NewYorkCityRoyalty

People really love to villify Zig, I think.

Lady Azura

I mean, he's being kind of a tool right now. His personality has basically done a complete 180 from where we left off in Zombie, but it irks me when people blame him for Cam's death. Did he indirectly push Cam over the edge? Yes. But Cam was a ticking time bomb and something was eventually going to - that something just so happened to be Zig. But season 11/12 Zig is not an inherently bad kid and had he known about Cam's mental state, he probably would've never said what he said. All he wanted was for Cam to break up with Maya because he wanted to be with Maya... it was selfish, but he certainly didn't want Cam dead, which is why we saw how that guilt ate away at him throughout the rest of the arc and why he turned Maya down when she threw herself at him.

Now, season 13 Zig... I have no idea. Because even before he saw Maya flirting with Miles at the beach bash, we saw that he had changed. He was pretty cocky with Zoe when she approached him. I mean, I know he's always been a bit of a ladies man (remember in Underneath It All when he made Maya pretend to be his girlfriend to ward off some other chick?) but this was way different. It wasn't the playful, flirty Zig we had come to know.

I wish we had been given at least one storyline with him during the summer block, to at least explain what happened to the Zig who had fished Maya's cello out of the dumpster. At least then it wouldn't have come so out of left field. It was kind of jarring, really.

Soeshie20

I hope we get some of the old Zig back on Degrassi. He just a great person

kaleidocat

Re Zig as a villain in the fandom and his changes:

I still can't help but suspect that because the media places so much emphasis on stories where bullying has led to suicide that some fans interpret that as what happened between Cam and Zig. And I firmly believe that wasn't Degrassi's intention at all. It is exactly like what Lady Azura said; what Zig said to Cam may have been the absolutely final moment that broke him but any other interaction could have done that as well. You could blame Maya, Dallas, the ice hounds, Alli, Mr. Simpson, Cam's host family, or his birth family for not noticing the signs or failing to reach out to him. But that will get you no where. It isn't anyone's fault and I thought Degrassi did a great job trying to explain that.

It's kind of like Time Stands Still. If Spinner knew that Rick was that unstable or that Jimmy was physically in danger, he wouldn't have blamed the prank on Jimmy. No one thinks that this one insensitive moment/mistake is going to have that severe of an impact. I personally am more forgiving of Zig in the Cam situation over Spinner in TSS (although I don't hold it against him either and I love moments like this - they are so important because they cause a lot of reflection in the viewer). There was no reason for Zig to be cordial to Cam after he beat him up. Of course I wish he could have set that aside and listened to troubled Cam but there was no way for Zig to know of his issues. I find it hard to place blame or dislike anyone in storylines like these.

I compared Zig to Sean over in Zig's thread. Sean was a jerk in season 3 too. You could say there were a variety of factors that contributed to Sean's transformation but the main clue on screen was that Emma and Tracker weren't paying enough attention to him. Then he had to grow up later on. This could happen with Zig as well and I think I might find Zig more sympathetic (I love season 3 Sean though! It is okay to screw up and be a jerk.). It's not too much of a stretch to see why there's a drift between Zig and the kids in his class that can afford expensive school trips and maybe he is still acting out from feeling like he is to blame from Cam's suicide. And actually...think about how terrible Sean was to Emma and her family (angry outbursts and bitterness that drove both to seeking revenge), I think Zaya is doing fairly well. But Sean/Emma is still a popular ship despite all that.

Fandom is weird - it is like some characters are allowed to screw up and others are criticized rather harshly. But everyone interprets things differently. There's nothing wrong with that. But I do find it ironic and a bit depressing that the message of "be kind to others and watch what you say because this could be the last moment you have" is lost on some fans because if Zig were a real person the things that were said about him could utterly break him and drive him to the point where Cam was.

That might have gotten too off topic from Zaya but I love this thread and the discussion it brings! I have to stop thinking now. But that's one of the reasons I like Zaya - it makes me want to write these essays about them.

NewYorkCityRoyalty

Well said! There have been a lot of nice gifsets on Tumblr, lately. It's good to see that there are still some Zaya fans scattered throughout Tumblr.

I wonder what ever happened to mellifluouscloud? I haven't seen them for a while. I hope everything's alright.

Soeshie20

There are alot of Zaya fans on tumbrl

ihavealife2uknow

I kind of like that they're taking their time with them but on the other hand I hope we don't have to wait too long. I hope by the end of the season we see some progress between these two.

NewYorkCityRoyalty

Yeah, I agree. I mean, I probably wouldn't be very happy, if they started off the season with Maya and Zig suddenly deciding to date.

I like the fact that they're taking their time. As annoying and tense this angst can be, ultimately I think that is the angst that will ultimately make them a stronger couple, in the end.

I think that all of this angst will be worth it, in the long run. Maya and Zig still have problems to sort out, but once all of the angst is gone, and they finally get the chance to just be happy together, it'll be worth it.

ihavealife2uknow

I agree. I think it was a smart idea to wait to put them together. These two still have at least 2 or more seasons left on the show so I'm glad the writers didn't just put them together in season 11 and run them to the ground like they did Eclare. That way by the time they are seniors we aren't exhausted of them.

NewYorkCityRoyalty

So, does anyone have any fun ideas for what to do on here? We could all list our favourite moments, or make an alphabet, or a playlist, or something like that.

falling slowly

I love them together

NewYorkCityRoyalty

Hey, there! It's great to see another fan here!

kaleidocat

I've been bugging her on twitter! She's been busy. WE BETTER SEE HER BACK HERE SOON. I have ideas for a Heathers remake trailer with Zaya that I want to talk about with her and force her into making. Because she needs to repent for not being active enough here.

I would be perfectly happy to have Zig and Maya slowly warm up to each other. Lots of friendship moments and signs that Miles is feeling insecure and edged out. I did like early Miles and Maya interaction where she is witnessing his interaction with his dad so I don't want to see that friendship crushed. I would like to see Maya and Zig...or maybe just Zig with a prompt from Maya...help Miles out (keeping it vague here but I just have to say I hope it isn't a domestic abuse situation). I think that would redeem Zig for some folks and get him bonus points with Maya. But I also really want to see Maya supporting Zig in some way and I'm hoping that by focusing on the "bad kid" crew it is leading up tot that. That's kinda crucial for me after how faithful he has been. It's funny with how much focus that has been on Maya in season 13, I don't really understand her. I really want to.

NewYorkCityRoyalty

I miss seeing her around. She always had goodies of some kind for us.

Yeah, I'd like to see them slowly reconcile throughout the season. Just one question, though. What do we make of what that Grace girl said about him?

kaleidocat

What did she say? I'm behind on eps!


I'm not sure from when this was from but hey, it is always good to see Ricardo and Olivia together. Anyone see any cute gif/pic spams out there from this?