By Courtney
I met the love of my life when I was 18 and a freshman in college. We have been together for ten years. When I say that I haven’t always gotten his birthday right, I mean it. Last year we got engaged in Paris right before his birthday in March and all my funds were exhausted. I knew he wanted a Death Saves T-Shirt, and that Goth Babe was coming to our area for cheap, so I thought that was pretty good, right? Well, I ordered a medium shirt on accident and my fiancé is a 6’5 man… so that didn’t work out in time. The concert tickets were a massive hit but when the time came for the show – we were so focused on making money for the wedding fund that we gave them away and instead helped my family work a three-day music festival making nachos at a food stand. It was the right choice to make at the time but overall last year was lame and I can take responsibility for not making it more special.
This year is going to be different, and I am so excited to blow him out of the water. My personal brand can unfortunately be a little too cool for school and I am guilty of showing up late to the party or late to jump on something out of being a little stuck up. Anime, manga and all other slightly related content fell into a category of “lame boy stuff” for me because my brother liked it growing up. When I met my fiancé a decade ago and my brother and him became homies, I still could not be convinced to give any of their favorite shows or characters a chance. Don’t hate me yet! I will admit that I was wrong – just let me get there. I slowly gave in bit by bit and began to enjoy sci-fi and other genres I had previously judged too harshly as being not for me. I became a Star Wars fanatic, dove deep into the lore of Warhammer, started religiously watching Critical Role (a dungeons and dragons show) that streams on a weekly basis. It was only time before maybe the best nerdy genre of all broke through my final defenses – anime.
When One Piece Red came out in theaters in August of 2022, my partner devised a trap that I would fall right into. We loaded my coat up with boxed wine and headed to the nearest Ramen house, which is never very close when you live in Montana. After getting stuffed on seasame buns filled with bean paste, noodles and bang bang shrimp we left for the theater. Filled with good food, surrounded by good friends, and chugging boxed wine in the darkness of the theater I was treated to an audio/visual delight. It was a massive surprise to me that at the end of the movie my partner wasn’t overwhelmed with joy! I had a freaking blast the entire one hour fifty-five-minute run time. What a fun journey, the characters I’d seen on his TV so many times were actually really captivating and cute, and I wanted to be friends with them and to join their adventure! He said, “I fucking told you so! That is how anime always makes you feel. I’m so glad you finally get it.” Apparently in comparison to the other one thousand episodes he had seen in the series, that movie wasn’t really even anything special for him. For me though – this was a breakthrough. Thus began my chase for that feeling. I have been on a real kick since then and can now relate to my soulmate on this passion of his in a way I never thought I genuinely would.
Now his birthday is coming up in a few weeks and I think I’ve nailed it. We get married this September and the best gift in my opinion is the biggest secret. I’ll be getting his name tattooed on my upper thigh like the little simp that I am. Other than seeing his name permanently inked on my body, he’ll have a few other gifts to unwrap. After finishing the second season of Jujutsu Kaisen we have been meaning to collect the manga and read it in bed together at the end of the night. Luckily for me, I found volumes 1 and 2 at my local Barnes and Nobel and 3-15 for a great price on amazon! I have an unboxing video of that collection to post on YouTube soon. Then I found the company Iced Tea and ordered four Jujutsu Kaisen T-shirts from them (Nanami, Megumi, Nobara, Sukuna) and two Yor shirts from SpyxFamily. Last but definitely not least, one of the vinyl records available at Barnes and Noble when I stopped by just happened to be the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack. I’m sorry but 15 manga volumes, six anime merch shirts, a vinyl from a favorite show and the undying permanent proclamation of your hot young fiancé’s love for you? I literally couldn’t think of better gifts. Safe to say that no matter what, this birthday is going to top last year!
Thanks for reading this lifestyle blog. My name is Courtney, and I am a 27-year-old woman. I created this blog to express my love for the unlimited characters, creators, and stories I’m obsessed with at any given moment. I may be happily engaged to a man I have been with for a decade, and he may be my only realistic love interest, but he knows my attention will always be slightly divided between him and all my other delusional boyfriends. Hopefully this community will grow and be willing to talk to me about all the delulu waifus and hottie husbandos out there – because the people around me are getting sick of hearing about my current hyperfixations! I know some of you have to relate.
Find me on social media so we can be friends and chat! Let me know in the comments what you think of my gifts! What is the best gift you’ve received from a partner or loved one that made you feel seen? Do you like fandom gifts or are you too specific and like to buy those things for yourself? Do you like when the people in your life invest in your personal interests and hobbies, or do you think it is healthy to live in separate fantasy worlds? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Yours in Deep Delusion,
Courtney