As we continued to talk, going through the motions of getting to know each other, I realized that we already did know each other, as well as any two people could. We’d known each other for years, in the most intimate way possible. We’d connected on a purely mental level. I understood her, trusted her, and loved her as a dear friend. None of that had changed, or could be changed by anything as inconsequential as her gender, or skin color, or sexual orientation.

I've retroactively made all that wasted time rotting my brain into research. It makes me a hypocrite when I try to tell my own daughter, "I don't know, I think we've played a little too much Mario."

"Lights," I said softly. This had become my favorite word over the past week. In my mind, it had become synonymous with freedom.

I created the OASIS because I never felt at home in the real world. I didn't know how to connect with the people there.

The clans began to bombard the outer force field with rockets, missiles, nukes, and harsh language.

My characters are all kind of geek archetypes of people I've encountered at gaming and comic book conventions.

I don't know if the '80s were unique, but we certainly got original, groundbreaking stuff at the time with movies like 'Back to the Future' and 'Star Wars' - movies that became classics.