Most of my current cast starts out as teenagers, but that's because I want to cover a lot of major milestones in their lives. The current narrative skeleton I have planned out for my novel covers 210 chapters split over 1,470 Tapas episodes (7 episodes per chapter, though the exact number may change as I flesh out more of the story), and I plan on delving well into their later years as the tale unfolds, from younger stuff like teen angst and birthday parties and graduations to weddings, births, deaths, holidays, becoming parents, becoming grandparents, passing on skills to the next generation, etc.
As for what type of stories I'd like to see more of, definitely more racial and gender diversity, and definitely less-defined gender roles. I always try to implement that into my stories as well. On my team of five main characters, there is only one white dude. The leader of the team is a gay black man, the main "story" character is half-caucasian/half-asian, there is a latina who shreds guitar and becomes quite a badass, and there is a bisexual asian girl who deals with extreme hyperactivity and sometimes exhibits obsessive tendencies, particularly towards their ally Koga, an experienced Japanese swordsman.
