Just because I think that everybody should see these. (You can also find them on YouTube directly) This is how you do good advertising. (Just like Mythbusters is how you mix education and entertainment)
I found these months ago but, at the time, I wasn’t blogging heavily.
Ever wanted a nice comfy way to tell your system “Disable the screensaver until this window closes”? If so, drop this shell script onto your system and make sure that you’ve got the xwininfo, xdg-screensaver, and awk commands installed.
When you run the script, it’ll grab the cursor like xkill does. Once you pick a window, the screensaver will be disabled until it closes. You can also create a script to reverse the process by replacing “suspend” with “resume” in the last line.
Wish You Were Here! Postcards From Our Awesome Future
While reading the news page on OpenClipart.org, I ran across these interesting and entertaining images. Definitely worth a look and, if you want to use the bits of art from them in your own work, most of them have been released onto OpenClipart.org. 🙂
deviantART – Super Saiyan no Jutsu
Don’t you just hate how Naruto has become the new Dragonball Z? 🙂
Nodoka’s Daughter (alt) by James Lee
Length: 4 Chapters, Complete
Sources: Ranma ½, Sailor Moon
Rating: 4/5
Ever wonder what a little amnesia might do to Ranma and Nodoka’s meeting? Well “Nodoka’s Daughter” by James Lee can show you… and it’s complete! It’s also one of those things that you probably wouldn’t have found otherwise. It’s not on Fanfiction.net and the author’s site was/is on anifics.com. (For those who are unaware, the administrator still hasn’t had time to properly restore the hosted sites)
What I like most about this fic is it’s simple charm. It doesn’t try any fancy excuses to reinterpret Nodoka’s behaviour, it doesn’t delve into the less pleasant aspects of amnesia-related identity issues… and yet it doesn’t feel wrong either. In a way, I suppose you could say that it works because it’s a “1990s style” fanfic. Something with the flavor that seemed to characterize rec.arts.anime.creative and the FFML.
Anyway, it’s has the occasional typo, and the color scheme is a pain, but if you use Firefox’s View –> Page Style –> No Style option (or an appropriate bookmarklet), then it makes for a very nice read. Four nice long chapters… but not too long. I always love finding stories where the author hasn’t tried to drag things out forever.
Oh, I’d like to apologize for the poor quality of this review. I’m tired, I’m sick, and this fic isn’t easy to summarize… but I thought a poor review would be better than none… especially with how busy I am lately.
The Other by JoeHundredaire
Length: 9 Chapters, Ongoing
Sources: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: 3.5/5
Ok, Xander gets a different costume at Ethan Rayne’s shop. That’s fairly clichĂ©. Physical traits linger after the whole thing is done. Also common. Xander discovers that he’s now a girl because the costume was too androgynous for him to notice…? First time I’ve seen that. Admittedly, I don’t read much Buffy fanfiction, but I have it on good authority that this kind of combination is almost unheard of.
Anyway, in “The Other”, Xander accidentally picks up a Spider-Girl costume thinking that it’s a Spider-Man costume. When the spell is broken, he’s left with the body (more or less)… including both of the main differences from his original one. (spider-powers and femininity… wouldn’t want you to over-think that like I might) Let the fun ensue.
I also love the somewhat fresh twist on the resulting character interactions. For example:
“Are you doing stuff to yourself?” Xander looked into the mirror to glance back over his shoulder. Willow had cracked the door open while he was occupied and was poking her head through. “Because when I agreed to help you learn basic girl stuff, THAT wasn’t part of it.”
Using one arm to cover his chest, Xander turned to face Willow. “Don’t worry, we’re staying PG here. Guys who turn into girls and then get all nasty and naughty? That’s the kind of thing that only happens in those stories you have bookmarked on your computer.”
I also got quite a kick out of Xander ditching buffy during clothing shopping by pointing out a potential vampire in Hot Topic. I’m not going to spoil the surprise in chapter 7, but I will say that it’s interesting. I also like the new excuse for certain cases of Xander acting “girly”.
What was wrong with her? Was this a girl thing? Or just a repressed Xander thing that was coming out now because she actually had choices to make instead of being stuck with whatever scraps life handed her?
Unfortunately, while the originality merits a 4.5 in the context of the source series and, when it’s around, the humor gets a 4, the rest gets a 3.5 because, while the grammar is good, the writing feels monotonous. Sort of like writing an excellent script for a drama or love story, but then trying to compete with modern movies using a faded, sepia-tone film. I’m not entirely certain, but I think the problem is a variant of “show, don’t tell”.
Pictures of real jackalopes: Rabbits infected with the Shope papillomavirus (Dead link)
Shope Papillomavirus @ Wikipedia
Quite the plausible explanation for the origin of the Jackalope myth, wouldn’t you say?
I'm Stephan, a Linux user with a passion for open-source, UI/UX design, and exploring what makes fiction work.
In my spare time, I focus on (and write about):
For notification of significant updates to existing posts, consider following me on Mastodon.
