Needing a fandom Pick Me Up ...(It's not midnight yet, right? Not by my timezone.)

[timepiececlock]

I was browsing this old Mega Rec List for Cowboy Bebop fanfiction and idly skimmed some old fics, and it reminded me of how much I miss certain fandoms that I'm not active in anymore. I miss CB fanfic in particular, which I was seriously into in my senior year of high school and first two years of college. I adored fayeandspike, which barely gets any activity now. Just like I used to be seriously into the Vash/Meryl segment of Trigun fandom.

Anyway, while browsing all this great old CB fic with its massive epic chapter fics and its insane resurrection storylines and the incredible talent base of Bebop fandom and the Spike/Faye faction in particular, I had a terrible, gasping moment of regretful nostalgia. And I know exactly what it is.

I miss being in an adult fandom.

It happens, just because things do, that the fandom I'm most active in right now is a youth-based fandom. It's not my first (I spent quite a lot of time in HP fandom, and various anime series), but it's the one I'm into now that I've been involved in for the past two years. It's been longer-lasting for me than even Doctor Who, which suffers because you only get 13 episodes a year.

It's not the fact that ATLA fans are young that's particularly the issue I'm brooding over tonight (many of them are my age or older)... it's that the characters are young. For the last two years I've been writing fic about teenagers, be it ATLA or Harry Potter or Naruto or FMA or Veronica Mars or even DW's Rose Tyler who is, for all her wisdom, only twenty at best.

Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Buffy... these were shows about adult characters and thus allowed for adult situations. I don't just mean sexualized stuff, I mean adult on all levels and in a variety of contexts. I haven't been "into" a fandom with a full adult cast in a long time, be it television or anime. Even in series like HP, Naruto, or Fruits Basket the adult characters are secondary and often less-developed supporting characters rather than a driving force in the story.

I need something new to get into, something that inspires me to fangirl it like crazy and also something that puts out mature, elegant, quality fanfic on a huge level. While there's good and bad fic in every fandom, the range *does* differ, and the styles or modes each fandom culture puts out differ as well. ATLA fandom, for all that I love it, doesn't have as much high-quality fic as I would like to read, or as I've found in other fandoms before it, even reading multiple pairings.

Also, I want to have a cool, fun series that makes me love it AND makes me fic it (I don't fic every show I love) that isn't about teenagers.

The only problem is that all the good and really popular anime I've come across in the last two years is about teenagers, and most of the live-action tv shows from America or the UK just don't inspire serious fangirlism in me. I may watch Robin Hood or BSG or Sarah Connor Chronicles but I'm not, if you care to notice, particularly fannish crazy for them. And I've zero desire to fic them.

Ah, woe is me! Whining about a lack of well-written serious fanfic is always a good way to end your day.... because tomorrow or next week you just MIGHT discover a previously unread epic drama that takes your breath away with its style, sophistication, and panache. It could happen!

Comments

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I totally get what you're saying, even though Avatar is currently my shinynewhappy fandom. (It's still new - only about four months old).

Have you watched Alias? I can't vouch for the quantity/quality ratio, and the later seasons get insane (I'm currently stalled out right in the beginning of season 5) but seasons one and two are fantastic, and you have SUCH adult characters in SUCH adult situations. (In brief, one awesome spy *see icon* with a REALLY difficult job, a strained relationship with her father, and a love interest who she should be in love with but is.)

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Never could get into it. I have thought about it, and I might watch the DVDs some day, but I missed the wave when it was on and haven't tried to catch up.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I watched in piecemeal for the first season, before my mom pulled rank and decided that I had enough daddy issues without adding Jack Bristow to the mix (well, actually, it was a 'time spent watching tv' issue, but my opinions on Jack were definitively a factor.)

But I never thought I'd start watching it again, and thus got spoiled like year old milk, which make a lot of things less fun.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Avatar is still my shinyhappy fandom, but I can only take a solid tv diet of teen angst for so long. I need another shiny fandom to balance it out.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

*ponders*

Have you tried Bones? (Prodedural, but all the characters have emotional growth and arc, and it comes with a side of truly funny humor. There is one arc that has Our Hero getting therapy from Stephan Fray, and it's brillant.)

[jaina.livejournal.com]

You should really watching Pushing Daisies, if you haven't already. It seems like it would be up your alley.

old reply

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Yes! I like Pushing Daisies, though it's not very dramatic so I can't imagine wanting to read epic drama fics about it. But it's quite cute and I can't wait for it to come back now taht the strike is over.

it really says something, the fact that I'm reccing this and not Baccano, which I JUST finished

[rasielle.livejournal.com]

Drive-by recommendation for Seirei no Moribito! I've only seen episodes 1 and 2, but I can tell you it falls under 'fantasy epic' and that, so far, it's been snarky, smart, GORGEOUSLY ANIMATED, and excellently paced - exciting, really exciting. Finally, an anime I can recommend without reservations!

Okay, expounding a little (m'on painkillers right now, so forgive me if this is a little incoherent): the protagonist is Xena twenty-nine-year old Balsa, the spearwielding Amazon female bodyguard who travels to ancient China the Twelve Kingdoms Yogo in order to Atone. Yes, she is as awesome as she sounds! No, she is not bland at all; she seems very fond of her status as a commoner and has this endearing quality of talking regardless of whether or not there is someone to hear her. She finds herself bodyguard to a very young Imperial prince whose life is endangered by Mystical Circumstances, aaaaand that's about as far as I've gotten. The kid is so precocious and impertinent, really, just about the cutest thing ever.

Animation: so high quality - What kind of budget did they have? It must've been good. What I love about it are the intricate details and the fluidity of the motion, for mundane scenes and action-packed scenes. Hmmm, music... well, I like it, particularly the opening song. I've seen so little but I'm already liking the characters immensely; they're exposed so well and carefully that the slightest detail tells you something about them. The writing is great, as far as I can judge: clever and sharp. There's nothing about this so far that I'd even warn you about; like I said, no reservations.

The only flaw I'm anticipating: maybe it'll be a little predictable, as far as the Questing Warrior story goes? I mean, it *is* anime and it is *fantasy*; we can count the popular story formulas on one hand. Still, it looks incredibly high-quality, and it's quite recent, not difficult to find at all.

I still remember the last fantasy-anime rec I gave you *w-winces*, but I can tell you that there's none of that to dread here - at least, as far as I have seen. If anything, just give the first episode a shot; it really speaks for itself and roped me in immediately.

The official website is here, in case you want a glimpse at the art and story.

umm, okay, one kind of warning--

[rasielle.livejournal.com]

I personally found the very first line of the opening song very discouraging. The English is atrocious. Everything after that runs smoothly, though; it's only that I was so strongly repulsed by that one line that I feel obligated to mention it.

sweet icon! " WTF UNICORN??"

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I'll check it out! Sounds pretty

thank you! courtesy of -meganbmoore- hahaha, "pegasi"

[rasielle.livejournal.com]

It is very, very pretty and also quite cool. If nothing else, at least it is pretty.

dskljfdkjf, Thank you, but they're also the things I'd like to know in advance, walking into a series. I guess it's just a natural way of breaking a series down, but then, it's not perfect, either; despite being a bit of a newbie, I've already seen series that are better than the sum or their parts, or conversely, worse. Those series whose charm defy logic! (read: D Gray-man, argh, why do I read you, you are so stupid)

I also love reccing at you because you receive it well and pay attention; usually, when I rec at other people, I get the impression that the only way I'd get them to watch something is to leave subliminal messages in their inboxes or some such. And you have such great taste, man. O_O It's like trial by fire each time.

I'm still enough of a "child" to have unholy amounts of free time, so I take advantage by watching openings on repeat. XP Some of them are actually loads better than their respective series; go figure.

Unfortunately, I have promised to stop downloading on my dad's cable connection so I can only get a little bit and then I'll have to cease entirely and actually watch the stuff I already have...

Woah. You have my condolences. You already have Kino's Journey, right? I *highly* recommend that; it's not conclusive at all but the writing is stunning and it's so think-y, in that good, stimulating way. Normally I avoid slice-of-life series because they can be SO BORING (Aria the Animation, ahhhh *rips hair out*) but Kino no Tabi is fantastic. Pretty sad, though; I let my twelve-year-old cousin watch about five episodes and she cried twice. The last episode is particularly depressing.

Re: thank you! courtesy of -meganbmoore- hahaha, "pegasi"

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

And you have such great taste, man. O_O It's like trial by fire each time.

Ha! Hope you don't get burned then.

I pay attention a lot more when someone puts a couple of lines into the rec-- I don't mean they have to write a page, but just "I like XXXXX because" is better than "Watch XXXXX!" and makes me feel like the person doing the reccing really had a strong impression from the show.

I own Kino's Journey, haven't watched it yet.

I tried watching Aria, quit after two or three episodes. That *was* like pulling hair, and plus the animation and character design reminded me of hentai pornography. I'm not kidding-- I expected the child-like dolls girls to start performing sexual acts or something, and it was very distracting. Even the "mom" looked the same.

I really have to watch Here & There, Now & Then which is apparently the saddest most dramatic series EVAR, and I've almost been avoiding even though everyone swears by it.

one more time

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

:;ahem::

Sounds pretty cool. I love getting recs from you cause you talk about the kind of things I want to know ahead of time, and even though I didn't get into the last one, it was really a taste issue-- it wasn't a *bad* show or anything. I just didn't end up being into it.

I'll check this out, though. I've seen that title floating around, never looked at it yet. When I watch it I'll make sure to post or tell you.

Re: umm, okay, one kind of warning--

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

re: song

I almost never listen to opening songs anymore. I'm so bad about it... it's just that I don't want to waste my time, not when I have so much to watch.

Unfortunately, I have promised to stop downloading on my dad's cable connection so I can only get a little bit and then I'll have to cease entirely and actually watch the stuff I already have...

[aoyagi-rikka.livejournal.com]

Forgive the drive-by reply, but I thought I'd pimp Supernatural as a live-action, adult-character show. Main characters are 22 and 26 at the start of the series, and it's run for 3 seasons so far (more like 2 1/2 thanks to the writers' strike). Ostensibly kinda a mini-horror-movie-of-the-week setup, there's an ongoing, underlying exploration of family - dysfunction, loyalty, co-dependence - with one of the most complex sibling relationships I've ever seen on tv. Whatever I say isn't going to do it justice, other than that this series took a 10-years-running devoted anime fan and turned me into a rabid Supernatural fan, overnight.

It also helps that we've got one of the largest, craziest online fandoms going right now.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Preaching to the wrong crowd with this one, but I appreciate the effort. I actually tried Supernatural a few times, and it completely failed with me on nearly every level. I wasn't into the characters, the story, or the style, and the whole thing felt like a rehash of older, more notable tv shows. Also, as many of my flist have discussed SPN along the seasons, they've discussed the lack of female characters, which always bugs me.

But thanks, again, for trying. Just not by bowl of soba noodles.