#i've written something in all of those sections except like two. or three idk.

[tenspontaneite]

Edit Log: PIAJ organisation and resources

Have just finished with around five and a half hours of edits and resource prep for PIAJ, so here’s the log of everything that’s been done and added.

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1. Compiled a public-access timeline

I took my own timelines that I work from and made a version which y’all can look at. It includes placeholders for every story section currently planned, and the sections are arranged in their currently-planned partitions. This timeline file will be updated as the story goes along and more days are ‘completed’ via published chapters.

This timeline can be found here, or linked from the PIAJ masterpage, or at the end of any PIAJ chapter on Ao3. Please everyone have a look at it and join me in being kind of fucked up about how much story there is left to go.

2. Created standardised chapter endnote format; implemented it

This was the longest thing by far. Probs took me about three hours. I made a standardised layout for my chapter endnotes (on ao3 only, mind), transplanted everything that didn’t fit into its own new tidy Google Doc in its own tidy folder, and sorted all the notes out.

The current format for PIAJ endnotes is:

Chapter notes: (link to the folder of current story section), description of topics covered in note file

Timeline: (link to timeline file)

PIAJ Masterpage: (link to piaj masterpage on tumblr)

Author notes: (Original author’s notes from when the chapter was first posted)

Changelog: (log of any edits and changes to current version)

You can see the new endnote layout in any ao3 piaj chapter.

3. Made every chapter note doc tidy and nice, added parts where relevant

I added a relatively large worldbuilding note on the various types of medical profession in the Pentarchy to the ch8 notes, since there was space for that in the new method. Shortened from my own personal encylopedia page on the matter. If you’re interested, go read it.

Notes for section 1 (Approaching the Belt)

Notes for section 2 (The Thundersnow)

These note folders are accessible from the endnotes of any ao3 chapter in the relevant section, or from the PIAJ masterpage on tumblr.

4. Edited the PIAJ Masterpage

Made sure it was up to date. Changed the tumblr chapter links section to just a link to the ‘piaj chapters’ tag on this blog, because eventually it would have become hella unwieldy, and I gotta plan for 21 sections of many chapters each here.

PIAJ masterpage is accessible from my blog banner, or this link if you’re on mobile. The link still may refuse to work right on mobile. It works fine on desktop, trust me.

5. Implemented edits to nearly all PIAJ chapters

Earlier this year I did some minor style and grammar edits. Like, January or February maybe. Never posted those versions.

Two days ago I went through my chapter files with ctrl+F to make some specific targeted edits. I was targeting the word ‘moon’; specifically, the circumstances under which it is or is not capitalised. I had decided quite a long time ago how I was going to handle that, but hadn’t got around to doing the edits yet.

Because we are now upon a part of story where this case sensitivity counts as foreshadowing for one particular plot device, I thought it was important I get those edits posted ahead of the next chapter update. I call these the ‘Moon moon’ edits. In the changelogs, they’re referred to as ‘plot relevant case sensitivity edits’.

What I haven’t done:

I have not edited any chapters for style or content since January. New canon information introduced in the S1 novel, art book, Through the Moon, and various posts by the Wonderstorm cast has not been implemented. This is because I am not up to date with the new canon information. Please don’t spoil me, I’ll get around to it in time.

As you can imagine, editing some odd 280k of published fiction will take a long time even after I’m caught up with the media, so this will take a while to be done.

Right. I think that’s everything. Everyone please check these things out if you feel so inclined, and let me know if I’ve fucked anything up.

[citkats]

Love, Victor and it's problems

Hello! First post here! I know this isn't a movie, instead of a show, but I feel like I have a few things I have the urge to spill out, so here it goes.

I've watched both seasons of Love, Victor and finished the second one the day it came out, June 11. It's now June, 26 and I've let a few thoughts and problems I've had about the show sit in my brain for a while now but they're starting to get antsy. Is the show really that serious to pick it apart and point out its flaws? No, it's supposed to be a cute little show about a boy exploring his sexuality, and I know that. But man I can't help myself, what else am I suppose to do this summer anyway? So, that being said, let's get started!

Actually, before I start I just wanted to get out of the way that I am a queer girl myself, who is also a teenager, so that is the type of viewpoint I am watching this show through. Do with that what you will :D Now we can get started, here are the three main problems I had with the show;

i. The Writing

The writing of this show is... something else to say the least. It has its good moments for sure, but man is it hard to get through an episode without cringing once or twice. Now I am no writer myself, so I can't judge too hard, but I wish the show didn't try to fit in so many pop culture references and twitter lingo to try and appeal to teens. It's so obvious while watching that the writers themselves only have a vague idea on how to use it. There is a scene of the show that is going around on twitter, instagram and tiktok where a character says something along the lines of "We stan you!" and "We're all gay AF!" (link below for the whole video).

.... like... what? My god my body collapsed in on itself when I heard that. I think the writers maybe tried to make the line of "We're gay AF" as a cringy joke to show how oblivious the character was, but the line "We will forever stan you" shows how oblivious the writers are to the use of the word "stan", or at least that's how it came off the way the actor said it. The line is said with no implication that it's supposed to be cringy or something to laugh at. I don't know if the writers were aware at the time that this is something teenagers do not say about or to their friends unless they purposely want to sound out of touch. Someone in the replies even said "In real life that won't happen ever" and they're correct. This is just one instance where the writing feels shaky but there are many more sprinkled throughout the show. This probably is super nitpicky but it's just so prevalent in the show that I felt that I had to write about it.

ii. The Love Interests

Now on to another problem, The characters of Rahim & Benji. Let's start off with Benji. He serves as the love interest for the main character Victor, which is fine! It's great! Except it isn't because that's all Benji is... a love interest. He barely has any personality and the only three things I know about him are that he is gay, is in a band, and is a recovering alcoholic. With those three things, there is so much to do with his character. They mention in the show that his dad wasn't too happy when he came out, and brought him to a strip club in order to make him "straight". I thought maybe the show would show how his relationship with his dad has been damaged and how they're slowly trying to repair it, or maybe Benji doesn't want to forgive his dad and all! But no, the restaurant scene comes and everything seems fine like something as traumatic as your own father refusing to accept your sexuality and trying to convince you to be someone else never happened. If you're going to make your character go through something like that, it would be good to show its consequences, not to sweep it under the rug! In the first half of the season, if I remember correctly, we see almost every character in a different location doing their own storyline, except Benji, who only exists at school and in the coffee shop to show that he's Victor's boyfriend. I don't think there's a single scene where it's just Benji alone doing something that doesn't involve Victor. It isn't until the later episodes where he gets his own plotline, one that revolves around him being a recovering alcoholic and being 1 year sober. Now don't even get me started on this... the fact they waited a whole season and a half to get to this huge revelation?? This is a big part of Benji that he kept secret and they could do so much with it, but it ends up being just a plot device so that Victor can break up with him and end the season on a cliffhanger. It seems like every one of Benji's plot points is to benefit Victor in some way (all except for the band, but they also never expand on that either so :/). The other couples, for example, Lake & Felix, have their own problems and stuff they're going through, not just things to benefit their love interest story. I get that Victor is the main character, but if this show is about him discovering his sexuality, should his love interest be a huge part of that? Shouldn't there be more focused on his love interest rather on his best friend? I don't know that's just how I view it.

Rahim is Victor's second love interest who is introduced halfway through the second season in the episode called Sincerely Rahim. He, like Benji, the only purpose of his character is to serve as a love interest for Victor and create a love triangle that can end season 2 on a cliffhanger, just like season 1 did. The show cared even less about Rahim than they cared about Benji since they didn't even bother to show his coming-out scene. It sucks because he comes from a Muslim family and that coming out scene could've been really meaningful, for once showing a Muslim family being accepting of a gay son instead of shunning them, which is how the media normally portrays Muslim families.

iii. The couple bias

Probably my biggest problem with this show is the clear bias to the straight couples compared to the main gay couple of the show. Like I said before, Benji being a shell of a character compared to everyone else, I don't think that's a coincidence. I am aware that there was at least one gay writer on the team, but they didn't seem to make up the majority. It's obvious the writers felt more comfortable writing straight characters and couples (eg, Victor and Mia as a couple for the majority of season one) which is fine, but if you're writing a show with a gay couple in it then get gay writers who will actually understand and have an easier more natural approach to them. This is why I think diversity in the writer's room is just as important as diversity on screen. You can put a gay character in your show but if they're written by a straight person it's not going to feel authentic and can easily fall into stereotypes. But that's a conversation for another time.

Some other small problems I had but weren't worth a whole section

-The lack of sapphic women. I think they might start a wlw plotline the next season with Lake but man.. took them two seasons in a show that's suppose to be a representation to even hint at a sapphic relationship.

-Benji's timeline for his alcoholism... if he's 16 now (junior) and been sober for a year... that means he entered rehab when he was 15... which means he's been drinking heavily since he was like 14, so much so they had to put him in rehab?? Are his parents really that neglectful? This why I am so confused about his parents because what his dad did to him was awful and yet when they show Benji's parents, his mother seems to adore him and they are both extremely welcoming to Victor. The only reason I see why he would start drinking at such a young age is that he felt bad because of his sexuality... but man, at 14 do you even understand what's going on enough to be like "this is bad I should drown my sorrows in booze".... idk such a strange timeline.

-They didn't keep up Rahim's texts to Victor, it was one and done. I get that it was supposed to be like continuity with what Simon did to Bram and then what Victor did to Simon but it felt so forced that I wish they didn't do it at all. Felt like they just left it hanging there.... ok I will admit it is really nitpicky and I'll stop now I promise!

So... that's it! I know this can come off as annoying or I'm giving huge pessimist vibes because of this but I swear me having long rants about how I feel about a show's problems is rare. Normally I like deconstructing the parts I did like rather than the parts I didn't. I do think this show is cute and serves its purpose of entertaining, and I don't hold anything against someone who enjoys it! I can easily see this being someone's comfort show, and that's completely fine. I also realize that I did dig into the writers quite a lot here, so I just want to make it clear that in no way am I questioning their talent (one is a new york times bestseller and two others have been nominated for Emmys). Hopefully, my posts in the future will be more positive but for now, I hope this deconstruction was decent!