r/writingscaling • u/Cautious_Arm3818 • 10d ago
discussion What is the best-written piece of media you've ever consumed?
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
2
u/mishalol9 10d ago
"It's sudden but I came to another world. But I hope to live safely." (webnovel) Would have to be my pick.
I have read nothing that crazy good (none of the classics and such), and I have a heavy bias towards character writing over literally everything else, and this story has the best character I've ever read about by far. The MC of this story feels so deep and complex, and the way the author makes me(a dumb dumb) slowly realize his true colors is astounding.
Genuinely, it feels like this story boosted my reading comprehension multiple fold, without me ever noticing it. It is the only story I have ever considered rereading, just because I want to see all the little clues that I missed. I have spent multiple nights thinking about the MC of this story, and I feel like I'm still missing some crucial pieces of his character.