Imagic

Sims Story: Chloe & Lex's Sims Adventure

2013-01-14T06:59:32Z

There are two things I’ve been wanting to do lately. to do. Get back into writing fic, and write a Sims story. Well, thanks to some comments made on a message board I frequent (this one right here) the two ideas sort of merged in my brain. I thought, “Hey, I could write a Sims story using, say, Chloe and Lex. That could be fun!”

In a Sims Story is, you basically create some Sims, follow them through their life, and write about what they do and what happens to them. Usually with pictures. And you try to do it in a way that tells an interesting story.

I’ve never done a Sims Story before, but I think it will be fun. Let’s see, shall we?

I'm using the Sims 3, by the way. I'm not playing with any extensions because they slow down my game. But I might up and install one while playing.

Now on to the story.

Chapter 1: Moving On Down...for a While

Our story begins some time in season 4, and things are pretty normal for good old Smallville. Lionel has wheedled his way out of prison. Lex thinks he and Clark might possibly maybe be friends again…but he’s not sure. And Chloe is bending over backwards for her friends, who don’t really seem to appreciate it. You know, the usual.

One day, Lex is working in his study (mostly trying to think of ways not to have to deal with his father) when the door bursts open.

In marches Chloe, looking as intense and determined as he’s ever seen her. Which is saying something.

“You know what?” she began without preamble. “If we don’t get out of here, this town is going to drive the both of us nuts. That or kill us!”

A thoughtful frown puckering his brow, Lex idly rubbed his chin. She did have a point. Despite its quaint and peaceful small town image, Smallville didn’t seem very healthy for anyone. Especially the two of them.

Leaning back in his chair, he cast a signature smirk in her direction. “I gather you have something in mind.”

As a matter of fact, she did. Chloe proposed that they start over fresh somewhere completely new. Somewhere where they didn’t know anyone and (more importantly) no one knew them.

A place like Sunset Valley.

At first, Lex was skeptical. But the more Chloe talked, the more he started to like the idea.

Making the move didn’t take as long as they were expecting. Because of the wreck Lionel had made of her life, Chloe didn’t have all that much to her name to pack up. What she didn’t leave for Lois or her dad, she sold to help finance her new start.

As we all know, when Lex decides to do something, he doesn’t do it halfway. As far as he was concerned, leaving it all behind and starting over from scratch meant just that…leaving it all behind, including his wealth and all of the trappings that went with it. It was a frightening prospect, but Lex had no doubt he would land on his feet. And would soon be blazing his way back to the top.

Plus he was looking forward to showing dear old dad that he could make it on his own just fine, thank you.

Do you want to see what Sim!Lex and Sim!Chloe look like? Well, here you go. Keep in mind I’m not one of those magicians who can make Sims look exactly like anyone they want. But I think I got pretty close.

This is Lex Luthor. Guess what his favorite color is.

Lex’s goal? To make it to the top of Sunset Valley’s business world…and then buy the whole town. :)

He thought about getting into local politics. But the political scene in Sunset Valley didn’t seem all that interesting. Besides, owning the whole town sounded a lot more fun.

This is Chloe Sullivan. She's going through a green phase.

Chloe is a bit undecided about her career path. Pursuing the journalism career seems like a natural. But the journalism track leads to a job as a TV anchorperson, and she’s not sure that’s for her.

Her second option is to work from home as a freelance writer, penning candid biographies and scathingly honest exposes. Writing books that really dig into the ugly truth about whatever or whoever she chooses.

Oh, well. She has time to figure it out.

Lex and Chloe are just roommates. Heck, as far as they're concerned, they barely qualify as casual acquaintances. They decided to live together (platonically) because they don’t have much money individually, and figured they could get a better house together than they each could afford separately. Besides, it’ll be nice to be close to a familiar face in a town full of strangers.

Of course, one never knows what might happen…

Here they are, arriving at their new home in SV. (Which, as you might have noticed, has the same initials as Smallville. But, when I say SV in this story, I mean Sunset Valley.)

Lex and Chloe don’t have much in the way of money, so they bought the biggest house they could afford. It isn’t much, but they call it home.

Almost immediately, they got into a heated discussion.

I’m pretty sure they're talking about the décor, and how they must redecorate immediately.

This is what their new home looks like right now from overhead.

They bought the place furnished, and it’s not exactly to either of their tastes. But they intend to fix that as soon as possible.

And here’s the paperboy.

No reason, I just think the paperboys/papergirls are adorable. And, hey, you can see Chloe’s back through the window.

And thus begins Chloe and Lex’s Sims Adventure. What will happen? Stay tuned and find out.

Fanvid: Steven & Maria (The Wisdom of Crocodiles)

2012-01-14T17:45:17Z

Title: Steven & Maria
Vidder: Dannyblue
Fandom: The Wisdom of Crocodiles (starring Jude Law)
Characters/Pairings: Steven/Maria (sort of)
Song: "Angels" by Within Temptation
Summary: This is a vampire movie I find myself going back to watch quite a bit. And, on a recent re-watch, this song popped into my head. Boy, does it fit.

Rec: Baywatch Nights (a.k.a. Televised Crack)

2012-01-10T22:52:34Z

It's been a while since I've recommended anything. But, thanks to YouTube, I was reminded of a show that must be shared with the world. So, today, I'd like to introduce to you a classic TV series called Baywatch Nights. As you might have guessed, this was a spin-off of Baywatch. Sadly, it wasn't nearly as successful, and only lasted two seasons. Something that makes it's many fans weep bitter tears.

What was Baywatch Nights about? Well it was about what Mitch (David Hasselhoff) got up to at night, when he was through guarding lives on the beach. What did he get up to? It usually involved fighting vampires, evil spirits, sea monsters, aliens, werewolves...You know, the usual.

Here are the opening credits, to sort of give you a hint of what the show was like. You might notice a few familiar faces in the cast.

I love people's reactions when I tell them about this show, which is usually along the lines of, "What the hell does fighting vampires have to do with watching the bay?"

Is Baywatch Nights a good show? Not really. The writing's not great, the acting sucks a lot of the time, most of the stuff that's supposed to be scary ends up being hilarious instead, and there's enough cheese to keep every pizza joint in the world fully stocked. But I can't help loving the mere fact that BN exists. There's something about the audacity of it that just appeals to me. The producers of this show shamelessly and without apology tried to cash in on the success of not one but two major (and totally different) hits of the times, Baywatch and The X-Files. It didn't work out, but the fact that they thought it could is kind of awesome.

Plus, while the show is sort of bad, it's bad in an entertaining way. A lot of people who decide to watch a few minutes of Baywatch Nights to witness the badness for themselves end up getting hooked. That's what happened to me, and it just might happen to you. :)

Fanvid: Bonnie Bennett - On a Mission (Vampire Diaries)

2011-11-21T03:54:05Z

Title: Bonnie Bennett - On a Mission
Summary: Bonnie Bennett is a badass.
Vidder: Dannyblue
Song: "On a Mission" by Gabriella Cilmi
TV Show: The Vampire Diaries
Warning: This vid contains spoilers up to episode 9, season 3.
Vidder's Note: Please watch and review. Feedback is much appreciated. :)

Movie Rec: To Wong Foo. Thanks for Everything. Julie Newmar

2011-03-17T20:42:06Z

It's been a while since I've recced a movie, and here's one I just re-watched recently and had to share.

The flick is called To Wong Foo. Thanks for Everything. Julie Newmar. Which has to be one of the longest titles in the history of ever. Most fans shorten it to To Wong Foo.

To Wong Foo is the story of three drag queens traveling cross country, from New York to Los Angeles, in a rather dubious car. The drag queens are played by Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze and John Leguizamo. And they are awesome. Here's a clip from one of my favorite scenes. Although the movie is filled with favorite scenes for me.

I swear, I spend most of the movie thinking, "Man, they are awesome. Look at how awesome they are. How can they be this awesome? Oh, wait, there's a plot. I should really be paying attention to it. But they're just so awesome."

And they are. I can gush all day about how great the three actors are in this film. Especially Wesley Snipes who, of the three, is probably the one I'd have most doubted could nail the female mannerisms as dead on as he does.

I'm half convinced that, every morning after arriving on set, the actors did some kind of ancient, obscure ritual during which they were temporarily possessed by the spirits of three women, and remained so until the end of the day's filming.

That or they're just really good actors.

It's a testament to the actors that, before long, you start thinking of their characters as "she" and "her." And, while there is a plot (a few, actually), I admit I watch mostly for the performances.

If you've never seen it check it out, if for no other reason than to watch the three actors being awesome. :D

Fanart: Another Wallpaper of Mord'Sith Gwen (Merlin)

2011-01-01T22:21:14Z

Okay, I did another version of my Mord'Sith Gwen wallpaper. Some people will claim it was because I'm all obsessive or something. But I'm not. I just had another take on it is all. And, if nothing else, it's certainly less red than the first.

Click image to enlarge.

It's available in three lovely sizes.

1280X960

1024X768

800 X 600

And here's the original, for the curious, and fans of more vivid colors.

Click on the Image to enlarge.

1280X960

1024X768

800X600

Fanart: Mord'Sith Gwen Wallpaper (Merlin)

2010-12-31T23:05:23Z

When I ran across the picture of Charisma Carpenter (of BtVS and Angel) as a Mord'Sith, I thought, "You know, I can totally see Cordelia as a Mord'Sith, so that's not a huge stretch." Which made me start thinking of characters you might not expect to be Mord'Sith, like Gwen. Then I thought, "But maybe Gwen would be a kickass Mord'Sith." And then I imagined Merlin or Arthur meeting Mord'Sith Gwen. After that, this wallpaper had to be made.

Click on the Image to enlarge.

For those who haven't watched Legend of the Seeker, the Mord'Sith are a group of highly trained warrior women who totally kick all kinds of ass. And fighting a Mord'Sith is never a good idea. One Mord'Sith could probably handle a half dozen of Camelot's knights all by herself. And you can check out my favorite Mord'Sith in action HERE.

I actually haven't done any fanart (besides gifs and such) in a really, really long time. But, once I had this idea, I couldn't let go.

Anyway, you can get the wallpaper in three sizes. Just right click and "Save As."

1280X960

1024X768

800X600

And, for those interested, here are the pics I started with.

I'd love to know what folks think. For example, is it too red? What about the background text. Too much?

Fic: Fade Away (Lisa)

2010-12-04T18:22:16Z

Title: Fade Away (1/1)
Author: dannyblue
Fandom: Lisa (a film from 1989/1990)
Word Count: A little over 200 words.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: "She avoided looking in mirrors for a long time after that night."
Warnings: If you haven't seen the movie Lisa, and don't want to be spoiled for it, do not read this fic.
Disclaimer: I do not own Lisa, or any of its characters.
Author's Note: I don't know why I suddenly got the urge to write a fic for this film. I was just thrilled to be writing again. Plus I've always liked Lisa. After watching it, I often wonder how the 14 year-old main character will deal with everything post-movie. And a fic was eventually born. :)

She avoided looking in mirrors for a long time after that night. Because, when she did, all she could see were the bruises. A livid, purple handprint encircled her neck like a collar. A stain she couldn't wash away, no matter how hard she tried.

She'd freeze, unable to tear her eyes away from the bruises reflecting back at her. Heart pounding harder and harder until it was all she could hear. And, suddenly, she couldn't think. Every rational thought was swept away by something sharp and cold. And she couldn't breathe. She tried, but her throat was locked, and all she could do was make these raspy, gasping sounds.

That's when the world around her started to fade, inky black bleeding in around the edges of her vision. And she was back in that room, his hand wrapped tight around her neck. Looking at her in a way that made her want to curl into a ball on the floor and hide as much of herself from him as she could.

She was in that room, and he was pushing her back towards the bed. And no matter how hard she fought--no matter how hard she kicked, and clawed, and tried to dig her feet into the floor--she couldn't stop.

She'd "wake up" on the floor, Mom's arms wrapped tight around her as she tried to catch her breath. Unable to because the sobs were choking her.

So she avoided mirrors until the bruises faded. She knew they'd always be there, that she'd always feel them. But things were a little better when she couldn't see them anymore.

THE END

10 Vampire Dudes I Really Like, Part 2

2010-10-24T23:02:30Z

And, finally, it's time for part two of my 10 Vampire Dudes I Really Like list. After I posted 10 Vampire Dudes I Really Like, Part 1 , some folks suggested some vampire dudes they felt I was leaving out unfairly. And some even popped into my head all on their own. But I was determined to stick with my original list. Because I know me, and any kind of indecisiveness could lead to hemming and hawing, and part two never getting posted.

So, without further ado, five more vampire dudes I really like.

6. Julian Luna (TV Show, Kindred: The Embraced)

Kindred: The Embraced is a series about an entire vampire sub-culture living amongst humans. If you're wondering about the title, being "embraced" meant being turned, and “kindred” is what the vamps call themselves. They find being called “vampires” offensive. The fact that they drink blood, have issues with sunlight, don’t age, are super strong and fast, and so on and so forth is so not the point. If you don’t want to piss one of them off, do not call them vampires.

Every major city has a Prince (who can be male or female) whose job is keeping the vampire population in line. And punishing those who break the rules. (Two rules being you can't embrace someone without their consent, and you have to get the Prince's permission first.) And Julian Luna is the Prince of San Fransisco.

I've always seen Julian as what Dracula might be like if he lived in modern times. And wasn't evil. Julian is handsome, suave, debonair, rich, charismatic, charming, and all that good stuff. Oh, and he lives in this awesome mansion with a beautiful view of the city. (He is a Prince after all. There has to be a mansion.) And he even has an angsty past. Before he became Prince of SF, he was an enforcer of sorts, whose job was "taking care of" naughty vamps. And, in that job, he had to do many not-nice things that still weigh on him sometimes.

There's a scene in the first episode where Julian goes to visit the grave of his wife, who died many decades before. (Part of the reason he decided to become a vamp in the first place.) You can tell that he still loves her, and his going to her grave to "talk to her" isn't a new thing. And something about that always makes the romantic in me go, "Awwww." He also attends the funeral of his elderly grandson, who he’d kept in touch with over the years. More, “Awwww.”

7. Henry Fitzroy (TV Show, Blood Ties)

To me, Henry is the antidote to all the sad, broody, “I hate what I am” vampires you can’t turn around without tripping over. Not that I don’t like those types of vamps just fine. But, after all of that, a vamp like Henry is a breath of fresh air.

One of the rules seems to be that you can’t be a “good vampire” unless you do the eternal angst thing. Well, Henry breaks that rule. Henry isn’t evil, but he loves being a vampire. He loves being able to do things mere humans can’t. He loves the fact that he’s been around for 400+ years. He loves seducing some pretty young thing, taking her to his bed, and giving her the time of her life in exchange for a little blood. (Imagine. Four hundred years of experience. I bet his bed partners don't mind him being a little kinky and bitey.) And, finally, Henry loves golf.

Yeah, you heard me. Henry loves golf. Unfortunately, because of his sun issues, he can only swing the club at night. Thankfully, his superior eyesight makes that a bit easier.

What Henry hates is evil, and people who use magic for evil, and demons (who are evil). Basically, evil equals “It must be destroyed!” as far as Henry is concerned. He even wears a cross, to show where he stands on the whole subject of good versus evil. And, for some reason, I find a vamp wearing a cross kind of awesome.

One of my favorite things about Henry? He is a very successful comic book writer and illustrator. Oh, he’ll take issue with that. “They’re graphic novels!” he’ll say, maybe with a little growl in his voice. And, in retaliation for the insult, he just might draw you into one of his “graphic novels,” where you will be eaten by something big and nasty.

8. Mitchell (TV Show, Being Human)

Mitchell is like that guy we all seem to know. He’s a nice guy, if a bit of a slacker-type. He has a job, but only because he needs to pay the rent. It’s not like his work is his passion or anything. If not for the "need to pay rent" thing, Mitchell would happily spend his days watching TV and hanging out with his friends. Yeah, the guy doesn't have much drive or ambition.

Mitchell dresses like someone who just doesn’t care, and does most of his shopping at thrift stores. (Luckily for him, he can pull it off.) Some might say he seriously needs a haircut. And his bedroom is a mess most of the time. Basically, Mitchell isn’t much different from a lot of the 20-somethings you see running around these days. So those who know him from work and such might be shocked to learn he's over a hundred years old, fought in World War One, and was turned while trying to save his men.

Mitchell’s story is sort of typical as reformed vampire stories go. He was once one of the baddest of the bad. Then he had a change of heart and gave up on feeding from and killing humans. But what makes Mitchell unique is how modern he is. He has totally embraced his 20-something persona. There’s nothing about him that would make you think he wasn’t part of the generation he looks to be a part of. (Then again, Mitchell seems to be very good at adapting to whatever age he’s living in, as we’ve seen through flashbacks.) And there’s nothing “off” about him. Anyone who meets him sees just a guy. A hot guy, but a guy like any other.

What I love about Mitchell is that, on top of being a hot, badass vampire (other vamps are afraid of him, that’s how scary dangerous he was back in the day), he’s also a bit of a geek. He reads comic books, has classic movie posters on his bedroom walls, freaks out when his favorite TV show gets moved unexpectedly, and even had a fanboy moment over Laurel and Hardy. Seems he was a big fan back in the day.

And I’ll be honest. When Mitchell’s badass, scary side comes out, it can be kind of hot. As long as it's not me he's pissed off at, I’m good.

9. Stefan (TV Show, The Vampire Diaries)

Remember Damon, #4 on the list. Well, Stefan is his younger, less-psychotic brother. And Stefan is deep, ya’ll. I see him get compared to Angel a lot, and accused of being broody all of the time, but I don’t see that at all. It’s not like he sits alone in dark rooms counting his past sins. He’s just quieter and more reserved than his big brother. But, compared to Damon, Lady Gaga would seem kind of shy and repressed.

Unlike Damon, Stefan gave up killing people and drinking human blood long ago. Instead, Stefan has spent the last however-many decades living life. He’s gone to college a few times. And he’s mentioned things like going to Bon Jovi concerts, anti-war rallies, and on a double date with “Hef and the twins.”

The thing about Stefan is that you really buy that this is a guy who is 160+ years old. That he’s been there, done that, and seen it all. He seems to have done a lot more growing and maturing than his older brother since they were turned. Yes, he can be kind of serious sometimes. But he also has a great sense of humor. (His adamant assertion that the supernatural creature that just hit town might be a Ninja Turtle.) And can also be very scary when he puts his mind to it. And, like Damon, he will put you down if you try to hurt his brother. That doesn’t mean he always agrees with Damon’s “lifestyle choices.” (All the killing and stuff.) But, hey, that’s still his brother you’re messing with.

Stefan is the kind of guy that makes me go all schmoopy inside. He's just so romantic and sweet. The fact that he's also got a scary and dangerous side is just a bonus.

And I decided to include a pic of the Brothers Salvatore. (They have special magic rings that allow them to walk in the sun, by the way.) Because I sometimes find it hard not to think of them as a set...of hotness. :-)

10. Angel (TV Shows, Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

As I said before, this is not a countdown type of list. But, if it was, Angel would be number one on it. Because I loved him in all of his various incarnations on both shows. I loved him as mysterious stalker guy. I loved him as the broody, romantic figure of early BtVS. I loved him as the evil Angelus. I loved him as a father. (Awwww.) I even loved him when he was all vengeance-seeking and treating his friends like crap. Yes, I wanted to smack him at the same time. But his “dark period” was very interesting. And, most importantly, he grew and changed as a result of all the screwing up he did at that time, which is really what matters, right?

I even loved Goofy Angel. Yes, I know some had a problem with him losing some of his coolness. But I found it interesting that, as Angel became more and more comfortable around humans, his inner dorkiness started to come out. It was like, he no longer felt like he had to be super cool vampire guy all of the time, and felt free to just be a guy. And a dork.

What I loved most about Angel was that, as scary as he was without a soul (as Angelus), he could be even scarier with one. Without a soul, he did evil for the sake of doing evil. With a soul, there was strong feeling behind him being pissed at you (you hurt his friends, or his kid, or something like that), so there were going to be very real, very strong emotions involved when he tortured you. Of course, to the person getting the ice pick through the eye, it probably wouldn't make a difference. (I imagine it would hurt the same amount either way.) But, to a viewer, it was intriguing to see the difference between Evil Angel, and Soul-Having-But-Still-Want-To-Hurt-You-Lots Angel.

Of all the vampire shows I’ve watched over the years (and I’ve tried to watch most of them), Angel was the show I became the biggest fan of. (And most obsessed with.) And Angel became one of my favorite TV characters. So, if there was a number one spot on this list, he would have it.

And there you are. The list of 10 Vampire Dudes I Really Like. And I know I’ve probably missed some of your favorite vampire dudes. (I know the True Blood guys are conspicuously absent but, much to even my surprise, I haven’t gotten to see it yet.) But I think this list is a pretty good one. I hope you enjoyed. And, if I introduced you to some vampire dudes you didn’t know about before, all the better. :-D

Back to 10 Vampire Dudes I Really Like, Part 1

10 Vampire Dudes I Really Like, Part 1

2010-10-07T01:59:53Z

Last year, to celebrate the Halloween season, I made two vampire fanmixes. (Taste of Blood and We Hunger.) This year, I present to you my list of 10 Vampire Dudes I Really Like. There are other vampire dudes I really like, but I wanted to limit myself to ten, and not spend so much fussing over trying to make a “definitive” list that I ended up not posting anything at all. (Which has happened to me many times before.) Plus, I’m sure there are some lovable vampire dudes I didn’t think of when I was making the list. But these ten will provide plenty of eye candy for the time being. Well, five for now. I’m splitting the list into two parts, because this thing is gonna be big. Well, big for me. :)

So without further ado, and in no particular order, here is part 1 of 10 Vampire Dudes I Really Like.

1. Nick Knight (Television Show, Forever Knight)

I don’t know if Nick was the first animal blood-drinking, crime fighting vampire ever, but it wouldn’t surprise me. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if Nick was the template used when creating many of the non-evil and/or crime fighting vamps that came after him. Which is why he’s first on the list.

Nick was an 800 year old vampire who was pretty evil for quite a bit of time. But he had a change of heart and, by the time the show starts, he is a police detective, fighting crime and trying to make up for his evil past. (Sound familiar?) Nick’s greatest wish is to become human again…sorta kinda. Part of him wants that and part of him is a little ambivalent about it, largely because he still has strong ties with his vampire “family.” (He spent hundreds of years with these people, so it’s understandable he might have a hard time letting go.) But the part of him that does want it is being helped by Natalie Lambert, a human police coroner who is trying to use her scientific expertise to find a way to “re-humanize” Nick. And, of course, there’s loads of unresolved sexual tension between the two. Well, there seems to be sexual tension between Nick and lots of people, especially his evil-ish sire and vampire sister/lover. (They aren’t related related, but the same guy turned them both.) But that’s another story.

How did a vampire become a police detective? Well, he tells people he has one of those diseases that pretty much amounts to being allergic to the sun, and his bosses put him on the night shift in deference to his supposed condition. Beyond that, just accept it and move on to enjoying the show.

2. Caleb (Movie, Near Dark)

Played by Adrian Pasdar, Caleb was probably one of the first good (or, at least, not evil) vampires in any movie or TV show. Bill Paxton also plays a vamp in this flick. But he’s more of a homicidal bad boy, Early!Spike/Damon type.

Caleb is an innocent, small town boy who meets and falls for a pretty young thing. What he doesn’t know is that she is a vamp. And, since she’s fallen for him too, she decides to turn him and take him home to join her vampire family.

The problem is that Caleb can’t bring himself to feed on people. He just can’t, which pisses his new vampire family off quite a bit. But none of their anger (or attempts to set him up with meals) do any good. Even when the bloodlust is getting to him, Caleb is more likely to tell his potential victims to run than chow down on them. In fact, if not for his sire feeding him her own blood every night, Caleb would probably starve. (And is it wrong that I found those feedings somewhat hot? A little bit? Oh, well.)

I don’t know why, but I just love the way Caleb fights it. Even when the bloodlust comes over him, and his new vampire kinfolk are threatening to give him a whoopin’ if he doesn’t get his act together and start acting like a vampire is supposed to act, he can’t go against his true nature. Because, while he might be a vampire now he is not, at his core, a killer. Something about that makes me love his character. Plus the hotness. :-D

3. Steven Grlscz (Movie, Wisdom of Crocodiles, aka Immortality)

Jude Law plays Steven Grlscz, a vampire who doesn’t have fangs, can walk in the sun, has no problem with crosses, etc. All of these things combined should have turned me off. But once I started watching this movie, I couldn’t stop, and all because this character intrigued me. One of the things that make Steven so interesting is how, well, weird he is. No one who meets this guy would think he was normal. In fact, it’s like he doesn’t know how to act more normal. But, because he’s hot, people choose to decide to be fascinated by his…eccentricities. And, since I’m pretty much in the same boat, I can’t judge.

Also, despite being a tad weird, Steven is pretty good at being charming and seductive. He even manages to seduce (in a very manly way, of course) the male police detective who suspects him of murder (but not of being a vampire). Apparently, seductive and hot trumps weird. Or, actually, I think the weirdness adds to the hotness. ;)

There’s a scene early in the movie that shows Steven…getting a bite. (Um, sorry about that.) And, from how he acts after the deed is done, you can see that he doesn’t exactly love having to kill to survive. But getting blood from a blood bank just wouldn’t work for him. And when you see what happens to him when he goes too long without feeding (he goes temporarily blind at one point) you can’t help feeling for the guy. He’s not really evil. He just has a Methosian survival instinct. Someone else (sorry I can’t recall who) used that term to describe another character, and I immediately thought of Steven.

And, now, I’m trying to think of (or make up) a word that means “really weird and really hot at the same time.” I’m sure there’s one out there somewhere. :)

4. Damon (Television Show, The Vampire Diaries)

Aw, Damon. What can I say about this guy? He’s hot. And homicidal. And very funny. He’s got a nasty habit of killing anyone who threatens him, scares him (poor Lexi, we hardly knew thee), confuses him, or just annoys him a little bit. He will also rip off the head of anyone who even thinks of hurting his brother. One of his few redeeming qualities.

When Damon first came to Mystic Falls, he didn’t expect to stay long, and went on several killing sprees, which made the authorities in town aware that, “Hey, there are vampires snacking on our citizens!” (Something the PTB haven’t told the citizens, by the way, but they do have members of their police force reading, “How To Kill Vampires for Dummies.”) Now that Damon’s decided to stay, and the town’s authroties are on the alert for any vampy activity, he’s had to reign himself in and be more cautious and responsible and junk. Getting his blood from blood banks, of all things, which is so annoying. But he’s trying, in his own Damon-ish way. That doesn’t stop him from doing…unfortunate things when he gets upset, like snapping innocent bystanders’ necks and such.

My relationship with Damon is a very unusual one. On the one hand, I do enjoy the character, largely because of the performance given by the actor that plays him. On the other hand, I kind of like seeing him get his ass kicked, watching one of his “master plans” fall apart around him, etc. And Bonnie using her witchy powers to set him on fire was one of my favorite moments of the show so far. Hey, I knew he wasn’t really going to die! And it’s not like he never did anything to deserve getting toasted just little bit.

But, again, still like him. I just think getting taken down a couple pegs every so often will help him grow as a person. :-D

5. Spike (Television Shows, Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel)

Like Damon, my relationship with Spike is a complicated one. I always enjoyed his character, but he wasn’t really one of my favorites on BtVS back in the day. That didn’t mean I didn’t find him interesting. His devotion to Dru. His scary insightfulness. (That he usually used to cause others emotional trauma.) His way with words. (It turning out that he was a poet as a human sort of made sense when I thought about it.) His distinctive look. Heck, the way he moved was fascinating to me. And, of course, he was hot. But, when he left the show for a season, I wasn’t exactly one of the fans praying (or writing letters demanding) that they'd bring him back. I would’ve been reasonably pleased if he returned, but I wasn’t waiting for it with bated breath or anything.

Ironically, it wasn’t until season 6 of BtVS (in my opinion, one of the worst for any of the characters, including Spike) that I truly became a Spike fan. Unhappy with the show, I turned to BtVS fic more than ever before. And that is where I had my eyes opened to the true awesomeness that was Spike. I also enjoyed him quite a bit when he moved over to Angel. So, now, he is one of my favorite characters in the “Jossverse,” one of the few I still search out fic for.

One of the things I like about Spike is that I can “have him” in several different flavors. The badass, scary, unrepentantly evil Spike of early BtVS. The chipped, Spike of mid-BtVS, still trying to be evil even though he couldn’t hurt humans anymore. The soul-having Spike of Angel, who retained the power to be a pain in the ass. I even like human, poetry-writing Spike, aka William.

So there you have it. The first five of the 10 Vampire Dudes I Really Like. I'll be posting part two shortly. In the meantime, feel free to let me know what you think of the vampire dudes on the list so far. And Happy Halloween. :-)

On to 10 Vampire Dudes I Really Like, Part 2

Decreasing Gif File Size Using Animation Shop

2010-09-13T20:19:43Z

Note: While I'm using AS, you can do this stuff in other programs too.

Turning a gif into an animated icon can be tough. At LiveJournal (and many forums and message boards), an icon can't be any bigger than 100X100, and the filesize can't be more than 40KB. And while resizing and cropping a gif isn't too difficult, getting the filesize down from 300KB (for example) to just 40KB can be a much bigger challenge.

And what about the gifs you want to use in your LJ sidebar? If the gifs are too "heavy," they can make a page take forever to load. Which can really annoy the folks visiting your journal.

Luckily, you can use a program like Animation Shop to decrease the file size of your gifs.

Another Note: You should make all of these adjustments on a copy of the gif you are using, just in case there are any mishaps.

Make the Avatar Shorter

This is the gif I'm going to be working with.

I've already cropped it so that it's 100X100. And here are it's specs.

Size: 100X100
Length: 3.6 seconds
Frames: 51
File Size: 383KB

The easiest way to decrease file size is to shorten the length of the gif.

Open the icon in Animation Shop
Decide how many frames you can trim off the beginning and end of the gif without losing the basic spirit you want your icon to have.
Highlight all of the frames you want to remove and hit the DEL key. (Or click on the scissors icon in the toolbar.)

Shortening the avatar from 51 frames to 22 frames left me with this.

And the file size went down from 383KB to 155KB. Good, but not good enough. Yet.

Removing Frames

Another thing you can try is "culling" the animation. Instead of removing frames from the beginning or end of the gif, you remove select frames throughout the gif. For example, you could remove every fourth frame, or every second frame.

Open your gif in Animation Shop.
In the Edit menu, click on "Select All."
In the Animation menu, click "Cull Animation..." This will bring up the following menu.

4. Enter a number into the "Remove 1 frame every" box and press OK.

I decided to remove every second frame. I also had to go back to the Animation menu and fiddle with the "Frame Properties" settings to adjust the speed a bit. Culling the animation can make a gif look like it's running on fast forward. Increasing the Display Time will make it look like it's playing at normal speed again.

Here's what I ended up with.

The new avatar contains everything in the first, but is only 26 frames long. Unfortunately, while the file size went down to 198 KB, it's still not good enough for an avatar at LJ.

You can actually cull an animation as many times as you want to decrease the file size. But, if you do it too much, your animation will start to look choppy.

Decreasing the Quality

Another thing you can do to decrease file size is decrease the quality of your gif. Which might sound bad. But the smaller your gif is, the less obvious any visual quirks caused by poor quality will be.

In the File menu, select "Optimization Wizard." Eventually, you will come to this screen.

See the bit circled in red? The lower that slider is, the lower the quality (and file size) of the avatar will be.

Start with the lowest setting, level 1. If you don't think the avatar looks good enough at level 1, go up to level 2, and so on.

This is what my avatar looks like at level 1.

Not as good as the original, but not terrible either. But the file size only dropped to 219KB.

Make the Gif Smaller

Another alternative, one a lot of us might not care for, is to make the gif smaller in height and width. However, there really isn't a huge visual difference between a gif that's 100X100 and one that's 85X85. (For example.) And making your icon just that little bit smaller might decrease the file size enough for you to use it at LJ.

1. In the Animation menu, select "Resize Animation."

2. Make sure Resize Type is set to "Smart size" and there's a check in the "Maintain aspect ratio" box.
3. Select a new size for your avatar and click okay.

Here's what my avatar looks like at 80x80.

Not bad. But the file size has only decreased to 252KB.

What Next?

What do you do if none of these techniques decreases the file size enough on their own? Try using a combination of the different techniques. Heck, all of them if necessary.

Here's what my icon looks like with all of the techniques applied to it.

Size: 75X75
Length: 1.5 seconds
Frames: 15
File Size: 39.3KB

Awesome! My icon is now small enough to be used at LJ.

I hope this tutorial has given you some tips on decreasing the file sizes of your gifs and icons. I'd like to thank icedevil0289, whose questions inspired this tutorial. And feel free if there's anything you're not clear about. And here are some more of my tutorials you can check out.

Resizing Animated Gifs
Making a Video Screen Saver
Easy Tattoo Tutorial
How to Make an Image Look Like a B&W Sketch
How to Make an Image Look Like a Color Sketch

Fanmix: Follow You Home (An Obsession Mix)

2010-08-15T22:42:35Z

For your listening pleasure, I present to you an obsession mix. As many of you who've read my fic know, obsession is one of my favorite themes. And when I realized how many "obsession" songs I actually had, a mix seemed like a natural.

As you'll notice, I like songs that seem all romantic and sweet on the surface. But, when you actually stop and listen to the lyrics, you start feeling disturbed. And, in some cases, creeped the hell out.

Here is the track list. (You can read the lyrics below.)

01. Possession – Sarah McLachlan
02. Vermillion 2 – Slipknot
03. Your House - Alanis Morissette
04. Shame – Stabbing Westward
05. Strange and Beautiful – Aqualung
06. #1 Crush – Garbage
07. Follow You Home – Nickelback
08. It’s No Good – Depeche Mode
09. Surrender – Evanescence
10. A Collection – Marillion

You can preview and download the songs HERE.

Lyrics

1. Possession – Sarah McLachlan
Into the sea of waking dreams,
I follow without pride.
‘Cause nothing stands between us here,
And I won’t be denied.

2. Vermillion 2 – Slipknot
A catch in my throat, choke,
Torn into pieces.
I won't. No!
I don't wanna be this...

3. Your House - Alanis Morissette
I walked down the hall,
Into your room,
Where I could smell you.
And I shouldn't be here without permission.
I shouldn't be here.

4. Shame – Stabbing Westward
I pray for someone to ache for me
The way I ache for you.
If you ignore that I'm alive,
I've nothing to cling to.

5. Strange and Beautiful – Aqualung
I'll put a spell on you,
You'll fall asleep and I'll put a spell on you.
And when I wake you,
I'll be the first thing you see,
And you'll realize that you love me.

6. #1 Crush – Garbage
I would die for you.
I would die for you.
I've been dying just to feel you by my side,
To know that you're mine.

7. Follow You Home – Nickelback
Well you can stick me in a hole,
And you can pray all day for rain.
You can shoot me in the leg,
Just to try to make me beg,
And you can leave me there for days.
And I'll stay alive
Just to follow you home.

8. It’s No Good – Depeche Mode
The gods decree
You'll be right here by my side.
Right next to me.
You can run but you cannot hide.

9. Surrender – Evanescence
Darling, there's no sense in running,
You know I will find you.
Everything is perfect now,
We can live forever.
You can't abandon me.
You belong to me.

10. A Collection – Marillion
If you can't speak, you can't lie.
If you can't run, you can't hide.
I know a place you can't die.
So no one lives inside my collection.

Follow You Home: An Obsession Mix

One of the Cutest Things Ever!

2010-08-14T21:06:31Z

I haven't made a post in a while (much too long). And it probably seems strange I'm making a post for something like this. But I just can't help it.

Is this, or is this not, one of the cutest things you have ever seen in your life?

I'm melting over here. Melting!

And I haven't stopped saying, "Awwww," since I saw it.

I'll pull myself together eventually. But, until then...Awwwwww.

Tutorial: Resizing Animated Gifs

2010-04-11T19:36:43Z

You come across an animated gif that you would love to use as an icon, or in the sidebar on your LiveJournal. But the gif is 300x169, much too big for either of those. (Unless you have a really wide sidebar.) You're going to have to resize the gif. Easy, right?

Well, resizing an animated gif isn't as easy as resizing a static image. Use the wrong graphics editor, and your gif won't be animated anymore. Which would sort of defeat the whole purpose of what you're trying to do.

Luckily, there are two quick and easy ways to resize an animated gif. One uses Animation Shop. The other uses one of the completely free software programs I found during one of my freeware binges. (It's a harmless addiction.) And this program requires no installation. Bonus!

Resizing a Gif Using Animation Shop

First, open the gif in Animation Shop.

Note: I've come across some "gifs" that have a .jpg extension instead of a .gif extension. Before opening one of these files in AS, change the extension from .jpg to .gif, and it should work just fine.

In the Animation menu, select "Resize Animation."

In the resize dialog, type in the new size for your gif. Make sure "Maintain aspect ratio" is checked. And you'll probably want to use "Smart size" as the Resize Type.

Click "OK." Then go to the File menu and us "Save As" to save the resized gif with a new name. You might have to go through the Optimization process. If so, make sure that, when you reach the below dialog box, the slider in the circled portion is set to "Better Image Quality."

And, quick as that, I went from a gif that's 300x169 to one that 150x85. Perfect for use in a LiveJournal sidebar. The filesize has shrunk too, from 2.8 MB to less than 1 MB. Nice.

Resizing a Gif Using Gif Resizer

If you don't have Animation Shop, never fear. You can resize your gifs using a free program called Gif Resizer, which you can get here:

http://www.ashongsoft.com/product/gif-resizer.html

Gif Resizer requires no installation. So, of course, I like it to bits.

Note: I've come across some "gifs" that have a .jpg extension instead of a .gif extension. And, sadly, Gif Resizer won't recognize a file with a .jpg extension. But easy squeezy. All you have to do is change the extension from .jpg to .gif, and it should work just fine.

This is what Gif Resizer looks like.

And here's how you use it.

A. Click on the button labeled "A" to open the gif you want to resize.
B. Click on the button labeled "B" to give your new gif a name, and choose a destination folder for it. (By default, it will go into the same folder as the original gif.)
C. The circled area is where you choose a new size for your new gif. Make sure "Keep aspect" is checked.
D. Put a check in "Good quality" to make sure your gif is the best quality possible. It will take a little longer for the resizing to be complete, but it'll be worth it.
E. Finally, click on Resize.

And that's pretty much it. Here are the results.

And the filesize dropped from nearly 2 MB to half an MB. Very good.

Gif Resizer is actually easier to use than Animation Shop. But AS has more features. If all you want to do is resize a gif really fast, or the gif you want to resize doesn't need any fiddling, Gif Resizer is all you need. If you want to do something extra (like cropping, or adding text) Animation Shop might be the way to go.

Well, that's all. Now, I'm going to go play with free program I just found. You can check out some of my other tutorials at my LJ.

Tutorials by Dannyblue

Oh, and if you take any of the above gifs, please credit. :-)

LotS: Desecrated Gifs

2010-04-11T02:11:08Z

Here are some gifs from the latest LotS episode, "Desecrated." There under the cut so those who haven't seen the ep yet won't be spoiled. I'm including the links, for those with dialup. And, if you decide to use any of them, please credit. :D

The Flying Wallendas!

That's what popped into my head when the scene started. Don't judge.

Kahlan goes BOOM

You know Cara wanted to laugh.

"Aw, get over here!"

This did my friendshipper's heart good.

Not Alone

This one speaks for itself.

I was going to gif the fight, but it was made of too much awesome. I might do it later.

By the way, I'm probably going to do a tutorial on resizing gifs. If anyone's interested, keep an eye out.

Original Nightmare & New Nightmare #4: Whatever you do...

2010-03-25T18:34:10Z

Anyone who's ever watched Nightmare On Elm Street no doubt remembers the line. And there's an homage to it in Wes Craven's New Nightmare.

Not the most comforting thing to say to a person. But, when Freddy's involved, what else can you do?

3 Legend of the Seeker Gifs - 214: "Bound"

2010-03-22T02:43:04Z

Watching "Bound" over the weekend, and one moment stood out to me as particularly sweet. And who knew I'd one day refer to Cara as "sweet." But she kind of was in this episode.

Note: Use the links if your Internet is having problem with the gifs.

They are such gal pals.

I also made two closeup versions. Just because. :D

Closeup #1

Closeup #2

Feel free to use, but please credit. :-D

Original Nightmare & New Nightmare #3: Meetings

2010-03-20T17:44:39Z

Well, I've done three, so I can actually call this a series. This vid is about the similarities in the way Freddy meets the heroine (not including "minor brushes") in A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare.

"Screw Your Pass" - Another Nightmare On Elm Street homage in New Nightmare

2010-03-13T20:54:12Z

Here's another homage to A Nightmare On Elm Street to be found in New Nightmare. This time, it's the famous "Screw Your Pass" scene.

And a lot of New Nightmare viewers end up strongly disliking the hospital staff for thinking the heroine is crazy. But, if you look at things from their point of view, given the way she was acting, you can't really blame them for thinking she had some mental health issues.

"Nightmare On Elm Street" homages in "New Nightmare"

2010-03-10T21:21:24Z

One of the many things I like about New Nightmare (Nightmare On Elm Street 7) is how it proudly pays homage to the original Nightmare On Elm Street. As this vid of the famous "Tongue Phone" scene demonstrates.

I'm actually thinking of doing more of these little comparisons. And I'm willing to take suggestions. :D

LotS "Hunger" gifs

2010-02-21T10:06:59Z

Another good episode featuring lots of gif-worthy stuff. (And there are links for those with dial up.)

We start with Cara.

Double Eyeroll

Because a single eyeroll just wasn't enough.

Kahlan gets shot, and then...

Zedd pulls out the arrow

I would've passed out by this point. Then again, I'm not a BAMC.

Cara keeps fighting

If Cara continuing to fight after her throat was cut isn't the definition of "badass," I don't know what is.

A glimpse of baneling Cara

And another

Because that makeup is just awesome.

Rahl pays a visit

And Cara isn't as happy to see him as he would've liked. Hence the eyeroll. Although a more subdued one than usual. :-D

Kahlan says goodbye

The moment was sad. But I was happy that Cara got to see that people would be upset if she died. I don't think she thought they'd care before.

Thaddecus makes a sacrifice

I know some people were mad at him for going back to huckstering. But I believe everything he did for and said to Cara was sincere. And, for someone who is usually somewhat selfish, this was pretty major. And I loved Cara's reaction.

Well, there you are. And I think I'm getting better at the gif making. Please credit when using.

By the way, I'm looking for a batch gif resizer, since I know some folks would probably like them smaller. So keep an eye out. And feel free to friend me to see whatever wacky stuff I come up with. :-)

"Torn" Gifs (Legend of the Seeker)

2010-02-14T06:46:17Z

I decided to try my hand at gif making. The latest episode of Legend of the Seeker was very gif-worthy, starting with Cara's Epic Eyeroll. (TM bradcpu .)

Richard and Cara trade "WTF?!" looks.

Kahlan confesses herself.

The two Kahlans are rejoined.

Please comment and credit if using. :)

Animated Hearts Screen Saver

2010-02-01T21:27:43Z

To help get us all in the mood for Valentine's Day, I made a new screen saver. And it look something like this.

Download your Animated Hearts Screen Saver

And if you'd like to make your own screen savers, don't forget to check out the tutorial.

Tutorial: Making a Video Screen Saver

2010-01-31T23:35:56Z

Howdie, folks. Here is a tutorial showing you how you can make a screen saver using just about any piece of video you can get your hands on. For example, I made a lovely screen saver using the opening title cards for Supernatural.

You can get that screen saver HERE.

Making screen savers isn't actually that complicated. However, figuring out how to do it, and what software programs you will need to do whatever it is you want to do, can be the hard part. There can also be some labor involved depending on what video you have to work with, and how fancy you want to get with it.

Right now, I'm going to give you the absolute basics on making a screen saver from a video. Later, I'll post tips and tricks for any issues that come to mind (or that I run across as I make other screen savers).

Let's get started.

Step One: Choosing Your Video

You can use pretty much any piece of video you have to make a screen saver.

A funny clip from your favorite show.
A snippet of a kickass action scene from your favorite movie.
One of your short fanvids.
Just about anything else.

However, the longer your video, the bigger the screen saver file size will be. I've never made a 10 minute-long screen saver, but I imagine the file size would be huge. For example, I recently made a screen saver from the opening for Legend of the Seeker. The opening is a little over 20 seconds long, and the screen saver weighed in at nearly 6 MB without sound.

That's another thing. A screen saver with sound will be bigger than the same screen saver without sound. The sound version of that LotS screensaver was nearly 6.5 MB.

I don't know if a really big screen saver will cause problems. If you decide to make a saver from a really long piece of video, you'll just have to see for yourself.

If you have a video that's already the length you want, you're good to go. Otherwise, you can use a video editing program, like Windows Movie Maker, to edit the clip you want out of a TV episode or movie.

Step Two: Converting the Video

The program I use to make video screen savers (and most of the others I remember seeing) only works with video in SWF flash format. Which means that, unless your video is already in SWF format, you're going to have to convert it. The program I use for this when I want to keep it simple is called Pazera Free Video to Flash Converter. There are lots of free video converters out there. But this one is really easy to use, and you don't have to know anything about the technical side of video conversion to use it. This program also doesn't require installation.

This is the main screen of the video converter.

The only setting you really have to worry about is making sure the video format is set to SWF. You might also want to set the bitrate (circled in red) to the highest setting, so the converted video will be the best quality possible. And if your video has sound, but you want your saver not to, put a check mark in the "Do not copy audio stream" box.

Now go to the top of the screen and click "Add File" to find and add your video, then click "Convert" to start the conversion. It should only take a few seconds (or maybe a minute or two if your video is really long.) The converted video will be saved in the same folder as the original video. (Unless you change it, but why make things more complicated for yourself?)

Warning: Stay away from the Advanced Settings section! You don't need it. Really. :-)

Step Three: Creating Your Screen Saver

Now, you're ready to create your video screen saver. I use a program called InstantStorm, a free flash screen saver creator, for this. InstantStorm has a lot of fancy schmancy settings. But my motto is, "Keep it simple."

On the opening screen, click the image on the left.

On the General tab, give your screen saver a title and add video. You can also preview your screensaver before moving on, and adjust the "Scale" setting if necessary. (Although I've never used anything but "Exact fit.")

From there, I go right to the Publishing tab. There are all sorts of other settings you can fiddle with in InstantStorm, but it's really not necessary. And, again, why complicate things?

Click on "Create," and your video screen saver will be made in just a few seconds.

Step Four: Sharing Your Screen Saver

Before you share your screen saver with the world, install it on your own computer, and let it play to see if it works correctly. On some operating systems, the screen saver preview for screen savers with sound might be wonky. But the screensaver itself should work fine.

Now, in order to share your screen savers with other folks, you have to upload it to a file sharing service. And the one I try to use most often is MediaFire. There are no limits on how many files you can store on your free account, or how much space you can use. There are also no bandwidth limits, and you can upload files as big as 200 MB.

But I had a small problem with MediaFire a while back. (People could still download my files, but I couldn't upload anything new.) So I also got a Box.Net account. Box.Net is great, but there are more limits. The free account gives you 1 GB of storage, which is pretty good. (I have dozens of files there and have only used about a tenth of my storage.) There's also a monthly bandwidth limit of 10 GB. Once your account reaches that limit, it's pretty much frozen until the next month. (Those with Photobucket accounts might be familiar with this problem.) However, if you uploaded a 5 MB screensaver, and it was downloaded 200 times in a month, that would still leave you with roughly 9 GB of bandwidth.

I actually prefer MediFire for sharing my screen savers. However, when MediaFire is acting up, Box.Net is a good alternative.

So there you have it. The bare-bones basics on creating and sharing video screen savers. I hope you can put it to use. Keep an eye out for more screen saver tips and tricks. And let me know when you make a screen saver of your own. :-)

Screen Saver: LotS Season 2 Opening

2010-01-30T12:49:33Z

I put together a screen saver of the season 2 Legend of the Seeker opening. I'm sure LotS fans know what it looks like. But, just in case:

I made two versions, one with the sound and one without. And I warn you. The one with sound can give you a little fright if your not expecting it, especially if your volume is set pretty high.

You can install (and uninstall) the screen savers just like any other piece of software.

LOTS Opening (with sound)

LOTS Opening (no sound)

Coming up is another Supernatural screen saver. I'm also working on a tutorial that will show you how to make your own screen savers, so keep an eye out for it. :-D