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timepiececlockI 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 ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
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!
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!
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thank you! courtesy of -meganbmoore- hahaha, "pegasi"
Date: 2008-03-29 08:22 pm (UTC)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"
Date: 2008-03-30 02:12 am (UTC)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
dollsgirls 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.