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Jan. 24th, 2026 11:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladydoujiMany many years ago a week after I graduated from high school my family packed up and moved from the rural boondocks of Amish country in Ohio to Houston, TX. It was a big change, and was a lonely summer as I didn't know anyone and had no way to meet people. During that time my parents decided to get AOL, something unavailble in our part of Ohio at the time. Lonely and bored I went looking through the AoL message boards and found a group dedicated to talking about a show I really enjoyed. Ronin Warriors.
It was a welcome surprised, as much as I loved the show, none of my friends in Ohio cared about it, so finding another group of people who did. Winnie, Jink, Evan, Adam, Mako, Tracy. They all seemed impossibly cool to me, but they were warm and welcoming. My first friends after high school.
Winnie was the ring leader and heart of the group. When AoL got mad at our discussions she took us to an E-groups mailing list(later turned into yahoo groups) and from there the Ronin Warriors Yaoi Cake Page. I felt so happy and proud being able to help with the doujinshi scans sections.
Through Winnie and Minkland I got introduced to another anime series called Gundam Wing, and it's mailing list. From there I met more local anime fans, including the woman who would become my best friend going on 27 years now. And I pulled her into the Ronin circle.
I only got to meet Winnie IRL once, at Yaoi-con 2002, rooming with her Jink, Mako, Mako's Mom, and Brian. Cool and calm, as she and Jink marketed the Minkland basement project, and somehow keeping the chaod of all us weirdos organized and on track.
Mink and all the crew helped teach me how to connect with people over long distances and find friends, which let me find more friends over the years as I moved from fandom to fandom. Without them I don't know how lonely my life would have been.
A few months ago I learns the Yoroiden Samurai Troopers(the show localized as Ronin Warriors) was getting a sequel series. I hoped that maybe this could serve as a way for the old Mink crew to have a bit of a reunion and revival, as after so many years we had drifted and lost contacted. But then, the day the new series aired I got the news the Winnie, the woman that started it all had passed away. The timing seems like a cruel cosmic joke. The woman who brought together and inspired a motley crew of misfits over a love of pretty boys in armor wouldn't be able to see the new crop of boys? It doesn't feel real and it doesn't feel right.
It was a welcome surprised, as much as I loved the show, none of my friends in Ohio cared about it, so finding another group of people who did. Winnie, Jink, Evan, Adam, Mako, Tracy. They all seemed impossibly cool to me, but they were warm and welcoming. My first friends after high school.
Winnie was the ring leader and heart of the group. When AoL got mad at our discussions she took us to an E-groups mailing list(later turned into yahoo groups) and from there the Ronin Warriors Yaoi Cake Page. I felt so happy and proud being able to help with the doujinshi scans sections.
Through Winnie and Minkland I got introduced to another anime series called Gundam Wing, and it's mailing list. From there I met more local anime fans, including the woman who would become my best friend going on 27 years now. And I pulled her into the Ronin circle.
I only got to meet Winnie IRL once, at Yaoi-con 2002, rooming with her Jink, Mako, Mako's Mom, and Brian. Cool and calm, as she and Jink marketed the Minkland basement project, and somehow keeping the chaod of all us weirdos organized and on track.
Mink and all the crew helped teach me how to connect with people over long distances and find friends, which let me find more friends over the years as I moved from fandom to fandom. Without them I don't know how lonely my life would have been.
A few months ago I learns the Yoroiden Samurai Troopers(the show localized as Ronin Warriors) was getting a sequel series. I hoped that maybe this could serve as a way for the old Mink crew to have a bit of a reunion and revival, as after so many years we had drifted and lost contacted. But then, the day the new series aired I got the news the Winnie, the woman that started it all had passed away. The timing seems like a cruel cosmic joke. The woman who brought together and inspired a motley crew of misfits over a love of pretty boys in armor wouldn't be able to see the new crop of boys? It doesn't feel real and it doesn't feel right.
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Date: 2026-01-24 06:52 pm (UTC)