Make me choose: @maya-matlin asked: Zaya or Matlingsworth?

Make me choose: @thedegrassidiaries asked: Zaya hugs/kisses or Jiberty hugs/kisses?

DEGRASSI: NEXT CLASS Maya Matlin and Zig Novak in 3.08 “#IRegretNothing”

my toxic trait is that i’m a zig novak apologist and i think him and maya belong together. i’m so sorry.

Degrassi should’ve done more throuples like Frankie/Zig/Esme. It could’ve been so fun

honestly?? yes, this was peak next class drama.

Fandom: Degrassi

Sample Size: 619 stories

Source: AO3

Daily Degrassi (and in general) reminder that a "perfect" victim does not exist and that every abuse victim deserves better.

OTP MEME: [2/10] CUTE MOMENTS

“YOU ROBBIN’ A BANK LATER?” SEASON 12 EPISODE 23 (DOLL PARTS, PART 1)

Just curious but what are your feelings on Zaya as a ship?

I love them! I think they’re super cute and compelling lol. When I watched it the first time around I didn’t really care but on my first rewatch when it got to their first encounter I was already crying. I just love them both and especially Maya and if she’s happy then I’m happy ♥️♥️♥️

@seancamerons @maya-matlin @hydesjackiespuddinpop @userbettycooper @crashingwavesinmyworld @multiteendramasthatilove

“That’s okay, I like standing.”

I love seeing Degrassi on my dash! I feel like I never got a great handle on Zigs personality and would love to hear your thoughts. Like I can’t even really say if he’s an introvert or an extrovert. I get that he was sort of supposed to be a bad boy who’s not all that bad, sort of like Sean except smoother and with better social skills, but a lot of times Zig just seemed kind of bland? I hope it doesn’t sound like I dislike him - I just don’t have a handle on his personality! And I’m with your anon who’s first watching in how much I hate that Zaya’s first time was while they were on drugs. Ugh.

First of all, I am angry. I had a whole response typed up, but then I accidentally refreshed the page.

Anyways, I'm glad you're loving seeing Degrassi on your dash!

As for Zig, I think he's an ambivert. He seems to enjoy social interaction and likes being around others, but he's also surprisingly quiet at times. As often as Zig is the one to lead the conversation and vocalize his thoughts, just as often he keeps to himself, sometimes practically disappearing from the scene depending on his scene partners. When Zig is around more extroverted, dominant people with bigger personalities such as Tori and Esme, he allows them to lead the conversations, hardly weighing in as the couples (Zig/Tori, Zig/Esme) interact with others. But when Zig is around someone like Maya, Tiny or even Grace (who is much more introverted), he's more talkative. The times where Zig is desperate not to be alone, it's more about his abandonment issues than it is Zig needing the social interaction itself to be content.

The thing about Zig is that the writers had different ideas about who they wanted his character to be. Season 11 was kind of Zig's blank slate era. He had zero personality traits beyond the love triangle with Maya and Tori other than being a skateboarder. In season 12, we got to know Zig a lot better. That's when it becomes clear that though Zig can be charming, he's actually a deeply insecure person, not wanting others to know he comes from a poor background. Though he makes a lot of mistakes, he always means well and will do what he can to make things right. Season 13 kind of flipped the script a bit. We missed out on seeing the transition from more innocent skateboarder/band member Zig to "bad boy", gang member Zig. It was as much out of the convenience of doing the bad boy vs good boy/poor boy vs rich boy dynamic for Maya's heart (Zig vs Miles) as it was creating intrigue about what had transpired in Zig's life while we were forced to watch most of the characters in fake Paris. This reset allowed Zig to be written and framed as a more rebellious character, something that mostly follows him through the next six seasons. But ultimately, I don't think Zig ever changed all that much or was lacking in personality. I mean, I would have loved to have known the details and seen the major beats of Zig getting recruited into the gang, dealing drugs, literally being kicked out of his home after his mother and brother were almost killed due to their association with him, and then being homeless for a while before finding the abandoned house. But Degrassi hates poor people TBH, and they wanted to show off their fancy, Hollingsworth set so there could be pool parties during all four seasons of the year. I'm clearly not still bothered by this, though. Anyways, Zig's core insecurities and sensitivity remained. His bad boy image was a façade. But at the same time, the months of his life the audience missed turned Zig into.. a darker character? I wouldn't say that's the best way to describe it, but I think Zig grew up a lot during that time and witnessed a lot of things he shouldn't have. He found a way to cope with being a literal teenage gang member and adjusted his behavior accordingly. At the same time though, Zig has obvious tells when he's "faking" it. When he's being more loud and over the top, insisting that he doesn't care, that means he probably cares about that person or thing above everything. Season 13 Zig was basically a wannabe. He was desperate to fit in, so he molded himself into being the type of person who looked the part so that he could get the validation he needed and feel more confident in himself. This aspect of Zig fades away fairly quickly once his friendship with Maya is back on solid ground, but there are still remnants of it later. Towards the end of season 14, Tiny, Zig's own best friend, is under the impression he isn't a virgin. Tiny isn't an idiot and Zig spent a lot of time being invested in and pining for Maya, so he must have gotten that impression from somewhere. But by season 14, I feel like Zig has undergone a lot of character growth and become more responsible, sensitive and selfless than he ever was before.

Next Class did yet another reset with Zig. By that point, the show had fewer episodes, resulting in many characters being driven by plot more so than characterization. Zig's character got kind of muddled because they wanted to subvert expectations about Maya cheating on Zig with Jonah only for Zig to do this with Zoe. He's yet again deeply insecure which isn't out of character in the slightest, but the reasoning behind why Zig loses faith in Maya and the timeline for how this plays out just.. doesn't add up? It's clear it was something that needed to happen by the end of the first ten episodes, so they awkwardly fit it in seven episodes in to tie the bullshit arc together. And also, Zig was dumbed down. The Degrassi writers are very comfortable dealing with the same archetypes. They love a good goofy, clueless, himbo type. They originally had Spinner for this, then gradually turned Drew into this type after season 10 Drew had been much more ambitious and cutthroat. As a result, the rest of Zig's time on the show following his breakup with Maya mostly involves him fumbling everything and making the worst possible decisions at any given moment only for him to learn his lesson at the end of the episode. Until season 4 where he mostly got his previous character development back just in time to put him back together with Maya for good.

Wow, I don't think I answered your question at all. I went on multiple tangents. But even though I criticized the writing and accused the writers of switching up on Zig based on the new eras (season 13, Next Class), the truth is that I don't think his personality went through that much of an overhaul. I always felt that he was the same insecure, well meaning, loving, silly guy during all of his seasons. He deeply loved and was loyal to those closest to him. There were plenty of instances where he could be surprisingly intuitive, able to give the perfect advice for the situation literally just by being empathetic. But at the same time, Zig was also a hot mess. He had a lot of problems that the writers basically never acknowledged or downplayed (abandonment issues over his parents basically disowning him when he was 15, chronic self worth problems that he never properly dealt with). His positive qualities could easily become negative qualities depending on the situation. He could be thoughtless and unnecessarily aggressive in the name of protecting himself or others. But at the end of day, Zig was just.. good. I can't help it. I always loved him, and I think there were far more good moments for him than bad.

As for Zaya's first time, I weirdly liked it? My logic is probably skewed, but I always loved that Zig and Maya's relationship was imperfect. It made them feel more real. They suffered from bad timing and made questionable decisions, but ultimately loved each other enough to overcome all that. What was important is that they were able to have a conversation about their regrets and come to an understanding, bringing them even closer. Plus, their second time went much more smoothly. ;) Also, my take on this is probably because the Eli/Clare relationship had dominated seasons 10-14. That particular couple was romanticized to a ridiculous degree even though Eli and Eclare were never anything but toxic waste.

zaya in misty mothers // requested by @maya-matlin

I wish they’d tackled zig’s poverty storyline better and actually showed the reality of it and how it led to him being in a gang instead of oh he can’t afford an anniversary present for tori, maya is going to be his middle class saviour. It would have also been interesting to see the story carry over into next class and what it was like for him in the group home