished due to dodgy equipment (Both my Genesis and my cartridge wasn't stored properly, and had weathered more moisture than most submarines), had been reignited into a conflageration, consuming a large portion of my background thought process, almost like malware. My browsing starts pointing to the fan fiction part of phantasy-star.net, and I begin lurking at pscave.com. During one such session, I find a link in the message board(no, I do not recall any more specific details than it was on PSC), and find a link to one author's fanfic page here, Black Waltz 0. I read only one story on his page, but it absolutely shatters my mind. Never mind the scene he wrote of Rika fighting in her underwear, no, the entire beeping story fried my mind's laid-back perspective! I spend an entire 20 hours reading the cursed thing from start to where the story ended. It didn't even register in my mind when the sun came up and I hadn't been to bed yet. I only put down the book when I reached the end of the final chapter- apparently, it's never been finished. I close the webpage, and sleep soundly the next night.

The night after that felt normal when I went to bed. I did not have a dream that either stayed in memory or left references to its existence, like normal. I suddenly find myself driven out of my precious sleep. "What?" Nobody there, nothing touched me, I don't even hear any sounds I could blame for the disturbance. I curl up to go back to sleep. "Why can't I sleep?" I settle for looking up at my dark ceiling. I didn't have any caffine before bed, and my mattress is too low for passing cars to shine in my eyes. Is there no reason for my being awake? Suddenly, like a brick to the back of my skull, ideas flood in and drown out any semblance of sleepiness. "Get your butt outta bed." "Grab the laptop." "Open Notepad." The plot of PSIV flashes by my eyes like a bullet train, and draw a single question. "The darkness is killed, but what of its hatred? Energy can never be added or removed from a universe." Thus, I started my first fanfic.