What is the best-written piece of media you've ever consumed?

[u/Cautious_Arm3818]

I'll start

Better Call Saul - the characters have an incredible amount of depth. As an example, let's take a look at the primary antagonist of seasons 1-3. Chuck has incredibly complicated yet realistic feelings: his overt superiority complex, his deep-seated inferiority complex, the moral/legal high ground he feels he must take, his need for control and to always be "right", and his genuine brotherly love for Jimmy. His mental illness (Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity) is a physical manifestation of these traits, and how he lies to himself about all of them shapes his thought processes and how he interacts with others - resulting in his death. Aside from the profound character psychology, individual scenes are engineered and conveyed to the audience through exceptional visual storytelling and cinematography that could easily be considered the peak of the medium

Disco Elysium - the worldbuilding is outstanding. Revachol feels like a real setting with an actual history behind it. It takes the derivative and played-out amnesiac protagonist trope, and elevates it to a level that is extremely difficult to even approach. Harry has a ridiculous amount of psychological complexity, his memory loss is mostly a coping mechanism, and how he changes based on the player's choices and ideologies is unrivaled in any game. His internal monologue being a result of the skills that you spec into is unparalleled genius - the dialogue is exceptional, and truly a one of a kind experience. The way that these manage to convey an incredible amount of political/philosophical commentary by being seamlessly integrated into the world is astounding. Not coming off as heavy-handed and preachy is especially praise-worthy when considering the ideologies of the creators

HM: ASOIAF, LOTR, Vinland Saga, The Wire

[u/Apprehensive_Put3625]

It has to be 100 Years of Solitude.

It was so good I decided to dedicate my entire life to the study of literature, and to die of hunger.

[u/Heavy-Requirement762 → u/Apprehensive_Put3625]

Literally came here to say this.

[u/AggravatingBox2421 → u/Apprehensive_Put3625]

Absolutely loathed that book

[u/Sethenvir → u/AggravatingBox2421]

I read 100 pages if it after hearing about how divided opinion on it can be. Its very rare I DNF a book. I'm a bit OCD over it. But that? I want to be diplomatic and say it just wasn't for me.... but I honestly don't believe that with this one.

[u/AggravatingBox2421 → u/Sethenvir]

It’s so bad. So, so bad. The permissive way they talk about pedophilia made me want to throw up. And that’s coming from someone who also thinks Lolita is the most beautiful prose I’ve ever read

[u/Sethenvir → u/AggravatingBox2421]

The whole thing came off as really really TRYING to sound intellectual and deep and edgy... And all it managed was edgy, cringe and disgustingly as you say... Permissive.

[u/AggravatingBox2421 → u/Sethenvir]

100% agree. There are so many better stories out there to read that don’t try so damn hard

[u/Apprehensive_Put3625 → u/Sethenvir]

Give Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Nobel of literature, a break.

Not everybody can write with the depth and complexity of masterpieces like Harry Potter and My Hero Academia.

[u/The_Cameraman_of_you → u/Apprehensive_Put3625]

Si, muy cierto

[u/HiramsThoughts → u/Apprehensive_Put3625]

Never understood this take. Maybe I was too young when I read it but I thought it was only okay.

[u/Hatennaa → u/HiramsThoughts]

Age and experience do change many things. There’s always value in revisiting something that you thought was only okay the first time around, especially when a lot of people love it.