OH HAI THAR LULU

[auronlu]

*nosebleed*

For those sensible souls who are NOT following me on Tumblr...


[ETA: So apparently fanservice still works on me. DAMMIT LULU.]

After I got done ogling old friends, my eyes were drawn to that durned inscription.
I swear the second line starts with "aerith." (See Spiran main alphabet.)

The scary part is that on the one hand I'm simply jumping all over this as a fan, but on the other hand, I've become a virtual freelance video game blogger /critic, so I'm allowed to do this for work.

Yes, I'm a bad fan...critiquing/geeking about my favorite games and making a pittance doing so. Except why is it being a bad fan to do what's accepted in sports reporting, fashion news, and other entertainment blogs and "news" coverage? How can "fan reporting on favorite baseball team in local paper" be a job and "fan blogging about video game online" not be? I ask myself these things.

At this point, I'm very much like those sports reporters with encyclopedic command of statistics and trivia. As soon as those FFX HD screencaps went up, I was able to find the exact to-the-second framegrabs from the original game for comparison and have them posted within fifteen minutes. I do this kind of thing for several fandoms (Tolkien, beginning astronomy/space exploration news, Final Fantasy). I have found that online article writing lets me use those nerd skills instead of just pushing them aside as procrastination/a waste of time.

Yet I am keenly aware that this is frowned on in fandom, which generally justifies fannish activities with "we aren't making a profit, so it's okay." Except for some fanartists. Annnyway.

So, with that understood, I posted old-vs-new comparisons on my article about the FFX Remaster here. (My pittance from that page is generally about 30 cents a month thanks to the header/sidebar ads. Whoopie.)

Back to geeking at FFX. My finger was hovering over the Amazon preorder button two hours ago. But I'm holding off in case they decide to release some fancy version with extras. For most games, I wouldn't succumb to the merch, but for this one? Yeah. I might.

Comments

[heavenscalyx]

Hon, people have been making money writing reviews and such about videogames for YEARS. If they aren't fans, I don't know who is.

[auronlu]

Yeah, but most of those people aren't participating in fandom quite so directly on DW and Tumblr.

I get a little cross-eyed sometimes trying to juggle my personal enjoyment and geeking and fandom participation with the semi-pro geekery I post in my online articles.

Then again, this is why I started doing that for work. It turns a personal flaw -- my tendency to get sidetracked and pour excessive energy into various narrow-niche hobbies -- into a feature.

[samuraiter]

Hey, if you can make a dime doing something you enjoy, who can knock it? The "no profit" thing is a legal protection for 'ficcers, but bloggers are a whole different thing, IMO.

[melchar]

This.

And ... you realize that I'm going to have to get a PSVita now. *sighs* Why couldn't it be compatible with the PSP. Well, I've bought things for sillier reasons. ^_^

[cumuluscastle]

Nice. The difference is pretty impressive. I really can't justify owning more than one current game console though, so I will have to live vicariously through your experiences with it. See, you are doing a public service.

I agree completely with everyone who said there's no harm in what you are doing with your articles. Lots of serious bloggers/pod-casters/what-have-you make money from their work.

[auronlu]

Yay!

And..on the personal side of fandom....earlier this week, I sat down again with all the bits and pieces of LHAD chapter 50, which as so often logjammed when I found myself rewriting the same scene three different ways trying to address all the things that needed to happen in that chapter and all the different threads I needed to wrap up.

it's taken so long that I can't see many people picking up the story when I finally finish. But I still want to see it through, even if it's just for me. If only I could get it done, there will soon be more people looking for FFX fanfic again.

You know that your painting is hanging next to my computer above my desk right now, always. No matter whether I ever find my way to the end, I've been richly rewarded by your art and a few other people's! (Also, in the ebook version I put on my iPad for proofreading/rereading/editing, I used your painting as the cover art.)

[cumuluscastle]

Bah. I will read it. I will likely sit down and re-read the whole she-bang once you've finished it.

I'm so glad you've enjoyed that gift. The settings you call up for your stories are just so lush and lovely. I've been on a break from fan art lately (mostly - apart from my little sketches for Cinders and Dragon Age II), but if I was ever going to spontaneously bust out final fantasy art again, I'd probably make another painting for your story. You've got an amazing touch for imagery.

[melchar]

I'll be waiting for it too!

[heavenscalyx]

Dude, it took me 10 years to finish Archimage, and I'm still getting comments and kudos on it from Archive of Our Own. Don't fret -- even small fandoms pick up new folks all the time who then go hunting for fic.

[leyna]

Those remastered shots are so pretty! I'm looking forward to replaying with this version.

[sarasa_cat]

WOW! That's what the HD version will look like?! I've bookmarked your FFX Remaster article for late night leisure reading (aka, video game porn!)

Wow. wow. wow. Dec 31, 2013 seems very far off. Between the Dragon Age 3 release estimated in mid-late 4th Q and this, I guess I know what I'm doing when the cold weather returns at the end of this year.

And, I just don't understand the whole bit about fan reporting on games not being an acceptable part of reporting in the entertainment industry. :/