I first discovered Battletech from the Harebrained Schemes game (loved the Shadorun games) then i found Tex from the black pants legion YT channel and fell in love with the universe, played a little of mech warrior (stopped because it keep crashing my computer) and now i considering reading the books.
Very much the same. My Dad was in the Navy, was out a lot of the time, during which I poured over his numerous gaming books and boxes. D&D, Rifts, Battletech, Dr. Who, Call of Cthulhu, HeroQuest, & others, all of it I found through my Dad. Unfortunately, he’d never want to actually play any of it (he never played with anyone really, just liked the fiction I guess), but I found friends in high school that played all these games and I’ve been gaming with them ever since.