i know the whole reason for Chloe (in the show) to not have any real good!aligned character growth was because the creators said that not every person you meet will become a better person or grow to be a better person, and that’s part of reality, Chloe will always be a villain.

and yeah, ok, true, some people just never change, for better or worse,

but this is also a kid’s show, and while it’s good to show kids “hey, this person won’t change, but you dont have to be like them.” why not show them the person changing for the better? actually developing? is doesn’t have to be a full Amity from TOH development, where she went from mean girl to good person aligned with our heroes to one of the heroes. And it also doesn’t have to end the same way it did with Amity, it could end with Chloe just being a better person to only those she cares about, she could still despise Marinette and Alya but be nicer to Sabrina or Zoe in her own weird Chloe-way.

Maddie from Every Witch Way started out in a very Chloe way, but she wasn’t the main villain, ever, just for a few episodes in the first season because she was also a bully to the main character. After that however, she was still shown to be spoiled, vain, material-obsessed, and driven by popularity. But that didn’t stop her from caring about her friends, from only helping the mains bc her friends were in trouble. She got a boyfriend in s2 (a very nice one at that) and he helped her develop into a better person as well. Maddie wasn’t about to start doing things for the goodness of her heart or other people, she did good things for people she cared about which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If anything she was more like an anti-hero.

This show wasn’t even a huge hitter on Nickelodeon (though we did get it to four seasons). So, why can’t they just do a similar thing to Chloe rather than keep her at this cartoon-level villain? I know it’s a cartoon but that’s never stopped ATLA, TLOK, SVFOE, Adventure Time, Steven Universe, or The Owl House to have nuanced, genuine, developed characters that don’t all have to be 100% aligned with good or start out that way.

MADDIE VAN PELT, KATIE RICE, SOPHIE JOHNSON

Every Witch Way S01E1 - Discovery

every witch way + text posts

Every witch way Characters and their hogwarts houses

Jessie Novoa = Ravenclaw

Diego Rueda = Hufflepuff

Andi Cruz = Gryffindor

Mia Black = Slytherin

Luke Archer = Ravenclaw

Kim Sanders = Hufflepuff

Emma Alonso = Gryffindor

Jax Novoa = Slytherin

Katie Rice = Ravenclaw

Maddie Van Pelt = Gryffindor

Sophie Jonhson = Hufflepuff

Gigi Rueda = Ravenclaw

ADULTS:

Lily Archer = Gryffindor

Jake Novoa = Slytherin

Liana Woods/Novoa = Ravenclaw

Agamenon = Gryffindor

Desdemona = Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff

Ursula Van Pelt = Slytherin

Maddie Van Pelt Masterlist

none yet!

Sibling Showdown!!!

This showdown consists of 64 sibling sets facing off against each other, as well as a few one-off polls of sets who didn’t make the actual bracket but who I wanted to include in some capacity.  Polls will last a week.  Round One of section A will go live on April 16, with section B going live the day after, section C the day after that, and section D the day after that.

Propaganda is allowed!  I just ask that it be kept positive.  Argue for your faves instead of against someone else’s.  Every sibling set who made it in the showdown is there because someone wanted them to be, so keep it kind.

Will the winners be the siblings that love each other the most?  That are most capable of killing other sibling groups with their bare hands?  That have the most sibling swag?  It’s up to you to decide!  You get to choose the manner and parameters you judge each sibling set for.

Section A:

Edward and Alphonse Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist) vs. Seiko and Ryuunosuke Tanaka (Haikyuu!!)

Wirt and Greg (Over the Garden Wall) vs.  Han Yoojin and Han Yoohyun (The S-Classes That I Raised)

Shigeo and Ritsu Kageyama (Mob Psycho 100) vs.  Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long (RWBY)

Sans and Papyrus (Undertale) vs. Tanjiro and Nezuko Kamado (Demon Slayer)

Jiang Yanli, Wei Wuxian, and Jiang Cheng (Mo Dao Zu Shi/The Untamed) vs. Hikaru and Kaoru (Ouran High School Host Club)

Vi and Jinx (Arcane) vs. Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara (Naruto)

Sokka and Katara (Avatar: the Last Airbender) vs. Maya and Mia Fey (Ace Attorney)

Vash the Stampede and Millions Knives (Trigun) vs.  Lucas and Claus (Mother 3)

Section B:

Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo Hamato (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) vs. Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack Parr (The Incredibles)

Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner (The Animaniacs) vs. Jazz and Danny Fenton (Danny Phantom)

Huey, Dewey, and Louie (Ducktales) vs. Sitka, Denahi, and Kenai (Brother Bear)

Dion, Frazie, Razputin, Mirtala, and Queepie Aquato (Psychonauts) vs. Skipper, Rico, Kowalski, and Private (Madagascar)

Eda and Lilith Clawthorne (The Owl House) vs. Snap, Crackle, and Pop (Rice Krispies)

Bonnie and Clemont (Pokemon X and Y) vs. Annika and Brietta (Barbie: Magic of Pegasus)

Candace, Phineas, and Ferb (Phineas and Ferb) vs. Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup (Powerpuff Girls)

Nani and Lilo Pelekai (Lilo and Stitch) vs. Kai and Nya (Lego Ninjago)

Section C:

Maddie and Buck Buckley (911) vs. Steven, Shirley, Theo, Luke, and Nell Crain (The Haunting of HIll House)

David and Alexis Rose (Schitt’s Creek) vs. Dennis and Dee Reynolds (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia)

Jonathan Byers, Will Byers, and El Hopper (Stranger Things) vs.  Prue, Piper, and Phoebe (Charmed)

Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Five, Ben, Viktor Hargreeves (The Umbrella Academy tv) vs. Mary, Billy, Freddy, Pedro, Eugene, and Darla (Shazam! movies)

Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain-Wayne, and Duke Thomas (DC comics) vs. Simon and River Tam (Firefly)

Elliot and Darlene Alderson (Mr. Robot) vs. Kara and Alex Danvers (Supergirl TV)

Connor, Kendall, Siobhan, and Roman Roy (Succession) vs. Sharpay and Ryan Evans (High School Musical)

Thor and Loki (Marvel Cinematic Universe) vs. Sarah and Felix (Orphan Black)

Section D:

Maedhros, Maglor, Celegorm, Caranthir, Curufin, Amrod, and Amras (The Silmarillion) vs. Antigone, Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene (Greek Mythology/Sophocles’s Theban plays)

Coronabeth and Ianthe Tridentarius (The Locked Tomb) vs. Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia)

Nico and Bianca Di Angelo (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) vs. Declan, Ronan, and Matthew Lynch (The Raven Cycle/The Dreamer Trilogy)

Alec, Isabelle, Max Lightwood, and Jace Herondale-Lightwood (Shadowhunters) vs. Lark and Sparrow Oak (Dungeons and Daddies)

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire (A Series of Unfortunate Events) vs. Linus and Lucy Van Pelt (Peanuts)

Boromir and Faramir (The Lord of the Rings) vs. Bellamy and Octavia Blake (The 100)

Katniss and Primrose Everdeen (The Hunger Games) vs. Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March (Little Women)

Kiryu Kazuma and Nishikiyama Akira (Yakuza) vs. Cain and Abel (the Torah/the Bible)

As you might know if you saw my review the other day, my December felt very slumpy even though I read a lot of good books. I suspect this is because of book hangovers and working a busy Christmas retail season. (I also didn't write much because I kept coming home too wiped to think.)

But it was a good month! I managed to get to a couple new releases that I really wanted to, and I knocked a lot of books off my physical TBR because none of my ARCs looking interesting. I did have a DNF again, though, of a book that I was really hoping would be great. Isn't that always the way?

I also had two rereads! One because sometimes when you're at a loss to read, you pick up Pratchett, and one because I'd promised myself I'd get to it this year and dash it, I was going to! Weirdos of the Universe, Unite! was one of the most seminal books of my childhood, and it wasn't until I reread it that I realized just how much it was. I saw a lot of my personal attitude to life in Maddy, it was probably my first true urban fantasy even though there's a whole act on a spaceship, Baba Yaga is there as a very cranky but practical sort of witch…

As for my book haul, I just want to say that it was Christmas and I didn't actually buy anything? My parents came through with some really oddball picks, as I'd expected, my sister gifted me one of her favourite reads of the year, and friends helped feed my T. Kingfisher addiction. (More on that in my yearly wrap-up.)

But the book I'm most excited to have gotten is Hogfather, and not because of the pretty cover though that's a bonus. It is, in fact, the most astounding misprint I've ever seen and I couldn't pass up a chance at a free copy. I mean, how many times do you find a beloved book in which the entire thing is bound backwards?! Thank goodness the publisher didn't want it back, is all I'm saying.

And that's probably about it! I have no idea what book I'm going to start 2024 with, because I sort of read 200+ pages of Persepolis Rising last night so I could knock it off my list and now I'm recovering from the binge.

And now without further ado, in order of enjoyment…

A Power Unbound - Freya Marske

Jack, Alan, and their friends must find a hidden artifact and foil a plot. This would go better if Jack and Alan got along.

8/10

🏳️‍🌈 main characters (gay, bi man), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (gay, bi woman, lesbian, genderfluid) 🏳️‍🌈 author

All the Hidden Paths - Foz Meadows

Velasin and Caethari are still feeling out their relationship when they’re summoned to the capital and almost immediately find themselves targeted again..

7.5/10

🏳️‍🌈 main characters (mlm), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (mlm), mute secondary character, cast of colour, 🏳️‍🌈 author warning: anxiety, aftermath of trauma, dubious consent

Last Chance to See - Douglas Adams with Mark Carwadine

A bumbling science fiction author travels the world in search of endangered animals.

7/10

Illuminations - T. Kingfisher

Rosa wants to help her artist-magician family, but instead she accidentally releases a creature bent on destroying them!

8/10

Lovecraft Country - Matt Ruff

Two Chicago families in the 1950s become caught up in a world of cults, ghosts, monsters, and magical danger. Fortunately, they’ve had lots of practice at mistrusting white folks.

7.5/10

primarily Black cast

warning: depicts Jim Crow-era racism, including slurs; also abusive family dynamics

Persepolis Rising - James S.A. Corey

Thirty years on, the system has achieved a new normal. So of course one of the colony planets decides it’s time to shake things up.

7.5/10

very racially diverse cast

Remarkably Bright Creatures - Shelby Van Pelt

A cleaner at an aquarium mourns her losses. A young California man seeks his absentee father. The resident octopus tries to bring them together.

7.5/10

Jamaican secondary character, Korean-American secondary character

Ragnarok - A.S. Byatt

A child in wartime discovers Norse mythology, and the ways myths and the world reflect each other.

7.5/10

warning: animal cruelty and injury

While Idaho Slept - J. Reuben Appelman

Four students are murdered in a single night, and what came before and after.

7/10

warning: violent murders

Monstress, Volume 3 - Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (illustrator)

Maika finds temporary refuge from the people chasing her, but the local leaders want a favour in return.

7/10

one-armed protagonist, cast of colour, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (sapphic), Taiwanese-American author and Japanese-American illustrator

Reread

Weirdos of the Universe, Unite! - Pamela F. Service

Mandy and Owen get assigned a mythology paper, but then the characters they pick start coming to life and insisting they have a great purpose.

Black secondary character, Indigenous secondary character, Chinese secondary character

warning: somewhat lazy depictions of Indigenous and Chinese people

The Unadulterated Cat - Terry Pratchett with Gray Jolliffe (illustrator)

A humourous celebration of all things cat.

DNF

The Undetectables - Courtney Smyth

Someone’s committing Occult murders and a crack team of Occult investigators has been called in. Or, they’re totally going to be the crack team someday, at least.

main character with fibromyalgia, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (lesbian), fat secondary character, Chinese-British secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 author

Currently reading:

Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century - Richard Taruskin A history of early written European music, in its social and political contexts.

The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle Victorian detective stories

major disabled character

warning: racism, colonialism

Stats

Monthly total: 11+1 Yearly total: 128/140 Queer books: 2 Authors of colour: 1 Books by women: 6 Authors outside the binary: 0 Canadian authors: 0 Off the TBR shelves: 7 Rereads: 2 Books hauled: 8 ARCs acquired: 2 ARCs unhauled: 2 DNFs: 1

January February March April May June July August September October November

The acting in Every Witch Way might've been bad, but Maddie and Diego's relationship had the best development, and is the best relationship on the show.

Reposting for TLDR reasons. 

To see the full rant, click the “Keep Reading”, but this covers what I consider an example of a show taking shipping wars too seriously, giving fans and how it can potentially pull a show down the tubes. Especially at the expense of character development and their stories.

It’s kind of a follow-up to another post I made about canon and non canon ships, and how there’s some ship based stories better left to fanfiction.

Disclaimer: I generally don’t like Ship Policing (bullying, and badgering other people for liking “the wrong ship”) despite this being one of my biggest NOTP’s. I don’t intend to bully people who like this ship, and this analysis is based on my observations and opinions. 

So here I am talking about a barley known show and ship that’s barely relevant anymore if at all. This is a follow up post on a Loud House post regarding a non canon ship called Luaggie. I mentioned on that post , how it was an example of a fanfic ship and it’s best to be left a fanfic based ship. I now bring to you it’s antithesis; Jemma of Every Witch Way. Originally this was strictly about why some ships and stories that are best left to fanfiction, but there are so many problems with this ship, that I don’t really know where to start. I guess I’ll start with an introduction to the show.

Edit: I also had to revisit to trim this down, and correct misinformation.

Edit Edit: Twice. I had to edit it twice!

“What is Every Witch Way ?”

Every Witch Way was a comedy/drama series on Nickelodeon. Anyone who heard of it would know it is an Americanized remake of Grachi, a Latin American Nickelodeon series. The less educated may dismiss it as a Wizards of Waverly Place knockoff. The series focuses on Emma Alonso, a teenage girl who moves to Miami with her father and discovers she is a witch and chosen to one day lead the magical realm. With a group of muggle friends, the enthusiastic tough girl Andi; Emma’s queen bee rival Maddie also being a witch; a subplot about Fantastic Racism that ended with the wiping out of all but two of an entire race; we got ourselves a simple little TV show that could be a passible watch.

Coming from a post iCarly, Victorious and Big Time Rush era of Nickelodeon, where most of their shows were marketed to the younger kids and barely anything for teens to chew on, Every Witch Way was a breath of fresh air. Taking cues from previous Nick shows such as H2O Just Add Water and House of Anubis, and aimed for a teenage audience, it was more interested in telling stories than telling jokes.

I would have called the show an underrated cult classic series to get nostalgic over, like The Troop (a show which I’ll also talk about one day)…then comes seasons three and four and it becomes clear that Every Witch Way is more interested in ship war than it was telling stories. Maybe I was giving the show too much credit or had too much expectations for it. Let’s just say this was no House of Anubis or the Avatar franchise. I don’t know what pulled the show down the tubes; it was either the character Jax Novoa and his story arc, or his relationship with Emma. But they overlap with eachother so I might as well cover all of them.

“What kind of relationship is Jemma ?”

Imagine if you will; a high school drama, that involves a loving, kind and empathetic girl meeting a dark brooding bad boy, who does bad things. But because he has a sad past and bad parents, anything bad he does is immediately forgiven and brushed aside, or justified. And it is by the love of this girl, and only because of this love, does the bad boy get redeemed. 

It’s the kind of story you see in mediocre romance stories or fanfics; the idea that the dark and brooding love interest with a bad past or history can be changed for the better with the love of the protagonist. This describes the relationship Emma and Jax’s relationship to such a tee that it’s borderline parody. The kind of reationship you’d at least put some kind of spin on.

So how does this compare to Jax and Emma’s relationship ? A quick description is that Jax is a new student and a dark seeming wizard introduced in the second season, who immediately displays an arrogant personality and behaviour while befriending Emma and putting the moves on her (and making a quick rivalry with Emma’s then boyfriend Daniel). Emma has a good heart, and a loving empathetic girl, so of course she likes to see the good in people and Jax was no exception. Jax eventually “changes” his darker ways and becomes more altruistic, mainly to get back and stay into Emma’s good graces. 

Normally, I have no issues with an Enemies to Lovers story, but it’s the context and overexposure that puts Jemma in a bad light.

Emma continuously forgives, or ignores Jax’s flaws to near absurdity, mainly because Jax has a dead mom and an emotionally distant, controlling and seemingly abusive father…which is shown to be false in the many retcons season four gives us.

“What are the problems with Jemma ?”

I said in another post that a friend of mine defined toxic relationships differently than I did; one definition was that a ship is toxic based off of fans behaviour in the name of the ship; I define them for how much it romanticizes problematic behaviour. How does Jemma fall into either of these ?

Back when Every Witch Way was on, Jax x Emma fans were pretty rapid, and became the most loud and vocal part of the fanbase. Any attempts to criticize Jax, his behaviour or relationship with Emma is bombarded with “HE CHANGED! HE CHANGED FOR HER!” ad nauseum. 

It’s gotten to the point where they literally vote their preference to make them the shows official couple. This can be partially blamed on the writers because they went about asking their audience what they want to happen in a TV show, having them vote for wat hey want to happen and in turn made season four into a Jemma based AU fic that rewrote the entire show. Kind of lacks integrity if you ask me. It also had to have been one of most one sided and manufactured shipping wars I’ve seen. By the end of the series, Jemma fans were pretty sore winners.

So Jemma fans could be pushy, but did Jax and Emma’s relationship entail toxic ideals I listed above ? On the surface, “no” since Jax doesn’t physically abuse Emma or the like…but Jax is manipulative person, and is rather possessive and entitled towards Emma all things considered. And what else can you say about a relationship where this partner has manipulated and gaslighted nearly everyone around him to get in, and attempts to destroy the world over a breakup ?

There’s so much to cover that stems from Jax that I might as well write a section on Jax himself. The worst that can be said of Emma here is that she was too forgiving and empathetic for her own good.

“Jax and how not to write a redemption arc”

So Jax is an overwhelmingly popular character on the show, so much that season four retconned him into the main character behind Emma. It’s easy to call him a Gary Stu character since he’s a seemingly perfect character who gets his way all the time and soon becomes the center of the show. This trope also fits; “Draco In Leather Pants” where a villain tends to get romanticized or woobified in fanfics regardless of how sympathetic or redeemable they are in canon; mostly because they are cute.

When Jax was introduced, he was the de-facto Big Bad of season two, being the most prominent, and personal antagonist and direct source of most of the drama that occurs in the season. Throughout the season he befriends and puts the moves on Emma with the intent on using the power coming Fool Moon (long story) to take over the world and rule at her side. Jax eventually falls in love with Emma, but when she breaks up with him when she makes right with Daniel… Jax’s response was aiding in an attempt to destroy the magic realm; something they make clear would kill all but a few magical beings in the world and this is something Jax is very aware of In the final showdown Jax makes it clear to Emma that he doesn’t care about what could happen to their loved ones in this magical apocalypse, so long as Emma is with him.

Again, I wouldn’t take this as seriously if the show didn’t treat it as seriously.

Now in his defense, I was originally rooting for Jax to reform himself. No joke, I genuinely wanted to see how Jax would make good with those he manipulated, pushed around and tried to fucking kill. I like a good redemption stoy as much as the next guy, but Jax doesn’t really go through one; he just turns Face at the last minute, apologizes to Emma about not wanting to hurt her, Emma immediately forgives him and Jax wastes no time putting the moves on her and antagonizing Daniel. What punishment does Jax go through ? What atonement did he have to suffer ? He’s put through a boot camp with the threat losing his powers, all the while he agonizes that those who he wronged still resent him. To be fair he does have genuine good deeds in season three; such as heping a dying friend, and even riskiig his life to save another But even then, the sho treats Emma as his prize for being a Nice Guy, and he admits this to Emma during the third seasons finale in a scene we are supposed to find romantic. And when he gets the girl, its all rendered moot in season four.

Helping or not helping with Jax’s character is that in season two he is given multiple “excuses”; controlling and abusive father, seemingly dead mother. They worked back then in making Jax sympathetic. The problem is when we get the actual revelations of his family and in turn make him unsympathetic in retrospect.

“The Mess That Is Season Four”

I don’t like the Fanon Discontinuity trope - where fans refuse to accept an istallment as canon out of a dislike of them. I generally don’t apply this trope with very few exceptions. But let me tell you this; when I say season four isn’t canon to the previous seasons, that’s not me talking, that’s the show itself talking. 

It isn’t a continuation of the previous seasons, it’s a reboot. When Emma and Jax become the shows OTP, the universe literally changes around them. Season four introduces a plot point that where an SCP style anomaly exists called a Continuum Break, in which as a direct result of Emma’s decision, the universe casted Daniel out of everyone’s lives, and their friends memories, and retroactively replaces him with Jax. Subsequently, the events of the previous seasons and their conflicts revolve around Jax and Emma’s relationship. 

One reason why these retcons don’t work is that because the world was altered in Jemma’s image, Jax here isn’t the same Jax as we knew through season two and three. The retcons fail because Jax’s previous sympathy is erased in retrospect, because Jax would hide behind his parents as an excuse for his actions (the dead mother wasn’t dead, but in fact, secret villain; and Jax’s abusive father wasn’t abusive). Jax being sympathetic hinged off of these excuses, and they either never applied, or was hit by the reset button, and thus irrelevant to his development.

And I am left asking myself why the writers came up with the Continuum Break in the first place ?Where Jemma fans that pushy about making their ship canon that they had to make it the only canon relationship in the show ? If so, that’s how wildly Jemma shippers are, if not that’s on the writers for being that much fan slaves. What other point could there be in portraying the Continuum Break as the way things should be ? Not to be pesimeistic, but it feels like this is the show throwing a character under the bus for the sake of rewriting the previous seasons and making Jax the new protagonist.

On top of that, other characters and arcs get thrown under the bus too

Mainly, Mia Black, who was introduced in season three as the de-facto main antagonist, and is added as another member of the love triangle. Mia is also affected by the Continuum Break as she is also cast from everyone’s memories and lives, to live an alternate life with Daniel. This is arguably more jarring than Daniel being taken away because Mia ultimately doesn’t sacrifice her morals for what she believes in and ultimately wasn’t that much of a threat and her own redemption arc is foreshadowed throughout the season by bonding with Daniel and Diego, and the added empathise on how lonely she is. This culminates in Emma reaching out to her in the season finale, and declaring herself her protector.  Like Jax, I was looking forward to seeing where they would take Mia and her arc the next season. Well as a result of the Continuum Break, she’s out of everyone’s lives, and living an artificial alternate one the universe spat out. Like Daniel, she may have been happy with her new life, but it still renders everything they foreshadowed for her and what she’s been through for nothing.

Personal conclusion

I reiterate my first statement Every Witch Way was a great show (first three seasons, at least is IMO). It was a breath of fresh air in a time when most of Nick’s shows were targeting a younger demographic in a post iCarly, Big Time Rush, and Victorious era. I’d call it an cult classic series, but I still feel that season four keeps it from being one of the great ones. I do recommend checking the series out, the story arcs are mostly good. Unfortunately by the time season four rolled in, it seemed pretty clear the show was more interested in shipping wars than it was in telling it’s stories.

I can’t really pinpoint what caused the show to drop in quality; the manufactured ship war ? Jax as a character ? Jemma’s pushy fans ? The writers for bending to fan demands ? Either way, season four’s Continuum Break was something the show could have done without. I won’t say that Jax is the most unlikeable character on the show (that would be Emma’s father) and he isn’t the most evil either (that would be Torres). I consider Jax and his blunders more so the fault of how he was written than anything else.

I will give Jax and Jemma this; the character and ship has so much going for it, I can’t help but compare and contrast them to other similar characters, story arcs and ships. I use it as an example of not to write a redemptive romance, and why some things are best left to fanfiction. But above all else, I hold it as an example as to why writers and creators shouldn’t sacrifice their stories blindly cater to fans and popular ships.

Emma and Daniel did not belong together.

After extensively rewatching Every Witch Way during Spring Break (yep, that's how I spent Spring Break), I went through tumblr and saw people wondering if this fandom still exists. Well, even if there's only like fifteen people on it, let's discuss Emma and one of her main love interests: Daniel.

I would like to disclose that I am a Jemma fan, after Jax showed up in S2, Daniel went out the window for little thirteen-year-old me. This isn't a Daniel VS Jax post, this is just about Emma and Daniel's relationship. This post will mainly reflect on why I think that, in the long run, they did not belong together. They're definitely a first loves ship, but not an endgame ship.

In S1 both were still young and finding their footing, but mainly Emma. Daniel had already dated Maddie for a while and then went through the whole first season flirting and liking Emma after his break up with Maddie. Daniel was also on top of his game, being the Sharks Swim Captain, and other than Maddie being his girlfriend, his life was happy and fine. Emma coming in merely improved it, she was nicer, thoughtful, and down to earth. But Emma's story was just beginning, she was discovering being a witch, having to deal with her powers, a witch bully Maddie at school, and daily shenanigans that entailed the magical world. Daniel is the last person to discover Emma is a witch and he also has the worst reaction to it. Not that surprising considering how regular his life has been, but that kind of tells us where this was headed.

In S2 Emma and Daniel have been together for months now, all through the summer. The thing is, Daniel's been happier than ever and he thinks Emma's powers never came back, something that she's been hiding from him this entire time. Lying to your SO is never a good thing, especially about something this big, something that is literally part of you. There are reasons for both of them however:

Emma knew how happy Daniel was that she was 'regular' and didn't want to ruin what they had by bringing in all her witch stuff, which tended to bring all sorts of chaos and antics.

Daniel didn't want Emma to have powers out of fear that other evil witches would come after her because she was the Chosen One.

While these are reasonable explanations for both of them, they're not fixing any of their real issues. Emma should not be lying to her boyfriend, eventually, it did catch up to her and she tried using magic to make him forget. Also not a good thing, even if she wanted a 'redo' at telling him. When he does find out, it causes their downfall. The thing is, Emma lied because Daniel just can't handle her being a witch. He's said that her powers being back would "ruin everything" and has shown a fear of witches when magic was brought up in S2E05. Emma keeps telling him that powers or no powers, she's still a witch. Still, she chose to hide a part of herself to try to have a normal relationship with her boyfriend. But hiding a part of yourself is never the answer and it eats away at you.

S2 also explores the fact that witches can't date humans, it's not allowed. The Council tries to have Emma break up with him otherwise they must take the witches magic away, but Emma being the Chosen One is a special case. Her magic removal is not on the table and she wants to keep her powers regardless. (I mean I agree with Emma, let the girl date whoever she wants) But it is another thing that drives them further apart, unfortunately, the Council ended up being right, most humans just can't handle the magical world. (Andi can handle it, so can Katie and Sophie, but Daniel can't.)

When it comes to the Fool Moon, it has a different effect on all sorts of witches. Jax's greed and envy magnify, Desdemona turns vindictive and wants Emma's powers, and Emma's impulse control is gone. This leads to Emma casting spells without really thinking about the consequences and out in the open. The Fool Moon is just a witch or wizard's desires coming to the surface. In retrospect, Maddie was just as affected, she started improving (slightly, but still progress) and didn't run from her feelings toward Diego. She was more open and entered a relationship with him.

We also see Emma's clones in this season. Her first clone, E, encompasses her dark side with none of the good. She calls Daniel dull, she's bored with him and his ideas for dates, and she finds Jax fun and wants to do magic whenever she wants. She's happy when Daniel breaks up with Emma because 1. She found him boring and 2. They get to keep their powers now and the Council can stop hounding them. This may be Emma's darkest side but it's still Emma. Some part of her does believe that Daniel is dull and finds Jax fun. Granted, her third clone, the Nerdy Emma is all about Daniel. This is why the clone spell is so very illegal, a witch is essentially pulling out a part of themselves and without the rest to balance it, they become a paragon of just one emotion or drive or aspect of their original personality. They're not whole. The Real Emma shares all these traits inside herself, she does like Daniel, she does find him dull sometimes, she does like math, she does find it boring at times, and she does like Jax but she does think he goes overboard sometimes.

See, this is where we come into an important piece of dialogue in S2 E16 between Maddie and Daniel talking about their romantic troubles.

Maddie: But if you two were still together, you'd want her to stop using her powers? Daniel: Maybe. Maddie: Then you don't accept Emma for who she is. And as a fellow witch, I'm offended for her!

This is an interesting moment in which someone like Maddie, someone who doesn't like Emma but is a witch just like her, sees that while Emma lied to Daniel, she did it because Daniel doesn't accept her as who she is.

Daniel has openly expressed anger and disinterest at the magic world. And hey, I understand, after all the spells Jax has cast on him to make him look bad in front of Emma's dad, or just the usual magic hijinks from Emma or Maddie, magic is not Daniel's friend. He doesn't find it fun or cool like Andi, he's not desensitized to it like Katie and Sophie. He's suffered from it and doesn't want anything to do with it and hey I can respect that. But this isn't good when you're in a relationship with a witch, the most powerful one in fact. So he's tiptoeing a line constantly between wanting to be with his girlfriend but disliking and fearing something that's part of her (and part of his friends' lives: Maddie and Diego).

Let's get to S3 when he was marked by Mia with her Kanay spider. Spider!Daniel broke up with Emma, started dating Mia, was a general jerk at school, even tied up his little siblings. It turns out that Mia's Spider doesn't cause him to act strange or evil, it just unleashes someone's 'inner wild'. It makes them do what they most want to do. So, Daniel did want to break up with Emma. He called Emma and Maddie trouble-brewing witches and had no problem telling a complete stranger all about their powers.

Now we could get into how Daniel's life was turned upside down more than plenty of times because of magic, but nothing beats S4 when Emma literally rewrites time when Daniel disappears. He and his family end up running an animal sanctuary and dating Mia. Then his life gets put back and it's for the worse because now he has no animals, no girlfriend, and he's back in a school hated by the principal. Overall, Daniel was not having a good time in S4. One of the many reasons why Emma puts him back where he was happy. (I would also like to remind everyone that Mia and her previously deceased parents were alive in the new accidental timeline of S4. I believe that Emma also was the cause of this, not only did she unintentionally give Daniel a better life but the same to Mia. And then she restored that life at the end of the season.)

In conclusion, Jemma forever.

But really, I hope someone reads this and enjoys or sees the situation from both sides and how they weren't really a good couple. Kind of doomed in the end when you think about it. I mean the girl loves butterflies and he's allergic to butterflies. I don't think the writers were subtle with that one, huh.

I know every witch way was kinda shit but it was definitely my gay awakening. ALL THE GIRLS WERE SO PRETTY (as we're the boys) I'm still in love with every single girl in that show

Who I like more Grachi vs Every witch way:

Emma > Grachi

I think Grachi is a sweet person, but she lacks personality. She is sometimes quite irritating because she's so good, not to mention that sometimes she's either stupid or self-righteous, and I also hate what she did to Matilda (Maddie) in the first The season is already with Emma, she is very temperamental and intelligent, she can solve problems that Grachi would take episodes of quickly in minutes, I also like the fact that Emma has a lot more personality she is bold and sassy and I definitely love that.

Maddie = Matilda

I have pros and cons for both of them, I don't really like Maddie, from 3-4 I feel like she didn't make much of a difference in the show, Matilda is a very notable character in the seasons she's present (she left in season 2 That's about 120 chapters ) I think they are both bad friends, but Maddie was a good friend with Sophie, Between the two, I prefer Matilda because I think she's much more charismatic than Maddie, Don't get me wrong maddie was a sweetheart.

Daniel Miller > Daniel Esquivel

I'm not Daniel's biggest fan, they are both good friends, and good sons/brothers, most definitely Daniel Miller is a WAY better boyfriend than Daniel Esquivel, I would NEVER date someone like Daniel Esquivel in real life, Daniel Miller if it weren't for the magic thing and everything, maybe I would date Daniel from Grachi was a jerk with both Matilda and Grachi, in the 1st season he WAS DATING during the first 10 episodes with Matilda and he was simply in love with Grachi and flirting and not breaking up with Matilda, and when Mia appeared he did the same , he even CHEATED on Grachi and she NEVER knew, I just can't stand this boy and I also can't stand the way he gets irritated with Grachi because she has more male friends, but he has a best friend (Mia) who is always causing problems for him he simply defends her even though he knows about the spider thing, even though she TRYING TO KILL the grachi, in short he is one of the worst boyfriends on a children's show I've ever seen.

Mia Black = Mia Novoa

A lot of people don't like the fact that mia is a kanay in every witch way, but I just LOVED this idea, In the original she was just obsessed with being Daniel's girlfriend and being willing to kill Grachi, in eww she was a kanay (and not a witch like in grachi) this gave her a better story of a girl who lost her parents very early, and had to grow up running away from witches to protect herself this made her grow up without feeling opening up to anyone, daniel was genuinely the first person she opened up to, so she started to fall in love with him, I think this is much better than love at first sight, like mia(grachi) and daniel, The problem is that they didn't know how to develop the character in season 4, like you could do so many cool things with Mia, like she could be the Chosen One of the kanays, that would explain why she's been a very powerful kanay since she was 7 years old.

Diego Rueda < Diego forlán

I find Diego's character annoying in Every Witch Way, it's as if he didn't have any history after he started dating Maddie, don't get me wrong I LOVE MIEGO but they basically made him just Maddie's puppy, in Grachi he has more personality and doesn't spend all his time with Matilda, he has more plot and is better developed.

Andi > Mecha

Both are loyal and good friends, but Andi is MUCH better as a guardian than mecha, but any guardian of every witch way wins for those of grachi, I like Andi's personality much more than Mecha, Mecha in 1-2 basically only humiliated herself to men, in 3 she really changed and that was good.

Jax = Axel

They basically have the same personality, but Jax used magic to cheat, Axel doesn't like cheating and the only time he did it was out of pressure to please his father. I just love them both, which makes the difference between the ending and Jax giving up on the plan with And, Axel didn't do that. something very noticeable is the fact that Jax doesn't seem to care about what his father wants, as if he followed his father's plan but didn't seem to care about his father, equally Jake didn't care about him before Jessie appeared in Eww . In Grachi, it's as if Axel needed his father's approval to live as an emotional dependency, but I find this compressible considering that even though he lived under the same roof, his father didn't care about him, and always despised him and demanded more from him and the At the same time he was praising, being kind and understanding towards his sister Amaya, like imagine you growing up with your sister/brother being favorite and you being despised, honestly to this day I wonder how Axel didn't feel angry at Amaya or his father, I just couldn't stand them, to be honest I know Jax grew up alone and all, but everything got better after Jessie, but in Grachi, I just hate their one-sided relationship, like Axel was a great brother to her(amaya), but she was bad with him.

Jessie > Amaya

They have totally different stories because Jessie is an 11 year old child and Amaya is only 1 year younger than Axel (teenager) I simply prefer Jessie for 2 reasons: 1 she was a good sister, 2 - I like her whole plot in wits academy

Diego: Oh, hey! Have you seen Maddie?

Tony & Mac: …U-uuhhh…

Tony: Sh-She went camping.

Diego: Maddie "I wanna live in a castle"… sleeping on the ground with no place to plug in a hairdryer…?

Mac: You know how spontaneous she is, bro!!

Obsessions of the 2010′s: Every Witch Way (2014-2015)

“Proxy, help! It’s a code pink!”

“You have your own color-coded emergency system?”

“Obvi.”

This is a starter call post for all of my characters in this RPG. Please specify which character you want, and please tell me which character of yours my character will be talking to. Thank you. My characters in this RPG are the following : Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, Angelica Pickles from Rugrats and All Grown Up!, Wallflower Blush from My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, Cheryl Blossom from Riverdale, Vicky from The Fairly OddParents, Princess Audrey Rose from Descendants, Helga G. Pataki from Hey, Arnold!, Cozy Glow from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Starlight Glimmer from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Lynn, Jr., Loud from The Loud House, Natalie Page from Smart Boys & Fast Girls / Geeks Can Be Hot, Chloe Carmichael from The Fairly OddParents, Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Pacifica Northwest from Gravity Falls, Tempest Shadow from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Marinette Dupain-Cheng from Miraculous: Tales Of Ladybug & Cat Noir, Lily Evans from Harry Potter, Bubbles Utonium from The Powerpuff Girls, Ronnie Anne Santiago from The Casagrandes, and The Loud House, Annie James from The Parent Trap, Amanda Killman from Bunsen Is A Beast!, Jenny Humphrey from Gossip Girl, Nola James from IN or OUT, Katie from Animal Crossing, Sheldon J. Plankton from SpongeBob SquarePants, Vanellope Von Schweetz from Wreck-It Ralph, Rose Granger-Weasley from Harry Potter, Riley Matthews from Girl Meets World, Adagio Dazzle from My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, Juniper Montage from My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, Olivia from Paper Mario: The Origami King, Whittany Biskit from Littlest Pet Shop, Cindy Vortex from The Adventures Of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Princess Anna of Arendelle from Frozen, Pansy Parkinson from Harry Potter, Jackie Lynn Thomas from Star Vs. The Forces Of Evil, Milly from Phineas And Ferb, Daphne Blake from Scooby Doo, Josephine ‘Jo’ March from Little Women, Diamond Tiara from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Indigo Zap from My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, Ginevra ‘Ginny’ Weasley from Harry Potter, Joesette ‘Josie’ Saltzman from Legacies, Bloom from The Winx Club, Princess Ariel Triton from The Little Mermaid, Andromeda Black from Harry Potter, Cristina from The Loud House, Bonnie Rockwaller from Kim Possible, Hanna Marin from Pretty Little Liars, Sabrina Spellman from Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina, Stella Zhau from The Loud House, Cho Chang from Harry Potter, Clare Edwards from Degrassi: The Next Generation, Ocellus from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Candace Flynn from Phineas And Ferb, Renee from The Loud House, Annabeth Chase from Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Lucy Pevensie from The Chronicles Of Narnia, Mary ‘Boo’ Gibbs from Monsters, Inc., Katie Bell from Harry Potter, Danielle ‘Dani’ Dennison from Hocus Pocus, Megan Parker from Drake & Josh, Sharpay Evans from High School Musical, Gabrielle Delacour from Harry Potter, Zoey Brooks from Zoey 101, Sutton Mercer from The Lying Game, Susan Bones from Harry Potter, Cheyenne Martin from the Private novel series by Kate Brian, Maya Matlin from Degrassi: The Next Generation / Degrassi: The Next Class, Taylor Bell from the Private novel series by Kate Brian, Lilo Pelekai from Lilo & Stitch, Ellie from Up!, Sam Sharp from The Loud House, Emma from The Loud House, Jackie from The Loud House, Sophie Piper from Halloweentown, Carol Pingrey from The Loud House, Lacey St. Clair from The Loud House, Luz Noceda from The Owl House, Webbigail ‘Webby’ Vanderquack from DuckTales, Lilly Truscott/Lola Luftnagle from Hannah Montana, Claire Lyons from The Clique, Meli Ramos from The Loud House, Emma Ross from Jessie / Bunk’d, Lexi Reed from A.N.T. Farm, Dylan Schoenfield from Geek Charming, Kimi Cheng from The Fairly OddParents ( she is my O.C. ), Hedley from Rugrats, Rachel Wyatt-Alcroft from All Grown Up!, Kitty Cheshire from Ever After High, Courtney Gripling from As Told By Ginger, Alexandra Margarita ‘Alex’ Russo from Wizards Of Waverly Place, Princess Aurora from Maleficent, Fa Mulan from Mulan, Brittany Miller from ALVINNN!!! And The Chipmunks, Bessie Higgenbottom from The Mighty B!, Amelia Collins from All Grown Up!, Camille Le Haut from Leap! / Ballerina, Nicole Boscarelli from All Grown Up!, Rose/Huntsgirl from American Dragon: Jake Long, Wally Ramone from All Grown Up!, Olivia from All Grown Up!, Yo from Fanboy & Chum Chum, Molly from The Fairly OddParents, Maddie Van Pelt from Every Witch Way, Dawn Harper from Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, & Dawn, Maddie Fitzpatrick from The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody, Trina Vega from Victorious, Charlene McKinnon from Harry Potter, and Blueberry Muffin from Strawberry Shortcake’s Berry Bitty Adventures.