2005-01-27
Posted in Fanfiction, Geek Stuff
at 18:02
As anyone who’s used WordPress extensively knows, you can postdate additions. (“Don’t show until…”) I won’t do that. If you see it, that means it’s as fresh as possible. That means I may write in bursts (as many as a dozen one day and then none for a week or two) but you’ll get them as they’re ready.
I save any fanfic I review to my hard drive. If something seems to have dropped off the web, let me know and I’ll either host a copy or send it to you. As it is, I try to link to a relatively stable archive like the RAAC Archive or fanfiction.net whenever possible.
I have now turned off forced comment moderation so you should be able to see your comments immediately. However, there are some conditions:
* There is a captcha (one of those “type this text” images)
* You will be unable to post when browsing through open proxies. (Often used by spammers for anonymity purposes)
* Comments with more than a certain number of links will wait for approval
That should kill off almost any spam I could receive. There are other anti-spam protections but you don’t need to know what they are unless you run your own WordPress blog. If so, feel free to ask and I’ll help you set them up.
Permalink
Posted in Fanfiction
at 15:59
Title: No Matter What
URL: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2052049/1/
Author: KittenKagome
Source: InuYasha with a Ranma 1/2-inspired concept
Rating: 6/6
Type: Semi-crossover (Ranma-inspired permanent gender swap in the IY world)
Length: One-shot
I ran across this little gem while browsing fanfiction.net and I just had to share it. The basic concept is, what if one of Naraku’s plans backfired and every main character ended up getting gender-swapped? It’s quite well written and I’d recommend it to anyone who has five minutes to spare.
Grammar: 5.5/6 (Very well written but I’ve seen one or two fics that were better)
Originality: 5/5 (It may be a Ranma concept added to IY but it’s well done!)
Overall: 6/6 (I re-read it the same day)
Permalink
2005-01-24
Posted in Geek Stuff
at 6:44
I ran across a very interesting blog today. It’s called Pagan Savage and it’s author doesn’t exactly like christians as evidenced by his recent post, more proof that christians are morons… although if you’re not homophobic then please read the article he links to. It’s rather funny and made even more so by the fact that it’s real.
Anyway, I liked the posts that shot some pretty nice holes in the picture of good old George W. Bush. Take a look at them here (Nazis and the USA), here (Famous American heros would seem to disagree, Mr. Bush.), and here (Tell me I’m wrong).
I also liked this and this.
As for the reason this is geek-related, take a look at this post.
Permalink
2005-01-23
Posted in Music
at 19:00
About a month ago, I started listening to Blind Guardian and I have to recommend their CD “A Night at the Opera”. One of my main complaints about music in general is the preponderance of CDs which only have one or two good songs. This definitely breaks through that.
From “A Night at the Opera”, I recommend:
* Battlefield
* Under the Ice
* Sadly Sings Destiny
* The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight
* The Soulforged
* Age of False Innocence
* Punishment Divine
* And Then There Was Silence
Which leaves only three songs I wouldn’t have paid for if buying them individually. Add to that, the fact that “And Then There Was Silence” is 14 minutes long (I love long, good songs) and we have a winner. The average review for this CD on Amazon.com is 4.5/5 and I’m giving it 5/5. As one reviewer put it, if you like any Metallica or Iron Maiden song at all, you’ll probably like at at least a few Blind Guardian songs. As I put it, they’re metal fused with classical and ballads.
You can listen to song samples at Amazon.com
Permalink
Posted in Fanfiction
at 18:37
Title: Inu 1/2
URL: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/351730/1/
Author: manekochan
Source: InuYasha with a piece from Ranma 1/2
Rating: 5.5/6
Type: Semi-crossover (Jusenkyo water in the InuYasha world)
Length: 15 Chapters (Story Arc 1 complete. Arc 2 pending.)
I normally don’t read much InuYasha fanfiction. It’s not because I dislike the series but rather, because I find that it’s more conductive to the creation of the types of fiction which interest me less and I don’t have time to sift through it all. However, one thing I always wanted was to see some possibilities for how InuYasha would react if he had an “encounter” with some Nyannichuan (Spring of Drowned Girl) water from Ranma 1/2. I ran across one fanfic that did so but it wasn’t exactly well written. I’d probably give that one a 3/6. I kept looking but I never could find one… until now.
Inu 1/2 is definitely interesting. It does a good job of balancing the original series content with new possibilities and, at the same time incorporating some of the changes which would have appeared. The first story arc is complete (which is always nice) and the author has said that another one is in the works but real life is hampering it’s development.
It does try an interesting bit with Sesshomaru and some other Jusenkyo water and the personality development for both InuYasha and Sesshomaru is what I’d call “almost unbelievable” which essentially means that the idea is on shaky ground but the author managed to pull it through in a comfortable fashion. I enjoyed the story immensely and I’m going to give it a 5.5/6 with a 6/6 pending the re-read.
Originality: 5/6 (Combined two non-original concepts but did it in a nicely original fashion)
Overall: 5.5/6
Permalink
2005-01-18
Posted in Manga
at 16:01
Title: Devil & Devil
Author: Miyoshi Yuuki
Genre: Modern Epic Fantasy
Length: 15 Volumes
Pro: Story is humorous and enjoyable with a good
ending
Con: Main female love interest falls under the
overused “powerless, troublesome girl” stereotype which is
annoyingly more common in imported Japanese fiction.
Notes: Feels like a poor imitation of Angel
Sanctuary but is good if you don’t compare them.
I’ve heard good things about Devil and Devil. I’ve heard some
people call it the next Great Teacher Onizuka. So, I finally got
around to reading it myself. While I wouldn’t consider it anything
like GTO (For one thing, it’s an epic, I will admit that it’s worth
a read. The story is definitely funny. Essentially, an angel and a
demon are fighting for the 100th time and end up falling to earth
and ending up stuck in human bodies. Not only that, the angel gets
the delinquent’s body and the demon get’s the wimpy nerd’s body.
They do find ways to power up over time and I think it feels like
YuYu Hakusho and looks like YuYu Hakusho mixed with 3×3 Eyes. I do
enjoy that. It does have some recycled plot elements but so does
almost everything these days. I did however, greatly dislike
Nanami’s role, always being forced into a passive “be protected”
role in battles and always meddling when at inopportune times.
Heck, She’s probably the epitome of the unwillingly useless female
“problem”. After compensating for my shoujo preference and my
dislike of sexist biases, I do have to say that this manga is good
though. The ending was nice.
Permalink
