Stargazing : Isn't that what tabloid journalists do???

I FOUND MYSELF A HERO!!!

That doesn't mean I've never had a hero in my life. Obviously, Jesus Christ is a big hero who loves me very much. I'm thankful for everything he's done for me. I consider him my spiritual hero. He's present, I know this, and someone I depend on when I need to talk about... anything! He's great, but he isn't who I'm talking about today.

I also have a... writing hero? I don't think that was the title I really need in this instance but I can't think of what else to call him. Osamu Tezuka was a master storyteller, with a huge cast of characters that just inspire me out the wahzoo! Though he's been gone for over 20 years now, you could not find a better a better sensei. But he's not who I'm going to talk about today either.

A few days ago a dear woman I've been following on Live Journal posted a very touching story. She wrote about how as a young teenager she had sent an email to a very distinguished artist in a fandom along with a small bit of artwork. A few weeks passed.... and to her utter amazement, he replied. She admits that her artwork at the time was terrible (and I've seen some of it, it really was... unpolished) but the artist only gave her encouragement, AND he sent her a drawing back in response as well.

This began a small correspondence between the two of them, Rookie and Artist (as I will now refer to them, no disrespect to Rookie, of course). Though Rookie now realizes her emails could be nothing more than childish rantings (think what your small, pre-teen cousins would say if they met the Jonas Bros. in person... yeah, like that) but Artist never once treated her like an annoying fangirl or ever was terse and uninterested. Instead, he only continued to encourage. She would send him art and he would respond back with more. The Artist even tried to emulate the Rookie's style in his replies and she's shocked how he would care to do such a thing.

My new hero, however, is not the Artist. Instead, it is the Rookie. After all, after all these years the Rookie is not longer a rookie. Instead, she's a great artist whom I adore greatly.

Sometimes, like her, many of us find ourselves excited about something someone else has done. We send fanrants or make fanart. Some write fanfiction. And how many times have all our good intentions get smashed by trolls and snobs? The internet can be such a cruel place. You want to be expressive and artistic but sometimes people just don't know how to be nice about it. They'll tell you things like "you suck" or "it's insulting to have you talk to me this way" when you're honest to goodness just trying to express your love for something or someone.

Rookie has always been kind to me and everyone else who comments on her art or LJ. I guess you could say the legacy of being kind moved down to her, so she's nice to everyone even when she admits she doesn't feel like it. I... wanna be like that.

I'm a bit of an irritable person, especially when I'm tired. I've never been terribly popular about my fics or anything (I don't do art) but if I ever get to a point where people ask me for betas or something I want to be able to say I'd do it gladly, even if their stuff isn't great or full of stupid chatspeak or something.

So, I think I'm gonna stop this rant here since I'm feeling like I'm about to lose consciousness even though it's in the middle of the day. Grinding away at the same game will do that to you.

Anyway, I'm out.
~H.D., who does this for the android

Spiraling into Fandom

First, a comic! (by zarla - click it to view in a easier way, then click the picture again to enlarge to see it properly) Yeah, I pretty much love Otacon. He's hilarious. And he's a great support for Snake, despite being a huge nerd/anime-otaku scientist guy.

On to the real thing: So, I recently realized I've gotten into the habit of just falling into fandoms at random. Well, maybe not random, but close enough.

Truth is, I seem to fall in love with fandoms before I even become a fan of any series now. Happened with some games recently, like for Metal Gear Solid and Star Control II. I have some online friends who are into both, so I happen to hear a lot about the crack-crazy things fans come up with about the games and I get hooked. Ace Attorney/Phoenix Wright games worked the same way for me.

Usually, I fall in love with a particular character (that is, love in a "that's a cool or fun or awesome or interesting character" kind of sense. I don't get crushes on characters... usually) then I move on from there. I find comics, fanfiction, fanart, etc. of this particular character and just find myself falling into the fandom.

I kind of wish I didn't do this but I guess there's no helping it. I really end up spoiled for a lot of things when this happens but I don't take being spoiled as hard as most gamers do. As long as I don't know about the truth behind some epic fail I'm generally okay with a little spoiler or two. No HUGE plot points, thank you.

I don't tend to really care what people say online either, but can I really ever call myself a fan if I just fell into being a fan and didn't build it up myself over time, playing the game and failing and wining and doing it all by myself first? I don't know. I just.... should I even be worrying about it? Probably not, but I do wish I had known these games when they first came out.

Don't you just love it when you get a game and you play it and it's amazing and then it becomes popular? Then you can rightfully say "I knew this was an awesome game." For serious, I think I'm just over thinking because of lack of sleep. Maybe I'll elaborate more coherently later. *sleep*

~H.D., resident otaku