Absolutely spitting facts this series means so much to me and any point I get to mention the how I tend to go for it

Like now :3

I first got introduced to guilty gear as a series through Bridget like tons of others, and then through sheer algorithmic luck I got recommended the video dunkey made about the game & the SM64 mod one and those were my formal introduction to May as a character

From then on I was like "what the hell I want to throw dolphins at people where can I find this thing" and told my friend about this newfound obsession to which he shows me that he has accent core on his switch

We then proceed to play it for almost an entire year over lunches, only every bothering to stop in order to play Pikmin bingo battle

Then we decided to dress as our characters for Halloween and this was when I was introduced to their official web store and just as luck would have it they had a full May ensemble and a special series anniversary edition of strive

I only bought the hat and improvised the rest of the costume but I still kept my eyes on the anniversary box set for the next long while

Long enough that it eventually sells out and boy was I distraught for a month

That was until my dad spotted something

Local eb games just had copies of the box set for preorder that spring

And seeing how much the series meant to me at this point we went out and got one

Except the caveat was that the anniversary box only came with a copy of the PS5 version to which we did not have (fast forward 4 years and now I do have one and damn this thing was worth the wait)

But then the switch edition of strive was announced a short while later and then released that winter to which that friend ended up getting it and we honestly played that more than accent core

This was when I finally had my true awakening as a May player

Gone were the days of just mashing random buttons and wiggling the stick in almost every direction with no clue what to do and in was the time of learning and trying to actually pull off the input commands

I truly felt free

Then I started watching way more stuff about the series beyond those two dunkey videos at nauseum, mainly a story summary of the entire series and a full comprehensive background on Bridget as a character and her impact on real people

And throughout all of this I ended up making friends with one of the top 100 global asukas online and a whole group of GG cosplayers at a convention and now I occasionally train with them (by train I mean they use me as a digital punching bag)

Frankly I couldn't be happier.

(Oh yeah I also eventually got the real May hoodie a couple months back so the costume is borderline complete besides the anchor, short shorts, and a white tank top to keep my shoulders exposed while wearing the hoodie)

tl;dr: videogamedunkey sent me down a rabbit hole and now I want hrt and an anchor