I am, so far, with one possible exception, one of the biggest Heinlein nuts I’ve come across.
Fenris has more knowledge about his work than I do, but I’ve actually made a pilgrimage to his old place by Santa Cruz off of Bonny Doon Road.
I’m also a huge geek in regards to Korean Martial Arts. Following the threads of what art became what, and what influenced who is fascinating.
I thought they were just referred to as doujinshi? But don’t mind me, I’m just a lowly acolyte-- never did get any further than fanfiction.
The Final Fantasy series is my current fanboy* squeeze. I know it’s not good for me to concentrate on one series of games (if you’re going to be a nerd, you’ve got to do it properly), but I feel as though I can’t really focus on any other RPGs until I’ve got at least half the series under my belt. Weird, I know.
I guess I like them because you know what you’re getting. The spells, items and elemental setups are fairly consistent from game to game, and it makes it a lot easier to get from Plot Point A to Plot Point B if you don’t have to work out what the heck you’re supposed to be doing with your characters.
*Can I still be a fanboy if I’m female? 
Nah. Doujinshi are the Japanese version of fanfiction but comic-style instead of prose and using characters from commercial anime and manga. (and even movies, I’ve seen Lord of the Rings doujinshi) Doujinshi can be yaoi but they don’t have to be and are produced by fans for other fans. I tend to read (very slowly with dictionary in hand) commercially published yaoi manga featuring independent characters and stories.
Oh, any movie or book about boarding or same-sex schools.
Books: Terry Pratchett for the reasons already mentioned by other Doper DW-ers; he found the perfect position for the satirical mirror he’s holding to our society. I’m actually writing my BA thesis on him. **Robert Rankin ** for his unique far-fetched style.
Music: Thirstin Howl III, R.A. the Rugged Man. Both are rappers with a unique style light years away from the hip-pop which gets the media exposure nowadays, and hilariously funny, too.
TV/movies: The Simpsons, Whose Line is it Anyway, MST3K, B-movies form the 50’s and 60’s.
Comics: The Far Side
I should also mention Frane Milcinski Jezek, a Slovene song- and screenwriter, and comedian. I doubt anybody here has ever heard of him, but I’ve just came from a celebration of what would’ve been his 90th birthday, hadn’t he passed away 16 years ago. I did a short stand up routine in his memory and enjoyed in his songs performed by various singers. Just had to share it. 
I am a fangirl ( ) of the following things -
TV shows: Alias, C.S.I., Joan of Arcadia, Simpsons
Movies: Matrix, Spiderman, S.W.A.T., Daredevil, Fifth Element
Books: *Harry Potter, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Speak,
Music: Linkin Park, Evanescence, Michelle Branch
It’s a simple reason, really. King Crimson has been scientifically proven to be undanceable. Researchers are aware of the “Christina Ricci Phenomenon”, but the current theory is that she is the only woman in the history of the world to successfully dance to the sounds of KC. Further study is warranted.
I’m a fanboy of several things. First and foremost is, as may be obvious, the NFL. I love (almost) everything about it. My particular fandomania is focused on the New York teams. I could post a long, loving explanation of why I will bleed blue until the day I die, but I’ve posted it too many times already.
The OP asked for the why in a subsequent post. I love the NFL because it combines every virtue in sports that I hold dear, while at the same time minimizes (or outright eliminates) every vice that I disdain. I focus my attention on the New York teams for many reasons. I’m a Parcells devotee, so I took to the Jets in the late nineties. I live in the greater NY area, so I get all the games for both teams. And finally, New York is the center of the world, is it not?
I try to be a fan of the other sports, but when you combine the sucktitude of the NY teams (I prefer the Metropolitans to the Evil Empire) in the other leagues with the inherent drawbacks of the other sports, it’s been slow going.
I am also a fanboy of Frank Zappa. Frank was simply the man, so that’s a bonus. But really I am a fan of his because I swear that his guitar work speaks to me. It is quite literally as if I hear a language in his solos. I cannot explain it any better than that. Combine that with his prolific compositional expertise, plus the caliber of musicians he employed, and I end up being such a rabid fan that I would struggle mightily if I had to narrow down my favorites list to under 100. (I currently have 131 tracks in my “very favorite FZ songs” list.)
The Beatles
Tolkien
James Bond (books and movies)
The Carpenters
Marvel Comics
Star Trek
Universal’s classic horror * monster movies from the '30s and '40s
John Barry’s film scores
The West Wing
The original Outer Limits
Banacek
Dune
The Who
Classical mythology
Ancient Rome
Doc Savage
Olivia Newton-John
Robert E. Howard
H. P. Lovecraft
God grief, I’m all over the place, aren’t I?
I thought I’d try to divide my fandoms by archtypes
Puzzles
I always loved being challenged by what I didn’t know. Started young with riddles/puns, read with delight the Time Travel choose-your-own-adventure books, and moved quickly into Infocom games. Was amazed with Myst and Riven (with associated novels and comic book), and thoroughly enjoyed Journeyman Project 3.
Geek Humor
Things that have geek in-jokes, have actual technology jokes in them, and arcania humor appeals to me, since I love obscure knowledge. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was a defining moment in my life and I went for a while where I would get grumpy if I hadn’t read/listened to/watched/played one of the version within a six month time period. MST3K follows in that theme. I watch Futurama virtually every night and never seem to get tired of it (top two episodes have to do with holophoners ;)). FoxTrot is like the only major comic that I know of that features executible code that makes me laugh. And Animaniacs… let’s just say that I know too many of those songs by heart for my wife’s comfort and she seriously hopes they never come out on DVD.
Mysteries
It’s part of the puzzle thing, really, but I love mysteries. Many people think that since I am a geek, that I’m obviously obsessive about scifi or fantasy. Wrong. I may have started with the Hardy boys, but I quickly found that The Three Investigators and Tintin where more my style. I’ve read nearly every Nero Wolfe more than three times (and found the Timothy Hutton TV series to be excellent). I miss big screen mysteries that aren’t about something besides the mystery (dunno if that makes sense)… the only good one that I can think about is The Zero Effect, which I obsessed over for quite some time. Currently, I get most of my mystery fulfillment from TV: CSI, Monk, and Detective Conan (aka “Case Closed”). Oddly, there were never any video game mysteries that really appealed to me, until I found Tex Murphy. It also kind of had story arc elements, but they’ll probably never be completed.
Story Arcs
I seem to have a weak-spot for books/TV shows/movie that stretch out a storyline. If I get started on something, I have the tendency to want to know everything about it and see it through to its conclusion, especially when the author has everything plotted out beforehand, has crafted a complex backstory, drops little subtle hints from time to time (which means I’m a Star Wars geek as well). This has made me a huge fan of the Dark Tower series and the first 2/3 of The Wheel of Time series (the fact that I keep reading after that shows just how weak my spot is). I’m kind of getting hooked on Song of Fire and Ice. Along with that go Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket. TV shows include The Pretender, with a great mix of humor, sexiness, and “You can be anything you want to be” themes; Alias, with sexiness, plots within plots, and the whole “What was that Italian guy really up to?”; 24, which, in addition to the story arc, seems to have a lot of fun with breaking into new areas of TV viewership. The only story arc video games that have attracted me are Final Fantasy VII/X, and Jak and Daxter. Story arcs are also one of the reasons I got hooked on anime: Big O, Inuyasha, Witchhunter Robin, and FLCL. Fullmetal Alchemist is also beginning to exert its pull over me.
The only other fandom that I have that doesn’t fall into any of these categories is Lupin III. I think the fact that it was the first cartoon that I ever saw with adult themes (although the main character is sometimes really pretty juvinille) might have something to do with that. It’s sense of humor and character interaction also play a big role in my enjoyment of it, I guess.
Your ideas intrigue me, and I’d like to subscribe to your newsletter.
He’s quite good. I have a number of his scores. I think my favorite has always been The Lion in Winter, but I can’t say I’ve heard everything he’s done.
Forgotten Realms Books I buy everyone that comes out. I only have a backlog of 5 books (not bad considering I have over 85).
Dungeons and Dragons in general. I play Neverwinter Nights, Icewind Dale I & II, and other PC similar PC games (Warcraft, etc.). Sadly, I haven’t played a “live” game of D&D for over ten years.
The Smiths I have been a fan since the 80’s. I don’t really care for Morrissey’s solo stuff, but I can listen to The Smiths all day.
WINE Big fan of the stuff. I read books and magazines about wine every month. The Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, Decanter, Quarterly Review of Wine, etc.
Terry Pratchett
Neil Gaiman
DC Comics (particularly Superman, JLA, JSA and Legion)
Star Trek
MST3K
Simpsons
Monty Python
Beatles
The great photographers of the 20’s to 40’s
Trek!
Stephen King - particulary the Dark Tower series. I adore King - it’s not necessarily even his stories, although I like most of 'em. It’s his writing style - I love love love what that man does with words.
Lost - until this year, I only watched one other TV show (L&O: SVU) regularly. I saw a trailer for Lost, watched the pilot, and was instantly hooked. I’m even trying to figure out if I’ll be a major geek if I buy Lost merchandise off the ABC Web site and take it out in public. :o
Twilight Zone - I live for the SciFi Channel marathons. The newer ones I’ll watch in a pinch, but the originals rock my world.
**Myst ** - this was my introduction to video games, and I still haven’t ventured much outside the 1st person adventure style (3rd person adventure style is pushing it, for me). I asked for Myst Revelation for XMas and my brother assured me I am a huge dork.
Phantom of the Opera - saw it in London last year and loved it. I’ve since seen it in New Orleans and Austin. I own the original cast soundtrack and listen to it often.
LOTR - this one surprised the crap out of me. There’s a bit of a backstory. See, somewhere around age 8-ish, I saw either the animated version of The Hobbit, or perhaps Bashki’s version of LOTR. I remember only the vaguest sense of being absolutely horrified - I guess a couple of scenes were pretty scary for a youngster. For the next 20+ years, I remembered this and positively refused to have anything to do with Tolkien or hobbits (and I was a girl who loved to read).
Anyhoo, I knew they had made/were making LOTR movies, but I just ignored any and all press (to the point that it took me awhile to realize it was 3 separate movies - and no, I’m not exaggerating). Then, last December, I happened to stumble across the last 30 minutes of FOTR on cable while hanging out with my cousin. I didn’t know what it was at first, kind of got into it a little bit, and was devasted when I realized that the movie was ending (!) with a cliffhanger (!). The next week I saw FOTR, TTT, and then went to the theater for ROTK. Since then, I’ve done the books (love them), seen the movies repeatedly, and have selected songs from the soundtracks on my MP3 player for jogging on the treadmill (the music is great for keeping a beat and fun to jog to.)
I would never, ever, ever have guessed that I’d become a LOTR freak after years of JRRT boycott!
ME TOO!!! Do you go to Yaoi con???
Actually, the correct phrase is ‘boy’s love’ and I love it. I spend so much money on the books and almost every year (when i can afford) I go to Yaoi-con and work! Why do I love it? Well, I love males and two guys is better than one. But mostly, the stories tend to be darker, more… perverse and twisted than you can find in normal love stories. ‘Boy’s love’ has traditionally emphasied aesthetics and angst over the insipid, stereotypical romances that are so depressingly rampant in both Western and Eastern fiction. Of course, there is plenty of annoying boy’s love comics, but I’ve read the most romantic and sexy stories though this obsession.
I used to be really into anime (cosplay, conventions, manga, etc), Johnny Quest, X-files, Gargoyles, and Star Wars.
For books, I love reading about the occult, serial killers, demonology, angelology, all the twisted, dark and mythical sides of humanity.
But overall, I love reading about sex. I find human expressions of sexuality to be terribly fascinating.
Marry me!!!
I’m an anime otaku. (Biiig surprise, huh?)
I’m also an SF fan, mostly written.
TV
Doctor Who (including books and the audio spin offs, looking forward to the new series in 2005, don’t know whether you will get it in the US or not)
Star Trek - Everything except Enterprise
Any other Sci-fi
Simpsons - Greatest Cartoon ever made.
Music
Queensryche
Metalica
Iron Maiden
Authors
Lawrence Miles
Alastair Reynolds
Iain M. Banks
Comics
Cable/Deadpool
Wolverine
Hulk
In short:
Stephen King’s Dark Tower
Star Wars
New York State (history, geography, anything like that)
Buffalo Bills football (and I’d like to make a plug for the Bills to Ellis Dee, as they are the only NFL team that in fact plays their home games in the great state of New York. )
But the long answer, my ultimate fandom, as it were, is the Betsy-Tacy books by author Maud Hart Lovelace. This is a series of children’s books, written in the 1940s loosely based on the author’s own childhood in Minnesota in the 1910s, that follows a little girl and her best friend from kindergarden through the first years of married life. It’s a very upbeat series, Betsy and Tacy mostly have a good time of things. I would highly recommend this to the folks who listed Anne of Green Gables as an interest. The two major themes of the books are the friendship between the girls, and among their larger crowd of young people, and Betsy’s determination to be a writer. There is also a lot of information about home life in this time period, so the fashions, home decor, food, games, music, parties, etc are a source of endless conversation for fans.
I’m a member of the Betsy-Tacy Society as well as my local chapter, and have visited many of the sites mentioned in the books. We have a convention every five years, I’ve been to the last two (in scenic Mankato, Minnesota, on which the fictional Deep Valley of the series is based). The Society owns “Betsy’s” house (the author’s childhood home) and “Tacy’s” house (the childhood home of the best friend). Through the internet, I’ve networked with many other BT fans and have met with fellow members all over the country and even abroad. Let’s see, some of the exciting things we do … make food mentioned in the books, wear period costumes, sing songs around the piano as the characters do in the books, play card games, attempt to recreate hairstyles, the fun really never ends.
BT followers tend to be fans of children’s literature in general, so when we have a momentary lull in BT conversation, it’s quickly filled in with plenty of other kidlit topics.
First and foremost, Reneé O’Connor, my Muse and favorite person in the whole world. If I may give a plug, Reneé stars in a short film that will be playing at the Sundance Film Festival next month, “One Weekend A Month.” If you’re going to be in Park City, Utah in late January, try to check it out. I’ve seen it twice and it’s a fine film, and Reneé does a bang up job (very different from Gabrielle in Xena.) The movie deals with the personal crises that the war in Iraq is causing for men and women in the National Guard. Strong stuff.
Assorted others:
The Simpsons & Futurama (always an exacta entry in my mind).
The music of Neil Finn (be it through Crowded House, his solo work, or with his brother Tim).
I was delighted to get the newly released Ren & Stimpy DVDs. Awesome.
I’ve also been getting into Green Day lately. I’m diggin’ their stuff, but I don’t know if it’s reached the level of Fandom yet.
Still big on The Chronicles of Narnia though I haven’t re-read them in a while.
And, if there are ever any new episodes, I’m always delighted with Big Cat Diary on Animal Planet. Best nature show I’ve ever seen.
Actually, cats in general are always at the top of my list.