Thoughtnami™

Back in the early 2010s, I started to write a story that took place in the Batman Beyond continuity. Essentially, I wanted to make a tale about how Terry didn't really have a Riddler or Mad Hatter-like villain. Spellbinder was the closest, but he was more of a stalker figure who used tech. So, i wrote a couple of chapters and just stepped away from it.  I wanted to focus more on my own characters and stories and felt I could rewrite parts of this into something involving my own worlds as opposed to playing in DC Comics' playground. Still, it was a fun story and after rereading it, it could work. Kind of funny looking at it in hindsight since the first chapter largely took place in a mall, and we all know malls are an endangered species in 2026 and probably wouldn't be around in the future Gotham. It felt fun, and I rarely look back at older things. Maybe one day, I'll finish the whole story.  Anyway, here's the first (lone) three chapters of Batman Beyond: Curious T...

When I was still a kid, all bright-eyed, super-optimistic, and not world-weary, and the one thing I loved to do was visit the local mall in my city, Tower Mall.  That retail oasis was a haven from a busy week of school, but since it wasn't somewhere I could visit unless I didn't have a little change in my pocket, those trips were few and far-between. But every now and then, my folks and I always made a trip at least twice a month. It wasn't a big mall, mind you. Military Circle, Greenbriar Mall, and Lynnhaven Mall were all much, much bigger at the time, but they were far from home and tended to be an all-day trip.  Tower Mall had everything you could get at most other malls. The mall was open Mondays through Saturdays because at the time, Virginia had "blue laws" that kept most retail businesses closed on Sundays and oddly didn't go away until Walmart entered the region.  The mall was anchored by Montgomery Ward, Rices Nachmans (later Hess's), Miller &...

Want to play a little game?  Back in the day when I was working full-time on TXB, I created a series of articles called "Imagine If." Essentially, reimagined scenarios of media companies doing things they likely could have done in the past but decided against it.  Saban buying Funimation. Warner Communications keeping Nickelodeon. Ted Turner actually buying CBS. The USA Cartoon Express lasting beyond 1998.  Things like that.  This is no different.  I was given a challenge by reader and fellow AU scenario writer Chandler Ritter-Roberts over at Bluesky . The challenge?   Building a media company that could become a massive modern media conglomerate.  #BuildYourAltConglomerate, as his hashtag goes.  I could create a company as big as I want to counter what two of the biggest media companies, Warner Bros Discovery and The Walt Disney Company, could do and create a realistic media empire.  The one caveat in this game? While every media compan...

"It all started out as a mild curiosity in the junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a great spirit of adventure." - The Doctor, "The Sensorites" “Every great decision creates ripples, like a huge boulder dropped in a lake. The ripples merge and rebound off the banks in unforeseeable ways. The heavier the decision, the larger the waves, the more uncertain the consequences.” - The Doctor, "Remembrance of the Daleks" "We’re capable of the most incredible change. We can evolve while still staying true to who we are. We can honour who we’ve been and choose who we want to be next. Now’s your chance.” - The Doctor, "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" “ We’re all stories, in the end. Just make it a good one, eh? ” - The Doctor, "The Big Bang"  DISCLAIMER: The following is the ninth and final part of an alternate history series about the history of  Doctor Who  if it was an American-made production rather than a British production. ...

On February 8, 1974, days after she said goodbye to her loudmouthed employer Maude Finley, Florida Evans and Esther Rolle said hello to a new series, Good Times . This venerable series was a very popular spinoff of another popular spinoff, a rarity in television.  But was it? No, I'm not asking if Good Times was popular, because it was. The series has been a television staple for over 50 years. I'm not even saying it wasn't a spinoff platform for Esther Rolle's Florida Evans character. It truly was. I'm just saying that Good Times isn't really a direct spinoff of Maude . It's kind of like saying Harley Quinn is a direct spinoff of Batman: The Animated Series . Yes, both shows feature a character named Harley Quinn, but these are not the same character, nor do the shows share the same continuity.  Not buying it? Okay, let's go even deeper.  Harley Quinn is not a spinoff of Batman: The Brave and the Bold . Both shows feature a character named Batman/Br...

PREVIOUSLY : N BC's revival of  Doctor Who  become a critical hit and a fan favorite. The series underwent a format change as quarterly specials as opposed to weekly series. An animated spinoff, Doctor Who Adventures , became a staple on NBC's wildly popular Saturday morning lineup entertaining a new generation of fans. By 1989, after nearly 40 years on the air, the Doctor's final adventures aired with a two-hour movie ending both Doctor Who Adventures and Doctor Who . Not the question is what would a world with the Doctor look like? DISCLAIMER: The following is part five of a multipart alternate history series about the history of  Doctor Who  if it was an American-made production rather than a British production. It's purely speculative and a work of fiction, although some real-world elements were included and presented for realistic situations and scenarios. Neither this series nor its author are connected to nor reflect the views and opinions of BBC Worldwide (...