Love is in the air at Fanbase Press! In this magical month of romance and enchantment, the Fanbase Press Staff and Contributors decided to stop and smell the roses. Throughout the week of Valentine’s Day, a few members of the Fanbase Press crew will be sharing their personal love letters to the areas of geekdom they adore the most.

Dear Dr. Horrible,

It’s been nearly nine years now since we were first introduced. Three 15-minute episodes over the course of one week, and since that week, my life has never been the same.

I’ve identified with you perhaps more than any other fictional character. You were my role model, with your Ph.D. in Horribleness, and you’ve always been there for me. Whenever the status is not quo (which it increasingly isn’t), I can count on you to get me through. When I need to stop the world, you’re there with your freeze ray. You’ve shown me that, when evil inside of me is on the rise, there’s nothing like a nice frozen yogurt.

What inspires me most, though, is your refusal to give up. Your transmatter ray turned your stolen gold bars into soup, but it’s not about the money. It’s about the evil plan. Captain Hammer threw a car at your head, but no matter. Shake it off and move on to the next scheme. You may have enough hours to get into the Henchman’s Union, but you refuse to settle for anything less than full membership into the Evil League of Evil. No matter what happens, you know that a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.

You’re also the first character I ever wanted to cosplay as. The costume took me five years to assemble—due in large part to the fact that I wasn’t sure what to call the type of lab coat you wear. (A Howie lab coat, I now know.) Now, it remains my favorite cosplay and has led me to a number of crazy convention adventures, from run-ins with Captain Hammer to a fellow Dr. Horrible who asked for a bite of my frozen yogurt (and even brought his own spork).

I even have a “Dr. Horrible for President” T-shirt now, which I proudly wore on both Election Night and Inauguration Day. It’s a reminder that the world’s a mess, and if anyone’s equipped to rule it, it’s you.

You’ve taught me a lot over the years. Perhaps most of all, you’ve taught me that the road to success is not without sacrifices—and that, in fact, it often looks very similar to the road to failure. Still, with ingenuity and determination, everything is right within your grasp. Everything you ever…

With love and admiration,
Steve