#✧ ′ there's no such thing as magic ⦗ caos ⦙ season one ⦘

[jjimene123]

Timmy being a faceless character in new wish if the og show never happened, things could have been a lot different, his back story and the way people view him. I feel like the way it would work is they say how terrible he was because he always broke rules using loopholes and finding ways to break them, which caused everything to end up in caos and that how most of us and hazel would see it, until she ends up meeting him and finds out he isn’t so bad, but the fairy council and jorgen tell her that she is not allowed to interact with him at all. But then hazel and dev work together to find out more along with peri because he does miss brother but just couldn’t do anything to bring him back, until they began their mission. And in the end, they would go back to Timmy’s timeline in being a godkid and see the wishes he made but it turns out that he was just trying to make a difference with his magic but no one really saw it and on top of that, his home town dissmdale woudl hate him and his parents still being the neglectful type as they are. Then they end up helping to the fairies that he is innocent and gets his memories restored which leads him to seeing cosmo, Wanda and peri again.

Or (I have another idea), timmy during the first few seasons of the show would be faceless and then hazel and dev would meet Timmy first before being revealed that he was godkid, then that would be the biggest plot twist because I’m pretty sure after they meet we would see him more often and think he’s a regular guy but instead he’s really an old godkid, and one that fairy’s would often see as a troublemaker but also a hero

[thorniest-rose]

Have you seen the chilling adventures of Sabrina? I was just thinking in my head about how there should be a stranger things CAOS AU so I was trying to figure out which characters would be which and I was like “hmmm I wonder who would be like prudence” and THEN I was like “I don’t know who would be like prudence but you know who would have hot takes on this??? Thorniest-rose would.”

Omg!!! You are so sweet! I have seem CAOS but only the first season, I much preferred the original comic which was a lot darker. And I actually had an idea a couple of months ago about a Sabrina steddie AU where Steve is the young witch and Eddie is the dark warlock cursed to live in the body of a cat and is now his familiar. Just imagining a very pervy black cat Eddie watching Steve undress and clawing any girl he dates to shreds, but being affectionate too, like curling up in his lap and sleeping next to him. And then one day Steve finds a spell that turns Eddie back into a man for a short period of time and he sees how sexy he is with his long dark hair and the runes tattooed on his body and he quivers all over. Eddie turns back into a cat but now Steve is deadset on finding a spell that will turn Eddie back permanently, even if it means using some very dark magic 💜

[deng-yi-deng]

Drama round-up 2023

This is one of the best drama years I've had since I started watching in 2019. I think I've finally learned when to drop and when to say - maybe another time.

there were some standouts, but for me the top three were:

Oh no! Here comes trouble

Ripe Town

Till the End of the Moon

reviews (in the order I watched things) under the cut

The Blood of Youth 少年歌行 (3.75/5)

2023 started off on an unexpectedly good note with a really fun well-done wuxia. It had lots of what I enjoy in a drama: ensemble cast of friends, good pacing, some humor, lots of fighting, and a fairly logical plot. Sure, there was a little bit of over-the-top silliness, but it's a wuxia, not a historical drama, so I enjoyed it. What it did not have a lot of was romance - which is fine - though there was a really sweet angsty sub-plot with two minor characters, one played by cutie Cao Yuchen, if that's your jam. Besides that sub-plot I personally didn't find any of the (many) other CPs had chemistry or added anything to the overall drama, and yes I am including those folks who ship the MLs.* Costumes, effects, and visuals were all great, and acting was ok. There was a mix of younger and more seasoned actors which I think helps. Ngl I immediately fell for Liu Xueyi as Wu Xin, and will be watching more of his dramas.

Weak points were the dubbing and (some) acting. VA was done by the donghua VAs, and it took me until 3/4 of the way through to get used to their voices with the actor's looks. Many didn't fit well, especially Xiao Se (Li Hongyi). Which brings me to the #1 weak point - Li Hongyi. His character should have been interesting, and thus was chosen as the main ML, but the man's face does not move. It really detracted from the whole drama, especially when the plot moved to revolving entirely around him and who would inherit the throne. I started to groan every time the camera focused on him and his unmoving upper lip and vacant expression. There were so many more interesting side characters - from the 'older generation' as well as the younger, that I wish we had spent time on instead of focusing on the imperial family power struggles.

*it is impossible to have chemistry with an inert substance

League of Nobleman - dropped

Grammar aside (yes, the English title annoyed the crap out of me) the production value and look of this drama was really good. The plot was fairly interesting but for some reason overall it didn't grab me and I dropped it around ep 10. I think this was because I had just soldiered through one lackluster male lead, and had to deal with one again in Song Weilong. Everyone else was good, and I heard that it got better towards the end, but I'll never know. The real problems for me were two fold: the lazy plot device of the water-hypnotism thing (this is supposed to be historical, not wuxia, so I am less tolerant of vaguely magical/occulty things that just happen to make solving the crime easier) and the fact that the drama was trying soooo hard to pretend to be a dangai and get you to ship absolutely everyone with the ML. If that's your thing, then you might enjoy it.

Under the Microscope 4/5

Dubious at first because of the slightly 'Rain man' treatment they were giving the ML. You also have to give it lots of drama leeway in terms of historical accuracy (w/r/t the role of the lawyer) which was done for obvious dramatic reasons.

If you can overlook those two things, it was satisfying - well paced, and well plotted. The look was much more realistic than typical costume dramas, and joy of joys, large portions of it used live audio (not dubbed) which gave it even more of a realistic feel. I wasn't completely sold on Zhang Ruoyun's performance, though I do think he's a good actor - it might have been the writing or direction, difficult to know. I'm fairly sensitive to portraying neurodivergent characters. All the supporting characters and their performers were really good which is what eventually won me over.

Till the End of the Moon 4.5/5

This should probably rate it's own post. I've defended the ending once, and will do forever - it is not a BE. It fit the themes of the drama perfectly. This drama will either continue to be divisive, or everyone will move on with their lives. It won't leave me though, I'm scarred for life. (the personal emotional damage is what earned it the extra .5 in my rating. I've never cried this hard over a drama ending.)

So far this is the only xianxia I've seen that manages to be about more than romantic love. Though it stuck to some familiar plot devices - the three arcs, destiny/fate, multiple cps - it was about so much more than the main cp and I hope paves the way for more like it, turning away from tired tropes and towards a literal xianxia - the story of Immortal Heroes - not just fairy-tale love.

The biggest flaws (outside of Xixi's inconsistent heavy makeup and an overuse of sparkly effects that obscured the action during fight scenes) can be blamed pretty squarely on the NRTA rules. Tantai Jin was a bit too whitewashed. Li Susu's character arc was difficult to follow because of all the many many cuts. I was very frustrated towards the end as the majority of really brutal editing seemed to be done in the last arc - it made the plot confusing and character motivations - especially for Li Susu - unclear. Overall, it was good but could have been even better if we had all the episodes and production had gone even further with the Dunhuang aesthetic and farther from typical xianxia/wuxia tropes.

Oh No! Here Comes Trouble 5+/5

I was worried I'd need to give up cdramas forever after the emotional beating I took watching TTEOTM. Luckily tumblr came through and kept putting gifs of this on my dash. An absolute gem. Funny and heartfelt drama about paranormal investigation, friendship, family relationships, death and grief, high school bullying - it really had it all. Twelve episodes were not enough!!! It's rare that I can literally say "I laughed, I cried" about any show but it was true for this one (and maybe the Good Place.) The friendship among the characters, and their really supportive families was so heartwarming. Which was needed since there were also lots of dark themes about isolation and loneliness, abuse, and death. The attention to detail in the sets and character names and backstories were so clever, it was obvious how much love the production had for the show. My only quibbles are that the first couple eps that set the characters were a little long to get through, other than that a practically perfect drama in every regard.

Mysterious Lotus Casebook - on indefinite hold

Not as good mystery-wise as Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty but mostly fun. Decent acting (this is the first time I've watched CY and he's OK, if not particularly compelling for me.) I should have liked this more because as a wuxia/mystery it's absolutely 100% up my alley but found myself falling asleep during some episodes - there is way too much exposition and not enough 'show' when it comes to the mystery solving aspect. I most definitely skipped all the tender scenes between CY and CDL's characters (🤮).

I ended up putting it on hold, but I might pick it up again for Xiao Shunyao's character. I think the main reason people went bonkers for this drama on tumblr was because they loved shipping the MLs, which - whatever.

Hikaru no Go 5/5

Finally watched this after having it on the list for a couple years and it was absolutely as good as people said it was. Touching and sweet without being overly sentimental. The child actors were fabulous - I was almost sad to see them grow up and be replaced by the main actors. Each character really feels like they're a complete person, their motivations and actions are individual and understandable. Who knew I'd love a drama based on a manga about Go?

Ripe Town 5/5

Everything about this short drama was absolutely top notch. It was like watching a prestige western drama or mini-series. I want more of these, please! Luckily I've heard that Tencent is making a series (like iQiyi's "light on") that will specialize in these shorter dramas.

The cinematography was gorgeous and set the mood so well. Acting was excellent from everyone. The plot was TIGHT. The pacing was ON. Direction was so good. Audio was live, not dubbed for most of it (aaaaaaaah my beloved ambient audio.) I looked forward to each new episode and lamented that there were only 12. The suspense built with every episode as we learned the backstories of our characters and what happened 20 years ago. There was even humor - dark, adult humor, not slapstick. The only slight failing for me was the very very end - there's an unnecessarily twist that, while it didn't ruin the drama, didn't really help it either, and in fact muddied some of the character motivations somewhat. Aside for that would have been the best cdrama I've ever seen.

Love is Panacea - dropped

Yet another modern drama starring my favorite actor that I simply could not get through. Sorry Xixi. He and Zhang Ruonan were both good (though her stiff faced kiss scenes were not) but the plot was a melodramatic mess that overshadowed a really sweet message about facing adversity. The direction made it look like a cheesy idol drama in spots, and the secondary characters (Dr. Gu's family) were beyond annoying. Please let him stop acting in these sub-par modern dramas. I have no idea why it did so well on CCTV8 other than the fact that he looked stunning through most of it.

The Story of Kunning Palace 3.75/5

Honestly not entirely sure how to rate this, but out of all similar dramas I've ever watched this was pretty well paced and generally well acted. I definitely looked forward to each episode but did eventually find myself 2x'ing through some of the slower scenes and romantic longing looks with the OST in the background (yawn.) The revenge plot was well done, and more interesting than the 'who will she pick' romance plot, though even I found myself rooting for one of our MLs more than the other (even though it was obvious who would get the girl).

The biggest downside for me was the directing - the spins, the terrible backlight - it was so dated and so noticeable that it took me out of the drama. Though Bai Lu did a good job, I won't say it was her strongest performance. Zhang Linghe was criticized for his performance and at first I disagreed strongly. His character was a little exaggerated but it's a costume drama, come on. Around ep 32 though I understood what people meant. His character was too unhinged to be taken very seriously - I mean, how many times can you stab yourself without the audience thinking you're nuts? His shouting and throat grabbing was just a bit over the top and was more like deranged stalker behavior than hopelessly obsessed lover. How much of that was direction (see my earlier criticism) I don't know, but at the end...he's all fine. Gets the girl, loves kitties, etc. etc. Ngl, I did not expect such a pat HE and it kind of didn't fit. Folks who love HE loved it though.

[salvatcrechildarchived]

            ✧  ′   THERE’S  NO  SUCH  THING  AS  MAGIC

                                 ( season one of chilling adventures of sabrina )

    IN  THE  TOWN  OF  GREENDALE,  there  lives  a  boy  with  a   fascination  of  magic.   but  normalcy  was  all  he  had  in  his  life.   but  the  only  thing  that  was  missing  from  his  life  were  the  to  parents  that  gave  him  life.   his  parents  had  died  when  he  was  a  baby,  and  he  lived  with  his  aunt,  who  would  tell  him  about  how  wonderful  his  mother  was,  how  his  father  cared  so  much  for  her  and  his  only  son.   but  he  wished  he  knew  more,  he  wished  he  met  them,  he  wished  a  life  with  them.

     as  normal  as  life  was  for  him,  he  attended  baxter  high  school,  and  he  had  close  friendships  there.   he  played  basketball  and  tennis,  he  was  in  student  council,  he  had  high  attendance  and  top  marks  in  all  his  classes.    things  with  him  were  good.   

    the  night  of  his  sixteenth  birthday,  on  all  hallow’s  eve,  jacob  felt  something  in  him  that  had  A W A K E N E D .   a  life  that  he  once  knew  would  change  drastically.   as  sparks  flew  from  his  fingers,  he  felt  a  power  he  never  expected.   and  the  idea  of  magic,  it  was  something  he  was  not  100%  on  board.   as  much  as  he  enjoyed  learning  about  the  history  of  the  witches  that  settled  in  greendale,  he  never  expected  magic  to  consume  his  life.

     discovering  himself  a  warlock  was  easy,  as  he  learned  the  true  identity  of  his  father.   a  spellman.   and  he  knew  that  he  wanted  to  learn  more  about  him  and  the  possibility  that  sabrina  could  be  his  sister.   but  he  wasn’t  sure  if  he  could   trust  her,  or  her  aunts,  and  the  fact  that  his  magic  came  from  satan  himself.   he  wished  he  had  his  mother  to  guide  him,  but  all  he  had  were  the  stories  and  pictures  of  the  woman  that  died.

NOTE:  if any sabrina’s i interact DO NOT want to do this plot whatsoever, let me know and jacob will just be a warlock who discovers his powers on his sixteenth birthday since he was a half breed himself.

[buttercups-song]

The obligatory "caos part 4 was a mess" rant:

I already said it but once again: romanticizing suicide

Eldritch terrors capable of destroying the universe and throwing everything into madness vs one narcissistic 16 year old

This season quickly turned into monster of the week show

Things happen and then have no consequences

Firstly choosing the maiden, mother and crone in the begining and then doing nothing with it (and I'm still mad about them worshipping hecate after killing circe- her literal daughter)

Secondly Marie giving Zelda the thingie to call her (him? them? I really don't want to misgender them but also have no idea what we were supposed to take from the reveal scene so...) But when Sabrina died Zelda didn't even try to summon Marie? Who is a literal death god? Okay then

The writers really don't know what to do with lilith huh? At first I had thought that she was being smart and lying to lucifer but nope she really killed and cooked the baby. Why? If you didn't want to have a plot with her being a mother (which would be kinda interesting since she's supposed to be the mother of demons) you shouldn't have written the plot with her being pregnent with her abuser! And then her going mad and hearing the baby crying? Boring, seen that plot a million times before. I have no clue what happened in the end. Is the monkey statue possessed by the ghost of Adam ?? No idea, writters clearly thought that watching a band badly cover queen songs was more important

Who rules hell now? If lilith then good for her (though last time that happened she wasn't accepted as queen by hell so...)

Since when death has any consequences in the sabrina universe? They have resurrection pit in their garden. They brought hilda back last season. Why not try and bring sabrina back?

Everyone in greendale has magical powers apparently. Remember when Theo could see ghosts? The writers sure as hell don't.

Using a dead octopus that was possesed by an Eldritch terror as a breathing mask

Stupid/awful things sabrina did: faking a supernatural emergency, meeting her other self after being expressly told it would have catastrophic consequences, trying to make a human out of wax to be a perfect boyfriend, giving the uninvited hope and trapping him (ok maybe she had to but I still felt really bad for him)

Did hell!sabrina die because of teeny tiny cuts on her face? Having an octopus in her stomach was fine but small cuts? Death

I hate it when characters laudly proclaim that they're "strong, proud feminists" and then do nothing to show it

Mary joins a cult that worships terrors that will destroy the world and still wears a cross (also why is she on board with anything that faustus says?)

Just bad. It was really bad.

[jugheadsenigma]

Rewatching Riverdale to prepare myself for season 7. I haven't watched a single new ep past the first episode of Rivervale and have just been keeping up through Tumblr.

A couple things I noticed while re-binging /liked/disliked.

- the way the original couples got together was a sweet buildup of episodes despite what B*rchies like to claim.

Eg: Archie courting then dating Val and Veronica getting jealous, Ronnie making Archie face his fear and helping him feel safe, their sweet moments at the party, multiple stolen kisses and tiptoing to avoid hurting Betty. Over multiple episodes.

Eg 2: Jughead flirting with Betty and Betty's little "Juggie"'s, Jughead getting jealous of Betty going on a "date", them sleuthing Jason's room, sharing snacks, and Jughead comforting/protecting Betty only to ultimately and finally round up the courage to kiss her. Once again, over multiple episodes.

- A fault: They really did have these couples break up like every 3rd episode. I know that there's supposedly weeks in , but the timeline feels so messy and the makeup-breakup plot is tiring. If at least 2 out of the major 3 (BugVarChoni) were happy, that third was fucked over by something so petty or right out of left field. The first couple breakups from each party made sense, They were done to protect the other from getting hurt each time. But the rest feels like lazy writing. You can have couples fight and not just throw in the towel.

- You can't tell me that Riverdale doesn't have any magic in it. Not only did CAOS take place in RiverDALE at one point, but when Archie and Jughead go to deliver drugs in Greendale, Archie comes across a dead deer walking. Not to mention Cheryl's magic powers that show up later, but that's for another post.

- The whole "we have a gang but we are going to be lawful and awesome" thing is very cringe lmfao. They also mention the Hells Angel's once or twice about what they do for children around christmas. This is true. I'm a Canadian in Alberta and my uncles were all in the Hells Angel's when they were younger, however they also weren't some perfectly wholesome gang. They do heavy shit. The way they removed all the adults except for FP was also a weird choice, but it's probably because there's no way 40-50 year old gang bangers are going to let a 17 year old kid run the show.

- I'm in the midst of season 3 and I'm reminded at how much I hated the farm plot. The whole "Alice was working with Charles the whole time" thing feels just as thrown together rewatching it as it did when I first watched the twist.

Not to mention the hell that is sitting through Veggie Tales.

However I do wanna point out some plots I really loved to rewatch.

- Serpent!Alice Cooper/Smith. In love. The way she redeemed herself and every time was wearing snake skin was gorgeous and they look amazing on her.

- The midnight club was a great episode and plot. It was cheesy, sure, but it was interesting and made people invested in the parents for once.

- Falice felt very Romeo and Juliet. They honestly kind of remind me of Bughead now. Once incredibly in love, moved on with secrets, things left unsaid, and now no one knows their fate. They for sure would have been endgame is S.U. didn't leave the show.

- Betty's time at The Sisters of Quiet Mercy. I wasn't a fan of the gang not noticing/thinking she was at the farm, however I enjoyed it.

- Bughead and Varchie at Lodge Lodge. I want more that.

-Cheryl's coming out story. It made sense, and actually didn't really feel rushed at all. Cheryl never acted out of love or feelings until she met Toni. She tried to get something out of all the men she kissed on the show. There was never any indication that she genuinely liked any of them.

ANYWHO thats my thoughts so far without making this a million pages long.

[zerbrochener-mond]

CAOS: PART 4 RANT

[Spoiler / TW: suicide]

Since a few people started doing CAOS Part 4 rants, here are the few things that confused/upset me the most:

• Sabrina still being portrayed as the good guy and never really gets called out - she's narcissistic, dumb and overall just annoying. She constantly breaks all the rules & does things she knows are extremely dangerous (like meeting Sabrina Morningstar JUST FOR FUN), yet everybody keeps supporting her

• Everything revolving around the necessity of having a s/o, it's really sending out a bad message to the young audience

• Sabrina Morningstar marrying Caliban - how did he even come back from the ninth circle in the first place? How did they end up together? Since everything in the show revolves around how you need to have a bf, my bet is she just took him because there was no one else in hell who was free and didn't look like he was already molding

• Ambrose and Prudence never talking things out even though he obviously genuinely loved her

• The Pygmalion spell not working in S3 because Roz is apparently not Harvey's true love + several other implications that Harvey and Sabrina might end up together, including Roz' prevision, and it's... never brought up again??

• Mary Wardwell joining Blackwood's cult, even though she used to be and apparently still is very Christian and disapproves of occult powers

• They used the magical soil that allows people to rise from the dead for 3 seasons and IT'S NEVER BORUGHT UP AGAIN? They never thought of using it to bring back the Sabrinas?

• They also never thought of calling Marie, A LITERAL GODDESS OF DEATH? A goddess that brought back Vinegar Tom?

• By the way... Sabrina Morningstar died of WHAT EXACTLY?

• Zelda saying in S3 that Hilda can't be dead because she saw the LITERAL FUTURE with Hilda being alive, yet Sabrina appeared in that future too and still died??

• Nick killing himself out of grief and everyone else being last shown grieving too, so after all these episodes of them saving the world and trying to fight dark powers that try to destroy their happy family, no one is happy in the end, AND

• even in the afterlife, EVERYTHING that Sabrina needs to be happy is a boyfriend? WHERE ARE HER PARENTS? Where are her deceased friends and ancestors? WHAT THE FUCK?? What kind of afterlife is this even? THIS MATCHES WITH NO DESCRIPTION OF THE WITCH AFTERLIFE MADE IN ANY SEASON

This is the first post I ever made about a series, and I think it's also going to be the last. Thank you, Netflix, for COMPLETELY RUINING one of my most loved comfort shows.

[alaffy]

Just more thoughts on Riverdale.  The thing is, reading some of the posts and thinking about some of the things that have happened on Riverdale recently, I think it’s pretty likely that Riverdale did change things in light of the 5 part special.  I think the most frustrating thing right now is trying to figure out what rule book are we playing with and how long have we been playing with it.  We’ve always known that the world of magic does probably exist in this universe (so long as Sabrina was set in the same timeline) and that there was a possibility of the Blossoms being witches.  So the idea of witchcraft coming to Riverdale isn’t out of the blue, exactly, but it does mean that some of the rules no longer apply.  For instance, the rule in Riverdale has always been that, no matter how supernatural something may appear to be, it will always have a practical answer in the end.  Obviously, this is a rule that needs to be suspended, but when do we get rid of it?  Is it in 5x19, or do we have to go back further?

For instance, in 5x17, we thought Archie was suffering from PTSD when he saw the soldiers in the cave.  However, if we find out Cheryl’s abilities were already affecting reality, then this scene might have another explanation.  We do see things like ghosts in Sabrina, so it is very possible (if they’re bringing in some of the rules from CAOS or CAOS its self considering Shipka is in Vancouver and the back and forth between her and the crew) that this was an indication that reality was changing.

Another possible example comes from the funeral scene in 5x18. There is a moment where, while the camera has a close up of Betty and Alice, you can see Jughead in the background absolutely with his head turned and focused on the Coopers.  Also, Jughead is the only one who isn’t singing at the funeral.  And, while this could be a decision on the actors part, it does feel like it is deliberate.  Like it’s something we’re supposed to notice.  Well, if they do a storyline where magic is affecting reality, then there’s most likely going to be someone who’s going to notice that something seems wrong.  And a character like Jughead, who has his own way of looking at the world, would make sense.  So if, and this is still a big if, the world is already affected by 5x18, it could be his actions at the funeral were an indication of this.  Like he’s still under the influence of whatever is going on, but in that one moment Jughead felt something about this didn’t feel right.

But, again, that’s the big question.  The things that feel rushed or out of place, are they just because the story suddenly changed or are do these things feel weird because their supposed to feel weird?  For instance, as several people have noted, changing the lyrics in Perfect for You and in Hey #3. Why were they changed?  Was it a last minute decision because they decided to change the plot and this is the best they could come up with.  Or did they deliberately change them in such a way to convey a different message then what the songs normally intended?  I mean, they do seem to be focusing a lot on the changing oneself part quite a bit.  And while changing problematic behaviors in yourself to become a better partner is not a bad thing, changing who you are to become someone that someone else will like is not a good thing.  So, which is it?

And that comes to another point.  It’s interesting to note the dynamics of the new couples.  For instance, when Betty and Archie called it off in 5x8, Betty mentions how they should work as a couple in theory, but they just don’t.  And the interesting thing about this, this really could apply to most (if not all) of these new parings.  I mean, unlike say Jughead/Jessica and Veronica/Chad, there’s nothing really toxic about these couples.  They are all paired with people that they care about, but just because you care about someone doesn’t mean you’d be a good partner.  And let’s say something is causing the pairings, for whatever reason, it actually does make more sense this way.  I mean, pairing a person with someone they hate probably would cause more people to realize something is wrong then doing like this.  But, again, that is assuming that the pairings are happening because of Cheryl’s story.  It could be they are, it could be they’re not, or it could be a mixed bag (some are and some aren’t).

For me, if we find out that some of the things that we feel off are intentional, that might make me change my mind about some of the things that happened in the last episode, because I just need clarification.  I still would have a lot of issues with the episode, but if we were supposed to be fooled and question what was going on, well they were successful in that aspect.

I don’t know.  I mean, I’m curious where this is headed, but I have all sorts of mixed feelings about how we’re getting there.  The thing is, Roberto said that the first five episodes of season 6 were a continuation of where we left off in season 5, that Cheryl was going to have a major change and that it would affect the story, and that the first 5 episodes would have their own arc. And the thing is having the first five episodes steeped in magic or some sort of AU means that, technically, they can make anyone a villain, kill off anyone they want, or have any pairing they want, and still be able to walk it back somehow in the end (because the rules of reality are a lot more loose).  

But I still don’t like that fact that it feels like that made shipping a plot point. Because that ‘s different then say, breaking characters up for the plot.  For example, when Veronica broke up with Archie in season 2.  Clearly, it was done so that Archie and Betty could kiss without it being cheating.  However, they took the time to come up with, what I thought, was a pretty good reason for Veronica to decide to break up with Archie.  In fact, I honestly think it was the most realistic breakup (when it comes to high schoolers) in the series.  With this current storyline, even if it turns out Veronica broke up with Archie because of supernatural reasons, it still feels forced.

[willowaus]

Nabrina Winterfest Day 1

Questions:

What made you fall in love with Sabrina and Nick individually? I'd been a fan of the various incarnations of Sabrina in the comics, the old 90s show, and I think some of the cartoons too. I loved the concept of the original CAOS comic--just ugh, updates to that thing sucked. Sabrina Spellman with a darker twist to it? Yes please! So I was really excited to learn that Netflix was doing a show based off of it. I think I watched the first season in a day? Maybe two? But I loved how stubborn Sabrina was, how she kept trying to do what she thought was right and that she really played into that whole 'the path to Hell is full of good intentions' thing. Watching her struggle to figure out who she was in part one and still hold onto her mortal side was a delight and seeing her embrace her witchy side more in part two was even better. I just thought there was so much potential to this little fire cracker who was trying to navigate a world that was very much set up against her. And I loved her relationships with everyone in her family. And then Nick. I'll admit I found Harvey to be a bit boring. I was ready to just sort of accept that he'd be Sabrina's love interest because that's how it usually goes, right? But then we got Nick coming in at the Academy and I was definitely one who was like "Harvey, who?" But Nick was a fun character who we knew nothing about because he's never been in anything before. So it was a lot of fun peeling out the layers of his character in those first two parts. But who doesn't love a nerdy, sexy warlock who Sabrina was already having sex dreams about the like week after she'd met him? The more we got to see Nick, the more I grew to like him. He has a tragic backstory--I'm a sucker for those--he's accepted both sides of who Sabrina is and is interested in both sides. He's willing to help people out, isn't shy about what he wants, and yeah, sorry, I'll always just prefer the almost immortal with magic to a regular old mortal.

What made you fall in love with them as a couple? Their chemistry was just way better. That first scene where they meet is seared into my mind. The two of them had little interaction in the first part but every single one of them was just gold. I feel like they complement one another really well and that in a way they both help one another grow and give each other something that they both have been missing from their lives. Nick doesn't try to hold Sabrina back and Sabrina helped Nick learn what love was. That whole 'you taught me how to love' line really did clinch it all for me.

I'll post fic later. And maybe drabble for this day too.

[salvatcrechilda]

           ✧  ′   THERE’S  NO  SUCH  THING  AS  MAGIC

                                ( season one of chilling adventures of sabrina )

    𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐋𝐄,   there  lives  a  boy  with  a  fascination  of  magic.   but  normalcy  was  all  he  had  in  his  life.   but  the  only  thing  that  was  missing  from  his  life  were  the  to  parents  that  gave  him  life.   his  parents  had  died when  he  was  a  baby,  and  he  lived  with  his  aunt,  who  would  tell  him  about  how  wonderful  his  mother  was,  how  his  father  cared  so  much  for  her  and  his  only  son.   but  he  wished  he  knew  more, he  wished  he  met  them,  he  wished  a  life  with  them.

    as  normal  as  life  was  for  him,  he  attended  baxter  high  school,  and  he  had  close  friendships there.   he  played  basketball  and  tennis,  he  was  in  student  council,  he  had  high  attendance  and  top  marks  in  all  his  classes.    things  with  him  were  good.  

   the  night  of  his  sixteenth  birthday,  on  all  hallow’s  eve,  jacob  felt  something  in  him  that  had  A W A K E N E D.   a  life  that  he  once  knew  would  change  drastically.   as  sparks  flew  from  his  fingers,  he  felt  a  power  he  never  expected.   and  the idea  of  magic,  it  was  something  he  was  not  100%  on  board.   as  much  as  he  enjoyed  learning  about  the  history  of  the  witches  that  settled  in  greendale,  he  never  expected  magic  to  consume  his  life.

    discovering  himself  a  warlock  was  easy,  as  he  learned  the  true  identity  of  his  father.   a  spellman.   and  he  knew  that  he  wanted  to  learn  more  about  him  and  the  possibility  that  sabrina  could  be  his  sister.   but  he  wasn’t  sure  if  he  could   trust  her,  or  her  aunts,  and  the  fact  that  his  magic  came  from  satan  himself.   he  wished  he  had  his  mother  to  guide  him,  but  all  he  had  were  the  stories  and  pictures  of  the  woman  that  died.

NOTE:  if any sabrina’s i interact DO NOT want to do this plot whatsoever, let me know and jacob will just be a warlock who discovers his powers on his sixteenth birthday since he was a half breed himself.

[bbloggingboutbooks]

How The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comic Differs From the Netflix Show

I have always been a big fan of Sabrina The Teenage Witch. I remember watching the live action one from the 90s along with all the animated ones and even reading the Sabrina comics. I mean, I loved the show enough to name my cat after Salem. I also have always loved scary things and Halloween so when I found about the scary and gory version of my favorite teenage witch, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, I knew I had to read it. A few years after reading the comic I heard CAOS was being adapted into a Netflix series which I thoroughly enjoyed but wanted to note a few changes made in the adaptation from comic to TV.

(Notes: The TV show had four seasons and went longer than the actual comics so the writers had to create their own material)

INCLUDES SPOILERS FOR CAOS COMIC AND SHOW

COMIC: Sabrina’s parents didn’t actually love each other. In the comic Edward only married Diana to fulfill a prophecy and after Sabrina was born he put magic on her to make her go crazy and locked her in an insane asylum when she tried to run away with Sabrina.

SHOW: Edward actually loved Diana and Sabrina and the two died in a “plane crash” on a trip to the Vatican.

COMIC: Edward and Diana’s marriage between a witch and a mortal was not actually blessed by the Dark Lord. Edward actually made a deal with a shapeshifting demon who pretended to be the Dark Lord and gave the two permission to have a child as he believed a child of mortal and witch would be the most powerful.

SHOW: Edward and Diana’s marriage is actually blessed by the Dark Lord, in return though Edward has to sign Sabrina’s name in the Book of The Beast the day after she is born.

COMIC: Edward is found out by the coven about his fake Dark Lord and turned into a tree in the woods where he is imprisoned for many years.

SHOW: Edward dies in a “plane crash” with Diana.

COMIC: Ambrose has two snakes as his familiars.

SHOW: Ambrose was banned from having a familiar in his house arrest but eventually gets his rat back in season two when he joins Blackwood’s Team.

COMIC: Madame Satan was a former lover of Edward.

SHOW: No romantic relationship between Madame Satan and Edward.

These are just a few things that I noticed were different from the comic to the show which I found really interesting. It is always intriguing to me to see the changes in book to movie adaptations especially since there have been many adaptations of Sabrina.

Posted On: October 12, 2021

[initiumseries]

Hey! I love your thoughts on bad tv and I’d love to hear a series wrap up on CAOS if you want to make a post about it. If not no worries and thanks for posting your thoughts on the show over the last year. Loved them and love your blog too!

Thank you!! Sure I can totally do a series wrap up, pretty much right now, in response to this ask. 

So, if I had to distill my issues with this series into a few bullet points it would be: 

-plot -world building/continuity -characters

Plot

CAOS struggles with plot, and I think the biggest reason why, is they just seemed to completely lose track of what the hell they were doing lol. Season 1, ends up being the tightest season because the plot was simple: Sabrina’s dark baptism and her leaving her mortal life behind to become one with witchkind. They beat us to death with the Satan stuff, and they cram as much corny imagery as possible in, even if it doesn’t really make sense. 

why are they having class in a hallway? Do witches not use technology? Why is that blackboard so small? Why isn’t this just a normal classroom setting?

Sabrina’s Season 1 character arc is also clear: she decides, fuck the rules, she’s going to straddle both worlds and everyone’s just gonna have to accept it. It’s not good, but it’s clear. S2, 3, 4 get completely lost in all this other weird stuff. Sabrina is actually not her father’s daughter, but Satan’s, and that plotline goes absolutely nowhere when Sabrina conveniently doubles herself (and experiences 0 consequences for it) and rules hell while also staying in Greendale as herself (seriously, it’s not like satan was dying or anything, he was perfectly fine. For what reason did Sabrina need to become Queen? There’s no answer or explanation for that, she just...did. Ok :/).  Father Blackwood goes apeshit and pulls a Jonestown, for no real reason, CAOS starts leaning heavily into this white feminism stuff (for godsake, the coven kills a DEMON, with the fucking pain of childbirth?! Are you SERIOUS??) Then, s3, it’s about losing their powers because Satan is childish and petty, and a new group of spellcasters are out to kill the witches, and Prudence and Ambrose hunting Blackwood. S4, the eldritch terrors, which honestly, make so little sense, I couldn’t even be bothered. Each season, CAOs falls deeper into the trap of trying to up the ante, make the danger BIGGER, WILDER, more insurmountable, while being completely unprepared to stay consistent with their characters/motivations and undercutting their own BIG ideas with stupid, nonsensical solutions (let me trap this all powerful eldritch terror by taking it to a party, proposing and luring it into a magicked dollhouse...wtf?). 

Worldbuilding/Continuity

What I hate most about these writers for Riverdale and CAOS is that they just don’t feel beholden to being consistent in their worldbuilding and continuity. I don’t find anything cool about kids living in houses with old tvs and rotary phones, but then having a cell phones or wearing modern clothes. Historical anachronisms like that should serve a purpose. 

It COULD be interesting if the conceit is that Zelda and Hilda are OLD, so they take comfort in old things like that, but then that should be specific to the Spellman house, and it should be weird. People should take note of it when they’re there, Sabrina should be conscious of it because she grew up in a time where TVs didn’t look like they were stuck in the 50s. But instead, it’s just...a stupid mess of aesthetic anachronisms for no reason other than they can do it and I just find that to be lazier than utilizing those details in an interesting way. 

In season 1, we get a relatively clear idea that the witches have a certain way of life, that bleeds into season 2. It’s still very sloppy; the anti-pope, using satan where we’d use “god”, introducing the feast and other dangerous parts of being a witch, and essentially just doing the opposite of christianity (except for the racism/sexism ofc. That would require too much thinking I guess). But by season 3, essentially the witches’ way of life have been completely turned upside down. And we never...unpack that. There’s no mourning for literal millennia of supposed tradition, there’s no real floundering or struggling. There are apparently no other adults AT ALL in this magical world outside of Blackwood, Zelda and Hilda, so there’s no real way to get a sense of the REALITY of losing their way of life for these witches, or this world. Is it even a world? Or just a handful of people? Lol. What it means to have to choose a new god to pray to, and is there an divisiveness over who? In Harry Potter, the kids’ parents are tangentially involved when they start pulling their kids out of Hogwarts. Do any of these kids’ parents pull them out of the school when they start praying to Lilith and then Hecate? Do any of the boys have issues with moving from a male god to a female one? Where did all these kids come from if they didn’t have parents and families? Is this witch world just...the school? Why? It would have been interesting watching the witches struggle and scramble to regain their powers while also being hunted by this new, threatening group whose magic seems to be much older, much darker. But instead, they just pivot, and have a fucking picnic before the full moon. 

There’s nothing interesting about characters just constantly pivoting around obstacles without having any real emotional reaction, any real struggles. Obstacles like losing their powers, should be an actual obstacle. They should struggle, there should be emotional weight, and consequences. Instead, Sabrina continues to break rules to suit her agenda, put her friends and family and risk and everyone just...rolls with it. No one is angry at Sabrina for the loss of their powers? Her choice to not become Queen of hell is why they lost their powers right? No one has feelings about that? Sabrina isn’t ostracized? We never see the way these choices, or the overarching plot obstacles impact the characters emotionally. Instead, they’re doing this stuff:

Which is completely ridiculous to me. It all just...HAPPENS. Which is this entire series. Stuff happens, and the characters just, do stuff in reaction to it. Harvey, Theo and Roz are ostensibly human, living human lives. They end up getting pulled into Sabrina’s world, and no one has any strong feelings about that? Harvey’s brother is killed, Roz is turned to stone and Theo talks to his dead great aunt and none of them are haunted by any of that? No? They just decide to create a faux scooby club to fight demons?  Ok. And that cheerleading things is over as quickly as we see it. Stuff like this is insanely frustrating to watch because it makes the show a nonsensical slog to sit through. There’s nothing interesting or engaging to latch onto because they just hammer through it all and make up stupid solutions to get themselves out of the impossible stakes they threw the characters in in the first place. They introduce ideas and discard them just as quickly. An ex:angels show up, start killing people, Sabrina channels satan and kills them, and then that’s the last of those guys. Metatron (jfc even the name is stupid) shows up and is killed just as quickly.  Why bother introducing them then? Why bother do any of the things you’re currently doing in this show if you have no intention of seeing it through? 

Characters 

No one on this show gels, at all.  I don’t believe Theo/Roz/Harvey/Sabrina have been friends for ages. I don’t believe Sabrina and Nick are “end game” (why the hell do we keep saying this riverdale? It’s stupid and senseless). I don’t believe any of these relationships at all. Part of this is because the cast have no chemistry with each other:

they do not look like a friend group or couples at all, these are a bunch of people paired together.

But also because they weren’t consistent at all. 

Father Blackwood went from a witch/warlock purist, to a raging sexist, to a cult leader who killed his followers, to a raging maniac bent on hitler-esque destruction in 4 seasons...for nothing. It served no purpose. He didn’t even DO anything. He was nice to the Eldritch Terrors, and became immortal...for nothing. He killed the coven, for nothing. He killed his wife in childbirth, for nothing. Zelda stole the baby, for nothing. None of that amounted to anything worth while in the entire series. So what was the point?  Zelda marrying Faustus also made no sense and only happened to show JUST how sexist he was! But why? WHY? We don’t receive explanations for character behaviour, and when we do, it still makes no sense. 

Sabrina breaks all these rules and experiences ZERO consequences. At all times, and it makes her a terrible main character. Everyone else abides by the rules but she doesn’t and doesn’t have to pay for that? Why? She straddles both worlds instead of committing to one, and that was the closest we got to seeing consequences for her. Everyone rushes in to help Sabrina break rules instead of holding her accountable for feeling above them. Sabrina creates 2 versions of herself, and they sloppily tie in that all the realms are converging in on each other because of what she did. Except she and Sabrina Morningstar had been hanging out...ostensibly for days/weeks/months (who knows? Not this show!) before we saw any potential issues, and then we end up finding out that this is about the next eldritch terror, not about Sabrina existing as a double in 1 universe. People get upset for a second and then move on to help her. So why have rules in this world at all if it means nothing to break them? 

Nick goes through literal hell, and immediately cheats on Sabrina because of how a man made of clay looked at her. That’s laughable to me. It makes no narrative sense. Their relationship doesn’t even make sense.

Roz and Harvey spend 90% of their time almost fucking. It’s bizarre. Their getting together was random and every single scene with them alone in it is like a precursor to fucking and I don’t get why. This show does not grasp how to build up relationships. Also do these kids not have parents? Theo and Harvey stay having constant sleepovers with their respective partners, in their parents’ houses? Really? At seventeen? Lol k. 

I feel like, if CAOS were better thought out, it could have actually been interesting. But it was just a smorgasbord of stuff happening, and characters doing stuff, and none of that following in any real narrative way. Storytelling has structure for a reason, and a show with a good story structure usually yields an enjoyable watching experience. CAOS is a pretty strong example of how throwing that out and relying so heavily on aesthetics and still taking the show so seriously it’s not even fun terrible, gets you nowhere. Ultimately I’m glad it’s over.

[asagimeta]

The Irresponsibility Of Sabrina’s Ending

Ya’ll I deadass am hopping on my computer before I leave because I’m so angry about this that I can’t hope to survive the day until I release it into the void of the internet

Spoilers ahead!

As if Sabrina’s death wasn’t bad enough- and trust me, it is, because these days you can’t end a series without killing off a/the main charector, and it would have been refreshing for Sabrina to buck that trend, especially because the show often took the unexpected route of it’s tropes and expected plotlines, and because it would have been perhaps the ultimate feminist message for Sabrina to survive the unsurvivable thanks to the worship of Hecate- the death of Nick is what I’m particularly angry about

Not because I don’t ship Nabrina, and not because I have any particular feelings on Nick- to be perfectly honest, I’m pretty neutral on both, I’d be equally happy with a Nabrina ending as one where Sabrina was single or with someone new or... really anything, I’m glad she had love in any regard though- but because once a-fucking-gain teen suicide is glorified

Like... is Romeo & Juliet really not enough? In today’s society when teen suicide rates are going up year after year, mental illness is at a high, and we know for a fact that teenagers take romanticized relationships at their surface and try to copy them/seek them out, are they really saying “The best ending is to kill yourself when your girlfreind dies”???

It’s just so... so.... rotten....

The biggest problem by FAR isn’t even that any show does this- it’s that SABRINA does this, specifically

Like, Riverdale would have been bad enough, but atleast it’s... Riverdale, and responsibility has never exactly been in the tagline (and before you come after me I’m a huge Riverdale fan), but this isn’t Riverdale, it’s Sabrina, it’s the show that drove home to it’s core not only season after season, but as one of the main progressive plotlines of the show that it’s important to be responsible as a society

It’s important to be feminist, it’s important to spread messages of empowerment to women, to LGBTQ+ people, to beat fascism and not only be not fascist but anti-fascist, it’s important to fight for yourself, it’s important to love yourself (in perhaps the best way I’ve ever seen this portrayed to be honest) all of these things are IMPORTANT- not just in the world of Sabrina, but to Sabrina as a person

And you cannot tell me that Sabrina Spellman would ever be in support of portraying a message to thousands of teenagers that you’ll get a happy ending if you kill yourself to be with your true love instead of trying to move on, or even waiting until you see them again naturally having lived a full life, or even trying to bring that true love back, suicide shouldn’t even be on the table as an option and yet this is really the ending they went with huh?

I cannot fathom how CAOS spent four seasons hammering home with a SLEDGEHAMMER that social responsibility is important- especially to teenagers- and yet in the last two minutes provided THE most socially irresponsible message of them all, this is just as bad as if Blackwood had won- because it’s portraying a message that your average teenager can take into their own hands and act on, it’s not Cthulu or making a duplicate of yourself or fighting the king of hell, it’s picking up a belt or a razor or a bottle of pills and doing something that ALOT of teenagers are already considering doing

And perhaps WORST of all is the timing

2020, the year filled to the BRIM with death and depression and personal tragedies, wherein mental illness and suicide rates are at a MASSIVE high because of these things already, is really the year you’re going to tell teenagers that suicide will bring you peace and happiness huh?

Like, this is such an enormously toxic combination of bad that I can’t even process it and I’m actually really saddened that after a quick Google search I only found one article that’s as upset about this as I am

There are other bad things about the finale`- Sabrina’s death, as I mentioned, wich just feels monumentally overplayed and lazy, Zelda being alone, the plothole with “Marie’s” magic shaker never getting used when it really, REALLY could have been to bring Sabrina back, etc- and it’s especially disheartening because season four is by FAR my FAVORITE season- it’s magnificent in all the best ways right up until the last episode and I wanted so badly to be hyped up for starting 2021 on the best note and letting CAOS wash out the bad taste Supernatural’s finale` left me with... but the thing is this-

You can totally disagree about Sabrina’s death, about Zelda, about anything and everything about the last episode or the last season, that’s all opinion and everyone’s free to it, but the part that isn’t opinion- the part no one can reasonably disagree about- is that portraying a teenager committing suicide as ROMANTIC and a HAPPY ENDING is an absolutely horrendously irresponsible thing to do- especially for a show aimed at teenagers, and that’s spent it’s entire history trying to portray positive messages

My heart is broken and I’m going to go drown my sorrows by remembering that Yuri On Ice exists so there’s exactly one show in existance that portrays mental illness well, bye

[coalhill-gothamsurvivor]

Thoughts on Fate: The Winx Saga episode one

Okay so I’ve only watched the first episode and the show gives me the same vibes as the Percy Jackson movies. And by that I mean if it wasn’t based off of anything it would be pretty good, but they are both horrible adaptations of the originals.

I like the intro logo. It makes me positive that at some point Bloom is going rediscover transformation magic.

Me at Stella:

Seriously why did they cross Stella with Diaspro!?! She’s such a bitch and she doesn’t have fashion powers.

I like that we are getting to see more of the Specialists. I’m mad they they aren’t exact adaptations and that they left out like half of my boys. However, they are all hot and badass so they nailed the spirit of the Specialists and I can be happy with that.

I think they did a pretty good job adapting Aisha and Bloom. My only complaints for them are their wardrobes. But Bloom in the flashbacks seems very out of character. Like it doesn’t mesh with how she acted in the cartoon or in the present in the show.

Fuck this show for making the Trix one person.

I really support them giving the Specialists British accents.

Solaria being a country instead of planet it weird.

Bloom testing her fire magic in the middle of the forest is so dumb, but honestly season one cartoon Bloom would do the same thing.

They are really inconsistent about Bloom’s relationship with her parents, because on FaceTime they seem really loving and close, but then the flashbacks and her finding memories to manifest her powers suggest otherwise.

It’s cool that you can apparently use FaceTime to call people in different realms. Apple to should really market that more 😂

I’m gonna be mad if they don’t make Bloom adopted, but at the same time it will send a weird message about adoption because of how they portray her parents.

Follow-up, why did they make Bloom’s mom such a bitch, but like only in the flashbacks?

Why does Bloom not question that she could be adopted when she had bright red hair and neither of her parents are redheads? Red hair is a recessive gene, it is extremely unlikely to have it if neither of your parents are redheads.

Terra gives me Hilda from CAOS vibes and I’m kind of here for it. I’d still like them to introduce her cousin Flora though.

I know Riven was always an asshole, but trying to get 1st years drunk gives of creepy seniors hitting on 14 year old freshmen in high school vibes and I’m NOT here for it at all.

They clearly made Musa a mind fairy instead of a music fairy solely for plot convince smh

You know who would be a good person to explain how the how Bloom’s iPhone works in multiple realms would be? Tecna

I like the idea of her parents not know she’s adopted, that will add a much more interesting layer to the story when she finds out who her biological family is.

Stella is straight up acting like Regina George after she found out Cady liked Aaron. This is pretty funny, but I’m also like 🤢 at Sky and Stella being a thing.

I’m so mad that they left out Kiko!!! Where is my adorable bunny 🐰!

They actually have me hella intrigued by the burned ones mystery.

Overall adaption rating: 2/10

Overall rating as a stand alone: 7/10

[salvatcrechildarchived]

     JACOB  WAS  NOT  SURE  if  he  had  what  it  took  to  be  a  witch––  or  a  warlock.   whatever  he  was.   he  had  lived  sixteen  years  without  knowing  who  he  truly  was,  and  maybe  he  wanted   A N S W E R S   why.   watching  the  other  male,  he  felt  like  maybe  he  was  alone.   everyone  he  was  meeting  had  grown  up  with  their  powers  and  poor  jacob  was  just  starting.    ❛  why  does  it  look  so  easy  when  you  do  it ??  ❜   jacob  sighed,  watching  the  other  perform  the  spell.  ⦗ @splbound  ⦙   s.c. ⦘

[sarahreesbrennan]

Could you speak about Nick's heroic moment that impressed you? You mentioned Sabrina's heroic moment that impressed you (Lupercalia) and Harvey's heroic moment that impressed you (saving the witches) so I wondered if you had a Nick moment!

Buckle up kids, it’s time for me to get emosh about Nick Scratch!

Yes I do have a Nick moment, and I am happy that you asked about him! (Apologies for taking so long to reply to this and other CAOS questions I have in the queue, life has been a frenzied whirligig.) I know the rules of love triangles, and one must play fair.  

(It has been interesting writing a proper love triangle, which I hadn’t before, and seeing the many reactions to it. I have one friend who was for Harvey in book 2, but in book 3 she switched to Nick. I have one friend who still loves Harvey and was mad he only got one POV chapter in book 3. I have my father, who is scandalized by the thought of love triangles and wishes for people to Commit to Each Other, and is firmly Team Nabrina and Harvalind without knowing either of those ship names! I Cannot and Will Never tell my father about the sex demons.)

I think everybody noticed the moment where Nick Scratch sacrificed himself to Satan to save Sabrina and also the world. It’s such a big moment and a big sacrifice that it instantly makes many forgive him for all his mistakes. And it’s the very end of that part, and I’ve noticed with Netflix binges even more than with usual TV, the end is the bit that sticks most with people and leaves the deepest impression. You can’t just click on the next episode. You have to sit with what happened. 

That moment of heroism wasn’t overlooked. But early in Part 3, we see inside Nick’s mind in hell, and after weeks of torment he’s still fighting. Wrestling the fallen angel, as Jacob wrestled the angel, and saying no, he won’t give up. The kind of heroism that struggles on, and on, even when it’s tough and thankless, is more difficult than impulsively going down in a blaze of glory. It’s hard to feel good about that kind of fight. It isn’t glorious, it isn’t flashy, and it takes bedrock strength and rare courage. I was so impressed by that moment, and I did worry it would be lost, since Nick’s wild acting out from trauma and satanic possession follows. That inspired Nick’s plotline in Path of Night--to think about how Nick was tormented, and how and why he was able to resist the Dark Lord.

Writing Nick’s POV in hell in Path of Night was tricky, as I couldn’t save him and I knew he would be in a dark place even after being saved! Had I been told people would be reading about a fan favorite character being trapped and tormented while stuck in their homes due to pandemic... I don’t know what I would have done. (I mean, I would have asked the time traveler giving me these tips to give me lottery numbers, please.) I hope I would have been brave and written him the same way I did. 

Book 1 (Season of the Witch) is the family-focused book, because Part 1 is about family coming through for Sabrina, and ends on her toasting them at home. Book 2 (Daughter of Chaos) is the romance-focused book, because Part 2 has many people starting new relationships and exploring what relationships mean to them, and ends with Nick coming through for Sabrina. Book 3 had to be the friendship-focused book, as Part 3 had Sabrina on missions with her friends, who were coming through for her by going to hell and fighting monsters and knowing what was up with her at last. 

It couldn’t be about Sabrina and Nick’s romance, any more than Book 1 could really be about Harvey and Sabrina’s romance, because I was foreshadowing a breakup in both books. Both relationships were loving, but terribly damaged by lies (for which I blame Satan!). And all of these people need to find out who they truly are.

A character who only works in a romance isn’t a good character, and I think Nick is a good character. So when you’re examining a character on their own, you have to pose and answer these questions: who IS this person? What do they care about? How can they be taken apart, and put back together? Consent in CAOS is a big and thorny theme, (and a big and thorny subject generally!), and is discussed extensively in Daughter of Chaos, and that plays out in Path of Night, where Nick has his selfhood stripped away from him and has to try and claim it.

The epigraph for the book is a Dostoevsky quote: ‘Hell is the suffering of being unable to love.’ Nick says himself in Part 1 that Satan doesn’t want his servants to love, and hell is Satan’s kingdom, a place of utter loneliness. What do you do, in a book about friendship, with the plotline set in hell?

The truly lost are those who don’t realize they are lonely in hell. Lilith is ruling hell but missing Greendale, because Lilith underneath it all is a team player--she tried to be on Lucifer’s team for millennia until he made it clear there would never be any reward for her work, and in Part 3 she tries to be on Sabrina’s team, and goes to Zelda for help as an ally. There’s hope for Caliban, because in his reaching out for Sabrina, we see he can be lonely in hell. And what about Nick, in the lowest point of that lonely place? 

I like someone who’ll do epic things for their love, but I don’t like when a character only cares about their love--I think that’s small-hearted. Fortunately I don’t think Nick’s that kind of character at all. He undoubtedly loves Sabrina dearly, but he also had a breakdown about being expelled from school, and even under Satan’s dire influence he found a nice white shirt and came to a magic ceremony because he wanted to be part of it: he cares about community. But his is a community in which caring is forbidden, so caring about that community is a paradox in itself which many of the witches have to deal with, forcing them to lie to themselves and each other. (Zelda and Prudence, very much caught in this trap.) Nick and Prudence both project an air of confidence, but Prudence was literally willing to be consumed in order to matter, and Nick willing to be consumed in order to be loved. (But what is there to love, if you’re consumed?)

Nick’s acting out under the influence of Lucifer in Part 3 is like Harvey being impelled to his father’s violence by Lucifer, though it goes much deeper: that influence brings out the specific dark impulses you DO have, while you might never have acted on them. A lot of Nick’s dark impulses are based on insecurity and his terrible coping mechanisms for dealing with that insecurity: he was gutted when expelled because he doesn’t have a home to belong to. He was raised (and abused) by someone possessive and murderous, who told him as abusers do that only she could love him, and then tragically his community’s ethos confirmed that belief for him. He mentions in Part 1 that he envies mortals because they can love. He’s told by his community that what matters is Satanic power, so he’s instantly made insecure by Caliban Prince of Hell, but he’s also insecure about Harvey because of the idea only mortals can love and be loved, and he’s afraid he can’t be loved by Sabrina as she loves this mortal. Of course, that worry itself makes it plain to us Nick is fully capable of love and of being loved, but that is anything but clear to him.    

The witches are starving for love, and that’s love in all senses of the word. Sabrina does a ton to save and help Nick (to the point of overlooking her own pain and betrayal), but she can’t do it on her own because nobody can: everybody needs a net of community to catch them. 

I mentioned that Book 3 was about friendship because it sets up Part 3, in which friends come through for each other. Nick’s part of that. Sabrina isn’t the only one who comes for him in hell: the mortals came too, and that’s important. Nick’s the witch who is always talking about and interested in mortals, and it was interesting to explore in Path of Night how that came to be. He’s also protective of the mortals--all the witches know mortals die easily, it’s why they call them that--but Nick came to protect Harvey in Part 1, and in Part 2 argued with Sabrina that mortals shouldn’t be fighting Satan as Sabrina planned to fight Satan. Obviously he cares about Sabrina more than he cares about them, but he worries about the mortals in the same way you’d be much more concerned about a toddler toddling into battle than a ninja, even if you were in love with the ninja. It says something about a person, when their impulse is to shield the vulnerable rather than target them.  

In Path of Night it was interesting to explore the potential for friendship with the mortals for Nick. Roz and he have a lot in common, as the big readers of their groups, and were open to being charmed by each other in Part 2. Theo would be an amazing friend for anyone, as he’s ride-or-die for his friends, and also very clear-eyed about them. (Not being romantically interested in them helps with that.) It would obviously be good for both Nick and Harvey to start seeing the other as a person rather than an avatar for their own insecurity. And at the end of Part 3, when Sabrina was off in hell and he certainly wasn’t trying to win her favor, Nick showed up when the mortals called, stayed for them, and fought for them. In another time, he died for them. They came for him, and he came for them. Showing up is a good start. I always love a character who shows up: Sabrina constantly, Ambrose and Hilda and Zelda fighting their god for love, Harvey squaring his shoulders and going in to shoot his brother, Theo hurling his own body at the gates of hell.

But the mortals aren’t Nick’s friends yet: they don’t really know him, and Harvey is triggered by lies, which Nick has had to live by. There is someone, though, who does know him. The big romantic plotline of Path of Night is Prudence and Ambrose coming together on adventures far from home, and the thread about friendship there is that Ambrose is working out whether Prudence likes Nick romantically, or Ambrose himself. In Part 1, Prudence is spiky with Nick because he just dumped her and her sisters (as told in book 1). In Part 3, she’s mad at him and tells Sabrina they don’t work as a couple because she has no time for men who betray women, and Prudence is mad at him in Book 3 too. But in Book 2 and Part 2, she’s helping Nick, hanging out with him, and talking him up to Sabrina. It’s Ambrose, the oldest of the coded-young characters and one of the few with a loving home, who sees and names Prudence’s feelings for Nick, for whom she has a pet name. It’s complicated, in their world and with their respective pain, but he is her friend. She’s the one he opens up to at the end of Part 3.

But Nick doesn’t know Prudence is his friend. Lucifer, known as the Father of Lies, systematically takes apart Nick in Path of Night, to get him to the place he’s in when we hit Part 3. He has to convince Nick that what Nick always feared is true: nobody cares. There’s the physical torture element, which I touch on lightly but enough to be clear it happened, but wrestling with inner demons means more. To quote Faulkner, ‘the only thing worth writing about is the human heart at conflict with itself.’ Nick imagines sleeping a lot throughout Path of Night, imagines peace (another epigraph for a Nick chapter is Dante’s ‘Peace to your hungry soul’), but he’s not really sleeping and there’s never any peace--I deliberately made him more and more tired as the story goes on. Not only tired, but sick at heart as the devil tempts him: he’s offered books, a return to childhood and his mother, a return to school, the story of epic romance he wants to be the hero of, mortal acceptance and affection, and finally Prudence as a friend he trusts to tell him the truth. When he uses his sharp mind to discern flaws in all Lucifer’s illusion he’s shown just enough reality to hurt him. (Harvey and Sabrina have much pain and history to work out and there’s love there, as shown by the two names on Sabrina’s candle, but Sabrina and the Fright Club are all risking their lives to save Nick, and Lucifer sure doesn’t want Nick to realize that: Lucifer’s trying to induce despair.) 

When we see how someone is tempted we also see what they value. In Nick’s case it’s his mother’s love, his mother’s books, a home, romantic love from Sabrina, mortal connection, friends, his school and the opportunities for relationships and knowledge it offers. Then we see everything Nick wants stripped away from him, exposed as illusion. To quote from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, one of CAOS’s forebears in the genre and because I love Buffy, ‘Take all that away, and what’s left?’ The answer is ‘Me.’ When all that’s left is you, then you just might be enough. Even if you always feared you wouldn’t be.

At the end of Path of Night, I couldn’t have Nick be saved, or even have Nick realize he was worth saving, but I wanted the ending to be as happy for him as it could be, by showing my audience that there was hope for him to be found, in all senses of the word. I wanted the reader to feel they’d learned more about who he was, gained understanding of his flaws, that there was greatness in him despite said flaws. Sabrina and the mortals ARE coming to rescue him. Prudence DOES care about him. And saying no, in that loneliest and darkest place, meant something. 

So. That’s Nick’s hero moment for me.