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Knocking on Heaven's Door [MtG/Multicross/SI]

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The edge is so strong that it rips holes between actual dimensions.

I mean, not caring doesn't make him a monster. But trying to break someones worldview by enabling the death of kids and innocents around them is pretty monstrous.
 
Redshirt Army said:
And shade's overdone angst isn't kinda old? There's a reason it's become a meme on this forum, y'know.
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I really can't fault him that much, seeing as we don't pay for any of his shit. All those issues you're talking about are style decisions, not any technical flaw in his writing. I'm sure if he really put the effort in he could probably get something published. Instead he slums it here with all of us losers.
 
Elvarein said:
And to some, I assume, that "Edginess" is also overdone amongst SIs ;p

However, lets see where our dear Author is bringing this. He has never ceased to surprise... and sometimes... to horrify ;p
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I'm still affected by my years of trawling FFN for something readable. The vast majority of SI's written there are the overdone fantasies of teenage girls.
 
(ps: Yeah, I know, what a character says is not what an author thinks)
shadenight123 said:
"I call it the Superman dilemma," I retorted, taking a step back. "It goes like this," I hummed as I moved my index fingers in lazy circles, forming up an illusion of towering towers with two small children atop them, "Superman can save everyone," a flying Superman appeared in-between the two buildings, "but he can't be everywhere, then how does he pick who to save and who not to? If in the world two children are about to die, which of the two does he save? Does he differentiate? If so, how? If not, then does he flip a coin? Does he go for the one on the right, since it's his dominant hand?" I gestured at the illusion, quite calm even though Fuuka's flames were progressing from her hands to her arms, her veins glowing a bright white light. "Who should he save? If one's a girl and one's a boy, does it change? Does he run cost-benefit analysis? Does he decide based on their blood type? Their skin color? How does a Superhero decides who lives and who dies when he's got no other choice?"

Fuuka growled, closing her eyes shut firmly, "They're here. Right now, they are here, and you are here, and so you can save them. You can, you just don't want to. You're a monster."

"Exactly," I said with a grin. "Why should I? Because there's an innocent child? Oh, cry me a river. You ever emptied your wallet to feed starving African kids? Yes? No? Hypocrite. You're a hypocrite. You dare call me a monster, but by the same token, the effort it would have taken you to give your money to a poor bloke by the corner of the street is identical. Why didn't you? Well, Miss Rabbit!? Why did you not do charity? Uh? You can rant and grumble and remark on how I can make the difference right here and now, but where were you? Where did you make a difference there and then?"
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Yes, he differentiates. The closest one first.
Remember: Choosing to save neither in the end is also a choice.

Emptied a wallet for charity, yes. Bank account, no.
Though I've heard stories about who have. (Serial entrepreneurs who then went back to 'wealthy')
And met people who went beyond that (like leaving there entire life behind them to teach kids in Africa by starting schools)

You too can give to charity Now.
(With like a bank app on your phone... )

(Though I would recommend doing your research before hand, there are government mandated reports about which part a charity uses for their given roles and which part they use for expenses.)

And if you have never given to charity before. You can always start now. :)
Give an amount that comes from your heart.
Its better if its a small amount, and you will do it again later, than a big amount, that will hurt and make you not do it again.
 
Helixical said:
Meh, I'm for it. The syrupy bullshit you usually see with SI's gets kinda old.
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Redshirt Army said:
And shade's overdone angst isn't kinda old? There's a reason it's become a meme on this forum, y'know.
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I like when authors give their characters an actual challenge. I enjoy seeing the SI struggle through external strife, where the odds are stacked against them and things aren't likely to work out. When authors make their characters fight to the bitter end, have an amazing journey, yet still fail in some way? It's heavenly. I like SI-brand wish fulfillment to show the positives of the world, but I want some realism to show the consequences of it. Shade always introduces some aspect of this in his writing, which is why I'm such a fan of his.

However, I generally don't like stories that focus on internal strife. When a character isn't fighting against the world, but rather their own mental state? It can irritate me in a vague way. With the physical restraints we all face in life removed, they still have the exact same mental ones. I mean; obviously gaining unlimited power won't fix everything about you, but it should change who you are in some way. This is another aspect of Shade's writing, though he often focuses on the negative changes an SI will face.

But yeah, I really like how unique some SI/OC stories can be when they aren't fixfics or pure wish fulfillment. Someone showing the dark reality of how "Immortal Multiverse SI" things can turn out after the adventure's over is a pretty awesome idea. Even if shade generally sticks to a "unforgiving reality with a bittersweet ending trope," he handles it very well.
 
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You want to save everyone?

You can. It isn't *that* difficult. What gets in your way is first human nature--so you change it. Next, it's the uncaring universe--so you take control over everything. It isn't possible for a human to do this, not even a Planeswalker, but you can create an AI network to do it for you.

The resulting society won't be made up of humans, not quite, but it will be an amazing place that's far more worthwhile then ours. That, or it will go horrifically wrong, but you only really need to succeed once. In real life you also only need to fail once, but Planeswalkers have more leeway.

And if, in the end, entropy finally wins...

Well, it's still the largest improvement you could possibly have made to the universe, and it took you perhaps five minutes per distinct universe one you had the procedure set up. It's even possible that your AI could start Walking itself; there's no reason why it shouldn't be possible, and it'd have plenty of chances to figure out how.

But if you're not up to doing this, you could still do *something*. Even if you're not optimally efficient at helping, there are still varying shades of gray. You don't have to sit down and start plotting how to stop others.

Because seriously, that's not cool.
 
Taisei said:
I like when authors give their characters an actual challenge. I enjoy seeing the SI struggle through external strife, where the odds are stacked against them and things aren't likely to work out. When authors make their characters fight to the bitter end, have an amazing journey, yet still fail in some way? It's heavenly. I like SI-brand wish fulfillment to show the positives of the world, but I want some realism to show the consequences of it. Shade always introduces some aspect of this in his writing, which is why I'm such a fan of his.

However, I generally don't like stories that focus on internal strife. When a character isn't fighting against the world, but rather their own mental state? It can irritate me in a vague way. With the physical restraints we all face in life removed, they still have the exact same mental ones. I mean; obviously gaining unlimited power won't fix everything about you, but it should change who you are in some way. This is another aspect of Shade's writing, though he often focuses on the negative changes an SI will face.

But yeah, I really like how unique some SI/OC stories can be when they aren't fixfics or pure wish fulfillment. Someone showing the dark reality of how "Immortal Multiverse SI" things can turn out after the adventure's over is a pretty awesome idea. Even if shade generally sticks to a "unforgiving reality with a bittersweet ending trope," he handles it very well.
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Internal struggle is the only way to offer a challenge to some of the characters that pop up in fanfiction. It's hard to externally challenge someone with UNLIMITED COSMIC POWER unless the story escalates to the point of ridiculousness.
 
Well, the multiverse existing kind of make everything you do irrelevant. With infinite variation of the same world and all that.

Save that guy. Good job, there are 10000000 other versions of said guy that you didn't save yet. You stop caring after a while.
 
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Helixical said:
Internal struggle is the only way to offer a challenge to some of the characters that pop up in fanfiction. It's hard to externally challenge someone with UNLIMITED COSMIC POWER unless the story escalates to the point of ridiculousness.
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Certainly, I just don't generally like when the story revolves around it. I know internal struggle is necessary, but for that to work out the character has to actually overcome that struggle. When the story focuses on it, they usually keep escalating the drama to stop an emotional resolution; for the same reasons they escalate external conflict. (this mainly applies to SI fiction, where most people don't plan for an ending)

Your character is an immortal God-like figure; I assume taking a vacation, getting some therapy, and maybe some medication is off the table for whatever reason. Because when the story focuses on doing those things, the planet you're taking a vacation on has to be destroyed, the therapist needs to be related to some figure you feel guilty over, and the medication needs to be some kind of mind control/trap. Because otherwise there is no story.

I typically prefer things going Gurren Lagann over Neon Genesis, in other words. Freely admit its just a preference I have- still love Shade's work.
 
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Will fuuka even go back to be taught by shade? I mean shade could just get a new student and become Great teacher! Shade.
 
Taisei said:
the character has to actually overcome that struggle.
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This is the problem angsty stories run into. There's a mechanically well written MM/MTG crossover that I should absolutely love. It was a hundred thousand words in by the time I quit reading, and the MC hadn't really made any progress. It nearly fucking killed me, mostly because there are so few MTG stories written. I really wanted to like it.

It is gratifying to see a character over come some major internal struggle. It's annoying as fuck to see them wallow in it.
 
shadenight123 said:
Don't worry Bludflag, the Greeks used to be big on tragedies because by crying while watching them, they would purify their bodies of sadness.
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Oh, I'm aware—I loved reading Antigone and the criticism on it. We actually had to do an essay once and we were given a few themes and I chose conflict in Antigone (literally the only person to do so in my class).

I got a 4 because I derped and wrote the wrong author (a Greek philosopher :oops:) and had a few technical mistakes.
Redshirt Army said:
And shade's overdone angst isn't kinda old? There's a reason it's become a meme on this forum, y'know.
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Kinda old? Dude, the guy writes like Takaya Kagami. A bittersweet experience with a somber note of respect to agon in it.
Helixical said:
I really can't fault him that much, seeing as we don't pay for any of his shit. All those issues you're talking about are style decisions, not any technical flaw in his writing. I'm sure if he really put the effort in he could probably get something published. Instead he slums it here with all of us losers.
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He actually is published. Well, I think it's self published, but published nonetheless.
green said:
And if you have never given to charity before. You can always start now. :)
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I actually have an ad blocker that has fair ads—it's a system which uses its own ads and makes micro donations to a charity of my choice. Each micro transaction is a few fractions of cent, but it adds up. Right now, I have 233 under my belt.

It may be fake and I wouldn't know how to check, but the possibility of it being real takes precedence over the possibility of it being a scam.
Baughn said:
You can. It isn't *that* difficult. What gets in your way is first human nature--so you change it. Next, it's the uncaring universe--so you take control over everything. It isn't possible for a human to do this, not even a Planeswalker, but you can create an AI network to do it for you.
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You should be ashamed.

Changing human beings to suit your whim is not saving them. Someone's qualia and propositional attitude(s) having to be subservient to a flawed being's whim is the worst sort of horror you could possibly suggest. For example, Shade could one day just decide to change one's propositional attitude towards betrayal of secrets as something enjoyable and to be sought after. Really, if we're cutting out all agency from someone, why not simply manipulate them like dolls?

I may or may not be in the right state of mind to discuss this after today's revelations. Sorry about any possible fallacies in this post. :oops:
 
Helixical said:
I really can't fault him that much, seeing as we don't pay for any of his shit. All those issues you're talking about are style decisions, not any technical flaw in his writing. I'm sure if he really put the effort in he could probably get something published. Instead he slums it here with all of us losers.
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He has published, and in his infinite generosity he still gives us free fics. Thus, he is awesome.

Link to the book if you want:
https://www.amazon.com/Investigator-Missing-Brain-Apprenticeship-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00P42XD5S

Edit: Ninja'd. I type way too slow.
 
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BAD meme-lord, BAD! Go sit at your writer's corner and reflect on your actions (and tots start working on your next chapter). :V
 
Eh. If this shade wants to cope by being apathetic that's fine. It just shows that he's done, and lost a lot or a little of what it means to be alive.

Should let himself die if he can't muster up the will care.
 
Image said:
Eh. If this shade wants to cope by being apathetic that's fine. It just shows that he's done, and lost a lot or a little of what it means to be alive.

Should let himself die if he can't muster up the will care.
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He might have tried that and couldn't find anything able to kill him.

As for suicide, maybe the Spark prevents that?
 
Baughn said:
You want to save everyone?

You can. It isn't *that* difficult. What gets in your way is first human nature--so you change it. Next, it's the uncaring universe--so you take control over everything. It isn't possible for a human to do this, not even a Planeswalker, but you can create an AI network to do it for you.

The resulting society won't be made up of humans, not quite, but it will be an amazing place that's far more worthwhile then ours. That, or it will go horrifically wrong, but you only really need to succeed once. In real life you also only need to fail once, but Planeswalkers have more leeway.
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Seeing as you say you only need to win once and the multiverse nature I assume your society will try to expand (and assimilate)to other planes.

For the greater good.

so "not quite human"+"AI network"+"Assimilation"= Borg Phirexia

You want to make Phirexia man not cool
 
Jakof said:
Seeing as you say you only need to win once and the multiverse nature I assume your society will try to expand (and assimilate)to other planes.

For the greater good.

so "not quite human"+"AI network"+"Assimilation"= Borg Phirexia

You want to make Phirexia man not cool
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He's saying that's the only reasonable way to completely save everyone. otherwise there's always going to be someone getting ahead at the expense of someone else.
 
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