#depressing story ideas that I have no idea how to conclude

[cell151]

Random depressing Signalis idea I probably won't explore in writing (yet): Replikas recognize Corrupted Replikas as their significant other.

A Star finds a corrupted Storch bashing it's head against a wall. The Star moves to take aim at it, making a noise in the process and thus alerting the mostly blind Replika to its presence. The Star braces for an assault but it never comes. The Storch stands there, facing her direction but not acting. Star is confused but then it dawns on her.

"Zwei?"

The Storch lets out a mournful cry and starts thrashing its beak around. Star tries to calm it down, taking hold of its beak and speaking softly to what was once Zwei. The Storch calms down but continues to make a low crying noise. Star gently strokes its beak and tries to give comfort to her friend who has been corrupted almost beyond recognition.

A Eule ventures out into the corridor to find rations but instead runs into a corrupted Star who pursues her. The Eule makes a mistake in not going immediately back into her safe haven and tries a different door but alas the card reader doesn't work. Her path is now blocked by the advancing Star, baton in hand. The Eule falls to the floor and cowers in terror, closing her eyes and awaiting the end.

But it doesn't come. Opening her eyes she sees the corrupted Star kneeling on the floor in front of her. It has dropped its baton and was reaching a hand out towards the Eule.

The Eule reaches out and gently takes it. Its then she sees the number on what was left of the Protektor unit's shell: STAR 1745.

"Eda?"

The Star can't vocally respond but instead squeezes her hand. The Eule moves closer and tries to lift the veil that formed over the Protektor's face but is prevented as the Star's other hand stops her. The Eule shakes her head in disbelief in what has happened to her friend. She throws herself upon the corrupted Replika and hugs it. The Star sits there motionless.

[monsterblogging]

I think it's very interesting to compare and contrast Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy VII. These two installments have so much in common, storywise and thematically. (As I understand it, this might have something to do with FF7's production being pretty rushed.)

In the past these similarities kind of annoyed me - but now I think it's interesting to see how these two stories play these ideas out.

I know there's been some amount of debate over whether FF6's Kefka or FF7's Sephiroth is the "better" villain, and honestly? We should not be pitting these bad boys against each other. Each character embodies a different yet realistic response to the same type of traumatic origin.

Both of these characters are the result of an evil empire's attempt to create the perfect soldier. Both were infused with the essence of other beings to give them great power. In being engineered and groomed to be the perfect weapons, both were dehumanized and denied healthy and loving family relationships. And both of them are depressed as hell.

Kefka's ultimate reaction to this is utter nihilism. He has no vision of a better future, but instead lives for whatever cheap thrills his power can give him. But these acts of violence don't fix his depression, and so he seeks more and more power and ultimately escalates to trying to destroy the world.

I've seen people saying that Kefka isn't a tragic villain, but he 100% is. He didn't have any say in what Emperor Gestahl did to him as a child. He was literally just a little kid. Unfortunately, he ultimately makes himself such a massive problem that there is no choice but to take him down. (The characters actually do try to tell him that his nihilistic worldview is wrong, but he won't hear it. He's just too far gone.)

Sephiroth, on the other hand, is actually seeking a better future. He very much wants to live in a better world than the one created by the capitalist empire that created him. But he's effectively a reactionary who (like all reactionaries) fundamentally misunderstands the problem and disregards a lot of very important nuance. Sephiroth concludes that a better world is only possible if he destroys all of humanity, which he's concluded they collectively deserve for harming the being he believes is his mother.

Each character tries to address their problems in different ways, but both end up repeating the cruelty of the institutions that produced them because they're ultimately just doing what they know. As they become gods (not false gods, not godlike, but actual gods), they come to fully embody the essence of the empires that created them. Each one has different mentalities and motives, but together they show us a very simple truth: that the only endgame of boundless greed and powerlust is the annihilation of everyone.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Joan E Greve and Helen Sullivan at The Guardian:

Joe Biden addressed the nation Wednesday to explain his historic decision to withdraw from the presidential race, delivering a reflective and hopeful message about the need to begin a new chapter in America’s story.

“I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future all merited a second term, but nothing – nothing – can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition,” Biden said in the Oval Office. “So I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. It’s the best way to unite our nation. You know, there is a time and a place for long years of experience in public life. There’s also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices – yes, younger voices. And that time and place is now.” The speech came three days after Biden stunned the country with the announcement he would abandon his presidential campaign less than four months before election day. As he contemplated the legacy of his five decades in public life, Biden pledged to keep working to better Americans’ lives as he concludes his first – and now only – term as president. Some Republican lawmakers have suggested Biden should resign rather than finish out his term, but the president firmly rejected those calls on Wednesday.

“Over the next six months, I’ll be focused on doing my job as president,” he said. “That means I’ll continue to lower costs for hard-working families [and] grow our economy. I’ll keep defending our personal freedoms and our civil rights – from the right to vote to the right to choose.” Biden specifically vowed to “keep working to end the war in Gaza, bring home all the hostages and bring peace and security to the Middle East”. Hours before Biden’s speech, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, delivered a divisive address to a rare joint session of Congress in which he called for “total victory” in the war. Biden cited his own leadership on foreign policy, including his staunch support for Ukraine amid its war against Russia, as one of his proudest accomplishments. He reminded voters about the legislation he has signed to tackle the climate crisis, reduce gun violence and expand healthcare access. Harkening back to the day of his inauguration in 2021, weeks after the January 6 attack on the Capitol and less than a year into the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Biden marveled at how far the country had come in such a short time.

“We were in the grip of the worst pandemic in the century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the worst attack on our democracy since the civil war,” Biden said. “We came together as Americans. We got through it. We emerged stronger, more prosperous and more secure.” After withdrawing from the race on Sunday, Biden endorsed his vice-president Kamala Harris, who has already consolidated the support of enough delegates to capture the Democratic nomination next month. In his speech, Biden reiterated his praise of Harris and underscored the immense choice facing voters this November. “I’d like to thank our great vice-president, Kamala Harris,” Biden said. “She’s experienced, she’s tough, she’s capable. She’s been an incredible partner to me and a leader for our country. Now the choice is up to you, the American people.”

[...] “America is an idea, an idea stronger than any army, bigger than any ocean, more powerful than any dictator or tyrant. It’s the most powerful idea in the history of the world,” Biden said. “That idea is that we hold these truths to be self-evident. We’re all created equal, endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights: life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. We’ve never fully lived up to it, to this sacred idea, but we’ve never walked away from it either, and I do not believe the American people will walk away from it now.” It was a message that echoed Biden’s campaign slogan in 2020, which framed the election against Trump as a “battle for the soul of the nation”. That battle remains ongoing, Biden said, and it will now be up to the American people to decide how it will end. “The great thing about America is here, kings and dictators do not rule. The people do,” Biden said. “History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands. You just have to keep faith – keep the faith – and remember who we are.”

President Joe Biden gave an excellent Oval Office address on the topic of ending his re-election bid and handing the baton to Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden has announced that he is staying to complete his term.

Let’s get some herstory made and elect a Momala to the White House! #Harris47 #Harris2024

See Also:

HuffPost: Joe Biden Urges Nation To Defend Democracy As He Passes Torch: ‘History Is In Your Hands’

Daily Kos: Watch: Biden addresses nation for first time since dropping reelection bid

[theweeklydiscourse]

The Case Against Immortal Darklina: How Do You Finish Shadow and Bone?

How could you end Shadow and Bone in a satisfying and conclusive way? That is the question I have been asking myself since I finished Ruin and Rising for the first time and I have come up with many alternatives over the years. But as I have developed my understanding of storytelling, I feel that concluding the character arcs of Darklina in a satisfying way must consider the question of immortality posed throughout the series. This question often goes hand in hand with what Shadow and Bone attempts to say about power, but I feel that it’s assessment of immortality is far more compelling. Therefore, much of my ideas for an ending are centred around the natural conclusion of Aleksander’s character arc along with Alina’s role as a hero.

As appealing as the idea of Darklina being sexy immortal rulers for all of eternity is (and believe me, it is very tempting), my ideal ending for the two of them is a bit different. In my opinion, I believe that a satisfying ending would be a happy one, and I don’t think that could happen if they stayed immortal. I’m a sucker for romance and I believe that the two of them need to find some form of balance in order to conclude the story. Darklina is already the most compelling relationship in the trilogy, but I believe that the conclusion of that relationship is depressing and lacklustre in canon and ultimately does not address what both characters need. Both of them struggle with a want versus need dilemma that is either unresolved by the end, or contradicted. Therefore, to get to the bottom of this issue we must begin with what is is that they want and what they need.

The Existential Terror of Being an Immortal Shadow Wizard

Aleksander’s goal is to lead. Aleksander describes himself as the only one who can liberate the country from the King’s tyranny and incompetence, but it is not lost on me that there is an inevitability to his words. It is a conclusive statement that signal Aleksander’s deeper understanding and feelings in the nature of humanity.

Aleksander sees no other viable option for leadership aside from himself and it’s understandable why he believes that. In this passage, he says that someone has to lead and through that leadership they will be able to end “this” which I can infer is in reference to the war and the persecution of Grisha. He’s spent the past few centuries carrying the cause for Grisha liberation as one immortal man. Although we can imagine that there were many others that helped him along the way, at the end of the day, he is the only person who can continue the movement. So after witnessing atrocities, injustice and oppression, it is clear as to why he is so insistent on being the one to lead the country. Because after all these years, his motivation to liberate Grisha has never wavered and has remained strong even in the face of generations of incompetent and greedy monarchs.

However, this sentiment he reveals in Shadow and Bone hints at the greater anxiety he has about progress being lost and all of his efforts going to waste. Aleksander fundamentally does not believe in humanity and is cynical about their capacity to change, as such his goal is one that would position him as a constant figure who could oversee them for eternity. This anxiety is expanded upon in Ruin and Rising. In one passage, Aleksander verbalized what I believe to be his thesis statement as to why he is doing all of this.

Based on what he’s seen, the things he has experienced and the setbacks he’s faced over the course of centuries, he looks to the future and sees the death of mankind. He sees the death of his people, his nation, his family and friends and stares directly into the abyss of eternity. But continuously living in a thousand moments for hundreds of years is something that wears away at his spirit. He is deeply cynical (for good reason) and has lost any faith that the otkazat’sya will ensure that the hard earned progress he achieved stays for good.

His sacrifices and struggles are lost to time while his souls is ground into dust. As such, he must always be there to make sure that progress is maintained. Aleksander only trusts in himself to carry the movement forwards and thus, bears the burden of liberation alone. While he’s not entirely wrong to be cynical, and concerned for the future. He ultimately condemns himself to a life of loneliness and ache that causes him to desperately cling to the possibility of an immortal companion.

This is why I believe that an ending where he stays immortal would not solve his problem. Even if the Grisha are liberated and they find a place in Ravkan society, the anxiety that it will all be taken away one day will still plague him. These fears push him towards control because he bears the weight of an entire community and cannot risk leaving their safety to the uncertainty of a future without him.

*sigh* Trust me, I can’t believe what I’m about to say either but..

There was a scene in Ruin and Rising where…Mal actually makes a pretty good point.

I know, I know. I don’t get it. I just know there’s no way to live without pain—no matter how long or short your life is. People let you down. You get hurt and do damage in return. (…) That’s weakness. That’s a man afraid.” (Ruin and Rising, Chapter 14)

Aleksander can talk all he wants about how he’s been able to bear immortality, but he cannot conceal the fact that this apathy and detachment comes from a place of fear. Therefore, he must confront that fear of pain in order to overcome the obstacle of his eternal suffering.

“Why?” The word was a wail, a child’s cry. “Why would you do this? How can you do this? Don’t you feel any of it?”

“I have lived a long life, rich in grief. My tears are long since spent. If I still felt as you do, if I ached as you do, I could not have borne this eternity.” (Ruin & Rising, Chapter 15)

This passage occurs just after Aleksander kills Alina’s mother figure Ana Kuya and her mentor Botkin. He uses this act to make a point to Alina about the futility of seeking connections with others, but in doing so reveals the fear Mal speaks of.

“I remembered the Darkling’s words to me: There are no others like us, Alina. And there never will be.” (Ruin & Rising, Chapter 4)

If him and Alina pursued a relationship, it would still be only them. Aleksander is correct in saying that there are no others like them, but at the same time reiterates why that fact is extremely depressing. “And there never will be.”? So what does that leave us with? The idea that they’ll only have each other for the rest of time and that there is nothing they can do about it? I don’t want this ending for them. If they only have each other, they’ll only descend into a cycle of misery just as Aleksander and Baghra had before. Accepting Aleksander’s terms would mean accepting a life far removed from the community they both desire. Although Aleksander has accepted this isolation for the sake of Grisha liberation, his actions are still motivated by desperation and control.

It’s an understandable mindset to have, but what if there was another way?

The Other Way

My ideal ending is one where Alina and Aleksander cease to be immortal. Not that they lose their powers, just their immortality, placing them at a similar level as the other Grisha. Also, (it might be fanciful but) I imagine a scenario where their powers are halved and randomly distributed to people across Ravka just as Alina’s were in Ruin and Rising. There must be a renewal of hope as the new Sun and Shadow and summoners manifest across the country and thus, a responsibility placed upon Alina and Aleksander to teach them. Perhaps with Alina’s newfound hope and Aleksander’s wisdom, they could potentially educate the new generations about themselves and the history of Grisha. Making sure that the mistakes of the past and their sacrifices are not lost to time.

What if overseeing Ravka for eternity was never the answer? What if there is wisdom to be found in experiencing grief and pain from one’s connections to others? For Darklina to accept eternity would be for them to accept apathy and codependence and I don’t think that would solve their problems. I have always liked the idea of two lonely individuals finding a place in a community they were removed from for a long time. Aleksander created the Little Palace, but so long as he numbs himself and detaches himself from potential pain, he can never truly join the people he loves.

It’s just that I don’t think Alina joining him in eternity is the true solution to the problem. I feel that in order for there to be a “happy ending” or at least a satisfying one, Aleksander must come to terms with his cynicism about humanity and perhaps regain hope for the future. I like the idea of them coming together and deciding they want to give the new generations of Grisha what they never had and let their community embrace them in full. Maybe I’m being a bit fanciful (considering that I don’t really suggest alternative to the leadership situation in Ravka) but I think that on an emotional “happy ending” level I think that the two of them deserve to not only find belonging, but to choose to have faith in future generations.

[blue-razzslushie]

My HL AU Rewrite: Ancient Magic [Analysis/Deep Dive] 🔥

I've been real excited to post this onto my page for a hot second. I wanted to wait until I finished getting my references drawn, since I've had art decline and was trying to focus on the MC drawings I did; and all of my ideas so far strung together to become fluid and tie together. I love doing things like this and in the future I will be adding what is written here into my art and lore As in I'm going to start making lil comics and such instead of just drawing my MC over and over. so without further ado, let's get started! !

[PLEASE NOTE: what is here isn't canon nor apart of Hogwarts Legacy or Harry Potter Lore. So if something isn't Accurate, don't attack me for it ^^]

Part 1: A Spiritual Start

So even in the Canon story of Hogwarts Legacy, we never really got a full beginning on how the magic existed in the first place. And to also be fair, I've basically had nothing as well. but I came up with a small idea of its origin, but honestly it most likely to be susceptible to change if I find any more ideas! But I would love to hear if anyone else has a good idea!

As already known, since the beginning of ancient times witches and wizards have been known to be able to act upon and hone magic. However, the soul of a witch and wizard controls how powerful and how controlled the magic is. In special cases, EXTREMELY rare, special cases; the soul of a Witch or Wizard is so strong, so powerful, they can dig further into their magic capabilities then others. Otherwise known as Ancient magic.

This magic is a bit different then the typical spells, They connect directly to the user themself. The magic adapting to the personality, emotions, quirks, and overall mindset of the individual. For example, someone who's creative that has the ancient magic ability could have the power to create structures or make their ideas come to life at the blink of an eye. . . So on so fourth. One thing I might add, These individuals practically have no control over what magic they possess. Only way it may change is if the mind of the user drastically changed over time, or evolves in any way shape or form. Since the magic is imbedded into the vessel of who posseses it, it's almost an instinctual tool.

Part 2: the Tale of 4 "Saints" and a "Sinner"

just as in the canon lore of the Keepers, they all had the ability to see and use Ancient magic. Percival Rackham, Charles Rookwood, Niamh Fitzgerald, and San Bakar all had about the same mindset, they had about the same beliefs, goals, and morals. Therefore, Their Ancient magic was about the same. They had some differences, for example Niamh Fitzgerald had a somewhat more creative personality then the others. Which further on in the game goes into when she made her unique trial in the world of a storybook. But, Nevertheless with their shared ability with ancient magic they concluded they way they used it was the only way to use it, if at all. They all had a small fear, a caution if you will about this ability apparently nobody else had. So they were cautious and very rarely used it, however. . . Remember how I said the magic is instinctually used earlier? That came in hand when they stumbled across a small hamlet enduring a drought, they had the ability to try and help. . . So why shouldn't they? They proceeded to use their magic to fix the drought, unbenouced to them a small girl was looking at them in awe. She could see what they did. . .

That girl, Isadora Morganach, came to Hogwarts late as a fifth year later on in life. And coincidentally shared the ability to see ancient magic. Once this came to the attention of the Keepers, they took her under their wing to teach her about the "Proper way" to use Ancient magic. It worked for awhile, Isadora being persuaded to think the way the keepers do, therefore producing a rather similar type of magic to the older users. This all changed after Isadora's fathers depression got worse, taking a rather big mental toll on Isadora. As previously stated, The mental health and thought process of a user of ancient magic ties into the way the magic is used. After many attempts of trying to convince the Keepers to experiment with their magic to see if they could find a way to help her father, Isadora gave up. . . And began to doubt the keepers as friends, and also in the process began doubting their beliefs, making her own in how the magic should be used.

Now with a poor and fragile mental state Isadora currently had and on top of that beginning to experiment with a uncharted and unpredictable type of magic was. . . Not a very good combination to say the least. So once she managed to make the spell to "take away pain" it wasn't as full proof as originally expected. (And as you know the spell ends up taking away ALL emotions). The lore continues as canon, The keepers fight with isadora on the use of the magic, Isadora makes the repository, experiments on students, gets killed by San Bakar. Then the keepers make the trials and safeguard the magic and yada yada Bullshit. Despite making the trials, for all of their life and hundreds of years after, they never again heard of someone who possessed the power they had. That was until a black haired child with a resting bitch face entered the Map Chamber.

Part 3: The Tragedy of a Star Child

-Star Child // Adjective

"These children are naturally gifted, intuitive, often seem naive, often struggle with over-stimulation, and have a very pure heart."

Now onto my favorite part: Addressing the magic of my MC; Rory! I tried to put as much detail as possible!! And this part has the ART REFERENCES I MADE OH YEAHHH!!!

Rory from a young age always was a bit. . .different then others. Not just with ancient magic, as well as thinking differently and having almost nothing in common with people their age. [I swear to Merlin I'm not trying to make them a "not like other girls" MC just letting y'all know!!]. While others preferred to play tag or play hopscotch on the sidewalk, Rory always preferred to be alone, Reading books or just drawing. They developed their own ancient magic ability at a young age unbenouced to them, since until they met Professor Fig they didn't even know magic really existed. But their magic acts were always small, for example being able to make their candlelight brighter if they were reading in a dark place or at night. It was small things, mainly because they had no experience or knowledge of what they were doing. This went on for years, through the family split up to the Orphanage days, all the way until Professor Fig came into their life, then everything changed.

They learned about magic, got to know a few spells themself and a few offhand things like potions and their ingredients. Then on the way to Hogwarts, The dragon attack, the Portkey container, Gringotts. . . things began to take a different turn. With the new stresses of keeping Goblins, Ashwinders, Poachers and Other creepies away. Rory's magic began to develop, evolve to help them. It became like fire, a destructive yet protective force they could use to help defend themself. The choice of fire also represents Rory's personality, Fire is frequently used to symbolize wisdom, knowledge, and power as well as the emotions of anger. Rory themself is a smart kid, and despite that they always have had severe anger issues and have been prone to flying off the handle at times. When their emotions directly effect their magic, it goes unstable. Harming and burning anything around including themself.

As shown here

When their magic is controlled, they use their wand to create Cyclone fires if you will. Like the fire attack Poacher Executors use in battle. Over the course of the year they've managed to learn to control their anger a bit better and stay calm even when under the stresses of their now daily life. As well as figure out more ways to lie to their friends when they show up to class with clothes scorched.

FightOrFlight shipping my Beloved (I finally figured out a good ship name for Imelda and Rory so YAY)

I personally have little Headcanons for Rory regarding the fire, like when they are Agitated they can "huff out" blue bits of flames or smoke, Like a comical Dragon or something. >^<

But that's all I have on my rewrite so far, PLEASE LEMME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!!! :]

[key-rk]

Do you have an idea for your own Darkwing Duck arc?

I love your artwork especially the one with Drake and LP fishing! It looks straight out of a watercolor graphic novel. You’ve got the facial expressions of Drake’s grumpy but endearing personality down to a T.

AHH THANKYOU SMM!!! I REALLY APPRECIATE IT :D

I had a lot of fun drawing that piece, I'm glad you enjoyed it (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

--

As for the question, that's interesting to think about. I don't often think about more potential stories for the Darkwing universe, aside little bits and pieces here and there (mainly a long overdue holiday for the mallard family that doesn't result in fighting crime–they deserve a little break, I think about that cruise Dw wanted to take Lp on in 'All's Fahrenheit in love and war' all the time )

BUT.

There is ONE potential thing I wish was explored and that's a final/ third showdown with Taurus Bulba. I've rambled on about it in a previous post, but Bulba is such an important villain in the show–having a genuine impact on the cast. Not to mention at the end of 'The Steerminator', Bulba says something along the lines of 'This isn't the last you'll see of me', INTENDING we'd get to see more, but that never happened.

I think it would've been very interesting to conclude the story of Taurus Bulba, especially with how 'The Steerminator' ended. We were shown that both Darkwing and Gosalyn struggled with his return, both having a moment of panic when seeing him (which is sososo interesting)

BUT ALSO. Before he became part robot, he was a lot more rational and calculated–which in some way made him a lot more dangerous than let's say megavolt. He's already a lot more threatening than any other villain of the show. But in 'The Steerminator', he's lost parts of himself, being a lot easier to anger, he acts more on impulse. But he's a lot stronger physically. Pairing that with Darkwing's fear of getting Gosalyn hurt or worse, (and kind of dying himself) + Gosalyn's trauma regarding him–it would be incredibly interesting to see just how'd they'd deal with him for a third time. To deal with Taurus Bulba whose only goal is to get to Darkwing and potentially succeed because of how much he knows about them; their fears and weaknesses.

I really do think it could have been such a cool way to end the show, or just have an episode regarding Bulba's final arc and explore Dw's and Gosalyn's characters further. (I know Bulba appears in the comics, but I'm not really counting those here.)

Mmmmmmm

Not much else, though I do wonder what the transition period looked like for Drake after the Darkly Dawns the Duck. He'd spent so long alone, lowk isolating himself (man didn't even have a house 😮‍💨) and suddenly he lived in a neighborhood with a family? I believe that would've been difficult, ESPECIALLY for him. He's shown throughout the show that he finds people to be difficult to be around, not to mention his tendencies to overwork and disconnectment from the identity of 'Drake Mallard' (a clash reunion reference to where he lost his mask. He doesn't particularly value himself without the costume due to years of being unimportant and hardly acknowledged) and in 'Water Way to Go' he claimed to "get manically depressed on the weekends" (do what u will with that)

I know cartoon wise, they wouldn't explore that aspect of Drake re-adjusting to civilian life again, but I still like to imagine it. I think Drake's character is soso interesting and that little period specifically could have been intriguing. I don't think I've come across any fic delving into that yet either 😞.

(bonus detail: Drake actually didn't have his temper as a child. In his backstory episodes, he doesn't really possess it. In clash reunion he is kinda full of himself, but he's not angry to the point of lashing out at someone. This flaw only develops after he'd become an adult and lived in the tower alone for who knows how long 💀)

RIGHT WELL THAT'S IT. I REALLY LIKE TALKING ABOUT THIS SHOW, APOLOGIES FOR HOW LONG THIS IS 🙏

[underwaterspaghetti314]

Long post watch out.

Alright. I’ve finally given in and found my dream Clonegrim scenario. I wasn’t big on Clonegrim for a while because seemingly everyone wanted him to come back just to make a Chaos Primarch into a Loyalist (also I’m not a huge fan of the primarchs in 40k in general but that’s an issue for another time), but I had an idea that I actually really like.

I want Daemon Fulgrim to kill him.

My thought process is this: Every major thing with Fulgrim (that I know of) seems to focus on hurting his pride. That time Fabius Bile made a bunch of Ferrus Manus clones because Fulgrim wanted to convince him to join Chaos hurt him because no matter how many times he tried, his best friend and brother refused to join him. Ancient Rylanor said he’d rather die than join the monsters Fulgrim and the Emperor’s Children became. He even managed to turn some Thousand Sons marines against him, and they all decided it was preferable to commit suicide by virus bomb than to let Fulgrim live (the Thousand Sons might have even just wanted him hurt because they almost definitely knew the bomb couldn’t kill a daemon). Everywhere Fulgrim turns, someone is either calling him a shadow of his former self or just trying to kill him. Even his fellow Daemon Primarchs hate his guts.

Now for my imagined scenario. After 10,000 years of this, it starts to weigh on him a bit. He wonders if he really did make the right decision. He wonders if the perfection he thought he had achieved is actually a lie. Maybe he’s imperfect. Maybe he’s an abhorrent monster. Maybe, even after 10,000 years of being the chosen primarch of the god of perfection, he’s still not good enough. And as if to punctuate this point, along comes the version of him everyone else wants him to be. The version of him that people remember and wonder what happened. He’s an incredibly skilled swordsman, a brilliant military leader, and has the highest quality of character (by Imperium standards at least).

He approaches, blade drawn, armies supporting him, and delivers a magnificent speech to Daemon Fulgrim about how horrible he’s become. He swears to strike him down, restore Fulgrim’s name to a place of honor, and most importantly he swears that he will never become anything like the creature Daemon Fulgrim has become. Daemon Fulgrim, who would ordinarily be hamming it up and mocking his opponents, is stone-faced serious. Every word from his idealized self stings. The Emperor’s Children he has with him are conflicted between the two versions of their gene father, not to mention being quite outgunned by the Imperial army.

Then the fight begins, and Clonegrim gets some good hits in. Daemon Fulgrim is at his lowest point yet, and he’s feeling a mix of panic and fury. With his back against the wall and 10,000 years worth of doubt clawing away at his mind, he finally starts giving it his all, and he rips Clonegrim apart. He destroys him so thoroughly and brutally that he remembers who he is. He’s a Daemon Primarch! He has the power of a god flowing through his veins! The “ideal” Fulgrim that was before him was weak. He barely stood a chance. And now he and his sons are reinvigorated, and begin to lay waste to the Imperial army in a euphoric frenzy of violence. To conclude this twisted version of a depression story, Fulgrim has struck down the version everyone wants him to be and has embraced who he is like never before. He’ll never let another person hurt his self-image again. He’s learned that he really is perfect just the way he is. Now he just needs to demonstrate that for everyone else.

—Some post hypothetical additions:

Since a lot of people like Clonegrim, it seems a bit rude or even mean-spirited to just kill him off without giving him any lasting significance outside of being yet another character’s vessel to learn about themself. So he’s gotta get something here, but he still needs to die. My personal favorite idea is him managing to get Fulgrim to drop the last Cronesword (he has that in this hypothetical this is my not-quite-fanfic-yet so I can do what I want) and maybe in his last moments telling some Eldar/Ynnari to take it (they’re also here. I can do what I want. Maybe Yvraine is keeping an eye on Guilliman’s brother for him or she’s lurking around the battlefield with the express purpose of getting her hands on the sword idk.) so that he can at least be partially responsible for a critical blow to Slaanesh.

Fulgrim killing Clonegrim would put him up with Leman Russ for most primarch fatalities (I think. I believe it was implied that Russ killed 2 and 11 but I’m not sure). I’m not counting almosts and banishments back to the warp. I’m talking kills that stick. This would also make him the second primarch to kill himself, although not quite in the same way Curze did it. I think both of these are pretty funny.

If none of what I’ve spent a long-ass time yapping about comes to pass, my second-best Clonegrim scenario is that he also falls to Chaos and then Fulgrim and Fulgrim can make out and be Chaos buddies.

[cha-ra-nui]

2024 Retrospective

Part 6: Anime and manga that may or may not be 30 years old

“Jujutsu Kaisen” concluded this year, and my feelings are mixed to say the least. There is a lot of good in this manga, but from the very beginning reading it wasn’t anywhere near as rewarding as watching the anime adaptation. Jujutsu Kaisen has always been terrible at explaining itself. A friend of mine had no idea how Gojo’s abilities work until I showed him the scene in the anime where they’re explained, and that’s honestly just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to badly explained lore that make JJK a much more exhausting read than it should be. To some degree, I feel like that is part of what happened in the final arc. Right till the end I wasn’t sure what the stakes were exactly, how or why certain things could or did happen, or in some chapters even what I was looking at in the first place. And I feel like MAPPA will take this messy manga and actually get a pretty decent final season out of it. As it stands though, the last third of this manga is hard to follow, which often leads to scenes and twists that made me feel like I missed a chapter. Add to that the inexplicable decision to kill pivotal characters off-screen, multiple times, and this manga ended up leaving a rather sour taste in my mouth. It’s not just that the writing and artwork become worse as the last arc proceeds, it’s hard to shake the impression that Akutami Gege did not enjoy writing this story anymore and hated his own characters because of that. And I’m not sure how much of that self-defeating spite an adaptation can fix. Since I finally started to kick my depression’s ass back, I was actually able to watch quite a few anime this year, so this won’t just be a Jujutsu Kaisen segment this time.

My favorite of which has got to be Oshi No Ko. With the way the first episode was hyped up I expected not to enjoy this show much, because I don’t think it is that good of a first episode right up until the last few minutes where the show finally reveals its true nature. After that, what got me on board is the brilliant character writing and Doga Kobu’s stellar adaptation work. This show is a feast for film nerds.

Dandadan is the other big release I want to mention. It came out just when Jujutsu Kaisen ended, and if Jujutsu Kaisen felt like a story the author just wanted to be done with, Dandadan’s first season felt like a show the studio would never stop wanting to make. The mere premise of this manga is already insane in the best ways, but it’s also very well written so far, and I’ve had enough of shounen falling short of their early promise because the writing isn’t up to par in the long run for a while. But I don’t want it to seem like I enjoyed Dandadan solely because it felt like such a perfect antithesis to the Jujutsu Kaisen ending and came out around the same time. Because Dandadan is truly something special. I’ve heard a story about the editor telling Dandadan’s author to read shojo manga because he needed to learn how to write emotions. And the thing is: it worked. Dandadan is emotionally intelligent in a way Shounen Jump manga usually aren’t. For how loud and ridiculous of a show this can be, its character writing is surprisingly grounded and subtle when it needs to be, and it’s incredibly satisfying for it. Now, throw subtlety out the window, who needs complex character writing when you can just be ridiculously over the top instead? Yeah, I read Blue Lock. It is A LOT. This manga, on so many levels, should be bad. It’s utterly ridiculous, the dialogue is straight out of a fanfic sometimes, they don’t have the rights to use the names of real clubs so the German one is called “Bastard München” because of course you’d just give it derogatory name, and two of the characters have what I can only describe as an actual romance spin off. This manga wants the shipping audience, and it wants it badly. So, is it good? I want to say no so badly. But the thing is, it manages to stay enjoyable long after the novelty wears off. Maybe the German team has a hilarious name, but the German characters throw in some choice German insults that couldn’t have gotten in there without consulting a native speaker. It misses a week of publication sometimes because the author is doing research. The stupid insanity of this manga isn’t because it is a lazy work, it’s purposely crafted to be so based on a solid foundation. The characters say insane shit all the time, are often a heightening of an archetype more so than a subversion of one, but when it needs to deliver a character moment, they land. Maybe it is hilarious that a Shounen ship gets a spin off manga, but it got there because these two side characters were so compelling in just a few appearances that it made sense to tell the story again from their perspective. For all of Blue Lock’s objective flaws (never mind its godawful adaptation moving at two frames per minute), this is the most fun I had reading manga this year.

And that is saying something because the other three I worked through are actually great.

Tower Of God is a manhwa I tried to get into almost a decade ago, but I didn’t like the Webtoon format and never got far. I eventually binged it after watching the first couple of episodes of its second season that ran this summer, and now I get why everyone hates this adaptation so much. The artwork in this manhwa is absolutely stunning in later chapters, and the anime just doesn’t do it justice in the slightest. And I wished it got a better adaptation, because I genuinely loved reading it. It’s a well written story with a compelling central mystery and a strong emotional core, and it’s that emotional core I found myself appreciating the most about it. The characters are holding this story together in the rare sections when the plot isn’t. Khun especially has wormed his way up my list of favorite characters in anime, to no one’s surprise, but the entire cast is strong here.

My only regret is that I didn’t read it earlier, and the same can be said for the two finished manga I read this year.

I feel like I need to preface the next paragraph with a note on the author, who’s by all accounts a shitty person I want nothing to do with. Consider this the strongest possible condemnation. This is a case where I can separate the art from its artist, and not a case where giving the work a platform empowers the author to do more harm (Harry Potter fans, this is about you), but if you can’t, that is perfectly valid. If you do end up interested in this story though, pirate it.

Now, with that out of the way.

I would like to blame Tatsuya Kitani for the rabbit hole I fell down in November, but as good as “Chained” is, that was really just a reminder to finally sit down and read Rurouni Kenshin, as has been on my to-do list for over a decade. At this point I caught up with the new anime adaptation, watched the live action movies, and read the manga. And my takeaway is: Shounen does not get much better than this. I don’t even know where to begin, it’s just such a tightly written story. Every single character is at least likeable or compelling, and in most cases both. Every antagonist shows up at the perfect moment to pose the perfect narrative challenge befitting the current state of the characters. The character writing is extremely effective; by the time most Shounen would still be establishing basic character traits Rurouni Kenshin had me fully convinced that I know and like these people, and that these characters who met just a few chapters ago have grown to care for each other. The fight scenes are also great, every move is deliberate, and the fights give insight into the characters’ mental state, which often becomes a deciding factor. A character who doesn’t value their own life might make reckless moves that can then be punished, or a character might hesitate and lose the upper hand because they are bogged down by guilt. It made me think about that infamous shounen trope that is “the power of friendship” in a new light, because this is what the trope was like before it became a trope. Friendship has power in Rurouni Kenshin because Kenshin needs a reason to value his own life, and his friends provide him with one: they would suffer if he died. That’s something that makes Rurouni Kenshin extremely interesting to watch (or read) in general, just how much of its influence is recognizable in later shounen. Of which Gintama really takes the cake. From the way Gintoki’s and Kenshin’s backstories are set up and slowly revealed, to the specter of past atrocities haunting them in the present, and the theme of moving on from war. Even Gintama’s post-alien-invasion-Edo is a mirror to Ruouni Kenshin’s historical Meiji setting. (Don’t take this as an excuse to call Gintama derivative though, it really isn’t.) And yet, no matter how influential Ruouni Kenshin was, it still feels unique in the Shounen landscape. I thought I read too many Shounen to get surprised at how dark and morally complex they are allowed to be, I thought the boundaries had been well and truly pushed by second and third generation titles, and yet here I was, in 2024, stunned at the dark twists and moral complexity of a 30-year-old Shounen Jump Manga. So yeah, it’s great. It was also lucky with its (recent) adaptations. The live action movies are easily the best of any shounen I’ve ever seen, it’s not even close. The soundtrack did not need to slap that hard, and the sword fights are awesome. They essentially made five historical martial arts films with just enough shounen nonsense not to distract from how dark of a story it is they’re telling. And the new anime aired a season this year, so there you go, this 30-year-old manga is actually relevant in 2024. I think this adaptation is a bit too clean to sell the darker aspects of the story, and it’s loyal to a fault. Some scenes have odd pacing because they didn’t understand that manga panels don’t make for good storyboards. Some jokes don’t land well for that reason either and some of the humor in the manga hasn’t aged well to begin with. I don’t think it’s a bad adaptation, but it could be better. On the plus side, Saito Soma is my favorite voice actor, and he was inspired casting for Kenshin. And, well, Tatsuya Kitani made an opening for it.

Now for the other manga I have no such excuse. It concluded eight years ago and has no adaptation in the works as far as I’m aware. Still, it was part of my 2024 so I’ll sing its praises here. Usogui is exactly as good as its small but incessantly loyal fanbase always said it was. The only translation I’ve found is a mess and then some for the first third or so, making this a much harder read than it should be, and it does take an unreasonable amount of time to set its stage. But once the stage is set, and the pieces start falling into place, it stops being a good read with some asterisks and becomes utterly impossible to put down. Now, would I recommend it? Depends. How much time do you have? Because that “unreasonable amount of time” Usogui takes to set itself up, which largely coincides with the worst translation errors, is 200 chapters. This is a 49-volume manga, and while it might be a 10/10 once you hit volume 20, getting to that point means reading through some borderline incomprehensible dialogue detracting from an otherwise good but not always great read. It’s a bit like recommending Gintama. If you have the patience to stick with it, chances are, this is going to be one of your favorite Manga. But if you go into it expecting to immediately get the 10/10 experience everyone told you it’d be, you will be disappointed. I for one enjoyed the early arcs enough to stick with it, and I might even have given this manga a high score is it had stayed at that level (translation errors not withstanding), but once everything started coming together and I started to realize just deep the main character’s plans really went it dawned on me that this would make my favorites list if it only stuck the landing. Which it does from what I heard, but as of the end of the year I have 150 chapters left to read, so I can’t definitively say yet.

[a-student-out-of-time]

Teach me your massive writing nerd ways, senpai!! 😫

(For real though, hope you get better soon ^^)

//Thank you ^^

//I'm not really an expert in this department, but here's Sixteen Steps on how I oversee the Fangan writing process:

Decide on your story's theme first and foremost. What's the major conflict? What ideas are being put forward and challenged? How will your Killing Game's story, character and environment reflect these? Are you sticking with the classics (Hope vs. Despair, Truth vs. Lies), something similar but new (Trust vs. Doubt, Growth vs. Stagnation, Redemption vs. Corruption) or are you going with something completely different? All of these can and should play a role on the nature of the Killing Game itself.

When you've decided on what kind of story you want to tell, work on the characters. Your characters shouldn't just be there to die and crack jokes, they should be an active part of the story and their arcs should ideally reflect the conflicts and themes. You also are not bound by the archetypes used in canon and can vary it up however you want.

Character arcs: Have them. Even with characters whose fates are sealed and they aren't going to die, there's no reason not to allow them some degree of growth and change in the time that they do have. Their arcs can even naturally conclude with their deaths in trials or the like, which can vary from them choosing to save someone else to one final act of spite against the rest of the group.

You are not bound by the almighty outline. You're also going to need at least a general idea of where you want your story to go, but it's okay to provide yourself with a degree of flexibility. Who's going to survive? Who isn't? Why? What are the motives? Are they doing anything besides just faffing around waiting for the next murder? Maybe your ideas will change, just make sure you can smoothly integrate those new ideas without upsetting the flow and clues you've established.

Small moments are more important than big ones. Moments of characterization in the plot, like vulnerability, small confrontations, even casually-provided pieces of dialogue can do more for your characters than just having them die horribly/dramatically or them revealing something major in or after the trial. FTEs should be supplemental, not the place you dump all their best/worst character qualities.

Characters should communicate. You shouldn't define characters purely by their relationship to the protagonist or to one other character. See how many dynamics and interactions you can come up with, and how you might be able to include those into the story. Diversifying interactions opens up a lot of potential new dynamics and story opportunities.

It's okay to be a LITTLE self-indulgent. I say this because I got flak for saying writers shouldn't let their self-indulgence overwhelming their fangans. I will clarify that it's okay if you want to include something just because you want to include it, as I have in my own writing, but if you want a murder method/execution/confrontation/what have you in the story, please at least integrate it in a way that makes sense. If you don't, it's going to feel jarring at best and actively harmful and disruptive to the story at worst.

Your setting should feel like a part of the story. The place where your cast is trapped shouldn't feel like a featureless prison with setups for murders, it should have an active role in the situation and clue us into the story. Is it run-down and grungy? Unnaturally clean for an inhabited space? Is it dark? Is it colorful and lively? What's keeping them from leaving? What do they find as they explore?

Avoid stereotypes about mental health. If you're going to use DID, Schizophrenia, Autism, OCD, depression, PTSD, Bipolar Disorder, any personality disorder, etc., PLEASE do your research before you even think about writing a character with any of these. Mental health being equated with violence is grossly exaggerated; people with these conditions are more likely to be victims of violence, not the perpetrators. Please don't make a character built out of negative stereotypes just for the sake of drama or making the story "interesting." A good character is vastly more interesting than another Genocider Syo knockoff.

Idiot Plots are Unacceptable. There's a fine line between a character making a bad decision because of pride, fear, miscalculation, or any sort of understandable flaw, and them making one because the story needs them to in order for a murder to happen. Your characters can make all the right decisions that they reasonably could, and still ultimately fail. That often makes the antagonists seem much smarter and more threatening.

Do not overly focus on the rival. If you've ever heard someone say that villains are more interesting than heroes, that person is probably just bad at writing heroes. Your protagonist does not have to be boring and your rival doesn't have to, and preferably shouldn't, be the most important and well-written character in the story. A good rival challenges the protagonist and serves as their foil in some way, but that also means the protagonist can challenge them in other ways; e.g. Byakuya has no chance of solving Trial 4 because he couldn't even conceive of a situation where someone would sacrifice themselves for another.

Suffering does not equate to sympathy. Yes, a killing game would be a miserable experience, but just making the characters miserable and putting them through the wringer constantly, with no chance for them to breathe or get any kind of victory often feels more exhausting than sympathetic or interesting. This extends beyond fangans and into writing in general; if you've established that a character is never going to succeed at anything they do, people are going to emotionally check out of the story because there's no reason to get invested that something might go wrong.

The mastermind should reflect one side of the conflict. For the driving theme, whichever side the protagonist is on, the mastermind should represent the opposite. For extra thematic flair, maybe have their backgrounds parallel each other in some manner and see how their lives too very different paths as a result. If they don't, they're going to feel very disconnected from the story and like they had no reason to do this at all.

Ask yourself what kind of mastermind works best for your story. Do you want someone loud and bombastic? Quiet and scheming? Angry and bitter? A deluded paragon who thinks they're doing good with their killing game? Someone not even human? When you have it in mind, work backwards and ask how this person would then decide to become the mastermind of this killing game in the first place.

If you're stuck, try reverse-engineering. A lot of us have the outcome of a story in mind first but aren't sure how we get there, especially with murders in these games. I find the best way is to work backwards, starting with the outcome (basically the Closing Argument) and scattering all the pieces of the murder scene around to where it becomes a mystery. Motivations, of course, should be the first thing on your mind and why they targeted a particular character.

EXECUTIONS ARE NOT A STORY. This is probably the biggest hurtle I see with a lot of aspiring fangan writers, where they focus very much on the deaths and executions over everything else. Your fangan can't just be a paper-thin plot designed to get us from one execution to the other, it needs an actual story and characters to keep us engaged. Furthermore, your executions shouldn't just be spectacle, they should have a purpose in the narrative and provide character insights in and of themselves, whether it's ironic punishments or some final revelation about the character.

//And there you go, some tips for writing a fangan. Hope these help! ^^

[13eyond13]

Unpopular opinion: This is gonna be a little mean but I gotta get it out, so fair warning for being a bit negative.

Despite the amount of fanart it gets, the DN fandom does not care abt Rem/Misa beyond superficial/aesthetic reasons or using the ship as a tool to write Misa out of the story. I rarely ever see DN fans actually analyze the ship, their dynamic or how they would interract as a couple in any amount of actual depth.

Fanon!Rem/Misa also has no chemistry bc Rem is a non-character that most writers use as a tool for Misa's development (which is nearly always used as a tool to write Misa out of a L/Light story) rather than an actual person with her own complex thoughts and feelings.

I'd honestly prefer the fandom just admitted they don't care abt femslash DN ships instead of pretending they do. If I see one more person superficially say "Misa should have left Light's ungrateful ass and ended up with her monster gf!!" I might actually lose it.

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

Hmm! I will go with an agree/neutral on this one, maybe? I don't think my feelings on it are quite as strong as yours, nor do I think EVERYONE is only shipping Remisa or caring about DN femslash in a fake way (I know of a few people who have strong genuine feelings about Remisa and have made pretty thoughtful in-depth fan stuff about Rem and Misa before). However I do agree that sometimes fans do just want to try to write Misa out of things because she's "getting in the way" of Lawlight or annoying them or depressing them with her one-sided obsession over Light, so try to find her another character who actually has feelings for her to pair off with, and Rem is obviously the one in canon most devoted to her.

I wonder too if maybe Remisa is primarily explored through fanart and aesthetics because that's kind of the best part of the ship in some ways (I feel like the look of them together and the idea of the ship is a lot more compelling to me sometimes than how they actually interact with each other in canon, haha). I'm not personally that into Remisa because I find Rem boring/frustratingly written for all the reasons you stated, and I think I'd feel exactly the same way about it if it was a mlm ship, so I don't know if it's 100% just because it's wlw that people don't care about it as much as some of the mlm ships in the series, either.

Mostly I think fans should just ship the stuff they're actually interested in and explore the characters they want to explore and not try to force it... not sure I'd conclude that all DN fans are faking their interest in wlw ships and Remisa, but I do agree that sometimes people seem to ship Remisa just to "get Misa out of the way." And it doesn't really seem like the answer to all of Misa's problems to me just to get her together with Rem instead of Light, either

[send me opinions and I'll rate them]

[presidentdisastraofgallifrey]

Judging Doctor Who: Twelfth Doctor

Disclaimer: this is all in good fun and I don't take fandom seriously

Good episodes I like

Deep Breath - The t-rex is a little random, but the robot plot is a delightful setup for a new dynamic. Also beginning of Missy's first arc!

Robot of Sherwood - It's so fun and weird and charming, and he's so grumpy about it

Mummy on the Orient Express - the mystery is intriguing and I love them fighting but refusing to acknowledge that's what they're doing

Flatline - excellent silly monster of the week story

The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar - Everything about this is so ridiculous and delightful. It's a great daleks episode! Missy stops planes just to get Clara's attention! She casually murders people because she's having fun being evil! The Doctor throws a depression party by breaking time travel rules! He's so full of nihilism but can't quit compassion! I kinda ship Missy and Clara I think, in a really messed up way

Under the Lake/Before the Flood - YES, appropriate use of time travel!! Go solve the mystery in the past!

The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived - One of my all time favorite arcs. The tragedy of an act of kindness destroying her, the way she can't hold all her memories, the way she stops caring but finds a reason to again. It's so sad! But so compelling!

The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion - I always thought this felt like it was missing a third backstory episode, but even so the entire situation is wonderful. And the Osgoods are in this one!

Face the Raven/Heaven Sent/Hell Bent - Such a great arc ending for Clara, very Doctor-like of her to erase his memories and run away in a TARDIS. With Me as the ideal companion. Also first nu who use of Gallifrey that I approve of.

The Husbands of River Song - The whole thing is just so funny after so many stories of genuine emotion. He can't find a way to explain to her because he's too autistic caught off guard. That "hello, sweetie" kills me. Oh and they finally get their relationship concluding date night

The Return of Doctor Mysterio - I love the superhero theme, how lighthearted it is (despite actual brain stealing!), and the Doctor feels unusually Doctory for Twelve

The Pilot - Excellent intro for Bill

Smile - Delightfully creepy while being colorful and bright. Also, emoji horror

Knock Knock - silly but also horrifying and sad. Also, we should see Bill's school friends more

Oxygen - Delightfully anticapitalist, and I approve of the Doctor having to deal with a disability (even if the sonic sunglasses are cheating a bit)

Extremis - Another au episode! And the start of Missy's second arc!

The Eaters of Light - This one just has such a sweet sad tone and ending to it

Twice Upon a Time - It does give the Doctor some closure, and I like the idea of everyone's selves being saved like that. Also always here for the Doctor meeting himself!

Bad Episodes I like

Dark Water/Death in Heaven - Cyberpollen is ridiculous, I will always be mad about fridging Danny, and if he dies then Orson can't exist later. But it's here because this was such a great scheme and reveal for Missy!

Last Christmas - Not the most coherent and I always hate the hints at the end that maybe it was real, but I enjoyed it a lot. It's very creepy but sweet, and the fake out of the Doctor meeting old Clara really reveals his side of the companion trauma I think.

The Pyramid at the End of the World/The Lie of the Land - It was not a good decision to blind him then undo it, ok. It just wasn't. He should have stayed disabled until regeneration. But a lot of the plot was fun, especially the au bit, even if I'm not sure how Bill won made much sense.

World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls - I couldn't decide where to put this, tbh. There is so much wrong with it. It's a terrible ending for Bill, and bad timing since she felt like she was just starting to really settle in as a companion. It's also a terrible end to Missy's very good arc. But I like the tragedy of Bill spending years alone while the Doctor spends so little time, and for once it wasn't his fault. Also as much as I hate cybermen, this was a harrowing backstory and horrifying reveal.

Good episodes I don't like

In the Forest of the Night - I don't actually think this is a bad episode. I really like that the answer was plants protecting Earth and for once it wasn't an invasion. But the pacing is a bit slow and I thought having this revealed by speaking through a child like that was unnecessary (they should have deduced it)

Thin Ice - This episode is fine but didn't hold my attention well

Bad episodes I don't like

In the Dalek - This one was boring. And also it felt weird that Clara is suddenly a teacher but there's no line about her having a new job. Maybe they meant for it to be a time skip, but it felt jarring

Listen - Possibly my least favorite episode of the whole show. It makes no sense. They get no answers. Are these telepathic guidance circuits ever used again? And they absolutely should not be able to reach Gallifrey's past, right? I do like Orson Pink, though

Time Heist - Simultaneously confusing and dull

Kill the Moon - No. Just no. Not even worth the Moon is an egg jokes.

Sleep No More - Hate this ridiculous contrived plot, and hate even more the implication at the end that they didn't win anyway

Empress of Mars - It felt really slow to me for this kind of episode

Episodes that are kind of offensive

The Caretaker - The Doctor's attitude towards Danny is hypocritical, and unfair, and this only seems to happen with companions' Black boyfriends so I'm blaming the show for this writing choice

[flower-boi16]

So I'm bored today so let's list my favorite characters from The Owl House!

5. Camila

Caring and loving mother for Luz who just wanted to protect her daughter because she had a hard time growing up and didn't want Luz to go through the same. Easily one of my favorite animated parents ever!

4. Eda

She's funny but I also LOVE that she grows to care about Luz and King basically becomes a surrogate mother to them (actually she officially becomes King's mother which YES!!!) and her conflict with her sister was super interesting plus her development with her coming to terms with her curse after having to push everyone else away because of it was really great! Also eda's requiem. Eda's Requiem was an episode that did SO MUCH for Eda's character that I could make a whole post about it. So...ya.

3. King

Already talked about why I love this little guy so much though he isn't really my favorite anymore. Still love him though! He's super funny in season 1 and has a great arc in season 2, plus I love his sibling dynamic with Luz. Defiantly the most underrated character of the show imo.

1&2. Luz and Hunter

I couldn't really decide which character I liked more so I decided to just lump them together instead. Anyways, I love these two so much. First Luz, she starts off as a decent enough protagonist but quickly becomes more than that; I love her development in Witches Before Wizards and Enchanting Grom Fright in Season 1. Season 2 makes Luz into an even better protagonist, giving her more development in Seperate Tides and giving her an arc with Palisman. Not to mention her depression which was done incredibly well and makes perfect sense for her character, not to mention how realistic and relatable it is to a lot of people (including me). Oh Season 3 does a fantastic job of concluding her arc with the understood scene as well.

But what makes me truely love Luz is just how much I relate to her; I'm an autistic teenager with basically no friends at school who was a deep interest in media and stories, so seeing a story about a character on the autism spectrum being able to make real friends and find her own place REALLY hit hard with me. I could make a whole post about Luz but I'll do that another day.

Then there's Hunter; I also love him! I love his whole arc of a boy who was abused and indoctrinated into thinking he was doing the right thing only for his whole worldview to completely shatter knowing it was all a lie, but then being able to make real friends and stand up to his abuser in Thanks to Them. Any Sport in A Storm especially gives a lot of great development to Hunter showing how brainwashed he is and him realizing his mistake and fixing it, being able to make real connections with others his age.

I could go on about these two but again, those are ideas for other posts I'll make another day. Anyways, those are my top 5 favorite TOH characters, so...bye.

[ecargmura]

Paradox Live The Animation Episode 12 Review + Final Thoughts - Rap Is The Solution

I respect anyone who likes this episode and how it went out. There are things that I liked about it too, but I mainly found it cringe. I’m sorry! This was the silliest thing I’ve seen to the point that it got me covering my face in second hand embarrassment!

Like the premise for rescuing Kanata from the corrosion was so ridiculous. I thought it would be like what happened with Hajun, but it was so much different. What did they do? RAP IN FRONT OF HIM! Kanata is sad and depressed? Yeah, rapping in front of him to get him out of his funk is a GREAT IDEA, Allen. Gosh, from someone who was witnessing this from an omniscient perspective, they all looked so silly doing this. I know that it works for the sake of story and a feel-good moment, but the way that whole scene was executed was just so funny. Yeah, we have these teens, young adults and adults rapping in front of a distressed 19-year-old pretty boy in hopes that he feels better and moves on from Nayuta’s death. Heck, it’s only when Shiki starts talking to him that Kanata gets a reaction; despite that, why does Allen get all the credit? I mean, I like the Allen and Kanata ship, but it did seem unwarranted. Okay, I do admit that the rap was good despite how cheesy it was.

Mr. Scientist man just seemed like the typical hammy villain seeking world domination and other such bilge. He has been manipulating everything so that he can get a big reaction from phantometals. To be honest, he was such a generic villain that it felt like a waste for him to be voiced by Akira Ishida—he doesn’t even have a name! My favorite part is when Mr. Ramen man punches the daylights out of him. For the dude that’s been built up to be the true villain, he went out like that. Disappointing.

Speaking of Mr. Ramen man, he turns out to be the real Shura from BURAIKAN. Ha, I got it right. He is the true hero of this ordeal, not Allen. Shura confronts Mr. Scientist Guy and takes back Yasha’s phantometal. It was nice having confirmation and him helping out from behind the scenes, but how Yasha died was never fully seen or explained. He just died; how am I supposed to form an emotional connection with this fictional character if all I know about him is that he’s dead? Though, it was a bit silly that Iori reveals to his little brothers that Raimentei’s owner being Shura was so…out of place? But hey, at least someone knows.

I’m glad that everyone gets a happy ending. Akan Yatsura go about their lives as family. TCW keeps their bar and their family together. BAE continues making music. Best of all, Kanata is finally reunited with Nayuta, who is revealed to be alive. So, the Nayuta with long hair at the ending scene in Episode 7 was the real Nayuta. I’m so happy for you, Kanata! You get your brother back and he definitely needs a haircut.

I guess my only true gripe with this episode, excluding the cringe execution of the rap segment, was that BAE took most of the spotlight in terms of heroics? Like, I get that Allen and Kanata have a special connection, but that was mainly shown in the early episodes and in Episode 10, but like the adults, specifically Iori had more knowledge of phantometals, yet he was just a sitting duck. On top of that, the other members of BAE didn’t really contribute much; it was all Allen. Yes, I know he’s the central MC, thanks for reminding me.

Overall, I do think this was a good way to conclude the show. Though, I do wonder if the audiences’ memories about the whole fiasco got wiped. Club Paradox magically disappearing is going to be news for a while too. While this wasn’t the best anime I’ve watched, it did get me curious in wanting to listen to the audio dramas. A frequent commenter on my blog always mentions about things that are and aren’t in the tracks. I can’t thank them enough. It’s because of them that I am going to try and listen to the tracks sometime soon. What are your thoughts on the finale?

Final Thoughts

My knowledge of Paradox Live was very limited in that my only true exposure to it was listening to Jumping Into My World by Lollipop Universe; since I love that song, I gave Pararai a try and I did enjoy the characters! I just think that the anime probably wasn’t the best idea to start, but at least it helped me understand the characters. I really like the characters!

My favorite character is Kanata, but I do love the others a lot too! I feel like I cannot hate any of them because they’re all so unique and well-designed (okay, the only character I dislike is Mr. Scientist guy, but he’s an anime original so he doesn’t count). It sucks that the anime ended because I wanted to see more cute people doing cute things (I said people because Anne is non-binary). I think the best part about the characters is that they really did try a lot of new things when it came to the types and not make them caricatures. For example, Anne is non-binary, but their identity is never used as a joke. Hajun is Korean, but he is never looked down upon for his ethnicity. Ryu has amnesia, but they don’t go the generic trope of him recovering his memories and have him change his entire identity. Hokusai is 24 years old, but he goes to high school part time at his age and it’s never really frowned upon because the man is still getting an education at the end of the day. I really like how the writers are progressive with these characters and that’s what makes this type of show so unique.

The voice actors were great. They chose a good bunch that’s a mix of big names, rising stars and actual utaites (Internet singers). I think each voice actor did a splendid job in bringing out the characters and the raps. I am definitely anticipating all of their next projects as I am confident they will bring out their A-games.

The songs were so good! Ever since I’ve been exposed to this anime, Paradox Live songs have been my workout songs! They’re all so fun to listen to and they’re all so distinct. I’ve been having a kick listening to AKYR’s Bad Boyz. I feel like there is no bad song; sure, there could be weak songs, but nothing too bad that it’s drivel.

Would I recommend this anime? I’m not too sure. I’ve seen mixed reactions from actual Paradox Live fans regarding it. I guess it could be a recommendation for music lovers, mainly hip-hop. Would I watch it again? If I have to suffer through that cringefest again, then no. Like I said before, I will be giving the tracks a listen. What are your thoughts on the anime as a whole?

[mightyflamethrower]

SARAH WEAVER

SOCIAL ISSUES REPORTER

October 06, 20238:36 PM ET

A “tidal wave” of detransitioners have sued their doctors over the transitions they received as minors, with many more to come, lawyers told the Daily Caller.

The law firm Campbell Miller Payne was established in 2023 by lawyers Jordan Campbell, Ron Miller, Josh Payne, and Daniel Sepulveda. The lawyers represent detransitioners in a number of high-profile cases, including Prisha Mosely and Soren Aldaco. Despite the newness of the firm, Campbell tells the Caller that they “average about one potential new client a week.”

“And that’s barely having gotten off the ground.” 

“I think, frankly, we’re at the front end of a tidal wave coming the other direction,” Campbell told the Caller, “which is part of the reason I was willing to put my career on the line and go after this.”

Aldaco sued her medical providers for performing a botched mastectomy which left her “nipples literally peeling off of her chest” in July. Mosley alleges that a doctor concluded she was undergoing a “gender identity crisis” after one visit to the emergency room regarding an episode of self-harm, despite multiple comorbidities, such as an eating disorder and depression.

The stories of detransitioners such as Aldaco and Mosley lay out a pattern of alleged medical neglect carried out by doctors who are reportedly too quick to diagnose patients with underlying mental disorders or a history of abuse with gender dysphoria. Patients are often fast-tracked, even at a young age, to irreversible sex change procedures such as cross-sex hormones, genital surgeries, and mastectomies.

“It’s just such flagrant violations of every possible standard of care, from a legal perspective of liability,” Campbell said. “So their stories are powerful because they’re the truth about what’s actually happening.”

Campbell Miller Payne was formed in 2023 by lawyers who were drawn to the stories of detransitioners they were seeing on Reddit and in the media.

“I found myself throwing my hands up and saying well somebody needs to do something I guess. And I felt like, very candidly, like God was saying, ‘hey, that’s why I showed you all this stuff.’ So I got the idea to start a firm, the only firm as I’m aware of, in the country to just represent these people.”

After recruiting Ron Miller to his legal venture, Campbell met with Daniel Sepulveda, a former NFL star with the Pittsburgh Steelers who received a law degree after retiring from the sport. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Rob Gronkowski Gives Outright Hilarious ‘No’ After Question On Men In Women’s Sports)

“I just wanted to catch up with an old buddy,” Campbell explained. “So we got on the phone and I said, ‘Well, it’s interesting, here’s what I’m going to be doing.’ And he said, ‘Well I want to hear more.’ So w e talk a couple more times and he flies in later that week to meet the team and by the end of the week, he said, ‘Okay, I’m.’ And that’s how we came together.”

“I was very eager to jump all over it because it takes every criterion that I was evaluating for what God might have for me next,” Sepulveda said, “an opportunity to work with people I really enjoy working with, on a cause that had a ton of purpose and meaning behind it.”

[applejuiceyjuice-art]

copacabana: parasocialite style

hi. the setting and story is kinda inspired by depression era films, though the copacabana started after the code. the song is about a showgirl and a bartender, but what if it was like this…

showgirl - twitch | bartender - yt | line cook - kik

kik admires from afar because she's always hidden in the kitchen and working in a kitchen sucks. she takes a smoke break whenever twitch is on stage and is able to watch through an open door from outside. he also frequents the bar so has some kinda acquaintance with yt and has proximity to twitch aside from watching on stage ig.

kik is a writer bc its the obvious hobby imo. here she writes little notes and leaves them in twitch's dressing room as a way to express herself without actually being outted (i was also thinking this is similar to sending twitch sub messages).

twitch goes to the bar whenever its empty enough to have a drink and talk to yt. of all the people he knows in the nightclub, yt is the only person he thinks could be leaving the notes. so she thinks of him as a sensitive guy who puts up a front.

one night she brings up the notes, and youtube is like. what notes. he thinks the idea of leaving notes is creepy and suggests that twitch might have a stalker, which she didn't consider before. after asking around, twitch concludes that nobody they know is leaving the notes, so it must be the case...

youtube confides in kik at the bar about the situation, talking about how a totally creepy stalker guy is following twitch and leaving weird notes in her dressing room every day!!! he says that he's been watching the patrons, suspecting one of the mob guys to be the culprit and is like "let me know if you got any leads, right buddy."

kik gets self conscious and depressed about it. when the notes stop coming in, twitch is relieved at the prospect of the stalker disappearing, but still misses them bc she thought it was cute :(. yt isn't exactly what they thought he would be. meanwhile, kik begins writing a full on confession, but keeps rewriting it and mulling over it because he really doesn't want it to come off as any more creepy.

that part of the song where rico shows up... idk who it would be, i mean if anything i guess it could be a company like the filmscore one. worldstar or limewire maybe haha. there's probably other mafia members around them. youtube tries to save twitch, but gets scared and hesitates. kik dives in and fights, gets shot.

twitch finds the confession or is given it, maybe kik actually says something to them before dying. maybe they should’ve interacted before this point too idk this isnt a movie pitch. anyway things don't work out between twitch + yt either, and she just forever wonders about kik.

at the same time i really like the idea of kik using a second hand suit to try to pretend they're rich w/ twitch (who is also working class, hence why shes “trying to be a star”). maybe it can be a dream sequence after kik dies. to drive home the doomed yaouri LOL. ok im done here.

[tadpolesonalgae]

for CBMTHY….

as much as i love azzy… he is a real pain in the ass… a character growth for the reader should mean that she gets with eris, who treats her like she matters, and becomes high lady 🤣 Honestly, Azriel is so mean, truly no remorse that he makes reader cry and be more depressed than she is.. if only someone would light up her flame again.. (pun intended🤣)

(that is my imagination i don’t want you to think i have demands of how you write!! i really love the series!!)

I’m going to be honest here and possibly worry a few people; I’ve thought about different ways to conclude CBMTHY, and one of them (that I promise isn’t happening because otherwise this would be a spoiler) was to actually have reader go to the Autumn Court, then accidentally see how Eris is treated by his father and have her full on murder him when she loses control of her powers 😭

Eris is going to have some positive influence over her—though maybe not directly, or entirely intended—but he’s also quite manipulative so I’m hoping you’ll enjoy seeing how that affects reader, too! I like the idea of them spending so much time together they pick up slight habits and slowly the IC start to spot them…

(Also don’t worry about sending this type of ask in, they honestly help me figure out where I want to take the story—it’s also fun to see how different people want different things to happen 🧡💛)