#because they are such real characters!!! because their storyline is INTERESTING! compelling and well written and near devoid of tropes!!

[casualavocados]

We agreed that I'm in charge of the bars. But you come here all the time to watch me. How am I supposed to lead my people? Use your head, okay? Suit yourself.

KISEKI: DEAR TO ME Ep. 04

[ahalliance]

i don’t get how people can complain about the writing “doing Martha dirty” when that same writing gives her an ending that addresses her treatement over the course of the season, allows her to finally put her to foot down, to establish her self-worth as an individual and to air out her grievances, and gives her the most respectful and satisfying exit from the TARDIS we’d yet seen in the show . like it’s one thing to dislike the direction the writing team took with her arc and to criticise it (perfectly fine) and another to somehow miss it entirely lmao . the ‘martha feels out of place, second best, and like a rebound’ is an intentional piece of writing that gets resolved by the end of the season . like that wasn’t smth they threw in for shits and giggles, it had in-story repercussions

[barren-heart]

The Hidden Love Story of What We Do in the Shadows: How The Internet Fell in Love with Harvey Guillen’s Guillermo de la Cruz

I think it’s fair to call this show what it is: a comedy.

The actors have said it’s themselves: the show is 50% improv, 50% script. A lot of what we see is a brilliant collaboration of talent, writing, and the actors saying the funniest thing they can say about something in that moment.

According to Harvey Guillen, some scenes would last 30 minutes each if they didn’t cut it down. That improv is what makes the show what is it: the funniest show on television.

What’s interesting about this little Shit and Fart show (affectionate), is the heart of it all: Guillermo.

Originally the show was looking for an older man to play Nandor’s familiar. The character had worked for his master for 20 years, not 10 as we see in the pilot episode.

Harvey got an audition randomly. At a wine and cheese night of a friend’s, he was invited to audition for the part. It was random, but also, it was fate.

Let me explain.

Harvey Guillen auditioning for the role of Guillermo

(I actually have the full audition tape of Harvey’s if anyone’s interested.) Link below!

Harvey didn’t “fit the part” (Harvey’s words) whatsoever of this character and decided to dress himself to look older, putting on what he calls his Harry Potter glasses and parted his hair down the middle.

The Guillermo we see in the pilot was all Harvey’s idea of what that character should be and the costuming department just ran with it. It’s also fun to point out that to those who don’t know, Harvey created Guillermo’s last name even before he knew he’d play the show’s Vampire Slayer.

I mention this because I don’t think they (showrunner, producers,etc) expected Guillermo to become such a fan favorite. Which kinda explains why his character is the punching bag of season one and why it somewhat changes as seasons go by.

I mean, we don’t even see Guillermo in this season one poster (we don’t see Colin Robinson, either. But I feel like I could write an entirely other post about that character and why I think he’s genuinely the best and most consistently written character on the show. But I won’t right now).

I think they expected Guillermo to be a one-note side kick, which is fine. Many of Harvey’s previous roles were nearly background characters (think Benedict Pickwick in The Magicians).

But, Harvey’s take on the character coupled with his talent at being both comedic and dramatic really shined through. And I think that’s where you start to see that maybe they could do more with him than just being the funny guy in the background.

I also think that’s why you start to see some threading of a more serious plot when it comes to Guillermo’s storyline because of Harvey’s range.

Who would’ve known a funny bit like being a Van Helsing descent in a house full of vampires would get you compelling scenes like the familiar fight The Night Market, Nouveau Théâtre des Vampires, and the Nandor and Guillermo fight in The Portrait?

Harvey mentioned having to train for these and wanted to do his own stunts! And he does them well!

Did they imagine Guillermo being such a badass in the pilot? Probably not. But he is and people took to it. The serious fight scenes (even with bits of comedy filtered in) really stand out in their own as excellent action scenes.

Along with badass scenes, Harvey delivered compelling emotional scenes like Guillermo’s coming out (which Harvey actually cried in as well as other cast and crew, and they had to edit it to not make it too serious), the scene he left Nandor for Celeste, and many scenes in S5’s Exit Interview.

I also think they didn’t anticipate his chemistry with Kayvan Novak. It’s brought up a lot in interviews with them and everyone can tell that they genuinely are really good friends in real life, which makes acting together on screen that much better.

(Funny enough, he was supposed to do a chemistry read with Kayvan before shooting and wasn’t able to meet him until they were on set for the pilot. )

I think in some ways, even though the show wanted it to be a funny Gaston and Lefou type relationship, Kayvan and Harvey had undeniable chemistry you couldn’t deny.

And I think that began to grow with their character’s evolving relationship. From master and servant to friends to sometimes the show and network alluding to them being in a romance (Guillermo’s drunk love confession, Marwa liking what Nandor likes, the Network making videos about shipping Nandermo).

And even Paul Simms (the one who is being grilled for That’s His Boss quote), also said “Guillermo and Nandor is the greatest love story in modern television.”

So yeah, I think originally they started the show with the intention that it was supposed to be similar to the movie that shares its name. The Nandor/Guillermo drama of Shadows the TV show would be so out of place in the movie. The whole Guillermo vampire arc, if it was movie inspired, would not be as dramatic as they have made it in the show.

Looking back to the pilot, I can see that they really tried to make it as close to the source material as possible. But I think it took off in a direction that even the creators didn’t imagine it would go. Just a silly little comedy show about silly little vampires. And don’t get me wrong, it still definitely is.

But the show has evolved. And for better or worse, Nandor and Guillermo’s relationship will be one of the most compelling things about the show and I’m curious where they are going to take it now.

I guess this turned into a bit of an Harvey Guillen appreciation post and honestly, why not? Look at that adorable face.

[bittergirlsworld]

I finally gave up and saw TVD to understand some stuff in TO, and I just have to say: what an awfully written show. My goodness, how the hell is the most annoying girl in Mystic Falls the anchor who holds them together? Caroline, the fandom darling has no personality whatsoever. She's a camaleon, she's what they need her to be in the episode. Sometimes, she's the greatest soul alive, sometimes she's only there to slutshame another girl for doing exactly what she does. Sometimes she's pinning after her boyfriend, sometimes she backstabs him. Sometimes she's so repulsed by the 1000 year murder who bribes her with fancy things and sometimes she's okay to use the hell out of him to have what she needs. Elena, who's supposed to be the protagonist, becomes more and more the love interest to Damon. His love for her, that both recognize as toxic, comes from a sire bond and everyone insists to pretend that she loves him just the same without it as if she wasn't heavily projecting Stefan on him to the point he calls her out. The Originals, who were supposed to be invicible, the most insane of them just dies for a teenage hunter. Finn, the most sane one, portrait as a bore because he resented the bother who kept him in a coffin for thousands of years. Katherine, who I swear is one of the only two female characters really interesting in this show, is called a bitch all the time for the unforgivable crime of running from a psycho hybrid who wanted to slaughter her and then slaughtered her fucking family. Elijah and Rebekah does not exist outside of Klaus. Rebekah was just extremely annoying till they gave her a real personality and in the spin-off. Out of nowhere, she was obsessed with being human. Bonnie, poor Bonnie. The racism was blatantly showing. She was only there to be the magic negro trope. They didn't even allowed her to have romantic storyline! Her boyfriend who she resurrected cheats on her with a freaking ghost and she still back with him in season 5? She deserved so much better. Damon turns her mother in a vampire and then she's his best friend? She loses her entire family as well and is never treated with the same courtesy Elena has been treated. Not even the fancy balls she could attend, apparently. (Her wigs were also terrible. Poor Kat, they made her appear so old sometimes with those hairs).

And the romantic pairings? Awful. Damon and Elena were downright disgusting. He raped Caroline. Why everyone pretends he wasn't compelling her while having sex with her? Why all these centuries old man are so obsessed with fuck teenagers? How's that's romantic, date a girl on high school when you had two shares of a lifetime? Even if we take in consideration the lore that vampires stop aging when they're turned, the only couple who would make sense in this logic were Stefan and Elena, since Stefan was a teenager when turned. Klaus and Caroline had no romantic connection. She used him dry, he bite her to die to make a point to her boyfriend. He would be her last love but fucked her and left. She hated him but would happily accept his gifts while treating him like a dog. Damon and Elena loudly assume to each other that they are terrible together but then forget because they're fucking again. I swear to god, that relationship was pure based on their sex drive. She wanted that old dick so bad she blamed dead Katherine for the fact he killed her friend and threatened her brother.

The timeline made no sense. Plotholes all around. Why Bonnie couldn't make magic while being the anchor? Must be because she would be too powerful, and with Elena being so useless, they couldn't allow that. Caroline is another one completely useless for the plot. She could disappear from the show and wouldn't change a single thing.

It's really awful. After finally seeing this I can say with conviction that The Originals was the best they could have.

[gothra]

Obsessed with thoughts of HBO!Supernatural. It would have been so good. Effectively terrifying, beautifully detailed. Masterfully written. Full-bodied and rich like wine. We would have had full-frontal nudity (bush and balls), explicit and creative kills and gore, everything.

HBO would have made the show good. HBO would have made it popular by way of quality, people would be compelled to see it because of how well composed and executed it would be. It would be an efficient show, with less characters, slower storylines.

But the camp. You can’t have quality and be camp, not according to the definition of camp itself. HBO would have had the quality, but to do so, they would have to sacrifice the silliness that makes Supernatural so popular. CW Sam and Dean go back in time to the Wild West. Dean gets turned into a dog. They get transported to a universe where they are trapped in the bodies of their real life, nonfiction counterparts. Dean gets turned into an old man. Every important character has died, at least once. Dean microwaves a fairy. Sam loses his soul and turns into a dick. Paris Hilton is in an episode, playing a wax version of herself that has come to life.

HBO Sam and Dean would have to hunt one monster over the course of a season, kicking the Monster-a-Week format to the curb. The first season would be the ghost of a woman who had psychic visions or something, but Sam and Dean wouldn’t know that until the 4th episode, which would be 50 minutes long (10 minutes shorter than every other episode in that season). The first three episodes would be spent watching Sam and Dean interview everyone in the woman’s life, in deep detail, her romantic interests, her best friends (who secretly despised her), her mother who turns to the bottle in grief, and her father, who moved out and on years ago and who feels like a failure because he couldn’t protect his beloved daughter. Eventually, they’d discover her diary, where premonitions of Sam and Dean would be scribbled in charcoal and they’d wonder what it all meant, while cutting back to moments in Sam’s life where he experienced violent and terrifying visions as a child living in motels, and at Harvard.

Every moment the ghost appeared would be a deeply terrifying visual experience, artistically crafted and truly haunting. CGI would be replaced with expert angles and amazing SFX makeup. At the end of the season, it would be revealed that the young woman turned to the Catholic Church to help her explain her premonitions, only to be murdered by a Priest who was secretly lusting after her. The drawings in her journal would be bait for the next season. Sam and Dean and Castiel would meet the Pope, who would actually be possessed by Lucifer and they’d kill him and that would be the final episode of the show, in the 5th season, because HBO would never let the show get into the 10s.

[trans-queen-administrator]

Worm Fanfic Recs

No rankings at play here, just my favorite fics that I think other are really good. There are fics I like that aren't listed because I have a bad memory, but everything here is something I really really enjoyed. I have biases obviously, this isn't objective.

The Fics

Our Private Crises - A nailbiting murder mystery with unique and well done POVs from a different character each chapter. The mystery and reveal at the end were stellar, and it got me attached to characters I never thought I'd care for. 29k words. Complete.

It's Cold Out There Every Day - Missy is trapped in a time loop on her birthday. Genuinely stellar characterization, it has the best Missy and Aisha I've ever read and its such a creative and well executed premise. 41k words. Complete.

Tilt - Unpowered homeless girl Taylor fakes a thinker power to get in the Wards and secure housing. She's even more self destructive and self deprecating than in canon. 10/10 characterization for a slew of POV characters including Taylor, every ward but especially Sophia, Rachel, Lisa, and a ton of other characters. Despite not going through all of what canon Taylor went through, this fic nails her character better than pretty much any others. 220k words at time of posting. Updating consistently.

Tear Apart, Stitch Together - Taylor triggers with Shatterbird's power and kills thousands. Short and sweet, everything that's there is great and it wraps up well I think. 13k words. Complete

Memories of a Simurgh Victim - The Simurgh attacks Brockton Bay. Has two storylines, one following Taylor and one following Amy and Vicky. Among the most fucked up things this fandom has to offer, a terrifying showcase of the Simurgh and her power. 62k words. Taylor's story is incomplete but the Amy and Victoria story is done.

Desperate Times Call For Desperate Pleasures - Cherish altpower Taylor tries to consensually fix Amy's incest fetish. A trainwreck I can't look away from, the worlds first psychological horror romcom. It's so fucked up and so amazingly funny, and has good well written characters. I don't like Pillbug and I'm not a big fan of altpowers, but this fic is still one of my favorites because it's so damn compelling so definitely check it out if you actually like either of those things. 211k words at time of posting. Updating consistently.

Roots - The Slaughterhouse Nine attack a small town with a roster of OC capes, but something is very off about the place. POV shifts every chapter, and the OCs are interesting and unique. The S9 are also wonderfully characterized here, I've never had a fic make me sad for Crawler of all people. 67k words at time of posting. Ongoing. Criminally underrated.

Roma Fade - Ciara and Fortuna both try to grow past who they were as capes and find themselves as people in a small town post Gold Morning, having found common ground posing as moms to a recovering Taylor. I'm sure fake dating would never end in real attraction, that would be absurd. Incredibly gay, incredible characterization for everyone, the best post-GM fic around in my opinion. 87k words at time of posting. Ongoing but currently on hiatus.

Case - Lisa and the Simurgh start a detective agency. It's just great humor and a lovely story and wonderful despite being short and deceased. 14k words. Dead.

Silence is not Consent - Taylor intervenes and saves Victoria from Amy and gives her a place to stay, Victoria massively struggles dealing with what happened. Amazing characterization, Victoria's POV is unique and incredibly well done, and her seeing Taylor from an outside perspective is interesting. Be warned that this is a very heavy fic emotionally, but it's really fucking good. 212k words at time of posting. Updating consistently.

A Word - Altpower Taylor is obsessed with writing a story. I don''t know how to describe this fic honestly it's hard to do justice, but it has perhaps the best conclusion to Gold Morning I've seen in a fanfic. 11k words. Complete.

Scarab - A fantasy AU where powers are thought to be magic, and the Faerie Queen takes an interest in Taylor. Filled to the brim with creativity and passion, this fic is teeming with fresh ideas and interesting depictions of canon characters. The worldbuilding is great as well, no other fic on this list has a map, so this is clearly a cut above the rest. 139k words at time of posting. Updating consistently.

Swallowtail - Ok I lied this one has a map too. Taylor with an incredibly interesting stranger power joins Faultline's crew. There is a truly astounding amount of AU elements and alternate powers for canon characters, it feels like a new world while still being recognizable and distinctly Worm. Has a large amount of alternate POVs and the first arc can be rough, but it's creative and amazing. 360k words. Ongoing but currently on haitus.

Soliloquy - Ex-Slaughterhouse 9 Taylor is in prison, bitter at the world and herself and especially her clone who saved the multiverse. A heavy fic about someone slowly recovering and becoming a better person when they're convinced it can't be done. Made me cry. 71k words. Complete.

TWNY - Post-GM Taylor finds herself in the world of RWBY with a pair of moth antennae. Multiple POVs, all very interesting despite me knowing nothing of RWBY. Probably the best characterization of Taylor in any post-GM crossover fic, she's heartbreaking in the recent arc, and it feels like the fic has barely scratched the surface of what it'll eventually cover. Also it's very gay. 136k words. Ongoing.

The Great Escape - Eidolon is struggling after his reputation is destroyed and Cauldron is revealed, and then the Birdcage opens. Amazing use of seldom seen characters, great POV with Eidolon, well done and interesting fights, has String Theory. 107k words. Ongoing but currently on haitus.

Happiness Is Inevitable - NSFW. The only damn erotic mind control Simurgh smut in the fandom somehow. Besides the porn (which is a lot of the fic, who woulda thunk it) the story itself is actually pretty interesting and has a lot of creative parts, and it has better characterization than most fics. 29k words. Ongoing?

Oneshots

Break me so that I can be whole - This accursed fandom is tragically bereft of QA / Taylor fics, but this one shot is great, love an eldritch take on shards. Probably fucked up but I'm not actually a good judge of that so be warned. 1.8k words.

Book Worm - Dragon helps teach Taylor how to read and speak and understand language post-GM. Bittersweet and lovely. 2.5k words.

Defiant Didn't Dox Saint For Nothing! - Taylor goes back in time and the first thing she does is kill Saint because he sucks. Cracky but I like it, fun little oneshot. 1.6k words.

Ruling Ash - Glory Girl flees Brockton Bay during the Slaughterhouse Nine and ends up living with Damsel of Distress. Cute, and Starsong before Ward is very interesting. 2.8k words.

My Sunshine - Leviathan goes worse and Brockton Bay is destroyed. Taylor and Victoria survive. Very somber, but well executed. 3.4k words.

Cherry on Top - A character study of Cherie Vasil, showing how she went from running away from Heartbreaker to joining the Nine. Extremely well written, absolutely incredible depiction of her character. It depicts abuse and actions typical of Heartbreaker and Cherie, so be careful reading. It's a lot emotionally. 12.7k words.

Devil in a New Dress - NSFW. Shatterbird / Reader, I'm not explaining myself on this one. Neat Shatterbird characterization, hot, pretty fucked up so be warned. 1.7k words.

[handkinkbis]

Show review: Destined with You.

So.... I might be in the minority, but as much as I enjoy Rowoon on screen I didn't start watching the show for him.

I was hoping for a witch/shaman Hongjo kdrama to finish near the eve of Halloween as the show seemed to be promising (very logically it seemed to be heading that way!). And she did cast some spells to my pleasure, but to my massive displeasure her witch arc was entirely forgotten about in favor of... not even sure what that kidnapping sequence was all about. Somehow most of Hongjo's agency as a character vanished into the ether as well during the past few episodes. Her character growth consisted of building the confidence to stand up to Nayeon, but her stubborn self reliance fueled by a lifetime of loneliness and trauma (her mother! Her father!!!!) stayed and was left unaddressed. And not to be dramatic, but I might die mad about it.

So past lifes were real, the curses and spells were real, Aengcho was really a shaman and the Gardener for whatever reason (also unexplored) wanted to marry Hongjo in the next life. But Hongjo in current day went from a strong, feisty character who was ready to spell cast her way in and out of trouble into... someone to intentionally get herself kidnapped??

It's like this show was written in the 2000s to early 2010s AND it hated women. I had high hopes for Ms. Ma, Shinyu's mother and Eunwol, but they were done DIRTY by this show. Hongjo's storyline was forgotten. Aengcho got relatively less attention compared to Mujin/Rowoon. It's like the main character changed somewhere and it became Shinyu/Mujin. Shinyu and Jaekyung had their cool lawyer moments (good stuff) and Hongjo got... Nayeon arrested? Nayeon, who was another villain without a proper depth or motivation other than being a 2010s kdrama era Mean Girl. Again, Hongjo and Aengcho were done so dirty. Even Shinyu's poor abused mother went back to her abusive husband AND she got pregnant. That was just tragic!

And kindly don't try to tell me that my reasons to dislike this show are wrong - I've every right to review and hate how badly this show butchered the stories of the female characters in this show even if Rowoon was hot in a bunch of scenes like that's going to compensate for it. I am not a Rowoon stan. 🤷‍♀️ I like him just fine, but it's been frustrating to watch as a non-stan since some stans seem to take any critique of the show as a slight towards Rowoon himself. But he has nothing to do with the writing, so put down your pitchforks, ok.

They should've stuck with the office romcom or made the show into a sageuk and dropped the false advertising of the show as a magic/fantasy drama. The sageuk era episodes SLAPPED. They were tense, beautifully shot and interesting, Aengcho had her moment! I LOVED her in her faceoff with the King, she was powerful and terrifying in that. And as soon as I fell in love with her, Mujin killed Aengcho (in a very meta symbolic way) and that was that. The show itself killed Aengcho and Hongjo.

This show was written to give Rowoon his cool and sexy moments. This was the Rowoon fan service show. Which is fine, but LEAD with that info then. I did enjoy Hongjo and Shinyu together and there were a couple of fun or emotionally compelling episodes, but I didn't finish with positive feelings about the show unfortunately because of the finale.

The writing of the show was exceptionally uneven and erratic. It seemed like from a different decade, but not this one. The relationship between Hongjo and Shinyu was mostly wholesome, but not always the healthiest for several reasons. Shinyu didn't always treat Hongjo well (and vice versa) and he made some decisions for Hongjo in true 2010s kdrama patriarch style.

Hongjo&Shinyu get 7/10 for being adorable and lovable. Loved their relationship development very much. I'm glad they didn't rush to have kids or to marry. The proposal at the beach while addressing Hongjo's dad was endearing.

Plot gets a 3/10 rating. There was potential... and it slipped through the writer's fingers. Loose threads were left untied. Side plots were abandoned or seemingly forgotten about.

Would I rewatch again? Maybe once I stop fuming about how Hongjo was treated by the show, but just for the Shinhong scenes. But it'll take some wound licking and fixit fic writing.

Please universe, give Boah better scripts. She's a wonderful actress and she deserves a role that's cool and that lets her showcase her talent. Many viewers seemed to lose their patience with her, even though the writing of the show was the true issue.

[misscrawfords]

Watched Bridgerton with a bit too much wine and a new cross-stitch. Immediate thoughts:

highly watchable. Four hours sped by. Whatever else it might be, it's a very addictive, winning formula. Liked it much more than I anticipated despite feeling that a) Penelope's unrequited friends-to-lovers fantasy is going to hit me very hard and b) Colin Bridgerton is not attractive and never will be.

Francesca Francesca Francesca!!! I don't remember much about her book and from the trailers/promo pics didn't think much of the new actress but I am now obsessed with Francesca. Adore her being autistic coded with a music special interest. Adore that for her. Adore the music. Absolutely everything. She's my girl!!!!!! Love her being silent with John. I'm so sad knowing what happens but I want this for her. I cant stop thinking about how he listened to her info dump about that violinist and then got the damn piece transcribed for her to play. I mean. Listen. My hear, you guys, my heart. I don't care about anything or anyone else!

Penelope's glow-up is awesome.

Love Alice and Will Mondrich. Again, did not see this coming but finding their storyline pretty cool.

Love that we get more Hyacinth. She's my favourite Bridgerton because when I read her book I related to her so hard I had some kind of life crisis, so the fact she has more to do and is growing up just fills me with joy.

Weirdly love the Featheringtons and the very bizarre inheritance/pregnancy plot. The girls don't know what sex is and neither do their loser husbands? The whole thing is so utterly off the wall, it's compelling! Their S02 plot was so dull but I'm finding this completely bonkers and compelling. Maybe it's the wine?

Cressida and Eloise??!!! Like, Cressida is ticking all my "mean rich bitch with unexpected trauma and hidden depths" box and I hate myself for it but there we go. Here for it. I hope she isn't completely villainised.

Eloise's development baffles me. I hate that she's all "I'm not like other girls" with the sewing and she seems to veer towards learning that maybe she can get on with girls and change and then she's dragged back into her insufferable superiority. And how is the character who is written like this supposed to end up as the stepmum to Marina Crane's children vegetating in the countryside? It does not make sense at all for show!Eloise. Actually the only thing that makes sense is to make her a lesbian, or at least bi, which would be in keeping with her "I don't fit in/I'm different" narrative. Otherwise... what? ngl I want Cressida/Eloise fanfic and I did not think that would be my takeaway from this show when I woke up today.

Colin is just not sexy. He's not sexy, he has an unsexy name (4th on my ranking of "how sexy are the Bridgerton boys' names" btw: 1 is Benedict obv - top tier sexy name; 2 is Anthony - mid-level but clearly worked for Cleopatra, has definite potential in the right circumstances; 3 is Gregory - not sexy especially if abbreviated but could work with a lot of effort in a particularly charming individual but Colin? Nope. Can you imagine screaming "COLIN!" in the heights of passion? No, didn't think so.) And I just don't buy him as a character. Why must maturity and new-found confidence equal having threesomes? He lacks coherency to me. Oh well. I don't hate him but I would take John Stirling's silence and top tier gift giving or Lord Debling's honesty, kindness, and dedicated to real interests over his... whatever it is is Colin has... any day.

Penelope's glow-up is great and she looks hot af and I'm here for it and her arc is certainly compelling but it's actually... not the most compelling part of the show for me. Whoops!

The dig about embroidery was very unnecessary.

Don't know what Benedict is doing in this plot but he's still very entertaining and has more character than Colin.

Yeah. I enjoyed it way more than expected and I only feel mildly heartbroken about the whole friends-to-lovers thing but that's probably the wine. Part 2 is released on my birthday so happy birthday to me, I guess!!

[essie007]

Wheel of Time Season 2 Thoughts

Now that the season is over and I’ve had a few days to process I thought I’d put some of my thoughts about the season. No major book spoilers but I do make mention to some of the changes they’ve made while adapting the first two books. I might make a more book spoilery post later.

-Overall I really enjoyed the season. I think it was well written, tight and delivered both storywise and character wise. The costuming, special effects and art direction continues to be top tier and I found the season highly watchable and compelling. I did not love absolutely every moment and decision and definitely have a few nitpicks but as a whole I really liked it. I will say that I think a lot of the issues I did have with the season can be boiled down to the limited amount of time they had to tell the story they needed to tell. I really think this show would benefit from at least 10 episodes and season if not more, and I know that’s an opinion many have echoed.

- I loved all the White Tower stuff in the first half of the season. It was a good set-up for tower politics, different factions, how The One Power works and it introduced us to a lot of important characters.

-Hi Elayne! I love you and you are perfect girl!

-Nyneave’s Tower story and block was A+

-I personally didn’t mind Siuan’s book scenes being given to Liandrin. I think it was necessary to tell the story they needed to tell in the time they needed to tell it. And I thought Liandrin’s whole story, the explanation of why she turned to the Black Ajah was interesting both to make her a more compelling villain and to set up the stakes of the universe. We need to be worried that our heroes will choose the dark at some point, and for that to be a real threat we need good reasons why other have. All of her scenes were great. Loved her scenes with Nyneave, Egwene and Lanfear. And her petty fighting with Suroth. *chef’s kiss*

-I’m just gonna say it ok? Are you ready? I LOVE show!Alanna. Book fans can give me the stink eye if they want, but as she’s been portrayed on screen so far she rocks. The actress is incredible and the writing has done an excellent job as setting her up as a genuine, moral, strong and honestly necessary pillar of light in the dark. You really feel she is fighting on the side of good with everything she has, no matter what it costs her. She’s also a genuinely good teacher in the Tower! The way she fights for the girls, and for Moiraine, and later for Rand. We love to see it. Her story in many ways mirrors Moraine’s. The show has done a very good job of making her a character that you are strongly empathizing with and rooting for. And honestly book knowledge has only made me feel that more strongly. Knowing how many darkfriends she is holding the line against, you FEEL how necessary and important the work she does is. And I am starting to understand how she, like Moiraine and Siuan this season, and Rand in the story to come, might start feeling weighed down by that. My girl fits right in with the themes of the story. Sorry not sorry. I am weak for MILFs.

-Egwene’s entire storyline this season kicked ass. I think she had, hands down, the best story arc from beginning to end. I have very little to say about it because it was all perfectly done. And when she killed Rena, instead of sparing her like you’re expecting, oh boy did I cheer.

-Rand’s storyline, if you knew who Lanfear was from the outset was fun all the way through. Though I have it on good authority from @steel-wings that if you went in blind, it was quite slow in the beginning. I do have to say that the introduction to Rand this season being “he’s sleeping with an innkeeper for room and board” was the funniest and best thing I have ever seen. Dana The Darkfired from last season continues to give. No honestly, this is genuine foreshadowing (Selene is also *gasp* a Darkfriend) and character work. They decided to show Rand’s declining mental state and self esteem by contrasting how willing he was to sugarbaby this season with how against it he was last season. 10/10 no notes.

-Rand is a Mental Health Worker! I’m going to cry! Yes I know he has reasons for doing this but watching Rand with that old man, knowing he’s been doing this job for almost a year. Excuse me I need a moment.

-The Lanfear reveal kicked ass. She is so crazy and so evil and so manipulative. Love to see it in a villain. The scene where she “learns” Rand can channel was honestly hilarious. Although this was the moment that @steel-wings lost her patience with the storyline.

Steelwings: Ugh. This is so boring. She’s just there for his manpain. I can’t watch any more of this. It would have been better if she was evil.

Me knowing my wife is at the end of her patience and is about to abandon this show I love but not knowing how long they’re planning to draw the reveal out, pausing the tv: Do you want me to spoil you?

Steelwings: Yes! Spoil me! PLEASE tell me she’s evil.

Me: She’s evil :D She’s the most evil bitch whose ever lived. She’s so evil and so crazy and so manipulative. She’s Oppenheimer if he worshipped the devil and *horrifying spoilers*

Steelwings settling back in to watch: Love that for her. 🙂

-Perrin’s storyline was the least ineteresting and slowest of the mains but with the rest of the show so jam packed it felt like a nice break in some ways to have some breathing room with Perrin. We’ve got Egwene being tortured by the Seanchan and Mat being tortured by the Forsaken and Rand being imprisoned by the Amyrlin. Meanwhile, Perrin has met a cute girl and a dog. Good for him.

-MAAAAT. MAT! My baby boy Mat Cauthon. You are having a no good very bad life huh? And it’s only season 2 *cries* I did love the way he turned the dagger into a spear there at the end and also…HE’S A HERO OF THE HORN! I thought that was a perfect choice. Really made sense with his storyline and character arc. It also gives them a really good plot excuse for him to suddenly know how to fight with his big stick. Mat’s “I remember” and his Old Tongue and his immediate military Glow Up. So good. So fun. I will be screaming forever.

-Speaking of screaming forever the Cauthor reunion had me screaming and crying and dying. I will never be the same. It was giving big stars fading (but i linger on) by @butterflydm vibes. If you haven’t read it, it’s a fic that also adapts The Great Hunt as season 2 by saying “what if Rand just hung around Carhein playing Sugar Baby and getting dicked down while everyone else hunted for the horn?” (It’s really good and you should read it.) Hey @butterflydm how does it feel to be so smart and correct all the time?

-I was expecting the Mat stabs Rand moment to be caused by Compulsion, not friendly fire. It would have given him a really good reason to go searching for something to protect him from the OP in the future. But I’m not mad. We got some top tier cradling out of it. Although this is the second time Ishy has pulled that move (the first was with Rand at the Eye). Boy is not an original thinker.

-I know a lot of people were sad that Rand did not get cool sword battles this season. And look, I get it, the books lean hard in to the cool power fantasy moments with Rand, so if that’s your thing and what you came for, this show probably is letting you down. But I gotta say, as someone who has always been here for the characters and themes and narrative, I LOVE what they did with the battle here. AND with Rand’s learning curve.

-I love that Rand knows exactly one weave at this point, and that that weave is “make knife.” I LOVE that Lan is the one who taught it to him. (Miss me with your Lan hate.) I love that the first thing he did with it wasn’t fight an enemy but free Moiraine from her bonds, heal her, even though he’s not a healer. A knife is a tool and you can use it to heal or to fight. Just as Ryma used her healing weaves to rip Damane bodies apart, Rand uses his knife weaves to “heal.” I love that the second thing he uses that weave for IS to destroy Turak’s fighting force. I did not at all feel I had been robbed of a sword fight. I cheered! Excellent little Indiana Jones moment, right there. Rand WAS badass. And most of all I love that he wasn’t able to to defeat Ishmael on his own, that he needed Egwene and Perrin and Mat and Moiraine and Elayne and Nyneave. Like that’s the point! Lanfear is running around the city trying to dump the other Forsaken in the ocean. Ishmael is standing on that tower alone and betrayed with no allies. But Rand has friends! He has people who come to help him! And that is why he wins. That’s whole point. Hello theme of friendship and connection, I love you, never go anywhere.

-Also Moiraine being like I would kill thousands of people to help Rand made me snort and go “Ok Mom.” Yeah yeah scorched earth morality. Ruthlessness. She is on a mission to save the world even if she has to destroy the world in the process. But also Moiraine IS that meme from Parks and Rec. She has only had Rand Al’Thor for a year but if anything happens to him she will kill everyone in this room and then herself. Now fly the Dragon Banner.

-All that being said, there was one storyline this season that really did not hit for me, and I am sorry to say it was the Siuan Sanche of it all. I have spent a lot of time turning that episode over in my head and I still haven’t put all my thoughts together but ultimately I will say this. Yes, if you were expecting Siuan from the books her actions were definitely character assassination. She makes the exact opposite choices in the show. However, I understand why, both narratively and time wise those changes were made so I’m going to do my best to react to the story they told and the character they wrote, not the one I was expecting. The real problem I think with the story they told is that they didn’t give us enough time in Siuan’s POV and with Siuan’s story to really truly empathize with the decisions she’s making. We spend the episode in Rand and Moiraine’s POVs and honestly I think that’s a big mistake, because we don’t learn any new information about either of them. But in order for that moment at the end with Moiraine to truly be heartbreaking, in order for us to really understand why she’s imprisoning Rand at all we need to see her struggles and her fears and her beliefs. I talked earlier about how they do a good job showing what Alanna and Moiraine are up against but they needed to give us that with Siuan. We’re told she has enemies in the tower, we’re told she’s been depending on Moiraine and Rand to be the ace up her sleeve in the last battle, but we don’t see the emotional toll of that. And at the end there I think the writing needed to make it perfectly crystal clear that Siuan believes that Moiraine is black ajah. A casual viewer should understand and feel for Siuan who is doing this terrible thing because she believes she is saving the world, saving Rand, from a Forsaken and a darkfriend who has lied to her and betrayed her. But it's just not there. I understand that this plot point and this story serves a narrative purpose. It sets up Rand's relationship with the White Tower and the Aes Sedai as a whole. It draws a thematic parallel between the three Oaths and the Seanchan oaths and damane system. It brings up the theme of how power corrupts, how even good people who are doing their best to help the many, can use their power to do horrifying things when they believe it is necessary. But I think it still needed more set up and more character development and more room to breathe. I have…a lot more to say on the subject but I might need to make it it’s own post. I definitely think the writers have set themselves up for a headache when it comes to next season but that’s spoilers so I’ll end this here.

[zahri-melitor]

Wonder Woman by Messner-Loebs (#63-#100, #0)

Well. That was A Lot.

This is a difficult run to read, and not just because it backs up straight off George Perez’s iconic run. It’s a slog with writing that is painfully outdated and that will throw you out of the story if you’re not paying attention.

It’s very much a run in which I feel one of the biggest problems is that it’s written by a man who wants to believe that women have interiority and motivations, but is hopelessly out of touch with what actual real life women think and believe and act. Interesting concepts, poor execution. I have to believe he didn’t understand the sheer level of all the misogyny he portrayed characters as experiencing, and that he thought it was a good power fantasy to see those women overcoming that systemic and specific misogyny.

Let’s get into the good aspects.

Christopher Priest gets a two-part story (#88-89), which is used to bring Circe (in her traditional appearance) out to explain why Themyscira has been missing for the whole run so far and what happened. I quite enjoy Priest’s writing and this story had enough twists to it to be interesting, but also leaned into an aspect I love seeing pop up in Wonder Woman stories…the inevitability of fate and prophecy. Circe promises Diana that she will restore Themyscira…but Diana must sacrifice an innocent’s life. The story tangles with this well. Truly a lovely little tension release in the run, and shifted the story arc from the first 25 issues over to the last dozen.

Circe as the overarching big bad of the whole run is actually a good shout. Circe’s a manipulator, and having a run where she’s pulling the strings all over the place while also cosying up to Diana in disguise is quite fun.

On that vein…honestly I enjoyed all the ‘Donna Milton’ stuff, despite how much I was ragging it as I read it. Someone taking advantage of Diana’s trust in that way was a betrayal, but you can also see her affected by the role she took on. Also it was just really funny to offset Ares being so hamhanded about his incarnation in comparison. Plus, the existence of Lyta Milton is going to pay off into the future.

While I’m STILL going on about Circe: it’s fascinating to me that multiple of Diana’s female villains not only want to bang her but are compelled to be friends with her, even as they also run around being evil. Like it’s a lovely redemption arc for the 30 seconds it will be permanent.

I don’t hate the idea of The Contest, and it’s one of the better conceptualised stories across the whole run. The concept (has Diana lost her skill and her direction compared to the wishes of the Amazons? How does she compare to champions of Bana-Mighdall? What is the direction that the Amazons should be pursuing in Man’s World?) has a lot to chew on and Artemis as a character does a fair chunk of rehab to the concept behind Bana-Mighdall and moving it into a part of the mythology that writers can actually use, rather than being the racist stereotype Perez created. There are additional valid reasons for the Banas to feel betrayed, and Herakles screwed over both Amazon tribes (Unfortunately at the expense of Hippolyta’s characterisation, but she’s all over the place in this run). The execution however, didn’t measure up to the concepts.

Things I think didn’t work:

The run had three overarching arcs that I think can be approximately broken down into: the space pirate arc; Ares and ‘Donna Milton’ screw with Diana’s life; Artemis as Wonder Woman. They’re not really coherent with each other? Stuff that was happening in one arc just gets dropped and ignored to move onto the next arc.

I think Messner-Loebs had a vision of taking Diana down to see the gritty hardship and violence of women’s lives. Unfortunately, I don’t think that particularly worked as a run for Wonder Woman. It’s a book that at its best is imbued with hope and connections to mythology and epic plots, rather than street-level storylines. Diana running around worrying about paying her bills and working in a fast food restaurant and for a private investigator taking on cases like shaking down men for unpaid child support? I had Common People by Pulp running though my head the whole time. I do like Diana to be concerned with even small scale problems and outraged by institutional sexism. I don’t think this was the right approach to show it.

Then there was the way Messner-Loebs contrasted this with Artemis, by using Artemis as a foil to say “you can’t just go out and beat up institutional sexism and misogyny, the work is harder than punching people in the face and declaring that women should be strong!” Thank you, Messner-Loebs, we really needed that strawman created for Artemis as a character. Artemis and her plot once she leaves Themyscira is just a series of take that strawmen using some very 90s plot ideas (not helped by Deodato literally drawing the sort of Image Comics villains that it is railing against, and giving them stupid names). It’s a very, very blantantly obvious, Captain Planet sort of approach to ‘why are women treated differently to men’ and it needed a lot more subtlety and interrogation of the concepts involved.

Messner-Loebs is also struggling with the fact that he simply doesn’t have the language or conception to describe a lot of the feminist and queer themes he is playing around with. There are several storylines or offhand comments that, were they written today, would be explicit trans storylines or discussions of intersexuality and assigned gender, but in what we get, written in the early nineties? It’s stereotypes about what makes someone flamboyantly gay, or ‘secretly’ female.

Downsides of the run:-

Mike Deodato Jr’s art. It’s everything people rag on about 90s art. He’s not Rob Liefeld, but that’s almost worse, because as I’ve said previously, Liefeld basically only does Hawk & Dove work for DC (with an occasional foray into Deathstroke and ‘projects Jeph Loeb asked all his friends to contribute to’), while Deodato here is getting to draw DOZENS of women and particularly Amazons in that extremely Image House Style way. Not a lot of internal organs, a lot of wedgies. I suppose he was picked for the end arc in that his art style played with the messages Messner-Loebs was trying to convey (“stereotypes bad! Image Comics villains silly! Feminism involves hard work!”) but is let down by the fact that, yanno, all the characters are drawn in that style.

Messner-Loebs just forgetting what his plot involving Cheetah was. At the start of the run, he banished Barbara Minerva into a demon dimension. She then reappears right near the end of the run, with the extremely boring villain I have avoided mentioning this entire write up (sorry, Asquith Randolph is SO dull) having pulled her back and…sent her out to attack Diana? Caged her? Great work there Messner-Loebs, no notes.

Just so much blatant misogyny and violence against women, and the way Diana and Artemis were portrayed as fighting it was nowhere near sufficient catharsis for putting me through reading it.

Do I think you should read this run?

Hmm, it depends. It’s an interesting introduction to Artemis and is probably important context to know about her for any story going forwards. I can see how the Donna Milton stuff is going to pay off in the future when other people draw out the storyline built in here. The choice of classic villains in this run is actually solid. Dr Psycho’s appropriately horribly creepy, Circe’s turn is triumphant, Ares is causing problems, Cheetah is sympathetic but wrong in all the right ways. On the other hand, we start with the process of fridging the Kapatelis family, it’s just chock full of storylines that you stare at going ‘why is this HERE?’, it tends to pick up an idea, play with it and then drop it without pulling it back to develop a theme, it gets bogged down in feminist concepts that were outdated even for the early 90s, and it just felt unpleasant to read. This is some storytelling that desperately needed a woman in the room to consult and talk ideas over with, and as close as they got was the colourist.

[definitelynotshouting]

Hi! This has nothing to do with hermitcraft at all, but I think you’re a great writer so I’d like your opinion on something for my passion project! ((If you’re willing Ofc))

What do you think about the prophecy trope?

Like- “a great saviour will appear! The prophecy says so!” For example.

Furthermore; how would you go about improving the trope / making it more unique?

- binge reader

OOOOOH BINGE READER ANON I LOVE THIS QUESTION!!!! its very flattering that you would ask this of me, and for what its worth, its actually exactly in my wheelhouse-- im a professional editor who often works substantive edits, so youve found a good person to ask :]

Because of that, im gonna answer this in two ways: one as a writer, and one as an actual editor

So beyond my own personal opinion, which we'll get to later, the general rule of thumb in writing is that you can make pretty much anything work so long as you put in the effort. This includes things like characterization that would otherwise come off as ooc-- if you take the time to make it believable, to see what it would take to make this character act a certain way, that can absolutely work!!! And likewise, the same goes for tropes. You can generally make almost any trope work-- even if its typically viewed as clichéd-- so long as you put that work in, and weave it well into your storyline!!

For this trope in particular, it absolutely has its place. If your story is centered around that, then that is perfectly fine!! All writing boils down to what the author wants to depict, portray, and show you, and sometimes that involves a prophecy!! What i would recommend to make this an effective prophecy, however, is making sure it slots in well with the surrounding world and storyline-- tropes like The Chosen One tend to be the crucial hinge on which the story operates, so you'll want to structure stuff around that so that it feels properly baked in. To do this, i'd recommend figuring out what you want from the prophecy in general first-- is this an accurate prophecy?? Is divination a known aspect of this world?? Is magic?? Or is this closer to a self-fulfilling prophecy, where no magic or divination exists but events have been manipulated so that it still comes true??? These are super good questions to ask yourself because they heavily impact the approach you take with your worldbuilding, and i find that rippling outward from one central plot point/plot device can do a ton to make your story feel more cohesive overall.

Now personally, as a writer, im not generally super interested in writing a garden variety prophecy trope. But something i do love to do is take tropes and twist them around, turn them on their heads, and shake things up so it feels a bit more fresh and keeps my personal interest while writing. The way i see it, you have a sort of bell curve/spectrum to reference here: on one end its "the prophecy is true and the story is informed by it wholesale," and on the other end, you've got "the prophecy is bullshit and actually means nothing" 😂😂😂😂

Both of these feel too extreme for me. There are a few ways i would take this, depending on the overall story and its message/themes, but something that i find personally entertaining is the sort of middle ground of "half-true, half–self-fulfilled." I find it deeply compelling to have a character yank their own fate into their hands and start wielding it like a weapon-- there's something incredibly powerful about a narrative where a character sees a prophecy and chooses to make it come true. Sometimes this is written as the character stepping up to the plate for other people. Sometimes it's written as the character just being clever, and doing some social engineering-- whether that be for power, ambition, responsibility, or pure survival. But the end result is the same: the prophecy is ultimately fulfilled, and on a meta level, you pose a question to both your character and your readers-- was it real? And does that matter??? Were the choices taken by your protagonist what shaped the story, or were they shaped BY it, and just didn't know it?? Does choosing to abide by a prophecy make it true, make it inevitable, or is it all just a sham??? Is there a middle ground here as well?? What does that mean for the events that happened????

These are all EXCELLENT questions you can use to make a genuinely gripping narrative, one that makes your readers really think after they've read it and come to conclusions of their own. They're also part of tropes i personally like, which involve the power of choice, and very clever characters (i love clever characters, im a little trickster at heart), and rules-lawyering, and often some interplay between the concepts of freedom and fate. These questions may not work for your story, though, and thats okay!! Your story is ultimately for you, and i think asking yourself what you ultimately want out of it is the first step towards finding an effective way to tell it. Some people just want to write the trope wholesale with nothing else added in and that is perfectly fine. Some people, like me, enjoy writing very complex thinkpieces and will want to change it up a bit to better fit that structure 😂😂😂😂 At the end of the day, ask yourself what it is you're trying to tell, and then start asking yourself what will help you tell it best :] and then you can start changing things up from there!!

Hopefully this made sense, anon!!! Again, im deeply flattered you've asked my opinion on this, and i wanted to make sure i took the time to answer it thoroughly. I'm so interested in your passion project already!! If you ever want to share more, or just want to ask more questions of editor-TJ, absolutely hit me up!!! I love love LOVE talking about the mechanics of storytelling, its my passion and my career, so i will never get tired of infodumping about it :DDD i hope this helped!! Thanks again for asking!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[navree]

Why do people (especially here in tumblr) hate Tyrion so much?

I mean, from what I've seen, quite a lot of people like Tyrion, considering he's a well written character and his storylines are both some of the most compelling and the most central to one of the two core plots (the politics side of ASOIAF, while Jon's the one most central to The Others side). I think we also need to divide it up into show Tyrion and book Tyrion, because the reason people dislike show Tyrion is that he turned into a little idiot once D&D had to actually write out his plans himself and it's incredibly frustrating to watch him continually be such a fuck up but the narrative still treating him like he's in the right. Also his issues with Dany make no sense even before The Bells, which is also a heavy factor.

For book Tyrion, I mentioned it in a prior ask, but Tyrion's chapters can be genuinely hard to read. Tyrion is incredibly misogynistic - I don't consider this a flaw in the writing, GRRM is being incredibly purposeful with it and it's there for a reason and a lot of his actions are understandable, and Tyrion where he is in the books right now is in the midst of a darkening downward spiral for the furtherance of his arc - and even ignoring his actions, his constant thinking about how he wants to be violent towards various women he dislikes or sexually assault them (him constantly talking about wanting to rape and kill Cersei for thinking that he killed Joffrey when he knows she genuinely believes it, unlike Tywin who was using it as an excuse to get rid of him is particularly galling for me) can literally be draining. For me at least, it can be an actual trial to get through some of Tyrion's chapters, not just because the misogyny he exhibits is so constant, but also because this isn't a way of thinking that's isolated to ASOIAF.

The series tackles very real world issues, but still within the confines of a world and system most readers are never going to experience. It is highly unlikely that most of the readers are going to experience what it's like to live under a feudal system modeled on Middle Ages Europe and all the issues that entails, but men who feel that women owe them sex just cuz they're having it with another man (like Tyrion says to Cersei in ACOK), men who hit a significant other for saying the wrong thing (like Tyrion does to Shae in either ACOK or ASOS), men who take their own anger at their misperceptions out on other women (like Tyrion killing Shae in ASOS), men who immediately feel sexually violent when angry at women (like how Tyrion thinks about Cersei in ADWD), men who still have sex with women who are clearly not into it or in a position to consent because their pleasure matters more to them (like Tyrion with the slave in ADWD)? Those are very real men, that any female reader of ASOIAF can run into or have in her life.

There's also other stuff, I don't know how popular these reasons are but this is from my perspective, that Tyrion does that sometimes make me roll my eyes, mostly just things like not realizing that summarily banishing Janos might read badly to the general populace, or his tendency to be kinda rude to people who serve him like Pod (he's highborn, it's not unexpected but still aggravating), or even the fact that, for as smart as he is, he's nowhere near as smart as he thinks he is, especially when it comes to interacting with other people. Again, all of these are purposeful parts of Tyrion's character, they're not being done accidentally, but if I'm looking at Tyrion as a person, separate from a character constructed by an author (which I do generally try to do, since I think there's a difference between liking a character as a character and liking them as a person, similar to how I can find certain historical figures interesting but still dislike who they were as people), these also aren't things I particularly like about him.

I've said this before, but I don't think Tyrion is all bad. There's stuff I like about his arc, about how he's written, about what he means as a character and the things he does, and his place in the narrative, but as a person? No, I don't like Tyrion, and the reasons I don't like Tyrion are reasons that other people do share. It can be tough spending time in his head, what with all the aforementioned misogyny, and that can be enough of a turn off for people, especially socially conscious readers or female readers who have to deal with the real life misogyny Tyrion's is inspired from. That doesn't mean that no one likes Tyrion (most people I know actually do like him quite a lot, and he's an incredibly popular character, as well as the author's personal favorite), or that someone's a bad person for liking him, but there are reasons for the dislike some people have, and for me at least, these are mine.

[96percentdone]

Your ace attorney opinions are so valid and I wish they did aa5 and aa6 more justice? The characters are interesting and fun but when they play 52 pickup with each individual storyline it really shoots the collective narrative in the foot. From a gameplay standpoint, the stuff introduced in aa5 and 6 are fun and rly cool ways to expand upon the universe, and the Wright lie detection agency is fun, but it feels like. Idk. Like they didn’t trust their writers OR their fan base with their story. Idk if that makes sense? (I have similar beef with aitsf and aini though so,,,)

Yeah I honestly hold more contempt for AA5 and 6 than I do any other art I've experienced. Defenders of these games will posit the detractors are so fixated on AJ's plot they cannot see the merits of DD and SoJ, but I don't care about Kristoph's psyche locks, the untouched sibling reveal, or Apollo's 70000 backstories nearly as much as they suggest. Those things are annoying, but they are minor symptoms of the real issue: bad writing across the board. Most if not all culprits have store-bought motives that are thinly elucidated, if they're even elucidated at all, which impacts the writing of every case. If the cause of the suffering is a caricature, the victims end up similarly toothless. They are equally generic. AA has always struggled to write witnesses and culprits consistently well--there's a reason people talk about ace attorney middle cases like that for instance--but it's compounded by the frequency that it happens especially for the main characters.

The returning main cast are hollowed out versions of themselves. Trucy is just a quirky magician girl which they walk back a little in Spirit of Justice by giving her a focus case, and then she's back to being Quirky. Phoenix Wright is a generic mentor figure with goofy internal dialogue sometimes. Klavier is a rockstar prosecutor!!! That's it!!!! Miles Edgeworth is BACK, and because they worked on the investigations games you can kind of see why he's this big good figure, but Pearl and Maya are seemingly around just to be around cause they have nothing going on emotionally. Apollo is a stock dweeb except when he's stock Edgy as a result of one of his new poorly written backstories involving poorly written new characters who might not even be characters (looking at you, Clay Terran).

And the new main characters suffer just as much. Let's take Dual Destinies as a case study. Blackquill was convicted and imprisoned for a murder he did not do, something that changed him and shows in his scenes, in order to protect Athena, whose upbeat personality is only preserved because she is so traumatized by the events and her complicated relationship with her mother and hearing she cannot acknowledge it consciously. These are compelling emotional beats, it makes for well-rounded characters, but what's the payoff? Why did they suffer this way? Because some hired goon with no name and no face had a job at GYAXA to execute. In a better game, you could use Phantom's emptiness as commentary about how often the things that ruin your life don't have good explanations, but I will not be lending credit to that notion for this game, because void man is the origin point for "The Dark Age of the Law," which now also happened because it did, and it was a shallow idea from the jump.

"The Dark Age of the Law" is an simplified cartoon explanation for distrust in the legal system. Instead of people being flawed whether through selfishness (MvK, Kristoph) or trauma (Miles, Justine) lending itself to corruption, exploitation and injustice in systems meant to protect, leading to a myriad of reasons the public would be skeptical that the law serves them, they just feel that way because one lawyer got disbarred for evidence forging and one prosecutor was convicted for murder. Spirit of Justice largely takes place in a made up country with a tyrannical government that kills defense attorneys for assuring fair trials for guilty clients! Why does this happen? Idk, because Ga'ran sucks, and she has ultimate power and creates all the laws. The root of all evil in Khura'in is one woman who is a factory set trope surrounded by generic citizens, diluted returning leads, and new characters who must be dragged down by the garbage that surrounds them in order to take part in it.

You brought up AI. Since you're anonymous, I'm guessing you're one of the countless people who takes issue with Nirvana Initiative on the grounds it's a bad followup to AITSF, to which I first have to ask.... Are you new to my blog? This is a AINI defender account lmao. I think it's better than AITSF, fight me. I'm writing a whole essay about it; I'll win. That said, I get the comparison because it's one I've made before, even if I don't quite stand by it anymore. I'm not going to explain my AINI opinions here, wait for the essay if you're curious, but I think I can get at that difference to me just by using Ace Attorney alone.

My favorite Ace Attorney game is Investigations 2, a sequel to a spin-off that has two of the writers for the mainline games I hate. It's a game about legacy and family. Whether they were admirable and just like Gregory Edgeworth, or duplicitous abusers like Blaise Debeste, the cast of this game wrestles with who they are, how their parent (or parental figure) shaped them, and who they should be in the face that now. Maybe they have to learn what that person is actually like and separate from them, or maybe they find a new family among their friends to fill that absence, or maybe they make peace with that loss and accepting who they are now is someone worth being. Maybe they deny that memory as their own or significant until the end to preserve what they want to believe. It's also a game about systemic failure, and all the things that have to be done to make the law an institute that actually protects people. Specific bad actors may be out of the picture now, but there is still more work to be done.

And the funny thing is? I2 does all of this without actually talking all that much about the rest of the series. Most of the characters are new, even to Investigations, and the ones that return don't bring up most of the shit that happened like a week ago. Miles references the events of Turnabout Goodbyes, and "That Man", and Gregory Edgeworth is a key figure in this game, to the point where you play as him, and yet all of that is only alluded just enough to understand the magnitude of his image and his loss. The heart of AA has always been in its characters, who are zany and fun, but they face real tragedy and real abuses, at the hands of one another which are then reflected in the world of law because the justice system is created and run by people; in I2 it beats so strongly.

Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice may have the skin of Ace Attorney and the bones to prop them up, but underneath that familiar exterior, they're empty. They lack the the muscles and veins and blood to bring them to life, because the character writing and thematic conceits are shallow. The reason AA5 and 6 fail as followups is not because they don't engage with prior entries enough, but because they are poorly written on their own terms. They say nothing at all; they have removed their own heart.

[alliluyevas]

have you read/watched Under the Banner of Heaven? curious for your thoughts on it! If you already posted about it in the past pls feel free to link me

Thank you for the question!!! I have in fact both read and watched Under the Banner of Heaven. It was actually the first Mormon-history book I read way back in spring of 2021. I had just watched a Hulu documentary about FLDS and I wanted to read more about modern-day Mormon fundamentalists so I checked it out from the library and was hooked! I wanted to find out more about the origins and history of Mormonism, having had my interest piqued by the book, and the rest is history. I haven't reread the book since and I definitely know way more about both historical and modern Mormonism now, so it would be interesting to reread and see if it holds up. (One quibble: after reading about the 1988 Singer/Swapp siege more recently, I don't know why Krakauer didn't include a discussion of this event in UTBOH. It would have been a natural fit with his discussion of Mormon fundamentalist violence.)

I saw the show, on the other hand, when it came out and I knew way more about Mormon history. I thought it was fantastic. Very strong acting, writing, directing, deeply compelling, etc. I think the addition of Andrew Garfield's and Gil Birmingham's characters and the storyline about Jeb's faith deconstruction and Taba's Native American perspective really added a lot of depth. I also liked the way that their stories and the story of the investigation were woven together with both the recent history of the Lafferty family and the 19th century history of the church.

I would say that my primary issue with the show is that Allen Lafferty is written much more sympathetically than I find the real-life Allen, who was aware that his brothers had made death threats against his wife to a much greater extent than is portrayed in the show and did absolutely nothing about it. I think Allen bears a greater degree of responsibility for Brenda and Erica's deaths than the show would lead you to believe, and I know that Brenda's parents and siblings feel/felt that way, while the show depicts him going to stay with them in the final episode. (Also, while I don't know if Allen's religious struggles as depicted in the show are inaccurate to what he was going through at the time, he and his current wife are very much orthodox LDS, to the point where his wife has a Youtube channel with the two of them giving testimony, which I feel like doesn't really reflect well on him given like. everything.)

Edit: oh, and one issue I have with the historical flashbacks is that it kind of lampshades the conspiracy theory about John Taylor being in on Joseph Smith's murder which I think was kind of irresponsible of them because it's literally fringe nonsense and my behated.

[zayadriancas]

What are some of your favorite and least favorite episodes and why? :)

Ooh that’s a great question! I have so many! I’ll start with some of my favorites off the top of my head, this won’t be in any real order. I’m also not sure if I’ll give the best explanations but I’ll try! :)

Mercy Street: This is always one of the first that comes to mind. Any episode involving Rick is always very intense and compelling. This episode is basically the set up for the shooting which makes it even more haunting to watch. I like how this episode makes you feel for pretty much everyone in some way even if they aren’t handling things in the best way. For Paige Spinner, Hazel & Jimmy they rightfully resent Rick for what he put Terri through, so it makes sense why they want to do something. Even though Rick doesn’t deserve sympathy after what he did, the writers did a good job of showing the effects the bullying was having on him and were able to show that it had clearly gone too far. While he’s not a character worth rooting for, the writing and Ephraim Ellis’s performance still make you feel for him in a way, but obviously still understand where the other characters are coming from. The subplot is also a reason I love this episode. JT and his penis pump is hilarious and iconic.

Time Stands Still: Obviously the shooting episode is one of the most memorable episodes of the series. Everything about it is heartbreaking, compelling, and very well written. I don’t have many complex thoughts but it’s one I could never get sick of watching and one that makes me cry every time.

Secret: Everything about Jay and Emma is so wrong but that’s what makes it so compelling to watch. Their chemistry had no right to be as great as it was lol. I honestly wish their fling had played out a little longer, but what we got of it in this episode was so much fun, but at the same time it’s hard to watch Emma feeling so lost and unlike herself. But those storylines for any character are usually some of my favorites cause it’s relatable. The subplots were also good but I don’t have many thoughts on them. I liked the ongoing continuation of Craig’s mental health storyline and then the Craig/Marco/Jimmy trio in the second half was entertaining.

Voices Carry: This episode was the beginning of Craig’s mental health storyline and everything about it was so heartbreaking to watch but also very compelling. Jake Epstein did a great job with his performance. Watching him slowly over the course of these two episodes break down was very sad but it was very well written. I also loved Craig and Ashley in this episode. Despite their past it’s clear how much they love each other and seeing Ashley support him in the end was beautiful.

Never Gonna Give You Up: Terri’s abuse storyline was heartbreaking. Like I said any episode involving Rick is very intense and compelling and this was the beginning of that. It would have been great if this could have been the end of it, but sadly it didn’t work out like that. But it was still a very well written and heartbreaking storyline. I really loved the subplot too and think it was underrated. JT and Spinner’s prank war was iconic honestly. And the perfect comedic plot to balance out the heavier A-plot.

Jagged Little Pill: This episode was iconic. Everything about it was so much fun. I know Ashley was a disaster in this episode but I still think unlike most people that she was an interesting and complex character and this was the beginning of that. Even though her friends have a right to be upset, I still felt for her by the end of the episode. But even beyond that Ashley on E was just really entertaining, as was JT and Toby thinking they were on E.

Redemption Song: I mostly just love this episode because Sparcy is one of my favorite ships and seeing their devotion and love to each other was beautiful, but even aside from that Spinner’s slow character growth was also great to watch.

Our Lips Are Sealed: Emma’s eating disorder was a very well written and heartbreaking storyline. I also like that it was still referenced even after this episode and into later seasons. I’m not entirely happy with certain things like the Emma/Peter relationship and her treatment of Manny, but it was still easy to see how everything Emma had gone through especially with her parents separation had caused her to feel like she was losing control and just wanted to regain that control even if it was in an unhealthy way. I also liked the Paige/Alex/Hazel subplot and think it was a lot of fun.

Eyes Without A Face: Honestly I love any storyline that focuses on Darcy. I have always loved her and found her really compelling. Of course watching her talking to this guy that ended up being a predator was chilling, especially when he shows up to her house. But seeing Darcy struggling with wanting a change in her life but being unsure of what exactly it was she was looking for was relatable. I’m sad Sparcy broke up but I did like the cute moments they got in these episodes.

Standing In The Dark: Like I said I love any storyline that focused on Darcy. This one was obviously devastating and heartbreaking but it was very well written and acted. Darcy breaking down to Manny will always make me cry. Darcy’s ongoing storyline is the main reason I loved season 7. I think Toby’s storyline in the first half was very strong as well. I like that he actually got a plot dealing with his grief because it feels like the writers mostly put him in the background after awhile.

Live To Tell: This is probably my all time favorite episode if I had to pick one. It’s the continuation of Darcy’s storyline and everything about seeing her slowly reaching her breaking point was devastating but very compelling. The scene with Manny on the roof is one of my all time favorite scenes ever.

Bust A Move: Of course I loved seeing Darcy finally taking steps towards healing in this episode, but also seeing her still clearly struggling throughout most of the episode was sad to watch. I feel like I keep using the word compelling but I don’t know how else to describe it lol. But another big reason I loved this episode was the Manny/Jay plot. They aren’t a huge ship of mine but I genuinely love their relationship and seeing the lengths Jay was willing to go for Manny was very sweet. And the majority of this plot was just really entertaining and fun to watch.

Jane Says: This was the standout episode of season 8 I think. Jane’s plot and seeing her slowly come to terms with what happened to her was devastating. I wish I had more to say but I really loved this storyline as heartbreaking as it was.

Purple Pills: Honestly Fiona’s ongoing storyline of season 10 is one of my all time favorite storylines. So pretty much any episode that focuses on that will be a favorite of mine. But I think this was the beginning of her alcoholism specifically which is a big part of her character arc. Even though we’d seen hints of it before (like in Degrassi Takes Manhattan) this is when it’s clearly become more of a serious thing and we see how everything Fiona had been through drove her to drink. It’s very sad but aside from the alcohol and physical abuse, I could heavily relate to Fiona as a character so I loved watching all her storylines as heartbreaking as they could be.

Breakaway: Like I said pretty much any episode that focused on Fiona this season was a favorite. Seeing her trying to run away from her abuse and having Declan not believe her at first was very sad but I’m glad she was able to stay at Degrassi and get away from that situation but also have her family’s full support in the end. The Sav/Anya stuff, as wrong as it was, was interesting to watch but it also solidified why they really were better off apart. They could never properly be honest or communicate with each other and I feel like some of the shady things Anya said and did are kind of overlooked but both of them were at their worst in this relationship.

What A Girl Wants: Another solid Fiona episode and the beginning of her ongoing season 10 arc. Everything about it was very intense and heartbreaking and seeing Fiona feel so trapped like no one would believe her was very sad but also very true to life sadly. Honestly some of this episode and Breakaway blend together for me but all 4 episodes were great. I liked the Sav/Holly J stuff as well.

Chasing Pavements: Everything Fiona had been through came together in this episode. Seeing her complete rehab and win her trial was amazing. I also think her coming out as a lesbian was something that made a lot of sense even though there wasn’t a lot of set up for it. I feel like there were some subtle clues throughout the season and even in season 9 but they could be easily missed until going back and re watching. But really I was just happy to see her in a good place by the end.

Boom Boom Pow: A big reason I love this episode is Drianca and seeing how truly devoted to each other they are when before this it had mostly come off as a shallow relationship. I loved them before this too of course but it was clear in this episode just how much they love and care for each other. I wish everything Bianca went through had been given more focus after this though. She was neatly raped and killed a guy (she was completely justified of course and she didn’t even know he died till later) but we never really see her coping with any of it after this episode. But it was still all heartbreaking to watch. I also loved the Fiona subplot. While her and Charlie probably should have never been involved since they were clearly at different places in life, I always thought Charlie was an interesting character and seeing Fiona starting to feel comfortable in her sexuality and taking the steps to put herself out there more was fun to watch.

Take A Bow: Yet another amazing Fiona plot. Seeing her feel left behind by everyone and relapsing was heartbreaking. Again, aside from the alcohol factor I could heavily relate to Fiona and this episode was probably the time I did the most. I’ve always felt like I’m unlovable and like everyone’s just going to leave me. So seeing Fiona struggling with that really resonated with me. Also the “pre-prom” with Fiona, Holly J, Chantay and Anya was so cute and I loved it.

Zombie: Like I said before, the episodes where characters are kind of lost and unlike themselves are equally heartbreaking and compelling to watch, while usually also relatable, and seeing as Maya’s one of my favorite characters and another character I heavily relate to on several occasions this is one of my favorite storylines. Seeing her spiraling and eventually breaking down was heartbreaking, and even though her quote when she finally breaks down “I hate him I hate him I feel like I’m never going to be happy again and every day it gets worse and worse. I can’t miss him anymore, I can’t I don’t want to” is obviously referring to the specific event of Cam’s death, it’s something I can relate to deeply. Also all the Zaya moments in this episode especially when they hold hands at the end ❤️ And the fact that Zig could see throughout the episode that she wasn’t herself and continually showed concern for her even when she tried to push him away ❤️ Getting her cello out of the dumpster ❤️ Also, I loved the subplots. Drianca with them both being supportive of each other ❤️ The Connor/Jenna/Alli/Eli stuff was entertaining.

Bittersweet Symphony: Cam’s storyline was equally heartbreaking and relatable. I do wish he’d been given more plots prior to this and that the majority of his character didn’t just revolve around Camaya, or that maybe this whole storyline had been stretched out a bit longer before he died, if only because I think there was a lot of potential to go deeper. But it was still a very well written and well acted plot. Maya and Dallas break my heart in the second half and their grief, anger, numbness, etc can also be felt deeply in every scene. I will always wish a character that hadn’t got much focus had been the one to find his body and not Eli, but that doesn’t take away from how strong this episode was.

Unbelievable: This was one of the few really good episodes of season 13. It was devastating and heartbreaking and compelling. I wish I had more complex thoughts about it but it’s definitely one of the standout and strongest episodes from the later seasons. Zoe confronting Luke and Becky stepping in to help her and comfort her will always make me cry but it’s such a strong scene. I’ll always be mad that they ruined that dynamic in season 14 for the shitty cheerleading storyline.

Wishlist: I feel like just saying Zaya and leaving it at that LOL. After years Maya finally admitted she loves Zig and it was beautiful. Seeing Maya open up about Cam and Zig supporting her throughout the episode while it also become more evident than ever how great their communication is was amazing. I also liked Frankie’s plot. I do wish it had gotten a bit more followup instead of everything just becoming about Winston and then later Jonah though.

Give Me One Reason: Again, Zaya. Seeing them both admit they love each other, both being mature and wanting to be honest with Maya’s mom, Maya literally offering to move out of her own house so Zig could stay…the opening scene and all that tension and passion…I love them. Clare’s plot was also heartbreaking. I couldn’t stand the pregnancy plot and think it was unnecessary, especially since it ended the way it did, but this part of the storyline was devastating and I felt so bad for Clare. But the acting was great and I could feel Clare’s pain in every scene.

#IRegretNothing: Lola’s abortion was really well done. I like that she was able to make her choice without being made to feel guilty about it. Seeing her completely own her choice and be open about it was really powerful. Plus them going more in depth and even going into the doctors room with her was really great to see. Maya’s plot was equally great. Seeing her trying to make things better but it not going the way she hoped and finally breaking down to her mom was heartbreaking. Maya’s season 3 storyline was one of my favorite thing about Next Class.

#Woke: Another episode with 2 equally great plots. I loved seeing Zoe finally happy with someone who loves her back but of course this episode is also heartbreaking because all Zoe really wants is her moms acceptance and she was so hopeful thinking she’s finally gotten it only to face the devastating punch of being kicked out, while also losing Rasha (thankfully only temporarily). Maya’s plot was great but also heartbreaking as well. She’s clearly checked out and the fact that her family doesn’t know she’s made the decision to end her life is so devastating. It’s also another time I can relate to Maya. I feel her pain in every scene.

#ImSleep: This episode was solely great for Maya’s plot. It was so well written and acted while also of course devastating like her entire season 3 storyline. I wish I had more to say but she’s the best part of this episode, and once again heavily relatable.

#Fire: This episode is the perfect mix of lighthearted while also being very compelling and emotional at other parts. Esme is another character I can deeply relate to so while her actions aren’t something to praise or condone, it’s also understandable why she feels and reacts the way she does. She’s terrified of losing Zig and her attempts to keep him closer only drive him away. I feel for both of them because Zig ultimately was being emotionally manipulated and abused and later physically abused so he had every right to break up with her, but I also feel for Esme because all she wants is to be loved and while that’s something everyone wants, it clearly goes so much deeper for Esme who has clearly never really felt that from anyone in her life and due to her trauma it just makes everything so much harder. But anyway, I also loved Maya’s plot. She’s trying to get her life back on track and go back to the thing she loves most: music, but it’s not as easy as it used to be. I love once again the communication and support with Zig and Maya in this episode. Seeing Zig open up to Maya about how much her suicide attempt affected him was definitely one of their best and also most emotional scenes. I also loved the more lighthearted Shay/Tiny plot. They were really cute together and I always liked their relationship. But I do think it could have been a little less rushed since not only did Shay seem very uncomfortable with sex in season 3 and there’s never indication before this episode that that’s changed, but her parents went from not allowing her to date to suddenly allowing her to go on an overnight camping trip with a boy? I know there was another episode this season that show Tiny and Shays mom getting along, but we never saw any of that progression on screen. But they were still really cute together.

#Obsessed: This is solely for the Zig/Maya/Esme stuff. Once again it’s very compelling for all 3 characters and you can feel for all 3 characters. Esme was obviously very wrong for pushing Zig and also manipulating him into going off with her in the first place, but you can also tell just how traumatized Esme is that her worst fears of losing Zig and especially to Maya of all people had come true. I also obviously felt for Zig because he didn’t deserve the manipulation or abuse and he even tried to support Esme through the episode despite everything cause he does still care for her on some level but he had every right to distance himself from her. Obviously I also love all of the Zaya stuff in this episode. Cuddling at Maya’s house ❤️❤️❤️ Saying they always wanted to go to prom together ❤️❤️❤️ Their cute moments at prom before they were interrupted❤️❤️❤️ They’re the best.

#KThxBye: This is such a bittersweet episode because it’s as far as we know the last episode of Degrassi ever. But I think it did a good job of giving at least the graduating characters satisfying endings. All 3 plots were emotional for different reasons but managed to end on a hopeful note for all of them. Maya feels like no matter what she does the drama will always follow her, but she manages to push herself out of that mindset, while also recognizing that Esme is in a similar place that she was and clearly needs help. Esme is still spiraling but finally at the end there’s hope that she’ll finally be getting the help and support she needs. That scene with her and Ms. Grell will always make me cry. Zoe’s plot was also emotional while still clearly holding out hope that her mom may accept her only for her to once again have that hope crushed when her mom doesn’t show up to graduation and makes it clear she wants nothing to do with her. Seeing Zoe breakdown was heartbreaking but it was so heartwarming to see all her friends support her. I loved Zoe’s speech at the end that shows how far she’s come. And the final slideshow always makes me tear up but I’ll always love that the final scene was that Zaya video. In a lot of ways it’s fitting since Zig’s first scene was also with Maya and other than Tristan they were two of the longest running characters still around in Next Class. Plus of course I just love Zaya lol.

Damn that was so long lol I don’t know if I’ll be able to put as much thought into why my least favorites are my least favorites but I’ll do my best 😂 Thankfully I don’t have nearly as many:

Least favorites:

Goin Down The Road: The Kevin Smith stuff just felt so over the top and unrealistic. Nothing about it was fun or interesting to watch. Joey and Caitlin broke up because apparently Kevin had a crush on Stacie and got to help work on the episode so of course he gave himself a storyline where he and Caitlin hook up even though it made no sense. It was all just ridiculous.

Got My Mind Set On You: I never cared for the Derek and Danny friendship and this episode did nothing to make me like it. Danny faced racism cause of what Derek did and even if Derek never expected that to happen and it clearly wasn’t his intention, Danny is the character we’re left sympathizing with but I feel like they tried too hard to make Derek sympathetic but it didn’t work? Like there’s no reason to like Derek in this episode and especially considering he gets even worse in future episodes I really don’t know what the writers were going for but I don’t think it was well executed. The Emma/Damian plot was underwhelming and forgettable. The writers clearly ran out of ideas for both characters, not that they had many for Damian in the first place beyond jumping from Manny to Emma to Liberty all within one season.

Honey: Honestly any episode that took place in Paris was mostly ridiculous or at the least underwhelming but this one was arguably the worst. Adam spends the episode in a coma then it’s revealed he’s died in the last scene. But what was the focus of most of this episode? Maya and Zoe competing for Miles’s attention. Even then mostly nothing notable happens in this plot other than Zoe spilling her drink on Maya, but I think the worst part of this other than it taking away from Adam is that there was practically nothing likable about Miles in season 13(especially early season 13) so it’s impossible to understand why this guy is bringing out the worst in them. He was not worth it. Then there was the Alli/Leo stuff. Not only was it like their millionth plot already this season but the writers were trying way too hard to romanticize this relationship that even before the abuse(which doesn’t start until the very end of this episode) had nothing going for it. It was just not fun or interesting to watch.

Spiderwebs: Everything about this plot just felt really forced and also rushed. I get that Alicia probably wasn’t able to come back to the show regularly and this show sucks at doing long distance relationships so they felt they had to break Drianca up. I also get Bianca wanting to explore university life without being tied down by an engagement. But it mostly came out of nowhere. In hindsight there was kind of set up in the previous episode. I did sense kind of a disconnect between them from Bianca’s side when they were on the phone, but it should have been given more screen time and development. Objectively I can accept that they were in two different places in their life. But looking the direction they went with Drew’s character the rest of his time on the show, it’s hard not to get mad about this episode. I mean the biggest reason is that I loved Drianca and didn’t want them to break up and again, it felt really poorly set up and rushed. But Drew was continuously screwed over this season and going into the next season as well and this was just a continuation of that. The subplots also sucked. Clare forgave Eli way too quickly (not that I think she should have taken him back period) and Maya and Zoe’s feud just brought out the worst in both of them.

#ThisCouldBeUsButYouPlayin: This episode, aside from Miles’s plot, was so poorly written and executed that it will always make me angry. It’s not that I think anything that happened was neccesarily out of character, but it all just felt like the writers were bending over backwards to have things play out a certain way for the sake of drama and not anything that actually made sense. The writers went out of their way to never show us anything from Grace’s POV so they could do that “plot twist” of her not being gay. But it’s really gross to use someone’s sexuality as a plot twist especially when it just leads to their (at the time) questioning LGBT character getting screwed over. If they didn’t want Gracevas to happen they didn’t have to write it in such a shitty way. They had plenty of time to follow up and show us how Grace felt after Zoe first kissed her and confessed her feelings. As for the Zaya stuff, obviously I’m mad that Zig cheated. It sadly wasn’t out of character but it was unnecessary. It was clear they probably did need to take some time apart due to Zig’s self esteem being so low, but there’s no reason the writers couldn’t have had them communicate with each other like they’d always been able to. If they could have just had a conversation it all could have been avoided. But of course with Maya being out of town they couldn’t properly talk, and of course Zig and Zoe just conveniently run into each other after Zig sees the picture of Jonah and Maya, which leads to his phone conveniently breaking, this also conveniently happened after Grace broke Zoe’s heart. What’s sad is Zoe and Zig could have used this time to open up to each other and support each other. I kind of think back to the episode Believe where both characters are in a dark place/situation and they end up coming into each others life and supporting each other during that time. This is obviously way different as they were both dealing with heartbreak here and not a rape trial and gang life/drug dealing but they had the opportunity to show them once again being a support system for each other. But since the writers insisted on making Grace conveniently say she “likes” Zig of all people despite there never being any indication prior to that whatsoever, and Zig conveniently saying, of all things, “Nothing hurts more than imagining the girl you love with someone else” Zoe’s destructive nature comes back with a vengeance and not only does she use Zig’s obvious insecurities against him (Mayas probably getting hot and heavy with Jonah now) but she lies and says she wants him cause she knows all he wants is to be wanted. But the worst of all, she films them hooking up without his knowledge or consent. This isn’t the first time she’s done something like this either which makes it worse. But just like taking a nude of Frankie and the Degrassi Nudes thing as a whole was dropped, Zoe never faces consequences for this either. And to make it even worse she wasn’t even thinking of how it would affect Maya, who she’d already screwed over more than once but at this point they’re meant to be on good terms. It’s all just a frustrating mess. And the end just makes me cry because Maya is so happy to see Zig again and share her song with him 😭😭😭 All in all this was one of the worst episodes of Next Class. Despite the character’s all ending in a good place by the time they graduated I’ll never forgive it.

I definitely have other episodes I love and other episodes I dislike! These are just the ones that come to mind. Thanks for the great ask I had fun answering this :)

[spikewriter]

I saw another anti-AI post where the first words out of someone's mouth was "Plagiarism!" That is why it's so difficult to have reasonable discussions about these new tools--and how they be useful as tools--because people start screeching, "You're not a real writer!"

The article at the core of the post, however, is worth discussing because, yup, it is exactly what the antis are yelling about. The post, by the way, did not include a link to the article, just a screenshot of Publisher Weekly's Twitter promo of said article. Which is actually a rewrite of a Newsweek article about a man who was about to release his 97th ChatGPT-written "novel." I'll explain the quotes later on.

I've included a link to the original article because it's worth a read no matter what side of the argument you're on. The headline is absolutely clickbait. It's also full of self-aggrandizing bullshit.

Tim Boucher (the article is written by him, or, rather, 60% written by ChatGPT by his own admission) admits to making $2000 over the course of 7 months. Hardly the thousands of the headline. He's sold 574 books as of the article, which equals out to an average 5-6 copies per book, or an average of just under $21 per book. The books are 2,000 to 5,000 words each, so they're not really novels, but serial chapters. He is also, by the way, not selling on Amazon or any other distributor, possibly because some of the stories are too short for them to accept.

It also means he has an extremely small, niche audience who are interested in "dystopian pulp sci-fi with compelling AI world-building." He writes "majority of my readers being repeat buyers, many having bought more than a dozen titles. In one case, a reader has bought more than thirty titles."

I found this paragraph particularly illuminating:

"It's very difficult, for example, to have longer written pieces that maintain a coherent single storyline or character arc. So instead, I've tended to lean into short "flash" fiction slice-of-life collections, interspersed with fictional encyclopedia entries that deliver world-building and backstory, and point the reader towards other volumes where they can continue down the rabbit holes that appeal to them the most."

Right there is the issue with current LLM programs. You can get a coherent storyline and character arc with ChatGPT or Sudowrite, but it takes manipulation on the author's part. It takes being willing to put in the work to revise and massage the outlines. Dear god, don't use it to write scenes, because the quality of dialogue and description is horrendous.

This guy isn't. He's only willing to put in 6-8 hours to create and publish a book, which may include generating the cover and any brainstorming. What he is doing is the tech boy grift of inflating what the program is capable of and his own accomplishments. He's trying to shout, "I am a disruptor! I am the future!" (And taking a look at his website, he's also a conspiracy theorist about underground cities in Antartica.)

Sadly, this is exactly the type of person other tech bros who might be making decisions are going to listen to. And because he's publicity-hungry, he's making everyone else who is trying to use these tools to assist, not replace, the process look like a grifter as well.

Oh, and I can't help including this article written in response to the Newsweek one.