A master list of my fandoms

Having seen other people comprise lists of their favorite fandoms to write in and why, I felt inspired to do one of my own. It will be updated accordingly whenever I branch out to new fandoms.

Please note that this is all just how I personally feel about these particular programs/films/books/etc. I'm fully aware that a number of people out there won't agree with my viewpoints, which is perfectly fine. I hold no ill will towards normal fans of these series. All I ask is that people please be respectful in return. Telling me how I should enjoy something, or saying I don't understand the brilliance of [BLANK] is not going to suddenly make me start liking a series I've criticized out of the blue.

A character's name in bolded letters means I really love them. Just because I don't include certain characters as my favorites doesn't necessarily mean that I dislike them. I mean yes, there certainly are some characters I dislike, but there are also plenty of others that I'm just fine with but just really can't call favorites.

Major

Disney
Buckle up buttercup, 'cuz I got a lot of thoughts on this fandom.

Well, I felt it would be easier to just have a catch-all Disney category, instead of separately listing every single Disney show and movie I like. If I had done that, then this list would be significantly longer then it already is! Anyways, yes, I’m a Disney kid -- grew up on their shows and movies. I credit Disney (as well as Warner Bros and, to a minor extent, Don Bluth's movies) for inspiring my lifelong love of anthromorphic/animal characters, drawing, animation, and voice acting. I really don't have much interest in the theme parks though, the priciness of which puts me off. Plus, on this one Disney roleplaying game forum I used to be part of, there was a clique made up of staffers and popular roleplayers who would act like if you hadn't been to the parks in years you weren't worth talking to. Sorry I wasn't born into money, you guys. 😒

Very few people know this about me, but in my teenage years I went through an edgy phase where I was vehemently anti-Disney – I thought their films were childish and promoted a false view of reality, the company was bad, etc. I still think the company itself has done some pretty crappy things (for one, the late Peggy Lee being forced to take them to court just so she could get royalties for her work on Lady And The Tramp), and have some big problems with the direction they've been going in for some years now -- for starters, their ongoing quest to become a monopoly. But I fault the corporation for making these bad decisions, rather then the animators, producers, writers, etc who work hard on their animated properties. So I feel comfortable with watching the movies (and my preferred shows) because it's the characters and animation that are the main draw for me.

I'm not fond of all these mediocre sequels and live-action remakes that have been coming out in recent years either (or will be coming out eventually), and don't care for a number of their newer animated TV series like Elena Of Avalor and The Lion Guard. But I came to realize that blaming the films and characters for making young girls into docile housewives or whatever is about as absurd as blaming video games for causing violent behavior – for one, it’s ultimately up to parents to explain the differences between fantasy and reality to their kids. For the record, I never once had the idea that I needed to be rescued by a man or give up everything for one or something after watching Disney princess movies as a little girl.

I am a big fan of several ‘90s Disney Afternoon programs, many of the animated films, and a handful of their older live-action films. On the other hand, I don't really like most of the animated movie midquels/sequels/prequels (although some of the characters in them are pretty cool) and don't count them as canon. I also admit to not really liking Beauty And The Beast (the original version) like I used to, but that's due to its fanbase ruining the movie for me with their obnoxious antics. I had similar feelings towards The Little Mermaid for the same reason, though rewatching TLM years later I discovered that my bad memories have subsided (thankfully). I'm hoping the case will be the same for BATB. But I have a problem with the terms "Disney Renaissance" and "Disney Revival", as well as the fans of those two eras in general. 

I also don't care for the classic villains stans who carry on like those particular characters are the only noteworthy things about the movies, and in some cases, totally reimagine them as these unfairly persecuted saints. Like, the animation, the themes of the overall story, the score, none of that matters until this one character shows up and begins singing. Kinda superficial, that.

Seriously, every time I see a classic villain stan, this springs to mind:

In case you couldn't tell, I've always found the discourse surrounding the various films and characters to be very exhausting (it happens with some of the shows too, but not to the extreme that it does with the films). The bulk of it borders on outright absurdity, a refusal to look at the actual source material, and bad faith arguments. Sometimes I say that no one hates Disney like Disney fans do. Seriously, with some of the people out there who say they like Disney, it's like "Do you really? Doesn't seem like it." (if you want to know specifically what I'm talking about here, then just ask. There's a difference between normal criticisms and then the stuff I see). People, your preferences for certain characters and such are just that -- preferences and your own personal opinion, not indisputable fact. The fans seem to thrive on toxic negativity, not something I want any part of. 

Meanwhile, those who have a more open hatred for Disney are equally annoying, calling anything that appears twee and sentimental "Disney-fied" or any other number of similarly dismissive names when there's a massive variety of films and shows. Don't wanna watch something something cute like, say, Aristocats? Fine. There are several other films and shows which have intense/or thoughtful moments, or even dark elements -- off the top of my head, many of the elements in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pinocchio, Gargoyles, the dinosaur and Chernabog scenes respectively in Fantasia.

Well, back to nice things about Disney, lol: It's so amazing and interesting to me to see their catalogue of movies through time and how each decade offers something different. There are films I prefer to certain other ones, and a scant few that I have no interest in watching ever again, but I am hard-pressed to actually call any of them awful. The ones I'm not big on I find simply aren't to my tastes/or are very mediocre. I've seen much worse animated fare from other companies. 

The sheer variety of characters and settings one has to work with when writing Disney fic is just plain awesome (several of my favorite characters are openly reviled by the overall fandom however. Oh well, that's just par for the course for me). So it's frustrating seeing fics which just parrot the same handful of ideas over and over again: Disney high school or college (which, granted, I have seen some fun fan art dealing with this concept), bland human OC goes to the characters' world/or worlds, all the classic princesses are subhuman. As for as how I choose which characters to feature in a story, I try to shuffle them around as well as give the less popular guys the spotlight. It doesn't help any that canon seems to actively encourage  crossovers. So my stories will either be crossovers, alternate universes, or just focus on certain films and series, such as Elena Of Avalor (the appalling writing of which I want to try and fix).

Favorite characters: Cinderella, Robert Callaghan, Dawn Bellwether, the Tramp, Scrooge McDuck (OG version), Hercules, Hermes, Councillor Esteban, Lexington, Matt Bluestone, Tiana, Prince Naveen, Aladdin, Dr. Delbert Doppler, John Silver, Darkwing Duck, Chief, Tod, Mr. Incredible, Basil of Baker Street, Genie, Jake, Bernard, Percival McLeach, Cedric (Sofia the First), Hans Westergaard, Lumiere, Bruno Madrigal, Camilo Madrigal, Pepper Ann Pearson (although I don't think there was a single unfunny character in the whole show), waaaaay too many others to try and name.

My Little Pony                                                                                                                                       Primarily Friendship Is Magic (Generation 4), though I don't have the absurd hateboner for the older series that a lot of other G4 fans do. After all, I did grow up on the original '80s show, and actually prefer the heavier fantasy/adventure bent and cool villains present there, things FiM lacks, IMHO). 

Now, there are FiM episodes which are cute and fun, I enjoyed the Rainbow Roadtrip movie, and there are some good things about the series, but it's not the greatest cartoon of all time to me. The series actually does have some potentially fascinating elements, but the show tended to bypass them in exchange for boring crap/or appeasing bronies, especially later on. Personally, I actually like certain characters way better then I do FiM itself. Some of them weren't utilized as well as they could've been. I didn't even bother to watch a number of episodes as well as the newer seasons simply because they don't appeal to me in any way. I also think the IDW comics are terribad. I'm honestly fine with just cherry-picking from the better elements of FiM for my works. 

But the fanfiction for this fandom? Quite a bit of it is just jaw-droppingly inventive, as well as being pretty solid. I tell people that this fandom churns out a much greater quantity of readable material compared to many of my other fandoms. I feel like the fans' minds go to much more creative, wilder places then canon does. Plus, fan works aren't restrained by having to target children and don't have all the show's excess baggage (the Harmony Tree! The Friendship School!) and bloated cast weighing everything down. I mean, there's bad stuff and overused cliches of course, but I will readily read a MLP fic before I will anything written for, say, Sonic The Hedgehog or certain Disney fandoms. There are a lot of good ideas to be gleaned from the fan art as well.

As for my ideas for this fandom? Well, most of them were crossovers that came and went. The one that's actually stuck around is a Elena Of Avalor crossover/AU that'll hopefully develop certain characters further, as well as some side stories that'll play around with certain characters and wordbuilding for this idea.

Favorite characters: Rarity, Prince Blueblood (yeah yeah, feel free to call me names or whatever. Don't care, take your salt elsewhere), Zecora, Steven Magnet, the FlimFlam brothers (who shouldn't be these hardcore villains, come on canon writers), Tree Hugger, Filthy Rich, Yona, Maud Pie, Fancy Pants, Ember, Bulk Biceps, Granny Smith, Capper, Captain Caelano, Grubber. There are a number of other characters that I like the look of and seem interesting, but there's either not much meat to them (Fleur de Lis, Scootaloo, Spitfire, Somnambula [I'm still not sure why they choose to name her that]), or I hate what canon did with them (Iron Will).

Road Rovers
I was being too nice when I was talking about RR before. XD This isn't the worst cartoon ever, but I would definitely never use the word good to describe it either. At this point in my life I don't even wanna spend the cash to get the DVD set of the series. Sad to say, Hunter and Colleen aren't exactly favorites of mine's. Sorry guys. Exile, Blitz, Shag, the Master, and Hubert are much more likable and potentially interesting to me, but were never fleshed out any. Like a friend of mine's who's on the same page as myself said, the writers sacrificed storytelling, character development, and even logic all for the sake of telling jokes (many of which I don't think even have much staying power after the first time you've heard them). 

Oh my gosh, the freakin' jokes. A few of them aren't particularly horrible, and I enjoy a good action-comedy as much as the next person, but more often then not the show doesn't pull comedy off very well. A bunch of it is slapstick (which, y'know, if you're writing a story and you want to include humor, just goes over so well in prose). As a result, Road Rovers' tone is all over the place and the main heroes come off as being indifferent if not outright callous towards one another, as well as self-involved a lot of the time. This also set off a very obnoxious trend within the fandom of fans not just expecting but outright telling you to include goofy jokes in your stories because it's what the show did. The BNFs, who have stories referencing torture and rape and have stuff like angsty OCs who spent time in what are essentially dog concentration camps, do not appear to get this same sort of treatment from these reviewers. 🤔

The fanbase largely was and still only is vaguely interested in Road Rovers' core concept and fawn over some of the main heroes' designs, and that's it. This is a fandom where self-inserts and such took over with a vengeance. Aside from Hunter and Colleen, who are the major designated shipping tools (either with each other or with somebody's self-insert respectively), everybody else largely gets treated as animate props/or plot devices for fanfics. Blitz simply exists to be emotionally and physically abused by just about everybody else, including all of the Mary Sues and Marty Stus, Exile occasionally gets a few Mary Sues and evil siblings chasing after him and is never written well, etc. There's an unusual reluctance on the part of fans to worldbuild and explore the implications and effects of having a device like the Transdogmafier existing. Then you've got the stories and such that make you question if the creator even likes any of the canonical Rovers, given that their ideas center around having their Sues and Stus show up to humiliate and sometimes even literally assault and brutalize Hunter and co. And there's no character development whatsoever in any of these stories. As a result, the majority of the fanfics are just angsty action/adventure stories with furries and bad shipping. My friends and I literally quit reading RR fic because of all this.

Also, NGL, but I find how people gush over the Rovers as being so sexy weird. To me they're just generic cartoony-looking anthro dogs. At least when people say they had or have a crush on characters like Mr. Wolf or Nala I get it, because you often have the trifecta of appealing character design/personality/vocal performance at work there. The Rovers meanwhile are shallower then a dishpan, and there's kind of a hint of personality with the guys (certain ones more than others), but again, not very much. But the lack of a real personality makes it even easier to project one's fantasies onto whichever Rover you thirst after.

BTW, a few BNFs over on deviantART have stated before that they do not want people drawing porn of the characters, yet they themselves will draw fan art that is either highly suggestive/or literal fetish art. ಠ_ಠ

So with that shining endorsement of the series, let me talk about why I choose to write fanfic for it. XD I like superheroes. I like animals and anthro characters. Animals are true innocents, so the idea of them literally gaining the power and ability to help both themselves and others is an extremely appealing idea to me. I appreciate the fact that the heroes are an international coalition. The show’s universe has both supernatural and sci-fi aspects that offer plenty of story potential. I also knew one lone fan who actually wanted to develop the six canonical Rovers further. Even if I do have some disagreements and such with this particular author regarding his interpretations of them as characters (please note that when I use the word "disagreements", it's not like I think this guy is horrible and he deserves to be stoned. I just developed a different take on the characters is all), his ideas were still instrumental in pushing me towards creating my own storyverse. 

Later on, seeing how actual good shows like Steven Universe, One Piece, and Transformers Animated developed their characters, as well as remarkable fanfics for such fandoms as My Little Pony of all things made me go, "Why hasn't anybody ever tried doing that for the canon Rovers and co before?" Why not give them backstories and actual lives, you know, make them more then just one-note jokes, stepping stones to show off how l33t your OCs (donut steel) are, and ship fodder? Even if it is just a silly doggie cartoon, I still like for my heroes to have actual emotional cores.

So that's what I want to achieve with my fanfics -- let OCs help flesh out the world while alternately developing the canon characters. My fics also borrow a lot of fan characters and concepts from a few older fics, but I will try to explain these elements rather then just throwing them at readers and expecting them to know everything already.

Favorite characters: Blitz (doesn’t deserve all the bizarre hatred heaped upon him by the fans), Sport, Exile, the Master, Professor Hubert.

Sonic The Hedgehog
Well, I've played the older games and read the Archie comics as a wee one. A tiny minority of side characters are my primary reason for dabbling in this fandom in the first place, as is the root concept of the western canons. You have kingdoms and other exotic locales being menaced by both magical and technology-based villains, as opposed to the games/game-related media, where it's basically just a small group of kids fighting a mad scientist out in the middle of nowhere. Personally I prefer having lore and a more expansive setting to play around with.

But Sonic has some things in common with several of the other fandoms listed here which frustrate me and in turn makes me want to write for them. Aside from Sonic Underground, my feelings towards much of the source material ranges from "meh" to outright disdain (SatAM and Archie). SatAM is just an obscenely overrated kids' show and Archie a convoluted, wannabe edgy soap opera. Like I said before the games are simplistic, so I have zero interest in writing for them (doesn't mean I didn't have fun playing them though). The live-action films are just okay. That's all. And just to make something clear, I don't even think Underground was perfect or anything. Certainly not. I'm not too familiar with the anime stuff or the IDW comic, so I have no thoughts there.

ETA: Live-action Sonic is kinda adorable though.

I think the cast in the incarnations I am familiar with are painfully underdeveloped and banal, even the characters I'm fond of. For the most part I strongly dislike the major/popular characters, sorry. The modern character designs are completely unappealing to me -- massive spherical heads, hands that appear to be the same length as their heads (somehow), the Betty Spaghetti limbs... I could go on, but they look less like animal people and more like plastic dolls. The fact that the females must be fully clothed while male characters can't is also pretty silly. You can't see anything revealing on them, and secondly, the overwhelming majority of the females are so cartoony-looking that I don't even see what'd be so scandalous if they weren't fully clothed? I mean Rouge I get, but I've seen people freak out over SatAM!Sally and I'm like "Maybe the problem is less with her design and more with you?" I mean, God forbid characters just wear whatever best suits their personality and preferences lol.

The fandom (which completely deserves its bad rep) doesn't help matters at all. I'd daresay Archie fans are the most combative, obsessive branch of the Sonic fanbase. They seem hellbent on making me dislike Archie Sonic even more then I already do by acting like it's on the same level as the world's greatest literary classics, and no one should ever dare to criticize its depth, brilliance, and profound beauty (though SatAM fans aren't much better in regards to that particular series). Or they're just plain weird and cringey. I know that's saying a lot since so many Sonic fans in general often come across as childish and, well, extra about nearly everything. That's not to say that every Archie fan is bad though -- there are two I know of ATM who don't make me roll my eyes endlessly and can actually hold reasonable, intelligent conversations with me and other people. I know there are more then likely other chill Sonic fans out there, but unfortunately the nutbars stand out more, and it seems like you can't help but to run into them.

Another major issue for me is how a number of fans hate and discourage other people who want to try doing things which deviate from the source material. Stuff like people being advised not to make female fan characters that aren't stereotypically dainty animals, or pushing what are very obviously their own headcanons onto you as actual real canon. Wild overbearing nonsense like that. Oh well. So much for doing something fresh and unique with a series that's decades old now. This is also why almost every SatAM and Archie "reboot" or "alternate universe" fanfic I've seen just repeat the same mishmash of ideas again and again -- Sally is always the Freedom Fighters' leader and either she, Tails, Nicole (if her furry form is being used), or Sonic must get fifty+ power-ups -- nobody else is ever allowed to shine, because they just exist to be the cheerleading squad for the aforementioned characters and/or the writer's lame FCs (... much like the source material, actually). And that's if any of them even show up. If they do, then Antoine must always date Bunnie, Sally's brother and dad must literally act like the Malfoys, there's no character development anywhere in sight, etc. These fics are near-indistinguishable from the canons they're based on. I don't see the point of acting like they're something brand-new when the writing never takes any risks. I'm sorry to be a butt about this guys, but that's why I gave up on reading Sonic fics years ago. Most of them are about as boring and stale as a box of fifty-year-old crackers. At least you can eat crackers, which is actually a point in their favor against these unoriginal bore-fests.

Anyways, my fics are AUs. All of them. I'm just gonna go full steam ahead and tackle concepts and ideas I feel are fun and take risks rather then play things safe just to appease the fanbase and appeal to nostalgia.                     

Favorite characters: Antoine, Bartleby, Sonia, Knuckles (the Paramount movie version), Agent Stone, Lupe (admittedly more for her design and potential than anything else. Otherwise there's no depth to her whatsoever lol), and Hershey (see Lupe). Likewise, the potential of Prince Elias and Geoffrey St. John's characters was there, but the comic writers just failed spectacularly at handling them both.

Secondary

Bravestarr

Somebody I knew referenced Bravestarr a couple of times before while discussing one of his original fan characters. I'd never heard of this cartoon, so, being curious, Googled it in order to learn more. It sounded interesting enough for me to look up the episodes online and watch a few of them. 

The show can be a little cheesy at times, but I still love it. What can I say, I'm a sucker for westerns and science-fiction. The heroes are all pretty upstanding people, as well as fallible (Bravestarr and Thirty-Thirty disagree with one another sometimes, for example), which makes them both good characters in my book, as opposed to the “perfect heroes who can do no wrong” I tend to see in my other fandoms. The heroes are also pretty badass, which gives them even more cool points, and it’s refreshing to have a show where a Native person is both the lead and a hero.

The mystery surrounding the Equestrians, the race that Thirty-Thirty belongs to, inspires me enough to write a story about them -- well, one of them anyways, and her meeting and subsequent adventures with the canon crew. Yes, that's right, it's the dreaded (female) original fan character! XD Don't worry, she's not going to be stronger and faster than Bravestarr is and immediately marry Thirty-Thirty and have a billion kids with him.

Favorite characters: Thirty-Thirty, Bravestarr, Judge J.B.

Danger Rangers
I got into this show late (apparently it debuted on PBS back in 2008), in 2012. The only reason I even started watching it in the first place was because I happened to be channel-surfing one morning, saw what looked like either a sea lion or seal character (who turned out to be Sully), and was intrigued, as I like pinnipeds and rarely ever see them as major characters in media. And that was my introduction to Danger Rangers.

It took a while for my interest in it to snowball, but my attitude slowly went from "Eh, this is okay", to really liking most of the Rangers as characters. I say "most" because at this point I feel Kitty is a big ol' Mary Sue. Anyways, the show's pretty cornball, especially the music videos (which I fast-forward right through), a number of the antagonists and incidental characters tend to be total stereotypes, and the designs for the supporting and background characters are more often than not ugly with a capital U. But the Rangers (aside from, ahem, that one character I just mentioned...) are actually interesting and fun. Also, the writers gave three of them backstories (or hints about their pasts anyways), which is rather surprising for a cartoon like this. Supposedly some of the safety tips featured in Danger Rangers really did help save lives (at least according to Wikipedia... heh). How awesome is that, if that actually is true (I hope it is)? I also managed to get a few other people I know hooked on DR too.

Favorite characters: Sully (I love this guy so much), Gabriela, Burble, Burt, Squeaky.

Digimon
I can still remember that weekday afternoon I came home from high school and began channel surfing to find something to watch. I came across this anime featuring an assorted bunch of weird but cute creatures, like dogs with unicorn horns and mini-dinosaurs. That show turned out to be Digimon Adventure. At first I just watched out of boredom and didn't give the show much thought afterwards, but after a while, decided to give it another try. And that time, I enjoyed it. I started watching the rest of the seasons when I could. Part of the fun of the series is seeing what forms the digimon end up evolving into.

I like all the previous seasons, even though Tamers annoys me for a couple of reasons (sorry, Tamers fans). For one, I find "Tamers" to be a weird name, as it seems to imply that the digimon are wild animals needing to be tamed. Most of them obviously aren't, so what's up with that? I never did see the rest of Savers due to Toon Disney abruptly changing their scheduling mid-season and airing the show at weird times (they had a really annoying habit of doing that with a couple of their shows). I did start watching Digimon Fusion on Nickelodeon. It was alright at best, but Nick stopped showing it (sensing a pattern here?), so I don't know how it ended. I'll have to see if it's available elsewhere. My favorite season has to be Adventure though. As to whether I prefer the dubs or the originals, there are things I like about both actually. While the original versions don't cut out important info or distort certain characters, I actually prefer the English voice actors for the most part. Too bad there's not a way to combine both versions.

Digimon is one of those canons that allows people to create their own takes on the whole concept, and I like that openness. I also enjoy seeing the relationships that develop between humans and their digimon partners, as well as among the digimon themselves. But in many stories, I notice the digimon are either basically nothing more than talking weapons, or take a backseat to poorly-written romance and melodrama. My story idea would be more in the spirit of the show. It's an untitled Adventure 02 AU that would explore elements of the show that could've been handled better, as well as adding in some completely new stuff. Like, I would not even make any kind of attempt to rewrite Ken's redemption. That was perfection. Instead, I'd go another route with the Digimon Emperor altogether... 

Favorite characters: I'm going to break this part down by season. Also, this list might be subject to change, just because I haven't seen any of the seasons in a long time.

Adventure:
Humans: Joe, Mimi (she gets a bum rap in the fandom I feel), Izzy, Tai, Sora, T.K.
Digimon: Gomamon, Agumon, Gabumon, Biyomon, Palmon, Patamon and his digivolutions.

Adventure 02:
Humans: Davis, June, Yolei (even though she tended to not be the most logical person at times), Ken, Cody (see Yolei), Rosa.
Digimon: Veemon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon (I don't care for Shakkoumon's design though... sorry ya'll. Yes, I know he's supposed to be based on a shakōkidogū. I still feel the same way), Wormmon, Pegasusmon, Nefertimon.

Tamers:
Humans: Kazou, Suzie.
Digimon: Terriermon, Renamon, Antylamon, Cyberdramon (I think I'm more partial to him now after reading Nolaqueen265's story Digital Realms)

Frontier:
Humans: J.P. (he reminds me of a human version of Blitz, lol), Koichi.
Digimon: Kazemon, Mercurymon, Ranamon.

Savers: Need to re-watch this one.

Fusion:
Humans: So far, Jeremy and Nene.
Digimon: No one yet.

How To Train Your Dragon                                                                                                                   These films are so good. Likable characters, compelling storyline, few if any of the annoying kids' media tropes I tend to see repeated elsewhere. The third one is... superficially good. What I mean by that is that I admit to liking it after watching it (the ending very much reminds me of stuff like this, which greatly charms me), but then later on, seeing a few (mature, rational) people online point out all the flaws with Hidden World's plot, I must agree that it disregards everything in the prior films. I'm aware there are books that the films are based on, but have yet to read any of them.

It's so wonderful watching Hiccup and his people develop over the course of the films. Yes, that's another big reason why I love this franchise: actual. Character. Development... for the most part. Admittedly they don't really delve into the other Riders like Fishlegs so much, and Astrid feels pretty generic, but it was Hiccup's show, so... Likewise, the twins seem stuck as idiots and comic relief (AKA Pumbaa and Timon Syndrome, lol). I feel Ruffnut was at her best in the first film. But this issue isn't as bad as it is with another Dreamworks franchise, Kung Fu Panda, which I used to like but at this point have zero interest in because any character not named Po or Tigress feels so wasted and one-note. At least we get to see Stoic change both his way of thinking and understand his son better. Also, let me just say this -- while I do find Astrid uninteresting, I don't hate her or anything. I do think it's nice Hiccup got his dream girl. 

I've not seen the spinoffs. I hear they're more kiddified then the films, but it sounds like the Dragon Riders get more focus there, which intrigues me.

I've seen some really good fanfics out there, but I've also seen some that just feel like Hiccup is the author's stand-in and the writer was evidently bullied in school or some such, so s/he has Hiccup beat up all his oppressors in the village and become the coolest kid on the block. I'm sorry, I thought I was reading a story about How To Train Your Dragon, not someone's personal power/revenge fantasies. That's not my thing at all. There are ways to handle Hiccup's confronting the other kids or whoever about his treatment without having the plot very obviously be the author's venting and such. 

Anyways, all fic ideas I have for this fandom are crossovers with Disney -- Aladdin, Mulan, and Sleeping Beauty respectively. I'm particularly excited about the Aladdin one because it involves Mozenrath. Snarky wizard meets snarky viking. This gives me life.

Favorite characters: Hiccup, Toothless, Ruffnut (I prefer fanfic!Ruff, since she has more depth and an actual learning curve), Tuffnut, Valka.

Littlest Pet Shop
I tried collecting the toys as a little girl, so any cartoon based around them will more then likely pique my interest. Yes, even now. This is one of the many fandoms I dabble in where the main characters are the only real draw for me. The 2012 series is the one I most prefer, even though it ranges in quality from cute to "good grief, what the heck did I just watch?" I didn't mind Blythe having some episodes revolving around her (she makes a good den mother and voice of reason for the pets), but the show's called Littlest Pet Shop, not Blythe And Her Boring Friends (I swear half the first season was like that). I'm sorry, I wish I could find Jasper and the other kids interesting, but they’re not, and they work better as the supporting cast.

The animals on the other hand have way more colorful personalities. Compared to the majority of the pet characters in the previous LPS series, they’re more likable and amusing. Unlike most of the fandom however, I hate the Biskitt sisters and absolutely do not find them sympathetic in any way. I'm not into the whole shipping scene that's so prevalent in the fandom either. Those people take hooking up brightly colored cartoon animals way too seriously for my tastes. But heck, I guess you could apply that to all the fandoms on this list.

I've had story ideas for this series come and go, with most of them being crossovers. The one that's looking the most likely to be written is this weird 2020 Sonic The Hedgehog crossover inspired by some fan art on deviantART I've seen.

Favorite characters: Sunil, Vinnie, Penny-Ling, Pepper (she grew on me like a fungus, lol), Captain Cuddles.

Loonatics Unleashed
Loonatics… Um, well... the less said about it the better, lol. I wanted to really like this show because I dig the goofy concept, so I watched the first season and about half of the second, but the second season is so bad I gave up on it. Looking back, the first season was a cliche blah-fest, but at least somewhat tolerable compared to the second one. Still, it's not exactly a series I feel revved up to revisit. That said, the Loonatics themselves have potential -- they just need personalities, Ace, Lexi, Danger, and Slam especially.

Another one of my issues with the show is that the execution was very flawed. For starters, why did Zadovia hire Danger Duck in the first place when she clearly greatly disliked him, or kept him around for that matter (well, on second thought, I do know why -- the show needed a buttmonkey)? Why is this woman who’s supposed to be a professional, respected leader playing favorites with her team (sorry Zadovia fans, but her character has never impressed me one bit with her attitude. No, her being a woman has zip to do with anything, if she were male I'd dislike her just the same)? What exactly was the point of humanizing Pepe Le Pew and Foghorn Leghorn’s descendants? My boy Pepe gets done so dirty

I’ve seen a few fanfics that are way more entertaining than the show itself is, and in turn was inspired to write one of my own. Coming up with ways of improving on the show also seems to become a thing with younger generations, which is really cool. I decided to go for a total reimagining and overhaul of the whole series, since I don't want my ideas to be confined by canon. The setting will be post-apocalyptic (a comet hit the freakin' planet for cryin' out loud), and the Loonatics hopefully more interesting characters to follow. It will have elements of a deconstruction fic too in regards to certain characters and canon plot events, but the whole idea is still a work in progress. Some characters from the show will still be sticking around though.

Favorite characters: I don't know if I even have any, lol. They're not really... characters. I saw somebody once refer to them as watered-down Looney Tunes. That's a very accurate description. Even some of the Sonic cast have more to work with, and those characters are hella flat.

Transformers
I'm a relative latecomer to this franchise. I didn't see the '80s cartoon as a kid. Beast Wars wound up being my first introduction to it. I wasn't a regular viewer though, and admittedly think I only watched just because I like the idea of robots that turn into animals. I've also seen the first four Michael Bay movies (though I've grown pretty bored with Bayformers since then), but the only things I like about them is Optimus Prime's being a badass with a cool voice. But I can see that in other better written series, so.... 

Some fan art and a friend were responsible for further getting me into Transformers. After deciding to write Beast Planet (see below), I realized I was going to have to learn more about the Transformers and their world. Shauni (the aforementioned friend) suggested watching Transformers Prime. So I did, and really wound up getting into it. The characters are fun and the writing is for the most part engaging. These days I do get why some people aren't that keen on it (a lopsided focus on certain characters for one). Anyways, out of curiosity I followed up with Transformers Animated, which I enjoyed even more, some Generation 1 (um, no comment), and 2015's Robots In Disguise, which was flawed, but there are things to enjoy about it too, IMHO. Rescue Bots is so-so, but I do like a few of the characters in it.

I intend on trying to watch Transformers Armada and the Robots In Disguise anime just to see what they're like, as well as re-watching Beast Wars at some point. The newer cartoons, Cyberverse, Rescue Bots Academy, and Earthspark have not been to my tastes, and I wound up drifting away from them after a few episodes. I am considering watching the Netflix shows however. And the movie Bumblebee surprised me with how fresh and entertaining it actually was. Originally the previews and plot synopsis didn't strike me as being interesting at all and I thought it was just going to be more Bayformers, but I'm glad I decided to watch it.

So far, my Transformers story will be a crossover called Beast Planet, which is a Disney/Transformers fusion/AU.

Favorite characters: Optimus Prime, Prowl (Animated), Ratchet, Bulkhead, Knock Out, Jetfire, Jetstorm, Blurr (I actually kinda like G1 Blurr too), Starscream (namely his Prime incarnation), Bumblebee (RiD version -- I liked him just fine before, it's just that with an actual voice his personality really emerged), Chase, and Boulder.