it comes down to this...

[saturn]

I'm a fan. Anyone else who's a fan, which is most of the people who'll come across this post, understand the difference between enjoying a TV show/movie/book and and being a fan. There's HP and SGA and BSG but, every now and then, the investment is deeper and the characters mean more. In those cases, even without "fandom" simply being a fan is enough - more than enough. It was ST:TNG first and West Wing next. I love these characters. I love the world Sorkin created even when it wasn't quite his world anymore. The characters were immersed in the most high pressured of worlds and they weren't perfect. They were flawed and imperfect and made mistakes - both professional and personal - but they tried and they worked and they believed. In the words of Martin Sheen, at their worst they were better than anything else out there. I'm glad I was along for the ride.