Reminiscing
Tokyo Pop are currently publishing a new edition of 'Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon', complete with new translation, colour splash pages and all the other bells and whistles.
It's confession time:
I hit it harder than I hit the new Bleach volume. Would you like to know why?
Well, 'Sailor Moon' was the series that actually got me into fanfiction writing. For that I owe Ms. Takeuchi a lot.
Let me tell you how that happened:
I'd somehow gotten into anime, long story, and used to watch the series occasionally. Around the middle of the plot arc I was becoming familiar with the characters and their relationships and had already developed a major beef with the male protagonist, Mamoru. He's Usagi's, the female lead's, boyfriend and husband-to-be. I thought him to be something of a dick.
Since I had never watched the first seasons of that series, I didn't even know he was supposed to be the main protagonist, but figured it out and even learned about the when and why of his relationship with Usagi. The series progressed and gave me plenty of opportunities to watch Mamoru and Usagi interact.
I very clearly recall thinking that, had I been in Usagi's place, I would not have put up with Mamoru's - what I perceived as patronizing, dismissive and distant - behaviour. Granted, her character was occasionally behaving childishly and annoying and she didn't seem to be the brightest crayon in the box, but hey: She's cute and she's your girlfriend. You picked her, remember. Love her the way she is and help her improve or leave her. Show her some respect.
Maybe all this 'destiny set in a stone' philosophy about their relationship threw me off, too; all I remember is that I did not think they were good for each other at that point.
An intriguing secondary male character finally came along and fell in love with Usagi (while her boyfriend had been written out of the plot for a while; I no longer recall why). He was sweet, boyish, handsome and wickedly cool and treated her in a way I found right. They had a nice chemistry and she did seem to be relaxed around him. And so it came that, without having any clue what 'shipping', 'OTP' or 'canon couple' meant, I fell hard for my first ever off-canon pairing.
The series ended as Usagi-and-Mamoru-centric as it began. My favourite male character got blown off. Protect her, console her, help her grow, ok, thanks, Mamoru is now back and you're no longer needed. KTHXBYE.
This was not the first time I found a fictional ending somewhat unsatisfactory. I usually tend to like characters that either die in the course of their respective plot or play the role of the plot's token antagonist. However, this 'Sailor Moon' finale must have bothered me so much that I started making up different endings for the plot in my head, featuring my favourite OC pairing, of course. Voilà, first plot bunny!
Sadly enough, I had never even heard of fanfiction by that point and apparently the urge to 'fix' the series finale was not as strong as to induce me to write my ideas down and do some research. It did get me to start drawing, though, and you can guess who my favourite subject was!
A million years later I had started reading manga and watching anime series. I found, watched and got hooked on 'Visions of Escaflowne' whose ending finally caused me to do more research and find The Pit of Voles. Much later I ended up unemployed with plenty of time on my hands. I got sick, developed a fever. Wrote my first chapter. Acquired a new hobby, acquired new friends. You know the rest.
It would not have ended like that without 'Sailor Moon'. I would never have developed the habit of thinking up plot scraps without wanting to help my favourite character end up with the girl he so clearly wanted. I would never have started to let my mind wander like that in the wee hours of the morning or evening.
So it is half triggered by some vague sense of obligation and half caused by an urge to familiarize myself with the canon universe (with sinister intent) that I am now walking to the bookstore every month to pick up the newest 'Sailor Moon' volume.
The plot bunny is, after more than ten years, still residing in my head and eating my brain. That's got to signify something, right? I might write it down after finishing 'Colours'. I've half a mind to.
And I'm not ashamed of it. Everybody's got their guilty pleasures and we just love what we love. Are you taking notes, Mamoru?
So, dear flist, what got you into fanwriting? What was your first guilty pleasure? Who's your first non-canon couple and why?