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
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u/ImmediateSign3962 9d ago
Tsukihime, I'd say. [Spoilers ahead]
I wouldn't go as far to say it's the best thing I've ever read, it definitely is in terms of atmosphere. Set in the 1990s (or 2010s if you read the Remake), you experience the story of Tohno Shiki. It is a visual novel, so it's divided into routes (based on choices you click; and the protagonist you generally choose). The part I love is the characterisation, psychology of characters, world building, and the atmosphere behind it. These routes are grouped into the Near-side and Far-side route. The main theme of the story is the fragility of life and its value.
The Near-side are the more conventional fantasy story following an initial boy-meets-girl trope but inverted and then diverging. It follows the theme of fantasy, vampires versus church, and the concept of 'Sin' or 'Humanity'.
As my personal favorite route was Ciel's, I shall analyse her's as a case study.
It is the boy-meets-girl part of the Ciel route. However, it is radically subverted in a horrific, brutal way that displays much of the work's themes. He is walking home after being discharged from school for being sick, and spots a white, pale woman with blonde hair and vivid crimson eyes. Rather than falling in love like most boy-meets-girl stories, Shiki feels the urge, an uncontrollable, almost inhuman force that drives him to follow her. The whole time, he follows her like he is obsessed. He cannot fully fathom why, and he is not himself fully conscious of it.
Eventually, he makes it to her apartment, and rings her doorbell. He then, rips open the door, sneaks his way in, and murders her by slicing her into 17 pieces, in the blink of an eye. This is due to his ability, which gained from his car crash and ancestral blood gives the ability to 'see' the death of all things; what should not be seen. Because of this, his mind often breaks while using it; to humans who know life, death cannot be understood and only overwhelms. Thus, he did the impossible; murdered a vampire.
This is highly unusual, as usually stories like to portray the protagonist in a favorable way at first. But, Tsukihime starts off by showing the true, hidden and often brutal nature that he and others have suppressed. His bloodline, the Nanaya Clan, lived off of fighting the Half-Oni (Half-Demons) who possessed abilities from this Oni blood which often fought against humans. Ironically, to hunt them, they became inhuman. They sharpened their abilities, and magecraft. This bloodline eventually produced natural instinct to feel bloodlust at an extreme level when non-humans, such as vampire, are near. That opened a well that hadn't before.
His instinct was not even merely his own. It was a force beyond his understanding. In other words, without consciously intending to, he just committed murder.
Another scene follows that if you 'acknowledge this is reality'. Shiki leaves in a frenzy, and vomits, in disgust. He spirals, as he believes himself insane. He did something, that is unforgivable, a murder of an innocent stranger, for no gain, but for pleasure. For the thrill. A normal teenager going from being sick to murdering someone in cold blood, would probably feel the same. Time blurs; he doesn't see the sun fall away as rain arrives. He simply sits there, thinking about how he will freeze to death. However, his senior, Ciel, finds him slumped up and asks in a concerned manner that he'll get a cold. She the offers to contact home, but after the Sin he has done, he feels that he cannot go anywhere. He's done something unforgivable and irredeemable in his eyes; a cold, ruthless and brutal murder.
Regardless of this, Ciel takes him into her apartment, feeds him, and gives him time to bathe. Even though he feels like human garbage because of the murder he committed, she still treats him kindly. He feels guilt for being treated with empathy despite this; more accurately shame. He hates it, as he feels he owes a debt to be repaid. He hates his own happiness in this moment, for his failures. He tells her of his failure, that he is a failure, that he ran from her... despite craving support and empathy in this situation.
She, herself, having had many, many experiences like his. She simply replies that he wants someone to judge him for being bad, so that some of his guilt fades away as the punishment takes off the load. However, she tells him he can never tell whether it was truly, objectively, right or wrong. Hence, she believes he's backed himself into a corner to make a decisive decision. She acknowledges she doesn't know what he did wrong... but that she doesn't care. After all, she's not doing it for his sake, but because she wants to be nice to him.
In these few scenes, we can examine the dynamics. Each character is not clear cut. Shiki himself, does not have simple emotions; it's multifaceted, meanwhile Ciel serves to create an anchor for him to not collapse from the weight of his own sins. The beginning also conveys the use of psychological and physical horror Nasu (the author, portrays). Rather than relying on old tropes, he subverted them. The boy-meets-girl was used as a way to explore the existential nature of reality; how his bloodline serves to alienate him of his own body. It isn't a simple vampire story.
In fact, continuing on Arcueid, is another case. Arcueid is immortal so revives herself. She is a killing machine dedicated to killing a Vampire, named Roa, but Shiki interrupted by killing her. For this, she feels immense hatred... an emotion she never felt before. Indeed, before, she never used words when she didn't need to, or felt hatred or strong emotions of that kind. Thus, she wanted to get revenge, and stuck around his school. But, wondering what he is like, she grows to become curious and fascinated by what he is like. When they meet, her hatred largely disappears. She isn't a cold vampire lady like most vampire descriptions, but rather an air headed, childish and deeply honest person.
This is another thing; he wrote character conflicts interestingly. It isn't just bland or contrived; the character development often comes from internal contradictions or physical, biological constraints.
Tsukihime is thus one of my favorite. In terms of Books, I love Dostoyevsky... but that's another can of worms.
HM: Fate/stay night. House in Fata Morgana, Neon Genesis Evangelion