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One of the most dramatic but equally difficult acts is to kill off a main character. From a viewer's experience this is traumatic, dramatic and endlessly memorable – I will always remember when Buffy killed Angel at the end of Season 2. However, it is a very difficult task for a writer to engage in, we spend so much time building our character and imbuing them with a level of personality that becomes real to us. Yet it can be such a powerful tool to engage the reader. On the other hand, it can also be detrimental to a reader's engagement, some may check out in frustration, others will become less engaged emotionally with the characters – for example, the developing death-exhaustion of those following 'Game of Thrones.' So what are the pros and cons of killing a main character? Should it be done at the start or end or midway in the book? When is the right time to kill a main character? What are the pros and cons of the "return" (as in Angel coming back in the next season), or leaving it as permanent? So many questions: Discuss.

As more young adults surpass their teens and move into their early adult lives, the books that they are reading are not moving with them. YA books have become universally loved by age ranges of all kinds, striking a chord in the heartstrings of people of all ages. That's what makes it so great. However, in a genre that is specifically titled "Young Adult", it poses the question: What defines the young adult genre? Is it the age of the protagonist or the backdrop of the story or is it simply just a marketing tactic that doesn't have much substance to it at all?

Channel Zero, a new anthology series based off of popular stories on Creepy Pasta (a horror "microfiction" platform), has two seasons available on Shudder, a media platform similar to Netflix that caters to horror fans. Analyze various themes within the first season of Channel Zero, "Candle Cove," or compare and contrast Candle Cove with the following season, "No-End House." For example, while Candle Cove draws the viewer in with a murder-mystery approach that is later muddled by supernatural forces, No-End House seems to dive right in with the other-worldly approach.

Has digital art and its open sourcing made it harder for artists to sell their work? if everyone can make a print of your work after downloading it how can you truly make a profit off of the work.

In the book the Shack by William P Young, Mack has major trauma after his youngest daughter is murdered during a camping trip. The author uses Spirituality as the main force to help Mack overcome his guilt and to help him work through his grief and trauma. Explore how spirituality is used in the book/film.

In the early 1990s, Yasumi Matsuno directed a game titled Tactics Ogre; a dark, high-fantasy strategy RPG whose deep and complex plot was inspired by the events of the Yugoslavian Wars at the time. The game forces the player to make significant choices during the course of his campaign, some leading to horrific war crimes and political manipulation. However, can video games truly reflect the scarring and atrocities of war like literature and cinema can?

A classic supernatural/mystery trope is the voice from the beyond – meaning the voice (in some form) from beyond this world, either they are dead, or from the past/future, or from another world. The point of this is either central to the narrative or a secondary feature to provide information. The entire concept is a fascinating example of humanity's yearning for more than what is present in our own world. To reach beyond the veil and access another plane of existence is a wonderfully tempting concept. Depending on the genre this can either be a positive or negative experience. Meaning that sometimes these voices are there to help, while other times they are the harbingers of great dangers. Either way it is an exciting narrative convention.

There are two questions I would pose to those who would undertake this topic: 1) Where has our love of this concept come from? Can it be tracked to the original god myths of the Greeks? Is it merely an aspect of explaining the unknown? Is it part of our yearning to reach out to the dead?; and 2) what are the best (and maybe worst) examples of where this has been done in film? Or perhaps someone might look at this through comics or literature – it is a concept across genres.

'The pen is mightier than the sword' was first said by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. This saying sounded strange to me at first until I began to think about some more and realised how true it was because a pen has the ability to murder someone or to save someone, to hate someone or to love someone. Many wars have been started with just a signature so this saying still rings true today. Bringing this saying into the 21st century and we see the true power that written (or typed words) can have on someone.Many people are now basing their whole life around what someone may have or have not typed about them on FaceBook and sometimes the hurt things that are being said are being led to our younger generation having mental health issues and parents having to attend the funerals of their very young children. So even though this saying was written over 150 years ago it is still as relevant in today's climate and I do not think that it will ever loose its meaning because it has just as much value in the fiction world as it does in the non-fiction world.

Ever since the meteoric rise of mobile gaming, microtransactions have plagued the world of modern video games. Games are being released with DLC content available from day 1, leaving many to consider such games incomplete upon release. DLC used to be used as a way of extending the playability of games after they have been out for a while. However, it is now being used as a cash grab for developers who sell game content separately. Is this trend leading to the downfall of video games? How long will players continue to shell out wads of extra cash to play a game that they already bought?

Paranormal romance is a new genre of literature that is identified as being a story that predominantly focuses on the romance between characters who are either both, or at least one, supernatural beings. For example, 'Twilight' falls into this category as it focuses on the developing relationship between a human and a vampire. There are many examples that range from werewolves, vampires, dragons in human form, fairy-creatures, etc. Largely this genre is making use of the growing popularity and interest in supernatural creatures in a less monstrous form and more as a form of sexual taboo. However, this genre is also of concern for the perpetuation of rape fantasies and the lack of consent. Part of the problem is that it is handled in a manner that can be argued as being due to supernatural influences rather than a true "rape" as we understand it. However, rape is considered as an act without ongoing consent. Just because a character is under thrall, or a spell, or under the "animalistic drives" of their other form, this does not diminish the importance of consent. The use of statements such as "she couldn't resist," are very similar to the style of romance novels known as "bodice rippers" which are historic novels where women are "freed from their social constraints by the presence of a real man." Regardless of the supernatural presence, a number of these paranormal romance novels perpetuate the normalisation of rape culture and this needs to be called out.

Within feminist discourses there are a number of texts and authors who are held up as the exemplars and originates of the movement. Some of the most famous are Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote the first seminal text 'The rights of women,' then we have Virginia Woolf with 'A room of one's own,' Simone de Beauviour with 'The second sex,' and Germaine Greer's explosive 'The female eunuch,' and so many more. Yet how well do these texts still speak to the women of today? What would Wollstonecraft, Woolf, de Beauviour and Greer think of the behaviours and portrayals of women today? Especially those that perpetuate some of the behaviours these women originally fought against. Has the social context changed so significantly that these texts no longer offer a valid perception? I would argue not, but perhaps there is a need for a new voice to frame the next wave of feminism?

Pop-culture is infamous for questionable portrayal of romance. What does a healthy relationship look like and what pieces of fiction do a good job at portraying it? A recent good example I can think of is Violet and Tony in The Incredibles 2. While we have yet to see the relationship take off, the fact that he is attracted to her for her confidence sends a positive message. By working on herself first and being strong and independent, Violet was able to attract a nice guy. I think we need more media that sends that message of self-fulfilment being an important ingredient in a healthy relationship.

Traumatic pasts are de rigeur across mediums, perhaps especially books. Many, if not all, of our favorite protagonists have traumatic pasts. They've been orphaned, bullied, imprisoned, raped, or had any number of other tragedies visited upon them (sometimes a combination of many). Trauma is often a good tool in the hands of the writer, as it incites sympathy for characters and explains some motivations.

However, trauma in fiction is often handled poorly. When this happens, you tend to get one of two reactions. The first is what TV Tropes calls "Angst? What Angst," wherein a character seems to function entirely separately of trauma, never mentioning it or letting it influence his or her life. Sometimes, the character suppresses the trauma so much, he or she finally has a melodramatic breakdown, or two or three.

But on the other side of that coin, you have characters defined by trauma. This can be extremely obvious, as in the character who acts like a victim and wallows in self-pity, or it can be a bit more subtle. See, for instance, the abused person who grows up to be an unrepentant abuser, or the military veteran who gives up on life and people after losing a limb or sense.

The question becomes then, how can writers write trauma, and do it justice? What is the best way to write a victim who incites sympathy, yet also incites true likability? How much trauma is too much or too little, and in what situations can/should it play a part? Discuss.

What is it about the use of simple poetic techniques that appeal so much to a reader? Is it the rhythmic simplicity that reminds us of our past oral traditions? It might be as storytellers, bards, and oral lore-keepers often learnt their stories in a ballad/poetic form that helped ensure they remembered the story based not only on narrative progression, but also on the rhythmic systems of the form. Could it then be memory based? Many studies cite the use of mnemonic devices to help memorise details – so are we already pre-designed to engage mentally with rhythmic sounds? Or is it the nostalgic appeal of childhood? A recollection of nursery rhymes and foolish riddles that coloured our childhood books and memories, perhaps?

Alliteration is only one such commonly used poetic device. Many are exercised in today's literature for children and adults alike. We still see the use of imagery, allegories, metaphors, similes, personification, and so much more. So how about a discussion of these simple, yet effective poetic devices and what they can add to a developing writer's repertoire.

Analyse how music has helped paved the way for the success of films. Without music, a lot of films would be missing emotions from the audience, and characters as well.

An old saying is that a "picture paints a thousand words." Anyone who has had the luck to see the work of Shaun Tan will agree, art can be used to tell intricate visual stories. His picture books such as 'The Red Tree' and ' Rules of Summer' are visual masterpieces that speak more than the few small words that accompany them.

Often in society today we still privilege the written word to the exclusion of all else. I think it would be interesting to discuss the use of symbolism, allegory and imagery in "silent" graphic novels and picture books to tell a wordless story that is much deeper than any written version could have been. It might be nice to have a discussion of various picture books, graphic novels or even full size mural art pieces that are designed to tell a visual (wordless) story, and what this means for the viewer.

Whether it be competitive shows such as The Bachelor or simply watching people live their lives like on The Real Housewives, audiences are drawn to watching people live under surveillance. From a production point of view, the gravitation to these shows is obvious: they are inexpensive to make and draw in a large audience. But why are they so popular and when did this trend of reality TV start? What does it say about society that we are so obsessed with these shows? Are the actions of the members on the shows a good representation of society, or are their actions a response to being under constant surveillance?

Firstly, I am not using "adult" as an innuendo for pornography or erotica, I actually mean adult as in the state of being over 18. Picture books are often relegated to being considered only of value to very young children. Although recent artists and writers have been producing work that fits into the young adult category, there is very little that would be categorised as an adult picture book that does not then become a graphic novel. Largely this is a matter of categorisation, as publishers are uncomfortable with the idea of an adult picture book, and that many people too would not be comfortable purchasing one. Yet those picture books that end up categorised as young adult are usually very mature in their subject matter, dealing with issues as diverse as mental health, sexuality, grief and death, love and social responsibility. A prime example of this is Shaun Tan's 'The Red Tree' shows the journey of a girl through a myriad of situations in a dark world that we would recognise: isolation in a crowd, depression and anxiety, feeling trapped by a situation, loneliness, a loss of direction, a loss of self, all without engaging in any writing and yet this is still considered as only a children's book. Another example is 'Meh' by Deborah Malcolm about a boys experience of depression, and then there is 'Michael Rosen's Sad Book' by Michael Rosen and Quentin Blake that depicts a father's grief and mourning for his son, it even comes with a warning about the serious and realistic depiction of grief. Graphic novels and comics used to suffer from this assumption of immaturity, but many are now comfortably accepted as being adult-only.

So why is it that we still cannot accept that a book that is primarily full of pictures can be for adults, and by extension may actually have something very real and important to say?

If you're a regular anime watcher, or have seen a couple of anime series, then you'll probably have come across a feature-lenght anime film. Important to note is that I'm specifically talking about films based on already established series, instead of stand-alone movies like Akira, Ninja Scroll, Perfect Blue and others.

Many popular anime series such as Naruto, Dragon Ball, Pokémon, Digimon and One Piece have over the years built such a financial success that production companies are able to invest in films dealing with, in most cases, sidestories insular to the main plot, but with a much more complex and detailed animation process, which really shows. The animation level in these movies is simply incredible and full with mind-warping sequences and gorgeous backgrounds.

However, I've found that, to my own arbitrary sensibilities, the screenplay doesn't always match the genius animation these movies have. Stories tend to feel like regular episodes flattened and spread out like dough. Sure, the cake comes out beautiful, but there's something missing in the flavor.

Do you agree with this? Why do you think this happens? Do you got any examples of a tightly written anime movie based on a series?

Determine whether you believe the exaggerated physical differences between genders in World of Warcraft is innocent and is due to the company's herculean style, or they choose to depict men as much stronger than women and women much thinner than men. For instance, the female pandaren is not as fat as the male pandaren.