Secret Second Maya Shrine!

Here is my secret shrine for Maya! If you found this: Congrats!! I already have one in the Mayalock Zone but this is a special second one. Prepare for loads of me gushing about her here. (Images might take a moment to load too!)

I first watched Arcadia of My Youth on July 20th 2018. A movie I watched on Amazon Prime because I was binging a lot of Harlock and Leijiverse stuff that summer since I just got into it all earlier that month, would soon really consume my life and my brain ever since. And soon after, a character that stole my heart.

If you know me (and if you know people in the Leijiverse English speaking fandom, I am that one English speaking fan that talks about her A LOT, I have a feeling that will become my legacy in time if it isn't already) this will probably come as a shock: I didn't think about Maya that much at first. I didn't hate her, far from it. Let's just say watching that horrid dub(especially for its sound mixing issues, which is my real gripe with it)for the first time is very different than seeing it subbed first. It was all that was on Prime and I didn't feel like digging around to find it elsewhere at the time. It wasn't on many other streaming platforms at that time if I'm correct, and this was before it got put on Crunchyroll, VRV, and other platforms. I'm not one for dubs vs. subs but if you can, I am begging you to watch it subbed first.(Again, main issue is how dogshit the sound mixing is, but that's not the point here)

She just didn't cross my mind much, before I saw it a second time subtitled. After I saw it again subbed, which thankfully for me was like seeing it for the first time all over again, I couldn't stop thinking about her. There was... something, about Maya that drew me to think about her constantly. Same with Harlock x Maya/Mayalock too. I think it was her character, how she was a beacon of hope in a world full of massive strife and injustice. How she encouraged people to never give up hope. To never let that flame go out, however small it may be.

Maya and Harlock's relationship drew me in more and more too. Their seperate but similar drives/motivations, the tragedy of their story, their chemistry, just... everything! As stated all over this website, they are my OTP (One True Pairing for those who may not know.) for life. I NEVER got into a ship this hard in my life until them. I always had ships I liked, but I never got as waist deep as I am with them. Maya and Harlock are such a infinite well of happiness for me. And they are a the other big and main reason I got into coding and making this website, as a way to express my love for this wonderful ship! They will fuel my heart and soul to my very last breath. Harlock/Maya forever!!

Getting into Mayalock was a gateway into loving Maya myself, and doing self ship and oc x canon with her too. I definetly bicycle Maya around. Despite me loving her myself, and shipping a oc/self insert hybrid with her too, I can never not love Harlock/Maya too. They are a lovely couple~ And Maya just deserves all the love in general! <3

Yes I do self ship with her as well. Cringe Culture is dead and honestly this should be a surprise to literally nobody in the Leijiverse community. Anyone from there that knows me in any capacity wouldn't be surprised in the slightest. With how much I gush about her on a constant basis, draw her, overall make tons of fanworks about her, I think this would be the least surpising thing about me. Self shipping is fun! And I made my oc Rosa for that purpose. She's a self insert and oc hyrbid, I consider her to be for both Self Ship and Oc x Canon things. Anyways: I love my wifey. She has brought so much light, inspiration, and joy into my life. She means so much to me. More than I could ever possibly word. Maya has given me such a positive impact on my life and I'm so incredibly grateful for that, and how she has helped me grow as a person.

Maya deserves more love! She's such a underrated and underappreciated character. Most of of the people I've come across appreciate and love her too and agree she needs more appreciation. (I've even been told by people who have been into Leijiverse longer than I've been alive that my passion for her has made them appreciate her more too. Hearing that has always made me so happy. More than I can even begin to word.) While most of the people I've personally met thus far in the fandom like/love/appreciate her, in the overall general community as a collective whole she is rarely talked about. Which is a damn shame, because she is a really fantastic character that myself and others feel leaves a pretty bug impact despite her small amount of screentime.

Maya as a character has helped me so much in my personal growth. She has helped me develop something I've never had for so much of my life: Hope. Maya gave me a reason to have hope. She gave me the ability to have hope for my future, the future as a whole. Her inspirational words of hope have touched my soul deeply and her character has helped me with healing from past traumas. Her words of hope and inspiration in the movie spoke to me. And before Maya I lacked a sense of hope so much of my life. It can be very hard for me to be hopeful with the brain I was given sometimes, so I'm glad I have her to spark it within me. That might sound silly to some, but she really means a lot to me. And I think having something to inspire positive feelings within anyone either it be from fiction or real life is a wonderful thing.

(One of Maya's array of inspirational and hopeful quotes said throughout the movie.)

She has helped me so much with my self growth and my journey with recovering from my past. I have become a stronger, and more hopeful person because of her. And while of course my self growth journey is far from over, and there is more for me to work on, she has played a massive part in helping me heal the wounds of my past. She makes me never want to give up, to have hope for the future, to believe in tomorrow, and to never let the flame go out in my heart, no matter how small that flame may be.

Maya is a fictional character, she isn't real. I know and accept this 100%. It doesn't bother me at all she's not a real person. But the positive impact she has left on me is very real, and I'll be forever grateful for all the good she has done for me with self growth and in my journey to heal.

And as a bonus: Here's photos of my Maya nendoroid doll too, because I want to share her. (I got lucky that one of the pre-designed dolls by goodsmile was perfect for her!)

Maya with some Rosé!

Enjoying a nice drink.

Chocolates for her!

She's such a cutie-!

Maya with a chocolate!

Wedding Maya <3

Maya saying Hello!

Maya with Peepy!

Enjoy some lovely memes made for me by my friends that make me smile and can bring laughs. Click on the images to see their full size! [Added more memes as of 11/14/2021!]

[New Addition as of 10/16/2021!] Another bonus: Enjoy Photos of my Maya Plush!!! She was made by @hewworeese on twitter!! And shoutout to my friends who chipped in as a gift to help me be able to commission this absolutely lovely plush. I've wanted a Maya plush for Three years now and she's more perfect than I ever could have imagined!