Thread:Stryzzar/@comment-1037137-20150313055759/@comment-1037137-20150322232039

Alrighty Stryzzar my friend, I have a new and edited version of my piece, I hope to hear your word on it later, I took all of your edits in mind and tried to work them in as best as I could. I did beef it up very slightly, please let me know above all else if it still retains its intended impact and message now that this has been done.

I disagreed with one or two of your edits, particularly the last one. As I felt it was necessary to explain what kind of response they had set themselves up for and the reality of this decision. Plus, a little reiteration is necessary sometimes. Still, I understand the meaning and intent of every one of your edits and I hugely appreciate it.

Sum up your thoughts and feelings on this edited passage in their own reply and then I'll decide my next move based on that. Thanks again.

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"Hi Julie, how goes things?

Okay, this isn't a topic or an episode I like to dwell on or talk about, but I have some issues about it that I really need to ask, because I'm still very concerned with how it all went down the way it did. And it very much ties into the larger concern many of us share over how the characters are handled.

''Okay, so through all of All-Stars, one of the biggest plots of that season was Courtney and Gwen patching things up with each other after the chaos of World Tour, where they also had a major fallout. Through nearly the entire season, we see Gwen trying to make things up to Courtney, and Courtney slowly opening up again to her. This plotline has had quite a few critics who either didn't like its execution or didn't think it made sense, but it also had quite a few people who were genuinely invested in seeing this resolved this time. And for the majority of the season, it seems to be played totally straight, with both girls seemingly regretting how things went down, with Gwen coming back solely for this reason according to her, and then finally them making up in the episode Suckers Punched. And again, aside from some moments that most did not care for, it seemed like this plot remained focused and committed through the whole season.''

''Additionally, we had the focus on the new romance between Scott and Courtney. Now this romance doesn't appear to be a particularly strong preference among most but regardless of personal opinions, these were two plots that were heavily invested in for nearly the whole season. Whatever flaws there were or reservations anyone had, these seemed to be serious plotlines and they had gotten a fair share of people invested in both as they went on.''

''There was almost no indication that these were not serious plots for almost the whole season, and there were a fair amount of people who liked the development/redemption that these characters were getting through these events. Which is another fair point I'd like to bring up, it is true that more people enjoyed Scott in this season on a whole, and the portrayals of Gwen and Courtney have always been an issue for many, and redemption has been something a considerable number of people had been desiring to see from both, which made this plot that much more of an important point for many who were watching.''

''But then, out comes the episode "Sundae Muddy Sundae" and they undo both plots entirely after a whole season of committed investment? Rendering all prior events and two of the most central plots to the season completely moot, and carrying on like they never mattered. To make matters worse as many people have pointed out, that episode seemed as if it was geared exclusively to the unraveling of Courtney's character, given the extremes seen in undoing everything that had been built up relevant to her up to that point. In doing so, also rendering moot Gwen and Scott's main stories in the season.''

''I mean they were doing an overall good job seeing to the resolution of this and we seemed to get some genuine development out of the characters, and then it is completely undone at the next-to-last minute? It's like we were wrong to get invested in the first place, what was the point of this if they did not intend to see it through to the end? Aside from the fact that there is already a considerable amount of discontent and dissatisfaction with how Courtney and Gwen have been portrayed and written over the seasons, I can't tell you how many dozens of people I have met who were personally hurt and dismayed by the events of this episode, and how many regret its outcome. Especially the Courtney fandom which perhaps took this the hardest of anybody. After all of that investment and all the stock put into that through the course of the season, and after having gotten a considerable amount of people following it closely in the hopes of an ideal outcome, there was virtually no way that this sudden turn of events wasn't going to be subject to a negative response once it took place. Whatever the intents and purposes, it was inevitable after everything that had taken place prior to it.''

''I want to know why this happened. I also want to know, given its nature, if personal preferences played any role in the writing of this episode."''